SPORT-SCAN DAILY BRIEF NHL 7/12/2021 1217192 Blackhawks' Kane wins first ESPY for Best NHL Player 1217193 Hawks reportedly working on Duncan Keith trade to Oilers 1217194 Philipp Grubauer says he “wants to be” back with the Avs. But is that a good thing? 1217195 Condensing 150 years of Columbus sports history into 2,500 (or so) words 1217196 Blue Jackets Sunday Gathering: David Savard’s Cup runneth over in Tampa Bay, and an expansion draft update Red Wings 1217197 2020 NHL draft analysis: Lucas Raymond is coming to America 1217198 Tigers take a flyer for the future, just like every team in town 1217199 Goldstein to call preseason games — and staying with Panthers Wild 1217200 Still hard to believe, North Stars' run in '91 was a stunner 1217201 Norm Green was going to save the North Stars ... until he didn't 1217202 Jack Todd: Habs have work to do after rousing run to the final 1217203 Jack Leiter goes second overall by Rangers in 2021 MLB Draft 1217204 Penguins A to Z: Sam Miletic tries to rebound from a lost season 1217205 Tim Benz: 20 years after the Jaromir Jagr trade, former Penguin has found peace 1217206 Gene Collier: Here's an easy call — NHL's officiating still an impediment 1217207 LINKSDan’s Daily: Bertuzzi on Trade Market? Eichel Flirts with Boston 1217208 Thornton part of Bieber's entourage at UFC 264 in Las Vegas 1217209 Sheng’s Weekend: Labanc on Trade Block Again 1217210 Top 10 boat parade moments in Tampa Bay sports 1217215 Canucks top 10 prospects: Rambunctiousness will be Will Lockwood's key to success 1217211 Sources Hush on Alec Martinez; Add Oleksiak to Golden Knights Potentials 1217212 The Daily: Eichel Flirts with Boston, ‘No Brainer’ Buyouts Coming 1217213 The 20-year anniversary of the Capitals' trade for Jaromir Jagr 1217214 Jaromir Jagr’s infamous stop in D.C.: The 927 days Capitals fans wish they could forget Websites 1217216 Sportsnet.ca / Jets off-season to-do list: Upgrading defence an urgent priority 1217217 USA TODAY / Tampa dive team prepared if the Lightning attempt to replicate Tom Brady's trophy toss SPORT-SCAN, INC. 941-284-4129 1217192 Chicago Blackhawks

Blackhawks' Kane wins first ESPY for Best NHL Player

BY STEPHANIE STREMPLEWSKI

Patrick Kane won an ESPY for "Best NHL Player" Saturday at The Rooftop at Pier 17 at the Seaport in , per Bleacher Nation.

Patrick Kane wins the #ESPY for Best NHL Player. He wins over Andrei Vasilevskiy, Auston Matthews, and Connor McDavid. #Blackhawks— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) July 11, 2021

Kane beat center Auston Matthews, Tampa Bay Lightning Andrei Vasilevskiy and Oilers center Connor McDavid.

The right wing scored a milestone 400th in a rivalry win against the Detroit Red Wings in February. Kane finished the 2020-21 season with 15 goals, 51 assists and 66 points.

Jonathan Toews, who announced his plans of returning next season with the Hawks, won the same ESPY award in 2015.

Kane was nominated for the ESPY back-to-back in 2016 and 2017.

The 32-year-old has won three Stanley Cups with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2010, 2013 and 2015 and also won the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2013 as the most valuable player of the . Kane also won the Hart Memorial Trophy as Most Valuable Player and Art Ross Trophy as scoring champion in the 2015-16 season.

Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 07.12.2021 1217193 Chicago Blackhawks

Hawks reportedly working on Duncan Keith trade to Oilers

BY STEPHANIE STREMPLEWSKI

A Duncan Keith trade may be happening sooner than fans think.

In late June, the Chicago Blackhawks were reportedly working on a trade that would send Keith to a team in the Pacific Northwest or western Canada.

Now, it seems that the are interested in making a deal for the defenseman.

The Oilers and the Hawks have been "grinding away" on a Keith trade for almost two weeks, per a report from Elliotte Friedman. It's believed that the Hawks are interested in trading Keith for defenseman Ethan Bear and/or center Ryan McLeod, but the Oilers have declined.

The future Hall of Famer currently has two years left on a 13-year contract extension he signed with the Hawks in Dec. 2009.

Keith was drafted in 2002 by the Chicago Blackhawks in the second round of the NHL Draft and has played all 16 years of his NHL career with the Hawks.

He won three Stanley Cups and has added a Norris Trophy and Conn Smythe Trophy to his name.

Keith's 1,192 games rank second in franchise history behind Stan Mikita, who played in 1,394 games. Keith and Brent Seabrook are the first pair of defenseman to play 1,000 games together.

In 2010 and 2014, Keith won Olympic Gold Medals for Team Canada.

Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 07.12.2021 1217194 Colorado Avalanche percentage. The Avs don’t snatch the Presidents’ Trophy without him. And yet …

Game 6. Philipp Grubauer says he “wants to be” back with the Avs. But is that a Expletive, expletive Game 6. good thing? After standing on his head for months, Grubi got knocked on his keister

by the Golden Knights in the heat of the . Vegas By SEAN KEELER | PUBLISHED: July 11, 2021 at 7:52 p.m. | popped him for five goals on 35 shots in Game 4, then five more on just UPDATED: July 11, 2021 at 8:50 p.m. 22 attempts in the series clincher.

“We need to find a way to be ready and bring it every shift,” Grubauer said. “The experience I had in Washington — to win it and go all the way, McGregor Square gave Philipp Grubauer the Justin Bieber treatment, the you need to (bring it) every shift, every second, every game as a team. sweetest of screams. The ladies on the balconies several floors up, once And you can’t have too many big mistakes. If they want to win a game 1- they’d spotted him, wouldn’t stop shouting his name. 0 or 2-1, that’s good, too.”

GRUUUUUU-BAUER! The NHL vista comes into focus in a few weeks, once the expansion draft rolls in on July 21 and free agency gets underway on the 28th. The Avs When the pop culture gods plop you on a terrace with Broncos icon Von have around $23-25 million in cap room to play with and need to figure Miller, dancer JoJo Siwa, actor Anthony Mackie and rapper Quavo and out how to make the math work for defenseman Cale Makar (restricted you’re the one getting the sunshine serenade … that’s saying something. free agent), Gabe Landeskog (unrestricted) and forward Brandon GRUUUUUU-BAUER! Saad (unrestricted).

OK, then, Grubi, what say you? Sticking around? Are the Avalanche your When decimals get crunched, egos wind up bruised. The Nuggets were top choice on the open market? playing with house money the minute Jamal Murray’s knee popped. The Avs were supposed to have us figuring out how to work a victory parade “One-hundred percent,” the Avs goaltender and unrestricted free agent around All-Star Game weekend. offered Sunday, in between practice hacks for the Major League Baseball All-Star Celebrity Softball Game. “One-hundred percent.” Instead, we’re wondering what the crease looks like without Grubauer, who carried a $3.33 million cap hit last season. We’re wondering what GRUUUUUU-BAUER! Tuukka Rask looks like in burgundy.

“I think we have an incredible team next year, too,” Grubi continued. “As a team, I think, we (can) be proud of what we accomplished “(General manager) Joe (Sakic) and (Assistant general manager Chris regardless,” Grubauer said. “Obviously, the President’s Trophy isn’t the MacFarland), they always do a great job putting a team together that’s trophy you want to walk home with. We want the Stanley Cup. performing at a high level and playing in the playoffs. And I want to be a part of that.” “We’ve climbed the ladder over the last couple of years, and obviously, I’ve been saying it, in Washington, it took five-six years to get there. GRUUUUUU-BAUER! Tampa, it took five-six years to get there. Tampa lost in the first round (in 2019 and) and they actually won it the next year. So I think there’s the “Everything is uncertain right now, every team is waiting for the experience that you have to take with you along the way and grow from expansion draft,” the Avs’ netminder stressed. “I would love to stay in that.” Denver. Denver has become home. I love the team, love the organization. So it would be nice to work something out.” Grubi isn’t the root of the problem. The trick is figuring out whether or not he’s part of the solution. But if you’re still asking the same question three Keeler: Jerry Jeudy’s talent was wasted by Broncos last year. Until years later, you probably already know the answer. something changes inside that quarterback room, they’ll waste it again. Denver Post: LOADED: 07.12.2021 Keeler: Shohei Ohtani is best thing to happen to baseball in years. He’ll be best thing to happen to Coors Field since Nolan Arenado left.

Keeler: Remember that Aurora kid who threw out the first pitch at the 1998 All-Star Game? He’s all grown up. And he’s got some stories to tell.

Keeler: Nolan Arenado, Rockies finally got Coors Field farewell both sides deserved. But both deserved better from Dick Monfort and Jeff Bridich.

It would be. And yet …

Game 6.

Expletive, expletive Game 6.

Grubi said he’s moved on from the playoff loss against Vegas.

So why the heck can’t we?

“The game switches a little bit in the playoffs, for sure, everything gets ramped up a little bit,” Grubauer said of the Avs’ second-round exit, a humbling 4-2 series defeat a month ago.

“But we’re not a team that’s going to hit them and crush and fight people. That’s not our identity. That’s not how we play as the Avalanche. But we’ve got to find ways to move around that, for sure.”

What quarterbacks are to Super Bowls, are to Stanley Cups. You don’t go on a long playoff ride without either position carrying you at some .

The NHL’s biggest postseason beasts are built from the back forward. The Avalanche are strongest front to back.

A Vezina Trophy finalist, the 29-year-old German stopper was a regular- season monster: 30-9-1, a 1.95 goals against average and a .922 save 1217195 Columbus Blue Jackets horseshoe with a 5 to 0 victory over the Delewareans. There was a little bit of everything in this historic event that will lead up to the official opening with Michigan a fortnight hence. The showers, the immense crowd of around 25,000; the disappointment of Scarlet and Gray Condensing 150 years of Columbus sports history into 2,500 (or so) partisans over the inability to score a touchdown on an Ohio team for the words first time in many years.” — H.A. Miller, Evening Dispatch, Oct. 8, 1922.

But wait, voluminous Ohio Stadium would not have needed to be built except for celebrity crowd pleaser Charles “Chic” Harley, the Columbus Rob Oller East star who first wowed OSU worshippers in 1916.

“Perhaps you don’t recognize the brass harness of “Charles,” but its (sic) We were there on Nov. 1, 1890 when Ohio State played its first home the long way of “Chic.” Yes, sir, this is Chic Harley, the greatest of the football game. thousands of athletes produced in Columbus high schools since it was put up to the voters to buy bricks for the new buildings.” — Dispatch, Oct. We were there on April 13, 1986 when Jack Nicklaus won his sixth green 15, 1916. jacket. Chic never got to run in “The House that Harley Built,” but Jesse Owens We were there on Feb. 10, 1990 when Buster Douglas knocked out Mike did, and the “Buckeye Bullet” became Ohio State’s first truly international Tyson in Tokyo. star by winning four gold medals at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. But even that feat was not as impressive as Owens setting three world records and We were there for Woody’s hiring and firing, for the Blue Jackets’ birth tying a fourth over a 70-minute period during the 1935 Big Ten track and and when the Crew was saved. We were there when tragedy struck field championships in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Brittanie Cecil and when Archie Griffin found Heisman Trophy fame. Twice. We saw Katie Smith light up the basketball court and witnessed “Transcending all figures, all championships or what you will, the Desmond Howard darken the hearts of Buckeyes fans. We wrote about performance of Jesse Owens, who broke three world marks and equaled Ben Curtis returning with the Claret Jug. a fourth, stood out as a beacon in a fog.

For the past 150 years, The Columbus Dispatch was there. Attending "They crowded around him by thousands after the meet was over in the games. Writing player profiles. Chronicling Columbus sports. middle of the field, and swarmed his dressing room. … But Jesse had nothing to say, as usual. He is, I believe, not only the greatest track We feel no need to provide evidence of the reporting that happened, but athlete the world has ever known, but perhaps the greatest contribution over the next 2,000 words we will prove it anyway. personally the colored race has ever made to American athletics. You No subject was too big or too small, whether celebrating a titan of can’t go too strong on this boy, no matter how you look at him.” -- Ed industry or a middle school coach. Both deserved our coverage. Penisten, Dispatch, May 26, 1935.

“John H. McConnell died yesterday. He wasn't quite 85 years old, and he In researching this column, what struck me is how the more things had an incredible life. It began in a house that did not have electricity. It change, the more they stay the same. In 1942, as today, the college ended in a hospital where he donated a tower. To make it from one place football rankings created buzz. The Buckeyes finished 9-1 in 1942 under to the other, from a poor kid in a steel town in Depression-era West second-year coach Paul Brown, and before the Buckeyes were voted No. Virginia to a billionaire industrialist and builder of hospitals, you either 1, Dispatch reporter Russ Needham wrote: have to sell your soul without a second thought or hang onto it despite all “Tulsa may have a fine football team and doubtless has. But you can’t costs. McConnell hung on. He never really changed, not at his core." — win national recognition playing the Rover Boys. ... You can’t say the Dispatch columnist Michael Arace, April 26, 2008, eloquently crafting the same for Georgia and Georgia Tech, but you can claim they filled their obituary of the Blue Jackets majority owner. schedules with “soft touches” sandwiched around their hard games, as “The small black-and-white mugshot jumped out from an otherwise gray most southern teams do.” obituary page. It wasn't a famous face. The name didn’t ring a bell. There And, of course, the Snow Bowl. was nothing beyond a vibrant smile that attracted much attention. But the look of high-beam happiness was enough to lure a sometimes cynical “Under weather conditions even an eskimo would have called atrocious, sportswriter into delving deeper into this abridged biography." — my May Michigan defeated Ohio State, 9 to 3, Saturday in snow swept Ohio 18, 2002 tribute to Debbie Merriman King, a track and cross country Stadium as 50,503 of a paying 82,700 braved the severest of elements to coach at Blendon Middle School and Westerville South who died of witness one of the most amazing football spectacles ever seen cancer at age 33. anywhere.” — Russ Needham, Oct. 26, 1950.

