News Clips Apr. 5, 2019

Columbus Blue Jackets PAGE 02: Columbus Dispatch: Blue Jackets: One more win, and they're in the playoffs PAGE 04: Columbus Dispatch: Blue Jackets: Alexandre Texier to make NHL debut against Rangers PAGE 06: Columbus Dispatch: Michael Arace: Blue Jackets broadcaster Bill Davidge heads into retirement with a smile PAGE 08: The Athletic: With biggest games of season looming, Blue Jackets call up top prospect Alexandre Texier to make his debut

Cleveland Monsters/Prospects

NHL/Websites

PAGE 11: The Athletic: Down Goes Brown: When playoff matchups nobody is all that excited about turn out to be great PAGE 16: Sportsnet.ca: Why will go down in history as one of NHL's most unique winners PAGE 18: Sportsnet.ca: Ranking nine candidates in wide open Award race PAGE 23: TSN.CA: Conspiracy, negligence charges reinstated against OHL in minimum-wage lawsuit

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Blue Jackets | One more win, and they're in the playoffs

By Bill Rabinowitz, Columbus Dispatch – April 4, 2019

The Blue Jackets took to the ice Thursday morning for less than an hour.

Could it have been their last practice of the season?

They hope not, and they need only to take care of business to assure that it wasn’t. But after Black Tuesday — an ugly 6-2 loss in their home finale to Boston and wins by Carolina and Montreal — the Blue Jackets’ playoff chances went from highly likely to precarious.

Sitting at 94 points, the Jackets can clinch a postseason spot if they win either of their final two games, Friday at the and Saturday at the . They are three points behind Carolina, which holds the first wild-card-spot, and are tied with Montreal but have the tie-breaker advantage over the Canadiens thanks to more regulation and overtime wins.

The Jackets spent Thursday night scoreboard-watching. The Hurricanes clinched a playoff spot with a with a 3-1 win over New Jersey, and the Canadiens lost 2-1 to Washington. To close their seasons Saturday, Montreal plays visiting Toronto and Carolina plays at Philadelphia.

That an 82-game season comes down to the final weekend seems fitting to Blue Jackets coach .

“The ups and downs and Jekyll and Hyde that we’ve had this year, it doesn’t surprise me at all,” he said.

Instead of looking at Tuesday’s loss as a momentum-stopper, Tortorella is viewing his team’s situation with a glass-half-full mentality.

“This is a great opportunity for us, not only for what we’re talking about this season, trying to get in, but just to play in these kind of games as we build our team with some youth on it,” he said. “We shouldn’t be feeling the weight, and I don’t think we do. We’ve really played well.

“We lost a game. We won five prior to that. We just have to bounce back and enjoy the moment and take it as an opportunity.”

On paper, the schedule looks favorable to the Jackets. They have been better on the road this season than at Nationwide Arena, and they’re playing opponents who’ve long been out of the playoff chase.

But such teams sometimes play well because they don’t have the burden of pressure. The 2014-15 Blue Jackets won 15 of their last 17 games after they’d long been eliminated from the playoff picture.

“They’re always dangerous teams,” Tortorella said of playing noncontenders. “They’ll try a lot of different things. No matter if they’re in or out, every game is a tough game in the . This is the Rangers’ last home game. They’re going to want to put on a show there. It’s one of the hardest-working teams in the league.”

Oliver Bjorkstrand, who has scored at least one in six consecutive games, said it didn’t enter his mind on the ice that Thursday could have been the last time the Blue Jackets practiced this season.

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“We’re at this point now,” he said. “We have to have fun with it. We’re not out, but we’re not in yet. We’re still fighting to get into the playoffs. We still believe in our group. Now we just have to get the job done. That’s our mindset. We don’t want this to be our last practice.”

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Blue Jackets | Alexandre Texier to make NHL debut against Rangers

By Bill Rabinowitz, The Columbus Dispatch – April 4, 2019

Alexandre Texier will make his NHL debut Friday night against the New York Rangers, The Dispatch has learned.

Texier, the Blue Jackets’ second-round draft pick in 2017, has made such a strong impression in his short time with the that he will be inserted into the lineup with the playoffs on the line.

Texier, 19, scored five goals and had two assists in seven games with Cleveland, including two in the Monsters’ last game. The center joined the Monsters of the on March 16 after playing in Finland’s top professional league, where he had 14 goals and 27 assists in 55 games.

Texier will become the 12th player from France to play in the NHL. He will wear No. 42. It is not clear who Texier will replace in the Blue Jackets’ lineup.

The Blue Jackets also recalled defenseman Adam Clendening, who has played in four games this season.

Elvis in the building

Goaltender Elvis Merzlikins spoke to reporters on Thursday for the first time since his arrival in Columbus on Sunday. The Latvian signed with the Blue Jackets on March 20.

Merzlikins has a reputation for flamboyance on and off the ice, and his personality was on display in a nearly 20-minute conversation. He is living with his girlfriend and already has made one friend in town, an Uber driver named Robert.

Robert has driven him around the city, which Merzlikins called “really beautiful.”

>> Video: Elvis Merzlikins speaks in Columbus

Merzlikins is expected to compete for a starting job next season if Sergei Bobrovsky leaves, as expected, as a free agent. But with Bobrovsky, Joonas Korpisalo and Keith Kincaid on the roster, Merzlikins’ only practice time is with goaltending coach Manny Legace, not the full team. He faced shots from rookie Eric Robinson for an hour Thursday morning.

Merzlikins attended Tuesday’s loss to Boston.

“I really wanted to hear the cannon, and I heard it and it’s really loud,” he said. “I like that. That was the first thing I posted on my Instagram. It’s a really nice thing. I hope I hear it a lot more times.”

Through his driver Robert, Merzlikins is learning about the support for the Blue Jackets.

