Columbus Blue Jackets News Clips Jan. 28, 2019
Columbus Blue Jackets PAGE 02: Columbus Dispatch: Blue Jackets: Werenski brothers enjoy being roommates — without the roughhousing PAGE 05: Columbus Dispatch: Blue Jackets: Martin St. Louis reaches out to players: 'Call me'
Cleveland Monsters/Prospects
NHL/Websites PAGE 07: Associated Pres: NHL: Metropolitan Division wins All-Star Game PAGE 09: Associated Press: Women's star Kendall Coyne Schofield shines at NHL All-Star weekend PAGE 10: Associated Press: Easy as 1, 2, 3: Hat tricks on the rise this season PAGE 12: Sportsnet.ca: Sportsnet.ca: 6 bargain players who could provide value at NHL trade deadline
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Blue Jackets | Werenski brothers enjoy being roommates — without the roughhousing
By Brian Hedger, Columbus Dispatch – January 27, 2019
Midway through a job interview with a recruiter at a job fair last year, Brad Werenski was prepared for a question about possibly moving to Ohio.
The lifelong Michigander knew the job was based at Honda’s plant in Marysville, so when asked, he went with the “relative who lives nearby” option — without getting into the relative’s identity or profession.
“I never directly named my brother,” said Werenski, 23, whose younger and only sibling is Zach Werenski, the Blue Jackets’ 21-year-old star. “It was one of those things where if I was going to come here, it was going to be on my own. I wanted it to be my own schooling and work that got me the job, so when I mentioned that I had family in Columbus, it was more to let my interviewer know that I was willing to move there.”
That interview led to another one, in Marysville last spring. The job was offered and he accepted, becoming a buyer for Honda’s North American Purchasing Department. The elder Werenski brother, who graduated with a degree in integrated supply chain management from Western Michigan University’s Haworth College of Business, now helps purchase stereo equipment and entertainment systems for Honda and Acura vehicles.
He lives in Columbus with his “relative” in a two-bedroom apartment that looks out at Nationwide Arena.
“He’s lived with me since July and it’s been awesome,” said Zach, who’s in his third NHL season. “It’s actually better having him here. It’s nice to have someone to talk to sometimes. When you live alone and stuff starts going bad or whatnot, there’s nobody to talk to, so it’s nice having him there.”
It’s good for Brad, too. He’d lived apart from Zach for five years, after his younger brother moved away at age 16 to join the United States National Team Development Program in Ann Arbor.
“I know it’s easy to communicate today, with text messages and things like that, but at the same time they never really lived together after that,” said Ken Werenski, their dad. “Seven, eight, nine months out of the year, Zach was gone. And as Brad got older, he was busy in the summers when Zach was home. So, I really think in some ways they’re just making up for lost time.”
The daily grind
A typical weekday for the Werenski brothers, when the Blue Jackets are home, begins with Brad’s alarm going off at 6 a.m., shortly before his drive to Marysville.
He’s at the office by 7 a.m., works until 3 p.m. and then sneaks in a workout at Honda’s on-site gym. Zach, meanwhile, heads over to the arena for practices and morning skates, returning to the apartment afterward.
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“It’s great because they’re not in each other’s faces all day,” said Kristen Werenski, their mom. “Zach does his thing and then he’s home all afternoon. Brad leaves at 6 in the morning and doesn’t get home until 6 or 7 at night, so they’re not getting on each other’s nerves all day.”
It’s a nice mix, which is exactly the sort of thing moms fret about.
“As a parent, you’re just so happy that your kids like each other enough that they want to live together — because they’re boys, they’re close in age and we went through all the wrestling and the name- calling,” Kristen said. “And they’re very competitive. I mean, there’s minutes where you’re like, ‘Oh my god.’
"As adults, though, they’ve made a decision that they don’t have to do that and they actually want to live together — and it’s just awesome.”
One-stop shopping
The arrangement is convenient for mom and dad, too.
