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SPORT-SCAN DAILY BRIEF NHL 4/9/2020 Anaheim Ducks 1173492 Alexis Lafreniere tops NHL’s draft-eligible prospects list 1173519 Panthers agree to terms with forward Cole Schwindt on three-year, entry-level contract Coyotes 1173520 Sergei Bobrovsky and Artemi Panarin team up again to 1173493 Reliving the 2012 playoff run, Chapter 1: Sizing up the help their new communities Blackhawks 1173494 Peter Mueller’s star never shined so brightly as in his rookie season 1173521 NHL releases prospect rankings ahead of yet-to- be-rescheduled draft Bruins 1173522 Alexis Lafreniere tops NHL’s draft-eligible prospects list 1173495 Top 10 Bruins not named Orr: No. 8 — Zdeno Chara 1173523 MY FAVORITE REIGN GAME headed for Hall of Fame 1173524 Remembering Jack Bowkus: “He left such a positive 1173496 Bruce Cassidy, ex-Bruins teammates stunned by news of attitude, a positive way to lead their lives” Colby Cave's coma 1173497 Torey Krug has funny details about what he misses from Bruins' locker room 1173525 For NHL, drafting as usual won't fly amid coronavirus 1173498 As Oilers’ Colby Cave fights for his life, former Bruins pandemic mates rally around 1173526 How a young hockey fan merged her fight against bullying with a love of hockey 1173499 Sabres' possible top pick more clear after central scouting MontrealCanadiens releases rankings 1173527 Jake Evans’ progression is a model for other Canadiens 1173500 For Amerks, season is on pause and with it chance at prospects to follow playoff redemption 1173528 One-hit wonders: Kjell Dahlin made history in 1173501 Playing catch-up with Steve Heinze, who relished his short and quickly vanished time with the Sabres Flames 1173529 CEOs, former neighbors Sean Henry of Predators, Ian 1173502 His NHL career was cut short by a brutal injury, but Dave Ayre of Nashville SC navigate pause Hindmarch isn’t haunted by what-ifs Blackhawks 1173530 If Devils win NHL draft lottery again, Alexis Lafreniere 1173503 How Blackhawks players would alter the NHL schedule could be their pick 1173504 NHL Draft 2020: Blackhawks could pick one of these 1173531 Will fans be scared to attend games when sports return ranked prospects after coronavirus pandemic? New study shows alarming re 1173532 NHL Central Scouting releases 2020 draft rankings: Here are top targets for NJ Devils 1173505 , Avalanche assistant GM, still hard at work during hockey’s “pause” 1173506 Colorado Eagles owner distraught over lost AHL revenue, 1173533 Lack of skating during NHL pause is a big concern if optimistic about future with NHL/Avalanche season resumes 1173507 Michael Arace | Sergei Bobrovsky finally delivered in 1173534 Marc Staal is a Rangers relic who proved he still belongs playoffs during Blue Jackets' upset of Lightning 1173535 NY Rangers questions: Who are the next wave of 1173508 Sweep memories | Blue Jackets throttled mighty Lightning forwards that will impact the NHL roster? a year ago 1173536 Lack of skating during NHL pause is a big concern if 1173509 Sergei Bobrovsky and Artemi Panarin team up again to season resumes help their new communities Senators Red Wings 1173537 COULD HOCKEY IN ISOLATION WORK? 'It sounds 1173510 Al Kaline and : Golfing pals and batting pretty tricky,' infectious disease expert says practice buddies 1173538 staying on course in growing with the 1173511 Wojo: The Detroit sports moments that endear and endure kids forever 1173539 Coach D.J. Smith says the Senators who had COVID-19 1173512 ‘Compete level’ separates possible Red Wings' No. 1 pick are fully recovered Alexis Lafreniere 1173540 Coach D.J. Smith remains hopeful the Ottawa Senators 1173513 Alexis Lafreniere, Tim Stuetzle top final NHL Central will be able to finish their season Scouting lists 1173541 Analyzing the unlikely hope of summer NHL hockey 1173514 The Gifted: Red Wings prospect Jonatan Berggren and 1173542 D.J. Smith on his rookie year as a head coach — and the the perimeter player myth trip when hockey stopped 1173543 ‘We just really wanted to have our own voice back’: Why Oilers TSN revived SportsCentre 1173515 Paul Coffey loves Evan Bouchard's offensive ability but still needs work on overall game Flyers 1173516 Q&A: on the Oilers’ new stars, the records 1173544 An opponent's perspective on Flyers' resurgent prospect and more Jay O'Brien 1173517 As Oilers’ Colby Cave fights for his life, former Bruins 1173545 Former Flyer Rick Tocchet knows NHL is in difficult spot mates rally around with coronavirus outbreak 1173518 For one glorious fall, Alexander Selivanov was the NHL’s 1173546 Predictions revisited: What we got right and wrong about most dangerous scorer the 2019-20 Flyers Penguins Capitals Continued 1173547 Ranking the Penguins’ most memorable playoff openers 1173576 NHL Commissioner recognizes finishing 1173548 Playoff intensity could be lost if season resumes for regular season 'may not be possible' Penguins, NHL 1173577 Alex Ovechkin is the best of the Beltway after beating 1173549 North Huntingdon’s Austen Swankler on NHL Central Johnny Unitas in final Scouting draft list 1173550 Penguins Foundation distributes 500 backpacks of Websites supplies for schooling at home 1173582 The Athletic / How a young hockey fan merged her fight 1173551 Vote on Marc-Andre Fleury’s best playoff saves. And against bullying with a love of hockey relive the 2009 Final 1173583 The Athletic / Pronman’s scouting report: Why Quinton 1173552 Penguins on pause: Finally healthy, Zach Aston-Reese Byfield is a top NHL prospect establishes his role 1173584 The Athletic / Pronman’s scouting report: Why Alexis 1173553 Penguins on pause: Conor Sheary's second stint in Lafreniere is a top NHL prospect Pittsburgh could already be over 1173585 The Athletic / Down Goes Brown: Remembering some of 1173554 West Mifflin's Logan Cooley goes from 'Little Penguins' to the NHL’s greatest one-hit wonders U.S. National team 1173586 The Athletic / By the numbers: Revisiting the last decade 1173555 A Muskegon line, Mario’s wingers and a Moose: The of NHL playoff series Penguins’ one-hit wonders 1173587 .ca / Sportsnet’s 2020 NHL Draft Prospect Rankings: April 1173588 Sportsnet.ca / Highlighting an unheralded player from 1173556 Coronavirus: Top official says sports unlikely before Canada’s Eastern Conference teams Thanksgiving in Santa Clara County 1173589 Sportsnet.ca / Canucks' Pearson soaking up family time 1173557 NHL Central Scouting: Plenty of ‘hidden gems’ for Sharks, after reigniting career others teams to find in draft 1173590 Sportsnet.ca / Senators coach D.J. Smith: It's time for 1173558 My favorite player: team to take 'next step' 1173591 Sportsnet.ca / Flames' Treliving puts discussion of hockey, St Louis Blues stalled season in perspective 1173559 Move over Gloria, Blues have a new victory song 1173592 Sportsnet.ca / Panthers' Bobrovsky against jumping to 1173560 Blues will hold a virtual 'reunion' tonight, and you're invited playoffs: 'I don't think it's fair' (to watch) 1173593 TSN.CA / Dylan Samberg signing key move for Jets, great news for fans 1173594 TSN.CA / D.J. Smith recalls ‘different feel’ of coaching 1173561 Lightning’s Blake Coleman enjoying time with his newborn final game before NHL’s pause daughter 1173595 TSN.CA / Seravalli: How a 68-game rollback might be 1173562 Lightning’s Kevin Shattenkirk thanks those working on NHL's most fair standings format coronavirus front lines 1173596 TSN.CA / Linesman Scott Driscoll hopes his NHL career 1173563 One-hit wonder or one of a kind? The wild career of isn’t over just yet Lightning’s Chris Kontos Winnipeg Jets Maple Leafs 1173578 A life recouped: Ice player's comeback will continue in 1173564 NHLers reflect on league pause: ‘All of a sudden someone Winnipeg turns the car off’ 1173565 Maple Leaf halts work at poultry plant after three World Leagues News COVID-19 cases 1173597 Coronavirus in sport: Premier League launch charity fund 1173566 The bizarre saga of Robert Svehla’s brief, yet impactful, 1173598 NBA, ESPN could hold H.O.R.S.E. tournament in absence Maple Leafs tenure of live sports due to coronavirus 1173599 The Plans to Bring Sports Back Are Truly Dystopian Canucks 1173600 Iconic sports cities turn eerie during coronavirus shutdown 1173579 Canucks Pearson has family ties to fighting COVID-19, 1173601 Coronavirus: Concern has grown among NFL coaches Bauer innovation and staff about logistics of 2020 NFL Draft, per report 1173580 NHLers reflect on league pause: ‘All of a sudden someone 1173602 Is bringing back sports during coronavirus realistic or turns the car off’ safe? We asked the experts 1173581 My favourite player: Bibby 1173603 Coronavirus Has 2020 College Football Season, NCAA's Future Up In Air Vegas Golden Knights 1173604 Licensed sports industry hit hard by coronavirus pandemic 1173567 Golden Knights’ pledge to T-Mobile workers stays 1173605 Will fans be scared to attend games when sports return on track after coronavirus pandemic? New study shows alarming re 1173568 Embarrassing or hilarious? Vegas’ Nick Cousins is one of 1173606 Temporary changes in college sports may be needed due the worst trash-talkers to coronavirus, athletic directors survey indicates 1173607 With Games Paused, Sports Companies Shift to Making Medical Supplies 1173569 Capitals’ John Carlson is focusing on the present as the SPORT-SCAN, INC. 941-284-4129 NHL season remains paused 1173570 Carlson: North Dakota-based NHL return a 'longshot,' but any option a good one 1173571 Holtby shuts out Islanders to start NHL 20 simulated playoffs with a Capitals victory 1173572 With NHL season paused, a ranking of Capitals' best wins of 2019-20: No. 3 1173573 John Carlson is enjoying family time but gets glimpse of what his wife 'had to deal with' at home 1173574 Capitals' Nic Dowd and wife Paige host logo design contest for Autism Awareness Month 1173575 Best comebacks of 2019-20 bracket: A Long Island miracle vs. beating the Bolts 1173492 Anaheim Ducks

Alexis Lafreniere tops NHL’s draft-eligible prospects list

By ELLIOTT TEAFORD | Orange County Register PUBLISHED: April 8, 2020 at 1:42 p.m. | UPDATED: April 8, 2020 at 2:05 p.m.

When the NHL suspended the season March 12 because of the coronavirus outbreak, the Kings had the fourth-worst record and the Ducks had the fifth-worst mark in the 31-team league, giving them good odds to move up in the draft lottery and perhaps even secure the No. 1 pick.

The league postponed the lottery and the draft, but Wednesday it revealed its final draft rankings for eligible players. As expected, Alexis Lafreniere retained the top spot in the rankings of North American skaters after leading the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League with 112 points in 52 games.

Lafreniere, a 6-foot-1, 200-pound left wing, was the QMJHL’s rookie of the year in 2017-18, when he scored 42 goals for the Rimouski Oceanic, the most by a rookie in the league since a fellow by the name of had 54 in 2003-04. Crosby was the No. 1 overall pick in 2005.

The Kings, Ducks and every other team in the league covet Lafreniere’s skating and playmaking skills. His willingness to play a physical game is an added bonus, according to scouts who have watched his every move at junior-level hockey in recent seasons.

“Lafreniere has exceptional skills and attributes, which make him a scoring threat every time he steps onto the ice,” said Dan Marr, director of the NHL’s central scouting. “What sets him above in this draft class is the natural compete and battle traits that are ingrained in his game.”

Quinton Byfield, a center with the of the , and Jamie Drysdale, a defenseman with the Erie (Pennsylvania) Otters of the OHL, were second and third in the rankings of hundreds of North American skaters.

Jake Sanderson, a defenseman who played for the USA Hockey National Team Development Program’s Under-18 squad, and Cole Perfetti, a center with the Saginaw (Michigan) Spirit of the OHL, rounded out the top five in the rankings. Sanderson is the son of former NHL player Geoff Sanderson.

Tim Stuetzle, a left wing who plays in Germany, was the top-ranked international skater.

The Kings and Ducks are in the process of giving their rosters makeovers after sinking to the bottom of the standings following many seasons of unprecedented success. The Kings won Stanley Cup championships in 2012 and ’14 and the Ducks reached the conference finals in ’15 and ’17.

The had the worst record in the league when play was halted last month, followed by the Ottawa Senators and the San Jose Sharks. The Kings picked fifth overall in the draft last June in Vancouver, and the Ducks went ninth.

It remains to be determined whether the 2019-20 regular season will be completed, and how the draft lottery and the draft will be conducted. The lottery was to be held this month and the draft was set for June 26-27 in Montreal. The Kings had 12 regular-season games remaining and the Ducks had 11.

“It’s a pretty weird situation we’re in right now,” Lafreniere said on a video conference call Wednesday. “I’m working out a little bit at home. It’s not the same, but I’m trying to stay fit. I’m spending as much time as I can with my family.”

Orange County Register: LOADED: 04.09.2020 1173493 “With the team we had for the series against Chicago, we felt we could compete against them if we could shut down a few keys players. Not that the rest weren’t any good, but we felt like the high-end guys were the key Reliving the 2012 playoff run, Chapter 1: Sizing up the Blackhawks to it. Kane and Toews obviously, but Hossa was still there and Keith and Seabrook were still playing as well as they have ever played. Sharp was still there. They were still very good. I just didn’t feel like their depth was quite as good as Detroit’s was the year before, so we felt like if we could By Craig Morgan bend but not break against those five or six guys. We were confident in our game, but I think we were even more confident in our goaltending than anything else, and that’s what made us think we could do some Do you remember what playoff hockey feels like, Coyotes fans? We damage.” know it has been a while, so we’re going to provide you with an entertaining refresher course every Thursday and Monday for the next Smith had stopped 94 of 98 shots in three wins against the Blackhawks seven weeks. that season, but he was just getting warmed up for one of the most remarkable playoff performances Valley fans have witnessed. Eight years ago, in the wee hours of April 8, the Coyotes charter arrived at Sky Harbor International Airport with a special prize in tow: the “We knew it would be a tough series but we were pretty sure they were franchise’s first and only Pacific Division title. The hour of day didn’t underestimating us a little bit,” Aucoin said. “I don’t think that’s the reason matter. Fans were so excited to congratulate the team that they didn’t we beat them, but one of the wild cards was goaltending and I think if you bother to wait until daybreak. Instead, they stood outside the fenced-in ask anybody, that was the biggest difference between us.” tarmac and waited for the players, coaches and executives to exit in their We’ll get to that and so more as this story series unfolds. The 2012 run cars. was packed with drama and storylines in every round. In the meantime, You can spot Keith Yandle in this video. You can see Michael Stone, here’s another tease before Monday’s story to get you primed. Maybe Mikkel Boedker, Don Maloney, Antoine Vermette and of course, Shane this fortunate break was a sign of what was to come. Doan, who earned his own chant. The Athletic LOADED: 04.09.2020 It was a watershed moment in Coyotes history, but it was just the start of the best playoff run the franchise has produced in its 24-year Valley existence.

“Everything that’s done now is in the past,” goalie Mike Smith said at the time. “We have to move forward. It’s been a fun year so far but as far as I’m concerned, nothing’s really accomplished yet.”

That wasn’t exactly true. The Coyotes stared down myriad obstacles that season, and many of them were encountered off the ice.

“We had so many different stories being written about us because of the lack of an owner, because of the league taking us over, because of all the relocation rumors,” defenseman Adrian Aucoin said. “I thought we did a really good job of blocking all of that out, and that started with . If your leader doesn’t get rattled, then it trickles on down.”

The relocation rumor du jour had the team heading to Quebec, which had replaced Winnipeg once the Coyotes’ former hometown had landed the Atlanta Thrashers. Of course, two league sources told me that Quebec was never, repeat never, on the table (other markets were at least considered), but well, you know rumors work. With an untenable arena situation and an as-yet-unrealized ownership group, those rumors were certainly swirling around the Coyotes.

“I really give the players a ton of credit,” Tippett said at the time. “They worked hard, sometimes not under the most ideal circumstances.

“We’ve gone through some trials and tribulations. There were some times when it could have turned the other way and our guys grabbed it. We kept pushing along and we ended on a real good streak.”

While the Coyotes finished atop the Pacific Division to earn the Western Conference’s No. 3 seed, their 97 points were only the sixth-best total in the conference. That meant a date with the , who finished fourth in the rugged Central Division with 101 points. The Blackhawks weren’t the same team that had won the franchise’s first Stanley Cup in 49 years. Some cap mismanagement and the price of success had robbed them of 44 percent of that 2009-10 roster, but this group was an improvement over the 2010-11 team, and it still had a ton of top-end talent with forwards Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Marian Hossa (77 points), Patrick Sharp, defensemen Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, Nick Leddy and unproven Corey Crawford.

That didn’t faze the Coyotes. They had taken something away from first- round losses to the Detroit Red Wings the previous two seasons, and they had built some swagger over the final nine weeks of the 2011-12 season.

“For the most part, we were pretty confident going into that series because we had to go on that big run just to get into the playoffs,” said forward Ray Whitney, whose team went 11-0-1 in February to climb from 12th place in the Western Conference to first in the Pacific. “We ended that season on a five-game winning streak and then won the division in Minnesota. So we felt like, ‘Shit, we’re pretty good.’ 1173494 Arizona Coyotes granted that wish, sending Mueller and forward Kevin Porter to the Colorado Avalanche for forward Wojtek Wolski.

The trade paid immediate dividends for both sides. Wolski had six goals Peter Mueller’s star never shined so brightly as in his rookie season and 18 points in 18 games for the Coyotes, who finished with a franchise record 107 points. Mueller had nine goals and 20 points in 15 games for Colorado, but on April 4, 2010, a hit from San Jose defenseman Rob By Craig Morgan Apr 8, 2020 Blake resulted in a concussion for Mueller, ending his season. Mueller returned for training camp the next fall, but he took a stick to the head in

the first preseason game and suffered another concussion. He played Peter Mueller probably won’t stop wondering until the day he retires. three games at the start of the 2011-12 season, but didn’t play again until Jan. 12, 2012. “I still ask myself, ‘Why am I not in the NHL?’” the current Kometa Brno and former Coyotes forward said. “I wish I had a chance and I wish I “It took a lot of time and patience and it was a process, that’s for sure,” could still play there because I still feel like I can.” Mueller said. “There are exercises you can do, like short or long distance eye exercises or light training, but the worst part, and we all know this, is Time is running out for the Czech Extraliga star, who will turn 32 on April there’s no real guidelines. There’s a list of 50 symptoms that everyone 27, but if you think this is a sad story about unfulfilled dreams, Mueller hears, but they might as well be one symptom because no one knows has a different script to reveal. Real life is rarely clear-cut tragedy or the difference between Player A and Player B. triumph. It’s a gray and nuanced blend of luck, timing, mistakes, lessons learned and knowledge applied. Mueller may have missed his chance at “You’d have good days and try to string a couple together and then you’d a long-term NHL career — despite a terrific first season in which he have a week or two of not feeling good and you really didn’t know why. posted a Coyotes rookie-record 22 goals and 54 points, tying him for There were months where I couldn’t do anything and didn’t because of third among NHL rookies with Jonathan Toews — but that doesn’t mean the severity of it. It was really hard to get through it. Thank goodness I his life is full of regret. had my wife (Taylar) here to support me the whole way.”

“I wish I had known then what I know now,” said Mueller, who signed a Mueller’s challenges weren’t over when he finally returned to the ice. He three-year extension with Kometa last season. “For North Americans, had seven goals and 16 points in 32 games, Colorado missed the we’re so driven to make it in the NHL — which is obviously everyone’s playoffs and the Avs let Mueller depart in free agency to Florida, where — that if it doesn’t work out, it’s almost like we’re stuck in our ways he signed a one-year contract for $1.725 million and played one, lockout- and end up playing in the American (Hockey) League or the East Coast shortened season before he was out of the NHL. League (ECHL). A lot of players don’t even consider looking anywhere “When I came back after a full year and a half of not playing any hockey, else.” it was a battle,” he said. “You can condition all you want but to jump into Europe certainly wasn’t on Mueller’s mind when the No. 8 overall pick in games when the team is that late in the season is so hard. Everyone was the 2006 NHL Draft made his Coyotes debut in 2007 — the same season on a different level of playing games. That’s tough for any athlete to do that center Martin Hanzal debuted in Arizona — after a second season right off the bat, but I set the bar pretty high when I arrived in Colorado so with the ’s Everett Silvertips. obviously when I came back it wasn’t as good as when I arrived.

With Wayne Gretzky as coach, Mueller was afforded a lot of freedom to “I have no hard feelings toward Colorado. They stayed with me every be creative at the offensive end. He was also granted a big role, logging step of the way and they were great. I owe a lot to them. The medical an average ice time of 17:16 per game, which was the fourth-highest staff, the hospitals and the doctors were truly outstanding with my total among Coyotes forwards behind Shane Doan, Kyle Turris and recovery. It was just a tough situation.” Radim Vrbata. Mueller played a season with Kloten in the Swiss league. He signed a “He and Marty Hanzal were two guys who were supposed to turn the two-way deal with the St. Louis Blues but balked at the idea of going to franchise around and there was a lot pressure on them — maybe too the AHL, so he returned to Kloten for one more season and then played much because they were just 19-year-old kids and maybe they got a year with the Malmo Redhawks in Sweden. rushed into a bigger role too soon,” said veteran defenseman Zbyněk “My final NHL attempt was a PTO (professional tryout) with Boston,” he Michálek, who was entering his third season with the Coyotes. “He was a said. “I think I played one or two preseason games but because I had high draft pick and he was a really talented player coming in. He was gotten so used to how they sharpened my skates in Europe, I didn’t know poised with the puck with good size and he could skate well, too.” how to transition over to what was needed in the States, so I was Mueller finished third on the team in points that season and he finished basically playing with no edge for all of camp. fifth in Calder Trophy voting for NHL rookie of the year. That was as good “When I went over to Switzerland, my equipment manager didn’t speak as it ever got. English, just Swiss Deutsche. I got to the point where I liked my skates The next season, the Coyotes’ financial troubles came to a head when but I didn’t know how he sharpened them. What they do in Europe, it’s owner Jerry Moyes told commissioner Gary Bettman and other league almost old-school. Before I went there the edges would be a 3-4. When I officials that he planned to stop funding the club. The league agreed to came back with Boston, I didn’t have skates sharpened for like two provide emergency funding if Moyes ceded voting control. One year later, weeks and when they did, I said sharpen them as a 1 and that’s basically Gretzky resigned as coach, Dave Tippett took over behind the bench and what goalies use. My whole PTO with Boston, my blades were a 1. You’d Mueller was starting from scratch. try to stop in the corner and it just wasn’t working. It was a very unsettling and frustrating thing to have happen when you almost feel like you have “I was so excited to get going that first year with Wayne Gretzky,” Mueller one last .” said. “I just wanted to prove to myself and the organization that I could do it and personally it was a great year for me. It was one of, if not the best Mueller played the 2017-18 season in the Austrian league with Salzburg, year I had in my career. scoring 14 goals and totaling 42 points in 38 games for a team that advanced to Game 7 of the championship series. He would have stayed “Wayne was my first coach so he influenced a lot of what I did. had they offered more than a one-year contract. Instead, he headed to Everything he said and did behind the bench helped me thrive. Then Tip Brno where has played the past two seasons and will spend the next two came in and it was almost like a completely different tone. I felt like he once hockey resumes in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak. wanted me in more of a defensive role than I was used to under Wayne and the tension just built day after day. I could feel it. It just wasn’t Michálek signed with Kometa last season for the final 13 games of the working and it was tough to almost dig myself out of it. I was getting less regular season and the postseason. When he walked into the locker and less minutes each game. It hurts to talk about it because I really wish room, he saw a different Mueller. it had turned out differently.” “He was more mature, he was talking about his life and putting Mueller slumped to four goals and 17 points in 54 games of his third everything more in perspective,” Michálek said. “That injury kind of season with the Coyotes. As the 2008 trade deadline approached, he changed him and you could see it left a mark on him. Knowing everything and his agent, Paul Cappizano, didn’t see a future for Mueller in Arizona that he went through with his health issues and concussions and injuries, so they requested a trade from Coyotes GM Don Maloney. Maloney it was great to see him playing at a high level and living a good, healthy life.” Along that path, Mueller picked up a fair amount of the German language and he has gained an appreciation for Europe’s cities and cultures.

“One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned has just been to slow down,” said Mueller, who has a boy (Charlie, 6) and a newborn baby girl (Rosie). “We have lived in some really cool cities like Zurich and Salzburg where you can go out and have a coffee and stay at a coffee shop for an hour to two hours and it has a family atmosphere. You really start to value your time together.

“The Christmas markets are another unbelievable thing over in Europe. Where we have lived, you can go out of your front door and go grab a coffee or go out to eat or go shopping and it’s all a five-minute walk. There’s arts and crafts, street food, small things that you don’t think about too much. I know in the States there are certain areas in cities that have similar things, but in Salzburg or Zurich or Munich with such history, they take it to another level.”

Mueller flew back to this month before the Czech Republic closed its borders. He’ll spend the next couple of months there before returning to Arizona where the family still spends all of its summers in a house that is rented the rest of the year (Max Domi was one of those renters).

“I still believe in the Coyotes and I still follow them,” he said. “I don’t know a lot of guys, if any guys that are still playing on the Coyotes, but I still view them as my team and we still call Arizona our home. Always has been, always will be.”

Mueller admits that there are times when his mind strays to what might have been in Arizona, but age has provided him with the wisdom and perspective to move past those thoughts.

“It’s almost like a dark hole if you go down that path and start thinking of what things could have been instead of living in the present,” he said. “The first couple years of my professional career didn’t go where they should have gone or where I hoped they’d go, but with everything that has happened and all of my opportunities, I have to look on the other side of the coin. I have a great family, we have seen the world and we’ve done some cool things. I’m pretty happy with how it has panned out for the last few years.”

Shooting stars

Peter Mueller isn’t the only former Coyotes player who couldn’t match his early performance with the team. Here’s a look at five more players who had promising starts that they couldn’t sustain, and couldn’t reproduce with another NHL team.

Forward Landon Wilson: Signed as a free agent in 2000, Wilson scored 18 goals in his first season with the Coyotes and his first full NHL season. The following season, he took a puck to the eye that forever altered his vision. He never scored more than seven goals in an NHL season after that, and spent four seasons in Europe.

Forward Krys Kolanos: The 19th overall pick in the 2000 NHL Draft got off to a promising start the following year, his first in the NHL. He had 11 goals and 22 points in 57 games, and produced one of the more memorable moments in franchise history, beating goalie Patrick Roy on a shot that caused Roy to lose his marbles. A cheap hit from the Sabres’ Vaclav Varada sent Kolanos headfirst into the boards resulting in a severe concussion. He managed just nine goals and 20 points in his final 92 NHL games.

Forward Marc Arcobello: Arcobello was a flash in the pan in the dismal 2014-15 season. Signed off waivers in February, he had nine goals and 16 points in 27 games. He lasted just 20 games with Toronto (three goals, four points) the following season before heading to Switzerland, where he has averaged more than a point per game for .

Goalie Louis Domingue: When Mike Smith went down with an injury in December 2016, Domingue stepped into the fold and went 7-2-2 in his next 11 starts. He finished the season with a career-high 39 games played, a 2.75 goals-against average and a .912 save percentage. He couldn’t replicate that the following season, the Coyotes eventually waived him and he has played for three NHL teams since.

Forward Brendan Perlini: The 12th overall pick in the 2014 draft had a promising 17 goals and 30 points in 70 games in 2017-18. Less than a year later, he was shipped to Chicago along with Dylan Strome for Nick Schmaltz. Perlini is now with Detroit. He has 25 points combined over his past two NHL seasons.

The Athletic LOADED: 04.09.2020 1173495 rafters — something he’s given no indication he’s ready to do — he’s already cemented his spot among the greats.

Boston Herald LOADED: 04.09.2020 Top 10 Bruins not named Orr: No. 8 — Zdeno Chara headed for Hall of Fame

By STEVE CONROY | April 8, 2020 at 6:00 a.m.

When compiling “all-time best” lists, there might be a tendency to minimize the accomplishments of players still in uniform.

But the current era of Bruins’ hockey has lasted long enough and seen enough excellence that it’s impossible to ignore its foundational blocks. And there is no sturdier pillar than Zdeno Chara.

You cannot overstate what Chara has meant to this club regaining its footing and standing as one of the elite franchises in the game. It started with him simply choosing them.

In the summer of 2006, the club was still reeling from the choices ownership had made leading up to the lockout of 2004-05, allowing free agents like Brian Rolston and Mike Knuble to simply walk away from a very good team that had been upset by the Canadiens in the first round of the 2004 playoffs. When the new collective bargaining agreement was signed and the league was back in business with a new salary cap, other free agents were available, but they would not sign with the B’s.

To make matters worse, the stunning Joe Thornton trade in November 2005 did not reshape and reboot the team liked it was hoped.

It did, however, create some cap space and, in the summer of 2006, the Bruins — with interim GM Jeff Gorton running the show while incoming GM Peter Chiarelli was prohibited from taking over until after the free agency period — signed Chara, the former Senator, to a five-year, $37 million deal. Once Chara was signed, the next domino to fall was crafty centerman Marc Savard, who also signed a long-term deal.

The B’s had some very important pieces remaining from the Mike O’Connell/Gorton stewardship — Patrice Bergeron, prospect David Krejci and ’06 draftees Phil Kessel, Milan Lucic and Brad Marchand — but Chara represented the much-needed presence on the blue line that the club had been lacking since the departure of at the 2000 trade deadline. Chara was immediately named captain, a role he longed to fulfill.

The Chara deal was arguably the best free agent signing in the history of the .

In his first season, Boston was in an organizational misstep under the one-year tutelage of coach Dave Lewis, but the B’s returned to playoffs the following season and reignited the passion among the dormant fandom with an epic seven-game series against Montreal. The B’s lost that series, but the methodical march to the Stanley Cup in 2011 — the franchise’s first in 39 years — had begun.

In his time with the B’s, Chara won one Norris Trophy and was a finalist on four other occasions. He’s scored double-digit goals in sevens seasons and had three 50-point seasons. But while point production was always part of the package Chara has brought to the table, it’s not the most important piece.

At 6-foot-9, 265 pounds, Chara represents one of the most daunting, intimidating defenders the league has ever seen. In Chara’s 14 seasons in Boston, the B’s have finished in the top 10 in goals against 11 times, finished in the top three in the NHL seven times and led the league twice, including this season that is in peril because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Chara, fanatical about his conditioning, has helped set a certain tone of professionalism in the organization and it has allowed him to remain a key contributor into his 40s. His days as a power-play point man are long gone, but he remains an excellent penalty killer, sometimes spending the entire two minutes out on the ice. And when the seconds are running off the game clock and the B’s are protecting a lead, chances are Chara is on the ice.

As with other current players on this list of legends, Chara still has a chance to climb a notch or two with more team success. But if he decided to retire right now and let them hoist his No. 33 to the Garden 1173496 Boston Bruins

Bruce Cassidy, ex-Bruins teammates stunned by news of Colby Cave's coma

By Patrick Dunne April 08, 2020 5:47 PM

Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy first got to know Colby Cave when he was the coach and Cave arrived in the AHL as a 20-year- old from in 2015.

So, the news that Cave, now with the , is in a medically induced coma and in critical condition at a Toronto hospital after he had a brain bleed Tuesday and subsequent surgery was particularly jarring to Cassidy and Cave's former B's teammates.

Cassidy told Joe McDonald of The Athletic that he and Cave's former teammates and coaches are working on get-well video messages for Cave, who had surgery to remove a colloid cyst that was causing pressure on his brain.

Cassidy said his wife, Julie, had spoken to Cave's wife, Emily.

“It’s very difficult for her because she can’t get in the room and give him a hug, or anything,” Cassidy said.

Haggerty: Top 5 things Bruins fans will miss if the regular season is over

Cave's wife had a heart-wrenching Instagram post on Wednesday:

View this post on Instagram

Please wake up. Please wake up. It’s all I can keep asking, “he’s going to wake up right?” We need a miracle. Colby’s parents and myself, got to see him through a window and talk to him with a walkie talkie last night. We are no longer allowed to be in the hospital because Covid-19 rules. We have no idea when we will be allowed to see him again. The nurse has tied his wedding band to his ankle. I am dreaming of being able to touch you, hear your voice, squeeze your hand (3 times), and kiss you again. I love you so much, and my heart is shattered into a million pieces without my best friend ✨ Out of difficulties grows miracles- 1 Peter 5:10

A post shared by Emily Cave (@em.cave) on Apr 8, 2020 at 3:48pm PDT

Cassidy said that despite the coma, he's hopeful that Cave can perhaps hear the messages. “Anything we can do. Every little bit helps and if we can chip in with some encouraging words then that’s what we’re going to do.”

Jay Leach, Cave's coach in Providence after Cassidy replaced Claude Julien in Boston, told the Athletic, “There’s no one better than Colby Cave with regards to being a person and the way he treats other people."

Cave played 23 games for Boston from 2017-19 and was put on the Bruins top line with David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand to fill in for Patrice Bergeron when Bergeron was injured in the 2018-19 season. When Cave was sent back to Providence, he didn't clear waivers and was claimed by the Oilers in January 2019.

Another former Bruin, Noel Acciari of the Florida Panthers, who played with Cave in Boston and Providence, echoed Cassidy and Leach's sentiments.

"He’s who you want on your team," Acciari said. "It’s a terrible thing what has happened to him, but he’s a fighter and my thoughts and prayers are with him and his loved ones.”

Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 04.09.2020 1173497 Boston Bruins

Torey Krug has funny details about what he misses from Bruins' locker room

By Joe Haggerty April 08, 2020 2:39 PM

Torey Krug is comfortably living in his home state of Michigan with his in- laws, his wife, his daughter and his dog right now amidst the coronavirus outbreak and doing his best to stay in shape while running outdoors and working out indoors.

There was no denying, though, that the Bruins defenseman is still adjusting to the abrupt pause button applied to the NHL regular season with about a month left to play ahead of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Get the latest news and analysis on all of your teams from NBC Sports Boston by downloading the My Teams App

“As hockey players along with most people, you’re going to feel a little lost in this situation,” admitted Krug. “But first and foremost, we need to park that and put it aside and realize that there is something bigger [going on] here. If we do have the opportunity to get back playing, then let’s be safe and let’s be smart. Whether it’s the health and safety of the players of jumping right back into hockey from a competitive standpoint or continuing to practice the social distancing cues that we’ve been given, nobody wants to jump back into a situation where we put a bunch of people in one area and it takes off again.

“I hope everyone is staying safe. In some way, shape or form I think we are all connected by the coronavirus. Whether it’s somebody you know or a family member, we’re all in this together. It’s a tough situation, but there is always a light at the end of the tunnel. As long as we keep doing what we’re doing, hopefully we’ll see each other sooner rather than later.”

Haggerty: Krug hopes he hasn't played final game for B's

Krug has fully recovered from the upper body injury he suffered right before the season stopped and has settled into a routine every day to keep a sense of normalcy, so those are good things amidst a troubling time. But he also voiced just how much he’s missing all his Bruins teammates while confined to the current limbo everybody is living through until the coronavirus pandemic has subsided.

The picture he painted inside the B’s dressing room was a humorous one, but it also underscored just how much everybody across the country is missing out on their normal day-to-day activities while rightly practicing self-quarantining and social distancing. Krug was quick to say he doesn’t miss getting chirped daily by Brad Marchand, but he does miss many, many other things around the Bruins dressing room after the B’s players scattered.

“It’s just the normal silly stuff that we go back and forth. I’m sure I’ll get chirped for how I look on this video. Anytime something funny comes up we put it in the chat just to keep that bond going,” said Krug, of the group texting that he and his teammates are engaged in right now while spread out from each other. “We do miss the guys and that’s part of the back and forth every day. I just miss the simple conversations.

[I miss] seeing what Pasta is wearing when we walks through the [dressing room] door. [I miss] wondering what kind of mood Chris Wagner is going to be in. Or seeing Chucky [McAvoy] and his big smile walking through the door every day. Trying to make sense of what comes out of Jake DeBrusk’s mouth. There are just so many things that you miss on a daily basis [with the season on pause].

Hopefully for Krug and the rest of the Bruins, the world will soon be in a place where those day-to-day conversations can once again take place in person rather than over video conference technology as it’s been for the last month.

Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 04.09.2020 1173498 Boston Bruins end because those guys like to get going. He’s a mature kid and he was going to give you everything he’s got, and the other guys respected that. They were going to try to make him a better player because Colby has As Oilers’ Colby Cave fights for his life, former Bruins mates rally around really good character.”

The Bruins knew once they sent Cave back to Providence there was a strong possibility he wouldn’t clear waivers. He didn’t, and Edmonton By Joe McDonald Apr 8, 2020 claimed him on Jan. 15, 2019. If Cave remained with the Bruins, he likely would’ve earned a full-time spot on the roster this season and the team

probably wouldn’t have signed Par Lindholm. While Edmonton Oilers center Colby Cave fights for his life in a Toronto Former Bruins forward Noel Acciari played with Cave when the two were hospital, his former Bruins coaches, teammates and friends are in the in Providence from 2015 to 2017. They play a similar style and the news process of putting together video messages in an attempt to lift his spirits of Cave’s situation was hard to take for Acciari, who already lost two while he remains in a medically induced coma. close friends and former Providence College teammates in tragic Cave, 25, suffered a brain bleed Tuesday morning and underwent circumstances. surgery to remove a colloid cyst that was causing pressure on his brain. “Colby is a great guy with a great attitude and a very hard worker on and He spent parts of five seasons in the Bruins organization and still off the ice,” Acciari said. “He did all the little things and just a very good remains close friends with Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy, who first two-way forward. He isn’t afraid to step up and take on a leadership role coached Cave in Providence of the AHL. or step up and defend a teammate. He’s who you want on your team. It’s On Wednesday morning, Cave’s wife, Emily, spoke with Cassidy’s wife, a terrible thing what has happened to him, but he’s a fighter and my Julie, and updated them on the situation. Due to extra hospital thoughts and prayers are with him and his loved ones.” precautions because of the COVID-19 pandemic, family members are The Athletic LOADED: 04.09.2020 not allowed in the room, which has been disheartening, frustrating and frightening given the situation.

“It’s very difficult for her because she can’t get in the room and give him a hug, or anything,” the Bruce Cassidy said.

