News Clips April 4, 2018

Columbus Blue Jackets PAGE 02: Columbus Dispatch: Michael Arace | Beating Red Wings means more for longtime Blue Jackets fans PAGE 04: Columbus Dispatch: Blue Jackets | Power play heats up at right time PAGE 06: Columbus Dispatch: Blue Jackets 5, Red Wings 4, OT | Big rally lifts Jackets again PAGE 08: The Athletic: Zach Werenski's 'scary' night ends well for him and surging Blue Jackets PAGE 11: The Athletic: Stirring comeback in Nationwide Arena a reminder that times have changed with Blue Jackets

Cleveland Monsters/Prospects PAGE 15: Cleveland Plain Dealer: mash Iowa Wild on Jeff Zatkoff

NHL/Websites PAGE 16: The Athletic: 2017-18 NHL Awards: Who deserves the hardware? PAGE 25: The Athletic: How do teams get prepared to face an opponent in a best-of-seven playoff series? PAGE 29: Sportsnet.ca: 10 types of games you see in NHL's final week PAGE 33: TSN.ca: The significance of Karlsson picking up that puck PAGE 35: USA Today: Hockey Hall of Fame chances for seven of league's grizzled veterans

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Michael Arace | Beating Red Wings means more for longtime Blue Jackets fans By Michael Arace – April 4, 2018

History came calling to Nationwide Arena on Tuesday night. The mighty Blue Jackets were playing to clinch a playoff spot. The middling Red Wings were in town, summoning ghosts. The arena was jammed to near capacity, waiting to explode.

Before the game, Jackets coach John Tortorella was talking about sorting through lineups as he deals with a few injuries when, suddenly, his synapses fired in another direction, and he launched himself on a rant.

“It’s beyond belief how you guys think that we’re in,” Tortorella said, talking about the playoffs (which nobody else had mentioned).

“I have other things to worry about than the future lineup. We have to get in. You don’t realize how tough it’s going to be to get in. It’s beyond belief, some of the comments I hear from great, nice people — congratulating me. For what? We’re not in. It’s aggravating me. We have so much more to do. And that’s our main focus.”

Perhaps Tortorella saw something nobody else could see beyond the left-field wall. The Wings had a 4-1 lead after 20 minutes, 31 seconds.

The fans in the building were stunned. They came in thinking “clinch” with a Jackets win and a loss. They came in thinking about having a chance to play for home-ice advantage in the first round when the come for a visit Thursday.

Suddenly, other synapses were firing, and they were thinking, “We’re not in.”

The more-grizzled Jackets fans had been looking forward to this Wings game for reasons that went beyond playoff implications.

I’m talking about the folks who bought into the Columbus franchise by lighting piles of money on fire, year after year, when Doug MacLean was running the operation. I’m talking about the people who remember when the Jackets and the Wings were in the Central Division, who had Hockeytown rubbed in their faces. Freaking Hockeytown.

The Red Wings won four Presidents’ Trophies and three Stanley Cups in the 2000s. The Wings were dominant against the Jackets through 2012-13. Nationwide was a sea of red whenever the Wings were in town.

The first time the Jackets made the playoffs, in 2009, the Wings swept them. Remember Game 4? The phantom penalty on Freddy Modin? The winning, power-play by Johan Franzen? The series highlight for Jackets fans came when a Detroit fan attempted to throw an octopus on the ice — and was very much dissuaded by a flurry of fists.

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That was it. Until Matt Calvert’s overtime goal in Game 2 in Pittsburgh in 2014, that was the biggest playoff moment for the Jackets. A fight in the stands.

“Hopefully, we can create better moments than that,” Pierre-Luc Dubois said.

The oldest, staunchest Jackets fans — among others — would like that very much. They were watching Tuesday’s game and, as it went on, they had to be thinking, “To hell with clinching. Just beat Detroit.”

And so it happened. They have Seth Jones, Artemi Panarin and Dubois, among others — and Lidstrom, Datsyuk and forever-young Stevie Y are long gone. The earth turns, the seasons change, time moves on.

Dubois has no idea whether Modin deserved a too-many-men penalty deep into the third period of Game 4 on April 23, 2009. He was 10 years old. He’s 19 now.

The Jackets came back Tuesday night, tied it up, and Dubois thought: “It was overtime, and I thought it would be cool to score that goal.”

Dubois’ goal lifted the Jackets to a 5-4 victory before 18,477 fans. The place exploded.

“Probably that one and my first goal of the were probably the two goals that felt this good,” Dubois said.

Bless him. He has no idea.

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Blue Jackets | Power play heats up at right time By Steve Gorten – April 4, 2018

The Blue Jackets’ power play has languished much of this season but has gradually improved. Tuesday night against the Detroit Red Wings, it produced a season-high three goals in a 5-4 overtime win at Nationwide Arena.

Cam Atkinson scored twice with a man-advantage and Artemi Panarin delivered the tying goal on a power play with 2:16 left to give the Jackets five power-play goals in the past two games.

“You saw the importance of special teams,” defenseman Seth Jones said.

“It’s been coming up big as of late,” Atkinson added.

The Jackets are 6 of 11 on power plays the past three games.

“It’s perfect timing,” goalie Sergei Bobrovsky said.

Cam stays hot

Atkinson extended his point streak to eight games. He has seven goals and five assists during that span.

“I’m demanding the puck,” Atkinson said. “I feel like I can score on any given shift, especially with the players I’m playing with (Panarin and Pierre-Luc Dubois).”

Panarin reaches records

Panarin, who also had two assists, topped Ray Whitney’s 2002-03 franchise record for assists in a season — Panarin now has 53 — and tied Rick Nash’s season record for points (80).

“It’s not a surprise for me,” Bobrovsky said of Panarin. “I always thought he was a superstar.”

Broadhurst draws in

Left wing Alex Broadhurst made his NHL debut, playing on the third line with Mark Letestu and Oliver Bjorkstrand.

Broadhurst, who has played in 282 AHL games the past five seasons, “earned his way up here” with 19 goals and 22 assists in 66 games this season for minor-league Cleveland, general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said.

Johnson returns

Scratched the previous five games, defenseman Jack Johnson was back in the lineup in place of Markus Nutivaara (upper body injury).

Coach John Tortorella said Johnson has been “unhappy” sitting out, “but has kept his head down and worked as hard as he possibly can. ... It doesn’t go unnoticed and it certainly isn’t a surprise to me.”

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Werenski struck by puck

Defenseman Zach Werenski went into the dressing room in the second period after he was struck in the back of his neck by a point-blank shot from Andreas Athanasiou in the second period. Werenski returned to the game later in the period.

“I’m happy it was really nothing,” Werenski said. “It’s more of a bruise.”

Slap shots

Defenseman Seth Jones had three assists after a career-best four-point performance on Saturday against the Vancouver Canucks. ... Sonny Milano notched his 14th goal, fourth-most by a rookie in Jackets history. He trails Dubois (19), Nash (17) and Boone Jenner (16). ... Tortorella, who coached Daniel and Henrik Sedin for one season in Vancouver, said he met privately with the twins for 20 minutes before Saturday’s game. Their retirement, announced Monday, was among the topics discussed, Tortorella said.

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Blue Jackets 5, Red Wings 4, OT | Big rally lifts Jackets again By George Richards – April 4, 2018

John Tortorella was late to his postgame news conference on Tuesday night because he was busy watching a hockey broadcast from Florida.

Although his Blue Jackets did not clinch a playoff spot this night, they came one step closer with a rousing, come-from-behind 5-4 overtime victory over the Detroit Red Wings at Nationwide Arena.

The Jackets trailed 4-1 early in the second period before rallying with two goals in the third and a score by Pierre-Luc Dubois in overtime to win it.

“That was a big win,” said Artemi Panarin, who tied it with 2:16 left. “Really big.”

The Jackets moved into a tie for second place in the Metropolitan Division with Pittsburgh, which visits on Thursday.

The Florida Panthers won on Tuesday, holding the Jackets back from clinching, but the comeback itself was huge.

“Our team has reacted very well,” Tortorella said. “People have to give them credit for handling themselves the right way, playing a lot of important games to keep ourselves alive. I appreciate that from our group.”

For the second time in as many games and third time in a week, the Jackets fell behind by three yet rallied for at least a point in the standings.

Last week, the Jackets were down 3-0 in Edmonton before blowing that game open. On Saturday, they scored three goals in 3:58 to escape Vancouver with a point.

On Tuesday, the Jackets needed a win and found it.

“We know the situation we’re in,” Dubois said. “It was big to get a point in Vancouver but we still lost one. We needed to get it back, and it’s amazing. We have a lot of confidence in this team.”

Down 4-2 midway through the third, they made it a one-goal game at 9:22 when Sonny Milano cleaned up a Zach Werenski shot and pushed it past Jimmy Howard.

Columbus drew even again as Panarin notched his 27th goal and 80th point by following his rebound and shooting the puck past Howard.

Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, who didn’t get much help early on, made a terrific glove save on Dylan Larkin with 53.9 seconds left to help force overtime.