Let’s begin the timeline of Columbus sports and those who played them Woody Hayes remains an Ohio State enigma, beloved for building teams where millions of fans spend their time: Ohio State football. The that won three national championships, but also caricatured for his Buckeyes’ first game was played May 3, 1890 — the first spring game — sideline tantrums. at Ohio Wesleyan. But the first home game arrived six months later. Longtime Dispatch sports reporter/editor Paul Hornung covered Hayes “Notwithstanding the raw, cold weather, of last Saturday a fair crowd hiring and firing — although being especially close to Hayes, he initially went out to Recreation Park to see the first of the inter-collegiate football reported that Hayes had resigned — in the colorful and often breathless games, between the Ohio State University and Wooster teams. A writing style of the day. number of ladies were present and attempted to cheer the O.S.U. boys to victory, but it was of no avail, as there was not the remotest possibility of “Thirty-eight-year-old Wayne Woodrow “Woody” Hayes closed up shop at their winning and the game closed with the score 64 to 0 in favor of Miami University Monday and moved his T-formation to Ohio State as its Wooster.” — Columbus Evening Dispatch, Nov. 3, 1890. 19th head football coach. The portly, black-haired 1935 Denison University grad inherits what his resigned predecessor, Wesley Fesler, Losing to an in-state school, which has not happened since Oberlin got hinted was a “hot spot.” — Hornung, Feb. 19, 1951. the best of the Buckeyes, 7-6, in 1921, may be sad to many, but the first real OSU tragedy occurred on Oct. 26, 1901, when 27-year-old senior And then … John Sigrist suffered a spinal cord injury during a game against Western “Woody Hayes’ office in the campus Biggs Facility — where Ohio State Reserve that would lead to his death two days later. locker rooms and training room are located — is a cubbyhole, but it has “Gloom was heavy on all.” — Dispatch, describing the Oct. 30 funeral been his home-away-from-home since the building was constructed. The scene at University Hall. walls are lined with books — many more historical, military and philosophical than football. He packed his much-used library in Death on the field was followed 20 years later by the birth of a field, when pasteboard boxes Saturday. He wandered in the halls. He sat pensively Ohio Stadium hosted its first game, against Ohio Wesleyan on Oct. 7, in the big classroom where he always met with his football squad. He ran 1922. a gamut of moods, but mostly he seemed a little at sea.” “Ohio State football men met Ohio Wesleyan Saturday afternoon in the practically completed Stadium and unofficially dedicated the immense It took about 60 years, but Ohio State men's basketball finally broke “WEST ALEXANDRIA, Ohio — She was a brown-eyed, blond, high- through the football noise to take center stage in 1960, when the energy delight -- a young girl from small-town Ohio. In this Preble County Buckeyes won their first, and still only, NCAA championship. town of 1,300, about 90 miles west of Columbus, the news of Brittanie Cecil's death spread quickly yesterday.” — Paul Brinkley-Rogers, “Yes, Columbus, Ohio State’s fantastic Buckeyes did win the national Dispatch, March 20, 2002. collegiate basketball championship. They did it in the wee hours of Sunday morning, perhaps after some of you had gone to bed. And they And … did it like no one before in the 22 years the tournament has been held. They beat the defending champion, , 75-55, and the 20-point “ST. PAUL, Minn. — For the past few days, has margin was two more than ever before in NCAA history.” — Dick Otte, struggled to free his mind of thoughts about Brittanie Cecil. Dispatch, March 20, 1960. “I’m thinking about it a lot. I can’t get it out of my head,” the Columbus Those Buckeyes packed a punch with a roster that included Jerry Lucas Blue Jackets center said during a morning workout in preparation for the and John Havlicek, but the most powerful uppercut belonged to team’s game last night against the . Knutsen fired the Columbus boxer James “Buster” Douglas, who knocked out Mike Tyson puck that deflected off a Calgary player's stick and struck 13-year-old to shock the world. Brittanie in the forehead Saturday night at .” — Aaron Portzline, Dispatch, March 21, 2002. “TOKYO -- James “Buster” Douglas of Columbus pulled one of the biggest upsets in boxing history last night. With a vicious left uppercut, The Crew has won two MLS Cups, but the team’s biggest win was then three more punishing blows, he beat the thought-to-be-unbeatable. staying put when the evil empire tried to move it to Austin. He knocked out Mike Tyson, the undisputed heavyweight champion, at “Save The Crew as in, the grassroots movement has given us a vivid 1:23 of the 10th round of their scheduled 12-round fight.” — Tim May, reminder of what makes our city special. These beautiful people inform Dispatch, Feb. 11, 1990. and describe our larger civic aspirations. They give righteous voice to our From Japan to Amen Corner to the Brickyard, The Dispatch had you collective thoughts: Do not mess with Columbus; we get stuff done; it is covered. our Way.” — Michael Arace, Dispatch columnist, Dec. 6, 2018.

“AUGUSTA, Georgia — The privilege to write does not carry with it the Finally, we end where we began, in a house of worship, where Holy privilege to write off. Given yesterday’s events, it is safe to say only Jack Buckeye kept alive a national title run that set the stage for the past 20 Nicklaus, and not the chroniclers of his career, will know when it is time years of Ohio State football dominance. to write off Jack Nicklaus. “This was the Buckeyes' 11-0 season in a nutshell: The coaches didn’t go He won the Masters championship for the sixth time yesterday at conservative. The offensive line and backs picked up the blitz. The Augusta National Golf Club. At age 46.” — Bob Baptist, Dispatch, April quarterback made the right reads, made a smart decision and put the ball 14, 1986. where it was supposed to be — into a stiff wind. The big-play receiver made a great catch — again.” — Tim May, Nov. 10, 2002. Bobby Rahal grew up in Pennsylvania but eventually called Columbus home when joining Truesports, the Hilliard-based racing team run by Jim We were there. We saw it. We wrote it. Thank you for reading it. Trueman. Columbus Dispatch LOADED: 07.12.2021 “They had been in the interview room perhaps 20 minutes. Bobby Rahal, full of victory, had come in first. Jim Trueman had followed. They sat behind a table at the podium, a moderator in between, and while Rahal fielded most of the questions about the Indianapolis 500, Trueman, his body gaunt in his pit coverall, his eyes fixed ahead, sat, lost in thought. Then there was a momentary interruption. Almost imperceptibly, Rahal reached his right hand behind the moderator’s back, and clasped Trueman’s left hand in his. At 51, Jim Trueman has cancer.” — Dick Fenlon, Dispatch columnist, on Rahal’s Indy 500 win in 1986. Trueman died 11 days after the race.

Katie Smith arrived at Ohio State from Logan High School in 1992 and set out on a career that included helping the Buckeyes reach the NCAA national championship game and then two ABL titles with the Columbus Quest before embarking on a 15-year WNBA career.

“The world is discovering Smith now that she is leading the WNBA in scoring. As ludicrous as it might seem to most Ohioans, others are finding that Smith, the best basketball player to come out of Logan, Ohio State and probably even the short-lived American Basketball League, can do everything with a basketball but peel it.” — Bob Hunter, Dispatch columnist, July 15, 2001.

I wrote 15 years ago that the NHL coming to Columbus was the biggest local sports story of the previous quarter century. I still believe it. Before 2000, the Arch City lacked a top-tier franchise from one of the so-called big four professional leagues. The Blue Jackets changed that.

“Being a major-league city may not mean what it once did, but not being one definitely means something. It is part of your image, part of what outsiders see when they're trying to decide whether or not to locate in a city, one of the things that creates the public perception of an area. It is part of what defines you as a place. … The Blue Jackets, Nationwide Arena and the Arena District play right into that.” — Bob Hunter, Oct. 5, 2000.

Tragedy struck the Blue Jackets last week when goalie Matiss Kivlenieks died in a freakish fireworks accident, but just as heart-wrenching was the death of 13-year-old Brittanie Cecil after being hit by a puck while attending a CBJ game against the at Nationwide Arena in 2002. The tragic accident led to the NHL installing netting in arenas and prompted other sports to do the same. 1217196 Columbus Blue Jackets “We actually had some stories we could bond over, yeah, each from our own perspectives,” Savard said. “The five-overtime game (in 2020 series), the sweep … we talked about all of it, which made it easier to get conversations going at first. Blue Jackets Sunday Gathering: David Savard’s Cup runneth over in Tampa Bay, and an expansion draft update “It was weird that we played them back-to-back in the playoffs, and now here I am walking into their room. But it was all good. There are guys on this team that I hated playing against because they were so talented, but there weren’t any players that I really hated.” By Aaron Portzline Jul 11, 2021 The biggest challenge? Getting over the psychological hurdle of being

traded by the Blue Jackets, the only organization he’d ever known. COLUMBUS, Ohio — A collection of notes, insights, ruminations and did- Savard was drafted by the Blue Jackets in 2009 and played 597 games you-knows gathered throughout the week that was for the Blue Jackets: in the sweater.

Item #1: David Savard wins the Stanley Cup “The guys (in Tampa Bay) made it as good as it could be, and I knew (goaltender Curtis McElhinney) from playing with him in Columbus, too,” In the chaos and jubilation late Wednesday as the Tampa Bay Lightning Savard said. “But knowing I was going to play the Blue Jackets again so celebrated their second consecutive Stanley Cup win, Lightning captain soon, that they were on the schedule right away to play in Tampa … I Steven Stamkos was continuing to organize. was just wondering the whole time what that game was going to feel like, how that was going to go.” “We were all going around congratulating each other, and Stammer came to me and told me (the Cup) was going to Heddy (defenseman Savard was traded on April 10. The Blue Jackets played in Tampa Bay Victor Hedman) and then after Heddy, he was going to give it to me,” on April 22 and 25, losing 3-1 and 4-3 in overtime. Savard said. “I’d say it really took until that point to put it all behind me,” Savard said. “It was a pleasant surprise, yeah.” “After that, I settled down, my family came down, and I started to get into a routine.” On a club with Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, Ryan McDonagh, Andrei Vasilevskiy, and (many) others, Savard — traded by the Blue Jackets to The Blue Jackets never quite let him go, though, Savard said. After every Tampa Bay before the April 12 trade deadline — was just the third player round of the playoffs, he was barraged by text messages from “Booner, to take his lap around the Amalie Arena ice. Fliggy and Jonesy.” (That’s Boone Jenner, former Jackets captain Nick Foligno and Seth Jones.) These Cup-carrying batting orders aren’t done willy-nilly; they carry great meaning. Savard is still trying to process why he went so early. Former coach John Tortorella also kept in touch, cheering him on through text messages, Savard said. “Most of the guys lifted the Cup last year, it was really just me and (forward) Ross Colton who weren’t on the team last year, so it’s more “It was really cool to get that support,” Savard said. “They all kept telling special for the first-time guys,” Savard said. “But, at the same time, they me to keep going and keep enjoying the experience.” lifted it (in 2020) with no fans (in the bubble), and this was a chance to do it at home in front of the fans. Savard said Lightning players have already had photo ops with the Stanley Cup. His 4-year-old son literally hugged it when it was lifted “That tells me they respect me, maybe because I’m one of the older guys before him. But they’ll get full days with it later this summer. He’ll be on the team. But I was surprised when Stammer told me.” taking it to Quebec.

Or maybe the Lightning learned in two months what the Blue Jackets “I just want to take it home and share it with my family and friends, the have known for 10 years — that Savard plays the kind of hardworking, people who helped me get to where I am today,” Savard said. pain-tolerating, no-frills game that goes a long way in any dressing room. Item #2: Working through the grief Savard had to reinvent himself early in his career, from a puck-moving, power-play defenseman in junior hockey to a rugged, stay-at-home type The Blue Jackets have had no choice this past week but to continue in the ever-faster NHL. That’s not an easy transition, but lifting the Cup working, even as the franchise mourns the death of goaltender Matiss made it all worth it. Kivlenieks in a fireworks mishap one week ago in Michigan.

“The whole night is kind of surreal when you win, like you’re in a dream July will be the busiest month of the offseason, with the expansion draft sequence,” Savard said. “You’ve seen videos of it. I’ve watched it every (July 21), entry draft (July 23-24) and free agency (July 28) headlining an year since I was a kid, and I still do today. But the first time you get to do incredibly hectic final two weeks of the month. it … The organization is working on a memorial service for Kivlenieks, and an “It’s actually pretty heavy (35 pounds). After a full lap, your shoulders are official with the Latvian hockey federation told The Athletic that getting a little tired, but it doesn’t matter. You want to keep lifting that Kivlenieks’ family plans to travel to Columbus to take part. The details of thing you worked so hard for, just to finally touch it. It’s great that I could that are likely to be released in the coming days, according to a club have my family there. It’s definitely a special night that I’ll always spokesman. remember.” Meanwhile, the Blue Jackets held their amateur meetings last week in In the series-clinching Game 5, Savard had the primary assist on the only Columbus. This is where the “master list” for the draft begins to take goal of the game, scored by Colton late in the second period. It was a shape, with amateur scouting director Ville Siren and his staff stating beautiful pass from the right circle to the doorstep, leaving Colton only a their cases for one player or another. wide-open redirection past Montreal goaltender Carey Price. The Blue Jackets hold the No. 5, No. 24 (Toronto) and No. 31 (Tampa “I saw Ross was going to the net hard and he had his stick on the ice,” Bay) draft picks in the first round, only the second time in franchise Savard said. “I was in between shooting and passing, but I saw he had history they’ve had three firsts. his D-man kinda beat to the net. I thought I had to try it.” Then there’s the expansion draft, which will build the Seattle Kraken’s It took a little while for Savard to get acclimated in Tampa Bay, he said. first roster.

The off-ice stuff was a nuisance, of course. Finding a temporary home for The Blue Jackets had planned to expose Kivlenieks to Seattle, and there five on short notice isn’t easy, especially in the midst of a pandemic. was some thought around the league that the NHL might consider a one- time exemption to the rule in the wake of his death. Fitting into the dressing room was actually the easy part, Savard said. He’d done battle with Tampa Bay in the previous two playoffs, playing a But the Blue Jackets do have a goaltender in the system who meets the huge role in the Blue Jackets’ 2019 sweep of the Lightning in the first league’s exposure requirements: Cam Johnson. round. (The last playoff series they’ve lost.) Johnson has played mostly in the ECHL since ending a four-year run at the University of North Dakota in 2018, but the Blue Jackets signed him to a one-year contract before the start of the 2020-21 season. He’s a restricted free agent this summer, meaning the Blue Jackets only need to extend a qualifying offer to him before their expansion protection list is submitted by 5 p.m. next Saturday.

Barring other moves, look for Johnson to get his qualifying offer from the Blue Jackets this week.

Item #3: Sadly familiar

Many around the hockey world are keeping the Kivlenieks family in their thoughts this week, but spare some good tidings for well-respected NHL agent Jay Grossman, too.

Grossman was Kivlenieks’ agent, so he received the awful news of the 24-year-old goaltender’s death shortly after midnight last Sunday, less than two hours after the tragedy occurred in Novi, Mich.

Understandably, he was devastated, and yet it’s a feeling he’s endured previously.

In 2008, Grossman represented forward Alexei Cherepanov, the New York Rangers prospect who collapsed on the bench and died of heart failure during a KHL game. He was only 19 years old.

In 1999, he was an agent for defenseman Dmitri Tertyshny when the 22-year-old died in a boating accident just three months after his rookie season.

Grossman remembered fondly this week the meeting that took place in Sioux City, Iowa, when the Blue Jackets sent most of their front office to sell Kivlenieks on the idea of turning pro instead of going to college. Kivlenieks had planned to attend Mankato State.

“They made their pitch, that they felt he could play pro,” Grossman said. “There were quite a few teams interested in Kivlenieks’ situation, many of whom called us after he signed — they were upset — because they thought he was going to college.

“It’s never completely a straight line with any player when you decide to turn pro. You have ups and downs, but Matiss had more ups than downs … way more ups than downs. He had the potential to be an NHL starting goaltender.”

Snacks

• Savard was buddies with Kivlenieks. “It was a really tough couple of days,” he said. “I woke up on Monday in Montreal with a bunch of text messages from the guys in Columbus about what happened. I called Fliggy right away, and we talked for a little bit. It was a long day. The whole day, I just couldn’t wrap my head around Kivi being gone.” Not only were their stalls close in the Blue Jackets’ dressing room, but they also goofed around a lot in practice. “Such a great person, a great kid to be around, Savard said. “I loved practicing with him. We just chirped each other constantly. He was always in a good mood, always competing hard for pucks. Just so sad …”

• The NHL observed a moment of silence for Kivlenieks before the national anthems preceding Game 4. Savard was shown on camera during the silence and was clearly fighting his emotions. “You have a game to play, and it’s so important,” Savard said. “But at the same time, nothing is more important than life. It was just tough to see his face on the scoreboard there (in Montreal’s Bell ). I tried to stay in the moment and not lose my focus, but I was thinking of him and wish his family … it’s tough. I was sending prayers and thoughts to them right then.”

• The Blue Jackets would prefer to trade defenseman Seth Jones to a club that knows it can sign Jones to a contract extension, thus improving the return for Columbus. But the burning question remains: Is Jones willing to forego unrestricted free agency next summer if he’s traded to the right club this offseason, or is he emphatic that he wants to test the market in 2022 no matter what? We spoke with two NHL executives who believe it’s the former, but they believe Jones’ list of “extension-worthy” franchises has, at most, two teams on it.

