SPORT-SCAN DAILY BRIEF NHL 4/26/2020 Boston Bruins 1183502 Bruins prospect Nick Wolff knows all about hockey-crazed Minnesota 1183503 Cam Neely: No discussion with the NHL about shortening playoff rounds 1183504 alum Chris Driedger brimming with belief after big-league breakout Columbus Blue Jackets 1183505 ‘There’s no crying, no joy’: How will fans react to games in empty stadiums? 1183506 Plenty of mysteries if Edmonton Oilers don't re-start the season 1183507 Top 20 prospect update: A lot of movement and some impressive graduations Canadiens 1183508 SIMMONS: Desperate Bettman is battling for the future of the NHL New Jersey Devils 1183509 Pelotons, Rollerblades and yoga: How NHL players are staying in shape without the ice 1183510 Discovering a new appreciation for New York sports teams’ logos 1183511 NHL restart plans intensify with player health concerns at forefront 1183512 Combative Islanders Billy Smith was a man of few words, all of which he backed up. 1183513 Billy Smith: Mystery and magician in for Islanders during 1980 run 1183514 MISSING THE GAMES: It ain't easy, but fans trying to adjust to life without live sports 1183515 Fan survey results: How you feel about all things Senators 1183516 Simon Gagne trying to imagine how difficult a return will be for NHL players Pittsburgh Penguins 1183517 Penguins A to Z: Improved skating got Anthony Angello to the NHL 1183518 Penguins on pause: Chad Ruhwedel proves to be dependable option during time of need San Jose Sharks 1183519 On this date, April 25: Owen Nolan’s scintillating shot powers Sharks to Game 7 victory 1183520 How Bucs draftee Tyler Johnson compares to the Lightning’s Tyler Johnson 1183521 Lightning’s Steven Stamkos is skating ... and yes, it is allowed 1183524 By the numbers: Quinn Hughes is already the Canucks’ best neutral zone defender 1183525 Simulating the 2020 NHL playoffs, Round 2: Canucks vs. Golden Knights Vegas Golden Knights 1183522 Simulating the 2020 NHL playoffs, Round 2: Canucks vs. Golden Knights 1183523 Nicklas Backstrom answers your questions – and his top play isn’t from the Cup run Websites 1183526 The Athletic / Differing motivation levels will be a challenge if NHL season resumes 1183527 .ca / Dubas details first Maple Leafs trade, GM meeting: ‘I was scared' 1183528 Leafs great Wendel Clark reveals why he didn’t fight the Red Wings 1183529 Sportsnet.ca / Quick Shifts: 6 teams that could benefit from a flat salary cap 1183530 Sportsnet.ca / Remember When? Johnny Bower earns Game 7 in 1964 Stanley Cup Final World Leagues News 1183531 Florida coronavirus updates: Movie theaters, sports arenas and bars will remain closed for now 1183532 NHL restart plans intensify with player health concerns at forefront 1183533 Premier League to return in weeks EXCLUSIVE, training grounds open, UFC Fight Island in June 1183534 Football coaches prepare for if and when season returns 1183535 Throwing cold water on latest NBA report amid coronavirus pandemic — especially for Sixers 1183536 Refund demands pile up as coronavirus derails college, concerts and sporting events 1183537 Can sports ‘heal’ coronavirus stress? 1183538 U.K. Could See Live Sports Resume Behind Closed Doors: The Sun 1183539 The Latest: PBR returns with closed event in Oklahoma 1183540 Gov. Parson to release reopening plan with guidance for churches, sports SPORT-SCAN, INC. 941-284-4129 1183502 Boston Bruins days in Duluth, he said, were spent watching the high school games on TV.

“The Single A games start on Wednesday and then the Double A games Bruins prospect Nick Wolff knows all about hockey-crazed Minnesota on Thursday,” said Wolff. “Each day after practice, we toss it on TV in the locker room and we’d all be watching it. That’s how it is here.”

By Kevin Paul Dupont Lynn has lived in Minnesota for the last 20 years and believes the high school game remains strong there for cultural and practical reasons. Globe Staff “The cultural one is that it remains interwoven in society and history,” he Updated April 25, 2020, 12:52 p.m. said, “similar to what wrestling is in Iowa, basketball in Indiana, and football in Texas. It’s part of your growing up, your experience in high

school and life. That’s a deep one.” Early into our life without the NHL, the Bruins were quick to enter the On the practical side, noted Lynn, the state moved in the mid 1990s to college free agent fray, signing Minnesota Duluth’s Nick Wolff to a two- add an Elite League to the high school hockey agenda. The standard way deal that should have him in the club’s development camp — if the regular season for high schools lasts 25 games. But the eight-week Elite coronavirus permits — in June or July. League that starts in September is for the best players in the state, and Wolff, a 6-foot-4-inch, 215-pound left-shooting defenseman, grew up in it’s a separate 25-game season that dovetails directly with traditional Eagan, Minn., an eastern suburb of Bloomington, and played public high winter season. school hockey as a steppingstone to reach NCAA Division 1 with the “The idea behind it is to keep players from going to junior,” said Lynn. Bulldogs. “Part of the allure around going to junior is that kids get sold on the The public school game throughout most of the US, including here in longer schedule, more games. Massachusetts, typically no longer serves as a serious option for blue- "So the foresight with the Elite League, to keep kids from running off to chip kids aiming to pursue top-level hockey, be it in college or the pros. In junior, was telling them, ‘You can stay here in Minnesota, get your 50 the Bay State, the Robbie Ftoreks of the world aren’t pouring off the games.’ Some still choose to leave, but most stay, and that’s helped Needham High bus anymore, or, say, the Bobby Carpenters for St. preserve it.” John’s Prep. NEXT CHAPTER But high school hockey is alive and thriving in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. Be it because of the abundant outdoor water that turns into ice (part of it), Peters takes a job in Russia the high school game remains deeply embedded in the state’s sports culture. The Bill Peters makeover and salvation tour has officially begun, the disgraced ex-Flames coach landing a two-year contract recently to take Bruins right winger Karson Kuhlman, proud son of Esko, Minn., went over the KHL’s Avtomobilist bench in Yekaterinburg (approximately 1,000 directly from the Cloquet High roster to Minnesota Duluth in the fall of miles east of Moscow). 2013. It may feel like it all happened in the Original Six era, but Peters resigned Jamie Langenbrunner played three years with Cloquet High before only some five months ago (Nov. 29), just days after the racial slurs he spending two years at OHL Peterborough and then became a regular in allegedly directed years earlier at Nigerian-born Akim Aliu came to light. the Stars lineup at age 20. Langenbrunner, now one of Boston Aliu, a 2007 Blackhawks draft pick, says he suffered Peters’s invectives general manager Don Sweeney’s top lieutenants, was the first one to get while a rookie at AHL Rockford, where Peters spent three seasons as eyes on Wolff as a potential Bruins prospect. bench boss before landing his first NHL assistant’s gig in Detroit.

To this day, the state high school tournament still fills St. Paul’s Xcel Meanwhile, Aliu, now 31, awaits the results of an NHL investigation into Energy Center, home of the NHL’s Wild, to near capacity (20,000-plus) Peters’s remarks directed at him in 2009-10, as well as accusations the each spring. coach verbally and physically abused Hurricanes players during his four- year stay as Carolina coach. Rod Brind’Amour, now the Hurricanes “It’s where it all starts,” said Wolff, whose path to Division 1 included coach, was an assistant under Peters during that stretch and confirmed three years at Eagan High, followed by two seasons at USHL Des the allegations. Moines. “There were 18,000 people there [this year] for every game [at Xcel]. When I was going to high school, that was all we lived for — going Peters, 55, likely never sees the light of day again in the NHL. Please to school and going to practice every day with your best buddies. It’s note: “likely.” We all know stuff happens. It’s possible that, say, a low- absolutely incredible.” budget team coached by one of his longtime buddies one day gives Peters a shot as an assistant. But for now, in North America, he’s more Not every Minnesota kid stays true to his school. Some take one of the toxic than a bucket of pucks at the Three Mile Island Twin Rinks. myriad opportunities that so often entice players as young as 14 or 15 to select a lower-level junior program, be it near home or out of state. Often Aliu would seem a perfect candidate now to join the NHL’s diversity task their hope is to springboard from there into a Division 1 school, or force, which has been cultivated the last 20-plus years by ex-Bruin Willie perhaps segue to a higher junior league or, like Wolff, advance to the O’Ree, who entered the league as its first Black player more than 60 USHL. years ago. O’Ree, 84, was inducted into the in the builders category in 2018. “I got to stay home with my family and play on the same team with my best friends,” said Wolff. “Then I had the chance to leave at 17 or 18, Responding to the Peters hire via Twitter, a diplomatic Aliu noted that then have success — first in high school and then after high school. everyone deserves a second chance and he didn’t begrudge anyone finding work. "It meant the world to me. It was awesome to be part of it.” “Only with the past behind us,” Aliu wrote under his @Dreamer_Aliu78 Minnesota Duluth was prepped to enter the NCAA playoffs in March handle, “can we focus on the future.” when the coronavirus pandemic led to the cancellation of all tournament play, including the Frozen Four. Wolff and his fellow Bulldogs had their Peters, yet to speak with North American media since his hasty eyes on a third straight NCAA title, the first three-peat since Michigan departure, talked during a conference call after his KHL hire, noting that (1951-53). we all learn and “become better” through our experiences.

“You can’t believe the support for high school hockey here,” said Wolff, He then pivoted to the coronavirus, saying he believed the pandemic reached on the telephone at his home in Eagan. “Think about it. Like, ultimately will change how the world interacts. 18,500 in the arena for high school hockey. You can’t see that in any other state.” “When we come out of this, people are going to be better people for it,” he said, “and more compassionate, and more compassionate towards Wolff returned home within hours after the NCAA season was ruled over, each other and more patient.” and his agent, Tom Lynn of Minnesota-based Veritas Hockey, quickly struck a deal with Sweeney to make him a Bruin. Some of Wolff’s final ETC. Trophy, yes, but not the Cup anywhere … Faith and spirituality have long played a central role in Brandon Carlo’s life. The fourth-year Bruins defenseman has a tattoo The Bruins were in first place when hockey hit the bricks, which will not along the length of his right forearm that reads, “Live by faith, not by translate to a Stanley Cup title if the NHL ultimately is forced to call 2019- sight.” World events of late have had him thinking about his faith on 20 a lost season. different levels. “Obviously, it’s a troubling time,” said the 23-year-old. A 44-14-12 record (100 points, .714) is a horrible thing to waste, but the “Throughout this pandemic, it’s been interesting to have the time to take Cup always has been a playoff trophy, which in part drove the NHL’s a step back and recognize things with faith. To a point, I feel like God decision to award the Presidents’ Trophy, in recognition of the top might be telling us to slow down a little bit in life. My tattoo has come into, regular-season finish, beginning with the 1985-86 season. you know, real life here at this time — kind of walking by faith instead of going off what you see in life and what’s going on. You’ve got to just try The Bruins would be the 2019-20 Presidents’ Trophy winner, albeit with to continue to walk along those lines. I have the tattoo on my body for a an asterisk, due to the fact that 15 percent of the regular-season reason — something I truly believe, and something that I’ve tried to focus schedule remained to be played when the game went into cold storage. on living each and every day.”

The Bruins have won the Presidents’ Trophy twice, in 1989-90 with 101 Boston Globe LOADED: 04.26.2020 points under Mike Milbury, and in 2013-14 with 117 points under Claude Julien. They finished short of the Cup both times.

For the record, only two clubs have finished first and gone on to win the Cup since the institution of the salary cap in 2005-06.

The Blackhawks finished on top with 77 points in the 2012-13 lockout- shortened season and then won the Cup, the second of three they won under coach Joel Quenneville. The Red Wings posted 115 points in 2007-08 under Mike Babcock and then won the Cup. It was the fourth in 11 years for the Winged Wheels, and it remains their most recent.

Overall, the Cup has been won 40 times by the team that finished atop that season’s standings, including three times by the Bruins (1938-39, 1940-41, and 1971-72).

The team with the most Cup titles in a season it also finished No. 1? Did you really wonder? The Canadiens, 13 times.

Loose pucks

As noted here a couple of weeks ago, ex-Bruin John Bucyk (1,540 games) remains one of only three NHLers with more than 1,500 games never to log a five-minute fighting major. The other two: Jaromir Jagr (1,733) and Nicklas Lidstrom (1,564), the Red Wing great who also was the only one of the three to spend his entire career with the same team. Because a few readers asked, here are the 25 other players to reach 1,000 games but never get tagged with five for fighting: Ray Whitney (1,330), Henrik Sedin (1,330), Daniel Sedin (1,306), Jean Ratelle (1,280), Martin Brodeur (1,266), (1,251), Cliff Ronning (1,137), Stu Barnes (1,136), David Legwand (1,136), Martin St. Louis (1,134), Murray Oliver (1,127), Saku Koivu (1,124), Andrew Brunette (1,110), Kimmo Timmonen (1,108), (1,107), Henrik Zetterberg (1,082), Peter Bondra (1,081), Anze Kopitar (1,073), Radim Vrbata (1,057), Roberto Luongo (1,044), Thomas Vanek (1,029), Mikko Koivu (1,028), Frederik Olausson (1,022), Milan Hejduk (1,020), Valtteri Filppula (1,018) … Hockey didn’t become Nick Wolff’s No. 1 sport in high school until his senior year. Until then, he identified most as a strong safety on the Eagan High football team. When he chose to play Elite League hockey in the fall of his senior year, the gridiron got the boot. “I was one of the bigger kids,” said Wolff, recalling his football days on defense when he was 6-2, 200 pounds, “and I liked to come downhill and smoke these little running backs in the middle of the field. I think that’s how I learned stepping up in the [hockey] neutral zone.” It was a “heartbreaking decision” to leave football, noted Wolff, “because I loved it. I loved football just as much as hockey.” ... Somewhat lost in all the hand- wringing over the stalled NHL season: Don Sweeney’s recent acknowledgment that injured Bruins defenseman Kevan Miller won’t be called into duty if the season resumes. It was nearly 13 months ago that Miller, 32, first fractured his kneecap, and his protracted rehab (before and after a second fracture) still didn’t have him close to a return when play was halted March 12. Huge loss for the Boston back line. His deal now expired, Miller will be free to shop as an unrestricted free agent this summer (presumably July 1), though Sweeney sounded as if he’ll offer the ex-University of Vermont standout a new deal — one no doubt with a haircut off the $2.5 million he banked over the last four seasons … Dustin Byfuglien, proud son of Roseau, Minn., was one of the homeboys not content to stick with high school hockey. By age 16, he was playing junior in Chicago and tracking a WHL course that eventually led him to Prince George. Now 35, Big Buff is free to shop for new digs, after he and the Jets recently agreed to terminate the remainder of his five-year deal ($7.6 million cap hit). Byfuglien is a big package (6-5, 260) and can play forward and defense, but no one, perhaps even he, knows whether he wants to continue. The Jets, who granted him a leave of absence in September, were looking to wheel him at the February trade deadline, but Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff said Byfuglien had no interest in going 1183503 Boston Bruins

Cam Neely: No discussion with the NHL about shortening playoff rounds

By Joe Haggerty

April 25, 2020 12:54 PM

There are still plenty of plans out there for the NHL as it considers restarting the 2019-20 regular season that’s been paused by the coronavirus pandemic.

It’s definite that the NHL and its Players Association would both like to finish the remaining month of regular-season games prior to the playoffs. It also seems both sides have agreed on a three-week training camp period (“or maybe a little less” said Bruins team president Cam Neely) after being idle since the beginning of March.

It also appears both have agreed on one designated arena for each of the four NHL divisions that would host three weeks of games, with teams playing divisional opponents to finish the regular season. According to an ESPN report, Carolina, Minnesota and Edmonton are the lead cities to host these games with the league yet to determine a viable candidate for the Atlantic Division teams.

“The [NHL] does want it to be a collaborative effort amongst the member clubs. [League executives] are not just saying this is what we’re going to do and this is how it’s going to be,” said Neely. “They really want the input from the clubs. They have talked about everything, playing in front of no fans, playing in front of a half-empty building and playing in front of a full building. What it would take.

“Obviously, it’s not just what’s going nationally but also state-by-state restrictions. So, they are looking at that. When the time comes they will look at the state restrictions and city restrictions to see what we could do. If it gets to a point where we can play hockey games without fans and get the season going, I can see the league recommending that course of action.”

The Bruins have reportedly voiced their interest in TD Garden hosting the Atlantic Division bracket, but Boston’s status as a hotspot for the coronavirus would reasonably seem to rule that out as a possibility.

In an informative virtual town hall with Bruins season ticket holders earlier this week, Neely also essentially ruled out a couple of things that he said have never really been discussed.

Neely said the NHLPA wasn’t going to be on board for anything that would lead directly into a Stanley Cup playoff tournament without a ramp- up of regular-season games. The Hall of Fame winger also indicated that the NHL Board of Governors has never really discussed shortened playoff series, which would also seem to rule out that possibility.

“I have not heard that. I know it’s been out there in the media, but any calls with the league they have not mentioned shortening the playoff rounds at all,” said Neely. “If they are doing [regular season and playoff games] without fans, they are going to try to make it the best TV event programming possible. You might be able to see different camera angles because they’ll be able to bring the cameras down a little closer because there are no fans in the way. They’re looking at ‘How can we bring the game on the TV a little differently than we see now?’”

The idea of four rounds of playoffs with full seven-game series is exactly the return to quasi-normalcy that hockey fans are craving right now, but the name of the game is clearly doing it with the safety of players, fans and staff in mind.

The sense from the NHL and NHLPA is that there are plenty of possibilities still there to finish the regular season, complete a two-month Stanley Cup playoff and begin an 82-game regular season for 2020-21 sometime starting in November. Perhaps those tentative plans would change if things take a turn for the worse with the virus over the next month or two, but it appears the NHL is tracking for a return date to be determined over the summer.

Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 04.26.2020 1183504 Calgary Flames Driedger is now playing another kind of waiting game.

When the action was halted, he returned to Springfield, Mass., home of the Panthers’ farm club. Calgary Hitmen alum Chris Driedger brimming with belief after big-league breakout He and his girlfriend have an apartment there. He’d been living out of a hotel in Sunrise, Fla.

Suddenly with gobs of spare time, Driedger has been doing online yoga Wes Gilbertson sessions and hiking on quiet trails, working on a management Publishing date:10 hours ago fundamentals course and admitted there has been plenty of Netflix and Disney+.

Through his subscription to MasterClass, he also watched tutorials from Not many could ever lay claim to this sort of stat-line. a former hostage negotiator for the FBI. Perhaps that will come in handy when he’s staring down one of the NHL’s most dangerous marksmen. Prior to this winter, former Calgary Hitmen puck-stopper Chris Driedger had officially played parts of three seasons at the National Hockey You could argue this unprecedented pause couldn’t have come at a League level … and never logged a start. worse time for Driedger, a guy who had waited and worked for years for an opportunity just like this, but the Hitmen alum doesn’t think of it that After a hat-trick of relief appearances, all in different campaigns, with way. another organization, the ’ call-up finally had an opportunity to stand in the crease for the anthem and then go the “I was pretty confident in my game and the way that things were going, distance afterward. but I try not to look back and think about things that could have been,” said Driedger, who actually returned to Calgary last summer, training at He certainly made the most of it. In fact, he was a brick wall on that late Crash Conditioning and skating with a group of local pros. “It was great November evening, delivering a 27-save shutout. for me to get some games in there and get some confidence. And I think “That first start I had, I’d never been so nervous in my entire life,” when we end up re-starting, whether that’s in a month or two or in the fall Driedger said. “Nothing can really prepare you for it. I would go through or whenever it might be, I’ll just try to take that confidence into that next phases. They told me the day before, early in the morning, so I was time we’re playing games. Regardless of the season stopping, the whole super, super nervous for a while. And then that would fade and I’d be real virus situation, it was definitely a positive experience and I’m a better excited, and that would go into nervousness again, and then into goalie now because of that than I was before. So it’s hard to look at that excitement. It was a wild rollercoaster of emotions, and it ended up in a negative way, I think. working out well. I was fortunate enough to have the heads-up and had “At the beginning of last season, I was the fifth guy in the Florida friends and family from all over the continent, actually, come to see it. So organization — I wasn’t even on an NHL contract,” he reminded. “Now, it was pretty special. things have taken a bit of a turn. But as soon as you sit there and you’re “I had definitely had thoughts like, ‘There’s no way I’d be able to do this. happy with what you’ve done, then I think you’re in trouble. I’m just trying It’s the NHL. It’s a whole different ballgame. I’ve played pro this many to take what I’ve been doing and the processes that I’ve had to years, but what would I do in the NHL? It’s a different animal.’ And then approaching my game and practice and everything about how I go about when you get in there, you just play and do your thing and it’s just my business on and off the ice, and just try to continue that and try to another hockey game. make the most of it.”

“Being fortunate enough to get the shutout and to do it in front of tons of Calgary Herald: LOADED: 04.26.2020 friends and family, it left me speechless after. Honestly. It was an unbelievable day. And it just kind of put all my worries away. As soon as that happened, I was like, ‘I can play at this level.’ ”

Prior to the pandemic pause, Driedger had emerged as one of the NHL’s best feel-good stories of the 2019-20 campaign.

Since getting his shot with the Panthers, he’s 7-2-1. (He also missed a month-and-a-half with an injury.)

He’s posted a superb 2.05 goals-against average and .938 save percentage and has pushed Florida’s prized summer signing, Sergei Bobrovsky, for playing time.

Now 25, Driedger’s path to primetime has been, in his own words, “a wild ride, man.”

He spent three seasons at the Saddledome with the WHL’s Hitmen, departing as the all-time franchise record-holder in saves (3,773) and second in career victories (88).

He’s since faced rubber for five ECHL teams — the , Evansville Icemen, , and Manchester Monarchs — and a pair of AHL programs.

Driedger made those three backup appearances for the Ottawa Senators, the organization that called his name in the third round of the 2012 NHL Draft. Total time on ice? Ninety-four minutes and 41 seconds.

Some are now wondering if the Winnipegger could perhaps be the next coming of Jordan Binnington, who emerged out of obscurity to backstop the St. Louis Blues to a Stanley Cup in 2019.

“I try not to pay too much attention to that,” Driedger protested. “Yeah, there are some similarities — I think we were in the same year pro when we kind of broke onto the scene. Obviously, he’s had just a tremendous amount of success. If anything, I just look to him and see that he did it, so it’s obviously possible. But regardless if he had done it or not, I think I would have approached it the same way. I’m just trying to do my thing and play my game, you know?” 1183505 Columbus Blue Jackets Nicole Kraft doesn’t need an academic title to speak with authority on what sports mean to people and our culture.

The director of Ohio State’s Sports and Society Initiative named her son ‘There’s no crying, no joy’: How will fans react to games in empty after a racehorse, “Best Of Dani.” She took care of the animal and the stadiums? money she earned paid for her first two years of college.

Sports also helped her family survive its most traumatic period. The By Tom Reed excitement of the Phillies’ run to a 2008 World Series title buoyed the spirits of her husband, Brian, as he endured rounds of chemotherapy for Apr 25, 2020 treatment of Lymphoma.

“I remember standing here with him being bald and drinking champagne and toasting this incredible moment during the lowest moment of our Elvis Merzlikins doesn’t know where he would “steal energy” in an arena lives,” said Kraft, whose husband has been in remission since 2009. without fans on game nights. “To have sports absent from our lives now has had an impact in ways we The charismatic Latvian is more than a goaltender. He’s an entertainer, can’t quantify. Sports is our universal language, and we have lost this one who exhibits an artistic flair akin to his swivel-hipped namesake. culture touchstone we all share.” Before joining the Blue Jackets, Merzlikins often punctuated home wins in Lugano, Switzerland, by skating down the ice, jumping in the air and In the past two weeks, she has witnessed a renewed energy in sports pretending to fly. Swiss fans called the celebration “The Superman.” fans thanks to the two drafts and the ESPN documentary “The Last Dance,” which chronicles the 1997-98 NBA championship won by Merzlikins thrives in front of appreciative audiences, a trait he brought Michael Jordan and the Bulls. with him to North America this season. He posted four , a 1.61 goals-against average and a .948 save percentage in 15 games played They have offered much-needed distractions from the ravages of the at Nationwide Arena. COVID-19 virus. The sight of fans on social media critiquing draft picks and providing running commentary of “The Last Dance” makes her smile. When Merzlikins or any other pro athlete performs before a crowd again is anyone’s guess. The COVID-19 pandemic has put sports on pause. “Sports is a communal experience, there’s no getting around it,” said While professional sports hope to resume play in the next few months — Kraft, who’s also an associate professor of clinical communication. “Fans the top-flight German soccer league is eyeing a May 9 restart, and the are trying to connect through the microfibers of the internet or whatever it PGA Tour is aiming for a June 11 return — almost no plans involve is that will allow us to feel like we have a connection to other people.” playing in front of spectators in the near future. Kraft is eager to watch how fans react once games resume without fans “The last time when professional players played like this was when you in the stands. were kids,” Merzlikins said Thursday in a teleconference to announce his contract extension. “When it was just your mom and pops looking at your She expects them to experience a temporary high from seeing their game, and you heard maybe two or three screams when your mom is favorite athletes and teams in action. She wonders, however, if it will be happy about you when you score the goal or make a great save. followed by a feeling of “hollowness” that could come with games devoid of atmosphere. “Everybody know I’m trying to steal energy from the fans, from the atmosphere, from everything. I’m not going to have anybody from who I Dann Wann, a Murray State professor and preeminent authority on the can steal that energy. It’s going to be different. But still, we want to play behavior of sports fans, shares Kraft’s concerns. hockey and we really are missing the hockey.” “I think watching games without fans in the stands will be stranger than The sports world is headed toward an unprecedented trade-off: Giving not having sports,” said Wann, the author of two books and more than back fans the games they love, while denying them access to play a role 150 research papers on the subject. in them. No chance to create momentum for the home side. No voice to “We know from research on sports communication that the sound of the disrupt and intimidate the opposition. fans makes a difference. The sound of the announcers makes a If athletes can return to action in the coming weeks — and there’s no difference. One of the big things fans like about sports is the atmosphere. certainty with the planet still in the grips of a deadly virus — fans would It’s not just about what’s happening on the field. … If they can hear welcome the opportunity to watch something other than reruns of classic everything — the squeaking of sneakers and the players talking to each game. other — I think they are going to find it very strange.”

But how long could sports run on the adrenaline of competition in empty Kraft finds great irony in the advancement of television technology in arenas? relation to the fan experience. High-definition broadcasts and endless camera angles have made it easier for supporters to watch from home, “What is the word ‘sport’ without ‘fan’?” LeBron James said last month on where beer is cheaper and lines for the bathroom are shorter. But the the Road Trippin’ Podcast. “There’s no excitement. There’s no crying. sights and sounds of the crowd remain an essential component of sports There’s no joy. There’s no back-and-forth.” telecasts.

Golfer Rory McIlroy went a step further this week. Speaking on an “Part of the reason people are having such a great at-home experience is Instagram Live event, the Irishman said he would rather see this year’s because people at the games are having such a great in-stadium Ryder Cup postponed until 2021 when rowdy galleries could line fairways experience,” Kraft said. “I think people are going to be surprised by how and ring putting greens. much the lack of fan engagement really does matter to them.

In the past week, we have caught a glimpse of live events again with the “Right now, it’s ‘I will watch any live sporting event and I don’t care if they WNBA and NFL drafts. The pro football draft is predictably drawing play in an empty stadium.’ But in a lot of ways, it’s going to feel like record-setting television ratings for a captive audience. It’s also being watching a practice. Practices aren’t all that engaging in part because staged without a crowd and minus “watch parties” in bars throughout the you don’t have the energy of the crowd.” country. Wann’s work is driven by data he collects from surveys, but he doesn’t Such spectacles don’t require a 12th Man or Fifth Line to stoke drama need to leave his house to understand the impact the lack of live games and influence outcomes. Just a working internet connection and a is having on people. reliable IT staff. His wife, Michelle, is an emergency-room nurse in Murray, Kentucky. That all changes when pucks are dropped and balls get hit, kicked and Every day, she returns home after a 12-hour shift and sheds her scrubs shot into netting. Can there be passion without pageantry and singsong in the garage to make sure her family isn’t exposed to the virus. chants from the stands of centralized arenas? Right now, all the questions are hypothetical. Michelle is such a big sports fan that her husband sometimes jokes, “can’t we just watch a Lifetime movie tonight?” “It’s going to be maybe weird and hard,” Merzlikins said. Humor is in short supply nowadays. Wann wants nothing more than to take his wife to a game or see her on the couch cheering her beloved Ohio State football team playing in front of 100,000 fans at The Horseshoe. There’s no telling when that will happen again.

“Fans cope with the stress of life through sports,” Wann said. “They can’t do that now. Their No. 1 or No. 2 or No. 3 coping mechanisms have been removed.

“We are about to start a study to see how fans cope without sports. We’ll send out questionnaires to 500 or 600 fans. I’m interested to find out what (they) are doing to fill the void and, more importantly, is it working.”

This is not an issue in one small European nation.

Alexander Lukashenko, president of Belarus (population: 9.5 million), is eschewing concerns about the virus, which reportedly has sickened 6,264 countrymen and led to 51 deaths as of April 20. He’s suggested that consuming vodka, taking saunas and driving tractors are the best ways to combat the outbreak.

Despite the skeptics, Lukashenko has not put Belarus on lockdown or called for a halt to pro sports. Its professional soccer league is the only one in Europe still playing games.