There, the Jackets killed off what remained of a power play before Dubois won it with 2:05 left in overtime.

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The Blue Jackets trailed by three goals 31 ticks into the second period. Down 1-0, Cam Atkinson tied it on a 5-on-3 power play chance, yet Detroit added goals from Darren Helm and Tyler Bertuzzi for a 3-1 lead heading into the second.

Gustav Nyquist scored 31 seconds in to make it 4-1. Atkinson got the Jackets back into it midway through the second by whipping a wrist shot past Howard.

There was a scary moment midway through the second when Werenski took a shot from Detroit’s Andreas Athanasiou in his upper back area and hit the ice. Werenski was slow to get up but skated off and eventually returned to the ice later in the period and played a big role in the win.

“We stayed with our game,” Werenski said, “and found a way to win it.”

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Zach Werenski's 'scary' night ends well for him and surging Blue Jackets By Tom Reed – April 4, 2018

Zach Werenski sat in the medical area of the Blue Jackets’ locker room Tuesday night waiting on X-rays, anxious to learn whether his vertebrae had been damaged and another season ended prematurely.

Minutes earlier, the Blue Jackets defenseman lay face down on the Nationwide Arena ice with his vision temporarily blurred by a second-period wrist shot from the Red Wings’ Andreas Athanasiou that struck him in the neck.

A sense of deja vu hung heavy in the air.

Last April, Werenski’s rookie year ended on the same sheet of ice and in the same defensive zone after a Phil Kessel shot in Game 3 of an opening-round playoff series rode up the youngster’s stick, fracturing bones in his face.

Were the hockey gods really capable of delivering such cruelty two years in a row?

“I was just hoping for the best,” Werenski told The Athletic. “It didn’t hurt to the point where I thought I had broken something. But just the fact that they are taking an X-ray. It does cross your mind with the playoffs coming up that I might not be able play in them.”

This time the news was better. This time when Werenski returned to the ice to a rousing ovation he finished the game and left his mark on a dramatic 5-4 overtime victory against the Wings.

The defenseman contributed a third-period assist and helped his team rally from a three-goal deficit, setting up a Thursday showdown with the Penguins that could determine home-ice advantage in the postseason’s first round.

On a night the Blue Jackets rang about six shots off posts and crossbars, the only mettle of consequence was the kind Werenski displayed.

“High marks to him, getting back in it and playing a pretty big role in coming back and winning,” coach John Tortorella said.

Seldom is pain in the neck viewed as good news, but Werenski will take it.

The kid has learned a lot about himself this season playing through an upper-body injury and inconsistency that are no doubt linked. Through it all, he’s managed to score 15 goals — one behind Norris Trophy candidate Seth Jones — and factor prominently in the greatest regular-season stretch drive in franchise history.

Werenski wasn’t thinking big picture Tuesday as he left the arena, however. He was just happy to be clear eyed and focused on the task ahead. The 21-year-old knows how lucky he is to only be nursing bruised muscles in his neck.

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It could have been much worse.

Midway through the second period, Werenski lost his balance and fell awkwardly after colliding with his good friend and former Michigan teammate Dylan Larkin in the slot. A second later, Athanasiou fired a low wrist shot from the right circle that hit Werenski just under the back of his helmet.

The sellout crowd went still as one of the Blue Jackets’ best players lay dazed on the ice for about a minute.

“It was kind of scary,” Werenski said. “I was in and out for a little bit with my vision.”

A Fox Sports Ohio camera panned the bench and settled on a closeup of Tortorella.

“I wasn’t exactly sure where it got him,” the coach said. “When (Werenski) got up himself and got off the ice, I was encouraged he was going to come back. Very important guy. Forget about if he doesn’t play (in the rest of) tonight’s game. I’m thinking about if he doesn’t come back and he’s hurt and he can’t play (in the playoff) games.”

Blue Jackets center Lukas Sedlak was injured March 22 on a similar play, where he fell to the ice and absorbed a puck to the helmet. Sedlak remains sidelined with what’s believed to be a concussion.

Werenski considered himself fortunate to fall with his back to the shooter.

“Honestly, it was good my head was turned because if I was facing the other way the puck would have hit me square in the face,” he said.

Larkin, who grew up playing high-level youth hockey with Werenski, checked on his pal as the defenseman skated to the bench and down the tunnel to the locker room.

“We got tangled up and he fell, so, it was scary, yeah,” Larkin told The Athletic’s Alison Lukan. “But it was good to see him back.”

The Blue Jackets medical team examined Werenski for a concussion, the player said, and took X-rays to determine if there were any broken bones in his neck.

The defenseman did not fault Larkin for “making a hockey play” and even had some good-natured trash talk waiting for the speedy Red Wings forward after returning for the final four minutes of the period.

“I was joking with him out there that when he dumped a puck in on my side I was going to blow him up,” he said.

Tortorella believes players’ legacies are made in the postseason. Werenski is evidence of that. He was lauded for his courageous, albeit brief, return to Game 3 of last year’s playoff series wearing a full shield. Werenski eventually left the game again because his right eye swelled shut.

The image of his bruised and battered face was made into a T-shirt and Tortorella famously said Werenski had “balls as big as the building.” But the injury knocked him from the series and left Werenski with a permanent scar under his right eye.

It’s a sobering reminder of how quickly a player’s career can be jeopardized in a sport featuring razor- sharp skate blades and 100-mph slap shots.

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“It’s scary,” goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky said. “I was just glad (Athanasiou’s) shot was so close to (Werenski). At least the puck didn’t have a chance to get up speed.”

Werenski showed no fear or hesitation upon his return.

Midway through the third period, he drove the net and fired a wrist shot that Wings goalie Jimmy Howard could not field cleanly. Werenski knocked the puck from the Howard’s reach, and it likely would have crossed goal line. Sonny Milano took no chances, swatting the gift into the net to cut the Blue Jackets’ deficit to 4-3.

“I just tried to poke it in the net and Sonny stole my goal,” Werenski said. “Just kidding. I don’t care who scores. It was just a big goal for us.”

The victory reduced the Blue Jackets’ magic number to one point in terms of clinching their second consecutive playoff appearance.

Assuming Werenski doesn’t suffer any lingering effects from the Athanasiou shot, he’ll be in the lineup Thursday and ready to go for the postseason, where he hopes to add a less harrowing chapter to his legacy.

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Stirring comeback in Nationwide Arena a reminder that times have changed with Blue Jackets By Aaron Portzline – April 1, 2018

It must have been 10 or 12 years ago, back in the Dark Ages of the Blue Jackets' franchise, when Columbus' only way to see the playoffs was the Outdoor Life Network.

The going-nowhere Blue Jackets were playing the Cup-favorite Detroit Red Wings in a chippy end-of- season game in Nationwide Arena, when Red Wings players began taunting the Jackets by imitating golf swings from the bench.

The message: “While we start chasing Stanley next week, you'll be chasing a Titleist.”

It was impossible to watch the Blue Jackets' 5-4 come-from-behind, overtime win over the Red Wings on Tuesday in Nationwide without remembering the old, ugly days, and without realizing how much has changed.

Now the Blue Jackets are gunning for what they hope will be another post-season berth, and it's the Red Wings who are prepping for the draft lottery, World Championships and, yes, golf season.

“I've been a part of that my first bunch of years here, where we'd be the team trying to spoil somebody's playoff run, nothing to play for,” said right winger Cam Atkinson, who scored two goals.

“Detroit's a great team and they have a lot of weapons, but it's great to be on the other side, showing how resilient we are as a club, that we're never out of the fight.”

The Blue Jackets of yesteryear never had a player like Artemi Panarin. He had three more points on Tuesday, including the game-tying power-play goal with 2:16 remaining in regulation.

In the process, Panarin became the first player in franchise history to score 80 points in a season, breaking Rick Nash's franchise record for single-season scoring (79 points, 2008-09). Panarin also registered his 53rd assist, breaking Ray Whitney's mark (52, 2002-03).

The Jackets have never had a defenseman like Seth Jones, who played a game-high 24:49, had two more assists, and is having Norris Trophy-worthy season (16-41-57).

And they've never had a rookie center like Pierre-Luc Dubois, who scored his 20th goal of the season in dramatic fashion: the turn-around game-winner at 2:55 of OT.

“The mood in (the dressing room after the game) was awesome,” Jones said. “All business. We understand that we fought back hard and we deserved to win that game.”

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Not long ago, the Blue Jackets would have blown a 4-1 lead to the Red Wings through a series of unimaginable turnovers, calamitous bounces, and jittery goaltending. The Wings' would simply overwhelm the Jackets in their own zone until the inevitable happened.

Not long ago, the Blue Jackets would have been the club to blow a 4-1 lead in the third period in Vancouver. Not long ago, the Jackets would have had their doors blown off in Edmonton after falling behind 3-0 in the first half of the first period.

Instead, the Blue Jackets have fallen behind by three goals in three of the last four games … and earned five of a possible six points in those games.

“We’ve crossed that bridge of raising that standard, of not hoping to win … '(We need) a big game from this guy, or a lucky bounce here,'” Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella said. “It’s almost like they expect to win now. That it’s part of the standard.