• The top 5 players taken with the No. 5 pick over the past 30 years, listed chronologically: 1990: Jaromir Jagr, Pittsburgh; 2003: Thomas Vanek, Buffalo; 2004: Blake Wheeler, Phoenix; 2005: Carey Price, Montreal; 2017: Elias Pettersson, Vancouver.

The Athletic LOADED: 07.12.2021 1217197 Detroit Red Wings Drafted: No. 32 overall. Draft year: 5 goals, 19 assists in 24 games with J20 in

J20 SuperElit. Detroit Red Wings 2020 NHL draft analysis: Lucas Raymond is coming to Scouting report: Skilled skater with great potential as he grows stronger. America The buzz: Wallinder (6-4, 192) recorded a goal and five assists in 43

games for MODO in Sweden’s second-tier league. A mobile puck carrier HELENE ST. JAMES with an eye for creating offense, he is earmarked to play next season in the SHL for Rögle.

Round 2: F Theodor Niederbach This is the final installment of a five-part series evaluating the Detroit Red Wings' most recent NHL drafts leading up to the 2021 event, to be held Drafted: No. 51 overall. virtually on July 23-24. Draft year: 15 goals, 33 assists in 40 games with Frolunda HC J20 in J20 Among the intriguing stories for the Detroit Red Wings this fall is how SuperElit. Lucas Raymond will look in his new home. Scouting report: Highly skilled, good vision. Raymond was general manager ’s top pick in the Wingspan: Niederbach (5-11, 172) appeared in 20 games last season in pandemic-delayed 2020 draft; his season in Sweden’s top hockey league the SHL, recording five points with Frölunda. He spent 15 games in was cut short in February by an arm injury. He was Yzerman’s second Sweden’s second-tier league, HockeyAllsvenskan, recording nine points first-round pick in charge of the Wings, selected last October as the in 15 games with MODO. Has a high hockey IQ and excellent puck COVID-19 pandemic forced the NHL to reschedule an event that usually handling skills. Slated to play next season in the SHL with Frölunda, take places in June. which keeps him on a great developmental track. The Wings have the sixth pick in the 2021 draft, holding steady in the Round 2: F Cross Hanas draft lottery. That was better than they fared last year. The Wings were an abject horror show in 2019-20: They secured the league's worst Drafted: No. 55 overall. record March 10; when the NHL paused the season two days later, they were the only team already mathematically eliminated. Draft year: 22 goals, 27 assists in 60 games with Portland Winterhawks (). The NHL designed a return-to-play scheme that included a play-in round (though players were credited with playoff statistics). The eight losers Scouting report: Creative puck handler. from that round were included in the draft lottery, which saw the Wings The buzz: Spent 27 games on loan to the in the USHL, fall to the fourth spot, while the New York Rangers segued from the play- tallying 16 points in 27 games. Appeared in six games for the in round to the first selection. Winterhawks, notching four points. USA Hockey added Hanas to the At No. 4, the Wings consoled themselves with Raymond. 2021 World Junior Summer Showcase roster, which serves as an evaluation camp for the national team for the 2022 World Juniors. “We think he has all the tools to be an elite forward in the NHL," Yzerman said at the time. “He has excellent hockey sense. Very creative player, Round 3: D Donovan Sebrango good shooter, good all-around skills for the game, very competitive, very Drafted: No. 63 overall. smart. We kind of like the whole package. Everything about his game. We don't see any real weaknesses.” Draft year: 6 goals, 24 assists in 56 games with Kitchener ( Hockey League). Raymond was one of 12 picks the Wings made at the Oct. 6-7 event. Here is a closer look at each selection. Scouting report: Old-school grit with new-school offense.

Round 1: F Lucas Raymond The buzz: Sebrango (6-1, 190) collected three points in five games during a brief loan to HK Levice in Slovakia. The 19-year-old then made Drafted: No. 4 overall. a favorable impression playing 31 games (with four assists) with the Draft year: 4 goals, 6 assists in 33 games with Frolunda (SHL). Griffins. Signed his entry-level contract in April.

Scouting report: High-end hockey sense, no glaring weaknesses. Round 3: D Eemil Viro

The buzz: Raymond (5 feet 10, 183 pounds) recorded six goals and 12 Drafted: No. 70 overall. assists in 34 games with Frölunda, in what was the 19-year-old’s third Draft year: 3 assists in 29 games with TPS in Finland’s top league. season in the SHL. He tied for the team lead in scoring with five points in five games representing Sweden at the World Junior Championship in Scouting report: Strong skater, with the smarts to match. January, his second straight appearance at that event. The buzz: Viro (6-0, 165) kicked off 2021 helping Finland win bronze at The Wings signed Raymond to a three-year entry-level contract in April, the World Juniors. The 19-year-old notched four goals, 10 assists and a paving the way for him to come to North America. Odds are, he’ll start plus-13 rating in 53 games with TPS, averaging more than 17 minutes with the , but that could change if he has a great per game. In 13 playoff games, he had four points, including a winning training camp. goal. Works relentlessly to improve.

“I don't want to rule it out,” Yzerman said in May. “He just has to put the Round 4: F Sam Stange time and the work in. It's a natural evolution of a teenager turning into an adult. We just believe it's a matter of time, and we're confident he'll put Drafted: No. 97 overall. the work in and develop the strength and power needed to do the things Draft year: 26 goals and 19 assists in 48 games with Sioux City and he wants to do in the NHL.” Sioux Falls (USHL).

Wings' 2016 draft: Still waiting for class to make an impact Scouting report: Good-sized with a quick-release .

Wings' 2017 draft: Draft lottery represented a new chapter for team The buzz: Stange (6-1, 201) recorded six goals and one assist in 29 games at Wisconsin, where he’s under the guidance of former Wings assistant coach Tony Granato. Wings' 2018 draft: Top picks poised to boost competitiveness Round 4: G Jan Bednar Wings' 2019 draft: Steve Yzerman makes first imprint on rebuild Drafted: No. 107 overall. Round 2: D William Wallinder Draft year: Posted a 4.39 goals-against average and .884 save percentage in 13 games with HC Energie Karlovy Vary (Czech) and a 3.26 GAA and .873 save percentage in 24 games with HC Banik Sokolov (Czech-2).

Scouting report: Acrobatic, athletic goalie.

The buzz: Bednar (6-4, 196) appeared in 12 games in 2020-21 for Acadie-Bathurst in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, posting a 3.62 goals-against average and .894 save percentage. Appeared in one game at the World Juniors, posting a 1.00 GAA and .958 save percentage. Will continue his development at Acadie-Bathurst.

Round 5: D Alex Cotton

Drafted: No. 132 overall.

Draft year: 20 goals and 47 assists in 63 games with Lethbridge (WHL).

Scouting report: Smart player who can run a power play.

The buzz: Doing well with Lethbridge, posting seven goals and 19 assists in 24 games this season. Four goals and 16 assists came during man advantages.

Round 6: D Kyle Aucoin

Drafted: No. 156 overall.

Draft year: 2 goals and 11 assists in 48 games with Tri-City (USHL).

Scouting report: Son of former NHL player Adrian Aucoin.

The buzz: Spent the season in the USHL, posting three points in 19 games with Tri-City and 10 points in 28 games with Muskegon. Slated to play next season at Harvard.

Round 7: F Kienan Draper

Drafted: No. 187 overall.

Draft year: 26 goals and 25 assists in 56 games with St. Andrew’s College (CAHS).

Scouting report: His dad is four-time Stanley Cup champion , now the Wings’ director of amateur scouting.

The buzz: Had three goals and four assists in 37 games with Omaha in the USHL. Slated to play next season at Miami (Ohio) University.

Round 7: F Chase Bradley

Drafted: No. 203 overall.

Draft year: 7 goals, 12 assists in 34 games with Omaha (USHL).

Scouting report: Has a knack for finding scoring opportunities in limited time.

The buzz: Put up 22 goals and 18 assists in 52 games for Sioux City in the USHL. Slated to play next season at Connecticut.

Read about Red Wings historic drafts — and much more

What: “The Big 50: The Detroit Red Wings.”

Author: Helene St. James, who has covered the Red Wings at the Detroit Free Press since 1996. Foreword by Chris Osgood, winner of three Stanley Cups as a Wings goaltender.

Publisher: Triumph Books.

Pages: 336 pages (paperback).

Price: $16.95.

Availability: Available in leading bookstores and online from booksellers, including Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

About the book: “The Big 50” brings to life the men and moments that made the Red Wings such a dynamic and iconic franchise for nearly a century. The book features never-before-told stories about the greats such as Howe, Yzerman, Lidstrom and Lindsay, the near-greats beloved by fans and the great memories of Fight Night, the Fabulous Fifties, the Team for the Ages, the Grind Line, The Joe and much more.

Get it signed! For a personalized copy of “The Big 50,” contact St. James at [email protected]

Detroit Free Press LOADED: 07.12.2021 1217198 Detroit Red Wings I think the Lions have the second-best chance for a jump because the NFL practically mandates parity, and new GM Brad Holmes has the makings of a top-five offensive line. The Lions actually have a decent mix of present and future pieces, with two first-round picks each of the next Tigers take a flyer for the future, just like every team in town two seasons, thanks to the Matthew Stafford-Jared Goff deal.

The Tigers have the least to gain immediately because baseball prospects take so long to develop, but Avila has the most to gain from a BOB WOJNOWSKI perception-credibility standpoint. Plucking Mize and Torkelson at No. 1 didn’t require much debate. Tigers fans are getting antsy, but Avila can’t let the heat affect his moves. He didn’t on Sunday when he took a high As a movie concept, “Back to the Future” is great, an all-time favorite. As school pitcher, knowing he has prized pitching prospects in Tarik Skubal a continuing pro sports theme, uh, not quite as thrilling. and Manning ready to emerge.

For Detroit fans, the future can’t get here soon enough. In the absence of Work for Wings contending teams, this is the month of truth, with prime picks in the MLB, NHL and NBA drafts. In fact, it might be the single most important month The Red Wings are the tough one to figure, stuck again at No. 6 in the for the Tigers, Red Wings and Pistons, all with top-six picks, all hunting July 23 draft. They made significant strides in Steve Yzerman’s second for franchise-changers. season here, but they don’t have a centerpiece. Or a cornerstone goalie. And after six seasons, we still don’t know if is the coach that The Tigers started it off Sunday night with a pick for — you guessed it — can win when it’s time. the future, grabbing Oklahoma high school pitcher Jackson Jobe at No. 3. The surprise was, the Tigers passed on high school shortstop Marcelo Yzerman is one of the most respected GMs in hockey and his reputation Mayer, who was expected to go No. 1. The Pirates opted for a more rises every time Tampa Bay wins a Stanley Cup. He put together most of signable player, Louisville catcher Henry Davis, but GM Al Avila stuck the team and hired the coach that just won back-to-back championships. with the guy he wanted. Naturally, that increases expectations for the Wings, which isn’t totally fair considering the meager remnants he inherited. But Yzerman is It’s a significant gamble by Avila, considering Mayer went to the Red Sox raising them himself, with his surprise pick at No. 6 of defenseman Moritz with the next pick. By all accounts, the Tigers loved the 6-2 Jobe and his Seider in 2019. Seider could be a star, and there are varying degrees of high-end potential, and some analysts consider him the best prep excitement about other picks, including Lucas Raymond at No. 4 last pitching prospect in years. It’s a debatable choice because the Tigers year. have needed a shortstop forever. But any high school pick is a risk, and the Tigers desperately need a shortstop for now, not just the future. The With a little lottery luck, the Wings could have landed Michigan last time they took a high school pitcher in the first round? Matt Manning defenseman Owen Power at No. 1, but Yzerman should have a shot at in 2016, and five years later, he’s developing nicely. Swedish forward William Eklund, Michigan forward Kent Johnson or defenseman Luke Hughes. The Wings also have Washington’s first- The Tigers had been trending upward in Detroit’s four-team rebuild race, rounder at 22, acquired in the Anthony Mantha-for-Jakub Vrana trade, although it’s difficult to judge the authenticity of their recent success. and three second-round selections. Before collapsing in a four-game sweep against the Twins, they’d won 31 of 54 games. Avila has made four straight top-five picks and all have the Like all four Detroit teams, the Wings have the draft capital to get the job potential to be stars, with Casey Mize already on his way. Spencer done, which is why the next three weeks are so critical. Torkelson (No. 1 in 2020) and Riley Greene (No. 5 in 2019) are excelling “We’ll build a good team and we’ll figure out a way,” Yzerman said. “We’ll in the minor leagues and both played in the All-Star Future Games on get a superstar in the draft somewhere.” Sunday. Somewhere, somehow, someone has to do it. The Pistons have the best The future is near odds with the highest pick, but the Wings, Tigers and Lions have You’re sick of hearing about this distant, theoretical future, I know. But selections high enough to pluck a prize. The stars haven’t aligned in after multiple seasons of losing, the future is getting closer, believe it or Detroit for several years, but at least a few stars might be getting in line. not. There are glimpses, with the Pistons’ Jerami Grant on the U.S. Detroit News LOADED: 07.12.2021 Olympic basketball team, and Saddiq Bey and Isaiah Stewart on the USA Basketball Select Team. Oh, and they do have that shiny No. 1 overall pick.

We’ve regurgitated the rebuild axioms, rated the GMs and debated the strategy. Now it’s impact time, because while all the teams have collected potential foundation pieces — including the Lions with the No. 7 overall pick in Penei Sewell — we’re still waiting for some stars.

Pistons GM Troy Weaver has the most to gain with the top choice in the July 29 NBA draft, and the most pressure to get it right. You can’t miss at the top. Well, you can miss, but if you do, it’s more damaging than missing with, say, a pick between seven and 15, where the Pistons have blown it for a decade.

If Cade Cunningham is indeed the consensus No. 1, and Weaver is part of that consensus, no need to trick around for a trade. It’s easy to declare Cunningham the guy, a 6-8 point forward who plays strong defense and has competitive character. But a fan, or media person, is allowed to be wrong. (Those are the rules!) Weaver has to be positive he’s not simply taking the safe route and bypassing a future star in Evan Mobley or Jalen Green.

The Pistons have the potential for the quickest jump because one player can make a huge difference in the NBA. In his first season, Weaver already made a series of shrewd moves and added three potential starters — Killian Hayes, Stewart, Bey — in the first round.

“We’re excited to be in this position,” Weaver said. “Getting the pick right? That’s what I was hired for. We’ve got to do our work and be ready.” 1217199 Florida Panthers

Goldstein to call Miami Dolphins preseason games — and staying with Panthers

Published 20 hours ago on July 11, 2021By George Richards

Steve Goldstein, the longtime television voice of the Florida Panthers, will be trading the ice for the gridiron later this summer as he will call Miami Dolphins preseason games on CBS-4 where he works as an anchor.

Goldstein, who has been with the Panthers in one capacity or another since 1995, will do play-by-play on the Dolphins’ broadcast alongside former Miami standouts Jason Taylor and Kim Bokamper.

But don’t worry Panthers fans: Goldie is not going anywhere.

”The only was I am leaving the Panthers is if they kick me out,” Goldstein said this weekend. “This works out great because preseason football is in August and NHL training camp doesn’t even start until September.

“It really lines up to be a great situation for me. As has been the case for the past 20 years, the Panthers were very supportive. They are really happy I got this job and I appreciate that. In no way does this interfere with the Panthers.”

Follow the Florida Panthers from the offseason to the playoffs with a subscription to Florida Hockey Now!

This will be Goldstein’s first foray into being on the lead call for NFL football games although he has done a little bit of everything during a broadcast career which started at Syracuse University.

Goldstein called Syracuse football games for three years as a student.