“Everybody here loves the Blue Jackets," Merzlikins said. “He explained to me that the Blue Jackets, the hockey team, it has the most following, that everybody is following it — except (for) the football team from Ohio.”

He was referring to Ohio State. Robert drove him past Ohio Stadium on the way to Easton Town Center.

“That’s another experience I want to see,” he said of a game at the Horseshoe. “It’s really huge.”

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Playoff tickets

Tickets for potential first-round playoff games will go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday at BlueJackets.com, Nationwide Arena, the Blue Line store at the Mall at Tuttle Crossing, and the three area Chiller locations. Sales will be restricted to Ohio residents until 10 a.m. Monday.

Dispatch reporter Brian Hedger contributed to this notebook.

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Michael Arace | Blue Jackets broadcaster Bill Davidge heads into retirement with a smile

By Michael Arace, Columbus Dispatch – April 4, 2019

My favorite iteration of Bill Davidge, Blue Jackets analyst, was when he sat next to play-by-play man George Matthews in the radio booth. From 2000 to '09, the Jackets averaged 47 losses and Bantam George and Dapper Billy made those games sound like bungee jumps. Where’s the puck? Who cares? How thrilling!

They were Columbus’ favorite uncles and it’s too bad they got to call only four playoff games together. Uncle George was unseated in 2013, when he returned home to Charlottesville, Prince Edward Island; he still calls QMJHL Islanders games. Uncle Billy stayed longer, much to the delight of thousands and thousands of fans. He did a few years as a television analyst before he moved into the studio to set up pregame, break it down on the telestrator and give the last word postgame.

Davidge will retire as soon as he signs off Saturday night, the final day of the regular season.

“Because I can,” said Davidge, 64. He was smiling. Of course, he was. This is a man who has lived a life and has more in him yet.

A car accident took his first wife, Leann Grimes, in 1985, and he came to know what it is to be a single parent with an infant. His second marriage ended in divorce. His third marriage, to Jayna, has been a warm blessing. Between them, they have six children, two grandchildren and a place in Naples, Florida. They’re going to split time between Columbus and Florida, and they are going to stripe the ball down the middle of the fairway.

Oh, and the cancer? Not even multiple myeloma can wipe the smile off Davidge’s face. To him, it’s just another excuse to engage with more good people, raise awareness for another cause and add another charity to his calling. Now, he can do it in two cities.

“I watched a lot my buddies around me who never get a chance to retire,” Davidge said. “With my history right now — I still have a cancer you can’t cure — but I got good news on my scan the other day, and my lesions are the same size they have been the last four years. So, I’m healthy right now. … I’m excited. I’m really excited.”

There are very few people who’ve been as important to the growth of hockey in Ohio, generally, and in Columbus, particularly.

Davidge played at Ohio State and captained the Buckeyes during the mid-1970s. He helped get the Miami University program up and running and coached the RedHawks throughout the 1980s. All told, he spent 23 years in Oxford as a coach and teacher. He scouted for three NHL teams, including the Jackets, who brought him aboard in 1998 when the organization was forming.

Davidge’s greatest legacy will be as an ambassador for Columbus hockey. He helped nurture nascent youth programs in central Ohio. He and Matthews spent long summer months barnstorming the state to sell the game, and the Jackets, to new fans. And he delivered to us, in our cars and our living rooms, all

6 the trials, tribulations and triumphs of an expansion franchise. It’s a simple game, he told us, and he showed us.

He loves hockey. He loves people. And his hair is perfect.

“I don’t know a lot of people in the game,” said Davidge’s studio co-host, Brian Giesenschlag. “Billy — he knows everybody. His kindness and generosity was critical to my transition into this job. Working with him has been a highlight of my personal and professional career.”

Giesenschlag, who hails from small-town Cameron, Texas, bonded quickly with Davidge, a middle-aged kid from small-town Dunnville, Ontario — where dinner is supper, kickball is soccer-baseball, and the electric bill is the hydro bill.

In Columbus, Uncle Billy will always be Mr. Blue Jacket. We will miss his passion and knowledge. And that smile. You better believe it.

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With biggest games of season looming, Blue Jackets call up top prospect Alexandre Texier to make his debut

By Aaron Portzline, The Athletic – April 4, 2019

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Two weeks after he arrived in North America, Blue Jackets prospect forward Alexandre Texier has already played his way to the NHL.

Texier, 19, will make his NHL debut Friday against the New York Rangers in the biggest game of the Blue Jackets’ season and in the most famous arena in the world, Madison Square Garden.

“We feel strongly enough that he can make our team stronger,” Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen said. “He’s been the best player on the ice (with AHL Cleveland) in most of the games.

“We need to win, and we need to have the best team on the ice, so he should be one of them. It’s never a perfect projection in player evaluation, but I think it’s a pretty educated guess right now with Texier.”

Texier had 5-2-7 in seven games with the Monsters, transitioning with ease to the North American-sized rinks after spending the previous two seasons in Finland.

It’s unclear exactly where he’ll go into the lineup against the Rangers, but there were indications that Boone Jenner will move back to center, allowing Texier to play left wing on his line.

The Blue Jackets are expected to make Alexander Wennberg a healthy scratch versus the Rangers.

“We had big expectations when Texier came over,” Kekalainen said, “and he seamlessly made the transition to the AHL, and it hasn’t just been points. He’s got a 200-foot game. He’s solid defensively. He’s just a good hockey player.

“It’s always nice to see when a young player moves from one level to the next that nothing bothers them, they just play the same way. Hopefully, he can do that Friday.”

Texier was traveling and not available for comment, the Blue Jackets said.

The Blue Jackets drafted Texier (6-0, 182 pounds) in the second round (No. 45 overall) in the 2017 draft. He’ll be the 13th player from France — he was born in Grenoble — to play in an NHL game.

If Texier plays 10 games with the Blue Jackets this season, he’ll burn the first year of his entry-level contract and require protection in the 2021 expansion draft (Seattle).

