Columbus Blue Jackets News Clips July 28, 2020

Columbus Blue Jackets PAGE 02: Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Blue Jackets goalies take a beating in scrimmages PAGE 04: Columbus Dispatch: Packing for NHL bubble is new experience PAGE 06: The Athletic: Time to shine: Cam Atkinson faces added postseason pressure for Blue Jackets PAGE 10: .ca: Playoffs Qualifying Round Preview: Maple Leafs vs. Blue Jackets

Cleveland Monsters/Prospects

NHL/Websites PAGE 13: The Associated Press: Pending NHL unrestricted free agents put future on line in postseason PAGE 15: The Athletic: The NHL’s 2020 postseason format makes winning this year even harder PAGE 19: The Athletic: The Athletic’s 2020 Stanley Cup playoff predictions PAGE 20: The Athletic: ‘There is no playbook for this’: Inside broadcast plans for the NHL’s return PAGE 24: Sportsnet.ca: 31 Thoughts: What’s next for Coyotes, Chayka after split? PAGE 30: Sportsnet.ca: Teams adjust to life in NHL bubbles: Feels like 'permanent road trip'

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Columbus Dispatch / Columbus Blue Jackets goalies take a beating in scrimmages By Brian Hedger – July 28, 2020

The numbers are alarming. During the Blue Jackets’ training camp that concluded Friday at OhioHealth Ice Haus, a total of 37 goals were scored against Joonas Korpisalo and Elvis Merzlikins in five scrimmages. Korpisalo was tagged for 21 goals (an average of 4.2 per game), and Merzlikins yielded 16, including 11 on Friday, for a 3.2 average. Such numbers have to be disconcerting for a defensive team like the Jackets, especially with the high- powered Maple Leafs on tap in the opening round of the upcoming playoffs. But they don’t seem all that worried. They know defenders don’t block shots or accost puck-carriers in scrimmages the way they would during an actual game especially playoff games so it’s premature to make any sweeping assessments. “Obviously, there’s no guys going headfirst blocking shots, so it’s a little bit different,” Korpisalo said Friday, after his team won the final scrimmage of training camp by a score of 11-5. “There’s a little more back-door type of stuff, and it makes you read the game a lot. … Obviously, you don’t want to let in too many goals, but (the point) is just to progress so that you’re ready for” the playoffs. That’s the main concern, of course. Are Korpisalo and Merzlikins, neither of whom owns a single minute of playoff experience in the NHL, ready to start the postseason? Are any goalies in the entire 24-team field really ready? Goalies are much more vulnerable than skaters to long periods of inactivity, and the vast majority had at least three months off after the NHL paused the regular season on March 12 due to the coronavirus pandemic. That’s a long time to go without seeing actual shots taken by NHL players. Are Korpisalo and Merzlikins among a small group of goalies who struggled to stop pucks during camps, or are they just two of a much larger pool? We’re about to find out now that teams are settling into their respective hub cities for a final week of tuneup work before the playoffs begin Saturday. “It’s a little bit different because normally you’d practice for three months before the training camp even starts,” Korpisalo said. “It’s a little bit different situation, but everyone is in the same spot.” Dress code Life inside the NHL “bubbles” in Toronto and will be a little simpler for players, who will not be required wear a suit and tie to games. The league’s collective bargaining agreement requires players to wear formal attire for games unless directed to do otherwise by the coach or general manager, but that rule was tossed aside in the NHL’s return-to-play agreement with the players union.

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That means a more relaxed look is likely in store for all teams in these playoffs, including the Blue Jackets. “We’re getting some ‘CBJ’ polo shirts for games,” forward Cam Atkinson said. “I’m going to bring a lot of shorts for the off days and probably wear slacks or some sort of nice pants on game days, with the tucked-in shirt, a ‘CBJ’ polo shirt.” Macho man The NHL’s pandemic pause was enjoyable for defenseman Markus Nutivaara, who headed back to northern Finland after the season stopped. During the break, he bought a house and watched his young standardbred horse, named “Too Macho For You,” compete in three races. “They’ve been pretty good, and the horse has set (individual records) since the first race, so every race is getting better,” said Nutivaara, who is trying to win his own race for a lineup spot among a deep pool of Blue Jackets blue-liners. “It’s still small races, so it’s fun to watch how he develops.”

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Columbus Dispatch / Packing for NHL bubble is new experience By Brian Hedger – July 28, 2020

Officially, they are called "secure zones," but most people will refer to them as "hubs" or "bubbles" for the next couple of months. Regardless of the label, the isolated areas within the Canadian cities of Toronto and Edmonton where the Blue Jackets and 23 other NHL teams will conclude the 2019-20 season are entirely new for a league that had been shut down since March 12 because of the coronavirus pandemic. "We have nothing to compare it to, so it’s obviously a topic of conversation," Blue Jackets Nick Foligno said Friday, two days before the team’s charter flew them to Toronto. "I think everyone is just looking forward to the opportunity, and we’re excited about getting there and realizing we’re there to do a job. If you’re looking at it as a vacation, you’re going to be disappointed. We’re looking at it as, ‘We’ve got a job to do.’ It’s going to be hockey 24/7." Perhaps. But there will be options to keep bored players, coaches and other team personnel entertained and sane including restaurants, plush hotels, places to watch movies, an abundance of gyms and workout areas, as well as access to the field at BMO Stadium in Toronto, which usually houses that city’s team. Edmonton, too, has an assortment of amenities within its secure zone, and both places are surrounded by fencing to mark the boundaries. As the name suggests, they are designed to be secure to keep out those who aren’t supposed to get inside, and vice versa for those in each team’s official traveling party of up to 52 people, including 31 players. Inside the zone, there are daily COVID-19 tests and fever checks, mask and social-distancing requirements, and a good amount of downtime for players to kill between games or practices. That’s important to note, because a stay in these "bubbles" could be as brief as 12 days for any teams swept in the best-of-five qualifying round, or as long as 70 days for those who make it all the way to the in Edmonton. It’s no wonder a lot of Blue Jackets brought their favorite gaming devices, laptops and tablets to go with their smartphones. Some of their suitcases could probably fit a grown adult in them (which would be severely frowned upon). "Yeah, they’re all bringing their Xbox or PlayStation," Blue Jackets forward Cam Atkinson said, sounding like the father he has become twice over the past two years. "All the young guys, that’s what they’re looking forward to. I’m just going to keep it simple. Not really looking to impress anyone, so I’m just going to bring the necessities." He’s not the only one. Joonas Korpisalo and coach also packed light, and late in Korpisalo’s case. "I don’t have too much stuff, so it’s an easy job," he said Friday after the Jackets’ final scrimmage of training camp. "I’m a light packer, and usually I’m a late packer, too — maybe the night before we leave.

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I didn’t pack that much stuff from Finland (on his return), so I guess I’m going to bring everything I have." Tortorella brought only the bare necessities, regardless of his wish to make it a long stay. The "bubble" experience essentially becomes the longest road trip of his lengthy coaching career, but that didn’t change his outlook on packing. "I don’t care, I’m packing light," he said before leaving. "No matter how far we go or how long a trip we have, I don’t bring much stuff. And nothing can prepare (you) for what we’re going to experience (there). "This is new. It is. And you talk about it, you can listen to the (league’s) Zoom meetings, and I think the league’s done a terrific job at giving us all the information. OK, thank you. We have to experience it now. And I’m looking forward to the opportunity." His players felt the same, aside from a fairly significant issue for Foligno. His wife, Janelle, usually helps him pack for trips, but she and their three young children stayed in Sudbury, , rather than return to Columbus with him for training camp. "Usually she helps me and says, ‘You look stupid in that, don’t wear that,’" Foligno said. "The young guys are more worried about what video games they’re bringing and stuff like that, where I’m more worried about what clothes I’m going to have." There are other important decisions to make, like how many of each item to bring and, gulp, how to wash them. "That’s the hardest part," Foligno said. "How many underwear are enough? How many socks are enough? How (much) everything is enough? We’re just hoping there’s laundry that we’re able to use somewhere. Otherwise, it’s going to get pretty gross."

