Columbus Blue Jackets News Clips July 31, 2020

Columbus Blue Jackets PAGE 02: Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Blue Jackets impress in tune-up against PAGE 04: Columbus Dispatch: Blue Jackets look to get `game feel’ back vs. Bruins PAGE 05: Columbus Dispatch: Blue Jackets’ confident he’s up for task at center in PAGE 07: The Athletic: Ready for Leafs? Pierre-Luc Dubois thrives in Jackets’ tune-up win vs. Boston PAGE 09: The Athletic: What you need to know and watch for as the Blue Jackets open play in the bubble PAGE 14: The Athletic: 2020 NHL qualifying round preview: Maple Leafs vs. Blue Jackets PAGE 20: .ca: Tortorella has Blue Jackets in killer mindset for Maple Leafs PAGE 23: The Hockey Writers: Blue Jackets Sharp In Only Postseason Tune Up PAGE 25: The Hockey Writers: Blue Jackets Need Atkinson, Murray, Texier & Anderson to Step Up

Cleveland Monsters/Prospects

NHL/Websites PAGE 27: The Athletic: What will the officiating look like for this unique NHL postseason? PAGE 33: The Athletic: Duhatschek: On the NHL’s brave new world and the possibility of a cliffhanger PAGE 37: Sportsnet.ca: How living in a bubble could foster relationships between players, officials PAGE 40: Sportsnet.ca: NHL Playoff Power Rankings: Best of the Bubble Edition PAGE 44: TSN.ca: Hockey Diversity Alliance, NHL struggling to find common ground PAGE 47: USA Today: NHL power rankings: With 24 teams left in field, here are the favorites PAGE 49: USA Today: NHL restart: Here are biggest questions as season resumes in two hub cities amid pandemic

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Columbus Dispatch / Columbus Blue Jackets impress in tune-up against Boston Bruins By Brian Hedger – July 31, 2020

Bring on the qualifying round. After almost five months, the Blue Jackets finally returned to game action Thursday night in . It was only an exhibition against the Boston Bruins at , staged merely for each team to feel actual game-like conditions again, but the Jackets’ 4-1 victory served an important purpose. After five scrimmages in a two-week training camp, this was their lone dress rehearsal before facing the high-scoring on Sunday night in the start of a five-game series at Scotiabank Arena to determine which team qualifies for the usual 16-team playoff field. If the way things went against the Bruins are an indicator, the Blue Jackets look ready. "We did a lot of good things in some different situations," said defenseman Seth Jones, who played for the first time since fracturing his right ankle Feb. 8 against Colorado. "We just wanted to get our feel back, not only physically but mentally. It’s still an exhibition game, so we’re not going to look too hard into it. Obviously, the intensity’s going to be another level come Game 1 against Toronto on Sunday, but we liked a lot of the things we did." Boone Jenner, Zach Werenski and Gustav Nyquist each scored goals in a dominating first period for Columbus, which went 1 for 3 on power plays, and rookie Alexandre Texier scored into an empty net with 1.5 seconds left to seal it. The Blue Jackets outshot Boston 13-7 in the first period and 31-24 for the game. They also had a 12-9 edge in shots in the second, despite allowing the only of the period by David Pastrnak. That goal, scored shortly after Elvis Merzlikins swapped spots with Joonas Korpisalo in net, cut the Columbus lead to 3-1 just past the mid-point in the period. It remained that margin to start the third, but could’ve been wider. The Jackets twice hit the crossbar in the second, denying goals to Pierre-Luc Dubois and Jenner, and Oliver Bjorkstrand sent one off the right post on a power play that period. "We just wanted to concentrate on some checking, as far as playing away from the puck," coach John Tortorella said. "It’s a little tough to get your players to do that in these scrimmages, when you’re going through the (training camp) we have, and we really wanted to try and use this game to work on that. I thought we did a pretty good job." Korpisalo started in net for the Blue Jackets and looked sharp, despite facing just 11 shots. Merzlikins also looked good after allowing Pastrnak’s goal off an unfortunate bounce, stopping 12 of 13 shots in the game’s final 30:06. Each net-minder impressed during separate stints in the regular season and both entered this restart camp with a chance to earn the starting role against Toronto. Tortorella said that decision still hasn’t been made, but expects to make the call Saturday. It’s unlikely to become public knowledge until Sunday, hours before one of them gets the initial nod to play.

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"As I said when we started this, when we were allowed to start playing again, ‘We’re not in the bubble if we don’t get the play from our two goalies that we did this year ... we’re not even close," Tortorella said. "So, it doesn’t surprise me what they did tonight. I thought they both played very well." As for the Jackets’ skaters, things couldn’t have gone much better against Boston – which earned the Presidents’ Trophy with the most points (100) in a pandemic-shortened season. The Bruins will now play in a round-robin of the top four teams in the Eastern Conference against Tampa Bay, Washington and for seeding purposes in the next round. At times, it looked that way too. Jenner made it 1-0 just 4:27 into the game by tapping the puck into the net off a great backhand cross- ice feed from rookie Liam Foudy and then two more Columbus goals made it 3-0 late in the period. Werenski made it 2-0 with 1:42 left on a one-timer from the blue line – a 4-on-4 goal scored seconds after Bruins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk skated out of the box – and Nyquist pushed it to 3-0 on a power-play 18 seconds later, one-timing a through goalie Tuukka Rask’s legs off a feed from Dubois. In all, six Blue Jackets finished with at least a point and Bjorkstrand led the way with assists on the goals by Werenski and Nyquist. "It’s hard, as a player, to go through all those days (in training camp), playing against your buddy and really nothing meaningful," Tortorella said. "I thought we had some juice coming here to the bubble. I thought it dipped a little bit on a couple of our days (here), but the (Wednesday’s) practice, I thought we were crisp and you could see the enthusiasm, because they’re going to be playing games that mean something."

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Columbus Dispatch / Blue Jackets look to get `game feel’ back vs. Bruins By Brian Hedger – July 31, 2020

Last season, the Blue Jackets and Boston Bruins battered and bruised each other in one of the hardest- hitting series of the 2019 NHL playoffs. The Bruins took the series in six games, both sides leaving with stinging reminders. They’ll meet again Thursday night in Toronto, but the stakes will be much lower — in fact, no stakes at all — as the teams play an exhibition game in Scotiabank Arena. "It’s just to get the guys to play a game," said Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella, who will use the exhibition to make a few lineup decisions for Game 1 of the postseason Sunday against the Toronto Maple Leafs. "These guys want to play against another uniform." The fact that the uniform belongs to the Bruins is a bonus. "Not that we have a lot of history, but just the history last year with the Bruins in the second round there, it’s definitely going to be a good chance to work on our systems we’ve been working on in (camp)," right wing said. "It’s going to be fun." It might also be a little strange, as Atkinson and other Blue Jackets get used to playing against actual opponents instead of teammates. Neither Atkinson nor defenseman Seth Jones have played since Feb. 8 in Columbus in a 2-1 loss to the . "For me, (it’s) just getting your touches and your reads down," said Jones, who needed surgery in February to repair a high-ankle sprain and hairline fracture in his right ankle. "That’s what I’m going to do in the exhibition game, just try to get that game feel back. I haven’t played since the first week of February, so it should be interesting." Atkinson honored The NHL released the nominees from all 31 teams for the King Clancy Memorial Trophy on Monday, and Atkinson is the Blue Jackets’ pick. The award goes to "the player who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice, and has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution to his community." Atkinson wears an A as one of the Jackets’ alternate captains and helps off the ice through a charity he co-founded with his uncle, Rob Robben, called the Force Network Fund. The organization raised $40,313 in June for the OhioHealth Foundation through a virtual 5K. The money was designated for the purchase of a rapid response COVID-19 testing device at OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital — where Atkinson’s two young sons were born. Goalie competition Tortorella plans to split the exhibition game between goalies Elvis Merzlikins and Joonas Korpisalo. He hasn’t said who will start but did say a decision about a Game 1 starter against Toronto will be made Saturday. However, that decision isn’t likely to be revealed until Sunday.

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Columbus Dispatch / Blue Jackets’ Boone Jenner confident he’s up for task at center in playoffs By Bill Rabinowitz – July 31, 2020

When the Blue Jackets open their NHL playoff series against Toronto starting Sunday, they know they’ll have to match up against two of the NHL’s elite centers in Auston Matthews and . Matthews scored 47 goals and added 33 assists during the regular season. Tavares had 26 goals and 34 assists in 60 games. Those 140 points generated by Matthews and Tavares underscore the daunting challenge faced by the Jackets, particularly their centers. Pierre-Luc Dubois will center one top line for the CBJ. Though coach John Tortorella said he hasn’t finalized his lines, it’s expected that Boone Jenner will be in the middle of the Blue Jackets’ other top line. It will be a major test for the 27-year-old Jenner, who spent much of his career as a wing before shifting to center last year. During the 2018-19 season, the trade-deadline acquisition of Matt Duchene gave the Jackets needed center depth. Duchene signed with Nashville as a free agent, and finding a second worthy center has been one of Tortorella’s quests this season. Jenner believes he’s up for the task. "That’s an exciting part of the game — going face to face with a good player," he said. Jenner is not going to match the sizzle of a Matthews or a Tavares, but Tortorella believes his relentlessness and dependability will serve the Jackets well. "I think people misjudge as far as how he can play as far as the speed game," Tortorella said Tuesday. "I think he's a smart enough player positionally. That helps quite a bit. "I've used him in matchups against top players since I've been here. And he's been a big part of our team trying to compete in this league and find its way. I'm not afraid to use him in any type of situation." Jenner scored 30 goals in 2015-16, but that season looks like an outlier. He hasn’t scored more than 18 goals since. This season, he has 11 goals and 13 assists. "He's a forechecker," Tortorella said. "He's not your prototypical center that moves the puck and brings his wings into play. He does a lot of his work as far as forechecking. It's the game that we play. "It's a style of our game that he just fits perfectly for him and how many pucks he comes on with, not making the perfect pass but just allowing us to keep a possession offensively and make things happen that way." Jenner acknowledges the adjustment he’s had to make with the added responsibilities in the defensive zone as a center instead of a wing. Faceoffs are also a major part of the job, and he has excelled at those. Jenner ranks 16th in the NHL by winning 55.1% of his faceoffs. "Stuff like that, I just keep trying to work on and get better," Jenner said. "I've played center before, but this is definitely the longest stretch I have. It's good to be in the middle. It takes some getting used to, but I just want to continue to get better."

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The Jackets won a playoff series for the first time last season with their upset sweep of Tampa Bay in the first round before falling to Boston, which happens to be their opponent in Thursday’s exhibition game. This year, Columbus believes it’s capable of a deeper run. "I think as the years go on, you realize how important it is just to get into the playoffs, and you put in the work all year to give yourself a chance," Jenner said. "It's the best time of year to play hockey. We all enjoy it so much more. "Getting a taste of winning a series last year, I think that hunger kind of continued on this year. We were pushing to get in and now that we're here, we're thrilled to get going."

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The Athletic / Ready for Leafs? Pierre-Luc Dubois thrives in Jackets’ tune-up win vs. Boston By Aaron Portzline – July 31, 2020

Auston Matthews or John Tavares? No matter how the Blue Jackets try to match up against the Toronto Maple Leafs in their qualifying series beginning Sunday, center Pierre-Luc Dubois is going to have his hands full. But if Thursday’s 4-1 exhibition win over Boston is any indication, Dubois might make life difficult on the Leafs’ superstars, too. Dubois flashed all of the elements of his rare combination of speed, power and skill, thriving in a matchup against Boston’s No. 1 center, Patrice Bergeron. “We’re going to need Luc to play his best hockey,” Blue Jackets defenseman Seth Jones said. “You see when he’s physical, when he’s moving his feet and creating space with his big frame … you could really see his explosiveness when he’s got the puck on the rush. “He’s going against Tavares, Matthews, guys like that, some of the best centers in the league. When he plays his game, he’s right up there with those guys. The main thing is, he needs to be consistent with his game, and he’ll be just fine.” Dubois was credited with only one point, an assist on Gustav Nyquist’s power-play goal off the rush late in the first period. But he was in the action all game, setting up David Savard for two clean shots on the same shift in the first period, and creating a golden scoring chance for himself by forcing a Brad Marchand turnover deep in the Bruins’ zone. Dubois’ shot clanged off the crossbar from close range. He also pulled the puck off the stick of Bruins defenseman Torey Krug at the Columbus blue line and earned a breakaway that he couldn’t quite finish. Bergeron, a sublime two-way player, was pretty quiet throughout the game except in the faceoff circle, where he won 16 of 23 draws. “(Dubois) skated very well tonight,” Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella said. “He skated away from people. I thought he checked really well. That’s encouraging as we get ready for the real stuff.” The Blue Jackets’ biggest concern is being able to shut down the Leafs’ multi-faceted attack, much like Tortorella schemed and screamed the Blue Jackets into shutting down the Lightning last spring. That checking focus was evident Thursday. “The thing we talked about before the game … we wanted to concentrate on checking, on playing away from the puck,” Tortorella said. “It’s awfully tough to get your players to do that in these scrimmages. “We really wanted to use this game to work on that. I thought we did a pretty good job.” If Dubois can play consistently like a No. 1 center — on a level with Matthews or Tavares, which won’t be an easy task — it’s a big step in the right direction.

