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Home , Dave King (ice hockey), Gerard Gallant, Nathan MacKinnon, Newell Brown, Seth Jones (ice hockey), William Karlsson

News Clips January 23, 2018

Columbus Blue Jackets PAGE 02: Columbus Dispatch: Blue Jackets | Former Jackets flourish with Golden Knights PAGE 04: Columbus Dispatch: Blue Jackets | Cam Atkinson joins in full practice PAGE 06: The Athletic: William Karlsson has found a home — and launched his career to new heights — with PAGE 09: The Athletic: Death of Team USA's Jim Johansson hits Blue Jackets, hard PAGE 11: The Athletic: Under , Vegas playing with a passion, pace that reminds of 2000 Blue Jackets PAGE 13: Columbus Dispatch: Columbus getting more ice rinks

Cleveland Monsters/Prospects PAGE 15: The Athletic: CBJ Depth Dive: Draft choice Carson Meyer fights slump with help of his mentors

NHL/Websites PAGE 18: .ca: Nathan MacKinnon has become the player he always thought he’d be PAGE 20: Sportsnet.ca: Report: ‘Mighty Ducks’ television revival in early development PAGE 21: TSN.ca: NHL is headed for more skewed first-round playoff matchups PAGE 24: USA Today: As NBC Sports juggles Winter Olympics, NHL coverage, it envisions unique opportunity

1 http://www.dispatch.com/sports/20180122/blue-jackets--former-jackets-flourish-with-golden-knights

Blue Jackets | Former Jackets flourish with Golden Knights By George Richards – January 23, 2018

LAS VEGAS — The last time Gerard Gallant was in Raleigh, North Carolina, he left the Hurricanes’ arena in a taxi cab after being fired by the . On Sunday, Gallant and his expansion Vegas Golden Knights loaded their bus and rolled out of PNC Arena with a 5-1 victory over the Hurricanes, holding the top spot in the NHL. “We don’t look at the standings,” Gallant said with a grin. “We all know where we’re at. It is gratifying, for sure. The team has worked hard. To be in first place in the NHL is a great achievement but it could change tonight, tomorrow.” Perhaps the story of the year in the NHL has been the unexpected meteoric rise of the Knights — a team former Blue Jackets fourth-liner William Karlsson said were “a bunch of golden misfits.” One of the biggest surprises on a team full of them has been the play of Karlsson, who has taken his game to a new level in the Nevada desert. The Blue Jackets left Karlsson exposed in the expansion draft and then made a side deal with Vegas ensuring that it would take Karlsson and allow the Jackets to keep top-line forward Josh Anderson and backup goalie Joonas Korpisalo. Vegas got the Jackets’ first-round pick last summer and also gets a second-round pick next year for selecting a player who has, so far, been its leading -scorer. Karlsson faces his former teammates for the first time Tuesday night as part of Vegas’ traveling hockey rock show. “It has been fun, a lot of fun,” said Karlsson, who has 25 goals, six more than the four centers the Blue Jackets will start combined. “I knew coming here would be a great chance for me to produce offensively. They have given me the chance. I think I took it. We’re half a season in and I feel great, comfortable with my teammates. “It has been a great ride so far.” Karlsson, who played in all 81 games for Columbus the past two seasons, had 16 goals with 47 points in 165 games after going to the Jackets in a deal with Anaheim in 2015. “Those guys you coach and see in other spots, you end up pulling for them,” Jackets coach John Tortorella said. “Bill was such a quiet guy, such a good player for us doing the little things. “Watching him a little this year reminds me how good he is away from the puck. That’s helping him offensively. It’s good to see a guy just get better and better.” After Sunday’s win at Carolina, the Knights jumped Tampa Bay with their 66th point to take over the top spot in the league standings. They are just two wins from tying the league season points record for an expansion team set by the Panthers and Mighty Ducks during the 1993-94 season. But Vegas has played only 46 of its 82 games. At home, the Knights have been almost unbeatable. They are tied for the league league with 38 points despite playing just 22 home games — four fewer than each of the two teams (Washington and ) they are tied with.

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The Knights have lost just four games at home with only two being in regulation, meaning they have at least a point in 20 of their 22 home games. “Everyone is happy to be on this team, they’re happy to come to the rink because they are having fun,” said Gallant, a former Blue Jackets coach who spent parts of three seasons as coach of the Panthers before being fired in a power struggle 22 games into the 2016-17 season. Karlsson and Gallant aren’t the only ones with ties to the Blue Jackets finding success off the strip. , who played two games with the Jackets in 2013 season, was also left exposed to the Knights during the expansion draft despite a breakout season in Florida. Marchessault has continued to find the success he did with the Panthers last season as he comes into the game with 17 goals and a team-high 43 points — as well as a new six-year contract extension that kicks in next season. Gallant also has former Cleveland Monsters Ryan Craig on his coaching staff. Mike Foligno, father of Jackets captain Nick, is a pro scout with the Knights. Karlsson, more than the others, is most connected to the Jackets. On Monday, he said he would put up $1,000 as extra incentive for his teammates to get a win against his former mates. “It’s insane,” the Jackets’ Alexander Wennberg said. “I’m so happy for him. He’s a great player. This year, it’s really breaking out for him.” Said : “I think a lot of guys looked at the expansion and said, ‘You know this is kind of a fresh start.’ Whether it’s a guy on a contract year, or a guy who struggled last year, it’s just a new start for them, and you can see a lot of guys are taking advantage of that situation. ... We’re happy for him.”

3 http://www.dispatch.com/sports/20180122/blue-jackets--cam-atkinson-joins-in-full-practice

Blue Jackets | Cam Atkinson joins in full practice By George Richards – January 23, 2018

LAS VEGAS — When Cam Atkinson took a off his skate last month, the Blue Jackets wing suffered what is known medically as a “Jones fracture.”

