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CAROLINA HURRICANES

NEWS CLIPPINGS • Feb. 8, 2018

Hurricanes’ general manager Ron Francis talks Dundon, Darling, playoff chances

By Chip Alexander

[email protected]

February 07, 2018 05:27 PM

Updated February 07, 2018 07:01 PM

Carolina Hurricanes general manager Ron Francis may have aged a bit in the final minute of overtime Tuesday against the Philadelphia Flyers, as the Canes’ Jeff Skinner and Jordan Staal couldn’t convert quality scoring chances and the Flyers won with 3.1 seconds left.

“My days of being able to get out there and help are long gone,” Francis said. “You feel for the players because you know how much they want this and know how hard they’re working. You feel for them because they want it so bad. It’s frustrating for all of us.”

The overtime loss dropped the Canes to 24-21-9 for the season, one point out of playoff position in the NHL’s Eastern Conference. On Wednesday, Francis answered these questions from The News & Observer’s Chip Alexander.

Q: Fifty-four games into the season, how would you assess the team’s play?

A: “I think it’s been inconsistent. We’ve had stretches where we looked good and played well. We’ve had stretches where we haven’t looked as good as I’d like to see us. Is some of our trouble based schedule or personnel or luck of whatever? The fact of the matter is we’re still in the (playoff) hunt with 28 games left.”

Q: What needs to change?

A: “I think it’s just getting some traction. Last night I know we lost the (Philadelphia) game but I thought our effort was better and our compete was better. If we get better on a consistent basis I think we’ve shown over the course of the year we can play with anybody and beat anybody. That’s the mentality and effort we need on a consistent basis.”

Q: You brought in Scott Darling to be the No. 1 goalie. What has held him back, caused him to struggle?

A: “There’s multiple factors. I thought early in the season he was playing well and I didn’t think we were playing necessarily well in front of him. We were giving up breakaways and backdoor tap-ins. That’s not on the goaltender but on us in front of him.

“I think he then went through a stretch where he was struggling and I think he’d admit that, too. I think lately he has been much better. You look at his last few games, the Washington game we don’t win without him. The game against Calgary I didn’t think we were very good in front of him. The Vegas start was tough for us. Vegas had been

playing all week and was here waiting for us. Two of the three probably were not his fault. We need to be better in front of him but I think his game is turning around. Hopefully he gets a win under his belt and gets some confidence.

Q: Do you believe you miscalculated on how good he is?

A: “Not at this point, no. He’s been a better goaltender in the past than he has been this year. Some of that is the adjustment to being No. 1, some of that is adjustment to a new system, some of it is the ups and downs of the season. I think he’s tracking back in the right direction.”

Q: Is this team, as currently constructed, a playoff-caliber team or do personnel changes need to be made?

A: “I think we’re always looking to make changes if we feel it makes the team better. We’re in the (playoff) mix and it’s not an easy league. Every night is an adventure. I love the fact our fan base is passionate again and it’s an emotional rollercoaster this time of year. When you win everybody loves it and when you lose everybody hates it. For me, it’s exciting we’re back in that discussion. We haven’t been in a while and here we are.

“I believe in the guys in the room and their ability to go out there and perform. That doesn’t mean if there is something out there that makes us better we won’t explore it.”

Q: Would calling up a player or two from the Charlotte Checkers help make you better?

A: “We look at all options and that’s certainly one of them. Contrary to what people may believe, (coach) Bill (Peters) and I and the management team do have a lot of discussions. We’re on the same page in what we’re trying to accomplish. In our mind it’s putting the best team on the ice we believe can win that night.

“We’ve got a lot of good prospects in Charlotte, there’s no question. Having them play 18 or 20 minutes a game there versus being up here and playing six minutes and being out of the game at the end isn’t going to help us. It’s getting these guys to the point where when they come up here they’re in the top six, top nine guys. It’s something we talk about and evaluate when we go game to game and try to figure out which buttons need to be pushed to make us more successful.”

Q: You went into the season believing your defensive corps would be a strength of the team. Has it been?

A: “I still think they’re a real good group of six defensemen. I think they’re very young in the process, as well. But, yeah, I still think they’re six good defensemen, that the six we put in there are good.”

Q: Jeff Skinner’s scoring has dried up the past 20 games. What’s been the problem?

CAROLINA HURRICANES


A: “He’s been certainly snakebit. It’s not for lack of opportunity or lack of chances. The game coming out of the (NHL bye week) in Detroit he probably could have scored five. He had seven or eight great chances and nothing was going in for him.

“It’s not like he’s not getting the opportunities, though his shooting percentage ... is not his career norm. I tend to worry about guys when they’re not getting opportunities. I keep saying at some point it’s going to turn around for him. He scored 37 last year. Hopefully one or two go in for him and scorers get hot, right?”

Q: Now that some time has passed, what are you impressions of new team owner Tom Dundon?

A: “He’s passionate. He’s energetic. He wants everything, from on the ice to off the ice, to make it first class and something our fans are proud to be associated with.”

Q: How involved is he in the hockey operations side?

A: “I think he’s been involved in everything. I think he’s a kind of guy who wants to try and learn and understand as much as he can, and have a say in things he thinks might make us better. I think that’s great. I think discussion is always valuable.”

Q: Dundon has said everybody’s job performance is being evaluated. Does that include the general manager’s job performance?

A: “If he said everybody, it’s everybody.”

Q: Dundon stresses the value of analytics. What do the analytics indicate about the team?

A: “You’re probably tired of me saying it, but it’s that the shooting percentage should change. We’re struggling to score, no question, and a couple of guys in particular. But they’re getting the opportunities, so at some point I think it will change and some pucks go in. And hopefully that gets them to relax and away we go.”

Q: Has it been a case of nerves?

A: “I don’t know if it’s nerves. If you look at the game last night the first 40 minutes I thought were good hockey. The last 20 we’d like to generate more (than two shots). We get to the overtime and we’re outshooting them before their second shot goes on. I think we’ve lost six games in overtime and we’ve outshot teams almost 2 1-2 to one and outchanced them dramatically. We’ve got to find a way to bear down on those chances and put ‘em away when we have the opportunity.”

Cole to provide suite for critically ill children to see Canes games

By Chip Alexander

[email protected]

February 07, 2018 03:29 PM

Updated February 07, 2018 03:42 PM

The Carolina Hurricanes, former Hurricanes forward Erik Cole and the Me Fine Foundation announced on Wednesday a partnership to provide families of critically ill children a suite to all Hurricanes home games for the remainder of the 2017-18 season.

Cole, who serves as the Hurricanes team ambassador, will purchase the 14-person suite, which includes food and beverage and parking passes.

“Having a true community partner like the Hurricanes’ Kids ‘N Community Foundation is an incredible asset for Me Fine’s

work,” Me Fine Foundation executive director Joey Powell said. “To see a champion like Erik Cole believing in us is a priceless endorsement of our mission.”

Since 2004, the Me Fine Foundation has provided financial and emotional support to over 1,400 critically ill children and their families. Me Fine works with families from across North Carolina whose children are being treated by Duke Children’s Medical Center, UNC Children’s Hospital or WakeMed Children’s Hospital.

The Me Fine Foundation is a Kids ‘N Community Foundation grant recipient and has received $25,000 in Game Changer Grants since 2014.

CAROLINA HURRICANES


Hurricanes need to be ‘desperate’ to seize a playoff spot

With no team willing to grab and run with a wild card spot, Carolina still has a chance to snap an eight-year postseason drought

February 7, 2018 Cory Lavalette Article, NHL, Sports

RALEIGH — The good news for the Carolina Hurricanes is that none of the five Metropolitan Division teams battling for the two wild card spots in the Eastern Conference seem to want to seize control of the opportunity.

The bad news is the Hurricanes have been one of them, too.

Carolina’s eight-game home stand was supposed to be the team’s big chance to make a move and force its way into playoff position. Instead, the Hurricanes were 2-2 halfway through their residency at PNC Arena heading into Tuesday’s game against the Flyers, a 2-1 overtime loss.

After starting the stretch with wins over Ottawa and Montreal, Carolina stumbled against Detroit, and then laid an egg so big in a Sunday matinee against the Sharks that coach Bill Peters challenged his team following the game and again Monday afternoon with a rigorous practice.

“I would be desperate,” Peters said after Monday’s skate. “There’s a lot of different reasons to be desperate, but I would find a way to be a desperate hockey player. There’s different reasons for different guys at different stages of their career, OK? But it’s also, for our team, it’s time to be desperate and put our best foot forward.”

The Eastern Conference playoff picture can best be described as a cluster. The top three teams in both the Atlantic and Metro have cracked the 60-point barrier, and the struggles of the five Atlantic teams not named Tampa Bay, Boston and Toronto have the East’s other division in position to plan for five playoff teams.

Washington (65 points), New Jersey (62) and Pittsburgh (61) held the top three spots following Monday’s games. From there, the other five teams in the hunt for two wild card slots were within three points of each other heading into Tuesday — and all had skated off the ice as losers in at least half of their last 10 games.

Columbus has been stricken by injury and inconsistency with 58 points through 52 games. The Islanders blew a late lead Monday to Nashville and then lost in overtime, giving away a point and were also at 58, though with two more games played than the Blue Jackets.

Philadelphia (57) and Carolina (56) entered Tuesday’s head-to-head, well, neck and neck.

And the Rangers’ 2-1 loss in Dallas on Monday kept them at 55 points with questions of whether it was time to sell off assets like Rick Nash ahead of the Feb. 26 trade deadline.

In the past four seasons, the final spot in the Eastern Conference has gone to a team with 95, 96, 98 and 93 points — an average of 95.5 points.

Even though the current pace for the final spot is right around 90, it’s fair to say the second wild card will need 96 points. That means the Hurricanes need 40 points in their final 29 games, an average of 1.38 points per game. That could be 20-9-0, 17-6-6, or 14-0-12 — the point is, they need to get to 40.

Entering the Flyers game, only 14 of Carolina’s final 29 games come against current playoff teams. Also on the slate in 14 of 29 games? Metro opponents.

So the opportunity is there for the Hurricanes to not only feast on nonplayoff teams (they were 11-6-3 through 53 games against teams not in the postseason picture as of Tuesday morning, including winning seven of their last eight against those teams), but also make up ground — or provide a cushion — quickly with wins over division foes that are in the race with them.

Against the Metro this season, Carolina was 6-5-3 entering Tuesday’s first game of the season against Philadelphia. The teams will play each other a total of four times this season, as will the yet-to-play-each-other Devils and Hurricanes. Those teams will meet Feb. 15 in Newark for the first of three games in 16 days, then one final time on March 27.

“So what are we? That’s the question I would ask,” Peters said Monday. “What are we? You’ve seen us play well. You’ve seen individuals play well. You’ve seen us play well collectively for stretches.

“You’ve seen us play to an identity last year on a consistent basis. I don’t think this team’s got to an identity that they’re proud of on a consistent basis this year yet. And that’s what we have to do over the next 29 games.”

CAROLINA HURRICANES


Tweetmail No. 175: Black Jerseys, Goal Scoring & Pizza

by Michael Smith @MSmithCanes / CarolinaHurricanes.com

February 7th, 2018

Hello and welcome to Tweetmail, presented by our friends at Tijuana Flats! Wear your Canes gear to participating Raleigh locations on Wednesdays throughout the season and receive 50% off any entrée.

Tweetmail is a weekly feature on CarolinaHurricanes.com in which I take your Twitter questions about the Carolina Hurricanes or other assorted topics and answer them in mailbag form. Hopefully the final product is insightful to some degree, and maybe we have some fun along the way.

Let's get to it, and we'll start off with an email question!

When adidas got the contract for NHL sweaters, the door was left open for bringing back the black. Any updates? - Anthony N.

Third jerseys, with the exception of special event sweaters like the Winter Classic or Stadium Series, were scrapped in the 2017-18 season with the introduction of Adidas as the league's authentic outfitter of on-ice uniforms as well as an official supplier of licensed apparel. Teams can begin reintroducing third jerseys in the 2018-19 season, and it's been reported that a majority of the league will likely do so.

Will the Hurricanes be one of those teams? And if so, will black be the dominant color?

… You'll find out soon!

(It will be worth the wait and the tease. Promise.)

will jeff skinner ever score again? i’m starting to get a bit

concerned for him

I can answer this with 100 percent absolute certainty: yes, Jeff Skinner will score again.

Kidding aside, I know this question is a bit hyperbolic, and that's valid. Skinner scored nine goals in his first 16 games of the season. He's since scored six goals in 38 games. He hasn't registered goals in consecutive games since Nov. 11-13, and he hasn't posted a multi-goal game since Oct. 21. Those stats are all a bit uncharacteristic for a player who scored a career high 37 goals just a season ago. Yet, it also somewhat fits the trend coming off a 30-goal season. After Skinner totaled 31 goals in his rookie season, he scored 20 the next, and after he potted 33 goals in 2013-14, he scored 18 in the following season.

With 28 games remaining in the regular season, I have no doubt Skinner will reach the 20-goal plateau for the sixth time during his eight years in the league. He's certainly hit a dry

spell recently, but it's not for a lack of chances, as he leads the team with 189 shots on goal. His goals will come - hopefully sooner rather than later for the sake of the Hurricanes' 5-on-5 scoring - and when they do, they'll probably come in bunches, just like when Aho broke his drought in early November.

He'll be fine. Not to worry!

Speaking of goal scoring …

What can the canes do to get more than one goal a game?

Ah, yes. The question du jour. And it's a great question! It's a question that the media has pondered for some time. It's a question that's been asked in the locker room. It's a question with an answer that has proved elusive as of late.

On Tuesday night against Philadelphia, I think the lack of 5-on-5 scoring was more about what the Flyers did than what the Hurricanes were unable to do. With big bodies in shooting lanes, the Flyers blocked 28 shots - just as many as the Hurricanes were able to put on Brian Elliott. That, combined with how tight the game was at either end of the ice, spelled a slog of a match at even strength. Something to consider, too, is that Philadelphia ranks fourth in the league in 5-on-5 goals against with 84.

There's potential to see things open up a little 5-on-5 when the Canucks come to town on Friday. Vancouver ranks 23rd in the league in 5-on-5 goals against with 105.

All of that said, the team does need to refine its 5-on-5 scoring, which ranks in the bottom handful of the league since the new year. Moving the puck up the ice with pace, possessing the puck, getting bodies in front, finding lanes and getting the puck through to the goaltender - all of these things are going to help the Canes up their 5-on-5 goal total, something the team is going to need in order to be successful down the stretch of the season.

What’d you think about Dunkirk?

I thought it was wonderful. I did do a little pre-Wikipedia

reading so I had a historical anchor for the plot but otherwise

I went in rather blind. It took a minute to sort out the differing timelines and settings, but it came together beautifully. The

cinematography was pristine. The score was sweeping and critical to driving home the events and emotions of the film in

absence of dialogue. The ending was strikingly poignant. It was an incredibly unique and important war film, and my only

regret is that I didn't see it sooner.

Is pizza for breakfast, yes or no? #Tweetmail

I think the better question is: pizza for breakfast, why not?

CAROLINA HURRICANES


Prospect Corner: No Stopping Martin Necas

The Canes’ first rounder keeps on keeping on, and Soo defenseman Noah Carroll continues his notable ascent.

By kleblanchockey@kleblanchockey Feb 7, 2018, 5:03pm EST

Necas heating up in the Czech league

Since returning from a starring role at the World Juniors, Necas has upped his play, settling in nicely in the Czech League for Kometa Brno. In nine games, Necas has tallied four goals and five assists, while receiving more than 13 minutes of ice time in all but one game. While typically being deployed as a middle-six option for his fifth-place club, the young center has driven play when on the ice, averaging nearly two shots on goal per game.

Through 21 games, Necas has nearly passed his point total from his draft year (15) despite to this point playing 20 fewer games. He currently ranks tenth on his club in points (14), but is second behind former NHLer Martin Erat in points-per-game (.66). It’s been a terrific post draft season for the Canes first-rounder who may not be too far off from a potential roster spot, but likely a couple seasons from making the impact that they need him to down the middle.

Noah Carroll having career year in Sault Ste. Marie

After being rescued from a poor Guelph team for the Sault Ste. Marie playoff run last season, Carroll has improved his play in his overage year in the Ontario Hockey League. The 2016 sixth rounder has surpassed his career points total (25), set in 62 games last season with a 27-point output this season in 48 games. He has dramatically increased his shot rate, from 1.17 in his first 29 games to 2.05 over his last 19 games, and has been rewarded by scoring four times in that span.

Sault Ste. Marie is the best team in the OHL this season, piling up 89 points through 51 games, and has already clinched a playoff spot despite having 17 games left in the regular season. Carroll will be an important part of the

Greyhounds’ defensive corps that hopes to bring home a Memorial Cup this year.

Prospect Quick Hits

• The Northeastern Huskies will look to avenge their 2015 overtime loss to Boston University in the Beanpot finals when they face off with the Terriers on Monday, February 12th. Northeastern shut out David Cotton’s Boston College Eagles 3-0 this weekend to advance to the final. Outside of Filipe, the Huskies have some Raleigh flair with native Trevor Owens on the roster.

• It has been a tough season for 2016 draft pick Jack LaFontaine, as he has been relegated to the backup role at Michigan since the start of the new year. In his first action since January 1st, LaFontaine spelled starter Hayden Lavigne, making 18 saves on 18 shots in the second and third period of a 4-2 loss to Wisconsin. Michigan has a two game set against Michigan State this weekend, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see LaFontaine get one of the games.

• Jeremy Helvig continues to be one of the OHL’s top goaltenders this season. He ranks second in the league in both save percentage (.920) and goals against average (2.56) among netminders who have played 20-plus games. The 2016 fifth rounder has outplayed his draft position since being selected by Carolina.

• After a period of the season where he did not dress, Wisconsin’s Max Zimmer has been more consistent of late with four points in his last six games. For the season, Zimmer has posted six points in 19 games, playing up and down the lineup.

CAROLINA HURRICANES


Checkers Put Scare Into Phantoms Late But Fall Short

Written by Nicholas Niedzielski

Published: February 07, 2018

The Checkers put a scare into the Phantoms late in regulation but couldn’t finish their comeback, falling to Lehigh Valley 4-3 to wrap up a long road trip. Playing their fourth game in six games, the road weary Checkers found themselves in a two-goal hole early in the middle frame before Julien Gauthier banked a quick wrister off the body of Nicolas Roy in front to cut that lead in half minutes later. The Phantoms responded the very next shift, however, then tacked on another right out of the gates in the third to again establish a two-goal advantage. That fourth tally from Lehigh Valley would spell the end for Alex Nedeljkovic, who has been between the pipes for Charlotte during each game of the current road trip, and paved the way for recently recalled rookie Callum Booth to make his AHL debut in relief.

Time looked to be running out for the Checkers but a late power play gave them the chance to pull Booth for a two-man advantage and they capitalized as Aleksi Saarela ripped a shot from the point off the post and in. With some newfound life, the Checkers again pulled their netminder and again were able to cash in, this time with Andrew Miller

cutting through the defense and following his own chance with a slick wrap around to pull Charlotte within one in the final minute of play. Despite the wave of momentum behind them the Checkers couldn’t finish the improbable rally, however, as the clock hit zero and the Phantoms picked up the narrow victory.

NOTES

The Checkers finished this road trip with a 1-3-2 record … Aleksi Saarela now has goals in each of his last three games … The Checkers have now scored on the power play in each of their last four games … With two helpers tonight Janne Kuokkanen extended his assist streak to three games … Alex Nedeljkovic has appeared in each of the last seven games and 11 of the last 12 … Callum Booth made his AHL debut after being recalled from the ECHL on Monday … Josiah Didier dropped the gloves for his first fight of the season … Sergey Tolchinsky missed the game due to injury … Mike Ferrantino, Zack Stortini, Dennis Robertson and Jeremy Smith were all healthy extras

1 UP NEXT

The Checkers return home this Friday for a 7:15 puck drop against the Springfield.

TODAY’S LINKS

http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/luke-decock/article198765569.html http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/nhl/carolina-hurricanes/article198939499.html

http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/luke-decock/article198784159.html

http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/nhl/carolina-hurricanes/canes-now/article198892234.html

https://www.nhl.com/hurricanes/news/tweetmail-number-175-black-jerseys-goal-scoring-pizza/c-295718410 http://nsjonline.com/article/2018/02/hurricanes-need-to-be-desperate-to-seize-a-playoff-spot/

https://www.canescountry.com/2018/2/7/16987706/carolina-hurricanes-prospect-corner-martin-necas-czech-republic-noah-carroll-soo-greyhounds

http://gocheckers.com/game-recaps/checkers-put-scare-into-phantoms-late-but-fall-short

CAROLINA HURRICANES


1097217 Vancouver Canucks

Canucks sign Darren Archibald

PATRICK JOHNSTON

Darren Archibald is coming back to the NHL.

The bruising forward was one of Canucks coach Travis Green’s

favourites while in Utica and he was one of the final cuts at training camp last fall.

Wednesday, the team announced they’d signed the 27-year-old winger to an NHL contract and have called him up to boot. (Sam Gagner flew

home with a sprained ankle earlier in the day.)

Archibald, a 6-foot-3 winger who tips the scales at 220 pounds, has

seven goals and nine assists in 25 games with the Utica Comets this season, and might have been brought into the fold sooner had he not been dealing with a fractured face earlier this season when he hit the glass at the end of the bench in mid-November.

He returned to the Comets lineup in late December.

He skated in 16 NHL games for the Canucks in 2013-14 for former coach John Tortorella, who admired Archibald’s hustle. He scored a goal and picked up a pair of assists in a fourth-line role.

“He’s had a really good camp and deserves to be here right now. He’s a smart player and is a big body who hits really hard,” Green told reporters

at the end of training camp.

“In the game today, you need some stiffness and he brings that. But it’s

up to him and he’s getting a chance because he deserves it. When you have big bodies who can skate and forecheck and be hard to play

against in their own way, it’s an advantage.”

Early in camp, Archibald told TSN’s Jeff Paterson he wanted “to put my

name back on the map.”

Archibald’s path to the NHL has certainly been unconventional. Undrafted out of junior, the Canucks signed him as a 20-year-old, midway through his final overage season in the OHL in 2010-11.

Scouts saw his strength and his puck skills — during the Canucks’ abbreviated 2012-13 training camp, he said he’d “always thought of myself as more of a playmaker than a goal scorer” — but his skating was a problem.

But as a professional, his skating has ceased to be a question mark. Like all prospects who get to the edge of the NHL, his top-end speed was

good; he spent a lot of time in his off-seasons working with skating coaches to develop his skating in traffic, which had been seen as his

biggest issue.

Last season he led the Comets in goals (23) and points (47) in Green’s

final season behind the Comets’ bench. He was the winner of the Tom McVie Award as “coach’s MVP” and also named player of the year by

Mohawk Valley media.

[email protected]

twitter.com/risingaction

Vancouver Province: LOADED: 02.08.2018


Sam Gagner returning to Vancouver with sprained ankle

PATRICK JOHNSTON

Aleksander Barkov the Florida Panthers goes to the ice after colliding with Sam Gagner during the third period on Tuesday.

Clearly the hockey gods have decided it’s been long enough since the Canucks returned to full strength.

Sam Gagner sprained his ankle in Tuesday night’s 3-1 loss to the Florida Panthers and he’s set to fly home.

The forward tried skating Wednesday morning in Florida — the Canucks play against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday — but it didn’t go well.

Happened in the third period on the PP says Gagner. Got tangled up with a Panther.— Dan Murphy (@sportsnetmurph) February 7, 2018

Gagner will return to Vancouver.

The Canucks have Nic Dowd as their extra forward so it’s fair to assume he’ll draw back into the lineup.

Gagner has not returned to practice. Slammed his stick as he went off. #Canucks— Brendan Batchelor (@BatchHockey) February 7, 2018

After Thursday’s game, the Canucks fly to Raleigh, N.C., to face the Hurricanes.

[email protected]

twitter.com/risingaction



The Morning Skate, Feb. 7: How Trevor Linden led to the Sedins and Lu

PATRICK JOHNSTON

The idea of playing for the hometown team is one that blossoms in the minds of most young athletes.

To skate with the heroes is usually the focus. Few really think clearly of being the hero, though of course the fantasy often plays out as so.

(That’s why they’re fantasies, after all.)

The Canucks have had a few of those kids over the years: Troy Stecher

and Jake Virtanen are the two current examples.

CAROLINA HURRICANES


The B.C. Lions have had tons of guys like that over the years.

Yesterday, I wrote about David Norman, who is the Whitecaps’ latest such example.

There is one angle that we don’t hear about in that respect: the desire to do it for the community.

Which brings us to Liverpool’s own Trent Alexander-Arnold. He’s playing for his hometown team, and the story goes, is doing it partly to give back to his community.

We should all be so lucky.

(No, Paul Chapman did not pay me extra to open with this.)

Let’s get skating.

The Home Team

On this day in 1998, the #Isles acquired Trevor Linden from the #Canucks in exchange for Todd Bertuzzi, Bryan McCabe, and a third-round pick pic.twitter.com/c2bRVpocc7— Mike Commito (@mikecommito) February 6, 2018

— Twenty years ago this week, Mike Keenan was in the middle of blowing up the previous Canucks team. Sure, it upset plenty of fans at the time and forever framed Mark Messier’s time here, but there’s just no

arguing that the return Iron Mike landed for the Man Who Would Be President set the stage for so much Canucks success to follow.

We know the Todd Bertuzzi story. He came as this unfinished giant athletic talent. He became one of the best players and played on one of

the league’s best lines before his time was done with the Canucks in 2006. He would, of course, be part of the trade which begat the Era of

Luongo. (And of course, Jacob Markstrom was one of the guys who came to Vancouver when Lu was returned for deposit to Florida.)

Bryan McCabe scored eight goals and added 25 assists in 95 games in 1997/98 and 1998/99 while wearing Canucks colours. Gerry Kahrmann / Province

After a solid season-plus for the rebuilding Canucks, McCabe ended up being traded to the Blackhawks in exchange (along with the Canucks’ 2000 first-rounder) for the fourth overall pick at the 1999 draft. After much arguing with the Tampa Bay brass, Brian Burke was able to flip that pick, along with two third-round picks, for the first overall pick.

Because Burke wanted to call the Sedins up together, he got a pledge from the Atlanta Thrashers, who held the second pick, to not take either.

They coveted Patrik Stefan, he knew. And so the picks were flipped.

Finally, the third-round pick he acquired in that trade turned out to be

Jarkko Ruutu, the super pest who proved to be a solid performer for the Canucks for five seasons.

In all, trading Linden gave the Canucks, at one time or another, Bertuzzi, McCabe, the Sedins, Ruutu, Luongo and Markstrom.

— Here’s a nice little video — yes, it’s got some Swedish in it — of the Sedins on their draft day.

— If a game is played in Florida, does it make a sound?

What an ugly hockey game. I’m glad they played it behind closed doors.— Jason Brough (@JasonBroughTSN) February 7, 2018

— It cost 15 bucks for this seat. Imagine if seats at Rogers Arena were just $15.

Vancouver Canucks Vs Florida Panthers. Not bad for $15US! A post shared by Sam (@samradojcin) on Feb 6, 2018 at 4:43pm PST

— Great find here from Rob the Hockey Guy, who admitted to me he’s

spending too much time on Twitter. But it did lead him to the discovery that Anders Nilsson has been named “Hetero of the Year” by a Swedish

LGBTQ group.

— Craig Button is very high on some of the Canucks’ prospects.

WELL-STOCKED CANUCKS: It’s been a trying season in Vancouver, but @CraigJButton's annual list of the Top 50 #NHL affiliated prospects shows there's better days ahead https://t.co/6LMNJxvPe0 #TSNHockey pic.twitter.com/rf60PZYZyd— TSN Hockey (@TSNHockey) February 6, 2018

— This is totally fantastic.

It sure is Jeff!That was me at the game. I flew from Santiago CHILE for the game I was hoping to see @NG078 in action but next year for sure pic.twitter.com/ZxzQKrMr9b— Francisco Varas (@PanchoVaras)

February 7, 2018

Around the NHL

— Yeesh, Burr:

Scary sight in Ottawa as Taylor Hall appears to get his head crushed after Alex Burrows takes exception to a hit pic.twitter.com/RhHm7RThei— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) February 7, 2018

Word out of OTT is that Burrows has been offered an in-person hearing with @NHLPlayerSafety. No word yet on whether Burrows will accept the offer or waive his right and do it by phone.— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) February 7, 2018

He should get a big number – that’s not defendable or even remotely part of the game https://t.co/zt5GihECzV— Ray Ferraro (@rayferrarotsn) February 7, 2018

— Hockey is Special, dontchaknow.

sneak peek at the pie charts for our research into the background of your favourite team's general manager. Where do these guys come from?