“We've crossed the bridge. I think that's 45 wins for us this season now. We've crossed the bridge of not just hoping to win, hoping that we get huge saves out of Bob. I think we've crossed that bridge with our swagger — what’s to be expected with this team, not the hoping. That’s a big bridge to cross. We need to stay over on that side of it.”

The Blue Jackets are 13-1-1 in their last 15 games, and they took a big stride toward locking down a playoff spot with Tuesday's win. It would mark the first time in franchise history that the Jackets have made the playoffs in two straight seasons.

All the Blue Jackets need to reach the post-season is one point – an overtime or shootout loss, say – in either of the final two games against Pittsburgh (Thursday) or Nashville (Saturday).

But even if they lose both games in regulation, the Blue Jackets will qualify if Florida does anything but win its last three games.

The Blue Jackets still finish as high as second place in the Metropolitan Division. They have an identical record to Pittsburgh — 45-29-6 — with a chance to leapfrog their rivals when they meet on Thursday in Nationwide Arena.

“I'm really excited for Thursday,” Dubois said.

The Red Wings led 4-1 only 31 seconds into the second period, when Gustav Nyquist scored into an open net off a brilliant pass from veteran Henrik Zetterberg.

While Jones delivered a third-period pep talk before the Blue Jackets' late rally in Vancouver, Tortorella said the bench was pretty composed and chill on Tuesday.

“You learn something about your team,” Tortorella said. “There are the experiences they can draw from … not just this year, next year, whenever it may be.

“Especially in this league. There are so many ways of coming back that just never could come back before, so you can never give in, and our guys hung in there.”

The comeback started midway through the second when Atkinson zipped a wrister through traffic on the power play to make it 4-2. It was one of a season-high three power-play goals.

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“They overplayed Bread (Panarin) a lot,” Jones said. “I tried to get him a couple of one-timers and they were right in front of him, right in his pocket. That opens the door for Cam.

“When it goes (from) Bread to me, I'm getting it go Cam as quickly as I can, because that (penalty-killer) is too far away at that point. And I'll give it to Cam all day long when it's Cam against a defenseman.”

The Jackets pulled to 4-3 at 9:33 of the third when Sonny Milano scored his 14th of the season at the end of a long shift spent mostly in the Red Wings' zone.

And the comeback was complete only 21 seconds into a power play when Panarin was sprung for a clean look on Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard by a Jones pass.

Panarin's first shot was stopped by Howard's left pad, but he gathered the rebound and potted it as Nationwide erupted.

“The last week has helped us,” Jones said. “Being down and knowing we're going to give ourselves a chance … whether we win or not, we're going to give ourselves a chance. We carried the play for the most part tonight.”

The Jackets killed a penalty in the final 54 seconds of regulation and the first 1:06 of overtime (at 3-on- 4), but got it back to even strength.

Oliver Bjorkstrand fired wide of the net off the rush, but followed the puck into the corner and stapled a Red Wings player to the wall, preventing them from going the other direction with speed.

The puck ended up with Ryan Murray backing toward the blue line, but he wisely chucked the puck ahead of him into a bubble of space that Dubois quickly filled.

The Jackets' 19-year-old gathered the puck, spun quickly and beat Howard to his glove side.

Here's Tortorella on the game-winner: “It’s a great play by Murr, just dumping the puck off his backhand into Luc. Just a couple of really big plays there. I wish Murr would shoot it a couple of times. There were opportunities where he could shoot, but he makes a great play at the end of the game and it starts with Borky, just with his tenacity there.”

Here's Murray on that play: “I was skating back with it. I just saw a blue jersey with positioning out front. I threw it in there and hoped that he would get there. I didn’t know who it was. Just kind of placed it in there hoping he would get there first. He made a heck of a shot.”

And Dubois: “I was hoping he saw me. We talked about it after and he said he saw me … well, he didn’t really see me, but he saw there was a lot of space and thought there was a guy there. Just put it in the open area. It was a really nice play by him and a really nice play by Borky, too, to knock the guy down in the corner. When you have two guys making big plays like that, it’s easier to put it in the net.”

The Blue Jackets still have so much to prove, obviously. They've never won a round in the playoffs, never finished higher than third in a division … they still haven't clinched a playoff spot this season.

But since the start of 2016-17, the Jackets are tied with Tampa Bay and Minnesota for the fifth best record in the NHL, trailing only Washington (221), Pittsburgh (207), Nashville (207) and Boston (205).

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“This is what every organization wants and strives for,” Atkinson said. “Your first goal is to make the playoffs; your main goal is to win the Stanley Cup.

“We made some changes over the summer for the better … younger, faster .. and we're coming together at the right time.”

Notebook

• The Blue Jackets scored three power-play goals for the first time in more than a year. Like, way more than a year. Remember the 10-0 rout of Montreal on Nov. 4, 2016? The Jackets scored four power-play goals in five attempts that night, but they haven't scored more than two man-up goals since then. Don't look now, but the power play is No. 27 in the league … with a bullet. • Here's Dubois on Panarin's game-tying goal: “In my mind, I was kind of drawing it up, imagining something that was going to happen. It looked exactly like the goal he scored. So fast. Feet moving, hands moving. Nice shot and just the rebound. I have to say, when Bob plays a really good game, you get used to it. Now you get used to Bread scoring goals like that. It’s pretty amazing to be able to see that every night.” • A crowd of 18,477 filled Nationwide on Tuesday. Here's Pierre-Luc Dubois, sounding like a kid in an amusement park: “Since I got here … I obviously am a rookie, and have never played in front of a home crowd (like this) … they’ve been amazing the whole season. Now we’re in the playoff push. It’s a big part of the season. Every night is a big game. When you’re on the bench and you hear the crowd yelling and in the game, it gives a boost. You get on the ice and you want to score a goal for them. When you do, it feels even better to hear everybody standing up, everybody yelling.” • Alex Broadhurst made his NHL debut playing on the left side of the fourth line. He played 5:18, had no shots on goal and one takeaway. He didn't skate in the third period. • Dubois took 30 of the Jackets' 72 faceoffs, going 13-for-30. Letestu was 11-for-13. • Jack Johnson drew back into the lineup after missing five games as a healthy scratch. He played because Markus Nutivaara is out with an injury. Johnson played 18:00, had two hits and was plus-1. • Since Cam Atkinson has returned from a broken foot on Jan. 25: 17-15-32 with a plus-18 rating in 32 games. • Don't look now, but Oliver Bjorkstrand has 29 assists. • The Blue Jackets are now tied with Los Angeles for 16th in the league in scoring: 230 goals in 80 games (2.86). They were 29th in the league in scoring at NHL trade deadline, with 157 goals in 62 games (2.53). The Blue Jackets have scored 73 goals in 18 games (4.06 per game) since the deadline.

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Cleveland Monsters mash Iowa Wild on Jeff Zatkoff shutout By Staff – April 4, 2018

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Jeff Zatkoff had his second shutout and Jordan Schroeder scored a pair of goals to lift the Cleveland Monsters to a 4-0 victory over the Iowa Wild in an game on Tuesday in Wells Fargo Arena.

Zatkoff stopped all 25 shots he faced to improve his record to 3-8-2 for the season, while the Monsters improve to 23-37-7-3. Iowa falls to 30-26-9-6.

Schroeder was playing his 500th career pro game against his former team. He is currently the Monsters leading active scorer and is now scoring at better than a point per game pace in the last 10 games (6-5- 11).

After a scoreless first period, the Monsters jumped ahead on an even-handed goal by Justin Scott at 6:20 of the second period off an assist by Ryan Collins.

They stretched it to 2-0 when Schroeder scored on a power play at 14:47 of the second, with assists from Spencer Naas and Calvin Thurkauf.

Schroeder's second goal was an unassisted, short-handed score at 5:16 of the third and just 59 seconds later newcomer Phil Lane scored his second goal of the season in his first game with the Monsters after signing a PTO contract on Monday.

Up next: The Monsters close out the five-game road trip Wednesday at the at 8 p.m. ... Cleveland returns to Quicken Loans Arena to face the San Antonio Rampage on Friday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. ... The Monsters then close out the home schedule against the Manitoba Moose on April 12 and 13. The final game of the season is April 14 at the Grand Rapids Griffins.

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2017-18 NHL Awards: Who deserves the hardware? By Jonathan Willis – April 4, 2018

It’s going to be an interesting year for the NHL Awards. For the first time ever, the Professional Hockey Writers Association will be unveiling member ballots—and it’s happening in a season where many of the awards lack a clear frontrunner.

But that won’t happen until after the awards are announced, and the decisions are being made now. As I am not a member of the PHWA, I don’t have any sway over the outcome. However, that also means I don’t have to wait until awards night to break down how I see the races. So: who has earned hardware this year?

Lady Byng Memorial Trophy

About the award: Theoretically, the Byng goes to “the player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability.” As a practical matter, these days it goes to the forward who best combines a) lots of points and b) few penalty minutes.