At least he could find some humor in it.

When told by a nurse what his fracture was called, Atkinson laughed figuring she had been watching the game. The shot off Atkinson’s foot came from teammate Seth Jones.

“I laughed because Seth Jones is the one who broke my foot,” Atkinson said Monday afternoon. “She was like, ‘Shut up, his name is Jones?’ He owes me a couple of dinners. I need to take full advantage of that.”

Atkinson needed surgery on his right foot with two small screws put in place to secure the broken fifth metatarsal bone.

On Monday at T-Mobile Arena, Atkinson joined the team for a full practice in advance of a game Tuesday night at the Vegas Golden Knights.

Atkinson was said to miss four to six weeks when the fracture was discovered after the Jackets’ final game before the Christmas break, but he hopes to be back in the lineup much sooner.

“I feel good, I’m surprisingly shocked at how fast it healed and is coming along,” said Atkinson, who has been skating the past few days. “I have to talk to the doctors so I’m not making any promises. ... Initially, getting the boot on is the worst part. But when I get out there skating it feels pretty good.”

Atkinson was hurt when a hard shot from Jones snapped off his skate boot in the first period of that game on Dec. 23 against the Flyers.

Despite the pain, Atkinson continued to play on logging almost 23 minutes in the shootout victory. He didn’t dare take off his skate during intermission knowing the swelling which would follow.

“I have blocked enough shots where they are stingers, you shake your foot and it goes away,” Atkinson said. “The worst part was walking to the locker room in between periods. I just couldn’t do it.”

As for Atkinson’s potential return, coach John Tortorella would only say Atkinson is “day to day.” He can come off the injured reserve list at any time.

In mourning

Nick Foligno said he was “shocked” when he heard of the sudden passing of USA Hockey general manager and longtime Team USA executive Jim Johannson, who died in his sleep Sunday.

Johannson was 53.

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“It breaks your heart,” Foligno said, “not only as the guy who runs USA Hockey, but as a family man. I remember talking to him when he was going to have a baby and he was so excited. My heart breaks for the whole family, those close to him and to USA Hockey. It’s a big loss for the organization.”

Slap shot

The Blue Jackets acquired goalie Jeff Zatkoff (48 NHL games) from the Los Angeles Kings for future considerations on Monday and assigned him to minor-league Cleveland.

5 https://theathletic.com/219284/2018/01/22/william-karlsson-has-found-a-home-and-launched-his- career-to-new-heights-with-vegas-golden-knights/

William Karlsson has found a home — and launched his career to new heights — with Vegas Golden Knights By Aaron Portzline – January 23, 2018

LAS VEGAS — Last June, when the Blue Jackets' plans became known in the NHL expansion draft, center William Karlsson said he was excited about his new chance with the Vegas Golden Knights. But all of his words were tinged with disappointment.

Karlsson had a defined and significant role on a Blue Jackets team that was coming off its best season in franchise history with one of the youngest rosters in the NHL. He was leaving behind a city he loved and a room full of friends, including his best friend in hockey, Alexander Wennberg.

But the 25-year-old has learned a valuable lesson: Sometimes life's biggest disappointments lead to the greatest opportunities.

“Vegas is probably the best thing that ever happened to me,” Karlsson said Monday, smiling and laughing in a lengthy interview after the Golden Knights practice in suburban Summerlin.

Karlsson was a checking-line center with the Blue Jackets, one whose only sniff at special teams was a prominent role on the kill. He was seen as a bottom-six fixture, nothing more.

The Blue Jackets didn't want to lose him in the expansion draft, but only because they saw him as their third-line center for many years to come. With Wennberg and Brandon Dubinsky on the depth chart, and Pierre-Luc Dubois on the horizon, very little was likely to change in 2017-18 for Karlsson.

“I've always wanted to be in an offensive position, and I didn't quite make it in Columbus,” Karlsson said.

“I wanted to prove to myself and others that I could make it in this league and not just kill penalties and be a defensive guy, you know?”

The Golden Knights are the biggest surprise in the NHL this season. Hell, they're the biggest surprise to hit this league since … maybe ever.

Vegas (31-11-4) went into Monday's schedule with the best record in the entire league, an eight-point lead in the Pacific Division and a collection of great stories on their roster: the castoffs, the reclamation projects and the pleasant surprises.

None is bigger than Karlsson, who scored 18 goals in his 183 NHL games before this season, never more than the nine goals he popped in for Columbus in 2015-16.

Karlson has 25 goals this season, sixth in the NHL. He has more goals than Evgeni Malkin, Tyler Seguin, Patrick Kane, Vladimir Tarasenko, , Steven Stamkos, … we could go on.

He has one fewer goal than the Blue Jackets' top two goal-scorers — Josh Anderson (14) and Artemi Panarin (12) — combined.

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Karlsson, who has 25-15-40 on the season, is averaging five more minutes per game in ice time (18:20 vs. 13:23) and has already taken one more shot on goal in 46 games (97) than he did last season in 81.

His plus-23 rating is tied for the second-best among NHL forwards.

“I knew he was a solid player,” Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said. “I know he didn't get a chance to play a whole lot with the top players (in Columbus) because of the top players they had there. He was playing in the position he should have been in with that group.

“It’s not like he wasn’t used right by the last team, it’s just with the talent they had — the players they had — he was more of a third-line, fourth-line type of player.”

Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella couldn't help but smile when asked about Karlsson's outburst this season.

“I wish he banged in a few for us along the way,” Tortorella said.

