Columbus Blue Jackets News Clips January 20-22, 2018

Columbus Blue Jackets PAGE 02: Columbus Dispatch: Blue Jackets | Extended comments from John Tortorella on today’s NHL PAGE 05: Columbus Dispatch: Blue Jackets | Artemi Panarin leads NHL in shootout goals with 5 PAGE 07: Columbus Dispatch: Blue Jackets | Tortorella, Foligno want more physical play PAGE 09: The Athletic: Business or pleasure? Blue Jackets ready for their first taste of Las Vegas PAGE 12: Columbus Dispatch: Blue Jackets | Coach gives players days in Las Vegas to have fun PAGE 14: Columbus Dispatch: Blue Jackets | Tortorella, Foligno like veteran Jokinen’s savvy PAGE 15: The Athletic: Serenity now: How Blue Jackets' Joonas Korpisalo transformed from a stick-smashing teen to calm-under-pressure keeper PAGE 19: Columbus Dispatch: Blue Jackets notebook | Korpisalo’s approach wins him starts in goal PAGE 21: The Athletic: No stick, no problem. Blue Jackets goaltenders making spectacular saves in a different way

Cleveland Monsters/Prospects PAGE 24: Cleveland Plain Dealer: Rockford IceHogs storm by Cleveland Monsters, 4-3 PAGE 25: Cleveland Plain Dealer: Chicago Wolves rally past Cleveland Monsters, 3-1

NHL/Websites PAGE 26: Sportsnet.ca: Down Goes Brown: 10 times an elite defenceman was traded PAGE 31: Sportsnet.ca: Remembering Red Fisher’s unmatched personality and flair PAGE 33: Sportsnet.ca: Cowichan Valley ‘where it all began’ for ex-NHLer Geoff Courtnall PAGE 36: TSN.ca: TSN Hockey's Top 10 Storylines of the Week PAGE 39: The Athletic: In USA Hockey and beyond, Jim Johannson remembered for working to make things better for others PAGE 42: Sportsnet.ca: Erik Karlsson unconcerned about potential trade away from Senators

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Blue Jackets | Extended comments from John Tortorella on today’s NHL By Steve Gorten – January 20, 2018

The morning after Blue Jackets wing Josh Anderson fought Boston Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara earlier this season, coach John Tortorella commended Anderson for his courage. He also pointed out that the “camaraderie” fighting once gave teams is gone. It has been taken out of what’s become “a gentleman’s game” in today’s NHL, he said. Instead of a fight fueling a team that’s struggling or lacking emotion, teams have to rely on “a blocked shot or a second effort on a backcheck” to spark them. “That’s where I think some of the old-school type of hockey. ... I’m not sure if it will ever come back because when you start trying to get a little bit into the way the game was played a number of years ago, a new rule comes into the rulebook,” Tortorella said. “But you need that.” On Friday, after practice at the Ice Haus, Tortorella once again opined on the NHL’s evolution from a league in which players policed themselves to one that’s too “civilized” and “domesticated.” Here’s what Tortorella had to say: In years past, on a dead Tuesday, five minutes in, somebody’s fighting somebody... Tortorella: “Don’t hold your breath. It’s not happening.” How do players now get a personal attachment to games when some games are just quiet? Tortorella: “Quiet? I’ve never seen opposing teams talk to one another more throughout a game than this year.” Friendly talk? Tortorella: “Oh, yeah. ... I could rail about it, I’d like to, but there’s no sense of it because it’s not going to change. In fact, I think it’s going to get worse. I think the rules have changed the game. And I just think the whole demeanor, as far as the intensity of the one-on-one battle against another team, and maybe a little bit of hate of that team, is just not there consistently enough. “And I think as coaches, we have to be careful, too, in how we handle ourselves because it’s changed, where you hear, ‘You’re not giving him confidence’ or ‘He’s too hard.’ It’s supposed to be a man’s game. It’s changed a little bit. I don’t see it getting better. I see it still going the other way. It’s a faster game. There’s a lot of excitement there. It’s a much more highly skilled game. But as I’ve always said to you guys, I think the old school and the old way of playing, too much of that has been taken out of the game. And I think it starts with us that kind of run the game as far as some of the rule changes.” Did you used to have to say anything to a team’s tough guys to make something happen? Tortorella: “I’ve never done that in my career because you’ve never had to. Because they know that’s their job. They know that’s how they make their living. That was a big part of the game. There’s no buildings you’re afraid to go in now. There isn’t. It’s kind of vanilla that way. I fought it for a couple of years, but there’s no sense of trying to win that battle because it’s not going to happen. There’s a lot of chatter on the ice.”

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You see guys lined up for what used to be a huge hit, and then pull up? Tortorella: I was coaching my team before the game last night, and I think our team needs to be more physical. Our team needs to be able to take checks more, too. The last Vancouver game, (Alexander) Edler runs over (Josh Anderson), just a really good check, and (Artemi Panarin) thinks he has to go over there and do something about it. It’s the last guy I want to go do something about it, but that’s what the league has become: if you get hit, your arms go up in the air, and then the guy that hits you (with) a clean, solid hit has to look around because he might have to fight someone. Someone’s going to come, try to step in, and push him around a little bit. Because there’s not going to be a fight. ...I’m not upset about it anymore. I just don’t think it’s the true brand of hockey. I agree, and I love the youth of the league, and the skill and the speed, and all that, but we’ve lost the other part of it. It’s too bad, because it’s not coming back. “Back in the day, if you’re up 5-1 with 12 minutes left in the game ... the guys that know they’re going to have to handle some of that are saying, ’S---, now I’m going to have to go through this here — a team sending a message to that [other] team for the next time they play. ... I’m certainly not advocating some of the stuff, benches clearing and all of that, but good, solid hockey play and players policing themselves. It’s gone. And that’s too bad.” How can you tell when your team’s really into a game? Tortorella: “I think the coach that’s close to it can tell, but it’s not at the same intensity it used to be. It isn’t. ... I have to be careful. ... I want to make sure I’m not criticizing. It is what it is now. That’s what it’s turned to. And I think this all changed when we kept adding to the rule book. I’ve always believed it’s the players’ game. They have to police themselves. And if we allowed them to police themselves, some of the stuff we’re talking about, the gritty hard stuff, would be there. ... It’s too bad that’s out of our game. And that’s not a bad thing to say. It’s not advocating idiocy in our hockey game. It’s part of the foundation and fabric of the National Hockey League that’s gone, and it’ll never come back.” Players are all friends? Tortorella: “Everybody is ... Probably, five or six years ago, I’d fight it. I’d tell my team, ’You’re not allowed to talk to a player! And then five minutes into the game I’d see them gabbing away. ... It’s gone, so I don’t fight it anymore. I think who loses ... well, I better be quiet. How about playoffs? Tortorella: “In playoffs, it’s more business-like. You’re playing the same team for two weeks. There’s something at the end of the tunnel that they can see and that’s the Stanley Cup. They don’t want that team to get it from you...it’s a different situation there. But still not what it used to be, even in playoffs. Our game’s domesticated. It really has been civilized, and it starts with the rules. And I think it needs to be uncivilized a little bit, where you don’t go over the line ... for injuries and stuff like that. But I think that was a big part of the National Hockey League that drew people. We’re always trying to get new people into our game. I think we’ve lost people because of some of the stuff we’ve lost.” Is Artemi Panarin’s toughness, temper something that’s surprised you? Tortorella: “You see him last night? I love that. That’s what we’re talking about here. It’s on my tape. When I show video of this game, that’s going to be on the tape. Like I told him the other night, when Edler ran over Andy, I said, ‘Don’t go over there. What, are you going to throw a left? Eds isn’t going to fight, anyway.’ I said ‘Don’t even bother. Take our hits.’ And I think that’s a big part of becoming a better team is learning to take hits. For our team, I think we have to be more physical in the second half. Maybe that will draw a little bit more attention and bring some of this [physical nature from the old

3 days] into play. But it will never get to the level that it was before. And some of it was over the top. Let’s admit it was over the top. I think we need to find a happy medium, but I don’t think we will. Do players need to work on being more physical? Tortorella: “There are some guys that are natural at it. When (Brandon Dubinsky) comes back into the lineup, he will draw other people. We miss that terribly from Duby. Before you even let him handle a puck, that’s a big part of his game that draws a lot of our guys into it. But I still think there’s onus on the other guys — that it’s not really a big part of their game. They need to be involved in rubbing people out and taking care of the blue when they’re in that situation. That brings energy to the game. And I know it brings energy to this team. That’s a point of emphasis in the second half for us. We need to be more involved in that.”

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Blue Jackets | Artemi Panarin leads NHL in shootout goals with 5 By Steve Gorten – January 20, 2018

The Blue Jackets have won all seven of their shootouts this season, and a primary reason has been Artemi Panarin.

The wing scored the only goal notched by either team in Thursday’s three-round skills competition, lifting the Jackets to a 2-1 win against the Dallas Stars. Panarin’s five shootout goals this season, on nine attempts, rank first in the NHL.

Panarin beat Stars goalie Ben Bishop with a quick forehand to backhand — one of his many moves and one that coach John Tortorella said he hadn’t seen before.

“He just feels comfortable. When he’s going down there, he’s creative. It just comes to him,” Tortorella said. “I don’t think he’s overthinking it.”

Tortorella said Panarin likes to go second, as he did against the Stars, and the plan for future shootouts until Cam Atkinson returns from injury is to have Jussi Jokinen go first, followed by Panarin.

Alexander Wennberg went third Thursday, but only after Jack Johnson, who had taken the ice, was called back to the bench. Tortorella said he had told Johnson he’d be in the “clean-up” spot and held up four fingers, but Johnson thought he saw three.

“All of us are screaming, and we’re laughing ... while we’re doing it because Jack wasn’t supposed to be out there,” Tortorella said. “And, of course, Wenny is just kind of sitting there, the gentleman that he is. He should have been out on the ice right away, saying, ‘Hey, I’m going!’”

Fans cheer Johnson

Johnson, who has asked to be traded, received a loud ovation from the announced crowd of 17,574 when his name was announced as part of the starting lineup.

“It was a great feeling,” said Johnson, who played 22:08, his most ice time in 10 games. “You’re never sure how thing are going to go like that. I’ve cherished my time with the fans throughout my entire time here. I love the city, and I just try to do my best for them every night and try to make them proud.”

Hard day’s work

The Jackets worked on checking, and also did a conditioning skate — a rarity at this time of year — Friday in what Tortorella deemed a mini camp. The team won’t play again until Tuesday at Las Vegas.

“They were full of enthusiasm today. They practiced hard. They practiced quick,” Tortorella said. “They started off very shaky, the first couple of minutes, I could tell. Then we just had to remind them that we’re here to work.”