Of course, if the Blue Jackets play 10 more games this season, that would put them at least in the second round of the playoffs, so Texier’s recall would have been worth it.

The Blue Jackets made a similar recall during the 2016-17 playoffs when Gabriel Carlsson was recalled late in the regular season and became a regular in the postseason.

In 2012, coach John Tortorella — then with the Rangers — put rookie Chris Kreider in the lineup in Game 3 of a first-round series with Ottawa before he’d played in a regular-season game.

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The Blue Jackets are not scheduled to have a morning skate Friday in the Garden, meaning Texier’s first touch of the puck will likely come during warmups.

Notebook

• The Capitals did the Blue Jackets a huge favor Thursday, beating Montreal 2-1 in Washington. That means the Blue Jackets need two points total — a win, two overtime or shootout losses, etc. — to earn a playoff spot. Pittsburgh won, so the Blue Jackets can at best finish seventh or eighth in the conference.

• The Blue Jackets have only two possible first-round opponents: Tampa Bay (second wild card) and Washington (first wild card).

• The Jackets are a combined 4-0-1 against the Rangers (2-0-1) and Senators (2-0), their final two games of the season.

• Torts on the matchups versus the Rangers and Senators: “They’re going to try a lot of different things, free themselves up. These are dangerous teams, no matter if they’re in or out. Every game is a tough game in the NHL. I think this is the Rangers’ last home game. They’re going to want to put on a show. It’s one of the hardest-working teams in the league, that Rangers team. We have to be ready to compete tomorrow.”

• Tortorella on the late-season pressure: “This is a great opportunity for us. Not only for what we’re talking about (with regard) to this season, trying to get in, but just to play these types of games as we keep building our team, with some youth on it. We shouldn’t feel the weight, and I don’t think we do. So let’s bounce back (from Tuesday’s loss) and let’s enjoy the moment.”

• Rangers president Glen Sather has announced he’s stepping down after the season following a 19-year run with the club. One name that is sure to surface as a replacement is Blue Jackets president of hockey operations John Davidson, a former Rangers player and broadcaster who has headed the hockey ops side — with much success — in St. Louis and Columbus.

• D Adam McQuaid (suspected concussion) and D Ryan Murray (upper body) did not practice Thursday.

• Texier is one of four French players in the NHL: Vancouver’s Antoine Roussel (Roubaix, France), Vegas’ Pierre-Edouard Bellemare (Le Blanc-Mesnil, France) and Montreal’s Xavier Ouellet (Bayonne, France).

• G Elvis Merzlikins practiced for a second consecutive day with goaltending coach Manny Legace. They’re trying to adjust Merzlikins’ game to the faster pace and different angles in the NHL game after he played five seasons with Lugano in Switzerland. Merzlikins: “Just the small details, but I need to practice them so that my muscles can remember that movement and they can go by themselves.”

• Merzlikins watched Tuesday’s 6-2 loss to Boston: “I really wanted to hear the cannon and I heard it, and it’s really loud. I like that, I like that. That was my first thing that I posted on my Instagram because I had to have it … it’s a really nice thing. I really like it, and I hope I’m going to hear it a lot more times.”

• Merzlikins on Michael Lawrence, his goaltending coach with Lugano: “He means really a lot to me. He’s basically one person who … he’s my best friend, the guy I can trust. We were really close together. We are (close). We did a really great job together. Not just about the hockey. Even on days off, we were meeting for coffee just to talk about the games. We are really close. He changed my game style, and he changed it in the best way. I’m really thankful for him.”

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• Along with Merzlikins on this “beautiful adventure” is his girlfriend, Aleksandra, who is close to achieving her bachelor’s degree in media management, he said. Aleksandra has stayed back at the hotel studying while Elvis has been at the rink, getting his physical, practicing, meeting with players and management, etc. They’ve toured the city a bit, though. “I like the city. I like the people here. I met a driver from Uber, a really nice guy. He really helped me. He brought me to the stores when I need it. I’m not taking Uber anymore, I’m just texting him. I have a friend now. The people seem really nice here. I really like the city. It’s really beautiful.”

• Merzlikins will spend part of his summer with trainers in Los Angeles, he said, but expects to be back in Columbus permanently in mid- to late August. A restricted free agent this summer, Merzlikins is expected to sign a one-way contract for one or two years.

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The Athletic / Down Goes Brown: When playoff matchups nobody is all that excited about turn out to be great

By Sean McIndoe, The Athletic – April 4, 2019

With just a few days left in the regular season, we’re starting to get some clarity around the first-round playoff pairings. We’re going to get to see some of the matchups we were hoping for, like the Sharks facing the Golden Knights, another rematch between the Maple Leafs and Bruins, and probably also the Penguins squaring off with the Islanders. On paper, each of those looks like it should be great.

Of course, there will also be a handful of matchups that don’t seem to have quite as much going for them. Flames vs. Avalanche? That should be fine. Lightning vs. Blue Jackets? I guess. Stars at Jets or Predators? Why not, sure. Those are all good teams, and those matchups should be worth watching. There just won’t be much in the way of history or obvious storylines to get excited about.

That’s the thing about NHL playoff matchups. Sometimes you get two longtime rivals or star-studded contenders on a collision course, and all the hype just writes itself. But sometimes you get two teams where you just kind of go “sure, that will be OK.”

Then again, we’ve been down this road before. Every season brings at least a few matchups that, at least in the lead-up, don’t generate much more than a shrug emoji. But sometimes, at least one of those series ends up being among the very best we see.

So today, let’s get set for the postseason by remembering some of the times that a playoff series that didn’t necessarily seem to have much going for it turned out to be great, or at least memorable. This isn’t the full list, of course, and you’re welcome to chime in with your own picks in the comments. But these picks all serve as reminders that sometimes, a matchup that seems underwhelming can turn out to be something more than you were expecting.

