sign in sign up
<<
Home , Alexei Emelin, Andrew Mangiapane, Billy Coutu, Bill Peters (ice hockey), Brent Sopel, Charlie Coyle

SPORT-SCAN DAILY BRIEF NHL 4/16/2020 1173724 Ducks’ final defense and grades 1173753 State of the Red Wings: Young, talented forwards form building block 1173754 Red Wings could use free-agent forward with offensive 1173725 LeBrun: on ‘weird time,’ importance of playing ability games before playoffs Oilers 1173755 From draftee to drafter, Oilers head of scouting Tyler 1173726 Bruins’ Charlie Coyle treating layoff like 'my summer Wright now calls the shots training schedule’ 1173756 The Oilers overcame malice in , and 1173727 Bruins’ Charlie Coyle hoping for playoffs, however ‘bizarre’ to join the NHL they may be 1173757 Remembering ’s brief tenure with the 1173728 Best Not Named Bobby Orr: put Bruins on Oilers at age 45 the map 1173729 Bruins' Charlie Coyle's message to Boston is what we all need to hear right now 1173758 Wild Mikko Koivu, with contract expiring, uncertain 1173730 Charlie Coyle admits 'bizarre' idea of playing without fans about future might be a reality 1173759 Has veteran captain Mikko Koivu played his last game for 1173731 For Bruce Cassidy, a phone call on the links offered a the Wild? career lifeline 1173760 Is this it for Mikko Koivu? With season in limbo, Wild captain talks future 1173732 ‘In it together’: Clint Malarchuk, Corey Hirsch find mutual support in OCD fight 1173761 Predators sign defenseman Alexandre Carrier to 3-year deal Flames 1173762 Predators' Roman Josi has no plans to shave beard, but 1173733 Flames forward Andrew Mangiapane back home after won't get to Ryan Ellis territory four-day commute 1173763 The Gifted: Why Philip Tomasino is the puck-dominant 1173734 Former Flames coach Bill Peters hired by KHL team carrier the Predators need 1173735 Flames fan survey results: Readers weigh in on the state of the franchise 1173764 Rangers’ all-time goalie debate goes beyond Henrik Lundqvist 1173736 Former Carolina Hurricanes coach Bill Peters has found 1173765 LIer Adam Fox chilling at home, doing his share to stop another hockey job — in Russia the spread of coronavirus Blackhawks 1173737 2020 Blackhawks Convention — originally scheduled for 1173766 The Ottawa Senators support Jacob Bernard-Docker's July 24-26 at the Hilton Chicago — is canceled decision to stay in school 1173738 Blackhawks cancel 2020 fan convention because of 1173767 There's no reason for the NHL to rush to cancel the rest of coronavirus the season 1173739 Blackhawks cancel annual fan convention 1173740 Gretzky, Lemieux, Orr: They would be Kane's 3-man dream team 1173768 Bet on Bobby Brink, a Flyers prospect bringing 'elite' 1173741 Blackhawks cancel annual fan convention due to smarts to Denver hockey pandemic 1173769 Looking back at hysterical responses to Alain Vigneault 1173742 Coronavirus expert Dr. Anthony Fauci describes how coming to Philly sports can return this year 1173770 Should Kimmo Timonen make Flyers Hall of Fame? 1173743 5 best undrafted free agents to originally sign with Blackhawks 1173744 Blackhawks announce cancellation of 13th annual fan 1173771 Kris Letang delivers message of peace as another convention Penguins-Flyers series looms 1173745 NHL 20 sim: Blackhawks defense shines, puts Blues on 1173772 Penguins sign former 7th-round pick William Reilly to brink of elimination entry-level contract 1173746 COVID-19 thwarted Brent Sopel's potential meeting with 1173773 Penguins sign 2017 draft pick William Reilly to entry-level President Trump deal 1173747 Tape-to-tape: Analyzing the Blackhawks fan survey results 1173774 Penguins on pause: Two ways to analyze Dominik Simon's season 1173748 Tampa Bay Lightning’s bid for redemption has been put on hold 1173775 What Randy Hahn misses about sports during NHL's 1173749 Cam Atkinson playing role of husband and dad more than coronavirus hiatus hockey player during coronavirus pandemic 1173750 Data, not dates: What doctors need to know before sports St Louis Blues should return to normal 1173776 Blues' Blais agrees to two-year, $3 million contract extension 1173777 When sports in St. Louis came to a stop, the first time 1173751 A list of athletes and sports organizations providing 1173778 Who stays and who goes? Blues could look different when donations, relief during the coronavirus pandemic they finally defend Cup 1173752 Miro Heiskanen answers your questions on hoops, quarantine and becoming the best Tampa Bay Lightning 1173779 Sports are essential only in some bizarro millionaire world 1173793 Jets assistant coach takes Vermont job 1173780 Can the NHL return without putting players at risk of 1173794 Final pay cheques of the season for NHL players delayed injury? 1173795 FRIESEN NOTES: Retired quarterback Glenn's family 1173781 Dr. Anthony Fauci: Sports could return from coronavirus touched by pandemic hiatus this summer without fans 1173796 Analyzing 5 pressing questions for the Jets to answer during the offseason 1173782 The Maple Leafs were the mecca for , and World Leagues News his Gordie Howe night was the highlight 1173814 Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti says large gatherings, 1173783 Colby Cave’s death might just be the result of ‘very bad such as sporting events, might not return until 2021 luck’ 1173815 Sean McVay confirms Rams' Brian Allen tested positive 1173784 Bettman has summer return to games for NHL on the for coronavirus, says 'he's on the road to recovery' table of possibilities 1173816 All Blacks players face 50% wage cut due to coronavirus 1173785 Highs, lows and new expectations: Mitch Marner crisis personified a trying Leafs season 1173817 Coronavirus: How California kept ahead of the curve 1173818 Anthony Fauci: How sports can return amid coronavirus crisis 1173797 Ben Kuzma: Myers believes Canucks would make 1173819 Soccer’s Business Hasn’t Stopped. It’s Just Waiting for the playoffs, if regular season salvaged New Prices. 1173798 Ed Willes: Dr. Fauci's format to resume pro sports sounds 1173820 College football sends clear message to Washington amid far-fetched, but ... coronavirus pandemic 1173799 Inside the NHL’s last normal days: A fateful week in the 1173821 Trump eager to 'get sports back' as US league chiefs life of J.T. Miller remain wary 1173822 Magic Johnson sees overlap between coronavirus, AIDS crises 1173786 Ryan Reaves’ brewing company to donate to coronavirus 1173823 The WWE Is Now Considered an ‘Essential Service’ in relief Florida 1173787 NHL commissioner Gary Bettman prepares for summer 1173824 Athletes Still Getting Paid Despite Stoppage Clauses and hockey CBA Uncertainty 1173788 Golden Knights’ Final to air Thursday on NHL 1173825 The professional sports still continuing amid the Network coronavirus crisis 1173789 Auditing my 10 bold predictions for the Golden Knights’ 1173826 University of Cincinnati drops men's soccer amid season 'uncertainty' of coronavirus pandemic 1173827 Basketball Africa League ready to hit ground running after coronavirus - Amadou Gallo Fall 1173790 John Carlson hints at future involvement with Ryan 1173828 As Baylor announces between $65 and $80 million in Zimmerman's Pros For Heroes COVID-19 Relief Fund budget cuts, what does that mean for the athletics 1173791 Best comebacks of 2019-20 semifinal: Stunning the program? Sharks vs. Ovechkin's natural hat trick SPORT-SCAN, INC. 941-284-4129 1173792 Simulating the 2020 NHL playoffs: Capitals vs. Blue Jackets Websites 1173800 The Athletic / LeBrun: Taylor Hall on ‘weird time,’ importance of playing games before playoffs 1173801 The Athletic / Data, not dates: What doctors need to know before sports should return to normal 1173802 The Athletic / Former NHLer T.J. Galiardi nurtures nature with an assist from former colleagues 1173803 The Athletic / ‘In it together’: Clint Malarchuk, Corey Hirsch find mutual support in OCD fight 1173804 .ca / In Conversation: Louie and Jake DeBrusk pay tribute to Colby Cave 1173805 Sportsnet.ca / Canucks' progress reminds Tyler Myers of Jets' rise to Cup contenders 1173806 Sportsnet.ca / 31 Thoughts: How NHL teams are handling draft prep from a distance 1173807 Sportsnet.ca / Bettman: NHL aims to be 'flexible' in hopes of 'fair' return to play 1173808 Sportsnet.ca / Why 2020 NHL draft lottery could throw back to 2005 Crosby Sweepstakes 1173809 Sportsnet.ca / Analyzing what still makes Drew Doughty an elite NHL 1173810 Sportsnet.ca / What if the Blackhawks won Game 7 against the Kings in 2014? 1173811 TSN.CA / Uncertainty the story for 2020 NHL's Free Agent Frenzy class 1173812 USA TODAY / Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti says large gatherings, such as sporting events, might not return u 1173813 USA TODAY / To help aid social distancing, use hockey sticks — figuratively and literally 1173724 Anaheim Ducks Erik Gudbranson

Midseason grade: B

Ducks’ final defense and goaltender grades Final grade: B-

An upper-body injury suffered on Feb. 7 in Toronto brought a premature end to the veteran’s season. Gudbranson was in the process of returning By Eric Stephens Apr 15, 2020 and would have likely gotten back into action if the season had continued. He was a nice surprise after coming over from Pittsburgh in a late October trade. The 28-year-old did what he’s done for other teams You would not expect the numbers to be great for a team that had a 29- — chew minutes, use his big body to play a physical game and step in to 33-9 record. defend his teammates. He took advantage of the opportunity Anaheim gave him after his ice time diminished with the Penguins. His four goals And they were not for the Ducks. An offense that ranked 29th among the tied a career high as his big from the blue line was a welcomed 31 NHL teams. A power play that was next-to-last. killing that element. was 26th. The goals against that were tied for third-most. A minus-39 differential that wasn’t Detroit-like (a horrific minus-122) but still Jacob Larsson among the league’s bottom five. Midseason grade: D+ Not many individual grades are going to be great when assessing this group. But we didn’t assign a pass-fail standard when looking back at Final grade: C- each player and his 2019-20 season with Anaheim. When grading, we For two seasons now, there has been the wonder of whether Larsson tried to balance the expectations of each and how they did according to was going to take some significant strides toward being a quality NHL them along with the hard numbers as they were. defenseman. The abbreviated second half of the season was one where Technically, the Ducks have not completed their schedule. It is possible he did head more in a positive direction. His decision-making was better, that they return to the ice to play their remaining 11 contests as the NHL and he played with a lot more confidence. There were the occasional kept open the possibility of summer hockey if the coronavirus pandemic eye-opening where he was assertive with the puck and even set up breaks and it is safe enough for players to compete without spreading the teammates for goals with nice passes like what he gave Nicolas disease. The league was shut down on March 12. Deslauriers in a Feb. 25 win over Edmonton. It was part of a 23-minute effort that was arguably his best game of the season. “As players, you always want to get back out and play,” defenseman Cam Fowler said. “It’s what we do. It’s our livelihood. With so much time Hampus Lindholm off now, you need to make sure players are fit and ready to go. As a Midseason grade: B/B- player right now, you don’t really know if you’re training for next season. If you’re training for an end to this regular season. You don’t really know Final grade: C+/C at all when things can get kicked back up again. A mixed bag of a season effectively ended on Feb. 25 when he landed “I think you need to find the best solution possible to make it fair for awkwardly against the boards as he tried to defend against Edmonton’s everyone involved. Fans. Owners. Players. But you certainly want to Leon Draisaitl. Back issues were among the multiple upper-body injuries make sure players are safe and fully ready to go before you put them he suffered in the fall and Ducks GM Bob Murray essentially proclaimed back out there.” his year over soon after. Lindholm started off very well and tailed off offensively but still threw in a second three-assist effort in a Dec. 2 home However, your friendly neighborhood Ducks chronicler drew the line and win over the Kings. He had a bad stretch from Dec. 22-Jan. 16 where he turned it his grades. The forwards received theirs on Sunday. Here are struggled in all facets. And his big-minute efforts from then on were solid the marks for the defensemen and goalies. As always, feel free to offer but not particularly noteworthy. He can still drive play well, even though your own views or grades in the comments. his possession numbers have sagged some over the last two seasons as THE DEFENSEMEN his team has struggled. If there is a plus for him right now it’s that he’s taken this pause to sharpen his hockey stick cooking skills. Full-timers VIEW THIS POST ON INSTAGRAM Michael Del Zotto NEW HOBBY – FLAVOR SCIENTIST #MISSHOCKEY Midseason grade: B-/C+ #QUARANTINELIFE #GOOFINGAROUND

Final grade: B A POST SHARED BY HAMPUS LINDHOLM  Plain and simple, the 11-year veteran provided strong value for a free (@HAMPUSLINDHOLM47) ON MAR 27, 2020 AT 9:44PM PDT agent who signed on for $750,000 last summer. Del Zotto was an even Josh Manson or plus player in 33 of his 49 games and seemed to handle limited or heavy minutes with aplomb on most evenings. He wasn’t error-free in Midseason grade: D terms of coverage or turnovers, but he also largely kept his mistakes to a minimum while providing occasional bits of inspired play in the offensive Final grade: C-/D+ end. The 29-year-old will be a UFA again and it’s possible he may want Whether it was an injury (an MCL sprain) or poor play or just bad luck, it to look elsewhere for an everyday role or the Ducks could move on to seemed anything that could go wrong for the 28-year-old did during a free up a roster spot. Or they could bring him back in a depth role. dreadful first half. Manson’s usual hard-nosed, efficient game came Cam Fowler around more often over the second half. His physical style had more impact and part of that could be improved health after he recovered from Midseason grade: A the knee issue. And he cut down on the ghastly turnovers that plagued the early months of his season. The hope is that this was the low Final grade: A-/B+ for a critical top-four piece of Anaheim’s corps.

A lower-body injury cut into his second half as he didn’t play in Anaheim’s Part-timers final 11 contests before the stoppage. Fowler didn’t keep up the pace he set during the Ducks’ first 41 games as he had six points and didn’t score Brendan Guhle in over 16 contests. Two tough games against Calgary hurt his plus/minus but he was the only Ducks defenseman that was providing Midseason grade: C- consistency at both ends of the ice. He did not earn an All-Star nod, but Final grade: C/C- his first half presented a compelling argument. His nine goals and 29 points led the Anaheim blue line and the accompanying underlying We will give the 22-year-old a slight uptick but gauging what he did in the possession and expected goals for and against numbers across the second half wasn’t easy. Time was split between Anaheim and San board were among the best in his career. Diego as the Ducks appear unwilling to commit fully to him. Some of that is a slight frame that doesn’t hold up too well when defending in his end regulation defeat where he allowed five goals in each, the 39-year-old — his on-ice ratio of high-danger chances for and against was minus-23 gave up two or fewer goals in seven of eight other appearances (three in the negative per Natural Stat Trick — and his lack of bulk has came in relief). And he won five of his final eight starts. With 387 career occasionally left him open to injury. Some of that is Larsson’s wins, Miller sits only two behind Hall of Famer Dominik Hasek and is third improvement before the stoppage and the Ducks bringing in other on the active list behind Marc-Andre Fleury and Henrik Lundqvist. options that have now crowded the left side of the defense. The tools remain there — all four of his NHL goals came this season. But his spot The Athletic LOADED: 04.16.2020 on the Anaheim blue line isn’t all that secure.

Departures

Korbinian Holzer

Midseason grade: C

Final grade: C-/D+

The problem with the 32-year-old Holzer wasn’t necessarily that his play was bad. You’re never going to get a lack of effort from the affable German, but his play wasn’t great either. It was more along the lines of him playing too often (a career-high 46 games). Eakins has had a long association with him and there’s a trust and comfort factor. Perhaps that trust was relied on too much as the limited Holzer is good in a pinch but not someone to run out night after night or week after week. No question, Holzer has a defensive mindset and has the size and desire to play a tough game. But his underlying metrics, which were not great to begin with, grew worse this season than in others for the Ducks.

Acquisitions

Christian Djoos, Jani Hakanpää, Matt Irwin

Midseason grade: N/A

Final grade: Incomplete

Like we did with the forwards the team picked up in February, there isn’t much sense grading these guys given the small sample size. But there is some hope here. Most notably, the 25-year-old Djoos earned a longer look after being buried in Washington. His patience with the puck and ability to make plays with it or find open spots within an opponent’s defense to attack the net was a welcome sight. The Ducks have to sign him, but he should be affordable and be an addition to what’s become an interesting mix of left-shot veterans and youngsters. Hakanpää, a 28- year-old who scored his first NHL goal in the final game, improved dramatically from a poor training camp and looked like a real option during his five-game trial. Irwin, 32, enjoyed logging a bunch of minutes after his role diminished dramatically in Nashville. The pending UFA appears to still have some game and can help with the depth in Anaheim or another NHL team.

THE

John Gibson

Midseason grade: B/B-

Final grade: C

I’m not going to ignore the fact that Gibson needs a better team in front of him. But you also can’t ignore that the Ducks’ main man in net was more ordinary than special. His numbers went downward for a second consecutive season despite jumping out to a torrid start in October. Over the second half (which was limited to 19 starts), Gibson won just seven of them and only recorded back-to-back wins once. For the year, the 26- year-old delivered quality starts — as determined by Rob Vollman of Hockey Abstract where a netminder had a save percentage of at least .917 or stopped 88.5 percent of shots while allowing two or fewer goals — on 22 occasions in his 51 outings. The resulting .431 quality start percentage ranked 49th among all goalies (per Hockey Reference) with at least 20 games played. You can’t blame it on the barrage of shots against as it went down from 31.7 in 2018-19 to 30.4. Add it up and you had a goalie that still made his fair share of spellbinding stops but also let in more goals that never should have gotten through him.

Ryan Miller

Midseason grade: B-/C+

Final grade: B-

The winningest American-born hockey goalie can still play this game. His overall 3.10 goals-against average and .907 save percentage isn’t all that hot and are the worst numbers of his three seasons in Anaheim. But Miller had a better second half. Outside of two overtime losses and a 1173725 Arizona Coyotes Given the economic impact of the pandemic, I floated the idea to Hall that perhaps higher-end NHL free agents like himself, Alex Pietrangelo or Torey Krug should sign a one- or two-year deals just to bridge them LeBrun: Taylor Hall on ‘weird time,’ importance of playing games before through the worst of the industry damage. Then, when the league has a playoffs little more financial stability, they could sign longer-term deals.

But that scenario doesn’t appeal to Hall.

By Pierre LeBrun Apr 15, 2020 “I don’t really want to play through a contract year again,” he said. “Whether it was the reason I had an off-year or not, I’d rather get some security and try and sign a longer-term deal.’’

Taylor Hall got off the plane in Toronto and headed straight home. But before Hall has to decide on his next contract, there is the possibility of a season resumption and what the logistics of it will be. Playing without “I am on Day 12 on my 14-day quarantine,’’ the star winger said over the fans in the arena has been mentioned as one way to get the players back phone on Wednesday. onto the ice, and as strange as that may be, Hall is in favour of the idea, “I got here a couple of Fridays ago and had to do the full quarantine. especially given the economic hardships many are living through right now. “We had someone leave a car for us at the airport with the keys in it and drove home. Really haven’t seen anyone since.’’ “If we can be that first sport back to play and be televised, that might be the best thing,’’ he said of games in empty buildings. Such is life for so many people these days. Like everyone else around the game, Hall has ideas about what the best Hall travelled from Arizona back to his home in Toronto for a simple format would be if the league can safely resume the season. reason: he figured Auston Matthews might want his house back. Hall, after getting traded from New Jersey to Arizona earlier this season, “I think there should definitely be a play-in to the playoffs,” Hall said, reached out to the Toronto Maple Leafs star about renting his place in whose Coyotes are on the playoff bubble and sit 11th in the West based Phoenix for the rest of the season. on points percentage. “I know I’m biased in saying that but if there are two to three exhibition games and then a mini-series to see who goes With the NHL season on pause and the uncertainty surrounding a into the playoffs, maybe that’s smart. Maybe we try and play eight resumption of play, it remains to be seen if Hall will return to Arizona and regular-season games and make wins count as three points. I’m not Matthews back to Toronto over the next few months. really sure. You can make the games worth more. But you can’t go right into the playoffs. There’s no way, I think that’s obvious.’’ Whether or not there’s hockey again this season is just one of many unknowns for Hall these days. He’s a pending UFA, but who knows when Hall is expressing what many players have already stated, that the the start of free agency will begin? Furthermore, how much financial physical nature and high intensity of the playoffs make it unrealistic, if not damage will NHL businesses incur? And how will that affect the salary dangerous, for players to be off the ice for four months or so and just cap? How crazy will the escrow payments be for players? What makes jump right into the postseason. the most sense for Hall in the new world, re-sign with the Coyotes or hit the open market? They need a training camp, perhaps exhibition games and regular- season games to ramp things up before the playoffs. Plenty of questions, but so few answers and plenty of unknowns. It’s all he’s got. “I know the NHL is cautious of not bringing back the players too soon and risking injury and all that,’’ Hall said. “But man, it’s going to be hard to find “There’s a lot on my plate but it’s a lot of stuff that I can’t really decide,” a scenario where everyone is happy from a financial point of view, but he said. “I don’t decide when we come back to play, I don’t decide when also just players playing hockey, and not being hurt and all that. It’s such free agency is going to be, if I make it there; so a lot of it is out of my a challenge.’’ hands. At this point in time, I’m trying to do my best to just really get some rest, enjoy time away and get excited for when we do play hockey On Wednesday, Justin Williams was our guest on “Two-Man Advantage” again.’’ and he was saying how hard it is to re-create the skating motion in your home workouts. That being off the ice is such a challenge. It was a While players needing new contracts would be hard-pressed to find statement that Hall agrees with. tougher circumstances to negotiate new deals under, finding perspective isn’t too difficult for Hall to find. “Yeah, it’s a big thing,” Hall said. “Ice time is something that over the past three or four summers that I’ve really started to ramp up. In the past, “It’s certainly a weird time,” the 28-year-old said. “It’s a weird time to maybe I wouldn’t skate until the end of July, early August. But the past potentially go into free agency. But that’s life. There’s a lot of people that few summers I really started early and I felt it helped my game and are in worse spots off than me. I’m not too flustered about that. Hopefully, helped me get in condition early and just work on being a hockey player I can play a lot more years in this league. We all get paid pretty and show up to camp not only in the best possible condition but just as handsomely for what we do. So, it’s not really stressful in that way, it’s having your hockey skills as refined as possible. It’s going to be hard to just more so the timing of when everything is going to come together I do so now.’’ guess.’’ Simply put, there is no replacement for it. People from all walks of life are being hit hard and no one knows what the lasting effects will be. Buying NHL tickets after this pandemic won’t “I’ve heard of guys with roller-blades and doing different things in their be affordable for many. Hall is cognizant of the struggles that lie ahead garage, but the actual 200 x 85 rink that you can skate around and get in for many and how it may affect the NHL business. condition is going to be hard to find,” he said. “So it’s going to be interesting. Guys are really going to have to get creative, and they’re also “All my friends are 26 to 30 years old, and they’re on their first or second going to have to accept that they probably won’t be in the exact condition job and maybe still paying their student loans,” Hall said. “After this is they want to be when hockey comes back and is played. But everyone is done, they’re probably not going to have the disposable income that they going to be in the same boat.” might have had before.’’ The Athletic LOADED: 04.16.2020 Knowing that the money probably won’t be the same given the impact from the pandemic, fit might become more of a priority for Hall.

The Coyotes remain a possibility and GM John Chayka has stayed in touch during the pause with Hall’s agent Darren Ferris.

“Both sides have interest in each other and Darren and John have talked a little bit, but there haven’t been any numbers tossed around or anything like that,” Hall said. “At this point, both sides are just waiting to see what happens with this.’’ 1173726 Boston Bruins No longer juggling two lives — one in Minnesota, where he spent the first six-plus years of his career, and here — Coyle said he feels all the more fortunate to be a Bruin.

Bruins’ Charlie Coyle treating layoff like 'my summer training schedule’ Charlie Coyle had 16 goals this season before things came to a halt last month.

By Matt Porter Globe Staff,Updated April 15, 2020, 2:06 p.m. “Our run last year, learning and growing from all the ups and downs we went through … just becoming more mature and a better player, doing it in front of your friends and family is really special,” he said. “And it’s allowed me to get a dog. I’m really glad I have a dog during this whole Bruins center Charlie Coyle was on pace for 18 goals and 43 points. quarantine. He’s been keeping us pretty active.” The Bruins, first in the NHL with 100 points, had considerable momentum Coyle has also been watching “Ozark,” playing mini-putt in the living when the league paused. Few on the team were rolling along like Charlie room, supporting local restaurants with takeout, and helping his girlfriend, Coyle. Danielle Hooper, try out recipes. That’s a new one for Coyle, who In his first full season in Boston, the center from Weymouth was an typically orders premade healthy meals. every-night factor. If someday a stat arrives that rates how tough a player “I’m getting the hang of it,” he said. “I make a mean Caesar salad.” is to knock off the puck, Coyle will be among the league leaders. He was plenty productive for his third-line role, on pace for 18 goals and 43 Boston Globe LOADED: 04.16.2020 points. In the two weeks leading up to the pause, coach Bruce Cassidy was playing Coyle close to 20 minutes a game, trusting him enough to give top two centers Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci some needed rest before what they hoped would be a long postseason.

Coyle said in February that the secret to his second-half success was the late-January bye break, which let him refresh and refocus in a way he hadn’t before. He’s not as eager for this current layoff, particularly since it has no set end.

“I’m just treating it as my summer training schedule, as if the season was over,” said Coyle, his average time on ice 0:00 these last 35 days. “I’m working out four, five times a week. I was doing a lot of body-weight stuff. I’ve been able to get my hands on some weights and other equipment.”

Like many of the NHL players who have spoken on video conference calls the last few weeks, Coyle acquired a stationary bike — a Peloton, which starts at $2,245 — to put in some hard miles. He also has been stickhandling in the living room of his Seaport apartment and rollerblading around town. Instead of battling defensemen, he’s wrestling with Bodie, his young Golden Retriever.

“Just trying to keep the skills you can with what you’ve got,” said Coyle, who had to keep the rambunctious pup at arm’s length at times during Wednesday’s call with the media. “You never know what’s going to happen, right? I’m just trying to stay in shape the best I can without being on the ice.”

When 2020-21 rolls around, Coyle will begin the six-year contract extension he signed last November, which boosted his average salary from $3.2 million to $5.25 million. Coyle, who turned 28 last month, will assume more responsibility as Bergeron (35 in July) and Krejci (34 on April 28) slow down. For a lifelong Bruins fan, this is a dream fulfilled.

Charlie Coyle turned 28 last month.

“It’s been great, to say the least,” Coyle said. “Being close to family, seeing my family more, being around the place where I grew up and playing hockey here — it’s like when you’re younger. You’re growing up where you’re born, you’re playing hockey, you see your friends.”

His family has been on his mind even more lately.

Coyle lost his grandmother, Gail Coyle of Weymouth, on March 24 after an illness. She was 81. An obituary said she was “over the moon” when her grandson came home to play for the Bruins.

“It was a tough one,” Coyle said, noting that it was tough for family members to pay respects, given the circumstances of the pandemic. “But she lived a great life. We’ve had a lot of memories with her. Just obviously sad to see her go.”

His other grandmother, Mary Kelly, also of Weymouth, is 91 and healthy, though her grandson said she’s spending too much time indoors. “It kills her not to be able to get out and live her life,” he said. “She’s always on the go.”

More news on the personal front: Coyle said he has been in touch with the family of brain cancer survivor “Mighty Quinn” Waters, who recently turned 4 and is doing well. “It’s awesome to see,” Coyle said. “I’m so happy for him and his family.” 1173727 Boston Bruins (Mary Kelly), she’s 91 now and she’s indoors living with my aunt. It kills her not being able to get out because she’s always on the go and always active. But she’s doing well and staying healthy, which is great.”

Bruins’ Charlie Coyle hoping for playoffs, however ‘bizarre’ they may be Living and playing in your hometown can come with a dark underside of B’s forward doing best to stay in shape various pressures, but the Weymouth-born Coyle — who signed a six- year, $31.5 million contract extension with the B’s in November — has embraced playing in Boston. And on the seventh anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombings, he gave a shoutout to his hometown as it, By STEVE CONROY Boston Herald April 15, 2020 at 10:36 p.m. like the rest of the world, grapples with this new formidable, invisible foe.

“You remember that day and everyone affected by it. Seeing everyone Like the rest of us, Charlie Coyle is doing whatever he can to fight come together makes you very proud to be from this area … with Boston through this new Groundhog Day existence of ours. Strong, that whole aspect, it makes you want to keep living by that with what we’re going through now with another obstacle,” said Coyle. “We The Bruins’ centerman got into the Netflix show “Ozark.” He’s playing have to come together and do our part to get past this and overcome mini-putt games in his Boston home. He’s overcoming his aversion to this, so I think in these hard times, it helps to bring everyone together and cooking and helping out his girlfriend Danielle with meal preparation (“I work towards a common goal and we all know what that is right now. make a mean Caesar salad”). He’s practicing his stickhandling in the house. And Coyle’s become one of many NHL devotees of the Peloton “I’d love to get back to our normal life, which for me is playing hockey. bike as he tries to keep up his cardio fitness. But I know everyone else is (feeling) the same thing, people with their jobs and people who’ve been laid off and scratching and clawing to He’s trying to stay in shape, not just because that’s what professional provide for themselves and their family. You don’t want to see that athletes do, but because he knows that if the NHL resumes play, he and happen, but that’s where we’re at right now and everyone’s helping. You his brethren won’t be allowed the same kind of training run-up for a new see a lot of that right now. There are a lot of great people out there who season, which usually entails a month of late-summer skating, then a are doing their part to help out. It says a lot about where we’re from and three-week training camp. the city of Boston as a whole.”

But while he’s trying to do whatever he can to prepare for the resumption Boston Herald LOADED: 04.16.2020 of the season and/or playoffs — if it can even happen with the coronavirus outbreak — Coyle is still trying to wrap his head around what that may look like.

“We’ve never been through anything like this so it’s kind of bizarre. It seems like everything’s up in the air. You don’t know what to expect, but I know we’re going to try and finish this thing off and the league’s going to do everything in their power to do that. But, what’s the format going to look like? What can we accomplish? I don’t know,” said Coyle on a Zoom conference with reporters on Wednesday.

“I just hope we can get back to it and get past this thing and everyone’s healthy, that’s the most important thing obviously. But as far as the league goes, I would love to finish this thing off. I know a lot of guys would love to as well. It would just be different playing all the way into the summertime, late summer, August, but that’s where we’re at. Those are the cards we’ve been dealt.”

Whatever kind of playoff the league can muster, it’s hard to imagine that it would have much of a real connection to the 2019-20 season, especially for the Bruins. Yes, the standings will still matter if play resumes, and the B’s don’t have to worry about whether they’d be in the “postseason,” having led the league by a wide margin at the time of the shutdown.

But if the most-discussed form of a playoff — played at a neutral sight, with no spectators — comes to fruition, what the B’s were well on their way to earning (namely home-ice and home-crowd advantage throughout) will essentially be voided.

Like most players, Coyle wants to get back on the ice, no matter how unusual the circumstance, provided it is deemed safe and healthy for everyone involved. But it would be weird to play in an empty arena, said Coyle.

“It’s very bizarre to think about, to play a meaningful game with no fans in there. It’s almost like a practice atmosphere. I don’t know what it would be like. I’ve never played an NHL game when there was no one there. It would be a new experience,” said Coyle. “If that’s what it would come down to, then yeah, that’s what we have to do. A perfect scenario would be to have our fans in there and cheering us on because we love playing in front of them and they bring so much to our game and our team, just the atmosphere of it all, especially playoff time. There’s nothing like it. It wouldn’t be the same at all.”

No aspect of life is normal these days — including being able to mourn the loss of a loved one during this time of social distancing. That hit Coyle hard three weeks ago when his paternal grandmother, Gail Coyle, passed away at the age of 81.

“It was kind of an awkward thing trying to get everyone together with people trying to pay their respects, that was kind of tough. It was a tough one, but she lived a great life and we have a lot of memories with her. I’m just obviously sad to see her go,” said Coyle. “My other grandmother 1173728 Boston Bruins survived the hit — but never played again. The ’34 All-Star game was held to raise funds for Bailey and his family.

Perhaps the most famous Shore story is the time he missed the train to Best Not Named Bobby Orr: Eddie Shore put Bruins on the map Montreal and decided to hire a chauffeur and a car to take him there in a Shore second on our list driving snowstorm. After conditions became more treacherous, the chauffeur gave up.

“Shore basically says, ‘Well, I’ll drive,’ ” said Johnson. “The wipers broke By STEVE CONROY | PUBLISHED: April 15, 2020 at 6:00 a.m. | at one point, he has his hand out the window brushing snow off. The car UPDATED: April 15, 2020 at 8:20 a.m. goes into a ditch and he hires a farmer with his oxen to pull the car out of the ditch. He gets to Montreal about an hour or two before the game,

takes a nap, gets dressed and scores the goal that wins the game. The Statistics can give you an insight into the value of the player, but sheer legend of this guy just goes on and on.” numbers can never paint the entire picture of a hockey player. While many Bruin greats over the years exuded a magnetic personality That is never so true than in the case of Eddie Shore, who comes in at — especially the wildly popular ’70s team — Shore was decidedly thorny. No. 2 on our list (the same number he wore on his back) of all-time “He could be critical of his teammates. He told Milt Schmidt to skate a Bruins not named Bobby Orr. A simple recitation of Shore’s stat line — different way. Milt was like, ‘Really?’ ” said Johnson. “Milt ended up going 541 games played for the Bruins, 103 goals, 176 assists — don’t begin to to Dit Clapper and saying, “Do I really have to do this?’ And Clapper was adequately describe what Shore not only meant to the Bruins but also to the only guy on the team that Shore would back down from. Dit Clapper the relatively young during his day. was built like Cam Neely and was a no-nonsense guy, but was friendly There is a famous line from the old John Ford movie “The Man Who Shot and everyone viewed him as sort of the leader of the locker room. And he Liberty Valance.” When Jimmy Stewart’s character tries to set the record said, ‘Don’t listen to Shore. He can do what he does because it works for straight about a particularly juicy story in his past to a reporter, the him. Ignore him otherwise.’ ” journalist declines the mundane truth and decides to go with what he’s But Shore’s contributions, both to the Bruins and the NHL itself, are heard. impossible to ignore. “When legend becomes fact, print the legend,” he tells Stewart. Boston Herald LOADED: 04.16.2020 The only difference between the tales of the old West and those of Shore? The stories about the Bruins’ first superstar are true (or most of them anyway).

“He had the box office appeal of Babe Ruth but the competitive fire of Ty Cobb,” said Richard Johnson, the curator of the New England Sports Museum.

In his 13 years on the Bruins’ back end from 1926 to 1940, Shore was the biggest star in the game, his status challenged only by Montreal’s . He won two Stanley Cups, including the organization’s first in 1928-29, and won the Hart Trophy as the league’s MVP four times, the most of any Bruin and third on the NHL all-time list behind only Wayne Gretzky and Gordie Howe.

Shore arrived in Boston just two years after owner Charles Adams, who secured the rights to the defenseman after buying the entire Western Hockey League, was granted the first American NHL franchise. Without a star like Shore, the franchise was hardly a shoo-in for success. But the Saskatchewan native put the B’s on the hockey map in a huge way.

“His presence helped prompt the building of the Garden. They had moved from Boston (now Matthews) Arena that sat about 4,000 people to an arena that at the time sat 13,909. And they filled it. Eddie Shore was the drawing card,” said Johnson, whose mind is a treasure trove of Boston sports lore.

“And he really helped define the identity, the DNA, that the Bruins have possessed from that day on. The best Bruins teams have always been built from the back end forward. And Shore was the backbone of the team for 12, 13 years.”

Shore also helped to raise the league’s profile.

“Basically, he was a guy that, like Bobby Orr, was responsible for the league expanding, for players’ salaries increasing, for there to be more publicity about the team,” said Johnson. “There was a profile written about Shore in the New Yorker magazine! The New Yorker would have never written about hockey in the 1930s. But Eddie Shore was such a compelling, controversial figure that he really got people interested in the game that would not have otherwise been interested in hockey. Bobby Orr did the same thing.”

Shore was both ornery and tough. After nearly losing an ear in a violent collision with teammate Billy Coutu, legend has it that Shore, after finally finding a doctor who didn’t want to amputate, refused anesthesia and used a mirror to watch the doctor re-attach the ear.

The NHL played its first All-Star game in 1934 because of a Shore misdeed. After being upended in a game against Toronto, Shore checked Maple Leaf player Ace Bailey to the ice, knocking him unconscious and sending him into convulsions. After fears that he might die, Bailey 1173729 Boston Bruins We know it’s in us and we know that we rise to the challenge when tough times arise. These might be the toughest that we’ve ever faced whether we’re Bruins players, sportswriters, retail workers or small business Bruins' Charlie Coyle's message to Boston is what we all need to hear owners that have been stunned the past month. right now But whether your name is Coyle, Haggerty or anything in between in this wonderful Commonwealth, one thing is important to remember as things seemingly get tougher each day: We’re all in this together and we’re all By Joe Haggerty April 15, 2020 10:35 PM going to get through this together.

Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 04.16.2020 Charlie Coyle wasn’t a member of the Boston Bruins in 2013 when the B’s were the first team to play a pro sports game in Boston following the marathon bombings or when they went on to push all the way to the Stanley Cup Final against the Blackhawks.

In fact, Coyle was finishing up his rookie year with the Minnesota Wild once the compacted regular season got going following the half-season lockout. Still, the native of East Weymouth, Mass., now 28, remembers watching the pivotal, symbolic role that the Bruins played from afar.

Coyle knows first-hand about Boston banding together in times of daunting difficulty and challenge because, when it’s all said and done, he is one of us.

Get the latest news and analysis on all of your teams from NBC Sports Boston by downloading the My Teams App

That’s what Coyle is witnessing right now as the coronavirus outbreak has pushed the community around Boston into new challenges with social distancing and self-quarantine requirements. There are helpers everywhere looking to do things for those in need, whether it’s picking up groceries for older, at-risk folks or police and firefighters paying tribute to courageous hospital workers who are putting their lives on the line.

Maybe it’s because we’ve all been through something traumatic in the recent past with the marathon bombings in the rear-view mirror, but people around Boston are again looking, first and foremost, to help and then shine a light on those first responders, medical personnel, grocery store workers, truck drivers, pharmacists, nursing home caretakers and others risking everything for our safety.

“I remember that day [of the bombings, April 15, 2013] and everybody affected by it. It was such a crazy time. Really hard times. To see everybody come together made you very proud to be from this area, to be from Boston,” said Coyle. “All the people and Boston Strong, and that whole aspect make you want to keep living by that [motto]. What we’re going through now is another obstacle that we all have to come together to do our part and get past this to overcome it.

Haggerty: Coyle admits "bizarre idea" of playing without fans might happen

“In these hard times, it helps bring everybody together working toward a common goal. We all know what that is right now. I’d love to get back to our normal lives, and for me, that’s playing hockey and doing something I love to do. I know everybody else it’s the same thing. People are getting laid off from their jobs and they are scratching and clawing to provide for themselves and their families. You don’t want to see that happen. But that’s where we’re at right now, so [it’s about] everybody helping each other. You see a lot of it right now. There’s a lot of great people that are doing their part to help out. You see everybody coming together in these tough times. It says a lot about where we’re all from and about Boston as a whole.”

It sure does, Charlie.

It’s amazing that the marathon bombings took place seven years ago today. Certainly, there are wounds that are never going to heal for the permanently maimed victims situated near the finish line and for the five poor souls who ultimately lost their lives and their families.

Still, the seven years have also been a testament to how Boston pushed through the tragedy, helped each other heal and ultimately made us even stronger and more resilient.

Let's hope Coyle’s inspiring words will become prophetic and the people of Boston will reach new heights with our courage, selflessness and our ability to help each other out while the coronavirus does damage to our community’s health, and just as importantly, hits our economy that supports everybody in the region.

NHL shutdown not impacting Chara's long-term plans with Bruins 1173730 Boston Bruins definitely miss [the fans] and we’ll lose a part of our atmosphere and our team.”

As with most walks of life, things are going to feel “very bizarre” for a Charlie Coyle admits 'bizarre' idea of playing without fans might be a while amidst the coronavirus outbreak until time, and some scientific reality breakthroughs, can bring back normalcy. The world of the NHL doesn’t feel like it’s going to be any different in that regard.

By Joe Haggerty April 15, 2020 4:00 PM Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 04.16.2020

It’s always been a distinct possibility that the NHL was going to eventually turn to playing in empty arenas due to the circumstances around the coronavirus outbreak.

The Bruins and San Jose Sharks were looking at the possibility of playing in an empty SAP Center back in early March prior to the NHL regular season was quickly put on pause, and it looks like that may be the only way that professional sports can get back to work in the near term.

Get the latest news and analysis on all of your teams from NBC Sports Boston by downloading the My Teams App

The country’s most renowned infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, mentioned the possibility in a Snapchat interview on Wednesday while discussing the circumstances behind the world of sports getting back to business.

“There’s a way of doing that,” admitted Fauci. “Nobody comes to the stadium. Put [all of the players] in big hotels, wherever you want to play. [You] have them tested every week and make sure they don’t wind up infecting each other, or their family, and just let them play the season out.”

It certainly wouldn’t be easy on a number of different fronts when it comes to safely pulling off the games. The NHL would probably need to house multiple teams at regional locations where the games would be played to empty arenas, they would need universal, rapid testing to make certain nobody had tested positive for the virus and they would need professional athletes to essentially self-quarantine for the duration of their season.

NHL games would also likely have to be played sometime over July and August given all of the dominoes that would need to fall before games were actually played.

Joe Haggerty's NHL Mock Draft 1.0

“It’s kind of bizarre,” said Charlie Coyle during a Zoom conference call with the Bruins media on Wednesday afternoon. “It seems like everything is up in the air and you don’t know what to expect. I know we’re going to try to finish the season off and do everything within our power to do that. But what the format is going to be like and what we can accomplish, I don’t know. I’m asking all of the same questions that all of you are. I hope we can finish everything off and do it in the right way.”

But all the effort would put the MLB, NHL, NFL, MLS and NBA back into business until a time when a widely available vaccine might someday allow for fans to pack back into the stadiums and arenas across North America. It would also put pro athletes into the strange world of playing in front of empty arena during the playoffs, which would be strange to say the least.

Coyle admitted on the call with the Bruins media that it would be “very bizarre,” but that it’s also something the players would be willing to do in order to bring the NHL back for everybody.

“We’ve thought about that and talked about it with whoever, teammates, friends, parents or whoever. It’s very bizarre to think about playing a very meaningful game with no fans in there. It’s almost like a practice atmosphere, you know? I don’t know,” said Coyle. “I don’t know what it would be like. I’ve never played an NHL game where there was nobody there, so it would be a new experience if that’s what it comes down to.

“If that’s what we have to do. The perfect scenario would be to have our fans there cheering us on because we love playing in front of these guys. They bring so much to our game and to our team. Just the atmosphere of it all, especially at playoff time. There is nothing like it. It wouldn’t be the same at all. I hope things can work out and we can get this thing figured out and everybody can get back to normal and living their normal lives — going to sporting events, big events and big crowds. If [playing to empty arenas is] what it comes down to then we’ll adjust accordingly, but we’ll 1173731 Boston Bruins minor-league teams, wherever they were, wherever they wanted me to go. Having O’Hare right there, you can get anywhere. I figured that might not be a bad thing to do to have everyone have their own career with the For Bruce Cassidy, a phone call on the links offered a career lifeline least amount of disruption.”

Coaching, however, was still Cassidy’s calling. Chiarelli agreed to put his name in the queue. By Fluto Shinzawa Apr 15, 2020 Cassidy interviewed on the phone with Chiarelli and then-assistant GMs Jim Benning and Don Sweeney. He proceeded to an in-person interview with Chiarelli. On Aug. 12, 2008, Bruce Cassidy made one of the most important phone calls of his life. Cassidy didn’t get the job. On Aug. 21, 2008, the Bruins promoted Murray to the head position. But Chiarelli offered Cassidy the assistant It just happened to be from a golf course. position. Cassidy accepted. Cassidy has coached the Bruins to three straight 100-point seasons. Don “He basically said to me, ‘You can help each other,’ ” Cassidy said of Cherry, as leader of the Lunchpail AC, was the last coach to turn this Chiarelli’s message. “ ‘You’re getting back to the American League. Rob, trick. The Bruins are 161-66-34 since Cassidy replaced Claude Julien on being a first-time guy, you’ve been there and done it. You can provide April 26, 2017. Only Tampa has piled up more points than the 356 next to some support to him when he needs it.’ It worked out well. That’s how it Cassidy’s name within this segment. started. I went back in at the assistant coach level. It required a move But at the time Cassidy put down his driver and picked up his phone, he from Chicago, so that was a long conversation with Julie. She was was a 43-year-old out-of-work coach, unsure whether he’d ever stand working at the time and had a very good job. But we all agreed it would behind a bench again. be good to get back at it.”

Cassidy’s call was to Peter Chiarelli, then preparing for his third season It led to a three-year stint as Murray’s assistant. When the Bruins fired as Bruins general manager. Both grew up in Ottawa, where they played Murray, Cassidy was promoted for 2011-12. each other in hockey and baseball. He was Providence’s head coach for five seasons. There almost wasn’t a They worked together in 2000-01 and 2001-02. Chiarelli was Ottawa’s fifth. assistant GM. Cassidy was coaching the Grand Rapids Griffins, the On April 15, 2015, the Bruins fired Chiarelli. Edmonton jumped on the Senators’ farm team. Cassidy’s charges included Jason Spezza, Chris opportunity. Nine days later, the Oilers hired Chiarelli as GM and Neil and Chris Kelly, who would graduate to the big club. president of hockey operations. Cassidy called Chiarelli about the suddenly vacant head coaching job in The following month, Chiarelli hired Todd McLellan as head coach. Providence. That day, while golfing in Chicago, Cassidy learned the Chiarelli identified Cassidy as a candidate to join McLellan’s staff. Islanders had hired coach Scott Gordon to fill their Chiarelli invited Cassidy to Edmonton as a possible start to the hiring NHL head coaching vacancy. The Easton native and former Boston process. After consideration, Cassidy decided to stay in Providence. College goalie had held the job for five seasons. Following one more season in the AHL, this time under the newly Coaching openings rarely arise in August. Cassidy knew the Bruins elevated Sweeney’s watch, Cassidy moved up to Boston. He replaced would move briskly to hire Gordon’s replacement. He wanted in. Doug Houda as the assistant in charge of the defensemen. “So I called him. I actually called him from the golf course,” Cassidy said In retrospect, Cassidy was the perfect successor for Julien. A phone call during the April 6 episode of The Athletic’s Perfection Pod. “I asked him, from the golf course helped make it so. ‘I want to interview for that job. Can I get an interview?’ That’s not typically the process you go through. You would send in a resume, follow The Athletic LOADED: 04.16.2020 up with an e-mail. But I knew it had to happen quick. And I did have a relationship with Pete. So I didn’t think he’d be offended that I personally called him.”

Regardless of their personal and professional relationship, Cassidy knew that Chiarelli would not place him at the front of the line. Rob Murray, Gordon’s five-year assistant, was due for a promotion.

Meanwhile, Cassidy’s coaching résumé did not exactly sparkle. Cassidy had most recently been head coach of the OHL’s Kingston Frontenacs for two seasons. He made it only 12 games into the second before he was fired. Cassidy had been similarly dumped in his second year as head coach in Washington, jettisoned after 28 games with a .500 record over his two seasons.

After being dumped by the Frontenacs, Cassidy was considering a career transition. Between the Washington and Kingston gigs, Cassidy was an assistant in Chicago in 2005-06. That season, he worked with , Brent Seabrook and , all first-year NHL defensemen. The experience helped Cassidy devise a template for a future in player development.

Today, it is a ubiquitous field. At the time, it was embryonic.

Cassidy’s plan went hand in hand with wife Julie’s career. Julie, a federal lobbyist, was working for Motorola in nearby Schaumburg, Illinois. Not only was Julie busy with her career, she was pregnant with Shannon, the couple’s first child. A player development position for Cassidy would allow the family to stay in Chicago.

“I was in the process of putting out phone calls to GMs about doing that role for a team,” Cassidy said. “Craig Billington was doing that in Colorado back then. There weren’t that many doing that role at the time. Florida was one at the time. There were some people there that I knew. Some of it was getting a little traction. I’m not saying it would have happened. But that’s the angle I started thinking about going. That way, I could stay in Chicago. Julie could work. I could travel to the different 1173732 Buffalo Sabres Last week, one of those calls was to Corey Hirsch. Malarchuk wanted to make sure he was doing well.

In recent years, the two former NHL goalies bonded over their shared ‘In it together’: Clint Malarchuk, Corey Hirsch find mutual support in OCD struggles with mental health. Like Malarchuk, Hirsch suffers from OCD fight and depression — and has also been open about sharing his story in hope of helping others. Hirsch spent time with Malarchuk at his ranch last summer. By Dan Robson Apr 15, 2020 “We just talked about uncertain times and how we’re both doing. Where he’s at, where I’m at. ‘Are you alone? You doing OK?’” says Hirsch.

The nightmares return in March. The sting of the blade and the escaping The call was appreciated. blood. Clint Malarchuk can feel it as clear as he did on March 22, 1989, when a skate cut the goalie’s throat during a goalmouth collision at the Hirsch, who works as a radio broadcaster for Sportsnet covering the Buffalo Auditorium. It was three decades ago, but the memory haunts — Vancouver Canucks, has been isolating with his partner in Toronto since as inescapable as the bullet still lodged his head, from the spring day he the NHL shut down because of the pandemic. He recently went through a tried to end his life 20 years later. wave of difficult days, where he could feel depression setting in. His struggle with OCD and anxiety centres on irrational thoughts. “I wake up screaming and grabbing my neck,” Malarchuk says. “It’s not just a bad dream. … That’s usually when I have my biggest struggles, the “Mental health is so different for everybody,” he says. “But for someone anniversary of my suicide attempt and the anniversary of the jugular vein. like me, uncertainty is torture. And these are completely uncertain times.” I have to be conscious of these things.” Hirsch has dealt with the disease long enough that he knows how to Malarchuk suffered from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and anxiety recognize the symptoms in himself. He can feel when he needs to start long before the infamous incident that defined his NHL career. But those eating better and when to push himself to get outside more. But he also challenges intensified with post-traumatic stress in the injury’s aftermath, says the wave can be inescapable at times and that it will last for a spiralling him into depression and alcoholism. couple of days.

It took decades for Malarchuk to get the help and support he needed to “Sometimes it’s about waiting for the storm to pass,” Hirsch says. “And manage his illness. He shared his story in his memoir “The Crazy Game” knowing that the storm is going to pass, but helping yourself through it as — published as “A Matter of Inches” in the U.S. — and he now tours the well.” continent speaking to raise awareness and support for others who suffer He tends to withdraw from people during these times. But answering a from mental illness. I co-wrote Malarchuk’s memoir with him and consider call from an old friend is one of the things that can help pull him through. him a close friend. And as someone who goes quiet when he’s struggling, Hirsch is trying to Malarchuk has been acutely aware of his continuing battle throughout the reach out to others that he knows are having a difficult time. COVID-19 pandemic. Recently, all of his speaking engagements were “We all kind of help each other in the community,” he says. “The saying it postponed and he found himself alone on his horse ranch in Nevada. His takes a village with mental health, it really does. It takes everybody. … wife and greatest support, Joanie, is away in Texas taking care of her Be aware of the ones that are isolating by themselves. They’re the ones family. that I’m worried about. … We need human interaction. Check in on “I’m still prone to OCD, anxiety and depression,” Malarchuk says. “These people and make sure they’re not lying in bed all day, make sure they’re are challenging times — not just for me, for everybody. But for people not completely withdrawing from society.” who suffer from disorders like I do, it can be very challenging.” Hirsch has focused on taking each day in pieces, step by step, moment For years, Malarchuk self-medicated with alcohol to deal with by moment. He’s tried to limit the amount of alcohol he drinks, because compounding effects of his disorders. So, he is acutely aware of how he knows how quickly a person can slip into a deep hole trying to escape vulnerable recovering alcoholics can be in situations of heightened with booze. He goes for long walks in the neighbourhood, strolling anxiety and isolation. through the local Tim Hortons drive-thru between the cars to pick up his medium black coffee once a day. Malarchuk was a goalie coach for the while we worked on his book together. The process was incredibly difficult, recounting the He’s also picked up on old hobbies. Hirsch is learning how to play guitar darkest moments of his life — and while alone in Calgary, he relapsed. through videos that his good friend Sean Burke put on YouTube. Malarchuk had already been through rehab. We’d just recently finished Burke and his wife were among of the first people Hirsch told that he was writing the chapters about that experience in his book. But concerned thinking about publicly sharing his struggle with mental illness. He sat at about his drinking, the Flames sent Malarchuk back to rehab. He later their kitchen table in Arizona and told them about all the experiences he’d lost his job with the team. held inside for years.

It’s important to note that Malarchuk’s story does have a hopeful ending, “I’m really proud that he took this path,” Burke says. “Not only being an which continues to be written. advocate, but a hands-on guy who is out there helping as many people He recently posted a message on Facebook for people who suffer from as he can.” similar disorders, explaining how he’s coping during this time of isolation Hirsch and Burke check in with each other regularly. After watching and great uncertainty. Burke’s first online lesson, Hirsch called him on FaceTime to show him When the nightmares returned last month, Malarchuk knew he had to be his progress playing the chords for “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door.” extra vigilant with his mental health. He leaned into his preference for “He’s definitely improving. I can tell he’s putting his work in,” Burke says. rigid daily structure. He set out each morning with a list of tasks that “To be honest he sounded really good.” needed to be done, and occupied his hands and mind with them. Hirsch remains modest about his abilities, though. “This is my sanity list,” he says. “I encourage people to do the same.” “I’ve got a guitar here that I’m just beating up,” he says. “I’m not good. Malarchuk benefits from living on a ranch, in great weather, with horses But it keeps me busy.” and other animals to take care of — and a barn to tidy. For Hirsch, right now, that’s been the most important thing. “It’s the cleanest barn you’ll see in the world,” he says. His friend Malarchuk prefers structure and last week his routine was Most people don’t have that kind of distraction readily available, but thrown into flux when he had to fix a water pipe that burst beneath the Malarchuk says that taking on projects and tasks that you’ve been putting ground on his ranch. off can be a huge help. He writes a to-do list every day and sets aside hours in the afternoon to complete it. He starts each morning with “This soil is not easy digging. It’s all rock and clay, so it took me two meditation and he works out at the same time each day. Recently, he set days,” he says. “Being OCD, I’m very structured. That wasn’t on my to-do aside time at the end of his daily routine to make calls, catching up with list, so it kind of threw me a little bit of anxiety.” old friends. In the end, the anxiety faded and the to-do list just got longer. And Malarchuk was grateful for the distraction as he continues his battle, while the world faces something much larger. That collective fight has put his own experience into perspective.

“This is a big thing, this virus. It’s changing our world. It’s halted our world,” Malarchuk says. “We’re all in it together. I think, ‘This isn’t about you Clint. This is about the world.’ So you don’t feel alone. We’re all going through this.”

Hirsch also finds comfort in the solidarity he’s found throughout the pandemic. In the guitar lessons and calls from old friends, just checking in to say hello.

“The bottom line is letting people know that this isn’t going to last,” he says. “We’re going to get through it. It might look bleak now, but there are better days ahead.”

The Athletic LOADED: 04.16.2020 1173733 Calgary Flames think I took strides this season so far. I guess I’m proud, but I think there’s more that I can definitely still show. I think I’m just kind of starting.”

Flames forward Andrew Mangiapane back home after four-day commute There are persistent reports that the NHL is hoping for a summer re-start, with the Stanley Cup quest stretching into August.

Wes Gilbertson Which begs the question, if Mangiapane gets a call to return to Calgary, would he dare drive it again?

He laughs. Andrew Mangiapane was prepping for what he hoped would be a deep playoff run. “I’m sure if the season were to go back on, the virus would be low,” he said. “So I think I’d be more inclined to fly, especially with how long that And then suddenly, he was packing for a long drive of a totally different drive was. I guess we won’t know until it happens, but I’m leaning sort. towards flying.”

With the NHL season paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Calgary Sun: LOADED: 04.16.2020 Calgary Flames forward and his girlfriend loaded up a rented Jeep Cherokee for the 3,400-km, 35-hour roadie back to Bolton, Ont.

“We did it over four days, so it wasn’t too bad,” Mangiapane said. “It’s a pretty easy drive, it’s just long. Really long. Through the prairies, through Saskatchewan, there’s not too much going on through there. Then once you hit , you start seeing the trees and the rocks and all that. So it was a nice drive, a beautiful drive, but it was just long.

“You’re on that Trans-Canada Highway, just driving, for a long time. It was an adventure.”

It beat the alternative.

Along the way, Mangiapane and his better-half made overnight stops in Brandon, Man., and then in Thunder Bay and Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.

“We could have flown, but it was just safer in our heads to not get on a plane and not worry about all that,” said Mangiapane, who turned 24 last week. “So we decided to drive and just make a little road-trip out of it.

“We just filled up the back with all our stuff, and off we went.”

You could hardly blame Mangiapane, after that 35-hour cruise across four provinces, if he’d vowed to stay off the pavement for a while.

Apparently not.

Unable to go to the rink and determined to stay in shape in case the season resumes, the speedy winger recently invested in another mode of transportation.

“I have some dumbbells here and I have a treadmill, so that’s another reason why I decided to come back home — I have more access to equipment here,” Mangiapane said. “And I just bought rollerblades, so that’s been fun, going around my block with those and stickhandling and just doing what I can.

“It’s kind of hard — harder than I remember, I’ll tell you that,” he continued with a chuckle, guesstimating he hadn’t been on rollerblades since he was about 10. “And hard to stop. You run into a wall and that’s when you know you’re done, right? But it’s been fun. It brings me back to my younger days when I was practising in my garage, shooting pucks and all that.”

All that practice was paying off this winter for Mangiapane, the Flames’ best breakout story of 2019-20 before the action was halted due to concerns about the spread of coronavirus.

He had already notched a career-high 17 goals and 32 points and seemed to be cementing a spot alongside Mikael Backlund and Matthew Tkachuk on what was Calgary’s best line in the weeks leading up to the sudden stoppage. He’s certainly established himself as a big part of the long-term plan at the Saddledome.

“With Chucky and Backs, we were playing some of our best hockey, I think, of the season,” Mangiapane said. “So it is disappointing, if it were to end, to end it like that. I think even our whole team, we were playing great hockey and that’s what you want heading into playoffs. So it’s tough in that way. But myself personally, I think, yeah, I took some steps forward this season. I think it was just more confidence in the way I know I can play. That was the biggest thing for me was confidence and just getting the opportunity to go out there and show my team and myself what I can do. I always believed in myself, but it was just nice to be able to play with those guys and be given that opportunity.

“I think everybody hopes that the season continues, but I guess no matter how it ends, it has been a positive season for myself,” he added. “I 1173734 Calgary Flames Avtomobilist posted a 35-19-8 record in 2019-20 before losing in the opening round of the playoffs.

Their roster this past season was headlined by Pavel Datsyuk, who Former Flames coach Bill Peters hired by KHL team starred for the Detroit Red Wings while Peters was an assistant coach in the Motor City.

Wes Gilbertson Now 41, Datsyuk’s contract expires at the end of this month and it’s uncertain if he will be back.

Peters’ staff in Yekaterinburg will include Perry Pearn — with more than Peters was hired Wednesday as the head coach of Avtomobilist in two decades of experience as an assistant in the NHL, most recently with Yekaterinburg, Russia. According to an announcement from the league, the Vancouver Canucks — and Moscow-born German Titov, who played he inked a two-year contract with the club. for the Flames in the mid-90s, has been a bench boss in the KHL and currently resides in Calgary. Bill Peters will be back behind a bench next season in the KHL. “Everyone’s goal, why we do this … We’re all competitive people,” Peters Peters, the former Calgary Flames skipper who was embroiled in said on the video call Wednesday. “We all want to win and we want to controversy after startling allegations from his previous stops, was hired max out the potential of our group. That’s no different for us as a Wednesday as head coach of Avtomobilist in Yekaterinburg, Russia. coaching staff. We want to find a way to play deep into the season and According to an announcement from the league, he inked a two-year win a championship.” contract with the club. , who has been interim head coach at the Saddledome since “I think as time goes on, we all grow and improve and become better Peters’ resignation, told TSN on Wednesday that he was happy to hear versions of ourselves, and I’m no different than that,” Peters said on a his former co-worker is getting back into the business. video conference Wednesday with Russian reporters. “You learn from all “Billy is a good coach. He made a mistake, but he’s an awful good man, the experiences that you’re in, and you become better. in spite of the fact the mistake did happen,” Ward said. “It’s nice to see “It’s no different right now. We’re going through a very trying time right that he’s getting another opportunity. And I think that based on his now in the world with the global pandemic. I believe we’re going to come knowledge of the game and what he’s like as a coach, that he will go out of this, and when we come out of this people are going to be better over there and have some success. people for it and more passionate and compassionate towards each “I think he’s done some things to atone for what was occurred … Seeing other and more patient.” that and people and recognizing that, I think are important. So now the Peters resigned as the Flames’ coach in late November, shortly after fact that he’s getting another opportunity to go and do what he loves, and revealed that the 55-year-old had directed a racial slur — “the that’s coach, it’s nice to see. As I said, I’m sure he will be successful N bomb,” as he described it — toward him during the 2009-10 season, there.” when both were with the Rockford IceHogs of the American Hockey BABCOCK TOO? League. Could follow his friend to Russia? There were more explosive accusations from Michal Jordan, who alleged that Peters had been physically abusive on the bench during his tenure On his introductory video conference after being hired as head coach of with the Carolina Hurricanes, kicking him and punching the helmeted Avtomobilist, Bill Peters was asked if he thinks there is a possibility that head of another player. Rod Brind’Amour, then an assistant and now the Babcock could someday resurface in the KHL. Hurricanes’ head coach, confirmed those incidents. “You know, never say never with different situations. Things change as Peters hadn’t made any public comments before Wednesday’s video call, time goes on,” Peters said. “I don’t want to put words in Mike’s mouth by only releasing an apologetic letter to the Flames via the media during the any means or any stretch of the imagination, but I would like to think that team-led investigation into his past conduct. he would coach again. And where that is, that will be determined in the future.” “I have regretted the (Aliu) incident since it happened, and I now also apologize to anyone negatively affected by my words,” Peters wrote in a After Babcock was fired by the Toronto Maple Leafs in mid-November, Nov. 27 letter that was addressed to Flames general manager Brad allegations of mind-games and mistreatment of players cast doubt about Treliving. “I am aware that there is no excuse for language that is whether he’d ever be offered another NHL job. offensive. I meant no disrespect in what I said, and it was not directed at anyone in particular. But, that doesn’t matter; it was hurtful and Peters resigned as head coach of the Calgary Flames just over a week demeaning. I am truly sorry.” later after explosive accusations of a racial slur and physical abuse from his previous posts. Originally from Three Hills, Alta., and still living in the Calgary area, Peters owns a 199-175-64 record as an NHL head coach. He has twice The 55-year-old Peters has worked as an assistant to Babcock, 56, on been Canada’s bench boss at the IIHF World Hockey Championship, several occasions — with the ’s Spokane including a gold-medal triumph in 2016 in Moscow. Chiefs, the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings and with Team Canada at the 2016 . Due to the current sports shutdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, it is uncertain when he will relocate to Russia. On Wednesday’s video call, Peters revealed that he chatted with Babcock over the Easter weekend, although he characterized that On Wednesday’s video call, he told reporters he was first contacted conversation as “more about the family and the kids and everything else.” about the opportunity about three weeks ago and has been studying video of his new team and others in the KHL. He stickhandled around a “Mike is a passionate guy,” Peters said. “He’s a guy who I think is going question about whether he was hoping to return to the NHL once his to coach again, but I know that he’s enjoyed the opportunity to recharge contract is up. and spend some time with his family and do some different things with his time off that you’re not allowed to do when you’re busy coaching “Right now, our focus is totally on our job at hand, and that’s to get through the typical hockey season. He’s done a good there, looking after prepared to go to the KHL, to go to Yekaterinburg, and to do a good job,” himself.” Peters said. “I think we can all learn from what’s going on right now. The future is a little bit unpredictable, obviously. It’s going to take us time to Calgary Sun: LOADED: 04.16.2020 come out of us situation that we’re in, as far as the global pandemic, but I’m excited about the opportunity to go to the KHL and challenge myself to be able to do a good job for a full season, two seasons, however long it may be on the international ice with a different style of play.

“I’m excited about getting over there and getting started, when the time is right.” 1173735 Calgary Flames Joel Otto, 5 votes

Sean Monahan, 4 votes

Flames fan survey results: Readers weigh in on the state of the franchise Sergei Makarov, 3 votes

Fred Brathwaite, Craig Conroy, Mikael Backlund, 2 votes

By Scott Cruickshank Apr 15, 2020 Tom Lysiak, Willi Plett, Reggie Lemelin, Jim Peplinski, Brad McCrimmon, Jamie Macoun, Jiri Hrdina, Frank Musil, Ron Stern, Val Bure, Matthew Lombardi, Ville Nieminen, Krzysztof Oliwa, Kristian Huselius, Dion This was the whole point of the exercise — to hear from you. Phaneuf, , Brian McGrattan, Alex Tanguay, Sven Baertschi, Matt Stajan, Andrew Mangiapane, 1 vote More than 700 subscribers took the opportunity to voice their opinions, via The Athletic Calgary’s first fan survey, and it was illuminating to comb Iginla, the franchise record-holder in nearly everything, dominated this through the results. category. It’s a pleasant surprise to see Miikka Kiprusoff fare so well — his contributions cannot be overstated. Revealed were trends, predictable and otherwise, and a few surprises — not to mention a mixed bag of comments. The enduring popularity/appreciation of Theo Fleury is interesting — something that is illustrated in the next category, too. Input was informative and appreciated. And while this drill limited selections to only one per reader — rendering How long have you been a Flames fan? the decisions tough — I assumed Lanny McDonald would get more support. Nearly 70 percent of responders are long-timers, having followed the Flames for more than 20 years. And more than a quarter of you have Which Flames sweater should be officially retired next? grown old cheering on the locals, diehards from the very beginning — 40 years and counting. Responders — nearly 80 percent (nearly split) — are keen to see the No. 14 of Theo Fleury or the No. 34 of Miikka Kiprusoff raised to the rafters. Kind of surprising, though, that there aren’t more new fans of the squad. Easy to make a case for both gents.