This is one of those places where we may disregard convention to some degree. There is no reason to think that the award should be limited to forwards; it’s just generally harder for defencemen to go a full year without taking many penalties. If anything, the difficulty of going unpenalized as a defenceman should work in their favour rather than otherwise, and given that Red Kelly won it three times in four years in the 1950s there is precedent.

What we’re looking for here, then, is the skater with the best combination of quality play and low penalty minutes.

The shortlist: Connor McDavid has 103 points and 26 penalty minutes as of this writing, and he’s a good starting point for this award. If you aren’t better than McDavid, you’d better have fewer than 26 PIMs if you want to be in the running here.

I came up with an initial list of 13 players worth considering based on point production and PIMs (for forwards) or total minutes and PIMs for defencemen:

In my view, a player needs to be part of lines that outscore the opposition at even-strength to be in the awards conversation. That eliminates three names (O’Reilly, Slavin and Spurgeon) from consideration, but leaves 10 others, and a thorny conversation over how much weight we put on “the best type of … gentlemanly conduct” vs. “playing ability.”

On the playing ability side, Rielly kind of jumps out as the next name on the statistical chopping block, because not only does he have the worst on-ice goal percentage, but he’s the only player on the list with a goal number worse than his team average. With just one defenceman left, we can turn our attention to the forwards.

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Three forwards on this list combine 10-or-fewer penalty minutes with at least 2.5 points per hour, and I have a hard time leaving any of those guys off the final ballot. That leaves one spot open, and to me the choice is either McDavid for his superlative ability, or one of Barkov and Kopitar for their combination of two-way skill and low penalties.

The ballot:

Auston Matthews, Toronto. It’s been a great year for Matthews, outside of some trouble staying healthy. He has just 10 penalty minutes all year and his offensive numbers are superb, but what gets him the nod from me is how much better he makes Toronto. When he’s on the ice the Leafs score more than two-thirds of the goals; when he’s off it, they’re under 50 per cent.

Mark Stone, Ottawa. Stone has had an unbelievably good season, one that has been lost in some injury trouble and the Senators’ overall collapse. He kills penalties and brings two-way value, and his combination of 10 penalty minutes with ridiculous 5-on-5 scoring gets him the nod as runner-up from me.

Alex Pietrangelo, St. Louis. Every year I want to see a defenceman challenge for this award, and I tend not to get what I want. Pietrangelo has had a solid year on both the scoring and goal differential fronts, and he’s really the only blueliner in contention.

Evgenii Dadonov, Florida. The contrast between teammates Dadonov and Barkov is interesting, in that I imagine very few people would rate Dadonov as more important to the Panthers than Barkov. Dadonov does, however, have just over half the penalty minutes, which makes him a better fit for this award.

Connor McDavid, Edmonton. I wonder if McDavid doesn’t get some Byng love from writers who are leaving him off their Hart ballots. His performance is undeniable, but his penalty totals are at the high end of what is acceptable for this award.

Frank J. Selke Trophy

About the award: The description for the Selke states that it should be awarded to “the forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game.”

Interestingly, offensive ability increasingly seems to be an unwritten criterion for winning the award— outside of lockout-shortened 2013, no Selke winner of the salary cap era has recorded fewer than 50 points. This is a break from precedent in that Bob Gainey won this award in its first four years of existence without ever breaking the 50-point barrier and did it in a higher-scoring era.

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Hockey doesn’t neatly break into offensive and defensive pieces, and many of the ingredients of effective defence (getting and keeping pucks, preventing entry into and making clean exits from the defensive zone, etc.) also have offensive byproducts. Moreover, in an era where designated checkers have largely given way to power-vs.-power matchups, one would expect many great defensive players to have more of an offensive dimension than in past eras.

The other break with tradition has been to confine the award to centres; no non-centre has won in the salary cap era. This is somewhat reasonable in that centres generally carry heavier own-zone responsibilities, but unfairly eliminates many good two-way wingers. It’s hard to imagine a left winger

17 like Gainey winning four times in the modern era; one wonders too how three-time winner Jere Lehtinen would do.

Our approach was to create a long list based on two broad criteria. To qualify, a player had to have been a regular on the penalty kill (defined here as at least 75 minutes played) and be facing top-six opposition at 5-on-5 (by Corsica’s TOI-based quality of competition metric). That knocked our list down to 76 players before even getting to effectiveness.

The shortlist: To turn a long list short, we used some very simple but very tough hurdles on the pack. To qualify for the short list, the players above also had to a) break even or better by shot and goal differential and b) be better than their team average by both on-ice shots and goals against. In cases where more than one player per team qualified, the one with the superior totals made the grade.

It’s harder than it sounds.

For power-vs.-power types, the insistence on low shots- and goals-against rates took away their ability to outscore their problems, which meant that some very good players didn’t make the final grade. For example, both Anze Kopitar and Aleksander Barkov have on-ice goals-against rates this year slightly higher than that of their team overall; they generate far more than they give up but these strict criteria narrowly eliminate them.

Grinder types arguably have it tougher. A power-vs.-power guy gets a lot of offensive minutes as a rule, and those help keep shots and goals against down; the grinders generally don’t have that advantage. Moreover, the requirements make it tough for players on both bad teams (where breaking even is a real challenge) and good teams (where being better than the team average can be very hard).

Only 12 players league-wide meet these thresholds, and it’s a very impressive collection of defensive talent.

The ballot:

I don’t think any of these names are very shocking. Ladd, perhaps, just given what a defensive mess the Islanders are, but he’s always had a sterling two-way reputation. Brown has had a fantastic campaign and its reflected here, though I wouldn’t rate him ahead of Kopitar as a defensive player. All of these players have a strong case, but the job here is to pick just five (and then just one).

Radek Faksa, Dallas. Faksa starts two shifts in the defensive zone for every shift in the offensive zone, playing the most severe minutes of any of our finalists. Yet his numbers are stunning. Dallas scores two- thirds of the goals and wins the shot contest when he’s on the ice, moreover he’s on the ice for just 1.49 goals against per hour. Even by Ken Hitchcock standards, Faksa is positively stingy.

Patrice Bergeron, Boston. This was a two-horse race for me, with Bergeron the runner-up. The difference was context; Faksa has comparable defensive numbers on an inferior team and plays more severe minutes. Nevertheless, the Bruins are utterly dominant when Bergeron is on the ice by shots or goals and their opponents get almost nothing done.

Sean Couturier, Philadelphia. Couturier is a rarity in the NHL—a first-line forward who starts a ridiculous percentage of his shifts in the defensive zone. His goals-against numbers (2.20 per hour) are good but a little high for this list, but he’s still a dominant two-way player.

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William Karlsson, Vegas. I try not to say it too loudly because I’m enjoying the run, but chalk me up as one of those people deeply skeptical about the repeatability of Karlsson’s breakout 42-goal campaign. Karlsson is going to get some Selke love as the NHL’s plus/minus leader, but even if you nix the offence the results have been impressive—by shots or goals against Karlsson is one of the league’s stingiest players.

Jakob Silfverberg, Anaheim. Silfverberg gets overshadowed on the Ducks’ roster by players like Ryan Kesler and Andrew Cogliano—as a line, the unit competes with Boston’s Bergeron/Brad Marchand combo as the best defensive unit in the league. Kesler’s had a rough year and has been a drag on the line, but Silfverberg is playing as well as ever.

Calder Memorial Trophy

About the award: This award theoretically goes to the player judged to be “the most proficient in his first year of competition.”

Under those guidelines, injury shouldn’t really matter—the award is written to go to the highest-quality rookie, not the player who had the largest impact on the season in question—but voters routinely penalize players for missing time.

Additionally, there’s the tricky matter of weighing age and experience. Should the work of a 24-year-old with three years of European pro hockey under his belt be perceived differently than that of an 18-year- old who has only ever played against teenagers? The wording of the rules would suggest ‘no’ but many would argue ‘yes.’

The viewpoint taken here is that there should be no weighting of age or experience beyond the mandatory cutoff imposed by the league, and that as long as a player got enough games in to be confident of his talent level there should be no penalization due to time lost to injury.

The shortlist: Mathew Barzal is going to win this award. He’s a point-per-game player as a rookie, and several of his most threatening opponents have lost time to injury. We may not penalize them for it here, but some voters will.

Still, we can take a few minutes on this, because the 2017-18 NHL rookie field is actually pretty impressive. Even if we confine our view to forwards scoring 0.7 points per game or more and defencemen with either big point or big time on ice totals, we end up with nine solid first-year players:

In part, that’s because these skaters are so good. We somehow have to knock four names off this very impressive list to get down to a five-name ballot.One quick note: there are no goalies on this list. Juuse Saros (10-5-7, .926 SV%) and Malcolm Subban (12-3-2, .915 SV%) are the most deserving candidates by save percentage but each has an even-strength save percentage well below that of his respective starter. Saros would be my pick for best goalie, but neither is one of the five most proficient rookies in the NHL this year.

Connor stands out as the only player on this list whose team does better (by both Corsi and goal differential) when he’s on the bench. He’s played with good players (mostly Blake Wheeler and Mark Scheifele) and done very well, but his linemates have performed better with other options. That isn’t true of any other player on this list.