1997: Oilers vs. Stars

The matchup: The Stars had finished tied for the league’s second-best record with 104 points. Despite finishing under .500, the Oilers snuck into the West’s final playoff spot.

Why it was underwhelming: Dallas had only recently made the leap from also-ran to powerhouse, while the Oilers hadn’t even made the playoffs in four years. This was going to be your typical speed bump matchup between a legitimate Cup contender gearing up for a long run and a mediocre team that was just happy to be there.

But then…: Game 1 mostly followed the script, with the Stars holding on for the expected win. But an Oilers shutout in Game 2 signaled that we might have a series on our hands, and the next five games were all one-goal nail-biters. The Oilers won three of them in overtime, including a 1-0 double OT thriller in Game 5. And of course, the series ended with one of the most stunning Game 7 overtime sequences in recent memory:

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In a case of diminishing returns, the two teams would meet again in five of the next six postseasons, with the Stars winning each and every one. But just because the sequels were bad doesn’t mean the original was any less of a classic.

2010: Canadiens vs. Capitals

The matchup: The Capitals had run away with the Presidents’ Trophy. The Canadiens had barely made the playoffs with 88 points.

Why it was underwhelming: In the first (and still only) playoff meeting between the two teams, the only question was whether Montreal would manage to win a game before Washington moved on to their inevitable showdown with the Penguins.

But then…: Montreal did indeed win a game, taking the opener on the road. But then Alexander Ovechkin and the high-flying Capitals settled in, pumping home 17 goals over the next three games to take a 3-1 series lead back to Washington.

And then, Jaroslav Halak showed up.

Halak went on to steal three straight games as the Canadiens pulled off the stunning upset despite the Capitals largely dominating all three games. To this day, it remains perhaps the greatest example of a hot goalie derailing a powerhouse. Halak and the Habs would go on to surprise the Penguins too before finally falling to the Flyers. Meanwhile, the Capitals’ reputation as playoff chokers had been cemented, and the loss sent the organization through a half-decade of self-doubt and bad decisions.

1991: Penguins vs. Bruins

The matchup: In the Prince of Wales final, Mario Lemieux and the Penguins faced Ray Bourque and the Bruins.

Why it was underwhelming: This one had at least a decent amount of hype going in because it was a conference final, and plenty of star power to go with it. But it was still two teams without much history – the most bad blood the Bruins and Penguins had ever had until this point had involved uniform colors. And while it’s easy enough to forget now, the Penguins weren’t exactly a marquee team back then. The Bruins had been to two Cup finals in recent years, while Pittsburgh had won just a single playoff round in a decade leading up the 1991 playoffs, and they were only coming off an 88-point season.

As conference finals go, this one was fine, even pretty good. But something more than that? It didn’t really seem like it.

But then…: Mike Milbury happened.

Well OK, first the Bruins took a 2-0 series lead. Then Ulf Samuelsson delivered his infamous knee-on- knee hit on in Game 3. And then Milbury happened, as the Bruins coach decided it was time to load up on tough guys the rest of the way.

Boston wouldn’t win a game the rest of the series, as the Penguins went on to win in six and then captured the franchise’s first Stanley Cup. The two teams would meet against for a rematch in 1992, and Neely vs. Samuelsson would become one of the game’s biggest individual rivalries. The two teams have

12 hated each other pretty much ever since, but it all started with a dirty hit followed by a disastrous decision, midway through what had seemed like a pretty unremarkable series.

2012: Rangers vs. Senators

The matchup: The East’s top-seeded Rangers faced a 92-point Senators squad that hadn’t won a round since its trip to the final five years earlier.

Why it was underwhelming: There was no real history between the two teams, and with Henrik Lundqvist riding a career year there was little reason to think the Senators had any chance.

But then…: The opener was decidedly chippy, with the Rangers targeting Ottawa’s in a 4-2 win that led Matt Carkner to go looking for payback early in Game 2. The Senators won that game in overtime and did the same in Game 4, leaving the series tied at two even though New York had yet to trail in regulation. Another Ottawa win left the Rangers staring down disaster, but New York would claw back to finish the series with a pair of one-goal wins, as what had seemed like a one-sided matchup had turned into a seven-game classic.

2006: Sabres vs. Hurricanes

The matchup: The 112-point Hurricanes facing the 110-point Sabres in the Eastern Conference final.

Why it was underwhelming: It probably shouldn’t have been. Maybe it wasn’t for you, and I’m just remembering things wrong through the haze of time. On paper, this was a fantastic matchup, with a pair of 110-plus point teams duking it out for a trip to the Stanley Cup final. What more could you want?

But the 2005-06 season was just… weird. It was the first year after the lockout, with a new CBA and salary cap and rules we were still getting used to. Nobody was sure what a good team was even supposed to look like – we thought it was the Red Wings, who’d racked up 124 points, but then they got bounced in the first round. And while the season had been high-scoring and all sorts of fun, if we were being honest the first two rounds of the playoffs had kind of stunk. Only one series had gone the distance, and seven of the 12 had ended quickly in either four or five games.

Now we were watching a conference final between a franchise that was best known for never winning anything, and a one-superstar team that didn’t have that superstar anymore. The standings said these were two great teams, but it was basically Rod Brind’Amour and some rookie goalie vs. a team whose top scorers were guys like Maxim Afinogenov and Ales Kotalik. Yay?

But then…: Yay! This series was pretty darn great, kicking off with three-straight one-goal games and featuring a pair of overtimes to get us to a seventh game that went down to the wire in front of a rocking building. All told, this series was every bit as good as we should have expected it to be. Or maybe did.

And yes, the seventh game was decided on a power-play goal thanks to an accidental puck-over-glass foul. That’s an absolutely terrible way to end a series, but certainly adds an exclamation point on the drama. I’m sure Sabres fans are over it by now, things have probably been going great for that franchise ever since.