”That was a long time ago,” Goldstein said with a laugh. “But, you know the old adage: If you can do hockey, you can do anything.”

From the Files of The Athletic: Panthers’ TV voice anchors coverage of Miami protests

In 2007, the Panthers moved Goldstein into the television booth after he spent two seasons as the team’s radio voice and he has also covered the Olympics and on radio.

This will not be Goldstein’s first experience with the Dolphins as he hosted pre- and postgame shows on the team’s radio network frome 1995-2004 and again from 2012-15.

“I am very excited to be working with Jason Taylor and Kim Bokamper, someone I have known for a long time and have worked with him before,” Goldstein said. “Doing the Dolphins broadcast, the NFL, is very exciting. I used to do radio for the team so it is nice to get back in there.

“It should really be fun, this is a good team and there will be a lot of eyes on the preseason. There’s a lot at stake. They have some good roster battles, everyone wants to see how Tua is doing. I’m really looking forward to it.”

Goldstein, Taylor and Bokamper will be doing two of the three exhibition games this August.

The first game will be Aug. 14 at 1 p.m. against the host Chicago Bears and the second will be Aug. 21 at 7 when the Atlanta Falcons come to Hard Rock Stadium. The third game, against the host Cincinnati Bengals, will be broadcast nationally by CBS.

After the preseason is over, Goldstein will get into hockey shape by returning to cover the US Open for ESPN and the Tennis Channel.

Florida Hockey Now LOADED: 07.12.2021 1217200 Minnesota Wild "Stew Gavin and Gaetan Dushesne just shut down Brett [Hull] and ," Modano said, pointing to the Blues stars who had a combined six goals in the series after 86 and 25, respectively, in the regular season.

Still hard to believe, North Stars' run in '91 was a stunner Waiting for the North Stars in the Campbell Conference final were the Oilers, the defending Stanley Cup champions and winners of five Cups in the previous seven years.

By Randy Johnson Star Tribune JULY 11, 2021 — 6:47PM The North Stars won the opener 4-1 in Edmonton, but the scene that night back in Bloomington was interesting. The team opened Met Center

and its always-festive parking lots to fans to watch Game 1 on a big- Editor's note: Second in a six-part series. The 1991 Stanley Cup Final screen TV. Problem was, about 100 of the crowd of 2,300 became too started on May 15, and the 1992 Final Four came to a conclusion on rowdy, with fights breaking out and even an usher being bitten by a fan. April 6. A Minnesota team or venue was involved in those two major "It just got out of hand," Forciea said. events and three more in between. What a run. We will look back at that After the Oilers routed the North Stars 7-2 in Game 2, Minnesota reeled stretch of Minnesota sports history each day this week. off three consecutive victories the 4-1 series victory and trip to the Three owners in a span of three months. A team that won only one of its Stanley Cup Final. first nine games. Attendance of just 5,730 for the home opener. It's midnight, Cinderella Little in the early days of the 1990-91 NHL season pointed to the North In the final, the North Stars faced the Wales Conference champion Stars playing for Lord Stanley's Cup. But there they were, eight months Penguins and their superstar, Mario Lemieux, who was limited to 26 later, grabbing the attention of the Twin Cities in a rollicking, eight-week games in the regular season because of back surgery but amassed 16 ride that still is recalled fondly. goals and 28 assists in the playoffs. "Those two months at the Met, the type of run we had, we remember like After the North Stars won the opener 5-4 and Penguins took Game 2 4-1, it was yesterday," said Mike Modano, who was a second-year pro in the series shifted to Met Center. Before Game 3, Lemieux's back flared 1990-91. "Those kinds of runs don't come around too often." up, and he couldn't play. Minnesota took advantage with a 3-1 win. With series victories over the Chicago Blackhawks, St. Louis Blues and Two wins down, two to go for the North Stars. Edmonton Oilers, the North Stars made the second Stanley Cup Final in team history before falling to the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games. Lemieux, though, had other ideas. Though they finished 27-39-14, the 16th-best record out of 21 teams that regular season, the North Stars picked the absolute right time to get hot. He returned for Game 4, scoring the third of three Penguins goals in the opening three minutes of a 5-3 victory. He added a goal and two assists Against the league's top team, the Presidents' Trophy-winning in a 6-5 win in Pittsburgh. Back at Met Center for Game 6, the Penguins Blackhawks, the North Stars quickly showed they would be no pushover. trounced the Stars 8-0 to clinch the Cup as Lemieux had a goal and three Brian Propp's overtime goal gave Minnesota a 4-3 victory in Game 1. assists.

The Blackhawks won the next two games, including 6-5 at Met Center in "I don't know what they did to his back, but somehow, some way, it's all Game 3, and veteran forward Bobby Smith said coach Bob Gainey's better," said Modano, now an executive adviser for the Wild. "This guy calm and encouraging approach served the team well. "I remember him just steamrolled us the next three games." saying the best 10 forwards on the ice last night were [Chicago's] Jeremy Roenick and our nine guys," Smith said. "That really gave us a boost." The North Stars' fun ride was over, two wins short of the Stanley Cup.

The North Stars responded with a 3-1 victory at Met Center to even the "We beat the No. 1 team in the league. Then we beat the No. 2 team in series 2-2, then drubbed the Blackhawks 6-0 at Chicago Stadium on the the league. Then we beat the defending champs. And then we have a 2- strength of five power-play goals. It got so bad for the home team that the 1 lead on Mario Lemieux's team," Smith said. "It was a good run." organist played "Send in the Clowns." Star Tribune LOADED: 07.12.2021 Smith recalled how goalie coach Chico Resch encouraged players to shoot high against Blackhawks goalie Ed Belfour. "Chico was in suit, sliding along the dressing room floor, showing how Belfour covered the bottom part of the net," Smith said, laughing. "After practice, every player had to fire 20 pucks off the crossbar."

Two nights later, the North Stars won 3-1 at Met Center for a 4-2 series triumph in front of the first of nine consecutive sellout crowds.

Playoffs, at a price

North Stars fans started to see a glimpse of how Norm Green, who would move the team to Dallas following the 1992-93 season, played financial hardball. That spring, he made the team's home playoff games available in the Twin Cities market only on a pay-per-view basis. To watch the playoff run, viewers had to pony up $9.95 per home game in the first two rounds and $12.95 in the third and fourth rounds — prices that now would be $19.67 and $25.60 when adjusted for inflation.

Pat Forciea, who helped engineer Paul Wellstone's upset victory in the 1990 U.S. Senate race, was hired by the North Stars for his marketing prowess. He didn't agree with Green's decision.

"It was horrible. It was horrible," Forciea said. "Norm needed the money, and it was very lucrative, but, jeepers, it robbed the fans of some pretty exciting hockey."

The roll continues

Like their upset of the top-seeded Blackhawks, the North Stars dispatched the Blues, who had the NHL's second-best record, in six games. 1217201 Minnesota Wild

Norm Green was going to save the North Stars ... until he didn't

By Patrick Reusse Star Tribune JULY 11, 2021 — 6:40PM

The North Stars were playing in the Stanley Cup Finals in May 1991 with a team that had finished 16th among the NHL's 21 in regular-season points.

More remarkable was the playoff run occurred after the chaos that engulfed the franchise a year earlier, starting in January 1990 and lasting to the end of July, when Norm Green seized full control of the organization.

George Gund, co-owner with brother Gordon, wanted to move the money-losing franchise to the Bay Area. Brother Gordon signed off. The possibility of losing the NHL was dramatized on Feb. 1, when the Gunds turned down both a Timberwolves' offer to join them at the new Target Center, or to stay rent-free at Met Center for 10 years.

The crisis was such it required an appearance by Harvey Mackay, the orchestrator of the Twins' ticket buyout in 1984. Harvey stated a group of local all-star business people had been assembled to save the Stars.

"It was a darn impressive list, even if most of the people didn't know they were going to be on it,'' said Rod Wallace, sports booster, and owner of the Thunderbird Motel.

Turned out, we needed outsiders to come up with $31.5 million for the Gunds.

The first savior surfaced on May 2: Howard Baldwin, with his partner, Morris Belzberg. I termed him "Howie the Hairdo,'' for both bravado and what turned out to be the prototype for generational "hockey hair.''

A few weeks later, Baldwin told team President Lou Nanne that Canadian real estate developer Norm Green was being added to the ownership group and would take care of the new ownership group's "money problems.''

Nanne's response: "Howard, I didn't know there were money problems.''

Norm bought 51% and seized full control by late July. The Gunds wound up with a San Jose expansion team for 1991-92 that included a convoluted split of talent they were leaving behind with the North Stars.

What came from the zaniness was a Stanley Cup Final and an owner dedicated to preserving the North Stars in Minnesota for the foreseeable future.

Which turned out to be two more seasons.

All together now: "Norm … !"

Star Tribune LOADED: 07.12.2021 1217202 Montreal Canadiens being with the hard-nosed business decisions Bergevin has to make. It seems almost impossible that Drouin could go on playing here but his future remains the biggest unknown of the off-season.

Jack Todd: Habs have work to do after rousing run to the Stanley Cup Whatever happens in the next phase, it’s important to recognize what the final Canadiens accomplished this spring. Poor Aaron Rand drew the attention of the self-appointed Guardians of Habness when he dared ask whether a parade for the runners-up was in order. Rand was quickly shouted down, which is not to say the Canadiens did not deserve a Jack Todd • Publishing date:Jul 11, 2021 • 9 hours ago parade.

Given the unique circumstances, this was a run for the ages — equal, in Having demolished the mighty Leafs of Hogtown with their legion of my view, of any Stanley Cup of the past. This team was tested in almost attendant smoke-blowers, dispatched the Winnipegs and slain the Kitsch every possible way, from pandemic protocols to the firing of head coach Knights of Vegas before falling to the Lightning bolts, our heroes headed Claude Julien to the absurd schedule through the last 25 games. for the golf course knowing that the mission was not complete because They were not found wanting, especially with the contribution of their the sacred Cup had not been returned to its rightful home. stars. Opinions have often been divided on captain Shea Weber and There is much to be done. First the Kraken will rise from the deep goaltender Carey Price — but both players should have convinced the (having purchased the NHL expansion draft largesse like the Knights doubters. They gave everything they had — and they came oh, so close. before them.) Then there’s the draft, free agency, players to be signed, Let’s appreciate them now, rather than taking the usual Montreal an extension for head coach Dominique Ducharme — so much to do, so approach and waiting until it’s too late. little time. Montreal Gazette LOADED: 07.12.2021 The what-next began Friday on a somewhat sour note when GM Marc Bergevin, the architect of the club’s most successful run since 1993, was asked about his future. Unlike his predecessor, Pierre “The Ghost” Gauthier, Bergevin has never been shy about speaking out — but in this instance his response was so clipped and cryptic that it opened the door to all sorts of speculation.

“I have one more year on my contract and I will honour that,” Bergevin said.

Uh-oh. Was Bergevin’s comment an indication of trouble in River City? Or was he simply avoiding any statement that might affect reported negotiations with on a three-year contract extension?

There is little doubt that Bergevin has earned an extension after his adroit off-season moves polished off a long, steady build and led to a berth in the Stanley Cup final despite an excruciatingly difficult pandemic season.

But does Bergevin want that extension? As my friend and colleague Stu Cowan pointed out Saturday, it’s a gruelling and often thankless job and Bergevin has already been doing it through nine difficult seasons. He’s an emotional, let-it-all-hang-out guy, with the long hair and the pumped pipes and the flaming red suit (the complete opposite of the usual buttoned-down NHL exec) and the job has to take its toll.

Before Bergevin met the media, the players were still conducting their Zoom interviews Friday when the news broke that Laval Rocket head coach Joel Bouchard was leaving the team to take a similar post as coach of the Gulls in the organization.

The timing seemed strange, Bouchard’s departure in itself stranger still. Among the fans and most of the media, Bouchard was seen as a brilliant young coach who finally solved the organization’s development problems at the AHL stage. He was touted as a future general manager of the Canadiens (which may not have gone over well with Bergevin) or as a head coach (a possibility that became much less likely with the brilliant playoff run under interim head coach Dominique Ducharme.)

There are definitely dissenting opinions as to Bouchard’s abilities, however. For whatever reason, including the possibility that the organization was disenchanted with him (Bouchard had been without a contract since July 1) the man is gone and finding a new coach for the Rocket is on Bergevin’s already lengthy to-do list.

The toughest task of all, however, might be deciding whom to protect in the Kraken draft. I am entirely in agreement with the fans, who don’t want to lose Ben Chiarot, Joel Edmundson, Joel Armia, Artturi Lehkonen, Jake Evans, or backup goaltender Jake Allen in the draft.

Like everyone else, I want to see Bergevin find room within that hard $81.5-million salary cap to re-sign the absolutely essential Corey Perry. Virtually everyone who played performed above expectations during that magical playoff run, but the two players who surprised this old writer most were the greybeard Perry and the youthful Evans and I would be dismayed to see either depart.

That brings us to the thorniest issue on Bergevin’s list: the future of the talented Jonathan Drouin. Any discussion of Drouin is a minefield. You have to balance concern for the young man’s personal health and well- 1217203 New York Rangers

Jack Leiter goes second overall by Rangers in 2021 MLB Draft

By Zach BrazillerJuly 11, 2021 | 7:40pm | Updated

Al Leiter was serious when he told The Post his son Jack was “way better than me” at the same age. Sunday night was proof of that bold statement.

Leiter, the Summit, N.J., native and son of the former Mets and Yankees southpaw, was chosen second overall in the MLB draft by the Texas Rangers, becoming the first local product to go that high since Pedro Alvarez of Washington Heights was taken second in 2008 by the Pirates. Slot value for where Leiter was picked is $7.79 million.

“It’s really hard to put into words,” Jack said on MLB Network. “[My dad] wanted me to be an infielder and I didn’t mind the idea. But my love was always for pitching. Sort of as I started to grow and high school progressed, I started to take that a little more seriously and I came a long way.”

Leiter was taken in the 20th round out of high school by the Yankees two years ago, mostly because teams were aware he was unlikely to bypass college. Otherwise, he would’ve been a mid-to-late first-round pick. Al, by contrast, was a second-round pick of the Yankees in 1984 and went on to win three World Series crowns and compile a lifetime 3.80 ERA across 19 seasons.

Jack Leiter was selected No. 2 overall in the 2021 MLB Draft by the Texas Rangers.

The 6-foot-1, 205-pound Leiter has front-of-the-rotation stuff, a mid-to- high 90’s mph fastball and hammer curve. He has famous baseball bloodlines and competitive fire and poise that scouts and analysts believe will serve him well at the next level.

He was dominant in his once full year of college baseball, helping Vanderbilt reach the College World Series. Leiter threw the school’s first regular-season complete-game no-hitter in 50 years in his first SEC start. He compiled the most strikeouts in the country, with 179 in 110 innings, notched a 2.13 ERA, and was a consensus All-American.

Now, he’s headed to the professional ranks, the next step in a dream that began years ago while watching his father pitch at the sport’s highest level.

“Oh my God, he’s been the gift that keeps giving,” Al, who now works for MLB Network and as an adviser for the Mets, recently said. “He’s brought us a lot of joy.”

The Pirates used the first pick in the draft on University of Louisville catcher Henry Davis of Bedford, N.Y., a major surprise. California high school shortstop Marcelo Mayer was projected by most experts to go No. 1. The Tigers took Oklahoma high school right-handed pitcher Jackson Jobe and the Red Sox picked Mayer fourth. Rounding out the top five was Sam Houston State outfielder Colton Cowser, who was selected by the Orioles.

New York Post LOADED: 07.12.2021

1217204 Pittsburgh Penguins If healthy and in the right condition, Miletic can be a candidate to earn some playing time at the NHL level next season as a recall, particularly given the organization’s limited options among its prospect pool.

