Columbus Blue Jackets News Clips June 25-26, 2020

Columbus Blue Jackets PAGE 02: The Athletic: ‘Damn coin toss’: The twist of fate that defined the early Wild and Blue Jackets PAGE 08: The Hockey Writers / Blue Jackets Face New Johansen Situation with Dubois

Cleveland Monsters/Prospects

NHL/Websites PAGE 11: The Athletic: Amid safety concerns, older NHL coaches weigh-in on return to play PAGE 14: The Athletic: Amid positive tests, NHL’s return hinges on transparency and responsibility PAGE 17: The Athletic: Ice in July and August? NHL ice techs ready for a challenge when season restarts PAGE 20: .ca: Road to NHL's return gets bumpier as more players arrive from abroad PAGE 23: TSN.ca: Iginla, Wilson, Lowe among Hockey Hall of Fame's class of 2020 PAGE 26: Philadelphia Inquirer: Sports rosters must expand much more to avoid coronavirus shutdowns PAGE 29: Times: Amazon buys naming rights to KeyArena, will call it PAGE 32: The Athletic: Seattle franchise out to ‘answer this challenge’ with Climate Pledge Arena name PAGE 34: The Athletic: The No. 1 pick draft: NHL execs reveal how Alexis Lafreniere stacks up PAGE 38: Sportsnet.ca: NHL/NHLPA talks on CBA include escrow cap, salary deferral for players PAGE 40: Sportsnet.ca: Sportsnet's 2020 NHL Draft Prospect Rankings: Lottery edition PAGE 44: Sportsnet.ca: 2020 NHL Draft Lottery Primer: Senators have a chance to win big PAGE 47: : Breaking down every goalie controversy in the 24-team playoff tournament PAGE 52: Tribune Chronicle: An ode to a fading sports tradition

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The Athletic / ‘Damn coin toss’: The twist of fate that defined the early Wild and Blue Jackets By Michael Russo and Aaron Portzline – June 25, 2020

Editor’s note: One day after a look back at the 2000 Wild-Blue Jackets expansion draft on its 20th anniversary, we examine how integral a single coin toss was to the early direction of two franchises. The early fate of two new NHL franchises hung in the balance on June 1, 2000, when NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly led a small contingent into a board room inside the Hilton across from the Meadowlands Sports Complex in New Jersey. It was the morning of Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final. Across the highway from the vast hotel, the would play host to the that evening. With the Manhattan skyline in view just over the Hudson River, the , in typical I-don’t- give-a-$%&# fashion, rattled the hockey world and did their best to upstage both nearby events that same morning with the news that legendary boss Glen Sather would become their next general manager. But still, all of that outside noise did nothing to quell the excitement in that boardroom, where Columbus Blue Jackets GM Doug MacLean and GM Doug Risebrough gathered on either side of Daly, forming a half-circle around a high-top cocktail table covered by a tablecloth with the NHL shield on it. Daly held a specially made coin in his hands: the Wild logo on one side, the Blue Jackets logo on the other. The winner of the coin flip — these were simpler times, remember — would get to choose between picking first in the expansion draft or picking third in the entry draft, both of which were set for later that month in Calgary. This was a seminal moment for two franchises — two excited hockey markets — and yet it was Daly’s hands that were trembling. “Bill is a confident guy, but I couldn’t believe how nervous he was,” Risebrough said. “Bill gets all the big jobs at the league,” MacLean cracked. “(Daly) was like, ‘Here’s what we’re going to do: We’re going to flip this coin. It’s going to land on the table,’” Risebrough recalled. The scene that followed was right out of a Leslie Nielsen movie. “He flips the coin, the coin hits the table and it falls into my feet right below me,” Risebrough said. “I look down and I see the Wild logo facing up.” Risebrough was ecstatic … until Daly lunged down to grab the coin. “‘We have to do it again,'” Risebrough recalls Daly saying. “‘It has to land on the table.'” Risebrough couldn’t believe it.

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“I’m standing there thinking, ‘What are the chances of it coming up Wild twice?'” But as fate would have it, Daly flipped the coin again and “bang,” Risebrough said, “it came up Wild again.” “So basically,” Risebrough said, “we won the coin toss twice.” That double whammy was the first kick in the teeth for a bad-luck Blue Jackets franchise that would make the playoffs only once in its first 12 seasons and took until Year 18 to win a playoff round. So began a long streak of bad breaks when it came to draft picks. Put it this way: Getting the higher pick in the entry draft — the third overall selection as opposed to fourth — was considered the more valuable commodity than picking first in an expansion scrapheap filled with castoffs, retreads and soon-to-be retirees. “That’s not exactly a good runner-up (prize),” MacLean said, laughing, of missing out on the higher pick in the entry draft, which took place 20 years ago Wednesday. “I remember thinking that day, ‘What a way to start this franchise off, losing this damn coin toss.’” Twice! It really is amazing how a flick of the wrist by a league official, coupled with gravity and the hard surface of a table causing a silver coin to bounce a certain way, can initiate the paths of two NHL franchises. The NHL Draft always seems to go in cycles, and there are some drafts — like, 1979, 1988, and 2003 — that are jam-packed with franchise-altering players that litter not only the first round but beyond. And then, there are some classes like 2000 that are simply not as strong. There were two game-breaking scorers at the top of the draft — Dany Heatley and Marian Gaborik, then a steep decline from there. The top six picks in the 2000 draft would wind up combining for 4,765 regular-season games, but only 11 of the remaining 24 players taken in the first round even played more than 200 games. And once then-Islanders GM decided to blow a hole through his franchise by trading both his goalies — and Kevin Weekes — on the morning of the 2000 draft and thus making it apparent he was going to draft Rick DiPietro first overall, it made the burn of not winning that coin toss three weeks earlier sting once again for MacLean. That’s because it cinched the fact that Minnesota would be able to select Gaborik or Heatley third overall. “It was so frustrating,” MacLean said. “The fact that us and Minny are coming into the first-year expansion with two teams after Nashville and Atlanta had already come in, and we’re picking third and fourth in the draft? Like, it was a joke, totally a joke.” 2000 NHL Entry Draft: Top six picks Pick Team Player Pos. GP Stats 1 Islanders Rick DiPietro G 318 130-136, 2.87 GAA, .902 Sv% 2 Thrashers Dany Heatley F 869 372 G, 419 A, 791 PTS 3 Wild Marian Gaborik F 1035 407 G, 408 A, 815 PTS 4 Blue Jackets D 659 48 G, 111 A, 159 PTS

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5 Islanders F 635 137 G, 123 A, 260 PTS 6 Predators Scott Hartnell F 1249 327 G, 380 A, 707 PTS The top three on the Wild’s list were Gaborik, Heatley and DiPietro. Minnesota never had any use for DiPietro because it had already swung its first trade in franchise history to acquire Manny Fernandez and selected Jamie McLennan one day earlier in the expansion draft. “We wanted a scorer,” Risebrough said. “We were for sure taking Gaborik. There was no debate. Heatley was there, Gaborik was there, but we had Gaborik ahead of Heatley. Once the Islanders traded Luongo, we knew they were going to take DiPietro. It was between Heatley and Gaborik. I asked (then- Atlanta Thrashers GM) Donny Waddell, ‘Who you gonna take?’ He said, ‘We’re going to take Heatley.’ I said, ‘Thanks for telling me that,’ and went back to our table and said, ‘Gaborik is going to be there.’” The Blue Jackets’ top three were, in order, Heatley, Gaborik, and Rostislav Klesla, a stay-at-home defenseman from the . The Jackets had DiPietro fourth and Scott Hartnell fifth. They had considered Brent Krahn with the No. 4 overall pick if DiPietro was taken, but that faded after they acquired earlier that month in a trade with Colorado. “We loved Gaborik,” MacLean said, “and we spent a lot of time over in Slovakia with him. (Then-director of amateur scouting) Don Boyd absolutely loved him. I had seen him at the World Junior the year before in Winnipeg when he was an underage (player). It was the first time I had seen him.” At 2 a.m. on the day of the draft, MacLean got word that the Islanders were taking DiPietro. He then started to hear rumors out of Atlanta that the Thrashers were going to take the defenseman, Klesla. MacLean was elated. If true, the Blue Jackets would be guaranteed Heatley or Gaborik. “Then all of a sudden, (the Thrashers) take Heatley at two, so then we knew Gaborik would go three,” MacLean said. “And we end up with Klesla, which at the end of the day, obviously, we would’ve preferred Gaborik, but Klesla ended up playing 12 years and had a pretty good career. Not what we expected when he was coming out of Brampton. He was projected to be a much higher-end offensive player than he ended up being. And I don’t know if (being on an) expansion team hurt his development. “I watched him at the World Junior. He was the All-Star defenseman MVP, and he looked like he was really going to be a stud. But there was no doubt Gaborik was the guy that Don Boyd wanted, for sure. And so that was really frustrating.” MacLean believes the Wild would have taken Klesla at fourth overall had Columbus won the coin toss. “They either have to take Klesla or pick another forward,” MacLean said. “And it would have been Klesla … because it was not a good draft. It was a terrible draft.” Risebrough didn’t know for sure which player the Wild would have taken had they ended up with the fourth pick. Maybe he was just being nice, but Risebrough said Klesla was in the mix while also acknowledging the Wild weren’t as intrigued by taking a “defensive defenseman” that lacked “offensive flash.” On the other hand, Tommy Thompson, Risebrough’s longtime co-assistant GM who was director of scouting back in 2000, was a little more blunt.

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He said there is no doubt the Wild would have passed on Klesla and instead would have selected Hartnell. The only other option Thompson could recall was an opportunity to trade back to the middle of the first round. But Thompson said he couldn’t promise Risebrough that his second choice beyond Hartnell — Justin Williams — would still be on the board. As it turned out, the Wild never had to consider trading back. “Klesla, he’s the kind of guy … you know how sometimes, there’s talented guys and you just don’t like them for some reason? That wasn’t it with Klesla at all,” Thompson said. “We actually had (Hall of Famer and current Wild scout) Guy Lapointe follow him around as the old defenseman (himself). “And (Klesla) just … he wasn’t bad, but it’s just that we thought he was really misplaced at No. 4. I mean … he never excited me one game I saw the guy. At least with Hartnell, you knew what you were getting. He was a little bit lead-footed and everything, but he was a character guy and I don’t think there was … he wasn’t going to be a strikeout — put it that way.” Hartnell went on to play 1,249 NHL games — the second-most of any player in the 2000 draft — and scored 327 goals, amassing 707 points and 1,809 minutes. Coincidentally, he played for the Blue Jackets from 2014-17. Klesla scored 48 goals and 159 points in 659 NHL games over 13 years with the Blue Jackets and Coyotes. On the other hand, 20 years later, Gaborik is still the Wild’s all-time leading scorer with 219 and ranks second with 437 points in 502 games. To add insult to injury, Gaborik would wind up playing only 34 games for Columbus during an injury- riddled 2012-14. He’d be dealt to the Kings at the 2014 trade deadline for a prospect and a couple of picks and that year helped lead the Kings to the Stanley Cup with 14 goals during a magical playoff run. “I loved watching Gaborik,” MacLean said. “The breakaway speed this guy had. I liked him as a kid. I even remember watching him when I was in L.A. at the Stanley Cup — how valuable he was, even for the Kings in that Stanley Cup run late in his career. He played some great hockey, even then. And that was after a multitude of injuries. He was a talented, talented guy.” There’s little doubt that “damn coin toss” set the direction of both organizations. The Wild went to the Western Conference final in only their third year of existence. Gaborik, that 2002- 03 season, notched his second consecutive 30-goal season and then racked up nine goals and 17 points in the first 13 games of an 18-game postseason that ended with Jean-Sebastien Giguere and the Anaheim Ducks suffocating the Wild in a four-game sweep. The Blue Jackets didn’t make the playoffs for the first time until 2008-09. That was Gaborik’s final season in Minnesota. “If I was trying to articulate what I wanted with that first pick, I knew Minnesota had a history with hockey. I knew they understood the game and speed and skating,” Risebrough said. “I agreed with all of that. The automatic sell for me — instantaneous — was Gaborik because of how he skated. If he didn’t play as well as we wanted the first two years, you’re still going to see a world-class skater. It’s going to start the conversation of what we’re trying to do.

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“But that wasn’t the case. He was dynamic right away.” Thompson remembers one day overhearing how excited the Wild scouts were talking about all of the Wild’s other young guys. They did snatch up a pretty impressive collection, including defenseman Nick Schultz in the second round of the 2000 draft. To this day, Schultz’s 743 games with Minnesota ranks second in franchise history behind 2001 first-round pick Mikko Koivu. “I said, ‘Yeah, yeah, but that’s from the press box. Get down in the stands,’” Thompson said. “When you see Gaborik, you understand why the fans talk about him, the hair flew and went, the jersey floated behind him. He produced offensively and he was exciting to watch. That was the big thing. It gave us an element that we weren’t going to have.” If the Wild had lost that coin toss, Risebrough would have had to figure out a way in those early years to swing a trade to acquire that kind of game breaker. Or, perhaps the Wild would have been so bad, they would have earned another high draft choice that could have landed a future stud at or near the top of a subsequent year’s draft like Ilya Kovalchuk, or Eric Staal. From the Blue Jackets’ perspective, “here’s how I rationalized it two or three years later,” MacLean said. “I ended up getting Nash (first overall in 2002). So I said, ‘OK, I got Nash as a franchise winger instead of Gaborik. I ended up with Klesla, who I thought was going to be a franchise defenseman. And then I got , who looked like he was going to be a franchise goaltender until he ran into his injury problems probably about Year 7 or 8 of his pro career. “I thought I was in pretty good shape, so I didn’t feel bad. Just didn’t turn out that way.” Twenty years later, the Blue Jackets stunned the in the first round of the 2019 playoffs. In 2019, the Wild snapped a streak of six straight postseason berths that included advancing to the second round only twice. In a way, they’re probably still paying for being too good too soon during those early years in large part because of how competitive Gaborik made them. Oh, and having Jacques Lemaire as coach didn’t hurt. Risebrough recalled a funny story from 2003. “Lemaire calls me in for a meeting,” Risebrough said. “Oh, boy. He says, ‘We have a real problem. You’re going to have to do something, Doug. This team is playing well, we’re going to make the playoffs. If you don’t trade somebody, we’re going to make the playoffs.’ I said, ‘What’s wrong with that?’” “(Lemaire said,) ‘There’s nothing wrong with that, but we’re going to make the playoffs and we’re not supposed to make the playoffs this early. This wasn’t the plan.’” Risebrough thought about what Lemaire said and went back to him a few days later. “I said, ‘Here’s the deal, Jacques. We can’t derail this right now. The players are putting too much into this, everybody is. We’re in contention. We can’t derail it by making a trade. Let’s see what happens.’” The Wild would go on to be the first team in NHL history to rally from consecutive 3-1 series deficits, beating Colorado and Vancouver to reach the conference final.