Korpisalo cruising

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Goalie Joonas Korpisalo, who made 35 saves Thursday in addition to turning away all three shots he faced in the shootout, is 4-1 with a 2.32 goals-against average and .929 save percentage in his past five starts.

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Blue Jackets | Tortorella, Foligno want more physical play By Steve Gorten – January 20, 2018

Having scuffled with Antoine Roussel after the whistle in his previous shift, Artemi Panarin wasn’t going to let Dillon Heatherington get away with taking a run at him — even if it was, as Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella described it, “a good, honest hit.”

So after the Stars defenseman, a former Jackets draft pick, barely mistimed slamming Panarin into the end boards late in the second period Thursday, the frustrated Jackets wing wrapped his left arm around Heatherington’s neck, spun him, grabbed his waist, spun him again and punched him in the back of the head.

Heatherington retaliated along the boards, and as their quarrel dragged into the face-off circle, Heatherington hooked Panarin around the waist with his stick, and then Panarin struck Heatherington in the mouth with a high stick. Both were sent to the penalty box.

“You see him last night?” Tortorella said proudly of Panarin after Friday’s practice. “I love that. When I show video of this game, that’s going to be on the tape.”

Added Tortorella: “That’s hockey. They called penalties, and there probably should have been some penalties called, but you don’t see enough of that.”

As Tortorella bemoaned for several minutes Friday the softening of the NHL into a “domesticated” league that has become “civilized,” no longer allows players to “police themselves,” and features opposing players “gabbing away” on the ice as if they were at a social, the self-acknowledged “old school” coach praised the 5-foot-11, 168-pound Panarin for his “intensity” against the 6-4, 215-pound Heatherington.

Tortorella also said: “Our team needs to be more physical. Our team needs to be able to take checks more, too.”

After the Canucks’ Alexander Edler knocked Josh Anderson off his skates during last week’s game — “just a really good check,” Tortorella said — Panarin approached Edler and got into it with him.

“Bread thinks he has to go over there and do something about it,” Tortorella said. “It’s the last guy I want to go do something about it, but that’s what the league has become: If you get hit, your arms go up in the air, and then the guy that hits you (with) a clean, solid hit has to look around because he might have to fight someone. Someone’s going to come, try to step in, and push him around a little bit. Because there’s not going to be a fight.”

The number of fights continues to nosedive in the NHL. There were 155 through 703 games this season, a pace of 280 in 1,271 games. A decade ago, there were 664 fights in 1,230 games.

But Jackets captain Nick Foligno said: “I don’t think physicality means fighting anymore. It means, are you over pucks? Are you winning battles? Are you tenacious in getting them back?”

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Foligno cited the pressure that Tyler Motte put on Stars defenseman Dan Hamhuis behind the Dallas net, which resulted in a turnover and Jordan Schroeder burying a loose puck for the Jackets’ only goal in regulation.

Foligno also pointed to Oliver Bjorkstrand in the final minute of the third period beating defensemen Esa Lindell and John Klingberg to the puck, pushing them off and setting up Alexander Wennberg.

“That’s the kind of stuff I think we need a little bit more of,” Foligno said, adding that it produces offense and “benefits everybody.”

“Some of our personnel has changed. We used to be really physical all the time,” he added.

Brandon Dubinsky, who has been out the past five weeks because of a facial fracture, sets a physical tone, and “we miss that terribly from Duby,” Tortorella said.

“But I still think there’s an onus on the other guys — that it’s not really a big part of their game,” he added. “They need to be involved in rubbing people out and taking care of the blue [crease] when they’re in that situation. That brings energy to the game. And I know it brings energy to this team. That’s a point of emphasis in the second half for us.”

A prime example is Panarin, he said.

“It gives him space. Guys are like, ‘This guy’s a little crazy’” Foligno said. “It makes you appreciate the way he plays because you know he’s so skilled, but he’s willing to battle for that ice, too.”

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Business or pleasure? Blue Jackets ready for their first taste of Las Vegas By Aaron Portzline – January 20, 2018

Previous Blue Jackets coaches would have blanched upon looking at the club's travel itinerary to Las Vegas. Three nights on The Strip before the puck drops Tuesday? Arriving four days before the game? Are you crazy? But current coach John Tortorella is wired a little differently. This is, after all, the coach who gave a corporate credit card to the players after an early-season win in Anaheim last season and ordered them to go have a blast down the road in Los Angeles. The Blue Jackets are heading to Las Vegas on Saturday, well in advance of their game against the expansion Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday. The team hotel is right on The Strip, right in the middle of America's 24-hour party city, where there's no such thing as last call. Tortorella doesn't just thumb his nose at this idea of a “Vegas flu” — the Golden Knights are 18-2-2 in T- Mobile Arena — he extends two middle fingers. “I want 'em to go out,” Tortorella said on Friday. “I think playing 'guilty' is a big part of being a really good player in the National Hockey League. We don't do that anymore, heaven forbid! “We have agents, we have their whole entourage making sure they drink that carrot juice and all this stuff. You can't have a beer, they say, that'll dehydrate you. (I say) let 'em have a little fun. Let's have some personality.” Now, now boys Previous Blue Jackets coach Todd Richards, now an assistant in Tampa Bay, was so concerned about the team's proclivity for partying that the Jackets used to arrive the night before games in legendary party cities — Nashville, Montreal, etc. — and leave those cities right after the game. Most of the Blue Jackets players who played under Richards don't have a bad word to say about him. But they interpreted this as a lack of trust, which … it was. “You feel like you're being babysat a little bit,” Blue Jackets captain Nick Foligno said. “I respect the way Torts handles his business, because he treats us like men and treats us like, 'You guys have a life outside hockey. I'm not here to babysit you. You're going to make the right decisions because that's what you've done to get to this point.' ” Tortorella has touched on this a number of times, often bringing up the topic himself. He laments how the game has lost some of its characters through the years, the renegades, outlaws, party animals and nut jobs. But more to the point, he wants to show his players he trusts them. If you can't trust them to be ready to play when the puck drops, he often says, they shouldn't be on the bus in the first place. Many NHL teams have coordinated team-building dinners or gatherings around the trips to Vegas. Many fan groups have too, including a 200-strong contingent from Jacket Backers.

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“We wanted to go to Vegas early,” Tortorella said. “When you start treating your players like 10-year- olds and babysit them and don't allow them to go out and enjoy some of the cities they're in, you're going down the wrong road. I trust our team.” At the core, a business trip To be clear, there's no way the Blue Jackets are going to turn this trip into “The Hangover,” Part 5. On Friday, the Blue Jackets had a fast-paced 45-minute practice in the Ice Haus, a session that included a short series of “Herbies” that are usually reserved for training camp or punishment. The players saw it as the coach “taking some skin” from them in advance of the weekend's fun. “I think that was part of his idea, yeah,” Foligno said. The Blue Jackets will also practice Saturday in the Ice Haus before they board the team charter. They will celebrate on Saturday or Sunday with the annual “rookie dinner,” in which the rookies on the club — or the young players who haven't endured such a bill on previous clubs — are forced to pay for the team's night on the town. Your plastic please, PLD. “We're trying to figure out what we can and cannot do with P-L,” Foligno joked, noting that standout rookie Pierre-Luc Dubois is only 19 years old. “There are spots where you need to enjoy yourself and blow it out, get some steam off. Those are some of the best stories among the guys when you're done playing, stuff you're never allowed to talk about (in public) but stuff that's important for team morale.” But the club also has practices scheduled for Sunday and Monday. These will likely be lengthy sessions, with plenty of cardio drills and battle drills to get the Blue Jackets ready for a tough test Tuesday. “I don't think any of us are going there to just party,” Foligno said. “We have a job to do and we know these games are crucial. We're not playing a lot of games (on the schedule) and teams are catching up. We know the situation. These are important points.” The Vegas flu In the 1970s, NHL players used to dodge games in Philadelphia to avoid playing the notoriously dirty Flyers. It was dubbed the Philly Flu. The strand in the desert, though not yet confirmed as the flu, is far different. The Golden Knights (30-11- 3) have the second-best record in the NHL and lead the Pacific Division by a whopping nine points. The theory is that visiting teams — including young players making their first trip to Vegas — get so caught up in the limitless partying that they aren't so sharp the next day. “This is, uh, a pretty entertaining city to be in for teams,” Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos told ESPN. “I can't speak for other teams, but …” But some of this takes away from what the Golden Knights have accomplished. Columbus knows the challenges of an expansion franchise. It was considered a success when the Blue Jackets totaled 71 points in their first season; Vegas is already at 63. “I think it's the first season and everyone's excited to be there in a whole new atmosphere,” Foligno said. “I don't think it's teams going out and partying, but I think it's something for visiting teams to get used to.

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“They have a lot to rally around in that city. More or less, you have 22 guys who are pissed off that they were left open (in the expansion draft). They have something to prove and they're proving it. “I don't think teams are going in there thinking, 'Man, we're going to blow it out and see what happens in the game.' If you are, you're not going to be in this league very long.” This is Tortorella's point. Have fun, but remember why you're here in the first place. “It's a long year,” he said. “We ask a lot out of the players. We have an opportunity to see a different city, new in the league … it's Vegas, I know that. But I trust our team. “I hope they have fun, but I hope they're ready to play when we drop the puck on Tuesday.”

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Blue Jackets | Coach gives players days in Las Vegas to have fun By Steve Gorten – January 21, 2018

Blue Jackets center Pierre-Luc Dubois has never been to Las Vegas, but he loves the movie “Vegas Vacation.” “Nick Papagiorgio!” Dubois exclaimed, grinning. In the 1997 comedy, Clark Griswold (the character played by Chevy Chase) takes his family to Las Vegas. While his wife becomes Wayne Newton’s object of affection, his teenage son, Rusty, stumbles into an extravagant night of incredible adventures after acquiring a fake driver’s license identifying him as Nick Papagiorgio, a 32-year-old high roller from Yuma, Arizona. Although Dubois is the No. 1 center for an NHL team, he also is just 19, the youngest player on the league’s youngest team, and he can relate to Rusty’s struggle to find fun as an underaged guy in Sin City. “We’re trying to figure out what we can and cannot do with P-L,” Blue Jackets captain Nick Foligno said playfully about the team, which left Saturday for four days in Las Vegas. “We’re going to be doing a lot of babysitting. Probably just lock him in somewhere. He’ll be so nervous, I’m sure, anyway.” You must be 21 to drink or gamble in Las Vegas, and minors aren’t even allowed to stand next to slot machines or table games. Dubois has no intention of buying an alias from a Frank Sinatra look-alike on the Strip, but he might do some sightseeing, he said, just as the Griswolds visited Hoover Dam. “I’m not going to see every side of Vegas, but there’s a lot to see, so I’ll try to do as much as I can,” Dubois said. “We have a great group of guys here, so it’s going to be really fun.” That’s precisely what Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella is hoping for. You read that right. Tortorella wants Jackets players to enjoy themselves in Sin City, which is why he flew them out to the desert early for a game on Tuesday against the Vegas Golden Knights. “I want them to go out. I think playing guilty is a big part of being a really good player in the National Hockey League,” Tortorella said. “We don’t do that anymore. Heaven forbid! We have agents, and their whole entourage making sure you drink that carrot juice, and all this stuff. ‘You can’t have a beer; that’s going to dehydrate you.’ “What’s great about our game is let them have a little fun. Let us have some personality. We’ve taken a lot of personality out of the game.” Tortorella said he trusts his team. “When you start trying to treat your players like 10-year-olds, babysit them and don’t allow them to go out and enjoy some of the cities they’re in, you’re going down the wrong road. We do want to get acclimated with the (time) change, and we want them to enjoy themselves, too. It’s a long year. We ask a lot out of them.” At the same time, “I hope they’re ready to play when we drop the puck on Tuesday.”