Rather than driving to two different spots, or flying across the country, their sons are only about a three- hour drive away from their home in the Detroit suburb of Grosse Pointe Woods.
“We still feel like they’re home,” said Ken, who has the drive to Columbus down pat by now. “It’s just like, ‘They live over there and we just live over here.’ And now, Kristen and I have kind of fallen in love with Columbus. It’s like my wife and I get a vacation.”
Sometimes they’ll grab a hotel room. Other times, they’ll just stay with the boys in the apartment — which is a typical bachelor pad, complete with a mini artificial Christmas tree still on display, purchased and decorated by mom.
Every time, the Werenskis soak it all in, knowing how lucky they are that things worked out this way.
“Now they’re old enough to be able to do adult things, so we go out to dinners and the bars and games, so it’s almost like a vacation for us,” Ken said. “And it’s only three hours away from home.”
Kristen has another term for it.
“I’m like, ‘Are you kidding me?’ ” she said. “ 'Both of my kids are going to be three hours and 15 minutes away? It’s like one-stop shopping.’ ”
'Give him a minute'
Another reason Kristen is excited about the arrangement is that her boys don’t want to pummel each other.
They’re suppressing the urge, anyway, which hasn’t always been the case. When she mentioned that Brad and Zach would “wrestle” when they were younger, she didn’t mean the organized kind on a mat.
More like organized chaos in the house.
“As they got bigger, I thought someone would go through the wall,” she said. “My husband would sit there and watch, because he’s a big guy, too, and he’d just laugh. I’d just say, ‘That’s it, I’m outta here,’ and I’d go outside. They’d think that was funny.”
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Ken remembers the squabbles, too.
In fact, they still happen from time to time, usually after Brad beats Zach at something, such as a “friendly” game of ‘H-O-R-S-E' or ‘P-I-G' on the basketball court.
“Brad can beat Zach in a lot of things,” Ken said. “Let me tell you, it does not go over well with Zach. He will literally kick the ball into the next yard and he’ll need five minutes to cool down. Brad will come running in, and (Zach) will be chasing him or throwing the ball at him, and Brad will be, like, ‘Yeah, I just beat him again. Just give him a minute.’ ”
Back on the ice
Brad’s NHL aspirations carried him farther than most, playing in the same prestigious Little Caesar’s program in Detroit that produced Zach.
Eventually, after chasing his dream through the AAA level, he made the decision that hockey just wasn’t going to pan out for a career. He traded his skates for a college degree, as Zach continued to star at Michigan and then in the pros.
“My last game was in the national semifinals with Little Caesar’s,” Brad said. “I was 19. We lost and I just hung up my skates for four years. I didn’t touch the ice.”
It wasn’t, however, the end of him playing hockey.
Columbus now has two Werenskis filling nets with pucks. One terrorizes NHL goalies as an offensive defenseman. The other does the same as a winger for a local men’s league team called “Vandelay Industries,” named after a reference from the 1990s TV comedy “Seinfeld.”
Brad didn’t tout his own exploits, but he’s reportedly tearing up the league — he recently scored all six of his team's goals in a doubleheader sweep.
“I love it,” he said. “I was kind of mad at myself after the first few weeks, like, ‘Why have I not been skating? This is awesome.’ So, I started playing again and I’m picking it back up. I’m having fun playing hockey now.”
He’s also watching a lot of it, either in person at Nationwide Arena or on the couch next to his brother. Turns out, these two are really good for each other, just a couple of lifelong buds savoring life together in their early 20s.
“We were always close,” Brad said. “In the summers, he usually goes home and I’d be home from school, so there would be a four-month period where we did live together, but this is really, truly us living together again. It definitely feels like we’re back in the day in high school again, living together.”
Good thing he had a relative nearby.
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Blue Jackets | Martin St. Louis reaches out to players: 'Call me'
By Brian Hedger, Columbus Dispatch – January 27, 2019
Martin St. Louis’ first day as a special-teams consultant with the Blue Jackets began with a self- introduction and message to the team.