“Those guys that you end up coaching, and then you see them in other spots, you pull for them. Bill was such a quiet guy. He was such a good player for us, as far as just the little things. I’ve watched a little bit of him over the year. It just … it reminds me how smart he is away from the puck. I think that’s helped him offensively.

“His shooting percentage is off the charts, but I do think he gets a lot of his work done offensively because he’s so good defensively. It’s great to see a guy get better and better. The year he’s having, you gotta be happy for him.”

This is how expansion works, of course.

The Blue Jackets pulled several players off the scrap heap in the summer of 2000, then watched them develop into bona fide NHL players during their inaugural year of 2000-01.

Geoff Sanderson had 13-13-26 in 1999-2000 with Buffalo but scored 30 goals (30-26-56) in the Blue Jackets' first season. Steve Heinze had 12-13-25 with Boston before scoring 22 goals, the second-highest total of his career, for the Blue Jackets.

“Maybe I could have gotten a chance (in Columbus), who knows? It’s hard to say,” Karlsson said. “But here they gave me a chance at the start, at least. It’s good for a player sometimes to get a change of environment. Maybe I just fit better here than I did in Columbus.

“They gave me a chance; I think I took it. We're a half-season in, and I feel great. I feel comfortable with my teammates and linemates, obviously, so it's been a great ride so far.”

It's been a love affair so far between Las Vegas and their first major professional sports team. The practice rink was half-filled on Monday, even for an optional skate. Two fans had their faces painted with the gold and black team colors. For a practice.

Tuesday's game against the Blue Jackets in T-Mobile Arena will be sold out.

“Not a lot of people expected anything from us,” Karlsson said. “Everyone thought we were going to be in the bottom of the standings. We’re a lot of guys trying to prove ourselves. We’re a bunch of golden misfits. Everything has worked. It’s clicked.”

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“The crowds have been amazing. The people seem to love hockey here in Vegas. Who would have thought? They've really embraced it. Hopefully, we can continue winning for them.”

Karlsson was planning to hit The Strip with some of his former Blue Jackets teammates Monday. (The Golden Knights played in Carolina on Sunday, so he's missed most of the Jackets' three-day stay.)

Asked if he would pay for dinner, Karlsson smiled.

“We don't pay for stuff anymore in this town,” he said.

Asked if he'd have money “on the board” for Tuesday's game, he smiled again. It's the first time he'll face his former club, and it'll be a special night.

“Maybe a grand,” he said. “We'll see. I really want to win, so the boys better take my money.”

8 https://theathletic.com/219411/2018/01/23/death-of-team-usas-jim-johansson-hits-blue-jackets-john- tortorella-hard/

Death of Team USA's Jim Johansson hits Blue Jackets, John Tortorella hard By Aaron Portzline – January 23, 2018

LAS VEGAS — It had been more than 24 hours since John Tortorella heard the awful news, and yet the Blue Jackets coach still hadn't come to terms with the death Sunday of USA Hockey's Jim Johansson. Across the Blue Jackets' dressing room Monday, American players shook their heads in disbelief that the general manager of the 2018 Olympic team and so many others in the past decade was gone at 52 years old. “It just breaks my heart because of how good a person he was,” said Tortorella, who coached Team USA along with Johansson at the 2016 . “He was so full of humility. He knew how to converse with people, how to make people feel good about themselves. I'm talking about the coaches who worked beside him, the players who played on his team, everybody around him. This is a guy that I will miss, and so many other people are going to truly miss, and — to be honest — it really tests my faith that he was taken so early in life. “We've lost a person at a time … (long pause) … when we can't afford to lose people like him in this world. I just don't understand.” Most of the American-born Blue Jackets recalled seeing Johansson in Columbus just last month, when Team USA's world junior championship club trained in Columbus before the tournament in Buffalo. Blue Jackets assistant general manager Bill Zito saw Johansson on the road just a few days ago. “He was too young to have left us,” said Blue Jackets defenseman Jack Johnson, who has an extensive history of playing for Team USA under Johansson. “He has a 3-year-old daughter. I still can't … we saw him a month ago. “He was one of those guys who never had a bad day, always had a smile on his face. And for the guys who played on his team, he was just the first name you thought about when it came to Team USA.” Johansson, as the GM, was tasked with calling players who made the final cut for major international competitions: the World U-18s, the World Junior Championships, the World Championships, the World Cup, and, of course, the Olympics. “When Jim Johansson calls,” Cam Atkinson said, “it's usually a good thing.” Just weeks ago, Johansson phoned former Blue Jackets defenseman — now playing in Germany — to tell him that he'd made Team USA for the Pyeongchang Games next month. “I seriously loved that man,” Wisniewski said. “He's one of those guys … all of us players felt like he really had our backs. Just one of the nicest people you could ever meet.” Tortorella said he marveled at Johansson's combination of ability and humility, how he saw his job with Team USA not as a launchpad to a bigger job in hockey, but as his life's calling. The players and coaches were the stars, but Johansson was a big part of the engine.

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During his time at USA Hockey, U.S. teams won 64 medals, including 34 gold, 19 silver, and 11 bronze. He won a national championship at the University of Wisconsin as a player. He played in the 1988 and 1992 Olympics. “We talked so much over the years, working together, and he had such a unique thought of how you play the game,” Tortorella told The Athletic. “He thought out of the box. “I used to ask him, 'why aren't you trying to become a general manager in the ?' But that's not him. That was a little too much light on him. He liked to work in the background, but he was not a background guy in any way. “And he made more of an impact on more people than so many people in the limelight ever will. Ever will! Ever.” When in Columbus last month, Johansson showed Tortorella pictures of his family — wife, Abby, and daughter, Ellie — and talked excitedly about their upcoming move to Plymouth, Michigan. “The future they were just beginning … ” Tortorella said, fighting back his emotions. “Forget hockey for a moment. The world lost a great man. It's indescribable the qualities he had. He was the kind of person I've always wanted to be.”