2002: Maple Leafs vs. Islanders

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The matchup: and the Leafs kicked off what they hoped would be a deep playoff run by hosting Alexei Yashin and the Islanders.

Why it was underwhelming: These were two good teams, with Toronto finishing third overall with 100 points and the Islanders landing just four points behind. But the Leafs had spent the last two years building up a rivalry with the Senators, only to have a third straight first-round matchup fall apart on the season’s final weekend. Instead, they got an interdivisional meeting with an Islanders’ team they had little playoff history with outside of Lanny McDonald’s overtime goal a generation ago.

But then…: To this day, this is the single nastiest playoff series I’ve ever seen.

It started off slowly, with the favored Leafs earning a pair of tougher-than-expected wins on home ice. But things got ugly in a blowout Islanders win in Game 3, and stayed that way for the rest of the series. Soon we had a controversial shot, running everyone, taking out ’s knee, Sundin getting hurt and a brutal Gary Roberts hit on Kenny Jonsson. By the end of Game 6, things had devolved to the point where guys were getting suspended for Game 7 for trying to kick each other in the head. The Leafs won, but by that point it hardly felt like it mattered.

Knowing what we know today, a lot of what happened in this series is difficult to watch, or even comprehend. Even by the standards of 2002, it felt like something that had spiraled dangerously out of control. It feels strange to call this one any kind of a classic, because it wasn’t really a good series in any sense of the word. But memorable? It was certainly that.

2000: Sharks vs. Blues

The matchup: The Blues had won the Presidents’ Trophy with 114 points, and had been to the second round in eight of the last 12 seasons. The Sharks had topped out at 87 and hadn’t won a round in five years.

Why it was underwhelming: No history, no rivalry, and no chance the Sharks were going to win.

But then…: The Blues took Game 1, but then stunningly dropped three straight. They fought back with a Game 5 win at home, then went into San Jose and pummeled the Sharks 6-2. That seemed to set the stage for St. Louis to avoid disaster by completing the comeback on home ice in Game 7. And that’s when this happened:

You can almost hear every Blues fan in the building give up on the season the moment Owen Nolan’s long-distance bomb finds the net. In a long history of Blues playoff disappointment, this might be the trademark moment. The fact that it came against the Sharks, a team on its way to its own history of playoff failure, just makes it somehow worse.

The series itself may not have been a classic, but it provided a signature moment in the history of two franchises – one that even all these years later can still make one fan base cringe.

2012: Coyotes vs. Blackhawks

The matchup: The 101-point Blackhawks faced the 97-point Coyotes in a series in which the Coyotes had home-ice advantage because that sort of thing made sense back then.

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Why it was underwhelming: A recent Stanley Cup champion faces a team that’s never even won a playoff round (that they also have no history against). Pass.

But then…: The two teams showed us that the series might be more fun that we expected by playing overtime in the first game. And then also in the second. And then in the third, fourth and fifth, tying a 61-year-old NHL record for the most overtimes played in a single series. The Coyotes won three of those, then closed out the series with a 4-0 win in Game 6 that confusingly ended after the third period. I guess they had somewhere to be.

The Blackhawks were back to winning Cups one season later and the Coyotes haven’t been back to the playoffs since, which makes this series feel like a glitch in the matrix in hindsight. But for one series at least these two mismatched opponents put on a heck of a show.

1996: Red Wings vs. Avalanche

The matchup: The Red Wings, coming off arguably the best regular season in NHL history, ran up against a worthy opponent in the Avalanche.

Why it was underwhelming: Heading in, this series had plenty of what you’d want in a great matchup. There was lots of star power, and the two best teams in the regular season standings. Sure, we figured the record-setting Red Wings would roll toward an inevitable Stanley Cup. But we’d thought that in the last round against the Blues, and they’d needed overtime to advance. Maybe the Avalanche could give them a challenge too.

What the matchup didn’t have was any sort of history, given that the Avs were in their first year in Colorado. Hockey fans were still adjusting to that, and everything about the Avalanche still felt kind of odd. Still, this would make for a very good conference final, even if it wasn’t going to be the greatest matchup in history.

But then…: It might have been the greatest matchup in history. Or at least, the greatest rivalry. And it all started here.

You don’t need me to run down the whole story between the two teams; that’s been well-documented, and if you’re any sort of fan then you have most of the major scenes memorized. Some of them involved a dazzling list of Hall of Famers doing what they did best. Others involved moments that were ugly or downright dirty. Some of it doesn’t hold up well in light of what the game looks like today. A lot of it absolutely still does.

As we’ve seen in the other matchups mentioned here, sometimes a series you don’t think will be very good can turn out to be great. And as the 1996 Wings/Avalanche meeting taught us, sometimes one you think might be great can somehow turn into something much more than that.

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Sportsnet.ca / Why Glen Sather will go down in history as one of NHL's most unique winners

By Mark Spector, Sportsnet – April 4, 2019

Glen Sather used to terrify me.

But that was OK. Because he terrified pretty much everyone, at first.

“I’ve been interviewed for jobs by him,” said on Thursday, “and was scared to death in the interview.”

At 75 years old, Sather isn’t so intimidating anymore. As he steps away from active duty with the New York Rangers, Sather goes down in National Hockey League history as one of the very few who was ever as successful a coach as he was a general manager — or vice versa, depending on how you look at it.

Harry Sinden and would be comparables, but arguably nobody ever filled both roles as successfully as Sather.

“I’m not going to the graveyard,” he told the Journal’s Jim Matheson on Thursday. “I’m going to be advisor to the owner (Jim Dolan) and be the alternate governor.”

How long has Sather been a fixture in the game?

“I watched Glen at Oil Kings practices, when Glen was an Edmonton Oil King,” Hitchcock recalled. “He played on a line with Max Mestinsek and Butch Paul. He wasn’t a very good player.”