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That won’t be a problem, Foligno said. Players respect Tortorella for treating them like men, he said, and trust from their coach puts the onus on players to be responsible. Although Tuesday’s game against an expansion franchise might have appeared before the season to be an easy game, the Golden Knights entered the weekend with 64 points, second-most in the NHL. Their roster includes former Blue Jackets William Karlsson and Jonathan Marchessault. “I don’t think any of us are going there to just party it up,” Foligno said. “We have a job to do. And we know these points are crucial because of how many games we have left in January. We’re not playing a lot, and teams are catching us.” The extra days in Vegas will allow players to bond, Tortorella said. Their time together will feature the annual “rookie dinner,” where the team’s rookies pay for a team dinner at a restaurant. Dubois said he will be picking up the bill along with fellow forwards Tyler Motte, Oliver Bjorkstrand and Markus Hannikainen. Defenseman Dean Kukan, who has yet to take the ice for the Jackets this season and played all eight of his NHL games in 2015-16, will have the option of paying, Dubois said. Foligno said functions such as the “rookie dinner” rally teams off the ice. “There are spots where you need to enjoy yourself, blow it out and get some steam off,” he said. “Those are some of the best stories you remember when you’re done playing.”

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Blue Jackets | Tortorella, Foligno like veteran Jokinen’s savvy By Steve Gorten – January 21, 2018

What forward Jussi Jokinen’s modest statistics in his Blue Jackets debut Thursday didn’t reflect is the reason captain Nick Foligno “really enjoyed” skating on his right wing and coach John Tortorella will continue to use him: He’s a smart player. “He’s really smart,” Foligno said. “Always in the right spots.” “He’s a veteran guy that understands all situations,” Tortorella said of the 34-year-old Jokinen, who had two shots and one takeaway and won four of nine face-offs in 15:14 while centering the third line. “He’s lost a step,” Tortorella added. “You can see that from when I knew him (in Tampa in 2009). He’s gotten older. But I think he can make up for that with just a little bit of his knowledge, poise and conditioning.” Tortorella said he’s unsure where Jokinen will fit into the lineup once injured forwards Cam Atkinson (broken foot), Brandon Dubinsky (facial fracture) and Sonny Milano (torn oblique strain) return, “but he was impressive to me in that he understands his play away from the puck, and that’s the most important thing for me.” Atkinson practiced at full speed, in pads, for the first half of a 70-minute practice Saturday and appeared to skate effortlessly. “Didn’t even watch him,” Tortorella said of Atkinson, who underwent surgery three and a half weeks ago, but he added, “As each player that’s been hurt, once they get on the ice, it’s encouraging because he took another step.” Atkinson is with the Jackets on their two-game trip. The Jackets will do only off-ice workouts Sunday in Las Vegas after two lengthy practices at Ice Haus on consecutive days. “We’ve done a lot of our concept as far as fore-checking, some offensive zone and rush stuff,” Tortorella said. “We’ve touched on a lot of things. ... Once we come back from the All-Star break, you look at our schedule, we’re not going to be able to practice much at all. So we’re going to try to use it to our benefit.” Ryan Murray didn’t skate Saturday. He had been practicing with the team before its five-day break, but he has suffered a setback with his upper-body injury. ... Center Alexander Wennberg said he plans to spend time with former Jackets teammate and close friend William Karlsson on Monday. “We try as much as we can” to stay in touch, Wennberg said. “We’re both busy, but every now and then, we check up on each other.”

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Serenity now: How Blue Jackets' Joonas Korpisalo transformed from a stick- smashing teen to calm-under-pressure keeper By Tom Reed – January 21, 2018

Joonas Korpisalo arrived early at the Columbus airport last Saturday for a flight he wouldn’t take.

The ice-encrusted city was digging out from a winter storm that had created havoc for travelers. The Blue Jackets backup goaltender and teammate Tyler Motte were scheduled to fly by commercial airline to Grand Rapids, Michigan, for a minor-league game later that day.

Such is life for the apprentice to Sergei Bobrovsky, a two-time Vezina Trophy winner. You take games anywhere you can get them — even in Grand Rapids on a cold January night as other NHL teammates are jetting off to warm-weather climates to start their five-day break.

Korpisalo saw Markus Hannikainen and Markus Nutivaara in the terminal. He bumped into Zach Werenski and his buddies, too. The biggest concern for the Blue Jackets beachgoers was whether they had packed enough sunscreen. Meanwhile, Korpisalo was just hours from the puck dropping when he spotted one of the worst words in air travel on the departures board:

CANCELED.

“It was pretty funny,” he told The Athletic. “They finally arranged like a private plane to get us out of there at 1:30 and we got into Grand Rapids around 3. I hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast.”

Korpisalo turned aside the aggravation and 35 Grand Rapids shots to backstop the Cleveland Monsters to a 2-1 victory.

“You just have to remember everything doesn’t go as planned,” he said. “You have to do your job no matter what happens.”

That’s the “Korpi” coach John Tortorella loves. Easygoing Korpi. Fun-loving Korpi. The Korpi who surrendered goals to P.K. Subban and David Legwand from beyond the blue line during the 2015-16 season and didn’t allow them to destroy his confidence.

It’s also the Korpi who didn’t exist until five years ago.

The goaltender who’s lauded for his serenity and ability to play through adversity was a stick-breaking, tantrum-throwing teenager in Finland. Korpisalo might have never made it to the NHL, he says, had he not found a “mental coach” who helped him control his emotions.

“He would slam his stick when someone scored on him (and) he would yell,” said Hannikainen, who also was a Korpisalo teammate on club teams in Finland. “He was different guy then. Now, nothing gets in his head.”

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The 23-year-old goalie possesses the ideal temperament for a backup who sometimes goes weeks between starts. After winning his minor-league tuneup last weekend, he validated Tortorella’s trust by delivering a 2-1 shootout victory over the Stars on Thursday at Nationwide Arena in the Blue Jackets’ first game after the break.

His transformation is a reminder of how athletes can improve themselves beyond just working harder and watching more video clips. The fields of sports psychology and mental fitness, once viewed with suspicion by some in the athletic world, have become viable alternatives for those seeking assistance with the games played between the ears.

“If you said 20 years ago ‘I’m going to see a sports psychologist,’ they would think you’re crazy,” said Jackets assistant Brad Larsen, who’s worked with plenty of prospects as the franchise’s former minor- league coach. “Times have changed.

“Talk to ex-military people and Navy SEALs and this is the stuff they talk about — that mental fortitude of how to remain calm under pressure, how to calm the mind. Frustration can be a real wasted emotion. … Nothing good comes out of it.”

Mind games

Korpisalo stood in the Blue Jackets locker room Friday morning and laughed at the memory of his greatest meltdown.

“I once took 14 penalty minutes in a game when I was like 18 years old,” he said.

Playing in the Finnish elite league, Korpisalo became enraged after getting tripped behind the net by an opponent. Among his crimes were shooting the puck over the glass, unsportsmanlike conduct and whatever penalty Finn referees assess to players who temporarily lose their noodle.

And, if that weren't bad enough … well, let Korpisalo explain:

“They let my dad drop the (ceremonial) puck before the game so he saw everything.”

Jari Korpisalo is highly respected former Finnish forward. He was a rare blend of skill and snarl for 15 seasons in his homeland’s top league.

“He was a goal scorer who played with an edge,” said Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen, a teammate of Jari’s on Finland’s world junior clubs.

Korpisalo believes he inherited his father’s love for the game and his temper.

The youngster played forward until he was 8 years old, switching to goalie because he liked the equipment and he couldn’t elevate his wrist shots.

At 6-foot-3 and 182 pounds, Korpisalo is as long and lean as the inflatable Tube Men you see flailing in front of car lots. His athleticism and flexibility make him a natural for the position.

Korpisalo lacked composure, however. He could become easily rattled, especially after allowing soft goals. He often took out his anger on sticks and teammates.

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“I let in a bad goal and I would smash my stick,” Korpisalo said. It’s nonsense, it’s stupid. I’ve come to learn that when I get pissed off, smashing my stick and yelling, it’s not helping my team. If the goalie is relaxed and calm and doesn’t let things affect him, I think it calms the whole team. When the goalie freaks out, (teammates) are like ‘What’s with him?’ and they get worried. You try to send a message that everything’s OK.”

The next piece of advice Jari Korpisalo gives his son on how to stop a puck will be the first. But as the outbursts became more frequent, the father made one recommendation. He wanted Korpisalo to visit a former defenseman he knew who helped players with the mental aspects of the game. His name is Pertti Ratilainen.

The goalie and the “mental coach” bonded almost immediately. Ratilainen’s background in hockey enabled them to connect and, as Korpisalo says, “speak the same language.”

They began meeting when the goaltender was 18. They still get together during the summer and exchange text messages and phone calls during the season.

Ratilainen got Korpisalo to recognize the feelings he was experiencing during moments of anxiety and frustration. He offered “tools” or mental exercises to alleviate them. The goal is to restore confidence and focus as soon as the next faceoff.

Sometimes, the results are quick. Sometimes, they must wait for the Zamboni driver to interrupt play.

Korpisalo didn’t cite many examples, but said when he suffers a bad period, the goalie will sit in his stall and quantify his deep breaths.

“You are counting your breaths so you are not thinking about anything else,” the goaltender said. “It just helps you clear your head and adjust your mindset.”

‘We go the long way or the regular way’

Nationwide Arena grew still Thursday night other than the five-man celebration in the corner of the rink and the one erupting on the visitors' bench.