10 https://theathletic.com/219608/2018/01/23/219608/

Under Gerard Gallant, Vegas playing with a passion, pace that reminds Dave King of 2000 Blue Jackets By Aaron Portzline – January 23, 2018

LAS VEGAS — When the Vegas Golden Knights won on Sunday in Raleigh, North Carolina, it put them — if only temporarily — in first place in the NHL's overall standings. Were Gerard Gallant a lesser man, he might have taken the opportunity to gloat. The last time Gallant coached in Carolina — Nov. 27, 2016 — he was fired by the Florida Panthers after the game, forced to find his own way home and caught by an Associated Press photographer loading his gear into the back of a taxi. Gallant said he didn't spend a moment on the irony, but those close to him suspect otherwise. Of all the great stories on the expansion Golden Knights' roster — Blue Jackets' castoff William Karlsson, Florida's discarded Jonathan Marchessault, etc. — the exquisite coaching job of Gallant might be the one that's most appreciated by coaches across the league. To bring a team of strangers together and meld them into the hardest-working, most-relentless team in the league is no easy task. “I'm happy,” Gallant said. “But we had a good first 46 games. We haven't proven anything yet. Sure we're in first place now, but we have to keep going.” The Golden Knights (31-11-4) are one of the most successful expansion teams in NHL history, and there are still 2 1/2 months left in the regular season. But that now seems like a foregone conclusion. They're one of the best clubs in the NHL this season, trailing only Tampa Bay in the overall standings — the Lightning won on Monday — and leading the Pacific Division by a whopping eight points. The Knights are almost a lock to make the postseason. “No one gave them a sniff of a chance when the season started,” Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella said. “Gerard is a very good coach. I'm sure he has … you look for things to rally around, to pull your group together. “Any little thing. Sometimes you have to manifest these things to rally around. I'm really interested in talking to him when the season is over to see some of the things he went through to try and rally his group together.” Gallant has been through expansion before, of course. In 2000, he was an assistant coach on Dave King's staff with the Blue Jackets, joining Newell Brown and goaltending coach Rick Wamsley. Brown ran the power play. Gallant did the penalty kill, and worked with a lot of players one-on-one during and after practice. “We relied on him to give us feedback on what was going on with the game,” King said. “He was the player in our group, the one of us who played the game, so he gave us great insight.”

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The Blue Jackets had a losing record (28-39-9-6, 71 points), but they played with an indomitable spirit and tireless work ethic that helped them capture the passion in Columbus. Nationwide Arena was sold out for every game in the second half of the season. “I would say I learned a lot from my experience in Columbus,” Gallant said. “We have more talented players than they did back in those expansion days, but I remember the days in Columbus. “We had a hard-working group that competed every night. The goaltending (Ron Tugnutt) was outstanding. They had to battle for everything they got. They had trouble scoring. This group here, we have more talent.” Gallant is being kind. The talent gap between these Golden Knights and those Blue Jackets was stunning, thanks mostly to different expansion rules by the NHL that forced clubs to expose more talented players to Vegas general manager George McPhee. But Vegas' work ethic does spark memories back to the early days of the Blue Jackets. “I follow Vegas very carefully, because you're always cheering for the expansion teams,” King told The Athletic. “I think for Gerard, having gone through the expansion situation in Columbus, has been a big help to Turk. He's become a really, really good coach.” To talk to King about hockey is to learn more in one conversation than you could ever absorb. Do the Golden Knights remind him of the Blue Jackets? Here goes: “When you see a group of players — they don't have to be start players, just all on the same page, everybody playing together — that lets you know they're interdependent,” King said. Interdependent? “For you to play well, I have to play well,” King said of the player's perspective. “For me to play well, you have to play well, because I can't play that well, or that way, on my own. On a forward line, all three players kind of know, if we all play well, we have a chance. If one of us doesn’t play well, the other two are wasting their time. That was such a strong part of us (in Columbus) that first year.” When King watches Vegas, he sees an incredibly competitive team, one that plays at an energy level — especially in T-Mobile Arena — that few teams are willing to match. But, just like in Columbus lo those 18 years ago, it's the little things that are adding up for the Golden Knights. “No one is avoiding blocking shots,” King said. “No one is not doing the little things that make a difference. Everybody is conscious of one thing: We have to do this to be successful. I just see every player … they’re buying into the difficult jobs in a game, the recurring plays that are difficult, that require some courage. “That’s one of the things in hockey that people don’t realize often enough. The reoccurring situations are the ones that require some fortitude. You and another fella, for example, are racing for a puck along the board. There's going to be a collision. It’s going to be a matter of who’s the hungriest. Who’s going to win that confrontation? It’s not always size. “When I watch Vegas play, that’s all I see is this work ethic. They’re so diligent to get it done. Nobody’s above the law. They say, 'You block a shot, and I'll do the same thing.' Turk’s got ’em going great.”

