SPORT-SCAN DAILY BRIEF NHL 12/27/2019 Anaheim Ducks 1167911 Ducks, ill and injured, back at work after 4-day break 1167941 Red Wings head back to work, 'flushing' frightful stats so far Coyotes 1167942 Red Wings see current and future prospects at World 1167912 Here's how addition of Taylor Hall changes things for the Juniors Coyotes 1167943 What to expect from the Red Wings prospects at World 1167913 Coyotes’ Barrett Hayton named captain of Team Canada Juniors at World Juniors 1167944 James Neal working out well for Edmonton Oilers after 1167914 With banged-up defense, Bruins need Tuukka Rask to be struggles in Tuukka Rask on visit to Buffalo 1167945 Edmonton Oilers holding their own as midway draws 1167915 Bruins prospect Jakub Lauko injures leg in opening minute near of World Junior Championship 1167946 Lowetide: Oilers’ fleet centre prospect Ryan McLeod 1167916 Bruins face interesting home-and-home against Sabres finding the range with the Bakersfield Condors 1167917 Avalanche back atop NHL Power Rankings in Week 13 1167918 Bruins prospect Jakub Lauko suffers MCL injury at 2020 World Juniors tournament 1167947 Kings have ‘work to do’ going into back-to-back road 1167919 10 Bruins predictions for 2020: Could the end be near for games Zdeno Chara? Minnesota Wild Buffalo Sabres 1167948 Wild-Colorado game preview 1167920 Sabres and Bruins linked through the decade as matchups 1167949 Colorado hosts Minnesota after Bellemare's 2- game loom at the end of the 2010s 1167950 Getting another big shot, Ryan Donato has rediscovered 1167921 Team Canada uses late heroics to beat Team USA in last season’s spark World Juniors opener 1167922 Since moving to Buffalo full-time and returning from injury, Kyle Okposo’s taken his game ‘to another level’ 1167951 Year in review: Faith in the future was Canadiens' 2019 message 1167923 Battle of kicks off for season amid who won the New Jersey Devils trade debate 1167952 NJ Devils: Here are the Top 10 moments that defined this 1167924 Matthew Tkachuk answers back — on video games, decade pranks, and chirping his brother 1167925 12 great regular-season moments from a desperate for a reboot 1167953 Islanders’ Anthony Beauvillier takes a shot at Anna Kendrick 1167954 Islanders hope to face former teammate Robin Lehner in 1167926 Canes’ Martin Necas proving he belongs in the big Chicago leagues 1167955 Ex-Rangers captain talks Kaapo Kakko, trade deadline 1167927 Blackhawks’ Brent Seabrook and Calvin de Haan will dilemma undergo season-ending surgery 1167956 Why Rangers’ playoff hopes already are looking dimmer 1167928 Brent Seabrook, Calvin de Haan ruled out for remainder of 1167957 Rangers' Filip Chytil developing his game in second Blackhawks’ season season 1167930 Grading each Blackhawks forward’s performance during 1167958 Revisiting our bold (and not so bold) preseason the first half of the season predictions about the Rangers 1167931 Blackhawks Ds Seabrook, de Haan out for rest of season 1167932 Blackhawks Seabrook, de Haan to miss rest of season Ottawa Senators after surgeries 1167959 Awaiting Hainsey's return ... and the flurry of trades in the 1167933 Kane and Chicago take on New York new year 1167934 How the Blackhawks should utilize their newfound cap 1167960 Senators prospects Shane Pinto and Jacob space Bernard-Docker have begun writing first chapter in shared 1167935 Blackhawks announce Calvin de Haan and Brent story Seabrook will miss rest of 2019-20 season 1167936 Blackhawks 2019-20 midseason grades: Goaltenders 1167937 What we know about Brent Seabrook’s injuries and how 1167961 The Flyers’ French Connection: ‘We’re hockey people first’ the Blackhawks can utilize their new cap space 1167962 Flyers’ captain Claude Giroux playing for his legacy 1167963 Kevin Hayes, Travis Sanheim help Flyers whip Rangers, 5-1, for 4th straight win 1167938 Post’s 10 most popular Colorado Avalanche 1167964 Flyers weekly observations: A telling attendance figure, a stories of 2019 good problem, Egor Zamula and more 1167939 One Giant step is just a single way of describing what lies 1167965 A Flyers fan’s guide to the 2020 World Junior ahead for Championship Columbus Blue Jackets 1167940 Eric Robinson making impact on key Blue Jackets’ line 1167966 The Penguins’ most important moments of the 2010’s: Nos. 10 through 6 1167967 Here's how each Penguins player got his number San Jose Sharks 1167968 Ex-Shark Jeremy Roenick suspended by NBC for sexual comments about coworkers 1167969 Sharks All-Decade: Stars, stability define the last 10 years 1167970 Sharks' Erik Karlsson named No. 3 NHL player of decade by NBC Sports 1167971 Wins haven’t come, but there have been a few positive trends for the Sharks since the coaching change St Louis Blues 1167972 At Enterprise Center, keeping the Blues' ice nice is a huge job 1167973 10 reasons why Craig Berube’s champ Blues aren’t slowing down 1167974 Giving Marlies a Maple Leafs warmup the latest case of Keefe doing things differently 1167975 Game Day: Maple Leafs at Devils 1167976 Road line changes challenge Keefe 1167977 20 Questions with Leafs legend Eddie Shack: On Corvettes, donuts and coaches wearing hats Canucks 1167989 Canucks prospects tracker, WJC edition: Nils Hoglander scores stunning goal on Day 1 1167990 Canucks at 50: 'Rancher' Linden didn't take long to be branded face of NHL franchise 1167991 Canucks at 50: When Linden at 2 was No. 1 for Vancouver Vegas Golden Knights 1167978 Change by ‘stubborn’ Gallant turns around Golden Knights season 1167979 Meet Elvis, the giant Golden Knights helmet 1167980 Granger: I was so wrong with my bold predictions for Golden Knights’ season 1167981 Tom Wilson’s reputation was hard-earned. It’s even harder to shake. 1167982 Capitals’ prospect Connor McMichael scores in Canada’s World Juniors opener 1167983 From ‘Young Guns’ to Stanley Cup winners: The 2010s were the best decade in Capitals history 1167984 What the next decade holds for the Caps: The last hurrah of the Ovechkin era Websites 1167992 The Athletic / How Wasserman agents found success repping first-rounders in all 6 major North American league 1167993 .ca / Nine bold NHL predictions for 2020 1167994 TSN.CA / Lafreniere scores winner as Canada defeats USA in thrilling World Juniors opener 1167995 TSN.CA / Hunter mum on starter ahead of Canada’s tournament opener against USA 1167985 Make-or-break stretch coming up for Jets 1167986 The long game 1167987 When the math hasn't added up, Hellebuyck has had the answer. Can that continue? 1167988 From boxing gloves to fake mustaches, the Winnipeg Jets get their holiday gifts

SPORT-SCAN, INC. 941-284-4129 1167911 Anaheim Ducks The tournament continues through Jan. 5, when the gold medal game will be played. NHL Network has extensive coverage.

Ducks, ill and injured, back at work after 4-day break Orange County Register: LOADED: 12.27.2019

By ELLIOTT TEAFORD | [email protected] | Orange County Register

PUBLISHED: December 26, 2019 at 12:55 pm | UPDATED: December 26, 2019 at 12:55 PM

After four days of rest and recovery, the Ducks head back to work Friday, taking on the Vegas Golden Knights at Honda Center. The ailing Ducks appeared to have reached a breaking point when they reached the Christmas break with a 5-1 loss Sunday to the New York Rangers.

Regaining their health was of paramount concern for Ducks coach Dallas Eakins, who iced a lineup Sunday that lacked six of his top 12 forwards. Not only did a nasty virus sweep through the dressing room, but there were serious injuries to address.

“There’s never a good time for guys to be sick or injured, ever, but especially when other guys are down,” Eakins said. “You take all of those guys out of the lineup and it’s not a good time for anybody to be under the weather or injured.”

The list of the sick and injured was lengthy as the Ducks completed a four-game trip Sunday. Ryan Getzlaf and Jakob Silfverberg were out sick. Derek Grant (shoulder), Rickard Rakell (upper body), Nick Ritchie (knee) and Troy Terry (fractured leg) were sidelined by injuries.

Getzlaf, Rakell and Silfverberg were the Ducks’ co-leaders with 25 points at the four-day break. Silfverberg was their leader with 13 goals. Getzlaf and Rakell were tied for second with 15 assists each. Hampus Lindholm, a defenseman, had a team-leading 16 assists.

It was unclear whether Getzlaf and Silfverberg were sound enough to return to the lineup Friday. Eakins couldn’t say how long Rakell might be sidelined, but his injury wasn’t thought to be as serious as the ones suffered by Grant, Ritchie and Terry.

Grant is expected to be sidelined for between four and six weeks and it was anticipated Terry would be out for up to 10 weeks after they were hurt in the Ducks’ 4-1 loss Dec. 17 to the Philadelphia Flyers. Ritchie was hurt Dec. 6 and his layoff was expected to be up to 10 weeks.

Rakell was hurt in the Ducks’ 6-5 shootout victory Saturday over the New York Islanders.

“I’m hopeful,” Eakins said when asked if Rakell would be back in the lineup sooner than later.

DISAPPOINTING TRIP

The Ducks lost three of four games on their trip that led into the Christmas break, beating the Islanders and losing to the Flyers, New Jersey Devils and Rangers. They lost Terry and Grant in the Philadelphia game and weren’t healthy again the rest of the way.

Eakins made no excuses for the Ducks’ lackluster play, however.

“Disappointing,” he said. “As much as everyone hates losing, I can understand this (Sunday’s loss to the Rangers). The first couple of games on the trip were ones we wanted to be better, so it is a disappointing trip.”

TWO TO WATCH

The world junior hockey championship got underway Thursday in the Czech Republic, with two Ducks prospects in action. Goaltender Lukas Dostal had 33 saves in the Czechs’ 4-3 victory over Russia and left wing Trevor Zegras had an assist in the United States’ 6-3 loss to Canada.

Dostal, 19, was the Ducks’ third-round draft pick (85th overall) in 2018, and is playing in the world junior tournament for the second time. He is 17-1-4 with a 1.92 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage in 23 games with Ilves of the Finnish Elite League.

Zegras, 18, was one of the Ducks’ first-round draft picks (ninth overall) this past June. He had five goals and 12 assists in 16 games as a freshman at Boston University. He was a member of the U.S. team that won the bronze in the under-18 championships earlier this year. 1167912 Arizona Coyotes The Coyotes, who entered the holiday break leading the Pacific Division for the first time in 20 years, have scored 15 goals in the four games since Hall’s arrival, although they are just 2-2 in those games. Hall is Here's how addition of Taylor Hall changes things for the Coyotes certainly not the lone reason for the increased offense but it’s not a trend that should be ignored, either.

Hall doesn’t make the Coyotes perfect. They remain a team that must Richard Morin Arizona Republic learn to play well on home ice. They must find a way to defend more consistently, although that will likely become easier once Niklas Published 4:48 PM EST Dec 26, 2019 Hjalmarsson returns from injury.

Still, Hall changes a lot for the Coyotes. It makes them more than just a Imagine hearing this a year ago. fringe playoff contender. It makes them a legitimate candidate for a run at the Stanley Cup.. "Dvorak finds Hall. He finds Kessel, who finds the back of the net." It may be a shock for Coyotes fans to hear that, and it may be a shock to That was the call from Coyotes TV analyst Tyson Nash as he dissected a see Hall and Kessel in Sedona Red. But who says change has to be a goal that featured the team's two superstars, Taylor Hall and Phil Kessel, bad thing? in the first-period of the Dec. 29 game against the Minnesota Wild.

Arizona has two players with talent levels local fans are not used to seeing. And up until recently, third-year head coach Rick Tocchet had Arizona Republic LOADED: 12.27.2019 them playing on the same line, a unit that flashed its potential in what ended up as an 8-5 loss to the Wild at Gila River Arena.

Christian Dvorak started the play with an effective forecheck and eventually found Hall in front of the net. Hall was on his backhand and didn't have a great shooting angle, so he dished to Kessel for a point- blank shot that trickled through Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk.

It was the second goal in as many nights in which Hall's fingerprints were all over. Hall, who has three points (1 goal, 2 assists) in four games since joining the Coyotes, also found Oliver Ekman-Larsson for the game- winning goal on Dec. 17 in San Jose and ripped home his first goal with the Coyotes on Sunday in Detroit.

This is what the Coyotes were envisioning when they acquired Hall — a game-changer, bona fide scorer and elite playmaker.

The Coyotes are 20th in goals scored this season across the 31-team NHL. At even-strength, their offense has fared even worse. At times, their offensive struggles have spoiled elite goaltending and stingy defensive play.

Something needed to change. The Coyotes didn't have a true difference- maker up front. Perhaps that can be Clayton Keller, Nick Schmaltz or even Barrett Hayton at some point, but not right now.

Kessel was supposed to be that guy, but he has struggled. An early- season injury contributed to a slow start, but it has been clear that Kessel isn't shooting enough and hasn't played with nearly enough consistency in his game.

At times this season, Kessel has looked out of place. Teammates don't always seem ready for his slick passes. Others have struggled to thread him the puck for scoring chances.

But Hall can start to change all that. It gives Kessel a superstar to flank him, effectively erasing the narrative that Kessel’s struggles are the result of a lack of talent. The Coyotes hope that Hall’s presence — whether he’s on the ice with Kessel or not — can help Kessel start to produce closer to career norms with the Coyotes.

It also allows Keller and Schmaltz to settle into second-line roles, removing some pressure from the shoulders of two young players working to prove their worth after signing lengthy contract extensions.

Keller, for one, has flourished. The third-year forward is up to 14 points (6 goals, 8 assists) in his last 12 games and six points (3 goals, 3 assists) in the four games since Hall slotted into the lineup. Berated with criticism much of the season, Keller is playing some of his best hockey as a professional.

And it makes the power play extremely dangerous. The Coyotes currently own the league’s 12th best man-advantage, converting on 20.8 percent of opponents’ penalties. Those numbers are a bit misleading, however, since the Coyotes’ power play is one that has gone through extended droughts at times this season.

With Hall and Kessel playing opposite each other on the top unit, as well as Schmaltz and sharp-shooting Jakob Chychrun on the second unit, the Coyotes likely will see much more consistency out of their power play down the stretch. 1167913 Arizona Coyotes

Coyotes’ Barrett Hayton named captain of Team Canada at World Juniors

BY MATT LAYMAN

DECEMBER 26, 2019 AT 10:46 AM

Arizona Coyotes rookie Barrett Hayton is back for another year of World Junior Championship hockey with Team Canada, and this time, he’s the squad’s captain.

The U-20 tournament, which got underway Thursday, is Hayton’s second. He was part of last year’s sixth-place Canada team and played five games, scoring four assists with a plus-8 rating.

He also now has NHL experience under his belt with the Coyotes, who loaned Hayton to Team Canada after he had repeatedly been a healthy scratch. He is expected to return to the Coyotes when his duties with Team Canada in World Juniors are complete.

The alternate captains are Ty Smith (New Jersey Devils defensive prospect), Joe Veleno (Detroit Red Wings forward prospect) and Ty Dellandrea ( forward prospect). Those three also played in last year’s World Junior Championship.

Arizona Sports LOADED: 12.27.2019 1167914 Boston Bruins Monday underscored that they don’t like each other. The Capitals are heavier, more belligerent; the latter in large part because they have a beast on the wing in Tom Wilson. He hits with impunity and agitates with With banged-up defense, Bruins need Tuukka Rask to be Tuukka Rask the best in the game, like an oversized, radioactive Marchand. on visit to Buffalo If the Little Ball of Hate tried his licking antics on Wilson, the big winger’s response might be on scale with the Forbes Kennedy meltdown of the ’69 playoffs that remains a special part of Bruins postseason lore (Mo, By Kevin Paul Dupont Globe Staff Larry . . . the cheese!). Leafs forward Kennedy, a former Bruin, decided that night to tussle with everyone but the Garden Zamboni driver. It was Updated December 26, 2019, 4:48 p.m. his one playoff game with the Leafs and he never played again in the NHL. Wilson . . . if only.

BUFFALO — Things aren’t quite as rosy here in the Queen City as they “You know, clearly, they’re a physical team,” noted Bruins coach Bruce were in October. The Sabres, off to a roaring 9-2-2 start in the new Cassidy, his club already a shoo-in for the playoffs. “There’s two different season, have won but once in their last five outings (1-3-1) and again are approaches. You can match them hit for hit. Or you can use your scrapping to remain relevant with a fan base grown accustomed to footspeed and smarts, try to stay out of the box and frustrate them . . . I playoff poverty. think we did that in the first period with probably a smaller lineup for us.”

Meanwhile, the Bruins, who face the Sabres here Friday night, propped We’re a long way from an April or May grudge match between Boston up a bit of their slumping dignity Monday at the Garden with their and D.C. But sweet dreams are made of these. uncharacteristically easy, though costly, win over the Capitals.

■ They won on home ice. An accomplishment, especially of late, for a Boston Globe LOADED: 12.27.2019 club that has lost nine of its first 22 games (13-1-8) on Causeway Street this season and went 3-4-4 overall in the 11 games prior to the Capitals’ visit.

■ They scored a lot, seven goals total, and rolled up an early advantage with four straight strikes in the opening 20 minutes. Getting the lead early and remaining in front became their trademark in October and most of November.

■ Tuukka Rask, a sloppy 0-3-2 in his previous five outings, regained his autumn-like crispness with a 39-save effort against one of the game’s most potent offenses.

Yet there was the tab to pay by the end of the night. When the NHL’s lights went dark for the three-day holiday break, the Bruins were down to four defensemen, already short their captain, Zdeno Chara, who spent Monday at Mass. General Hospital getting hardware removed from his surgically repaired jaw. They also lost Torey Krug and Charlie McAvoy over the full 60 minutes with the Capitals, who appeared to be reading from the St. Louis “How to Win a Cup” game plan in June that had the Blues bashing the members of the Boston back line.

No word from the Causeway Street offices over the holiday break, but one, two or all three of those defensemen could be hors de combat vs. the Sabres. If so, look for the Bruins to call up a body or two in the morning from the Providence WannaB’s prior to the club’s hurry-up charter flight out of Hanscom and then a late-morning workout at the snow-starved edge of Lake Erie.

If McAvoy, rattled by a T.J. Oshie cheap shot, were forced to sit, the logical AHL call-up would be veteran Alex Petrovic, who signed on as an unrestricted free agent after a September camp invite. The 6-foot-4-inch veteran of 263 NHL games (Florida, Edmonton) signed for a $375,000 guarantee and has been Providence’s top point producer (2-17—19) among the D corps.

If not Petrovic, then it could be Urho Vaakanainen, Jakub Zboril or Jeremy Lauzon, the latter of whom looked increasingly comfortable during his 16-game tour last season with the varsity.

However they are constituted on the back end, the Bruins, third overall in league standings (53 points), need to pick up where they left off vs. the Capitals, albeit without their defensemen marching Spirit of ’76-like to the trainer’s room.

In particular, they need a carry through from their forwards, who saw their top point producer, Brad Marchand (19 goals/54 points) finally break a 12-game goal-less streak.

They also need Rask to be Rask, the version of himself that was especially sharp in the early going Monday when Alex Ovechkin and Oshie delivered first-rate snipes on a power play midway through the first with the Bruins holding a 1-0 lead. Soon after snuffing out that man-up, the Bruins delivered a pair of goals (Marchand/Anders Bjork) over a 27- second stretch to boost the lead to 3-0.

Rask (14-4-5) remains the Black and Gold’s best chance to return to a Cup Final, in a postseason that would be a river of fire if it meant a first-, second- or third-round matchup against the Capitals. 1167915 Boston Bruins

Bruins prospect Jakub Lauko injures leg in opening minute of World Junior Championship

By Andrew Mahoney Globe Staff

December 26, 2019, 1:04 p.m.

Jakub Lauko skated for the Bruins in the preseason.

Bruins prospect Jakub Lauko suffered what appeared to be a significant knee injury in the opening minute of the opening game of the World Junior Championship Thursday.

Lauko, 19, playing for the host Czech Republic, was clipped from behind, causing him to twist his right leg as he was hit head-on by another player.

Lauko, a forward, fell to the ice and immediately clutched his leg 53 seconds into the game. It was his first shift. He eventually made his way to the bench, and was seen on camera hopping on his left leg down the hallway to the locker room.

“He obviously will not return,” analyst Ray Ferraro said as the TSN broadcast showed Lauko sitting in a chair, rinkside, in street clothes with his right leg immobilized and elevated in the third period of the Czechs’ 4- 2 victory over Russia. “You can’t help but feel sorry . . . Just brutal to see.”

After the game, it was reported Lauko injured his medial collateral ligament (MCL) and is out for the tournament. He will have an MRI Friday.

It is the second time in three weeks Lauko was knocked out of a game. On Dec. 7, while skating for the Providence Bruins, he was taken off the ice on a stretcher after a collision. He had four goals and four assists in 18 games with Providence. After passing a concussion test, he was cleared to return to the Czech Republic to play in the WJC on Dec. 17.

His play in the preseason had Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy comparing Lauko to a young Brad Marchand.

Lauko was selected by the Bruins in the third round (No. 77 overall) in 2018. He had 21 goals and 20 assists in 44 games for the Rouyn- Noranda Huskies of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, scoring the game-winner in the final minute of the final game of the round-robin of the Memorial Cup.

Boston Globe LOADED: 12.27.2019 1167916 Boston Bruins • This observer is as big a fan of Danton Heinen’s game as much as anyone. His smarts, tenacity on the puck and ability to win battles are valuable assets for the B’s. But in his third full season with the B’s and on Bruins face interesting home-and-home against Sabres a pace to again finish short of the 20-goal plateau (six goals in 38 games), it’s becoming more clear that — while he can certainly handle spot duty up in the lineup — his finishing abilities are best suited for the third line as opposed to a top-six role. By STEVE CONROY | [email protected] | Boston Herald • Tough break for B’s prospect Jakub Lauko, who suffered an MCL injury PUBLISHED: December 26, 2019 at 3:27 pm | UPDATED: December 26, to his right knee on his first shift of Czech Republic’s win over Russia on 2019 at 3:28 PM Thursday, according to reports. The extent of the injury was not immediately known (an MRI is scheduled for Friday) but it didn’t look good. He was seen with his knee braced with crutches resting on his leg So the Bruins exorcised a few demons in their last game before the as he dejectedly watched his teammates hang on to the win. Christmas break, some long-standing and others short-term. • We’ll find out Friday if the B’s will be shorthanded on the blue line. They not only beat Capitals’ goalie Braden Holtby, they chased him from Cassidy said he expected Chara to be ready for the first Sabres game the game after only 20 minutes. Brad Marchand snapped a 12-game following jaw surgery on Monday. Meanwhile, Torey Krug left Monday’s goal-less streak and Charlie Coyle did the same to a nine-game skid. game in the second period following a Wilson hit and Charlie McAvoy And the best development of all was that Tuukka Rask looked very much departed after getting run by T.J. Oshie. like his old self after a five-game winless streak (0-2-3).

So what should we glean from that rare win over the Caps as the B’s begin what is close to the second half of the season? Probably not a Boston Herald LOADED: 12.27.2019 whole heck of a lot. The big, nasty Caps may have ended the game snorting fire, but they entered with thoughts of sugar plums dancing in their heads, especially Holtby, and they could never get back in the game.

The B’s have to follow up that win with a renewed sense of purpose if that win is to mean anything. They return to action with a key home-and- home against the Buffalo Sabres, starting Friday at Keybank Center. Jack Eichel is playing like the Hart Trophy candidate a lot of people thought he was going to be when he was drafted behind Connor McDavid. He just had a streak of 18 straight games he played with a point on Dec. 23.

These two games are hugely important to the Sabres and, as such, should be pretty important to their Atlantic Division rivals. The Sabres stumbled into the break, going 1-3-1 and finding themselves a point out of the divisional playoff structure. They’ll need to come out of the hiatus strong, and it should serve as a good gauge to judge just where the B’s game is right now.

We thought the B’s were out of the woods after their previous win in Florida, only to come home and lose three straight games in extra time. This time the B’s were allowed to exhale after the win over Washington. They have to be ready to go again starting Friday, with the full knowledge of the fact that they are one of the hunted.

Here’s a few more notes and one-timers to ponder:

• Many fans decried the B’s so-called lack of toughness after the Caps took some runs at the B’s without any Washington players being beaten to a bloody pulp at center ice. Having grown up watching the likes of O’Reilly, Wensink and Jonathan, I can appreciate the sentiment. But the Caps’ tactics on that night were both a result of captain Zdeno Chara not playing and Washington resorting to the tactics of frustrated losers.

No, the B’s are no longer the toughest team in the league, but the notion that they should make a tough guy their No. 1 priority is nonsense. Would it be nice to get a combo of talent and truculence that, say, Tom Wilson possesses? Sure. But those players are increasingly hard to find. You can’t just take any 6-foot-4 body and drop him into the top six, as we’ve learned with the Brett Ritchie experiment.

This Bruins’ team is one built on skill and work ethic and they’d be better off trying to enhance that identity instead of trying vainly to change it.

• Solving the second line right wing dilemma may eventually lead GM Don Sweeney to look outside the organization, but there’s one more in- house possible option that really should be given at least a handful of games. That would be Anders Bjork.

When Bjork first returned to Boston from Providence, coach Bruce Cassidy said he preferred to use him on the natural wing on the left to simplify the game for him as he tended to put himself in harm’s way when playing on the right side, where he played much of his college career. But Cassidy said he no longer feels that way. It’s amazing how much Bjork ended up on the right side anyway. His strength on the puck and attention to detail is much improved and worthy of a heightened role. 1167917 Boston Bruins 21. Buffalo Sabres: Literally anyone to help out Jack Eichel and not waste a Hart-caliber season.

22. Montreal Canadiens: It feels like they are one offensive piece away Avalanche back atop NHL Power Rankings in Week 13 from competing, so maybe a forward at the trade deadline if they’re not already out of the race.

By MARISA INGEMI | [email protected] | Boston Herald 23. New York Rangers: Some meat on the roster to go along with the Bread man. December 26, 2019 at 6:00 am 24. Ottawa Senators: Where to begin? A new arena? Selling the team? Thomas Chabot to get a break for like, a few minutes?

What would every NHL team want for Christmas? Not all of them are on 25. Columbus Blue Jackets: The more cannon blasts, the better. the nice list this year, and certainly not all of them will get what they want, but each team has something that could help them heading into the 2020 26. Chicago Blackhawks: A time machine, but backwards. portion of the season. 27. Los Angeles Kings: A successful fire sale where Rob Blake and Co. 1. Colorado Avalanche: If the Avs could just stay healthy, there’s no are able to trade off some of those contracts. telling how good they’d be.They would love to just have all their good 28. San Jose Sharks: Goaltending as a request seems far too simple, players in the lineup at the same time. especially since other teams would like that as well, but the Sharks are 2. Washington Capitals: If not for the Columbus Blue Jackets, the doomed to be dead in the water if that wouldn’t get resolved. Capitals wouldn’t have a single flaw — you know, other than that one 29. Anaheim Ducks: Some help for John Gibson so they don’t waste one Bruins game this week. But, the Caps would love to avoid the Jackets of the best goalies in the league in his prime. going forward. 30. New Jersey Devils: They’ve devils, so coal wouldn’t even be a 3. New York Islanders: The one flaw on the Isles roster seems to be goal sufficient punishment. scoring, though they keep getting results. Imagine if they consistently put the puck in the net. 31. Detroit Red Wings: For the season to be over.

4. Boston Bruins: Toughness? I kid. The Bruins would love consistent secondary scoring whenever the top line goes quiet. Boston Herald LOADED: 12.27.2019 5. St. Louis Blues: Another miracle in them to win without Vladimir Tarasenko. But they’re playing well enough where they might even not need that, amazingly.

6. Pittsburgh Penguins: Much like the Avalanche, the Penguins would like it if their players could just stay in the lineup.

7. Arizona Coyotes: Christmas came early in the desert as they deck the Halls.

8. Carolina Hurricanes: Probably not blowing three multi-goal leads on the road in Toronto, but it appears too late for that.

9. Philadelphia Flyers: Seasons Gritt-ings to last through the spring.

10. Florida Panthers: The Panthers want Sergei Bobrovsky to start playing like a $10 million goalie.

11. Toronto Maple Leafs: Auston Matthews is on pace for 52 goals but you know, William Nylander playing consistently and the rest of the lineup coming together would be huge. Or maybe just a backup goalie.

12. Vegas Golden Knights: Backup goaltending consistent enough to keep them in it when Marc-Andre Fleury doesn’t play.

13. Dallas Stars: Any stability at all in Dallas, and there’s no reason the Stars shouldn’t be serious contenders.

14. Winnipeg Jets: Dustin Byfuglien’s situation to be resolved, or at least some help to take a load off Connor Hellebucyk.

15. Calgary Flames: Geoff Ward’s group staying consistent in what seems to be a turnaround.

16. Tampa Bay Lightning: The Lightning just want another crack at the postseason after a disappointing end early last season, but they’ll need to play better in a competitive division.

17. Minnesota Wild: Either a fire sale so they can finally rebuild or one of their goalies get hot and they go on a run like they did at the end of November that gave a glimmer of hope in what looked to be a lost season.

18. : A time machine to next season when their youth has enough experience to be consistent.

19. Nashville Predators: Goaltending is the only thing the Predators need to make a move in the Central.

20. Edmonton Oilers: Just anyone other than Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl to produce any sort of offense on a consistent basis. 1167918 Boston Bruins

Bruins prospect Jakub Lauko suffers MCL injury at 2020 World Juniors tournament

By Nick Goss

December 26, 2019 2:21 PM

Boston Bruins prospect Jakub Lauko's 2020 World Junior Championship experience lasted less than a minute.

The 19-year-old left winger suffered an MCL injury early in the first period of the Czech Republic's group stage game against Russia and didn't return. It's possible Lauko misses the rest of the tournament because of this injury.

LIVE stream the Celtics all season and get the latest news and analysis on all of your teams from NBC Sports Boston by downloading the My Teams App.

The Czech Republic, who are the host nation for the tournament, ultimately won 4-3 without Lauko.

Lauko is an offensively gifted player with impressive speed. The Bruins selected him with the 77th overall pick (third round) of the 2018 NHL Draft. He's tallied eight points (four goals, four assists) in 18 games for the AHL's Providence Bruins this season.

Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 12.27.2019 1167919 Boston Bruins 10. Breaking out, at last

Anders Bjork will start next season with double-digit goals through the calendar year of 2020. 10 Bruins predictions for 2020: Could the end be near for Zdeno Chara?

The Athletic LOADED: 12.27.2019 By Fluto Shinzawa

Dec 26, 2019

It’s time to look into the crystal ball and examine how things look for the Bruins in the new year:

1. Winger is coming

The Bruins will acquire a No. 2 right wing to play with David Krejci for the remainder of this season. This is not a recording.

2. Another Bargain deal

If Torey Krug re-ups with the only team he’s known, the term and the salary will be significantly below market price. In that way, Krug’s deal will belong in the category currently occupied by those of David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand: bargain.

The Bruins have the power to hold firm — cap constraints elsewhere, internal options at left defense, Matt Grzelcyk and Charlie McAvoy as possible power-play successors. Krug, meanwhile, will have options elsewhere. It will be up to Krug to decide whether he wants to stay in a good situation or try something new with the comfort of financial security.

3. Together again

Jaroslav Halak will sign a one-year extension with the Bruins. Under normal circumstances, Halak would be able to land a multi-year deal elsewhere. But Halak will be 35 years old at the start of next season. As such, the team that signs Halak will have to carry his full cap hit even if he gets hurt or experiences a significant performance decline. Halak knows he’s in a good spot as Tuukka Rask’s partner.

4. The end for Big z?

Zdeno Chara will call it quits. At 42, the big man can still play. The Bruins have a need for a left-side shutdown presence. But Chara is a worldly man with numerous interests outside of hockey. That plus family commitments could signal Chara’s exit.

5. One way or another, will not be here

David Backes will not be a Bruin for the final year of his contract. There are several ways this could happen. Backes could retire and forego the $4 million he is due in salary. He could be assigned to Providence, which would allow the Bruins to save $1.075 million in cap space. Backes could be traded along with a pick/prospect package to a team that has cap space; Toronto sent Patrick Marleau, a 2020 first-rounder and a 2020 seventh-round pick to Carolina for a 2020 sixth-rounder. If the Bruins buy him out, they would be responsible for carrying $4 million against the cap in 2020-21 and $1 million in 2021-22.

6. Waiting in the wings

Urho Vaakanainen, the team’s 2017 first-round pick, will break camp with the varsity next season, regardless of what happens with Krug and Chara. He will be 21 and ready for full-time NHL employment.

7. The future down the middle

Ditto for Jack Studnicka, the Bruins’ 2017 second-rounder. After developing nicely in Providence, Studnicka will give the Bruins options at center, including moving Charlie Coyle to right wing.

8. The gloves stay on

The Bruins went almost a full month this season until their first fight (Brett Ritchie vs. Barclay Goodrow). Next season will go well into November before the first Bruin drops his gloves. Fighting is dying organically.

9. Here to stay, and deservedly so

Connor Clifton will take a big step as the Bruins’ third-pairing right-side defenseman behind McAvoy and Brandon Carlo. He will not have to worry about an AHL assignment. He’ll be in the first season of a three- year $3 million deal. 1167920 Buffalo Sabres (330), points (617) and points percentage (.451) among teams that played the entire decade. In the same span, the Bruins are third in points percentage (.634) and fourth in wins (391).

Sabres and Bruins linked through the decade as matchups loom at the **** end of the 2010s SABRES BY THE DECADE

Years W-L-T&OTL Pts Pct (NHL rank) By Mike Harrington 1970s 357-261-132 .564 (4th of 22) Published Fri, Dec 27, 2019 1980s 387-294-121 .558 (7th of 21)

1990s 348-315-118 .521 (11th of 28) There's some odd symmetry about it as the 2010s come to a merciful end for the Buffalo Sabres. It's some weird circle of life that the final three 2000s 374-272-94 .569 (9th of 30) games of the decade include a home-and-home set against the Boston Bruins that starts Friday night in KeyBank Center. 2010s 311-371-103 .462 (30th of 31)

The Sabres are celebrating their decades as part of their 50th Source: NHL.com anniversary season and there's no such tribute planned for the '10s. With **** good reason. And the Bruins are a major reason why. It was a decade full of weirdness Think back to when the decade started. From 2000-2009, the Sabres missed the playoffs five times but also got to two Eastern Conference When the decade started, Darcy Regier and Lindy Ruff were in charge, finals and made another trip that ended in the second round. Even two of just as they had been since 1997. Things ended for both nine months their playoff misses came attached to seasons of 90 and 91 points, apart in 2013 and that started a front office and coaching carousel that respectively. hasn't stopped.

The Bruins, meanwhile, were stuck in mediocrity that stemmed from the In the team president's office, there's been Ted Black, Pat LaFontaine, "May Day" goal in 1993 in Buffalo that ended a division championship Russ Brandon and now Kim Pegula. In the GM's suite, Regier has been season in a shocking first-round sweep at the hands of the Sabres. The followed by Tim Murray and Jason Botterill. Bruins won only two postseason series in the rest of the 90s and never And the coach's office has been a black hole since Ruff with its got past round two in the 2000s, missing the playoffs four times and occupants, in order, going from Ron Rolston to Ted Nolan to Dan Bylsma falling in the first round four other times. (after Mike Babcock's snub) to Phil Housley and now Ralph Krueger. From their berth in 1970 through Dec. 31, 2009, the Sabres had the It was a decade full of weirdness. And we're not just talking The Tank or fourth-highest points percentage in the NHL at .553. Only Montreal the infamous night in 2015 when a whole bunch of KeyBank Center fans (.602), Boston (.596) and Philadelphia (.553) were ahead of them. They suddenly rooted on the Arizona Coyotes through an victory over made the playoffs 27 times in 38 seasons. their own team. It all started to change in 2010. The Sabres, remember, were still a gold For low moments in franchise history, may that one never be matched. standard franchise and won the Northeast Division title. The Bruins finished third. But Johnny Boychuk cut down Thomas Vanek in Game 2, Pegula initially thought throwing money at everything was the answer old friend Miroslav Satan beat his former team in double overtime in and it wasn't. A team-produced web episode on the 2011 trip to Finland Game 4 and the Sabres were upset victims in Game 6. caught Pegula's children talking about Dad being enraptured watching Vancouver defenseman Christian Ehrhoff play the Bruins during the 2011 Still, the Sabres were hardly dead. The 2010-11 season was a struggle final, so it wasn't hard to see how Regier gave Ehrhoff a 10-year, $40 until Terry Pegula took ownership of the team in February, but a 16-4-4 million contract. finish from that point forward produced another berth in the playoffs, where the Sabres blew a 3-1 lead at home in Game 6 and lost in Game 7 Ville Leino's overtime goal in Game 6 here in 2011 -- the last playoff at Philadelphia. The Bruins, meanwhile, won the Stanley Cup for the first game held in KeyBank Center -- certainly stuck in the minds of ownership time since 1972. and Regier as well. Leino got a six-year, $27 million contract in free agency and immediately announced on his conference call with reporters Optimism remained high in Buffalo in 2011-12 with two wins to open the he wasn't all that comfortable playing center. season in Europe keeping the hope tank full. The Sabres were 10-5 and on a four-game winning streak when they went into Boston on Nov. 12. The Ehrhoff and Leino contracts were bought out by Tim Murray in 2014 in compliance fashion after the 2013 lockout so the Sabres didn't take Then Milan Lucic took out Ryan Miller with his infamous bullrush through any cap hits. The same unfortunately was not the case for the six-year, the Buffalo goalie and the Sabres have never been the same since. The $25.5 million deal Cody Hodgson signed in September 2013. Murray Sabres missed the playoffs that season and went on to become one of bought out that deal in 2015 and Botterill rues the move. the NHL's laughingstocks for the entire decade. The Sabres will be paying $791,667 on their cap to Hodgson's buyout for Buffalo, of course, carries the league's longest playoff drought at eight three more seasons. That's certainly enough for a quality NHL forward years and counting, but the numbers are worse. With three games left, but it's money going somewhere else. the Sabres are 311-371-103 for the 2010s and their .462 points percentage is 30th out of 31 NHL teams, ahead of only Edmonton's .452. The Leino contract started an ugly pattern that continues today when it comes to centers. Mikhail Grigorenko and Zemgus Girgensons were The Sabres have 725 points while the Oilers have 710. Next worst are taken as centers with first-round picks in 2012 and neither was able to New Jersey and Arizona -- both at 795 (we're not counting Vegas' 2 1/2 last in the position, although Girgensons forged a workmanlike career at seasons here). The Sabres are tied with Florida for the fewest playoff wing. Sam Reinhart was drafted No. 2 overall in 2014 and has proven to games won in the decade with five. The Bruins have the most with 69, be a fine winger after he showed he couldn't play the middle. many collected during their three trips to the Cup final. Casey Mittelstadt is in Rochester after he was taken at No. 8 in 2017 and The Sabres, Panthers and Oilers all tied for the fewest number of didn't thrive in the middle and Marcus Johansson was signed last postseason games played in the decade with 13. Five teams played summer to a two-year, $9 million deal and hasn't been able to do much in more than 100, topped by Pittsburgh's 124 and Boston's 121. Ten teams the middle either, just as everyone who covered the Bruins, Devils and played more than 80. Capitals in recent years warned. And as for Pegula ownership, it has not been the panacea fans expected Now the Sabres wait on 2019 first-rounder Dylan Cozens to hopefully fill it would be after that great finish to the 2010-11 season. the hole in the middle behind Jack Eichel. It's been empty since Botterill Since the memorable win over Atlanta when the French Connection dealt Ryan O'Reilly in 2018 and watched him become a Conn Smythe greeted Terry Pegula on the ice prior to the Sabres' victory in his first Trophy winner 11 months later for St. Louis. game on Feb. 23, 2011, Buffalo is last in the NHL in wins (263), losses Eichel, of course, has developed into a Hart Trophy candidate and is en route to his first 30-goal season after being acquired in the wake of the tank. Yes, it's odd, indeed, after all that's gone on in this decade that the hopes of the Sabres lie squarely on the shoulders of a Boston kid.

A quick look back at the 2010s

All-decade picks: Goal: Ryan Miller. Defense: Rasmus Ristolainen, Tyler Myers. Wings: Jason Pominville, Thomas Vanek. Center: Jack Eichel.

Odd ages to ponder: When the decade started, Linus Ullmark was 16, Ristolainen was 15, Reinhart and Victor Olofsson were 14, Eichel was 13 and Rasmus Dahlin was 9.

Stat leaders: Eichel leads the Sabres in the decade in goals (125), assists (185) and points (310). Pominville is second in goals (108) and points (250) while Ristolainen is second in assists (172) and is the leader in games played (462).

In the nets: Among goalies, Miller was the leader in games (243) and wins (117), ahead of Robin Lehner (129 and 42).

Played one game in the decade: Forwards Jean-Sebastien Dea, Joel Armia and Sean Malone, defenseman Nathan Paetsch and goalies Jason Kasdorf, Andrey Makarov and Adam Wilcox.

Worst draft pick: Alexander Nylander at No. 8 overall in 2016 when the draft was in Buffalo. Murray passed on first-rounders Mikhail Sergachev (9), Charlie McAvoy (14) and Jakob Chycrun (16) when defense was a much greater need. Botterill righted the wrong somewhat last summer by dealing Nylander to Chicago for Henri Jokiharju.

Buffalo News LOADED: 12.27.2019 1167921 Buffalo Sabres

Team Canada uses late heroics to beat Team USA in World Juniors opener

By Mike Harrington

Published Thu, Dec 26, 2019|Updated Thu, Dec 26, 2019

Dylan Cozens 1, Mattias Samuelsson 0.

In a battle of top Buffalo Sabres prospects on the opening day of the World Junior Championships, Cozens' team got the upper hand as Canada roared back from a 2-0 deficit to beat Team USA, 6-4, in their initial pool play game in Ostrava, Czech Republic.

Alexis Lafreniere, the Quebec League superstar expected to be the No. 1 pick in next June's NHL draft in Montreal, led Canada with a goal and three assists. He snapped a 4-4 tie on a spectacular goal with 3:11 left, intercepting a mid-air pass and dekeing USA goalie Spencer Knight to put Canada back in the lead just seven seconds after the Americans had tied the game on a goal by Ottawa prospect Shane Pinto with 3:18 to play.

Cozens, Buffalo's No. 1 pick in June, played 13:58 in the game for Canada with three shots on goal. Samuelsson, the Sabres' second- rounder in 2018, played 17:36 with one shot on goal on defense for Team USA in his first game as the Americans' captain. Neither player registered a point.

Team USA had a 2-0 lead after the first period, but Canada roared back to take a 3-2 lead in the second. The Americans' Pinto thought he had a tying goal at the buzzer of the second but it was ruled late on replay and Canada went up, 4-2, midway through the third on the second goal of the game from captain and Arizona prospect Barrett Hayton.

The U.S. then made its ill-fated rally, which was short-circuited by the Lafreniere tally and an empty-net goal by Ty Dellandrea with 1:10 left.

Team USA returns to action against Friday against Germany at 1 p.m. Eastern time (NHL Network). Canada plays Russia on Saturday and it's suddenly a huge game for the Russians, who suffered a 4-3 upset loss earlier Thursday to the host Czechs.

Sabres prospect Matej Pekar did not have a point in 13:01 for the Czechs. He had one shot on goal and was minus-1 in the game, which had no goals scored over the final 22 minutes.

Buffalo News LOADED: 12.27.2019 1167922 Buffalo Sabres “It’s great to see him come back,” said good friend and former teammate Matt Moulson. “Obviously, myself personally, I was worried for him as a person, not so much the hockey aspect but the family life. Obviously, Since moving to Buffalo full-time and returning from injury, Kyle Okposo’s he’s done all his due diligence. He’s very good at that, making sure he’s taken his game ‘to another level’ seeing the right people and making sure he’s feeling right mentally. To me, he almost looks fresher now than he has maybe before. He looks like he’s playing some pretty good hockey.

By John Vogl “I was in a giant slump myself and we both started scoring at the same time. His wife said she said a little prayer for us one night, and I said, Dec 26, 2019 ‘Ooh, you better say that every night then. It worked for me and Kyle.’”

Okposo has boosted his season totals to four goals and eight points in 27 Kyle Okposo is home. That doesn’t mean what it used to mean. games. In general terms, that’s not overly impressive. But when taking Okposo’s ice time into consideration — he’s 21st on the team at 11:24 Okposo is as Minnesotan as they come. He was born in St. Paul, went to per game — the forward is among the Sabres’ leaders in goals and school at Shattuck-St. Mary’s and the University of Minnesota. He met points per 60 minutes. his Minnesota-born wife in high school and watched her play college hockey upstate at St. Cloud State. Water from the 10,000 lakes fills his “I think Kyle is underrated a little bit in what he does for us,” coach Ralph veins. Krueger said. “His habits are strong. He’s a competitive player and his puck decisions have been outstanding since his return from his head But during the past year, the Sabres forward started thinking about his injury. We actually feel that he’s taken it to another level, which is good kids. They’re Buffalonians. They go to school here and play with the for us to see. friends they’ve grown up with in the neighborhood. Yet every summer, they’d have to say goodbye for two months and head to a state they “He’s just been such a strong voice in the room right through the year.” barely knew. The 31-year-old isn’t afraid to hold guys accountable. As one of the most So, after talking it over with his wife, Danielle, the Okposos decided to avid readers in the dressing room, he’s also not shy to give opinions on leave Minnesota and move to Buffalo year-round. Okposo is the only events outside Buffalo. He was asked about the NHL’s “coaching code of Sabres player who is a full-time resident, and he loves it. conduct” that came out this month following the racially charged Bill Peters/Akim Aliu incident. “Yeah, it was a big decision, but this is becoming home,” he said. “It’s crazy how in our house it’s diehard Bills fans now, whereas I grew up as “As a society as a whole, you wish that it didn’t have to happen and you a huge Vikes fan, you know? It’s just like that little stuff.” wish that everybody treated people with respect and the way that they should,” Okposo said. “It doesn’t mean that you can’t be hard on guys, Truthfully, Okposo never envisioned such a scenario. While playing with and I think that’s something that is getting lost a little bit in this whole the Islanders, he was surprised some teammates would stay in New York situation. You still have to do your job. Sometimes the best way to do during the summer rather than head back to their roots. your job is to call a guy out or yell at a guy sometimes. It’s what happens. This is a big business. You have to be able to, as a player and a person, “I was like, ‘Why would you stay? Why wouldn’t you just go home?’” take some of that constructive criticism and be able to look at it Okposo said. “Now I’m that guy, so it comes full circle.” objectively. For the most part, it was a family decision. The Okposos are set to “So, there’s a lot of feeling-out process in this. Obviously, the first welcome their fourth child in April, so they’ll have a newborn plus 2-, 4- incident was extremely explosive and so now everybody is a little bit and 6-year-olds. rattled, they’re a little bit on their toes and trying to get ahead of “I just thought about if I was a kid, if I was 5 years old or 6, 7, 8 and I had everything. And that’s understandable, but I think that everybody needs to move every summer away from my friends that I went to school with, to take a deep breath. For the most part, there’s good people in this that would be really hard,” Okposo said. “That’s a hard thing. It has game. Sure, you’re going to get some bad apples in hockey and in life, nothing to do with hockey. That’s just a life-changing thing. but I think everybody just needs to take a deep breath. If you feel wronged, if you feel abused, persecuted, then you for sure should speak “I think that kids do a lot better with stability. My daughter, my oldest, is in out. But let’s not make every single small incident a major deal right school until middle-to-late June, and it just didn’t make sense to pack up, now.” rush home for eight weeks or less and then come back. It just made sense for us to simplify and create some structure in our home and for The decision to become a full-time Western New Yorker was a big deal. my family.” And so is his return to on-ice prominence in the Sabres’ lineup.

The Okposos spent their first summer in Western Yew York this year. “It feels good,” Okposo said. “I feel like I’ve kind of come a long way this They joined a nearby country club that has a pool and activities for the year and really worked on my game. I feel like I’m in a pretty good place kids. They went to Bisons games. They hit the festivals that populate the with it since I’ve been back, so I just want to keep pushing and keep area every weekend during July and August. getting better.”

“People do a ton outside in the summers and they do a lot of activities,” Okposo said. “It’s like they earn their summers (with cold winters), right? The Athletic LOADED: 12.27.2019 So they want to really maximize it, and I love that. We did so much and so much that I never would have expected.

“I just think that it’s a real community.”

Okposo is also feeling at home on the ice. Since returning from a concussion Dec. 7, his three goals in eight games rank third on the Sabres. His 20 shots are fourth.

The word “validation” might be too strong, but the performance shows he can still play hockey. Every time he gets a concussion, people say he shouldn’t suit up anymore because of his scary history.

“I definitely did a lot of thinking in those three weeks,” Okposo said of the latest head injury. “I feel good coming back. It helps a lot just to calm things down. I feel like I’ve played good in spurts this year and it’s nice to get rewarded.”

When the right winger scored in his return, it ended a 17-game drought. 1167923 Calgary Flames struggles last season in Edmonton and with the Philadelphia Flyers. Meanwhile, goaltender Mike Smith, who spent two years in Flames’ silks, also signed a free agent pact with the Oilers.

Battle of Alberta kicks off for season amid who won the trade debate The Flames also signed forward Tobias Rieder to a one-year deal after he’d spent the 2018-19 campaign with the Oilers. (Also of note: interim Geoff Ward was in the Oilers’ system as part of their American Hockey Kristen Anderson, Postmedia League’s coaching staff and Oilers assistant coach Glen Gulutzan was the Flames head coach from 2016 to 2018). December 26, 2019 5:15 PM MST The Lucic-Neal debate has been the most fascinating of the whole

equation, considering both arrived in their respective new cities with the It has been the biggest source of fuel between both fanbases since the bar set fairly low, especially after failing to meet expectations of their deal went down in the summertime. chunky cap hits (although not entirely through faults of their own as, of course, contracts are up to the discretion of the teams’ general From Fort McMurray to Grand Prairie, to Rocky Mountain House to managers). Medicine Hat, to Pincher Creek and everywhere in between, the entire province has debated who “won the trade” that swapped James Neal for After scoring seven goals and 12 assists in 63 regular-season games Milan Lucic — the Edmonton Oilers or the Calgary Flames? (and receiving his first healthy scratch, ever, during the Flames’ short 2019 playoff run), the former 20-goal scorer has nearly hit that mark And, finally, the teams will meet for the first time this season in the first again with 16 goals and seven assists in 40 games (along with a minus- instalment of the 2019-20 Battle of Alberta, a head-to-head clash which 21 rating). has been hotly anticipated through the first three months of the season. “Any time you play your old team it’s always a little weird,” Neal said of the upcoming Battle of Alberta, prior to the Christmas break. “Obviously I Lucic, for one, can’t wait to see how it pans out. was only there a year, so it was quick and I’m really enjoying Edmonton so I try not to look at it too much and will just try to focus on my “I think it’ll be good, mainly because the game means so much,” said the preparation for the game. big man, who currently has three goals and five assists in 37 games as a Flame. “The points matter. And, regardless of the trade and all that type “But I’m sure it will set in once the game starts, it’s always a little bit weird of stuff, it just amps up the rivalry between the two teams. The win out there.” means more than anything, looking at the game. But obviously, for me, personally, when you play a former team for the first team, you get a bit Neal, too, agrees this is a big one. of the anxiety and butterflies in the stomach. “With both teams doing well and the way the points are right now it’s “Looking forward to a big rivalry game and I’m kind of surprised it’s taken going to be a big game,” he said. “You have a little extra added things this long to finally play them. But we play them a lot, here, coming up in with what happened over the summer with the trades. the next six weeks.” “The Battle of Alberta is always fun and there’s a little added extra The gratification for fans has been delayed — thank the NHL schedule- pressure for all of us.” makers for that one — but the teams are set to clash four times from While Neal has been on six NHL teams, this is nothing new to Lucic, Friday (7 p.m. MT, Sportsnet West, Sportsnet 960 The Fan) to after the either, when it comes to facing former mates and pals in meaningful NHL all-star break. After Friday’s first meeting, they’ll meet on Jan. 11 at matches. Calgary, Jan. 29 at Edmonton, and Feb. 1 at Calgary. The final one is set for April 4, the season finale which could also be meaningful for other The Flames are Lucic’s fourth NHL club and he was involved in huge reasons, especially if both teams are amid a playoff race (or, uh, not). rivalries when he was a member of the Boston Bruins clashing with the Montreal Canadiens, with the Los Angeles Kings and going at it with the Bragging rights, of course, are nothing new to this provincial showdown. Anaheim Ducks, and with the Oilers, of course, trying to beat the Flames. The Flames have a slight advantage over the Oilers, all-time, with 132 He remembers the first time he faced his best friend Johnny Boychuk for wins, 115 losses, 19 ties, two overtime losses and four shootout losses, the first time as a member of the opposition — and absolutely rocked his but the teams split the four-game series last season (the Flames won 4-2 former Boston Bruins pal whom he won a Stanley Cup with in 2011. on Nov. 17 and 5-2 on Jan. 19; the Oilers beat the Flames 1-0 on Dec. 9 and 3-1 on April 6). On the ice, Lucic says, it’s strictly business.

Before that, prior to a pair of wins over Edmonton in March during the “At the end of the day, your competitive nature comes out and you play to 2017-18 campaign, the Flames had lost seven straight to the Oilers. win,” he said. “You’ve gotta do whatever you do to win. Sometimes there’s casualties along the way. I don’t expect them to let up on me. And As Lucic explained, however, there seems to be more on the line this I don’t expect me to let up on them. That’s the way you’ve gotta look at it. season. I mean, this is my fourth team now and this is my 13th year in the league. The Flames are coming off a 3-0 loss at Minnesota on Dec. 23, which Regardless if this is an old team or it’s the same team, you always play saw them head into the three-day Christmas break with a 19-15-5 record former teammates and guys you are friends with … when you’re on the and sitting fourth in the Pacific Division with 43 points. They are 6-3-1 in ice, there’s no friends out there.” the last 10 games.

Meanwhile, the Oilers are one point ahead of the Flames (and have also Calgary Sun: LOADED: 12.27.2019 played one more game) with a 20-16-4 record. They’re 3-6-1 in the last 10 games and lost 4-2 to the Vancouver Canucks on the road before the break.

“To me, that’s the best thing about it all — when the rivalry games mean as much as they do,” Lucic said. “The points matter more than the rivalry and it just amplifies everything … it just makes it better.

“It gets the fans more into it, it gets the players more into it. For it being meaningful, as it will be, it makes it a lot more fun to make it a part of.”

Lucic was on the other side of the Battle of Alberta for three seasons before the idea of a change of scenery for both Lucic and the ineffective Neal prompted Oilers general manager Ken Holland and Flames counterpart to swap the two players.

The plot continued to thicken as, earlier in the summer, netminder Cam Talbot landed a free agent deal in Calgary after his well-documented 1167924 Calgary Flames Heard about your trip to Scotland last summer on After Hours. Where in the world would you like to travel to next? — Robyn S.

I want to go somewhere in Europe. A lot of the guys say Stockholm is Matthew Tkachuk answers back — on video games, pranks, and chirping unreal. I’ve only ever flown in there and then drove to northern Sweden, his brother so I never really got to see Stockholm. I played world juniors in Helsinki — I loved it. I love that area of the world. I’ve also heard Iceland’s pretty cool. I think that would be a cool spot I’d want to see. So I’d say at the By Scott Cruickshank top of the list would be that Iceland trip.

