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News Clips Mar. 21, 2019

Columbus Blue Jackets PAGE 02: Columbus Dispatch: Time running out for Blue Jackets to fix offense PAGE 04: Columbus Dispatch: Flames 4, Blue Jackets 2: Five takeaways PAGE 07: Columbus Dispatch: Blue Jackets: Top line hashes out issues over dinner PAGE 08: The Athletic: Mythbusters: Are the Blue Jackets just unlucky?

Cleveland Monsters/Prospects PAGE 12: Columbus Dispatch: Blue Jackets: At 5-7, Trey Fix-Wolansky growing larger in team's plans PAGE 14: The Athletic: Blue Jackets’ plans for Elvis Merzlikins hit a snag; top goalie prospect won’t play for AHL Cleveland PAGE 16: The Hockey Writers: Elvis has left Switzerland. Have the Blue Jackets found their replacement for ?

NHL/Websites PAGE 18: AP: Karlsson, Panarin and Bobrovsky can close strong and cash in PAGE 20: The Athletic: Analyzing 16 years of NHL draft data to see which teams have done it the best (and worst) PAGE 24: .ca: NHL Power Rankings: Your Team's Celebrity Fan Club Edition

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Time running out for Blue Jackets to fix offense

By Brian Hedger, Columbus Dispatch – March 20, 2019

EDMONTON, Alberta — If it were the middle of the season, the Blue Jackets’ struggle to score wouldn’t be as troubling.

There would be time to snap out of it, there wouldn’t be a huge buildup of pressure and they could just play without worrying about “what ifs?”

The Blue Jackets have only nine games left in the regular season, however, and they need to start scoring more consistently in their hunt for the playoffs.

“When it’s not going in, you don’t feel good about yourself like you do when it is,” said center Matt Duchene, one of four players the Jackets added to boost their roster before the deadline Feb. 25. “So, you’ve got to manufacture that feeling the best you can and just work at it in practice.”

The Jackets had a day off Wednesday after falling 4-2 on Tuesday at the , but they will try to create some better feelings Thursday against the , who beat them 4-0 on March 2 at Nationwide Arena.

That game will be less about revenge for the Jackets than about finishing, something that has been a problem for them since the trade deadline.

In 61 games before the deadline, they ranked 10th in the NHL with 194 goals, an average of 3.2 per game. In 12 games since, they’re ranked 23rd in goals (26) and have averaged just 2.2 per game.

“We’ve just got to bear down harder on our chances and find ways to put it in the net instead of just missing or hitting the goalie or defenseman or a post or something,” defenseman Zach Werenski said. “We’ve got chances. We’ve just got to find ways to score.”

Hitting the net would be a good start.

As Werenski mentioned, the Blue Jackets hit just about everything but the net against the Flames, finishing with 19 missed shots. That tied their third-highest amount of misses this season and included four that clanked off iron.

According to NHL.com, the Blue Jackets have hit goalposts 53 times and the crossbar nine times. That’s the second-highest amount of goalpost strikes in the league and 14th-highest in crossbar dings.

“Andy and I are shaking our heads at how many good looks we had (against Calgary) and just weren’t able to get anything to go,” Duchene said of Josh Anderson, who assisted on a power-play by Oliver Bjorkstrand at Calgary. “That goes for the whole team, not just us. We did some really good things. We’ve just got to keep moving forward.”

Or stop moving backward.

The Blue Jackets are clinging to the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, one point ahead of the Canadiens, and they’re going to need more consistent scoring to win the race.

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“There’s no point in getting frustrated right now,” said Werenski, who snapped a 30-game goal drought last week. “We have nine games left to make the playoffs and if we get frustrated, it’s just going to hurt us.”

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Flames 4, Blue Jackets 2: Five takeaways

By Brian Hedger, Columbus Dispatch – March 20, 2019

CALGARY, Alberta — The Blue Jackets did enough right Tuesday night to leave Scotiabank Saddledome feeling like they deserved to win.

They didn’t, though, losing 4-2 to the Calgary Flames because of a few things they did wrong — and some poor luck while shooting the puck.

Despite scoring the first goal and outplaying the Flames in the final 30 minutes, the Jackets couldn’t get enough big plays at either end — committing one too many defensive miscues and missing the net 19 times.

It something that happens to all teams occasionally, but it has happened to the Blue Jackets with semi- regularity since adding four players at the Feb. 25 trade deadline.

“It’s tough,” said Matt Duchene, the biggest star among those additions. “When it’s not going in, you don’t feel good about yourself like you do when it is, so you’ve got to manufacture that feeling the best you can.”

Here are five takeaways from one that got away from the Blue Jackets in Calgary:

1) What it meant

As far as the playoff race goes, it couldn’t have gone much worse for Columbus.

The , who’d been getting smaller in the rearview mirror, downed the on Tuesday to close to within a point of the second wild-card spot that’s currently owned by the Blue Jackets.

Each team has nine games left, including a huge one against each other Mar. 28 at Nationwide Arena to conclude the season series.

The , meanwhile, extended their lead over Columbus for the East’s first wild-card spot with a shootout win Tuesday against the Penguins – who tacked a point of their own onto their grip of third place in the Metropolitan Division.

Carolina (87 points) has a three-point lead over Columbus (84 points) now, in one less game, while the Penguins lead the Blue Jackets to five points within the division.

“Today we lost some ground, but we’re still in a (playoff) spot,” Duchene said. “The next two games are big. We move on and get ready for Edmonton, and try to get a win there.”

2) Post note

Going by the official tally, the Blue Jackets hit the goal posts three times, including twice before Calgary’s Andrew Mangiapane made it 2-1 Calgary late in the first period.

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Going by the Jackets’ account of the stats, it was three posts and a crossbar – including two by Pierre- Luc Dubois. Either way, that’s too many missed scoring chances.

Had two of them been a couple inches lower or to the left, it might’ve been the Blue Jackets shooting at an empty net late in the third. Instead, it was the opportunistic Flames – who put the game away with an empty-netter by Matthew Tkachuk.

If it seems like Columbus clanks a lot of pucks off the net’s metal frame, you’re not crazy. They do. According to the NHL.com stat page, the Blue Jackets hit goal posts 50 times going into the game – third- most behind the (51) and (57).

They’re at 53 now and have also hit the crossbar 10 times, which ranks 12th highest in the league. The Jackets’ 19 misses on attempts was also a big , tied for their third-highest in a game this season.

3) Dzingel played

After missing practice Monday with an undisclosed physical issue, which coach John Tortorella described as being “nicked up,” Ryan Dzingel wound up playing.

Dzingel, who appeared to sustain an upper-body injury Saturday on a hit by defenseman Zdeno Chara, played 17:19 and finished with two shots. He also missed once, ringing the puck off the right post with 1:00 left in the first period off a great feed by Zach Werenski.