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Keller is the worst 5-on-5 point producer among these forwards, coming in at 1.98 points per hour, though that’s still a very good number. He’s also below break-even by Corsi and just break-even by on- ice goal differential. Normally we’d cut him more slack for playing on a bad team, but competitors like Barzal and Boeser suffer from the same handicap and do more to elevate their teams’ performance.

Pulock is in the same boat as Keller, but on the defensive side. He’s the weakest point producer of these four rookies—though again he’s still very good—and like Keller is under 50 per cent by Corsi and just at it by goals. Again, other players on poor teams have been able to do more to improve their club’s totals.

The final elimination is Sergachev. For all his offensive brilliance he’s been carefully sheltered by Tampa Bay; no other regular NHL defenceman has received more favourable zone starts. Despite this, and despite playing for an exceptional team, the Lightning allow 32 shots per hour when he’s on the ice, which is more than the NHL average. At this stage in his career, he’s a little too one-dimensional to make the final ballot against a strong field.

The ballot:

Mathew Barzal, N.Y. Islanders. He’s scoring 2.82 points per hour at 5-on-5, which is good for eighth in the NHL and basically the same pace as Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov in Tampa Bay. I can almost talk myself into including him in the Hart conversation.

Charlie McAvoy, Boston. In a different year, I’d dearly love to put McAvoy first. He has the second-best shots against rate in the NHL while scoring at a 5-on-5 pace equal to Victor Hedman and Alex Pietrangelo. The Bruins have a 56 per cent Corsi and score two-thirds of the goals when he’s on the ice.

Brock Boeser, Vancouver. He has averaged 1.28 goals per hour at 5-on-5 this year, a little ahead of Brad Marchand and a touch back of Alex Ovechkin and Patrik Laine. Scoring goals is the hardest thing to do in the NHL and very few people do it as well as Boeser.

Yanni Gourde, Tampa Bay. Gourde has some dimension to his game; he’s a fierce hitter, a takeaway machine and a regular on the penalty kill. He’s also second only to Barzal among rookies in 5-on-5 points per hour, at a stunning 2.63 (putting him just ahead of Taylor Hall). The Bolts take 64 per cent of the goal differential when he is on the ice this year. Just for good measure, he nearly made the Selke shortlist.

Will Butcher, New Jersey. Butcher is somewhat one-dimensional, playing just 16 minutes per game as New Jersey’s clear No. 6 defenceman. But he is a wonderful scorer and currently the only rookie defenceman to top the 40-point mark.

James Norris Memorial Trophy

About the award: The NHL’s description of the Norris is refreshingly clear compared to other awards. It goes to “the defenseman who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest all-round ability in the position.” In other words: we’re just looking for the best two-way season from a defenceman.

As for how it’s actually awarded, Dom Luszczyszyn did the legwork in late March when he looked at the award.

“I’m not joking when I say that Hedman will win because he has “the best combination of points, ice- time, plus-minus, team strength and reputation” – that’s basically how this award is voted on,” wrote Luszczyszyn, in an accurate summation of voting from previous years.

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The shortlist: I actually like Dom’s list quite a bit. There are a couple of players we could argue for (Ryan Suter, Morgan Rielly, etc.) but I don’t see anyone not on his list cracking the top five, so let’s just run with what we have.

Killing penalties is a big value component for defencemen, and neither Hamilton nor Gostisbehere has really been a regular for his team. The opposition has scored 3.5 goals in an average hour played by Karlsson this season, while the Sharks score just 44 per cent of the goals when Burns is out there. Carlson’s Capitals allow more shots and more goals both at 5-on-5 and the PK when he’s on the ice vs. off it.Some of these candidacies face obvious difficulties which, while perhaps not disqualifying on their own, make it difficult to win.

That still leaves eight players with really solid cases to win the Norris this year.

The ballot:

P.K. Subban, Nashville. Subban has a stellar offensive reputation, and indeed he is one of just five players on this short list to hit six points per hour on the power play. What gets him the nod, though, is his defensive work. If we compare him to fellow Norris nominee and teammate Roman Josi, we find that Subban starts more shifts in the defensive zone yet the Predators surrender fewer shots and fewer goals when he’s on the ice. Overall, Nashville takes 58 per cent of the goals when he’s out there, and Subban drives that at both ends of the rink—despite playing most of the year with Alexei Emelin.

Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay. Hedman’s on-ice numbers are good, but not as good as they have been in recent years. Matters are clarified when we look at his teammates. In years past he often paired with Anton Stralman and they’re customarily dominant when together, with a 57 per cent Corsi and 66 per cent goal share. The Bolts have split them frequently in the name of balance, and Hedman has thus played most of the year with sophomore Jake Dotchin (52 per cent Corsi, 67 per cent goal share) and done brilliantly considering. He has benefited from Tampa’s excellent forward cast and a bunch of offensive zone starts.

Drew Doughty, Los Angeles. Like Hedman and Subban, Doughty has largely played with a lesser partner. While he’s posted great results in limited minutes with Jake Muzzin, his most common partner has been the more pedestrian Derek Forbort. The Kings own 52 per cent of unblocked shots and 56 per cent of the goals when he’s on the ice.

Seth Jones, Columbus. Jones has had a fantastic year, by virtually every metric overall. I’m not comfortable with his numbers away from Zach Werenski; the Jackets are below break-even by both shot and goal metrics in three-ish hours away from his exceptional partner. He still deserves a spot on this list, just not in the top three.

John Klingberg, Dallas. Not being used in a matchup role hurts him a little bit in my estimation. He’s done well in light duty on the PK, and his shots and goals-against metrics are solid, but he’s had easier minutes than most on this list.

Vezina Trophy

About the award: This isn’t actually a PHWA award; instead the NHL’s 31 general managers vote for the goalie “adjudged to be the best at this position.” Since this is a fantasy exercise anyway we can bend the rules a little bit and include it.

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The criteria usually translates to the most impressive starting goalie, which seems pretty reasonable. The GMs also use a three-name ballot rather than a five-name list.

The shortlist: If we limit our consideration to goalies with more than 40 games played and a save percentage of .920 or a hair lower, we end up with a list of 10 candidates:

Of particular note is the last category on the table above: Delta save percentage. That’s the degree to which each goalie’s 5-on-5 save percentage is better than their expected save percentage (as calculated by Corsica).Rask and Vasilevskiy are far enough back by regular save percentage that they’re only really included here to show readers we didn’t forget about them. Varlamov’s even-strength save percentage (just .923) is low enough that he probably belongs in the same pile. Quick, Gibson and Hellebuyck have all had good seasons, but they’re all also at least five points back of the top-four by even-strength save percentage.

The ballot:

Sergei Bobrovsky, Columbus. Bobrovsky is the only goalie in the league with a .935 even-strength save percentage and more than 60 games played. He’s also far-and-away the guy performing best by Corsica’s shot quality metric.

Pekka Rinne, Nashville. Rinne was the other primary contender, but I did wonder how much to dock him for playing behind the Nashville defence, which is where delta save percentage was handy. He’s still had a phenomenal year.

Marc-Andre Fleury, Vegas. Both Fleury and Raanta deserve some love and I narrowly give the edge to Fleury.

Hart Memorial Trophy

About the award: And here we are: the big one. The Hart is voted on by the PHWA, with the stated criteria being “the player judged to be the most valuable to his team.” Usually that’s a forward, and in a year without a truly dominant defenceman or goalie (though I did consider Bobrovsky) that’s certain to be the case.

The biggest question for this award this year is whether it can go to a player who either a) misses the playoffs or b) misses the playoffs by a mile? My answer is ‘yes, with a caveat.’ This is an individual award, not a team award, and the presence of the word team in the criterion does not change that. If a player contributes X, it’s reasonable to view X as being equally valuable whether it’s going toward Tampa Bay or Buffalo.

My caveat is if the player can be disqualified if it can be demonstrated that he failed in some way which was directly responsible the team’s playoff absence. In other words, if Team Y misses the playoffs because Player Z just wasn’t good enough, disqualify him. But it’s not right to penalize Z for the sins of his coach, GM or teammates.

The shortlist: Goals and points are the biggest determiners of Hart votes, and since we’re dealing with forwards it’s fair to expect elite offensive production. If we set 30 goals and 90 points (or the likelihood of reaching them by season’s end) as our outer markers, we end up with a list of 10 players:

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I’ll have angered the Brad Marchand and Alex Ovechkin loyalists with the list above. I’d have more time for Marchand’s case (the NHL’s points-per-game leader) if he hadn’t missed time to suspension, which absolutely should cost him in this kind of race. As for Ovechkin, his point totals just aren’t high enough, and while he looks likely to win the NHL goals race he’s not running away with it.

As for the rest, two are easy eliminations. Crosby and Kessel have the weakest 5-on-5 scoring numbers on this list, and both have seen their lines outscored when they’re on the ice. Malkin probably doesn’t deserve outright elimination, but he’s the only other player on this list with negative relative shot metrics and he’s also the only player on the list with a sub-55 per cent goal share.