Does it mean that the Flames’ base skews old? Or survey participants Meanwhile, what to do with Al MacInnis’s No. 2 and Joe Nieuwendyk’s do? No. 25? They are members of the Forever A Flames initiative, but their sweaters are not formally retired. The new building presents a grand How many Flames games did you attend this season? opportunity to do the right thing. Nearly two-thirds of you managed to get to at least one contest at the Who is the best-ever coach of the Flames? Saddledome, which is more than I expected. Curious that the only man to guide the team to a Stanley Cup How many Flames games did you watch this season? championship finishes a distant third. Five of 725 responders steered clear of all Flames contests. Sixty Bob Johnson and Darryl Sutter got the Flames into the final, 1986 and percent, however, lapped up at least half of the contests. And, it appears, 2004, but neither won with Calgary. In many ways, they are night and a rather large segment ran the table. day — Johnson, the college-groomed tactician with his unflagging What’s your favourite Flames era? optimism; Sutter, the button-pushing taskmaster with his signature snarl.

Showing my age here, I remember the excitement around the NHL’s Who is your favourite current Flames player? arrival in Calgary — so I’m shocked that 1980 isn’t the favourite era for Matthew Tkachuk, 288 more than eight of you. , 98 Home base at the Corral (where, in front of 7,243 fans, they lost only five regular-season games). Brad Marsh as the heartbeat captain. Kent Johnny Gaudreau, 68 Nilsson as the superstar — only Wayne Gretzky and Marcel Dionne registered more points than the Magic Man’s 131. Then a wonderful Elias Lindholm, 59 playoff run as the Flames eliminated Chicago and Philadelphia (including Sean Monahan, 32 Game 7 at the gee-dee ) to reach the final four. They fell to the , who fell to the , but, as a Rasmus Andersson, Mikael Backlund, 24 debut season, it lacked for little. Andrew Mangiapane, 19 But, understandably, more than 80 percent of the survey responders preferred eras in which the Flames actually did reach the Stanley Cup Sam Bennett, 14 final. David Rittich, 12

As far as the Young Guns era — enough said. Travis Hamonic, 7

Who is your favourite all-time Flames player? , 4

Jarome Iginla, 335 votes , Dillon Dube, 3

Miikka Kiprusoff, 65 votes Cam Talbot, Juuso Valimaki, T.J. Brodie, 2

Theo Fleury, 59 votes Derek Forbort, Mark Jankowski, 1 vote

Lanny McDonald, 26 votes Much like Iginla topping the all-time favourites, Matthew Tkachuk’s Al MacInnis, 19 votes appearance atop this list is no surprise. His broad skill set appeals to hockey fans of all types — with his talent and soft hands, his menace and Hakan Loob, 17 votes mean streak.

Gary Roberts, Matthew Tkachuk, 13 votes Swedes did well, too — three of them gathering more than a hundred votes. Joe Nieuwendyk, , Johnny Gaudreau, 10 votes Rate your satisfaction level with the current team Joe Mullen, Mark Giordano, 9 votes I expected the angry/resigned faction to be even more substantial. After , Robyn Regehr, 8 votes all, this is a squad that’s been a playoff coin-toss for six straight seasons Mike Vernon, 6 votes — miss, make, miss, make, miss, make. Yet more than 70 percent is at least content with the group. Make sense. The talented 22-year-old is a youngster who carries himself like a veteran. This is a player to build around. At the pause, Tkachuk is Your patience is applauded. leading the Flames in points and penalty minutes. The straw that stirs the Rate the performance of GM Brad Treliving drink on a lot of nights.

On the job since April 2014, Treliving has presided over an erratic patch Who is the Flames’ best prospect? of hockey in Calgary. An intriguing assortment of plums — a first-rounder followed by a His reputation with in-house signings is solid. But when he reaches out in seventh-rounder, a sixth-rounder, a sixth-rounder, a junior-overage free the offseason, there have been miscues (see: Neal, James; Brouwer, agent. Troy). And it’s been a challenge to nail down a reliable goalie tandem, Probably worth a tip of the hat to the Flames’ scouts who are mining the although he’s close now. most out of the draft’s depths.

Having assembled a roster with some nice pieces — which was mighty If Mark Giordano ever retires, who should be the next captain? enough to collect 107 points a year ago — he gets a passing grade here. This Tkachuk kid again. Hard to argue. He sits to Giordano’s left in the Rate the performance of head coach Geoff Ward dressing room, presumably wide-eyed and open-eared.

Thrust into the spotlight during the Bill Peters scandal, Ward handled his The C on his smock is easy to imagine. first NHL head-coach posting like a pro — rarely flinching, rarely overheating. Players, too, seemed to be drawn to his personable Who has had the most impressive season? approach (which included music at practice and occasional on-ice games of soccer). Very likeable, very earnest, Mangiapane is writing a dandy success story. Never drafted into the OHL, a sixth-rounder in the NHL, the undersized Once he quieted his line-mangling habits, the team’s fortunes steadied, yet dogged winger has become the master of 50-50 pucks — it seems too. like he wins every battle for possession. With impressive top-six toil down the stretch, he was bound for 20 goals. A teacher by trade, Ward received a pass. Nearly half of responders feel he is doing at least a good job behind the bench. Deservedly, Brodie got a few votes, too. Quietly, the smooth-skating defender clocked in with a strong season. Who should coach the Flames next season? Who has had the most disappointing season? , 350 votes Even a strong finish could not save Gaudreau from the critics. His off- Geoff Ward, 175 votes pace production — accompanied by less-than-stellar body language — Peter Laviolette, 89 votes was obvious. So, too, is No. 13 topping this category.

Bruce Boudreau, 66 votes Who should the Flames trade this summer?

Mike Babcock, 14 votes Fifty-one voters, 7.1 percent, indicated that no one should be moved.

Rocky Thompson, 12 votes Meaning more than 90 percent of you were happy to single out a player for transfer. No surprise, the top four in this category are the same as the Darryl Sutter, 4 votes top four in the disappointing-season category.

Ryan Huska, Joe Sacco, 1 vote One in five voters wants Gaudreau shipped.

Nearly half of the voters would like to see Gallant, late of the Vegas Andrew Mangiapane’s salary is $715,000. What should it be next Golden Knights, get a crack at the Flames. But the locals will have to get season? in line — Gallant figures to be popular come the offseason. This, no doubt, is what Mangiapane envisioned when he signed his one- It was heartening to see Ward outpace bigger-name candidates such as year deal in September — betting on himself, playing well, hitting the Peter Laviolette, Bruce Boudreau and Mike Babcock. jackpot.

Rate the Milan Lucic–James Neal trade Almost 90 percent of readers are ready to award a salary of at least $2 million to No. 88. After a near-full season in Calgary for Lucic, the trade is viewed generally positive. Nearly 90 percent of responders rate the transaction as OK or The Flames have five UFA blueliners. If you can keep only one, who is better. it?

Granted, Neal left an awfully low bar, both for production and energy. Often a whipping boy in Calgary — and forever the subject of trade rumours — Brodie, 29, was the team’s most reliable defender on a lot of And while Lucic’s production is modest — eight goals (to Neal’s seven nights. last season) — his effort is actually strong. On most nights, he maxes out what he has, in the process providing the Flames with some bite. His 198 This reflects that. hits was 12th-most in the NHL. What should be Treliving’s offseason marching orders? Most untouchable player? As many of you have quite rightly pointed out, this question got Matthew Tkachuk, 575 votes shortchanged. There should have been another option — Treliving adding to the existing core. Elias Lindholm, 54 votes That said, more than 70 percent would like to see at least one member of Johnny Gaudreau, 29 votes the core shipped. Rasmus Andersson, 22 votes When/if the playoffs begin, who is your starting goalie in Game 1? Mark Giordano, 13 votes By a whisker — 376 votes to 349 — it’s Big Save Dave, despite being Juuso Valimaki, 12 votes significantly outplayed by his stablemate down the stretch.

Sean Monahan, 6 votes Love the results here. A compelling storyline when the NHL unpauses.

Milan Lucic, 4 votes Which Western Canadian club will next win the Stanley Cup?

Derek Forbort, Noah Hanifin, Andrew Mangiapane, Tobias Rieder, David No surprise here, readers favour their own side — perhaps with good Rittich, 1 vote reason. If nothing else, it is refreshing to see all four squads relevant at the same “This team is unbelievably frustrating. They have the skill to compete with time. (Especially, of course, the Albertan representatives.) good teams yet any expectation of success causes them to crumble. As much skill as this core has, I’m not sure they have the consistency to A selection of comments: achieve anything meaningful. They have yet to prove they can handle the “I hate losing college-player draftees to free agency so that loophole playoffs and part of me feels like the team making the playoffs this year should be closed. I think Lucic and Forbort have both shown the value of would be more detrimental than not. While it’s true anything can happen a physical presence, so it would be great to see the scouts concentrate in the playoffs, I think that mentality is damaging to the future success of on that for a while, as we seem to have plenty of tiny skilled players.” — the club given their performances in their past 2 appearances. Only so John N. much blame can be put on the coach and GM, at some point the players have to own their level of effort and I think the core needs a wake-up call “A coach that lasts more than two years.” — Mac H. soon, they’ve become far too complacent.” — Colton E.

“Do the Flames have any plans to scrap the Forever A Flame program “I thought Geoff Ward taking a supportive and open role as head coach and honour those players properly? I hope the organization can figure helped the team take ownership for their game. I noticed their out a way to honour Brad McCrimmon better than a jersey on the wall consistency was better and the team seemed more engaged the last few beside an ATM.” — Luke S. weeks. They were starting to believe and it was showing.” — Dave S.

“The team is 100% different than 10 years ago but looks exactly the “The core has issues. It’s not the coach (as many fans claim it to be). same.” — John L. This team needs more Gio/Chucky/Rasmus types that *Need* to win. It’s in their bones. The rest of the core seems to be pretty nonchalant about “The stress and anxiety this team causes me is probably taking years off winning/losing.” — Jason B. of my life.” — Mitchell R. “Least favourite part of being a Flames fan is everybody calling to blow “There isn’t enough importance put on the quality and experience in the team up after every loss.” — Cody T. goaltending and coach. There are coaches with great track records that are available. As well I was disappointed when Vegas traded with “The core of this team is broken. It’s been 6 seasons, and the care factor Chicago for a standout goalie. Treliving seems to have blinders on when is so low. Players like Gaudreau, Monahan, and Backlund need to be dealing with these two instrumental positions. Always going cheap and flipped while they hold value. Don’t let it be the next Bouwmeester, Iginla, you get what you pay for.” — Brian C. Kiprusoff.” — Mike B.

“I want to go back to the original Home and Away sweaters, full time.” — “Thank you for doing this. I know opinions differ, but actually asking us Scott S. fans what we think is cool. I’ve always felt the people in the business that do the best are the ones who know what the fans think. Again, thanks.” “Edmonton is No Good.” — John C. — Karl O. “Wish there was part of this form to gauge thoughts on ownership — “I think the biggest development this Flames season was the introduction including things like arena deal, lack of city support of staff during of Brent Krahn…as a TV/radio personality (future David Ayers COVID, the long string of things that can make it difficult to cheer for the situation?).” — Luke R. team on the ice.” — Nathan R. “Do not bother to interview players or coaches. They always say the “I really wish they would give Bennett a shot in the top 9 with some same ‘blah blah.'” — Peter B. skilled players. We will never know how good he can be if they keep using him in a depth role. I understand he needs to prove he deserves a “Man, where to start? Very close to giving up my tickets this year based shot, but you need to give him a chance to succeed as well.” — Brent M. on so many things — from the coach situation, the latest blunders with sending out season-ticket renewal bills before we even know about this “Flames were trying to be too cute. Need more of a ‘crash the net’ season, or have been refunded for the missed games. Are you kidding approach.” — Karim H. me? This team has had one good year since I have been a fan. They “Tired of being on the Flames hamster wheel, need to start moving have had home-ice advantage twice in the playoffs since the early- towards being a serious contender not a pretender.” — Frank V. nineties and lost in the first round both times! They have made it past the first round once in the last 15 years. The owners bullied their way into a “This was the year to try and win. Missed opportunity. Don’t want to re- new building so they can raise the ticket prices for a mediocre, at best, live the Iginla mistake and wait too long to rebuild. Would be OK with a team that has given us fans very little success in the past 25 years. Was teardown and rebuild around Tkachuk and Mangiapane.” — Jeff H. very optimistic going into this season but the team really lacked effort on a lot of nights, especially at home. Would have been interested to see “Please re-sign Zac Rinaldo! He’s a beauty.” — Mike G. how it finished, but I think at best it was another first-round exit. Thanks “The organization is stuck in purgatory currently with the roster they have for letting me rant for a bit!” — Ian J. assembled. Gaudreau will not be in Calgary past the end of this contract “Just very tired of their lacklustre play.” — Tim K. and should be moved this offseason. He is one more poor playoffs/season away from tanking his trade value. Monahan is what he “This team is close to something good, potentially 3-5 years though in my is at this point and that is not a #1 C on a cup-contending team. Brodie opinion. Not a total rebuild but maybe time to shake up the core. Build found himself again in 2019-2020 and should be brought back to pair around Tkachuk and our young defence. Wait for our prospect goalies to with Gio for a couple more years if the money makes sense. Hanifin (hopefully) pull through. I feel not being able to see what this team could should have received more attention for his poor play much of the do in the playoffs hurts the decision on who gets dealt. Either that or season. Andersson didn’t take the step we expected but has a very bright some team-friendly contracts.” — Ryan W. future. Treliving needs some of these recent draft picks (admittedly looking very solid over the last couple drafts top to bottom) to hit in the “We’ve seen years and years of not getting quality, proven coaching. If NHL very soon or he should be let go. His leash is far longer than it we’re going to spend to the cap, stop cheaping out on coaches.” — Steve should be for what he has accomplished so far as GM in YYC.” — Taylor V. W. “The litmus test on what this club really is has been postponed by the “Upgrade some of bottom 6 forwards, Janko and Bennett have to go.” — COVID-19 situation. Whether this year’s team made the playoffs, or how Craig P. far they went in the playoff tournament, would have had a huge impact on the core of the team going forward. I think since COVID-19 will more “Ownership takes fans for granted.” — Keith N. than likely wipe out this year’s playoffs altogether (I hope I’m wrong), GM Brad Treliving will now be able to hold off those decisions regarding the “Instead of having the patch on the shoulder of the uniform I core. In my mind, you now give them the 2020-21 season (presuming it would put the players’ country of origin if they are not Canadian, and their starts on time) to prove they can still get it done in Calgary.” — Stephen province of origin if Canadian.” — Jeffrey M. R. “Show the proper respect to MacInnis and Nieuwendyk and properly The Athletic LOADED: 04.16.2020 retire their numbers. (They never issue #2 to anyone anyways.)” — Marc K. 1173736 Carolina Hurricanes

Former Carolina Hurricanes coach Bill Peters has found another hockey job — in Russia

BY CHIP ALEXANDER APRIL 15, 2020 10:15 AM

Bill Peters was the Canes coach from 2014-2018.

Bill Peters has found another coaching job — in Russia.

The former Carolina Hurricanes coach has been named head coach of Avtomobilist of the KHL, the league announced Wednesday, and given a two-year contract.

Peters’ future in professional hockey had been in question after he resigned this season as head coach of the Calgary Flames amid accusations of misconduct and physical abuse. Peters used racial slurs while coaching former NHL defenseman Akim Aliu in the , and also faced allegations of kicking former Canes defenseman Michal Jordan and punching another unnamed player while Carolina’s coach from 2014-18.

Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour, a former assistant coach on Peters’ Carolina staff, confirmed the alleged incidents with Peters occurred, saying, “The incident with Bill for sure happened, the two issues that are in question.”

Peters coached the Canes for four seasons before resigning to take the Calgary job, leading the Flames to the playoffs in 2018-19. He resigned in November 2019 after issuing an apology for what he said was “offensive language I used in a professional setting a decade ago.” He did not address the Canes allegations.

Peters held a video conference call with KHL media on Wednesday, saying, “As time goes on, we all grow and improve and become better versions of ourselves, and I’m no different than that. You learn from all the experiences that you’re in and you become better. It’s no different right now, we’re going through a very trying time as a world with the global pandemic. I believe we’re going to come out of this and when we come out of this, people are going to be better people for it and more passionate and compassionate toward each other.”

Jordan, who last played for the Canes and in the NHL in 2015-16, is a member of Khabarovsk Amur in the KHL.

News Observer LOADED: 04.16.2020 1173737

2020 Blackhawks Convention — originally scheduled for July 24-26 at the Hilton Chicago — is canceled

By PHIL THOMPSON CHICAGO TRIBUNE |APR 15, 2020 | 10:43 AM

In what seemed to be a foregone conclusion, the Blackhawks on Wednesday canceled their annual fan convention that was scheduled for July 24-26, making it the latest sports gathering to be called off because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“As the National Hockey League continues to evaluate the future of the 2019-20 season with guidance from public health officials, the Chicago Blackhawks have decided to cancel the 2020 Blackhawks Convention,” the team said in a statement.

Full refunds for hotel room deposits and convention passes will be processed automatically by the fan’s point of purchase, either through the Hilton Chicago, Ticketmaster or Blackhawks ticketing. The Hawks advise fans to visit blackhawks.com/convention for more information.

The Blackhawks Convention, first held in 2008, was scheduled for the last weekend in July at the Hilton Chicago. But public health and elected officials have talked recently about the possibility that social distancing will extend into the fall. So the prospect of packing a convention space with thousands of guests seemed unlikely.

The state’s stay-at-home order runs through April, but Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Monday said she expects it to extend into May. During an appearance Tuesday on CNN, Gov. J.B. Pritzker took a conservative stance on allowing sporting events in Illinois this summer.

“We’re not going to allow sports to reopen, major-league sports, unless we have all of these preconditions set because I’m not going to have tens of thousands of people getting into an arena together and giving each other COVID-19,” he told CNN.

He took a similarly dim view on conventions and festivals in comments last week.

“From my perspective today, I do not see how we are going to have large gatherings of people again until we have a vaccine, which is months and months away,” Pritzker said Thursday. “I would not risk having large groups of people getting together, anywhere. And I think that’s hard for everybody to hear, but that’s just a fact.”

The Hawks declined to release convention attendance figures from last year.

The NHL on March 12 postponed its season as the outbreak became more widespread in North America.

Commissioner Gary Bettman on April 7 raised the possibility of not completing the regular season in order to squeeze in time to award the Stanley Cup. Bettman also said the league is considering playing games at neutral sites in the event not all teams will be allowed into their home rinks.

Bettman, however, stressed these are among myriad options being considered with nothing determined yet.

Chicago Tribune LOADED: 04.16.2020 1173738 Chicago Blackhawks

Blackhawks cancel 2020 fan convention because of coronavirus

The 13th annual convention, which was scheduled to be held July 24-26, is no more, the team said Wednesday.

By Ben Pope@BenPopeCST Apr 15, 2020, 5:58pm CDT

The coronavirus pandemic has nixed the Blackhawks Convention more than three months before the scheduled event.

The Hawks canceled the 13th edition of the event — slated for July 24-26 — on Wednesday, citing the uncertain status of the rest of the 2019-20 NHL season and the advice of public-health officials. Full refunds for previously purchased convention passes and hotel rooms will be issued.

The 2019 convention drew thousands of fans to downtown Chicago for autograph sessions, meet-and-greets, new-player introductions, alumni and front-office panels and numerous other types of programming. It spanned from Friday night through Sunday afternoon, just as this edition was supposed to do.

Illinois’ ban on large gatherings — although it doesn’t extend anywhere near late July yet — theoretically would make the convention impossible. And even if the ban were to be lifted by then, many fans might be reluctant to attend, given the close proximity they would have with thousands of others, leading to attendance concerns.

There’s also a chance the NHL season will resume around that point of the summer, although a plethora of obstacles would lie in the way of that.

If the season does resume, the most likely way would seem to be in a single, neutral-site city, ideally one with relatively few coronavirus cases but with infrastructure sufficient enough to house thousands of players, coaches, league officials, TV crews and more. Even still, the games almost certainly would be held in empty arenas.

So far, cities reportedly under consideration are Grand Forks, North Dakota; Manchester, New Hampshire; and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Grand Forks is home to the University of North Dakota’s hockey facilities. Manchester’s SNHU Arena is the former home of a Kings minor-league affiliate. Saskatoon’s spacious SaskTel Centre typically hosts the Blades of the Western Hockey League.

But the NHL is far away from making any serious commitments to such sites, and little is known about what the format the end of the season would look like. Unless the regular season was resumed or the playoff field was expanded, the Hawks wouldn’t take part.

Chicago Sun Times LOADED: 04.16.2020 1173739 Chicago Blackhawks

Blackhawks cancel annual fan convention

The team says refunds will be automatically processed.

By Associated Press Apr 15, 2020, 12:06pm CDT

Patrick Kane greets fans at last year’s convention.

The Blackhawks have canceled their fan convention due to the COVID- 19 pandemic.

The annual event was scheduled for July 24-26 at the Hilton Chicago. It gives fans autograph opportunities as well as an audience with management, coaches and players.

The team says refunds for convention passes and hotel rooms will be processed automatically.

Chicago Sun Times LOADED: 04.16.2020 1173740 Chicago Blackhawks "Just loved it. Loved playing it. Obviously when I was younger, skated a lot and played on a lot of different teams. Took up a lot of my childhood, but to be honest with you when I was that young I wouldn't have it any Gretzky, Lemieux, Orr: They would be Kane's 3-man dream team other way. I just loved playing the game so much."

Daily Herald Times LOADED: 04.16.2020

John Dietz

Second in a series.

Think of all the superstars who have wowed fans over the years in the NHL.

Now, imagine being asked to name just three that you'd like to see jump on the ice to begin a 3-on-3 overtime session.

Because that the question that was posed to Patrick Kane, Mark Scheifele and Mathew Barzal during a 45-minute video conference Monday.

Kane was fortunate enough to go first, and the Blackhawks' superstar had no problem rattling of his trio:

• Wayne Gretzky -- AKA the Great One. In addition to being the league's all-time leading scorer with 894 goals, 1,963 assists and 2,857 points, Gretzky AVERAGED 80.75 goals with the Oilers from 1981-85 and AVERAGED 203.2 points from 1981-87. He also led the league in assists for 12 straight seasons (1979-92). Gretzky helped the Oilers to four Stanley Cup titles (1984, '85, '87 and '88).

• Mario Lemieux, who spent his entire career with Pittsburgh and lifted the Stanley Cup in 1991 (after sweeping the Blackhawks) and again in '92. He led the league with 70 goals in 1987-88 and again the next season with 85 (while also dishing out 114 assists). Lemieux finished with 690 goals and 1,033 assists.

• Defenseman Bobby Orr, who revolutionized the game and led the league in assists five times. Orr won two Stanley Cups with Boston (1970, '72) and closed out his career with the Blackhawks, playing a combined 26 games with them in 1976-77 and 1978-79.

"It would be hard to bet against those guys," Kane said. "You look at Bobby Orr, the amount of points he had as a defenseman. It's just unbelievable, especially at that time. Maybe changed the way a defenseman played the game.

"Obviously watching some of those highlights with Lemieux and Gretzky playing on Team Canada back in the day. It seemed like they had a lot of chemistry where Gretzky was feeding Lemieux a lot.

"So that would be fun to watch."

The Islanders' Barzal chose Pavel Datsyuk, Brett Hull and defenseman Nicklas Lindstrom. Winnipeg's Scheifele chose three forwards in Steve Yzerman, Dale Hawerchuk and Adam Oates.

Q: With a playoff berth on the line, the last game of the season goes to OT. What two non-teammates do you want to start with you?

A: Barzal went the unconventional, three-forward route and chose the Oilers' Connor McDavid and the Lightning's Nikita Kucherov. "I think that could be lethal."

Kane went with Toronto's Auston Matthews and Los Angeles D-man Drew Doughty.

Schefiele selected a pair of Oilers in McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, joking that "they'll probably just go and score themselves, so I'll be the defenseman."

Q: When you were growing up, who were the guys that dazzled you?

A: Kane, who went to about 25-30 Buffalo Sabres games a season with his dad, said he had a "soft spot" for Ottawa's Alexei Yashin.

"He was a really fun player for me to watch," Kane said. "He put on a show in warmups one day and I had a Yashin jersey on. He was kind of playing up to me throughout the whole warmups. So that was fun. ...

"(We) sat right behind the opposing team's bench and I would look at all the sticks and kind of listen to what the coaches had to say. Watched the players come in and out of the tunnel, and how they got ready for games. 1173741 Chicago Blackhawks

Blackhawks cancel annual fan convention due to pandemic

Daily Herald report 4/15/2020 3:03 PM

As the National Hockey League continues to evaluate the 2019-2020 season due to COVID-19, the Blackhawks announced they are canceling their fan convention, originally set for July 24 to 26 at the Hilton Chicago.

Full refunds for room deposits and/or convention passes will be processed automatically by the fan's point of purchase.

Daily Herald Times LOADED: 04.16.2020 1173742 Chicago Blackhawks

Coronavirus expert Dr. Anthony Fauci describes how sports can return this year

By Dan Santaromita April 15, 2020 10:30 AM

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases who has become one of the faces of the American response to the coronavirus outbreak, thinks sports can come back, if the right precautions are taken.

Fauci was asked about how sports could return this fall in an interview with Snapchat’s Peter Hamby and his answer could spark some optimism for those desperate to see sports return.

“There’s a way of doing that,” Fauci said. “Nobody comes to the stadium. Put them in big hotels, wherever you want to play, keep them very well surveilled and… have them tested like every week and make sure they don’t wind up infecting each other or their family and just let them play the season out. People say well you can’t play without spectators. Well, I think you probably get enough buy in from people who are dying to see a baseball game. Particularly me, I am living in Washington. We have the world champion Washington Nationals. I want to see them play again.”

The major American sports leagues have had various ideas about how to return that are similar to this structure. Major League Baseball was working on a way to have teams play out the 2020 season in Arizona in isolation. The NBA was considering a plan to play in Las Vegas.

It’s too early for those plans to get off the ground, but hearing Fauci believe it’s plausible certainly gives a boost to one of these plans happening. Support from health experts is a key part of the equation no matter what the plan is.

Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 04.16.2020 1173743 Chicago Blackhawks Let's finish with a name you haven't heard in a while. After going undrafted in 2004, the Blackhawks signed Bourque on July 29 and let him develop in the minors. He quickly made his presence felt, leading the 5 best undrafted free agents to originally sign with Blackhawks Norfolk Admirals in goals (33) and points (60) during the 2005-06 campaign.

Bourque was called up to the Blackhawks the following season and By Charlie Roumeliotis April 15, 2020 2:30 PM finished third on the team in goals (16) and tied for fourth in points (34). He spent the next two seasons in Chicago, where he compiled 33 goals

and 42 assists for 75 points in 183 career games before being traded to Some of the greatest players in NHL history went undrafted, a list that Calgary on July 1, 2008. Bourque was a solid young player, but had a includes Hall of Famers Dino Ciccarelli, Adam Oates, Martin St. Louis difficult time staying healthy. and Peter Stastny to name a few. Heck, even Wayne Gretzky was Honorable mentions: technically never drafted. — spent only three years in Chicago, but quickly became The Blackhawks have been one of the more aggressive teams at seeking a fan favorite for being the first to stick up for his teammates and out those kinds of players, especially in the past several years, and it's providing many laughs, which most notably included a viral video of certainly paid off. Bollig trying to do his best Patrick Kane impression. So let's take a look at the five best undrafted free agents in Blackhawks — David Kampf has the potential to climb up on this list in the coming history, which is restricted to players that originally signed with the team: years. He has 46 points (16 goals, 30 assists) in 179 games across three 1. Ed Belfour, G seasons in Chicago and has one more year left on his contract.

One of the greatest undrafted free agents of all-time is Belfour, who — Antti Raanta is turning in a solid NHL career, and it started in Chicago. turned in a Hall of Fame career after being passed on in a 1987 NHL He went 20-9-5 with a 2.85 goals-against average, .912 save percentage Draft that saw 252 players taken, including 26 goaltenders. Belfour was and three in 39 career appearances across two seasons with not one of them. the Blackhawks and had a .936 save percentage during the 2014-15 season but was supplanted by Scott Darling as 's Eddie the Eagle signed with the Blackhawks in September of 1987 and backup. went 201-138-56 with a 2.65 goals-against average, .903 save percentage and 30 shutouts across eight seasons in Chicago. He Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 04.16.2020 finished his career with 484 wins, which ranks fourth all-time, and is one of two goaltenders to win an NCAA championship, Olympic gold medal and Stanley Cup.

2. Artemi Panarin, LW

In the middle of their third Stanley Cup run in six years, the Blackhawks announced coveted KHL star Panarin had signed a two-year, entry-level contract with the team. Nobody knew exactly how good he would be in the NHL, but it didn't take long to find out.

Panarin put up back-to-back 30-plus goal seasons and racked up 61 goals and 90 assists for 151 points in 160 games across two seasons in Chicago. He was named the 2016 Calder Trophy winner as the NHL's top rookie and developed rare on-ice chemistry with Patrick Kane. Panarin was — and still is — as exciting a player to watch in the NHL.

3. , G

Before signing Cristobal Huet to a four-year, $22.4 million contract, the Blackhawks agreed to terms with a rising Finnish star in Niemi, who had spent the previous three seasons in Finland's top league. He spent the majority of the 2008-09 season in Rockford, where he alternated starts with Corey Crawford.

But the following season, Niemi dethroned Huet as the starting goaltender after going 26-7-4 with a 2.25 goals-against average, .912 save percentage and seven shutouts in the regular season. He followed that up by winning 16 of 22 games in the postseason with a 2.62 goals- against average, .910 save percentage and two shutouts to backstop the Blackhawks to their first Stanley Cup win in 49 years.

4. Trevor van Riemsdyk, D

Shortly after his collegiate career ended in March of 2014, van Riemsdyk signed a two-year, entry-level contract with a Blackhawks team that was preparing its title defense. But he didn't make his NHL debut until the follow season.

While Trevor wasn't as much of a household name as his older brother James, Trevor certainly made his mark in Chicago. He spent only three seasons with the Blackhawks, but quickly earned the trust of head coach Joel Quenneville.

Van Riemsdyk appeared in 158 games with the Blackhawks from 2014- 17 and recorded eight goals and 23 assists for 31 points while averaging 18:40 of ice time. He also appeared in 15 postseason contests, and averaged 23:53 of ice time in the Blackhawks' seven-game series against St. Louis in 2016.

5. Rene Bourque, RW 1173744 Chicago Blackhawks

Blackhawks announce cancellation of 13th annual fan convention

By Charlie Roumeliotis April 15, 2020 9:58 AM

The Blackhawks announced Wednesday morning that the 13th annual fan convention originally scheduled to take place from July 24-26 at the Hilton Chicago has been canceled.

Here is the full statement from the Blackhawks:

As the National Hockey League continues to evaluate the future of the 2019-20 season with guidance from public health officials, the Chicago Blackhawks have decided to cancel the 2020 Blackhawks Convention (July 24-26 at the Hilton Chicago).

Full refunds for hotel room deposits and/or Convention passes will be processed automatically by the fan’s point of purchase (Hilton Chicago, Ticketmaster or Chicago Blackhawks Ticketing). Please visit Blackhawks.com/Convention for additional information and frequently asked questions.

The NHL has yet to decide if or when hockey will resume this season but announced in late March that the three major events in June — scouting combine, draft and awards show — have been postponed, which indicates the hope is to finish the 2019-20 campaign in some capacity. But because large gatherings remain a big question mark, it’s possible we won’t see fans in attendance if the league resumes play this season.

The inaugural Blackhawks Convention in 2008 drew 10,000 fans and has been a consistent sell-out event ever since.

Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 04.16.2020 1173745 Chicago Blackhawks chances. The Blues' penalty kill was a huge asset in Game 4 and gave them their only source of offense on the night.

Notable Blackhawks performances NHL 20 sim: Blackhawks defense shines, puts Blues on brink of elimination Alex Nylander (Assist)

Alex DeBrincat (Assist)

By Matthew Rooney April 15, 2020 6:01 AM Patrick Kane (Assists )

All six defensemen

Game 4: Blackhawks vs. Blues (April 15) Patrick Kane and Nylander both assisted on the opening tally of the game. Kane had been silent since Game 1 and Nylander’s hot streak Result: Blackhawks win 2-1 (Blackhawks lead series 3-1) seemed to be flaming out, so getting these two back on the score sheet : is huge, if the Blackhawks want to pull off the upset.

First Star: Connor Murphy (1 G, 1 A, +2) The Blackhawks’ red-hot top line continued their dominance as DeBrincat and Toews combined for the game-winning goal. Lastly, the Hawks' Second Star: Corey Crawford (21 Saves) defense, which had been much-maligned all season, stepped up yet again, allowing just 22 shots on net. With the exception of a shorthanded Third Star: (1 G, +1, 3 SOG, 9-15 FO) goal allowed, the Hawks blue line completely shut down one of the most While Olli Maatta had been a big offensive contributor from the back end potent offenses in hockey. in games prior, Game 4 was Connor Murphy’s turn to chip in from the Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 04.16.2020 blue line. He factored in on both goals and paced a Blackhawks defense that allowed just one goal and only 22 shots. Crawford and Toews stepped up in big moments like they have in past playoff games, pushing the Blues to the brink of elimination.

Scoring Summary:

First Period

4:35 Connor Murphy (A. Nylander, P. Kane) 1-0

10:20 SH Alex Pietrangelo (I. Barbashev) 1-1

Second Period

2:45 Jonathan Toews (A. Debrincat, C. Murphy) 2-1

Third Period

No Scoring

RELATED: Patrick Kane on self-isolation, Artemi Panarin and message to Blackhawks fans

Box score:

Shots on goal

St. Louis: 22

Chicago: 29

The Blackhawks defense stepped up yet again, allowing just 22 shots on goal for the second time in the last three games. The high-powered Blues offense has been held in check since their Game 1 eruption by a Blackhawks defense clicking at the right time. The Blackhawks' first line came through once more, as Toews notched the game-winning goal, making it 18 combined points in the last four games for the Saad-Toews- DeBrincat line.

Goalies

Jordan Binnington 27/29 (.931 SV%)

Corey Crawford: 21/22 (.955 SV%)

Both goalies turned in their best efforts of the series. While Crawford has been at his best since the Game 1 letdown, the Blues were waiting for Binnington to look like the goalie that carried them to a Cup last season. They finally got that effort today, as Binnington put in his best game of the series but it still wasn’t enough as Crawford outdueled him

Power play

St. Louis: 0-0

Chicago: 0-3 (SHG allowed)

For the first time in the series, the Hawks finally got a heavy advantage on the power play but still failed to cash in. They came up empty on all three power play chances in this game and are still looking for their first tally with the man advantage for the series, failing to score in seven 1173746 Chicago Blackhawks He recalls that achieving his lifelong dream of winning the Stanley Cup in 2010 did nothing to improve how he felt about himself.

“On the outside, everybody thinks [things are] awesome, but nobody has COVID-19 thwarted Brent Sopel's potential meeting with President any idea. When I’m giving speeches I [equate] it to putting a tank of gas Trump in your car. My self-esteem has never been higher than a quarter of a tank.”

By Scott King April 14, 2020 9:54 PM Sopel, his ongoing struggle with dyslexia and his foundation are the focus of a documentary currently being made about the former Hawk with hopes to pitch the project to ESPN for a , as well as to other sports networks. The spreading of the COVID-19 pandemic cost Blackhawks 2010 Stanley Cup champion Brent Sopel some meaningful strides in his work to The former blueliner completed a 12-step program as part of his expand awareness for dyslexia and help those who have the learning recovery. The final step is to give back. Sopel seems determined to do difficulty like him through his foundation. that for a lifetime.

The 12-season NHL veteran, who served as a fearless shot-blocking “All I want to do is help," he said. “I want my legacy to be me changing defenseman, was in the process of setting up a meeting with President the world, giving kids opportunities rather than hockey.” Trump before the pandemic worsened. Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 04.16.2020 "They were working on my security clearance," Sopel said over the phone on Tuesday. "Once security clearance gets done, then you go on the books. Who knows when that's going to happen now."

A senator from Louisiana endorsed Sopel for the potential presidential meeting.

"It was just to meet with President Trump and start a conversation," he said. "You take a look at autism, look where autism was 20 years ago. President Trump just passed a $1.6 billion dollar bill for autism. I’m hoping that in seven to 10 years that will be able to happen for dyslexics."

Brent, a new grandfather for seven weeks, noted that one in five people have dyslexia. Per the CDC, one in 54 children in the U.S. are diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder.

Sopel was also supposed to meet with Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot and Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker to discuss local legislation involving his cause.

"All that got pushed aside with everything going on," he said. "I'm pretty much the only one in the world with a platform doing what I'm doing. I don't want another kid to feel the way I do every day."

The Calgary, Alberta, native was diagnosed with dyslexia and dysgraphia, which prompt reading and writing challenges, shortly after the Blackhawks' 2010 Stanley Cup-winning season. The learning difficulty often causes self-esteem issues that can lead to substance abuse, which was his case.

It was an intervention from family members and friends and a stay in rehab that got him back on the right track.

“That’s what saved my life. I had an intervention," Sopel said. "Some family members and some buddies threw me in rehab. That’s the only reason I’m here today, I was not far off of being dead."

He uses an app to monitor his sobriety.

"It’s 1,326 days I’ve been sober," Sopel said. "I had to get sober to be able to learn who I was and be okay with who I am and [that] I struggle with the basic things.”

With three potential large-scale victories for Brent and his foundation on hold due to the pandemic, he's trying to save the lives of others while self-quarantining at his home in Rosemont.

He spends a lot of time talking with people who've reached out to him on social media that are in recovery or trying to quit using, as well as others coping with dyslexia.

“I do a lot of mental health work for people around the world. Put a kid in rehab in Vancouver, working on a couple kids here in Chicago right now," Sopel said.

The person seeking help from Vancouver reached out to Sopel via Instagram and recently completed a 50-plus day stay at a rehab Sopel helped him find.

"Speaking with a dyslexic kid in Idaho at 3 p.m. today," Sopel added.

Helping others helps Sopel temporarily raise his low self-esteem, a product of living the overwhelming majority of his life as an undiagnosed dyslexic. 1173747 Chicago Blackhawks Powers: I’ve always thought McDonough has been unfairly labeled a “baseball guy.” At this point, he might as well be labeled a hockey guy if we’re just going by how much time he’s spent in the sport. But even Tape-to-tape: Analyzing the Blackhawks fan survey results when he was inexperienced in the game, he was making a lot of hockey decisions. He came in and made some massive changes throughout the organization, including at coach and general manager, and those decisions helped the Blackhawks win multiple Stanley Cups. I’m sure he By Scott Powers and Mark Lazerus Apr 15, 2020 asked for guidance among hockey people and did his homework then, but it ultimately came down to him and he wasn’t afraid to rock the boat. Fans are frustrated now because they believe he hasn’t shown those We asked for your thoughts on the Blackhawks in our recent fan survey. same qualities of being aggressive and affecting change recently. Aside from moves of NHL and AHL coaches, the Blackhawks haven’t altered Now it’s our turn to give you our thoughts on your thoughts. their hockey operations much in recent years. McDonough obviously Are the Blackhawks on the right track? believes Bowman is still the person for the job. I think fans want to hear why that is. The more transparent the Blackhawks can be, I think the Mark Lazerus: The very first comment we used sums up the fan base more understanding fans may be in the end. pretty well, I think: “Just frustrated watching mediocrity.” It’s the consistency of the consternation that’s so maddening. The Blackhawks How confident are you in as Blackhawks GM? (From 1-5, have been spinning their wheels for three years now, ever since that with 5 being the highest) fateful sweep at the hands of the Predators in 2017. Are they in win-now Powers: We hear about fans’ anger toward Bowman more than anyone mode for the core? Are they rebuilding for the future? No. They’re in the organization. Most people aren’t expecting Bowman to turn this somewhere in between, in hockey limbo. More than a few fans around. He’s going to have to prove otherwise to win the fans back and mentioned the post-Jordan Bulls as a cautionary tale — winning just you would think retain his position in the coming years. enough to keep the fans just interested enough to sell just enough tickets, but without any hope for contention and without any long-term Lazerus: We got nearly 500 comments along with the 2,000-plus votes. plan to get back on top. One fan brought up Duncan Keith’s comment to Most of them were about Bowman. We tried to share a variety of fan me just before the trade deadline: “Shouldn’t we be trying to win? I mean, opinions rather than just list a bunch of #FireStan comments, but there we’re the Blackhawks, right?” Yes, they should be. But how is the certainly were a lot of them. Bowman has his supporters still — his question — now, soon, later, whatever? With no clearly articulated path record in the draft and in European free agency are terrific — but the last back to glory, the fans are getting understandably restless. two offseasons haven’t instilled the fan base with much confidence.

Scott Powers: The Blackhawks would have done themselves a lot of How confident are you in as Blackhawks coach? (From favors if they had just committed to a youth movement earlier. I think fans 1-5, with 5 being the highest) would have understood, too. Even now, we’re hearing more and more about how that’s the direction they’re heading, but that wasn’t exactly the Lazerus: The ratings here aren’t great, but the comments were more of a case heading into the season. They operated last offseason as if the goal confused shrug. And I’ll be honest: Two years in, I don’t know what to was to win now and then diverted when it was apparent that wasn’t going make of Jeremy Colliton as an NHL coach, either. Two very slow starts, to work out. The Blackhawks should be better off this season because of two impressive midseason surges, two years of lousy team defense, two all the young players they played last season. years of never-quit relentlessness, two years of head-scratching scratches of young players, two years of significant development for How confident are you in as Blackhawks chairman? (From others. If you’re being generous, you can chalk up his first year to being 1-5, with 5 being the highest) thrown into the fire midseason, and you can chalk up his second year to devastating injuries to key players such as Calvin de Haan, Brent Powers: This is about what I expected from this question. Wirtz has built Seabrook and Andrew Shaw. If you’re being less generous, you can up a lot of goodwill within the fan base. Most people aren’t quick to forget point to a team system that’s still kind of a mess and a lack of identity. what the franchise was like under his father. You can see how some fans The jury’s still out, and his third year will be a defining one. are leaning towards being more on the fence, though. The Blackhawks need to start winning again sooner than later for the fans not to Powers: I agree that this third year is where he’ll be more defined. I get completely turn on everyone. why the message from the front office remained on making the playoffs after he replaced Quenneville and why it continued to be about just Lazerus: He spends to the cap — beyond the cap, really — every year, getting into the playoffs before this season, but that did Colliton no his 26-year-old arena is still one of the very best in the league, the fan favors. He and this team needed time to start from the bottom and build experience at the is world class, and the players are back up. This past season continued that journey. It wasn’t supposed to treated as well as anywhere in the NHL. So any complaints about Rocky be a rebuilding season, but that’s what it became and I honestly thought Wirtz have to be tempered by the reality that he’s a model owner who Colliton handled it well considering how many players on entry-level signs the checks and lets his hockey people make hockey decisions. contracts were in the lineup. He tried to juggle winning and developing There’s a fine line between loyalty and inertia, however, and the fans players, and the Blackhawks still flirted with playoff contention. Next clearly are getting impatient with the inaction at the top. That said, it’s season, the Blackhawks should take a step forward because they were almost unfathomable for the fan base to truly turn on Wirtz, particularly able to give Adam Boqvist, Kirby Dach and other young players a lot of the ones who were around before he took over from his father. ice time. If not, then it should start falling more on Colliton’s shoulders. How confident are you in John McDonough as Blackhawks president? He’ll either win over fans or completely lose them next season. (From 1-5, with 5 being the highest) How confident are you in Jonathan Toews as a No. 1 center the next few Lazerus: To be honest, I’m not sure many fans entirely understand years? McDonough’s role with the Blackhawks. And to be even more honest, I’m Powers: Fans seemed much more pessimistic about Toews just a few not sure any of us knows exactly how much influence he has on hockey years ago. The fact he went out and actively looked to open up his decisions (it’s certainly non-zero). The Blackhawks sell a bunch of tickets offensive game has paid off in a few different ways the past couple and do a lot of fan outreach and make Wirtz a bunch of money, and seasons. It’s obviously going to get harder to keep up as he gets deeper that’s McDonough’s primary job as team president. In that sense, he’s into his 30s, but he hasn’t shown many signs of slowing just yet. one of the best in the business. He’ll forever be known as the guy who helped make the Blackhawks relevant again. He’ll also forever be known Lazerus: The fans love Toews, as they should. But there’s a sense of as the guy who fired Joel Quenneville, or at least allowed Joel foreboding here — an expectation that he’s logged too many hard miles Quenneville to be fired. But I think the results of this particular survey with his heavy style of play, and that he’s going to fall off a cliff sooner or question come down to the fact that McDonough’s ultimately the person later. I’ve learned not to doubt him, though. He’s still a hell of a player, who decides Stan Bowman’s fate. And the vocal portion of the fan base and there seems to be a sense of hope that Kirby Dach and/or Dylan that blames Bowman for the current state of the franchise blames Strome can become top centers in their own right and ease the burden McDonough for keeping him on. Fair or not, their fates — and their on Toews, thereby easing his decline. reputations — are tied together. How confident are you in Patrick Kane’s ability to keep producing at an elite level? Lazerus: Perhaps no player in the league is better prepared to produce fans have come to expect more than they’re getting. And hey, I’ll take deep into his 30s and beyond than Kane, who is fanatical about his anger over apathy any day. fitness, pretty much never gets hit on the ice, and who sees the ice like no other player in the league. Your vision is the last thing to go, and it’s In the wake of the pandemic, if the regular season were to resume this not hard to envision Kane making ridiculous passes at age 40. summer, would you be comfortable attending a game at a crowded United Center? Powers: The athleticism certainly matters, but it is because he understands the game so well, how to create space with change of Powers: This was a difficult question. For me, I’d need a lot more speed, use deception and so on that will allow him to be effective at a information on where things stood and what the medical experts were later age. saying. Whenever it is safe to return to games, I’m fully expecting every market to pack their arenas for at least some time. People are going to How confident are you that Kirby Dach will become a star player? be so excited to get out of their houses and watch games again.

Powers: Very few people expected Dach to be in the NHL this season Lazerus: Like Drew Doughty, I’m pretty certain there won’t be any hockey and even fewer expected him to have an impact. His numbers weren’t this summer, so the question likely is moot. But in a way, I was pleasantly eye-popping, but he held more than his own and you can see how he has surprised by this response, because it means people are looking at the a real chance to be a top player in the NHL. That seems to be reflected current situation rationally and cautiously. They’re taking it seriously. I here. honestly expected the answer to be an overwhelming yes. When it’s safe, yes, I think all sports will see a big surge in attendance. I just don’t Lazerus: Generational talents such as Connor McDavid and Auston know when that will be. It won’t be any time soon. Matthews have wrecked the curve for 18-year-olds in the NHL, and I think that colors some of these results. Anyone who saw Dach on a Which recent Blackhawks Stanley Cup championship team was the regular basis this season has to think he’s going to be a very good player best? for a very long time. “Dach seems more like a Saad than a true NHL star,” one fan wrote. If that’s the worst-case scenario, that’s pretty darn Powers: This is a debate we’d like to dive into deeper, so I won’t stray too good. much into the details. While most people lean towards the 2010 or 2013 team, the shortened season in 2013 just makes the argument a little How confident are you that Adam Boqvist will become a star player? more difficult. That 2015 team may not have been the most talented of the three, but it grinded for everything it got in that Cup run. Lazerus: Boqvist didn’t fare quite as well in this survey, and I think that’s because he was elevated to the NHL a year earlier than planned Lazerus: For me, 2010 was the most fun, 2013 was the most dominant, because of injuries. The offensive wizardry we were all promised wasn’t 2015 was the most impressive, for any number of reasons. Who would evident very often. But if anything, I’m higher on Boqvist now than I was win a round-robin tournament between the three teams? Well, like you before, because now I know he can play defense in the NHL, something said, Scott, let’s save that for later. a lot of people a lot smarter than me had a lot of doubt about. Should Steve Larmer’s No. 28 be retired by the Blackhawks? Powers: I thought Boqvist was really coming on offensively before play stopped. The points were finally coming and his confidence was growing. Lazerus: Duh. Of course, it should be. The defense still needs some work, but this season was a step in the Powers: Maybe the better question is whether it’ll ever be retired. right direction. I thought the Blackhawks brought him up too early if they really wanted to win this season, but it could be a decision that pays off in It’s been 12 years since the Blackhawks started using ’ the long run. “Chelsea Dagger” as their goal song. Should they pick a new one?

Do you expect Brent Seabrook to play during the 2020-21 season? Powers: I honestly had no idea how this would go. With basically a 65-35 split, there are obviously still fans who love the goal song. Personally, I Powers: I honestly thought more people would vote yes. You can debate feel like a change wouldn’t be such a bad thing. New song, new day, turn what level he can play at next season, but if I know one thing about the page, that sort of thing. Maybe I’m wrong. I’m curious if this result is Seabrook, he’s too proud to just walk away now. He’ll do anything to get the same in a year from now or different. back on that ice. I’d bet almost anything he’ll play next season. Lazerus: I think “Chelsea Dagger” will last as long as Kane and Toews Lazerus: I agree with you, Scott. This was closer than I expected. I think do. When that era — the greatest era in franchise history, regardless of there are a lot of fans who think Seabrook is going to disappear into LTIR what happens the next 5-10 years — officially ends, it’ll be time to move forever, like Marian Hossa did. The difference is, Seabrook feasibly can on in so many respects, including the goal song. For now, keep dah-dah- play again. And he’s not going out like this. dah-dah-ing. Still a million times better than that horrible “Crowd Chant” What’s been the main reason the Blackhawks have not won a playoff song half the damn teams in the league use. series since 2015? The Athletic LOADED: 04.16.2020 Lazerus: I’ve learned on Twitter that a really good way to piss off a bunch of Blackhawks fans is tell them that the current mess they’re in is “the price of winning.” The Penguins won three Stanley Cups and are still contenders. The Bruins have been to three while retooling on the fly. So yes, you can win and keep winning. But it’s so much harder. Pittsburgh and Boston have threaded that needle; Chicago hasn’t.

Powers: I think there are a lot of reasons why the Blackhawks haven’t won in recent years. I could see voting for a number of these options

Would you be OK if the Blackhawks went for a full rebuild and didn’t compete for another Cup in the next five years?

Powers: This was one of the more interesting questions we put out there. Five years is a long time, and I think some fans struggled with that idea. If you’re talking a full rebuild, which would include trading Kane and Toews, five or more years is probably a realistic timeline to build it back up.

Lazerus: Well, five years would really be eight years, because the Blackhawks haven’t done anything the last three, either. I think that’s a bridge too far for any fan base. Maybe if we would have asked “another two or three years,” the results would have been flip-flopped. But maybe not. Whether you call them spoiled or call them demanding, Blackhawks 1173748 Columbus Blue Jackets in terms of personnel, depth and attitude, if not quite results ― was superior to last season’s mighty Lightning.

Put another way: They learned from their embarrassment and were bent Tampa Bay Lightning’s bid for redemption has been put on hold on redemption.

The “Presidents’ Trophy curse” is a bit of mythology that is certainly Michael Arace The Columbus Dispatch Apr 15, 2020 at 6:31 AM cropping up in Tampa these days. Only two teams that finished with the best regular-season record over the past 16 years have won the Cup.

The Capitals, who won the Presidents’ Trophy in 2016 and 2017 but The Tampa Bay Lightning had the second-best record in the Eastern didn’t win the Cup until 2018, are provided as a classic example of a Conference when the NHL paused its season on March 12 due to the team that grows (read: finds some defense) through the curse and, coronavirus pandemic. Perhaps no other team had a greater desire to ultimately, triumphs. continue playing ― because no other team had more to prove. It is Tampa Bay’s turn? Does it have the requisite guts? Those are the The Dispatch has been presenting an oral history of the Blue Jackets- questions that hang over the Lightning as it awaits resumption. Lightning playoff series to mark the first anniversary of the biggest first- round upset in the 100-plus years of Stanley Cup playoffs. Up here in Columbus Dispatch LOADED: 04.16.2020 Columbus, we recall fondly the exploits of the underdog. Down in Tampa, Florida, they squirm as they await redemption.

Last year’s Lightning was one of the greatest regular-season teams of all time. It tied the record for most victories (62, matching the 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings). Its dominance could be measured 100 ways. Here’s one: It had a goal differential of plus-103 (compared to the Jackets’ plus- 26).

Yet, on the eve of Game 1, even an addled Columbus-based columnist could cobble together a formula that might work to thwart the Lightning. It included terrific goaltending in combination with a tight, five-man structure and a physical presence that stops just short of penalties.

Coach John Tortorella’s Jackets executed his plan to near-perfection. The Lightning, its north-south game utterly thwarted, never adjusted. Hubris played a part.

In Game 1, the Lightning shot out to a 3-0 lead, tried to run up the score and lost 4-3. In Game 2, the Lightning got leaned upon, lost its composure and that was it. The Lightning lost a tough Game 3, and there went what was left of its fight.

See ya, greatest regular-season team of all time.

In the aftermath of Game 4, Lightning coach Jon Cooper seemed to suggest that his team was somehow unprepared. It was a curious valediction.

“When you have the amount of points we had, it’s a blessing and a curse in a way,” Cooper said. “You don’t play any meaningful hockey for a long time. Then, all of a sudden, you have to ramp it up. It’s not an excuse; it’s reality. That’s how it goes: You have a historic regular season, and we had a historic playoff.

“Our guys battled hard. Six days in April, Columbus played better than we did. That was it.”

(Cooper’s words did not sit well with Tortorella, who told our Brian Hedger: “I don’t know what he was trying to say. His team got beat. That’s all that needed to be said.” Hedge will have more simmering Torts later this week.)

A group of these Lightning players were among those who lost three in a row to the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2015 Stanley Cup Final, let slip a 3-2 series lead to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2016 Eastern Conference finals, and let slip a 3-2 series lead to the Washington Capitals in the 2017 conference finals.

Thus, there was already a question of intestinal fortitude hanging over Cooper’s teams. Coming off the first-round loss to the Jackets ― and, more pointedly, after a middling first two months of the 2019-2020 season ― there were critics who wondered aloud whether Cooper ought to be relieved of his duties.

General manager Julien BriseBois did nothing so rash. He added some toughness, deepened his corps of bottom-six forwards and improved the penalty-killing unit. Cooper tightened the on-ice discipline and put more emphasis on situational defense.

From mid-December through the end of February, the Lightning went on a 26-4-2 run that included 11 victories in a row.

Prior to the pause in the season, Tampa Bay had lost seven of nine in a bit of a market correction. Still, the case could be made that this team ― 1173749 Columbus Blue Jackets Being a husband and father comes first, Atkinson said, more than ever.

"It definitely takes a village, right?” he said. “It's always nice when you're able to get help.” Cam Atkinson playing role of husband and dad more than hockey player during coronavirus pandemic Columbus Dispatch LOADED: 04.16.2020

Jacob Myers The Columbus Dispatch Apr 15, 2020 at 6:01 AM

Since welcoming newborn son Caden amid the coronavirus pandemic, Blue Jackets forward Cam Atkinson has been focused on keeping his older son, 21-month-old Declan, occupied in their Upper Arlington home.

Cam Atkinson brings his 21-month old son into his and wife Natalie’s room every morning to snuggle before they head downstairs to watch one of Declan’s favorite shows, “Bob the Train,” and eat breakfast.

"He likes to snuggle with Nat, obviously,” Atkinson said. “Not me."

Aside from hourlong solo workouts at his trainer’s gym in Hilliard two out of every three days, the Columbus Blue Jackets forward finds his chief responsibility these days is keeping Declan occupied in their Upper Arlington home. He does so while Natalie rests and recovers after giving birth to son Caden less than three weeks ago.

In a normal season, Atkinson would either be starting his offseason or playing in the first round of the NHL’s Stanley Cup Playoffs in mid-April. He misses the ice, but there’s a real need for Atkinson to be home now, and he’s fine with that — especially after Natalie and Declan both came down with fevers shortly after Caden was born.

“She needs to rest. She needs to heal,” Atkinson said. “I've definitely been helping out a ton and trying to make all our daily lives a little bit easier by doing all the grunt work and doing all the cooking, which I usually do, but the cleaning and stuff like that.”

>> This story is being provided free as a public service to our readers during the coronavirus outbreak. You can find more stories on coronavirus here. Please support local journalism by subscribing to The Columbus Dispatch at subscribe.dispatch.com.

He was the only person allowed in the delivery room with Natalie and couldn’t leave once checked in, due to safety protocols that OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital put in place during the pandemic. And the hospital was practically empty with only one family allowed to check out at a time.

Caden John Paul Atkinson 3-28-2020. Caden’s middle names honor mine and Natalie’s grandfathers. My two young #BigD #BigC pic.twitter.com/9jAXWfrGui

— Cam Atkinson (@CamAtkinson13) March 30, 2020

The couple’s families still have not met Caden.

“Just tough times,” Atkinson said. “Usually we get some help. Luckily in this situation, I don't have to go to the rink, and we're not playing, so all my energy is here.”

A couple of days after Natalie returned home from the hospital, she had a fever that spiked to 104 degrees. The couple assumed the worst, so Natalie got tested for the new coronavirus. The result came back negative.

Then Declan had a fever. They took his temperature and gave him medication but felt a little helpless. It ended up being a case of the flu that lasted 48 hours but felt like an eternity.

“It was pretty (expletive) scary,” Atkinson said. “There's really nothing you can do when a kid gets sick.”

The NHL isn’t allowing players into facilities except for treatment of an injury. When the NHL suspended play on March 12 due to the coronavirus crisis, Atkinson hadn’t played since Feb. 8 due to a high- ankle sprain. He said he’ll be able to skate again on May 1 once the ice at his training facility is installed.

But playing again this season isn’t his most pressing concern.

He and Natalie are trying new recipes. He had teammate Seth Jones over to their house for a “social-distancing lunch.” And he bought a toy basketball hoop and a kite for Declan to keep the boy happy and prevent him from bothering mom and little brother. 1173750 Columbus Blue Jackets The Athletic asked all three doctors what they would need to see before they’d advise sports leagues to open their doors for fans again. They all concurred that there are three main areas from which more data is Data, not dates: What doctors need to know before sports should return required. to normal Testing for antibodies

With most viruses, a person’s body creates antibodies after fighting off Aaron Portzline Apr 15, 2020 the infection. Those antibodies either prevent it from getting the virus again or allow subsequent infections to be much milder than the first.

But there’s so much unknown about this new virus. COLUMBUS, Ohio — Dr. Mark Cameron is a rabid hockey fan, often driving more than four hours from Cleveland to Toronto to watch his Major-league baseball is taking part in a test currently underway to see beloved hometown Maple Leafs play. how many of its 10,000 tested employees have had COVID-19, but that’s only part of the needed data. Dr. Iahn Gonsenhauser is a lifelong fan of all Cleveland sports — “born, bred and long-suffering,” he said — and a passionate supporter of his “We know we can test for antibodies; we know we can test to see if alma maters’ powerhouse programs, Ohio State (football) and Syracuse somebody has been exposed,” Gonsenhauser said. “But we don’t know (men’s basketball). what the results mean just yet.

Dr. Michael Chang loves cycling, auto racing and the NFL. “We don’t know if having positive antibodies means you’re immune, or does it mean you have partial immunity, or does it mean you have none? They all empathize with sports fans who are suffering now that the We don’t have enough to determine that yet, but that’s a big one.” games have been taken away, either canceled, rescheduled or suspended indefinitely by the coronavirus-caused pandemic that brought If COVID-19 can infect a person only once, like most viruses, then those North America to a halt more than a month ago. who have had the virus and recovered would be safe to be in crowds.

They are also renowned doctors and researchers at three of the leading “They’d get the green light first for large gatherings,” Chang said. universities in the country for studying public health, infectious diseases But if COVID-19 can infect the same person multiple times — like, say, and pandemics, which puts them in a unique spot regarding COVID-19. respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which is common among children — “It’s weird not having anything to watch on weekends, not having that there will be a much larger problem. aspect of your life,” said Chang, an infectious disease specialist at “We’re getting pretty close to knowing this,” Chang said. “Within the next McGovern Medical School at the University of Texas Health in Houston. six to eight weeks in the U.S., we’ll have antibody testing available on a “It’s an extension of the suffering this virus causes, absolutely,” said more widespread basis. We’ll be able to understand if they had a single Gonsenhauser, who serves as chief quality and patient safety officer and episode or if they got sick again. is an assistant professor at Ohio State’s Wexner Medical Center. “How long the antibodies will last will be a question, too. If you have All three doctors know enough to believe that sports won’t be back as we antibodies now, are they still going to be protective in six months? Nine knew them for a long time, even though many states in the U.S. have months? I’d say probably, but we don’t know yet.” started to see their hospitalizations and death totals plateau in recent This is a new virus, so there will be a “settling in” period. Or, as an days. epidemiologist would say, it is a novel virus and we are naive.

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump mentioned May 1 as a target date Thus, the effectiveness of our antibodies against the disease could for states to get up and running again economically. Without a doubt, continue to evolve. But figuring out how often a person can get COVID- professional and college sports are big business in almost every state. 19 is of utmost importance.

But all three doctors agreed that setting arbitrary dates — especially one “We will arrive at a place within the next few years where everybody will that’s barely two weeks away — is a mostly meaningless exercise. have been exposed to the virus,” Gonsenhauser said. “That is ultimately It will be data, not dates, that should determine when it’s wise for people what is going to make us safer, when this is no longer a new virus. to slowly start getting back to their old routines. Come back too early and “Either by exposure or vaccination, it’s really only when you get to that there’s a risk that another wave of the virus will hit, perhaps worse than place (where almost everybody’s had it) where you can say you’re out of the one the U.S. has already endured. the woods with people having naive responses to novel viruses.”

So far, more than 600,000 are known to have been infected in the U.S., Testing for COVID-19 and nearly 30,000 have died. Those numbers are despite a massive monthlong effort in many states to limit social interaction. As of Wednesday, less than 1 percent of the U.S. population (about 330 million) has been tested for the COVID-19 virus. A hiccup in the supply The major sports leagues have all explored the possibility of playing chain for kits and nasal swabs has slowed testing by hospitals and labs games under a controlled environment — frequently tested and across the country. quarantined players and staff, quarantined and locked-down arenas, no fans in attendance, etc. Put another way: We have no idea how many people have the virus.

“The backside of the ‘the curve’ will take just as long as the front side,” “If you look at the confirmed cases, it’s like 600,000 in a country of 330 said Cameron, associate professor at the Case Western Reserve million people,” Chang said. “Those are just the people who have tested University School of Medicine. “If the front side was two months, the positive. There are a lot more people who have it and don’t know backside will be two months. because they haven’t been tested.

“Now, on the backside, we can start looking at a slow, careful, gradual “If we could have widespread testing, where we know in 15 minutes who removal of some of the conditions that we have put in place, but they’ll is negative and who is positive, we can identify who needs to be come off as guidelines in exactly the opposite order.” quarantined and who can resume some activity.

The thought of playing in packed arenas and sold-out stadiums seems “Otherwise, you’ve got a large number of people congregating and the further out in the distance, the doctors agreed. risk of a big, spreading event.”

The first casualty when governors started locking down their states was The hope is that testing will ramp up quickly, and soon. Otherwise, a mass gatherings. The NBA “paused” its season March 11; the NHL return to normal life — forget about large-scale sporting events — would followed suit the next day. be hard to justify.

“One of the first guidelines was to avoid mass gatherings” such as sports “The numbers aren’t pretty,” Cameron said. “Say one in four or one in events, concerts, conventions, etc., Cameron said. “So those will be the five persons are infected with the virus, and many are asymptomatic, last guidelines to be lifted.” meaning they don’t even know it. Each of those persons has the ability to infect three or four other people quite easily.” In a 100,000-seat college football stadium, that’s a frightening figure. “We don’t think this is as contagious as measles. We have so much to Even in an 18,000-seat NBA or NHL arena, the numbers are chilling. learn about this, but it doesn’t seem as contagious as measles. That’s good news. But we can’t have a number on what that needs to look like “If you’re at a football game in the ‘Shoe (Ohio Stadium), you probably for herd immunity with COVID-19 until we have more answers.” have 10 people who are spending more than five minutes within 6 feet of you,” Gonsenhauser said. “You can assume during that encounter that Still, so much depends on the antibody question. Because if antibodies two or three other people are going to get infected, quite easily. don’t fight COVID-19, a vaccine won’t be effective, either. (That’s how vaccines work, after all, by making the body produce antibodies.) “So if even one-tenth of the crowd (10,000 people) has the virus, you could easily triple the number of infected people (30,000) by the time the The waiting game crowd heads home and takes that back with them to their community.” Doctors and scientists are keeping a close eye on other parts of the Until test kits become widely available, it’s hard to imagine any aspect of world for answers to their questions, but those answers take time. day-to-day life getting back to normal, the doctors said. In parts of China, where the outbreak first occurred, officials began But if those kits become available, it could be the first step in allowing loosening restrictions in recent weeks, believing the worst had passed. sports teams to return, even if their fans couldn’t be in attendance. “On Monday they recorded their highest number of new cases in several Every major league has at least pondered the possibility of a return to weeks,” Chang said, “suggesting that loosening restrictions could lead to play in empty stadiums, if necessary. a second surge.”

“In a few months, if testing is widespread and the major franchises and Cameron was a researcher in Toronto when the severe acute respiratory teams can test their players and their personnel rather frequently, without syndrome (SARS) struck in 2003. Canada had 251 cases and 43 deaths limiting the supplies to health care professionals, you could see how it that year, almost all of them in Toronto. could work,” Chang said. “SARS was easier to track because it made people very sick,” Cameron “You’d be testing a few thousand people and you could test them said. “It was ended in early to mid-July and it was nowhere near the frequently. That’s a possibility for sports to return in that fashion, but scare (as COVID-19), nor were there the levels of asymptomatic that’s a pretty limited way.” infections.

But the chances of this happening soon are pretty slim. “That’s what makes this one so easy to spread. People can have it and not be aware.” “We need to be sure that community spread isn’t a major issue anymore, and I just don’t think that’s true at the moment,” Chang said. “We have SARS was educational on another level, Cameron said. active community spread. “As the backside of the curve started coming down, they released some “We can’t know the extent of that until we can measure who has the virus of the close contact measures,” he said. “A week or two later, because it or who has had the virus.” came off too early, a second wave hit Toronto and it lasted just as long as the first.” The need for a vaccine In places like New York City, New Orleans and Detroit, people are still Widespread testing would put many minds at ease. So would an antibody getting sick and dying from COVID-19. But the numbers are plateauing, test that reveals who has had the virus, especially if doctors learn that which is good news. But now comes the difficult part for many: remaining our antibodies will protect us against any future infections. patient.

But the holy grail in getting back to “normal” will be the development of a “It becomes a harder and harder sell to people,” Cameron said. “Mostly vaccine. the response in this country has been very good. But now everybody has “That will ultimately be the answer that allows society to truly get back to to stay heroic. normal,” Chang said. “For many people, they’ve changed their habits “If we can cut down on the backside of the curve and avoid the specter of because of this virus, and they probably won’t go back to their previous a wave of new cases — and that can only happen by not letting up what behaviors until there is a vaccine.” we’re doing right now — it’s conceivable that we will be able to rescue Vaccines are not the perfect remedy, however. part of our summer.”