Dec 26, 2019 Growing up around the Blues dressing room, who had one of the biggest impacts with how you wanted to develop as a player when you got older?

Anybody other than your dad? — Christian M. Soliciting reader questions for Matthew Tkachuk, The Athletic received I would probably say three guys — David Backes, Lee Stempniak, Philip dozens of suggestions (and, imagine, not a one from Drew Doughty). McRae — because they lived at my house. Dad billeted them or The bountiful response was awesome. whatever. Not at the same time, but throughout different times. He had guys stay throughout camp, throughout the start of their first seasons, Partly because it spared the Calgary Flames’ popular winger from having when they were just young guys. So you’d get to see them at home all to answer queries of our own devising, including: the time. It was great.

“Why, when the rest of your teammates are stretching at the end of Who would win in a fight: Drew Doughty riding a grizzly bear or Matthew practice, do you collect four pucks, go to centre ice, drop to one knee, Tkachuk riding a velociraptor? — Ben S. and start flinging rising wristers at the empty net?” (Laughs) Oh, I’m not going to answer that. I don’t know. Here, then, are a much better batch of questions, courtesy of subscribers: What video game(s) are you in to right now? Who’s the biggest gamer on the team? — Ryan T. How many mouthguards do you go through in a year? — Nathan M. I think we have a few guys who are into the new “Call of Duty” right now. Oh, wow. This year is a lot more than recent years. I think I’m getting I know Monny is, Brodes is, Johnny is, Razzie is. better at it, but I’m definitely not. I think I’ve gone through, like, six already. Now I have six (in play) and I just rotate every game … that’s I actually haven’t set up my Xbox since I moved into my new apartment what I’ve been doing the past couple years. Normally, during the year, I’d last year — and it’s been the best thing that’s happened to me. I refuse to say five or six. set it up to keep me away from the late nights.

What’s the best chirp you’ve heard in the NHL? And who chirps the How would you describe “the perfect shift” for you? — Chad C. most/is the best at it? — Greg G. Start with a hit, end with a goal. There’s not that much chirping anymore, to be honest. I don’t notice a lot If you could make one rule change what would it be? — Phil J. of chirping. I think people think there’s a lot more chirping than there is. I don’t think there’s a ton. But when I play my brother (Brady) I like to chirp No shootouts. Just three-on-three (overtime) till someone scores. him a little bit. We like to go back and forth. Someone’s going to score eventually.

If you were to chirp with your brother or dad (Keith) on the ice, what would you say? — Audrey G. The Athletic LOADED: 12.27.2019 Normally, I give it to Brady when he has short shifts. I tell him to get better conditioned. I don’t know what I’d say to my dad because I never played against him. But Brady, I’ll give it to him a little bit when he’s out there.

If you could play against your father in the prime of his career, how do you see that game going? How would you react to his style of play as an opponent? — William N.

Well, he was way bigger than I am, way more of a power forward. I’m sure he would have been a force to play against. I think he played around 230, 240 (pounds) when he was in his prime. And right now I’m in the low 200s. So he’d probably manhandle me a little bit. I’d have to try to be crafty around him. I think he’s always said that I have a little bit better hands than he did when he was at this point in his career, so I’d have to be crafty. But he was a legit power forward. I’d just try to stay out of the way and not get hit by him.

What is your favourite cereal? (And please don’t pull some BS like Backs did and say quinoa:) — Michael M.

I never really liked cereal growing up, but if I had to (say) one thing it would have to be Froot Loops when I was younger. That was it, though. Not the healthiest choice … but I never really had it much.

Is there much of a prank culture in the locker room? If so, who is the best prankster/prankee? — Reg S.

There’s not too many pranksters in here. I remember my first couple years, Staje was the big prankster. He would get guys with little stuff all the time. But in the past couple years, not too many guys. Gio a little bit. Maybe Ritter a little bit. Nothing too crazy. I mean, Staje would get guys a lot. It’s not like that anymore.

(As far as prankee) I don’t know if he’s necessarily an easy target to get pranked, but it seems like Mang gets the gears a lot. Him and Hanny get it a lot from the guys. But it’s impressive — they can take it and they give it right back. So it’s funny. 1167925 Calgary Flames On May 1, Edmonton completed its six-game upset of top-ranked Detroit. That same night, third-ranked Calgary lost 2-1 in Anaheim on Scott Niedermayer’s late power-play goal that evened that series 3-3.

12 great regular-season moments from a Battle of Alberta desperate for On May 2, the hype machine kicks into overdrive as the only thing a reboot standing in the way of an Oilers-Flames second-round showdown is a Calgary victory the next night over the Ducks in a game that would be played at the Saddledome. By Darren Haynes On May 3, the Flames blew it. Ilya Bryzgalov made 22 saves as the Dec 26, 2019 Ducks stunned the home fans with a 3-0 win to take the series. The Oilers faced San Jose instead.

Now you may be wondering about the other time both teams made the Eleven intense playoff series. Sixty-eight emotionally-charged games. playoffs, which was just three years ago in 2016-17. Surely both teams That’s how often the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals have were in a playoff spot for one of their four regular-season meetings. met in the since the last time hockey fans were Well, sorta yes, but sorta no. treated to a postseason Battle of Alberta. First of all, two of the four games were a home-and-home to open the Seriously, that’s just messed up. season, so we’ll exclude those. The other two meetings came on If you’re under the age of 35 (so this includes every player on both consecutive Saturday nights in January. Both times, Edmonton was third teams, other than and Mike Smith), you will have no in the Pacific and Calgary was clinging to the final wild-card spot — but recollection back to April 1991 when Calgary and Edmonton tangled in by clinging, they were only in a playoff spot due to their higher number of the Smythe Division semifinal, the Oilers prevailing on Esa Tikkanen’s games played. Going into both games, sorted by point percentage, the dramatic overtime goal in Game 7. Flames fell outside of the top eight.

This desolate stretch that’s gone on for the better part of three decades, Of course, that was also a year where a second-round Battle of Alberta comes after what truly were the glory days for NHL hockey in Alberta, loomed, if both won their opening-round series. Edmonton did, disposing with the provincial rivals meeting in the playoffs five times in a nine-year of San Jose in six games, but the Flames were swept by Anaheim. span — 1983, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1991. Go back through the archives and the only other time since 2001 that the Who’s at fault for this eroding of what used to be one of the great rivalries Flames and Oilers met with both teams in a playoff spot was Feb. 21, in sports? Oh, there’s plenty of blame to go around. Consider that since 2009. Going into that game, Calgary led the Northwest division and 1991, the Flames and Oilers have made the playoffs in the same year ranked third in the conference, while Edmonton was eighth. But again, just twice. In the other 25 seasons: the same scenario as above, the Oilers fell to ninth after you factored in games played and sorted by points percentage. Edmonton missed: 10 The points percentage technicality may seem like a small quibble to Calgary missed: 7 prove a point, but a major quibble is how ridiculously far back you need to go to merely find a time where both teams were good at the same Both missed: 8 time. It’s pretty depressing. This year was supposed to be different. But as the two sides prepare for If not with each other, who have their rivalries been with since the Flames Friday night’s first of five meetings this season, it’s been more of the and Oilers last clashed? Who have they matched up with in the playoffs. same for both teams — too few flashes of brilliance, too much mediocrity. For Calgary, the Canucks and Ducks have joint custody of the label of While meeting in the playoffs is what best stokes a rivalry, playing public enemy No. 1, a byproduct of having met the most times in the meaningful games in the regular season is the next best thing. playoffs and the recency of such. Meaningful, in this context, defined as both teams in playoff spots. Vancouver – Three series, 20 gm (1994, 2004, 2015) But in recent years, there hasn’t been much of that either. Anaheim – Three series, 16 gm (2006, 2015, 2017) It sounds like an April Fool’s joke, but April 1, 2006, is the last time Calgary and Edmonton have met — beyond the first month of the season San Jose – Three series, 20 gm (1995, 2004, 2008) — with both teams legitimately sitting in a playoff spot. Detroit – Two series, 12 gm (2004, 2007) And one only has to look at this year’s current standings to understand why we use the word “legitimately.” Chicago – Two series, 10 gm (1996, 2009)

At first glance, the Oilers and Flames are both in a playoff spot — For Edmonton, it’s probably Anaheim and San Jose, given they’re the Edmonton (20-16-4) third in the Pacific, Calgary (19-15-5) in the second only two teams they’ve played in the postseason in over a decade and a wildcard spot — but a closer look reveals that both teams are positioned half. It used to be the Stars and for a time, they were meeting annually in where they are thanks to having played more games than other teams. the spring. But it’s been 16 years since they last collided in the playoffs.

Sort the standings by the more equitable points percentage and Dallas – Six series, 33 gm (1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003) Vancouver (19-15-4) climbs ahead of Edmonton into third in the Pacific Anaheim – Two series, 12 gm (2006, 2017) and Nashville (18-12-6) joins Dallas (20-14-4) as the two wild card teams. Just like that, the Flames and Oilers are on the outside looking in. San Jose – Two series, 12 gm (2006, 2017)

Go back nearly 14 years to that last regular-season clash of playoff spot- Colorado – Two series, 12 gm (1997, 1998) residing teams and even that one barely qualified. Going into that game, Calgary led the Northwest division and ranked third in the Western Meanwhile, here’s the full list of league-wide rivalries that have formed of Conference. Edmonton, meanwhile, was clinging to eighth in the late and how many times they’ve met in the playoffs since that first-round conference, four points up on San Jose, with the Sharks holding two meeting between the Flames and Oilers in 1991: games in hand. Pittsburgh – Washington – 11 series, 68 gm (1991*, 1992, 1994, 1995, That would end up being one of the seasons in which both teams made 1996, 2000, 2001, 2009, 2016, 2017, 2018) the playoffs and as the first round played out in 2001, excitement grew as Boston – Montreal – Nine series, 56 gm (1991*, 1992, 1994, 2002, 2004, it looked like maybe, just maybe, we’d get a Battle of Alberta again. 2008, 2009, 2011, 2014)

On April 30, Colorado beat Dallas in overtime to knock off the second- Buffalo – Philadelphia – Seven series, 39 gm (1995, 1998, 1999, 2000, ranked Stars in five games. 2001, 2006, 2011) NY Rangers – Washington – Six series, 38 gm (1994, 2009, 2011, 2012, seconds into the game. The highlight was Craig MacTavish yanking the 2013, 2015) tongue out of the mouth of mascot Harvey the Hound while behind the Oilers bench and giving the visitors a tongue-lashing. San Jose – St. Louis – Six series, 35 gm (2000, 2001, 2004, 2012, 2016, 2019) April 12, 2002 | Flames 2, Oilers 0

New Jersey – NY Rangers – Sixseries, 34 gm (1992, 1994, 1997, 2006, On a Friday night at Skyreach Centre in Edmonton, the second-last 2008, 2012) game of the regular season for both teams, the Oilers (37-27-16) were rolling with points in 11 of their previous 12 games (9-1-2) to climb within Colorado – Detroit – 6 series, 34 gm (1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2003, one point of Phoenix and two points of Vancouver (with a game in hand) 2008) for one of the final two playoff spots in the Western Conference. Philadelphia – Pittsburgh – Six series, 34 gm (1997, 2000, 2008, 2009, Meanwhile, Calgary, long ago having fallen out of contention, was 2012, 2018) limping to the finish line with three straight losses and just four wins (4-9- 3) in the previous five weeks. Yet on this night in a game that meant NY Rangers – Pittsburgh – Six series, 33 gm (1992, 1996, 2008, 2014, everything to Edmonton and nothing to coach Greg Gilbert’s Flames, it 2014, 2016) was won by the visitors, eliminating the Oilers from playoff contention (this being made official later that evening when the Coyotes won). The Dallas – Edmonton – Six series, 33 gm (1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, game-winner came from Chris Clark late in the second period. Iginla’s 2003) 52nd goal of the season into an empty net clinched it. Roman Turek Anaheim – Detroit – Six series, 32 gm (1997, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2009, made 28 saves for the shutout. Missing eight players, Calgary dressed 2013) eight defencemen with Micki Dupont, in his NHL debut, and Steve Montador skating as forwards. Colorado – San Jose – Five series, 32 gm (1999, 2002, 2004, 2010, 2019) February 25, 1990 | Flames 10, Oilers 4

Detroit – San Jose – Five series, 29 gm (1994, 1995, 2007, 2010, 2011) With Edmonton’s normal goaltending tandem of Grant Fuhr and Bill Ranford both nursing injuries, the net was turned over to Eldon “Pokey” Dallas – St. Louis – Five series, 28 gm (1994, 1999, 2001, 2016, 2019) Reddick and rookie Mike Greenlay and it did not go well. Reddick started and gave up six goals on 28 shots in two periods of work. With Calgary Chicago – St. Louis – Five series, 28 gm (1992, 1993, 2002, 2014, 2016) up 6-1, he was replaced to start the third period by the 21-year-old Ottawa – Pittsburgh – Five series, 27 gm (2007, 2008, 2010, 2013, 2017) hometown kid and in what would be his only NHL appearance, Greenlay gave up four goals on 17 shots (but he also had an assist). Victimizing * Second-round meeting in 1991, comiung after the Flames-Oilers series him the most was 31-year-old Flames “rookie” Sergei Makarov, who was was over in on all four third period goals to give him a team-record seven points (two goals, five assists) on the night, which remains the franchise record The recent futility from both sides is why when we look back at 12 of the for points in a game. Four of the points came on the power play as most memorable regular season clashes between the Flames and Oilers, Calgary tied a team record with five goals on the man-advantage on 10 two-thirds of them come from the glory days. opportunities. Gary Suter (five assists) and Gary Roberts (two goals, two March 22, 2014 | Flames 8, Oilers 1 assists) also had big nights.

Curtis Glencross scored three times and the Flames scored eight January 9, 1990 | Oilers 3, Flames 2 unanswered goals to erase a 1-0 deficit, but those story lines took a back It was one of those nights where, as the saying goes, Edmonton beat seat to what happened 5:20 into the second period with Calgary leading Calgary — and also won the hockey game. Two nights earlier, Flames’ 2-1. On a shot, Matt Stajan scored a beautiful goal on a 24-year-old minor-league call-up Stu Grimson had twice fought Oilers backhand then pumped his fist and looked skywards, before being heavyweight Dave Brown. In the first of those two scraps, he had mauled at the Flames bench. The goal came less than three weeks after defeated Brown and that didn’t sit well with the longtime enforcer, who Matt and wife, Katie, lost their son, Emerson, shortly after childbirth. went to great lengths, leading up to the return matchup, to ensure a “That one’s for the little guy,” Stajan told reporters afterwards. In just his different result. As detailed by Mark Spector in his book The Battle of third game back in the lineup, Stajan finished the evening with a game- Alberta, Brown had Oilers equipment manager Barrie Stafford sew the high four points (1 goal, 3 assists). The goal against Viktor Fasth was an left sleeve of his jersey really tight, leaving nothing to grab. He then incredible moment in a season in which neither team made the smeared Vaseline all over it. On this night on their first shift of the game, postseason. the two went at it and Brown delivered several punishing blows that October 8, 2009 | Flames 4, Oilers 3 would leave Grimson with a broken cheekbone and a fractured orbital in three places that would require reconstructive surgery. That would be it Pat Quinn was hot after this one and for good reason. First, the Oilers for Grimson in Calgary — four career games. He missed the remainder blew a couple of leads. They were up 2-0 after the first period and 3-2 of the season due to his injuries and while he attended Flames camp the into the game’s waning seconds before tied it at 19:58 of next season, he put on waivers and claimed by the Chicago Blackhawks. the third. Shootout goals by Nigel Dawes and Olli Jokinen secured the road victory for Calgary. But the Oilers head coach was most upset with January 7, 1989 | Flames 7, Oilers 2 a Jarome Iginla trip 18 seconds into the second period, which sent In just his third NHL game, 20-year-old Theoren Fleury — Calgary’s Sheldon Souray crashing head-first into the end boards — Iginla on top eighth round draft pick (166th overall) in 1987 — scored his first two NHL of him — knocking him out of the game. In a captain versus captain goals and he did it on home ice, with the backdrop of a Saturday game scrap, Ethan Moreau fought Iginla shortly after, but that didn’t appease on Hockey Night in Canada. With the Flames up 2-0 on a pair of Doug Quinn, who after the game was fined $10,000 by the NHL for his Gilmour goals, Fleury’s first was on a setup by Ric Nattress, coming at comments on how retribution should have happened for what he called a 10:13 of the second period, making it 3-0. His second came 2:05 into the “dirty” play. “In the old days, (Iginla) would have got hit over the head with third period off a feed from another , this time Brad a stick right after … in the area I come from, you do dirt with dirt.” McCrimmon, making it 5-0. The lead grew to 7-0 before the Oilers January 20, 2003 | Flames 4, Oilers 3 spoiled Rick Wamsley’s bid for a shutout with two goals in the final five minutes. Wamsley, who had 36 stops, was named first star, but it was While the Flames would reach the Stanley Cup final the following Fleury that everyone was talking about. “He’s out to make his mark, to season, this wasn’t a good season for Calgary (16-22-10), who entered prove he belongs,” coach Terry Crisp told the Calgary Herald. “I’d say the night in last place in the Northwest Division, well behind Edmonton he’s certainly doing it the right way.” The big night gave the rookie five (22-15-11) who were in second. But Calgary would be the more points (two goals, three assists) in his first three games. opportunistic team, staking themselves to a 4-0 lead after 40 minutes on three-point nights for Craig Conroy (two goals, one assist), Dave Lowry April 4, 1986 | Flames 9, Oilers 3 (one goal, two assists) and Iginla (three assists), which resulted in Separated by 32 points in the standings, Calgary finally put a stop to a Tommy Salo getting the hook after making just eight saves in the first two three-year stretch of futility against the Oilers by winning big-time at the periods. Edmonton rallied for three goals in the game’s final seven Saddledome in the eighth and final meeting of the season. The Flames minutes, but they would fall one goal shy. But none of that really had gone 0-6-1 in the seven previous meetings. The big storyline for mattered on this night, nor did the Shawn Horcoff – Chris Clark fight five Edmonton out of this one was Wayne Gretzky assisting on all three the confusion, Ken Houston was let out of the penalty box early and goals, giving him 214 points on the season and snapping his old points- nearly scored a goal. “That would have been a great one to sort out,” record of 212 set in 1981-82. He would finish with 215 points (52 goals, Flames coach Al MacNeil said. 163 assists), which remains an NHL record. For the home side, Suter established a team record with six assists, four of them in the second Will the Flames and Oilers be legitimately in a playoff spot when these period. Also with big nights were Joe Mullen (two goals, three assists) two sides meet again on Jan. 11, this time in Calgary? and Dan Quinn (one goal, three assists) while rookie Mike Vernon made As someone who grew up watching the glory days of the Battle of 26 stops for his seventh career win. But the most meaningful outcome Alberta, here’s hoping, as it’s long overdue that these two teams are from the late-season game was Calgary proving to themselves that they good again. That Calgary-Edmonton road trip that used to be known as could beat their archrival. Sure enough, in a second-round clash set up Death Valley is more like Happy Valley these days. by Calgary’s sweep of Winnipeg and Edmonton’s sweep of Vancouver, the Flames would upset the reigning Stanley Cup champs in seven For the 40-plus crowd, it’s time to enjoy some more great Battle of games. Alberta moments. For the generations of Flames and Oilers fans in their 20s and 30s that hardly have any Battle of Alberta memories, it’s time to January 2, 1986 | Oilers 4, Flames 3 start.

Coming into this game, Edmonton (26-7-4) and Calgary (17-15-3) were 1-2 in the Smythe Division, but they weren’t all that close with the Oilers holding a 19-point edge. The reeling Flames came into this one having The Athletic LOADED: 12.27.2019 lost seven games in a row. Meanwhile, the high-flying Oilers arrived at the Saddledome with just three regulation losses in their previous 21 games (15-3-3). It was a terrible start for Calgary as Marty McSorley pumped a shot past Reggie Lemelin 35 seconds in. With Edmonton up 4- 1, all hell broke loose with 2:15 left in the second period. In a brawl in which three players fought multiple times, Dave Hunter, McSorley (twice) and Kevin McClelland (twice) of the Oilers squared off with , Jim Peplinski (twice), Paul Baxter and Tim Hunter. But the real fireworks came afterwards when Risebrough, who ended up with McSorley’s jersey in the penalty box and proceeded to cut it to shreds with his skate blades. With the torn jersey displayed in the visiting dressing room afterward, Oilers’ coach Glen Sather said, “I’m going to send him the bill. The sweater’s got to be worth $1,000 — $800 for the crest and $200 for the sweater.”

February 3, 1984 | Oilers 10, Flames 5

Back in the days when the Oilers and Flames met each other eight times per season, the 1983-84 season was the start of a painful stretch for Calgary in which Edmonton — in addition to winning the Stanley Cup in 1984 and 1985 — dominated the head-to-head meetings going a staggering 19-1-3. During that span, Gretzky led the Oilers offence with 60 points (18 goals, 42 assists) against the Flames. The other usual suspects included Jari Kurri, Glenn Anderson, Mark Messier and of course, Paul Coffey. But on this night at Northlands Coliseum, with Gretzky (shoulder), Kurri (groin) and Messier (suspension) all absent, it was Calgary native Pat Hughes, who scored an improbable five goals including a first-period hat trick. Don Edwards started in net for Calgary because of a screw-up by the coaching staff, who circled the wrong name on the lineup card. Lemelin replaced him after just six seconds, but he didn’t last long, pulled after giving up four goals on 14 shots (while also taking three minor penalties). By the three-minute mark of the second period, Edmonton led 8-0.

February 8, 1981 | Flames 10, Oilers 4

Calgary’s first win in Edmonton would come in unusual fashion, the blowout victory coming despite being outshot 46-22. Flames goaltender Pat Riggin was excellent, while the Oilers duo of Eddie Mio (six GA on 15 shots) and Gary Edwards (four GA on 7 shots) — not so much. Guy Chouinard led the way with five points (two goals, three assists) while Kent Nilsson (one goal, three assists), Ken Houston (three goals, one assist), Dan Labraaten (three assists) and Willi Plett (two goals) also had big nights. The visitors were a lethal three-for-four on the power play. Coming in front of a record crowd of 17,490, it was Edmonton’s worst margin of defeat on home ice. After the game, Sather bristled, “The only way we were going to beat them was if the rink had fallen in and swallowed up their whole team.”

December 30, 1980 | Flames 5, Oilers 3

In the first NHL Battle of Alberta in Calgary, the Flames were led to victory by Plett’s three goals. Interestingly, in a game that featured 211 penalty minutes, Plett commented postgame that the game played at the “wasn’t very physical.” He’s right, too. There were only two fights, or three if you include the fighting major assessed to Oilers’ tough guy Dave Semenko for jumping Don Murdoch. Instead, 150 of the penalty minutes came on misconducts handed out by referee Denis Morel, who postgame was criticized by Sather, saying the officiating was “a joke” and that Morel “belongs in the minors.” In a 65-minute first period that featured two lengthy delays as Morel tried to sort out all the penalties, both teams were left with just eight skaters at one point. Amid 1167926 Carolina Hurricanes Necas missed four games in late-November and early December after a scary collision with Nashville’s Roman Josi that had him slam feet-first into the end boards. He has had other spills and scares, in games and Canes’ Martin Necas proving he belongs in the big leagues practices, often a result of his high speed on the ice. Sometimes, he’s too fast for his own good.

Drafted as a center, he was used on the wing with the Checkers and was BY CHIP ALEXANDER a big part of Charlotte’s Calder Cup championship team. While Brind’Amour envisions him returning to center at some point in his NHL DECEMBER 26, 2019 11:33 AM career, he has been on the right wing for the Canes.

Necas, a right-handed shooter, has eight goals and 13 assists in 33 Martin Necas has the speed, the quickness. At times, he can be a blur on games. At the NHL’s Christmas break, he ranked fifth among rookies the ice. with 21 points.

Necas has the hands, the skills. He can control, maneuver and shoot a “I think like most rookies you want them to get better every game and puck with the best. improve their all-around game,” Canes captain Jordan Staal said in an interview. “I think everyone knows he has the offensive capabilities and In his first full NHL season, the Carolina Hurricanes rookie has played skills. But you’ve got to play the game the right way and help your team well on the right side of center Erik Haula’s line when Haula has been win games and he has done a much better job in working on his all- healthy and in the lineup. In the Canes’ last game, Necas had two goals around game. and two assists, Haula two goals and an assist and linemate Ryan Dzingel two assists, albeit in an 8-6 loss Monday to the Toronto Maple “He can fly, man. He stops on a dime and makes it tough for defenders to Leafs. get a read on him. He has the hands. He’s grown as a player and been really solid for us.” For Necas, everything seemingly is falling into place — finally — for the slender forward from the Czech Republic that the Canes made a first- Necas was called “Marty” in Charlotte. With Canes’ forward Jordan round pick and the 12th overall selection in the 2017 NHL Draft. Martinook claiming that nickname, Necas goes by “Junior.”

“I think it’s having a little more experience and a little more confidence,” And about that last name. It’s pronounced “NEY-chass’ although Necas said in a recent interview. “Every year you’re getting better and Brind’Amour occasionally calls him “NEY-cash.” Whatever the you’re getting more comfortable. You learn a little more defensively. It all pronunciation, No. 88 is being called on more often. helps builds your confidence.” “He’s still maturing physically and he’s still learning the game,” Necas, 20, twice made the Canes roster out of training camp for what Brind’Amour said. “But he’s definitely more comfortable. He’s come a would be virtual cameos. He made his NHL debut early in the 2017-18 long way for sure.” season and then was returned to his Czech team, HC Kometa Brno, for another season. A year later, he played seven games for Carolina before being assigned to the Charlotte Checkers, the Canes’ American Hockey News Observer LOADED: 12.27.2019 League affiliate, for a first season in the more confined North American rinks.

Many expected Necas and forward Andrei Svechnikov to join in giving the Canes an infusion of energy, skill and youthful pizzazz last season, Svechnikov being taken second in the 2018 draft. That didn’t happen. Necas wasn’t ready — then.

“I know when I first came over here at 16 (from Russia) it was so hard for me,” Svechnikov said in an interview. “The game was so much faster and more physical. I think last year helped him so much to get ready for the NHL.

“As far as his skill, he’s so fast. When he gets the puck you expect he’s going to do something good with it and have a good moment.”

A good moment for Necas came on a first-period power play against the Leafs, when he redirected a Lucas Wallmark shot past Toronto goalie Frederik Andersen for his first goal.

Necas then was in the middle of a crazy second-period surge in which the Canes scored three goals in 64 seconds. He scored the first goal off a Haula pass, then made a perfectly placed pass to Haula in the slot for Haula’s first score.

In the third period, Necas bolted down the left wing with the puck. He dropped off a pass to Dzingel, who found Haula coming down the slot for the shot and score and a 6-4 lead the Canes (22-13-2) could not hold.

Make it a four-point game, a first in the NHL for Necas, who made the most of his 13:20 in ice time and had a plus-3 rating.

“You know, when you feel the coach trusts you a little bit more, you can show him what you can do,” Necas said. “If you play good defensively he’s going to give you a little bit more ice time. Then, you can be even better.”

Necas has had to earn the trust of Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour. Without a commitment to playing a 200-foot game, to be responsible away from the puck, that trust factor is hard to obtain from a man who made that kind of commitment as a player for 20 NHL seasons.

While still on the lean side, Necas is listed at 6-2 and 189 pounds and has added some strength. That has helped in the corners, in the puck battles, and his back-checking has been more effective. 1167927 Chicago Blackhawks

Blackhawks’ Brent Seabrook and Calvin de Haan will undergo season- ending surgery

By JIMMY GREENFIELD

CHICAGO TRIBUNE

DEC 26, 2019 | 1:58 PM

A season that hasn’t gone as hoped took another unfortunate turn when the Blackhawks announced defensemen Brent Seabrook and Calvin de Haan will each undergo surgery Friday and miss the rest of the season.

De Haan’s situation was not unexpected. He injured his right shoulder Dec. 10, and the Hawks had said he was getting more medical opinions before deciding how to proceed.

He had surgery on the same shoulder last spring and missed the start of this season.

The news about Seabrook was more of a surprise and potentially more severe. The Hawks said Seabrook will have surgery on his right shoulder Friday and also will have surgery on each hip, in January for the right side and in early February for the left.

Additionally, the Hawks said Brandon Saad will miss three weeks with a right ankle injury he suffered Dec. 19 against the Jets.

Seabrook’s journey from being a healthy scratch on Dec. 18 to undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery without playing in a game appears curious. But considering he has rarely missed a game in his career, it’s likely Seabrook was playing through a lot of pain.

Coach Jeremy Colliton cited “nagging injuries” as the reason Seabrook did not make the trip to Winnipeg to play the Jets last week. He has been one of the NHL’s most durable players since 2005-06, having played in 1,114 of a possible 1,150 regular-season games (96.9%) before the Jets game.

Putting Seabrook and de Haan on long-term injured reserve immediately provides the Hawks with more than $11 million in salary-cap relief that would allow them to add high-priced replacements. With Drake Caggiula and Andrew Shaw also on LTIR while out indefinitely with concussions, the Hawks have nearly $13 million in available cap space, according to Capfriendly.

But with the Hawks near the bottom of the Western Conference standings and not flush with prospects as trade bait, general manager might pass on the opportunity. He has a little less than two months before the Feb. 24 trade deadline to decide if he will try to acquire veterans for a playoff push.

It’s too early to know what this could mean for Seabrook’s long-term status. He will be 35 in April and has four seasons left on a contract extension he signed in 2016 that carries a $6.875 million cap hit.

The Hawks can get by with carrying Seabrook’s cap hit — and might have no choice if he’s healthy after the surgeries — but he might no longer have a spot in the lineup when he’s healthy.

Veterans , Olli Maatta, Connor Murphy and de Haan are under contract at least through 2021-22, and rookies Dennis Gilbert and Adam Boqvist appear to be part of the Hawks’ future.

Whether Seabrook will be part of it remains to be seen.

Chicago Tribune LOADED: 12.27.2019 1167928 Chicago Blackhawks The news could prove to be one of the biggest nails in the Hawks’ coffin this season.

Brent Seabrook, Calvin de Haan ruled out for remainder of Blackhawks’ season Chicago Sun Times LOADED: 12.27.2019

By Ben Pope@BenPopeCST

Dec 26, 2019, 11:21am CST

The Blackhawks’ defensive depth and experience have been dealt a massive blow.

Veteran defensemen Brent Seabrook and Calvin de Haan will miss the remainder of the season, the Hawks announced Thursday.

Seabrook will undergo surgery on his right shoulder Friday and on both hips in early 2020, the right side in early January and the left side in early February. He’ll turn 35 in April and already has 1,114 NHL games of wear and tear on his body, so the three-time Stanley Cup champion faces a crucial moment in his playing career.

De Haan, meanwhile, also will undergo surgery Friday on his right shoulder, his second surgery on the shoulder in less than a year. He spent the 2019 offseason and preseason rehabbing from the same operation.

The Hawks also announced that forward Brandon Saad will miss three more weeks with the ankle injury he suffered last week in Winnipeg.

De Haan’s surgery doesn’t come as a surprise. His injury — suffered Dec. 10 in Las Vegas — seemed serious from the start.

He’s only 28 years old, but he has dealt with shoulder issues throughout his career and his ability to hold up moving forward has to be a concern for the Hawks. The former Islanders and Hurricanes defenseman has two years left on his contract after this season.

Seabrook’s diagnosis, however, arrives as a shock.

After being a healthy scratch for the third time this season Dec. 18 against the Avalanche, Seabrook didn’t travel on the Hawks’ road trip that began the next day, and coach Jeremy Colliton said Seabrook was going to get some nagging issues checked out.

He missed the Hawks’ home game Monday, as well, and Colliton offered no details about the issues. Now it’s clear they were major. Thursday’s announcement contained no insight on Seabrook’s status for next season, but he has four years left on his contract after this season.

The Hawks put both defensemen on long-term injured reserve, joining concussed forwards Andrew Shaw and Drake Caggiula, and thus will be free from their combined $11.4 million salary-cap hit for the remainder of the season.

That gives the team — which was so cap-strapped a few weeks ago that it played a game with 17 skaters — immense flexibility. According to Capfriendly, the Hawks have $12.8 million worth of room for the rest of the season.

Yet what general manager Stan Bowman will, and should, do with that space is unclear.

All of that money is back on the books after the season, so the Hawks won’t escape their impending summer cap bind.

They easily could fit one or two rentals with expiring contracts, such as the Devils’ Sami Vatanen or the Senators’ Mark Borowiecki, but giving up assets to make that kind of trade seems short-sighted.

This virtually guarantees that defensemen Adam Boqvist and Dennis Gilbert will stay with the Hawks. Boqvist will accumulate an accrued NHL season and become an unrestricted free agent in 2026, instead of 2027, if he’s on the roster for 25 of the Hawks’ 44 remaining games, but his immediate impact and development take priority.

The Hawks can’t, and don’t, expect Boqvist and Gilbert to be their saviors.

The defense entered the holiday break -allowing the second-most scoring chances in the league and is now without two of its most battle- tested defensive defensemen and -vocal leaders. 1167929 Chicago Blackhawks The news could prove to be one of the biggest nails in the Hawks’ coffin this season.

Brent Seabrook, Calvin de Haan ruled out for remainder of Blackhawks’ season Chicago Sun Times LOADED: 12.27.2019

By Ben Pope@BenPopeCST

Dec 26, 2019, 11:21am CST

The Blackhawks’ defensive depth and experience have been dealt a massive blow.

Veteran defensemen Brent Seabrook and Calvin de Haan will miss the remainder of the season, the Hawks announced Thursday.

Seabrook will undergo surgery on his right shoulder Friday and on both hips in early 2020, the right side in early January and the left side in early February. He’ll turn 35 in April and already has 1,114 NHL games of wear and tear on his body, so the three-time Stanley Cup champion faces a crucial moment in his playing career.

De Haan, meanwhile, also will undergo surgery Friday on his right shoulder, his second surgery on the shoulder in less than a year. He spent the 2019 offseason and preseason rehabbing from the same operation.

The Hawks also announced that forward Brandon Saad will miss three more weeks with the ankle injury he suffered last week in Winnipeg.

De Haan’s surgery doesn’t come as a surprise. His injury — suffered Dec. 10 in Las Vegas — seemed serious from the start.

He’s only 28 years old, but he has dealt with shoulder issues throughout his career and his ability to hold up moving forward has to be a concern for the Hawks. The former Islanders and Hurricanes defenseman has two years left on his contract after this season.

Seabrook’s diagnosis, however, arrives as a shock.

After being a healthy scratch for the third time this season Dec. 18 against the Avalanche, Seabrook didn’t travel on the Hawks’ road trip that began the next day, and coach Jeremy Colliton said Seabrook was going to get some nagging issues checked out.

He missed the Hawks’ home game Monday, as well, and Colliton offered no details about the issues. Now it’s clear they were major. Thursday’s announcement contained no insight on Seabrook’s status for next season, but he has four years left on his contract after this season.

The Hawks put both defensemen on long-term injured reserve, joining concussed forwards Andrew Shaw and Drake Caggiula, and thus will be free from their combined $11.4 million salary-cap hit for the remainder of the season.

That gives the team — which was so cap-strapped a few weeks ago that it played a game with 17 skaters — immense flexibility. According to Capfriendly, the Hawks have $12.8 million worth of room for the rest of the season.

Yet what general manager Stan Bowman will, and should, do with that space is unclear.

All of that money is back on the books after the season, so the Hawks won’t escape their impending summer cap bind.

They easily could fit one or two rentals with expiring contracts, such as the Devils’ Sami Vatanen or the Senators’ Mark Borowiecki, but giving up assets to make that kind of trade seems short-sighted.

This virtually guarantees that defensemen Adam Boqvist and Dennis Gilbert will stay with the Hawks. Boqvist will accumulate an accrued NHL season and become an unrestricted free agent in 2026, instead of 2027, if he’s on the roster for 25 of the Hawks’ 44 remaining games, but his immediate impact and development take priority.

The Hawks can’t, and don’t, expect Boqvist and Gilbert to be their saviors.

The defense entered the holiday break -allowing the second-most scoring chances in the league and is now without two of its most battle- tested defensive defensemen and -vocal leaders. 1167930 Chicago Blackhawks Kirby Dach

Dach’s production has slumped over the last month, and he’s one of the Hawks’ worst forwards in scoring-chance ratio. But he’s nonetheless Grading each Blackhawks forward’s performance during the first half of demonstrating many of the tools — strength, creativity and resilience — the season that eventually should make the 18-year-old a stud center.

Grade: B

By Ben Pope@BenPopeCST Alex Nylander

Dec 26, 2019, 6:55am CST Nylander, like Dach, has shown plenty of intriguing raw tools that seemingly foreshadow future stardom. But the fact he has yet to put it all together consistently is worrisome. Thirty-eight games into the season, the Blackhawks are near the halfway mark in an undesirable, if not fatal, position. Grade: C

Although a porous defense probably deserves the most blame, the Dominik Kubalik Hawks surprisingly have also struggled offensively, ranking 22nd in goals Kubalik has been dynamite since his elevation to Toews’ line a few and 18th in scoring chances per game. weeks ago, developing into an excellent complementary scorer at a The following grades compare each player’s production and performance bargain price. He’s quietly third on the team in goals. to their expectations and salary-cap hit, not to each other: Grade: A-

Patrick Kane Ryan Carpenter

Kane’s zero-point outing Monday dropped him a few decimals below a Carpenter has done exactly what he was brought in to do: improve the 100-point pace on the season, but he still could easily hit the mark. penalty kill, win faceoffs, provide bottom-six stability. He also has With 46 points — 19 more than any other Hawks forward — Kane has contributed a little offense. largely carried the offense, despite his (per usual) poor underlying Grade: B+ numbers. David Kampf Grade: A Colliton’s early-season adoration of Kampf has seemingly worn off, with the Czech center relegated to a smaller role. His five goals are already a After an exceptionally frustrating fall for the Hawks’ captain, Toews finally career high, though. has come on of late and tallied 12 points in his last nine games. Grade: B-

But he’s also on track to finish with the worst scoring-chance -ratio of his career, and his production isn’t living up to his $10.5 million cap hit. Chicago Sun Times LOADED: 12.27.2019 Grade: C+

Alex DeBrincat

DeBrincat has taken a concerning step backward in his third season after setting sky-high expectations in the first two. He has been snakebitten, no doubt, but after scoring in three consecutive games this month, he has gone eight in a row without a goal.

Grade: C-

Dylan Strome

Strome hasn’t been the elite first-line playmaker that his breakout last spring implied, but that was always going to be difficult to maintain. He’s still on pace for 55 points, just two shy of last season’s combined total with the Hawks and Coyotes.

Grade: B

Brandon Saad

Saad’s ankle injury is untimely because it temporarily disrupts what had become an impressive season in terms of puck control and chance generation (if not a sky-high point total).

Grade: A

Andrew Shaw

Shaw’s future remains unclear after he suffered yet another concussion in late November. The gritty winger wasn’t on his A-game before the setback, either, but the Hawks still would benefit greatly from his return.

Grade: B-

Zack Smith

With Shaw and Drake Caggiula on injured reserve, Smith is strangely in the company of Kane and Toews as the three Hawks forwards with cap hits over $1 million. Smith’s $3.25 million hit isn’t so bad because the Artem Anisimov trade saved the Hawks $1.3 million, but the veteran is on pace for only 14 points after tallying 28 last year with the Senators.

Grade: C 1167931 Chicago Blackhawks

Blackhawks Ds Seabrook, de Haan out for rest of season

Staff Report

Updated 12/26/2019 2:03 PM

CHICAGO -- Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Brent Seabrook will have surgery three times in the next three months, raising questions about his future after winning three Stanley Cup titles with his only NHL team.

The 34-year-old Seabrook is scheduled for a season-ending operation on his right shoulder on Friday. He also will have surgery on his right hip in January and left hip in February.

Seabrook is under contract through the 2023-24 season at an average annual value of $6,875,000.

The last-place Blackhawks placed Seabrook and fellow defenseman Calvin de Haan on long-term injured reserve on Thursday, creating significant space under the salary cap. De Haan also is scheduled for season-ending right shoulder surgery on Friday.

Chicago also announced Brandon Saad will be sidelined three weeks with a right ankle injury. The rugged forward got hurt during last week's 4- 1 victory at Winnipeg.

The 6-foot-3 Seabrook has been a steady, durable presence for Chicago since his NHL debut in 2005. He has 103 goals and 361 assists in 1,114 games, plus 20 goals and 39 assists in 123 playoff appearances.

He helped the Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup in 2010, 2013 and 2015.

He was a healthy scratch for Chicago's 4-1 loss to Colorado on Dec. 18. The Blackhawks then announced the next day he was undergoing further medical evaluation.

De Haan was acquired in a June trade with Carolina. He had surgery on the same shoulder last offseason.

Daily Herald Times LOADED: 12.27.2019 1167932 Chicago Blackhawks The skinny: The Islanders (23-9-3) have lost three of four, but are still in second place in the Atlantic Division. New York is flip-flopping their goalie nearly every game, much like the Blackhawks are doing. Semyon Blackhawks Seabrook, de Haan to miss rest of season after surgeries Varlamov is 12-3-3 and has a 2.47 goals-against average in 18 starts, while Thomas Greiss is 11-6-0 with a 2.43 GAA in 17 starts. … Robin Lehner, a Vezina Trophy finalist with the Isles last season, figures to start for the Hawks. He is 9-6-4 with a 2.86 GAA. "It'll be fun," he said. John Dietz "They're playing well, so it's a big challenge for us." … Former Hawks F Follow @johndietzdh played his first game this season during a 3-2 loss to Columbus on Monday. Ladd, who signed a seven-year, $38.5 million Updated 12/26/2019 9:47 PM contract in July 2016, had played 19 games in the AHL. He scored just three times in 26 games while dealing with knee injuries in 2018-19. …

Mathew Barzal (16G, 16A) and Brock Nelson (13G, 15A) are the Isles' Eight days after he was a healthy scratch for the third time this season, leading scorers. Barzal has scored in three straight games. … The the Blackhawks announced that Brent Seabrook will miss the rest of the Islanders have allowed 7 PP goals in the last five contests. 2019-20 campaign due to shoulder and hip injuries.

Also Thursday, the Hawks announced Calvin de Haan will undergo Daily Herald Times LOADED: 12.27.2019 surgery on his right shoulder (he had surgery on the same surgery last offseason) and miss the rest of the season, and that Brandon Saad, injured in last week's game at Winnipeg, will miss approximately three weeks with a right ankle injury.

Seabrook will have surgery on his right shoulder Friday. He is then scheduled to have surgery on his right hip in early January and his left hip in early February.

The biggest questions that immediately come to mind are:

• Has Seabrook played his last game for the Hawks?

It's entirely possible, maybe even likely. Seabrook turns 35 in April and -- while his leadership skills are unquestionably fantastic -- he is not playing like a $6.875 million defenseman.

General Manager Stan Bowman could trade Seabrook (if he agrees to waive his no-movement clause), but that package would almost certainly have to include a high-end prospect or someone on the current roster. The Hawks would also likely be asked to retain part of Seabrook's salary.

Another option is to buy out Seabrook's contract. According to capfriendly.com, that would cost the Hawks $6.583 million against the cap next season and in 2022-23; $3.583 million in 2021-22; $5.083 million in 2023-24 and $708,333 from 2024-28.

One other possibility: Seabrook goes the route of Marian Hossa, and he stays on LTIR until his contract ends in 2024.

• Now, can the Hawks do anything to bolster the roster by putting Seabrook and de Haan ($4.55 million) on long-term injured reserve?

Theoretically, yes. But this isn't the same as 2015, when Bowman used cap relief from 's injury to acquire Antoine Vermette.

The only way Bowman makes such a move is if the Hawks (15-17-6) begin resembling a team that could make some noise in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Also, don't forget that acquiring high-priced veterans requires unloading prospects and/or draft picks.

And why would Bowman want to do that at this point?

As for Seabrook, his career statistics -- all with the team that drafted him 14th overall in 2003 -- are 103 goals, 361 assists in 1,114 games ... and 3 Stanley Cup championships.

An alternate captain since 2015-16, Seabrook is also perhaps the most vocal leader behind the scenes. Kane and Saad both spoke glowingly of their longtime teammate when news broke last February that Seabrook was asked to waive his no-movement clause.

"He's a great player and he's even a better leader," Saad said. "I know it's been (a couple of) tough years, but regardless, it's always fun coming to the rink knowing he's around. He just brings that personality and that energy.

"Some days it can be quiet around here, especially when we're not having success. But he's a guy that always brings that positive attitude and energy. He's a great guy to have on your team."

Scouting report

Blackhawks vs. New York Islanders, 7:30 p.m. at United Center

TV: NBCSCH • Radio: WGN 720-AM 1167933 Chicago Blackhawks

Kane and Chicago take on New York

Staff Report

By Associated Press

Posted 12/26/2019 7:00 AM

BOTTOM LINE: Patrick Kane and Chicago hit the ice against New York. Kane ranks ninth in the league with 46 points, scoring 20 goals and totaling 26 assists.

The Blackhawks are 8-9-3 at home. Chicago has given up 22 power-play goals, killing 81.4% of opponent chances.

The Islanders are 10-5-1 on the road. New York is last in the NHL shooting 28.4 shots per game.

The teams square off Friday for the first time this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Kane leads the Blackhawks with 26 assists and has collected 46 points this season. Jonathan Toews has collected 12 points over the last 10 games for Chicago.

Mathew Barzal has recorded 32 total points while scoring 16 goals and totaling 16 assists for the Islanders. Brock Nelson has five goals and three assists over the last 10 games for New York.

LAST 10 GAMES: Islanders: 5-4-1, averaging 2.9 goals, 4.4 assists, 3.9 penalties and 10.5 penalty minutes while giving up three goals per game with a .908 save percentage.

Blackhawks: 4-5-1, averaging 2.6 goals, 4.3 assists, 3.7 penalties and 9.4 penalty minutes while giving up 3.5 goals per game with a .904 save percentage.

INJURIES: Blackhawks: Adam Boqvist: day to day (upper body).

Islanders: Andrew Ladd: out (knee), Scott Mayfield: day to day (illness), Cal Clutterbuck: out (wrist).

Daily Herald Times LOADED: 12.27.2019 1167934 Chicago Blackhawks

How the Blackhawks should utilize their newfound cap space

By Charlie Roumeliotis

December 26, 2019 8:30 PM

The Blackhawks dropped significant news on Thursday, announcing season-ending injuries to defensemen Calvin de Haan and Brent Seabrook.

First and foremost, you think about the health of both players and the potential long-term effects. It's the second major surgery on his right shoulder in seven months for de Haan, who has played a full 82-game season just once in the NHL.

And in Seabrook's case, he's never had a long-term injury in his 15-year professional career and is now facing three surgeries (right shoulder and both hips) in the next three months. He will turn 35 in April and has four years left on his contract after this season. His future will certainly be something to monitor going forward.

On the business side of things, it's no secret the Blackhawks have been up against the cap seemingly all season long. But by putting de Haan and Seabrook on long-term injured reserve, they cleared up an additional $11.425 million in cap space.

So what could the Blackhawks do with that newfound money?

The Blackhawks are currently sitting dead last in the Central Division and seven points out of the final wildcard position in the Western Conference, which isn't exactly where they expected to be.

They could look at the rental market and try to acquire a high-end player who’s an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, but it wouldn't make sense to give up future assets just to try sneaking into the playoffs. The only trades made should be ones that could help the Blackhawks both in the short and long term, similar to the Dylan Strome and Nick Schmaltz swap a year ago.

If they are going to explore the trade market, the Blackhawks also have to be careful about acquiring players with term because Strome is due a new contract this summer and same with Dominik Kubalik, who's on pace for 22 goals and 35 points. Once the offseason rolls around, the contracts of de Haan and Seabrook go back on the books and the Blackhawks can only exceed the cap by up to 10 percent.

What the Blackhawks could and should do is look to take on bad contracts on expiring deals to receive future assets as sweeteners, such as draft picks or prospects. After all, they don’t have a second-round pick in 2020 — it was shipped to Montreal in the Andrew Shaw trade.

A couple names that immediately come to mind: Buffalo defenseman Zach Bogosian and Calgary forward Michael Frolik, both of whom are on playoff-contending teams looking to create some financial wiggle room at the trade deadline to improve their roster.

Bogosian is 29 years old and in the final year of his contract that carries a $5.142 million cap hit, which is the second-highest among Sabres defensemen. He's appeared in just 12 games this season and reportedly requested a trade from the Sabres.

Frolik, who spent two and a half seasons in Chicago from 2010-13, is in the last year of his contract that carries a $4.3 million cap hit. His role has diminished significantly on a Flames team that has just $490,833 in available cap space, according to Cap Friendly.

One thing is clear: The Blackhawks shouldn't make any rash short-term decisions that could jeopardize the future just to salvage this season. If a turnaround is going to happen, it must come from within no matter how GM Stan Bowman utilizes the extra cap space.

Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 12.27.2019 1167935 Chicago Blackhawks

Blackhawks announce Calvin de Haan and Brent Seabrook will miss rest of 2019-20 season

By Charlie Roumeliotis

December 26, 2019 11:02 AM

The Blackhawks announced Thursday that defensemen Calvin de Haan (right shoulder) and Brent Seabrook (right shoulder) will miss the remainder of the 2019-20 season and have been placed on long-term injured reserve (LTIR). Seabrook is also scheduled to have surgery on his right hip in early January and his left hip in early February.

By placing de Haan and Seabrook on LTIR, the Blackhawks freed up $11.4 million in cap space, giving them a little more than $12.8 million to spend at the trade deadline, according to Cap Friendly. But it's unclear how GM Stan Bowman may utilize it going forward.

The Blackhawks went into the three-day holiday break sitting seven points behind the final wildcard spot in the Western Conference with a game in hand but have four teams to jump.

For de Haan, it's the second time in seven months he's had major reconstructive surgery on his right shoulder, which is a concerning development. He has two more years left on his contract after this season that carries a $4.55 million cap hit.

For Seabrook, it's the first time in his 15-year NHL career he will be sidelined by a significant injury. He has been one of the most durables athletes in the history of hockey, appearing in at least 95 percent of the team's regular season games in 13 consecutive seasons. Most of the games he's missed were due to rest at the end of the season after a playoff berth and seed were secured.

Since he entered the league in 2005-06, only three players have appeared in more games (regular season and playoffs combined) than Seabrook (1,237): Joe Thornton (1,239), Alex Ovechkin (1,250) and Patrick Marleau (1,273). But Seabrook has accumulated more minutes than all three of them by far with 27,499:55.

At age 34, Seabrook has reached a point where he felt it was best to take care of his nagging injuries rather than play through them like he has been for the past several years. His contract runs through the end of the 2023-24 campaign and has a $6.875 million cap hit, but you wonder how this could impact his future as he approaches Year 16 at age 35.

The Blackhawks also revealed Brandon Saad will be sidelined for three weeks with a right ankle injury. He was placed on injured reserve on Dec. 21 — retroactive to Dec. 19 — and won't return to the lineup until the calendar flips to 2020.

Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 12.27.2019 1167936 Chicago Blackhawks

Blackhawks 2019-20 midseason grades: Goaltenders

By Charlie Roumeliotis

December 26, 2019 11:00 AM

If there’s one positive to take away from the first half of the season, it’s the goaltending tandem of and Robin Lehner. Because it's exactly what the Blackhawks envisioned.

The Blackhawks have given up 30.3 scoring chances per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 and 12.8 high-danger chances, both of which rank 30th, according to Natural Stat Trick.

And yet, the Blackhawks have a team 5-on-5 save percentage of .924, which is good for eighth in the NHL. Crawford and Lehner have been terrific.

Crawford’s best stretch came in November, when he put up a .925 save percentage in nine appearances. For the season, he’s 6-11-2 with a 3.20 goals-against average, .905 save percentage and one shutout.

Lehner has been lights out all season. He’s 9-6-4 with a 2.86 goals- against average and .924 save percentage, which ranks seventh among all goaltenders.

Lehner has also saved his team 10.9 goals above average in all situations. Only three other goaltenders with more starts than Lehner have a better rate.

It's difficult to imagine where the Blackhawks would be without Crawford and Lehner as their goaltending duo.

"Obviously I want to try to get as much ice time as I can," Crawford said. "But when you have another goalie that's playing so well, why not just go back and forth? It's working right now, so can't complain."

Grade: A

Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 12.27.2019 1167937 Chicago Blackhawks $1,643,073 of that money with recent call-ups to fill their roster, according to Cap Friendly. The Blackhawks are likely to finish above the $81.5 million cap ceiling this season, which means any bonuses hit will count What we know about Brent Seabrook’s injuries and how the Blackhawks as overages and will have to be accounted for next season. We recently can utilize their new cap space took a look at the potential bonuses players could hit.

Bowman could do nothing. The Blackhawks can play the season out with their current roster and see where the chips fall. Maybe closer to the By Scott Powers trade deadline, Bowman will have a better sense of whether he’d like to be a buyer or a seller. Dec 26, 2019 Or, Bowman can be aggressive on the trade market now, utilize that cap

space and acquire players who can help the Blackhawks immediately. If Scream conspiracy if you want. they’re serious about the playoffs, this would be the move. It’s likely the Blackhawks would have to pursue rentals just because they’re probably This isn’t it. going to have a cap crunch this offseason already with both their goalies set to become unrestricted free agents, new contracts needed for The Blackhawks aren’t making Brent Seabrook and his contract upcoming restricted free agents Dylan Strome and Dominik Kubalik and disappear forever. They’ll both be back. the already $6.4 million cap hit promised to Alex DeBrincat’s next This is Brent Seabrook finally facing reality. These are injuries that have contract. been building over time. As one source explained Thursday, “These are The one hurdle the Blackhawks could have if they opted to add to their surgeries that are overdue.” roster is they don’t have a lot of assets other non-contending teams For so long, though, Seabrook was able to ignore it. Sure, he felt pain, might want. The Blackhawks would be wise to hold onto their first-round but if you know anything about him and his family, he was always going pick in case they find themselves in the lottery again. They’re tied for the to find a way to play. His father Gary’s hands were smashed in a steel league’s sixth-worst record currently. They don’t have a second-round press and he was back at work in 10 days. Seabrook treats hockey the pick. Their AHL roster has some players like Philipp Kurashev and same way. Nicolas Beaudin who could be potential NHL contributors, but there aren’t any guarantees right now. A league source said he thought the “If he had to play tomorrow, he’d play,” a source said of Seabrook. Rockford IceHogs’ roster consisted mostly of players whose upsides were fourth-line forwards and third-pairing defensemen. This time was different because Seabrook had been forced to sit because of his performance. For the third time this season and the fourth Someone like Dylan Sikura could use a change of scenery, but he time in his career, Seabrook was made a healthy scratch when the probably wouldn’t have much value right now either. Players like Kirby Blackhawks played the Colorado Avalanche on Dec. 18. If that doesn’t Dach, Adam Boqvist and Ian Mitchell are most desirable, and the happen, the surgeries probably don’t happen either. Blackhawks aren’t about to trade them. That’s their future.

