CAROLINA HURRICANES NEWS CLIPPINGS • February 2, 2021 The stat that’s carrying the Carolina Hurricanes to their near-perfect start By Chip Alexander For others, it means more ice time. Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen have been used a lot in penalty killing, For penalty killers, a four-on-three power play is as much a reacting quickly and getting sticks on pucks while being a matter of survival as execution. shorthanded offensive threat. Martin Necas has done the And in overtime, a matter of winning or losing. same the past few games while the Canes wait out players returning from the NHL COVID-19 protocol list. Carolina Hurricanes goalie James Reimer likened it to an “all-out battle” Sunday and talked about the sacrifices made Slavin, Teravainen, Warren Foegele, Jordan Martinook and by those on the ice. As an old life coach named Darwin once Jesper Fast have all been on the NHL COVID list and all are said, it can be survival of the fittest in a desperate situation penalty killers. But Necas has jumped in — “It’s another when every second feels like five and two minutes can feel feather in his cap,” Brind’Amour said — as has rookie like 20. forward Steven Lorentz, who has played his first three NHL games after coming up from the taxi squad. The Canes topped the Dallas Stars 4-3 in a shootout Sunday as Reimer stopped two of three shooters — captain Jamie Special teams deciding games Benn being the last — and Dougie Hamilton and Vincent Special teams are deciding many games while NHL teams, Trocheck scored for Carolina, with Trocheck credited with after shortened training camps, grapple to smooth out their the winner. five-on-five play. The Canes scored three times on the power But that came following an overtime in which defensemen play Saturday in a 4-1 win over the Stars and Staal had an Brady Skjei and Brett Pesce had a shift that lasted the full early power-play goal Sunday. two minutes in a successful 3-on-4 penalty kill after Hamilton McGinn gave the Canes their first “shortie” of the season in was called for holding at 2:13 of the extra period. the second period Sunday, a product of teamwork on the kill. “They’ve got some iron lungs, those two,” said center Jordan Skjei poked the puck away from Benn as the Stars attempted Staal, who also logged time on that kill. a zone entry. Staal lifted John Klingberg’s stick in the neutral zone and swiped the puck, then made a quick pass to Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour did use a timeout during the McGinn skating up the left wing into the zone. kill to “give them a breather.” McGinn did the rest, blistering a 5-hole shot through goalie “But they probably didn’t need it,” he added. “That was so Anton Khudobin. For penalty killers, it’s the ultimate moment: huge, that kill.” A shorthanded goal. But also a short-lived celebration. Through the first six games of Carolina’s 5-1-0 start, the There’s more work to do to finish off the kill. Canes have killed 21 of 23 penalties and rank second — a “They’re just working extremely hard,” Reimer said of the shade behind Vancouver — in the NHL at 91.3%. The Canes penalty killers. “They’re digging in and blocking shots and killed all five penalties Sunday against a Stars team that pressuring guys. It takes an incredible commitment to play came into the back-to-back set having the league’s best that way on the PK and our guys are, to a man, buying in power play. and sacrificing.” “Forcing them to make a really good play to get a really good Hurricanes at Chicago Blackhawks chance fits into our style,” Staal said. “Our identity is to pressure, pressure.” Tuesday, 8 p.m., United Center Some players take pride in being on the penalty kill. Skjei, TV/radio: FS-CR, WCMC-FM 99.9 The Fan Pesce, Staal, Trocheck, Jaccob Slavin, Brock McGinn ... they’re willing to get their hands dirty on the PK. CAROLINA HURRICANES NEWS CLIPPINGS • February 2, 2021 Bally Sports: A guide to the changes and gambling coming to regional sports TV By Bill Shea Two. Prime Ticket (LA Clippers, Angels, and Kings, and Anaheim Ducks) becomes Bally Sports SoCal. SportsTime Love or loathe it, legal sports betting is here with a Ohio (Cleveland MLB team) becomes Bally Sports Great vengeance. Lakes. There has been a flood of news about teams, leagues and Will all the RSNs get the Bally’s name? sports wagering businesses announcing relationships. Last week, it was gambling company Bally’s and TV station giant No. Sinclair co-owns the YES Network (Yankees, Nets, Sinclair formally rolling out their deal to rebrand the Sinclair- Liberty, NYCFC) and Marquee Sports Network (Cubs), and owned Fox Sports regional sports networks (RSNs) under those stations will maintain their current names. It’s unclear if the Bally’s name. any Bally’s gaming content will be deployed across those two networks but some sort of betting stuff will be. To help make sense of the name change, the sports betting aspects, and what Sinclair ownership of the channels means, Bally’s also owns the Tennis Channel and Stadium. Will they here’s what we know so far. get Bally-fied? An easy one: What’s happening? They will not change names, but Bally’s can integrate into content on those channels, along with Sinclair’s STIRR Under a naming rights deal, the Fox Sports regional direct-to-consumer live/on-demand streaming app, and channels become Bally Sports later this year. For example, Sinclair’s almost 200 non-sports TV stations. What that might Fox Sports Detroit will become Bally Sports Detroit for look like isn’t yet known. Tigers, Red Wings and Pistons fans who watch those channels through their local cable or digital providers. This And the Fox Sports GO app? was long expected because Sinclair bought the channels in 2019. Bally’s sports wagering technology will be incorporated Sinclair CFO Lucy Rutishauser during an investment into the deal. conference virtual Q&A last month outlined some details about the app plans. “We are in the process of developing a How many major-league teams are on these channels? new world-class sports app that will replace the Fox Sports GO app. We are still on Fox’s app and we have to transition 42 teams across MLB, NBA and NHL. The map below shows off of that. We expect to launch our app this spring,” she the teams, branding and channels. Some of the channels said. “The viewing experience will be significantly better. It’ll also show college sports, MLS, WNBA and other sports be enhanced, it’ll be personalized, interactive. It’ll have new content. features, new capabilities, more content around sports, What does the Sinclair-Bally’s deal mean for games on my sports betting, the super fan, sports news, as well as it will local Fox Sports station? have free-to-play, rewards, community-based, gamification, stats. These will occur over time. They’re not all going to be In the next few months, the Fox Sports name and branding available Day 1.” will be replaced with the name, logo and colors of Bally’s, a Rhode Island-based gambling company. There are no What is Sinclair? reported changes for on-air or other personnel. While details It began as a local radio station group in Maryland in the haven’t been disclosed, expect to see gambling-related 1950s. What today is formally Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. content in and around live games, both broadcast and digital. was founded as Chesapeake Television Corp. in 1971 And it’s not just Bally’s: Teams and leagues have regularly (taking the Sinclair name in 1985) and is the country’s been announcing their own wagering tech, data and content second-largest owner and operator of local TV stations. It’s relationships with sports betting companies. For example, traded on the NASDAQ under SBGI. It also owns the Ring of the PointsBet virtual logo will be visible on-ice at Little Honor wrestling promotion. Sinclair has been the subject of Caesars Arena during Red Wings game broadcasts. ongoing criticism for the conservative bent occasionally Will Sinclair shutter any RSNs as part of the rebrand? witnessed in its news programming and corporate-mandated on-air editorials. The sports channels and live games are Yes. This is how Sinclair explained it in a statement: “Fox largely devoid of political content, but how each handles Sports Carolinas and Fox Sports Tennessee will be sunset to coverage of social justice initiatives by leagues, teams and streamline program offerings. All live games and original players appears to be channel by channel – if at all. programming – namely Nashville Predators and Carolina Hurricanes content – that previously aired under those Are there consumer issues with the Sinclair RSNs? brands, will reside on Bally Sports South (previously Fox Of course. Aside from the ancient complaints about play-by- Sports South) and Bally Sports Southeast (previously Fox play or color commentators that occur with every network in Sports Southeast), the two full-time networks that service the history, the chief issue is that Sinclair hasn’t reached deals greater region.” for its RSNs to be available on Hulu, Sling, FuboTV and Will any station’s geographical names change? YouTube TV. Talks remain ongoing. CAROLINA HURRICANES NEWS CLIPPINGS • February 2, 2021 Why is Sinclair getting into sports wagering? happen, the need for new revenue from the naming rights deal was accelerated.