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“He’s a game-changer,” Jones said, “and we’re going to need him to be that way every single game, every single shift if we’re going to have a chance to win.” Other observations • Joonas Korpisalo and Elvis Merzlikins were given a chance to state their cases to be the starting against the Leafs, and both made compelling arguments. Korpisalo started and stopped all 11 shots he faced before he headed off at 9:54 of the second period. Merzlikins finished the game, stopping 12 of 13 shots. The only goal he allowed was on a busted play that left Boston’s David Patrnak — only the leading goal-scorer this season — alone in front of the net. “As I said when we started camp, we’re not in the bubble if we don’t get the play from our two goalies that we did this year,” Tortorella said. “It doesn’t surprise me what they did tonight. I thought they both played very well. Where it sits when we play on (Sunday), I still don’t know. We’ll talk about it as a staff and make our decision.” • Boone Jenner, Zach Werenski, Nyquist and Alexandre Texier (empty net) scored for the Blue Jackets, who led 3-0 after the first period. Oliver Bjorkstrand had two assists. • Rookie Liam Foudy will be in the lineup Sunday against the Leafs, Tortorella said. He assisted on Jenner’s goal that made it 1-0 only 4:27 in, shoveling the puck on net off his backhand from the right circle. Jenner scored from the left post, either with his stick or skates or both. “He has played well, had a good camp,” Tortorella said. “Where he sits (in our forward) lines, I don’t know yet. The thing I like about Foods is he’s not afraid. He’s not afraid to make a play. A very intelligent player. He’ll be in our lineup.” • Jones hadn’t played in a game since fracturing an ankle Feb. 8, nearly six months ago. He has said for weeks that his ankle feels 100 percent. But his timing? Well, that’s been a work in progress. He played 21:30 versus the Bruins, had two shots on goal and two penalties. “The main thing for me is just making the quick reads that I need to make,” Jones said, “especially on breakouts, going back for pucks, odd- man rushes, things like that. There’s nothing like playing in a game. I don’t say this too often, but it was nice to get hit tonight. It was nice to have pressure on me and to feel that way again and try to get those reads back as soon as possible. That’s the only game we have, so now I have — we have — to be the best we can be in a short period of time.” • The Blue Jackets’ lines: Alexandre Texier — Pierre—Luc Dubois — Oliver Bjorkstrand Nick Foligno — Alexander Wennberg — Cam Atkinson Gustav Nyquist — Boone Jenner — Liam Foudy Eric Robinson — Riley Nash — Emil Bemstrom (Nathan Gerbe dressed as a 13th forward) • The Blue Jackets’ defensive pairs: Zach Werenski — Seth Jones Vladislav Gavrikov — David Savard Ryan Murray — Dean Kukan (Markus Nutivaara dressed as a seventh defenseman)

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The Athletic / What you need to know and watch for as the Blue Jackets open play in the bubble By Aaron Portzline – July 31, 2020

COLUMBUS, — It has been 144 days since the Blue Jackets last played a game. They won 2-1 in Vancouver on March 8, then flew home amid growing concern of a global pandemic. Four days later, the NHL season was put on pause. To be clear, Thursday night’s exhibition game against the Boston Bruins doesn’t count. And yet it matters greatly to the Blue Jackets in terms of sharpening their game, figuring out their forward lines, settling on a starting goaltender and ramping up the intensity before they play Toronto in a best-of-five qualifying series beginning Sunday. The Blue Jackets have a lot going on right now. Here’s what you need to know, what you should be watching for, as the Jackets prepare to make their on-ice debuts in the bubble: 1. Torts: ‘It’s none of your business’ The Blue Jackets had a team meeting late Wednesday in which John Tortorella told them directly what he’s been telling the media indirectly for a couple of weeks: a five-game series does not allow for a grace period, so be ready to go. When asked about this during the NHL’s media availability, Tortorella didn’t have much to say. “It’s none of your business what I’m saying to the players,” Tortorella said. But earlier in the day, on Columbus radio station 97.1 The Fan, Tortorella was downright loquacious on the topic. “I’ll give you insights into a couple of things I said in the 11 o’clock meeting today,” Tortorella said in response to a question from former NFL and Ohio State football player Bobby Carpenter. “It’s a sprint, and I’m not waiting. I’m not waiting for people to get caught up. I’m going to put the people in positions that give us the best chance to win that particular game, and that includes goaltending, too. We have two really good , too. “For some reason, the guy who starts in that first game on Aug. 2, (if) we don’t feel comfortable, there’s no hesitation (to pull him). It’s a sprint, and I’m going to put people in positions to play. If I feel the need to play a defenseman 30-plus minutes in Game 1, we will do that … if there are some struggles elsewhere. We’re not going to wait around. “That certainly was brought to their attention. (Wednesday’s meeting) was like a mindset meeting. We had a very good discussion as far as where we’re going here, at least how the coaches are going to handle the bench as we start these games.” Tortorella said Wednesday’s practice was the best the Blue Jackets have had since they gathered for training camp 2.0 earlier this month in Columbus. A strong, structurally sound performance on Thursday against the Bruins would be a welcome sign as they prepare for the high-powered Maple Leafs. 2. All eyes on Elvis and Joonas Tortorella has said that both goaltenders, Elvis Merzlikins and Joonas Korpisalo, will play Thursday

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against the Bruins, but he hasn’t said who will start or how much each will play. It was the biggest story of camp, and it may continue when the games start. Merzlikins and Korpisalo both struggled at times during training camp scrimmages, so the exhibition game will be the best chance for each to state his case. The plan, Tortorella said, was to meet with the goalies on Wednesday after practice and map out a plan for Thursday’s game. Tortorella has said he’ll name a postseason starter on Saturday, the day before the best-of-five series begins against Toronto. But he also added a rather curious comment on Wednesday, saying on his Columbus radio show that he almost expects to pull his starting goaltender during the Toronto series. “I really feel, in a five-game series, both (goaltenders) will probably play,” Tortorella said. “I just have a funny feeling that’s how it’s going to work. I’m not going to hesitate to do that if need be.” Blue Jackets goaltender Elvis Merzlikins is expected to play Thursday against the Bruins. But will he start Sunday against the Leafs? (Aaron Doster / USA Today) 3. The lines they are a-changin’ Tortorella is searching for chemistry within his forward lines, so expect more changes as the game against the Bruins unfolds. How chaotic has it been? Cam Atkinson, the club’s most accomplished goal scorer, started camp next to Alexander Wennberg, moved to a line with Boone Jenner a few days later, then was back with Wennberg on Wednesday — with Nick Foligno on the other wing. Rookie Liam Foudy, who opened on a line with Foligno and Jenner, is now back with Jenner, but with Gustav Nyquist on his opposite wing. Pierre-Luc Dubois has skated all camp with Oliver Bjorkstrand. On Wednesday, rookie Alexandre Texier was at left wing on that line, leaving Riley Nash on the fourth line with Eric Robinson and Emil Bemstrom on his flanks. Don’t fall in love with these lines yet, though. Tortorella has made it clear that nothing is settled. Foligno – Wennberg – Atkinson Texier – Dubois – Bjorkstrand Nyquist – Jenner – Foudy Robinson – Nash – Bemstrom Once again, Wennberg is a pivotal player for the Blue Jackets. It was only 2016-17, but it seems like a long time since he has impacted the game at both ends of the ice. Wennberg can check, that much is certain. But if he can bring offensive life to a line — he’s worked well with Atkinson in the past — that would help. 4. Jones on the half-wall If you’ve followed the Blue Jackets closely over the last few years, you know their power play provided nonstop drama. Midway through this season, veteran coach Paul MacLean was brought in to take over the unit from assistant . Early in camp, the Blue Jackets started showing a new look.

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The Blue Jackets have used defensemen Seth Jones and Zach Werenski on the same power-play unit before — even in a 1-3-1 alignment — but they showed a different wrinkle within this setup since the early days of camp. Jones has always run the point in that alignment, but now he’s on the left half-wall, with Werenski manning the point. The rest of the unit consists of Gustav Nyquist in the slot, Oliver Bjorkstrand on the half-wall, and Pierre-Luc Dubois down low. “It’s a little bit different,” Jones said. “We did a little bit of work throughout camp and worked on it again (this week) in practice. I feel comfortable over there making plays, whether it’s high or low, shooting the puck, etc. “Our goal is to get the puck to the net on the power play, and I hope I can be a part of that success.” The Blue Jackets were 27th on the power play this season, firing at 16.4 percent. Obviously, a hot streak on the man advantage would be a huge boost for a Jackets club that struggled all season to score. Jones had seven power-play goals in 2017-18, but he has scored just two man-advantage goals the past two seasons, a span of 131 games. 5. A healthy Murray could be huge Ryan Murray’s chronic back injuries have derailed a brilliant young career on a of occasions. He’s on the Blue Jackets’ third pair, but he’s a first-pairing talent when healthy, and right now he’s good to go. You may recall that Murray was in and out of the lineup back in March when the NHL paused the season, but he’s one of the many players on the roster who may have benefited from the four-month break. The Blue Jackets no longer count on Murray among their top four. Jones and Werenski are chiseled into place on the top pair, while Vladislav Gavrikov has found a fit on the shut-down pair next to the bearded one, David Savard. But when Murray plays, the Blue Jackets are deeper and better defensively. He can run the second power play, too. Against a Toronto club that can wheel and deal with the best of them, he would be a huge addition for Columbus, a real calming influence. “Murr is just a really good player,” Tortorella said. “His vision, the transition he brings to us. He’s one of our better players in understanding positioning, where he needs to be in the defensive zone. He doesn’t chase the game. He lets the game come to him. He’s an important guy for us. “It’s been very frustrating, for him and the organization, as far as how many games he’s missed … because he’s that good. He just brings a quiet leadership as far as how he plays the game and how steady he can be. (That’s) very important for us, especially with such a young team like we have.” 6. The defense rests The only drama on defense has been the third pair, but as of Wednesday’s practice, it appeared that Dean Kukan has played his way into the lineup on Murray’s right side. That leaves Markus Nutivaara and Scott Harrington as Nos. 7 and 8, as they’ve skated with the main group in Toronto. So, the pairs:

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Zach Werenski – Seth Jones Vladislav Gavrikov – David Savard Ryan Murray – Dean Kukan The NHL is allowing clubs to dress 20 skaters — up from the usual 18 — for the exhibition games, so the Blue Jackets can dress two extra forwards, two extra defensemen or one of each for Thursday’s game against Boston. That could reveal who the club counts as its 13th forward and seventh defensemen as it heads into the games that count. 7. Coach vs. former player Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe has 47 NHL games under his belt after he was hired to replace in late November. He’d never coached in the NHL before this season, and this is his first trip to the playoffs. Meanwhile, Tortorella has coached 1,327 regular-season games, the 12th-most in NHL history. His 655 wins are 14th on the all-time list, making him the winningest U.S.-born coach in NHL history. How much longer has Tortorella been at this? He coached Keefe when Keefe was a young player with the in the early 2000s. But if you’re looking for a warm and fuzzy story from the Blue Jackets’ bench boss about his former charge … well, it might be a while. Tortorella refused to answer a question about Keefe during training camp in Columbus. He said he would only discuss Keefe once, so he wanted to wait until he was in front of the Toronto media to do so. If you’ve paid any attention to Tortorella’s career, you know to expect the unexpected. One day he’ll wax poetic about opposing coaches — good friend Mike Sullivan in Pittsburgh and former Flames coach Glen Gulutzan have been rich topics, among others — and the next day he’ll grumble about it not being a worthwhile discussion. Those were turbulent times in Tampa Bay, as Tortorella and his staff took bold steps to transform a young, wayward team into a Stanley Cup champion by 2004. Keefe was a frequent healthy scratch in two-plus seasons under Tortorella, and he was gone — traded to the — before the Lightning won the Cup. Keefe retired one year later, only 24 years old. “There’s no good time to get scratched,” said former NHL goaltender Kevin Weekes, who played on those Lightning teams. “I was there living it, and I didn’t sense anything from (Tortorella) to (Keefe). But it certainly wouldn’t have been anything Keefer was in the wrong for, by any stretch. He was a consummate pro even as a young guy, very committed to playing.” Here’s what Tortorella had to say about Keefe earlier this week after he arrived in Toronto: “This is the only time … I’m not sure what writers are out there, but I’m not going to talk about this a long time,” Tortorella said. “I’m sure Keefer doesn’t want to talk about me for a long time. I’m talking about it one time. “I have a tremendous amount of respect for that guy as far as how he played. He’s one of the most competitive players I’ve coached. I didn’t coach him in a lot of games, but when he played, he knew one way, and that was to play hard.

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“Did I think he was going to become a coach? I don’t know. That’s years ago. I know you want this sexy story about this here, but there’s nothing there. The only reason I’m talking about it now, talking about the other coach we’re going to be playing in another few days, is because he’s an ex-player of mine. I will not disrespect him by not saying a couple of words about him. “But I’m done with it now. I wish nothing but the best for that guy, other than this series here. I wish nothing but the best for him. We’ve had a couple of conversations when he took that job (in Toronto) and a few texts here and there. I’m sure he feels the same way: It’s time to play a game.” 8. Arm in arm The Blue Jackets and Bruins will stand arm in arm during the U.S. and Canadian national anthems Thursday night, showing a “positive sign of support for the Black community,” according to a statement from the players that was tweeted by the club on Wednesday. A STATEMENT FROM THE #CBJ PLAYERS. PIC.TWITTER.COM/HEEIDPGEUQ — X-COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS (@BLUEJACKETSNHL) JULY 28, 2020 “I think it’s great the league is taking initiative and showing support for Black Lives Matter and everything that’s going on in the world,” Jones said. “I know we’re talking with Boston before the exhibition game, that we may do something with them before the game — just show a united front — that we’re all here, we all care and we’re all trying to make a difference in the world. “We’re trying to create a cultural change, not just in hockey but around the world.”

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The Athletic / 2020 NHL qualifying round preview: Maple Leafs vs. Blue Jackets By Dom Luszczyszyn – July 31, 2020

On paper, a matchup between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Columbus Blue Jackets has huge mismatch written all over it. On one side there’s the Leafs, a team loaded with elite offensive talent. On the other side sits a plucky blue-collar group with little in the way of star power, especially after the free-agent exodus last summer. That’s exactly how my model sees it too, giving Toronto a sizeable advantage in this series that turned out to be a bit more decisive than Pittsburgh’s over Montreal after some lineup tweaks. That a No. 8 versus No. 9 matchup looks as lopsided as a No. 5 versus No. 12 matchup might seem odd, but that the two even landed so close in the standings can mostly be attributed to one team overachieving and the other underachieving. On paper, Toronto is better than its record while Columbus is probably a little worse, and the Leafs are hoping this series shows that. Hockey isn’t played on paper though. As talented as a team is or isn’t, it doesn’t matter much if they don’t get results requisite of that. The Leafs learned that firsthand this season in a trying year where the team was on pace for just 95 points, which is disappointing given the expectations to contend. We also learned that lesson last season in the playoffs as most people were writing Tampa Bay’s name into the second round in ink and these very Blue Jackets had a marvellous time ruining everything. People aren’t looking to make that same mistake again and no one is writing off Columbus this time around. It’s exactly why the odds listed above probably seem too high in Toronto’s favour and why this article is littered with hedged bets towards Columbus pulling off the upset. There’s no doubt which team has more talent, but talent alone doesn’t always win playoff series. Though Toronto might be a believable behemoth against another team of similar skill to Columbus (and at an expected win percentage of .516, it’s not that the model doesn’t like Columbus), it seems far fetched stylistically against a team that plays like the Blue Jackets. The team gave the Lightning fits last year with its heavy forechecking, the perfect foil to a highly skilled team and one that poses a potential nightmare matchup for the Leafs. Toronto is Tampa Bay light, the discount version your mom says you have at home when you’re at the store asking for the real thing. They’re not as skilled, not as complete, not as fierce, not as experienced, but they play a similar style that leans heavily towards high octane offence. And that’s Toronto if they play up to their potential. That’s what my model sees, using priors to help inform each player’s true talent level, but that’s not what we saw this season. They have a lot of room to be better, but their numbers don’t look the part after an inconsistent campaign. If you based your opinion of these two teams only off of that, it would be difficult to see such a hefty advantage for Toronto. Looking at each team’s season-long numbers is like looking into an opposite land mirror. The Leafs are a terrific offensive team that gets tons of quality and generates a huge amount of chances with decent finishing talent to boot. Their power play is one of the league’s best. The Blue Jackets are anemic offensively, ranking in the league’s bottom five across the board whether that’s at 5-on-5 or with the man advantage.