Of the other seven players on this list, Stamkos and Kucherov probably have things easiest, both in terms of linemates and deployment. This is a bit of a recurring theme for Tampa this year, in that the team has serious (or at least semi-serious) contenders for the Hart, Norris and Vezina and everyone is getting help from everyone else.

There are faults to find with others, too. Giroux has been welded to Couturier and his production is assist-heavy. Kopitar has weak (by these standards) 5-on-5 scoring totals, with Hall not much better. McDavid’s Oilers are a punchline and he’s played on both the weakest power play and weakest penalty kill in the game. MacKinnon only breaks even by the shot metrics.

It’s a very hard race to break down, unless one just crosses off the guys outside the playoffs.

The ballot:

Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado. MacKinnon’s even-strength point totals are well back of McDavid, but I think 5-on-5 points per hour is the more telling metric here and the two are neck-and-neck. One critical difference is that MacKinnon has been productive on the power play, too, driving the NHL’s ninth-best unit.

Connor McDavid, Edmonton. McDavid has been the league’s best even-strength player. He’s struggled to drive results on the power play and penalty kill, though. It’s debatable the extent to which these failings are his—in my mind, he ranks a distant third in a three-horse race with his GM and head coach— but in a neck-and-neck contest with MacKinnon lousy special teams numbers are enough to make the difference.

Taylor Hall, New Jersey. Almost nobody does more with less. With Hall on the ice at 5-on-5, the Devils are plus-19; without him they’re minus-25. Only McDavid (plus-19 with, minus-30 without) is in the same range and McDavid at least has Leon Draisaitl. As of this writing, Hall’s 89 points put him 38 ahead of the next-closest Devil (Nico Hischier, with 51).

Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay. He’s played much of the year with Stamkos, he’s been given a big push in the offensive zone, and the Lightning are a marvelous plus-25 even when he’s not on the ice. But he’s still a marvelous scorer, with the third-best 5-on-5 points rate on this list behind McDavid and MacKinnon.

Claude Giroux, Philadelphia. It pains me to leave Malkin and Kopitar off the ballot, and I’m a little bit worried that I’m rewarding Giroux for the marvelous work of Couturier, but it’s hard not to admire his work this season. The Flyers own 61 per cent of the goal share at 5-on-5 when Giroux is on the ice and

23 just 45 per cent without him, and he has 95 points despite a ridiculous amount of defensive zone starts. He’s been too good to overlook.

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How do teams get prepared to face an opponent in a best-of-seven playoff series? By Justin Bourne – April 4, 2018

Well, it's that time again. Time to pour one out for video coaches and R&D guys around professional hockey. RIP, all of you. It’s a handful of days before the end of the season where most playoff teams know who they’re going to be facing, and let me tell you, there’s some work involved.

Given where we’re at on the hockey calendar, I thought it would be the right time to go through how a team prepares to face an opponent in the playoffs (and contrast it a bit with regular season preparation). Between my years playing, my Dad coaching, and my time with the Toronto Marlies I've seen some different approaches, so for our purposes today I'll just speak on the general themes I've picked up on how teams prepare. Let's dive in!

The most obvious part of a team’s preparation starts with identifying not so much who you’re playing, but how they play. That’s what the nut of coaching really is – what can we expect from them, and how can we counter and beat it? In hockey, the following is a list of areas where teams can actually be organized in the midst of a chaotic hockey game, so they’re areas of focus for video coaches:

Faceoffs: That means identifying what teams do in the five to ten seconds or so after the puck hits the ice. You need to dial in what they do on: O-zone wins, losses, neutral zone wins and losses at the outside dots, as well as wins and losses from the center dot (yes, the pressure or puck movement will be different from the other dots), and of course, D-zone wins and losses.

You want to know where the pressure is coming from when your team wins the draw, or where they want the puck to go after they win it, or even what sort of deception they may use.

I think back to scouting a team in the AHL's Atlantic Division, and picking up a cool little wrinkle they used on neutral zone face-off wins. Most of the time when a team wins a neutral zone draw on the offensive side of the ice they win it to boards side D, that D passes it to his partner, who then hard-rims the puck (ideally) past the goaltender, so the forwards know immediately that the confrontation is going to take place here:

Basically, in that video above, there’s no point in the defending right winger jumping past his check to get to the puck-carrying D, because he’s just gonna dump it, and then the winger who was his check won’t get held up – he’ll just have a free pass to forecheck. Generally, the red right defender would make a cursory show of coming to defend the puck carrier, encouraging the dump in.

Knowing this, this AHL team started pulling their winger wayyy out wide, drawing the opposing winger — who would want to slow him up on a likely dump — with him. With the D sagged back anticipating a dump in, their D would just skate through the parted sea into the zone with possession like so:

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It wasn’t complicated or anything, but if you didn’t know it was coming you give up a free zone entry with possession and now the puck carrier has speed and there's zero gap control. When you do know it's coming, you just let that winger drift out wide (with the D knowing that’s now his guy), and have that defending winger in the middle keep that hole plugged. It’s not rocket surgery or anything, but you have to be prepared. Anyway, these are the sorts of little things you're looking for, and each team has their own little tricks they like to employ.

And of course, teams don’t just do one thing in all these situations (particularly after faceoffs), so there’s a lot of video to be watched to find these reliable trends. Those words are in italics purely because seeing something happen once or twice doesn’t mean that’s what the team wants to do. Half the battle when watching video is asking yourself “was that on purpose?”

A note I want to make before we go deeper into systems: it’s also important for a video coach to not just watch the most recent games, but to also watch games from earlier in the year. You want to find out how teams play differently versus different systems (so, against different opponents, not just against your own team) so you can figure out that, if things aren’t going well, will it help us to try X? How much of what a team did in December was based on their roster (were there injuries? Did someone get traded since?), how much based on opponent, etc. When preparing in the regular season, you don’t have time to go that deep. In playoffs, there’s no excuse not to.

Power play and penalty kill: This is such a huge part of the game in playoffs – and one of the few things a coaching staff really has full control over – that special teams get a ton of pre-series focus. What’s their personnel, in what order do they want to use their options, do they shift into other formations, how can we make them uncomfortable? You note the different breakouts their different units use, and game plan to get them where they don’t want to be. Watching their penalty kill, you’re looking to see how active they are up-ice, and if they do anything unique in-zone.

Okay, let’s roll through the remainder of the list. You’re identifying their structure in:

D-zone coverage: Do they sag low and shrink the zone, are their wingers higher, where can we exploit them?

Breakouts: Does the weak side winger come across for support or stay out wide? Does anyone fly the zone? Do they like to go out weak or strong side? Do they like to bang it off the glass and chase or make plays underneath?

Set breakouts: If given time to stop with the puck behind their net, what routes do their players skate?

Forecheck: Do they send one or two forwards? Do their D pinch aggressively?

Set forecheck: When your team gets set up behind the net, how do they like to defend, aggressive or passive?

Neutral zone forecheck: When we have solid possession in a neutral zone regroup, do they send one or two forwards? Are their D up tight or sagged back?

Regroups: When they have solid possession in a regroup, what routes do they skate?

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6-on-5: This probably falls under the umbrella of power play and penalty kill, but given the tight nature of playoff hockey, you don’t want to be pulling out the whiteboard during a timeout and explaining the opposition’s strategy for the first time. It’s good to get this dialed in early.

The good thing in the early rounds with the current playoff structure is that you’ve played the opponent you’re about to face many, many times, so you have many, many scouting reports on their systems. Early in the year and later in the playoffs this becomes a bigger undertaking. But in Round 1, it’s generally just watching a lot of their more recent games and confirming what you already know. Of course, it’s important to keep an eye out for any new wrinkles. As players get more comfortable with all their team’s systems the coaching staff is able to build new features and options into the foundation of what the team would normally do.

(Note: I refuse to accept the phrase “pre-scout,” as the practice is called in virtually all of sports. That’s literally what “scouting” is. Pre. A thing you do before. Kay, tangent over.)

Scouting the opposition is, without a doubt, 100 times easier in the NHL than any other league. You can wake up every day and watch opponents on Sportscentre. You can read about them. You have a whole staff full of actual scouts with actual scouting reports on every player. You have deep analytics on everyone. If every player on your team doesn’t know the middle name of the opposing third line center’s high school gym teacher you’ve failed to prepare your guys. There should be no surprises.

Why it helps to know your opponent so well comes back to that old expression “know who you’re on the ice with.” This isn’t even so much about the obvious stuff like “Watch out for that Ovechkin, I hear he can shoot it” as it is “When we go back on pucks we have to move them a split second earlier when Marcus Foligno is out there, he’s a tenacious forechecker.” It’s the little notes that allow players to make different decisions from what they normally would, and it’s important to prove your claims by showing the team clips of what you’re talking about. Nobody really takes game-planning for a fourth liner seriously, but if you can show that certain player constantly wreaking havoc on the forecheck, players will make adjustments.