His nickname ‘Slats’ was bestowed upon Sather because of the amount of time he spent on the old wooden benches of the day. But he was a cagey kid from High River, Alta. who was smart enough to devote some of those early pay checks to real estate in Banff, and run hockey schools in the off-season.

He was also wise enough to be the perfect father figure for an Oilers team that required equal parts guidance and free reign, back in the early ‘80s.

“He gave us a lot of rope, so that we could learn on our own, but he also knew when to yank on the rope to reel us back in,” goalie Grant Fuhr told me for my book, The Battle of . “So he let us grow, thinking it was our idea.”

As a player for six NHL teams, Sather learned the traditions of clubs in Montreal, Boston and New York. But as an Oilers player/coach in the , he recognized the , with their European-heavy lineup and style, as the future of North American hockey. He patterned his Oilers after those teams, and built a dynasty.

“I once told Glen,” Wayne Gretzky said in The Battle of Alberta, “for a six-goal scorer, he had tremendous hockey sense.

“He was harder on us than our parents were,” Gretzky continued. “The very first phone call you ever made if something bad happened, or something wasn’t right, if you called Glen he was going to take care of it. So he really became a father to all of us, especially those of us who were here at 18, 19, 20.”

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“That’s part of the job,” Sather said. “You have to watch out for them, and at the same time you have to let them grow. Allow them to become young men. They have to make mistakes, to learn to be responsible.”

Sather won four Stanley Cups as a head coach in Edmonton in the ’80s, and was the team’s GM for all five Cups in a seven-year span. After leaving for New York in 2000, Sather would preside over more wins than any other GM in Rangers history during his 14 years at the helm — 556, or an average of 40 per season.

From 2005-06 to 2016-17, the Ranges were one of just four NHL clubs to make the playoffs 11 times in 12 seasons. They reached the Final once, losing the Los Angeles in 2014.

He was a head coach, a GM and President over the years, and didn’t hesitate when asked which role he enjoyed the most.

“Coaching for sure,” Sather said. “You’re living with the players all the time and it’s tedious work (at times). But when you get into management you don’t have the effect on what goes on in the game. You build the team but you sit there and get frustrated. As President, you have the least effect. Coaching’s the most fun.”

Sportsnet’s Brian Burke lamented Sather stepping away from the day-to-day grind of the NHL, speaking on 630 CHED in Edmonton Thursday with Bob Stauffer on Oilers Now.

“If you’re a friend of Glen Sather’s you end up on the positive side of the ledger,” Burke began. “From the knowledge he imparts, from the generosity he demonstrates… He’s one of the best human beings that I know.

“He’s smart. He’s tough. He’s funny,” Burke continued. “I have a great respect and admiration — and affection — for the man. The game of hockey will be worse off without Glen Sather involved.”

Ironically, while Sather frees himself from the daily rigours in New York, his old team is in search of the some top-down guidance. Should the Oilers be barking up Sather’s tree?

“I would hate to think the wouldn’t turn that stone over to see if there is something there,” Burke said. “I would view that as a grave mistake.”

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Sportsnet.ca / Ranking nine candidates in wide open race

By Rory Boylen, Sportsnet – April 4, 2019

The Jack Adams can be a weird award.

Commonly given to the coach whose team exceeds expectations the most, often aided by excellent goaltending, the list of coaches who didn’t win it in a given season is almost more interesting.

Mike Babcock has never won the award despite reaching three in his career. , whose Islanders teams won four Stanley Cups in a row, took it home only once. guided the modern dynasty Blackhawks through their glory years and is the most sought-after coach on the market today, yet his one and only Jack Adams came when he was on the St. Louis bench in 1999- 2000.

Meanwhile, six different coaches won the award from 2010 to 2015 and only one of them still has an NHL job today — Ken Hitchcock of the Edmonton Oilers.

Because of this standard, you’ll rarely see a coach repeat as the Jack Adams winner. In fact, that’s only been accomplished once and you’d have to go all the way back to 1986-87 and 1987-88 to notice did it with the Red Wings.

The net for this year’s Jack Adams candidates should be cast wide and deep. seemed to be running away with the award a few months ago, but as some other teams have caught the Islanders and written their own great story his candidacy is no longer a slam dunk anymore.

We count nine coaches who have some case to be this year’s Jack Adams Award winner, which by definition is given to the coach who is “adjudged to have contributed the most to his team’s success.”

Here is a summary for each of them, ranked.

Ryan Dixon and Rory Boylen go deep on pucks with a mix of facts and fun, leaning on a varied group of hockey voices to give their take on the country’s most beloved game.

1. BARRY TROTZ,

Even though he shouldn’t be considered a runaway, Trotz remains one of the top candidates for the award and should be a no-doubt finalist at least. Yes, he’s gotten excellent play from goalies Robin Lehner and Thomas Greiss, who have both improved their save percentages by at least 20 points over last season. But Trotz isn’t benefitting only from his goalies — the sturdier argument is that his goalies are benefitting from his great coaching.

Last season, the Islanders were a disaster on defence. Averaging 35.6 shots against per game, only the 2013-14 allowed more on average in the cap era. This year that number is down to 30.9 per game, which ranks as one of the 12 best defences in the league. As goals go up league-wide, the Islanders have improved from 3.57 goals against per game last season to 2.38 this season and are the first team on record to go from worst to first in this category. Sitting second in the Atlantic Division, the Islanders are back in the playoffs after losing John Tavares over the summer.

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2. ,

The most ridiculous thing about this award is how rarely the coach of the best team wins it. Trotz did it with Washington in 2016, but you’d have to go back to Quenneville in 2000 to find another Presidents’ Trophy winner who won the Jack Adams. Yes, Cooper’s Lightning lineup is stacked and expectations were rightfully high, but if he can’t win it in a season where they chased history, how could you ever build a better case?