That could’ve put the Blue Jackets up 2-1 going into the first intermission, but Mangiapane’s goal at the other end gave that lift to Calgary with 7.2 seconds left.

4) Anderson brought it

He didn’t score a goal, but Josh Anderson had another strong game for the Blue Jackets, finishing with an assist on Oliver Bjorkstrand’s power-play goal in the third and landing four crunching hits.

He also added five shots, which tied defenseman David Savard for the team-high, and blocked a shot.

Anderson was also involved in a wild sequence with less than five minutes to play and the Blue Jackets trailing 3-2. Mikael Backlund was denied by Sergei Bobrovsky on a short breakaway and then got hammered into the corner boards by Anderson.

They immediately exchanged shoves and what appeared to be gloved punches before Anderson took Backlund down with a tackle and laid on top of him. Play c0ntinued without a whistle and Flames fans roared their disapproval.

“It’s a tight game, 3-2 game, so I don’t think they’re going to call anything,” Anderson said. “That’s the way it should be. Two guys battling in the corner ... it’s hockey.”

5) No Foligno, Nutivaara

This was the second straight game the Blue Jackets didn’t have Nick Foligno, who is attending to a personal matter back in Columbus.

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They also didn’t have defenseman Markus Nutivaara, who was a late scratch because he was too sick to play — the latest Blue Jacket to miss a game for that reason.

Without Nutivaara, Tortorella broke up his third defense pairing of Scott Harrington and Adam McQuaid. He played Harrington with Savard on the second pairing and put Dean Kukan – who entered the lineup as Nutivaara’s replacement – at left point on the third pairing with McQuaid.

The top pair, Zach Werenski and , stayed together and took the brunt of the damage — each finishing with minus-2 plus/minus ratings. Harrington and Savard were each minus-1, while Kukan and McQuaid were even.

McQuaid played the least among the six defensemen (9:34) but also sat in the box serving a fighting major in the second.

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Blue Jackets | Top line hashes out issues over dinner

By Brian Hedger, Columbus Dispatch – March 20, 2019

CALGARY, Alberta — The Blue Jackets held another “clear the air” meeting, only this time it wasn’t for the entire team.

This one involved a nice dinner among friends and some frank table conversation the Jackets hope will spark their top forward line, which has sputtered since the trade deadline last month.

“We had a good chat as a line (Monday) night,” Cam Atkinson said Tuesday at the Scotiabank Saddledome before a game against the Calgary Flames. “We went out to dinner and kind of cleared the air and figured out what we’re doing wrong and what we need to improve on.”

The trio is made up of Atkinson, Artemi Panarin and Pierre-Luc Dubois, who together had formed one of the NHL’s most lethal forward groups.

Going into the Calgary game, Atkinson led the team in goals (38), Panarin led in assists (50) and points (75), and Dubois’ numbers in goals (23), assists (31) and points (54) were all higher than his output in 82 games last season, which was an outstanding rookie year.

The issues that have vexed them are more recent, creeping into their shifts during a downturn in production. The resulting frustration was obvious in their play and output in 11 games after the trade deadline Feb. 25.

Rather than taking care of the puck, they were too loose with it. Rather than working harder to clear their zone, they were too quick on the gas the other way. It showed in their stats, too.

Panarin had one goal, seven points and a minus-8 rating. Dubois had one assist and a minus-3 rating. Atkinson had four goals, but only two assists and a minus-7.

“I think we cleared the air, and hopefully we get back to what we’ve done all season long,” Atkinson said. “It’s no secret that we’re all kind of frustrated, our body language has looked bad. Not that we’re pointing fingers, but we’re cheating. We’re expecting one guy to do it and kind of giving (our) problems to someone else.”

That’s what the coaches are seeing too, especially one guy in particular.

“They lose themselves a little bit because they want to help,” said coach John Tortorella, who may or may not have picked up the trio’s dinner tab. “They want to score goals, but they forget about the other stuff — and we’re just spending too much time in our end zone with that line, because they’re not doing the work.”

They only have nine games left now to fix those problems before the playoffs, assuming the Jackets make it. They can still get there by leaning on star goalie Sergei Bobrovsky and what Atkinson calls “pack it in, boring hockey,” but it could be a lot easier if the top line gets the engine started.

“It’s a really important line for us,” Tortorella said. “The production has dropped off. We’ve got to get ’em back.”

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Mythbusters: Are the Blue Jackets just unlucky?

By Alison Lukan, The Athletic – March 21, 2019

It’s nervy times in Blue Jackets land. As the team continues to fight for playoff positioning, for fans following along, every win brings jubilation, every loss draws out concern and discouragement.

In a situation like this, when each game carries so much meaning, it’s human nature to start to wonder if, when things go wrong, unshakable bad luck has befallen the group.

We get it.

So, with that in mind, we bring you the Blue Jackets’ playoff push edition of “Mythbusters,” where we’ll dig into what might or might not be true in terms of how the team is playing right now and whether they are “lucky” or not.

On to the list of grievances.

MYTH 1: The Blue Jackets miss the net more than any other team in the league

Let’s get right to the brass tacks of the situation. In five-on-five play, the Jackets have taken 3,319 total shot attempts this year (that’s the 14th most in the league). Of all those attempts, 700 have been misses. That puts the Jackets 13th in terms of missed shots this season.

But here’s what’s important to remember. A lot of times, numbers or statistics are “interesting,” but they might not be relevant to a question we’re trying to answer.

Look at the kinds of teams that are missing even more shots. As of Tuesday’s games, nine of the 12 teams in front of the Jackets in terms of missed shots are currently in a playoff spot. So missing a lot of shots might not be a big deal in and of itself?

But every team takes a different number of shots, so what about the percentage of total shots that are misses? Are the Jackets missing a larger overall share of the shots that they take? Here are all teams sorted by percentage of shots missed this season.

Here, the Jackets rank 11th in the league, and seven of the teams in front of them are currently sitting in a playoff spot. On a broader scale, teams are all over the place in terms of their missed shot percentages regardless of their postseason position.

So misses might not be a relatively big deal, and the Jackets aren’t getting a lot of shots blocked, either. On the season, they are 28th in the total number of shots they’ve had blocked, and 29th in terms of overall percentage.

The real issue that some might want to know is, are the Jackets getting enough shots on target? To that point, this year, Columbus has gotten the 11th-most shots on goal (1866), which equals the fifth-highest percentage of total shot attempts reaching the goalie (56.22).

MYTH 2: When they don’t outright miss, the Blue Jackets hit the posts more than any team in the league

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OK, this might be partially true. And that’s not just because the Jackets fell 4-2 to the Calgary Flames on Tuesday in a game in which Columbus drew iron four times (although the NHL only scored three. Don’t ask me why, I don’t make the rules).