Most medical experts agree large gatherings are a breeding ground for COVID-19. A Champions League soccer game, played in front of 40,000 fans on Feb. 19 in Milan, Italy, is believed to have been the epicenter of that nation’s devastating outbreak. It’s also served as a cautionary tale for those reluctant to resume sporting events with or without fans.

Pro sports leagues and college conferences can talk of returning to play and devising any number of scenarios in hopes of making it happen. But most agree medical data, not arbitrary dates will drive final decisions.

College sports face even greater obstacles. It’s hard to imagine playing football in the fall without first reopening campuses to all students. That won’t happen until government officials deem it safe.

Kraft said the uncertainty of when sports will resume is what many diehards find most troubling. One of her favorite events, the Indy 500, has been postponed until Aug. 23.

“I go every year,” she said. “I could just watch it on TV, but I go for the experience, to feel something that’s bigger than myself. I tell my husband I never feel more patriotic than the 30 minutes before the race.”

Kraft predicts once fans feel safe enough to attend games, stadiums and arenas will be full again. They will want to join in the shared experience of trying to root their teams across finish lines and into end zones.

Until then, they will take their sports fixes wherever they can get them.

“The third day of the NFL Draft is usually not a big deal to casual fans,” she said. “This is going to be the most popular third day that has ever happened.”

The Athletic LOADED: 04.26.2020 1183506 Edmonton Oilers would each player be in a seven-game Battle of Alberta, where Lucic’s intangibles take on greater importance and power plays (where Neal scored 12 of his 19 goals) are less frequent?

Plenty of mysteries if Edmonton Oilers don't re-start the season THE NEW GUY

Defenceman Mike Green was supposed to be an important addition to Robert Tychkowski Edmonton’s stretch drive before heading into unrestricted free agency this summer. His audition was over before it started, though, when he Published:April 25, 2020 sprained his MCL two games after the trade. The NHL pause means he’s good to go if the season starts up again, which would provide valuable Updated:April 25, 2020 4:16 PM MDT information on what to do with all of Edmonton’s defencemen. If not, it’s another unanswered question.

It’s late April, and in a normal world we would have a much clearer STILL A POWER? picture of the Edmonton Oilers by this time than we do right now. The power play is the backbone of Edmonton’s offence, roaring along at Playoffs reveal more about a team than the regular season ever can — an astonishing 29.5 per cent and accounting for 59 of their 223 goals which is probably why the Oilers were such a mystery for 13 years — (26.3%). Would they be able to rely so heavily on those gaudy numbers and the NHL should be well into the second round by now. in the post-season, when there are often fewer penalties called? Can players stay out the full two minutes in the playoffs? The ability, or Instead, Alberta remains in lockdown until somebody comes up with a inability, to translate regular season successes into playoff successes vaccine that doesn’t involve drinking bleach. tells them what adjustments to make for next year.

With the rebuild finally taking root and the Oilers all set to show us who HART TROPHY and what they really are, we might not get to see it. Draisaitl was fast emerging as a leading contender for the Hart Trophy, Here are some of the questions that will remain unanswered if the NHL having built a 13-point lead over McDavid and 15 points over Artemi doesn’t find a way to resume and finish its season: Panarin and David Pastrnak in the scoring race. The stretch drive is where he could have put his foot to the floor and removed all doubt in the WHO TO KEEP? highly-subjective vote. And what to pay them? The Oilers need to make decisions on a number Edmonton Sun: LOADED: 04.26.2020 of players who are either up for new contracts this summer or scheduled to become unrestricted free agents.

Gaetan Haas, Riley Sheahan, Tyler Ennis and Mike Smith are all impending UFAs. Seeing how they performed in the post season would have provided another very important layer of evaluation in deciding how long to sign them for and for how much.

Even on the RFA front, a round or two in the playoffs would have shed some very important light on the likes of Andreas Athanasiou and Ethan Bear.

HOW GOOD IS PLAYOFF CONNOR?

We all know what he can do during the regular season, when some of the obstruction rules are kind of enforced. But does he have another level to his game when the intensity picks up and referees are less likely to call borderline penalties?

The one time we saw McDavid in the playoffs, he was third in team scoring with nine points in 13 games, behind Leon Draisaitl (16) and Mark Letestu (11). He’s done an incredible amount in five short years and establishing himself as a big time playoff performer is next on his checklist. It will be a shame if he doesn’t get that chance this year.

CAN MIKKO BE THE MAN?

Can Mikko Koskinen carry the load in an extended playoff run without running out of gas? He was back to playing the best hockey of his career when the NHL shut down (.966 save percentage in his last four appearances), but he was also killing it last year, right up until Cam Talbot left and the workload and pressure was all on his shoulders. That’s the exact scenario he’d be facing in a long playoff run. It would be nice to know whether he can handle it because if Edmonton’s window is opening, they need hard and fast answers about their goaltending.

SIZING HIM UP

You always wonder about how a player as small as Kailer Yamamoto will fare in the post-season, where a willingness to play through relentless punishment is vital. In Yamamoto’s case, he has some very strong evidence to suggest he’ll be fine. In three intense and hard-fought games against the Calgary Flames this year, he put up five points (two goals and three assists). That tells you he isn’t shy when the stakes are high. It would be nice to see his coming out party on the big stage.

MILAN LUCIC VS JAMES NEAL

We all saw how decisively Edmonton won this trade in the regular season, getting 19 goals in 55 games from Neal while the Flames got eight in 68 from Lucic. Points-wise it was a little closer (31-20 for Neal), but it was still a clean kill for Oilers GM Ken Holland. But how valuable 1183507 Edmonton Oilers Two of the rarest items in Oilers draft history are quality starting goaltenders (Andy Moog, Grant Fuhr, Devan Dubnyk) and right-handed defencemen who made it. Bear has now played in 89 NHL games, and Top 20 prospect update: A lot of movement and some impressive when he plays 11 more he will become just the fourth Oilers draft pick graduations (RH defence) to play in 100 or more games in the league. He’ll join Jeff Beukeboom (1983, 804 NHL games), Jeff Petry (2006, 680) and Matt Greene (2002, 615). That’s good company.

By Allan Mitchell Bear made the big team in training camp and was rock-solid from opening night, and his outlet passing became a real weapon. His calm Apr 25, 2020 feet and good decisions allowed him to rise to the top of the Oilers’ right defence depth chart, and he delivered all down the line. In 71 games, he produced five goals and 21 points as a rookie, averaging 21:58 of ice The winter of 2019-20 will be remembered for some impressive numbers time a night. According to Puck IQ, at five-on-five he played 470 minutes posted by Edmonton Oilers prospects and several timely graduations to against elite competition, with Edmonton outscoring the league’s best 25- the big club. This season was something special, with the farm team 19 while he was on the ice. He was the most impressive rookie righty unloading a major payload to the parent Oilers. defenceman since Petry and should have a long and successful career. His contract will be a major story this summer, with the Oilers likely to In an era when the Oilers usually draft in the top three overall and hurry bridge him on a one- or two-year deal. that player to the NHL the same fall, at least one graduate per year has been the norm. This past season, the club’s 2018 and 2019 first-round No. 6, LHD Caleb Jones picks began the year outside the NHL and did not see a recall to Edmonton. Jones arrived midseason and worked his way into a regular role, impressing everyone with his speed and passing acumen. What’s more, This season, under general manager Ken Holland, Edmonton had a he played enough to show that he can fill a role as an NHL regular, giving more traditional graduation process. Players who were high draft picks Holland a chance to wheel in regard to trading a veteran left-handed played outside the world’s best league, honing their skills. Meanwhile, defenceman. Holland signed Jones to an extension during the year, a men who had been honing their skills and grinding down the rough edges value deal at $850,000 for the next two seasons. were elevated to Edmonton and found success. Jones’ final numbers (43 games, 4-5-9) included a 27-25 goal differential Each December since 2003, I’ve ranked the team’s top 20 prospects. at five-on-five (13:37 a night) and a shot differential over 50 percent. He The most impressive graduation cluster came with the winter of 2010 is mobile and can pass the puck well, meaning he meets all the group, seven of whom graduated to the NHL by spring. Here they are, requirements in the NHL defencemen toolkit. He should be in the lineup listed with ranking and in parentheses the number of games played by opening night 2020-21, third pair left side. the end of the 2010-11 season: No. 7, RW Kailer Yamamoto 1 Taylor Hall (65) His emergence this season was a big part of the Oilers’ story. During 9 Anton Lander Yamamoto’s time with the , he was a chance machine (23, 8-8-16), but he and his linemates couldn’t cash in 2 Jordan Eberle (69) consistently. 3 Magnus Paajarvi (80) He was recalled to the Oilers late in 2019, and coach Dave Tippett 13 Ryan Martindale placed him with centre Leon Draisaitl and left winger Ryan Nugent- Hopkins. The result was an impact trio and scoring numbers of 27, 11- 7 Tyler Pitlick 15-26 for Yamamoto. His style is a perfect match for the line, as he can turn over pucks, pass expertly and find quiet ice to become a quality 6 Curis Hamilton passing target. 14 Chris VandeVelde (12) During the winter rankings, I was “convinced Yamamoto would be in the 8 Linus Omark (51) NHL right now if he could stay healthy,” and that’s exactly what happened upon his recall. Edmonton badly needs scoring solutions on 17 T Hartikainen (12) the wings, and Yamamoto has enough skill to play with any of the quality 4 Martin Marincin centres Edmonton boasts at this time. If he can stay healthy, expect a very successful career. 11 Devan Dubnyk (54) No. 15, LW Joakim Nygard 10 Alex Plante (7) Nygard played just 33 games (3-6-9), so technically he hasn’t graduated, 5 Theo Peckham (102) but like Petry back in 2011, he’ll be ineligible for my list in December. Nygard has already signed a contract with Edmonton (one year at 15 Olivier Roy $875,000), and his speed was noticeable every shift.

12 Jeff Petry (35) He found good chemistry with Riley Sheahan (scored at 1.97 per 60 at 16 Taylor Chorney (56) five-on-five with Sheahan as his centre) and Josh Archibald, albeit in just over 60 minutes together. 20 Tyler Bunz One curious item about Nygard: He was absolute fire with Connor 19 Jeremie Blain McDavid. Playing well with 97 isn’t exactly breaking news, but the duo outscored opponents 6-2 in 54 minutes together, with a 59 percent shot 18 Brandon Davidson differential (all numbers five-on-five and via Natural Stat Trick). The most I count 50 NHL games as graduation day, meaning Hall, Eberle, Paajarvi, shocking number is McDavid’s: In 53:52 minutes with Nygard at five-on- Peckham, Omark, Dubnyk and Chorney all arrived in the same season. five, he scored 2-4-6 (6.68 points per 60). That’s such a small sample Petry would graduate before my 2011 winter Top 20 was compiled, so one can’t make any strong conclusions, beyond wanting to see it again. technically eight men were delivered to the NHL during one year. Pushing for an NHL job

Four names made it this year, an impressive total. Here’s an update on No. 1, RHD Evan Bouchard was a repeat winner of the top prospect on the 2019-20 winter Top 20 list, beginning with those who made it to the my list in December, the first such occurrence in a dozen years. NHL to stay. Edmonton elevated its first-round selection 2010-18, so few of the early The graduates picks spent Christmas in junior hockey or in the minor leagues. Bouchard’s offence has never been a question, and he starred with the No. 3, RHD Ethan Bear Bakersfield Condors (54 games, 7-29-36) this season. The thing that caught my eye was his improvement in the second half in on-ice even- the SHL. Berglund’s 2019-20 season saw him deliver a career high in strength goals. Between opening night and Dec. 29, he was 18-28 in the points (52, 5-15-20) as well as post 10 points in 105 power-play minutes. discipline. After that date, Bouchard’s on-ice even-strength goal He was fifth on his team in even-strength time on ice, and he posted a differential was 23-23, a marked improvement. He’s NHL-ready and positive on-ice goal differential (31-28) in the discipline. He’ll land in should be in the opening-night lineup in 2020-21. Bakersfield in the fall of 2021, at age 24.

No. 2, LHD Philip Broberg made his SHL debut in the fall, going 0-3-3 in A period of transition the first 18 games while averaging 14:25. His even-strength goal differential in those 18 games (7-11 in 13:12 a night) suggested he was No. 8, LHD Dmitri Samorukov arrived in pro hockey after an exceptional playing third-pairing minutes and slowly adjusting to the new pro league. final junior season. His 2019-20 season saw the rangy defenceman (6- After that, he went 27 and 1-4-5 with an even-strength goal differential of foot-3, 197 pounds) play mostly a third-pairing role as an AHL rookie with 16-12. That’s progress, and Broberg will no doubt take on more minutes the Bakersfield Condors. He showed his mean streak, impressive speed and responsibility in the same league in the upcoming season. He played and all-around game, although his offence (2-8-10 in 47 games) was a defensive role for Sweden at the World Juniors, so expect a more pedestrian because of a lack of power-play time. His even-strength on- prominent role there as well. ice splits were interesting: He was 15-17 through Christmas (26 games), and in the final 21 games, the Condors were outscored 13-17 as he No. 4, LW Tyler Benson played his first NHL games in 2019-20, showing moved up the depth chart. For rookie AHL defencemen, survival is flashes of what might be and making enough coverage mistakes to success. As an example, Caleb Jones’ even-strength on-ice goal confirm more AHL time is needed. He’ll go as far as his footspeed takes differential with the Condors in his rookie season was 30-54, minus-24. him. Benson owns mad passing ability and has a sixth sense for offence. He turned it around in Season 2 and flourished during the remainder of He badly missed Cooper Marody as his AHL centre in 2019-20, as his his entry deal. Ethan Bear was 19-27, minus-8 as a rookie, and points per game slipped from .971 (best number at 20 by an Oilers Samorukov’s minus-6 is comparable. He has a wide range of skills and prospect forward in forever) to .766 this season. Benson will be in a good speed. Look for Samorukov to spend another complete season in tough spot to make the opening night lineup in 2020-21 but is on the the AHL, then compete for NHL work in the fall of 2021. cusp of an NHL career and should be one of the first forwards recalled. No. 12, LW Kirill Maksimov finished his junior career with seasons of 34 No. 5, RW Raphael Lavoie is now the most promising offensive winger in and 40 goals in the OHL. That’s a fantastic record, and as he entered pro the system after Yamamoto’s graduation. He’s a big forward with good hockey the only questions facing him were opportunity and how much speed, scoring ability and secondary skills, such as winning battles and time it would take to adapt. As it turned out, Maksimov lagged compared puck possession. Lavoie’s quick and funky release should be an effective with fellow rookie Ryan McLeod and posted humble totals (53 games, 5- weapon in pro hockey. His final QMJHL campaign was impressive (38 8-13) for Bakersfield. Maksimov isn’t a speed merchant and was chosen goals and 310 shots in 55 games), and he increased his role for Team in the fifth round, but the Oilers value him for his goal-scoring potential. Canada during the World Juniors at Christmas. A reasonable timeline for Look for him to play a larger role with the Condors in 2020-21, and he’ll Lavoie is at least one full season with the AHL Bakersfield Condors need to increase his shot total (59) from last season. before seeing NHL time, but he’s a valuable prospect. No. 19, G Stuart Skinner is difficult to gauge after a season when he was No. 9, LC Ryan McLeod had an impressive pro debut with the Condors in thrown into the breach in Bakersfield following Shane Starrett’s injury. 2019-20. His speed stood out every shift, and he delivered more offence Skinner had moments of absolute brilliance (six games, 4-2-0, .921 save (5-18-23 in 56 games) than expected based on his junior numbers. In percentage, 2.35 goals-against average to start November) but finished fact, among rookie forwards age 20 in the AHL this past season, McLeod with an .892 save percentage over the season. That number was 18 finished in a tie for No. 16 overall. He played wing and centre this past points better than Starrett’s, but if Skinner is going to be an NHL season and has established two-way ability. This is a player who could goaltender, he’ll need to improve. I would like to see him with a healthy surprise us and play NHL minutes in 2020-21, well ahead of his second- group in front of him; this past season was filled with injuries and recalls round (2018) draft pedigree. Oilers fans should be thrilled with his rookie that affected all Condors goalies. AHL season. No. 20, RC Aapeli Rasanen signed this spring with KalPa of the top No. 10, LHD William Lagesson made his NHL debut in 2019-20, playing Finnish league (Liiga), giving up his senior season with Boston College eight games on the third pair. He was partnered most of the time with (NCAA). Rasanen is a two-way talent who played centre until this past Matt Benning, and the duo ran just under 49 percent in shot differential. season, when injuries forced a move to the wing. Once there, Rasanen Lagesson also had a strong AHL season (on-ice differential at even flourished offensively, scoring 11 goals in 34 games. Edmonton holds strength 25-23, one of the few Bakersfield defencemen with a positive Rasanen’s rights until August 15, 2021, so he’ll be the topic of number), but he’s in tough with the organization. With Oscar Klefbom and conversation in terms of signing an NHL contract about this time next Darnell Nurse as the veteran left-side defenders and with Caleb Jones spring. I’m guessing he had more value as a centre. emerging, Lagesson is going to get the squeeze at training camp. Barring injury, he’ll compete for the No. 7 spot on the defensive depth chart. He Downbeat will be eligible for waivers in the fall and could be claimed (he’s NHL- No. 11, RC Cooper Marody was injured during the 2019 playoffs and has ready and bona fide). been unable to deliver at the same levels since. Before the injury, No. 13, G Ilya Konovalov saw his numbers slide in 2019-20, but I still including playoff games, Marody was a feature player in the AHL, scoring believe he is the best goalie in the system and could impact the Oilers 67 points in 65 games. In 2019-20, he posted just 17 points in 30 games. depth chart sooner than later. After posting an eye-popping .930 save Marody remains the most talented AHL centre on Edmonton’s 50-man percentage as a KHL rookie in 2018-19, Konovalov got off to a poor start list, and without the injury, he might have pushed for NHL work. He’ll in 2019-20 with a team that hit shuffle with its head coaches. His first 78 probably spend the final season of his entry deal with the Condors, trying shots faced resulted in 12 goals against, for a tidy .846 save percentage. to re-establish himself as a legit NHL option. That’s sub-Siberian goaltending. After that, Konovalov settled in and No. 18, G Shane Starrett seemed to be on the verge of some NHL time posted a .918 save percentage over the rest of the season. He will be after a splendid season (and postseason) in 2018-19. He is a big goalie unrestricted in the summer of 2021. If he has another strong year, expect (6-foot-5), and his save percentage (.918) in 2018-19 led all AHL the Oilers to sign him and bring him over. Konovalov is a promising freshman and ranked No. 5 among all league regulars. In 2019-20, a player. freak groin injury derailed him early and often, forcing him out of the No. 14, G Olivier Rodrigue finished his junior career as an impact goalie lineup, which curtailed Bakersfield’s success. He played in just 14 games in the QMJHL. He posted a save percentage of 2.32 and a .918 save and posted an .874 save percentage, and he is now a Group 6 free percentage, both numbers good enough to be ranked No. 2 among all agent. Edmonton’s pro goalie depth chart is full in terms of minor-league QMJHL starters. I was especially impressed this season, as his trade to needs, so Starrett might be looking for a new address. the Moncton Wildcats saw his shots against per game spike to 28.3 from Exiting the system 24.9 in his previous season. He’ll enter pro hockey this fall and has a real chance to pass a few goalies on the depth chart based on his track No. 16, RHD Joel Persson played in the NHL with the Oilers in 2019-20, record. but the emergence of Bear and Persson’s early inconsistency meant a trip to the minors and eventually a trade to the Anaheim Ducks. No. 17, RHD Filip Berglund is reportedly on the verge of signing an NHL contract with Edmonton. The plan is to remain for one more season in The top 20 today The feature story of the 2019-20 Top 20 is the quality of the graduating class. Bear, Yamamoto, Jones and Nygard all had some impact on the NHL club during the year. It’s unlikely we’ll see a repeat of that kind of quality and quantity any time soon.

I count nine men who are pushing for NHL time and who made enough progress to be considered “on track” as NHL prospects. I’ll also bet that Bouchard, Benson and McLeod see NHL action from that group of prospects during 2020-21. I suspect Lagesson also plays NHL games, but it’s uncertain those games will be for the Oilers.

The organization will be adding some prospects from Europe in the coming weeks and should pick up some real quality at the NHL Draft this summer. The top prospects in this system today are defencemen. Look for some forwards to be added to the pool before this fall.

The Athletic LOADED: 04.26.2020 1183508 Honest, I forgot how great a colour man was. I knew he was good. Listening to him on old games this week was both a pleasure and a bit of an eye-opener … What do Dave Hodge, MacLean, SIMMONS: Desperate Bettman is battling for the future of the NHL and the late Don Wittman all have in common? None of them have been selected for the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award, the broadcast equivalent of a Hockey Hall of Fame induction. All of them are deserving, at least three long overdue … Nice to see Sidney Crosby and Brad Marchand Steve Simmons quickly responding with support after the massacre in their home Publishing date:10 hours ago province of Nova Scotia. And odd, not a word from Nathan MacKinnon, their Maritime neighbour … As we got count of the number of deaths in Nova Scotia, the country consumed with shock and sadness, I found it more than troubling to see some Canadian journalists and those who call The economic desperation of Gary Bettman is apparent as the themselves Canadian tweeting exclusively about the Michael Jordan commissioner fights, against so many odds, to find a way to complete documentary. Like it really mattered … Essentially, the Red Sox set up this season. their video scout J.T. Watkins as the fall guy for their sign-stealing And the good fight, really, is the most serious of Bettman’s time in office. escapade. Manager Alex Cora lost his job and has been suspended for It’s about maintaining what’s left of the NHL as we know it and what it his part in the Houston Astros affair and the Sox lost a second-round might look like when the smoke of the coronavirus eventually clears. draft pick, but no front-office people were touched in any tangible way by Major League … I tend to be rather inclusive in my life but my Should the NHL find a way to complete this season, it will do so in empty Canada does not include Derek Sloan … With the second pick in the arenas, costing the league and its teams somewhere in the 1989 NFL Draft, the Green Bay Packers select offensive lineman Tony neighborhood of $500 million US in lost gate revenues. Bettman can’t Mandarich from Michigan State. The next pick was Barry Sanders. fight that. That will be mandated for him. SCENE AND HEARD What he can battle — and is — despite restrictions in so many places, is getting the regular season and playoffs finished, in some way, thus Best thing about the NFL Draft, no closeups of Drake … Second best saving the league another $500 million in lost revenue that will come thing: Kliff Kingsbury’s house. The Arizona head coach and former CFLer from network television and sponsorship. wins for that if nothing else … I also loved the shots from Sean Payton’s home. The New Orleans coach was in sweat pants and a hoodie. In front And that’s his goal. If there aren’t any games played, which remains a of him was an open can of Coke, another can of Orange Crush, none of possibility, that’s $1 billion relinquished from one unfinished season. If that diet stuff and opened packages of Twizzlers and Lays. And you can’t that happens, that’s a loss around $30 million per team, from which some eat just one … If you haven’t been around live TV, you probably have no teams would have trouble recovering. idea how difficult Trey Wingo’s job was in hosting the NFL Draft, on camera by himself, no panel around him … Don’t understand the Green And there is no assurance of any kind that there will be fans in any Bay Packers. They have an excellent quarterback in Aaron Rodgers and building when next season begins and while the salary cap is expected to drafted a quarterback in the first round. They have a fine running back in be artificially maintained in the $82-million range, a drop the following Aaron Jones and drafted a running back with their second pick. The season to below $70 million is, in fact, possible, based on the league’s team, like all teams, has needs and the Packers didn’t address them with potential numbers, which could plunge the NHL into a state of player their early picks … Of the top 10 players in CFL history, according to the contract havoc. extensive TSN list, seven of them, , George Reed, Mike No NHL team spent less than $72 million this season. Bettman and the Pringle, , , , were NHL are not soothsayers. They are planning for a future but not certain of never drafted in the NFL. Drafted in the NFL, albeit late: , what that future is. The desperation, like with so many businesses these and … The much-debated notion that the days, is at an all-time high, the stakes are that overwhelming. NFL was tone deaf for holding the draft in the midst of a global shutdown: Never mind. More people watched the draft than ever before … With the THIS AND THAT 119th pick in the 1973 NFL Draft, the select running Why does it matter where the games are played, if they are in fact played back Leon McQuay from Tampa. in four different markets? We just want games, we don’t care where they AND ANOTHER THING are played. If there are no fans in the building, we’re all going to be watching on television. So lighting and camera angles aside, what does it Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski have become clichés. Old guys heading matter which cities become hosts, unless you’re concerned about the to Florida in their older years … Gronkowski has a few more contracted hotel industry? … How do you physically distance in a professional appearances with the WWE, giving him just enough time to lose his 24/7 sports dressing room? And in physical sports such as football, basketball belt because we wouldn’t want that to unsettle us in these unsettling and hockey, how do you physically distance on the field or the court or times … So is it possible: Brady vs. Patrick Mahomes in a Super Bowl the ice? Just asking … And what happens when the first player tests played in Tampa? It is … Note to ESPN: Abbotsford is a short drive to positive for COVID-19 in any league. Are the games immediately shut Vancouver. Less than an hour. That’s where Chase Claypool is from. down? And if not, why not? … This is how you can measure Bettman’s The map ESPN showed after the Steelers drafted the Canadian made it desperation. In most years — and in the worst years, like lockout years look like Abbotsford was in the middle of nowhere … Steelers are loving — he would barely be available to answer a question or do an interview. the pick of the receiver in the second round, their first pick, because of His smugness would be front and centre. These days, he’s Mr. TV, Mr. Claypool’s size — 6-foot-4, 240 lbs and his giant hands, a late-career Casual. He’s everywhere. He’s on networks we’ve never heard of. He’s present of sorts for the great Ben Roethlisberger … No Canadian has smiling in interviews with Ron MacLean, whom he tried to get fired at ever been much in the NFL as a receiver. Jerome Pathon had a fine Sportsnet. But business comes first for Bettman and always has. He’s career and Tommy Kane was explosive for a few seasons. But Claypool never been entangled in a situation this challenging, this out of his control should dwarf all previous Canadians in Pittsburgh … You’ve got to love … The NBA is taking almost the opposite public approach to the NHL. Bill Belichick. On the first television shot of his desk from the draft he was Commissioner Adam Silver is waiting rather than saying much of nowhere to be found Friday night. His dog was seated on his chair anything. The league has a plan to proceed, if there is a chance to instead, looking like he was ready to make a pick … A discovery while proceed, but Silver has been adamant that “the data, not the date” will under COVID house arrest: the wrestling documentary series Dark Side determine the league’s next move. He hasn’t said much more than that of the Ring. The episodes on the troubling murders of Bruiser Brody and … I can see the NFL season beginning in September, with stadiums Dino Bravo were must-see, yet rather-grainy TV … Sunday night is the empty … Calgary is on hold until at least Aug. 31. Does that mean we’re final episode of Homeland. So long Saul Berenson. So long crying Carrie looking at an eight-game CFL season, if there is any season at all? … Mathison. I didn’t miss an episode … With the 285th pick in the 1985 With the 218th pick in the 1987 NFL Draft, the Kansas City Chiefs NFL Draft, the Los Angeles Rams select quarterback Doug Flutie from selected running back Michael Clemons from the College of William and Boston College … Happy birthday to Frederik Gauthier (25), Rich Clune Mary. (33), Aaron Judge (28), Tim Duncan (44), Bill Wennington (57), Art Schlichter (60), Daniel Norris (27), Kane (53), Glenn Goldup (67) and HEAR AND THERE Yogi Stewart (45) … And, hey, whatever became of Tom Cousineau?

[email protected] twitter.com/simmonssteve athletes. Most have to be shown the way. Most have to be coached to make the right appearances, to say the right things. WOMEN OF THE (HOCKEY) WORLD UNITE! Marner, who isn’t the most comfortable player when interviewed by the It has been officially announced that has been awarded an media, is comfortable away from the media. He has found a way in this expansion team in the National Women’s Hockey League. crisis to be visible without leaving home, while maintaining his charitable What hasn’t been announced: the team’s name; the team’s logo; the foundation. team’s venue. The young man is growing up before our eyes — even if we’re only And some of those things, if not all of them, can make an outsider rather seeing him these days online. skeptical and troubled about the future of this kind of endeavour. Globe And Mail LOADED: 04.26.2020 This is the real fight inside and outside women’s hockey. The fight for credibility. The fight for respect and financial growth. The fight to demonstrate that the sport and the event, growing so much in the two women’s hockey country’s that matter, belongs in some kind of professional setting.

The Canadian Women’s Hockey League folded just over a year ago, a victim of economics that just didn’t add up. The CWHL had many of the best players in the game and has since planned a route of some kind, likely with the aid of the NHL, to bring women’s hockey back in a league- like format. Maybe a WNHL.

Women’s hockey isn’t big enough and has never been big enough to have any kind of divides. It doesn’t need two leagues, it needs one. It’s a long shot at best to ever succeed in the big picture for the women’s game but it needs the sport to come together, rather than separate, at this time.

You don’t gain credibility by announcing a team with no name, no place to play, and no big-name players. When you have all that in place, then make the announcement. The press release referred to the expansion team as a “first class team of professionals.”

Time will answer that, but the new Toronto Whatevers are not off to a great start.

INSURANCE COMES THROUGH FOR CAVE

The last four games of Colby Cave’s professional hockey career were played for the Bakersfield Condors of the . The 25-year-old tragically passed away on April 11 after suffering a brain bleed — and after that the questions of possible life insurance complications began.

Cave played just 11 games for the Edmonton Oilers this season and 44 for Bakersfield. A standard NHL player contract provides $1 million in life insurance for all its players. An AHL player, under normal circumstances, is only covered for $50,000. And the question is: which was Cave — an NHL player or an AHL player?