After writing his phone number on the board in the locker room Sunday, the NHL Hall of Fame forward had two words for all players who might be struggling in some way: “Call me.”
It was exactly what coach John Tortorella was looking to get from the former star forward, with whom he won the 2004 Stanley Cup as the Tampa Bay Lightning’s coach.
“I won’t name the players, but I’m having a hell of a time reaching some guys,” Tortorella said. “And this isn’t months. This is a couple of years now. It’s not working and I’m very frustrated, because I haven’t been able to reach certain guys in the offensive part of the game.”
The hope is that St. Louis can, like he’s done in the past with star forward Cam Atkinson — a friend he met during past summer workouts in Atkinson’s home state of Connecticut.
“He stood up in front of the team today and introduced himself,” Tortorella said, following the Jackets’ first practice after a week off. “He (put) his number on the board, because he’s not here every day, and (said) if you lack confidence and you just need someone to talk to, instead of that guy — pointing to me — call me.”
St. Louis was officially hired last Monday, specifically to work on the power play with Tortorella and assistant coach Brad Larsen. He also coaches his three sons in youth hockey, but is eager to help — in person or remotely.
“I’m really excited about it, and he’s more excited about it than anybody,” Tortorella said. “He really thinks he can help. He played under me I think six or seven years. Some guys, I’m having problems getting to here. I think he’ll be able to help there. He’s a guy I truly trust.”
St. Louis has done a couple of interviews with local media the past week, but will no longer be available to reporters. That’s by his own choice, Tortorella said, because he doesn’t want to usurp Larsen or any other assistant’s role with the team.
“That’s what Marty’s worried about,” Tortorella said. “He wants to try to help in little ways. He said to me: ‘I don’t have all the answers. No one does. Let’s just try to get together and we can bounce ideas of one another.’ ”
The Blue Jackets didn’t practice the power play Sunday, because they didn’t have a clean sheet of ice after an up-tempo workout. They will practice it Monday before hosting the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday in their first game back.
Meanwhile, St. Louis hoped to have dinner with at least one player whom Tortorella is struggling to reach — hoping to find some common ground.
Excused absences
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The Blue Jackets returned to work Sunday except for two guys, Seth Jones and Atkinson.
They got a day off after participating in the NHL’s All-Star weekend in San Jose, California, helping the Metropolitan Division win the All-Star Game — as decided by a 3-on-3 tournament.
Jones had two goals, two assists and four points in two games for the Metro, which won its second All- Star Game in three years. Atkinson had three goals and two assists — the same stat line he had in the Metro’s 2017 victory in Los Angeles.
The $1 million prize was split among the division’s 11 players, meaning each player received a $90,909 bonus for his effort.
Nice surprise
Anthony Duclair watched the All-Star Game on Saturday and was surprised to see a goal he scored Oct. 18 against the Philadelphia Flyers was one of three included in a “Goal of the Year” fan poll shown during the NBC broadcast.
Duclair’s goal, which he scored after falling to the ice, finished second to one scored by the San Jose Sharks’ Tomas Hertl — and ahead of one by Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby.
“I didn’t know it until I saw it on TV,” Duclair said. “Hertl had a pretty nice one, too, and so did Crosby. I was pretty surprised I was top three, so that was nice.”
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NHL | Metropolitan Division wins All-Star Game
By Josh Dubow, The Associated Press – January 27, 2019
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Sidney Crosby had two goals and three assists, and Henriq Lundqvist pitched a first- half shutout to lead the Metropolitan Division to a 10-5 victory over the Central Division in the championship round of the NHL All-Star game Saturday night.
Selected the MVP, Crosby finished the night with four goals and four assists in two games on the same ice where he won the Conn Smythe Trophy and Stanley Cup three years ago for Pittsburgh. Lundqvist stopped 11 of 13 shots in his two games to give the Metropolitan Division its second title in four years of the three-on-three All-Star format and the $1 million prize shared by the winners of the four-team divisional tournament.