Former pro players are in demand for NHL executive jobs; more so than their sister leagues. more to come.#NHL #NBA #MLB pic.twitter.com/gL4kbxlQRP— Jason Paul (@WaveIntel) February 6, 2018

— The NHL: You Can Play…

…or whatever:

Kid Rock says rap-rock 'turned out to be pretty gay': http://t.co/OkK4Fj0JvM pic.twitter.com/k3A7I001z4— Entertainment

Weekly (@EW) January 5, 2015

The Last Lap

— Bev Wake knows your Olympics.

20 International (non-Canadian) athletes to watch at the Winter Olympics

in PyeongChang: https://t.co/6p0uTq2aan pic.twitter.com/D60LYT0qUM— Bev Wake (@bevewake) February 5,

2018

— Live sports remains a viable TV property. The rest … well, you were

watching Netflix last night, weren’t you?

Difference in audience between the Super Bowl and the #1 primetime entertainment show, last 10 years:

2018: 617%

2017: 661%

2016: 574%

2015: 563%

2014: 506%

2013: 473%

2012: 479%

CAROLINA HURRICANES


2011: 364%

2010: 363%

2009: 287%— Michael Mulvihill (@mulvihill79) February 6, 2018

— I do enjoy Camelback Ranch for a ball game, but it’s a ridiculous thing in so many ways.

City of Glendale has had incredible sports calamities w Coyotes, White Sox, Dodger.

Glendale buys land high, sells low to Chicago White Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers https://t.co/5qROKQ36Qf via @azcentral— Mike

Ozanian (@MikeOzanian) February 6, 2018

— Gentlemen, control yourselves.

Infuriated Georgian rugby players pause rugby game to beat the shit out of each other: https://t.co/H2dLgwBNo9 pic.twitter.com/Ip5dK2xkOR— Deadspin (@Deadspin) February 7, 2018

— Leadership. It’s about building trust.

Surround yourself with people who believe in you the way Steve Kerr believes in Steph Currypic.twitter.com/yYOhhgRuto— Jason McIntyre (@jasonrmcintyre) January 26, 2018

Have a great Wednesday, all. I’m off for the rest of the week. Joe Ruttle

is checking in on Friday.



Making sense of the Sedins' impact on the Canucks' plans for the future and the potential cost of that thinking

By Ryan Biech 9 hours ago

Will Daniel and Henrik Sedin be back with the Canucks next season? It's

a question that has been talked about ad nauseam in print, on the radio and among fans in Vancouver and one that doesn't appear will be

answered until the off-season.

One thing, however, that immediately stuck out were the comments from

Canucks management about how the Sedins' decision to return for another year could affect their plan, like at the trade deadline for example.

At first glance, I thought that was crazy.

How can the career decision of two 37-year-old players affect the Canucks during a rebuild?

It is a silly thought when taken at face value. Then I got to thinking exactly how it could affect them and quickly linked it back to the overall direction of the organization over the last few years. The clouds parted and it all became a bit a little clearer.

Hockey is a business. That is something that needs to be remembered at all times. It can be frustrating as a fan or an analyst to watch teams add

non-impact players to already mediocre rosters every summer and know from the start of the season the team is going nowhere. Then rinse and

repeat.

With that in mind, let's spell out how the Sedins could affect the Canucks'

plan.

From the organization's perspective. they'll either have two of their top-

nine forwards back next season, or be left looking to fill that void. Since

Canucks management has said countless times that they won't rush prospects and pay some (decreasing over the years) lip service to wanting to have a competitive team, it means if the Sedins decide not to return there will be a desire to fill their nominal positions externally.

Remembering that hockey is a business – if Henrik decides not to come back and the Canucks don't want to rush Elias Pettersson or Adam Gaudette into the lineup, the organization would have Bo Horvat, Brandon Sutter, Sam Gagner and not much else as their centre depth. It's understandable why there might be some hesitation to leave the situation as is.

Now the Canucks could wait until the Sedins' decision is ultimately made, and then try to add through free agency, but there is no guarantee the

Sedins will have their minds made up before July 1.

They can also target players in advance with the thought of replacing the

Sedins, and if they do come back, then they have still 'improved' the team.

That leads to speculation like this:

J.D. Burke

@JDylanBurke

The #Canucks have had their eyes on Ryan Spooner for years now. He's had an up-and-down year in Boston. I wonder if the timing, circumstances are finally right. https://twitter.com/DhaliwalSports/status/961314366615207937 …

3:51 PM - Feb 7, 2018

16

JD isn't suggesting the Canucks should acquire Spooner, but he is connecting the dots. The Canucks have been rumoured to have interest

in Spooner for a few years and the Bruins have been scouting the Canucks recently.

We don't know for sure whether it's a playoff rental like Erik Gudbranson or Thomas Vanek that interests the Bruins or a longer-term piece like Ben Hutton. But if Spooner is a target for Vancouver in any sort of deal, it does follow the thought process of filling the space that is left by the Sedins and the insistence of filling the 'age gap'.

And that is the problem with all of this.

The organization was praised for trading Jannik Hansen and Alexandre Burrows for futures at last year's deadline. Any deal consummated before

Feb. 26 – whether it involves Gudbranson, Vanek or Hutton – should be for futures. The Canucks need to continue down that path.

Spooner is only 15 months older than Hutton, but it's still getting older for the sake of seat filling in the forward ranks.

Yes, getting Spooner would make the team a little more competitive next year. I might not agree with that thinking on general principle, but I can at

least understand the process.

But that's why the twins not coming back next year may be one of the worst things that could happen to the team.

At 37 they are nowhere near the players they were a few years ago. But they are still top-nine players who can continue to provide some depth for the team. Their presence would also create a positive environment for the prospects that will eventually get eased into the lineup. They are not going to come back for free, but the Canucks have plenty of cap space to pay both of them whatever it will require to bring them back.

Looping back to the possible trades – even if the Sedins do not return –

trading Gudbranson, Vanek and perhaps Hutton for future assets is the right course of action. Continue to build on the asset base that is already

there.

This Canucks team is behind the point pace from the last two

disappointing seasons, but there is more optimism among the fan base

CAROLINA HURRICANES


because of players like Pettersson, Brock Boeser, Bo Horvat and Thatcher Demko. They are players with the potential to really move the needle, much like the Sedins when they were entering their prime years.

Players like Spooner aren't enough to propel the team back into the playoffs and will just stop the bleeding for a short period of time. By the time the Canucks are truly competitive, the Bruins forward would likely be a bit piece or have already moved on.

But the missed opportunity of adding draft picks will have a greater impact, and Daniel and Henrik's decision should not come in the way of that.

If the Sedins choose not to return, the Canucks can sign some stopgaps through free agency, just as they did this past off-season with Sam

Gagner and Thomas Vanek.

In fantasy baseball there used to be a saying about how .285 hitters don't

get you anywhere. Acquiring decent 26-year-old centres is the NHL equivalent, especially if missing out on future lottery tickets is the

unintended consequence.

The Athletic LOADED: 02.08.2018

1097112 Colorado Avalanche

Without Nathan MacKinnon, the Avs are learning to survive. Their road, though, is about to get difficult.

By NICK GROKE | PUBLISHED: February 7, 2018

The infirmary ice was a busy place Wednesday at the Avalanche’s

practice rink. Nathan MacKinnon, the all-star center who has carried Colorado into a mid-season resurgence and square into an NHL playoff chase, skated circles through two orange cones. It wasn’t enough. He added a green water bottle for some extra dipsy-doodles.

A left-shoulder injury separated MacKinnon from his team, onto the lonely island of recovery. The Avs, though, are plowing forward.

In their first game this season without two top-line skaters — MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen (lower-body injury) — the Avs on Tuesday streaked

by San Jose for a 3-1 victory in Denver. They figured out, in short order, how to win without their two top scorers.

But with a three-game road trip starting Thursday at St. Louis, the stakes are raising. The Avs are gripping tight in the three-team log-jam in the

Western Conference and they remain a losing team away from home. There is plenty more to figure out beyond MacKinnon.

“This time of year, coming down the stretch, it’s not going to be good enough to play .500 hockey,” Colorado captain Gabe Landeskog said

Wednesday after the team’s short practice before an afternoon flight to Missouri. “We’re looking to raise the ceiling. Being good on the road and above .500 on the road is a big part of it.”

In a 10-game winning streak that carried them from late December well into January, the Avs rocketed back into contention. Going into Wednesday, their 62 points had them in a three-team tie with Calgary and Anaheim for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West.

Then the road arrives. Seven of Colorado’s next nine games are on the road, including two key Central Division tilts, at St. Louis and at Winnipeg on Feb. 16.

The Avs are trying to survive MacKinnon’s absence, and Rantanen’s, at the exact point they wanted to start making a move in the standings.

“We have to expedite the process and improve as fast as we can,” Landeskog said. “That’s where character comes into it. It’s your will to be better than the other line, really.”

On Tuesday, Landeskog’s linemates to his right included rookie center Alexander Kerfoot and winger Colin Wilson. They combined for just three shots, and no points. The hole where MacKinnon normally excels was obvious. The Avs initially estimated he would miss 2-4 weeks, after a check against the boards Jan. 30 at Vancouver knocked him from the game.

“He has such tremendous speed through the neutral zone and he’ll find

ways to control the puck, attack defenseman,” Landeskog said of his missing linemate. “You don’t always have to be the one to drive the net. I

don’t think anybody in the National Hockey League has the speed with the puck that Nate does.”

Instead, Landeskog said his new line will have to bunker down to survive.

“Just stay with it,” he said. “As a line, you have to be reliable on both

ends and make sure you do the little things right, so even if you’re not having dominant shifts in the offensive zone, you still make sure you

have good habits and get pucks out and in.”

What the Avs need, coach Jared Bednar said, is to fill in MacKinnon’s production with new-found production across the roster. On Tuesday, that came from 19-year-old winger Tyson Jost, who scored a goal and added an assist.

“Good is not good enough when you’re missing some of your top guys,” Bednar said. “We need more than one player to step up. It’s not Jost stepping up to fill MacKinnon’s spot or Kerfoot. Everybody in this pack has to be better.”

Their timing, though, is difficult. The Avs have not won in St. Louis since

Dec. 13, 2015 and they are 1-6 against the Blues in the past two seasons, including two meetings this season — one an ugly 3-1 loss at

St. Louis on Jan. 25.

The Avs have 30 games remaining on their schedule, and the math of

playoff scenarios is too murky to see. But their formula is simple: If Colorado can survive without MacKinnon and learn to win more than it

loses on the road, the team could return to the playoffs for the first time since 2014 and just the second time since 2010.

“You need to elevate your game and take it to the next level,” Bednar said. “And hopefully when (injured players) come back, we can sustain that level, which makes us even better.”

Footnotes. Goaltender Jonathan Bernier, whose 38 saves starred in Tuesday’s victory, will start in net Thursday at St. Louis, Bednar said. Semyon Varlamov, who has played just once since returning from a groin and hip injury, will start Saturday at Carolina. … Rantanen will skate for the first time in his recovery Thursday, Bednar said. … MacKinnon’s

rehab work Wednesday did not include shooting, a possible indication the Avs are protecting his shoulder.

COLORADO AT ST. LOUIS, 6 p.m. Thursday, ALT, 950 AM

Spotlight on: Brayden Schenn. The first-year Blues center and NHL All-

Star has 21 goals, just five shy of his career-best, but hasn’t scored since he had a power-play goal in a 3-1 victory over the Avalanche on Jan. 25

at Scottrade Center. Schenn, 26, is with his third NHL team since being drafted by the Los Angeles Kings with the fifth selection of the 2009 draft.

The Kings traded him to the Philadelphia Flyers, along with Wayne Simmonds and a 2012 second round pick, for Mike Richards and Rob Bordson in a blockbuster deal during the 2011 offseason. After six seasons in Philadelphia, including the past two in which he scored 26 and 25 goals, respectively, he was traded to the Blues for forward Jori Lehtera, the No. 27 pick in the 2017 draft (center Morgan Frost) and a conditional 2018 pick.

NOTEBOOK

CAROLINA HURRICANES


Avalanche —The Blues are undefeated against the Avs at home over the past two seasons, going 6-1 against them overall. “Obviously, St. Louis has been a tough place to play,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said Wednesday. … Goaltender Jonathan Bernier, whose 38 saves starred in Tuesday’s victory, will start in net Thursday at St. Louis, Bednar said. Semyon Varlamov, who has played just once since returning from a groin and hip injury, will start Saturday at Carolina. … Rantanen will skate for the first time in his recovery on Thursday, Bednar said. … MacKinnon’s rehab work Wednesday did not include shooting, a possible indication the Avs are protecting his shoulder.

Blues — They scored the first goal Tuesday at home against Minnesota but allowed six unanswered goals and fell 6-2 to the Wild, which was

limited to just 20 shots. “Goalies stand on their head for two months, and then we do that to them,” Blues captain Alex Pietrangelo told reporters of

the shoddy defense in front of goalies Carter Hutton and Jake Allen. “Just disconnect all over the ice.” … St. Louis is 2-2 since defeating the

Avalanche at Scottrade Center 3-1 on Jan. 25. … The Blues went with seven defensemen and 11 forwards against Minnesota but blue-liner

Robert Bortuzzo ended up playing wing on a line with Kyle Brodziak and Scottie Upshall.

Denver Post: LOADED: 02.08.2018


The Morning After: Three stars, five takeaways from the Avalanche’s victory over San Jose

By MIKE CHAMBERS | PUBLISHED: February 7, 2018

Minus its top two scorers Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen, the Avalanche got a goal and an assist from rookie linemates Tyson Jost and J.T. Compher and 38 saves from Jonathan Bernier in a 3-1 win over the

San Jose Sharks at the Pepsi Center.

THREE STARS

Jonathan Bernier. Made 38 saves to extend his home winning streak to

eight games.

Tyson Jost. The rookie forward, 19, assisted and scored within the first

five minutes of the second period.

J.T. Compher. The rookie forward, 22, assisted on the Avs’ first goal and

scored the empty-netter in the final seconds.

WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED

In his postgame press conference, Avs coach Jared Bednar said first-line right winger Mikko Rantanen might practice Wednesday and could play

Thursday at St. Louis.

NEXT UP

At St. Louis, Thursday, 6 p.m. MT

FIVE TAKEAWAYS

Winning. Defeating a good team without two-thirds of your top line has to send positive shock waves throughout the team. This victory could be the defining moment of the season.

Home cookin’. The Avs won for the ninth consecutive time at home, a new club record. They were tied with the 2011-12 team with eight consecutive wins on home ice. The streak is the second-longest of its

kind in the NHL this season, behind the Washington Capitals, who won 10 in a row at home.

Killing it. Colorado was 2-for-2 in penalty killing and is now a sizzling and league-best 92 percent (79-for-86) on the PK at home.

First blood. The Avs have scored first in every game of their nine-game home winning streak and have never trailed. Overall, they are 25-4-2 when scoring first, tied for the second most wins in the

league behind Nashville’s 26.

Home cookin’ II. Colorado has produced 98 goals at home, second in the NHL behind Pittsburgh’s 100. The Avs’ 3.63 goals-per-game at home is second in the league to Winnipeg (3.80).

Jared Bednar live after 3-1 win over SjS https://t.co/neGyD4it5H

— Mike Chambers (@MikeChambers) February 7, 2018

Denver Post: LOADED: 02.08.2018


Paul Klee: Injuries? Psssh. Colorado Avalanche keeps on truckin' past San Jose Sharks

By: Paul Klee February 6, 2018

DENVER — They can’t keep this up. Can they?

The Avs, I mean. Did Joe Sakic trade Matt Duchene in return for nine lives? Because it’s right about now — in the midst of a brutal stretch of 13 out of 16 games on the road — the Avs were supposed to face their reckoning. Somebody forgot to deliver the memo. Shhhh. Don’t tell the boys in burgundy.

“It doesn't matter how many guys are out if you play the game the right way,” goaltending revelation Jonathan Bernier said after stopping 38

shots as the Avs beat the Sharks 3-1 before 13,349 rowdies at Pepsi Center.

It wasn’t enough the Avs sent their second-best player packing to Ottawa and got better — a ton better. It wasn’t enough they lost their top

goaltender, Semyon Varlamov — and won 10 straight games, two shy of the franchise record. Nope, they had to lose their best player, the electric Nathan MacKinnon, a real, live MVP candidate, for 2-4 weeks due to

injury. And then — see, we’re not done yet — they had to play Tuesday without Mikko Rantanen, the second-leading scorer. The Avs have

upper-body injuries, lower-body injuries, celestial body injuries, body shop injuries.

And they won again, because that’s what the Avs do at home. The most unlikely turnaround in the NHL bumped its home-ice record to 19-7-1,

one season after it won 13 home games total. I spotted MacKinnon and Rantanen cruising through the tunnel wearing snazzy suits and smiles to

match, no doubt because their teammates aren't sulking over the top line's sudden shakeup.

"Obviously losing Mikko and Nate is tough for our team," Tyson Jost said. "But that's part of hockey."

I know, I know. That’s a lot to soak in. But these Avs are a lot to soak in, no matter how long they stubbornly refuse to dip from the playoff picture and no matter how far this thing goes. Sometimes a team overcomes so much bad stuff that you just have to acknowledge the good stuff and enjoy it. The Avs, guided by even-keeled coach Jared Bednar, continue to bring the good stuff.

“We’ve done it time and time again with injuries,” Bednar said.

The good stuff this time was the ninth straight home win for the Avs. The

Avs and Nuggets are 41-14-1 here, a jarring stat given the losing culture

CAROLINA HURRICANES


that had stunk up Pepsi Center in recent years. The good stuff was a couple of teenagers connecting on the second goal. Jost is 19 and Sam Girard is 19, and collectively they put Sharks goalie Martin Jones in a compromising position with a sweet two-man game that ended with a 2-0 Avs lead.

Now here comes the fine print. Sorry, but there is fine print. The Avs motored around with lucky horseshoes in their skates, getting outshot 39-20 by the Sharks. Bednar called it "a shooting gallery" the last time the Avs played the Sharks, and this was more of the same. And their playoff push is about to get very difficult, even more difficult than it has been.

The rest of February shows only four more home games, and the rest of February might not include MacKinnon, the chief reason they’re in this

spot in the first place.

“You’ve got to find a way without them,” Bednar said, allowing zero

excuses.

Can the Avs keep this up? Here's an idea. Let's all forget to tell them they

can't.

Colorado Springs Gazette: LOADED: 02.08.2018

1097136 Los Angeles Kings

Paul LaDue’s power-play goal sparks Kings to victory over Oilers

By ROBERT MORALES | Orange County Register

LOS ANGELES — With a vital seven-game trip looming, the last thing the Kings wanted was to head out on a loss.

“We’re not looking past the game tomorrow before we go on the road because we have to take care of business at home,” Coach John Stevens said Tuesday, in reference to his team’s game against the visiting – and improving – Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday night.

It’s a good thing because the Oilers overcame a 2-0 deficit before Paul LaDue scored a go-ahead power-play goal at 14:33 of the third period, sparking the Kings to a 5-2 victory over Edmonton before a sellout crowd of 18,230 at Staples Center.

The Kings (29-19-5, 63 points) have moved into third place in the Pacific Division and have won five of seven since losing six in a row. A third-

place divisional finish guarantees a playoff spot.

Edmonton (23-25-4, 50 points), still recovering from an abysmal start to

its season, came in having gone 5-1-1 in its previous seven games.

It was goal No. 2 on the season for LaDue, a defenseman who was in

just his fourth game after being recalled from Ontario of the AHL.

“It felt unbelievable to get that goal and get the win,” LaDue said.

Alex Iafallo and Anze Kopitar scored empty-net goals to put the finishing touches on a victory the Kings almost had to have. It was No. 6 for Iafallo, No. 21 for Kopitar.

“Yeah, it’s huge,” LaDue said. “It’s huge motivation going into this road trip. It was an emotional win and that’s great for the guys.”

It didn’t take long for the Kings to get on the scoreboard. Kyle Clifford took a pass out of a faceoff and blasted one past Oilers goaltender Cam Talbot for a 1-0 lead just 1:10 into the game.

The assist went to Trevor Lewis. It was the second of the season for Clifford, who, like LaDue, did not downplay the enormity of the victory.

“Yeah, we wanted to get momentum going into this trip,” Clifford said. “We know how big it is and we’ve got seven games and we’re going to start with the one (Friday) in Florida.”

The Kings had two power-play opportunities in the period, but could not score. The second one came as a result of a fight between the Kings’ Christian Folin and Edmonton’s Jujhar Khaira. Khaira won the fight, but was also called for roughing, hence the power play.

The Kings took a 2-0 lead 58 seconds into the second period on Adrian Kempe’s 16th goal of the season. Drew Doughty stole a pass near mid-ice and fed it to Kempe. It was career assist No. 300 for Doughty as well

as his 400th point. Doughty added an assist on Iafallo’s goal.

That was one Swede-looking shot by Adrian Kempe to make it 2-0 ��

pic.twitter.com/mCpPcfXRMF

— LA Kings (@LAKings) February 8, 2018

Undaunted, Edmonton fought back.

Kevin Gravel was called for delay of game and the Oilers pulled within 2-1 on a power-play goal by Leon Draisaitl – his 14th – at 3:02 of the period.

Edmonton then tied the score on Connor McDavid’s 22nd goal of the season at 10:20. McDavid came down the right side and beat Kings goalie Darcy Kuemper, who came into the game with back-to-back shutouts and made 25 saves in this one.

McDavid on Monday had four goals and an assist in a victory over Tampa Bay, which leads the league in points with 75.

The Kings were out-shot 15-5 in the second period, and 18-11 through

the first two. The Kings out-shot the Oilers 28-27 overall.

Stevens intimated it was sort of a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde performance

by his team.

“The game kind of had a couple of different personalities, to be honest with you,” he said. “We got off to a good start and did a good job of getting pucks deep, getting pucks to the net. Then, the second period we kind of let them back in it there a little bit.”

But, Stevens said, “We wanted to take care of these two games and get points in the bank before we went out on the road and I thought the guys did a good job of getting that down here.”

The Kings were coming off a 6-0 victory over Arizona on Saturday at Staples Center.

It was the Kings’ 12th consecutive home-ice victory over Edmonton.

McDavid was asked about his team’s slow start.

“You know, we get that question all the time and we don’t know what it is,” he said. “Sometimes we’re great off the hop and sometimes we’re a

little bit sluggish. Obviously, tonight we weren’t great off the hop. But we found a way to get ourselves back in it. We just came up a little bit short

at the end.”

That’ll LaDue, Paul. That’ll LaDue. pic.twitter.com/3r4xljQ1M4

— LA Kings (@LAKings) February 8, 2018

Orange County Register: LOADED: 02.08.2018


Seven-game trip looms large for Kings

By ROBERT MORALES | February 7, 2018 at 7:50 PM

CAROLINA HURRICANES


LOS ANGELES — It’s good for the Kings that they play 15 of their final 22 regular-season games at Staples Center. First, they must deal with arguably their most important segment of the season – a seven-game trip that begins Friday at Florida.

The Kings were a point out of third place in the Pacific Division prior to taking on the visiting Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday night. With a third-place divisional finish comes a guaranteed playoff berth, so the last thing the Kings need is to come back from their trip several points out, then have to chase.

Defensemen Alec Martinez and Derek Forbort addressed the situation at practice Tuesday in El Segundo.

“Yeah, I mean, obviously this road trip is huge,” Martinez said. “Regardless of whether we were going on the road the next seven games

after tomorrow or if we were at home, or any other combination thereof, this is moving day. These points are really important this time of year.

“This is really where a true separation happens. We’ve gotta take a good focus. We’ve got a tough trip ahead, we’ve got a lot of tough opponents.”

The Kings will follow Friday’s game at Florida with games at Tampa Bay, Carolina, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Chicago and Winnipeg. Four of those teams (Florida, Carolina, Buffalo and Chicago) are currently out of playoff position in their respective divisions and conferences, but Tampa Bay leads the league in points with 75, Pittsburgh is in second place in the Metropolitan Division and Winnipeg leads the Central Division with 73 points.

Indeed, a tough task.

But the Kings do have a very respectable road record of 15-10-2, something noted by Forbort.

“We’ve been a pretty good road team all year, so I think we know what we have to do to win on the road and we know we’re more capable of

going into a building and winning,” he said. “We’ve just gotta kind of embrace the challenge.”

One thing Coach John Stevens doesn’t want is his players worrying about how other teams are doing, regardless of how many are trying to

make the postseason.

“The one thing we have tried to focus on is we need to take care of ourselves,” he said. “With the amount of teams that are fighting for playoff position in the division and the conference, unless you take care of yourself, it doesn’t matter.

“If you’re going to sit around and wait for help from other people, it’s not going to happen because there are too many people that are vying to get in. So bottom line for us is every game is important, conference games are almost as important as division games now.”

Calgary and the Ducks both had 62 points before Wednesday and were

tied for third in the Pacific. But the Kings had three games in hand on the Ducks and one on the Flames. After the six automatic postseason berths

– three each in the Pacific and Central divisions – the seventh and eighth spots will come from the two teams with the next-best records in the

Western Conference.

Dallas (66), Minnesota (63) and Colorado (62) – the fourth-, fifth- and

sixth-place teams in the Central – were all up on the Kings in that regard.

ICE CHIPS

When forward Dustin Brown scored a goal in Saturday’s 6-0 victory over Arizona, it was his first goal since Jan. 2, when he had two in a 5-0 victory at Edmonton. … Entering Wednesday, forward Anze Kopitar’s 55 points (20 goals, 35 assists) ranked 15th in the league. … Defenseman Drew Doughty continues to lead the league in time-on-ice at 27:05.

Orange County Register: LOADED: 02.08.2018


FEBRUARY 7: KUEMPER FIRST GOALTENDER OFF ICE, CARTER TO STAY IN LA FOR ROAD-TRIP

JOSH COOPER FEBRUARY 7, 2018

MORNING SKATE NOTES

Darcy Kuemper was the first goaltender off the ice at Kings morning skate Wednesday, which is the general ‘tell’ for the team’s starter.

The Kings take on the Edmonton Oilers, a team that has gone 5-1-1 in its last seven games, on Wednesday night at Staples Center at 7:30 p.m.

Kuemper has won three games in a row and picked up back-to-back shutouts. Jonathan Quick has lost seven of his last eight games, so it appears that Coach John Stevens is going with the hot hand. During this current stretch, Quick has an .874 save percentage. Before then, Quick had a .929 save percentage.

After practice Stevens was asked about the goaltenders and if he had a

plan on how to use them on the Kings’ upcoming seven-game road-trip and spoke about his general philosophy with his two current netminders

along with how he was thinking about using them on the trip.

“I think both our goalies, if you look at the body of work over the course of

the year, give us a chance to win almost every night,” he said. “Nobody’s penciled in tough. We’re going to worry about today first. Obviously when

there’s a back-to-back at the front end of the trip, there’s a back-to-back at the back end of the trip, there’s a two day break in there. We’ll

consider all that along with performances of late, past performance against opponents. There has been flu bugs going around so there’s lots of things to consider. As long as the guys are healthy, at the end of the day we’re going to need them both to be good players for us.”

The team’s lines were as follows …

Iafallo-Kopitar-Toffoli

Pearson-Kempe-Brown

Clifford-Mitchell-Lewis

Andreoff-Amadio-Brodzinski

Forbort-Doughty

Muzzin-LaDue

Gravel-Folin

Alec Martinez skated with the team for the third straight day, but was not part of the defensive rotation at morning skate. Stevens said Martinez was a game-time decision. Martinez missed the Kings’ last game with a lower-body injury suffered Feb. 1 against Nashville.

Nick Shore and Marian Gaborik stayed on the ice and did extra work

after practice, which would indicate they would not play, though Stevens said both players were “available.”

Stevens talked about how both players could use practice to make their cases to return to the lineup.

“That’s everybody. We look at practice and practices lately are really critical because you don’t get a lot of practice time moving forward,”

Stevens said. “We get paid to make those decisions and there’s 14 guys up front right now that are available to play. I think it’s our job not just to

make easy decisions. It’s to make decisions based on the makeup of your team, performance, team performance all that stuff and we don’t

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always make the right decision but we think about it so we’re going to need help from everybody and we’ve needed help from lots of defensemen this year. I think it’s probably eight or nine guys that have played on the back end and we need help from lots of guys up front at different times. Depth is important. If you look at February and March, I think depth will be really important. And I think it’s important when you don’t play is you use practices to really stay on top of your game, do the extra work necessary so when the opportunity comes to play again you’re ready to be a really good player.”