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The Athletic / Time to shine: Cam Atkinson faces added postseason pressure for Blue Jackets By Aaron Portzline – July 28, 2020

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Cam Atkinson darted and dashed through Friday’s camp-ending scrimmage with a coffee stain all over the back of his white practice sweater, courtesy of usually sure-handed Blue Jackets assistant coach . It was a highly caffeinated metaphor. Not only in the sense that the global pandemic has turned everything unexpectedly upside down, but that Atkinson is very much a marked man among the Blue Jackets. Nobody should question Atkinson’s impact on the Blue Jackets organization. He’s a two-time NHL All- Star, a former 40- scorer and the man who’s on pace to soon start bumping Rick Nash from his perch atop most of the franchise’s career offensive records. But the Blue Jackets’ recent run of success — the franchise has qualified for the postseason in four straight seasons, a franchise mark — Atkinson is chief among the players who will soon start to be held to a higher standard. “This is a very important playoffs for Cam,” Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella said. “He knows how important he is to the team. I just think he needs to be more consistent when we get out there, and I believe it’s going to happen. “He’s a very important guy as a killer, a power-play guy, a last-minute guy with the (opponent’s) goalie pulled and a last-minute guy defending. He’s been put in all situations. We need to see it come back our way (the coaches) as far as energy and things we know he can do.” It’s not that Atkinson hasn’t played well in the playoffs, necessarily. In 27 career postseason games, the 31-year-old right winger has 7-11-18, tied with Artemi Panarin (16 games) for most playoff points in franchise history. But it’s fair to say that Atkinson has been a second or third scoring option during the Blue Jackets’ previous playoffs, never quite displaying a “Get behind me, boys!” performance. And when you look at the Jackets’ current roster — Panarin and Matt Duchene left last summer as free agents — it’s obvious Columbus will need Atkinson and others to step forward offensively if the team is to have any margin of error against Toronto in a best-of-five qualifying series that starts Sunday. Last spring, when the Jackets bowed out in six games to Boston in the second round, Atkinson had no goals and four assists, with three of the helpers coming on the power play. Put another way, he had one even-strength point in six games. A closer look at Atkinson’s postseason career shows zero game-winning goals. “Oh, absolutely, I need to be one of the energy guys, drag people into the fight,” Atkinson said. “I have a lot of experience, so I have to lead by example. That comes down to hard work — playing with a lot of energy, slipping through the holes.”

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The Blue Jackets headed for the bubble in Toronto on Sunday after a two-week training camp that created more questions than answers. Tortorella was irritated most of last week at how the Jackets practiced and played. But by the end of the week, he seemed almost bemused, resigned to the fact that intrasquad scrimmages — while necessary and beneficial — can’t fully replicate a fully competitive game. It won’t be until the Blue Jackets play an exhibition game against Boston on Thursday, he suggested, that he’ll get a full read on which lines are working and progressing and which lines remain works in progress. Atkinson opened camp on the right side of a line with center and left wing Gustav Nyquist, but that line was shelved after a week. Wennberg’s ability to make plays with the puck has alarmingly disappeared since a brilliant 2016-17 season. Boone Jenner, a third-line checking type, replaced Wennberg between Nyquist and Atkinson in the second week of camp, but that line didn’t look particularly sharp, either. This is how it went all season for Atkinson, who bounced from line to line, tried center after center and never really got on track. Then he suffered a dreaded high-ankle sprain, which limited him to 44 games. His 12 goals are the fewest he has scored since 2012-13. “For some reason,” Tortorella said, “I thought he just dipped in his energy, and if Cam doesn’t have energy, he’s an average player.” Nobody likes to admit this in the Blue Jackets dressing room, but they desperately miss Panarin’s playmaking, and nobody has suffered more in his absence than Atkinson. Panarin, a playmaking winger, made life easier for center Pierre-Luc Dubois by carrying the puck up ice and into the attacking zone. The attention that Panarin drew from defenders allowed Dubois to excel as a physical, net-front presence, and it allowed Atkinson to thrive in his element by “getting lost” and finding gaps to exploit with his quickness. To thrive, Atkinson needs to play with a playmaker. This isn’t a criticism, just an observation. He’s not the rarest form of NHL scorer, the type who can create and finish goals all by himself with regularity. He’s an opportunist, a puck shark who suddenly appears in dangerous territory. He’s a scoring chance waiting to happen. With Panarin gone, Tortorella seems to favor Oliver Bjorkstrand on the right side of Dubois instead of Atkinson. That leaves Atkinson with Jenner or Wennberg — two non-playmakers — unless Tortorella gets creative (radical?) and moves Alexandre Texier or Liam Foudy, both rookies who grew up playing center, to the middle. In many ways, it’s a small glimpse at the larger issue that confronts general manager Jarmo Kekäläinen: Can he wait for the young players to “pop” in Columbus, or does he need to pounce while Atkinson and others are in their primes? The good news for Atkinson is that the ankle injury that hampered him this season was given ample time to heal during the four-month “pause” for the pandemic. The ankle reminds him of its presence at the end of long practices, but doesn’t hamper his play, he said.

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He was planning to play on March 12 versus Pittsburgh, but that’s the day the NHL season went on hiatus. “In a way, looking back, I don’t know if I was actually ready (to play),” Atkinson said. “I’m happy I’ve had this time to really heal properly. I can still feel it sometimes, but it’s nothing like it was before. “These injuries are no joke. Who knows what would have happened if the season continued, but I’m ready to rock and roll now.” Blue Jackets winger Cam Atkinson, left, celebrates with teammates after scoring against the Red Wings on Dec. 17, 2019. (Rick Osentoski / USA Today) In many ways, the Maple Leafs will present a similar challenge to the Blue Jackets as the did last spring. Columbus pulled off one of the great upsets in playoff history, sweeping the Presidents’ Trophy winners in the first round. It was a masterclass in checking, to be sure, one the Blue Jackets will have to replicate against the Leafs. But Duchene and Panarin combined to score 10 goals last spring. Unless the Blue Jackets can replace those goals, checking alone won’t be enough to get past Toronto, much less go on any kind of playoff run. Who fills the void? Atkinson? Dubois? Nyquist? Tortorella was asked to share the perspective of a coach who looks at his roster and wonders who it will be that steps forward. It’s a concern, certainly, but also exciting. “It’s a curiosity of mine all the time,” Tortorella said. “This is your legacy as a player. This is what you’re remembered for when your career is over, not the regular-season stuff. It’s how you handle yourself in the atmosphere of the playoffs. “I always find it interesting whether guys stand tall or you just can’t find them in these situations. It happens, and it happens with really good regular-season players that are no-shows in the playoffs because it’s just a little much for them. It’s always a curiosity of mine to see how players are going to stand.” Tortorella went on, though he wasn’t speaking specifically about Atkinson. “I’m not going to name names, but I’ve been surprised over the years,” Tortorella said. “Some guys shrink, and then there are other guys where you say, ‘Man, I didn’t expect that he would be standing this tall.’ “This is an added pressure, the playoffs. Some guys want it and they revel in it. Other guys shrink. That’s mental to me. That’s not physical, that’s mental toughness of being able to handle these situations. That’s when you find out who’s who in these situations.” The Blue Jackets are about to step on their biggest stage yet. Playing against the Maple Leafs means the eyes of the hockey world will be upon them. “They have a lot of young offensive weapons, but we faced a similar team last year in the playoffs (Tampa Bay),” Atkinson said. “We rise to the occasion.

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“I have a lot to prove personally this year after the start (to the season) I had. I couldn’t be more excited to get back, get an opportunity to showcase myself, help the team win and do what I do, and that’s obviously scoring goals. I’m looking forward to that first game, that’s for sure.” Atkinson has never had much luck growing a playoff beard. It takes weeks for his chin crop to grow, and the Blue Jackets have never made it past the second round. He’s fully covered now, though, having started it nearly two months ago when the NHL agreed to a postseason format and it became clear that the Blue Jackets still had more games to play this season. He hopes it’s just getting started. “My wife can’t tell me what to do anymore after I leave on Sunday,” Atkinson said. “I’m not here to impress anyone. I’m trying to see how long I can grow it. Hopefully, it grows for two more months.”