It could take 12 to 18 months before a vaccine is discovered and TO EVERYONE ON THE FRONTLINES @OSUWEXMED & approved, then several months more — depending on the process @OHIOSTATE THANK YOU. YOUR COMMITMENT, DEDICATION & required — before the vaccine can be produced at a large enough scale SACRIFICE ARE WHAT #BUCKEYESPIRIT IS ALL ABOUT! AS YOU to cover the country. ARE THERE FOR US WE ARE HERE FOR YOU. WE ARE #INTHISTOGETHEROHIO! #GOVMIKEDEWINE #DRAMYACTON There’s also this: #CORONAVIRUSOUTBREAK #COVID2019 PIC.TWITTER.COM/87UPUWUB6Y “Just because you have a vaccine, not everybody responds to it 100 percent, and not everybody will gain protection from it,” Chang said. — DR IAHN GONSENHAUSER (@DRGTHEMD) APRIL 10, 2020

This coronavirus is far more serious than the flu, doctors said, but the On Tuesday, the NHL extended its self-quarantine period for players common flu provides a useful analogy for the challenges of a virus. from April 15 to April 30.

The flu virus was discovered many years ago, but the process for making But we are likely a long way from getting back to normal in the sporting each year’s vaccine begins in January or February, or about eight world. At this point, nobody should be guessing at a date. It’s data that months before the vaccines are ready to be distributed. If the coronavirus will make the call, and there are still so many unanswered questions. process is similar, it could be two years from now (18 months for approval, six to eight months to generate) before it’s available. “I still haven’t come to terms with the fact that there was no NCAA basketball tournament,” Gonsenhauser said. “It’s still so surreal to me. I Also, the flu strains mutate from year to year, so the vaccine is typically feel like I missed out by not having a tournament, by not filling out a about 70 percent effective, Chang said. There’s no indication yet whether bracket, not enjoying what I’ve enjoyed every year of my life for so long COVID-19 will be a moving, mutating target. now.

With so many unknowns, it’s hard to put a number on what level of “herd “What about the kids who are not going to be playing college ball next immunity” would be required with COVID-19 before public health officials year and this was their final year to do it. I think about the kids from would feel safe allowing large crowds to congregate. (third-ranked) Dayton who were having an incredible season and are not going to get their chance. It’s just … devastating.” “For diseases that we think are more contagious, like measles, you need a 90 percent vaccination rate,” Chang said. “So you need either 90 But Gonsenhauser can’t see large-scale gatherings in the near future. percent to have had the disease or the vaccine. “I don’t think there will be,” he said. “I don’t think there should be. And it’s hard to say that as somebody who loves sports and gets a lot out of going to games.”

The Athletic LOADED: 04.16.2020 1173751 Dallas Stars Jarwin, a former Oklahoma State star, announced via Instagram that he would be donating a portion of his signing bonus to the university to help workers impacted by the cancellation of spring sports.

A list of athletes and sports organizations providing donations, relief “In conjunction with my signing, I am also announcing that I am donating during the coronavirus pandemic a portion of my signing bonus to Oklahoma State University to help workers who have been impacted by the cancellation of spring sports," Jarwin said via Instagram. "Together we will all get through this and By SportsDay Staff6:01 PM on Mar 16, 2020 — Updated at 2:31 AM on come out stronger.” Apr 14, 2020 Jarwin isn’t the only Cowboys player offering to help. Offensive lineman Travis Frederick announced that he, along with some of his teammates and coaches, are donating money to combat child hunger. Editor’s note: This article will continue to be updated. With schools closed for extended periods, kids lose access to food. A The global coronavirus pandemic brought nearly all professional, group of my teammates and coaches along with my wife & I are matching collegiate and high school sports to a screeching halt. $40k in donations to help in this time of need. $2 feeds a kid for a day With the pandemic affecting hundreds of thousands, dozens of and $25 for two full weeks. Anything helps:https://t.co/jNyqreTN86 professional athletes and organizations have stepped forward in an effort — Travis Frederick (@tfrederick72) March 16, 2020 to provide aid. Linebacker Sean Lee and his wife, Megan, committed $150,000 on Here are some of the ways athletes and organizations are making March 26 to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Dallas and the Boys & contributions during the crisis: Girls Clubs of Greater Tarrant County through their Dreambuilders Local teams Foundation. Their donation, aimed at providing meals to families, will help the two organizations provide 50,000 meals over the next six weeks. .@ezekielelliott has announced his efforts to provide relief during the The Dallas Cowboys will utilize the 2020 NFL draft to raise funds and Covid-19 pandemic. He will be releasing merchandise this weekend & awareness for The Salvation Army’s COVID-19 relief efforts, as part of 100% of the profits will aid the @ntfb. the league’s three-day virtual “Draft-A-Thon” fundraiser. — Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) April 9, 2020 The “Draft-A-Thon” will be featured across the live draft coverage on ABC, ESPN, ESPN Deportes and NFL Network on April 23-25 and pay Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott recently announced the launch of tribute to healthcare workers and first responders in a variety of ways – an exclusive appeal collection that will benefit The North Texas Food including raising funds for the work being done to combat the impact of Bank. All proceeds sold from the collection will be matched by Centre, a COVID-19. shoe company, to amplify the amount of funds raised.

Defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence and The HotBoyz are doing their “We are excited to be working with The North Texas Food Bank and are part in helping local businesses. Fans buying gift cards to 70 local continuing to look into more ways of helping out people in need all over businesses can earn different rewards based on the amount donated. North Texas,” Elliott said in a press release.

Donation options range from $25 to $2,500 with rewards including a The apparel will be available for purchase starting Saturday, April 11th at “shoutout in a blog post” to a meet and greet with The HotBoyz along Noon on the Centre website and 100 percent of the proceeds from the with two tickets to a Cowboys home game. collaboration will be donated to The North Texas Food Bank.

A list of businesses can be found in the tweet below.

WE ARE LIVE!!! Over 70 local businesses who could use our help! We Maverick owner has become the NBA’s face of support have incentivized gift cards purchases so not only will you be able to amidst the coronavirus crisis. Shortly after the league announced its support local struggling family owned businesses, but you’ll earn some suspension, Cuban pledged to find a way to support event staff at things based on the level of support! . The Mavs released a statement on March 13 indicating the organization and AAC arranged to pay event staff for the Link: https://t.co/nMu3dVTR1v pic.twitter.com/OZvZVKfbun six home games scrubbed for the duration of the league’s hiatus.

— DeMarcus Lawrence (@TankLawrence) March 19, 2020 The Mavs also released a statement on March 14 announcing that the organization will fully reimburse employees for breakfast and lunch But Lawrence wasn’t done there. purchases made from independent local establishments in the region.

He continued to make an impact in the fight against coronavirus by But the franchise hasn’t stopped there. making sure hundreds of meals were donated to Dallas first responders from two food trucks and a local taqueria. The team announced on March 18 that the Mavs Foundation is contributing $100,000 to nonprofits to support the local community Cowboys DE DeMarcus Lawrence, LB Jaylon Smith and DL Daniel affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. Ross collaborating with local food vendors to supply meals for Dallas first responders. pic.twitter.com/OuyoS4mVIx “There are so many people who need help right now. We want to do our part to get them the support they need,” said Cynt Marshall, CEO of the — Michael Gehlken (@GehlkenNFL) March 22, 2020 Mavericks. “Whether it’s by giving time or helping with funds we are On April 6, Lawrence said via Twitter that The HotBoyz fed another 300 ready to make a difference in the lives of our fellow community members. first responders. We’re all in this together!”

Thank you to all who have donated! We aren’t done yet and are The Mavs continued their community efforts by committing to provide planning more ways to help our community!We are almost to our $50k hundreds of daily meals. Each player, along with Cuban, Marshall and goal! For those who can help please visit https://t.co/VfOL19tXKY to buy head coach Rick Carlisle will purchase food from local restaurants and have it delivered to emergency workers, ICU responders and workers at gift cards & either keep them or donate them! mobile testing sites. : @BigTexMedia I’m told that EVERY @dallasmavs player has committed to this effort: — DeMarcus Lawrence (@TankLawrence) April 7, 2020 hundreds of meals each day. Hasn’t been announced, but I was told @kporzee’s turn was today. Quite a team effort. Mavs franchise Tight end Blake Jarwin on March 16 agreed to a three-year extension continues to lead the way in outreach and ideas and truly making a worth up to $24.25 million, which he used as an opportunity to help difference. https://t.co/IRHI9oYjx6 others in need. — Brad Townsend (@townbrad) March 23, 2020 The Mavs announced on March 20 that Luka Doncic and Dwight Powell — K.Patterson (@kels_patterson) March 31, 2020 teamed up with Cuban and the Mavs Foundation to donate $500,000 to support childcare for healthcare workers leading the coronavirus Texas Rangers response effort. Rangers GM Jon Daniels, manger Chris Woodward and their families are The Dallas Mavericks announced today that Mark Cuban, Luka Dončić proving approximately 1,000 meals for health care workers at Medical and Dwight Powell have teamed up with the Dallas Mavericks City of Arlington and in Dallas. Woodward’s wife, Erin, is a trauma nurse Foundation to donate $500,000 to support childcare for healthcare by trade. The couple filmed a thank you video for health care workers workers on the frontlines of the COVID-19 response effort during this and first responders this weeks. unprecedented time. pic.twitter.com/6yBsKCs7f5 Rangers starter Kyle Gibson is helping to coordinate the Big League — Mavs PR (@MavsPR) March 20, 2020 Impact program, which is partnering with Garth Brooks Teammates for Kids Foundation (part of the Home Plate Project) to send fund to each On March 26, the Mavs announced a partnership with DoorDash to big league city to help feed children. The initiative was scheduled for support the #OpenForDelivery initiative, which is aimed to let people August but has been moved to the present because of the immediate know restaurants are open, delivery is safe and that restaurants need need. Several Rangers have already contributed to this movement, customers now more than ever. including Elvis Andrus, Robinson Chirinos and Lance Lynn.

“DoorDash is not only assuring people are staying employed, but they’re Elvis Andrus has contributed to the Fort Worth’s Assist the Officer drive also keeping local restaurants open for business through delivery,” by helping to support local businesses and restaurants while serving hot Cuban said in a release. “#OpenForDelivery has a new purpose and our meals to front line Fort Worth Police Department officers. goal is to let communities know how food delivery can help save jobs and local businesses.” Rougned Odor has contributed to Arlington-based charities Safe Haven and Mission Arlington, which are providing shelter and emergency aid to DoorDash, the nation’s leading on-demand local logistics platform to thousands of families. Both charities are partners of the Rangers support local restaurants, is also donating $150,000 to the Mavs Baseball Foundation. Foundation to further support its coronavirus relief efforts. The Foundation announced it has donated more than $100,000 to local organizations in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Mavs’ G League affiliate are also making a difference in the Dallas community. With schools closed due to the coronavirus, the organization The Dirk Nowitzki Foundation has donated more than $100,000 to announced plans to host free virtual P.E. classes for local school North Texas organizations to support those affected by COVID-19. Click districts. to read more about the Foundation's efforts and the importance of athletes making a positive impact in their “We saw and heard from various school districts of this need, and community.https://t.co/wbwpR6W9sn volunteered to help,” said general manager Malcolm Farmer. “It is during times such as these that -- while we all may be apart from one another -- — The DN Foundation (@FoundationDn) March 31, 2020 we can also come together to accomplish great things. In fact, it is in times such as these that we need to do exactly that -- come together On April 4, Doncic bought dinner from Jakes Burgers & for the metaphorically to accomplish great things.” intensive care unit at Parkland Hospital. Texas also came together to support healthcare workers and local The Mavericks continued their community outreach. On April 13, the businesses, providing dinner to staff at The Colony ER Hospital. Dallas County Sherrif’s Department tweeted out a video to thank the Dallas Mavericks for donating 2,000 hand sanitizer pens. FC Dallas

SMU FC Dallas and Toyota are taking care of those who are taking care of the community by delivering meals to the volunteers at Frisco FastPacs, an SMU quarterback Shane Buechele announced on Twitter on March 30 organization that provides meals for students in the Frisco Independent that he started a GoFundMe page to benefit the City of Dallas School District. Emergency Assistance Fund, as it assists in COVID-19 relief efforts. The donated meals were originally intended for upcoming FC Dallas Buechele and his girlfriend Paige Vasquez are organizing the fundraiser. matches at Toyota Stadium. Because of the suspension of MLS play and They have a listed goal of $50,000. the growing need for resources and volunteers, FC Dallas and Toyota We are going to donate right now. recognized the need to help the volunteers who are providing such a vital service in our community. — Sonny Dykes (@CoachDykesSMU) March 30, 2020 FC Dallas and Toyota partnered again to provide relief to those taking Dallas Stars care of the community.

Stars president Brad Alberts said workers will be paid by the Stars and On April 7, Chick-fil-A provided 165 chicken sandwiches and bags of American Airlines Center their usual wages for the seven Stars games chips to volunteers at the North Texas Food Bank warehouse in Plano. that were to be played in March because, “We do not want any of our great people to be negatively impacted financially.” Around the nation and world

Stars defenseman John Klingberg contributed to COVID-19 relief by Note: News is sorted by date, starting with the most recent updates at the donating a signed Winter Classic Jersey to athletesrelief.org, which helps top. local nonprofits working in areas identified as having high numbers of Russell Westbrook affected individuals and with the most vulnerable populations. Rockets star guard Russell Westbrook will buy 650 laptops for students TCU in Houston who have been forced to attend online classes because of the Add TCU coach Gary Patterson and his wife Kelsey Patterson to the list COVID-19 pandemic. of people from the Dallas-area sports world providing help to those in “I’m extremely excited to be able to collaborate with Comp-U-Dopt and need. find ways to be able to impact the youth immediately,” Westbrook said Kelsey Patterson announced on Tuesday that she and her husband are Monday at a press conference with Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner. “It’s partnering with Saving Hope Rescue and Fort Worth SPARC to provide something that I’m very, very passionate about through my foundation, 250 or more snack and activity bags for school children in Fort Worth. and I’m just trying to find a way — especially now — to be able to bridge the gap and give kids access to another way of learning, through We are partnering w/@SavingHopeTx & @FWSPARC computers. This allows them to be able to continue their education, especially from home. I’m happy to be a part of it.” to provide 250+ snack and activity bags for school children in FW. We need: Bags,pre-packaged snacks, edu/music/art activity sheets / items, Kyler Murray physical activity sheets/ items. If you can help, please email: [email protected] pic.twitter.com/WuBJtB4i1v Kyler Murray donated $25,000 to GENYOUth Now’s COVID-19 “There are numerous charities out there behind each and every one of Emergency School Nutrition Fund. he quarterback and these events. Many of them support underserved children who need our former Oklahoma Sooner tweeted the relief fundraiser on April 9 help now more than ever,” Palmer said in the video. challenging others to contribute, as well. Augusta National Golf Club Mike Evans Augusta National will donate $2 million to two local entities to help with Tampa Bay wide receiver and former Texas A&M Aggie Mike Evans and the coronavirus pandemic. Half will go to Augusta University to help his foundation have pledged a total of $100,000 for COVID-19 relief expand coronavirus testing, while the other $1 million will be given to the efforts, with $50,000 going to the United Way Suncoast in support of COVID-19 CSRA Emergency Fund, which “directly support relief efforts efforts in the Tampa Bay region. for the most vulnerable populations affected by the coronavirus pandemic in the community.” "These critical dollars will do so much to help families who are struggling in this crisis," CEO of United Way Suncoast Jessica Muroff said. “It is our hope these gifts will help address the many challenges brought about by the coronavirus throughout the city of Augusta and the greater The donation will help support over 53,000 people in need across 31,000 region,” Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley said in a release. “We households. believe Augusta National has an important responsibility to support and Justin Verlander protect the community who has so generously and consistently supported us for many years.” Houston Astros pitcher Justin Verlander announced in an Instagram video alongside his wife Kate Upton on April 4 that he will be donating his Myles Garrett paychecks from the MLB toward coronavirus relief. Add defensive end, and former Texas A&M star, “I just found out that the MLB is going to be providing us a paycheck for Myles Garrett to the list of athletes around the world providing relief in the next couple of months. Obviously, this is an extremely difficult time this difficult time. for the entire world,” Verlander said. “We have decided to donate that In a partnership with the Cleveland Hope Exchange and local paycheck.” businesses, Garrett will donate more than 24,000 pounds of food and Upton added: "We’re going to pick an organization every week who’s additional resources to help the community, the Browns announced doing really good work right now and donate the entire week’s paycheck March 27. to that organization. DeAndre Hopkins

“We’ll also be highlighting the organization we’re choosing so we can DeAndre Hopkins, who was recently involved in a blockbuster trade from highlight the amazing work they’re doing right now.” the to the Arizona Cardinals, is hitting the ground Justin Verlander and wife Kate Upton say MLB paychecks during running in a new community that he probably hasn’t even literally set his pandemic will be donated to organizations responding to COVID-19 to foot in yet. help those impacted pic.twitter.com/7hnnrAsKWZ Hopkins on March 27 announced a donation of $150,000 to the AZ — Bleacher Report MLB (@BR_MLB) April 4, 2020 Coronavirus Relief Fund that was launched earlier in the week with a $1 million founding donation from his new club, the Cardinals. Carlos Correa owner Jeffrey Lurie announced a $1 million donation to Penn Medicine to establish the COVID-19 Immunology Defense Fund Houston Astros star Carlos Correa announced a donation of more than on April 3. $500,000 in medical equipment through the Correa Family Foundation on March 27, which will temporarily serve the City of Houston and later be The funds, according to Penn Medicine, will support an emerging donated to “underequipped hospitals in the poorest regions of Central research program to test front-line healthcare workers for possible America.” immunity to to the new coronavirus while providing flexibility for Penn Medicine’s researchers to develop real-time research protocols to battle “This equipment was originally destined to very poor hospitals in Central COVID-19. America like El Salvador, but due to the current COVID-19 pandemic we are in communication with the City of Houston so that they have it Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie today announced a $1 million contribution available for temporary hospitals or clinics that may need it soon,” Correa to Penn Medicine to establish the COVID-19 Immunology Defense told MLB.com. Fund.https://t.co/7RNL93PbkF View this post on Instagram — Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 3, 2020

Bill O’Brien We are delighted to announce the donation of over $500,000 in Texans coach Bill O’Brien and his wife, Colleen, are donating $100,000 medical equipment that will temporarily serve the City of Houston during to the Houston Food Bank. the COVID-19 pandemic, and later be donated to underequipped hospitals in the poorest regions of Central America. Special thank you to This is in addition to the $500,000 donation the franchise already made Laura Rodríguez, CEO at @kindredhealth and @nacchelp for the to the Houston Food Bank. collaboration. The items include surgical equipment, exercise and Texans coach Bill O'Brien and his wife, Colleen, are donating rehabilitation machines, high-tech manikin for CPR training, numerous IV $100,000 to the Houston Food Bank, a critical resource during the poles, chairs, cabinets, accessible toilets for disabled patients, and much coronavirus pandemic more. @correa_family_foundation

— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) March 31, 2020 A post shared by Carlos Correa (@teamcjcorrea) on Mar 27, 2020 at 8:13am PDT Another member of the Texans made a donation of his own on March 31. Novak Djokovic Texans long snapper Jon Weeks, a former Baylor player, donated Whataburger lunches to the Houston Emergency Center employees and Tennis star Novak Djokovic, along with wife Jelena, pledged one million several Houston fire stations. euros through the Novak Djokovic Foundation on March 27 to help purchase medical equipment in Serbia’s fight against the coronavirus Ryan Palmer outbreak.

Pro golfer Ryan Palmer offered to help charities affected by the “We have spent the past several weeks gathering every piece of cancellation of PGA Tour events. He announced in a Twitter video he will necessary information on COVID-19 in order to make this informed donate $20,000 toward events he planned to participate in. Nine golf decision on how my family could make the biggest and best impact on tournaments have been canceled so far. our country,” Djokovic wrote on Instagram. “... I am fully aware of how much this crisis has impacted everyone on all Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid on March 24 donated $500,000 to fronts. I am touched by the generosity that keeps pouring from across the coronavirus medical relief, helping survival and protection efforts in the globe with the intention to give back and help in Serbia.” community.

Mike D’Antoni The All-Star had also committed to helping Sixers employees who were going to be impacted by the organization’s salary reductions, a decision Houston Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni and his wife, Laurel, the franchise later reversed course on. donated $100,000 to the Greater Houston COVID-19 Recovery Fund, which Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo announced on March 26. Philadelphia 76ers star @JoelEmbiid has decided to pledge $500K to COVID-19 medical relief—to help survival and protection efforts in the The fund was established with the United Way of Greater Houston and community. AND he’s committed to helping Sixers employees who will the Greater Houston Community Foundation. suffer financial hardship in light of the franchise’s salary reductions.

Mike & Laurel D’Antoni donated $100K to the local COVID-19 — Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) March 24, 2020 Recovery Fund. Mike: “The city of Houston,everybody right now is in the same boat.We’re trying to help out where we can.When you go to war,u Sixers ownership statement to ESPN: ''....After listening to our staff go to war.The whole community has to band together & do what we can and players, it's clear that was the wrong decision. We have reversed it do” #Rockets and will be paying these employees their full salary." https://t.co/0mn1NthccQ — Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) March 27, 2020 — Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) March 24, 2020 NFL Arizona Cardinals The NFL released a public service announcement in conjunction with an announcement of the league’s donations to date, totaling more than $35 The Arizona Cardinals announced a $1 million founding contribution to million in COVID-19 relief aid, on March 26. The NFL Players the AZ Coronavirus Relief Fund as part of the Arizona Together initiative, Association, clubs, owners and players have all chipped in. which was launched on March 24 by Gov. Doug Ducey to help fight COVID-19. The PSA is narrated by Hall of Fame tight end Tony Gonzalez. It features more than 50 current or former players and coach “Like so many in our community, this unprecedented crisis has us asking Sean Payton, who has tested positive for COVID-19. what we can do to help and what might have the greatest impact,” Cardinals chairman and president Michael Bidwill said. "We are grateful All 32 franchises are represented in the video. Each player used his for the creation of this relief fund, are proud to support its critically phone to film messages, asking viewers to stay home to help limit the important mission and hope that others throughout the community can spread of the new coronavirus across the country. They provide join this effort in whatever way that they are able. examples of what they’re doing at home, from gardening to staging impromptu dance contests. Kyrie Irving

Drew Brees Celebrating his 28th birthday, Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving on March 23 pledged $323,000 to hunger-relief organization Feeding America and The New Orleans Saints quarterback and his wife are coming through in said he is teaming up with City Harvest, a New York-based organization an enormous way. dedicated to feeding those in need, to help distribute 250,000 meals in Drew and Brittany Brees pledged $5 million to the State of Louisiana on the New York area. March 26 and are mobilizing their partnerships, including Second Harvest View this post on Instagram Food Bank, Ochsner Health Systems and Jimmy John’s, to help deliver more than 10,000 meals per day to those in need “for as long as it takes.” Thank you all for the birthday love, I’m extremely grateful for the support. Seeing the effects of COVID-19 reach our loved ones, our View this post on Instagram schools, our jobs, and access to food has really impacted me. I am Brittany and I are committing $5,000,000 to the State of Louisiana in excited to partner with @feedingamerica and @lineagelogistics to launch 2020. The priority now is helping our communities get through this tough the Share A Meal campaign to help marginalized communities get the time. After considerable research and conversations with local food resources they require during this time, and to work with our local organizations, we will be mobilizing our partnerships with Second partner @cityharvestnyc to distribute 250k meals to my neighbors in Harvest Food Bank, Ochsner Health Systems, Walk-Ons, Jimmy Johns, need across the NY area. In addition to that I am donating $323k to Smalls Sliders and Waitr to prepare and deliver over 10,000 meals per Feeding America and @lineagelogistics will match $200k of what we day throughout Louisiana for as long as it takes to children on meal raise together. I am asking my fans, friends, family and partners to join programs, seniors, and families in need. Let’s all do our part, maintain me in helping our communities by donating at the link in my bio. Thank hope, and get through this together. you to everyone on the front line working to keep all of us safe, healthy, and fed. Together we can change the world one small gesture at a time. A post shared by Drew Brees (@drewbrees) on Mar 26, 2020 at 8:31am PDT A post shared by Kyrie Eleison (KAI) (@kyrieirving) on Mar 23, 2020 at 11:15am PDT Terry and , and Sabres Buffalo Bills owners Terry and Kim Pegula on March 25 pledged “at least $1.2 million” in direct community aid to Western New Yorkers, provided The Green Bay Packers announced on March 23 that they will establish through Pegula Sports & Entertainment in partnership with the Buffalo COVID-19 Community Relief Funds, totaling $1.5 million to assist efforts Bills and Buffalo Sabres foundations. in the Milwaukee area.

The two team foundations will contribute to the newly formed Western New York COVID-19 Community Response Fund, which was formed by The Pittsburgh Steelers announced on March 23 that they made a 18 local foundations and announced on March 24. $100,000 donation to United Way Emergency Basic Needs Fund to help Roger Federer the COVID-19 response.

Tennis icon Roger Federer and his wife, Mirka, joined the relief efforts Dee and against the coronavirus on March 25, announcing a donation of one Cleveland Browns owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam pledged $1.5 million million Swiss francs “for the most vulnerable families in Switzerland.” to COVID-19 relief funds in Ohio on March 23, donating $1 million to the “Our contribution is just a start," Federer wrote on Instagram. "We hope Greater Cleveland COVID-19 Rapid Response Fund and $500,000 to the that others might join in supporting more families in need. Together we Columbus Foundation’s Emergency Response Fund. can overcome this crisis! Stay healthy!” The Haslams, who also own Columbus Crew SC of the MLS, contributed Joel Embiid the money through their Haslam 3 Foundation.

Trust the process. “We are humbled by the tremendous work of people around the world in Major League Baseball their efforts to help those impacted by COVID-19 and we wanted to try to positively impact those affected in our own communities of Cleveland and San Antonio Spurs Columbus,” the Haslams said in a release. On March 16, the Spurs announced the creation of a fund that will pay all Adrian Peterson part-time employees through the end of the NBA season saying, “We are committed to taking care of our family during this difficult time.” Former Oklahoma great and Palestine native Adrian Peterson, currently of the Washington Redskins, used his birthday (March 21) as an SS&E today announced the creation of a fund that will pay all part-time opportunity to give back during these trying times. employees through the end of the NBA season. We are committed to taking care of our family during this difficult time. Peterson, his wife Ashley and their foundation contributed $100,000 to pic.twitter.com/mX5T1LQAOO Houston Independent School District, Interfaith Ministries and the Houston ISD Foundation to further aid and support senior citizens and — San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) March 16, 2020 students during the COVID-19 pandemic. J.J. Watt and Kealia Ohai

Houston Texans Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt and his wife, Chicago Red The Texans announced a donation of $500,000 to the Houston Food Stars’ Kealia Ohai, are known for their charitable efforts in the Houston Bank and Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston Meals on Wheels on area. The couple made their latest contribution by donating $350,000 to behalf of the McNair Family on March 20. These dollars will assist the Houston Food Bank, which will provide more than one million meals nonprofits in continuing to serve the Houston community amid the to those in need. COVID-19 crisis. Houston Astros

“We are committed to helping our city and are thankful for organizations Alex Bregman also made a contribution toward the Houston Food Bank, like these to lift us in moments of need,” remarked Houston Texans co- donating 1,000 quarantine food kits for students. His teammate, Lance founder and senior chair Janice McNair. McCullers Jr. followed Bregman’s lead with a pledge to donate 10,000 Baker Mayfield meals. Astros’ George Springer also committed to donating $100,000 to Minute Maid Park employees. Cleveland Browns quarterback and former Oklahoma star Baker Mayfield and his wife are doing their part during the coronavirus pandemic. They Los Angeles Clippers, Lakers and Kings announced on Mayfield’s Instagram account that they’re donating All three teams, in conjunction with the STAPLES Center, joined together $50,000 to the Greater Cleveland Food Bank. to establish a fund to provide financial support to all hourly event staff Sam Ehlinger employees impacted by the suspension of the NBA and NHL seasons.

Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger took to Twitter on Friday morning to The Lakers, Clippers, Kings and STAPLES Center have joined announce the launch of his GoFundMe page in an effort to provide relief together to establish a fund to provide financial support to all hourly event to those affected by COVID-19. Ehlinger set the donation goal at $1 staff employees impacted by the suspension of sporting events at million for his campaign. STAPLES Center.https://t.co/2oItIzw5kq

Please share with friends and family and let’s raise $1,000,000 for — Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) March 14, 2020 COVID-19 Relief. Shoutout @Trevorlawrencee and his girlfriend, Golden State Warriors Marissa, for setting a great example with their fundraising platform. Link to donate and share is in my bio and attached below. Warriors ownership, players and coaches came together to donate $1 pic.twitter.com/lEN3FSkQXi million to the disaster relief fund established by the Warriors Community Foundation. The fund will provide assistance for Chase Center — Sam Ehlinger (@sehlinger3) March 27, 2020 employees.

Atlanta Falcons “The men and women who work our games at Chase Center are critical Falcons owner announced last week that he would pay all in providing an incredible game-night experience for our fans,” Warriors hourly employees of the Falcons, his MLS team (Atlanta United) and guard Stephen Curry said. “As players, we wanted to do something along Mercedes-Benz Stadium that were put out of work by cancellations with our ownership and coaches to help ease the pain during this time.” caused by COVID-19. Steph and Ayesha Curry

On March 20, The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation has pledged $5.4 With the closure of Oakland schools due to COVID-19, Curry and his million to organizations in Georgia and Montana for immediate and long- wife, Ayesha announced their Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation will donate to term assistance. Alameda County Community Food Bank to help supply food for students Falcons Owner Arthur Blank's family foundation (@BlankFoundation_) who rely on daily meals provided by schools. is donating nearly $5.4M for COVID-19 relief efforts to provide support Giannis Antetokounmpo/Milwaukee Bucks throughout both Georgia and Montana. Absolutely exceptional generosity . Like many of the league’s players and organizations, Giannis Antetokounmpo followed Cuban’s lead. After the Milwaukee Bucks — Field Yates (@FieldYates) March 20, 2020 forward committed to donating $100,000 to Fiserv Forum workers, the organization announced it would match Antetokounmpo and all Bucks player donations to part-time arena workers. The San Francisco 49ers are committing $500,000 to support employees It’s bigger than basketball! And during this tough time I want to help and the greater community in response to the ongoing COVID-19 public the people that make my life, my family’s lives and my teammates lives health emergency. The team is partnering with Cindy Chavez, President easier. Me and my family pledge to donate $100,000 to the Fiserv Forum of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, and Sam Liccardo, staff. We can get through this together! Mayor of San Jose, Comcast, and the Silicon Valley Community Foundation to assist the region’s most vulnerable populations. — Giannis Antetokounmpo (@Giannis_An34) March 13, 2020

Denver Broncos Zion Williamson

The on March 18 pledged their donation in the fight The New Orleans Pelicans rookie announced on his Instagram that he against the coronavirus pandemic, giving $500,000 to the Colorado will cover the salaries of all Smoothie King Center employees for the next COVID-19 Relief Fund that was announced by Colorado Gov. Jared 30 days. Polis the same day. “These are the folks who make our games possible, creating the perfect “We really hope that the corporate and philanthropic community will environment for our fans and everyone involved in the organization,” the continue to step up,” Polis said in a news conference. post read. “This is a small way for me to express my support and appreciation for these wonderful people who have been so great to me and my teammates and hopefully we can all join together to relieve some of the stress and hardship caused by this national health crisis.”

Blake Griffin

Blake Griffin also pledged to provide aid for event workers at his home arena on March 13. The Detriot Pistons’ forward announced on his Instagram page that he will make a $100,000 donation to assist employees at Little Caesars Arena.

“These people make our lives easier every night,” the post read. “Now it is our turn to do the same.”

Jeremy Lin

The former NBA player made a double donation in an effort to help fight the virus. Lin, who currently plays for the Beijing Ducks in the Chinese Basketball Association, donated $1 million yuan to his foundation in China to help send medical equipment to Wuhan. He also made a $150,000 contribution toward UNICEF USA.

Sergei Bobrovsky

The goaltender also made a contribution toward helping event staff during the stoppage. After Bobrovsky pledged $100,000 to ensure BB&T Center employees are paid during the hiatus, his teammates committed to matching his donation.

#FlaPanthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky is going to donate $100,000 to make sure all part-time staff who work at BB&T Center get paid during this hiatus. His teammates will match that $100,000 with ownership putting in whatever else is needed. pic.twitter.com/SKNSrjrecO

— George Richards (@GeorgeRichards) March 13, 2020

Kevin Love/Cleveland Cavaliers

Kevin Love and the Cleveland Cavaliers made a joint effort to support event staff. Love announced via Instagram a pledge of $100,000 to aid arena workers, and the Cavs also promised to compensate all hourly event staff employees.

“First off, thank you Dan Gilbert for stepping up and compensating all of the @rocketmortgagefieldhouse hourly and event staff team members as if the regular season were still taking place,” Love’s post read. “When we all stand together, our impact has huge ripple effects on our communities. The folks at the arena are like family to me and I am grateful.”

Thank you @kevinlove — coming through in the clutch

We’re behind you, as we also announced earlier today that we are compensating all of our @RMFieldHouse hourly and event staff team members as if every game and every event is still taking place!

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) March 12, 2020

Rudy Gobert

Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert became American pro sports’ coronavirus patient zero after testing positive on March 11. Gobert was criticized for reportedly being “careless” in the locker room and jokingly touching microphones at a media event prior to his diagnosis.

He went on to issue a public apology and donated more than $500,000 to the employee relief fund at Vivint Smart Home Arena and COVID-related social services relief in Utah, Oklahoma City and within the French health care system.

Dallas Morning News LOADED: 04.16.2020 1173752 Dallas Stars “I probably would have been a pro soccer player,” Heiskanen said. “If not hockey, I would have been pro in that.”

Heiskanen played soccer at an elite level until he was 12 or 13 and then Miro Heiskanen answers your questions on hoops, quarantine and started to focus on hockey full-time. becoming the best IS IT WEIRD THAT HE STILL CAN'T DRINK LEGALLY IN THE US FOR ANOTHER 3 MONTHS?

By Sean Shapiro Apr 15, 2020 — TYLER MAIR (@MAIRICAN) APRIL 11, 2020

Heiskanen will turn 21 on July 18, something you are reminded of at When Dallas Stars players were cleared to head to their offseason team functions and charity events where he can’t legally drink in the homes almost a month ago, Miro Heiskanen quickly booked a flight back . Last season, when the Stars Foundation gave gifts to to Helsinki, Finland. each of the players as a “thank you” for their contributions during the season, the defenseman’s teammates each received a bottle of one of Heiskanen bought a house in Helsinki last summer. There, he has a full their favorite adult beverages. Heiskanen, meanwhile, got a bag of candy gym and a yard – a bonus with two Pomeranians named Leo and Max. Remaining in Dallas would have meant staying cooped up in a much “That’s a bit weird, but I’m used to it,” Heiskanen said. “When I played my smaller apartment. first pro year here in Finland, I was underage – I was 17 – so I’m used to playing with old people who can actually drink.” Heiskanen is a realist during the global pandemic. He’s hopeful that he’s wrong – he wants to be wrong – but he’s also not really sure how the DID HE LIKE THE LAST JEDI? THIS IS IMPORTANT. NHL would be able to resume the 2019-20 season without massively — PATRICK IVERSEN (@EYEVERSEHEN) APRIL 11, 2020 impacting the 2020-21 season. He has not seen The Last Jedi. He added that he doesn’t really watch “I think it’s really hard to play (this season) anymore,” Heiskanen said. movies. “But we’ll see.” DOES THE FINNISH MAFIA HAVE A GROUP CHAT? I NEED TO “I’ll be ready whenever we do play again,” he added. “But I don’t know HEAR ABOUT THE SHENANIGANS when that will be. It made sense to get home and be more comfortable with more space.” — REED | BRING HOCKEY BACK (@ESSALINDELL) APRIL 11, 2020

Heiskanen and I had played phone tag earlier this week. Helsinki is eight There is a group chat for the Stars’ Finns, that’s all he’d divulge. hours ahead of Dallas, so my afternoon calls had missed him while his texts back often came while I was asleep, around 3 a.m. CT. Speaking of Finns…

We connected on Tuesday and, using the same format that from earlier WHAT TEAMMATE WOULD YOU WANT TO BE QUARANTINED this month with Esa Lindell, Heiskanen took your questions to open up WITH? about everything from quarantine life to his aspirations to be the best — FLY (@SPOOKBOI11) APRIL 12, 2020 defenseman in the world. “I would say Roope,” Heiskanen said. “We are roommates on the road. ALSO VERY CURIOUS WHAT HIS ALL-TIME FAVORITE VIDEO We know each other well, and we are used to it; probably he’d be the GAMES ARE (ASSUMING HE PLAYS THEM?) one.”

— NHL NEWS (@NHLALLNEWS) APRIL 11, 2020 (NHL players on entry-level contracts have roommates on the road; each Heiskanen has been filling his time by “hanging out with girlfriend and player gets their own room once off an entry-level contract.) dogs and then playing Playstation with friends.” As far as teammates he doesn’t want to spend time with? He’s joining The games of choice for Heiskanen are NHL 20 and NBA 2K20; he said other teammates in labeling Alexander Radulov as the worst quarantine he and his friends use created players and play on the same team. partner. Heiskanen is already in NHL 20, and he’s grown used to being in video “You never know if he is having a bad or good day,” Heiskanen said. games since he was first on the roster for HIFK in NHL 18. “That’s a hard question. I like everyone on the team. But if you had to “That was pretty weird and fun because I had always played NHL and pick one not to live with, it’s Rads.” games like that,” Heiskanen said. “It was cool to be one of the players He’s been the most common answer, Miro. there. But now I’m in it twice, I guess, since the player I created is also named Miro Heiskanen.” “Yeah, you can probably guess why.”

Heiskanen discovered the NBA 2K series before he really became a WHAT’S HIS FAVORITE QUARANTINE SNACK? basketball fan but said he’s become more and more of an NBA fan since he watched the trifecta of NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors — RADEK’S ROBUST REAREND (@LITTLESARA84) APRIL 11, and Cleveland Cavaliers. 2020

“I watched those and started becoming more of a basketball fan at that Heiskanen isn’t picky when it comes to snacks during quarantine and time,” Heiskanen said. “I don’t really have a favorite team, but my favorite said his diet really hasn’t changed. player is Steph Curry.” “I don’t really have a favorite,” Heiskanen said. “Maybe some food that Heiskanen is often compared to Dallas Mavericks star Luka Dončić, as includes chicken. But I really don’t have something I like more than athletes in their very early 20s who could elevate their respective anything else. I love almost every food; it’s hard to pick one favorite.” franchises. Heiskanen has met Dončić – they posed for a photoshoot His girlfriend does most of the cooking and they occasionally order in before their rookie seasons – and said the Slovenian is “fun to watch.” He food. also attended a handful of Mavericks games this season before the stoppage. “I’m not a very good cook, and she actually likes to,” Heiskanen said. “So it’s been nice to eat with her every meal.” “It’s a cool sport, I really like to watch basketball,” Heiskanen. WHAT DO YOU MISS ABOUT TEXAS (BESIDES STARS HOCKEY)? IF YOU COULDN’T BE A PRO HOCKEY PLAYER, WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE CHOSEN AS A PROFESSION? — COURT MISSES HOCKEY (@COURTLEE_8) APRIL 11, 2020

— DREWL *HEALTHCAREHEROES!!!* (@ADLGATOR86) APRIL 11, “Other than hockey? The weather. It’s pretty cool out here (in Finland),” 2020 Heiskanen said. “It’s nice to be in Texas at this time of year with the warm weather. It’s a little different than here.” There was no hesitation for Heiskanen on this question. IF HE COULD ADD ANOTHER CURRENT FINN IN THE LEAGUE NOT ALREADY ON THE STARS TO THE TEAM, WHO WOULD HE ADD?

— B (@FINNSFORTHEWIN) APRIL 11, 2020

Aleksander Barkov.

“I think he’s a great player,” Heiskanen said. “I think he’s a bit underrated. I think he does some things really well, and he’s so good with the puck and without the puck. He’s a great player.”

On a side note, I think we have to stop referring to Barkov as underrated. All of us, not just Miro.

WHICH GAME HE BELIEVES HE MODELS HIS OWN AFTER.

— JOE NEFF (@NEFF182) APRIL 11, 2020

“There is really anyone I model my game after. I play my own game,” Heiskanen said. “But I like to watch Duncan Keith and Erik Karlsson play, but I don’t really like try to be similar to anyone. But those two I really liked to watch them play when I was a kid.”

WHO ARE THE FORWARDS WHO HAVE BEEN THE HARDEST TO DEFEND IN THE NHL SO FAR FOR HIM?

— BEN KRAKOW (@BENKRAKOW) APRIL 11, 2020

Two names came to mind for Heiskanen, and they’re the two players who are often jockeying for the title of best player in the world.

“Crosby or McDavid, they are really good,” Heiskanen said. “Crosby is a little bit stronger, so it might be harder for me, I think. Those two are maybe hard to play against.”

Regarding Crosby’s strength, Heiskanen said, “He really doesn’t look that strong, but he’s built strong.” He also noted that Crosby’s backhand, and the threat of the backhand, makes you worry about more things than the angles.

Heiskanen hasn’t had many “wow” moments – you can’t have that kind of reaction and succeed in the league as a teenager – but he admitted playing against Crosby for the first time was a bit surreal.

“I guess also with Ovechkin,” Heiskanen said. “It was really cool to play against them and, of course, the older defensemen like Keith and Karlsson.”

DID HE HAD A FAVORITE NHL TEAM GROING UP IN FINLAND ?

— MICHEL  (@M_ARCAND07) APRIL 11, 2020

Heiskanen’s favorite plyer growing up was Pavel Datsyuk, so his childhood fandom aligned with the Russian center, and he rooted for the Detroit Red Wings.

DOES HE SET GOALS FOR HIMSELF EVERY SEASON?

— RUSSELL KAMPE (@D1OWLS4LIFE) APRIL 11, 2020

“I’m not a big goal setter, my goals are just to be better every season and every game,” Heiskanen said. “I don’t like to put goals there, so I guess it’s just be better and better every day.”

That’s on the season, but there is a big goal that Heiskanen has told me about before: He wants to be the best defenseman on the planet.

“Yeah, well, that’s a given.”

So after (or in the midst) of his second season, where is he on that track?

“That’s tough, but I think I’m pretty high on the list, and I’m getting better and better,” Heiskanen said. “It’s hard to say right now where I would rank.”

Who is No. 1 in his mind right now?

“I like (Victor) Hedman’s game,” Heiskanen said. “He’s really good both ways in both the defensive and offensive game. I would say he’s probably one of the best if not the best.”

Would he get Heiskanen’s Norris Trophy vote if he had one?

“Probably.”

The Athletic LOADED: 04.16.2020

1173753 Detroit Red Wings Outlook: The Wings would like to see more offense out of Ehn, but his instincts and defense can work on the fourth line.

Adam Erne State of the Red Wings: Young, talented forwards form building block Stats: 56 games, 2 goals, 3 assists, 5 points

Outlook: Erne was acquired in a trade last summer and the offensive Ted Kulfan, The Detroit News Published 3:27 p.m. ET April 15, 2020 production was a disappointment. More was expected overall, but he’s likely to return.

Robby Fabbri Editor's note: This is the third of a three-part series in which The Detroit News takes a look at the Red Wings' position groups. Up today: Stats: 61 games, 15 goals, 17 assists, 32 points Forwards. Outlook: One of general manager Steve Yzerman’s best trades, as Detroit — There were few memorable evenings during this Red Wings’ Fabbri was stolen for expendable forward Jacob de la Rose. Fabbri is a season. The 17-49-5 record, before the season was suspended, will tell legitimate top-six forward as long as he plays with some grit to his game. you that. Valtteri Filppula But on March 8, in the second-to-last game before the coronavirus Stats: 70 games, 6 goals, 15 assists, 21 points pandemic, during the Wings’ 5-4 shootout victory over Tampa Bay, Wings’fans got another glimpse of what could be in the future. Outlook: Filppula was signed to a two-year, free-agent contract last summer, but went through a difficult season. He wasn’t effective enough Mainly, because of scoring line Tyler Bertuzzi, Dylan Larkin and Anthony at either end of the ice. Mantha. Sam Gagner Anthony Mantha, Tyler Bertuzzi and Dylan Larkin give the Red Wings a solid foundation of forwards. Stats: 42 games, 6 goals, 7 assists, 13 points

The Larkin line combined for 11 points in the victory over Tampa, Outlook: Acquired at the trade deadline in the Mike Green deal, Gagner continuing what had been a late season surge for the trio. displayed leadership qualities that the organization might not mind bringing back for another season. “We kind of saw a glimpse of how we finished last year,” Mantha said after the victory. “It’s huge. Chemistry is starting to connect again.” Luke Glendening

Mantha had a pair of injuries that kept him out nearly half of the season. Stats: 60 games, 6 goals, 3 assists, 9 points That resulted in coach Jeff Blashill being forced to balance his lines and spread whatever offense was left amongst the lineup. Outlook: Glendening has grown into a leader on this evolving roster, and he’s arguably the team’s best defensive forward. But the three forwards played their best, and had their best offensive production, when they played together. They gave the Wings a Darren Helm legitimate, and dangerous, No. 1 line that could go head-to-head against Stats: 68 games, 9 goals, 7 assists, 16 points anyone in the NHL. Outlook: One of the Wings’ better forwards all season, Helm can be an “They’ve shown they have chemistry and, at times, it’s been great this UFA in 2021, so he could be a trade chip next deadline. year,” Blashill said. “At times, it hasn’t been good enough, but at times, it’s been great. It’s a shame the injuries Mantha has been through, Taro Hirose because they started the years so good. Stats: 35 games (Grand Rapids), 5 goals, 22 assists, 27 points “It would have been nice to see what they would have done without that interruption. Outlook: Hirose started the season in the NHL, slumped, and was demoted to Grand Rapids where he continued to adapt to pro hockey. “It’s a line that has good elements. They’ve got a hard, skill guy in Needs to get stronger, quicker. Bertuzzi, an engine guy in Larkin and then Anthony’s got a real unique skill-set, a real unique skill-set. Dylan Larkin

“When they’re going at a high level, they’re dangerous.” Stats: 71 games, 19 goals, 34 assists, 53 points

Where the Wings have a base to build around toward the future, it’s Outlook: On the ice the production dipped a bit, but off the ice, Larkin’s among the forward position. leadership was never more noticeable. Likely the next Wings’ captain, at some point. The Larkin line; recent draft picks Filip Zadina, Evgeny Svechnikov, Michael Rasmussen and Joe Veleno; trade acquisition Robby Fabbri; Anthony Mantha and veterans such as Luke Glendening and Darren Helm give the Wings Stats: 43 games, 16 goals, 22 assists, 38 points a base. Outlook: Two long-term injuries cut into Mantha’s season. But when Although more is needed, given the lack of overall offense firepower. healthy, Mantha was one of the Wings’ best players. A restricted free Justin Abdelkader agent, it’ll be interesting to see if the two sides can find common ground.

Stats: 49 games, 0 goals, 3 assists, 3 points Frans Nielsen

Outlook: The veteran has struggled for several consecutive seasons and Stats: 60 games, 4 goals, 5 assists, 9 points was a healthy scratch at times this season. His future with the Wings is Outlook: Nielsen’s offensive production completely cratered. He must cloudy. rediscover it for next season, given he’s got two more years at over $5 Tyler Bertuzzi million per season.

Stats: 71 games, 21 goals, 27 assists, 48 points Brendan Perlini

Outlook: Posted a second consecutive 21-goal season, playing a Stats: 39 games, 1 goal, 3 assists, 4 points complementary style that can work on a variety of lines. Bertuzzi is Outlook: Acquired early in the season, Perlini had plenty of opportunity to becoming a respected NHL player. show his ability but he never got going offensively.

Christoffer Ehn Michael Rasmussen

Stats: 54 games, 2 goal, 2 assists, 4 points Stats: 35 games (Grand Rapids), 7 goals, 15 assists, 22 points Outlook: Spent this entire season in the AHL after playing with the Wings last season. Rasmussen will likely battle for an NHL job next training camp, but he will not be automatically given a job.

Givani Smith

Stats: 37 games (Grand Rapids), 9 goals, 10 assists, 19 points

Outlook: In brief stints with the Wings, Smith played with an edge that this lineup desperately needs.

Evgeny Svechnikov

Stats: 51 games (Grand Rapids), 11 goals, 14 assists, 25 points

Outlook: Svechnikov either stays with the Wings, or will be exposed to waivers before rosters are set in October. Had hits-and-misses returning from knee surgery this season.

Dmytro Timashov

Stats: 44 games, 4 goals, 5 assists, 9 points

Outlook: Late season waiver acquisition from Toronto, Timashov has the speed and offensive potential to be a contributor.

Joe Veleno

Stats: 54 games (Grand Rapids), 11 goals, 12 assists, 23 points

Outlook: The former 1st-round pick was much better the second half of the season, in his rookie professional season. Needs more AHL seasoning.

Filip Zadina

Stats: 28 games, 8 goals, 7 assists 15 points

Outlook: Was playing some of his best hockey when an ankle surgery shelved his season. The Wings are counting on Zadina to be significant part of lineup next season.

Prospects

Jonatan Berggren (Sweden), Albin Grewe (Sweden), Robert Mastrosimone (), Chase Pearson (Grand Rapids), Elmer Soderblom (Sweden)

Outlook: All are at minimum, about two years away, with Pearson the lone pro. Soderblom is a 6-foot-6 sleeper.

Detroit News LOADED: 04.16.2020 1173754 Detroit Red Wings 5. Mikael Granlund, C, Nashville GP: 63 G: 17 A: 13 PT: 30

Age: 28 Red Wings could use free-agent forward with offensive ability 2019-20 cap hit: $5.75 million

The ninth pick in the 2010 draft, Granlund flourished in back-to-back By Ansar Khan seasons with the Wild (136 points combined in 2016-17 and 2017-18) but wasn’t a good fit in Nashville.

Goal-scoring was one of the myriad of issues the Detroit Red Wings 6. Craig Smith, RW, Nashville faced this season. GP: 69 G: 18 A: 13 PT: 31 They were last in the league, averaging 2.00 goals per game when the Age: 30 NHL paused its season March 12 due to the coronavirus pandemic. That’s significantly below the next lowest-scoring team (Los Angeles at 2019-20 cap hit: $4.25 million 2.53 per game). He’s a five-time 20-goal scorer who has spent his entire nine-year NHL The Red Wings have a potent top line with Dylan Larkin centering career in Nashville. The Predators might be inclined to re-sign him if Anthony Mantha and Tyler Bertuzzi but could use some help on the they’re not going to retain Granlund. second line, which as it stands today, might feature Valtteri Filppula with Robby Fabbri and Filip Zadina. 7. Erik Haula, C, Florida

Center Michael Rasmussen and winger Evgeny Svechnikov could GP: 48 G: 12 A: 12 PT: 24 provide some scoring next season after being promoted from Grand Age: 29 Rapids. 2019-20 cap hit: $2.75 million If the Red Wings win the draft lottery, they are certain to select Alexis Lafreniere with the top pick and he could provide immediate help in 2020- He has battled knee injuries the past two seasons following his breakout 21. year with Vegas in 2017-18 (29 goals, 55 points). Two-way center might need to ink one- or two-year deal and prove he can stay healthy. If not, they could use a top-six forward to help boost their offense. They would likely be seeking a second-line forward on a short-term deal. 8. Vladislav Namestnikov, RW, Colorado

Here is a look at the top 10 forwards scheduled to be unrestricted free GP: 65 G: 17 A: 14 PT: 31 agents (free agency likely will be pushed back from its normal July 1 date). Some might re-sign with their current club before the market Age: 27 opens. Some will not be interested in joining a rebuilding team like 2019-20 cap hit: $4 million Detroit. Steve Yzerman drafted him in the first round for Tampa Bay in 2011 1. Taylor Hall, C, Arizona (27th overall) and traded him to the Rangers in 2018 for Ryan GP: 65 G: 16 A: 36 PT: 52 McDonagh. Namestnikov hasn’t been able to match his career year of 2017-18 (22 goals, 48 points). Age: 28 9. Alexander Galchenyuk, LW, Minnesota 2019-20 cap hit: $6 million GP: 59 G: 8 A: 16 PT: 24 The 2018 Hart Trophy winner as league MVP isn’t coming to Detroit but will be far and away the top available free-agent forward, likely for a team Age: 26 more poised to contend for the Stanley Cup. 2019-20 cap hit: $4.9 million

2. Mike Hoffman, RW, Florida He had several productive seasons in Montreal and one in Arizona GP: 69 G: 29 A: 30 PT: 50 before regressing this season, split between Pittsburgh and Montreal. But he’s still young and could have upside. Age: 30 10. , RW, Buffalo 2019-20 cap hit: $5.187 million GP: 68 G: 8 A: 17 PT: 25 He has been a consistent scorer on some bad Ottawa and Florida teams with six consecutive seasons of 22 or more goals and 56 or more points. Age: 31 He’s also durable, not missing many games. 2019-20 cap hit: $5 million

3. Evgeni Dadonov, RW, Florida A tough, gritty winger who could crash the net and score goals, GP: 69 G: 25 A: 22 PT: 47 Simmonds hasn’t been the same since leaving Philadelphia, collecting just nine goals and 28 points in 85 games with Nashville, New Jersey Age: 31 and Buffalo. Has a lot of hard miles on him. Can he regain previous form? 2019-20 cap hit: $4 million Other notable impending unrestricted free-agent forwards: Mikkel He has averaged 27 goals and 61 points in three seasons since returning Boedker, Arizona; Derrick Brassard, Islanders; Cody Eakin, Winnipeg; from a five-year stint in the KHL, where he developed his offensive game. Tyler Ennis, Edmonton; Jesper Fast, Rangers; Sam Gagner, Detroit; 4. Tyler Toffoli, RW, Vancouver Derek Grant, Philadelphia; Mattias Janmark, Dallas; Ilya Kovalchuk, Washington; Patrick Marleau, Pittsburgh; Patrick Maroon, Tampa Bay; GP: 68 G: 24 A: 20 PT: 44 Matt Martin, Islanders; Tomas Nosek, Vegas; Corey Perry, Dallas; Ryan Reaves, Vegas; Conor Sheary, Pittsburgh; Carl Soderberg, Arizona; Age: 28 Jason Spezza, Toronto; , San Jose; Jimmy Vesey, Buffalo. 2019-20 cap hit: $4 million Michigan Live LOADED: 04.16.2020 He took a step back on a bad Kings team in 2018-19 but rebounded a bit this season before being dealt to the Canucks at the deadline, where got off to a good start (six goals, 10 points in 10 games) before the shutdown. 1173755 one of the Black Aces and we were playing L.A. in the playoffs and there was some talk I might get in.

“I went with the team to L.A., and a table of the team brass was there and From draftee to drafter, Oilers head of scouting Tyler Wright now calls said they had to talk to Don (Baizley) about signing me. So I went back to the shots the hotel room and Slats (Sather) never called. I didn’t sleep all night long, I was waiting and waiting. It was eight o’clock in the morning when Glen called and said to come down and sign the contract. I didn’t end up playing but I look back and wonder if that was strategically done. For Jim Matheson, Edmonton Journal some reason I think it was done on, uh, purpose.”

Wright ended up moving on to Pittsburgh, Columbus and Anaheim. Tyler Wright, picked 12th overall by the Edmonton Oilers in 1991, “I wound up with a very good relationship with Glen. When things weren’t enjoyed a long NHL career.Postmedia, file working out with me, he called me and said, ‘I like your character, I think As Tyler Wright prepares for his first NHL draft calling the shots for the you’re a good person and I’m going to give you a chance to move on.’ I Edmonton Oilers, he knows the scouting world is vastly different today respected that,” said Wright. “Do I wish I could have had a better career than when he went 12th over to the Oilers in 1991. in Edmonton? Absolutely. But you live and you learn and I’m reliving it all again.” That’s the day Eric Lindros went first but didn’t end up going to the ’ table because he didn’t want to play there and wound Edmonton Sun: LOADED: 04.16.2020 up getting traded to Philadelphia.

“Now I get notes (from scouts) about a kid in Siberia doing something as soon as it happens,” said Wright, who knew who Lindros was, of course, but had no idea who any of the top draft prospects were back then, especially any Europeans.

“Don Baizley was my agent and I was sitting in the stands in Buffalo on draft day beside a Swedish player I knew nothing about — , another of Don’s clients. And Peter didn’t know anything about me either,” said Wright, who was in Swift Current, a world away from Forsberg’s team in the northern town of Ornskoldsvik, Sweden.

“When Peter went sixth overall (to Philadelphia), I was thinking: ‘Holy Christmas, where did this come out of?’ And he was shocked, too,” said Wright, who became pretty good friends with Forsberg after that day because of the shared memory.

“That was when TSN was doing the draft and coming out of a commercial break I could see the red light come on and the camera was pointed, I thought, at me. I remember thinking, ‘Holy smokes I might be going to the Philly at six. I never even had an interview with them.’ Nah, it was Peter and it was the right decision,” laughed Wright.

A year later, the Hall of Famer-to-be Forsberg, Mike Ricci, Ron Hextall, Steve Duchesne, Kerry Huffman, two first-round picks and $15 million went to the Nordiques for Lindros’s rights.

Wright, a WHL junior centre who had 92 points and 157 penalty minutes in his draft year, only played 41 Oilers games but 613 in the NHL. On draft day, Wright was 18 years old and in Ryan Nugent-Hopkins’ weight class. Now, he has 19- and 21-year-old kids, older than the ones he’s interviewing. The clock turns back.

“Yeah, you relive your career a bit, whether that’s right or wrong,” he said.

Wright, now Oilers head of amateur scouting, is trying to work through COVID-19 and the cancellation of the NHL Combine in Buffalo where teams do more interviewing of the top kids with the general managers coming on board. Plus they see their fitness tests, like the VO2Max on the spin bike where players wear a heart monitor and and a mask and go as long as they can to measure the amount of oxygen utilized. Current Oiler Adam Larsson was one of the best at this test in his 2010 draft year when he went fourth overall.

“In my draft year, there was no combine. I did the VO2 test eight or nine times in the month of May for teams. I flew to New Jersey, Vancouver, New York, I was flying all over the place,” said Wright. “I was in the best shape of my life. The test didn’t bother me.

“I remember going into St. Louis and they asked me to take my suit jacket off, though, so they could look at my frame and I was dead against doing that. I was 165 or 170 pounds, not the biggest guy.”

Now Wright is interviewing draft prospects, his mind flashing back to how scared he was when Oilers general manager Glen Sather asked him questions.

“Was I intimidated? Yeah. It was the height of the Oilers, coming out of the late ’80s and they won in ’90,” said Wright. “I remember joining the Oilers for the playoffs (in ’92) and I wasn’t signed yet. I was practising as 1173756 Edmonton Oilers and that representatives of the , Toronto Maple Leafs and Vancouver Canucks support the application for membership in the NHL of these three Canadian cities.”

The Oilers overcame malice in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver to join Amusingly, the same motion came up in the Canadian senate. It was the NHL defeated, the lifetime appointees being less vulnerable to such mundane concerns as public opinion. A neutered version was eventually put forward which included the wish for the three new teams, but dropped the request that Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver support the wish. By Jonathan Willis Apr 15, 2020 (The Senate looks especially bad in hindsight on this issue. A week

before it became undeniably clear that Canadian teams were blocking The Edmonton Oilers, along with their now-defunct World Hockey the admission of more Canadian teams, B.C. senator Ray Perrault Association brethren, faced determined opposition to their joining the admonished the chamber and the public for “unfair comments” about NHL. It took lawsuits, competition over the best professionals and the Vancouver and Montreal, and indicated that his understanding was that WHA’s grimly determined raids on underage talent to convince most NHL those two teams just wanted the process to be fair for the new entrants. owners that bringing the best teams from that league into the fold was Perrault would later serve as a director for the Canucks.) the only way forward. In any event, the parliamentarians were simply indulging in the Not everyone was sold. In March 1979, a determined minority of five held prerogative of their profession, supposedly summed up by French the door against the Oilers and their peers. The holdouts included all politician Alexandre Auguste Ledru-Rollin: “There go the people. I must three existing Canadian NHL teams: the Canadiens, Maple Leafs and follow them, for I am their leader.” Canucks. With the league needing a three-quarters majority to bring in The people, not the politicians, were the real problem for the owners in WHA teams, the five holdouts managed to block a merger at the NHL’s Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. This was especially true for Montreal, board of governors meeting. owned by Molson Brewery, and thus especially vulnerable to public The opposition from those three Canadian teams was a key ingredient in pressure, with people across the country urging a boycott of Molson the hard terms imposed on the new WHA teams, terms that included products. financial penalties and the decimation of their rosters. They nearly Columns in support of the boycott appeared in newspapers. “Send them succeeded in scuttling the endeavour entirely. a message,” on the front page of the “Edmonton Journal,” was typical of The attitude was nothing new. Montreal and Toronto had long regarded the kind. Canada as their private fief. When the NHL first expanded in 1967 it “People heard about the veto, there was a large boycott of Molson bypassed Vancouver despite the city’s shiny new arena, with Montreal products,” Quebec radio host Vincent Cauchon told “The Globe and Mail” and Toronto the teams most determined to hold Canada for themselves. in 2016. “In the bars it was a real war like people can’t imagine.” Not easily dissuaded, Vancouver made a play for the struggling Golden Seals a year later. The NHL blocked the move but allowed itself to be Montreal was in the toughest spot of the three teams because they also talked into adding the Canucks in its 1970 expansion. had the most to lose. Admitting another franchise in Quebec was obviously not in their interests, and the fact that the Nordiques were If Montreal and Toronto were unhappy to allow Vancouver, the prospect owned by rival brewer Carling O’Keefe only made matters worse. Yet the of adding three new teams via a WHA merger was even worse. The pressure brought upon them by the public was intense. Canucks, nine years after their admission to the big club, were very happy to join their one-time foes in an alliance against more Canadian “Outraged fans in Winnipeg, Quebec, and Edmonton announced a teams. boycott of Molson beer after the Montreal Canadiens, owned by Molson, voted against admitting those teams,” wrote authors James Quirk and It is fair to say that none of the three anticipated the backlash they were Rodney D. Fort in their 1992 book “Pay Dirt,” on the business of to receive from a Canadian public badly underserved by the NHL. professional sports. “In Quebec City, there was a bomb threat against the The league found a perhaps surprising ally in depriving Canada of more local Molson brewery, and in Winnipeg, someone fired a bullet through hockey: the CBC. Since 1952, the public broadcaster’s “Hockey Night in the front door of the Molson brewery.” Canada” had televised NHL games nationally. When the WHA came The boycott on Molson products hurt the Canadiens but also the along, the CBC could have embraced the rebel league with its Canadian Canucks, who saw reduced concession sales at their games. Vancouver franchises; instead it concentrated on its existing relationship with the was also under internal pressure. Frank Griffiths, the team’s owner, was NHL. cornered in a secret meeting arranged by pro-merger governors and Major television money would have given the WHA more leverage in its pressured to accept a deal. talks with the NHL. The desire to keep all that TV money was a major Ultimately the public and the NHL’s pro-merger faction got their way, as reason why the Canadian teams opposed the addition of other franchises reporter Gary McCarthy explained for CBC News on April 1, 1979. in Canada. “People in Western Canada, particularly Winnipeg and Edmonton, called “I think the CBC has been certainly exposed as a puppet of the NHL,” a for boycotts of Molson products,” he said. “Newspapers carried front- disgusted Jets fan told a CBC reporter at the time. He wasn’t alone. The page editorials and even printed page one ballots, whereby people could CBC’s decision to side with the NHL was widely regarded as one of the voice their opinions on the matter. Not long after that, the Canadiens and league’s most potent weapons against the WHA teams, so much so that the Vancouver Canucks indicated that they wanted the talks reopened in it even made it to parliament. order to get a better understanding of the matter.” “That the Minister of State responsible for CBC direct the Canadian The talks were reopened, and Montreal and Vancouver duly joined the Broadcasting Corporation to either cover all professional hockey in pro-merger side, pushing it to victory. Toronto’s , Canada or to change the name of “” to “Hockey embittered by his fight over players with the WHA and choosing his Night in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver,” read an ultimately defeated customary place on the wrong side of public opinion, was the lone motion put forward by three Western Canadian members of parliament. Canadian holdout and he no longer had enough allies to stop a deal. If Canada’s public broadcaster was content to take the side of the NHL, More haggling over terms followed, and on March 30 the league put the Canada’s politicians had to be more sensitive to the people. The House agreement to a final vote. of Commons as a body wasn’t going to consent to a sulky motion aimed at the CBC and put forward by the opposition, but Liberals and “The vote again was 14-3 in favour,” reported McCarthy. “The WHA went Conservatives alike recognized the need to be on the right side of public along and the NHL then announced it would expand for the fifth time, all opinion when it came to including more Canadian teams. In a bipartisan of which proves that occasionally people do win over big business.” motion, they brought what pressure they could on Canadian NHL owners: It would be nice to leave the last word to McCarthy, but while pressure from the Canadian public proved decisive, it wasn’t enough for an “That the House make known its wish that the cities of Edmonton, unconditional victory. The WHA teams had to join the NHL by way of an Winnipeg and Quebec be allowed to join the National Hockey League expansion draft, one in which other teams were allowed to plunder their rosters with the exception of a handful of protected players. They had to pay expansion fees, and they also had to make cash payouts to the other WHA owners who wouldn’t be joining them in the majors.

The public may have forced Montreal and Vancouver to welcome their WHA rivals, but they couldn’t set the terms of that welcome, and along with Toronto the NHL’s three Canadian teams managed to push through one last outrage against the Oilers, Jets and Nordiques.

“The change of heart had a lot to do with a last-minute condition that league president John Ziegler imposed on the incoming Canadian clubs,” wrote Jonathon Gatehouse in his Gary Bettman biography, “The Instigator.” “Part of the price of entry would be the surrender of their TV rights to three other Molson-backed franchises for a period of five years for zero compensation. The WHA teams were given the limited capacity to show their games on home turf, but Hockey Night in Canada had the power to take them away at any time and put them on the English or French CBC—where the only beer commercials would be for Molson brands.”

Despite their best efforts, Canada’s three NHL teams couldn’t quite keep the rest of Canada out of the major leagues. They had to settle for taking a big cash payment, an additionally huge chunk of TV money, and obliterating the rosters of the new Canadian teams. It was a steep price to pay at the time, and its debatable today whether the owners of those WHA teams as a group really benefited personally from the decision.

Fans in Edmonton certainly did. Quebec’s NHL dreams flashed out and are currently unfulfilled and Winnipeg had to endure a long interregnum before the Jets 2.0 came to the city, but Albertans have been able to watch local NHL hockey ever since.

The Athletic LOADED: 04.16.2020 1173757 Edmonton Oilers That Plante got a cushy deal from Hunter probably sweetened the case. “I don’t know if it was a condition of his contract, but he played mostly

home games and didn’t travel all the time,” Hamilton said. Remembering Jacques Plante’s brief tenure with the Oilers at age 45 “He got this wonderful deal. He played when he wanted to play. He got paid very good money,” Short said.

By Daniel Nugent-Bowman Apr 15, 2020 The Oilers opened the season on the road with games in Winnipeg, Vancouver, Cleveland and Indianapolis. Plante was held out.