Earlier this year, we were already talking about the Jackets holding the lead in shots off the post, and while they are no longer the team that has done it the most this season (that’s Vancouver), Columbus sits close behind in second (53). The Jackets are also 14th in shots off the crossbar (14).

But again, take this with a grain of salt in terms of what it says about the team’s performance. While struggling Vancouver leads in hitting posts and the crossbar, Tampa Bay comes in a close third in terms of pucks off the post, and when it comes to shots off the crossbar, Vegas, Tampa Bay and Nashville rank ahead of the Blue Jackets.

MYTH 3: When the Jackets do get shots on net, their attempts are easy for to stop

For now, this idea is partially a myth, and it’s something that public player and puck tracking would help us answer definitively hopefully in the future.

According to Money Puck, in terms of total shot quality, the Jackets rank 16th in the league in all situations (209 expected goals), and seventh in five-on-five play (155.21). The six teams ahead of them are Vegas, Carolina, San Jose, Tampa Bay, and Pittsburgh. That’s not bad company to keep.

Also, in terms of creating second (and third or fourth) chances, the Jackets are doing all right in making them happen. The team ranks 18th in terms of expected rebounds in all situations (151.9), and in five- on-five play the team jumps to 12th (119.96).

The caveat to this is that we can only calculate shot quality based on things like game state, shot location, shot type, shot angle, rebound (yes/no), rush event and number of skaters on the ice. We can’t quickly or easily identify what kind of movement happened before a shot (was it a cross slot pass that made the goalie move? Were there multiple passes?) or where the shot went against the (five-hole? Glove side high?). So, the data we do have paints a good picture, but not yet a totally complete one.

MYTH 4: This team has more goals against come off a deflection or tip than any team in the league

Tips and redirections are noticeable events, and that’s why we tend to talk about them a lot when they happen. When a goal happens off a tip (redirected off a player’s stick) or deflection (redirected off a player’s body) it’s a beautiful feat of skill if it’s for the team you support. It’s frustrating as all get out if it’s going against you, however.

But, again, the Jackets haven’t been unquestionably blessed or cursed by these events. Using data from Evolving-Hockey for games through Mar. 15, we see Columbus fell smack dab in the middle of the road at 16th in terms of tip-ins for, and 26th in deflections for.

When it comes to redirects happening against them, 23 teams suffered more than the 15 tip-ins against that the Jackets saw, and three teams had more deflections against than the Jackets.

MYTH 5: These players can’t finish

OK, there is something here. But only lately.

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When it comes to actual ways to measure “luck,” there’s been one metric that has been used to approximate the randomness that can come from a good or bad bounce: PDO. PDO is the sum of shooting percentage (SH%) plus save percentage (SV%) and it’s considered likely that most teams’ PDO will end up at 1.00, one way or another.

On the season as a whole, the Jackets currently sit at .999, so they are ever so slightly below expectations. This chart from Sean Tierney shows how that stacks up against other teams in the NHL. The x-axis measures shooting percentage (increasing left to right) and the y-axis measures save percentage (increasing bottom to top).

The Jackets are one of the teams that fall more to the right than left, and more to the bottom than the top, so that tells us that their strength in being the right amount of lucky has been their shooting percentage, and while they aren’t to such an extreme that it might be unsustainable, it’s one of the better ones in the league.

Here’s where recent concerns about finishing come in, however.

Going into the deadline, the Jackets had the third-best five-on-five shooting percentage in the NHL (9.11). Since the deadline, it’s fallen to almost half that (5.24), placing the team 29th overall, and has resulted in a PDO of .976, which is below expectations, meaning, the team is experiencing some bad “luck.”

Here’s what that looks like at a player level.

So yes, players are having trouble scoring at the moment. But this is why when the team says it’s important to stick to the process, they are right.

That kind of a drastic drop in anything, let alone shooting percentage, is pretty much unsustainable. On the season, the team’s shooting percentage is 8.52. If they can rebound to league average, let alone the team’s average this season, the goals should come.

It bears mention that the team’s save percentage has seen a little improvement. It was 91.20 going into the trade deadline, and 92.30 since, and there’s no more important time for strong goaltending than when your shooting percentage is faltering.

Conclusion What does it all mean? This is a team playing under high expectations from fans and media alike, and when the wins don’t pile up, perceptions falter. But when it comes to how the Jackets are playing and how much “luck” is involved, some of what our gut tells us is spot on, and some just needs some context, particularly in a sport in which things can feel quite different game to game. Being nervy is natural, but understanding why that is and what it really means (or doesn’t!) can be helpful.

How the Jackets have played on the whole of this year has born results. There have been some blips of late, and we touched on just some key themes here, but if the team can stay within their game, they should get some “luck” back on their side.

With nine regular-season games to go, their only enemy now is time.

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Data via NaturalStatTrick.com and Evolving-Hockey.com. All numbers represent five-on-five play unless otherwise stated. This post relies heavily on shot-based metrics. Here is a good primer on these numbers.

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Blue Jackets | At 5-7, Trey Fix-Wolansky growing larger in team's plans

By Brian Hedger, Columbus Dispatch – March 20, 2019

EDMONTON — Trey Fix-Wolansky didn’t hear his name called in the 2018 NHL draft until 203 other names had been read aloud.

The 5-foot-7, 188-pound forward was used to being overlooked, though. He’d been passed over in his first year of draft eligibility into the Canadian Hockey League and again in his first year of eligibility for the NHL draft.

When the Blue Jackets finally made his dream a reality, selecting Fix-Wolansky in the seventh round of last year’s draft (204th overall), his heart was pumping pretty fast.

“Honestly, up until last week, it was the best day of my life,” Fix-Wolansky said Wednesday at Rogers Place, home of both the Edmonton Oilers and , his team. “You grow up playing hockey, wanting to be drafted in the NHL, and getting my name called was just a surreal moment and something me and my family will never forget.”

As he mentioned, the Blue Jackets gave him a new unforgettable moment last week, signing Fix- Wolansky to his first NHL contract, a three-year, entry-level deal.

Fix-Wolansky’s 37 goals, 65 assists and 102 points in just 65 games this season as the Oil Kings’ captain had something to do with that — along with the impression he made during his first Blue Jackets prospects camp, rookie tournament and then NHL training camp in September.

“We signed him because we believe in him,” general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said. “Where you were drafted doesn’t mean you can’t be just as good of an NHL player, but that’s up to (the player) to prove. Now, the first step’s taken — where he’s been signed. The next step is up to him to make it to the NHL.”

Fix-Wolansky’s first strides toward that goal began last summer at his first Blue Jackets development camp in Columbus and continued through the NHL training camp.