Penguins A to Z: Sam Miletic tries to rebound from a lost season An intelligent player who gets by more on guile than any physical attribute, Miletic is a legit top-six winger at the AHL level and a bottom-six candidate should he ever graduate to the NHL.

SETH RORABAUGH | Sunday, July 11, 2021 8:01 a.m.’ Tribune Review LOADED: 07.12.2021

With the Penguins in the midst of their offseason, the Tribune-Review is looking at all 48 players currently under NHL contracts to the organization in alphabetical order, from mid-level prospect Niclas Almari to top-six winger Jason Zucker.

Sam Miletic

Position: Left winger

Shoots: Left

Age: 24

Height: 6-foot

Weight: 197 pounds

2020-21 AHL statistics: 21 games, five points (two goals, three assists)

Contract: One-year, two-way contract with a salary cap hit of $710,000. Pending restricted free agent this offseason

Acquired: Undrafted free agent signing, Sept. 25, 2017

2020-21 season: In one sense, Sam Miletic was ahead of everyone else in 2020-21.

A virus forced him out of the lineup before he even played any games.

An attendee to the Penguins’ NHL training camp, Miletic was sidelined by Jan. 10 after coming down with mononucleosis. That misfortune prompted him to be placed on injured reserve once the season opened on Jan. 13.

By Feb. 5, Miletic was assigned to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the but did not make his season debut with that team until Feb. 27, almost a year after his last game of the 2019-20 campaign.

In some ways, that was Miletic’s high point of the season as he had a short-handed goal and an assist in a 5-4 overtime road win against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms that same night.

After that, he was only able to produce three points in his final 20 games of the season, including another short-handed goal and an assist during a 4-3 home overtime loss to the on May 1.

During the latter parts of the regular season, Miletic, an AHL All-Star in 2019-20, was a healthy scratch for a handful of games in favor of players on AHL contracts.

During the course of the season, Miletic was recalled to the taxi squad and re-assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on two separate occasions in transactions geared toward the Penguins’ day-to-day management of the salary cap.

The future: There are probably few players in the organization who could benefit from a true offseason free of restrictions related to the pandemic than Miletic.

His entire 2020-21 season could be labeled as a lost year as he struggled to regain his strength and conditioning after his bout with mononucleosis that led to him being sidelined for nearly two months. A handful of months in the weight room or on a bike could benefit him greatly.

Were he not ill this past season, he could have very well earned a true recall to the NHL roster given how often the Penguins’ forward ranks were pockmarked by injury woes. His progression through his first two professional seasons — 2018-19 and 2019-20 — had put him on a trajectory toward reaching the NHL before things were derailed by his illness in 2020-21.

As a pending restricted free agent, Miletic should be in line for another one-year two-way contract should the Penguins choose to re-sign him. 1217205 Pittsburgh Penguins into another edition of former Penguins Stanley Cup winner (and eventual Hall of Fame inductee) Ron Francis.

Penguins fans may have rolled their eyes at that comparison then. They Tim Benz: 20 years after the Jaromir Jagr trade, former Penguin Kris certainly wince at it now. Beech has found peace “There was a lot of hype around me as a player,” Beech admitted. “I was getting compared to Guy Lafleur as an 11-year-old by an NHL scout. From there, the comparisons kept coming. Guys like Joe Sakic and Paul TIM BENZ | Sunday, July 11, 2021 8:00 a.m. Kariya. Onto Washington with (general manager) George McPhee basically referencing he thought I could be the next Steve Yzerman.”

Beech’s friend and former Wilkes Barre/Scranton teammate Colby If the call had come on the 10th anniversary of the Jaromir Jagr trade, Armstrong understands how that comparison could be made. Kris Beech may have had a different reaction. “A really smart hockey IQ guy. A great playmaker,” Armstrong said of He probably still would’ve done the interview. Just with a little less Beech Friday. “Poise. Size (6-foot-2, 209 pounds, almost the same size enthusiasm and a lot less perspective. as Francis). Vision. Sweet hands. Great passes. Those sauce-flop But after 20 years of reflection, the former Penguins forward was glad he passes. Like Phil Mickelson making a flop shot. He had that ability.” took the call this week. By the end of his first Penguins training camp as a 20-year-old, Beech “It was a great time in my life, looking back on it,” Beech said from his had been traded for Jagr, compared to Francis and put on a line with home in British Columbia. Lemieux.

For a long time, Beech probably wouldn’t have had that kind of view Interestingly, that third experience may have been the hardest part for about the Pittsburgh portion of his career. The disappointment. The failed Beech to absorb, despite it being his lifelong dream. expectations. The demotions. “I found it was quite challenging to play with him,” Beech said. “I just felt Depression. Exhaustion. The eating disorder. Time on the waiver wire. like I was always looking for him. Always trying to get him the puck. I would get away from playing my own game.” If that trade never happens, maybe things work out differently for him on the ice. Beech went his first 22 games as a Penguin without scoring a goal. In their careers, Beech, Sivek and Lupaschuk played a total of 141 games Or, maybe if that trade never happens, all his of underlying issues stay for the Penguins, racking up just 13 goals and 33 total points. Jagr had repressed and consume him in a more disturbing way. Maybe it would’ve those totals in Washington before the end of February of his first year. been another two decades before he found his path to happiness and his own sense of who he is. Even though Jagr never got the Capitals to the heights they expected, the Penguins finished last in the Atlantic for four straight years. Now he’s the kind of guy who can be part of what some call the worst trade in Pittsburgh sports history and turn it into something he The trade signaled the end of the Penguins’ run of glory during the remembers as “a pretty cool thing in his life.” 1990s. It was also emblematic of the franchise’s flailing attempts to remain solvent until the Sidney Crosby era began. Breaking news Beech’s failed expectations weren’t helping. Beech has no problem recalling where he was on July 11, 2001. Dark days The 19-year-old was training with his brother, Ryan, in Port Moody, British Columbia. He was coming off a season in which he posted 66 Despite the challenges of his rookie season, Beech didn’t view the 2001- points in 40 games with the of the Western Hockey 02 campaign with negativity. He saw the 79 games he played and 25 League. points he accumulated as a learning experience.

He just had a four-game taste of NHL hockey with the Washington It was his demotion to the AHL the next season that he viewed as a kick Capitals, an organization that drafted him with the seventh overall pick in in the head. 1999. Now it was an organization that was trading him for the most “It was a bit of a shock,” Beech said. “In terms of the hype, there was dynamic scorer in the game. nobody to keep me grounded. That bar is what I set my sights on — Caps head scout Ross Mahoney gave Beech the news that he was part being that type of franchise player. In my own mind, I thought I was of a trade that would send him to Pittsburgh with defenseman Ross already there. And I was far from it.” Lupaschuk and forward Michal Sivek. In exchange, the Penguins parted Despite tallying 43 points in 50 games that year with Wilkes- with Jagr, a 10-time All-Star and five-time NHL scoring champion, and Barre/Scranton, the demotion from the NHL club exacerbated some defenseman František Kučera. mental health problems Beech had been privately battling since his late Mahoney’s news was met with stunned silence from Beech. Not because teens. he quickly grasped that he was the centerpiece of a deal for Jagr, but The first was an eating disorder. Beech said it was the result of post- because he immediately understood he was going to be teammates with traumatic stress from a “personal life trauma” when he was 17 years old. Mario Lemieux. Something he won’t talk about publicly. Something he has “made peace” “I was going to meet my childhood idol and possibly play with him. The with over his life. excitement exploded,” Beech recalled. “If I ate too much or too quickly, I’d throw up due to the nerves not being Sky-high expectations settled in my gut,” Beech said, pointing to how his inability to maintain a proper eating cycle often sapped his energy. Despite Jagr’s brooding end to 2001, trading him wasn’t necessarily something that Pittsburgh fans wanted. It was just something that had to What occurred next was what Beech described as a four- to five-year be done. battle with his mental health. The experience was made worse because it occurred during a stretch of time in his career when he was bouncing Because of economics. Because of Jagr’s increasingly petulant between the AHL and brief stints in the NHL. He went from Pittsburgh’s personality. Because of an organizational need to get younger and look organization to Nashville’s, back to Washington’s and then to Columbus’, to the future. with the lockout in between.

However, Jagr was coming off his fifth Art Ross trophy thanks to his 121 “I was diagnosed with major depressive disorder at 26,” Beech said. “At points. The team made it to the Eastern Conference finals on the heels of 30, it turned out to be the wrong diagnosis. I was diagnosed with bipolar Lemieux’s return to the ice after Christmas. disorder. Most likely, I had been dealing with it for five or six years. I still manage it to this day. … It was like dealing with a 15-year injury that As a result, the club had to sell the public on the deal. That included never went away.” general manager saying Beech had the potential to turn Even though Beech scooped up 28 points in 21 playoff games with the And, of course, Jagr is still playing in the at age 49. For Hershey Bears in 2006 en route to a , that span of his career him, maybe he doesn’t need 20 years of adjusted focus to shape how he from 2002-2009 was marked by eroded self-esteem, a lack of confidence looks at that trade. and feelings of failure. For Beech, it appears worth it. “When you are dealing with someone with mental health issues, it’s a different beast,” Beech said. Kris Beech joins the “Breakfast With Benz” podcast to discuss the 20th anniversary of the Jaromir Jagr trade, his struggles after the deal, and his To the degree that he felt he “hit a wall” and lost the joy for the game. life transformation that has turned the event into a positive personal memory. Changing his mind Tribune Review LOADED: 07.12.2021 The turning point came for Beech after his second stint with the Penguins at the end of 2008. Pittsburgh was his third team that year, where he managed 11 points in 25 games.

Instead of spending another year being tormented by anxiety over what team might cut, trade or sign him next, he went to play in Sweden. Where he could play with one team steadily. Where he met his wife, Emma. Where he won a championship with HV71 Jönköping.

It’s also where he discovered the benefits of mindfulness training. As described by the Mayo Clinic, mindfulness involves meditation exercises that include “breathing methods, guided imagery and other practices to relax the body and mind and help reduce stress.”

Things that Beech couldn’t do as a player for the previous eight years.

“It’s a skill. It’s a training. It’s a practice. You can put time in. It can make physical changes in the brain in positive ways,” Beech said.

Beech said the mental training exercises helped him so much that he reconnected with his love for hockey to the level that he played for 11 more years in seven countries across Europe.

“It’s a way of working out for the mind. As an athlete, that resonated with me. I knew how to commit to that kind of training,” Beech said.

Beech is such a believer that, upon his retirement back to British Columbia in 2016, he made connecting mindfulness and mental training to athletes his life’s work. He created the “Amiability Network for Life,” a web-based service designed to connect athletes and others who want to better hone their mental skills with medical experts and successful pioneers in the field.

For skeptics, the phrase “mindfulness” may conjure up an intangible, ethereal image of crystals, incense and hippie music. But Beech insists the benefits to some athletes can be immense and that the science behind the practice is strong.

“One of my colleagues (Arian Talwerdi) has contributed to some pretty phenomenal research at UCLA recently on Alzheimer’s and dementia patients,” Beech said. “With a simple 20-minute breath-awareness practice — 30 days in a row — they saw physical changes in parts of the brain responsible for decision making, emotional regulation and memory.”

As Beech says, it’s using your brain to “harness the elite athlete privilege” and get the most out of physical development and natural talents.

Looking back, maybe that was an ingredient that Lafleur, Francis and Yzerman had inherently all along. One Beech needed to perfect before making those comparisons accurate.

Silver lining

When it comes to the Jagr trade, you can call it mindfulness. Or two decades of retrospective analysis. Or just rationalization.

Whatever works.

For the Penguins, the return for Jagr was a major swing and miss. Yet without doing the deal, they may have never been in a spot to draft Evgeni Malkin and Crosby. And it’s possible they wouldn’t have been in a position to build what was then the Consol Energy Center.

In fairness, Craig Patrick did get a fair amount of money ($4.9 million) out of that Jagr deal. Helped buy the land CEC sits on.

— Seth Rorabaugh (@SethRorabaugh) February 26, 2015

Without the trade, Beech may have never ended up on a course that allowed him to solve some problems in his life that were much bigger than hockey. Instead of being in a place at 40 years old where he’s helping others, he could still be trying to figure out what went wrong at age 17. 1217206 Pittsburgh Penguins Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy, left, and defenseman Ryan McDonagh (27) celebrate the team's Stanley Cup finals series win in Game 5 of the NHL hockey finals, Wednesday, July 7, 2021, in Tampa, Fla. Gene Collier: Here's an easy call — NHL's officiating still an impediment There are too many warring factions within the NHL hierarchy to sort this out even among themselves. They are in a constant and toxic conflict over whether to shape the product for an older, more traditional, mostly GENE COLLIER Canadian audience, or for a younger, larger, potentially more lucrative JUL 11, 2021 7:00 AM market that, while not exactly diverse, is spread across diverse multiple media platforms and revenue streams.

What all of this has sparked, for better or worse and for want of a more People who care passionately about the , who political term, is a bout of Critical Ref Theory, also on the hockey scene are invested in its future, who are personally responsible for everything for ages. from its blaring and bombastic arena presentation to its most quixotic analytics, are flummoxed over the game’s general perception in the week The game got through most of the last century with one referee on the it has awarded its hallowed grand prize. ice (with two linesmen, who could not call penalties). Just about every night, the coaches and the veteran players knew what they were getting Yes, the Tampa Bay Lightning are resplendently worthy of the Stanley in that one particular referee. This guy is strict, this guy is lenient, this guy Cup. Working assiduously with authority and speed and near-perfect is confounding, etc. positioning on the puck, the Bolts this week became the first club to win two Cups in a row since the Penguins in 2016 and 2017. But just as the has discovered, the more the NHL tries to improve the situation, the worse it gets. Now there are two But the arduous NHL postseason that produced these particular Stanley referees on the ice, sometimes working at cross purposes, both hyper- Cup champions was widely regarded as an officiating calamity. scrutinized and “aided” by replays sent to their iPads after every game, coach challenges, and a war room. Commissioner , chatting with Sportsnet’s Ron McLeary on Canadian TV on Monday night after seven weeks of on-ice mayhem and The task is hard enough. Hockey is a sport of flowing, roiling, random whistle-wielding myopathy, informed the general hockey audience that madness. NHL officials are the best in the world at sorting out the when it comes to the difficult task of on-ice adjudication, “We’re getting it unsortable, but they are not “getting it right virtually all the time,” Gary. right virtually all the time, but not 100 percent of the time.” Gene Collier: The many masks of Ron Hextall: Penguins GM enters offseason with unbreakable poker face Post Gazette LOADED: 07.12.2021

Oh, Gary.

Perhaps you missed the Crosschecking Festival that has played out over the continent since mid-May, in which players have been savaged by the shaft of opponents’ sticks to all manner of already-battered body parts, only to find this is apparently no longer a , or rarely one.

Perhaps you missed the Magnificent Seven, when the gave up the go-ahead goal in Game 2 of the semifinals while the Lightning had seven skaters on the ice — seven being, just let me check quickly, yes, more than prescribed. Two more.

Perhaps you missed referee Chris Lee, with no more apparent authority than ring announcer Michael Buffer, gazing benignly at Vegas’ Brayden McNabb as he punched Montreal’s Nick Suzuki in the face right in front of his whistle. Play continued, just as it had when Lee watched Vegas’ Jonathan Marchessault perform some freelance rhinoplasty on the face of Montreal’s Corey Perry, swinging the blade of his stick into Perry’s face, later brought together with nine stitches.

No wonder so many online videos of these incidents are either accompanied by ads for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police or with warnings that the content you seek might not be appropriate for the squeamish.