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“I was really lucky,” Risebrough said, laughing. “Not only did I win a second coin toss, but Gaborik was available.” Risebrough probably wishes he had that lucky coin as a keepsake. “I have no idea where the coin is,” Risebrough said. “I know (Daly) didn’t give it to us.”

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The Hockey Writers / Blue Jackets Face New Johansen Situation with Dubois By Ryan Szporer - June 26, 2020

Columbus Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen raised some eyebrows when he selected center Pierre-Luc Dubois No. 3 overall at the 2016 NHL Entry Draft. In retrospect, he shouldn’t have. It was the right decision. Dubois Over Puljujarvi It isn’t just that a winger, Finn Jesse Puljujarvi, who fell to the Edmonton Oilers at No. 4, had been the consensus third pick in the draft. Under normal circumstances, drafting a center over a winger makes a lot of sense. So, even if there had been some disparity between the two prospects, the Dubois selection was justifiable even then. It should be noted that disparity has since shifted the other way due to Puljujarvi’s failure to so much as establish himself as an NHL player. Johansen-Jones Trade Revisited Another reason the pick made sense? Kekalainen had just traded away star center Ryan Johansen to the Nashville Predators for Seth Jones at the start of the calendar year. That’s another move that, although initially a fair one-for-one deal, has since tilted heavily in the Blue Jackets’ favor. It nevertheless left a hole in the middle of the line-up, with Boone Jenner (49 points), Brandon Dubinsky (48) and Alexander Wennberg (40) remaining the top-scoring centers on that specific team. Each has since regressed badly from a production standpoint, to the point that neither Jenner nor Wennberg hit so much as 30 points this past season with the Blue Jackets. Dubinsky remains out with a chronic wrist injury, last playing in 2018-19, when he scored a meager 14 points in 61 games. Granted, the Blue Jackets also had a 23-year-old William Karlsson on the team at the time of the trade. However, no one really knew what they had in the eventual 40-goal scorer, seeing as he was for all intents and purposes pushed on the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft. The Blue Jackets reportedly traded the Knights first and second-round picks in exchange for taking on David Clarkson’s contract, selecting Karlsson and not selecting the unprotected Joonas Korpisalo or Josh Anderson. In hindsight, Karlsson deserved to be protected. However, that he was on the team to begin with shows how much of a good trade the Jones-Johansen deal turned out to be for the Blue Jackets. Jones has since developed into a James Norris Memorial Trophy-caliber defenseman, while Johansen’s tenure with the Predators has had its share of downs. He remains a 60-point player, but has far from hit the 30-goal plateau (or even 20 goals) that he reached in 2013-14 again. That’s why Johansen’s ensuing contract stand-off with Kekalainen that 2014 offseason is so relevant here. Dubois vs. Johansen Just like Johansen in 2014, Dubois is set to hit restricted free agency once his entry-level contract expires at the end of this season (whenever that will be). Back then, Johansen had been seeking around $6.5 million per season. The Blue Jackets had been willing to pay him around $3.5 million per season as part of a two-year bridge deal, which is a big difference.

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Even though the two sides ultimately signed a three-year, $12 million deal, the dispute led to Johansen effectively missing training camp. Only three days remained between the point at which the deal was signed and the Blue Jackets opened their season against the . To his credit, Johansen didn’t let the late start stop him. He stormed out of the starting gates with a 10- game point streak (five goals, eight assists). He even set a new career-high 71 points (26 goals). So, all in all, it seemed as though the Blue Jackets had come out as big winners. No one knew just how much at the time. Simply put, while far from a bust, Johansen has been a disappointment, especially since he signed his latest contract, an eight-year, $64 million deal, in 2017. Johansen himself has admitted as much, with his ice time declining from 17:56 per game to 15:43 under new head coach John Hynes. Jackets and Kekalainen Were Right Maybe Kekalainen had legitimately been concerned about giving a young player like Johansen too much too soon. Maybe they saw a lack of something in him everyone else refused to at the time, because, let’s be honest, after a 21-year-old scores 33 goals and 63 points like Johansen did in 2013-14, the knee- jerk reaction in this day and age is to lock him up long term. Almost everyone (if not everyone outright) on the outside looking in thought it: Why not just give Johansen the money? Kekalainen and the Blue Jackets knew better, though. In fact, that’s why they’re in such a great position ahead of negotiations with Dubois. Coming off a 27-goal, 61-point season in 2018-19, Dubois may be a star in the making. However, Kekalainen has already set the precedent that no player, especially a young one just finishing his first contract with a lot to prove, is bigger than the team. That philosophy is reflected in the Jackets’ pay structure, with Cam Atkinson owning the highest cap hit on the team at a mere $5.875 million. It’s seen in how they signed starter Elvis Merzlikins to a modest two-year extension, after which he’ll be an unrestricted free agent. Whether that turns out to be a mistake or not, you have to believe Kekalainen is aware of the risks and it’s all done by design. Dubois Negotiations Destined to Be Do-Over Simply put, the Dubois negotiations are destined to be a do-over of the Johansen situation. There’s no avoiding it. There’s also no reason the Blue Jackets should want to do anything differently. For starters, with the departure of , the Blue Jackets’ offense as a whole took a hit, with Dubois’ production falling to 18 goals and 49 points in 70 games this past season. So, right off the bat, Dubois, even in leading the team in scoring like Johansen did in 2014, doesn’t have the same leg on which to stand. Furthermore, we all know it didn’t even work out for Johansen in negotiations six years ago. That’s in part the main point. Kekalainen and the Blue Jackets have been wholly vindicated with regard to how they handled Johansen. There’s close to no chance they diverge from the game plan at this stage, considering they’re arguably on the verge of becoming perennial threats with a franchise-record four straight playoff appearances (assuming you count their play-in round berth this season as one). Dubois is undeniably a part of the master plan. That shouldn’t be in doubt at this stage, considering his quasi-off-the-board selection in 2016 or his play up to this point. However, neither should the fact that there is a master plan. There clearly is one at work. More than that, for better or worse, Kekalainen’s

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The Athletic / LeBrun: Amid safety concerns, older NHL coaches weigh-in on return to play By Pierre LeBrun – June 25, 2020

There isn’t a day that goes by that Rick Bowness doesn’t sit back and wonder. How safe is it for him to stand behind the bench this summer if the NHL’s 24-team tournament goes ahead as scheduled? “I’ve been giving it an awful lot of thought. Without a doubt. I’m 65,’’ Bowness told The Athletic this week. “Am I nervous? Absolutely I am, to get this thing.’’ To be clear, he is currently planning to coach the Dallas Stars this summer. But he’s certainly eyeing the situation closely. As he should be. And he’s not alone. There are 12 active members on NHL coaching staffs that will be 60 or over by the end of the month — Bowness being the oldest head coach at 65. All these coaches need to be thinking about this right now, considering we are just a few weeks from the proposed starting date of training camps, set to open on July 10. “No doubt you’re thinking of the different options you may have, whether it’s wearing a mask, to what extent you are going to deal with your team and players (meaning distancing),” head coach Claude Julien, who turned 60 in April, said via text message this week. “I know it may be a challenge behind the bench more than anywhere else but my thinking is that I need to be ready to adjust and have options when that time comes depending on where we are at with COVID and our hockey circumstance. “That also means pulling myself out if I feel a real danger,” Julien added. “My family and life are more important than my job at that point.’’ Julien also said that he knows the league is planning on taking every precaution. And that’s true. There will be a protocol for all participants – which includes coaches – for Phase 3 and Phase 4, NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly confirmed in an e-mail. “Everyone who needs to know will be made aware,” Daly wrote. The NHL will not place restrictions on coaches based on age and it will be up to each individual to decide if they want to come back or not. If a coach decides not to come back, the team will work to accommodate that decision. “The health, well-being and safety of all of our coaches is our primary focus,” Michael Hirshfeld, the executive director of the NHL Coaches’ Association, said via text message. “In discussions with the NHL and Bill Daly about the return to play, we have been assured that our association will be included in decisions to help determine what is both safe and reasonable for all of our coaches.’’ Basically, it comes down to each coach’s comfort level. Pittsburgh’s Jacques Martin is the oldest assistant coach in the NHL at 67. Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan reached out to Martin to make sure he was at ease with still being behind the bench. Martin confirmed that he is.

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“I don’t know, I’ve been prudent, I’ve been careful, but for some reason, I guess my belief is that I feel I’m in good condition for my health both physically and mentally. I guess I’m of the belief that when my times comes, I’m going to go,’’ Martin said with a half chuckle. “It’s funny, I haven’t been scared but I’ve been careful as far as when I go to the store I wear my mask, wash my hands and social distancing. I believe strongly in those things. I’ll continue to be careful. But when Sully asked me, I had no hesitation.’’ Mike Kitchen is 64, the second-oldest assistant coach in the league. You better believe the assistant coach has put some thought into it. “Well, it’s definitely crossed my mind,’’ Kitchen said this week. “Especially in Florida, you’re looking at going down and having a training camp in Florida where the cases are spiking right now. Everyone is making plans, but there’s still a lot of unknowns right now, with the virus itself and how you contract it, right? I mean, there are so many different parts. What about the cleaning staff doing the rooms in the hub city? What about the people serving the food? What about the bus driver? They all go home … “So yeah, there is concern,” Kitchen said candidly. “I’m just wondering, how do they have everything covered? I will definitely give it some thought.’’ Kitchen is set to become a grandfather for the first time in November with his daughter expecting twins. “You wouldn’t want anything to happen before that time. A lot of family stuff that crosses your mind,’’ Kitchen said. Bowness, a grandfather himself, wants to see what Phase 3 and 4 protocols look like once they are finalized and how the bubbles will work in each Hub city. “We’ll have to see how it all looks when we get there,’’ he said. “You’ve got to trust that the league and everyone is doing everything they can to protect us all. Until I get there and see how it’s all laid out. If the safety and precautions are being met, then yeah, we’ll go ahead with it.’’ Would he wear a mask behind the bench? “I certainly haven’t ruled that out,” Bowness said. “I don’t know what the other coaches are saying, but we certainly have not ruled that out. “Don’t be surprised if you see me behind there with a mask on. I wouldn’t hesitate, let’s put it that way, if I had any concerns at all.’’ Winnipeg Jets assistant coach Charlie Huddy, who turned 61 earlier this month, says there’s of course a concern, but he’s planning to be behind the bench. “I think we’re all the same, I think everybody is worried about it, the players included. I mean, we’ve obviously never been through this before. I don’t think anybody knows how it’s all going to play out,’’ Huddy said this week. “Do we wear a mask? We’ll see what the NHL comes up with as far as the protocol for us behind the bench,” Huddy added. “I don’t know, it’s new for everybody. Am I nervous? Of course you’re going to be nervous. I’m a little bit older, could I get it easier than other people? I guess that could possibly happen. But I’m still going to coach and we’ll just go from there.’’ head coach Alain Vigneault, 59, trusts that the league will have everything figured out. “I have absolutely no worries, with what I’ve heard we have to do with the NHL protocol,’’ Vigneault said via text message this week. “Personally, I’m healthy, no conditions, if I get it, I get it.’’

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Added Panthers head coach Joel Quenneville, 61, via text message this week: “Will do whatever is required. I know I’m old, but raring to go.’’ That same excitement is fuelling Martin as well, he feels great about a veteran Penguins team he feels can win. He’s balanced all the risks in his mind and can’t wait to get out there. The grandfather of four won’t let COVID-19 ruin that opportunity by keeping him home. “I don’t want to stop living, put it that way,’’ Martin said of being willing to still coach this summer. “I just feel I’m fortunate to be healthy and hope it continues.’’ The point is that if anyone feels unsafe this summer, they can walk away. As reported last week, the NHLPA plans to negotiate the right for individual players to opt-out of the tournament if they’re not comfortable playing. “Players and coaches who do not feel comfortable should have the right to walk away, because their health is No. 1, no matter what,” Bowness said. “So if they’re not comfortable, then they should be able to walk away without any repercussions whatsoever.’’