12 http://www.dispatch.com/opinion/20180123/editorial-columbus-getting-more-ice-rinks

Columbus getting more ice rinks By Staff – January 23, 2018

More ice is coming to Columbus — and that’s a good thing. We’re not talking about nuisance ice that shuts down schools, sends pedestrians to the hospital and slows traffic, although we likely haven’t seen the last of that sort this winter. The good ice lasts year-round, in special hockey and skating facilities and helps to spur central Ohio’s growing reputation as a hockey town. Announcements of two new sheets of ice are welcome news to the youth and amateur hockey and skating programs that crowd into the area’s existing rinks. JMAC Inc. announced a $5 million expansion last week of the OhioHealth Chiller North rink with a third sheet of ice at the Lewis Center facility. And in late December, the operator of a school for students with learning disabilities revealed plans for a $12-million indoor rink next to his school, Haugland Learning Center, near the Outerbelt and Sawmill Road. And maybe the two new sheets of ice aren’t even enough. JMAC operates six Chiller rinks with nine sheets of ice in central Ohio and Springfield, including the OhioHealth Ice Haus at Nationwide Arena, practice home of the Columbus Blue Jackets. The new sheet it is adding is a response to demand. Morten Haugland hopes to serve not only youth leagues but also envisions a hockey academy to allow promising athletes to build their time on the ice while also covering academics. It is a concept more familiar in Europe and in some southern U.S. states with academies focused on tennis, golf and baseball. For those whose talent and interest is known early on, sports academies can translate into college scholarships if not pro careers. Haugland notes just 10 percent of Division I college hockey scholarships go to U.S.-born players. Anything that encourages youth and adults to get and stay active is positive. Bring on more ice! Congrats to Jonesy and Wisniewski What could be more exciting than being a 23-year-old professional hockey player heading to the 2018 NHL All-Star game? How about being all that and going to your second game on the All-Star roster? Congratulations to Seth Jones for being that kind of a strong presence with the Columbus Blue Jackets — both on the ice and in the locker room. Jones is in his third season as a defensive star in Columbus. He was selected for the team and will be the only Blue Jackets team member in the Jan. 28 game in Tampa. Last year — the Blue Jackets’ best season since forming in 2000 — Jones, CBJ goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky and forward Cam Atkinson were all All-Stars. As the team’s sole representative in this year’s All-Star game, “Jonesy” has our best wishes. We appreciate his all-out effort defending the honor of the CBJ.

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We also congratulate former Blue Jackets defenseman James Wisniewski for making the Olympics, the only ex-Columbus player to represent Team USA next month. Making the Olympics is a great achievement for Wisniewski, who gave Columbus four good years before being traded and seeing his NHL career ended with a second torn ACL in 2015. He rehabbed and played overseas before making Team USA. With the NHL sitting out the 2018 Olympics, it will be nice to see a familiar face on the ice.

14 https://theathletic.com/218659/2018/01/22/cbj-depth-dive-draft-choice-carson-meyer-fights-slump- with-help-of-his-mentors/

CBJ Depth Dive: Draft choice Carson Meyer fights slump with help of his mentors By Alison Lukan – January 23, 2018

The summer of 2017 was a hockey dream for Carson Meyer. The Powell, Ohio, native was coming off a strong freshman year at Miami University that had him fourth in overall points (10-16-26) and third in points per game (.81). Then in June, in the sixth round of the NHL Draft, the then 19-year-old heard his name called by his hometown team, the Columbus Blue Jackets.

“The achievement of being drafted to Columbus was one of the best moments of my life,” Meyer said. “But I don’t really think I knew how to handle it at the time. It was exciting, overwhelming. I came back to school on a high and, I don’t want to say I took my foot off the gas, but I wasn’t playing my game.”

In 21 games this season, Meyer has had four goals and three assists. He’s battled the pressure of being a known entity for opponents and struggled through the biggest slump of his playing life. He was a healthy scratch for the first time in his career in Miami’s Jan. 13 game against Omaha.

“A sophomore slump is a real thing in college hockey,” Miami coach Enrico Blasi said. “For Carson, this is something where he’s growing and maturing through it and I’m a big believer in the idea that you don’t grow unless you’re going through some hard times. I know he’s taken it head-on and not tiptoeing around it.”

But how does a player battle out a slump? Ask the former AAA Blue Jacket whom he looks to for help, and it’s a list of coaches who represent his hockey past, present and future.

The first name Meyer mentions is Ed Gingher. Gingher leads the AAA program in Columbus and coached Meyer there. He’s the coach who’s known the right winger the longest and has seen him go through different slumps through his years on the ice. Gingher saw Meyer over the holidays and will text or call him from time to time.

“The message is the same with most players,” Gingher said. “You have to trust your game and you have to get back to the basics. It’s sounds cliché-ish to say it that way, but with Carson, especially, that’s been his way out every time — get back to work.

“To me when he’s at his best he’s practicing like a prick, pardon my French. Are you practicing hard? Are you moving your feet? Are you hunting guys down on the backcheck and stripping guys of pucks?”

Gingher has reminded Meyer about getting to the place on the ice to make the play and not wait for the play to come to him. And he reminds the player that he’s done it before.

That is a similar message to the one Meyer hears from his current , another point of support for the player. The two have spent a lot of time talking and reviewing video.

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Historically, Blasi has watched Meyer capitalize as a player he describes as “opportunistic” and one whom “the puck just seems to follow around.” Now, it’s time for Meyer work harder on taking himself to the play, not vice versa.

“For his future and our team, (Meyer) needs to get to a level where his skating is helping him, and that’s a mindset that he has to work on to get to places,” Blasi said. “Now that he’s a guy that everybody knows is a scorer, guys are going to key in on him so he’s going to have to do things — little things — that are going to put him in that situation.”

Off the ice, Blasi works with Meyer, as he does with all his players, on working through bigger and bigger distractions. The RedHawks coach says players need to learn to stay focused on their game and development. After all, getting drafted by an NHL team can be a heady time for anyone.

So Blasi challenges his players like Meyer to learn to focus on where they are, right now, not on the teams that may have drafted them.