“It’s good for our kids to see NHL players train and I think he really got a lot out of that opportunity to go to main camp,” said Brad Lauer, the Oil Kings’ coach and a former assistant with the Tampa Bay Lightning. “That really showed him where you’ve got to be to get to the next level, and I think he learned a lot.”

It showed in Fix-Wolansky’s play for the Oil Kings, who will start the WHL playoffs Saturday against Medicine Hat. Fix-Wolansky is eager for his first taste of the WHL postseason but knows he could be playing in Ohio next year, whether that’s Cleveland or Columbus.

“I have to work really hard in the offseason and go into camp prepared,” said Fix-Wolansky, who is up for the WHL player of the year award. “Even if they said you’re guaranteed a spot, you’re not truly guaranteed a spot. So, just going into camp, hopefully getting a spot on the AHL or NHL team (is the next step).”

Welcome, Elvis

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Another Blue Jackets prospect was in the news, as 24-year-old Elvis Merzlikins signed a one-year, entry- level contract.

Since being selected in the third round of the 2014 draft (No. 76 overall), Merzlikins has starred for HC Lugano in the Swiss league and Latvia internationally. He will burn his entry-level contract by coming to North America and can become a restricted free agent this summer.

That’s all part of the Blue Jackets’ plan, though.

“This is what we decided was the best course of action right now,” Kekalainen said. “Once his immigration paperwork is done, then he’s going to come over here and work with (goaltending coach Manny Legace) — and that will be it.”

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Blue Jackets’ plans for Elvis Merzlikins hit a snag; top goalie prospect won’t play for AHL Cleveland

By Aaron Portzline, The Athletic – March 20, 2019

EDMONTON, Alberta — The Blue Jackets’ plans for prospect goaltender Elvis Merzlikins have hit a snag before the Latvian-born 24-year-old has even arrived in North America.

Merzlikins still is set to sign a one-year entry-level contract with the Jackets, a deal that is nearly completed and could be announced at any time.

But Merzlikins won’t be going to Cleveland to play for the Blue Jackets’ top minor-league affiliate as the Jackets’ brass had hoped.

The plan was for Merzlikins to sign a tryout agreement as defenseman Zach Werenski did with Cleveland in 2015-16. But if Merzlikins had signed such an agreement, it would have pushed his one-year entry- level contract to next season.

According to multiple sources in Europe, Merzlikins is using the leverage he’s gained during an exemplary run in Switzerland the past five seasons to avoid playing in the AHL altogether.

He’s also using his status — many consider him the best goalie outside the NHL — to dictate terms against the Blue Jackets, who might be looking for a new No. 1 goaltender next season with the expected departure of Sergei Bobrovsky via free agency this summer.

Merzlikins is getting a signing bonus and burning his entry-level contract in just the remaining days of this season, and both will be accomplished even though he’s unlikely to play again this season.

By burning his entry-level deal now, Merzlikins can then sign a one-way NHL deal to begin next season, virtually ensuring Merzlikins will be on the Blue Jackets’ roster in 2019-20.

Negotiations toward the follow-up contract have begun, sources said, though it’s unclear if it will be a one- or a two-year contract.

If Merzlikins had accepted the tryout agreement, his entry-level would have pushed to next season, preventing him from signing the one-way contract he seeks.

And the entry-level contract he’s already agreed to, though a two-way contract, doesn’t allow him to be sent to the AHL because he wasn’t under contract and on the Blue Jackets’ AHL “clear” list as of Feb. 25, the NHL trade deadline.

Merzlikins has more leverage than just his resume, too.

If he doesn’t get the deal he wants from Columbus, he could always return to Lugano, his club in Switzerland, where he is well compensated and regarded by fans as a rock star.

There’s also this: Several clubs in Russia’s KHL have expressed an interest in Merzlikins, with a willingness to pay him handsomely.

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Merzlikins has never been short of confidence, so taking this stance shouldn’t come as a surprise. But it puts the Blue Jackets in an awkward spot on two fronts.

Merzlikins is expected to travel to Columbus early next week after his immigration paperwork is complete, and he’s expected to meet with Blue Jackets’ management, coaches, players, etc.

The Blue Jackets are already carrying three goaltenders — Bobrovsky, Joonas Korpisalo and Keith Kinkaid — and it’s unlikely coach John Tortorella would want four goaltenders on the ice during full practices.

But there’s a much bigger issue here, too.

If Merzlikins is going to be Bobrovsky’s replacement as soon as next season — and he’s planned it that way with his contract term in Lugano — the Blue Jackets would understandably want to see him play in North America, if only briefly, before fully committing to him as their starter.

As it stands, the Blue Jackets are being asked to commit to him based solely on his play in Europe.

For the remainder of the season, Merzlikins can practice with Blue Jackets goaltending coach Manny Legace and he can train with his future teammates. But, barring injuries, Merzlikins’ true debut in North America will wait until next year. And per his demands, it will be in the NHL with the Blue Jackets.

Neither of Merzlikins’ agents — Gerry Johansson in North America or Hnat Domenichelli in Europe — would comment when reached by The Athletic.

Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen has declined to comment publicly.

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ELVIS HAS LEFT SWITZERLAND. HAVE THE BLUE JACKETS FOUND THEIR REPLACEMENT FOR SERGEI BOBROVSKY?

Elvis Merzlikins is on his way to the Blue Jackets, and hopes are high in Columbus that he can be the heir to the goaltending throne that will be vacated by longtime starter Sergei Bobrovsky, who is expected to leave as a free agent this summer.

By Ken Campbell, The Hockey Writers – March 20, 2019

When the Columbus Blue Jackets announced Wednesday that they had signed Elvis Merzlikins to a one- year, entry-level contract for next season, GM Jarmo Kekalainen called Merzlikins “the best goaltender outside of the NHL right now.” Former NHL coach Bob Hartley, who coached Merzlikins with the Latvian national team, said the goalie’s demeanour reminded him of Patrick Roy.

That’s some serious hype there. But it’s clear the Blue Jackets were eager to get Merzlikins into the fold. How eager? Well, consider that they’re willing to pay him more than $150,000 – $92,500 in bonus money and about $63,000 in pro-rated salary if he spends the last two weeks of the season on the NHL roster. All that for a goalie who may not play a game with the Blue Jackets this season.

What’s more, the fact that Merzlikins signed a contract for the rest of the season means he will fulfill his entry-level commitments and will be free to sign a one-way contract with the Blue Jackets next season rather than a two-way deal. You don’t do that kind of thing unless you’re really, really serious about a guy. The Blue Jackets’ third-round pick in 2014 was recently ranked as the organization’s No. 3 prospect in THN’s annual Future Watch edition.