Cassidy believes patients in a coma still have the ability to hear things, so he suggested playing audio or video messages over an intercom system in order for Cave to hear the messages.

“Hopefully that helps,” Cassidy said. “Anything we can do. Every little bit helps and if we can chip in with some encouraging words then that’s what we’re going to do.”

Cave was with the Bruins during the Winter Classic at Notre Dame last season, so one day in South Bend, the Cassidys enjoyed lunch with Colby and Emily, and the couples got to know each other better. In fact, the Cassidys received an invitation to Colby and Emily’s wedding last summer, but Bruce had knee replacement surgery, so unfortunately he could not attend.

“He’s one of those players you stay connected with,” Cassidy said. “I think he enjoyed playing for me and Kevin (Dean) and I think he enjoyed his time in Providence and Boston. His wife got to know all the girls and he was very tight with the players here. They formed a good bond. Colby’s a likeable guy; he’s hard not to like.”

Cave’s situation hit home for Cassidy, who was only 20 when his father passed away from a brain aneurysm at age 52. He’s not the only one affected. When Jay Leach learned the news of Cave’s condition, the Providence coach said he’s fearful and wishing his former player all the best in a difficult situation.

“There’s no one better than Colby Cave with regards to being a person and the way he treats other people,” Leach said. “He was a terrific part of our organization for those three years, so I was certainly saddened to hear the news, but I’m hoping things are going to work out for him.”

On the ice, Cave’s talent was a bit raw when he made the jump from junior hockey to the pros. Still, his work ethic was off the charts and he quickly gained the respect and admiration of his coaches and teammates.

“He was a really smart player for us,” Leach said. “He really dove into the off-ice conditioning and diet and really wanted to be a pro hockey player. As a coach, you can’t help but love players like Colby. He got to a point where he’s an effective NHL player. He’s a very responsible, two-way centerman and you can put him in all situations. Off the ice, he treated his teammates like gold and there wasn’t a guy in that locker room who didn’t relate and love Colby as a teammate here in Providence.”

Cassidy trusted Cave enough that during his recall to Boston in the 2018- 19 season, he played on a line with Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak while Patrice Bergeron was injured.

“I knew he could defend and those guys – Marchand and Pastrnak – were going to create (offense) no matter what, so we wanted to see if (Cave) had it in him, even for a short period of time,” Cassidy explained. “When Bergy went down we needed someone to do the grunt work in our 1173499 Buffalo Sabres Stuetzle is followed in the international rankings by forwards Alexander Holtz, Anton Lundell and Lucas Raymond. Raymonf played in the for Frolunda, which produced Rasmus Dahlin, Sabres' possible top pick more clear after central scouting releases Victor Olofsson and Erik Portillo. rankings Russian goalie Iaroslav Askarov is considered a possible top-10 selection, though the Sabres selected Portillo and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen in two of the past three drafts. Portillo will be a freshman at By Lance Lysowski the University of Michigan next season and Luukkonen was considered one of the top drafted prospects in the NHL before he underwent double-

hip surgery last April. This week was supposed to be the beginning of a long, critical offseason Luukkonen, 21, had a .912 save percentage in 23 games for the ECHL's for the Buffalo Sabres. Cyclones this season. He could be ready to make the full-time General Manager Jason Botterill and select players would have spoken jump to Rochester in 2020-21. to the media at locker cleanout following the originally scheduled season The Sabres will be tempted to add to their stockpile of promising defense finale against Philadelphia. Botterill would have then attended the 2020 prospects. Drysdale had 87 points over his two seasons in the Ontario NHL Draft Lottery, where the Sabres likely would have received a top-10 Hockey League and won a gold medal for Canada at the most recent selection for the eighth consecutive year. IIHF World Junior Championship. However, the coronavirus pandemic halted the NHL regular season with Sanderson, the son of former Sabres forward Geoff Sanderson, jumped a total of 189 games remaining. Though some business can't be done 11 spots to become the No. 4 North American skater, according to NHL without knowing whether the Sabres will play their final 13 games, Central Scouting. Kaiden Guhle, brother of former Sabres prospect Botterill and his amateur scouting staff can complete their evaluations on Brendan Guhle, also could be a top-10 pick. draft-eligible prospects. The Sabres, though, have selected eight defensemen over Botterill's It's unclear when and how the NHL will hold its draft. The event, along three drafts: Dahlin, Mattias Samuelsson, Oskari Laaksonen, Ryan with the scouting combine in Buffalo, have been postponed. If the league Johnson, Linus Cronholm, Miska Kukkonen, William Worge Kreu and cancels the remainder of its regular season, the Sabres will have the Jacob Bryson. seventh-best odds at receiving the number one overall pick. While possible short-term need and previous selections don't weigh Whom the Sabres might select became more clear Wednesday when heavily into the Sabres' pre-draft process, the number of top forwards in NHL Central Scouting released its final rankings, led by consensus top this class could make the team lean toward adding offense. Buffalo's prospect Alexis Lafreniere. Though Botterill does not yet know his lottery prospect pipeline isn't ripe with elite scorers. odds, he'll likely have the opportunity to address the Sabres' need for another talented forward. Center Dylan Cozens, the Sabres' top draft pick last June, could make the jump to the NHL in 2020-21 after he scored 38 goals with 47 assists "You can see from our list, there are a few less defensemen as you go for 85 points with the Western Hockey League's Lethbridge Hurricanes down on the North American side, so there are some elite forwards there this season. The 19-year-old also won a gold medal for Canada at the that are going to create a lot of discussion among some teams," David world juniors. Gregory, senior manager for NHL Central Scouting, said in a video conference call. "The thing that always happens is when the season Additionally, the Sabres will count on Casey Mittelstadt to prove he is starts, you wonder how deep the draft class is, but as we go through our ready to be a consistent point producer in the NHL. The former eighth scouting process and as we meet, both at midterm and final as a group, overall pick had 17 goals in 114 NHL games before he was assigned to you realize there is a lot of depth here. Rochester in December.

"Teams are going to get very, very good players as they pick into the None of the Sabres' other forward prospects – Matej Pekar, Aaron second through fourth rounds. There are going to be some real hidden Huglen, Filip Cederqvist, Lukas Rousek, Marcus Davidsson and Linus gems there and a few years from now, we’ll talk about how did that Weissbach – appear to be close to the NHL. There isn't much help in player get taken so late. There’s lots of depth here and lots of opportunity Rochester, either. here for the NHL clubs." The Sabres are familiar with Byfield because he played alongside Pekar The Sabres won't pick worse than 10th overall if their odds don't change, in Sudbury and was a teammate of Cozens' at the world juniors. Byfield, and they'll have a 6.5 percent chance at drafting first overall for the a 6-foot-4 forward, had 32 goals with 50 points for 82 points in 45 games second time in three years. this season.

Lafreniere would provide Buffalo with an elite winger to potentially pair Ottawa 67s forward Marco Rossi, who is ranked the No. 6 North with Jack Eichel or Dylan Cozens. Lafreniere was ranked by central American skater, is an intriguing player to watch because he was born in scouting as the top North American skater after he scored 35 goals with Austria and played most of his amateur hockey in Switzerland – two 77 assists for 112 points in 52 games for Rimouski of the Quebec Major countries in which Ralph Krueger has lived and coached. Junior Hockey League. The global health crisis has created an unprecedented challenge for Regardless of whether the NHL finishes its season, Detroit's league- general managers and amateur scouting staffs around the NHL. No worst 39 points give it the best odds of drafting Lafreniere. There will be a combine would prevent teams from receiving off-ice testing results and significant amount of debate surrounding who should be drafted after all interviews likely would need to be conducted through video him, though. conference call.

Sudbury center Quinton Byfield, Erie defenseman Jamie Drysdale, The Sabres will have more time to prepare and technology – specifically National Team Development Program defenseman Jake the access to game video of international prospects – should help with Sanderson and Saginaw center Cole Perfetti round out the top 5 North evaluations. Though their rankings are likely different than central American skaters. scouting's, we now have a better idea who could be available when Buffalo is on the clock. German winger Tim Stuetzle is considered a possibility at second overall after he was ranked the top international skater. The 18-year-old had Kuntar ranked seven goals with 27 assists for 34 points in 41 games during his first season in Germany's top professional league. Williamsville native Trevor Kuntar, an 18-year-old center, was ranked the No. 143 North American skater by NHL Central Scouting. Kuntar, who “Stuetzle is a smart, creative, play-making forward,” said Goran Stubb, played for the Buffalo Jr. Sabres, scored 47 goals over his final two Director of NHL Central Scouting’s European Services. “He has an seasons with the United States Hockey League’s Youngstown exceptional combination of skating and puck skills that are at an elite Phantoms. level and he’s capable of making precision plays at top speed with a wicked finishing shot.” Kuntar had 28 goals with 25 assists for 53 points in 44 games with the Phantoms this season. He plans to attend Harvard University in the fall. Buffalo News LOADED: 04.09.2020 1173500 Buffalo Sabres the Amerks being in good hands with Dineen, Petersen and interim assistant Adam Mair, Taylor returned to a team sporting a 12-3-3 record in late November. By Christmas, Rochester was 20-6-4.

For Amerks, season is on pause and with it chance at playoff redemption Then, right on schedule, the injuries and recalls came.

But where Rochester teams during the ill-fated Tim Murray years would Leo Roth, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle Published 4:47 a.m. ET fold like a guilty husband, this group countered a seven-game losing April 8, 2020 streak with a six-game win streak, then secured their standing as a playoff contender by cobbling nine of a possible 12 points during a critical six-game February homestand.

As he spends his days preparing for a postseason that may never come, Back-to-back wins at North Division leader Belleville proceeded a home coach Chris Taylor has also taken the time sit, loss to Binghamton when the league shutdown happened. reflect and give thanks. It still seems surreal to Taylor. Had the novel coronavirus not forced the , like the rest of the sports world, to hit the pause button on March 12, the “We were at the rink and ready for a meeting and got the call that we Amerks (33-20-9) would have been wrapping up their regular season shouldn’t practice, that was the last meeting with the players and staff with games against Bridgeport and Binghamton on Friday and Saturday. and we all went our separate ways,’’ the Amerks Hall of Famer said. “I felt we were trending in the right way, our young guys playing big-time Resting securely in fourth place in the Eastern Conference with 75 minutes and responding with big-time moments, and that’s what you points, they would have learned their playoff position for a third want in player development. They were out there doing a great job for us. consecutive season under Taylor. Their “Redemption Tour,’’ the chance That’s the hard part for us now. I thought we were really coming to atone for consecutive first-round playoff exits, would’ve been shifting together.’’ into high gear. If there is no postseason, the hurt will be felt by players all along the Instead, things are stuck in neutral with no indication when the season spectrum. will resume, if it resumes. The veterans past 30 like Nathan Paetsch, Kevin Porter, Andrew To stay ready, Taylor stays in touch with his players, most who have Hammond and Zach Redmond who don’t have the luxury of saying “see returned to their off-season homes, and assistants, Gord Dineen and you next season’’ many more times. Toby Petersen, through video conferencing, text messages and phone conversations. The young veterans still chasing the dream like leading scorers Jean- Sebastian Dea and Andrew Oglevie and C.J. Smith who are having fine He reviews game tape, trying to spot that one small thing that will make seasons. his team’s power play or penalty killing units better. The analytics usually done at the end of a season, Taylor is doing now. All while hunkered Nathan Paetsch has been named our 2019-20 IOA/American Specialty down inside his Churchville home with his wife, Lisa, son, Nick, 23, and @TheAHL Man of the Year! daughter Samantha, 19. Congrats, @NpDefensemen! Like the rest of the world, the Taylors are staying occupied, staying safe, and doing their part to defend the spread of a viral pandemic that has : https://t.co/t56lRAtrtMpic.twitter.com/eOBfr6JPdA infected 1.3 million people worldwide as of Monday, killing 74,000, — Rochester Americans (@AmerksHockey) April 6, 2020 including more than 10,000 in the United States. The Sabres’ draft picks who will miss the incalculable benefits of a deep, “It’s been hard,’’ Taylor said. “Our son is special needs and he always intense playoff run. There are 10 of them dating back seven years led by likes going out and doing different things so it’s hard to stay home. Our 2017 first-rounder Casey Mittelstadt, who in 36 games since his daughter was at university (Brock in St. Catharines, Ontario) and that reassignment has 25 points on nine goals and 16 assists. was cut short. But everyone has a story. You feel for everybody.’’ Buffalo is hoping Mittelstadt’s extended stay in Rochester will do for him Taylor feels badly that he can’t coach and his players can’t play, not so what it did for Victor Olofsson, who has 20 goals in his first full season in much for themselves but because of what sports has always provided Buffalo. during times of crisis: A respite from the storm. A chance to be with others. Leave it to a highly contagious virus to take even that away. Other picks in Rochester are forwards Eric Cornel, Rasmus Asplund, Sean Malone and rookie Brett Murray along with defensemen Will “It sure puts things into perspective and just makes you appreciate what Borgen, Casey Fitzgerald and rookie Jacob Bryson. Each were thriving everyone has,’’ Taylor said. “The biggest thing to come out of this is that with more playing time and greater responsibilities. you really learn about your family and everyone around you. The first responders, the medical people, it’s remarkable what those people are The same goes for Jonas Johansson and rookie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, doing.’’ who comprise a possible Sabres’ future goalie tandem.

The six-time champion Amerks haven’t won a in 24 years, Now the hockey buzz phrase “Playing meaningful games’’ spoken this made a final in 20 or won a playoff series in 15. Like stitches that won’t time of year has been replaced by “Practice social distancing.’’ heal, those facts gnaw at one of hockey’s most storied franchises. They also drive everyone currently associated with the club, those who have “Our job is to make sure these players are playing for the Buffalo Sabres inherited history and the job of changing it. some day and I believe we’re trending in the right way,’’ Taylor said. “We’re making playoffs and we’re developing players, but it’s still a Owners Terry and Kim Pegula have yet to return the NHL’s Buffalo process and we need to make sure we’re patient with it.’’ Sabres (nine seasons out of the playoffs) to relevance, but they have made good on rebuilding the farm system under general managers Even through a pandemic. What’s Taylor’s gut telling him? If play were to Jason Botterill and Randy Sexton. resume, he would be in favor of jumping right into the playoffs with a week of start-up time, he said. After 91- and 99-point campaigns, the Amerks were on pace for 92 this season when the ice was pulled from beneath their skates. “Obviously, you want to keep positive and think we’ll be able to play but with all the uncertainty, it’s tough to say,’’ Taylor said. “I just want The story inside those point totals is veterans with talent and mentorship everyone to be healthy and I pray the curve goes the other way and life qualities being signed each season to complement young free agents can get back to normal for everybody. That’s the biggest concern for all and draft picks that actually have NHL potential. You know, like the old of us.’’ days. Until further notice, playoff redemption is in quarantine. For Taylor, it’s been the craziest of seasons. Democrat and Chronicle LOADED: 04.09.2020 He started the year in Buffalo lending new head coach Ralph Krueger a hand while assistant Don Granato was out on medical leave. Thanks to 1173501 Buffalo Sabres up to you and be like, ‘They need to trade you. You stink.’ If you won the last game they’d be complimentary, but it was a tough town to play in.

“When I got to Buffalo, I was sort of riding that high. I know I came in for Playing catch-up with Steve Heinze, who relished his short time with the a reason, just to be part of this. They got 20 guys here. I didn’t feel like I Sabres was fighting for a job. I just came in and played my game.”

The Sabres closed the regular season with a 10-4 run as Heinze led the By John Vogl Apr 8, 2020 way with 12 points in 14 games. The playoffs started with fourth-seeded Philadelphia, a series the Sabres won in six games. The clincher was one of the more memorable victories in Buffalo’s playoff history, an 8-0 shellacking that sent Flyers goalie Roman Cechmanek ducking for cover Steve Heinze is donating his brain to science, built an arena from scratch and had fans partying in the aisles. and runs a luxurious resort for dogs. “That was mind boggling,” Heinze said. “We were jelling at the right time.” But we’ll get to all that. Next up was the sixth-seeded Penguins, who finished two points behind Before Heinze owned an arsenal of astonishing stories, he was a typical the Sabres during the regular season. With just over a minute to go in middle-six forward in the NHL. There was one season, though, when he Game 6 in Pittsburgh, the Sabres held a 2-1 lead in the contest and a 3-2 was more. Heinze was a scoring sensation, and Buffalo loved him for it. lead in the series. Only 78 seconds stood between Buffalo and a third trip “My first visit to the grocery store was awesome,” he said, “because in four years to the Eastern Conference final. somebody recognized me and they’re like, ‘Oh, hi Steve, welcome to And then Mario Lemieux woke up from his series slumber. Buffalo. Great to have you.’” “We were winning with a little bit of time left,” Heinze recalled, “and a shot It was indeed great for the Sabres to have him. Acquired at the 2001 got taken and nobody knew where the puck was. It was like in the rafters, trade deadline, Heinze scored in his first game and buried a hat trick in but no whistle blew, and then all of a sudden the puck came down from his second. His points-per-game average of 0.86 ranks 15th in franchise 100 feet in the air. Lemieux just picked it up like he was on a walk in the history, just above Thomas Vanek, Chris Drury and Miroslav Satan. park, laid it down, goal. “Wowwww. Yeah, I was hot, man,” Heinze said by phone. “I came in “It was like, ‘Oh my god, we had it won,’ and Lemieux just sort of did there guns a-blazin’.” Lemieux magic to tie that game up, then they won that game.” The Sabres wanted a magic bullet. They were an interesting organization Two days later, the Sabres played host in Game 7. Heinze had the in 2000-01, playing without their captain as sat out the series-clinching goal on his stick, scoring 32 seconds into the third period entire season due to a contract dispute. But Dominik Hasek was in the to give Buffalo a 2-1 lead. But once again, the Penguins tied it up and midst of his sixth -winning year, so the Sabres were still won in overtime. Darius Kasparaitis’ floater slipped past Hasek, who Stanley Cup contenders. They finished second in the Northeast Division, never skated onto the ice with the Sabres again. fifth in the Eastern Conference and eighth in the NHL with 98 points and a 46-30-6 record. “My nemesis, Kasparaitis, who hit me in ’96 and I lost 50 games of the season because he gave me a hip check and ruined my lower Though general manager Darcy Regier and owner John Rigas declined abdominal,” Heinze said. “I just hated that guy. I can visualize, see that to sign Peca, Regier loaded up at the deadline. He acquired Donald shot. It was a seeing-eye puck. He just shot it with no intention of Audette from Atlanta for Czech prospect Kamil Piros and a fourth-round anything, and then it was past Hasek and I was like, ‘Oh my god, did that pick, and the GM plucked Heinze from Columbus for a third-round just happen?’ selection. “I think we could have done something. That was one of the teams in my Heinze was enjoying a career resurgence with the expansion Blue career that is one bounce either way in Game 6 or Game 7 and we’re Jackets. After eight solid seasons with the Bruins turned into a plugging along.” disappointing ninth, the native put up 22 goals and 42 points in 65 games with his new team. Heinze was fifth for the Sabres in playoff scoring, totaling three goals and seven points in 13 games. He parlayed that run and his 27-goal season “Columbus really reinvigorated my career,” Heinze said. “I’d got stuck in into a three-year contract with the Los Angeles Kings. a rut a bit in Boston, in and out of the lineup, and then when I got to Columbus as an expansion team, it was like, ‘All right, I’m one of the But during the second season in 2002-03, Heinze suffered two guys here and not so fearful of making a mistake.’ concussions. The final one – Feb. 27, 2003, in Columbus during a game in which he scored – ended his career at age 33. “I hadn’t come to a contract agreement with Columbus, so I knew I was getting traded. When they said Buffalo, at first I was like, well, that was “I had another year left on my contract, but my head quit before I did,” one of my biggest rivals in Boston, and I always hated them. I had to hate Heinze said. “I was in sort of rough shape and not functioning real well. I them, right? Through the ’90s with Boston and Buffalo, it was just a was sort of junk. I don’t want to go too far into it, but I was on the couch a battle.” lot, not being able to get out of bed.

All was forgiven as soon as Heinze walked into the dressing room. “It was just real bad, all the concussion stuff you hear about that guys go through.” “It was just a great group of guys, lots of good veterans and just a good solid group of people and hockey players,” Heinze said. “So immediately, The problems lingered for about three years. the hockey was easier. It just fit like a glove. I was like, ‘These guys are great, can’t wait to play here.’ “I had all sorts of symptoms and all sorts of bad stuff going on, but nobody could tell me why,” Heinze said. “I’d take the MRIs, ‘Oh, your “The defensive style with (coach) Lindy Ruff I can handle, but they brain looks fine.’ I’d take the other stuff or I’d pass some baseline tests, seemed to give me a little more rope to be offensive.” but I still just am not right.”

Heinze immediately rattled off a four-game point streak, putting up five The Boston College product began hearing about chronic traumatic goals and three assists. encephalopathy (CTE), which can only be discovered postmortem, so Heinze decided to donate his brain to Boston University’s CTE Center. “From the first day we got him, he had a gift for scoring,” Ruff said via text. “Always got in the right spot to get great chances.” “I’m not going to need it once I’m gone, so if you can get some information out of it, go ahead,” Heinze said. “I’m better now, but at the Fans also loved the forward’s gimmicky number choice – Heinze 57 – time, it sounded like the stuff that they’re finding once they get in there.” leading to those friendly encounters in the grocery store ketchup aisles. When Heinze talks, his Boston accent remains, but he’s lived in Southern “The feeling I got from fans there is they were just into it and loved their California since his days with the Kings. He and his wife, who have three guys and loved that they were there,” the 50-year-old said, “where sons and a daughter, bought a home in Santa Barbara. Once Heinze coming from a long career in Boston, it was day-to-day. They could come finally began to feel better, he got the itch to take a twirl on the ice. “I went on a website and found a local rink, and I called the number and the guy says, ‘No, we’re raising money to build a rink. We don’t have a rink yet,’” Heinze said. “Santa Barbara, it’s a small city, and it didn’t compute. Every small town in Massachusetts has a rink. But they didn’t have one, and they were raising money to build one.

“And when an ex-NHLer calls and asks, they’re immediately like, ‘Hey, want to help out?’ And I did.”

It wasn’t an easy task. Though fundraising for Ice in Paradise had started in 2003, the nonprofit rink didn’t open until October 2015. Heinze, who became president of the Greater Santa Barbara Ice Skating Association, got help from late Flyers owner and area resident Ed Snider and Kings legend Luc Robitaille.

“We thought we were up and running right before the big crash in ’08, and then the market tanked and it took us another five years,” Heinze said. “We’re trying to build that culture into the next generation of kids who didn’t know hockey until four and a half years ago. The Kings started a high school league, so I hopped on and became head coach to the local high school team, and then I was assisting with my son’s peewee and bantam teams.”

During summers, he and the family would visit their relatives in Boston.

“So I had a dog,” Heinze said. “I leave Santa Barbara, leave a healthy 6- year-old Labrador at the kennel. On the way back, I call from Boston, ‘Yeah, how’s he doing?’ ‘He’s acting all weird.’ OK, all right.

“We have a layover in . I said, ‘OK, how’s the dog doing?’ ‘Oh, he’s really not doing good. We’re going to send him to the vet.’ All right, whatever you need to do. One more stop and we’ll be home.

“I land in Santa Barbara and the people at the doggy place say, ‘Yeah, he didn’t make it.’ And I said, ‘Didn’t make it where? He was going to the vet.’ ‘No, he’s dead.’”

After the tears stopped falling and the shock wore off, anger set in.

“I’m like, ‘I’ve got to put this guy out of business,’” Heinze said. ‘I’m a hockey player and competitive, but I don’t have the wherewithal and the business savvy. I had an idea, but it sort of just sat in the back of my head. I’m not the type to go and sue the guy about it. I just was angry and then I’m like, ‘Well, shouldn’t somebody do this the right way?’”

He learned of a place that did when the family got a new dog a few years later.

“We had a babysitter that would help when we went away, but all of a sudden she couldn’t do that and we had a trip planned,” Heinze said. “I’m like, ‘Oh my god, I can’t believe I got to do this again with my dog.’ This new outfit had come into town called Dioji. I’m not going to use the other place that killed my dog, so let me see what this new place is all about.”

Heinze marveled at what he saw. Labeling itself as a “K-9 resort and athletic club,” Dioji featured a cage-free environment, bone-shaped pool, playground equipment and individual rooms and beds for overnight stays.

“It’s a dream,” said Heinze, who later learned the owner skates with him during Thursday night pickup games. “I’m like, ‘Holy shit. Let me tell you a story.’ I told him about my dog. He’s like, ‘Well, we’re opening up another one in downtown Santa Barbara, about two blocks away from this other place that killed your dog.’

“I’m like, ‘I’m in. You can’t say no to me. I’m investing. I’m working.’ I just started working sweat equity, just helping him build out the new project.”

Heinze then bought a building for their third location, and the partners are now constructing their fourth.

“It’s a great, great business run by great people taking care of great animals,” Heinze said. “It’s just a really nice thing, and the silver lining is it’s in a multibillion dollar industry and people will pay through the nose to take care of their dogs. And we do it right. It’s a relationship that they may pay a little extra, but they’re getting the Four Seasons of dog care.”

Clearly, a lot has happened since Heinze left Buffalo. A lot happened while he was in town, too, even though it was only a few months.

“It was short-lived,” Heinze said, “but the whole time in Buffalo, the people and the organization were just wonderful.”

The Athletic LOADED: 04.09.2020 1173502 Because life is good — and the knees are OK — even if for hockey fans of a certain vintage, it seemed like he had vanished. Which isn’t too far from the truth.

His NHL career was cut short by a brutal injury, but Dave Hindmarch isn’t In a modest home — 100 metres from the forest, 30 metres from the haunted by what-ifs Strait of Georgia — Hindmarch lives with his wife, Seona, and their teenaged children, son Shamus and daughter Kamilla, on the Sunshine Coast. By Scott Cruickshank Apr 8, 2020 “We’re property big and cabin small,” said Hindmarch, who, for nearly 30 years, has taught physical- and outdoor-education at Chatelech Secondary School in Sechelt, B.C. “The outside is glorious. I hop on a Fuelled by the desire to stay strong, he muscles the wheelchair up the bike and I’m on a trail right away and I can disappear. That’s pretty road near his parents’ house in Dunbar, on the west side of Vancouver. spectacular for us. The climb is sweaty work. “Even now, in self-isolation, you can go out and never see anybody. So “It’s a long block and it’s a steep hill.” it’s pretty good to still get that exercise.” Powering up, over and over, means a ticklish descent each time, a trip Pursuits such as cycling and surf kayaking and bodyboarding keep busy made trickier by his off-balance cargo. “So much weight forward” — the family members, who have no television. because both legs, encased in hip-to-toe casts, stick straight out. “Not for any crazy reason other than … just get outside and good things “I couldn’t go down too fast or I’d start skidding around,” said Dave happen,” explained Hindmarch. “I try to get my kids outside. TV just Hindmarch, laughing. “I did have a couple wipeouts.” seemed to be something I never had a whole lot of time for.” No worries. To soothe those aching joints, he could always relax in the Also not found in their living quarters? Any sign of Hindmarch’s puck- family’s hot tub. Excited about the maiden voyage of his recuperation, he chasing heyday. No sweaters from his time in the NHL or his turn for shoves himself along the floor, getting to the edge. Then it is simply a Team Canada at the 1980 Olympics. No sticks mounted on the wall. No matter of easing into the warm water. keepsakes framed. Nothing. While on his back. Head first. “Not sure I could really get away with the self-glory, anyways,” the 61- “And I went shooting into the deep end,” he said. “It’s not deep when year-old said with a laugh. “I’m always getting razzed by people because you’re sitting there, but when your head goes in first? And when the casts they say you wouldn’t know a thing (about my hockey career) — and I are sticking up like two buoys out in the ocean? I couldn’t get out of the would never say a thing. water from down below. I ended up twisting, just torquing myself, and “You wouldn’t have a clue. Everybody usually has to dig pretty hard.” crawling out that way. In place of artifacts, though, the man has tales, which are as fantastic as “I got out and was like, ‘That must have been the most embarrassing they are plentiful. moment of my life. Maybe I’ll have someone on deck next time.'” Hindmarch is a wonderful storyteller, enlivening his accounts with Hindmarch says he could envision the headline — “Guy drowns with two impressions — Johnson (“What a day. Can you imagine being casts up in the air, spinning around in a hot tub” — in the next morning’s Peplinski today? What a day”) and Kent Nilsson and John Brophy. paper. Before running into that cast of characters, he fulfilled his goal of playing “It took me a while to recover from that one.” in the Olympics. His post-injury education doesn’t end there. It goes well beyond road- His father, Dr. Bob Hindmarch, coached everything at UBC, including rashing mishaps and self-dousing slapstick. hockey. He had also served as general manager of Canada’s entry at the He can remember the night the invited him to a 1964 Winter Games. That was an influence on his son, who harboured game. Appreciative of the gesture, he steered his way through the dreams of representing his country — even when the NHL came calling concourse, stationed himself in the wheelchair section, tried to get after his second year at the University of . comfortable. Draft hoopla, in 1978, was minimal. “I was squirming around in the chair because your ass gets kind of “It’s funny. I was out that night with friends and I hadn’t even thought of numb,” said Hindmarch. “The guy beside me says, ‘Hey, it’s tough to get the draft,” recalled Hindmarch. “I came up the stairs — it was late — and used to that.’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, yeah,’ kind of self-focused. And he my dad said, ‘Hey, you’ve been drafted.’ I said, ‘Oh yeah?’ He said, goes, ‘Ah, you get used to it after the first 12 years,’ but he didn’t say it in ‘That’s pretty good.’ I said, ‘Is it?’ And he goes, ‘Yeah, you got drafted by a digging way.” Atlanta.’ I said, ‘OK,’ and went upstairs and went to bed. Striking up a conversation, Hindmarch discovered that his neighbour was “It had no repercussions. The next day, I still had the same breakfast.” a police officer who had been shot — who was not ever getting out of his chair. Later, on the phone with scout Ian McKenzie, he learned that the Flames had selected him 114th overall — 113 picks after Bobby Smith was “You find that out and you just roll out of there in a whole new light.” chosen by the . No big deal. “I probably didn’t give Hindmarch, months later, did rise from his wheelchair, progressing to it all the attention I should have.” crutches, then to canes, and finally to walking without aid. Because his focus had been solely on the upcoming 1980 Winter But he never again appeared in the NHL, forever freezing his games- Games. played total at 99. At Lake Placid, N.Y., he joined a Canadian side that included Glenn In his athletic prime, the Calgary Flames checker — having rammed his Anderson, Jim Nill, . Unfortunately for the Canucks — after knees at top speed into a pegged-in goal post Dec. 16, 1983, at the being eliminated from gold-medal contention in a one-goal loss to Finland Pacific Coliseum — was done playing. — they wound up sixth.

But not done learning. Hindmarch and John Devaney paced the team with seven points in six contests. “There’s big lessons when you have those sort of life-changing things,” Hindmarch said the other day. “You look also for the positive — and Box ticked. What now? there’s lots. There’s lots to gain. It’s certainly been one of those for me. “Playing for my country was certainly a goal that was hard in me,” said “I definitely lost a career, but I gained a whole lot, too.” Hindmarch. “After that, it was, ‘Yeah, let’s give this a go.'” After all, the NHL club that owned his rights was relocating from Atlanta to nearby Calgary. That was appealing. Trying out at the start of the 1980-81 season, he’d been stunned by the Lugging his bag and sticks, he tried a couple of entrances, which are depth. There’s the big team, then a farm team, then another farm team locked and manned by security guards who refused to even open the under that one. doors. He kept going and going.

One of the final cuts, Hindmarch was assigned to the Birmingham Bulls “I’m making a continuous loop around ,” he said. of the Central Hockey League. “And I’ve got people, saying, ‘Look at this guy. He thinks he’s playing tonight!’ They’re all laughing. ‘Hey, dude. The hackers are playing at Simply bringing up the name of his old head coach gets Hindmarch another rink!'” cackling. Finally, he convinced someone let him in. Finally, he got to the dressing “As colourful as you could get,” he said of John Brophy. “I could write a room. Finally, he threw on his gear. book. Absolutely insane. I’m telling you, every day that I walked in there, it was something.” He laughs some more. “No one made eye contact with “I was late — the Zamboni was already going on (after warmup) and they Broph when he got into his frenzy — it was kind of like that animal you said, ‘Go out and have a skate,'” said Hindmarch. “So I go out and I’m didn’t make eye contact with. Because if you did, he thought you were skating with the Zamboni out there. I said to myself, ‘What am I doing challenging him.” here?’ I took one lap around and I came off.

Table-flipping tantrums and stick-smashing tirades were commonplace. “Then right before my first shift, Bob Murdoch, a , says, ‘Whatever you do, don’t let that guy’ — which was Nick Fotiu — ‘dump it Contrasting Brophy’s hot-blooded approach was his mild-mannered in my corner.'” player-coach, Paul Henderson. Not only was this the hero of the 1972 Summit Series, he was a born-again Christian. A dozen minutes into the contest, he scored, assists going to Kari Eloranta (whose goal at the 1980 Olympics had dashed the Canadians’ “They were about as polar opposite as you could get,” said Hindmarch. gold-medal hopes) and Ken Houston. “One was soft-spoken and polite and gentleman-like. The other one was tough as nails, someone who’d come up through every street corner that Two nights later, he found the net again, this time beating Billy Smith, you could possibly think of.” goalie of the New York Islanders.

Imagine the night the Bulls fell behind 5-0 after 20 minutes. In the Which gave Hindmarch a goal in each of his first three NHL dressing room, Henderson addressed the team first. appearances. The only other Flames player to do that? Kent Nilsson. (David Moss, in December 2006, matched it.) “He gave his diplomatic, ‘Come on, guys. We’ve really got to get together, work together as a team. We’ve just got to get unified,'” said Hindmarch got a kick out of being compared to Nilsson, who he says Hindmarch. “Well, Broph comes roaring around the corner and he says, oozed “off the charts” talent. ‘Sit down, sit down! I’m tired of this Hare Krishna crap. Here’s my gospel — get out there and fucking kill somebody!'” “With the most casual attitude that you could imagine,” he said. “I remember being in L.A. and I was trying to make the team. It was an Hindmarch laughs. “And that was tame compared to some of the other exhibition game and I was working away. Kenta was sitting beside me. ones.” He wasn’t even breathing hard. Then he said, ‘OK, I think it’s time to do something now.’ I looked at him like, ‘Now? I’ve been trying to do Another time, the Bulls visited the Wichita Wind shortly after Dave something all game.'” Semenko had been demoted by the Edmonton Oilers. Because he skated on a line with toughie Tim Hunter, Hindmarch knew where he’d Nilsson jumped on the ice, authored a dazzling goal, returned to his spot wind up — opposite Semenko. But, before the puck could drop, Brophy on the bench beside Hindmarch. “He goes, ‘That’s enough now’ — and hailed him from the bench. He skated over and his skipper, leaning over that was vintage Kenta,” said Hindmarch. “He was the greatest guy. the boards, offered this sneering observation: “Bet you never saw a guy Super nice guy. Super enjoyable.” like him in college, eh? Want to go back to college? Like, right now?” One morning, coach Bob Johnson was showing the penalty-killers how to The ride ended midseason when the Bulls folded — unbeknownst to the keep the puck on the outside, how to take away the inside of the box. To players, who showed up at the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Center make his point, the coach strode to the blue line where Nilsson was one morning and were stopped at the entrance by security guards. stationed. Eventually, they were escorted inside so they could collect their skates. “And Kenta, at a distance of probably a couple metres, shot the puck at Hindmarch was re-assigned to AHL Rochester, which was being him,” Hindmarch said, “but he rolled it off his stick so it went straight up, coached by a gent in his first year of pro — . “Yeah, he had over everybody’s head, over all of the box, and it landed flat on the ice. I his big bluster style.” But he knew the most important people in the rink could try that a thousand times and not do it. The height was so on any given evening were the Flames reps. incredible and it landed flat and Paul Reinhart one-timed it into the net.”

“You’d try to stand out and make your way up (to the NHL). And I He laughs. “Kenta did it to rub it in. He’d have that little grin.” seemed to get my chances.” Hindmarch had been wise enough to keep his distance from No. 14 after Including that very first season. After a game in Portland, Maine, morning skates. It was then that Nilsson and whatever other sharp- Hindmarch was told that the Flames needed him. Great news. Now shooters happened to be hanging around — Hakan Loob, Lanny what? “I was a little embarrassed — I didn’t know where they were,” he McDonald, Guy Chouinard — would gather at ice and aim recalled. “They assumed I knew. And they go, ‘Oh, you’re going to slapshots at the crossbar. Loser bought lunch. Toronto.'” Some rookie would get sucked in and end up picking up a tab for 10 March 28, 1981, he made his debut. In the second period at Maple Leaf players. “But Kenta, I never saw him pay.” Gardens, Jim Peplinski fired a puck, which struck the newcomer, who clubbed it past goalie Michel (Bunny) Larocque. Hindmarsh became a regular in 1982-83, lining up on a checking unit with Doug Risebrough and Jamie Hislop, and getting into 60 games. “Nothing glamorous,” said Hindmarch. “I got a goal. I thought, ‘Oh man, there you go. At least I’ve got that.’ Hopefully, I’ll be up for a while.” The following season, it was over.

He was not. Shortly before Christmas against the home-ice Canucks, Hindmarch, with friends and family members in attendance, gathered up the puck and a His next regular season appearance in the NHL didn’t arrive until Nov. 1, head of steam. He cut in sharply from the left side, bearing down on 1981, after he’d started the campaign with the CHL Oklahoma Stars. goalie Frank Caprice. Hindmarch was ordered to meet the Flames on game day at Madison Square Garden. Thanks to a delayed flight, fans were already milling Flat footed, rearguard Rick Lanz stuck out his stick. around by the time he got out of the cab. Plus he had no clue where to “Easy for it to happen,” said Hindmarch, “and it knocked my skates out go. “And I’m already stressed out.” from under me. I was going in at a hard angle and didn’t really have time to react.” Sliding on his right side, knees pulled up, the winger crashed into the unforgiving post.

“I ricocheted almost to the far boards,” he said. “There was no give to that net. I knew right away that something wasn’t right because you don’t get that level of pain …”

Back in Calgary, it was determined that his left posterior cruciate ligament had been torn in half. He returned to Vancouver, preferring to be home for his post-operation recuperation. The surgeon told him that while repairing the left side, he would peek at the right knee. If there was damage, he’d fix that, too.

