NHL STATS & INFORMATION NOTES NHL Player Gaming Challenge – May 19, 2020

MATCH 10 – VS. MAPLE LEAFS James van Riemsdyk (PHI) vs. Zach Hyman (TOR)

* van Riemsdyk and Hyman were teammates in Toronto for three seasons from 2015-16 to 2017-18. Hyman is in his second 20- campaign in as many seasons, while van Riemsdyk is one goal shy of his sixth 20-goal performance in the past seven years.

* Hyman was in seventh grade when he submitted an entry for a short-story competition. He won and his father helped him explore the idea of self-publishing the book, which he eventually did with the title Hockey Hero. It is one of three children’s books Hyman has written and published to date – the others are The Bambino and Me (2014) and The Magician’s Secret (2018).

* Hyman has scored 21 goals in 2019-20 (51 GP) to match a career high set in 2018-19, doing so in 20 fewer games.

* Hyman played at the , where he had 35-54—89 in 151 games. As a senior in 2014-15, he led the Big Ten with 54 points (22 goals, 32 assists) in 37 games and was named a First Team All-America as well as a Hobey Baker Award finalist.

* van Riemsdyk became part of NHL history before playing his first game in the League. When he was selected No. 2 by the Flyers in the 2007 NHL Draft, after Chicago picked at No. 1, it marked the first time that two U.S.-born players were selected in the top two spots.

* van Riemsdyk spent two seasons at the University of New Hampshire – earning All-Rookie and All-Star Team honors – before making the leap to the NHL in 2009-10. His first NHL campaign ended with a trip to the Final with the Flyers.

* After spending his first three NHL seasons with Philadelphia (2009-10—2011-12), van Riemsdyk played the next six campaigns in Toronto (2012-13—2017-18). After rejoining the Flyers for 2018-19, he scored a hat trick against Toronto on March 15, 2019 – the first former Maple Leafs player ever to do that against the club in his first season with a new team.

HEAD-TO-HEAD #NHLSTATS PLAYER GP G A P TEAM RECORD Zach Hyman 4 1 0 1 2-1-1 James van Riemsdyk 4 4 0 4 2-2-0

MATCH 11 – VS. & Adam Gaudette (VAN) vs. Ryan Reaves & Alex Tuch (VGK)

* Former teammates Demko and Tuch (Boston College: 2014-15 & 2015-16) have squared off in the NHL only once so far, on March 9, 2019. After Tuch registered 1-2—3 to help the Golden Knights build a 5-1 lead, Demko entered the game with 5:43 remaining in the first period and shut down his former teammate the rest of the way – but Vegas emerged with a 6-2 win.

* Tuch recorded a nine-game point streak in 2018-19, the longest ever by a Golden Knights player (3-8— 11 from Dec. 27, 2018 to Jan. 12, 2019).

* Earlier this season, Demko became is the first in Canucks history to win each of his first two NHL games. Demko is the second Vancouver netminder to win his first two career starts – Frank Caprice won each of his first 3 NHL starts in 1983-84 (after making his debut in relief).

* Demko went 7-0-1 through his first eight home games of 2019-20, the longest stretch of consecutive home games from the start of a season without a regulation loss in Canucks history.

* Demko played three seasons at Boston College overall (62-26-10), helping the Eagles advance to the NCAA Frozen Four in 2013-14 and again with Tuch as his teammate in 2015-16.

* Demko was named the most outstanding goaltender in the NCAA in 2015-16 and was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award. His 10 shutouts that season established a Boston College record and stand as the second-highest single-season total in college hockey history.

* Gaudette (149th overall in 2015) and Reaves (156th overall in 2005) are both were fifth-round picks in the NHL Draft and come from athletic families. Gaudette’s brothers, Brady and Cam, are currently playing hockey for the and the North ’s Northeast Generals, respectively. Reaves’ father, Willard, spent time as a running back in the NFL (Miami Dolphins & Washington Redskins) and CFL ( Blue Bombers); his brother Jordan was a defensive lineman for the of the CFL.

* Reaves’ first goal for Vegas was one for the record books. Acquired Feb. 26, 2018 from Pittsburgh, he played 26 games without scoring a goal (21 regular-season, 5 playoffs) but netted the winning tally in a 2- 1 victory in Game 5 of the Western Conference Final. The goal came against his hometown and put the first-year Golden Knights into the Stanley Cup Final.

* Gaudette played at from 2015-16 to 2017-18, where he had 142 points (68 goals, 74 assists) in 116 games. As a junior in 2017-18, he led the nation in points (60) and points per game (1.62) and became the first player from Northeastern to win the Hobey Baker Award.

* Gaudette also won the Player of the Year award in 2017-18, was named to the America Hockey Coaches Association East First-Team All-American and ended his collegiate career as the all- time leader in power-play goals (32) at Northeastern.

MATCH 12 – VS. ST. LOUIS BLUES & (MTL) vs. Colton Parayko & Robert Thomas (STL)

* Parayko formed a unique bond with Laila Anderson, a young girl who was one of the inspirational forces behind the Blues’ run to their first Stanley Cup in 2019. During his day with the Cup, Parayko, an Alberta native, brought it to West Edmonton Mall for the Brick Invitational Hockey Tournament.

* Parayko has scored 10 goals in each of the last two seasons and in 2018-19 was one of three Blues defensemen to reach double digits along with and . It was the first time that the franchise had three defensemen with at least 10 goals apiece in the same season.

* Parayko served as during the last of his three seasons in the NCAA with the University of Alaska-Fairbanks and was named Defensive Player of the Year for the WCHA conference in both 2013- 14 and 2014-15.

* Mete had a season to remember in 2015-16. In August, he helped Canada win its eighth consecutive gold medal at the . He then won an OHL championship and with the . The cherry on top was being selected in the fourth round (100th overall) by the Canadiens in the 2016 NHL Draft.

* Mete now has four NHL goals to his credit, but it took a while to get his first. With his milestone goal on Oct 17, 2019 against the Wild, Mete (127 GP) ended the longest wait ever for a Canadiens player to tally goal No. 1 of his NHL career (the previous longest wait was 123 games by Mike Komisarek).

* Thomas (10-32—42 in 66 GP) and Suzuki (13-28—41 in 71 GP) both were selected in the 2017 NHL Draft – Thomas at No. 20 and Suzuki at No. 13 – and currently are the third and fourth-highest scorers from that draft class in 2019-20. The only 2017 draftees with more points to date this season are Elias Pettersson (66 points; last year’s winner) and (50 points).

* Thomas and Suzuki account for three of the past four OHL championships, with each picking up playoff MVP honors along the way.

* Thomas is coming off back-to-back championship seasons: he helped the Hamilton Bulldogs win an OHL title in 2017-18 (when he was named playoff MVP) and was part of the Blues’ Stanley Cup-winning team in 2018-19. He also won an OHL title and Memorial Cup with the London Knights in 2015-16 – eliminating Suzuki and the in the first round of the postseason.

* Suzuki led the to an OHL title in 2018-19, earning playoff MVP after topping all players in postseason assists (26) and points (42) across 24 games. On top of that, Suzuki was named the Most Sportsmanlike Player in three straight OHL seasons (2016-17—2018-19) – the only player ever to do so.

* During the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Thomas became the sixth teenager in the last 20 years to record at least six points in a single playoff year and first since Nathan MacKinnon in 2014 with the Avalanche.

* Thomas had his day with Stanley Cup and brought it on stage to celebrate with Matchbox Twenty – whose lead singer’s name is coincidentally Rob Thomas.