Notes

– Stevens said the current plan was for forward Jeff Carter to not be on the Kings’ upcoming seven-game road-trip. Carter was on the team’s last

trip – a two-game trip at Dallas and Nashville – but Stevens said that had more to do with the fact that it was the dad’s trip. Carter has been out

since October because of a cut to his left leg.

“I think probably the factor was it was the dad’s trip last time. So we

brought Jeff along thinking we’d get the work in and bringing (his) dad along, which we were happy about doing,” Stevens said. “I think his dad

looks forward to that trip and being a hockey guy. I think on this trip we really looked at it as a back-to-back on the front end, a back-to-back on the back end. We feel like it’s best for Jeff to stay here and continue that process here in hopes he can make big strides, and I think he has made strides lately but I think we can give him the attention he needs better when he’s here so the plan now is to leave him here throughout the trip.”

– Wednesday’s game is the Kings’ last before they embark on the aforementioned road-trip. Though the team has a cross-country flight Thursday to Sunrise, Fla., players are doing their best to not worry about the long trip.

“We’re not thinking about tomorrow’s flight. We’re just thinking about the game at hand,” defenseman Drew Doughty said. “Edmonton’s a really

good team. They have a lot of firepower and it’s a big, important game for us and we need to win it.”

Said forward Alex Iafallo, “No, I haven’t packed my bag. I have not packed my bag. I usually pack it after the game. We’re ready for tonight

and I’m excited to get it going.”

– Tonight’s game is Chinese Heritage Night presented by O.R.G. Packaging. The team will be wearing special warm-up jerseys before the game that will be auctioned off.

– Kings Equipment Assistant Bobby Halfacre will work his 1,000th game tonight. Congrats to him on the accomplishment!

– Our friend PumperNicholl looked into what happened to Doughty’s Snap Specs at the NHL All-Star Game.

– Former Kings broadcaster Bob Miller received a special Lifetime Achievement Award at the LA Sports Awards last night. Al Michaels

presented Miller with the award.

The. Greatest. Hockey. Announcer.

EVER. The legendary Bob Miller honored with Lifetime Achievement Award at #LASportsAwards | @LAKings | #GoKingsGo |

@LASportsAwards pic.twitter.com/zEjsnApx5Q

— FOX Sports West (@FoxSportsWest) February 7, 2018

LA Kings Insider: LOADED: 02.08.2018


STEVENS ON KEEPING MOMENTUM, STANDINGS, NOT LOOKING

AHEAD TO ROAD-TRIP

JOSH COOPER FEBRUARY 7, 2018

MORNING SKATE QUOTES

Below are quotes from Kings Coach John Stevens after the team’s morning skate in advance of its 7:30 p.m. game at Staples Center tonight

against the Edmonton Oilers.

On trying to have the same intensity as the last game:

I think the last three games are a reminder of how we need to play. We played the game the right way in Dallas, whether you win or lose it’s the

right way to play and you get the result you deserve and you play the way you can’t play in Nashville against a team that played really hard and played a really solid team game and the result was what we deserved. I thought (Saturday against Arizona) was a good bounce-back game for us against a division team and the same tonight. It’s a team that’s playing well right now. It’s got some confidence, top guys have really got it going so if nothing else it’s just a reminder of how we need to play and the

results that we’ve had recently when we play the game the right way.

On teams being bunched together in the standings:

I think there is every year. One thing that I can assure you is you’re not getting in the playoffs with 61 points so it doesn’t matter what everybody else is doing, we have to put points on the board ourselves and take care of our own business here. What’s going on right now is there are too many teams that are in contention so if you’re going to wait around and look for help, it really doesn’t matter what teams around you are doing. It matters what you’re doing, especially when you have games in the division and in the conference. [Reporter: You pegged 96 points to make the playoffs]: That’s what history tells us, but there has been times before where that wasn’t enough so this could be one of those years. I don’t

know. But you have to take care of business in the division and in the conference. I don’t think those games are as important, but they’re not far

behind.

On not looking ahead to tomorrow and starting the team’s seven-game

road-trip:

It’s not hard. I think you’re at home. You’re focusing on the home game.

We break the season down into small increments where there’s focus on each game, on our game and we have segments that we try to track, so it’s small picture instead of big picture, but if you take care of the small picture, the big picture will take care of itself. That road-trip is a section all on its own. We look at the start of the year, you have four big trips every year. You want to look at those trips and tackle those as their own little segment, but we focus on our two games at home before we head on the road. We have one in the bank and we have to take care of business on the other one before we worry about the road-trip.

On the recent play of Alex Iafallo and how he responded to being

scratched:

Well I just think it was the middle of the season. It was actually one of the

Edmonton games we were looking at that he didn’t play. You’re a young guy coming into a season – he had played big minutes for a young guy.

The schedule is entirely different than anything he has ever experienced before and we just felt like his game was always based on speed and

quickness and puck pursuit and we just thought his game just lacked the energy that was present when he was really playing well. We moved him

up and down our lineup and we thought about taking him out for a game. I think it was after the Vancouver game that we decided if we took him out for a game just talk to him about getting his energy back, really focusing on working back to pucks, really good puck pursuit guy and it’s all the little details in his game that make him a really good player and I

think the break helped him. That break, as well as the other breaks we’ve had along the way, really helped him get his energy back and play with

the tenacity that allows him to be a really good player. He’s not a big guy but he’s hard to play against just because he’s so tenacious on the puck. When the tenacity is in his game, it feeds the rest of his game because he ends up turning a lot of pucks over, he ends up with the puck a lot, he

CAROLINA HURRICANES


ends up challenging with his speed. We do think he has the ability to score and create some offense for us, but we trust him in a lot of situations. He looks more like that player now than he did mid-season.

On Iafallo saying he sees his position differently after being scratched:

I think he has done a good job of that all year. I think sometimes, and we’ve asked guys that don’t play, to be good students of the game. Don’t just sit out the game. Watch the game. Try and learn from it. It’s a challenge for our young guys learning the league, learning the players, learning the teams. That’s a big part of it but the other thing with Alex is I think there’s times if he works back to pucks and is available early, he’s

usually open but if he gets ahead of the play too soon trying to create space he ends up standing still and that’s probably the one telltale in his

game that we’ve tried to fix. He has been a lot better at that lately. But like I said, he had a really good first half of the season. I thought there

was a little dip around the holiday season, but I think the breaks have been good for him and I think he’s back to playing good hockey, good,

sound detailed hockey, which is what we expect.

On trying to stop Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid:

Just that time and space. I think a lot of his time and space is created on the rush so I think you really have to be aware of your positioning in the offensive zone. You have to be aware of line changes and he likes to get the puck underneath with speed and if you don’t recognize his speed coming underneath it’s too late so I just think you have to have a real awareness of where he is on the ice. I think you have to be a real responsive team in taking time and space out of the middle of the ice and if we can do that I think his o-zone time is set up from his rush play, but it’s easier said than done. Everyone knows who he is. Everyone’s aware of him. They have Draisaitl playing with him again. The chemistry is really

good but he can create even when you have five guys checking him. He has speed and quickness. He can turn on a dime. He’s a competitive guy and he plays a lot of minutes. We’re going to need everybody to be aware of him and really ready to compete against him.

On if the Oilers are a different team than the last time they played each other:

If you look at that game, it was a pretty tight game moving through that hockey game and we had that five minute power play we blew it open with three power play goals so I know we all like to look at analytics … analytically their record is better than what it shows.

Quotes on the goaltending rotation, Jeff Carter, Nick Shore and Marian Gaborik withheld for Morning Skate Notes.



FEBRUARY 7 POSTGAME NOTES

JOSH COOPERFEBRUARY 8, 2018

POSTGAME NOTES

– Wednesday’s 5-2 win marked the 12th consecutive win against the Oilers on home ice for the Kings. During that streak, the Kings have outscored the Oilers by a combined score of 57-21 (including one shootout win for the Kings). Edmonton’s last win in Los Angeles was on

Nov. 3, 2011. The 12 game streak is the longest home winning streak for the Kings against any team in the NHL in franchise history.

– Darcy Kuemper stopped 25-of-27 shots tonight. His first goal broke his career-long shutout streak and ended at 193:58. It marks the second

longest shutout streak in Kings history (Jonathan Quick has the longest

at 202:11, set in 2011). Over his last five appearances he has posted a .969 SV%, a 1.17 GAA and two shutouts. He has also posted an 9-1-4 record, earning points in 13 of his 14 decisions.

– Drew Doughty (0-2=2) tallied his 300th assist and 400th point of his NHL career on his first assist of the night. He is just the second Kings defensemen to reach those milestones (also Rob Blake).

– Anze Kopitar (1-1=2) tallied his second multi-point game in a row and has 17 points in the last 14 games (4-13=17). His goal was the 276th of his career, surpassing Butch Goring for fifth on the Kings all-time goals list.

– Paul LaDue (1-0=1) scored the second goal of his career (first PPG). Both of his career goals have been the game-winning goals).

– Adrian Kempe (1-0=1) scored his 16th goal of the season (tied for fifth among league rookies and tied for third on the team).

– Trevor Lewis (0-2=2) has 11 assists on the season. His 24 points are just one shy of his career high (25, 2014-15).

– Alex Iafallo (1-0=1) tallied his sixth goal of the season and has a goal in each of the last two games.

– Dustin Brown (0-1=1) recorded his 22nd assist of the season.

– Kyle Clifford (1-0=1) registered his second goal of the season.

– Kevin Gravel (0-1=1) tallied his third assist of the season and has

points in each of the last two games (0-2=2)



FEBRUARY 7 POSTGAME QUOTES: KUEMPER, LADUE, CLIFFORD


Darcy Kuemper on the second period:

I thought we did a good job defensively in our own zone. We got a bit

away from our gameplan and that’s why we spent more time down there and gave them a couple of power plays as a result of being in the D zone

for long stretches there. Unfortunately we gave up the lead but we were able to hold it at a tied game and come out in the third and get the win.

Kuemper on some of his bigger saves:

They made some good plays and I was just trying to compete the best I can and was fortunate to make a couple of saves at certain moments there and other than that the guys did a really good job of stopping those passes from getting through.

Kuemper on getting a win after a tough second period and the confidences it gives the Kings going on their upcoming road-trip:

To be able to go into the third tied and win in regulation, that’s huge. The

second power play unit stepped up real big there, (Paul LaDue) with a great shot, great screen in front. Then we didn’t really let them back in

their zone after that. Just a great team win tonight and great job bearing down in the third there.

Kuemper on if he was upset his shutout streak ended:

No, I wasn’t really thinking about that. I was just thinking about the two

points. We got off to a 2-0 lead and just wanted to try not to give them life and unfortunately they were able to tie it up but then we dug in there.

Kuemper on Connor McDavid’s goal:

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He kind of made me look silly there. I might have been cheating a little bit high glove and he made a good shot five-hole and made me look silly.

Kuemper on his relationship with Jonathan Quick the last couple of weeks with Kuemper starting more games:

It has been good all year. When he’s playing I’m supporting him and whenever I have chance to get in there he has done a great job of being there for me as well. So nothing has changed and I know it’s tough, going through myself not playing and he’s definitely not used to it but he’s been handling it like a real pro.

Kuemper on having the faith of the coaching staff:

It’s nice getting the chance to go out there and play. It’s always fun every game and it gives me a lot of confidence that they have the confidence to

keep putting me in there.

Paul LaDue on his goal:

It was unbelievable. It was a good play by (Gravel) and (Lewis) to get it over there and Tanner was in front of (Cam Talbot’s) eyes and he did a great job there but yeah, it felt unbelievable to get that goal and get the win.

LaDue on the second period:

They obviously gained some momentum in the second. We took a couple of penalties we shouldn’t have took but I thought we came out strong in

the third and we executed to our gameplan and it paid off.

LaDue on getting a win before the road-trip:

It’s huge, it’s huge motivation going into this road trip. It was an emotional win and that’s great for the guys.

LaDue on producing at the NHL level:

It has been great and we’ve been winning too and that’s the most

important thing. We just have to keep it rolling and hopefully get into this playoff spot at the end of this road-trip.

LaDue on Edmonton’s challenging his goal for goaltender interference:

I didn’t think it was a big deal. Pearson came over and told me he didn’t interfere at all so we weren’t too nervous, but there’s always a little bit of nerves when they’re going over it but I was pretty confident.

Kyle Clifford on the team’s focus going into this game:

Every game is different. They have a good club over there. They have a

lot of high-end players. They have a lot of players that are hard to play against and we just had to come out prepared to play.

Clifford on getting back on the winning track after last month’s losing streak:

I think we’re just playing our identity. We’re playing LA Kings hockey. We check hard, we get pucks to the net and we’re having fun doing it.

Clifford on his goal:

(Lewis) made a good play, he won the faceoff and you get pucks to the net and it’s as simple as that.

Clifford on the gameplan against Cam Talbot:

He’s a good goalie and you have to take his eyes away and pepper him.



FEBRUARY 7 POSTGAME QUOTES: JOHN STEVENS


POSTGAME QUOTES

On what impressed him about the effort:

The game kind of had a couple of different personalities to be honest with

you. I thought we got off to a good start and did a good job of getting pucks deep and getting pucks to the net and then in the second period

we kind of let them back in it there a little bit. I’m not sure if it was because they blocked a lot of shots, I think they’re good at that but we

just went away from shooting the hockey puck there. We had a 4-on-2 I think right before they scored their second goal so I think when you stop putting pucks to the net, you stop getting people to the net, and you don’t

put pucks at the net they usually end up in transition going the other way and I thought we got away from that a little bit but at the end of the day

we wanted to take care of these two games at home and get points in the bank before we went on the road and I thought the guys did a good job of

getting that done here so we’ll take, learn from it and try and get better on the road.

On needing two goaltenders to win consistently in the NHL:

I think you need two goaltenders and I think, in my opinion there’s been a lot of talk recently, both guys playing, especially the goalies because there’s only two of the them but the season has been extremely odd. If you look at the first 50 games we’ve had a four-day break for the All-Star break, you’ve had a three-day break for the Christmas break and you had a five-day break for the bye-week so with all these breaks in there you’re trying juggle time and keep guys sharp and get them in the net but from this point forward that’s where it’s really going to pay dividends so we think we have two goalies that we believe in a great deal and we have

two goalies that are capable of winning us hockey games and we’re going to need them both down the stretch.

On Paul LaDue’s confidence after scoring his second goal in his last three games:

I think Paulie’s game is beyond just the goal production. Both goals he scored he did a really good job of getting his feet around the puck,

moving and changing the angle and getting it through and I think it’s something that he’s really worked at. To his credit he went down to Ontario and to the people in Ontario, the development staff and Mike Stothers and his group. They really helped him better his game down there. He has come back a better player, a more confident player and he’s a guy, I think, that can help us at both ends of the rink so he’s playing the way we thought he could but he really, I think, went down with the right attitude and worked at his game and now he’s come back a better player. I think any player that scores gives you confidence but I think his confidence comes from the trust that he has in the coaches to get out there and play. I think he and (Muzzin) have played pretty well together and we’re going to need some balance on the back-end when we go on the road here so it was good to see.

On the posts the Oilers hit in the third period:

The post was a good friend of ours tonight. I thought they had some really good chances. (Lucic) hit a couple of posts. The one sequence I

think they hit at least two posts, so we’ll take it. I think sometimes if it weren’t for bad luck you’d have none at all so I think we had some luck there on those plays there but at the end of the day I thought the guys

dug in and did a good job there and got the ship righted and found a way to win a hockey game before we go on the road.

Spoke too soon. NOW call the cops for larceny by @dkuemps35. With a post and crossbar as accomplices. pic.twitter.com/gw1CyNB3Fd

— NHL GIFs (@NHLGIFs) February 8, 2018

On slowing Connor McDavid:

You know what, he’s tough. There’s a couple of guys in the league that I

think are extremely tough to defend. I think Crosby is one of those guys

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and I think he’s one of those guys. They have so many elements to the game. Speed and quickness and smarts and now that he’s playing with Draisaitl again they seem like they have really good chemistry. You try to take his time and space away, you try and limit his speed on the rush because I think it really sets up the rest of his game but it’s easier said than done. It seems like he can skate forever so he’ll extend his shifts sometimes and line changes, you really have to be aware when you get people on and off the ice because he can really capitalize on those situations, so he’s a great player and he’s certainly a difficult guy to defend. So give credit to the guy, I mean (Kopitar) and Drew especially,

they look forward to those types of challenges and I think they’re great players themselves. It’s kind of fun to watch, as a coach, to see great

players like that go at it and it was again tonight.

On winning consistently on the upcoming road trip:

I think our back-to-backs have been really good this year. I think this team works hard. Matt Price and (Chris Kingsley) and our staff does a

good job of managing their fatigue, so we have a tough travel day tomorrow but two big games on the road so we’re going to need

contributions from everybody, four lines and that’s 14 forwards. We’ve talked about that as well. We’ve got 14 healthy guys right now. We’re going to need all of them and we should have healthy defensemen getting on the road too, so we’re going to need to take advantage of all those guys but regardless of who’s in the lineup we need (inaudible) contributors playing a really good team game because we have some good teams in front of us.



FEBRUARY 7 SCORING CHANCES

JESSI MCDONALDFEBRUARY 7, 2018

STATISTICS

Scoring chances from previous games:

10/11 Kings 18, Flames 10

10/14 Kings 15, Sabres 13

10/15 Kings 12, Islanders 16

10/18 Kings 17, Canadiens 11

10/21 Kings 19, Blue Jackets 18

10/23 Kings 15, Maple Leafs 24

10/24 Kings 20, Senators 24

10/26 Kings 14, Canadiens 22

10/28 Kings 16, Bruins 13

10/30 Kings 12, Blues 12

11/2 Kings 13, Maple Leafs 18

11/4 Kings 14, Predators 11

11/7 Kings 16, Ducks 12

11/9 Kings 13, Lightning 14

11/12 Kings 14, Sharks 11

11/14 Kings 16, Canucks 17

11/16 Kings 8, Bruins 11

11/18 Kings 11, Panthers 11

11/19 Kings 10, Golden Knights 13

11/22 Kings 12, Jets 11

11/24 Kings 12, Coyotes 19


11/28 Kings 12, Red Wings 12

11/30 Kings 12, Capitals 13

12/1 Kings 17, Blues 15

12/3 Kings 7, Blackhawks 13

12/5 Kings 14, Wild 9

12/7 Kings 17, Senators 11

12/9 Kings 11, Hurricanes 20

12/12 Kings 8, Devils 10

12/15 Kings 11, Rangers 17

12/16 Kings 12, Islanders 15

12/18 Kings 15, Flyers 15

12/21 Kings 14, Avalanche 9


12/28 Kings 14, Golden Knights 18

12/30 Kings 15, Canucks 9

1/2 Kings 13, Oilers 13





1/18 Kings 15, Penguins 17


1/21 Kings 11, Rangers 11


1/30 Kings 16, Stars 12


2/3 Kings 20, Coyotes 13



FEBRUARY 7 POSTGAME QUOTES: EDMONTON

JESSI MCDONALDFEBRUARY 7, 2018

POSTGAME QUOTES

Todd McLellan, on if it’s difficult to lose after battling back to make it 2-2:

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Yeah it is. I thought we started a little bit slow. Obviously, getting scored on with that first shot on the faceoff loss wasn’t something we planned or wanted. Been through that scenario too many times this season. And then after that where penalty kill did it’s job in the first, but we weren’t able to create any offensive time because of that. I thought in the second we did a much better job. In the third, it was anybody’s game. We had a couple really close calls at the other end—post-to-post, crossbar, and then reached the post again. So we got offense from a couple of our big guys and the secondary stuff is close, but it’s not going in. And that’s something we’ve got to fix.

McLellan, on what he saw when looking at the replay of the Kings’ game-winning goal:

I was hoping that we would’ve been playing this game two weeks ago because I think it would’ve been different. But we made the call, we took

a chance, and obviously it went against us. So nothing we can do about that.

McLellan, on not being able to come back from 2-0 deficits all of the time:

No. That’s a very clear, evident point. I could agree with you obviously,

but that’s all I’m doing is agreeing with you. It doesn’t help us when we give up the goal on the first shot. You know, a faceoff loss, a screened shot–that happens and maybe it can happen tonight, but it just can’t happen as many times as it’s happened in the season. So you’re point is real clear. I’m not sure how to answer that, but I did.

Connor McDavid, on why the team has been having such slow starts:

You know, we get that question all the time. We don’t know what it is–sometimes we’re great off the hop, sometimes we’re a little bit sluggish. Obviously we weren’t great tonight, but we found a way to get ourselves back in it like you said, and just came up a little short in the end.

McDavid, on gaining momentum from the power play:

Yep, that’s what the power play needs to do is always be a momentum

swing for us. Whether you’re scoring or not, you need to get your chances and create that momentum, like I said.

McDavid, on his goal:

I was just a little bit late on the play. Obviously just getting up and saw

the puck was coming back up and just tried to get my shot on net.

McDavid, on whether the team will throw this game out and focus on the next:

One hundred percent, yeah. On to the next. That’s all you can do.

Leon Draisaitl, on what he thought led to the loss:

Well, I mean we weren’t ready for it. Obviously they’re big bodies and they put a lot of pressure on you starting in our d-zone, so maybe we

weren’t quite ready for that.

Draisaitl, on what the team needs to do to avoid playing from behind:

Yeah, just better starts. I think that you know, obviously we’ve had that problem a lot where we’re just kind of chasing the game. It shows the character that we come back, but too bad we couldn’t close it out.

Draisaitl, on whether the team has been able to draw energy from the power play:

Yeah. I think that you know we’ve been working on it and it hasn’t been as good as we want it to be this year. So you know, it’s time for the power play to step up and the last two games have been pretty productive.

Draisaitl, on moving forward:

You know, we can still come out with a good road trip. Obviously we knew coming into this road trip, it’s going to be three hard games. Too

bad we couldn’t get the first one, but we have to make sure we’re ready for the next two.


1097221 Websites

The Athletic / Why trading Max Pacioretty is a must for Canadiens

By Tyler Dellow 18 hours ago

One of the ongoing storylines of this Montreal Canadiens season has

been what happens with Max Pacioretty. With Montreal going nowhere and Pacioretty's contract expiring after his age 30 season in 2019, his future has been a staple of Hockey Night in Canada's second intermission feature since about December. Given the state of the Canadiens and Pacioretty's age and contract status, trading him makes a lot of sense. Contending teams should be prepared to pay a steep price though.

All numbers in the analysis that follows are at 5-on-5. This isn't because his 5-on-4 production is unimportant but it's not why a team pays a player like Pacioretty. He's fine at 5-on-4. At 5-on-5, he's been a player who

changes the game for a long time. A team paying him should primarily care about how he'll impact the game at 5-on-5.

The first step in this argument is understanding that there's a considerable amount of risk attached to signing Pacioretty beyond 2018-

19. In order to illustrate this point, I identified a group of forwards who played at least 3,000 5-on-5 minutes between ages 26 and 29 since

2007-08. I then filtered the group to contain only players meeting the following criteria:

Essentially, the intention here is to create a group of players like Pacioretty in order to see what their future looked like in the hopes of shedding some light on Pacioretty future as he heads into his 30s. The end result was a group of 14 players that includes Pacioretty. Like Pacioretty, this group was all largely players who'd had phenomenal careers through their twenties. The group consists of:

Rick Nash

Henrik Zetterberg

Max Pacioretty

Patrick Sharp

Daniel Sedin

Marian Gaborik

Jason Pominville

Patrice Bergeron

Vincent Lecavalier

Corey Perry

Brad Marchand

Alex Steen

Alexei Ponikarovsky

Patrick Kane

There's a lot of players who've won a lot of things in this group: Stanley

Cups, Hart Trophies, Art Ross Trophies, Selke Trophies, Olympic gold medals…it's a hell of a group. There might be seven or eight Hall of

Famers in it.

Pacioretty, Marchand and Kane haven't hit 31 yet, so we don't have any

data for what happened to them at that point. Things haven't been as

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rosy for the other eleven players in that group since they turned 31 though.

Ponikarovsky is probably the least accomplished member of this group. From age 26-29, he played 3423.98 minutes, taking 8.9 shots/60 and scoring 1.0 G/60 and 1.94 P/60. He played just 1559.70 minutes over four seasons after turning 31, taking 7.1 shots/60 and scoring 0.54 G/60 and 1.27 P/60.

Bergeron is in his age 32 season but still an absolute star with value beyond his offensive numbers. His dropoff has been minimal to date. Between 26 and 29, he played 4853.50 minutes, taking 9.5 shots/60 and

scoring 0.9 G/60 and 1.93 P/60. Since turning 31, he's actually shooting more, taking 11.9 shots per 60. His scoring is off a little bit, with 0.82

G/60 and 1.71 P/60.

Perry is also in his age 32 season. He hasn't aged as well as Bergeron,

going from 9.1 shots per 60 to 7.7 shots/60. His goal scoring has fallen from 1.18 G/60 to 0.63 G/60 and his points have fallen from 2.01 P/60 to

1.50 P/60.

Nash is in his age 33 season. From 26-29, he reminds me of a slightly

more productive Pacioretty in some ways. He played 4703.43 minutes, taking 12.6 shots/60 and scoring 1.33 G/60 and scoring 2.14 P/6o. Since turning 31, he's taking 10.5 shots/60, scoring 0.89 G/60 and 1.73 P/60 in 2215.67 minutes.

Steen is in his age 33 season. From 26-29, he took 8.9 shots/60, scoring 1.0 G/60 and 1.94 P/60 in 4155.62 minutes. Since turning 31, he's played 2610.37 minutes, taking 6.0 shots/60, scoring 0.57 G/60 and 1.3 P/60.

Gaborik is currently in his age 36 season and illustrates another problem with players in their 30s: he has a hard time staying on the ice. From 26-29, he played 4159.25 minutes, taking 9.7 shots/60, scoring 1.21 G/60

and 2.01 P/60. Since turning 31, he's played just 3183.22 minutes spread over six years. He's taken 8.7 shots per 60 in that time, scoring 0.79 G/60

and 1.49 P/60.

Lecavalier is probably the best example of the dangers that come with

players in their 30s. From 26-29, he played 4317.60 minutes, shooting 9.5 times per 60 minutes. He scored 0.96 G/60 and 1.94 P/60. From 31

onwards, he played 3406.67 minutes over a period of six years, averaging 6.7 S/60 and scoring just 0.65 G/60 and 1.64 P/60. He was bought out of his first contract covering this period and signed a second one that he couldn't cover either and had to agree to retire after the season in order to get a trade and one final shot at regular playing time.

Sharp is one of the few who's managed to continue to generate a lot of shots, although his scoring has dissipated. From 26-29, he took 10.2 shots/60, scoring 1.10 G/60 and 2.02 P/60 in 4915.55 minutes. Since turning 31, he's played 4651.02 minutes, taking 10.3 shots/60 and scoring 0.70 G/60 and 1.67 P/60.

Pominville is one of the better aging players on the list. From 26-29, he played 4655.05 minutes, taking 9.5 shots/60 and scoring 0.85 G/60 and

1.93 P/60. Since turning 31, he's played 4836.58 minutes, taking 8.9 shots/60 and scoring 0.77 G/60 and 1.66 P/60.

Sedin is a shadow of the player he was in his late twenties. From 26-29, he took 9.8 shots per 60, scoring 1.12 G/60 and 2.57 P/60 in 4165.8

minutes. Since turning 31, he's played 6731.45 minutes, taking 8.9 shots/60 and scoring 0.69 G/60 and 1.63 P/60.

Like Sedin, Zetterberg is in his age 37 season. From 26-29, he took 11.7 shots per 60 and scored 0.87 G/60 while posting 2.02 P/60 in 4339.22 minutes. Since turning 31, he's played 6935.83 minutes, scoring 0.63 G/60 and 1.68 P/60 and taking 8.0 shots/60.

Time is undefeated.

This is kind of a funny group with five of the players in their age 33 or younger season and six of them in their age 35 or older season. With the older group, it's probably worth looking at when, exactly they went off the edge.

Gaborik had his last big season at 31. He's in the midst of his best season since then, scoring 1.66 P/60, despite his shot numbers collapsing, which suggests that it's a bit of a fluke year. Lecavalier had his last big 5-on-5 year at 32. The same is true of Sharp. Pominville's numbers were sort of in a steady decline from 29 through 33, but a huge season last year at 34 got him traded to the Sabres. Where he's had a terrible year.

Sedin's last really good year was at 32. He had two nice bounce back years after a dreadful age 33 season but his last two years have seen him post really bad numbers. Zetterberg had a down age 32 year

followed by a fine age 33 season. Two of his last four years have seen him post awful 5-on-5 points numbers. His age 36 season was

respectable but 37 hasn't been very good.