A day later, the Blackhawks announced Seabrook was not traveling with One other option for Bowman is to better prepare for the future. He can the team and was undergoing evaluation. What happened between those utilize his cap space by taking on a “bad” expiring deal or two. A team events? Seabrook maybe, finally, admitted some things were wrong. with Stanley Cup hopes this season could look to improve by trading one contract to the Blackhawks and freeing money to acquire another player “Part of being tough is being stubborn,” a source said. “Finally, he’s doing from a different team. The Blackhawks could in exchange get prospects the right thing.” and draft picks. The right thing is for Seabrook to have surgery on his right shoulder on That probably indicates the Blackhawks are looking more down the line Friday, followed by surgeries on his right hip in early January and his left than this season, but it is the path multiple sources believed the hip in early February. He’s out for the rest of this season. The rest is Blackhawks should take as of Thursday. unknown. One source thought the timing of the surgeries would allow him to be ready for the 2020-21 season. Another source said it was too early “They should be looking to bail on the season and get picks,” one source to say, and the hip surgeries would determine his timetable. said. “That’s what I would do.”

There is no guarantee Seabrook comes back a different player and looks Some may try to connect the dots between Seabrook’s injury and what more like his old self. That’s obviously the hope. But he is still having occurred with Marian Hossa’s skin allergy. You can believe what you three surgeries in a short span and will require months of rest and rehab. want, but for the record, the Hossa situation impeded the Blackhawks Time isn’t on his side, as he’ll turn 35 in April. more than it advanced them, at least in the short term. They barely touched his cap space that first season, traded away his contract the Still, this was necessary for Seabrook and the Blackhawks if there’s any second season but failed to do it early enough to properly utilize the chance for him to be a productive player over the course of his contract. money, and just now in the third season spent it. Even if Hossa wasn’t He has four years left on his deal, which includes a $6.875 million cap hit, the same player now, the Blackhawks would probably prefer to have him after this season. on the team and pay his cap hit than repeat what they went through the The Blackhawks had more news on Thursday. They announced last few years. defenseman Calvin de Haan would also undergo surgery, was being placed on long-term injured reserve and would miss the rest of the season. He suffered a right shoulder injury in a game on Dec. 10. De The Athletic LOADED: 12.27.2019 Haan had sought multiple medical opinions because he injured the same shoulder last season and had surgery on it in May. Ultimately, he was told surgery was required again, which will occur Friday.

With both players shut down for the season, the Blackhawks put $11.425 million in cap hits onto their LTIR. They also already had Andrew Shaw and his $3.9 million cap hit, and Drake Caggiula with his $1.5 million cap hit, on LTIR while under concussion protocols. The four players combine for $16.825 million in cap space.

What can the Blackhawks do with that space? While Shaw isn’t expected back soon, according to a source, and Caggiula is reportedly improving but still has symptoms, the Blackhawks aren’t likely to do anything with their cap hits for the time being.

Now the onus is on Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman to figure out the best way to utilize the cap space he has. The Blackhawks have been dipping a bit into their LTIR space already. They’re using 1167938 Colorado Avalanche assists. “Because he can really turn it up to another level and really took control. A tough player to play against, and I thought he really took control and led their team.” Published on April 19, 2019

Denver Post’s 10 most popular Colorado Avalanche stories of 2019 1. Kiszla: In Game 7, Avs didn’t lose to San Jose; they were eliminated from NHL playoffs by absurd instant-replay nitpick

Staff Report The most valuable player for the Sharks wasn’t on the ice at the arena. It was an instant-replay official who disallowed a Colorado goal by Colin By THE DENVER POST | [email protected] Wilson in the same soulless manner a hall monitor refuses admission to the rest room to a third-grade kid. Published on May 8, 2019 December 26, 2019 at 6:00 am

Denver Post: LOADED: 12.27.2019 Homework without a home: Colorado college to open homeless shelter for students as degree-seekers struggle statewide

Here’s a look back at The Denver Post’s top 10 most popular Colorado Avalanche stories of 2019, as determined by our readers.

10. Cale Makar reflects on “crazy” path to Avalanche debut in Stanley Cup Playoffs

Makar called the journey “crazy,” a fitting description when adding in this fun fact: Makar was raised in Calgary as a diehard Flames fan and was 5 years old when they reached the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals. Published on April 15, 2019

9. Colorado Eagles say the Kelly Cup is “safe” and in “pristine condition” and they’re not holding it hostage

Much like the Stanley Cup, the ECHL’s Kelly Cup is a traveling trophy, passed from one champion to the next. But that shiny silver dish the Toledo Walleye or Newfoundland Growlers are going to hoist at the conclusion of their best-of-seven Kelly Cup series? It’s an imposter. Published on May 31, 2019

8. NHL offers explanation on overturned goal that changed Avs-Sharks Game 7

Dan Darrow, the Sharks’ video coach, challenged what would have been a game-tying goal by the Avalanche. Published on May 9, 2019

7. Avalanche rookie Cale Makar on his new home in a Denver hotel, the altitude and the Stanley Cup Playoffs

Avalanche rookie defenseman Cale Makar joined the team in remarkable fashion in Game 3’s 6-2 rout over the Calgary Flames, becoming the first defenseman in NHL history to score his first career goal while making his NHL debut in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Published on April 17, 2019

6. Kiszla: As Avalanche fans suffer, billionaire Stan Kroenke insists “We’re the little guys” in TV dispute

Kroenke suggested Avalanche fans should contact representatives of Comcast, DirecTV and Dish, then firmly declare: “This is (balderdash.) Because it is (balderdash).” Published on Oct. 2 2019

5. Matt Duchene returns to Denver. Here’s what the Avalanche players are saying.

Based on social media reaction, Avs fans seem to have a love/hate relationship with Duchene, the former franchise player who requested a trade out of Colorado midway through the 2016-17 season. Published on Oct. 25, 2019

4. Avs’ Nazem Kadri, former Maple Leaf, comments on Mike Babcock firing in Toronto

“We got a mutual respect for one another. Obviously, at times, you get into it a little bit but that’s part of being a man and talking about your problems,” Kadri said of his relationship with Babcock. Published on Nov. 21, 2019

3. The Colorado Eagles aren’t giving the Kelly Cup back to the ECHL thanks to a million-dollar dispute of “integrity”

Eagles owner Martin Lind holds Kelly Cup hostage over $500,000 exit fee and $1 million expansion fee. Published on June 7, 2019

2. Calgary captain Mark Giordano says Nathan MacKinnon could be the world’s best player

“For anyone who doesn’t think MacKinnon is one of the best, if not the best, they might want to look at this series,” Giordano told Calgary Herald reporter Wes Gilbertson after Game 5, in which MacKinnon had three 1167939 Colorado Avalanche Playing for Canada places Byram in a different role compared to his current situation with the Giants, where questions have been asked about his production. In the 2018-19 season, he was a 17-year-old One Giant step is just a single way of describing what lies ahead for defenseman who scored 26 goals and 71 points across 67 games. Bowen Byram This year? He only has three goals and 19 points in 27 contests.

What’s different is the Giants were an older team last season. They had By Ryan S. Clark several players with much more experience than Byram who carried the proverbial piano that allowed Byram to play his concertos. He is now an Dec 26, 2019 alternate captain on a young roster that is still finding its identity versus a more veteran squad where more players were comfortable in defined

roles. LANGLEY, B.C. — Overcast and slightly chilled, the Pacific Northwest is “Last year, we had a lot of things go right for us and this year, we’ve had doing what the Pacific Northwest does during a really late fall Sunday a really tough schedule,” said Giants coach Michael Dyck, whose team afternoon. was at .500 before Christmas. “With a younger team, there’s far more Cars are comfortable going in both directions on 200 Street. They obstacles and bumps in the road right now. So it’s all about being able to casually coast through the drizzle falling from a grey sky that further handle that and handle it in a way that it’s not going to affect your accentuates the rich, dark-colored evergreens that naturally blend in performance day-to-day and I think that’s been a big challenge not only while co-existing alongside the growing amount of corporate-owned for Bowen but a lot of our older players. gyms and chain restaurants. “I think it’s that and he wants to create the offense and do it in a right way Prominently nestled in this portion of the area is the Langley Events while also being responsible defensively. I know that was one of the Centre in a manner that allows it to catch the eye because of all the things that Colorado wanted to see was him improve his defensive play. space it consumes. There is ample parking lots and ballfields shrouding He is a good defensive player but I think at this level, he’s able to play the arena itself. Gate 2 is where anyone will see the two murals of the defense and able to jump into the offense and he’s got to be able to Vancouver Giants. manage that.”

Bowen Byram is on one of those murals. Go inside, walk up the concrete Dyck’s comments about his star defenseman come after the Giants fell 6- steps, beyond the blue double doors and there are 5,200 empty blue 0 to the in a game that saw them allow 40 shots seats that will soon be filled. On the other side is the Giants’ Ring of on goal only to finish with 17 themselves. Honour featuring largesse photos paying homage to all-time greats such Byram, as he did a year ago, still logs a heavy amount of minutes across as Brendan Gallagher, Evander Kane and Milan Lucic. all situations. Even strength. Penalty kill. Power play. It does not matter. The belief is the 18-year-old Colorado Avalanche prospect defenseman His performance against the Hurricanes reinforces what Dyck said about will someday be on that wall. being defensively responsible. Byram had a shift lasting more than 90 Just not as another all-time great. But arguably as someone who could seconds that saw him largely remain in the Giants’ zone. He reached the be the greatest Vancouver Giant. Of. All. Time. red line twice but never advanced into the offensive zone because he did not want to leave his goaltender exposed in case a turnover were to Does that feel like that is a bit too much already? Or is this a fair arise. discussion to be having already? There was also another sequence — this one lasting 80 seconds — “I think it’s fair because of what he’s been able to do so far in his young when he spent three seconds outside of the Giants’ zone because of an junior career,” Lucic recently said of Byram. “There’s probably a pretty exit pass. Beyond that, Byram primarily remained down low near the net good chance he’ll make the World Junior team. When you’re the fourth doing whatever he could to minimize traffic or the threat of a scoring overall pick coming into an organization like this, where it is trending the chance. right way, it’s almost like the sky’s the limit for a guy like him. All while Hurricanes star forward and Buffalo Sabres’ prospect Dylan “If he ends up being the best Giant of all time, I’ll be one of his biggest Cozens, who went three spots after Byram, was on the ice. fans, so I wish him nothing but the best.” Byram occupied the left side and patiently stayed on that side of the ice, Lucic has seen the intangibles that made the Avalanche select Byram moving around when needed. Such as when a delivery was made from with the fourth pick. They trained together for a few weeks over the the right flank that could have created a net-front scoring chance only to summer and what Byram did in those sessions was enough to leave an have Byram disrupt the play by getting both his body and stick in impression on an NHL veteran with more than 900 games and a Stanley position. Cup in his career. “Just the fact he’s been more physical and been able to maintain his Byram is the sort of talent who has generated more excitement within an position and has a great stick,” Dyck said. “Again, he’s got a lot of organization that already has plenty. Everything he has done to this point responsibility right now playing against the other team’s best players and is what adds to the idea the Avalanche could strike it rich with a Future at the same time, being active on offense. He’s got a lot more attention Four defensive corps consisting of him, Samuel Girard, Cale Makar and this year too. Wherever we go or whoever we play, certainly when we’re Conor Timmins as soon as next season. on the power play, it’s not just one man, sometimes he gets double- teamed. It’s about being able to manage those situations.” The awareness. The puck skills. The speed. These are all things that made Hockey Canada elect to add him to a roster they believe can win Sakic, along with Avalanche player development coach Brett Clark, the nation’s 18th gold medal at the World Junior Championships starting watched Byram play against the Hurricanes. It was just a single game but Thursday in the Czech Republic. Byram is the second-youngest the front office continually monitors everything he has done since leaving defenseman and fifth-youngest among his teammates. training camp so they can have a constant feel for where he is at in his development. An entire nation along with the whole of an NHL organization will monitor these games to see what Byram will do on what would debatably be the The Avalanche entered training camp with questions like any team largest stage of his career. There was that one time, after all, he actually coming off an active offseason. One of them being whether or not Byram walked across a stage at Rogers Arena to shake Joe Sakic’s hand before could make the opening night roster. He had moments when his donning an Avalanche sweater upon being drafted. offensive ability shone but the increased pace coupled with the defensive aspects proved to be too much. “I think I can look at it a couple ways,” Byram said two weeks before making Canada’s WJC roster. “First of all, I have to make the team. I am Byram said there was some initial disappointment with being returned to an 18-year-old guy. I am a younger guy. I have to be ready to do my best the Giants for another season but he was rather candid regarding how he and work to crack the roster. If that happens, it would be pretty cool. This performed in camp. is something I have wanted to do since I was little and watching the World Juniors at Christmas with my parents. To participate in that would “You have to be honest with yourself,” he said. “I was not ready to play in be special.” the NHL and I try to take the good with the bad and that is to come back to junior and develop with another crack at the roster next year. I just That Byram has this uncanny ability to remember song lyrics to the point tried to be honest with myself and I was not ready to play.” he can sing full songs without hesitating.

Lucic and Byram trained alongside each other for three weeks over the His areas of expertise? Country and … 90’s hip-hop? offseason. The Calgary Flames left winger said he was left impressed by Byram’s hockey sense, skating ability and skill set. “I can’t think of the name,” Kannok-Leipert said. “I think it’s by Ice Cube. Or Vanilla Ice or something. ‘Ice Ice Baby,’ I think it’s the name of it? Another attribute Lucic repeatedly mentioned was how Byram was Yeah. That whole song? He’s got it.” consistently elusive in those summer sessions. Wait a minute. Bowen Byram — the teenage sensation described as this “His ability to escape. Some guys don’t have to work as hard as other new-age defenseman — is out here going off about what it means to guys to skate the way that he does,” Lucic said with a giant grin. “Those stop, collaborate and listen? are the things that really stood out for me that made him a fourth overall pick.” From a song that was made a full 20 years before he was even born?

In any of those workouts did Lucic offer Byram advice? Lucic said it’s a How? And more importantly? Why? different dynamic because he is a forward and Byram is a defenseman. “Actually, it’s one of the songs in the car that we used to sing as a And Lucic added how both of their paths are also different. The Boston family,” said Shawn Byram, Bowen’s father, about why his son has an Bruins drafted Lucic in 2006 with a second-round pick with the belief he appreciation for Vanilla Ice’s largest commercial hit. “Jamie (Byram’s could potentially become a bruising power forward capable of scoring sister), Bowen and their mom, Stacey, they know the words back to front goals. of that song. It’s not really one I enjoy to sing. I’ll pass on that one.”

Lucic said he was also impressed with how Byram chose to stay in Byram said he grew up listening to old songs from the 80’s and 90’s Vancouver over the summer for those workouts as opposed to going because that is what his parents listened to they would be in the car back home to Cranbrook, which is more than nine hours way. together.

“He’s almost the type of kid you don’t need to say too much to,” Lucic Does that mean there are any other older songs Byram knows that might said. “Because already got the right thing going on. It was great to see in catch someone by surprise? such a young guy and it was nice to spend a few weeks with him in the summer.” “Well, I am not sure if anyone knows this song,” he said. “Maybe it’s not an American thing. Have you heard of ‘Saturday Night Live’ before?” Byram has carried this sort of acclaim going back to when he was a child growing up in the small eastern town of Cranbrook. Um, Bowen. “Saturday Night Live,” while created by Canadian Lorne Michaels, is actually filmed in New York City and is a cultural staple of Regina is more than nine hours from Cranbrook but there were still plenty American comedy for more than 40 years. of people within that particular youth landscape who knew all about Byram. But please. Continue.

Such as Alex Kannok-Leipert. He not only grew up playing against “There was a song played called, ‘Insane In The Membrane’ by Cypress Byram. But he later became his defensive partner and one of his best Hill,” he said. “I’ve just been listening to it quite a bit. It is a song my friends as they got older. family sings whenever it comes on wherever we are. It’s just kind of a funny, funky song.” “In Western Canada — from B.C. to Manitoba — you pretty much know all the top players and who to look out for ever since you are a little kid,” OK. Here’s one more music question. Is there a chance you’ve met Kannok-Leipert said. “He was a pretty well-known name. I was a little bit Michael Buble? He is a part-owner of the Giants after all. skeptical meeting him at first but he’s been a great friend since.” “Yeah. He’s a super nice guy,” Byram said. “He usually comes to our What was it that made Kannok-Leipert skeptical? Was it all the hype that team photo and different team events throughout the year.” came with Byram? Or was it something else? What else is there to Byram beyond music? He hangs out with his family “There’s kind of a stereotype with high-end players not being the greatest and friends. He loves fishing and hunting. He is pretty big into shoes. of friends,” said Kannok-Leipert, who was a sixth-round pick in 2018 by Nothing crazy. Like casual shoes plus the pair of dress shoes he owns. the Washington Capitals. “But he treats everybody with a lot of respect. He’s only watched 43 minutes of “The Irishman” but is fascinated by That’s how he was brought up. He has a really good family. He’s a really cinema. Byram counts “Good Will Hunting,” “Rounders” and “Seven respectful guy.” Years in Tibet” among his favorites. Byram and Kannok-Leipert have been defensive partners for two This is a snapshot of an 18-year-old who over the next 12 months has seasons. Kannok-Leipert said forging that dynamic with Byram is the the potential to be a national hero and a rookie in the NHL if it all works easiest thing he has had to do in his career. out. “He makes so much space for both of us,” Kannok-Leipert said. “He gets But the first step is seeing how it all works out at the World Juniors. us out of trouble. His skating ability is just unbelievable. I can see him going back and forth on the ice and he’ll be calm, cool and collective. Shawn said their family would spend the holidays watching the WJC and He’s a machine. He’s really smart on the ice and that helps. He really have several fond memories. Such as Jordan Eberle’s iconic goal against hasn’t been a hassle at all. He kinda pushes me along and makes me Russia that is now 10 years old. Those were some of Byram’s first better.” experiences of a tournament several Canadian youth dream of playing in but few actually get to experience. One of the elements that has strengthened their defensive partnership is communication. Kannok-Leipert said Byram is actually a pretty talkative “Now, to think Bowen’s going to be playing the type of hockey, it’s surreal player. and hard to believe,” Shawn said. “You have to remind yourself that this is the World Juniors. Originally, we weren’t going to go. But then we got Such a description seems like the alternative compared to how Byram to thinking about it and it is the chance of a lifetime to go watch him play has been in interviews with Denver media. He fully answers questions the World Junior Championships. It’s surreal. You have to pinch yourself but does it in such a way that does not draw attention. That, and he for sure.” quietly went about his business throughout the Avs’ various development, rookie and training camps.

“I’m at a loss for words,” Kannok-Leipert said. “It’s weird that he hasn’t The Athletic LOADED: 12.27.2019 opened up yet. But when he does, you’ll love him.”

Kannok-Leipert provides the sort of personal details that makes Byram loved by his friends. He describes his defensive partner as a funny guy who constantly has a smile on his face. 1167940 Columbus Blue Jackets

Eric Robinson making impact on key Blue Jackets’ line

Brian Hedger The Columbus Dispatch

Dec 26, 2019 at 6:21 AM

It was already a good development season for Eric Robinson, but his NHL learning curve is now getting a bigger boost.

After earning a spot among Blue Jackets forwards following his recall from the Cleveland Monsters in November, the 24-year-old power forward has landed a coveted top-six spot on a line centered by Pierre- Luc Dubois. Robinson is taking advantage of the opportunity, too.

He has a goal, three assists and four points in six games since being put with Dubois and rookie Alexandre Texier during the third period of the Jackets' 4-3 overtime loss Dec. 14 at the Ottawa Senators, when their line forced OT with two Texier goals.

“You’re learning every game, no matter where you are in the lineup,” said Robinson, who has already achieved career highs with four goals, four assists, eight points and 17 games. “Any added opportunity is a good thing, so for me, being able to play with P-L and Tex is a good opportunity and it’s been going well.”

Their numbers together suggest it’s going really well.

The sample size is small, but the combination of Texier, Dubois and Robinson has become one of coach John Tortorella’s most effective lines. According to stat-tracking site naturalstattrick.com, they have dominant 5-on-5 numbers during their 43:22 of ice time together.

The Blue Jackets have taken 61.5 percent of all attempted shots when they’re on the ice (48-30), 59.7 percent of all unblocked attempts (40-27) and 63.3 percent of shots on goal (31-18). They also have helped Columbus build a 5-1 advantage in 5-on-5 goals (83.3 percent), 31-15 edge in scoring chances (67.4 percent) and twice as many high-danger chances (8-4, 66.7 percent).

The numbers also suggest Robinson is a catalyst, as the Jackets were less than 50 percent in every one of those stats during 38:31 of 5-on-5 when Texier and Dubois were on the ice without him.

He's also passing the eye test, and not just with his unique combination of size and speed. Robinson is more comfortable with the puck, too, which showed in the second period of the Jackets’ 5-1 victory Saturday against the New Jersey Devils.

After gaining possession on the right wing, Robinson pulled the puck to his forehand, spotted Vladislav Gavrikov in the slot and put a pass on the defenseman’s tape. The wrist shot that followed made it 3-1 and took the air out of the Devils' comeback push.

“Maybe earlier in the season I’d chip it deep,” Robinson said. “That’s a fine play, but I knew I could pull up and maybe create some time and find that second wave.”

That’s a sign of a developing NHL player.

“You’re making those plays in college and the , when you get comfortable there, so you realize it’s the same game,” said Robinson, who played four seasons at Princeton and parts of two seasons with the Monsters. “It’s a really good feeling, especially when you see the guy you give it to put it in the back of the net. It helps build confidence going into the future and in future games.”

Columbus Dispatch LOADED: 12.27.2019 1167941 Detroit Red Wings Hronek is leading the team at 23:13 of ice time per game, is fourth on the team with 19 points (including seven goals) and has, in essence, taken over as the team’s No. 1 defenseman.

Red Wings head back to work, 'flushing' frightful stats so far The increased responsibilities haven’t shaken Hronek at all.

“He’s handled himself very well,” Blashill said. “He’s grown as a player. He’s gotten better and better, and he’s real competitive. Ted Kulfan, The Detroit News “What I like about him is when things go well, he doesn’t melt. If he has a Published 10:53 a.m. ET Dec. 26, 2019 | Updated 10:56 a.m. ET Dec. bad game, he’ll come back and play a good game. If he has a bad shift, 26, 2019 he’ll come back and have good shift. That’s a huge quality for success.

“He’s a real bright spot, he’s going to be a real good defenseman in this league.” Detroit – The presents are opened, and now it’s back to work Friday for the NHL. Injury update

That includes the Red Wings, at the very bottom of the NHL standings. The Wings will know more Friday about the status of forward Anthony Mantha (upper body) and goalie Jonathan Bernier (groin). Both were hurt The midpoint of the Wings’ schedule will be Tuesday’s New Year’s Eve during Saturday’s loss in Toronto. game. They’ll have two games in Florida this weekend before then. Of the two, Bernier is likely to return sooner – Mantha is on injured Those two games aren’t going to mask the troubles the Wings have reserve and isn’t eligible to return before Sunday’s game in Tampa – but experienced so far this season – regardless of the outcome – but maybe would need to practice Friday to show he’s ready. they can provide a bit of a springboard to better times. The Wings returned goalie Calvin Pickard, defenseman Brian Lashoff “We’re going to come out of it (four-day break) with tough opponents,” and forward Filip Zadina to Grand Rapids Monday, but those were likely said coach Jeff Blashill, noting Saturday’s game against Florida and paper transactions to offset salary-cap issues. Sunday versus Tampa. “We have to do everything we can to find ways to flush anything that has happened up until now.

“We have to flush it and keep working on finding ways to get better as a Detroit News LOADED: 12.27.2019 hockey team. Let’s continue to build to be a better hockey team.”

More: 'No stone unturned': Steve Yzerman's Tampa Bay blueprint gives Red Wings fans hope

More: Lots of Red Wings intrigue, prospects highlight world junior tournament

Many of the numbers the Wings have compiled so far are frightful:

►The Wings’ 9-26-3 record (21 points) puts them 31st of 31 teams and the 30th team, New Jersey (12-19-5), is eight points better (29) while having played two fewer games.

►The Wings are the only team in the NHL that hasn’t reached double- digits in wins.

►The Wings’ goal differential is minus-68 and the next worst is New Jersey at minus-37.

►For good measure, the Wings are the NHL’s lowest-scoring team (2.16 goals per game) and they’re giving up the most goals (3.92).

“I guess Christmas comes at a good time right now,” forward Frans Nielsen said. “Just to get away from it a little bit and try to think about something else. We were a step behind all night (in Sunday’s 5-2 loss to Arizona), and we’ve been that a lot of games this year.

“Something has to happen. Hopefully we can recharge the batteries a little bit. We have to look better coming back from this break.”

One of the areas where the Wings need a dramatic change is playing with increased confidence.

In recent weeks the Wings have let an opposing team’s goal demoralize them. Suddenly what was a 1-0 deficit becomes 2-0 and then 3-0.

Blashill believes that if the Wings can learn to play with a “short memory” it will reduce some of that snowball effect.

“We’re letting goals weigh us down,” Blashill said. “That’s where we’ve talked a lot of different times this year, that we have to have a short memory.

“We have to keep continuing to find ways to not let that bother us. At the end of the first (period Sunday) we’re down 2-0, and we’re fine. It’s unfortunate they come and score right away, and it’s 3-0.

“Those are bigger holes to dig out of.”

With defenseman Danny DeKeyser (back surgery) likely done for the season, it’s meant a larger role for Filip Hronek. 1167942 Detroit Red Wings

Red Wings see current and future prospects at World Juniors

Posted Dec 26, 2019

By Ansar Khan | [email protected]

Detroit Red Wings’ brass at the World Junior Championship will be watching a few of the organization’s top prospects as well as some high- end talent that will be available to them at the June draft.

The event begins today in the Czech Republic, highlighted by the United States-Canada matchup (1 p.m., NHL Network).

Five recent Red Wings picks will be competing, including center Joe Veleno (Canada) and defenseman Moritz Seider (Germany), both in their first AHL season with the Grand Rapids Griffins.

Veleno, a skilled two-way player selected 30th in 2018, is struggling to adjust to the pro game after dominating in the Quebec Major Junior League. He has five goals and 12 assists and an alarming minus-22 rating in 29 games for the Griffins.

He had two assists in five World Junior games last year.

Seider, the big defenseman (6-4, 2013) taken at No. 6 in 2019, has a goal and 11 assists in 28 games for Grand Rapids.

Defenseman Jared McIsaac, selected 36th overall in 2018, joins Veleno on Team Canada. McIsaac has appeared in only three games with Halifax (QMJHL) after recovering from off-season shoulder surgery. This is his second appearance in the tourney.

Jonathan Berggren, a center/right wing the Red Wings took with their third pick in 2018 (33rd overall), is representing Sweden. He has two goals and nine assists in 21 games with Skelleftea of the Swedish Elite League.

Jesper Eliasson, taken 84th overall in 2018, is either the No. 2 or No. 3 goaltender for Sweden. He has played mostly in Sweden’s second division this season, posting a 2.42 goals-against average and .906 save percentage in 14 games with Almtuna.

The Red Wings (9-26-3, 21 points) have the worst record in the NHL and barring a second-half surge likely will be selecting in the top five -- perhaps even No. 1 -- in the June draft. They will be watching top draft prospects Alexis Lafreniere and Quinton Byfield, a pair of forwards for Canada, and goaltender Yaroslav Askarov of Russia, among others.

The tournament concludes Jan. 5 with the gold medal game.

Michigan Live LOADED: 12.27.2019 1167943 Detroit Red Wings campaign isn’t an end-all be-all (it should take some time to transition), those concerns haven’t been remedied yet, either. If they continue into this tournament, where Veleno should be put in positions to succeed, then questions of his offensive ceiling will likely reemerge. What to expect from the Red Wings prospects at World Juniors What’s realistic: Big minutes. Everything else is a bit of a mystery for the defenseman who only just recently returned from offseason shoulder surgery. By Max Bultman His tournament is a success if: He stays healthy and holds up in his Dec 26, 2019 toughest minutes. McIsaac should be put into a key role as a returner to the tournament, and early indications have him getting looks with Devils prospect Ty Smith, potentially on the top pair. McIsaac had a productive If ever there were a season in which Red Wings fans have needed a season in Halifax last year (62 points in 53 games), but for the most midseason international tournament to break up the drudgery … successful tournament you’d realistically like to see him win his shifts welcome to that season. against opponents’ top lines, too.

The Red Wings stumbled into the holiday break losing by an average of It’s a concern if: He doesn’t look himself. Since McIsaac hasn’t had much nearly two goals per game and allowing nearly four. It’s been a slog, to game experience since his return (just three QMJHL games), some put it mildly. The good news, though, is that from Dec. 26-Jan. 5, a period acclimation time is to be expected. But if he’s not playing his normal of hope will take center stage at the IIHF World Junior Championship. physical game, that’s at least a minor concern. Detroit has five prospects participating in the tournament, and with most of the top prospects for the 2020 NHL Draft also playing in the Czech Jonatan Berggren, F, Sweden Republic, it may actually be the most exciting 11 days of this hockey What’s realistic: A middle-six role, likely second-unit power-play time, and season in Detroit. some scattered points through the tournament. It’s hard to count on crazy Here’s what to watch and expect from each of those players at the production, but especially if he’s on the power play, Berggren should be tournament, as well as what would make each of their respective able to find the score sheet often enough. tournaments a success. His tournament is a success if: He lives on the highlight reel. Berggren’s Moritz Seider, D, Germany been productive for a U20 player in the Swedish men’s league, with 11 points in 22 games (third among U20 players). So again, he should be a What’s realistic: It’s hard to say. As a defenseman with top-10 draft factor in the scoring. But the real reason to be excited will be if his vision pedigree, the instinct is to set the expectations high. But he also won’t and skill level rise to the top through the tournament, leading to big-time realistically be able to do everything for a team that just returned to the passes and dekes that make the rounds on the internet. Bonus points if tournament’s top tier. He has other teammates with cachet, no doubt, but they result in actual goals. The pre-tournament verdict: promising. the only thing that’s for sure expectation-wise is that Seider should get massive minutes. It’s a concern if: He can’t get separation. Berggren’s got a lot in his game to lean on, between his vision, skating, sense and skill, but if he’s not His tournament is a success if: He’s the rock for a German team that able to get enough space to operate (whether because his skill moves makes the quarterfinal, and manages some offensive production in just don’t work on defenders or he’s closed on too quickly), that could be addition to his usual physical defense. Because of all the above, it’s hard a bit of a concern for his readiness to handle the lack of time and space to know what a fair bar for Seider is statistically. That means relying on in the NHL game someday. the ol’ eye test. The goal should be looking something like he did at the prospect tournament in Traverse City, where Seider impressed with his Jesper Eliasson, G, Sweden jam and showed a willingness to take the puck up ice when the What’s realistic: He doesn’t figure to be Sweden’s starter, but Eliasson’s opportunities arose. It won’t hurt if he can keep his country in the top tier having a solid season in the Allsvenskan, so it’s fair to expect him to look and out of the relegation round, either. strong in the appearances he does get. It’s a concern if: He gets hurt or looks overly flustered. The injury aspect His tournament is a success if: He plays more than two games. That will should go without saying, and really applies to everyone below as well, mean he’s playing well almost by definition, to take on a prominent role. but the other side is key since the German team figures to be It’s hard to put a statistical number on what “playing well” looks like, overmatched in most of its games. It’s in a brutal group with the United though, because of how small the sample size will be for the tournament. States, Canada, Russia and host Czech Republic. If Seider can hang tough in spite of that and show the same poise that impressed the Red It’s a concern if: He falters early and doesn’t get another shot. Wings ahead of the last draft, then there’s no harm done. But if Seider Realistically, if Eliasson is indeed the backup, it’s going to be hard to fret looks overwhelmed by the challenges a talent discrepancy causes, that a whole lot about any results. But if he were to only get a game and not could be reason for some concern. (Especially considering the Red show well in it, that would probably be the worst-case scenario other than Wings’ situation of late.) injury. Even then, though, that’s more “disappointing” than “concerning.”

Joe Veleno, C, Canada The draft eligibles

What’s realistic: A big role on Team Canada and respectable production At this point, the odds of the Red Wings picking in the draft’s top 5 are numbers. Veleno put up a couple assists in five tournament games last high. Even in the lottery system, in which a team is liable to drop up to year, when he was in a less prominent role. He hasn’t produced a ton in three spots from its place in the reverse-standings order, this season’s Grand Rapids to start this season (12 points in 29 games), but look for first-half disaster has at least solidified Detroit’s draft positioning, in a him to score a bit more against players his own age while potentially on way. With 21 standings points, the Red Wings are 8 points behind New Canada’s top line. It certainly won’t hurt if he’s able to spend most of the Jersey for 30th place, and a whopping 13 behind 29th. That means even tournament with Alexis Lafrenière. a surprising win streak, like Detroit had last season, would be unlikely to take it out of the top two odds entering the lottery. The upshot: The Red His tournament is a success if: His pro experience shows up and allows Wings are quite likely to make their highest draft pick in a generation this him to control the game. Veleno’s not necessarily the top-end puck skill June (they picked third overall in 1990). type, but his skating should give him a weapon he can lean on to create chances for himself and his teammates. The Red Wings will probably be Ultimately, that’s not a badge of honor. But for a team in desperate need thrilled as long as he plays a complete game in all situations, but it’ll be a of more high-end talent, it’s probably necessary. And no matter how bonus if the added space of the junior game, combined with his new miserable it’s been to watch, the World Juniors will be a teaser for some tricks learned from playing pro, result in an in-control, productive Veleno of the potential payoff. leading a potent Canadian team. On Team Canada, the draft’s projected top picks will be in action. It’s a concern if: He ends up sliding down the lineup and out of key Preseason favorite Alexis Lafrenière may even be on the left wing of power-play roles, and/or struggles to produce in his leading role. One of Veleno’s line, giving Red Wings fans a chance to daydream about that the big questions with Veleno is how much he can be counted on to connection in Detroit. Quinton Byfield, meanwhile, could be the dynamic produce offense at the highest level. And while the start to his AHL offensive center the Red Wings need, and he’ll take his nearly 2-points- per-game pace onto the international stage.

Team Sweden boasts another pair of potential top 5 talents in wingers Lucas Raymond (a smaller, dynamic playmaker) and Alexander Holtz, a well-rounded sniper. Wing is the position at which the Red Wings may be the deepest, both the NHL level and the farm system, but when the talent levels are this high, it could be hard to pass.

Team Germany has Tim Stützle, a German league forward putting up nearly a point per game against men at age 17. Could Steve Yzerman reach back to Mannheim for a second consecutive first-rounder? At this tournament, he’ll certainly get a chance to see how Stützle and Seider fare as teammates, leading the way for the Germans.

And then there’s the wild card. Team Russia goaltender Yaroslav Askarov is a heralded prospect who’s already gotten playing time in the KHL at age 17. The Red Wings’ pick should be so high that taking a goalie in their spot would be a big risk. But Askarov has that kind of pedigree. And if there’s anything last draft showed, it’s that Yzerman won’t flinch at breaking convention. If Askarov dominates this tournament as a double-underager, what does that do for his case to be picked top 5?

The five must-watch games for Red Wings fans

Canada-USA, Dec. 26, 1 p.m. ET (NHL Network): Perhaps the two most talented rosters in the tournament go head-to-head, which means a chance to see the two Canadian Red Wings prospects up against the best of the best. And, if you’re the second-guessing type, it’s also a chance to watch Trevor Zegras and Cole Caufield and wonder about an alternate reality in last year’s draft.

Sweden-Finland, Dec. 26, 1 p.m. ET: If you’re watching USA-Canada you might miss this one, but try to catch as many highlights as possible. The Finns may not be picked to repeat their gold-medal performance from last year’s tournament, but between Berggren and the two top 2020 draft prospects, the traditional rivalry game should be one of the more illuminating preliminary games for the Swedes.

Germany-Czech, Dec. 28. 9 a.m. ET: This game could decide which nation goes to the quarterfinals and which finds itself playing to avoid relegation. The home crowd will be fired up for the Czech. For the Germans, getting to the quarterfinal and ensuring early that they’re back next season is a primary goal. And for Seider and Stützle, it may be the biggest opportunity in pool play to stand out, since the talent levels are a bit closer than against powerhouses like the United States and Canada.

Canada-Russia, Dec. 28, 1 p.m. ET (NHL Network): This one’s to see both Veleno and McIsaac, but also the draft eligibles Byfield and Lafrenière shooting on Askarov. If you want a measure of whether a goalie is worth a top-5 pick, watch him against the best of the best, with the additional viewing of the top Red Wings prospect a nice side benefit.

Germany-Canada, Dec. 30, 9 a.m. ET (NHL Network): Opposite reasoning to the other Germany game. You’re watching this one because it’s the best chance to see Seider against a Canadian powerhouse. If he can find a way to star in a game like this, it’d be a hugely positive sign. Added bonus for the fact it should feature the most Red Wings prospects in a single game, unless the Canadians and Swedes meet in the elimination rounds.

The Athletic LOADED: 12.27.2019 1167944 Edmonton Oilers to show for early in the year was a two-game suspension for a sucker punch on Columbus Blue Jackets rookie forward Kole Sherwood.

Since then, Neal has cooled off somewhat and Lucic has been gaining James Neal working out well for Edmonton Oilers after struggles in some traction. Now finally at the midway point of the season, the two will Calgary face their former teams in their new uniforms.

“Any time you play your old team it’s always a little weird,” Neal said. “Obviously, I was only there a year, so it was quick and I’m really Derek Van Diest enjoying Edmonton so I try not to look at it too much and will try to focus on my preparation for the game. But I’m sure it will set in once the game December 26, 2019 10:17 PM MST starts, it will be a little bit weird out there.”

The Flames go into the game hot on the heels of the Oilers, who have James Neal never did fit in with the Calgary Flames. slipped since getting off to an impressive start themselves. Calgary can overtake Edmonton in the Pacific Division standings with a regulation A veteran goalscorer with Stanley Cup finals experience, the Flames win. believed they were adding an important piece to the puzzle when offering Neal a five-year contract worth $5.75-million per season in the summer of “With both teams doing well and the way the points are right now it’s 2018. going to be a big game,” Neal said. “You have a little extra added thing with what happened over the summer with the trades. The Battle of Coming off back-to-back trips to the Stanley Cup final with the Nashville Alberta is always fun and there’s a little added extra pressure for all of Predators and then Vegas Golden Knights, Neal may not have been the us.” healthiest and freshest player when arriving at Flames camp.

From the beginning it was a case of trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. Edmonton Sun: LOADED: 12.27.2019

“It wasn’t a fit, obviously, for me,” Neal told Postmedia prior to the Christmas break. “I signed a long-term deal there thinking things would work out and they didn’t. It happens. Both teams moved on, so it’s all good.”

Neal went to Calgary a perennial goalscorer, who averaged over 24 goals per season in 10 years with the Dallas Stars, Pittsburgh Penguins, Predators and Golden Knights.

In Calgary he scored seven.

Neal started on the top line with the Flames, playing on the top power play unit, and then slowly saw his opportunity and ice time dwindle as he slipped down the lineup. Neal didn’t click with Flames stars Matthew Tkachuk, Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau and eventually found himself relegated to a checking role on the bottom two lines.

Neal was never going to succeed as a checking forward in a bottom-six role for a coach he did not particularly see things eye-to-eye with. It did not help his cause the Flames were succeeding without major offensive contributions from him.

The Flames went on to make the playoffs then ran into a hot Colorado Avalanche team losing three of the first four games of the series. When Neal was a scratch for Game 5, which the Flames went on to lose, the writing was pretty much on the wall. The likelihood of him returning to Calgary to play out the final four years of his contract were slim.

Fortunately for the Flames, they found a trading partner in the Oilers who were having issues with their own under-performing, high-priced free- agent forward.

So on July 19, Oilers new general manager Ken Holland and Flames GM Brad Treliving made a deal. Earlier that summer the two also signed each other’s former goaltenders with Cam Talbot going to Calgary and Mike Smith coming to Edmonton.

Neal, 32, was traded to Edmonton in exchange for Milan Lucic, 31, who was coming off the two worst offensive years of his career with the Oilers. The deal included a conditional third-round pick, which only goes to the Flames if Neal scores at least 21 goals this season and Lucic gets 10 less than his counterpart.

Neal goes into the game against the Flames on Friday (7 p.m.) at Rogers Place with 16 goals on the season. Lucic has three.

“I scored 20-plus goals 10 years in a row, and obviously, going (to Calgary) I was expecting to do the same,” Neal said. “Like I said, that didn’t work out. So for me to come here and get back to where I know I can be good, it makes hockey a lot more fun. The team is doing well and I’m really enjoying it here in Edmonton.”

Neal got off to a great start with the Oilers, scoring nine goals in his first eight games. His four-goal performance against the New York Islanders had Oilers fans gloating at what they perceived was a steal of a deal by Holland. Particularly since Lucic struggled with the Flames and all he had 1167945 Edmonton Oilers Last year on Boxing Day, the Oilers were five points of a playoff spot in the Pacific Division, but tied for the second wild card with Dallas Stars. This year on Dec. 26, the Oilers are third but only three points out of 11th in the West. They are in the mix although some fans have howled, “they Edmonton Oilers holding their own as midway point draws near blew it against Vancouver,” just before Christmas. They’re not bottom- feeders. Vancouver has 42 points, the Oilers 44.

Can a team make the playoffs giving up more than they score? Jim Matheson, Edmonton Journal “Recent history says you have to be marginally plus to scrape your way December 26, 2019 10:15 PM MST into the playoffs,” said Holland “There’s eight teams plus in the West, but one team is plus three, another is plus four, plus six. Arizona, St. Louis, Colorado and Nashville are the only teams significantly better than that. When the Oilers won their first five and were 7-2-1 in their first 10 in My take is we have to be better defensively than scoring more goals. October there was more a sense of, “where did this come from?” than, Early on, we were a top five team in goals against and now we’re 16 “well that was expected wasn’t it?” which means we might have been 25 in goals against the last 15.

Superiority? Not a chance. “The first 20 to 25 games we were really good and we’ve come off it the last 15 games,” said Holland. “To come out of the gate like we did where And when the Oilers only won two of 10 in the lead-up to Boxing Day, we put up points early, special teams were a big factor, especially the there may not have been a woe is us but there was probably an, “uh, oh!” power play with Connor (McDavid), Leon (Draisaitl), Nuge (Ryan Nugent- moment when you thought of that playoff spot slipping away even if 23 of Hopkins) and (James) Neal, you kind of expected we would have a top- the 31 teams have at least 40 points, which speaks to how much of a 10 power play. And our penalty-killing has been top five, top three. Our mosh-pit the entire league is. penalty-killing has come off it, especially at home.” The Oilers were never as good as people thought in October and there What has Holland liked and what needs improving in his first year as not as bad in December; it’s not like they’re getting drummed 5-1, 6-1. Oiler GM? Maybe a B- if you’re into grading performance. They can’t seem to get on a winning streak, but they’re not alone. Who’s really hot in the Pacific “What I see is, how hard we compete on a nightly basis and that speaks Division? to the job Dave Tippett and his coaches have done to have the players prepared and organized. We push and we’ve been able to get points.” “Before the season started, the goal for me was to be in the hunt in March and play our way in … and if we do make the playoffs, anything “Would we like more five-on-five, yeah, but there’s guys who scored in can happen. I think everybody agrees on that,” said GM Ken Holland. the past. We probably have four to five forwards (Alex Chiasson, Ryan “We wanted to get a good start so everybody would feel good about Nugent-Hopkins) if you look at last year, who are behind. We’re not themselves and we did that and were really good at home but since that asking them to do things they haven’t done before, we’re hoping they can 7-2-1 start we’re around .500 over the last 30 games. We’re four games produce at what the (NHL) Guide and Record book says they’ve over .500 and in the race. We’re in touch with first in our division and also produced at.” watching the wild-card race which can put you out of the playoffs. The Oilers don’t score by committee like St. Louis, for sure. True Cup “That’s the league, it’s really competitive. Most teams have gone on a contenders have seven, eight, nine players in double-figures in goals at roller-coaster ride. Most teams have ended up in the same place, within season’s end. But the Blues get lots of goals from their back end (21) five, six, seven points of the playoffs. There’s three or four teams that are while the Oilers have 11. in (entire league) and a couple that are quite a ways out. Putting the points on the board early has allowed us to play .500, but certainly we “We’re trying to get more ugly goals but everybody’s built differently. have to play better than that over the last 40 games or we’re not going to Certainly we’ve got those two high-octane players and we’ve been trying make it. But you only have to play a little above .500 the rest of the way. since we signed players last summer to get players to check and chip in The difference between the best and worst teams is so close and little bit (goals). Our best forwards are so good, so we put them out on everybody’s jammed in the middle. the ice more and if you’re a secondary player you’re playing less than some other places,” said Holland. “You have to be 90 points plus. You have to be somewhere between six games over .500 to 10, 11, 12 games over .500.” “Were 18th in five-on-five scoring. I mean it’s not 28th. For sure we have to improve on it to get it to 10th or 12th. If you do that, you know your Last season, Colorado made eighth in the West at 90 points, but that team is in the game. We’re 40 games in and we’re sort of becoming who may be an anomaly. we are like everybody else … we have to keep the puck out of our net better. The Oilers have the top two point-producers in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, both figuring in more than 50 per cent of the Oilers 117 Holland has had his eyes opened by McDavid because he was watching goals. They’ve got the best special teams if you add their power play and him sporadically when he was Detroit GM. penalty-kill percentages, well over the accepted 100 total (112.7) that clarifies how good special teams are, almost three percentage points “I’ve had the chance to watch Connor on an every day basis and to see better than No. 2 Boston. how great he is and the things he can do that nobody else can do…he’s a superstar,” said Holland. “Draisaitl is obviously a big horse, a big Goalie Mikko Koskinen’s .917 save percentage is better than Marc-Andre talented guy. Fleury, Andre Vasilevsky, Freddie Andersen and Braden Holtby amongst goalies who’ve played at least 20 games. “Our goaltending was tremendous early but as we’ve gotten sloppier. I don’t think we’ve managed the puck quite as well lately. We’ve given up The flip side is they don’t score nearly enough five-on-five (81 goals), more Grade-A chances and certainly more goals, but for the most part, which could be a killer if the PP goes quiet They need more saves from our goaltending has been a real positive.” Mike Smith because his.893 percentage is well under the average of .907 in the league. They’ve got four guys in double figures in goals Koskinen looks like the No. 1 now for the foreseeable future. (McDavid, Draisaitl, James Neal and Zack Kassian) which is two more “In the summer we signed Mike Smith so we would have two goalies so than St. Louis, but they’ve also got seven forwards who’ve haven’t they wouldn’t be overworked and they were obviously a big story in the reached four goals yet — Riley Sheahan, Josh Archibald, Markus first 15 to 20 games. We had excellent goaltending but maybe in pursuit Granlund, Gaetan Haas, Joakim Nygard, Sam Gagner, Patrick Russell. of offence we didn’t didn’t check as well. We have to get back to that,” You also can’t make the playoffs if your goal differential isn’t plus and said Holland. right now Edmonton and Calgary are the only teams in the West in The Oilers could use a third-line, right-shot centre with the potential to get playoff contention minus in the Goals For vs Goals Against category. The 35-40 points. They could use one or two more top-nine wingers, which Oilers are minus-six. Last season in the West only Dallas at plus-8 was will be addressed at the trade deadline. close to being iffy in that playoff team department with Colorado next at plus-14. “But this isn’t like a Fantasy League where you can make five or six or eight moves and all of a sudden you overhaul your roster. This is the National Hockey League and I don’t know how many deals there’s been since the start of the season. Not many,” said Holland. “You overhaul your team in the summer, then you go to training camp.”

But, Holland is certainly looking at the trade deadline in late February to add, if his team is in the playoffs or very close to the cut line.

“If you’re five points out (trade deadline) and you’re in ninth place you’re probably a buyer. If you’re five points out and you’re in 12th place maybe that’s too much,” said Holland. “The teams that are buyers either know they’re in then or they think they can make a deal and they will be in. You can’t be six to eight points out with 20 games left and think you can jump over three or four teams because you’ll have to go 15-5 or 14-6. That’s pretty hard.”

Edmonton Sun: LOADED: 12.27.2019 1167946 Edmonton Oilers we look at all players no matter the total games played. McLeod has spent time with all of them, but his primary winger, Maksimov, is a pure rookie like McLeod.

Lowetide: Oilers’ fleet centre prospect Ryan McLeod finding the range What does that tell us? First, there are centres in front of McLeod. They with the Bakersfield Condors include Cave and Brad Malone, veterans who are bona fide players who can play any role. That’s important, because those players can shelter McLeod until he’s ready to push.

By Allan Mitchell Cooper Marody was the feature centre a year ago, but has battled injuries this season. To be honest, he hasn’t been the same impact AHL Dec 26, 2019 player since the Kale Kessy hit last spring when the Condors were dispatching the Colorado Eagles in the playoffs. Currie can play centre and is a veteran, but has been deployed as a winger for most of Jay Of all the Edmonton Oilers’ prospects playing in the AHL for the Woodcroft’s time as the Condors’ coach. Bakersfield Condors, the fastest is centre Ryan McLeod. For an organization shy on speed and in dire need of quality pivots, the I think it’s fair to call McLeod a third-line centre for the Condors. That’s a development of McLeod is a central story in the Condors season. good spot for him to break in, but we may see him take on more of the load in the second half of the year. He might also get some power-play During my look at Edmonton’s top 20 prospects last month, I ranked time, although that isn’t likely to be a strength and Marody is a better fit McLeod as the No. 9 prospect in the system. My evaluation suggests that for the job. his offence hasn’t developed as hoped since draft day and we may be looking at a complementary goal-scorer in the NHL. That said, I think What to expect from the second half? he’s one of the players on Edmonton’s list most likely to make the NHL, Splits are an important aspect in tracking prospects, and it’s amazing and a lot of that is based on speed, the position he plays and a 200-foot, how things can change from September to January. Tyler Pitlick had two-way game. seven goals and 14 assists in his final 29 games of 2015-16 and never How is he progressing in his first year of pro hockey? Let’s have a look. saw the minors again. Khaira had three goals and seven assists in 11 games beginning Dec. 20, 2016, and hasn’t been back in the AHL since. Comparables McLeod has a solid resume and in many ways represents a perfect fit for I like to use comparables when looking at prospects, and McLeod had the Oilers. He’s smart, he’s a centre and he can play a two-way role that several who were at least somewhat similar to him in his draft year. I includes penalty-killing early in his AHL career. He’s a very good skater. wrote about McLeod and five comparable players in summer 2018, using There are lessons to learn and that includes getting more than 30 shots OHL numbers as a guide. Here are two players from the original group in 27 games (his current total). No one on the Condors’ depth chart has who still compare with McLeod, each prospect in his first year as a pro: his skating ability and he possesses a wide range of skills.

Bastian has played in the NHL and Bitten is having a strong second In a recent interview, Woodcroft said “he has parts of his game he needs professional year for the Iowa Wild and looks poised to make the jump. to focus on in order to get to that next level. We’re encouraging him to McLeod’s five-on-five numbers were most comparable to Bastian in shoot the puck, to stay in plays, to make sure he’s playing inside all the junior. He’s ahead of him in pro but not quite at Bitten’s levels. I think two time. We’ve seen some good growth in his game. What I think separates of them are going to be NHL players, but McLeod’s AHL rookie season him is his penalty-killing ability as well. He’s a very good penalty killer, hasn’t spiked offensively in the first half to the point where we can say very trusted. Decent faceoff man.” he’s close to NHL-ready based on his comparables from junior. That’s a lot to recommend McLeod to the next level. He’s a player to Oilers prospects at 20 watch in the second half of the AHL season. If his shots and goals totals spike, we could see him in the NHL sometime in 2020. Another way to measure McLeod’s progress is comparing his performance against the Condors’ (and Barons, Edmonton’s previous affiliate) from past seasons. Here are Edmonton’s forwards, age 20, since 2014-15, sorted by points per game and also The Athletic LOADED: 12.27.2019 including on-ice even-strength goals for and against:

That serves as an important reminder that points in the AHL aren’t necessarily a reflection of an NHL future. Only Jujhar Khaira is an established big-league player. Note that Tyler Benson and Kailer Yamamoto, two recent grads, are at the top of the list and current teammates with McLeod.

Also interesting is that McLeod’s minus-1 even-strength goal differential is for a team that is running minus-19 (57 goals for, 76 goals against) at even strength this year. He is the only regular forward with a plus-minus of zero or better (McLeod is even at plus-minus, my numbers are even strength only and exclude empty-net goals). Although McLeod doesn’t play against the toughest opposition, his even-strength goal differential is impressive and further evidence of his two-way acumen.

Linemates in Bakersfield

I would love to see time-on-ice totals and quality of competition for the AHL, but the hockey industry doesn’t make those metrics publicly available. We do know who McLeod plays with due to the AHL’s tracking of players on ice when goals occur and it is of great benefit.

For instance, we know McLeod’s most common linemate is fellow rookie pro Kirill Maksimov, with the two men spending time together at even strength and on the penalty kill. Other wingers have been a constant shuffle, with Benson, Yamamoto, Sam Gagner, Tomas Jurco, Luke Esposito, Jakob Stukel and Anthony Peluso joining McLeod during games so far this year. McLeod has played the wing at times, mostly with Colby Cave in the middle based on scoring results.

Bakersfield’s top wingers this season are Benson, Yamamoto, Gambardella and Josh Currie. Gagner and Jurco should be included if 1167947 Los Angeles Kings

Kings have ‘work to do’ going into back-to-back road games

By ANDREW KNOLL

PUBLISHED: December 26, 2019 at 7:23 pm | UPDATED: December 26, 2019 at 7:23 PM

As the NHL’s three-day break ends and the World Junior Championships begin, the Kings return to work with back-to-back road games in San Jose on Friday and Vancouver on Saturday.

They were shelled in the first period of their previous game, a 4-1 loss to St. Louis on Monday. Head coach Todd McLellan was asked if his team held their own against the defending Stanley Cup champions.

“No, we didn’t. Obviously the score dictates that. We’ve clearly got work to do,” McLellan said.

That work started with the team calling up wing Martin Frk, who has been the Ontario Reign’s leading goal-scorer this season. Frk has 100 games of NHL experience, predominantly from his time in the Detroit Red Wings organization.

Meanwhile, the Reign loaned forward Rasmus Kupari and defenseman Tobias Bjornfot to compete in the Under-20 World Junior Championships, which began Thursday. Bjornfot competes for Sweden and Kupari for Finland. They faced each other in the opening game Thursday, with the Swedes rallying to win in dramatic fashion on a last-second overtime goal.

The Kings (15-20-4) have not fared well against either upcoming opponent. They have gone 0-3-1 with a 4-1 loss in San Jose, a 4-3 loss in overtime against the Sharks at Staples Center, a 5-3 loss to the Canucks at home and an 8-2 beatdown in Vancouver.

San Jose (16-20-2) has been the league’s biggest disappointment this season after reaching the conference finals last spring. The Sharks struggled out of the gate before briefly catching fire and then tumbling to new lows. They shuffled their coaching staff, firing Peter DeBoer and promoting Bob Boughner to interim head coach. They also found expanded roles for Mike Ricci, Roy Sommer and Evgeni Nabokov on the coaching staff.

They have won just one of their past 10 games and now find themselves in a points tie with the Kings and Ducks for last place in the weakest division in the NHL. That’s a stark contrast to the loathsome task that a California road trip was earlier in the decade.

Center Logan Couture paces the Sharks in scoring with 33 points in 38 games. He is the only Shark in the black in terms of plus-minus rating, and just barely so with a plus-1.

Vancouver (19-15-4) has cooled a bit from its peak in the standings in late October and early November but remains in the wild card hunt. The Canucks have won their last three games.