“I remember waking up groggy,” said Hindmarch. “The first thing I did was tap my legs and I could feel two casts. I went back to sleep, thinking, ‘Oh God, here we go.'”

He made a legitimate attempt at a comeback. In addition to rolling his wheelchair up that hill in Vancouver, the then-25-year-old threw himself into rehabilitation — where he joined seven others, all of whom were recovering from motorcycle accidents — and tiptoed the fine line between doing enough and over-doing it.

“It’s so hard when you’re young,” said Hindmarch. “If you try to push it or do something drastic, it doesn’t help you. You just have to wait for it to heal.

“The ordeal was long.”

Fitted with “super cumbersome” custom braces, Hindmarch tried skating 11 months later. Off-ice tests revealed that he was still nowhere near strong enough. “That was a downer for me.”

Twelve months later — midseason in 1985-86 — he remained unable to play. General manager Cliff Fletcher called one day and told him that he needed to make a decision.

“Quality of life was sort of the pick at that point,” said Hindmarch. “The best move was to retire. The blessing for me was I had some schooling behind me. For lots of players, it’s, ‘Oh man, what’s the next step?'”

He returned to school, UBC, rounding out his education. After seven years in Vancouver — this is 1993 — he decided that he wanted to teach youngsters, that he wanted to live in a rural setting. Having run hockey schools in Sechelt, he knew the area. It was perfect.

“One of the best things I did,” said Hindmarch. “It’s always been my delight to do that — back working with kids, I seemed to thrive in that.”

Outdoor life, too, suited him.

And, thanks to all of the cycling, the knees have stayed in decent shape.

No subsequent surgery was ever required, despite the damage. He’s heard that a med school used his injury as a case study for students. This, he cackles about.

So, no, Hindmarch is not bitter.

Lanz never did reach out, but that’s OK. And Hindmarch isn’t haunted by what-ifs. The season after his spill, the NHL shifted to movable nets. “You could make sponge boards, too,” he said. “You play at that level, you’re going to get hurt.”

Over the years, Hindmarch has been guided by common sense, avoiding activities that involve sudden lunging and twisting.

No tennis. No squash. No racquetball.

And very little skating.

A few years back, though, he hiked with loved ones into the bush. Finding a spot where the snow could be cleared off, they played a little shinny.

“I figure if I’ve got something left in skating, it will be with my family. I feel gifted to be able to do that,” said Hindmarch. “That ice out in the middle of nowhere, skating on a pond like that, it’s always at the heart of the game, it feels like.”

The Athletic LOADED: 04.09.2020 1173503 Chicago Blackhawks Dietz's final thought: The NHL is all about rivalries. At least it used to be. So when Seattle begins play in 2021, the league should seriously consider a schedule that looks like this:

How Blackhawks players would alter the NHL schedule -- Each team plays division foes six times a season (42 games).

-- Play the other teams in your conference three times each (24 games)

By John Dietz -- Play one game against each team in the other conference (16 games).

This means Hawks fans will only see Alex Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby and With the NHL on hiatus due to COVID-19, we thought this would be a Steven Stamkos at the every other year, but who cares? good time to rerun our "One Change in the NHL" series that ran in Promoting rivalries means more engaged fan bases across the country. January 2019. Over time, that can only be a good thing for the sport.

For those who missed it, I asked dozens of players, coaches and media Daily Herald Times LOADED: 04.09.2020 members to elaborate on one thing they'd like to see the league do differently.

When the project began, I feared only four or five themes would be repeated over and over again. To my pleasant surprise, the exact opposite happened and readers were treated to a wide variety of ideas.

We are going to split this series into five parts and give an added twist: My thoughts on suggestions by the players and coaches. Away we go ...

The 82-game NHL season is a grind. So much so that players talked with great passion about how they would fix this grueling -- some would say unfair -- part of the game.

• Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews wants divisional opponents to play two games in two or three days at one location. "When you play a playoff series, you go play two games there and then you come back. So why can't we do that during the season?"

Toews was adamant that this would help keep everyone's energy level up as the season progresses.

"It's constant on the plane, on the bus, on the plane, on the bus," Toews said. "Just for one game here, one game there? That's frustrating."

Dietz's thoughts: I love it. The Hawks' schedule has been a complete nightmare lately, and especially this season. The worst quirks:

-- A two-game road trip to Vegas on Nov. 13 and Nashville on Nov. 16

-- A home date against Colorado on Nov. 29; at Colorado the next day

-- At Vegas on Dec. 10; at Arizona on Dec. 12; at St. Louis on Dec. 14

-- Out of the bye week, they were at Arizona on Feb. 1, at Minnesota on Feb. 4 and hosted Boston on Feb. 5.

-- A five-game Canadian road trip that started AND ended in Winnipeg.

Other teams -- and especially those in the Western Conference -- always have similar issues.

There's no doubt that the schedule is a complex beast, but the league really ought to figure out a way to implement Toews' idea.

• Corey Crawford wants the season to start in mid-to-late September so teams can play three games a week and never back-to-back. "It's only going to make our games faster and give teams a rest. You won't get those game where teams are waiting for other teams just to pound on 'em.

"Get rid of the back-to-back games. Enough with that. Guys are tired, guys get hurt. It's too high a level to ask these players to compete night in, night out like that. It doesn't make sense. Somebody's got to say something about it."

Dietz's thoughts: Crawford makes some valid points. Why not start the season on about Sept. 28 instead of Oct. 3, 4 or 5? Condense the preseason by playing six games in 9-10 days. Then eliminate the bye week and you've just bought yourself 14 extra days to spread things out.

• Former Hawks forward Artem Anisimov was OK with back-to-backs, but only if both games are at home. "(Sometimes) one game starts at 7:30, the next game (in another city) starts at 6. ... You go to the airport, fly, drive home. How are you supposed to recover and play at a high level the next game? It's painful for the body."

Dietz's thoughts: A fantastic idea. You almost never see back-to-back home games on a schedule. Makes no sense to me. 1173504 Chicago Blackhawks

NHL Draft 2020: Blackhawks could pick one of these ranked prospects

By Scott King April 08, 2020 11:33 AM

NHL Central Scouting released their 2020 draft rankings on Wednesday afternoon. The Blackhawks, who sat in 12th place in the Western Conference and 23rd in the league with a 32-30-8 record at the time of the NHL pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic on March 12, are likely to get a top-10 pick for the third consecutive year.

The team had an 8.2% chance of landing a top-3 pick after finishing the 2018-19 season 10th place in the Western Conference and 20th in the NHL, but they got the No. 3 pick in the lottery and selected center at last year's draft.

In 2018 they drafted defenseman Adam Boqvist at No. 8 overall.

One left wing, one right wing, four centers and four defenseman make up the top-10 North American ranked players from Central Scouting available in this year's draft.

Chicago could use a defensive-minded defenseman as it stands. The Blackhawks are loaded on centers enough to possibly part with Dylan Strome after the season concludes.

Alexis Lafreniere, a left winger, was ranked No. 1 per Central Scouting. The 18-year-old Quebec native led the QMJHL in assists (77) and points (112). It would be a bit of a long shot for the Hawks to land him.

The Blackhawks will probably have better odds than last year in the lottery, but would be more likely to pick around 10th.

18-year-old Jamie Drysdale is the top North American defensive prospect according to the release at No. 3. The Toronto native, currently with the Eerie Otters of the OHL (Alex DeBrincat and Dylan Strome's former team) was a member of Team Canada's gold-medal winning entry at the 2020 World Junior Championship. Listed at 5'11, 170 lbs., the Hockey News described his skating and smarts as "other-worldly". Seeing as Chicago has plenty of puck-moving D men who can skate, it may be best to go the stay-at-home route.

At age 17, Jake Sanderson of the USA Hockey National Team Development Program’s Under-18 Team seems to be the highest ranked D man with a strong defensive game at No. 4 for North Americans on the list. According to the Hockey Writers, the Montana native has strong skating and sound footwork. He'll most likely be out of reach for the Hawks.

Sanderson's father, Geoff, played 1104 NHL games and finished his career with 700 points, playing for teams like the Hartford Whalers and Buffalo Sabres.

Going off of Central Scouting's rankings, 18-year-old Braden Schneider makes the most sense for the Hawks. They have a better chance to grab him than the other D men, as he's ranked No. 9 among North American players, and the Hockey Writers described him as a "quintessential two- way defenseman" whose strengths include his "stick play, gap control and defensive poise."

Schneider had seven goals and 35 assists in 60 games with the Western Hockey League's Brandon Wheat Kings this season and a +/- rating of +9. Chicago would gladly select a defenseman who can do it all, especially if that includes helping keep pucks out of the net.

Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 04.09.2020 1173505 Colorado Avalanche

Craig Billington, Avalanche assistant GM, still hard at work during hockey’s “pause”

By MIKE CHAMBERS | April 8, 2020 at 4:52 p.m.

Work rarely stops for an NHL executive, particularly an assistant general manager who oversees the club’s minor-league system.

Craig Billington is that top-to-bottom workaholic in Colorado, overseeing all player-personnel moves with the Colorado Eagles and reporting to Avalanche GM Joe Sakic.

During the NHL’s “pause” because of the coronavirus pandemic, Billington is still a busy guy — and feeling fortunate that he can devote so much time on building for the future. He and Sakic, along with co- assistant GM Chris MacFarland (who works directly with the Avs), are approaching their five-year anniversary together.

“We’re not going to the rink, and the games, and meeting the coaches, the players, but we still do have the advancement of our R&D and where we want this to go, and progressing it,” Billington, an Avalanche backup goalie from 1996-99, said in a phone interview. “So now we can spend 100 percent of our time on that, which is really rare. You don’t get to spend 100 percent on just a certain area. It’s usually spread out over a number of items.”

Since the Avalanche and Eagles staffs announced March 16 that they would work remotely, Billington and the Eagles have re-signed four current players and added an undrafted free agent from Minnesota State for 2020-21. Billington said he has weekly conference calls with the Avs/Eagles executive team, plus various coaches. Currently, the main discussions include the postponed NHL draft, summer development camp and rookie showcase roster in California this fall.

Of course, the calls usually begin with the latest word on when or if the NHL/AHL seasons might resume. Both the Avalanche (42-20-8) and the Eagles (34-18-4) are comfortably in playoff position and hoping they can complete the season.

“I really like the team up there with the Eagles. So the goal is to try to retain as much as we can for next season — not knowing when this season (might restart),” Billington said. “We’re planning on about six different contingencies, but that’s the world we’re in right now.”

Clearly, the NHL and its top affiliate league aren’t in a position to choose when they can resume play. And Billington doesn’t even want to guess.

“It’s all based on the health board and what they are recommending,” he said. “I check both Canada and the U.S. and see what their health boards are saying. The NHL and the American League have had updates but those are directly from the health boards, which is what it should be right now.”

Denver Post: LOADED: 04.09.2020 1173506 Colorado Avalanche

Colorado Eagles owner distraught over lost AHL revenue, optimistic about future with NHL/Avalanche

By MIKE CHAMBERS | PUBLISHED: April 8, 2020 at 6:00 a.m. | UPDATED: April 8, 2020 at 3:16 p.m.

Colorado Eagles owner Martin Lind, an American Hockey League partner of the Avalanche, has seen “significant hemorrhage” to his northern Colorado businesses because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Loveland-based Eagles haven’t played since March 11, when they defeated the visiting Texas Stars 3-1 at the Budweiser Events Center. And, Lind’s massive development project just east of Interstate 25 in Loveland has been put on hold. Dubbed by Lind as “the new downtown of northern Colorado,” the project includes a new 10,000-seat arena for the Eagles and multiple youth rinks to help build hockey in the area. It also includes plans for a 300-room hotel overlooking an entertainment strip where the Larimer County Fairgrounds (aka The Ranch) currently sits.

“The hockey is one division of our companies. We’ve got real estate, oil and gas, family entertaining, golf, restaurants,” Lind said. “Personally, every commercial contract I had under contract has been terminated or postponed.”

Still, Lind remains optimistic for what’s to come and says each of his “core group” of employees continues to get paid as if COVID-19 hadn’t struck. Larimer County owns the Budweiser Events Center, and those employees work for Spectra. It is unclear whether those workers are still receiving checks, and a message left with the company was not returned. But Lind said the Eagles’ staff — marketing and ticketing for instance – remain on the payroll.

“We’re moving forward with positive things we can do with the Eagles,” Lind said. “We put a rerun of a game last winter online and 2,500 fans watched it. Our people are working on slowing down their relationships and really make sure they’re more intimate with everyone — sponsors, fans, vendors — we do business with.”

Eagles players will continue to get paid by the Avalanche through Saturday when the AHL regular-season was officially set to end. Colorado was scheduled to host the Stockton Heat to complete the season. As the only AHL independent owner in the Pacific Division, Lind isn’t responsible for those salaries. The Avalanche owns all of those contracts and has 100% control over player-personnel.

Lind is confident the NHL and AHL will resume their seasons in some capacity.

“We’re part of the NHL and they’re not giving up on the season. They are meticulously studying every opportunity to preserve this Stanley Cup run this year,” Lind said. “So I’m confident that if the NHL can gear back up, they’re going to need to develop the players and we’re going to come right back at it and finish the season or complete the playoffs or whatever the protocol happens to be at that time.

“I don’t worry about it because it’s in much smarter, much better hands, than me. I have an awful lot of faith that relationships matter and I have outstanding relationships with (Avs general manager) Joe Sakic (and his staff), Craig Billington, Chris MacFarland, all the guys, and I just think it’s going to be OK — we’re going to figure it out.”

Denver Post: LOADED: 04.09.2020 1173507 Columbus Blue Jackets John Forslund, who called the Jackets-Lightning series for the NBC Sports Network, remembers the setup for Game 1: One of the greatest regular-season teams in history versus … who? The Columbus Blue Michael Arace | Sergei Bobrovsky finally delivered in playoffs during Blue Jackets. Jackets' upset of Lightning “But the Blue Jackets did have those story lines about being all in it to win it with the trades, the great identity of their team and is the goalie going to deliver or not,” Forslund said. “Those were the three things that Michael Arace The Columbus Dispatch Apr 8, 2020 at 6:16 AM jumped out.”

The goalie delivered. The series turned on the diving glove save Bobrovsky made on Nikita Kucherov 27 seconds into the second period The road to the Blue Jackets' historic upset of the Tampa Bay Lightning of Game 1. At that point, the Lightning had a 3-0 lead through 20 was opened 17 months before the two teams met in the first round of the minutes. The Jackets would go on to outscore the Lightning 19-7 over 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs. the last 220 minutes of a stunning, four-game sweep. It began on Oct. 19, 2017, when a red-hot Lightning team came to Bobrovsky found a measure of playoff redemption in what was the most Columbus to play a red-hot Jackets team. This Lightning team would go remarkable first-round upset in 102 years of playoff hockey. His playoff on to post the best record in the Eastern Conference. These Jackets demons were gone, at least until Tuukka Rask showed up in the second were coming off a 108-point season, the best in their history, and round. goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky had his second Vezina Trophy in hand. Columbus Dispatch LOADED: 04.09.2020 On that night, in front of a packed house in , Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy made 43 saves in a 2-0 win — and made his first claim to be the best goalie in Russia, if not the world.

“He had a good game, and I will congratulate him, and I will see him next time,” Bob said afterward of Vasilevskiy.

Bobrovsky, as a talent and a personality, is one of the most important figures in the Jackets' 20-year history. He was beloved by the fans, for good reason. His relationship with the team, which lasted seven years, was … interesting. The ultimate divorce was drawn out and acrimonious.

Then-general manager Scott Howson stole Bobrovsky in a trade from Philadelphia at the 2012 draft. In the strike-shortened season that followed, Bobrovsky led a ferocious charge that brought the Jackets within one point of their second-ever playoff appearance. He won his first Vezina that year, 2013.

Bobrovsky's regular-season numbers in Columbus were sterling: He had a 213-130-27 record with a .921 save percentage, a 2.41 goals-against average and 33 shutouts. So many hugs!

Yet, his resume had a black hole in the middle of it: His playoff numbers were brutal.

He was outplayed by Pittsburgh's Marc-Andre Fleury in 2014, by the Penguins' 22-year-old Matt Murray in 2017, by Washington's Braden Holtby in 2018. It was a thing.

As good as Bobrovksy was in that Capitals series — and he was, at times, Gumby — there were key moments when, as coach is wont to say, “we need a save there.” Like, in the second overtime of Game 3, when Bobrovsky mishandled an easy shot. He left the puck at the top of his crease and, a couple of bad bounces later, Lars Eller tapped in the game-winner.

Instead of the Jackets taking a 3-0 lead in the series, everything changed. The Caps won four games in a row and took dead aim at the Stanley Cup.

“I can't control things around me,” Bobrovsky said after he gave up five goals in last game of that series. “The only thing I can control (is) myself, you know? And after this season, I completely disagree if anybody will say that I need a psychologist, you know?”

At that point, these were his career playoff numbers: Five wins, 14 losses, an .891 save percentage and a 3.49 GAA.

Statistically speaking, when he pulled on his mask to face the Lightning one year ago this week, he was one of the worst playoff of the 21st century. His relationship with Jackets management had rotted, his relationship with his teammates was strained and he was on his way out the door, to free agency.

And he was up against a team that had accrued 128 points and a goalie, Vasilevskiy, who owned him.

From that night in October 2017 through the end of the 2018-19 regular season, the Lightning was 5-0-1 against the Jackets. There were a few gleeful romps in there, including an 8-2 frolic in Tampa and a 4-0 breeze, also in Tampa. In the latter game, Bobrovsky was pulled and he was so angry he left the bench (and was suspended and fined for the breach of protocol). 1173508 Columbus Blue Jackets As the COVID-19 pandemic keeps the sports world on hold, causing the future of this year's Stanley Cup playoffs to remain a mystery, The Dispatch is taking a look back at the sweep nobody saw coming.

Sweep memories | Blue Jackets throttled mighty Lightning a year ago This is the first of a six-part oral history that will take you back a year to the unthinkable start of a Blue Jackets postseason.

Brian Hedger The Columbus Dispatch Apr 8, 2020 at 5:30 AM We might not be able to watch the 2020 playoffs, which would've started later this week, but “Bob's save” and “Fliggy's breakaway” aren't going anywhere. Neither are the “five-alarm fire” that Lightning coach Jon Cooper mentioned after Game 2, the nail-biting third period of Game 3, The Blue Jackets were an afterthought entering the NHL playoffs last Oliver Bjorkstrand's exhilarating 6-on-5 goal or the Jackets' three empty- season, but fueled by a speech from coach John Tortorella they netters to seal Game 4 at raucous Nationwide Arena. overcame a shaky start in Game 1 on the way to a four-game blitz of Tampa Bay. While putting this series together, The Dispatch spoke by phone with a number of those who lived those moments and that series. Among those A year ago, a coach walked into his locker room at before who responded and were willing to provide their memories and insights a playoff series that his team wasn't supposed to win. into the series were seven Blue Jackets players ― Cam Atkinson, Outside, it was a balmy 77 degrees in Tampa, Florida, after a sun- Bjorkstrand, Nick Foligno, Seth Jones, Riley Nash, David Savard and soaked day. A light breeze made for a delightful stroll to the arena as Alexandre Texier. Other contributors were general manager Jarmo thousands of Tampa Bay Lightning fans flocked to watch the first step in Kekalainen, vice president of hockey operations Bill Zito, former what they knew would be a Stanley Cup coronation. president of hockey operations John Davidson, television broadcaster John Forslund ― who handled the series for NBC's affiliates ― and, of Their Lightning, after all, had won 62 of 82 games to tie an NHL record. course, “Hurricane” Tortorella himself. Their Lightning had piled up 128 points to win the Presidents' Trophy with ease. Their Lightning topped the league in power play and penalty killing, These are their memories, their retelling of the Jackets' biggest had a goalie with 39 wins, led the NHL with a startling 319 goals ― 30 accomplishment to date and the key moments of a series that's worth more than the next closest team — and boasted three 40-goal scorers: another spin. Steven Stamkos (45), Nikita Kucherov (41) and Brayden Point (41). The season was headed off the rails, despite the addition of All-Star How could a team like that possibly lose, let alone in the first round to a center Matt Duchene and three others at the trade deadline. A listless 4-1 team that needed 81 games just to qualify? loss March 21 in Edmonton was the final straw, prompting an emotional team meeting before a practice two days later in Vancouver. Confidence was high among the locals, to say the least, but inside a tempest swirled. A tropical storm churned within John Tortorella's head Davidson: “You know, when you cleanse the soul, sometimes good for nearly a week, building to near hurricane strength by the time his Blue things happen. I went over on the other side of the ice surface, this was Jackets had completed pregame warm-ups. at the University of British Columbia, and I sat in the stands. They came out (after the team meeting), and I didn't know where the hell this was His ears were charred after what he'd heard and felt during press going to go. And they, without question, had the best practice they had all conferences, when most of the questions pertained to the Lightning. year.”

Wasn't Tampa Bay too strong? Too talented? How could the Jackets, Tortorella: “Remember, last year (Sergei Bobrovsky and Artemi Panarin) who'd been scorched by the Lightning in all three regular-season said they're leaving. We had to deal with that all year long and with two of matchups, hope to match up? your mainstays. I'm not criticizing them. I give them both a lot of credit for how they handled themselves. Sometimes it was going off the tracks, The coach had heard enough. He wore it as a badge of honor, or though, and we had a number of very honest meetings in a very face-to- dishonor, and made sure his players knew it. With every set of eyes face setting in a locker room that I will treasure, as far as learning from it focused on him, he strode to the middle of the locker room and and listening to players and just being honest as men.” unleashed the fury. Zito: “The way the ship got straightened out was, 'Let's worry about the “I just spent three days and no one said a word about you,” Tortorella first period and let's worry about tonight.' That was real. You know, from said, pointing to one of his players. JD to Jarmo all the way down to the staff and the players, everybody.” “Or you,” he said, pointing to another. The “Vancouver summit” worked. The Jackets trounced the Canucks 5-0 “Or this team,” he continued, boiling with resentment. “It was all about at , and won seven of their final eight games. They barely those guys across the way. And I just can't believe the disrespect that earned the second wild card in the Eastern Conference, but were rolling. goes on.” That part often gets overlooked. It was the beginning of a pep talk that later became a sensation, known Nash: “We finished the year really strong and were playing our best simply as “Torts' speech” after it was released online in the aftermath of a hockey of the year at the end of the season, which is what you want.” stunning upset. The team with no chance to win had won, taking a quick series lead with a 4-3 victory in Game 1 by overcoming a 3-0 deficit and Foligno: “We felt like a team that was disrespected. Rightfully so, to some a mountain of doubters. degree. We stumbled. Let's be honest. We didn't play as well as we needed to, but then we went on an absolute tear at the end of the season It was stunning. It was shocking. It was just the beginning. to get into the playoffs … and still didn't have anyone's respect.” The Blue Jackets, as we know, swept the Lightning out of the playoffs, After they'd won in Ottawa to conclude the regular season, the Jackets leaving jaws agape across the hockey world. They didn't win a Stanley still had two possible first-round opponents. One was the Washington Cup, losing a hard-fought, six-game series to the Boston Bruins in the Capitals, who'd broken their hearts the year before. The other was the second round, but did provide us with something else. Lightning, a record-setting team nobody wanted to face. The Jackets made history last year. The made the final decision with a win in They toppled the mightiest tree in the forest, did it in dominating fashion Philadelphia. They got the Capitals. The Jackets got better weather. and won a playoff series for the first time in franchise history. They also Kekalainen: “Heading into the series, obviously we knew it was going to gave us our first glimpse of what it might look like around Columbus if be a tall mountain to climb. Everybody had seen what they'd done in the they do win the Cup, with hugs all around, high-fives aplenty and tears of regular season, but I think the mindset in pro sports is always ... there is joy streaming down faces. so much pride in every NHL locker room that nobody is going to go into It was just one series, but it meant a lot more in Columbus, which has any series against anybody saying, 'Oh, man, let's get this over with, endured its share of hockey disappointment. One year later, the we're going to lose.' There was a lot of chatter in our room saying that if memories of that sweep have yet to fade. They've collected dust, yes, but we played the right way, we could beat them.” are still just a daydream away. Savard: “We knew nobody gave us a chance. At the end of the day, I don't think it mattered to us. It just kind of gave us a little boost of energy, like, 'We'll show those guys that we're better than they're telling us,' or telling everybody, basically.”

Tortorella: “The biggest point, at least for me and my attitude, is that I had absolute hate on for everybody around me, because this Columbus Blue Jacket team had just won seven of eight games to get in, after an awful game against Edmonton … and we were just a footnote going in to that series.”

When it was released online by Fox Sports , Tortorella's impassioned speech was thought by many to have been delivered in the first intermission.

That wasn't the case. It happened before the game, before the Jackets fell behind 3-0, but it still rang in their ears 20 minutes later. Here's the last portion, with expletives deleted:

“You stand in there!” Tortorella said, making sure to make eye contact around the room. “You stand in there and you don't take a backward step! Not for a second! It's a great opportunity to stand right face-to-face with 'em and go right to 'em! There is no one taking a back step here!”

It was an instant hit with fans and former players. It was also a moment the Jackets won't soon forget.

Atkinson: “You wanted to run through a brick wall as soon as you heard that, and talking to past players that have played for him, they say the same thing. … It just gives you the butterflies thinking about it.”

Foligno: “That was him preparing us for how we needed to act. And I think having that speech allowed us to come back in the locker room between the first and the second and fall back on that again. It was like, 'Alright, you just got it fed to you in the first period, don't take a backward step here.' Don't let them intimidate you, because this is what they want.”

Nash: “It was like those old war movies, where the leader gives a rah-rah speech, almost like 'Braveheart.' I know every guy in that room could feel it in their bones.”

One player in particular felt his pulse rate quicken. A talented rookie forward from France, who didn't make his NHL debut until the penultimate game of the regular season, was about to get his first taste of playoff hockey at that level.

Texier: “When Torts came in the locker room, it was kind of scary a little bit, you know? You're young, first time here, you don't want to make a mistake. You just want to go out there and have fun, but it was a good feeling, to be honest.”

Nash: “He spoke with such conviction. I think that was what made us all believers. He wasn't talking about us going out there and winning four straight and beating them. It was just, 'Stand in there. We deserve some respect. We deserve to be here.' ”

Texier: “You just don't have this kind of speech before the game in other leagues. There are some speeches in Finland. My head coach there was Sami Kapanen. He played a lot of years in the NHL, so he was pretty good at it. But Torts is … he's different.”

Tortorella: “I was just … I was mad for my team, after winning seven of eight to get in, grinding away and doing the things they needed to do to get in, and no one gave us a chance. So, I was pissed off. That's where it comes from.” [email protected]

@BrianHedger

The is the first installment of a six-part series about the Blue Jackets' four-game sweep of the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round of the NHL playoffs last year ― as told by those who lived it. Accounts of games 1 through 4 plus a final summation will follow every other day through April 18.

Columbus Dispatch LOADED: 04.09.2020 1173509 Columbus Blue Jackets TEAMMATES WILL MATCH THAT $100,000 WITH OWNERSHIP PUTTING IN WHATEVER ELSE IS NEEDED. PIC.TWITTER.COM/SKNSRJRECO

Sergei Bobrovsky and Artemi Panarin team up again to help their new — GEORGE RICHARDS (@GEORGERICHARDS) MARCH 13, 2020 communities “The workers in the arena are a big part of our events. They’re a big part of our support,” Bobrovsky said. “There was the risk for them to lose their By George Richards Apr 8, 2020 job and not have the possibility to feed their family. At any rate, it’s a tough time for everybody, for the whole world. I just tried to do the right thing for those people, to support them and help a little bit from my side.”

Editor’s note: In an effort to support local businesses that are being Bobrovsky first came to the United States as a 22-year-old to play for the threatened by the devastating effects of the coronavirus, The Athletic is but has spent the bulk of his 10-year NHL career publishing an ongoing series of stories to highlight our treasured playing in Columbus, Ohio. communities. #supportlocal He and Panarin left the Blue Jackets last summer, with the Panthers SUNRISE, Fla. — Sergei Bobrovsky says he likes to keep things simple hoping to sign both players. when it comes to what is painted on his hockey mask. Although Panarin ended up signing with the New York Rangers after the Although other goalies have elaborate works of art on their masks, two visited potential teams together, Bobrovsky signed the biggest Bobrovsky is cool with not much more than a team logo. contract Florida has ever given out, a seven-year deal worth $10 million annually. Bobrovsky is very serious about the protective aspect of his mask, however, constantly working on the fit of it to make sure it keeps him as Bob’s home by the sea safe as possible as he dodges one hard puck after another. Since moving to South Florida, Bobrovsky has tried to become part of his During the coronavirus crisis, which has put a halt to normal life, new community. Bobrovsky has helped make sure those on the front lines of the pandemic have top-of-the-line protection. He and his wife, Olya, bought a house in Fort Lauderdale and are now spending a lot of time there during this break from the game. Bobrovsky said he worked with a couple of close friends within the NHL to deliver what NHL.com reported were “thousands” of the highly sought- Bobrovsky, like most professional athletes, is used to a certain routine after N95 protective masks to hospitals in their communities. that includes being on the ice just about every day.

As health care workers around the world have found essential protective Since the NHL put a stop to its season, Bobrovsky has been hunkered gear in short supply, Bobrovsky helped procure the masks with former down in his waterside home. Columbus teammate Artemi Panarin and Islanders goalie Semyon There is no ice there, save for what he has in his freezer. Varlamov. Bobrovsky knows others have it much worse during his shut-in, but as a Bobrovsky’s gift of 1,500 masks went to hospitals in South Florida. hockey player whose season may not be over just yet, he is trying to Panarin, who is one of Bobrovsky’s closest friends, bought 1,500 masks stick to his routine as much as possible. and donated them to the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York. He says after breakfast in the morning, he hits the gym for a workout. He Varlamov’s teammates with the Islanders gathered their money and swims in his pool, grabs lunch, rests and then hits the gym again. At bought 3,000 masks and gave them to the Northwell Health system on night, he will wind down by watching something Olya has picked out and Long Island. then, the next day, he does it all over again.

“They (Panarin and Varlamov) did this in New York and in their Bobrovsky says he and his wife have been staying inside as much as community. I did it here in Florida with the Florida Panthers Foundation to possible in trying to stay safe. make sure the first responders have the right masks,” Bobrovsky said on “We get our food from people who are out sacrificing their health by a conference call hosted by the Panthers on Tuesday afternoon. delivering it to us and others,” Bobrovsky said. “We are staying at home “Those masks are N95. It’s a high-quality mask. It’s good to support making sure we’re taking care of ourselves and doing the right things.” those people with the high-quality masks.” As a goalie, he would love to be back on the ice facing some pucks. He Bobrovsky’s work with the masks was not the first time he has used is not alone. some of his financial resources to help others in town. All players have been barred from skating at their team facilities and all SERGEI BOBROVSKY HAS A NEW #FLAPANTHERS MASK…HE local rinks have been closed. JUST GOT IT YESTERDAY. PIC.TWITTER.COM/DSENZ6IBPY “As a goalie, it’s a little harder to train, especially on the ice,” Bobrovsky — GEORGE RICHARDS (@GEORGERICHARDS) OCTOBER 18, 2019 said. “You need somebody to shoot at you. You need to see the puck, read the players and stuff like that. At this moment, I don’t have that The Panthers were in Dallas on March 12 when the NHL put its 2019-20 possibility. I can only build my body to be strong, to be fast, to be quick.” season on hold. Bobrovsky put up a video of himself stopped tennis balls fired from a On the flight back to Florida, Bobrovsky and his teammates talked about launcher not long into this hiatus, yet another unique way hockey players wanting to help pay the salaries of part-time arena employees who are trying to keep their edge without being able to, you know, play depend on making money working games. hockey.

The following day, the players got things finalized. SERGEI BOBROVSKY: THE MASTER OF THE HOME WORKOUT

Bobrovsky committed $100,000 to the cause, with the rest of his ( IG/OLYABOBROVSKY)PIC.TWITTER.COM/KLVYEOLAMG teammates matching that total. — (@HOCKEYNIGHT) MARCH 16, 2020 If more money was needed to help help the ushers, security guards, parking attendants and the like, owner Vinnie Viola said he would cover “Everyone is in the same situation and we are all just trying to prepare,” it. Bobrovsky said.

It was a gesture, which has not gone unnoticed or unappreciated, by “It’s not an easy time, but we are all in the same situation. You have to those most affected by the work stoppage. find a positive and that is this gives you time to build up your strength and your speed a little. It is an opportunity to get better.” #FLAPANTHERS GOALIE SERGEI BOBROVSKY IS GOING TO DONATE $100,000 TO MAKE SURE ALL PART-TIME STAFF WHO As the days turn into weeks and, soon, a month, the chances the 2019- WORK AT BB&T CENTER GET PAID DURING THIS HIATUS. HIS 20 season will continue in its entirety fade. Bobrovsky’s Panthers are three points out of a playoff spot — both from the third-place spot in the Atlantic Division as well as one of the wild-card positions — with 13 scheduled games to go.

On Tuesday, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman told “Lunch Talk Live” on NBCSN that in a perfect world, the regular season would pick up where it left off and the playoffs would follow.

This obviously is not a perfect situation, and it’s possible the Panthers might have played their final game of the season.

On Sunday, team president Matt Caldwell said he hoped if games resume, all teams will get a chance to play, which would keep the Panthers’ playoff hopes alive. Bobrovsky echoed that Tuesday.

“Everything we do needs to be fair,” Bettman said on NBCSN.

“The best thing and the easiest thing would be, if at some point, if we could complete the regular season and then go into the playoffs as we normally do. We understand that that may not be possible and that’s why we are considering every conceivable alternative to deal with whatever the eventuality is.”

Bettman added he hoped to have a clearer idea of when or if the league could start up again in a few weeks.

“I think right now there’s too much uncertainty. Hopefully, we’ll all know more by the end of April,” Bettman said. “From an NHL standpoint, we’re viewing all of our options. We want to be ready to go as soon as we get a green light. … Nothing’s been ruled in, nothing’s been ruled out.”

Setting things straight

For Bobrovsky, a return to the ice would be a chance to rectify what he says was a tough first season with the Panthers.

A two-time winner of the Vezina Trophy as the league’s top goalie, Bobrovsky was the prize of Florida’s free-agent class in July.

As it stands now, Bobrovsky is 23-19-6 in 50 games played for Florida with a 3.23 GAA and a save percentage of .900. His goals-against average is the highest of his 10-year NHL career while his save percentage is lowest since his second season (.899) in Philadelphia.

Bobrovsky’s goals-saved above average is a minus-14.91, which is not only the lowest of his career but also ranks near the bottom of the league.

“The numbers were not there,” Bobrovsky said Tuesday. “It was not an easy season for me with a new team, new coach, new surroundings. Everything was new.

“As far as the team standpoint, we were playing for the playoffs and were three points behind. We were right in the mix and it was in our hands. The most important thing is team success and we had the chance to make the playoffs and that is the most important thing for me.”

When things were called off, Bobrovsky had missed the previous four games with what is thought to be a groin injury sustained during warmups before the Calgary game on March 1.

Bobrovsky was out for all of Florida’s final practice March 10 in Dallas, working with goalie coach Robb Tallas long after the rest of his teammates left the ice.

Coach Joel Quenneville said that day that Bobrovsky was close to a return, but with the way backup Chris Driedger had been playing — he went 2-0-1 in the three games he played after coming back from his own groin injury, which cost him six weeks — there was no rush to get Bobrovsky back on the ice.

This time off has helped Bobrovsky, at least in that respect.

“I’m feeling good,” Bobrovsky said. “I was close to (coming) back and now it is time to just make sure my body is ready to go and is all healed up from that.“

The Athletic LOADED: 04.09.2020 1173510 Detroit Red Wings “Certainly, Gordie was a much bigger name than me,” Kaline said, “but people were always nice to us, maybe because of the personality. Gordie was so easy, so pleasant to be around. They showed respect, mostly for Gordie, which they should have.” Al Kaline and Gordie Howe: Golfing pals and batting practice buddies Detroit Free Press LOADED: 04.09.2020

George Sipple and Mark Snyder, Detroit Free Press Published 6:01 a.m. ET April 8, 2020

The following is an excerpt from the Free Press' book, "Gordie: The Legend of Mr. Hockey," published in 2016 after the death of Red Wings superstar Gordie Howe.

Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the two iconic sports stars in Detroit were right wing Gordie Howe of the Red Wings and rightfielder Al Kaline of the Tigers. During their Hall of Fame careers, they became fast friends.

Howe joined the Wings as an 18-year-old in 1946. He retired at 43 in 1971. Kaline joined the Tigers as an 18-year-old in 1953. He retired at 39 in 1974.

Howe won his first scoring title with 86 points (43 goals, 43 assists) as a 22-year-old in 1951, 20 points ahead of runner-up Rocket Richard. Kaline won his American League batting title at .340 as a 20-year-old in 1955, 21 points ahead of runner-up Vic Power.

Detroit Tigers legend Al Kaline talks with members of the media inside in Detroit, Michigan about what Gordie Howe meant to him.

In an interview with the Detroit Free Press shortly before Howe suffered a serious stroke in October 2014, Kaline reflected on his relationship with Howe:

♦ “Gordie’s one of a kind. Of course, his nickname, Mr. Hockey, is exactly what he is. Other than the fact he was a great, great, great hockey player, he is one of the great people that I’ve ever run into in sports. Our friendship has gone back a long ways. We lived at one time close to each other.”

♦ “I used to go to hockey games with a friend of both of ours and afterwards we would go to Carl’s steakhouse — which is no longer there — after the game before we went home. Several other players and their wives were always there, too. That’s how I ran into Gordie.”

♦ “Gordie would come down to the ballpark once in a while and maybe take batting practice with us at that time in Briggs Stadium. When we started to go to dinner we got very friendly.”

♦ “He’s such an icon in this city and in sports, especially in the hockey world.”

Two of Detroit's all-time sports favorites, Al Kaline (left) and Gordie Howe, pause in the shade of a big tree at Plum Hollow Golf Club.

Kaline, like an estimated 15,000 others, paid his respects to his old pal at a public visitation inside Joe Louis Arena four days after his passing at age 88. Mr. Tiger, now 81, told more stories about his time with Mr. Hockey — on the golf course, on the diamond, on the ice and in the public eye.

“I got to be very friendly with Gordie and played golf with him, mostly at Plum Hollow, and he was a very good golfer,” Kaline said. “I just started playing, and he put up with me for a while.” Kaline’s game quickly improved, so much so that he later became a member at Oakland Hills Country Club, the most prestigious course in the state.