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The Athletic / Amid positive tests, NHL’s return hinges on transparency and responsibility By Scott Burnside and Sean Shapiro – June 25, 2020

The NHL announced last week that 11 players tested positive for COVID-19. These positive tests were accompanied by the news that the Tampa Bay Lightning were temporarily shutting down their practice facility after three players and several staff members tested positive, and there new cases among players from multiple teams who have been skating outside of the Coyotes’ practice facility, according to multiple sources league-wide and in Arizona. The bigger news is that they are almost certainly not going to be the last. None of the players’ identities have been officially released, and The Athletic’s policy is to not identify athletes by name unless the team or player agrees to do so. No one expected the NHL would return to play without having players test positive. The strict protocols for Phase 2, the voluntary return of players to NHL facilities for small group workouts under strict supervision and regular COVID-19 testing, were put in place to determine how widespread the virus was before teams gather en masse for training camp and games. The problem is that Phase 2, which began June 8, is strictly voluntary. The NHL’s release indicating that since Phase 2 opened more than 200 players had been tested and only 11 had tested positive is relatively meaningless since it reflects only a tiny part of the NHL world as a majority of players continue to work out outside of the purview of the teams and the league. Yet, as of Tuesday, the of players who can work out at NHL facilities went up from six to 12. In the wake of these converging storylines, the NHLPA and the league are in lockstep in the belief that protecting players’ privacy in this situation is sacrosanct, and the league has taken over announcing positive tests, which teams were previously responsible for releasing, so that only the total number of players and not the teams they play for will be identified. “It’s a blurry line, privacy rights versus public health. Where is the line?” one former player said. While players have a right to keep this medical information private, there are still details surrounding these positives tests that the league, teams and the players themselves need to consider as they move forward in their efforts to resume the NHL season. In the instances of the players who are outside of Phase 2 and tested positive, how was it spread? What were the details surrounding their workouts? what are the details surrounding their workouts? Who is performing the contact tracing to ensure that all those who came in contact with the players who tested positive are being warned about possible exposure? Were these players symptomatic and sought testing as a matter of course? If they were asymptomatic, how did the positive test come about? Here is a more critical question for all the players. Are they out socially and not observing the recommended protocols of safe social distancing and not wearing a mask? The NHL is aware of the circumstances surrounding all the positive tests that have been reported to them. It is also aware of the suspected manner of exposure and the health status of those who have

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tested positive. But not sharing that information could contribute to not all players taking the protocols seriously. It’s obviously not just this group of players that tested positive that is at issue here, but this illustrates the issue the NHL and the NHLPA have in trying to get their arms around this problem. One GM told The Athletic that he has concerns about a number of his own players being out socially. In multiple NHL cities, players have avoided opting into Phase 2 protocols for a number of reasons, not the least of which being that they don’t want to be tested multiple times every week and they think they’re getting a better workout with larger groups of players. In at least one of those cities participants report that they are not keeping safe social distancing and are not wearing masks while with the large group of players. “It’s a big concern for a lot of guys,” one veteran NHLer said when asked about the possibility that some players won’t take social distancing seriously. Multiple NHL executives expressed concern privately about players being responsible throughout the return to play. While players can be kept in smaller groups for Phase 2 and training camp workouts, enforcing that bubble away from the rink is going to be – and in some cases already has been – difficult. “Teams are frustrated,” another GM said. “Spending a lot of time and effort to comply with protocols, players end up putting themselves in risky situations away from the rink.” NHL executives are also worried about players’ social circles. While a player may be social distancing, a family member or significant other failing to do so could easily pierce the bubble. For this reason, NHL teams are likely going to encourage smart socialization, suggesting players in the same bubble interact at a players’ home, for example, during Phase 2 and 3. But it’s far from a fail-safe solution. “There is an onus on all parties involved here, players, coaches, trainers, etc., to be extra careful and responsible with this thing because of close proximity to others and because they are in the spotlight,” another former NHLer said. “They all want to play so they need to be diligent away from the rink to protect the game.” Some players admit they are worried about their peers. While a player can be responsible and follow all the proper protocols, one player in the group going rogue can infect an entire bubble. Players being held responsible for everyone’s health will be a motivating talking point, but some fear that it’ll just be an empty threat to others. “If I do everything right, but then can still get it if someone else isn’t responsible, that’s a scary thought,” an Eastern Conference player said. “You want to believe everyone is making the right decision. But clearly everyone isn’t.” One veteran NHL team source said he thinks the number of positive tests among NHL players is going to rise in the coming days as more and more players return to their NHL cities in preparation for the start of training camp on July 10. One NHL GM indicated they are in regular contact with local health officials about the best way for their players to stay safe and they have tried to share that information with their players. Given all of the information that has been gathered, this GM’s belief is that participating in Phase 2 and following the strict protocol is the best and safest way to proceed. Will that message get through in sufficient numbers to prevent the NHL’s plan for return to play from collapsing?

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One team source said he thinks the widely held notion among players that most people connected to the NHL who have tested positive are asymptomatic is misguided and that there are more serious cases than have been made public at this stage. The NHL has said it will provide more comprehensive numbers later this week in the next update on the state of testing and will include numbers dating back to the start of Phase 2. It seems unrealistic to expect the NHL or the NHLPA for that matter to keep tabs on literally hundreds of players who are outside the Phase 2 protocols. But it also appears that failing to keep tabs on them may cripple the NHL’s ability to return to action. What impact will the rash of positive tests have on the NHL’s bid to return? That part is unknown. At some point it would be great to see an NHL player step forward and share his experiences. Maybe their stories are cautionary tales. Maybe they are simply reminders that no matter how careful you are you can still contract the virus. Maybe they represent the whole spectrum. Regardless, this seems like a time for candor and transparency from the league and the players.

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The Athletic / Ice in July and August? NHL ice techs ready for a challenge when season restarts By Aaron Portzline – June 25, 2020

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The coronavirus has scrambled our sense of days and months, but here’s a little nugget to recalibrate your brain to the typical rhythm of an NHL season: The latest a season has ever ended is June 24, just four days into summer. Anybody who has poured a bag of ice over a bucket of beers knows how hard is it to keep water frozen in the heart of summer, but that’s the challenge that awaits the NHL if the 24-team restart makes it off the ground. It will be difficult enough to build and maintain ice beginning on July 10 when the 24 surviving teams are expected to host training camps at their home rinks. But the task will be tougher in late July or early August when the league sends the top 12 teams from each conference to its hub cities, where the ice will be taxed with at least three games a day in the qualifying round and early rounds of the playoffs. The oldest weather adage holds in hockey, too: It’s not just the heat, but the humidity that keeps Zamboni drivers awake at night. At least two of the NHL’s six remaining possible hub cities — Chicago and (after Columbus, Dallas, Pittsburgh and St. Paul were eliminated this week) — suffer from heavy, oppressive, humid air in the depths of summer. Two others on the list, Las Vegas and Phoenix, are literally in the middle of the desert, where the average daily temperature exceeds 100 degrees in the summer. “I’ve had the bottom of my flip-flops melt on the sidewalk in Vegas,” said Cody Bateman, ice operations manager at American Airlines Center in Dallas. “I don’t think your ice plant (which keeps the ice frozen from beneath the rink) or your air conditioning will turn off the entire time.” Las Vegas is reportedly a favorite to be a hub city, which means the NHL will attempt to stage the world’s coldest game in the middle of the Mojave Desert. Around the NHL, ice techs — a tight-knit community — are sharing ideas and trying to anticipate worst- case scenarios when the league attempts to resume its season on national TV after a four-month pause. There are plenty of year-round rinks, sure. But NHL-sized arenas are usually ice-free from the moment the season ends to a week or so before training camp starts. “It’ll be a great learning experience for all of us,” said Jeremy Brant, director of operations for the Vegas Golden Knights and T-Mobile Arena. “When you do the same thing game after game and year after year, you have your routine down. You know how your equipment works, you know what your weather is during hockey season and how your ice reacts. “But this is going to cause us to really push the limits of our systems, and you’re not sure where you should draw the line in a number of different aspects. This experience is going to let everybody figure out where that line is.”

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A Zamboni resurfaces the ice prior to a 2018 Penguins-Blue Jackets game at Nationwide Arena. (Aaron Doster / USA Today) The NHL would not make its ice guru, Dan Craig, available to be interviewed for this story. But the icemakers in Columbus, Dallas and Las Vegas were optimistic that ice conditions won’t be as bad as many expect. The heat and humidity outside will be like nothing they’ve ever faced during the hockey season, although it can be mighty hot in Vegas and Dallas in mid-September when training camps open in a typical year. But the biggest reason for optimism, they said, is the other major impact of COVID-19: Fans will not be allowed to attend any games. Yes, hockey fans, you’re both the lifeblood of this sport and the biggest detriment to the surface on which it’s played. When the arena doors open 60-90 minutes before a game, the outside weather comes rushing into the building, wreaking havoc on the rink environment. Warm is one thing, but wet is another. “If it’s raining outside and people are all wet when they come into the building, that moisture goes into the air,” Blue Jackets ice technician Ian Huffman said. “And there goes the humidity.” But the damage doesn’t stop when the arena doors are closed. Any building with 18,000-plus fans — all of them breathing, presumably, and most of them with a core temperature of around 98.6 degrees — will see the temperature rise usually 6-8 degrees between faceoff and the end of the third period. If the game goes into … “People are yelling, people are sweating,” Huffman said. “That’s all moisture being created within the building and going into the air, and that humidity really affects the surface of the ice. “The snow that sits on the surface of the ice (after it has been roughed up by skates) will pull that moisture in, and that makes it heavier and affects the pucks. The puck doesn’t push through it like it does with a dry snow.” That’s why NHL ice techs are known to be sticklers about “their” ice when it’s not being used, especially in the fall and spring when it can be warm outside. “I shut every curtain in the rink, close every window, tell everybody to stay the hell out of the bowl,” Bateman said. “We leave the lights low, make sure every door is shut. And I do my ice-making at night.” Every NHL rink measures its air quality during a game to make sure the carbon dioxide content in the air doesn’t rise to a dangerous level. Typically, CO2 is 0.04 percent of the air we breathe. To keep it near that number, rinks bring fresh air into the building (inhale) and pump out the old (exhale) through large dampers on the roof. “Picture the arena like a big lung,” Bateman said. “It needs good air to breathe.” In the depths of summer, cooling that outside air quickly can be a real challenge. NHL rinks have cooling towers, but they aren’t typically asked to cool the air by more than 50 degrees. The ideal temperature in an NHL rink is in the low-60s. “Imagine bringing in 115-degree air and trying to cool it off,” Brant said.

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But with no fans in the buildings — only players, coaches, and trainers relying on the oxygen — replacing the CO2 might not be an issue. It’s expected that fewer than 100 people, including players, will be permitted in the bowl area during a game. “We’ll still have to monitor the air,” Brant said. “But with almost nobody in the building, I don’t think Co2 is even going to be on the radar (of concerns).” HOW IS THE RINK AT AAC BUILT? WE SPEAK WITH CODY BATEMAN, OUR ICE OPERATIONS MANAGER, WHO WALKS US THROUGH THE PROCESS FROM START TO FINISH. PIC.TWITTER.COM/HL3ZKXQHEO — X-DALLAS STARS (@DALLASSTARS) SEPTEMBER 11, 2018 Every NHL rink took out its ice in the days after the March 12 announcement that the season was put on pause. Most of the 24 teams, including Columbus, will use their practice rinks for training camp 2.0. But when the NHL announces its hub cities, those ice crews will get to work immediately. “None of the buildings have put ice in at this time in the summer,” Huffman said. “Maybe for a Disney Show or something like that for a week. But for something like this — a 60- or 90-day run, where you’re on it multiple times every day — there’s some uncertainty, I guess. “The fight will be in finding the right numbers and then monitoring it. But (with no fans in the building), we won’t be fighting the variables throughout the course of a game as we normally do. “I’m optimistic, absolutely. And the NHL … they’re confident in our ability to do what we need to do.” Bateman likes to joke that his job is “an eighth-grade science experiment with $160 million worth of players skating on top of it.” “I’ve been in conversation with Don Zamboni (yep, that’s right) for three months now about mineral content in water,” Bateman said. “Dude, I’m such a nerd. I started laughing after our last conversation, thinking ‘this is so ridiculous.'” Bateman has been “making ice” in Texas for 20-plus years now, the last “16 or 17” in the NHL. But the pursuit of perfect ice is never-ending. The concrete floor under the ice surface is kept at 16-18 degrees. Heavily salinated water (so that it can go well below 32 degrees without freezing) is pumped repeatedly through pipes just beneath the surface. The NHL gets daily reports from rinks all over the league, and they’re looking for three main indicators: Ambient air temperature: anywhere from 59-65 degrees is considered good Relative humidity: a range of 25-40 percent is acceptable Dewpoint: 40-45 degrees is preferred Of those three numbers, the dewpoint is the most important because it’s a combination of the first two. “Because the weather will be so different from what we’re used to working in, it’s going to be like going to a different city and learning their climate and seeing how the ice will react,” Brant said. “For us (ice techs), whoever becomes the hub, it’ll be great to have some different scenarios to see how your ice reacts. “It’s going to be new for everybody. The challenges we’ll see as this goes along will be really interesting. We’ll learn a lot from it.” Ice techs around the league already are planning at least two new approaches for the “experiments.”

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The ice degrades during the course of a game, some of it melted and soaked up by skates and socks and some lost to evaporation. Most rinks keep their ice at a thickness of one inch or 1 1/4 inch during the regular season, when shootouts can be counted on to end games. They might go 1/4-inch thicker during the playoffs, when games can require multiple overtimes to be decided. Now, though, they face multiple playoff games on the same sheet of ice on the same day, which means the ice is going to take a beating with no chance to “flood” the ice for thickness in between games. “We’re probably going to go 1 1/2 inches thick or even 1 3/4 inches, just to allow ourselves a bit of a buffer,” Huffman said. “We don’t want to worry about having enough ice.” The risk at 1 3/4-inch or above is that the top of the ice surface will be too far away from the freezing elements in the floor, leading to a mushy, snowy surface. “You don’t want to get too far away from the concrete base,” Bateman said. “But you have to have enough ice. You could lose 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch in a day, maybe as much as a 1/2 inch or more if you’re playing three games.” This conundrum almost certainly will mean 24-hour workdays for ice crews. They’ll spend the overnight hours helping the ice to “recover” after a long day of being ground and cut by NHL skaters. “We would be building it back in very thin layers,” Huffman said. “You don’t want to go out and just do a firehouse flood and let it level itself and come back in the morning. That’s not good ice. You want to spray it on in thin layers. “We always compare it to Saran Wrap. It’s solid, but it’s a bunch of individual layers in there. If you do it the right way, it’ll take you all night. But the sheet of ice you’ll have the next day is going to be really good.” Ice techs from across the league may be brought to the hub cities to help the local staffs. It’s also likely that Craig, the NHL ice guru, will be going from hub city to hub city to check on the ice. “It needs to be perfect,” Bateman said. “This is the . It’s the elite of the elite players in the world. The ice has to be that good, too.”