Second-year center Elias Pettersson leads Vancouver in goals (17) and points (39). Pettersson, known as “the Alien” for his preternatural hockey sense, has been a setup man by trade. Flanking him are Brock Boeser and offseason acquisition J.T. Miller, the Canucks’ second- and third- leading scorers, respectively.

Orange County Register: LOADED: 12.27.2019 1167948 Minnesota Wild

Wild-Colorado game preview

Staff Report

DECEMBER 26, 2019 — 11:58PM

Preview: After a three-day hiatus, the Wild travels to Colorado to take on the Avalanche, the second-best team in the Western Conference with 49 points. Before the Christmas break, the Wild (41 points) shut out Calgary 3-0. Colorado, which leads the league in goals per game at 3.62, is coming off a 7-3 win over Vegas. The Wild and Avalanche have split two games this season, each winning at home.

Players to WATCH: Avalanche C Nathan MacKinnon (21 goals, 34 assists—55 points) is the third-leading scorer in the NHL. RW Mikko Rantanen has three goals in his past five outings. … Wild RW Luke Kunin has scored twice in his past three games. RW Kevin Fiala has five points over his past six games.

Numbers: The Wild is 12-4-4 in its past 20 games. Against the Central Division, it is 2-8-1. The Wild gives up the fourth-most goals in the NHL (3.29 per game). … Colorado is 10-5-2 at home. The Avalanche is 6-3-1 over its past 10 games.

Star Tribune LOADED: 12.27.2019 1167949 Minnesota Wild

Colorado hosts Minnesota after Bellemare's 2-goal game

Staff Report

By The Associated Press Associated Press

DECEMBER 26, 2019 — 2:30AM

Minnesota Wild (18-15-5, sixth in the Central Division) vs. Colorado Avalanche (23-11-3, second in the Central Division)

Denver; Friday, 8 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Colorado hosts the Minnesota Wild after Pierre-Edouard Bellemare scored two goals in the Avalanche's 7-3 win against the Golden Knights.

The Avalanche have gone 6-6-0 against division opponents. Colorado leads the NHL averaging 3.6 goals per game, led by Nathan MacKinnon with 21.

The Wild are 2-8-1 against opponents from the Central Division. Minnesota is fourth in the league shooting 10.7% and averaging 3.1 goals on 28.7 shots per game.

In their last matchup on Nov. 21, Minnesota won 3-2. Ryan Suter recorded a team-high 2 points for the Wild.

TOP PERFORMERS: MacKinnon leads the Avalanche with 55 points, scoring 21 goals and collecting 34 assists. Mikko Rantanen has recorded five goals and three assists over the last 10 games for Colorado.

Eric Staal has collected 31 total points while scoring 14 goals and totaling 17 assists for the Wild. Mats Zuccarello has totaled 9 points over the last 10 games for Minnesota.

LAST 10 GAMES: Wild: 5-4-1, averaging 3.5 goals, 6.2 assists, 3.6 penalties and 8.4 penalty minutes while allowing 3.5 goals per game with a .885 save percentage.

Avalanche: 6-3-1, averaging 3.4 goals, 5.3 assists, 3.1 penalties and seven penalty minutes while giving up 2.4 goals per game with a .928 save percentage.

Star Tribune LOADED: 12.27.2019 1167950 Minnesota Wild Parise and Fiala have been perhaps the most dynamic battery on the team, and being placed in between them rather than being stuck on the fourth line obviously is a good thing. Koivu had hoped to return during the Wild’s last road trip, but he had a setback in his timetable — meaning Getting another big shot, Ryan Donato has rediscovered last season’s Donato will get even more time to build off his rediscovered success. spark And Donato has been no mere passenger on the line. He’s played his most dangerous hockey in a Wild sweater lately, averaging 11.5 shots per hour at 5-on-5 play in his last 14 games — and even more (15.5) in By Tony Abbott his five-game run centering Fiala and Parise that was broken up last Dec 26, 2019 week amid further injury-related shuffling, sending Donato back to the wing. And while Donato was a bit of a perimeter shooter even last season, he’s been taking up residence in the “home plate” area in front of the net. In early November, the State of Hockey was on fire. The Minnesota Wild had one of the worst records in the NHL. The goaltending was porous, no Remarkably, Donato is performing this well playing out of position. A one could score, and fans were researching the top picks in the 2020 natural wing, he doesn’t possess the defensive skill and faceoff ability draft. ideally found in a center. But there’s no denying the results we’ve seen from him up the middle. Even the underlying numbers of that line look It was a team-wide effort, but one of the biggest sources of good. The trio of Donato, Fiala and Parise have controlled 57 percent of disappointment came from the Wild’s younger forwards. This group — the shots and 70 percent of the expected goals at 5-on-5. comprised of Ryan Donato, Joel Eriksson Ek, Kevin Fiala, Jordan Greenway, and Luke Kunin— was largely unproductive and fizzled in the We’re dealing with small sample sizes here (45 minutes at 5-on-5), but greater roles they were penciled into during the preseason. This as long as this trio is clicking, it is perhaps worth giving Donato a longer collective poor first impression for new general manager Bill Guerin led to look in that spot, even once Koivu returns to action. whispers around the league surrounding their availability in potential trades. Donato being unleashed goes to show how much a player’s performance can come down to opportunity. Given some run late last year, Donato But like everything else in Minnesota, things mostly turned around for this flourished. Early struggles this year put him in the doghouse, which may group soon after. Eriksson Ek, Greenway, and Kunin formed a solid third have lengthened his slump. And of course, when he started warming up, line that was defensively capable, if not high-scoring. Fiala worked his a big new assignment launched him back into relevance. way out of the doghouse and flourished alongside Zach Parise, scoring 20 points over his last 25 games. Minnesota has a deep lineup, especially when it comes to left-shot wingers like Donato, making all these decisions difficult for Boudreau, While those four managed to find their way into a role, Ryan Donato who has righted the Wild’s ship and led them from the fast track to taking continued to struggle to find his way. Through Nov. 23, Donato had a Alexis Lafrenière with the No. 1 pick to contending for a playoff spot after lone goal and two assists through 21 games. Along the way, he earned a going a league-best 12-4-4 since Nov. 14. In order to do that, he had to handful of healthy scratches and his ice time plummeted to under 10 play the players who were performing, and Donato unfortunately got minutes per game. caught up in a numbers game.

It was enough to make anyone forget about the version of Donato that And unfortunately, that numbers game doesn’t seem poised to get easier found himself in Minnesota after the trade deadline last year. Donato was for Donato in the long run. Parise and the currently injured Jason Zucker one of the team’s lone bright spots post-deadline, leading the team with are still productive and under contract for several more years. Fiala is 16 points over their final 22 games. He showed a particular talent for showing himself to be a top-six level talent. Greenway and Marcus peppering the net, racking up 64 shots in that stretch. Foligno are performing extremely well in defensive roles. The Wild’s two best prospects, Kirill Kaprizov and Matthew Boldy, are both left-wingers. So it was disappointing to see that Donato’s lack of production didn’t Even with a trade, it’s hard to see Donato breaking through that group. come from a mere run of bad luck, but a complete evaporation of the talent that made Donato a compelling player. He shot the puck just 23 In order for Donato to crack into Minnesota’s top-9, he’ll either have to times through his first 21 games this season. Even accounting for the outperform these wingers, or continue to succeed while playing out of lower ice time, this was a gigantic step back. Combine this with head position. It’s not an easy ask of a 23-year-old. But a month ago, it coach Bruce Boudreau not trusting Donato defensively, and it’s no seemed impossible. wonder Donato struggled to get ice time. Despite such long odds, Donato has clawed his way back into the picture But around Thanksgiving, things quietly started to turn around for and showed Minnesota’s fans, coaches, and management what he’s Donato. Against the Rangers on Nov. 25, he scored his second goal of capable of. He’s a player who has a talent that the typically starved-for- the season and took a whopping five shots in just 7:30 of ice time. He offense Wild desperately need. The perfect spot in the lineup for Donato then followed it up with an assist and another goal in his next two games, may not exist, but this version of Donato is too valuable to let him go respectively. back to being an obscurity on the fourth line.

Ryan Donato’s turnaround

Season segment TOI/GP Shots/60 SH% Goals/60 The Athletic LOADED: 12.27.2019 Points/60

First 21 games 9:04 5.66 5.56 0.31 0.94

Last 14 games 10:26 11.49 21.43 2.46 3.69

When Mikko Koivu went down with an injury, Donato got a big opportunity. He was moved to center Fiala and Parise, and he showed extremely well, putting together a four-game point streak, including three consecutive games with a goal.

And now, Donato is looking much more like the version Wild fans saw last season, notching six goals and nine points over his last 14 games, including the team’s first goal in last Thursday’s crazy 8-5 win over Arizona. His shooting prowess has started to return as quickly and mysteriously as it had left him, too. Despite averaging 12 minutes a night, Donato has 32 shots during that time.

Given that he showed signs of life before being promoted in the lineup, you can’t attribute this surge entirely to his new role. But there’s no doubt that the opportunity enabled Donato to keep that momentum rolling. 1167951 Montreal Canadiens Dec. 16 in exchange for a conditional first-round pick at the 2020 NHL Draft and a conditional third-round pick in 2021, along with three prospects. Hall can become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.

Year in review: Faith in the future was Canadiens' 2019 message “I don’t believe that I could make a trade today or tomorrow to get assets that would make us a Stanley Cup team,” Bergevin said on the day Hall was traded. “I think you could do it within. There’s not one player that you could say I’m going to bring him in and now for sure we’re in the playoffs. STU COWAN, MONTREAL GAZETTE And the return you have to give to get those type of players, to me, it Updated: December 26, 2019 would be too much. So we have a plan in place. You look at St. Louis last year. On Jan. 9, I think they were way off the playoffs and they end up winning a Stanley Cup. So once you get in (the playoffs), you get a hot goaltender, you get guys with confidence, you stay healthy, you get Hope. lucky, and anything could happen.” That’s what the Canadiens gave their fans in 2019. Not hope that a 25th Canadiens fans, who haven’t been to a Stanley Cup parade since 1993, Stanley Cup is around the corner, but hope that this team can at least get can only hope. into the playoffs.

After finishing the 2017-18 season in 28th place in the overall NHL standings, the Canadiens made a 25-point improvement in 2018-19, Montreal Gazette LOADED: 12.27.2019 finishing with a 44-30-8 record and 96 points. But it still wasn’t enough to get into the playoffs as the Canadiens finished two points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for the final wild-card spot.

“I want to thank the fans for their support throughout the whole season,” Habs general manager Marc Bergevin said during his season-ending news conference in April. “I want to make it clear that with every single player I met today, there’s disappointment to miss the playoffs even though we had 96 points, which is 25 more than last year. And the future is bright. There’s a lot of young players knocking at the door. We have one of the youngest teams in the NHL. So we’re heading in the right direction.

“We did miss the playoffs and, again, I just want to be clear because people might walk out of here (saying) ‘Well, you know, they have 96 points, they had a good year, they’re happy,’ ” Bergevin added. “No, we’re not happy. But we know we’re heading in the right direction.”

Bergevin is hoping he took another step in the right direction by selecting Cole Caufield in the first round (15th overall) at the June NHL Draft in Vancouver. The 5-foot-7, 163-pound right-winger posted 72-28-100 totals in 64 games last season with the USA Hockey National Team Development Program’s U-18 team. Caufield has continued to score goals this season as a freshman at the University of Wisconsin with 12-8- 20 totals in his first 18 games.

After last season ended, goalie Carey Price was asked what he would say to potential free agents to try to lure them to Montreal.

“I would tell them that obviously my window is growing smaller and I really want to win — more than ever,” said Price, who turned 32 on Aug. 16. “So I think that should be a pretty good indication of how bad we want to win here.”

Bergevin wasn’t able to land a big-name free agent on July 1 despite making an offer sheet to Sebastian Aho, who was a restricted free-agent centre with the Carolina Hurricanes. Bergevin offered Aho, 22, a five-year deal worth US$42.25 million with the vast majority of it coming in the form of signing bonuses, starting with more than $21 million during the first 12 months of the deal. The Hurricanes matched the offer and Aho stayed in Carolina.

Bergevin also failed to land free-agent defenceman Jake Gardiner, who turned down an offer reported to be for three years and US$15.7 million, instead signing a four-year, US$16.2-million contract with the Hurricanes. Bergevin ended up settling for free-agent defenceman Ben Chiarot, signing him to a three-year, US$10.5-million contract.

The Canadiens are still more than $7 million under the NHL salary cap, but Bergevin has maintained that team president and owner Geoff Molson will let him spend up to the US$81.5-million cap.

“Having cap space — I know in the past we’ve been a little bit criticized for that — but it’s an asset that a lot of teams wish they had right now that we could use to make our team better,” Bergevin said at the Canadiens’ annual golf tournament in September. “Not only (do we have) good cap space this year, but we’re good moving forward. So it’s an asset as an organization and we’ll see if we could use it in the next few months.”

Bergevin still hasn’t used that money and when Taylor Hall was available on the trade market, the Canadiens GM watched as the Arizona Coyotes acquired the former Hart Trophy winner from the New Jersey Devils on 1167952 New Jersey Devils The term “beginning of the end” has probably been used several times over the past decade, but when the Devils acquired Schneider at the 2013 NHL Draft, everyone knew the writing was on the wall for Brodeur.

NJ Devils: Here are the Top 10 moments that defined this decade Lou Lamoriello was known more for his shrewdness than his sentimentality, and he knew Brodeur was approaching the end of the road, so he chose Schneider as his heir apparent.

Abbey Mastracco, NHL writer And now it’s Schneider who may be approaching the end of his own journey. The Devils’ second-highest-paid player is playing in the Published 5:06 a.m. ET Dec. 26, 2019 American Hockey League after years of battling injuries.

He saw the Devils through some dark days, and the club had hoped the The New Jersey Devils were once a team for the ages, but in this day in once-elite goalie could continue that greatness with better players around age, the team is still undergoing an arduous rebuild. him. But the timing has just never been right for one of the nicest guys in hockey. It wasn’t always this way, but with the impact of the salary cap and a new regime that decided to tear it all down, the Devils have spent much of this 7. Martin Brodeur moves on decade trying to lay the framework for better times to come. The Hall of Fame goaltender’s illustrious career with the Devils But they’ve still had some good times in the last 10 years, and the good concluded April 13, 2014 with his 688th win for the franchise that drafted news is that the future is looking bright. him. Brodeur decided to test free agency and ended up in St. Louis on a tryout contract with the Blues. Here are the 10 most franchise-defining moments of the last 10 years to close out the decade and look forward to more good than bad in the next. This ended up being a pivotal point in his career, and it sounds strange to say, but his path back to New Jersey went through St. Louis. 10. 2012 Stanley Cup Final After he retired, he became a coach, then eventually an assistant general Maybe some would rank this moment higher, but this isn’t a list of the manager, and last summer he decided to come back home as vice best moments of the decade. president of business operations.

These Devils were not the favorites of the past. No longer were they an 6. Patrik Elias retires Eastern Conference juggernaut, but they had Martin Brodeur, Ilya Kovalchuk and Zach Parise and a coach on the rise in Peter DeBoer. Three years after Brodeur left, the Devils’ all-time leader in points, goals and assists announced he would retire. While the organization was in the Their road to the Cup Final was not easy. Their first-round series with the midst of a major makeover, this was truly the end of an era in New Florida Panthers, the team DeBoer had previously helmed, went to seven Jersey. games. Then, the Devils had to play two emotional rivalry series with the Flyers and Rangers. Thanks to then-rookie Adam Henrique’s heroics in But Elias didn’t remain gone for long. His No. 26 was retired in 2018 and Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final, New Jersey bested New York he joined the team at the end of the 2018-19 season as a special in six games to advance. assistant and development coach under former coach John Hynes.

On the other coast, the upstart Los Angeles Kings weren’t exactly The firing of Hynes this season changed nothing. Elias is still making favorites either. No one expected a team that fired their coach in the periodic trips to New Jersey, where he maintains a residence in middle of the season and hired the mercurial to replace him Hoboken, to coach with the Devils. He’s currently coaching the Czech to go as far as they did, but they got hot at the right time and rode their national Under-18 team at the IIFH World Junior Championships but he own goalie, Jonathan Quick, to the Stanley Cup Final. will leave the junior program behind with an eye toward the NHL next year. The cross-country series became a battle of the old goalie guard against the new one, and it was Quick who emerged victorious, winning the Conn 5. Lou Lamoriello resigns Smythe as the MVP. Few, if any, expected Lamoriello to ever leave the team he took over in 9. Ilya Kovalchuk’s contract controversy 1987. Many pegged the architect of a dynastic era in Devils' history as a New Jersey lifer. Ilya Kovalchuk, here in 2012. But a new ownership group, led by managing partners Josh Harris and On July 19, 2010, star winger Ilya Kovalchuk signed a record-breaking, David Blitzer brought Ray Shero on board as general manager in the 17-year, $102 million contract with the Devils. It was the longest contract summer of 2015. While Lamoriello briefly remained as team president, in NHL history, but it only took about 24 hours before the league blocked ultimately he decided to move on to another rebuild, resigning from the it, citing circumvention of the newly-adopted salary cap. Devils on July 23, 2015, to go to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

An arbiter for the NHL Players’ Association nullified the deal and a new Many believed Lamoriello didn't want to take a back seat after several contract was submitted to the league in September. years as the leader of a successful franchise. A Hall of Fame executive, he felt that bringing hockey’s most prestigious brand back to prominence But after that magical run to the Stanley Cup, the NHL declared yet was an intriguing challenge. another lockout, and Kovalchuk went home to his native Russia to play for SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL. This was only supposed to be Lamoriello is now back in the area as president and GM of the Islanders. temporary, but once the lockout ended he decided to stay a little longer and play in the KHL All-Star Game, and the rumors that he wanted to 4. Winning the 2017 NHL Draft lottery play at home began. The Devils selected first overall in the NHL Draft for the first time in 2017, After the lockout-shortened season, those rumors proved true as selecting Swiss center Nico Hischier on June 23, 2017, at United Center Kovalchuk announced his retirement from the NHL and signed another in Chicago. contract with SKA St. Petersburg. The club chose to bolster its depth up the middle with the belief that it The reality is, the Devils are much better off without Kovalchuk and his takes four solid centers to keep up in a modern-day NHL dominated by contract on the books. But he has proved useful in his absence: He sold skaters. Hischier quickly blossomed into a top-line center, helping the Egor Yakovlev and current forward Nikita Gusev on the organization. Devils snap a five-season playoff drought and helping his winger, Taylor Hall, become the first player in franchise history to win the Hart Trophy. 8. Cory Schneider trade It’s easy for fans to be skeptical of the rebuild and the speed of it right Feb 9, 2019; Newark, NJ, USA; New Jersey Devils goaltender Cory now, but Hischier is confident in the future of the organization. So Schneider (35) spits water during a break in the first period against the confident, in fact, that he signed a seven-year, $50.75 million contract. Minnesota Wild at Prudential Center. 3. The Jack Hughes sweepstakes Jack Hughes smiles after being selected first overall by the New Jersey Devils during the first round of the 2019 NHL Draft at Rogers Arena on June 21, 2019 in Vancouver, Canada.

That one playoff appearance in 2018 proved to be sort of a fluke. The Devils lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games as a thin roster was exposed. They were not as far as they thought they were in the rebuilding process, and after an exciting season, they held the third-best odds to win the NHL Draft Lottery.

They got lucky with the ping pong balls once again in 2019, winning for the second time in three seasons. They selected another center, this time it was American-born phenom Jack Hughes on June 21 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, the same rink his brother Quinn calls home as a defenseman for the Canucks.

While Hughes is not yet elite, the winning formula of depth of the middle has not changed. Hughes and Hischier are two of the most talented young centers in the league and they’re only getting better.

2. Taylor Hall trades

New Jersey Devils left wing Taylor Hall (9) and the Devils warm up to face the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 3 of Round 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ on Monday, April 16, 2018.

The infamous June 29, 2016, 1-for-1 trade was supposed to be another “beginning of the end:” The beginning of the end of the rebuild.

When Shero traded defenseman Adam Larsson for Hall in 2016, fans hoped it was because there was a light at the end of the tunnel. It did appear briefly in 2017-18, but then Hall's 2018-19 season lasted just 33 games because of knee surgery, and the 2019-20 season has been an unmitigated disaster. Hynes is gone and so is Hall.

Hall will be an unrestricted free agent on July 1, and without a contract extension or any framework in place, Shero felt the best course of action would be to trade New Jersey’s star winger for a package of prospects and draft picks.

Each trade brought a variety of emotions, and each was momentous for a variety of reasons. Hall was one of the greatest players to play for the club this decade, and it’s disappointing that his tenure in Newark ended with only a single playoff win and a year of speculation.

1. Devils sold to Josh Harris and David Blitzer

The most defining moment of the decade came Aug. 14, 2013, when the Devils and Prudential Center were sold by former owner Jeff Vanderbeek to Harris and Blitzer, the owner of the Philadelphia 76ers.

The club was left in financial ruin and the arena in need of significant upgrades. Harris Blitzer Sports and Entertainment has helped bring some prestige to the Devils and Prudential Center, but things are far from finished.

This is the most defining moment because these are the owners who are overseeing this rebuild and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

Under their watch, the Devils traded for Taylor Hall and made the playoffs. And under their watch, the Devils were so bad, the handpicked head coach was fired.

Bergen Record LOADED: 12.27.2019 1167953 New York Islanders

Islanders’ Anthony Beauvillier takes a shot at Anna Kendrick

By Jared Schwartz

December 26, 2019 | 4:05pm | Updated

It’s worth a try.

Anthony Beauvillier has scored 10 goals for the Islanders this season, but he spent his Christmas taking a different kind of shot.

The four-year veteran seemingly took his shot with actress Anna Kendrick on Twitter, posting a simple “Hi @AnnaKendrick47.”

The tweet has since garnered over 11 thousand likes and has brought about plenty of wingmen in the replies trying to help his case.

“Remember Beau when you saved me from a burning building, cooked me a 7 course meal and taught me 8 languages,” former Islander defenseman Bruno Gervais replied. “That was a great day.”

Kendrick, 34, is best known for her starring roles in “Pitch Perfect” and “Up in the Air,” and is in the new Disney+ original “Noelle.” She had not responded — publicly, anyway — to Beauvillier’s tweet as of Thursday afternoon.

Beauvillier, 22, has been one of the Islanders’ most-improved players this year, helping the team to a 23-9-3 record, the third-best mark in the league. The 2015 first-round pick has 22 points in 35 games after recording 28 points in 81 games last season.

New York Post LOADED: 12.27.2019 1167954 New York Islanders

Islanders hope to face former teammate Robin Lehner in Chicago

By Andrew Gross [email protected] @AGrossNewsday

Updated December 26, 2019 7:31 PM

CHICAGO — Fond feelings for goalie Robin Lehner still abound among the Islanders. Which is why his former teammates are rooting for him to get the start for the Blackhawks on Friday night at United Center.

“I’m going to be excited to play against him,” Mathew Barzal said. “Hopefully we do get him. He’s an amazing goaltender. When he was here, he was kind of an older brother to me. I’m definitely hoping to score on him, that’s for sure.”

Coming back from the three-day NHL holiday break, the Islanders will open a three-game road trip against the struggling Blackhawks, who are on a 3-5-1 skid after Monday night’s 7-1 loss to the visiting Devils. Lehner relieved Corey Crawford in that game and started three of the Blackhawks’ previous four games.

He is 9-6-4 with a 2.86 goals-against average and a .924 save percentage after signing a one-year, $5 million deal with the Blackhawks following failed contract negotiations with the Islanders. Lehner was a Vezina Trophy finalist as he went 25-13-5 with a 2.13 GAA and a .930 save percentage in his one season with the Islanders.

Lehner, who detailed his struggles with addiction and mental-health issues on the first day of training camp last season, and Thomas Greiss shared the Jennings Trophy as the Islanders allowed the fewest goals in the NHL.

“That’ll be fun,” Casey Cizikas said of possibly facing Lehner. “He’s a great guy and he was awesome with us. I’m sure you’ll hear his laugh once or twice throughout the game, which will be awesome. It’s something we’re looking forward to. He’s a heck of a goalie so it’ll be a good test.”

Facing Lehner won’t be the only test for the Islanders.

Per collective-bargaining agreement guidelines, the Islanders cannot gather as a group and fly to Chicago until Friday morning, though the players who did not stay on Long Island for the league’s break had the option of flying on their own and arriving on Thursday.

The Islanders, coming off a 3-2 loss to the Blue Jackets on Monday night at NYCB Live’s Nassau Coliseum, are scheduled to have a morning skate at the arena, but it’s never easy to travel and play on the same day. Other than this post-break scenario, the only time it’s usually done is in the preseason.

“It’s tough. I’ve done it a few times in the preseason,” Barzal said. “At the end of the day, we’re in the NHL, we’re in Chicago and I’m going to be excited for it. You’ve just got to mentally get over the fact that you’re flying that day.”

Defenseman Johnny Boychuk said the physical and mental preparation done over the holiday break will be crucial against the Blackhawks.

“The day before, or the morning of, find somewhere to get on the bike or go for a long walk,” Boychuk said. “You haven’t been on the ice for two or three days, you have to do something to keep your body in tune. In warmups, you have to fly because you have to get your legs back.”

Newsday LOADED: LOADED: 12.27.2019 1167955 New York Rangers

Ex-Rangers captain talks Kaapo Kakko, trade deadline dilemma

By Michael Blinn

December 27, 2019 | 1:19am

Former Rangers captain and rookie NHL Network analyst Ryan Callahan talks with The Post’s Michael Blinn about the Rangers’ surprising season, trade-deadline possibilities and going on camera at age 34 after suffering a career-ending back injury.

Q: What’s been the biggest surprise about the Rangers this season?

A: I don’t think they expected to have the early success they’ve had this year coming into this season. (Adam) Fox back there has been a really good surprise for them. (Tony) DeAngelo, how he’s stepped in and how he’s played this year, it seems like he bounced around a little bit there, in and out of the lineup. It seems like he’s found his niche there and is playing well. I think they’re getting offense from the D and overall, the surprise is just how well they’re doing and find themselves pretty close to a playoff picture. They’re right in that hunt.

Q: What do you see the team doing with Chris Kreider, especially with the trade deadline coming up (Feb. 24)?

A: I think that’s going to be a hot topic. Do you sign him and bring him along and have him be part of this retool, or are you at the point where you trade him away and get some assets? I think it’s a very tough decision. I can see both ways working for the Rangers. He’s turned into a pretty good leader with some of those young guys. If you trade him, you know you’re going to get some good draft picks or prospects that are going to help the team.

Q: You’ve got a kid in Kaapo Kakko who’s wearing your old number. Is that weird, and how does he stack up against Jack Hughes?

A: I’ve gotten used to a Rangers sweater with a “24” on it and “Callahan” not on the back of it. I always look at that number and think it’s me. Not a big deal there. Both are very good, dynamic players, but I think Kakko right now has that advantage of playing against men before. Adjusting to the league is a little easier that way. The way he’s built is ahead of Hughes to maintain that 82-game grind that can wear on you.

Q: Which of the three area teams is most likely to win the Stanley Cup next, and why?

A: I think the easy pick right now is the Islanders. They’re one of the top teams in the league, it seems like everybody is on the same page, everybody’s doing the same thing, from the first line to the fourth line. They’re getting great goaltending. If I had to pick one team, who’s going to win it first, the Islanders are clear-cut in the lead, but who knows what’s going to happen?

Q: What do you think has been your biggest challenge so far, going from playing to TV?

A: Being critical of guys I’ve played with. Finding the right way to tell a guy that maybe you’re not in the right position or a guy misses a pass or misses a play, without being too critical. I think there’s a right way and a wrong way to send that message to the fans. You’re buddies with a lot of these guys, so you don’t want to get on air and expose their mistakes. At the end of the day, they’re pros and they realize when they make those mistakes.

New York Post LOADED: 12.27.2019 1167956 New York Rangers

Why Rangers’ playoff hopes already are looking dimmer

By Brett Cyrgalis

December 26, 2019 | 10:47PM

Here was coach David Quinn on a practice day in California a few weeks ago, declaring the intentions of his young Rangers:

“Part of developing is learning how to win. I think it’s very important for us to make the playoffs.”

And here is Quinn again, speaking about his team’s game in Philadelphia on the day Monday, the club’s final game before the league’s three-day Christmas break:

“We can’t hide from how big this game is. We want to make the playoffs.”

The Rangers lost that game, 5-1, and went into the break with a bit of a sour taste in their mouths. As a matter of fact, since the 2-1-1 road trip out West, the Rangers are 1-3-0, and if they look at the standings, the hope of the postseason is starting to seem glum. In the NHL of three- point games, the Blueshirts have an aesthetically pleasing record of 17- 15-4, and yet their 38 points are fourth worst in the Eastern Conference.

When the Hurricanes come into the Garden on Friday, the Rangers will be eight points out of the second wild card. They’ve played just 36 games, but it’s a lot of ground to make up.

None of this is news to general manager Jeff Gorton, who is constantly evaluating his team’s situation as the Feb. 24 trade deadline quickly approaches. Another sell-off as in the previous two seasons — and another nosedive — can be expected. With attractive trade chips in Chris Kreider, Jesper Fast, Ryan Strome and possibly goalie Alexandar Georgiev, who knows what the roster will look like on the other side of the deadline.

Actually, who knows how the Rangers will play leading up to it, with the rumors becoming unavoidable and Gorton required to do his due diligence to see what type of returns could come back. For the times that it seemed like the rebuild was accelerating, it is still a rebuild. It is still about the future more than it is about the present.

Sometimes that makes the present hard to get excited about.

After Carolina comes in, the Rangers immediately leave for their annual New Year’s trip. This year, the Blueshirts go to Toronto on Saturday night for the second leg of a back-to-back before heading west, where 2020 will be rung in with a game in Edmonton, followed by stops in Calgary and Vancouver. January is a rather quiet month, with only a trip to St. Louis, and no games for the eight days (Jan. 22-30) surrounding the All- Star break.

By the time February hits, there will be a better picture of whom these Rangers are, and they will have a better idea whether the playoffs are a realistic possibility. Unless they go into utter free fall, odds are Quinn will continue talking about the postseason as the goal, just as the players will continue talking about it as a goal. What else can they do?

But even now, the Rangers situation looks to be leading to another quiet spring on Broadway. Because to make the playoffs, the Rangers have to prove they’re better than quite a few teams. If the Capitals and Bruins are in a different category, closely followed by the Islanders, whom in the East are the Rangers actually better than?

Are they better?

The Rangers come out of the Christmas break eight points out of a playoff spot. Outside of the East’s big three (Capitals, Bruins, Islanders), where do the Rangers stand?

New York Post LOADED: 12.27.2019 1167957 New York Rangers

Rangers' Filip Chytil developing his game in second season

By Colin Stephenson [email protected] @ColinSNewsday

Updated December 26, 2019 7:54 PM

Filip Chytil is visibly bigger than he was a year ago, but that’s not the only difference in the former first-round pick this season.

“I think I feel much more comfortable out there — way more confident,’’ the 6-2, 206-pound Rangers center said when asked to describe what is different about himself in his second NHL season. “It’s a little different when I play center this year. I have different responsibilities. It’s a little different game to play center than play wing, from last year.’’

Chytil has reason to believe that things are turning around for him. He had gone 10 games with a single point until his spectacular goal in Sunday’s 5-1 win over Anaheim. His nine goals are two fewer than the 11 he scored in 75 games last season and fourth-most on the team this season — a feat more impressive considering he started the season with AHL Hartford and wasn’t called up until the 10th game.

Chytil has adapted well in a season that hasn’t gone according to plan. When training camp started, he was first in line to be the No. 2 center behind Mika Zibanejad, but a disappointing preseason got him sent down to Hartford. Rather than sulking, he worked hard and played well, and when Zibanejad suffered an upper-body injury in late October, he came up and produced immediately, scoring in each of his first two games and recording six goals in his first eight games.

Things became a little unsettled when Zibanejad returned and coach David Quinn tried to find the right mixture. With a glut of young centers, Lias Andersson, the No. 7 pick in the 2017 draft, was sent to Hartford, eventually became disenchanted and asked the organization for a trade. Brett Howden, who had been playing on the fourth line, moved to the right wing the last couple of games. Quinn said Howden might stay there for a while, even when rookie Kaapo Kakko comes back from a leg injury.

For now, the team is committed to developing Chytil as a center after moving him to the wing most of last season. And he is more comfortable in the middle.

“That’s my spot,’’ he said.

Chytil certainly has improved his work in the defensive zone. He was a minus-22 in 2018-19 and is plus-5 this season. But even though he is working to be a more complete player, he said his 10-game goal drought weighed on him.

“You’re always thinking about it,’’ he said. “You don’t want to, but always, it’s hiding in your head.

“I know if I would score goals and get points, I would help the team more, but I’m trying to focus on my [overall] game,’’ he said. “I’m 20 years old still, so there’s a lot to improve and still be better after every shift, after every game, after every practice. And that’s everything I’m thinking about.’’

The Rangers will open their post-Christmas schedule with back-to-back games Friday against the Carolina Hurricanes at Madison Square Garden and Saturday against the Maple Leafs in Toronto. That game will kick off a four-game trip to Canada.

The Rangers (17-15-4) are eight points behind Carolina (22-13-2) for the second wild- card spot in the Eastern Conference. They entered the three-day Christmas break on a down note with a record of 1-3-1 in their last five games.

Newsday LOADED: LOADED: 12.27.2019 1167958 New York Rangers 3. The Big Finn won’t disappoint Eighteen-year-old rookie Kaapo Kakko will be as advertised. There will

be a learning curve for him in terms of responsibilities without the puck, Revisiting our bold (and not so bold) preseason predictions about the etc., and of course he’s going to have to deal with the unrealistic Rangers expectations of being that No. 2 overall pick (Rangers fans, largely, hoped he would fall to No. 2). The kid is electric, he’s big, he’s skilled, and he’s willing. He also creates his own offense and for others.

By Rick Carpiniello Can he get 30-35 goals, 60-plus points? Perhaps. But there’s certainly the possibility that the expectations are too high. I also predict he’ll be Dec 26, 2019 wearing No. 24 on opening night.

Revisited: While attempting to temper all those who were swept up in the The Rangers are kind of what we thought they’d be, right? hype, I got swept up in the hype myself. Originally I wanted to predict that a 15-goal, 40-45-point season would be good. Now even that looks like a They’re young, they’re inconsistent, they’re learning. And their record is reach. The kid, you can clearly see, is going to be a special player. But about what it should be. the kid is really very much a kid trying to figure out a lot of new things. I expected too much and so did pretty much everybody. Since we’re almost into the 2020 portion of the 2019-20 season, it feels like a good time to revisit some of the preseason “bold” and not so bold I didn’t figure confidence, or a lack thereof, would be an issue with predictions made in this space at the end of September and see how Kakko, who popped our eyes the few times we saw him on big stages prescient we were about the season so far. before the draft. Indeed, he is suffering from a lack of confidence in his first go-round, and that seems to be the biggest hurdle for him at the 1. The King will determine where the Rangers go moment. We all thought he was NHL ready. He most certainly was not. Henrik Lundqvist will start slowly due to the schedule, because his M.O. I stick with my bold prediction that he’d switch to No. 24 by opening night. is that he struggles after layoffs – bye weeks, All-Star, holiday, Olympic breaks and such. The start of this season, in which the Rangers will play 4. Alexandar will be great … and cause a problem two games in three nights, then one in the next 12, is set up for an uneven start. Alexandar Georgiev is going to further establish himself as an NHL No. 1, or 1A, goaltender. That said, the prediction is that the highly-motivated Lundqvist will then go gangbusters for the first 45 games or so (28 starts?) and have the And what that does is complicate things. Rangers above NHL-.500 and in the playoff picture for a while. What he Great problem to have, but then that means fewer starts for Lundqvist does in the second half remains to be seen (and not predictable) and will this year, and a difficult decision to make when Lundqvist enters the final determine how close they actually get to the playoffs. season of his contract at age 38 next season and when Igor Shesterkin Revisited: Well, Lundqvist most certainly didn’t start slowly, arguably shows he’s NHL-ready late this season in Hartford or in camp next stealing a win against Winnipeg on opening night and a few other games, season. including an absurd larceny in Carolina. Has he given up a few he thinks I think, ultimately, Georgiev or Shesterkin is traded and the survivor is he should have stopped? Yup. But he’s been better than his basic stats backed up by Adam Huska (or Olof Lindbom) when Lundqvist retires. and better than his record. He certainly hasn’t been a problem, and his play (along with that of Alexandar Georgiev) has them in shouting Revisited: Georgiev has done nothing to change that expectation. He has distance of a wild card, even though they’ve seemingly spent more than outplayed Lundqvist, as he did for the second half of last year, and he is half of the first half in their own zone. Lundqvist is second to Jordan making the Rangers’ difficult decision more difficult. I’ve written this a lot Binnington in high-danger save percentage at .857 (per lately, but do not be surprised at all if Georgiev ends up the heir to NaturalStatTrick.com) among No. 1 goalies, and first in high-danger Lundqvist and not Shesterkin. The problem with that, of course, is that saves per 60 minutes. the trade value of Shesterkin isn’t likely high and won’t be until he plays some NHL games. Likewise, Georgiev would have value on the market, Though he is no longer the clear No. 1, the Rangers will only go as far as but probably not at this point the type of value that will bring back a haul. their goalies take them. Though even spectacular goaltending may not I don’t think the Rangers could get more than a second-rounder (plus) for be enough, as we saw for the first 50 minutes in Philadelphia Monday. Georgiev right now. I don’t think they would trade him for that. 2. Bread Man will toast opposition goalies I still think, ultimately, either Georgiev or Shesterkin is here teaming with Artemi Panarin will be the best Rangers free agent signing since Adam Lundqvist next season, but not both. And Lundqvist will be here. So … Graves (maybe better in terms of just pure skill) … until the last few years 5. Questions about a top duo of that contract. He will also be, by far, the best Rangers offensive player since Jaromir Jagr. The Rangers’ first defense pair of buddies Jacob Trouba and Brady Skjei will be rocky. I think this guy is legit, and I think his personality is built for this big stage. I think he will make Mika Zibanejad a better No. 1 center and that I like Skjei as a player and a person, but he has to convince me that he’s Panarin’s presence has lifted — and will continue to lift Zibanejad. But I a first-pair defenseman. He has the skills and smarts to be that, but it’s also think Zibanejad’s competitiveness will do the same for Panarin and time to figure it out. that Zibanejad’s growth takes another leap. And I still haven’t seen enough of Trouba to know he’s a No. 1 shutdown, Revisited: Nailed this one, though it really didn’t take a lot of intelligence all-situation guy. to get it right. Not much more to say, other than Panarin has – if this is even possible – been worth every dollar. He’s also on pace to shatter his The thing is, that duo will get a lot of leash to prove its worthiness career best in goals (31) and points (87). because the Rangers simply don’t have other options – and played all of last season without a legit top-two. One thing I didn’t know about him is how complete a player he is, how many little plays he makes in the course of the game to get the puck – or I also think that rookie Adam Fox is going to be on the first power-play to get it back – or to keep a play alive. I also didn’t know about his work point soon, either with Trouba or instead of him. ethic, nor his personality, which has made him a very popular teammate. Revisited: Well, their first experiment together didn’t last long at all. Their I can’t think of a player who enjoys playing the game more than Panarin. second has lasted longer and has gone somewhat better. Trouba has But his time with Zibanejad, other than on the power play, was short- actually played quite well lately – or at least until Monday – and Skjei has lived. The Rangers seem to believe there is more depth to the lineup with been better than he was. those two split up, and perhaps that Ryan Strome is a more legit top But I remain skeptical whether that can be a legit first-pair that you assign center with a winger like Panarin than, say, Chris Kreider. I do still think to an opponent’s top line. As I summed up in my bold prediction, the Zibanejad is further fueled by Panarin being around in practice, games Rangers don’t have other options. Libor Hajek looked good next to and in the locker room. Trouba until he was injured, but really, a 21-year-old on the first pair isn’t the summer – just a good soldier. The Rangers will miss him when he’s ideal. gone.

So the question remains. And the answer is not ideal. 8. Any coach would love to have him (or them) for the playoffs

6. A golden chance for another young player While we’re on that topic, Jesper Fast’s contract also expires after this season. Though he’s only at $1.85 million this season and still extremely Pavel Buchnevich will thrive in his new assignment, which at the start valuable to the team and to the coach, he’s going to be 28 in December. means playing on the first line with Panarin and Mika Zibanejad. If the Rangers can get a second-rounder or a legit prospect from a Buchnevich, as long as he doesn’t lapse into those stretches of play contender – and contenders ought to line up for a guy like that in a where he’s not engaged and needs a kick in the wallet from coach David playoff run – Jeff Gorton has to explore it and probably do it. Likewise, Quinn, has the skills to make a lot of offensive noise with those two Vlad Namestnikov and Ryan Strome might be players in whom playmakers. And I think it’s imperative for Buchnevich to get a bit more contending teams would have interest in February. No reason to not hungry for shots and a little less pass-happy playing with those guys. trade them if the return warrants and especially with the Rangers having I’ll add this, because he’s in a similar boat with Buchnevich, being a kid more youth on the way. with skill who experienced tough love from Quinn and responded in the Revisited: This was another “bold” prediction whose time has yet to second half next season: Tony DeAngelo will become a legit NHL come. Fast and Strome should still have value at the deadline defenseman, especially with less shutdown responsibility this season and (Namestnikov was dished to Ottawa to make room both on the roster and more skill all around him. on the cap). I think the Rangers would love to keep Strome, who has Revisited: Based on his end-of-season performance last year, I thought gotten better and better since he arrived (and has developed an on-ice Buchnevich would be primed to take another step on the first line (which chemistry with Panarin). didn’t last long together). I thought those inconsistencies would They would love to keep Fast, too, but owe it to the rebuild to explore the disappear, or at least be rare. They have not. market with him. If the return isn’t great, they can probably re-sign him So Buchnevich still makes his way up and down the lineup and still reasonably. He remains a valuable player for them, a Swedish-army knife makes the coach scratch his head. When he’s engaged, he’s very good. who can play up and down the lineup. When he’s not, he’s not. That said, his opportunity is not dead. The 9. Remember, he’s just a kid … Rangers need and want him to succeed, need and want him to produce. So he’ll continue to get chances. Filip Chytil will figure it out. Yes, he failed to grasp the opportunity to be the No. 2 center during training camp and preseason. Lately, Buchnevich has been miles better and has competed better within games. But he still has the tendency to both over-pass the puck when the He’s 20, coachable, big and skilled. He might even end up in Hartford as shot is there for him to take and turn it over in those most critical areas soon as Monday (I doubt it, personally), and he likely will start the season around the blue lines or in the neutral zone. as a winger (that could change quickly, too).

DeAngelo, meanwhile, has shed most of his inconsistency to become a The Rangers still see him as a center and it would behoove them to do legit NHL player and point producer. He needs fewer kicks from the whatever work is needed to make him that. Again, it’s not playoffs-or-bust coach (not literal kicks). He’s going to be an interesting decision for the in ’19-20. It’s about more development. Rangers after his one-year contract ends and he has arbitration rights – all of which could lead him to a different uniform next season. But he is at Revisited: Nothing has changed here, either – other than Chytil coming this point a very legitimate NHL player. back from Hartford having done his work down there and looking like a different player. Yes, his offensive production hasn’t been great yet, and 7. The trade deadline selloffs continue comes in streaks. But you can see the skill and the drive now, the strength and the skating. You can see that this 20-year-old has a chance Chris Kreider will have a big season in a lesser role – playing with two to be a legit No. 2 center at some point. skilled players, likely Kakko and the Rangers hope eventually Filip Chytil at center. He remains coachable. But he needs to come to camp better prepared mentally next season. Again, he’ll figure it out. But … and we’ve been saying this for a long time now … there’s almost no chance that Kreider will be a Ranger after the trade deadline. 10. Captain Z takes the torch

He’s going to get the going rate for that type of player – Kevin Hayes type Mika Zibanejad will be named captain. money of $7 million plus a year for seven years – as an unrestricted free agent. That’s too rich for the Rangers, who would love to keep him. The The Rangers haven’t had a captain since Ryan McDonagh was traded to Rangers are going to be hard against the salary cap next season Tampa Bay at the 2018 deadline (they also traded his predecessor, Ryan because it’s the one huge year of dead cap space ($6.083 million) due to Callahan, to Tampa Bay at the ’14 deadline). the Kevin Shattenkirk buyout. They’re not going to be able to afford It’s time for a captain, and as Quinn has said, captains usually pick Kreider next year and are not willing to go seven years anyway. themselves.

I repeat. They’d love to keep him and have him around helping the kids, Well, Zibanejad has picked himself and has become a wonderful asset in being a role model and a productive player. But it will be very unlikely terms of taking young players under his wing — Kakko and Lias they can. So it will be a third straight deadline selloff. Kreider ought to Andersson to name two. In my view, it’s a matter of when, not if. I think bring a first-rounder plus, especially if he has a good season to that point. that could happen before opening night or as part of the ceremonies Revisited: This prediction can’t be right or wrong because, well, it can’t before Thursday’s Game 1 at the Garden. come true or come to pass until around the trade deadline (Feb. 24). Revisited: I am not privy to the reasons, but the Rangers are still without Not much has changed. The Rangers would still love to keep Kreider and a captain, which is fine. Zibanejad is clearly one of their leaders, if not still are very, very unlikely to be able to do so. And so he’s almost their leader (after Lundqvist). He is clearly one of their most important – if certainly going to be in the next wave of deadline selloffs. Because of the not their most important – players and their most complete player, used Panarin and Trouba signings and the Kevin Shattenkirk buyout, the in every situation in every game. Rangers are going to be up against the cap going into next season. They Like Kreider, Zibanejad is an important veteran voice around the many will get relief after that, but there’s not nearly enough room to give youngsters (the Rangers have used eight players 21 or under this Kreider a significant bump. And though I think he’s done a lot of things season) and though he has established himself as a No. 1 center, he still well and been mostly a good player this season, his offensive production is underrated around the league. is down. Last season, he was on pace for 40 goals in the first half and he’s not close to that pace this year. He’s just not the captain. Yet.

I’m going to repeat that he’s been absolutely great with the young players And just a couple of extras: during the season and spectacular with them in their offseason work in The Rangers will be competitive, will play hard, will be reasonably close to a playoff spot around the deadline, but will ultimately fall short. And … fans will blame Lindy Ruff and Marc Staal for everything including the weather. That’s like a tap-in.

Revisited: The Rangers are competitive (most nights), do play hard (most nights), and are reasonably close to a playoff spot. I still think they’ll fall short, especially if they sell again at the deadline. They lack defense- minded forwards, they are breaking in three 21-year-old defensemen (with more to come, though don’t expect some of those to step right into the NHL without playing in Hartford), and as stated previously, they lack a true first/shutdown pair. Some nights they play well enough defensively, but don’t spend enough time in the offensive end of the ice. If any group is asked to play in its own end as much as the Rangers have, it will be difficult to defend and therefore difficult to win. It will continue to be a bumpy final 46 games.

And as I said, it was a tap-in that everything is Lindy Ruff’s fault and Marc Staal’s fault, at least in some circles (most of those involving social media). By the way, Staal has been quite competent on defense since his return from ankle-infection surgery. Playing on a second pair – whereas last season he was asked to play shutdown assignments –suits his game. I still think he’ll be elsewhere when opening night arrives next season.

The Athletic LOADED: 12.27.2019

1167959 Ottawa Senators chants echoing around the Canadian Tire Centre, he’s only one shy of his career high.

While Pageau would secure a solid trade return as a third-line centre on Awaiting Hainsey's return ... and the flurry of trades in the new year a playoff contender, there isn’t another centre currently ready to take on front-line responsibilities here. There have yet to be any discussions on a contract extension.

Ken Warren It’s still possible that Logan Brown and White could eventually serve as a 1-2 punch at centre, but they’re not ready yet. Against Nashville last

week, Brown and White were serving as fourth-line wingers alongside As the Ottawa Senators returned from their brief Christmas break J.C. Beaudin. Brown could be shipped back to Belleville at any moment. Thursday afternoon, the immediate question was if and when they would On defence, DeMelo’s recent absence due to a hand injury has served to receive some help for their beat-up blueline. illustrate how valuable he is as a steadying influence. It’s possible that Ron Hainsey could be back from the lower-body injury In a year or two, the Senators are hoping to insert Jacob Bernard-Docker he suffered Dec. 19 against Nashville on Sunday when the slumping and Lassi Thomson into an equation that will include Chabot and Erik New Jersey Devils come to town. Brannstrom, but would that group need to be helped by a veteran like A Hainsey return would take some necessary heat off Thomas Chabot, DeMelo? And will a decision on DeMelo also play a role in what happens who has carried too much of a load in the absence of veterans Nikita with fellow pending unrestricted free agent Mark Borowiecki? Zaitsev and Dylan DeMelo. While Belleville call-ups Andreas Englund Brannstrom’s early season struggles provide an example that you can’t and Max Lajoie tried to fill the void before the holiday hiatus, Chabot piled rush young defencemen. up consecutive games in excess of 31 minutes. Lajoie was re-assigned to Belleville after Monday’s 3-1 win over Buffalo. Developing goaltenders usually takes time, as well.

“We need to get healthy certainly on the back end, we’re giving up too Only last week, six-and-a-half years after he was drafted by the much,” Senators coach D.J. Smith said after the victory over the Sabres. Senators, did Marcus Hogberg secure his first NHL win. “But in saying that, the guys that have filled in have done a nice job.” With Hogberg owning an NHL contract for next season, the Senators are During the course of the next two months, however, there are far more grooming him to serve as Anders Nilsson’s backup next season. significant bigger-picture questions about what steps the organization will take in moving the rebuilding project to its next phase. Which, of course, means that Craig Anderson’s days in the Senators net are drawing to a close. After the hectic, road-heavy opening 12 weeks of the season, the Senators have reason to be relatively pleased with the foundation Smith The better Anderson plays in the next month, and he was sharp in has put into place. making 41 saves Monday against Buffalo, the better the trade return will be for Dorion if and when a team comes calling for an experienced Without question, the club is more determined, more focused on backup in the run to the playoffs. necessary defensive details. The Senators have delivered a few forgettable outings along the way, but generally they’ve hung around in You don’t need 2020 vision to see that trades will be coming soon. most games, and are more competitive and defensively detailed than Ottawa Sun LOADED: 12.27.2019 many observers might have expected at the outset.

“Certainly the start (of the season) wasn’t what we wanted,” Smith said of the 1-6-1 stumble out of the gate. “If we work hard, we stay in games. We’ve had some timely goals of late. We’ve played well at home, but we’ve got to continue this after the break and take care of home ice.”

In one sense, it has been almost a perfect scenario: winning enough to prevent doom and gloom from setting in, but also losing enough to maintain hope of securing a top-flight potential game-breaker in next summer’s draft.

Maybe even too good for those concerned that too many victories will reduce the Senators’ chances of hitting the jackpot in the draft lottery. With their solid pre-Christmas run, the Senators have jumped into a tie for 26th in the overall standings. The Senators also own the San Jose Sharks’ first pick and San Jose is two points behind the Senators, offering the potential of securing two top-five selections.

Those are tomorrow’s prospects. As for the development of the existing youthful core, Brady Tkachuk is gradually adding more elements to his game, showcasing the talent and competitive spirit that should make him the club’s next captain.

Taking a flyer by trading for Anthony Duclair last spring and signing him in the summer has provided a necessary spark of offence. With 44 games remaining, he has already set a career high for goals scored.

Letting Drake Batherson, Rudolfs Balcers and Alex Formenton marinate in Belleville, fine-tuning the details of their games in the American Hockey League, has made sense.

Now comes the tricky dance for general manager Pierre Dorion. He has to determine how many of his older players he needs to keep in order to bridge the gap as that younger core continues to develop.

What happens with Jean-Gabriel Pageau? After a solid start, a phenomenal November and a steady December, he has evolved all the way from fourth-line centre under Smith — at one point playing behind Colin White, Artem Anisimov and Chris Tierney — into a first-line pivot. With 19 goals, including a pair Monday that had the “Pageau, Pageau” 1167960 Ottawa Senators “I think one of my biggest strengths is my skating, so I expect my game will translate really well on the big ice,” he said. “I’m comfortable playing on the big ice. It will help, not hurt, my game.”

Senators prospects Shane Pinto and Jacob Bernard-Docker have begun And when Canada constructed its pairings for the tournament, it decided writing first chapter in shared story against using Bernard-Docker in an offensive role and instead placed him on the team’s top pairing alongside hulking defenceman Kevin Bahl. Early, Bernard-Docker and Bahl were pegged to play shutdown minutes against the opposing team’s best players. By Scott Wheeler Dec 26, 2019 Pinto had to earn his spot. He didn’t play at under-17 or under-18 worlds

for Team USA. He wasn’t a member of the national development OSTRAVA, Czech Republic — They looked at each other off the opening program. And when he represented the Americans at the World Junior A draw, they said a few words, and then Shane Pinto and Jacob Bernard- Challenge last year, he picked up just two points in six games. Docker had different countries to play for. For a long time, North Dakota staff, Pinto himself, his parents and his Friends become foes. Teammates become enemies. When it’s all over, agent all felt like two years in the USHL — instead of the one he ended one usually goes back to college, or to junior hockey, with the biggest up playing — was probably the better, slower path for his development. heartbreak of his young life. The other sometimes returns with a gold That began to change in the second half of last season after a move from medal, bragging rights and an experience that might never be matched. the USHL’s Lincoln Stars to the Tri-City Storm. It’s one of the best recurring traditions within one of hockey’s best “I always thought I was a good player; I just had to be out in the right traditions. And on a Thursday night in Ostravar Arena, Pinto and situation. And I was in a good situation in Lincoln, but Tri-City catapulted Bernard-Docker began writing one of those chapters. The former played me,” Pinto said. for Team USA. The latter played for Team Canada. And their connection isn’t just one layer of friends-to-enemies deep. He posted 59 points in 56 games split between the two clubs, good for sixth among under-19 USHL players in scoring and a nod on the league’s Not only do they play for the same North Dakota Fighting Hawks team, all-rookie team. but they’re also both Ottawa Senators prospects. “He just took such big steps from the start of the year to the end of the On Boxing Day, the authoring of their new chapter couldn’t have played year that he showed he was a real good player in that league, and that out in more dramatic fashion. translates to being able to come in and be a good college player,” North It was Pinto who opened the scoring with a tip in the slot to give the Dakota associate head coach Dane Jackson said. Americans a 1-0 lead. “That decision was made because of his solid development last year. We It was Pinto, again, who scored at the buzzer to end the second period, felt that he was absolutely ready, and he has shown that. only to have it called back. Pinto’s play as a freshman has been so strong that his inclusion on Team And it was Pinto, once more, who scored his second second goal of the USA moved from a doubtful to an absolute. He made himself a no- game, a would-be hat trick that made it 4-4 with 3:18 left in the third brainer. Heading into the world juniors, his eight goals in 17 games period. ranked second among all under-20 NCAA forwards to Cole Caufield, and his 14 points ranked sixth. But it was Bernard-Docker’s Canadians who prevailed 6-4, with Pinto as the player of the game for the losing side. Had Pinto’s buzzer-beater “He has played in a top-six role for us right away, and he has been a counted, Canada wouldn’t have scored an empty-netter and a 5-5 game strong two-way player. He has earned everything that he has got,” likely would have gone to overtime. Jackson said. “Shane’s a very good prospect.”