Kaline invited Howe to Briggs Stadium for a little BP.

“He had trouble hitting it for a while,” Kaline said. “Then he hit one over the fence, and it was like he scored the winning goal in the playoffs.”

Then Howe returned the favor at Olympia Stadium.

“I never skated before in my life,” Kaline said. “I was a one-leg pusher on skates and holding on to the railing, and Gordie being Gordie came over and gave me one of his famous elbows. But he was a super person.”

The Kalines and the Howes spent a lot of private time in each other’s homes. When they were in public together, Kaline saw what he considered a real star. 1173511 Detroit Red Wings But this was the moment framed forever: Cleaves and Tom Izzo standing on the floor in the old RCA Dome in Indianapolis, looking up as “One Shining Moment” played on the video screen. Izzo’s mouth is open in amazement as he tears up, while Cleaves sobs so heavily, he puts a Wojo: The Detroit sports moments that endear and endure forever hand to his face and leans on Izzo. From Magic to Mateen, the circle was complete.

► 7. Oct. 17, 2015 — Trouble with a particular snap Bob Wojnowski, The Detroit News Published 4:36 p.m. ET April 8, 2020 | Updated 5:58 p.m. ET April 8, 2020 Arguably the most shocking finish in college football history, a flash of 10 seconds that altered trajectories, created heroes and destroyed TV sets

in Ann Arbor. Michigan led Michigan State 23-21 in the Big House in Jim Detroit — The range of moments and emotions in sports is staggering, Harbaugh’s first meeting with Mark Dantonio. At the Spartans’ 47 with 10 from fumbled snaps to majestic home runs to brutal brawls. We’ve seen seconds left, the Wolverines didn’t kill quite enough time, and Blake everything in Detroit, except for a local team participating in that little O’Neill lined up to punt. annual event called the Super Bowl. Of course you know what happened next. O’Neill bobbled the snap, tried While waiting for the real world to heal, I sifted and sorted the Detroit to pick it up, and the ball squirted to the Spartans’ Jalen Watts-Jackson. sports moments since I began writing for The News in 1989, and put He scooped it and ran 38 yards to the end zone for a 27-23 Michigan them in order of impact — 1 through 20. Apologies in advance. State victory, and simultaneously fractured his hip under the weight of Everyone’s list can’t be the same, and in my 31 years here, I’ve learned exuberant teammates. On ESPN, Sean McDonough’s voice cracked like cheers and tears aren’t separated by much. a teenager’s as he yelled, “Whooaaa he has trouble with the snap!” It’s a phrase that will never need further explanation. Again, these aren’t necessarily the “greatest” moments but the most “memorable.” If you read the bottom half of the list —11 through 20 — ► 6. March 26, 1997 — For Wings, it took a turtle to clear a hurdle you know what I mean. Here come the rest, from 10 to the top, some In a bitter, simmering rivalry, it was the brawl to end all brawls, except it uplifting, some soul-crushing. If I missed one, hopefully you’ll find it in the actually started the brawls. Late in the first period between the Wings and honorable mentions. If not, complain to the editor. Avalanche, there was a chilling, thundering roar from the crowd, ► 10. Nov. 26, 2016 — A matter of inches, a matter of opinion practically blood-curdling. Mild-mannered Igor Larionov had started scuffling with Peter Forsberg when Darren McCarty suddenly dropped his Ah, the replay that would replay forever, Michigan’s latest torment in the gloves and launched himself at Claude Lemieux, an act of hockey Ohio State rivalry. In the second overtime of a classic in Columbus, J.T. vengeance that was brutal but necessary. McCarty delivered about a Barrett’s fourth-and-1 run either touched the edge of the line or fell an half-dozen blows as Lemieux curled into the turtle position, his blood inch short. Depending on the camera angle, and the school affiliation, it staining the ice. was either too close to call and thus too close to overturn, or the travesty of a lifetime. (Objectively, too close to overturn). Lemieux had shown no remorse for his blindside hit on Kris Draper the previous year and practically mocked the Wings into retaliation. By the Curtis Samuel ran 15 yards on the next play to win it for the Buckeyes, end of the night, goalies Mike Vernon and Patrick Roy had fought and 30-27, and send them to the playoff. Urban Meyer’s legend grew. Jim there were 148 minutes in penalties. Poetically, McCarty scored the OT Harbaugh’s anger spewed. In his second season, he showed what was goal to win it 6-5 and the Wings were imbued with a spirit that led them to possible and still unreachable, spawning a debate that apparently will their first Stanley Cup in 42 years. never end. ► 5. June 2, 2010 — Blemished perfection ► 9. Jan. 5, 1992 — The Lions flirt with glory Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga smiles as he walks away from first- They got as close to the Super Bowl as they ever have (or will?) in one base umpire Jim Joyce, who called the Indians' Jason Donald safe at first remarkable afternoon. The Lions won their division at 12-4 and hosted base with two outs in the ninth inning of a game June 2, 2010. Galarraga the Cowboys in the NFC playoffs. The Silverdome was beyond raucous lost his bid for a perfect game with the call. and the nation was taking notice of a team inspired by the loss of offensive lineman Mike Utley, paralyzed Nov. 17 against the Rams. The night hummed along, batter after batter, and before anyone realized, history beckoned. The Tigers’ Armando Galarraga was mowing down the 28. ROARING SENSATION Indians in Comerica Park, 26 up and 26 down.

Jan. 5, 1992 It was so unfathomable, and yet so near. With two outs in the ninth, Galarraga induced Jason Donald to tap a grounder wide of first, where Barry Sanders’ ridiculous 47-yard TD run against the Cowboys gives Miguel Cabrera scooped it up and tossed to Galarraga covering the Lions a 38-6 victory and their first playoff win since 1957. base. After a slight hesitation, umpire Jim Joyce called Donald safe. Factoid: The Lions are 0-9 in the playoffs since, the longest playoff losing When replays showed he was out, the crowd booed louder and louder, streak in NFL history. pic.twitter.com/foLOrS832z Jim Leyland raced out to argue and players gestured angrily at Joyce. It actually became a bigger story because of the gaffe and Joyce’s tearful — Gil Brandt (@Gil_Brandt) August 8, 2019 apology, perhaps the most bizarre regular-season moment in Detroit This moment wasn’t Barry Sanders’, although it sort of was. The sports history. Cowboys stacked the box to stuff him, so Wayne Fontes and his staff ► 4. Sept. 27, 1999 — Grand old lady takes her bow simply let Erik Kramer throw and throw. Sanders rushed for 69 yards and Kramer threw for 341 and the Lions destroyed America’s Team, 38-6. It Possibly the most emotional event I’ve ever covered, as the weathered was their lone playoff victory since 1957, and they were labeled one of cathedral at the corner of Michigan and Trumbull hosted its final game. the next power teams in the NFL. That lasted about a week. They lost to Shortly after Robert Fick clubbed a grand slam off the Tiger Stadium roof Washington, 41-10, in the NFC championship game, then went 5-11 the in the eighth inning, I headed to the stands to talk to fans, and I don’t following season. mind admitting I got choked up. When Todd Jones struck out Kansas City’s Carlos Beltran to end it, fans hugged and sobbed and clutched the Mateen Cleaves and coach Tom Izzo shared tears of joy following their girders, refusing to let go. 2000 NCAA title. It was another 10 years before Tiger Stadium was demolished, and I ► 8. April 3, 2000 — One tearful, shining moment swear it took that long for people to accept their childhood touchstone There were plenty of memorable snapshots as Michigan State rolled past was gone. The cramped concourses, the steaming boiled hot dogs, the Florida, 89-76, to win the 2000 national championship. There was the obstructed views, the right-field overhang, the greenest grass a kid ever moment early in the second half when Mateen Cleaves fell to the floor saw. with an injured ankle after colliding with the Gators’ Teddy Dupay. There ► 3. Nov. 19, 2004 — Malice at the Palace was the moment a short while later when Cleaves hobbled back from the locker room and limped onto the court to a huge ovation. Another rivalry due to boil over. The Pistons and Pacers were battling for supremacy in the East, and it was a combative Friday night at the Palace. With 45.9 seconds left and the Pacers ahead 97-82, the ignition 10. Nov. 26, 2016 – J.T. Barrett converts controversial fourth down, was lit, in the form of a blue plastic cup of beer fired at Ron Artest. Buckeyes torment Wolverines again

For the record, the mindless cup-tosser was named John Green, and 11. June 14, 1990 – Vinnie Johnson’s shot with 00:7 left at Portland wins what ensued was one of the ugliest player-versus-fan-versus-player- NBA title for Pistons versus-security brawls ever. It began with a hard foul by Artest and a shove by Ben Wallace, and spawned heated discourse for weeks about 12. Nov. 22, 1997 – Charles Woodson’s 78-yard punt return sparks UM player-fan tensions in the NBA. It led to nine suspensions, including a past OSU to keep unbeaten season alive season-long ban for Artest. The defending champion Pistons regrouped 13. May 24, 2004 – Tayshaun Prince blocks Reggie Miller’s shot and while the Pacers crumbled, and by June the Pistons were back in the Pistons take control of Pacers series NBA Finals, where they narrowly missed a repeat, falling to the Spurs in seven games. 14. Dec. 21, 1997 – Barry Sanders tops 2,000 yards and Lions clinch playoff berth ► 2. Oct. 14, 2006 — Magglio’s marvelous swat 15. April 3, 1989 – Rumeal Robinson’s free throws seal UM’s national Comerica Park was ready to burst, figuratively speaking. A party was championship against Seton Hall about to start, and the fans just needed the signal. There were two outs in the ninth, score tied 3-3, Game 4 of the ALCS against Oakland. The 16. May 16, 1996 – Yzerman’s goal in second overtime of Game 7 lifts Tigers already led the series 3-0, so tension had given way to Wings past Blues festiveness, which then gave way to bedlam. 17. Jan. 8, 1994 – Sterling Sharpe catches 40-yard touchdown pass as On the second pitch from A’s reliever Huston Street, Magglio Ordonez Packers stun Lions in playoffs struck the ball high into the autumn night, and fans were leaping and 18. Dec. 5, 2015 – LJ Scott scores lunging 1-yard TD to give MSU Big screaming before it landed. Rounding the bases ahead of Ordonez, Ten title over Iowa Placido Polanco skipped like a kid. The three-run homer sent the Tigers to their first World Series since 1984, and came just three years after the 19. Oct. 13, 2013 – David Ortiz clubs grand slam to tie Tigers, turn ALCS team lost 119 games. Jim Leyland had helped them believe, and a toward Red Sox talented blend of veterans and youngsters made it happen. 20. April 5, 1993 – Chris Webber calls timeout he didn’t have, Michigan Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman holds the Stanley Cup aloft while loses title game to North Carolina celebrating with teammates at center ice after sweeping the Philadelphia Flyers in the 1997 NHL Finals. Honorable Mention

► 1. June 7, 1997 — The Captain’s Cup June 8, 2002 – Igor Larionov’s goal in third OT gives Wings 2-1 lead over Carolina in A celebration four decades in the making, and there was no stopping it. The Red Wings hadn’t won the Stanley Cup since 1955, enduring Dec. 3, 2013 – Aaron Rodgers’ 61-yard Hail Mary stuns Lions crushing disappointments, and captain Steve Yzerman was 32 and in his Sept. 24, 1994 – Kordell Stewart’s 64-yard Hail Mary stuns Wolverines 14th season. It was now or never, on its way to now and forever, as the Wings led the Flyers 3-0 in the series. Sept. 18, 2010 – Mark Dantonio’s “Little Giants” fake field goal beats Notre Dame Pick a moment in the clincher. Darren McCarty deking brilliantly and tapping in the puck to make it 2-0 in the second period, and the way the Oct. 6, 2009 – Tigers drop epic Game 163 to Twins, 6-5 in 12 innings Wings were grinding, it was essentially over. The spine-tingling moment came in the closing 10 seconds as fans — tears streaming down their Nov. 3, 2001 – “Spartan Bob” clock game, MSU beats UM on final play faces — roared and thumped the glass. At the final horn, players threw Jan. 4, 2015 – Refs pick up pass-interference flag and Cowboys beat their equipment into the air and flooded the ice, and I can say with Lions in playoffs assurance the cheers were the loudest and throatiest I’d ever heard. Sept. 12, 2010 – Calvin Johnson doesn’t “complete the process” and The final moment: Yzerman raising the Stanley Cup, grinning as he Lions lose to Bears turned, the noise seemingly shaking the old barn. The Joe is gone now, as is Tiger Stadium, as is the Silverdome, as is the Palace, and the June 12, 2007 – Justin Verlander throws first of his two no-hitters for games are on hold. But the Images endure, magnified and appreciated Tigers, beating Brewers even more, until the next ones are made. March 29, 2013 – Trey Burke hits 3-pointer to force OT, Wolverines stun Wojo’s Most Memorable Moments since 1989 Kansas

1. June 7, 1997 – Steve Yzerman lifts the Stanley Cup after Wings Detroit News LOADED: 04.09.2020 sweep Flyers

2. Oct. 14, 2006 – Magglio Ordonez clubs walk-off HR to send Tigers to the World Series

3. Nov. 19, 2004 – Malice at the Palace, as Pacers’ Ron Artest charges into stands

Ron Artest is led off the court by Pacers special consultant Chuck Person after a brawl near the end of a 2004 game between the Pistons and the Pacers, later dubbed "The Malice at the Palace."

4. Sept. 27, 1999 – The final out at Tiger Stadium

5. June 2, 2010 – Armando Galarraga’s perfect game ruined by Jim Joyce’s blown call

6. March 26, 1997 – Wings and Avalanche engage in epic brawl at Joe Louis Arena

7. Oct. 17, 2015 – “Whoa trouble with the snap” as MSU stuns UM

8. April 3, 2000 – Tom Izzo and Mateen Cleaves share tearful One Shining Moment

9. Jan. 5, 1992 – Erik Kramer goes wild, Lions crush Cowboys 38-6 for lone playoff win 1173512 Detroit Red Wings Central Scouting usually issues its final rankings between the draft lottery and first-round of the NHL playoffs, so Wednesday’s release was identical to previous years.

‘Compete level’ separates possible Red Wings' No. 1 pick Alexis “Our ranking is based on regular-season play and gives us a balanced Lafreniere assessment,” said Marr, noting there were some changes from normal. “We moved it (meetings) to an online format. We were able to conduct business as usual, minus the personal interactions when you have breaks and dinners. Ted Kulfan, The Detroit News Published 5:15 p.m. ET April 8, 2020 “But we were able to make the best of the situation and get our list.”

Both Lafreniere and Stuetzle, said Marr, were worthy top-ranked players Detroit – Alexis Lafreniere began this hockey season as the likely best because of their ability to dominate under pressure situations. player in the NHL Draft – and he also wound up in that position. “Particularly on the world stage,” Marr said. “In most situations, it really Lafreniere, a forward, was the No. 1 North American skater Wednesday stands out. But it’s their consistency to play and compete at a high level as the NHL released its final Central Scouting rankings. and constantly produce those results (that stood out).” Alexis Lafreniere Detroit News LOADED: 04.09.2020 Lafreniere had a dominant season for Rimouski, in the Quebec Major Junior league, with 112 points (35 goals, 77 assists) in 34 games before the season ended on March 17 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Forward Quinton Byfield (Sudbury) was ranked No. 2 and defenseman Jamie Drysdale (Erie) No. 3. Defenseman Jake Sanderson, of the Plymouth-based U.S. National Development Team Program, was No. 4, and forward Cole Perfetti of Saginaw ranked fifth.

German forward Tim Stuetzle was ranked the No. 1 international skater.

But it’ll be Lafreniere who will be targeted first by the Red Wings and other teams in the draft lottery.

“He’s quite the player,” JF Damphousse, Quebec and Maritimes regional scout for Central Scouting, said Wednesday. “When you look at every aspect of his game, you could consider every aspect as elite. Every time I saw him play, he makes plays that you don’t think are possible, and he still makes them.

“(But) what separates him from the pack is his compete level. He’s willing to play physical and he battles every game.”

When the draft takes place and how the lottery will be determined are issues that will be settled eventually. If the current NHL standings were to hold, the Wings would have an 18.5-percent chance of landing the No. 1 pick – the best singular odds.

Despite all of hockey being put on hold, Lafreniere is staying patient and remains excited about the future.

“It’s a dream of every hockey player (to be drafted),” Lafreniere said. “To see how close we are right now, it’s pretty exciting. We’re all excited for the draft.”

After Detroit in the lottery, Ottawa has the second-worst record and a 13.5-percent chance of getting the No. 1 pick. But the Senators also hold San Jose’s No. 3 pick (11.5 percent), so combined Ottawa has a 25- percent chance of winning the rights to draft Lafreniere.

This draft process has already been turned upside by the fact that junior, NCAA, and European leagues shut down their seasons early and cancelled playoffs. With the draft combine also being scrapped, teams are relying heavily on their early-season scouting, said Dan Marr, central scouting director.

“Certainly it’s new territory for the clubs,” Marr said. “They’ve never had a situation like this where they don’t get to factor in the playoff performances. It kind of puts them on an even level with central scouting. There’s a lot of old-fashioned scouting going on.

“Everybody’s staff has been out there (during the season) and getting a good view and opinion of these players.”

Several issues cropped up with the cancellation of the combine, where teams can interview players, and numerous medical and physical testing is completed. Teams are now interviewing players with various video conferencing technologies. As for medical testing, Marr said Central Scouting collects medical history questionnaires from the players and any relevant medical reports are posted on a league scouting website.

Also, Marr said physical testing information is available on approximately 75 of the top 100 prospects and will be available for teams. 1173513 Detroit Red Wings will be rescheduled after the league determines what to do with the remainder of the season and playoffs.

The entire rankings are posted on NHL.com. Alexis Lafreniere, Tim Stuetzle top final NHL Central Scouting lists Michigan Live LOADED: 04.09.2020

By Ansar Khan

Alexis Lafreniere, the high-scoring left wing from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League who is widely expected to be the first player selected in this year’s draft, topped NHL Central Scouting’s final rankings of North American draft prospects.

Lafreniere boasts an elite combination of scoring and passing ability, speed and willingness to play in traffic. He was the 2020 World Junior Championship MVP for gold medal-winning Canada. He tallied 35 goals and 112 points in only 52 games for the Rimouski Oceanic.

J-F Damphousse, Central Scouting’s regional scout for Quebec and the Maritimes, praised Lafreniere’s all-around ability.

“I think you could consider every aspect as elite when you look at his skating, his puck skills,” Damphousse said Wednesday during a media video conference. “One of his best assets in general is his vision, his playmaking skills. Every game I saw him play he makes plays that we don’t even think those plays are possible and he still makes them.

“I think what separates him from the pack is his compete level. He’s willing to play physical. He battles every game and anytime the game is on the line you want him on the ice. He makes big plays and he responds under pressure.”

Lafreniere has no doubt he can be a difference-maker.

“I think just the way I’m a leader and I always want to win when the game’s on the line, I think I can make a difference,” Lafreniere said on Wednesday’s video conference. “I think that’s a strong asset that I have and for sure there’s some other really good players in the draft so it’s really special to be No. 1.”

The Detroit Red Wings will have an 18.5 percent chance of landing him, if the NHL doesn’t alter its draft lottery format. That’s because the Red Wings clinched the worst record before the league shut down due on March 12 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Ottawa Senators, based on the current standings, would have the best chance of securing the top pick, however, at 25 percent because they own the San Jose Sharks’ first-round selection (11.5 percent) in addition to their own (13.5 percent).

The Red Wings would have a 49.4 percent chance of drafting in the top three and could select no lower than fourth under the current format.

Big Sudbury center Quinton Byfield (6-5, 214) is second among North American skaters. He plays a 200-foot game and has been compared to Pittsburgh’s Evgeni Malkin.

A pair of defensemen – Jamie Drysdale (5-11, 175) of Eric (OHL) and Jake Sanderson (6-2. 185) of the U.S. National Team Development Program, are rated No. 3 and No. 4 among North American skaters. Sanderson made a significant leap from the mid-term rankings, when he was 11th. Cole Perfetti, a center from OHL Saginaw, rounds out the top five.

Center/left wing Tim Stuetzle (6-1, 187) is No. 1 in Central Scouting’s ranking of the top European skaters. He’s a flashy player with high-end offensive skills who plays for Adler Mannheim in Germany, the same team defenseman Moritz Seider, Detroit’s 2019 top pick, played for.

Yaroslav Askarov of SKA St. Petersburg (Russia) is the top-ranked European goaltender and certain to be the first goalie drafted, possibly in the top 10.

The Red Wings need a franchise goaltender, but it seems unlikely they would select him even drafting as low as fourth, given their need for high- scoring forwards. Askarov has size (6-3, 176), athleticism and a quick right glove hand – he catches the opposite as most goalies.

The NHL Draft Lottery, which had been scheduled for this past Tuesday and Draft (June 26-27 in Montreal) were postponed two weeks ago. They 1173514 Detroit Red Wings Berggren has been a source of discussion and debate in the scouting community for quite some time now.

Part of that stems from his injury trouble (first his back, then his The Gifted: Red Wings prospect Jonatan Berggren and the perimeter shoulder), which resulted in significant lost time and has stunted his player myth development and progression within his club team, Skellefteå AIK.

But even before the injuries came and he lost the better part of two seasons, debates around Berggren’s upside already existed. The injuries By Scott Wheeler Apr 8, 2020 just exaggerated that, because they drew into question whether he was talented enough to overcome losing some of the more valuable years of

his development. In hockey, as in life, there are archetypes built on hyperbole and This brings me to the difference I talked about. Because it all starts and buzzwords that are designed to fit every player into a predefined box. ends there. Scouts and evaluators often fall prey to lazily characterizing young prospects in this way: the power forward, the two-way center, the one- Berggren’s detractors normally use one word to describe it: perimeter. dimensional scorer, the stay-at-home defenseman. But sometimes, just sometimes, there’s a player who is so different from everyone else in In the hockey world, perimeter is often used with negative connotations. approach or ability that he is able to distinguish himself through his Coaches preach about “playing between the dots” and scouts and uniqueness. These players have turned one skill into the body of their managers keep that in mind when they evaluate talent. Perimeter game and highlight all of the different ways hockey can be played at the becomes a knock, code for insinuating that a player doesn’t go to the so- highest levels. “The Gifted” is a 10-part series that examines, through called dirty areas. video, the NHL’s most fascinating prospects and the unique skill sets that In some cases, they’re right. Some players drift to the outside, with and define them. By popular demand, “The Gifted” is back for a fourth year at without the puck, neutralizing themselves in the process. The Athletic. It runs every Wednesday from April 8 to June 10. But they’re often wrong and Berggren is an excellent case study in why – The Gifted (2017 series): : Carl Grundstrom | : Jordan Kyrou | and how – that happens. : Vitaly Abramov | Part 4: Juuso Valimaki | Part 5: Vili Saarijarvi | Part 6: Filip Chlapik | Part 7: Travis Sanheim | : Timo Meier| Part 9: There are obvious, tried and tested reasons for why players ought to play Kirill Kaprizov | Part 10: in the middle of the ice. That’s where goals are scored in the offensive zone. That’s where breakdowns happen off of entries. That’s where The Gifted (2018 series): Part 1: Miro Heiskanen | Part 2: Casey speed is created because carriers can’t be rubbed out … etc. Mittelstadt| Part 3: Dylan Strome | Part 4: Oliver Wahlstrom | Part 5: Gabe Vilardi | Part 6: Adam Boqvist | Part 7: Evan Bouchard | Part 8: If you think of hockey strategy existing on a pendulum, when the focus is Kristian Vesalainen |Part 9: Jonathan Dahlen | Part 10: Morgan Frost on one area, there also exists the risk of overcompensation. When the game swings one way, there’s a natural void to be filled at the other end The Gifted (2019 series): Part 1: Cale Makar | Part 2: Nick Robertson | of the spectrum. And some players have learned to play perimeter Part 3: Jason Robertson | Part 4: Aleksi Heponiemi | Part 5: Adam Fox | games successfully. Part 6: Dante Fabbro | Part 7: Emil Bemstrom | Part 8: Cody Glass | Part 9: Martin Necas | Part 10: Bode Wilde With the right tools, players can wreak havoc on the outside. William Nylander has mastered the curl-back on entry to create separation for The Gifted (2020 series): Part 1: Jonatan Berggren | Part 2: Philip himself on the flank. When teams collapse to that middle lane, players Tomasino | Part 3: Mikhail Abramov | Part 4: Thomas Harley | Part 5: like Johnny Gaudreau and Nikolaj Ehlers have made careers out of Robin Salo | Part 6: Raphael Lavoie | Part 7: Alex Newhook | Part 8: breaking them down in other ways. Bobby Brink | Part 9: Samuel Poulin | Part 10: Patrik Puistola To get to the point where you don’t instinctively file perimeter players into Throughout each hockey season, as I watch NHL prospects play, I keep the negative category in your brain, you have to understand how they a list of players who spark an interest for this project. By the end of the have learned to make it work. year, when the offseason arrives, that list is normally close to two dozen players long. The first thing I try to do to block out that potential bias when I’m watching a player who can drift to the outside, is to pay particular Thus begins my process, in the weeks after the season is done, of attention not to where a player starts a sequence or finishes a sequence, narrowing it down to 10. In years past, I have managed to cut the list but where the puck does. It can be easy to watch a player who spends a down myself, settling on the 10 prospects who most fascinate me for the lot of time with the puck on the outside and think “he’s ineffective out novel ways they play the game or the unique skills they showcase. These there, that’s not where goals are scored.” aren’t always the best prospects, or the most talented, but rather those who offer up something different. But player location and puck location are not the same thing.

This season, though, after cutting my list from 18 prospects down to 13, I The stats can help block out some of that noise. Take, for example, that hit a bit of a snag. Out of those 13 names, I was certain that nine offered Berggren was a 54 percent Corsi For player in his 24 SHL games this something that I wanted to explore further, but I was struggling with the season (with Berggren on the ice at even-strength, Skellefteå outshot final spot. Where does one turn to settle such an issue? Naturally, I their opponents 216-184), good for eighth among the 28 players who canvassed Twitter with a poll and Red Wings fans were extremely appeared in 10 or more games for the team. Despite a .991 PDO (the enthusiastic, stuffing the ballot box for Jonatan Berggren. 24th-worst luck among those 28 players) and limited usage on the second power-play unit (he averaged 1:32 on the man-advantage per I’VE SPENT THE LAST FEW DAYS FINALIZING THE LIST OF game, 13th on the team), he also found ways to produce. In fact, PLAYERS I’M GOING TO EVALUATE FOR THE 2020 EDITION OF THE Berggren’s 0.50 points per game rate ranked third among all under-20 GIFTED. SHL forwards, narrowly behind Kings prospect Samuel Fagemo and I’VE SETTLED ON 9/10 PLAYERS I’M GOING TO BREAK DOWN BUT I Penguins prospect Filip Hallander, who both had extremely favourable CAN’T DECIDE THE LAST. CHOOSE FOR ME, TWITTER. IT’S DOWN on-ice luck and played more significant minutes. TO THE FOLLOWING: Therefore, I try to ask myself this: Is Player X making plays from the — SCOTT WHEELER (@SCOTTCWHEELER) MARCH 25, 2020 outside in, or is the play dying out there? One is effective. The other is not. As a man of my word, here we are – and in the first week no less! And Berggren does a lot of the former. (You’ll notice that Bobby Brink is also going to be included later in the series. I had planned on breaking with tradition to include Dylan Holloway There are normally multiple sequences in each of Berggren’s games in this year’s series as the first draft-eligible prospect to be featured in where he spends his time circling the outside of the offensive zone with “The Gifted” but I have decided against that to appease Flyers fans, who the puck. When those plays don’t result in goals, it’s easy to knock him also voted by the masses. I’ll break down Holloway at a separate date, for it. outside of this series.) “Attack already!” Right? And by the third (this all happens in a split second and with the puck on his stick, we should remind ourselves), he has jumped to the inside edge Take the following sequence, for example. On one hand, Berggren (No. of the opposite foot from where he started (his left now) and he has 48 in all clips with Skellefteå and No. 26 in all sequences with Team waved goodbye to the opposing player, who is spun around, creating an Sweden) takes a low percentage shot from the outside and follows it up opportunity for a shot that wouldn’t have otherwise been there: with a failed pass that exits the offensive zone and forces a reset. This is an inside-out cut but the effect is the same no matter which On the other hand, though, I see five guys in white who’ve turned their direction you’re going. backs on the guys in black to focus their attention on Berggren, allowing one of Berggren’s linemates the opportunity to slide onto their back side Watch him switch feet to, GASP, go to the inside off of the rush here: in the slot for a near scoring chance. Or watch him do the same to burst to the outside, here: And when eyes start following the puck carrier, good things tend to happen, no matter where on the ice that player is. And watch him mix in a little flair to cut from the perimeter to the net through a transfer of weight from his right foot to his left on this little Berggren is particularly successful at it for three reasons. The first is that cut/jump (paying more attention to the final little jump across the crease his skating is propelled by light crossovers (which help him maintain than to the stick skill at the start): speed on turns in the offensive zone) and deft footwork (which helps him open up so that he’s always facing inward). Notice, below, after taking a perimeter shot, how Berggren stays with it and eventually carves off of the boards in one motion to the middle of the The second is his handling, which needs to – and does – seldom include ice for a shot on goal from a more dangerous spot. bobbles if he’s going to be successful as such a puck-dominant player. It’s all about selection. It’s about knowing when to attack into the slot and The third is the vision required to find teammates in creative ways, even when not to. There, he makes the right decision on the second reception as teams collapse into the slot. to attack into a better location on the ice, instead of sticking to the perimeter. But that play isn’t always going to be available to him. This is a perfect example of how all of those things come together to create a goal from the outside: And again and again, Berggren shows he has the skill and the confidence to attack through the middle of the ice. There’s the footwork and the handling at the top of the zone to change directions without hitting a standstill or going offside. There’s his head, Plays like this, where he goes right at opposing players and beats them which is always up and surveying the ice. And even with everyone to create a chance, aren’t all that uncommon: following him, there’s the creativity to make a pass that surprises them anyways. But a lot of it comes down to timing and awareness.

These skills make Berggren particularly dangerous on the power play, The sequence below is a perfect example. After beginning it as F3, where he’s effective directing movement from the flank: Berggren decides to push tempo instead of acting as the trailer. In doing so, he adds pressure up ice, receives a pass in the neutral zone and But they also help him operate from below the goal line. When all four makes a series of little plays before scoring the goal on a tap-in: Swiss defenders are expecting a pass to the slot, Berggren hits Lucas Raymond for the one-timer in the faceoff circle: Look where he started that sequence:

One of the other skills a player like Berggren needs is the ability to do all He consistently does an excellent job reading the pace of play and of this on his backhand. If he’s only comfortable going one way on the adjusting accordingly. perimeter, he’s easy to defend and predict. He knows when to slow down and drift to the perimeter to find the trailer:

Watch here the way he spins back against the grain from a standstill, He knows when to apply pressure, which I hinted at earlier and which he builds speed, and attacks effortlessly on his backhand before creating to does here to force a turnover that leads to a goal, though he doesn’t get the slot to help draw a penalty: credited with an assist for it:

Even then, though, that can’t be your only play. To be successful on the Take particular notice of how much distance he travels there. It’s outside, you need to be able to do more than build separation with some Berggren who is below the goal line pressuring at the start of the crossovers and execute passes to the slot. sequence – and at the top of the zone pressuring at the end.

That’s where another layer of good footwork comes in for a necessary But the bread and butter of his game is always going to be his ability to skill: the cut. create from the perimeter. It always comes back to plays like these:

Though that footwork helps him control the puck out wide to his body and Berggren is at his best when he’s attacking from the outside-in and avoid stick checks, it’s still relatively predictable. When he gets moving, creating with some combination of his feet, his hands, and his heads-up he’s bending in a rotation around the zone and his feet are constantly awareness. When people are looking at Berggren, he’s always a threat to pushing or crossing over in order to build speed. make them look bad.

The great perimeter players can do more than that: They can change And though he’s never going to be a high-end goal scorer at the next directions. Those cuts take them from the perimeter to a more dangerous level, those tools are still enough to propel him, even after all of the area on the ice. And though they may not always take a player into the injuries, to a playmaking role at the NHL level. slot, they can create scoring chances. Those tools are also proof that perimeter doesn’t have to be a bad word. It’s the release from a stride to switch edges. The Athletic LOADED: 04.09.2020 Sometimes, it actually helps players like Berggren pull even further away from the slot. Watch here, how aggressively Berggren cuts (it’s almost like a jump) to burst away from pressure and make a lateral pass that leads to a backdoor goal and a secondary assist.

(Nice pressure there to create the initial retrieval, too, but more on that later.)

And watch for it again, below:

In the first frame, he’s reaching for a pass and off-balance on the inside edge of his right foot, with a defender closing on him:

In the next, he has leveraged all of his weight against the front foot, pulling his lower body back against the momentum of his upper body, to begin his cut past the defender’s stick: 1173515 Edmonton Oilers of that but I’m sure the coaches down there (Bakersfield) have told him he needs a little more desperation in his game.

“That’s easy to fix. The quicker you get back, all of a sudden you’re going Paul Coffey loves Evan Bouchard's offensive ability but still needs work forward with the puck and the checkers aren’t. And you go back and get on overall game the puck on an angle, not in a straight-line. You want the legs pumping at an angle.”

Young defenceman also have to work on their gap control with opposing Jim Matheson, Edmonton Journal forwards. Bear and Jones had to do it. On the farm, Lagesson and Dmitry Samorukov have had to learn it.

“But gap control isn’t like it used to be. Bouchard is a righty, he just has Hockey Hall of Famer Paul Coffey isn’t coaching the young Edmonton to surf those (attackers) off to the boards. He can get that into his game Oilers defence prospects — that’s ’s job and he’s been because his skating is good. He’ll figure that out. You can only get caught terrific with Ethan Bear, Caleb Jones, Evan Bouchard and others on the standing around a few times and then you have to decide if I want to play farm — but the team advisor has a strong organizational voice with the at the next level or be an American League player. He’ll learn. Defence is kids. a tough position.” He applauded the work of the former Oiler Manson in Bakersfield. Coffey knows young D is the Oilers strength. “The young guys are so lucky to have Dave because he’s seen it all from “They’ve got some good guys, Bear, Jones, people to help (Oscar) the defensive side, the toughness side, the offensive side,” said Coffey, Klefbom, Darnell (Nurse), (Adam) Larsson, (Kris) Russell, (Matt) Benning who has also watched the organization’s top prospect Bouchard’s be better because the young guys are coming,” said Coffey. progress very closely. “I love how it is in Edmonton, from the top down they’ve created a Coffey knows how important the 20-year-old is to the Oilers because of competitive culture. The Oilers have lots of depth at a tough area. his puck-moving chops, with most people figuring Bouchard will be on the Everybody wants defencemen.” team next season. He knows Bouchard (36 points in 54 games in Bakersfield in his first pro season) has to play with more urgency, getting Edmonton Sun: LOADED: 04.09.2020 back for pucks quicker to buy time to make a pass if he’s going to be an NHLer, but he’ll learn that.

Bouchard can’t be wallpaper in games, either; he can’t blend in, something Coffey noticed one night when he watched a streamed Condors AHL game.

What you can’t teach are Bouchard’s offensive instincts, why he was drafted 10th in 2018.

“Bouch is well-rounded. He wants to be an NHL player, everybody knows that but wanting to be one and doing what it takes are two different things. Bouch has it all, it’s up to him,” said Coffey, voted one of the 100 Greatest NHLers.

Coffey was at Kevin Lowe’s house watching the Condors with Lowe keen to see how his son Keegan was playing. Coffey was disturbed that he hadn’t noticed Bouchard.

“When we talked I said, ‘to be honest, Ev, if I wasn’t watching for you, I wouldn’t have known you were out there.’ I said ‘you have to stand out,’” said Coffey. “There wasn’t a word of recourse, Bouch said ‘yeah, I need to be better.’”

Coffey knows how it is with kids with talent who don’t improve.

“Twenty (years old) will turn into 24 really fast and then they’re looking at somebody else,” said Coffey, who was in the NHL at 18, giving the Oilers the offensive weapon from the back-end to complement Wayne Gretzky and Co.

“To me, if you’re going to be really successful and have a goal of winning a Cup, every team has had an offensive defenceman. (Denis) Potvin, myself, Larry (Robinson) in Montreal, Nick Lidstrom in Detroit. Here’s the beauty of having a puck-moving defencemen: the other five guys notice that,” said Coffey.

“Bouch is progressing greatly and I love what I see from Kenny (GM Holland), like the old Sam Pollock, you have to spend time in the minors to learn your game. Bouch, (Ryan) McLeod, (Tyler) Benson, (Kailer) Yamamoto, Bear, Jones, (William) Lagesson.

“I think Bouch’s only flaw, and that’s a very strong word, is you have to play every shift like it’s your last, and that’s easy to fix. He was a product of a lot of ice-time in junior with the Knights and you develop the speed you play at.

“I can remember in 2002 when Wayne (Gretzky) and Kevin were with the Olympic team and they had Chris Pronger, great player, Hall of Famer, the whole bit, but it was the same thing with him. He was so used to playing every other shift but when you have six great (Olympic) defencemen you won’t play every other shift.