Blue Jackets forward Cam Atkinson had two goals and an assist for the Metropolitan and defenseman Seth Jones had two assists in the final.
Mathew Barzal of the New York Islanders added two goals and three assists.
Mikko Rantanen had two goals and Colorado teammate Gabriel Landeskog added one for the Central. Landeskog finished with four goals and three assists, while Rantanen had four goals and two assists.
Crosby assisted on Barzal's goal against Devan Dubnyk just 22 seconds into the championship game and then made it 5-0 in the closing seconds of the first half off a pass from Barzal. Crosby also assisted on Pittsburgh teammate Kris Letang's goal in the first half and then helped seal the game with a goal in the second half that made it 6-2.
Lundqvist made big saves against Landeskog and Claude Giroux.
The first time the All-Star Game came to San Jose in 1997, hometown favorite Owen Nolan capped the night by calling his shot and pointing to the spot where he completed a hat trick that delighted the Shark Tank.
Sharks fans didn't have as much to cheer for in the return, even though their three All-Stars started the night on the ice together for the Pacific. The Central blitzed the Pacific early for its first win in four years in this format, scoring seven goals on nine shots against John Gibson in the first half of the period in a 10-4 victory.
Gibson, who plays for the rival Anaheim Ducks, drew derisive chants from the fans who later called for Vegas' Marc-Andre Fleury to take over.
"Anytime you play it's a rivalry and the fans take it personally. That's what makes it fun," Gibson said. "You're still at the All-Star Game and you're out there with some of the best players in the league. Stuff's going to happen."
Landeskog had a hat trick and an assist and Roman Josi had three assists and a goal for the Central.
Pekka Rinne and Dubnyk combined to stop 23 of 27 shots.
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The Metropolitan Division won the second semifinal 7-4 over the Atlantic thanks to a tiebreaking goal by Letang with 3:38 to play. Jones had two goals and Atkinson added an empty-netter.
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Women's star Kendall Coyne Schofield shines at NHL All-Star weekend
By Josh Dubow, The Associated Press – January 27, 2019
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Connor McDavid won the fastest skater competition once again but Kendall Coyne Schofield won over the crowd.
The U.S. women's hockey star became the first woman ever to compete in the NHL All-Star skills competition on Friday night, racing around the rink in a time competitive with the top skaters in the men's game in a barrier-breaking moment for women's hockey.
"The crowd was electrifying," Coyne Schofield said. "To hear the USA chants, everyone erupted when I started. Definitely gave me some momentum and the adrenaline was pumping."
Coyne Schofield was the first skater to take the ice and finisher her lap in 14.346 seconds, impressing the NHL's biggest stars with her speed.
"When she took off, I was like, 'Wow!'" McDavid said after winning his third fastest skater competition. "I thought she might have won the way she was moving. She was a really good skater and that was an amazing thing for the game to see her participate like that in an event like this."
The 26-year-old Coyne Schofield plays for the Minnesota Whitecaps of the National Women's Hockey League and won an Olympic gold medal for the United States last February.
She found out earlier Friday that she'd get the chance when Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon pulled out with an injury and then took full advantage of the opportunity. She had been previously invited to All- Star weekend with other women's players from the U.S. and Canadian teams but now she had the chance to perform on the big stage.
"My first impression was, I can do this," she said. "My speed is definitely my strength. Obviously, I was a little nervous. I knew it was a moment that could break a lot of barriers and a moment that would change the perception of our game and show support to our game."
She finished seventh out of eight skaters, beating Arizona forward Clayton Keller's time of 14.526 seconds.
"She beat me so she's doing something right," Keller said. "She's really fast. I was surprised. It was great to see that. It was a great experience for the NHL to have her do that event. It was really cool."
McDavid skated last and finished his lap in 13.378 seconds, edging Buffalo's Jack Eichel (13.582) and the New York Islanders' Mathew Barzal (13.780).
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Easy as 1, 2, 3: Hat tricks on the rise this season
By PAT GRAHAM, Associated Press – January 27, 2019
DENVER (AP) — In keeping with hockey tradition, a tip of the cap to honor Alex Ovechkin and Patrik Laine .