With 2:05 remaining in regulation, Stars forward Alexander Radulov redirected a puck past Korpisalo to tie it at 1-1. It was a critical moment in a crucial game for the Blue Jackets, who had stumbled into their five-day break.

Tortorella made a big call in starting Korpisalo ahead of Bobrovsky, who’s 10-1-1 in his past 12 meetings against the Stars. The coach had decided to play Korpisalo days earlier and the goalie knew his latest minor-league stint in Grand Rapids was to prep him for the Stars game.

Korpisalo already had made a spectacular second-period stop on Tyler Seguin — part of a 35-save performance. But after Radulov knotted the game, the pressure mounted on the Jackets and the goalie. Here came another test of his mental makeup.

“I lost my shutout 20 seconds before the end (of the Grand Rapids game) so, I was like, ‘ugh not again,’ ” he said. “I guess I’ll save these shutouts for some other games. It doesn’t really matter to me. We go the long way or the regular way.”

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Korpisalo made four more saves in overtime and was perfect in the shootout. He improved to 5-4-0 on the season with a 2.85 goals against average and a .912 save percentage.

“He has a great mental maturity for the situation he’s in,” Tortorella said. “He’s grown to where you look at him differently. We can play him. It’s not just to rest Bob. … He deserves that kind of respect.”

Korpisalo said his father has helped teach him the importance of patience. He’s not satisfied, however, with spending the rest of his career as Bobrovsky’s understudy.

“Of course I want to play more games so I can get a few more steps in my career,” said Korpisalo, who owns a 28-20-5 career mark in three seasons. “It sucks to sit there on the bench and watch your team win and not really be involved in it. But you also have to be realistic. That’s the situation and you have to work on it.”

Korpisalo has learned at the padded knee of Bobrovsky for three seasons. He studies the technical precision and attention to detail and appreciates the starter’s willingness to mentor him. The backup also is grateful for the support from goaltenders coach Ian Clark.

Tortorella said Korpisalo’s work ethic is vastly improved. Assistant general manager Bill Zito added that the goalie frequently comes to him, asking for minor-league assignments to stay sharp.

In other words, Korpisalo prefers Grand Rapids to the Caribbean in January. He boasts a 1.79 GAA and .944 save percentage in five appearances with the Monsters this season — the final one in which the Blue Jackets can send him to the minors without requiring waivers.

“He doesn’t look at is as a demotion or just helping out,” Zito said. “He looks at it as it’s helping him. That’s pretty mature and pretty gracious.”

In recent years, Korpisalo has been involved in several of the Blue Jackets’ wildest wins, including the epic 7-6 overtime thriller in Ottawa last season.

What Bobrovsky and others like about Korpisalo is his knack for burying a bad goal like a cat in a litter box and focusing on the next shot.

“He’s a really good goalie,” Bobrovsky said. “I have never seen him tense. I have never seen a goal bother him. In my eyes, he’s an easy guy, a loose guy.”

Keep those deep breaths and text messages from the “mental coach” coming.

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Blue Jackets notebook | Korpisalo’s approach wins him starts in goal By Steve Gorten – January 22, 2018

Coach John Tortorella’s decision to start Joonas Korpisalo in goal in the Blue Jackets’ first game back from a five-day break was based in part on Sergei Bobrovsky not performing well coming off breaks.

But it also was largely because Korpisalo has continued to earn opportunities.

“We can get him into a rotation and not always say, ‘OK, let’s play Korpi because Bob needs a rest,’ ” Tortorella said. “And he deserves that type of respect now.”

Korpisalo made 35 saves in Thursday’s 2-1 win against the Stars, and he stopped all three shots in the shootout. He is 4-1-0 with a 2.32 goals-against average and .929 save percentage in his past five starts after losing three of his first four starts.

“His work habits from last year to this year are off the chart,” Tortorella said. “I give (goaltending coach Ian Clark) a lot of credit as far as teaching him a little bit about that. He has shown me from Day 1 that he doesn’t let things bother him, if it’s a bad goal, a bad night or a bad situation where he’s not playing a lot. ... He has a great mental maturity. He has grown to where you look at him differently.”

After Korpisalo dropped his stick, lunged right and deflected Tyler Seguin’s shot with his arm to prevent what seemed a certain goal late in the second period, Bobrovsky greeted Korpisalo with a gigantic grin.

“It was a ‘wow’ save,” Bobrovsky said. “I was happy for him. ... Perfect timing for that too. I enjoy watching the saves more than watching the goals.”

Bobrovsky, who appeared in 38 of the Jackets’ 46 games before the break, last played Jan. 12 against Vancouver. While he noted he likes to play often, he said the 11-day gap between starts shouldn’t affect him poorly on Tuesday at the Vegas Golden Knights.

“I used that window of time to work in the gym, do the off-ice stuff to maintain my body, recover mentally and prepare myself to do the most important part of the season,” Bobrovsky said. “It will be an intense finish. In February, we’ve got lots of divisional games. It will all be pretty tight games.”

Sneak peek

Forward Nick Foligno said playing in Las Vegas for the first time will be “a pretty cool experience.” The Blue Jackets captain had a chance to see the Golden Knights’ 17,500-seat T-Mobile Arena — minus the ice — in June while attending the NHL awards ceremony.

“I’m excited to experience that,” Foligno said. “It will give me a little bit of emotional attachment to the game, because it’s like the first time you play in a lot of big buildings — you’re excited and awed. I’ve heard the crowds are great, so it will be fun to be a part of.”

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Foligno said of the Golden Knights’ surprising success this season, “They’ve had a lot to rally around in that city, and they’ve got a lot to prove. More or less, you’ve got 22 guys that are (angry) they were left (unprotected in the expansion draft) and they’ve got something to prove.”

Said Bobrovsky, “They’ve got a crazy record there. It will be an interesting challenge.”

Together again

Based on practice, it appears that defensemen David Savard and Jack Johnson will skate together again on Tuesday. They were reunited as a pair against Dallas.

“We got into a rhythm early, which helped,” Johnson said. “You get into the flow of the game, then you feel like you’re off and running.”

Savard said, “It felt good to be back with him. I’m really familiar playing with him.”

Savard had a team-high five of the Jackets’ 21 blocked shots in 21:53 of ice time. Johnson led the team with four hits, and had two blocked shots. Both were plus-1.

Killer effort

The Jackets killed off all four Stars power plays, including one with 6:21 left in the third period for too many men on the ice, and another late in overtime. Coming into the game, the Jackets had allowed their past five opponents a total of five power-play goals on 11 chances.

“Good sticks. I thought we were aggressive when we needed to be aggressive,” Tortorella said. “We really worked well as a unit out there. And, obviously, the one toward the end of the third period was a huge one to kill. Those are the ones that are tough to kill off, but we found a way to get it done.”

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No stick, no problem. Blue Jackets goaltenders making spectacular saves in a different way By Alison Lukan – January 22, 2018

With 4:48 to play in the second period of Thursday’s matchup between the Blue Jackets and the Dallas Stars, Joonas Korpisalo squared up to turn away a Stephen Johns shot coming from the top of the right circle. There was no score, but the puck rebounded to a wide-open Tyler Seguin, who sat to the left of the net with nothing between him and a goal but a sliding Korpisalo.

“I was really late on that one,” Korpisalo said. “I just had to go across and try to get something in front of the puck.”

Korpisalo pushed off his left leg and extended his right arm. The puck bounced off his shoulder, over the net, and out of play, preserving the Jackets' 1-0 lead.

Fans celebrated the 23-year-old Finn’s 17th save in what would ultimately be a night with 35 saves and three shootout denials by Korpisalo, not knowing they’d seen something that hadn’t happened before.

“I think that was the first time it happened (for me) in a game,” Korpisalo said. “You don’t think about it. I was just kind of like ‘oh, that’s the first time I dropped my stick. That’s what we’ve been practicing.’ ”

Seeing a goaltender drop a stick in the process of making a save certainly isn’t a first in the NHL. Mention that type of play and many recall the Czech netminder Dominik Hašek, who was known for using his stick in creative ways. But those who follow the Blue Jackets may notice that this behavior has been part of some of the most spectacular saves this season by Columbus goaltenders.

First, there was that incredible 2-on-0 save made by Sergei Bobrovsky in a November game against Detroit.

Then, the very next game, Bobrovsky turned away the Montreal Canadiens on a 2-on-1 rush. The save was so remarkable, The Athletic’s Justin Bourne did an in-depth breakdown on the play.

In all three of the saves mentioned, in addition to each being incredible, that common thread exists of there being a dropped stick. So, is the move intentional? In his postgame comments Thursday, the answer from Korpisalo was yes and the reasons why are to provide a goaltender just a little more time with a little less weight as they try to make a save.

“There’s less weight and nothing interrupting (the save),” Koprisalo said. “You don’t think about it, but it just gives me a half-more second of time. It’s easier to get my hand across without the stick.”

Goaltender Marty Biron had a 16-year career in the NHL, including years watching Hašek when the two formed the goalie tandem in Buffalo. As a child, Biron had a coach who told him to play sometimes without his stick to know how to react with his body in different ways.

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“Sometimes I’d put my stick on top of my net and practice without my stick,” Biron said. “It does feel a ton different in your blocker hand when you don’t have a stick in the way. (It's like) you just drop a ton of bricks, it feels a lot lighter.”

Biron watched Hašek’s creativity and would still try a few plays without his stick in practice, but never chose to add it to his game.

But for a goaltender who does want to add it to his game, how does that happen? Reps upon reps upon reps.

Given the speed at which a goaltender must process the game, for the stick drop to be executed perfectly, it must be mastered through continued repetition until it becomes an innate behavior that happens without thinking.

Bobrovsky demurs from talking about “his secrets,” as he calls them, with a smile, but he will talk about the process involved in incorporating any type of new element into a goaltender’s game.

“Like any skill, you need the time and to play with it to develop it,” Bobrovsky said. “You need the good timing to do that too. You can’t drop the stick in any situation and just play. You should put in the perfect situation. That’s the important thing. So, as you play around you know which moment you can use it.”

Bobrovsky can’t remember where he picked up the behavior, but he’s been working on the skill for two to three years. Korpisalo and Jackets goaltending coach Ian Clark saw the tactic in use in the two-time Vezina winner’s play. They began to work to add it to the younger netminder’s game as well.

We don’t know, of course, if every stick drop made by Bobrovsky — let alone any NHL goalie — is intentional, but we can see this behavior going back to saves Bobrovsky made against Nashville in 2013, and versus Detroit in 2014.

In the April 28, 2013, Nashville game, Bobrovsky turned away five shots in 12 seconds, many without his stick in hand.

Against the Red Wings on Dec. 16, 2014, we see the stick land behind Bobrovsky as he tries to make the save.

It's not just that drop that matters. One other thing Jackets goaltenders work on — stick placement.