I can think of one instance where we showed our team video of a certain player skating through the neutral zone with the puck, then cutting back and looking for the next wave of players, often successfully hitting them. What he didn’t do, ever, was actually try to beat the D wide, despite him faking like he was trying to for the purposes of driving the D back, which would give him more zone to work with above the D. Showing those numerous clips to our D allowed them to trust that he wasn’t going to blow their doors off, and in turn keep a tighter gap.

Teams use numbers in a variety of different ways, and obviously trust what those numbers say to various degrees as well. During the season you don’t have the time to answer all the questions you have, and frankly, for one game, going too deep into the stats generally isn’t worth it. For playoffs, of course, you’re answering every question.

Here’s where the R&D department really comes to the forefront. They work on both their own team and the opposition. For their own team, there’s a number of crucial questions to be answered. Who should be in the lineup, and who’s out? What’s our optimal line combos and D pairings? Who should we try to match up against on the other side? And on and on.

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For the opposition, there’s a crazy amount of information to wade through, but all you’re really looking for are the outliers. Which D, which line can we expose? Who’s a better player over there than people know? How do they generally deploy their individual players, their lines, their pairs?

It’s usually in these moments when it’ll loop back to the video coach. “It says here No. 5 has an unbelievably high zone exit percentage, can we take a look at his retrievals and figure out what makes him so successful?” Part of assembling any package of clips to show the team can come from moments like that. You try to identify some unique characteristics of both the players and team, and figure out how to stop them, or better yet, use them against them.

In the end, you don’t want to give the players information overload, but there’s no excuse for the staff not to have it all at their fingertips. By this point of the season the players shouldn’t have any systems questions, nor should they think about them too much on the ice. They should just be playing. And you usually have a decent break before a series begins, so if you spread out the sharing of all this information and these videos over a matter of days, nobody should feel too overloaded.

The goal is that by the time the puck drops on Game 1, it hasn't felt like they've been studying for the SAT. You still want them to be hockey players.

For coaches, however, there's always going to be some sense that you're cramming for a big test, and there's just not enough hours in the day. The only real difference is that with playoff prep, the work is fun. As Game 1 of the Stanley Cup playoffs moves nearer, player anticipation builds and builds as they get ready to really buckle down and get to work. For the guys behind the scenes, puck drop on the first period of the first game might be the first time they really exhale in weeks.

28 https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/final-week-nhl-regular-season-10-game-types/

10 types of games you see in NHL's final week By Sean McIndoe – April 4, 2018

We’re into the final week of the NHL season, with just six days left on the schedule. At this point, just about every night of action should feature at least a few games worth watching.

But which ones? In the final week, it’s no longer as simple as just looking for matchups between top teams or division rivals. That strategy works fine in December, but this is April. When there’s this little time left on the schedule, different kinds of games require different strategies to ensure an optimal viewing experience.

So today, let’s sort through the various types of games you can encounter in the final week of an NHL regular season, some possible examples from the next few days, and the best way that you as a fan can approach them.

No. 1: The de facto playoff game

The matchup: It’s not a playoff game per se, since, you know, it’s not the playoffs yet. But the way things are playing out, it’s probably not going to be the playoffs at all for one of these teams unless they can pick up a win.

Possible examples: Anything involving the Panthers or any of the Western wild-card teams. But the big one comes on Saturday, when the Blues face the Avalanche in a game that could be for the conference’s final playoff spot.

How to watch it: If you’re a fan of the team that needs the win, consider this practice for the real thing. All post-season superstitions go into full effect. Screaming profanities at officials is mandatory. Screaming at broadcasters, opposing fans and anthem singers is optional but encouraged. Screaming at children and pets is probably overdoing it but nobody’s judging you.

Whichever way you decide to approach it, be ready, because you are in full playoff mode for the next few hours. By halfway through the game, you’ll remember that playoff mode feels awful.

(There’s also the evil cousin of this game: the de facto playoff game between two teams that your favourite team is chasing in the standings. Fun fact: Literally every one of these ever played has mysteriously gone to overtime and become a three-point game.)

No. 2: The possible first-round preview

The matchup: These two teams have a good chance of meeting in the first round. In the old days, everyone knew what this meant: Sound the gong, because it was set-the-tone time. But today’s NHL is a kinder and gentler place, and we typically don’t see much of that nonsense anymore. Instead, these games typically start off feeling like any other. But eventually, depending on how things go, we can still get a hint of bad blood, and maybe even a little bit of message sending.

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Possible examples: Penguins at Blue Jackets on Thursday. Bruins at Panthers on Thursday. Devils at Capitals on Saturday.

How to watch it: Talk yourself into disliking the other team, even if you have to really reach to do it. Work your way up to something approaching hatred. Finish off with a degree of loathing you never though humanly possible, and then spend the next few days plotting all the ways you can’t wait to you see your team smite their enemies. Try to look surprised when the matchup falls through on the season’s final weekend and your team ends up playing someone else instead.

No. 3: The possible Stanley Cup final preview

The matchup: This is the offshoot of the first-round preview, because it features two very good teams in different conferences. These matchups are actually relatively rare these days, thanks to a schedule that emphasizes divisional matchups down the stretch. But every now and then we luck into one or two, and when we do it’s hard not to have your mind wander ahead to June.

Possible examples: Predators at Capitals on Thursday. Blue Jackets at Predators on Saturday if we’re feeling generous. Predators at Panthers tonight if we’re feeling really generous, which let’s face it, we are not.

How to watch it: Those are the only inter-conference games between playoff teams left on the schedule, but at least they feature a genuine contender in the Predators. So watch, enjoy, project ahead to that Cup-final matchup, and then try not to think about how this category will probably disappear entirely once we’re back to an even number of teams again after Seattle arrives.

No. 4: The probable Atlantic Division final preview

The matchup: This one is pretty much unique to this season. But it needs its own category, because the Bruins and Lightning are two of the five best teams in the league, and along with Predators/Jets and Penguins/Capitals, they represent one of the best possible matchups we could realistically see in the first two rounds. Also, they’re still fighting it out for top spot in the division, and they really don’t seem to like each other.

If only they played each other this week….

Possible example: Bruins at Lightning tonight. Well, lucky us.

How to watch it: Preferably without any Maple Leafs fans around, because right now they’re going, “Wait a second, we could totally beat either one of these teams,” while everyone nods like when a little kid says he’s going to be an astronaut someday.

No. 5: The battle for seeding and home ice

The matchup: This one doesn’t have quite the same sense of urgency as the do-or-die battles above since both teams involved already know they’re heading to the playoffs. But it still matters, because it could determine who finishes where. And that might even mean home-ice advantage if these two teams cross paths at some point down the line.

Possible examples: Any of the Cup-final preview games. Penguins at Blue Jackets on Thursday. Wild at Sharks on Saturday.

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How to watch it: Spend a lot of time telling yourself that home-ice advantage still matters in today’s NHL. Ignore the voice in your head reminding you that it really doesn’t.

No. 6: The Tank Battle

The matchup: Both teams are terrible. Hopeless. So awful that just seeing their logos flash on the screen makes you instinctively feel sad.

And somehow, that makes the game strangely compelling. Because the NHL continues to insist on rewarding failure with increased lottery odds, games between bottom-feeders become some of the most important ones played down the stretch.

Possible example: Senators at Sabres tomorrow. Coyotes at Canucks on Thursday. Canadiens at Red Wings on Thursday.

How to watch it: Briefly feel a sense of cognitive dissonance over hoping your team loses. Immediately abandon that and start openly rooting against said team after the first shift.

It’s the only way that makes sense. Sure, it’s probably poor form to do it out loud if you’re at the actual game, which is a memo that Sabres fans missed a few years ago. But other than that, you’ve really been left with no choice. In today’s NHL, winning the lottery and drafting a franchise player is one of the most effective ways to turn around a struggling franchise. You want your team to win a Cup someday? Getting two points in some meaningless late-season game won’t help. Better lottery odds might.

So watch the game, root for the other side, and hope that some scrub on your team doesn’t pull a Boyd Devereaux. And then remember that there’s a far better way the NHL could do this, and think about how much fun it would be to cheer for wins instead of losses down the stretch.

No. 7: The one game on Sunday night even though you were pretty sure the season ended on Saturday

The matchup: Wait, what?

Possible example: Panthers at Bruins on Sunday.

How to watch it: Look confused. Double-check the schedule. Look really confused. Suddenly remember that January snowstorm that messed everything up. Pretend you knew that all along.

No. 8: The “Please just stay healthy” game

The matchup: Your team is already in the playoffs, and don’t have anything all that meaningful to play for. Wins and losses don’t matter. All you want is to see everyone stay healthy. That’s it. Make it out of the game with the same 20 guys you went in with and no shots of the trainer whispering to a head coach who looks like he’s trying not to cry. Anything else is gravy.

Possible examples: Any games played by the Maple Leafs, Capitals, Golden Knights, Sharks, Jets or Predators.

How to watch it: With WebMD open in three browser windows and a medical dictionary by your side, because before this one is over you’re pretty much guaranteed to see your star player’s kneecap spinning around like Daffy Duck’s beak.

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No. 9: The depressing rivalry game

The matchup: It’s two teams with a long history and plenty of bad blood dating back generations. But one or both teams are terrible this year, so this game doesn’t actually matter. It was clearly supposed to – that’s why the schedule-maker saved it until the season’s final days. But it doesn’t, and that’s kind of sad.