Let’s start with the fact Tampa Bay looks likely to be just the third team in the past 23 years to finish with the best goal differential, power play and a top-three penalty kill – 1997-98 Dallas and 2010-11 Vancouver also achieved that, but neither of their coaches won the Jack Adams. The Lightning also became just the third team in NHL history to reach the 60-win mark in a season and in both of the other two cases when this happened the bench boss did win coach of the year – with the Wings in 1995-96 and … Scotty Bowman again with the in 1976-77.

Past seasons aren’t taken into consideration, but that hardly seems fair if you’re also against giving Cooper the award because of how good his team is. The Lightning weren’t always this good and they did miss the playoffs as recently as 2017. He has grown up as a coach with the organization from the AHL, where he coached the likes of Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat and Alex Killorn. It’s paying off this season in an historic way.

3. , ST. LOUIS BLUES

Hired on Nov. 20 to take over a disappointing 7-9-3 team, Berube has led a furious comeback that could still result in a division title. The turnaround wasn’t instant, though, as the Blues continued to struggle to an 8-9-1 record in Berube’s first 18 games behind the bench.

Since then, the only team with a better record than the Blues are Cooper’s Lightning. St. Louis is 28-10-4 since Jan. 3, have only three two-game losing streaks and none that lasted any longer. This neatly coincides with the arrival of rookie goalie Jordan Binnington, who has a 1.85 goals-against average and .928 save percentage since first stepping into the crease on Dec. 16. That’s the chief reason for St. Louis’s recovery, but it isn’t the only one.

The Blues defence has turned it on. Alex Pietrangelo has 25 of his 36 points since Jan. 1, while Vince Dunn has nine of his 12 goals in that time. Jay Bouwmeester rebounded and the Blues saw their defence improve from allowing 30.5 shots against per game from Oct. 3 to Dec. 31 down to 26.7 ever since. On offence, Vladimir Tarasenko had the shooting percentage turnaround the odds suggested was coming with 20 of his 31 goals coming since Jan. 1.

4. BILL PETERS,

We’ve already named three very worthy coaches for consideration, but how do you keep Peters off a list of finalists? The Flames may have underachieved last season in missing the playoffs, but they changed their roster in a big way with a draft weekend blockbuster that brought in two key pieces for this year’s roster: Elias Lindholm and Noah Hanifin.

Peters’ teams in Carolina always had good possession numbers, but those were never translated into enough goals or wins to make the playoffs. It didn’t begin smoothly in Calgary, with a 5-5-0 start that looked like it may turn off the edge of a cliff following a 9-1 loss at home to Pittsburgh on Oct. 25. But

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Peters ensured the team didn’t get too far off track, calling that loss a “wake-up call” in retrospect, and the Flames went 5-1-1 in their next seven games.

The knock on Peters is that Calgary’s 20th-ranked power play and 19th-ranked penalty kill aren’t very strong, with the latter getting a bit worse than it was last season. Calgary’s shooting percentage has risen considerably from 6.85 to 9.17 at 5-on-5 and their shot share totals have remained relatively consistent, so compared to the three listed above him there appears to be more of an underlying course-correction and less of a clear line to be drawn from Peters’ influence to the Flames’ vast turnaround.

5. RICK TOCCHET,

The reality of his candidacy relies completely on where the Coyotes finish the regular season. With it looking unlikely now that Arizona will get into the playoffs – a fate that could be cemented Thursday night – Tocchet will be a long shot to win the award, but his accomplishments deserve to be highlighted nonetheless.

Only the have more man-games lost to injury and their playoff hopes died a long time ago. The Coyotes, meanwhile, have kept chugging along with a 21-14-6 record since Jan. 1 that is 11th- best in the league over that time. They are a stingy team, though it’s hard to call them among the best defences in the league. Arizona allows an average of 30.7 shots against per game and, according to Natural Stat Trick, 130 scoring chances on the season which ranks 11th and 12th league wide, respectively.

Arizona relies on that defence and the goaltending behind it because their offence gets out-chanced regularly and averages just 2.54 goals for per game – a total less than the average number of goals they give up. They do have the best penalty kill in the NHL and that has vastly improved from their 19th-place finish on the PK last season, a sign the coaches have adjusted. The goaltending hasn’t missed a beat since Darcy Kuemper stepped in for an injured Antti Raanta, and you have to wonder how much of that is the individual skill set versus the team structure in front.

6. ROD BRIND’AMOUR,

After apprenticing for the lead job as an assistant coach with the Hurricanes for seven seasons, Brind’Amour’s first season behind the bench may end with the team’s first playoff appearance in a decade. The ‘Canes have usually finished with strong possession numbers in recent seasons without any of the expected offence with it. Their shot differential dominance at 5-on-5 has continued as the ‘Canes lead the NHL in CF%, but the offence finally broke through in 2018-19 as the ‘Canes have scored the third-most goals in the NHL since Jan. 1.

That is due largely to the breakout from Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen, who crossed the 80- and 70-point plateaus for the first time. But the pickup of Nino Niederreiter for Victor Rask has been a huge win as the Swiss native has scored 13 times in 34 games. But the team’s shot quality has appeared to improve this season as well – the Hurricanes are third league-wide in scoring chances and lead the NHL in high danger opportunities at 5-on-5, per Natural Stat Trick.

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Their defence remains staunch and allows the third fewest shots against per game, which has put goalies Petr Mrazek and Curtis McElhinney in positions to succeed. There was a solid base in place already for this team to turn a corner, but it finally came together under Brind’Amour.

7. CLAUDE JULIEN, MONTREAL CANADIENS

Not many would have predicted the Habs to be in playoff contention until the last weekend of the regular season, but with two games remaining they’re right in the thick of it. Julien has certainly benefitted by having Carey Price return to form with a 2.28 goals-against average and .928 save percentage in the second half, but there’s a bit more to their success.