Through his age 29 season, Pacioretty is like all of these players. He's

played 4060.87 minutes, scoring 0.99 G/60 and 1.83 P/60. If you look at the historical data for similar players over the last decade though, it's

hard to have any confidence that he'll be this player beyond 33 and the big decline might start even earlier. My look here is very much a back-of-

the-envelope one but it's hard to imagine a more sophisticated look coming to a conclusion that's much different.

This creates a situation where it's basically unimaginable that it would make any sense for Montreal to sign him. Friend of The Athletic and modeller of free agent salaries Matt Cane estimated the likely salary that Pacioretty will command as a free agent. If Pacioretty was a free agent this summer, Cane estimates he would command a salary of $7.2-million on a five-year deal. His estimate for next year, assuming similar production, is only slightly lower.

The Canadiens don't feel like they're particularly close to a Stanley Cup

at the moment. With their current state, a deal like Cane's model suggests Pacioretty will get and what the data tells us about Pacioretty's performance, it's hard to see the point of an extension for Montreal. The Canadiens' need to replenish their top six forwards and, barring a stunning coup like John Tavares coming to Montreal on July 1, the time frame for that doesn't seem to coincide with Pacioretty's remaining time frame as an elite player.

All of this basically amounts to a suggestion that signing high-end players in their early thirties to deals of significant length is guaranteeing yourself

a disaster unless you're extremely close to a Stanley Cup and the player you've signed can get you there. I pretty much believe that this is the

case. One of the big stories in Major League Baseball over the winter has been the collapse of the free agent market and Colleague Rosenthal has

repeatedly suggested that baseball teams studying aging curves and coming to similar conclusions has played a big part in that.

The NHL will, at some point, collectively reach the same conclusion.

Which isn't to say that Pacioretty shouldn't be seen as extraordinarily valuable to teams that are chasing the Cup at the moment. One of the remarkable things about his production in Montreal is that he's rarely played with elite players but the Canadiens have produced a lot of offence with him on the ice. This is a bit of a boon for a team interested in acquiring him because it suggests that he can be the guy who drives a line.

Pacioretty strikes me as someone in whom teams that have two really good lines but a third line that struggles should be interested. If he can

drag a third line to respectability — not that he's a third line player but teams that are looking to compete want to have that third line that create

matchup problems — he could make a difference. Looking through the numbers, a few teams stick out, of which Nashville, St. Louis and Calgary

probably make the most sense. Columbus might make sense too, although it's a little more difficult to see the Blue Jackets as a plausible

Cup contender and they've been drifting for a while now.

What should those teams be willing to give up to get him, assuming that they think he's a fit and they're legitimate Cup contenders? Well, flags fly forever. In Nashville's case, their window is probably open for a while. If

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you scroll down the list of Predators' leading scorers, you don't find someone over 28 until you hit Scott Hartnell, in 13th place.

St. Louis is in a somewhat different position, with Paul Stastny now 33 and looking at free agency in July. Steen is on the downslope of his career too, as is discussed above. Vladimir Tarasenko is the real driver in St. Louis and he's not old but he only has so many years as an elite player and waiting for a someday that never comes might burn the Blues.

Calgary's particularly intriguing to me in that it would enable the Flames to experiment with a lot of things with their roster to try and find three lines that can bury the opposition. He could bump Matt Tkachuk to

Calgary's third line to try and make more of a threat without even requiring a rebranding of the second line. Calgary's like St. Louis in that

they've got a bit of a clock on what they're doing; in their case, it's Mark Giordano rather than aging top six forwards.

As far as a price for Pacioretty, a first-round pick for a rental of his calibre is pretty standard. If you're getting him for two years at a great price, as

any suitor would be, one would think that the price would start at a pair of first-round picks or prospects of equivalent value. Hockey Night in

Canada has discussed Montreal wanting, essentially, a 21-year-old Max Pacioretty but it's impossible to imagine that they'll get that. They should do well in the deal though, given the impact that a player like Pacioretty can have on teams that could contend for a Stanley Cup with a third line that can beat the opposition's third line.

Assuming they get a respectable offer, Montreal basically has to make this trade. Pacioretty isn't helping them win the Stanley Cup next year, he'll be objectively worth less at the 2019 trade deadline and extending him seems indefensible. Montreal needs a real reset (if not a rebuild) and this is where it should start.


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The Athletic / Before the pros: An oral history of the 1994 U.S. Olympic Hockey team, Part 1

Max Bultman 19 hours ago

In a matter of days, the 2018 U.S. Olympic men's hockey team will begin the tournament in Pyeongchang, South Korea, without a single active

NHL player in the traveling party.

Last April, the NHL announced it would not send players to the Games,

unwilling to shut the league down for two weeks during this Olympic cycle.

It's a divisive change after NHL stars ruled the past five Winter Olympics, blending the elite skill of the world's best players with the passion and patriotism of the Games. In 1994, though, the process to participate in the Olympic hockey tournament was drastically different: No one on an NHL roster was allowed to play, and prep work included a six-month national team tour that took the players across continents before culminating at the Lillehammer Games in Norway.

That tour included games against NHL competition, white-knuckled plane rides and a soul-searching trip to a famed battleground – and that's before the tournament even began.

This is the story of the 1994 Olympic journey for Team USA, through the memories of those whose who lived it.

Garth Snow, goalie: “We were based out of Cromwell, Connecticut, because Tim Taylor was our coach, and he was obviously the coach at

Yale for a number of years, and it was in close proximity to where he lives. So we trained out of Cromwell.”

Todd Marchant, forward: “We all lived in the Holiday Inn at the end of the street.”

John Lilley, forward: “I think we started in June with a huge pool (of players), and they had a couple different tryout groups and they kind of cut guys as we went.”

Travis Richards, defenseman: “You found out who made it in a room by just reading names off.”

Lilley: “I remember sitting in the room in August when they started calling names and getting my name called. It was an amazing experience.”

Barry Richter, defenseman: “It’s a little bit of a relief. But then the work starts.”

Chris Imes, defenseman: “After they picked the final 25, then we did the pre-Olympic tour, kind of all around the world.”

Mike Dunham, goalie: “Once the team was announced we headed right over to Europe … for a couple tournaments to be able to bond and get to know each other and kind of start that tour that I think we were all looking forward to.”

Marchant: “We were all over the place. We played American League teams, we played college teams, we played NHL teams, we played

European teams. We definitely were frequent fliers and travelers.”

Dunham: “We basically lived out of a suitcase.”

Joe Bertagna, assistant GM: “Tim had a desire to play in as many large rinks as he could, large ice surfaces, to properly prepare for the games.”

Darby Hendrickson, forward: “We played Canada a lot. We went to Russia. We actually went to Lillehammer earlier in the year before the

Olympics.”

Dunham: “I think that was the last year that USA (men’s) Hockey and the Olympics did that, where you started in August and you toured all year trying to peak in February.”

Lilley: “We had the world in front of us, and we were all just happy every day, just excited to go to the rink. There’s not a lot of bad days when you’re 20-21 years old and you’re working to get to the Olympics.”

Chris Ferraro, forward: “We did have a very long trip to Alaska. We were

playing in a tournament there, an exhibition tournament against Team Canada, and it was beautiful. We had the opportunity to go on a cruise

and did things that people pay thousands and thousands of dollars (to do), and we’re there to play hockey and get the opportunity to see

Alaska.”

Lilley: “I think we played a Russian team, and then we played a senior,

like an Alaskan senior A team.”

Chris Ferraro: “On the flight home (from Alaska), I’m feeling a little funny.

It was like a nine-hour flight, I don’t even know. Something along those lines, and it was direct. So I slept the whole way. The whole entire way. … Next morning, I wake up, my alarm goes off. Worse than I have ever felt in my entire life. I felt like I got hit by a bus, it backed up and ran me over, and ran me over 17 times.

Lilley: “I wasn’t feeling well. I got back and went to the trainer, and I said I didn’t feel well. Chris didn’t feel well, (so) we went to the doctor, same time, (and) we both get tested for mono.

Chris Ferraro: “Initially (the trainer called and) said John had (mono), and I was like, ‘Whew, thank God it’s not me.’ ”

Lilley: “I remember hanging up the phone going, 'I’m done.' Like, I can’t afford to have mono. I’m probably a bubble guy as it is. And then, sure

enough, he called me back and said, basically, ‘Whoops. No, it’s Chris Ferraro.’”

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Chris Ferraro: “They called me back and said, ‘You know, we made a mistake, it’s actually you that has it.’ And I’m like, ‘Well, that actually makes more sense the way I feel.’”

Lilley: “I certainly felt terrible for Chris. Because two seconds before that my heart was on the ground.”

Chris Ferraro: “So from there they gave me three weeks off completely to do nothing.”

Imes: “We went to play the Detroit Red Wings in Joe Louis Arena, and I

started that game with Brett Hauer, and their starting lineup was (Steve) Yzerman, (Dino) Ciccarelli, (Sergei) Fedorov, (Paul) Coffey and (Nicklas) Lidstrom, so I was pretty intimidated.”

Jeff Lazaro, forward: “The rule was if you were on an NHL roster, you could not play in the Olympics. So if you were sent to the minors, and you were playing in AAA or AHL or IHL team, you qualified to play in the Olympics, because you weren’t considered an NHL player.”

Marchant: “It was hard because we had a group of guys that made the team and then went to their NHL teams for training camp — because they were seniors and were looking to sign contracts and had a chance to go to NHL training camp. So I remember the team losing a bunch of guys. We lost Derek Plante to Buffalo … Jim Storm to Hartford. … We played the Hartford Whalers in Hartford, and after the game, the Whalers signed (Storm) and said, ‘We’re putting him in our lineup,’ and Jim left our team.”

Barry Richter in the 1994 Olympics. (Clive Brunskill/ALLSPORT)

Ron DeGregorio, manager: “Timmy and (associate coach John Cunniff) were, in a way — I don’t mean to call them the odd couple in terms of the characters — but they were the odd couple in that Timmy, his family was

ultra-rich, and John’s family was not. John’s family came from South Boston, the docks, et cetera. Went to school. Was phenomenal at school.

… Tim obviously came from the owners of the Boston Globe, but he walked away from that.”

Jack Barzee, longtime scout, friend of Taylor’s: “(Taylor) knew he could make a difference by coaching.”

Brett Hauer, defenseman: “Hockey was his passion. It was everything to him. He was a disciplined coach. He was very driven, he thought about hockey all day long, constantly wanted to improve. He cared about us. He wanted us to do well, obviously.”

Matt Martin, defenseman: “We always used to joke that his dream vacation would be watching Finland in Vierumaki run practices.”

David Sacco, forward: “John was – even though he was intense more, he was kind of quiet until he had that snap factor – and then it was pretty interesting to be around. He could get after you. … Tim was more the quiet leader, but both guys worked their butt off on that tour and gave us

everything we needed to be successful.”

Lilley: “Those guys were huge influences on my hockey career and just

how I try to be every day. Like, they were great, great guys.”

Richards: “Every day, (Taylor) was like, ‘Hey, guys, this is a day for us to

get better. Don’t waste it.’ He said that from August to February. ‘Here’s a day for us to get better. Don’t waste it.’ ”

Peter Laviolette, defenseman: “It was one of my first meetings with him and we had to drive somewhere, so we jumped into his old pickup truck,

and he had one of those suction-cup notepads suctioned to his window with the pen on his seat. And he just wrote something down, started talking about a forecheck, or asking a question about something. Just a guy that wanted to talk hockey and was the right guy for the job to try and bring a group together.”

Richards: “A month in we’re all best friends and a very cohesive unit.”

Lilley: “One of the big (tournaments) we went to was the Izvestia tournament in Russia right before Christmas.”

Hendrickson: “Everywhere we went was commercial flights.”

Chris Ferraro: “We were traveling back to JFK airport, and when we were arriving at JFK, they were just taking our luggage and they were putting it right onto the plane that was heading to Russia. So me, I packed my passport in my baggage down below. So what did that mean? That meant that they had to take my luggage off of that plane, bring it off for me to get my passport to get onto the plane to Russia. So as they did that, my whole team took off and left without me.”

Richter: “It was the worst flight I’ve ever been on.”

Jeff Lazaro: “We arrived in a snowstorm, and everybody’s taking these —

not sleeping pills, but help you sleep medicine, or whatever it was, because we’re on that long flight. And I just remember someone saying,

‘Hey, wake up, we’re landing in a blizzard.’ And I said, ‘Well, when we get on the ground, just wake me up.’”

Hauer: “As we were landing, the pilot all of the sudden pulled up and (went) full throttle to take off again.”

Lazaro: “I remember hitting the ground, and then the plane going back up. And I’m like, ‘Oh, no. What’s going on?’”

Hendrickson: “It was a Russian plane, and it was a Russian pilot, that spoke Russian, which we had no idea what he was saying. And then there was a translation that with the blizzard and all the turbulence we were going through, there was something related to fuel. We were in a bit of a crunch with that, whether we could turn around and find another spot or get out of the blizzard, it was unknown.”

Richter: “I remember him coming on the radio in broken English saying that he’s never really experienced this before — never really experienced

this type of weather before. It wasn’t really too comforting.”

Hendrickson: “I just remember looking around and seeing three or four

guys’ faces were white. And there was definitely fear in their eyes.”

Lilley: “I was sitting next to John Cunniff … I’m as nervous as can be and

he’s talking to me about hockey, and there’s so much noise from the whatever. I didn’t hear a word he said. I just kept saying, ‘Yes. Yep. Yes,’

and agreeing with him. I don’t even think he knew there was weather going on, because he was so passionate about hockey and he was telling me stories about hockey in Boston in the '60s and different things.”

Marchant: “I can’t remember exactly how many times we tried to land, I think it was two or three, and finally the pilot was like, ‘Well, we’ve gotta make a go.’ And so we ended up landing, but it wasn’t very smooth.”

Chris Ferraro: “As my whole team flew there, I stayed behind at JFK airport (and) waited for the next flight to leave (for) Russia, which was maybe eight hours later, 10 hours later. So now here I am, flying to Russia for the first time in my life by myself, as my whole team already

left.

“As we’re landing, I’m looking out the window and I just see this blizzard,

and I’m like, ‘We’re going down,’ … and then all of the sudden, boom. We lift up. And I’m getting nervous here, because I’m on a plane by

myself, I’m, I don’t know, 19 years old or whatever I was. … It took an hour to finally land.”

Dunham: “I remember the hotel. We stayed right at Red Square there, and the hotel — all the corners of the rooms had little holes in the walls

because you knew that’s where the rats or mice were running in and out.”

Chris Ferraro: “Right when I got there and I got to the hotel and met up with the guys, I just told them my story and they’re like, ‘Psh, same thing here.’ ”

Lazaro: “Walking through and seeing the Kremlin, and seeing those buildings and architects, and the mall and saying, ‘Wow, this is beautiful.’ But then you see outside of it, and you see the poverty and the kids begging on the streets for rubles. You felt for the people.”

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Imes: “Communism (had) just (fallen) in Russia.”

Richter: “You had your USA gear on, and when you’d go outside the hotel — I mean one dollar was almost like a thousand dollars to kids. And they’d almost hang on your arms and legs when you came out and want to trade things for U.S. currency. So it was definitely different.”

Beaufait: “The one thing I kind of took from that tournament was just being thankful for what I had, just being over there, the difference in the food and the living conditions. What we had at home and what I was thankful for growing up and living in our country.”

Tim Taylor and John Cunniff headed Team USA behind the bench.

(Courtesy of Joe Bertagna)

Hauer: “We played a very, very strong tournament. And I remember

going home for Christmas after that and just saying, ‘Hey, we played awesome. We’ve got a couple months left 'til the Olympics, we’ve got a

really big shot.’ It was a really exciting time, I remember that.”

Peter Ferraro: “Now all of the sudden you’re kind of like, ‘We have some

momentum here.’”

Lilley: “We were all young, somewhat naive, all just making the same amount of money — a stipend from USA Hockey — and just playing for the love of the game and playing to represent the country. And in the back of our heads, probably most of us, with the hope we could be like the ‘80 team.”

Hauer: “Everybody, obviously, when you knew what happened in 1980, I think you knew that you were going to be compared.”

Hendrickson: “The whole tour, they always ask you about the ’80 team, and nobody’s the ‘80 team. That was its own time.”

Peter Ciavaglia, forward: “I remember, obviously as a kid, watching the ’80 team. I was 11 or 12 at the time. That was a big inspiration to want to

actually play in the Olympics, personally.”

Martin: “The ‘80 team was always on my wall.”

Richter: “I grew up with Bob Suter and Mark Johnson winning the gold medal (in) 1980. They were Badgers here in Madison, Wisconsin. Miracle on Ice. And to have us, a bunch of college players, that was the dream to try to come back with a medal. … Bobby was my coach, and God rest his soul — he’s passed away — but I used to work at his store, and he would just have his gold medal hanging on the mantle.

Hauer: “For me, it started — I lived across the street, when I was growing up, from Mike Ramsey … and so I remember when he came back, and I saw his gold medal.”

Dunham: “I grew up in upstate New York, so I got to go play in a tournament in Lake Placid a month after the Olympics, so for me it was right there in front of me.”

Richter: “It really just resonated with America at the time. Just a bunch of

college kids playing.”

Peter Ferraro: “I felt like that was history that no one will ever touch, what they went through and how they performed. That was something that was — for them, those guys, the '80 guys — that was forever. But if we could kind of get close to that, how lucky would we be?”

Snow: “It obviously was a goal to win the gold. We knew we weren’t favored, but I think the media — probably rightfully so — turns it into such a big spectacle that you get caught up in expectations, and we expected to win the gold.”

As the tour wound down, Team USA looked strong. After a successful showing in Moscow, the Americans came back to the states for a few

games against AHL and NHL competition, then took three of four from Team Canada. But the roster wasn’t yet set in stone.

Imes: “They had the roster down to 25, and it’s probably very similar to the way Herb Brooks did it in 1980, and then they narrowed it down to 23, like on Feb. 1.”

Chris Ferraro: “After recovering from a tough illness, then coming back and my role was kind of stripped — I was fighting the mental, physical battle, which was tough because of the way I tried out and just how well things had started off.”

Peter Ferraro: “He was playing sick. He was grinding through it. Obviously, everybody knew.”

Chris Ferraro: After I would say like six, seven weeks, eight weeks —

(my brother's) like, ‘Listen, you don’t look good, man. You look really bad out there.’ And I’m like, ‘What do you mean?’ And then I saw video of

myself and I’m like, ‘(Oh) man, he’s right.’ I just, I was pushing and pushing and pushing and I’m trying so hard, but I was going nowhere. It

was like I was skating in mud. … I was just like, ‘Wow, I don’t have it.’”

Lilley: “He just never recovered.”

Peter Ferraro: “He couldn’t perform at the level he and the group needed, so obviously they basically, in a very respectful manner, said: ‘Hey,

listen, we’ve just gotta replace you if you’re not well. Because we’ve got guys who are 100 percent.’”

Chris Ferraro: “They had to do what they had to do to put the very best team on the ice. … I was obviously extremely disappointed, but at the same time understanding because I wasn’t playing up to the level. I couldn’t argue it.

Marchant: “We knew it wasn’t going to be an easy decision for the coaching staff, having to cut a brother, a twin, who had been with us for most of the year.”

Bertagna: “(The Ferraros) were inseparable. Tim would make room lists

and keep them away from each other, and they would trade room keys with other people so they would always end up in the same room.”

Art Berglund, USA Hockey Director: “You don’t break up twins.”

Hendrickson: “I give Chris a lot of credit. He actually came over to the

Olympics to support our team and his brother, which I thought was pretty awesome based on it not working out for him personally. And he still had

a great attitude. It’s something I’ll always remember and respect about him.”

On the way to Lillehammer, the team stopped at the pre-Olympic tournament in France, where they had one final memorable experience before the games.

Lazaro: “Coach Taylor and the rest of the staff rented a bus for us to go to Normandy. Because it was coming up on the 50th year, I think (1994) was going to be the big 50-year celebration for the people that stormed the beach.”

Snow: “It hit us like a two-by-four when our bus pulled up and you saw all

the crosses as far as the eye could see.”

Dunham: “It was a history lesson in person.”

Marchant: “You couldn’t fathom that these soldiers were getting off of these boats and having to try and get onto the beach, and then get up the hill while there were German soldiers with machine guns just ripping bullets at them.”

David Roberts, forward: “Actually, when we got there, it was low tide. So we got a real good example of what they had to get across on their way to the shore.”

Martin: “I just remember going to the hills — and looking at the hill that those guys had to run up to get to where they were — and I just couldn’t believe what they had to get through.”

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Laviolette: “I think the visual more than anything of just the perfectly lined up white tombstones, it just grabbed you for a second about the battle that took place.”

Sacco: “Just the crosses and stars, it was almost — they were like infinite.”

Lazaro: “It’s just so quiet. And it is — the cliffs are there, you’re just standing there going, ‘Are you kidding me? We stormed this beach, and thousands of people died right here.’ It gives you a good check to like, ‘Hey, the Olympics aren’t really anything.’ I mean, it’s a game. It kind of puts everything into perspective that we are playing a game.”

Roberts: “I think the coaches wanted to humble us a little bit and realize that, what we were doing was important, but if you look at the whole

scheme of everything — again, it’s just hockey.”

Sacco: “We did that right before we went to the Olympics.”

Lazaro: “We were playing so well prior to the games, that I legitimately thought that we were going to go for gold. That we were going to play in

the gold-medal game. That’s all I saw was gold. That’s all the team saw.”

Coming Thursday: Part 2 of Team USA's Olympic journey


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The Athletic / Laura Schuler aims for Olympic gold as coach of Canadian

women's team, 20 years after settling for silver as a player

By Eric Duhatschek 19 hours ago

For players from Canada and the United States, women’s Olympic hockey is one sport where the silver medal almost feels as if it’s a consolation prize. You could see it on New Year’s Day, when the U.S. team was unveiled at Citi Field as part of the NHL’s Winter Classic festivities. All four players present, including the captain, Meghan Duggan, were introduced as silver medalists from Sochi, but the thread of the conversation that followed the roster reveal was, “what do you need to do differently to turn that medal into gold?”

The U.S. won the first-ever Olympic gold medal in women’s hockey in 1998 and has won seven of the last eight world championships, but

Duggan’s answer was all about the disappointment of four years ago — of losing in overtime in Sochi to a Canadian team they’d handled pretty

well up until that point.

“We had to figure out what we were made of,” explained Duggan, “and

what we wanted to accomplish over these last couple of years to really put ourselves in a position to achieve that goal.”

When women’s Olympic hockey debuted at the Olympics 20 years ago, the second-place finishers from Canada had a similar reaction. Some were in tears when they had their Olympic medals presented to them. As Hayley Wickenheiser explained after, in a sport where two countries soared high above all the others, it was the equivalent of finishing second in a two-horse race. Canada eventually turned the tables on the Americans at the next four Olympics, but Laura Schuler didn’t get a chance for a redemptive result the way so many of her Nagano teammates did.

Instead, Schuler – who played on that ’98 team for Canada — retired

soon after to begin a career in coaching.

Now, 20 years later, Schuler’s life has come full circle. She is back at the

Olympics again, with another chance at winning a gold medal, this time as the head coach of Team Canada.

Canada, under Schuler, capped off a successful December exhibition season by winning four consecutive exhibition games against their U.S. counterparts. The result reversed a recent trend of U.S. dominance and raised hopes the Canadian women could once again win gold in PyeongChang, South Korea when they begin their title defence Sunday with a game against the Olympic Athletes of Russia. They all tell you the same thing: Anything less would be a disappointment.

“We’re on a mission,” said Meghan Agosta, the three-time Olympic champion. “We’re ready to do whatever it takes. Our coaching staff has done an amazing job of getting us to where we need to be – and we’re

ready. We’re just going to go out there and play and everything else is just going to fall into place.”

Schuler, 47, was an NCAA star at Northeastern University during her playing days and eventually coached the women’s team there from 2004

to 2008. She then spent eight years as an assistant coach at the University of Minnesota-Duluth and last April was named head coach of

Dartmouth’s women’s team. For 2018, Schuler replaces Kevin Dineen, who was behind the bench in 2014 in Sochi, and is now an assistant

coach with the Chicago Blackhawks.

Schuler was a multi-sport athlete, growing up in Scarborough, Ont. and attending Woburn Collegiate – and excelled at almost everything she tried, including volleyball, field hockey and soccer. But Schuler found that her passion for hockey exceeded her passion for all her other sports and so at an early age, set the goal of becoming an Olympian in hockey, even though no such thing was possible at the time.

“I remember watching the Olympics’ opening ceremony as a kid,” said Schuler. “I don't know how old I was. Maybe 10 or something. Watching our Canadian team come in and having tears in my eyes, thinking ‘I'm

going to be an Olympian one day.' Then I was like, ‘well, but there's no hockey.' I thought, 'well my mom (Ruth) is a swim coach. I'm going to be a swimmer.' I thought, ‘I'll do hockey in the winter and swimming in the summer,' but as soon as summertime came around, I honestly couldn't tie my shoes up fast enough to get outside and play road hockey. That's all I wanted to do — just play hockey, hockey, hockey. My family is a huge hockey family. Four older brothers all played. I followed in their

footsteps.”

When someone begins in coaching, they naturally focus on skill

development and tactics. Over time, Schuler said she came to realize there was more to it than that.

“If you grow the person, you grow the athlete,” said Schuler. “As I've moved from a young coach to where I am now, I’ve also come to

appreciate the importance of mentorship and the importance of that 'team first' attitude — making sure that every single day, everything that we do

is based on what we believe and what we value and making sure as a team that we're reflective of that. I hold our core values to heart.”

Those core values begin with respect, she said.

“Respect is something our team consistently talks about – respecting everything we do, respecting our opponents, never taking a day off, respecting the work you need to do each and every day to be at your best,” she said. “And I think respecting your talent. Not to deliver would be disrespectful. You constantly have to be able to find a way to be at your best – to perform and so that we’re peaking when we need to peak.

“Another big word for us is ‘unite.’ We have a team-first attitude.

Everything we do is for each other and to make each other better. We have to collectively buy into our individual roles so that when you bring it

all together, it works. Owning your game is a big part of what we do.”

Cassie Campbell-Pascall, who played with Schuler on the 1998 Olympic

team, and is going to the 2018 Games with CBC as a color commentator, said her former teammate was an inspirational presence because of her

work ethic and athleticism.

“She could do 25 wide grip chin-ups back in 1998, which was unheard for a woman,” said Campbell-Pascall. “She had just a hard, hard work ethic. She was always in the gym before it was big to be in fitness. Her fitness

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stemmed from her strength, which she worked on. She had that NCAA attitude – with being in the gym. She was just a strong athlete who gave you everything she had in practice and games. By the time ’98 came around, she was an older veteran and a role player. A good person, a bubbly fun personality, and really book smart. Just so much positive energy. She was quick. She had an unbelievable wrist shot. Whatever the coach needed, that’s the role she’d play.”

One of Schuler’s career highlights came when she first played for Canada internationally in 1990, after the IIHF sanctioned the first-ever women’s world championships. When Schuler reflects back on that time,

she sees positives everywhere, except that unfortunate wardrobe choice – pink uniforms, rather than the traditional red-and-white, which,

unhappily, players are reminded of whenever they see pictures of what was otherwise a seminal moment in the evolution of women’s hockey.

“It was definitely a dream come true, especially with all the different obstacles I had to overcome growing up – being told that as a female, I

shouldn’t be playing the game,” said Schuler. “To have an opportunity to represent your country and wear the maple leaf, to know that suddenly

became a reality, it was just an incredible feeling to be able to do that.

“It was also a little bittersweet. You dream of wearing the red-and-white and we had to wear the pink. But there were over 10,000 people at the gold-medal game. The next time (1992) I think it was a kind of fuchsia. In ’94, they finally went back to the traditional red-and-white.

“In the end, the maple leaf is the maple leaf, whatever color it is.”

Jill Saulnier, who played for Schuler on a Canada under-22 team and is now a first-year player with the Olympic team, describes her coach as a conscientious hard worker.

“The first word that comes to mind with Coach Schuler is passion,” said

Saulnier. “You can tell how much she loves the game – and how much she wants us to succeed. Every time I’m in this rink, she’s here. I’m sure

she’s been here for hours before and hours after. She does everything she can to make sure we are ready and prepared. She’s so passionate

about the game and about us as players and as people and I think that goes a long way.”

There is a lot of familiarity among the players. Three played last year for the University of Wisconsin – forwards Emily Clark, Sarah Nurse and goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens. Seventeen played last year in the Canadian Women’s Hockey League, three for the eventual champions, Montreal, nine for the runners-up, the Calgary Inferno.