“Our biggest job is to diffuse those distractions. It’s difficult,” Blasi said. “For me it’s very important that we teach these kids to be in the moment and be where their feet are and focus on where they are now. They have to continue to work, they still have to continue to do the things they have to do to improve.”

And Meyer also has Jackets development coach Chris Clark, who, because of proximity, can stay in communication with Gingher in addition to everyone at Miami.

“Chris Clark has been beyond helpful,” Meyer said. “He said he went through a similar thing his sophomore year after getting drafted so that made me feel more comfortable. He keeps reminding me (the Jackets) believe in me and know what I’m capable of. It’s just a matter of getting back to working hard, showcase my talent a little bit.”

And while this sounds a bit like the old adage that “it takes a village,” the reality is that each of these voices is helping remind Meyer of something he already knows — that the path out of his slump lies within himself and his play.

If you talk to Meyer, he says he can feel the confidence starting to come. He got the message his coaches have sent. He knows he’s gotten out of these slumps before, and he believes he will do it again this year.

“When you go through this stuff it’s easy to point fingers and yet we know the answer is inside (the player),” Gingher said. “You’re the one that has to fix it. You can’t wait for a coach to fix it. Carson’s smart enough to know that and he knows he has to be better.

“But getting him back to what that better is for him got him to be an NHL draft pick, it got him to play for Team USA in the World Junior A challenge, it won him a USHL championship; the year he was with us he was the best midget player in the country in my opinion.

“There’s a lot for him to reflect on to realize it’s a blip on the radar. He’s going through a tough stretch. It’s going to happen. Just try to work your way out of it.”

Notes

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• The Blue Jackets announced Monday they had traded defenseman John Ramage to Arizona for future considerations. In three years with Cleveland, Ramage played 220 regular-season games (14-47-61). This year, he had two goals and seven assists in 33 games with the Monsters.

• Defenseman Jacob Graves was called up to the Monsters on Dec. 15. In 24 ECHL games, the Barrie, , native has four assists, no goals, 21 PIMs and is a minus-10. He has yet to play a game with Cleveland.

• The Latvian Federation announced that goaltender Elvis Merzlikins will be play for Latvia in a game against the Canadian Olympic team Feb. 4.

17 http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/nathan-mackinnon-become-player-always-thought-hed/

Nathan MacKinnon has become the player he always thought he’d be By Chris Johnston – January 23, 2018

TORONTO – There was a time not so long ago when Nathan MacKinnon was the worst golfer on Sidney Crosby’s annual summer getaway.

Now? He’s giving strokes to Crosby, and Brayden Schenn when they tee it up together.

“He actually just started golf three years ago and he’s shooting in the 70’s already,” Schenn said last week. “He takes a lot of lessons and he’s dialled in. He’s good.”

This tells us a couple things about MacKinnon, some of which helps bring perspective to his breakout season on the ice for the surprising .

He’s a highly driven athlete blessed with some natural physical gifts. He’s competitive. And when he puts his mind to a task, special things happen.

“I just think it’s a lot of mental [focus],” MacKinnon said Monday, when asked what was behind his offensive explosion. “The physical tools haven’t really changed. Hopefully I’ve gotten a little bit better every year. I feel like I’ve been sticking with the game longer – I don’t get down on myself as much, I trust my game more than I have in years past and I try to give my full attention to the 60 minutes of hockey.”

To see MacKinnon now, it’s difficult to believe he’s the same guy who showed up at last year’s all-star game in Los Angeles and quipped to reporters: “I bet you didn’t expect to see an Avalanche here.” At that point he was ashamed about how far the franchise had fallen, and believed he hadn’t really warranted an invite.

Later this week, he’ll arrive in Tampa for the all-star weekend owning a prominent place in the Hart Trophy discussion.

He certainly has the respect of his peers.

“He’s on an absolute tear,” Nazem Kadri said before Colorado’s 4-2 victory over Toronto on Monday night.

“He does everything so fast,” added Auston Matthews. “Stick-handles, skates. He’s so explosive. … He can make plays pretty much from anywhere, and he’s dangerous.”

It’s little wonder why the Avalanche have gone from a 48-point laughingstock to a team with legitimate playoff aspirations. MacKinnon arrived Monday with eight goals and 11 assists during a nine-game winning streak and saw his team get a 10th straight victory at Air Canada Centre despite being held off the scoresheet.

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Nights like this have been rare this season. MacKinnon torched the Leafs in on Dec. 29 and saw extra attention from Kadri’s checking unit with controlling the last line change on Monday.

“You’re on the road, you’re going to have to play against the matchup that the other coach wants for the most part,” said Avalanche coach . “I thought the Komarov-Kadri-Marleau line did a nice job of kind of shutting those guys down. I think also that MacKinnon’s line got a little stubborn with the puck a little bit, and didn’t put it behind their ‘D’ and get after them as much as what I think they could of.

“There was a little bit too much east-west, so the plays got broken up with good sticks and good checking from Toronto.”

MacKinnon has become the player he’d always thought he would be.

He is still just 22, already playing his fifth year in the NHL, and now occupying the second spot in the scoring race behind Tampa’s Nikita Kucherov. He’s on pace to obliterate his career best and crack the 100-point barrier.

“Fifty points a year wasn’t really my goal,” said MacKinnon.

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All of Colorado’s losing really ate at him these last few years. He’d never truly played on a bad team until his second NHL season and had to start wondering if he’d ever be part of a good one again during the three years since.

That has given him a better appreciation for the meaningful games he’s now playing in what many consider to be the dog days of the season.

“Last year we would have given anything just to be in the mix at this point so we’re not going to take this lightly,” said MacKinnon.

They say you are the company you keep, and so we probably shouldn’t be surprised that MacKinnon has taken over as the alpha dog since was traded earlier this season.