It wasn’t until the Coliseum opened on Nov. 10 that Plante made his Oilers defenceman Al Hamilton wasn’t exactly filled with good vibes when Oilers debut. He backstopped them to a 4-1 victory over the Cleveland he first heard his team had signed 45-year-old goaltender Jacques Crusaders. Plante to a contract. League records indicate Plante made 13 appearances before the new Skepticism might be a better way to sum it up. year. Just one, an 8-2 win against the Toronto Toros when he shared the net with Ken Brown, came outside of Edmonton. “Are we grasping at straws here?” the captain wondered. He played in 31 games that season and only eight of them happened in Plante, an innovator who popularized the facemask and was one of the opposition buildings, leaving Brown and Chris Worthy as the road greatest netminders of all time, performed adequately. There were few warriors. issues as he showed the occasional flash of his once-exceptional form. “If I was the other goalie and he was doing that, and I only played road But in other ways, Hamilton’s initial concerns proved entirely correct. games, I would have been ready to kill him,” Hamilton said, laughing. The Athletic is looking back at some of the bizarre sports stories over the “We were beside ourselves. We thought, ‘What the hell is this?’ years. Plante’s last professional season spent with the World Hockey “He still played pretty darn good, so you couldn’t say too much about it.” Association–edition Oilers ranks up there – at least in terms of the Northern Alberta franchise’s near-half century of existence. Perhaps Plante, who turned 46 that January, was wise beyond his years. The Oilers were no longer flying commercially, Hamilton said, but their A return to action after a year away. A sweetheart deal. An odd exclusive mode of transportation arguably made getting around worse. teammate who was gone from Alberta’s capital in a flash. “It was a prop plane. You could have gone to Europe faster than we Plante’s brief tenure with Oilers, the 1974-75 campaign, sure was full of couldn’t get to Quebec,” he said. “You had to refuel halfway. It wasn’t a quirks. nice luxury jet, I’ll tell you that.” The tale begins with one of hockey’s most colourful characters, Bill Plante kept travelling to a minimum, which helped him save his energy Hunter. for the home crowds. Hunter, the founder and owner of the Oilers, was known for going against Ken Hitchcock, Edmonton’s bench boss for 62 games last season, had the grain. Bar him from the NHL, will you? Well, he’ll help start another just started coaching midget teams in the city. He attended roughly two- pro league as he did with the WHA. thirds of Edmonton’s 36 home games whenever he wasn’t busy with his You’d be hard pressed to find a promotion he couldn’t get behind or an club team. idea that was too small. He said it was always a treat to watch the former Canadiens “icon,” a He was “a man who once called a news conference to announce he’d be Hart Trophy and seven-time Vezina winner, in the Edmonton net. holding an even bigger and better news conference the next day,” the “I couldn’t believe how good he was for his age,” Hitchcock said. “I Saskatoon StarPhoenix’s Kevin Mitchell once wrote. “He charged couldn’t believe how quick he was, how agile he was. What surprised through life with bluster and charm, smoke and mirrors, razzle and everybody is he didn’t look like a 45-year-old guy.” dazzle.” As Hitchcock explains, there were times when Plante was solid in Mitchell’s article was about the time Hunter bought the St. Louis Blues in between the pipes. 1983 – long after he’d sold the Oilers – and tried to move them to Saskatoon. The deal was decisively overturned by the NHL’s board of Most of Plante’s peers were stand-up goaltenders, but he was a governors. “pioneer,” Hamilton said.

He used his time in Edmonton as the genesis for his kooky ploys. “He was very scientific about his positioning,” he said. “He was very, very sound technically. But he could still play. There was no doubt about that. “Bill was the all-time promoter,” said Hamilton, an original Oiler whose You couldn’t argue with that. I didn’t have any complaints.” No. 3 is retired by the franchise. “He was always scheming something up and dreaming big. When Plante was tough to beat when he was on his game.

Even the fact that Edmonton got into the WHA as one of the first teams in “He’d get the angle and you had to beat him,” Short said. “You couldn’t and that he would have the audacity to go against the NHL and start a just fire the puck at him. He didn’t look like he was guessing the way so new league was mind-boggling, really. He had a dream and followed many of the reflex goaltenders had shown us all through history. He through.” seemed to have a book, very quickly, on everybody he saw.”

Getting Plante in 1974 was one of Hunter’s biggest publicity moves Part of the problem, however, was that the Oilers were a middling team. during his days running the Oilers, Hamilton said. Hunter replaced Brian Shaw for the final 19 games and the team won just The Oilers were scheduled to move into Coliseum from six times. Edmonton finished 36-38-4 and missed the playoffs. Edmonton Gardens that November and Hunter wanted a star attraction. Plante was his guy. Plante’s numbers suffered as a result. He posted a 15-14-1 record with a respectable 3.32 goals-against average and .890 save percentage. Plante spent the 1972-73 NHL season with the Maple Leafs and Bruins Plante finished eighth and 15th in the respective categories among and then moved on to coach the WHA’s Quebec Nordiques. He was only goalies with at least 25 appearances. through one season of a 10-year, $1-million contract when he quit, frustrated over the team’s performance even though their record was 38- Oddly enough, Brown and Worthy posted better save percentages. Some 36-4. felt his Canadiens days were well in the rear-view mirror.

Hunter stepped up and lured him back to the ice. “He played well enough. He wasn’t Jacques Plante,” Short said. “If you believed he was (once) the greatest in the world, there was not even a “Bill Hunter was the architect,” said veteran journalist John Short, then a shadow of that. Canadian Press reporter. “How he got here – the kind of buttons that Bill Hunter pushed, the favours that he called in – I have no idea.” “People who were true Jacques Plante fans weren’t necessarily going to be pleased with what they saw. The league was not the same. And he was not the same.”

He wasn’t the easiest guy to get along with either – whether you were holding a notepad and pen or wearing an Oilers sweater.

Hamilton said he got along fine with Plante, but the goaltender often did something he loathed.

“He was notorious for pointing out if you messed things up in front of him,” Hamilton said. “If they happened to score, he liked to point his stick at you to let everybody know.”

Hamilton didn’t think that was appropriate. Eventually he grew tired of it and, he said, told Plante what he’d do with his stick if he did that again.

You never knew what you were going to get with Plante in the dressing room.

“Jacques was a moody man,” Short said. “He could charm the birds right out of the trees, but he didn’t bother to do that very often.”

“He was a different guy,” Hamilton said. “The myth was that he knitted his own underwear and socks. I’m not sure if that was a myth or not. He never brought his knitting needles to practice. He stuck to himself pretty well.”

Plante sat out the final four games of the season even though three of them were at home. When the season ended, he was headed back to Quebec before anyone knew it.

“He didn’t really say goodbye to anybody,” Hamilton said. “He went and rented a U-Haul trailer, threw his stuff that he brought out – he had his own suite downtown – and left.”

Plante did return to Edmonton the next fall with the intention of playing another season for the Oilers. Those plans were quashed when his youngest son died. He retired for good.

Plante was inducted into the in 1978 and succumbed to terminal stomach cancer in 1986 while he was living in Switzerland.

In the grand scheme of things, his one season in Edmonton barely registers on his amazing career resume. But what an odd season it was.

“A total character,” Hamilton said. “He was just an eccentric guy who had his own way of doing things.”

The Athletic LOADED: 04.16.2020 1173758 Minnesota Wild One such option could be continuing to play in his native Finland instead of the NHL, a route Koivu said he’d evaluate.

“If you still feel that you have the fire and you have the motivation to still Wild captain Mikko Koivu, with contract expiring, uncertain about future come back and play, yeah, for sure, I’ve thought about it,” he said. “I’m sure every player if you are from other countries and you’re from Europe The 37-year-old center is the team's leader in most offensive categories or whatever, you think about it. So, that is an option, for sure.” after playing in 1,000 games. Still, whichever direction Koivu pursues is up in the air until a verdict on the NHL’s current season is reached. And despite talk of how the pro sports leagues could reopen continuing to seep into the national By Sarah McLellan Star Tribune APRIL 15, 2020 — 9:30PM conversation, Koivu isn’t sure how likely that is.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I think there’s day that you get more optimistic Wild captain Mikko Koivu isn’t just waiting to see if the NHL season will about it and you get more confidence that we’ll get back on the ice. And resume. then there’s other days that it doesn’t seem like it’s going to happen.”

He’s also in a holding pattern when it comes to his career. Neutral-site games have gained more attention as one way to bring back hockey. In Koivu’s eyes, it doesn’t matter where the NHL plays as long “I’m trying to think about it all and think about what’s best for me,” Koivu as fans are in attendance. said. “It would be very strange,” he said of returning in empty arenas. “There’s When the league came to a sudden stop last month during the no question about it. Even if you go to the playoffs or even a regular- coronavirus pandemic, every player was put on hiatus, but the season game, fans are a huge part of the game and I think that’s one of ramifications of the timeout weren’t the same across the board. the biggest reasons why you play the game. You get to be in front of fans.” For a 37-year-old veteran like Koivu nearing the end of his contract, he was faced with the possibility he’d already played his last NHL game Eager to go while also being confronted with the return vs. retire debate — a unique position the 15-year veteran has been contemplating during this lull. If the season is salvaged, Koivu believes the teams that can find a groove quickly will be set up for success. Even though the Wild had that “I don’t think I have a clear answer for you on any of those [questions],” rhythm before the break, winning eight of its previous 11 games, Koivu Koivu said Wednesday during a video conference call. “[I’m] just trying to said the team would have to rediscover it. stay in the moment as much as I can. If [I said] I haven’t thought about all the options, I’d be lying. I think obviously [I’m] thinking about a lot of “You have to create the momentum again,” explained the sixth overall things and a lot of the options for what the future will hold. pick in 2001, who had four goals and 17 assists through 55 games.

“But as of right now, I guess I’m in a boat like any other player that is Just recently, Koivu was chatting with former teammate Brian Rolston trying to wait for the league to make a decision if we’re going to restart and reflecting on how the season went for the Wild: a slow start before the season and when that would be and if not then obviously trying to the second-half turnaround. He felt based on the team’s experience, the figure out what to do with the future and then go from there.” group’s health and if it could sustain the level of play it was at going into the playoffs, “anything can happen,” Koivu said, “and I think that’s Throughout the season, Koivu shied away from publicly disclosing his something we were looking forward [to].” plans beyond 2019-20. That possibility has been shelved for the time being, and Koivu’s future Now, with players scattered and under direction from the NHL to self- has become overrun with unknowns. quarantine through the end of April, the different scenarios have been on his mind. But as he awaits clarity, his perspective has extended beyond his own reality. The process of figuring out his next move will depend on a host of factors like whether he still enjoys the game (“I still do,” he said), being physically “When you look at the news and you look around the world, how this at the level he wants to compete at, and if he’s mentally prepared. affects people and all that,” Koivu said, “I think there are far more important things than hockey right now.” “Every single question that you can think of I think as a player you have to do it and kind of go through that, what’s the best thing for you to do, Star Tribune LOADED: 04.16.2020 and I’m sure the decision will come,” said Koivu, who’s currently in Minnesota. “You kind of start to get the feeling what’s right, but I don’t think the time is right now. As I said, I think you still gotta wait what happens first and I don’t think it’s even possible before that.”

Starry numbers

After spending his entire NHL career to date with the Wild, Koivu is the franchise leader in numerous categories — including games played (1,028), assists (504), points (709), plus-minus (plus-70), shots (2,270) and faceoff wins (10,354).

Earlier this season, he became the 55th player in NHL history to play his first 1,000 games with the same team.

Before the trade deadline in February, Koivu told Wild management he wouldn’t waive the no-movement clause in his two-year, $11 million contract to potentially facilitate a trade elsewhere — citing his tenure with the Wild as what he valued most.

And when he mulls the next major crossroads of his career, that history will again be a consideration of his.

“Of course,” Koivu said. “If it didn’t, I think it would be wrong; I would be lying. Like we talked about before the deadline there, it’s something that for sure matters to me and the team and the organization. There’s options, and you just got to do whatever you feel is the right thing to do for yourself.”

Staying home? 1173759 Minnesota Wild “Whatever the future will hold on that, I don’t know that as of right now,” Koivu said. “I’ve thought about it. I’m sure every player, if they are from other countries, or they are from Europe or whatever, they think about it. That is an option, for sure.” Has veteran captain Mikko Koivu played his last game for the Wild? Pioneer Press LOADED: 04.16.2020

By DANE MIZUTANI | PUBLISHED: April 15, 2020 at 1:45 p.m. | UPDATED: April 15, 2020 at 8:35 p.m.

Looking back on it now, perhaps it’s fitting that the hockey world came to a screeching halt the day Mikko Koivu turned 37 years old.

That way, if this is truly the end, the longtime Wild captain will always have an impossible-to-forget point of reference for when the curtain unofficially closed on his illustrious hockey career in the Twin Cities .

“I guess I didn’t think about it when it happened,” Koivu said Wednesday during a 30-minute chat with reporters via Zoom. “I’ll remember that day for sure.”

Like most players, Koivu has simply been trying to fill the days since the NHL suspended the 2019-20 season on March 12 as a way to slow the spread of COVID-19.

He goes back and forth on whether he thinks play will resume this season. There are some days when he’s optimistic that the Wild will get a chance to chase down the final playoff spot in the Western Conference, and other days when the logistics make a return seem almost unimaginable.

“As players we’re in the same boat as (everyone),” said Koivu, who hasn’t skated in more than a month “There are so many questions right now that it’s impossible to give an answer on (about whether) we’re going to be back or not.”

He’s been going through similar mental gymnastics as he contemplates his future.

It’s no secret that Koivu is in the twilight of his career — he is in his 15th season in the NHL, with all 1,028 games played for the Wild — and that he can’t see himself wearing anything but a Wild sweater. He made that clear a couple of months ago when he decided not to waive his no-move clause at the trade deadline.

What does that mean for Koivu if the 2019-20 season doesn’t resume? He’s still trying to figure that out.

“I don’t think I have a clear answer” about that, he said, admitting that thoughts of retirement have cross his mind over the past month. ” If (I said) I haven’t thought about all the options, I’d be lying.”

Originally drafted by the Wild with No. 6 pick in the 2001 draft, to say Koivu has become synonymous with Twin Cities hockey over the past couple of decades would be putting it lightly. He is the franchise’s all-time leading scorer by a wide margin with 709 points (205 goals, 504 assists), and it will be quite some time before anyone comes close to approaching his 1,028 games played.

That said, Koivu spent most of this season in the bottom half of the lineup, and with his contract expiring after this season, it might make sense to ride off into the sunset.

“There’s so much that goes into it that,” he said. “You have to look at everything.”

Most importantly, Koivu said he still loves to play the game, hinting that if that passion were ever to go away, he would immediately hang up the skates. He’s trying to balance that with the physical demands the game puts on his body night in and night out, and the mental strain that comes with playing through 82-game season.

“You kind of start to get the feeling what’s right, but I don’t think the time is right now,” Koivu said. “You still have to wait (to see) what happens first, and I don’t think it’s even possible (to make a decision) before that.”

He also wouldn’t rule out the possibility of returning to his native Finland to finish out his career. He wants to stay around the game in some capacity and said he would consider it if he felt he could “still give something” whether it’s playing, coaching, managing or in some other role. 1173760 Minnesota Wild “You feel bad for him if this is not going to happen or that’s the way it’s got to end. That’s got to be brutal.”

Not a shock, but if Koivu is devastated by the possibility of this being it, Is this it for Mikko Koivu? With season in limbo, Wild captain talks future he certainly wasn’t letting that out in the open Wednesday.

He said there are days he’s optimistic the league can find a way to continue this summer and there are days “that it doesn’t seem like it’s By Michael Russo Apr 15, 2020 going to happen.”

So, regarding his future with the Wild, he said, “I don’t think I have a clear answer for you. I think for myself just trying to stay in the moment as There are too many we-don’t-know factors in this impossible-to-predict much as I can. If (I said) I haven’t thought about all the options, I’d be world right now, so it came as no shock Wednesday that Wild lifer Mikko lying. I think obviously thinking about a lot of things and a lot of the Koivu, the first full-time captain in Wild history, couldn’t provide a “clear options for what the future will hold. But as of right now — and I guess answer” as to what his NHL and hockey-playing future may entail. I’m in a boat like any other player that is trying to wait for the league to But Koivu said he’d be lying if he hadn’t thought that this COVID-19- make a decision if we’re going to restart the season and when that would induced NHL stoppage could theoretically be the end of not only his 15- be, and if not then obviously trying to figure out what to do with the future year Wild career but his 15-year NHL-playing career. and then go from there.”

Just like back in February when he declined to waive his no-move clause Koivu turned 37 on March 12. He joked he will always remember that in advance of the trade deadline because he couldn’t envision himself birthday because it’s the day the NHL suspended its season on a day the wearing another NHL team’s jersey, Koivu insinuated again that would playoff-pushing Wild were prepping for a big game against the Vegas probably still be the case if this season is canceled and he becomes a Golden Knights four days after an exciting overtime victory in Anaheim. free agent once the offseason officially begins. “Hopefully Anaheim’s not his last game,” goalie Alex Stalock recently But Koivu, who unlike the Wild’s other European players has decided to said on Straight From The Source. so far stay in Minnesota, mentioned several times on a Zoom video It was a down year for Koivu, but he did have some terrific moments. conference with reporters Wednesday that he expects to have “options.” He capped his 1,000th game way back in November against the Dallas Michael Russo Stars with the shootout-deciding goal. After Stalock made the final save, ✔ many of Koivu’s teammates mobbed him on the bench. After making sure he could not get traded at the deadline, Koivu played stress-free, @RussoHockey like a giant pall was lifted from over his head. He scored two goals in the first game after the deadline, then assisted on two goals the game after #mnwild captain Mikko Koivu, the Wild’s all-time leader in games, points that. and several other categories and with an expiring contract, doing a video chat with Wild reporters NHL Public Relations

View image on Twitter ✔

56 @PR_NHL

11:02 AM - Apr 15, 2020 Mikko Koivu capped a day of milestones by scoring the shootout winner as the @mnwild extended their point streak to nine games (6-0-3). Twitter Ads info and privacy #NHLStats See Michael Russo's other Tweets Embedded video For the first time, Koivu acknowledged that he may consider finishing his 719 career in his native Finland like many Europeans have done in the past once they call it quits in the NHL. 6:48 PM - Dec 1, 2019

“I think it’s something that you think about,” Koivu said when asked if he’d Twitter Ads info and privacy consider riding off in the sunset by signing to play in Finland, even potentially for his hometown and original SM- team, TPS Turku. 105 people are talking about this “There’s so many questions and so many views that you want to look at. Koivu, who debuted in 2005-06 after being drafted sixth overall in 2001, Talking to ex-players and talking to even athletes from other sports, I ranks first or second in virtually every statistical category in Wild history. think as long as you feel that you can still give something, either if it’s playing or later on coaching or being in management or whatever that is, He ranks first with 1,028 games, 504 assists, 709 points, a plus-70, 2,270 I think I always, as of right now, want to stay involved with the game and shots, 191 power-play assists, 251 power-play points, 15 shorthanded trying to find your place on that. assists, 25 shorthanded points, 25,769 shifts, 19,718:08 total minutes of ice time, 42 shootout goals, 10,354 faceoff wins, 19,290 faceoffs taken, “Whatever the future will hold on that, I don’t know that as of right now. 53.7 percent from the faceoff circle, 153 multi-point games, 298 even- Even playing-wise, if you still feel that you have the fire and you have the strength assists and 433 even-strength points. motivation to still come back and play, yeah, for sure, I’ve thought about it. I’m sure every player, if you are from other countries and you’re from He’s tied for first with five overtime goals and ranks second with 205 Europe, you think about it. So that is an option, for sure.” goals, 592 penalty minutes, 60 power-play goals, 33 game-winning goals, 10 shorthanded goals and 135 even-strength goals. According to the Elias Sports Bureau’s Bob Waterman, 38 players in NHL history have played 1,000 or more games all for one franchise. Nine Like all NHLers, Koivu has been self-quarantining and doing his best to of those players, including Koivu, are active. stay in shape under awkward circumstances. Like all players, he’s not able to skate. And while he’s working out, it’s not like the normal regimen But even if the Wild’s all-time scoring leader wants to continue his career he’d be under if this was the offseason. in Minnesota, it would be surprising if the Wild extended Koivu a contract offer as they look to get younger and free up roster spots. So, if the So he does wonder how hard it would be for everybody to get into game NHL’s season doesn’t resume this summer, this could very well be the shape if the season resumes. After all, he notes, NHLers usually skate way Koivu’s long Wild career ends. for more than a month leading into a normal training camp.

That would be a shame, teammate recently said on The And he’d hate to think what it would be like if the NHL does resume Athletic’s Straight From The Source podcast. without fans in the stands. He says playing in front of fans is why players play, quite frankly, but as pros, they’d make the best of a weird, “If in his mind he had planned on retiring, (he’d want to) at least go out on challenging situation. his own terms and you know it’s going to be your last game,” Parise said. “I’m more just waiting right now to see if the season is going to still be on or if it’s not,” Koivu said.

He’s also trying to keep perspective.

“We’re talking about hockey and we’re talking about our season and how it ended, yeah, of course, it’s disappointing, but I think when you look at the news and you look around the world and how this affects people, I think there are far more important things than hockey right now,” he said.

So, Koivu, like all his teammates, will continue to be patient and wait.

And once a decision is made by the NHL, that’s when he may have to determine his future in Minnesota and beyond.

“It’s a lot of unknown questions and things like that,” Koivu said. “… I try to do my part as good as I can with everything going on and hopefully we can get back to close to normal as soon as we can, just even around the normal day life. I think after that it’s time to worry about hockey.

“When it comes to this age, I think there’s so much that goes into (making a decision about my future). You’ve got to look at everything and every view, I guess. To me or anybody, I think you’ve got to enjoy the game, and I still do. But also physically, you’ve got to be at a level you want to be, and mentally, that’s probably the biggest part of it that you’ve got to be ready to deal with.

“So I think there’s every single question that you can think of, I think as a player you have to go through that, what’s the best thing for you to do. I’m sure the decision will come and you kind of start to get the feeling what’s right. But I don’t think the time is right now. I think you still got to wait what happens first and I don’t think it’s even possible before that.”

The Athletic LOADED: 04.16.2020 1173761 Nashville Predators

Predators sign defenseman Alexandre Carrier to 3-year deal

Paul Skrbina,Nashville Tennessean Published 12:36 p.m. CT April 15, 2020 | Updated 1:04 p.m. CT April 15, 2020

The Predators signed defenseman Alexandre Carrier to a three-year contract Wednesday.

The two-way deal is worth $700,000 at the NHL level the first year and $125,000 in the AHL. Those numbers go up to $750,000 and $175,000 the second year and $750,000 and $200,000 the third year.

The 23-year-old has played in just five NHL games for the Predators. In 55 games with Milwaukee of the AHL this season he matched his numbers from last season (five goals, 32 assists) when he played 76 games.

His 32 assists lead the Admirals and his 37 points rank first among the team's defensemen.

Carrier was picked by the Predators in the fourth round of the 2015 draft and made his NHL debut on Jan. 17, 2017.

He has 20 goals and 121 assists in 276 career AHL games and was named an All-Star in 2016-17 and 2019-20.

Tennessean LOADED: 04.16.2020 1173762 Nashville Predators

Predators' Roman Josi has no plans to shave beard, but won't get to Ryan Ellis territory

Paul Skrbina, Nashville Tennessean Published 5:00 a.m. CT April 15, 2020

The NHL isn't in the midst of the playoffs, like it would have been had the COVID-19 pandemic not put the season on indefinite hold.

That hasn't stopped Predators captain Roman Josi from working in earnest on his playoff beard.

Josi, whom teammate Pekka Rinne referred to as a "pretty boy" earlier this season, said he has no plans to enter Ryan Ellis beard territory. He also has no plans to trim it anytime soon.

"I'm going to shave eventually, probably," Josi said Monday during a video conference call. "I don't want to go as long as Ellis, but for now I'm keeping it."

Rinne's "pretty boy" chirp came after Josi engaged in the second fight of his career in October against Vegas' Mark Stone.

Josi rarely loses his cool — and rarely as a hair out of place — but he's not above some choice words for an or an opponent when he thinks the situation calls for it.

He, like a lot of others, misses going to work every day.

He's not sure when he'll be able to, or whether fans will be allowed in arenas when he does.

"It would definitely be different," Josi said. "It's something we haven't done since we were little. Right now there's so much up in the air. The safety and the health of everyone is first right now, so it's hard to say how it's going to be if we're going to play. There's so much uncertainty."

One thing Josi said he hasn't been thinking much about is whether he deserves to become the first Norris Trophy winner in franchise history. His 16 goals and 49 assists are career highs, and he's been in the conversation as a front-runner for the award.

"That's not really up to me," he said when asked how strong his case is. "There's so many great defensemen in this league.

"I would be lying if I said winning the Norris Trophy wasn't a dream of mine. ... Hockey is pretty far away right now."

Josi, who has made a couple of donations as part of the $2.7 million the franchise plans to distribute for tornado and coronavirus relief, has been keeping busy.

You got it ..What we playing for? https://t.co/MpnNV4Y0Ke

— Anthony Bitetto (@ABitetto7) April 3, 2020

He said he built a small gym in his garage. He's been reading books in the afternoons. He's been spending a lot of time walking his dogs. He's killed some hours by playing former teammate Anthony Bitetto in a seven-game series of NHL 20 on XBox. He lost 4-3 after holding a 3-1 series advantage.

He's also been trying to keep in touch with teammates as much as possible through text and FaceTime.

"You can't really hang out so there's not anything to do as a team," Josi said. "Just staying in touch with the guys, seeing how everybody's doing, that's really the only thing you can do right now."

Josi said he agreed with teammate , who said last week players would need three weeks to get back into game shape.

The first priority, he said, is everyone's safety.

"If there's one thing we've learned during this coronavirus it's the health of the people is the most important thing," he said.

If and when the season returns, Josi's beard will be ready.

Tennessean LOADED: 04.16.2020 1173763 Nashville Predators “I don’t want to turn this into the admiration society for Philip but he has been great since he has been here,” Hunt said.

Tomasino has always been defined by his skill. The results speak to that. The Gifted: Why Philip Tomasino is the puck-dominant carrier the Tomasino was one of four players in the OHL this season to eclipse 100 Predators need points before the season ended prematurely.

“He’s an elite player in our league and all of that credit goes to him and the work Niagara did in developing him. He’s everything you want a guy By Scott Wheeler Apr 15, 2020 to embody, Philip does that. He’s an offensive dynamo, he takes great care of himself, his preparations are top notch, so he has been an

incredible addition to our team and I couldn’t be happier,” Hunt said. In hockey, as in life, there are archetypes built on hyperbole and In the context of “The Gifted” and this piece, I was more interested in the buzzwords that are designed to fit every player into a predefined box. specifics of what Hunt liked about Tomasino. I wanted to know if what I’d Scouts and evaluators often fall prey to lazily characterizing young seen in the player this year (a puck-dominant carrier who is built to play a prospects in this way: the power forward, the two-way center, the one- modern, line-driving game) was shared. And the more I talked to people, dimensional scorer, the stay-at-home defenseman. But sometimes, just the more it became evident that it was. sometimes, there’s a player who is so different from everyone else in approach or ability that he is able to distinguish himself through his “I think he’s got deceptive speed but I think he’s got a real knack at being uniqueness. These players have turned one skill into the body of their able to do stuff at the end of his stick,” Hunt said. “Like he can grab the game and highlight all of the different ways hockey can be played at the puck when it’s almost out of reach and flip the puck behind them, he can highest levels. “The Gifted” is a 10-part series that examines, through get backhand shots away from his arms being almost fully extended. video, the NHL’s most fascinating prospects and the unique skill sets that That’s one thing that has stuck out to me. He’s got an ability at the end of define them. By popular demand, “The Gifted” is back for a fourth year at his reach to make plays.” The Athletic. It runs every Wednesday from April 8 to June 10. Intrigued by my shared takeaways with Hunt (particularly regarding the The Gifted (2017 series): Part 1: Carl Grundstrom | Part 2: Jordan Kyrou | way Tomasino holds his stick), I turned to Generals skills coach Anthony Part 3: Vitaly Abramov | Part 4: Juuso Valimaki | Part 5: Vili Saarijarvi | Cornacchia with some specific follow-up question. Cornacchia has known Part 6: Filip Chlapik | Part 7: Travis Sanheim | Part 8: Timo Meier| Part 9: Tomasino since the summer of 2015 when Generals owner and Kirill Kaprizov | Part 10: Elias Pettersson president Rocco Tullio put together a minor hockey all-star team of sorts that featured Tomasino, top 2020 prospect Cole Perfetti, and Tullio’s son The Gifted (2018 series): Part 1: Miro Heiskanen | Part 2: Casey Ty. After Tullio and Hunt acquired Tomasino, Cornacchia also got to work Mittelstadt| Part 3: Dylan Strome | Part 4: Oliver Wahlstrom | Part 5: closely with him once more, this time in the weekly Tuesday skills Gabe Vilardi | Part 6: Adam Boqvist | Part 7: Evan Bouchard | Part 8: sessions he ran with the Generals. Kristian Vesalainen |Part 9: Jonathan Dahlen | Part 10: Morgan Frost Together, Tomasino and Cornacchia spent a lot of time fine-tuning and The Gifted (2019 series): Part 1: Cale Makar | Part 2: Nick Robertson | perfecting some of those skills. Part 3: Jason Robertson | Part 4: Aleksi Heponiemi | Part 5: Adam Fox | Part 6: Dante Fabbro | Part 7: Emil Bemstrom | Part 8: Cody Glass | Part “He is by far one of the best puck carriers in the game,” Cornacchia said. 9: Martin Necas | Part 10: Bode Wilde “He’s fearless with the puck, just the ability to control it and dagger it right The Gifted (2020 series): Part 1: Jonatan Berggren | Part 2: Philip through the heart. We talk about entering the zone through the dots and Tomasino | Part 3: Mikhail Abramov | Part 4: Thomas Harley | Part 5: he does that and he’s willing to pay the price. He’s got such a confidence Robin Salo | Part 6: Raphael Lavoie | Part 7: Alex Newhook | Part 8: with the puck and a unique approach to it with the way he keeps his Bobby Brink | Part 9: Samuel Poulin | Part 10: Patrik Puistola hands into his body and his arms in close.”

In the lead-up to this year’s iteration of the series, I wanted to dig in on a Again, Cornacchia talked about those hands. couple of things I’ve seen in Tomasino’s game with people who’ve worked with him. “He’s just so deceptive in terms of you don’t know if he’s coming in strong at you, he’s going to pull a little toe drag, he’s going to go inside-out, or The first, was the high grip he almost always has on his stick, which can he’s going to use his wrist shot or his snap shot on you,” Cornacchia be an asset for puck carriers, as I explained in my evaluation of Johnny said. “A lot of that is his vision and the way he understands and sees the Gaudreau’s unique puck skill two years ago. ice. I would use the term fearless. That’s a big thing for me. The confidence he has with the puck control is second to none and The second, was more about approach and execution than it was about confidence is huge in anything.” the tools. We all know he’s a great skater and handler, but the way he goes about using those skills make him a modern, line-driving, puck- In this analysis, I hope to detail exactly what some of the skills Hunt and dominant carrier. Cornacchia touched on look like in game situations, as well as how Tomasino has made that on-ice role I talked about work for him. In today’s game, there are complementary players — those who excel by playing to the strengths of their linemates or operate best in give-and-go There are two obvious skills that every primary carrier on a line needs to roles where they don’t have to have a lot of touches. The Predators have excel (I’ll get to the less obvious ones later). They are: had a lot of those players over the years, particularly up front where their roster construction has tended to skew away from stars toward a more The stick handling ability needed to operate in traffic. Puck carriers draw well-bounced group of forwards. attention and they need to be able to operate in tight spaces. There are primary carriers on many lines in the NHL who can play the north-south But then there are players who require a lot of touches — whose primary game and push up the wall with power and the puck in front of them to role on the ice is top be the one that draws attention, the one that gets create exits and entries but many of those players don’t maximize their the puck and carries it to manufacture offence. And the Predators have role because they can’t make the small area plays they need to once traditionally lacked that kind of player (and still do to a certain extent). they get to the offensive zone. The best players can do both.

When I decided I was going to use Tomasino as my case study in that The skating needed to escape all of that pressure and attention. And second kind of player, I spoke with Oshawa general manager Roger when I talk about skating in this sense, I’m talking more about the ability Hunt, who, before the season was cancelled, traded nine picks (yes, to change directions with footwork or cut on both inside and outside nine) for what might be 26 games of Tomasino. edges (top speed is less important for these kinds of players). Having puck skill is one thing. But if you’re slow, your feet are heavy, or you can’t Hunt had the usual high praise for Tomasino. He’d watched him play turn on a dime, you’ll have to beat the same player with the puck two or since his OHL draft year as 15-year-old and though he knew at the time three times, instead of just once. Tomasino would be gone before the Generals picked (Tomasino was selected fifth and the Genarls ended up picking 15th), Hunt was The more I’ve watched Tomasino over the last few years, the more impressed by how polite, mature, professional and humble Tomasino convinced I’ve become that he has all of the tools needed to thrive on was. After the trade, those old takeaways were reaffirmed for Hunt. both fronts. This sequence is a perfect example of that: When he enters, he drives through the middle and stays there. Watch below, after Tomasino draws some attention and makes a lateral play At first glance, it’s a bad-angle shot that’s rarely going in. But there’s so from the middle of the ice, the way he jumps past the defenders and then much at play there that speaks to the kind of skills I’m talking about. lingers there before eventually getting the puck back and scoring from There’s the puck handling, in two instances. The first, is that outstretched the slot on a play that he started: playmaking that Hunt and Cornacchia talked about. After reaching for the Again and again, that’s how he attacks. One way or another, he looks to puck behind the net, Tomasino pulls it back into his body and, in a split take the puck to the middle. second, off the boards to himself with just the right amount of touch. The second bit of puck skill is the ability he shows, once under pressure, to Here is on, off of the left wing this time, taking the puck from the protect the puck on his forehand in his feet, with pressure on his back. defensive zone to the offensive zone as a carrier before cutting to the middle. Even after he loses control, the puck has now travelled across Then there’s the footwork. If you watch it a second time, pay close three zones and he’s in a good position to make a play. This time, attention to how Tomasino opens up his stances, splays his feet, and instead of scoring, he sets up a goal with a nice low-to-high pass: pushes with his right foot while steering with his left to change directions and curl to the front of the net. Most other players get pushed into a 50- Even on the power play where, outside of the bumper, most players tend 50 board battle and likely lose it because they’re outnumbered. to drift to the outside to get open (Tomasino is no exception), you start to see the subtle ways his handling and his approach can both impact a Succeeding as a puck-dominant player isn’t just about escaping pressure play and help him break teams down. either, though. It’s also about that fearlessness Cornacchia talked about. Because you have to be able to go at pressure too. And that’s a hallmark At the start of this sequence, for example, it’s Tomasino who carries to of Tomasino’s game. the middle before dropping it to a teammate (the approach). But it’s also Tomasino’s hands that draw in two defenders from the flank at the end of He’s not shy. He comes in waves and he’s got the handling to control into the sequence. Watch, after he receives the high-to-low pass from the traffic and the skating to cut into it. Here, those skills come together to point, the way Tomasino shades to the net like he’s going to shoot, pulls create a goal from the high slot (he does a nice job receiving the puck on the defenders in, and then gives the puck right back to the point for the his backhand at the top of the zone too): goal.

Those skills also make him effective in transition, where he can carry the His hands and feet show everyone he’s thinking shot when he’s really puck up ice for his linemates, or be the entry guy on the power play. thinking pass. And because he’s got that high grip, he can adjust his Some of those good north-south puck carriers I talked about off the top base and turn his body that split second faster. do so down the wall and end up on the perimeter when they get there, Tomasino has several tools he can go to. That curl and drag play I talked though. Tomasino plays between the dots. about. He doesn’t have to go for it. In fact, he often shows defenders he’s In doing so, even when he’s not scoring, he’s backing defenders off. going to and then adjusts.

Here he is, shooting through defenders like Cornacchia touched on: Here, after feigning like he was going to drag the puck from the toe of his blade into his feet, Tomasino stops the motion and goes back the other This can become a crutch for many players, though. It’s natural for a way on his heel, instead of trying to curl around the defender: talented right-shot forward to be able to shoot through defenders off of his strong side like Tomasino does there. He’s also a superb player on his backhand, a skill many talented players his age take years longer to develop. Losing the defenders with hands and a longer curl or delay is something else altogether. Tomasino has mastered that though. It creates a goal, It’s not uncommon to see Tomasino fire a backhand pass across the here: zone. Here, after whipping one through traffic and under pressure, he follows the play to the net to finish the play himself on a little flip-shot in In both sequences, we start to see some of the ways that grip comes into front: play, too. There’s an advantage and disadvantage evident in both as well. He’s also got exceptional hand-eye coordination, which is yet another separator, eve among high-skill players. If Tomasino’s bottom hand (his right hand) is further down the shaft in that first sequence, he’d be able to lean into his shot, leverage his weight, Tomasino’s ability to knock pucks out of the air is high, high end. Watch and create more power in your classic snap shot. Because Tomasino’s the way he settles the puck down here before making a backwards pass hands are often only a few inches apart while he’s carrying the puck, his between his legs for a secondary assist. shot lacks the pop you’d expect from a player who scored 40 goals in The touch and feel needed to control that puck from several feet off the the OHL. ice is just crazy.

It comes in handy on the curl and drag play above, though. If his hand is Watch him settle this saucer-pass down from mid air to create a chance lower on the shaft and he’s hunched over as a result, it’s hard to pull the for himself below, as well. He hits the post but notice the way his high puck into your feet without it looking and feeling a little stilted. He’s grip changes the way he handles the puck again. There’s more feet upright, so the base of his stride isn’t as wide and he’s able to pull his involved in his movement because he doesn’t have to widen his base right foot into his left foot as he drags the puck across his body. and drag the puck and his stick across his body like he would have to In doing so, instead of having to shoot through a prepared defender and when he’s sitting over a lower grip in his stance: overpower the goalie, he can beat the defender and create a better He’s got speed and can make quick decisions too. He doesn’t always scoring chance, releasing off of his back foot instead of his front one and have to slow it down to beat defenders or goalies with his hands. You relying on accuracy instead of strength. saw a glimpse of it in his cut off of the left wing earlier.

Look at the positioning of his feet when he releases. His back leg has He wins races and makes little plays out of them that result in goals, too: almost pulled underneath his front one to create his new angle. Here, he’s slinging the puck more than snapping through it, which sacrifices He can create breakaways for himself when he really wants to push up some power but puts him in a better position: ice in straight lines:

It’s about mentality too. Having that curl-and-drag in his arsenal adds He’ll sling a quick pass across the zone from the point on the power play: versatility, but it also helps him get from the outside the middle. The bread and butter of Tomasino’s game is always going to fall back on Watch below, after picking up the puck on the right-wing boards in his his ability to hang onto the puck. own zone, how Tomasino attacks to the centre of the blue line at the other end, instead of trying to burn wide. When he does, he draws Sometimes, it can work against him. There are times, like this, where I attention, his linemate gets some extra time and space, and he helps turn would like to see him attack earlier instead of dusting the puck off. He a defensive zone reception into an offensive zone scoring chance: waits a split second too long here:

Consistently, that’s the way Tomasino approaches transporting the puck. I touched on the way his grip changes the velocity of his shots too. Here’s what that looks like in action. Tomasino’s not leaning through his shot, he’s just trying to chip it pas the goalie: But these are minor concerns in a game that is otherwise tailored to control shifts, lead a line, and make plays. There was no better example of that than his five-point debut with the Generals against the Windsor Spitfires in January.

Tomasino had the puck the entire game, he controlled the play, and everyone else (on both teams) kind of existed around him. All of the qualities I’ve highlighted were on full display throughout.

I’ve included all three angles of the assist below because I want you to pay particularly close attention to Tomasino’s eyes in the second and third looks at the goal. He identifies his man early and then never looks back at him. In doing so, when his gaze pivots to the net, the Spitfires thing he’s looking to shoot. Instead, he throws the pass he’d seen moments earlier, blindly:

He used his hands to delay just long enough for seams to open:

When there wasn’t an opening to carry and break down teams with the puck on his stick, he made clicks plays to create goals instead:

He showed off with that backhand skill I talked about:

And at the end of the game, as after the end of most, he showed everyone why he’s exactly what the Predators need.

He showed everyone how to be a line-driving, puck-carrying, multi- faceted threat.

The Athletic LOADED: 04.16.2020 1173764 New York Rangers 3. Judging from responses through email and social media, I apparently did not make myself clear with my review of Jacob Trouba’s season.

No, I did not say the Rangers should trade No. 8. I said that because his Rangers’ all-time goalie debate goes beyond Henrik Lundqvist no-trade clause kicks in on July 1 (or an adjusted date), GM Jeff Gorton would “probably listen if someone comes knocking.”

I also said that if the Blueshirts did in fact wind up trading Trouba that By Larry BrooksApril 15, 2020 | 6:04PM they would be looking for someone just like him in another year.

The Rangers’ priority for next season is not seeking a trade partner for Trouba. Who thinks there is going to be a market for players with $44 Regarding the Rangers: million remaining on their respective contracts this offseason? 1. So Tuesday night on MSG, I watched Mike Richter make a penalty Rather, it will be identifying the left defenseman on the roster who is shot save in the playoffs, and no, it wasn’t that one, but instead it was capable of playing 18 minutes a night at five-on-five as Trouba’s partner. No. 35 stopping Randy Wood in the first period of the first game of the first round of the 1990 playoffs against the Islanders. That could be vexing.

Do you realize that Richter played 50 or more games in a season only six New York Post LOADED: 04.16.2020 times over the course of his career? You might, because at the start he was in a two-goalie thing with John Vanbiesbrouck, and then toward the end there were the knee injuries and concussions.

But I bet you did not know this: That Richter is the NHL’s all-time goaltending leader in the clubhouse in games played in a single- franchise career. It is true. Richter played 666 games with the Rangers and not one anywhere else. Turk Broda, who played from 1936-37 through 1950-51, is runner-up among retirees with 629 games played exclusively with the Maple Leafs.

Six-sixty-six for Richter with 301 victories. Eight-eighty-seven for Henrik Lundqvist with 459 victories. One Stanley Cup for Richter. The two pretty much in lockstep as the franchise’s greatest ever. Who’s No. 1? I can argue for No. 35, Richter, in the morning and for No. 30, Lundqvist, at night. I don’t know.

I do know this, though. That narrowing down the discussion to these two does a disservice to Ed Giacomin, who literally was No. 1, and has somehow become more famous for the unprecedented and unduplicated reception he received when he returned to the Garden as a Red Wing on Nov. 2, 1975, than for his play as perhaps the most essential piece of the Emile Francis Era.

There has never been a more productive trade in franchise history than the one in which Francis acquired Giacomin from Providence of the AHL for Marcel Paille, Jim Mikol, Aldo Guidolin and, ultimately, Buzz Deschamps in May of 1965. Giacomin was a wanderer, who would roam far from the net to play the puck. In his rookie season, he wandered too much, stopped the puck too infrequently and was booed off the Old Garden ice and temporarily lost the job to Cesare Maniago.

He wasn’t merely booed. He had garbage thrown at him. No, I didn’t throw it, but I was sure there in the side balcony when it happened.

But when he returned for the next season, 1966-67, he was a revelation. He — not the GAG Line, not — served as the Rangers’ identity through the early years of the era and the rise to prominence. He was dynamic, acrobatic, spectacular in becoming the first and only Blueshirt netminder to ever be selected for the first All-Star team twice (in 1966-67 and 1970-71). He was a first- or second-team All-Star for five straight years.

Giacomin was 267-172-89 with 49 shutouts as a Ranger. He tangled with Bernie Parent, he tangled with Jacques Plante, he tangled with Derek Sanderson. He tried to score a goal. He played with attitude.

The Garden rocked with “Eddie … Eddie … Eddie …” game after game after game long before that night in the foreign uniform. He was the most popular Ranger of them all.

And so, yes. There are Lundqvist and Richter; Richter and Lundqvist. But there is also Giacomin.

2. Here’s one: The 1977-78 Rangers, a somewhat motley crew that made it to the preliminary round of the playoffs with a 30-37-13 record, had five players from the 1972 Bruins who’d beaten the Blueshirts in the final and only two of their own.

From Boston: , , Ken Hodge (until demoted to the AHL in mid-November), Don Awrey and Dallas Smith (who arrived just before Christmas).

The Blueshirt holdovers: Walter Tkaczuk and Steve Vickers. 1173765 New York Rangers

LIer Adam Fox chilling at home, doing his share to stop the spread of coronavirus

By Colin Stephenson

Like countless other people, Adam Fox is spending his time these days watching a lot of television and playing a ton of video games.

With the NHL season on pause since March 12 due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Rangers defenseman, a Jericho native, is back on Long Island, riding out the current stay-at-home order by crashing with a buddy who has a set of weights in his basement.

“I’ve been working out there and playing some basketball in the driveway and not much more than that,’’ Fox said in a telephone interview this week. “A lot of TV shows, too.’’

Fox was enjoying a fabulous rookie year with the Rangers when the NHL hit the brakes on the season. He was tied for fourth in rookie scoring with 42 points (eight goals, 34 assists) and was tops in plus/minus (plus-22). The 22-year-old was one of four Rangers to have played in each of the team’s 70 games and had partnered with his longtime friend and fellow 22-year-old rookie Ryan Lindgren to become the Rangers’ most reliable defense pair.

Now he’s like everyone else, trying to find ways to keep himself busy. When the season paused, he took a week off to rest, and then got back to working out. He was able to play golf a few weeks back, but that’s no longer an option, so now his days are pretty uneventful. He works out in the mornings, maybe gets outside for some fresh air if the weather allows, sees his parents and brother occasionally. Otherwise, he’s channel surfing. He’s been watching a lot of the web-TV detective series “Bosch,’’ and playing a lot of Xbox.

“I’ve seen a lot more guys on the Xbox than maybe during the year,’’ he said.

Fox has been in touch with his Rangers teammates via group chat and the occasional individual text, call or FaceTime, and he got a call from the other day. The Rangers coach was checking up on how he’s doing and urging him to stay in shape.

Fox is grateful that, so far at least, his family and friends are all safe and healthy.

“Everyone’s good,’’ he said. “We’re all trying to take the proper precautions to stay safe. New York, and Long Island’s, been a bit of a hot spot, so we've just been trying to be as careful as possible. But luckily, everyone’s been good so far.’’

He wasn’t shook up by the fact that three players from the — the last team the Rangers played, on March 11 — have tested positive for COVID-19. Mostly, he said, he and his teammates are more concerned with doing the right things, as opposed to worrying about their own potential exposure to the virus.

“For guys in our situation, I think it’s more, you don’t want to spread it,’’ he said. “It might not be dangerous for you, but you know, you have family members that it could be dangerous for. I think just being careful and trying to take the proper precautions here, I think that’s the focus for guys right now.’’

Fox, who left Harvard after his junior year to turn professional, has always planned to go back to school to finish his degree. Harvard had not allowed for online classes, so he was going to have to wait for the summer, when he could go back to campus to take classes. Now, though, with colleges delivering instruction online, he hopes he’ll be able to work on that degree online this summer.

“That would be a nice thing for me if they add [online instruction],’’ he said. “But again, it’s a lot of just waiting to find out for things, I feel like, now.’’

Newsday LOADED: LOADED: 04.16.2020

1173766 Ottawa Senators

The Ottawa Senators support Jacob Bernard-Docker's decision to stay in school

Bruce Garrioch

April 15, 2020 4:21 PM EDT

The Ottawa Senators weren’t surprised by Jacob Bernard-Docker’s decision to stay in school.

And, as reported in this space on the weekend, general manager Pierre Dorion, assistant GM Peter MacTavish and player development director Shean Donovan have no issue with Bernard-Docker’s desire to return to the University of North Dakota next season.

The 19-year-old Docker, a first-round pick at No. 26 overall in the 2018 NHL draft, informed the Senators of his decision in a phone call Friday but he’d been thinking about it for awhile.

“He had really good discussions with Shean Donovan and Jesse Winchester and he was able to have a really good talk with Shean, Jesse, Peter and myself,” Dorion said in an interview on TSN 1200 Tuesday afternoon. “The player has a lot of character and he says ‘I’ve got some unfinished business here.’

“They felt they were the best team in the country, he feels he can bring his game up a notch and he doesn’t want to leave his team shorthanded in a year where they feel they can win. We respect that. A lot of good college players play three years and then step right into the NHL. He wasn’t afraid to go to Belleville if that was the case. We know we have a solid, blue-chip all-around defenceman.”

The Senators also had 2018 second-round selection Jonny Tychonick at UND the last two seasons but he’s decided to transfer to the Omaha program because he wasn’t getting enough playing time.

“Jonny’s development didn’t really grow as much as we wanted at North Dakota,” Dorion said. “With the transfer portal being open with new rules, we feel he can step into a contending team in college next year.”

Tychonick, who’s from Penticton, B.C., told the Grand Forks Herald the decision wasn’t easy.

“It was honestly the hardest thing I’ve been through,” Tychonick told the newspaper Tuesday. “We did Zoom calls, so I saw everyone face-to- face. Everything about every school was so positive. There was nothing negative that I noticed. It was so hard to come to a decision. It took me like two days to come to this decision, but that’s a good thing. You want it to be hard. Then, you know every decision would have been the right decision.”

Ottawa Sun LOADED: 04.16.2020 1173767 Ottawa Senators “Again, it’s one of those things, where we’ve got to make our own momentum and our own energy, but it’s for the love of the game. We didn’t play in front of fans when we growing up and we were still going out there. Sometimes that gets lost when you play at the pro level There's no reason for the NHL to rush to cancel the rest of the season because it’s all about winning and you sometimes lose that love for the game. As long as you get the love and passion as long as

you want.” Bruce Garrioch Right now the focus for the Senators is where it should be and that’s on April 15, 2020 3:15 PM EDT the NHL draft.

The Senators have three picks in the first round, seven in the first two rounds and 13 in total. If the decision is made to do the draft virtually then Unlike a lot of people around the hockey world, Pierre Dorion has Dorion has a plan to sit in a room with assistant GM Peter MacTavish expressed he’s optimistic the NHL will finish its season, hold the playoffs and chief scout Trent Mann six feet apart to get it done. and award the Stanley Cup. Dorion noted a virtual draft wouldn’t put a stop to trade chatter. Until that decision is made, the Ottawa Senators general manager is not going to be holding any exit meeting or trying to sign any of the club’s “What people don’t realize is with a lot of the work that’s done with trades restricted or unrestricted free agents to contracts because Dorion really on draft day is done in the weeks, days and hours prior to the draft,” said isn’t certain what route the outbreak of the novel coronavirus is going to Dorion. “Things do happen quickly on the floor when it comes to the take. switch of picks but we’re always on the phone and we can do the same remotely. While everybody seems to be in some sort of hurry for the NHL to throw in the towel on the rest of the regular season and the playoffs, that would “If we have to do it remotely, we’ll be ready to do it.” make zero sense at this juncture. As much as some people don’t want to The Senators also want to stay ready in case the season resumes. admit it, commissioner Gary Bettman, deputy commissioner Bill Daly and the league’s 31 owners still have time on their side, even it means playing through the summer months. Ottawa Sun LOADED: 04.16.2020 Right now, the NHL has extended its self-quarantine period until April 30 and if you judge by what’s happening in Ontario that date will likely be moved to mid-May, but at some point the league is going to get back to business even if it does go straight to the playoffs and there’s no need for the league to decide anything right now.

“We all know that this is a changing world from day-to-day,” Dorion said in a conference call with Ottawa reporters Tuesday. “The first thing we have to think about is our fans, people, this pandemic and making sure that we flatten the curve and beat it. In saying that, I’m one of the optimistic people. I’m very optimistic that we’re going to see hockey at the right time.”

And, on that point, Dorion couldn’t be more correct.

He went on to say that sports is an outlet that people rely on to take their minds off what’s happening in the day-to-day world. Perhaps,, we’ve never needed the distraction of another chapter of the Battle of Ontario between the Senators and arch-rival Toronto Maple Leafs more than we do right now.

Reports say the PGA Tour is expected to announce this week it will resume its schedule from June 11-to-14 with the Charles Schwab Challenge at the Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth. The schedule has been reworked with the Canadian Open cancelled and for the foreseeable future the tour will hold its events without fans, but you can bet the broadcasters will jump on the possibility of showing live sports again.

The NHL hasn’t ruled out playing in front of empty arenas for television in four neutral sites when it does return because at this point Bettman and Daly have to keep every possibility on the table.

Speaking with the NHL Network’s , a former NHL netminder, in a live chat on Instagram Tuesday night Ottawa goaltender Craig Anderson, who has a new pair of pads waiting for him in the club’s dressing room at the Canadian Tire Centre, discussed the possibility of playing in an empty rink.

The 38-year-old Anderson knows he may have played his final game with Ottawa on March 11 in a 3-2 loss to the at the Staples Center, but his attitude is a lot like Dorion’s and Anderson thinks that even just having live sports back on TV would be welcome to those in their living rooms.

“That’s tough,” said Anderson, who’s back in Florida with his family. “At the end of the day, if we can put a show on and get it televised and get people at home to have something. The atmosphere won’t be there, it won’t have the same effect, but at the same time, if we’re able to go play and still be isolated from the large groups and able to give fans something to do when they’re sitting at home, I think it’s a good possibility and it should be done. 1173768 Philadelphia Flyers As a determined 15-year-old high school freshman battling the flu, Brink won over Carle, who was an assistant coach at the time under Jim Montgomery.

Bet on Bobby Brink, a Flyers prospect bringing 'elite' smarts to Denver "Actually watched him play Prior Lake on the Olympic sheet and sick and hockey a freshman — and felt like he was the best player on the ice," Carle said. "I loved his ability to win battles, his vision, his poise, just his overall sense of knowing where everyone on the ice is."

By Jordan Hall Brink committed to Denver about a month later.

April 15, 2020 11:45 PM "Obviously we were really excited," Carle said. "He had a dominant sophomore campaign at Minnetonka, made the transition to the USHL in

his junior year, accelerated and then came to Denver." was taken in the second round of the 2005 draft after his With the Pioneers, Brink finished his freshman season on a six-game freshman season at the University of Denver. point streak but didn't play after mid-February because of three different In 2006-07, he was the runner-up to Evgeni Malkin for the Calder injuries, all of which were minor, Carle said. Memorial Trophy as the NHL's top rookie. Stastny, now 34 years old and Despite some fewer games because of the injuries and playing in the in his 14th NHL season, scored 28 goals and 78 points that first year with 2020 IIHF World Junior Championship, Brink made another solid the Avalanche. He's gone on to become an NHL All-Star and put up 726 transition to a higher level. points (250 goals, 476 assists) in 945 career games. "Typically the kids with the better hockey sense don’t take as long to Whenever David Carle is posed a question regarding concerns with translate their games," Carle said. "You saw that with Bob — from Bobby Brink's skating ability, he thinks of Stastny. Minnesota high school hockey to winning Forward of the Year in the Brink, an 18-year-old Flyers prospect, is also a second-round pick and USHL and then coming into our league and into college is no easy feat. product of Denver. Various scouting reports have highlighted Brink's And Bob did a great job. skating as a flaw. "I think early on he was adjusting to the level but he was still making "People said Paul Stastny was a bad skater, too, during his time at plays, not as many finishing plays as you would like. But then once he Denver," Carle, the Pioneers' 30-year-old head coach, said last Friday in came back from the world juniors, I thought he was a pretty consistent a phone interview with NBC Sports Philadelphia. "And similar in the performer for us in the second half." sense that Paul was passed over for some USA stuff early on in his Carle watched Brink expand his game as a freshman. It wasn't offense or career at the same age as Bob. Paul has gone on to do pretty well for nothing with the playmaking winger. himself because of his brain and his understanding of the game. And I think Bob is going to end up being a better skater than Stas, but my point “We don’t talk a lot about roles necessarily as much as what we value out is, you can’t discount [Brink’s] hockey sense, which is elite.” of our players, so I can answer it that way," Carle said. "What we really value about Bob first and foremost is his hockey sense, his ability to After slipping into the second round of last summer's draft, where the make plays and generate offense for us on the power play and 5-on-5. I Flyers scooped him up at 34th overall, Brink had a productive freshman think where he started to add more value was his play without the puck, season with Denver, scoring 24 points (11 goals, 13 assists) through 28 used him on the penalty kill a little bit and I think for Bob to be a great games. His 0.39 goals per game were second most on a Pioneers team player at our level, and I believe that he will do it and can do it, with his that was ranked sixth nationally, while his 0.86 points per game were sense, we’re going to want him on the ice as much as we can get him out eighth best among all freshmen in the country. there. Brink thrives on guile, skill and outwitting the opposition. With those "So I think he can add a lot of value in his play without the puck, his stick characteristics, he has scored proficiently at every step of the way, details, his angling, his puck pressure and I expect all of those to especially in the USHL during his draft year. continue to grow to make him an even more impactful player offensively But Brink has found himself doubted often by others, going back to his for us.” high school days. He played at Minnetonka in Minnesota, a hockey The Pioneers will "expect really big things" from Brink as a sophomore, hotbed of a state. Still, invites and interest never poured in — and maybe Carle said. Denver knows the shy but motivated kid from Minnetonka. In that's a good thing. Brink has become accustomed to earning everything, 2020-21, the Pioneers hope many others do, as well. which should only help when he eventually aims to prove himself at the pro level. "I think one thing maybe people wouldn’t know about him or understand is really his joy and his passion for the game," Carle said. "Because He'll have to continue to fight the whole undersized stigma as a 5-foot-8, when you do just meet him, he is a little boyish, he’s giggling and you 164-pound winger. don’t really know how to take him — but, man, the kid loves to be on the What about the skating? The Flyers' scouting report was fine and Carle ice, he loves to work on his craft and to get better. There’s a true passion would sign off on it. and a drive inside of him.

I’ve been asked that before by media and for me, it’s an easy answer — I "Bob relishes the moment of being in the arena and competing. That don’t think there’s any issue with his skating. You could watch clips of might be the biggest thing that maybe surprises people when they just him this year against some pretty good hockey players and his skating is meet him or they’re getting to know him.” just fine — and it’s only going to get better as he increases his range of Which is apt for Brink, who doesn't mind surprising. motion and his ankle flexion and his hip drop and those are the types of things that he’s working on with our strength and conditioning coach Matt Shaw. For me, skating, not an issue. Brain is too good. Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 04.16.2020 I think Bob has always been motivated. Obviously at the time of us recruiting him, I think we were the only school talking to him. There are five schools in the state of Minnesota, right? I think Bob has always, for whatever reason, been doubted a little bit. He didn’t make the Hlinka team, he didn’t get invited to the USA 49 camp — Bob always has a burning fire inside of him that maybe doesn’t come across when you’re meeting him off the ice, but when it’s time to get on the ice, he’s a gamer and I’d bet on him all day long.

(Shannon Valerio/Denver Athletics) 1173769 Philadelphia Flyers

Looking back at hysterical responses to Alain Vigneault coming to Philly

By Brooke Destra

April 15, 2020 3:00 PM

It’s officially been one year since Alain Vigneault joined Philadelphia and became the new bench boss for the Flyers. In just under one season, he turned this team that was in a rebuild into legitimate contenders for the Cup.

When you think about it, it’s pretty crazy.

Looking back to that day when the news was first announced though, fans were not optimistic … in the slightest. Honestly, after the ups and downs the city has endured with hockey in the past few years, it’s understandable — but there was not an ounce of positivity in sight.

Thankfully, that’s not the case anymore … but it’s still hysterical to go back and look at the responses. Chances are, no one is feeling this way anymore, so have a quick laugh.

Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 04.16.2020 1173770 Philadelphia Flyers the puck wide of the net (on purpose) look so beautiful. Timonen for Flyers HOF.

Hall Should Kimmo Timonen make Flyers Hall of Fame? Not sure this is a slam dunk and that's not a knock on Timonen. Everyone knows what he has meant to the organization.

By Brooke Destra, Katie Emmer, Taryn Hatcher, Joe Fordyce, Jordan However, you can argue some of Timonen's best seasons came during Hall his days in Nashville, at least from an offensive production standpoint.

April 15, 2020 1:05 PM But the main point of why Timonen might not be a surefire selection is there are a few really good defensemen who have yet to get into the Flyers Hall of Fame. For example, Tom Bladon was a two-time All-Star in Philly, won two Stanley Cups and is third all-time among Flyers This one is a no-brainer. defensemen in goals (behind only Mark Howe and Eric Desjardins). Bob Timonen is easily one of the best defensemen to come through the Dailey also had an impressive career in Philadelphia as a two-time All- Flyers' organization — he's without a doubt in the top five. Star and with 40 points over 56 playoff games, the third-highest postseason scorer all-time among Flyers defensemen (behind only Howe One of the strongest physical games I’ve ever seen in a Flyers uniform and Desjardins). and even though I’m pulling athlete clichés, he was a warrior and a true work horse. It’s scary to think about what the blue line would’ve looked Timonen is also right up there among the franchise's best and beloved like all of those years without him. Seriously, I wonder if his back hurts blueliners. Will he get in, though? It feels like he will eventually, but not after carrying the entire position for that long. sure when.

Not to mention, he was pivotal in the 2010 Cup run, appeared in four All- Star Games and became one of the most beloved players in Philadelphia Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 04.16.2020 during his seven years here. This is a matter of when, not if for the Flyers Hall of Fame.

Emmer

Absolutely.

Timonen was a steady, well-rounded, hardworking defenseman and a well-liked guy around the league.

He brought light to Philadelphia during his seven seasons. The blueliner racked up 270 points (an average of 38 points per season) and was a plus-44 over those years.

His point totals weren’t the highest in the league, but he compensated by consistently bringing his own 5-foot-10, 194-pound toughness to the ice every night. Timonen finished just 44 blocked shots short of 1,000 with the Flyers. He was a true teammate.

Another place he really helped the Flyers was on special teams. The orange and black ranked 28th in the league on the man advantage in the season before he was signed, operating at 14.1 percent. With Timonen in the lineup the next year, the power play jumped up to second in the league (21.8 percent).

With the exception of one season, the Flyers' power play continued to rank in the top 10 of the league throughout the rest of Timonen’s time in Philadelphia — he had 15 goals and 135 assists on the man advantage with the Flyers. With that, he was a steady force on the penalty kill as well.

What Timonen displayed on and off the ice showed a deserving Flyers HOF defenseman.

Hatcher

Timonen gets my vote for sure. On a personal level, so many memories I have of watching the Flyers through high school and college are of Timonen being an absolute rock on the blue line for the team.

His 519 regular-season games played for the Flyers rank 10th among defensemen in franchise history in that category. He also racked up 270 points, third all-time among Flyers defensemen, and accumulated a plus- 44 rating over the seven seasons he spent with the team.

Fordyce

Timonen is almost a no-brainer for me. He was arguably the most important player on the Flyers for a six-year run that included a trip to the Stanley Cup Final. Timonen was an ultimate playmaker. When the Flyers acquired him from the Predators, he was known more as an offensive defenseman but he reshaped his game to be a two-way player once joining the team. In 519 games with the Flyers, Timonen was a plus-44 compared to a minus-6 in 573 games with the Predators prior.

One thing that cannot be measured by a stat is toughness and Timonen embodied it, playing through numerous injuries during his Flyers tenure. One more note on Timonen — never before has a player made shooting 1173771 Pittsburgh Penguins That would mean a first-round matchup between the third-place Penguins and second-place … Washington Capitals.

And here is a dirty little secret about that potential meeting: Letang thinks Kris Letang delivers message of peace as another Penguins-Flyers it is a hotter rivalry anyway. series looms “Knowing that (Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin) were the two players that came into the league almost at the same time to take over built the Caps-Pens rivalry,” Letang said. “I would say, in the long run, Caps-Pens JONATHAN BOMBULIE is the biggest one.”

Wednesday, April 15, 2020 4:17 p.m.

Tribune Review LOADED: 04.16.2020 In these trying times, Penguins defenseman Kris Letang delivered a message of hope this week.

If he harbors no ill will toward Scott Hartnell, we all can show more charity toward our fellow man, right?

In the waning seconds of an Oct. 8, 2009, game between intrastate rivals, Letang flew into a rage, alleging in no uncertain terms the Philadelphia Flyers winger bit his finger.

Now, it is water under the bridge.

“I ran into him a bunch of times after that. He’s a great guy,” Letang said. “Scott was a great guy. It didn’t really bother me. It’s all the heat of the moment.

“I’m sure I’ve done some stuff on the ice to other players. It’s my way to say I want to win this game. I want to be the best player out there. I’ll try to do everything I can. But if I’m walking on the street, I’m not going to hit the guy at the bar because he plays for another team, you know?”

There is a reason the classic bit of Penguins-Flyers rough stuff came up in recent conversation. If the NHL season had progressed normally, without the delay of a coronavirus pandemic, the longtime rivals probably would be in the midst of a first-round playoff series this week.

If the season resumes at some point this summer, there is a good chance they will meet again, and a chance for new animus to develop will present itself.

Playoff matchups with the Flyers have provided at least two important moments during Letang’s time with the Penguins.

The first came a few months before Hartnell’s bite. With the Flyers holding a 3-0 lead, threatening to force a Game 7 in a first-round series, Dan Carcillo made the ill-advised decision to fight Max Talbot. The Penguins forward lost the bout on points but snatched away momentum with a shush. The resulting 5-3 victory was a springboard to a championship.

“I was jacked up,” Letang recalled. “Obviously, Max was such a great teammate, a good friend of mine. To see him stepping up like this and do that for his team, it just shows that he was willing to do everything it takes to change the momentum and win the game.”

The Penguins’ back-to-back championships in 2016-17 also were set up by a Flyers series in an indirect way.

In 2012, the Penguins lost to their Keystone rivals in a wild, undisciplined six-game first-round series.

That setback provided the foundation upon which coach Mike Sullivan’s “just play” mantra stood four years later.

“There’s teams built to play that way, and there’s teams built with different assets,” Letang said. “It’s great to see guys stepping up and trying to play physical and play the mean game, but at the end of the day, it was not our strength. Our strength was our skill and our speed. I would say it taught us to kind of play with our strength.”

The idea the NHL would jump right into a Penguins-Flyers playoff series once play resumes is built on the premise the league will use the current standings to seed the postseason. The Flyers are second in the and the Penguins third, so they would collide.

There is another possibility, though. According to reports, the NHL also is considering rolling back its standings to the 68-game mark, the furthest point in the season all 31 teams reached before the pause, to seed playoffs. 1173772 Pittsburgh Penguins

Penguins sign former 7th-round pick William Reilly to entry-level contract

CHRIS ADAMSKI

Wednesday, April 15, 2020 12:08 p.m.

The Pittsburgh Penguins announced the signing of their seventh-round pick from three years ago, agreeing to a two-year, entry-level deal with defenseman William Reilly.

The 6-foot-2, 197-pound Reilly, a right-handed shot, recently completed his senior season at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). The 22-year- old Toronto native led the Engineers in plus/minus (plus-14) and power- play points (nine) and was a finalist for the ECAC’s “Best Defensive Defenseman” honor.

“Will had an impressive year in 2019-20 after continuing to improve during his four years at RPI. His commitment to working hard and improving his conditioning has paid off,” Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford said in a statement. “We are happy to add another young player, increasing our organizational depth on defense.”