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Sportsnet.ca / Road to NHL's return gets bumpier as more players arrive from abroad By Chris Johnston – June 25, 2020

Now that the great migration is upon us, with charter flights originating in Finland and Sweden set to bring NHL players back to North America, so too is the formidable challenge of maintaining momentum towards resuming the season. It boils down to a simple equation, really. More players in their playing cities means a greater number will be tested for COVID-19 on a regular basis and that’s almost certain to result in more identified coronavirus cases among the NHL population. That’s before you take into account anything else happening in the regions where those players are heading. There’s been a recent surge in cases across the southern and western parts of the , in particular, and the Tampa Bay Lightning had to shutter their practice facilities for six days after three players and a couple staff members produced positive tests. They reopened on Wednesday morning. The Lightning players were among 11 new cases announced by the NHL at the end of last week — a number that could be viewed as either shocking or encouraging, depending on your perspective. Both the league and NHL Players’ Association had been prepared by medical experts to expect more positives as they transition to increased testing, which is why Jason Spezza took an upbeat view of the news: "In the grand scheme of things I think we’re doing pretty well as a league," he said. He wasn’t presenting a head-in-the-sand viewpoint, either. The veteran forward is well-versed on the issues and was merely being realistic about where things stand right now. This is a critical juncture in the league’s return-to-play ambitions with not just health and safety protocols and hub city selections on the verge of being finalized, but also players moving towards being ready for training camps still tabbed for a July 10 opening. Less than half of the 750 players needed for a NHL restart are currently being tested as part of the carefully controlled Phase 2 workouts. And absolutely no one is limited in what he can do away from the team facility, whether taking part in small-group sessions or not. While many of us have been wondering how the league might react to an outbreak once it gets everyone stationed inside a hub-city bubble during the playoffs, the road to reaching the competition phase could be even bumpier. That’s because players are going to be gathering in greater numbers with each passing day and the 24/7 bubble isn’t expected to be placed around them for another month yet. "I’ve been involved in a lot of the [return-to-play] talks and I’m pretty confident that once we get into hub cities we’ll be able to do a good job of keeping it out," Spezza said Tuesday. "I think getting there is going to be the challenge and that’s where it takes a little bit of discipline on our part as players to make sure we don’t kind of derail the plans." All signs still point to things going ahead, with a charter plane set to bring a group of NHLers from Helsinki to New York on Friday. A similar flight is planned this week for players who have been back home in Sweden as well.

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Meanwhile, travel has picked up for players stationed around different parts of North America. Those entering must still observe a 14-day quarantine before hitting the ice while some travelling to the U.S. or within Canada must observe a seven-day quarantine period, depending on their mode of travel, per the rules set out in the NHL/NHLPA agreement governing Phase 2. For everyone else, the guidance is simple: Exercise extreme caution. That’s not easy to do with local restrictions starting to ease off in most cities, but the fate of the NHL season hinges on it. "I think one of the biggest challenges for players in general is just as everything around us starts opening up we almost have to tighten up because we’re going back to play," said Spezza. "And that’s going to be an adjustment for us because it seems like things, at least here in Toronto, are slowly going to be opening up and we have to probably be a little more careful as we get close to training camp here."

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TSN.CA / Jarome Iginla, Doug Wilson, Kevin Lowe among Hockey Hall of Fame's class of 2020 By Frank Seravalli – June 25, 2020

The wait wasn’t very long for Jarome Iginla or Marian Hossa. But for Kevin Lowe and Doug Wilson, a combined 43 years’ worth of wondering and wishing were wiped away on Wednesday for two decorated defencemen with one call from hockey’s hallowed Hall. The Hockey Hall of Fame announced on Wednesday afternoon that Iginla, Hossa, Lowe and Wilson were elected in the men’s player category. They will be joined in the Class of 2020 by Canadian female star goaltender Kim St. Pierre and three-time Stanley Cup winning GM Ken Holland in the builder category. Iginla became the first black male skater (non-goalie) elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame. "I didn't view myself in minor hockey as a black hockey player," Iginla said. "But I was also aware that I was." The Hall’s traditional induction is scheduled for Nov. 16, but that is written in pencil with the COVID-19 pandemic, which also forced the 18-member selection committee to deliberate candidates virtually for the first time in Hall of Fame history. Daniel Alfredsson, Tom Barrasso, Theoren Fleury, Alexander Mogilny and Keith Tkachuk were among the prominent candidates passed over again. Iginla and Hossa were elected in their first years of eligibility. Wilson was first eligible in 1996, while Lowe could have first appeared on a ballot in 2001. To put that length of time in perspective, Wilson has been eligible since his son – Doug Wilson Jr. – was 10 years old. Doug Wilson Jr. is now 34 and has served as the San Jose Sharks’ director of scouting for a number of years. "It was truly unexpected," Wilson said. "Pleasant shock is an understatement." It was worth the wait. Hall of Fame chairman Lanny McDonald called Wilson early Wednesday afternoon. In an emotional exchange, the long-time blueliner handed the phone to his wife, Kathy, and asked McDonald to share the good news. “I’ve got tears in my eyes myself,” McDonald said. Wilson was a tour de force on the Blackhawks’ blueline. He captured the Norris Trophy in 1981-82 as the league’s top and finished in the top five in voting three other seasons. Wilson, now 62, racked up an impressive 827 points in 1,024 career NHL regular-season games, including nine campaigns of 50 points or more. A member of the original Sharks roster out of the 1991 Expansion Draft, he is now the second longest-tenured general manager in the NHL, in charge of the Sharks since 2003. Wilson also owns a 39-goal season, which is the seventh-highest-scoring season by a defenceman in league annals. The other six are owned by men named Bobby Orr and Paul Coffey. Coffey’s offensive exploits may not have been possible without Lowe holding down the fort in front of Grant Fuhr.

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There were few low moments in Lowe’s storied career. All he did was win. Lowe’s offensive numbers and individual accolades were not gaudy, which may have drawn out his bid for the Hall, but he is the first pure defensive defenceman elected since Rod Langway in 2002. Lowe hoisted five Stanley Cups with the Edmonton Oilers and was then brought to the Big Apple to help the New York Rangers end a 54-year drought in 1993-94. Only seven defencemen in history have won six or more Cups and now all are in the Hall, with the exception of Montreal Canadiens defenceman Jean- Guy Talbot. "I think I perhaps represent the next level of guys who helped win championships," Lowe said. "I appreciate that my contributions to the teams I played on are being recognized this way." Lowe, now 61, played in a combined 1,468 regular season and Stanley Cup playoff contests and won 801 of them. Those 801 wins, while a team stat, are tied for 10th all-time with now fellow Hall of Famer Scott Niedermayer, according to Elias Sports Bureau. Down Highway 2 in Alberta, Iginla lives on as the heartbeat of the , even nearly a decade since moving on via trade. Iginla took home the Ted Lindsay Award in 2001-02 as the league’s most outstanding player, as voted by his peers. The two-time Olympic gold medallist – who found Sidney Crosby for the Golden Goal in 2010 and scored twice in the gold-medal game in 2002 in Salt Lake City – could not have been much of a debate for the Hall. Even so, the unassuming Iginla will take his rightful place among hockey’s greats. Iginla was a late invitee to Team Canada's 2002 Olympic camp after an injury to Simon Gagne and he initially thought that call was a prank. "I think they just called because I was close by in Calgary," Iginla said. "Camp had already been going on for a day. I didn't know if I belonged. But that was a big turning point in my career in terms of confidence." Wednesday's call to Iginla was no prank. He is joined in the Hall by Hossa, who joins Chris Pronger as the only two players in Hall of Fame history to be elected while still under contract. Hossa, now 41, stepped away from the game prior to the 2017-18 season as a result of a progressive skin disorder. When at the top of his game, Hossa starred as a 200-foot key contributor on successful teams. The proud Slovakian – who owns all of his country’s scoring records – is the only player to skate in three straight Stanley Cup Finals with three different teams (Pittsburgh, Detroit, Chicago). For Hossa, it took until the third try, in Chicago in 2010, to lift Lord Stanley’s mug, but he helped the Blackhawks to two more in 2013 and 2015. His 525 career goals rank 35th all-time, making him a fine first-ballot selection. St. Pierre was Team Canada’s backstop for more than a decade, from 1998 through 2011. She shares the record with Charline Labonte for most Olympic gold medals by a goaltender with three, though St. Pierre holds the distinction of being undefeated (8-0-0) with a staggering 0.78 goals against-average in Olympic competition. St. Pierre, now 41, played boys' hockey until she was 18 and was in net when Canada won Olympic gold for the first time, simultaneously snapping an eight-game losing streak against the Americans. She also holds the World Championship records for most medals (five gold, four silver), (13) and longest sequence (430:09), which spanned four tournaments.

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"Hockey has always been my passion and this is a very special honour," St. Pierre said. "When I was growing up, it was only boys and when that changed, my dream was able to come true." Few have demonstrated the ability to “build” teams like Holland, who is a fitting choice as the lone representative in the builder category this season. Holland, 64, has been at the helm of an NHL team consecutively since 1997. Prior to that, he served as the ’ director of scouting for seven years. His eye for talent led the Winged Wheel to four Stanley Cups, including three as general manager (1998, 2002, 2008) and one as assistant general manager (1997). During his time in Detroit, before being hired by the Edmonton Oilers in 2019, the Red Wings won more regular season and playoff games than any team in hockey. Holland recounted the story of how Jim Devellano offered him a timely scouting job with the Red Wings just two days after signing on to become an Electrolux vacuum salesman like his mother suggested. "I am in this game because I loved it as a young man," Holland said, "and I am happy to have been able to stay in the game." Holland is in it forever now, forever linked to five other deserving classmates.

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Philadelphia Inquirer / Sports rosters must expand much more to avoid coronavirus shutdowns By Marcus Hayes – June 25, 2020

The most alarming thing about the video that shows Dallas Goedert getting sucker-punched in South Dakota, besides the sucker punch, is that nobody on camera is wearing a mask. The Eagles tight end is confronting a guy in a bar less than 6 inches away from his possibly COVID-addled mouth. It’s as if the United States isn’t still in the depths of a 100-year pandemic. This isn’t meant to chastise Goedert; not exactly, anyway. Rather, this is meant to point out that many people will ignore recommendations like those from the South Dakota Department of Health, and they will act carelessly, and they will contract COVID-19. Some of these many people will be athletes. They already are. A dozen Phillies employees, seven of them players, have tested positive for the coronavirus in the past week, more than one-quarter of the reported 47 positive tests in Major League Baseball as of Wednesday. PGA Tour golfers Nick Watney and Cameron Champ tested positive and the Tour has only held two events. Almost 100 college athletes have tested positive since they returned to campus, mostly football players, including at least 28 football players from Alabama, Clemson, and LSU, the schools that won the last five national championships. This is the new normal. Any industry that restarts with in-person interaction will feed the virus. If the four major sports leagues expect to reopen before a vaccine is developed, mass-produced, and mass- administered, outbreaks will be as common as foul balls. . The U.S. posted its highest single-day total of new cases Wednesday. Eight states are routinely logging record numbers of new cases and hospitalizations, and four of them -- Arizona, Texas, Florida, and -- are home to seven of Major League Baseball’s 30 teams, who will start preparing for their season next week. A few weeks later, football training camps begin at team sites, and those four states are home to eight of the 32 franchises. The behaviors of Americans, particularly American athletes, simply cannot be trusted. That’s why all four major sports must expand rosters far past their current plans, or risk shutting down their seasons. What’s more, unless a vaccine is developed very soon, these major roster expansions will need to roll over into the 2020-21 winter seasons and likely through the beginning of baseball in 2021. Coronavirus victims can take up to six weeks to recover. The leagues are going to need lots of players in reserve. The numbers NBA rosters, which usually sit at 15 on game days, should be 25 deep, not 17, as they’re discussing. Basketball is the sport likeliest to foster transmission. You might need two full teams. NHL rosters need at least 35 players, given the degree of contact in the game. The league plans to expand from 23 to 28, plus unlimited goalies. NFL teams should carry 90 players. Usually, they carry 53 players on the roster plus 10 practice-squad players. For now, they’re talking about expanding practice squads to 16 players, which would give them 69. Nice, but, practically speaking, that’s about 30 players too few when you’re trying to navigate a disease that spreads like dandelion seeds. Major League Baseball teams should have 40 players ready at the drop of a hat, or the spike of a temperature. Shockingly, baseball is getting it right. Big-league active rosters, which were expanded

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from 25 to 26 last winter, will stand at 30 for the first two weeks of the short season, 28 for the third and fourth weeks, and 26 after that. Also, teams reportedly will have a total player pool of 60, including the ones on the active roster and the three-man traveling taxi squad. The other leagues should follow suit. Even if the leagues refuse to keep enough players in reserve, they should at least keep a collection of specialists behind glass, including baseball. At least two starters, one long reliever, and one catcher should be quarantined. NHL teams will carry at least three goalies. They should quarantine a fourth, and maybe a fifth. For the Flyers, Alex Lyon would make the most sense. Basketball teams should keep at least one point guard on ice. In the Sixers’ case, that would give them ... one point guard. Football teams should keep a quarterback quarantined. Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians, who is the smartest man in any coaches’ room, suggested that strategy two weeks ago on the “Green Light” podcast, the media endeavor of former Eagles pass rusher Chris Long, who was the smartest man in any locker room. That’s a smart start; the Eagles probably have that sort arrangement already with Josh McCown, who will be 41 this season. The NFL should go further. Teams should quarantine a punter, a kicker, and a long snapper, too. The bystanders The players are only part of the issue. The largest and the most at-risk segment of the sports industry doesn’t throw, catch, or shoot. That’s why any coach, scout, executive, or member of the support staff (trainers, secretaries, massage therapists, janitors) who doesn’t believe returning to work is safe would either have their contract automatically extended by one year or be granted a year’s salary. There should be no penalty for being old, or overweight, or for immuno-compromised, or living with someone who is. Certainly, there should be no penalty when working in an entertainment industry that generates billions of more dollars every year for multibillionaires who aren’t likely to leave their mansions until the virus is long gone. This projection of mass sickness might sound insensitive, or dismissive. It is not. We completely understand the dangers associated with COVID-19. We sounded alarms before sports and society shut down. We have supplied guidelines and projections as we’ve learned more. Most people who contract the virus exhibit mild to severe symptoms, but many get very sick, some emerge scarred for life, and a very small percentage die. It is the worst experience of most of our lifetimes. It has been abhorrently mismanaged by most government entities, particularly the federal government and the current presidential administration, and has left America a ghastly, international laughingstock. We take the coronavirus very, very seriously. But, for better or worse, this is who we are. We are restarting sports in many states where we shouldn’t be restarting lawnmowers. The price we pay for our impatience will be massive, but we seem indifferent to the horror just over the horizon. As expensive as the human toll of restarting sports might be, the economic cost of doing so properly, with vastly expanded rosters, would be hefty, too. It would cause all sorts of salary-cap headaches, but those are just numbers; we’re in the midst of a pandemic. This is no time to pinch pennies.