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Sportsnet.ca / Qualifying Round Preview: Maple Leafs vs. Blue Jackets By Luke Fox – July 28, 2020

The results are nearly identical, but the paths to get there couldn’t be more different. The and Columbus Blue Jackets — seeds eight and nine, respectively, in the Eastern Conference bracket — finished the truncated 2019-20 campaign with an identical 81 points and .579 points percentage. They also split their head-to-head series, all the way back in October, when a virus was mostly something you worried about your computer getting. Yet these play-in round foes’ paths and identities couldn’t be more distinct. One has been cutting lottery-sized cheques to attract and keep happy some of the greatest offensive talent in the land. The other watched three of its best players, including a 2020 Hart Trophy finalist and a two-time Vezina champ, leave in free agency last summer and tried to fill that gaping hole with… Gustav Nyquist. From the Stanley Cup Qualifiers to the Stanley Cup Final, livestream every game of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs, blackout-free, on Sportsnet NOW. One pummels its opposition with high-danger offence off the rush and wields its $43 million power-play unit as an enforcer. The other ekes out low-scoring W’s by cycling and shot-blocking and forechecking its enemies to death. One will ride or die with a bona fide NHL No. 1 goaltender who has gone 0-for-3 in playoff series since he moved to Toronto. The other runs out the tournament’s least-experienced goalie tandem and may need to put its starter on a shorter leash than a pit bull in a dog park swarming with chihuahuas. One fired its midstream and got faster and freer under a rookie bench boss who lightens his players’ spirits by cranking Travis Scott during practice. The other is run by a five-time Jack Adams finalist who doesn’t give a bleep if the microphones catch him cursing out a winger who forgets to stay above the puck. One hasn’t won an NHL elimination series since Miracle was in theatres. The other is hot off pulling its own miracle by sweeping the 2019 Presidents’ Trophy–winning Tampa Bay Lightning the last time stakes were this high. Offence versus defence. PP versus PK. Skill versus will. Should be a doozy. ADVANCED STATS (5-on-5 via Natural Stat Trick) Maple Leafs: 52.03 CF% (6th), 50.16 GF% (17th), 91.15 SV% (28th), 8.57 SH% (11th), 0.997 PDO (20th) Blue Jackets: 49.11 CF% (20th), 50.61 GF% (15th), 92.81 SV% (5th), 6.80 SH% (28th), 0.996 PDO (21st) TEAM STATS Maple Leafs: 23.1 PP% (6th), 77.1 PK% (21st), 237 GF (2nd), 222 GA (25th) Blue Jackets: 16.4 PP% (27th), 81.7 PK% (12th), 180 GF (28th), 183 GA (3rd)

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HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD Maple Leafs: 1-0-1 Blue Jackets: 1-1-0 THE SKINNY “It’s no secret that we’ve got really good offensive players,” says Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe. Handpicked by GM to replace the fired — no other candidates were interviewed for the position — Keefe is here to let the horses run. So, he’s teasing his “All-Star Game line” and experimenting with teenage sniper Nick Robertson on his third line at training camp, knowing full well the Maple Leafs need to outscore their defensive deficiencies in order to succeed. Toronto, the NHL’s highest-scoring outfit since Keefe took the reins, can wow with its speed, drop jaws with its creativity, and strike fear with its power play. But the Maple Leafs will also tote the burden of pressure from the Royal York to Scotiabank Area. Their star players are already being paid like world champions but are 0-for-3 in elimination series and, thus, their killer instinct has been questioned. Conversely, the Blue Jackets couldn’t be more comfortable in the plucky underdog role. The off-season departures of superstars Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky have furthered their us-against-the-world scrappiness, and an influx of healthy bodies (Seth Jones, Cam Atkinson, Oliver Bjorkstrand, possibly Josh Anderson) has renewed confidence in a group that already stunned the hockey world by knocking off Cup favourite Tampa last spring. Columbus coach John Tortorella has downplayed the less-than-full participation of captain Nick Foligno and Pierre-Luc Dubois at camp and is doing his damnedest to instill a mature mindset in the tournament’s youngest roster. “It’s playoff hockey, right? You’re gonna have to fight for every inch of ice,” reminds Nyquist. If the blue-collar Jackets are to upset the white-collar Leafs, it will be because they won the trenches. If the Maple Leafs can survive this test, however, an injection of confidence could propel them to great heights. Maple Leafs X-Factor: Ilya Mikheyev The last time we saw the borsht-loving rookie in NHL game action, he was skating off the ice as fast as possible, a frightening crime scene of blood spatter behind him. Since having his wrist sliced by a blade in late December, Mikheyev has diligently committed himself to coming back stronger, skating throughout the pause, polishing his English, and wowing rehab pal in the gym. “He came in and worked his b– off,” Muzzin marvels. A standout at reset camp, Mikheyev has washed away concerns about Andreas Johnsson’s early unavailability and injected both the second line and a mediocre penalty kill with renewed energy. Souperman could be a late-round steal in your playoff fantasy draft. Blue Jackets X-Factor: John Tortorella On paper, the Jacks Adams finalist has the weaker roster, but we all know the games aren’t played on loose-leaf. An ornery motivator supreme — and one who’s already in midseason form — Torts has a track record of conjuring sum-greater-than-parts efforts from his teams, and we need only look back to 2019’s sweep of ’s stacked Lightning as proof.

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Toronto’s Sheldon Keefe vows he’s ready for this chess match against his former coach, but Tortorella would love nothing more here than to reinforce the value of committed defence and a willingness to sacrifice individual reward for group gain. Biggest question facing Toronto: Can they get out of their own end before it all goes to hell? “There’s no area of our game defensively that we were satisfied with,” Keefe said at the outset of camp. “We fully expect our guys to be a lot better defensively when we come back here, and of course we’re going to need to be given what’s at stake.” Clear the zone quickly with possession, limit the Grade-A chances against, and the Maple Leafs should be able to run-and-gun the Blue Jackets into submission. Easier said than done. Columbus is one of the NHL’s best at sustaining a heavy cycle and forcing its opponents into own-zone turnovers. The less time the Leafs are forced to spend on their heels, the better. Biggest question facing Columbus: Can they score? Tortorella plans to inject his lineup with youth and speed — Hello, Liam Foudy! No pressure, Alexandre Texier! — in an effort to keep pace with one of the fastest teams in the East. But the young Blue Jackets have just one 20-goal forward (Oliver Bjorkstrand); Toronto has four of them. Who would you rather have as your second-line , or Alexander Wennberg? The Jackets can defend all they like, but at some point the likes of Atkinson, Dubois, Nyquist, Foligno, and Boone Jenner will need to put the puck in the net.

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The Associated Press / Pending NHL unrestricted free agents put future on line in postseason By Stephen Whyno – July 28, 2020

Alex Pietrangelo and his wife had ongoing discussions about whether he should return to the ice when the NHL season resumes with a 24-team playoff. In addition to wanting to keep the couple’s infant triplets safe during the coronavirus pandemic, the 30- year-old captain of the Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues is heading into free agency while in his prime. He decided to play. "The focus right now is just kind of getting through this healthy and playing, and we’ll see where things end up," Pietrangelo said. Staying healthy has added importance for Pietrangelo and players including Torey Krug of the , Taylor Hall of the , of the and more than 100 other pending unrestricted free agents taking part in the playoffs. The Blue Jackets are an NHL rarity in that they have no unrestricted free agents this season. Josh Anderson and Pierre-Luc Dubois are restricted free agents, but only Anderson is eligible for arbitration. For unrestricted free agents, instead of cashing in July 1 if this had been a normal year, they now face the risk of injury after several months off, which could put big paydays in jeopardy. "Being a free agent that goes into this situation, it’s definitely risky," Krug said. "Having three or four months off, and then going right into the most intense hockey you could possibly play at any level, there’s always risk for injury no matter when you play," he added. "But certainly in this moment, you don’t have the normal training that you do, the preparation, all the work to make sure your body feels good and you can go in without any worries." The worries weren’t severe enough, however, for players to opt out. Travis Hamonic ( Flames) and Mike Green () are pending free agents who decided not to play, but they cited family health concerns as the reason. The thought of not playing never crossed Holtby’s mind. Two years removed from backstopping the Capitals to their first NHL title, the 30-year-old goaltender is more focused on trying to win the Stanley Cup again than endangering his future earnings by doing so. "My job right now is to win a championship with the Caps," Holtby said. "Everything else after that is completely irrelevant. "I don’t think I’ve ever worried about injuries. Any game that you get to play, you are pretty fortunate to get to play in this league." Panthers teammates Evgenii Dadonov and Mark Pysyk are on that same page. Pysyk said he gave little to no thought about opting out, figuring this was no different from competing in the playoffs any other season. Dadonov said he’s "not scared" about risking injury.