“Every single thing on that we practice — where to drop the stick and what time,” Korpisalo said.

Bringing in a new skill like dropping the stick is not just about learning the action you want to take, it’s learning the action you want to prevent, a lesson Biron learned the hard way.

“If I was to drop my stick and I wasn’t thinking about it at all, I would open the palm side of my blocker hand towards the puck almost as if I was trying to catch it,” Biron said. “To be able to think to turn the back of your hand over and utilize the surface of the blocker, I think that’s where practice comes into play.

“I did it in juniors one time. I turned around and I had my stick and I opened my hand and took a shot right in the finger and busted my finger right open.”

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The other element of a stick drop a goalie must manage — not throwing the stick.

As the NHL rulebook states in Rule 53, “a player may not throw a stick in any zone. A minor penalty shall be imposed on any player who throws his stick or any part thereof or any other object in the direction of the puck or an opponent in any zone. …When a defending player shoots or throws a stick or any other object at the puck or the puck carrier in the defending zone but does not interfere in any manner with the puck or puck carrier, a minor penalty shall be imposed (Rule 53.2).”

More serious infractions can result in a penalty shot.

“I can’t throw (the stick), of course I can’t,” Korpisalo said. “I just drop it.”

To that end, the one detail Bobrovsky would discuss when asked about why he may drop his stick was when he clarified that the move was not to impede a pass or play on the opposite side of the net from where he was posted.

Could we see more and more goaltenders intentionally dropping their sticks to make a save? Maybe.

“Every five, 10 years there’s a new element of goaltending, a new element of thinking outside of the box comes into games,” Biron said. “One goalie does it, and all of a sudden, everybody starts looking into it.”

And while people like The Goalie Guild’s Justin Goldman say they aren’t seeing any trends in goaltender coaching around dropping the stick just yet, the precursory behaviors may be there.

“Coaches right now really emphasize ‘projection’ with the hands,” Goldman said. “Meaning when the puck is in tight, getting your gloves as close as possible to the puck in order to eliminate space and the aerial angle really helps. In close like that, even getting your hands forward by a few inches makes a huge difference. So, dropping the stick in order to get that blocker a little more mobile or forward is a great exhibit of instincts and reading the play.”

And that’s part of the alchemy that goes into creating any professional athlete’s skill set. There is no one behavior that will stop a puck, or allow a goal without so many other pieces being in place.

The mention of Bobrovsky dropping his stick had Biron recalling this year’s saves in Detroit and Montreal without prompting, but it wasn't the drop alone that stuck with the former NHL goaltender.

“(The save and stick drop) are incredible,” Biron said. “But as a goaltender I love … I appreciate what he’s put in. When it’s a 2-on-1 or a 2-on-0 and you have to react quickly, it’s not just the desperation to throw a hand up in the air, dropping the stick and making the save. But how Bobrovsky is able to get his left edge on the ice, just stop his momentum for going to his left and be able to plant his left leg and push to get to the wide-open area. To me, there’s a ton there.

“It’s not just as easy as putting your hands up there and hope that it hits you. His head, right? He follows the puck and looks where the puck is going. He’s almost … I think certain goalies have Jedi mind tricks where they see the puck and they are able to control where the puck is going to go so it hits their blocker.”

Mastering stick drops and Jedi mind tricks. Just one more day in the life of Blue Jackets goaltenders.

23 http://www.cleveland.com/monsters/index.ssf/2018/01/cleveland_monsters_rockford_ic_6.html#incar t_river_index

Rockford IceHogs storm by Cleveland Monsters, 4-3 By Staff – January 20, 2018

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Rockford IceHogs scored four unanswered goals to defeat the Cleveland Monsters, 4-3, in an American Hockey League game in Quicken Loans Arena on Friday.

Rockford's leading scorer, Matthew Highmore, potted the game-winner at 11:16 of the third period, snapping the Monsters modest two-game win streak, the first time they had won back-to-back games since mid-November.

Cleveland is now 12-20-3-3, while Rockford improves to 22-15-2-3.

The Monsters were aggressive early, outshooting Rockford, 13-5, in the first period and taking a 1-0 lead on a Cameron Gaunce goal at 9:43.

Cleveland made it 2-0 just 24 seconds into the second period when Zac Dalpe scored his sixth goal of the season, assisted by Terry Broadhurst and Dean Kukan. Dalpe, Terry Broadhurst and Alex Broadhurst came into the game having scored seven goals and 14 points combined in the first five games against the IceHogs.

Rockford made it 2-1 on a power play goal by Andreas Martinsen at 7:11 of the second period, then tied it 2-2 at 6:38 of the third period on a goal by John Hayden.

Highmore's game-winner, his 18th goal of the season, was followed by an empty-netter by William Pelletier at 17:41.

Alex Broadhurst finished the scoring for the Monsters with his eighth goal of the season at 17:58.

The Monsters finished with a 35-30 edge in shots on goal. Cleveland's Mattis Kivlenieks stopped 26 of 29 shots, but fell to 6-12-2. Matt Tomkins stopped 32 of 35 for Rockford.

He's back ... for now: The Columbus Blue Jackets assigned left wing Markus Hannikainen to the Monsters on Friday. Hannikainen has played in 27 games with the Blue Jackets with a 2-2-4 line. Friday marked his fifth game for the Monsters this season.

Up next: The Monsters are at the Chicago Wolves on Sunday at 4 p.m. then play at the Milwaukee Admirals on Tuesday at 8 p.m. ... Cleveland will return to the Q on Thursday against the Iowa Wild in the first of a seven-game homestand.

24 http://www.cleveland.com/monsters/index.ssf/2018/01/chicago_wolves_cleveland_monsters.html#inc art_river_index

Chicago Wolves rally past Cleveland Monsters, 3-1 By Staff – January 22, 2018

ROSEMONT, Illinois -- The Chicago Wolves scored three goals in the third period to defeat the Cleveland Monsters, 3-1, in an American Hockey League game Sunday in Allstate Arena.

The Monsters were nursing a 1-0 lead until nearly the mid-point of the final period before the Wolves rallied. Chicago outshot the Monsters in the third, 14-7.

The loss was the Monsters' second straight and dropped them to 12-21-3-3 on the season, while Chicago improved to 21-15-5-2. The Wolves now have an AHL-best 10-game home win streak.

The Monsters got on the board at 2:33 of the second period when Justin Scott potted his third goal of the season, assisted by Terry Broadhurst.

The Wolves took the lead at 8:25 of the third on a goal by Jake Bischoff, his first of the season. Former Monster T.J. Tynan had an assist on the play.

Tomas Hyka then gave Chicago the lead with his 12th goal of the season at 15:25 of the third and Wade Megan added an empty-netter with 1:00 left to complete the scoring.

Cleveland goalie Mattis Kivlenieks stopped 23 of 25 shots to fall to 6-13-2. Chicago's Kasimir Kaskisuo stopped 25 of 26 shots and is now 9-10-1.

Monsters center Zac Dalpe had his eight-game scoring streak stopped.

Columbus shuttle: The Columbus Blue Jackets recalled left wing Markus Hannikainen and defenseman Dean Kukan from the Monsters on Saturday. Hannikainen has played 27 games with Columbus and five with the Monsters this season. Kukan has appeared in 31 games for the Monsters and was chosen to play in the upcoming AHL All-Star Game.

Up next: The Monsters are at the Milwaukee Admirals on Tuesday at 8 p.m., then return home to face the Iowa Wild on Thursday and Saturday, both games starting at 7 p.m. ... Following the All-Star break, the Monsters will play host to the Grand Rapids Griffins on Feb. 1, 2 and 4. ... The AHL All-Star Game is Jan. 29 in Utica, New York, with a skills competition set for Jan. 28.

25 http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/goes-brown-10-times-elite-defenceman-traded/

Down Goes Brown: 10 times an elite defenceman was traded By Sean McIndoe – January 20, 2018

If you’re the sort of fan who enjoys a good trade rumour, these days it’s all about the blue line.

That’s not all that unusual – in today’s NHL, it always feels like just about everyone needs help on defence. But for a change, we’re not just talking about depth pieces or short-term rentals. Instead, it’s some of the biggest names in the sport who are rumoured to potentially be available. In Ottawa, there’s been talk that Erik Karlsson could move at some point before he hits free agency in 2019. Arizona is facing a similar dilemma with Oliver Ekman-Larsson. And the slumping Penguins are now reported to at least be considering a move involving Kris Letang.

That’s not to say that any of those trades will happen, of course. But it’s rare to even see names of this magnitude show up in discussions at all. After all, as we’re so often told, nobody trades elite defencemen in their prime in this league.

Or do they? It turns out, trades involving top defencemen have been more common than you might think.

So today, let’s crack open the history books for a look at some of the times in NHL history that an elite defenceman was traded in his prime. We’re looking for guys who were established stars, which we’ll define as already having at least one post-season all-star pick or multiple top-five Norris finishes in their career. We also want players who were still relatively young, which we’ll say means they were 32 or younger. That rules out guys who were traded later in their career, like Brian Leetch and Ray Bourque, as well as some who blossomed into top-tier stars after they were traded, like Ryan McDonagh and Brent Burns. But it still leaves us with a surprisingly long list of candidates.

Paul Coffey

The trade: We have plenty of trades to choose from with Coffey, who was traded seven times. We’ll go with his first, the 1987 deal that saw the Oilers send him along with Dave Hunter and Wayne Van Dorp to Pittsburgh for Craig Simpson, Dave Hannan, Moe Mantha and prospect Chris Joseph.

The reason: Coffey was a two-time Norris winner at the age of 26 and had been a key part of three Edmonton championships, but by the start of the 1987-88 season he was holding out in a contract dispute. The Oilers made him wait until November as they worked to get a top asset back; they found one in Simpson, a 21-year-old who’d been the second-overall pick two years earlier.

The result: This trade allowed Simpson to become the first player to ever score 50 goals in a season split between two teams. But over time, Coffey had the greater impact, including three 90-point seasons, and he helped the Penguins win their first Stanley Cup.

The lesson: Sometimes, your hand is forced and you just have to bite the bullet and do the best you can. Under the circumstances, the Oilers did OK on this deal.

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Rob Blake

The trade: In February 2001, the Kings sent Blake and Steve Reinprecht to Colorado for Adam Deadmarsh, Aaron Miller, a player to be named later and two first-round picks.

The reason: Blake was a pending UFA and wanted big money, so Kings ownership decided to move him even though the team was contending for a playoff spot.

The result: The deal worked out great for the Avs, who won the Cup that year and then re-signed Blake for five more seasons. The Kings didn’t get much from the deal – Deadmarsh had his career cut short by injuries and the picks turned into Dave Steckel and Brian Boyle – but did get Blake back for a few years at the end of his career.