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On the flip side, the Blue Jackets are a defensive juggernaut. They don’t allow many chances and their goaltenders are equal to the task. On the penalty kill, no team is stingier than Columbus. Toronto’s defensive shortcomings are well documented and they unsurprisingly finished 26th in goals against. Their expected goals rate is only a little below average, but uncharacteristically poor goaltending nullified that completely. The penalty kill was actually decent at limiting chances, but it didn’t matter as the team still landed in the league’s bottom third. In total, the two clubs were basically identical at 5-on-5 with expected goals rates just shy of 52 percent and actual goals rate just barely above break even. The Leafs finished the season much higher in goal differential at plus-11 compared to minus-seven for the Blue Jackets, but that advantage looks entirely confined to special teams. That difference in goal differential is tied for the second biggest of the play-in round, but still doesn’t exactly scream lopsided. Though season-long numbers can generally paint an accurate picture, it leaves out some vital information when it comes to these two teams. For starters, both were among the league’s most injured teams. Columbus led the league in man-games lost while the Leafs were top 10. Man-games lost doesn’t consider the quality of the players missing and in this case, both teams were equal, losing 3.3 wins of value for the season. On top of that, Toronto had a coaching change in November that changed the team’s entire dynamic. Under Sheldon Keefe, the Leafs were a top-five expected goals team at 5-on-5, had the second-best power play and were third in limiting chances on the penalty kill. Some of that is reflected in the team’s full-season stats, but the stench of the early season that got Mike Babcock fired really drags those numbers down. The team’s play under Keefe was a lot more inspiring, closer to what many expected from the team. They went 27-15-5, a 103-point pace and that was while the team battled through some key injuries. It stands to reason that a fully healthy Leafs team under Keefe can be stronger which leads to the very optimistic roster outlook driving the lopsided series probability. Toronto’s biggest strength is their trio of high paid superstars which power a potent top six that rates as the best of the qualifying round teams and third in the league behind Boston and Tampa Bay. That’s the main reason my model rates Toronto so highly overall as forwards generally generate the most value and the Leafs have a lot of good ones. That starts with Auston Matthews who showed he was one of the league’s best players this season with a dominant performance at both ends of the ice. Matthews was one goal away from tying for the Rocket Richard Trophy, scoring 47 goals in 70 games, a 55-goal pace. That was a career-high, as was his 80 points which put him at a 94-point pace. Those numbers are enough to be considered elite, but what puts Matthews in the league’s upper echelon is his two-way play which took serious strides this season as he posted a 55.7 percent expected goals rate and 59 percent actual goals rate, both of which led the Leafs. Defensively, his expected goals against rate was the best among the team’s top nine forwards. Matthews still likely has more to give too as his 5-on-5 points-per-60 dropped from 2.76 last year to 2.33 this year. He’s on a line with and Zach Hyman to start, a trio that has a history of being dominant, but only played 14 minutes together this season. Both players really came into their own this year, especially under Keefe and played at career-high paces as a result. The Keefe effect was massive

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for both player’s production as Nylander played at a 42-goal, 77-point pace and Hyman played at a 35- goal, 61-point pace. Those are terrific and part of the reason both players rank as first-line calibre, giving Toronto five such skaters. For Nylander, it was a matter of finally earning his coach’s trust and getting the minutes that go with it, especially on the Leafs’ top power-play unit. The group really struggled to start the season and though Keefe helped, the permanent addition of Nylander to the top unit – not just as an injury replacement – was an important factor. The second line features Toronto’s other two elite players, Mitch Marner and John Tavares, who basically give Toronto another first line. In terms of total value, it’s behind only Pittsburgh’s for tops in the league. They didn’t consistently play at that level this year though and a more even performance would go a long way for the Leafs. The duo really struggled early on at 5-on-5, getting outscored handily while getting caved in on a nightly basis. Under Babcock, neither player was producing as much as the year prior and they were sitting at a brutal 43 to 44 percent expected goals rate and an even uglier 30 percent goals rate. That’s not what Toronto was paying $22 million for. That changed under Keefe (a recurring theme), who split up the duo. It worked wonders for Marner who led the Leafs’ forwards in expected goals under Keefe at 58 percent and scored 49 points in 41 games, a 98-point pace. That’s the Marner many were expecting this year. Tavares was much improved too playing at a near point-per-game pace and posting a 54 percent expected goals rate. If those two can keep that up, the Leafs are in a good spot, though Tavares could stand to be a bit more productive at 5- on-5. His scoring rate dropped immensely from 2.87 last year to 1.79 this year. Even under Keefe, he was just at 2.01 which would’ve ranked 85th this season. They’ll have help on the left side from the surprisingly effective Ilya Mikheyev who greatly added to the Leafs’ forward depth outside its stars, but missed half the season with an injury. Not much was expected out of Mikheyev, certainly not a 2.44 points-per-60 at 5-on-5 that led the team (not a typo), and his return to action is critical for a team that needs to offer more support to its star players. That’s a lot of firepower that Columbus simply can’t match, full stop. That shouldn’t be a controversial take and it won’t be the team’s goal. You don’t fight fire with fire, you smother it, and few teams are as well equipped to do that as the Blue Jackets. That was the game plan last year against an even more explosive Tampa Bay team and they’ll go back to that well against Toronto. It’s not about beating the Leafs at their own game, but instead making them play one that they are much less comfortable with. Columbus has a solidly capable top six in its own right with a top line built around shutting down the opposing team’s best players. That’s led by Nick Foligno who I reckoned was worthy of some Selke Trophy love based on his defensive play this season. The Blue Jackets allowed under two expected and actual goals-per-60 with the rugged winger on the ice this season, and that was in very tough minutes. A date against one of the Leafs’ top two lines will be a demanding one, but Foligno looks more than up to the challenge. He’ll be aided by Pierre-Luc Dubois at center, a powerful and capable two-way forward that is one of the team’s strongest play-drivers who gives the top unit some offensive muscle. On the right side is the super unheralded Oliver Bjorkstrand, who will add to that offensive flair while also delivering exceptional defence akin to Foligno’s impact. Bjorkstrand had an absurdly strong 59 percent expected goals rate and an even better 62 percent actual goals rate this season with defensive numbers that were

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even better than Foligno’s. Now he’ll have the chance to prove his capability in that regard playing against tough competition. He’s earned it and he might just be the team’s best forward. Bjorkstrand was on an absolute tear before an injury sidelined him for the remainder of the season. He scored 36 points in 49 games, a 60-point pace for the season, but that was after a frigid opening month- and-a-half. Midway through November he caught fire and in his last 30 games, he had 17 goals and 30 points, ascending up the lineup accordingly playing nearly 19 minutes per night. Most of that damage was done at 5-on-5 where he had a 2.92 points-per-60 during the stretch – right in line with where Matthews was last season which was among the league’s best. For the season, Bjorkstrand was at 2.25 which would’ve been sandwiched between Nylander and Marner this season. He was greatly missed down the stretch and is the team’s most important offensive player along with Dubois. On the second line, the team has two more capable offensive catalysts in Cam Atkinson and Gustav Nyquist, with Atkinson also putting up terrific defensive numbers. His 2.12 expected goals against per 60 was fifth-best on the team, right behind Foligno. His scoring rates dropped this season partially due to a drop in shooting percentage which can be partially attributed to him taking weaker shots. Nyquist had similarly poor shooting luck this season compared to past years and if these two awaken from their scoring slumbers, that could be a problem for Toronto. I’d be a little worried about Boone Jenner as the team’s second-line center though, but Columbus isn’t exactly flush with other options there. Alex Wennberg is the next guy up anchoring the third line and over the past two seasons has scored at a bottom-six rate. He doesn’t generate nearly as much offence as he used to, but he’s bought into the team’s defensive identity. Columbus’ bottom six is filled with those types of players with Alex Texier being the only one who can produce any lick of offence. It could be a sound strategy against Toronto, but at some point, teams need their depth scoring to contribute some offence, otherwise, the top guys are left on an island. The Blue Jackets group doesn’t look well equipped to handle that and the absence of Josh Anderson looms large. That’s why Toronto holds the advantage throughout its forward ranks and though the Leafs aren’t exactly deep themselves, there’s more to their bottom six than what Columbus has to offer. Neither Alex Kerfoot nor Kasperi Kapanen had very strong seasons, but they still have decent pedigree as capable middle six forwards. Pierre Engvall was a defensive revelation and a critical part of the team’s improved penalty kill, while showed he still had some offensive juice left in him. There’s a lot of offensive upside here. Two names to look out for on the bottom two lines are Nick Robertson for Toronto and Liam Foudy for Columbus, two slick prospects looking to make their NHL debut in the high stakes environment of the play-in round. Robertson looks to have a spot on the third line and adds a dangerous scoring presence outside the top six. The diminutive forward is only 18 and just a year removed from being taken 53rd overall, but in that time he’s taken massive strides in his development. In 2019-20 he scored an incredible 55 goals in 46 games in the OHL and Toronto is hoping that translates quickly in the big leagues. Using NHLe Robertson is projected to be worth 0.6 wins, slotting in nicely on the third line. Foudy looks likely to start on the fourth line and though he’s older and his scoring wasn’t as prolific, he has the potential to make an impact after putting up 68 points in 45 games in the OHL. Though the forwards lean heavily towards Toronto as expected, there isn’t nearly as large of a mismatch in net. These two teams look pretty even as long as Elvis Merzlikins starts (my model isn’t particularly fond of Joonas Korpisalo), but that all depends on which Frederik Andersen shows up.

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In his first three seasons as the Leafs starter, Andersen frequently had to bail out the defensively inept team in front of him. His average save percentage of .918 may not have been among the league’s highest, but given the quality of chances faced, it was actually one of the most impressive marks in the league. He saved 38 goals above expected from 2016 to 2019 which ranked third in the league. This season, the Leafs got a glimpse of what happens if Andersen isn’t on his A-game as his save percentage tumbled to .909 on the season. He allowed 10 goals above expected which was enough to mitigate the real defensive improvements the team made under Keefe. They ranked 15th in expected goals against at 5-on-5 with their new coach, but a 27th ranked save percentage meant they were still in the league’s bottom third for goals allowed. Andersen has the potential to be much better and is rated highly because of his prior play, but it hasn’t been evident enough this season. If he doesn’t play up to his usual standard, it’ll be difficult for Toronto to crack Columbus’ defence to make up for it. That stingy defence made the goaltending look a lot better than it was, but even still, Merzlikins showed he was the real deal this season. That’s not how the season started as he struggled early, but once Korpisalo went down to injury and the starting role was thrust upon him, he thrived. He had a .923 save percentage on the season, dead even with expectations (Korpisalo was at minus-nine for what it’s worth) and enough to make him worth 1.9 wins of value. He has the potential to steal a series and outplay Andersen, but with only 32 games under his belt, his overall value carries plenty of volatility. He’ll be heavily insulated by one of the league’s best defence groups though, ranking fourth in the league according to my model. It’s a very deep cast, headlined by an excellent top pairing of Seth Jones and Zach Werenski who have identical ratings. Those projected values for both defenders are probably lower than some might anticipate and it’s because the duo doesn’t seem to impact 5-on-5 play as much as their reputation, not as much as they used to anyways. Both players are good for around 50 points, but it’s their play-driving ability that leaves you wanting more. The pair had a 51 percent expected goals rate together this season which is great for a top pair facing tough competition, but does pale in comparison to other top pairings around the league that feature two star defencemen. Nashville, Carolina and Minnesota all come to mind in that regard, featuring top pairings that influence play significantly more, which is what you’d expect from two high profile players on the same pair. The team did score a heroic 62.5 percent of the goals with that tandem on the ice which may play a role in their current perception, but those figures have a tendency to be induced by luck. It was just last year that the same pair was at 43.7 percent. Over the last three seasons, they’re at 54 percent, which is an excellent figure but not quite elite. In any sense, the duo is better than any Leafs pairing and the bottom two pairs are no slouches either. David Savard is terrific at 5-on-5 and forms a great defensive pair with Vladislav Gavrikov. Neither is great at moving the puck up ice, but they get the job done. The pair allowed just 2.1 expected goals against per 60 this year and will be a critical part of solving Toronto’s attack. Ryan Murray on the third pair is a luxury and he could step into the top four in a pinch. His early career trajectory was looking shaky, but he’s developed into a very promising defenceman capable of driving play at a strong rate. He and partner Dean Kukan have been among the team leaders in expected goals percentage in each of the past two seasons. As bad as Toronto’s team defence is, the team’s defencemen actually grade out surprisingly well and can almost hang with Columbus’ deep group in terms of their total value. That’s not because my model

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thinks they can defend – only two expect to carry a positive defensive value – but because of how much value they provide offensively. Toronto’s attack starts from the back end, driven by effective puck movers throughout the lineup where every player except Cody Ceci is projected to deliver positive offensive value. It’s the exact opposite of Columbus where all six Blue Jackets defenders project to carry a positive defensive impact, a strong one at that, but only Werenski is expected to deliver positive value on offence at 5-on-5 from a play-driving perspective. Though it’s in the position title, defence isn’t the only part of the job description. Toronto’s defencemen play to the team’s strengths and are led by three top-pairing calibre blueliners in Morgan Rielly, Jake Muzzin and Tyson Barrie, whose value is mostly derived from the power play (though he did improve greatly under Keefe). It’s the former two that lead the charge at 5-on-5 and look to be anchoring the top two pairs. Rielly is a defensive adventure, but whatever value he gives back there he more than makes up for on offence. He has always played the toughest minutes on the team – in terms of competition and his defensive partners – but found a way to succeed anyway. The Leafs had a 51.4 percent expected goals rate with him on the ice this year – higher than both Jones and Werenski – and he managed to get Ceci above break-even in expected goals. That’s seriously impressive. While Rielly has usually been tasked with the tough minutes, that job is now Muzzin’s thanks to the emergence of partner Justin Holl as a viable shutdown option. The pair was exceptional this season, posting a 58 percent expected goals rate while outscoring the opposing team’s best 28-24. That’s very tough to do. It may not be the way most coaches would draw it up, but Toronto’s defence still gets results thanks to their puck-moving ability and offensive instinct. It’s not as strong as what Columbus has to offer obviously, and makes Andersen’s job extremely difficult, but there are still some very good pieces here and a reasonable amount of depth too. Toronto has a talented team, one that was evident in flashes this season but lacked consistency. The star-studded cast will need to find their A-game and stick to it against a Columbus team hellbent on making every team it plays look like a talentless group of schmucks. The bottom line It’s going to be a fierce chess match between an offensively gifted team and a stingy defensive one. Toronto looks to have the talent to prevail in that matchup , especially with Keefe getting the most out of the lineup. Still, it wouldn’t be at all surprising to see the Blue Jackets find a way to mitigate that advantage. They did last season and in the playoffs, it’s easier to obstruct than create. That was against an even stronger Tampa Bay team, but this isn’t nearly the same Blue Jackets roster that managed that. There’s no game-breaking talent in Artemi Panarin, no second top-line center in Matt Duchene and no elite goaltender in Sergei Bobrovsky. While a lot of people may point to Columbus as a scary dark horse because of what it accomplished last season, the team is missing three crucial pieces from that puzzle. Columbus’ commitment to defence was important, but they still needed someone to provide offence. That’s going to be a problem in this series for a team short on players that can really take over a series with little offensive depth to support it, something Toronto has in spades. That’s the main reason Toronto has a sizeable edge here, but in a season where little has gone as planned for the Leafs, we’ll have to actually see it to believe it. The potential is there, now it’s time to actually deliver on it.