“It was cool (playing against Bernard-Docker). We chirped each other By Boxing Day, he was centering the team’s top line with Islanders throughout the game,” Pinto said when it was done. prospect Oliver Wahlstrom and Leafs prospect Nick Robertson. When the game was done, Team USA head coach Scott Sandelin pointed to “I didn’t even hear a buzzer (on the goal). I had no idea. That buzzer’s Pinto as one of his two standouts — and “not just because he scored.” terrible here. I thought it was a goal, but then the coaches let me know it wasn’t. Whatever. That was awesome. USA and Canada, it lived up the “He had a pretty good first half in college, you know. He gained a lot of hype tonight.” confidence from his first half, and I think that shows,” Sandelin said when asked about Pinto’s prior omissions from Team USA. “That’s a big first It’s quite possible they’ll spend the rest of their careers playing for the step, and we put him in a pretty prominent role on the power play and on same team. But for the next two weeks, they won’t. the top line. I think he has earned that. He’s a big body who is pretty good on faceoffs, and he can play in different situations.” And while their roads out of Ostrava and into the NHL will be similar, the ones they traveled to get here are not. On the other side of the ice, Jackson envisioned Bernard-Docker playing a big role for Canada — and he was right. For the guys in red, Bernard- Bernard-Docker was always going to make Team Canada. That was true Docker logged 19:06 across a team-leading 34 shifts. at the beginning of the season. And it was true when Hockey Canada’s selection camp began in Etobicoke, Ontario, a couple of weeks ago. “He was solid. He was real solid. He blocked shots, he played hard and he made some good outlets to get us going the other way,” Team “You talk about a player that has taken steps and evolved — he is a Canada head coach Dale Hunter said. young guy who plays a complete game. He’s very, very reliable. He’ll be a good complement,” head scout Brad McEwen said on the opening day After an impressive freshman year last season, he entered the of camp. “You look at our back end, we believe that we have real good tournament as a go-to defender for college hockey’s top-ranked team, puck-movers and guys that get up ice, and he’s that complement guy that with 14 points of his own through 17 games (first among all under-20 can make sure that things are kept clean around his own zone. You look defencemen). at his team, they’re third in the country, and he has been a big part of it.” “He’s a solid defender and a good puck-mover. I would say there’s a lot When manager Mark Hunter talked about his defence ahead of the more substance than flash to his game, especially as a righty. It’s harder tournament, he talked about a group that largely plays the same, up- to find right-handed shots who can do a lot of things,” Jackson said. “He tempo style. When he talked about Bernard-Docker, he talked about penalty-kills for us, he plays a lot of five-on-five minutes and he plays the something different. power play. He can play multiple types of rolls as well, which should help Team Canada.” “He looks like a man on the ice already, and he’s got skill,” Hunter said. “He’s a big body that has skill, he can shoot a puck and he’s an Last year, despite a strong freshman showing, hockey fell hard for impressive young man.” Bernard-Docker in the early going. He said he didn’t get truly comfortable until after Christmas. By then, he’d been cut from the 2019 iteration of When Bernard-Docker talked about himself before the tournament, he didn’t talk like a player who felt he was on the bubble, either. Team Canada’s world juniors team. He concedes the jump from playing Bernard-Docker wasn’t going to act like he was surprised Pinto nearly second-tier junior hockey in the AJHL to the NCAA was challenging. had a hat trick. Rivals are rivals, but credit was due.

After getting cut by Team Canada last year, Bernard-Docker returned to “He had a really strong game, and I expected nothing less. It’s pretty fun North Dakota intent on changing that this time around. to be on the other side for once. It’s something we’ll look back on and really remember when we’re older,” Bernard-Docker said. “Some guys are 24 years old in college. At the start, it was definitely tough in the corners. Going through it last year and getting cut was a They would both welcome another chapter in the saga, with more than tough feeling, so I made sure I came back more prepared this time,” round-robin placement on the line. Bernard-Docker said. “It’s something that you don’t forget. I took it into the summer and put it towards my training. I wanted to make sure with “I just said goodbye to him after and good luck the rest of the way,” Pinto my start this year that I made it the second time around. Playing against said. “We’ll probably see each other again soon, I’m pretty sure.” those bigger guys will help me in a tournament like this.” The Athletic LOADED: 12.27.2019 His coaches, for Canada and North Dakota, took notice of the leap forward that followed.

“When you watch Jacob play, you can see that he’s got a good stick, he can shoot it, he can skate, but it’s just the confidence level that has taken off, both defensively in closing gaps and also holding on to pucks longer to make plays,” Jackson said. “He’s now known as a good player in the league, and he can just play. His approach has taken a huge step in terms of how assertive he is on the ice.”

Off the ice, Jackson noticed a player who’d transformed from an inexperienced kid to someone who played — and acted — closer to a professional. According to Jackson, he’s one of the rare players who comes to the rink with a purpose, rather than with an attitude that waits to see where the day takes him. He’s the player who uses each day to build a different facet of his game.

“I would definitely say he’s got a maturity beyond his years. On the other side, though, while he’s a really sharp young guy, he’s also just one of the guys who fits in. He’s got no big wheel to his game at all; he’s just part of the team, and you would never really know that he’s a first- rounder,” Jackson said.

There’s a little bit of Bernard-Docker in Pinto, too. In their approach, they’re a lot alike.

“He does a lot of things well. I would liken him to JBD in that he has a strong stick and good sense. He’s also got a great two-way game, he’s good in the dot, he checks and works hard, and he’s a strong body who protects pucks. But he can really shoot it, too,” Jackson said. “There’s a lot of substance there that translates to him being able to play at the next level. We’ve been really happy with his overall game.”

Were it not for back-to-back injury-plagued seasons, a third North Dakota Fighting Hawks and Ottawa Senators prospect, Jonny Tychonick, might have also challenged for a spot on Team Canada. Tychonick and Bernard-Docker, who live together in a duplex, have taken Pinto under their wings since Ottawa’s development camp.

“We get along really well — our personalities mesh. He’s a great player, too, just so poised on the ice,” Pinto said of Bernard-Docker. “As a freshman, you look up to the sophomores because they just went through the freshman experience. He has definitely guided me along the way.”

Together, the trio represents bright lights for the rebuilding Senators.

“We’ve become really good buddies,” Bernard-Docker said. “Hopefully one day we can play pro hockey together one day.”

Jackson called the trio basically inseparable and said he often finds them doing extra skills work together, hanging out in the team lounge or battling it out in pingpong.

“They’re real close. They do stuff together and spend extra time. They’ve got a bond and a closeness, for sure. They enjoy each other’s company,” Jackson said. “They get along really well. It would be a pretty neat dynamic to be able to play in college together and then play pro together.”

Though Bernard-Docker and Pinto share a goal of winning an NCAA championship or Stanley Cup together, only one can come away with a gold medal.

No matter what happens, both will try to remember the best parts of the ride.

“It’s been a crazy year; 2019 has surprised me,” Pinto said. “But through hard work and just believing in myself, that’s what happens. There’s more to come. I’m going to keep getting better.” 1167961 Philadelphia Flyers “The way they handle the bench and the lines and the team, there’s a lot of respect [for them] there,” Couturier said.

‘It’s three hockey guys’ The Flyers’ French Connection: ‘We’re hockey people first’ Besides speaking French, having good-natured personalities, and trying to help mold the much-improved Flyers into Stanley Cup contenders, Vigneault, Therrien, and Laperriere are all connected to Montreal. by Sam Carchidi, Laperriere and Therrien were born and raised there; Therrien and Vigneault have been head coaches there.

Coach Alain Vigneault gave standout center Sean Couturier, of all “The fact that we’re all three from Quebec is really a coincidence,” people, a curse-filled thrashing during a recent team meeting, but since Vigneault said. “Really, it’s three hockey guys. You’ve got Lappy, who is the words were spoken in French, only a handful of Flyers understood an unbelievable former player to have around, a guy who played the what he was saying. game the right way. He played hard, he played through injury, and he was a team-first guy. I kept him on the staff that was here already. It’s a When the meeting ended and everyone left the room, the English- great fit with both Mikes [Yeo and Therrien], and Dilly handling the speaking players had their curiosity piqued. goaltenders. It makes for a great staff.” “Guys are coming up to me and wondering what that was all about and Laperriere, 45, wasn’t familiar with Vigneault or Therrien on a personal what exactly he said to me,” said Couturier, who speaks French and level until this year. On the other hand, Vigneault, 58, and Therrien, 56, English fluently. “I just told them I had a bad turnover and got called out go back a long way. for it and that he told me to try to make the play next time.” “I never knew them,” Laperriere said. “I knew of them, and I think they Couturier smiled. He kept the coach’s salty language, and some of his knew of me, but I had no relationship with those guys. Obviously they’re other criticism, to himself. older than me. They coached against me when I played junior, and they “That’s not all he said,” Couturier added. “At the time, it was kind of coached against me when I played pro, but there was no connection.” embarrassing, but looking back on it, it was a lot of laughs.” Laperriere likes all the French conversations he’s had with his fellow Vigneault, known by most around hockey as “AV,” said he figured the coaches this season. players eventually would ask Couturier what he had said. Flyers head coach Alain Vigneault (right) watches his team take on the “So I get a double [hit] on it,” he said. “He knows, and then the rest of Detroit Red Wings with assistants Michel Therrien (center) and Ian the team knows. So when everyone needs to understand something, it’s Laperriere (left) last month. a pretty good way to get the point across.” Flyers head coach Alain Vigneault (right) watches his team take on the Better understanding Detroit Red Wings with assistants Michel Therrien (center) and Ian Laperriere (left) last month. When talking to the entire team, Vigneault usually speaks in English. The same goes for the other French-Canadian coaches on his staff, Michel “For me, personally, nothing gets lost in translation,” he said. “When I do Therrien and Ian Laperriere. say something in French, it’s pretty much the way I’m thinking. But I think the biggest thing with AV is the experience he brings. It doesn’t matter if But when they are one-on-one with a fellow French-Canadian — such as it’s English, French, or Chinese, it’s just the experience of coaching 1,300 Couturier, Claude Giroux, or Nic Aube-Kubel — they like to speak in games that he brings into this room, and that’s why I think he makes a French. big difference. I know we’re all French guys, but we’re hockey people first and French people after that.” “I’ve found through the years they have a tendency to understand better in their native tongue,” Vigneault said. “Obviously, French is my first Reaching out to a friend language. I can probably pick and choose my words a little better in French.” When Vigneault decided to get back into coaching, he was living near Therrien in South Florida. Therrien was the first person he called, asking Vigneault is the leader of the Flyers’ French Connection of coaches. The him whether he would join his staff when, or if, he got another head- Flyers have had a few French Connection lines in their history — Andre coaching job. Lacroix centering Jean-Guy Gendron and Simon Nolet during the team’s early seasons, Simon Gagne with Giroux and Laperriere (briefly) in 2009, Therrien has had two head-coaching stints with the Canadiens and Danny Briere with Couturier and Gagne in 2013 — but never on their sandwiched around a stretch with Pittsburgh. coaching staff. “I’ve known Mike since before my first year with the Habs,” said Flyers head coach Alain Vigneault (right) confers with assistant Michel Vigneault, referring to his time coaching Montreal. He usually refers to Therrien during a scoring video review against the Buffalo Sabres earlier Therrien by his English name instead of the French version, Michel. this month. “When we coached against each other in junior, he had beaten me in the Flyers head coach Alain Vigneault (right) confers with assistant Michel finals and had won the Memorial Cup. And when I got hired by the Habs, Therrien during a scoring video review against the Buffalo Sabres earlier I told Reggie [Houle], our general manager, ‘If you’re looking for a good this month. coach to coach our minor-league farm team, I think Michel will do a good job for you.’ ” The staff also includes three English-speaking assistants: Mike Yeo, Kim “Dilly” Dillabaugh, and Adam Patterson, who handles video duties. “He makes guys comfortable. But when it comes down to [getting serious], he’s also capable of switching around and getting down to “You know what? They’re starting to pick up some French,” said business.” Vigneault, who sometimes ends his news conferences with an upbeat merci beaucoup. “A lot of the words are the same. And the swear words Sean Couturier on Flyers head coach Alain Vignaeult in French are easy” to learn. Therrien coached the Quebec Citadelles, the Canadiens’ AHL affiliate, “I think they know the swear words,” Therrien agreed. “Especially Yeo-sy. for parts of two seasons. Ironically, he replaced the man who He’s been surrounded by French coaches before. Maybe they’re not recommended him for the job. When Vigneault was fired early in the going to speak them, but I know they understand them. 2000-01 season, Therrien was named the Canadiens’ head coach.

“We try to be respectful when they’re around, and we speak English so Through the years, they have remained close and are able to confide in they are a part of our conversation,” he added. one another.

Vigneault, Therien, and Yeo have been NHL head coaches. That has “First and foremost, I love his hockey mind; he’s got a great hockey mind, contributed to the team’s 21-11-5 record at the Christmas break. and our friendship has evolved though the years,” Vigneault said. “When I was thinking I might get back into coaching, we were having supper one night in Florida, and I asked him if he’d be interested.” When Vigneault got the Flyers’ job, Therrien was ready to return after sitting out for two seasons.

“I wanted to go with a group I felt comfortable with and a group that had a chance to win a Stanley Cup,” said Therrien, who also worked with Yeo, his assistant in Pittsburgh and with the Penguins’ AHL team in Wilkes- Barre/Scranton. “For me, it wasn’t just going back to the NHL, because I’ve been there. Like AV, I want to win a Stanley Cup. We’ve been in the game a long time. And the fact I know AV really well and know [Flyers GM] Chuck Fletcher so well, so I knew I would be very comfortable to work with those two guys, and Philly is a great hockey market. For me, it was a no-brainer to join those guys.”

Vigneault, Therrien, and Laperriere have quickly formed a bond, and they mentioned how Yeo, Dillabaugh, and Patterson fit seamlessly.

Vast improvement

A big reason the Flyers are in a playoff spot — they were just 15-17-5 and buried in the standings at a corresponding point last season — is Vigneault.

“Obviously, he’s an experienced coach who knows the game really well,” Couturier said. “I think he knows what to expect from his players and how to prepare us the way he wants us to play. At the same time, he’s not buddy-buddy with guys, but he’s honest in a cool way. He makes guys comfortable. But when it comes down to [getting serious], he’s also capable of switching around and getting down to business.”

Vigneault, the 12th-winningest coach in NHL history — he should move into the top 10 before the end of the season — is a jokester with his fellow coaches. And with reporters. A fan of fancy clothing, he admired a reporter’s striped shirt last week, starting his news briefing with: “Even a French guy would wear that.”

“And you know what, Hak was like that, too,” said Laperriere, referring to former coach Dave Hakstol, who was mostly stoic with the media and behind the bench. “I know he didn’t portray that and didn’t do that with you guys [the media], but he did that with us and was always loose, and Chief [former heach coach Craig Berube], too. They’re just all different personalities.

“But, again, AV has seen it all. He knows how to deal with people. Everybody,” Laperriere added. “When you coach that long in the NHL, there’s nothing he hasn’t seen yet, and that’s why he can be relaxed. But when it’s game time, go time, there’s a switch that goes on, and personally I love the way he is.”

Alain Vigneault during Flyers preseason practice in September.

Laperriere hopes to become a head coach some day. If it happens, he will use Vigneault as his role model.

“I’m learning a lot from AV and his demeanor, his swagger. Call it what you want, the way he is around us and the way he is around the players,” Laperriere said. “It’s something I really appreciate seeing from him. His preparation is unbelievable. You can go back to this summer. Have you seen us on the [white] board yet explaining a drill? We haven’t, because everything is ready before we go out on the ice. The guys know [what they’re doing] and we go, go, go.

“If I ever run my own team, I’m going to take a lot of what he’s teaching right now. It’s not him telling me what to do; it’s more like me watching and learning.”

And sometimes listening to some cursing in French.

Philadelphia Inquirer / Daily News LOADED: 12.27.2019 1167962 Philadelphia Flyers Giroux is in the top-5 in Flyers history in games played, points and assists. He’s been an All-Star six times and the team’s MVP five times. The reason the Flyers haven’t had any playoff success in his tenure isn’t his fault. But that doesn’t make those long summers any less grinding, Flyers’ captain Claude Giroux playing for his legacy especially when he sees a team like the St. Louis Blues go from last place in January to a Stanley Cup parade in June.

Perhaps that’s why he was so blunt with Vigneault. by Ed Barkowitz “He’s coached a lot of great teams and we have a lot of trust in him,”

Giroux said. “He’s very organized. When the game starts, we know what Flyers forward James van Riemsdyk was in a locker room in Ottawa last we have to do.” weekend trying to explain what makes Claude Giroux tick as a leader. Once a week, Giroux will make a highlight-reel play, whether it’s a pass “It’s hard to pinpoint one specific thing, but you can tell there are certain from his knees or a stick-handling move that undresses a defender. But people that when you’re down by a goal or whatever it might be, he he also does the little things that never get on ESPN. He’s a dedicated wants the puck on his stick and he wants to be the guy to make the play," back-checker and is second in the NHL in winning faceoffs. He’s been in JVR said. "That’s the way that he leads. He wants to go out there and the top five in that stat in five of the last six seasons. show it in those big moments.” “I can’t imagine it’s easy [being captain]. First and foremost, you want to Before dismissing this as simple platitudes spoken by one teammate have your game in a good place. But then there are certain things like about another, let’s add some context from a few months ago. having a good feel on the pulse of the team and having the interaction with coaches and management. There are lots of different balls you have The Flyers hired Alain Vigneault in April, a week or so after another lost to juggle as the captain. And then you have younger guys coming in and season. They pulled the plug on the Dave Hakstol experiment four their eyes are all on you to be the example for what it takes to be a months earlier. The Flyers played better under interim Scott Gordon, but productive player. But he handles that well.” general manager Chuck Fletcher couldn’t resist the chance to bring in a proven NHL coach with a knack for quick turnarounds. -- James Van Riemsdyk on Claude Giroux

Life also was changing for Giroux, who has been a Flyers captain longer “I try not to practice it too much. You don’t want to overthink it. You want than anyone in the last 30 years. Each spring that passes without a to let your instincts take over,” he said. “But you’re going to have games postseason appearance is another lost opportunity. Giroux, who will be where you lose a faceoff, but it hits the [linesman’s] skate and goes to 32 in January, was on the verge of becoming a father for the first time. your side. Or vice-versa. You have nights where faceoffs aren’t going to He’s no longer that feisty little kid who used to live at Danny Briere’s go well. One thing is to not overthink it. But you want to start every play house and horse around with his children. with the puck, for sure.”

Time is slipping away and Giroux, who has two seasons left after this one Giroux wins nearly 61 percent of his faceoffs, which is a fantastic rate on his current contract, is more determined than ever. given that only 12 players are above 55 percent. When the Flyers are shorthanded, Giroux comes away with the puck 67 percent of the time. “When I met him the first time, it was here in Ottawa this past summer, he talked to me about his legacy,” Vigneault said. “He didn’t like his Need a little bit of bulldog in you to win 61 percent of your faceoffs. But it legacy with the Flyers. He wants to make sure he leaves a legacy where also takes help from teammates, which brings us to what’s going on this the team had won.” season.

Most games played/Flyers captains No. The addition of Kevin Hayes and Matt Niskanen, the steady improvement of Travis Konecy and Carter Hart and the energy brought by the rookies 1. Bobby Clarke, 1973-79; 1983-84 610 has Giroux hopeful for the second half. This is the best record (21-11-5) the Flyers have had at Christmas since Giroux became captain, yet it’s 2. Claude Giroux, 2013- 572 still only good for only third place in the loaded Metropolitan Division. 3. Dave Poulin, 1984-90 392 They are 13-2-4 at the Wells Fargo Center, the league’s second-best 4. Eric Lindros, 1995-00 360 home record after Boston.

5. Ed Van Impe, 1968-73 311 “In the past couple of years, it’s always been we need to get hot [after Christmas] to get in," Giroux said. “Obviously, we’re in a better position 6. Mike Richards, 2008-10 242 than the last few years. For us, it’s to just keep going. Every game is 7. Keith Primeau, 2001-06 213 huge for us and we’re having fun doing it.”

The Flyers are in a rut where they haven’t won a playoff series in seven The 21 wins the Flyers have are the most they've had at Christmas in the years, the longest streak in franchise history. Been there three times in eight seasons Claude Giroux has been the team's captain. Giroux’s captaincy, only to lose quickly to the Rangers (2014), Capitals The 21 wins the Flyers have are the most they've had at Christmas in the (2016) and Penguins (2018). Missed them the other four. eight seasons Claude Giroux has been the team's captain.

That 2014 Rangers team was Vigneault’s first in New York. He took them Teammates say that Giroux picks his spots to raise his concerns. all the way to the Cup Finals before losing to Los Angeles. Vigneault also hears the theme song to “60 Minutes” churning up each spring. He is one “He leads by example,” said Jake Voracek, who has played more than of only two head coaches in the top 14 in postseason wins never to lift 600 games with Giroux. " I think if things do not go well, he’s the first to hockey’s holy chalice. Pat Quinn is the other. admit it. He’s real hard on himself and that sets an example for the other guys to never be too satisfied with yourself. “[Giroux] and I hit it off right away by him telling me that he wants to win and that he will do whatever it takes to win," Vigneault said. “Right off the “He doesn’t have much patience. He’s always trying to find a solution as hop, he was very open -- maybe because my track record is missing the soon as possible. If things go wrong, he’s pissed at himself. He’s visibly Stanley Cup.” pissed and upset with himself that he could be better. That’s what makes him a great hockey player. He’s never satisfied.” Mike Richards was the captain when the Flyers went to the Finals in 2010. Giroux, had 21 points in 23 postseason games. He was 22 years » Claude Giroux stats | player page old. Surely there would be other deep postseason runs. Instead, tick, tick, Last season, the Flyers were 29th out of 31 in goals against per team. tick. They used eight goalies and some of their talented young defensemen Claude Giroux (left) and Travis Sanheim celebrate the first of Sanheim's regressed. This season, they are 9th in team defense. But neither the 21 two goals Monday night as the Flyers won their fourth consecutive game. wins nor the improvement on the blueline are the headline from the first half of the season. Claude Giroux (left) and Travis Sanheim celebrate the first of Sanheim's two goals Monday night as the Flyers won their fourth consecutive game. Injuries are part of the game. Cancer is not. Or at least it’s not supposed to be.

Giroux’s voice cracks when he talks about Oskar Lindblom, his 23-year- old teammate who’s season ended when he was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma. In the first home game following Lindblom’s diagnosis, Giroux said the team’s victory and "every win for the rest of the season is going to be for him.”

When you are the captain of the team, personal reflection in difficult times often takes a back seat to the needs of the locker room. The Flyers have had six players make their NHL debuts this season (tied with Columbus for most in the NHL). There are youngsters on this team who had trouble digesting the news of what was happening to their teammate.

“They were obviously devastated when we heard about Oskar,” Vigneault said. “G was one of the first guys to bring everybody together. He was right there with Oskar that first night when we found out about it. I’ve got noting but respect for Claude Giroux. He’s a good leader. He’s what Philly should want and -- in my mind -- what it needs.”

10 questions with Claude Giroux

What’s Christmas going to be like?

Well, it’s going to be good to have a little time off and let the body recover. And then go right back at it after Christmas.

How about at home?

It’s going to be a big Christmas for our son (Gavin). I don’t know if he’s going to remember it, but we are. Taking pictures and videos, it’s going to be fun for sure.

Is Gavin named after anyone?

No. We just decided we liked the name.

More than any sport, an NHL locker room has players from all around the world with all different backgrounds. Does that make it difficult to jell?

It doesn’t matter where you’re from, guys all get on the same page. It doesn’t matter where you’re from, sometimes your best friend could be Swedish or your best friend could be American. It’s just how things are.

Who’s your best friend?

I don’t know. I don’t know. It would be hard to pick just one. I’m close with a few guys.

It’s natural to think that you’d be closest with Jake Voracek and Sean Couturier since you’ve been teammates with them the longest. Is that the case?

When you play a lot of years with the same person, I think you have a relationship that you just build on. Jake and Coots, obviously, they’ve been here a long time.

What’s the hardest part of being an NHL captain?

I don’t know. To be honest, whether you’re the captain, the assistant captain or you don’t have a letter, if you’re a leader, you’re just going to lead. The best thing you can do as a leader is be yourself.

Who do you go to during trying times?

In the past, I’ve had a lot of conversations with (Paul Holmgren). We talked a lot. You always have the coaches and you have your teammates. Your teammates are always there for you – Coots, Jake, guys who have been here a long time. You talk to them a lot.

Who were your mentors?

I lived with Danny. He was able to help me with a lot of things. Sometimes it’s not really a conversation, it’s just looking at what they’re doing and how [they’re handling] stuff.

What are you looking forward to the most during Christmas week?

When you go home and you have a baby son in the room, it changes a lot of things. The perspective of it. It’s been a lot of fun this year. I’m very excited for (the future).

Philadelphia Inquirer / Daily News LOADED: 12.27.2019 1167963 Philadelphia Flyers Ivan Provorov, who was battling the flu, lost the puck in the Flyers’ offensive end and it led to a two-on-one for the Rangers. Hart stopped Brady Skjei, but Skjei gathered his own rebound and fed Jesper Fast, who beat Hart with a one-timer from the slot to give the Rangers a 1-0 Kevin Hayes, Travis Sanheim help Flyers whip Rangers, 5-1, for 4th lead with 13:16 left in the second period. straight win It was the Rangers’ eighth shorthanded goal, tops in the NHL.

In a scoreless first period, the Flyers killed a two-man advantage that by Sam Carchidi, lasted 1:04. During that power play, Sean Couturier saved a goal by blocking Buchnevich’s point-blank chance with Hart out of position and

the Rangers right winger staring at an open net. The Flyers will go into their holiday break feeling good about themselves. Vigneault faced the Rangers for the first time since they fired him after They won their fourth straight game Monday, getting two goals from the 2017-18 season. Kevin Hayes and Travis Sanheim and strong goaltending from Carter Earlier in the day, he called coaching in New York a “special time in my Hart as they defeated the New York Rangers, 5-1, at the roaring Wells life, and this is going to be a special game.” Fells Fargo Center. Hayes, Sanheim, and Hart made it extra special. With 12 minutes, 29 seconds left in regulation, Hayes scored on a left- circle blast in his first game against his former team, snapping a 1-all tie. Philadelphia Inquirer / Daily News LOADED: 12.27.2019 The goal was scored after Hart made a big save on Artemi Panarin down the other end.

Sanheim, who had the second two-goal game of his career, secured the win by scoring with 4:11 to go. The defenseman took a feed from Sean Couturier, who had been stopped by Henrik Lindqvist but hustled after his own rebound.

Hayes added his second of the night with 2:45 remaining, and Nic Aube- Kubel scored the first goal of his NHL career with 58 seconds to go, giving the Flyers four third-period goals -- and three in the final 4:11.

“We had a lot of shots; the problem was just getting bodies in front,” said rookie Joel Farabee, who set up Hayes’ go-ahead goal. “Once we did that, the goals started to come.”

Hayes, who had his first two-goal performance as a Flyer, said there was a “little bit” of extra motivation to play against his former team, “but we’re [almost] 40 games in. This is the team I concentrate on.”

While Hayes downplayed facing the Blueshirts, his teammates and his coach sensed the game meant a lot to him.

“We all knew he was going to be pretty fired up and ready to go,” Sanheim said.

Coach Alain Vigneault said Hayes “has been wound up about this game for a while.”

Hart finished with 34 saves as the Flyers raised their home record to 13- 2-4. Hart made several key stops when the game was close in the third period, including a glove save on Pavel Buchnevich’s drive from the high slot with 15:58 left. He also got a break when Mika Zibanejad fired a shot off the post with 7:30 to go.

Hart, 21, outdueled Rangers legend Henrik Lundqvist, 37, a likely future Hall of Famer who suffered his fifth straight loss to the Flyers, a team he has faced 60 times in his stellar career. He is 35-18-5 against them with two no-decisions.

The Flyers go into the holiday break with a 21-11-5 record, the 15th time in franchise history they have reached the 21-win mark before Christmas and the first time since 2011-12. They moved past Pittsburgh and Carolina and into third place in the Metro.

The Flyers were outplayed in the second period, but left the ice in a 1-1 tie thanks to Sanheim’s goal with 1.7 seconds left in the session.

“Sanny’s goal was huge and gave us a lot of momentum heading into the third,” Farabee said.

“Lundqvist was playing pretty good and making some big stops, and it was nice to break through,” Sanheim said. “I knew there wasn’t much time left, but I didn’t know there was only one second left. I guess it’s a good thing I shot it.”

With Travis Konecny distracting Lundqvist in front, Sanheim scored on a wrist shot from the high slot for his first goal in 16 games, putting the puck through the goalie’s legs..

“He was patient with it and got off a good shot,” Konecny said.

The Flyers’ power play struggled and even allowed the game’s first goal. 1167964 Philadelphia Flyers — Here's Your Replay ḏ (@HeresYourReplay) December 26, 2019

The 19-year-old went undrafted and Greig is a big reason why he's in the Flyers' prospect pool. Zamula (6-4/170) is a point-per-game player for the Flyers weekly observations: A telling attendance figure, a good problem, WHL's (seven goals, 21 assists in 28 games) and owns a Egor Zamula and more plus-19 rating.

He'll be in the professional picture next season.

By Jordan Hall December 26, 2019 8:25 PM • To finish off December, the Flyers play three teams at the bottom of the Western Conference — Sharks, Ducks and Kings.

Then, the Flyers will get a good test in January when nine of their 11 Thanks to four straight wins, the Flyers went into the NHL-mandated games come against teams currently in a playoff spot. holiday break with plenty of good vibes. Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 12.27.2019 They have the NHL's sixth-most points (47) and sit in third place of the Metropolitan Division (21-11-5).

Now the Flyers will look to build on those positives when they open a six- game road trip Saturday with a matchup against the Sharks (10:30 p.m. ET/NBCSP+).

With some weekly observations, let's take a look at all things Flyers as the break wraps up:

• Monday night's attendance listed on the NHL's official game report was a season-best 19,776 for the Flyers. The atmosphere at the Wells Fargo Center had a playoff feel to it as the Flyers beat the Rangers, 5-1. Fans were loud and engaged from the opening puck drop.

Prior to Monday, just five home games ago, the listed attendance was an eye-opening 15,811 for the Flyers' 6-1 win over the Maple Leafs.

Sure, Monday was the day before Christmas Eve and the Flyers were playing a division rival with some New York fans in the house. But you can sense and see fans starting to buy back in because the on-ice product is building excitement. So many aspects factor into attendance figures — price of tickets, amenities in the arena, the opponent, the day of the week, the time of the year, etc.

Ultimately, though, the players on the ice will dictate fan support. Monday showed why it's improving and how it always steadily does when a team starts to win. The Flyers deserve credit for improving the on-ice product and giving fans a reason to be optimistic and intrigued.

During 2018-19, the Flyers went 19-18-4 in Philly, giving them their fewest home wins over a full season since 2006-07.

At home in 2019-20, the Flyers are 13-2-4, have the NHL's best points percentage (.789), allow the league's fewest goals per game (1.95) and score the second most per game (3.79).

As the season picks up, the Flyers are becoming a fun ticket for a fan base that, understandably, has been frustrated and needs convincing.

• The Flyers have a good problem: lineup decisions on defense.

Considering the injuries they've suffered at forward and what they went through in net last season, the Flyers will be happy to make difficult calls on who to play each night among a competitive crowd of blueliners.

When Philippe Myers sits a game or two as a healthy scratch, it can be a positive. The Flyers haven't had this type of depth on defense in a while.

In 2017-18, Travis Sanheim was in a similar situation as Myers. It did not prove detrimental at all to his development or career.

• The more you see prospect Egor Zamula, the more you tip your cap to Flyers amateur scout Mark Greig.

Zamula, a long, mobile and skilled defenseman, scored two goals in Russia's 4-3 loss to Czech Republic during Day 1 of the 2020 IIHF World Junior Championship.

Yegor Zamula (#LetsGoFlyers) walks around a defender and fires a seeing-eye shot through traffic, beating Dostal (#LetsGoDucks).

Russia is back in this one. #WJC2020 #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/WCPou8VguN

— Tony Ferrari (@theTonyFerrari) December 26, 2019

 Yegor Zamula - 2nd of the game

3-3 pic.twitter.com/pvQ4Y9JZtm 1167965 Philadelphia Flyers Role: In the first pre-tournament game, Brink was on the fourth line playing with Islanders product Jacob Pivonka and Kings winger Arthur Kaliyev. In the second game he was the 13th forward, which was Jay O’Brien’s role last year and saw him with very little ice time. That could A Flyers fan’s guide to the 2020 World Junior Championship change for Brink as the tournament goes on, especially because he has a knack for goal scoring.

Preliminary schedule/results Dave Isaac NHL writer Published 5:11 PM EST Dec 26, 2019

Dec. 26:  4,  6— 1 assist, 12:04 TOI

Flyers prospects Bobby Brink, Adam Ginning, Cam York and Yegor Dec. 27, 1 p.m.:  vs.  Zamula will take part in the 2020 World Junior Championship. Dec. 29, 1 p.m.:  vs.  Just getting to this tournament can do wonders for a player, regardless of what happens next. Just ask Phil Myers. Dec. 30, 1 p.m.:  vs. 

The defenseman was the only undrafted prospect on the roster for Adam Ginning Canada’s 2017 World Junior Championship campaign and it was a rush Adam Ginning, defense, Sweden just to get there. He was coming off hip surgery in the summer but Canada’s brass told him he’d be a big part of their team and they were Age: 19 right. A 19-year-old Myers was on the top pair with Ottawa prospect Thomas Chabot but missed the most important part of the tournament Height/weight: 6-foot-4, 205 pounds when he was concussed on New Year’s Eve by U.S. captain Luke Kunin, Acquired: 2018 second-round pick (50th overall) now with the Minnesota Wild. Role: Ginning was named team captain for Sweden, who many pundits “I was having a good tournament with Chabot and he had a hell of a predict to win Group A. He’s played for the national team several times tournament obviously (Chabot led Canada with 10 points in seven and will log some big minutes for Tre Kronor this year as well. His games),” Myers recalled the other day. “I just remember it being a really physical play is what sets him apart on the roster because his puck skills positive experience for me. It sucks that it ended early and stuff but I aren’t that of offensive savvy blueliners like Victor Söderström or Rasmus think I was playing some pretty good hockey in World Juniors so it was a Sandin. good experience for me.” Preliminary schedule/results It was Myers’ last season in junior hockey, with the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, before he started his pro career with the Lehigh Valley Dec. 26:  3,  2 (OT) — 0 points, 11:46 TOI Phantoms. Dec. 28, 1 p.m.:  vs.  Even though he didn’t finish the tournament on his own terms, getting there in any capacity meant a lot to a Canadian kid who was never even Dec. 29, 9 a.m.:  vs.  drafted. Dec. 31, 9 a.m.:  vs.  “For me it was a tradition,” Myers said of watching the tournament growing up. “I used to watch World Juniors every New Year’s Eve, the Yegor Zamula U.S. game is huge, and just to be part of that experience was a dream for Yegor Zamula, defense, Russia me. Being an undrafted guy, I took a lot of pride in that as well. It was a good experience. I’m glad that I went through it.” Age: 19

Here’s a game-by-game look at the four Flyers prospects who are in this Height/weight: 6-foot-3, 176 pounds year’s tournament. Click here to read last week's prospect report, which features TSN scouting director Craig Button's thoughts on the four. This Acquired: signed as undrafted free agent Sept. 20, 2018 file will be updated as the tournament progresses. Role: Russian coach Valeri Bragin has a knack for stacking his roster Cam York with older players, so it’s no surprise that all the defensemen are 19 like Zamula. The blueline group is led by Montreal Canadiens second-round Cam York, defense, United States pick Alexander Romanov but Zamula isn’t far behind. He looks to start the tournament playing in a second pair role with Anton Malyshev. Age: 18 Preliminary schedule/results Height/weight: 5-foot-11, 174 pounds

Acquired: 2019 first-round pick (14th overall) Dec. 26:  4,  3: 2 goals, 0 assists, 19:50 TOI (RUS player of the game) Role: York was the seventh defenseman in both pre-tournament games for the U.S. but had a tough hill to climb. Two of the defensemen on the Dec. 28: 1 p.m.:  vs.  U.S. roster, Voorhees’ Mattias Samuelsson and Rangers draft pick K’Andre Miller, are returning members from last year’s gold medal squad Dec. 29, 1 p.m.:  vs.  so they were pretty much shoo-ins for big roles. Dec. 31, 9 a.m.:  vs.  Preliminary schedule/results Courier-Post LOADED: 12.27.2019 Dec. 26:  4,  6— 0 points, 2:24 TOI

Dec. 27, 1 p.m.:  vs. 

Dec. 29, 1 p.m.:  vs. 

Dec. 30, 1 p.m.:  vs. 

Bobby Brink

Bobby Brink, right wing, United States

Age: 18

Height/weight: 5-foot-8, 164 pounds

Acquired: 2019 second-round pick (34th overall) 1167966 Pittsburgh Penguins number, including Shero. The pursuit of Jagr was so frustrating, the Penguins ultimately issued a news release announcing they were pulling their offer the day the free-agent signing period began. Shortly after, he signed hated rival Philadelphia Flyers. The Penguins’ most important moments of the 2010’s: Nos. 10 through 6 During the ensuing season, the Flyers largely tormented the Penguins and humiliated them in the first round of the postseason, thanks to contributions from Jagr. SETH RORABAUGH | Thursday, December 26, 2019 5:28 p.m. Still playing in his native Czech Republic, Jagr remains the ex Pittsburgh

never got over. By any measure, the 2010s were a successful decade for the Pittsburgh 7. Penguins win the Stanley Cup — June 11, 2017 Penguins — maybe the most successful in franchise history. Forget two Stanley Cup titles. Having no bankruptcies qualifies as a triumph in the It feels strange to rank something as momentous as winning a “good decade” column for this organization. championship so low, but this list, much like coach Mike Sullivan, gives greater weight to the process than the result. But what were the 10 most important moments of the decade? For an organization that had some ample triumphs as well as setbacks, there Still, the result was something. are plenty of candidates. When forward Carl Hagelin plunked in an empty-net goal with 14 The tabulation of this list was done through a vigorously unscientific seconds left at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, it secured a 2-0 victory approach of sitting on a couch in pajamas and writing names on a yellow against the Predators in Game 6 and put the Penguins in an exclusive legal pad. fraternity of one. They remain the only team to win back-to-back Stanley Cup titles in the salary-cap era. The one criteria stressed above all else is the lasting impact a moment had. So an individual victory or defeat might might not carry the same 6. Penguins win the Stanley Cup — June 12, 2016 weight as, let’s say, a change in general manager. Of course, a team can’t win back-to-back Stanley Cup titles without the Here are moments No. 10 through 6: first time.

10. Penguins swept by Islanders — April 16 Having performed a dramatic in-season retooling of the team, Rutherford turned speed into more of a brand than just a modus operandi for the Chances are, even if the Penguins managed to win this round, personnel 2016 Stanley Cup champions. The Penguins zipped their way around would have changed considerably. Getting swept by a less-talented but any obstacle they faced and, aside from a stiff challenge from the Tampa more-driven Islanders team was the culmination of a mostly Bay Lightning, rarely looked to be in danger of losing a series. underwhelming season for the Penguins in which their talent got them past their various malfunctions from October through April. When they beat the San Jose Sharks, 3-1, in Game 6 at SAP Center in San Jose, they eliminated any notion this group was composed of Regardless, they were humiliated by the sweep, and it prompted general underachievers. manager Jim Rutherford to take a scalpel to his roster by sending veterans Phil Kessel and Olli Maatta away via trades and signing ultra- Tribune Review LOADED: 12.27.2019 competitive forward Brandon Tanev to the longest contract the franchise has issued to an unrestricted free agent.

The 2019-20 Penguins have been far from perfect, but they enter a new decade on a much different trajectory than what the 2018-19 edition took.

9. Fleury leaves — June 21, 2017

It was months in the making, but that didn’t prevent the finality of it being oh-so-sobering when the goaltenderMarc Andre-Fleury joined the Vegas Golden Knights in the expansion draft.

He was the first one. With the franchise still in its post-Jaromir Jagr doldrums, Fleury’s arrival in the summer of 2003 was the first sign of better days. The Penguins became a Stanley Cup contender under his watch and remained one for the decade-plus he wore the jersey.

While his struggles were plentiful, particularly earlier in this decade, Fleury’s affable nature made him such a favorite among fans, his returns to Pittsburgh are akin to a regional holiday.

Goaltender Matt Murray’s ascension made Fleury’s departure a necessity but no less difficult to accept.

8. Jagr signs with the Flyers — July 1, 2011

By this point of his career, Jaromir Jagr was more legend than player. Two decades had passed since the rosy-cheeked teenager with the spectacular mullet helped the Penguins win Stanley Cups.

His departure from Pittsburgh in 2001 was messy and resulted in him being booed anytime he returned with the Capitals or the Rangers. His NHL existence seemingly was over after spending several seasons collecting a bloated tax-free salary in Russia. The notion of Jagr coming back to North America was a pipe dream.

But in the early summer of 2011, #JagrWatch took place. Former general manager Ray Shero, nudged by owner Mario Lemieux, began a public courtship of Jagr, which had heartbroken Penguins fans dreaming of the possibility of a once-beloved athlete coming home.

What followed was a bizarre surveillance of Jagr’s whereabouts that involved everything from amorous turtles on a runway tying up air traffic to agent Petr Svoboda giving a runaround to anyone who dialed his 1167967 Pittsburgh Penguins

Here's how each Penguins player got his number

MATT VENSEL Pittsburgh Post-Gazette DEC 26, 2019 12:45 PM

Why do you wear that number?

The past few weeks, the Post-Gazette went stall to stall in the Penguins locker room, getting puzzled looks while asking each player that simple question.

Many were quick to share their story. Others initially shrugged. Either way, the reason they provided, in many cases, said something about the person inside the jersey, even if it’s that he doesn’t worry about something silly like that.

Most hockey fans have heard why Sidney Crosby has 87 stitched on his sweater, though they may not know that he wore two other numbers as a kid.

Any idea why Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang picked their unique digits?

Some Penguins requested their number because an idol or mentor wore it back in the day. Some just like how it looks. Only a few still wear their childhood number. A surprising number of them had little say in the matter, if any at all.

When the Penguins sign a veteran player or acquire him via trade, he will soon hear from a member of their equipment staff who has a list of available numbers handy. Ditto for a top prospect like Crosby before he arrives in the NHL.

But for a handful of players who had to work their way up the organizational ladder, they learned what number they were wearing in the NHL when they first walked into the Penguins locker room and saw their jersey dangling there.

Even though we chat with these guys often throughout the long NHL season, this exercise taught us something new about many of the 25 players polled.

Like that one of the team’s Big Three nearly picked another number. Or that Matt Murray’s favorite goalie growing up was on the opposite end of the stylistic spectrum. Or that a couple of teammates are jealous of Dominik Simon, who wears 12 only because the Penguins almost had to call up a journeyman goalie.

Each player had a story, some better than others. Here is all of them, in each player’s own words, starting with number 2 and ending with 87.

Post Gazette LOADED: 12.27.2019 1167968 San Jose Sharks

Ex-Shark Jeremy Roenick suspended by NBC for sexual comments about coworkers

By JON BECKER | December 26, 2019 at 1:59 PM

Outspoken NBC hockey analyst Jeremy Roenick, who spent the final two seasons of his 20-year NHL career with the Sharks, was suspended indefinitely without pay by the network for inappropriate comments about coworkers.

Roenick appeared on Barstool Sports’ “Spittin’ Chiclets’ podcast last week and talked about a vacation he and his wife took to Portugal with his NBC coworker Kathryn Tappen. Roenick joked about wanting the three of them to have sex together while they were there.

“I play it off like we’re going to bed together every night, the three of us,” Roenick said. “If it really came to fruition, that would be really good, but it’s never going to happen.”

He then joked about having sex with NBC panelist and former Chicago Blackhawks star Patrick Sharp, saying the former left wing who retired two years ago is “beautiful.”

“I’d have to think about it if he asked me,” said the 49-year-old Roenick, who’s been with NBC since 2010.”I wouldn’t say no right away.”

Tappen, who Roenick also described as “one of the most professional sports personalities I know,” was taken aback by his comments.

“While Jeremy and I continue to be good friends, what he said was unacceptable, especially among workplace colleagues,” Tappen said in a statement. “I do not condone his comments.”

Roenick, who scored his 500th goal while with the Sharks in 2007, has had a history of making inflammatory comments about coworkers. For years, he has ripped former Sharks teammate Patrick Marleau.

Roenick was a nine-time All-Star during his 20 seasons in the NHL, beginning with his eight years with the Blackhawks. He also played with the Coyotes, Flyers and Kings before retiring after playing in 42 games with the Sharks in 2009. In all, Roenick scored 46 points in 111 games with San Jose.

San Jose Mercury News: LOADED: 12.27.2019 1167969 San Jose Sharks MARTIN JONES: His stuggles this season notwithstanding, Jones gets the nod for his postseason work, leading the team to its first and only trip to the Stanley Cup Final in 2016. In 279 regular season games with the Sharks from the start of the 2015-16 season to Dec. 17, Jones has a Sharks All-Decade: Stars, stability define the last 10 years record of 150-100-22 with a .908 save percentage, a 2.60 goals against average and 15 shutouts. Jones finished seventh in Vezina Trophy voting San Jose Sharks’ all-decade team led by Olympians, NHL All Stars in 2016 and sixth in 2017. In 60 playoff games with the Sharks in which he was given the decision, Jones is 32-27, with seven of those losses coming in overtime. His .916 save percentage in the playoffs with the By CURTIS PASHELKA | December 26, 2019 at 7:49 am Sharks is 10th best among all NHL goalies with at least 40 playoff games since the 2011 postseason. He is the only Sharks goalie this decade to

lead the team to two conference finals. The Sharks have made the playoffs eight times since the start of the SECOND TEAM 2010-2011 season. In that time, they’ve won 406 games — sixth most in the NHL — had five different players go to the All-Star Game, two others Forwards win Olympic gold medals and one win a Norris Trophy. TOMAS HERTL: Despite a history of knee problems, Hertl has 270 The Sharks have some obvious candidates for an all-decade team. Still it points in 436 regular season games, sixth-most this decade for the wasn’t easy to pick one. Sharks. Sharks rookie of the year in 2013-14 and co-player of the year in 2018-19 with Burns. Hertl has 42 points in 62 career playoffs games, Which is why we picked two — a first team and a second team. Each has including 24 goals, third most this decade. three forwards (regardless of natural position) and two defensemen (regardless of whether they shot left or right). And a goalie. And a coach. PATRICK MARLEAU: Marleau, aka, ‘Mr. Shark,’ had played 571 regular season games this decade for the Sharks as of Dec. 16. In that time, he FIRST TEAM ranks third with 194 goals, including 124 at even strength, and fifth with Forwards 206 assists and 400 points. Marleau is fifth all-time in NHL history in games played (1,688), 27th in goals (557). He has 40 game-winning LOGAN COUTURE: Since the start of the 2010-11 season, Couture goals for the Sharks this decade, behind only Pavelski (45) and Couture ranks second on the Sharks in the regular season with 246 goals, (44). Marleau had 45 points in 71 playoff games with the Sharks this including 166 at even strength, and is third with 530 points. He is also decade. fourth in games played (673) and assists (284), as of Dec. 17. Couture has arguably been the Sharks’ best two-way forward in the last decade TIMO MEIER: In just his third full season with the Sharks, Meier ranks as he plays in all situations. In 201011, Couture finished second in voting 11th this decade with 130 points, including 114 at even strength, in 228 for the Calder Trophy and was named to the NHL’s All-Rookie team. He games. He is seventh in goals (65) as he established new career high has twice been voted the Sharks’ Player of the Year (2012, 2018). In the last season with 30 goals, 36 assists and 66 points. playoffs, Couture led all Sharks this decade in games played (101), goals Honorable mention: Ryane Clowe, Joonas Donskoi, Dany Heatley, (44), assists (53) and points (97). Evander Kane, Kevin Labanc, Tommy Wingels. JOE PAVELSKI: No Sharks player since the start of the 2010-2011 Defensemen season has more goals (272) or points (5 8 3) . Pavelski was selected for the All-Star Game four times. He led or shared the team lead in goals six DAN BOYLE: In his last four regular seasons from 2010-2014, Boyle had times, including in 2013-14 when he scored a career-high 41 — the most 154 points — which ranks eighth among all Sharks — in 278 games. for any Sharks player this decade. He was named the 2014 U.S. Olympic Boyle, who was 37 by the time he left the Sharks, averaged 24:08 in time team, and played in every game in every Sharks season from 201112 to on ice, second only to Erik Karlsson (24:32) for the decade. Boyle had 30 2015-16. He was captain for four seasons, ending with his departure to points in 41 playoff games, an average that ranks sixth among Sharks Dallas last summer. Was twice voted the Sharks’ Player of the Year by this decade. Bay Area media (2014, 2015). In 2013-14, Pavelski was voted an NHL Second Team All-Star, finished seventh in Hart Trophy voting and eighth JUSTIN BRAUN: Braun and Vlasic were known as the Sharks’ top in Selke Trophy voting. shutdown defense pair for close to a decade. Braun played 607 games in teal this decade, sixth-most among all players, before he was traded to JOE THORNTON: Accrued the second-most amount of points this the Philadelphia Flyers in June. Braun had 154 points since the start of decade with 559 (entering Dec. 17) and is the franchise’s runaway leader the 2010-11 season, tied with Boyle for eighth most among all Sharks in assists with 431. He is second on the team in games played (686). Led players. the Sharks in points in three times and assists six times. He was team captain for five seasons. Ranks among the Top 15 all-time in games, Honorable mention: Erik Karlsson, Jason Demers, Paul Martin, Douglas assists and points. Beyond the numbers, Thornton has been the Sharks’ Murray. heartand- soul since his arrival in San Jose in 2005. Goalie Defensemen ANTTI NIEMI: Niemi is the best regular-season goalie of the decade for BRENT BURNS: Burns is the most dominant offensive defenseman in the Sharks, going 163-9235 in 296 games. His .917 save percentage and Sharks history. He has been an NHL All-Star six times. He has led the 2.40 goals-against-average are tops among Sharks goalies this decade Sharks in points each of the last three seasons, including a career-high with at least 20 starts. He was third in Vezina voting in 2013. In 40 playoff 83 points in 2018-19. He is the only Sharks player to win the Norris games in which he had a decision, Niemi was 1920 with a .905 save Trophy, in 2017 when he led NHL defensemen in goals (29) and points percentage and a 2.79 goals against average. With Niemi, the Sharks (76). He has been a Norris finalist two other times. Among players who made the Western Conference finals in 2011 and the second round in have played at least 200 games with the Sharks in the last decade, 2013. Burns is second only to Dan Boyle (24:08) in average time on ice (23:21). Coach He has twice been voted the Sharks’ Player of the Year. PETE DeBOER: Had a 198- 129-34 record in fourplus seasons for a .596 For complete Sharks coverage points percentage. That’s slightly lower than Todd McLellan (.609). The MARC-EDOUARD VLASIC: Has earned a reputation as one of the NHL’s difference is playoff success. DeBoer took the Sharks to the Stanley Cup top shutdown defensemen. Nobody has played more regular season Final in 2016 and to the conference final last season. games (691) this decade for the Sharks than Vlasic, He has averaged And the fans’ choices are … 21:42 of ice time, and more (22:35) in the playoffs. per game in that time. His plus/minus rating of 96 in the regular season leads all Sharks First team: Forwards — Joe Thornton, Joe Pavelski, Patrick Marleau; defensemen and is second only to Pavelski (97). His plus-23 rating in the Defensemen — Brent Burns, Marc-Edouard Vlasic; Goalie — Martin postseason leads all Sharks players, regardless of position. His 229 Jones. points this decade is second only to Burns.

Goalie Second team: Forwards — Logan Couture, Tomas Hertl, Timo Meier; Defensemen — Dan Boyle, Justin Braun; Goalie — Antti Niemi.

Others receiving votes: Forwards — Evander Kane, Tommy Wingels, Melker Karlsson, Joonas Donskoi, Dany Heatley, Devin Setoguchi, Barclay Goodrow. Defensemen — Erik Karlsson, Brenden Dillon; Goalies — Aaron Dell, Evgeni Nabokov.

All-Power Play team: Joe Thornton, Joe Pavelski, Logan Couture, Brent Burns, Patrick Marleau/Dan Boyle (tie).

Coach of the Decade: Pete DeBoer.

San Jose Mercury News: LOADED: 12.27.2019 1167970 San Jose Sharks

Sharks' Erik Karlsson named No. 3 NHL player of decade by NBC Sports

By Alex Didion December 26, 2019 12:22 PM

The Sharks shook up the NHL in 2018 when they traded a combination of four players and three draft picks to the Ottawa Senators for elite defenseman Erik Karlsson.

San Jose made the Swedish-born Karlsson the highest-paid defenseman in league history this past June when they signed him to an eight-year contract worth a reported $92 million.

So it’s fitting that when putting together a list of the most impactful NHL players of the decade, Karlsson’s name is near the top of the list.

The Pro Hockey Talk crew made their picks for the 10 BEST players of the decade.

Full list here: https://t.co/h4GfXSnsdi pic.twitter.com/ZmCYqWkykT

— NHL on NBC (@NHLonNBCSports) December 24, 2019

A two-time Norris Trophy award winner, Karlsson consistently has ranked among the top defenders in the world.

He put together an unforgettable performance in the 2017 Stanley Cup playoffs while with the Senators, even receiving two Conn Smythe votes for most valuable postseason player despite his team not advancing to the Stanley Cup Final.

Karlsson set postseason team records for points and assists, despite playing through two hairline fractures in his left heel.

In particular, Karlsson's play on offense has drawn heaping praise despite being a defender. He is just the second defenseman in NHL history to lead his team in scoring in four consecutive seasons, and has four seasons with at least 70 points and 50 assists over his career.

Luckily for Sharks fans, Karlsson will be taking the ice in teal for much of the next decade as well.

Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 12.27.2019 1167971 San Jose Sharks Thornton) is playing down low at center or taking draws, the three of them together are working as a line.”

Hertl is also taking his new role as one of the team’s alternate captains to Wins haven’t come, but there have been a few positive trends for the heart, playing through that ankle injury even though he was clearly not at Sharks since the coaching change full strength. He’s making sure that through the losing he remains the same upbeat, smiley guy that his teammates have come to know and love.

By Kevin Kurz Dec 26, 2019 “When you’re one of the leaders you don’t want to be the guy who’s bringing the bad mood,” Hertl said on Dec. 13. “You have to be the guy,

even if you’re not doing great, you’re still for the team. … You have to do When Bob Boughner was introduced as the Sharks’ interim head coach (that) because if not the young guys will look (at) us, and it’s not good for on Dec. 11, he and general manager Doug Wilson made it known that them.” there would be some changes in the way the team played, while they Aaron Dell is making the most of his extended look both expressed hope that a new voice would spark the team to get the season turned around. In his first postgame presser following a 6-3 loss to the Rangers on Dec. 12, Boughner made it known that the Sharks’ No. 1 spot in goal was up While the latter has not happened, as the Sharks have lost four of their for grabs. first five games in regulation under Boughner and his new staff, some of the changes have had an effect. Although the Sharks’ roster looks flawed For the time being, Dell has grabbed it. The goalie has started three of and it’s tough to envision them pushing for a playoff spot in the second the last five games, posting a 2.73 goals-against average and .912 save half without at least one or two major changes, there are a few facets of percentage over that span. My guess is he gets the Kings game on their game that are trending in the right direction even if the results Friday, while Martin Jones goes against the Flyers on Saturday in the haven’t materialized yet. second of the home back-to-back.