The lesson: When a Norris-calibre player becomes available, sometimes going all-in pays off. The Avalanche had already traded for Bourque the year before, so they were firmly in all-or-nothing mode. They ended up with “all”, and have a banner to show for it. Remember that when contenders start to hem and haw about the asking price for Karlsson or Ekman-Larsson being too high.

Phil Housley

The trade: At the 1990 draft, the Sabres sent Housley, Scott Arniel and Jeff Parker to the Jets in exchange for Dale Hawerchuk. The two teams also swapped first-round picks.

The reason: Hawerchuk was the Jets’ franchise player and all-time leading scorer, but he had asked for a trade after feuding with GM Mike Smith. The Jets managed to turn a bad situation into a top blueliner in Housley.

The result: Hawerchuk had five solid years in Buffalo, while Housley lasted just three in Winnipeg. But while the Jets may have lost the deal in terms of the two stars involved, they won the flip of first-round picks, turning theirs into Keith Tkachuk. (Buffalo did OK too, getting Brad May.)

The lesson: It’s possible to move a top offensive defenceman for immediate help up front without getting any blueliners back and still come out OK in the deal. Possible, but as we’ll see over the rest of this list, relatively rare.

Al MacInnis (and Housley again)

The trade: During the 1994 off-season, the Flames sent MacInnis and a fourth to the Blues for Housley and two seconds.

The reason: MacInnis was a restricted free agent vulnerable to an offer sheet, so the Flames took an opportunity to flip him for a player who at least had comparable career numbers.

The result: Acquiring MacInnis wasn’t even the Blues’ biggest blue-line move of the day, as they also signed New Jersey’s Scott Stevens to an offer sheet. The Devils matched that one, but St. Louis did get MacInnis signed, and he stuck around for a decade.

Meanwhile, Housley lasted just two seasons in Calgary, although he’d return for three more later in his career.

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The lesson: We hear a lot about a player’s prime, and whether a star might already be on the decline when he hits the trade market; Letang is a good case of that right now. But MacInnis is the counter- example of a guy who was traded after hitting 30 and still had plenty left in the tank (including a Norris Trophy at the age of 35).

Of course, there’s an even more extreme example of that…

Chris Chelios

The trade: One year after he’d won his first Norris, the Canadiens sent a 28-year-old Chelios and a second to Chicago for Denis Savard during the 1990 off-season.

The reason: Chelios had been hurt during a disappointing 1989-90 season, while Savard was two years removed from a career-best 131 points and was feuding with Blackhawks coach (and new GM) Mike Keenan. The Canadiens saw the swap as a chance to right a wrong, having famously passed on the Quebec-born Savard with the first-overall pick of the 1980 draft.

The result: Savard lasted three years in Montreal and helped the team win a Stanley Cup in 1993, but didn’t come close to his Chicago numbers. Chelios won two more Norris Trophies in nine seasons as a Hawk, then played 10 more in Detroit. (Then he retired, OK? This never happened.)

The lesson: Don’t chase past mistakes. Also, don’t trade a player in his late-20s before checking to see if they have some sort of zombie DNA that will let them play another two decades.

Dion Phaneuf*

The trade: The Flames sent Phaneuf, Fredrik Sjostrom and Keith Aulie to the Maple Leafs for Matt Stajan, Niklas Hagman, Jamal Mayers and Ian White.

The reason: At the time, the move seemed odd – the 24-year-old Phaneuf’s play had dipped somewhat, but the Flames didn’t have to move him and the consensus at the time was that the Leafs had won the deal handily. (It’s always fun to go back and find forum threads of Flames fans reacting to breaking news of the trade in realtime.)

The result: None of the players the Flames got back had a major impact, although Stajan is still there to this day. But while Phaneuf was immediately anointed the next Leafs’ saviour (and soon their new captain), he ultimately never lived up to the sky-high hype and big-dollar contract. He’s still a useful player, but his Norris-candidate days seem long past.

The lesson: If MacInnis and Chelios teach us that and aging top-tier defencemen can still be productive for a decade or more to come, Phaneuf shows us that sometimes even a guy that’s still in his prime may have already peaked. Buyer beware.

*Yeah, I know, but at the time of the trade he was at least a borderline elite defenceman; he was less than two years removed from being a first-team all-star and Norris runner-up at the age of 22.

Scott Stevens

The “trade”: We’re cheating a bit with this one, since Stevens was technically never traded during his career. But he did switch teams twice thanks to the league’s free agency rules, including in 1991 when

28 he was sent from St. Louis to New Jersey in what amounted to a league-mandated one-for-one swap for Brendan Shanahan.

The reason: The Blues had signed Shanahan as a restricted free agent, and under the rules at the time that meant they owed the Devils compensation. They offered a pretty darn good package of youngster Joseph and Rod Brind’Amour. But the Devils asked for Stevens, and an arbitrator agreed.

The result: The Blues were furious and Stevens initially refused to play in New Jersey before eventually relenting and lifting three Stanley Cups there as captain. Both players are in the Hall of Fame.

The lesson: Shanahan went on score nearly 600 more goals over the rest of his NHL career, and yet this transaction is still viewed as a franchise-defining win by the Devils. That serves as a reminder that when a defenceman is truly elite, it’s almost impossible to move him and come out even, let alone ahead.

Chris Pronger

The trade: Shanahan was once traded for Pronger too (as well as for Coffey), but that was before Pronger had truly established himself as one of the league’s best players. Instead, we’ll go with the 2006 deal that sent him from Edmonton to Anaheim in exchange for Joffrey Lupul, Ladislav Smid, two firsts and a second.

The reason: Pronger had demanded a trade; while he never publicly specified his reasons, much of the blame fell on his wife, often in ugly ways. Whatever the story, Pronger’s demand came just days after Edmonton had lost Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, and the Oilers were backed into a corner.

The result: The Ducks added Pronger to a blue line that already featured Scott Niedermayer and immediately won the Stanley Cup. The Oilers ultimately made out OK – one of the picks became Jordan Eberle, and they’re still enjoying some of the benefits of the deal to this day. But by any measure, the Ducks came out well ahead.

The lesson: We’ll cut and paste from the Stevens section: When a defenceman is truly elite, it’s almost impossible to trade him and come out even. That’s especially if your hand is being forced. Which is perhaps a good reason to make your move before things get to that point.

Larry Murphy

The trade: Like Coffey, Murphy is a Hall of Famer who gives us a few deals to choose from. But we’ll skip past the 1989 North Stars-Capitals deal that featured three future Hall of Famers, and jump ahead to 1990. That’s when the North Stars sent Murphy and Peter Taglianetti to the Penguins for Chris Dahlquist and Jim Johnson.

The reason: This one’s a little hard to figure out, even in hindsight. Murphy was off to a slow start and the North Stars weren’t good, so they changed the mix while getting cheaper and (slightly) younger by moving him. Hey, it’s not like Minnesota was going to the Cup final anytime soon.

The result: Murphy was one of a jaw-dropping five future Hall of Famers that Penguins GM Craig Patrick added to the roster in the span of one year. While the Ron Francis trade that came later is more often remembered, this bit of robbery was almost as important to the two Stanley Cups that would follow. By the way, the first of those came in 1991 against… the North Stars. Oops.

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The lesson: If you must trade your star defenceman to a team that’s already poised to be the best in the league, at least make them give up something in the process. The rest of the league will thank you.

P.K. Subban and Shea Weber

The trade: P.K. Subban for Shea Weber. You may have heard about it.

The reason: Some of us still aren’t sure. But with Subban’s no-trade clause days away from kicking in, the Canadiens felt they had to explore the possibility of moving on. When they had a chance to land a three-time Norris finalist in Weber, they jumped at it.

Meanwhile, the Predators were happy to grab a player who was younger, on a better contract, and quite possibly better.

The result: We’re still less than two years removed from the trade, so we’ll mark this as “to be determined”. But so far, it’s been advantage Predators, as many predicted at the time.

The lesson: It may be too early to tell, and there will be different perspectives in Nashville compared to Montreal. But many would look at the aftermath of this trade and see it as a reminder that top-tier defencemen in their prime are hard to come by, and you’ll want to tread carefully when trading one away – or maybe think twice before talking yourself into moving them at all.

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Remembering Red Fisher’s unmatched personality and flair By Mark Spector – January 20, 2018

It was Nov. 22, 2003, and we were drinking on the job.

The occasion was the original Heritage Classic in Edmonton, and the Montreal Canadiens and Edmonton Oilers were playing football-field hockey on a minus-23 day.

Red Fisher sat front row and centre in the Commonwealth Stadium press box, his laptop closed in front of him, and a bottle of Chivas Regal flanked by his own styrofoam cup and a small stack for friends. Drinking is prohibited in NHL press boxes, and in all my years I have never seen a scribe arrive with a bottle of whiskey and cups.

But Red did exactly that on that frigid, Northern Alberta day, and I recall sipping on that Chivas and kibitzing about that faraway, first-of-the-outdoor-games thinking, “This is a story I’ll tell again one day.”

Sadly, that day has arrived in a fashion never dreamed of that cold November day.

Saul (Red) Fisher died Friday in Montreal at the age of 91. The father of Canadian hockey writing, whose very first NHL game produced the Richard Riots (on March 17, 1955) has passed.

He was at the table when the Professional Hockey Writer’s Association was formed in ’67, and had Red had his way, the PHWA offices would have resided at Crotchety St. and Curmudgeon Ave., so salty was our favourite old scribe.

Or, should we say, faux crotchety. The outer shell, it was thick. The man underneath, which some of us were lucky to mine now and again, was soft and sentimental.

Red was a link to a time when hockey writers wore fedoras, smoked cigars and rode on the same trains as the teams did. When they were an NHL club’s written voice, not like today’s communications department full of kids paid to tell fans what the team wants them to hear.

He would describe a defence pairing that was below the expected Canadiens standards as “Rigor on the left side, Mortis on the right,” and never, ever spoke with rookies. He didn’t deal in rumours, and they were the Canadiens, in print.

Never the Habs.

Michael Farber, the award-winning Montreal writer who worked next to Fisher at the Montreal Gazette for many of Fisher’s 33 years there, wrote in today’s Gazette of Fisher’s ability to hop over the boards of game coverage, and skate a shift or two on the personal side of the game.

“His tender stories about Laura Gainey, swept out to sea on her tall ship off the coast of Nova Scotia in 2006, a frail Toe Blake and the death of Hall of Fame winger and close friend Dickie Moore in 2015 belied his painstakingly cultivated image as a curmudgeon,” penned Farber. “At times he could be — to

31 appropriate one of his literary locutions — cranky with gusts to crotchety. But for Fisher, respect and friendship were precious commodities, slowly earned and not freely bestowed.”