“With Bouch, with some of the things they say about defencemen that they can’t skate, they can’t pass, they can’t shoot well, Bouch can do all 1173516 Edmonton Oilers this team has battled through a lot of key injuries and still maintained a solid pace. A lot of that has to go to, obviously, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. They’ve been sort of driving this bus and been exceptional all season long. And when you have two players of that caliber playing at Q&A: Wayne Gretzky on the Oilers’ new stars, the records and more a high level, obviously it gives you an opportunity game in and game out to be competitive. Now I think the one underlying factor that has changed

the team is pretty simple. Our power play has become much more of a By Pierre LeBrun and Scott Burnside Apr 8, 2020 clutch power play and our penalty killing has gone from being probably the worst the last two years in the National Hockey League to somewhat of a staple and a benchmark for our team. And the success we’re having, we’re killing penalties at the right time. Killing penalties in key games. Wayne Gretzky knows a thing or two about playing on teams with a And that hadn’t happened in the past. And so coach (Glen) Gulutzan and dominant one-two punch. And, in current Edmonton centers Leon coach (Jim) Playfair deserve a lot of credit for the specialty teams. And Draisaitl and Connor McDavid, Gretzky sees some of what made he and then I’ve played with a lot of great goaltenders. Andy Moog. Grant Fuhr. Mark Messier so dynamic. Curtis Joseph. Kelly Hrudey. Mike Smith is the first goaltender I’ve seen “I played with arguably one of the greatest players who ever played, Mark really energize a hockey club from being in goal. Whether it’s his Messier. … And so you become a better player with the people that feistiness on the ice, whether it’s how he handles the puck and moves you’re surrounded by,” Gretzky said. the puck, how he battles every game. And with that (Mikko) Koskinen has been outstanding, too. So our two goaltenders really have been a “And I think that’s what Connor and Leon, maybe subconsciously, not benchmark of the team all season long. knowing this, but they’ve become better players because they’re competing every single day with each other and not even really realizing Now that’s all the positives. Now the negative is I’m not a big believer it.” that you can miss eight weeks and everybody’ll be back on top of their game. Some teams are going to come back stronger than others. Some In a wide-ranging interview on this week’s Two-Man Advantage podcast, players are going to be better than others. And we won’t know this until Gretzky also described how he initially felt angst over breaking the and when and if we come back which teams are going to be playing at legendary Gordie Howe’s offensive records and how he now welcomes the same level they played at. Now some teams are going to be better. Alex Ovechkin’s assault on the all-time goals record. Some teams will probably be worse. And that’s just an educated guess. I Here is an edited transcript of that interview. don’t have any knowledge of that. But I know myself as a player, if you missed six, eight weeks, you’re starting over again. But the good news is LeBrun: So, Wayne, what’s the routine been like for you guys right now? we’re all starting over. And nobody’s having an advantage at this point in time. So I think it’s imperative for the players, I know it’s hard, they can’t It’s hard. Listen, for the whole world right now. I was saying the other go skate, they can’t work out in groups, but they have to have the day, I couldn’t imagine being 10, 12, 13 years old because at that age mindset, I’ve got to go and work out and train, be physically and mentally this time of the year hockey was winding down, couldn’t wait to get prepared, because as you said, the commissioner is very optimistic about started in . Couldn’t wait to get started in and playing coming back and very excited about playing hockey in the summertime. with your friends and going to school and playing the sports we played at school. So it’s really difficult for the families right now, especially with Burnside: Wayne, you touched on Leon Draisaitl and, of course, Connor kids. We have a 17 and 19-year-old at home right now and they’ve been McDavid. Certainly when Connor was injured and the way that Leon pretty good. It’s a tough scenario for everybody, but we’ve been really really continued to assume such a leadership role in terms of his trying to live hard by the rules. We get up in the morning. My wife and I productivity, all those things, you played on a team for a long time that and we try and work out. We’re fortunate living in California, the had a pretty darned good one-two punch with Wayne Gretzky and Mark weather’s relatively nice this time of the year, and we have bikes, and we Messier. When you see these two, what comes to mind for you, why get out and ride around the neighborhood and try to ride for a good hour, does it work, or what is the element of what they bring to the Edmonton hour-and-a-half. You know you just try to keep your mind stimulated. And Oilers that maybe makes this team on the verge of something special? then you come home and you read press clippings and you try to stay up with the news, what the president and the prime minister are informing Well, listen you’ve hit the nail on the head. They’re both pretty special. us. We’re no different than any other family. It’s a hard time right now. It’s They’re both really, really good young men. I say this all the time and really tough. And some people have it tougher than others. And it’s just a Pierre hears me say it. I’m really amazed at the maturity of these young scary point in where we’re at in life right now. players in the National Hockey League whether it’s Leon, Connor, Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, it goes on and on. The way they’ve been raised. Burnside: There must be some competitive juices that still flow in the What they do for the game, for the teams, for the community, it’s really family. Are you able to do active stuff or are you playing board games? special. They’re just good people. And I said this before. I played with arguably one of the greatest players who ever played, Mark Messier. And My wife and I do play cards pretty much every day. It’s hard because it’s somebody said to me one time, ‘wow, you’re a better player than you not something I thought I’d be doing at this time in my life. I thought I’d be were two years ago.’ And I remember saying, you know, I practice every getting ready for the first round of the playoffs and supporting the Oilers, single day against the best centerman in the game. And I go head to and I’m finding myself playing a lot of cards at 9 a.m., but that’s OK. head with him in every single drill. And Glen Sather used to line me We’re fortunate, too. We play a little tennis. My daughter, obviously, is a against Messier’s line in every single drill. And so you couldn’t help but tennis player, so between my son and I and my wife and my daughter become a better player because we didn’t practice long in Edmonton we’re able to get out and play some tennis. You just try to do anything when I played there, but we practiced every day and we practiced hard. you can to be a little bit active. And so you become a better player with the people that you’re LeBrun: You mentioned the Oilers. Of course you’re an NHL governor. surrounded by. And make no mistake, you can be a total team player, be The Oilers coming on just as the pause happened, too, getting through totally unselfish, but want to compete with everybody on your team and all of those injuries, sitting in second place in the Pacific Division. everybody in the league to become a better athlete. And I think that’s Commissioner Gary Bettman has said repeatedly that if we’re allowed to, what Connor and Leon, maybe subconsciously, not knowing this, but from the health authorities, that we’ll have hockey again. It could be this they’ve become better players because they’re competing every single summer. But, if there is a season, what’s your sense of what the Oilers day with each other and not even really realizing it. And that’s benefitting have been able to become this year? the Oilers, obviously, and it’s exciting for the game of hockey so people go watch them play and go, wow, those guys were fun to watch tonight. First of all let’s talk about this season. I think that to a man everybody And obviously those two guys are driving the train in Edmonton and would say the same thing on the outside looking in, it was a they’ve done a wonderful job this year no question and it’s exciting time tremendously positive, surprising, strong year for the Oilers. Wasn’t a lot for the fans of Edmonton. of people probably that picked the Oilers to be battling for first place in the division and having the kind of season that they’ve had. Dave Tippett Burnside: Pierre mentioned the plethora of classic games that are on and Kenny Holland have done just an outstanding job of stabilizing the screens all over the place now. Have you come by a screen and said, franchise, not just in Edmonton but with our youth in Bakersfield and the wow, and whether it’s a game you played in or not, have you found young kids that have been drafted over the past few years. There’s a yourself stopping and being taken in by a game that may have happened sense of a real strong direction where the organization is heading, and 10 or 20 or 30 years ago? they’re going to be extremely patient now and for the future. As you said, Oh, yeah. We have two different TVs going. My wife is watching Netflix in gracious to talk to me and tell me stories. It wasn’t two years later I was her room. And I’m watching classic hockey games, and the older the playing in the WHA I was picked to play in the All-Star series against the better for me. I love watching from the ‘60s and the ‘70s. I love watching Soviets. I remember thinking, wow, I’m so excited to be a part of it. I’m (Jean) Beliveau and (Bobby) Orr and (Gordie) Howe. I enjoy that more probably not going to play much but that’s OK. I was really excited I got than watching my games. And Bill De Witt and his wife are good friends picked. And the first morning skate I walked through into the locker room of ours from St. Louis who own the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team, and the trainer said the coach wants to see you for a second. I honestly and I watch a lot of old baseball games. And yesterday Game 7 of the ’68 thought – Jacques Demers was the coach – I honestly thought he was World Series was on, and I was texting Bill and asking him questions going to say son, you’re 17, you’re not going to play tonight. And I was about the game and the series and the organization. As a sports fan fine with that. And he says to me, son you’re going to center the old man yeah, it’s been fun. But I don’t want to lie, I’d really like to see real sports. and his son. And I remember thinking, oh, my Lord. I was just taken aback. And I remember thinking wow, how great is this I get to play I was telling a cute story the other day to a friend. I had two kids that between Gordie and Mark Howe. And for people who don’t remember were born after I retired (Tristan and Emma), and my son was about 6 or Mark Howe a whole lot, who is a Hall of Famer, he is the only guy to ever 7 years old, and we talked about hockey and I said, ‘hey, do you want to win the scoring race in the league, professionally, and the next year they go to a game?’ And he said, sure, let’s go. So I took him down to see moved him to defense and he won the best defenseman in the league. Steve Stamkos and Tampa Bay play (against the L.A. Kings). And Luc That’s how good Mark Howe was. So, Mark and I and Gordie play. Robitaille (the president of the Los Angeles Kings) he got myself and my (Gordie) said to me, win the faceoff, Mark’s going to dump it in my corner son and a buddy (seats). And I like sitting down by the ice when I go to you just get in front of the net. And I think nine seconds into the game I games because I get more of a sense of what’s going on, a feel for the scored a goal. And Gordie said great play. And I remember thinking, I game. And it’s kind of where I like to sit to watch hockey. And after the didn’t do anything. I just took the faceoff. As time went on and I was first period my son turned to my friend, because these guys are so fast closing in on his record I actually had lunch one day with my dad. And I and so big and it’s so physical and they’re such great athletes, he turned remember saying you know in some ways I’m so embarrassed that I’m to my friend and he said, OK, honestly, did my dad really play in this going to break Gordie’s record. It’s a different game. It’s a 21-team league? So, that’s where I’m at. league. It’s a little more wide open. My dad grabbed me and he said you LeBrun: I remember you telling me the ’87 Canada Cup final was the know I’m going to tell you something right now. Records are made to be greatest series you were ever a part of. broken. And one day somebody’s going to come along and break your records. He said you should be as proud of them as Gordie Howe is of No question. From my point of view. First all, we’ll never replace ’72 (the you and that’s how you look at something like that. And I always Summit Series between Canada and the Russians). My dad always said remembered that. So when I did break Gordie Howe’s record I did feel a it best, the first time you do something they’re such lasting impressions real sense of relief. Gordie and I were always very close right to the very and so for those of us who remember ’72, it’s never going to go away. It end just a wonderful family. And I’ve said it a thousand times, I’m rooting was so phenomenal that they won the last three games to come back to for Alex Ovechkin as much as anybody else. It’s great for the game. win the series, to score late in Game 8 to win the series. And while we’re Nobody can ever take away what I accomplished and did in my career talking about it, it’s absolutely asinine to me that Paul Henderson’s not in and I’m very proud of it. But if he’s got a chance to break my record I the . The most incredible thing we’ve ever had for hope I’m the first guy there to be able to shake his hand. our country. Now, 25 years ago maybe I understand it, but today we’re allowing Europeans who never played in the NHL and Russians who The Athletic LOADED: 04.09.2020 never played who are in the Hall of Fame, and Paul Henderson should be in the Hall of Fame. But in saying that, the closest thing I came to it was in ’87. We lost Game 1 in Montreal, 6-5 I believe. And we were flying out after the game from Montreal to Hamilton for the next two games. And I remember getting on the team bus and Mike Keenan (Team Canada head coach) had allowed some of the guys who had moms and dads there to hop on the team plane if they were going to Toronto, and I remember on the bus ride to the airport my dad told me it was my fault that we lost and that my shift was too long and that was why they scored. And I remember thinking, well, the whole country’s upset right now I don’t need you telling me how bad I was. Game 2 was one of those games that was so remarkable because Mario (Lemieux) was so good, Paul Coffey was just a machine that night. Guys like Doug Gilmour and Rick Tocchet and Dale Hawerchuk and of course Mark Messier were so good. Guys were so determined. But we didn’t have 20 guys that played as much as the Russian team. They were four lines and three sets of defense and (Slava) Fetisov was at his best and the KLM line was so good. But we knew the one thing that we had over them was that our goalie was going to make the big save at the key time and that’s what happened in the series. Grant just, when it was 5-5, shut the door. We’d seen it so many times.

Burnside: You’ve always been so open and gracious when people talk about whether Alex Ovechkin can catch your goal record and what that would be like and how it would be good for the game. I was curious, because you passed Gordie Howe both in terms of goals and points during your career, and I was curious what it was like for you when you reached those milestones whether it was nervous for you, because everyone knew how you revered Gordie. Because I suspect it will be very similar when and if Alex gets close to your record. What was that like for you to pass a guy like Gordie Howe?

Well, that’s a great question because it was a lot tougher than I think people really realized. I’d met Gordie when I was 10 as people probably know. Developed a friendship over the years. It really got jumpstarted when I was 15. I was playing Jr. B hockey in Toronto. Murray, his youngest son, was on our team, and him and I became really good friends. He was boarding or living with Gus Badali, who was my agent at the time. And he was very close friends with the Howe family and Gordie and Colleen trusted Gus and his wife to board their son. So Murray and I became good friends. And I used to sit around on the bus and at practice and ask him a million questions about his dad, and he was always so 1173517 Edmonton Oilers end because those guys like to get going. He’s a mature kid and he was going to give you everything he’s got, and the other guys respected that. They were going to try to make him a better player because Colby has really good character.” As Oilers’ Colby Cave fights for his life, former Bruins mates rally around The Bruins knew once they sent Cave back to Providence there was a strong possibility he wouldn’t clear waivers. He didn’t, and Edmonton claimed him on Jan. 15, 2019. If Cave remained with the Bruins, he likely By Joe McDonald Apr 8, 2020 would’ve earned a full-time spot on the roster this season and the team probably wouldn’t have signed Par Lindholm.

While Edmonton Oilers center Colby Cave fights for his life in a Toronto Former Bruins forward Noel Acciari played with Cave when the two were hospital, his former Bruins coaches, teammates and friends are in the in Providence from 2015 to 2017. They play a similar style and the news process of putting together video messages in an attempt to lift his spirits of Cave’s situation was hard to take for Acciari, who already lost two while he remains in a medically induced coma. close friends and former Providence College teammates in tragic circumstances. Cave, 25, suffered a brain bleed Tuesday morning and underwent surgery to remove a colloid cyst that was causing pressure on his brain. “Colby is a great guy with a great attitude and a very hard worker on and He spent parts of five seasons in the Bruins organization and still off the ice,” Acciari said. “He did all the little things and just a very good remains close friends with Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy, who first two-way forward. He isn’t afraid to step up and take on a leadership role coached Cave in Providence of the AHL. or step up and defend a teammate. He’s who you want on your team. It’s a terrible thing what has happened to him, but he’s a fighter and my On Wednesday morning, Cave’s wife, Emily, spoke with Cassidy’s wife, thoughts and prayers are with him and his loved ones.” Julie, and updated them on the situation. Due to extra hospital precautions because of the COVID-19 pandemic, family members are The Athletic LOADED: 04.09.2020 not allowed in the room, which has been disheartening, frustrating and frightening given the situation.

“It’s very difficult for her because she can’t get in the room and give him a hug, or anything,” the Bruce Cassidy said.

Cassidy believes patients in a coma still have the ability to hear things, so he suggested playing audio or video messages over an intercom system in order for Cave to hear the messages.

“Hopefully that helps,” Cassidy said. “Anything we can do. Every little bit helps and if we can chip in with some encouraging words then that’s what we’re going to do.”

Cave was with the Bruins during the Winter Classic at Notre Dame last season, so one day in South Bend, the Cassidys enjoyed lunch with Colby and Emily, and the couples got to know each other better. In fact, the Cassidys received an invitation to Colby and Emily’s wedding last summer, but Bruce had knee replacement surgery, so unfortunately he could not attend.

“He’s one of those players you stay connected with,” Cassidy said. “I think he enjoyed playing for me and Kevin (Dean) and I think he enjoyed his time in Providence and Boston. His wife got to know all the girls and he was very tight with the players here. They formed a good bond. Colby’s a likeable guy; he’s hard not to like.”

Cave’s situation hit home for Cassidy, who was only 20 when his father passed away from a brain aneurysm at age 52. He’s not the only one affected. When Jay Leach learned the news of Cave’s condition, the Providence coach said he’s fearful and wishing his former player all the best in a difficult situation.

“There’s no one better than Colby Cave with regards to being a person and the way he treats other people,” Leach said. “He was a terrific part of our organization for those three years, so I was certainly saddened to hear the news, but I’m hoping things are going to work out for him.”

On the ice, Cave’s talent was a bit raw when he made the jump from junior hockey to the pros. Still, his work ethic was off the charts and he quickly gained the respect and admiration of his coaches and teammates.

“He was a really smart player for us,” Leach said. “He really dove into the off-ice conditioning and diet and really wanted to be a pro hockey player. As a coach, you can’t help but love players like Colby. He got to a point where he’s an effective NHL player. He’s a very responsible, two-way centerman and you can put him in all situations. Off the ice, he treated his teammates like gold and there wasn’t a guy in that locker room who didn’t relate and love Colby as a teammate here in Providence.”

Cassidy trusted Cave enough that during his recall to Boston in the 2018- 19 season, he played on a line with Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak while Patrice Bergeron was injured.

“I knew he could defend and those guys – Marchand and Pastrnak – were going to create (offense) no matter what, so we wanted to see if (Cave) had it in him, even for a short period of time,” Cassidy explained. “When Bergy went down we needed someone to do the grunt work in our 1173518 Edmonton Oilers pick up. Daigle ended up scoring eight goals for us that season, which wasn’t great, but it cost us nothing.”

Smith’s bargain-bin acquisition of Daigle was a pretty good deal. It wasn’t For one glorious fall, Alexander Selivanov was the NHL’s most as good as the one the Oilers got and then, despite their best efforts, dangerous scorer failed to undo. In Selivanov, for a couple of glorious months, Edmonton found itself in possession of the NHL’s most dangerous shooter.

The streak By Jonathan Willis Apr 8, 2020 Selivanov started torching teams out of the box in 1999-00. He scored in his second game, off a pass by Boyd Devereaux. He scored unassisted in his fifth game. In his sixth, he put up a power-play marker and added Since joining the NHL in 1979, the Oilers have had more than their share an assist on an even-strength goal while playing next to Dan Cleary and of high-end offensive talent. From the Hall of Famers whose numbers are Josef Beranek. hanging in the rafters to the current duo of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, the team’s legacy in this department is exceptional, especially if It was a multi-goal game in Nashville on Oct. 23 that really kicked off his we skip over the bits in-between. hot streak. His second goal that night was assisted by Ryan Smyth, with Selivanov sliding on to right wing with Smyth and Doug Weight. Counting The problem with skipping over the bits in-between is that doing so that Nashville game, he’d score 14 times in a span of just 12 contests. bypasses a lot of fun stories, like that of Alexander Selivanov, who for Weight would assist on 10 of the final 12 goals in the run. two months in 1999 was the NHL’s most dangerous goal-scorer. Selivanov was brilliant throughout, scoring in nine of the 12 games, but The trade the highlight was unquestionable a four-goal, five-point game against Selivanov arrived in Edmonton in January of 1999 in a three-way trade Chicago in mid-November. The game represented the high-water mark of with Philadelphia and Tampa Bay. The deal took place in two parts. the winger’s career.

The first part had Edmonton trade Andrei Kovalenko to the Flyers for “I tell you what, I’ve never played with a guy who is more of a natural . In his summary of the move for the Los Angeles goal-scorer than Alex,” Weight told the Edmonton Journal. “Selly doesn’t Times, journalist Elliott Teaford described Kovalenko as “talented but have (Pavel) Bure speed or the hardest shot or all the one-on-one moves troubled” and noted that he’d been “suspended a game for missing the of a Ziggy Palffy, but if the puck is on his stick in front of the net, it’s in.” team’s flight after a Jan. 11 game against the Kings.” Selivanov, for his part, was equally enthusiastic to be playing with This doesn’t quite capture the full essence of the story, which has Weight, as he told A-Channel. become famous. Robin Brownlee, who was on the trip covering the team, “Doug Weight, I mean, I think he’s one of the top centres in the league,” ranked Kovalenko 73rd on his personal list of all-time Oilers and included Selivanov said. “Playing with him, for me it’s very good. I like playing with how Kovalenko and defenceman disappeared after him and Ryan Smyth. I think we have a good connection together.” barhopping in L.A. Selivanov followed the four-goal game with a gorgeous marker against “It was that incident that spawned the infamous ‘I was out looking for Detroit in his next appearance, and then a two-goal outing against the Kovy’ excuse by Mironov, who barely made it back to the team hotel the Islanders the night after that. That’s when A-Channel caught up with him morning after the big bender in time to catch a team flight back to again, and against the backdrop of the Red Wings goal, he talked to a Edmonton,” Brownlee wrote. “Bobo never did find Kovalenko, but young Gene Principe. The clip ends abruptly, cutting off the interviewer apparently looked in several bars for him to no avail – Kovalenko missed halfway. But knowing what we now know about analytics, the interrupted the flight altogether.” comment should have been accompanied by ominous background The guy the Oilers got back, unsurprisingly, also had his share of music. baggage. “Alex, you have 17 goals and that is tops in the NHL. One thing people Daigle, the first overall pick by Ottawa in 1993, ran out of rope with the don’t know maybe is that your shooting percentage is at 40 …” Senators and got his second chance in Philadelphia, from then-GM If the clip continued, he would have said 40.5 percent. NHL goaltending Bobby Clarke. It didn’t go well. He asked for a trade. in 1999 was not what it is today, but it wasn’t like Selivanov was playing “Who would want him?” was Clarke’s caustic response when asked by in the 1980s either. If we look at the NHL’s top goal-scorers as of Nov. reporters if he planned to oblige. 21, 1999, it’s not hard to spot the quality which distinguishes Selivanov from his closest rivals: The answer to that rhetorical question was Edmonton, with its long tradition of taking on cheap reclamation projects. The team had an Top NHL goal-scorers as of Nov. 21, 1999 understandable condition: not wanting to pay big money for a maybe, the Alex Selivanov Oilers asked Daigle to sign a one-year, $1-million extension rather than play under the option year in his contract, which would have paid him 19 $1.9-million. Daigle, understandably, refused. 17 The deal was salvaged when the Lightning and Daigle were able to reach an agreement. The Oilers got a different reclamation project: Selivanov, a 5 one-time 30-goal man who after two straight disappointing seasons had 22 found a new low. Forty-three games into 1998-99, he was stuck with six goals. 42

Edmonton GM Glen Sather tried to flip him elsewhere before the trade 40.5% deadline. He couldn’t even give him away. Jaromir Jagr Still, it wasn’t like the Oilers were missing out. Kovalenko didn’t even finish the season in Philadelphia, lasting 13 goalless games before a 17 trigger-happy Clarke flipped him to Carolina. Daigle fared a little better 14 but was dumped to New York for cash early in 1999 in a trade then- Rangers GM was happy to gloat about to ESPN’s Tom 19 Wheatley. 33 “I don’t remember exactly what Daigle was making then,” Smith said. “Let’s say it was $1.6 million. I picked up part of his contract – that was 91 the future considerations that Tampa got. But I also got his agent to have 15.4% him take a pay cut for the rest of the money that we were supposed to Owen Nolan 25 to Germany’s top league, a league where he’d be a dominant force for most of the next decade. 14 In the end, there wasn’t much of a difference in the fates of any of the 17 three projects flipped on that day in January of 1999. Kovalenko headed 31 to Russia the same summer Selivanov went to Germany. Daigle, meanwhile, was in the middle of a two-season interregnum in which he 77 didn’t play; he’d return briefly to the majors and score 20 goals for Minnesota before finishing his career in Switzerland. 18.2% Sather, at least in this case, didn't rob his trading partners. The initial Milan Hejduk instinct to flip Selivanov wasn't a bad one in hindsight, but the Oilers were 20 fortunate it didn't work out.

13 It might not have lasted, but for a single glorious fall, a budget-conscious Edmonton team had an offensive star scoring goals at a clip right out of 6 the 1980s. It had successfully turned a whole lot of nothing into a player running neck-and-neck with an in-his-prime legend like Jagr. 19 The Athletic LOADED: 04.09.2020 57

22.8%

Valeri Bure

20

12

11

23

79

15.2%

Jaromir Jagr, 10 years into his career, had led the NHL in points the previous two seasons. He’d do it again in 1999-00 and 2000-01. I mention this in part because Jagr is still playing today. He had 15 goals in 38 games in the top Czech league when the coronavirus shut it down.

Selivanov’s a dusty memory from my childhood I brushed off for this exercise, and even at that point, Jagr was a seasoned NHL pro at the height of his powers. That he’s still twirling around upper-level European hockey at 48 isn’t quite as stunning as Gordie Howe popping back into the NHL and being a pretty good player at 52, but it’s still awfully impressive.

There was never a question as to how the race between the league’s reigning MVP and the guy Sather couldn’t give away was going to end up. If there had been, a quick look at the fact that Jagr was scoring at a nearly identical per-game pace while more than doubling Selivanov’s shot rate would have quickly settled it.

A-Channel asked Selivanov about the race in that interview after the four- goal game and Selivanov laughed it off.

“I’ll try to keep up with him,” he said. “Maybe, maybe I beat him. I don’t know. I’ll try.”

We looked at the NHL goal race on Nov. 21. Selivanov went three games without a goal before scoring the winner against Colorado on Dec. 1. Jagr played four games in the interim, scoring a single goal in three of them and a hat-trick in the other. By Dec. 1, when Selivanov clocked his 18th goal in 23 games, Jagr had a whopping 20 in 21.

Ironically, neither would win the goal-scoring crown in 1999-00, nor would anybody else from that Nov. 21 leaderboard. Pavel Bure missed time early but made up for it late, scoring 51 goals in the last 61 games of the year. Jagr missed most of a month late in the season. He managed to hang on to the overall scoring title but couldn’t keep Bure from winning his second of three Richard trophies.

Selivanov, meanwhile, had long since ceded his place in the conversation. After scoring that 18th goal, Selivanov went 21 games without tallying another. Toward the end of the slump, he was playing fewer than 10 minutes per game. He rallied somewhat down the stretch and a hat trick against Calgary to close out the season meant he finished with a respectable 27 goals. It wasn’t enough.

Edmonton couldn’t be bothered to qualify him in the summer and allowed him to become an unrestricted free agent. A one-year deal with Columbus the following season didn’t work, and so Selivanov headed off 1173519 Florida Panthers

Panthers agree to terms with forward Cole Schwindt on three-year, entry- level contract

By BRETT SHWEKY SOUTH FLORIDA SUN SENTINEL |APR 08, 2020 | 1:49 PM

After the NHL Draft, Florida Panthers third-round pick Cole Schwindt says he couldn't ask for a better spot to be in.

Forward Cole Schwindt has agreed to a deal with the Florida Panthers on a three-year, entry-level contract.

The former third-round pick (81st overall) by the Panthers in the 2019 draft appeared in 57 games for of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) as he recorded a team-high 71 points (28-43-71).

“Cole [Schwindt] is a talented and responsible two-way player who had an excellent season playing a key role with Mississauga,” general manager and president of hockey operations Dale Tallon said in a release. “He possesses great versatility, size and character and we are excited about his continued development with the Panthers.”

Along with being one of the cornerstones on Mississauga, Schwindt, 18, proved himself as one of the best players in the league by being named the OHL’s player of the month for December. During December, the 6- foot-2, 182-pound forward led the league with 21 points (12-9-21) over a 12 game span.

Over his three seasons with Mississauga, the Kitchener, Ontario native generated 138 points (55-83-138) while helping the club produce a 92- 90-10 record. Schwindt and Mississauga reached the postseason the past three seasons and most notably advanced to the championship game in 2017 before falling, 4-1, to Erie.

The Florida Panthers also recently signed 19-year-old defenseman John Ludvig to a three-year, entry-level contract. This season, Ludvig appeared in 60 contests for the Portland Winterhawks in the Western Hockey League and compiled 62 points (17-45-62).

Sun Sentinel LOADED: 04.09.2020 1173520 Florida Panthers WORK AT BB&T CENTER GET PAID DURING THIS HIATUS. HIS TEAMMATES WILL MATCH THAT $100,000 WITH OWNERSHIP PUTTING IN WHATEVER ELSE IS NEEDED. PIC.TWITTER.COM/SKNSRJRECO Sergei Bobrovsky and Artemi Panarin team up again to help their new communities — GEORGE RICHARDS (@GEORGERICHARDS) MARCH 13, 2020

“The workers in the arena are a big part of our events. They’re a big part of our support,” Bobrovsky said. “There was the risk for them to lose their By George Richards Apr 8, 2020 job and not have the possibility to feed their family. At any rate, it’s a tough time for everybody, for the whole world. I just tried to do the right

thing for those people, to support them and help a little bit from my side.” Editor’s note: In an effort to support local businesses that are being Bobrovsky first came to the United States as a 22-year-old to play for the threatened by the devastating effects of the coronavirus, The Athletic is Philadelphia Flyers but has spent the bulk of his 10-year NHL career publishing an ongoing series of stories to highlight our treasured playing in Columbus, Ohio. communities. #supportlocal He and Panarin left the Blue Jackets last summer, with the Panthers SUNRISE, Fla. — Sergei Bobrovsky says he likes to keep things simple hoping to sign both players. when it comes to what is painted on his hockey mask. Although Panarin ended up signing with the New York Rangers after the Although other goalies have elaborate works of art on their masks, two visited potential teams together, Bobrovsky signed the biggest Bobrovsky is cool with not much more than a team logo. contract Florida has ever given out, a seven-year deal worth $10 million Bobrovsky is very serious about the protective aspect of his mask, annually. however, constantly working on the fit of it to make sure it keeps him as Bob’s home by the sea safe as possible as he dodges one hard puck after another. Since moving to South Florida, Bobrovsky has tried to become part of his During the coronavirus crisis, which has put a halt to normal life, new community. Bobrovsky has helped make sure those on the front lines of the pandemic have top-of-the-line protection. He and his wife, Olya, bought a house in Fort Lauderdale and are now spending a lot of time there during this break from the game. Bobrovsky said he worked with a couple of close friends within the NHL to deliver what NHL.com reported were “thousands” of the highly sought- Bobrovsky, like most professional athletes, is used to a certain routine after N95 protective masks to hospitals in their communities. that includes being on the ice just about every day.

As health care workers around the world have found essential protective Since the NHL put a stop to its season, Bobrovsky has been hunkered gear in short supply, Bobrovsky helped procure the masks with former down in his waterside home. Columbus teammate Artemi Panarin and Islanders goalie Semyon Varlamov. There is no ice there, save for what he has in his freezer.

Bobrovsky’s gift of 1,500 masks went to hospitals in South Florida. Bobrovsky knows others have it much worse during his shut-in, but as a hockey player whose season may not be over just yet, he is trying to Panarin, who is one of Bobrovsky’s closest friends, bought 1,500 masks stick to his routine as much as possible. and donated them to the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York. He says after breakfast in the morning, he hits the gym for a workout. He Varlamov’s teammates with the Islanders gathered their money and swims in his pool, grabs lunch, rests and then hits the gym again. At bought 3,000 masks and gave them to the Northwell Health system on night, he will wind down by watching something Olya has picked out and Long Island. then, the next day, he does it all over again.

“They (Panarin and Varlamov) did this in New York and in their Bobrovsky says he and his wife have been staying inside as much as community. I did it here in Florida with the Florida Panthers Foundation to possible in trying to stay safe. make sure the first responders have the right masks,” Bobrovsky said on a conference call hosted by the Panthers on Tuesday afternoon. “We get our food from people who are out sacrificing their health by delivering it to us and others,” Bobrovsky said. “We are staying at home “Those masks are N95. It’s a high-quality mask. It’s good to support making sure we’re taking care of ourselves and doing the right things.” those people with the high-quality masks.” As a goalie, he would love to be back on the ice facing some pucks. He Bobrovsky’s work with the masks was not the first time he has used is not alone. some of his financial resources to help others in town. All players have been barred from skating at their team facilities and all SERGEI BOBROVSKY HAS A NEW #FLAPANTHERS MASK…HE local rinks have been closed. JUST GOT IT YESTERDAY. PIC.TWITTER.COM/DSENZ6IBPY “As a goalie, it’s a little harder to train, especially on the ice,” Bobrovsky — GEORGE RICHARDS (@GEORGERICHARDS) OCTOBER 18, 2019 said. “You need somebody to shoot at you. You need to see the puck, read the players and stuff like that. At this moment, I don’t have that The Panthers were in Dallas on March 12 when the NHL put its 2019-20 possibility. I can only build my body to be strong, to be fast, to be quick.” season on hold. Bobrovsky put up a video of himself stopped tennis balls fired from a On the flight back to Florida, Bobrovsky and his teammates talked about launcher not long into this hiatus, yet another unique way hockey players wanting to help pay the salaries of part-time arena employees who are trying to keep their edge without being able to, you know, play depend on making money working games. hockey. The following day, the players got things finalized. SERGEI BOBROVSKY: THE MASTER OF THE HOME WORKOUT Bobrovsky committed $100,000 to the cause, with the rest of his teammates matching that total. ( IG/OLYABOBROVSKY)PIC.TWITTER.COM/KLVYEOLAMG

If more money was needed to help help the ushers, security guards, — HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA (@HOCKEYNIGHT) MARCH 16, 2020 parking attendants and the like, owner Vinnie Viola said he would cover “Everyone is in the same situation and we are all just trying to prepare,” it. Bobrovsky said.

It was a gesture, which has not gone unnoticed or unappreciated, by “It’s not an easy time, but we are all in the same situation. You have to those most affected by the work stoppage. find a positive and that is this gives you time to build up your strength and #FLAPANTHERS GOALIE SERGEI BOBROVSKY IS GOING TO your speed a little. It is an opportunity to get better.” DONATE $100,000 TO MAKE SURE ALL PART-TIME STAFF WHO As the days turn into weeks and, soon, a month, the chances the 2019- 20 season will continue in its entirety fade.

Bobrovsky’s Panthers are three points out of a playoff spot — both from the third-place spot in the Atlantic Division as well as one of the wild-card positions — with 13 scheduled games to go.

On Tuesday, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman told “Lunch Talk Live” on NBCSN that in a perfect world, the regular season would pick up where it left off and the playoffs would follow.

This obviously is not a perfect situation, and it’s possible the Panthers might have played their final game of the season.

On Sunday, team president Matt Caldwell said he hoped if games resume, all teams will get a chance to play, which would keep the Panthers’ playoff hopes alive. Bobrovsky echoed that Tuesday.

“Everything we do needs to be fair,” Bettman said on NBCSN.

“The best thing and the easiest thing would be, if at some point, if we could complete the regular season and then go into the playoffs as we normally do. We understand that that may not be possible and that’s why we are considering every conceivable alternative to deal with whatever the eventuality is.”

Bettman added he hoped to have a clearer idea of when or if the league could start up again in a few weeks.

“I think right now there’s too much uncertainty. Hopefully, we’ll all know more by the end of April,” Bettman said. “From an NHL standpoint, we’re viewing all of our options. We want to be ready to go as soon as we get a green light. … Nothing’s been ruled in, nothing’s been ruled out.”

Setting things straight

For Bobrovsky, a return to the ice would be a chance to rectify what he says was a tough first season with the Panthers.

A two-time winner of the Vezina Trophy as the league’s top goalie, Bobrovsky was the prize of Florida’s free-agent class in July.

As it stands now, Bobrovsky is 23-19-6 in 50 games played for Florida with a 3.23 GAA and a save percentage of .900. His goals-against average is the highest of his 10-year NHL career while his save percentage is lowest since his second season (.899) in Philadelphia.

Bobrovsky’s goals-saved above average is a minus-14.91, which is not only the lowest of his career but also ranks near the bottom of the league.

“The numbers were not there,” Bobrovsky said Tuesday. “It was not an easy season for me with a new team, new coach, new surroundings. Everything was new.

“As far as the team standpoint, we were playing for the playoffs and were three points behind. We were right in the mix and it was in our hands. The most important thing is team success and we had the chance to make the playoffs and that is the most important thing for me.”

When things were called off, Bobrovsky had missed the previous four games with what is thought to be a groin injury sustained during warmups before the Calgary game on March 1.

Bobrovsky was out for all of Florida’s final practice March 10 in Dallas, working with goalie coach Robb Tallas long after the rest of his teammates left the ice.

Coach Joel Quenneville said that day that Bobrovsky was close to a return, but with the way backup Chris Driedger had been playing — he went 2-0-1 in the three games he played after coming back from his own groin injury, which cost him six weeks — there was no rush to get Bobrovsky back on the ice.

This time off has helped Bobrovsky, at least in that respect.

“I’m feeling good,” Bobrovsky said. “I was close to (coming) back and now it is time to just make sure my body is ready to go and is all healed up from that.“

The Athletic LOADED: 04.09.2020 1173521 Los Angeles Kings

NHL releases prospect rankings ahead of yet-to-be-rescheduled draft

By HELENE ELLIOTTSPORTS COLUMNIST APRIL 8, 20202:30 PM

As expected, prolific left wing Alexis Lafreniere of Rimouski in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League was ranked the No. 1 North American skater by NHL Central Scouting in advance of the annual NHL draft. Tim Stuetzle, who plays for Mannheim in Germany’s top professional league, was ranked as the top international skater.

When the NHL draft will be held has not been determined due to the league’s decision to pause all activities because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The draft originally was scheduled to be held at the in Montreal on June 26-27.

The Kings and the Ducks were in position to participate in the draft lottery when the season was put on hold. That’s not likely to change, even though some of the more outlandish scenarios for resuming and finishing the season include the possibility of play-in tournaments for teams that were not occupying playoff spots when the season halted on March 12.

In deference to social distancing recommendations, Central Scouting personnel held their final rankings meetings via video conferencing. The rankings are available on the NHL website.

Lafreniere, 18, led the QMJHL with 35 goals and 112 points in 52 games when play was halted in Canada’s junior leagues. He was voted the most valuable player in the 2020 world junior championships after collecting four goals and 10 points in five games and led Canada to the title.

“The natural competitive instincts and skills he displayed to take charge and lead Canada to victory put on display the determination, perseverance and passion that is part of his hockey DNA, which is truly exceptional and impressive,” Dan Marr, the NHL director of Central Scouting, told the league’s website.

The top three North American skaters remained the same as they were in the midseson rankings, which were issued in January: Center Quinton Byfield of Sudbury of the Ontario Hockey League ranked second, and defenseman Jamie Drysdale of Erie of the OHL is at No. 3. Byfield had 82 points (32 goals, 50 assists) in 45 OHL games. Drysdale, whose assets are his skating and his hockey sense, had nine goals and 47 points in 49 games.

Defenseman Jake Sanderson, the son of former NHL forward Geoff Sanderson, rose from 11th at midseason to fourth in the final rankings. Sanderson played for the U.S. National Team Development Program and has committed to play at the University of North Dakota next season.

LA Times: LOADED: 04.09.2020 1173522 Los Angeles Kings

Alexis Lafreniere tops NHL’s draft-eligible prospects list

By ELLIOTT TEAFORD | PUBLISHED: April 8, 2020 at 1:42 p.m. | UPDATED: April 8, 2020 at 2:05 p.m.

When the NHL suspended the season March 12 because of the coronavirus outbreak, the Kings had the fourth-worst record and the Ducks had the fifth-worst mark in the 31-team league, giving them good odds to move up in the draft lottery and perhaps even secure the No. 1 pick.