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The only means of prevention is to call off all of the games, but that ship has sailed. There’s too much television money at stake for the owners and players. Many experts don’t foresee a COVID-19 vaccine until early next summer, which sounds slow but actually would be a miraculous timeline. Again, this would mean that these rosters would need to remain expanded through early next summer, at least. There’s no reason to believe athletes like Goedert will protect themselves or others by following guidelines. The absence of active cases can erode vigilance. Goedert was at The Zoo Bar in Aberdeen, S.D., which is in Brown County, where only about 330 cases of the coronavirus have been discovered. Goedert’s hometown, Britton, in Marshall County, has seen five cases. Still, the state’s department of health recommends wearing a mask. Nobody was. These giant rosters might seem impractical, but they are the only feasible price of doing business. Otherwise, there won’t be any business to do.

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Seattle Times / Amazon buys naming rights to KeyArena, will call it Climate Pledge Arena By Staff Report – June 26, 2020

Amazon has purchased the KeyArena naming rights, but an unprecedented sports-world twist will see the venue become known as Climate Pledge Arena rather than using the company’s name. The arena, home to the city’s incoming NHL franchise and WNBA’s Storm, will be powered 100% by renewable electricity when it opens by late-summer 2021 and seek to achieve a zero-carbon footprint. Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos broke the news Thursday on Instagram. NHL Seattle CEO said in an interview Thursday that the arena aims to produce zero waste, source food locally and by 2024 eliminate all single-use plastics. He said the team had long sought increased “sustainability” within the arena, but the Amazon deal takes things to a different level. Talks began roughly a year ago, and though naming rights were discussed with additional suitors, Amazon kept rising to the forefront. ‘We were talking about Amazon and talked about community,” Leiweke said. “And they came back and said, ‘Look, the No. 1 community cause for us and what we believe in most is climate and Jeff’s commitment to the Climate Pledge.’ And we came away inspired.” What resulted, he said, was something NHL Seattle, the (OVG) arena developer and Amazon all felt could give the city something bigger to believe in during these trying times. “I never dreamed that we would have this type of platform,” he said. Naming a venue after something other than a corporate entity, team owner or municipality is rare in North American sports. A company paying for rights and naming a venue after a social cause might be a first anyplace. Kraft Foods once paid to name a college-football bowl game after a social cause, with the Fight Hunger Bowl played annually in San Francisco from 2010-13 — and the Washington Huskies winning the final contest under that name. Bezos said in a statement: “We’ve secured naming rights to the historic arena previously known as KeyArena. Instead of naming it after Amazon, we’re calling it Climate Pledge Arena as a regular reminder of the importance of fighting climate change. We look forward to working together with Oak View Group, a new Climate Pledge signatory, and NHL Seattle to inspire global climate action.” After years of criticism that Amazon was a laggard in disclosing its climate impacts and taking action commensurate with its size and stature, Bezos announced the Climate Pledge last September. “We’re done being in the middle of the herd on this issue,” Bezos said at the time. Climate Pledge signatories commit to regularly disclose of their greenhouse gas emissions; pursue a decarbonization strategy that focuses on strategies including efficiency improvements, renewable energy and reduced materials usage; and purchase carbon-offset credits for emissions they can’t directly eliminate, funding third-party projects expected to reduce, avoid or remove climate-warming gasses from the atmosphere.

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Last week Amazon announced its first co-signers of the Climate Pledge, Verizon, Infosys and consumer- goods giant Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB). Arena developer OVG joined the pledge as part of Thursday’s naming-rights deal. Industry talk is that Verizon will become a technology partner at the renovated arena — bypassing Bellevue-based T-Mobile — and other OVG-developed sports properties nationwide. Having Verizon already committed to Amazon’s pledge should make an arena partnership with OVG easier to logistically implement. The signatories’ goal is to become carbon neutral by 2040, 10 years ahead of what is called for in the drafted-in-2015 Paris Agreement, which aims to hold global average temperature increases this century to well below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above preindustrial levels. Critics, including the Amazon Employees for Climate Justice group, want the company to target zero emissions by 2030 without the use of offsets — which fund things like forest preservation, but have a questionable impact on the broader climate equation because they allow companies to continue polluting. Shortly after Bezos made Thursday’s announcement, Leiweke broke the news to workers at the arena site — accompanied by Jason McLennan, founder of the International Living Future Institute and CEO of McLennan Design. McLennan was hired late last year as a sustainability consultant for the $930 million all-private arena rebuild. The native of Sudbury, , who grew up a hockey fan, met Leiweke in 2014 to work with him when the latter was CEO of the Tampa Bay Lightning. But McLennan said in an interview Thursday he never imagined this. The arena is believed to be the first in the NHL to shun natural gas, a primary component of systems used to dehumidify ice rinks. McLennan said the toughest challenge was arena work had already begun, with natural gas equipment purchased and architectural work planned to accommodate it. It had to be switched on the fly. “I think what’s unique is we’re doing so many things at the highest level possible,” said McLennan, who left Sudbury at 19 to study architecture at the University of Oregon. “And I hope that it inspires a sea change in the entire sports and entertainment industry.” He added: “This is about as hard a building site to do this stuff in. It’s a lot easier to do what we’re talking about in office buildings, or schools or people’s homes. So if you can do this all in an arena, then the message here is there’s no excuse for not thinking about this with everything. “And that’s really a powerful lesson.” OVG co-founder and CEO , older brother of Tod Leiweke, said Thursday it wasn’t until February that he had architectural firm Populous, project manager CAA Icon and general contractor Mortenson redo arena plans. The added work amounted to “tens of millions of dollars” — much of it covered by NHL Seattle principal owner — after negotiations involving “more than a thousand people” to ensure the zero-carbon goal was attainable. To eliminate plastics in four years, OVG had to get its to-be-announced soft-drink and malt-beverage partners to reconfigure their manufacturing and bottling.

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“They had to transform their entire company’s philosophy and timeline on sustainability just for Seattle,” he said. OVG also got creative on solar panels, because the arena’s historical-landmark-protected roof couldn’t be touched. Instead, the panels will go atop the Alaska Airlines Atrium at the venue’s main entrance and the VIP parking garage. “I’ve been doing this more than 40 years and built more arenas than anybody on the face of the Earth,” Tim Leiweke said. “This is the hardest negotiation and commitment towards a partnership like this that I’ve ever been a part of.” There will still be natural gas used during construction, with OVG calculating the embodied carbon from that and finding “natural climate solutions” to attain net zero carbon for the building. But once finalized, there will be no gas used anywhere. Tod Leiweke said the NHL had to be shown that the ice system and other plans would work, but added that commissioner Gary Bettman is “thrilled” with what’s happening. “You go all the way back to 1962 when the building opened and what all of this stood for,” Leiweke said. “Seattle was on the forefront, it was the World’s Fair, it was about the future. It was about exciting people about what was to come. “And in an amazing, circuitous route, this (arena) roof now stands for those things again.”

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The Athletic / Seattle franchise out to ‘answer this challenge’ with Climate Pledge Arena name By Scott Burnside – June 26, 2020

It’ll be well over a year before the NHL’s Seattle team first steps onto the ice as the league’s 32nd franchise, but the organization has already established itself as one determined to chart a new course in terms of its identity and its way of conducting business. The latest indication that the Seattle group is all about establishing new boundaries came Thursday when it was revealed that the naming rights to the refurbished KeyArena where the NHL team and WNBA Seattle Storm will play home games were purchased by Amazon. But instead of being called Amazon Arena or some such corporate extrapolation, the new facility will be called Climate Pledge Arena and is billing itself as the first zero-carbon certified arena in the world. Furthermore, Tim Leiweke, the CEO of Oak View Group, the company behind the $1 billion construction project, told The Athletic Thursday the company is hoping to use a similar carbon-neutral plan on the other five arena projects it is involved with around the world. “It’s so critical,” Leiweke said. “Because I see this as the challenge of our lifetimes. Our planet’s sick and we’ve got to try to figure out a way to turn this around. And I think this is a really, really good step for the industry. “We’re certainly going to answer this challenge and try to do this with all six of our arenas that we’re trying to develop around the world.” Along with the Seattle project, Oak View is behind the construction of Belmont Park Arena (the ’ new home); the Moody Center at the University of Texas in Austin; a new facility in Palm Springs where the Seattle team’s AHL affiliate will be based; and new arena projects in Manchester, England, and Milan, Italy, the site of the 2026 Winter Olympics. The news of the naming rights was first announced by Amazon CEO and founder Jeff Bezos via his Instagram account. Leiweke revealed that the name was Bezos’ idea, with the motivation being to make the building a testament to addressing global warming and sustainability, as opposed to a straightforward corporate naming relationship. There is also an agreement to commit $100 million to charities focused on sustainability and ecology in the coming years, Leiweke said. “To have Jeff Bezos so emotionally involved and thinking about this and creating the name and creating the amount of money we’re going to raise because we’re going to raise $100 million over the course of this contract to give back to charities that are about the planet and healing the planet,” Leiweke said. Among the highlights of the building, which is currently being refurbished in downtown Seattle: The arena will use reclaimed rainwater in the ice-making system. Season ticket holders will also be asked to bring in their own collected rainwater and add it to the reservoir tanks that will be built near the arena so they have a hand in making the team’s own ice. “Now they get to walk into the arena and say that’s my ice, I helped make that ice,” Leiweke said.

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The arena will be a zero-waste facility for all operations and events, and by 2024, single-use plastics will be eliminated. Officials predict a minimum of 95 percent of arena waste will be diverted from landfills – an initiative that stemmed from Grammy-winning artist Billie Eilish, who is challenging promoters and venues to reduce waste, Leiweke said. The all-electric arena will be powered by 100 percent renewable electricity via the use of on-site solar panels and other renewable energy sources. Carbon emissions related to the arena operation and events at Climate Pledge Arena will be measured and the results shared publicly. At least 75percent of the arena’s food options will be from local sources to help support regional farms and producers, with all viable leftover food from events being donated to local food programs. Tickets to NHL and WNBA games will serve as public transit passes, including for the Seattle Monorail. The fact that designers had decided to reuse the original 44-million pound roof from the original arena dating back to the World’s Fair held in Seattle in 1962, will also help reduce the carbon footprint of the construction process. Leiweke admitted that creating a facility unlike any other facility anywhere on the planet wasn’t easy both in terms of the initial construction and in the sustainability they wanted to integrate into the daily operation of the arena. “We had to go back and re-engineer and re-design the building,” Leiweke said. “From an operational standpoint, the commitments we made were not easy commitments to make.” It took buy-in from architects and contractors and of course partners like Amazon. “Everyone kind of looked at this one and said, ‘let’s roll up our sleeves and figure this one out,’” he said. “It’s a tough accomplishment,” he added, noting the initial costs of the privately-funded construction have risen from $650 million to close to $1 billion and that each step was made without having to ask taxpayers to offset costs. Bezos, via his Instagram account, said the name Climate Pledge Arena should serve as “a regular reminder of the urgent need for climate action.” “It will be the first net zero-carbon certified arena in the world, generate zero waste from operations and events, and use reclaimed rainwater in the ice system to create the greenest ice in the NHL,” he added. The 18,100 arena, which is expected to host about 200 events a year, is expected to be ready for the start of the NHL’s 2021-22 season, the scheduled inaugural season for the expansion team, despite some delays from the COVID-19 pandemic. The NHL team had at one point hoped to reveal the team name, logo and jerseys by the end of June but that has been pushed back as the NHL continues to try and come up with a protocol that will allow for the completion of the 2019-20 NHL season.

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The Athletic / The No. 1 pick draft: NHL execs reveal how Alexis Lafreniere stacks up By Craig Custance – June 26, 2020

When a player emerges as a consensus No. 1 overall pick, as Alexis Lafreniere appears to be right now, there’s a natural follow-up question: How does he stack up to previous No. 1 overall picks? It’s a fun debate. Plus, it gives you an indication of the impact the potential star might have on an organization. Add Connor McDavid to your rebuild and it skyrockets. But not every draft class has a McDavid. Not every decade has a McDavid. To get a sense of how the No. 1 overall picks from the past decade compare and where Lafreniere slots in, 10 NHL executives agreed to participate in a bit of a thought exercise. The last 10 No. 1 picks were put into a pool of available players, Lafreniere was added in as an 11th option, and these executives made selections in a No. 1 overall pick draft one-by-one. “You should have done this on Zoom,” joked one of the executives as I explained the rules. Just as a refresher, here’s the pool of No. 1 overall picks over the last 10 years: 2019: Jack Hughes 2018: Rasmus Dahlin 2017: Nico Hischier 2016: Auston Matthews 2015: Connor McDavid 2014: Aaron Ekblad 2013: Nathan MacKinnon 2012: 2011: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins 2010: Taylor Hall Add in Lafreniere and we had our available players. Here were the results of the first (annual?) No. 1 overall pick draft: 1. Eastern Conference executive: Connor McDavid Easy one. There was no hesitation when making this selection by the executive. “It’s obviously McDavid,” he said. Not even a little debate for, say, Matthews? “Are you kidding me? McDavid might go down as one of the best ever. McDavid is going to be an all- generation talent,” he said. In fact, this executive said he wouldn’t have Matthews next on his list: “I would go McDavid, MacKinnon, Matthews.” And, we’re off.