The list of wrong or non-calls this postseason runs longer than most attention spans, but its impact might begin to metastasize for two reasons that really unnerve the league’s pilots. One is that the league seems enthusiastic about negating the talents of its truly gifted players in the postseason. The Hockey News reported that, after the four-game Edmonton-Winnipeg series, Rachel Doerrie, a former NHL consultant completing a master’s in data and analytics, isolated no fewer than 37 violations against Edmonton’s Connor McDavid, the league’s most ascendant star. None of them were called. McDavid did not draw a penalty in this postseason or last. With that degree of enforcement just as the league is starting a new seven-year deal with ESPN, the boardrooms of the NHL have to know their untapped hockey markets will only descend further into the well-established confusion that keeps the league standing in its own way.

Why are penalties in the second period not penalties late in the third? Why are penalties in the regular season not penalties in the postseason? These are ageless, interminably confusing hockey questions among people who are either casual fans or are non-fans, a.k.a the future of the league. Well, let me speak directly to those people: YOU ARE NEVER GOING TO UNDERSTAND THIS! 1217207 Pittsburgh Penguins

LINKSDan’s Daily: Bertuzzi on Trade Market? Eichel Flirts with Boston

Published 20 hours ago on July 11, 2021By Dan Kingerski

In lieu of piles of NHL trade chatter, the predominant debates, discussions, and NHL rumors are buyouts. The window opened on Thursday night, but we’re still waiting for the first shoe to drop. There are some “No-brainer” buyouts, according to our buddy at PuckPedia.com, Hart Levine. We also look at which of those potential buyouts the Pittsburgh Penguins could be watching.

I haven’t taken a good motorcycle ride in a week. No NHL news has broken. You do the math. As soon as I hit the road, all hell will break loose, guaranteed. I’ll try to get out today. The Kinzua Bridge (pictured) is a fun day trip–go towards Warren, PA, make a right. One of these days, I’m also going to grab Rt. 120 from Coudersport and swing through Emporium to Wellsboro, PA, to see the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon. Unfortunately, both 1940s metal-car diners on the route are permanently closed, or I’d also post pictures of my hot roast beef sandwich and fries with gravy. Two weeks ago, I did stop at the Texas Lunch diner in Kane, PA–I also bought a T-shirt, which seemed to really surprise the waitress.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Anyway…

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: Buyouts! Which buyouts should or could GM Ron Hextall and the Pittsburgh Penguins be watching?

In case you missed our earth-shattering, groundbreaking, league- changing report. Are the Penguins “in” on anybody?

Sportsnet: PuckPedia’s Hart Levine, who has a few sources of his own, listed the “No-Brainer” buyouts.

Detroit: In 31 Thoughts, Elliotte Friedman dropped a little bombshell that the Toronto Maple Leafs are interested in Tyler Bertuzzi. Our Kevin Allen did a little more digging–here’s the scenario under which Detroit will put Bertuzzi on the NHL trade market.

NYI: Anthony Beauvillier tortured Sidney Crosby and the Penguins’ top line in the playoffs. Otherwise, he had an inconsistent year, but now he’s an RFA. So, what is he actually worth?

Philly: Here’s an update on the Philadelphia Flyers and the NHL trade market. Seth Jones. Jakub Voracek. Philadelphia is trying hard, loves the game, but no one loves the Flyers back.

For a hot moment, I wondered about the Penguins and Voracek. However, my perception of him vs. his stats and how the league views him were 180 degrees apart. He sure plays well and physical against the Penguins, though.

Boston: Wait, did he just do that? Jack Eichel was totally flirting with the right in front of the .

Vegas: Tom Callahan breaks the news. He opines that the Vegas Golden Knights have big opportunities but must make a salary dump, too. So wave goodbye to a star player.

Florida: Steve Goldstein is a hidden gem in Florida. The play-by-play is not only sticking around with the Panthers, but he’s adding some Dolphins duties, too.

Pittsburgh Hockey NowLOADED: 07.12.2021 1217208 San Jose Sharks

Thornton part of Bieber's entourage at UFC 264 in Las Vegas

BY ALEX DIDION

Pop star Justin Bieber brought some fellow Canadian star power with him in his entrance to UFC 264 on Saturday night, as former Sharks star Joe Thornton was seen walking into T-Mobile Arena ahead of the bout between Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier.

Thornton wasn't the only NHL player taking in the fight with Bieber, as his Toronto Maple Leafs teammate Austin Matthews sat right next to him for the star-studded affair.

The highly anticipated matchup didn't last long, as Poirier was declared the winner during the first round after McGregor appeared to suffer a major leg injury.

Few things bring together celebrities from across the sports and entertainment world like a UFC card, and Jumbo Joe looked to fit right in.

Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 07.12.2021 1217209 San Jose Sharks Washington Hockey Now: Former Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals (among others), and Detroit Red Wings player Bugsy Watson passed away at 78. He retired in 1979 as the all-time NHL leader in PIMs. His pizza place in Washington D.C. was fittingly called “The Sheng’s Weekend: Labanc on Trade Block Again Penalty Box.” Later, his upstairs sports bar was just called “Bugsy’s.” He became part of the Capitals atmosphere, and they paid tribute.

Colorado Hockey Now: The Seattle Kraken will snag a pretty good player Published 13 hours ago on July 11, 2021By Sheng Peng from the Colorado Avalanche. Will it be defenseman Ryan Graves (who played pretty well against Vegas) or Tyson Jost?

How do you identify late-round gems in the Draft? San Jose Hockey Now LOADED: 07.12.2021

Erik Fowle says select prospects with late birthdays and a particular type of scouting profile — plus he shares his sleeper picks:

The Secret to Late-Round Draft Gems: The Right Birthday & Scouting Profile?

Should the San Jose Sharks offer sheet any free agents? We look at some realistic RFA targets:

Should Sharks Offer Sheet Any Free Agents?

Apparently, that’s still the case.

As for Gambrell and Simek, it’s not surprising to see them involved in trade rumors insofar as they’re fairly fungible skaters. But San Jose will need enough eligible players for the expansion draft, so any Sharks trade involving either Gambrell or Simek might have to wait until after July 21st.

AROUND THE NHL…

The Chicago Blackhawks sexual assault story takes another ugly turn:

Matiss Kivlenieks’ mother remembers his smile and passion. (The Athletic)

Joe Thornton and Auston Matthews are hanging out at UFC 264:

Detroit Hockey Now: In 31 Thoughts, Elliotte Friedman dropped a little bombshell that the Toronto Maple Leafs are interested in Tyler Bertuzzi. Our Kevin Allen did a little more digging–here’s the scenario under which Detroit will put Bertuzzi on the NHL trade market.

Bob Duff paid tribute to the late Bryan Watson with a career retrospective on the former Penguin and Red Wing who earned the “super ” moniker.

NYI Hockey Now: Anthony Beauvillier tortured Sidney Crosby and the Penguins’ top line in the playoffs. Otherwise, he had an inconsistent year, but now he’s an RFA. So, what is he actually worth?

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: Buyouts! Which buyouts should or could GM Ron Hextall and the Pittsburgh Penguins be watching?

If you believe that Ron Hextall’s methodical approach could yield a Stanley Cup next season, the oddsmakers are certainly giving you a good bet. The Penguins have fallen to 25-1 on several boards.

Philly Hockey Now: Here’s an update on the Philadelphia Flyers and the NHL trade market. Seth Jones. Jakub Voracek. Philadelphia is trying hard, loves the game, but no one loves the Flyers back.

Seth Jones is still a Columbus Blue Jacket and still on the NHL trade block. Jones’s contract and unwillingness to sign a long-term deal in Philadelphia are 86’ing the Flyers trade.

Boston Hockey Now: Wait, did he just do that? Jack Eichel was totally flirting with the Boston Bruins right in front of the Buffalo Sabres.

San Jose Sharks draft pick Charlie Coyle had a bit of a down year. It looks like he had a problem with the wheels. Since the end of the season, he has undergone a pair of knee surgeries.

Vegas Hockey Now: Tom Callahan breaks the news. He opines that the Vegas Golden Knights have big opportunities but must make a salary dump, too. So wave goodbye to a star player.

Get this — the Vegas Golden Knights are exempt from the Seattle Kraken expansion draft. You probably knew that, but that exemption could also create a huge opportunity for Vegas trades, including for one unhappy star center.

Florida Hockey Now: Steve Goldstein is a hidden gem in Florida. The play-by-play is not only sticking around with the Panthers, but he’s adding some Dolphins duties, too. 1217210 Tampa Bay Lightning As Bucs coach Bruce Arians delivered a speech after their parade, defensive tackle Vita Vea decided to cool him off with a bath from a Gatorade cooler.

Top 10 boat parade moments in Tampa Bay sports Hedman, the Cup, and Tampa minarets

What screams Tampa more than the minarets on the University of Tampa campus along the Hillsborough River? That’s why the image of By Mari Faiello Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman, the 2020 playoffs’ Conn Smythe winner, hoisting the Cup at sunset while facing the Tampa landmarks Published Yesterday was picture perfect. Updated Earlier today Godwin’s phone sleeps with the fishes

Though the most important item in the Bucs’ parade — the Lombardi TAMPA — It’s that time again, Tampa Bay sports fans. Trophy — didn’t end up at the bottom of the Hillsborough River, the same couldn’t be said of receiver Chris Godwin’s cellphone. Today, the Lightning will be on boats and personal watercrafts, making their way down the Hillsborough River to celebrate their second straight “Hey, Verizon! I know somebody going to get this to you. My boy (wide Stanley Cup championship. And after the water shenanigans conclude, receiver) Scotty (Miller) dropped my phone in the water at the Super they will gather on land at Julian B. Lane Riverfront Park to continue the Bowl parade. I need a new phone!” Godwin exclaimed on receiver Mike celebration. It will be the third championship celebration the bay area has Evans’ Instagram live video. hosted in less than a year, and it’s bound to create plenty of memories. Arians tells players they ‘ain’t going nowhere’ Here are 10 memorable moments from the previous two boat parades When reporters asked Bucs linebacker and free-agency eligible Lavonte and the celebrations that followed: David if he wanted to return for the 2021 season, Arians jumped in, It was one of those you-have-to-see-this moments. Seven-time Super grabbed the microphone and said loudly: “Your ass ain’t going nowhere!” Bowl champion Tom Brady needed assistance walking on land after Arians did the same for Godwin, too. In March, the Bucs used the docking following the Bucs’ parade in February. Why? Drinking too much franchise player tag on Godwin, guaranteeing him at least $16.43 million “avocado tequila” during it. on a one-year contract, and re-signed David to a two-year, $25 million Brady’s moment instantly went viral, prompting T-shirts and jokes on contract. Twitter. And he still hasn’t heard the end of it. Tampa Bay Times LOADED: 07.12.2021 After the Lightning clinched back-to-back Stanley Cup wins on Wednesday, the Stanley Cup Twitter account posted, “FYI, I’m too heavy to throw, @TomBrady,” referring to Brady throwing the Lombardi Trophy from his boat to another during the parade. Brady quote-tweeted that along with, “Idk … everything feels a bit lighter after some tequila (laughing emoji).”

Lightning owner Jeff Vinik made an impassioned speech to fans gathered at Raymond James Stadium for more celebrating after their parade in September, but it did not go uninterrupted. An “influenced” forward Nikita Kucherov joined Vinik onstage and shared a beer with him.

Many had a cardiac arrest kind of moment when Brady chucked the Lombardi Trophy to tight end Cameron Brate, who was on a boat behind Brady’s. It was about only a 10-foot toss, but the roughly 7-poundy trophy doesn’t float. Neither does the 34½-pound Stanley Cup.

Killorn hoists Cup while riding his Sea-Doo

You had to know that after time spent on his Sea-Doo during episodes of his video series Dock Talk while the NHL was shut down for the coronavirus last year, forward Alex Killorn was going to find a way to incorporate his watercraft into the Lightning’s parade. He created an iconic moment when he hoisted the Stanley Cup onto his Sea-Doo for a ride, and he even let team captain Steven Stamkos go along for a spin.

Maroon claims ultimate ‘Florida Man’ title

Lightning forward Pat Maroon took the stage at Raymond James Stadium in a beige fedora, sunglasses and a Stanley Cup scarf, and delivered one of the most memorable speeches of the night as the team’s only two-time Cup winner, following his 2019 win with the Blues.

He encouraged fans to get their phones out and turn on their flashlights to celebrate the moment. He concluded by shouting, “I’m the ‘Big Rig’! I’m back-to-back!” His choice of attire was popular among bay area residents dressing up for Halloween the next month.

It was a memorable moment in 2018 when Capitals forward T.J. Oshie chugged a beer through his jersey onstage as Washington celebrated its Stanley Cup win.

So Lightning defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk decided to take a page out of Oshie’s party book and do the same onstage at Raymond James Stadium, chugging a beer through his T-shirt.

Vea dumps cooler over Arians’ head 1217211 Vegas Golden Knights By some estimates, Oleksiak will have eight to 10 teams pursuing his services. His status as a third-pair defender never far away from the press box has changed to a top-four defenseman.

Sources Hush on Alec Martinez; Add Oleksiak to Golden Knights His price range, thunderous size, and improving game may well place Potentials Oleksiak at the top of the Vegas Golden Knights wishlist. While those around the negotiations and McCrimmon are tight-lipped, expect the Golden Knights to keep a close eye on Oleksiak.

Published 13 hours ago on July 11, 2021By Dan Kingerski Vegas Hockey Now LOADED: 07.12.2021

It’s 17 days and counting down until Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Alec Martinez will hit free agency. The Golden Knights must either splash some cash on Martinez, hit the NHL Trade market, or they’ll be shopping on the thin free-agent market.

Multiple sources with knowledge of the Martinez negotiations declined to comment to Vegas Hockey Now on the status or progress of talks.

“Sorry, I can’t comment,” one inside source replied.

Reading tea leaves, that’s a good sign. If the sides weren’t talking by now, there would be some dismissal or anger emanating from one or both of the camps. In this case, “can’t” is better than “won’t.” Take it as a positive, but don’t etch him into the lineup, just yet.

Martinez incredibly played with a broken foot in the NHL Semifinal. This season, the 33-year-old defenseman skated a career-high 22:34 per game and had the second-highest offensive output of his career with 32 points (9-23-32).

However, his six-year, $24 million contract is expiring.

VHN examined the pending UFA market for left-handed defensemen with the potential to both be within the Golden Knights budget and able to play top-four minutes.

The market is going to be paper-thin.

And fans expecting players to give a hometown discount are usually disappointed.

However, we may have missed one name when we compiled the list of potential GM Kelly McCrimmon’s free-agent targets.

Add Jamie Oleksiak to Vegas Golden Knights List

Coming up on the outside is former Pittsburgh Penguins and probably former defenseman Jamie Oleksiak. The big 6-foot-7, 255- pound defenseman has a checkered history in his nine-year career.

This writer graded him well during his one-year stay in Pittsburgh. He increased physicality and added to his existing offensive skills. However, there were gaffes and inconsistency, too.

Despite his hulking size, Oleksiak defaulted to finesse more than brute. Pittsburgh traded him (back) to Dallas for just a fourth-round pick in 2019. Over the past couple of seasons in Dallas, he fought his way above the 6/7 defenseman role to a top-four stature.

An NHL scout agrees.

“Oleksiak, he’s slowly come along,” an NHL scout confided to VHN. “He’s found his way to be a top-four defenseman.”

Oleksiak, 28, had a breakthrough in the 2019-20 playoffs when the Dallas Stars had a run to the Stanley Cup Final. This season, he 14 points with a career-high six goals (6-8-14). Oleksiak also dished 148 hits as he played all 56 games.

“After watching the playoffs, a lot of teams will want that big body to help solidify a strong D,” said the scout. “I think there’ll be a big market for him.”