He spends plenty of time with the NHL’s best. He grew up in Cole Harbour, N.S., idolizing the town’s favourite son – there was even a Crosby poster on his bedroom wall – but now those two have become close friends.

They push each other through daily workouts in the summer, and MacKinnon says the lessons learned from Crosby have largely been observed rather than bestowed.

“He never gets comfortable,” said MacKinnon. “He’s always trying new things to get better and working so hard. It’s contagious. When a guy like that’s trying to get better every day then anybody can. He’s been doing it for 12, 13 years now – he’s been the best in the league for that long – and it’s really impressive.”

Just like his season.

19 http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/report-mighty-ducks-television-revival-early-development/

Report: ‘Mighty Ducks’ television revival in early development By Staff – January 23, 2018

Have you guys ever seen a flock of ducks flying in perfect formation? It’s beautiful. Pretty awesome the way they all stick together. Ducks never say die.

As it turns out, coach Gordon Bombay’s words may actually ring true.

“The Mighty Ducks” film franchise of the 1990s is in development to be revived as a television series, The Hollywood Reporter is reporting.

As the report says, ABC Signature put the potential intellectual property’s revival in early development after being approached by the film’s original screenwriter Steven Brill and producer Jordan Kerner about bringing the Ducks back.

There’s been no script penned yet and original film star Emilio Estevez, who played the aforementioned Gordon Bombay, isn’t attached to the project at the moment, the report continues.

The original “Mighty Ducks” was a Walt Disney Pictures film that came out in 1992 and grossed $50.7 million at the box office. It spawned a franchise that included two sequel films, “D2: The Mighty Ducks” and “D3: The Mighty Ducks,” as well as a 26-espisode animated series that ran between 1996 and 1997.

It’s unclear at the moment if this project would be a sequel to the original film’s stories or a straight reboot.

20 https://www.tsn.ca/talent/nhl-is-headed-for-more-skewed-first-round-playoff-matchups-1.975525

NHL is headed for more skewed first-round playoff matchups By Travis Yost – January 23, 2018

When the National Hockey League introduced its new playoff format for the 2013-14 season, the spirit of the format was to enhance the race for postseason spots and further intensify geographical rivalries.

It was in some ways a sensible bet. The league sees a ratings boon any time two local rivals meet in the postseason and it often makes for compelling hockey. Get the right matchups and the NHL’s business can prosper.

But that bet came with a price on the competitive fairness front. The league has long struggled with the right recipe for getting the best 16 teams into the . The newest format doesn’t help with that objective in the slightest. The trade-off with emphasizing divisions is that the league has often found itself with inferior teams in the postseason merely because of playoff formula inefficiencies.

What do I mean by playoff formula inefficiencies? There are two. The first is that teams are bucketed into conferences due to travel constraints. This works just fine if the conferences are reasonably split in talent, which generally is the case. But in the seasons where there is a notable skew in talent distribution – think a few years ago when most of the league’s top teams resided in the West – there’s a good chance that an inferior team from one conference will make the playoffs at the expense of a superior team from the other conference.

The second inefficiency is much more restrictive, and it was borne out of the 2013-14 format’s emphasis on divisions. The NHL essentially took the conference inefficiency and doubled-down. Instead of taking the eight best teams from a conference, they now mandate at least three teams from each division, plus two wild cards. Not only does this mean potentially undeserving teams getting into the postseason, it also opens up the door for bad first-round playoff matchups.

It happens every year. Just a few quick examples to emphasize this point:

In 2013-14, the 100-point had to open on the road against 101-point Tampa Bay. Philadelphia (96 points) earned a home series against the 94-point and Metropolitan three seed . Meanwhile, the third seed in the Pacific Division (L.A. Kings) had to play 111-point San Jose in the first round.

In 2014-15, the league’s 10th best team in Vancouver played the league’s 16th best team in Calgary. Meanwhile, the league’s sixth best team in Nashville (104 points) played the league’s seventh best team in Chicago (102 points).

In 2015-16, 97-point Tampa Bay played 93-point Detroit. The league’s best team, Washington, had to play 96-point Philadelphia. Also of note: Boston (93 points) didn’t make the playoffs, but Minnesota (87 points) did.

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And in 2016-17, the Atlantic Division three seed in Boston (95 points) earned the right to play Ottawa, a 98-point team. The three-seed in the Metropolitan, 108-point Columbus, earned a matchup with 111- point Pittsburgh.

Why do I bring this up in the middle of January? A cursory glance at the 2017-18 standings shows that the NHL is again at risk on two fronts – weaker teams making the postseason and divisional seeding creating curiously skewed first-round matchups.

In the table below, gold indicates a “Top 16” points pace. Gray indicates projected playoff team based on the current playoff format. (Standings as of Monday)

There are a few things to digest here, but the most prominent is the fact that there is significant divisional imbalance again this year. The best example here would be 96-point Minnesota. The Wild are expected to finish sixth in the Central Division and outside of the playoffs. But they would finish third in the Metro (with a playoff spot), fourth in the Atlantic (with a playoff spot), and fourth in the Pacific (outside of a playoff spot). The mere existence of divisions can have them finish as high as a locked-in playoff team, to a wild-card team, to missing the postseason entirely.

Minnesota isn’t the only example. Ten of the league’s 16 best teams are in the West. Los Angeles, like Minnesota, is at risk of missing the postseason because of the strength of the conference. One of Philadelphia or the Rangers, both projected to finish below Los Angeles by point total, is likely to get in.