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2. Western Conference executive: Auston Matthews This executive weighed his decision between Matthews and MacKinnon. Really, you can’t lose. We’re still in the franchise-altering territory of this draft. “Matthews. He’s a goal-scorer,” said the executive in making his decision. “MacKinnon is in the discussion but you look at their first two years, first three years – Matthews is ahead of MacKinnon and then MacKinnon came on strong.” Yeah, it’s been pretty impressive how Matthews basically arrived a superstar. In his first three seasons in the league, he had 111 goals and 205 points in 212 games. By comparison, MacKinnon had 58 goals and 153 points in his first 218 games. 3. Eastern Conference executive: Nathan MacKinnon This is where it gets interesting. Not because MacKinnon is picked but because this was the first executive to seriously consider Lafreniere. Like, seriously consider it. “I love MacKinnon. And he’s already done it,” he said. “I’m taking MacKinnon.” But not without taking a long look at the 18-year-old who put up 112 points in 52 games with Rimouski this season. “(Lafreniere) brings everything you need,” he said, explaining the decision-making process. “He has the skating, the hockey sense, the skills and the hands. And he has that enthusiasm for hockey. He LOVES the game. This guy loves hockey. It’s important to him. Sid loves hockey. Connor McDavid loves hockey. That tends to make you better. You’re passionate and love what you do. But I just love MacKinnon and that combination of power, speed and skill.” 4. Eastern Conference scouting director: Rasmus Dahlin This was the person who really struggled with their decision. Let’s go through the thought process. “It’s between Dahlin and Lafreniere for me,” he said. “If Lafreniere was a center, it wouldn’t be close. Hughes, he’s small. Nugent-Hopkins is really smart. Hischier is an interesting one, I don’t think he’s a No. 1 center. He’s more of a two. He’s a really, really good all-around player. Just a smart, two-way, skilled, low-maintenance guy. But I don’t think he’s a pure No. 1.” OK, so down to Dahlin and the kid. “It’s close. Given the fact that Dahlin is a No. 1 D, I would take that over the winger,” said the scout. “Take Dahlin off Buffalo and put him in Colorado, and he’s a completely different player.” Got it, so it’s Dahlin. But then, he started talking about Lafreniere and how much he liked him. And just how good he looked at the world junior tournament. And he made the switch, talking himself into Lafreniere. Momentarily. “It’s almost like a gene the great ones have. In big moments, they step up. All the best players in the world – the top, top guys – have that. That’s the thing (Sidney) Crosby has. (Alex) Ovechkin has. It’s that ability to just say, ‘This is me. This is where I’m going to be.’ It’s that ‘It’ factor. When the game is on the line, there’s one person on the planet you want on the ice. I think Lafreniere has that,” the scout said. That settles it. Wait, nope.

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“You can’t replace that 30 minute a night D,” he said. And settled on Dahlin. 5. Eastern Conference executive: Alexis Lafreniere Here it is. The promise of Lafreniere was more than this executive could pass up, even with really, good established NHL players on the board – including a recent Hart Trophy winner. This executive narrowed the pick down to Lafreniere or Hughes and ultimately was so impressed with Lafreniere’s performance at the world juniors that he couldn’t pass him up. “For me, the Q is one thing. The U20s, he was outstanding,” said the executive. “It was pretty amazing to see his ability to get to different places and finish. It seems like he didn’t feel any pressure, which was impressive. Hall obviously comes into play here. Hischier comes into play, but I think Lafreniere has the higher upside. He’s also not afraid to be competitive physically, which is a differentiating factor.” 6. Eastern Conference executive: Jack Hughes Hughes came into the league with huge expectations, including comparisons to Patrick Kane. He’s still young, still filling out and that helps explain his first-year struggles where he put up 21 points in 61 games. But this executive, and those considering Hughes, still believe in his upside and ability to be a difference-maker. “I think he was rushed. He shouldn’t have been in the league,” said the executive. “He’s not a very big body and it’s not like he was going to the St. Louis Blues or Boston Bruins. I’m not sure he can play No. 1 center, there’s not many No. 1 centers who are that size. I do think he has dynamic qualities like his brother (Quinn Hughes). There’s still upside. I’m not sure he gets there, he has to get stronger, but the talent itself is huge.” The talent bet was enough to pass on more sure-fire NHL players. “It’s an interesting exercise because a lot of these guys are really young and not established. Hischier, I’m worried about his ceiling. Ekblad went into a dip but I think they’ve got him going in the right direction. The upside of Hughes is pretty scary.” 7. Western conference executive: Aaron Ekblad The Panthers defenseman wasn’t great a couple years ago but bounced back to put up his most productive offensive season to date, points-wise. He averaged 0.61 points per game this season, even if his goal totals were down. “It would be between Ekblad and Taylor Hall,” said the executive in picking Ekblad. “He’s a guy who gives you 23, 24 minutes a night. He’s a right- defenseman. That would be hard to pass up. Taylor is a winger. If he’s a center, maybe it’s him. But I’d take Ekblad and I think Taylor is right behind him.” 8. Western conference executive: Nico Hischier This is a moderate surprise considering Hall’s availability. But getting a well-rounded center was the appeal here for the executive in picking Hischier. “He’s a No. 2 but I think he’s responsible,” said the executive of Hischier. “He has high-end skill. I like his skillset overall, in terms of brains, hands, skating and puck skills. If he’s a No. 2 center … that’s a pretty high-end player. What’s (Patrice) Bergeron? Is he a legitimate No. 1 center? A lot of people say yeah, but when he was Hischier’s age, he was probably labeled as a really good No. 2. That’s how I see Hischier. He’s a bonafide, legitimate, still-developing, young, second-line center.” As for skipping Hall?

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“I respect the fact that he won the Hart and can produce points and his speed. … But you can always find wingers,” explained the executive. 9. Eastern Conference executive: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins Hall continues to slip as executives show a preference for a center over the dynamic winger. This executive joked that he’d prefer to trade down but when pressed to make his pick, he went with the Oilers’ center, who went first overall in 2011. “I think he’s underrated and a little bit overshadowed,” said the executive of Nugent-Hopkins. “He’s a good 2C. A good second-line player. … I think if Nugent-Hopkins was selected No. 9 overall instead of one, people would be like, ‘What a player.’ He’s smart. Versatile and responsible in his own zone. He’s not overly hard to play against but not easy to play against.” Nugent-Hopkins’ versatility and consistency won out over Hall’s game-breaking ability. “Hall gives you moments of flash and dash,” he said. “He gives you that break down the wing where you’re like, ‘Man, I haven’t seen that since Bobby Hull’ where he’s flying and rips it. In between that play and the next time he does it, it’s like, ‘Did he take a break? Where did he go?’” 10. Western Conference executive: Taylor Hall “I think you know where I’m going,” said the executive when it was explained to him that his two options where Hall and Nail Yakupov. And he seemed happy with the value of getting Hall at No. 10. “I would have thought he would have come into the discussion at six or seven,” said the executive. “He’s a legitimate top-six scoring winger. He can drive play and he can play with pace. He’s probably a little bit more one-on-one oriented than some other guys, but he’s still dangerous and a legit threat, that’s for sure. He’s a good player.” Not selected: Nail Yakupov

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Sportsnet.ca / NHL/NHLPA talks on CBA include escrow cap, salary deferral for players By Elliotte Friedman – June 26, 2020

New York Rangers star (and Hart Trophy candidate) Artemi Panarin dropped a bomb on Thursday afternoon with a fiery social media post. That begged the question: “What has him so upset?” During a time of COVID-19 spikes, rising numbers of positive tests across all sports and the clock ticking closer to the scheduled July 10 opening of NHL camps, players will be soon voting on a CBA extension. According to multiple sources, the potential agreement between the NHL and NHLPA caps escrow at 20 per cent for the 2020-21 season. Original guesstimates were escrow at 35 per cent if this year did not finish, 27-28 even if it did. But there is a second layer: a one-season-only 10 per cent salary deferral by every player. I’m told this is not a rollback. Players will be returned that money in the future. The benefit to them is the escrow on it would be lower. These are elements of a much more complicated puzzle. One source compared it to a “payment plan you might negotiate with your credit card company.” From an ownership perspective, every dollar owed the teams on the 50-50 revenue split will be repaid over the balance of the CBA. As part of the agreement, the salary cap will be kept close to the current $81.5 million for the next three seasons. There is potential for it to go up $1 million in 2022-23. Since it is a CBA, the NHLPA’s constitution mandates that every player gets a vote. It is expected, as The New York Post’s Larry Brooks reported Thursday, that Return to Play will be intertwined with the CBA, meaning players will be voting on both safety and financial protocols at the same time. A simple majority is enough for a “yes.” It’s a big, big decision. There’s 700-plus players and I’d be lying if I told you I spoke to enough of them to know how they’re going to vote. The fact that many have returned from Europe or are making plans to do so is being taken as a positive sign. But, over the past few weeks, there have been several emotional calls amongst NHLPA membership. It’s not easy, with so much unknown about the lasting effects of COVID-19. (The NHL and NHLPA are working on “opt-out” language for those who don’t want to play.) One team was leaning against returning until a passionate speech from one of its most respected players turned the tide. Several players (and some agents) have said they will never have more leverage than now, and should wield it. Panarin’s in that camp, apparently. Now, not every player feels that way, and many agents don’t either. His post was not met with universal approval, with several calling it “misguided.” They also don’t like the union showing public strife, because it shows weakness. What it does reveal is the conflicting feelings running through union membership.

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“I would tell you that I probably wouldn’t be comfortable voting at this particular time,” Carey Price told Montreal reporters on Thursday. “There’s still a lot of questions that need to be answered…The NHL and the NHLPA are trying to make the best of a very difficult situation. So, moving forward – and I’d like to play – we have a lot of questions that need to be answered and a lot of scenarios that need to be covered before I vote yea or nay.” In March, the NFLPA went through a very public battle before voting on its new CBA. Prominent stars like Aaron Rodgers, JJ Watt and Russell Wilson publicly declared “no.” Their side lost 1,019-959, extending the agreement to 2030. That’s razor-thin for such a vote. Those who know more than I do think this will follow a similar pattern. We’ll find out over the next few days.

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Sportsnet.ca / Sportsnet's 2020 NHL Draft Prospect Rankings: Lottery edition By Sam Cosentino – June 26, 2020

The 2020 NHL Draft will dominate hockey conversation for at least a couple of days as the draft order starts to take shape on Friday. Several abnormalities will linger over this draft class. There were no playoffs, no Memorial Cup, or year- ending U18 worlds to scout. There was no NHL Combine for players to meet team personnel face-to- face, or to produce the most up-to-date physical test results. There were no post-combine meetings. Interviews had to be conducted via Zoom, Face Time or other platforms. For some players who are intimidated by sitting in front of a room full of question-askers, being in the comfort of their own home may have actually been beneficial. For those who are more outgoing or polished, this new reality may have played against them. Higher-end players who have hopes of making an immediate jump to the NHL will have benefitted from not having been run ragged from one city to another, from one tournament or playoff series to a combine, to a development camp, and to a main camp. Those players will have had ample time to dedicate themselves to off-ice training and conditioning. Add in the complications of a projected flat salary cap and you may see more players from this draft class make the immediate jump as they should be in top physical shape and provide an entry-level salary to fit into the cap puzzle. What may be most fascinating about this draft is what happens afterwards. When will the next NHL season start? Will the leagues that typically host these players be up and running, or still waiting for a second wave of COVID-19 to pass? Will European leagues become an option if North America is shut down? Say the NHL completes its 2019-20 season later this year and the draft is conducted as other leagues are running at full capacity — would that mean this group of players will have to be re-scouted? How much of your team’s resources do you want to assign to players you already have a book on when an entire new draft class has to be scouted? And, with the 2003-born players eligible for the 2021 draft, teams will want to get as many early looks as possible in case the pandemic rears its ugly head again and forces the stoppage of league and tournament play. How many team personnel do you want to travel, and how willing will that personnel be to travel? Will teams cut scouts or operate on shoe-string budgets? How many teams will lean heavier on video scouting and analytics, not only for cost-cutting measures, but out of the necessity of limiting team travel? Like anything else in life right now, there are many more questions than answers. This draft class is deep, it’s talented and it shows well at all positions. This draft is also heavy on CHL players. It started out being a draft class void of top defencemen challenging for top 10 accolades, but now we’re likely looking at two blueliners going inside the top 10, and maybe higher. There’s also the late-charging emergence of forwards such as Jack Quinn and Seth Jarvis. The lone projected first-round goalie, Yaroslav Askarov, will also alter the landscape inside the first half of this draft. Will Quinton Byfield or Tim Stutzle go second overall? Will Ottawa choose the top forward and the top defenceman if given the opportunity early on?