The league postponed the lottery and the draft, but Wednesday it revealed its final draft rankings for eligible players. As expected, Alexis Lafreniere retained the top spot in the rankings of North American skaters after leading the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League with 112 points in 52 games.

Lafreniere, a 6-foot-1, 200-pound left wing, was the QMJHL’s rookie of the year in 2017-18, when he scored 42 goals for the Rimouski Oceanic, the most by a rookie in the league since a fellow by the name of Sidney Crosby had 54 in 2003-04. Crosby was the No. 1 overall pick in 2005.

The Kings, Ducks and every other team in the league covet Lafreniere’s skating and playmaking skills. His willingness to play a physical game is an added bonus, according to scouts who have watched his every move at junior-level hockey in recent seasons.

“Lafreniere has exceptional skills and attributes, which make him a scoring threat every time he steps onto the ice,” said Dan Marr, director of the NHL’s central scouting. “What sets him above in this draft class is the natural compete and battle traits that are ingrained in his game.”

Quinton Byfield, a center with the Sudbury Wolves of the Ontario Hockey League, and Jamie Drysdale, a defenseman with the Erie (Pennsylvania) Otters of the OHL, were second and third in the rankings of hundreds of North American skaters.

Jake Sanderson, a defenseman who played for the USA Hockey National Team Development Program’s Under-18 squad, and Cole Perfetti, a center with the Saginaw (Michigan) Spirit of the OHL, rounded out the top five in the rankings. Sanderson is the son of former NHL player Geoff Sanderson.

Tim Stuetzle, a left wing who plays in Germany, was the top-ranked international skater.

The Kings and Ducks are in the process of giving their rosters makeovers after sinking to the bottom of the standings following many seasons of unprecedented success. The Kings won Stanley Cup championships in 2012 and ’14 and the Ducks reached the conference finals in ’15 and ’17.

The Detroit Red Wings had the worst record in the league when play was halted last month, followed by the Ottawa Senators and the San Jose Sharks. The Kings picked fifth overall in the draft last June in Vancouver, and the Ducks went ninth.

It remains to be determined whether the 2019-20 regular season will be completed, and how the draft lottery and the draft will be conducted. The lottery was to be held this month and the draft was set for June 26-27 in Montreal. The Kings had 12 regular-season games remaining and the Ducks had 11.

“It’s a pretty weird situation we’re in right now,” Lafreniere said on a video conference call Wednesday. “I’m working out a little bit at home. It’s not the same, but I’m trying to stay fit. I’m spending as much time as I can with my family.”

Orange County Register: LOADED: 04.09.2020 1173523 Los Angeles Kings poured shots on goal through the entire third period, outshooting the Gulls 15-2, but it took until the game’s final 30 seconds to find the tying goal. Carl Grundstrom got a redirect on a Sheldon Rempal shot to tie the game at 4 and for overtime, which was no less than the Reign deserved. MY FAVORITE REIGN GAME Overtime had its tense moments as well, until a moment of magic with just about a minute to play gave Ontario the win. Martin Frk lurked in the neutral zone and picked off an errant pass before he went the other way ZACH DOOLEYAPRIL 8, 2020 and fed Jaret Anderson-Dolan for the game-winning goal with 57 seconds left on the clock. A huge celebration ensued and the Reign collected the two points. via San Diego Gulls This game was great for a lot of reasons, but I think the reason it was so What is my favorite Ontario Reign game? It’s a difficult question to special for me was that in our one opportunity to showcase the Reign, answer, even having been with the team for just two seasons. Even last the So-Cal Series and the AHL on FSW, the two teams put on a show. It season, when the Reign struggled on the ice, there were some was the most exciting game of the season and thankfully it was the one memorable moments, with the four-goal comeback win over Tucson and we got to broadcast. In typical Reign – Gulls fashion, it was a two hour the 5-4 comeback win over Iowa coming to mind. Four power-play goals and 46 minute game that cut into about minutes of a pre-planned 60- on one major power play to tie, and then win the game was pretty minute Kings – Ducks pre-game show……sorry about that. For all of the incredible, but considering the stakes on the line this season, it made games that go unnoticed, it was cool to see the AHL go center stage for more sense to select a 2019-20 game. once.

While I can’t think of a more exciting five minutes than last March against Catch the replay of this game on Prime Ticket tonight (Wednesday) at 5 the Wild, it was this past February that I’m going to talk about today, as PM and Fox Sports West tomorrow at 5 PM. the Reign came from behind to defeat San Diego, 5-4 in overtime. LA Kings Insider: LOADED: 04.09.2020 The stage was set for a massive game in perhaps the fiercest rivalry in the AHL. The Reign entered the game with 47 points from 44 games played, while the Gulls had 43 points from 40 games played. Depending on the metric you chose, the Reign and Gulls each staked a claim for the fourth and final playoff spot down the stretch run, with the Reign leading in points, but the Gulls ahead on points percentage due to several games in hand.

Both teams entered the game off of victories the night before, with Ontario winning a hard-fought 4-3 game in Bakersfield, and the Gulls 5-3 winners the night prior at home over San Jose. Ontario was riding a four game winning streak and a six-game point streak, while the Gulls were 7- 1-1 in their last nine. The stage was set.

With the Reign being in Bakersfield, it meant a four-hour drive after the game to San Diego. At approximately 10:30 PM, we left Bakersfield by bus and equipment truck for Pechanga Arena. For this particular game, I decided to ride on the truck to help out at the rink with unloading gear, and at around 2:30 AM, we arrived in San Diego – the bus with players and coaches to the hotel and us to the rink. Waiting for us at the arena was a loading dock with a locked gate – the security guard had fallen asleep in his car and (approximately) 30 phone calls later we were finally able to get in and unload. An hour or so after that, it was off to the hotel for a quick sleep.

This particular Reign – Gulls game was special for a few reasons. Not only was it a massive two points on the line in the standings, but the game was to be featured on Fox Sports West, as a part of Hockey Day SoCal, the first time at least in my time here that the Reign played on the network. As a result, a usual 6 PM puck drop was pushed up to 4 PM, meaning two less hours of rest for the group after the late night of travel. I asked Stutts if he felt that would be a disadvantage, and not only did he not care about it, but he emphasized that he’d like every game to be played even earlier in the day……no morning skates? Sign me up!

With the game on TV, it added another element into my game-day duties, which was intermission interviews. Were the Reign winning through the first period, we’d set up a player for a live intermission interview….but with how the game started, this turned out not to be a problem. The Gulls went up 2-0 in the first, and if it weren’t for some timely goaltending from Matty Villalta, it could have been even worse.

After the second goal against, however, the Reign woke up. Mikey Eyssimont scored early in the second period and after San Diego responded, Kale Clague made it 3-2 with a goal immediately thereafter to make it a 3-2 game at the second intermission, with Eyssimont chosen for the mid-game interview with Taylor Felix, who did a terrific job on the “sidelines” during the broadcast.

Points in straight games for Sheldon Rempal, none bigger than his game-tying assist on Saturday! pic.twitter.com/8GOM2fEBzF

— Ontario Reign (@ontarioreign) February 3, 2020

The third period was one of the most exciting periods of the season. Gabe Vilardi tied the game at three early in the frame, before Daniel Sprong put San Diego back in front just over a minute later. The Reign 1173524 Los Angeles Kings When Bowkus had his stomach removed in a surgery shortly after his diagnosis, Alex joined his family at the hospital and was an intermediary between the coach and his players. That year he was coaching a 14U team. “All I could think about was all these kids texting me, saying, Remembering Jack Bowkus: “He left such a positive attitude, a positive ‘How’s Coach Jack?’ He left such a positive feeling. He left such a way to lead their lives” positive attitude, a positive way to lead their lives – not just as hockey players, but as citizens.”

It’s a sentiment expressed both verbally and expressively. So many JON ROSENAPRIL 7, 2020 coaches will share that more than anything, the relationship with their players must be built on a two-way bed of trust. There were those moments when he was firm but certainly fair, but the moments that will Descriptions of those who’ve left their mark on hockey often include resonate long beyond his passing will be the way he reached out to his allusions to a man or woman’s love for the game – their love playing it, former players well after they’d played their last game for him. “They watching it, talking about it, absorbing it. As they reflect on their careers, knew that all they had to do was pick up the phone,” Alex said. a feeling for some may surface that they always owed the game, that they owed their character and their efforts to their coaches, to their And so they did. Just as Bowkus had run practices and traveled and players, to those who sat beside them. drew up plays while battling cancer’s war on his body, he was also making sure that as he and the team battled the disease together – as he That selflessness was inherent in Jack Bowkus, who firmed the aim and explained it to his players – and found softer moments, even as a hockey trajectory of Southern California hockey’s reach and passed away on coach, to add some levity. “As sick as he was, on Halloween he got March 28 after a three-year fight with stomach cancer. The legacy he dressed like a clown and ran his practice,” Mark Hardy said. leaves behind is seen clearly through ex-teammates’ testimonials and from those he’d coached and built an amplified Southern California The former Kings player and assistant coach, Hardy had won rec league hockey network with as a renowned L.A. Junior Kings head coach and championships at Toyota Sports Performance Center alongside him, father who strove to set the best examples for his son, Austin. Kelly Sorensen, Brad Sholl and Ralph Barahona, the Long Beach native and former Ice Dog, before joining the Jr. Kings’ coaching staff. But Jeff Berting Photography; provided by Nick Vachon Hardy hadn’t yet seen that side of minor hockey, the importance of setting an example for teenagers and still finding the ability to lead even * * * * * during the most difficult times. Helen Alex has had many titles. She’s currently the L.A. Junior Kings In the last month, and just before the world began closing its doors in Finance Director and the Team Manager of the 18-and-under AAA club, response to an escalating pandemic, Bowkus was still venturing to find and, in an important moment in the organization, was also a recruiter. In support and grace in the presence of others. He was also still a hockey 2007, she and Bowkus, who coached the USHL’s Indiana Ice at the time, coach. Just before social gatherings became taboo, he still summoned were already close through several mutual friends. Bowkus had the strength to visit his former players at a roller rink in El Segundo. It previously helmed the Orange County-based California Wave program was fitting, because he’d often encouraged his players to play roller that entrenched Southern California as a scouting locus through the hockey to boost their skill and wasn’t known to chide them when their confluence of Bowkus’ coaching and the skilled ability of a booming local schedules overlapped, as often happens in these parts. player pool driven to play through Wayne Gretzky-inspired fervor. Young children in Southern California who’d learned to skate around the Kings’ “He was in his wheelchair at that point, and no matter what, he wanted to run to the 1993 Stanley Cup Final were in their early-to-mid teens during see those kids, he wanted to be with those kids,” Alex said. Bowkus’ tenure with the Wave. “He told me, ‘You can’t take hockey away from me. Then you’re taking Bowkus was particularly proud of his 1989-born group, which won the my life away from me.’ He still developed game plans. I mean, he never Kamloops International Bantam Tournament in 2004 and stopped giving to hockey until the end. That’s how much he loved it.” would go on to place seven 16-year-old rookies on Western Hockey League teams one year later when the typical team in a league * * * * * dominated by 18, 19 and 20-year-olds usually doesn’t have more than Eliot J. Schechter/NHLI one or two. There was Jonathon Blum in Vancouver, Shane Harper and Jonathan Milhouse in Everett, C.J. Stretch in Kamloops, Colin Long in Shane Harper was part of a team notoriously instructed – to be Kelowna, Ryan Letts in Calgary and Matt Sokol in Medicine Hat, all of diplomatic – by head coach Kevin Constantine not to change out of its whom came together under Bowkus to punch above their weight as a equipment for the three-and-a-half-hour bus ride from the Tri-Cities to group, taking a number of unexpecting Canadian bantam and midget Everett, Washington following a poor 2006 preseason performance. This, teams by surprise from 2012-15. one would think, would give him a fairly good starting point on coaching authority and organizational discipline. Bowkus, a Michigander who played four seasons for the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades and amassed 100 points his 20-year-old year, had And even he thought Jack Bowkus to be “extremely demanding.” begun the Wave program with Jeff Turcotte and Shawn Pitcher to provide a top-tier local AAA team and reached out again to his “recruiter” Words like that carry weight from Harper, whose conditioning regimen after he left Indiana. and self-discipline even as a teenager were highly advanced and prepared him well for a professional career. “I literally had to kick him out Alex, then the director of the Jr. Kings’ board, pushed for Bowkus’ hiring of the weight room on Thanksgiving Day,” a former athletic trainer said of to the organization’s president, Rosemary Voulelikas. “She took my him. recommendation, he came out, didn’t really need an interview. His whole career, everything he’s always done, he was the right person for the job.” There are plenty of influences who’ve stoked and refined that constitution, among them Bowkus, his former California Wave coach. “I Bowkus was hired in April, 2007 and over the past 13 years – even still think he’s the best coach I’ve ever had,” said Harper, a Valencia remarkably deep into his cancer diagnosis – he coached teams up and native who also played for Craig Hartsburg in Everett and Gerard Gallant down the program’s U14, U16 and U18 spectrum. “He could take any in Florida. player, and I mean any player, and he could get the best out of them,” Alex said. The mother of former Kamloops Blazer and Colorado But the union between Harper’s group of ‘89-born players and Bowkus Avalanche defenseman Ray Macias, she’s an enduring figure in minor was special. hockey and an empathetic caretaker for a number of young players on “He was, honestly, just so instrumental in my career, and while he the precipice of their hockey careers. coached us, we were always a bit intimidated of him, a bit scared of him, “He rolled the lines. You don’t find a lot of coaches that roll the lines because he demanded so much and he was such a hard-nosed coach. nowadays,” she said. “He rolled the lines all the way through to Still, to this day, we joke around, you hear players now complaining Christmas. I remember he gave every single player the opportunity to be about coaches yelling at them or being too hard on them and I still laugh the best and earn a spot on a AAA team. He built confidence in players with my parents, guys that I played with, like are you kidding me?” Harper who never had any.” said. As Alex shared, he was known for running a “tight ship.” “I’ve heard it all from Jack, literally everything, and I’ve had some really That toughness provided what therapy it could early into his cancer difficult coaches after that, but it never really affected me like some diagnosis and after the September, 2018 surgery to remove his stomach. players,” Harper continued. “I owe a lot to him. He really did prepare us And because Bowkus was a hockey player, obviously there were odds to for that next step and it’s kind of unbelievable what he was able to do in defy. “They told him it’d take four-to-six months of recovery time. ‘Take three years coaching us.” your time,” Vachon said, sharing the doctors’ advice. “He was back on the ice in 10 days. He was back, literally on the ice, in skates, in 10 days, As in: From 2002-05, a talented group of California teenagers hung with leading a clinic. What pushed him was to be with the kids, and he just the best teams in their age groups by virtue of the tremendous chemistry pushed through it.” they’d built, aided in part by Bowkus’ decision to expand their competitive circles by facing top competition. “The ’89 birth year team used to go up But behind the scenes, Vachon knew of the intense pain that his friend to Toronto and play against John Tavares and (Phil) Kessel and all these was going through, and after the cancer had spread and made every guys, and they would go back-and-forth in every tournament, and they aspect of his life difficult, was part of a coaching staff that expanded to were always in the finals together,” said Nick Vachon, a close friend for accommodate Bowkus’ 21-year-old son, Austin, who played for the Jr. years who has coached alongside Bowkus for the last four and Kings and the Yarmouth Mariners in the Maritime Junior Hockey League understands the impact that California Wave founders Bowkus, Jeff and spent the second half of the 2019-20 behind the same bench as his Turcotte and Shawn Pitcher had on developing and growing the local father. “When we traveled, Austin actually joined our coaching staff this pool. “Colleges, junior programs, they’re all scouting our kids. Our kids year around Christmas so that he could not only help us work with the are getting drafted and getting to play all over, and it all started with those kids, but also be with his dad and on the road with us and really be a big guys.” part of it,” Vachon said.

And so they traveled. To Vancouver. To Medicine Hat. To Prince Albert. The relationship between Jack and Austin stirs strong emotions. “One “We were going to tournaments where we didn’t even know where we thing that stuck with me was a year and a half ago when he first got his were, we had no idea until we went up there,” Harper said. cancer and then he beat it and he worked closely with the Tour de Pier foundation to raise funding for others, there was a video made of him at Defenseman Jonathon Blum, a 2007 Nashville first round pick, may have the time,” Vachon said. “He said that he felt he hadn’t been able to teach been the emerging centerpiece, but the offensive skill inherent in Harper, his son – like really, really teach his son everything – and was so happy Colin Long and C.J. Stretch’s games and many others helped define the that he had gotten through it the first time and was able to do that.” group. Their hands, their feet and their repetitions were all aided by their seamless transition between roller and ice hockey and weaponized by In a video on the Tour de Pier site, Jack spoke about the importance of Bowkus. “He encouraged us to make plays, but also was extremely forging ahead with his “13-year-olds” and beating cancer together as a demanding, so I don’t think I would have been nearly as prepared to go team. to the WHL if I hadn’t been coached by him for the three years prior,” Harper said. “In all my years coaching, every team goes through adversity. Being the leader of the group, preaching ‘you go through adversity, you’ve got to “We bag skated almost every practice, so that work ethic, coming to the fight through it,’ well, I can’t just preach it. I have to live it,” Jack said, rink almost knowing what we were going to do and preparing for it helped sharing that he was inspired to fight as hard as he could continue to set me build my work ethic on and off the ice. I pride myself as being a hard an example for his son. worker, and you don’t really think about that on the daily, but you have to get that from somewhere, so it comes back to those times when as a “I just thought that was amazing, because he was close with Austin and young person, you start to develop those habits and you definitely have that was the one thing for him, he was so grateful that he beat cancer the to think that came a lot from Jack. At 13, 14, 15, hockey’s all that matters, first time that he could spend more time with his son,” Vachon said. so that was the big influence in my life at that time.” And so there they were in dressing rooms, on planes, on skates, in When Harper was 23, and ready to resume his career with Adirondack in tournaments and at rinks, as they should be, and as it always had been. the Philadelphia organization, it was Bowkus who reached out and LA Kings Insider: LOADED: 04.09.2020 invited him to the late-summer pro skates in El Segundo that included a mix of L.A.-based National Hockey League players and several passers- through. Sidney Crosby, who’d spent summers in Santa Monica and Brentwood, was among the pros to skate under Bowkus.

“I wish I was able to talk to him a little bit more, before the end, it’s so unfortunate and so sad, but it’s really awesome to see how much support and how much people are talking about him right now. He’s getting the credit he deserves,” Harper said. “He broadened our horizons and showed us there was more than just hockey in California. Funny enough, guys were playing in [the WHL] one year later – it was incredible.”

After the 1989’s, there was 1990-born Mitch Wahl, a second-round Calgary pick, 1991-born Mitch Callahan, a sixth round Detroit pick, and then Stanley Cup champions Beau Bennett and Chad Ruhwedel and goalie Thatcher Demko and Kailer and Keanu Yamamoto and so on and so on. Six players with California ties were selected in the 2017 NHL Draft, four of whom came directly from the Jr. Kings program. In 2018, one player was drafted from the Jr. Kings, followed by three more in 2019.

They just keep coming.

And as they export young hockey players into the world, they’re also importing love, condolences and memories from managers, coaches, players, fans, former teammates and confidants. “If they ever wanted a true evaluation of a player, they would call Jack,” Alex said.

Eliot J. Schechter/NHLI

* * * * *

“Just to tell you, he’s the toughest guy that I know,” said Nick Vachon. The Jr. Kings’ General Manager of Hockey Operations, his friendship with Jack Bowkus extended well, well beyond their time coaching together over the past four seasons. During Bowkus’ battle he remained a close figure – personally and professionally – with Bowkus and his son, Austin. 1173525 Minnesota Wild Those losses prevented NHL teams from evaluating prospects on some of their most significant stages, but NHL Director of Central Scouting Dan Marr believes organizations are still equipped to make their picks.

For NHL, drafting as usual won't fly amid coronavirus pandemic “It’s certainly new territory for the clubs,” Marr said. “They’ve never had a situation like this where they don’t get to factor in the playoff Four Minnesotans are ranked in the top 100 as league prepares in new performances. It kind of puts them on an even playing ground with way. Central Scouting, so there’s a lot of old-•fashioned scouting going on there where there has been less views.

“But their staff has been out there. They worked hard. They got a good By Sarah McLellan Star Tribune APRIL 8, 2020 — 11:13PM opinion of these players, so I think the NHL clubs are in a good place as far as putting a draft list together.”

When and how this year’s NHL draft will take place is still unclear after it Star Tribune LOADED: 04.09.2020 was postponed amid the coronavirus pandemic, but the incoming class of top prospects has been set.

NHL Central Scouting released its final rankings for the 2020 draft Wednesday, crowning left winger Alexis Lafreniere first overall among North American skaters.

“To see how close we are right now, it’s pretty exciting,” Lafreniere said on a video conference call. “It’s really fun. I think we’re all excited for the draft, and the team that’s going to draft me, I’m going to be really happy to join them and try to have as much success as I can.”

A pair of Lafreniere’s teammates from the Team Canada squad that captured gold at the 2020 World Junior Championship filled out the top three, with center Quinton Byfield (Sudbury) slotting second and defenseman Jamie Drysdale (Erie) going third. Left winger Tim Stuetzle, who played in Germany’s top professional league last season, finished as the No. 1 international skater.

Minnesota had four players in the top 100, with Wyatt Kaiser (Andover) leading the way at No. 37. Maple Grove’s Brock Faber also cracked the first 50, coming in at No. 44. Blake Biondi (Hermantown) is 64th and Jake Ratzlaff (Rosemount) is 90th.

Overall, the final rankings include 217 skaters and 31 goalies in North America and 140 skaters and 10 goalies internationally. Nicolas Daws (Guelph) and Iaroslav Askarov (Neva St. Petersburg) were the top North American and European goalies, respectively.

Lafreniere led all skaters in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League with 112 points in 52 games for Rimouski (35 goals and 77 assists) and was named MVP and best forward at the World Junior Championship after tallying four goals and six assists in five games.

If drafted first overall, Lafreniere would be the first Quebec-born player selected first overall since goalie Marc-Andre Fleury in 2003; he’d be the first skater since Vincent Lecavalier in 1998.

“What separates him from the pack is his compete level,” said J-F Damphousse, NHL Central Scouting’s regional scout for Quebec and the Maritimes. “He’s willing to play physical. He battles every game and anytime that the game’s on the line, you want him on the ice. He makes big plays, and he responds under pressure.”

Also in the top five (fourth overall) is defenseman Jake Sanderson, the son of former NHLer Geoff Sanderson and a North Dakota commit who spent last season with USA Hockey National Team Development Program’s Under-18 Team.

Originally, the 2020 draft was scheduled for June 26-27 in Montreal, but it was postponed last month because of ongoing uncertainty resulting from the coronavirus. The location, timing and format of the draft (and draft lottery) have yet to be announced.

“Definitely a bit of mixed emotions,” Byfield said. “You’re definitely excited for the draft now, a little bit disappointed that you can’t go there. But that’s still up in the air, which would really be exciting to have the opportunity to do that.”

The scouting combine was also postponed, but teams can access on-ice testing results for 75 of the top 100 prospects from prospect games. Players are submitting medical questionnaires and medical reports, and interviews can be conducted online.

The junior ranks stopped playing in March and the ended up canceling its playoffs and the 2020 . The 2020 IIHF Under-18 Men’s World Championship was also nixed. 1173526 Minnesota Wild charities and other critical needs for kids. And Maddie’s also donating books. So it’s kind of two, right? Two different causes.”

According to the Kegleys, by 2019, Maddie and Books Against Bullying How a young hockey fan merged her fight against bullying with a love of had raised $10,000 for anti-bullying and youth mental health charities. hockey Maddie always selected different causes that aligned with her mission, but she continued to weave her passions together. Hockey often provided direction for the beneficiaries of her efforts. The two primary recipients of Books against Bullying are Shine a Ligh7, and “Give 16” an By Alison Lukan Apr 8, 2020 initiative run by former Wild player, Jason Zucker.

But, going into the 2019-20 NHL season, Maddie wanted to do Maddie Kegley says she wants to be an NHL general manager someday, something a little different. She decided to go all in on helping others and given her track record at setting goals and reaching them, it’s while still enjoying her love of hockey. probably not a good idea to bet against her. “I thought that I could just donate to the causes associated with each of Maddie is only 12, but started showing her determination early in life. the NHL teams or players that were (aligned with) caring for critical When she was just 5 years old, the Minnesota native discovered the needs of kids and other issues,” Maddie said. game of hockey. By the time she was 6, she was demanding her family The goal was $100 to a charity associated with each NHL team for a total get a subscription to NHL Center Ice so she could “watch all the teams,” annual fundraising effort of $3,100. and by age 8, she was on the ice herself…left wing is her position of choice, and when asked if she was a playmaker or a scorer, without The gift earmarked for the Blue Jackets went to Nationwide Children’s missing a beat the reply comes: “I can be both.” Hospital in honor of Nick Foligno.

Maddie Kegley plays left wing for her local team in Minnesota THIS IS INCREDIBLE! YOU ARE SPECIAL GIRL! THANK YOU FOR THE SUPPORT OF THE TEAM BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY WHAT Hockey became all-encompassing for Maddie. While the hometown Wild YOU’RE DOING TO SUPPORT YOUNG KIDS LIKE YOU! KEEP were her favorites, another team caught her eye, and her heart, the LEADING, YOU HAVE ALL THE BOYS ON @BLUEJACKETSNHL 2015-16 Blue Jackets. That group had a rough start to the season. They CHEERING FOR YOU! THANKS FOR YOUR DONATION TO were 0-7 when they headed to Minnesota with a newly hired John @NATIONWIDEKIDS. HTTPS://T.CO/KBG852C8FC Tortorella behind the bench, but Maddie believed they were better than their record and she wanted them to win. — NICK FOLIGNO (@NICKFOLIGNO) FEBRUARY 23, 2020

“They were having a rough season at the start, so I made a book for And on March 12, the final gift was made in honor of Luke Kunin of them,” Maddie said. “Then I gave it to Nick (Foligno).” Maddie’s first love, the Minnesota Wild.

Maddie Kegley meets her favorite Blue Jacket player, Nick Foligno, in WE DID IT! 31 TEAMS, $3100. PROUD TO FINISH OUR GOAL WITH A 2015 DONATION FOR OUR HOME TEAM!

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And hockey didn’t just give Maddie a sport to love. While attending a — BOOKS AGAINST BULLYING (@BOOKSAGAINST) MARCH 12, camp when she was 10 years old, Maddie came across the “Shine a 2020 Ligh7” foundation, run by fellow Minnesotan and former NHL player, Paul Martin. The focus of the organization is helping children deal with mental Maddie had reached her goal. In fact, she had exceeded it. She raised health issues and bullying. $3,400 in total and upped her donation to $500 for Friends Colorado, an anti-bullying foundation supported by Avalanche player Gabe Landeskov. That resonated with Maddie and she wanted to do something to help. But Maddie’s work for this year was not done. “Maddie has always had a soft spot for the people that aren’t doing the greatest,” Maddie’s mom Amanda said. “(Charities like Shine a Ligh7) As the COVID-19 pandemic caused so many things, including Maddie’s align so closely with the things she is most passionate about — anti- beloved hockey, to pause, she knew she wanted to do something to help. bullying, youth mental health, and suicide prevention.” But in respect of social distancing guidelines, book sales were out of the question. But what to do? Another one of Maddie’s passions is books. She has closets full of her favorite reads. So, she decided to turn that into a On March 24, Maddie announced via her organization’s Twitter that she fundraising idea – why not have a book sale? Maddie started asking was going to auction off her signed Landeskog stick to raise funds for around her community and school for any books that people may want to local and national food banks. donate toward charity. No genre was off limits. Maddie would sell the books from her driveway — each book would be sold for $1 — and all the WOW! THE CURRENT BID ON OUR AUCTION FOR A SIGNED proceeds would go to Martin’s charity. @GABELANDESKOG92 STICK IS $650!!! FUNDS RAISED WILL GO IN MADDIE'S COVID19 RELIEF FUND AND BENEFIT LOCAL AND The goal was $200. Maddie raised $610. NATIONAL FOOD BANKS INCLUDING @NOKIDHUNGRY. #GOAVSGO #HOCKEYTWITTER 1/2 It was going to be a one-time event, but then a classmate’s sibling took PIC.TWITTER.COM/EYBYMRBIE1 their own life. The causes Maddie has raised funds for became even more personal. So she decided to hold one more book event, this time, — BOOKS AGAINST BULLYING (@BOOKSAGAINST) MARCH 26, with proceeds going toward the family coping with the loss of their child. 2020 That sale was a success too, and Books Against Bullying was born. When all was said and done, Maddie had raised $650 that she plans to Maddie Kegley’s Books Against Bullying sells books to raise money for distribute between No Kid Hungry, Feeding America, and Neighbors Inc anti-bullying charities (her local food bank).

These days, Maddie holds a book sale “every other weekend, usually.” Now as Maddie waits for hockey to return, she’s keeping track of any She partners with other local events to host her Books Against Bullying donations that come into Books against Bullying and the girl described as table. Her inventory is constantly being restocked through donations. And “knowing every NHL player and all the stats” can keep brushing up on in the instance that people give monetary contributions, for every dollar her hockey knowledge. She wants to be in a team’s front office one day, donated, Maddie, in turn, gives one book to a local school, little library, after all. church, or senior living home, depending on the subject matter. “She’s an almost 13-year-old hockey fanatic with dreams…well goals, “That is part of it, too,” Amanda said. “We want people’s donations to go actually, of becoming the first female NHL general manager,” Amanda to mental health awareness, suicide prevention, and anti-bullying said. “And she also plans to change the world someday. She’s working on it as we speak.” The Athletic LOADED: 04.09.2020 1173527 MontrealCanadiens Man of the Year Award, due to his support for the team’s Read for Fun program, which encourages reading among children by promoting the benefits of academics and the value of hockey in the region’s elementary schools. Jake Evans’ progression is a model for other Canadiens prospects to follow As the only member of the Rocket that played in every single game in 2019-20 prior to his call-up, Evans took a much different route to the NHL than some other prospects in the organization. It was the slow and steady approach that we hear so much about in theory, but haven’t seen By Marc Dumont Apr 8, 2020 very often in practice with the Canadiens.

Evans received the call from the Canadiens on Feb. 8, completing the After years of slow growth, things have finally taken off for Canadiens unlikely journey from being the No. 207 pick in the 2014 draft to the NHL. prospect Jake Evans. “From where I got drafted, I knew it wouldn’t be a quick or easy ride,” Shame it all had to come to a shrieking, rubber-burning halt. said Evans. “But that was good for me, because I never had too much pressure. I progressed very well through college, which gave me an Evans is currently the front-runner for the Canadiens’ fourth-line centre opportunity to improve my overall game every year. Even in Laval, last position next season, a crucial job on a Claude Julien-coached team. year, I don’t think too many people had expectations for me. So I just worked on my game and had fun with it. That’s what helped me get to And though the current sports landscape is shrouded in the unknown, where I’m at now. athletes must be ready to return to play quickly in case sports begin ramping up again. “I always had the expectation to play in the NHL. That’s obviously your dream, but it would be a lot harder if you had a lot of people looking in on Usually, Evans will take two or three weeks following the conclusion of you or expecting you to be a top guy that puts up all these points. That the season to relax and recover from lingering injuries. was never the case for me.” But there’s no relaxing at the moment, even though a return is far from While Evans is ready to shed his prospect moniker in favour of a title that imminent. It’s a risk he’s simply not willing to take. reflects a permanent NHL role, he’s quick to defend prospects that have “That’s my worst nightmare,” said Evans, “getting told the season is back had to deal with much more pressure than himself. As someone that has on and I’m not ready.” gone through the exact same situation, but with much less hype and media attention muddying the waters, Evans is quite sympathetic toward Fortunately for Evans he has found access to a workout space. His players like Jesperi Kotakniemi and Ryan Poehling, who have dealt with girlfriend’s parents are currently renovating their home in Toronto, which their fair share of hurdles this past season. means he’s not only social distancing with an empty house, but making use of the gym in their garage. The pressure of being a first-round pick is immense, and that goes with the territory, but the allure of hearing your name among the first 31 His time in the NHL has taught him two things: he needs to keep players announced at the draft quickly disappears, replaced by a much improving if he’s to maintain a roster spot, and more importantly, he’s a less exciting sensation. Pressure. fan of the perks of life in the NHL. Evans failed to record a goal in his first 17 games of the season, and He’s not about to take them for granted. though he was clearly frustrated by the situation, the lack of pressure “It was really nice,” he said. “It’s a whole new world. Obviously you’re allowed him to focus rather than dealing with external expectations, heading to bigger cities, there’s easier travel, and it’s just nicer, overall. which can become distracting for an athlete trying to find his rhythm. But for me, I wanted to make sure I wasn’t getting too comfortable with There’s no such respite for high-end prospects. that lifestyle. I was happy with where I was, but I wasn’t satisfied.” “They’re obviously great players and they deserve a lot of attention,” said That last sentence has come to epitomize Evans’ time in the Evans. “But at times, especially for KK, it has to be so hard. You saw my organization. He’s a humble athlete, and though he might give the slump at the beginning of the year? Well, there wasn’t much written impression that confidence isn’t his greatest strength, there’s something about it. But for him? There was a lot more attention on him. He’s only to be said about the value of objectively criticizing yourself, especially as what, 20 years old? He’s handling it really well for his age. I think going to an athlete. Often times, it takes much more confidence to confront your Laval for him was a great thing. He got a lot of ice time and got his weak points than it does to ignore them. confidence back.”

“I told (Claude Julien ) I wanted feedback,” he said. “He was really happy Kotkaniemi is in fact only 19, which drives home Evans’ point even more. with how I played, but I wanted to learn.” Evans’ experience in the AHL has taught him the value of patience, The minutes don’t come easily on the fourth line, especially for rookies, something he stresses is crucial when evaluating prospects. In a results- and even more so for rookies playing for Julien. But according to Evans, based industry, patience can be in short supply. that approach errs more on the side of caution than it does any other “The same can be said for Ryan (Poehling), too,” he said. “They both narrative that surrounds the coach’s over-reliance on veteran players. handled it so well. I don’t think it was the year they expected, but with all “Development-wise, there are situations where rookies and young guys the troubles and adversity they had, they both handled it really well and will struggle,” said Evans. “Especially when playing against top guys, became really good pros through it. You never saw a negative attitude they can make you look very silly. Stuff like that can hurt your from them when they were at the rink. Every time Ryan would get sent development, which is why it makes sense to slowly increase the ice down, he would come back smiling and happy to see us. And happy to time. get better, which is the right attitude to have.”

“I saw that in my first few games. I received regular fourth-line minutes, There is considerable – and justified – fretting among Canadiens fans but as the games went on, I think Claude realized I can have an impact in over the club’s longstanding inability to develop its prospects into viable other situations, like the penalty kill. I like it that way. It’s tough to put NHLers, but Evans has every chance of standing as a counterexample. younger players in these tough spots, where they could end up looking He has plenty to teach players like Kotkaniemi and Poehling. silly or become very frustrated with themselves. Also, the older guys have earned opportunities and trust. So, I appreciate that style of His thirst for knowledge has led to Evans quickly gaining the confidence coaching, because nothing is ever given in hockey. Everyone has to earn of his coaches throughout his hockey career, an approach that was their spot.” solidified under Joël Bouchard in Laval. If there’s one thing that’s clear at Rocket practice, it’s that Bouchard is hard on Evans. It’s hard to argue Evans hasn’t earned it the old-fashioned way. Very hard on him. He was drafted almost six years ago, but it took him until this past February to arrive in the NHL. Taking the slow lane wasn’t his first And though there was always a humorous undertone to the numerous choice, but he’s matured both as a player and a young man. He was yelling matches, which were closer to soliloquies than conversations, named earlier this week as the Laval Rocket’s nominee for the AHL’s there was a method to Bouchard’s madness that Evans clearly appreciated.

“What makes him such a great coach is that he knows all the guys that respond well to a louder voice,” said Evans. “I think he found out quickly that I was one of the guys that when I got yelled at, I wouldn’t back down and I’d just try to be better. I love that stuff. He’d push me very hard in practice, very hard in games. But it was a big thing for me to get to the next level; execution. I needed to make those tough passes and bear down on shots. As (Alex) Burrows always said, players that get called up are the ones who can smell blood and take advantage of the opportunities given to them. That’s why I received attention from the coaching staff. They knew I could do it and they wanted me to realize it.

“That helped me a lot.”

Many have praised Bouchard’s approach, but few have thirsted for it as much as Evans, who sent regular texts to his AHL coach throughout his time in Laval. Julien doesn’t have time to discuss the minutiae of every shift. Bouchard, on the other hand, obsesses over it.

“I’d get texts quite often from him,” he said. “I love having his input because he’s one of the most honest guys I’ve met. I’d ask him what he thought. He’s been great. I like having his feedback and Alex Burrows, too. He’s a guy I talk to a lot. They knew me best as a player and understood what I was trying to do and how I could get better. Understandably, you don’t get as much feedback in the NHL, they expect you to do the right thing. Getting feedback from the Laval coaches and talking about the situation was great.”

Remember that part about Evans liking the perks of playing in the NHL?

Evans makes $70,000 in the AHL, whereas his base salary is more than 10 times that in the NHL at $835,000.

“I knew I was getting a lot more money, but honestly I didn’t even look at my paycheque until maybe a month afterward,” he said. “I wanted to establish myself, first. I didn’t want to think ‘Oh, what a life! I’m getting comfortable here! This is awesome!’ I didn’t even think about it.”

Evans did treat himself to the odd steak dinner here and there, and he also participated in a few card games on the Canadiens’ chartered flights, but he wisely decided to avoid the temptation of living large due to the uncertainty involved in his situation. It’s a decision that has paid off given the quickly shifting landscape of the sports world during the current pandemic.

Officially, Evans is currently a member of the Rocket. Even though he was on the Canadiens roster the day the season was suspended, he was quietly reassigned to the AHL on March 16. Since neither team is playing, there’s only one significant difference between being on an NHL roster and an AHL roster at the moment: a 90 percent pay cut.

“I really wasn’t focused on the money,” he said. “Everything is basically shut down now, and a lot of people are struggling. Who am I to complain? Besides, we’re still getting paid. There’s no reason to even think about it. I stopped thinking about it that first day, and Montreal was really apologetic about it, too. Everyone is trying to stay afloat, so I’m not going to complain about that. A lot of people are making sacrifices right now.”