According to Schuler, in a non-Olympic year, that sort of familiarity might have been advantageous. But since they’ve been centralized in Calgary since August – and are playing a full schedule of games against triple-A midget boys teams, in addition to the exhibitions against Team USA – it isn’t as much of a factor. The No. 1 line appears to be captain Marie-Philip Poulin, playing with veterans Agosta and Natalie Spooner. Poulin played for Montreal last year; Spooner for Toronto, while Agosta was working full-time for the Vancouver police service and only rejoined the national team for last year’s world championship.

“Obviously, it’s a very talented team,” said Schuler. “There’s something you’re trying to accomplish with every line. Whether it’s someone with vision, a power forward, you have someone who wants to do the work. So, it all connects. Gus has that vision. Spooner is the power forward. Poulin never takes a second off and can score goals. All three can score

goals. They’re very potent together. Everything’s based on performance and I’ve been very happy with that line.”

At the highest end of the player pool, the difference between the players that made the team and the ones that just fell short is minuscule. Often,

the selection process comes down to a judgement call – and the specific needs you might have at the bottom end of the roster to complement the

players at the top end.

“At this level, everybody’s talented,” acknowledged Schuler. “Everybody’s a fantastic skater. Everybody is intelligent. They understand the game. Their hockey sense is excellent. Each and every one brings a special

passion – where they are constantly trying to be better. And the level they compete at is phenomenal.”

As far as influences go, Schuler said she had more than she can count.

“You take bits and pieces from everyone,” said Schuler. “I’ve been so lucky to have so many different people in my life who helped you become who you are today. With every coach I’ve had the opportunity to work with, you take little parts here and there. They usually say coaching is about borrowing other people’s drills. Clare Drake was part of the mentorship staff during my Olympic years. I remember him coming in and speaking to our coaches about how to create offence – and that was so

meaningful. He was such a passionate person. To have him be a part of that experience was incredible.”

One thing that everyone can agree on is the margins between the two superpowers of women’s hockey – the Americans and the Canadians –

remain razor thin. Both are equally capable of winning the gold medal. As such, Campbell-Pascall says she doesn’t put too much stock in the fact

that Canada won five of the last six exhibition games, noting that historically, there’s been little correlation between pre-tournament and

Olympic results. In a one-game gold-medal showdown, anything can happen – and recently has.

“I’ve been around the girls a lot lately,” said Campbell-Pascall. “They’re a really focused group. I think to some degree this is a group that wants to get out of the shadows of the past. This is really the first passing of the torch. They want this fifth Olympic gold. They feel that this generation deserves it too.”


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The Athletic / Thoughts on Thoughts: The lifestyle, the Maple Leafs'

fringes, 'today’s game' and more

By Justin Bourne 14 hours ago

Prior to my stint with the Toronto Marlies, I used to do a feature called

“Thoughts on Thoughts” for theScore, which took blurbs from Elliotte Friedman’s excellent weekly feature “31 Thoughts” (then it was just 30,

he’s since gotten more ambitious), and expanded on the points Elliotte brought up. Wednesday’s edition was great (you can read it here), so I

thought I’d make a return to that old format. Enjoy!

A few tweeters from Vancouver wondered about a discussion from our 31 Thoughts podcast about a GM who is unhappy with the toll the job

takes on his family. They asked if it was Jim Benning. It wasn’t, but it’s something he has publicly admitted. This is an interesting time for the Canucks. Trevor Linden is supportive of his GM, but it’s clear ownership is waiting for…something. They asked the Sedins for some clarity about next season by the deadline, but that is unlikely. They are taking a run at re-signing Erik Gudbranson, but it will be interesting to see if both team and agent are on the same page. Among those whose value they are

testing: Ben Hutton and Anders Nilsson. Hutton is due $2.8 million next year, Nilsson $300,000 less.

A single phrase caught my eye in this blurb, and that’s “who is unhappy with the toll the job takes on his family.” I’ve shared this before, but it’s worth noting again: once I got out of hockey and into a more regular job for five years, the return to hockey gave me whiplash. Once it was decided I was going to join the Leafs farm team, I got a call from Marlies coach Sheldon Keefe, and he basically said “you might as well come in tomorrow and get started.” It was like jumping on a treadmill already jacked up to full speed. From that next day until the end of the season, I

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felt like it never stopped, and for my family – my wife was pregnant at the time – it was a challenge. You’re barely around and when you are, you’re generally exhausted.

I can’t imagine being an NHL GM, seeing all the hours they put in, but on top of that, you’re the face of the on-ice product. That’s an immense amount of pressure, and the criticisms come quick and heavy. Their families probably hear and read that stuff more than the actual GMs do. I understand there are endless jobs more important in the world, and a ton that involve more time and effort. But being an NHL GM is a legit tough gig for those with families.

Toronto is at the maximum 50 contracts, which is not where you want to

be approaching the deadline. As Nick Kypreos reported last weekend, Josh Leivo asked for a trade. He made it clear he prefers to stay and

play, but I think Kasperi Kapanen’s call-up was the last straw for him.

It’s tough when you are on the roster all year, then passed by someone

else. Some people were wondering if he made a mistake signing an extension for next season, rather than going to unrestricted free agency.

I’d say no because he probably settles for a two-way contract instead of the one-way he did get. Also likely: Nikita Soshnikov, since he is no longer waiver exempt and there is no way he goes unclaimed. The concussion scared some, but there is definitely interest. Teams have said in the past Toronto has asked a higher-than-expected price for both players. I also think the Maple Leafs would keep money to help Matt Martin find a new home. No doubt they have checked with the Islanders.

There are a number of Leafs things to unpack here.

A) Leivo. The only thing surprising about the whole “asked for a trade thing” is that it took this long to happen. Think about it, he’s in a brutal

spot. Teams don’t always keep the “next best guy” as their 13th forward (they often want him playing and developing in the AHL), and it’s evident

the Leafs preferred Kapanen to Leivo, meaning this whole time he’s been at least two forwards away from getting in, minimum. He’s missed games

and hasn’t got to improve. He’s missed opportunities to show other teams what he can do, which will affect his contract options this summer.

It’s perfectly reasonable for him to ask out. And in terms of “he’d prefer to stay and play,” well, he just wants to play and I guess staying is easier than moving. At some point as a player, you have to start thinking about that name on the back of the sweater, as frowned upon as that is in hockey.

B) I think it’s safe to say Kapanen, like Travis Dermott, is in full-time now. And that’s a quietly big addition. Kapanen is a totally different player when he’s feeling comfortable and confident. I think he’ll get there soon for the Leafs, if he isn’t already there, and start to move the needle.

C) If I were the Leafs I’d be okay with moving Soshnikov, provided there’s no plan for them to move Komorov, in which case I’d want him around to fill that role. Not because I don’t think he’s good, but because he plays like a mini-wrecking ball, except he’s 5-foot-11 (that seems generous) so he’s always at elbow height. It’s tough to make a decision on a player betting on them being injury-prone, but from his days with the Marlies until now, he just can’t seem to stay on the ice. Given the glut of wingers, he seems like a reasonable choice to send on his way.

D) Martin. I love the person, and I think he’s a fine hockey player. He’s one of the best at playing his role in the NHL. But as I’ve mentioned,

there’s just so many good wingers in the organization, and the fourth line has looked light years faster without him on it. But Mike Babcock still

loves him, and I’d be worried that if the Leafs didn’t trade him, he’d find his way into some games despite not being the best option. This is kind

of like the Moneyball Oakland A’s – if you’re the GM and you don’t want your coach playing certain players, it’s best to just take that option right

away from them.

Yzerman was complimentary of Slater Koekkoek, who got an opportunity when Hedman went down. “He acquitted himself really well,” Tampa’s

GM said. “You can see he’s getting more comfortable.” There’s been a bit of interest in him (Ottawa, for one) and we’ll see where it goes.

Gotta love seeing a GM pump one of his player’s tires that seems likely to get moved. Subtle! Anyway, Sens fans – I saw Koekkoek a-plenty in the AHL, so I can fill you in on what I remember about him:

He accelerates really well from a dead stop, which is a nice perk in a defenceman. In general, he skates well, so when pucks were put in on his half of the ice, he was great at retrieving them and making nice plays to exit the zone. He also used that speed to then get up in the play with the forwards, involving himself in a lot of rushes. He doesn’t run up huge

point totals or anything, but he is skilled enough to help out at both ends. He turns 24 soon and could be a nice fit, actually.

Very interesting take from one head coach on the Michael Frolik mistake

that started Vegas’s ridiculous comeback in Calgary last week: “Twenty years ago, he throws it off the glass into a safe place and Calgary wins

the game,” he said. “Now, no one is allowed to throw it off the glass.”

I broke this play down here, if you want to take a look at it. In a nutshell,

Frolik has the puck here with 1:48 to go with the Flames up a goal, and he chooses to try to make a pass to TJ Brodie rather than throwing this off the glass and out of the zone.

I’ve heard this same sentiment said a number of times since the goal, and I’m not buying it. I can’t imagine Frolik trying to throw this on his backhand off the glass from where he is. That’s such a tough play, and there’s even a Knights player waiting there at the blueline. And Brodie is open! Frolik makes a bad pass, but hearing this loss chalked up to “new school hockey,” I dunno, man. I’m still sold he made the right play, he just made a physical error with his pass.

From Daren Millard: the Islanders wake up Wednesday with 58 points,

tied with Columbus for the East’s second wild card. They are last in goals-against average, at 3.63. The last team to make the post-season

despite being worst in this category: the 1987-88 Los Angeles Kings. About time someone else did it.

There are few things in hockey more disheartening than playing in front of poor goaltending. I’m actually convinced it leads to more defensive miscues, too. Part of solid defending is staying patient and trusting that your teammates have their coverages. That includes trusting that your goaltender is going to make the stops he needs to make. When you’re terrified of anyone even getting a shot off, I think defenders over-commit, rush too far out of position and leave the areas of the ice where they’re supposed to be. It’s also more tiring playing like that. The Isles have a pretty good team, but if they get goaltending this bad down the stretch, they could be in trouble.

Let us know in the comments if this is a feature you’d like to see on a

regular basis. Thanks!


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The Athletic / LeBrun: Kyle Turris avoiding stirring up drama before return to Ottawa

By Pierre LeBrun 12 hours ago

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TORONTO — Kyle Turris did a pretty good job of staying within his self-prescribed parameters Wednesday.

He promised himself he wouldn’t stir it up through the media ahead of his much-anticipated return to Ottawa on Thursday night, and he made sure not to re-visit any touchy details of his bitter exit from the Senators organization.

But if you believe in the art of non-verbal communication, the pinched lip, nervous laughs, shifting body weight and shaking of the head during his scrum with reporters Wednesday morning at Air Canada Centre told you a whole lot more than the actual words that came out of his mouth.

You just know that Turris would love to scream from a mountaintop with a giant megaphone so that Senators fans knew fully his side of the story.

Alas, that will have to wait for another day, or perhaps never.

For now, Turris wants to keep Thursday’s return to Ottawa with his Nashville Predators as positive as can be, his family genuinely touched by the support they had from Sens fans and the community at large

during their time there. That’s what matters most.

“Ottawa will always hold a good place in our lives and our hearts,” Turris said Wednesday ahead of a game with the Maple Leafs.

So much so that he says never once during that magical playoff run last spring did he believe for even a moment he’d ever be playing anywhere else.

“No, not at all. Didn’t cross my mind at all,” Turris said.

That’s because he was confident his camp could work out a long-term extension over the summer.

But then, well, as we know, that never happened, eventually producing a blockbuster three-team trade that saw him land in Nashville on Nov. 5 —

a key element in that deal going through was him signing a six-year, $36-million contract with his new club.

That part was intriguing because, depending on who you believe in this entire thing, Turris was apparently not willing to sign for less than seven years to stay in Ottawa. I asked Turris on Wednesday if it was true he didn’t want to sign for less than seven years in Ottawa.

“I’m not going to get into that either, Pierre, sorry,” Turris said politely. “I’m trying to stay away from … I didn’t mean to stir anything up when I

said anything in Vancouver. I’m just going to stay away from saying anything anymore because I unintentionally may stir something up. I’m sorry.”

Ah yes, there was that juicy little tidbit Turris dropped on sportswriter

Josh Clipperton of The Canadian Press in Vancouver on Dec. 12, when Turris suggested that it was Ottawa owner Eugene Melnyk and his unwillingness to sign him that led to his exit from the nation’s capital.

“It’s tough because I think management did want to sign me, but I think

that the owner (Melnyk) didn’t. And that was his decision,” Turris said.

Hey oh! That was a Twitter darling of a quote to be sure. All of which is why Turris is handling his return to Ottawa with a more velvet glove approach.

Just a few days after Turris’s comment in Vancouver, Melnyk himself made headlines — for all the wrong reasons — on the eve of his own NHL outdoor game when he essentially called out the Senators fan base and said they better start buying more tickets. Oy.

(I would have paid large sums of money to witness the conversation between Melnyk and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman that weekend in

Ottawa).

Did Turris see those Melnyk comments before the outdoor game? Of

course. Who didn’t?

“Yeah, I saw it. But I’m not going to comment on it. I don’t really have to

say anything about it, sorry,” Turris said Wednesday.

The biggest story of all, however, is still playing out in Ottawa. That of Erik Karlsson and his own future in Ottawa, and whether the Senators' captain and the team owner can forge a future together.

We will find out this summer when Melnyk, we assume, green lights a contract offer to the Swedish superstar. You can imagine how intrigued Turris will be by it all.

Turris and Karlsson still keep in touch, as Turris does with all his friends on the Senators. Turris was asked about how he thinks this season has been for Karlsson given all the drama.

“It’s just a tough year. He’s one of the best players in the world,” said

Turris. “It’s been a frustrating year for him. He’s a great leader. To have your team going through what they’re going through, it's tough and

frustrating. It’s a tough situation for him with all the rumors going around about (his future). It’s altogether a tough situation, but he handles things

well.”

In fact, Turris feels for the whole team.

“Yeah, it’s tough. I’ve got good friends on the team that I talk to regularly,” said Turris. “You don’t want to see them go through that. It’s

tough.”

For Turris, meanwhile, it’s been a blast in the Music City, his play has been impressive since joining the Preds, his chance at another long playoff run a very good one on the Cup contenders from Nashville, and his family adjusting warmly to their new surroundings.

You get the sense he’s turned the page, although, I suppose that can’t truly be official until he’s played his return game in Ottawa. First, there’s one more goodbye to a fan base he appreciated.


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The Athletic / One tiny sliver of one day spent in Toronto with P.K. Subban, the life of the NHL's party

By Sean Fitz-Gerald 10 hours ago

Many of the Nashville Predators had already left the ice, but not P.K. Subban. Across the room from his still-empty stall, teammates Scott

Hartnell and Austin Watson wondered aloud: Maybe he was out there working on his spin-o-ramas? His one-timers?

They laughed. It was a Wednesday in Toronto, Subban's hometown, and there was no question which of the visiting players was the main

attraction. Their media relations team, meanwhile, was in in the midst of another conversation: Where should Subban hold his pre-game

availability with reporters?

It was a tricky equation. One adjacent stall was clear, with defenceman Yannick Weber having changed and left for the afternoon. But defenceman Anthony Bitetto was still in his seat, and backup goaltender Juuse Saros was on his way off the ice, meaning they both risked getting trampled in the rush of media heading towards Subban's stall.

“Oh yeah,” Watson said with a smile, safe on the other side. “I can't wait. This is what I'm here for.”

Perhaps no other NHL player has been as broadly visible as Subban this year, from the release of a book, to an appearance on The Daily Show,

to what sometimes felt like a co-hosting job at the all-star game. He has also been very good at his job on the ice.

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Subban arrived in Toronto as the league's leading goal-scorer among defencemen, with 13 in 51 games with Nashville. His underlying statistics — when not paired with Alexei Emelin — have been solid. It has been suggested that his name at least deserves mention in the Norris Trophy discussion.

The Predators had won three in a row heading into Wednesday night's game at Air Canada Centre, and nine of their previous 11 games. On Thursday, they would be in Ottawa, with Friday spent in Montreal, before a game against the Canadiens on Saturday.

Subban would have a few more large media scrums before the end of

the weekend.

“You know what? It's always a treat,” Watson said with a smile. “You're

always in for something different. You've got the coats, and you've got the hats. He's a personality, and he makes the game fun.”

Subban was captain of the Central Division team at the all-star game. During one skills competition, he removed a glove and threw it at

goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, before attempting a between-the-legs shot on goal. He missed. Lundqvist smiled.

“It's the passion and the excitement and the fun that he brings to the game,” said Watson. “You look at him, and he's always having fun. He's always wearing his emotions on his sleeve. And I think that's something — as kids and adults — that everyone can relate to.”

Subban also introduced friend and former minor hockey teammate Steven Stamkos onto the stage at a concert that weekend in Tampa. That happened days after he appeared on The Daily Show.

“When I signed here, I was like, 'I wonder how this guy is going to be, I wonder if I'll like him, or is he a bit much, sometimes?'” said Hartnell. “But he's an unbelievable guy. Would do anything for any of us guys at the

drop of a hat.

“He's a great friend already, a few months into the season. I'm sure he'll

be a friend for life.”

They arrived in Toronto as an HBO Canada documentary on Subban's

life — P.K. Subban Skate Past the Noise — was still in rotation on cable television. His father, Karl, is scheduled to be on stage at The Rose

Theatre, in Brampton, on Thursday to discuss his recently-released book: How We Did It: The Subban Plan for Success in Hockey, School and Life.

Subban, the player, was courtside with Predators captain Roman Josi at ACC on Tuesday, watching the Raptors rout the Boston Celtics. He was interviewed as part of the television broadcast.

“If it was a distraction, it would be a different thing — how guys feel about it,” said Hartnell. “I think he enjoys doing all the extra stuff away from the rink. It's good for himself, and it's good — it's great — for the league.”

Ultimately, the team's media relations staff decided it would be safest for

Subban to address reporters in the main hallway outside the visiting dressing room. He fielded questions about facing the Leafs, about

returning home, and about his plans for an off-day in Montreal.

Was he planning to visit the Montreal Children's Hospital, where he has

pledged to raise $10-million? (He included the hospital in his annual holiday video, even though he no longer plays for the Canadiens, who

still regularly incur the wrath of fans online for trading him away.)

“I have a schedule there,” Subban said. “But that's more for my personal

team and what we're going to do, so we'll keep that between us.”

He was also asked about how it seemed he was emerging as a pre-eminent spokesperson for the league.

“I just try to do my part,” he said. “I just want to focus on playing the game, and trying to help our team win. Obviously, there are some opportunities that have presented themselves off the ice, but I do my part and try to be myself and enjoy it.”

With that, Subban returned to the visiting team's dressing room. A small boy wearing a Leafs toque was inside. He had overcome a serious medical issue, and had driven down with family from Orillia to see the game.

Subban signed a stick, and then a puck. And then he chatted with the boy.

“How many goals tonight?” Subban asked the boy.

One.

One? That was it? What was the final score going to be?

The boy said it would be 3-1 — and that the Leafs would win.

“So I get the goal,” Subban said, “but we lose?”

There were smiles in the room.


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The Athletic / As trade deadline nears, Chuck Fletcher and the Wild again face big decisions

By Michael Russo 12 hours ago

The next three weeks and nine games will go a long way in determining Chuck Fletcher’s strategy heading into his ninth trade deadline as the Wild general manager.

Despite pushing all his chips into the middle of the table last February in an attempt to bolster his team’s Stanley Cup chances with the acquisition of Martin Hanzal, Fletcher made clear Tuesday night that he won’t be gun shy this time around even though the Hanzal pickup precipitated a

faltering March and eventual first-round exit for a team that was leading the West at the time of the Feb. 26 trade.

In exchange for what turned out to be one playoff win rather than an extensive playoff run, Fletcher dealt to Arizona last June’s first-round pick

and this June’s second-round pick.

But this is a new season, and the Wild, despite being the NHL’s fifth-most

successful team since Nov. 9, are in a tense dogfight for a playoff spot in the cutthroat Central Division.

“I’d like to really keep our first this year. I think we need to have a first here, but I’d certainly look at adding something, yeah,” Fletcher told The Athletic. “Now whether you go out and throw a bunch of futures into the mix, I don’t know, but it wouldn’t stop me from making a move. But last year’s move (involving a first and a second), those are moves you can’t make every year.”

Generally, teams try to get at least three pieces for big pending unrestricted free-agent rentals. The price for Hanzal heading to

Minnesota and Kevin Shattenkirk going from St. Louis to Washington last season was essentially two pieces — a first-round pick and a second-

round pick (the Wild and Coyotes did swap fourths, and the “second” in the Blues-Capitals deal involved 2013 second-round pick Zach Sanford going to St. Louis).

Asked if he thinks those moves would set the market this deadline

season, Fletcher said, “That’s historically the price, but it’ll be up to whether teams pay it. For Washington, they lost in the second round. We lost in the first, so it’ll depend whether that scares teams or not.”

Some potential rental wingers include Evander Kane, Rick Nash, James Neal, Michael Grabner and Patrick Maroon.

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With Fletcher averse to trading his first and with the team also without a second and a fourth, the Wild don’t have a lot of easy-to-discern trade options heading into the Feb. 26 deadline.

It’s hard to imagine they would part with Joel Eriksson Ek, Luke Kunin, Jordan Greenway or Kirill Kaprizov after dealing Alex Tuch last June to Vegas in a maneuver to keep the Golden Knights from plucking Matt Dumba or Marco Scandella in the expansion draft.

There has been chatter for awhile that forward Charlie Coyle could be had. Coach Bruce Boudreau hasn’t been enamored with Matt Cullen’s play, so it would not be shocking if Cullen was traded back to Pittsburgh,

where he won consecutive Stanley Cups, as long as Fletcher was convinced he had the depth to replace him.

The Wild do possess three third-round picks, some quality junior prospects like Ivan Lodnia and Dmitry Sokolov and a couple solid young

minor-league blue liners in Nick Seeler and Carson Soucy that have been scouted heavily lately, sources say. The Athletic has also reported

that defenseman Mike Reilly has been on the block.

But that may have all changed Tuesday night.

Showing how quickly plans can be altered this time of year, Fletcher talked to The Athletic prior to the Wild’s blowout win over the St. Louis Blues and lauded his top-4 defensemen (the Wild’s blue line as a whole is tied for first in the NHL with 127 points). He spoke with optimism because the Wild were playing with a fully healthy lineup for only the fifth time this season.

Ninety minutes later, Jonas Brodin, one of the team’s top defensemen this season, skated to the bench with his left hand tucked into his body.

Brodin suffered a fracture in the hand, multiple sources told The Athletic, and was expected to undergo surgery Wednesday and miss three to four

weeks. This being the case, Fletcher could suddenly be in the market for a defenseman instead of, say, a scoring winger. At a minimum, it’ll make

it tougher to trade one of his defensemen, since for the time being Gustav Olofsson will be elevated to the second pair and Reilly to the

third.

Whatever path Fletcher takes, he says it’s too early to say until he

watches how the Wild perform during their upcoming five-game homestand and subsequent three-game road trip to Brooklyn, Newark and Manhattan.

Despite being tied for fifth in the NHL with 24 points (11-4-2) since Christmas and fifth outright with 51 points (24-12-3) since Nov. 9, the Wild are barely inside the top-8 playoff bubble positioned in the bottom wild-card spot.

“I keep believing that we’re going to be a team that’s in the mix here,” Fletcher said. “We’re still trying to get our lines together and get our team together. I think Zach (Parise) is beginning to work the rust off and is

getting better and better every day. Nino (Niederreiter’s) working his way back into game shape.

“So I think we’d still like to see how things will shake out here the next couple weeks and how things come together with our current personnel.

But it’s the time of year you’re receiving calls and making calls trying to figure out what the market is.

“We have some good internal options here, too, some guys down in Iowa that can come up and help.”

Fletcher’s referring to players like Kunin, Zack Mitchell and Kyle Rau up front and Ryan Murphy, Seeler and Soucy on the back end.

Also, the Wild are expected to sign Greenway out of Boston University at some point. The Wild theoretically could sign him after the Olympics later this month, but more than likely, Greenway wouldn’t want to abandon his teammates and it would come after the Terriers’ season ends. The Hockey East tournament starts in early March. NCAA regionals take place March 23-25, but as of now, BU would not make the NCAAs.

Greenway, when signed, would be eligible to take part in the Wild’s postseason should they make it. The 20-year-old power forward, who interestingly has played center for much of this season, is second on the Terriers with 25 points in 28 games and leads them with 104 shots and 42 penalty minutes.

The Wild are at the maximum 50 contracts, so they would have to trade a contract in advance of Feb. 26 in order to sign Greenway. That could even be veteran Kyle Quincey, who was placed on waivers in November. Instead of sending him to Iowa, the Wild let Quincey return home. But Fletcher said he has been skating.

There’s no doubt, at least before Tuesday, the Wild were looking at wingers.

“But the whole thing is you’ve got to make sure you have spots for all these players,” Fletcher said. “There’s only so many power-play slots, so

many penalty-killing spots, there’s only so many top-9 spots. You bring somebody in, you’ve got to make sure you’ve got a fit. That’s why we

want to see how things shake out here.

“Nino and Zach will keep getting their legs underneath them and these

are guys that have routinely played on the power-play. (Jason Zucker) has done a good job on the power play, Charlie is a guy that’s historically played on the power play. And you still have (Eric) Staal and (Mikael) Granlund and (Mikko) Koivu. I’d like to think if we can get everybody going and get guys in midseason form, then we have a lot of the answers right here.

“We’ve only lost four games since Christmas in regulation, yet three of them have been terrible. But yet we have one of the better records in the league since then and for the most part we’re playing better. Obviously we’ve got to get a little more consistency on the road, to put it mildly. We

just need to find the lines that work. Bruce is always going to tinker, which is fine, but we need to find some chemistry and find the right fits.

That’s been an ongoing process.

“So I just want to make sure anything we do makes sense, that we figure

out how the fit would work, how the ice time would work.”

One other dynamic in play here is Fletcher’s contract expires after this

season. Does he have carte blanche to conduct business as he normally would?

Owner Craig Leipold didn’t reply to a query, but Fletcher said that’s not an issue.

If a trade’s there to be made, he’ll weigh the pros and cons like he always has.

“Look, we’re a good team,” Fletcher said. “Going back to Thanksgiving, we’re one of the better teams in the league for a couple months now. We’ve had some horrific losses that are hard to account for and it frustrates many, understandably so. But we’re seven games over .500

the last 16 or 17 games since Christmas. We do that the next 16 or 17 games, we’re on a 100-point pace.

“I still believe we’re going to have a run here at some point. The schedule this month in terms of travel and spacing of games should give us a

chance to be physically prepared for every game. So it’s up to us to get it done.”


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Sportsnet.ca / Kasperi Kapanen makes statement in Leafs' win over Predators

Chris Johnston | @reporterchris February 7, 2018, 10:53 PM

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TORONTO – Kasperi Kapanen has his mind made up.

He no longer wants any part of life in the American Hockey League, even though it’s been pretty good to play for the powerhouse Marlies. He’s a young man whose found a higher calling and, finally, a permanent role with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

“He looks like a good player to me,” head coach Mike Babcock said after Wednesday’s 3-2 shootout win over Nashville. “He’s come here, we win, he’s made a difference – flat-out made a difference. We can come at you faster with more people, he’s penalty killing every night and doing a good

job for us.

“I think he’s important.”

It has been a process.

The 21-year-old is on his eighth NHL recall over the last three seasons in what can charitably be described as a test of patience. The Leafs have kept a glass ceiling above his head because of an enviable amount of organizational depth on the wing.

Any lingering doubt about this being Kapanen’s breakthrough was arguably wiped away during a determined six-second stretch against the Predators. Down a man, he cleared the puck from his zone over a diving P.K. Subban and managed to corral it at centre ice despite being in the heavy-legs portion of a shift.

Starting from a stopped position, he then fought off backchecker Craig Smith before spinning and beating Pekka Rinne to give Toronto a 2-0 lead.

“It was a good move, but a little bit of a lucky bounce,” said teammate Leo Komarov, with a fatherly chuckle.

Babcock has played Kapanen in favour of veteran Matt Martin for the last two weeks and won’t be taking him out any time soon. You could tell he’d truly gained the coach’s trust when he was given a coveted shift during the 3-on-3 overtime period against Nashville.

“He used to be a skinny little kid and now he’s got some meat on his bones and he has worked hard at it,” Babcock said, when asked what’s changed about Kapanen. “Then, obviously, experience, and experience makes you compete a little harder on a nightly basis because you don’t want to go back [to the AHL] anymore. That’s a great thing about earning your way and being in the minors and riding the bus and learning what it’s like.