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Another element to this draft class is the number of projected first-rounders with late birthdays, starting with Alexis Lafreniere at the top. When compared to Byfield, it’s almost 10 full months difference between those two prospects. One final observation about this group is the number of players whose key asset is goal scoring ability, something that’s been much more prominent in recent years. Starting with Alexander Holtz, there’s also Quinn, Jacob Perreault and Tyson Foerster who possess this ability as their top asset. Ahead of the 2020 NHL Draft Lottery, here’s Sportsnet’s latest draft rankings. Keep in mind, while there have been no games to watch, there’s been plenty of video and plenty of resourcing to justify slight changes in the rankings from our last release in April. Also be mindful that the rankings are just that and a mock draft may look somewhat different based on team need and who actually picks where. 1. Alexis Lafreniere, LW, Rimouski Oceanic (QMJHL): There’s a completeness to his game that simply says “pro.” There’s a quiet confidence that will allow him to overcome first overall pressure and excel at what he’s best at. 2. Tim Stutzle, LW, Mannheim (DEL): There’s enough track record that he projects at centre in the NHL and that may be enough for him to pass Byfield. 3. Quinton Byfield, C, Sudbury Wolves (OHL): Great player already with great size and a ton of growth potential still ahead of him. 4. Lucas Raymond, LW, Frolunda (SHL): Moves so well with great vision and that combination will allow him to make his NHL linemates better. 5. Marco Rossi, C, Ottawa 67’s (OHL): Highly competitive, super smart, easily coached and a strong lower half that should make up for perceived size issues. 6. Jamie Drysdale, D, (OHL): Plays with poise well beyond his years. Elite skating ability will work effectively in all three zones. 7. Jake Sanderson, D, (USNTDP): A natural-born leader who was just starting to show a more potent offensive side to his game before the shutdown. 8. Cole Perfetti, LW/C, Saginaw Spirit (OHL): Is a magician in the offensive zone with his ability to change pace and find teammates. Goal-scoring has always been part of the skill-set. 9. Alexander Holtz, RW, Djugarden (SHL): Elite shooting and goal-scoring ability should translate to the NHL. 10. Jack Quinn, RW, Ottawa 67’s (OHL): Takes care of the little details that have helped improve his all- around game. Amongst the best-in-class goal-scorers. 11. Anton Lundell, C, HIFK (): A safe pick who has performed well in a variety of roles with peers internationally and with older players in league play. 12. Yarolslav Askarov, G, SKA (VHL): Has been a star internationally and in the VHL. Look past his WJC performance and realize he’s the best goalie available. 13. Kaiden Guhle, D, Prince Albert Raiders (WHL): Has experienced the perfect developmental curve in having to earn his chops as a youngster, and then progressing to big minutes in his second season. Excellent skater with a serious mean streak to his game.

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14. Dawson Mercer, C, Chicoutimi Sagueneens (QMJHL): His passion and energy are infectious. Possesses excellent hands and shooting ability. Built for the small-space game. 15. Dylan Holloway, C, Wisconsin (NCAA): Plays a power forward game that is highlighted by elite skating ability. 16. Connor Zary, C, Kamloops Blazers (WHL): Super smart, energetic player who handles pressure well. In-tune with the defensive game and should produce at NHL second-line pace. 17. Rodion Amirov, LW, UFA (VHL): Hard-working, skilled player who understands how to play both ends effectively. 18. Braden Schneider, D, (WHL): A safe bet as a more than capable defender with offensive upside that may develop down the road. 19. Seth Jarvis, C, Portland Winterhawks (WHL): Right shot centre who took off in the second half. Definitely a player who would’ve benefitted from a playoff run on a young team. 20. Hendrix Lapierre, C, Chicoutimi Sagueneens (QMJHL): Neck issues were originally thought to be concussion issues. Limited in-season play will have some teams concerned, but if healthy, he’s a steal anywhere past 10. 21. John-Jason Peterka, LW, Munchen (DEL): Plays a well-rounded mature game that includes good numbers up against men in a quality league proving to be a hotbed for young talent. 22. Jacob Perreault, RW, Sarnia Sting (OHL): Deceptive skater who’s smart enough to know when to turn it on. Another player whose goal-scoring pops. 23. William Wallinder, D, MODO (Sweden U20): Excellent mobility for his size (6-foot-4). Shows poise and patience in his decision making. 24. Lukas Reichel, LW, Berlin (DEL): Too much creativity and offensive upside to worry about some teachable details defensively. 25. Ridly Greig, LW, Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL): Fearless for his size. Grit, intensity and willingness to impose his will on the opponent may not be as effective at the next level, but the fall back is his skill, which plays to the pro level. 26. Noel Gunler, RW, Lulea (SHL): A good late option for a team with multiple picks trying to hit a home run. 27. Justin Barron, D, (QMJHL): As one of the top skaters and mobile defenders in this draft class, he’s destined to play top four minutes for a number of years. 28. Mavrik Bourque, C, Shawinigan Cataractes (QMJHL): No one asset of his game really pops, nor does his size (5-foot-10). Having said that, he has been a top producer on a young team for two straight seasons. 29. Jeremie Poirier, D, Saint John SeaDogs (QMJHL): As of right now, there are concerns about defending or a willingness to work on it. Then again, when you’re as gifted offensively as Poirier with great skating ability, who would want to defend? 30. Tyson Foerster, RW, (OHL): Has a zest for the game like former Colt Mark Scheifele and a nose for the net like Tanner Pearson did in Barrie. The goal-scoring element is too strong to overlook.

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31. Luke Evangelista, RW, (OHL): Use Liam Foudy and Connor McMichael as gauges. A home-run hitter in the interview process.

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Sportsnet.ca / 2020 NHL Draft Lottery Primer: Senators have a chance to win big By Emily Sadler – June 26, 2020

On Friday night, the hockey world will be one step closer to learning which team will win the right to draft first overall later this year. June 26 was, back in pre-COVID days, supposed to be the date of Round 1 of the 2020 NHL Draft – the night we’d welcome Rimouski Oceanic star Alexis Lafreniere into the pros and watch him and the rest of this year’s class of hockey hopefuls hit the draft stage in Montreal upon hearing their names called. Instead, Friday will see Phase 1 of the 2020 NHL Draft Lottery take place, a special production typically held annually in April, which will determine the draft order of the first three picks of the 2020 NHL Draft. As the pandemic continues to drastically alter the world (and the world of sports), it also brings a lottery unlike any we’ve seen before. Here’s what you need to know ahead of the event: The NHL has mapped out a two-phased approach to this year’s draft lottery. Why? At the time of the season hiatus on March 12, we had a tight playoff race on our hands with several teams still owning a mathematical shot (albeit a long one) at jumping into the playoff picture. By bringing back 24 teams in the NHL’s return-to-play format and implementing a qualifying round that will determine the playoff fate of 16 of them right off the bat, the league preserves some of its playoff parity without completely eliminating those teams’ lottery odds. Having two phases, if deemed necessary (details on that later), puts some fate back into the hands of teams in the play-in round as the loser in each of those series could still have a shot at a lottery pick. Phase 1 will include 15 teams, but we only know seven right now. When the NHL resumes playing, seven teams won’t be in the mix: The Detroit Red Wings, , San Jose Sharks*, , Anaheim Ducks, New Jersey Devils, and Buffalo Sabres all found themselves at the bottom of the standings in March, thus making them lottery-bound. (*The Sharks’ first-round pick belongs to the Senators, which means the Senators could very likely have two picks in the top three.) The seven teams highlighted above will be joined by eight “placeholder” teams. We won’t know who those eight teams are until the NHL resumes playing. While the winner from each of the following best- of-five qualifying series will move on in the hunt for the Stanley Cup, the losing side will wind up with a top-15 pick: Pittsburgh vs. Montreal Carolina vs. NY Rangers NY Islanders vs. Florida Toronto vs. Columbus Edmonton vs. Chicago Nashville vs. Arizona

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Vancouver vs. Minnesota Calgary vs. Winnipeg. What are the odds? By still including 15 teams in the draft lottery, the NHL is able to assign its same lottery odds system it has used since 2016: The Senators look poised to be Friday’s biggest winners. The Detroit Red Wings, based on their last-place position in the standings and their .275 points percentage, have the best odds of winning based on any one single entry (18.5 per cent), but this really is the Ottawa Senators’ draft lottery to lose. The Senators are in prime position to claim the No. 1 spot as they have two horses in this race. They own both the second-best (13.5 per cent) and third-best (11.5 per cent) odds, giving them a combined 25 per cent chance at the top spot. (Senators fans will note that Ottawa also owns the Islanders’ first-rounder… but it’s lottery-protected.) Like the odds, the lottery draws will use the same method established in 2016. Amid so much change, this part stays the same. Just like in the past few years since it was implemented in 2016, three separate draws will be conducted to determine pick Nos. 1, 2, and 3 (in that order). Each lottery team is assigned a sequence of numbers – the higher your odds of winning, the more sequences you’re assigned. As numbered lottery balls are drawn at random, the sequence for each of the top three picks is matched to a master list of numbers assigned to teams. If all three top picks are awarded to a bottom-seven team this Friday, we won’t need a Phase 2. If all three picks land with the Red Wings, Senators, Kings, Ducks, Devils, and/or Sabres, then there won’t be a need for a Phase 2. Picks four to seven will fall into place based on the standings among those bottom seven teams. Based on this, the Red Wings will pick fourth at worst, while the Senators are guaranteed two picks in the top six. In this scenario, picks eight to 15 would then be assigned to the losing teams from the qualifying round, also based on points percentage as of March 12. (For example, should the Canadiens lose their play-in series, they would pick at spot No. 8, but if the Penguins lost they’d have pick No. 15.) Though not very likely, we’ve seen teams jump in the lottery before – look at the Chicago Blackhawks, just last year. After finishing the 2018-19 season in 20th place, six points out of a wild card spot, they entered the lottery with a 2.5 per cent chance at landing the top pick – that’s the same percentage as placeholder “Team E” this year. They emerged with the No. 3 overall pick in last year’s draft, jumping nine spots from 12 to three. Phase 2, if necessary, will feature eight teams — each with the same odds of winning. Phase 2 of the lottery, which will be conducted after the play-in round, would see all eight placeholder teams entered into one lottery draw per pick (if placeholder teams win two of the top three picks this Friday, two separate draws will be required). The bottom seven teams that were part of Phase 1 will not be included in this stage — their fates will have already been determined on Friday. Upping the intrigue is the fact that qualifying-round teams will know well before play resumes whether a placeholder team is in the running for a top-3 pick. Cue the tank talks?

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And here’s the really intriguing part: All eight teams in Phase 2 will have the exact same odds of being picked: 12.5 per cent. So you’re saying there’s a chance… Before the NHL lottery guidelines were released, there was some concern that an expanded playoff bracket and a rejigged lottery could perhaps add up to the possibility of a team winning both the Stanley Cup and the draft lottery. This will not be the case. It is still entirely possible, though, that a really good team could win the rights to the top prospect. Let’s use the Pittsburgh Penguins, the winningest team not awarded an automatic berth in Round 1, as an example: At the time of the season stoppage, the Penguins were third in the Metropolitan Division, fifth in the Eastern Conference, and seventh in the entire league with a post-season berth all but guaranteed back in March. Yet, based on this year’s format, they still have to earn their way into Round 1 via a best-of- five qualifying series against the Montreal Canadiens. Should the Penguins lose to the Habs (hockey is parity on ice, after all) and a placeholder team is awarded the No. 1 overall pick, suddenly there’s a 12.5 per cent shot we could see Lafreniere suit up alongside Crosby next season. You can map out a similar route for the other top-ranked teams that just barely missed out on a return- to-play bye – the Edmonton Oilers could very well find the ultimate winger to skate alongside Connor McDavid, or the Toronto Maple Leafs might just turn disappointment into another entry-level jackpot (their traded first-round pick, property of Carolina, is top-10 protected). The draft date is still up in the air. The date of the draft will depend on when the league is able to play out the remainder of the 2019-20 campaign. Who are this year’s top prospects? From pre-season to now, the No. 1 prospect has been winger Alexis Lafreniere. Known for his smarts and his complete skillset, he’ll be a game-changer for any team lucky enough to draft him. Fellow forwards Quinton Byfield and Tim Stutzle also have franchise-player potential themselves, while this class’s strongest skater, Jamie Drysdale, looks likely to be the first defender off the board.

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The Hockey News / Breaking down every goalie controversy in the 24-team playoff tournament By Matt Larkin - June 26, 2020

The NHL season is tentatively expected to resume with a post-season tournament beginning at the end of July, with 24 teams participating, including eight teams per conference in a play-in round and the top four teams per conference in a round-robin.

Projecting how teams will look coming out of the 4.5-month layoff gets particularly interesting when examining the . Amazingly, of the 24 teams slated to compete, I count 11 with unsettled starting-goalie roles. That’s 45.8 percent. Some of these platoon situations have a 1A who holds an edge right now, but the phase-3 training camps will determine the starters for many teams. The competition is wide open and will shape the post-season, which includes best-of-five series for the qualifying round.

Here’s a look at the cloudy creases and who holds the edge in each battle for now.

Play-in Round EDMONTON OILERS (5-West): Mikko Koskinen vs. Mike Smith Smith started 37 games to Koskinen’s 33 this season, but Koskinen did much better work with his chunk of the pie. His .917 save percentage dwarfed Smith’s .902 mark. Koskinen’s grip on the starting job tightened after the all-star break, when he held a .934 SP and appeared in 11 games, whereas Smith only improved to .905 in 13 appearances. Performance wise, Koskinen has been the far superior goalie. He got a lot less help than Smith, too. Among 66 goalies who logged at least 500 minutes at 5-on-5, Koskinen’s difficulty of shot quality placed him sixth in expected goals against per 60, whereas Smith sat 48th. Koskinen graded out above average on the year, ranking 22nd in goals saved above average per 60, whereas Smith graded out as one of the league’s worst netminders, sitting 60th. So why is this even a controversy? Koskinen has 0.0 games of NHL playoff experience. Smith has 24, during which he’s been lights out. He’s 38 now, but even last year, at 37, he was arguably the only reason the Calgary Flames didn’t get swept. Among goalies with 20 or more games played, his .938 career post-season SP ranks first all-time. Is it possible the Oilers prefer an experienced netminder to compete opposite the Chicago Blackhawks’ two-time Stanley Cup champ, Corey Crawford? During Smith’s outstanding 2011-12 playoff run with the , his coach was Dave Tippett. Smith’s coach in Edmonton now: Dave Tippett.

The edge: Performance wise, Koskinen has more than earned the first chance, so he has the slight edge going into camp. If he struggles early against Chicago, however, few starters will have shorter leashes given the backup’s level of experience.

NASHVILLE PREDATORS (6-West): Juuse Saros vs. Pekka Rinne Even peak Pekka Rinne was wobbly in Nashville’s crease at times in the playoffs. In 2017-18, his Vezina Trophy season, Rinne wound up pulled at home in Game 7 against the Winnipeg Jets. Two years later, with Rinne 37 years old, Saros seemed take over the starting job for good heading into the March-12 season shutdown. Both goalies had struggled for much of the season. At the all-star break, Rinne and Saros held SPs of .899 and .895, respectively. But as the Preds started to find themselves after swapping

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out coach Peter Laviolette for John Hynes, Saros really pulled away from Rinne. Post-all-star-break, Saros went 11-4-0 with a 2.14 goals-against average and .936 SP across 17 appearances. Rinne got worse: 2-4- 1, 4.12 GAA, .884 SP. The crease battle appeared to be over. For the first time in 89 games, someone else might start a playoff contest for Nashville.