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Sportsnet.ca / Tortorella has Blue Jackets in killer mindset for Maple Leafs By Luke Fox – July 31, 2020

TORONTO – Let’s begin with a John Tortorella anecdote from eight years ago that echoes in my mind whenever the coach goes Full Torts. Ottawa, January 2012: Reporting on my first major event for this website, NHL All-Star weekend, I decided to gather quotes for a Scott Hartnell profile during media day. Hartnell is an unlikely all-star in the midst of the best year of his hockey life, exploding for 37 goals on a line with Claude Giroux and Jaromir Jagr. He plays his shifts with an edge and a joy and is loved by virtually every teammate he’s had. Thing is, he’s also a Philadelphia Flyer. Tortorella coaches the New York Rangers. Now, I was aware that Tortorella isn’t big on publicly discussing his opposition, but you have to understand the tone of all-star weekend. It’s a party, a schmoozefest. Pressure is all the way off. Everyone’s in a cheery mood. Players and coaches answer an array of off-topic, lighthearted and, sometimes, ridiculous questions lobbed their way on media day. Further, Tortorella will be “coaching” Hartnell in Sunday’s “game,” so technically he’s one of his players. I pipe up in the scrum and volley some generic question about Hartnell’s game Tortorella’s way. He swats it away like the LeBron block: I don’t talk about other teams. I coach New York. A glare burns from his eyes through my soul. “Well, considering you’ll be on the same bench this—” Next! Fearing my “Brooksie” moment, I button my rookie mouth up. I relay this tale not as condemnation of the five-time Jack Adams finalist’s approach to media relations. He has blessed us with yards of fantastic quotes and insights on his own players and his perspective of the game over the years, and the league is more interesting with him in it. Rather, I write this as a reminder that Tortorella’s teams have been operating inside a bubble long before bubbles became cool. He defends his own and demands the same of his charges, often at a profane volume. (Sportsnet’s Anthony Stewart dropped this gem on-air today: “I don’t think they flew into the bubble from Columbus. I think Tortorella had them marching or bag-skating underground to get here.”) As the small-market Columbus Blue Jackets sharpen their blades for a do-or-die series versus the headline-hoarding Toronto Maple Leafs, the casual hockey fan might not know that Zach Werenski was the only defenceman to snipe 20 goals this season. Or that Leafs defender Justin Holl is concerned about the havoc Cam Atkinson can wreak in the offensive zone. Or that Oliver Bjorkstrand might be one of the game’s most underrated forwards. Or that the Jackets dressed two goalies with a better save percentage than Frederik Andersen.

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But they know Torts. And they should know the forcefield he installs is akin to the one he expects his players to construct around the slot. Tortorella instigated a five-second rule for play-in reporters to get their questions off during Zoom calls. Fumble with the “unmute” button, and it’s “Next!” Sigh. “What could you possibly ask me today?” is how Tortorella began Tuesday’s Zoom conference with the press. “None of your business what I’m saying to the players,” Tortorella snapped early at one of his club’s beat reporters Wednesday. Cuddle time is over. Tortorella wants his squad to strap on its game face. Social distancing suits the coach and this group just fine. They entered the hub wearing fun, identical “Let’s Play Bubble Hockey” T-shirts (organized by captain Nick Foligno) and carrying a collective chip on their shoulder. Last spring’s stunner over the Lightning injected belief but not arrogance. Hunkering down for day after day of eat-sleep-hockey “fits with our mentality,” said Tortorella, who feels a surge of pride when he spots his leadership group hanging out with his young guys after practice. “We’re not built with game-breakers. We’re not,” Tortorella said. “We’ve really bought into playing as a team.” Sergei Bobrovsky got his payday in the sun. Artemi Panarin chose to spin his magic on Broadway. “The core of their team, really, has remained the same. Players who make up who they are and how they want to play, they remain there,” said Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe, who scouted Thursday’s game inside Scotiabank Arena with his staff. “That leadership is clearly there, and they had great success this season as a team, despite a pile of injuries.” Tortorella’s great task is making everyone in his bubble understand they’ll only slay giants if they pull on the slingshot together. To a man, they must buy into a rigid and ugly (but effective) system that hinges on board battles and boxouts. It requires flinging your shinpads into the line of fire and driving north as fast as your legs will take you. Forcing and then pouncing on mistakes. When it comes to outwitting the Maple Leafs, Tortorella’s cards are on the table. “I don’t want you (media) guys to overthink it. There’s nothing special going on. We’re going to play as a team,” the coach insisted. “So, there’s nothing tricky going on here at all.” At 11 a.m. the day before Thursday’s decisive 4-1 exhibition victory over the Presidents’ Trophy–winning Boston Bruins, Tortorella called a team meeting. The lone item on the agenda: mindset. From the Stanley Cup Qualifiers to the Stanley Cup Final, livestream every game of the 2020 , blackout-free, on Sportsnet NOW. Details of that discussion will remain guarded inside a bubble locked inside another bubble.

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What followed was an on-ice workout the coach describes as the “best practice” all camp, a sharp development from the motivational wrist-slapping of Phase 3. And then a superb showing against Boston. Tortorella is steeling himself to protect his guys at all costs. That’s the example. “They want to play some games that mean something, and you can see the focus building up as we’re getting closer to that,” Tortorella said. “Everybody’s just sick of practising. “These guys want to play against another uniform.” The Maple Leafs — next uniform up — are in for a test.

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The Hockey Writers / Blue Jackets Sharp In Only Postseason Tune Up By Mark Scheig - July 31, 2020

The Columbus Blue Jackets defeated the Boston Bruins 4-1 on Thursday night in Toronto. Let’s discuss our five things we learned from this game. 1. Liam Foudy Didn’t Look Out of Place All eyes were on Liam Foudy. Coach John Tortorella said he was going to play, but wasn’t sure which line he’d start on. Foudy started with Gus Nyquist and Boone Jenner and helped setup a beautiful goal to open the scoring. Foudy connected on a great pass to Jenner to make the score 1-0. We knew the speed would be there, but we got a glimpse of the kind of playmaker he can be. The knock on Foudy has always been his hands couldn’t keep up with his feet. It seems that the hands are starting to catch up. If it continues down this path, Foudy could have a major impact on the Blue Jackets in future seasons. For now though, Foudy will get his chance to make an impression. Tortorella postgame said he will be in the lineup. It’s Foudy time. 2. Blue Jackets Had a Point to Prove I expected the Blue Jackets to have more urgency in this game simply because they start a best-of-five elimination series Sunday night while the Bruins have a non-elimination round robin to play. The Blue Jackets started sharp and kept it up most of the game. After Jenner made it 1-0, the Blue Jackets scored twice in 16 seconds thanks to a four-on-four goal by Zach Werenski and then a power-play goal by Nyquist. The Blue Jackets needed to make sure they were on point as quickly as possible. Gaining a 3-0 lead and then locking it down the rest of the game is a good sign. Outside of an unlucky bounce to David Pastrnak, the Blue Jackets controlled most of the play. If nothing else, a game like Thursday shows they will be ready for the Maple Leafs. They showed they were able to get comfortable quickly in the new environment. That bodes well for their chances. 3. Lineup More in Focus? We know Foudy is going to play. But outside of that, Tortorella will have some tough decisions to make. That starts in goal. Joonas Korpisalo pitched a in about 30 minutes of play while Elvis Merzlikins allowed one during the second half. Tortorella said postgame that they will discuss the goaltending situation as to who will start. As of now, no decision has been made. However, this tough decision shows how good the team is set there for the next few years. As for the sixth defensemen, both Dean Kukan and Markus Nutivaara played. Tortorella will have to decide which one plays. Besides that, it seems the players are set. But lines are still to be determined. 4. Ice Concerns It’s well documented that players and teams have expressed concerns about the ice especially with multiple games a day, summer heat and humidity. However Cam Atkinson had an interesting answer when asked about the ice conditions for the game.

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Atkinson said the ice was choppy especially at the end of periods. But then he added that everyone has to go through it. Then he said something that stood out. “It kind of benefits our style anyway.” That’s a very interesting thing to say. The Maple Leafs have offense and speed. Perhaps the ice conditions slow them some. And perhaps it helps the Blue Jackets on defense. Tonight the puck did bounce around on the ice a bunch like it was choppy. It will be interesting to see how this affects teams moving forward. Could it actually be an advantage? Atkinson seems to think so. 5. One Area to Cleanup If there is one area the Blue Jackets could look to cleanup, it’s the slot area. Early on, they allowed the Bruins to take most of their shots from the slot. Against a team like the Maple Leafs, this cannot become a theme. The Maple Leafs essentially have two first lines with the offensive fire power that they have. For the Blue Jackets to enjoy success, they must keep Matthews, Tavares, Marner and company to the outside. Tortorella said postgame that there are a number of things they need to continue to work on. “We’ll have to be better in all situations.” As the games ramp up, this will get addressed. Up next is Game 1 on Sunday night. Let the games begin.

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The Hockey Writers / Blue Jackets Need Atkinson, Murray, Texier & Anderson to Step Up By Cody Chalfan - July 31, 2020

It has been an odd season for the Columbus Blue Jackets. Between injuries, new faces, and even a suspension of the season due to COVID-19, consistency has been difficult for players to find. Many players that are usually a factor for the franchise have found themselves having quiet and inconsistent seasons. In this piece, some of those players who have been quiet will be mentioned along with how they will have a chance to finally make a difference in the qualifying round against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Cam Atkinson Could Lead an Offensive Surge Cam Atkinson had a 2019-20 season to forget. A nagging ankle injury greatly reduced the number of games he was able to play, leading to inconsistencies in his game. He only scored 12 goals, way off his career average of 22 goals a season. Atkinson is a very important part of the offense. Last season in Round 1 of the playoffs he played very well, recording four points in four games. The Blue Jackets won that series 4-0. He realizes that he has to be at the top of his game for the team to have success. Last Friday, he was asked if he felt it was his responsibility as a goal scorer and veteran of the team to be a leader this postseason. His answer was, “Absolutely, I need to be one of the energy guys, drag people into the fight, I have a lot of experience, so I have to lead by example. That comes down to hard work playing with a lot of energy, slipping through the holes.” What does Atkinson bring for the Blue Jackets against the Maple Leafs? Scoring, and lots of it. He has had 368 points over his career. He has also had no shortage of success against Toronto, scoring 13 points in 19 games over his career, including two points in two games this season. He also has a plus- three in those 19 games. Atkinson’s offensive abilities and experience against the Maple Leafs will prove invaluable for the team. He will find his offensive game and will be a big factor in this play-in series. Josh Anderson Possibly Brings Size and Speed Josh Anderson has become a weapon for the offense in the last couple of seasons. Unfortunately, due to a shoulder injury requiring surgery, he only played 26 games this season. Even in those 26 games, he was very quiet by his standards, only recording four points. To be clear, it is still unknown if Anderson will return to the lineup in time for Toronto, but he’s on the roster, so it’s a possibility. If he does, his speed and size could be an edge for the Blue Jackets. His size and power allow him to play a physical game, recording 602 hits over his six-season career. His speed is another big key to his game that brings a whole other dimension to the offense. In his career, Anderson may have only recorded 115 points in six seasons, but 77 of them were in just the past two seasons (2017-18 and 2018-19). He has increasingly become a key piece of the offense. In the last two seasons, Anderson recorded two goals in four games against Toronto and has a plus-2 against them in his career.

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If he can play in the play-in series, Toronto’s defense will have their hands full and he will be an x-factor for the Blue Jackets. Murray Looks to Stay Healthy and Contribute Ryan Murray is another player looking to make a difference in the qualifying round. Like many other seasons, his 2019-20 campaign was cut short by an injury. When he is healthy, he is a difference-maker on defense, and if he stays healthy he could be a big part of success for the Blue Jackets defensively. With 590 blocks, 174 hits, and a plus-13 in his seven-season career, Murray is a solid defenseman. He has found success against Toronto over the years too. In 14 games, he has 6 points against them — the only two teams he has more against are the New York Rangers and . He also has a career plus-minus of plus-9 against Toronto — the only team he’s better against is the . A big part of his ability to contribute will be staying healthy, something Murray has struggled with over the years. He has only recorded a full 82 games once, which was back in the 2015-16 season. Over his career, he has averaged only about 50 games a season. Staying healthy is a must for him to make a difference. If Murray can stay healthy there’s no denying that he will solidify an already skilled defense for the Blue Jackets. He will be a boost for the team and bring even more support in stopping the high-flying Toronto offense. Texier Hopes to Show What He’s Capable Of Alexandre Texier is a promising young player that was never able to show what he was capable of after a season-ending back injury. Texier will look to finally give the team the boost he was hoping to this season in the play-in series against the Maple Leafs. Texier hasn’t had much experience against Toronto, just two games with no points. However, we do know that he is capable of being a scoring threat. In his first NHL game in the 2018-19 season he scored a goal. He also scored two more goals in Game 4 against Tampa Bay in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, leading the Blue Jackets to a 7-3 win and series sweep. In his 12 games in the 2018-19 season, Texier scored four points and the Blue Jackets went 8-4 with him in the lineup. This season, in 36 games, he recorded 13 points, including a game-winning goal in OT over the . For a young player, he shows promise and most certainly will look to prove himself against Toronto. If Texier stays healthy, just like last postseason, he will show what he’s capable of. He will rise to the occasion and give the Blue Jackets’ offense the boost they need to compete with the Maple Leafs’ strong offense. The Recipe For Success For the Blue Jackets If Anderson, Texier, and Atkinson all play up to their standards, the offense will be at a much higher level, one that can better compete with Toronto’s explosive offense. If Murray plays to his level, the already solid defense will be even better equipped to stop the Maple Leafs’ offense. If these players, or the ones at least in the lineup, play to their capabilities and the defense stands tall, the Blue Jackets will win this series in five games.