The 217th overall pick in 2017, Reilly has attended each of the past three Penguins development camps.

Tribune Review LOADED: 04.16.2020 1173773 Pittsburgh Penguins

Penguins sign 2017 draft pick William Reilly to entry-level deal

The Penguins bolstered their organization’s defensive depth Wednesday by signing 2017 seventh-round pick William Reilly. The two-year, entry- level contract begins with the 2020-21 season and runs through 2021-22.

The Penguins initially selected Reilly with the 217th overall pick in the 2017 draft. At 6-foot-2 and 197 pounds, he has some size and an offensive dimension to his game.

Reilly, 22, played four seasons at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. During his senior season, the right-handed blue liner captained the Engineers. He was named a finalist for the Eastern College Athletic Conference’s best defensive defenseman award. Among ECAC defensemen, he ranked second in goals (eight) and fifth in points (22). He was also the team leader in plus/minus at plus-14.

Reilly would have become an unrestricted free agent had the Penguins not agreed to terms before Aug. 15.

“Will had an impressive year in 2019-20 after continuing to improve during his four years at RPI. His commitment to working hard and improving his conditioning has paid off,” Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford said in a statement. “We are happy to add another young player, increasing our organizational depth on defense.”

Before RPI, the Toronto native was named Rookie of the Year for the Nanaimo Clippers of the Hockey League, notching 32 points in 52 games.

The Penguins recently lost their top blue-line prospect, Calen Addison, in the trade that brought to Pittsburgh. With Addison gone, some of the defensemen who are getting closer to the NHL are P.O. Joseph and Joseph Almari. The Penguins also addressed their blue-line prospect pool last month by signing college free agent Cam Lee out of Western Michigan.

Mike DeFabo

Post Gazette LOADED: 04.16.2020 1173774 Pittsburgh Penguins

Penguins on pause: Two ways to analyze Dominik Simon's season

The NHL has “paused” its season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is unclear if it will resume. So, with one eye still on the future, the Post- Gazette’s Matt Vensel and Mike DeFabo are looking back at what each Penguins player did in 2019-20. We started with the captain, No. 87, and will count down by jersey number.

Evaluating Dominik Simon’s 2019-20 season depends, largely, on the prism through which you choose to view the game.

On one hand, Simon is a darling of the “advanced”-metrics world. In Corsi For percentage — a ratio that shows the percentage of shot attempts created by a team versus the total shot attempts during 5-on-5 situations — Simon produced a 53.2%.

Let’s put that into context. The only Penguins forwards with a better shot share are Jake Guenzel (an All-Star who was on pace for another 40- goal season), Evgeni Malkin (who should be the team MVP) and Sidney Crosby (who is Sidney Crosby).

On the other hand, the more traditional stats tell a much different story. Simon recorded seven goals and 15 assists in 64 games. Those seven goals are third-fewest among Penguins forwards who played at least 50 games. The only forwards who scored less were Zach Aston-Reese and Sam Lafferty. The difference here is Aston-Reese plays on the shut- down fourth line that rarely gets an offensive-zone start. Lafferty was a rookie who often was also playing on that fourth line. Simon is often on Crosby’s right wing, playing next to one of the best players in the world.

So which side is right?

The answer probably lies somewhere in the middle. As the Corsi figures suggest, Simon can be a complimentary piece to Crosby thanks to his puck-possession skills and ability to navigate in tight spaces. He helps the top line hog the puck and rack up offensive-zone time. But at the same time, Simon’s shooting percentage of 6.9% was the second-lowest among Penguins forwards, certainly leaving something to be desired.

DEFINING MOMENT: On Oct. 29, Simon tallied a season-high three points during the Penguins 7-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers. He scored once and assisted on two other goals.

STAT THAT STANDS OUT: One key factor that’s sometimes overlooked with Simon is his salary. The 25-year-old made $750,000 this year, tied with fourth-line center Teddy Blueger for the lowest salary among regular Penguins forwards. It’s less even than mid-season call-up Anthony Angello ($925,000) and the rookie, Lafferty ($792,500). That point sometimes gets lost when looking at Simon’s value on a star-heavy team that’s always fighting to stay under the salary cap.

IF THE SEASON RESUMES: Simon will be one of the most intriguing decisions the Penguins have to make. Questions began to emerge about Simon’s place in the lineup when the Penguins reacquired Conor Sheary, who immediately supplanted Simon on Crosby’s right wing.

Now, with Jake Guentzel, Nick Bjugstad, Aston-Reese and Angello all healthy, the Penguins have 17 forwards to fill 12 spots. If Simon isn’t on the top line, where he seems to have chemistry with Crosby, he might just as easily find himself in the press box.

LONG-TERM OUTLOOK: Simon will become a restricted free agent this offseason. His salary shouldn’t break the bank if the Penguins choose to keep him on the payroll via arbitration or in the form of a multi-year deal. It’s just a matter of if the Penguins choose to keep him in their long-term plans.

Mike DeFabo

Post Gazette LOADED: 04.16.2020 1173775 San Jose Sharks

What Randy Hahn misses about sports during NHL's coronavirus hiatus

By Randy Hahn

April 15, 2020 7:00 AM

Editor's note: Like you, NBC Sports Bay Area insiders, reporters and analysts are feeling the sports void during the coronavirus stoppage. They'll share their thoughts every Monday, Wednesday and Friday in "What I Miss About Sports." Next up in the series: Sharks play-by-play announcer Randy Hahn.

The NHL’s indefinite suspension amid the coronavirus outbreak has impacted Sharks fans, players coaches and even broadcasters. We all miss enjoying the games. And as we head into April, I don’t think I’m alone when I say that I am really going to miss the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The unexpected halt to the season notwithstanding, this wasn’t going to be a playoff year for the Sharks, so we would have missed that anyway at the end of this season. But even in the rare instances where the team has missed the postseason over the past 29 years, I’ve still been glued to the television for the playoffs, especially the opening round.

I really like some aspects of the NHL’s playoff setup. I like the fact that only 16 of 31 teams (soon to be 32) actually get in. That puts more value on the regular season and sets up an incredibly exciting end to the regular season as teams fight and scrap for every available point and try to get in. I’ve missed that race to the finish line, and at this point it doesn’t look like we’ll get to enjoy that this year. I also like the seven-game format in all four rounds. It just feels like the right number of games to determine which team is the best in each series.

When the opening round begins, with 16 teams in the fight for the Cup, it makes for incredibly compelling viewing. On most nights there are three to five games on TV in the opening round. For those of us lucky enough to live in California, we can start binge watching around 4 p.m. PT and be all wrapped up by 10 p.m. Unless of course there is overtime, or multiple overtimes.

That’s another thing I’ll miss this month. There’s nothing quite like an overtime playoff game. Someone has a chance to emerge as the hero and score that big goal. And when it goes to multiple overtimes, like Game 6 between the Sharks and Vegas last year, it’s must watch TV.

I’ll miss the battles on every shift. Games in the regular season tend to blend together over the six months it takes to play 82 times, but come playoff time, every game and period and sometimes even shifts take on a life of their own. One mistake can lead to a costly goal against that can lead to a loss that can lead to elimination. It’s extremely compelling. I suspect that’s why the players enjoy the postseason so much. There’s a lot on the line every game and it’s also the time of the year when a player can cement himself into franchise lore as Barclay Goodrow did last season in Game 7 of Round 1.

I’ll especially miss the atmosphere whether in the arena itself of just watching on TV. Hockey fans wait all year for the playoffs. It’s the best time of the season because it’s the best hockey of the season. People take their fanaticism to the next level and beyond in the playoffs and for good reason. One series, even one game can take you on a roller- coaster ride of emotions with the outcome in doubt sometimes until the final goal is scored. It’s exhilarating and unlike most of the things we experience in our day-to-day lives.

I’ll miss the playoffs this month, and I’ll miss the Sharks being in them. Here’s hoping we’re all able to enjoy playoff hockey again soon, and here’s also hoping the Sharks are back in the mix in 2021!

Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 04.16.2020 1173776 St Louis Blues MacEachern and de la Rose are eligible for arbitration, which gives them a little leverage in any potential contract negotiations. Dunn is not eligible for arbitration.

Blues' Blais agrees to two-year, $3 million contract extension

St Louis Post Dispatch LOADED: 04.16.2020

Jim Thomas

Blues forward Sammy Blais agreed to a two-year, $3 million contract extension Wednesday, which will keep him under contract through the 2021-22 season. Blais, 23, had been scheduled to be a restricted free agent, and eligible for arbitration, after this season.

In 40 games before the suspension of NHL play because of the coronavirus pandemic, Blais had six goals, seven assists and was minus- 2.

“We’re in contact with all kinds of different people during this time,” Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said. “(Director of hockey operations) Ryan Miller headed this one up along with Blaiser’s agent and got us something done.”

Blais began the season as a top-six forward, playing on a line with Ryan O’Reilly and David Perron.

“He’s a developing player that we think highly of,” Armstrong said. “We think he certainly can be a top-nine regular in our group. I think injuries derailed a little bit of that for him at the start of this year. And then someone like (Zach) Sanford came in and really grabbed a spot there with Perron and O’Reilly for a while.

“So it gives us good competition in our group and another young player to continue to grow with.”

Blais came into camp in good shape, and after a strong preseason seized a spot at left wing on the O’Reilly line — valuable territory in terms of the potential for production and playing time. His physical style of play, combined with good puck-handling and passing skills, made for a nice complement with the feistiness and goal-scoring ability of Perron coupled with the all-around play of O’Reilly.

Blais had five goals 20 games into the season, putting him on an early pace for 20 goals. But a wrist injury in late November sidelined him for 2½ months, costing him 28 games. Since returning at the end of January, Blais had seen mainly fourth- and third-line duty, although he was reunited with O’Reilly and Perron on March 11, in Anaheim — the Blues’ last game before the NHL suspended play.

It took a while for Blais to get going when he returned to the lineup, on Jan. 28, after having wrist surgery. He had four assists after returning but only one goal, scored Feb. 4 against Carolina. But it’s clear that Blais has yet to reach his ceiling as a player, and if he stays healthy he could turn out to be a bargain of a sixth-round draft pick.

“We saw (that) last year in the playoffs when he got in,” Armstrong said. “We just think he’s a young player, that’s a little of a late-bloomer in junior hockey. I thought (coach) Craig Berube really did a great job with him his first year in the American League, and has confidence in him. So I think Sammy feels that, too, and has continued to grow under Craig.”

Blaise scored 26 goals during the 2016-17 season for the , then the Blues’ American Hockey League affiliate and coached by Berube. During the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons, Blais bounced back and forth between the Blues and their new San Antonio AHL affiliate.

His physical play really became noticeable last season and continued this season up to the coronavirus “pause.” He was leading the Blues in overall hits (155), even though he had missed 31 games.

“He brings an element, a little bit like (Ivan) Barbashev brings that physical element,” Armstrong said. “There’s all sorts of different components that go into a team. He has very good hands but he also has a physical element to his game that separates him from other people.”

Blais is making $850,000 this year, so it’s a decent pay raise. It also leaves the Blues with only three pending restricted free agents on their current roster: forwards MacKenzie MacEachern and Jacob de la Rose, plus defenseman Vince Dunn. 1173777 St Louis Blues At the high school level in St. Louis, schools tried to sneak around the rules. McKinley High tried to play a game with Webster High, which because it was in the county wasn’t controlled by Starkloff’s order. But when city officials got word, they shut it down because city schools like When sports in St. Louis came to a stop, the first time McKinley had been allowed to practice only under the provision that they wouldn’t play until the order was lifted.

On Nov. 13, two days after World War I ended, Starkloff lifted the closure Tom Timmermann order and the games were on. Crowds, though, were smaller. When McKinley and Central met for the game that decided the city football title on Dec. 8, the game drew a crowd of about 500, instead of the 8,000 it The last time the St. Louis sports world came to a long-term halt like it would normally get. SLU drew 5,000 for a game at Sportsman’s Park has now was in 1918, when the Spanish flu swept across America and against the Great Lakes naval training center. Attendance was the world. consistently down as fans feared the flu.

The shutdown of sports wasn’t nationwide – baseball had the only For good reason. Right before that game to decide the prep “national” leagues at that point, and they were out of season – and it championship was played, flu cases spiked again in St. Louis, particularly didn’t last as long as the present silence. But for five weeks, from Oct. 7 among children. Another shutdown order was issued, with schools closed to Nov. 13 of 1918 as the flu intensified here, St. Louis sports stopped. until January. But this time, games were allowed to go on, even though this flu hit children very hard. The sports world was very different in 1918, and not just because the Post-Dispatch had a sports columnist who wrote in verse. There was no SLU and Wash U. ended up with a combined five games that season in NFL, no NBA, and the two-year-old NHL had three teams, all in Canada. front of crowds (including the game between them). Mizzou punted and The Major League Baseball season ended early that year – the final called off its whole season. The Valley Conference, which regular-season games were on Sept. 1 – not because of the flu, but included Missouri and Wash U., did not declare a champion that season. because of World War I and a government “work-or-fight” order that East St. Louis High pulled the plug on its season after many brought an abrupt end to the season. cancellations to focus on basketball. After Central beat McKinley and clinched the city title, the final week of the high school season was called What there was was college football, but that season was in doubt off. because a planned Allied assault in 1919 meant all able-bodied men were to be drafted in the fall of 1918. Only a late decision by the War By Dec. 20, the flu numbers had dropped considerably in St. Louis, and Department that football would be good training saved the season. almost all restrictions were lifted. Still, around the nation, the flu was taking its toll on the sports world. On Dec. 20, noted baseball umpire The flu met St. Louis sports on Oct. 8, when mayor Henry Kiel, under the Francis “Silk” O’Loughlin died of the flu. The day before, the daughter of guidance of city health commissioner Dr. Max Starkloff, ordered the city the president of the St. Louis Browns died. shut down. Schools and theaters were closed, and no public gatherings were allowed. It didn’t sink in until a day later that Starkloff’s shutdown The NHL season would end on a tragic note. The NHL champion also applied to sports, which he hadn’t mentioned specifically. (“They Montreal Canadiens faced the Seattle Metropolitans of the Pacific Coast would be classified the same as open-air meetings,” he said the next Hockey Association for the Stanley Cup. The finals began on March 19, day, “hence I deemed it unnecessary to mention them. … I think it is well and the first five games ended with two wins apiece and a tie before understood football games should be abandoned.”) And with that, sports players on both teams caught the flu and were hospitalized. The in St. Louis stopped. Canadiens were down to three healthy players. On April 1, just a few hours before Game 6 was to begin, the game was canceled. George No one expected the shutdown to go very long. Starkloff gave his order Kennedy, owner of the Canadiens, wanted to forfeit the Cup to the on a Monday, and school officials were wondering if it would be lifted in Metropolitans, but Seattle refused to accept it. On April 5, Montreal time for that weekend’s games. That continued for the duration of the forward Joe Hall died of the flu. Kennedy was also among those stricken. shutdown, with schools wondering if their next game would be played. He survived, but never fully recovered and died of complications of the flu Other cities, but not all, were also entering quarantines. The college two years later. That year was, so far, the only time the Stanley Cup football scorelist in the Sunday, Oct. 27 Post-Dispatch had just 18 wasn’t awarded after the season had begun. games, nine of which involved a military team of some sort. But in St. Louis, the flu had been beaten. By the start of baseball season, In St. Louis, the shutdown meant the football teams of St. Louis there was barely a mention of it in the paper. The Browns played the University and Washington University couldn’t play. At least, they couldn’t season’s home opener on April 23 at Sportsman’s Park and drew a play in St. Louis. SLU bused to Lebanon, Ill., on Oct. 19 to play crowd of 10,000. The Cardinals followed with their home opener a week McKendree since there was no quarantine there (SLU won 79-0), but the later. following week, SLU couldn’t play despite its athletics director making deals with six teams. Just about every day, SLU was planning on a new opponent for that weekend, but none of the games actually happened. At St Louis Post Dispatch LOADED: 04.16.2020 one point during the quarantine, SLU lost three players because they were medical students nearing graduation and were summoned to Jefferson Barracks to help deal with a flu outbreak there. Both SLU and Wash U. played several games in front of empty stands.

Also stopped were soccer matches – a big deal back then — and high school football games. And since the schools were shut down, there weren’t practices, either. Finally, Starkloff gave the schools permission to practice, but only if they all did it at the same field. So the city’s high schools took turns practicing at High School Field.

Starkloff’s order worked. Deaths remained low in St. Louis, relatively speaking. At one point, Starkloff pointed out that Chicago had had 344 deaths the day before, more than St. Louis had in the previous two and a half weeks. Among the 10 largest cities, St. Louis had the lowest death rate from the flu. Still, 60 St. Louisans died on one day in December 1918, and in the last three months of that year the flu or complications from it claimed almost 3,000 St. Louis lives.

Around the world, 500 million people contracted the virus, or about one- third of the population. About 50 million died, including 675,000 in the United States. 1173778 St Louis Blues season and 35 have come at even-strength, and of his 32 assists, 21 are primary assists. The development the Blues envisioned when they drafted him No. 20 overall in 2017 took a huge step this season, and even though O’Reilly looks to be entrenched as the team’s No. 1 center, Who stays and who goes? Blues could look different when they finally Thomas is knocking on the door. defend Cup Jordan Binnington — He hasn’t been lights-out like he was last season, but the Blues are thrilled with how he has continued to establish himself as one of the NHL’s best goalies. His 30 wins in 50 starts is the third- By Jeremy Rutherford most in the league, and while his save percentage has dropped from Apr 15, 2020 .927 as a rookie to .912 this season, it’s still third-best among goalies with 45-plus starts. He’ll be entering the final year of his contract next season while playing for a long-term deal.

When Blues players trickled back to St. Louis for training camp last The almost untouchables September, the main storyline was how they would basically have the same roster that won the Stanley Cup. — This label is really moot because the Blues like Schenn, and despite the fact that he has scored 24 goals this season There were just two players gone: Hometown hero Pat Maroon had left and could set a career high (28) if the regular season is played out, no for the Tampa Bay Lightning, and just before the start of the regular one is trading for his eight-year, $52 million contract that kicks in next season, Joel Edmundson was traded to Carolina for Justin Faulk. season. The difficult side of this is that the Blues went long-term with a Everyone else would remain in the Blue Note sweater. low AAV ($6.5 million) to help them win now, so potentially losing a playoff performance from him on the front end isn’t ideal. Those players would have an opportunity to repeat, and through 6 1/2 months of the season, that group did everything possible to put David Perron — His third stint with the Blues could not be going any themselves in that position. The Blues were second in the league better. In addition to a Stanley Cup, he made his first All-Star appearance standings with 94 points when the NHL was put on pause on March 12 in St. Louis this season. It was a deserving honor during a year in which due to the coronavirus pandemic. he has tied for the club high in goals with Schenn (25) and one point behind O’Reilly for the team lead (60). He has two seasons left on his A month later, there’s no timetable to return to the ice, with the league four-year, $16 million contract, and with the way he has fit in, it’s difficult announcing Tuesday that it had extended the self-quarantine period to to think of him anywhere else. April 30. As The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun reported recently, there continues to be hope that the Stanley Cup playoffs can be salvaged, Jaden Schwartz — It seems that his memorable postseason in 2018-19 perhaps even some remaining regular-season games. has him back on track. His 22 goals are third on the team, and his 57 points are fourth. Though he’s always hustling, his penchant for missed But what if the last game of 2019-20 has been played? What if the Blues scoring chances makes him frustrating to watch at times, but since last won’t get a chance to play for back-to-back Stanley Cups championships year’s playoffs, it’s hard to argue with his production. He has one year left this season? Well, with captain Alex Pietrangelo set to become an on his five-year, $26.8 million contract ($5.8 million AAV), and he’ll unrestricted free agent and other potential turnover this summer, it may remain part of the core for now. not be the same roster after all. Oskar Sundqvist — He is as close to an untouchable as one will find with So because everything around the NHL seems to be speculative these a bottom-six forward. That’s how much the 26-year-old Swede means to days, why don’t we play our annual game of “Who stays and who goes?” the team. He has been banged up this season, but when he’s healthy, We’ll take a look at the players coming back under contract, free agents the club’s record is night-and-day different. He also has a huge impact on and those possibly moving on, and project who will still be around for the the Blues’ penalty-killing unit, which has been good again this season. 2020-21 season. The Blues are thrilled to have him locked up for three more years with a The untouchables $2.75 million AAV.

Ryan O’Reilly — When he arrived from Buffalo last season, he was Staying put … almost certainly entering the third year of a seven-year contract that has a $7.5 million Justin Faulk — After joining the Blues in a trade with Carolina last annual average value (AAV) of $7.5 million. It appeared to be a bargain September, Faulk has been viewed as a disappointment thus far, with even before the Blues won the Stanley Cup, and he has since taken just five goals and 16 points in 68 games. He has bounced around the home the Conn Smythe Trophy. With three more years still left, you lineup, but any excuses made for him about needing more time to settle couldn’t find a better deal if you walked into Costco with a coupon book. in were dismissed after Marco Scandella’s immediate impact. With a Next season, his AAV ranks No. 19 in the league among all centers. seven-year, $45.5 million contract that takes effect next season, fans can Vladimir Tarasenko — After a second surgery on his left shoulder in only hope that he finds his game at some point. October, he was expected to return to the lineup in a matter of days Tyler Bozak — He was seen as overpaid when he signed a three-year, when the season was halted. If the remaining schedule is canceled, that $15 million contract in 2018, but it’s amazing how a Stanley Cup can could mean a full calendar year between games for him. The Blues mitigate the circumstances. He has 13 goals this season — the same believe he can be the same dominant player again, and if so, that’s an total he had last year with the Blues — and the rest of his totals are fairly O’Reilly-like steal at $7.5 million per season for the next three years. But similar, too. He also has shown the willingness to be a team player, he must prove that his shoulder can hold up. moving to the wing so that Thomas could play center, further defusing Alex Pietrangelo — He’s not only the Blues’ biggest free agent-to-be, the notion that his signing has been a hindrance. he’s arguably No. 1 on the league’s UFA list. As Pietrangelo’s agent, Don Ivan Barbashev — He has become one of the Blues’ most effective and Meehan, recently told The Athletic, the two sides are in a holding pattern underrated players, part of a fourth line, along with Sundqvist and until more is known about the financial future of the league. Blues GM Alexander Steen, that has helped create an identity for the club. After Doug Armstrong has said re-signing the defenseman is a top priority, and scoring a career-high 14 goals last season, he has 11 this season, and whether the club is able to accomplish that will factor heavily in how the meanwhile is second on the team behind Sammy Blais with 144 hits. He future looks. was the last player to re-sign last summer, but eventually agreed to a Colton Parayko — There has been so much talk about Justin Faulk being two-year, $3 million deal that will keep him in the fold next year. the fallback plan if the Blues can’t come to terms with Pietrangelo, but in Zach Sanford — Just when it looked like he could be playing his way out reality, Parayko would be the player that assumes the top-pair duties. of town, he has found his footing in the NHL. The 25-year-old was put on This season, he has averaged a career-high 23 minutes of ice time per a line with O’Reilly and Perron this season and has responded with 15 game and has matched his career high in goals (10) with 10 games to goals, eclipsing the career-high eight he scored last season. He has play, and his defense is as good as it’s ever been. He’s going nowhere been much more effective all-around the second half of this season, and with two years left on a deal with an $5.5 AAV. with one year left on his contract ($1.5 million AAV), he’s inexpensive Robert Thomas — He finally got a taste of playing center in a top-six with a lot of upside. capacity, and the plays he made were eye-popping. He has 42 points this Robert Bortuzzo — He’s one of the Blues’ most popular teammates, potential cap issues and prospects Niko Mikkola and Scott Perunovich on playing physical and always putting his body on the line. He has dressed the way, it may not be so simple. in only 42 games this season and his average ice time of 13:07 per game is the fewest minutes he has played since arriving from Pittsburgh in So long 2015. But he’s playing his role to a T, and with two seasons left on a Jay Bouwmeester — After season-ending hip surgery in 2017-18, he three-year, $4.1 million contract ($1.4 million cap hit), the team isn’t became an integral part of the Blues’ Stanley Cup run last season, and thinking about any change here. he played well enough this year that there were potential plans to return Staying put … I think in 2020-21. But his career, of course, will now take a backseat to his health following surgery to insert a defibrillator in his chest. There has Jordan Kyrou — After missing the start of the season recovering from been no announcement made on the defenseman’s future, but his knee surgery, he has taken the step that many inside the organization playing days certainly appear to be over. were hoping to see. He has four goals and nine points in 28 games thus far, and his speed has been noticeable. He seems to be a shoe-in to be Troy Brouwer — He doesn’t technically count because he wasn’t on the back next season, but being a prized prospect, it’s impossible to know team to start this season. The 36-year-old veteran was signed in when a team like the Blues could include him in a trade package. He’s November to help get the Blues through some injuries, and he was definitely tracking well, though. exactly what they needed in terms of someone who understood the situation. He had one goal in 12 games, but what isn’t listed in the stats is Alexander Steen — He’s writing the perfect swan song, playing an that he allowed the prospects in the organization to stay put and produce important role in last season’s Stanley Cup run and showing well again at the minor-league level. That said, Brouwer won’t be back. this year. At 36 years old, he continues to play a selfless role, slotting in where the coaches want him. He has one more season left on his four- year, $23 million contract ($5.75 million AAV), and while seeing that The Athletic LOADED: 04.16.2020 through seems like the rightful end to his career, nothing can be ruled out if the Blues have salary cap issues.

Carl Gunnarsson — It has been another difficult season for the 33-year- old veteran as far as injuries and then trying to reclaim a spot into the lineup. When he’s healthy, the Blues like him with Pietrangelo, but he’s probably better suited for the third pair. With his experience and the fact that he has just one year left on his contract ($1.75 million AAV), keeping him around for depth purposes makes sense. But with his injury history, it’s not a guarantee.

Restricted … so likely staying put

Vince Dunn — He has the highest Expected Goals For percentage on the team (53.85), and one more goal will give him double-digits for the second straight year. But he’ll be a pending restricted free agent without arbitration rights, so an agreement may not come easy because the Blues don’t have to make a strong financial commitment to him yet. It’ll be interesting, however, to see if a player who has had a lot of success in just 16:16 of ice time per game will have his role expanded.

Sammy Blais — This could have been his breakout season after a terrific training camp and solid start, but a wrist injury in November required surgery and cost him 28 games. He has one goal and four assists in 20 games back, but with his skill and physicality, he’ll be able to produce more when he’s 100 percent. The Blues showed their faith in him by agreeing to terms on a two-year, $3 million contract extension with him Wednesday.

Jacob de la Rose — He showed glimpses, but not enough of them after joining the Blues from Detroit in the trade of Robby Fabbri. The fourth- line forward didn’t produce like Fabbri, who had 14 goals and 31 points in 52 games for the Red Wings, but no one expected that. However, the fact that he was a healthy scratch so often was disconcerting. There’s no reason to think the RFA won’t be back next season, but he’ll have to work his way back into the lineup.

MacKenzie MacEachern — He has played 50 games this season and has been good again on the forecheck. He has seven goals, which is more than anyone expected, and 10 points. He can definitely help from a depth perspective, but when everyone is healthy, the Blues have better options with Barbashev, Sundqvist and Blais. MacEachern is wrapping up a one-year, one-way deal, however, and it seems like the club could get him on the same type of deal next season.

Could be on the move

Jake Allen — He has had as phenomenal a season as anybody on the roster, currently sitting second among NHL netminders in goals-against average (2.15) and fourth in save percentage (.927). So now what? He has trade value, and there has to be interest, but with one year left on a deal that has a $4.35 million AAV, do the Blues hang on to him and keep the crease a position of strength? That may be their preference, but that’s difficult to do with salary-cap space at a premium.

Marco Scandella — He was exceptional when the Blues acquired him from Buffalo in the aftermath of Jay Bouwmeester’s cardiac episode in Anaheim in February. In 11 games and 187 minutes of 5-on-5 ice time, he was on the wrong end of just three goals against. Bringing the unrestricted free agent back seems like a no-brainer, but with the Blues’ 1173779 Tampa Bay Lightning Everyone wants their lives to get back to normal. And millions of Americans are desperate to get back to work. The president has warned that the cure cannot be worse than the disease, and there is validity to that concern. A devastated economy could wipe out life savings, and Sports are essential only in some bizarro millionaire world create homeless problems not seen since the Great Depression.

That doesn’t mean we knowingly sacrifice health or lives, but we must find the proper balance between inviting people back to work and school John Romano while still practicing smart pandemic controls.

And that’s why sports need to be put in proper perspective. Would live There is widespread talk of putting athletes back to work. Hopefully, it games be good for the country’s morale? Certainly. Would they help comes to pass. But sports should be following, not leading America’s kickstart the economy? Potentially. recovery. But if we’re going to start taking calculated risks, I’m not sure the Fire up the grill, and ice the beer. The games are on their way back! smartest way is by making sure wealthy athletes are getting their paychecks, as well as over-the-top quarantine efforts to protect their Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis grabbed the wheel of this bandwagon early health. on by paving the way for live wrestling events to be considered an essential industry, and later talked about the possibility of Major League Maybe, a month from now, the curve is flattened and supplies are Baseball and golf events in the state, too. President Trump followed up plentiful. It doesn’t mean we let down our guard, but maybe we can start by talking about games returning while name-dropping sports executives putting plans in place for a slow rollout of some sports. Trust me, no one even diehard fans would have a hard time picking out of a crowd. And, in has missed the Final Four, the Masters, the NHL playoffs or the start of the piece de resistance, America’s favorite pandemic expert, Dr. Anthony the baseball season more than me. Fauci, laid out a scenario where sports could return soon in empty But, in this case, athletes need to be followers and not leaders. Seeing arenas. live sports might give the appearance of normality, but it would be a false Good news and good times, eh? impression. We all need to recognize that the re-opening of the country has to be done methodically and with the most vulnerable in mind. Except it’s not going to be quite that easy. Nor should it be. The worst thing we can do is allow the virus an unnecessary opening to If you doubt that, consider the statement Major League Baseball re-establish its death grip. commissioner Rob Manfred provided to Tampa Bay Times baseball writer Marc Topkin late Tuesday night. I’ve read too many stories of nurses and doctors dying to unnecessarily put their health in jeopardy because I want to watch a ball game. “We are appreciative that the governor is open to playing games in Florida as one potential solution," Manfred said, “but we all agree that such efforts can only be undertaken in a manner that does not endanger Tampa Bay Times LOADED: 04.16.2020 public health, nor the health of our players and fans."

It was baseball executives who were originally mulling a modified season taking place entirely in isolation in Arizona, or perhaps Arizona and Florida. The plan was mocked by some, and viewed warily by many.

And now, a week later as the tide seems to be turning in favor of return to playing fields, Manfred is preaching patience.

Why?

The commissioner is rightfully, and legitimately, concerned about the health of people in his industry and elsewhere. But it could also be that Manfred was politely telling DeSantis that Major League Baseball will not be used as a canary in the economic coal mine. And it could be that the initial backlash baseball heard last week resonated with Manfred and team owners.

Now, there is certainly a scenario where sports could be staged without fans in attendance in the coming months. Golf, for instance, is typically played largely in silence, and with minimal contact between participants. Auto racing has a similar dynamic. Televised-only golf and auto racing is not going to be all that much different from the real thing.

But the more sports you begin talking about, the more complicated the equation gets. Fauci talked about isolating athletes in hotels and testing them weekly for the coronavirus, which is along the lines of the original Major League Baseball plan.

Most baseball teams have traveling parties of 55-60 people for road trips. Factor in a three-month season in isolation, and that number would likely grow to around 100 players, employees, executives. For 30 teams, that means 3,000 people in hotels. That doesn’t include umpires and other MLB-affiliated workers or TV personnel.

That translates into a lot of hotel rooms, which could be good for a local economy and clearly appealing to a governor. But are the hotel workers isolated, too? If not, there’s some social distancing questions at play.

And in a grander sense, there should not be a single hotel room occupied or a single game played until every health worker in this country has the necessary masks and other safety equipment needed. And there shouldn’t be a single test wasted on thousands of quarantined athletes until every American with a fever or a cough can walk into a clinic and be safely examined.

Are you starting to see the problems here? 1173780 Tampa Bay Lightning Not having a regular offseason and complete training camp could wreak havoc on players’ bodies.

Doughty compared the current situation to the one of the 2016 World Can the NHL return without putting players at risk of injury? Cup of Hockey. Offseason training was altered for the NHL players who participated in the September tournament, and the NHL preseason was condensed for them.

Staff Report “I never recovered from that for the rest of the season,” Doughty said. “I was in absolute pain for that whole season. Now that I think about it, as

much as I could be in game mode mentally, your body’s not ready for it if The Kings’ Drew Doughty isn’t sure play will resume this season. The you don’t get a full offseason of training.” Lightning’s Braydon Coburn says it’s hard to know what might happen. Coburn, who didn’t play in the World Cup, wasn’t ready to go that far Like everyone else in the NHL, Drew Doughty is working out, doing his about offseason training. He knows the pause in play is putting players in best to stay in shape. But the Kings’ All-Star defenseman said he doesn’t a different position but couldn’t say how it could affect the annual training know exactly what he’s working out for. cycle because something like this has never happened before.

“I’m just working out because I know I have to be,” Doughty told reporters That being said, Doughty and Coburn echoed what every other player during a recent conference call. has said. They’re doing what they can to be ready, though they don’t know what to be ready for or when. Doughty expressed doubt that the NHL season — put on hold March 12 because of the coronavirus pandemic — will return, though he said he might feel differently if Los Angeles wasn’t sitting near the bottom of the Tampa Bay Times LOADED: 04.16.2020 league standings. He doesn’t see how resuming the season can work, given that lockdowns are still being extended around North America.

It’s easy for players to work out at home. Many teams, including the Lightning, loaned equipment to their players. Some players have home gyms or purchased weights. The question for them is what kind of workouts they should be doing given the uncertainty surrounding the season.

Are they still in season? Or is this the offseason?

The Lightning, like most teams, have told their players to “stay in shape” and have given some specific workouts. That means players are trying to stay as close to game shape as they reasonably can.

Lightning defenseman Braydon Coburn called his current mode “maintenance-plus,” something in the existing training cycle.

The Peloton bike that Coburn bought his wife for Christmas has come in handy. When he bought it, he said, he was skeptical, thinking she’d probably use it only for a little while and then they’d have a very expensive bike sitting in a corner.

“Those words have come back to haunt me,” Coburn said during a conference call Wednesday.

He also has been inline skating, which players in warm-weather cities have tried. Coburn figures it’s a decent way to keep strength in the legs. But mostly it’s a fun way to stay in shape and a reminder of what he’s missing.

“It’s just putting the skate boot on and having my feet in the boot of a skate,” Coburn said, “just that feeling of tying up my skates. I don’t know if it’s just a little bit therapeutic.”

But no matter a player’s Peloton streak, he’s going to need time to get back into hockey shape when he gets back on the ice.

“If you only get a week of training camp with a couple exhibition games, you’re going to wreck your body,” Doughty said.

If the season does resume, players might end up without a typical offseason.

The most popular idea for resuming the season includes playoffs in July and August, then training camp in October. That would mean only a month or so of offseason for all, compared to the usual three to five months, depending on a team’s postseason situation.

As much as there’s a routine to the season, there’s a routine to the offseason, too. Most players take about a month off after they finish playing and then get into the gym and back on the ice.

When coaches talk about a player coming back stronger — as Lightning coach Jon Cooper said of wing Ondrej Palat this season — that improvement comes from dedicated time in the gym, when tearing down and rebuilding muscles won’t interfere with how he plays.

Lightning strength coach Mark Lambert has called the offseason a time to look at what is missing from an athlete and fill in the gaps — strength, speed, power, etc. 1173781 Tampa Bay Lightning

Dr. Anthony Fauci: Sports could return from coronavirus hiatus this summer without fans

Staff Report

The coronavirus pandemic might not shut down sports all year, according to the nation’s top expert in infectious diseases.

Fans holding out hope for the return of some sporting events this summer during the coronavirus pandemic got a glimmer of hope Wednesday morning from the nation’s foremost expert on infectious diseases.

“There’s a way of doing that,” Dr. Anthony Fauci said in a Good Luck America interview on Snapchat. “Nobody comes to the stadium. Put them in big hotels, wherever you want to play. Keep them well surveilled … but have them tested, like, every week. And make sure they don’t wind up infecting each other or their family. Just let them play their season out.”

Fauci’s ideas are not revolutionary on their own; similar ideas have been floating around the sports world over the last few weeks. Major League Baseball has kicked around the possibility of playing its games in Arizona, or splitting itself into an Arizona league and a Florida league.

Gov. Ron DeSantis said Tuesday that we’re “starved” for entertainment content. Maybe Florida could host a NASCAR race without fans or a golf challenge between superstars Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, but Major League Baseball downplayed the possibility of a quick return in Florida in a statement Tuesday night to the Tampa Bay Times.

“MLB has been working diligently to plan for many different contingencies, and one of many ideas that has been discussed has been to play some of our games (in) Florida when the public heath situation allows for it," MLB said. “We are appreciative that the governor is open to playing games in Florida as one potential solution, but we all agree that such efforts can only be undertaken in a manner that does not endanger public health, nor the health of our players and fans. We will continue to be guided by those principles.”

Regardless, Fauci’s comments are noteworthy because he isn’t a governor, commissioner, player or athletic director. He is a public health official whose expertise have helped shape America’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic so far and will help guide the nation’s return to normalcy, whatever that looks like.

“People say you can’t play without spectators,” Fauci said in the Snapchat interview. “Well I think you probably get enough buy-in from people who are dying to see a baseball game. I’ve been living in Washington. We have the world champion Washington Nationals. I want to see them play again.”

Maybe even this summer.

Tampa Bay Times LOADED: 04.16.2020 1173782 Toronto Maple Leafs Versteeg played 27 games for the Flyers, then was traded for more draft picks. He landed in Florida, where he had his only real hat trick, returned to Chicago for a second Stanley Cup, and finished his career with stops in Carolina, Los Angeles and Calgary. The Maple Leafs were the mecca for Kris Versteeg, and his Gordie Howe night was the highlight “The 2010 (Stanley Cup) was the highlight for me,” he said. “When I first got (to Chicago), there (were) 5,000 or 6,000 people in the stands. Then, within two years, you’re in the Western Conference finals, playing Detroit, losing to a superior team. Then you go on and win the Cup the next year. By Kevin McGran Staff Reporter “It was just a group progression over about three years. We’re all best Wed., April 15, 2020 friends in the minors, we come up ’til we’re all there for good.

“And you then come into the next year (2009-10) and, you know, Kris Versteeg retired as a two-time Stanley Cup champion this week, but everyone’s now getting paid. And you knew that the team was going to there was a moment during his brief tenure with the Maple Leafs that be disbanded, you only had one year to win. So there’s a lot of pressure stands out as one of his favourite NHL memories: his Gordie Howe hat on us to try to win that year, knowing that was the last time that group trick. would ever be together.

Versteeg was with the second of his seven NHL teams when, on Oct. 9, “So when we won it, it was like a relief. And it was just being so excited 2010, he assisted on a goal by Phil Kessel in the first period, scored on for your best friends as well, who won it with you. Just an amazing Pascal Leclaire in the second and got into a fight with Mike Fisher in the experience over a three-year span that all came together with the Stanley third in the Leafs’ 5-1 win over the Ottawa Senators. Cup in 2010.”

“That definitely stands out, I mean, I had only one (goal-assist-fight game),” Versteeg said in a phone interview. “When you fight Mike Fisher Toronto Star LOADED: 04.16.2020 and he’s that much bigger and stronger than you … I remember he was holding my hands together almost like a father playing with his child. I was definitely nervous and then when he started throwing lefts, I got a little more nervous.

“I actually didn’t know it was a Gordie Howe until after the game and we were talking about it. It was a memory that I’ll always have. And for sure, I think about it.”

Versteeg, who played 11 seasons in the NHL, was always a good chatter in post-game interviews and he hopes to catch on as an analyst when hockey returns.

He came to the Leafs in a multiplayer trade with the Blackhawks in the summer of 2010 in which forward Victor Stalberg was the key player headed to Chicago. The Blackhawks had just ended a 49-year Cup drought and were facing salary cap issues, so Versteeg and others like Dustin Byfuglien, , and Brent Sopel were traded elsewhere.

The partying after winning the Cup went on for a while that summer, and Versteeg didn’t start training seriously until August. That led to a slow start with the Leafs.

“I remember I started off brutal ... I did not play good hockey in the first 10 to 11 games that season,” he said. “But Game 12, I remember I had a big talk with Burkie and Poulie (former GM and his assistant, Dave Poulin) and they told me just to calm down and ease in.

“I remember over the next 30 games, I got 30 points. Not taking away (from the) guys I was playing with but, like, Darryl Boyce (who had 18 career points) and Tim Brent (who had 48) were my centres.”

Versteeg and Brent are still good friends. And he remains close with Tyler Bozak, Dion Phaneuf, Luke Schenn and others from that 2010-11 team that missed the playoffs. Versteeg was gone by then, traded to Philadelphia for a first-round pick and a third-round pick at the trade deadline. The Leafs used those selections on defenceman Stuart Percy and winger Josh Leivo at the trade deadline.

Versteeg ended up with 14 goals and 21 assists in 53 games with the Leafs.

“It was a memorable time because you’re playing for the mecca,” he said. “I mean I was really happy to play in Chicago and then, when you get traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs, that’s the biggest organization in hockey and one of the top organizations in all the world in sports, so it was a new experience for me. It was just too bad it didn’t last.”

He said Burke gave him a heads up that the trade was going to happen.

“I didn’t want to be traded, at no point did I ask out,” Versteeg said. “I actually was starting just to find a groove and find my way. But obviously some things don’t work out. Burke, he just said sometimes a screw doesn’t fit into a hole or whatever. They also needed draft picks. Burke was always very up front with me.” 1173783 Toronto Maple Leafs “But if anyone’s going to come out of something like that, it’s a young athlete who’s in peak physical condition. He’s 25 years old and is going to be as resilient than anybody,” Gryba said. “It just didn’t cross my mind that he wouldn’t come out of it. And that was the really hard part, just Colby Cave’s death might just be the result of ‘very bad luck’ hearing he didn’t make it.”

If pro athletes are often cast as invincible gladiators, Cave was a Saskatchewan archetype. As a junior, he served as captain of the Swift By Dave Feschuk Sports Columnist Current Broncos for two seasons. Davidson said the red-headed Wed., April 15, 2020 centreman with the rugged features and the soft smile could have been a stand-in for a cartoon superhero.

“He could make a good Hercules with that chiseled chin of his,” Davidson When Toronto neurosurgeon Dr. Charles Tator heard the sad news said. about Colby Cave, the Edmonton Oilers forward who died Saturday at age 25, Tator immediately flashed back to his earliest days as a doctor. He occasionally made a good tough guy, too. Earlier this season, while playing in Bakersfield, Cave caused a social-media stir when video of Tator, 83, is best known as Canada’s foremost expert on concussions, one of his fights went viral. The clip culminated with Cave knocking his but he began his career as an emergency-room physician. And in those opponent unconscious with a thundering right. The story continued that formative days he remembers encountering a patient around the same Cave later texted his fallen foe, 19-year-old Marin Pospisil, to check on age as Cave suffering with the same condition that ultimately claimed Pospisil’s health. Cave — a colloid cyst. Tator said a colloid cyst, a type of congenital tumour, can range anywhere from the size of a pea to the size of a It was one of 16 fights in which Cave partook between junior and the grape. And though it’s never cancerous, it can be dangerous. As it grows, pros, according to HockeyFights.com. And while Tator is on record as because it is located in the middle of the brain near vital fluid pathways, it one of the most vehement critics of fighting in hockey, and while he has can block the necessary flow of brain fluid. This can lead to an increase not examined Cave’s medical records, he said that, given what he knows in pressure in the brain, which can, in turn, lead to a fatal brain bleed, the about colloid cysts, Cave’s career choice likely had nothing to do with his apparent cause of Cave’s death. demise.

As a young doctor, Tator saw a 20-something young man die of the worst “I don’t think there was any evidence of trauma being a factor. So this effects of a colloid cyst. Though he has successfully removed several was truly a spontaneous thing that didn’t have anything to do with such cysts in the intervening decades, he can’t remember seeing many (hockey),” Tator said. “He could have been an accountant or a lawyer, fatal cases along the way, and certainly not another one involving a not necessarily a hockey player.” professional athlete. As a beloved hockey player, Cave’s life likely would have been “It’s very, very rare,” said Tator, speaking over the phone from his celebrated this week with a ceremony that went beyond a sombre motor Toronto home. “It’s a rare type of tumour and a rare type of problem that brigade. But in the age of COVID-19, plans for a proper memorial have developed in it, on top of that.” been put on hold, said Davidson.

In other words, for those attempting to make sense of the senseless, “Any other time, you’d have the hockey community and the North Cave’s death — which came after he was airlifted from his home in Battleford and Saskatchewan community coming together for a memorial to Toronto’s Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, where he or a funeral to honour Colby and pay respects to the family,” Gryba said. underwent emergency surgery and was placed in a medically induced “But in this day and age, it’s just not possible … You feel for the family, coma — was likely a tragic case of bad luck. that they can’t have a traditional ceremony for him. It’s just a very uniquely crappy situation.” “That’s the way I would think of it. Very bad luck,” Tator said.

This was only supposed to be the beginning for Cave. A career in professional hockey – even one as a fringe NHLer like Cave, who broke Toronto Star LOADED: 04.16.2020 into the league as an undrafted free agent with the Boston Bruins back in 2017 — is an enviable way to start a young life. Cave played 67 games in the NHL with the Bruins and Oilers over the past few seasons, and many more games in the minor leagues, where he had most recently been a regular with Edmonton’s AHL affiliate, the . But he earned more than $1 million (U.S.) in salary as he yo-yoed between the AHL and NHL, according to CapFriendly.com. And along the way he built a network of teammates and coaches and executives who held him in high esteem.

And he was married, just last summer, to Emily Cave, who shared video of the couple’s emotional wedding vows on Instagram this week while pointing out that, in the lead-up to his death, Colby had been complaining of a headache.

“I dare anyone to find someone who had a bad thing to say about Colby Cave,” Jason Davidson, Cave’s agent, said in a phone interview. “I don’t think there’s a human on earth. I really don’t. And I’ve been in this business long enough, I know I definitely can’t say that about myself.”

Eric Gryba, the former NHL defenceman, was one of the many mourners who made the pilgrimage to Cave’s hometown of North Battleford, Sask., on Monday. Gryba, who lives in Saskatoon, made the hour-long drive alongside his wife and parents, travelling in a caravan that included Jared Cowen, the one-time Maple Leaf. Together they joined a seemingly endless line of cars — at least 15 kilometres’ worth, according to some estimates — on Saskatchewan’s Highway 16, designed to provide comfort to the Cave family as they made their return from Toronto via the Saskatoon airport.

Gryba called the gathering both “hearth-warming and heart-wrenching.” Warming to see a community that has seen its share of tragedy rally around a family in need, wrenching to think about a young vibrant life cut too short. 1173784 Toronto Maple Leafs The bottom line for Bettman, in terms of the players and personnel associated with the NHL’s teams, is health and safety as they pertain to the coronavirus.

Bettman has summer return to games for NHL on the table of “Before we can begin as a business standpoint, we have to be possibilities comfortable that we have the appropriate medical protocols in place, because we’re going to have to have our players travel from virtually all over the world,” Bettman said.

Terry Koshan “When we decide it’s time to play, we have to be able to get everybody back and be comfortable that not only are we not infecting the population April 15, 2020 5:04 PM EDT of players but that were not bringing the coronavirus from other places into jurisdictions where the players and other personnel are going.”

Gary Bettman continues to keep the National Hockey League’s doors ICE CHIPS open to anything regarding a return to the ice. Dr. Anthony Fauci, one of the leading infectious disease experts in the In a television interview with Fox Business Network on Wednesday U.S., said during an interview on Snapchat’s Good Luck America that morning, the NHL commissioner indicated that a resumption of the NHL games could be played in empty stadiums, and presumably arenas, at in the summer is one option. some point. “Nobody comes to the stadium,” Fauci said, referring to fans. “Put (players) in big hotels, wherever you want to play, and keep them “We’re focused on being as flexible and as agile as possible and when very well surveilled. Have them tested every week and make sure they we get the opportunity from a health standpoint to bring our players don’t wind up infecting each other or their family, and just let them play together, to let our teams reconstitute themselves to get operations up the season out.” Our take: We’ll see … Bill Peters, who resigned as and running, we will be in a position to do that, whenever it makes coach of the Calgary Flames last November following allegations of racial sense,” Bettman said. and physical abuse from former players including Akim Aliu and Michal Jordan, signed a two-year contract to coach Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg “And we believe that we can be fairly flexible in terms of the calendar, of the KHL. and my guess at this point is we’re probably going to be playing into the summer, which is something that we can certainly do.”

With input from the league’s 31 teams and in talks with the NHL Players’ Toronto Sun LOADED: 04.16.2020 Association, the NHL has been exploring not only the logistical issues for getting back on the ice but also the ways in which it could properly finish the 2019-20 regular season.

When the NHL hit pause on March 12 because of the COVID-19 global pandemic, five teams — the New York Islanders, New York Rangers and Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference and the Vancouver Canucks and Minnesota Wild in the Western Conference — were within three points or less of a wild-card spot. The Arizona Coyotes and Chicago Blackhawks weren’t far off in the West.

“There are at least seven teams that were on the bubble of making the playoffs, and not all the teams have played the same number of games,” Bettman said. “Whatever we do to come back, and this is where I am talking about being agile and flexible, we’re going to have to do something, whether it’s complete the regular season in whole or in part.

“Whether or not it’s expanded playoffs, we’re going to have to do something that is fair and has integrity. That is going to be very important no matter what it is we do, and we’re considering all the alternatives. Nothing has been ruled in and nothing has been ruled out.”

One major obstacle the NHL, and other pro sports leagues, will have to clear is where games could be played if there is a green light of some sort to go back into game action. The best way, of course, for the NHL to get back on the ice would be to have the clubs’ players return to each of their respective team cities for training camp, but that could be months, if not more than a year, away.

Neutral sites? One site, for example Grand Forks, N.D., has been discussed.

It has to be kept in mind that players haven’t had access to their usual workout facilities, never mind getting on the ice. The NHL this week extended its self-quarantine to April 30. There has been speculation that a final call on the 2019-20 season, whether it is to be completed, won’t come until the end of May or middle of June.

“We have been considering all of the alternatives, not just in terms of the structure of play, but where we actually do it because we’re all over North America — Canada and the United States — in lots of different locations and not all of them may be in the same condition in terms of the coronavirus,” Bettman said. “We have been exploring the possibility of some neutral sites.

“We have been talking to the players and the PA, it has been very cooperative. One of the things we know we’re going to need is two-three weeks for the players to get themselves in game-ready shape. So our health and safety concerns are first and foremost. We don’t want our players risking injury, and that’s part of the mix.” 1173785 Toronto Maple Leafs Leafs, Marner appeared unleashed under Keefe’s new system, looking dominant with the puck in the offensive zone. Under Babcock in 2019-20, Marner had a 5-on-5 xG% of 48.14 percent. Under Keefe, that number jumped to 57.46 percent. Highs, lows and new expectations: Mitch Marner personified a trying Leafs season In Keefe’s first 20 games behind the Leafs bench, the resurgent club won 15 times, led by a white-hot Marner, who during an eight-game point streak in December racked up six goals and 17 points.

By Joshua Kloke The Leafs came back down to earth in January and February. Over a 27- game stretch beginning on Jan. 6, the Leafs went 12-11-4. Opponents Apr 15, 2020 developed an understanding of how to expose the Leafs possession- heavy style. This was never more evident than during an ugly 8-4 loss to the Florida Panthers on Jan. 12 during which the Leafs were subjected to With the possibility that the 2019-20 NHL season may not resume, a numerous odd-man rushes against. Tuesday afternoon conference call with Mitch Marner was as good a time as any to ask the young Toronto Maple Leafs forward to assess his Following that game Marner let his frustrations be known. turbulent and truncated year. “We need to wake up here,” he told reporters. “Obviously,” conceded Marner, “the ups and downs weren’t great.” Marner still put up 14 points during this 11-game stretch and appeared to During a year in which Marner said consistency was his goal, his take on more of a vocal role. performance — and that of his team — has been anything but. “I expect myself to be a lot better in these types of games and knowing it When Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas used the term “Jekyll and was a big one, knowing that this team’s gonna come out like that,” Hyde” following the trade deadline to describe his team’s play, he could Marner said after loss to Ayres and the Hurricanes. “That’s bullshit on my just as easily have been talking about Marner. On some nights, the part.” playmaker’s work with the puck has excelled beyond almost any other Throughout the season Marner was hypercritical of his game. After a player in the NHL. And then there have been nights when Marner is all frustrating 2-1 loss to the Anaheim Ducks on March 6, he called himself but invisible. out for taking a foolish penalty. The highs included a five-point game against the Carolina Hurricanes on “Stupid on my part there,” Marner said. “Frustration took over but that’s Dec. 23 when Marner sparked an 8-6 comeback win with four points in the last time that happens. I’m better than that.” the third period. And as the noise around the team grew louder, and the Leafs’ playoff The lows included a no-show effort during the now-infamous “David spot became more tenuous, Marner acknowledged the spotlight was Ayres Game” loss at home to Carolina. Following that game, Marner getting hotter. referred to his effort as “dog shit.” “As a team, we’re trying to stay calm,” Marner said after the March 6 loss. Inconsistency and harsh self-criticism have been hallmarks of Marner’s “Media’s a big part in the city we play in. For our team, it’s just about season to date, one that got off to a late start. staying off social media. People are just going to start getting on us.” Marner’s season began on Sept. 13, 2019, the second day of Leafs It wasn’t always easy to get a read on Marner this season. Earlier in his training camp, after finally coming to terms on a six-year, $65 million career, he was often one of the more gregarious and forthcoming contract extension. Talks between Marner’s camp and the team had members of the team with the media. But this season his media sessions dragged on for several months and were at times acrimonious. Now were far more brief. After losses, he often appeared to be the most there were questions about how Marner would perform with the emotional player in the dressing room. additional financial security and expectation his new deal would bring. The move away from the mostly happy-go-lucky Marner toward someone “I’m from Toronto, I live here and I play here as well. So there’s pressure who appeared to be carrying the weight of his team’s inconsistency on in that always,” said Marner after signing the deal. “You don’t think about his shoulders is one of the takeaways from his season. it. You just go out and play hockey like you’ve done your whole life.” On the ice, Marner’s production this season was essentially on par with Seventeen games into the season, Marner had found the net just four his breakout, 94-point 2018-19 campaign. His 67 points in 59 games in times. 2019-20 had him on a 93-point pace over 82 games. And some of his “The start of the season, it wasn’t how I wanted it to be and how I wanted underlying numbers speak to a strong campaign as well. His 5-on-5 xG% to play,” Marner said Tuesday, adding he didn’t start to feel like his “usual was 55.36 percent, the highest of his career and second-highest on the self” until Game 15. Leafs this year. His 5-on-5 SCF% was 54.83 percent, second-highest of his career and third-highest among Leafs regulars this season. On Nov. 9, Marner’s 18th game of the season — an eventual 3-2 shootout loss in Philadelphia — he fell awkwardly to the ice in the second Moving forward, Marner said his goal hasn’t changed: to be at his best period. He would miss the next 11 games with an ankle injury. every night.

“Looking back at the video, seeing the photos, it could have been a lot “That’s something that I take a lot of responsibility in,” said Marner, worse than what actually happened,” Marner said on Nov. 12. “You adding that he tried to be a leader this season after being named an always have to look at the bright side and now it’s something where I can alternate captain ahead of the season opener. get in that gym, get stronger and try to make my shot better when I get Few players have personified the up-and-down nature of the Leafs 2019- back.” 20 season like Marner. It’s an identity he’s keen to shake whenever Without Marner, the Leafs stumbled. They lost six games in a row. On hockey returns. Nov. 20, Dubas fired head coach Mike Babcock, replacing him with “As frequent as they were happening for us,” Marner said of his team’s Sheldon Keefe. On Nov. 25 the “Toronto Sun” reported that Babcock had inconsistent performances. “It’s not something we want to be known as, once asked a Maple Leafs rookie, later revealed to be Marner during the or want to keep going, especially if the season does come back.” 2016-17 season to list his teammates in order of who had a strong work ethic and who did not. Marner was shocked when Babcock shared the list he had submitted to his teammates. The Athletic LOADED: 04.16.2020 “(What happened with Babcock), that was my first year, I didn’t really know what to think of it,” Marner said on Nov. 25. “But it’s all over with now, there’s really nothing I can say. I’m looking forward to the future and the new change and seeing how I can help this team win with Sheldon.”

When he returned to action on Dec. 4 — now under a new head coach — so too did the Marner of a year ago. Like many offensively inclined 1173786 Vegas Golden Knights

Ryan Reaves’ brewing company to donate to coronavirus relief

By David Schoen Las Vegas Review-Journal

Golden Knights forward Ryan Reaves announced his brewing company will donate profits to various groups fighting the coronavirus pandemic in Las Vegas. Reaves said all profits from 7Five Brewing Co. merchandise sold online for the next four weeks will go to charity, and the company also will match the donation. This week’s donation will be made to University Medical Center. “I know right now it’s not easy for a lot of people in the city I call home. I know a lot of people are struggling,” Reaves said in a video on his Instagram account. “Community is more important than ever, and that’s why 7Five Brewing Co. is willing to help out a little bit with people that are struggling and people that are helping on the front lines.” Other groups that will benefit from Reaves’ generosity are Nevada Community Foundation, Helping Hands of Vegas Valley and Three Square food bank. To purchase merchandise and make a donation, visit 7FiveBrewing.com. LAS VEGAS REVIEW JOURNAL LOADED: 04.16.2020 1173787 Vegas Golden Knights

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman prepares for summer hockey

By David Schoen Las Vegas Review-Journal

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is optimistic hockey will return this summer. Bettman told Fox Business Network on Wednesday the league is focused on being as flexible and agile as possible as it weighs options after the season was paused March 12 because of concerns about the coronavirus pandemic. “My guess at this point is, we’re probably going to be playing into the summer, which is something that we can certainly do,” Bettman said in an interview with host Maria Bartiromo. Bettman is scheduled to participate in a conference call with President Donald Trump on Wednesday and is part of a committee of sports leaders advising the president about reopening the economy. The NHL extended its recommendation for players and staff to self- quarantine through April 30. “First and foremost, from our standpoint, we think people need to feel safe, and we don’t want to put anybody’s health at risk,” Bettman said. “And that applies to our players, all the personnel who put on a game and ultimately fans. “So part of this is going to be a determination as to how to best understand when it’s safe to go outside.” One of the early proposals for a return made by players was to have a training camp at the beginning of July and complete a portion of the regular season before holding the playoffs in August and September. Bettman acknowledged the need for a two- to three-week training camp, and his comments Wednesday seemed to be in line with the proposed timetable. That also would allow the league to start the 2020-21 season in November and finish the Stanley Cup Final in late June in order to have a full schedule. The league has not determined how it will set this season’s playoff field to account for teams not having played an equal number of games. “We’re focused on those issues, and we have been, and we get a fair amount of lobbying from the clubs because they’re extraordinarily competitive,” Bettman said. “Whenever we do come back, and this is where I’m talking about being agile and flexible, we’re going to have to do something, whether it’s complete the regular season in whole or in part, whether or not it’s expanded playoffs, we’re going to have to do something that’s fair and has integrity. “That’s going to be very important no matter what it is we do, and we’re considering all of the alternatives, and nothing has been ruled in, and nothing has been ruled out.” Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Wednesday he thinks professional sports can return this summer if events are held without fans and players stay in hotels. Bettman confirmed the possibility of the NHL playing games at neutral sites, but said the league needs assurances that appropriate medical protocols are in place before it can resume play. “Because keep in mind, we’re going to have to have our players travel from virtually all over the world,” Bettman said. “And so, when we decide it’s time to play, we’ve got to be able to get everybody back and be comfortable that not only are we not infecting the population of players, but that we’re not bringing the coronavirus from other places into jurisdictions where the players and other personnel are going.” LAS VEGAS REVIEW JOURNAL LOADED: 04.16.2020 1173788 Vegas Golden Knights

Golden Knights’ Stanley Cup Final to air Thursday on NHL Network

By David Schoen Las Vegas Review-Journal

Golden Knights fans can relive the good, bad and disappointment from the 2018 Stanley Cup Final on Thursday. NHL Network is showing all five games from the series against the Washington Capitals, when the “misfit” Knights became the first expansion team to reach the final since the 1967-68 St. Louis Blues. The Knights’ Game 1 victory begins at 9 a.m. followed at 11 a.m. by Game 2 and — cringe! — Capitals goalie Braden Holtby’s stop on forward Alex Tuch in the final two minutes, which was voted by the NHL as the “Save of the Decade.” Hopefully they’ve edited out Pat Sajak’s player introductions at the start of Game 3. Here is the full schedule: 9 a.m. – 2018 Stanley Cup Final, Game 1: Washington Capitals at Vegas Golden Knights 11 a.m. – 2018 Stanley Cup Final, Game 2: Washington Capitals at Vegas Golden Knights 1 p.m. – 2018 Stanley Cup Final, Game 3: Vegas Golden Knights at Washington Capitals 3 p.m. – NHL Tonight 4 p.m. – 2018 Stanley Cup Final, Game 4: Vegas Golden Knights at Washington Capitals 7 p.m. – 2018 Stanley Cup Final, Game 5: Washington Capitals at Vegas Golden Knights 9 p.m. – 2018 Stanley Cup Championship Film LAS VEGAS REVIEW JOURNAL LOADED: 04.16.2020 1173789 Vegas Golden Knights where he struggled to drive offense and was injured multiple times before needing season-ending knee surgery.

Glass showed some glimpses of his potential ceiling, especially on the Auditing my 10 bold predictions for the Golden Knights’ season power play. He is confident and creative with the puck when he has time and space, regularly setting up tap-in goals for his linemates. But when the game speeds up he struggles to make the same sort of impact at even strength. The future is still bright for Glass, but if he reaches his By Jesse Granger Apr 15, 2020 8 potential he’ll look back on this season as a speed bump in his career, not the launching pad I predicted before it began. Tuesday morning the NHL extended the self-quarantine recommendation 5. Golden Knights will score the most goals in franchise history for NHL players, coaches and hockey staff through April 30. And while Through 71 games the Golden Knights scored 227 goals, on pace for league commissioner Gary Bettman continues to say the league is roughly 262. That would fall 10 goals short of the franchise record (2017- leaving all options of finishing the season on the table for now, it’s 18). In order to break this record, Vegas would’ve needed 46 goals over becoming increasingly less likely that any form of the regular season is its last 11 games, which is unlikely. going to be played. This prediction took a major hit when the Golden Knights struggled And with that, it’s a good time to look back on some preseason bold (and mightily to finish their scoring chance over the first half of the season. not so bold) predictions. I made 10 of them back on Sept. 30, 2019, two When I checked in at the midway point, Vegas had scored only 122 goals days before the regular season started. in 40 games (3.05 per game). Over the final 31 games that improved to Let’s see how I did. 3.39 goals per game, which is more than enough to break the franchise record. 1. Golden Knights will win the Pacific Division In the end, Vegas was as dominant offensively as many projected when There may never be a banner hung in T-Mobile Arena for the 2019-20 it came to shot attempts, shots on goal, scoring chances and high danger regular season, but the Golden Knights finished atop the division with 86 scoring chances. But in the most important stat — goals — the Golden points through 71 games. Vegas was three points clear of second-place Knights’ early-season struggles landed them 10th in the league in Edmonton and seven points clear of Calgary, which played one fewer scoring. game. 6. Golden Knights will allow the most goals in franchise history This forecast looks pretty good now, but it wasn’t exactly the boldest prediction when I made it, considering the Golden Knights were heavy With 211 goals against through 71 games, the Golden Knights were on betting favorites to win the Pacific. Vegas was -110 (meaning you must pace to allow approximately 244 goals this season. That would have bet $110 to win $100). been plenty to make this prediction true, as their previous high was 230 last season. However, the team with the second-best odds to win the Division was the San Jose Sharks (3.5-to-1), and they are last with 63 points. In order to avoid allowing the most goals in team history, Vegas would’ve needed to let in 19 or fewer goals in its final 11 contests. Hockey is unpredictable, and the Golden Knights had plenty of ups and downs this season, including firing their coach in January. But Vegas I made this prediction knowing Vegas needed to improve the blue line. managed its way through the slumps and ended up atop the Pacific The front office eventually did that, trading for Alec Martinez just before Division. the deadline, but not until the team allowed 3.03 goals per game prior to the acquisition. 2. Shea Theodore will top 50 points 7. Malcolm Subban will win at least 15 games The NHL pausing its season with 11 games remaining is the only thing preventing me from injuring my arm as I pat myself on the back for this This is certainly in the running (along with Glass for Calder) for my worst prediction. Theodore fell just shy of 50 with 46 points in 71 games. preseason prediction. Subban was injured early in the season, traded to Chicago at the deadline and won only nine games in 19 starts for the The 24-year-old had the breakout season many expected, setting career Golden Knights. highs in nearly every statistic imaginable. He was on pace for 53.1 points over 82 games, and considering his hot streak of 18 points in his last 21 If not for the trade, Subban still would’ve had a shot at reaching 15 wins, games, it’s likely he would’ve hit the threshold. but he still didn’t have the type of season I foresaw. The backup struggled to six-straight losses to open the season before eventually Theodore made the biggest leap in development on the defensive side of finding his groove and going 9-3-1 in his final 14 appearances. things this season, which allowed him to lead the entire team in ice time at 22:14. He finished eighth in the NHL in blocked passes (4.96), ninth in But the most telling quote of Subban’s season came from GM Kelly defensive zone denial rate (54.1 percent) and 11th in loose puck McCrimmon when the team traded him to Chicago in a deal that brought recoveries per 60 minutes (13.9), according to Sportlogiq. Robin Lehner to Vegas. Offensively Theodore’s brilliant skating and on-ice vision allowed him to “We didn’t have the confidence that we were as strong at that position become one of Vegas’ most dangerous weapons. He quarterbacked the (backup goalie) as we needed to be,” McCrimmon said on Feb. 24. power play — sometimes staying on the ice with both units — and broke “That’s what’s behind the decisions. If anything ever happened to Marc- the franchise record for points by a defenseman. Andre Fleury, we weren’t strong enough to win playoff games, if we get to that point. Those are hard decisions, but we felt that way.” 3. Mark Stone will be the first winger to win the Selke Trophy since 2003 8. William Karlsson will lead the NHL in shorthanded goals Stone certainly wasn’t bad defensively this season. He’s the team’s most reliable forward in all three zones and played more shorthanded minutes Karlsson was one of the Golden Knights’ best penalty killers for a third- than any forward on the team. He also led the entire team in takeaways, straight season, he helped create a ton of shorthanded scoring chances with 20 more than the next-closest player. and he finished tied for first on the team in shorties. However, 14 skaters bested his two shorthanded goals, including four players who ended up However, to become the first winger to win the Selke Trophy since 2003, with four. it takes nearly a perfect season, and Stone didn’t have quite that. His 1.8 defensive point shares are solid, but not enough to finish in the top-20 I was on the right track, as Karlsson and Reilly Smith were phenomenal among forwards. at creating scoring chances while killing penalties this season. Only two players (Vladislav Namestnikov and Jean-Gabriel Pageau) had more Stone was great for the Golden Knights this season, but he still has shorthanded points than Karlsson. But Karlsson was snakebitten when it another gear. He’ll need to reach it in 2020-21 if he wants to achieve this came to scoring goals, partially due to multiple hand injuries. lofty goal. It didn’t quite pan out, but I may just make this prediction again in 2020- 4. Cody Glass will contend for the Calder Trophy 21. Well … 9. Max Pacioretty will lead the team in shots on goal It was a rookie season to forget for the first draft choice in team history. It wasn’t close. Glass started the season hot, centering a dangerous line with Stone and Max Pacioretty. But he was eventually relegated to third-line winger Pacioretty finished with a team-high 307 shots on goal, and the next closest player was Jonathan Marchessault with only 235. Not only are Pacioretty’s shots the highest this season, they’re the highest total in the team’s three-year history. And he did it in only 71 games. Only two players had more shots on goal than Pacioretty this year. Nathan MacKinnon (318) and Alex Ovechkin (311). 10. Golden Knights will win the Western Conference We may still get the answer to this prediction if the NHL finds a way to complete the postseason. The Golden Knights are certainly in the running, with the best record in the Pacific Division and the third-best record in the Western Conference. Passing Colorado or St. Louis would be a tall order, but the Golden Knights would have the luxury of an easier (not easy, but easier) path to the conference finals. Because of that, they are the favorite to come out of the West in some sports books. The Athletic LOADED: 04.16.2020 1173790 Washington Capitals

John Carlson hints at future involvement with Ryan Zimmerman's Pros For Heroes COVID-19 Relief Fund

By J.J. Regan April 15, 2020 3:51 PM

It sounds like Ryan Zimmerman's Pros For Heroes COVID-19 Relief Fund is about to get a boost from John Carlson. Zimmerman launched the fund with his wife Heather and pledged $100,000 to help provide medical workers with supplies, protective equipment and meals as they battle against the coronavirus pandemic. Carlson appeared on the radio show "Chad Dukes vs. The World" on 106.7 The Fan Wednesday and hinted that he will be getting involved with Zimmerman's charity in the near future. "Just a thank you to the healthcare workers is in order," Carlson said. "I know Ryan Zimmerman started a little charity to help feed some of those frontline workers that he launched yesterday, I believe. I'll be getting involved with that, so maybe next week I'll have some more info." Carlson's teammate, Nicklas Backstrom, was an early supporter of the fund pledging $20,000. Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 04.16.2020 1173791 Washington Capitals Not only did he have the natural hatty, he did it in a come back win they kind of needed AND it capped his 16 goals in 10 games which as far as I know not even Ovechkin had ever done before. Best comebacks of 2019-20 semifinal: Stunning the Sharks vs. Rob Carlin: McNally, the Spartans died. So has your argument. Ovechkin's natural hat trick Jason Murphy: That's the history I want to watch Ryan Billie: Yes, but we are lucky enough to see that many times over. By NBC Sports Washington April 15, 2020 10:00 AM We are spoiled. We don't often see that kind of comeback. NO ONE had them coming back after the Sharks scored. with 1:00 to go.