One person who might soon be asked to make a sacrifice is his mother, Marilyn. Though she’s currently working as a family doctor in Toronto, if the situation surrounding COVID-19 worsens, she would be quick to join the front lines, a very real possibility that Evans uses to ground himself.

“She’s definitely stressed out,” said Evans. “Canada hasn’t been hit as hard as other countries, but if they begin to get hit hard, she’ll get called in.”

He lost a lot of the momentum in his hockey career that took years to build, took a significant pay cut and isn’t sure when he’ll get back to playing hockey, but for now, his mother is safe.

It’s all a matter of perspective.

Jake Evans will be participating in an hour-long live Q&A at The Athletic on Thursday, April 9, at noon ET.

The Athletic LOADED: 04.09.2020 1173528 MontrealCanadiens for two or three weeks, or something like that. You build up something from the start, from September until May. And then you saw how big the hockey was in Montreal after the Cup. Everybody was out in the streets, celebrating. That was amazing. I could not understand how big it was.” One-hit wonders: Kjell Dahlin made history in Montreal and quickly vanished It’s often said young players who win the Cup early in their careers make the mistake of believing it’s going to be the first of many; they don’t typically have a full appreciation of the achievement. That may or may not have happened in Dahlin’s case, but given his first year in Montreal, By Marc Antoine Godin Apr 8, 2020 no one would have blamed him for thinking his career as an NHL mainstay was truly launched.

In 1986, a short time after the 23rd Stanley Cup in franchise history was When he showed up in Montreal, Dahlin became only the third Swede to secured, my friend Christian got a gift: a blank Canadiens jersey to which wear a Canadiens uniform, after Naslund and a certain Thomas he could add any name and number he chose. Rundqvist, who played two games in December of 1984. The Canadiens had selected Dahlin in the fourth round of the 1981 draft, but when he He went to Gladu Sports, in Longueuil, and asked for number 20. The finally came over to North America, nobody was expecting him to set the name? DAHLIN. league on fire.

As in Kjell Dahlin, the Swedish winger who had just established a series When he first set foot in the Canadiens’ dressing room, Dahlin noticed of franchise rookie scoring records that stand to this day. that his stall was right next to captain Bob Gainey’s. Dahlin timidly said hello to Gainey and got a smile as a response and nothing else. Gainey In the months that followed, the 12-year-old’s family moved and the turned back toward his stall and took out his false teeth, waiting for that treasured article of clothing was lost. The enjoyment of wearing a Dalhin before addressing Dahlin by saying, “welcome to the Montreal jersey was intense, but short-lived. Kind of like the career of the guy he Canadiens, welcome to the NHL.” chose to put on the back of his jersey. Dahlin got the message right away. But some fifteen years later, Christian wandered into a used sporting goods shop on Outremont’s Bernard Ave. on a whim. He immediately “He was a player who enjoyed a lot of success at the start, a very stumbled into a mother and her young son. intelligent player even if he wasn’t quite Mats Naslund,” Savard recalled. “If Mats Naslund was a 10 out of 10, he might have been a 5 or a 6 out of “So, do you want it or not? Make up your mind!” 10. He was just borderline.” “Um, I don’t know…” Fair enough. But if you’d asked anyone in that first season whether The boy was holding an old Canadiens jersey; it was made of much Dahlin was an NHL player, it would have earned an are-you-crazy-or- rougher fabric than today’s models, and appeared significantly less just-stupid stare. comfy to wear. It looked nothing like the jerseys everyone else in the “He was a very skilled player and he was an excellent goalscorer,” said neighbourhood was wearing. Smith, who was Dahlin’s main centre in that first season. “Looking back, And who was this DAHLIN guy whose name had been somewhat he was a guy who scored almost all his goals on the wrist shot. I can’t clumsily placed on the back? remember him shooting slap shots. I really liked playing with him. Skilled player. When I played between Mats Naslund and Kjell Dahlin, it was an As soon as the little guy’s interest seemed to waver, his mother grabbed excellent line. He made a pass, you got it back. He made a play, created him by the arm. a scoring chance and it ended up in the back of the net. I really enjoyed “OK, we’re leaving.” playing with him.”

Christian, who by this point was struggling with every fibre of his being When the Canadiens opened the 1985-86 season in Pittsburgh, the club not to shout “let go, that’s MY jersey!”, quickly scooped up the precious had four rookies in the lineup and four second-year players. Coach Jean garment. Perron, himself an NHL rookie, had also scratched four other first-year players. The point being the odds of a kid wanting a No. 20 Dahlin jersey these days are increasingly thin. In the 1980s that wasn’t the case; Dahlin rose Fitting such a large number of youngsters into the team – and more out of nowhere to become a logical option for young fans looking to would be added as the playoffs loomed – amounted to a huge test for a personalize their team gear, then disappeared almost as quickly. At one club that was built upon the leadership foundation of Gainey and Larry point, one very precise point in time, he inspired the dreams of a Robinson. generation of kids who rooted for the Canadiens. Today, he only inspires “The season had started badly and I got all my leaders together in quizzical looks. Hartford,” said Perron. “I told my veterans ‘we have a ton of rookies and I So who was Kjell Dahlin, exactly? And why did his star fade so quickly? need help.’ The guys decided to give me a hand, and Mats said, ‘I’ll grab Kjell, I’ll take care of him.’ That’s one of the reasons why he had such a “I don’t even remember how it ended for him,” admitted Serge Savard, great year.” who was the Canadiens’ general manager during Dahlin’s brief, shining moment in time. Naslund, who by then was firmly established as the team’s leading offensive player, was the perfect mentor for Dahlin. He was four years You want talk about a flash in the pan? The biggest one-hit wonder in older – meaning they’d never played together back in the old country – Canadiens’ history? Look no further. but they’d actually grown up on the same street in Timra, Sweden. Right from the hop, the Little Viking helped the younger man acclimatize to the You arrive in Montreal at age 22 and quickly inherit a job on a line that NHL; he had already helped him find a house in the West Island, in the already features Bobby Smith and Mats Naslund. You set a new team same neighbourhood where Mario Tremblay, , Craig Ludwig, rookie record by scoring 32 goals, and tie the rookie scoring record of 71 Chris Nilan and Gaston Gingras, among others, already lived. points, set three years previously by your countryman, Naslund. You win the Stanley Cup, and are fêted in a monster parade on rue Sainte- So Naslund was the guy who took Dahlin under his wing, but if you ask Catherine. the man himself who he grew closest to, he’ll point to another teammate.

It’s the type of start to a career that dreams and corny movies are made “My first friend on the team was Chris Chelios,” Dahlin said. “We came of. together to the arena at the same time. I had played against him in the juniors tournament when we played the U.S., so we got to know each “I think you can’t win a bigger thing in hockey, even if you win the World other a bit better. We had the same experience with our national junior Cup or the Olympics,” Dahlin said in a recent interview with The Athletic. teams. My wife and Chris Chelios’ girlfriend at that time got along really “I think the Stanley Cup is much bigger than that, because you have the good.” same team during the whole season, you lose and you win together, and then it comes to playoffs and that kind of stuff. You’re with your friends the whole year, instead of the World Cup when you’re with your players By his own admission, Dahlin “didn’t take that much room in the dressing it. Serge (Savard) game me a lot of physical players, and in those days room” whereas Chelios … well let’s just say he was familiar with closing we wanted to win all our one-on-one battles, and Kjell wasn’t able to do time in Montreal. They formed an odd couple, to say the least. that consistently.”

“I found over the course of my second season that he was probably one Dahlin, for his part, rejects the idea that he was slowed down by hard, of the quietest and most respectful and humble guys.” said Chelios. “I’ve physical play. In his estimation he was able to survive thanks to his ability gotten along with all my teammates, but I felt that he had come over by to skate with his head up and because he had good enough vision to himself, basically, and didn’t have any other friends except for Mats keep tabs on what was happening around him. Naslund. He just had a team, and I thought we were a really close team. He was a very good guy to be around.” Bobby Smith is another guy who doesn’t seem especially convinced by the physicality argument. The fact he enjoyed instant success on the ice certainly helped Dahlin ingratiate himself to his teammates and become a dues-paid member of “But I know his role on the team greatly decreased in 85-86 in the the group. He scored in his first game, and after a brief lull in November playoffs,” Smith noted. “I think that hurt him a lot … that was hard for him. (right around the time Perron got his leaders together), went on a heater Just looking at his numbers, I thought he would have played less than 16 that lasted for months. games.”

When the books closed on the 1985-86 season, Dahlin finished third in The problem with having played on a Cup winning club without having the Calder Trophy voting behind Calgary defenceman and made a major contribution in the playoffs is it allows management to some guy in Toronto named Wendel Clark. make a fairly straightforward calculation: the team can win without this guy. And regular season points are never as valuable in the NHL as the Dahlin loved to play the quick, high-pace game that has become the ones accrued by a player in the postseason. norm in today’s NHL. By playing at top speed and making quick decisions with the puck, he found out he was able to play in traffic and Momesso, Skrudland, Roy, Richer, Corson… Many familiar faces quickly adapt to the dimensions of North American ice. gathered around Kjell Dahlin (on the chair) in this picture of the 1985-86 Canadiens’ rookies. (Courtesy Kjell Dahlin) Today Dahlin is an amateur scout in Sweden and he’s been working for the Winnipeg Jets since 2015. So what kind of report would he have put Remember the earlier reference to all the rookies on the team that year? together in the 1980s on a young prospect named Kjell Dahlin? The ones who led the Canadiens to the promised land were called Patrick Roy, Claude Lemieux and Brian Skrudland. And the wheel would “I was a skilled player,” he said. “Not physical, very good hands and had keep turning the following year, when Stéphane Richer, Shayne Corson really good quickness in tight areas. My first couple of strides were really and Sergio Momesso cemented their spot on the roster. quick and I had really good turns. I came out of the corners really fast. And I had a really good wrist shot.” “Maybe he kind of got lost in the shuffle there,” suggested Chelios.

Ah yes, the wrist shot. Dahlin had set high expectations by bursting out of the starting blocks. Managing the kind of pressure that accompanies living up to the hype in Dahlin would let it fly without warning and with the pinpoint accuracy Montreal is not made for everyone. required to fill any net. He also found himself on the power play and was one of the main reasons the 1985-86 Canadiens had the third-best man- “I got to Montreal when I was 25 and I played three years after I left,” said advantage in the league; the success rate topped 25 percent that year. Smith. “Mats kind of left early as well; it was a big surprise when he retired. But I always said, Montreal would be a difficult place to start or to “Kjell Dahlin, with that wrister from the right side, surprised a lot of finish my career. I wouldn’t want to be a rookie coming in, trying to find people,” said Perron. “Everyone expected him to pass the puck to Larry my way and what are the expectations – it was much easier to do that in Robinson, who also had an amazing year. The two were on that same Minnesota. And I wouldn’t want to be a 35-year old guy who was a side together, they created all kinds of sparks.” former number one center still playing in Montreal. So actually, my career worked out extremely well. I was in the prime of my career in Montreal for It’s at least a little ironic to hear Perron chalk his club’s power-play seven years, we played the Stanley Cup Finals twice, we played in the success up to Dahlin’s contribution. Two years later, the power play semi-finals a couple of other times. I wasn’t great every game, but I was would be in complete disarray and Dahlin by then had become a a good player and I loved playing for the . peripheral figure in the team’s plans. And who was it that ended up clamouring for him to get more power-play time? None other than the Big “But again, it would have been a hard place to start your career and it Bird. would have been a harder place to finish.”

“He (Perron) wants respect from the players,” Robinson said at the time, No, it wasn’t easy on the young Dahlin, who couldn’t fathom why he “but in order to get respect from players, you’ve got to respect them.” wasn’t getting the same ice time; nor was it simple for the much older Robinson to accept a reduced role compared to his most glorious days. Dahlin remembers the clamour that quickly ensued after that particular episode. But he mostly remembers having trouble figuring out why The mounting pressure of playing in Montreal may have weighed on Perron abruptly stopped using him. Dahlin late in his rookie season. (Courtesy Kjell Dahlin)

“My second or third year there, I didn’t understand what was the thinking The other element that could factor into the equation is injuries. Knee and around the team,” he said. “My first year I played a lot with skilled guys, back ailments limited Dahlin to 41 and 48 games in the two seasons that and my second and third year I was sent down to the third line or fourth followed his rookie campaign. They would be the last two he would line, and those guys were not that skilled. It was a little bit harder for me spend in the NHL. to produce more points, you know. But still, I scored around 12 or 13 goals a year, in only 40 games and limited ice time. So if I had played on “I caught up with him in Montreal for a party in honour of Bob Gainey, a regular shift and that kind of stuff, I would come up with, I guess, and I asked him what happened with his career,” said Perron. “I told him between 25 and 35 goals a year. So, it was a little bit surprising for me.” ‘we had such high hopes for you in the NHL’. And he said, ‘Jean, I haven’t told anyone else this, but physically, I had back problems. I was We do have some potential explanations as to why the magic Dahlin in pain, and I couldn’t handle it anymore, and that’s the reason I decided seemed to possess in his first season in the NHL dissipated. to go back to Sweden’.”

The first, according to Perron, is that Dahlin was built on a slight frame, Dahlin’s version is that he did, in fact, suffer from debilitating back pain, and had trouble dealing with the physicality of the NHL of the mid-1980s. but it didn’t become a serious problem until the outset of the 90s, by which point he’d gone home. “After his first year, the other teams started targeting him and playing really physically against him,” Perron said. “I first noticed it in the playoffs According to Savard, the two years that followed Dahlin’s rookie the previous season. He wasn’t able to keep up with the pace because campaign had made him a marginal player in the club’s eyes. After the the game became much harder physically, and I was forced to scratch 1987-88 season, Dahlin decided to pack up and go back to Sweden. And him on a few occasions. yes, his diminished ice time was a factor in turning his back on the NHL.

“In those years there was still a lot of hooking and grabbing, and anything “I don’t know why I went home … Well yes, a little bit,” he said. “Because and anyone that moved fast on the ice was going to attract even more of I had one year, plus one option left on my contract when I went home. And if I only play 40 games in the NHL, I can still go home and play that at home. I don’t want to go around and travel around the U.S. playing 40 games.”

If he could do it all again, Dahlin would make a different choice.

“It was a big mistake to move home after my third year,” he said. “I should have stayed there. I think I made a big mistake.”

It’s entirely possible Dahlin got poor advice, if he received any at all. Maybe he was a little homesick. But when Smith looks back at his former linemate’s career, he sympathizes with the fact he never really got the chance to provide a decent account of himself after that first campaign.

“An offensive player, unless you’re Mario Lemieux or Wayne Gretzky, you have to be in a situation where you can succeed,” Smith said. “Kjell Dahlin has to play on the first or second line and he has to play on the power play if he’s going to be a successful player. I know he played on the power play his first year and he was an effective player, but you take a player like that and he can’t be a third line player.

“Let’s remember, Montreal is a difficult place to play. Here’s a player who could have gone somewhere else in the NHL and be a 30-goal scorer for quite a while. In Montreal, I know there’s lots of players who really enjoyed not playing in Montreal and not being under that kind of focus. And when you remember Kjell, he went back to Sweden in the prime of his career. He could have played in Los Angeles or St. Louis or Washington or with the Islanders, I think he would have been an excellent top-six forward and score many goals for many years.”

Instead, Dahlin opted to play the rest of his professional career far away from the NHL spotlight; although he did keep a close eye on the papers to keep abreast of what was happening with ‘his’ team in Montreal. The season after he left, the Canadiens once again reached a Cup final against Calgary.

When the Vancouver Canucks called a few years later to offer another bite at the NHL apple, he declined. Having made the round-trip journey across the Atlantic once, he had no particular desire to upend his life in Sweden and start anew on the Pacific Coast.

Thus, we are left with a short NHL career that produced two club records that’s been dusted off from time to time to measure how far a Jesperi Kotkaniemi or a Nick Suzuki was from making Canadiens history. We are left with the immortal memory of Dahlin with the Stanley Cup, which no one can take away.

And we are left with at least one patched up old jersey that meant a great deal to a young Canadiens fan of yesterday. Sadly, it means nothing to the young fans of today.

The Athletic LOADED: 04.09.2020 1173529 Nashville Predators Tennessean LOADED: 04.09.2020

CEOs, former neighbors Sean Henry of Predators, Ian Ayre of Nashville SC navigate pause

Paul Skrbina, Nashville Tennessean Published 5:13 p.m. CT April 8, 2020 | Updated 5:26 p.m. CT April 8, 2020

As Sean Henry remembers it, the dress code for the first meeting he had with Ian Ayre was "boxer shorts and nothing else."

The chance encounter between Henry, the Predators president and CEO, and Ayre, the CEO of Nashville SC, occurred early one morning a couple of years ago in their driveways while the two were fetching the day's newspaper.

"I get up one morning, coffee in my hand," Henry said. "Obviously wearing boxer shorts. ... I look across the street and there's some weird English guy with a beard in his boxer shorts getting his newspaper with his dog, and I had discovered Ian had moved in across the street from me."

And so a friendship was born. Their families would get together. Henry and Ayre "would stay out a little bit too late sharing stories and getting to know each other."

The two no longer are neighbors, at least in a dwelling sense.

But they are in the sense that they both are navigating professional sports franchises through the COVID-19 pandemic. On Wednesday, they reunited, only this time they were dressed in the other's team clothing – Henry in a Nashville SC shirt and Ayre in Predators gear – during a video conference call.

Henry and Ayre said they are in constant communication with their leagues and teams while quarantining.

Neither has an answer for when sports might return.

"I kind of find it somewhere between amusing and annoying," Ayre said. "When you see people interviewed on TV ... they're saying, 'Ah, you know, we think we might be back at this point.' Nobody knows. How can anyone know if nobody knows when the virus will abate in any state or any country?"

Henry said all the leagues can do is work on contingency plans, of which he said there are five or six.

"Of each five or six plans there's five or six offshoots," Henry said. "We're all trying to figure out, 'Is there a way to play this current season? Is there a playoff format? ... What's the safest way for both to happen?' It's the right way to look at it."

Nashville SC, in its inaugural season, had played just one home game – before a crowd of 59,000 at Nissan Stadium – before sports were put on hold during the second week of March. Ayre said preparation for construction of the team's new stadium hasn't been affected by the pandemic, and he expects completion by May 2022.

The Predators were on a three-game winning streak and clinging to the final wild-card playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Henry said he believes all but three Predators players have remained in the Nashville area. The team had a happy hour Zoom call a couple of days ago. Players have been doing public service announcements, and the franchise has remained active in the community.

Ayre said all but two of his team's members are here, too, quarantining and trying to stay in shape.

Henry said working from home has its advantages. He said his team of 300 or so employees have been able to get to know one another much better.

"If you would have told me two months ago we're going to transition from a pretty active environment in the office to being at home within 24 hours, or it would be this seamless, I would have laughed at you," Henry said.

"It's amazing how well we're all adjusting. I'm adjusting. I don't know about the rest of my family. (They) can't wait for me to go back to work." 1173530 New Jersey Devils

If Devils win NHL draft lottery again, Alexis Lafreniere could be their pick

By Randy Miller

The Devils had hoped to avoid this year’s NHL Draft lottery after winning it in 2017 and 2019.

They’ll probably be involved again regardless of whether the NHL season resumes following its coronavirus stoppage. If so, this time the Devils could have two shots at a lottery pick, although one acquired in a trade can’t be higher than fourth overall.

According to NHL Central Scouting Bureau, which released its final rankings on Wednesday, the No. 1 prospect is left wing Alexis Lafreniere of the QMJHL’s Rimouski Oceanic.

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Lafreniere, 18, could become the first Quebec-born player to be picked first overall since the selected goaltender Marc- Andre Fleury in 2003.

“Lafreniere has exceptional skills and attributes which make him a scoring threat every time he steps onto the ice,” Central Scouting director Dan Marr said. “Whether it’s with Rimouski in the QMJHL or on the world stage he has continually shown that he is a force that can impact and be a difference maker in games.

"What sets him above in this draft class is the natural compete and battle traits that are ingrained in his game, allowing Alexis to lead the way and make others around him better.”

Left winger Tim Stuetzle, who plays for Mannheim in Germany’s top pro league, is ranked as the No. 1 international skate.

“Stuetzle is a smart, creative, playmaking forward,” Central Scouting’s European services director Goran Stubb said. “He has an exceptional combination of skating and puck skills that are at an elite level and he’s capable of making precision plays at top speed with a wicked finishing shot.”

The NHL draft format could change depending on how the 2020 season ends – if it hasn’t already – but in past seasons, all 15 clubs that missed the postseason will be in the lottery.

When the NHL season stopped on March 12, the Devils were 13 points out of an Eastern Conference playoff spot with 13 games to play. Their 68 points were the sixth fewest and gives them 7.5 percent chance at winning the lottery ... if things don’t change.

The Devils could get a second lottery pick if the Arizona Coyotes also miss the playoffs.

Arizona, which is four points out of a Western Conference playoff spot with 12 games remaining, traded its top pick, two other picks and a prospect to the Devils in December for winger Taylor Hall. As of now, this pick has a 3.5 percent chance of winning the lottery, and if that happens, Arizona could keep it. If this pick is first, second or third overall, the Devils will get Arizona’s top pick in 2021 instead of 2020.

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After Lafreniere, Central Scouting has center Quinton Byfield of the OHL’s of the Sudbury Wolves ranked second and defenseman Jamie Drysdale of the OHL’s Erie Otters listed third.

All three were on Canada’s gold medal-winning World Junior team this year.

Star Ledger LOADED: 04.09.2020 1173531 New Jersey Devils

Will fans be scared to attend games when sports return after coronavirus pandemic? New study shows alarming results

By Joe Giglio

Now this is a major problem for professional sports.

Eventually, social restrictions will be lifted in America and across the world. Science will catch up to the coronavirus, and life will resume. But that doesn’t mean things will go completely back to normal right away.

According to a study from Scout 360 Horizon Media, more than half of sports fans won’t feel comfortable in a stadium when things return to normal.

Bad news for sports leagues: 60% of fans won’t feel comfortable going to a sporting event for at least a couple months after getting an “all clear,” according to new Scout 360-Horizon Media study @Scoutsande @HorizonMedia #SportsBiz

— Scott Soshnick (@soshnick) April 7, 2020

This, of course, is understandable.

The longer that social distancing and restrictions stay in place, the more “normal” will feel odd to go back to when the time comes. Plus, it’s not going to be easy to convince people that safe is actually safe vs. an invisible enemy. Unlike when 9/11 changed the world and new security measures were put into place, we won’t be able to see protection from the coronavirus when experts tell us to go back to normal. It will have to be a trust thing, and that can take time.

The good news for owners of sports teams: Respondents to this study cited months, not years before being ready to come back. Fans are, well, fanatical. If the perceived threat of this virus and pandemic wanes over the next six months to a year, people will be eager to get back to some sense of normalcy. That includes attending events, especially sporting events.

Eventually (and hopefully) a vaccine will arrive for COVID-19, and this will be past our society. We’ll all be able to walk into a stadium for a game again like it was 2019, and not think twice about it. But until then, some will be wary of going into large crowds. I know I will, and think that feeling is perfectly normal for fans to experience.

Star Ledger LOADED: 04.09.2020 1173532 New Jersey Devils The 6-foot-1, 193-pound winger has been consistently praised for his all- around game, his determination and his ability to make plays under pressure. Lafreniere was the 2020 World Junior Championship MVP for the gold medal-winning Canadian team. For Rimouski Oceanic, he NHL Central Scouting releases 2020 draft rankings: Here are top targets scored 35 goals and finished with 112 points in only 52 games. for NJ Devils J-F Damphousse, a scout for Quebec and the Maritimes, said Lafreniere said nearly every aspect of his game is “elite.”

Abbey Mastracco, NHL Writer Published 5:52 p.m. ET April 8, 2020 | “One of his best assets, in general, is his vision, his playmaking skills,” Updated 6:23 p.m. ET April 8, 2020 Damphousse said on a video call with the media Wednesday. “Every game I saw him play he makes plays that we don’t even think those plays

are possible and he still makes them. I think what separates him from the The NHL is still grappling with how to proceed with the 2020 draft amid pack is his compete level. He’s willing to play physical. He battles every the coronavirus pandemic, but the league proceeded as usual game and anytime the game is on the line you want him on the ice. He Wednesday afternoon, releasing the central scouting bureau’s 2020 makes big plays and he responds under pressure.” rankings. C Quinton Byfield There were few surprises at the top. Left wing Alexis Lafreniere, who Today’s NHL requires depth up the middle. Should Devils’ interim plays for Rimouski of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, led the general manager Tom Fitzgerald remain at the helm, he’ll build around rankings of North American skaters and German left wing Tim Stuetzel two centers of similar age in Hischier and Hughes. Byfield (OHL led the European rankings. Nicolas Daws (Guelph of the Ontario Hockey Sudbury) could eventually be compared to Anaheim Ducks’ center Ryan League) topped the list of North American goalies and Russian phenom Getzlaf with his size (6-foot-4, 215 pounds) and skating. He’s big and Iaroslav Askarov is considered the best European goalie. powerful, which is a huge asset up the middle. He may not be ready to The toughest part of the rankings was creating them without being able produce at the NHL level next year but with Hughes, Hischier and Travis to scout players in some of the scouting major events. Zajac, there wouldn’t be any rush to bring him in right away.

The rapid spread of COVID-19 has halted sports at nearly every level D Jamie Drysdale throughout the world and the Canadian Hockey League was forced to The Devils only have two defensive prospects in the top tier of their farm shut down early. Much of the scouting is typically based on regular system. Ty Smith alone will not fix the problems on the blue line and season play and performances in the IIHF World Junior Championships Kevin Bahl still needs some development. Drysdale (Erie OHL) produced but there were no Memorial Cup Playoffs or under-18 World nearly a point per game this season on a rebuilding squad. He’s only 5- Championships. foot-11, 175 pounds, but he’s the type of mobile, offensive-defenseman The NHL’s Central Scouting Bureau moved their annual meetings to an the Devils have coveted the last few years. online format and were able to release the rankings based on what D Jake Sanderson scouts have already seen from 18-year-old draft-eligible players, but now comes the hard part for the teams. Jake Sanderson (48) is ready to spring into action for the U.S. NTDP Under-17 team. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman shakes hands with Jack Hughes after being selected first overall by the New Jersey Devils during the first Sanderson is projected to be the first American taken off the board round of the 2019 NHL Draft at Rogers Arena on June 21, 2019 in whenever the draft rolls around and possibly even the first Montana-born Vancouver, Canada. player to play in the NHL. A product of the U.S. National Team Development Program, Sanderson (6-1, 185) compares similarly to other The NHL Scouting Combine has been postponed along with the draft, graduates of the program like Seth Jones, Zach Werenski and Charlie which was originally slated for June 26-27 at Bell Centre in Montreal, so McAvoy. right now it’s impossible for teams to see players test physically and have them interact with their staff in person. LW Tim Stuetzle

“With all of the social distancing restrictions, there are no in-person Much like last year’s No. 2 pick, Rangers’ winger Kaapo Kakko, Stuetzle interviews that are allowed,” Dan Marr, the NHL’s director of Central has been playing with men in Germany’s domestic league for Adler Scouting. “We’re proceeding on our medical collection side, trying to get Mannheim. The 6-foot-1, 187 winger is a great skater with quickness and all of our players to provide a medical history questionnaire and collecting soft hands. Scouts have praised his levelheaded demeanor as he’s any medical reports that may be available. That’s all information that gets gained notoriety in his home country. For his part, he says he’s ultra- posted and made available to our clubs, doctors and trainers. competitive and hates to lose. The Devils have yet to find a left winger to replace Taylor Hall, Stuetzle or Lafreniere may be ready to step into that “On the fitness side, there are no testing results that are going to be role sooner rather than later. available with the postponement of the combine but we have an arrangement in place where we do get some on-ice testing done, so the G Iaroslav Askarov teams will get some on-ice prospects of the top 75 or so prospects of this draft.” Bad goaltending has hamstrung the Devils over the last few seasons. Mackenzie Blackwood is the goalie of the future, but no one knows what LOOKING AHEAD: If the NJ Devils' season ended today, what would the future holds for Cory Schneider. Gilles Senn needs more time in the happen next? minor leagues and after him, the depth drops off. Askarov could be an intriguing prospect for a team trying to figure out the future of its The Detroit Red Wings clinched the worst record in the league before goaltending situation. operations were suspended on March 12 and have an 18.5 percent chance of receiving the No. 1 overall pick. The Ottawa Senators have the Bergen Record LOADED: 04.09.2020 best odds with their pick and the one belonging to the San Jose Sharks.

If the season were to end with the current standings, the New Jersey Devils would have a 7.5 chance of winning the first pick and a 23.3 percent chance of a top-3 pick. The Devils have won two of the last three lotteries, choosing centers Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes in 2017 and 2019. There is a chance the Devils end up with two picks later in the first round but currently, the other two picks are conditional.

Here’s a look at a few of the top players and how they could fit with the Devils in the future.

LW Alexis Lafreniere 1173533 New York Islanders concerned how this translates into a return to action. Most players are in self-quarantine with little access to the fitness equipment used in offseason training regimens. Are we going to see a spate of soft tissue groin and hamstring injuries, ankle and knee injuries, when and if the Lack of skating during NHL pause is a big concern if season resumes season resumes?”

A goal sits on the empty ice prior A goal sits on the empty ice prior Islanders coach Barry Trotz said: “That’s why there’s going to have to be a set parameter on time for players so you’re able to not put the players

in peril. A lot of the training coaches have designed a lot of their By Andrew Gross and Colin Stephenson programs to help the core muscles and groin muscles that can help the prevention of that. But nothing emulates skating like skating.”

But Trotz’s boss, Islanders president and general manager Lou NHL players have gone through unexpectedly long hiatuses before. Lamoriello, said, “it won’t take them that long to get back in skating Owners’ lockouts reduced the 1994-95 and 2012-13 seasons to 48 shape” because the athletes are well-conditioned. games each and wiped out all of 2004-05. Former Rangers captain Dave Maloney, whose NHL career spanned Players could always find ice time during those stoppages, though, either from 1974 to 1985 and who now is part of both the team’s radio and in small groups or individually. That is not the case during the COVID-19 television broadcasting crews, agreed that the modern hockey player is pandemic, which forced the NHL to pause its season on March 12. And light years ahead of players from his era in terms of year-round training. that lack of on-ice training could be a major hurdle if the NHL is ever given the green light to resume this season. “Carol Vadnais used to say he’d put a nail in his skates the day the season was over and pull the nail out the first day of training camp,” The only timeline right now is that President Donald Trump has extended Maloney said of his former Rangers teammate. “Which was about right. the social-distancing guidelines in the U.S. through April 30. But players Guys never skated [in the summer]. might not be able to skate until well after that. “As far as getting back up to speed again, it’s so dramatically different “During the lockout, everyone was skating the whole time, so that’s why it now with the conditioning and the nutrition,” Maloney added. “They’ll kind was only a 10-day training camp before you played the first game,” said of ease into it and it won’t take that long. That’s my impression, anyway.” former Devils captain Andy Greene, who was traded to the Islanders on Feb. 16. “With the social-distancing going until the end of April, that’s Newsday LOADED: LOADED: 04.09.2020 going to be at least six, seven weeks without even touching the ice.

“It’s one thing to be able to get into game shape fairly quickly when you’ve been on the ice in the summer and you’re able to mimic workouts and skate,” said Greene, who entered the NHL in 2007. “This is almost like starting over.”

Players will typically stay off skates for at least a month — sometimes longer — when a normal season concludes, then spend the rest of the offseason slowly building that skating strength back up for the start of training camp.

The NHL extended its self-quarantine period for players through April 15, so the players essentially are trying to stay in shape through whatever equipment they have at home. Rollerblades or slide boards are essentially the only substitutes for skating, other than for the fortunate few who still have access to frozen outdoor ponds or homemade backyard rinks in chillier climates.

Islanders defenseman Ryan Pulock posted a video message to fans while on skates in Dauphin, Manitoba.

A message from @rpulock to our fans and all the doctors, nurses and medical staff who are working hard to help keep us safe. pic.twitter.com/jMxEVu3yKa

— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) March 24, 2020

Team facilities are closed, but the NHL has made an exception for injured players who need access for rehab. For instance, the Blue Jackets’ Seth Jones, out since Feb. 8 because of an ankle injury, recently posted a video of him skating at the team’s practice rink.

Feels nice to be back on the ice after a longggg 8 weeks! pic.twitter.com/DKM84MLvn9

— Seth Jones (@seth_jones3) April 5, 2020

“I got a treadmill and some small stuff here at the house, and that’s kind of all you’re privy to,” Rangers defenseman Marc Staal said. “You can’t use the facility. You can’t skate. There’s nothing that replicates skating. It definitely affects you when you can’t use the facilities. You can’t use the gym. Your options are pretty limited. But everyone in our position’s been doing this a very long time, so everyone knows how to handle it and do it their own way.”

The concern, of course, is that the lack of skating could lead to injuries if and when the season is able to resume.

“One of the key concerns as an agent is the health and safety of the players with regard to the structure of protocols on a return to play,” California-based agent Allan Walsh said. “If we play again this season, the vast majority of NHL players will have been off skates for several months before participating in a ‘mini-training camp.’ I’m gravely 1173534 New York Rangers moved up from No. 16 to 12 to grab him in the 2005 ping-pong ball lottery draft that followed the canceled season. The Blueshirts, Penguins, Sabres and Blue Jackets all had the same shot at the first overall selection who would be Sidney Crosby. The Rangers wound up with the Marc Staal is a Rangers relic who proved he still belongs 16th-overall pick. Don’t ask me. When the financially failing Penguins emerged with the prize, the ghost of Dave DeBusschere nodded

knowingly. By Larry Brooks But the Blueshirts dealt their first and second to the Thrashers in order to move up and grab Staal, who was a two-way guy with power play ability. In 2010-11, in fact, he got 2:38 per on the PP playing for John Tortorella. Part 18 in a series analyzing the Rangers. He may not have gotten a total of 2:38 since, evolving into a stay-at- home guy who was never shy about laying the lumber on Crosby in the You could start with perhaps the most baffling incident on the ice that I’ve running series of playoff confrontations between the teams. ever seen, which would be Eric Staal’s crushing hit up high that concussed his brother, Marc Staal, in Carolina on Feb. 22, 2011. As the league became speedier by the day, Staal did not. As defensemen have become more mobile by the month, Staal has not. Or maybe with the calamity at the Garden on March 5, 2013, when Marc He’s a dinosaur in this league. A Tyrannosaurus Rex who proved this was struck in the right eye on Jakub Voracek’s deflection of Kimmo season that he is by no means on the verge of extinction. Timonen’s shot and lost the vision in that eye. New York Post LOADED: 04.09.2020 Because those are the two defining moments of Staal’s career in New York that began with the 2007-08 season. Now that Zak DeOssie’s tenure with the Giants has ended, Staal is second in longevity among professional athletes in this town, with only Henrik Lundqvist (2005-06) exceeding his seniority.

(Brett Gardner, a Yankee since the last day of June, 2008, is third on the list. Fourth? Josh Bailey, an Islander since 2008-09).

But rather than point to that pair of signal moments that altered the course of Staal’s career, let’s go back to this past Oct. 29 when the Rangers were at the Garden against the Lightning and No. 18 was designated as a healthy scratch by David Quinn to make room for Ryan Lindgren’s addition to the lineup.

Was designated as a healthy scratch for the first time in his career.

Staal didn’t like it. Not even a tiny bit. And he liked it less when he was scratched the next game, too, at Nashville on Nov. 2. And a whole lot less than that when he sat for a third straight time against Ottawa on Nov. 4. He was angry.

And he played like it after he was reinstated for the following game against the Red Wings on Nov. 6. There was another enforced break soon after that cost Staal 13 games when he underwent ankle surgery after having developed an infection. But when he returned on Dec. 6, he reclaimed his job and never looked back or over his shoulder.

The coach had laid down a challenge. Be better. And that is exactly what a reinvigorated Marc Staal was after accepting that challenge. He was strong in the corners, effective in the one-on-one’s, better in his positioning and with his work in front than he’d been in a couple of years.

He brought a large measure of stability to the back end. And his strong work allowed the team to return Libor Hajek to Hartford to continue his apprenticeship after the NHL became just a bit too much for the 22-year- old

His steadiness on the left allowed his partner, Tony DeAngelo, to offensively thrive on the right side. And No. 18 provided a reminder of who is he and what he has meant to the Rangers on the ice and as a leader in the room. Only five men have played more games in the Blueshirt than Staal’s 892, and they are Harry Howell, Brian Leetch, Rod Gilbert, Ron Greschner and Walter Tkaczuk.

Tkaczuk’s longevity as a Ranger never fails to somehow catch me off guard. The way Chris Kreider is the survivor among all the young forwards to flow through the pipeline last decade, that was Tkaczuk a generation ago. The center of the famed Bulldog Line actually played two games with the team midway through 1967-68 as a 20-year-old up from Kitchener of the OHA before making it for good the following season.

He had Billy Fairbairn to his right and a passel of guys on the left, from Dave Balon — one of the most underrated goal-scorers to ever play for the team — to Gene Carr to Steve Vickers, who was the best of them all. No. 18 played 945 games for the Rangers, so 53 more than Staal. The last one of Tkaczuk’s career was on Feb. 2, 1981 at the Garden in a 3-2 defeat to the Kings. He was hit in the right eye by a puck that bounced freakishly off the ice and lost his vision in that eye. He never played again.

The trajectory of the 33-year-old Staal’s career was forever altered by the eye injury and the concussion-inducing hit in Carolina. The Rangers 1173535 New York Rangers Julien Gauthier #12 of the New York Rangers skates against the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center on February 19, 2020 in Chicago, Illinois.

NY Rangers questions: Who are the next wave of forwards that will That’s where Gauthier comes in. The Rangers knew they needed to add impact the NHL roster? talent to their group of secondary forwards, and after netting 26 goals in 44 games with AHL Charlotte this season, they took a chance by flipping defenseman prospect Joey Keane to acquire him.