The wording of the definition was rather ambiguous and could be interpreted either way. At first, the Oilers weren’t sure what was going to happen.

Cave’s agent, Jason Davidson, had numerous telephone meetings with Bill Scott of the Oilers’ front office and NHLPA senior director Kim Murdoch — and the best of all determinations came to be, in conglomeration with the insurance carriers of the NHL and the AHL.

The benefactor of the policy, likely Cave’s wife Emily, will be getting the $1 million from NHL insurance as well as the $50,000 from the AHL insurance.

“The Edmonton Oilers took the reins on this immediately and got us the answers necessary,” said Davidson. “So I have to thank Bill Scott and Kim Murdoch from the NHLPA for making sure that Emily and the family had no worries.”

MARNER MATURING AWAY FROM OUR EYES

For a guy who isn’t supposed to be anywhere these days, Mitch Marner seems to be everywhere — in an impressive kind of way.

When Joe Reid of Consecon, Ont., recently celebrated his 100th birthday, he wore a Maple Leafs sweater and talked about being a Leafs fan for the past 90-plus seasons or so. He was asked who his favourite player on the current Leafs’ team is and he answered Marner. And all of a sudden, on the live family video of Reid’s century party, there popped up Marner’s face, with birthday greetings, a smile and some kind words.

That’s the kind of appearance a family will remember forever.

The young Maple Leaf just seems to have the right touch off the ice. It’s not something that necessarily comes naturally to most professional 1183509 New Jersey Devils ahead in their training, like those training in Sweden who have access to ice, but many others will be behind.

Dr. Michael Alaia, a sports medicine specialist at NYU’s Langone Pelotons, Rollerblades and yoga: How NHL players are staying in shape Orthopedic Center played hockey for several years and previously spent without the ice time on the Islanders’ medical team. Without the ice, it’s impossible to avoid becoming somewhat de-conditioned.

Abbey Mastracco “I've played hockey my whole life and there was a time when I was good but that's long gone,” Dr. Alaia said. “But these players are going to come NHL Writer back and they're going to be a little bit de-conditioned there. They are not going to feel as though they're ready to go. But that detriment is probably Published 4:55 a.m. ET April 24, 2020 | Updated 9:51 p.m. ET April 24, going to be felt around the entirety of the league or the entirety of 2020 whatever collegiate league is going on as well.

“So everybody is going to be put at a disadvantage. The only question is, Travis Zajac is one of several veteran players in the NHL who has how disadvantaged will some be compared to others?” experienced a work stoppage. The 34-year-old New Jersey Devils’ center When play resumes, Dr. Alaia expects to see some specific injury knows what it takes to keep his body in competitive shape during a patterns relating to lower-body muscle strains, particularly in the groin period of time where he may have to snap back into action at any time, and hamstrings. having gone through the most recent lockout in 2012. “These are muscles that are very often injured in hockey players when This is different. they're not really activating them and not really undergoing an exercise “It's different because you don't have ice and don't have a group to really program,” he said. “I don't particularly think there's going to be a higher work out with, train and push,” Zajac said on a recent conference call incidence of fractures, let's say collarbone injuries or injuries from with reporters. So a lot of it is on the player "to really get motivated and checking, because those usually stay relatively constant regardless of stay engaged and stay interested and have a routine.” whatever time of the season, except for potentially the playoffs because as you know, those are played at an intensity level higher than the The coronavirus pandemic shut down the NBA on March 11 and the NHL regular season.” followed suit a day later. The entire sports world came to a screeching halt seemingly overnight. Fitzgerald is emphasizing mobility and flexibility. He’s also encouraging clients to look at their weaker aspects that they may now have the time to Tentative dates were given. Initially, the NHL was hoping to resume play build up. The one thing he cautions against is overtraining. in April and begin the in May. But then the days dragged on as the COVID-19 curve began to spike. “Programming, in my opinion, has to be pretty smart right now, because you don't want to want to put athletes into a hole that they can't get out of The league is still hopeful for a summer restart, with teams spread out by overtraining them during this period,” he said. “There’s nothing else to through four regional neutral sites and fans excluded from the equation. do, so we do too much, right? I think it's fair to say that it was initially a The Devils are just as hopeful but some players from other teams have little bit of a recovery (period) and now we're in that kind of maintenance hesitations. phase waiting for that next kind of wave of news.”

There are a number of challenges that come along with restarting the The NHL has debated multiple scenarios for a return, but in order to NHL and every other sport, for that matter. The virus and the spread of it resume the season safely, Fitzgerald recommends a training camp will determine when normal life can resume. period of at least two weeks.

The top athletes in other sports should be fine when competition is ready "I can’t see the NHL saying ‘Hey, we're going to start in a week. Get your to resume. Yankees ace Gerrit Cole has been playing catch in his teams ready,'" the former Ducks trainer said. "That would be backyard with his wife Amy, a former UCLA softball player, and manager catastrophic. They need a 14- to 30-day ramp-up for it to be safe, in my Aaron Boone has been able to oversee some home bullpen sessions. opinion." Some basketball players have courts as part of their home gyms. Even for those who are not as lucky, their off-field or off-court training can What the teams are doing mirror what they do in games. Hockey players typically train in groups in the offseason. But obviously But hockey players face a unique challenge: Getting on the ice. that’s not possible right now with non-essential workers forced to stay in their own homes. Each player has a different setup in their home. Zajac “I don't think there is anything you can do to replicate what's done on the and his teammate, P.K. Subban, have extensive home gyms. Others, ice,” said Mark Fitzgerald, a strength and conditioning coach who runs however, may be extremely limited in their equipment. the Elite Training Systems facility in Whitby, Ontario, and counts former Devils forward Adam Henrique as one of his clients. The Devils are taking into account each player’s individual needs and individual home setups when it comes to strength and conditioning plans. The risk factors “At this level, most players have their own personal trainer, which is fine, It’s difficult for NHL players to know what they’re training for right now. but I think it's important for our strength coaches to get in touch with Play stopped at a time when many were starting to increase their off-ice them, make sure that they have everything they need because they don't training in anticipation for the postseason, which tends to be a long, have access to facilities,” Devils interim coach Alain Nasreddine said. arduous battle with increasing physicality throughout. “We want to be able to give them resources where they can work out, stay in shape. So that's what we've been doing.” Players like Zajac and Henrique, now with the Anaheim Ducks, were long out of the playoff chase but still have to stay in season-shape in the event New Jersey trainers have sent players yoga workouts and had skills the 2019-20 season is completed. coach Ryan Murphy post workouts online for things like stick handling and shot improvement, so players are still able to work on skills in Standings aside, Fitzgerald first encouraged his clients to get rest but addition to strength. now he has them in a maintenance type phase to be ready to play whenever it’s safe to do so. What they're doing at home

“Until they announce that it's not going to come back, we have to keep So many players are using Rollerblades that ESPN’s Emily Kaplan wrote them on the verge of being ready,” Fitzgerald said. “If we let it slide too a whole story about it. advocated for it, Jack Hughes and much then they are going to get de-conditioned. The same goes for his brothers Quinn and Luke have been in-line skating around their another month or so and they don't do anything, then yeah, that's not a Michigan neighborhood. Zajac ordered a pair to be able to skate with his good place to be.” kids on the driveway of their New Jersey home.

The NHL is planning on giving teams a short training camp period but Fitzgerald, however, isn’t a fan. falling out of playing shape could result in injuries. Some players will be “Rollerblading is a strange one,” he said. “It’s definitely not something spend time with their kids and wives, even if it means competing with that I would like a lot of guys doing at a high volume in the offseason. It is them on the Peloton bike. slightly different than the skating stride. I'm being really picky now, but it's not really an activity that I would want a lot of my athletes doing just It’s not ideal, but we can adapt and learn from this crisis to make strides because you're trying to mimic something that isn't really the same. It’s in sports medicine even when strides aren’t possible on the ice. comparable, yes, but it's not the same.” Bergen Record LOADED: 04.26.2020 Another popular fitness item has been the Peloton bike. Islanders captain Anders Lee ordered ordered one, as did former Devils forward Blake Coleman (now with the Tampa Bay Lightning). Dr. Alaia said this is an effective option because spinning is a low-impact cardio exercise that also trains the lower body and core, which is key for hockey players.

“Symmetry is important,” Dr. Alaia said. “If they can strengthen their abductors and adductors at the same time, that's what we're really looking for — muscle strength training, low-impact exercise and cardio, sort of like a Peloton, anything to keep the cardiac reserve is going to be exceedingly important.”

Fitzgerald prefers the assault bike because it moves the upper and lower bodies at the same time.

“I don't really put a lot of bike rides into programs now because biking is incomplete hip flexion and extension,” he said. “So when you skate, it's complete hip flexion and extension, so the bike isn't really teaching you to be more efficient with your skating.”

However, Fitzgerald sees the appeal in the Peloton platform, which allows you to take live classes from your home and view a standings board with other users in the class. It brings the competitive aspect players are missing right now into their homes.

“(Former NHL defenseman) Kevin Bieksa got one just so he could beat everybody in the class,” Fitzgerald said. “He didn't even know these people. Yeah, they don't know who he is but he likes to take pictures (of the standings), he sends them to me every time to say, ‘Hey, I beat all these guys.’”

Plus, Peloton bikes are more popular with the players' wives than assault bikes.

Dr. Alaia and Fitzgerald both like bodyweight and yoga workouts to maintain strength, in addition to things like spin bikes and sprints. Fitzgerald can give his clients a program to ramp up their fitness in a short amount of time when a date to return finally arrives.

And if an athlete injures himself doing a workout at home, he can still receive care. Non-elective surgeries are still restricted in many COVID-19 hotspots, like New Jersey and New York, but some orthopedic surgeries to repair tendon ruptures or fractures are considered essential.

Telemedicine has made great strides in recent years and athletes of all levels are able to receive treatment, such as physical therapy, virtually.

“A lot of people doing telemedicine therapy right now,” said Dr. Kathryn McElheny, an assistant attending physician at Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan. “Players are doing their sessions remotely on FaceTime with our trainers and our strength coaches and our athletic trainers and our physical therapists, etc. So, I think just the way that technology has developed over the last several years, but also just in the last few weeks, has been pretty amazing.”

What we will learn

When all of the professional and amateur leagues start getting underway again, Dr. Alaia, Dr. McElheny and their colleagues will be looking for new injury patterns and data to study. This is a generational crisis unlike any other we have ever seen, so while it’s easy to recommend certain exercises and treatment plans right now, some of it is just guesswork based on best practices and what we already know about injury prevention.

“All of the emergencies that we've had in New York City have been, for the most part, quick,” Dr. Alaia said. “When 9/11 happened, the emergency response system was activated. Doctors came in, they did their part. And then for the most part that ended quickly, Hurricane Sandy came in, and NYU for one was affected for four to six weeks and there was an end in sight.”

There is no end in sight right now.

Fitzgerald sees several silver linings for his athletes. They can take this time to analyze their sleep and their nutrition and rehab some lingering injuries they may have been forced to push through in the past. They can 1183510 New Jersey Devils (replete with a hockey stick as the “Y” in “NY”) is a perfect logo and so is the Devils’ (with the “J” in “NJ” being capped by a demon’s horns and bottomed by a tail).

Discovering a new appreciation for New York sports teams’ logos Where do they rank: This one is a free-for-all because there are just so many great ones, starting with each one of the Original Six (the Bruins’ spoked “B”, the Canadians’ “CH” – the “H” for “hockey,” – the By Mike Vaccaro Blackhawks’ Native American, Detroit’s red wheel-and-wing and Toronto’s simple maple leaf). Add a few modern classics (St. Louis’ blue April 25, 2020 | 8:37PM note, whatever that is that is the Flyers’ logo) and that’s one crowded field.

We have a lot of time to notice things that didn’t seem terribly noticeable Vac’s Whacks before. That’s the beauty — or the curse — of having time on our hands. I must admit, in the middle of an NFL draft that seemed extra-heavy with Maybe you didn’t quite see the scratch on your TV screen before; now picks and transactions that seemed to make everyone kind and gentle, it that’s all you can see. That patch of brown on your lawn? That’s gone was fun to watch the Eagles pick Jalen Hurts and send three-quarters of from “What patch of brown?” to “I must rescue my lawn at once!” over the Philadelphia into spasm. past few weeks. When I think of baseball these days, I think of Dorothy turning to the no- One thing that’s occurred to me is that we have a proliferation in New longer scared Scarecrow at the end of “Wizard of Oz”: “I think I’ll miss York of excellent logos. Many of them are downright iconic, in fact. Some you most of all.” of that is accrued over time. Some of them have been quietly outstanding for years. But the more you look at them — and look, and look, and look, No one appreciates the dedication and devotion of the doctors and mostly while you’re trying to win a slot in the A&P curbside pickup nurses fighting the virus than Mets legend Ed Kranepool. May will mark a sweepstakes — the more you appreciate them. year since he received a life-saving kidney transplant at Stony Brook. “I just marvel what all the people on the front line are doing,” he says. Let’s take a quick spin through the leagues. ”They put their lives on the line every day.” Baseball It’s just a little hard to handle that after having all three in regular rotation What we have: The Yankees have Uncle Sam’s hat on a bat, the first six or seven weeks of this mess, we’re about to cold-turkey life superimposed against the stitches of a baseball and the name in without “Ozark,” “Homeland” and “Better Call Saul.” distinctive script starting with a grand “Y.” The Mets opt for orange Whack Back at Vac stitches and a white generic suspension bridge (though it sure looks like the Whitestone, nearest bridge to Shea/Citi) with, left-to-right, Images in Ron Gambardella: Doesn’t it seem the Taj Mahal and the pyramids in blue of a Brooklyn church, the Williamsburg Savings Bank Building, the Egypt were built quicker than it has taken for the Giants to construct an Woolworth Building, the Empire State Building and the U.N. — plus, of offensive line? course, “Mets” written in script. Vac: Even though both are grizzled, thousand-year old veterans, I still Where do they rank: Look, it’s a hometown call, for sure, but both logos feel better about the old-timers protecting Daniel Jones. are certainly in the MLB top 10, and probably belong in the top five alongside Boston’s pair of red socks, Chicago’s oddly-scripted “Sox” and Larry Graber: I hope you and your family are well, but why and how are the Cardinals’ birds-on-a-bat. You want to argue for the Dodgers’ the draftees and their families all hugging, kissing each other. I’ve seen distinctive script (with the ascending red ball), the Brewers’ “M&B” glove my girlfriend through this, but I haven’t seen any family or friends in six optical illusion or Detroit’s orange tiger slithering through an old-English weeks. just curious about what you would say about it. D, I’ll listen. But ours are two of the best, hands down. Vac: What I thought was especially troubling was when agents would Football occasionally pop up with the families. Either they’ve been adopted or scoffing at basic social-distancing guidelines. What we have: Despite the fact that there are some fans who clamor for the underlined “GIANTS” that carried the day in Super Bowls XXI and @2170: Good diary on the draft, but for the record, “Kiner’s Korner” was XXV, there is really only the simple lowercase “ny,” in white outlined by sponsored by Rheingold Extra Dry in those early years. I couldn’t wait till red (never, ever to be confused with the lowercase “ny” of 1975 whose I turned 18 to have a Rheingold Extra Dry. Murph made it sound so good. font was borrowed from every high school yearbook at the time). The And that picture on Shea outfield wall! Jets’ generally have had the same elements at work inside a football: @MikeVacc: Similarly, I couldn’t wait to drink Piel’s, because Jimmy team name in block letter, smaller football, some version of “New York” Breslin did Piel’s commercials (“It’s a good drinkin’ beer!”), and that (though the best simply went with an all-caps “NY”). almost made me swear off beer before I could really grow attached to it.

UPI Alan Hirschberg: Anyone who comes away from that documentary Where do they rank: The Giants’ is easily top five. The Jets struggle believing Michael Jordan’s six championships make him the greatest because there are so many classic NFL logos still in existence: the player in the history of team sports needs to Google, “Bill Russell.” Packers’ “G,” the Cowboys’ star, the Chiefs’ arrowhead, the Vikings’ Vac: You clearly seem to forget that the NBA didn’t really start until horns, the Saints’ fleur-de-lis, the Dolphins’ dolphin, the Raiders’ pirate, around 1990 or so, Alan. Pittsburgh’s ode to U.S. Steel. New York Post LOADED: 04.26.2020 Basketball

What we have: The Knicks have used essentially the same logo since the ’60s — team name in orange block letters with shadow attached to a basketball (though the old, ’70s-style shadow is still the best). The Nets favor black-and-white: a shield shape with “NETS,” a basketball and a block “B.”

Where do they rank: The Knicks are definitely top 10, maybe top five. The Nets had the best ABA logo ever, but that’s long dead. Hard to crack a top five alongside the Celtics’ leprechaun, Chicago’s bull, the Spurs’ U- as-the-spur and the Warriors (especially when they opt for the old-school “The City” brand).

Hockey

What we have: Three classics. The Rangers’ red, white and blue shield has been a classic for 100 years. The Islanders’ ode to Long Island 1183511 New Jersey Devils under which the Canadian dollar is now at 71 cents compared to the U.S. dollar. Costs matter.

At least as of Saturday, the league — whose chief medical officer, Dr. NHL restart plans intensify with player health concerns at forefront Winne Meeuwisse, has a PhD in clinical epidemiology — and union had not addressed myriad issues. One of the most critical regards the risk p\layers with underlying medical conditions might confront under a By Larry Brooks reopening scenario.

April 25, 2020 | 2:13pm | Updated Kaapo Kakko, for example, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes and celiac five or six years ago. Montreal’s Max Domi and Minnesota’s Luke

Kunin have also been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. According to the The NHL and NHLPA are intensifying communications as the league American Diabetes Association, those individuals with Type 1 diabetes moves forward crafting plans to reopen the season if it is safe to do so. are not necessarily more susceptible to contracting COVID-19 but are likely to face worse outcomes. Slap Shots has learned a Return to Play Committee established by the league and the union has conducted a pair of conference calls over the Brian Boyle, of course, was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia in past three days with regularly scheduled “meetings” to follow. 2017. He has been in full remission since October 2018 but may face a higher risk than the general playing population. There are other players Gary Bettman, Bill Daly, and senior VPs Colin Campbell and Steve Hatze with auto-immune issues. This is a topic on the PA’s list that must be Petros represent the NHL, while the NHLPA is represented by Don Fehr, addressed. Mathieu Schneider, general counsel Don Zavelo, divisional rep , and active players John Tavares, Connor McDavid, James van Testing will be an issue. How will tests be administered to every team’s Riemsdyk and Ron Hainsey. Medical advisers from both the league and traveling party of up to 60 people per, how often will tests be conducted, union are added to the calls when appropriate. and how long will it take to get results? The underlying question, of course, is how is the NHL procuring not only enough testing kits, but We’re told the discussions thus far have not honed in on details as much swabs, reagents and necessary labs? as concepts. But the details will determine not only whether the NHL can develop a pragmatic plan in the midst of a pandemic, but whether the Those questions have yet to be answered. players will agree to it. The “day-in-the-life” itinerary under which players would be quarantined The NHL’s credibility will be on the line if play resumes, for it won’t only has yet been presented to the union. The idea is to keep the circle as be the players putting their trust in the league, but the public, as well. A tight as possible, but that would mean everyone associated with the effort shutdown following a restart would likely be more damaging to the sport — players, staff, on-ice officials, off-ice officials, NHL staff, arena than outright cancellation of the remainder of 2019-20. laborers, bus drivers, food preparers, wait staff, et al — would be quarantined in a hotel for weeks on end, leaving only to head to the rink. So would a scenario under which multiple players would have to be replaced by AHL call-ups from expanded 30-man rosters after testing What about players/personnel whose significant others give birth? What positive. If the NHL is going to do this, it’s going to have to present a about players/personnel who have weddings scheduled for the summer? credible product. What if a family member falls ill? What about Europeans returning from their respective home countries? What about existing travel restrictions? Friday night, deputy commissioner Daly told TSN’s Ryan Rishaug, What about the many topics I’m sure I haven’t considered? “Everything depends on the facts and entire set of circumstances, but no, we do not believe that one positive test, or even multiple positive tests These are all topics on the agenda for the Return to Play Committee. [would] necessarily shut the whole thing down.” Reopening the league will be a massive task. Every “i” must be dotted, Following that, Daly told Slap Shots in an email exchange, “Of course every “t” must be crossed. For if the NHL reopens, this will be one time people who test positive would be immediately removed from the mix.” when hockey will be a life and death proposition.

Asked if he could clarify his statements in the interview, Daly said, New York Post LOADED: 04.26.2020 “Everything depends on precise circumstances. I’m not about to go through a million fact patterns that are different and completely hypothetical.

“I’m fully comfortable with our level of knowledge and the experts we have retained to make the right decisions.”

Ultimately, decisions will be made by local governing bodies and public health agencies. For instance, the league had explored Calgary and Edmonton as potential centralized host sites under its four-arena plan, but on Thursday, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health reiterated that gatherings of 15 or more people would be prohibited until at least September.

According to sources, Toronto and Columbus are leading contenders to become two of the host cities. We’re told the plan would be for all teams to hold their training camps of up to three weeks at their assigned centralized locations.

This means players on clubs that advance deep into the playoffs following the planned hypothetical completion of the regular season would be segregated from society — and, more to the point, their families — for nearly four months.

Though the league would like to divide the quadrants into divisions, that may not be possible if geography is taken into account. For instance, if Toronto hosts the Atlantic Division, that would be relatively convenient for the Leafs, Senators, Canadiens, Bruins, Red Wings and Sabres, but not at all for the Lightning and Panthers. If a southern city is chosen as a host site, the Florida teams might be assigned to that location.

But that is secondary, as is the fact much of the league’s interest in setting up shop in Canada is based on the currency conversion rate 1183512 New York Islanders

Combative Islanders goaltender Billy Smith was a man of few words, all of which he backed up.

By Andrew Gross [email protected] @AGrossNewsday

Updated April 25, 2020 6:46 PM

The Hall of Fame goalie who backstopped the Islanders to four straight Stanley Cups from 1980-83 often was a man of few public words.

Fortunately, his former teammates have plenty of “Battlin’ ” Billy Smith stories.

“It was comforting to know that you had Billy behind you,” Hall of Famer told Newsday recently. “There were times it was scary because he’d start trouble and you’d have to end up paying for it. I hated practicing with Billy because he hated practice. There were times he’d stand on one side of the net and he’d want you to shoot it into his glove. I’d do just the opposite and rifle it over his shoulder and he’d get mad at me and we’d get into arguments.”

Bobby Nystrom remembers Smith going after teammate Ernie Hicke — who was with the Islanders from 1973-75 — for a similar offense during warmups before a road game against the Atlanta Flames.

“Ernie Hicke came in and took a couple of high slap shots on Smitty,” Nystrom told Newsday this month. “The third time he came in, Smitty met him at the blue line and it was an all-out brawl. And the Atlanta players were standing around watching it.”

Nystrom also recalled Smith’s apathetic attempts to stop pucks during morning skates. He said Hall of Fame coach Al Arbour eventually allowed Smith to skip the pregame practices.

Hall of Famer Clark Gillies has the same memories.

“I don’t know what the conversations were between Al and Smitty, but I’m sure they were pretty heated because they used to get after each other pretty good,” Gillies told Newsday this month. “That’s why you never saw Smitty at a morning skate. At the beginning, it used to bother guys: ‘Why do we have to come here and skate around and Smitty’s at home sleeping?’ It was kind of like, ‘Mind your own business. That’s how Smitty prepares.’

“I didn’t know anybody could sleep that much,” Gillies added. “We stayed over at the East Norwich Inn. Smitty’s preparation was he’d wake up about 11 o’clock, jump in the shower. We’d get back to the hotel for a 12 o’clock meal. Smitty would be sitting there eating his meal. He’d get back into bed and go to sleep. I’m like, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’ He’d get up at 4 o’clock and he would go down to the rink, and by the time I got there, he’d be sitting at his stall with everything on except his shoulder pads and his chest protector.”

Smith’s combative playing style mirrored the straight talk he sometimes gave his teammates. For instance, he refuted the one-big-family notion during a team meeting before the 1980 playoffs. The Pittsburgh Pirates had won the 1979 World Series, with Sister Sledge’s “We Are Family” as a theme song, but that wasn't Smith's style.

“We were all talking about how we need to be a family,” goalie Glenn “Chico” Resch told Newsday this month. “Smitty gets up and says, ‘That sounds OK, but there’s some B.S. in that.’ He said, ‘Listen, boys, we’re not each other’s family. I’ve got my family, you’ve got your family. . . Let’s forget all the glitz, all the flowery sayings. We just go out. You get hurt for me, I’ll get hurt for you, we’ll hurt the other team, we’ll win.’ And he sat down and that was the end. Nobody followed him because there was nothing else to say.”

“Some people talk a good game,” defenseman Ken Morrow told Newsday recently. “Billy took it on the ice and he backed it all up and more.”

Newsday LOADED: LOADED: 04.26.2020 1183513 New York Islanders Arbour's decision to use Smith almost exclusively as his playoff goalie was as much a final piece to the Islanders’ championship puzzle as was the acquisition of Butch Goring from the Kings on March 10, 1980.

Billy Smith: Mystery and magician in goal for Islanders during 1980 “Chico was pretty much the No. 1 goaltender up to that point. He got the Stanley Cup run most playing time,” Hall of Famer Clark Gillies told Newsday this month. Islanders goaltender Billy Smith, shown here in Islanders goaltender “Then something happened where he faltered a little bit and Smitty got Billy Smith, shown here in put in there. Smitty never looked back. It was like, ‘You want me to go in and play, you want me to play under these conditions? Then I want you to play me. I’m not going in for one game and coming out. I want to stay in there.’ ” By Andrew Gross “He’s a very focused individual,” said Goring, who came up with Smith in [email protected] @AGrossNewsday the Kings’ organization, with the two leading Springfield to the AHL’s Updated April 25, 2020 6:45 PM championship in 1971. “I knew the pressure was never going to bother him. Billy had a chance to run with it and he seized the moment. The rest is history.”

Islanders coach Al Arbour met privately with his goalies, Billy Smith and Smith, then 29, went 15-4 with a 2.70 goals-against average and a .903 Glenn “Chico” Resch, in the weeks leading up to the 1980 NHL playoffs. save percentage while playing in 20 of the Islanders’ 21 playoff games in the run to their first Cup. “He said, ‘Guys, I know I’ve given you both a chance in every playoff,’ ” Resch recalled to Newsday. “’But this year, if one of you gets hot, we’ve Smith was selected from the Kings in the expansion draft and was with got to go with you.’ Both Smitty and I agreed.” the Islanders in their first season of 1972-73. He and Resch had shared the Islanders’ net fairly evenly since Resch replaced as Smith started and won Game 1 of the Islanders’ best-of-five first-round Smith’s partner to start the 1974-75 season. series against the . Resch started the Game 2 loss. From there, it was Smith’s net — one he protected often, either with the That included five postseason runs leading up to 1980. butt end of his goalie stick, by slashing opponents or by flat-out fighting — and the combative goalie forged a Hall of Fame career that included Smith played in 10 of the 12 playoff games in 1977 as the Islanders the as the playoff MVP in 1983. reached the NHL semifinals for the third straight year. But Resch played in all seven games in 1978 as the Islanders, coming off their first division UNIONDALE, NY - CIRCA 1980: Goaltender Billy Smith UNIONDALE, title, were upset by the in the quarterfinals. In 1979, NY - CIRCA 1980: Goaltender Billy Smith each played five games as the Islanders, who had finished with the most points in the league in the regular season, were upset in the semifinals The Islanders are marking the 40th anniversary of the 1980 Stanley by the Rangers. Cup championship, their first of four straight, and Smith was a big part of it. But Smith established himself in the 1980 Cup run and Resch, his buddy, was traded to the Colorado Rockies in the middle of the following His unique style of play, which many opponents deemed dirty, season. sometimes masked his superior, often acrobatic and occasionally unorthodox netminding talents. “Smitty was the most unique athlete I have ever been around,” Resch said. “He won four straight Stanley Cups, he played great. But he doesn’t “I had bruises on the back of my leg, too,” Hall of Fame defenseman get the credit mainly because of some of those antics and his relationship Denis Potvin told Newsday this month. “He’d miss the other guy and hit with the press and even a little bit with the fans. But I saw Smitty this me.” spring, and you know what? He doesn’t care.” But it was all just part of Smith's overall demeanor. Newsday LOADED: LOADED: 04.26.2020 He refused to participate in the traditional post-playoff series handshake line. He hated practices, particularly morning skates. Often, he would stand against one post, allowing his teammates to shoot into the vast open area of the net while getting into arguments or scrapes, as he did once with Hall of Famer Mike Bossy. Teammates would hit him with a puck.

His pregame routine included sitting silently at his locker stall wearing all of his equipment, save for his shoulder pads and chest protector. His teammates knew not to talk to him.

“In my view, he was a huge asset,” Potvin said. “Smitty helped protect the front of our net as well as any third defenseman could have.”

“He could do that stuff as long as he got the job done, and that was a huge motivating factor for him,” Resch said. “He knew he had to get the job done or all the stuff would cave in.”

Smith’s antics around the crease worked, and most opponents gave him a wide berth. As a result, he faced fewer screened shots than many other goalies did.

The media, too, knew not to crowd Smith. He was a reluctant interview subject, at best, particularly earlier in his career.

True to form, Smith politely declined an interview request from Newsday in February.

“He was one of the few people you didn’t deal with,” longtime Newsday columnist Steve Jacobson recalled this month, adding that the dynastic Islanders were the “smoothest,” most cooperative team he covered. “You tried because you had to try. And you wound up writing that Billy wasn’t talking after the game.” 1183514 Ottawa Senators But at the end of the day, this is hockey season and Gardner has to fill that void.