Let’s say you don’t particularly care about conference imbalance though – let’s say you chalk it up to unbalanced schedules and are okay with small variances. To that end, let’s focus on the divisional projections:

Columbus and Toronto are mirror-image teams – similar underlying numbers, similar point totals, etc. But Columbus is set to draw a New Jersey team in the first round that’s 11 points behind Boston. The same Bruins team that’s on pace for 113 points and only are at risk of not winning the division because of Tampa Bay’s existence.

The wild card is a gambit, too. Focus on Philadelphia and the Rangers for right now. One of these two teams is going to have to face the conference’s best team because of the crossover rule. The other will likely face the – a quality hockey team, but only the sixth-best team in the league.

The West is just as much of a wreck. If the season ended today, Vegas – four points clear with the conference lead – would end up playing one of Dallas or St. Louis, both of whom are expected to finish higher than the Pacific third-place team in Calgary.

But again, the real issues are borne out of the mandated 2-vs-3 matchup in each division. The strength of the Central means that this particular matchup will be notably better than all others. I mean, consider the league rankings of each 2-vs-3 series:

Winnipeg’s likely reward for being one of the five best teams in the league is a punishing first-round series against a quality team. Meanwhile, weaker teams in San Jose or New Jersey will draw even weaker teams in Calgary and Columbus, respectively.

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To some, the inefficiencies in the divisional playoff format are non-issues. Ultimately the best teams get into the playoffs, the worst teams miss the playoffs, and many teams at the top half of the league will still get in.

But to others, myself included, the new format has just caused more problems. Is emphasizing divisional rivalries worth compromising the spirit of the regular season – a regular season intended to get the best and most deserving hockey teams into the playoffs? I don’t think so. And while things like the scheduling imbalances are hard to fix, rolling back to the old conference-based playoff format would be an immediate improvement on the status quo. I hope the NHL hasn’t taken this debate off of the table.

23 https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nhl/2018/01/22/nbc-winter-olympics-hockey-coverage- pyeongchang/1055376001/

As NBC Sports juggles Winter Olympics, NHL coverage, it envisions unique opportunity By Kevin Allen – January 23, 2018

NBC Sports executive producer and president Sam Flood recalls exactly what he was thinking immediately after being told NHL players weren’t going to the 2018 Olympics.

“My first thought was 1980 and how cool that was,” Flood said. “And this is an opportunity to have a real unique hockey tournament and have some fun."

In 1980, the United States, made up of amateurs, shocked the Soviet Union in the "Miracle on Ice" en route to the gold medal.

The NHL’s decision not to send players to Pyeongchang, South Korea, after attending five consecutive Olympics angered a collection of NHL stars. But no entity felt the ramifications of that decision more than NBC because it owns broadcast rights to both the NHL and the Olympics.

Instead of seeing the NHL's decision as an obstacle, Flood opted to view it as an opportunity. He added three Sunday NHL noon ET games on NBC that will serve as the lead-in to NBC’s Olympic coverage.

NBC will telecast the Pittsburgh Penguins at the St. Louis Blues on Sunday, Feb. 11; the Philadelphia Flyers at the New York Rangers on Feb. 18 and the vs. the Blues on Sunday, Feb. 25.

“The way the day falls it allows us to cover every Olympic hockey game live in important windows,” Flood said. “And we can still honor the NHL and give them air time. At the same time, we can tell important stories about the Olympics and vice versa. When we are doing Olympic games we can remind people there is good stuff coming up on Feb. 11 with the Penguins and Blues.”

NBC’s esteemed broadcaster Mike Emrick, 71, has decided to stay home and call the NHL games. Eddie Olczyk, still receiving chemotherapy for colon cancer, is scheduled to serve as color analyst in two of those games.

The other key NBC television personalities, including Pierre McGuire, recently diagnosed with prostate cancer, Mike Milbury and Jeremy Roenick, will all be in South Korea for the Olympics.

Besides juggling the NHL and Olympic coverage, the other challenge for NBC is figuring out how to best present a hockey tournament that will be different from what we’ve seen lately at the Olympics.

You have to be 30, or close to it, to remember what Olympic hockey was like before NHL stars began showing up in 1998. The 1994 Games in Lillehammer, Norway, was the last Winter Games without NHL players. The U.S. roster for 2018 will include players from European leagues, the and colleges.

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“Part of our read is that big ice games are always different anyhow,” Flood said. “It’s a different brand of hockey than you see in the NHL. I thought the Sochi tournament (in 2014) was different than the NHL because players can go in the corner and dilly dally with the puck a little bit more.”

The international ice surface is 15 feet wider than NHL rinks and that provides players more time and room to make plays.

The Olympics have been a big stage for hockey.

About 4.1 million people watched the USA-Russia Olympic semifinal from Sochi on NBC Sports Network in 2014, according to Nielsen. NBC’s prime time Olympic coverage averaged 21.3 million viewers.

By contrast, the three NHL games on NBC in February would be expected to draw nearly 1 million viewers each.

The Olympic hockey tournament also draws many non-NHL fans.

“You get to expose players to a broader audience because it’s a much wider net you are casting," Flood said.

Think about Washington Capitals winger T.J. Oshie’s notoriety after he had the memorable shootout success against Russia in Sochi. Even non-hockey fans were talking about that for days.

“He is a very good hockey player,” Flood said. “But is he one of the top 10 players in the NHL? I don’t think anyone would say that. But after the Sochi Olympics, he might have been the best-known player in the NHL because of the shootout and (the USA’s) dramatic win.”

That’s the kind of opportunity that intrigues Flood about these Olympic Games without NHL players.

“I could see (U.S. player) Ryan Donato,” Flood said, “playing in these Olympics and showing up a week later for the Bruins with the glow of an Olympic medal around his neck. It would be a good story and everyone would pick up on that."

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