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The Athletic / What will the officiating look like for this unique NHL postseason? By Russo, Burnside and Vingan – July 31, 2020

So much has been made about NHL players having to live in a bubble for two months and play in front of no fans. Well, what about the poor referees and linesmen? They’re people, too. The officials, often the focal point of the hockey diehard’s playoff scorn, are also being sequestered inside two respective bubbles for weeks to perhaps months. And it will be fascinating to see how officiating in front of no cheering – well, actually, jeering – hockey fans will affect how they do their jobs during these very unorthodox Stanley Cup playoffs? “I guess if we control the sound, we won’t be piping in any booing,” a laughing Stephen Walkom, the NHL’s senior vice president and director of officiating, joked during a recent phone interview with The Athletic. Despite the fact there won’t be 18,000 home fans reacting to bad or missed call, Walkom doesn’t think the standard of officiating will change one iota in empty arenas. “As an official, I’ve gotta tell you, the only time you really notice the fans is when you step on the ice,” Walkom said. “You notice it when you’re going off because you have the odd fan who likes to hurl you some kindness on the way out. But other than that, since we started making (penalty) announcements (in an arena), if it went against the home team, even if it was right, you generally get a little kindness there, too. “But when the game is on, you don’t notice it. I’m sure if you even talk to players, they hear the fans only when they’re sitting on the bench. We don’t get to sit on the bench. We’re just trying to stay out of the way and we’re trying to keep up with the pace of the game. So, you don’t have a lot of time to hear the fans.” Since most of us have never officiated at the NHL level, we’ll take Walkom’s word for it. But, how about this? Will referees need a thicker skin when it comes to the choice words they might now hear from the players and coaches on the bench that, let’s be honest, they previously missed with thousands of amped-up fans in the stands? Former Wild, Ducks and Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau said coaches often count on the fans to drown out the nasty barbs being hurled at officials when spitting mad. “Now they’re going to be able to hear whispers,” Boudreau said, laughing. In an anonymous coaches poll published by The Athletic on Wednesday, half the coaches guessed that fiery, often-spitting-mad Columbus Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella will be the most likely to get into hot water for the things officials hear him scream.

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Walkom indicated he has talked to his crew about this and he’s not worried about his officials’ professionalism. “Our guys have an innate ability of understanding the difference between emotion and abuse, and they also understand that sometimes coaches participate in being boisterous because it’s done to support the team on a call or non-call,” Walkom said, before chuckling. “But if the game sound gets turned up loud enough by (NHL executive) Steve Mayer’s team, maybe we won’t hear much of it at all.” Still, like the players, it will be fascinating to see if the performance of the referees will be impacted by the fan-less environments. Since 1980, when the league expanded the playoff field to 16 teams, home teams have a .558 winning percentage across more than 3,200 games. Plenty of research has been conducted on the true value of playing at home in various sports, and a common finding is that officials are prone to being influenced by the crowd. Retired referee Kerry Fraser, who officiated 261 playoff games and 12 over a 30-year career, was skeptical. “Personally, I never bought into that, nor did I subscribe to it,” Fraser said. “The big knock that we always got was that we put our whistles away in the later stages of the game. No referee wants to be the deciding or determining factor. … From an official perspective, we don’t really ever have a home game, so that’s one of the reasons I never bought into giving a break to the home team to take the pressure off me, because no matter where I went, fans would boo. They didn’t like me, and that’s OK. I just wanted to be respected.” The numbers, however, suggest that there is a bias toward the home team, even if it is subconscious. Home teams in the NHL have a net penalty differential of plus-1,042 during the regular season since 2017, according to league data. One team, the , has a negative differential at home over that span. By comparison, six teams have a positive differential on the road – the Buffalo Sabres, , Columbus Blue Jackets, , and . Fraser said the biggest challenge for referees will be to keep their composure when emotions run high, as tends to happen in the playoffs, especially without the cover of crowd noise. “Every official has a certain trigger, and they have a certain personality,” Fraser said. “Think about the lack of sound in the bubble, and a player gets upset with a call, or a coach, and they start screaming and cursing, you’re going to have soundbites that they might want to turn the mic off. In situations like that, it’s really going to be crucial for the officials not to get pulled in and drawn into an F-U contest. It’s going to have to be calm. It’s going to have to be controlled.” One person very curious is Hall of Famer Scotty Bowman. “They really do control games, whether if it’s letting things go or calling a lot,” Bowman said. “And I always thought, because the officials are human, the environment had something to do with the way officials called games in the playoffs. I don’t know what to think about how officials call these games with no fans, but I do know it’ll be a factor.” Players themselves can’t wait to see what happens when there are no fans that react after a penalty, missed call or goal they feel should be wiped from the board.

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“I don’t know, maybe it’s going to give them time to process it and not just overreact,” veteran Marcus Foligno said. “Maybe it’s going to be called cleaner. I do believe that when there is momentum like that, especially playoffs with the crowd and when the fans get on refs, sometimes refs give in. We’ve seen it, it’s just natural. “Definitely, you’re going to have someone get held up or an interference call and they’re gonna have no booing, so refs might agree with themselves even more. I think that’s something we’re probably going to see, and referees, if you ask them, they’re probably going to enjoy it because they’re not going to have someone booing at them or the ‘Refs, you suck’ chant, there’s going to be nothing like that. “That’s going to be interesting, but hopefully it works in a positive way to keep the game clean and to keep it playing like a fast-paced game.” If the players are the musicians in the 24-team symphony of hockey that’s about to begin, then the on- ice officials are the conductors. The 40 officials selected to officiate this summer’s tournament are no different than the players who arrived in Toronto and Edmonton on Sunday in having to quickly come to grips with a new reality in how they live, eat, sleep, decompress and, of course, do their jobs. On-ice officials in both cities – there are 10 referees and 10 linesmen in each hub – arrived in the two cities on July 21 and hit the ice after four days of self-quarantine that involved multiple COVID-19 tests. Prior to that, the officials quarantined at home starting on July 14 and were tested regularly. After a couple of what Walkom dubbed “captain’s skates” in each bubble, the officials had two days of training camp with two skates per day and Zoom rule quiz refreshers between each skate. The mini-camps were mirrored in both Toronto and Edmonton. In Toronto, Walkom and well-known former refs Paul Devorski, Brad Watson and Rob Shick ran the skates. In Edmonton, former well-known refs Bill McCreary, Don van Massenhoven and Mike Leggo and former linesman Shane Heyer ran the skates. The biggest challenge for all the officials is getting up to the speed on the ice because many referees and linesmen haven’t had the same opportunity as the players to skate the past several weeks. So, Dave Smith, the former longtime New York Rangers and Florida Panthers athletic trainer that’s the NHL officials’ health and wellness coach, has been conducting Zoom off-ice workouts specific to functional skating. From the moment the NHL paused on March 12, longtime referee Kelly Sutherland, who will be officiating games in Edmonton, said there has always been a feeling of being engaged even as they were hunkered down in their own homes across North America. “We never really took any time off,” Sutherland said. But once the two teams of officials were able to hit the ice together in Toronto and Edmonton, the reality of what is ahead was brought into sharp focus. The Edmonton group, for instance, was on the main ice at Rogers Arena for the first time Monday to get a feel for their work environment. Really, nothing felt different, other than officials are using a Fox 40 pealess whistle because it’ll take less energy and effort to blow plays down and reduce the chance of spreading saliva.

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“(The skates were) more or less just like a run-through so we’re not just getting thrown into this environment and not know what to expect in our first game,” Sutherland said. “It gave us an idea of what your surroundings are going to be like when the real games get going. I really like the setup. The production, I think, is going to be really, really good on TV. For the fans. It’s a really cool environment they’ve set up here.” Since late May when the NHL announced its return to play plan, the concern by many players was being away from their families for several weeks in a row. That was one of Walkom’s biggest worries, too, with his officials. The isolation they may feel in these hubs is real. When veteran linesman Steve Barton unpacked his gear at the Royal York Hotel in downtown Toronto nine days ago, he found a loving collection of scribbles from his 5-year-old son and a more fully-formed letter from his 7-year-old boy. Barton and his wife, a nurse in Cornwall, , who increased her workload at a clinic to five or six days a week, are navigating parenting while communication is sometimes limited to one text a day. “They knew something was up because mommy was stressed out and I was stressed out too, I think,” Barton said of his sons’ reaction when he was leaving for the bubble. “They knew it was different.” Different is indeed the watchword of this entire return to play concept. An early riser, Barton has watched from morning to night with awe how the interconnected pieces of the machinery needed to keep the bubble intact are working smoothly. “What’s really struck me is there’s so much infrastructure that I never even thought could exist,” Barton said. “All of the staff, the work involved in getting all this ready for us. The work that’s been done is pretty incredible. That’s the part I don’t think I thought about before I got in here.” The officials in Toronto are staying at the Royal York, all on the same floor in order to keep distance from the players, coaches and managers they shouldn’t be mingling with as seven teams are also staying at that hotel. And like the teams, the officials are working on decorating their common areas in what we can only assume is a zebra motif, with veteran referee Wes McCauley serving as the officials’ “chef de mission,” according to Barton. “He’s working something up so he’ll make sure it’s good,” Barton joked. Some 3,300 kilometers or 2,050 miles north-west, the officials in Edmonton are spread throughout the Delta Hotel, with some bringing their own coffee makers, microwaves and hanging family pictures to create a feeling of home. No teams are staying at the Delta. “It’s bigger than my first apartment,” Sutherland joked in describing his suite in Edmonton. But, like the players, if an official is bored, he’s not allowed to visit another official’s room as the league tries to maintain a COVID-19-free environment. But the league has set up a common room in both hubs so the zebras can eat, watch TV, take in other hockey games, talk hockey with each other, play cards, unwind and hang out with each other when not working. “You’re gonna get to spend some quality time with your teammates,” Walkom said.

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Walkom said the officials also have a suite in each arena where they’re welcome to watch the games they’re not working. “This is the first time that we’ve had so many guys that we can sit and watch a game all together or a crew will work a game and come off and you’re talking to them in person and you’re OK, what went on in the game, what do we need to know?” Sutherland explained. “We’re all going to be here and we’re going to have so much more information about what is happening on the ice.” This is decidedly different from the normal playoff routine where officiating teams scatter the morning after a game for their next assignments possibly in four different cities. Now, officials will be together watching the games they aren’t working and those that do work games will get to head back to the hotel to join their colleagues for discussions that would only usually take place via email or text . You can bet old “teammates” will come up in the conversation, too. One of the biggest shames of the pandemic stopping short the NHL season is retiring referee Dan O’Halloran and linesmen Brian Murphy, Scott Driscoll and Darren Gibbs’ careers came to an unexpected end without the normal sendoff. A retiring official can not work in the postseason of their final year. O’Halloran reffed games for 28 years and called 1,514 regular-season games, 212 playoff games and 10 Stanley Cup finals, tops for all active officials. Murphy worked 32 years and worked the lines of 2,071 regular-season games, 304 playoff games and in nine Stanley Cup finals. Driscoll worked 28 years and worked 1,847 regular-season games, 185 playoff games and three Stanley Cup finals. Gibbs worked 23 years, calling 1,496 regular-season games and 16 playoff games. When officials retire, they pick their final crew and the final building they work in, plus players shake their hand after the last game. Instead, the plan is for these guys to get an awards night when the officials are next able to gather for training camp. “Our guys aren’t asking for a pity party though,” Walkom said. “They have all had outstanding careers in their own right. No one would have ever predicted that a pandemic would cause a pause in the season and that would be in their last year.” The life in the bubble routines are already starting to feel normal, but it’s the on-ice routines that are still very fluid and will be until the exhibition games are complete. Until then, everyone can only imagine what it will be like to perform their roles in empty arenas surrounded by as many as a dozen more television cameras and additional microphones than are usually employed during the playoffs. For officials, the moment that reminds them of their environment, especially during the playoffs, is invariably that walk from their dressing rooms to the ice amid the thunderous crowd noise and then the anticipation that comes during the national anthems. “I think that intensity and the pressure that you feel at a normal playoff game will still be there,” Barton said. “But the energy in the rink that the fans bring, that might be the different part, the unique part.” “But, my thought is right now, that once that puck drops, that energy’s still going to be there because for us, for the officials, when the puck drops, it’s kind of a game and it’s inside the game that we live in. Once the puck drops, I think it’s going to be no different at all for us.” The game within the game.

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That will be the great adventure for all concerned, how to control those emotions, never far from the surface during the intensity of a playoff game, in such a unique environment. Certainly, the cloak of the crowd noise being withdrawn will change the dynamic of the interplay between on-ice officials and players and coaches. During a game, conversations between referees and linesmen are, for the most part, brief and private. “There’s things that people say that they know no one can hear,” Barton said. “Those are the ways that emotion gets out. I think now maybe people will have to be a lot smarter, officials included, on how we interact on the ice.” “Maybe people will internalize things maybe more than before. We’re inside the game as well. So sometimes I’m guilty of getting emotional like anyone else. But again, it’s going to be unique in that way and it’s going to be a great test for everybody to try to get through it and try to showcase the game in the best possible way.” Sutherland, a 20-year veteran, doesn’t anticipate that he will approach the job any differently in spite of the unique circumstances. “When it comes to talking to the teams I’ve always had a lot of lines of communication and talk a lot out there,” Sutherland said. “To me, I think it’s going to be business as usual. I’m not going to worry because I have a pretty good rapport with most of the people in the league, so conversations will be what they’ve always been.” One possible byproduct of the lack of fans is that officials’ instructions to players, whether it’s to disengage, move the puck, back off from a confrontation, etc., should be more clearly understood. “People might hear you a little bit more clearly now,” Sutherland said. “Who knows. We’ll find that out.” And most importantly, we may still get to see some of the comedy McCauley, one of the most animated refs in the league when it comes to announcing a penalty and dealing with players, unveils even with no fans in the stands. “We just want to focus on the standard,” Walkom said, laughing. “We’re not telling any official to act any differently. We want them to go out there and call the game. But we’re not curtailing their personalities. Whatever they were before, we hope they’ll continue to be the same in the bubble.”