Despite the flat salary cap, teams still paid free-agent defensemen very handsomely last fall. Our sister site Pittsburgh Hockey Now evaluated the market, and the results were green. Even the lesser D-men could be paid in the $4 million range, which will both raise Martinez’s value and make it difficult to replace him on the free-agent market.

The NHL scout echoed what Vegas Hockey Now and the network began hearing last week. Oleksiak’s stock has been steadily rising. More and more teams will be making that phone call to check in on the LHD. 1217212 Vegas Golden Knights

The Daily: Eichel Flirts with Boston, ‘No Brainer’ Buyouts Coming

Published 17 hours ago on July 11, 2021By Dan Kingerski

So, all of those casinos that offered the huge odds for a first-round knockout are regretting that today, eh? In the Daily, we’ve got plenty of NHL trade chatter, Jack Eichel totally flirting with the Boston Bruins right in front of the Vegas Golden Knights and Boston Bruins. We examine if Tyler Bertuzzi could be on the block and the “No Brainer’ NHL buyouts.

Our Tom Callahan unvarnished a truth about the Vegas Golden Knights offseason.

Vegas Hockey Now: Tom has spun it six ways from Sunday. It’s a likely event that will make you mad, but the truth is–a salary dump is coming, and it may be a popular player.

Did anyone hit the fight last night, or is that too touristy? I’m new. It’s still cool to me.

NHL Trade Chatter, Buyouts, and National Hockey Now network…

Boston: Did he just do that? The Golden Knights are interested in Jack Eichel, but our boy was totally flirting with the Boston Bruins right in front of the Buffalo Sabres.

TSN: Are the San Jose Sharks “open for business” on the NHL trade market?

Detroit: In 31 Thoughts, Elliotte Friedman dropped a little bombshell that the Toronto Maple Leafs are interested in Tyler Bertuzzi. Our Kevin Allen did a little more digging–here’s the scenario under which Detroit will put Bertuzzi on the NHL trade market.

Sportsnet: Our buddy at PuckPedia.com, Hart Levine, rolled through the “No Brainer” buyouts that are coming, and the players that fans most want to see get the unceremonious heave-ho.

NYI: Anthony Beauvillier and the New York Islanders second line actually whooped Sidney Crosby and the Penguins’ top line in the playoffs. Though Beauvillier was inconsistent this year, he now an RFA. So, what is the scoring winger actually worth?

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: Buyouts are coming–Here are three buyouts that could benefit GM Ron Hextall and the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Philly: Oh, the Philadelphia Flyers and the NHL trade market. Seth Jones. Jakub Voracek. Please! Philadelphia is trying hard to make changes, but no one loves the Flyers back.

Florida: Steve Goldstein is a hidden gem in Florida. The play-by-play is not only sticking around with the Panthers, but he’s adding some Dolphins duties, too.

Vegas Hockey Now LOADED: 07.12.2021 1217213 Washington Capitals and had three goals and three assists. He also never played in the NHL again after that season and retired after the 2007-2008 season.

Beech was the highest-profile prospect in the deal -- the 7th overall pick The 20-year anniversary of the Capitals' trade for Jaromir Jagr in the 1999 NHL Draft. He played 100 games for Pittsburgh over the course of four seasons and tallied 10 goals with 17 assists. He even made a return to Washington and played in 69 games with eight goals and 18 assists during his second stint early in the Alex Ovechkin era. But BY ANDREW GILLIS Washington didn't make the playoffs in either season.

“There was a lot of hype around me as a player,” Beech recently told Trib The mention of Jaromir Jagr’s name to a Capitals fan has meant less and Live in Pittsburgh. “I was getting compared to Guy Lafleur as an 11-year- less as years go by. old by an NHL scout. From there, the comparisons kept coming. Guys like Joe Sakic and Paul Kariya. Onto Washington with (general manager) Today, there are Capitals fans of voting age that were not alive on July George McPhee basically referencing he thought I could be the next 11, 2001, when the Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins made one of the Steve Yzerman.” biggest trades in NHL history. Twenty years ago seems like a whole different world, for the NHL and both rival franchises involved. Nearly 20 years after the trade, however, a strong argument exists that the deal eventually, worked out for both parties — in a roundabout But it's not hard to remember when Jagr was traded from Pittsburgh and fashion. how the entire league was set ablaze when the winger with four-straight Art Ross trophies to his name was headed to Washington, a team he'd The Penguins immediately began their own rebuild and ended up with help torture in multiple playoff series for the Penguins. Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Marc-Andre Fleury in the mid-2000s drafts. That was the backbone of teams that won three Stanley Cups and Jagr’s trade appeared to put the Capitals, who had just lost to the that trio is destined for the . Penguins in the playoffs in back-to-back seasons, over the top with one of the very best scorers in the game. The Capitals remained tormented by the Penguins until the 2018 season when Ovechkin won the Conn Smythe Trophy and the franchise lifted its In return for Jagr (along with Frantisek Kucera), the Capitals sent first Stanley Cup in history. The Capitals had to beat the Penguins, prospects Kris Beech, Michal Sivek and to the naturally, to get there. Penguins. The return, at that point, didn’t much matter. The Capitals improved their offense greatly in one major splash. Pittsburgh got some Jagr, for his part, said he wished it had worked out in Washington. But in promising prospects but no one who would help them immediately. a way, he joked he had a hand in the future success of the Capitals.

“When I came here, I didn’t know what to expect,” Jagr, then 29, said in “Caps fans,” he began in an Instagram post two years ago. “Sorry it didn’t his introductory press conference. “Then I heard the promise to win the work out, but I try my best. After 18 years we should look the positive Stanley Cup in five years...Maybe three years now.” way. If I would play very good, you would have never had a chance to draft OVI. And you probably didn’t win the Cup last year. You welcome.” Of course, it took a bit longer than five years for the Capitals to win the Stanley Cup. And Jagr was long gone by that point. Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 07.12.2021

Jagr, who had tallied 121 points and 52 goals the year prior as a Penguin in 2000-01, had 79 points with 31 goals in his first season with the Caps in 2001-02 but the team didn't make the Stanley Cup playoffs. The following year, he had 77 points with 36 goals yet Washington lost two overtime games to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Their playoff stay lasted six games. It became clear Jagr wasn’t going to work out in Washington.

Just three months after being traded, Jagr signed a five-year extension with the Capitals that made him the highest-paid player in the league at $11 million per season. The deal was seven-years, $77 million in total.

The hope was that Jagr would end his career in Washington, but the contract turned out to be an anchor on the franchise, especially early in his third season when it was clear the Caps just weren't good enough to compete and an expensive, veteran team had to be dismantled.

After two-and-a-half seasons of underwhelming play, he was traded to the New York Rangers in January, 2004 for winger Anson Carter. To make the deal happen, the Capitals had to pay $20 million of the $44 million left on Jagr’s contract. In total, Jagr ended his Capitals career with 201 points in 190 games with 83 goals.

And Jagr’s success in New York was immediate, which only further aggravated the Capitals’ fanbase.

He had 29 points in 31 games after the trade to the Rangers and in the 2005-2006 season Jagr tallied 123 points with 54 goals. He finished second in Hart Trophy voting for league MVP that year. Jagr played out his contract with New York and left for big money in Russia's KHL in 2008 before eventually returning to the NHL.

The Capitals, meanwhile, began a complete and total teardown of the organization with their sights set on rebuilding a roster through the draft with young and talented players. They wouldn't make the postseason again until 2008 and it took another decade of heartbreak to finally win the Cup.

As for the Penguins, the Jagr trade didn't work out for them much either.

Lupaschuk, a right-handed defenseman, played three games for Pittsburgh in the 2002-2003 season and never played in the NHL again. Sivek played 38 games for the Penguins, also in the 2002-2003 season, 1217214 Washington Capitals Washington ended in disappointment, with the Caps finishing in ninth place in the Eastern Conference, two points out of the playoffs. Jagr, who had been limited to 69 games due to knee and wrist injuries, saw his point total plummet from 121 the previous season in Pittsburgh to 79. Jaromir Jagr’s infamous stop in D.C.: The 927 days Capitals fans wish Ron Wilson was fired about a month later. they could forget July 1, 2002: was signed to a five-year, $25 million contract — at the time a Caps record for a free-agent deal — after Jagr reportedly implored ownership to acquire his former Penguins teammate and fellow By Tarik El-Bashir Jul 11, 2021 countryman. “I’m glad I’m going to have a chance to be with him again,” Lang told The Pittsburgh Post Gazette. “I have a very good, healthy relationship with Jags.” On July 11, 2001, the Washington Capitals were the biggest deal in hockey. Jan. 11, 2003: With three goals and four assists, Jagr tied the franchise record for most points in a game with seven in a 12-2 win over Florida. They had stunned the NHL by trading for Pittsburgh’s Jaromir Jagr, a Earlier in the day, he had been named a starter in the All-Star Game. “It’s two-time Stanley Cup champion and five-time Art Ross Trophy winner as just one night, just one game,” Jagr said afterward. He still shares the the league’s top scorer. The move was supposed to put the veteran- record with Dino Ciccarelli. laden Caps over the top after back-to-back Southeast Division championships ended in first-round defeats, ironically enough, at the Feb. 4, 2003: In a 5-1 win over Tampa Bay, Jagr notched a hat trick to hands of Jagr’s Penguins. become the 33rd player to reach 500 career goals and the 16th to do it in fewer than 1,000 games. “I don’t even think about it. I knew I was pretty “This puts on the national scene, because we now have a really, really close. It was a big game for us. Of course, (the win) was the most great hockey team,” owner said a few days after the trade. important thing,” said Jagr, who scored his first 439 goals as a Penguin. “Now’s the time to prove this is a hockey town, that it loves sports, and we’re as good a team as any others.” March 2003: Reports surfaced that Jagr had accrued hundreds of thousands of dollars in online gambling debts in the late 1990s. “This was Leonsis’ expensive acquisition indeed provided a bump at the box office; all taken care of in 1999,” he told reporters at the time. “This is old news. more than 300 season ticket packages were sold within hours of the It wasn’t smart. It was a mistake.” The gambling reports came out around news. Players, staffers and fans brimmed with optimism. the same time that The Washington Post reported Jagr owed the IRS more than $3 million in back taxes for 2001, raising questions about his Ultimately, though, it backfired. financial stability. Jagr’s white-collar brand of hockey did not mesh with the Caps’ blue- “He wasn’t a happy person here,” longtime team president Dick Patrick collar identity at the time. After averaging 115 points per season from was quoted as saying in the 2019 book, “100 Things Caps Fans Know & 1995-2001 in Pittsburgh, Jagr averaged 78 during his two full seasons in Do Before They Die” adding that, “It was a difficult time in his life.” D.C. As teammates and management acknowledged years later, the moody superstar never seemed to genuinely embrace being a Capital. A April 12, 2003: Jagr scored two goals to go along with two assists in former player recalled spotting Jagr one afternoon at an empty Annapolis Game 2 of Washington’s opening-round series against Tampa Bay as mall and Jagr didn’t even seem to recognize his younger, less the Caps won the first two contests on the road. It might have been the established teammate, giving him a, “Like, who is this guy?” look as they high-water mark of the Jagr era. The Caps dropped the next three games made eye contact without stopping, the player said recently. amid controversial calls and an offense that dried up.

For most Caps fans, the Jagr era is something they’d just as soon purge April 20, 2003: Tampa Bay’s Martin St. Louis scored a power play goal in from their memory altogether, much less celebrate. But on this day, the triple overtime — Washington had been whistled for too many men — 20th anniversary of the trade that brought No. 68 to Washington, let’s and the Bolts bounced the Caps, who had not lost four games look back at one of the strangest periods in franchise history and what consecutively all season. Jagr did not record a point. Jagr’s tumultuous tenure eventually begot: Franchise savior Alex Ovechkin. Frustrated by the lack of return on his investment in Jagr and other stars, and disappointed by not selling out any of the three home playoff games, July 11, 2001: After whiffing on Jeremy Roenick, Pierre Turgeon and Leonsis sounded off afterward. “I have to really reconsider the kind of Doug Weight in free agency, the Caps turned to the trade market. commitment and investment I’m making with this team,” he said. “I’m not Leonsis went big, really big, acquiring Jagr along with Frantisek Kucera a quitter. … It was hard to see 14,000 fans. I don’t like the treatment that from the archrival Pens for prospects Kris Beech, Michal Sivek and Ross we’re getting from the building. The party’s over. To play back-to-back Lupaschuk, and $4.9 million in cash. None of the prospects ended up games on Passover and Easter Sunday does not help.” making much of an impact in the NHL. Recalled a former front office employee: “The loss to Tampa was kind of July 16, 2001: Upon arriving at Dulles International Airport, Jagr was the end.” greeted by several hundred fans. Jagr thanked everyone, made a few brief remarks to reporters and then climbed into the black stretch June 3, 2003: The Washington Post reported that Jagr was being limousine the Caps had sent to pick him up. “If you think this is a nice shopped by the Caps, who had not won a playoff round since their run to turnout, wait ’til we win one (Cup),” Leonsis was quoted by The the Stanley Cup Final in 1998. With the potential for a lengthy work Washington Post as saying that day. stoppage in September 2004 hanging over the league, many teams were looking to slash payroll. At the time, Jagr had five years and $55 million “The media attention was just hard for me to even understand,” a former remaining on his contract, including a league-high $11 million salary due staffer recalled recently of the packed press conference to introduce in 2003-04. Jagr. “We filled the Wizards’ practice court (at MCI Center). After that, we took him to the White House and did a photoshoot. It was kind of “We’ve had discussions with a lot of NHL teams about a lot of players,” surreal.” then-general manager George McPhee acknowledged at the time.

Oct. 6, 2001: Jagr made quite a first impression before a sell-out crowd October 2003: Jagr and the Caps got off to a slow start in 2003-04, at MCI Center, recording a goal and an assist in a 6-1 rout of New winning just five of the first 20 games. Coach Bruce Cassidy clashed with Jersey, the two-time defending Eastern Conference champion. the team’s stars, including Jagr, and on Dec. 10 he was fired after just a year and a half on the job and replaced by assistant coach . Oct. 19, 2001: The Caps signed Jagr to a five-year extension that made the 29-year-old the highest-paid player in the game at $11 million per “I have tried to forget the years where he killed us when he was in season. In all, Jagr’s new deal was worth $77 million after the Caps Pittsburgh and he killed us when he was in Washington,” a former Caps reworked the final two years remaining on his previous deal. “I wanted to staffer texted this week when asked for his recollection of the Jagr years. make sure I stay here and end my hockey career here,” Jagr told Jan. 23, 2004: After months of on-and-off trade talks, the Caps finally reporters. sent Jagr to New York for Anson Carter. To facilitate the deal, April 12, 2002: Although attendance was up and all 82 games were Washington agreed to pay $20 million of the $44 million remaining on broadcast on local television for the first time, Jagr’s first season in Jagr’s contract. “This was a contract that we had to move,” McPhee said. “We couldn’t go forward in our market in a new era with this type of deal.” Jagr’s departure was the first in a string of deals that jettisoned high- priced Caps.

Feb. 18, 2004 – March 9, 2004: In a span of three weeks, the Caps gutted their roster, dealing away , Lang, , , Carter and . The Caps won just two of their final 14 games. Washington’s starting goaltender in its season-ending 4- 3 loss at Pittsburgh was Matthew Yeats, who was appearing in just his fifth NHL game. He did not appear in another.

April 6, 2004: The Caps won the draft lottery, despite having just a 14 percent chance of doing so, leapfrogging Pittsburgh and Chicago. “I asked (top scout) Ross (Mahoney), ‘Out of curiosity, if you were picking today, who would you take,” McPhee recalled to The Athletic last year. “There was no hesitation, which would be unlike Ross; he’s real measured. Ross said, ‘It’s got to be Ovechkin.'”