But as The Athletic’s Adam Vingan reported earlier this month, after the long layoff, Hynes still sees the Preds’ starting goalie gig as an open competition.

The edge: If Saros doesn’t get the first crack after being the No. 1 reason Nashville clawed back into the playoff picture, it’ll be a mini travesty. Yes, Rinne has all that playoff experience, but it’s not all good playoff experience, as Rinne also carries the history of post-season implosions. He holds an SP below .910 in five of his eight playoff years. Saros gets the No. 1 spot for now, but it’s open for Rinne to win it back during camp.

MINNESOTA WILD (10-West): Alex Stalock vs. Devan Dubnyk vs. Kaapo Kahkonen In this case, playoff experience is inversely proportional to each netminder’s effectiveness this season. Having turned 34 in May, Dubnyk appeared to decline in 2019-20. He posted easily his worst numbers since his career renaissance began with the help of Arizona Coyotes goaltending coach Sean Burke in 2014-15. Dubnyk’s 3.35 GAA and .890 SP both ranked second-last in the league behind Detroit’s Jimmy Howard among goalies who appeared in at least 25 games this year, and Dubnyk ranked near the bottom of the league in GSAA/60. He lost the starting job to Alex Stalock before the March-12 shutdown. The reason why Dubnyk isn’t ruled out of the competition: his 26 career playoff starts. Stalock, a career backup, was a major contributor to the Wild’s quiet surge up the Western Conference standings in the winter. He went 9-3-1 with a 2.22 GAA and .924 SP after the all-star break. On the year, Stalock graded out as a slightly above average goalie in GSAA/60, but from the all-star break on, he was eighth in the league among goalies with at least 500 minutes played at 5-on-5. He earned his No. 1 status.

And then there’s the prospect Kahkonen, who won three of his five decisions when he got some work in November and December and was phenomenal with AHL Iowa this season, going 25-6-3 with a 2.07 GAA and .927 SP. With the NHL allowing for expanded rosters this post-season, Kahkonen will be in the mix.

The edge: It’s Stalock’s to lose. He was easily Minnesota’s best netminder this season. He only has four playoff games and one start to his name, but he has a .931 SP across those 165 minutes, for what it’s worth. That said, it sounds like the Wild are allowing for an open competition in camp, as coach Dean Evason told The Star Tribune’s Sarah McLellan earlier this month.

ARIZONA COYOTES (11-West): Darcy Kuemper vs. Antti Raanta The Coyotes have no bad choice here. Kuemper and Raanta were both excellent this season. Not only did they both sit inside the league’s top 25 in GSAA/60, but Arizona’s third option, Adin Hill, ranked fourth among goalies with 500-plus minutes at 5-on-5 after doing exemplary work while Kuemper was hurt. The Coyotes are loaded in net.

The edge: Coach Rick Tocchet has options, but Kuemper has a reasonably decisive edge here. Among goalies who played 1,000-plus minutes at 5-on-5, he had the league’s fourth-best SP at .932, and he has functioned overall as the 1A to Raanta’s 1B. Kuemper started the Coyotes’ final three games before the

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March-12 shutdown. Raanta is almost equally deserving of the No. 1 job, but Kuemper has been just a bit better and was the presumed starter as of mid-March, so it’s his job for now.

PITTSBURGH PENGUINS (5-East): Matt Murray vs. Tristan Jarry Murray has two Stanley Cup rings, so we have to assume he has a leg up on Jarry, but let’s remember it was Jarry, not Murray, who earned an invite to the 2020 All-Star Game. Jarry was arguably the league’s best goalie from October through the end of December. As of New Year’s Day, he was 13-5-0 with a .938 save percentage. He led the league in 5-on-5 SP and 5-on-5 GSAA/60 at the time. Also, lest we forget, these Penguins were willing to give a rookie Murray the net over Cup winner Fleury at various junctures during their 2016 and 2017 Cup runs. Coach Mike Sullivan’s decisions are not ruled by sentiment. That said, from Jan. 1 on, Jarry’s game tanked. He graded out as one of the league’s worst goalies. Murray never really righted the ship during a season in which he posted career-worst numbers, but if Jarry was struggling down the stretch anyway, does the tie go to the guy with the rings?

The edge: Sullivan has not named a starter, so either guy has the opportunity to seize the job in camp. If we have to place bets now, though, Murray is the safer one. If we believe Jarry’s amazing start was an anomaly, isn’t it fair to ask if Murray’s bad year was an anomaly, too?

CAROLINA HURRICANES (6-East): Petr Mrazek vs. James Reimer Mrazek played the best hockey of his career during the stretch run last season and carried it into the start of the post-season before an injury knocked him out of Game 2 against the New York Islanders. Mrazek didn’t return until Round 2 against the Boston Bruins, and he struggled. He just wasn’t the same goaltender for much of this season and missed time with a concussion in February and March. Reimer wasn’t a world beater, but he was decisively better than Mrazek. Reimer’s consistency was key. He held an SP of at least .912 in every month except his injury-shortened February. He had the closest average goal distance in the league, too. He led the league in medium-danger SP and ranked near the top in low-danger, but he had one of the worst high-danger SPs. In other words, it took quality chances to beat him. He didn’t stand on his head, but he didn’t lose games for Carolina.

The edge: Reimer’s last playoff appearance was 29 minutes of mop-up duty for a pulled Martin Jones in the 2016-17 playoffs. Reimer’s last playoff start was, uh, that game: Maple Leafs, Bruins, Game 7, 4-1 lead, third period, 2013. Will the Canes thus give Mrazek the first crack since he has more – and less traumatic – post-season experience? Maybe, but it might be a mistake. Reimer has earned the job over Mrazek based on this season’s play.

COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS (9-East): Elvis Merzlikins vs. Joonas Korpisalo The Blue Jackets lost Artemi Panarin, Matt Duchene and Sergei Bobrovsky to free agency last summer…and led the NHL in man games lost by cumulative minutes this season…and still held down a playoff position when the league paused March 12. One crucial reason for that: superb goaltending from Merzlikins and Korpisalo, albeit both were helped by sneaky-good defense. Both ranked near the top of the league in fewest high-danger shots against per 60 and lowest expected goals-against per 60.

Korpisalo kept Columbus afloat with stellar play in November and December. Come the new year, Merzlikins became one of the season’s most fascinating stories. Before this season, he had no pro experience at any level higher than the Swiss NLA, and he lost his first eight decisions across 10 appearances from the start of the season through Dec. 30. Then, starting on New Year’s Eve, he began

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an incredible rookie run, posting a .935 SP the rest of the season, including an unbelievable eight-game winning streak that included five shutouts.

The edge: Merzlikins was the bigger story in the season’s second half, so he’s likely to get the first crack at No. 1 duty against the Toronto Maple Leafs. He graded out as a top-six goalie in the NHL in GSAA/60 among those who played at least 1,000 minutes at 5-on-5. The Blue Jackets haven’t settled on a starter, but when coach John Tortorella spoke about the decision on a Columbus radio show recently, he seemed to value Merzlikins’ overseas big-game experience a bit more than Korpisalo’s longer North American track record. Advantage: Merzlikins.

NEW YORK RANGERS (10-East): Igor Shesterkin vs. Shesterkin vs. Lundqvist could be the goaltending decision to watch during the play-in round. Shesterkin, long the Rangers’ top netminding prospect, was scintillating the moment he stepped on the ice this season and had taken over the starting job, leapfrogging Lundqvist and Alexandar Georgiev, when the NHL paused. Shesterkin missed time with a fractured rib and only appeared in 12 games, but he won 10 of them, posting a .932 SP. He did that despite facing the most shots against per 60 minutes in the NHL among goalies with at least 500 minutes played at 5-on-5. The only goalie with a higher expected goals against per 60 based on difficulty of workload was Lundqvist. As for Hank…hey, it’s been a fantastic run. He’s arguably the best goalie of his generation, a Vezina Trophy winner and five-time finalist, an Olympic gold medallist, sixth all-time in wins, 12th all-time in SP, a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Lundqvist is also 38 and posted career worsts in most major stat categories this season. So why is he even in the mix? He owns the Rangers’ opponent, the Hurricanes. Lundqvist went 3-0 with a .947 SP against them this season. All-time, he’s 33-12-1 with a 2.00 GAA, .934 SP and two shutouts versus Carolina.

The edge: This one is a wash right now. The sensible choice is Shesterkin. He’s the younger, quicker, better goalie. But is there organizational pressure to give Lundqvist, one of the franchise’s all-time great players, one last ride before handing the keys over to Shesterkin in 2020-21? Shesterkin likely has the tiniest edge, but if he slips at all during camp, the power of the Lundqvist narrative could take over.

Round-robin (2-West): Philipp Grubauer vs. Pavel Francouz Francouz had never started an NHL game before this season, but he emerged as an elite backup, filling in admirably during starter Grubauer’s injury absences, most notably when a lower-body injury shelved him from mid-February until the season pause in mid-March. In an 11-game stretch from Feb. 19 to March 11, Francouz went 8-2-1 with a .925 SP. Given Grubauer was only a full-time starter for one year heading into this one, it’s not like he has a vice grip on the No. 1 job. He didn’t play poorly this year, but Francouz was better.

The edge: Since Grubauer was having a perfectly decent season aside from the injuries, holding a .916 SP and playing his best hockey of the year in February, and since he was excellent in the 2019 playoffs, he should remain the starter. But he’ll have a quicker hook than some No. 1s given the quality option behind him. If the Avs start the round-robin or Round of 16 slowly, coach Jared Bednar could turn to Francouz for a spark.

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VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS (3-West): Marc-Andre Fleury vs. Fleury leads all active NHL goalies in post-season starts, wins and shutouts. No one can trump his experience. Lehner, however, acquired at the 2020 trade deadline, has been the better goaltender for two years. Once he arrived, he started three games, winning all three, posting a .940 SP. Fleury started four games over that time. So the split was pretty even. Does that mean it’s an even race? Not necessarily. Lehner was brought in to lighten Fleury’s workload, not necessarily to take his job.

The edge: Fleury will still get the first look, but one advantage the round-robin squads have over the play-in teams is they can give both their goalies some action in non-elimination games. That means Lehner still has the chance to win the job for the Round of 16 if he outplays Fleury in the round-robin.

WASHINGTON CAPITALS (3-East): Braden Holtby vs. Ilya Samsonov Holtby’s UFA walk year was mostly nightmarish. He managed just a .905 SP at even strength. His 3.11 GAA and .897 SP were career worsts. Meanwhile, sensational rookie Samsonov, Washington’s goalie of the future, looked stellar in start after start and was slowly wresting away a bigger share of the pie. As of February, it seemed a foregone conclusion that Samsonov would be the undisputed No. 1 by playoff time and Holtby would ride off to a new team as a UFA. But Samsonov’s game hit the skids in February and March, when he went 0-4-1 with an .869 SP. Normally, it’s forgivable for any goalie to have a blip like that during the season. But when it’s a rookie on a veteran Cup contender whose other goaltender is two years removed from winning it all…do you start to consider giving Holtby the reins for the post- season?

The edge: We don’t have to speculate on this one. Coach Todd Reirden explicitly indicated a couple weeks back that Holtby will get the first opportunity. That can change, of course, if he struggles during the round-robin.

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Tribune Chronicle / An ode to a fading sports tradition By Staff – June 26, 2020

A sports milestone to be commemorated in Youngstown with a statue plays a key role in a new Sports Illustrated cover story called “Left Hangin’: An Ode (and a Wave Goodbye) to the Sports Handshake.” The moment is the historic 1946 handshake of Jackie Robinson and George Shuba. The issue is whether the handshake — a “special element of sportsmanship” — can return on account of the coronavirus. “This is a remembrance of the ‘Put ‘er there,’ the soul shake, the hand slap, the high (and low) five. Those, and myriad other forms of dap, are done. For a while, at least,” writes Steve Rushin for SI. “An opening sentence is a handshake, to paraphrase the novelist Jhumpa Lahiri, and it’s true that a good one draws you in, delivers you into capable hands and introduces you to a subject of interest — in this case, George “Shotgun” Shuba, for whom a handshake was an opening sentence,” Rushin wrote in the article. A group is planning a statue in Youngstown to celebrate the historic shake. Its sculptor, Marc Mellon, is developing a clay model, standing nearly 7 feet tall, that will be used to cast the figure of Robinson, the first African American in Major League Baseball. Still under construction is the model for Shuba, the Youngstown native who was Robinson’s white teammate with the Montreal Royals, a Brooklyn Dodgers Minor League affiliate. The 1946 handshake at home plate after Robinson hit a home run in his debut game has been hailed as the “handshake of the century,” as it marked the racial integration of pro ball, which helped accelerate the breakdown of racial barriers in other areas of American life. Mellon is working with a group of Youngstown-area leaders to build and dedicate the statue near the Youngstown Foundation Amphitheatre on April 18, 2021 — the 75th anniversary of the historic handshake. But America’s top pandemic doctor would like to wave goodbye to the handshake, SI notes. “I don’t think we should ever shake hands ever again,” Dr. Anthony Fauci said in April, because abandoning the ancient practice would not only curb the spread of the coronavirus, but it would dramatically decrease flu cases in America. “Just forget about shaking hands,” Fauci said. “We don’t need to shake hands; we’ve got to break that custom.” Rushin reponds: “But can we? In sports, the handshake has long held us in its grip. Perhaps too long, like those overeager greeters who pump your hand as if trying to draw water from a well. There are pregame handshake lines in soccer and at the net in tennis — a sport that begins with a handshake grip. Mike Shuba of Youngstown, now 58, accompanied his father all over North America spreading the gospel of the handshake, the SI story concludes.

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