Since it’s been pretty bleak here in recent weeks, let’s get into the holiday If expected goals is your thing, Dell’s 3.01 goals-against average at 5-on- spirit and examine five reasons for some cautious optimism as the 5 is much better than his expected goals-against of 6.44, while Jones’ unofficial second half begins on Friday with a Sharks’ home game 3.25 expected goals-against average is lower than his actual goals- against the Kings. All stats courtesy of NHL.com and Natural Stat Trick. against average of 3.59.

Brent Burns’ ice time is up, and he’s been better lately In other words, Dell has quite clearly outplayed Jones.

No player is under a brighter spotlight coming out of the coaching change While Dell still has to prove he can handle a heavier workload, he may be than Brent Burns, who has struggled offensively while making more thriving off of the confidence that the new coaching staff has showed in defensive errors than usual throughout the first half of the season. him. Former coach Pete DeBoer always seemed to have the backup on a short leash, including last season when Jones started 27 of the final 33 Instead of cutting back on Burns’ responsibilities, though, Boughner has games of the regular season despite never really getting going. done the opposite, increasing the former Norris Trophy winner’s ice time by more than three minutes a game to 27:43 (up from 24:31). That’s Scoring chances have been much more even than before the switch second in the league only to Ottawa’s Thomas Chabot since Dec. 11. The one stat that has exemplified the Sharks’ struggles more than any Burns ended a 16-game goal drought with a power play marker on other throughout the course of the season is their 5-on-5 goal-differential. Saturday against St. Louis, and his assist to Logan Couture on Sunday in They remain 30th in the NHL in that category, scoring 66 such goals which he passed the puck through the slot to the open captain on the while allowing a league-leading 101. other side was the kind of play that has been missing from his repertoire. Burns has one goal and three assists in the five games since the change, It hasn’t been much better under Boughner, as the Sharks have been and at 5-on-5, he has been on the ice for six Sharks goals and five goals outscored 13-8 at 5-on-5. While that might not look terrible, it’s still an against. That’s worlds better than before the change, when Burns was a - average of one goal-per game, which in today’s NHL is a recipe for 16 during 5-on-5 play while often getting caught out of position. disaster.

Scoring that goal seemed like a weight off of his shoulders. That said, Boughner has mentioned after a few games that he thought the Sharks had enough scoring chances to win, and he may be right. “Getting one is good to just kind of relax a little bit, get to feel a little bit Against the Rangers in his debut, the club was let down primarily by better,” Burns said after Saturday’s game. “It’s obviously a little more Jones in net. They beat the Canucks on Dec. 14. Against the Coyotes, difficult to make plays when you’re stressing about making the right play. the Sharks held Arizona to just 11 shots on goal through two periods It usually hinders you.” before giving up the game-winner in the third. The Blues game on Saturday was tied 2-2 after two. In the final game before the break Perhaps Burns can continue to improve coming out of the Christmas against Vegas, the Sharks poured 20 shots on net in the third period, break, as Radim Simek is expected to return soon from having a cleanup erasing a 1-0 hole after two before ultimately losing, 3-1. procedure on his previously injured right knee. Burns and Simek struggled to find last season’s chemistry after Simek originally returned The Sharks have managed 117 scoring chances at 5-on-5 while giving on Nov. 5, but that might have been as much on Simek as it was on up 118. That’s better than before the change, when they were out- Burns, as the 27-year-old never really looked quite right after missing the chanced 703-658. first month of the season rehabbing from that devastating injury last March. Noesen looks like he can contribute

Tomas Hertl is thriving on the wing After he was claimed from Pittsburgh on Dec. 19, Stefan Noesen was thrust immediately into the action on the fourth line, and responded with a Since getting over a nagging ankle injury towards the end of November, goal against St. Louis on Saturday. Hertl has reminded everyone that he’s simply the most valuable forward on the roster. Along with rookie Joel Kellman and Melker Karlsson, it was “the best our fourth line has looked all season,” according to Boughner. Boughner made the bold move of putting Hertl on the wing of Joe Thornton and Kevin Labanc on the team’s second line immediately after After that line failed to replicate its strong performance the next night the change, and while that move has further exposed the Sharks’ against Vegas, Noesen was bumped up to the third line with Barclay miserable depth at forward, Hertl has led the Sharks with four goals and Goodrow and Patrick Marleau for a few shifts, so perhaps the former six points in the last five games. first-round pick in 2011 can play a bigger role coming out of the break.

“I think just that combination of the puck control with those three guys is “It’s nice that someone picked me up,” Noesen said on Dec. 20. “Makes something that Tommy is actually enjoying,” Boughner said last week. you feel wanted. Another opportunity to play in the league and try to “They have good possession time and that combination hasn’t been used make a name for myself. … I’m not going to ever score 40 goals, but my yet. They just complement each other fairly well. Whether (Hertl or game is just try to be hard to play against and pressure up the ice the other way.” The Athletic LOADED: 12.27.2019 1167972 St Louis Blues They also don’t have an odometer. Usage is measured by hours rather than miles (it would take about 26 trips from one end of the ice to the other to equal a mile), and by standards of other places, the Enterprise Olympias are pretty low mileage. If the Blues are out of town and the At Enterprise Center, keeping the Blues' ice nice is a huge job building is being used for something else, they might sit idle for a week. When Centene Community Ice Center needed help recently, the Blues

sent them one of their machines. They put it on a truck, so you didn’t Tom Timmermann miss out on seeing it drive from downtown to Maryland Heights. When it came back, it had a lot more hours on it because the four rinks there are in much more constant use.

It’s 7:15 in the morning on Monday, Dec. 16, and Jim Schmuke is drilling Over the course of a game day, the Olympia will make 10 to 12 trips onto holes in the ice at Enterprise Center. the ice, with the higher number coming if the rink had been used for a non-hockey event the day before, because, well, those things can make Schmuke, the head ice technician there, is not going fishing. His job at a mess. this moment is to check how deep the ice is at various points. For concerts, wood panels cover the floor. If people spill a drink, that will He starts at the top of one crease, poking his drill into the ice until he hits find its way through the cracks between the boards and leave a grid the cement beneath it, and then moves to various spots around the rink. pattern of frozen gunk. On days such as that, the crew will be out with Each time, he marks the ice level on the bit, measures it on the ruler squirt bottles to loosen the frozen chunks of beer and soda and who attached to his clipboard, and enters it on a sheet of paper that will be knows what else that have been encased in the ice. sent to the NHL. In most cases, the ice is 1¼ inches thick, though on this day, in front of the penalty boxes, it’s only about an inch thick. But that’s As soon as Blais and trainer Ray Barile are off, the Olympia is back, up from the seven-eighths of an inch it had been a few days before. doing a cut (where the top layer of ice comes off ) and a flood (where new water goes down). That’s the first step in a day in the life of the Enterprise ice, and Schmuke and his crew will spend the next 15 hours getting and keeping the Blues’ “We try not to lay a lot of water in the morning unless we absolutely have playing surface ready to go. What are used is a collection of tools both to,” Schmuke said, “because it tends to make a little more snow the more highly specialized and improvised. water you lay out there. So we try not to until its needed to resurface.”

There is the Olympia ice resurfacing machine and an edger that scrapes The process continues the ice along the boards that the Olympia can’t reach. There there is the turkey baster used to take water out of the holes where the pegs for the That resurfacing will do until the Blues are done with their morning skate, net go, and the bubble gum remover used to provide a quick freeze for which starts at 10:30 a.m. When the last Blue is off the ice, around 11:15, on-ice repairs. Schmuke is out again to get it ready for the Avalanche, who will hit the ice at 11:30. They’re off in 45 minutes, but there’s no rush this time. The “We want to do the best job we can and feel we do the best job we can,” cleaning crew needs to wash the glass, so the rink is theirs for a while. said Schmuke, who has been with the Blues for 40 years. At 1:30, Dave Staloch is out with the edger, walking slowly around the Weathering the storm perimeter of the rink to remove built-up ice, and five minutes later Schmuke has the Olympia out again. (When not working on the ice, crew Schmuke is friends with Busch Stadium groundskeeper Bill Findley, two members such as Staloch work on other maintenance projects in the guys who know that the surfaces they tend to will be the canvas on which building. But the ice is the most fun. “It’s the greatest job in the world,” some of the city’s biggest sports moments will play out. crew member Gil Spinks said.) “We joke that we’d each like each other’s job,” Schmuke said. This is one of the big drives of the day, with both a cut and a flood, filling Both have to fight the elements. Schmuke’s perfect day is humidity below the front compartment of the Olympia with enough snow for what would 40 percent and temperatures in the low 60s. seem to be a lifetime’s worth of snow cones. But considering where that snow has been, there are better options. “One game in the playoffs, I think it got up to 70,” Schmuke said. “There’s only so much you can do if you’re playing in June. But that’s what Billy When he’s done, Schmuke pulls the Olympia in front of a large basin for and I talk about. Weather contributes to both of our problems really. We gathering the snow, pushes a button, and the top of the Olympia flips up don’t have a 10-day homestand when it’s 90 degrees outside. Those then tilts forward and dumps out a huge pile of snow. guys do an amazing job there.” Schmuke goes back out around 3 p.m. to put down another layer of Weather isn’t a problem on this day, as a winter storm rolls through, water to keep the ice from, seriously, getting too cold. That’s because the though ultimately, Dave Grimes, who drives the second Olympia during water the Olympia puts down is hot — more than 100 degrees — and if games is late getting to the rink because traffic has stopped on Interstate the ice gets too cold it gets hard and brittle and is more likely to chip and 55 because of an accident. While many people were staying off the roads crack. that day, Grimes was on his way to a job in which he drives on ice. Coolest ride in town Revving it up To a lot of people, Schmuke has the coolest ride in town. The Olympia is At 7:26 a.m, Schmuke fires up one of Enterprise Center’s two Olympia built on the frame of a Chevy Blazer, and Schmuke said it handles like a ice resurfacing machines for the first time that day, to ready the ice for car. (It has studded tires for traction.) During some intermissions, fans Sammy Blais and an early morning rehab skate. The Blues long have get to ride along. used Olympias to resurface the ice, choosing them over Zambonis, the “I have a lot of people get on and say ‘This is the greatest thing I’ve ever other company that makes ice resurfacers. done,’” Schmuke said as he wheeled the machine across the ice. “I was To Schmuke, there’s no major difference between the two. The Blues just like, well? It’s a lot different when you get on there, when people get on get a better deal on the Olympias than they do on Zambonis, so that’s and there’s crowds out there, sure, it’s pretty cool. To us, it’s nothing out what they use. The Blues lease the machines, so they get a new one of the ordinary.” about every three years. The current ones are two years old. Ice technology has changed since Schmuke first started at The Arena in Before going out, Schmuke fills the machine’s 220-gallon tank of water — 1979. Much of the process is automated now. At any moment, Schmuke it’s St. Louis city water run through a purifier — plus a second smaller can pull out his phone and see what the temperature is on the bottom of tank used for filling in deeper gouges. The Olympia, which runs on the ice and at the top of the ice, thanks to infrared sensors that shoot propane, moves at about 10 mph across the ice, though it’s a guess by down from the ceiling. Computer programs adjust the temperature Schmuke because the machines don’t have speedometers. accordingly.

They also don’t have brakes. To slow them or stop them, the driver takes (Side note: by running heat through the cooling coils, the ice can be his foot off the gas pedal or uses a knob to adjust the number of rpms for melted in about six hours if needed.) the engine. They do, however, have a horn. When Schmuke started, The Arena used off-duty St. Louis firemen to “I’m going to take it personal,” he said of criticisms of his ice surface. handle the changeover between events. Schmuke’s dad was a fireman “Winning the Stanley Cup, it’s a little bit more knowing how much work who did that and helped his son get a part-time job, which he eventually goes into taking care of the ice. It makes it all that much better. That was turned into a full-time job. He’s been driving since 1988 and has been the a very good feeling. That was fantastic.” head ice technician for five years. St Louis Post Dispatch LOADED: 12.27.2019 The ice crew also is responsible for everything else surrounding putting on a hockey game, from lacing the nets onto the goals at the start of the season to hanging the safety nets above the glass that stop flying pucks, to fixing the glass and boards. They change the ads on the boards and paint the lines and lay the ads (which are on large pieces of mesh) at the start of the season. On a cart just off the ice sit the most common sizes of glass along the boards should an in-game repair be needed. And in a small area nearby sits at least one replacement for every size of glass in the rink.

Also during the day, Schmuke will check the temperature in two freezers, one in the visiting penalty box where pucks are stored during games and one in the Blues’ equipment room where they’re stored the rest of the time. (Yes, there’s a small freezer filled with nothing but hockey pucks.)

It’s showtime

After pregame warmups, Schmuke and Grimes do the final resurfacing, then watch the game from just off the ice in the Olympia tunnel, along with the Blue Crew, the skaters who go on the ice to remove snow during timeouts. Also on hand is the emergency medical crew.

Just over a minute into the game, Colorado’s Samuel Girard takes a puck to the mouth and goes down to the ice bleeding. It’s so early in the period that the Blue Crew members haven’t finished putting on their skates, and they scramble to get someone out there with a shovel to scrape the blood off the ice. If the incident had happened near the tunnel, someone in shoes could have gone out. But because it’s at the other end, Schmuke prefers to have someone on skates go out.

When the bloody snow comes back, it’s dumped in the large drain just off the ice. A Colorado television analyst in the tunnel wonders if there are any teeth in the snow. A security guard takes a flashlight and looks but doesn’t see anything.

One of the good things about an ice surface is that it’s easy to repair. Schmuke keeps a small bucket filled with slush produced from the Olympia and a hockey puck to use for repairs. If a player leaves a gouge in the ice, Schmuke or an official can just dump some of the slush in the hole, use the puck to smooth it and it’s good as new. This is where the gum remover can be used to flash freeze the ice and seal the repair.

During the TV timeouts, the Blue Crew has two minutes to scrape the accumulated snow off the ice, moving like a conga line, with each skater moving the snow closer to the boards and it then is shoveled to the tunnel gate. That’s where Schmuke and Grimes wield squeegees to get the last of it off the ice. Then in a nice bit of choreography, when the last crew member gets off the ice, Grimes swings the door shut and Schmuke locks it in place.

When the first period is over, the crew jumps into action. Even while the on-ice entertainment is going on, the edging already has begun and two crew members, Dave Lewis and Mike Mitchell, move the nets out of the way and tend to the holes for the pegs. They squirt in hot water to break up any ice buildups and suck it out with the baster. Then Schmuke and Grimes hit the ice with the Olympias.

Whenever the Olympias leave the surface, they leave a chunk of ice and a pool of water, so crew members again bring out the squeegees.

That process is repeated after the second period. Then late in the third, there’s a different task for the crew. The Blues’ David Perron completes a hat trick and hundreds of hats are thrown out on the surface. Grimes waves his hat, the signal to the crew to get out there. Soon everyone is on the ice, shoveling and scooping the hats into one of the garbage cans that also are used to remove snow during timeouts.

Winding down

Soon after the game is over the ice is empty again. Usually Mitchell will stay to make a couple more runs with the Olympia, but a component on the scoreboard has malfunctioned and the unit has to be lowered to ice level for repairs.

It’s close to 10 p.m. when Schmuke is leaving, ready to head home. It’s been a long day, but all has gone well. That’s his ice. His baby. He’s very protective of it. 1167973 St Louis Blues them accountable was probably his biggest asset after taking over for Mike Yeo, and he hasn’t backed down, having hard conversations with every caliber of talent on the roster. But he also knows when to pump them up, when to give them rest, and how to offer other support. 10 reasons why Craig Berube’s Stanley Cup champ Blues aren’t slowing down The bottom line, Berube calls it like he sees it, responds how he sees fit, and the Blues are playing no different for him as when they were in last place and he wore the interim tag. That may seem like yesterday, but looking back, it was a long time ago. He coached his 100th regular- By Jeremy Rutherford Dec 26, 2019 season game last week, and with a 5-2 win over San Jose set a record for the most wins behind the bench (61) in that span.

Look at the NHL standings coming out of the Christmas break and you PRETTY GOOD. #STLBLUES HTTPS://T.CO/RL5OJEMZZ0 may notice the top three teams — Washington, St. Louis and Boston — PIC.TWITTER.COM/OZSQXARWVY each played in the Stanley Cup finals within the past two years. — ST. LOUIS BLUES (@STLOUISBLUES) DECEMBER 22, 2019 Washington beat Vegas to win the Cup in 2018, and St. Louis edged Boston last season. 2. And the save is made

The Capitals have 57 points, followed by the Blues with 54 and the Even after Jordan Binnington led the Blues to the Stanley Cup and Bruins with 53. signed a two-year, $8.8 million contract extension, it wasn’t a guarantee he’d be a rock again in his second season. But he’s 17-6-4 with a 2.38 Many fans like to debate the way the NHL standings are listed on a daily goals-against average and a .921 save percentage, becoming just the basis, and I don’t disagree with them. They are according to points, but seventh goalie in NHL history to record 40 wins in his first 60 games. because there’s a varying number of games played among teams, the standings aren’t a true reflection. A more accurate reading would be So Binnington deserves full marks, but the play of backup Jake Allen has “points-percentage,” which measures points accrued compared to those made an incredible difference this season. After a combined save that were available. percentage of .906 the past two years, Allen is third in the NHL this season with a mark of .931. He has a record of 7-2-2, meaning the Blues For example, the Blues have played 38 games, so they’ve had the have earned at least a point in nine of his 11 starts, and in the two games potential to earn 76 points. They have a record of 24-8-6 for 54 points, he lost in regulation, the offense managed just two goals in each. and 54 of 76 is a points-percentage of .711. If the current NHL standings are redone with that formula, as colleague Pierre LeBrun tweeted The combination of Binnington and Allen has the Blues’ goaltending recently, the Blues remain second. The only club that gets knocked of the among the best in the league. The team is tied with Dallas for the top top three that way is the Bruins. goals-against average (2.34) and tied for the third-best save percentage (.919). The duo continues coming through for the club, and with Allen’s YOUR TOP 10 OVERALL STANDINGS BASED ON POINTS resurgence, which allowed Binnington to get some rest recently, the PERCENTAGE AT THE HOLIDAY BREAK: position is a major strength. 1. CAPITALS, .750 3. A well-rounded defense 2. BLUES, .711 One could make the case that Colton Parayko was one of the Blues’ best 3. ISLANDERS, .700 players in the 2019 postseason, the force in the team’s shutdown defensive pair with Jay Bouwmeester. But out of 54 potential votes for 4. BRUINS, .697 the Conn Smythe trophy — 18 writers selecting their top three for the award — Parayko received just two. 5. AVALANCHE, .662 Parayko has been dynamic defensively again this season, and when 6. PENGUINS, . 639 paired with Bouwmeester five-on-five, the two have been on the ice for 7. FLYERS, .635 13 goals for and just 10 goals against, according to NaturalStatTrick.com. But what’s made the Blues even more formidable this season is that with 8. HURRICANES, .622 the trade for Carolina’s Justin Faulk, the club can play Bouwmeester and 9. JETS, .595 Parayko against top lines while letting Faulk and partner Alex Pietrangelo loose offensively. In terms of shot attempts at five-on-five, Pietrangelo is 10. COYOTES, .590 No. 2 in the league with 87 this season, followed by Faulk at No. 9 with 76. They haven’t played a lot together (153:10), but with Faulk looking — PIERRE LEBRUN (@PIERREVLEBRUN) DECEMBER 24, 2019 more comfortable on the left side with Pietrangelo recently, it seems to It’s difficult to stay on top, even near the top, but these clubs have be a pair the team could utilize regularly. managed to do so. Meanwhile, the Blues’ third pair consists of Vince Dunn and Robert In the Blues’ case, it’s really impressive because of the way they’ve done Bortuzzo, combing Dunn’s skating ability and Bortuzzo’s physicality. At it. Sure, some aspects of their game have become staples, like a five-on-five, those two have been on the ice for 10 goals for and just shutdown defense and a strong mindset on the road. But it’s been the three against, including four high-danger goals for and just one against. improvements they’ve made over last season and their responses to a In trying to fit Faulk in, it took a while for the club to settle on who to play few unforeseen issues that qualify the first half of the season as where on the backend, but they’ve settled on these six for now, and the remarkable. trends look promising.

On a six-game winning streak heading into Friday’s game in Winnipeg, (Jeff Curry / USA Today) let’s breakdown the Top 10 reasons why Craig Berube’s Stanley Cup 4. Coming from behind champion Blues aren’t slowing down … The Blues have scored first in 20 of their 38 games this season, and 1. The interim tag is long gone when they do net the game’s first goal, their winning percentage of .800 We might as well start with Berube. A year ago at this time he was an is tied for the third-best mark in the NHL. Even more impressive, though, interim coach who probably would have been replaced at the end of the they are the only team in the league that has not lost a game in 2018-19 season. Now he’s the coach who led the Blues to their first regulation after scoring first (16 wins, four in overtime/shootout losses). Stanley Cup, has a three-year contract extension and will likely be behind But perhaps what has helped the Blues get to where they are in the the Central Division bench for the NHL All-Star game on Jan. 26 in St. standings is they have the NHL’s most comeback victories, according to Louis. MoreHockeyStats.com. They have rallied for 14 wins, including 11 in the Berube demonstrated last season that he’s a good communicator, first period, two in the second period, and one in the third period (their 4- presses the right buttons and shares a mutual respect with the players, 3 triumph over Chicago on Dec. 14 after trailing 3-0). They’ve scored a and he’s shown those strengths again this season. His ability to hold combined total of 18 goals in those 14 games, which is second to only Washington (19). Comebacks are pretty common occurrences around the league, as 18 of 8. Sunny side up the 31 teams have eight or more. But Boston is one of those teams with eight, and if the Blues had the same number as the Bruins, they would To list Sundqvist as a “strong role player” is not doing him justice. Among have six fewer points and instead of leading the Central Division by five, the Blues’ forwards, he has more goals this season than O’Reilly (seven), they’d be trailing Colorado by one. Bozak (five), Barbashev (five), Thomas (four) and Steen (zero), each of whom are averaging more or slightly less ice time than Sundqvist’s 14:05 5. Special special teams per game.

The Blues have scored 75 goals playing five-on-five, which ranks 15th in The swing in the Swede’s performance since he came over in the trade the NHL. They’ve allowed just 63 for a differential of 12, which is the fifth- with Pittsburgh for Ryan Reaves and a first-round pick in 2017 continues best mark in the league. But the Blues are ahead of the other five clubs to be astonishing. In 28 games with the Penguins, Sundqvist had one in the standings — Colorado (+31), Boston (+23), Nashville (+22) and goal and four points, and in his first 43 games with the Blues, he had one Pittsburgh (+17) — because of their special teams. goal and five points for a total of two goals and nine points in 71 games. But in his last 130 games with the Blues, including the playoffs, he has The team ranks No. 5 on the penalty kill, which is coached by assistants 27 goals and 56 points. Steve Ott and Mike Van Ryn and has a success rate of 83.9 percent. To dive even deeper, the top five power plays in the NHL belong to But it goes beyond the offense with Sundqvist — his presence energizes Edmonton, Tampa Bay, Boston, Vancouver and Carolina, and against the club. He can’t be completely credited for this trend, but in those 130 those teams, the PK has erased 22 of 26 power plays (84.6 percent). games with him in the lineup, the Blues have a record of 80-38-12, and in the 16 games he’s missed in that span, they are 5-7-4. So Sundqvist may Meanwhile, the power play has been an even bigger story. The unit did be a role player by definition, but he’s so much more than that in regard rank No. 10 in the regular season in 2018-19 (21 percent), but was inept to his relevance. in the playoffs (16.2 percent). With assistant coach Marc Savard now in charge, the PP is currently No. 6 in the league (23.6 percent) and has 9. Road sweet road gone three-plus games without a goal just once this season. Overall, the combined percentage of the Blues’ PK and their PP is 107.5, which is the The Blues certainly don’t win a Stanley Cup last season without their fourth-best total in the league. glossy 10-3 record on the road in the playoffs, and they are not in first place in the Western Conference this year if that success doesn’t 6. Schenn and Schwartz producing continue. They’re 24-8-6 overall this season, an identical 12-4-3 at home and 12-4-3 on the road. What’s almost spooky is that the offense has In the Blues’ 4-1 win over Los Angeles on Monday, netted 118 goals this season, and the split is 59 at home and 59 away. scored his 16th and 17th goals of the season and Jaden Schwartz notched his 11th. It’s significant because both players matched their The Blues’ 12 road wins are tied for the fourth-most in the NHL and they totals from 2018-19, which were career lows for a full season. Schenn are more than 25 of the other 30 teams in the league have at home. equaled his total in his 38th game, after taking 72 games last season. Earlier this season the team matched a franchise record for points in Schwartz hit his mark in 38 games, after needing 69 games last season. consecutive road games (11) with a run of 10-0-1 before it ended in a 3-0 loss to Pittsburgh on Dec. 4. Not only are Schenn and Schwartz on the verge of eclipsing those numbers, but they appear to be heating up as well. Schenn started the Simply put, Berube’s Blues, now 24-7-3 in their last 34 road games, don’t season off strong with 10 goals in his first 14 games, then went through a get intimidated whatsoever when they’re away from Enterprise Center, stretch in which he had five goals in 21 games, but now has three goals and there can be no better attribute for a team attempting to win back-to- in his last three games. Schwartz had one goal in his first 15 games, but back championships. now has 10 goals in his last 23 games, including one in each of his last two. 10. Armstrong’s influence

The Blues are getting production from other players in their top-six. David Blues general manager Doug Armstrong has his hand in many of these Perron is having an All-Star caliber season with 15 goals and 37 points, categories, from promoting Berube to trading for Faulk. But it’s been and while Ryan O’Reilly’s scoring is down with seven goals, he’s putting some of the more subtle moves, or decisions to not overreact, that have up points (33). But if they’re going to get through the regular season led to several developments on this list. without the injured Vladimir Tarasenko, they must get offensive Armstrong may have had no choice but to hang onto Allen the past contributions from the two Saskatchewan natives, and that’s been on the couple of years due to his poor play and the term left on his contract, but rise lately. the GM’s patience with the situation has paid dividends this season. And (Neville E. Guard / USA Today) when the Blues were hit by a rash of injuries this season, Armstrong didn’t make a trade, nor did he call-up Kyrou right away or bank on 7. Shrugging off injuries Kostin for long-term assistance. He brought in two players on pro tryouts, Brouwer and Jamie McGinn, and signed Brouwer. And when Armstrong Through the first 38 games of the season, the Blues have lost 91 man did make a trade, he sent Robby Fabbri to Detroit for de la Rose, a deal games due to injury or illness, which is the 11th-highest total in the NHL. that was initially ridiculed but now doesn’t look that lopsided. The list includes Tarasenko (28), Sammy Blais (18), Alexander Steen (16), Carl Gunnarsson (12), Oskar Sundqvist (six), Robert Thomas (five), And finally, when New Jersey’s Taylor Hall was on the market, Armstrong Zach Sanford (three), Ivan Barbashev (two) and Tyler Bozak (one). explored the idea before Taylor went to Arizona for three prospects and two draft picks. But he didn’t overbid, which may have cost the Blues But as the chart by @ManGamesLostNHL below illustrates, the Blues their opportunity of adding the skilled speedster, but didn’t compromise have more victories than any of the 10 teams ahead of them. The list the current roster or the future. Thus they remain near the top of the shows the Blues with 24, but that was tweeted before wins over San league coming out of the Christmas break, making moot any debate Jose and LA took the total to 26. Either way, it’s more than Detroit, regarding what the club has done to get to this point. Pittsburgh, Winnipeg, Boston, Vancouver, Buffalo, Edmonton, Colorado, San Jose and Ottawa. The Athletic LOADED: 12.27.2019

The Blues, however, have been able to compensate with some strong role players and prospects like Sundqvist (nine goals), MacKenzie MacEachern (six), Jordan Kyrou (two), (one), Klim Kostin (one), Jacob de la Rose (one) and Austin Poganski. It’s led to the club already suiting up 27 skaters this season, after using 31 during the 2018- 19 regular season, but the team appears no worse for the wear.

NHL INJURY VISUALIZATION. MAN GAMES LOST VERSUS TEAM WINS. BUBBLE SIZE REPRESENTS CUMULATIVE QUALITY OF PLAYERS LOST (LOST-PS METRIC) HTTPS://T.CO/K4AYSOYW6W PIC.TWITTER.COM/8FW5PJFYHN

— MAN-GAMES LOST NHL (@MANGAMESLOSTNHL) DECEMBER 19, 2019 1167974 Toronto Maple Leafs Brooks has skated in two NHL rinks: Scotiabank Arena and Madison Square Garden.

“I feel like it’s working,” said Brooks. “I was more comfortable even that Giving Marlies a Maple Leafs warmup the latest case of Keefe doing second time going up. But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous when I things differently took warmups when I was skating at Madison Square Garden.”

For each of them, they hope to get the call one day for real, and actually get into a game. And even with their game-day experiences they still By Kevin McGran expect to feel nervous.

“I don’t know if it will feel normal. I was getting nervous passing in the warmups,” said Bracco. When Jeremy Bracco showed up at the Scotiabank Arena last week for his one-day callup to the Toronto Maple Leafs, he got stopped by “The nerves are always going to be there whenever you’re up there, so security. I’m looking forward to it,” said Brooks.

“They’re like, ‘Who are you?’ and I’m like, ‘Well I don’t have a pass, I was Added Liljegren: “I just think you’re gonna feel a little bit more just called up.’” comfortable around the guys and you’ll know some guys from before who played with the Marlies. I think you’re going to feel confident with the He talked his way through, of course. boys but have some nerves, for sure.” “He’s like, ‘Good luck, man’ and I’m like, “Thanks. I’ll see you after the Toronto Star LOADED: 12.27.2019 warmup.’”

Walking into an NHL rink, meeting people, skating in the morning skate or pregame warmup — these are things new Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe thinks are important touchstones for young players.

It’s so important that the Leafs have done it regularly now with Keefe in charge. In addition to Bracco, Adam Brooks has been called up twice, Timothy Liljegren once.

While the Marlies played in the Scotiabank Arena on Thursday, losing 3- 2 to Belleville, the Leafs completed their three-day Christmas break.

The Leafs are back in action Friday night in New Jersey, putting their five-game winning streak on the line. But before the Leafs took their break Keefe spoke about the importance of making minor leaguers feel welcome in a big-league setting.

Keefe said he wanted those callups to use their “time here to get comfortable, and get closer to being a full-time player (because) when the opportunity comes to play, you just feel more comfortable.

“The ability of the players that are in the minors really isn’t as big a gap as many would think, especially for the top players down there. But it’s how quickly those guys can get comfortable just feeling like they can just play and be themselves. I think every day that you have in the NHL helps you move towards that.”

Calling up top prospects for day-of-the-game experiences is another example of how Keefe does things differently.

Like playing Auston Matthews with and Mitch Marner, or pairing Morgan Rielly with Tyson Barrie, or giving Justin Holl the green light to lead a rush, or playing the backup on the first night of a back-to- back.

“Sheldon’s got a lot of philosophies that go against the grain of what has been done in the past in hockey,” said veteran winger Rich Clune, a Marlie since 2015-16. “But it absolutely makes complete sense to have a young guy come up and get the lay of the land.

“I bet your old-school purists would say that it’s premature, that they they need to really earn it, but it makes complete sense to have a guy put him in the best position to play well and contribute when he gets there, to ease the nerves.”

Clune said it’d be easy, common even, for a young player to be star- struck walking into an NHL room. He admits he was in his first game in Los Angeles in the 2009-10 season.

“Walking into the L.A. Kings’ dressing room and seeing Ryan Smyth and, I remember I was on the line with Freddie Modin and I had been a huge Leafs fan in the 1990s and Freddie was a Leaf so it was kind of fun, but yeah, of course there’s nerves.”

Bracco, Brooks and Liljegren were each flattered and happy to get the call to get the lay of the land.

“They’ve got a plan for you,” said Liljegren. “That’s going to make things a little bit easier once you take that step up. You know how the locker- room works and get to know the guys more.” 1167975 Toronto Maple Leafs Travis Dermott Cody Ceci GOALIES

Michael Hutchinson Game Day: Maple Leafs at Devils Frederik Andersen

SICK BAY Lance Hornby LW Andreas Johnsson (leg); LW Trevor Moore (upper body)

DEVILS GAME DAY LINES TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS at NEW JERSEY DEVILS LWCRW FRIDAY, 7 p.m., PRUDENTIAL CENTER Jesper Boqvist Nico Hischier Kyle Palmieri TV: Sportsnet Ontario; RADIO: 1050 AM Blake Coleman Travis Zajac Nikita Gusev THE BIG MATCHUP Miles Wood Jack Hughes Wayne Simmonds RW Mitch Marner vs. D P.K. Subban Jesper Bratt Pavel Zacha John Hayden Marner’s five-point magic against the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday (the 8-6 win by the Maple Leafs itself was as defensively undisciplined an DEFENCE PAIRINGS affair as you ever will see) makes him the one to watch. But it’s likely the holiday break takes some steam out of both clubs. With Taylor Hall Andy Greene P.K. Subban traded and coach John Hynes canned, will the Devils muddle through the Mirco Mueller Damon Severson rest of the season, amid rumours Subban could be the next veteran moved? Or do they play loose and get more results such as their 7-1 Will Butcher Sami Vatanen road thumping of the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday? GOALIES FIVE KEYS TO THE GAME Mackenzie Blackwood Double clutch for Hutch? Gilles Senn Another back-to-back for Toronto, but this is its last until early February, which suggests Michael Hutchinson will get one of the games. Playing SICK BAY the road date to give Frederik Andersen the home start Saturday against G Louis Domingue (lower body); D Matt Tennyson (upper body) the Rangers make sense, with Freddy maybe needing an extra day off after the wild one against the Hurricanes. Hutchinson has his first win of SPECIAL TEAMS the season in the books, taking some pressure off of him here. POWER PLAY Devilish behaviour Toronto 22.3% (9th) Saved from last overall in the league by the worse struggles of the Red Wings, New Jersey erupted in Chicago with seven different scorers. Yet New Jersey 13.0 (T-29th) interim coach will have his hands full if counterpart PENALTY KILLING Sheldon Keefe, who is also replacing a fired bench boss, mixes up the top three lines again to re-distribute the scoring wealth. Toronto 76.1% (26th)

Talkin’ turkey New Jersey 80.6% (16th)

With National Hockey League teams not allowed to practice until Friday Toronto Sun LOADED: 12.27.2019 morning, the Leafs will have their morning skate at home and then fly to Newark, which usually only happens for exhibition games. Toronto’s record in its past eight games immediately after Christmas is 6-2, thanks in part to not having to play on Boxing Day any longer.

Face the music

The Leafs are a top five-faceoff team, with a few of their wingers able to step in and do well. Meanwhile, one of the major indicators of New Jersey’s low standing is their 30th-place showing in the circle.

Jacked for Toronto

While he has not dominated rookie scoring as some expected, first overall pick Jack Hughes spent some time in Toronto growing up when his father worked for the Leafs, and will have lots of friends watching his first game against them.

LEAFS GAME DAY LINES

LW C RW

Zach Hyman Auston Matthews Mitch Marner

Pierre Engvall John Tavares Ilya Mikheyev

William Nylander Alex Kerfoot Kasperi Kapanen

Dmytro Timashov Frederik Gauthier Jason Spezza

DEFENCE PAIRINGS

Jake Muzzin Justin Holl

Morgan Rielly Tyson Barrie 1167976 Toronto Maple Leafs With a record of 18-8-2-1, the Marlies are second in the North Division and trail Rochester. Another player who might get up with the Leafs is the veteran Agostino, now at 16 goals and tied for third in the league. Brooks, who was also up with the Leafs for a bit and did not play, is now Road line changes challenge Keefe on a four-game points streak.

Rookie pro Joseph Woll was in net Thursday and made 24 saves. The Marlies will be in Laval for a couple of games this weekend. Still out of Lance Hornby the lineup is Egor Korshkov with a leg laceration from Dec, 8

LOOSE LEAFS Sheldon Keefe no doubt looks forward to a string of games where the Updates on injured wingers Andreas Johnsson (leg) and Moore other team’s coaching staff must adjust to his line changes rather than (suspected upper body) are expected Friday … When Toronto struck first the Maple Leafs play catch-up. against Carolina on Monday it marked eight straight times they had the Friday’s game in New Jersey will mark the 11th of his 16 games behind game’s opening goal. The last time that happened was a stretch between the bench where the Leafs are the road team and don’t have the luxury Nov 27-Dec 14, 2007, under Paul Maurice where the club lost just once of last change. While that hasn’t really hurt Keefe’s game plan to date, it in regulation … Frederik Andersen’s next start in goal will be his 223rd, means he might not always get to play John Tavares to neutralize moving him past John Ross Roach into sole possession of seventh place another top centre, play Auston Matthews head-to-head against another in franchise history … Monday’s five-point afternoon by Mitch Marner star, or get the defensive shutdown tandem of Jake Muzzin and Justin lifted him past a group of players into the franchise’s top 50 scorers. With Holl out every time he wants. 259 points, he’s 47th. Auston Matthews has 248, but leads Marner this season. “There are a lot of advantages of course to being at home,” agreed Keefe. “But I don’t know in terms of actual match-ups how much we’ll Toronto Sun LOADED: 12.27.2019 ever be a team that will be heavy in that sense. It’s always going to be more about reacting to what’s happening in the game, where the puck is, where the faceoffs are, those types of things.

“There are advantages to getting the right match-ups and sometimes it’s the mis-matches you’re looking for rather than heavy match-ups to answer the other team’s best players.”

The pendulum swings the other way starting Jan. 4 against the New York Islanders at Scotiabank Arena. Six of the Leafs’ next seven games will be at home.

SHARED MID-SEASON SUCCESS

Almost 90 years separate Keefe from a shared experience with Dick Irvin Sr.

But the two coaches moved into their jobs as replacements early in the season are on the same path — turning around good teams that stumbled at the start. With a record of 11-4, Keefe has now passed Irvin with the most successful 15-game start for a Toronto coach who arrived in-season and needs one more win to beat Irvin’s 20-game total of victories.

Art Duncan began as coach the 1931-32 Leafs and was under a fair bit of pressure to make the most of being the marquee attraction at brand new Maple Leaf Gardens. But the Leafs lost on opening night, Nov. 12, to the Chicago Blackhawks, 2-1, then failed to win at home or road for five straight.

In broadcaster Dick Irvin Jr.’s book, My 26 Stanley Cups, he described how disgruntled Leafs manager Conn Smythe fired Duncan for being “too soft” and called his father in Regina, Sask., where the former coach of the Hawks was waiting for another NHL job. Irvin Sr. arrived by CPR train the same day of a home game against Boston and it was agreed Smythe would coach that night so Irvin could observe from the stands.

But trailing 5-1, Smythe went to Irvin and said “Okay Dick, you take over now”. Irvin was shocked, but the Leafs managed to rally and won 6-5 on Andy Blair’s overtime goal. Irvin finished the season with a record of 22- 15-5 and the Leafs won three short series totalling seven games for the Stanley Cup.

BRACCO MAKING NOISE

A quick trip to SBA must have done wonders for Jeremy Bracco’s confidence.

Called up as insurance when Trevor Moore couldn’t play Monday, Bracco took the warmup and was returned to the Marlies later that day.

On Thursday at the annual Boxing Day game at the big rink, Bracco assisted on goals by Kenny Agostino and Adam Brooks in Toronto’s 3-2 loss to the Belleville Senators.

Bracco, a late second-round pick from 2015, had hoped to get a look with the Leafs sometime this season now that Keefe has been promoted and many low budget Marlies are getting a look during the parent team’s salary crunch. Bracco is tied for seventh in AHL assists with 21. 1167977 Toronto Maple Leafs you’ve got to get everybody together: On the road, on the ice, you know what I mean?

6. What do you think Leafs defenceman Carl Brewer meant when he told 20 Questions with Leafs legend Eddie Shack: On Corvettes, donuts and a reporter: “Eddie may not be able to read and write, but he sure can add coaches wearing hats and subtract.”

(laughs) Oh, Carl Brewer, we got along pretty good … I was an individual who bought property. I had the golf course. I had donut places. A few of By Sean Fitz-Gerald Dec 26, 2019 them were lucky, and a few of them weren’t lucky, you know what I mean? I wasn’t afraid to buy a house, or to sell it.

7. How true is this story: You bought a car from a lot in Toronto, took it to After opening the front door for a visitor, Eddie Shack ambled back another lot, and sold it for a profit. toward his television room, settled into his comfortable recliner and recited a line from his own song: “Clear the track, here comes Shack, Yeah, we used to buy the Corvettes. And we’d buy them in right?” Peterborough. He would sell it to us for a really good price. I’d drive it for a while, and I’d sell it to a dealership. Corvettes were a hot item at that He smiled: “He knocks ’em down, he gives ’em a whack.” time. And I’d make money on it. The song was released in 1966, when there was a plausible argument to 8. You grew up near Tim Horton in Sudbury, and you promoted a small be made that Shack, a rough-and-wild forward with the Maple Leafs, was chain of “Eddie Shack Donuts” — why isn’t there an Eddie Shack Donuts the most popular athlete in Toronto. (In December 1965, the Globe and on every street corner in Canada? Mail described him as “the pride and joy of Maple Leafs hockey fans,” noting that four magazines were each working on in-depth profiles.) First of all, Timmy had Ron Joyce, and he was a good worker. A good salesman. He got everybody to work together. I had five or six of them. Shack was raised in Sudbury, where he struggled in school but excelled But I didn’t have the right person to run it. And that means a lot. in hockey. His rambunctious playing style and accessibility off the ice helped turn him into a popular corporate spokesperson, and that, in turn, 9. How many different businesses have you been involved with since you handsomely supplemented his NHL salary. retired from hockey?

He played more than 1,000 regular-season games in the league, and I’ve been in the golf business. I had the Hillbilly Shack and Bar. You while he is mostly remembered for his time in Toronto — where he won know what I mean? four Stanley Cups (1962, 1963, 1964 and 1967) — he also made stops with Boston, Los Angeles, Buffalo, Pittsburgh and the New York 10. Which product would you most like to promote in your next Rangers. commercial?

Now 82, he has been promoting his book, “Eddie Shack: Hockey’s Most I’ve got prostate, eh? And you’ve got to wear diapers now. I would like to Entertaining Stories,” which he wrote with Sportsnet personality Ken do that one. It would be a fun one. Reid. 11. You were the subject of a hit song in the 1960s — “Clear The Track, “My wife plays bridge, and she’s selling a lot of them, too,” he said with a Here Comes Shack” — how much did you make in royalties? laugh. “I’ve got to give her a commission.” (smiles) Didn’t make anything on them. And (Leafs owner Harold) Before heading off to his next public appearance, Shack fielded 20 Ballard, he was mad because (the writer) didn’t give me anything. But I Questions from The Athletic, talking about Punch Imlach, selling didn’t mind. It was a great thing to turn on the radio, and you’re driving Corvettes and taking a $5 bet to entertain Johnny Bower. along, and you hear your song, ‘Clear the track.’ Later on, Nancy Sinatra beat me out with ‘These boots are made.’ It was a fantastic feeling. It was 1. Who is the Eddie Shack of the modern NHL? No. 1 for, I think, three weeks or so.

(Shack laughs) Oh geez. I don’t watch it that much now, you know what I 12. Brian McFarlane, the former ‘Hockey Night in Canada’ personality, mean? I don’t read, eh? And I don’t know the names, so I’m not good at wrote the song and has said the feud over royalties stretched for that, at all. decades: How are you guys getting along today?

2. You were known as “The Entertainer” — when you do watch, do you (smiles) Oh, good. I have enough money that I don’t have to worry about find players as entertaining today? something like that. It was a fun thing for me, and I enjoyed it very much. So I thank him. (chuckles) I basically had fun when I played. My dad used to say, “don’t behave yourself, be yourself.” When my dad would come to the game, he would 13. Which current Leafs player is most deserving of their own song? get on one side (of the arena), if I wasn’t playing… “we want Shack.” And I’d get up on the other side: “We want Shack.” And then Imlach would There’s a lot of great hockey players, and a lot of guys who are in great say, “If they want you so bad, go up there and sit with them.” shape. Johnny Bower had a song, ‘Honky, the Christmas goose.’ Gordie Howe had, ‘who’s the greatest of them all?’ And then there was mine. It’s 3. How much trouble would Eddie Shack get into if social media existed a great feeling, you know what I mean? in the 1960s? 14. True or false: You were shipped out of Boston for making fun of the (chuckles) I guess I’d get into a little bit of trouble. I did say what I felt. owner’s hat. When I went to New York, there was a meeting. We’d lost five games. The meeting was in Montreal. Phil Watson was the coach, and he said, Yeah, well. I played my (junior) hockey in Guelph, and that was (home to) “whatever you want to say you can say — nothing will be held against Biltmore Hats. He had a hat on … and I said something to that. The you.” Comes to me, I say, “Phil, everything you’ve said to me has gone in owner in Guelph, he always very particular. And when I came to Toronto, one ear and out the other.” Walking down the hallway later … the trainer I sold Imlach hats. And he had a nice fur hat. I shouldn’t have said says, “you’re going to Springfield.” anything. But I was so used everybody having nice hats.

4. Johnny Bower said you once rode an airport luggage carousel on a $5 15. Should coaches today start wearing hats again? bet: How much would it take to do it today? (laughs) That’s a good one. It’s much different today. When we went to (laughs) Well, you wouldn’t do it today. When all the guys are hanging practice, we had to have a shirt and tie on. Imlach would wear a hat. It around, you’re kibitzing and joking. So I just did it. Johnny and I were was just a thing you did. We always had to be dressed properly. good friends. I used to like to entertain him a bit, too. 16. There has been a lot of discussion over how coaches behave with 5. Will the Leafs win another Stanley Cup in our lifetime? players: What is the worst thing a coach ever did to you?

Well, let’s face it, we certainly hope so. It’s been over 50 years that we What they would do to you is bench you. Being benched, you can’t prove haven’t won. That’s when Punch Imlach was here. To win a Stanley Cup, yourself sitting on the end of the bench. Phil Esposito, he’d be out there for three minutes, and they’d try to get him the hell off the ice. Now, the kids go for 45 seconds and go like crazy and they come off. There’s so much difference. And how you get the best out of an individual is by ice time.

17. In 1966, a Toronto newspaper reported a coach in Guelph once threw a pair of skates at your head in a fit of anger: Is that true?

Aw, I don’t think so, no.

18. What was the strangest part of writing this book?

I think it was a lot of fun. I come from Sudbury. I was a butcher. I just spoke the truth. And speaking the truth, you can’t get into too much trouble. (smiles)

19. When was the last time someone called you Edward?

I always wanted ‘Ed,’ because ‘Edward’ would be too hard to sign. That’s how I started: Ed.

20. After people finish the book and they reflect back on what they’ve read: How should they remember Eddie Shack?

I haven’t had too many complaints about it. (smiles) A lot of people have read it twice.

The Athletic LOADED: 12.27.2019 1167978 Vegas Golden Knights In the past 14 games, the Knights’ scoring is up to 3.14 per game and their ability to more easily transition from defense to offense has sped up their play.

Change by ‘stubborn’ Gallant turns around Golden Knights season “The quicker you move it up and all of a sudden you can get back on the forecheck, back on the attack, then that’s when we kind of put it down teams’ throats and we can go wave after wave,” Stastny said. “Really, it’s not about us getting great chances, it’s about us getting that puck as fast By David Schoen Las Vegas Review-Journal December 26, 2019 - 1:45 as we can and then getting on the attack.” PM LAS VEGAS REVIEW JOURNAL LOADED: 12.27.2019

Go ahead and draw a line on the Golden Knights’ schedule between game Nos. 26 and 27.

The first part, which lasted until Nov. 27, is B.C. (before change). And everything since shall henceforth be referred to A.C. (after change).

That’s when coach Gerard Gallant put his pride aside before a late November game at Nashville and switched to a zone-coverage scheme in the defensive zone.

The move proved to be the turning point for the Knights, who are 9-3-2 A.C. and enter Friday’s game at Anaheim tied in points atop the Pacific Division standings with Arizona.

“The game adapts and changes so much that you see what other teams are doing, what makes them successful,” center Paul Stastny said. “You kind of take an idea from them and try it out. You need the personnel as well, and you’ve got to be able to teach it the right way. Sometimes it’s hard to do it midseason, but that’s what the top people do is they evolve on the fly.”

Not as quick

Gallant used many of the same systems throughout his coaching career and won the Jack Adams Award as the league’s coach of the year after guiding the Knights to the Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural season.

His teams are known for an aggressive 1-2-2 forecheck and man-on-man defensive coverage.

But Gallant recognized the Knights weren’t as quick as their first two seasons and were allowing too many quality scoring chances. After a 4-2 loss at Dallas on Nov. 25 dropped the Knights to 11-11-4, he made the defensive adjustment permanent.

“You sit around in your coaches meeting in the summertime and you say, ‘What made St. Louis win? What made Boston so successful? And do you want to tweak your stuff?’ ” Gallant said. “Stubborn me said, ‘No, we’re not going to do a whole lot. We like what we’ve done. We got to the finals. We had a real good playoffs last year and unfortunately lost in seven games.’

“It’s tough to change things 20 games into the season. You want to make sure your players believe in it. It’s worked out pretty well.”

In the Knights’ previous system, each player was responsible for coverage of their man no matter where he went in the zone. The scheme was successful, with the Knights ranked in the top 10 in goals allowed per game each of the past two seasons.

But the Knights were getting hemmed in their own zone more frequently the first 26 games, which led to more puck chasing. That, in turn, wore out the Knights and prevented them from transitioning quickly once they regained possession of the puck.

‘Less running around’

Now, each player is responsible for a quadrant in the defensive zone, while the centermen are free to support the puck and start the breakout.

“There’s less running around,” defensemen Brayden McNabb said. “You more protect the middle, always come back to the house (front of the net). For that, we’re not out of position. We find it really helps for our wingers and forwards that they’re always in their spot, so if we get a chance to kill a play and move the puck, we always know that we’re going to have guys in their spots.”

Before the change, the Knights had a minus-2 goal differential (77-75), and their 2.96 goals allowed per game ranked 14th in the league. The goals allowed has remained steady despite a pair of lopsided loss to the Rangers (5-0) and Avalanche (7-3).

But the new scheme has had a bigger effect on the offense. 1167979 Vegas Golden Knights Knight time It’s not a straight shot for players entering the ice through the helmet.

Players have to adjust to their left after hitting the ice. LED lights line the Meet Elvis, the giant Golden Knights helmet curvature of the helmet to help the players see where they are going through the darkness and smoke.

“It’s a little narrow. You gotta turn into the helmet,” Fleury said. “I’ve By Rochelle Richards Las Vegas Review-Journal tripped before in the door. I’m a little more conscious about it now. So far, so good.”

But it’s an experience players love. Elvis is alive and living in Las Vegas. “It gives you goosebumps. I love it,” defenseman Nate Schmidt said. Not Elvis Presley, of course. But Elvis, the 2,400-pound Golden Knights “When you first step out, you don’t see much. You only see a real little helmet, which resides in the rafters of T-Mobile Arena. hole right in front of you. It’s almost like you are being unleashed to T- Elvis, as the team affectionately calls it, debuted during game one of the Mobile Arena.” Stanley Cup playoffs against the Los Angeles Kings during the Knights’ As the Knights’ primary goalie, Fleury leads the team onto the ice most inaugural season, in 2018. It has been a staple in the team’s pregame games, and he said he feels fortunate to be able to do so. arena show ever since. “The crowd is so loud, the music is pumping,” he said. “You got the It appears as the team takes the ice. “It has this grand moment; the team smoke in your face … You come out the helmet and the crowd goes comes out, it’s super energetic,” said Ayron Sequeira, the Knights’ crazy. They cheer for the team. It’s a great feeling. It’s fun to go through.” executive director of entertainment experience. Then it departs. “So Elvis has left the building,” she said, hence the name. LAS VEGAS REVIEW JOURNAL LOADED: 12.27.2019 Originally, the plan was for Elvis to debut during game one of season one. The fates, however, conspired against it.

The helmet was deemed structurally unsound during transport from an out-of-state company. So the team shifted its focus to the pregame show and revisited the helmet later.

The 25-feet-tall helmet used today was created by Water FX, a Henderson company, and took three months to create.

“We were excited,” Sequeira said. “We knew that it added this moment to our show.”

Sequeira, who previously worked for the San Jose Sharks, knows many fans say the Knights copied other NHL teams, including the Sharks, when putting together the team’s entrance onto the ice.

“Yes, there are a lot of teams that have entry portals,” she said. “It’s not a new concept at all. But it doesn’t mean we copied anyone. It’s not like somebody trademarked the idea of an entry portal.”

Fail safe

When you have a massive object living in the rafters, there are a few things to worry about. The main being: What if it falls?

The helmet is connected to a double rigging. It’s on quick motors but also has slow motors in case the quick motors fail, Sequeira said.

“It’s engineered so it’s a safe and reliable prop for us,” she said.

The entertainment crew had a rehearsal to prepare for a failure this year. In a worst-case scenario, it has to rappel from the ceiling to work with the mechanics on the helmet.

Elvis is on a variable speed motor — slow, fast and very fast. It takes two minutes and 50 seconds for the helmet to completely descend to the ice.

During the first two seasons, Richard Wagner’s “Flight of the Valkyries” played as Elvis made his entrance onto the ice. This season, the helmet lowers to the ice during the winter-themed pregame video and begins to light up and smoke during what the team calls the “slow wick.”

For three years the team has entered the ice to a song from the movie “John Wick 2” called “Le Castle Vania.”

“It was a good pick by the DJ,” Knights goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury said. “I think it’s got something a little special to it for us. It gets people on their seat a little bit and it gets us going too.”

Sequeira agreed.

Vegas Golden Knights players take the ice for Game 4 against Winnipeg Jets in the Western Conference Final at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Friday, May 18, 2018. (Erik Verduzco/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Erik_Verduzco

“When you hear that (music), you know it’s Knight time,” she said. “You know it’s go time. You can’t help but get excited and ready to go and scream and yell and throw your hands up in the air.” 1167980 Vegas Golden Knights a player, it’s going to be tough for a winger to win the Selke with a zero plus-minus.

Stone still has the entire second half of the season to make up ground, Granger: I was so wrong with my bold predictions for Golden Knights’ and he has been phenomenal in his defensive end to this point, but as of season now he’s likely not even the best Selke candidate on his own team. (Cough, cough, William Karlsson).

4. Cody Glass will contend for the Calder Trophy By Jesse Granger Dec 26, 2019 Swing and a miss.

I made this projection knowing rookie Cody Glass would play between The NHL’s holiday break ends on Friday, and the Golden Knights will be Stone and Max Pacioretty to start the season. No one knew how long in Anaheim for a Pacific Division-tilt with the Ducks. that would last, but I certainly thought it would be longer than four games.