They’ve each recorded a hat trick of hat tricks this season.
Easy as one, two, three. Or so it may seem.
Around the league, there have been 61 hat tricks through the first 770 games of the season — the most since 1995-96 (62), according to research by the NHL stats and information department. Leading the surge are Ovechkin of Washington and Laine of Winnipeg with three each.
Hold on to your hat, there’s more: There has been at least one three-goal scorer in 10 of the 13 days leading into to the All-Star break.
“I think the reason why,” Avalanche forward Mikko Rantanen succinctly surmised, “is because scoring around the league is up.”
Simple, yes. But on target, too.
There have been 132 instances of a team scoring six or more goals in a game so far, which is the most since 2005-06. Teams are averaging 3.03 goals per game, which is on pace for the highest-scoring season since the 3.14 in, you guessed it, 1995-96. There has been an 18 percent increase in scoring since the post-expansion low of 2.57 goals per game for teams in 2003-04, before a lockout led to rule changes.
Naturally, hat tricks figure to go hand-in-hand with the escalation.
“It’s exciting and not something everyone has done,” said Nashville forward Austin Watson , who had his first NHL hat trick on Nov. 25 against Anaheim. “It’s a cool achievement.”
Long associated with cricket and soccer, the term hat trick appears to have made its way into the mainstream hockey vernacular when a Toronto businessman offered a hat to any player who scored three goals during an NHL game while visiting his town. As the legend goes, Chicago forward Alex Kaleta went into the shop in 1946 and found a fedora he fancied, according to an NHL.com story . Only, he didn’t have the funds to purchase it. The business owner offered to give it to Kaleta free of charge should he score three goals against the Maple Leafs.
Kaleta had four. Presto, a hat trick.
These days, hat tricks come in a variety of forms. There’s the natural one (three straight goals by a player), traditional (any three goals, sometimes culminating with a late empty-netter) and of course the “Gordie Howe” (a goal, assist and a fight).
The achievement of a hat trick has long been celebrated with fans tossing their hats on the ice. Ever wonder where all those hats go? The Avs, for one, donate the caps to the Denver Rescue Mission.
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The fastest NHL hat trick took just 21 seconds by Chicago’s Bill Mosienko (1952). The most in a career? Wayne Gretzky, who had 50. Ovechkin has the most of any active player with 23.
They’re far from common — this year’s total of 61 so far is just 8 percent of all games. The Great One needed 1,487 games to get his 50.
All the increased scoring means the feat may someday lose a bit of its luster. But not yet.
“It’s a pretty hard thing to do,” said Minnesota forward Jason Zucker, who had a hat trick on Nov. 9, 2017. “Scoring any goal in this league is a hard thing to do. To do three in one game is pretty incredible.”
Ovechkin had two in a four-day window this season, while Laine had a pair over a six-day span, including a five-goal game on Nov. 24.
Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog gave his first hat trick on Nov. 11, 2017, against Washington the royal treatment. He has the puck in a case with the game sheet and a picture. He said he doesn’t have his puck from the second one, which happened a month later.
“I don’t think guys are going out there trying to score hat tricks,” the All-Star Landeskog said. “Guys are going out there trying to help the team win.”
As for why there are so many hat tricks this season, Zucker has a simple deduction.
“It’s the speed. It’s the skill. It’s the sticks, the way guys shoot pucks now,” Zucker explained. “Guys don’t even have to try to shoot pucks — the sticks do a lot of the work for us.”
No need to convince Minnesota’s All-Star goaltender Devan Dubnyk of that.
“Teams are discovering ways to create chances and figure how pucks actually go in the net and not just thinking if you throw 50 pucks at the net that you’re going to score a bunch of goals,” Dubnyk said. “It’s understanding how to create offense. You can see it throughout the league this year. There’s a lot of offensive creativity and it’s making it tough for defenses and tough for goalies.”