“I’ve been playing NHL on Xbox,” he said. “The Sens won the Cup in the MISSING THE GAMES: It ain't easy, but fans trying to adjust to life ’22-23 season. I’m in the playoffs of the ’23-24 season now and up one without live sports game to none on the Rangers.”

Sounds like that run of “unparalleled success” the owner promised.

Don Brennan Also very passionate about the Senators is Shaila Anwar, the co-host of Publishing date:6 hours ago That’s What She Said on TSN1200. Anwar was watching old games on TV until she felt all they were showing was “crushing Sens playoff losses, and who needs that kind of stress in the middle of a global pandemic?”

Open a window this evening, an hour or so after dinner, and listen very So she turned to her own personal library. closely. You should be able to hear it. “Let’s just say my old PVR is basically an archive of important moments That collective sigh has emitted from living rooms across all of Canada in Sens history, going back to 2012,” said Anwar. “Can you believe that and the U.S. since the second week of April. three weeks before the quarantine started, I upgraded my cable package and got a new PVR … and I still haven’t figured out how to extract the It’s the sound of disappointment. And it’s usually followed by, “what the data from my old PVR? When I do, I won’t need The Sports Networks to hell do I do now?” do my reminiscing.” This is when we should be glued to the tube, watching the NHL playoffs. A long-time season ticket older who also follows her team on the Every night, from 7 p.m. until, well, the wee hours of the morning if we’re occasional road trip, Anwar says she’d be missing live sports more if it lucky enough to get a overtime period or two in a late game. was just her being denied the games. But that cherished tradition has been stolen from us this spring, and “Let’s face it, we are all in the same boat, whether you’re a millionaire or there’s no telling when we may get it back. In the meantime, we twiddle a regular person just trying to stay safe and stocked up on groceries and our thumbs and try to figure out how to amuse ourselves. toilet paper,” she said. “I think if there is one big positive about all of this “I am depressed,” said Daryl Dingman, a 33-year old Prescott resident from the perspective of a Sens fan, they couldn’t have had a better year who works security at Brockville General hospital. “I never really for the season to end early. There will be plenty of time for Sens fans to understood how much joy watching someone else play a sport brought to be upset over how the NHL will probably screw the team over with the my life. Maybe the money professional athletes make is worth it.” draft lottery, or to wonder why the Sens have so many goalies under contract, but that time is not now.” Fewer than ever before would argue that point. No, now is the time to count your blessings — and how much parking, Dingman had been teaching his four-year old son D.J. to be Toronto beer and overpriced snacks money you’ve saved once the cancellation of Maple Leafs fan, just like he is, when coronavirus so rudely interrupted the final four Senators homes games is mercifully made official. Also, to our world. It’s probably best now the kid hangs out with his mom Tara. be thankful that — when the world returns to whatever normal awaits — it’s always easy to attend one of your team’s games. If you so choose. “All the different types of repairmen out there better be ready when this is That’s not the case for everybody. all over,” Dingman said. “Because with no sports on, us men are now tinkering with stuff around the house we have no idea how to fix.” Randy Howlett, a 55-year old retired cop who lives in Carleton Place, is a life-long fanatic who usually goes to games when Also trying to broaden his horizons with no hockey to watch is Luke his team is at Canadian Tire Centre, Bell Centre in Montreal or Toronto’s Gibbons, a 37-year old product manager in the hi-tech industry. Gibbons Scotiabank Arena. Proudly he’d wear his team’s colours, complete with is a die-hard Senators fan, a partial season ticket holder who attends 25- Indian headdress. 30 games a year. Howie” would sometimes be in attendance at Senators games when the With the suspension of play, he grew a “pandemic beard” that his wife opponent wasn’t the Hawks, but he found that became very pricey even made him shave, but he left “one of the dirtiest moustaches of all time when he had free tickets. just to bug her.” “I think attending sports events is not as important as it once was,” said To get his hockey viewing fix, he turned on some old Senators games, Howlett, who has also stopped making the annual, multi-sports, multi- but at times that would bug him. game road trips he used to take with his pals. “The best seat in the house “I’ve watched a few periods of ‘glory days’ games,” said Gibbons. is in your own man cave. You don’t drink and drive. Free food. Access to “Rewatching Gary Roberts, Darcy Tucker and Joe Nieuwendyk dismantle replays … But I do miss the routine of knowing it’s game day and reading the Senators was as painful as ever … (but) then watching (Erik) all the notes, who’s in, who’s out for the opponents, and planning your Karlsson play in a game from the 2017 series with the Rangers still gives evening around that night’s game.” me goosebumps.” Now he’s finding other ways to keep hockey part of his life. Gibbons turned on the NFL draft for the first time ever Thursday night “I’m currently renewing my love of the game by re-reading classic hockey and found it to be “slick and well produced. Really compelling television.” books such as The Game, by Ken Dryden,” said Howlett. “And watching Eventually, he started to get restless. DVDs of classic Hawks, and best on best tournaments.

“To fill the time without sports I traded with someone an old banjo for and “I’m also going down the worm hole on the internet and refreshing my old accordion,” said Gibbons. “And I’ve been trying to figure out how to knowledge of the history of the game. It’s wonderful.” play the damn thing.” But for some — like the trailer for the old Peter Sellers movie used to say If you’re one of Gibbons’ neighbours, you might want to close that — there’s nothing quite like “Being There.” window. One of those people is Jo-Anne Polak, who the late, great Sun columnist Ottawa police officer Chris Gardner, 49, is another Senators fan who Earl McRae dubbed “JP Superstar” when she was general manager of would now be into the NHL playoffs, even though the same could not be the Ottawa Rough Riders from 1989-91. Now a senior VP at Canada said for his team. Post, Polak says Senators broadcasts are “the soundtrack in our house”, but she regularly attends 67’s games and has been a Buffalo Bills Known as “Meat” to his former baseball teammates, Gardner is reliving season ticket holder since 1999. his own glory days by playing wiffle ball outside with his son. He also has a steady group chat going with fellow cop buddies Wes Cory and Doug She’s also part of a group of 10 season ticket holders for Redblacks Frost. The most often discussed topic, of course, is ’90s general sports games. trivia. Being deprived of going to live sports events is devastating for JP Superstar and friends. “For real sports fans, this is not about what we are going to watch on TV (to fill the void),” she said. “Sports is our way of life. Football is all- consuming for our family. Our entire year is planned around the Redblacks, Bills and 67’s.”

Through the lows and the highs.

“The Redblacks are rebuilding, and we want to be in the stadium, with our best friends, to see it all unfold,” said Polak. “This is/was going to be Buffalo’s year. Josh Allen’s offence needed a deep threat and getting Stefon Diggs was brilliant. (Tom) Brady is finally gone (from the division). Bills Mafia has been waiting 30 years for this.”

As much as she loves her teams, Polak would never be satisfied just watching the games on TV, played in empty or partially empty stadiums.

“Don’t talk to me about sports without fans,” she said. “That is no better than watching someone play a video game. The fans ARE sports. I love being in a stadium, surrounded by thousands of people who are invested in the game as much as I am.”

Maybe the money professional athletes make is worth it.

Ottawa Citizen LOADED: 04.26.2020 1183515 Ottawa Senators been a noticeable shift in the culture in the room. A number of young players, such as Tkachuk and Chabot, and prospects took positive steps forward this year under Smith. And players like Duclair and Jayce Fan survey results: How you feel about all things Senators Hawryluk seemed to find comfortable homes in his system.

Smith’s players trust him and it appears the fanbase does, too.

By Hailey Salvian 5. What is your confidence level in Eugene Melnyk as owner and governor? Apr 25, 2020 The relationship between the Senators owner and the fanbase is … complicated.

We asked and you answered. In a big way. More than 500 respondents rated their confidence in the owner at 1. And less than 1 percent gave a score of between 8 and 10. This was More than 800 subscribers took the time to fill out The Athletic’s first-ever expected. Senators fan survey over the last 10 days, giving us a glimpse into Sens fans’ opinions on the state of the rebuild, the front office, the coach and Fans haven’t been happy with multiple trades they pin on Melnyk’s wallet the players. These responses (807 to be exact) reveal a decent (not the GM). Headlines about various lawsuits, the LeBreton Flats indication of the mood of the fanbase. scenario and heavy staff turnover haven’t helped.

Thank you to everyone who contributed, shared the survey and engaged However, Melnyk deserves some credit right now, as he’s been doing all in the comment section. the right things amid the COVID-19 pandemic. That shouldn’t be forgotten. Now, let’s get into the results, shall we? 6. Who should be the next captain of the Senators? 1. Who is your favourite member of the current Senators team? The favourite player is also the fans’ choice for captain. Brady Tkachuk is the overwhelming favourite here with almost 60 percent of the votes, which isn’t a surprise given how effortlessly he seems to Almost 60 percent of respondents want Tkachuk to lead the team connect with fans online and at the rink. And, of course, his knack for through the rebuild and into (what they hope will be) their contending scoring goals and wreaking havoc on opponents doesn’t hurt. years. Chabot and Borowiecki followed in second and third. Meanwhile, a small percentage of fans write in that it’s too soon to pick a captain, or Thomas Chabot came in with just under 28 percent of the votes. While that the next captain hasn’t been drafted yet. Mark Borowiecki and Bobby Ryan were in a close tie for third. 7. Which RFAs should the Senators re-sign? Anthony Duclair, Craig Anderson and Connor Brown rounded out the rest, with a few single votes for Marcus Hogberg, Logan Brown, Drake Respondents were allowed to pick as many of the Senators upcoming Batherson, and even Scott Sabourin. restricted free agents as they wanted. The team will need to hit the cap floor next season, so cap constraints shouldn’t be a big issue here. As 2. What is your confidence level in Pierre Dorion as general manager? long as nobody is demanding huge contracts. The majority of respondents seem fairly confident in Pierre Dorion as The vast majority want to see Chris Tierney, Duclair, Brown, Nick Paul GM. and Rudolfs Balcers re-signed, which I would agree with and expect will More than 50 percent of respondents scored him 7 or higher, despite a happen this summer. I was surprised to see Brown pull more votes than season that saw the Senators land near the bottom of the league Duclair given the latter was an All-Star this year, but Brown was highly standings for a third consecutive year. reliable and consistent throughout the campaign. Fans seemed more indifferent to Hawryluk and Englund being brought back. I’d argue that Dorion has made some good draft moves, and I expect a lot of that Hawryluk did enough in his audition this year to stick around. confidence comes from his experience as a scout. He’s also made some difficult trades and scored some good returns. 8. Which UFAs should the Senators re-sign?

The number of people who actively expressed they are not confident in Again, fans were allowed to pick as many pending free agents as they Dorion was low. Fewer than 10 percent gave a grade of four or less. And wanted here, but the results were more lop-sided. less than 1 percent rated him a 1. The verdict: Sens fans don’t think he’s Almost 85 percent of fans voted to re-sign Borowiecki, which isn’t GM of the year, but also don’t seem to be clamouring for a new face in surprising given his increased popularity this year on and off the ice. Ron the GM’s office. Hainsey was the only other player to get over 100 votes. 3. Do you agree with Dorion’s move to trade Jean-Gabriel Pageau at the Some fans opted for none of the above, while a surprising number chose deadline? to re-sign Sabourin and bring Anderson back for another season. I was a little bit surprised by these results. 9. How confident are you in the Senators’ prospect pool? Less than 10 percent of respondents said they did not agree with the This is the best result in terms of gauging fan confidence in the move, despite a lot of voices online around the deadline who expressed organization. disappointment in the loss of Jean-Gabriel Pageau. The majority of fans (300) gave the prospect pool an 8, while around 34 It was widely reported at the trade deadline that Pageau and the percent of fans gave the prospects higher than a 9. Senators came close to a contract extension, but the two sides couldn’t agree on term. The Senators got a nice haul of picks, including the With Josh Norris, Alex Formation, Drake Batherson, Vitaly Abramov, Islanders’ first rounder at this year’s draft. The Islanders quickly Shane Pinto, Lassi Thomson and many more in the pipeline, this isn’t a announced a six-year contract extension for Pageau with an average shocking result. The Senators have a deep prospect pool, mostly thanks annual value of $5 million. to the stockpiling of draft picks the last two years.

These results show me that fans like the return and understand that, if 10. Who are you most excited to see in a Senators jersey? Pageau wasn’t going to stay beyond this season, Dorion needed to get something in return, despite how much it hurt to lose a fan favourite. This is one answer I was really excited to see.

4. What is your confidence level in D.J. Smith as head coach? Norris, the key return in the Erik Karlsson trade, ran away with the majority here with 58 percent of the vote. He was the top rookie in the The rookie head coach got really high grades from the fanbase. AHL this year and has gotten high praise from Belleville coach Troy Mann. Formenton received just under 20 percent of the votes, while Almost no one expressed overwhelming concern with the coach, despite Jacob Bernard-Docker, Pinto and Thomson rounded out the top-5. Alexis the Senators’ 25-34-12 record and 30th overall ranking in the league. It’s Lafreniere, or “whoever the top pick this year is” got a handful of write-in a rebuild and everyone knew that this year, including Smith. But since he votes. took over, the Senators have shown a workhorse attitude and there has 11. Who do you think will be the Senators’ No.1 centre when the team is 19. On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate how well you are treated as a a contender? fan by the organization?

In hindsight, I should have made “he’s not on the team yet” an option I really didn’t know what to expect here given the complicated because that is what most fans had to say here. relationship between the fans and ownership. Most fans said they don’t feel like they are treated well as a fan. Norris got 36 percent of votes, and Logan Brown and Colin White got some as well. But most fans believe the future No.1 centre is coming this I assume most of that is rooted in losing so many fan favourite players year at the draft. The Senators have centre depth, but not a without-a- over the years. In hindsight, I should have allowed for a long-answer doubt top-line guy yet. response here to truly know why fans feel this way. We did get a look into that with the biggest frustration question, but feel free to drop your 12. Who are you most excited about potentially drafting in the first round response in the comments if you want your voice to be heard here. at this year’s draft? (OTHER than Alexis Lafreniere) 20. When do you next expect the Senators to make the playoffs? The percentage of these votes mostly came in the order of current pre- draft rankings, with Quinton Byfield, Tim Stutzle and Marco Rossi getting A pretty patient set of expectations here, considering the team has most votes. already been in the bottom of the standings for three straight years. At the same time, almost 60 percent of respondents expecting a playoff run One of the top projected picks, Cole Perfetti, only got three votes. Jack two years from now does introduce some pressure to turn things around. Quinn and Jamie Drysdale got more votes, despite being ranked lower I don’t think expecting to make the playoffs by 2022 is unreasonable or on some sites. I sense that’s due to a desire for a top defender, and the out of reach. local appreciation for the Ottawa Valley native and current Ottawa 67 in Quinn. And, of course, some fans still said Lafreniere. 21. When do you next expect the Senators to win a playoff series?

13. What do you see as the Senators’ biggest need at the draft? This is interesting. If the Senators do make the playoffs in 2022, most fans agree that they would lose the series. But they don’t think an This was almost a split between the desire for a No.1 centre and elite opening round victory is too far away either. skill, with the latter edging out the former. The Senators need both, but with three picks in the first-round they should be able to satisfy the need More than 40 percent expect a playoff series win in 2023. Looking ahead for both (and both could arrive in the same package). three years from now, the Senators should have a mature Tkachuk and Chabot. As well as Norris, Batherson and Formenton, and a number of 14. How many Senators’ home games do you typically go to each year? top draft picks who could be NHL ready.

Most of our subscribers typically attend at least one game each season. 22. How would you rate your patience for this rebuild? Tickets are much more affordable in Ottawa compared to major market teams, and with current attendance woes, they are fairly easy to come This backs up the last two questions. Less than five percent of fans by. However, fewer than 10 percent of fans surveyed said they go to surveyed said they need to win now. While most fans levelled their more than five games per year. patience between 8 and 10. But how long does that mean they are willing to wait? 23 percent don’t go at all. 23. How long are you willing to endure the rebuild before the Senators 15. How satisfied are you with the game-day experience at Canadian make the playoffs? Tire Centre? Here is where it all ties in … how long until the fans’ patience is tested? This was pretty split. One percent of fans said they must make it next year. Otherwise, this Most fans gave the game day experience a modest 5 to 7 grade, which was a pretty even split between two years, three years and more than would indicate it’s not a terrible experience, but not particularly fun. three if it means they are a Cup contender.

Attendance has been declining for years and the Senators currently rank These last four questions would indicate that Senators fans are last in the NHL. A better team and a downtown arena would help with reasonable about how much still needs to be done to turn this team into a that … but surely a better in-game experience could move the needle a legitimate Stanley Cup threat. Still, while mostly patient with this rebuild, little bit as well. fans want to see some real results in a few years.

16. What would you change to make it better? 24. Complete this sentence: My biggest frustration with the Senators is:

By far the most popular answer was the need for a downtown arena. Unsurprisingly, the most popular answer to this question revolved around Some other common replies included: some version of “ownership,” and “downtown arena.”

“Cheaper beer, food, more entertainment during stoppages.” Some answers included:

“More engagement with the fans, things during commercial breaks, better “Cody ceci, oh wait nvm. Rink location.” entertainment in between periods.” “Cyclically losing/trading elite talent.” “More fans would improve the atmosphere. I can’t wait for the team to get better so we can make it the hardest building for an opponent to come “Fear that we are the NHL equivalent of the Expos. Draft and develop into. Then it will be great fun.” talent then watch it leave.”

“Outdoor beer garden when able with weather.” 25. My biggest request for coverage from The Athletic Ottawa is ____

“More DJ Prosper.” This question was more for my own planning purposes for next season’s coverage, as this was my first year here and I want to make sure I 17. How motivated are you to buy tickets for next season? improve.

This fits with the last few questions. Senators fans don’t go to many I read all the responses and I am so happy to see people are enjoying games right now, and have a number of changes they would like to see our coverage. I appreciate everyone’s support and kind words. to make games more enjoyable. Many subscribers said they wanted more prospect coverage, more With no changes on the horizon, and at least one more tough rebuilding player profiles and some suggested we start a podcast! All of these ideas year, where is the motivation to go to games? Still, I’d be curious to ask are great and we’re looking forward to writing the stories you want to this question again after the results of the draft lottery — and the entry read. draft. Thanks to everyone who took the time to fill out the survey. Hopefully you 18. Would you go to more games if the arena was downtown? enjoyed the results as much as I did.

Unsurprisingly, given the last few questions, the majority of fans say they The Athletic LOADED: 04.26.2020 would go to more games if the arena was downtown. A modest 19 percent still said they would not. 1183516 Philadelphia Flyers

Simon Gagne trying to imagine how difficult a return will be for NHL players

By Joe Fordyce

April 25, 2020 9:00 AM

It has been 10 years since Simon Gagne took the ice for the Flyers.

In the time since, he’s picked up a Stanley Cup with the L.A. Kings and joined the Flyers Alumni, suiting up in the orange and black during alumni celebrations. During Gagne’s playing career, he experienced two work stoppages because of lockouts, but nobody has ever experienced anything like the current league hiatus amid the coronavirus outbreak.

“It must be hard, I was trying to put myself, what could I do if I was a hockey player that was still playing," Gagne said from his home in Quebec City in a recent video interview with NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Michael Barkann. "The closest I got to it was maybe the lockout in 2004 and 2012.

“The difference, we were able to skate, and now here in Quebec City, all the rinks are closed.

“Hopefully some of the hockey players have a gym at home, keep your cardio up. ... The toughest thing right now is not be able to hit the ice and feel the puck and skate on the ice.”

Gagne, like many former and current players, expressed concern over the aspect of game shape, something that can’t be achieved without the ability to skate. Gagne, for one, is looking forward to seeing what the league does next.

“Hopefully hockey will come back soon," Gagne said. "That’s gonna be special to see what the NHL decides to do, if they're going to give the players and teams some time to get back on the ice and have a small training camp.”

There have been several scenarios discussed recently, including each division finishing at an NHL rink in four different cities, and the league is reportedly mulling over starting up again in July, while holding the draft before play resumes. Gagne believes the players will be agreeable regardless of the scenario when and if play resumes.

“I think guys are willing to do whatever it takes to hopefully finish the season, or finishing eight to 10 games, whatever is possible," he said. "I think guys want to get back and play the playoffs, and having a team win the Stanley Cup in the end. I was talking to a bunch of guys here in Quebec City that are staying with their family here, and that’s what they’re hoping.”

For now, Gagne, like the rest of us, is waiting to see what happens next.

Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 04.26.2020 1183517 Pittsburgh Penguins

Penguins A to Z: Improved skating got Anthony Angello to the NHL

Seth Rorabaugh

Saturday, April 25, 2020 4:37 p.m.

While the NHL is on hold because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the Tribune-Review will offer Penguins A to Z, a player-by-player look at all 54 individuals under NHL contract with the organization, from mid- level prospect Niclas Almari to high-profile trade acquisition Jason Zucker.

Player: Anthony Angello

Position: Center

Shoots: Right

Age: 24

Height: 6-foot-5

Weight: 210 pounds

2019-20 NHL statistics: Eight games, one point (one goal, one assist)

2019-20 AHL statistics: 48 games, 25 points (16 goals, nine assists)

Contract: Final year of a two-year entry-level contract with a salary cap hit of $833,750.

Acquired: Fifth-round selection (No. 145 overall) in 2014 draft

This season: Thanks to a breakout season with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Angello, a winger who is listed as a center, earned his first legit NHL recall Jan. 30.

He garnered that promotion by improving his skating this season and becoming more than a large body bullying his way around the ice. Before being recalled, the second-year professional already had tied his career AHL high in goals and was one of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s top offensive weapons.

(Video courtesy Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins)

Once in the NHL, Angello primarily was used as a bottom-line winger averaging only 5 minutes, 43 seconds of ice time. He scored his first and, thus far, only NHL goal Feb. 18 in a 5-2 home win against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

(Video courtesy NHL)

By the time the NHL season came to a halt, Angello had missed four games because of an undisclosed injury.

The future: In the immediate sense, Angello is probably on the AHL roster if everyone on the NHL roster is healthy (always a considerable “if” with this team).

In the long term, Angello has a future as a bottom-six forward at the NHL. While he has the physical tools to be a power forward, he could improve his chances at staying in the NHL by adding more of a nastier, physical edge to his game.

Tribune Review LOADED: 04.26.2020 1183518 Pittsburgh Penguins

Penguins on pause: Chad Ruhwedel proves to be dependable option during time of need

MIKE DEFABO

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

APR 25, 2020 11:10 AM

The NHL has “paused” its season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is unclear if it will resume. So, with one eye still on the future, the Post- Gazette’s Matt Vensel and Mike DeFabo are looking back at what each Penguins player did in 2019-20. We started with the captain, No. 87, and will count down by jersey number.

Chad Ruhwedel entered training camp buried on the blue-line depth chart.

Four righties were ahead of him in Kris Letang, Justin Schultz, Erik Gudbranson and John Marino. A fifth, Zach Trotman, was breathing down his neck, challenging for one of the last spots on the NHL roster.

How quickly things change.

Marino emerged. Gudbranson was traded. And just about everyone on the roster got injured.

So while it took until the 22nd game of the season for Ruhwedel to even earn a jersey on game night, the confluence of events opened the door for the 29-year-old defenseman to play in 41 of the final 48 games.

Injuries on the blue line were the most significant factor in Ruhwedel’s expanded role. Letang, Schultz, Marino and lefty Brian Dumoulin missed a combined 83 games — several of them overlapping. During these injury-plagued stretches, the Penguins could have fallen apart. Ruhwedel was one of the reinforcements who helped the team weather the adversity.

Of course, Ruhwedel is not Letang. He’s not going to dazzle with skill and offensive instincts. In total, he recorded six points (two goals, four assists) and plus-4 rating. However, for a player who makes just $700,000 a year, he added more value to the Penguins this season than his salary-cap hit would indicate.

He was basically what the Penguins needed out of a third-pairing defenseman this year. Not spectacular. But more than just solid.

DEFINING MOMENT: It’s hard to come up with one singular defining moment for Ruhwedel. But that’s kind of the point. His value to the Penguins was that he often went unnoticed, which is usually a good thing for a defenseman.

STAT THAT STANDS OUT: Ruhwedel set a career benchmark in 2017- 18 by playing in 44 games. Had the season not been suspended, there was a chance he could have matched or eclipsed that mark.

IF THE SEASON RESUMES: The Penguins defensive corps is finally healthy. Marino and Dumoulin had both played in the last five games before the season was suspended. The break should provide even more time for them to get healthy. That will almost certainly bump Ruhwedel to the press box, at least for now.

LONG-TERM OUTLOOK: Ruhwedel is signed through the 2020-21 season on a deal that carries just a $700,000 average annual value. His usage next year depends largely on how the Penguins choose to address their blue line this offseason. Should the Penguins choose to let Schultz walk as an unrestricted free agent, Ruhwedel could see even more playing time unless the team looks outside the organization for another righty.

Post Gazette LOADED: 04.26.2020 1183519 San Jose Sharks every little thing right to make up for the fact they rarely do any one thing really big.

Along the way they’ve had their Arturs Irbes, their Jamie Bakers and their On this date, April 25: Owen Nolan’s scintillating shot powers Sharks to Ray Whitneys, even a younger Owen Nolan on the come. Game 7 victory This was the first time they had a big-time player make a big-time play in Owen Nolan’s brilliant effort included a 75-foot slap shot that stunned the a big-time game. Make that plays, plural. Nolan seemed to be St. Louis Blues everywhere, making a shrewd pass, delivering a crunching hit to stifle a Blues rush, killing penalties. You could say it was a coming of age of sorts. By GARY PETERSON | [email protected] Nolan has tantalized, as he did with his hat trick in the 1997 All-Star Bay Area News Group game. He has disappointed, as he did with his 19-goal season a year ago. He has confounded, as he did when he riled the Colorado PUBLISHED: April 25, 2020 at 5:30 a.m. | UPDATED: April 25, 2020 at Avalanche with comments on the eve of last year’s first round. 2:39 p.m. Now here he was coming full circle, making the plays a play-maker

should. (This column was originally published in the Contra Costa Times on April “Hey, he scored six goals, he was a physical force, he showed great 26, 2000) leadership and he played a ton of minutes,” Sutter said, assessing ST. LOUIS Nolan’s series.

YOU COULD RIGHTFULLY CALL IT the Shot Heard ‘Round the World It wasn’t just his booming goal from halfway across Kiel Center. There without overselling its impact on Game 7 of the Sharks’ first-round playoff was subtlety and grit to his game. When Stephane Matteau was called series against the Blues. for a brutally unintelligent four-minute high-sticking early in the third period, Nolan got part of it back with a hustle play that drew a As Owen Nolan wound up from just inside the red line Tuesday night, the holding penalty from the Blues’ Al MacInnis. final seconds of the first period were ticking away. The Sharks led 1-0. But it seemed a paper-thin 1-0. Then Vincent Damphousse followed that with a high-sticking penalty of his own, and it appeared the third period might dissolve into a chaotic fire The Sharks scored early, Ronnie Stern poking home the rebound of a drill that would breathe life into the Blues. For four agonizing minutes, the wild shot by Marcus Ragnarsson just 2:51 into the contest. Less than a Sharks skated 4-on-5, 4-on-4, 3-on-4, 3-on-5, 4-on-5 before finally killing minute later, they went on a power play which yielded several glorious the penalties with Nolan leading the charge. More than 13 minutes still chances to make it 2-0. remained. But in the peculiar ebb and flow of hockey, in which teams so often gain momentum by having something to lose and then avoiding But no. Roman Turek, the Blues’ goalie, stopped them all, and the game losing it, the Sharks were back in control. remained 1-0. Not only that, but the pace grew faster and faster as the period unfolded, and you know how a fast-paced style favors the Sharks “Believe me, it deserved to go seven games,” Sutter said. “And the team — like a white belt with matching loafers. that won deserved to win.”

Not that you want to turn your nose up at a 1-0 lead after one period of a And it won because its big player made the big play that leaders often do. Game 7 on the road. Still, it had all the earmarks of a Peggy Lee period: Is that all there is? Twenty minutes of mostly dominant hockey for this San Jose Mercury News: LOADED: 04.26.2020 puny payoff?

This was the scenario as Nolan wound up and let fly. It was a mighty shot, but not what you would consider a great scoring chance. There seemed too much ice between Nolan and Turek. Turek appeared to have plenty of time to size it up. It seemed more an act of defiance on Nolan’s part.

Then an incredible thing happened. The puck, sailing high, glanced off Turek and deflected into the net. With 10.2 seconds to play in the first period, the Sharks had their elusive second goal and a 2-0 lead.

“The way fluky goals have been going in this series, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to try it,” said Nolan, who didn’t even see it go in. “I was going to the bench for a (line) change and I heard everybody start yelling.”

As we reflect upon the Sharks’ stunning 3-1 win and their pulsating elimination of the Blues, we can see that Nolan’s goal only changed everything.

It altered the style of play. It changed the mindset of both teams. “I’m sure it impacted them more than it did us,” Sharks coach Darryl Sutter said.

It gave sharper definition to the final 40 minutes. It made it a Sharks-style game instead of a Blues-style game.

“It’s hard to come back from two goals, especially if you’re playing a team that’s playing well defensively,” Nolan said. “That was our plan, to get ahead and then play well around (goalie) Steve (Shields).”

The Sharks produced too many nice plays and big efforts to recount here, but Shields deserves special mention. Benched after allowing six goals in two periods in Game 6 on Sunday, he was alternately steady and brilliant Tuesday.