Red wrote actively until 2012, and sporadically until a couple of years ago. He had the Order of Canada bestowed upon him, and the Elmer Ferguson Award as well, though a prolonged spat with the Hockey Hall of Fame dampened that relationship somewhat.

Annually, he would receive card No. 1 in a PHWA that today includes 307 Members, one of a tiny group of remaining hockey writers who could claim to have covered the Original Six.

Maurice Richard, Jean Beliveau, Bobby Orr, Bobby Hull, the ’72 Series, the dynasty Islanders, The Gretzky Oilers, the fall of hockey’s Iron Curtain that saw so many Russian greats end up in NHL uniforms… Red covered it all, and did so with a style that can’t be matched.

As a younger writer out West, when the Canadiens were scheduled for a visit one would request “an audience” with Red. That constituted a timid phone call to talk about injuries and line combinations (there was no internet, remember), all of which Red was more than happy to discuss with a kid he’d scarcely heard of.

He was big, but never a big shot.

Then, booned by 10 minutes on the phone with this legend, I’d say, “Is there anything you need to know about the Oilers?”

“No,” he’d say flatly. “I’ll call Slats.”

Godspeed, Red. We’ll have a Chivas for you tonight.

32 http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/cowichan-valley-began-ex-nhler-geoff-courtnall/

Cowichan Valley ‘where it all began’ for ex-NHLer Geoff Courtnall By Dan Robson – January 21, 2018

Geoff Courtnall doesn’t have many hockey memories from his early days growing up in the Cowichan Valley in B.C. — beside the fact that he initially refused to the play sport at all.

Although he’d grow up to score 799 points in the NHL, young Courtnall walked away from ice sports at six years old when he took issue with an early skating instructor’s insistence that he wear figure skates to his lessons.

“I said, ‘That’s enough of that, I’m not going back,’” Courtnall says.

He held out for several years, until he was nine years old and tired of watching from the stands as his younger brother, Russ, ripped around the ice.

The Courtnall family had moved to Victoria by then. Archie and Kathy Courtnall moved their family south when Archie was transferred from his job at B.C. Forest Products in the small lake-side community of Youbou. And so it was in Victoria — not Youbou — that the Courtnall brothers really learned the game.

But looking back today, Geoff Courtnall still thinks of the Cowichan Valley, where Rogers Hometown Hockey makes a stop this week, as the place where it all began. It was there (before that skating instructor went and ruined everything) that Courtnall first carved his skates into the ice of Somenos Lake near the city of Duncan. And it was there that he got back on the ice after family tragedy nearly stripped away his love of hockey.

Courtnall can’t remember exactly how old he was, but he can still picture it in his mind today: His dad, Archie, took him and his sister, Cheryl, to the frozen-over marsh on the edge of Somenos. He tied their tiny skates up tight, and together the three of them went wobbling across the icy flats.

Off the ice, Archie was carving out another path for his children. From the time he was 10, Geoff worked side-by-side with his dad on weekends, fixing up houses or building fences. Archie pushed his son hard, set on teaching him the value of a full day’s work. And at the end of each weekend, they’d walk down to the corner store, where Geoff would accept his earned wage in the form of a cream soda or root beer.

“That was a big deal for me,” Courtnall remembers.

Archie had lived a tough life, raised by his grandparents before heading to boarding school in his teens. He played pro hockey for the AHL Cleveland Barons, briefly, before taking a better wage at the mill in Youbou and settling into family life. He knew that Geoff — always the smallest on his teams — was unlikely to have a significant future in the game he loved. So he pushed his son to focus on school and taught him skills that could translate into a practical living.

“He was always worried about me putting too much pressure on myself [in hockey] and nothing else,” Courtnall says. “I was very close to him.”

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But as Archie imparted lasting life lessons in his children, he also battled with severe depression that worsened when his only brother drowned in a swimming accident. Geoff was in his early teens at the time, and still remembers the agony his father carried. Sometimes the two of them would sit and stare at the ocean for hours. Other times, Archie would quit work, stay up through the night and drink heavily.

In August 1978, Archie committed suicide at the age of 45.

Geoff tried to continue playing hockey after his father’s death, but by Christmastime he’d left his Jr. B team.

“I wasn’t having fun,” he says. “Life was sh—y.”

At 16 years old, Courtnall left home for Calgary, where he worked in construction for six months. He returned home that summer and played pickup with a few of his old Jr. B teammates, but had no intention of returning to the game. But when the coach of the WHL’s Victoria Cougars, Jack Shupe, saw Courtnall on the ice and asked him to come out to training camp, he agreed.

Still one of the smaller guys on the ice, Courtnall impressed with his tenacity. He was the final cut in training camp. But he was offered a spot on a brand-new Jr. B team in Duncan, back where he first learned to skate with his dad on Somenos Lake.

Courtnall decided to give the game one more shot and suited up for the inaugural season of the Cowichan Valley Capitals. The Jr. B team was mostly made up of mid-level players with a few offensive stars. But they connected as a group and by Christmastime the Cowichan Valley Arena started to fill with fans.

“Cowichan got me away from Victoria and gave me something to really focus on. I started to have a lot of fun there,” Courtnall says. “We were a bunch of guys who were good average players, [but] became good as a team. That gave me a taste of the higher competition.”

Courtnall’s homecoming didn’t last long. That season he sprouted up to six feet tall and put up big numbers with linemates Dan Hodgson and Rick Nasheim. When the Capitals’ season ended, Courtnall was called up to the Victoria Cougars as they went on a run all the way to the Memorial Cup in Windsor.

Over the next two seasons with the Cougars, Courtnall worked tirelessly to improve his game — a work ethic he says he carried on from his father. He signed with the Boston Bruins as an undrafted free agent in 1983. He’d go on to win the Stanley Cup with the Edmonton Oilers in 1988. Courtnall later starred with the Vancouver Canucks — helping lead the team to the Stanley Cup final in 1994 — and then with the St. Louis Blues before a series of concussions forced him out of the game in 2000.

Life in retirement was a new challenge. When he was forced to stop playing, suffering from post- concussion syndrome, Courtnall left the game behind. He built a few houses, got into real estate, and eventually into the mining business — a diversified life, because hockey was never the only thing.

In 2004, Courtnall and his siblings spearheaded the creation of an emergency mental health care facility, called the Archie Courtnall Centre, at Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria. They’ve since helped raise more than $3 million in support of mental health initiatives in the area.

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And, today, when he thinks back to those early days in Cowichan Valley, the moments that stand out are as distinct and important as ever: the time he first learned to skate beside his father, and when he first learned to skate without him.

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TSN Hockey's Top 10 Storylines of the Week By Scott Cullen – January 21, 2018

It’s rare that the death of a hockey writer would qualify as one of the top stories of the week, but Montreal’s Red Fisher was not just any hockey writer. He was the dean of the profession, started covering the Montreal Canadiens the night of the Richard Riot, was looked up to by all, and the great Michael Farber paid tribute to Fisher with this obituary:

With the Ottawa Senators struggling, and the trade deadline approaching in five-and-a-half weeks, talk has turned to what might happen when it comes to the future of franchise defenceman Erik Karlsson.

The stance seems to be that the Senators would like to sign Karlsson to a new deal, but they would listen to trade offers. Well, making it public that they would listen to offers certainly opens the door for the rest of the league to pony up their best possible package in order to force the Senators to make a decision.

While the most likely scenario may still be that the Senators keep Karlsson, at least until the summer, with word that the Sens are listening, it could get interesting.

Beyond Karlsson, though, there will certainly be trade action coming before the deadline.

The big name on the board is Buffalo left winger Evander Kane, and the Sabres have apparently set a high asking price, as they should. The 26-year-old is generating more than four shots on goal per game, with the best per-game scoring numbers (16 G, 20 A in 45 GP) of his career.

Other names of interest include Detroit’s Mike Green, Ottawa’s Mike Hoffman, Vancouver’s Thomas Vanek and Erik Gudbranson as well as, apparently, a bunch of Montreal Canadiens.

After years of distance from his former team, Eric Lindros finally had his number 88 retired by the Philadelphia Flyers.

An extremely rare combination of size, power, speed, and skill, the Big E hit the league like a Mack Truck. He had 659 points in 486 games for the Flyers between 1992 and 2000, a truly dominant player in his era.

It says something about Lindros’ brilliant talent that his Hall of Fame career, shortened by concussions, was considered somewhat disappointing. Like, he could have been even better than merely a dominant Hall of Famer.

In any case, the divorce of Lindros from the Flyers, when he was traded to the New York Rangers after missing the entire 2000-2001 season, prevented his being honoured, which doesn’t reflect particularly well on the Flyers. But, 11 years after he played his final NHL game, Lindros and the Flyers made up and he finally received a long overdue honour.

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The Boston Bruins started the season inconsistently, posting a 6-7-4 record through the first 17 games of the season, but they have been on a tear since, suffering just three regulation losses in the next 27 games.

While the Bruins continue to be a strong possession team, have received good goaltending from the duo of Tuukka Rask and Anton Khudobin, and have stars like Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak leading the way, one of the big stories about this Bruins club is that it is receiving strong contributions from rookies.

Defencemen Charlie McAvoy and Matt Grzelcyk as well as wingers Danton Heinen and Jake DeBrusk are all playing significant roles for a team that, right now, is probably the best team in the league.

Last season was nothing short of a disaster for the Colorado Avalanche, as they finished with just 48 points.

What a difference a year makes, apparently. Currently on an eight-game winning streak, the Avalanche are among three teams with 53 points that would be in contention for the last playoff spot in the Western Conference.

The attack has been led by Nathan MacKinnon and second-year right winger Mikko Rantanen. MacKinnon has 17 points (7 G, 10 A) during an eight-game point streak, and Rantanen has put up 12 points (5 G, 7 A) in those eight games.

Additionally, the last six games of this streak have come with Jonathan Bernier in goal, and Bernier has been outstanding, posting a .956 save percentage in those six wins.

The Avs are still a subpar possession team, and riding percentages during this hot streak, so that does raise some concern about how sustainable this success might be in the long run, but this is a quantum leap forward from where the team was last season.

Winners of seven straight, the Calgary Flames have jumped up in the Pacific Division standings, and may be Canada’s best team at the moment; at the very least, they are challenging the Winnipeg Jets for the honour.

The Flames have been a solid team, but maybe not quite getting results until this streak. They have one of the best defence pairings in the league, their top two lines are productive, and the goaltending provided by Mike Smith and rookie David Rittich has been outstanding. Smith has been on a good run for a while, posting a .938 save percentage over his past 14 starts.