Jason Murphy: what's funny is that you all are mentioning the 2 goals in With the NHL hitting pause on the 2019-20 season, NBC Sports the final minute, but no one has mentioned the multiple Holtby saves in Washington is looking back at the highlights from the first 69 games of OT that could have ended this whole argument from the beginning the regular season. The Comeback Caps dug many holes and climbed back out of a large number of them, but which comeback was the best? Ryan Billie: It was the best OT of the year as well... the Holtby saves were great.... the HOLTBY assist? We've gone through the first round and now it's the semifinals! To breakdown the matchup, we brought in a number of our Caps experts to That was tremendous. discuss on an online chat. JJ Regan: Haven't you heard? Twitter thinks Holtby can't stop a Semifinal: Caps rally for overtime win over Sharks vs. Ovechkin's natural beachball. You know, that goalie who has won a Vezina and Cup hat trick against the Kings Ryan Billie: Uh oh.... I can feel JJ getting worked up from my house... it's Jason Murphy (Caps Pre/Post Producer): We've reached the semifinals OK JJ... he's still elite in our eyes. of our Top 8 Comebacks of 2019-20 bracket and we have the #1 seeded Jason Murphy: At the end of the day, the Sharks game is going to win 2 late 6-on-5 goals against the Sharks on 1/5 up against the #5 seeded this comeback bracket, but McNally did a valiant job of trying to get that Ovechkin natural hat trick in the third period against the Kings on 2/4. vote much closer to 60-40 than 80-20 JJ Regan (Caps Beat Reporter): I can end this argument with one Rob Carlin: That SJ game was also the 10-year anniversary of Ovi being question: If you were at either game as a fan, which one would you have captain. So we honored him that night and got that comeback. left early? The Sharks game when they went up by 2 after an empty- netter with 1 minute left, or the Kings game where the Caps trailed by Ryan Billie: Fair point... Sharks get the win! only one in the third period? You decide! Goodnight everyone! Thanks for coming out. We’re down to the semifinals of our Caps Best Comebacks bracket! Chat's over, it's settled. First up: Rob Carlin (Caps Pre/Postgame Host): Any time you get Ovi scoring a natural hat trick in like 5 mins, it’s amazing. But 2 goals in final minute Caps rally for OT win over Sharks with empty net — that just never happens. I’m with JJ (which I don’t say vs often). This one isn’t close. Ovi’s natty hatty completes comeback against Kings Brian McNally (Deputy Managing Editor): Oh is seeing someone score his 698th goal common? Which was better? Jason Murphy: I don't even know which one JJ was arguing for — NBC Sports Capitals (@NBCSCapitals) April 15, 2020 Ryan Billie (Caps Game Producer): I see what you're saying JJ and the Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 04.16.2020 Sharks game is probably the winner here... but the LA game has some honorable mention-type merit here... Ovi hattie... Got Ovi to goal number 698 ... and the first goal was dangleicious JJ Regan: The Sharks game was over. Finished. Done. Knockout punch. The postgame story written and finished. Katy Williams (Caps Digital Editor): I agree with Brian. I know we're ranking best comebacks, not most exciting moments, but you have to mention where Ovi was on his chase for 700. every single goal he scored was exciting. three in five minutes was insane Ryan Billie: Insane. And that game was SLEEPY until that point. Rob Carlin: So, by McNally’s logic, every game with an Ovi goal is the best game ever? This is about comebacks, correct? Giving up a goal with a minute to play then scoring twice in that final minute.... that’s insane Meredith Violi (Social Media Coordinator): Ovechkin scoring a hat trick to get to 698 is definitely a worthy opponent. The dude is unreal. BUT based on this being a comebacks bracket - you can't beat the Sharks game. That kind of comeback is something I've never seen before. Ryan Billie: Sharks was unreal. We were in the truck getting ready for the postgame show. Dishes were done, man. Rob Carlin: Billie, nice “Don’t Tell Mom The Babysitter’s Dead” reference. It’s one of my favorites JJ Regan: The Kings game was great. Heck of a finish. Amazing. It was a one-goal comeback. Give Ovechkin props for the natty, it was amazing. But the Sharks game was the first time in franchise history the Caps overcame a 2-goal deficit in the final minute of play to win. Brian McNally: Amazing reference, Billie. Young kids out there please google it. I'm going to go down fighting like the Spartans at the end of 300. It IS a comeback bracket. 2 empty-net goals IS insane. But you just can't take out the context of those Ovi goals 1173792 Washington Capitals There’s usually controversy when these teams meet and Game 1 was no exception. Columbus captain Nick Foligno challenged rugged Caps winger Tom Wilson to a fight after Wilson’s open-ice hit on Gustav Nyquist late in the second period. Nyquist did not return to the game, Simulating the 2020 NHL playoffs: Capitals vs. Blue Jackets though a team source told The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline that the injury is not serious.

After the game, Columbus coach John Tortorella called Wilson’s hit on By Tarik El-Bashir, Aaron Portzline and Dom Luszczyszyn Apr 15, 2020 Nyquist “as dirty as they get.” Capitals coach Todd Reirden suggested 45 that perhaps Nyquist should quit admiring his passes. If the opening act was any indication, this is going to be appointment The NHL isn’t back yet, but we’re going to pretend it is. Over the last viewing the rest of the way. month, we’ve run a simulation of how the NHL’s regular season might Notes: The last time Jensen scored? Also a two-goal performance (Oct. have played out if the league hadn’t been suspended on March 12. Now, 11, 2018 as a member of the Red Wings). …Columbus’ power play went the standings have been set and we’re carrying that forward through the 0-for-5 as the Caps, who led the league in minor penalties this season, playoffs. This time around, one of our beat writers from each team will be formed a single file line to the penalty box. …Ovechkin finished without a in charge of every lineup decision, the narrative for every playoff game point but hit the post twice in the third period. and they’ll get to decide what “happened” in each game. Join us as we make our way through the simulated postseason to crown a virtual — Tarik El-Bashir Stanley Cup champion. This is the type of game the Blue Jackets must win if this series is going In 2017-18, the Capitals and Blue Jackets met in the first round, a series to hold any drama. where the Blue Jackets took the first two games on the road before losing four straight. That series set the stage for the Capitals winning They held Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals’ other stars off the scoresheet, their first-ever Stanley Cup just a few weeks later. Washington is hoping and they pelted Holtby with 32 shots, but it still wasn’t enough. for a similar path on Earth 2 in 2019-20 while Columbus is hoping to The Blue Jackets moved Alexander Wennberg to left wing on Pierre-Luc finish what it started a couple season ago. Dubois’ line with about six weeks left in the regular season, but it was Both teams were red hot down the stretch (and earned a significant ELO apparent early on that Wennberg — an excellent defensive player — is adjustment upward to their underlying strength as a result) with needed down the middle vs. Washington. Washington finishing the season 10-3-0 to win the Metropolitan Division Kudos to Nick Foligno for stepping up on Wilson, who may have thought while Columbus ended the year 7-2-3 to maintain its playoff standing he had free rein in this series with Josh Anderson (shoulder) injured. despite a gruesome schedule. The road forward doesn’t get easier for the Blue Jackets as they face a tough Capitals team, one that’s heavily All of Columbus is hoping Gustav Nyquist wakes up feeling well this favored in the opening round. morning. He’s no superstar, but he’s been a solid presence for the Blue Jackets all season. The Capitals have a 70.4 percent chance of vanquishing the Blue Jackets here, one of the most lopsided series of the first round. A look at A tough call presents itself already in this series for Tortorella: Stick with the lineup tells most of the story, especially as Columbus has a pretty Korpisalo or give Elvis Merzlikins his first taste of the postseason? large hole on defense to cover – at least for now. It’s not the time for drastic measures. The Blue Jackets played a very Of all the playoff teams, Columbus is the thinnest – expectedly so with all competitive Game 1. But they have zero margin for error. They may need its injuries and the fact two of the team’s best players left over the a hero in goal. summer. The Blue Jackets made it but it’s hard to see them going much further. Not until Seth Jones (worth around two wins) returns to solidify — Aaron Portzline the defense anyway. That might be Columbus’ only edge over Game 2 Washington, but even then the Blue Jackets don’t have a player of John Carlson’s stature back there. Boone Jenner and Alex Wennberg swap places for Columbus while Jakob Lilja comes in for Stefan Matteau on the fourth line. The Blue In net, Braden Holtby isn’t what he used to be, but he’s rated higher than Jackets will also look to get Dubois and Foligno more ice-time while Joonas Korpisalo whose strong numbers this year were mostly a product riding their top four on defense. of the defense in front of him. Elvis Merzlikins would likely be an improvement, but not enough to tip the scales much. No changes for Washington. Up front, it’s even more of a mismatch as Pierre-Luc Dubois and Cam The Capitals win both at home to take a 2-0 series lead to Columbus. Atkinson are the only players resembling top line talents and the depth is really lacking. The absence of Oliver Bjorkstrand is felt mightily here, It was only a matter of time before Alex Ovechkin stopped pinging pucks especially in relation to Washington’s deep top nine. There’s obviously no off the post and started burying them behind the Blue Jackets’ one on Columbus that’s in Alex Ovechkin’s weight class and that star- goaltender. power might be the difference in this series. And he did just that in the second period of Game 2. Washington shouldn’t have much trouble here with Columbus’ current lineup. The Capitals’ captain produced a vintage performance, recording a natural hat trick as Washington cruised to a 3-0 victory in D.C. Game 1 Ovechkin and Co. have now won six straight postseason games against The Capitals take the first game as expected. Columbus. Nick Jensen had not scored a goal since the Caps acquired him at the Ovechkin tallied his first goal on the power play, scoring from the same trade deadline over a year ago, a span of 95 regular season and place that he always scores from. His second goal came less than two postseason games. minutes later; he finished a 2-on-1 with Evgeny Kuznetsov following a Columbus turnover at the offensive blue line. Heck, the defensive defenseman hadn’t scored for anyone since 2018. Ovi then completed the hattie in the final seconds of the middle frame, But when the Capitals needed a hero in their playoff opener against the again sniping from his office on the power play. Adding insult to injury, he undermanned Blue Jackets, Jensen delivered. Not once, but twice. broke out the “hot stick” celebration that everyone thought he retired in 2009. Jensen potted the equalizer with 1.8 seconds remaining in regulation, then he tallied the game-winner less than two minutes into the extra The Jackets were incensed but ultimately they were unable to do much session to lead the Caps to a thrilling 3-2 victory in D.C. about it. At one end, the Caps employed a ferocious forecheck to stymie the visitors. At the other, Braden Holtby turned aside the few legit scoring “Who needs Ovi when you’ve got Nick?!” someone could be heard yelling chances Columbus mustered. in the home dressing room, just before the doors opened to reporters. After the game, the Blue Jackets whined about Ovi’s antics and the Jakub Vrana scored Washington’s other goal and Braden Holtby made officiating. Ovechkin said he was just having fun and, if the Blue Jackets 32 saves, including a penalty shot attempt by the Blue Jackets’ leading have a problem with it, they ought to try stopping him from scoring. scorer, Pierre-Luc Dubois, moments before Jensen’s equalizer. Cam Atkinson and Zach Werenski had the goals for the Blue Jackets. Notes: Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella could be facing a fine from the But with a 2-1 series lead, there’s also absolutely no panic. NHL for criticizing the officiating, a source told The Athletic. …Capitals defenseman John Carlson assisted on both of Ovechkin’s power play Todd Reirden’s troops are, for the most part, playing well and still in tallies. …Capitals coach Todd Reirden said he wants to get Radko control. Gudas, who has yet to suit up, into the lineup soon. They just need (a lot) more from their bottom six forward group — — Tarik El-Bashir something that’s proven to be a bugaboo in previous postseasons. In fact, the Caps’ seven goals have come from first-line winger Alex The Blue Jackets were never supposed to make the playoffs and were Ovechkin (three goals), defenseman Nick Jensen (two) and second-line given virtually no chance at pulling off another first-round upset, so them wingers Jakub Vrana and T.J. Oshie. coming home in a 2-0 hole is hardly a surprise. “We have to do more to take some of the heat off the top guys,” third line Still, they have to stop the bleeding, and quickly. Losing Game 1 was a center Lars Eller said matter-of-factly. Ilya Kovalchuk, who has only three tougher pill to swallow than Game 2; Ovechkin will have nights like that. shots on goal through three games, agreed with Eller’s assessment, saying, “I know I can be better.” But they have to keep grinding away and hope they can frustrate the Capitals. –– Tarik El-Bashir The Jackets should be lifted by a sold-out crowd in Nationwide Arena, Game 4 plus they’ll have two significant lineup changes. Although the defense has performed okay to this point, Reirden will be Defenseman Seth Jones, who suffered a fractured ankle on Feb. 8, is making a change for Game 4, replacing Jonas Siegenthaler with rugged expected to make his triumphant return to the lineup in Game 3. The veteran Radko Gudas. For Columbus, Andrew Peeke comes in for the Blue Jackets won’t confirm the move, however. injured Murray. “I haven’t talked to the trainers yet,” Tortorella said. Capitals take a 3-1 series lead back to Washington. This one’s all but over. The coach also declined to discuss his goaltenders, but it’s expected that Elvis Merzlikins will make his postseason debut in Game 3. The Capitals needed more production from the bottom six, and they got it from the unlikeliest of sources in Game 4. It’s not that Joonas Korpisalo, the starter in the first two games, has struggled. But the Blue Jackets need to change their luck immediately. Richard Panik scored his first career playoff goal with 1:01 remaining to lift Washington to a 4-3 victory in Columbus and a 3-1 series lead. The biggest challenge for the Blue Jackets has been turning scoring chances into goals, but that’s been a challenge all season, especially for The Caps can punch their ticket to the second round when the series this pedestrian group of forwards. shifts back to D.C. There’s only so much Tortorella can do with rugged Josh Anderson, Panik, who had not scored in 15 previous postseason contests, out- slippery Alexandre Texier and others out of the lineup. muscled big Blue Jackets defenseman Seth Jones in front, found a rebound off of Elvis Merzlikins’ right pad and chipped in the decisive goal — Aaron Portzline with just one hand on his stick. Game 3 “It was a lucky goal,” said Panik, who was demoted to the fourth line near As hinted after Game 2, Jones returns and Merzlikins starts – both of the end of the regular season. “I’m just doing what I can with the ice time which should provide a big boost for the Jackets. There are also some I’m being given.” line tweaks in the form of Wennberg and Dubois swapping spots and Jones, meantime, blamed himself for allowing Panik to get loose. Nathan Gerbe and Eric Robinson switching roles in the bottom six. The Capitals are sticking with a winning lineup. “That’s on me,” he said. “I owe the boys one.” A big win for Columbus in Jones’ return to the lineup. The Blue Jackets had a couple of last-gasp opportunities, but Capitals goalie Braden Holtby fended off a point-blank scoring chance from Cam Elvis Merzlikins made 41 saves in his playoff debut, allowing only an Atkinson and the ensuing rebound attempt by Alexander Wennberg in early third-period goal in the Blue Jackets 3-1 win over the Capitals. the final seconds to preserve the win. The Blue Jackets, clearly buoyed by playing in Nationwide Arena, took a John Carlson, T.J. Oshie and Evgeny Kuznetsov scored the other goals 2-0 lead in the first eight minutes off goals from Pierre-Luc Dubois and for Washington. Emil Bemstrom, Nick Foligno and Boone Jenner tallied Zach Werenski. for Columbus. Merzlikins, a 25-year-old rookie from Latvia, made 16 saves in the first The Caps smell blood in the water now. They’re headed home with a period as the Blue Jackets withstood a barrage from the Capitals after chance to eliminate the banged-up Blue Jackets and feel like they’re taking their two-goal lead. playing their best hockey of the season. “I was so happy that I could deliver the beautiful result,” said Merzlikins, “No one should be looking past Game 5,” Carlson said. “That’s a good who nearly jumped over Blue Jackets captain Nick Foligno in the post- team over there. We have to bring our ‘A’ game and keep taking care of game celebratory hug. the details. If we do that, we should be fine.” The win snapped a six-game playoff losing streak against the Caps — Tarik El-Bashir dating back to their first-round series in 2018. The Blue Jackets feel as if three of the four games in this series were Cam Atkinson added a power-play goal late in the second period to push winnable, but that’s little solace as they head back to Washington hoping the lead to 3-0. to keep the season alive. Seth Jones, in his first game back with a fractured ankle, had two assists, They were “on the right side of the puck,” as Tortorella would say, for including a wrist shot from the point that Atkinson deflected at close most of the first three games. But Game 4 was played more to range in front of Washington’s Braden Holtby with 13 seconds left in the Washington’s liking. second period. “We cannot get selfish,” Tortorella said. “We’ve played to our identity all Merzlikins’ only crack came a 1:44 of the third period when Washington’s season. We can’t lose our patience, we can’t lose sight of who we are T.J. Oshie scored off a juicy rebound in front. now.” The Blue Jackets lost defenseman Ryan Murray to an upper-body injury Merzlikins didn’t like the rebound which led to the Caps’ go-ahead goal in the second period. He did not return, and Tortorella couldn’t provide an with 1:01 remaining. But he had a 38-save performance and was under update after the game. tremendous pressure most of the night. “I haven’t talked to the trainers yet,” Tortorella said. The Capitals had five odd-man rushes, more than they had in the — Aaron Portzline previous three games combined. The talk in the Caps’ room after their Game 3 defeat was about how they The winning goal was scored against the Jackets’ top defensive pair of were too overconfident after waltzing to an easy win a couple of nights Werenski and Jones, but the other three came with the Jackets’ third pair earlier. — Markus Nutivaara and Andrew Peeke — on the ice. Offensively, the Blue Jackets weren’t disappointed in their performance. “I’ll say this, though: This team never made excuses. You guys (the Wennberg’s line, with Foligno and Jenner on his flanks, scored two media) were throwin’ dirt on us all season, but we never made excuses. goals, while Wennberg came up empty on a primo chance in the final I’m proud of this group of guys.” seconds. — Aaron Portzline Tortorella seemed willing to stick with his lineup, but there could be one tweak. Defenseman Ryan Murray skated hard earlier in the day but was The Athletic LOADED: 04.16.2020 held out of the lineup with an upper-body injury. He’s questionable for Game 5. — Aaron Portzline Game 5 Murray is back in the lineup for Peeke as the Blue Jackets face elimination. No changes for the Capitals as expected. And that’s all she wrote for the Jackets – no upset this year. A year after getting upset in the first round, Alex Ovechkin and Co. methodically handled their business this time around. Ovechkin scored the game’s first goal, then wrapped up the series with an empty netter that sealed the Capitals’ 4-2 win over the Blue Jackets in Game 5. “How I said, we were the better team and we proved it tonight!” said Ovechkin, who ended his own press conference after just one question so he could celebrate with his teammates. Ovechkin provided the key goals, but he did not do it alone. Lars Eller scored his first goal of the postseason early in the third period to break a 2-2 tie and Braden Holtby stopped 29 shots, including all 11 he faced in the final frame. Dmitry Orlov also blocked three shots on a late Blue Jackets’ power play that could have evened things up. “It was a complete team effort,” Holtby said. “Total buy-in from everyone. Physical, blocked shots, sound systematically. Very proud of everyone.” In solidarity with Earth 1, the players opted to bump elbows instead of shake hands after the game. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it marked the first elbow-bump line in NHL history. Columbus coach John Tortorella congratulated the Caps on winning a hard-fought series in his brief postgame press conference. He also complained about how his team always needs to beat its opponent as well as the officials. Meantime, Caps coach Todd Reirden said everything had unfolded according to “the plan.” The Capitals emerged from a heavy series relatively healthy and potentially with a few days to rest up for their second-round showdown. — Tarik El-Bashir Forget the fact that the Blue Jackets exceeded everybody’s expectations in 2019-20 … this five-game series loss to Washington is still a bitter pill. “This was not a five-game series,” Tortorella said, suggesting that his club was more competitive than the brevity of their postseason would indicate. Game 5 was much like the rest of the series for the Blue Jackets, though: They were only good enough to make it interesting against the more talented and more experienced Capitals. Nathan Gerbe and Seth Jones scored for the Blue Jackets, who made a massive push for the tying goal after falling behind 3-2 early in the third. The Blue Jackets — desperate to create offense — pulled Merzlikins with 3:38 remaining in regulation. Merzlikins finished with 38 saves. “Don’t tell me it was a good season, not right now,” Blue Jackets captain Nick Foligno said. “You play to win the Stanley Cup. I don’t care what anybody else expected of us, we expected to keep on playing. “Did we overachieve this season? That’s probably a better question for the summer. But right now this hurts.” The Blue Jackets lost a Vezina-caliber goaltender (Sergei Bobrovsky), a point-a-game left winger (Artemi Panarin) and a No. 1 center (Matt Duchene) in free agency last summer, then lost power forward Josh Anderson virtually all season to shoulder injuries. Jones, the Jackets’ best player, returned from a fractured ankle in Game 3. Oliver Bjorkstrand (ankle) and Alexandre Texier (back) missed the entire series. “Did the better team win this series? Yes,” Tortorella said. “Did we expect to win and does it hurt like hell? You bet. 1173793 Winnipeg Jets

Jets assistant coach takes Vermont job

Jason BellBy: Jason Bell

A highly regarded teacher on the Winnipeg Jets’ coaching staff is leaving to take over the bench of an NCAA Division 1 college team in New England. Todd Woodcroft is the new head coach of the men’s hockey program, the school announced late Wednesday. Winnipeg Jets assistant coach Todd Woodcroft is the new head coach of the University of Vermont men’s hockey program. Woodcroft, who was in his fourth year with the Jets, built an extensive NHL and international hockey resumé over 20 years. But this will be his first gig as head coach. "Todd’s experiences in hockey at the highest level, in the NHL and internationally, combined with his personal integrity and a strong desire to coach in a college setting that values academic excellence and personal development alongside high-level hockey, made him stand out among an outstanding pool of candidates," Jeff Schulman, the university’s director of athletics, said in a statement. Working with the Jets’ staff, Woodcroft normally observed games from the press box for 40 minutes and then went behind the bench for the final period. "We wish you all the best, Woody!" the Jets said, on the team’s Twitter account. In assuming the position in Burlington, Va., about 150 kilometres south of Montreal, Woodcroft will have his hands full. The Vermont Catamounts were dead last in with a 2-18-4 conference record this season. "I am extremely humbled and very honoured to lead the Catamounts. From Day 1, our fans can expect a program that will emphasize excellence in the classroom, service to the community and a team that will compete in every game and ultimately at a championship level," Woodcroft said in a statement. The Toronto product served as the Minnesota Wild’s video coach from 2000 to 2005 and spent the 2005-06 season with the Washington Capitals. He also served three seasons with the Calgary Flames as the team’s scouting director and professional scout before joining the Jets. Woodcroft was Sweden’s special assignment coach at the , and has also worked for the national programs of Switzerland and Belarus. He won a Stanley Cup as a European scout with the Los Angeles Kings in 2012. Winnipeg Free Press LOADED 04.16.2020 1173794 Winnipeg Jets

Final pay cheques of the season for NHL players delayed

Each member of the Jets will get back three per cent of their ’18-19 salaries — or US$30,000 for every million dollars — next week. So, for example, Jets centre Mark Scheifele receives just shy of US$184,000. While no tag days are being planned, NHL players will have to make do without their final pay cheques for the time being as union executives contemplate the most effective use of the multi-millions of dollars. The NHLPA is still deciding how much escrow to hold back from the last pay period of the 2019-20 season and pay cheques due out Wednesday were withheld. The union could put all, some, or none into an escrow payment to team owners for lost revenue this season due to the COVID- 19 crisis, a source said. With the shutdown, there will be an obvious hit to hockey-related revenue (HRR), although to what extent still isn’t known. A decision by the NHLPA is expected in the coming days. Players still have some cash coming, that was owed to them from the 2018-19 campaign. Earlier this month, the union and owners finalized escrow payments from HRR from last season, with about $80 million to now be distributed to players. Each member of the Jets will get back three per cent of their ’18-19 salaries — or US$30,000 for every million dollars — next week. So, for example, Jets centre Mark Scheifele receives just shy of US$184,000, while defenceman Tucker Poolman gets US$23,250. — Jason Bell Winnipeg Free Press LOADED 04.16.2020 1173795 Winnipeg Jets Buccigross reported that Woodcroft’s hiring is a surprise to the college hockey community, as he doesn’t have a college background.

Woodcroft’s experience is mostly in scouting, with a healthy dose of FRIESEN NOTES: Retired quarterback Glenn's family touched by international hockey on the side. pandemic The 47-year-old came to the Jets from Calgary, where he was the scouting director and pro scout for the Flames. Paul Friesen Before that he scouted Europe for the L.A. Kings. He’s also helped manage a team in the KHL and has assisted several different national teams — Belarus, Canada, Switzerland and Sweden Former CFL quarterback Kevin Glenn is warning people to take the among them — in various world championships or the World Cup of pandemic seriously as he pulls for a family member who has contracted Hockey. COVID-19. CUP HERO TO DADDY Glenn, who lives on the outskirts of Detroit, first took to Twitter on Tuesday night to express his feelings on what he is seeing in Michigan. We’ll finish today’s page with some uplifting news from Blue Bombers quarterback Zach Collaros. “So I’m watching the news and they’re talking about some restaurant owners are suing the governor because the extended #stayhome You may recall he and his wife were expecting their first child, and how it mandate is too much,” Glenn began his two-part tweet. “They think we was causing him some stress during these uncertain times. should’ve been able to go back to normal by now. I wonder if they would Well, after helping to deliver a Grey Cup to Winnipeg, Collaros is proud to feel the same way if someone in their … family caught the virus and was announce the birth of Sierra Callia Collaros on Saturday. She weighed in on a ventilator in ICU because they needed help breathing and could at seven pounds, seven ounces and measured 21 inches. possibly die. Be smart this is #Life we are talking about.” Mom Nicole and the baby are doing just fine. Based on some of his replies, people assumed Glenn had a family member suffering from the illness. Collaros and his family live in Aurora, Ont. On Wednesday he confirmed that in a follow-up tweet. Winnipeg Sun LOADED 04.16.2020 “So it was a 2 part tweet that I sent out yesterday and at the time I wasn’t referring to anyone specifically but I do have a family member that is going thru this. Just know this virus is Real!!” Glenn finished with the hashtags #StayHome and #StaySafeStayHealthy. I reached Glenn on Wednesday but he wanted to keep the details of the family member’s illness private, including who has the virus. His tweets come as his home state grapples with some of the more aggressive stay-at-home approaches in the U.S. Hundreds of protesters took to the streets in Lansing, the state capital, on Wednesday, calling for a reduction in business closures and an expansion of what’s deemed an essential service. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer pointed out that Michigan has the third most COVID-19 cases in the U.S., and that she’s trying only to save lives. Among the businesses forced to close in Glenn’s part of the world are lawn-care services, hardware and home improvement stores, realtors and gardending supply stories. Glenn played 18 seasons in the CFL, retiring on his 40th birthday last June. When he signed with Edmonton in 2018 — he never did take a snap with the Eskimos — he became the first player in league history to have been a member of all nine teams, passing for 52,867 yards and 293 touchdowns in 304 regular-season games. He had two stints with the Blue Bombers: From 2004-08, during which he took over from Khari Jones as the starter for the first time, and again as a backup in 2016. One of his best seasons was 2007, when he passed for 5,117 yards and led the Bombers to an appearance in the Grey Cup game. A broken arm suffered in the East final prevented him from playing in the championship game, and the Bombers lost to Saskatchewan. Glenn passed for more than 5,000 yards again with Hamilton in 2010, and rolled up more than 4,000 yards four times, most recently with Saskatchewan in 2017. He’s ranked No. 6 on the CFL’s career passing yards list, ahead of Ron Lancaster. But he never did win a Grey Cup. JETS’ WOODCROFT HEADING SOUTH The Winnipeg Jets are losing an assistant coach. A Wednesday report from ESPN’s John Buccigross said that Todd Woodcroft has been offered the head coaching job with the University of Vermont hockey program, and by the end of the night the Jets confirmed Woodcroft’s departure via Twitter. Woodcroft was in his fourth season on head coach ’s staff. 1173796 Winnipeg Jets It wouldn’t be wise to expect a spending spree, but there will be plenty of options inspected via free agency and trade.

Will Dylan DeMelo be more than a rental? Analyzing 5 pressing questions for the Jets to answer during the The top priority for the Jets before the arrival of free agency would be to offseason extend DeMelo, who stabilized the back end after his arrival and found chemistry with Morrissey on the top pairing. By Ken Wiebe Apr 15, 2020 24 DeMelo doesn’t rack up a lot of points so he won’t break the bank, but he does so many little things well, in terms of his positioning and being a reliable partner that his value does not go unnoticed. At least for the time being, the elephant in the room remains. How does a potentially flat salary cap at $81.5 million impact these negotiations though? Yes, the subject is getting some cursory attention during the Zoom video conferences being held with players and coaches around the NHL. The original belief was that DeMelo would likely be hoping for a three-to- four year deal in the ballpark of $3.5 million this summer. But until there is some clarity with the situation surrounding the COVID- 19 pandemic and the impact it’s having on the state of the season, all Would that be enough to entice DeMelo to choose the Jets or as a first- most folks can do is put on a brave face and hope for the best. time UFA? Or does he want to see what his value is going to be on the free market, even if there isn’t as much available money out there than One of the biggest reasons for that is the alternative is too painful to was originally anticipated? ponder. If that’s the case, would the Jets sweeten the pot, knowing how well The truth is that nobody knows what the next steps are going to be. DeMelo fit in? The drop-dead date for the resumption and eventual completion of the If not, they’ll be looking for a viable alternative. NHL season appears to remain far enough down the road that we can still think about the possibility of it becoming a reality. Who is the second-line centre? But at some point, no matter what happens with the current season, the This is not a recording and there are still several suitable candidates offseason will arrive. already on the active roster. There will be a lot to accomplish in a short period, as all 31 teams will No, the Jets aren’t bursting with options down the middle in the prospect feel the same crunch that is generally reserved for teams that advance pool, with David Gustafsson the only pivot likely to graduate next season deep into the Stanley Cup playoffs. and that will be into the fourth-line role. The last time Winnipeg hit the ice in game action, they earned a 4-2 Andrew Copp got an early and abbreviated audition in the role this victory over Edmonton, one that propelled them back into the first wild- season, flanked by Laine and Connor after the wingers missed all of card berth in the Western Conference. training camp as the details on new contracts were sorted out. The Jets were playing some of their best hockey of the season as they There were flashes from the trio, but the finish wasn’t there early and returned closer to full health, but a playoff spot was still not assured. soon Copp found himself back in a checking role as captain Blake Wheeler moved into the middle after the perforated eardrum suffered by Regardless of how things play out, you can be sure Jets general Bryan Little. manager Kevin Cheveldayoff isn’t feeling any buyer’s remorse after acquiring pending unrestricted free agents Dylan DeMelo and Cody All of the aforementioned players remain in the mix to hold the job, Eakin before the NHL trade deadline. though the health of Little is still a question mark – though Jets head coach Paul Maurice has hinted at progress during several recent Consider, the cost of acquiring DeMelo is a third-rounder in 2020 and for interviews. Eakin a conditional 2021 fourth-rounder that could turn into a third if the Jets qualify for the 2020 postseason. Eakin would be under consideration to be retained, though it’s not yet known what type of interest he’ll generate on the open market as a There are teams across the NHL that surrendered first-round selections pending UFA or if he’d like to extend his stay playing for his hometown or top prospects in a bid to push themselves over the top even though team. there’s a distinct possibility the return on investment might be minimal. Jack Roslovic is a bit of a wild card in the competition and while Maurice Although the goal for the NHL remains to finish the regular season and has generally preferred to use him on the wing, there was a brief stretch crown a champion, there’s a chance this current crew might not get the when he was in the middle between Mason Appleton and Jansen Harkins opportunity to see where things might have ended up. where he seemed to flourish. Here are five pressing questions for the Jets to answer this offseason, It’s unclear whether or not Roslovic is ready to handle the defensive whenever it arrives: responsibilities over the long haul, but his offensive gifts and overall What is the impact of clarity for the Dustin Byfuglien situation? growth this season suggest he should be given an opportunity. The Jets got a glimpse of that when word came down that Byfuglien It’s also possible the Jets look to fill the job externally, which opens the wasn’t going to come back this season, as it cleared some valuable door to a plethora of other candidates. salary-cap space leading up to the NHL trade deadline. Vladislav Namestnikov is a versatile forward who was linked to the Jets Things continue to trend towards a mutual contract termination for the around the trade deadline but ended up with the Colorado Avalanche. Jets and Byfuglien and once that becomes official, it will open up $7.6 Mikael Granlund has seen his production drop in each of the past three million worth of cap space for next season. seasons, but he still managed 17 goals in 2019-20 and has plenty of That would make Byfuglien an unrestricted free agent, but there have experience in the Central Division during his time with the Minnesota been no indications to this point that a return to action is even under Wild and Nashville Predators. consideration. Both Namestnikov and Granlund are pending UFAs that are likely to be Unlike last summer, when the Jets needed to secure new deals for high- looking for new homes. scoring forwards Patrik Laine and Kyle Connor, having some additional Who is the next core piece to commit long term? wiggle room could be a valuable asset for Cheveldayoff and company. Connor was the latest to join this list last September when he inked a This time, most of the available money isn’t already spoken for – though seven-year deal worth $50 million. it’s important to remember that Josh Morrissey’s extension (with an AAV that moves to $6.25 million from $3.15 million) kicks in next season. With 38 goals and 73 points in 71 games prior to the pause, Connor provided a third 30-plus goal campaign – meaning the early returns were Matters could be complicated by the 2021 Seattle expansion draft and it’s strong for both the player and the organization. also important to remember that new deals are required for Laine, Neal Pionk and Andrew Copp following 2020-21, so the Jets are unlikely to get As mentioned, Morrissey’s raise kicks in next season and those two join involved in a bidding war for someone like St. Louis Blues captain Alex Wheeler, Mark Scheifele, Nikolaj Ehlers and Connor Hellebuyck as core Pietrangelo. pieces with at least three more seasons left on their respective deals. This looks like a three-horse race between Laine, Copp and Neal Pionk, who was acquired in the summer deal for Jacob Trouba. Laine put together an impressive season, one that highlighted the growth in his overall game. Not only was he trending toward a fourth consecutive 30-plus goal season, but Laine was more engaged physically, had more defensive- zone starts and spent a good chunk of the season on the top line. By nearly producing at a point-per-game level (63 points in 68 games), Laine raised his contract value once again. But the loss in revenue will impact the bottom line, which makes it more likely he’ll want to wait until after next season to see what AAV he’s most comfortable with. Copp will be a year away from unrestricted free agency at the end of his current contract (he’ll be an RFA with arbitration rights on July 1 of 2021), so he’s more likely to want to see what type of opportunity he’s given in the battle to be the second-line centre before he’s willing to commit. That leaves Pionk, who recorded a career-high 39 assists and 45 points (including a team-best 22 on the power play) while averaging more than 23 minutes of ice time. The two-year bridge deal worth $6 million looks like a bargain and he’s going to be getting a significant raise. Pionk wouldn’t be expected to make more than Morrissey, whose new pact carries an AAV of $6.25 million. But if Pionk puts up another 45-to-50 points next season, the price tag could go up. Who’s the backup behind Connor Hellebuyck? With Laurent Brossoit set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1 (or whatever date is sorted out by the NHL and NHLPA if the season stretches into the summer), there will be a decision for both parties about the prospect of extending the relationship for a year or more. Going into this season, Brossoit took a one-year deal, betting on himself that he would build on the brilliant numbers he put up as Hellebuyck’s backup during the 2018-19 campaign – hoping this summer might bring an opportunity to compete for a starting gig somewhere else. After starting two of the first three games of the campaign, things took a sharp turn and Brossoit was shelled in a couple of outings, which left it nearly impossible for him to clean up the traditional stats. Brossoit was able to get things turned around and produced several quality starts during the stretch run – including the 2-1 loss to the Boston Bruins in the first game out of the All-Star/player break. There’s a comfortable relationship between Hellebuyck and Brossoit, who work together during the summer with the NET360 crew. The biggest question for Brossoit is going to be whether or not he’s comfortable with the workload available, given the Jets lean on Hellebuyck heavily as the No. 1 guy. There’s probably room for a modest raise from the $1.225 million he made this season, but the Jets won’t likely want to spend more than $1.5 million on the backup job. Mikhail Berdin is coming off his first season as an AHL starter and requires some additional experience before he’s ready to jump to the next level, while Eric Comrie is on a one-way contract next season and should be in the competition for the backup role. But if Brossoit doesn’t return, you can bank on the Jets bringing in an experienced goalie to challenge Comrie for the No. 2 job at the very least. The Athletic LOADED: 04.16.2020 1173797 Vancouver Canucks If berths were determined by winning percentage, which seems unlikely, the Canucks would be third in the division and face the second-seeded Edmonton Oilers in the opening round. Ben Kuzma: Myers believes Canucks would make playoffs, if regular If the regular season concludes, Myers believes the Canucks have a leg season salvaged up on advancing to the post-season. He lauds the quick development of Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson, the right competitive mix and the right feel in the room. Ben Kuzma “We see ourselves as a playoff team,” said Myers. “I really liked the strides we made. Our young core players are such drivers of the team and their development was more than people were expecting. We’re “Every day seems like it’s the same.” more consistent in our team game. That was lacking a bit at the start.” That summation by Vancouver Canucks defenceman Tyler Myers on On a personal level, Myers is making the most of a third-pairing role. Wednesday, amid the novel coronavirus pandemic that forced the NHL He has 21 points (6-15) in 68 games this season. He’s first in take- season to pause on March 12, could be attributed to any member of the aways, second in hits and third in blocked shots. His Corsi-For ranking at Vancouver Canucks. even-strength puck possession is third among team defencemen at 48.6 Family dynamics may differ, but hope that the regular season can be per cent, which speaks to defending more than retrieving pucks and then concluded before revamped playoffs remains the consistent consensus jumping up into the play. — even though the league’s self-quarantine edict has been extended to “You try to implement a mindset to younger guys to do everything you April 30. can to win a Stanley Cup,” said Myers. “That means whatever role you’re Optimism is also offset by staggering COVID-19 numbers. On given, do the best with it every day.” Wednesday, B.C. health officials reported 44 new positive test cases to The role comes with understanding club direction. raise the provincial total to 1,561. Three more deaths boosted the total to 75 and the state of emergency in B.C. has been extended to April 28. Myers has enough stake in the game as a Calder Trophy winner to afford an ego and be tough to teach, but that’s not the case. From initial Those stats make hockey difficult to comprehend. meetings with coach Travis Green and assistant Nolan Baumgartner, Myers has a daily ritual at his off-season home in Kelowna that plays out who handles the defence, there was instant mutual respect and desire to like the Bill Murray movie Groundhog Day. The towering defenceman, take the club to another level. along with wife Michela and three-year-old son Tristan, go through the “The first thing that stood out is you could tell both had played the game,” motions in a household on hold and wonder what tomorrow may bring. said Myers. “They have a good understanding of how things work and “It’s a weird feeling,” Myers said on a conference call. “Every morning I what players go through on a daily basis throughout the season. It made get up with the little guy and throw on the news and see what’s going on. them very approachable. There seems to be a lot of ups and downs and I would love the chance to “And I found out pretty quick when I joined the team that every finish the year. conversation I had was very easy and honest. It almost seemed like I “But like everyone else, I’m so new to this situation and I really have no was talking to one of the guys in the room.” idea what it (salvaged season) could look like. More time would have to A thirst for knowledge to keep improving didn’t go unnoticed. go by to see what could even be possible because right now I just have no clue.” “Man, he embraces that hard,” Green said during a January road trip. “We do a lot of video with him and he enjoys it. The game is constantly The concept of neutral-site games in empty arenas, and players changing. The D-zone coverages are a little different and offensive-zone sequestered in hotel rooms without returning home to stop the potential plays and how you play in that zone has really changed over the last few spread of the virus, sounds like something out of The Twilight Zone to years. Myers. Imagine being separated from the one thing that keeps you centred during the NHL grind? “Guys who have been in the league for a while have to be smart enough to understand that. And that’s the good thing about Myers, he’s really “That would suck,” added Myers. “One of the great things about being in open to learning and has been a nice addition.” the season is going home to your family. It’s such a big part of your mental stability in the high stress parts of the season. That would Vancouver Province: LOADED: 04.16.2020 definitely be tough.” So would ramping up play without adequate preparation time. The league wants some semblance of a training camp. Players must self- isolate for 14 days after returning from Europe and the United States. And with players not skating due to closed rinks, that would only invite injuries. Myers is in his third consecutive injury-free campaign. For a 30-year-old veteran, who had hip and knee surgeries in 2015-16 with the Winnipeg Jets and was limited to just 11 games the following season with a lower- body injury that required surgery, adapting new training methods has added to his value. He signed a five-year, US$30-million free-agent contract July 1 and feels healthy and prepared, even on this hiatus. “I not too worried,” said Myers. “I’d be a lot more worried if I wasn’t working out. I’ve learned a lot of what I need to do to stay healthy. “There are freak injuries, but I’ve stayed healthy and it has a lot to do with changing up what I do in the gym. I’m sure we (NHL Players’ Association) will do everything before guys are thrown into the fire — if we’re able to return.” If the regular season is played out, the Canucks would continue pursuit of their first playoff berth in five years. They were tied with Nashville for the final Western Conference wild-card spot with 78 points apiece when the season was stopped. However, the Predators hold the tiebreaker with more regulation wins, and if the regular season was sacrificed, the Winnipeg Jets, with 80 points, and Predators would claim the two wild-card spots. 1173798 Vancouver Canucks As such the NHL has explored a number of scenarios that would allow it to return, including one that mirrors Dr. Fauci’s plan.

Loosely stated, it would go something like this: The players want Ed Willes: Dr. Fauci's format to resume pro sports sounds far-fetched, something resembling a training camp before they return to games and but ... they don’t want to rush into a Stanley Cup tournament. That would mean the regular season would play out, maybe not to 82 games but to a point where every team plays the same amount of games. ED WILLES The playoffs would then begin around Aug. 1. They’d be squeezed into a six-week period that takes the league into mid-September to late September. After the Stanley Cup is awarded, teams take a couple OPINION: The American president wants to see it happen. The leagues weeks off and the 2020-21 season is started around Nov. 1. and the players want to see it happen. The public is starving for a sign, If you read that quickly, it sounds possible. any sign, that things are returning to normal. Those are powerful forces Vancouver, you’re going to love the next part. This would all take place in Ever since professional sports leagues closed their doors just over a the Toronto-area, the one locale that offers advantages similar to those month ago, there has been a massive disconnect between the public the Phoenix-area offers baseball. There are rinks all over Toronto that health authority’s messaging and the leagues’ reluctance to shutter its could host NHL games. There are rinks in Hamilton, London and seasons. Oshawa. On the one hand medical experts are adamant that social distancing Providing the border is open — what did we say about suspending those practices must remain in place to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. On silly questions? — Detroit could come into play. the other, leagues continue to entertain a variety of scenarios in which they’d salvage their year. Does it sound delusional? Absolutely. But you keep coming back to the same place. The American president wants to see it happen. The One day the recognized authorities state that without a vaccine it would leagues and the players want to see it happen. The public is starving for be insane to allow large gatherings in a public space. The next day news a sign, any sign, that things are returning to normal. breaks that Major League Baseball is considering holding its season in the Phoenix area. Those are powerful forces. Again, it presupposes the medical community gives its blessing and that doesn’t seem likely now. Given the state of our world, it has been virtually impossible to resolve the two positions. But if you were wondering why the NHL, MLB, NBA, We’ll see if that changes in a couple of months. MLS and the NFL were holding out hope, why they clung to this seemingly absurd notion that the games could go on, we heard this week Vancouver Province: LOADED: 04.16.2020 from Dr. Anthony Fauci, the frontman in the White House’s novel coronavirus task force. Suddenly, it started to make sense — even if nothing makes sense these days. The good doctor, in an interview on Snapchat, laid out a plan in which leagues could return to business by staging games in empty stadiums in a concentrated area. “There’s a way of doing this,” he said. “Nobody comes to the stadium. Put athletes in big hotels, wherever you want to play. Have them tested like every week and make sure they don’t wind up infecting each other or their families and just let them play the season out.” There, see how easy it is. “People say, ‘Well you know you can’t play without spectators,’” Dr. Fauci continued. “I think you’ll get enough buy-in from people who are dying to see a baseball game, particularly me. I’ve been living in Washington. We have the world champion Washington Nationals. I want to see them play again.” But how do we get there? Apparently, people have been giving that some thought. It’s been a couple of weeks since U.S. President Donald Trump held a conference call with the various league leaders in which he stressed a desire to see sport return, “as soon as we can.” At the time it seemed impossible and, in complete candour, it’s difficult to see where the odds have improved. But, with that pronouncement, Trump sent a clear message he’d support any plan that allowed the business of sports to resume. This week Dr. Fauci laid out that plan. In truth, the Dr. Fauci template has been discussed in many forms over the past couple of weeks. But there’s something about his pronouncement that lends credence to the idea sports will return sooner rather than later — largely because he’s emerged as a credible voice on the pandemic, the one figure who’s not afraid to correct or even contradict Trump. It would, of course, require the approval of the medical community but, let’s for the moment, suspend the hundreds of questions that arise from this proposal. Instead, let’s jump ahead and say all those roadblocks will be removed by, say, the end of June. What happens next? For our purposes, let’s concentrate on the NHL. It’s known the league and the PA have discussed this matter intently. They’re aware of the optics involved in resuming play in the middle of a pandemic. They’re also aware of the hundreds of millions at stake in revenue and its impact on the industry. 1173799 Vancouver Canucks teammates in the players’ lounge and eats a lunch of rice, pasta and salmon.

Heading back to West Vancouver, Miller gets home in time to put his girls Inside the NHL’s last normal days: A fateful week in the life of J.T. Miller to bed for a nap. He times his game day nap with theirs and puts in a bit of family time thereafter before heading back to the rink.

Back at Rogers Arena at 4 p.m., Miller takes part in pregame power play Thomas Drance Apr 15, 2020 9 and penalty kill meetings in the coaches office. The entire team does a pre-scout meeting in the dressing room and then goes about their various, studied routines ahead of the warmup skate. Over the course of a four-game Vancouver Canucks homestand in early Miller heads out onto the ice and notices that his stick is broken. In trying March, The Athletic spent a week observing and checking in daily with to change it out, his knob gets caught on the door and then in the handle Canucks winger J.T. Miller. causing it to get stuck, launch backwards and skewer Tyler Toffoli in the The concept was simple: capture a week in the life of Vancouver’s star chest. power forward, with a focus on the pressures and the grind of the NHL INJURY UPDATE: TOFFOLI WILL PLAY TONIGHT, DESPITE THIS stretch run. MILLER STICK TO THE CHEST. The result, though, was something else entirely. Instead of capturing an PIC.TWITTER.COM/RXWK7MAYPY ordinary week in the life of a high-end NHL forward, we unintentionally — VANCOUVER #CANUCKS (@CANUCKS) MARCH 5, 2020 documented how the world of sports fundamentally changed over the course of an unprecedented week. He takes a couple of perfunctory laps during the warmup skate, then goes for a stretch near the red line by Coyotes goaltender and former This is a week in the life of J.T. Miller — a week that just happened to New York Rangers teammate Antii Raanta, and the two catch up briefly. coincide with the last week of normal in the NHL. Raanta and Miller’s wives stay in touch and Miller congratulates the Wednesday, March 4: Coyotes at Canucks netminder on his newborn son. When he arrived in Vancouver in the late summer of 2019, Miller and his As the game unfolds, the Canucks are happy with their effort through 40 family settled in West Vancouver. So his game day starts with a bit of a minutes, controlling play decisively even though they end the second commute. frame trailing 1-0. Miller plays over 22 minutes in total, wins 12 of 16 faceoffs, records four shots and throws three hits. The versatile American forward has two young daughters, Scotlyn and Scarlett. On home game days, he’s up early to put in some dad time with Vancouver takes a 2-1 lead in the third period, but things unravel. Two his girls. quick goals for Arizona and the Coyotes retake the lead on their way to a 4-2 win. “I spend as much time with them as I can,” Miller says of his morning routine. “Me and the wife (Natalie) hang out, have a coffee, shoot the shit Postgame, Miller is visibly frustrated. This is a man who can’t readily a little bit and then I head to the rink.” answer the question of which he feels more strongly: his hatred for losing or his love of winning. Like many people living in West Vancouver, Miller battles traffic on the Lions Gate Bridge on his commute to work. He enjoys the ride and the “That’s a hard question, I have to chew on it,” Miller says to The Athletic. solitary transitional moments between his home life and the pressures of “I hate losing. Really badly. But I love winning. I honestly don’t know.” life as a professional athlete. Thursday, March 5: Team day off Miller tries to leave by 8:15 a.m., before traffic heading into downtown Canucks coaches decide not to hold a practice following their loss to the worsens. He pours himself a tumbler filled with English breakfast tea for Coyotes. the drive and most often listens to a podcast; his go-to is the MeatEater podcast with Steven Rinella. Although there’s no on-ice session, Miller makes his way to the rink. He puts in his time in meetings and “shooting the shit” with teammates and Ahead of a key game against the Arizona Coyotes, the Canucks are coaches, then departs Rogers Arena and heads back to West holding an optional skate, which becomes more common as the grind of Vancouver. the season amplifies down the stretch. NHL head coaches tend to prioritize rest at this time of year. The NHL season doesn’t leave as much time as he would like to spend with family, something Miller takes advantage of on this informal team Miller always declines the option and takes the ice. His routine flows day off. better if he gets a good sweat in. “This time of year it’s tough to find those days,” Miller says. “So it’s nice Before that, though, there’s a team game review meeting in the Canucks when you get a day that you’re able to hang out with the family.” dressing room and some time for breakfast. In addition to his customary open-faced avocado toast with a fried egg and bacon, Miller gets into He grabs lunch with his wife at Cactus Club Cafe, and after his daughters some pancakes. rouse from their nap, he hangs out with them as they boot up Disney+ and watch “Monsters, Inc.,” a film Miller has seen “a bunch of times.” All players have their routines, but Miller insists that what he does day-to- day during an optional morning skate isn’t based on superstition. He’s Laying low in the evening, the Miller family orders in pizza. just ad libbing it out there, trying to activate his mind, hands and feet. It’s a quiet night. After all, tomorrow brings a crucial Friday night contest He goes through a series of 2-on-1s paired at first with Elias Pettersson, against the high-powered Colorado Avalanche. then with Bo Horvat, and works on deflections. Friday, March 6: Avalanche at Canucks His competitiveness is all-consuming, even in this relatively informal venue. When he flubs a shot on a 2-on-1, he sends a puck 20 rows into Another day, another game. the empty stands as Canucks goaltending coach Ian Clark laughs. Miller repeats the same routine, albeit with “a little extra traffic on the On a 2-on-1 rush late into the skate, after Horvat hits Miller with an bridge this morning.” excellent pass that gives Miller an empty net to shoot at, Miller instead tries a ridiculous quick pass back to Horvat. Horvat can’t get to it and the At this particular morning skate, Vancouver drills down with some power two Canucks forwards both chuckle as they glide to centre ice. play work. Playing on his strong side at the left circle, Miller calls out the plays and functions as the de facto quarterback. The other players on “I’d never do that in the game, but here, just trying to disrespect the PP1 are shooters, primary one-time options. Miller is really the signal- goaltender as much as possible,” Miller says of the sequence. “And the caller. defencemen.” Among the last Canucks to leave the ice following morning skate, Miller The optional skate winds down and Miller goes to the bench to get a new handles his media obligations, briefly hits the table, eats the same lunch stick. He heads down to the home end of the rink to work on bad angle of salmon and carbs and heads home for a nap. one-timers with Canucks assistant coach Manny Malhotra and Pettersson. Returning to the rink, it’s the usual: power play and penalty kill meetings, pre-scout meeting, get warmed up, play some two-touch, bust some Stepping off the ice, Miller heads to the dressing room for media balls, gear up, put some gel in and take the ice for warmup skate. obligations, after which he briefly hits the table, continues to chirp his When the puck drops, Miller and his linemates take over. With the team Back in the dressing room, Canucks PR open the room to media for the on a four-game losing streak, they make a significant statement against final time. By the time the puck drops against the Columbus Blue Jackets one of the league’s best teams. on Sunday evening, the Canucks — on the advice of team physician Dr. Jim Bovard, in consultation with a local infectious disease specialist — On his first shift, Miller receives a pass from Alex Edler and finds some will have introduced new, socially distant media procedures. space in the high slot to skate into while protecting the puck. He passes it off to Troy Stecher, who beats Avalanche netminder Pavel Francouz with As the media walk into the room, Horvat greets them in jest: “I thought a whisper perfect slap shot: you were all quarantined!” Miller’s move into the middle looks like it’s just a good read. It’s not. It’s Horvat and Miller answer media questions at length on the subject of the product of a lot of video and skill work. COVID-19 and the prospect of playing games in empty buildings. “I’ve been working hard on that with Glennie (Canucks skills coach Glen “It’s not something I think about at all,” Miller says of the virus. “I have no Carnegie), trying to get in the middle of the ice,” Miller says. “Once I idea what’s going on outside of here. I wish I had a more interesting became the threat they all kind of started puck watching. Great play by answer for you.” Stechie to make himself available, then he did the hard part. Especially because that goalie is a southpaw, picking the corner on his glove side is For Miller, it’s all about his routine. He’s just thinking about being ready hard to do.” for a game against the Blue Jackets and the two points on the line. A couple of shifts later, Toffoli springs Pettersson with a deft saucer pass The game that night is a playoff-like affair with very few chances either to exit the Canucks zone. Miller sees the play develop and yells “two,” way. And right from the get-go, Canucks coaches ride Miller, who takes letting him know he’ll catch up. He doesn’t drive the far post as a player 10 shifts in the first period. usually would — he’s played with Pettersson enough to know to just give In his first even strength shift of the second, Miller’s Canucks teammates him options. break into the zone when he collides by the blue line with a Blue Jackets “I know from his eyes where he’s looking,” Miller says of the sequence. defender and falls into an offside position. Miller turns, faces the linesman, and looking at his eyes reads them to determine where he After a blistering start, the Canucks let the Avalanche back into it. should touch his foot to, to stay onside. Nursing a narrow 4-3 lead early in the third period, the Canucks get a two-man advantage when Hughes and Pettersson draw a pair of He just manages it, earning plaudits from the linesman. penalties in quick succession. The first unit comes on and, with little “Yeah, afterwards he told me I did a good job,” Miller laughs. doing, are given a quick hook in favour of PP2. The Blue Jackets score two goals in the second period. Chasing the As Miller hops onto the bench, he slams the door in frustration. A man game, the Canucks shorten the bench and that means lots of minutes for with his competitive edge, he wants to be out there. Miller, who logs 10:35 in the third frame alone. He plays nearly 25 And as the final whistle blows, it’s a 6-3 victory for Vancouver. The skid is minutes and is on fumes late, his legs leaving him earlier in his shifts halted, for now anyway. than he’s used to. Saturday, March 7: The day the NHL closed the rooms The game ends 2-1 Columbus. Leaving the rink, having dropped another crucial two points, Miller is frustrated, but resolute too. They just have to The rare game day off on Saturday is an opportunity for rest and find a way. relaxation in the Miller household. Monday, March 9: Team day off After months of unrelenting rain, it’s a sunny Saturday in Vancouver. Up in West Vancouver with a view of the mountains, J.T. and Natalie enjoy a Miller can still feel the 25 minutes he played the night prior when he coffee outside. wakes up. Fortunately, practice days are few and far between. “I open the doors and Grouse is right there,” Miller says. “Honestly, I He doesn’t tweak his routine to enhance his recovery, even after logging have to pinch myself.” that many minutes. He’s just conscious of using the off days to lie low and rest. The Millers lie low, order in some sushi and watch a movie as a family. They get into some Ben and Jerry’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice It’s another beautiful Vancouver day, and the Miller family spends it cream. outside. His elder daughter has a new toy truck, which she plays with, powering around the yard. When the girls go down for a nap, Miller grabs “This part of the year it’s craziness. It’s nice to just enjoy it and not be his wedge and chips some balls at the golf green in his backyard. stressed out,” Miller says of his day off. “Having two girls under 2, honestly that isn’t as stressful as this is right now.” In the evening, he and Natalie meet up with the Toffoli and Pearson families and head down to Dundarave to the Beach House restaurant for While Miller and his family enjoy a low-key Saturday, signs of change roil dinner. They order “most of the menu”: sushi, oysters, calamari, some the professional sporting world. surf and turf. On Saturday morning, Sportsnet’s tweets that the NHL, It’s a seafood feast shared with teammates and pals ahead of yet on the recommendation of the Center for Disease Control, has decided to another crucial game for the Canucks. close dressing rooms to media. It’s a precautionary measure designed to limit the exposure of pro-athletes to COVID-19. Tuesday, March 10: Islanders at Canucks Friedman’s tweet is the first occasion that NHL member clubs hear of the It’s game day again, but this one is a bit different. The Canucks wake up new initiative. The rollout is haphazard and inconsistent across the outside of a playoff position but are in for a boost. Brock Boeser is ready league. to return from a rib cartilage injury. In the NBA, LeBron James makes headlines when he blasts the notion of Arriving at the rink, there’s no avo toast or pancakes today; Miller grabs a playing NBA games in empty arenas. If it wasn’t before, it’s now apparent quick handful of bacon instead. He meets with head coach Travis Green. that day-to-day life at the rink is about to fundamentally change. There are other meetings too, more than usual, and then a team meeting — one with a more urgent tone. Sunday, March 8: Blue Jackets at Canucks “We have to raise our standard out there and we talked about that as a It’s another game day, the third in five days. group,” Miller says. Fortunately, it’s Sunday, which means no bridge traffic. Miller boots up Taking the ice for morning skate, Miller goes about his usual routine. And his GPS and checks his commute time. It says 18 minutes, but he does in his words, that means being “a sarcastic swear word.” the drive in 13. Tylers Myers breaks up a 2-on-1 that Miller is on, picking off a Miller pass At morning skate, Miller makes a bad pass early during a 2-on-1 drill and attempt with a quick stick. “Ah, you fuck!” Miller yells. hears about it from Antoine Roussel. When Roussel goes the other way and messes up himself, Miller reacts by loudly beaver-tailing his stick in During a lull in focus, Miller slams his stick against the wall. “Come on, the neutral zone in mock celebration. let’s go!” he yells from the neutral zone. “We’ve got a game later.” While working on the power play, Pettersson hits a post, and Miller goes The Canucks dressing room no longer opens for media availability. Miller yard sale, diving in desperation to keep a play alive. And this is just a is instead escorted to an auxiliary locker room space some 50 meters morning skate. from the Canucks room. As he marches past the visiting room, he briefly stops to chat with Islanders defender Johnny Boychuk, who is lying down most of his teammates have returned home. And he’s tried to keep things doing stretches. in perspective, focusing on the upside — having more time to spend with his daughters — and the bigger picture, the contributions made by In order to facilitate media conversations with players away from a press individuals actively engaged in saving lives. conference format, the Canucks have set up a socially distant one-on- one space. The player stands at a microphone, cordoned off to enforce “What our healthcare workers are doing is really special,” Miller said on a the recommended six feet of space from the media member. recent conference call. “Who knows where we’d be if we didn’t have them. It’s inspiring that people can do what they can to save people.” “We’re so busy with work,” Miller says when asked about internal conversations about COVID-19 fears. “We’re not insensitive to what’s The Athletic LOADED: 04.16.2020 happening, but we have a job to do and we understand what time of the year it is.” It’s another busy, involved, big-minutes game for Miller, whose line is hard matched — for the first time in months — against the Mat Barzal line. He plays 23 minutes and throws five hits. Perhaps most importantly, he wins 11 of 15 draws at 5-on-5, and his line wins the head-to-head matchup against Barzal. The game goes to overtime. Then a shootout. Pettersson and Jordan Eberle miss on their first attempts and Miller steps up. He takes a wide route, slowly skating to Varlamov’s left, before inching into the middle and unleashing a seeing-eye wrist shot low to the far-side. It beats Varlamov, hitting iron and ricocheting into the net. For the final time for the foreseeable future, the Vancouver crowd roars and the Rogers Arena goal horn sounds. Miller’s shootout goal stands as the game-winner. Wednesday, March 11: The day everything changed It’s a travel day, so Miller hops into his Silverado High Country diesel pickup truck to make the 40-minute drive to the Canucks charter. The team is about to travel for a game that will be indefinitely postponed, but Miller doesn’t know that. He’s been so focused on family at home and winning at the office that he hasn’t followed the spread of COVID-19 too closely. There’s no premonition that this road trip may be disrupted. By the time the Canucks board their charter flight, it’s been announced that the Columbus Blue Jackets’ upcoming games will be played in an empty building. Upon landing, the team boards a charter bus to the Renaissance Hotel in Glendale, Ariz. By the time they arrive at the hotel, the NCAA has announced that the March Madness tournament will be played in empty buildings. After settling in at the hotel, Miller and some teammates go to a nearby Topgolf to hit some balls and unwind. By the time the Canucks leave the range, it’s announced that the next few San Jose Sharks home games will be closed to fans. Miller and a large contingent of his teammates head out for dinner in Glendale. “It was very quiet,” Miller recalls. “Everyone just on their phones just getting updates. It was surreal.” At 5:40 p.m. Arizona time, an NBA game between the Utah Jazz and the Oklahoma City Thunder is mysteriously postponed. “In the NBA it looked like the game was having problems,” Miller recalls, “and we kind of knew it was going to affect us at some point. Obviously then it snowballed from there.” As 10 Canucks teammates sit down for dinner, the craziest half-hour in sports news history unfolds. Between 6:05 and 6:35 Arizona time, all of the following takes place: Donald Trump gives a press conference and closes the United States to travel from Europe, Tom Hanks announces that he has tested positive for COVID-19, reports emerge that Jazz centre Rudy Gobert has tested positive for COVID-19 and the NBA season is indefinitely postponed. “We heard from around the league that refs were starting to head home,” Miller says. “It looked like we weren’t going to play.” Returning to the hotel, Miller knows that the suspension of NHL play is now a matter of when rather than if. With the game still formally on the schedule, though, he has to put that out of his mind and prepare. The next morning, the NHL suspends play. There’s still no clear way for the league to resume play. It’s a season interrupted. The world is on hold, as people are kept apart for the purpose of safeguarding one another. For Miller, in the middle of a career year and in the middle of a stretch run, it’s bittersweet. He’s remained in Vancouver with his family, even as 1173800 Websites But that scenario doesn’t appeal to Hall. “I don’t really want to play through a contract year again,” he said.