But Nolan’s shot was the one that set the tone for everything that followed. And maybe everything that follows Game 7. For years the Sharks have been, at best, a gritty team of modest means trying to do 1183520 Tampa Bay Lightning

How Bucs draftee Tyler Johnson compares to the Lightning’s Tyler Johnson

If the receiver from Minnesota is half as good as the Lightning center, the Bucs should be pleased with their Day 3 pick.

MATT BAKER

Colleges Reporter

Tampa Bay has another Tyler Johnson after the Bucs drafted the Minnesota receiver in the fifth round Saturday. The NFL rookie got a nice welcome from the NHL veteran on Twitter.

“Hey @TomBrady,” Lightning center Tyler Johnson said, “looks like it’s Tyler Bay now.”

Hey @TomBrady, looks like it’s Tyler Bay now Welcome @T_muhneyy10!@TBLightning @Buccaneers

— Tyler Johnson (@tjohnny09) April 25, 2020

So how does the area’s newest Tyler Johnson compared to the NHL All- Star?

Tyler Johnson, Bucs

Height/weight: 6-foot-1, 206 pounds

Age: 21

Position: Receiver

Hometown: Minneapolis, Minn.

Draft position: Fifth round, No. 161 overall

Scouting report: Has good size but questionable speed (he decided not to run the 40 at the combine)

Backup plan: Majored in business and marketing education

Stats to know: Set Minnesota records in receiving yards (3,305), touchdowns (33) and career 100-yard games (16). He is also second in Gophers history with 213 catches and a reception in 36 consecutive games

Best performance in Tampa: Was the Outback Bowl MVP at Raymond James Stadium in January after setting career highs in catches (12) and receiving yards (204) while scoring twice in a 31-24 win over Auburn

Tyler Johnson, Lightning

Lightning center Tyler Johnson (9) has enjoyed quite the nice professional career here in Tampa Bay. [DIRK SHADD | Tampa Bay Times]

Height/weight: 5-foot-8, 182 pounds

Age: 29

Position: Center

Hometown: Spokane, Wash.

Draft position: Undrafted

Scouting report: Had great speed but was undersized

Backup plan: Planned on becoming a nurse anesthetist if hockey didn’t work out

Stats to know: Set a Lightning rookie record with 24 goals in 2013-14 and scored a league-high 13 playoff goals the next season. The 2015 All-Star has 153 goals and 186 assists in 534 career NHL games

Best performance in Tampa: Scored on a Victor Hedman pass with less than a second remaining to beat the Canadiens 2-1 at Amalie Arena in the 2015 Eastern Conference semifinal

Tampa Bay Times LOADED: 04.26.2020 1183521 Tampa Bay Lightning

Lightning’s Steven Stamkos is skating ... and yes, it is allowed

The captain has reached the on-ice portion of rehabbing from his March surgery and will be ready when the season resumes.

DIANA C. NEARHOS

Lightning Reporter

TAMPA — Steven Stamkos is back on the ice. Three weeks ago, the Lightning captain reached the skating portion of working his way back from the core muscle surgery he had March 2.

The Lightning sneaked in an announcement of sorts Thursday with a video of Stamkos on the ice to finish their “receive a pass, send a pass” video, following up with a Twitter post that said, “So you guys like the ending, huh?”

We asked, you passed!

Thanks for hanging with us, #Bolts fans. We can't wait till we're together again. pic.twitter.com/euJb3B0Nfn

— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) April 23, 2020

Don’t worry, Stamkos is allowed to be on the ice. This isn’t going to spark the league to look into violations, like Tom Brady stumbling into a stranger’s house looking for his new offensive coordinator.

When the NHL paused its season March 12 because of the coronavirus pandemic and told players to stay away from arenas, the league made an exception for injured players to work with athletic trainers.

Stamkos isn’t the only Lightning player on the ice. Defenseman Jan Rutta, who missed 17 games before the season was halted after injuring a leg sliding into the boards Feb. 4, is also working out at Amalie Arena.

Once the Lightning realized the season would be on hold for more than a couple of weeks at a minimum, the training staff switched them to a longer-term recovery process. If they have the time available, why not use it?

The process can be accelerated as needed if this season does resume.

In a video the Lightning released Friday, Stamkos wouldn’t go as far as to call it lucky having to have the surgery but timing has worked to his advantage.

“It was devastating at the beginning because I thought I would possibly be missing some playoff games,” he said. “So kind of the silver lining in that was I’ll be ready when we resume.”

The Captain recently stopped by one of our all-staff meetings to say hello and give an update on the pause and how he’s spending his free time.

Good to see ya, @realstamkos91. pic.twitter.com/tJA24zFDEa

— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) April 24, 2020

Stamkos has no restrictions on what he can do on the ice except that his workouts can’t include other players. At this point there aren’t areas of concern to avoid re-injury. He is strengthening the groin to protect the area.

Beyond skating, Stamkos said on the video he is enjoying spending time with his 8-month-old son, Carter, something he said during the season was a commodity. Being a swim teacher to an infant in the backyard has been “really fun,” he said.

Tampa Bay Times LOADED: 04.26.2020 1183522 Vegas Golden Knights found Stone streaking down the right boards. He lasered a shot over Jacob Markstrom’s short-side glove and Vegas never looked back.

The Canucks struggled to find a rhythm in their breakouts and transition Simulating the 2020 NHL playoffs, Round 2: Canucks vs. Golden Knights game early, allowing Vegas to carry play in the offensive zone. Alex Tuch gave Vegas a 2-0 lead before Elias Pettersson eventually got Vancouver on the board in the second period. Marc-Andre Fleury played well in net By Thomas Drance, Jesse Granger and Dom Luszczyszyn for the Golden Knights, stopping 27-of-29 shots. Vegas extended the lead to 4-1 with third-period goals from Stone and Max Pacioretty. Apr 25, 2020 Antoine Roussel beat Fleury on a breakaway late, but Vancouver’s final push wasn’t enough.

The NHL isn’t back yet, but we’re going to pretend it is. Over the last “This is the second straight time we’ve gotten Game 1 on the road, so I’m month, we’ve run a simulation of how the NHL’s regular season might real proud of our group,” coach Peter DeBoer said following the contest. have played out if the league hadn’t been suspended on March 12. Now, “We’ll need to be even better for Game 2 because that’s going to be a the standings have been set and we’re carrying that forward through the desperate team over there.” playoffs. This time around, one of our beat writers from each team will be – Jesse Granger in charge of every lineup decision, the narrative for every playoff game and they’ll get to decide what “happened” in each game. Join us as we @CanucksFan859595 tweets: *Plays Simon & Garfunkle’s the Silence of make our way through the simulated postseason to crown a virtual Sound* Ah yes, the playoff Canucks. I remember these guys. Stanley Cup champion. “I like that we’re facing some playoff adversity,” Canucks head coach Battle of the Vs: Vancouver versus Vegas. Travis Green said after the Game 1 loss. “When you play deep into the spring, it’s not always going to be a sweep. It’s not always going to go A conference semifinal birth is no surprise for the Golden Knights, a team your way. This is a tough one, especially the way it started, but it’s good that has looked like a potential juggernaut ever since acquiring Mark for our guys to feel how much it hurts to lose at this time of year. And use Stone, but for the Canucks, the arrival is a little ahead of schedule. No that to be better in Game 2.” one could’ve expected the run the team has been on, going on an 11-1-1 roll to close the regular season. In the playoffs, they somehow managed Vancouver’s first playoff loss is also, remarkably, only the club’s second to stay hot by sweeping the Wild. regulation loss since the portal to Earth 2 was discovered on March 12th. It’s a historic run for the franchise, but nonetheless, it will necessitate That’s right. Since scientists found a portal to Earth 2, the Vancouver some lineup changes. Vancouver’s 5-on-5 play was exposed a bit by the Canucks – a completely average team on Earth 1 – have won 15 of 17 depth and quality of Vegas’ top-six forward group, and so Josh Leivo, games. It boggles the mind and makes one question whether it was injured since an unpenalized collision with Nick Holden back in mid- morally right in the first place to create this portal to a parallel dimension. December, is going to return to the lineup on the wing with Roussel and There’s clearly something wrong with this one. Our scientists were so Gaudette. Sutter will bump into the fourth-line centre spot, with Jay preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if Beagle a healthy scratch for Game 2. they should. – Thomas Drance On paper, this looks like a complete mismatch, and yet the odds are closer to a coin flip with Vegas favoured at just 52 percent. It doesn’t add Game 2 up. As Vancouver tinkers after suffering its first playoff loss, Vegas stays the At any position, the depth is simply not there. That should separate the course. contenders from the pretenders, with Vegas looking like a team primed to go deep, while Vancouver looks closer to a round-one minnow, propped Vegas takes both games in Vancouver – has the clock struck midnight in up by its stars. But even those stars look matched by what Vegas can BC? offer. The Canucks were conceivably able to outmuscle the Wild with VANCOUVER — The Golden Knights probably don’t deserve to be their star power, but that should be much more difficult against a loaded returning to Las Vegas up 2-0, but they are. Vegas club. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 44-of-44 shots in a shutout performance that And yet, the odds don’t quite reflect that which is entirely due to the was so good, it almost didn’t seem real. Wait a minute … Canucks getting hot to end the season. The Canucks must’ve played some unreal simulated hockey down the stretch to close the gap Fleury was spectacular throughout, leading Vegas to a 2-0 win despite between these two clubs to make this a close series. Let’s just imagine being outshot 44-27, and giving the Golden Knights a 2-0 series lead as Elias Pettersson scored at like a 115-point pace emerging as a Dark it shifts to Las Vegas. It was Fleury’s second shutout of this postseason Horse Hart candidate, Tyler Toffoli was a perfect fit next to him, Bo and the 17th playoff shutout of his career. He capped it off with an Horvat and Brock Boeser took another step on a strong second line, all acrobatic glove save on Elias Pettersson late in the third period to while the modest defense group (outside Quinn Hughes of course) finally preserve Vegas’ lead. came into its own. “He was unreal,” Pettersson said afterward. “I thought we played really That’s a lot of good things happening, which is unlikely, but it’s what’s well tonight but we have to find a way to beat him.” necessary to envision the Canucks streaking the way they have been. Chandler Stephenson broke the scoreless tie midway through the second Will Vancouver continue to defy all logic, playing well above their heads period, sneaking behind the Canucks’ defense for a partial breakaway. and staying hot, or will the team come crashing back down to reality as Shea Theodore threaded a stretch pass onto Stephenson’s tape, and the balance restores in the multiverse? 25-year-old slid it through Jacob Markstrom’s five-hole to give Vegas the lead. Game 1 William Carrier scored on an empty net late to seal the win, giving Vegas’ Vancouver loses its first playoff game of the year, Vegas takes a 1-0 third line both goals in the game. The Golden Knights bottom six was the lead. difference, controlling play through physicality and puck possession. The VANCOUVER — The debate of going in rested versus not continues. Canucks top line of Pettersson, J.T. Miller and Tyler Toffoli dominated the game, creating scoring chance after scoring chance, but were held The Golden Knights entered Rogers Arena less than 48 hours removed off the score sheet. from their thrilling Game 7 victory over Calgary to escape a brutal first- round series. Meanwhile, the Canucks had nine days of rest after “That’s Flower being Flower,” Vegas defenseman Nate Schmidt said. sweeping their first-round opponent. “We need to clean some things up in our own end back at home because we can’t count on him to bail us out every time. Glad he did tonight, It showed as the Golden Knights took advantage of a sluggish Vancouver though.” squad to steal Game 1 by a score of 4-2. Mark Stone led the way for Vegas, scoring two goals including one only 17 seconds into the contest. – Jesse Granger William Karlsson won the opening faceoff back to Shea Theodore, who Marc-Andre Fleury is the Canucks’ kryptonite. Until Vancouver bested Jonathan Marchessault was the only Knight to beat Jacob Markstrom in a Vegas a couple of times down the stretch on Earth 2, Fleury had gone 13 decisive 4-1 loss. It could have been worse for Vegas on the scoreboard years without dropping a regulation start against Vancouver. if not for a 38 save performance from Marc-Andre Fleury.

Is it a surprise that he’s in Vancouver’s heads after two games? It is not. “We’re still alive and that’s all that matters,” Miller said to reporters postgame. “We showed tonight that we’re not going away. If we play like @Taj1944 tweets after the game: “Vegas going to go hard at the Roxy that back in Vancouver, it’s going to take a special effort to beat us.” tonight to celebrate, so you know the Canucks will take Game 3 #EasyMoney” – Thomas Drance

That confidence is not widely shared by other Canucks fans on Twitter. Game 5

– Thomas Drance With their first win of the series, the Canucks will stick with the same lineup while the Golden Knights look to beef up the usage for their top six Game 3 and top four.

Looking to regroup, the Canucks are going to try Jordie Benn on the third Vegas wins the series. Balance has been restored. pair for Oscar Fantenberg. And in an effort to get some offence going, Tyler Myers will jump up to the first pair with Tanev dropping to the third. VANCOUVER — In the Golden Knights brief franchise history, they’ve Canucks’ coaches indicate that they’ll be using the Pettersson line with won four playoff series, with all four series-clinching wins coming away Hughes-Myers as a five-man unit at 5-on-5 for the pair of games in from Vegas. Tonight makes five, as the Golden Knights topped Vegas, so the Hughes-Myers pair will see their minutes boosted Vancouver 5-1 at Rogers Arena to claim a 4-1 series win and move onto significantly as will the first line. It’s clear Vancouver’s coaches are willing the Western Conference finals. to try anything to steal at least one win on the road to prolong this series. Marc-Andre Fleury continued his stellar postseason with an impressive – Thomas Drance 28-save night. It earned him his 88th career playoff win and improved his stat line this postseason to 1.77 goals-against average and a .937 save No changes for Vegas. They all partied equally hard at the Roxy so no percentage. minute changes either. Just have to suck it up. “He’s been unbelievable back there,” Jonathan Marchessault said, who is – Jesse Granger making his second trip to the conference finals in three seasons. “We After sweeping the Wild, the Canucks are on the verge of being swept know we have a good chance to win every night with Flower back there.” themselves. Vegas’ scoring showed up as well, with Alex Tuch striking early on the LAS VEGAS — Mark Stone had been a force for Vegas throughout the power play to make it 1-0 in the first period. Tuch screened Jacob early goings of this postseason, but in Game 3 he was unstoppable. Markstrom on the initial shot, then cleaned up the rebound for his third Stone scored not one, not two, not three, but four goals to lead Vegas to goal of the postseason. Chandler Stephenson also scored, giving the a 5-2 win over the Canucks to take a commanding 3-0 series lead. Golden Knights strong third line two goals on the night.

It was Stone’s second career postseason hat trick, after netting three “That depth scoring is why we’ve made it to this point,” Mark Stone said goals against the Sharks last season. He opened the scoring early with a following the win. “When those guys get going, it gets the rest of the spectacular unassisted goal, stripping the puck from Chris Tanev and bench going. It’s nice to see them rewarded with a couple of goals beating Jacob Markstrom with a deke in tight. tonight.”

The Golden Knights top-six forward group redeemed itself after a rough Vegas now heads to Colorado for its third-straight series as the road Game 2 in Vancouver. The top line of Stone, William Karlsson and Max team. The Golden Knights struggled immensely against the Avalanche Pacioretty was dominant, holding advantages in shots on goal (14-3), this season, going 0-3-0 including two blowout losses (7-3 and 6-1) at scoring chances (10-1) and goals (3-0) while on the ice at even strength. home. Karlsson picked up a pair of assists on goals by Stone, as Vegas raced “They’ve had our number, but this is the playoffs and none of that matters out to an early 3-0 lead. now,” Fleury said. “We’ll have to play our best, which is how it should be “Those two are just so easy to play with,” Karlsson said following the this time of year.” game. “We played well as a unit, and tonight the puck was just going in.” – Jesse Granger

The Canucks would battle back, with goals just before and after the Honestly, this is a magical pretend season for the Canucks and the fans second intermission to cut Vegas’ lead to one. But just when Vancouver showed their appreciation for the home team with a rousing standing showed signs of life, Stone again stepped on their throat with a power- ovation while the players saluted the crowd from centre ice following the play goal midway through the third period to make it 4-2. A late empty-net handshake line. goal by Nate Schmidt sealed the win and pulled Vegas one win away from the Western Conference Finals. And why not? A 15-1-1 run from mid-March through to the second round of the playoffs is historic stuff for the Canucks franchise. Coach Peter DeBoer believes his team learned a valuable lesson in the first round about not relaxing with a commanding series lead. Even in the fatalistic, uber-critical cauldron that is the Vancouver hockey market, losing to a buzzsaw team like the Golden Knights in the second “We just saw a 3-1 series lead nearly slip away, so I don’t think we’ll round is a moral victory. This loss won’t be treated the way a series loss need to worry about that,” he said. “At least I would hope not.” typically would be. Instead, it’s celebrated like the conclusion of a really – Jesse Granger fun party.

Game 4 “It’s frustrating to lose at home like this, but we have a lot to be proud of,” Bo Horvat said postgame. “We have a bright future, and we showed this Neither team makes any changes for Game 4. season that we’re almost ready to take the next step.”

The Canucks don’t leave Vegas empty-handed, cutting the series lead to The Athletic LOADED: 04.26.2020 3-1.

LAS VEGAS – The Canucks are on the board, thanks to J.T. Miller.

Dominant from puck drop, Miller scored two goals in the opening frame on his way to a hat trick and prolonged the Canucks’ Cinderella season in the process. Pettersson, Toffoli and Hughes all pitched in a pair of points each.

“That was a big game, from a big-game player,” Bo Horvat said of Miller’s performance postgame. 1183523 Washington Capitals Going through what this team went through to win the Stanley Cup definitely was difficult for us and maybe a bit more rewarding once we did win it. I don’t want to say that the losses in the past were forgotten, but Nicklas Backstrom answers your questions – and his top play isn’t from when you are in that present season and you keep winning each series, the Cup run that’s what is more on your mind, winning that series and focusing ahead. Nothing is more gratifying in the NHL then winning the Cup, so when we did, it really was the best feeling. But I don’t think it’s any more satisfying. Everyone wants to win it and feels a big level of By Tarik El-Bashir accomplishment when it happens. Apr 25, 2020 Who were your first linemates in the NHL, and what do you remember about your first game? – Dean H.

Like most of us, Nicklas Backstrom is cooped up at home, trying to stay I don’t think my first game was any different from anybody else that has safe – and sane – while quarantining with his family. had their first game. I just remember feeling very excited and anxious for it to happen, and it was a cool experience. We played the Atlanta And, like most of us, the Capitals’ alternate captain has some extra time Thrashers, and I did record an assist. I remember I actually was playing on his hands, so we asked him to answer some questions from our as a left wing at first, and I skated with Alex Semin and Michael Nylander. subscribers via email. He did, and his responses were peak Backy – Having Nylander on my line was pretty cool. He is also Swedish and was humble, insightful and funny. kind of my mentor at the beginning of the year, so to play directly with him was a cool experience. If you ever wanted to know who’s got the best sense of humor in the Caps’ room or who’s the best chirper on the bench or which of his career In your career, which NHL defenseman has been the hardest to play assists he likes the best, you’ve come to the right Q&A. against and why? – Darryl B.

Enjoy! I did play a few games against Nicklas Lidstrom, and he is probably the best defenseman I’ve ever played against. Just an incredibly smart Nick, what’s your fondest memory from your brief time playing in the KHL player and knows exactly where to be. Some other tough ones are Victor for Dynamo? – Michael P. Hedman, who is a bit bigger and also plays an intelligent game. And It was an interesting experience for sure. Obviously, it was the first time I Zdeno Chara, who just has an unbelievable reach on the puck. had played in a league outside of the NHL in like five years. I did OK with Which NHL arena is currently the most difficult to play in and why? (Fans, it, we won a lot of games and I was still playing with Ovi (Alex Ovechkin). boards, ice, etc.) – Darryl B. I think that was the cool part of it, while it was different, having a sense of familiarity by having Ovi there. I think the fans there also love hockey, so I wouldn’t say any of them are difficult to play in, but some are definitely it was definitely a good life experience for me. Also gave me a chance to fun to play in with the atmospheres they have. Vegas is pretty play hockey during the lockout. entertaining with their sound system and how the games kind of have extra entertainment to them. Then I just like the historic places like What’s one thing you miss about Sweden when you’re in the U.S. and/or Toronto or Montreal. There’s lots of history there and you can just sense what do you miss about the U.S. when you’re in Sweden? – Summer L. the importance of playing a game there. There’s a lot of family and friends back home in Sweden that I’m always Can you remember a time in the playoffs when the energy/volume of happy to see. I just like going home and being by the water there and Caps fans was helpful or particularly memorable? – Darryl B everything. I have a lot of lifelong friends who live in Gavle. Obviously, being close to my parents and brother is great. I think our kids love the You can definitely hear Capitals fans during our home games. I don’t time we spend there. There’s also obviously just the Swedish food and think it could get any louder during the Stanley Cup final at Capital One culture that I’m able to go back to when I’m there. When I’m there Arena, you could sense the excitement pretty easily. We have one of the though, I just miss being involved with hockey back in D.C., and all my louder buildings, so fan noise is always there. I try not to focus on it too friends and teammates there. We call D.C. our second home – there’s much but in the Cup final, it was definitely noticed. not another place I’d want to play in the NHL. We love it here, too. How often do you have to lift your passes in an NHL game and how often Which assist of a goal are you most proud or excited about? My answer, are you having to catch passes out of mid-air? You always seem to sauce pass to Ovi Game 5 of the Cup. Incredible skilled pass with the create space for yourself without going full sprint. What’s the best tip you stakes so high. – Stephen S. have being a deceptive skater/puck carrier? – Russell

A lot of people do mention that Stanley Cup assist to Ovi. The one I think The first question, yeah that’s definitely a part of the game, being able to that is my best and I’m most proud of was actually in the playoffs in a play with the puck in the air. With so many players on the ice with sticks different season. It was in the opening round against the New York on and off the ice, bodies, sometimes the best way to move the puck is Rangers in Game 3 in 2009. We were already ahead by three goals with by lifting it in the air a bit to get through traffic. And I’m glad it looks like only a couple of minutes remaining. I skated the puck along the boards I’m not going full sprint, haha. I guess to stay deceptive is to just try to almost the full length of the ice into the corner. I pulled it up along the anticipate plays and know where the puck is going to be before it gets goal line in the corner, drew two guys in and spun the puck around on my there. Just reading the game a bit. backhand to Tom Poti, who was right in front of the net with no one on him and he scored. But honestly, even with assists, it’s all about the guys I would love to hear what Nick is doing to stay fit and in game shape. you play with. They put me in the situation to be able to make these plays Also curious what is the longest time he has gone between skates over and also we have great finishers – can’t get an assist if guys don’t score. the past 10-plus years. Thanks! @HjalmarMax (from Twitter) So I’ve been very lucky in that regard. I generally take some time off the ice in the summer, but this definitely (You can see the assist at the 1:50 mark in the video below.) feels like the longest I’ve gone without going on the ice. As far as staying in shape, we have our strength staff giving us updates on stuff we should Best and worst senses of humor on the Caps? Also, best and worst be doing. But I just go for runs, do some lifting and stretching and all that chirpers? – Sammy P. stuff.

I’m not going to say worst humor, haha. We have a lot of pretty funny The Athletic LOADED: 04.26.2020 guys on our team. It’s so funny listening to Ovi in the locker room. Tom (Wilson) is pretty funny, too. Wilson might be our best chirper. Burky (Andre Burakovsky) was the worst chipper haha. (Jason) Chimera was probably one of the funniest guys I’ve played with – he was non-stop. I miss being around him in the locker room. You would laugh non-stop.

How much more satisfying was it to win the Cup after all those years of Game 7 disappointments? – J S. 1183524 Vancouver Canucks hard enough so that the Leafs forward lost control of the puck and crashed into the net.

Hughes’ emergence as an above average neutral zone defender By the numbers: Quinn Hughes is already the Canucks’ best neutral notwithstanding, though, the Canucks as a whole have struggled in this zone defender department. An inability to contain opponents off the rush is a crucial part of Vancouver’s defensive woes.

By Harman Teams Allowing the Most Rush Passes

Dayal Apr 25, 2020 22

Toronto Maple Leafs

Elite hockey players constantly push their own limitations and turn 25.4% relative weaknesses into strengths. 23

We’ve seen that with Elias Pettersson, who turned a shot that was touted Edmonton Oilers as average when drafted in 2017 into one of the most lethal in the NHL by mastering his technique. 25.6%

For Quinn Hughes, playing away from the puck in the NHL was going to 24 be his steepest learning curve. Sure enough, he made defensive mistakes in his five-game cameo last year, particularly when it came to Tampa Bay Lightning defending the rush. 25.6%

Forwards sliced past Hughes through the middle or beat him on the 25 outside — it looked like there would be growing pains. St. Louis Blues Fast forward 12 months, however, and data shows that the 20-year-old phenom, best known for his scintillating offensive tools, is already the 25.7% Canucks’ best neutral zone defender. 26 He’s turned an early weakness into a strength. And all it took was one Chicago Blackhawks year. 25.8% Forwards entered the offensive zone with possession of the puck against Hughes on a team-low 54.9 percent of entry attempts in the 20-game 27 sample Corey Sznajder and I tracked. Vancouver Canucks If there’s a watershed moment that spurred this growth, it might have occurred during the season opener against Edmonton. In the first period, 26.5% Leon Draisaitl was powering down the wing and beat Hughes on the 28 outside when the Canucks defenceman tried to rub out Draisaitl against the boards. Calgary Flames

As Hughes would explain to colleague Thomas Drance, that was a 26.8% reminder to stymie forwards using his feet and swift stick rather than by engaging physically where his diminutive frame would be a 29 disadvantage. New York Islanders “With bigger guys, you’ve got to use your feet, you can’t lean on them,” 26.8% Hughes told Drance in October. 30 “Like with Draisaitl, I leaned on him there towards the end of the first,” Hughes continued. “I just have to keep using my feet there. I think after Detroit Red Wings that, (I did) a really good job with it.” 27.8% Top players learn and adjust. They rarely make the same mistake twice. The next time Draisaitl came at Hughes, he took a different, more 31 conservative approach and used his stick to break up the play.

A more conservative approach with his footwork means that Hughes 28.9% doesn’t have the stopping power to outright break up plays at the line as often as he might like but he’s become really good at protecting the Lower numbers are better middle and forcing puck carriers to the outside where it’s harder to make a play. This is evidenced in the fact that the opposition made a Rushes where a team can enter the zone with control and make a successful pass upon entering the zone on just 20.6 percent of entry subsequent pass are twice as likely to result in a scoring chance or goal attempts. compared to regular possession entries are about four times more dangerous than dump-ins. The Canucks ranked 27th in the NHL in Another asset that’s emerged in Hughes’ arsenal is his recovery ability preventing these possession entry+pass sequences during 1-on-1 on the backcheck. As an offensive defenceman, Hughes will get caught situations at the blue line according to Sznajder’s dataset. up the ice from time to time, but I’ve been really impressed with how well he darts back, gains inside position and uses enough leverage to disrupt So which Vancouver defencemen have been most unreliable at forwards. defending the rush?

This was most apparent in a February game against the Leafs when he Who Was Best At Defending The Rush? recovered in time to stop one of the league’s most dangerous rush Quinn Hughes players, William Nylander, on a partial-breakaway not once, but twice. On the first occasion, Hughes stepped into Nylander’s route and got a stick 54.90% on the puck to deflect the backhand attempt out of play. 20.59% On the second rush, Nylander was driving on his forehand, meaning that Hughes couldn’t use his stick. Hughes adapted and leaned into Nylander Alexander Edler 58.27% 22.05%

Jordie Benn

59.82%

27.68%

Christopher Tanev

60.40%

25.74%

Tyler Myers

68.27%

25.96%

Troy Stecher

68.75%

22.50%

Lower is better, League average carry-in against % is around 59 percent

Right now, Hughes is the only Canucks defenceman who can be labelled definitively above average.

Following him, there’s Alex Edler, who I believe would be worse off if we had a sample of more than 20 games. His lack of foot speed means he concedes a lot of space at the blue line. Not only has he been considerably below average in Sznajder’s dataset the last three years but there’s been a declining pattern; in 2018-19 he was one of the league’s worst rush defenders (76.5 percent carry-in against rate).

Viz courtesy CJ Turtoro

The decent zone entry denial numbers Edler posted this year are likely misleading. And even if they’re not, we can make a pretty safe bet based on his track record that it’s unlikely to carry over next year.

Chris Tanev was an elite neutral zone defender in his prime and while he’s retained some of those skills, his numbers have been in decline the past three years or so as well. He’s probably around league average, if not slightly below when considering the pass against rate.

Tyler Myers is almost even with Troy Stecher in allowing a carry-in on an ugly 68.3 percent of entry attempts, but his ballooned passing rate makes Myers arguably the Canucks’ worst rush defender. It’s quite remarkable considering his long reach and adept skating skills.

But in watching the tape, you can see that he often stops moving his feet, which can leave him susceptible to getting beat on the outside.

The root of his defensive issues really comes down to his passive gap control — watch how much time and space has to make a play in the clip below, for example.

Similarly, Stecher’s has been poor defending the rush the past two years after only being slightly below average earlier in his career.

Jordie Benn’s results are the first sign that some of these struggles could be a function of the team’s style and the well-documented lack of forward support. His rush defence results had been above average but those numbers eroded in Vancouver. It’s tough to say how much of that is Benn underperforming versus the environment around him.

To recap: Hughes has excelled in the neutral zone, Tanev was around league average, Myers, Edler and Stecher’s numbers are weak and Benn is a question mark. It’s certainly not a pretty picture.