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The Athletic / Duhatschek: On the NHL’s brave new world and the possibility of a cliffhanger By Eric Duhatschek – July 31, 2020

The last official game on the NHL schedule was played on March 11, a Wednesday, and it was a desultory affair between two of the league’s also-rans. The won 3-2 at home over the . Shortly thereafter, came two pieces of news: League play was paused indefinitely and a handful of Senators’ players tested positive for COVID-19. That was about four-and-a-half months ago, a period of time that shook the players, the league, the fans – and the world at large to its core. But starting on Saturday, hockey is back, with a 24-team tournament that will combine elements of a traditional NHL playoff, an international-style competition, plus the first out-of-town tournament trip players took as kids, where parents asked them to behave, but took it for granted they probably wouldn’t. As long as the transgressions are limited to mini-sticks in the hotel hallways, while the adult world is fast asleep, it won’t be an issue. This being 2020, it sounds as if the vast majority of players plan to stay close to their hotel homes if only because they are serious, devout gamers. But this is one time where a little casual misbehaviour can’t be tolerated. The players will need to continue the current collective maturity about the task at hand because as the NHL tiptoes into an uncertain future, the only thing they’ll know for sure is the risks – of playing a contact sport in a cold, indoor arena, during a worldwide pandemic — have never been greater. But if all goes (reasonably) well and according to the script, the playoffs could also be quite a spectacle and a necessary distraction for hockey fans. Normally, as players move through the ranks and eventually emerge as NHLers, they rarely see themselves as entertainers, the way singers and actors and dancers might. They’re hockey players, first, last and always. Eventually, usually around the time the first big paycheque arrives, the realization sinks in – that they’re now actually in show biz. And there is a long history of entertainers providing a temporary, but welcome distraction during challenging times. Anything that brings a sense of normalcy – even if only for a few hours – is a welcome break from the anxiety gripping the world. And so, when the curtain drops on Saturday and the New York Rangers and Carolina Hurricanes kick off an opening-day slate of five games, the greatest show on ice will be back. For how long? No one can say. But if the best part of every playoff season is the opening round, this year, the NHL is essentially providing viewers with two first rounds, scheduled back-to-back.

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First, there’s the play-in (or qualifying) round, which will feature eight, best-of-five series between the teams ranked five-to-12 in each conference. From there, the eight qualifying-round winners will advance into a traditional 16-team playoff, and play the eight teams that earned play-in byes. It will be a vast smorgasbord of hockey with the start times staggered between the Toronto and Edmonton hubs to maximize viewing possibilities. If you missed watching the steady daily diet of NHL playoff games that usually begins in April, then you’re about to go from zero to 100. By their nature, the playoffs can be unpredictable at the best of times. Last year’s postseason reinforced that point, with regular-season champions in the three of the four divisions – the Lightning, Flames and Predators — all losing in the opening round. Even in a year not disrupted by a global pandemic, predicting playoff results is, at best, an exercise in educated guesswork. This year, with all the uncertainty over how teams will look coming out of their mini-training camps, it’s descended into a series of shrugs, eye rolls and uneducated guesswork. There really is a case to be made for every team to harbour hopes that if they stay healthy and get off to a good start, it could be their year. On the other hand, the best teams have the best players, and the best players will all be far more rested than usual. Maybe that means the favourites have an edge. Accordingly, let’s explore some of these issues in greater detail, imagining different ways in which things could work out fabulously and also a few potential pitfalls. The health and injury factor Normally, when the playoffs open in April, teams already have more than six months of sweat equity invested in the season. All the best players eat up the most minutes, and so the needle on the gas gauge for them is trending toward empty by the start of the playoffs. If they happen to advance deep into the postseason, they are often running on empty. Usually, by the time the two finalists are approaching the finish line, it’s like an episode “Survivor.” But with four months to rest, recover and heal, NHLers’ tanks should all be full. It may well be that the overall execution starts out sloppy because of rust, but the level of play should improve – not tail off – as the postseason advances, which would be a positively unprecedented development. What a thought. Instead of two finalists staggering to the finish line, they could be playing a championship round with the advancing teams humming along, in mid-season form. Some players, such as Flames’ captain Mark Giordano, have predicted that it could be the greatest postseason in NHL history, just because the players will be approaching peak physical condition at the most important time of the season. The bubble factor Much has been made of the fact that if their teams advance, players will be separated from their families for extended periods, sequestered in their hotel rooms for long stays. First, note one important consideration that has more to do with arithmetic than hockey. Twenty-four teams will start the tournament. Eight will be eliminated in the first six-to-nine days. A further eight will be dispatched by the end of the opening round. That means 16 out of 24 teams in the postseason will be absent from their loved ones for about a three-and-a-half-week period. In some respects, living in a bubble will bring the players back to their roots. Most of the players of this generation were going on out-of-town trips at

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a young age to compete in tournaments – and some will tell you that some of their fondest moments came in those outings. Therefore, as long as they embrace the experience on that level, it should be fine. Even in a traditional playoff year, some teams would put their players in a local hotel on the night before a home game so the focus could be purely on hockey. Former Kings coach was always a big proponent of that and it helped the Kings win two championships in three years. The empty-building conundrum The temptation is to insert a weak joke here – about why empty buildings will favor players from the Panthers and Coyotes because they are used to playing to large numbers of empty seats. The reality is, most players have run up against lukewarm or non-existent crowds at some time or other along the way. Often, when North American teams go overseas to play in a world junior tournament, for example, attendance for preliminary round games tends to be sparse. And so, while crowd noise is often an important driving force to create momentum swings in a game – and especially in a playoff game – motivation may need to come more from within; either from the most vocal teammates or from members of the coaching staff. It’s virtually impossible to assess the value of a motor-mouth teammate on the outcome of a regular game – in the way chatter on the bench can get a team going – but this is one year, when the more outgoing personalities you have on your team, the better off you will likely be. The timing of the games Some teams scheduled their Phase 3 scrimmages to mimic the times they are set to play in the qualifying round. For example, Calgary starts with a late evening game then has an early afternoon game and a late afternoon game. The routine of preparing for each game – primarily in terms of meals and meetings – will vary for each. Hockey players are notorious creatures of habit. It doesn’t sound like much of a challenge in theory, but the reality is, the ability to adjust to the variety of start times – and not fall behind early, because of a sluggish beginning – could be critical in the outcome of games, especially in a shortened best-of-five play-in round. The element of luck/the randomness of hockey In the mid-1980s, legendary coach Bob Johnson used to lecture reporters once or twice a year about a factor that they refused to acknowledge: The element of luck in the game that is simply beyond anyone’s control. A puck hits a post and caroms out. No goal. A puck hits a post and deflects in. Goal. The difference between the two shots is likely a fraction of an inch either way, but sometimes, that tiny margin can determine the outcome of a game. Johnson’s premise was that you can’t quantify luck, you can’t predict luck and the idea that good teams manufacture their own luck only carries you so far. Sometimes, if a closely contested series is hanging in the balance, the lucky, unpredictable bounce decides it. Adding to the unpredictability this year is the unknown of a positive COVID-19 test. Even if every player on every team adheres closely to protocols, there could still be a positive test or two – and if they’re not isolated quickly enough, it could spread. The one question NHL officials haven’t answered is, what is the threshold that forces a team to withdraw from the playoffs because their infection rate is too high? The asterisk There is a school of thought that suggests because 24 out of 31 teams have a shot at winning the Stanley Cup – including a few, such as the Canadiens and Blackhawks, that were trading away players at the trade deadline and effectively waving a white flag of surrender on the season – that any champion declared this year will forever have an asterisk attached to the title.

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This seems like a flawed premise when you ponder the other side of the argument: That if the playoffs are actually completed under these adverse conditions, the team that navigates its way into the winner’s circle will have more – not fewer – reasons to celebrate its achievement. If there’s an asterisk attached to the championship, it will only be to acknowledge a monumental feat – and something that seemed impossible to do when the league, and the world, was largely shut down in March and April. How many will be watching? Hockey is largely a gate-receipt driven league and normally, the NHL playoffs provide a huge windfall for teams. Remember, NHL players receive their paycheques for regular-season play only but earn bonus money the farther they advance in the playoffs. But the compensation paid to players for playoff performances is a tiny fraction to the gate receipts that teams earn in a normal postseason, when prices go up, usually with every successive round. So that income stream, this year, in a playoff without fans, is eliminated. The primary reason the NHL is going to the expense of conducting a postseason like no other is to fulfill its broadcast commitments, thus preserving at least that revenue stream. The hope is that interest runs so high, and TV ratings are so spectacular, that it’s worth the time and trouble to put on the tournament in the first place, rather than simply packing it in and starting afresh with the 2020-21 season. Internally, a few people that I’ve asked, based on hunches and the early returns from MLB ratings, is that they expect to do pretty well on the TV ratings front. In conclusion The unknown is one of the great attractions of spectator sports. The notion, borrowed from football, that on any given Sunday, anyone can win a single game. It’s why even the greatest teams of all-time occasionally lose and some of the worst teams ever occasionally win. Penguins’ coach Mike Sullivan echoed the words of many of his peers when he called these “uncharted waters.” NHL playoffs have always had a reality-show feel to them at the best of times. For better or worse, the possibility of a cliffhanger ending here looms large. Just because everything in the world has felt so negative of late, there is probably a percentage of people that believe the NHL’s return-to-play experiment will eventually go off the rails – and it easily could. But on the conference call about the resumption of play, NHLPA Executive Director Donald Fehr went out of his way to make a point and it’s worth repeating here. Fehr noted that he’s been working with professional athletes for the better part of four decades and with hockey players for quite a while now – and has come to appreciate how collectively NHLers approach their work. “They are not only professionals,” Fehr said, “they are the consummate professionals, and what that means is that they can adapt. They adapt to whatever the world throws at them: A new coach, an injury, all of a sudden, a better team in the division, a new opportunity, an illness, whatever it is. So, will it be a challenge? Sure. Will it be different? Of course. Will the players, in the long run, have any difficulty handling it? No.” For everyone’s sake, you hope he’s right.

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Sportsnet.ca / How living in a bubble could foster relationships between players, officials By Mark Spector – July 31, 2020

EDMONTON — It was back in the ‘80s and a veteran linesman named Randy Mitton had just whistled down a play, one hand raised to his mouth to blow his whistle, the other pointing at the place where Jari Kurri had touched the puck to initiate an offside. had taken a long outlet, left a drop pass for Kurri right on the blue-line, then cruised deep into the offensive zone, awaiting the arrival of Kurri and the puck. Of course, the entire puck has to be over the entire line for the play to be on-side. Mitton, knew this. Gretzky, strangely, did not. “Maybe two seconds passes, and Kurri picks up the puck and brings it over the line. So I blow the whistle: Offside. It’s an easy call,” Mitton told me a few years back for the book, The Battle of Alberta. “Gretzky comes by and he’s screamin’ at me, givin’ it to me. I give him an unsportsmanlike conduct. “Well, some days later we’re in L.A., and we used to drink — players and officials — in a place called The Melody Bar. Gretzky was around the other side, and I walked around to talk to him. I told him that story, and he said, ‘I didn’t know the entire puck had to be inside the zone?!?’ He sent over a couple of beers and it was all good.” Those, hockey fans, were the days before team charters. When players, referees, coaches — even media — would gather in a “hockey bar” like The Melody. Or The Lodge in Chicago. Or Sherlock Holmes in Edmonton. From the Stanley Cup Qualifiers to the Stanley Cup Final, livestream every game of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs, blackout-free, on Sportsnet NOW. There, they would come to understand each other, in those days before the team bus scooped up players and coaches at the rink, transporting them to a team charter an hour after the final buzzer, destined not for the bar but for the next city on the NHL schedule. Today, in this weird, mid-summer tournament that is about to begin, that all comes back. To an extent. With players, officials, coaches and general managers all living in the same bubble, the referee who made the game-deciding call could well end up in a Starbucks lineup with a group of players from the affected team. A linesman who whistled down a play for an offside will come upon that team’s head coach and GM walking to breakfast, still griping about the call he made. “We do see a lot of players. There are 12 teams,” said linesman Jonny Murray, who we spoke with over the phone from inside the bubble earlier this week. “We see coaches. We see general managers. I have no issue talking with them — I’ve been in the league for 20 years. I’ll chat with those guys. I’ve had some good and bad conversations with anyone who has been in the league a long time. There is respect. So far, so good, he said on Tuesday. “Now, we’re starting on Saturday,” he cautioned. “Today everyone is loose and happy. I don’t know how it will be when a team is down two games to nothing.”