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Washington defenseman Brenden Dillon doesn’t think he has it worse as a pending free agent than others around the league. "There’s always a risk when you have a big layoff like this," he said. "I think it just goes to the preparation for us as players in general, whether you are (a free agent) or a guy on a six-year deal." Nicklas Backstrom signed a new five-year deal with the Capitals in January and had more than a few people tell him he’s lucky for getting that done. Under the collective bargaining extension the league and players union agreed to, the salary cap will remain at the current $81.5 million for at least next season and possibly beyond because of revenue lost during the pandemic. That economic reality could mean Pietrangelo doesn’t get the kind of monster contract given to elite defensemen such as , Erik Karlsson and Roman Josi. Holtby might have to settle for something less than the seven-year, $70 million deal that fellow Vezina Trophy winner Sergei Bobrovsky got from the Panthers last summer. They might have to choose between taking less money from a championship contender or more from a rebuilding team. But, they say, that’s a worry for after the season when free agency opens in October. "I don’t really know what’s going to happen," Krug said. "I’m just trying to take it day by day and worry about the playoffs right now, and then I’ll probably prepare for free agency and see what happens from there."

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The Athletic / Duhatschek: The NHL’s 2020 postseason format makes winning this year even harder By Eric Duhatschek – July 28, 2020

Winnipeg Jets’ coach is a student of hockey history and as such, he’s also aware that at some point in 2020, one NHL team is going to make history on a scale never seen before. Some years – and championships – stand out that way. Maurice cited 1967 as an example, the last year the Toronto Maple Leafs won the Stanley Cup. North of the 49th parallel, the year 1993 resonates importantly because it was the last time a Canadian-based NHL team (the Canadiens) finished in the winner’s circle. As 24 NHL teams made their way to the hub cities of Toronto and Edmonton on Sunday and started putting down roots for an indeterminate stay, it’s clear that plenty of potential pitfalls along the path to declaring a Stanley Cup champion remain. But Monday was a good first step, the league announcing that it completed Phase 3 of its return to play protocol on Saturday with no positive test results for COVID-19 among the 4,256 tests administered during the July 18-25 period. During the previous two-week period, there were two positive tests out of 6,874 total tests administered. If the NHL can continue to safely slip and slide through all the possible complications of the next nine weeks and come out the other side relatively unscathed, it could produce one of the most memorable postseasons of all time. In fact, Maurice was – -style – prepared to offer a prediction. “The guarantee,” Maurice said, “is that 30 years from now – guaranteed – no one ever forgets who won the 2020 Stanley Cup.” Maurice began his NHL coaching career in 1995 as the second-youngest bench boss in league history. Now 53, he has more than 1,500 games of regular-season experience under his belt and twice took a team deep into the playoffs. But he’s never seen a potential postseason quite like 2020, where the playing field is so even. Playoffs are traditionally a marathon. By the time most teams get to the Cup Final, they look physically spent. Players look gaunt. Usually, they’re playing hurt. Most often, the top players, the ones that eat the big minutes, are running on fumes. But this time around, thanks to the lengthy pause, many of the traditional factors that go into determining a championship run are mitigated. Travel is suddenly a non-factor. Teams are, for the most part, healthy. Equally, or even more important, they are fresh. And so, when play resumes on Saturday, with the qualifying round beginning among 16 teams, it will be positively unique.

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“There are no distractions,” Maurice said. “There’s only hockey. Not that families are a distraction, but as you go further into the playoffs, you’ve got people coming in and there are just more demands on your time. So, these guys are going to be able to (remain focused) right through the final. “For a hockey team like ours, travel’s a factor. You get off a plane at two or three in the morning enough times, it starts to set you back. Guys are going to be really well-rested, really well taken care of and very focused. They’re not hanging 82 games on them. My list is at probably nine-to-13 guys, every single year that haven’t played straight through – where you’ve got a guy dealing with something. “We’ve got a real quiet medical room. I think all the teams do.” The NHL ran 23 teams through Zoom availabilities on Monday. Some, like the Jets, hadn’t even been on the practice ice inside their respective bubbles. But the feeling of it becoming ever-more real was greatly enhanced by their collective presence in two cities where other teams were coming and going as well – as opposed to being isolated in their own cities, practicing on their own. Islanders’ coach likened it to a world championship or an Olympic scenario, where a team travels to a city and then hunkers down for an extended stay. The first order of business for the Islanders was to figure out logistics and getting comfortable and acclimated. “The NHL has given everybody a specific practice time and protocols, so it’s really easy to function,” Trotz said. “Everybody’s starting at the same point, other than the Leafs, who are a little more familiar with their facilities. “It’s just getting used to where you can go and finding your way around the hotel and over to .” But Trotz added: “We’re here to work. We’re not here to have a vacation.” No matter what terminology people are using to describe the tournament – play-in round, qualifying round – as far as Trotz is concerned, the playoffs start with the Islanders’ best-of-five series against the . Like Maurice, Trotz believes the format adopted for the 2020 NHL postseason means it will the hardest NHL championship in history to win. “If you’re a play-in team and you go and win a Stanley Cup, instead of 16 games, you’ve got to win 19,” Trotz said. “And if you went the distance on everything, you’re playing 33 games. “You’re playing half a season.” One of the real conundrums that coaches annually face around playoff time is that they need to ride their top players hard just to qualify for postseason play. But the physical strain of playing all those hard minutes over a regular NHL schedule can catch up with them, deep in the postseason. “They’ve got to grind it and work for every inch, because they’re the guys that everybody’s trying to stop,” Trotz said. “And they have to do it for 82 games. Right now, the top players in the league are going to have a big impact in this tournament – because they’re well-rested. We’re still going to try to stop them, just as they’re going to try and stop our top people. But they’re well-rested. They don’t have 82 games of guys trying to grind them out and leaning on them and carrying the weight of a team. “I think it’s going to be the purest tournament we’ve ever seen.”

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The Jets will face the Flames in the play-in round and according to Maurice, the main goal for his team will be to stay focused on the hockey and try to ignore the events unfolding around them. But amid a worldwide pandemic, that can be a challenge. “I got on a plane yesterday and there were 30 guys wearing masks on a plane and they were all sitting in different rows,” Maurice said. “You have these little pictures in your brain – if you could have sent them to yourself six months ago – that you couldn’t possibly have anticipated. I think that might be the first hurdle (to overcome) in kind of maybe even enjoying all this. “Because as a coach – and maybe for everybody – you don’t like the idea of not knowing something. It’s why we watch as much video as we do. That’s the constant running fear in your head – that you haven’t prepared enough, or anticipated what could happen enough. And then you get into a situation like this that you couldn’t have prepared for, or anticipated.” Maurice characterized Sunday as the standard NHL travel day, except for what he called the “additions we’ve almost gotten used to by now” – wearing masks, players and staff physically distancing themselves from one another. “Players are very adaptable,” Maurice said. “They like routine, but they’re also very adaptable. So, everybody’s got their masks on when they’re supposed to. We’ve got some fairly strong restrictions in the first five or six days here. We’re not milling around the bubble here. It’ll pretty much be hotel room and rink and meal room and players’ lounge – and that’s going to be your life right now. “It’s not a whole lot different in a coaches’ life. It’s pretty much the same. You hit the meeting room. You grind your video. You talk hockey all day.” The Boston Bruins were the first team up on Monday morning on Zoom – and they will go into the playoffs as the odds-on favorites, based on finishing first overall in the regular season. The Bruins made it all the way to the Stanley Cup final a year ago, and then lost in the seventh game to the St. Louis Blues. After a year of trying to come to terms with that, they’ve got another crack at it this year. “The way I look at, we’re here for one reason – and that’s to win the Stanley Cup – and that’ll be at the back end and the front end of everyone’s mind the whole time you’re here,” Bruins’ coach said. “I trust our guys to be ready when it’s time to go to work.” Penguins’ coach Mike Sullivan, who oversaw the last back-to-back championship years in NHL history, thought that while there were some parallels to international competitions, the 2020 NHL playoff challenges are unique. “There are similar logistical challenges,” Sullivan said. “For example, in a World Cup scenario, you have to pull a team together in a short period of time. But I’m not sure from a mindset standpoint, that this is the same. “I think we’re in all uncharted waters here. I think that’s what makes it exciting. I can only speak for our team and the way we look at it. As a great opportunity to contend for the Stanley Cup. We’re excited about the group we have and also understand how difficult it is to win – and we’re going to have to have our best game to do it.”