Going back to Hughes, his success shows how quickly he can adjust and overcome challenges and that bodes well for areas like in-zone defence that he still needs to refine.

Meanwhile, Hughes can already claim to be a strong neutral zone defender. That’s not something most 20-year-old NHL defencemen can say.

The Athletic LOADED: 04.26.2020 1183525 Vancouver Canucks found Stone streaking down the right boards. He lasered a shot over Jacob Markstrom’s short-side glove and Vegas never looked back.

The Canucks struggled to find a rhythm in their breakouts and transition Simulating the 2020 NHL playoffs, Round 2: Canucks vs. Golden Knights game early, allowing Vegas to carry play in the offensive zone. Alex Tuch gave Vegas a 2-0 lead before Elias Pettersson eventually got Vancouver on the board in the second period. Marc-Andre Fleury played well in net By Thomas Drance, Jesse Granger and Dom Luszczyszyn for the Golden Knights, stopping 27-of-29 shots. Vegas extended the lead to 4-1 with third-period goals from Stone and Max Pacioretty. Apr 25, 2020 Antoine Roussel beat Fleury on a breakaway late, but Vancouver’s final push wasn’t enough.

The NHL isn’t back yet, but we’re going to pretend it is. Over the last “This is the second straight time we’ve gotten Game 1 on the road, so I’m month, we’ve run a simulation of how the NHL’s regular season might real proud of our group,” coach Peter DeBoer said following the contest. have played out if the league hadn’t been suspended on March 12. Now, “We’ll need to be even better for Game 2 because that’s going to be a the standings have been set and we’re carrying that forward through the desperate team over there.” playoffs. This time around, one of our beat writers from each team will be – Jesse Granger in charge of every lineup decision, the narrative for every playoff game and they’ll get to decide what “happened” in each game. Join us as we @CanucksFan859595 tweets: *Plays Simon & Garfunkle’s the Silence of make our way through the simulated postseason to crown a virtual Sound* Ah yes, the playoff Canucks. I remember these guys. Stanley Cup champion. “I like that we’re facing some playoff adversity,” Canucks head coach Battle of the Vs: Vancouver versus Vegas. Travis Green said after the Game 1 loss. “When you play deep into the spring, it’s not always going to be a sweep. It’s not always going to go A conference semifinal birth is no surprise for the Golden Knights, a team your way. This is a tough one, especially the way it started, but it’s good that has looked like a potential juggernaut ever since acquiring Mark for our guys to feel how much it hurts to lose at this time of year. And use Stone, but for the Canucks, the arrival is a little ahead of schedule. No that to be better in Game 2.” one could’ve expected the run the team has been on, going on an 11-1-1 roll to close the regular season. In the playoffs, they somehow managed Vancouver’s first playoff loss is also, remarkably, only the club’s second to stay hot by sweeping the Wild. regulation loss since the portal to Earth 2 was discovered on March 12th. It’s a historic run for the franchise, but nonetheless, it will necessitate That’s right. Since scientists found a portal to Earth 2, the Vancouver some lineup changes. Vancouver’s 5-on-5 play was exposed a bit by the Canucks – a completely average team on Earth 1 – have won 15 of 17 depth and quality of Vegas’ top-six forward group, and so Josh Leivo, games. It boggles the mind and makes one question whether it was injured since an unpenalized collision with Nick Holden back in mid- morally right in the first place to create this portal to a parallel dimension. December, is going to return to the lineup on the wing with Roussel and There’s clearly something wrong with this one. Our scientists were so Gaudette. Sutter will bump into the fourth-line centre spot, with Jay preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if Beagle a healthy scratch for Game 2. they should. – Thomas Drance On paper, this looks like a complete mismatch, and yet the odds are closer to a coin flip with Vegas favoured at just 52 percent. It doesn’t add Game 2 up. As Vancouver tinkers after suffering its first playoff loss, Vegas stays the At any position, the depth is simply not there. That should separate the course. contenders from the pretenders, with Vegas looking like a team primed to go deep, while Vancouver looks closer to a round-one minnow, propped Vegas takes both games in Vancouver – has the clock struck midnight in up by its stars. But even those stars look matched by what Vegas can BC? offer. The Canucks were conceivably able to outmuscle the Wild with VANCOUVER — The Golden Knights probably don’t deserve to be their star power, but that should be much more difficult against a loaded returning to Las Vegas up 2-0, but they are. Vegas club. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 44-of-44 shots in a shutout performance that And yet, the odds don’t quite reflect that which is entirely due to the was so good, it almost didn’t seem real. Wait a minute … Canucks getting hot to end the season. The Canucks must’ve played some unreal simulated hockey down the stretch to close the gap Fleury was spectacular throughout, leading Vegas to a 2-0 win despite between these two clubs to make this a close series. Let’s just imagine being outshot 44-27, and giving the Golden Knights a 2-0 series lead as Elias Pettersson scored at like a 115-point pace emerging as a Dark it shifts to Las Vegas. It was Fleury’s second shutout of this postseason Horse Hart candidate, Tyler Toffoli was a perfect fit next to him, Bo and the 17th playoff shutout of his career. He capped it off with an Horvat and Brock Boeser took another step on a strong second line, all acrobatic glove save on Elias Pettersson late in the third period to while the modest defense group (outside Quinn Hughes of course) finally preserve Vegas’ lead. came into its own. “He was unreal,” Pettersson said afterward. “I thought we played really That’s a lot of good things happening, which is unlikely, but it’s what’s well tonight but we have to find a way to beat him.” necessary to envision the Canucks streaking the way they have been. Chandler Stephenson broke the scoreless tie midway through the second Will Vancouver continue to defy all logic, playing well above their heads period, sneaking behind the Canucks’ defense for a partial breakaway. and staying hot, or will the team come crashing back down to reality as Shea Theodore threaded a stretch pass onto Stephenson’s tape, and the balance restores in the multiverse? 25-year-old slid it through Jacob Markstrom’s five-hole to give Vegas the lead. Game 1 William Carrier scored on an empty net late to seal the win, giving Vegas’ Vancouver loses its first playoff game of the year, Vegas takes a 1-0 third line both goals in the game. The Golden Knights bottom six was the lead. difference, controlling play through physicality and puck possession. The VANCOUVER — The debate of going in rested versus not continues. Canucks top line of Pettersson, J.T. Miller and Tyler Toffoli dominated the game, creating scoring chance after scoring chance, but were held The Golden Knights entered Rogers Arena less than 48 hours removed off the score sheet. from their thrilling Game 7 victory over Calgary to escape a brutal first- round series. Meanwhile, the Canucks had nine days of rest after “That’s Flower being Flower,” Vegas defenseman Nate Schmidt said. sweeping their first-round opponent. “We need to clean some things up in our own end back at home because we can’t count on him to bail us out every time. Glad he did tonight, It showed as the Golden Knights took advantage of a sluggish Vancouver though.” squad to steal Game 1 by a score of 4-2. Mark Stone led the way for Vegas, scoring two goals including one only 17 seconds into the contest. – Jesse Granger William Karlsson won the opening faceoff back to Shea Theodore, who Marc-Andre Fleury is the Canucks’ kryptonite. Until Vancouver bested Jonathan Marchessault was the only Knight to beat Jacob Markstrom in a Vegas a couple of times down the stretch on Earth 2, Fleury had gone 13 decisive 4-1 loss. It could have been worse for Vegas on the scoreboard years without dropping a regulation start against Vancouver. if not for a 38 save performance from Marc-Andre Fleury.

Is it a surprise that he’s in Vancouver’s heads after two games? It is not. “We’re still alive and that’s all that matters,” Miller said to reporters postgame. “We showed tonight that we’re not going away. If we play like @Taj1944 tweets after the game: “Vegas going to go hard at the Roxy that back in Vancouver, it’s going to take a special effort to beat us.” tonight to celebrate, so you know the Canucks will take Game 3 #EasyMoney” – Thomas Drance

That confidence is not widely shared by other Canucks fans on Twitter. Game 5

– Thomas Drance With their first win of the series, the Canucks will stick with the same lineup while the Golden Knights look to beef up the usage for their top six Game 3 and top four.

Looking to regroup, the Canucks are going to try Jordie Benn on the third Vegas wins the series. Balance has been restored. pair for Oscar Fantenberg. And in an effort to get some offence going, Tyler Myers will jump up to the first pair with Tanev dropping to the third. VANCOUVER — In the Golden Knights brief franchise history, they’ve Canucks’ coaches indicate that they’ll be using the Pettersson line with won four playoff series, with all four series-clinching wins coming away Hughes-Myers as a five-man unit at 5-on-5 for the pair of games in from Vegas. Tonight makes five, as the Golden Knights topped Vegas, so the Hughes-Myers pair will see their minutes boosted Vancouver 5-1 at Rogers Arena to claim a 4-1 series win and move onto significantly as will the first line. It’s clear Vancouver’s coaches are willing the Western Conference finals. to try anything to steal at least one win on the road to prolong this series. Marc-Andre Fleury continued his stellar postseason with an impressive – Thomas Drance 28-save night. It earned him his 88th career playoff win and improved his stat line this postseason to 1.77 goals-against average and a .937 save No changes for Vegas. They all partied equally hard at the Roxy so no percentage. minute changes either. Just have to suck it up. “He’s been unbelievable back there,” Jonathan Marchessault said, who is – Jesse Granger making his second trip to the conference finals in three seasons. “We After sweeping the Wild, the Canucks are on the verge of being swept know we have a good chance to win every night with Flower back there.” themselves. Vegas’ scoring showed up as well, with Alex Tuch striking early on the LAS VEGAS — Mark Stone had been a force for Vegas throughout the power play to make it 1-0 in the first period. Tuch screened Jacob early goings of this postseason, but in Game 3 he was unstoppable. Markstrom on the initial shot, then cleaned up the rebound for his third Stone scored not one, not two, not three, but four goals to lead Vegas to goal of the postseason. Chandler Stephenson also scored, giving the a 5-2 win over the Canucks to take a commanding 3-0 series lead. Golden Knights strong third line two goals on the night.

It was Stone’s second career postseason hat trick, after netting three “That depth scoring is why we’ve made it to this point,” Mark Stone said goals against the Sharks last season. He opened the scoring early with a following the win. “When those guys get going, it gets the rest of the spectacular unassisted goal, stripping the puck from Chris Tanev and bench going. It’s nice to see them rewarded with a couple of goals beating Jacob Markstrom with a deke in tight. tonight.”

The Golden Knights top-six forward group redeemed itself after a rough Vegas now heads to Colorado for its third-straight series as the road Game 2 in Vancouver. The top line of Stone, William Karlsson and Max team. The Golden Knights struggled immensely against the Avalanche Pacioretty was dominant, holding advantages in shots on goal (14-3), this season, going 0-3-0 including two blowout losses (7-3 and 6-1) at scoring chances (10-1) and goals (3-0) while on the ice at even strength. home. Karlsson picked up a pair of assists on goals by Stone, as Vegas raced “They’ve had our number, but this is the playoffs and none of that matters out to an early 3-0 lead. now,” Fleury said. “We’ll have to play our best, which is how it should be “Those two are just so easy to play with,” Karlsson said following the this time of year.” game. “We played well as a unit, and tonight the puck was just going in.” – Jesse Granger

The Canucks would battle back, with goals just before and after the Honestly, this is a magical pretend season for the Canucks and the fans second intermission to cut Vegas’ lead to one. But just when Vancouver showed their appreciation for the home team with a rousing standing showed signs of life, Stone again stepped on their throat with a power- ovation while the players saluted the crowd from centre ice following the play goal midway through the third period to make it 4-2. A late empty-net handshake line. goal by Nate Schmidt sealed the win and pulled Vegas one win away from the Western Conference Finals. And why not? A 15-1-1 run from mid-March through to the second round of the playoffs is historic stuff for the Canucks franchise. Coach Peter DeBoer believes his team learned a valuable lesson in the first round about not relaxing with a commanding series lead. Even in the fatalistic, uber-critical cauldron that is the Vancouver hockey market, losing to a buzzsaw team like the Golden Knights in the second “We just saw a 3-1 series lead nearly slip away, so I don’t think we’ll round is a moral victory. This loss won’t be treated the way a series loss need to worry about that,” he said. “At least I would hope not.” typically would be. Instead, it’s celebrated like the conclusion of a really – Jesse Granger fun party.

Game 4 “It’s frustrating to lose at home like this, but we have a lot to be proud of,” Bo Horvat said postgame. “We have a bright future, and we showed this Neither team makes any changes for Game 4. season that we’re almost ready to take the next step.”

The Canucks don’t leave Vegas empty-handed, cutting the series lead to The Athletic LOADED: 04.26.2020 3-1.

LAS VEGAS – The Canucks are on the board, thanks to J.T. Miller.

Dominant from puck drop, Miller scored two goals in the opening frame on his way to a hat trick and prolonged the Canucks’ Cinderella season in the process. Pettersson, Toffoli and Hughes all pitched in a pair of points each.

“That was a big game, from a big-game player,” Bo Horvat said of Miller’s performance postgame. 1183526 Websites Imagine being on a team like that, having multiple months off, then having to get back into games that can’t really further your personal goals given the bulk of your final grade for the year is already in. And the teams The Athletic / Differing motivation levels will be a challenge if NHL you’ll be going up against, in many cases, will be humming, giving they’re season resumes fighting for better positions from which to start their Stanley Cup journey.

Yes, these guys are pros, and yes, they’d be just fine. It’s just very clear to me that the motivation to be in peak physical form to play a By Justin Bourne presumably congested cluster of games at nearly a playoff pace … well, it’s not going to be easy. Those players will have to find their own ways to Apr 25, 2020 motivate themselves, because let’s be real, many would rather not see the NHL return at all this season. They’d prefer to ramp up for a season when they’d have a more realistic chance. You don’t end up a pro athlete or at the highest level of any profession without at least a halfway decent level of intrinsic motivation. Many of us Just check out what Brendan Gallagher told Eric Engels of Sportsnet.ca have played sports with supremely talented people who lacked the this week. He basically said the players will need to be well looked after commitment to apply themselves and, in turn, fizzled out far below what here before anything is agreed to because, hey, not everyone wants this looked like their possible ceiling. You just can’t Make It without some fire to happen, and there are risks involved (primarily related to health — within. injury and illness). I’m reading into his quotes, of course, but I think it’s a reasonable takeaway from the comments below. He’s talking about the What motivates players varies to some extent, but there are cycles to the league coming back in July with hub cities (as has been rumoured): season that come with shared motivational cues. As not every team makes the postseason and outcomes vary so greatly from player to “This is something that, for this stuff to happen, any hockey being played player and team to team within each year, I think it’s safe to call the start after July 1, I believe, has to be approved by the players’ association. of the season the single biggest shared motivational moment on the And this, I guess, rumour that was put out there — it has nothing to do sporting calendar. Players are trying to make the big club but are also with us. This is the scenario that — I’m assuming it came from the vying for the best linemates and the most special-team minutes and are owners and it’s something they would prefer. Our side hasn’t really talked really working to be their best before whatever will become standard for about it, so there’s really no substance to that at the moment. their teams crystallizes. It’s a fresh start for most everyone, anything can “For us right now, it always comes back to the same thing — it’s about happen, and everyone has worked for months to get into the best shape winning and if it’s going to interfere with our ability to prepare for next possible to begin the new year. year where we have a chance, I’d rather continue my training and But as I said, outcomes vary for players and teams, which means continue to do all that. If it’s a situation where maybe you see these motivations transform. Some years, a certain team runs away with the scenarios where you have a chance to play and they expand the playoff league and certain games in February and March don’t carry much bracket, obviously you’re going to be all for it. weight. Teams are eliminated from playoffs, moving all the ambitions to “We have a pretty good understanding and a pretty good idea of what’s personal goals rather than team aims (this is an under-discussed aspect going to be best for us. There’s really no split there, I think our team is of coaching — the challenges of keeping the focus on the team when pretty much on the same page.” team success wanes). Some players get injured and return just looking to show well for the good of their careers, some players are in contract What this all highlights to me is that if we are to get hockey back, I expect seasons, and some guys grow to hate their coaches and are just playing weird hockey. I categorize “weird” hockey as basically early-season out the string. hockey — which is higher-scoring hockey, with worse defence (but better offence!) and big change-of-lead swings. It’ll be impossible to be as Were the NHL to return this summer, and it seems at least possible, we defensively sound as good teams get over the course of a season after a may see the biggest motivational disparities ever among players, and it’s long period off, regardless of how much practice time players are given. quite possible that will be reflected in the quality of play we would see. (I think it would provide some bizarre hockey, which is the most “get your That’ll be combined with what I expect to be greatly varied levels of popcorn ready” type of hockey, and damn that sounds appealing to the conditioning among players. Most of us — players, too — have what we isolated and sports-deprived, doesn’t it?) have in isolation. Almost every player would have access to equipment and the ability to train, but presumably not like they would over the If you’re on a team that has underachieved and is clearly going to miss summer, with trainers and workout partners and shared equipment and the playoffs in a normal season, you’re always just kind of in the midst of ice and all the rest. So everyone will be left to his own devices, which will the season-long treadmill. Given where the NHL season was, with many lead to some guys coming back in the best shape they’ve had in years teams having played 70 games, those players were near the end of their (there’s plenty of free time and no distractions at this point) and others miserable run. They were in game shape, they likely found alternate being far behind their usual top outcomes. personal goals to strive towards, or they were at least comfortable enough within the pace of play that they’d be able to get through the The last part brings up the point of all this again, though, which is remaining three or four weeks of the season without raising any motivation. As an athlete, you’re always training to peak at a certain time eyebrows. on the calendar. Tiger Woods wants to be his best for The Masters, gymnasts for the Olympics and soccer players for the World Cup. If But imagine players like that trying to get back into those meaningless you’re an NHL player whose team is out of playoffs, who knows his games after having stepped off the treadmill in favour of the couch. Now position on the team and in the league (like Gallagher), you’re likely not imagine trying to get back on it at perhaps an even faster speed (given aiming to be at your absolute physical peak on U.S. Independence Day many other teams would be in their playoff pushes, but now rested to for a dozen games that affect your life only if you get injured. push even harder). It’s going to come down to that intrinsic motivation we know these guys The players on the bottom-feeding teams are generally playing for have, but the question of just how much will really be exposed. It’s hard something beyond wins, and have been for many months. They’re often for athletes to consistently push past comfortable every day to be the playing for their careers, occasionally for money, or maybe just for their elite at the right time. How much harder is it going to be when the right perceived public status before their team gets blown up and others try to time doesn’t align for all the competitors? decide which parts are salvageable. The Ottawa Senators are full of young players mostly happy to get more NHL games under their belts. If the season resumes, the hockey’s going to be more unpredictable than The Los Angeles Kings have done a big roster overhaul and are starting ever. That’s the only thing I’m sure of. But wild and weird hockey is fun to figure out how their new group is going to look (they’ve won seven hockey, and any hockey is better than no hockey, so I’m here rooting for consecutive games, if you’ve forgotten). It always seems to me that the the drama, looking forward to seeing who’s been able to make this time last month of the season is hardest on teams like the Montreal work for them instead of against them. Canadiens (or the , or the Chicago Blackhawks), who fell short of expectations and are too far from the playoffs or from the bottom The Athletic LOADED: 04.26.2020 to really go in either direction, so they just have to get to the finish line in one piece. 1183527 Websites refreshing and actually very helpful to me, because he recognized it was my first trade.”

We score Dubas’s first trade as a win for the Maple Leafs. Hyman has Sportsnet.ca / Dubas details first Maple Leafs trade, GM meeting: ‘I was established himself as a fixture of Toronto’s top six, while Florida waived scared' McKegg in 2017.

More stressful, Dubas explained, have been recent deals in which he’s Luke Fox | @lukefoxjukebox moved multiple assets for a known commodity. Like 2019’s Jake Muzzin deal with Los Angeles, which came at the cost of two prospects (Carl April 24, 2020, 4:22 PM Grundstrom, Sean Durzi’s rights) plus the Leafs’ first-round pick.

“Just wondering, ‘Is this the right thing?’ And you get caught up in what you’re giving up versus what you’re returning back,” Dubas said. You’d probably be a little tentative too, if you were a 29-year-old newbie swimming in a pool of seasoned business sharks. “It’s always nerve-racking, I think, but you try to just educate [yourself], and you’re mostly dealing with a great group of people. So, it’s all pretty Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas reflected back to that good.” anxiety-inducing June of 2015, when he’d suddenly and temporarily been handed the keys to shop. Sportsnet.ca LOADED: 04.26.2020 It was a transitional off-season in Leafland. President Brendan Shanahan had recently fired his inherited general manager, Dave Nonis, but had yet to hire Lou Lamoriello, so he slapped “interim GM” tags on assistants Dubas, his young protégé, and Mark Hunter.

“Just don’t say anything to anybody,” Shanahan advised Dubas before the rookie walked into his first GMs meeting with the other executives.

“I was scared s—less when I walked into Vegas. That was one of the most nervous times I’ve ever had in my life,” Dubas, smiling, recalled on an enlightening NHL Zoom conference Friday.

“I’ve known Ronnie Francis my whole life, so he was like the only person I felt I could talk to. I just went in, sat in my chair and took notes at the meeting and got up and left. But I was nervous as anything.

“I really didn’t feel like I belonged in there. I’d only been in the league for one year, and we were still a month away from having Lou hired. So I just went in there, took my notes and got on the plane.”

Retired NHL star Bill Guerin, 49, is still on Year 1 at the helm of the Minnesota Wild. Despite his pedigree in the game and experience in Pittsburgh learning from Jim Rutherford, Guerin agrees with Dubas.

Those meetings can be rife with intimidation for newcomers, who tend to defer to experienced voices like Doug Wilson, Doug Armstrong, Ken Holland and David Poile.

“I wasn’t saying a word. I know my first couple of meetings — nothing, nothing at all,” Guerin said. “You’re going to learn more with your ears, not your mouth.

“Some of the guys that have been around a long time, they obviously know what they’re doing and they’re kind of in control of the agenda a little bit.”

Guerin, once famous for his on-ice chirping, said he sits next to Montreal’s Marc Bergevin, “Who’s one of the funniest people you could ever meet, and he’s always cracking jokes or throwing a jab at somebody.”

One-liners pop into Guerin’s head — “But I’m doing a pretty good job of not letting it out of my mouth,” he said.

Dubas also rehashed the emotions surrounding his first NHL trade, which was consummated that same month.

Florida Panthers GM held a University of Michigan wing prospect named Zach Hyman, a Toronto native Dubas had his eye on. In exchange, Tallon wanted a young checking centre in the Leafs’ system, Greg McKegg.

Richard Deitsch and Donnovan Bennett host a podcast about how COVID-19 is impacting sports around the world. They talk to experts, athletes and personalities, offering a window into the lives of people we normally root for in entirely different ways.

“At first, I thought it was some type of setup to pull one over, but in getting to know Dale, he was just trying to be helpful. And it ended up working out for them and for us,” Dubas said, modestly avoiding to name the players involved.

“[Tallon] was great to deal with. I don’t think you could ask for somebody more straightforward and blunt about their position on it. It was kind of 1183528 Websites Richard Deitsch and Donnovan Bennett host a podcast about how COVID-19 is impacting sports around the world. They talk to experts, athletes and personalities, offering a window into the lives of people we Leafs great Wendel Clark reveals why he didn’t fight the Red Wings normally root for in entirely different ways.

SN: How difficult was it for you to listen to Burns telling you not to fight when you’ve made a career out of responding physically? Luke Fox | @lukefoxjukebox WC: It was more difficult because of the old reporters that were there at April 25, 2020, 12:30 PM the time. I did five days of questions. For five days, I had no answer for why I wasn’t fighting or trying to change the game. As an individual, and

as a team, we had to take a lot of crow from the media. They were Wendel Clark’s epic scrap with Marty McSorely in the 1993 Western expecting something because of the lineup we had built. We had a tough Conference final is the helmet-popping, jersey-yanking, knuckle- lineup, and we weren’t doing anything to change the style. Detroit was crunching stuff of hockey lore. known as the finesse guys. They had the skill. But we stuck to Burnsy’s game plan, and come Game 7 we won. So, in the big picture, Burnsy But, as the Toronto Maple Leafs icon explains, that tilt stands as the only was right. entry on his 1993 post-season fight card for good reason. SN: Your goalie was Felix Potvin, only 23 years old. He had no playoff Clark was simply obeying coach’s orders. He was buying in. Nasty experience and just 52 total games at the NHL. How did he handle the nicknames, frustrated fan base, and pestering reporters be damned. moment?

Although the 53-year-old club ambassador would rather be rooting on an WC: Unbelievable. Maturity-wise, he was above his years. You don’t Auston Matthews–led Leafs playoff run at this time of year, Clark is in expect that. You know, being a French kid coming up, there’s also the good spirits and happy to reminisce about his longest post-season run as language barrier. He didn’t know a lot of English to begin with, so you a player when he picks up the phone outside his quarantined home in didn’t know what Felix was going to be thinking. But he came in with such Muskoka. confidence. Level-headed is how handled things. He’d have a 7-2 or 8-3 loss and come back and win 1-0 or 3-2. He had such confidence in “Seven of us in a condo wouldn’t go very well,” Clark chuckles, referring himself at a young age and played so well for us, that’s why Cliff was to his downtown Toronto place. able to do that trade [at the ’93 deadline]. You trade a Grant Fuhr to Despite keeping his fists in his mitts and skating third-line minutes, Clark Buffalo and get a 50-goal guy in Dave Andreychuk, and all of a sudden was a force in 1993’s opening-round roller coaster versus a stacked you can form your Andreychuk-Gilmour pairing that, for two years, was Detroit Red Wings team. He racked up seven points in seven games and probably the best pairing in the league. registered the winner in a pivotal Game 3, which re-airs Saturday on SN: I spoke to Dave about this series. He singled out you as the most Sportsnet. inspiring teammate because he didn’t realize all the pain you were “It’s all we’re left with right now,” Clark concedes. battling through. What ached?

Over an enlightening chat (edited here for length and clarity), Clark WC: [laughs] From 1990 on, coming back from my back injury, I was discusses GM Cliff Fletcher’s bold trades, Pat Burns’s tough-dad doing three to four hours of rehab a day for the rest of my career. Every approach, and draws a parallel to the current Maple Leafs — desperate day. So, from ’91 through 2000, I was spending three hours a day on a to get over the Round 1 hump themselves. therapy table.

Sportsnet: Tell me about coach Pat Burns. What strings did he pull? SN: My gosh. Did you ever second-guess whether it was worth it?

Wendel Clark: He was a tough cop. It was gonna be his way, and he was WC: If I second-guessed it, I’d be done playing hockey in 1990. I had an gonna force you to do things — even though everybody on the outside unbelievable training staff. [Long-serving Leafs head athletic therapist] didn’t know you were forced to do it. Everybody had to do what he Chris Broadhurst was the guy that kept me together, and Ben Smith was wanted to do, and he got everybody on the same page. A lot of times his backup at the time. The work Chris did all those years kept me taped we’re all sticking up for each other because you’re mad at Burnsy. That together. was part of his coaching – he knew that would make us closer as a team, SN: What about the importance of to that ’93 squad, of right? It’s all part of him putting in a structure that he wanted, and he did having a guy who’d endured so many long playoff runs? it every year. He started in Montreal, then Toronto, then Boston, then Jersey. He coached the same way in every spot. He had a game plan, WC: He can be a guy you don’t notice. Then all of a sudden, it’s a game- and he had us as a very hard team to play against. We were all on the winner in Game 5, and then he wins the first game of the next series or same page from ’92 to ’94. something. He had an intensity, something you can’t put your finger on. He can make the big play at the right time. You wonder how they always SN: In the first round of 1993, you drop the first two games in Detroit by do it. Glenn did it all those years with Edmonton and with us in that one lopsided margins, 6-3 and 6-2. What was the mindset heading home for year. Then he got traded to the Rangers and did it for the Rangers as Game 3? well. Even at the end of his career, he could have those big games. You WC: I got more nicknames in that series than I had in my whole career wanted him on your side, because you knew if something may happen, because I didn’t have a fight in the first two games, and we were losing he was gonna be the guy. so bad. Our whole game plan, to this day, nobody really knows. Burnsy, SN: Explain the challenge Detroit presented. They were the favourite. he said, “You are not to get in a fight with [Bob] Probert or anybody else.” They had 103 points that season. They led the league in scoring (369 I wasn’t allowed to go fight because we’re losing and change the game. goals) and had the NHL’s best power play (24.9 per cent). We had to sit and take it. I kept looking back at the coach [for permission]: “No! You’re not! No!” I wasn’t allowed to do anything. So, WC: They played with such skill that, other than the Gilmour-Andreychuk after the first two games, as a team we were taking a lot of heat, and a lot line, [we couldn’t match them] as far as that type of skill. We called them of us guys that played physical were taking a lot of heat, because we the Russian 5 there. They threw all those guys together. How they can didn’t do anything to change it. That was part of Burnsy’s game plan. We handle the puck, and how they could control the game, we had to keep didn’t have to agree, but that was his thing — you’re not getting involved. them to the outside so they wouldn’t shoot. They almost wanted to make too perfect of a goal. Then you have one of the best players ever in SN: Game 3, you score a power-play winner and Toronto climbs back Stevie Yzerman, and he could do something on his own, on another line. into the series. What do you remember? They had so many scoring parts. on defence. So many WC: Burnsy’s plan kind of worked. We won Games 3, 4, 5, and then we pieces of great offence. You see it – three of the games they beat us got trounced again Game 6 at home. Going back to Detroit for Game 7, it badly. was all on the line. We weren’t really under any pressure, I don’t think. SN: The game flowed differently. You always have your individual pressure because you want to win, but it was Detroit’s to win. They beat us in Game 6, and they were higher in the WC: I always say ’90s hockey, ’92 to ’94, if you could ever bottle it…. The standings. scoring in all our series made for such great hockey — 6-5, 5-4 games — for the fan to watch. The goal-scoring guys got their points. There was see our guys play through. It might mean your best players might only physicality along the way. It was such a great era for the fans. have two points in a seven-game series, and the team wins. That doesn’t Throughout playoffs, it wasn’t a shutdown 1-0 game. There was some mean they had a bad series; they did what they had to do. That’s playoff stuff going on all the time. hockey.