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Spend some time around NHL officials and you’ll hear their mantra: “Fifty per cent of the people are going to disagree with every call you make.” Or this old standard: “The expectations start off at perfection, and go down from there.” Meanwhile, the game gets faster and faster. And the television replay angles that so deceive us into thinking the official’s job is easy — that calls are obvious — increase exponentially. With no fans in the buildings, the NHL has proudly increased its arsenal of cameras in Toronto and Edmonton. So unlike the officials, Sportsnet will always have an unobscured angle slowed down to a speed that makes the zebra’s job appear simple. But if you think these guys don’t welcome this rare chance to be available to players’ queries, you’ve got it wrong. Most officials welcome any opportunity to bring hockey people into their world, a place that is impossible to fully understand until you’ve been there. This could be a good thing, if players and refs get more opportunities to talk things out away from the rink. Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman talk to a lot of people around the hockey world, and then they tell listeners all about what they’ve heard and what they think about it. “I believe that,” said referee Marc Joannette this week. “If there are opportunities to have discussions, to have players and officials see each other outside the 200 x 85, you see a different perspective. Maybe build a better rapport too. “It reminds me of my days in the American League, when we were around the teams all the time,” he chuckled. “We used to travel with them in the playoffs. For me, it’s going back to when I started. I see it as we are all one big group trying to work together to stay healthy and see the Cup be given in October.” There is a relationship between players and officials, to be sure. But it’s not what it once was, and building familiarity takes longer today than it once did. “Twenty years ago, every player knew the (Bill) McCrearys, the (Kerry) Frasers, the (Don) Koharskis. Now, I don’t want to say we’re just numbers, but … it takes longer to make a name for yourself because we have no names on our backs,” Murray said. Like Mitton before him, Murray is happy to discuss a play over with a player in the coffee lineup, or anywhere else inside the bubble. Senior Writer Ryan Dixon and NHL Editor Rory Boylen always give it 110%, but never rely on clichés when it comes to podcasting. Instead, they use a mix of facts, fun and a varied group of hockey voices to cover ’s most beloved game. “Let’s say I make the wrong call one night,” he begins. “And I’m going to explain to him five days down the road why I missed it. Maybe it was bad positioning. Maybe a guy skated in front of me just as I was supposed to see what was going on. If you explain to them why you missed it … they realize. “I understand that a player can have a bad game. They understand that we can have a bad game. It sucks, but it’s life,” said Murray, who has been taken away from his summer business — Extreme Power Skating — the largest summer hockey school in Quebec, for this rare assignment. “It’s always easy when

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there are 35 angles on the TV. It’s not an excuse, but sometimes it happens and we miss (the call). The same way a player can sometimes miss an open net.” In the end, just as Jets coach predicted that no one will ever forget who won the 2020 Stanley Cup, nobody who is a part of this thing — player, official, media person — will ever forget being a part of it. “It’s a dream come true when you step into the NHL. It’s what I always wanted to do, and I wasn’t close to good enough to be a player in the NHL,” said Joannette. “You are overwhelmed at the start, realizing your dream. For me now, coming closer to the end — and even more under these circumstances — I think I appreciate it so much more.” Joannette’s next playoff assignment will be playoff game No. 160, to go with three Stanley Cup Finals and nearly 1,400 regular season games. That experience, a professional life lived under that level of nightly pressure, leads Joannette to predict that everyone living in the bubble will require some special attention as these bubble playoffs roll along. “More than ever, we’re going to have to be supportive of each other. Of our families,” said Joannette, 51. “Because being away that long there is some stuff that is going to happen at home, for sure. And there might be some stuff that’s going to happen here. So we’re going to have to make a very conscious effort on being there for each other. “There will be tougher days than others. For ourselves and our families, we really have to come in close with each other.”

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Sportsnet.ca / NHL Playoff Power Rankings: Best of the Bubble Edition By Luke Fox – July 31, 2020

Positive tests have vanished, all 24 squads are engaging in bubble hockey on the safer side of the border, and hockey is back. For real, though. It’s starting to feel like we will actually crown a 2020 Stanley Cup champion. Get amped. Who will it be? Clean slates and healthy rosters have every team arguing, “Why not us?” But some squads have a much stronger argument than others. Without further ado, we present our NHL Power Rankings: Best of the Bubble Edition. As always, teams are ranked in order of current level of awesome and our belief in their chances to be final team standing in the longest NHL season of history. 1. Boston Bruins Cup or bust. The Presidents’ Trophy winners aren’t shying from their objective here. With a leadership core clinging to its prime and stud D-man Torey Krug about to get expensive, this could be Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand’s best shot to party like it’s 2011 all over again. Special teams assume added importance in short series, and Boston’s PP1 — led by Rocket Richard co-winner David Pastrnak — is nothing to mess with. Still waiting for deadline pickup Ondrej Kase to join the group, though. 2. St. Louis Blues That the defending champs finished atop the West with their most dynamic offensive threat, Vladimir Tarasenko, playing a scant 10 of 71 games is a frightening thought. Confidence. Buy-in. Heart. St. Louis wins with intangibles — and arguably the deepest blue line the sport has to offer. 3. Tampa Bay Lightning This feels like a critical tournament for Tampa, a perennial powerhouse out to redeem 2019’s collapse and take one more stab at a championship before a flattened salary cap promises to cost them an important player or two. The Lightning’s return has already been rocky, what with a viral outbreak, a temporary training facility shutdown and a Phase 2 lower-body injury to Steven Stamkos. The players should be comfortable being uncomfortable. And they obliterated rival Florida in Wednesday’s tune-up. 4. Colorado Avalanche If the Avalanche’s inexperienced goaltenders can rise to the occasion, there is enough here to go four rounds. Nathan MacKinnon is one of the best three hockey players on this planet. Mikko Rantanen is healthy. Cale Makar is a Calder finalist. And unheralded role players like Nazem Kadri, Andre Burakovsky, Joonas Donskoi and Ryan Graves have all excelled this year. 5. Vegas Golden Knights New coach Pete DeBoer will try to bring a third franchise to the Cup final, and this one has all the ingredients to go the distance. The deft swipe of rent-a-goalie Robin Lehner at the deadline gives fantastic insurance if Marc-Andre Fleury falters, and a healthy makes all the difference. The core should be all the more determined after its ’18 run and ’19 heartbreak.

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6. The pause happened to arrive at a convenient time for the Capitals, who had hit a rut and were limping toward the post-season. A fresh slate should serve this contender well. The obvious question will be the play of impending UFA Braden Holtby, who’s coming off a career-worst .897 save percentage and needs a bounce-back. There’s no Ilya Samsonov ready to pick up the team if Holtby falters. 7. The higher the stakes, the sillier it is to doubt — training camp ailment be damned. Evgeni Malkin and Bryan Rust had fantastic seasons that got little press. The Penguins have one of the most capable No. 2 goalies, Tristan Jarry, in the tournament. And Mike Sullivan is no joke. Toss in a healthy Jake Guentzel, the acquisition of Jason Zucker and a manageable first-round opponent, and Pittsburgh could get on a heater. 8. Dallas Stars Playoff-level defence and goaltending should be a given, so the focus in Dallas will be on the ability of its top six to find the net. Quick: Name the Stars’ only 20-goal scorer. If you replied, “Dennis Gurianov,” you’re a helluva hockey nerd. Based on recent production, well-paid stars Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn, Joe Pavelski and Alexander Radulov all appear on the decline. But they’re gamers who should be inspired by what could be their last best shot to go all the way. 9. Edmonton Oilers We pity those tasked with defending Connor McDavid in his first elimination series in three-plus years. Tandem goaltending and a young blue line aren’t often the hallmarks of a deep run, but the one-two punch of a Hart Trophy favourite and the world’s most thrilling player up the middle strikes fear. McDavid’s peers might regret not nominating him as one of the league’s three most outstanding players once they see him in action. 10. Winnipeg Jets Coach Paul Maurice lamented Bryan Little’s inability to join the tournament, calling him a deadline pickup they weren’t able to get. But these Jets are used to persevering (anyone else feel like the Dustin Byfuglien saga was four years ago?) and, at the pause, were dressing arguably the best goalie of the season. They score more than Calgary and could surprise with a healthy defence corps. The combo of Blake Wheeler’s leadership and Maurice’s experience should have this bunch in the proper mind frame. 11. Toronto Maple Leafs Since Sheldon Keefe replaced Mike Babcock, the entertaining Maple Leafs rank first in goals per game (3.51), and their power play ranks second overall at 26.4 per cent. The bet here is that speed and scoring can trump physicality and lockdown defence. The performance of Frederik Andersen will be paramount, as mistakes are inevitable. 12. New York Rangers Of all the teams that wouldn’t be in the picture had the cutoff been made at 16 teams, the Rangers are my favourite to make noise. Hart Trophy finalist Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad have been magical this season, and New York had begun finding its stride right before the pause. The major question stands in net: Does the King (career playoff save percentage .922) get a chance to retain his throne, or does rookie Igor Shesterkin immediately establish himself as the No. 1?

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13. As long as the Canucks don’t trade Brock Boeser before the puck drops on Game 1, they should be well- poised to make a run (Just joshin’). Jim Benning bet big to make noise this post-season and, on paper, we like his talented group’s chances of defeating Minnesota and gathering confidence for the Round of 16. Jacob Markstrom is healthy and playing for a contract, the power play is excellent and rental Tyler Toffoli has difference-maker potential. 14. Philadelphia Flyers Squeaking in over bitter rival Pittsburgh as a bye team, the Flyers thrived in their first run under and offer an intriguing mix of youth and experience. I may not be giving Philly enough respect placing a bye team so low, but it’s an embarrassment I’m willing to risk. Carter Hart, the tournament’s youngest starter, will need to stand on his head. No pressure, kid. 15. Carolina Hurricanes One of just two teams to vote against the return-to-play format, the Hurricanes draw a Rangers group that defeated them four out of four times this season. The layoff has boosted the group’s health, however, as power-play quarterback Dougie Hamilton is hopeful to rejoin an excellent blue line bolstered by deadline acquisitions Sami Vatanen and Brady Skjei. If Vincent Trocheck can summon the 2017 version of himself, the Jerks could be extra annoying. 16. An underachieving, underwhelming squad is granted a second life by not only getting included in the tournament, but drawing an inexperienced first opponent in Arizona. Nashville’s well-compensated centres — looking at you, and Matt Duchene — need to get hot quick and take some pressure of Roman Josi’s back. And some saves are necessary. Whether those come courtesy of Juuse Saros or Pekka Rinne, who knows? If the Preds treat this restart like a blank slate, they have serious dark-horse potential. 17. Columbus Blue Jackets We doubt any team will benefit from those long months to heal like Columbus. Not only do the Blue Jackets welcome back healthy members Seth Jones, Cam Atkinson and Oliver Bjorkstrand to their core, but coach John Tortorella also thrives in do-or-die, sacrifice-your-body situations. He’ll have his team — one of the stingiest defensive groups in hockey — ready. Two major questions hang out there: Can either Joonas Korpisalo or Elvis Merzlikins, with a combined zero playoff experience, rise to the occasion? And is there enough scoring punch on this Panarin-free roster to make a dent? 18. Calgary Flames Among the players who have opted out of the tournament due to coronavirus concerns (which is unquestionably their right), Travis Hamonic may be most integral to his team’s success. That said, adversity is the 2019-20 normal in Calgary, and Hamonic’s absence could be a coming-out party for . After 2019’s early exit, there is pressure on the core — namely inconsistent star Johnny Gaudreau — to prove its worth. 19. How fast can the Islanders get a grasp on their suffocating style of play? We love ’s ability to rally a quick buy-in, and these Isles have already proven capable of upsetting favourites in the post- season with their we-over-me approach. Because scoring at even-strength has been a serious challenge, drawing the defensively soft Panthers in the qualification round is a bonus.

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20. Minnesota Wild The Wild’s .897 team save percentage rates worst among all 24 teams standing, and it’s difficult to envision Minnesota generating enough offence to overcome such a flaw. Vancouver brings snipers. 21. Arizona Coyotes A healthy Phil Kessel (who had been pushing through pain) and Darcy Kuemper should provide a boost, and Taylor Hall will be energized with some rare elimination games, but offence is a serious issue here. The Coyotes scored just 190 goals this season. Among teams still alive in the Western Conference, only the Stars generated fewer. With just one 20-goal guy (Connor Garland), I don’t believe there are enough horses here to make a run. 22. Florida Panthers Some hockey algebra: The X-factor is Q. ’s presence behind the Panthers’ bench will loom large as he tries to make up for the playoff experience lacking on his run-and-gun roster. All the pressure will be on Sergei Bobrovsky — whose $11.5-million season is at risk of being a bust. A classic offence-versus-defence elimination series awaits. 23. You never want to count out a team driven by Patrick Kane and , but the Blackhawks surrender so many chances defensively that they’ll be in tough against arguably the two most dangerous goal-creators in the world. Toss in the fact Chicago dealt away defenceman Erik Gustafsson and Lehner at the deadline, and keeping goals against to a minimum gets that much tougher. The Hawks’ return to play has also been hindered by the absence of Andrew Shaw (concussion) and starting goalie ’s COVID-19 bout delaying his training in camp. (That said, Crow was perfect in Wednesday’s exhibition.) 24. Montreal Canadiens For fits and giggles, I looked up my last edition of Power Rankings (published March 12, hours before the pause). Montreal ranked 27th overall, below three clubs (, Buffalo and L.A.) that were not invited back in this return to play. While I have all the utmost respect for Carey Price’s ability to stop the puck, it’s difficult to fathom the guys in front of him generating more goals than the likes of Crosby, Malkin, Guentzel and Zucker. Let the Lafreniere dream live!

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TSN.CA / Hockey Diversity Alliance, NHL struggling to find common ground By Frank Seravalli – July 31, 2020

The plans to address social injustice on Saturday prior to puck drop after a 142- day pause, but members of the Hockey Diversity Alliance say they aren’t buying the authenticity of the league’s message. HDA co-head Evander Kane, a San Jose Sharks winger, says the newly formed group comprised of nine current and former players has been unable to find common ground with the NHL after more than a month of dialogue. “The NHL can put ‘Black Lives Matter’ all over the rink, shout ‘Black Lives Matter’ from the mountains,” Kane said this week in a phone interview. “No matter what they do or say, it’s all going to fall on deaf ears with me and every other person in the HDA because the league has made no effort to support its own Black players.” Kane said the HDA has made presentations over the past several weeks – including a detailed PowerPoint proposal with specific asks to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and senior vice president of social impact Kim Davis – but the league has yet to agree to any of them. Discussions remain ongoing. When asked to respond to Kane’s claim about the lack of support, Davis responded: “To the assertion that the league has made ‘no effort to support its own Black players’, I’m not sure what this means — generally throughout the years?” Davis wrote in an email. “Specifically relating to the HDA? Has [he] spoken to all 19 of the active Black players across the league? Just not sure on what basis this conclusion was reached.” The HDA and NHL met on Wednesday afternoon in a Zoom call that Kane characterized as “pretty hostile at times.” Davis said the NHL plans to formally unveil the league’s return-to-play campaign called “#WeSkateFor" on Saturday before games in the Toronto and Edmonton hubs. But Kane said the NHL’s “#WeSkateFor” – with a blank ending to be filled in by players and teams – dilutes the HDA’s campaign to eradicate racism across hockey by broadening the social scope. When the NHL introduced the #WeSkateFor program July 24, among the examples the league cited were #WeSkateFor frontline workers, #WeSkateFor nurses, #WeSkateFor Edmonton Oilers forward Colby Cave, #WeSkateFor equality and #WeSkateFor Black Lives Matter. “We support all of those issues and we always have,” Kane said. “But this is the NHL’s campaign to talk about our issue. They’re trying to wrap all of these separate issues – including mental health, LGTBQ, women’s rights, everything – into one, when our message is about racism. It completely yet again misses the mark and is so out of touch with what we’re talking about.” Kane said the HDA was not advised of or consulted on the NHL’s #WeSkateFor initiative, nor has it been involved or asked for an opinion or advice on Saturday’s Qualifying Round-opening messaging. "Seriously, one of the #WeSkateFor things in a presentation was '#WeSkateFor These Moments.' I'm not even kidding,” Kane said. “It's disappointing the lack of interest we're facing in addressing systemic racism in our sport."