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On the subject of star players who weren’t able to fully complete training camp, Sullivan confirmed that practiced with the Penguins on Monday, but said a decision as to his availability to play in the exhibition game would be determined on Tuesday. Cassidy, meanwhile, indicated he thought forward David Pastrnak, the NHL’s third-leading scorer, who was also officially “unfit” to participate in Bruins’ camp, looked great. Although he acknowledged with a smile: “He looks like he could use a haircut. I expect that he’ll be ready to go and excited to be back with his teammates. Be good to have him back. I expect he’ll pick it up very quickly.” Crosby, Pastrnak and any player of that stature can understandably tip the scales in their team’s favour during the postseason. Maurice addressed that issue philosophically too – after so long an absence, the NHL’s elite players might need a little extra time to get their finishing skills up to speed. “The more skilled the player we talk about, the more it’s going to take them time to find their hands,” Maurice said. “The legs will be there. If you keep your shifts short, you’ll be able to get through the game. But for the hands, these guys will need these last three or four days to get ready.” Thankfully, no one starts to play for keeps until Saturday. Between now and then, every team will get in one exhibition game to develop those legs and find those hands. The Jets hit the pause on a roll – four consecutive wins, finally healthy after a difficult, challenging season. As with all of his coaching contemporaries, Maurice can feel the excitement building and believes the NHL is potentially on a path towards something great. “Once you get over that, ‘hey there’s nobody in the stands,’ if you look at the opportunity for your team,” Maurice said, “to feel good, to be healthy, to drive at a very high level – which is playoff hockey on steroids – there’s a chance for this to be as good a hockey as I’ve ever seen.”

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The Athletic / The Athletic’s 2020 Stanley Cup playoff predictions By The Athletic NHL Staff – July 28, 2020

This might be the most exciting year to make predictions for the Stanley Cup playoffs. After months of Zoom calls, rewatching old games, ranking anything that can be ranked, we get back to a bit of normalcy. Debates will rage about which players were affected the most by the lengthy layoff. And the quality of the ice conversations will be endless with back-to-back-to-back games on one sheet in August. It’s what we’ve all been waiting for. Without further ado, here are the results of The Athletic’s predictions for the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs. We’d also like to hear what you think, so fill out your predictions here. The champion Apparently, only a portion of our team learned from last season and the Tampa Bay Lightning are favorites once again. The , as the second favorite to be crowned champion, led the vote for Stanley Cup runner-up at 35.9 percent. The Golden Knights got 20.5 percent of the vote to lose in the final series. Voters overwhelmingly picked Bruins-Lightning as the Eastern Conference finals matchup (38.4 percent). The Penguins, Capitals and Flyers were the only other teams to get multiple votes to make the conference finals. In the West, there was a split between the Golden Knights and Blues as to who would face Colorado. The Avs versus the Golden Knights was the expected matchup for 41.0 percent of voters, and the Avs against the Blues was the matchup for 30.8 percent of voters. The Stars and Oilers are the only other clubs to get multiple votes. We can all connect the dots when it comes to the Conn Smythe voting. If you think the finals will be Tampa against Colorado, the playoff MVP is coming from one of those teams. The difference was that Mikko Rantanen (one vote) was the only Avalanche player to be selected other than Nathan MacKinnon, while five different Lightning players got votes. Hype machine Worth noting, in our voting for the potential surprise team and the likely biggest bust, the Maple Leafs, Penguins and Stars got multiple votes in both categories. Qualifying Round Let’s be honest, this don’t-call-it-the-playoffs qualifying round to open the NHL’s return could be the best thing to come out of the new format. There will be games all day, teams could be eliminated before you figure out where to stream the games and it ends with one of the “losers” getting the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NHL Draft. In a normal year, picking who will win a series is tough. These best-of-5 series could be impossible, which shows in the split-voting for most of the eight series. But I did say most … fans in Montreal and Chicago should direct all complaints to the comments section when Carey Price gets hot to shut out the Penguins, or Patrick Kane outshines Connor McDavid.

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The Athletic / ‘There is no playbook for this’: Inside broadcast plans for the NHL’s return By Dan Robson – July 28, 2020

When was young he’d listen to broadcasters like and call hockey games over the radio. With less background noise to fill the air than we’re used to on television today, the voices of those legendary broadcasters carried an intimacy — a connection to the listener who experienced the game through the melody they added to the game’s rhythm. As the NHL returns to empty arenas from its months-long pause because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Cuthbert will experience what he considers to be the “unique responsibility” of narrating the game’s stories in a way that feels much closer to the kind of broadcasts he grew up on. “I always wanted to be that voice that was bringing the game to you,” Cuthbert said. “I think because there’s nobody in the building, it’s going to feel a little bit different, old school … There’s going to be a different feel to the connection between broadcaster and fan.” In June, Cuthbert joined Sportsnet after 15 years calling games for rival TSN, as well as NBC — and will be the voice of the network’s Western broadcasts when the NHL returns to play on Aug. 1. It’s only one of the many changes that viewers can expect. With the NHL’s qualifying round and Stanley Cup playoffs taking place entirely in Edmonton and Toronto, hockey broadcasting is entering relatively unknown territory. As the sports world screeched to a halt, Rob Corte, vice president of Sportsnet and NHL production, found himself busier than ever as the network grappled with the uncertainty of a potential return of pro sports and the safety concerns of producing those live events during a pandemic. “What we’ve been dealing with is so unknown and there is no playbook for this,” Corte says. One of the new factors Sportsnet has had to consider is collaboration. When the NHL announced its full plans to return to play in two hub cities, Sportsnet — the league’s national rights holder in Canada — was given the responsibility of producing the world feed for all of the games taking place in Edmonton. NBC will produce the world feed out of Toronto. Under these unusual circumstances, both networks are effectively working for the NHL, producing generic feeds — just pictures and audio — that the NHL’s other broadcast partners will pick up and make their own, adding their unique commentary, score bug, graphics, music and other features. “They’re going to produce a game that, no matter what network takes it, the game itself is covered,” Corte said. That means the NHL broadcasts will have more of an Olympic feel than fans are used to. The storylines presented will be skewed to a more balanced perspective on the ice, with both teams being featured — so that the other broadcast partners have what they need to tailor the feed for their audiences.

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For Sportsnet, that means there will be a small team of regular employees and technical freelancers on- site in Edmonton producing the world feed, while the bells and whistles of the broadcast Canadian viewers will see are packaged back at Sportsnet’s studios at CBC headquarters in Toronto. Three control rooms will be set up — with one producing all of the games involving Canadian teams in the Western Conference, one in charge of games involving Canadian teams in the Eastern Conference and the other taking care of the in-studio panel. Every game of the qualifying round and the playoffs will be on Sportsnet, as part of its national-rights-holder package. (The network will air outside feeds for games that do not involve Canadian teams). Logistics aside, safety has been another major concern. Corte is part of a weekly discussion with other sports broadcasters around the globe, dubbed Clean Freaks, to discuss what has worked and what hasn’t as sports have returned from Australia to Europe. To limit exposure through travel, only about a dozen Sportsnet production employees will be on-site in Edmonton. Working in conjunction with Dome Productions, there will be another 40 freelance technicians on-site. Anyone working inside the broadcast trucks on-site will be physically distanced, meaning fewer people will be allowed in the same space. Each person will wear a mask, Corte says. Back in the Toronto studio, the control rooms have been retrofitted to adhere to strict health and safety protocols. Plexiglass dividers have been put up between work stations, which have been spread out — again, allowing fewer people to operate in a confined space, Corte said. Strict protocols regarding mask- wearing and hand sanitization will also be enforced. At ice level, the empty arenas will provide new challenges and opportunities for the networks. Without fans in the stands, there are fewer restrictions around where cameras can be located. Sportsnet’s crew arrived in Edmonton late last week and will begin experimenting with different camera positions at , potentially finding new vantage points for viewers. There will be 32 cameras in each arena, which is 12 more than usual. The network is also using a new camera attached to the scoreboard, which will have a long arm that can swing from above with the action of the game below. The director will be able to tailor the narrative of the game through a unilateral camera that will be located in both venues but will be operated remotely by the control room at Sportsnet’s studio. It will allow the director to cut away from the generic feed to Sportsnet’s unique camera, focusing on a specific player that the commentators are discussing, for example. “That will be the way we tell our stories,” Corte said. Initially, there were discussions about doing play-by-play and analysis from the studio in Toronto (as will be the case for Sportsnet’s Blue Jays broadcasts because all of the team’s games will be in the U.S.) “They weren’t going to allow us in the building at first,” Cuthbert said. “I know and I were vocal about how important it would be to have one quote-unquote essential broadcast crew for each national network in the building.” Cuthbert will be based in Edmonton, calling the Western Conference games alongside analyst Louie DeBrusk. Hughson will be in Toronto, calling the Eastern Conference games with . None of the broadcasters will be inside the NHL’s hub city bubbles.