And Merzlikins might just be worth all the effort. The 24-year-old has become something of a cult hero with Lugano in Switzerland over the past five seasons, winning the Jacques Plante Trophy as the top goaltender in the Swiss League in 2015-16 and 2017-18. But it has been on the world stage where Merzlikins has proved his worth. Last year in Denmark, Merzlikins led Latvia to the quarterfinal, where it lost 3-2 to Sweden, the team that eventually went on to win the gold medal. Merzlikins had a .937 save percentage in the tournament, but it was his work against teams made up largely of NHL shooters that was so impressive. Along with the one-goal loss to Sweden, the Latvians lost 3-2 to USA in overtime and 2-1 to Canada, also in overtime. In those three games, the Latvians were outshot by a combined 97-66, with Merzlikins posting a .948 save percentage.

Merzlikins will arrive in Columbus as soon as his immigration paperwork can be completed. It’s expected he’ll spend the rest of the season as the No. 3 goalie behind Sergei Bobrovsky and Joonas Korpisalo, then will once again play for Latvia in the World Championship once the Blue Jackets’ season ends. Speaking of that, it’s pretty clear the Blue Jackets are greasing the skids for life after Bobrovsky, their two-time Vezina Trophy winner who is expected to bolt as an unrestricted free agent after this season.

And Merzlikins projects to be a big part of that future. Barring the Blue Jackets signing a free agent of their own this summer, it’s expected he’ll compete with Korpisalo for the No. 1 job in Columbus next season. There has been speculation that Merzlikins timed his NHL arrival with the conclusion of Bobrovsky’s deal in Columbus. If that is indeed the case, you have to really like the kid’s chutzpah. It appears he has no shortage of confidence in himself and feels he’s ready to take the next step.

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How well he does in the NHL is anyone’s guess, but it’s pretty clear that the time has come for him to see how he stacks up against the best players in the world. And let’s face it. Teams are guessing more on goalies than they are at any other position. Could Merzlikins be the next Ilya Bryzgalov, a goalie with a boatload of personality and talent to match who flopped at the NHL level? It’s possible. But he could also become the next Bobrovsky, who came over at the age of 22 as an undrafted and unheralded goalie and developed into one of the NHL’s elite stoppers. Or that instead could happen with Danil Tarasov, a 19-year-old third-rounder from 2017 who’s playing in Russia, or Veini Vehvilainen, a 22-year-old sixth- rounder in 2018 who was Finland’s best goaltender and won the league championship last season with Karpat and could repeat the feat this season. Nobody knows with goalies.

But the time to find out with Merzlikins is now. “He has been a great talent on an OK team in an OK league with a pretty easy schedule,” said one NHL executive. “But he’s also been on of the best goalies in the World Championship three years in a row.”

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Karlsson, Panarin and Bobrovsky can close strong and cash in

By Larry Lage, The Associated Press - March 20, 2019

Many NHL teams have plenty to play for down the final stretch of the regular season, trying to get in the playoffs or to improve their positioning, before 16 teams compete for the Stanley Cup.

Some players have a lot at stake, too.

Erik Karlsson, Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky are a few of the potential free agents in the league with a chance to close strong and cash in by re-signing with their teams or on the open market.

The top trio of stars and some other standouts with a lot to gain financially when the season is finished, if not sooner:

KARLSSON

The acquired the two-time Norris Trophy-winning defenseman from Ottawa before the season started, hoping they would have him for more than a year. To keep Karlsson off the market as an unrestricted free agent, San Jose may have to at least match the eight-year, $88 million deal the gave defenseman Drew Doughty to stay last summer.

PANARIN

Dynamic scorers like the Russian winger rarely are available in free agency and a team that wants to spend a lot of money over many years may be able to land an 80-point scorer. Panarin has already said he wants to see if there are better options in the summer than staying with the Columbus Blue Jackets, who are simply hoping he helps them win at least a postseason series for the first time.

BOBROVSKY

Big-time goaltenders, like the two-time Vezina Trophy winner, usually stay with their teams and off the market. Like his teammate and fellow countryman, the 30-year-old Bobrovsky will probably want to make the most of his opportunity to make as much money as he can with his next deal while being at or near the prime or his career.

MATT DUCHENE It was a good time for the center, and his bank account, to have one of the best years of his career. He’s averaging more than a point per game this season, starting with Ottawa, before being dealt to Columbus . If Panarin and Bobrovsky appear to be leaving in free agency after the season, the Blue Jackets may give the 28-year-old Duchene a lot to stay before the market opens.

JEFF SKINNER

The center has a shot to surpass the 63 points he has reached twice before the team he plays for, the , are relegated to watching the postseason for an eighth straight season. The Sabres want to re-sign Skinner, but he might be willing to take a seven-year deal — instead of the eight he can get to stay — and join a Stanley Cup contender.

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JAKE GARDINER

He has been out for nearly a month with a back injury, but barring it lingering into the playoffs to cast doubt on his long-term health, one of the best defensemen available will be paid well to stay in Toronto or to go play for another team.

WAYNE SIMMONDS

The winger has not produced much offensively with Nashville, which acquired him from Philadelphia, and yet he will have a chance to make a lasting impression when it matters most in the playoffs. Simmonds has a rare combination of scoring ability, toughness and durability.

RESTRICTED FREE AGENTS

There is an excellent group of players eligible to be restricted free agents, including: forwards Mikko Rantanen, William Karlsson, Brayden Point, Mitch Marner, Sebastian Aho and Matthew Tkachuk along with defensemen and Zach Werenski. Teams, though, rarely extend offer sheets to other franchise’s restricted free agents as Philadelphia did in 2012 with a $110 million, 14-year deal for Shea Weber, only to have the Predators match it.

GAME OF THE WEEK

In a possible Eastern Conference final preview, Tampa Bay played at Washington on Wednesday night. The Lightning beat the defending champions 6-3 on Sunday and they will meet a third time later this month.

LEADERS (through Monday)

Goals: Alex Ovechkin (Washington), 48; Assists: Nikita Kucherov (Tampa Bay), 82; Points: Kucherov, 117; Ice time: Ryan Suter (Minnesota), 26:54; Goals-against average: Jordan Binnington (St. Louis), 1.78; Save percentage: Ben Bishop (Dallas), .932.

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The Athletic / Analyzing 16 years of NHL draft data to see which teams have done it the best (and worst)

By Scott Wheeler, The Athletic – March 20, 2019

If the parity the NHL has created for itself (a parity that is likely the envy of other professional sports) offers one lasting dichotomy, it’s the fascination of even casual fans in the NHL draft and prospects.

In theory, that fascination is to be expected out of fanbases who aren’t currently strong (the Ottawas and Vancouvers of the NHL). The tanking teams of the world sell their fanbases on the future and that means selling them on choices made at the draft and the young stars waiting in the wings.

But hockey’s fascination with whatever’s coming, rather than what is, doesn’t discriminate.