Possible examples: Rangers at Islanders on Thursday. Flames at Jets on Thursday. Blues at Blackhawks on Wednesday and then again on Friday. Canadiens at Maple Leafs on Saturday.

How to watch it: This really depends on which side of the tracks your team is on. If they’re terrible, you treat this like any other late-season game, which is to say you feel miserable and just want it to be over. On the other hand, if your team is doing well, these games serve as a good opportunity to reach out and reconnect with old friends. Consider a well-timed text along the lines of, “Hey, hope things are well. Were you aware that your team is absolutely terrible and mine is not?” Maintaining friendships is important.

No. 10: The game that is literally meaningless

The matchup: There are no playoff implications, no meaningful milestones in play, and the two teams aren’t even bad enough for this to qualify as a Tank Battle. There are two teams, some ice and a puck, and you don’t care. That’s really all you need to know.

Possible examples: I tried to check the schedule but my eyes glazed over.

How to watch it: Don’t. Or if you have no choice, gamble. But mostly: don’t. The first round starts in just over a week, and you’re going to be drinking meaningful hockey out of a firehose for two straight weeks. Take a game or two off while you still can.

32 https://www.tsn.ca/the-significance-of-karlsson-picking-up-that-puck-1.1045466

The significance of Karlsson picking up that puck By Ian Mendes – April 4, 2018

If you’re into numerology you’ll certainly appreciate the connections between the Ottawa Senators and the number 65.

The Senators are currently sitting with 65 points in the Atlantic Division.

Their goal differential just happens to be -65.

When the players looked up at the scoreboard at the end of Monday night’s final home game at Canadian Tire Centre against the , it only stood to reason that they would see a 6-5 final.

And in perhaps the strangest coincidence of all, Monday’s game marked exactly 65 weeks – to the day – until Erik Karlsson hits free agency on July 1, 2019.

The move was eerily reminiscent of Daniel Alfredsson scooping up the puck as time expired during the Senators’ lopsided Game 4 loss on home ice to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2013 playoffs.

At the time, Alfredsson brushed off the gesture, joking that “I’ve got a lot of kids at home” and simply wanted to pick up a souvenir for them.

But a few weeks later, Alfredsson left the team in a messy departure that culminated with him signing a free-agent deal with the Detroit Red Wings. In hindsight, picking up the game puck was our first clue that Alfredsson wasn’t coming back.

When Alfredsson picked up that puck, he was in complete control of his destiny. He was a pending free agent and most figured he was simply wrestling with retirement. The idea that he was contemplating changing teams never crossed anybody’s mind at the time.

So you’ll have to forgive Senators fans if they’re experiencing a case of depressing déjà vu, because it feels like they’ve been down this road with a Swedish captain who also doubles as the face of the franchise.

Sens fans are thinking, “I’ve seen this movie before and I didn’t like the ending.”

However, the Karlsson situation is radically different than Alfredsson’s in that the current captain still has another year left on his contract. And Karlsson picking up the game puck on Monday wasn’t our first clue that he might be on the way out the door. Instead it was the latest in a series of clues that have left a trail that is clearly pointing in that direction.

It started with Karlsson’s comments about not wanting to take a hometown discount on his next contract in late November. That was followed by word leaking that the Senators had asked for Karlsson’s no-trade list at some point during the season. In December, owner Eugene Melnyk suggested that the club’s payroll would be directly tied to ticket sales and revenues – a strong hint that a salary slash could be on the horizon.

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In January, general manager Pierre Dorion said he wouldn’t rule out a Karlsson trade, citing precedence with the Wayne Gretzky blockbuster. This seemingly left the door open a crack for a Karlsson trade, but by the time the trade deadline hit, that door was busted wide open. Dorion admitted that multiple teams had contacted him about Karlsson, but the general manager couldn’t make a strong enough trade at the deadline to justify trading a generational talent.

The Senators have also stated they’re headed in a new direction, with a renewed focus on scouting, drafting and developing players. If this is the new reality, does a $10 million dollar-per-season defenceman fit within the plan? And more importantly, would Karlsson even want to be part of a significant rebuild?

While nobody has said anything concrete, even the most amateur numerologist can put two and two together here.

In a vacuum, Karlsson picking up that puck on Monday night could be brushed aside as a meaningless gesture. But when added to the list of aforementioned events, it begins to carry a degree of significance.

Picking up that game puck Monday night was simply Karlsson acknowledging that he could have played his last home game for the Senators. Players only reach for pucks for two reasons – milestones and mementos. That game carried no significant milestone for Karlsson, so it stands to reason that he picked it up as souvenir.

But the question needs to be asked: Why would somebody want a souvenir from a season he would like to completely forget?

Karlsson is one of the most savvy, connected players in the game. He pays attention to social media and is completely aware of the stories that are swirling around him on a regular basis. So when he met with reporters on Monday night, he offered up an honest explanation for his actions.

“I was down there and I saw it was in the net, so I just picked it up and decided to keep it,” he said. “I’m a social guy. I read a lot of things and I’m not reading too much into it, but obviously the word is out there [from the media]. It’s not something I’ve thought about going into this game and it’s not something I’m going to think about for a while.”

Karlsson may not think about his for a while, but Senators fans may spend the next 65 days obsessing over this until we get into the month of June.

And then we might finally get a little more clarity about what the future holds for No. 65 in Ottawa.

34 https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nhl/columnist/allen/2018/04/03/hockey-nhl-hall-fame-daniel- henrik-sedin-contenders/480966002/

Hockey Hall of Fame chances for seven of league's grizzled veterans By Kevin Allen – April 4, 2018

The inseparable connection between identical twins Henrik and Daniel Sedin made it twice as sad to hear they will retire after this season.

“We normally only have to deal with one star retiring,” said Brian Burke, the man who made the trade to bring them both to the Vancouver Canucks in the 1999 draft. “(But) we are losing two players that exemplify elegance on the ice and class off it.”

The Sedins’ combination of production and prestige earned by the how they carried themselves suggest they will enter the Hockey Hall of Fame together. The novelty of being the highest-scoring brother tandem in NHL history would demand that.

But their retirement is also a reminder that the NHL has a collection of 36 and older players who will follow the Sedins, 37, into retirement in the near future.

Here's a look at their Hall of Fame chances of some members of that group:

Zdeno Chara, age 41, Boston Bruins: The 6-foot-9 defenseman is a slam dunk. It’s not about numbers with Chara. It’s about the respect he has around the NHL for his ability to be a difference-maker. How many non-goalies can impact a game the way Chara can? He has a Stanley Cup, a Norris Trophy and perhaps the hardest shot in NHL history. More importantly, he is an intimidating presence and a player who has continued to improve into his 40s.

Joe Thornton, 37, : Way too much is made of his lack of a Stanley Cup. When you take a step back and look at his resume, he will go down in NHL history as one of the greatest playmakers in league history. He won the Hart and Art Ross trophies in 2006, and he’s always been a popular teammate. No doubt he will enter the Hall of Fame.

Henrik Lundqvist, 36, : He’s been among the league’s most effective goalies (.919 save percentage) — and best-dressed player — almost from the day he entered the NHL in 2005. He owns an Olympic gold medal, a world championship and a Vezina Trophy. He has a career .922 postseason SV% and backed a Stanley Cup Final run in 2014. A lack of a Stanley Cup won’t prevent him from entering the Hall of Fame.

Jaromir Jagr, 46, Kladno (Czech Republic): He’s included only because he started the season with the Calgary Flames. One of the NHL’s all-time most dominant players, he could have been in the Hall of Fame five or six years ago if he didn’t insist on challenging longevity records.

Henrik Zetterberg, 37, Detroit Red Wings: He is 46 points away from 1,000, but his points per game average (.88) is higher than the Sedins. He is a member of the Triple Crown Club, meaning he has won a Stanley Cup, an Olympic gold and a world championship. He won the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2008 and the King Clancy Award for leadership in 2015. He has 120 points in 137 postseason games and could be

35 helped by advanced statistics because he has a career 55.1% Corsi percentage, according to hockey- reference.com. A defensive-minded player, Zetterberg always plays against the best opponents. He will make the Hall of Fame.

Roberto Luongo, 38, Florida Panthers: Some might want to debate this, but we believe there will be little debate among Hall of Fame selectors. He likely will have more than 500 wins (he's at 469 now) when he retires, and he owns a .919 career save percentage, much of that earned while playing on less- than-stellar teams. He has won an Olympic gold and a world championship, and he took the Canucks to the Stanley Cup Final in 2011. Extra credit for being one of the game’s most thoughtful and popular players.

Patrick Marleau, 37, Toronto Maple Leafs: Even though Marleau has 534 goals and 1,127 points, there is always push-back in the hockey world about his Hall of Fame candidacy. The speedy forward is one of the league’s most consistent scorers, but he’s never secured any major awards or been close to them. He has never won the Stanley Cup, but he has won an Olympic gold medal. The goals/points may not be enough.

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