“It makes you not want to go back there. I think that helps out. I also think getting here when you’re ready and not before you’re ready helps you stay and helps you keep your confidence.”

The biggest differentiator ultimately arrived last season when Kapanen embraced the challenge of killing penalties for the Marlies. He’d never done that in his life. He’s always had lightning speed and an offensive

touch, but this gave him an extra tool that could be of use to the Leafs.

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Kapanen has seen a regular shift with a man down during his current seven-game run with the NHL team. He’s essentially bumped Dominic Moore out of the job.

Looking back now, he can laugh at the trepidation he had when first told that he’d be used in 4-on-5 situations.

“I’ve never done it before, right?” said Kapanen. “I played back home [in

Finland] for a bit and obviously it’s a different league, but they didn’t want me killing penalties. My first year here I didn’t kill any penalties and then coming in [last] year they told me that they wanted me to start doing this.

“I think it’s a natural reaction to kind of not know what to expect, but it’s

been lots of fun.”

His emergence has put the Leafs in a position where they’re going to need to do some juggling. It likely means that one of Martin, Josh Leivo or Nikita Soshnikov – currently with the Marlies on a conditioning loan – aren’t long for the Leafs roster.

As harsh as that is from a personal standpoint, it’s exactly the kind of competition the organization has hoped to create. Kapanen’s seen the other side of it, too, after scoring some big playoff goals for the Leafs last spring but getting sent back to the Marlies out of training camp.

That time in the AHL has helped prepare him to steal a job now – as evidenced by the short-handed goal that helped the overmatched Leafs

steal two points from Nashville on Wednesday. It’s exactly the kind of thing Babcock envisioned when he pushed Kapanen to round out his

game more than a year ago.

“I just said, ‘That’s the way you’re going to play in the National Hockey

League.”’ Babcock recalled. “You’re not playing on the power play, you better figure out how to make yourself important.”

There’s no looking back now.

“He’s been really good,” said Komarov. “He’s got a lot of energy. He’s a

great player, he just needed to keep waiting.”

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Sportsnet.ca / Kyle Turris hoping for warm welcome from Senators fans upon Ottawa return


TORONTO – Kyle Turris played more than 20 minutes a night during the Ottawa Senators‘ surprising run to the Eastern Conference final last spring. He scored a huge overtime winner in Round 2 against the Rangers, and had no clue that his time was running short with the organization.

“No, not at all. No. It didn’t cross my mind at all,” he said Wednesday.

On the cusp of his first game back in the nation’s capital since being

traded away from the Senators, Turris continually tried to steer the conversation back to the good days in Ottawa. He didn’t have any

interest in rehashing the failed talks on a contract extension last summer that ultimately paved his way out of town – not after causing an uproar in

December when he told reporters that Senators owner Eugene Melnyk stood in the way of management’s desire to sign him.

Turris agreed to a $36-million, six-year extension as part of the Nov. 5 trade that sent him to Nashville – terms that Senators GM Pierre Dorion

has said were never on the table during their discussions.

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It’s been speculated that the 28-year-old centre wouldn’t budge off his ask of $7-million per year from Ottawa, but he declined to address those reports.

“I’m just going to stay away from saying anything anymore because I unintentionally may stir something up,” said Turris, referencing the comments he made to reporters in Vancouver about Melnyk. “So I’m just going to stay away from saying anything. I’m sorry.”

There are clearly still some raw feelings about a breakup that probably could have been avoided.

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Turris and his wife, Julie, loved living in Ottawa. They started a family there and were heavily involved in local charities and the community. He remains close with several Senators players and said he feels bad for the way this season has played out for them.

He’s particularly sympathetic to captain Erik Karlsson, who has been mentioned prominently in trade speculation with potential free agency looming in 2019.

“He’s one of the best players in the world and it’s been a frustrating year for him,” said Turris. “He’s a great leader. To have the team going through what they’re going through I think is tough and frustrating, and

it’s a tough situation for him with all of the rumours going around about him.

“So, yeah, it’s just altogether a tough situation but he handles things well.”

Turris left Ottawa before things truly went sideways – the Sens were 6-3-5 at the time of the trade – and he’s produced more points than his

replacement Matt Duchene (23-20) since it went down.

In Nashville, he’s landed with an organization that believes it got closer to

championship contention by acquiring him. They are right at the top of the Western Conference.

“The depth of our team [got] better, the power-play units [got] better, so he brings a lot to the table,” said coach Peter Laviolette.

With his wife and three kids now comfortable in their new Nashville surroundings, the present and future is bright. Even still, Turris will likely take a quick moment or two to reflect on the past when he’s back in Ottawa to face the Senators on Thursday night.

He’s guessing the visit will include some playful back-and-forth will old teammates.

Ryan Dixon and Rory Boylen go deep on pucks with a mix of facts and fun, leaning on a varied group of hockey voices to give their take on the

country’s most beloved game.

“Yeah, I’m buddies with them,” said Turris. “I’m sure I’ll be talking to

[Karlsson] and [Mark Stone] and [Mark Borowiecki] and some of the guys. When you get on the ice it’s a game and it’s competitive and it’ll be

fun at the same time.”

As for the fans, he’s not sure what to expect. He had hoped to stay in the city long term and didn’t have any say in the decision to trade him out of town.

There’s bound to be some mixed emotions when he skates out on the ice at Canadian Tire Centre and looks up in the stands.

“I hope it’s a good [reaction],” said Turris. “I have so many good memories that I was lucky to share with a packed building all the time. So it was a lot of fun, and I’m looking forward to tomorrow night.”


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Sportsnet.ca / Takeaways: Connor McDavid can't do it alone for Oilers

Mark Spector | @sportsnetspec February 8, 2018, 1:51 AM

They’ve now lost a dozen consecutive games in Los Angeles, so pulling out of Staples Center after a loss isn’t exactly a new thing for Edmonton.

This one, however, was a break away. Not a breakaway, but a two-on-one where Drew Doughty dove to knock down Connor McDavid’s pass to

a wide open Jesse Puljujarvi in the slot. If the pass gets through, the Oilers likely lead 3-2 late in the game.

Instead, seconds later, Puljujarvi takes an interference penalty. The Kings score on the power play, add two empty-netters, and a 5-2 final looks far more decisive than it truly was.

Paul LaDue’s power-play goal might have been called back for goaltender interference a couple of weeks ago, but Tanner Pearson’s brush-up against Cam Talbot’s blocker is OK now. Hockey Ops has ‘er figured out, folks. Keep moving. Nothing to see here.

In the end a sleepy start ended up costing the Oilers, which is a familiar

tune, despite McDavid’s two-point night. Also a familiar tune.

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Here are some takeaways from a comeback that fell short against the Kings, as the Oilers lost in regulation for only the second time in their past eight games.

McDavid red hot

The Oilers captain is absolutely on fire right now, with nine points in his last three games. He assisted on Leon Draisaitl’s power-play goal, scored the 2-2 goal on a nice solo rush, and was dangerous all night.

He moved into third in league scoring with 63 points, behind Phil Kessel

(65) and Nikita Kucherov (66). There’s not much more to play for when you’re Edmonton, but watching McDavid make a final charge to defend his Art Ross Trophy should be fun.

Little help?

Over the past three games, McDavid has been in on nine of the Oilers’ 11 goals. So, yes, they’ve been a one-man show, with some help from

Draisaitl.

But here is a list of guys who could help a little more. In a game that’s 2-2 with five minutes to play, some secondary scoring is clearly the difference between winning and losing.

• Patrick Maroon: Pointless in five, goalless in six.

• Milan Lucic: Hasn’t scored a goal since before Christmas. That’s 16 games.

• Mike Cammalleri: Has gone 15 games without a goal.

• Oscar Klefbom: hasn’t scored in 20 games. His assist Wednesday was only his 10th of the season — in his 48th game.

It’s a hit. Or, is it?

If ever there was a statistic we are suspicious of across the 31 NHL rinks,

it is the way the NHL off-ice officials track hits. However, stats are stats, and the Oilers entered the game leading the NHL in hits. Which used to

be a good thing, right?

In today’s NHL however, five of the top six teams in the hits category are

currently out of the playoffs. Only Pittsburgh, ranked third, is a playoff team at the moment.

It used to be that hits shook pucks loose that eventually found their way into the opponent’s net. Today, the stats suggest that perhaps you’re piling up all those hits because you’re defending all the time.

Hitting, like fighting, seems to be on its way out of the game. We’re not sure we like that all that much.

Be ready to play

It starts in goal, where Talbot let the first shot of the game get past, a Kyle Clifford shot that may have been through a screen. It was the ninth

time this season Edmonton has been behind 1-0 after the opponent’s first shot of the game. Nine times!

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The Oilers didn’t turn in a decent, committed offensive shift until the three-minute mark of the second period. They were down 2-0 by then, after allowing another early marker, just 58 seconds into the second period, after an egregious shift by the defence pair of Klefbom and Matt Benning.

Sure, they turned it around and dominated the second period, and Talbot played great after that first softie. Edmonton has the second-worst save percentage in the entire NHL (.897), and nobody wins with a number like that out of its goalies.

Easy, early goals kill a team, and have been a trademark of the Oilers

this season.


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Sportsnet.ca / 31 Thoughts: Trying to remedy the NHL's goalie interference controversy

Elliotte Friedman February 7, 2018, 11:42 AM

One week ago, we left warm-weather Tampa Bay, a sea of drunken

pirates in our wake. Out came a memo on goaltender interference, asking for a return to the spirit of the rule: only “egregious” violations

should result in scoring cancellations.

As Winnipeg coach Paul Maurice said days later, the pendulum

immediately swung from benefiting goalies to benefitting goals. The era of good feeling lasted two days.

At the All-Star meeting, it was agreed that Ryan Strome’s disallowed goal from Jan. 25 against Calgary should have counted. After all, Connor McDavid took the puck into the crease because he was trying to score, not trying to interfere.

So, when Boston ran into Jake Allen before a David Krejci goal one week later, I knew two things: it was going to count, and the Blues were going to be furious.

For once, I was right twice.

Some in the NHL love to poke at us, say we only care when controversy erupts around Auston Matthews or McDavid, or the Toronto Maple Leafs

in general. Not this time. Detroit coach Jeff Blashill was furious with Florida’s game winner Saturday night, and that got national play. Hours

later, Jason Demers, who was not in the lineup for Arizona, tweeted his disgust with a goal Los Angeles scored against his Coyotes.

You didn’t have to agree with either take to know we’ve arrived in a bad spot. Too many people, from Bob Boughner to Henrik Zetterberg, are

saying they don’t know what’s going on and can’t predict the outcome from challenge to challenge.

That’s why there is a growing pool of GMs wondering if it is time to get rid of video review. Many of them concede they don’t believe the league wants to do that. And, according to one retired referee, it shouldn’t.

“If they get rid of the review, they are going to have to adopt the international rule,” he said, echoing a recent column by Sportsnet’s Paul Romanuk. “There are too many players going hard to the net, especially in the playoffs. You can yell at them to move, and they don’t. Eliminating the challenge won’t solve the problem.”

The International Ice Hockey Federation’s Rule 595 blows play dead if an opposing player stands in the crease, sending the ensuing face-off into

the neutral zone. I can’t see the NHL wanting to adopt that idea.

Last Friday, one NHL general manager sent a note to his compatriots and some senior league officials. (Asked for comment, he texted that he intended the correspondence to be private, and declined.) But what he asked for is the best solution.

Several years ago, the NHL’s Department of Player Safety began posting videos of each decision. It was a victory for transparency, and, even though it’s a worldwide right to argue about suspensions and their consistency, it has given us a much better idea of what they are looking for.

This GM asked for a similar setup, albeit in private. Since only the

situation room in Toronto and the referee on the headset know what is being discussed, he requested an email go out to the managers with

video of the play and an outline of the logic in the decision. That way, they will be able to tell their coaches and players why each ruling was

made.

It should happen, but it’s not the only necessary change. As much as the

referees will hate to hear it (and I’m already preparing for blowback from one in particular), the final call needs to be taken out of their hands. They

were promised this power, but it isn’t working. It’s silly to have them looking at iPads while Toronto has the newest technology in a rapidly expanding office.

Bonus peace-offering: Wes McCauley still gets to go viral with his calls.

But I think the biggest change has to be putting a small group of people in charge of it — similar to the player safety setup. Kris King, Rod Pasma and Kay Whitmore are often in the Situation Room for this. It could be one of them, or a former referee like Dave Jackson, who is hanging up the skates at the end of the regular season. Decrease the number of people with power to make the call, increase the consistency of the

outcome.

One official said this is too much controversy for something that affects

less than one per cent of goals scored. Boy do I agree. And the fix is not ridiculously complicated.

31 THOUGHTS

1. One thing to remember about the Rick Nash sweepstakes: the list

might not matter. A general manager who thinks Nash may help his team and is willing to make a serious offer can always ask for permission to try and convince him. It’s happened before, but, usually, the team won’t go to the player unless it knows it wants to make that particular trade. It would surprise no one if both Nash and Michael Grabner were dealt and then went back to the Rangers in 2018-19. I can see Boston being in on Grabner. And don’t underestimate the interest in Nick Holden for depth, too.

2. Trade that might make sense only to me: something around Justin Faulk from Carolina to Detroit for Andreas Athanasiou.

3. Wrote a couple of weeks ago that teams might ask Colorado about its plans for Tyson Barrie once he returned to action. The Avalanche have

some good defence prospects, including Andrei Mironov (now in the NHL), Nicolas Meloche (AHL San Antonio) and world junior gold

medalists Cale Makar (NCAA UMass) and Conor Timmins (OHL Sault Ste. Marie). But none are ready for full-time duty and the Avalanche are

making the second-most surprising run of the season, after Vegas. For that reason, I think they keep him — unless someone stuns them with an offer for a forward.

4. A few tweeters from Vancouver wondered about a discussion from our 31 Thoughts podcast about a GM who is unhappy with the toll the job takes on his family. They asked if it was Jim Benning. It wasn’t, but it’s something he has publicly admitted. This is an interesting time for the

Canucks. Trevor Linden is supportive of his GM, but it’s clear ownership is waiting for…something. They asked the Sedins for some clarity about

next season by the deadline, but that is unlikely. They are taking a run at re-signing Erik Gudbranson, but it will be interesting to see if both team and agent are on the same page. Among those whose value they are

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testing: Ben Hutton and Anders Nilsson. Hutton is due $2.8 million next year, Nilsson $300,000 less.


5. Toronto is at the maximum 50 contracts, which is not where you want to be approaching the deadline. As Nick Kypreos reported last weekend, Josh Leivo asked for a trade. He made it clear he prefers to stay and play, but I think Kasperi Kapanen’s call-up was the last straw for him.

It’s tough when you are on the roster all year, then passed by someone else. Some people were wondering if he made a mistake signing an

extension for next season, rather than going to unrestricted free agency. I’d say no, because he probably settles for a two-way contract instead of

the one-way he did get. Also likely: Nikita Soshnikov, since he is no longer waiver exempt and there is no way he goes unclaimed. The

concussion scared some, but there is definitely interest. Teams have said in the past Toronto has asked a higher-than-expected price for both

players. I also think the Maple Leafs would keep money to help Matt Martin find a new home. No doubt they have checked with the Islanders.

6. Calgary is getting asked about 2017 first-rounder Juuso Valimaki, but that’s not happening.

7. When I first started covering baseball, Hall-of-Famer Bob Elliott told me he always looked to see if two or more different scouts from the same organization showed up to watch one particular team right before the trade deadline. Both Columbus and Pittsburgh did it last week with Buffalo.

8. There were some rumblings about Ryan O’Reilly, but those were shot down by multiple sources. GM Jason Botterill witnessed Pittsburgh overpower teams down the middle, and if the Sabres lose O’Reilly they

do not have an in-house replacement. And when uberprospect Casey Mittelstadt is ready, isn’t he better off with both O’Reilly and Jack Eichel

there?

9. We’ve been patiently chronicling every potential add for Pittsburgh at

centre from Derick Brassard to Mark Letestu to Jean-Gabriel Pageau to Tomas Plekanec to Derek Ryan and more. Depending on what

Minnesota would like to do, would anyone be surprised if the answer turned out to be Matt Cullen?

10. As Marc-Andre Fleury returned to Pittsburgh, I was reminded of the fact that he once said his greatest practical joke was leaving a year-end team party to hide a dead fish in then-teammate Ryan Whitney’s new car. Whitney sheepishly admitted it took him almost a week to locate the offending stench.

11. Three others to keep an eye on: Chicago needs cap relief. With Brandon Saad dropped down the lineup, wonder if they look to give him a fresh start somewhere else. Another who fits the same profile is Boone

Jenner of Columbus. He’s shooting 4.4 per cent, by far the worst of his career.

I’m wary of giving up on unlucky players, but the Blue Jackets have major contractual decisions to make and he’s up after this season. He’s

arbitration-eligible, too. Arizona’s Tobias Rieder is another arbitration-eligible player. His numbers are down and he was a healthy scratch on

Tuesday, but there’s more there. Not sure those are in-season moves, but they stick out to me.

12. Quote of the week is from Steve Yzerman, asked what he learned about his team without Victor Hedman: “I like our team better when he’s healthy.”

13. The Lightning are going through a rough stretch, tortured Monday by Connor McDavid’s four-goal game. Since the calendar flipped to 2018, Tampa Bay’s power play is 28th (15 per cent) and penalty kill 18th (76.6). They were first and 24th, respectively, from the start of the season until New Year’s Eve. (The penalty kill may be higher in the rankings, but the percentage actually dropped.)

They are still very, very good and one of the few teams with enough assets to do almost anything. Yzerman never tips his hand, but will do what it takes to make them better. I was talking about this with a GM the other day: is there a single available difference-maker Tampa would not be able to trade for?

14. Yzerman was complimentary of Slater Koekkoek, who got an opportunity when Hedman went down. “He acquitted himself really well,” Tampa’s GM said. “You can see he’s getting more comfortable.” There’s been a bit of interest in him (Ottawa, for one) and we’ll see where it goes.

15. Guess there were a few NHL teams watching Ottawa’s Max

Veronneau pick up three assists for NCAA Princeton last week at Quinnipiac.

16. It is not always easy to rank Nashville’s defencemen for the Norris. During All-Star weekend, I asked Predators coach Peter Laviolette who

he would vote for. This, of course, went nowhere. “Is that a serious question?” he answered, with a laugh. “Do you really expect me to

answer that?…That’s why I like it when I’m asked to vote and not allowed to choose my own players.”

17. Anaheim head coach Randy Carlyle delivered a message of discipline prior to Monday’s loss in Toronto. The Ducks have been shorthanded more often than any other team, but it’s not unusual for them — nor is it something they’ve historically cared a ton about. They led the league last season, too, and were second in 2015-16. They weren’t scared of driving you through the boards and into the Pacific Ocean if they felt it would soften you up.

But, in talking to the players, they mention the kinds of penalties. In losses to Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto they received: three for hooking and interference; two for slashing and tripping; one apiece for delay of

game, goaltender interference, high-sticking, roughing and too many men. That’s not exactly intimidating. They’re not making you pay for the

opportunities.

18. The Predators were angry about Filip Forsberg’s three-game

suspension — none more than Mike Fisher on Twitter. But the Ducks felt it was fair, not seeing much difference from the hit that got Andrew

Cogliano banned for two games.

19. Opponents can see that Ryan Kesler is really gutting it out.

20. Very interesting take from one head coach on the Michael Frolik mistake that started Vegas’s ridiculous comeback in Calgary last week: “Twenty years ago, he throws it off the glass into a safe place and Calgary wins the game,” he said. “Now, no one is allowed to throw it off the glass.”

21. Some of my favourite draft stories involve smaller players, and the lengths teams will go in trying to figure if there is any growth spurt on the horizon. An NHL team (which admitted it under the condition I not say

who it is) drafted one such player after meeting the rest of his family.

Add Boston’s Danton Heinen to the list. They took him as a 19-year-old,

unranked by Central Scouting, from BCHL Surrey. Heinen wasn’t the size he is now, but legend has it some of the Bruins’ staff shook his father’s

hand and noticed how big it was. Boston liked his skill/hockey sense, and took a fourth-round bet that he’d fill out a bit. That one worked out nicely.

22. From Daren Millard: the Islanders wake up Wednesday with 58 points, tied with Columbus for the East’s second wild card. They are last

in goals-against average, at 3.63. The last team to make the post-season despite being worst in this category: the 1987-88 Los Angeles Kings. About time someone else did it.

23. Downloaded Downhills Don’t Come Free, written by Jerry Holl. It’s a fun read about the author, a husband and father who quit his job in May 2012 to cycle from Alaska to Mexico. At the time, son Justin was 20, a Blackhawks’ draftee finishing his sophomore year at the University of Minnesota. Last week, almost six years after the life-changing experience, Jerry watched Justin score in the latter’s first and second NHL games.

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Holl, an emergency call-up, went back to AHL Toronto when the Maple Leafs got healthy, but graciously answered a couple of texted questions about his father’s experience through a team spokesman. First, how much did Jerry’s decision to quit his job and live a dream influence your own route?

“It definitely had an impact on me,” he wrote. “Mostly just the general theme of you can do way more than you think, and if you want to do something, just go out and do it.”

I followed by asking what his favourite part of his father’s journey was, and he referred to a bike crash late in the story. “Again, it’s the theme of

no matter how strong you are, how well-prepared you are, things always have the potential to go wrong, but you have to ask yourself is it a big

thing or a little thing? Overall, most of the problems you have in life are little things.” Great advice, and a highly recommended read.

Ryan Dixon and Rory Boylen go deep on pucks with a mix of facts and fun, leaning on a varied group of hockey voices to give their take on the

country’s most beloved game.

24. I was waiting to pay for lunch at Whole Foods when David

Nemirovsky stepped up and introduced himself. Now 41, he played 94 games for the Florida Panthers from 1996-99, but kept his career alive in Russia until 2014. Born in Toronto to parents who left the former Soviet Union, Nemirovsky suffered a concussion during the 2010-11 season, returning to North America because he felt care would be better. But he wanted to end on his own terms and worked to come back, which he did for 16 games in 2013-14.

One year later, he was offered a job in one of the more remote KHL outposts, Vladivostok Admiral. Located near Russia’s borders with China and North Korea, running that team is a challenge because it is a lower-

budget club and the geography means lengthy road trips. “It’s a pretty nice city,” he said. “The rink is brand new, the people are nice, the

bridges remind you of San Francisco, as they were built for (the Eastern Economic Forum).” He said Jonathan Blum, who will play for Team USA

at the Olympics, did very well there because he was willing to embrace the region.

25. Nemirovsky was hired as an assistant GM, with additional responsibilities on the bench. His role kept increasing, eventually running the forward lines. Admiral reached the playoffs in 2016 and 2017, losing in the first round both times. This year, they are in trouble. There have been three coaching changes and the general manager was let go, too.

“I was offered the GM job, but said no,” Nemirovsky says. “It isn’t a good situation there. But I enjoy learning and it was a great experience. The mentality is totally different back there — Eddie Shore, yell at them, put them down, not the way I believed. Our coaches were more forward

thinking, but we did get some pressure to be more (old school). We had success the other way.” He says he has some “stuff on the table” back in the KHL, but is looking for other opportunities before making that decision.

One-time teammate Robert Esche runs AHL Utica, and Nemirovsky went to that league’s All-Star Weekend to network. “I have a lot to learn and am interested in any hockey job I can get. I wouldn’t close the door on coaching or management.” In the meantime, he’s watching son Easton learn to skate and play. “He seems way more aggressive than I was,” Nemirovsky laughs. “I don’t want to push him, just have fun. My dad says

he’s better than I was.”

26. Being in Vladivostok allowed him to see the “smaller” Vladimir

Tkachev up close. That’s the one who signed with Edmonton in 2014, only to have the contract voided because he was still draft-eligible. Does

Nemirovsky think he can eventually make the jump back? “Now, I think he can. Ask me a year ago, maybe not, because he did not get the other

side of the game. With the puck, he’s unbelievable. Not with it, he wasn’t there. But, towards the end, he was becoming a different player. He’s still young (22), and if it goes the way it went last year, he can do it. He needs to get stronger and he knows it. Another year.”

27. One of the Olympic hockey subplots will be Ilya Kovalchuk. Unlike last summer, when New Jersey held his rights, he is unrestricted this time. And, if he comes back to the NHL, it is believed his eyes are on New York.

28. There are interviews you remember. One came late in the 2014-15 season, a nightmare year for the Buffalo Sabres. Down 3-1 to Toronto, they came back to win 4-3. I interviewed Mike Weber after that game, and the next day, Doug MacLean told me he was struck by how passionate the defenceman was about winning in a year the organization was tanking.

“I do remember that,” Weber said Monday, one week after a knee injury ended his professional career. “I’m a kid from Beaver County, PA, half an

hour out of Pittsburgh. Told I’d never make it, I worked hard to make it. I took such pride in the jersey. I cared so much, I was willing to die — for a

lack of a better word — to represent the organization properly. Every single guy cared so much that year…everyone wants to be on a winner

and we understood what the organization was trying to do. They got (Jack) Eichel, and he’s a huge part of what they will be. But our jobs were

on the line, our careers were on the line. We took pride in the emblem, but it tested a lot of the players. It definitely made me stronger.”

29. Taken 57th overall in the 2006 Draft, Weber played 351 NHL games with Buffalo and Washington. He spent 2016-17 at AHL Iowa, and started this season with Frolunda in the Swedish league.

“I was hurt last year, but trained all off-season to give it another shot,” he said. “I love hockey and would do whatever to keep playing. But the knee couldn’t hold up. I couldn’t battle and compete like I had to.”

Weber missed the birth of his second child after being traded to Washington. The boy was born earlier than expected, and he couldn’t get

back to Buffalo on time. He and wife Janine are expecting their third child in March, and were prepared to do it overseas. “She told me, ‘You did all

you can do, gave it everything you had. Let’s go home.’”

Best memory? “Hearing my name called at the draft, walking down to the

floor, seeing Darcy Regier and Lindy Ruff, telling them, ‘I won’t let you guys down, I will do my best to be here.’ Getting the phone call to make

my NHL debut, after only nine AHL games. My third year, I played the whole year in the minors. That reminded me nothing is easy, nothing is given and you have to keep grinding to be better.” He paused. “I was always appreciative of opportunity. I left it all out there and have no regrets. It was a fun ride.”

Join Jeff Marek and Sam Cosentino for all the CHL and NHL prospect talk you can handle.

30. Weber played junior at OHL Windsor and is thrilled Trevor Letowski offered a role in his coaching staff. It is a career he intends to pursue. “The last few years, I’ve been writing down things I liked. At Iowa, it was almost a player/coach role, helping out with penalty kill meetings and making sure younger players knew what to expect.” Maybe someday he will cross paths again with the young man who sat next to him in the Frolunda dressing room. That was likely number one draft pick Rasmus Dahlin. “Great kid. You guys will all find that out pretty shortly.”

31. When I first broke into the business covering the Toronto Raptors for The Fan in Toronto, Jim Christie occasionally worked the beat for The Globe and Mail. Jim made his name as one of Canada’s great amateur sports reporters, and basketball was a little out of his comfort zone.

I was new and learning, and he was really the first established veteran to ask me questions about some of the things he needed to know. It was

flattering in a small way, and Jim repaid with good advice and the professionalism he was known for. There were a couple of times I called

him at his desk, and he would answer with a kind of crescendo, “This…is…Jim Christie!” I always laughed at that. Jim died last week at

age 65. He will be missed and I always appreciated his help.


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Sportsnet.ca / Brian Burke: Flames likely won't use draft picks to acquire rental player

Sportsnet Staff | @Sportsnet February 7, 2018, 7:16 PM

The Calgary Flames could use a winger who can provide offence, but that need may have to be addressed internally, acknowledges Brian

Burke.

The team president joined Prime Time Sports Wednesday evening on Sportsnet 590 and discussed the upcoming Feb. 26 trade deadline, saying he speaks daily with general manager Brad Treliving about how to improve the club.

“I think what we need is a winger who can score, but we’re going to get him back,” Burke said, referring to injured winger Kris Versteeg.

The 31-year-old has been sidelined since November with a hip issue, but has returned to the ice and does not appear far from re-joining the Flames lineup.

“He’s important to us,” Burke told host Bob McCown. “That fills one need.”

Calgary currently sits third in the Pacific Division with 62 points. The Flames have been dominant on the road (14-5-5) and Burke says he

likes what he sees from the club as it enters the second half of the season, adding that it won’t be parting with draft picks to acquire a rental

player.