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“That’s the one downside for me,” Cuthbert said. “I really appreciate the contact you make between players and coaches, especially our little 10-minute meetings before a game between coaches, which I find invaluable. I really lean on those, that firsthand stuff is really important for me.” Exactly what sounds will accompany the audio of the play-by-play announcers is still being determined. Sportsnet is considering the option of using a soundtrack of fans to augment the live-game experience, much like the Premier League has done, but is not married to the idea. The crowd noise will be supplied by EA Sports, the NHL said. The league has also announced that each team will have individual chants, sounds and videos unique to each team’s home venue. There will also likely be microphones on some players, coaches and referees during the broadcast, which will provide more authentic sound from the action of the game. (For the same reason, there will be a five-second delay in the broadcast). “There’ll be a combination. There are plans and things being worked on to add some augmented sound, including crowd noise, things like that. We’re going to experiment on-site,” Corte said. “If it works, I think it’ll be really good for the broadcast, and it’ll give it more of a traditional sound to the broadcast. But until we actually get on-site and experiment with it, then we’ll know for sure how much we’re going to use.” Either way, Cuthbert still anticipates that the play-by-play call will still carry more weight than he’s ever experienced, with the disadvantage of not being able to feed off the energy of a rink full of roaring fans. “That to me is as big an adjustment as anything because when a building’s going off, I love to use that audio as part of the broadcast and, you know, kind of let that crowd ride it as much as you can,” Cuthbert said. “It’s going to be different and I’m not sure, really, what the call is going to be like because of that.” One way it will be different, he says, is that he will likely be much more aware of the people watching outside of the building than usual. “I feel like there’s more of a collective atmosphere that we’re all anxious for this to come back,” he said. “And I may be more conscious of that than I normally would be.” On top of that heightened awareness, Cuthbert will also have to deal with his shift to a new team. He’ll only have a couple of exhibition games to get into a rhythm with DeBrusk, who he hasn’t been in the booth with before — and still might not be. “I’m still not sure if he’s going to be six feet away from me or whether he’s going to be closer to the ice,” Cuthbert said. There are many unknowns — and likely many changes to come over the next couple of months, assuming the protocols the NHL has put in place to keep COVID-19 outside of its bubbles are effective. If so, it will mean a frantic pace of games. “The thing that viewers have to remember is how the games are presented on Day 1 isn’t necessarily how the games are going to be presented as we move through the playoffs, and we get to the Stanley Cup Finals because there’s going to be a lot of experimentation,” Corte said. “It’s going to be an evolving product.” One thing that won’t change is the voices telling you the story of hockey’s most unpredictable, unlikely season. With Sportsnet covering all of the games involving Canadian teams, Cuthbert will call two a day

22 through most of the qualifying round, something he is comfortable with thanks to his experience of calling games at the Olympics. “You’re certainly going to have the responsibility of not making people tired of your voice,” he said. But he hopes, too, that hockey’s return will feel something akin to comforting memories of those long- ago games when a broadcast felt like a story, capturing imaginations looking to stand next to the action. You’ll hear the players more, the cracks and thuds, the cheers of teammates — the sounds of a game as it is played in small rinks everywhere. “We’re going to learn as we go,” Cuthbert said. “But I know walking into the building, it’s going to sound like a Monday night beer league game … but with the best players in the world.”

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Sportsnet.ca / 31 Thoughts: What’s next for Coyotes, Chayka after split? By – July 28, 2020

A week of actual hockey — can’t tell you how excited I am. But first, more Coyotes. After a crazy weekend of twists, turns and swerves that deserve a 13-part Netflix series, unanswered questions remain. Let’s try (and mostly fail) to solve them: Q: What exactly is this job John Chayka’s been offered? A: From what I understand, it is a major position in an organization that owns teams in more than one sport. The leader in the clubhouse is New Jersey. David Blitzer and Joshua Harris, owners of the Devils, also run the Philadelphia 76ers and Crystal Palace of the English Premier League, and are serious bidders for the New York Mets. My theory is that this is some kind of analytics/sports science/leadership position across some or all of those (potential) platforms. But I’d be lying if I claimed I knew the exact role. Another of my theories is Chayka knows how to speak “ownership language.” Ask any GM — they will tell you managing up is more critical than ever. He started an analytics company. He and his wife own 14 Wendy’s franchises. He played a big role in convincing Alex Meruelo to buy the Coyotes (a major reason Meruelo is so angry). Q: Why would he quit right before the playoffs? A: The timing is awful, completely foreign to what sports are (and should be) about. The only logical explanation I’ve been given is that Chayka was given legal advice to do it this way. “Like him or not,” another NHL exec said, “he’s detailed. There’s a reason.” I assume we’ll find out in the future. When the Coyotes were approached for permission, no one knew if we’d even be playing. There was an extremely awkward phone/Zoom hockey staff meeting last week where president and CEO Xavier Gutierrez got on the line and asked Chayka to declare his long-term commitment to the franchise. Chayka was so uncomfortable with being put on the spot that he gave a halfhearted response. That’s when everyone realized how bad it was. Q: Could NHL commissioner block him from taking the job, as Arizona is requesting? A: Bettman’s been pulling all-nighters dragging the NHL towards game action, so this is not his top priority. The Coyotes accused Chayka of lying. It’s going to come down to what’s in writing. Then again, as another executive said, “What are the chances (Bettman) doesn’t know about this already?” The exec brought up Peter Chiarelli’s 2006 hiring in Boston, where the new GM wasn’t allowed to officially join the Bruins from Ottawa until 15 days after free agency began. Q: Is this all cover for the fact that Chayka’s really being punished for illegally testing draft-eligible players? A: There are GMs who want blood, but they’re coming around to the fact that the investigation has nothing to do with what happened here. This is about a broken relationship. Several times, the Coyotes have indicated they do not believe they are facing serious penalties. And will the league punish Arizona now that Chayka’s gone? (See New Jersey/.)

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Q: Where is Arizona going in the front office? A: We know Steve Sullivan is interim GM. The organization will give him every opportunity to show he deserves the full-time position. His ascendance could mean good things for Scott Walker, the team’s special assistant to the GM. They are close. The wild card is owner Alex Meruelo’s son, Alex Jr. How big a role will he be taking? That’s one to keep an eye on. and Elliotte Friedman talk to a lot of people around the hockey world, and then they tell listeners all about what they’ve heard and what they think about it. 31 THOUGHTS 1. I think the Coyotes’ offer to Taylor Hall was five years, $7.25-million AAV. That’s not a final offer from what I can tell, and we’ll see if they become more aggressive. I think situation is as important to Hall as anything. 2. The Peter Chiarelli-to-Arizona rumours have been out there for awhile, but it’s hard to see that happening while re-signing Hall is an option. 3. The Toronto Maple Leafs were 3-0 to start the 1999-2000 season. Game 4 was in Ottawa, and Steve Sullivan’s family was there to see him play. He didn’t have a point yet, but wasn’t expecting to be removed from a winning lineup. However, head coach Pat Quinn decided to scratch him. Sullivan, in the words of one teammate, “lost it.” He told the intimidating Quinn that he’d had enough and wanted out. Eleven days later, the Maple Leafs signed Dmitri Khristich and needed a roster spot. Sullivan went on waivers. Claimed by Chicago, he lasted 808 more games, compiling 631 points. Big heart. 4. I was very surprised the NBA let Clippers guard Lou Williams return after he went to a, uh, gentleman’s club during an excused absence. The NHL’s Stage IV protocols threaten stiff penalties (fines, draft picks) for teams whose players violate bubble sanctity, and Bettman made it very clear during one Zoom call that he wouldn’t hesitate to use them because so much money could be wasted by carelessness. In any case, it’s a good thing there are no such clubs in Edmonton or Toronto…. 5. Bettman, asked who had the ultimate authority to decide if a player is fit to play: “Well, I guess in the final analysis it may be me, but I’m going to defer to the medical people, both from the governmental authorities and our own medical people in conjunction with the Players’ Association. I am not going to be making the medical decisions. I’ll be taking the guidance, but I suppose it’s my authority that determines ultimately who plays in our games and who doesn’t.” From the Stanley Cup Qualifiers to the Stanley Cup Final, livestream every game of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs, blackout-free, on Sportsnet NOW. 6. The NBA and that league’s union negotiated what slogans were allowed on the back of each player’s jersey instead of their last name. NHLers are allowed to customize helmet and uniform decals with hashtags “#ISkateFor” and “#WeSkateFor.” They fill out the remainder of that sentence. Asked both the NHL and NHLPA if there was any negotiation over “acceptable” terms and was told no. 7. The NHL is estimating there will be 66 minutes once the ice is clear after one game to the end of the next game’s warm-up. Plan your schedules accordingly. 8. Logic trivia question: When NHL teams were suggesting ideas for CBA negotiations, one of them recommended a “flex cap.” The idea was that clubs would be permitted to roll over any extra cap room