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Davis asked on Thursday for the HDA to reserve judgment until after Saturday’s ceremonies. “Until you see how the treatment of anti-racism and ‘Black Lives’ actually rolls out on Saturday, it’s probably premature to judge how effectively we deliver the message, and whether we’ve ‘missed the mark’,” Davis wrote. “Our overarching social justice banner is #WeSkateFor Equality, under which we will specifically amplify ending racism and skating for Black Lives,” Davis wrote. “The opening ceremony will – through video, narration and signage – demonstrate our commitment and gratitude to our fans, our communities, and those who have been on the frontline of both the racial injustice and health pandemics.” Frustration has grown within the HDA in watching the NHL’s messaging before exhibition games this week inside the Edmonton and Toronto bubbles. Over the first two days of exhibition games, teams have joined together on the blueline or around the centre-ice circle, but Kane said the message surrounding that has been vague, too. Two teams said they were standing in solidarity. The Vancouver Canucks said they joined together with the Winnipeg Jets “in support of all frontline workers and against acts of racism and acts of hate.” “Solidarity? Solidarity for what?” Kane asked. “No one wants to admit there is an issue in our game.” Minnesota Wild defenceman Matt Dumba put his arm around Colorado Avalanche forward Nazem Kadri, a fellow HDA executive board member, on the blueline prior to Wednesday’s game. "It's a start," Dumba said in a phone interview. "But each team is going to say and do something different. Does that address the issues behind it? I don't know. I don't think so." Kadri told reporters after the game: “We’re all trying to make it better. We’re trying to make the game more diverse and the diversity in the game doesn’t happen with racism still going on. So that’s an important thing for us to address. As players we have addressed that. From a league standpoint, you know, I think we’d like to see a little bit more acknowledgement and having them address the situation and know that they stand with their players.” Kane said the HDA has proposed a series of reforms, including a pledge initiated by the HDA to eradicate racism in hockey, a commitment to hiring targets for Black hockey and non-hockey employees around the NHL, and funding of key HDA initiatives, including grassroots programs to provide a lifeline to kids from minority backgrounds. To accomplish that, Kane said the HDA asked for $10 million (U.S.) per year, or a little more than $300,000 per team. Formally established June 8, the HDA is being advised by five prominent Black Canadian businessmen and lawyers and receiving guidance from former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Davis says the NHL is taking the HDA’s asks seriously. “I have met with the HDA four times and commissioner Bettman has joined three of those meetings, all have run in excess of 1-1/2 to two hours,” Davis wrote. “Given all that is going on to get hockey up and run, this (at least in my opinion) demonstrates commitment and desire to partner. There are many details in the HDA’s ask of the NHL, and as in any partnership, it is a two-way dialogue. We are committed to collaborating with the HDA, we look forward to harnessing their passions, insights and expertise to grow the game, and are confident that we will work through the details.”

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The HDA also asked the NHL for recognition and visibility as part of the NHL’s return-to-play format. Dumba, the Wild’s King Clancy Trophy nominee for humanitarian contribution to his community this season, said HDA members are the most qualified people in the league to address racism in hockey because all nine have faced it during their careers. Davis wrote, “Let me say that I have nothing but respect for the lived experiences of every member of the HDA and other Black players, Players of Colour and minorities in our sport who have had to endure racism and discrimination throughout their hockey journey.” “There is no better group to address the issues of right now,” Dumba said. “We are dialled in. We are men of action, taking action. We’re doing this so the kids that look like us, that come after us, know people are willing to fight and use their voices. We’re trying to be that protector, to help suppress negative thoughts and be there for kids to generate a safe environment.” It's why the HDA views Saturday's restart as a significant milestone for the NHL to recognize the change that occurred in the world between games. “I think it’s a pivotal weekend, whether they see it this way or not,” Dumba said. “Change doesn’t just happen overnight. There’s still time left for these guys to make this right. We’ll see."

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USA TODAY / NHL power rankings: With 24 teams left in field, here are the Stanley Cup favorites By Jimmy Hascup, Mike Brehm and Jace Evans – July 31, 2020

After being paused for nearly five months because of the coronavirus pandemic, the NHL will play games that matter when it resumes Saturday. The new-look season will include 24 teams with 12 playing in each hub city — Toronto (Eastern Conference) or Edmonton, Aberta (Western Conference). The top four teams from each conference will be playing a round robin-style format to determine seeding, while the remaining eight from each conference will play a best-of-five qualifying series to advance to the first round playoffs, with winners facing one of the round-robin teams. Each team will play an exhibition game this week. Got all that? Here is a ranking of the 24 teams left in the field. 1. Boston Bruins: The Bruins were one win short of a Stanley Cup last season, were solid this season and feature the NHL’s best line. David Pastrnak looks like he’ll be ready to go after breaking protocol and needing to quarantine. 2. Tampa Bay Lightning: The Lightning will have plenty of motivation after last season’s first-round flameout. The talent remains there, the pressure is off and they were strong after Christmas. 3. St. Louis Blues: The Blues’ bid for a rare Stanley Cup repeat was aided by the season’s pause because Vladimir Tarasenko had time to get healthy. 4. Vegas Golden Knights: They were rolling and were a leading contender to come out of the West before the season was halted. Can lean on trade deadline pickup Robin Lehner in goal should stalwart Marc-Andre Fleury falter. 5. Philadelphia Flyers: A well-rounded group, the Flyers were seventh in offense despite their leading scorer, Travis Konecny, finishing with 24 goals and 61 points in 66 games. But they have defended well and have a coach, Alain Vigneault, with postseason experience and two trips to the Stanley Cup Final. 6. Colorado Avalanche: The Nathan MacKinnon line is healthy and will be hard to stop. Young defenseman Cale Makar makes the offense more dangerous. Gritty Nazem Kadri will have to avoid the playoff suspensions that led to his trade from Toronto. 7. Washington Capitals: They finished the regular season inconsistently (7-9-3), but this is a playoff- tested, veteran roster that could have benefited greatly from the long rest. 8. Pittsburgh Penguins: The big question surrounds their starting goalie decision: (.899 save percentage) was not good this year but has won a Stanley Cup, and Tristan Jarry (.921 SV%) was much better but has not played in the playoffs. 9. Dallas Stars: Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn had subpar seasons and coach Jim Montgomery was surprisingly fired. So how did the Stars get a bye? Strong defensive play, a mobile blue line and the goalie tandem of Ben Bishop and Anton Khudobin. 10. Carolina Hurricanes: The defending Eastern Conference champions will be without key defensemen Dougie Hamilton and Brett Pesce for at least the start of the playoffs.

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11. Toronto Maple Leafs: The offense will thrive if there’s run-and-gun hockey. But their defense is second worst among playoff teams, and defense wins championships. 12. Edmonton Oilers: They have the NHL's top two scorers in Leon Draisaitl – who had 110 points in just 71 games – and Connor McDavid, arguably the best player in the league. 13. Florida Panthers: The Panthers need more from Sergei Bobrovsky than the goalie showed (3.23 goals-against average and .900 save percentage) in the first season of a seven-year, $70 million contract. 14. Calgary Flames: The definition of "middle of the pack," Calgary was 20th in goals for and 15th in goals against. 15. Nashville Predators: The era has been a mixed bag so far and the offensive output this season has been disappointing relative to the talent on the team. Still, Roman Josi and Ryan Ellis are patrolling the back end, and that's a better duo than most teams have on defense. 16. Winnipeg Jets: Vezina Trophy finalist put forth a Herculean effort this season, posting a .922 save percentage while facing a league-high 1,796 shots. He paced the NHL with six . 17. Vancouver Canucks: This squad is beginning to emerge from a lengthy rebuild with some fantastic young cornerstone talent in the likes of Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson. 18. New York Islanders: This Barry Trotz-led group will go as far as their defensive stinginess takes it as it had just one player, Brock Nelson, with more than 20 goals during the regular season 19. New York Rangers: All scenarios seem to be in play for this team — including a deep run or a sweep by the Hurricanes. Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad lead the fifth-best offense, but the defense in front of rookie sensation Igor Shesterkin will be what determines their fate. 20. Columbus Blue Jackets: The Blue Jackets don’t seem to have the scoring (fourth-worst) to make a run, even if they did rank fourth in goals against. They also will be starting a goalie with no playoff experience. But don't discount what coach John Tortorella can do with a team that is counted out. 21. Arizona Coyotes: The sudden departure of GM John Chayka and pending free agency of former No. 1 overall pick Taylor Hall looms over a team that hasn't made the playoffs in a traditional 82-game season since 2012. 22. Montreal Canadiens: Montreal will be outmatched against the Penguins, and it will be up to Carey Price to give the Canadiens a chance. He went 1-1-1 against them this year, stopping 91 of 98 shots against. 23. Minnesota Wild: A team in transition following the somewhat unexpected firing of Bruce Boudreau. was just 12 games into his tenure when the season was halted, though he owned an 8-4-0 record. 24. Chicago Blackhawks: They are the worst Western Conference team (72 points) in the playoff field and don’t seem quite ready to do damage, especially facing the Oilers in their home arena.

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USA TODAY / NHL restart: Here are biggest questions as season resumes in two hub cities amid pandemic By Jace Evans, Mike Brehm and Jimmy Hascup – July 31, 2020

The NHL will resume its season Saturday with an unprecedented 24-team, two-hub-city bubble setup in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Day hockey will be a thing: The action begins at noon ET between the Carolina Hurricanes and New York Rangers. Here are the biggest questions entering the restart: 1. Will this work? The NHL will utilize two hub cities in Canada — Toronto for 12 Eastern Conference teams and Edmonton, Alberta, for 12 Western Conference teams. Players who advance to the Stanley Cup Final will be living this bubble, quarantined life for two months. The earliest they can see immediate family is during the conference finals in Edmonton. Major League Baseball has already provided a warning of how things could go wrong when at least 16 Marlins players and two staffers tested positive for COVID-19, postponing games. But the bubble has largely worked in the NWSL and MLS. If there is an outbreak in the NHL, how much is too much and when will the restarted season just be called off? - Jimmy Hascup NHL power rankings:With 24 teams left in field, here are the Stanley Cup favorites as league restarts 2. Is everyone on an even keel or will talent win out? They say you should throw out the regular season once the playoffs begin. That’s how the Columbus Blue Jackets were able to sweep the record-tying Tampa Bay Lightning in last season’s first round. But that saying is even more true this season. The 4½- month hiatus is longer than a normal NHL offseason, and teams had a short training camp and one exhibition game to work out the rust. Lucky bounces could play a big role in the best-of-five, qualifying- round series. But the NHL helped the top regular-season teams by excusing them from that round. Instead, they’ll get three games against other top teams to determine seeding and work on their timing while their first-round opponents will have tougher, potentially longer series. There’s no bracket, so the top team will play the lowest remaining seed, etc. Once the regular, four-round playoffs begin, talent differences could play a bigger role. - Mike Brehm 3. Do older or younger teams have an advantage? There are several theories floating around out there on the topic, and the answer kind of just depends on who you ask. On one hand, young teams – such as the Colorado Avalanche and Hurricanes – are thought to have "fresh legs," which in theory gives them the ability to hit the ice at somewhat full speed given the limited ramp-up time. In that scenario, it stands to reason that older teams would struggle to do the same. But the other side of the coin reckons that the clubs with older core players – among them the Boston Bruins, Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins – have experience that will help them navigate the playoffs. The extended layoff also, seemingly, has given the older groups a chance to recharge. The Stanley Cup playoffs are a war of attrition, but launching into them after an extended break has allowed many to rehab significant injuries. - Jace Evans 4. Which lower-tier team will make a run? In a normal year, 16 teams make the playoffs. This year, the league has expanded the playoff teams (including qualifying rounds) to 24. The Chicago Blackhawks, Arizona Coyotes, Minnesota Wild and Vancouver Canucks in the West and Montreal Canadiens, Florida

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Panthers, New York Rangers and New York Islanders in the East would not have been eligible during a standard postseason. It is not playoff hockey without chaos. Therefore, it is not hard to envision at least one of these teams pulling off multiple upsets. - Hascup 5. Can Canada end its championship drought? The Stanley Cup will be awarded in a Canadian city (Edmonton), but will a Canadian team win it? That hasn’t happened since the 1993 Montreal Canadiens. Last season, the three Canadian teams lost in the first round. There are six teams in this year, but all will have to get through the qualifying round, and Winnipeg and Calgary are playing each other. Toronto and Edmonton are playing at their arenas, but there is no true home-ice advantage without fans. Toronto’s defensive numbers are weak and high-flying Oilers Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl have won just one round together in the playoffs. Vancouver’s core is young, Calgary might not get past Winnipeg, and Montreal faces a tough qualifying-round opponent in Pittsburgh. Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck is a Vezina Trophy finalist, and the Jets got to the conference final two years ago. But the odds remain in favor of a U.S. team winning again. - Brehm 6. Can the St. Louis Blues repeat? History says no. The Penguins did in 2016 and 2017, but that was the first time since the 1997-98 Detroit Red Wings. The 2018 champion Washington Capitals were knocked out in the first round last season. Stanley Cup champions face a short offseason then the grind of 82 games of every team trying to knock you off. That’s why the hiatus was good for the Blues. They got needed rest, plus the return of Vladimir Tarasenko from an injury. They played well enough to earn a bye. Most of last year’s team remains and they addressed the loss of defenseman Jay Bouwmeester (heart) by acquiring Marco Scandella before the trade deadline. - Brehm 7. Will we see any 'tanking' in the qualifying round? Players across all sports are not the ones who tank for a draft pick. They go out and try their hardest ... but sometimes teams are not put in a position to succeed. The reason we even bring the concept up among our playoff questions is because the losers in the added "qualifying round" this year have a shot at a wonderful consolation prize: the first pick in the NHL draft. While coaches and management across the league will almost surely put their best foot forward with a chance to win a championship in a wide-open sport at stake ... a 12.5% chance at phenom Alexis Lafreniere makes getting bounced right away a little less heartbreaking than usual.– Evans

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