While this doesn’t mark the official halfway point in the NHL season, it’s Glass recorded four points in his first five games, well on his way to a close. Vegas has played 40 games, with 42 remaining on the schedule, Calder Trophy. Then, reality set in. Glass has only seven points in his and as we approach the midway point, it’s a good time to look back on past 27 games, only three of which are at even strength. those bold preseason predictions. Setting his recent injury aside, Glass hasn’t produced at 5-on-5 the way On Sept. 30 — two days before the first regular season game — I made many hoped. Part of that is due to playing out of position — stuck on the 10 bold (and not so bold) predictions for the Golden Knights this season. wing for the majority of the season — and playing with less-than-optimal Now I present, as a belated Christmas gift to all The Athletic subscribers, scoring linemates. Glass’ most consistent linemates this season have 1,700 words on how wrong I was. been Cody Eakin and Brandon Pirri, who have a combined three goals this season. It appears Glass may have more help when he returns from I know. It’s not a puppy, or even a baby Yoda doll. But what’s better to injury, with an opening on the third line with Paul Stastny and Alex Tuch. unwrap the day after Christmas than an entire story of me being wrong? Without further adieu: That should get him going offensively, but no way he’s contending for a Calder Trophy at this point. They might as well give it to Cale Makar now. 1. The Golden Knights will win the Pacific Division 5. The Golden Knights will score the most goals in franchise history As I wrote back in September, this isn’t exactly the boldest prediction. The Golden Knights opened the season as prohibitive favorites to win the With 122 goals in their first 40 games, the Golden Knights are currently division. However, the fact that they’re tied for first place in the division is on pace to score 250 goals this season. That would fall 22 goals short of a great sign, considering the team with the second-best odds (San Jose) the franchise record (2017-18) and would be only one more goal than is currently tied for last place in the Western Conference. last year’s total.

It’s been a bumpy road to get to this point, including a brutal 3-6-4 stretch I looked at Vegas’ roster, stacked with immensely talented forwards, and in November, but Vegas has found its stride as of late. The Golden figured they’d be one of the best teams in the NHL at creating offense. Knights have won nine of their past 14 games and earned a point in 12 of They have been, creating more scoring chances than any team in the them. That, coupled with a fantastic 9-3-2 record against Pacific Division league at 967. The Golden Knights have done everything but finish their opponents, puts Vegas in the driver’s seat to win the Division. chances, with a dismal 8.8 shooting percentage (23rd in the league).

According to Dom Luszczyszyn’s projections on The Athletic, Vegas is The goal production has improved drastically since Gerard Gallant made expected to finish with 96.7 points and has an 89 percent chance of the switch to a zone defensive scheme on Nov. 27. In the 26 games prior making the playoffs. Arizona is next with 94 projected points and a 79 to that, Vegas averaged 2.96 goals per game. In the 14 games since, percent chance of making the playoffs. that has jumped all the way up to 3.21. But even if Vegas continues at that pace, it’s still nowhere near the 2017-18 goal total. 2. Shea Theodore will top 50 points 6. The Golden Knights will allow the most goals in franchise history I wasn’t alone thinking Shea Theodore was on the verge of becoming the best defenseman on the team. His Golden Knights teammates voted him With 118 goals allowed in their first 40 games, the Golden Knights are most primed for a big year and, to this point, that has certainly happened. currently on pace to give up 242 goals this season. That would fly past the franchise record for goals allowed (230 in 2018-19). Theodore has been Vegas’ best blueliner by a wide margin in nearly every metric. His game score value added (GSVA) of 1.55 is the highest As predicted, Vegas’ defense has struggled to begin the season. Partially amongst all defensemen and is actually higher than the other six due to the projected struggles of players like Deryk Engelland, Nick defensemen on the roster combined! In Theodore’s 674:58 of even Holden and Jon Merrill, but more so a drastic drop off from Nate Schmidt. strength ice time this season, the Golden Knights have 57.71 percent of the scoring chances. Only two defensemen in the entire NHL (Dougie Schmidt has been Vegas’ most reliable defenseman over the first two Hamilton and Jaccob Slavin) have a better scoring chance share while seasons, and this year his play has declined dramatically. He has the on the ice. Theodore has taken multiple strides forward on the defensive worst expected goals against per 60 minutes of any defenseman on the side of the ice, becoming Vegas’ most reliable defenseman. team (2.61) and hasn’t been the shutdown defenseman he was in the past. To Schmidt’s credit, he’s still facing the top offensive weapons night However, my bold prediction wasn’t about Theodore’s overall game. It in and night out, but he needs to improve his play if Vegas’ defensive was that he’d score 50 points. To this point, he’s not on pace for that. woes are to end. As of now, this bold prediction is looking good. Theodore has accrued only 20 points (5 goals, 15 assists) through 40 games, and is on pace for 41. That would still be a career high but is 7. Malcolm Subban will win at least 15 games short of my preseason prediction. This may have been the boldest prediction of all, and it actually has a There is some reason for hope that he’ll still reach that 50-point mark. decent chance of happening still. Over the first 18 games of the season, Theodore had only six points Subban started the season with six-straight games without a win but has (0.33 ppg), and in the past 22 games, he’s recorded 14 points (0.64 ppg). since reeled off six wins in his past eight starts. He needs eight wins over If he continues on that trajectory, he would become the highest-scoring the last 42 games in order to lock in this prediction, and I still think he defenseman in Vegas history. gets there. 3. Mark Stone will be the first winger to win the Selke trophy since 2003 Subban’s numbers have been phenomenal during his latest stretch, This isn’t looking great. going 6-1-1 with a .927 save percentage.

Stone has been very good this season, currently second on the team Marc-Andre Fleury was the best goaltender in the NHL through the first with 35 points, but it hasn’t been the superstar season I projected. He’s month or so, but has seen his numbers decline lately. He’s still the best already fighting an uphill battle when it comes to Selke Trophy voting player on the team and will need to be in peak physical condition when because he’s a winger. And while plus-minus isn’t the best way to gauge the playoffs begin in order for Vegas to make a deep run. That means Subban should get plenty of action over the last half of the season. If he can win more than half of his starts, he should top his previous career- high of 13 wins and make this prediction true.

8. William Karlsson will lead the NHL in shorthanded goals

With two shorthanded goals, Karlsson is currently tied for fourth in the NHL, only one goal behind Mika Zibanejad, Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Sebastian Aho, who each have three.

Looking back on this, I should’ve predicted that Karlsson and Reilly Smith will be the highest-scoring shorthanded tandem in the league. The two are by far the most dangerous penalty-killing duo in the NHL, with two goals each.

Perhaps the most ridiculous stat of the season to this point is that Karlsson and Smith have actually outscored the opposition 5-4 while killing penalties. They’ve scored 4.05 shorthanded goals per 60 minutes, which is actually higher than their goal scoring numbers at even strength (3.38).

9. Max Pacioretty will lead the team in shots on goal

Prior to this season, no Golden Knight had led the team in shots except for Jonathan Marchessault.

That streak appears to be coming to an end, as Pacioretty currently holds the lead in shots on goal with a staggering 161 through 40 games. Marchessault is 23 shots behind. Not only is Pacioretty on pace to have the most shots on the team (330), but he’s trending toward crushing Marchessault’s franchise record of 278 shots on goal.

10. The Golden Knights will win the Western Conference

The most troubling aspect of this season for the Golden Knights has been their struggles against contending teams. Vegas has gone 1-3-0 against the top three teams in the Western Conference (St. Louis, Colorado and Arizona), including two blowout losses to the Avalanche at home.

If the Golden Knights are to make a trip back to the Stanley Cup final, they’ll likely need to beat two of those teams in the postseason. It helps that Vegas could draw Pacific Division opponents for the first two rounds of the playoffs, where the Golden Knights have dominated. Over the first three seasons in franchise history, Vegas has a combined 47-17-8 record against the Pacific Division for a .708 points percentage.

Past that, the Golden Knights will need a great series against the cream of the Central Division. Whether that’s St. Louis, Colorado, a surging Winnipeg or another team that comes from nowhere (hello, 2018-19 Blues).

So while Vegas certainly isn’t the favorite to come out of the West at this point, it’s still well within the realm of possibility.

The Athletic LOADED: 12.27.2019 1167981 Washington Capitals “He’s very intelligent,” General Manager Brian MacLellan said. “If somebody told me Tom Wilson would be the next captain there, I

would have zero arguments against it,” retired defenseman Brooks Orpik Tom Wilson’s reputation was hard-earned. It’s even harder to shake. said.

“You get to know him, and you learn about the character — it’s off the charts,” Coach Todd Reirden said. Barry Svrluga Read all that, and fans in Washington nod their head, because it affirms what they already know. Read all that, and fans in other markets roll their eyes, smirk or worse. The stands had emptied and even the dressing room was vacant when the Kaufman family gathered in a side room in the bowels of Capital One Wilson is caught not only between those two hockey groups but between Arena, awaiting the benefactor who made this night possible. Tom an era in which he would have been celebrated and one that labels him Wilson skated that evening with the idea of producing for the Washington dirty. As Holtby said, “He would have had success in any decade,” the Capitals against the Columbus Blue Jackets. But win or lose, 20 nights a brawling 1970s or the wide-open 1980s or the hard-checking 1990s all season, he welcomes families backstage for a peek under hockey’s included. hood. They are families awaiting their wishes to be granted through Make-A-Wish Mid-Atlantic or they are military families, and Wilson sees a But he is about to play in the 2020s, when the NHL will continue to dressing room tour and chitchat as a chance to get their minds off a employ an active and aggressive Department of Player Safety. It is a debilitating illness or time overseas — off life, really. group Wilson knows all too well. It is a group that has asked — has demanded — Wilson change the way he plays. He has the size and the “It can be a bright spot in their month — or their year,” Wilson said. strength and the speed to inflict damage nightly. The NHL would rather he pull up and back off. So as Wilson showered up, the Kaufmans fidgeted. What to ask an NHL star? So as he hits the prime of his career and becomes a fixture on the Capitals’ top line, there is an evolution taking place. “I want to ask him if he’s married,” 11-year-old Gabriella said. Capitals enter holiday break with a minor issue “He’s not married,” her mom, Jamie, shot back immediately. “Who is the new Tom Wilson?” Reirden asked. “And what’s it going to “How many fights did he have?” Gabriella’s 10-year-old brother, Gage, look like?” asked. Finding his spot “I don’t know if he keeps track,” Jamie said. Tom Wilson grew up a white-collar kid in Toronto. His father, Keven, was And then here came Wilson, 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds of apologies. a banker. He and his two brothers played hockey on a sheet of ice Keven “Sorry I’m late,” he said. “And sorry we lost.” maintained in a ravine at the base of their backyard. Old doors, some still with the knobs on them, served as the boards. And young Tom wore it “Sorry you didn’t fight,” Gage said. out.

“Yeah,” Wilson said, and looked down. “I thought about it.” “My birthday is March 29, and I’d want to have my birthday party on that rink,” Wilson said. “It’d just be slush. We got so much use out of that Nicklas Backstrom’s security with Caps makes negotiating his own rink.” contract ‘pretty cool’ In those early years, Wilson wasn’t always bigger and stronger than his Tom Wilson has movie-star looks, a $31 million contract, a Stanley Cup peers. A growth spurt in his early teens shot him over 6 feet. It didn’t ring and a charity to support families who need it, and he is in an make him more athletic. It made him more awkward. impossible spot. Each night, he laces up his skates and plays on the same line as Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom — perhaps the two “You’re like Bambi,” Wilson said. “You have to learn how to skate again best players in Capitals history — because he is skilled enough to at 14 or 15.” warrant that job. Each night he skates that 220-pound frame at speeds more regularly reached by much smaller men, and he evaluates in real The Greater Toronto Hockey League annually stages an all-star game to time whether he should power into an opposing player or pull back. showcase its best players for the , one of the three major junior circuits in Canada. The stands are loaded with scouts. The choices are stark. Hit, and he’ll almost certainly be questioned. Pull back, and he’ll question himself. “You’re doing whatever you can to get noticed,” Wilson said.

“You have a reputation,” he said. “You have to deal with it.” When Wilson got the opportunity to play in the showcase, he picked an opponent — a kid named Scott Laughton, who is now with the Wilson deals with it every day. There was a time when players who dish Philadelphia Flyers — and he fought him. He got noticed. He was drafted out hits the way Wilson can were valued in the NHL rather than vilified. by the OHL’s Plymouth Whalers. As a 16-year-old, he had to stay in the That time is not the dawn of 2020. Since he entered the league as a 19- lineup before he could work his way up it. And so one night against the year-old rookie in 2013, no player has accumulated more penalty Barrie Colts, he fought again. minutes; indeed, no one is within 100 of him. He has been suspended four times, including once in the playoffs and once for a hit in the “It just kind of happened,” Wilson said this month over coffee near the preseason that cost him the first 14 games after the Capitals won the Capitals’ Arlington practice facility. “I won the fight. And you’re like: ‘All Stanley Cup. In a social media era, he regularly has to turn away from right. It’s not so bad.’ And you see what it does to the team. It brings guys Twitter, where he finds the following — and worse. together. You protect your teammates, stand up for guys. You find a bit of a role doing that where you can change momentum in a game when “Tom Wilson is a headhunting goon who has no place in this league.” you’re only playing seven or eight minutes.”

“Letting Tom Wilson stay in the Nhl is a [expletive] joke.” As he grew, though, his role changed. He was physical enough that he was named the OHL’s “best body checker.” By his NHL draft year, he “Tom Wilson is such a piece of human [expletive] garbage. What a was also on the power play, playing more minutes, creating more buffoon.” offensively. In 13 playoff games, he produced 13 points. He stood that Those are tweets from one night in the life of Tom Wilson. full 6-foot-4, but man he could skate, too.

And yet in his own dressing room, he is embraced, even at 25, as a “A bit of a rare package,” said Ross Mahoney, the Capitals’ assistant leader and a foundational piece for what eventually will be a post- general manager who for 16 years served as the team’s director of Ovechkin era. amateur scouting.

“His type of player was the type of player a young Canadian kid grew up In 2012, the Caps held the 16th selection in the first round. In weighing idolizing,” goalie Braden Holtby said. their options, they brought Wilson in for a second interview. MacLellan, then an assistant general manager, sat in. Capitals defensemen flexing their scoring prowess That suspension followed the three-game ban Wilson served during the Caps’ run to the Cup for a hit that broke the jaw of Pittsburgh’s Zach “You’re just impressed with the maturity for someone that age,” Aston-Reese. In issuing the verdict for the hit on Sundqvist, NHL MacLellan said. “The way he carried himself. He was team-oriented and Commissioner Gary Bettman wrote, as part of a 31-page explanation, “I was sincere in the language and the way he presented himself. That hope that this decision will serve as an appropriate ‘wake-up call’ to Mr. interview was impressive.” Wilson, causing him to reevaluate and make positive changes to his But to take a player that high, he had to be more than well-spoken. He game.” had to, frankly, be more than a physical presence. To the Capitals, though, there needs to be some reevaluation of how “When you’re taking someone at 16,” Mahoney said, “you are projecting Wilson is being evaluated. he’ll be a top-six forward. The size, the skating, the skill — we thought he “He shies away from a lot of hits just in case something was to go could be that.” wrong,” Oshie said.

And yet early in his NHL career, circumstance pigeonholed Wilson. NHL “We know he’s not a dirty player,” Holtby said. “To see a guy penalized rules dictated that in 2012-13, he couldn’t play in the American Hockey and kind of blacklisted by the league more than anyone, it’s extremely League, the top minor league circuit. The choices: Play in the NHL, which frustrating.” might be too much, or go back to the OHL, which — after a season in which he produced 58 points in 48 games — he had outgrown. Adam During the process that eventually led to the reduction of Wilson’s Oates, then the Capitals’ coach, pushed to keep Wilson with the big club. suspension, MacLellan traveled with his player to and from New York for So, at 19, here he was, an NHL rookie. meetings with the league. What he found wasn’t a thug who simply felt he had been wronged. “He was in one of those situations where you see a lot of kids’ careers get ruined by being up at a young age and not playing,” Holtby said, “or “He feels like he’s letting the team down, letting the organization down,” being put into a role that might not lead to growing a lot.” MacLellan said. “He’s apologizing. . . . It’s a mature attitude.”

The role: Play on the fourth line. Buzz around. Hit people. Fight. In less Even with the modifications Wilson has made to make his hits effective than eight minutes a night, have an impact. and safe, eyes still turn his way. There are simple physics at work here. Most 220-pound players can’t skate as fast as Wilson can. Most smaller “If you’re playing against another team’s top players, make it tough for players are fast enough that they avoid such hits. But Wilson’s them,” Wilson said. “When those guys come over the boards, they know combination of size and speed puts him in position for more hits that it’s going to be a tough shift.” have an impact.

As he moved into his third NHL season, his role was expanding just as “There’s been times where he’ll get frustrated with hits and people the league was changing. Sidney Crosby, arguably the sport’s biggest complaining,” said Orpik, a teammate for five years and someone who star, had missed time with concussions. knows about physical play and being suspended for it. “And he says, Player safety moved to the forefront of the discussion. Speed became ‘Hey, I let up on him.’ And I’d say: ‘Tom, I know you let up on him. But important. Hitting became a problem. when you let up on him, you still blow people up.’ ”

“I wanted to grow,” Wilson said. “I wanted to learn. I wanted to adapt. A presence felt And, you know, the hits that I’ve made, they’re body checks. They’re hard A few weeks ago, Wilson walked out of the elevator and across a floor hockey plays. onto the streets of Arlington, then knocked on the glass of the business “But I think — I hope — there’s a respect. I know a lot of guys around the next door. Bash Boxing opened a few months ago in the building that game and played with a lot of guys, you hope there’s a mutual respect houses the Capitals’ headquarters, and Wilson bought in as an investor. where you’re out there trying to play the game hard and honest. You see The scrutiny Wilson faces on the ice and with his words, it’s gone when a lot of histrionics entering the game now like slashing and butt-ending he glides through the door and the women who run the place welcome and spraying — and licking guys. That’s never been my style.” him. In Northern Virginia, where he bought a house, and Washington, where his girlfriend has enrolled in graduate school at George From 2018: Tom Wilson is the most hated man in hockey. Can he Washington, he is at ease. change that? “This is almost home,” Wilson said. “I love it here.” A matter of perception The six-year deal he signed following the Stanley Cup victory in 2018 This month, late in a game the Capitals trailed at Columbus, Wilson means he is in line to be here at least through 2023-24. But this feels like skated into the offensive end, where Blue Jackets defenseman Vladislav a permanent marriage because of how valuable Wilson has become to Gavrikov was about to battle Caps forward T.J. Oshie for the puck. the Caps. Some of that value comes from his post-Sundqvist Wilson arrived as Gavrikov played the puck along the boards. He collided adjustments. with Gavrikov. Wilson skated away. Gavrikov went down. And the analysis began. Through the NHL’s holiday break, Wilson has reached a career high with 0.68 points per game just as he is at a career low with 1.61 penalty “I don’t get it at the end,” Columbus Coach John Tortorella said minutes per game. He has five major penalties, all for fighting, most on afterward. “He’s three or four feet off the ground. . . . I thought it was a occasions in which the other player dropped the gloves first. No player in needless hit.” the top 10 in hits — Wilson ranks fifth — has more than Wilson’s 26 points. So off we go. The tweets mentioned earlier in this story, they’re all from the moments after Wilson’s hit on Gavrikov. Wilson, by now, is beyond “He had to harness some of that physical element that is a difference- publicly breaking down his own hits even as he knows they’ll be maker for him, but to understand that he had become too important to dissected frame by frame. our team,” Reirden said. “I had to tell him: Our team cannot afford to not have you on the ice.” “For me over the years it’s just been better to go out and play my game and not necessarily talk about it,” he said. “It seems like nowadays Even if Wilson is processing potential hits more cautiously, he has a anyone can turn anything into anything they want just by talking about it.” presence that impacts games. Orpik, who now works in the Caps’ player development department, was watching that game at Columbus on The Capitals vehemently defend Wilson and his style. He has, they television. He saw a handful of dump-ins to the Columbus zone in which know, examined his game and how it relates to the way the league is a Blue Jackets defenseman had four or five steps on Wilson. trending. They know he met with the Department of Player Safety to better understand the line he is walking. They know the time he has “I was laughing, because they took some interesting routes to the puck,” spent in front of video monitors, looking at his own hits — none more so Orpik said. “All of a sudden, Tom got the puck first because they were than the mid-ice check of St. Louis center Oskar Sundqvist, the more interested in avoiding contact. He does that, he’s playing with Nicky preseason blow for which the NHL originally suspended him 20 games, a and Ovi, and all of a sudden he kicks a puck out to them and they get penalty later reduced to 14. chances because of it.” “I studied that hit for days on days on days,” Wilson said. Those kinds of plays have Wilson on pace for a career-high 26 goals and a career-high 56 points. That’s the package the Caps paid $31 million for, and yet Wilson always will be known for physicality first. As he moved through the halls at Capital One Arena late one night, Wilson walked past Joe Beninati, the Capitals’ venerable play-by-play announcer. “Don’t beat me up,” Beninati said playfully. Wilson smiled. You have a reputation, you have to deal with it, even among friends.

“There’s this persona of Tom Wilson from people that don’t know him, especially people outside of Washington and the Washington organization,” Orpik said. “The people that know him, like my family members and other people’s family members, they will tell you that he’s the nicest, most respectful kid, how good he is with their kids, in a really genuine way. There’s nothing phony about it. That’s really who he is.”

When the Kaufman family had spent their time in the dressing room, sat in Ovechkin’s stall, taken all the pictures in all the permutations that they wanted with Wilson, they walked to the elevator, beaming one and all. Travis Kaufman is a captain in the U.S. Army. He has seen combat in Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain, and provided humanitarian support in Guatemala. He has been away from his family — a lot.

“These meetings, they have an effect on both parties,” Wilson said. “It can be very sad to see what some of these people are going through, and some of the kids are mature beyond their years because they’re going through such tough stuff.”

The tough stuff is what hockey fans don’t see when Tom Wilson skates, whether he checks or he turns away, whether he fights or skates off. He has a reputation. He has to deal with it, even as he wants it to change.

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Capitals’ prospect Connor McMichael scores in Canada’s World Juniors opener

By Matt Weyrich December 26, 2019 6:32 PM

The World Juniors Championships features many of the best under-20 hockey players from across the globe, and those talents were finally on display Thursday when the tournament kicked off.

Perennial contenders Canada and USA faced off in what was expected to be a physical game on both sides. The Americans took control early and jumped out to a 2-0 lead, entering the second period with the two- goal advantage.

But the Canadians roared back, scoring two goals in eight minutes to tie the game. Their first one was netted by Capitals’ 2019 first-round pick Connor McMichael, who snuck the puck past USA goalie Spencer Knight to put Canada on the board.

This SWEET pass from @AkilThomas2 to @con91mcmichael cuts the USA lead to 2-1 in the 2nd.#WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/qo7Bju9wWu

— NHL Network (@NHLNetwork) December 26, 2019

Canada actually scored four unanswered goals to grab a 4-2 lead. The U.S. would knot things up at four goals apiece, but the Canadians jumped back out ahead seven seconds later with a breakaway off the ensuing faceoff before sealing the contest on an empty netter.

McMichael, 18, is playing for Canada after spending this season with the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League. Despite taking a break from league play for the World Juniors, McMichael ranks second in the OHL with 59 points and 25 goals this season.

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From ‘Young Guns’ to Stanley Cup winners: The 2010s were the best decade in Capitals history

By Matt Weyrich December 26, 2019 6:00 AM

When the Capitals entered the 2010-11 season, they were coming off a year in which they set franchise records for the most wins (54) in a season before being bounced in the first round of the playoffs. It was a disappointing end to a fantastic season, but there was plenty of reason to be optimistic about Washington’s future.

Armed with the “Young Guns” quartet of Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, Alexander Semin and Mike Green, the Capitals boasted one of the most exciting young cores in the NHL and appeared poised to be on the cusp of establishing a dynasty in the nation’s capital.

READ: ASSEMBLING THE CAPITALS’ ALL-DECADE TEAM FORCED SOME TOUGH CHOICES, WITH A PREFERENCE TOWARD DOMINANT SEASONS OVER LONGEVITY

Ten years later, there’s little doubt that the 2010s were the most successful decade in franchise history. In their 45-year history, the Capitals have finished with at least 100 points 12 times—six of those came in the 2010s. Washington broke that previous wins record with 56 victories in 2015-16 and almost matched that new mark with 55 the following year.

But that was all regular-season success, something the Capitals were familiar with but had never been able to translate into the postseason. That trend continued until 2018, when Washington finally broke through and secured its first ever title. From all-time playoff performances out of Alex Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov to the “The Save” by Braden Holtby in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals, the Capitals’ championship run changed the entire outlook of the 2010s decade.

Instead of being remembered for another string of seasons that ended in bitter disappointment, those years leading up to Washington’s Stanley Cup victory are seen as seasons spent building toward championship glory. For a look at which players helped contribute to that building process—as well as the Stanley Cup run itself—you can take a look at their All-Decade team here.

Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 12.27.2019 1167984 Washington Capitals The real question for the Caps regarding the future that they face in the next decade is how do you build a team without the benefit of an all-time great? There are good pieces in place, there are budding leaders and future stars within the organization, but there is no Ovechkin. What the next decade holds for the Caps: The last hurrah of the Ovechkin era The last decade saw a Stanley Cup banner raised to the rafters. The next decade will likely be punctuated by the rising of the numbers 8 and 19, never to be worn again in Washington. While the beginning of the decade will be a celebration of the final years of their era, the end of the decade By J.J. Regan December 26, 2019 6:00 AM will be defined by how successful the Caps are in building the next foundation without two of the best players.

The year 2019 will soon come to a close, and with it, the decade. When Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 12.27.2019 the 20s begin, it will mark the end of the greatest decade in the history of the Capitals. It was a decade of success finally validated by the franchise’s first Stanley Cup in 2018.

The dominance of Washington’s decade is beyond dispute. The only question it leaves us with is what should we expect from the next 10 years?

The last decade set a standard that will be hard for the Caps, or really any team for that matter, to live up to. Washington benefitted from the prime years of one of the greatest players to ever play the game. It is fitting that Alex Ovechkin was named team captain on Jan. 5, 2010. It is almost poetic as the decade truly was the era of Ovechkin. He lifted the team to new heights never seen before by the franchise.

Ovechkin has accomplished everything imaginable, but the biggest story of the next decade will be his quest to catch the record we all thought was impossible to reach.

Wayne Gretsky’s mark of 894 goals has long felt like an untouchable number, the relic of a bygone era and a reflection of the Great One’s dominance. Ovechkin will most likely reach 700 goals by the end of the season as he sits just 19 goals away. Can he muster another 200 goals as he continues trying to outrun Father Time?

The later years of a player’s career usually quiet ones as great players try to adjust to being ordinary players, robbed of their greatness by the inevitable march of time. Ovechkin, however, never does anything quietly. Part of this legend is how he has not lost his scoring touch now well into his 30s. Chasing Gretzky will be one of the biggest stories not just for the Caps, but for the entire hockey world over the next few years.

But the reality is that, whether Ovechkin catches Gretzky or not, the next decade will see the Ovechkin era come to a close.

Ovechkin is 34 years old. Even if he becomes the next Jaromir Jagr and is still playing hockey into his 40s and even if he is still doing it in Washington, he won’t be scoring 50 goals a year by 2029.

Sometime in the next decade the Caps will have to answer the question of what does life after Ovechkin look like? What does life after And also what does life after Nicklas Backstrom, who is 32, look like?

In the more immediate future, the Caps appear to have one more run at the Stanley Cup in them as they currently sit atop the NHL standings. Beyond this season, however, they have to reach a decision on Braden Holtby.

Holtby, like Backstrom, is on the final year of his contract. With salary cap constraints, young prospect Ilya Samsonov excelling in his first NHL season and a looming expansion draft in which the team can only protect one goalie, the Caps will likely have a new No. 1 goalie next season.

The next generation of players will begin to take over in front of the crease as well as Ovechkin and Backstrom’s roles decrease over time. Many foresee Tom Wilson as the next player to wear the C for Washington. A player like Jakub Vrana also seems destined to be a top- line player. How good can he be when he one day becomes the top scorer in Washington?

Behind them, the Caps boast a handful of high-end prospects. Connor McMichael and Aliaksei Protas both look like future NHL players while Martin Fehervary and Alex Alexeyev are the future of the blue line.

But how good can they be?

Every fan of every team believes all of their prospects will be stars, but not all of those players will even make it to the NHL. While Washington may have a handful of high-end prospects, what it does not have is the next Ovechkin. 1167985 Winnipeg Jets his spot on the third line with Adam Lowry, helping to take some of the strain off the top two lines, which have been asked to carry an even bigger load lately.

Make-or-break stretch coming up for Jets Copp and Little, along with defencemen Dmitry Kulikov, are all out longer-term, but could be ready following the All-Star break in late Inconsistent team needs a bunch of Ws and fast January.

Then there's Hellebuyck, who was last seen kicking aside all 31 Minnesota shots he faced last Saturday. It was a terrific and much- By: Mike McIntyre needed outing, coming off four straight sub-par games in which it looked like the heavy workload was catching up to Winnipeg's MVP so far this season. Hellebuyck was given the night off against the Canadiens, but After beating the Minnesota Wild 6-0, the Jets stunk up Bell MTS Place in expect to see plenty of the No. 1 netminder over the next couple weeks. a 6-2 loss to the Montreal Canadiens. (John Woods / Winnipeg Free Press files) I'll be shocked if he doesn't start the next six games, and seven of the next eight, especially with Brossoit struggling of late in his cameo We interrupt the holiday festivities with a burning question — just who appearances. The backup likely doesn't see the crease again until one of exactly are these Winnipeg Jets? the back-to-back games in Toronto or Boston on Jan. 8 or Jan. 9. Hellebuyck continuing his Vezina-like form would give the Jets a fighting Are they the team that went into St. Paul last weekend and delivered chance in every game, no matter the opponent. season's beatings to a red-hot Minnesota squad? Is it the one that spilled eggnog all over itself two nights later on home ice in a lopsided loss to How about Patrik Laine, who appears to have remembered that he's a Montreal? bonafide NHL sniper with one of the most lethal shots in the sport. He's scored five times in the past five games, including a couple with wicked Consistently inconsistent might be the best way to describe their erratic wrist shots that Alex Stalock and Carey Price had no chance on. Laine play of late, as the Jets entered the three-day Christmas break with just already has as many goals in December (7) as he did in October and one win in their last four games, and two in the past six. True to form, November combined, and his total would actually be higher if not for two both of those victories were impressive routs — 6-0 over the Wild, and 7- tallies that have been called back by successful offside challenges. 3 over the Flyers, sprinkled in among head-scratching losses to lightweights such as Detroit and Chicago. As we've seen with Laine in the past, he alone can be a difference maker, and a return to his previous goal-scoring form would be most For a team that always talks about staying in the fight, they've absorbed welcome. His all-around game has improved significantly this season, some awfully big punches lately, while landing a few haymakers of their including his defensive coverage and playmaking abilities, but lighting the own. lamp is his specialty. He's really starting to feel it. Perhaps we shouldn't be all that surprised, given a rash of key injuries Last, but certainly not least, is the Dustin Byfuglien situation. As we've (Bryan Little, Mathieu Perreault, Andrew Copp) have challenged their reported, the veteran defencemen is now working in conjunction with the forward depth, and goalies Connor Hellebuyck and Laurent Brossoit, Jets as he rehabilitates from ankle surgery. It sounds as though he along with the rag-tag defence in front of them, have sprung a few leaks. wishes to put off retirement and return, which could happen sometime in There's not a whole lot of room for error right now. late February, if everything goes according to plan. Coach Paul Maurice said a few days away from the rink couldn't have A healthy, well-rested and motivated Byfuglien could be a difference- come at a better time for his club, but as NHL business returns to normal, maker, especially to a Winnipeg blue-line that has undergone no there will be no easing back into work for the Jets, the way many of us shortage of turnover. It could be the ultimate trade deadline acquisition — typically do following a seemingly non-stop feast of food, family and without having to give up any assets in the process. friends. Throw in the slick Sami Niku on the verge of returning to the Manitoba Don't look now, but Winnipeg's schedule over the next couple weeks Moose following his latest injury — he could play for the AHL club as might best be described as hellacious, including a home-and-home set early as this weekend — and there is some added hope on the horizon, with defending champion St. Louis beginning Friday night at Bell MTS as a call-up to the big club would likely be in order if he can continue to Place and ending Sunday afternoon at Enterprise Center. progress. That would be the 24-8-6 Blues, winners of six straight games who sit on Of course, it's all about taking it one-day-at-a-time, and the Jets are top of the Western Conference and are showing no signs of a Stanley about to be seriously tested in this next stretch. We're going to learn a lot Cup hangover. When we last saw Craig Berube's group up close, they more about this club's identity in the coming weeks. were disposing of the Jets in the first round of the playoffs last April, including winning all three games here in Winnipeg. They appear to be Winnipeg Free Press LOADED 12.27.2019 as dangerous as ever.

After that it's a New Year's Eve date in Denver with the soaring Colorado Avalanche, a one-game return to Winnipeg to face the surging Maple Leafs, followed by a four-game trip to Minnesota, Montreal, Toronto and Boston.

That's six of the next eight games on the road, with seven of those opponents currently in a playoff spot.

All of which is to say things could quickly go south here for the 21-14-2 Jets, who currently sit third in the Central Division but don't exactly have much breathing room. Dallas is tied in points, with one extra game played, and hold the first wildcard spot, one point up on Calgary. Nashville is two points back of both the Jets and Stars, but sit outside the playoff bubble. Minnesota is only three points behind Winnipeg and Dallas.

The Jets will need to find a way to get back into the win column, early and often, as they come out of this break if they want to stay above the line. And it's certainly not going to be easy, but I'm here to tell you there are some reasons for optimism.

First up is the pending return of Perreault, who was concussed nearly two weeks ago on a dirty hit. Provided nothing flared up over the past few days, he's on the verge of returning to the lineup. He will likely return to 1167986 Winnipeg Jets first taste of the , playing a handful of games with the Prince Albert Raiders.

He had been selected in the first round, sixth overall, of the WHL Bantam The long game draft that spring. Things really took off in 2011, when Morrissey helped lead Team Alberta to a bronze medal at the Canada Winter Games in The Jets knew Josh Morrissey was special when they drafted him in Halifax. He also became a full-time member of the Raiders at the age of 2013, but it took the smooth-skating, quick-thinking D-man a while to 16. start believing in himself "For me, when I was coaching him, immediately what stood out to me is that you couldn't intimidate him. Players would take a run at him. He would wait for those players and catch them with their head down, By: Mike McIntyre | Posted: 12/26/2019 3:00 AM sometimes shifts later. So he has a great memory. For me, you noticed right away his level of compete," says his junior coach, Dave Manson, who knows a thing or two about toughness. Like a lot of Canadian hockey players, Josh Morrissey figured he had his whole future mapped out at a very young age. The veteran NHL defenceman, who played more than 1,100 NHL games — including three seasons with Jets 1.0 before the team moved to Six-year-old Josh Morrissey played road hockey on his family's driveway Arizona, saw something special with Morrissey and quickly became one anytime he wasn't on the ice. of his biggest fans.

"When he was five years old he used to say to me, 'Dad, NHL,'" Tom And the feeling was definitely mutual. Morrissey recalls with a laugh. "He didn't really know what he was saying." "I was very fortunate to have Dave as a coach. My first year in PA I was 16, so rookie year in junior, first time away from home, we'd started off Of course, it's one thing to say it. It's another to actually do it. Hockey pretty rough. Dave wasn't really coaching at the time, but they brought Canada data suggests the chance your favourite Timbits, peewee or him in to be a steadying presence," says Morrissey. bantam player will ever make it to the greatest league in the world is, roughly, one in 4,000. Other studies suggest it's even more remote than "I've never met anyone who just seems to command a level of respect that. without being the loudest guy in the room or the most talkative guy. He proves that by showing up to work every day, doing his job and caring for Yet there was Tom Morrissey on a recent December night, standing people and being a good person. I really look up to Dave in all those outside the parents' lounge at Bell MTS Place as his now 24-year-old son regards. He was a huge influence over me for the 3 1/2 years I worked hit the ice with his Winnipeg Jets teammates. and played for him."

It's a scene the Calgary investment adviser will take in about 25 times a Josh Morrissey celebrates Canada's 5-4 win over Russia during the gold year at NHL rinks across North America. And it's one that never gets old. medal game hockey action at the World Junior Championship in Toronto in 2015. Morrissey and his father, Tom. "It still doesn't really sink it, because I've coached him since he was six," says the proud father. Morrissey got some valuable international experience when he helped lead Canada's U18 team to gold at the 2013 World Championships. For "It still doesn't really sink it, because I've coached him since he was six," countless reasons, Manson had no doubt Morrissey would one day says the proud father. "We still go on the ice every summer, we still talk blossom into an NHL star. after every game. He'll ask 'What did you see today?' Obviously I don't get into systems, but I'll say "Did you think you had good jump in the first "He was the kind of kid to become an NHL player, with his period?,' that sort of thing. He likes that. I always tell him if you don't want professionalism and his approach to the game. He knew what he wanted it, lemme know. But he always wants it." to do with his life, and that was to be a hockey player in the NHL. He did everything he could to give himself the best chance he could to play in There's been plenty to talk about this season. Training camp began with the NHL," says Manson. Morrissey and the Jets reaching an eight-year contract extension that will pay him US$50 million, an average of US$6.25 million per season. He's The door to the NHL was unlocked June 30, 2013 at the draft in Newark, taken on an even bigger role on the blue line as the pillar of a new-look N.J. defensive group that lost Jacob Trouba, Tyler Myers, Ben Chiarot and, for now, Dustin Byfuglien. And he was asked to join the team's leadership It's safe to say the Jets' selection of Morrissey wasn't exactly met with group as an alternate captain. universal approval. And perhaps it never would have happened, if those wily Arizona Coyotes hadn't selected forward Max Domi one pick earlier. Not too shabby for that little kid who made his big dreams come true. Winnipeg was said to have their eye on the son of Tie, but the Coyotes swooped in and stole him away. "There is always going to be a right fit for each guy. For me, obviously, I felt like it was a great fit; I love playing here," Morrissey said as the ink Morrissey pulls on a Winnipeg Jets sweater after being chosen 13th was drying on his shiny new deal in September. overall in the first round of the NHL hockey draft in 2013.

"The term excited me. The fact that I get to have that stability, but to be And so, with the 13th-overall pick, Morrissey's name was called out, a bit here and playing in Winnipeg, from Day 1, it’s what I’ve always said that I of a reach, considering Central Scouting had him ranked as just the 27th wanted to do." North American skater heading into the draft. This is how Corey Pronman of Hockey Prospectus described what Winnipeg was getting from So how did we get here? How did Morrissey beat the long odds and Morrissey, who had just finished his second full season in the WHL with make his bold prediction a reality? It's a story of hard work, determination 15 goals and 32 assists in 70 games and sacrifice from a small army of supporters who believed in the skilled, soft-spoken defenceman who has become one of this organization's "Morrissey is a dynamic offensive defenceman with a ton of plus skills. greatest success stories. He has amassed a considerable number of points for a 1995 birthdate over his last two WHL seasons. His strongest tool is his skating, which is "It's a community that gets these kids there, it really is." Tom Morrissey easily high end, if not better. He has a very graceful stride, and his says. "It's not just Dad or Mom or one coach, it's a community." footwork is precise in any direction. His top gear, agility, pivots, and gap He shot through the ranks of the Springbank Minor Hockey Association, control stand out in each game he plays. He is also a top-end puck turning heads at pretty much every level he played. The talent was mover, frequently making aware and accurate passes. He can run the obvious, but so was the drive. point on a top power play unit, jump into the rush, make a good outlet, and flash a highlight reel play with the puck. His defensive awareness is Morrissey was the only 13-year-old playing in Bantam AAA in Calgary. solid, and he has killed penalties at times. Still, he faces a significant At the age of 12, Morrissey represented his city in the prestigous 2007 issue in his physicality. I would not describe him as soft, as he can make Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. Just three years a quality hit at times, but he often is outmuscled for pucks. Coupling this later, as a member of the Calgary Royals midget AAA team, he got his aspect of his game with his undersized frame makes him a risk at the top level." There were several higher-rated defencemen still available at the time — about the pressures of being a first-round pick. How he was dealing with including Manitoba product , who went two picks later to the that, the pressures that come along with it," recalls McCambridge. New York Islanders — but the rather slight, six-foot Morrissey was obviously seen by Winnipeg's scouting team as a longer-term project Morrissey tackled the challenges head-on, although there were some worth taking a chance on. early bumps along the way. The Moose were a young, inexperienced team that struggled to a 26-41-9 record, and Morrissey looked Morrissey at his first Jets development camp at the Bell MTS Iceplex. overwhelmed at times.

Morrissey attended training camp with the Jets that fall, even being "Young defencemen come into the AHL and it's a real hard league to named the third star in a pre-season game against Washington, but was showcase yourself. People aren't in the place consistently where they sent back to junior for more seasoning. And waiting for him in Prince need to be in the American League, and it's hard to showcase your talent Albert was the captaincy, a natural progression for a young man who was and put yourself in a light. I've seen that a lot over the years. That was leading by example both on and off the ice. part of it with Josh. It's a hard league as a defencemen to have those outlet passes, those things you were known for to jump off the page. It Morrissey signs autographs after a team workout at the Bell MTS Iceplex took time and obviously it got better," says McCambridge. in 2013. Naturally, in a world of immediate judgment, that had some declaring him "Josh has all the ability in the world. The best thing about Josh is he can a first-round bust. play in every situation because he has such a high hockey IQ," Manson says. "It is a marathon, it's not a sprint, you're going to have ups and downs, it's going to take some time. When I started to look at it like that, all of a "As coaches, you try to add a few things here and there. But the big thing sudden I started to relax and had a newfound sense of confidence." is, Josh has learned at every level — he's a sponge, as far as information goes, he has the ability to apply what people are telling and showing — Josh Morrissey him." "It was difficult, especially for the first half of the year, the adjustment to Morrissey got his first real taste of pro hockey in the spring of 2014, first-time pro game. We had a pretty young team. Apart from anything I joining the St. John's IceCaps for what would be a memorable playoff run did on the ice to improve that year, probably in between the years was all the way to the Calder Cup finals, once his junior season was over. the biggest change for me. You sort of start to develop a different mentality. I've always cared a lot about what I was doing. I'd want to do Keith McCambridge, the head coach of Winnipeg's AHL affiliate at the everything perfect," says Morrissey. time, couldn't believe what he was seeing. He finished with three goals and 19 assists in 57 AHL games, then went "You could always see the skill level. It jumped off the page when we had to Jets camp in the fall of 2016 with an entirely different approach. him for that Calder Cup run. There were many nights he was the best player on the ice for both teams. There were other nights it wasn't there "Going into camps — I wouldn't say I was afraid to make a mistake, but I for consistency," says McCambridge. always put so much pressure on myself to make the team. I had worked extremely hard, I knew that I did the work but also my mindset kind of The IceCaps lost to the Texas Stars in a hard-fought final, but Morrissey became I believe I'm good enough to play and I'm going to go out in had arrived. He had two goals and seven assists in 20 playoff games, training camp and give it everything I've got and just leave it all out there. which were eye-popping numbers for a defenceman who had just turned And if it happens this year, perfect. If it takes more time, that's just part of 19 playing on the biggest non-NHL stage. your career path," he says.

However, the road to full-time work isn't always a straight line, and the "I guess, by sort of looking at it that way, it is a marathon, it's not a sprint, Jets ultimately made the call to return Morrissey to junior for one final you're going to have ups and downs, it's going to take some time. When I year in fall 2014. started to look at it like that, all of a sudden I started to relax and had a Morrissey receives the Scholastic Player of the Year Trophy during the newfound sense of confidence. More than anything, it was between the 2012-13 CHL Awards Ceremony. ears, and helped me make the team."

"There's days where (the NHL) seemed like a long way away. I think The rest, as they say, is history. when you're playing in the minors, for me being a first-round pick, Morrissey has all the poise of an NHL veteran. obviously each year you go to camp you want to make the team, especially turning pro, you want to make that jump right away," admits Now in his fourth full season with the Jets, Morrissey has all the poise of Morrissey. a cagey veteran. He formed one of the NHL's most effective shutdown pairs with Trouba for the two seasons before this one, as Winnipeg made It wasn't for naught. He made his first of two straight appearances on back-to-back playoff appearances, including a run to the Western Team Canada in the World Junior Championships, winning a gold medal Conference final in the spring of 2018. in 2015. He was traded mid-season to the Kelowna Rockets, where younger brother Jake was a goaltender, and made it to the 2015 He also got to learn about the business side of the sport in the fall of Memorial Cup final, falling to the . 2018 when he missed the first few days of training camp while a two-year bridge contract was hashed out between his agent and Jets general He was also named the WHL's scholastic player of the year, for manager Kevin Cheveldayoff — one that would pave the way for his combining excellent play with high marks. In his case, a 94 per cent long-term extension this past fall. average. Now, with the salary-cap crunch forcing plenty of roster turnover, "First and foremost, my parents (Tom and his mother Bev Jarvis) always Morrissey is serving as a mentor to defencemen such as his current maintained school was very important for my brother and I from the time partner, Tucker Poolman. we were kids. Once sports and hockey started to take over, they made sure the school didn't slide, the marks didn't slide," says Morrissey. "He's so steady and just such a good player. Easy to play with in terms of his positioning and where he's at. He seems to be always be in the right "Sometimes it was a bit unorthodox the way you're doing assignments on place at the right time. It's been great for me," says the bus, doing tests at another time; it takes a lot of accommodation for a lot of people, people going out of their way. It meant a lot for me to Morrissey is also embracing being part of the leadership group, along achieve that, and it was something — I know, talking to my parents — with captain Blake Wheeler and fellow alternate Mark Scheifele. they were just as proud of that as anything else I had done. It was definitely an honour." "You look around the league, there's not many guys wearing that letter in the NHL. You're immediately in a pretty exclusive group and it's a huge Morrissey turned pro that summer, but was sent to the Moose — just responsibility," he says. relocated to Winnipeg from St. John's — out of training camp in the fall. The Jets were being extremely patient with their top defensive prospect. "I learned from Dave Manson, and the way he carried himself, the type of professionalism he had, the way he treated others in the organization, "There was definitely a learning curve with Josh. When you look at Josh the people around him, other players, other coaches. That's what I try to and the approach we took with him, it was to develop him and work with do on an individual level. I'm not a 'rah-rah' guy or the most vocal, but to him. It wasn't just on the ice. We wanted to sit down and talk with him be a good leader you have to do all the things that you're going to be talking about first. I try to take care of my business first and make sure I'm checking all the boxes. And that's kind of my leadership style."

Morrissey helps out on the ice during the second annual Mark Scheifele Hockey Camp in support of KidSport Winnipeg.

Morrissey loves life in a Canadian market like Winnipeg, which made committing long term to the city and franchise a no-brainer. He's also heavily involved in many charitable ventures in the community, which is why those who deal with Morrissey almost always describe him as a terrific human being, first and foremost.

"I was really fortunate, my parents really emphasized being a good person first, and obviously everything comes after that with hockey. In my opinion, when you have the platform that we have in professional sports and in Winnipeg here, where the Jets are A1 all the time, I feel it comes with a responsibility as well to try and use that," he says.

"Everyone can make a difference in the world and in people's lives. When you have a platform, you can raise more awareness because you have that opportunity. It's something I enjoy, too. As much as you want to try to make other people feel good, realistically it's amazing how good you feel after you do something nice like that. It's been important to me and something I enjoy."

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Deanna Curran has been Morrissey's power skating instructor since he was six. They still work together during the summers.

On the ice, Morrissey is on pace to obliterate his previous career-high of 31 points, set last season; he has three goals and 20 assists through 35 games this season.

Morrissey's junior coach believes his young protege is only scratching the surface of his ultimate potential.

"Josh deserves a lot of credit for what he's accomplished so far in his young career. His professionalism, his attention to detail," says Manson.

"He hasn't hit his ceiling. That's the great thing about the NHL, you're learning something every day. Josh is a sponge, so I just expect his game to keep getting better and better. To go along with the other qualities he has, I don't expect that to end anytime soon."

"He wants a Norris Trophy and wants to win the first Stanley Cup here," Tom Morrissey says.

And the man who knows Morrissey best doesn't expect the lofty new contract to change anything. Tom Morrissey hearkens back to a sign they used to have hanging up in the family home, saying the simple message it carried has become a living motto for his son.

"The garage was kind of our mecca. We had lockers in there like the Calgary Flames. You weren't allowed to bring your stuff in the house. We had signs around, one of them was: 'When you think you're good, you're done,'" he says.

"I think it'll just make him work harder. He wants a Norris Trophy (as the best defenceman in the NHL) and wants to win the first Stanley Cup here. I can tell you — Wheeler, Scheifele, Copp, Helly — all that core group, they want to win that first Cup and they're determined to do it. And now that they've got long-term contracts, they're committed to doing it. For Josh, he just wants to be a better player every day."

Winnipeg Free Press LOADED 12.27.2019 1167987 Winnipeg Jets Where Hellebuyck’s Vezina-worthy first-half of the season really sticks out is how many goals he’s saved that the average goalie would not. The second best in this category is Darcy Kuemper at 8.56 goals saved above average. When the math hasn't added up, Hellebuyck has had the answer. Can that continue? Hellebuyck? 15.33. Nearly double the number.

Only two goalies — Jordan Binnington and Tuukka Rask — have a better high-danger save percentage, but Hellebuyck has stopped more goals Scott Billeck from those areas, compared to the average goalie, than anyone else in the league at 7.29.

He’s been the team’s self-admitted saviour. The numbers suggest For the past couple of months, every morning has begun the same way. Winnipeg should be nowhere near the playoffs yet Hellebuyck has willed It begins with the reluctant rolling out of bed process, including at least them to a spot on his own. two high-fives with the snooze button. Eventually, I give in to the And that’s both inspiring and concerning at the same time. incessant racket my alarm makes. Some groans and grunts follow as I shuffle my feet down the hallway and into my office before the always- It used to be that Winnipeg’s penchant for scoring covered a multitude of dangerous descent into my chair. other sins. This season has been goaltending.

If I haven’t stumbled over myself, I place my phone down and aim my The Jets are 12-2-2 in one-goal games this season. If Hellebuyck had index finger in the direction of two buttons on each of my monitors. The just played to the average this season, how many of those wins are in the ensuing light is blinding. More groans and grunts come as I squint to column to the right? shield myself from the light. Sooner or later, I become acclimatized enough to find the mouse on my screen. A couple of clicks and I’m into The answer to that question doesn’t matter as those points are in the bag Twitter. (but the real answer is by the grace of Hellebuyck). But with plenty more up for grabs between now and early April, the Jets need better than First, I check to make sure I haven’t lost half my following overnight they’ve shown during their past six games. because of something I wrote. There’s no contingency plan in place if Hellebuyck shows his human side Then, I begin typing into the search bar: at any point. But will he?

“Charting Hockey…” When I asked him about regression at the end of November, he said he didn’t understand what all the doubt is about. Google knows what I want so it fills in the rest. “It’s not like I haven’t done it before,” he said. A couple clicks on Sean Tierney’s hockey analytics website and I’ve landed on the same page that’s greeted me for most of the season: That is true. “Daily Team Charts.” His 2017-18 season was good enough for second-place in the Vezina There are several tabs to look over, but there’s a common thread that’s voting. The team in front of him that season was also much better, remained largely unchanged, and that’s a Winnipeg Jets logo is firmly making his campaign this time around all the more impressive. entrenched in one of two quadrants on each chart: ‘bad’ or ‘lucky’. Last year was less splendid — more human, perhaps — and a byproduct Shot rates, expected goals rates, quality per shot rates, quantity vs. of a team that was circling the toilet bowl in the second half of the quality and others fall under bad. season.

One labelled ‘reality vs. expectation’ suggests the Jets are lucky, as does Hellebuyck has shown enough this year to wash away the doubts of another that is simply labelled ‘defence’. anyone who had them coming into the season, including my own. But as we reach the natural divide that is the Christmas break, one wonders if Without looking at the standings, you’d expect the Jets to be in the same Hellebuyck can do it again without the same cast. boat as some of the other teams in the ‘bad’. The Detroits, Chicagos and the New Yorks of the NHL pass the eye test when compared alongside It would be wrong to doubt Hellebuyck at this point, to be clear. The the standings. All three are pretty far off the playoff pace. worry isn’t about him or his ability to be an elite goaltender, but rather the charts and graphs that suggest some sinister things about this team. And then there’s Winnipeg. With a 21-14-2 record, the Jets sit for the moment in third place in the Central Division, and yet they perform And if those charts and graphs, with all the bad and all the luck, are to be woefully on these charts. believed, a question: When will those sins catch up to the local hockey team? This type of thing is usually fodder for those opposed to hockey’s analytical revolution. Winnipeg Sun LOADED 12.27.2019 Even if you’re deadset against words like ‘expected goals’ and ‘Corsi’, the eye test shouldn’t be failing you. Nor should some of the simple statistics that have been in hockey for eons.

The Jets are routinely outshot. They are routinely out-chanced. They’ve created the fewest number of high-danger chances in the league but because they possess several players with elite ability to finish, they get goals anyway.

That might be permissible if they didn’t give up so many against their own goalies. The Jets have allowed the third-most high-danger chances against this season, trailing only the Blackhawks and the Rangers.

So why are the Jets in a playoff spot and the Rangers and Blackhawks aren’t?

Scene: *Connor Hellebuyck waves*

Of goalies who have played 1,000 minutes or more this season, Hellebuyck owns the best five-on-five save percentage at .939. He’s tied for most shots seen at 741 with Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Frederik Andersen, although Andersen has played nearly 80 minutes more. 1167988 Winnipeg Jets Jack Roslovic — My only Boxing Day wish for Jack Roslovic is a fresh new fake beard, such that he can reprise his brilliant performances as Arthur Preston sometime in the new year.

From boxing gloves to fake mustaches, the Winnipeg Jets get their Blake Wheeler — The captain was so real with The Athletic earlier this holiday gifts month that I can’t bring myself to keep it silly here. My Boxing Day wish for Blake Wheeler is quite simply some quality time with his wife, Sam, and their kids. Maybe a little skate on their outdoor rink or some quality window time watching Louie skate on his own, as Wheeler shared at the By Murat Ates Dec 26, earlier this year.

OK, fine, I can’t help but sneak one in. Wheeler told us that Sam is Blame it on the eggnog. sometimes capable of more objectivity than he is, given how fired up he gets about hockey, while she has more emotional distance from it. Blame it on a year’s worth of two-a-day coffees. Maybe he can ask her what’s ailing the PK. Blame it on the daily visits to Natural Stat Trick, the 78 untitled spreadsheets percolating in my Google Drive or the fatigue induced by Mason Appleton — Cleats. The best, most protective football cleats NHL the great shot-quality debate. money can buy.

Whatever reason speaks to you most, please accept my apologies in Adam Lowry — With Copp and Perreault hurt, health to the Jets would advance: What you are about to read contains little, if anything of, be a holiday boon to Lowry. That said, I think what he really needs for analytical value. No spreadsheets were consulted (or hurt, by being Boxing Day is a dinner with his old pal Brandon Tanev: made to remain unnamed) in the creation of this piece. Jansen Harkins — Well, the poor guy has fallen off his point-per-game No, today is not about analysis. It is about giving. NHL pace. I guess it would be a little bit cheap just to wish for him to return to such an impossible height. It would also feel cruel to wish a From the most irreverent part of me to each and every member of your continued look at the NHL level at the expense of injured veterans Winnipeg Jets, I present to you: gifts! Andrew Copp, Bryan Little, Mathieu Perreault and Mark Letestu.