“Whether it was the reason I had an off-year or not, I’d rather get some The Athletic / LeBrun: Taylor Hall on ‘weird time,’ importance of playing security and try and sign a longer-term deal.’’ games before playoffs But before Hall has to decide on his next contract, there is the possibility of a season resumption and what the logistics of it will be. Playing without fans in the arena has been mentioned as one way to get the players back By Pierre LeBrun Apr 15, 2020 18 onto the ice, and as strange as that may be, Hall is in favour of the idea, especially given the economic hardships many are living through right now. Taylor Hall got off the plane in Toronto and headed straight home. “If we can be that first sport back to play and be televised, that might be “I am on Day 12 on my 14-day quarantine,’’ the star winger said over the the best thing,’’ he said of games in empty buildings. phone on Wednesday. Like everyone else around the game, Hall has ideas about what the best “I got here a couple of Fridays ago and had to do the full quarantine. format would be if the league can safely resume the season. “We had someone leave a car for us at the airport with the keys in it and “I think there should definitely be a play-in to the playoffs,” Hall said, drove home. Really haven’t seen anyone since.’’ whose Coyotes are on the playoff bubble and sit 11th in the West based on points percentage. “I know I’m biased in saying that but if there are Such is life for so many people these days. two to three exhibition games and then a mini-series to see who goes into the playoffs, maybe that’s smart. Maybe we try and play eight Hall travelled from Arizona back to his home in Toronto for a simple regular-season games and make wins count as three points. I’m not reason: he figured Auston Matthews might want his house back. Hall, really sure. You can make the games worth more. But you can’t go right after getting traded from New Jersey to Arizona earlier this season, into the playoffs. There’s no way, I think that’s obvious.’’ reached out to the Toronto Maple Leafs star about renting his place in Phoenix for the rest of the season. Hall is expressing what many players have already stated, that the physical nature and high intensity of the playoffs make it unrealistic, if not With the NHL season on pause and the uncertainty surrounding a dangerous, for players to be off the ice for four months or so and just resumption of play, it remains to be seen if Hall will return to Arizona and jump right into the postseason. Matthews back to Toronto over the next few months. They need a training camp, perhaps exhibition games and regular- Whether or not there’s hockey again this season is just one of many season games to ramp things up before the playoffs. unknowns for Hall these days. He’s a pending UFA, but who knows when the start of free agency will begin? Furthermore, how much financial “I know the NHL is cautious of not bringing back the players too soon and damage will NHL businesses incur? And how will that affect the salary risking injury and all that,’’ Hall said. “But man, it’s going to be hard to find cap? How crazy will the escrow payments be for players? What makes a scenario where everyone is happy from a financial point of view, but the most sense for Hall in the new world, re-sign with the Coyotes or hit also just players playing hockey, and not being hurt and all that. It’s such the open market? a challenge.’’ Plenty of questions, but so few answers and plenty of unknowns. It’s all On Wednesday, Justin Williams was our guest on “Two-Man Advantage” he’s got. and he was saying how hard it is to re-create the skating motion in your home workouts. That being off the ice is such a challenge. It was a “There’s a lot on my plate but it’s a lot of stuff that I can’t really decide,” statement that Hall agrees with. he said. “I don’t decide when we come back to play, I don’t decide when free agency is going to be, if I make it there; so a lot of it is out of my “Yeah, it’s a big thing,” Hall said. “Ice time is something that over the past hands. At this point in time, I’m trying to do my best to just really get three or four summers that I’ve really started to ramp up. In the past, some rest, enjoy time away and get excited for when we do play hockey maybe I wouldn’t skate until the end of July, early August. But the past again.’’ few summers I really started early and I felt it helped my game and helped me get in condition early and just work on being a hockey player While players needing new contracts would be hard-pressed to find and show up to camp not only in the best possible condition but just as tougher circumstances to negotiate new deals under, finding perspective having your hockey skills as refined as possible. It’s going to be hard to isn’t too difficult for Hall to find. do so now.’’ “It’s certainly a weird time,” the 28-year-old said. “It’s a weird time to Simply put, there is no replacement for it. potentially go into free agency. But that’s life. There’s a lot of people that are in worse spots off than me. I’m not too flustered about that. Hopefully, “I’ve heard of guys with roller-blades and doing different things in their I can play a lot more years in this league. We all get paid pretty garage, but the actual 200 x 85 rink that you can skate around and get in handsomely for what we do. So, it’s not really stressful in that way, it’s condition is going to be hard to find,” he said. “So it’s going to be just more so the timing of when everything is going to come together I interesting. Guys are really going to have to get creative, and they’re also guess.’’ going to have to accept that they probably won’t be in the exact condition they want to be when hockey comes back and is played. But everyone is People from all walks of life are being hit hard and no one knows what going to be in the same boat.” the lasting effects will be. Buying NHL tickets after this pandemic won’t be affordable for many. Hall is cognizant of the struggles that lie ahead The Athletic LOADED: 04.16.2020 for many and how it may affect the NHL business. “All my friends are 26 to 30 years old, and they’re on their first or second job and maybe still paying their student loans,” Hall said. “After this is done, they’re probably not going to have the disposable income that they might have had before.’’ Knowing that the money probably won’t be the same given the impact from the pandemic, fit might become more of a priority for Hall. The Coyotes remain a possibility and GM John Chayka has stayed in touch during the pause with Hall’s agent Darren Ferris. “Both sides have interest in each other and Darren and John have talked a little bit, but there haven’t been any numbers tossed around or anything like that,” Hall said. “At this point, both sides are just waiting to see what happens with this.’’ Given the economic impact of the pandemic, I floated the idea to Hall that perhaps higher-end NHL free agents like himself, Alex Pietrangelo or Torey Krug should sign a one- or two-year deals just to bridge them through the worst of the industry damage. Then, when the league has a little more financial stability, they could sign longer-term deals. 1173801 Websites Testing for antibodies With most viruses, a person’s body creates antibodies after fighting off

the infection. Those antibodies either prevent it from getting the virus The Athletic / Data, not dates: What doctors need to know before sports again or allow subsequent infections to be much milder than the first. should return to normal But there’s so much unknown about this new virus. Major-league baseball is taking part in a test currently underway to see Aaron Portzline Apr 15, 2020 146 how many of its 10,000 tested employees have had COVID-19, but that’s only part of the needed data.

“We know we can test for antibodies; we know we can test to see if COLUMBUS, Ohio — Dr. Mark Cameron is a rabid hockey fan, often somebody has been exposed,” Gonsenhauser said. “But we don’t know driving more than four hours from Cleveland to Toronto to watch his what the results mean just yet. beloved hometown Maple Leafs play. “We don’t know if having positive antibodies means you’re immune, or Dr. Iahn Gonsenhauser is a lifelong fan of all Cleveland sports — “born, does it mean you have partial immunity, or does it mean you have none? bred and long-suffering,” he said — and a passionate supporter of his We don’t have enough to determine that yet, but that’s a big one.” alma maters’ powerhouse programs, Ohio State (football) and Syracuse (men’s basketball). If COVID-19 can infect a person only once, like most viruses, then those who have had the virus and recovered would be safe to be in crowds. Dr. Michael Chang loves cycling, auto racing and the NFL. “They’d get the green light first for large gatherings,” Chang said. They all empathize with sports fans who are suffering now that the games have been taken away, either canceled, rescheduled or But if COVID-19 can infect the same person multiple times — like, say, suspended indefinitely by the coronavirus-caused pandemic that brought respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which is common among children — North America to a halt more than a month ago. there will be a much larger problem. They are also renowned doctors and researchers at three of the leading “We’re getting pretty close to knowing this,” Chang said. “Within the next universities in the country for studying public health, infectious diseases six to eight weeks in the U.S., we’ll have antibody testing available on a and pandemics, which puts them in a unique spot regarding COVID-19. more widespread basis. We’ll be able to understand if they had a single episode or if they got sick again. “It’s weird not having anything to watch on weekends, not having that aspect of your life,” said Chang, an infectious disease specialist at “How long the antibodies will last will be a question, too. If you have McGovern Medical School at the University of Texas Health in Houston. antibodies now, are they still going to be protective in six months? Nine months? I’d say probably, but we don’t know yet.” “It’s an extension of the suffering this virus causes, absolutely,” said Gonsenhauser, who serves as chief quality and patient safety officer and This is a new virus, so there will be a “settling in” period. Or, as an is an assistant professor at Ohio State’s Wexner Medical Center. epidemiologist would say, it is a novel virus and we are naive. All three doctors know enough to believe that sports won’t be back as we Thus, the effectiveness of our antibodies against the disease could knew them for a long time, even though many states in the U.S. have continue to evolve. But figuring out how often a person can get COVID- started to see their hospitalizations and death totals plateau in recent 19 is of utmost importance. days. “We will arrive at a place within the next few years where everybody will On Tuesday, President Donald Trump mentioned May 1 as a target date have been exposed to the virus,” Gonsenhauser said. “That is ultimately for states to get up and running again economically. Without a doubt, what is going to make us safer, when this is no longer a new virus. professional and college sports are big business in almost every state. “Either by exposure or vaccination, it’s really only when you get to that But all three doctors agreed that setting arbitrary dates — especially one place (where almost everybody’s had it) where you can say you’re out of that’s barely two weeks away — is a mostly meaningless exercise. the woods with people having naive responses to novel viruses.” It will be data, not dates, that should determine when it’s wise for people Testing for COVID-19 to slowly start getting back to their old routines. Come back too early and As of Wednesday, less than 1 percent of the U.S. population (about 330 there’s a risk that another wave of the virus will hit, perhaps worse than million) has been tested for the COVID-19 virus. A hiccup in the supply the one the U.S. has already endured. chain for kits and nasal swabs has slowed testing by hospitals and labs So far, more than 600,000 are known to have been infected in the U.S., across the country. and nearly 30,000 have died. Those numbers are despite a massive Put another way: We have no idea how many people have the virus. monthlong effort in many states to limit social interaction. “If you look at the confirmed cases, it’s like 600,000 in a country of 330 The major sports leagues have all explored the possibility of playing million people,” Chang said. “Those are just the people who have tested games under a controlled environment — frequently tested and positive. There are a lot more people who have it and don’t know quarantined players and staff, quarantined and locked-down arenas, no because they haven’t been tested. fans in attendance, etc. “If we could have widespread testing, where we know in 15 minutes who “The backside of the ‘the curve’ will take just as long as the front side,” is negative and who is positive, we can identify who needs to be said Cameron, associate professor at the Case Western Reserve quarantined and who can resume some activity. University School of Medicine. “If the front side was two months, the backside will be two months. “Otherwise, you’ve got a large number of people congregating and the risk of a big, spreading event.” “Now, on the backside, we can start looking at a slow, careful, gradual removal of some of the conditions that we have put in place, but they’ll The hope is that testing will ramp up quickly, and soon. Otherwise, a come off as guidelines in exactly the opposite order.” return to normal life — forget about large-scale sporting events — would be hard to justify. The thought of playing in packed arenas and sold-out stadiums seems further out in the distance, the doctors agreed. “The numbers aren’t pretty,” Cameron said. “Say one in four or one in five persons are infected with the virus, and many are asymptomatic, The first casualty when governors started locking down their states was meaning they don’t even know it. Each of those persons has the ability to mass gatherings. The NBA “paused” its season March 11; the NHL infect three or four other people quite easily.” followed suit the next day. In a 100,000-seat college football stadium, that’s a frightening figure. “One of the first guidelines was to avoid mass gatherings” such as sports Even in an 18,000-seat NBA or NHL arena, the numbers are chilling. events, concerts, conventions, etc., Cameron said. “So those will be the last guidelines to be lifted.” “If you’re at a football game in the ‘Shoe (Ohio Stadium), you probably have 10 people who are spending more than five minutes within 6 feet of The Athletic asked all three doctors what they would need to see before you,” Gonsenhauser said. “You can assume during that encounter that they’d advise sports leagues to open their doors for fans again. They all two or three other people are going to get infected, quite easily. concurred that there are three main areas from which more data is required. “So if even one-tenth of the crowd (10,000 people) has the virus, you In parts of China, where the outbreak first occurred, officials began could easily triple the number of infected people (30,000) by the time the loosening restrictions in recent weeks, believing the worst had passed. crowd heads home and takes that back with them to their community.” “On Monday they recorded their highest number of new cases in several Until test kits become widely available, it’s hard to imagine any aspect of weeks,” Chang said, “suggesting that loosening restrictions could lead to day-to-day life getting back to normal, the doctors said. a second surge.” But if those kits become available, it could be the first step in allowing Cameron was a researcher in Toronto when the severe acute respiratory sports teams to return, even if their fans couldn’t be in attendance. syndrome (SARS) struck in 2003. Canada had 251 cases and 43 deaths that year, almost all of them in Toronto. Every major league has at least pondered the possibility of a return to play in empty stadiums, if necessary. “SARS was easier to track because it made people very sick,” Cameron said. “It was ended in early to mid-July and it was nowhere near the “In a few months, if testing is widespread and the major franchises and scare (as COVID-19), nor were there the levels of asymptomatic teams can test their players and their personnel rather frequently, without infections. limiting the supplies to health care professionals, you could see how it could work,” Chang said. “That’s what makes this one so easy to spread. People can have it and not be aware.” “You’d be testing a few thousand people and you could test them frequently. That’s a possibility for sports to return in that fashion, but SARS was educational on another level, Cameron said. that’s a pretty limited way.” “As the backside of the curve started coming down, they released some But the chances of this happening soon are pretty slim. of the close contact measures,” he said. “A week or two later, because it came off too early, a second wave hit Toronto and it lasted just as long “We need to be sure that community spread isn’t a major issue anymore, as the first.” and I just don’t think that’s true at the moment,” Chang said. “We have active community spread. In places like New York City, New Orleans and Detroit, people are still getting sick and dying from COVID-19. But the numbers are plateauing, “We can’t know the extent of that until we can measure who has the virus which is good news. But now comes the difficult part for many: remaining or who has had the virus.” patient. The need for a vaccine “It becomes a harder and harder sell to people,” Cameron said. “Mostly Widespread testing would put many minds at ease. So would an antibody the response in this country has been very good. But now everybody has test that reveals who has had the virus, especially if doctors learn that to stay heroic. our antibodies will protect us against any future infections. “If we can cut down on the backside of the curve and avoid the specter of But the holy grail in getting back to “normal” will be the development of a a wave of new cases — and that can only happen by not letting up what vaccine. we’re doing right now — it’s conceivable that we will be able to rescue part of our summer.” “That will ultimately be the answer that allows society to truly get back to normal,” Chang said. “For many people, they’ve changed their habits TO EVERYONE ON THE FRONTLINES @OSUWEXMED & because of this virus, and they probably won’t go back to their previous @OHIOSTATE THANK YOU. YOUR COMMITMENT, DEDICATION & behaviors until there is a vaccine.” SACRIFICE ARE WHAT #BUCKEYESPIRIT IS ALL ABOUT! AS YOU ARE THERE FOR US WE ARE HERE FOR YOU. WE ARE Vaccines are not the perfect remedy, however. #INTHISTOGETHEROHIO! #GOVMIKEDEWINE #DRAMYACTON #CORONAVIRUSOUTBREAK #COVID2019 It could take 12 to 18 months before a vaccine is discovered and PIC.TWITTER.COM/87UPUWUB6Y approved, then several months more — depending on the process required — before the vaccine can be produced at a large enough scale — DR IAHN GONSENHAUSER (@DRGTHEMD) APRIL 10, 2020 to cover the country. On Tuesday, the NHL extended its self-quarantine period for players There’s also this: from April 15 to April 30. “Just because you have a vaccine, not everybody responds to it 100 But we are likely a long way from getting back to normal in the sporting percent, and not everybody will gain protection from it,” Chang said. world. At this point, nobody should be guessing at a date. It’s data that will make the call, and there are still so many unanswered questions. This coronavirus is far more serious than the flu, doctors said, but the common flu provides a useful analogy for the challenges of a virus. “I still haven’t come to terms with the fact that there was no NCAA basketball tournament,” Gonsenhauser said. “It’s still so surreal to me. I The flu virus was discovered many years ago, but the process for making feel like I missed out by not having a tournament, by not filling out a each year’s vaccine begins in January or February, or about eight bracket, not enjoying what I’ve enjoyed every year of my life for so long months before the vaccines are ready to be distributed. If the coronavirus now. process is similar, it could be two years from now (18 months for approval, six to eight months to generate) before it’s available. “What about the kids who are not going to be playing college ball next year and this was their final year to do it. I think about the kids from Also, the flu strains mutate from year to year, so the vaccine is typically (third-ranked) Dayton who were having an incredible season and are not about 70 percent effective, Chang said. There’s no indication yet whether going to get their chance. It’s just … devastating.” COVID-19 will be a moving, mutating target. But Gonsenhauser can’t see large-scale gatherings in the near future. With so many unknowns, it’s hard to put a number on what level of “herd immunity” would be required with COVID-19 before public health officials “I don’t think there will be,” he said. “I don’t think there should be. And it’s would feel safe allowing large crowds to congregate. hard to say that as somebody who loves sports and gets a lot out of going to games.” “For diseases that we think are more contagious, like measles, you need a 90 percent vaccination rate,” Chang said. “So you need either 90 The Athletic LOADED: 04.16.2020 percent to have had the disease or the vaccine. “We don’t think this is as contagious as measles. We have so much to learn about this, but it doesn’t seem as contagious as measles. That’s good news. But we can’t have a number on what that needs to look like for herd immunity with COVID-19 until we have more answers.” Still, so much depends on the antibody question. Because if antibodies don’t fight COVID-19, a vaccine won’t be effective, either. (That’s how vaccines work, after all, by making the body produce antibodies.) The waiting game Doctors and scientists are keeping a close eye on other parts of the world for answers to their questions, but those answers take time. 1173802 Websites The fact that Outcast’s products have a shelf life of two to three years is a boon to providing healthy alternatives to consumers.

Traditionally, those kinds of supplements have been produced in China The Athletic / Former NHLer T.J. Galiardi nurtures nature with an assist and India, Burke said, and in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic, from former colleagues he believes having locally produced, high-quality nutrients with an impeccable and easily traced production history will become increasingly important. By Scott Burnside Apr 15, 2020 6 Galiardi and Burke and their staff – currently at 12 – have developed relationships with large farm operations in the Halifax area as well as food wholesalers and national grocery store chains to acquire surplus or Maybe you don’t think about how the farm-to-table food chain works and unsellable fruits and vegetables. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Outcast why it’s in many ways perilously short. has expanded its relationship with local farmers to try and help and reduce wastage during a time when most of the population of North Maybe you don’t think about what happens to that odd-looking potato America is in some form of lockdown. that doesn’t make it onto the produce truck. Or that shipment of strawberries that spoils in transit and never gets put on the shelf. In less than three years, the company has risen quickly to a place of prominence in the upcycling world. It was honored with an ‘innovator of There’s a lot that happens on the journey that produce takes from the the year’ award at the 2019 Mobius Awards created by the organization field to the kitchen table, but the fact that so much food ends up in Divert Nova Scotia that recognizes companies that reduce waste in the landfills is a sobering fact – and a business opportunity, if you talk to province. former NHL player T.J. Galiardi. The company recently received another $3 million in funding as they The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations projected in prepare to move into a much larger facility in the Halifax area. late 2019 that the direct economic consequences of food wastage globally was $750 billion. Almost half of that waste – 2 billion tonnes “We’re taking a natural resource that Mother Nature has nourished and annually – is concentrated in North America. grown and provided and turned it into a food source for people and animals and to benefit the planet,” Burke said. Galiardi, co-founder of Outcast Foods, has thought deeply about the specter of food waste and what can be done about it. They have already outgrown their original production facility and are preparing to start construction on a new zero waste facility with a goal of “I was ready to try something new and flex some new muscles,” said raising $6-$9 million in the next six to nine months. Galiardi. When that facility is up and running, Burke said they’ll be able to increase He was the 55th overall pick in the 2007 NHL Draft and he played 321 production from around 5,000 pounds of dehydrated food product a day NHL regular-season games with four NHL clubs, Colorado, San Jose, to upwards of 100,000 pounds in a day. Calgary and Winnipeg. His playing career ended in the Kontinental Hockey League in Russia in 2017-18. And if the letters of intent from potential clients are any indication, this new facility might not be big enough, either. But a few years back, Galiardi, a hockey-playing vegan with a deep interest in supplements and healthy living, was doing some research in “We’re super-aggressive and we’ve pushed the envelope hard,” Burke the offseason and wanted to learn more about a supplement he had said. “We’ve grown significantly.” come across. So he found the company’s 800 number and called. The good news? The applications for the dehydrated fruits and The company’s CEO, Darren Burke, picked up. As it turned out, Burke, a vegetables continue to also grow exponentially, he said. Halifax-based scientist and entrepreneur, was visiting relatives in Calgary “It’s virtually limitless what products our ingredients can end up in,” Burke when he got the call. The two men quickly learned they had much in said. “It’s an unlimited outbound opportunity.” common and agreed to meet at a local restaurant. Although Galiardi’s playing days are now over, the lessons learned from Burke had been a student athlete specializing in canoe sprint, but he the game and the relationships he forged during his career have helped went on to receive a Ph.D. and become a professor at St. Francis Xavier him in this new career. In fact, those lessons and those relationships University in Nova Scotia. Performance-enhancing supplements was have become integral to making Outcast Foods viable. among his interests. “Perseverance is definitely one,” Galiardi said. Eventually he broke into the sports nutrition market in Canada and soon found himself with a top-10 company, Rivalus Inc. Soon enough, he How many times was he told as a youngster that only a select few make started to find success in the crowded sports nutrition field in the United it to the NHL and that he should focus on a goal that was more realistic? States. “Probably a thousand times,” he said. Burke would later sell that company and when a period of non-compete was over he started looking for a new project to launch. When he and “In a startup, you’re told many times as well this isn’t going to work,” Galiardi met, they developed a friendship that morphed into a business Galiardi said. relationship that became Outcast Foods (formerly Beyond Food). And then there are the interpersonal skills he honed over the years With funding from the National Research Council (NRC), Burke and interacting with groups of players, coaches and managers throughout his Galiardi were able to connect with researchers at Dalhousie University, hockey career. University of , the University of Regina and the “Learning how to gel,” he said. “That’s definitely helped me along the way University of Saskatchewan to develop a novel way of dehydrating fruits on the business side.” and vegetables that exceeded their original expectations. Galiardi, 31, has a daughter who is almost 2 and he and his wife are When they started three years ago, Burke admitted he didn’t know how expecting their second child in July. He has been buoyed by the support much nutritional value could be retained during dehydration. he’s received from within the hockey community. It probably shouldn’t be “But we’ve discovered that it’s far greater than our initial thought,” he a surprise given how important a healthy diet has become for hockey said. players. He initially thought they could retain maybe 25% of nutrients, but soon Gagliardi and Burke say that 15 current and former NHL players have learned through research and the evolution of the dehydration process invested in the company. that as much as 80% of nutrients can be retained. “I kind of pinch myself at how supportive guys have been,” Galiardi said. “We have an unbelievable opportunity here to take the main, life-giving “I want to make sure we’re good stewards of their money.” nutrients, vitamins, minerals, proteins, fibers, you name it, and introduce What’s interesting is that many of the investors from within the hockey it back into the food supply chain,” Burke said. community are there not because they know Galiardi personally – The patent-pending three-step dehydration process – it has global patent although there are a number that fit that bill – but because the product protection, Burke said – can be applied to all manner of fruits and and the process intrigued them. vegetables, from sweet potatoes to raspberries and bananas. It can also Galiardi didn’t know Boston defenseman Torey Krug but the two are now be used in a wide variety of products, including trail mixes, protein bars, friends as well as business associates through Outcast Foods. baby food, pet food and cosmetics, Burke said. Galiardi didn’t know veteran NHL defenseman Brooks Orpik, who won a On top of that, Burke said, “they’re very well-read, very environmentally Stanley Cup with Washington in 2018 before retiring at the end of last conscious, very socially concerned individuals.” season. In short, as much as hockey is their livelihood, their breadth of knowledge But Orpik, who learned at the knee of one of the great health and diet extends far beyond the ice. pioneers in hockey, Gary Roberts, came on board because he believed in what the company was hoping to achieve and how they were going “It’s really refreshing,” Burke said. about it. The Athletic LOADED: 04.16.2020 Orpik was introduced to Galiardi and Burke by some mutual friends and knew the landscape pretty well. After doing his own due diligence on Outcast Foods, he was impressed with the product and the business plan. “The whole supplement industry is so saturated,” Orpik said. “So much of it is just, some of the stuff out there is just junk.” “It was mostly the problems that they were trying to help alleviate and the quality of the product they were making,” Orpik said. “Those were the two most appealing things.” Orpik who has been helping out at his alma mater Boston College as well as with Washington’s young defensive prospects when hockey is not on pause, has been impressed with Galiardi – even though Galiardi is a Dartmouth guy. “All those Dartmouth guys are pretty interesting guys,” Orpik said. “He definitely fits that mold. He’s a pretty intriguing guy.” Orpik, who also won a Stanley Cup with Pittsburgh in 2009, lives on an organic farm outside of Boston, and Burke and Galiardi came to visit before Orpik became an investor. Before the visit, Outcast Foods’ marketing manager sent Galiardi a video clip of Galiardi crushing Orpik into the boards from behind when Orpik was playing in Pittsburgh. Oddly enough, that little bit of hockey trivia didn’t end up as part of the marketing pitch, although Orpik did chuckle when he learned of the clip suggesting he might just as easily have been on the other end of such an encounter. Other NHL players involved in the company include Joe Thornton, Jason Demers, Adam Lowry and Adam McQuaid. John-Michael Liles, a veteran of 836 NHL games, got to know Galiardi when the two were playing together in Colorado. When Galiardi approached Liles about his new enterprise, Liles was intrigued not just in the business plan but in the overall concept of helping extend the shelf-life of foods. “I just liked the direction of it,” said Liles, who continues to be involved with hockey by helping out with learn-to-play initiatives in Colorado and doing some color commentary on Avalanche broadcasts. “I think there’s a huge potential for growth,” he said. “And it’s a company that’s good for the future. For me, it’s kind of one of those things, ‘Can you leave (the world) better than you found it?’ I think this is one of those things that speaks to that. It was something that definitely spoke to me and I thought it was a great idea.” That Galiardi is so committed to this project is not a surprise to Liles. “Gally, he’s a really driven individual,” Liles said. “He’s really passionate about it.” Adam Burish played with Galiardi in San Jose. Both were heavily into fitness, nutrition and supplements. The two would talk often about products that Galiardi was learning about or trying and vice versa. While Burish has his own business interests in natural health care – he is owner of a cannabidiol-based health and wellness company called BioSpectrum CBD – he was well-versed in supplements and jumped at the chance to invest in Outcast Foods. “It was a no-brainer,” said Burish, who provides color commentary on Chicago Blackhawk broadcasts. “Their stuff is great.” “Everything he says that’s going to happen, it does,” Burish said of the company’s evolution. Like Orpik, Burish said there is a lot of education that needs to happen when dealing with these types of products. “There is so much junk out there,” he said. “I saw so much junk in NHL locker rooms.” Although Burke understands the athlete mentality given his own experience, he had his eyes opened to the very specific relationship that hockey players have with one another, exemplified by how many of them have gravitated to Outcast. 1173803 Websites In recent years, the two former NHL goalies bonded over their shared struggles with mental health. Like Malarchuk, Hirsch suffers from OCD and depression — and has also been open about sharing his story in hope of helping others. Hirsch spent time with Malarchuk at his ranch last The Athletic / ‘In it together’: Clint Malarchuk, Corey Hirsch find mutual summer. support in OCD fight “We just talked about uncertain times and how we’re both doing. Where he’s at, where I’m at. ‘Are you alone? You doing OK?’” says Hirsch. By Dan Robson Apr 15, 2020 23 The call was appreciated. Hirsch, who works as a radio broadcaster for Sportsnet covering the Vancouver Canucks, has been isolating with his partner in Toronto since The nightmares return in March. The sting of the blade and the escaping the NHL shut down because of the pandemic. He recently went through a blood. Clint Malarchuk can feel it as clear as he did on March 22, 1989, wave of difficult days, where he could feel depression setting in. His when a skate cut the goalie’s throat during a goalmouth collision at the struggle with OCD and anxiety centres on irrational thoughts. Buffalo Auditorium. It was three decades ago, but the memory haunts — as inescapable as the bullet still lodged his head, from the spring day he “Mental health is so different for everybody,” he says. “But for someone tried to end his life 20 years later. like me, uncertainty is torture. And these are completely uncertain times.” “I wake up screaming and grabbing my neck,” Malarchuk says. “It’s not Hirsch has dealt with the disease long enough that he knows how to just a bad dream. … That’s usually when I have my biggest struggles, the recognize the symptoms in himself. He can feel when he needs to start anniversary of my suicide attempt and the anniversary of the jugular vein. eating better and when to push himself to get outside more. But he also I have to be conscious of these things.” says the wave can be inescapable at times and that it will last for a couple of days. Malarchuk suffered from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and anxiety long before the infamous incident that defined his NHL career. But those “Sometimes it’s about waiting for the storm to pass,” Hirsch says. “And challenges intensified with post-traumatic stress in the injury’s aftermath, knowing that the storm is going to pass, but helping yourself through it as spiralling him into depression and alcoholism. well.” It took decades for Malarchuk to get the help and support he needed to He tends to withdraw from people during these times. But answering a manage his illness. He shared his story in his memoir “The Crazy Game” call from an old friend is one of the things that can help pull him through. — published as “A Matter of Inches” in the U.S. — and he now tours the And as someone who goes quiet when he’s struggling, Hirsch is trying to continent speaking to raise awareness and support for others who suffer reach out to others that he knows are having a difficult time. from mental illness. I co-wrote Malarchuk’s memoir with him and consider him a close friend. “We all kind of help each other in the community,” he says. “The saying it takes a village with mental health, it really does. It takes everybody. … Malarchuk has been acutely aware of his continuing battle throughout the Be aware of the ones that are isolating by themselves. They’re the ones COVID-19 pandemic. Recently, all of his speaking engagements were that I’m worried about. … We need human interaction. Check in on postponed and he found himself alone on his horse ranch in Nevada. His people and make sure they’re not lying in bed all day, make sure they’re wife and greatest support, Joanie, is away in Texas taking care of her not completely withdrawing from society.” family. Hirsch has focused on taking each day in pieces, step by step, moment “I’m still prone to OCD, anxiety and depression,” Malarchuk says. “These by moment. He’s tried to limit the amount of alcohol he drinks, because are challenging times — not just for me, for everybody. But for people he knows how quickly a person can slip into a deep hole trying to escape who suffer from disorders like I do, it can be very challenging.” with booze. He goes for long walks in the neighbourhood, strolling through the local Tim Hortons drive-thru between the cars to pick up his For years, Malarchuk self-medicated with alcohol to deal with medium black coffee once a day. compounding effects of his disorders. So, he is acutely aware of how vulnerable recovering alcoholics can be in situations of heightened He’s also picked up on old hobbies. Hirsch is learning how to play guitar anxiety and isolation. through videos that his good friend Sean Burke put on YouTube. Malarchuk was a goalie coach for the Calgary Flames while we worked Burke and his wife were among of the first people Hirsch told that he was on his book together. The process was incredibly difficult, recounting the thinking about publicly sharing his struggle with mental illness. He sat at darkest moments of his life — and while alone in Calgary, he relapsed. their kitchen table in Arizona and told them about all the experiences he’d Malarchuk had already been through rehab. We’d just recently finished held inside for years. writing the chapters about that experience in his book. But concerned about his drinking, the Flames sent Malarchuk back to rehab. He later “I’m really proud that he took this path,” Burke says. “Not only being an lost his job with the team. advocate, but a hands-on guy who is out there helping as many people as he can.” It’s important to note that Malarchuk’s story does have a hopeful ending, which continues to be written. Hirsch and Burke check in with each other regularly. After watching Burke’s first online lesson, Hirsch called him on FaceTime to show him He recently posted a message on Facebook for people who suffer from his progress playing the chords for “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door.” similar disorders, explaining how he’s coping during this time of isolation and great uncertainty. “He’s definitely improving. I can tell he’s putting his work in,” Burke says. “To be honest he sounded really good.” When the nightmares returned last month, Malarchuk knew he had to be extra vigilant with his mental health. He leaned into his preference for Hirsch remains modest about his abilities, though. rigid daily structure. He set out each morning with a list of tasks that “I’ve got a guitar here that I’m just beating up,” he says. “I’m not good. needed to be done, and occupied his hands and mind with them. But it keeps me busy.” “This is my sanity list,” he says. “I encourage people to do the same.” For Hirsch, right now, that’s been the most important thing. Malarchuk benefits from living on a ranch, in great weather, with horses His friend Malarchuk prefers structure and last week his routine was and other animals to take care of — and a barn to tidy. thrown into flux when he had to fix a water pipe that burst beneath the “It’s the cleanest barn you’ll see in the world,” he says. ground on his ranch. Most people don’t have that kind of distraction readily available, but “This soil is not easy digging. It’s all rock and clay, so it took me two Malarchuk says that taking on projects and tasks that you’ve been putting days,” he says. “Being OCD, I’m very structured. That wasn’t on my to-do off can be a huge help. He writes a to-do list every day and sets aside list, so it kind of threw me a little bit of anxiety.” hours in the afternoon to complete it. He starts each morning with In the end, the anxiety faded and the to-do list just got longer. And meditation and he works out at the same time each day. Recently, he set Malarchuk was grateful for the distraction as he continues his battle, aside time at the end of his daily routine to make calls, catching up with while the world faces something much larger. That collective fight has put old friends. his own experience into perspective. Last week, one of those calls was to Corey Hirsch. Malarchuk wanted to “This is a big thing, this virus. It’s changing our world. It’s halted our make sure he was doing well. world,” Malarchuk says. “We’re all in it together. I think, ‘This isn’t about you Clint. This is about the world.’ So you don’t feel alone. We’re all going through this.” Hirsch also finds comfort in the solidarity he’s found throughout the pandemic. In the guitar lessons and calls from old friends, just checking in to say hello. “The bottom line is letting people know that this isn’t going to last,” he says. “We’re going to get through it. It might look bleak now, but there are better days ahead.” The Athletic LOADED: 04.16.2020 1173804 Websites

Sportsnet.ca / In Conversation: Louie and Jake DeBrusk pay tribute to Colby Cave

Sportsnet Staff | @Sportsnet April 15, 2020, 6:57 PM

On Wednesday’s edition of In Conversation with Ron MacLean, Ron MacLean is joined by Louie and Jake DeBrusk. Father and son are united on camera once more, telling stories about growing up around the NHL and paying tribute to Colby Cave after his tragic passing. In Conversation with Ron MacLean is a new digital roundtable show airing exclusively on Sportsnet’s Facebook page, YouTube channel, SN NOW and sportsnet.ca on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 7 p.m. ET/ 4 p.m. PT. In the 20-30 minute show, MacLean will interview notable Canadians from all corners of the sports and entertainment worlds. Future guests will be regularly announced on Sportsnet’s Twitter account. Sportsnet.ca LOADED: 04.16.2020 1173805 Websites The Jets missed the playoffs the season before they nearly made it to the Stanley Cup Final, and last season regressed by 15 points before getting knocked out in the playoffs’ opening round. Sportsnet.ca / Canucks' progress reminds Tyler Myers of Jets' rise to The NHL halted with the Canucks — who were on pace for 93 points Cup contenders after finishing with 81 last year — out of the final playoff spot on a tie- breaker, but within the top eight on winning percentage.

“I think all of us in the room, we see ourselves as a playoff team,” Myers Iain MacIntyre | @imacSportsnet April 15, 2020, 8:47 PM said. “It’s impossible to tell what could have happened. I really liked our strides that we made this year. I really hope we’re able to come back and try to end it off on a good note. . . (and) get back that feeling we had VANCOUVER – Tyler Myers came to the Vancouver Canucks last before it ended. summer for a bigger role closer to home, to be a leader and key “With the possibility of us being able to finish the year, we just don’t want component on a team being driven upwards by an emerging core of to take any steps backwards. We’re trying to talk to each other and figure young players. out how to make sure we’re still ready to go if this thing comes back.” He came for change. But watching his teammates mature and seeing the Sportsnet.ca LOADED: 04.16.2020 Canucks start to build consistency and push towards a playoff spot for the first time in five years, Myers couldn’t help but be reminded this season of his old team. “I think it’s natural to compare what you’ve been through in the past with what’s going on in your current situation,” the defenceman said from his off-season home in Kelowna during a video-conference on Wednesday. “I take a look at that year in Winnipeg where we almost made it to the Final — had a tough series against Vegas — [and] there’s a lot of similarities I can take from my experience with my first year here in Vancouver to that team. One of them being there was such a solid, dynamic core in Winnipeg. “I think we have such a good, solid core group of guys [in Vancouver]. You add in a piece here and there to keep developing your team. I guess what I’m trying to say is we’re close. We’re close to that point of becoming a winning team. It’s just a matter of experience and getting that feeling of what it takes to win. And part of that is getting that experience in the playoffs.” Myers left the Winnipeg Jets to sign a five-year, $30-million free-agent contract with the Canucks. It was only two years ago when he was part of a Winnipeg team that had rocketed up the National Hockey League standings, improving by 27 points in one season, before getting upset by the expansion Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference Final. Those 2017-18 Jets had impactful veterans like Blake Wheeler and Dustin Byfluglien, supported by an emerging cast of young guns. Patrik Laine was 19, Kyle Connor 20, Nikolaj Ehlers 21, Josh Morrissey 22, and Mark Scheifele was already a star at 24. Myers’ Canucks feature veterans J.T. Miller, Alex Edler and Chris Tanev, and young stars Brock Boeser, 22, Elias Pettersson, 21, and Quinn Hughes, 20. Canucks captain Bo Horvat is 24. “With all of our young guys, they’re such drivers of the team right now,” Myers, 30, said. “The development they showed this year, I think, was more than people were expecting. I think the mix of those young guys with a few more veterans we have in the room now, it came together really well.” Right up until the NHL closed due to the novel coronavirus on March 12. Now, the cautionary part (as far as the hockey goes): Two years after their 114-point season, the Jets projected to miss the playoff this season by a point, based on winning percentage. A team that was young enough to contend for championships for years has already seen its “window” peak and start closing. 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 Canada’s most beloved game. It seems the Canucks’ greatest ally is time and that they are constructed better than most to survive this lost season — if that is what it turns out to be. But their most valuable player, goalie Jacob Markstrom, is eligible for unrestricted free agent, and after next season the Canucks will no longer have the benefit of Pettersson and Hughes playing on entry-level contracts. They will face difficult choices about roster priorities, as the Jets did. “It’s creating such a different environment for every group, every team,” Myers said of the shutdown. “Everybody is going to get affected by it. A lot of it is just waiting – waiting to see what the cap will be, if we’re going to return at all. There’s just so many unknowns right now. “The best approach is just trying to keep everyone as best we can. I really like where the team is heading. I’ve been a part of teams where you have too much turnover and it’s a little tough to get things going again. I like our group and I hope we’re able to keep all of it together.” 1173806 Websites 1. Three hockey items from our chat with Dr. Donaldson. First, memories of Eric Lindros, who showed up on the Generals as a 17-year-old, recording 35 goals and 72 points in 42 games: “He’d skate past the bench and you’d hear his skates cutting through the ice with every stride. Sportsnet.ca / 31 Thoughts: How NHL teams are handling draft prep from One day he came down one-on-one in practice. He was holding the puck a distance way back, trying to get me to bite on the toe drag, but I wouldn’t. I put my stick way out there, but maintained body positioning. The next thing I know, he’s taken his hand off his stick and put it around the back of my Elliotte Friedman | @FriedgeHNIC April 15, 2020, 6:45 PM helmet…. That was his reach. I couldn’t (get to) the puck behind him but his arm could reach behind my helmet, pull me down and walk around me. I’m like, ‘OK, that strategy didn’t work. Back to the drawing board.’” You do not want to be on the receiving end of Craig Donaldson’s stare. 2. When Jeff reminded Donaldson that current NHL VP and director of officiating Stephen Walkom refereed that 1990 Final, the After three years with the OHL’s Oshawa Generals, which culminated in first words out of his mouth were, “Perfect hair.” the epic 1990 double-overtime Memorial Cup victory over Kitchener, Donaldson continued his career at the world’s greatest institution — the 3. Finally, we concluded our interview by wondering if the post-COVID-19 University of Western Ontario. world will lead to adjustments to one of hockey’s great traditions — the end-of-playoff-series handshake. Maybe an elbow bump instead. During that time, the Western hockey team’s regular coach took a one- year sabbatical and a co-worker of mine at the Gazette student 4. Draft-wise: A couple of teams have indicated their in-house scouting newspaper wrote that the replacement coach should be made permanent rankings showed more variance than normal. Senators GM Pierre Dorion bench boss. Donaldson showed up at the Gazette’s office and made his said he hasn’t seen that in Ottawa. displeasure known. He never raised his voice, but those eyes glared right into your soul. “There’s always a variance, but we haven’t seen anything major,” he said. “We knew this was going to be an important draft and our staff was “I do recall the situation,” Donaldson laughed on 31 Thoughts: The pounding (the pavement) really hard from the start of the year.” Podcast this week. “It didn’t feel like a fair article — that’s why I contested it.” 5. Obviously, there’s a lot more video work being done. Donaldson was a talented defenceman, determined. Longtime hockey “When you watch players live, then add video, it helps your evaluation,” executive Sherry Bassin told co-host that Donaldson would Dorion said. “It’s only when you don’t watch players live that video is not be outworked in the weight room. His Hockeydb.com page lists him dangerous.” at 186 pounds. There are Zoom chats with prospects. The lack of a scheduled combine “That’s misleading,” he said, laughing again. “I could not put on a pound. — at least right now — is challenging for everyone, but Dorion says he I played the Memorial Cup Final at 159.” has faith in whatever the NHL decides. There’s time, so we’ll see what the summer brings. Last Friday, several of that era’s Generals held a reunion on Zoom, champions joining in and dropping out, chirping each other over three Dorion did tell local reporters in a conference call that Ottawa submitted hours. Most of us have extra time right now, but not Dr. Craig Donaldson. proposals to the league for resuming the season, the draft lottery and the playoffs. A missed opportunity for necessary humour if the lottery He normally works 10 to 12 shifts per month in the emergency room at proposal opened with anything but, “Give us the top two picks.” Headwaters Health Care Centre in Orangeville, Ont., but has added a few extra during the COVID-19 crisis. He’s also employed with two 6. The GM echoed what many of his peers are saying: It’s not easy to do nursing homes: Chartwell Long-Term Care in Aurora (where there is a contract business outside of entry-levels. Asked about players he thought case), and as medical director at River Glen Haven in Sutton. He’s doing took a big step, Dorion first mentioned Brady Tkachuk. That made me virtual care at the latter two for now, as his work at Headwaters makes it wonder if he’s thinking about naming a captain for whenever we resume unsafe for him to be in contact with the seniors — among our most play. vulnerable citizens. “That’s a conversation we’d have with D.J. Smith and others,” he Before the government protocols were enacted, River Glen, in answered. “I’m not sure yet that we need to have one, either.” consultation with the families, decided not to allow visitors. “Wait and get it right” is the philosophy. “(Our patients) don’t do well without visitors. It was not a great option, but Richard Deitsch and Donnovan Bennett host a podcast about how it was our only option. The families were on board, and I’m glad for that.” COVID-19 is impacting sports around the world. They talk to experts, Donaldson admitted it bothered him that people went away for March athletes and personalities, offering a window into the lives of people we break knowing what was happening. normally root for in entirely different ways. “As tough as it is, social distancing is imperative right now,” Donaldson 7. Dorion and Los Angeles coach Todd McLellan have two things in continued. “Capacity issues scare everybody. We’re trained with mass- common: First, they praised their players for how hard they competed, casualty scenarios… where multiple patient demands kind of overrun regardless of record. It was noticeable how hard both groups worked. your capacity. There’s difficult decisions that have to be made and you Second, they are preparing as if their teams could still play. go for salvageability. I’m praying that we don’t go into capacity issues “We’ve had year-end discussions about our players among the coaches,” and ethics discussions like that. McLellan said Tuesday. “But not with the players themselves. They could “The people that are really at risk right now, it will be the best judge of our see that as closure. We don’t want that yet. What if we’re told that we’re society how we treat these people.” going to play?” The good news is that Donaldson is seeing some of the best from 8. On his conference call, Drew Doughty said he didn’t think the NHL was people. As he works, neighbours are making sure his fridge is full. Easter going to resume this season, and wasn’t thrilled with the idea. He added wasn’t easy as wife, Kate, and children Blake, Alex and Darby are away that he never felt good in the 2016–17 season after the World Cup — so he can be in isolation, but Blake (who turned 11 last weekend) and and compared returning in the summer to that competition. I asked Alex (who will be nine next week) received some surprise birthday McLellan a hypothetical: Should the Kings return for a couple of games wishes. and no playoffs, would he consider keeping Doughty (and say, Anze Kopitar) out until whenever the 2020–21 season begins? While stressing The night before we taped the podcast, Craig and I caught up for the first it was his own opinion because no one has discussed it internally, the time in years. It was great to hear from him. He made sure he mentioned coach sounded as if I’d urinated on his front door. the “great spirit” of everyone working around him — the medical professionals, those manning the doors at the hospitals, the custodial “I’d be against that,” he said. “First of all, you’re going to make Jeff Carter staff, and others I’m surely missing. and Dustin Brown play, and not those guys? That’s not what a team is about. Also, they are such an important part of our culture and what I There isn’t enough we can write or say to show our thanks. want our young players to learn.” Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman talk to a lot of people around the hockey 9. I asked McLellan about competing against the Kings for all those years world, and then they tell listeners all about what they’ve heard and what in San Jose and Edmonton, then seeing them up close every day. they think about it. 31 THOUGHTS “We had one of those team-building days where we took them to play He was considering doing it again — “maybe helping prepare curb-side beach volleyball. Jonathan Quick competes at everything he does. He pickup” at Greco’s, north of Toronto — but NHL quarantine rules may was full of sand, sweating bullets, diving everywhere.” prevent that. McLellan was laughing as he told the story, although he clearly 16. Del Zotto’s not hurting for things to do. He’s hosting fitness classes appreciated the mindset. on Zoom. “Brown, also competitive. Carter’s hockey IQ. Kopitar may be the best “I hate cardio,” he says. “I need competition. This gives me a goal with player I’ve ever coached. You talk about two-ways, he’s terrific four ways: people.” north and south, east and west.” He’s taken online courses in global financial markets and learning to Doughty? speak Italian. I was surprised he didn’t know how. If you grew up in the Toronto area and knew Italian families, you saw many grandparents who “He’s just so good. And he’s great for a team. In-game, so quick with his came from the “old country” pass down the language through the wit and words.” generations. 10. Ever the coach, McLellan was disappointed the season paused as “Yeah, that’s a fumble by me,” he laughed. “I know the swear words — the Kings were enjoying success, a seven-game win streak. that’s about it.” “You’re always thinking, ‘How are we going to handle this?’ They’ve Del Zotto’s also working on his culinary skills. Here are some samples: come so far, embraced everything we asked them to do. Are you going to continue to do the right things, or are you going to cheat, to ease your Almond flour cocount carrot loaf. habits?” Coconut flour chocolate brownie. The organization has a deep, talented prospect base and he’s looking to see how those young players handle the internal competition that will be Kale salad. created for NHL jobs. Asked to mention young players who took big Del Zotto says the ribs are his specialty and a big hit. Because I would do steps this year, he echoed previous comments from Kopitar and brought anything for you, the reader, I asked for a recipe. But he says he doesn’t up Alex Iafallo and Matt Roy. share them. He did say the Schenn brothers are satisfied diners. “I was out of the league last year when Matt arrived, so I didn’t know him. 17. I wanted to separate another of Del Zotto’s initiatives. He loves his Well, I know him now.” music, and every Friday at 4:30 p.m. ET, he’s hosting an Instagram Live He gave Roy some high praise, comparing him to Marc-Edouard Vlasic. (his handle is @mdzofficial) session of spinning and DJing. This is his current setup: 11. We had a good conversation about coaching young players, and McLellan says he’s aided by his sons, Tyson (24), who just finished at Michael Del Zotto’s home DJ setup. the University of Denver, and Cale (20), who is a good golfer. “I can’t do this at some of my in-season places because of noise “They are staying with us now. They teach me about social media… regulations. But I’m in my home now, so it is fine.” TikTok, whatever that is… and chirp me for still waking up at 5:30 when He’s hoping to raise money for families who need it during a tough time, they get up at 8:30 or 9:00. But what really helps is they remind me how and has set up a PayPal as part of this. I’ll be listening. players think and how coaches think. When I’m driving to a game, I’m thinking from a ‘we’ position. When a player is driving to a game, he’s 18. Talking about all of the interesting stuff he’s up to, I asked if this was thinking from a ‘me’ position. That doesn’t mean they’re selfish. It means a sign he’s thinking his hockey career is coming to an end. He didn’t let that they are thinking of all the things they have to do. It’s a reminder that me finish the question. “No chance,” he answered. “Look, I know the end sometimes I have to think micro and they have to think macro. We talked will come at some point, and I have no idea where life will take me. I’ll be about Tyson watching his shifts, and asking if he ever asked his coach 30 in June. I know we didn’t have the team success in Anaheim, but I what he thought. So, it reminds me I’ve got to remember that.” And time, had a great time there. It was phenomenal for me. And I still want to always a big one. “If you take too long to get your point across, you lose play.” them.” 19. Del Zotto, by the way, is reading Never Eat Alone (And Other Secrets 12. Finally, I asked which Kings coach looked most like he’d just come to Success, One Relationship at a Time). out of 15 years in the forest when they started their Zoom meetings. That one was easy. Sign up for NHL newsletters “Bill Ranford. He said he never could grow a playoff beard under his Get the best of our NHL coverage and exclusives delivered directly to mask. He’s making up for it.” your inbox! 13. New Jersey’s Connor Carrick is launching his own podcast — The 20. I could see the possibility of AHL Bakersfield retiring Colby Cave’s Connor Carrick Podcast, of course. He’s always been very good at 26. explaining on-ice concepts to dumb reporters. He has some good advice 21. We didn’t ask Keith Gretzky about that on the 31 Thoughts podcast, for those struggling to get motivated when most of us are living the same but we appreciated him juggling some internal meetings to talk about day: the 15-minute rule. Cave. Gretzky wanted to credit Blair Reid, Boston’s amateur scout based “If I wake up in the morning and I’m not feeling it,” he says, “I don’t want in Western Canada, for pushing the Bruins to sign Cave as a free agent to train, whatever, I’ll start, [but] if after 15 minutes … this isn’t going to from WHL Swift Current. be productive, I’ll go have coffee, hang out and re-start. I have a first- “Anything that Colby got or accomplished was always because of hard sweat rule. Once I’m over the inertia of not wanting to do something… I’ll work,” Gretzky said. “He was the underdog in Swift Current, the find my rhythm. Like a lot of people on quarantine, my house is not the underdog in Boston and (AHL) Providence, same with Edmonton and place in which I train. I go for a walk, play my pump-up songs or or a Bakersfield. You always want certain guys to succeed — he was one of podcast like I would going to the rink. And by the time I do that, I’ve got the guys. You’re saying, ‘Come on,’ hoping for him. If he was sent down, the blood flowing, hopefully some sunlight, I’m ready to go.” he was not going to drag his lip…. Captain material-type player.” Good advice. Beautiful scene in Saskatchewan, where, during an era of social 14. Here’s another Carrick suggestion: three breaths. distancing, people lined the side of the highway in their cars as the family returned home. A sad story, especially at a time where the people “In my career, when I make a mistake I do have time for three breaths affected most don’t get the access to hospitals they usually could. All the (on the bench),” he laughs. “Usually, if I can force myself to have three best to Emily and the families. nice, slow ones, the building’s not so hot any more. I’m able to focus and get out of my own way.” An incredible view of the tribute for Colby Cave's family along Highway 16. 15. Back in the 2012–13 lockout, Michael Del Zotto worked as a grocery bagger for a friend’s supermarket. Did anyone recognize him? Well done, Saskatchewan. “A couple of people looked at me, but I don’t think they could believe it,” (via: @PremierScottMoe) pic.twitter.com/tOzR109NSw he laughed. — Tim and Sid (@timandsid) April 13, 2020 22. I still think a “taxi squad” of AHL players to each NHL team is going to weeks, if not months. One step in front of the other, focus on getting be a possibility if/when this resumes. today’s tasks done. We’ll get there together. 23. Edmonton GM said 2019 first-rounder Philip Broberg will Sportsnet.ca LOADED: 04.16.2020 stay in Sweden next year if training camp is not “normal.” He’d like to give Broberg a chance to compete for a spot, but if not on the Oilers, it will be Skelleftea. 24. If Holland had a Hart vote, would he pick Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl? “I wouldn’t fill out the ballot.” He knows he’s lucky to have them. 25. Some of those Swedish players might have an advantage. That country’s quarantine laws are a little looser — apparently some skating is happening. 26. Although Alexander Barabanov (Leafs) and Ilya Sorokin (Islanders — although he’s a draft pick) agreed to come to the NHL for next season, we’re starting to see some KHL players waver on coming to North America amid all the uncertainty. KHL offers are on the table now. Konstantin Okulov decided to stay. Vancouver’s Nikita Tryamkin — that’s a tough one. We knew their cap situation was tight, and now no one knows where we’re going to go. 27. A couple questions with no answers I’ve been wondering about: If the playoffs go into September, could the draft be held after CHL/NCAA camps open? Difficult situation for high-level picks and their junior/amateur teams. Would top picks even want to play at that point? How would teams feel about starting the season with a good player, them potentially losing them to the NHL in November? 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 Canada’s most beloved game. 28. 1. Will the league and players — as part of their CBA discussions — consider a lower salary cap, with the players offering a salary rollback in exchange for some kind of escrow protection? (In addition to next year’s big number being paid out over time.) 29. Happy retirement to Kris Versteeg, one of the NHL’s all-time great trash talkers. Best voicemail greeting ever: “If it’s important to you, leave a message. If it’s important to me, I’ll return it.” After he won the Stanley Cup with Chicago in 2010, the trophy came back from the engraver with his name spelled, “VERTSEEG.” (His name had been submitted with a spelling error.) He was given the choice to leave it as is or have it fixed. He chose the latter and if you look closely, you can see it was banged out and re-engraved. He’s going to be in media for as long as he wants to be. 30. This is player agent Michael O’Rafferty (right) with the late Pat Stapleton: Stapleton, who died last week at age 79, played 1,008 professional games with Boston and Chicago in the NHL, and Chicago, Indianapolis and Cincinnati in the WHA. O’Rafferty met Stapleton through Aaron Brand, a former Maple Leafs prospect who played professionally for a decade. The last time O’Rafferty saw Stapleton, the retired defender allowed him to hold the final puck from the 1972 that “disappeared for awhile.” (Stapleton kept it, unknown to a lot of people.) From O’Rafferty’s Instagram page: To me Pat became a role model, advisor and life coach. Without a doubt he helped shape the way I see the world today. It always amazed me how, in a blink, he would turn an obstacle into an opportunity. An idea into reality. A prospect into a player. Pat was the most captivating and polarizing person I’ve had the fortune of knowing. He always made time for a coffee at his truck stop in Petrolia, Ontario, and would weave a valuable life lesson into a hockey story. He had the unique ability to extract the best out of the people he came into contact with. He made you think, laugh and reevaluate life all in one visit. He’d never reveal the answer without making you work and challenge your way of thinking. He was a true leader. But more than anything, he saw the best in everyone and was one of the few who knew how to extract it. To you ‘Whitey’, I owe many things, none more than my gratitude for the impact you had on my life. Rest easy my friend. 31. Finally, it’s an overwhelming time. There’s NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman sounding optimistic on Fox Business. There’s Dr. Anthony Fauci talking about games without fans in the summer. There’s Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti saying it’s difficult to see his city holding any large gatherings for sporting events before 2021. It’s overwhelming. There’s conflicting information. And no one’s really going to know anything for 1173807 Websites

Sportsnet.ca / Bettman: NHL aims to be 'flexible' in hopes of 'fair' return to play

Chris Johnston | @reporterchris April 15, 2020, 10:58 AM

Gary Bettman says the NHL will have to be “flexible and agile” as it attempts to complete its season amid the COVID-19 pandemic and indicated that every team on the playoff bubble will be granted new life in whatever return-to-play format is selected. Appearing Wednesday morning for an interview on Fox Business Network, the NHL commissioner said that teams have been lobbying the league’s head office since the season was paused on March 12 with different ideas about how a potential resumption should look. “There are at least seven teams that were on the bubble of making the playoffs and not all of the teams had played the same number of games,” said Bettman. “Whatever we do to come back … we’re going to have to do something (fair): Whether it’s complete the regular season in whole or in part, whether or not it’s expanded playoffs, we’re going to have to do something that’s fair and has integrity. “That’s going to be very important no matter what it is we do and we’re considering all of the alternatives. And nothing has been ruled in and nothing has been ruled out.” Among the ideas that have been discussed are an expanded, 24-team playoff format that would include a best-of-three, play-in round featuring all of the teams that were still battling for a playoff spot when the season was paused. The Islanders, Rangers and Panthers were all within three points of an Eastern Conference wild-card spot through play on March 11, while the Canucks, Wild and Coyotes were each within four in the Western Conference. And, if you accounted for points percentage because of a different number of games played, there would be a reordering of playoff qualifiers in a traditional 16-team format. Several high-profile players, including Connor McDavid, have expressed a desire to see the regular season completed before any playoff tournament began. There were 189 total games left on the schedule — anywhere from 11 to 14 per team — when the novel coronavirus brought the season to a screeching halt. Having regular season or exhibition games would help get everyone back up to speed after a long layoff. The majority of NHL players haven’t been able to skate during the pause and the league has extended its self- quarantine period through April 30. After discussions with the NHL Players’ Association, Bettman believes they’ll need training camps lasting two to three weeks before any games can be played. And the commissioner already anticipates that any resumption of play will require games in July and/or August — months where the league has never previously played. “We believe that we can be fairly flexible in terms of the calendar,” said Bettman. “My guess at this point is we’re probably going to be playing into the summer, which is something that we can certainly do.” He also acknowledged that neutral sites might be required for games because some areas of the continent are being hit harder than others by COVID-19. “We have been considering all of the alternatives, as I’ve indicated, not just in terms of the structure of play but where we actually do it,” said Bettman. “Because we are all over North America: Canada and the United States and lots of different locations, andnot all of them may be in the same condition in terms of the coronavirus. “So we’ve been exploring the possibility of some neutral sites.” Under the circumstances, the NHL is willing to do just about anything possible to find a way to award the Stanley Cup. Sportsnet.ca LOADED: 04.16.2020 1173808 Websites But if today’s playoff clubs aren’t granted a shot at the Stanley Cup and all that fan interest and gate revenue associated with a post-season run, certainly they should get some balls in the hopper, too. Sportsnet.ca / Why 2020 NHL draft lottery could throw back to 2005 Again, 2005 provides a template to work from. Crosby Sweepstakes Instead of going by the most recent standings, of 2003-04, which already rewarded basement dwellers like Pittsburgh, Chicago and Washington in the ’04 draft, 2005’s lottery odds were then weighted by number of Luke Fox | @lukefoxjukebox April 15, 2020, 11:48 AM playoff appearances in the previous three seasons and the number of first-overall picks in the previous four drafts.