As star players begin to take a larger piece of the hard-cap pie, fanbases on contending teams (the and the Tampa Bays) can’t help but wonder about the distribution of the team’s salary and whether their young, cost-controlled talent will be able to cheaply fill in around the margins. It means, ultimately, that many fans get caught up worrying about the future rather than enjoying the present pursuit of a Stanley Cup, which is what it’s supposed to be all about. On platforms like The Athletic, interest from readers often spikes higher around the draft than it does during the .

More than that, though, the eternal optimism most fans hold also leads to bias about the strength of their favourite team’s prospects. Armchair general managers across 31 markets plug their team’s top prospects into holes and envision linear trajectories that often don’t consider coaching decisions and development.

But what happens when you take 16 years of NHL draft data, which includes more than 3,500 players (3,194 of which are skaters) from more than 400 organizations and you pull insights from their success — or lack thereof?

The answer is that you remove the bias and you begin to draw real conclusions on an NHL organization’s actual draft record, as well as a junior team’s ability to develop and produce NHL-level talent.

Here, through the thousands of data points created by the draft picks of every NHL team from 2003- 2018 (excluding the because none of their draftees from 2017 or 2018 have produced an NHL point), I have broken down all of that data (which was drawn on March 4, 2019).

It includes 310,892 NHL games played and 128,963 NHL points.

Summary Below, broken down in totality but also into thirds in order to give you a better understanding of how well a team has done during a more exact period, are some of the broader results (in terms of the teams and leagues that have performed the best and worst at the draft):

Naturally, the five teams whose draft picks have produced the most NHL points are also all teams that have won a Stanley Cup (or three) during the last 16 years, while the worst-performing team (the Vancouver Canucks) has struggled for extended stretches of that period. You’ll notice, too, that the

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Canucks performed extremely poorly from 2009-2013, which coincides with the cliff the team hit shortly after — a cliff that has led them to their current rebuild.

It’s worth noting that star power (the Sidney Crosbys and the Alex Ovechkins) grossly impact any raw point total outcomes over a 16-year period because they can account for more than a fifth of their team’s success. That’s true of the most recent draft cycle (2014-2018) in the way it sees a team like the on top (due in large part to and Mitch Marner) and the , who just won a Stanley Cup, at the bottom.

Still, team success aside, the results also paint a clear picture of a Capitals team that has drafted well, just as they demonstrate success for a team like the Bruins, whose highest scoring draftee during that period ( and his 800-plus points) was taken one pick ahead of Derrick Brassard (440 points). The Bruins have regularly hit on all of their picks (Dougie Hamilton, Milan Lucic, David Pastrnak, Brad Marchand in the third round, Patrice Bergeron in the second round, Kris Versteeg in the fifth round, etc.). The success of the Tampa Bay Lightning in the last five years is also directly correlated to the fact that they did the best job in the middle third of the last 16 years.

In terms of both games played and the number of players they’ve produced, the results also provide insights into which teams (and leagues) do the best job producing NHL talent. In that way, we underscore just how astonishing the success of the London Knights has been, nearly doubling the closest programs (the Kitchener Rangers and USA Hockey’s national development program) in terms of NHL games played. Though the national development program has produced the most NHL grads, the Knights are unmatched in terms of success with star-level players.

Measuring success for feeder programs Sweden’s top leagues (the SHL, Allsvenskan, SuperElit, etc.) have clearly proven the most successful stomping grounds in Europe, producing two more NHL draft picks than the equivalent leagues in Russia and Finland combined.

A combination of the various iterations of Frolunda’s pro and junior teams over the years would technically result in them ranking third on the ‘players drafted’ list too, behind the national development program and the Knights with 51 players and 4,277 NHL games played (which would tie the Calgary Hitmen for 10th).

In North American, the OHL still stands well ahead of its peers.

After the development program, the next 13-most proficient programs at producing NHL draft picks all hail from the Canadian Hockey League. The CHL program that has performed the worst, outside of newer programs like the Flint Firebirds or the Sherbrooke Phoenix, is the Charlottetown Islanders, who’ve managed just five NHL draft picks in 16 years.

Leading the way in the USHL are the Lincoln Stars (they rank in the late 30s in players drafted with 24 selections and late-20s in games played at 3,004). Other non-CHL teams to appear high on the list of 400-plus programs who’ve produced NHL draft picks include the USHL’s Waterloo Black Hawks (25 players) and Sioux City Musketeers (21 players), Sweden’s Brynas program (31), Russia’s CSKA Moscow program (26 players) and Finland’s Karpat program (20 players).

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In developing hockey countries like Switzerland, programs in Zurich (seven players) and Bern (four players) have also emerged and are starting to find success, rising close to the level of legacy Czech programs like Kladno (six players), Sparta (10 players) and Slavia Praha (eight players) as well as Slovakia’s Trencin (nine players). In Canada, below the CHL level, the Penticton Vees (13 players), Vernon Vipers (10 players) and Camrose Kodiaks (10 players) have also found success producing players from non-traditional leagues, as has Shattuck-St. Mary’s prep school (20 players).

A closer look at all 30 NHL teams

While pulling the raw production of skaters drafted by NHL teams into one number provides some interesting insights, it also lacks the necessary context.

That context is: Not all NHL teams draft from the same position and that impacts the degree of difficulty they’ve faced in finding players.

While the results below certainly tell us that teams like , Toronto, Calgary, New Jersey and Vancouver have fared extremely poorly vis-a-vis the Bostons of the world when it comes to point totals from their drafted players, they don’t tell us what challenges they faced.

The results are broken down more finely on a year-to-year basis below, which offers insight into specifically which drafts have thus-far proven successful for every team, but it also serves as a baseline more than as an absolute.

Because part of understanding how the ended up at fifth in total points includes the knowledge that they picked, on average, six picks higher than the next-closest team and 30 picks higher than the San Jose Sharks (who remarkably emerged seventh in total points by their draftees despite drafting four picks lower than the next-closest team).

The average pick is particularly illuminating in the first round, too. Because that’s where the majority of the point-producing talent is likely to stem from.

That Carolina was the lone team who picked inside the top-10 on average in the first round helps inform the fact that they didn’t actually draft particularly well with those picks if their results are ultimately in the middle of the pack (15th league-wide in terms of total points drafted). On the other end of the spectrum, the Blues have proven to be extremely successful (sixth overall in success in terms of points production) despite picking, on average, late in the first round (though their average pick in each round still sits inside the top-10).

Answers to other NHL draft questions Which draft classes are the strongest (and weakest)?

The data tells us of the relative success of draft classes as a whole. In theory, the older the draft class the more points its players should have produced by now. That’s true of the remarkable 2003 draft class’ 20,392 points, which stands nearly 6,000 points ahead of the 2004 draft.