“We don’t have a lot of picks — we’re not picking until [the third round of

the 2018 draft], so we can’t use the deadline to pick up a rental player with a relatively high pick,” he said. “We’re not going into [2019] picks … unless it’s an extraordinary circumstance.”


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Sportsnet.ca / Kyle Turris hoping for warm welcome from Senators fans

upon Ottawa return


TORONTO – Kyle Turris played more than 20 minutes a night during the Ottawa Senators‘ surprising run to the Eastern Conference final last spring. He scored a huge overtime winner in Round 2 against the Rangers, and had no clue that his time was running short with the organization.

“No, not at all. No. It didn’t cross my mind at all,” he said Wednesday.

On the cusp of his first game back in the nation’s capital since being

traded away from the Senators, Turris continually tried to steer the conversation back to the good days in Ottawa. He didn’t have any

interest in rehashing the failed talks on a contract extension last summer that ultimately paved his way out of town – not after causing an uproar in

December when he told reporters that Senators owner Eugene Melnyk stood in the way of management’s desire to sign him.

Turris agreed to a $36-million, six-year extension as part of the Nov. 5 trade that sent him to Nashville – terms that Senators GM Pierre Dorion has said were never on the table during their discussions.


It’s been speculated that the 28-year-old centre wouldn’t budge off his ask of $7-million per year from Ottawa, but he declined to address those reports.

“I’m just going to stay away from saying anything anymore because I unintentionally may stir something up,” said Turris, referencing the

comments he made to reporters in Vancouver about Melnyk. “So I’m just going to stay away from saying anything. I’m sorry.”

There are clearly still some raw feelings about a breakup that probably could have been avoided.

Turris and his wife, Julie, loved living in Ottawa. They started a family there and were heavily involved in local charities and the community. He

remains close with several Senators players and said he feels bad for the way this season has played out for them.

He’s particularly sympathetic to captain Erik Karlsson, who has been mentioned prominently in trade speculation with potential free agency looming in 2019.

“He’s one of the best players in the world and it’s been a frustrating year for him,” said Turris. “He’s a great leader. To have the team going through what they’re going through I think is tough and frustrating, and it’s a tough situation for him with all of the rumours going around about him.

“So, yeah, it’s just altogether a tough situation but he handles things well.”

Turris left Ottawa before things truly went sideways – the Sens were 6-3-5 at the time of the trade – and he’s produced more points than his

replacement Matt Duchene (23-20) since it went down.

In Nashville, he’s landed with an organization that believes it got closer to

championship contention by acquiring him. They are right at the top of the Western Conference.

“The depth of our team [got] better, the power-play units [got] better, so he brings a lot to the table,” said coach Peter Laviolette.

With his wife and three kids now comfortable in their new Nashville surroundings, the present and future is bright. Even still, Turris will likely take a quick moment or two to reflect on the past when he’s back in Ottawa to face the Senators on Thursday night.

He’s guessing the visit will include some playful back-and-forth will old teammates.

Ryan Dixon and Rory Boylen go deep on pucks with a mix of facts and

fun, leaning on a varied group of hockey voices to give their take on the country’s most beloved game.

“Yeah, I’m buddies with them,” said Turris. “I’m sure I’ll be talking to [Karlsson] and [Mark Stone] and [Mark Borowiecki] and some of the guys. When you get on the ice it’s a game and it’s competitive and it’ll be fun at the same time.”

As for the fans, he’s not sure what to expect. He had hoped to stay in the city long term and didn’t have any say in the decision to trade him out of town.

There’s bound to be some mixed emotions when he skates out on the ice

at Canadian Tire Centre and looks up in the stands.

“I hope it’s a good [reaction],” said Turris. “I have so many good

memories that I was lucky to share with a packed building all the time. So it was a lot of fun, and I’m looking forward to tomorrow night.”


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Sportsnet.ca / NHL Power Rankings: Greatest Trade Needs Edition

Luke Fox | @lukefoxjukebox February 7, 2018, 9:43 AM

February 26 is only 19 days away. The silly season is upon us.

Players are being asked for their no-trade lists. Rumours are ramping up.

And the contenders are separating themselves from the pretenders.

In this week’s NHL Power Rankings: Greatest Trade Needs Edition, we look at the greatest area of need for each of the 31 clubs as we approach the trading deadline.

As per our weekly custom, all 31 teams are ranked in order of their current awesomeness. The write-ups zero in on what each club should be hunting for (or need to be selling) between now and Feb. 26.

1. Boston Bruins

Having earned points in 21 of their past 22 outings, regardless if top scorer Brad Marchand is in the lineup or not, the Bruins’ youth movement

is ahead of schedule and their veterans are all enjoying solid seasons. They don’t need much and should be unwilling to sacrifice much, but GM

Don Sweeney may poke around for a depth centre (Mark Letestu?) or another D-man.

2. Nashville Predators

The Predators need to sit this one out. Mike Fisher will give an already deep team up the middle another trustworthy option at centre, and David Poile has already traded away his 2018 second-rounder.

3. Winnipeg Jets

At trade deadline, Kevin Cheveldayoff has traditionally lived up to his surname’s last two syllables and taken the day off. Having persevered nicely through injuries to Mark Scheifele and Jacob Trouba, Winnipeg is looking for a top-six forward. They need to buy this month, partly to add depth but mostly to send a vote of confidence to a core that deserves it.

4. Tampa Bay Lightning

The Bolts roll out arguably the most dynamic collection of forwards in the NHL and possess the Vezina front-runner in net. Steve Yzerman needs to shore up his blue line in a go-for-it year. Rangers captain Ryan McDonagh is available and has two years left on his contract; his window aligns with Nikita Kucherov’s. Big-move potential here.

5. Vegas Golden Knights

Blessed with cap space and free of expectations, George McPhee has the enviable position of being able to buy, sell or stay pat and have all three routes justified. The GM needs to get a high pick or two in return for James Neal and/or David Perron. Figure out their intentions. Follow the example Doug Armstrong set with Kevin Shattenkirk last winter. If McPhee is unable to trade or re-sign those forwards, consider those trade chips wasted.

6. Dallas Stars

Dallas needs to shed Jason Spezza’s salary and look at renting a forward that can take them from scary to scarier. Rick Nash? Michael

Grabner?

7. St. Louis Blues

Scoring, big time. When the Blues allow one goal or less, they often win, but scoring help is out there — Mike Hoffman, Evander Kane, Max Pacioretty — and St. Louis should go after it.

8. Toronto Maple Leafs

Toronto is reaching a critical point with its winger depth and needs to shed from the flanks — Josh Leivo? Matt Martin? Nikita Soshnikov? Kasperi Kapanen? — in order to bolster middle ice and the right-defence position. Roman Polak can kill a penalty, but can you win a Cup with him?

9. Pittsburgh Penguins

Pittsburgh needs the same thing it needed and failed to find in the summer: a third-line centre. With the Penguins making another second-

half surge, expect Jim Rutherford to be aggressive in tracking down forward depth.

10. Washington Capitals

Having lost Karl Alzner and Kevin Shattenkirk to free agency last summer, the somewhat surprising Capitals could rent a defenceman (Alex Ovechkin has publicly supported a Mike Green return) and take a stab at wide-open Metropolitan Division crown.

11. San Jose Sharks

This is the time of year GM Doug Wilson usually tinkers with the fringes

of his lineup. San Jose has no second- or third-rounder to spend and needs to decide if it’s a true contender. If not, Joe Thornton, Aaron Dell and Joel Ward — all on expiring contracts — could be dangled in attempt to restock the cupboards.

12. Colorado Avalanche

Joe Sakic would be wise to resist the urge to chase the playoffs.

Colorado is an exciting young team that could take a giant step next season. The Avs need to use their cap space to take a contender’s salary dump as well as a pick or prospect as compensation.

13. Minnesota Wild

The Wild isn’t one scorer away, so it needs to be honest about its status as a bubble team that could be first-round fodder. Trade UFAs Chris Stewart and Matt Cullen (back to Pittsburgh?), who are both on nice contracts, in an attempt to get back a couple picks.

14. Los Angeles Kings

The Kings’ core is too old and contractually committed to rebuild, so L.A.

has no choice but to get into the post-season and hope Jonathan Quick catches fire. A healthy Jeff Carter is a big step, but if the Kings can move

Marian Gaborik for a younger weapon (even if that means eating some salary), they should do it.

15. Calgary Flames

The Jaromir Jagr gamble crapped out, and Calgary’s 20th-ranked

offence could use a bump. Problem is, the Flames have already traded away their first-, second- and fifth-round picks in 2018 and their second-, third- and sixth-round picks in 2019. It’ll be tough for them to win a bidding war without diving into their prospect pool.

16. Anaheim Ducks

Anaheim needs starter John Gibson healthy above all else. Beyond that, the Ducks could look for more scoring help. Adam Henrique has been a nice addition, but if Anaheim finishes the season with the 23rd-ranked offence, it could finish out of the playoffs.

17. New Jersey Devils

The Devils need to avoid chasing a rental player — any playoff success this spring will be a bonus — but instead look at roster options up front

with forwards who still have some term on their deals. New Jersey has

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enough cap space to take on, say, a Max Pacioretty or Mike Hoffman no worries.

18. Philadelphia Flyers

The Flyers need to produce a video tribute to Doug Pederson’s play calling.

19. Columbus Blue Jackets

The Blue Jackets’ offence has been remarkably underwhelming. They

need a William Karlsson type. (Kidding!) But seriously, they will look to add a scorer who can bolster their power play. The Rick Nash return

buzz is starting.

20. New York Islanders

Deee-fence. The Travis Hamonic trade is hurting the Islanders. New York needs to reach the playoffs to increase its chances of re-signing John Tavares, so Garth Snow should hunt for goaltending and a defender to complement his high-flying forwards.

21. Chicago Blackhawks

Oh, boy. Stan Bowman needs to fight the feeling that he may be able to save this season. The Corey Crawford injury has exposed the holes of a roster ravaged by the cap. Any move that can free up cap space or add

picks is welcome. Is anyone desperate enough for an RD that they’ll take the Brent Seabrook anchor?

22. Edmonton Oilers

Edmonton needs to throw in the towel and trade attractive depth forwards

Patrick Maroon and Mark Letestu. Maybe there’s even a buyer for Mike Cammalleri’s experience. The Oilers also need to not do anything too

rash. Reevaluate in the summer.

23. Florida Panthers

The Panthers need patience, and a little luck. Any move Dale Tallon’s budget team makes should be for the long term. Florida has a nice prospect pool and could develop into a threat in a couple years, but it feels far away right now.

24. Carolina Hurricanes

The same thing they’ve needed for years: more goals. At some point Ron Francis, whose patience is commendable, needs to get this group over the hump and into the playoffs.

25. New York Rangers

The Rangers appear to have a firm grasp of their needs. If you’re not a

true contender, sell. So, New York needs to sell Rick Nash and Michael Grabner to the highest bidder and restock the cupboards. If Ryan

McDonagh goes, too, GM Jeff Gorton needs to get a decent haul.

26. Montreal Canadiens

Montreal needs to rebuild. Sell Tomas Plekanec. Try to get good value for Max Pacioretty. Then go out this summer and get a real centre. The

Canadiens will never contend until they get one.

27. Vancouver Canucks

The Canucks need to cut bait with Erik Gudbranson, who will be looking for more money and term than Vancouver is likely to offer this summer, and Thomas Vanek, who could boost a contender’s third line and second power-play unit. The future is increasingly bright. Give Jim Benning more picks and prospects to build with.

28. Detroit Red Wings

Ken Holland needs to drive up the price for Mike Green and get as high of a pick as possible for a rental defenceman enjoying a renaissance

season. Finding a buyer for one of his expensive goalies would be a bonus.

29. Ottawa Senators

The Senators already spent their first- and second-round picks in 2018, so they need to hold off on a Mike Hoffman trade unless the return is significant. Ottawa also needs to understand ASAP if Matt Duchene intends to re-sign long term. If not, he too could be flipped to a playoff team in search of centre depth.

30. Buffalo Sabres

Rookie GM Jason Botterill will need to knock his asking price down but still needs to hit a home run with the Evander Kane trade.

31. Arizona Coyotes

Where do we begin? Really, the Coyotes need to win the draft lottery and build around Rasmus Dahlin.


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Sportsnet.ca / Jerabek gaining experience, hoping to earn new contract with Canadiens

Eric Engels February 7, 2018, 3:08 PM

BROSSARD, Que. — This is all new to Jakub Jerabek.

He came to the Montreal Canadiens this past summer with no expectations. He was sent to the AHL’s Laval Rocket to get a better grasp of the North American game through the first six weeks of the season. And he’s since bounced between playing on any one of Montreal’s three defence pairings and sitting on the sidelines — where he’ll be for a third straight game when the Canadiens take on the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday.

“I’ve never really sat out before,” Jerabek told Sportsnet. “I’ve always been one of the leaders on my team.”

It’s why the Canadiens signed the 26-year-old out of the KHL in the first

place, giving him a one-year, two-way, $925,000 deal.

The hope was that Jerabek would showcase the same skill that netted

him a five-goal, 29-assist output, which ranked him fifth among KHL defencemen in scoring, earned him an all-star nomination and a saw him named a first-team all-ttar in his first season with Podolsk Vityaz.

Live stream over 300 marquee regular season games, regional matchups for the Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames, Vancouver Canucks and Toronto Maple Leafs, and the entire 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

That kind of performance wasn’t a one-off for Jerabek, who led all defenceman in scoring in the Czech Republic’s Extraliga en route to being named the league’s top defenceman in 2015-16. That was after putting up seven goals and 32 points in 48 games in 2014-15.

He flashed that potential with the Rocket, scoring a goal and adding 10 assists in 17 games with them. But he hasn’t quite been given that type

of opportunity in his brief time with the Canadiens. Over 25 games with Montreal, he’s scored a goal and three assists, averaged 17:20 in time on ice and played less than three minutes total on the power play.

“You can see he’s got great offensive instincts,” said Victor Mete, who

had partnered with Jerabek more than anyone else has since his promotion from Laval. “He jumps into the rush quite a bit, too. I think his transition game is really solid.”

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Ryan Dixon and Rory Boylen go deep on pucks with a mix of facts and fun, leaning on a varied group of hockey voices to give their take on the country’s most beloved game.

Jerabek’s overall game had also been strong enough for Canadiens coach Claude Julien to trust him in heavier defensive matchups, playing him alongside Jordie Benn for games in recent weeks in No.1 defenceman Shea Weber’s absence.

“It was really good to play against the best guys, the best lines of each team,” Jerabek said. “It was a big challenge for me and I was really enjoying it, especially in a pair with Jordie. It was really good to play with

him. I hope one day maybe we’ll get back together. But playing against the best guys in this league — I don’t know what better experience I

could get.”

Sitting as a healthy scratch for six games certainly hasn’t been quite as

valuable, but it’s still offered him perspective.

“It really is all a learning experience,” Jerabek said. “If you’re a healthy

scratch, you’re still a part of the team. You have to watch the games and know what’s going on in every situation. I can learn, even if I watch the

game. I can learn from other people’s mistakes, but I also learn from good breakouts, good plays, good positioning. There’s a lot of good guys with good experience I can learn from.”

True as that may be, it doesn’t make missing games any easier to digest.

Julien said on Tuesday that part of the reason Jerabek was scratched over the last two games was because he had struggled in the lead up to that decision, but he also acknowledged it was mostly due to the internal competition he’s trying to create on his defence.

That’s why Benn sat for a game last week, why David Schlemko was pulled out for one too, and why Joe Morrow missed a series of games

before stepping into Jerabek’s spot.

Jerabek, who’s a pending unrestricted free agent, will get his chance to

play again soon enough. He hopes to use it to prove to the Canadiens that he was worth the chance they took on him.

“I think I have improved, and that’s why I came over here — to be a better player and even a better person,” said Jerabek. “I hope I’m a better

player every day, after every practice.”

Time will tell if the Canadiens agree.

Jerabek says no negotiations for a new contract have taken place with Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin to this point, but he has expressed his desire to stay with the team to agent Allan Walsh.

“Me and my girlfriend really like this city, and I love playing for this team,” Jerabek said. “Sometimes it’s a hard winter, but even so we like it. I hope I’m going to be part of this team next season.”


1097236 Websites

Sportsnet.ca / Sportsnet’s 2018 NHL Draft Prospect Rankings: February

Sam Cosentino February 7, 2018, 11:26 AM

We’re hitting the stretch run of the scouting season as the importance of games ramps up all across the hockey world, whether it’s in a Swedish pro league or the CHL, where the Memorial Cup will be awarded in

Regina.

There is no change at the very top of our draft rankings in February, but

we are seeing a shift in the No. 2 spot that Andrei Svechnikov has held

all season. After many discussions with talent evaluators, here is how our top 31 shakes out this month.

1. Rasmus Dahlin, D, six-foot-two, 181 pounds (Frolunda, SHL): Kinda like Muhammad Ali in the day, the undisputed champ.

2. Filip Zadina, RW, six-foot, 196 pounds (Halifax Mooseheads, QMJHL): Started with little room to move, but the snipe show has transcended league play, international play and best-on-best at the Top Prospects game.

Join Jeff Marek and Sam Cosentino for all the CHL and NHL prospect talk you can handle.

3. Andrei Svechnikov, RW, six-foot-two, 186 pounds (Barrie Colts, OHL): Big, strong and powerful — skating is smooth as silk. Game is less

dynamic and more pro.

4. Brady Tkachuk, LW, six-foot-three, 196 pounds (Boston University, NCAA): World junior performance carries a lot of weight as do the bloodlines.

5. Adam Boqvist, D, five-foot-11, 168 pounds (Brynas Jr.): Game-changing offensive abilities where the feet and hands work well in concert.

6. Oliver Wahlstrom, RW, six-foot-one, 205 pounds (USNTDP): His shot would play in the NHL today. He has improved his all-around game and ability to utilize teammates.

7. Noah Dobson, D, six-foot-three, 180 pounds (Acadie-Bathurst Titan, QMJHL): His rise from the start of the season to now is reminiscent of Travis Sanheim from the 2014 draft.

8. Evan Bouchard, D, six-foot-two, 193 pounds (London Knights, OHL): Three years ago a few wisemen (Dale and Mark Hunter) claimed Bouchard as one of the smartest young players they had seen in some

time. Go figure.

9. Quinn Hughes, D, five-foot-10, 170 pounds (U of Michigan, NCAA): He’s been bypassed by both Dobson and Bouchard, but still remains inside the top 10.

10. Barrett Hayton, C, six-foot-one, 191 pounds (Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, OHL): As mature a young man as you’ll find, he’s got game that when matched with character makes him an easy pick.

11. Rasmus Kupari, C, six-foot-one, 183 pounds (Karpat, Finnish Liiga): Was incredibly close to going to Sault Ste. Marie after the world juniors and now it looks like important peer viewings will not be garnered in the upcoming Five Nations tournament.

12. Joel Farabee, LW, six-foot, 164 pounds (USNTDP): Highly skilled forward who presents the dual threat as his hockey IQ makes him equally as dangerous a playmaker as he is a shooter.

13. Isac Lundestrom, C, six-foot, 185 pounds (Lulea, SHL): Excellent

speed and versatility with attention to detail in his game make him a solid pick.

14. Joe Veleno, C, six-foot-one, 195 pounds (Drummondville, QMJHL): The weight of the draft and taking on more than he could chew in Saint John stymied the production. The real Joe Veleno is emerging daily in Drummondville.

15. Mattias Samuelsson, D, six-foot-four, 217 pounds (USNTDP): Think Cal Foote from the 2017 draft. Not flashy — just gets the job done.

16. Ty Smith, D, five-foot-11, 176 pounds (Spokane Chiefs, WHL): Despite a poor showing at the Top Prospects game, there’s too much

evidence in skating, character and compete to knock him too far down the list.

17. Jared McIsaac, D, six-foot-one, 195 pounds (Halifax Mooseheads, QMJHL): Brings a little bit of everything into the fold with just enough of

an old school touch to let you know he’s a defenceman first.

CAROLINA HURRICANES


18. Bode Wilde, D, six-foot-three, 195 pounds (USNTDP): There’s a lot of risk in his game, but rather than the prototypical undersized puck mover, Wilde has size without sacrificing mobility.

19. Grigori Denisenko, LW, five-foot-11, 176 pounds (Yarolsavl Jr.): Wickedly skilled, but will likely go lower than where his skill set says he should.


20. Serron Noel, RW, six-foot-five, 200 pounds (Oshawa Generals, OHL): At the start of the year he looked more like a project, but the player

he can become is starting to come into focus.

21. Jacob Olofsson, C, six-foot-two, 192 pounds (Timra, Allsvenskan):

Has always produced despite playing second fiddle, be it internationally or in the Allsvenskan.

22. Jesperi Kotkaniemi, C, six-foot-two, 188 pounds (Assat, Finnish Liiga): Drives the play, doesn’t give up the play and can play any style of

game.

23. Ryan McLeod, C, six-foot-two, 200 pounds (Mississauga Steelheads, OHL): Excellent vision accompanied by dynamic playmaking ability. Is a bit of a wild card as to where he’ll end up.

24. Rasmus Sandin, D, five-foot-11, 183 pounds (Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, OHL): He’s found comfort in his new digs and it shows in his play.

25. Jett Woo, D, six-foot, 205 pounds (Moose Jaw Warriors, WHL): Getting healthy and a long playoff run should help scouts get a better feel for NHL projection.

26. Benoit Olivier-Groulx, C, six-foot-one, 192 pounds (Halifax Mooseheads, QMJHL): Third-line centre would be his floor, but with

increased scoring this year, the ceiling has risen.

27. K’Andre Miller, D, six-foot-three, 206 pounds (USNTDP): A converted forward from a few years ago, Miller is still refining his game. But he’s an elite skater, which helps him immensely on both sides of the puck.

28. Akil Thomas, C, five-foot-11, 169 pounds (Niagara IceDogs, OHL): There’s a complete package to work with and he’s started to produce more consistently.

29. Dominik Bokk, LW, six-foot-one, 180 pounds (Vaxjo, SHL): Chose Sweden over the CHL as a means to balance game play and practice. Leon Draisaitl comparisons are a stretch, but late first round is not.

30. Ryan Merkley, D, six-foot, 170 pounds (Guelph Storm, OHL): Most

polarizing figure in this draft — he’s a top-10 talent, but talent alone doesn’t get you by like it used to.

31. Martin Kaut, RW, six-foot-two, 176 pounds (Pardubice, Czech Extraliga): Good-sized right shot was very effective at the world juniors

playing in all situations. Is also having a solid year in a tough league playing against men.


1097237 Websites

TSN.CA / Leafs hold off Predators, still chasing league’s elite

Kristen Shilton

TORONTO – Prior to taking on the Nashville Predators Wednesday night, Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock alluded to the

matchup being a measuring stick for where his team is at with two months left in the regular season.

What the Leafs learned after topping Nashville 3-2 on James van Riemsdyk’s seven-round shootout winner is that they still have strides to make in competing with the league’s best – and that Frederik Andersen can steal points with the best of them.

When it was all said and done, Toronto had blown a two-goal lead and were outshot 46-32, but Andersen stood tall, earning his league-leading fifth victory this season when making 40 saves or more.

“I thought [Andersen] was really good,” said Babcock. “I thought we did a

good job right until we turned the puck over and they got one [when Colton Sissons scored in the second period]. Then I thought they upped

the ante. That’s a good team that competes at a high level and as the game went on they got quicker and quicker and we watched them more

and more and Freddie had to be good.

"Good for Freddie and good for us, we got the points. But just shows we

have a ways to go.”

While Toronto (32-19-5) was able to jump out to a 2-0 lead before the

game’s midway point, statistically the team was outplayed all game long while their top two lines struggled to gain any offensive zone time. The Leafs didn’t post higher than 41 per cent possession in any period, and after a sluggish start from both sides Andersen was under siege until the final buzzer.

Returning to action after leaving Monday’s game against the Anaheim Ducks with whiplash after taking a kick to the head in the second period, Andersen looked no worse for wear though, as he made one terrific stop after another. The netminder saved his best of the night for when Toronto needed it most, going post-to-post to halt a Ryan Johansen wraparound

attempt in the final minute of a 2-2 game. For at least the third time that night, chants of “Fred-ie!” “Fred-ie” rained down from the Leafs’ faithful at

Air Canada Centre.

“It’s fun [to hear that]. It’s special, we have great fans here and it means

a lot to have that kind of support,” said Andersen. “It was a tough game, not a lot of space out there. They play a good style of hockey, they have

good defencemen out there. But we did a good job as well. Their goals came out of some tough bounces. It was a good test for us and it was great to get that extra point.”

Even as the Leafs chased Nashville around the ice for too much of Wednesday’s game, they were opportunistic when they needed to be. A turnover along the halfboards helped set up van Riemsdyk’s first period goal, off a rare one-timer he let fly that deflected past Pekka Rinne. In the second frame, it was Kasperi Kapanen scoring short-handed off a fumbled puck at the Leafs’ blueline that extended the lead further. When the Predators made a mistake, the Leafs found enough ways to make them pay.

Toronto had little choice but to capitalize on those mistakes, considering

how few battles they were winning anywhere else. Going hand-in-hand with losing the possession battle by a wide margin was the way the Leafs were dominated in the faceoff circle all night long. After one period, they’d won only 25 per cent of their draws, finishing at 40 per cent by game’s end. The Leafs’ lack of wins in their own end created one solid scoring chance after another for the Predators, like early in the second period when William Nylander, who hadn’t won a draw all night, lost

again and Andersen had to make a sprawled out pad save to keep the Leafs up by one.

“I don’t think I have to stand here and tell you how key he was for us today in making game-saving saves,” said Kapanen of Andersen. “He

was great tonight.”

Even if the victory was punctuated by a few bad habits creeping back in

for the Leafs – another blown lead, too many turnovers, too much reliance on goaltending – to gut out a win against a team as complete as Nashville was a confidence-boost for Toronto whether they’re consciously trying to measure themselves or not.

CAROLINA HURRICANES


“I think it can be [a measuring stick], but for us more now it’s not as much about measuring against people or teams,” said Morgan Rielly. “We want to be one of the best teams; we feel like as long as we play our system and play our game and compete every night, we can play against anybody. We’re trying to win now.”

TAKEAWAYS

Frustrated first-liners

It’s been an up-and-down week for the Leafs’ top unit of Auston Matthews, Nylander and Zach Hyman. There was the admittedly disappointing outing in Boston on Saturday, where Patrice Bergeron’s

line schooled them from start to finish. Then there was the combined eight-point performance against the Ducks on Monday where they were

the game’s most dominant offensive unit. Wednesday’s performance was closer to the former than the latter. While there was some good sustained

zone time early on against the Johansen line, Nashville really began clogging up the neutral zone well and not letting the Leafs’ high-octane

forwards stickhandle their way through. It was a sign of things to come for a Matthews’ line that barely had the puck all night, posting a dreadful

23 per cent possession as a group while being held off the scoresheet. Matthews didn’t put a shot on goal until midway through the third period, a soft toss from in tight on Rinne, but he came alive in the second half of the third period. Matthews got some good jump going while looking for the game-winning goal, entering the zone better and forechecking as well as he had all night with his line. Matthews and Nylander finished off the game by both missing on their opportunities in the shootout, a rarity for both players lately. Babcock said after the game there is a lesson to be learned for the trio of sophomores who like having a puck, and whether “you’re going to dig in hard enough to have it” against those top matchups. Matthews finished with four shots on goal, Nylander with two and Hyman had one.

New kid on the kill

It’s no secret the Leafs’ penalty kill hasn’t been at its best the last couple

weeks. In the two games leading into Wednesday night’s game, Toronto had allowed three power-play goals, and prior to the All-Star Break they’d allowed three in four games. Since being recalled from the American

Hockey League, Kapanen had stepped onto that PK unit, using a skill he’s been honing with the Toronto Marlies since last season. Kapanen is

aggressive on the kill, and adds a dangerous offensive element when he can catch a power-play group flat-footed. That’s exactly what he did,

making the most of his eighth recall from the AHL, and on Wednesday he showed that he’s more than just an asset at even strength. While killing

off a hooking penalty to Connor Brown, Kapanen forced a turnover in the Leafs’ end and took off on a breakaway chance with Craig Smith draped

all over him. Kapanen smartly stopped up in front of Rinne and slid over to the hashmarks where he fired a five-hold strike for the first short-handed score of his career. It was an incredible display not just of his goal-scoring prowess but his hockey IQ and strength on the puck. Kapanen said after he was gassed on the shift, and wasn't really sure how he was going to handle the play; his attempt just fortunately went past Rinne without much forethought. It was Toronto’s first short-handed goal since Jan. 16 against St. Louis and their fourth of the season. The penalty kill finished 2-for-2, while on the other side the Leafs’ power play went 0-for-2.