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Sportsnet.ca / 6 bargain players who could provide value at NHL trade deadline
By Andrew Berkshire, Sportsnet – January 27, 2019
As the NHL’s All-Star Weekend comes to a close, intrepid Sportsnet editor Rory Boylen tasked me with finding some players who could be moved at the NHL’s trade deadline under a month from now who aren’t necessarily the big or expensive names, but based on some of the underlying numbers, could provide teams with a lot of value for a bargain.
Putting together lists like that is always a bit of a challenge, because you want to first start out with the logic that most of the players traded on deadline day will be on expiring deals, then you have to thin things out even further and look mostly at teams who are outside of the playoff picture.
So the players we’re looking for should ideally be:
1. on expiring contracts
2. on non-playoff teams
3. good players
4. not obvious names.
That’s a lot of filters to apply, so the list gets whittled down quickly. What I decided would make the most sense would be to look at specific needs teams may want to address, and attempt to find players who are adept in at least one specific area.
So while the players may not be world-beaters, they are bargains for teams looking to address specific needs to make their roster more versatile.
SHOOTERS
I’m breaking my rules a little bit already for shooters, but there’s a good reason why. Tyler Toffoli is currently at the lowest perceived value of his career, and with just one year after this season left on his deal at a very digestible $4.6M average-annual value (AAV), he seems like the kind of player who would thrive when given a change of scenery.
The same thing that’s happening to Toffoli now happened to Brandon Saad last season, and while he’s rebounded nicely this year, it seems like the lopsided trade for Artemi Panarin and subsequent bad season really tanked his perceived value around the league. Saad, like Toffoli, is just 26-years old, and with the Blackhawks’ failure to squeeze more out of this current roster, it wouldn’t be surprising if they wanted to shed a contract like Saad’s even if they need to retain a bit of salary.
Saad has two years left after this one on the books at a whopping $6M AAV, but he’s been one of the league’s premier scoring chance producers for years, and boasts a strong two-way game. If the Blackhawks are willing to eat any of that cap hit, getting the last two years and a bit of this contract is a good bet.
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Finally, Andreas Athanasiou is rumoured to be on the block, which makes sense since the Red Wings have never really shown as much interest or trust in him as you would expect for such an exciting player, and his contract is a steal at $3M AAV for another year after this one.
Athanasiou leads the entire NHL in scoring chances off the rush per minute played, and he attacks with speed more often than Nathan MacKinnon or Connor McDavid. Surely that’s tantalizing enough to ignore any defensive issues.
PLAYMAKERS
Among playmakers on expiring deals, Kevin Hayes is clearly the cream of the crop. He came into the NHL expected to score more goals than he has, which sometimes leads Rangers fans to get annoyed with him, but he’s among the NHL’s leaders in passes to the slot and passes off the rush, making him a premier playmaker both on the cycle and off entries.
Hayes can put the puck in the net too, and overall is a top-six forward in the amount of offence he generates at 5-vs-5, and I don’t think his perceived value around the league is as high as it should be.
Evgenii Dadonov is a name I was hesitant to put on here, because I think the Panthers are really happy with him and not looking to move him at all. But I looked at this in multiple ways, and considering that Dadonov is 29-years old already, signed for just one more season after this one, and his offence is inflated by Aleksander Barkov, the Panthers might be wise to get assets for him before he’s too expensive to bring back.
I don’t think it’s likely that Dadanov gets traded, but if he does, he’ll be one of the best playmakers to move at the deadline.
Lastly, it’s old faithful over there. Thomas Vanek is no longer a great player, he can sink a line that faces top competition, and he’s a major defensive liability, but he hasn’t lost his hands.
If a team has the depth to hide him on a third line with some powerplay time to kick in, he remains a fantastic playmaker who can punish teams on the cycle. He doesn’t get as many quality-shooting looks as he used to, bur his shot is still great and can freeze goalies,
Vanek may not be much of a scorer anymore, but his playmaking can drastically improve the performance of depth scorers and powerplay units.
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