But that’s not always the case:

You’ll notice, for example, that the 2006 draft class has produced 12,314 NHL points to the 2005’s 11,671 points. That’s particularly noteworthy for the 2006 draft because its first overall pick (Erik

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Johnson) didn’t go on to be a superstar. The strength of the 2006 class is driven by its depth. Giroux, its third-leading scorer (754 points), was taken 22nd overall. Backstrom, its leading scorer with 866 points, wasn’t even a top-three pick. Nor was Kessel, its second-leading scorer (814 points). Mix in 500-plus points from all of Marchand, , Bryan Little and and you have the makings of some serious depth.

The same is true of the 127 more points the 2008 class (the Steven Stamkos, Erik Karlsson draft) has produced over the 2007 class (the Patrick Kane draft).

All told, though, the 2005 draft (which produced Crosby and Anze Kopitar but little else) has to be considered the weakest in recent memory, given that each of the following four drafts are quickly playing catch-up.

What are the biggest team successes at the draft?

Anaheim’s 2003 draft leads the way with 1,898 points thanks to late first-round hits on Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry, as well as modest success on late-round forward Drew Miller and Shane O’Brien. Pittsburgh’s 2005 draft (1,733 points) is second best thanks in large part to Crosby but also from the nearly 500 points has produced as a third-rounder (the eighth-most in that draft).

San Jose’s 2003 draft (1,718 points) might be the most impressive of the last 16 years. It sits third in total points by a team draft class and it didn’t have to rely on a superstar-level talent to get there thanks to more than 400 points from Milan Michalek, 230 points from Steve Bernier, more than 280 points from Matt Carle and more than 750 points from Joe Pavelski in the seventh round.

During the first 11 of the 16 years (the period where we have finality on all of the draft picks) measured, the teams that most consistently found success at the draft (I define success as being in the upper third of the league in that draft in terms of point outcomes) are the Blackhawks, the Kings, the Blue Jackets and the Predators. Those four teams all finished in the top-10 in seven out of 11 draft classes.

Oddly enough, none of those four teams have consistently had huge successes in a single draft class though. The team with the most 1,000-point draft classes: the Bruins (three out of 11). The team with the most 700-point draft classes: the Blackhawks (5 out of 11 after their 2011 class recently surpassed it). The team with the most 400-point draft classes: the Ducks (6 out of 11).

What are the biggest team failures at the draft?

From 2003-2010, just six team draft classes have produced zero points. They are: Arizona’s 2003 class, Calgary’s 2006 class, Vancouver’s 2007 and 2010 classes, and Montreal and Pittsburgh’s 2008 classes.

The teams most often in the red (the lower third in terms of points drafted among all 30 teams): the Canucks and the Leafs (eight times apiece in the first 11 years).

It’s pretty unbelievable that the Lightning went from being the least-successful team at the draft during the first third of the 16 years to the most successful during the middle third (four of five years which were spearheaded, likely not by coincidence, by ) as well.

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Sportsnet.ca / NHL Power Rankings: Your Team's Celebrity Fan Club Edition

By Luke Fox, Sportsnet – March 20, 2019

National Hockey League games may not be the first place you think to go stargazing. ice in St. Paul ain’t exactly courtside at the Lakers.

And still, every NHL fan base has been touched with celebrity.

As Will Arnett and Mike Myers hog Jumbotron time in Toronto, Conor MacGregor inspires Brad Marchand’s Bruins, and Jon Hamm hops in the broadcast booth in St. Louis, we’ve been frequently reminded over recent days that the playoffs will bring the more famous among us to the rink.

In our NHL Power Rankings: Your Team’s Celebrity Fan Club Edition, we single out the most famous supporter of each of the 31 clubs.

As always, the teams are ranked according to whose shining the brightest. (Surprise! Tampa Bay is still No. 1.)

The write-ups give a quick glimpse at some of the big names who’ve cheered them on.

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1. Tampa Bay Lightning

Florida man Hulk Hogan has a history of riling up the Bolts crowd, and during the 2015 Stanley Cup Final got involved in a super-cheerleader exchange with backer CM Punk.

2. Boston Bruins

Sure, we could go with Denis Leary here, considering the guy actually plays the game, wouldn’t dare step on the Spoked B and understands how face-offs work. But Leary never made quite the one-night impact by showing up at the rink the way Conor McGregor did last Saturday.

3. Calgary Flames

Fun fact: Angus MacGyver, the ’80s TV genius who could craft an atomic bomb out of a couple of pipe cleaners and a wad of chewing gum, was a big Flames fan, sporting Calgary caps in multiple episodes.

Richard Dean Anderson, the actor who played MacGyver, however might not be. Born in Minnesota, it’s no stretch that he’d be a hockey fan, but he was caught in Vegas revving the siren for the Golden Knights during the Stanley Cup Final.

4. Washington Capitals

One of the greatest sidebars of Washington’s 2018 run to their first Stanley Cup was watching word man Pat Sajak and Wonder Woman Lynda Carter battle for the title of Most Famous Caps Fan.

5. Jets

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WWE superstar Chris Jericho grew up a rabid Jets fan, and the club tapped him to voice its in-arena pump-up video for 2018’s wild Whiteout.

6. Vegas Golden Knights

For a young franchise, the Golden Knights wasted no time jumping into the NHL’s top five when it comes to recognizable fans. Criss Angel, ZZ Top, Michael Buffer, Carrot Top, and Lil Jon (who apparently has recovered from his Atlanta Thrashers fascination) have all shown their support.

But the biggest and most ardent fan is probably Bryce Harper. Baseball’s second-highest-paid player went so far as to stamp the VGK logo on the knobs of his bats.

7. San Jose Sharks

Word is, Canadian rocker Neil Young is a San Jose Sharks season-ticket holder on the low, and Metallica made its presence felt when the band ripped through the “Star-Spangled Banner” at the Tank during the 2016 final.

Couple of #StanleyCup rockstars.

pic.twitter.com/FFZxhsbDyp

— NHL (@NHL) June 6, 2016

8.

Diehard Isles fan Ralph “The Karate Kid” Macchio was in the building a couple weeks back when the home team crane-kicked John Tavares and the Leafs.

“My whole childhood was at Nassau Coliseum,” said Macchio, who may or may have not thrown his own bobblehead on the ice during warm-ups.

ALSO: Watch Cobra Kai. It’s great.

Thumbs up for @ralphmacchio bobblehead night!

Coming to Barclays Center this Friday: https://t.co/p1RPAdNcV4 pic.twitter.com/KPh2CdP0BE

— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) December 20, 2016

9.

Mega star Carrie Underwood loves the Predators so much, she pops by to sing the national anthem, tweets playful jokes at Ryan Johansen, and married Mike Fisher.