Four teams (the Sabres, Blue Jackets, Rangers and Penguins) were Of the three paths the National Hockey League is exploring to hold its granted three balls, 10 teams got two balls, and the remaining 16 got one delayed 2020 draft, one stands head and shoulders above the others as ball each, for a total of 48. the most intriguing — and, depending on your team of choice, infuriating or promising. The three-ball teams had a 6.3 per cent shot at Crosby, the two-ball teams had a 4.2 per cent chance, and the rest of the field 2.1 per cent. The typical arena-hosted gala, originally scheduled for June 26-27 at Montreal’s , feels increasingly like some sort of pandemic pipe To further even the rules, the league also implemented a fantasy-style dream. snake draft, meaning the club that picked last in Round 1 went to the podium first in Round 2. A virtual draft, the likes of which the NFL will embark on next week, is the safest route, and would place as much pressure on each franchise’s IT Of course, a rebuilding organization like Ottawa, which has made a guy as its general manager. As was the case with Saturday Night Live at series of decisions based around building through this lottery, may have Home or that hasty Tiger King & I special, we’ll surely tune in out of a bone to pick. curiosity, but the big moments will be impossible to land with the same punch. “We want to make sure we have a voice in this,” GM Dorion said Tuesday on a conference call. “Our hockey operations group worked It’s the NHL’s third option — a compromise between stadium status and really hard in making three different kind of proposals for resumptions of FaceTime with Pierre Dorion! — that has piqued our interest. Mostly regular season play, the playoffs and draft lottery – all items that are because there’s a chance hockey could be throwing it back to the Sidney related to hockey personnel decisions.” Crosby Sweepstakes. “I think our game is in good hands with Gary Bettman. I think the integrity “We’re certainly looking at options on the draft. Are we going to do the of the regular season, the playoffs, the awarding of the Stanley Cup and draft virtually? Are we going to end up doing the draft scaled-down like it the draft lottery will all be decided well and with a lot of integrity.” was in Ottawa in 2005?” NHL chief content officer Steve Mayer tells Sportsnet. Lurking in the shadows of the draft lottery predicament as it pertains to 2020’s unsettled season is the potential (hope?) for a new collective “That one came out of a lockout and was a scaled-down draft. We’re bargaining agreement to spring out of this mess. keeping our options open and absolutely planning as this pause is taking place, because we need to be immediately ready when we get to go. We Any rejigging of the format would require the players’ approval, and the have to activate as quickly as we can.” sides have been working amicably amidst this crisis. A quick refresher on the unique circumstances of 2005, the summer “That’s been really unique in this period of time — the cooperation those lucky Pittsburgh Penguins famously “won a goddamn lottery.” between the NHLPA, the teams, the players and the league,” Mayer notes. Due to a labour dispute that wiped out the 2004-05 campaign, the 2005 draft, intended to take place in June at the Corel Centre, got pushed to Upon tweaking the ’05 lottery, Bettman explained the format at the time July 30. The Senators’ home rink could not be used under short notice, as a response to “a unique circumstance… taking into account as well so the draft was instead held at Ottawa’s Westin Hotel and shuttered to that nobody knows exactly what the new world is going to look like.” the public for the first time since 1980. (To make good, the league Sound familiar? awarded the Senators the 2008 draft. If the Canadiens miss out on presenting full-scale draft this year, they too are expected to be “Half the league probably wanted everybody to have an equal chance, compensated with an opportunity in the near future.) and the other half wanted all the teams that didn’t make the playoffs to have the only chances — weighted or unweighted. And if you look at the Only the 20 highest-ranked prospects attended in-person. statistical odds of both scenarios what we did is about in the middle,” Two recent surefire first-overall draftees, Connor McDavid and Auston Bettman said 15 years ago. Matthews, consider the effect a low-key draft day would have on “Nobody was particularly thrilled, but everyone understood that on projected No. 1 Alexis Lafrenière and the rest of the 2020 class. balance it was probably the fairest way to approach it.” “I was actually joking with my friends that they’re lucky they don’t have to Sportsnet.ca LOADED: 04.16.2020 do the Combine, but obviously they’re going to miss out a lot. It’s such a special experience — even the Combine is, as difficult as some of those bike tests are,” McDavid says. “There’s lots of people missing out on lots of things right now. We all have to do our part, and unfortunately they may have to give up their draft experience, but the important thing is the draft and getting drafted.” From Arizona quarantine, Matthews thinks back to the scene of his “incredible” night in 2016. “Hearing your name called and going up there, getting your jersey, it’s all extremely surreal. It’s an experience that you dream of as a kid,” says Matthews, thinking of 2020’s top prospects. “If that’s not the case, it’s going to be tough, obviously. I think in the long run, they’re going to be great players in this league, and hopefully they’ll have more memories and experiences to cherish.” Cherishing the upcoming draft are the Senators and Detroit Red Wings, two clubs that purposely tanked 2019-20 to up their odds of landing one of the potential franchise forwards at the top of the class. If the NHL completes this paused season, as is still commissioner Gary Bettman’s hope, the Sens (25 per cent) and Wings (18.5 per cent) hold the greatest odds of winning Lafreniere. 1173809 Websites The answer there becomes clearer when we look at on-ice results. Comparing Doughty to Subban, you can see that several years ago the

two of them were bouncing around each other alternating superior years Sportsnet.ca / Analyzing what still makes Drew Doughty an elite NHL in relative shot attempt differential, but Subban took a big hit in 2017-18, defenceman coincidentally the last time he was nominated for the Norris Trophy. The reason Subban’s numbers fell off that year had a lot to do with being paired with Alexei Emelin in tough high leverage minutes, something Andrew Berkshire Emelin was not suited to, and had a history of dragging his partners’ numbers down. When separated from Emelin, Subban’s general shot control numbers have remained strong, even this season in New Jersey Recently the NHLPA released its annual player poll, which covered a where he’s faced extremely tough competition and struggled visibly for variety of topics, and in an interview with media this week Los Angeles much of the season. Kings defenceman Drew Doughty said he noticed how his peers viewed Doughty, meanwhile, has taken a steep nosedive since the 2017-18 him. season in terms of the impact he has on teammates’ shot control, even Doughty said he noticed he wasn't very high among defencemen on though his transition play remains exemplary and his blue line defence is @NHLPA player poll improving. What gives? — Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) April 13, 2020 Part of the issue for Doughty is going to be similar to what Subban dealt with while paired with Emelin; and when you look at the who’s who list of I’m not sure what Doughty’s definition of high is, but he ranked fourth in defence partners Doughty has played with the past two seasons you’ll the player poll with 6.54 per cent of the 520 NHLers surveyed saying they likely see some names you’ve never heard of. view him as the NHL’s top defenceman. For a 30-year-old whose team has played all of two short first round playoff series in the past six years, Sign up for NHL newsletters ranking fourth seems like his peers have a lot of respect for him, but Get the best of our NHL coverage and exclusives delivered directly to Doughty clearly expected more. your inbox! While his peers have maintained lots of love for Doughty’s game, on the This season alone Doughty has spent significant time with Sean Walker, surface over the past couple of years it sure looks like he’s taken a step Ben Hutton, Joakim Ryan, Derek Forbort, and Alec Martinez, along with back, which would be entirely normal for a player his age. Many in the spot duty with Matt Roy, Kurtis MacDermid, Mikey Anderson, Tobias analytics community have been saying Doughty has been falling for Bjornfot, and Kale Clague. A couple of those players are solid, but for the several seasons now — but if he has fallen off, how bad has it been? most part it’s very clear that Doughty has to drive the bus. Like we did with Doughty’s peer in P.K. Subban, we can look back When Subban and Doughty were in their primes, they could carry players through five years of Doughty’s data to see if, where, and how much he who were big drags on possession. Subban played big minutes with Hal has declined in recent years, and evaluate where his game is compared Gill and Josh Gorges for years, he won a Norris while spending most of a to the rest of the NHL’s defencemen. season with Francis Bouillon, while Doughty carried rookie Brayden Similar to Subban, Doughty has seen a dramatic decline in his offensive McNabb who he helped to mold into a strong player himself, among involvement over the past few years, with a big drop in 2016-17 that others. seemed like a one-off after he bounced back in 2017-18, only to fall At the age these two are at now, though, they need more support, and below average at even strength the following year again. That has been despite Doughty being very good at the things he was always very good reflected in his point production as well, despite still being generally at, it becomes more difficult to do it all himself as he gets older, strong on the power play. When someone’s point production falls off it’s especially as the Kings’ roster is much thinner than it was when they common to see them start being viewed differently, but Doughty has were a contender. If the Kings want to get back to playoff status in the pushed himself to contribute better defence at his own blue line to Doughty and Kopitar era, they’re going to have to commit to giving compensate for the lack of offence, and his biggest strength remains Doughty a little bit more consistency and a little bit more support. shockingly constant. If he gets that, he’s far from done. At his very best, Doughty was never a game changing offensive defenceman at even strength. It just hasn’t been part of his game at the Sportsnet.ca LOADED: 04.16.2020 same level as peers like Erik Karlsson and Subban, but what he does do better than everyone else is move the puck. Doughty has been, and remains, the premier transition defenceman in the NHL when taking both the defensive and neutral zones into account. He accomplishes this through a combination of high volume of smart plays, and bewilderingly excellent success rates. Over the past five years, this season is his lowest rank in overall defensive zone turnover rate, where he’s still better than 98.4 per cent of all other defencemen. Over the past five years combined no one is even close to being as consistent in this area. When things are adjusted for team structure, others move closer to Doughty, but he remains the safest defensive zone puck handler in the league, and there hasn’t been much movement there. Richard Deitsch and Donnovan Bennett host a podcast about how COVID-19 is impacting sports around the world. They talk to experts, athletes and personalities, offering a window into the lives of people we normally root for in entirely different ways. Including all zones, Doughty’s success rate on all plays with and for the puck is also among the league’s elite — his lowest mark in this five-year window was still better than 95.6 per cent of all blueliners, back in 2017- 18. You can see there is some level of drop off from Doughty in volume of transition plays he completes, going from the 99th percentile three seasons ago to 86th percentile this season. That is a sign of decline, but it’s one of those times where we have to stress that it doesn’t mean he’s bad now, it just means there’s a pattern of trending down. Doughty isn’t at his absolute peak anymore, but he remains one of, if not the best transition players from the back end in the game to this day. So, if Doughty’s main strength remains relatively untouched by age, what is driving the idea that he’s fallen off the cliff? 1173810 Websites Richards and the Kings wound up reaching a contract-termination agreement that fall and the charges were eventually stayed. The upshot: L.A. was dinged with a five-year cap recapture penalty that expires this season and Richards will remain on the books for cap hits that go from Sportsnet.ca / What if the Blackhawks won Game 7 against the Kings in $900,000 next season and dwindle to $400,000 when he finally comes 2014? off in 2031-32. • Let’s bring some other teams into this, because the legacy of some megastars could also have been severely altered. While Chicago would Ryan Dixon | @dixononsports April 15, 2020, 10:12 AM have been favoured to beat the somewhat-Cinderella Rangers, let’s not sleep on that Blueshirts squad. New York lost in five games to L.A., but three of those contests required overtime. Those Kings outfits enjoyed a Sports are so generous. Not only do we get the plays and games that physical advantage over most clubs, including the Hawks and Rangers. make our blood rush and stomachs churn, we can also use our brain to New York and Chicago were actually built in fairly similar moulds, with ponder how legacies and legends would be impacted if a bounce, rosters defined by speed over size. Maybe the Blackhawks would have coach’s decision or a referee’s call had gone the other way. That’s how been a better draw for the Rangers? Also, Henrik Lundqvist’s career the “What If?” game works. save percentage to that point was .934 versus Chicago as opposed to .916 against Los Angeles. Could that have been the Cup year for ‘The For the next little while, Sportsnet.ca is going to run an ongoing “What King?’ If?” feature, crafting alternative histories stemming from events big and small. To get us started, we gazed back at one of the signature Stanley • Steven Stamkos, like Lundqvist, is still in search of his ring. In 2015, Cup Playoffs games of the past decade and asked: What if the Chicago Tampa Bay played six extremely tight Stanley Cup Final games — five Blackhawks won Game 7 of the 2014 Western Conference Final in settled by one goal, one decided by two — versus the Hawks before overtime, not the Los Angeles Kings? watching Toews and Co. lift the trophy. Let’s say Chicago did beat L.A. and New York in 2014; the Hawks would be a touch more tired and, Senior Writer Ryan Dixon and NHL Editor Rory Boylen always give it perhaps, a little less hungry the following year. Would that have been the 110%, but never rely on clichés when it comes to podcasting. Instead, tiny opening Tampa needed to get the championship that’s proved so they use a mix of facts, fun and a varied group of hockey voices to cover elusive? Canada’s most beloved game. Sportsnet.ca LOADED: 04.16.2020 What actually happened By 2014, the Los Angeles Kings and Chicago Blackhawks were the unquestioned co-heavyweight champions of the Western Conference. The Hawks had hung banners in 2010 and 2013, while the Kings won the 2012 title and lost to Chicago in the 2013 West Final. Twelve months later, it was re-match time. The Kings — who actually fell behind 3-0 in their first-round series to San Jose and 3-2 in Round 2 versus Anaheim — jumped out to a 3-1 series advantage, before Chicago won Games 5 and 6 to force a winner-take-all contest in the Windy City. The home team led Game 7 by a 2-0 count before the proceedings were nine minutes old; L.A. stormed back to tie it 2-2 with 2:38 to go in the first; Chicago reclaimed the lead 12 seconds later and scored his second of the contest with 1:35 remaining in the second to give Chicago a 4-3 advantage heading into the final period. The Kings refused to fold, though, and Marian Gaborik squared the affair with 7:17 to go before Alec Martinez won it for L.A. with a re-directed shot off of 5:47 into overtime. In short, it was awesome. What could have happened Patrick Sharp has a game for the ages and gets the hatty in OT? Patrick Kane or Jonathan Toews — both beasts in that post-season — bag one? Heck, Brandon Saad had a partial breakaway he couldn’t convert just moments before Martinez’s floater found the back of the net. There’s any number of ways Chicago could have punched its ticket to the final. Possible hockey history re-writes • After downing Chicago, the Kings won their second Cup in three seasons by besting the New York Rangers in five games. Let’s assume the Hawks would have beaten the Rangers, too. For the moment, we’ll leave the rest of hockey history unchanged and note that Chicago would ultimately be in possession of three straight titles from 2013 through 2015 and four Cups in a six-season stretch beginning with the 2010 triumph. That makes the Hawks an unassailable, all-time dynasty. As it stands, they sometimes get the asterisks treatment in terms of a dynasty label because they never won back-to-backs like the 2016 and ’17 Pittsburgh Penguins. The Kings, meanwhile, are a one-off champion and become more of a blip on history’s radar. Maybe we think of them more like their California cousins in Anaheim, where the Ducks won the 2007 title, but could never summit the mountain again despite having awesome teams. • Definitives are rare in the realm of ‘What If,’ but former Kings GM Dean Lombardi has publicly acknowledged the afterglow of winning two titles impacted his judgement when he decided not to use a compliance buyout — each team got one to be used within the first two summers after the 2012-13 owners’ lockout — on Mike Richards. Had L.A. lost Game 7 in 2014, Lombardi surely would have bought out the remaining six years on Richards’ pact with no salary cap implications for Los Angeles. Instead, Richards remained with the team until he was arrested in the summer of 2015 for possession of a controlled substance (Oxycodone). 1173811 Websites 5 Robin Lehner VGK G 28 36 2.89 .920 $5M

6 Mike Hoffman FLA RW 30 69 TSN.CA / Uncertainty the story for 2020 NHL's Free Agent Frenzy class 29 59 $5.2M 7 Evgenii Dadonov FLA RW 31 69 25 47 $4M Frank Seravalli 8 Tyler Toffoli VAN RW 27 68 24 44 $4.6M Six weeks ago, the summer of 2020 seemed like prime time to hit free 9 Braden Holtby WSH G 30 48 agency with the NHL’s salary cap poised to potentially take its biggest 3.11 .897 $6.1M jump in years. 10 Tyson Barrie TOR RD 28 70 Not so much anymore. The entire world has changed, and the trickle- 5 39 $5.5M down effect is just starting to sink in for free agents. 11 T.J. Brodie CGY LD 29 64 “I don’t think players truly grasp just how much the world has changed,” 4 19 $4.7M one prominent agent said Tuesday. “One thing I’ve learned working with players is that they have a hard time accepting going backward 12 Sami Vatanen CAR RD 28 47 financially, but that’s what is going to happen. 5 23 $4.9M “This pandemic is going to have a tremendous impact. There is no way to 13 Kevin Shattenkirk TBL LD 31 70 sugarcoat it.” 8 34 $1.8M Flat will be the new up, at least when it comes to the NHL’s salary cap for 14 Brenden Dillon WSH LD 29 69 next season – whenever that will begin. Teams are currently running 1 14 $3.3M scenarios with the salary cap remaining flat at $81.5 million for next 15 Erik Haula CAR LW 29 48 season, with optimistic cases looking at a $1 million increase. 12 24 $2.8M With few exceptions, that likely means many free agents will have to 16 Chris Tanev VAN LD 30 69 prepare to accept significantly less than what they might have 2 20 $4.5M envisioned. 17 Erik Gustafsson CGY LD 28 66 How many teams can now afford to offer Hart Trophy winner Taylor Hall 6 29 $1.2M a long-term deal with a $10-million-plus cap hit if the cap might remain flat for three or four years until the players can pay back the $550 million 18 Justin Braun PHI RD 33 62 or so in lost revenue that they might owe the owners? 3 19 $3.8M “There’s not going to be a big market for top UFAs,” another agent said. 19 Travis Hamonic CGY RD 29 50 “Teams like St. Louis and Tampa Bay – they have no available cap 3 12 $3.9M space. It’s the bottom feeders that will have the most money to spend, but they usually aren’t attractive to top free agents, and their owners 20 Joel Edmundson CAR LD 26 68 don’t like to spend dumb money anyway. How many teams are going to 7 20 $3.1M be able to give you what you want? So many players are kicking 21 Corey Crawford CHI G 35 40 themselves, wishing they had signed last year.” 2.77 .917 $6M The impending squeeze might also make it more difficult for teams to re- 22 Ilya Kovalchuk WSH RW 36 46 sign key cogs, like captain Alex Pietrangelo in St. Louis, defenceman 10 26 $700K Torey Krug in Boston and goaltender Jacob Markstrom in Vancouver. 23 Cody Ceci TOR RD 26 56 There may be creative workarounds, such as players trading dollars for 1 8 $4.5M term. Players may also be willing to sign shorter-term or even one-year deals to try and cash in again later, but that would also likely involve 24 Marco Scandella STL LD 30 62 giving up significant security. 4 13 $4M “It might warrant serious discussion,” an agent said. 25 Anton Khudobin DAL G 33 30 2.22 .930 $2.5M Just about the only guarantee that can be offered is if the NHL hands out the Stanley Cup in late summer, as commissioner Gary Bettman said Contact Frank Seravalli on Twitter: @frank_seravalli again on Wednesday remains the hope, is that this free agency will look different than any of the rest. TSN.CA LOADED: 04.16.2020 “It’s going to be a true frenzy,” the first agent predicted. “The idea of taking summer vacation and having a second wave of free agency won’t happen. It’s going to be a quick transition, signings for three or four days, then a quick transition to salary arbitration and expedited hearings. And then boom, right into the next season.” This 2019-20 season isn’t over, but it’s not too early to look ahead to this summer’s crop of free agents. Here are the Top 25 pending players available for the 2020 Free Agent Frenzy: RK Player Team Pos Age GP G PTS 19-20 1 Alex Pietrangelo STL RD 30 70 16 52 $6.5M 2 Taylor Hall ARI LW 28 65 16 52 $6M 3 Torey Krug BOS LD 29 61 9 49 $5.3M 4 Jacob Markstrom VAN G 30 43 2.75 .918 $3.7M 1173812 Websites

USA TODAY / Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti says large gatherings, such as sporting events, might not return until 2021

Jim Reineking

Large gatherings at public events, such as sports, could remain banned in Los Angeles until at least 2021. Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti told a group of high-level staffers Monday that "large gatherings" – including sporting events – might not be approved until next year due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, as first reported by the Los Angeles Times. "It's difficult to imagine us getting together in the thousands anytime soon, so I think we should be prepared for that this year," Garcetti said in an interview on CNN on Wednesday night. "I think we all have never wanted science to work so quickly. But until there's either a vaccine, some sort of pharmaceutical intervention, or herd immunity, the science is the science. And public health officials have made very clear we have miles and miles to walk before we can be back in those environments. "But I hope we can watch sporting events without audiences on TV." Garcetti's comments echoed those made by New York City mayor Bill de Blasio to CNN earlier Wednesday. "I've got to see in my city real, steady progress, even to start to think about relaxing some of those social distancing standards even a little bit," de Blasio said to CNN. "I want to get people back to work, of course. I want to get kids back to school. But I think it will take months to go through that whole sequence. "And the last thing I want to do is gather 10,000, 20,000, 50,000 people in one place. That's like the exact opposite of social distancing." For Los Angeles, that could mean the opening of the new SoFi Stadium in Inglewood – the future home of the and Chargers – might take place in front of no fans. UCLA and USC college football games, Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers and Angels, NBA's Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers, 's Los Angeles FC and Galaxy, NHL's Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks, and WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks could all be profoundly impacted by such an edict. A member of the Chargers had tested positive for COVID-19 and two others in the organization also have shown symptoms, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. In late March, a SoFi Stadium construction worker tested positive for COVID-19. On Wednesday, Dr. Anthony Fauci, one of the nation's top doctors in charge of leading the coronavirus pandemic response, said sports returning without fans is within the realm of possibility. USA TODAY LOADED: 04.16.2020 1173813 Websites The WNBA is in better shape today than many women’s sports because of its affiliation with the NBA. The league has put off the start of the season, set for May 15, but Commissioner Cathy Engelbert recently suggested it might be able to return sooner rather than later. USA TODAY / To help aid social distancing, Canadians use hockey sticks — figuratively and literally “We might be able to tip this season off before some other leagues since we only have 12 teams and 144 players,” she told The Associated Press.

But there are concerns among those who aren’t similarly positioned. Chris Bumbaca Volleyball player Kelsey Robinson, who is on the U.S. team that was bound for the Tokyo Olympics this summer before the games were postponed, can usually make a living playing overseas, like many The terms "social distancing" and "six feet" go hand in hand these days. national team players. She was just heading into the playoffs with her For the United States' neighbors to the north though, the term is "two club in Turkey, which has a thriving professional volleyball league, when meters" — a slightly lengthier six feet, six inches. play was suspended. Now she worries about her opportunities in a post- How some Canadians are ensuring their proper social distance is, well, pandemic world. quite Canadian. “It’s hard to say what will happen in Turkey or China, where there are They're using hockey sticks, figuratively and literally. pretty strong economies for sport. But for sure, Italy I know will have to decrease salaries, maybe not at the top team, but I’m sure it’ll affect The City of Toronto has posted signs encouraging citizens to remain two lower teams and clubs,” Robinson said. “We’re not finishing the season meters apart "or about the length a hockey stick," the sign reads. right now or playing, so that’s a hard financial burden for our club because a lot of the salaries for the coming season depends on how we At Harvey's, a Canadian fast food chain, debit card machines have been finish in the playoffs.” attached to the end of hockey sticks that drive-thru workers slide through the driver's side window. NWSL Players Association executive director Yael Averbuch West said current fears about loses are legitimate. "Only in Canada, would we use our iconic hockey sticks to ensure everyone stays safe at a physical distance while buying their Harvey's “I think that everybody is afraid of that. And especially right now, looking burgers," Harvey's COO David Colebrook said in a statement to CTV. at women’s soccer and coming off of what we feel is a huge positive "It's a creative and fun solution to a challenging issue. And it ensures we momentum after the World Cup, and the NWSL doing really well and can keep feeding Canadians through our restaurants and food banks." continuing to grow, it’s obviously a concern. This is tough for everyone, including the ownership groups, the fans, the players, the league office,” USA TODAY LOADED: 04.16.2020 Averbuch West said. Athletes in individual sports could be hit hardest. Tennis, golf and track World Leagues News athletes are largely dependent on competing to earn a paycheck, and that’s currently impossible. The athletes face uncertainties going forward: When the events do return, will the sponsors remain? Will younger prospects fall away from those sports out of economic necessity? Women's Sports Likely to Bear Brunt of Coronavirus Fallout The WTA said last week that its planned start date is now July 13. Wimbledon has been canceled for this year. By The Associated Press “Health and safety remains the top priority as we navigate the challenges ahead in these unprecedented times, and we will do everything we can

for the tour to resume at the earliest opportunity once it is safe to do so,” Linked to the rising call for gender equity worldwide, women’s sports ATP Chairman Andrea Gaudenzi said. were enjoying unprecedented attention and support before the The National Pro Fastpitch softball league was hit particularly hard. The coronavirus pandemic. 17-year-old league included national teams from Australia, Canada and The World Cup in France put a spotlight on women’s soccer, culminating China this season in preparation for the Olympics. Australia and Canada with the United States lifting the trophy to chants of “Equal Pay!” -- a nod have already said that even if the league gets off the ground this season, to the team’s gender discrimination lawsuit against U.S. Soccer -- and they won’t participate. the sport remained in the public eye to open the year. The professional “I don’t want to say that I’m worried that we won’t survive,” Kempf said. National Women’s Soccer League, home to many of the U.S. national “But I think that common sense would dictate and tell you that it’s a hit for team’s players, was expecting to open its eighth season with a new everyone.” television contract. LOADED: 04.16.2020 Women’s pro softball was looking toward the sport’s return to the Olympics for the first time since 2008. Professional volleyball, which enjoys popularity in Europe, Russia and Brazil, similarly draws peak interest in an Olympic year. Any momentum these leagues, and women’s sports in general, had worldwide has seemingly been halted by the pandemic. Now the question is whether women will lose the gains they had made when life returns to normal. “If the seas get choppy and rough and you’re out there in a yacht, you can go downstairs and live it up and ride it out. You can eat good, drink good and all that. Men’s sports are the ones with the yacht,” said Cheri Kempf, commissioner of the National Pro Fastpitch softball league. “But if you’re out there in a canoe, and seas get choppy, you’re in big trouble. And that’s women’s sports. You know, we’re riding around out there in a canoe.” Among the signs women’s sports could suffer more came in Colombia when Independiente Santa Fe suspended all player contracts for its women’s soccer team recently but said its men’s team would only see pay cuts. The impact of COVID-19 and the resulting hit to the economy could resemble the 2008 recession. The Houston Comets of the WNBA could not find a buyer and the league contracted back then. Whirlpool, meanwhile, pulled out of its planned sponsorship of Women’s Professional Soccer, which had the unfortunate timing of launching in 2009 and lasted just three seasons. 1173814 World Leagues News

Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti says large gatherings, such as sporting events, might not return until 2021

Jim Reineking

Large gatherings at public events, such as sports, could remain banned in Los Angeles until at least 2021. Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti told a group of high-level staffers Monday that "large gatherings" – including sporting events – might not be approved until next year due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, as first reported by the Los Angeles Times. "It's difficult to imagine us getting together in the thousands anytime soon, so I think we should be prepared for that this year," Garcetti said in an interview on CNN on Wednesday night. "I think we all have never wanted science to work so quickly. But until there's either a vaccine, some sort of pharmaceutical intervention, or herd immunity, the science is the science. And public health officials have made very clear we have miles and miles to walk before we can be back in those environments. "But I hope we can watch sporting events without audiences on TV." Garcetti's comments echoed those made by New York City mayor Bill de Blasio to CNN earlier Wednesday. "I've got to see in my city real, steady progress, even to start to think about relaxing some of those social distancing standards even a little bit," de Blasio said to CNN. "I want to get people back to work, of course. I want to get kids back to school. But I think it will take months to go through that whole sequence. "And the last thing I want to do is gather 10,000, 20,000, 50,000 people in one place. That's like the exact opposite of social distancing." For Los Angeles, that could mean the opening of the new SoFi Stadium in Inglewood – the future home of the Los Angeles Rams and Chargers – might take place in front of no fans. UCLA and USC college football games, Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers and Angels, NBA's Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers, Major League Soccer's Los Angeles FC and Galaxy, NHL's Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks, and WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks could all be profoundly impacted by such an edict. A member of the Chargers had tested positive for COVID-19 and two others in the organization also have shown symptoms, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. In late March, a SoFi Stadium construction worker tested positive for COVID-19. On Wednesday, Dr. Anthony Fauci, one of the nation's top doctors in charge of leading the coronavirus pandemic response, said sports returning without fans is within the realm of possibility. USA TODAY LOADED: 04.16.2020 1173815 World Leagues News

Sean McVay confirms Rams' Brian Allen tested positive for coronavirus, says 'he's on the road to recovery'

Jordan Dajani

The first active NFL player known to have tested positive for COVID-19 has been revealed. On Wednesday night, Jay Glazer of FOX Sports reported on "Fox Football Now" that center Brian Allen of the Los Angeles Rams tested positive for coronavirus three weeks ago. Rams coach Sean McVay also confirmed the news on the program. Allen was a fourth-round pick of the Rams out of Michigan State back in the 2018 NFL Draft. He played in 13 games during his rookie season with no starts, and then started all nine games he played in this year before an MCL injury placed him on injured reserve. "I talked to Brian this morning, and he said he got it actually about three weeks ago," said Glazer. "The first thing he said was, 'I woke up three weeks ago, I couldn't smell anything. I lost all sense of smell to the point where I had smelling salts here, I cracked them open, put them to my nose and nothing happened.' Then he lost his sense of taste. He said, 'All I could feel was texture in my mouth -- literally the only sense I had.'" Glazer says Allen dealt with periodic sore throats, fatigue, headaches and stiffness. Allen also said that everything felt different than any other flu he had ever had. The symptoms lasted for three or four days when he decided to return to his doctor last week and was re-tested. Allen tested positive again, but because of how long he has had it, doctors say he should be in the "all clear" this Thursday. Doctors have reportedly told Allen that he will regain his sense of taste and smell in the next six or eight months. McVay spoke about what he had to go through with one of his players being involved in what has turned into a global pandemic. "The first thing was, number one, you just want to make sure that you're doing all the necessary steps to identify how are you feeling health wise, and then are we making sure that everybody else is aware of what he's been exposed to," said McVay. "I talked to him yesterday and I'm really glad to hear that he's feeling good, he's healthy, and he's on the road to recovery. I think we all understand that the severity of what this has meant for some people -- fortunately for Brian he's on the road to recovery -- I think he did a great job of letting us know right away so we could be timely in our response and make sure that we didn't expose anybody else." While the coronavirus has affected virtually every other sport, the NFL offseason has gone on as planned. Free agency continued on schedule and -- although it will be 100 percent virtual -- the NFL Draft will as well. The 2020 NFL Draft is scheduled to start at 8 p.m. ET on Thursday, April 23. CBS Sports LOADED: 04.16.2020 1173816 World Leagues News

All Blacks players face 50% wage cut due to coronavirus crisis

Matt Todd, Shannon Frizell, Richie Mo’Unga and Ben Smith

The All Blacks and many of their fellow top professional players could lose half of their income if no more rugby is possible this year under cuts announced by New Zealand Rugby. In a joint statement with the players’ union, NZR said on Thursday they were immediately freezing around NZ$25m, or 50%, of “forecasted player spend” for this year in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. No bailout for Rugby Australia as World Rugby warns Sanzaar nations of domino effect “We wanted to come up with solutions that worked for all our players and ensured that all sectors of our game were sharing in the financial pain we are currently enduring,” NZR chief executive Mark Robinson said. In a bid to control the spread of the virus, New Zealand’s government enacted a strict lockdown last month which forced the suspension of the intercontinental Super Rugby competition after round seven. The pandemic has also cast serious doubt over whether the All Blacks will be able to host July Tests against Wales and Scotland, and puts big question marks over the Rugby Championship and the November tour of Europe. “In contemplating a scenario based on no professional rugby in 2020, NZR and the NZRPA together recognised the need to act now to prepare the game and the players for this,” said Rob Nichol of the New Zealand Rugby Players’ Association. “In the event that this financial scenario eventuates, the frozen payments and benefits would become waived permanently. Alternatively, if professional rugby can resume and the financial outlook improves, then some of the frozen payments and benefits could be reinstated.” All team assembly and tournament fees for national team players have been frozen, with the exception of those for the Black Ferns women’s side. All promotional payments and the “vast majority” of performance incentives had also been frozen. From the start of next month, players with contracts worth more than NZ$50,000 will lose 15% of their base retainer payments rising to 30% if no play is possible before September. “The model we have agreed protects those on retainers of less than $50,000,” NZR’s head of professional rugby Chris Lendrum said. “While not all players are being treated exactly the same, we felt these changes were the fairest way to address player payments and benefits, considering all the different ways our players are remunerated.” LOADED: 04.16.2020 1173817 World Leagues News At the time it was inconceivable that e-sports would replace live sports and concerts would be staged on living room couches and filmed on phones. Coronavirus: How California kept ahead of the curve "We've been proactive," Dr Nanda said, and a result "we have not seen that huge uptick". By Regan Morris The population is more spread out Unlike densely packed New York where most people rely on public transportation, California is known for its urban sprawl and its love affair After a resident of California died of coronavirus on 4 March, Governor with the car. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency. It was the first Covid-19 related death in the US outside of Washington state. New York City is three times as dense as the city of Los Angeles. And although Los Angeles County has more than 10 million people, many More than 24,424 people have tested positive for coronavirus in more Angelenos drive cars than New Yorkers. California and 821 people have died. Yet the losses, while tragic, are a fraction of what experts predicted the state's 40 million people would According to a UCLA study from 2018, fewer than 3% of people in face. Southern California ride public transport frequently. The virus is spreading fast in southern California and the state's Central UCLA epidemiologist Dr Timothy Brewer said our urban sprawl may be Valley - so it's not out of trouble yet. helping stop the virus from spreading faster than in cities like New York or Detroit. But considering the dire prediction made by Governor Gavin Newsom in March that up to 25 million Californians could be infected with "We certainly don't have the population density of New York City," Dr coronavirus, the situation in California has been surprisingly well Brewer said. "The less dense the population, the more easy it is to controlled. maintain physical distances from each other." State officials maintain they think the virus will peak in mid-May. Others But Dr Brewer said he thinks it was California's aggressive social think California could reach its peak this week. distancing policies put in place early that account for most of the state's success so far. The University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation projected in March that more than 6,000 people in California California could well have had more cases "had they followed a similar would die of coronavirus. This week, the institute revised their forecast - trajectory as New York, New Jersey or some other locations in the United projecting that California will reach its peak on 17 April - with 1,783 States" when it came to social distancing, he added. deaths. The state initially got off to a bumpy start when it came to public spaces. California has only tested 212,900 people - and not all of the tests have The weekend of 15 March sent many Californians panic shopping for been processed - so the number of confirmed cases will likely be seemingly all the toilet paper, yeast and sourdough bread flour in the considerably higher. But the death rate is much lower than many state, and the following weekend saw Californians flocking to the state's expected. beautiful beaches and hiking trails. So why is California faring so much better than many predicted? Beaches were packed. Popular trails like Runyon Canyon in LA were The state acted early more crowded than ever making social distancing impossible. California was the first place in the United States to issue shelter in place Eventually, officials closed beaches and hiking trails throughout the state orders. Gov Newsom ordered California to shelter in place on 19 March - and urged people to walk in their own neighbourhoods. three days before New York. Sometimes the authorities enforce the rules - though not consistently. The statewide order followed similar ones issued on 16 March by several California was ridiculed on Fox News after video emerged of multiple Bay Area counties and cities - including San Francisco. boats involved in the arrest of a lone paddle-boarder in Malibu who Residents were urged to stay home and only go to essential businesses, defied lifeguard warnings to leave the water. Wet weather in Los Angeles like grocery stores and pharmacies, when necessary. meant snow in the local mountains and two snowboarders were caught sneaking onto the slopes. But can a day or two really make that much difference? "Oh yes," said Dr Neha Nanda, the medical director of infection prevention and Officials across the state say they'd rather not enforce the rules - but they antimicrobial stewardship at Keck Medicine, University of Southern will crack down on scofflaws. California. Some tickets have been issued across the state. In , homeless "Even being one day ahead can have a huge impact," she told the BBC. advocates have objected to the ticketing and arrest of homeless people "The morbidity we will be able to avert, the mortality we will be able to for sleeping in the streets. avert - it's huge." And in Los Angeles, Mayor Garcetti encouraged people to "snitch" on Because so little is known about the virus or how it can be treated, it anyone violating the shelter-in-place order, or operating businesses not makes prevention "more important than anything else," she said. "The considered essential. most potent tool that you have in tool kit is social distancing." "You know the old expression about snitches, well in this case snitches The authorities took it seriously get rewards," Mayor Garcetti said earlier this month. "We want to thank you for turning folks in and making sure we are all safe." On 9 March, Santa Clara county banned gatherings of more than 1,000 people. The ban came hours after a woman died in Santa Clara county. Many people criticised the mayor's snitch policy, and it's not clear how Soon, the limits on gatherings of 1,000 people became limits on groups many people have reported infractions. of 50 people. But California's leaders have mostly been applauded for acting early to Many were shocked at the time about what limited gatherings would do control the virus. to sports teams and musical and theatrical events. BBC News LOADED: 04.16.2020 But this didn't deter local officials - and San Francisco Mayor London Breed, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf announced bans on gatherings several days later. "Our first priority remains the health, safety and wellbeing of all Oaklanders, as well as those who visit our city," Mayor Schaaf said at the time. "Although there are no known positive cases of Covid-19 within Oakland right now, postponing large gatherings will help prevent the spread of the virus. We take these measures to prepare and protect our community and ground our decisions in facts, not fear." 1173818 World Leagues News

Anthony Fauci: How sports can return amid coronavirus crisis

By Mollie WalkerApril 15, 2020 | 11:33am | Updated

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the infectious disease expert who’s a part of the White House’s coronavirus task force, thinks sports can return sooner than later. In a recent Snapchat interview, Fauci said sports could return if played in empty stadiums and with teams strictly quarantined in hotels in order to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Under such harsh restrictions, athletes wouldn’t be able to be exposed or spread the virus and could resume a season as usual. “There’s a way of doing that,” Fauci said. “Nobody comes to the stadium. Put them in big hotels, wherever you want to play, keep them very well surveilled and have them tested every week and make sure they don’t wind up infecting each other or their family, and just let them play the season out.” Currently, the NBA, NHL and MLB seasons are suspended indefinitely. The NFL, which is in its offseason, recently elected to hold a virtual draft. The PGA Tour is planning to start back up in June. Fauci said he was sympathetic to the country’s longing for sports, adding that he’s a fan himself. “People say, ‘Well, you know, you can’t play without spectators.’ Well, I think you’ll probably get enough buy-in from people who are dying to see a baseball game, particularly me,” Fauci said. “Living in Washington, we have the world champion Washington Nationals. I want to see them play again.” He might get that chance if MLB’s Arizona plan comes to fruition. Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey said Tuesday he’s open to MLB’s plan, bringing all of its teams to his state to play out the season and have them quarantined in hotels when not playing. “Two words that would allow the country and the state of Arizona to know that things were headed back to normal would be, ‘Play ball,'” Ducey said. Though there are many logistical obstacles for MLB to overcome, some players support the idea. ESPN’s Jeff Passan said this week, “It seems like it’s going to be Arizona or bust for Major League Baseball.” NY Post LOADED: 04.16.2020 1173819 World Leagues News of life in lockdown — and there are the displacement activities, the jobs that have never quite been done: Molesley has been building a patio (“It is nice to do some proper work,” he said); Dyche joked that he is “running Soccer’s Business Hasn’t Stopped. It’s Just Waiting for the New Prices. out of things to jet wash.” But there is also work. Some of that is the sporting equivalent of patio building: getting around to all the tasks that should already have been By Rory Smith done, or might never have been done, as the season rolled remorselessly on as normal. “I’ve had a chance to go back through games that I hadn’t seen,” said Fletcher, the loan director. “We can look through videos and clips of individual performances, see what sort of As far as Rámon Rodriguez Verdejo — the man everyone knows as things we might look out for, what we might have missed.” Monchi — is concerned, there is as much work to do as there ever was. The game of soccer is paused, indefinitely, placed in the same anxious Using Zoom, Microsoft Teams, FaceTime — the whole virtual arsenal — limbo as every other sport, as every other industry. But on laptop screens Dyche has tried to use the time for an internal appraisal of his team’s and cellphones, the business of it rumbles on as best it can. season. “There’s been some reflection on what we are doing,” he said. “We’ve asked whether things are going where we wanted them to be So for Monchi, Sevilla’s sporting director — in charge of the club’s going, whether results tally up with what our instincts and our data are recruitment operations — there is still data to trawl and video to watch. telling us. We have tried to lift our heads out of the sand a bit.” Agents keep calling, pitching players, detailing salary demands. Monchi and his team feed it all in, then they deliberate and adjust their And then, of course, there is recruitment. At most clubs, that is the one calculations accordingly. It is just as it would be in an ordinary April, in an department that remains, effectively, fully operational in the absence of ordinary world. live matches, though some, including Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur, have placed their scouts on furlough. Many who make recruiting “The only difference is that meetings take place on video calls,” Monchi their work would echo Monchi’s thoughts, that it continues “with a certain said. “So you do not have to wear a suit.” normality, with our focus on the future.” European soccer is now a month into its first hiatus since the end of Across Europe, teams are working painstakingly through lists of targets, World War II. With a couple of exceptions — Turkey held out for a few checking reports and analyses, identifying priorities. Thanks to the more days, Belarus plays on, even now — nobody has kicked a ball subscription services Wyscout and Instat, clubs can stream games since the strange, liminal evening of March 12, when a raft of Europa involving possible signings. Hudl, a soccer-specific app, allows them to League games went ahead, several without fans in attendance — a last dive deeper still. act before the sport’s delusion of immunity to the coronavirus pandemic was finally shattered. Then there are the virtual meetings. In some ways, several scouts said, the shift online should lead to better decisions: not only can more people Those first few days, of course, were fretful and busy. Stopping brought dial in to discuss strategy or contribute to a decision, the lack of its own logistical challenges, as coaches scrambled to design extensive travel means there is more time to come to a conclusion. conditioning programs for players confined to their homes and clubs rushed out specialized equipment — treadmills, exercise bikes, GPS The complication is that nobody knows what the clubs are planning for. units — to squads suddenly locked in isolation. Even the richest ones are expecting a considerable financial downturn. The extent of that is not yet known, but in Italy, Spain, England and “We sent them all programs,” said Mark Molesley, the coach of the Germany, the estimates run at hundreds of millions of dollars. under-23 team at the Premier League club Bournemouth. “Exercises they can do at home, core workouts they could download from the internet, Clubs do not know how much money they might have to spend. Most just as many ways to keep fit as possible.” have downgraded their expectations and adjusted their equations to take into account new realities. Agents, increasingly, find that their inquiries The complication, of course, was that nobody knew how long the are being met with a confession of ignorance. cessation would last. Nobody knew what, or when, they were working toward. The players’ schedules were reviewed every week, altered as the It is here that even those bits of soccer that are still operating run into a date of a potential return to training — and then to games — was shifted wall. What Dyche called “background” recruitment can carry on. So much back. of the research has been done, so much of the data already gathered, that the absence of a handful of games at the end of the season hardly For Molesley’s Bournemouth colleague Carl Fletcher, the primary makes a difference. concern was player welfare. Fletcher’s role is to monitor the 26 players the club has out on loan; they are largely young, in their late teens and But anything more concrete than that is impossible, when so much of early 20s, farmed out to teams in the lower tiers of English soccer or sent what is to come is hypothetical. Nobody knows when soccer will return, to Scotland to hone their trade. (Though one, the experienced what it will look like, what its budget might be, and nobody is prepared to goalkeeper Asmir Begovic, is currently at A.C. Milan.) guess. The future, like the present, is frozen. “We had to make sure we knew where they were, what they were doing, That applies, too, to contract discussions. FIFA, soccer’s global and for the younger ones that they were fully aware of the situation,” he governing body, has tried to guide clubs and players that current deals said. Fletcher felt it was crucial, too, that the players knew they could ask should be extended to cover the expansion of the current seasons — questions. “Mostly,” he said, “it was making sure they were coping, something that will depend both on good will, on both sides, and national especially the ones that were quite far from home and not living with contract law — but that is not enough to stave off the financial anyone.” uncertainty. But once the fitness programs and the lines of communication were in Many clubs have shelved talks with players about extending or improving place, the frenetic world of elite soccer had to learn a new, deeply their current contracts. In some cases, offers that had been on the table unfamiliar virtue: patience. only a few weeks ago have now been summarily withdrawn. The numbers on the page, both sides suspect, may look very different when Talks between Europe’s clubs, its leagues and its governing bodies have they are next submitted. continued for weeks, but each round has only served to highlight the reality facing the sport: that the pandemic will determine the timetable, Nobody knows when that will be. The game’s authorities keep talking, and nothing else. keep planning: late May, early June, late June. They will probably play out this season. They will protect next season. Belatedly, soccer’s power As they wait — “just sort of floating,” as Sean Dyche, the Burnley brokers have come to realize they are not in control of the situation. manager, put it — all that managers, coaches, scouts and those in soccer’s back rooms and front offices can do is try to use their time as And so, on their laptops and their cellphones, those who can still work in best they can. soccer do what they can. For everyone else, in an impatient, restless business, there is nothing to do but wait. Their experience will be familiar, by now. There is, front and center, the dull ache of anxiety over the virus, the concern about family, friends and New York Times LOADED: 04.16.2020 colleagues. “The health and safety of everyone, the welfare of the players, they are the most important things,” Dyche said. Burnley, like most clubs, has made all of its services — conditioning, nutrition and psychological — available to its players. There are the practical issues — looking after children no longer in school, arranging meals, checking on family, addressing the complexity 1173820 World Leagues News

College football sends clear message to Washington amid coronavirus pandemic

By James Kratch

No college students on campus, no college football games. That was the message the College Football Playoff Management Committee delivered to Vice President Mike Pence during a Wednesday conference call discussing how the sport can return to normalcy amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd. “Our players are students. If we’re not in college, we’re not having contests,” said Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby, who is a member of the committee along with the commissioners from the other nine FBS leagues and Notre Dame athletics director Jack Swarbrick. “Our message was, we need to get universities and colleges back open, that we were education-based programs, and we weren’t going to have sports until we had something closer to normal college going on." Pence was receptive to the committee’s thoughts, according to the report, and commended the NCAA and conferences for the decision to cancel the remaining winter and spring seasons, including the national men’s basketball tournament, despite the immense financial pain losing those events has caused. But canceling the upcoming football season would bring economic disaster to college sports, which is why the expectation is for a season to be played at some point during the 2020-21 academic year. But when is anyone’s guess at this point. Rutgers has canceled all on-campus classes and activities through August 14, but it has appeared to allow for the possibility student-athletes could return before then to begin preseason practices and workouts based on Big Ten guidance. University of South Carolina president Bob Caslen said Wednesday he hopes to know by mid-May if students will be on campus for the fall, and the industry belief is a decision on whether or not the football season will begin on time will need to be made by the end of May. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Wednesday he could see sports returning this year under heavy restrictions and without fans in attendance. The report did not indicate there was any discussion about restricting crowds on the call. NJ.com LOADED: 04.16.2020 1173821 World Leagues News Coronavirus visual guide: Interactive graphics on the pandemic Some inroads may be possible however, as Florida governor Ron DeSantis - a staunch Trump ally - showed in issuing an executive order Trump eager to 'get sports back' as US league chiefs remain wary specifying that "employees at a professional sports and media production with a national audience" counted among "essential services" not subject to stay at home orders in his state. WASHINGTON (AFP) - President Donald Trump is hankering for a return of live sports action, but US league supremos are taking a cautious That opened the door for World Wrestling Entertainment - run by another approach to competition amid the coronavirus pandemic. Trump friend Vince McMahon - to resume live broadcasts of events on Monday from an Orlando studio facility. "We have to get our sports back," Trump said Tuesday (April 14). "I'm tired of watching baseball games that are 14 years old." LOADED: 04.16.2020 Sports in America, like the rest of the world, have been brought to a virtual standstill by Covid-19. The National Basketball Association (NBL) shut down on March 11 after Utah Jazz centre Rudy Gobert tested positive for the virus, and the National Hockey League (NHL), Major League Soccer and the US PGA Tour quickly followed suit. Major League Baseball's 2020 season, due to start March 26, is on hold, as is the LPGA tour and motor racing, while the NFL is just hoping it will be able to start its season on time in September. The dearth of sports has led to a wealth of speculation as to when and how competition could resume. The NBA and NHL are wrestling with how they might fashion credible ends to campaigns that were heading into their final stages. Baseball, meanwhile, was reported to be considering sequestering 30 teams in Arizona - or perhaps Arizona and Florida - to open the season playing games in empty ballparks. One ESPN reporter said he had even heard it suggested that MLB might try to launch its season in Japan. The NHL was reportedly mulling a single-venue re-start in North Dakota, while Dana White, head of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, indicated he was considering holding mixed martial arts cards on a private island. "From our perspective we don't have a plan, we have lots of ideas," MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said in a television interview on Tuesday. "What ideas come to fruition will depend on what the restrictions are, what the public health situation is." His comments echoed those of NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and NBA commissioner Adam Silver, who have both said that the uncertainties surrounding the spread of coronavirus make it impossible to make firm plans. The refrain of all sports leaders has therefore been they are considering "all options," including playing without fans in attendance. That could get live sports back on television, at least, although Trump indicated that he's keen for more. "We want people actually sitting next to each other at ball games, eventually," he said. "We're not going to rip out every other seat in baseball stadiums and football stadiums." In the United States, however, the return of thousands of fans to sports venues could depend on the greenlight from state authorities. 'NOT IN THE CARDS' California governor Gavin Newsom said Tuesday that the prospect of mass gatherings in the state is "negligible at best" until a vaccine is available. In a state that is home to nearly 20 major pro franchises, Newsom said that "large-scale events that bring in hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of strangers altogether across every conceivable difference, health and otherwise, is not in the cards based upon our current guidelines and current expectations." That may be just as well, since a poll conducted by Seton Hall University this month showed that 72 percent of the 762 responding, including 61 percent who identified as sports fans, would not feel safe attending sports events until a coronavirus vaccine is found. Related Story Coronavirus microsite: Get latest updates, videos and graphics Related Story Coronavirus explainers: What you should know to protect yourself Related Story 1173822 World Leagues News

Magic Johnson sees overlap between coronavirus, AIDS crises

Malika Andrews

For five-time NBA champion Earvin "Magic" Johnson, the parallels between the coronavirus pandemic and the HIV and AIDS epidemic in the early 1990s are apparent. "The same issues we had then, we have now, where bad information, myth about 'it couldn't happen to us in the black community,' not being educated enough about HIV and AIDS," Johnson told ESPN via phone Wednesday morning. "The same thing [is happening] with the coronavirus." Johnson, who said a childhood friend is in the hospital because of the coronavirus, is partnering with the NBA to try to raise awareness among black Americans. While the NBA season has been on indefinite pause since March 11, the league has launched "NBA Together," an outreach program that includes Instagram Live interviews with current and former players, public service announcements encouraging fans to follow public health guidelines, and educational videos teaching young fans basketball skills. NBA Together has raised more than $76 million for coronavirus-related relief efforts. "The same issues we had then, we have now where bad information, myth about 'it couldn't happen to us in the black community,' not being educated enough about HIV and AIDS. The same thing [is happening] with the coronavirus." Magic Johnson As more information emerged about the coronavirus, the NBA zeroed in on data from public health officials showing that people of color -- and particularly African Americans -- are disproportionately affected by the virus. On Wednesday, the league unveiled a program within the NBA Together initiative that aims to further educate the public -- and especially minorities -- about the coronavirus. The new program includes partnering with the NAACP, National Urban League and other nonprofit organizations. Data has shown that black people are dying from the coronavirus at a higher rate than the general public. One study published by The Associated Press found that 42% of the people who have died of coronavirus in the United States were black. African Americans make up 21% of the total population surveyed. "We really have to get out in front of this," Johnson said. "That is why I am so happy the NBA is saying, 'Hey, we have to do something about it because who is out there on the court? Majority African American players. Who enjoys this sport? African Americans.' We love our basketball. This is very important right now." Johnson is slated to film public service announcements and participate in several virtual discussions targeted at reaching black NBA fans. Johnson, along with other players and coaches, will hold an online town hall series with health professionals and discuss the ways in which black and brown people are being hit harder, in many cases, by the coronavirus than their white peers. "We do have a way to break through," said Kathy Behrens, the NBA's president of social responsibly and player programs. "That is why having Magic so involved will really help us reach people with this message." The NBA is also working to help raise awareness about the coronavirus in United States prisons. On April 28, Milwaukee Bucks guard George Hill is scheduled to participate in a 30-minute Instagram Live with Xavier McElrath-Bey, who spent 13 years in prison. Additionally, the NBA is working with historically black colleges and universities to help organize a virtual graduation in place of canceled ceremonies. "The NBA has been at the forefront when you think about diversity and inclusion," Johnson said. "Look at the Donald Sterling situation. The NBA has cachet in our community. When something happens in the black community, the NBA has always been there. [Commissioner] Adam [Silver] is the most dynamic leader we have in sports. He gets it. It's a no- brainer. I knew he was going to do something." ESPN LOADED: 04.16.2020 1173823 World Leagues News statement on Tuesday. “It is unfortunate but hardly surprising that corporate executives with close ties to President Trump are receiving special treatment from his allies. Like wrestling, the fix is in.” The WWE Is Now Considered an ‘Essential Service’ in Florida The memo from Mr. Moskowitz does not single out the WWE as an essential service. State officials in the Emergency Operations Center and the governor’s office did not respond to questions about what other By Mihir Zaveri businesses might be affected. In an email on Tuesday, the Emergency Operations Center said that the affected services were “critical to Florida’s economy.” In a pandemic, as state officials desperately shut down parts of society to “It is important to note that professional sports activities may only be keep people away from one another, there are some services that most considered essential if the event location is closed to the general public,” would agree must go on: Grocery stores feed the public. Health care the center said in the email. workers tend to the infirm. Others maintain law and order, deliver goods and keep the lights on. At a news conference on Tuesday, Mr. DeSantis, a Republican, said his office was considering requests to be added to the state’s list of essential The list, typically, does not include the WWE. services on a case-by-case basis. Nevertheless, in Florida, World Wrestling Entertainment has found itself He said tapings of WWE events do not require many people to be on-site among the services considered “essential,” according to Mayor Jerry L. but can entertain many on television. Demings of Orange County, where the sports entertainment business has a sizable training facility and has held recent events, including its “We do need to support content, especially like sports and events,” he marquee show, WrestleMania, this month. said. “Now, we’re not going to have crowds there. If NASCAR does a race and can televise it without large crowds, I think that’s a good thing.” Mr. Demings, speaking at a news conference on Monday, said the WWE was “not initially deemed an essential business,” and traced the change He added, “I think people have been starved for content.” to discussions with the office of Gov. Ron DeSantis and other state officials. The WWE spokesman said in an email that it was “now more important than ever to provide people with a diversion from these hard times.” Mr. DeSantis issued an executive order that went into effect on April 3, directing people to stay at home unless they were providing essential “We are producing content on a closed set with only essential personnel services or participating in essential activities. In a memo on April 9 from in attendance following appropriate guidelines while taking additional Jared Moskowitz, the director of Florida’s Division of Emergency precautions to ensure the health and wellness of our performers and Management, the state added a new category to its list of essential staff,” the spokesman said. services: “employees at professionals sports and media production with a New York Times LOADED: 04.16.2020 national audience” only if “the location is closed to the general public.” “There was a review that was done,” Mr. Demings said Monday, in response to a question from a reporter about how the WWE can hold events at the training facility in light of the order. “With some conversations with the governor’s office regarding the governor’s order, they were deemed an essential business. Therefore, they were allowed to remain open.” Latest Updates: Coronavirus Outbreak in the U.S. As Trump pushes to reopen the U.S., experts bemoan a lack of testing. Some states have few cases, says a White House eager to reopen society. Cuomo will require New Yorkers to wear facial coverings in public. At a time when public health experts are imploring people to gather only if they have to, it has struck many as odd and even dangerous that a form of entertainment like pro wrestling — in which two or more people tussle, have close contact and sometimes throw objects at one another — has been deemed “essential.” Most professional, collegiate and amateur sports have opted to shut down or postpone games, matches and other events, including the Olympics. That the news came as the WWE had recently acknowledged that an employee had tested positive for the virus only heightened the criticism. According to the WWE, the infected employee was not an “in-ring performer,” and had no contact with anyone else from the WWE since being exposed last month to two people working in health care. A spokesman for the WWE said the company takes precautions to protect the health of its staff members and other workers. “All WWE performers and staff are required to participate in medical screenings prior to entering any closed set,” the spokesman said. “Only essential personnel are on-site and social distancing is practiced outside of performances. After each performance, the set goes through ‘pandemic-level cleaning.’ When widespread testing becomes available, all talent will be tested before performing. We have recommended our talent to self-isolate when not performing.” The move has also raised questions about the political influence of the WWE’s leadership, especially Vince McMahon, the chairman and chief executive of the WWE, and his wife, Linda McMahon, a former head of WWE. The couple has donated millions of dollars to President Trump’s foundation — and Ms. McMahon was appointed by Mr. Trump to lead the Small Business Administration (she resigned from that role in March 2019). “We are in the middle of a public health crisis and the American people need to know the government is putting their needs first,” said Kyle Herrig, the president of the watchdog group Accountable.US, in a 1173824 World Leagues News The amount allocated for stoppage of play salaries totals $170 million, to be distributed among all players on a major league or split contracts at a minimum of $275 per day and a maximum rate of $5,000 daily through Athletes Still Getting Paid Despite Stoppage Clauses and CBA late May. The average salary for an MLB player is just over $4 million – Uncertainty with some individual player contracts costing upwards of $20 million annually.

“It’s not very much compared to what players would be making if they BY EMILY CARON were fully paid,” Dworkin clarified. “Everybody is waiting to see if the season will pick up. My guess is the players probably won’t get paid for any games they don’t play, so there will likely be some subsequent negotiations if they play, say, an 81 game season instead of 162. But it’s The NBA is the only major professional sports league with force majeure really anybody’s guess what happens after May 24.” language in its CBA, providing an outline for how salaries will be reduced in the event it is enacted. The NHL, where teams played an average of 70 of 82 regular-season games before 2020 play was suspended, has similar language in its The NHL and MLB have language in their standard player contracts for standard contract. Paragraph 17a says players will only be entitled to pay salary and season requirements in the event of unforeseeable until the date of suspension of operations, but the league has paid emergencies. The NFL does not. players in full for the remainder of the season despite the option to avoid Most aspects of professional sports, including player salaries, are riddled doing so. The average NHL salary is $2.4 million annually. with the same elements of uncertainty plaguing the world right now. The NFL, which still has several months until its season is slated to start, Professional baseball and basketball players could lose large portions of has no force majeure language in the new CBA, which expires in 2030, their salaries if games from this current season are eventually canceled, nor in the standard player contract. There is somewhat applicable according to the terms of their collective bargaining agreements. Football language, however, in Article 19.2 of the NFL constitution. players could also be impacted if the fall season doesn’t happen as The clause reads, “there shall be no postponement of regular-season currently scheduled, as could those who make up the rosters of MLS games unless said game cannot be played because of an Act of God or clubs. because of a state, federal or local prohibition.” “The big question is, will players be paid if they don’t actually play the While the constitution addresses the requirements for postponements of games, contractually speaking?,” James Dworkin, a professor in the the season, there is no language to guide the average $2.7 million yearly Krannert School of Management at Purdue University who studies salary payments football players are expecting if that were to become the professional sports unions and collective bargaining, said. “People are case. asking the same question, but it’s a different answer for the different sports.” “They have no language about anything related [to player pay] in the collective bargaining agreement or the standard player contract,” Dworkin And while every league is faced with the question of what to do – and said. “There’s no language about getting paid if games aren’t [played] but what they can legally do – few have answers already outlined for them. the sport, like a lot of these leagues, is financed through television and The NBA, where the annual salary averages $7.7 million, highest among fan revenue and tickets, so if there are no games, it’s going to be pretty professional sports, is the only league with explicit force majeure hard to pay the players.” language in the current collective bargaining agreement, which runs NFL players are generally paid once per week in season, with offseason through June 30, 2024. bonus checks distributed per contract stipulations. “Any language in a collective bargaining agreement is agreed to by both Major League Soccer similarly has no contractual guidance for the parties, so both parties in the NBA CBA put in this language which deals situation, and with the smallest annual salary at $412,000 and a CBA that with what happens if games are not played because of these runs through 2024, the income is increasingly paramount for its players. catastrophic forces,” Dworkin said, explaining that the French term, found With only two matches of the 34-game season complete, the league has in Article 39 of the CBA, means ‘superior force.’ “They have things like continued to pay its players despite the cessation. chemical or biological warfare, sabotage, terrorism, and they have one word very clearly: epidemic.” “We don’t know how long that’s going to go on,” Dworkin said. “We’ll find out what happens next, but things are going to be a lot different on all The NBA’s clause also includes a specific formula that dictates the fronts when things start again, for everyone.” amount of money lost for players per impacted game. For those still being paid – even a portion of their salaries – uncertainty “For every game missed, you’d basically lose one game’s pay,” Dworkin about how long that will continue or what will happen in the event of said. “That’s the easiest way to think about it. But just because it’s in the outright cancellations have kept financial question marks afloat. Other contract doesn’t mean they have to enforce it, and so far, the players additional money-making avenues are also at risk, including postseason have continued to be paid.” and performance bonuses, sponsorships, public appearance The average NBA team when the league shut down in March had played opportunities, and more. 65 out of their 82 games. “The same uncertain parameters exist for everyone,” said Jeff Runyan, Enforcement would not only cut off player pay, but the language also founder of Runyan Capital Advisors, which has an ‘Invested Athlete’ states that the NBA has the option to terminate the entire CBA if force division that works with a number of MLB and NFL players. “What’s majeure is enacted. The Players’ Association would receive a 60-day especially hypersensitive for a pro athlete is you have fixed expenses notice, and then a successor agreement would be negotiated in “good that may be really significant. And so pay impact is pretty significant in faith.” the immediate term.” “They haven’t done it yet, which means they don’t have to do it,” Dworkin Despite the large salaries most professional athletes make annually, said. “But if they do, they at least have very precise language for how research has shown that 78% of NFL players still file for bankruptcy or salaries would be reduced during that part of the season that’s not experience financial distress as soon as two years into retirement. MLB played.” players file for bankruptcy at four times the national average. Neither the MLB nor the NHL has force majeure language in their Money management among athletes has become a focal point among collective bargaining agreements, which go until December 2021 and players associations and firms like Runyan’s as a result. Not all athletes September 2022, respectively. That said, both of their standard player have sufficient financial plans in place, and even those who do are contracts within their CBA’s provide a framework for such situations. feeling the economic impact of COVID-19 with the rest of the country. Appendix A of the MLB basic agreement includes a ‘uniform player “When the entire market falls in value 25 or 33% like it did in the contract’ that every player signs annually, which specifies salary terms. beginning of March, you’re dealing with a sort of two-fold [problem],” The contract states that the commissioner can suspend the operation of Runyan said. “One, your pay is getting cut potentially, and you don’t the contract – salary included – during any national emergency in which know when your season is going to start. And then coupled with that, the baseball is not played. earnings that you’ve had in the past have shrunk in value from the market turmoil.” That has not yet become the case, and a temporary agreement outside of the current CBA was agreed to late last month in which the league will Professional athletes could, however, be more prepared for the current continue to pay a portion of the players’ salaries for the 2020 season on situation in some ways, Runyan said. a tiered system. “Pro players are especially accustomed to uncertainties that exist,” he said. “They can get traded, they can get cut, or not have a contract renewed, so they need to be prepared [financially] always. But what’s happening right now – if someone’s getting a signing bonus, even if it’s a meaningful bonus, it’s going to be significantly reduced in the way that they come to receive it in the years ahead – they probably didn’t prepare for that.” The biggest unknown now isn’t what seasons will look like or how much money an athlete will make over the course of an altered season, but when they’ll be able to start earning again at all. “It’s a matter of when they start playing again, so you have a resumption of income, even if fans aren’t allowed into the stadium yet,” Runyan said, pointing out that the majority of pro sports households are single-earner families. “There’s not necessarily another income to fall back on more often than not. In the long term, maybe they’ll be just fine because they’ll be able to resume play, but in the short term, you can feel the sharpness in that curtailed income rapidly.” Front Office Sports LOADED: 04.16.2020 1173825 World Leagues News

The professional sports still continuing amid the coronavirus crisis

By Ben Church and Zayn Nabbi, CNN

Whilst most professionals sports have ground to a halt amid the coronavirus pandemic, there's still a small number that are finding a way to continue. Football, in particular, has been severely affected with all of Europe's major leagues now suspended for the foreseeable future. However, for those fans desperate for a football fix, there are still some leagues around the world that are playing on. The Belarusian Premier League is now the only active competition left in Europe and has seen its popularity soar as a result. The country's football federation even secured new broadcasting deals in as many as 10 countries, Reuters reports, including Russia, Israel and India. Mannequins and cardboard fans Incredibly, fans are still able to attend the matches in Belarus although attendances have been dwindling with supporters wary of the risks involved. As a result, one Belarusian club has started filling its stadium with virtual supporters. Dynamo Brest has invited its new-found fan-base to pay for their face to appear on mannequins within the ground, with the money raised being donated to the fight against coronavirus. There have been 2,919 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Belarus with 29 deaths, according to the latest figures. Elsewhere, leagues in Tajikistan, Burundi and Nicaragua have also all stood firm against criticism and have continued to play on. Tajikistan and Nicaragua have followed guidance given by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and are playing games behind closed doors, with the latter broadcasting matches live on television and the internet. recently became the latest to launch its football division, with the new season starting on Sunday. Players hope the extra attention will help them complete a move to one of the world's more competitive leagues. World players' union FIFPro says it's incomprehensible that games are continuing. Other sports play on In addition to its football league, Taiwan has also welcomed the return of professional baseball. The Chinese Professional Baseball League was due to begin on Saturday but a rain delay meant the season instead started on Sunday with a match between Chinatrust Brothers and the Uni-President Lions at Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium. No fans were allowed to watch from within the stadium but the game was broadcast live. Baseball team Monkeys had filled parts of its stadiums with mannequins and robotic drummers for the proposed curtain-raiser on Saturday. Taiwan has managed to limit the spread of confirmed coronavirus cases to just 393 and six deaths, according to the latest figures. Horse racing has also managed to continue in a number of countries across the world, albeit behind closed doors. Tracks in Australia, Hong Kong, Japan and Sweden are among those to have continued racing through the crisis. Meanwhile, the world of esports is continuing the thrive in the absence of mainstream sport with hoards of professional athletes turning their attention to gaming. WICU/WSEE LOADED: 04.16.2020 1173826 World Leagues News

University of Cincinnati drops men's soccer amid 'uncertainty' of coronavirus pandemic

Aaron Doster

The University of Cincinnati discontinued its men's soccer program on Tuesday citing the "widespread uncertainty" of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Bearcats have been competing in the sport since 1973, earning NCAA tournament appearances in 1998, 2003 and 2006. "This was a difficult decision, but one made with the long-term interests of UC Athletics at the forefront," Cincinnati athletic director John Cunningham said in a statement. "During this time of profound challenges and widespread uncertainty, I have engaged in a comprehensive and thorough review of UC's sport offerings and long- term budget implications of supporting the number of student-athletes currently at UC. Based on this review, and in consultation with President (Neville) Pinto and other University leaders, UC Athletics will no longer sponsor a men's soccer program." The Bearcats were 5-11-1 in 2019. Longtime coach Hylton Dayes resigned in March after 19 seasons. Cunningham said the school will honor the scholarships for the student- athletes for the duration of their academic careers. They are also allowed to transfer without penalty. "Our men's soccer student-athletes have been outstanding representatives of the University in the classroom and on the field," Cunningham said. "They may not fully understand this decision, but I want them to know they were truly and conscientiously considered during my deliberations about the future of UC Athletics. We are making this decision now to enable our men's soccer student-athletes to have an opportunity to play at another institution if they choose to do so." --Field Level Media LOADED: 04.16.2020 1173827 World Leagues News how much all involved in the project are invested in its success that the players agreed to waive their contractual rights.

"We had to suspend the BAL contracts given to our foreign players," Basketball Africa League ready to hit ground running after coronavirus - Ozaka said. "Thankfully, they understood the situation, otherwise we Amadou Gallo Fall would have been in serious financial jeopardy. The only functional offices presently are mine [for administrative purposes] and the media office." Colin Udoh Now, both the league and clubs have more time to play with, and it will not go to waste.

"Our focus is always to improve and put the best product out there," One month has passed since Basketball Africa League was due to tip off, Gallo said. "Obviously, we're continuing to work, to plan and look at with 12 teams on the verge of making history with the launch of a truly different scenarios. We're committed to growing the game of basketball in continentwide top-tier basketball competition. Africa, and the Basketball Africa League is the culmination of the work of the past decade since we launched NBA Africa in 2010. All was set for an historic event until the coronavirus pandemic forced an indefinite postponement nine days before tipoff. Teams, fans and media "So, for us, we've just got to continue to prepare behind the scenes. We were understandably disappointed. have a team that we continue to build up headquartered in Dakar, still engaging with all the teams. I had a call about a week or 10 days ago That included NBA vice president and managing director of NBA Africa with all of the teams, and then we have our head of operations who is Amadou Gallo Fall, who is the Basketball Africa League president. continuing to engage with these teams just to remind everybody that we're committed, and we're going to launch at the right time. During 2020 NBA All-Star Weekend in February, Fall led a cast of basketball royalty from FIBA, world basketball's governing body, the NBA "So we can certainly put the extra time to good use, but we were ready to and the league itself to unveil the teams and their official kits. go on March 13." But the disappointment was tempered by reality. Son of the Congo: This Is AfricaThe basketball world knows him as Serge Ibaka, but his true name is Ibaka Ngobila Serge Jonas. In "Son of "It was disappointing," Fall told ESPN. "But at the same time, we realized The Congo," he takes us on his personal journey as he returns to the very quickly that the reason we were postponing was bigger than sport, Republic of Congo. bigger than anything else. That is music to the ears of the administrators, players and fans who are "When it comes to safety and health and well-being of communities, fans, looking forward to the launch of the league, but the big question of when our players, coaches of teams, you move on quickly and make a the league finally gets underway remains up in the air. At least for now. decision, and we felt good about the decision we made at the time and when we made it." For a competition that deals with teams from multiple countries, that requires multiple governments lifting restrictions in what might not even At the time, the BAL was among the first sports leagues to press pause be a coordinated timeline. following the outbreak. Events since have shown that early decision to be one of the more perspicacious moves made in the sporting world. It means Fall and his team are unable to provide a timeline for when things will get back on track. - Dikembe Mutombo: Basketball Africa League "dream come true" "We can't really make any speculations in terms of when or how soon But for a league that was on the verge of getting underway, and with all because I don't think the world knows when things are going to get back the time and preparation expended on getting it off the ground, a to normal," he said. "The events around us are bigger than sports. For postponement was not exactly what the competition needed. me to make a clear determination in terms of giving a timeline would be Under any other circumstances, such a delay could have caused serious presumptuous. damage for a league in its infancy. But the global situation caused by the "Everything will hinge on what's happening in the local environment right coronavirus presented a unique perspective, and Fall says the delay has here in Africa, as we have teams playing in different locations. So, there's diminished neither the excitement nor the prospects of the BAL, which a lot going into the decision. was ready to hit the ground running on day one and will be ready to do so once the situation returns to some sort of normalcy. "While we continue to prepare for when the time comes to launch, and have a historic launch, right now that's really secondary." "Our teams remain ready and excited," Fall told ESPN. "We were ready to launch on March 13. We had our 12 teams and we were actually in the Basketball Africa League will provide job and career opportunities across process of announcing partners beyond brand Jordan and Nike. the continent, and also offer exposure and a pathway to greatness for the talent Africa produces. "We were fully ready and engaged in fact. We were in the process of booking flights fly to Dakar [Senegal] for teams from the other "That is something that basketball players look forward to, and we cannot conferences." wait for life to get back to normal so that the players can return to the floor to show what they can do," Ozaka said. play "It's important to the extent that it will encourage players to strive to be 2:35 the best, knowing that if they work hard they will have the opportunity to Chamabondo School gets first basketball courtThe kids at Chamabondo play at such a level as the BAL and earn well." Primary School receive their first basketball court thanks to Africa ESPN LOADED: 04.16.2020 Outreach USA and Global Game Changers. Ifie Ozaka, general manager of Nigerian representatives Rivers Hoopers, agreed. "We were prepared," Ozaka told ESPN. "Our new signings from the USA were supposed to join us in training camp, but they could not do so once the travel restrictions came into effect. EDITOR'S PICKS Will the Basketball Africa League be the new template for African sport? Deng named ambassador for Basketball Africa "Once that happened, we could not even train because all the sporting facilities around us were locked down." The current situation could have been worse. Hoopers, like some of the other clubs, had signed contracts with their overseas recruits and were obliged to pay despite the suspension, a situation that would have put them in financial peril. But it is a credit to 1173828 World Leagues News Dallas Morning News LOADED: 04.16.2020

As Baylor announces between $65 and $80 million in budget cuts, what does that mean for the athletics program?

By Chuck Carlton

Like all college athletic directors, Baylor’s Mack Rhoades feels like he is getting a crash course in crisis management magnified by 10. Things ramped up more for Rhoades and Baylor on Tuesday. In the wake of the coronavirus, Baylor President Linda Livingstone announced $65 million to $80 million in university cuts for the fiscal year beginning June 1. Livingstone cited declines in sources of revenues, including tuition from potential falling enrollment, research grants and contracts, fund-raising and investments from the school’s endowment. For athletics, the biggest announced change is that construction of the new $130 million basketball pavilion and practice facility, scheduled to open in fall 2022, is on hold. Because he was part of the process and planning, Rhoades knew what was coming but acknowledged the difficulty of the announcement for athletics and the university. “It’s sobering. It’s real. It’s what we’re dealing with,” Rhoades said in a phone interview Tuesday. “It’s not specific to Baylor. It’s what higher education as a whole is dealing with. Let’s make the most of it and be well positioned when we get to the other side.” Rhoades said it was too early to know how the ultimate timeline on the basketball pavilion would be impacted. Baylor was currently meeting with architects for the new facility with groundbreaking scheduled for the first quarter of 2021. “For us, nothing has changed in that we’ll continue with the design phase,” Rhoades said. “When the time comes and we get to a better place with our economy and the university has a much better understanding of the economic impact and where enrollment is and we can go to the market and borrow money, it will be full speed forward.” Regarding other cuts, including salary and personnel, Rhoades said decisions “are TBA. We’re working through it.” Much of the discussion is linked to the uncertainty surrounding the upcoming football season, Rhoades said. Revenue from the sport amounts to about 85% of athletic department income. Currently Baylor is working with up to four contingency plans, Rhoades said, ranging from a 10% reduction in revenue from a full season with fans to a delayed season to football without fans to no football at all. “There’s just a lot of unknowns, not just for athletic directors but all of us,” Rhoades said. “It’s hard to form any definitive pathway moving forward. You have to have so many different contingencies and what-ifs, and you have to begin to think that way in planning for all those contingencies and what-ifs now, because if you wait until you know a clear direction, it’s too late.” Even before the Baylor budget announcement, signs of the new financial reality were apparent in college sports. American Athletic member Cincinnati announced that it was dropping the men’s soccer program, citing the uncertainty created by the shutdown created by COVID-19. “This was a difficult decision, but one made with the long-term interests of UC Athletics at the forefront,” Cincinnati AD John Cunningham said. A former athletic director at Houston, Rhoades understands the challenges with being an AD at a “group of five” school. While Rhoades emphasized that Baylor has no current plans to reduce its number of intercollegiate sports, he said similar decisions may be coming across the college sports landscape. “I think that could be a reality for all of us,” Rhoades said. “No pun intended, I don’t think anybody is immune to that, even those that are [power conference] institutions. Depending on where this heads with football, across the board, we’re all expecting to be impacted financially. ... “There’s no one who can’t be impacted enough. We have to start making decisions about personnel. We got to make decisions regarding the sports programs.”