The Dermotologist is in

Just 13 games into his NHL career, Travis Dermott already plays with a

fearless attitude, akin to that of a veteran blueliner. His confidence with and without the puck only continues to grow, and while he wasn’t without

fault against the Predators, Dermott was impressive patrolling the Leafs’ backend against a tough defensive opponent. In the first period, he made

a great play at the Nashville blueline to keep the puck onside and set up van Riemsdyk’s opening score seconds later, on which he recorded his fourth assist of the season. On the defensive side, Dermott used his speed to his advantage in the second period when his partner Roman Polak fumbled the puck at the Predators’ blueline and gave up a potential

breakaway chance. Dermott took off from the other side of the ice to

backcheck and halt the play at Toronto’s blueline. He won the ensuing puck battle, getting the disc back onto the stick of Kapanen and sending Toronto back the other way. Dermott and Polak are an ideal pairing in the sense Babcock wholly seems to trust the stay-at-home veteran in the Leafs’ zone, and Dermott cannot only learn from that, but he complements Polak with a good speed and skill game. At just 21 years old, Dermott rarely looks out of place or out of synch with his teammates. Babcock has said before that Dermott has strides to make in his own zone, where he can get disoriented and needs to break out more cleanly. But as evidenced by the fact he’s still with the Leafs and hasn’t yet been

returned to the AHL, Dermott is beginning to carve a place for himself at the next level.

Next game

Toronto continues its homestand on Saturday when the Ottawa Senators

come to town for the final meeting between the division rivals this season. Ottawa leads the season series 2-1.

TSN.CA LOADED: 02.08.2018

1097238 Websites

TSN.CA / Canucks’ Eriksson looking to end long power outage

Jeff Paterson

TAMPA, Fla. – It’s hard to believe, but Friday will mark one full year since

Loui Eriksson last scored a power-play goal for the Vancouver Canucks.

This is a player signed to a six-year, $36-million mega deal in the

summer of 2016 based in large measure on his power-play production in Boston in the 2015-16 season. The year before he inked his deal with the Canucks, the 32-year-old Swede scored 30 goals for the Bruins, with 10 of them coming on the power play. That put him in a tie with Sidney Crosby for 20th in the league in that category that season.

Sold as a guy with good hands at close range and a willingness to get to the areas required to cash in on loose pucks, Eriksson has been blanked on the power play in 41 games so far this season. Track it back to his last

goal with the man advantage Feb. 9, 2017, in Columbus and it’s a span of 52 games. This isn’t a bit part that sees token duty when the other

team has a player in the penalty box. When healthy, Eriksson has been a fixture on the Canucks’ second unit logging 64:23 of power-play time so

far this season or an average of 1:34 per game.

Of the 231 goals he’s scored in his National Hockey League career, 59 –

or more than 25 per cent – have come on the power play. So he’s shown an ability to score in that situation first in Dallas where he had a 10

power-play goal season with the Stars in 2010-11 and then in Boston. That trait, however, has not followed him to Vancouver where he has five power-play goals in his 106 games as a Canuck. And unless he gets one

Thursday night in Tampa, Eriksson’s going to have been skunked for a full 12 months without converting with the man advantage.

“Those pucks that are lying there, I have to be better at finding those,” he told TSN 1040 after practice on Wednesday. “That’s what I’m usually

good at – finding rebounds and being in front of the net and tipping shots. I play a different position now than I’m used to, so I’m still trying to learn

to be that bumper guy in the middle. But it’s been tough.”

It’s interesting to hear a 12-year veteran with power-play pedigree say he’s still adjusting to the way the Canucks are operating with the man advantage. Part of that is a different coaching staff with different philosophies in each of his first two seasons on the West Coast. It’s also puzzling to figure out why the Canucks haven’t utilized Eriksson and tried to capitalize on his strengths by using him as the Bruins coaching staff did in Boston when he was a force near the opposition goal.

CAROLINA HURRICANES


“I was net front,” he confirms.” We started off with a really good power play at the beginning of that year (his final season with the Bruins) and pucks were coming to the front of the net and I was just standing there to take rebounds or be ready for a pass.”

Now, the Canucks have Eriksson stationed in the middle of the ice between the hashmarks usually 15 to 20 feet from the net. But with no goals and just three assists in the past calendar year, he may as well be 20 miles from the goal based on the way things are going. Eriksson has just eight power-play shots on goal this season, so he isn’t exactly pouncing on pucks and making goalies sweat.

“He’s got to get to the net and he’s got to find rebounds,” head coach Travis Green says.

“There’s not a secret sauce to say, ‘You’ve to do this to score goals.’ He’s been in the league a long time. He knows how to score goals and

he knows where he has to go to score goals. I haven’t sat here and put a lot of thought or worry into how Loui’s going to score on the power play. I

want Loui to score and I want him to play well all the time – not just on the power play.”

When pressed on why he wasn’t worried about a $6-million player with no bottom line despite regular power-play time, the coach reconsidered his response.

“I worry about it, but it’s not the thing I’m concentrating on today,” Green explains. “He has to find a way to score. We can sit here and talk about it for a while. To answer the question again: to score goals in that spot, you have to find rebounds and you have to be hard on the puck around the net.”

The last power-play goal Eriksson scored was a goalmouth tap in from the top of the crease set up neatly by Daniel Sedin. There was nothing

spectacular about Eriksson’s role in the goal. He put himself in the proper position and the puck found him there. But it’s a head scratcher to figure

out why it hasn’t happened since.

Heading into Thursday’s game against the league-leading Lightning, the

Canucks’ power play is ninth best in the NHL at 21.4 per cent. So Eriksson is not holding the power play back in any way. But again, with

two units that have been productive, it makes it almost harder to believe that there hasn’t been more of a contribution from a player with a decorated history in such situations.

Thursday is another chance for Eriksson to find a way to contribute. And the Canucks could use a bump. In the past five games, their power play is just one for 12 (8.3 per cent) and that was a first-unit goal from Daniel Sedin against the Colorado Avalanche more than a week ago. The second unit hasn’t cashed in since a Sven Baertschi goal against Los Angeles Jan. 23.

Eriksson says all the right things about bringing this baffling streak to an

end. Now it’s time to let his actions speak for themselves and do those little things required to get some sort of payoff on the power play. Simply

put, this drought has gone on far too long.


1097239 Websites

TSN.CA / Leafs prepare for tough test against Predators

Kristen Shilton

TORONTO – The Maple Leafs were full of praise for the high-octane defence corps of the Nashville Predators ahead of taking them on

Wednesday night. But to actually describe what sets one of the league’s top bluelines apart from the competition took little explanation.

“It’s called being better, not different,” said Mike Babcock. “You know when one guy is just better than the other, goes back and gets [the puck], hooks the net, comes up the ice and makes the right play all the time? I don’t know if it’s different. It’s called better.”

Few defences in the NHL drive their team the way Nashville’s does, with blueliners getting in on the rush while also shutting down opponents in their own end. The Predators are giving up the third-fewest goals in the league (2.49 per game) and are 13th in shots allowed per game (31.9).

P.K. Subban’s 41 points leads all Nashville skaters through 51 games, with three defenders among the Predators’ top-nine scorers.

Nashville also has at least a point in 11 of its last 12 games and a goalie in Pekka Rinne who owns the third-most wins this season (27) and the

second-best save percentage among starters (.926), leaving the Leafs just a little awed by the task at hand in these clubs’ first meeting of the

season.

“They have an extremely gifted, high-paced defence that’s up in the play

creating havoc, creating confusion and obviously some great forwards who can make plays,” said Ron Hainsey. “So it’s a big challenge against a team that went to the Stanley Cup Final and obviously [they have] a great goalie too, so we’ll have our work cut out for us this evening to get the win.”

Toronto has struggled against hot teams of late, most recently falling flat in a 4-1 loss to the Boston Bruins on Saturday before rebounding with a run-and-gun 7-4 win over the Anaheim Ducks on Monday.

The Leafs appreciate how high-scoring affairs that get nearly everyone involved on the scoresheet are good for the ego, but the chances

Toronto gave up defensively were dangerously close to disastrous.

“I don’t know if there was a ton of great defensive side of the puck,” said

Hainsey. “Monday was a game where if you were a defenceman you probably didn’t have a great night on the defensive side, or it didn’t look

that way…Working on things on the defensive side of the puck, I don’t think it’s a big secret that it’s something we’re focused on improving

around here.”

Monday marked the third time in just their last 10 games the Leafs had allowed 40 or more shots and four or more goals against. That type of defensive effort will be easy for the Predators to exploit with their active blueline and a seventh-ranked offence that’s averaging more than three goals per game.

“I thought we were no good sorting it out off the rush coming into our zone [on Monday], which is going to be important,” said Babcock. “I don’t imagine there will be a lot of space but we have to sort it out better coming into our zone because [Roman] Josi and Subban and [Ryan] Ellis

will be coming and [Yannick] Weber for that matter. They can all make plays from the backend.”

“It’s better for them to be in their zone than ours, so we have to make sure we start a heavy forecheck early,” added Mitch Marner. “We have to

be sure we’re making it hard on them to join the rush and if they do that they’re going to be tired on the way back. It’s going to be a big key for us

to get that puck in and try to work them down low.”

One big boost for the Leafs is they will get starting goaltender Frederik

Andersen back between the pipes. Andersen left Monday’s game after taking a skate to the head from Corey Perry in the second period. The netminder avoided a concussion on the play but the “uppercut to the jaw” left him with significant whiplash.

Morning skate notes

- With the NHL trade deadline looming on Feb. 26, Babcock touched on finding the balance between what pieces he may want to add as a coach versus what the rest of the organization sees. “What I want is simple. I

make it real clear. But then that day comes and it’s all over with,” he said.

CAROLINA HURRICANES


“We’re all going to get together and we’re going to discuss this many times, and we’re all going to have our opinions. I like to have a whole bunch of different opinions too, not just the same one. I like to have good debate and heated debate because I think that’s good too. But in the end, you get what you get, and then you have to find a way to make them win.” As for what he might be looking for specifically out of an addition, Babcock wouldn’t say: “The people that need to know, know.”

- Wednesday marks the 42nd anniversary of Darryl Sittler’s 10-point game against the Boston Bruins, which remains an NHL record. Sittler has joined the Maple Leafs’ front office as a community ambassador

since his playing days came to a close, and the impact felt by his presence around the team is as profound as it ever was on the ice

according to Babcock. “He’s a super, super, super human being; forget the points,” he said. “To me, the impact he’s made in Toronto and the

impact he makes, he’s a gentleman every single day, whether he’s around your players, whether he’s in the community, he’s a star. So as

good as he was as a player, he’s better as a man, as a husband, as a father. Pure gentleman, great to have around and we’re lucky to have

him."

Maple Leafs projected lineup vs. Nashville

Forwards

Hyman-Matthews-Nylander

Marleau-Kadri-Marner

van Riemsdyk-Bozak-Brown

Komarov-Moore-Kapanen

Defencemen

Rielly-Hainsey

Gardiner-Zaitsev

Dermott-Polak

Goaltenders

Andersen starts

McElhinney


1097240 Websites

TSN.CA / Statistically Speaking: Duchene heating up

Scott Cullen

Duchene making progress in Ottawa; Barkov, Malkin, Kessel, Crosby and more in Scott Cullen’s Statistically Speaking.

HEROES

Matt Duchene – Ottawa’s scoring centre put up a goal and two helpers in

a 5-3 win against New Jersey. It hasn’t all been a smooth transition since joining the Senators, but Duchene does have 14 points (6 G, 8 A) in the

past 14 games.

Aleksander Barkov – Florida’s first line centre scored twice in a 3-1 win

vs. Vancouver, giving him 14 points (7 G, 7 A) in the past 13 games.

Evgeni Malkin, Phil Kessel, and Sidney Crosby – Malkin and Kessel both

had a goal and an assist in a 5-4 win over Vegas. Malkin has 24 points (16 G, 8 A) in the past 13 games while Kessel has 21 points (7 G, 14 A)

in the past 13 games. Crosby chipped in a couple of assists, giving him 24 points (3 G, 21 A) in the past 13 games.

Evgeni Malkin Pittsburgh C 15 16 10 26

Sidney Crosby Pittsburgh C 15 3 22 25

Phil Kessel Pittsburgh RW 15 8 15 23

Brent Burns San Jose D 17 3 16

19

Patrice Bergeron Boston C 14 11 8 19

Alexander Radulov Dallas RW 14 7 12 19

Brad Marchand Boston LW 9 6 12 18

Johnny Gaudreau Calgary LW 14 3 15 18

Alex Ovechkin Washington LW 13 8

9 17

David Perron Vegas LW 16 4 13

17

Mikko Rantanen Colorado RW 13 5 12

17

Mathew Barzal N.Y. Islanders C 15 3

14 17

ZEROES

Shea Theodore – The Vegas blueliner had a tough night (9 for, 20 against, 31.0 CF%, 4-12 scoring chances) and was on the ice for three goals against in a 5-4 loss at Pittsburgh.

Danny DeKeyser and Nick Jensen – The Detroit defence pairing had a rough night (10 for, 20 against, 33.3 CF%) and was on the ice for all three goals against in a 3-2 loss to Boston.

Max McCormick – Ottawa’s checking centre was buried in his own end (1 for, 12 against, 7.7 CF%, 1-7 scoring chances) in a 5-3 win against New

Jersey.

Curtis Lazar – The Flames winger was on the wrong side of the puck (2

for, 16 against, 11.1 CF%, 1-6 scoring chances) in a 3-2 win at Chicago.

Carter Hutton – St. Louis’ netminder gave up three goals on eight shots

before getting pulled in a 6-2 loss to Minnesota. He had a .952 save percentage in his previous 15 games.

Keith Kinkaid – The Devils goaltender allowed four goals on 20 shots before getting pulled in a 5-3 loss at Ottawa, giving him a .870 save

percentage in his past six appearances.

VITAL SIGNS

Derick Brassard – The Senators centre did not dress for a 5-3 win over

New Jersey due to an undisclosed injury.

Winnipeg Jets – With injuries to Adam Lowry, Brandon Tanev and Matt

Hendricks, the Jets called up Nic Petan and Brendan Lemieux for their game against Arizona.

Jonas Brodin – The Minnesota blueliner suffered an upper-body injury in a 6-2 win at St. Louis.

Mikko Rantanen – Colorado’s high-scoring sophomore missed a 3-1 win over San Jose with a lower-body injury.

CAROLINA HURRICANES


Brandon Saad – The Blackhawks winger was demoted to the fourth line and played a season-low 9:54 in a 2-1 loss to Calgary. He had one assist, and 32 shots on goal, in the previous 11 games.

Alex Burrows – The veteran Senators winger is facing a suspension for kneeing Devils LW Taylor Hall in the back of the head, repeatedly.

SHORT SHIFTS

Embedded Image

Sam Reinhart is starting to show signs of progress.

Ducks RW Ondrej Kase scored a goal and an assist in a 4-3 overtime

win at Buffalo; he has 10 points (5 G, 5 A) in the past 12 games…Sabres C Jack Eichel produced a goal and an assist in a 4-3 overtime loss to Anaheim, snapping a season-long four-game scoring drought…Sabres RW Sam Reinhart added a couple of assists, and is on a good streak, with 10 points (3 G, 7 A) in the past nine games...Golden Knights LW Jonathan Marchessault recorded a goal and an assist in a 5-4 loss at Pittsburgh, and has 26 points (9 G, 17 A) in the past 22 games…Golden

Knights RW Reilly Smith contributed a couple of assists, giving him 17 points (7 G, 10 A) in the past 18 games…Capitals C Nicklas Backstrom

notched a goal and an assist in a 3-2 win at Columbus; he had just two goals in the previous seven games…Capitals LW Alex Ovechkin added a pair of assists, and has 21 points (9 G, 12 A) in the past 15 games…Senators LW Mike Hoffman produced a goal and an assist in a 5-3 win against New Jersey, and has six points (2 G, 4 A) in the past four games…Devils RW Kyle Palmieri contributed a goal and an assist in a 5-3 loss at Ottawa, giving him six points (3 G, 3 A) in the past four games…Bruins rookie LW Danton Heinen had a goal and an assist in a 3-2 win at Detroit; he has six points (2 G, 4 A) in the past six games…Red Wings rookie RW Martin Frk also had a goal and an assist

against Boston. He had no goals and four assists in his previous 17 games…Wild C Mikko Koivu, C Eric Staal, and LW Jason Zucker each

had a goal and an assist in a 6-2 win at St. Louis. Koivu had no points in his previous four games, Staal has 11 points (4 G, 7 A) in the past eight

games, and Zucker has 12 points (7 G, 5 A) in the past 12 games…Wild LW Mikael Granlund added two assists against the Blues, giving him 16 points (4 G, 12 A) in the past 13 games…Blues D Colton Parayko had a

pair of assists in a 6-2 loss to Minnesota, matching his production from the previous eight games…Jets D Dustin Byfuglien produced a goal and

an assist in a 4-3 win vs. Arizona, and has five points (1 G, 4 A) in the past six games…Coyotes centres Derek Stepan and Christian Dvorak

both had a goal and an assist in a 4-3 loss at Winnipeg. Stepan had two assists in his previous seven games and Dvorak has five points (3 G, 2

A) in the past six games…Flames C Sean Monahan tallied a goal and added an assist in a 3-2 win at Chicago. He has 15 points (8 G, 7 A) in

his past 14 games…Flames LW Johnny Gaudreau added two assists, giving him 20 points (3 G, 17 A) in the past 15 games…Avalanche LW J.T. Compher and C Tyson Jost both had a goal and an assist in a 3-1 win over San Jose. Compher has six points (4 G, 2 A) in his past six games and Jost had two assists in his previous nine games.

Ducks RW Chris Wagner had a solid game (11 for, 1 against, 91.7 CF%, 5-0) in a 4-3 overtime win at Buffalo…Hurricanes RW Lee Stempniak had good possession numbers (10 for, 2 against, 83.3 CF%, 5-1 scoring chances) in a 2-1 overtime loss to Philadelphia…Blue Jackets defenceman Dean Kukan (16 for, 3 against, 84.2 CF%, 14-2 scoring

chances) and Markus Nutivaara (22 for, 5 against, 81.5 CF%, 18-1 scoring chances) had strong games in a 3-2 loss to Washington…Flames

D Mark Giordano had 13 shot attempts (3 SOG) in a 3-2 win at Chicago.

Capitals G Braden Holtby turned away 37 of 39 shots in a 3-2 win at

Columbus. He has a .906 save percentage in his past dozen games…Flames G Mike Smith saved 34 of 36 shots sent his way in a 3-2

win at Chicago, and has a .929 save percentage in his past 17 games…Flyers G Brian Elliott stopped 27 of 28 shots in a 2-1 overtime win against Carolina. It was his first start in almost two weeks and he had a .878 save percentage in his previous nine games.

FIRSTS

Colin White – A first-round pick of the Senators in 2015, White scored his first NHL goal in his 13th game, a 5-3 win against New Jersey.

His first career #NHL goal is a beauty. Congrats @colinwhite37. pic.twitter.com/JCvrOUdNYt

— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) February 7, 2018

Many of the advanced stats used here come from Natural Stat Trick, Corsica and Hockey Reference.

Scott Cullen can be reached at [email protected]


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TSN.CA / Statistically Speaking: McDavid already in elite company

Scott Cullen

McDavid erupts against the Lightning; Draisaitl, Matthews, Nylander, Perry, Fiala and more in Scott Cullen’s Statistically Speaking.

The Edmonton Oilers, currently 11 points out of playoff spot, blitzed the league-leading Tampa Bay Lightning for a 6-2 victory Monday, and Oilers superstar Connor McDavid was the driving force behind the win, scoring a career-high four goals and adding an assist, while firing 10 shot attempts and nine shots on goal.

McDavid has 14 points (7 G, 7 A) in the past eight games, and is now tied with Nathan MacKinon for third in league scoring with 61 points in 51 games.

He’s put up 209 points in 178 games in his career, which is already outstanding, but what if we adjust for era to see how that compares to

other greats?

Using Hockey-Reference’s adjustments, McDavid’s era-adjusted scoring

through his age-21 season, has him in rather heady company.

Wayne Gretzky 1979 1982 3 239 198

315 513 2.15 1.67

Eric Lindros 1992 1995 3 172 114

128 242 1.41 1.56

Connor McDavid 2015 2018 3 178 67 142 209 1.17 1.49

Sidney Crosby 2005 2009 4 290 132 265 397 1.37 1.40

Milt Schmidt 1936 1940 4 159 52 69 121 0.76 1.36

Mario Lemieux 1984 1987 3 215 145 203 348 1.62 1.30

Evgeni Malkin 2006 2008 2 160 80

111 191 1.19 1.26

Alex Ovechkin 2005 2007 2 163 98

100 198 1.21 1.21

Taylor Hall 2010 2013 3 171 65

80 145 0.85 1.16

Paul Ronty 1947 1950 3 154 46

76 122 0.79 1.14

(A lot of big names there...and Paul Ronty?)

CAROLINA HURRICANES


Hey the Oilers might be on to something with that 97 kid.

— Scott Cullen (@tsnscottcullen) February 6, 2018

Helping out on this night, Leon Draisaitl skated on McDavid’s wing and produced a goal and two helpers, giving him 12 points (2 G, 10 A) in the past eight games.

The perception seems to be that Draisaitl is having a disappointing season, but the 22-year-old is sitting at 45 points in 47 games, which is pretty good as down seasons go. He could finish a few more chances, but Draisaitl joins McDavid to form one of the league’s top scoring duos.

Kucherov-Stamkos Tampa Bay 46 80 126

Kessel-Malkin Pittsburgh 52 71 123

Voracek-Giroux Philadelphia 25 93 118

Tavares-Bailey N.Y. Islanders 40 76 116

McDavid-Draisaitl Edmonton 34 72 116

MacKinnon-Rantanen Colorado 41 70 111

Ovechkin-Kuznetsov Washington 46 59 105

Gaudreau-Monahan Calgary 40 64 104

Despite this offensive brilliance from two young stars, the Oilers are in the midst of what appears to be a lost season.

It’s when McDavid has an electrifying performance like he did against Tampa Bay that it seems all the more frustrating that this generational talent is stuck in a season that sure looks like it won’t include a postseason appearance.

HEROES

Auston Matthews and William Nylander – Toronto’s top line forwards both had two goals and an assist in a 7-4 win over Anaheim. Matthews has 10 points (6 G, 4 A) in the past eight games and Nylander has nine points (3 G, 6 A) in the past seven games. At even-strength, Matthews was also on the ice for five goals for and none against in the game.

Corey Perry – Anaheim’s veteran winger assisted on all four Ducks goals in a 7-4 loss at Toronto. He had just three points (2 G, 1 A) in his previous nine games.

Kevin Fiala – Nashville’s promising young winger tallied a pair of goals in a 5-4 overtime win at the Islanders, giving him eight points (6 G, 2 A) in the past seven games.

ZEROES

Brandon Montour – After putting up standout possession numbers in Saturday’s loss at Montreal, the Ducks defenceman was on the ice for four goals against in a 7-4 loss at Toronto.

Jesper Fast – The Rangers winger was on the wrong side of the puck (6 for, 20 against, 23.1 CF%, 4-12 scoring chances) in a 2-1 loss at Dallas.

Ron Hainsey – The veteran Maple Leafs blueliner had a tough game (7 for, 27 against, 20.6 CF%, 5-17 scoring chances) in a 7-4 win over Anaheim.

Andrei Vasilevskiy – Tampa Bay’s star netminder was pulled after allowing four goals on 26 shots through two periods in a 6-2 loss at

Edmonton. He has a .899 save percentage in his past 10 starts.

VITAL SIGNS

Frederik Andersen – Toronto’s starting goaltender was forced out of a 7-4 win against Anaheim after taking a skate in the head from Ducks

winger Corey Perry. If Andersen is out for an extended period, the Maple Leafs would have to decide whether it’s better to go with current backup

Curtis McElhinney or either of their top-tier AHL goaltenders: Garret Sparks or Calvin Pickard.

Scott Mayfield – A lower-body injury took the Islanders defenceman out of the lineup early against Nashville, a big hit for an Islanders blueline that is already missing Johnny Boychuk and Calvin De Haan.

SHORT SHIFTS

Ducks LW Rickard Rakell put up two goals and an assist in a 7-4 loss at Toronto. Rakell hs 23 points (13 G, 10 A) in the past 19 games…Ducks C Ryan Getzlaf added a goal and an assist, snapping a four-game scoring slump…Predators C Nick Bonino contributed two assists and had strong possession stats (13 for, 3 against, 80.0 CF%, 10-0 scoring chances at evens) in a 5-4 overtime win at the Islanders. He had no

points in his previous five games…Islanders LW Andrew Ladd and C Brock Nelson both picked up a pair of assists in a 5-4 overtime loss to

Nashville. Ladd had one assist in his previous eight games, while Nelson had six points (2 G, 4 A) in his previous 23 games…Oilers C Ryan

Strome chipped in a couple of assists in a 6-2 win against Tampa Bay, and has five assists in the past three games…Lightning rookie LW Yanni

Gourde produced a goal and an assist in a 6-2 loss at Edmonton, giving him eight points (5 G, 3 A) in the past seven games…Predators D P.K.

Subban launched a dozen shot attempts (9 SOG) against the Islanders in a 5-4 overtime win…Stars C Tyler Seguin scored a goal and had 14 shot attempts (6 SOG) in a 2-1 win against the Rangers…Lightning RW Nikita Kucherov had 14 shot attempts (6 SOG) at Edmonton.

Rangers G Henrik Lundqvist stopped 39 of 41 shots in a 2-1 loss at Dallas. He had a .816 save percentage in his previous four appearances…Oilers G Cam Talbot turned away 32 of 34 shots in a 6-2 win vs. Tampa Bay; he has a .917 save percentage in his past five games…Stars G Ben Bishop turned away 31 of 32 shots in a 2-1 win over the Rangers, giving him a .938 save percentage in his past dozen starts.


1097242 Websites

TSN.CA / Statistically Speaking: Konecny, Labanc offer value

Scott Cullen

At this stage of the National Hockey League season, opportunities crop up for some players as coaches start to juggle lines, looking for answers.

A couple of sophomore wingers are getting better chances and delivering production in their new roles.

Here are some of the players to consider on the fantasy hockey waiver wire, owned in less than 60% of TSN leagues:

Travis Konecny, LW, Philadelphia – As the Flyers try to diversify their attack, the second-year winger has been given a shot on the top line, while Jakub Voracek moves down to boost Nolan Patrick and Wayne Simmonds. Konecny has 16 points (7 G, 9 A) in the past 16 games and, skating alongside Claude Giroux and Sean Couturier, he’s in a position for that production to continue. Owned: 33.1%

Mikael Backlund, C, Calgary – A top-tier puck possession centre, Backlund isn’t a huge scorer, but has nine points (2 G, 7 A) in the past nine games and with Matthew Tkachuk and Michael Frolik forms one of the best two-way lines in the league, so he’s a safe addition if not necessarily glamourous. Owned: 43.3%

Kevin Labanc is taking advantage of an opportunity to play a bigger role in San Jose.

Kevin Labanc, RW, San Jose – Currently skating on what may be San

Jose’s top line, with Logan Couture and Tomas Hertl, (now that Joe

CAROLINA HURRICANES


Thornton is out) Labanc is a skilled set-up man who has produced nine points (3 G, 6 A) in the past nine games. Owned: 16.0%

Alexander Steen, LW, St. Louis – The veteran winger has rebounded from a bit of an off season in 2016-2017. He has 11 points (7 G, 4 A) in the past 12 games and is part of a solid veteran line with Paul Stastny and Vladimir Sobotka. Owned: 56.3%

Alexander Edler, D, Vancouver – It’s fair to be cautious about adding Canucks down the stretch, and it appears that 31-year-old Edler is going to remain a fixture on the Vancouver blueline, but he also has nine points (1 g, 8 A) in the past 11 games, plays more than 23 minutes per game,

and his 2.48 shots per game is his highest rate since 2013-2014. Owned: 31.2%

Jeff Petry, D, Montreal – As noted in yesterday’s column, Petry is putting together a strong season for the Canadiens, scoring 11 points (4 G, 7 A)

in the past 12 games and making the most of his opportunity on the Habs’ top power play in the absence of Shea Weber. Owned: 38.5%

Robin Lehner, G, Buffalo – Wins don’t come easily, which hurts his fantasy value from the jump, but Lehner has a .920 save percentage in

his past 20 games, which is a solid addition if you’ve run into goaltending difficulty through injuries or poor performance. Owned: 22.8%


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