In the first half of the season, Montreal surprised everyone with their goal scoring and the fact they were third in the league on Dec. 31 with 96 goals at 5-on-5. That helped Montreal stay in it with the 12th-best record in the NHL while Price was struggling along with a save rate of just .904, and while Shea Weber was out of the lineup for the first two months of the season. They are still fifth in expected goals at 5-on-5 in 2018-19.

Julien also did a great job at playing and protecting Jesperi Kotkaniemi, which allowed him to have a very strong first year as a third-line centre and will build his confidence toward future seasons. The obvious knock on Julien’s candidacy is that Montreal’s special teams leaves something to be desired, especially their league-worst 12.5 per cent power play that has not improved an ounce all season.

8. JIM MONTGOMERY,

As a first-year NHL coach, Montgomery has no track record at this level, but had a long history of success at the University of Denver and won two USHL titles with Dubuque before that.

Like Brind’Amour, Montgomery took a team with a good base that had fallen short of expectations a couple years in a row and brought them back to the playoffs. The Stars’ roster construction left the team with a dearth of scoring depth, so after a while Montgomery split up the top unit of with and Alexander Radulov and it’s given the team a new look.

The coach also had to navigate and manage the waters after CEO Jim Lites flew off the handle and railed against the perceived lack of production put together by the team’s star players. While Seguin and Radulov carried on pretty much as usual, Benn struggled with just four goals in the following 22 games until finally recovering of late.

Montgomery has entrusted defenceman Miro Heiskanen with some big minutes and the rookie has come through with 12 goals and 33 points. Dallas also continues to be a low-risk, solid-defence team – although they are 18th in 5-on-5 shots against, they are top-seven in high danger chances against. This has aided the great performances in net for Anton Khudobin and Ben Bishop, the latter of whom should get some Vezina consideration even if he only finishes with 45 games played.

9. ,

As the defending Jack Adams winner, there is virtually no chance Gallant will take it home again in 2019, but there’s an argument to be made he’s done an even better job with this year’s team.

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This season didn’t start as smoothly as the entirety of their 2017-18 schedule went. Without top defenceman Nate Schmidt, who was suspended for the first 20 games, the Golden Knights went 8-11-1. But once they got their No. 1 back Vegas started to soar, posting a 15-4-3 record in his first 22 games.

In the first half of the season, the Golden Knights were still a high-event team and a top-10 offence despite last year’s top line falling well off its scoring rate and only having the new duo of Paul Stastny and Max Pacioretty together for five games in the 2018 portion of the schedule.

More opportunity was given to Alex Tuch, who was Vegas’s top scorer at the trade deadline. Late in the season, Gallant also put both Schmidt and Shea Theodore on their off-sides and found great results.

It took a little longer for this team to come together than it did in the inaugural run through the league, but it feels like the magic is back. The acquisition of Mark Stone at the deadline made Gallant’s job a little easier and now they head into this year’s playoffs with expectations of another long run.

Gallant has similar special teams knocks on his candidacy to Julien as Vegas ranks in the bottom half of the league on the power play and is 29th in the league since Jan. 1.

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TSN.CA / Conspiracy, negligence charges reinstated against OHL in minimum- wage lawsuit

By Rick Westhead, TSN – April 4, 2019

The will be forced to defend allegations of conspiracy, negligence and breach of contract after a three-judge panel in Ontario reinstated those claims against the league in its legal battle against former players over minimum wage.

The judgment, released late Wednesday by three Ontario Divisional Court judges, comes after an Ontario Superior Court judge dismissed those claims against the OHL in April, 2017. Lawyers for the former players appealed that decision.

The judges on Wednesday also rejected an OHL appeal that asked for the case to be stripped of class- action status. As a class action, current and former players going back to the 2012-13 season automatically become plaintiffs in the lawsuit. Players will now have the option to opt out of the litigation.

The judges also ordered the OHL to immediately pay roughly $500,000 worth of legal fees to the plaintiffs, in addition to another $700,000 in legal fees that must be paid if the OHL loses the lawsuit.

Similar lawsuits filed by former players are underway in Calgary against the and in Montreal against the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and the legal costs awarded on Wednesday are in addition to damages of up to $180 million if plaintiffs win each of three lawsuits against the OHL, WHL and QMJHL.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs in each case have argued that teams are selling for millions of dollars and leagues have become massive profit-making enterprises. The 20 teams in the OHL generated a collective $66.5 million in revenue in 2016, according to league and team financial statements filed in court in connection with the case.

Yet as major junior hockey has flourished, the plaintiffs say players have been left behind. They say paying players minimum wage would amount to $287,500 per team per year, or a collective $5.75 million expense for all 20 OHL teams.

The leagues have convinced many Canadian provinces and some U.S. states to amend their labour legislation to exempt major junior teams from having to pay players.

The leagues also say that some teams lose money and might even fold if they lose the case. The leagues say players are amateur athletes who shouldn’t enjoy employment rights and that some franchises would be forced to cut player benefits, such as monthly stipends and educational scholarships, if players are paid minimum wage.

The OHL has also said that teams may have to pare back their drug education, anti-doping, concussion management and medical and dental programs if it loses the lawsuit.

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"...The allegation that this relief will financially harm the defendants, causing them to be unable to continue paying benefits to certain class members is an allegation that does not arise from and is irrelevant to the resolution of the common issues," the judges wrote in their 32-page decision.

The reinstatement of the negligence claim means a judge will seek to answer the question of whether the CHL, the OHL or any of its clubs owed a duty of care to ensure players were properly classified as employees and advised of their rights under employment standards legislation.

Moving forward with a conspiracy allegation now means a judge will scrutinize a change the OHL made in 2014 when it released a memo to clubs telling them to “refer to players as amateur athletes” and make sure that they don’t “use any language in referring to the player and their clubs that would imply an employment relationship.”

The Ontario Divisional Court judges wrote in their decision that the judge who hears the case will have to decide, “Did any or all of the defendants conspire to violate the applicable employment standards legislation? If so, when, where, and how?”

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