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from year to year, allowing them to long-term plan for their own individual circumstances over periods of time. If you know you have some major signings in the future, you can create extra room in advance. Or, if you’re rebuilding, you can bank cap space for when you expect to be better. So, here’s the challenge: Can you guess which team suggested it? (It makes sense for them, in particular.) 9. It was reported that the finalists for the Devils’ GM job — which went to Tom Fitzgerald — were Mike Futa and Laurence Gilman. Heard that among other interviewees were Mark Hunter, Colorado’s Chris MacFarland and Ed Olczyk. 10. One NHL exec and I have been joking with each other about how many players were reported to have shown up in great shape or looked dynamite in practices/scrimmages. Everyone’s excited to be back (even reporters), so enthusiasm reigns. That’s not a bad thing after months of crappy news. But if there was one player who seemed to particularly benefit from a rest, the name I heard a bit more than others was ’s Quinn Hughes. 11. I begged out of the Sportsnet predictions article (coming Tuesday), because a) predictions are stupid, and b) does anyone really know anything about this season? However, there are some storylines. For one: How patient will coaches be? The top four seeds in each conference can afford to relax a little, but the other eight have zero room for error. How many bad games does a skater — or even worse — a goalie, get? Brian Burke believes the top four have a huge advantage, and one example is the situations involving ’s injury and Boston’s “exposure,” particularly when it comes to David Pastrnak. Teams in the play-ins would be panicking, but the Lightning and Bruins have the benefit of time. 12. Stamkos and Sidney Crosby are both believe to have abdominal core issues. Will there be concerns with that type of player taking the ice in August? On a conference call last week, Colin Campbell said he was not worried about excess heat in the hub buildings. “The real problem is when the doors open in a facility and the fans come in, with their body heat,” said the NHL’s Executive Vice President and Director of Hockey Operations. “We have no concerns about the ice conditions, and we’ve talked with our ice guys in depth about this.” The other concern — and it’s more early than later in these playoffs — is usage. There are going to be a lot of games chopping up the ice in a short time. 13. Not-so-obvious situations to WATCH: Andreas Athanasiou, Edmonton. The Oilers forward is a restricted free agent, with arbitration rights. With fiscal responsibility rammed into the new CBA, this is the kind of situation where things could be tight for the team. Can the Oilers make his arb number work? Players decide. The way they play determines the choices you make. 14. Thomas Greiss and Semyon Varlamov, Islanders. We know Ilya Sorokin’s going to be a factor next year. Varlamov still has term and Greiss is a UFA, so the obvious move is the former stays and the latter walks. But New York faces a cap crunch. What if Greiss outplays his partner? Could they offer him a friendlier deal and try to move Varlamov? 15. Mikael Granlund, Nashville. I’ve been doing an informal poll, asking what will be the first real trendsetting contract of the new CBA. There’ve been a couple of votes for the Predators’ forward. He’s a talented player in a time of tightness. Can he ramp up his value?

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16. Mikko Koivu, Minnesota. Is this it for the determined Wild captain? 17. Evgenii Dadonov and Mike Hoffman, Florida. The Panthers are expected to cut payroll. They’re both free agents. Hoffman had 29 goals this year, Dadonov 25. 18. More obvious situations to WATCH: Matt Murray and Tristan Jarry, Pittsburgh. Penguins GM Jim Rutherford on Murray: “He started slow, but he was coming on the second half. You can always find ways to move money around … at a different position and keep both goalies. I don’t think it needs to boil down to people automatically thinking that Matt Murray’s the guy who needs to leave Pittsburgh.” 19. David Rittich and Cam Talbot, Calgary. Do they convince the Flames not to try something bold in net? And how will on-ice performance dictate decisions to be made in Tampa Bay, Toronto and Vancouver? 20. Rutherford, asked if there will be any Evgeni Malkin trade rumours this summer: “Only if somebody makes them up.” 21. Other votes for the first “trendsetting contract” of the CBA: Mathew Barzal got the most. Carter Hart had a few. Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson didn’t get as many as I thought, because the conventional wisdom is they’ll wait. We’ll see. Among UFAs, it was Alex Pietrangelo. Many players are going to get squeezed, but no one thinks he will — unless he chooses to do so. 22. Something I learned last week: Adidas does not automatically get the rights to create an NHL team’s jersey. “It is not a rite of passage,” Dan Near, Adidas’ Global Head of Hockey & Lacrosse, said last week. “You have to be interviewed and selected for it. All of the (major) event jerseys default to us. (But) teams can go elsewhere.” Adidas did work with on its jersey, part of a spectacular Thursday reveal that gave us some fun in the middle of all this. What about the Kraken’s process really stood out to Near? “In every meeting, someone asked, ‘Could you imagine a player lifting the Stanley Cup with this jersey?’” he answered. “They wanted to make sure it could stand the test of time.” “That goes back to when was here,” said Heidi Dettmer, Seattle’s Vice President of Marketing. (Tippett worked for the expansion team before returning to the bench in Edmonton.) “Right from the beginning, we knew the hockey side of the business was going to play a big role in our brand’s identity.” Senior Writer Ryan Dixon and NHL Editor Rory Boylen always give it 110%, but never rely on clichés when it comes to podcasting. Instead, they use a mix of facts, fun and a varied group of hockey voices to cover Canada’s most beloved game. 23. I’ve never seen a wimpy Kraken in any Clash of the Titans or Pirates of the Caribbean film, so I’m not sure such a creature exists. This one wasn’t going to be the first. “This was not going to be a joke, not a cartoon to laugh at,” Near said. “They discussed how, when you skated on the ice, players were going to be proud to wear it.”

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“We couldn’t have anything that looked like it could be eaten by … a shark,” laughed Katie Townsend, Seattle’s Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications, with a nod to the team’s soon-to-be rival from San Jose. Everyone I spoke to about the reveal described an intense process where things were debated many, many times. Near again: “There were hundreds of discussions, ‘Should there be two eyes? Should we see the monster in its entirety?’ I give them credit for the level of detail. They thought of every angle.” “The eye was the big decision,” Dettmer said. “Once we knew (the logo) was going to be an ’S’ shape, we knew there was only going to be one eye,” Townsend added. There’s no question that not revealing the “full Kraken” was a big discussion, too. The organization wanted some mystery and hasn’t decided if they will ever do it. Will be interesting to see what the mascot looks like. 24. I was on Team Kraken from the moment someone suggested it, and was pleasantly surprised with the choice. It’s not conservative. It’s bold and a step outside of the comfort zone. In January 2019, the Seattle Times did a big poll asking what the name should be. Sockeyes won, but Kraken picked up early support. (The format was an elimination bracket.) “In that poll, we noticed a big spike in the chatter by fans (for ‘Kraken’),” Dettmer said. “It was something we listened to.” But internal support for the name existed in team offices as early as 2018. Dettmer remembers a door adorned with a post-it note reading, “Release the Kraken.” (She has no idea who did it.) Kraken was one of three finalists. Dettmer declined to reveal the other two, but the answer was sealed in an envelope, then placed into a time capsule in Seattle’s famed Space Needle. It will be opened in 2062, its 100th anniversary. (I’d better start eating healthy.) When did the organization decide Kraken was the choice? “Last November and December, it emerged as the favourite,” Townsend answered. There was also a codename, to try and prevent leaks. Kraken was known as “Project Cascade.” Townsend said at least one person was fooled into thinking that was going to be the team name. 25. Was anyone unsure about the choice? “The sequence was name, identity, colours, uniform,” Near said. “If (the Kraken logo) was drawn up a different way, maybe it couldn’t work. But once I saw the different sketches, I saw how it worked. Add the colours and identity — it clicked together.” “Our fans overwhelmingly wanted blue or green, that kind of pallet (like the Mariners and Seahawks),” Dettmer said. I failed Grade 8 Visual Arts, so I’m not up on the concept of “negative space” — but the black area through the ‘S’ being a tentacle was huge hit: That stuck with me when I saw it, too. I totally missed it on first glance, and thought it was clever. Near pointed out that the pandemic gave Seattle the opportunity to reveal its name, logo and jersey all at the same time. You don’t normally do all three at once, and it really worked for them.