Forwards Harkins has done so well this season to reestablish himself as a prospect of note that you can’t help but wish good things upon him. As long as he Nik Ehlers — The 6-foot-0, 172-pound sniper finished the playoffs still has the puck from his first NHL assist against Minnesota last against St. Louis with a fractured foot, then reaffirmed his grit in a big Saturday, I suspect things are good. way by dropping the gloves with Ryan Getzlaf on Dec. 8 before trying to engage Joel Edmundson for the same the very next week. For all of Nick Shore — Keeping it serious for a moment, the only thing I wish upon these reasons, Ehlers — the “sick man,” according to his tongue-in- Nick Shore this holiday season is respect. Claimed on waivers as he cheek captain — gets boxing gloves and hand wrap for Boxing Day this was, Shore’s version of the fourth line was an instant improvement over year. what Winnipeg was running earlier this season. He’s played in Los Angeles, Calgary, Magnitogorsk, Toronto and now Winnipeg in the last Not every reader will be familiar with just how good it feels to have your two and a half seasons. Maybe the world could conspire to get Shore a hands professionally taped, but — speaking from personal experience fixed address. here — it takes precisely zero knowledge of boxing form or technique for the right wrap job to make you feel like a world-class pugilist. The instant Gabriel Bourque — If I could figure out the technology that Dr. Evil uses your hands get taped is the same instant you think you can take on to steal Austin Powers’ “mojo” in the “classic” 1999 film “The Spy Who contenders 3 inches and 50 pounds heavier than you, and given Ehlers Shagged Me,” I would fire up that time machine and fly it to Pittsburgh. is already comfortable with that mismatch, I guess Chara’s up next. Put another way: Winnipeg has given up historic shot attempt rates on Patrik Laine — Oh, there are so many things. The “Fortnite” jokes would the PK this season, and without Tanev’s complete and utter disregard for be easy to make (apparently there are blizzards now?), and one his own well-being to block those shots, the Jets have given up an awful suspects a 2020 played entirely on Winnipeg’s top power-play unit would lot of goals as well. be a welcome gift. But when I think of what I wish for Patrik Laine the most on a day like today, the thought that comes to mind goes against My holiday wish for Bourque and all of Winnipeg’s penalty killers is the grain of the season. whatever unique quality Tanev had. (Seriously, what good are analytics and spreadsheets if they can’t build a freaking time machine?) I wish him greed. Logan Shaw — Logan Shaw’s hands at the AHL level are borderline Laine’s been set up to shoot on the power play just over half as often this magical, earning him 30 goals in his past 71 games as a Moose. He’s on season as he has in the past. He’s shooting less and scoring less with a little heater, though, with two NHL goals in his last five games played, the man advantage, and while he’s made up for it by going on an apple- and all I wish upon him is for that fire to stay alive. picking spree, one sometimes wishes for more selfish grinchiness from the 21-year-old Finn. Joona Luoto — Fresh, locally sourced mustamakkara. This is impossible, as I understand it, given this traditional blood sausage is a delicacy best Mark Scheifele — Bronze. sourced from Joona Luoto’s hometown of Tampere, Finland, but we’ve been through 13 forwards now and it’s time to allow for a little Boxing "I HAVE A HIGHER OPINION OF MARK SCHEIFELE THAN HE DOES." Day magic. PAUL MAURICE WITH GLOWING PRAISE FOR #55'S CAREER PATH. Andrew Copp, Bryan Little and Mathieu Perreault — Good health. That’s "I THINK HE HAS IT TO BE A ONE-TEAM PLAYER THAT WINS CUPS, it. That’s all. IS THE CAPTAIN OF IT AT SOME POINT, AND GETS A BRONZE Mark Letestu — Good health … but also all of the mustard he could STATUE IN FRONT OF THE BUILDING KIND OF GUY. I DO." possibly desire. — MURAT ATES (@WPGMURAT) FEBRUARY 13, 2019 Defence Kyle Connor — What could you possibly give a man with Kyle Connor’s Josh Morrissey — When Josh Morrissey scored the game-tying goal at contract, top-line job and third straight 30-plus goal-scoring pace? Ever the Heritage Classic in Regina this October, he did so under some of the since the young man from Michigan signed his seven-year, $49.98 most spectacular circumstances available. Morrissey’s shot was a million contract this September, it’s tough to imagine him wanting for cannon. It sent the game to overtime, and it took place under picturesque much in life. Still, I think it’s time we arranged the KFC sponsorship deal snowfall on an outdoor rink in his grandparents’ hometown of Regina. that Jets fans have been campaigning for on Reddit. Morrissey told those of us gathered at Mosaic Stadium that day that it My Boxing Day wish for the man the Jets call “KC” is quite simply that he was a special moment for him and that he was doing his best to soak it gets to cash in on the extra letter called out by his fans every time he all in. dangles yet another hapless goaltender. With this in mind, the best Boxing Day wish I can think of for Morrissey is not-too-distant future. For that reason (and given Comrie’s lack of a time to soak it all in. From his contract extension to his alternate waiver exemption), I would like to present him with an invisibility cloak for captaincy to a massive expansion of his importance to the team, this the holidays this year — whatever it takes to reunite him with Mikhail season has been a lot to process for the 24-year-old Albertan. Berdin with the Moose.

If there are no good Boxing Day deals on “time to reflect,” then I would The Athletic LOADED: 12.27.2019 also suggest a 2017-18 era “Jacob Trouba” as suitable.

Neal Pionk — Bubble Wrap. I know this is about gifts for the players, but for the sake of the people who read the things that I write, Neal Pionk must be preserved in Bubble Wrap.

Tucker Poolman — Tucker Poolman’s mom, LeAnne, once confided to The Athletic that her son had simply no luck with cars.

“Tucker has gone through so many vehicles since he’s gotten his license. He’s driven junkers forever. We bought him used cars, and every one of them, I think, has been a lemon and hasn’t lasted more than six months. The last car that he drove at UND was some pickup, and it wouldn’t go in reverse in the winter. I don’t know how he got it in reverse.

“The big joke was he finally bought himself a new car when he got the job with the Jets. He was finally able to buy himself a new truck, and that was fun for him.”

And then, back in 2017-18 when Poolman got his first cup of coffee with the Jets, that same truck got clipped in a fender bender.

I don’t know if “good luck” is available in the Boxing Day discount bins. Maybe there are some charms or spells that can work to keep Poolman’s vehicles in tip-top condition.

In the meantime, my gift to Poolman would be a box of lemons and a coupon to a local body shop.

Luca Sbisa — Luca Sbisa recently called his NHL career something akin to “a roller coaster.” With that in mind, I figure we should get the guy passes to the Red River Exhibition this spring. Google tells me the Ex is running from June 12-21, so Sbisa should be covered even if he makes it all the way back to the Stanley Cup final, as he did with Vegas two seasons ago.

Anthony Bitetto — Audiobooks. A million friggin’ audiobooks — and not the finished product. Scripts.

One of my favourite moments from practice so far this season is still the time when Wheeler skated up to a faceoff and asked David Gustafsson, “Are we going hard?” Before Gustafsson could get a word out, Bitetto’s joyful New York foghorn blared out, “Yeah! We’re going haaaaaawwd!” I don’t like to draw too much attention to accents as a general rule, but the world quite simply needs more of Bitetto’s.

Nathan Beaulieu — Let me reiterate that, caught underneath the net as he was after Montreal’s fifth goal on Monday night, Nathan Beaulieu had an awful angle with which to smash his stick on the crossbar. Still, given it didn’t break, the idea of an ax-throwing gift certificate for Boxing Day seems like a great way to hone his overhead technique.

Sami Niku — Hair clippers. Not for his flow, of course, because I’m not a monster. For his sideburns.

Dustin Byfuglien — Couldn’t help but include the big guy. Here’s the thing: We already know he needs good health and a good recovery from ankle surgery. These things are obvious. What I really wish upon Dustin Byfuglien this Boxing Day is whatever it takes to make him feel like singing in penalty boxes, dabbing after breakaways and dancing like this:

Because a Byfuglien who feels this good is a gift to all of us.

Goaltending

Connor Hellebuyck — Sorry, I know this is all fun and games, but … the Vezina.

Laurent Brossoit — Through a series of unfortunate events, Laurent Brossoit has been robbed of precisely one win (Nov. 23 versus Columbus, when he was briefly hurt and replaced by Hellebuyck for what became Winnipeg’s game-winning goal) and one shutout (Dec. 10 versus Detroit, when he played 58:51 but the Red Wings scored on Hellebuyck while Brossoit attended to an equipment issue).

In 2020, may the affable but extremely competitive B.C. product receive a reversal of that luck and a retroactive padding of his stats.

Eric Comrie — As we sit here today, Eric Comrie is the third of three goaltenders with Winnipeg and is probably safe to expect waivers in the 1167989 Vancouver Canucks The dependable rearguard is generally a quiet presence for Finland (expect for that time last year when he scored the tournament winning goal), and he was true to form in the opener versus Sweden, putting in a typically Toni performance: no goals, no assists, no shots on goal, but Canucks prospects tracker, WJC edition: Nils Hoglander scores stunning enough smart, savvy defensive plays to nevertheless earn more goal on Day 1 responsibility as the game wore on. Pegged as a third-pairing guy, Utunen finished with 16:22 in icetime — those are second-pairing

minutes. HARRISON MOONEY Utunen’s probably not going to score any lacrosse or baseball-style goals over the next two weeks, but if he continues to do the little things well, expect to see him rise up the depth chart as the tournament wears on. Vasili Podkolzin was the first prospect to hit the ice when the World Juniors got underway, and he wasted little time getting on the Karel Plasek scoresheet. The fourth and final Canucks prospect whose team played Thursday was It’s the first edition of the World Juniors tracker, where we tally up the 2019 sixth-rounder Karel Plasek. Unfortunately, the Czech depth forward efforts of the Vancouver Canucks’ prospects playing in the tournament: was in the press box for the tournament-opening win over Russia.

Vasili Podkolzin Plasek’s time to shine may be now, however. The Czech team did not emerge unscathed, and an injury to Bruins prospect Jakub Lauko may Vancouver’s 2019 first-rounder was the first Canucks prospect to hit the provide the opening Plasek needs to get into the lineup. Perhaps we’ll ice when the World Juniors got underway Thursday, and he wasted little have more to say about him next time. time getting on the scoresheet. The right winger tallied a beauty in the dying seconds of a first period powerplay, tracking an airborne puck and For now, though, let’s just use this space to take one last look at then swatting it home like a big-league slugger to tie the game at two Hoglander’s legendary goal before we say goodbye: goals apiece. Vancouver Province: LOADED: 12.27.2019 Vasili Podkolzin (@Canucks // #10 in 2019) with a beautiful effort in front to slam one home!#WJC2020 pic.twitter.com/qJ3fJZWA9s— Hockey Daily 365 (@HockeyDaily365) December 26, 2019

Podkolzin was a standout for the Russians during their tune-up games, and was pegged as a difference-maker heading into the tournament. He showed it was no mistake in his first game of the tournament, registering a game-high four shots — a number matched only by both of his linemates, centre Ivan Morozov and left winger Kirill Marchenko. That trio looks like one of the tournament’s best already.

Those 12 shots accounted for one-third of Russia’s total 36 and over half of what the Czech team managed at 22, but even a dominant performance by the Russian first line wasn’t enough to overcome the hometown magic of the host country, as the Czechs stunned the Russians with a 4-3 win.

Nils Hoglander

Pretty as Podkolzin’s goal was, it has absolutely nothing on the highlight- reel tally scored by the other blue chip Canucks prospect in this tournament — Nils Hoglander of Sweden.

Hoglander, who is currently playing in Sweden, recently made waves in North America after going viral with one of the prettiest lacrosse-style goals you’ll ever see. Fans tuning in to watch the skilled winger were no doubt hoping to see something like that, and Hoglander absolutely delivering, scoring the clear front-runner for goal of the tournament, as well as a late bid for goal of the year in any hockey league, period. Just look at this thing of beauty and try not to weep with joy that this kid will be with the Canucks in two years:

To recap: that’s a lacrosse goal scored at full speed, as Hoglander scoops up the puck in stride, steps over the back of the net and deposits the biscuit in the top corner before anybody on the defending team has even an inkling what he’s planning to do. Just incredible.

But Hoglander wasn’t done there. He also added an assist on Samuel Fagemo’s late third-period goal to send the game to overtime, where Sweden would emerge victorious, 3-2.

Primary assist for Nils Hoglander. Shows great patience and vision to find Fagemo and we are tied at 2 pic.twitter.com/XsYXMIbYye— Brett (@MirokiOnDefence) December 26, 2019

In addition to the two-point outing, Hoglander finished with an impressive six shots on goal, was named player of the game, and established himself as a household name, so we’d say it was a pretty good first showing at the World Juniors for the Canucks 2019 second-rounder.

Toni Utunen

The Canucks 2018 fifth-rounder is back on the blueline for the Finnish team he captained to gold in 2018, but it’s a little harder to spot him now that he isn’t wearing the C. 1167990 Vancouver Canucks There were any number of juicy storylines around the Western Hockey League in the 1987-88 season but the sexiest revolved around the two players at the top of the draft: Prince Albert’s Mike Modano and Medicine Hat’s Linden. Canucks at 50: 'Rancher' Linden didn't take long to be branded face of NHL franchise The year before Modano had landed in Saskatchewan from the Detroit Compuware machine where he posted 62 points as a 16-year-old, then 127 points in his draft year.

Ed Willes Linden, as was the case in his NHL career, was never as big a scorer. But in 1987-88, he led the Tigers to the WHL Championship Final, then

the Memorial Cup over a stacked Windsor team. At 21 was named the captain of a team that started to As the season unfolded, Modano and Linden also separated themselves climb out of obscurity under Pat Quinn. At 24 he led the Canucks to the from every other prospect in the draft. Linden now says he was acutely Stanley Cup Final and one goal away from the prize that has eluded the aware of the Raiders’ centre and scoured the hockey world for any franchise. information about Modano. OPINION: He’s experienced dizzying highs and crashing lows in his The problem in 1988 was that information was hard to come by. career with the Canucks. He’s currently estranged from the organization after he was fired as team president two years ago. But nothing, it “There was no internet or all-sports television in those days,” Linden said. seems, can diminish his place in the hearts and minds of British “I had to listen to (legendary Tigers’ play-by-play man) Bob Ridley’s Columbians sportscast in the morning and wait for The Hockey News.

Brian Burke has told the story a thousand times about Trevor Linden’s “I was super interested in what was happening in P.A., and I knew Mike draft year, but this is the beauty of the tale: It never gets old. was my main rival.”

“(Linden) is supposed to come in Saturday (before the 1988 NHL draft) So did every scout in the hockey world. Longtime WHL man Russ for a battery of physical and psychological tests,” recounts Burke, who Farwell, who was then the Tigers’ GM, recalls a steady stream of NHL was then the Canucks assistant general manager. “He calls me Thursday GMs showing up in The Hat to gauge Linden, who was attracting a lot of and says ‘Mr. Burke, my dad said I have to call you. I can’t make it.’” attention but was also built like a praying mantis.

“Why?” “He was just such an exceptional guy,” Farwell says. “Man, he was so driven. Of all the guys I’ve had he stood out that way. We saw him “Well, it’s branding day at my uncle’s cattle ranch and I have to stay and compete. We knew he’d find a way.” help.” The Minnesota North Stars, through a determined effort, managed to “What do you have to do?” outlast the Canucks for last place overall and the first pick in the pre- “When the calves come into the pen I hold them down until they’re lottery NHL. By then it was almost a certainty the Stars would select branded and castrated.” Modano first and the Canucks would follow with Linden and that’s the way things played out on draft day in Montreal. Burke pauses for full comedic effect. “Going into the draft we understood and realized Modano was going “I said, ‘Kid, you can skip these tests.’ And you know what, we never first,” Linden’s agent Don Meehan said. “Trevor was very happy going to tested him.” Vancouver. Mind you, he would have felt that way no matter where he went.” That was Linden. From the moment he was drafted by the Canucks, there was almost something too-good-to-be-true about the kid from “In my heart I always thought they were going to go with Mike, which was Medicine Hat. He rode in from Alberta to help save a moribund franchise. the right decision,” Linden said. “But I never thought I’d slip past two so I As an 18-year-old he put his stamp on the team and this city. felt good about that.”

At 21 he was named the captain of a team that started to climb out of Numbers never told whole story obscurity under Pat Quinn. At 24 he led the Canucks to the Stanley Cup Final and one goal away from the prize that has eluded the franchise. Linden joined a Canucks team that finished dead last in the Smythe with 59 points largely because — and stop us if this sounds familiar — their Those were some of the sweetest years in Canucks’ history and while drafting was atrocious through the ’80s. they would end badly with the arrival of Mike Keenan and Mark Messier, Linden carved out a place in this province that is absolute and irrefutable. In the five drafts before ’88, they selected Cam Neely, ninth, then traded him along with a first-rounder to Boston for Pederson; J.J. Daigneault He’s experienced dizzying highs and crashing lows in his career with the and his famous cast 10th overall; fourth; Dan Woodley Canucks. He’s currently estranged from the organization after he was seventh and Rob Murphy 24th while the Bruins were selecting Glen fired as team president two years ago. Wesley third overall with the Canucks’ pick from the Neely trade.

But nothing, it seems, can diminish his place in the hearts and minds of That was just the first round. They also failed to land anyone of British Columbians. For the faithful, he’ll always be remembered as that consequence in the later rounds of those five drafts unless you count rail-thin kid from The Hat who changed so many things. Johnny Canuck. three years of Igor Larionov. The captain. The leader. As a result, the NHL team Linden joined was a disjointed group that had And he remembers that moment when he became a Canuck, once and some scoring with Tony Tanti and Petri Skriko and had acquired Kirk forever. McLean and Greg Adams from New Jersey in the 1987 off-season. But they were also in a division with Calgary, Edmonton and Los Angeles, “I played golf with Barry Pederson, Jack (McIlhargey) and (the late) Mark which had just landed Gretzky in the summer of ’88. Slavin at the Richmond country club,” Linden said. “I met Pat (Quinn, then the Canucks GM), Bob McCammon (the head coach) and Burkie at Still, Linden offered hope. He went to the Canucks’ rookie camp that Pat’s house then Callie (Quinn’s daughter) showed me around town. Burke had stocked with an assortment of minor-league tough guys, including Jim Revenberg, who would accumulate 314 penalty minutes in “It’s all kind of a blur now but I’ve often thought how my life would have Milwaukee the next season. gone if they hadn’t picked me. I was lucky the way it turned out.” Again, there was some question if the willowy 18-year old could handle Through everything that’s happened, he still feels that way. the tough going but Linden quickly dispelled those fears. “I have conversations every day with Canucks’ fans and I’m friends with a “We were playing a pre-season game in Chicago and he speared a guy,” lot of the staff,” Linden says. “I still care a great deal about the team. That Burke says. “I told him we don’t play like that. He said ‘I was 15 at my has not changed.” first camp in Medicine Hat and that (bad word) ran me from behind. It Linden kept tabs on ‘main rival’ Modano took me 3½ years but I got him.’” By 1995, when then-Canucks GM Pat Quinn (left) announced a new contract for a bespectacled Trevor Linden, the 25-year-old captain was a foundational player for the club. Ian Lindsay / Vancouver Sun / PNG files

Linden started his rookie season slowly, accumulating four goals and nine points in his first 20 games before recording a hat trick against the North Stars, who failed to sign Modano that summer. The new kid in town would go on to score 30 goals with 59 points while finishing second to the Rangers’ Brian Leech in the Calder voting.

As was the case throughout his career, the numbers didn’t tell the whole story.

“In that short period of time he became a leader,” says Stan Smyl, the Canucks’ captain that year. “It wasn’t in an outgoing way. It was organic. He was a natural leader. I think that fast-tracked our team. He was ready when the playoffs came along.”

The Canucks, in fact, made the post-season after missing the Stanley Cup party in three of their previous four campaigns. They also improved by 15 points but that earned them a date with the powerhouse Calgary Flames, who recorded 117 points while winning the Smythe pennant.

But damned if they didn’t take the Flames to overtime in Game 7 before Joel Otto kicked in the series-winning goal behind McLean.

“We had no business being there with Calgary but there we are in overtime in Game 7 and we had amazing chances to win it,” said Linden, who finished with seven points in the series. “We kind of had a group of misfits but we came together. It was an interesting team.”

And they’d get more interesting. The Canucks took a step back the following season under the weight of the failed Larionov-Vladimir Krutov experiment and weren’t much better in 1990-91 until Quinn made a franchise-changing trade with St. Louis that brought Cliff Ronning, Geoff Courtnall, Sergio Momesso and, lest we forget, Robert Dirk to the Canucks. The next season, Linden was named captain, Pavel Bure fell from the sky into Pacific Coliseum and Quinn took over behind the bench.

Two seasons later, the Canucks made it to the final. In the second round, they beat the Stars who’d moved to Dallas with a team built around Modano.

“Beating those guys in ’94 was important to me,” said Linden. “That was the only time we met in the playoffs.”

“We would have taken Modano with the first pick,” Burke says. “I mean, he was clearly the best player in the draft. But we were very happy with the consolation prize.”

They had a lot of company in 1988 when, suddenly, so many things seemed possible.

Vancouver Province: LOADED: 12.27.2019 1167991 Vancouver Canucks

Canucks at 50: When Linden at 2 was No. 1 for Vancouver

Staff Reporter

Through the 1970s and 80s the Canucks had many high draft picks, nearly all of them failed to meet expectations. From Jere Gillis to Dan Woodley, unfortunately the Canucks’ inability to draft a franchise player with their top pick had kept them mired in mediocrity. On Saturday, June 11, 1988 that all changed when the Canucks landed the second pick overall and chose a kid named Trevor Linden out of Medicine Hat. Jack Keating was covering the draft for The Province. He wrote:

It took 19 years, but the Vancouver Canucks feel they have the equivalent of the No. 1 pick overall in the NHL entry draft.

After selecting Trevor Linden of the Western Hockey League Medicine Hat Tigers second overall in yesterday’s entry draft, the Canucks revealed they had the 6-foot-3, 185-pound right winger ranked No. 1 overall.

U.S.-born centre Mike Modano of the WHL Prince Albert Raiders, ranked No 1. by NHL Central Scouting and most teams, was taken first overall by the Minnesota North Stars, so the Canucks got their man.

“We had him rated on the top of our list,” said Canucks general manager Pat Quinn, who made the choice which equalled the team’s highest pick since it joined the NHL as an expansion team in 1970. “Modano is a tremendous physical player and has the potential of maybe being a star in our game, but from the intangible sides, we thought this young man (Linden) would be best suited for our club at this particular time.”

Quinn then described the 18-year-old Linden as a “coach’s dream” and compared his character, heart and work ethic to former Philadelphia great Bobby Clarke.

“He’s the type of kid you want on the ice in any situation, whether it’s the power play, penalty killing or last minute of the game,” said Quinn. “When I watched him and met him, I thought at least from the work habits that his focus and dedication were those of a Bob Clarke.”

Brian Burke, the Canucks director of hockey operations who heads the scouting staff was elated that Minnesota chose Modano, 18.

“When I heard they were taking Modano, as far as we were concerned that was the best news we could have gotten. And that’s not knocking Mike Modano, because we like him plenty too.

“Mike Modano probably has a little higher skill level than Trevor, but if you’ve got to go to war, Trevor’s got skill and a lot of heart and a lot of leadership. And we felt we have to develop some players with leadership ability and this is one of them.”

“I don’t think he had a bad game all year,” said chief scout Mike Penney of Linden, who had 46 goals, 110 points and 76 penalty minutes in 67 WHL games. “He had an outstanding Memorial Cup, and was named to the tournament all-star team.”

Quinn and Vancouver coach Bob McCammon are cognizant of the dangers of rushing young players into the NHL, while Burke thinks it might be better for Linden to be brought along slowly with the Canucks rather than be returned to junior.

“I think the best way to bring a young (junior) kid along, unless he’s totally out of his element, is to spot him, play him intelligently, play him in the right situations and bring him along slowly,” said Burke. “That’s better than the kids going back to junior. I think these kids have learned everything they’re going to learn in junior.”

Vancouver Province: LOADED: 12.27.2019 1167992 Websites Thad Foucher, NBA Thad Foucher’s career includes experiences as a player, consultant at

Adidas and AAU coach. This blend of experiences positioned Foucher to The Athletic / How Wasserman agents found success repping first- uniquely understand what NBA players need in representation. Foucher, rounders in all 6 major North American league drafts in 2019 whose clients include Russell Westbrook, was named to Forbes’ “World’s Most Powerful Sports Agents” list in 2018. In 2019, he and his Wasserman colleagues represented four clients drafted in the first round of the NBA Draft: De’Andre Hunter, Rui Hachimura, Nickeil Alexander- By Alicia Jessop Dec 26, 2019 Walker and Luka Samanic.

A unique component of Wasserman’s NBA representation is its pre-draft The battle that sports agents experience to build their businesses can be program. described by the laws of supply and demand: a low supply of “We have what I think is the best pre-draft program in the business,” professional athletes needing representation mixed with a high demand Foucher said. “We bring all of our recruits to California and put them up. to represent them creates fierce competition. We provide them media training and bring a nutrition expert who will tell In this competitive climate, certain agencies have thrived, gaining large them what it takes to be the best at the next level. We provide extensive percentages of the market share. In 2019 Wasserman earned over $200 information along with basketball skills training.” million in maximum possible commissions, making it the second most- Wasserman also provides its NBA clients year-round access to training. profitable sport agency, after CAA. Wasserman achieved another distinction this year when it became the first agency to have a client “We are the only group that has our own facility where our guys workout selected in the first round of all six major North American team sport with our own trainers,” Foucher explained. “Young guys tend to struggle drafts. and we want to make sure they have a voice they experienced success with. Our trainer is in constant contact with them.” “It speaks to our commitment to be elite in sport – and not just the ‘big four’ North American sports leagues,” Wasserman COO and talent Wasserman’s NBA training system has created a unique ancillary division executive vice president Jason Ranne said. “The world of sport is benefit: an opportunity to develop a strong player network. much bigger than that, and we value the diversity of thought and expertise that comes from working in all corners of the industry.” “In the summer, our veterans come back,” Foucher said. “All of our guys come out to Los Angeles and train with the guys they originally entered Agents from Wasserman’s MLB, MLS, NBA, NFL, NHL and WNBA the draft with. It’s a unique opportunity for young guys to be involved with divisions gave The Athletic a behind-the-scenes look at their client guys extremely successful at the next level.” recruiting and retention processes and the unique differences across each sport’s draft process. In recent years, a growing number of American NBA prospects spurned playing NCAA basketball to compete overseas. Foucher says prospects Doug Hendrickson, NFL should approach this opportunity hesitantly.

This year was great for Doug Hendrickson professionally. Hendrickson, “By playing overseas, it removes you from the NBA, because NBA teams an NFL agent for over 25 years, represented 14 clients drafted in 2019 — aren’t overseas,” he said. “College coaches are preparing guys to be the most Wasserman clients ever selected in the NFL Draft. This list NBA players. Their preparation helps colleges win basketball games. The included Chargers first-round pick, Jerry Tillery. coaches overseas have no ambition to help players become NBA players, because they are trying to advance their own situations.” For Hendrickson, who has negotiated over $500 million in active contracts, recruiting success is achieved by ensuring the right fit between Lindsay Kagawa Colas, WNBA client and agent. Lindsay Kagawa Colas has established herself as one of the top agents “We identify the right fit by talking to various general managers and for Olympic and female athletes. Kagawa Colas’ client list includes people around the league as to who the top guys are in different WNBA players Diana Taurasi, Breanna Stewart, Sue Bird, Brittney Griner positions,” Hendrickson said. “We want to figure out not only who the and Maya Moore along with Olympic swimmer Simone Manuel. In 2019, good players are, but what guys want to be different, special and unique Kagawa Colas represented three women drafted in the first round of the and have careers after sports.” WNBA Draft: Asia Durr, Katie Lou Samuelson and Jackie Young, who was drafted No. 1 overall. Hendrickson estimates hundreds of hours are spent recruiting each individual client, spanning multiple in-person meetings, tens of phone A unique hurdle WNBA agents face is the short turnaround between the calls, and hundreds of emails, texts and conference calls. The costs end of the NCAA women’s basketball season and WNBA Draft. In 2019, associated with recruiting clients can be prohibitive. just three days separated the NCAA Division I women’s basketball championship and the draft. “When you are younger, you don’t have any money and you are scrapping every penny to use for flights and car rentals,” Hendrickson “No matter when you start recruiting a player, the one thing that is really said. “It’s a lot of energy, time and sleepless nights trying to figure out the unique is the speed of transition between playing in the tournament, piece of puzzle you need to sign a client. It’s an intense process that you assuming a player goes to the Final Four, and the draft,” Kagawa Colas can’t do for that many guys. As a younger agent, you tend to go after said. “For players who go deep in the tournament, they need to do a lot more players, because you have to use the big net approach to get a of their homework beforehand if they want to go into the draft with an couple of them. As you get older, you hone in on a select group of guys.” agent.”

Unique to NFL prospect representation are the training costs agents The short timetable between the end of a player’s NCAA career and the incur to prepare clients for the NFL combine. draft changes how WNBA agents recruit clients compared to NBA agents. “The training has gotten intense over the years,” Hendrickson said. “Twenty years ago, it cost $3,000 to $4,000 and they’d train at their “The way agents on the men’s side will pay for training and draft outfits, I schools. Now, players want to go to training facilities and be trained by can’t promise any of that in the recruiting process,” she said. “If the best. It requires hotels, cars, massage therapists and more. There somebody signs with me, which I don’t know is going to happen until are times when players get injured and fall in the draft. You end up losing they’re done playing, and if they want a draft outfit ready, they have to a lot of money or don’t make the money back for several years, or at all.” buy it on their own.”

While Hendrickson notes it’s exciting for a client to be drafted in the first Kagawa Colas sees another disadvantage in the draft timeline: access to round, he finds joy in any of his clients being drafted. sponsorship opportunities for players.

“You always celebrate every player who gets drafted, regardless of if it is “Another layer by which the draft timeline hampers women in the WNBA in the first or seventh round,” he said. “It is the culmination of their hard is they can’t get brand sponsorships,” Kagawa Colas said. “It keeps them work. A lot of things have to go right for a player to be drafted in the first from having a runway to develop brand partnerships before heading into round: team need, position need, a guy staying healthy through the draft process and more.” the draft. It also gives them a shorter runway to develop content deals Jeff Jackson’s three-decade-long career in hockey, which has included around the draft.” roles as NHL player, front office executive and now, NHLPA certified agent, has attracted top NHL clients like Connor McDavid, Aaron Ekblad Despite the hurdles that exist, Kagawa Colas has seen opportunities for and Alex DeBrincat. In 2019, two Wasserman hockey clients were female athletes increase in her two decades of athlete representation. drafted in the first round of the NHL Draft: Connor McMichael and Ryan “When Diana Taurasi became my first client, I began representing Suzuki. women in an environment where there was even less commercial activity “The way hockey works is we are typically identifying players at a very than now. I heard a lot of ‘nos.’ Today, my clients are the best role young age — 13 or 14 years old,” Jackson said. “We spend a lot of time models one could possibly have. We are starting to see understanding watching them play, talking to coaches and talking to people who work from people that women athletes are the heroes we have been looking on their skill development.” for for a long time. I felt that early and saw that the way the business around men had developed, it wasn’t super interested in being part of it. I Identifying players young can create uncertainties. saw the potential in women and thought it was worth dedicating a career to.” “The issue with kids being that young is there is a long period of time from first identifying them to them being drafted. A lot of variables come Yet Kagawa Colas — who doesn’t take a percentage of her client’s into play, whether it is a kid growing a lot or only dominating when he’s WNBA salaries — notes changes are needed for more women to enter younger because he is bigger. There are certain things you don’t see the industry as agents. early in the process, like a kid’s competitiveness.”

“There will be more women agents when there are more women to Even if a player is drafted, the risk doesn’t end for NHL agents. represent who can make money,” she remarked. “A lot of that comes down to just more opportunity. When more brands are spending more “There is a huge risk in our business that players identified early on, who money on women and when leagues are paying more, there will be more you spend a lot of time on, don’t pan out and become NHL players,” agents.” Jackson noted. “With our guys, you can become first-round NHL picks, but that doesn’t guarantee anything. They still have two to three years of Lindsay Kagawa Colas, son Drew, Kelsey Plum (Wasserman / Athlete development. If you go back and look at the list of players drafted in the Exchange) first round, you would be shocked how many don’t become NHL players.”

Richard Motzkin, MLS Yet Jackson explains positives exist in the process.

For Richard Motzkin, representing the No. 1 overall pick in the MLS “One of the side benefits of recruiting kids early on, is you develop a SuperDraft has become a constant in his career, as he has represented deep relationship with the player and his family,” he said. “The entire eight in the last 12 years. One of the most recognized names in process is an education for them. Wasserman holds educational American soccer, Motzkin began his former agency SportsNet, Inc. by seminars, where we bring in younger players to go through media signing members of the 1994 U.S. World Cup team and later became the training by bringing in notable media personalities.” deputy executive director of the U.S. Soccer Federation. Motzkin and Wasserman’s soccer group represent the No. 2 overall pick in the 2019 Jackson also notes an expanded focus on data and analytics has MLS SuperDraft, Siad Haji. allowed Wasserman to stay competitive with clients.

Motzkin notes that MLS players are increasingly not entering the league “I try to sync our advice with that of the teams, because they use a lot of through the draft. analytics and video,” he said. “Hockey is so fluid and such a fast sport where there aren’t pauses in play, so the analytics are a little different. “Being that soccer is a global sport, a lot of the top players in the U.S. We are trying to figure out the balance between what you see with your national system are bypassing college completely and the draft becomes eyeballs and what you read with data and analytics after the fact.” irrelevant, because they can sign directly with the MLS team if they are a homegrown player,” he said. Nick Chanock, MLB

Regardless of how a player enters MLS, Motzkin credits relationships to Nick Chanock has negotiated contracts for some of the biggest names in his success as an agent. MLB, including Giancarlo Stanton, Nolan Arenado, Javier Báez and Yu Darvish. Along with his colleague, Joel Wolfe, Chanock negotiated “I have been a sport lawyer and agent for 25 years, so as a result, I Stanton’s then-record $325 million contract and helped Arenado secure always have a theme that everything boils down to relationships,” he the largest arbitration contract in MLB history. In 2019, two players said. “Relationships are what I always prioritize. I am now at a point represented by Wasserman’s baseball division were drafted in the first where some of my clients have kids who are coming up and are talented round of the MLB Draft: Quinn Priester and Michael Toglia. soccer players. Whether it is your former players, existing players, college coaches, professional coaches, broadcasters, or team and For agents like Chanock, identifying MLB talent begins when the athletes league executives, when you develop relationships you have a network are young. of folks who will be a referral source and advocate of the work you do.” “An interesting dynamic in the draft is there is a blend of high school and Along with preparing players for the MLS SuperDraft, Motzkin and his college kids,” Chanock said. “We start the relationship with prospective team simultaneously maintain opportunities overseas for players. clients as early as eighth or ninth grade.”

“What is unique about soccer is it is a global marketplace,” he explained. Given their young age, player development plays a significant role in the “When you are recruiting top young talent, part of what you need to offer representation process. is options overseas. In addition to being remarkably successful in the “One thing that is really important and a testament to why we have had MLS Draft, we have been able to place a lot of top young players in success, is there is a preparation and development portion,” Chanock Europe.” said. “Our agents are in the field really helping develop the players. What keeps Motzkin up at night as an agent has changed vastly from When a player is drafted in the first round out of high school, a team has when his career began. drafted him on what he will become in seven or eight years.”

“I started my business before MLS existed,” he said. “In the early stages Because of the sometimes lengthy development periods for MLB players, of my career, what kept me up at night was whether MLS would survive. I Chanock notes the importance of data and analytics. have the perspective and history to understand where this league “We have a former MLB scouting director and crosschecker who are started, how much it was on the precipice of collapsing and how exciting scouting all over the country at all times,” he said. “We have a giant it is to be part of it now. What keeps me up at night right now, is that database where we analyze all of the players. It really comes down to naturally with revenue growth comes more fighting and lawsuits. I’d like information.” to see resolution to some of the outstanding issues that exist surrounding soccer in this country so more time and emphasis can be put on Information not only plays an important role in recruiting, but also in continuing to grow the sport and creating opportunities for underserved assisting players through navigating the draft process. communities.” “Before a draft, I have three different three-hour meetings with each Jeff Jackson, NHL family on each organization and why it may or may not be a good fit,” Chanock said. “We are so in the weeds trying to prepare our clients for the draft and to go where is best for them. With each player, we take a specialized approach. This has made us stand out and sign a very large number of first rounders over the years.”

Chanock sees his job being “as much a teacher as an agent to teach players how they are going to be evaluated.” He and his colleagues spend hundreds of hours completing organizational analyses of every MLB team to educate players on which teams would be the best fit for them. “What we are looking for is to help guide our players to an organization that is going to put them in a position to get to the Major Leagues and stay in the fastest way possible.”

Chanock explained how analytics also factor into how Wasserman recruits baseball clients.

“Teams use analytics to decide which players are good or bad, using whatever advanced statistic,” he said. “We are looking for the players who are going to become significant major-league earners. We use analytics in recruiting critically. We have a giant system with every player with scouting reports, rankings and comments. When I show up at a meeting with a player, I always open it with, ‘If I am here, you have already checked a lot of boxes.'”

The Athletic LOADED: 12.27.2019 1167993 Websites Stream over 500 NHL games blackout-free, including the Flames, Oilers, Leafs and Canucks. Plus Hockey Night in Canada, Rogers Hometown Hockey, Scotiabank Wednesday Night Hockey and more.

Sportsnet.ca / Nine bold NHL predictions for 2020 While we don’t believe the 29-year-old Petro wants to uproot the triplets or Armstrong wants to lose his captain, we see the sides taking a shot at the repeat and regrettably parting ways due to economics.

Luke Fox | December 26, 2019, 9:39 AM 4. Edmonton gets awarded either the 2021 All-Star Weekend or 2021 NHL Draft

Commissioner Gary Bettman likes to reward cities that build shiny new Did you know a year in advance that P.K. Subban would get traded rinks, and Edmonton’s Rogers Place is a beauty. The downtown Ice (again), Patrick Marleau would find his way back to San Jose, and Artemi District offers plenty of restaurant, hotel and entertainment options, and Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky would split from Columbus after the would be ripe to host a major event. playoffs? Edmonton hasn’t hosted a draft since 1995 and hasn’t held the All-Star We did. Game since 1989. Playoff series have been scarce of late, and regular- We’re not guaranteeing all of these nine NHL predictions will come to season attendance is dipping. The city needs a boost. pass in the next 365 days, but if you want to become a very rich fan, feel Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman talk to a lot of people around the hockey free to place a prop bet or six based on our supreme clairvoyance. world, and then they tell listeners all about what they’ve heard and what 1. Backstrom stays, Holtby leaves they think about it.

The salary cap has broken up more bands than creative differences. And ALSO: The world’s most outstanding hockey player lives there. with the mighty Washington Capitals laying claim to both the most proven 5. We finally get the Lightning-Leafs series we all deserve impending UFA centreman, Nicklas Backstrom, and the most proven UFA goaltender, Braden Holtby, we find it difficult to see how all the Count me among the fools who believed the Atlantic Division would be pieces can fit. the powerhouse of the Eastern Conference. The Metropolitan teams — representing half of the NHL’s top eight in points percentage by mid- Toss in the fact that Radko Gudas, a welcome addition to the back end, December — will swipe both wild-card spots, leaving only three playoff is also heading toward free agency, and that the cap ceiling is only positions to the Atlantic. supposed to rise by about $1 million, and there simply isn’t enough dough to go around. Home of the Maple Leafs

Backstrom makes $6.7 million, well short of market value, and we take it Stream 56 Maple Leafs games this season with Sportsnet NOW. Get as a positive sign that the veteran is acting as his own agent in over 500 NHL games, blackout-free, including Hockey Night in Canada, negotiations with the franchise that has shown him loyalty. Talk has been all outdoor games, the All-Star Game, 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs and quieter on the Holtby front, and the 30-year-old Cup winner would be in more. his rights to ask for a payday in the ballpark of Sergei Bobrovsky’s $70 million and negotiate down from there. Boston is the best of the bunch. Toronto and Tampa Bay (games in hand!) will get their seasons on track, while Montreal, Buffalo and Florida FANTASY POOL ALERT! fade from the picture.

Play the Sportsnet Fantasy Hockey Pool presented by RAM for your The freewheeling Leafs-Lightning series gives us all the goals we can chance to drive away with a 2020 RAM 1500 Sport or win cash prizes! handle. It's FREE and easy to play! 6. Bergevin is no longer GM of the Montreal Canadiens Holtby’s security has already survived the great Philipp Grubauer scare of 2018, but the Caps have another good one on the rise in 22-year-old After eight years on the job and just one post-season appearance in the first-rounder Ilya Samsonov. It’ll be time to give the affordable, young past five springs, Bergevin is let go after the Habs fall out of the race. talent the net and let Holtby seek his raise elsewhere. While some of the GM’s largest trades (Max Domi, Shea Weber) can 2. Half of the Maple Leafs D-corps says “sayonara” now be considered wins, the team results are not there. A summer of unused cap space comes back to haunt him. Toronto’s blue line — long a source of consternation — will barely resemble itself in 2020-21. All those committed dollars upfront have left 7. MacKinnon wins the Hart Trophy, finally little in the bank to pay UFA defencemen Cody Ceci, Jake Muzzin, Tyson When the Edmonton Oilers fall out of the playoff picture, the MVP Barrie and Justin Holl, plus RFA Travis Dermott. aspirations of Connor McDavid drop with it. The East Coast bias splits Incredible: Morgan Rielly is the only Leafs regular on the back end some David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand votes, and Jack Eichel gets signed through 2020. docked some love when the Sabres come up short of the wild card.

The bet here is that Ceci, Muzzin and Barrie all shake hands with the Home of the Oilers Leafs and wish each other well. Dermott and Holl receive shorter-term Stream all 82 Oilers games this season with Sportsnet NOW. Get over extensions and modest pay bumps, the door opens for Rasmus Sandin 500 NHL games, blackout-free, including Hockey Night in Canada, all and Timothy Liljegren to become full-timers, and Toronto goes hard after outdoor games, the All-Star Game, 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs and more. a right shot, like Alex Pietrangelo. Which brings us to… That leaves Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon to capture the Hart, the 3. The Blues lose their captain trophy he came painfully close to winning in 2018 (Taylor Hall). What That Blues GM Doug Armstrong traded for and signed another veteran MacKinnon has achieved on a contending club ravaged with injuries is right-shot defenceman, Justin Faulk, at the outset of the season was a nothing short of remarkable. red flag. That Brayden Schenn (a scheduled UFA in 2020) didn’t waste MacKinnon headlines an NHL Awards show decorated with several first- time signing a long-term extension while Pietrangelo still remains time winners: Connor Hellebuyck (Vezina), John Carlson (Norris), unsigned is another. Pastrnak (Rocket) and Marchand (Selke). The 2019 champs already have two younger top-four right shots, Colton 8. The Stanley Cup stays in the Central Division Parayko and Faulk, under lock and key. They have a young stud, 23- year-old Vince Dunn, due for a juicy raise as a restricted free agent. RFA Vegas finds its stride and rolls through a relatively soft Pacific Division, forward Sammy Blais is also in need of a pay bump, and the Blues’ while the Central Division is a dogfight. Whomever of St. Louis, interest in Taylor Hall indicates where they’re thinking of spending. Winnipeg, Dallas or Colorado survives builds enough confidence and commitment to go all the way. Stream NHL games on Sportsnet NOW 9. Coaching quickies As Calgary rallies into the playoffs, Geoff Ward earns the right to ditch the “interim” tag, but New Jersey’s Alain Nasreddine doesn’t. Bruce Boudreau and the Minnesota Wild part ways amicably. Nashville does something drastic. If I’m Peter Laviolette, I’m worried about my job. Of the five coaches let go mid-season, Peter DeBoer becomes the first one to sign elsewhere.

Sportsnet.ca LOADED: 12.27.2019 1167994 Websites “It’s something else,” teammate Joe Veleno said. “Just unbelievable hand-eye [coordination].”

Remember that time when then-Team Canada coach Tim Hunter called TSN.CA / Lafreniere scores winner as Canada defeats USA in thrilling out the 17-year-old Lafreniere in last year’s tournament? World Juniors opener “He was out there skating around like it was a free skate, lots of circles in his game and we weren’t very happy with that,” Tim Hunter said.

By Frank Seravalli This year’s coach, Dale Hunter (no relation), could not have been more effusive in praising Lafreniere.

“We got the big plays and stuff, but at the end of the game, he was out OSTRAVA, Czech Republic — K’Andre Miller flicked his wrists to put a there battling to keep the lead and really playing good defensively. That’s little backhand sauce on the puck, like the New York Rangers’ first-round what you want from a complete player. That’s what the NHL wants. pick had probably done a thousand times at every different level. That’s what I want here.”

He just didn’t recognize the player that had a jump on him. The rest of Team Canada - the youngest team Canada has ever rostered in the tournament - fed off Lafreniere’s energy, even in the first period Miller won’t soon forget - the indelible image of Alexis Lafreniere while they trailed by two goals. Lafreniere engaged physically and made knocking that pass down and quickly depositing into the Team USA two big hits that helped turn the tide, beating the butterflies out of a cage. stage-stuck group. “I was just trying to get to the net,” Lafreniere said, “and it worked out.” “Everyone was a little nervous there through the first few minutes,” Daws Wipe away the drool over Lafreniere’s high-skill maneuver, the marvel of said. “It’s the World Juniors. Everybody watched [the game], you know his hands and feet in perfect harmony with his brain, and take a step everybody watched it.” back. The circumstance has to be considered to have a true appreciation After Lafreniere’s game-changing goal, the overseas sea of red went for the moment. berserk inside Ostravar Arena while Team Canada’s self-selected goal Team Canada had just blown a two-goal, third period lead to their biggest song of the 1996 remix “Let Me Clear My Throat” played. rival Team USA after battling back from their own deficit. They were They cleared their throats and made a statement - that Team Canada is staring down a fifth straight loss to the Americans, the first time that in the driver’s seat for Group B. They were still tasting the bitterness of would have ever happened - at the hands of any country - in Canada’s last year’s quarterfinal loss in Vancouver to Finland, caused partially by 43-year history in the World Junior Championship. not making an easier road for themselves in group play. The natural reaction for a bunch of shell-shocked teenagers would have Now, Team Canada can virtually assure itself the top spot in Group B by been to sag and sit back. beating the Russians on Saturday, since Russia lost to the host Czech Lafreniere’s thought at that ensuing face-off after Team USA’s game- Republic earlier on Thursday. tying goal: Let’s go. This was supposed to be Canada’s toughest schedule to start a “We had to have a big shift because they just scored,” he explained. “I tournament since 1980, but they are halfway through it now - making that was lucky enough to cut the pass and take it to the net.” seven second shift one to savour in Ostrava.

Within five seconds, the puck was on Lafreniere’s stick. The consensus “It was so fun,” Lafreniere said. “The crowd was into it. Canada-U.S., it No. 1 overall pick said in the pre-tournament run-up that he wanted the was the kind of game that you dream to play.” puck more, he wanted to control the play. TSN.CA LOADED: 12.27.2019 “That’s why he wants the puck, to get the job done,” Team Canada coach Dale Hunter said. “That’s where great hockey players come from.”

Team USA coach Scott Sandelin didn’t even see it live on the bench.

“It happened so quick that I was talking to some guys on the bench,” Sandelin said. “It was an unfortunate play for us.”

That seven second shift averted opening night heartache. Instead, Team Canada kicked off the 2020 World Junior Championship in style, hanging on for a wild, 6-4 win on Boxing Day against their cross-border foe on the back of Lafreniere’s four-point night.

Thursday night marked Canada’s first win over Team USA since 2015, back when Connor McDavid and Max Domi delivered gold on home soil in Toronto.

Their next test will be on Saturday against Russia (12 p.m. ET on TSN).

Canada’s captain, Barrett Hayton, also chipped in with a pair of goals, while goaltender Nico Daws stopped 28 of 32 in his first-ever start for Team Canada on the international stage.

It was the best of the United States and Canada rivalry on display. Ten goals. Six lead changes. Three power play goals from Canada, matching last year’s total in five games. Plenty of late game drama. And tons of red jerseys.

"There was a sea of red," Team USA's Nick Robertson said of the atmosphere.

But all anyone could talk about was the Lafreniere Show.

“It’s crazy,” Daws said, after Lafreniere helped bail him out. “I was like ‘Thank you.’ Whenever he has the puck, he’s a threat. I’m really happy he’s on my team.” 1167995 Websites "I've heard a lot of good things about him," Daws noted. "I've never actually played against him or really watched, but I've heard he's got a really good shot so (shrugs) try to stop him."

TSN.CA / Hunter mum on starter ahead of Canada’s tournament opener Daws on performance against Finland: 'I felt really good, really confident' against USA Goalie Nico Daws was perfect in his last tune-up game before the tournament begins on December 26th, stopping every shot he faced in the 30 minutes he played. The decision on who starts in net for Canada By Mark Masters has not been finalized yet, but Daws likes his mindset right now, feeling really good and confident.

--- Team Canada held a media availability at Ostravar Arena on Thursday morning. Team USA held a full skate. There's no drama when it comes to the American goaltending situation as Sandelin confirmed he will go with Spencer Knight. The 13th overall Who will start for Team Canada tonight? pick in June's draft, Knight has a .940 save percentage with Boston "We'll see," said Dale Hunter with a smile. "We'll see." College this season.

The coach is playing coy ahead of his first game behind the bench at the "We talk a lot about his demeanour and how calm he is in the net," World Juniors, but here's what we know. Only the three goalies skated Sandelin said, "and right now he's got some confidence from the first half during Canada's allotted time this morning with Guelph's Nico Daws the that he's had." first one to leave the ice. Portland's Joel Hofer and Moncton's Olivier Knight, a Panthers prospect, never seems to get rattled and has World Rodrigue, already designated as third goalie, stayed out for extra work. Juniors experience thanks to a stint as the third goalie last year. "Our goalies have been sharp through the whole process here," Hunter "Things are good he's the same, if they're not he's the same and I think said when asked specifically about Daws. "It's not an easy choice, put it that's good for your team," said Sandelin. "I think your team needs to see that way, and that's a good thing." that, because I think demeanour is a big part of this tournament because Daws seems the likely choice, though, and not just because he was first there's a lot of ebbs and flows and momentum swings and you have to off the ice this morning, which is the usual protocol for a starter. He has stay with the game and he's a guy that, if you're looking at in net, he can the best numbers since Canada's camp opened and didn't allow a goal in do that." regulation or overtime in his two pre-tournament games. Hofer, While Canada stayed off the ice on Christmas Eve and this morning, meanwhile, allowed three against Finland on Monday. Team USA skated in full all three days. Why did Sandelin have his team Neither Daws (.939 save percentage in the OHL) or Hofer (.937 in the on the ice today? WHL) has played for Canada at an international event, which may be an "Probably the only time we're going to skate in the next couple days advantage, in a way, because the Americans don't have quite as much aside from the games," the coach explained. "I think it's good, get them film to pore over. out there, get the blood going, you know, I like game-day skates and "Not a lot," USA coach Scott Sandelin agreed. "Certainly, the last couple some of those guys do too." days we've been trying to find out certain things and tendencies like you Team Canada has two players with professional experience this season do for any team." in centres Barrett Hayton and Joe Veleno. But while Hayton was loaned Ferraro on Hunter's coaching style: 'Completely unlike the way that he to Hockey Canada by the Coyotes before the group left for Europe, played' Veleno only arrived from Grand Rapids a week ago and played in just one of the pre-tournament games. After playing against him for more than a decade, Ray Ferraro discusses how head coach Dale Hunter is much different than former player Dale What's it like transitioning back to the junior level? Hunter and how he seems to be more of a players coach, trusting his "It's a little different, for sure," the Red Wings prospect said. "You got players and giving them some leeway in how they play while keeping it at more time and space, more time to make plays so that felt a little weird, a quick pace. honestly, on the ice, but got a couple reps in in practice and just feeling If Daws does get the call, it will put an exclamation mark on an incredible the puck a little bit. Skating around on the bigger ice, it's a good thing transformation. Back in June, he was an underwhelming back-up, who with my speed and skill-set, but that was a little adjustment." got passed over in the NHL draft. A summer diet helped him drop 25 Hunter believes the AHL experience will ultimately be a big benefit to pounds and take his game to another level. Veleno, who played in all situations with Grand Rapids. "It's been crazy, honestly," Daws said following Canada's Christmas Day "In the American League they're big guys and you look at the D for the practice. "I still haven't really taken it all in yet. It's one of those things Americans, they're big too so you got to play heavy and he's going to be that, I don't know if I'll be able to appreciate it until I look back at it. It's used to it," the coach said. been a crazy four months." Veleno's line, with wingers Alexis Lafreniere and Nolan Foote, produced Daws' parents, Steve and Stefani, were due to arrive in Ostrava on a couple goals in Monday's final dress rehearsal against Finland. Thursday morning. What did Hunter like? "They're a little crazy," Daws admitted. "My mom, the puck comes in my end and she doesn’t watch, and my dad is screaming at everything. I "Their intensity in the one-on-one battles," he said. "They battled hard in don’t even think he knows what he's yelling at." the corners. Everybody can see the nice plays out there but I like, as coach, in the corners they won battles and that’s what created a lot of At times, Daws has actually heard his father from the stands. opportunities for them." "It's a bit embarrassing," he said with a laugh. "I have to look up (and Veleno reflects on how AHL has helped him become a more 'complete' gesture at him to calm down and) relax. He gives it to the refs player sometimes. He's a big fan of the game so he's just very vocal." Nineteen year-old Joe Veleno enjoyed a prolific QMJHL career, capped Daws almost seemed more concerned about his father's over-the-top by a 104 point season with Drummondville in 2018. But despite his junior support than Team USA. He doesn't plan to do too much video work success, it has been his jump the AHL level that has had the biggest despite having never faced most of the NCAA-dominated roster. impact on his game. Mark Masters has more. "You want to be prepared," he explained, "but you also don’t want to get Of the four players wearing a letter for Team Canada at the World in your head too much." Juniors, only Ty Dellandrea isn't a returnee. So, what earned him an 'A'? Of course, he is aware of Cole Caufield, who scored a record 72 goals last season with the U.S. National Development Program. "You see how hard he plays," said Hunter. "He’s an intense guy, hard worker and good player, you bring that all together and you got real good leadership."

Dellandrea is in his second season as captain in Flint where he's helped build the team back to respectability after a couple down years. The lowest moment, the Stars prospect says, was a 17 game winless streak (0-16-1) to start last season. The Firebirds were outscored 104-36 in that soul-crushing stretch, but Dellandrea still produced 17 points.

"I learned a lot," he said. "A lot of adversity that helped me create not just a hockey player, but the person I am today. Just working through tough times and tough seasons has helped me come out this year (strong) and it’s been fun to win games for Flint and be part of these Team Canada events."

Flint is 18-13-0 this season with Dellandrea leading the way with 37 points.

In a short tournament full of twists and turns, mental toughness is crucial and Dellandrea seems to have that in spades. Hunter has been leaning on the Dellandrea line, with wingers Liam Foudy and Aidan Dudas, to start periods. As Dellandrea puts it, that trio likes to "set the tone."

"Dale wants us to play hard and aggressive and take a toll on the other team," Dellandrea said. "Usually they’re starting their best lines so we want to shut them down. I find that fun."

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