June 26, 2004: Ovechkin was selected first at the 2004 draft in Raleigh, N.C. “If you are second, you are second. If you are first, you are first,” a confident 18-year-old Ovechkin said. “I always want to be first.”

Added McPhee: “We were lucky to win the lottery, and then to have a player of (Ovechkin’s) ability sitting there.”

Jagr’s departure signaled the end of an error in Washington — a miscalculation that both McPhee and Jagr later admitted to.

“I said at the time, ‘This is the right player at the right time for us.’ But I wasn’t sure that it was the right player at the right time for us,” McPhee told the Caps’ official website in 2014.

Jagr, meantime, acknowledged feeling like an outsider on his own team.

“The team in Washington had been together for a long time, it was like a family, and suddenly they were bringing me there even though the hockey people didn’t want me,” Jagr told The New York Post in 2015. “They’d been a very good team and now they were being told, ‘This guy is going to show you how it’s done.’ It was a very difficult situation for everyone, and very uncomfortable for me. There were a lot of times that I wanted to quit, I’m telling you.”

As poorly as things ended, Jagr’s departure also marked the start of something special for the Caps, who rolled to new heights and a Cup title in 2018 with Ovechkin.

The role Jagr played in all of that is not lost on him.

Two years ago today, he posted a picture of himself wearing a black Capitals jersey and posing in front of the White House along with a message to fans.

“Caps fans,” he wrote. “Sorry it didn’t work out, but I try my best. After 18 years we should look the positive way. If I would play very good, you would have never had a chance to draft OVI. And you probably didn’t win the Cup last year. You welcome.”

The Athletic LOADED: 07.12.2021 1217215 Vancouver Canucks Lockwood has said in the past that the injuries didn’t really change his playing style, but surely with some maturity he’s learned to be smarter in how to play with an edge.

Canucks top 10 prospects: Rambunctiousness will be Will Lockwood's “We probably had to tone Will down a little bit just because we didn’t key to success want him to get hurt or get suspended, but you know he can really hit guys,” Muckalt said.

That Lockwood still plays with confidence and aggression even after Patrick Johnston suffering two tough injuries are continuing positive attributes, his old coach added. Publishing date:Jul 11, 2021 • 14 hours ago • “There’s no question. It’s always hard coming back from shoulder injuries

or serious injuries like that, but he was great for us. He was a real leader It’s somewhat fitting that Will Lockwood, No. 7 on our list of the on-and-off the ice. Plays the game the right way, approaches it the right Vancouver Canucks’ top 10 prospects, wore No. 10 in his first games as way,” the veteran of 256 NHL games with the Canucks, Islanders, a pro this past season with the Utica Comets in New York. Senators and Wild said.

Like Pavel Bure, the most famous person to wear No. 10 in Vancouver, “He’s got a good work ethic for sure. He’s well-respected (by his Lockwood’s got a set of afterburners that will be his main calling card in teammates). You know he’s not a rah-rah guy but he brings energy, and the NHL. the guys respect him because he’s wanting to do all the little things it takes to be successful,” Muckalt added. “Those are all things that when That, of course, is where the comparisons between the two should end. you look at Will, those are things that I think will translate well for him.” It’s only fair. No one will ever match the Russian Rocket’s goal-scoring talents in this town. The key to success for Lockwood will be simple, in the veteran coach’s eyes: Lockwood’s as fast a skater as the Canucks have seen in years and it stood him in good stead in the 24 games he played for the Comets, the 2021 TOP 10 CANUCKS PROSPECTS Canucks’ erstwhile minor league affiliate. A better comparable for him No. 10: Viktor Persson. would be Jannik Hansen, the Dane who carved out a solid NHL career as a feisty depth winger with a nose for the net. No. 9: Arvid Costmar.

Just as it did in his draft year for the USA Hockey National Team No. 8: Aidan McDonough. Development Program, Lockwood’s speed stood out in his two-game cameo with the big club late in the 2020-21 season. No. 7: Will Lockwood.

WILL LOCKWOOD No. 6: Monday.

(Prospect No. 7 in daily countdown.) Vancouver Province: LOADED: 07.12.2021

Age: 23.

Height: 5-11. Weight: 172 pounds.

Shoots: Right. Position: Winger.

Draft year: 2016, third round.

Current team: Abbotsford (AHL).

Outlook: Energy winger.

Going into the 2021-22 season, he very well could add to that NHL- games-played total. There’s plenty of opportunity looming on the Canucks’ fourth line. He’ll likely find himself in a dogfight with the likes of Kole Lind, Jonah Gadjovich and Marc Michaelis to fill out the bottom end of the roster.

Bill Muckalt, the former Canuck and current associate head coach of the Wolverines, likes his former player’s chances. Lockwood played for Michigan for four years, captaining the Wolverines in his final season.

“He reminds me a little bit of Mike Peca, he can really hit, or Dallas Drake,” Muckalt said. “He’s not that big but he’s really solid. He plays a little bit, I don’t want to say reckless, but he plays hard-nosed.”

Cal Clutterbuck was another player who Lockwood reminded Muckalt of.

His no-fear style of play did cause him troubles in his first two seasons at Michigan, as he twice had surgery to repair his left shoulder. He dislocated it a couple of times during his freshman season and had off- season labrum surgery to correct the problem. At the World Juniors during his sophomore season, he suffered a brutal dislocation, which a somewhat complicated procedure fixed.

Muckalt’s own playing career ended because of a serious shoulder injury, so it’s never easy seeing a young player deal with an injury like the ones Lockwood have overcome.

“I kind of cringe when they get hurt. It’s a high-contact, physical sport. Luckily they’re young and hopefully they can stay healthy. It just depends on situation. But there’s no question, I definitely relate to them and talk to them, because I’ve experienced that. I think it’s a little easier, when you’ve gone through it, to relate to these kids.” 1217216 Websites After seeing Stanley start to show glimpses of his potential, it’s unlikely the Jets want to see the more finished product move to a new team, especially without getting an asset in return.

Sportsnet.ca / Jets off-season to-do list: Upgrading defence an urgent The Jets could consider making a side deal similar to the one made with priority the Vegas Golden Knights in 2017, but that depends on what the asking price is from Kraken GM Ron Francis.

Is it possible the Kraken might have some interest in someone like Ken WiebeJuly 11, 2021, 11:02 AM defenceman Sami Niku, forward Jansen Harkins or even goalie prospect Mikhail Berdin?

It’s not out of the equation, but right-winger Mason Appleton is a prime WINNIPEG - The Stanley Cup has been handed out and the road to this candidate to be chosen, barring an unforeseen turn of events -- or one of roster renovation is full speed ahead for the . those aforementioned side deals. Since being bounced from the playoffs by the Montreal Canadiens in a Remaining Time -2:01 second-round sweep, the Jets management team has been busy preparing for what figures to be a high-paced off-season. Jets' Maurice: 'The game's no fun without fans, it's no fun at all'

There are a number of potential potholes to navigate for Kevin Figure out where things stand with Copp Cheveldayoff and company, beginning with the submission of the protected list for the Seattle Kraken expansion draft. The versatile Jets forward is a restricted free agent and he’s expressed his desire to become the latest core piece to commit to the organization. That list (expected to include seven forwards, three defencemen and one Copp made it clear following his exit interview that he’s open to all goalie) is due on July 17, with the selection of players set for July 21 in options when it comes to his next contract. Seattle. What that potential deal looks like remains to be seen. The first round of the 2021 NHL Draft, which will be held virtually for a second consecutive year before heading to Montreal in 2022, is slated for The AAV figures to be north of $4 million, depending on how many years just two days later, with rounds two through seven scheduled for July 24. Copp signs for and how many years off unrestricted free agency the Jets are buying. The Jets hold the 17th overall selection, then have choices coming in the second, third and fifth rounds -- so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see a trade Copp, 27, is coming off a career season that saw him produce 15 goals or two made to try and recoup some of the picks that were moved in prior and 39 points in 55 games, while averaging 18:15 of ice time per game deals. (up nearly five minutes from his career average).

By the time free agency opens on July 28, this stretch figures to hit a He plays a regular shift as a middle-six forward who can play either crescendo, especially when you consider some big names appear to be centre or wing, is part of the top penalty-killing unit with frequent linemate available via trade -- which could lead to a blockbuster or several around Adam Lowry and was also part of the highly effective second power play the league. unit.

How busy do the Jets figure to be? Just one year away from pending unrestricted free agency, Copp is arbitration-eligible but that’s a road the Jets won’t care to go down again. This won’t be a massive overhaul, but several upgrades are required to augment a core group that advanced to the Western Conference Final in The priority for both sides is to get a deal done, but if common ground 2018 but has won only one round since then. can’t be found, the Jets could investigate the prospect of moving Copp in a deal to... The list of priorities for the Jets is fairly easy to identify, but how much movement is on the horizon is still a bit tough to nail down. Upgrade the defence

With that in mind, here’s a quick look at what is on the horizon for the This isn’t a new priority, but the urgency has reached a new level. Jets: Jets head coach Paul Maurice spoke openly about the need to improve *I understand that I may withdraw my consent at any time. on the back end and this must be done, whether that’s through trade, free agency or a combination of both. Finalize the protected list Based on recent history, it would be an interesting turn of events for the Chances are pretty good the debate within the organization has already Jets to win a bidding war for a top-tier free agent like Dougie Hamilton, been settled, but the anticipation among the fan base will continue to but guys like Jake McCabe and Jamie Oleksiak (among others) should build until those lists are made public. be on the radar.

While the creative suggestions have been flowing from the many There figures to be some internal improvement with the arrival of top armchair general managers, most of the choices are pretty prospects Ville Heinola and Dylan Samberg and it’s important not to read straightforward. too much into the comments made by Maurice regarding the balance between playing young players and winning. Connor Hellebuyck, Blake Wheeler, Mark Scheifele, Nikolaj Ehlers, Kyle Connor, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Adam Lowry, Andrew Copp, Josh Morrissey Maurice wasn’t necessarily making a bold proclamation about there not and Neal Pionk can be written in pen, while the final spot figures to go to being enough room in the lineup to have Heinola and Samberg join Dylan DeMelo or Logan Stanley. Logan Stanley in the regular rotation.

DeMelo chose to forego unrestricted free agency last off-season to sign a Maurice has never been one to make a public declaration or hand a spot four-year deal worth $12 million with the Jets, citing stability as one of the to a young player before or even during training camp. reasons he made the choice. It doesn’t mean they can’t all win a job either. Although he doesn’t put up eye-popping statistics, DeMelo provides stability to his defence partner. Remaining Time -4:01

The Jets have also made a substantial investment in the development of 2021 NHL season ending montage: The Tampa Bay Lightning repeat as Stanley, the 2016 first-rounder who was chosen 18th overall. champions

Stanley had a breakthrough season in his third year as a pro, taking Decide if it’s short-term or longer-term for Pionk advantage of a lengthy off-season to become an NHL regular. Speaking of restricted free agents, defenceman Neal Pionk has put He’s a high-volume shooter known for his size (six-foot-seven, 231 together two outstanding seasons since coming over from the New York pounds) and while he brings a physical element, Stanley also showcased Rangers in the trade for Jacob Trouba. his hands on a number of occasions. Pionk is also eligible for arbitration and figures to be in line for a significant raise after earning $3 million on his two-year bridge deal.

After recording nine goals and 77 points over 125 games with the Jets, Pionk is a candidate for a long-term pact, but given where the organization is in their window of contention, it’s possible both sides might prefer to look at a two-year deal -- even if it means going to arbitration.

Hire a head coach for the Manitoba Moose

The departure of Pascal Vincent to the Columbus Blue Jackets (where he joined the staff of Brad Larsen as an associate coach) was a blow for the organization.

Vincent had spent the past decade in the Jets organization, the first five as an assistant under Claude Noel and Maurice and then the past five as the Moose bench boss.

Vincent has been praised on countless occasions by both Maurice and Cheveldayoff for his ability to help prepare players to be promoted to the NHL and has built a great reputation as both a teacher and communicator.

During the off-season, Vincent interviewed for the head coaching vacancies in Columbus and Arizona and he’s viewed by many as a candidate to run his own NHL bench sooner than later.

31 Thoughts: The Podcast

Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman talk to a lot of people around the hockey world, and then they tell listeners all about what they’ve heard and what they think about it.

The Moose job is an attractive one and figures to draw a number of high- end candidates.

Kevin Dineen became a free agent when the San Diego Gulls hired Joel Bouchard on Friday and he has ample experience behind the bench in both the NHL and AHL following his extensive playing career.

Mark Morrison is someone who could be in the mix as well, as he spent six seasons as an assistant coach with the St. John’s IceCaps (four seasons) and Moose (two seasons) before spending the past four seasons with the Anaheim Ducks.

Morrison also spent five seasons as the head coach of the Victoria Salmon Kings of the ECHL when they were an affiliate of the Moose, so the folks at True North Sports and Entertainment would be very familiar with his work.

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USA TODAY / Tampa dive team prepared if the Lightning attempt to replicate Tom Brady's trophy toss

Alyssa Hertel

Five days after winning the franchise’s second straight Stanley Cup, the Tampa Bay Lightning are following in the footsteps of their NFL counterpart – the Tampa Bay Buccaneers – and celebrating with a boat parade on Monday.

With some interesting antics and tomfoolery on the part of none other than Tom Brady during the Bucs’ Super Bowl parade and a Bud Light- driven press conference with shirtless Tampa forward Nikita Kucherov, no one really knows what to expect from the Lightning’s celebration.

Some are wondering: Will the Lightning celebrate Tampa’s sports success (two Stanley Cups, one Super Bowl) in the last 10 months by paying homage to Brady’s trophy toss?

Following the Lightning’s Game 5 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday, reporters asked Tampa Mayor Jane Castor if she was concerned about a trophy-toss repeat during the Lightning’s parade.

“It’s their day,” Mayor Castor said. “We are always prepared. We have divers if Stanley gets wet. We’ll get him back in short order.”

In February, Brady made headlines with video of him tossing the Lombardi Trophy a little over ten feet from his boat to Cameron Brate in another boat. The seven-time Super Bowl champ said the details of the toss are foggy, but he’s joked about the situation in the months since.

Logistically, throwing the Stanley Cup a few yards might not go as smoothly as tossing the Vince Lombardi Trophy. At 22 inches tall, the Lombardi weighs in at only seven pounds. Lord Stanley, on the other hand, is just under 3 feet tall and weighs 34.5 pounds. Add in some alcohol and rocky waters from tropical storm Elsa, and throwing the NHL championship trophy from own boat to another may not be the best means of transfer.

If a toss is attempted, there is no doubt that the Stanley Cup would sink nearly 82 feet, the maximum depth of the Tampa Bay. After the Pittsburgh Penguins won the Cup in 1991, during a team party at Mario Lemieux’s house, Phil Bourque threw the Cup into the pool, where it sank to the bottom.

Regardless of what happens on the water, the Tampa Police Department’s dive team will be ready. Members of that team will be on standby, according to 10 Tampa Bay, and they have been instructed to keep watch on the Stanley Cup while escorting the team and trophy along the parade route.

Still, Officer Chris Audet of the Tampa Dive Team hopes that the Lightning players don’t attempt to repeat Brady’s risky toss.

“My biggest concern for us would be people randomly jumping into the water trying to retrieve it themselves,” Audet said to 10 Tampa Bay. “…If the Stanley Cup does decide to take a swim that day, the TPD dive team is ready to retrieve it.”

The event is set to kick off at 11 a.m. at Tampa Riverwalk, less than a mile from the Lightning’s home base, Amalie Arena. With the team on boats, fans are encouraged to spread out on both sides of the river along the parade route before the celebration continues on land at Julian B. Lane Riverfront Park.

USA TODAY LOADED: 07.12.2021