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26. Will a Stanley Cup banner be raised on Opening Night in Seattle? The Metropolitans were the first American-based team to win the sport’s greatest trophy, and were competing for it in 1919 when the Spanish flu pandemic prevented the Cup from being awarded. Townsend said that president and CEO Tod Leiweke is “very passionate” about that history, but declined to go any further. 27. Happily, NHL Chief Content Officer Steve Mayer threw cold water on Jeff Marek’s out-there thoughts that since Seattle’s gone “off the board” with its name, the team should play on green ice. (Marek wants someone to go with a different colour.) 28. There was a report that Toronto’s Egor Korshkov is going back to the KHL. Word is that it will be a “loan,” so there will be an opportunity for him to play next season. The large number of positive COVID cases on some teams might lead to a delay in the start of that league’s season, too. 29. Slowly and carefully, a few European countries are dipping their toes in the water. The and Slovakia are planning some under-20 exhibition games this week, with the number of spectators limited to 200. Germany and Switzerland are trying a couple of under-18 scrimmages, again with limited seating. Finland is having some intra-squad scrimmages that scouts can attend. The Czech Republic will try to host a four-nation under-20 tournament at the end of August, and Finland a three- team under-18 event around the same time. Watching what’s happening in on Monday morning, I hope everyone involved follows a tight, tight protocol. These are teenagers; we have to be careful and smart. No guarantees the games get played, but there’s an effort to try — if possible. 30. Logic trivia answer: Colorado. Business to come includes Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar. 31. As I hit 50, I’ve learned that being in a good mood is a skill. If it were so easy, everyone would be happy all the time. We all have challenges — especially now — and you have to work to avoid being a downer. No one in my work life has been better at lifting himself (and others around him) than Paul Hendrick. There were days I’d be annoyed, he’d be in a great mood, and I’d be thinking, “WTF? How is this guy always happy? Get him away from me!” Paul gave me a huge break early in my career by offering me the opportunity to work stats on the old CHCH-TV Ontario University football broadcasts. It was such an important step — a huge confidence builder at that time in my life. I’ll always be thankful, and I’m glad he called his shot: If anyone has earned the right to decide when it’s time, it’s Paul.

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Sportsnet.ca / Teams adjust to life in NHL bubbles: Feels like 'permanent road trip' By Emily Sadler – July 28, 2020

NHL players from 24 teams woke up to a new reality on Monday morning, officially beginning what they hope will be a long tenure in the NHL bubble. Sunday was a travel day for all 24 return-to-play clubs, with the Eastern Conference teams landing in Toronto and all Western Conference clubs doing the same in Edmonton. On Monday, it’s back to hockey as players and coaches get acclimated to life in an NHL bubble. We’re rounding up quotes, photos, and videos throughout the day as first impressions of hub living roll in: Bubble life is like “a permanent road trip” In his first media availability from the bubble in Toronto, Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy equated bubble living to one really long road trip. So far, the new normal feels… normal Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers was asked about his early thoughts on the bubble, and told reporters Monday morning that he doesn’t feel like hub city life will feel too different from other road stints. “I don’t think it’ll be much different, to be honest,” Ehlers said, adding that the players will be able to do the same things they’d typically do on the road like go for team dinners. “Of course everybody will miss the fans. They’re a huge part of this sport. But we’ve got to look past that right now and we know that we’ve got the support from back in Winnipeg so we’re excited to get started and show what we’ve got.” All the strict regulations involved with Phase 3 quickly became part of players’ routines, and Jets head coach Paul Maurice believes it won’t take long for players to adjust again to Phase 4’s protocols. “There’s a lot of protocol in place but now that part has become routine. Players are very adaptable. They like routine, they’re also very adaptable. Everybody’s got their mask on when they’re supposed to,” he said. Now that they’re in the bubble, the focus narrows. “I think coming into the bubble we know what we’re focused on. It’s kind of like an extended road trip. You get into the hotel room and you know you’re going to be here hopefully for a while,” said Jets forward Adam Lowry. “You just have to get used to some of the protocols. Wearing a mask, make sure you’ve got your credentials on and filling out some of the things you’ve got to fill out before you can enter the rink.” Canadiens’ Paul Byron ‘pleasantly surprised’ by NHL’s setup “I think a lot of the guys on the team are pretty excited,” Canadiens forward Paul Byron said from

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Toronto. “I was a little skeptical about the whole process before this all started: How is it gonna work? How can they prepare this? It didn’t seem like that much time, much notice.” Byron said he’s “pleasantly surprised” upon arrival. “It seems like they’ve got a pretty good setup for us,” he said. “The food’s been good. The space is fine so far. I think everyone’s pretty excited to start the hockey games … now that we’re in the hotel it’s nice to be able to just focus on the games and ready to start the grind.” New surroundings “starting to feel like home” for Tkachuk Flames Winger Matthew Tkachuk, when asked for his first impression of hub city living in Edmonton, said “so far, so good.” “It’s a lot better than I think everyone was expecting,” said Flames winger Matthew Tkachuk. “They’ve got some cool stuff on the way for us, everything’s super organized and it’s super easy for us to get around.” Tkachuk and captain Mark Giordano commented that the Flames’ gesture of putting family photos in the rooms of players made their new digs start to “feel like home.” “We plan on being here for a long time, so we better get used to it,” he said. Breakfast of champions Carolina Hurricanes forward Nino Niederreiter confirmed Monday morning that this is not, in fact, the continental breakfast many hotel-goers are accustomed to: Player and coach media availabilities get an upgrade Just like throughout the previous return-to-play phases, press conferences and media availabilities will continue to be conducted via Zoom. Designated press conference areas make things look like a little more normal. Ryan Reaves lets his mask do the (trash-)talking As part of life in the hub, all players, personnel, and bubble staff must wear masks while in any common areas and while heading to and from the rink. We didn’t know it was a competition, but forward Ryan Reaves has already won the mask game. (Ryan Reaves does not forget.) Masked Hart Trophy finalist Artemi Panarin is out here keeping things light on Day 1: The Capitals, meanwhile, made a very dramatic entrance: Also, hand sanitizer can also be found at every turn: Teams travel together, via the team bus, from the hotel to the practice facility: Family time from afar Professional athletes already deal with the reality of being on the road a lot, and life in the bubble means even more time away from families. forward Matt Duchene made sure he can still keep up with story time with his son, Beau: In an effort to make their new digs feel more like home, teams set up some personal touches in each player’s room — family photos, books, and other mementos awaited the Habs:

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Not everyone has arrived just yet There are still a few players who have yet to arrive in the hub cities with their teams. While Bruins forward David Pastrnak traveled with the team after missing the majority of training camp in Boston, Ondrej Kase did not. Head coach Bruce Cassidy says Kase “will meet us later.” The Tampa Bay Lightning announced Sunday that also stayed back in Florida for an extra few days due to a personal matter. He’ll travel to Toronto on Friday, and is expected to be ready for the Lightning’s round-robin games. Tampa general manager Julien BriseBois told reporters that the team worked out a protocol to accommodate Hedman’s request. “He’s going to stay back in Tampa this week with Marc Lambert, our director of sports performance,” BriseBois explained. “We’re essentially extending their Phase 3 where they will continue to test every day. [Hedman] will be able to skate at and get some off-ice workouts.” Did we just become best friends? This experience of all living side by side for weeks (months?) will no doubt bring teams closer together. But opponents? As much as we want there to be epic mini-sticks showdowns in the hallway, a la minor hockey tournaments, so far the sentiment from players is that they’ll probably be keeping their distance from opponents (you know, in addition to social distancing). Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe shared his point of view of hub life during an interview on Tim & Sid Monday evening, and said while it’s inevitable that there will be the odd shared elevator ride with an opponent or a crossing of the paths during mealtimes, the way the hotel is set up — each team on a separate floor, with team-specific lounges included — clubs are mostly able to remain separate from one another. Let the bubble hockey fashion show begin With relaxed dress codes for summer hockey, most teams are giving players free rein on their arena- arrival style (no suits required!). We’re also so ready for some practice-look coordination, like these Day One tees from the Blue Jackets:

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