SN: Andreychuk says he still feels an incredible bond to the ’93 group. Sportsnet.ca LOADED: 04.26.2020 The only team that comes close for him is 2004, when he won it all in Tampa.

WC: That comes from Cliff Fletcher down, building that squad. He put that all together, and there was a lot of moving parts starting in ’91 to pull that team together. In today’s [salary-cap] world, you could never do it. You trade for Dougie, who was probably the best player in the league for about two years, in my mind. Then you make a Fuhrsy deal twice, once to get him [by trading star forward Vincent Damphousse], and once to get a pure 50-goal scorer in Dave Andreychuk. Then bringing Burnsy in to enforce his system. And then, the coaching staff with Kitch and Murph [Mike Kitchen and Mike Murphy] really made Pat Burns a better coach. They were the go-between. A couple of the best assistant coaches I’ve had.

Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman talk to a lot of people around the hockey world, and then they tell listeners all about what they’ve heard and what they think about it.

SN: And Gilmour put it all out there.

WC: Dougie was losing weight daily. Remember, I didn’t play with Dougie all the time. Most of the time I played a third-line role. Come playoff time, Dougie would play 30 minutes. He played first line and third line. He’d step down and play with myself and Glenn Anderson, myself and Rob Pearson, myself and Mike Foligno. Foligno was another great leader, a captain in Buffalo, and all of a sudden there’s a role guy in our team that accepted it. Just the leadership that he had at the end of his career.

SN: What else about that ’93 series sticks with you?

WC: We were a fairly confident team, but we were playing against a very good Detroit team, so we never really knew going into it what would happen. Just winning that series, it’s almost like — click! — OK, we know how to play this way. We play three rounds and lose Game 7 [of the Western Conference final to the Kings] and last three rounds the next year as well. So that series clicked the team together. Everybody buying into their role — that’s the best thing.

SN: Do you remember that feeling when Nikolai Borschevsky scored in overtime in Game 7?

WC: No. Other than, we got through it. The player just lives it. I think the fan feels it more than the player sometimes, because you want to go on to the next level. But it was a good feeling for us because we hadn’t won a playoff round since ’87. That was a long time. Anytime you win, it’s the confidence you can build within your team without knowing that you’re building it. Think about right now [with the current Leafs]. The last three years we’ve been in the playoffs, and we just haven’t found a way to win. If we ever find a way to win a Game 7, there’s your next step. They’ve now figured it out. The second round would be easier than the first round.

SN: What kind of impact will this pause have on today’s Leafs after an up-and-down season?

WC: Just a confidence. They’ve gone through a lot of injuries this year, and injuries to key guys. A Morgan Rielly — when you miss a guy who skates 30 minutes a game [it hurts]. Everybody always goes by his stats, but it isn’t always about the stats. It’s the kind of minutes he plays. And the coaching change — the coach, he just doesn’t come in and flick a switch. He’s gonna feel all his players out; he’s gotta figure out which players he feels best. Sheldon [Keefe] was just getting all that figured out it. He pushed all the buttons during the year, and I think he was getting this lineup to know who could do what when.

SN: Has the organization come around a little bit on a need for toughness? The Kyle Clifford trade was interesting. The fact Kyle Dubas re-signed Jake Muzzin was huge. What do you make of the toughness of this group?

WC: Well, we have to play our style. Your level of toughness isn’t always about giving it. It’s also about your finesse players understanding they have to play through it. What used to be your crosscheck in the regular season isn’t a crosscheck in the playoffs. A knee on your back and holding you down the extra 10 seconds used to be interference in the regular season, but isn’t in the playoffs. Your finesse players have to understand and play through that. That’s a form of toughness we have to 1183529 Websites • Montreal Canadiens: Even with Carey Price and Shea Weber’s monster deals on the books till infinity, Marc Bergevin has been patiently hording cap space. We know he’s got the green light to use it (see: Sebastian Sportsnet.ca / Quick Shifts: 6 teams that could benefit from a flat salary Aho, offer sheet). A flat-cap world, combined with all those tradeable cap extra draft picks, might finally give the GM the necessary leverage to land a big fish and get back to the dance.

• Columbus Blue Jackets: Even when Jarmo Kekalainen locks up No. 1 Luke Fox | @lukefoxjukebox centre Pierre-Luc Dubois (RFA), he’ll have plenty of cap space to improve one of the hardest-working groups in the East. This is a result of April 25, 2020, 8:05 AM securing hockey’s cheapest goaltending tandem (Elvis Merzlikins and Joonas Korpisalo, a combined $6.8-million hit) and top-pair defencemen Seth Jones and Zach Werenski at a combined $10.4 million, through A quick mix of the things we gleaned from the week of hockey, serious 2021-22. Look out. and less so, and rolling four lines deep. Fun fact: “Too Hot to Handle!” is also what I holler when I swish jump shots over my nine-year-old in the 2. I called up Doug Gilmour this week for a forthcoming interview about driveway. the 1993 playoffs, but we began by talking Michael Jordan. Like the rest of us, he’s keen to watch The Last Dance. Dougie and Mike are both 1. “Weaponize your cap space” is term that become en vogue in recent 1963-born Hall of Famers. NHL seasons, as clubs with high ceilings have increasing (and shrewdly) been willing to swallow an undesirable contract in exchange for a tasty In Gilmour’s basement sits one of 100 original prints of The Last Shot kickback. that he bought at a Chicago auction when he was playing for the Blackhawks in the late ’90s. We all remember the legendary Arizona Coyotes careers of Marian Hossa and Pavel Datsyuk, right? Like any Jordan acquaintance worth his salt, Gilmour has a golf tale.

Last summer, the budget-conscious scored the “We had a golf tournament back in the day, Michael Jordan/Doug Toronto Maple Leafs’ 2020 first-round pick because they were willing to Gilmour. Just a one-year event. And it was at Lionhead. So, he came up acquire, then buy out, Patrick Marleau. The Devils landed onetime Norris to me said, ‘Thanks for doing this. Betcha 40 bucks today. What’s your winner P.K. Subban for a song. handicap?’ I said, ‘I’m about a 10 handicap.’ He said, ‘OK, 40 bucks — U.S.’ I say, ‘OK, sure,’ ” Gilmour recalls. At the 2018 draft, Colorado’s Joe Sakic only had to surrender a second- round pick to Washington for an emerging starting goalie in Philipp “I ended up shooting a 79. He shot an 84 or something like that. So, I Grubauer because the Avalanche were willing to eat the overpriced final said, ‘Well…’ And he goes, ‘I’m not paying you, you sandbagger.’ ” year on Brooks Orpik’s deal. And he doesn’t. A pair of club presidents, Boston’s Cam Neely and Toronto’s Brendan When Gilmour signs with Chicago in ’98, he starts hanging out with Shanahan, confirmed this week that while the NHL has no interest in Jordan’s longtime bodyguard, George Kohler, because they’re decreasing the cap ceiling from 2019-20’s $81.5-million threshold, frequenting the same little pub. So, Gilmour tells Kohler about the unpaid executives should expect a flat cap in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. $40 bet. “There’s no question this is going to affect the cap for next year, and it “I was there!” George laughs. may even affect it a little bit after that,” Neely said Thursday. “Maybe a flat cap for a year or two.” Flash forward three years. Gilmour is in Montreal playing for the Canadiens. He buys a TV from a guy who overcharges, and the guy Basic economics teach us the law of supply and demand. So, with less takes off with the money. Gilmour has someone trying to chase this cap space to go around, the price for securing it should logically go up. swindler for the dough. The revisit of compliance buyouts could help alleviate some pain. So, One day Gilmour gets an anonymous phone call from a voice he too, could dealing with the teams that have space to weaponize. In this naturally assumes is the TV conman. flat-cap world, it should be fascinating to see how the following clubs use this new advantage, either via trades to acquire picks and prospects or in “Hey, Gilmour! You want the money? Try and collect!” Click. their ability to outbid cap-tight organizations in the free-agent market. “So, I call the NHL security to find out this guy’s name, right?” Gilmour Weaponize away. recalls. “And the next day I get a call: ‘Hey, did you get your message from MJ?’ • Ottawa Senators: As painful as it was to watch so much prime talent stroll out the doors, it’s difficult to argue against Pierre Dorion’s “I said, ‘No s–––… that was him?’ Here I am calling the NHL security on aggressive approach to stocking the cupboards. Yes, RFAs Connor this other guy.” Brown, Chris Tierney and Anthony Duclair deserve pay bumps, but veterans Ron Hainsey, Craig Anderson, and Mikkel Boedker are coming Gilmour laughs, in admiration of Jordan’s commitment to that 40 bucks. off the books, opening up another $12.25 million. Heck, the Sens may be He’d run into Jordan again in 2001. Gilmour decided to play another year more concerned about the floor than the ceiling. Absolutely, they can use for the Sabres after 9/11, and Jordan had come out of retirement to play that space to improve — if Eugene Melnyk approves. for the Wizards. During a Washington road trip, Dougie ran into Kohler at • New Jersey Devils: Despite a flat cap, the rebuilding Devils should have the rink. roughly $29 million in wiggle room for 2020-21. Yes, RFAs Mackenzie “MJ was in the back room doing a workout and stuff, so I went in and saw Blackwood and Jesper Bratt will need nice raises, but that leaves plenty him. He goes, ‘Holy s–––! You’re still playing?’ ” Gilmour laughs. “I said, ‘I of cap space to dangle in front of their overcommitted competition. guess you are, too.’ ”

• Los Angeles Kings: Like Dorion, Rob Blake has done some fine work 3. Like me, vintage Leaf Jason Spezza was in his formative years when purging his middle class and fetching nice returns for rental players. L.A. the Bulls — and their Starter caps and No. 23 jerseys — dominated. He’s has stocked eight picks in the first four rounds of the 2020 draft. Blake all over The Last Dance. realizes he’s not a year or two away from contention and should be willing to deal. “My wife was joking that she hadn’t seen me so excited to watch a TV show in a long time. I spent a good portion of my youth in a Michael • Colorado Avalanche: What separates the Avs from the others on this Jordan jersey that I bought on a family trip to Florida,” Spezza says. “I’ve list is they’re a bona fide Cup contender now. Sakic will have decisions to got hundreds of pictures with the jersey on, so that’s right in the heyday make on a bunch of 2020 free agents (Andre Burakovsky, Vladislav of my fandom. To see behind the scenes — you’ve heard the stories, but Namestnikov, Tyson Jost, Valeri Nichushkin, Ryan Graves, Nikita to see the raw footage is pretty cool. Zadorov), but his enviable cap picture provides a flexibility to chase difference-makers and/or scoop up some extra draft picks. “Even with how much of a fan you become, I didn’t know the inside of that because I was a young kid. Just to kind of see the history of it all is kind of cool. Some of the practice confrontations and stuff like that is what you kind of expect from Michael with the stories you hear, but it’s 8. My personal quarantine challenge this week (Grade 4 long division cool to see.” and rationing one family bag of Doritos notwithstanding) was trying to stop grinning at the Wayne Gretzky–Alex Ovechkin love-in, which spilled 4. A young T.J. Oshie was a point-per-game stud for three seasons at from a double interview into a very sloppy and very vocal game of NHL the University of North Dakota and was initially enthused that his alma 20. (Mic’d up Ovi is the greatest Ovi.) mater was under consideration as a neutral site for the resumption of NHL action. Here’s my favourite anecdote.

“North Dakota is probably the No. 1 place I’d want to play in the world, so Ovechkin is an avid collector and owner of nearly 100 game-used sticks. that would be amazing,” the Capitals star said. “All the blocked shots, all Years ago, in his first meeting with The Great One, Ovechkin asked the injuries, all that stuff — that all is geared toward getting in the playoffs Gretzky for one of his old twigs. and having a chance to raise the Cup. And to not have that possibility is a hard pill to swallow.” “Win the Cup, and I’ll give you a stick,” Gretzky replied.

Oshie became a dad (again) during quarantine and is champing at the bit Ovechkin never mentioned it again — until that sloppy summer of 2018. to resume Washington’s legitimate run at a second championship. Oshie Gretzky remembers hearing from Ovechkin once a month after that, says give him a week on-ice and he’d be good to make an impact in the pestering for his prize. playoffs. “He promised me,” Ovechkin said. Things change fast. The notion of neutral sites has been ditched in favour of four, division-based locales in established markets. Finally, Gretzky dug up the silver Easton he used to score his 807th goal and mailed it to the Capitals. “I don’t give away these things,” Gretzky “There was some talk of North Dakota and some other sites,” Colin said. Campbell said Friday on Hockey Central at Noon Friday. “We need an NHL arena.” “I was happy like a little kid to have a Christmas gift,” said Ovechkin, who promptly showed it off to his teammates. “If I’m going to use that stick, Colin Campbell, speaking on Hockey Central at Noon, mentions the I’m probably not going to shoot as hard as I do right now.” 70-cent dollar in Canada as a financial incentive to host some NHL hubs north of the border if season resumes. I paused the clip and zoomed in on the blade’s inscription: To Alex, Love watching you play. Wayne Gretzky 99. — luke fox (@lukefoxjukebox) April 24, 2020 Incredible. A wise person once told me to never criticize my son’s game 5. Boston blueliner Charlie McAvoy smiles as he tells a story about how after watching him play. “The best thing you can say to your own kid is, ‘I his father’s aversion to conflict forced him into his position at a very love watching you play,’ ” he said. young age: That always stuck with me. “Naturally, we all wanted to score all the goals and be the sniper. I was no different. So, I grew up wanting to play forward — that’s what I love. 9. Ovechkin asked Gretzky what he would do in these unusual My dad, he was the coach. So, he said: ‘Everybody wants to play circumstances to stay sharp for the playoffs. forward.’ And instead of having to talk to parents and be like, ‘Yeah, your Gretzky said he’d find the closest simulation to actual hockey. With no ice son’s gonna play D,’ he just didn’t even give me a choice. He said, available, he’d seek out a set of inline skates and stride around flat ‘You’re playing D.’ So he put me back there. pavement in his neighbourhood as much as possible. The first thing a “But still wanting to be that guy, I think that’s how my offensive side of the player loses in the off-season, 99 figures, is a skating stride. game came into it. I still wanted to go score and rush the puck — a lot of “I would try to find places to Rollerblade as much as possible,” Gretzky things that I still try and do today. Looking back on it now, I wouldn’t said. change anything. We know Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner are on blades these days. “I had one year when I was 11/12 that I went up and played forward. It Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy and Lightning coach Jon Cooper say their was good, but then we ended up getting a [defenceman] hurt, so I had to teams have made an effort to equip players with Rollerblades, too. drop back to play for him. That was the point where I said, ‘I never want to play forward again.’ ” “The technology has advanced so much that they’re getting similar to skating with blades on ice,” Cooper says. “But there is really no 6. Jacob Markstrom doesn’t actually get to vote on the NHL awards, but replication. I know a lot of guys have tried it. A lot of guys are doing that. he was kind enough to offer up a couple of his picks on Zoom call. “You can you put a stick in your hands and a ball and things like that. It Hart Trophy? “David Pastrnak in Boston. I know Vancouver and Boston can help you out, keep you in the rhythm of what goes on in the ice, but aren’t really friends, but he’s an amazing person and an even a better you ask any of the players: Rollerblading and skating are still two hockey player. He’s playing out of his mind right now.” different things. Replicating it is extremely difficult. But if you want to inch Norris Trophy? “Quinn Hughes is up there, but I think he’s gonna get his your way a little bit closer, the guys wheeling around in Rollerblades, it get his opportunity [later], so right now I’m going to go with my fellow makes them feel like they’re playing a little bit closer to the game.” Swede, Victor Hedman.” 10. Meet Zeus, Marner’s 11-month-old chocolate Lab and emergency 7. Current NHL players were polled as to who among them is the backup defender. funniest. “He loves the water. He loves anything to do with balls or chasing and Keith Yandle won in a landslide, securing 18 per cent of the votes. (Drew retrieving things. We’ve just been trying to take him in the backyard when Doughty finished second with seven per cent, followed by Brad he gets all hyper, throwing the ball around for him and letting him just run Marchand and Phil Kessel.) around and do his thing,” Marner said last week, proudly.

Yandle’s wit was on full display when he crashed this week’s all- “I’ve been stickhandling on the lawn with a golf ball and one of my irons, Beantown Zoom call with some of Massachusetts’ best: Chris Kreider, just playing around with my dog in that regard. I’m just trying to keep my Kevin Hayes and Chris Wagner. mental state right. I’m trying to stay healthy with it, happy with it.

“Krieds, you look like you’re trying out for a Prison Break episode,” “I’m staying up to par conditioning-wise and hoping that my hands and Yandle snaps. stuff will come back when I grab a hockey stick again. But obviously if this thing keeps going how it’s going, then I’m going to get a stick and The interview plays out like hockey’s version of a “Sully & Denise” sketch hopefully a net somewhere around this house and start shooting and from Saturday Night Live. Between this, the 2011 Bruins’ Zoom reunion, stickhandling.” and that club’s townhall series, Boston is winning quarantine. Zeus looks game. (On the topic of that rather, um, lively 2011 Zoomunion, Neely says, “I understand there was some colourful language, but we were excited the 11. With hockey revenue set to suffer an unprecedented hit, one cost the players were very interested in doing this for our fans.”) league will surely cut is the NHL Awards gala, an annual party/broadcast endeavour that costs millions to put on. Expect one of two other awards formats. There could be a slow rollout of the winners during the playoffs, much like the way the NBA used to do its unveilings and the way the NHL did in a lockout-shortened 2013. Alternatively, the league might opt for a virtual TV show, in the vein of last week’s One World: Together at Home concert, pulling in computer feeds from several players and presenters.

12. This life pause has given some of us extra time to dig into our literal or digital closets and rediscover gems (or purge junk) from the past.

My uncle, , had a friend send him the following short, audio- free clip from way back in his days centring the Dallas Black Hawks — before he graduated to the NHL and enjoyed a 409-game run with Islanders, Scouts and Rockies.

Too young to ever see my uncle play, this is a tiny treasure. Shout out to Uncle Dave, No. 11, setting up a Grade A scoring chance against the Oklahoma City Blazers.

Sportsnet.ca LOADED: 04.26.2020 1183530 Websites

Sportsnet.ca / Remember When? Johnny Bower earns Game 7 shutout in 1964 Stanley Cup Final

Josh Beneteau | @jbenny15

April 25, 2020, 1:04 PM

With nearly every sports organization on the planet on pause at the moment as the world deals with the COVID-19 pandemic, we feel it’s an opportune time to reminisce about some special moments in sports history.

On this day in 1964, Johnny Bower recorded the first-ever shutout in a Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final as the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Detroit Red Wings 4-0.

Bower made 33 saves in the win, leading the Maple Leafs to a third consecutive championship and second-straight against his good friend, Gordie Howe, and the Red Wings.

“I’d like to thank the people of Toronto for having so much patience with us,” Bower told the crowd on the ice after the win, according to NHL.com. “I know we did have a few bad games. It’s certainly wonderful to win the Stanley Cup, and I give a lot of credit to Detroit, who played so well.”

Neither team gave up much of an edge in this series with five of the seven games decided by one goal, including two in overtime. The most famous goal of the series came in overtime of Game 6 when Maple Leafs defenceman Bobby Baun scored despite leaving the game earlier on a stretcher with a fractured ankle.

Bower’s shutout was certainly earned in Game 7. The 39-year-old netminder made key saves on shots from the Red Wings’ Larry Jeffrey — off a turnover from Tim Horton — and Parker MacDonald, who was alone in the slot after a setup from Norm Ullman. Ullman also had a shot ring off the post.

Andy Bathgate, who was acquired in a seven-player blockbuster with the that February, scored the game-winner on a first- period breakaway. The Maple Leafs then pulled away with three goals in the final frame from Dave Keon, former Red Wing Red Kelly and captain George Armstrong.

Bower preserved the shutout with a late save on Howe, who gave his fishing buddy a friendly pat on the head before skating back down the ice.

In the handshake line, Howe asked Bower to exchange sticks with him, to which Bower jokingly replied: “I should have taken your stick off you seven games ago.” Mr. Hockey had four goals and eight points in the series.

There have been 17 Game 7s in Stanley Cup Final history but only four have ended in a shutout. After Bower’s performance in 1964, Gump Worsley made 18 saves in 1965 to help the Canadiens beat the Blackhawks 2-0, Martin Brodeur made 24 saves in a 3-0 win by the Devils over Ducks in 2003 and Tim Thomas made 37 saves in 2011 as the Bruins beat the Canucks 4-0. Thomas remains the only goalie to achieve the feat on the road.

After the game, which was the 10th Stanley Cup win by the Maple Leafs, Armstrong had high praise for his goalie.

“Look at Johnny Bower. How else can you account for him? Hell, he gets tuckered out when we go for a walk in the afternoon but look at the way he’s played,” the captain said, according to Eric Zweig’s 2017 book, The Toronto Maple Leafs: The Complete Oral History.

“And with guys like that coming through, the others have an example to live up to and they dig in and work.”

Sportsnet.ca LOADED: 04.26.2020 1183531 World Leagues News 1,055 dead, 30,839 people with infections statewide

Florida on Saturday morning released data showing that 612 people have died from COVID-19 in South Florida, according to the Department Florida coronavirus updates: Movie theaters, sports arenas and bars will of Health. That’s an increase of 28 people in Broward, Palm Beach and remain closed for now Miami-Dade counties from Friday morning.

In Miami-Dade County, the epicenter for the state’s outbreak, 295 people By MARC FREEMAN and DAVID FLESHLER have died and 11,005 have become infected.

SOUTH FLORIDA SUN SENTINEL | Statewide, 1,055 people have died and 30,839 individuals have tested positive so far. About 4,849 people have been treated in hospitals. APR 25, 2020 | 5:13 PM The coronavirus death toll in the United States is 53,280, including more than 17,100 victims in the national epicenter, New York City. The country’s total number of cases was 929,730 on Saturday evening. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis answers a question along with Dr. Wael Barsoum, the CEO & President of the Cleveland Clinic Florida along with LOADED: 04.26.2020 other doctors during a press Conference at the Florida Cleveland Clinic in Weston on Saturday, April 25, 2020.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis answers a question along with Dr. Wael Barsoum, the CEO & President of the Cleveland Clinic Florida along with other doctors during a press Conference at the Florida Cleveland Clinic in Weston on Saturday, April 25, 2020.(Mike Stocker / South Florida Sun Sentinel)

The reopening of Florida after coronavirus shutdowns will begin with “a very, very small step forward,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said Saturday.

A statewide stay-home order is in place through Thursday, but the governor said there will be several phases of rebooting businesses and recreational activities after that “based on data, where trends are.”

Preventing crowds will be key in the beginning, so movie theaters and bars will stay closed, he said, during a news conference at Cleveland Clinic Florida in Weston.

“We’re not doing in-person sports yet, no matter what,” DeSantis said, leaving open the door to some made-for-TV events without fans attending in person. “That’s just not going to happen in May.”

He also suggested the potential for outside dining areas at restaurants.

“You’re much better off being outdoors than in an enclosed environment,” he said. “That’s just the reality.”

Southeast Florida will likely lag behind less-affected areas of the state in reopening.

That’s because 59% of the state’s 30,839 people with COVID-19 were in the counties of Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach. Those three counties are home to about 29 percent of the state’s population.

“I’m not in a rush to do anything, I’d rather do it right,” DeSantis said, adding that he’s listening to the advice of medical experts and his task force on reopening plans. “We’re in unchartered waters here.”

Hospital officials, joining the governor on Saturday, said people shouldn’t let down their guard — or their masks. They said social distancing measures, and hand-washing routines, should continue.

“It’s too early, obviously, to state that we’ve won this, that we’re victorious," said Dr. Wael Barsoum, CEO and president of Cleveland Clinic Florida.

But he added that clinical trials are under way and treatment strategies are constantly evolving, meaning “there’s a tremendous amount of hope moving forward.”

Testing numbers improve, governor says

The percentage of Florida residents getting diagnosed with the new coronavirus has dropped, amounting to just 7.5% of everyone tested in the past week, DeSantis said.

“That’s a good sign that things are going in a good direction,” he said.

There have been 334,974 people swabbed across the state for COVID- 19 since the outbreak began, with 9.2%, having positive results.

Experts say the actual number of infections to date in Florida and elsewhere is higher, because not everyone who has had COVID-19 has been tested for it.

DeSantis said the state will continue to ramp up screening in the next week, with a supply of antibody tests expected to arrive May 1. 1183532 World Leagues News At least as of Saturday, the league — whose chief medical officer, Dr. Winne Meeuwisse, has a PhD in clinical epidemiology — and union had not addressed myriad issues. One of the most critical regards the risk NHL restart plans intensify with player health concerns at forefront p\layers with underlying medical conditions might confront under a reopening scenario.

Kaapo Kakko, for example, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes and By Larry BrooksApril 25, 2020 | 2:13pm | Updated celiac five or six years ago. Montreal’s Max Domi and Minnesota’s Luke Kunin have also been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. According to the

American Diabetes Association, those individuals with Type 1 diabetes The NHL and NHLPA are intensifying communications as the league are not necessarily more susceptible to contracting COVID-19 but are moves forward crafting plans to reopen the season if it is safe to do so. likely to face worse outcomes.

Slap Shots has learned a Return to Play Committee established by the Brian Boyle, of course, was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia in league and the union has conducted a pair of conference calls over the 2017. He has been in full remission since October 2018 but may face a past three days with regularly scheduled “meetings” to follow. higher risk than the general playing population. There are other players with auto-immune issues. This is a topic on the PA’s list that must be Gary Bettman, Bill Daly, and senior VPs Colin Campbell and Steve Hatze addressed. Petros represent the NHL, while the NHLPA is represented by Don Fehr, Mathieu Schneider, general counsel Don Zavelo, divisional rep Steve Testing will be an issue. How will tests be administered to every team’s Webb, and active players John Tavares, Connor McDavid, James van traveling party of up to 60 people per, how often will tests be conducted, Riemsdyk and Ron Hainsey. Medical advisers from both the league and and how long will it take to get results? The underlying question, of union are added to the calls when appropriate. course, is how is the NHL procuring not only enough testing kits, but swabs, reagents and necessary labs? We’re told the discussions thus far have not honed in on details as much as concepts. But the details will determine not only whether the NHL can Those questions have yet to be answered. develop a pragmatic plan in the midst of a pandemic, but whether the The “day-in-the-life” itinerary under which players would be quarantined players will agree to it. has yet been presented to the union. The idea is to keep the circle as The NHL’s credibility will be on the line if play resumes, for it won’t only tight as possible, but that would mean everyone associated with the effort be the players putting their trust in the league, but the public, as well. A — players, staff, on-ice officials, off-ice officials, NHL staff, arena shutdown following a restart would likely be more damaging to the sport laborers, bus drivers, food preparers, wait staff, et al — would be than outright cancellation of the remainder of 2019-20. quarantined in a hotel for weeks on end, leaving only to head to the rink.

So would a scenario under which multiple players would have to be What about players/personnel whose significant others give birth? What replaced by AHL call-ups from expanded 30-man rosters after testing about players/personnel who have weddings scheduled for the summer? positive. If the NHL is going to do this, it’s going to have to present a What if a family member falls ill? What about Europeans returning from credible product. their respective home countries? What about existing travel restrictions? What about the many topics I’m sure I haven’t considered? Friday night, deputy commissioner Daly told TSN’s Ryan Rishaug, “Everything depends on the facts and entire set of circumstances, but no, These are all topics on the agenda for the Return to Play Committee. we do not believe that one positive test, or even multiple positive tests Reopening the league will be a massive task. Every “i” must be dotted, [would] necessarily shut the whole thing down.” every “t” must be crossed. For if the NHL reopens, this will be one time Following that, Daly told Slap Shots in an email exchange, “Of course when hockey will be a life and death proposition. people who test positive would be immediately removed from the mix.” NY Post LOADED: 04.26.2020 Asked if he could clarify his statements in the interview, Daly said, “Everything depends on precise circumstances. I’m not about to go through a million fact patterns that are different and completely hypothetical.

“I’m fully comfortable with our level of knowledge and the experts we have retained to make the right decisions.”

Ultimately, decisions will be made by local governing bodies and public health agencies. For instance, the league had explored Calgary and Edmonton as potential centralized host sites under its four-arena plan, but on Thursday, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health reiterated that gatherings of 15 or more people would be prohibited until at least September.

According to sources, Toronto and Columbus are leading contenders to become two of the host cities. We’re told the plan would be for all teams to hold their training camps of up to three weeks at their assigned centralized locations.

This means players on clubs that advance deep into the playoffs following the planned hypothetical completion of the regular season would be segregated from society — and, more to the point, their families — for nearly four months.

Though the league would like to divide the quadrants into divisions, that may not be possible if geography is taken into account. For instance, if Toronto hosts the Atlantic Division, that would be relatively convenient for the Leafs, Senators, Canadiens, Bruins, Red Wings and Sabres, but not at all for the Lightning and Panthers. If a southern city is chosen as a host site, the Florida teams might be assigned to that location.