Pittsburgh’s superstar centre got off to a relatively slow start this season, but the points are starting to come, as he has put up 14 points (3 G, 11 A) during a six-game point streak, and is back over a point per game for the season, with 50 points in 48 games.

Even with this scoring burst, No. 87 is averaging a career-low 1.04 points per game, and is generating a career-low 2.81 shots on goal per game; this despite playing 20:49 per game, his most since 2013-2014.

The Islanders’ 20-year-old rookie centre is staking his claim to the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie, putting up 11 points (3 G, 8 A) in the past five games to open up an eight-point lead over Vancouver’s Brock Boeser in the rookie scoring race.

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Barzal has been a difference-maker as the Islanders’ second-line centre, putting up stellar possession stats, and scoring better than a point-per-game, a feat that would put him in impressive company if he can maintain it through the end of the season.

The decision to have Kid Rock play at the NHL All-Star Game isn’t necessarily a major deal, but it reveals a league that seems to have no concept of how perception matters when it comes to public events like this.

The NHL goes on about how hockey is for everyone – as they should, in an effort to expand their potential market – yet if you were to run a fantasy draft for artists that could be associated with the stars and bars of the confederate rebel flag, Kid Rock would surely be a first-round pick. That doesn’t scream, “Welcome, one and all!”

Further, this comes in the aftermath of the Pittsburgh Penguins’ tone-deaf decision to not only go to the White House, but to publicly announce that decision on a Sunday in which the NFL and NBA were widely protesting after the president slammed NFL players who had been silently protesting during the national anthem. Like, the Penguins could have just said nothing that day, but somehow couldn’t help themselves.

Similarly, the NHL couldn’t find a way to pick an artist, any artist, that might not be considered downright offensive to a segment of the audience.

I don’t mind the hits in Kid Rock’s discography, so this isn’t about whether he’s a hot artist at this point – the NHL has a long history of not getting A-list acts – but there is no earthly reason that a professional sports league should want to associate with him, and #theratio has spoken.

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In USA Hockey and beyond, Jim Johannson remembered for working to make things better for others By Craig Custance – January 22, 2018

It was 2010 and the Americans had just lost their chance at Olympic gold. Sidney Crosby scored an overtime goal against Team USA that sent Canada into an immediate celebration. The party in Vancouver lasted all night.

The scene in the American dressing room was much different. The players were crushed. They went into overtime thinking they were going to win.

And as players took off their gear for the final time of this Olympic tournament, those handling the equipment got to work. Players were going to scatter back to their teams across the NHL and their gear was going with them.

Team USA GM Brian Burke stepped outside the dressing room and saw the sticks being loaded into bags. Then he noticed who was doing it.

Jim Johannson, one of the highest ranking USA Hockey officials, coming off a crushing loss, was quietly assisting the trainers as they packed the sticks away.

“That’s the kind of guy he was,” Burke wrote in an e-mail. “One of the nicest and hardest-working hockey men I ever knew.”

The news of the shocking death of the 52-year-old Johannson hit the hockey world hard on Sunday. The calls went out early, one-by-one close friends were crushed by the news that the general manager of the 2018 men’s Olympic team was dead, his chance at winning his own Olympic medal as the architect of an Olympic team gone. The cause of his death wasn’t released.

Former USA Hockey executive director Dave Ogrean broke the news to Ron Wilson, who coached that 2010 Olympic team. Current executive director Pat Kelleher called Devils GM Ray Shero early Sunday to let him know. When Shero immediately called his coach John Hynes, who coached for years at the development program, he already knew. Longtime USA Hockey contributor Don Waddell was told the sad news by USA Hockey president Jim Smith.

It went around like that until everyone found out, almost as if it was too much burden for just one person in the USA Hockey organization to break this news to all those who meant so much to Johannson.

Hours later the emotions were still raw.

You could hear it in the voice of Toronto Maple Leafs GM Lou Lamoriello, who apologized while collecting his thoughts.?? “I can just picture him right now in Plymouth this summer, coming up and

39 down the stairs to make sure he covered every base and made everyone feel good about what was happening,” Lamoriello told The Athletic. “I’m just lost for words.”

You could see it in how shaken Minnesota Wild defenseman Ryan Suter was when he talked about Johannson today.

“I’ve known him since I was probably 10 years old,” Suter said. “He helped a lot of young players get to where they are and helped kids grow up to be who they are.”

You could feel it when longtime USA Hockey trainer Stan Wong, who worked with Johannson on 10 men’s national teams, shared stories about their friendship. There was pain in his voice when he realized they’d been on countless trips together over a 17-year span, through countries all over the world, and only had a few pictures together. You don’t think of that stuff when you’re in the middle of doing all that work for your country.

Wong took a picture of it, so it’s always with him on his phone.

“My heart is full of my memories of Jimmy and the laughs we shared,” Wong said. “I’m talking to you now — I’m crying in my heart, but I’m smiling in my face. Because he brought a smile to my face.”

A text from Dean Lombardi, who was the GM of the 2016 World Cup Team USA, summed it up quite well: “What really stands out at the forefront is that he possessed the most unique of all human qualities in that he was not happy unless everyone else was happy — a human being who will be sorely missed.”

That eagerness to help everyone around him manifested itself in a tireless workload. On Sunday, Burke and Shero had a phone conversation about Johannson and they marveled at how many people USA Hockey was going to have to hire in order to replace one guy.

His official title, besides GM of the 2018 U.S. Olympic men’s hockey team, was assistant executive director of USA Hockey. But he had his hands in everything, from growing the game at a grass-roots level to representing the country at all the different federation meetings around the world.

If you walked with Johannson around a hockey rink at an international event, people representing every country in the world would give a wave or stop to say hello.

One friend joked that there was one group of dignitaries that he suspected didn’t speak English, but when they saw Johannson, their faces lit up into a smile as they each gave a shout — “Hey JJ!”

If you needed to know anything about an American player at any level, the answer was always the same. Ask JJ. As Kevin Allen pointed out so eloquently, Johannson knew Auston Matthews before he was Auston Matthews. He was telling anyone who would listen that Zach Werenski was going to be a star.

This current Olympic team has the potential to be his crowning achievement because he was dipping pretty deep into the American pool of talent to come up with players. But even then, talking recently about each one of them, he was so excited about what they all brought to the table. He could break down their skillset and the role he envisioned each of them. Even better, he got to be the one to tell them they were getting a shot at achieving their Olympic dreams.

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“I had two of the most fun days I’ve ever had at USA Hockey,” Johannson told The Athletic a few weeks ago.

He did it all. He called players. He called agents. He was the guy meeting the team bus driver early in the morning at a tournament to make sure transportation was set for the day. He was the guy calling room to room to make sure players didn’t oversleep.

“When you asked for something, he said yes and he didn’t even know what you were asking for,” Lamoriello said. “He was up and down. Running here and going there. He was talking to five people at the same time. He was doing anything and everything.”

Everything.

When the Americans first landed in Sochi for the 2014 Winter Olympics, it was a grueling day of travel. Everyone was exhausted. The management group got to the dorm rooms at the Olympic village and Shero could hear the phone ringing in Johannson’s room. In Russia. Moments after he arrived.

Shero assumed the worst — maybe a player was hurt or something had gone horribly wrong. He listened as Johannson responded on his side of the phone line.

“Uh huh.”

“Yeah.”

“OK.”

“Hold on. I’ll be right down.”

Shero quickly went to find out the problem. Who was calling moments after arrival?

It was one of the Team USA Olympic hockey players. He didn’t have toilet paper. Johannson was taking care of it, true to his promise that he’d take care of everything else so the players and coaches just had to worry about hockey.

“He was selfless,” Shero told The Athletic. “Nothing was too small or too big. It was all part of helping people.”

The results were impressive. During his time at USA Hockey, U.S. teams won 64 medals while competing internationally — including 34 gold, 19 silver and 11 bronze. He won a national championship at the University of Wisconsin as a player. He played in two Olympic games as a player — 1988 and 1992.

And this Olympic team he assembled to represent Team USA in February was the chance for him to have a signature moment. He wasn't just part of the group selecting the team, this team was his. He was the general manager. It was a chance at defining his legacy. It still is.

For this one, he wasn’t going to have a group of NHL general managers around like previous Olympics. Not that he ever minded sharing the attention — quite the opposite. When tournaments ended, he always went out of the way to thank everyone who helped out, he knew the busy schedules everyone involved with the NHL keeps.

“He was like, ‘Thank you for the time,’” Shero said. “But to us, it was 'No, JJ. Thank you for including us.’”

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Erik Karlsson unconcerned about potential trade away from Senators By Luke Fox – January 22, 2018

KANATA, Ont. – Erik Karlsson is not worried about being traded away from the Ottawa Senators.

Addressing reporters for the first time since general manager Pierre Dorion’s comments on the captain’s future, Karlsson insisted nothing has changed regarding his status with the club.

Dorion said Thursday that his priority is to work towards re-signing his best player once extension talks can be formally begin on July 1, but that Wayne Gretzky was once traded so anything is possible.

Karlsson said he didn’t understand why the Gretzky parallel was drawn and is surprised by the trade speculation.

“When the time comes to make a decision, I will make one, but as of right now, it’s not one,” said Karlsson, following the Senators’ 4-3 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

“I have a year and a half left [on my contract]. I want to do everything I can to be a better player and be a better leader.”

Teammate Bobby Ryan says he’s noticed no difference in Karlsson since his potential departure became a persistent topic of speculation.

“He’s handled it well as far as I’m concerned,” said Ryan, drawing a line between the outside noise and the “good” morale in the dressing room.

“That’s just you guys. You must like to have a couple double espressos and get the hot stove goin’. I don’t know what time you guys go to bed. It’s gotta be late, because I wake up the next morning and hear something like, ‘I don’t even think that’s close to true. I talked to that guy yesterday.’”

Karlsson, a two-time Norris Trophy winner, has said publicly that he wants market value for his services when he becomes a free agent in 2019.

He has submitted a 10-team no-trade list to Dorion as per his modified no-trade clause.

With the Senators tumbling farther out of the playoff race and trade deadline decisions looming, Dorion held a meeting with the players Friday.

“We’re at the bottom of the league and not doing a good job here, and my contract is about to be up here and discussions are going to be made,” Karlsson said.

“It’s not something I can control, and I’m going to do the job that I feel like I have done as long as I’ve been here to be successful and whatever happens, it’s not going to be my decision.”

Karlsson, 27, has struggled by his standards this season, scoring 31 points and registering a minus-21 plus/minus through 39 games since undergoing major ankle surgery.

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He played through illness Saturday, scored a goal, and reiterated his dedication to the organization that drafted him.

“I’m an Ottawa Senator. I’ve been here for nine years,” Karlsson said. “I’ve given everything I possibly have into this organization and this team and I’m going to keep doing that.”

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