10. Carolina Hurricanes

Carolina-raised talk-show host Stephen Colbert held the mantle of Most Famous Hurricanes fan until Evander Holyfield knocked him out of the top spot this winter by adding some star power to that buncha jerks’ Storm Surge.

11.

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Local boy done good Michael Keaton is a proud supporter of Pittsburgh sports teams, showing up during the 2008 and 2009 and guesting at the NHL Awards gala.

Wrestler Shawn Michaels, bizarrely, was dragged into the championship fight in 2016, when the HBK Line was all the rage.

12. Toronto Maple Leafs

Mike Myers has always been bled blue and has done his part in taking hockey culture mainstream (“Car!“). Myers was spotted at the Leafs game Friday alongside fellow hilarious actor Will Arnett, who popped in to do guest spots in both the radio and TV play-by-play booths.

13. Columbus Blue Jackets A few years back, sportscaster and TV personality Erin Andrews once attended a game at Nationwide Arena proudly sporting a Blue Jackets sweater, so that’s good enough for us. (In truth, the one true celebrity at Columbus hockey games is the cannon.)

Had a great time at the Blue Jackets gm with the crew!! @cbfowler got some fun loving boos from the crowd http://plixi.com/p/56570839

— Erin Andrews (@ErinAndrews) November 13, 2010

14. St. Louis Blues

Mad Men star Jon Hamm has been a true Blues fan since Day 1 and probably has Wayne Gretzky on speed dial. Earlier this month he was in the play-by-play booth and casually ended up calling a goal for his favourite team:

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Former Cowboys QB Tony Romo has been spotted at multiple Stars games and can be heard predicting offside calls before they even occur.

16. Montreal Canadiens

Fun anecdote: When Viggo Mortensen filmed The Lord of the Rings trilogy, the actor made sure to slip a Canadiens shirt underneath his armour, most notably during The Two Towers‘ epic Helm’s Deep battle.

Still, we have our doubts that he’s as passionate about the Habs as Goon mastermind Jay Baruchel, who wrote an entire book of his fandom. (More like Baru ‘Chel, am I right?)

17. Philadelphia Flyers

Actor David Boreanaz (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Bones) is such a hockey nut, he once wrote a blog about his love for the Flyers. But the way Gritty is trending, has Philly’s own mascot not also become its most famous fan?

18.

Alice Cooper is a massive Yotes fan because of course he is. Enjoy your nightmares, kids:

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“Rule No. 76: No excuses. Play like a champion.” —Vince Vaughn, Wedding Crashers

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We can’t exactly confirm that Katy Perry is rabid Wild supporter, but during an appearance at Xcel Energy Center, someone made her a custom bejeweled Wild sweater with her name on it and she held it up for a camera. Good enough!

Stream over 500 NHL games blackout-free, including the Flames, Oilers, Leafs and Canucks. Plus , Rogers Hometown Hockey, Scotiabank Wednesday Night Hockey and more.

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True story: Ariana Grande rode the Florida Panthers’ Zamboni as a young child after getting hit not once but twice with an errant puck. Totally worth it.

if i’m honest ….. this is still exactly what i look like without lashes and my pony ….. anyone who knows me knows me knows ….. like …. i’m twenty five. i was five here. the only difference now is that hand now says bbq grill finger. pic.twitter.com/rkAbXla1YF

— Ariana Grande (@ArianaGrande) February 10, 2019

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Greater Denver–born South Park creator Trey Park paid homage to his hometown Avalanche in a Season 10 episode titled “Stanley’s Cup.”

23. Edmonton Oilers

Comic creator Todd McFarlane (The Amazing Spider-Man, Spawn) co-owned the Oilers for a while and even designed an alternate sweater. The irony here? McFarlane was born in Calgary.

24. Vancouver Canucks

Your auntie’s favourite crooner, Michael Buble, is a gigantic Canucks fan who rarely misses a game and can talk hockey with the best of ’em.

25. Anaheim Ducks

Emilio Estevez would be the easy pick here, but we have to wonder if the actor’s Ducks fandom isn’t just a teeny bit self-serving.

Snoop Dogg takes some mild heat for being the Drake of hockey fans because he’ll wear whatever jersey makes the people happy that day. He gloriously rocked a Penguins sweater in his “Gin and Juice” video, and for his recent Nardwuar interview he wore a L.A. Kings jacket over top of a Canucks flying skate throwback.

From Long Beach, the Honda Center is a slightly quicker drive than the Staples Center, so we’re sliding the S-N-Double-O-P right hizzere.

The Ducks have three kinds of fans: 1) Fans who love the original jersey 2) Fans who are wrong 3) Big Snoop Dogg, nephew.

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— Steve Dangle Glynn (@Steve_Dangle) December 10, 2013

Snoop Dogg is a huge Anaheim Ducks fan, he's all the celeb fan we need. pic.twitter.com/pJJ2XWvEFp

— CameronTurner (@cameronmurray) January 21, 2017

26. Buffalo Sabres

When you think “celebrity,” the first American city that naturally pops to mind is of, course, Buffalo.

Iconic Bills chucker Jim Kelly is always down for the Sabres, the other Pegulas-owned franchise that has come this close to winning a championship.

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The Rangers rank right with the Kings in terms of their collective faces-in-the-stands Q Score. Liam Neeson, Kate Upton, Spike Lee, Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins have all been spotted. But only John McEnroe had the nerve to form a freaking rock band with Henrik Lundqvist. Tour coming soon, seriously.

28.

Kevin Smith may have milked his most memorable character a little too long, but Clerks influenced mid- ’90s indie cinema nearly as much as his Devils influenced late-’90s clutch-and-grab hockey. That said, he’s been spotted throwing support behind the Oilers lately.

(Patrick “Puddy” Warburton is giving Smith a serious run for his money lately.)

Connor & Silent Bob Strike Back! pic.twitter.com/dRlQaADgpq

— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) October 20, 2018

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We’ll always remember that time Rihanna donned an Ottawa Senators sweater to a nightclub, but Ottawa-raised Matthews Perry has been a friend of the club since his pre-fame days.

On a personal note, nothing will ever top a young Tom Green representing for the home squad with his Starter cap selection in Organized Rhyme’s classic “Check the O.R.” video:

30.

True story. After ’s induction he strolled into the same bar I was sitting in with a posse that included Kid Rock and John Cusak.

In 2018, the NHL defended its selection of Rock, a Donald Trump supporter, as its All-Star Game performer.

31. Los Angeles Kings

No franchise has more star sightings or Hollywood access than the Kings, especially during their two Cup runs this decade. Despite our Grade 6 crush on Alyssa Milano, we’re featuring Will Ferrell here on account of his being one of the most hilarious humans to walk the earth. (Shout out to the late, great Alan Thicke, though.)

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