But that is secondary, as is the fact much of the league’s interest in setting up shop in Canada is based on the currency conversion rate under which the Canadian dollar is now at 71 cents compared to the U.S. dollar. Costs matter. 1183533 World Leagues News The statement continued: “The club has strongly expressed its disappointment to the player and made it clear that such actions are completely unacceptable.

Premier League to return in weeks EXCLUSIVE, training grounds open, “The amazing people in the NHS ­deserve the utmost respect for their UFC Fight Island in June hard work and sacrifice.”

4 Hours Ago26th April 2020

SunSport Reporters MORNING SPORTS FANS,

26 Apr 2020, 10:09Updated: 26 Apr 2020, 10:09 Chelsea have told their players to forget about taking a pay cut and instead to donate the money to charity amid the coronavirus pandemic.

PREMIER LEAGUE clubs hope they can return to training on May 9, The Blues have been in negotiations with their players about a salary SunSport can reveal. reduction, reportedly around 10 per cent, in an effort to save money during the current crisis. And Arsenal are re-opening their training ground on Monday for players to train alone. Arsenal's squad will return to training next week – but social distancing measures will be in place. Meanwhile, Dana White believes his UFC Fight Island will be ready by June. Mikel Arteta’s men are set to be put through individual workouts on the outdoor pitches at London Colney. CLOUD NINE All of Aston Villa's first-team players and coaching staff have agreed to The financial havoc in football caused by the coronavirus pandemic has slash their wages by 25 per cent for four months. lead even Manchester United to change their transfer plans. Montpellier midfielder Junior Sambia is no longer in an induced coma, Red Devils boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had drawn up a transfer target list according to reports in France. of NINE players. The 23-year-old was put into an artificial coma on Thursday afternoon But plans for many of them are likely to be shelved after Old Trafford after contracting coronavirus. chief Ed Woodward's comments yesterday. Norwich City will not back down on their decision to furlough 200 Woodward told fans it may not be “business as usual” due to the havoc members of their non-playing staff. caused by coronavirus. The club are expected to lose up to £35million as a result of the The Daily Star report the nine players on United's shortlist were Jadon coronavirus pandemic. Sancho, Harry Kane, Jack Grealish, James Maddison, Donny van de Beek, Moussa Dembele, Erling Haaland, Timo Werner and Raul Non-league football may not return until 2021 according to BBC Sport. Jimenez. The government's chief medical officer Chris Witty said social distancing 2 Hours Ago26th April 2020 will have to be in place for “really quite a long period of time”.

BREAKING League One clubs are each set for an £850,000 hit if their season is not completed. UFC superstar Khabib Nurmagomedov's father has been hospitalised with flu and pneumonia-like symptoms after walking in the mountains And the ECB have received “multiple offers” from abroad to help near their home in Russia. complete the domestic county cricket season but the new flagship tournament The Hundred could be pushed back to 2021. Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, 57, reportedly had to be persuaded by his two sons to visit hospital, but he has not yet been diagnosed with 13 Hours Ago25th April 2020 coronavirus. SAL DESTROYING

Russian journalist Ramazan Rabadanov reported: “Abdulmanap is in Liverpool's Mo Salah would feel ‘CURSED’ if coronavirus KO’s this Makhachkala, in the Second City Hospital. He got sick in the mountains. season and Liverpool are denied the Premier League title.

“He walked for two days, the brothers barely persuaded to go to the The forward, 27, already has experience of a league campaign finishing hospital. While coronavirus is not confirmed, they say the flu. prematurely — and it proved to be the turning point of his career.

“No one is allowed to visit him.” It was in February 2012 when 74 people were killed and about 1,000 2 Hours Ago26th April 2020 were injured by football hooligans during the Port Said stadium tragedy.

TOFFEES NOT SO KEAN The Egyptian domestic league was cancelled for two years and 11 Al- Masry Ultras were sentenced to death for the disaster. Footie Covidiot Moise Kean has thrown a raunchy party at home in lockdown, it has emerged. The 19-year-old Salah was a promising star for struggling Al-Mokawloon but as a result of the shutdown, his club stayed up and Salah signed for The Everton player, 20, who is thought to earn £50,000 a week, filmed Basel, Chelsea, Fiorentina, Roma and then Liverpool. himself at the bash in his Cheshire apartment. His former captain Mohamed El Akabawy told SunSport: “For sure, Salah Several models were seen lapdancing and touching the crotches of men will feel cursed that he may have experienced two seasons being in footage posted to a private Snapchat group with the caption cancelled.” “quarantine clean”. LOADED: 04.26.2020 A club statement said: “Everton are appalled to learn of an incident in which a first-team player ignored government guidance and club policy in relation to coronavirus.”

A source close to the Italian striker said: “Clearly, Moise and his friends didn’t think the rules applied to them.

“The party was wild and went on until the early hours. Premier League stars are getting paid huge salaries and not working.

“That must be infuriating enough for people who are losing jobs or taking pay cuts. Do they think they are above the rules?” 1183534 World Leagues News build confidence, preventing injuries is just as important in a collision sport like football.

“I’m a real believer that players who lift hard tend not to have as many Football coaches prepare for if and when season returns joint injuries,” Craven said. “And if you take away that preparation of lifting, I think it will create more joint issues. That’s my biggest concern.”

By BRIAN RATHBONE The Bulletin 5 hrs ago 0 Yet, no team in the state can open its weight room, so no team will have an advantage.

“You don’t have teams in the (Willamette Valley) weight training together. Bend High football coach Matt Craven jokes with his assistant coaches At least you have an even playing field,” Crum said. “I tell the kids, that high school football might revert to what it was like 50 years ago — ground was made for pushups and the road was made for running.” when kids would show up in the middle of August, receive a helmet and start practicing. With the uncertainty of when high school athletics will return to their normal operations, football programs — and other fall sports programs — A typical summer for a football player at Bend High, Summit and will be tested on their malleability. Mountain View is more like this: “What this (coronavirus) and what sports show us is that we have to be Two weeks of spring camp before the school year ends; then a trip to a super flexible,” Crum said. “We might come back for two weeks at some team camp shortly after school is out; followed by passing-league point and then they say: ‘No, sorry, we aren’t as clear as we thought we competitions and weight training multiple times a weeks through July. were.’ And then we have to go back to being closed again.”

And that is all before the teams can officially, and legally, hold organized The Bulletin LOADED: 04.26.2020 team practices in August.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many of those offseason activities have already been canceled or postponed.

In a sport like football, in which the game is broken up into individual plays — unlike soccer or basketball — preparing for a season with limited practices and preparation presents a number of issues. It limits the time that a team can work through its playbook and get physically prepared for the season.

“If that is the case, then you reduce your playbook, try to do some simple things, and out-execute teams that way,” said Craven.

A scroll through the Oregon School Activities Association Twitter feed this week shows a slew of retweets from multiple teams from schools around the state, tweeting a photo with the phrase “We Will Play Again.” Many of the tweets from team Twitter accounts include the caption “Today, tomorrow, next month, next year. #WeWillPlayAgain.”

While high school sports will not return today, tomorrow, or in a month, the next academic year is still in play — yet still in question. Should everything break the right way, four months from now, the season will kick off the final week of August.

But the threat of a canceled fall season still looms large. The precautions and regulations brought on by the coronavirus pandemic have left most all sports at all levels to cancel or postpone their seasons. Spring high school sports in Oregon have already been axed, and now a fall season does not seem all that guaranteed.

The OSAA Executive Board will hold a meeting on May 4, and one item on the agenda is dealing with the current impact of the coronavirus.

Waiting became a common theme before the cancellation of spring sports. Players are looking to coaches for answers, coaches to athletic directors, athletic directors to the OSAA, and the OSAA to Gov. Kate Brown. Many of the decisions regarding high school athletics are out of the hands of those who typically make those decisions.

“Kids are worried that they are going to lose their season, and I’m not going to believe that. I’m going to be an optimist,” said Mountain View football coach Brian Crum. “We are going to be socially responsible. We are going to be smart. And if we do those things, we will be able to return to normal. The key is to keep 14- to 17-year-olds motivated.”

While the NFL was frantically working to make sure it could hold its annual draft remotely over video conferences, high school coaches have to find creative ways to put together an offseason plan to make up for the potentially lost hours during the summer.

At Mountain View, Crum is holding video calls with his quarterbacks, going over game film from last season and suggesting ways to keep busy with video workouts that can be completed without weights or a gym.

“There is no excuse for not coming out of this stronger and a better athlete,” Crum said.

One of those vital pieces in preparation for the season is time in the weight room. And as much as getting stronger and faster helps a player 1183535 World Leagues News

Throwing cold water on latest NBA report amid coronavirus pandemic — especially for Sixers

By Paul Hudrick April 25, 2020 7:37 PM

Just as the NFL Draft was concluding, we got some NBA news as it pertains to players being able to practice amid the coronavirus pandemic.

In a series of tweets, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski broke down steps the league is taking to ensure its players get the proper access to basketball facilities.

Beginning on May 1, the NBA is allowing teams to open their practice facilities to players in cities and states where local governments have eased stay-at-home orders, sources tell ESPN.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 25, 2020

Sources: Teams will be allowed to make facilities open to players on a voluntary basis for individual work, but larger group workouts will still be prohibited. In NBA markets that aren't loosening restrictions, league plans to work w/ teams on other arrangements for players. https://t.co/yZSKsXedW1

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 25, 2020

As Georgia moves toward opening certain businesses -- including gymasiums -- some players were asking their teams if they should consider traveling there to find a way to play. Organizations wants players in safe/clean team environments, not a fitness center in suburban Atlanta.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 25, 2020

NBA's decision on opening practice facilities to players in markets where governments may be loosening stay-at-home orders doesn't mean a resumption of season is imminent. The NBA is still unsure on if/when it can play again. But getting players safely into gyms was a priority.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 25, 2020

While this can be viewed as a positive step, as Wojnarowski notes, it in no way means we’re any closer to NBA games being played.

As far as the Sixers go, it’s hard to imagine their players being allowed to work out anywhere locally any time soon.

New Jersey, where the team has its practice facility in Camden, has been hit hard by COVID-19. Only New York has more positive cases in the country than the Garden State. Even if the Sixers wanted to use the Wells Fargo Center or another gym in the city, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf has said that Philadelphia will be “among the last” to reopen in the state.

Perhaps the 76ers Fieldhouse in Wilmington, Delaware, could be an option. It's where the Blue Coats, the Sixers' G-League affiliate, play. As of Friday, at least 3,442 people had tested positive for COVID-19 in the state.

We all want to see the NBA season resume, but even Wojnarowski himself is throwing cold water on his own report. Don't get your hopes up too much with this news. nbcsports.com LOADED: 04.26.2020 1183536 World Leagues News Some gyms, including L.A. Fitness and 24 Hour Fitness, were sued last month in other parts of the country for membership fees — but both companies said they were suspending billing until they reopen.

Refund demands pile up as coronavirus derails college, concerts and Breaking News Alerts Newsletter sporting events As it happens

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SOUTH FLORIDA SUN SENTINEL | “This isn’t a situation where Disney or the Marlins or any other business APR 25, 2020 | 6:00 AM decided to shut down on their own,” said Fort Lauderdale consumer lawyer Elias Hilal. “They are closed for safety reasons and by virtue of an executive order. Tons of these vendors are suffering as well."

Many people have started demanding refunds on everything from their That could be especially true for homeowner associations that still have college tuition to theme park passes to theater and sports tickets. to collect maintenance and other fees from residents even though shared amenities such as pools and gyms cannot be used, said Jordan Brill of Now, as the coronavirus quarantine drags on, many of these complaints Glachman & Brill, P.A., a Boca Raton firm that usually sides with are bound to end up in court, some attorneys say. homeowners in disputes against associations. Universities appear to be among the first in line. Brill’s advice for homeowners who want to hold back on fees: don’t. Students from at least a half-dozen U.S. colleges, including one at the “These fees are not dependent on whether you are able to use certain University of Miami, want their money back for tuition and service fees amenities,” he said. “Be mindful that your association has a budget that they paid for a semester derailed by the coronavirus crisis. At least six accounts for necessary expenses to run the community. Those expenses federal lawsuits have been filed — three in New York and one each in don’t go away in a pandemic.” Pennsylvania, Arizona and South Carolina. SOUTH FLORIDA SUN SENTINEL LOADED: 04.26.2020 Seeking tuition refund

The South Carolina suit was filed Wednesday by Adelaide Dixon, a student at the University of Miami Business School. Her lawyers complained that she paid full tuition and activity fees, as well as room and board, but received only part of what she paid for before in-person classes were suspended in March.

“To date, defendant has failed and continues to fail to adequately and fully refund plaintiff and class members’ fees for on campus services which defendant is no longer providing,” her attorneys wrote.

Dixon’s fees covered athletics, a wellness center and other on-campus amenities no one will be using for the rest of the semester, according to the lawsuit, which also cites the face-to-face experience of talking to professors, mentors and classmates as part of the value of UM’s tuition of more than $50,000 a year.

The other federal suits have been filed against Drexel University in Pennsylvania, Arizona Board of Regents and Columbia, Pace and Long Island University.

Missed out on events

In New York and California, fans with unusable tickets have sued Major League Baseball and online ticket vendors LiveNation and StubHub. Marlins fans have not joined the fray yet, but consumer law experts say the likelihood of similar legal action is high.

“People who prepaid for services such as concerts and sporting events are going to want their money back, and that’s reasonable,” said Palm Beach County lawyer Craig Kelley, of Kelley, Fulton & Kaplan, P.L.

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Many businesses carry “interruption” insurance policies that allow them to recover losses for unavoidable cancellations, he said. “That is something that would benefit the business, and it can be passed to the consumer.”

Honoring tickets

Theme parks, including Walt Disney World and SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment (which also owns Busch Gardens) have announced coronavirus response policies that allow for some refunds but lean more toward providing purchased services at a later date — tickets that were supposed to expire at a certain date will still be honored, and cancellation or rescheduling fees are being waived, according to the theme park websites.

For annual passholders on a monthly payment plan, Disney stopped collecting on April 5 and issued refunds for payments made between March 14 and April 4, according to a spokesperson.

Gyms suspend billing 1183537 World Leagues News conversations. This process will deepen your relationship and might cause you to want to watch the draft with them.

Why sports? Can sports ‘heal’ coronavirus stress? Why this team?

What brings you pleasure in watching? By: Dwight Bain What memories does watching this team bring up for you? Updated: April 24, 2020 - 11:20 AM How does this sport take you back to something simple or significant in your childhood?

ORLANDO, Fla. — Coronavirus has redefined our lives in hundreds of How can we connect with you better as a family to share that experience ways. One part is the loss of sports. No baseball, football, soccer, together? (For instance, tailgating, grilling food, talking about player stats basketball, the Olympics, lacrosse, NASCAR, frisbee golf... nothing. or stories about previous players who overcame adversity, their lives and If you think “big deal, it’s just a game” you are missing the healing hopes and dreams). element of sports. An element that might heal our community at the That’s why the 2020 NFL draft is the most important draft in history. The deepest level. You see, sports are more than just something you watch. one that ends COVID-19 isolation for sports fans. The one that breaks Sports are about connecting, and connection is a powerful force to create the mold and allows sports fans a chance to think about something other an endorphin level that can boost your immune system. than global pandemics or recession. It’s a chance to be together for Professional sports were shut down during the pandemic to stop the something truly and uniquely American -- how we connect through spread of disease which was a responsible move. Stadiums full of people shared values and community spirit reflected by our hometown teams. who might not practice CDC approved social distancing had to be Competition is more than just a game; it’s the beginning of healing for the temporarily shut down. People could still go outside to exercise alone, soul. but it’s doesn’t give the same psychological benefit as being on a team or watching a team with others. Many sports are watched by men more than women, perhaps because men can feel powerful emotions without fear of stigma. Cheering, Team sports create deep friendships and camaraderie among the connecting, expressing a surge of emotion is not a male/female thing. players, and often an equally strong connection among fans. Something Competition is more than just a game; it’s the beginning of healing for the significant happens in a ball field cheering for the home team. soul.

Why do complete strangers stand up and sway together during the Clinical research shows there is a boost to the metabolic functions while seventh inning stretch? Connection. exercising, and an emotional boost while watching competitive sports. Why do we stand with hats off to hear the national anthem sung by local This boost can help prevent depression, it can strengthen immunity and talent before an Orlando City game and still mist up with tears when the reduce stress and can lessen or remove physical pain. Couldn’t we all color guard raises the flag? Connection. use a dose of that right now?

Being part of something bigger than you is healing. To be part of a TUA ! #RollTide pic.twitter.com/BX3zKk0QNe community pulling together can transform hearts and minds toward a — Vanessa Echols (@VEcholsWFTV) April 24, 2020 common goal. You see, during a crisis there aren’t blue states or red states – there’s just United States. I’m ready pic.twitter.com/lZ8VBJFhUz

We saw that in Orlando after the Pulse Nightclub massacre. Orlando — Martha Sugalski (@MarthaSugalski) January 5, 2020 became #OrlandoUnited because we were united around a common cause. That same connection happens when the whole community is When Tom Brady suits up as a Tampa Bay Buccaneer this fall he won’t cheering for UCF to win a championship, or to see who sinks the final be alone. Thousands of fans will practice social distancing, while putt during the Arnold Palmer Golf Classic at Bay Hill, or who wins the cheering for a new chapter in Tom’s career. Fans who may feel like the checkered flag at Daytona. luckiest people on earth to be back in a ball field sharing community together. Fans who know there will always be a country, and it will Mental health experts say feeling calm in the midst of the coronavirus always be better because of shared values that connect and heal. That’s pandemic is a valid reaction. Veuer’s Sean Dowling has more. the value of sports and how it can open the door for deep emotional connection and healing. Florida is famous for a lot of things. Theme parks, beaches, cruise ships, convention centers – but it is also famous for MLB spring One of the greatest moments in history happened on July 4, 1939, when training. How can sports come back? There will be a way. Creative Lou Gehrig stood and proclaimed he was the “Luckiest Man” in a speech people will find a way to prevent disease while bringing back the given to a packed crowd at Yankee Stadium. It’s still considered the connectivity of sports. Consider how FOCO already designed face masks greatest speech in sports history. with NBA logos, (you can get them in a three-pack). Wait 10 minutes to see how the creatives at the University of Florida or Florida State follow Fans, for the past two weeks you have been reading about the bad break suit. Personally, I can’t wait to see my favorite Disney characters on I got. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the creative face masks (I shall stick with classic Mickey). earth. I have been in ballparks for 17 years and have never received anything but kindness and encouragement from you fans… When the Coronavirus cannot stop sports – especially college sports. Once upon a New York Giants, a team you would give your right arm to beat, and vice time players didn’t wear helmets in baseball, football players didn’t wear versa, sends you a gift — that’s something. When everybody down to the mouth guards, golfers didn’t apply sunscreen, stock car drivers didn’t groundskeepers and those boys in white coats remember you with wear seat belts. Times changed to create safety standards – coaches, trophies — that’s something. When you have a wonderful mother-in-law players and fans changed once, they will again. who takes sides with you in squabbles with her own daughter — that’s something. When you have a father and a mother who work all their lives Something truly and uniquely American so that you can have an education and build your body — it’s a blessing. As an example, consider the NFL 2020 draft on April 23. Perhaps the When you have a wife who has been a tower of strength and shown most watched moment in modern sports history. Fans have been waiting more courage than you dreamed existed — that’s the finest I know. So I for weeks to see something – anything that reminds them of the “old close in saying that I might have been given a bad break, but I’ve got an normal” and the draft will accomplish that. It is not about the players awful lot to live for. Thank you. selected in the second round by the Dallas Cowboys or Philadelphia Lou Gehrig, 1939 Eagles. Not this year. No, it will be about the shared experience as a fatigued country has something else to focus on besides feeling locked The famed Iron Horse of baseball knew he was sick, but didn’t know he down with no certainty of any normal activities ever returning. was dying from ALS. He knew how to press on and played a record 2,130 consecutive games for the Yankees. If that still doesn’t make sense to you, sit the sports “nut,” in your family down to open up some powerful connections with powerful Singing, “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” during the seventh inning stretch carried a depleted nation out of a Great Depression, two World Wars and everything else in between. When you sing that song next time you will feel a special connection to community. It’s about deep gratitude of being part of something bigger.

It’s not about grief of what we lost during the coronavirus shut down. It’s about deep gratitude of being alive and being part of something bigger than yourself. Joining a community at a ball field and hearing an umpire shout, “Play ball” Except the next time you have that shared experience you will feel a little bit like Lou Gehrig.

You will feel like the luckiest man or the luckiest woman because we survived COVID-19 together and we are beginning the new chapter of community connection together.

Cox Media Group LOADED: 04.26.2020 1183538 World Leagues News

U.K. Could See Live Sports Resume Behind Closed Doors: The Sun

By Kit Rees

April 25, 2020, 7:33 AM EDT

The U.K. could see live sports resumed with Prime Minister Boris Johnson briefed on plans for soccer matches to be played behind closed doors, The Sun newspaper reported citing government sources.

The hope is the return of sporting events would help boost national morale, the newspaper reported. It would also allow England’s suspended Premier League season to be finished and open the transfer window that’s been frozen since the March 23 lockdown across the country.

But the U.K. must first pass the five tests for easing restrictions before sports can be played behind closed doors, according to the report. It’s set to be among topics up for discussion ahead of the next review deadline on May 7.

As strict social-distancing measures remain in place across the globe, major events from the Olympics in Japan to the Wimbledon tennis tournament have been delayed or canceled.

LOADED: 04.26.2020 1183539 World Leagues News The prop was suspended for hitting a Scotland player during their Six Nations encounter on March 8 at Murrayfield — the last match to be played in the competition.

The Latest: PBR returns with closed event in Oklahoma The French rugby federation says Haouas “can serve this punishment during confinement and can thus play again once the sporting season resumes.” By The Associated Press - 4/25/20 10:42 PM France is in lockdown until May 11 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

It is uncertain if and when the Six Nations matches can be completed. The Latest on the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on sports around the world: English Premier League team Chelsea says it will not impose a pay cut on its first-team squad and instead will ask players to continue their The Professional Bull Riders returned from a 41-day break Saturday support for charities during the coronavirus pandemic. night in Guthrie, Oklahoma, for an Unleash The Beast event scheduled for Las Vegas. Chelsea also said it will not be furloughing any full-time staff, and casual workers and match day employees are being compensated by the club The competition at Lazy E Arena was closed to fans to prevent the through to June 30. spread of the coronavirus. The Blues have been in negotiations with their players about a salary Taylor Toves of Stephenville, Texas, topped the 41 cowboys in the first reduction, reportedly around 10%, in an effort to save money during the round of the two-day event, scoring 89.5 points on Biker Bob. He joined current crisis. That is lower than the Premier League’s suggestion of 30% Chandler Bownds as the only right-handed riders to reach the 8-second for all clubs but Chelsea has now decided to take a different approach. whistle atop Biker Bob in the bull’s 45 outings. Highlighting the PlayersTogether initiative launched by Premier League Ezekiel Mitchell of Rockdale, Texas, was second with an 89 on Soup In a players earlier this month which aims to raise and distribute funds for Group. National Health Service charities, Chelsea told its stars to focus their efforts on other causes. Points leader Jose VItor Leme of Brazil, also returning from broken ribs, had an 86.5-point ride. “Representatives of the Chelsea board have recently held extensive talks with the men’s first team to discuss how they can contribute financially to The PBR also plans to stage two-day events at the Lazy E on May 9-10 the club during the coronavirus crisis,” a statement on the club website and 16-17. said. “At this time, the men’s first team will not be contributing towards ___ the club financially and instead the board have directed the team to focus their efforts on further supporting other charitable causes.” When the NFL draft ended Saturday, Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores took a moment to remember two mentors who died from the coronavirus. The British government is increasing planning with sports bodies about the resumption of events once the coronavirus national lockdown is Flores said he looked up to Mike Hankins and Myles Coker when he was eased. growing up in Brooklyn, and he’s a friend of their sons. Government medical officials are involved in the talks about the logistics “This pandemic has hit close to home for me,” Flores said. “It was a loss and health procedures required to allow sports competitions to restart. for everyone. If you spent time with either guy – Mike Hankins or Myles Coker – I feel like I was better for it, certainly.” The Premier League last played a game on March 9 and has plans to try to restart from June 8 once pandemic social distancing regulations are Tajikistan says it’s suspending its soccer season, further reducing the relaxed to allow training to resume for teams and there are sufficient handful of leagues still operating worldwide. COVID-19 tests available.

The Central Asian nation’s soccer federation says games on Sunday will The national lockdown is currently in place until May 7. Cricket authorities go ahead as planned before the league is suspended until May 10. have already said their sport won’t resume until July, but horse racing is currently only suspended until June. The federation says its decision is in line with government measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. British Horseracing Authority chair Annamarie Phelps tweeted Saturday about “very welcome support for the resumption of live sport incl The domestic season began on April 4. Games were being played horseracing” from Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden, linking to a front without spectators. page report from The Sun newspaper about plans for events to be Only a few other countries are still staging pro soccer, including Belarus, staged again. Nicaragua and Turkmenistan. Dowden updated legislators earlier this week on his talks with sports Tajikistan is one of the few countries which has not reported any cases of governing bodies. the coronavirus. Despite high-profile reversals by Liverpool and Tottenham, Norwich has Aston Villa players will take a 25% pay cut to help the English Premier defended its decision to place some non-playing staff on furlough during League club during the coronavirus outbreak. the coronavirus outbreak.

“First-team players, first-team coaches and senior management have all The Canaries are one of only two English Premier League clubs using agreed to defer 25% of their salaries for four months to assist the club the scheme. Employees receive 80% of wages from the British during this period of uncertainty with a further review taking place at the government up to 2,500 pounds ($3,000) although, in this instance, end of this period,” club chief executive Christian Purslow said in a Norwich is making up the remaining 20%. statement. Newcastle is the other top-flight club to turn to the job retention program It was also announced that a National Health Service trust is to offer while Liverpool, Tottenham and Bournemouth made U-turns on their maternity care at Villa’s home ground in Birmingham following the decisions to furlough staff following heavy criticism. success of a similar tie-up with nearby West Bromwich Albion. “The decision we made was in the best interests of the club and its staff. The Sandwell and West Birmingham Trust said Villa Park’s North Stand We’ve been very transparent that we’re run in a self-financed manner,” would host weekday clinics for expectant mothers and new parents from Norwich chief operating officer Ben Kensell told BBC Radio Norfolk. Monday. “Ultimately, if we had the available cash flow to not have to take up schemes then, like other football clubs have, we would.” France rugby player Mohamed Haouas will be free to resume playing after lockdown ends by serving his three-week suspension during it. Last-place Norwich, which has nine games remaining, is reportedly budgeting for a loss of between 18-35 million pounds due to the coronavirus pandemic.

LOADED: 04.26.2020 1183540 World Leagues News pay cuts, ranging from 20% for vice presidents to 30% for CEO Paul Kempinski.

The virus has led to a significant drop in patients coming in for other Missouri Gov. Parson to release reopening plan with guidance for ailments, as elective procedures were suspended and outpatient clinic churches, sports visits limited last month to prepare for a surge in COVID-19, Kempinski said. That’s costing the hospital net revenue of about $1 million a day. by: AP Wire LOADED: 04.26.2020

Posted: Apr 24, 2020 / 04:42 PM CDT / Updated: Apr 24, 2020 / 04:42 PM CDT

O’FALLON, Mo. — Missouri Gov. Mike Parson said Friday that his plan to reopen the state from the coronavirus shutdown will include guidance for attending church services, sports and other activities and events.

Parson said during a news conference that Missourians have “stepped up to do their part” in helping to reduce the spread of the coronavirus, allowing the state to move ahead with plans to allow businesses and other organizations to reopen starting May 4.

He said more details will be announced next week about how the reopening will work.

The Republican governor said the guidance he will outline will include religious services, weddings, outdoor functions such as sports and even graduation ceremonies. He said restrictions may vary depending on the location.

“Some communities will be able to open at a faster rate than others,” Parson said.

The shutdown has forced hundreds of Missouri businesses to close since March. Nearly 400,000 Missourians have filed for jobless benefits over the past five weeks.

For most people, the virus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, or death.

The number of confirmed cases in Missouri increased by 200 on Friday to 6,506, and deaths rose by 10 to 252, according to Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering, which is monitoring cases worldwide. Figures from the state health department had even higher numbers: 6,625 confirmed cases and 262 deaths.

Parson announced he has extended an emergency declaration through June 15. The declaration allows the state to maintain waivers and suspensions of some statutes and regulations but does not extend the statewide stay-at-home order.

Nearly two dozen inmates at a prison in southeast Missouri have tested positive for the coronavirus, the first outbreak of the illness inside a correctional facility in the state.

Missouri Department of Corrections spokeswoman Karen Pojmann said three inmates in a wing at the Southeast Correctional Center in Charleston tested positive earlier this week for COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. The department then tested all 64 residents of the wing along with 82 staff members.

The testing found that 19 additional inmates had the virus. The wing has been quarantined since April 15, when the first inmate was tested and put in an isolation unit.

None of the recently-tested staff members tested positive. Three staff members who tested positive in early April are in quarantine at home.

Pojmann said no inmates at any other Missouri prison have been found with the illness.

The state plans to test workers at meatpacking and food plants in Moniteau, Saline and Buchanan counties, where dozens of workers have become infected. The state health department said all 2,800 workers at the Triumph Foods pork plant in St. Joseph will be tested, even those showing no symptoms.

The financial squeeze of the outbreak has led a Kansas City hospital, Children’s Mercy, to furlough nearly 600 employees for up to two months starting Sunday, the Kansas City Star reported. Top executives will see