Vincent Z. Mercogliano, NHL Writer Published 6:18 p.m. ET April 8, 2020 Gauthier is still just 22 and has the tools to develop — size, speed, strength, goal-scoring ability. But it remains to be seen if and when he'll

put it all together. With the NHL season on pause due to the coronavirus, we'll be Barring a trade or free agent signing — the latter will be difficult given the producing a series of stories about the 2019-20 New York Rangers. First salary cap situation — the Rangers other options would likely come from we looked at what we learned, and now we'll examine questions that their AHL affiliate in Hartford. And while the Wolf Pack were much- remain unanswered: improved this season, there is only one forward who remains under Let’s take a few moments to examine the New York Rangers’ immediate contract for next season with legitimate top-nine upside. depth at forward. Of course, that would be 2018 first-round pick Vitali Kravtsov. We’ve already gone over the star duo of Artemi Panarin and Mika Hartford Wolf Pack's Vitali Kravtsov practicing with his team at the Zibanejad, as well as the extension of top-six staple Chris Kreider. Those Champion Skating Center in Cromwell, CT Jan. 22, 2020. The Wolf Pack three are givens. are the New York Rangers' minor-league affiliate in the American Hockey You can debate whether Ryan Strome or Filip Chytil should be the League. second-line center, which is a positive indication of each player raising Many thought he would break in with the Rangers this season, but that their stock this season. And while Kaapo Kakko experienced his share of never came to fruition. He faced the disappointment of failing to make the rookie struggles, the potential is certainly there for him to land a top-six team out of training camp, went back to play in his native Russia for a role in the near future. short stint, and ultimately landed back in Hartford. It’s also safe to assume — at least for 2020-21 — that Pavel Buchnevich He wasn't the offensive force he was touted to be in his first season in will continue to play on the same line with Zibanejad and Kreider. That North America, collecting 15 points (six goals and nine assists) in 39 AHL trio has obvious chemistry and was the Rangers’ best line in the second games. But the Rangers were at least he encouraged that he came back half of the season. with an improved attitude and got some experience under his belt. Look at that as line 1A, with line 1B built around Panarin. But how will the “I see a lot of progression and building up traction to his game,” Wolf Rangers fill in the rest of the forward slots? Pack coach Kris Knoblauch told the USA TODAY Network in January. Jesper Fast spent the season flanking Panarin and Strome on the right Kravtsov is still only 20, but if he makes a jump and earns a significant wing, but he’ll be an unrestricted free agent. Even if he’s resigned, or if role next season, it would give the Rangers' forwards a huge boost. The Kakko steps up to fill that void, we're still not sure what line Nos. 3 and 4 same can be said for Gauthier, Howden and Lemieux. will look like. To take the next step in their rebuild, the Rangers will need at least one Consider that competition wide open. of them to take their game to a new level and become a reliable The forwards the Rangers primarily used in the bottom six this season contributor. were Kakko, Brendan Lemieux, Brett Howden and Greg McKegg, with Bergen Record LOADED: 04.09.2020 Phil Di Giuseppe becoming a regular in February and Julien Gauthier coming over in a trade from the Carolina Hurricanes.

Besides Kakko, none are guaranteed a future role with the team. McKegg will be a UFA, with Lemieux and Di Giuseppe entering restricted free agency.

Lemieux led that trio with a modest total of 18 points and will likely be brought back on a short-term deal. The Rangers love the edge he plays with, but he’ll need to more consistent to rise above the fourth line.

The same goes for Howden. The former first-round pick, who came over as part of the package that sent Ryan McDonagh and J.T. Miller to the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2018, has yet to gain much traction. Coach David Quinn loves his work ethic and attitude, but the production simply hasn’t been there.

After posting 23 points in 66 games as a rookie in 2018-19, Howden failed to take a step forward with 19 points in 70 games in his sophomore campaign. The Rangers trust he'll play hard and used him on the penalty kill, which gives his value a slight boost, but he struggled at center and was eventually moved to the wing.

With Lias Andersson’s future with the team in doubt after he requested a trade and went home to Sweden, the Rangers need to reinforce their center depth. They're hopeful that 2019 second-round pick Karl Henriksson, or one of the recently signed trio of undrafted college free agents, will eventually make an impact. But those players are still at least a year away from NHL consideration. For now, Howden is fourth on the depth chart at center behind Zibanejad, Strome and Chytil.

Having Lemieux and Howden on the fourth line is one thing, but if the Rangers want to make their playoff dreams a reality, they’ll need to fill out the third line with more productive players. 1173536 New York Rangers self-quarantine with little access to the fitness equipment used in offseason training regimens. Are we going to see a spate of soft tissue groin and hamstring injuries, ankle and knee injuries, when and if the season resumes?” Lack of skating during NHL pause is a big concern if season resumes Islanders coach Barry Trotz said: “That’s why there’s going to have to be a set parameter on time for players so you’re able to not put the players in peril. A lot of the training coaches have designed a lot of their By Andrew Gross and Colin Stephenson programs to help the core muscles and groin muscles that can help the prevention of that. But nothing emulates skating like skating.”

NHL players have gone through unexpectedly long hiatuses before. But Trotz’s boss, Islanders president and general manager Lou Owners’ lockouts reduced the 1994-95 and 2012-13 seasons to 48 Lamoriello, said, “it won’t take them that long to get back in skating games each and wiped out all of 2004-05. shape” because the athletes are well-conditioned.

Players could always find ice time during those stoppages, though, either Former Rangers captain Dave Maloney, whose NHL career spanned in small groups or individually. That is not the case during the COVID-19 from 1974 to 1985 and who now is part of both the team’s radio and pandemic, which forced the NHL to pause its season on March 12. And television broadcasting crews, agreed that the modern hockey player is that lack of on-ice training could be a major hurdle if the NHL is ever light years ahead of players from his era in terms of year-round training. given the green light to resume this season. “Carol Vadnais used to say he’d put a nail in his skates the day the The only timeline right now is that President Donald Trump has extended season was over and pull the nail out the first day of training camp,” the social-distancing guidelines in the U.S. through April 30. But players Maloney said of his former Rangers teammate. “Which was about right. might not be able to skate until well after that. Guys never skated [in the summer].

“During the lockout, everyone was skating the whole time, so that’s why it “As far as getting back up to speed again, it’s so dramatically different was only a 10-day training camp before you played the first game,” said now with the conditioning and the nutrition,” Maloney added. “They’ll kind former Devils captain Andy Greene, who was traded to the Islanders on of ease into it and it won’t take that long. That’s my impression, anyway.” Feb. 16. “With the social-distancing going until the end of April, that’s Newsday LOADED: LOADED: 04.09.2020 going to be at least six, seven weeks without even touching the ice.

“It’s one thing to be able to get into game shape fairly quickly when you’ve been on the ice in the summer and you’re able to mimic workouts and skate,” said Greene, who entered the NHL in 2007. “This is almost like starting over.”

Players will typically stay off skates for at least a month — sometimes longer — when a normal season concludes, then spend the rest of the offseason slowly building that skating strength back up for the start of training camp.

The NHL extended its self-quarantine period for players through April 15, so the players essentially are trying to stay in shape through whatever equipment they have at home. Rollerblades or slide boards are essentially the only substitutes for skating, other than for the fortunate few who still have access to frozen outdoor ponds or homemade backyard rinks in chillier climates.

Islanders defenseman Ryan Pulock posted a video message to fans while on skates in Dauphin, Manitoba.

A message from @rpulock to our fans and all the doctors, nurses and medical staff who are working hard to help keep us safe. pic.twitter.com/jMxEVu3yKa

— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) March 24, 2020

Team facilities are closed, but the NHL has made an exception for injured players who need access for rehab. For instance, the Blue Jackets’ Seth Jones, out since Feb. 8 because of an ankle injury, recently posted a video of him skating at the team’s practice rink.

Feels nice to be back on the ice after a longggg 8 weeks! pic.twitter.com/DKM84MLvn9

— Seth Jones (@seth_jones3) April 5, 2020

“I got a treadmill and some small stuff here at the house, and that’s kind of all you’re privy to,” Rangers defenseman Marc Staal said. “You can’t use the facility. You can’t skate. There’s nothing that replicates skating. It definitely affects you when you can’t use the facilities. You can’t use the gym. Your options are pretty limited. But everyone in our position’s been doing this a very long time, so everyone knows how to handle it and do it their own way.”

The concern, of course, is that the lack of skating could lead to injuries if and when the season is able to resume.

“One of the key concerns as an agent is the health and safety of the players with regard to the structure of protocols on a return to play,” California-based agent Allan Walsh said. “If we play again this season, the vast majority of NHL players will have been off skates for several months before participating in a ‘mini-training camp.’ I’m gravely concerned how this translates into a return to action. Most players are in 1173537 Ottawa Senators On top of all of the above, he wonders about how a return to action would affect all of us in our ingrained patterns of watching sports in group settings.

COULD HOCKEY IN ISOLATION WORK? 'It sounds pretty tricky,' infectious disease expert says Ottawa Sun LOADED: 04.09.2020

Ken Warren

April 8, 2020 6:22 PM EDT

As a hockey fan, Dr. Curtis Cooper would love to see the return of the NHL as soon as possible.

As an expert in infectious diseases, though, he sees scores of potential issues stemming from any proposal to play games during the summer without fans in neutral-site cities.

“I would love to see this happen, but there are a lot of concerns,” said Cooper, an associate professor at the University of Ottawa, director of the Ottawa Hospital’s Viral Hepatitis Program and president of the Canadian Foundation for Infectious Diseases.

“First, if the plan is to bring every team in the league to cities, how are you going to isolate all the teams? If it’s the playoffs and there are 16 teams, where are you going to lodge all those players and coaches? I don’t know if there are enough hotels. You would need 16 separate hotels to do that.”

Cooper says that everyone who could possibly come in contact with players — coaches, equipment and training staff, media, arena workers, hotel staff, food preparation and delivery people—– would all have to be tested routinely for the novel coronavirus.

On top of that, there would have to be an across-the-board agreement from players to accept the inherent risks and not leave their designated areas — from hotel to arena and back to hotel again — for however long a season or playoff run might take.

“Even the smallest transgression could result in the virus entering the enclave,” said Cooper. “And what are the implications if a player does test positive while in the quarantine? Is he cast out, while a team figures out how to keep everyone else isolated? What if a player gets injured and needs to go to the hospital and leaves the (restricted) zone? If he’s gone and needs to be self-isolated, can he not return for two weeks? By then, the playoff run might be over.”

Further, Cooper wonders, would be the implications for a team that played against a squad where a player tested positive. “Does that mean that whatever team they played is toast, too?”

Beyond the issue of what happens within the confines of the arena and the hotels, Cooper suggests there could potentially be moral, ethical and economic questions surrounding the health and welfare of the citizens within the communities where the games are being played.

“It becomes a question of resource utilization,” he said. “Say it’s Saskatoon and there’s a flareup in the community and (medical) resources are stretched. There would have to be a clear plan for surveillance and monitoring (of the players).”

Dr. Earl Brown, Emeritus Professor of Virology at the University of Ottawa, echoes many of the concerns outlined by Cooper.

“It sounds pretty tricky,” Brown said of the notion that the NHL, the National Association or could somehow contain the virus while playing in a bubble.

“I suppose if you’re really careful and you isolate everyone for an extended period, keeping everyone away, it’s possible, but how feasible is that? What about wives and children? Are they in isolation, too, or do they stay away for the whole season (or playoffs)?

We’ve all learned the hard way through our physical-distancing warnings that it doesn’t take much for the virus to spread.

“It’s the contacts of contacts,” Brown said. “There are all sorts of people that keep a team going. It’s a big entourage. It seems like a big task, but things are changing as we speak. It could be different in a month or three months, and there are a lot of moving parts.” 1173538 Ottawa Senators “It’s two different leagues. There’s such little room, such little time (in the NHL),” he said. “You’re playing against the best players in the world.”

Clearly, Smith believes mental development is a crucial part of the Ottawa Senators staying on course in growing with the kids package. In talking about the growth that has to happen for consistent success, he says everyone must come to the rink with the mindset that losing isn’t acceptable.

Ken Warren “When you come to the arena, you expect to win every night,” he said. “But there’s a difference between expecting it and knowing we can win April 8, 2020 5:08 PM EDT every night. I’ve talked to some of the young guys about where we’ll be when we take that step.”

Short-term, medium-term or long-term, the grand theme for the Ottawa There, once again, he talked about the progression of Tkachuk and Senators remains entirely unchanged despite the new novel coronavirus Chabot. world order. Smith says he challenged Chabot to be stronger defensively in the It remains all about the youth movement. second half of the season and he responded. That part is open to some discussion — at times, Chabot struggled late in lengthy shifts and late in As Senators coach D.J. Smith answered questions in a video conference games where he topped 30 minutes — but without question he can be call with Ottawa-based media members Wednesday, he repeated several dominant when he’s at the top of his game. times that the road to escape the bottom of the standings — the Senators sat 30th of 31 NHL teams when the league was suspended on March 12 The medium- and long-term aim for the franchise is to find another — must come on the backs of the team’s youngsters. handful of high-end talented players who can help support the likes of Tkachuk and Chabot. That cast is led, of course, by 23-year-old defenceman Thomas Chabot and 20-year-old power winger Brady Tkachuk, who Smith singled out as two of the club’s most improved players through the first 71 games of the Ottawa Sun LOADED: 04.09.2020 currently suspended season.

Then comes the potential wave of American Hockey League prospects such as Drake Batherson, Josh Norris, Logan Brown, Erik Brannstrom and Alex Formenton. Jacob Bernard-Docker, the Senators’ first-round draft selection in 2018, is facing a decision on whether to leave the University of North Dakota and turn pro and Lassi Thomson, the club’s top pick last summer, will play either in Ottawa or Belleville next season.

Whenever and however the 2020 draft is conducted, it is perhaps the most significant in franchise history, with the club owning three first-round selections, two of which could possibly be among the top five choices.

All of that provides optimism for Smith as he waits like the rest of us to learn whether the Senators’ season is officially over.

As for the remote possibility the Senators do return to play out the final 11 games in the summer, Smith suggests the team would have a competitive advantage because of the makeup of their core players. A new engine needs less fine-tuning that an old engine.

“Our guys could probably get up and going sooner,” said Smith. “Older teams heading into a playoff run are going to have a tough time.”

While recognizing the inherent difficulty for 39-year-old defenceman Ron Hainsey and 38-year-old goaltender Craig Anderson — “it would certainly be hard to go from what they’re doing right now to going right back at it” — that doesn’t hold for much of the team.

“We have Tkachuk and Chabot and so many young players who could get right back at it. It’s a big difference. Young guys can recover quickly.”

At this point, though, with the Senators currently sitting second and fourth (thanks to owning San Jose’s first-round selection) in the draft lottery odds, winning down the stretch could be counter-productive for long-term success.

What is disappointing for the organization is the fact that there will likely be no opportunity for Belleville to take a run at the Calder Cup as AHL champions. When the AHL was suspended, Belleville led the North Division and had 38 wins, tied for second-most in the league.

“The coaching staff has done a phenomenal job, it would have been great for our guys,” said Smith.

While there’s a wave eventually coming from the AHL to NHL, Smith says he’s relying on others in the organization for updates and feedback on development.

“I haven’t watched a lot of video of Belleville,” he said. “I trust in the scouts and management about who is ready and who is not ready. I will look at video in the summer.”

In his conversation Wednesday, Smith was cautious in not over-hyping particular players at the risk of giving them too much before they’re ready to better handle life in the big leagues. 1173539 Ottawa Senators going to play. They weren’t sure. We listened to President (Donald) Trump on TV that night.

“It certainly was a different atmosphere than any other game I’ve been Coach D.J. Smith says the Senators who had COVID-19 are fully part of and we just waited for direction from the league. Because we recovered were out on the West (Coast) and we were behind, that was probably the only reason we got to read what had happened in the NBA. Once the NBA cancelled their games, we knew we wouldn’t be far behind or right there with them.” Bruce Garrioch Smith is back home in Tecumseh, Ont., a suburb located just outside of April 8, 2020 10:32 PM EDT Windsor, with his wife, Christie Bezaire, his son, Colton, and their three- year-old Brock. They returned there after self-isolating in Ottawa for 15 days. Smith has set up a Crossfit gym in his garage where they’ve The Ottawa Senators stricken by the novel coronavirus have fully started to get Colton ready for his first OHL training camp in August with recovered. the OHL’s .

That’s the word from coach D.J. Smith after a video call with the Ottawa He was taken by the Knights No. 25 overall in last weekend’s draft and media Wednesday afternoon, and he noted there may actually be a silver Smith has plenty of respect for Mark and Dale Hunter. A pause like this lining in what the club went through. isn’t easy on Smith, because anybody who has been around him knows that he’s a high-energy person who doesn’t like to sit still. He’s up most If the Senators needed a wakeup call, they certainly got it when five days by 6 a.m. with Brock, “gets some cartoons on” after feeding him and unnamed players, a member of the club’s staff and TSN 1200 colour then heads to work out on the equipment he brought home. analyst Gord Wilson all had bouts with COVID-19 after Ottawa returned from a road trip through California on March 12. Yes, Smith and the family are into a routine, but like many of us it all feels the same. “Seeing it first-hand, it’s important you see that this disease doesn’t spare anyone and it doesn’t matter, as you see, with all the people in the world “We eat breakfast, have some coffee, talk to some people and then have … it doesn’t matter — actors, actresses, rich, poor — you’ve got to make about (90) minute Crossfit workouts either in the driveway or garage,” sure you stay safe,” said Smith, speaking for the first time since the NHL Smith said. “I usually take the three-year-old on a drive around the went on pause following the club’s 3-2 loss to the Los Angeles Kings neighbourhood just to let him open up the window, get on the phone, call March 11 at the . Pierre and see what goes on in the hockey world, and then have dinner.

“I’m really glad that everybody in our organization and on that plane is “We’ve been changing programs on Netflix, going back and forth, and now doing well, but it’s certainly a scary time. Yeah, it hit us, but at the then we do it all again the next day.” same time it probably saved a lot of us because unless you see it up close that quickly, we probably got a little bit of a jump on this.”

Smith is hopeful the worst is behind the organization. Ottawa Sun LOADED: 04.09.2020

“The good news is that everyone who had it didn’t have horrible symptoms (like) what we’re seeing on TV and some of the people that have really struggled,” said Smith. “Some guys didn’t feel well, but being athletes, they all go through it and they’re all on the other side of it now.”

The Senators flew to California on March 6 to prepare to play the San Jose Sharks the next night. The Santa Clara health authorities issued a warning that the games should be played with no fans in the stands, but the Sharks went ahead with the game anyway. Looking back on it now, Smith admits it was different.

“In San Jose, it was kind of weird, we got onto Santana Row and there wasn’t really a lot of people out,” Smith said. “Guys usually like to try and go for a walk and dinner — at that point no one knew what we know now. Guys were aware, but I don’t think there’s any way of telling that it would have gotten to this level, certainly for us, anyway.

“But the fear hadn’t set in. I mean, San Jose was a little bit lighter, but when we were in Anaheim everything was normal and everybody in Anaheim and L.A. was living life as normal. You’d see the odd person with a mask on in L.A. at the end of the trip, but the world as we know it today was nowhere near it back then. That’s just part of it, is learning.”

Smith said he’s learned a lot about the virus over of the last month.

“It looks like more and more people are trying their best to slow this and to get this figured out,” Smith said. “My opinion has changed, when you ask that question, I realize way more today how serious it is, the way it’s spreading, the way it’s hitting towns, people and especially the elderly.

“There’s seven old-age homes (in Windsor) that have COVID-19 in them. That’s a big thing here right now, and if your mother, father, grandfather or grandmother was in those buildings right now, you’d realize just how scary it is.”

It turns out the Senators took part in what was the final NHL game — and actually the final pro sports game — before the league went on pause when they lost to the Kings. Smith had an awareness that the team may be cutting its trip short and heading back to Ottawa the next day.

“The world is different for sure than it was 20 years ago with guys having phones, social media and all that,” Smith said. “Guys were aware that an NBA player tested positive that afternoon, but us being out in the West we were ahead of it and there was some questions whether we were 1173540 Ottawa Senators Ottawa Sun LOADED: 04.09.2020

Coach D.J. Smith remains hopeful the Ottawa Senators will be able to finish their season

Bruce Garrioch

April 8, 2020 4:10 PM EDT

D.J. Smith isn’t ready to throw in the towel on this season.

Yes, the Ottawa Senators coach knows his first year behind the bench may well be over, but whenever the NHL does return from its pause he’ll be ready to get going again. In fact, at this point, he’d be happy just to get back to his normal routine of going to the rink, spending time with the staff and players, and preparing the club for its next opponent.

The Senators were supposed to have closed out the season Saturday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins at the and then the Ottawa faithful were going to gear up for the NHL draft lottery, which was supposed to be held Thursday night at 8 p.m. as part of the broadcast of the playoffs.

“I’m hopeful that we can get out of the house, get back to work and get joking with the guys,” Smith said in a video conference with the media Wednesday afternoon from his home in Tecumseh, Ont. “Certainly, yeah, we want to finish on the right note and finish with the message we’re going to work right to the very end, to the very last buzzer and give the fans what they deserve.

“At home this season, they got to see how hard we played, and we wanted to play right to the end with them. I know we finished with Pittsburgh and we would have loved to have played one last hard game for them on the way out, so certainly I want to get back, but we’ll just listen to the guidance from the NHL. We’re going to play hockey at some point, it’s just a matter of when.”

With hockey on pause, Smith has taken a look at his team in the last 10 days and areas where the team can make improvement — either in the final 11 games of the season or next year. The Senators were ranked No. 30 on the power play when the league went on pause and were No. 28 in penalty killing so those are areas that need to improve one way or another.

He said for the club to be a playoff team those two teams have to be “significantly better”.

“Always I’m thinking about how our special teams can get better,” Smith said. “We knew this year with our process and players going in or out, but whether we play again this year or next season, for us specifically, is how good our special teams can be. Our power play struggled at the start, it got hot in the middle and with all the personnel changes we experienced it struggled at the end.

“On the flip side, our penalty kill was outstanding for the longest time, then struggled down the stretch. I believe special teams is such a big part of the NHL, talking to other coaches and other people. The most important thing to me is the development of our young guys, and they continue to get better. We’re individually working with Shean Donovan and talking about the individual skills they can get better at so they’re well-informed so whether it’s this season or next season, when they come back, we know we have to take a step forward.”

He felt goaltender Marcus Hogberg, defenceman Thomas Chabot and Brady Tkachuk all made good progress this year.

Smiths said he isn’t sure if either goaltender Anders Nilsson (concussion) or defenceman Mark Borowiecki (ankle) would be ready to play if the season were to resume.

“It’s hard to say because without skating and without doing the day-to- day things in the NHL, it’s hard to say where they’re at,” Smith said. “Both are certainly doing way better than they were, but without being on the ice, being able to see the trainers on a day-to-day basis and doctors it’s tough to say where they’re at. Certainly, this time off helps them and everybody heal.”

1173541 Ottawa Senators Hence, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman’s comments this week. “I think right now there’s too much uncertainty,” he said in an interview

with NBCSN on Tuesday, which came on the heels of a conversation Analyzing the unlikely hope of summer NHL hockey U.S. President Donald Trump held on the weekend with the leaders of North America’s major professional sports leagues. “Hopefully, we’ll all know more by the end of April. From an NHL standpoint, we’re viewing all of our options. We want to be ready to go as soon as we get a green Ken Warren light. Nothing’s been ruled in, nothing’s been ruled out.” April 8, 2020 2:28 PM EDT Actually, some things have been ruled out. Calgary’s ban on all public gatherings, including professional sports, extends to at least June 30, meaning the Flames can’t play at home for the next three months. Almost five weeks ago, Ottawa Senators goaltender Craig Anderson first There’s also a blanket prohibition on outdoor group activity in Ottawa, addressed the possibility of playing an NHL game without fans in the Toronto and Montreal until July. Forget about New York as the host for stands, but he could never have anticipated the grand proposal for major sporting events. The city will be in chaos for months to come. summer hockey that has made the rounds this week. Throughout North America, we’ve yet to hit the peak of Covid-19 deaths.

Anderson’s comments came following the Senators 2-1 overtime victory Accordingly, the idea of the NHL returning to action anywhere in the over the San Jose Sharks at the SAP Center on March 7. At the time, summer remains a longshot, a far cry from what Anderson and the rest of Anderson thought a contest without spectators might be a one-off, us were thinking in early March. because Silicon Valley was an early North American hot spot for the novel coronavirus.

“I thought it would be cool,” Anderson said of a game that has since Ottawa Sun LOADED: 04.09.2020 gained significance because the Sharks organization and its fans dismissed loud recommendations from area health officials to avoid large public gatherings.

“It’s something different. So many times, you get stuck in a routine. So, when the out of the ordinary happens, it makes it more memorable. Five years from now, when you talk about a game, you’re not going to talk about the game that you won 2-1 in overtime. You’re talking about the game when there were no fans there. Those kind of memories stick out in the brain for a reason.”

As it turns out, the lasting memories of that California road trip, which also included stops in Anaheim on March 10 and Los Angeles on March 11, will be something else altogether. Five Senators players, one additional staff member and TSN-1200 analyst Gord Wilson have since tested positive for Covid-19. Three members of the Colorado Avalanche, who also played in San Jose on March 8 and in Los Angeles on March 9, have also tested positive for the virus.

The pandemic has since changed our world, testing the strength of how our governments, our health care systems and our economies have dealt with the virus crisis. It has also become a test of our patience in waiting and wondering if and when our lives will fall back into a routine again.

In the big picture of the rash of job losses, the collapse of businesses and the trillion-dollar recovery efforts, the return of professional sports does seem insignificant.

When the games do come back, however, it will be a nod towards some much-needed normalcy.

All of the above helps explain hope — faint that it is — that the NHL could possibly finish out the 2019-20 season and or playoffs well into the summer, playing without fans in the seats at neutral site in Saskatoon, Grand Forks, N.C., or other markets where the virus has been relatively well contained.

While Anderson was talking in early March about a short-term fix in a select area, the notion of a series of games played in isolation —first reported by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman— and similar to the Major League Baseball suggestion of opening a shortened season within a self- contained, no-fans bubble in Phoenix, is out-of-the-arena thinking.

On the surface, there are a hundred reasons why playing games in isolation would seem to make little sense. The safest and healthiest option for everyone involved would be for the league to simply wash its hands of the 2019-20 season and begin preparations for a full 82-game season in 2020-21.

There are a series of significant questions on how it would be possible to protect players, team staff, building staff and hotel staff. The cities involved would need to sign off on exempting the NHL from physical distancing rules that apply to the rest of the community and there would need to be agreements on how local health resources would be utilized to test players.

Yet if there’s any hope for the NHL to recoup some dollars from their enormous advertising and TV broadcast deals, the league isn’t going to quietly skate away without exploring any and all options. 1173542 Ottawa Senators I think we’re in an advantage there for sure, being such a young team. Young guys, not that they don’t get out of shape…but I think if you asked a guy like Ron Hainsey that question, it’d be real hard for him to go from this, even if he’s working out every day, to go back into the NHL. D.J. Smith on his rookie year as a head coach — and the trip when hockey stopped (Players) got to stay moving all the time. With us having such a young team, young guys can get up and get going. So, I don’t know what the timeline is I’ll let the NHL decide that. But because we have so many young players, you know, Our guys could probably get up and get By Hailey Salvian playing sooner than most teams in the league and probably be skating Apr 8, 2020 really well right away, whereas if you’re an older team, maybe that’s heading into a playoff run right now and you’ve been sitting around and haven’t been able to properly train, you’re going to have a tough time getting back up to that top level speed. It’s been quite the first season as an NHL bench boss for D.J. Smith. I think I’d be concerned with Ronnie with (Craig) Anderson. You know, Tasked with leading the rebuilding Senators, things have had their ups it’d be hard to go from what they’re doing to go right back at it. Whereas, and downs. you know, guys like (Brady Tkachuk) and Chabot and, these young guys He won his first NHL game as a head coach in the fourth game of the like Whitey…I think they get right back up and get going before you know season — a 4-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning. The team went on a it. There is a big difference when you have older and younger players successful run in November, and then dealt with injuries, and an and, you know, younger guys can do things a little bit quicker and can extended losing streak in January that reached 10 games. recover quicker so it’s probably an advantage for us that we’re so young.

And then on March 11 in LA, he coached what is now the last NHL game On where the team needs to improve: to be played before the season was put on hold amid the COVID-19 I think if you look at where we finished in the standings, there’s a lot of pandemic. room for improvement. I think the biggest thing is we have to continue to “It was certainly a different atmosphere than any other game I’ve been develop our guys down the middle. I think (Josh) Norris in Logan Brown part of,” Smith said on Wednesday. are real good prospects. That’s one of the hardest things is to become an NHL centerman. We gotta make sure that we’re strong there. We have to His day-to-day life is obviously much different now than it was just one continue to get better at the back end and keep bringing these kids month ago. He’s traded early mornings at the rink for waking up with his along, like (Erik) Brannstrom, Lassi Thomson, Jacob Bernard-Docker. It three-year-old son. Breakfast with his family instead of his coaching staff, was really good to see (Christian) Wolanin at the end break the puck out, and working out in the garage or driveway instead of the Senators’ I think Chabot really played his best defence. (Also) special teams and facilities. then goaltending. If you look at the best teams in the National Hockey On Wednesday, he spoke to media for the first time since mid-march League, and I can’t remember which general manager said it, but they when the NHL hit pause. Since then five of his players, and one staff said the team with the second-best goalie usually loses. So your member have tested positive for COVID-19 and recovered. goaltending has to be solid and there’s a lot of areas for us to improve, like I said, but we’re a young team we knew that the process was to As usual, Smith was candid, and spoke at length about a a variety of develop these kids. And I think we’re well on the way to doing that. The topics over a 35-minute video call. culture had to change first and now every year we’ll plug in a few more players in, but I really like the way we’re going. Here are the highlights from the conversation: On who he thinks were the most improved Senators this season: On what it was like in California as the season was on the brink of being halted: There’s so many that progressed in their own way. I think I if you look at a whole from day one to the very end, I think the clear-cut guy would be In San Jose it was kind of weird, we got in mid-afternoon. There wasn’t Marcus Hogberg simply for the fact that he wasn’t on our team, and then really a lot of people out. You know guys usually like to try and go for a by the end he was essentially was our starter with so many guys were walk and things like that and go for dinners, at that point no one knew hurt, and he had to play so many games. But there’s other guys …I mean what we know now. Guys were aware, but I don’t think there’s a way of Brady Tkachuk’s overall game, the way he played physical, his telling that it would have got to this level, certainly for us anyways. But demeanor and his competitiveness every night is exceptional. And then the fear hadn’t set in yet. I mean everyone in the Anaheim and LA was, Chabot, I thought that his second half of the season, his defensive play, you know, living life as normal, and you’d see the odd person with a his being able to log those big minutes when all those guys were out. We mask on and what have you in LA maybe at the end of the trip. But the knew about his offence, and I and kind of challenged him to be a little bit world as we know it today was nowhere near it back then. better defensively and I thought he was outstanding and he showed me (Before the LA game) guys were aware that an NBA player tested that he can be a guy that can take those big minutes and play against the positive afternoon, or right around five o’clock, but us being out on the best players. So, you know, I’m saying those three. There’s guys that west, we were ahead of it. And there were some questions whether we have had great years, but you know that I think those stick out. were gonna play and they weren’t sure…It was certainly a different (As a team), I think our commitment to work away from the puck, our atmosphere than any other game I’ve been part of. We just waited for commitment to work every day in practice. I think it was a struggle at the direction from the league. But, because we’re out on the west coast that’s start, I think we’d work one day and practice and the next day we look a probably the only reason that you know we were behind and we got to little sluggish. I think our consistency with our work ethic improved. I think read kind of some of these stories that have happened in the NBA but guys learned that it’s fun to work, I mean you’re going to work, let’s go once the NBA cancelled their games, we knew we wouldn’t be far let’s go have fun let’s be the hardest working team. And I think the behind. number one thing is by the end I didn’t have to yell and scream and On the hope that the Senators will get to finish the regular season: practice guys just knew, its what we do. We just work every day, we work in game and we work in practices, and really if I went through the I’m hopeful that we can get out of the house and get back to work and schedule, there wouldn’t be more than a few games where I thought we get joking with the guys. And certainly yeah, we want to finish on the right didn’t work as hard as the other team, and those might have been games note, we want to finish with the message of how we’re going to work right we didn’t have legs or what have you, but to give our players credit these to the very end to the very last buzzer and give the fans what they guys really work, and they learn to work, and they learn to like working. deserve. And I think this season at home (fans) got to see how hard we And with that successful follow. played and we wanted to play right to the end with them. We finished with Pittsburgh, and we would love to have played one last hard game for On the prospects in Belleville: them at the end of the season. So certainly I want to get back, but we’ll I have trust in our scouts, and our management that relays to me who’s just listen to the guidance from the NHL. We’re gonna play hockey at ready and who’s not. And (I trust) the coaching staff down there, Troy some point; it’s just a matter of when. Mann and I, we communicate. On how long a training camp would need to be before a return: I will look at video throughout the summer of certain players that maybe we think are going to make it. But ultimately, those are two different leagues, as we know. It’s great to see guys have success down there and (play well), but in order to do in the NHL, there’s just such little room and such little time to do it, and you’re against the best players in the world. So for me, I can watch how good they are down there but we all know development comes when you get up in the NHL and you can see yourself against the best and see how you do. So, we had a lot of players that did a great job down there this year, and their coaching staff did a phenomenal job and it’s a travesty that they weren’t able to take a run at winning a title. They were certainly one of the teams that had a real good opportunity, and it would have been great for our guys. But everyone’s going to come to training camp we’ll talk throughout the summer to see who possibly has a chance to make the team but there’s a lot of bright futures for a lot of good players down there and they certainly showed it this year.

On his son Colton being drafted by the London Knights:

That’s such a proud moment to me. He started playing hockey when he was four or five years old and he had ups and downs. Every time he grew his skating wasn’t very good and then he’d grow into his body and do good, and you’d always wonder when it comes to that minor midget year where he’s going to be. He went through ups and downs this year but Shean Donovan and Chris Phillips where his coaches…Dono was the head coach for the Kanata Lasers in that midget league, and I can’t say enough of one how good of a job Dono does one, with our players, but then how much good of a job he did with my son. The best move I made really was having my son come up and live with me in Ottawa.

It was such a proud moment for me. I certainly hated the London Knights growing up, I hated them when I coached against them. But you must respect the fact that Mark and Dale (Hunter) do a phenomenal job. They continue to have NHL prospects and players come out of there, they continue to out work people in the league. And you know, my son’s going to have to work, and they’re going to tell him the truth every day. And there couldn’t be a better spot for him to go right now then to there. They’re gonna hold him accountable and if he wants to be a hockey player they’re going to give him every opportunity so our whole family’s proud now it’s up to him to get to work.

The Athletic LOADED: 04.09.2020 1173543 Ottawa Senators And there has been some news this week. Canadian Olympic hero Hayley Wickenheiser launched a drive to collect personal protective equipment for frontline medical staff across Ontario. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman discussed the short-term future of the league. ‘We just really wanted to have our own voice back’: Why TSN revived SportsCentre “There’s been lots of important news,” Volden said. “We just felt it was really important that we were on the air.”

TSN and Sportsnet have both been trying to find ways to fill an ocean of By Sean Fitz-Gerald empty airtime since all major sports announced they were shutting down. On Wednesday morning, TSN dedicated one channel to carry content Apr 8, 2020 from BarDown, which would normally be set aside for its digital platforms.

Sportsnet, which has not yet relaunched its own news program, was At 7 p.m., the familiar voice called out from an unfamiliar setting, with rebroadcasting an NHL game. The two networks have been teaming up Rod Smith opening a show that had been off the air for two weeks to fill holes in their primetime schedules by showing each of the 24 because a pandemic had shuttered the business of live sports: “From my playoff games the Raptors played en route to the first NBA championship home to yours, welcome to SportsCentre.” in team history last spring.

He was broadcasting from inside his house. The producer was working Sportsnet said more than 850,000 Canadians tuned in for at least part of from their dining room and the show’s guests appeared against a Toronto’s Game 7 win over Philadelphia in the Eastern Conference backdrop of the books and trophies inside their home offices. (Dave semifinal — a game made famous for its ending, with Kawhi Leonard’s Poulin, the former NHL player and executive, also had Scrabble on one dramatic buzzer-beater. of his shelves.) TSN will air the final game against Golden State on Sunday. “We always think it’s important that we’re telling Canadian stories, and “Let’s do the best we can,” said Volden. “When this passes — and it will we just really wanted to have our own voice back,” said Ken Volden, the pass — we’re all kind of laughing that we think we’ll be busier than we’ve vice-president and executive producer at TSN. “As long as it wasn’t ever been before.” putting our people in harm’s way.” At some point, he said, the postponed golf majors will be held. The tennis The network ran SportsCentre, its flagship news program, after the NBA tournaments will come back, as will the NBA, NHL and many of the other and NHL suspended play last month. It was quietly removed from the air games that are currently on pause. as COVID-19 forced real-world shutdowns across Canada, and TSN filled some of the programming gaps with its ESPN-generated “It’s gonna be very, very busy,” Volden said. “And we’re going to have to counterpart, SportsCenter. adjust again.”

After two weeks, the Canadian version returned on Monday.

On Tuesday, the 30-minute show included news (the CFL delaying the The Athletic LOADED: 04.09.2020 start of its season) and hockey talk (from escrow payments to imagined NHL playoff scenarios). It was rebroadcast on a loop through the morning on Wednesday.

“A lot of this is us learning on the fly, as well, in terms of how we’re actually doing this,” said Volden. “I can’t see us doing anything less than what we’re currently doing. But how much we may expand will depend, quite frankly, on how good we get at doing this, technically.”

Smith writes parts of the script through the day, and an editorial staff working from home writes some of the other parts. There is no camera operator in the room with Smith, and the veteran broadcaster is not reading from a teleprompter when he introduces the various clips and segments.

Volden said the producer is also working from home — “in his dining room” — where three screens have been set up in front of him. The whole show is created remotely, except for one technical worker at the network’s headquarters in Toronto.

The show is not broadcast live.

Volden said the network has had to ship some equipment to staff, but that most reporters and other on-air personalities already had broadcasting bases in their homes. The network wanted quick access to its voices in case news broke, and there was not enough time to get Bob McKenzie or (or Pierre LeBrun, who also works for The Athletic) into its Toronto studios for analysis.

The cameras and the lighting have not been a major issue.

“It’s the audio,” Volden said. “Audio is always tough.”

The acoustics in home offices can vary. Some voices carry an echo, some do not.

“As I’ve said to some of the younger staff: It’s really cool that we’re figuring this out,” he said. “Everyone is going to remember this.”

It would be almost impossible to produce the show remotely if the games were still being played, he said, with all of the highlights and interviews and elements that have to be worked into the mix. The pace can be more manageable with news. (Jay Onrait and Dan O’Toole have also returned with their own show, later in the evening.) 1173544 Philadelphia Flyers "I don’t remember firsthand those games where he only had one assist, but I would be willing to bet he probably had some quality chances. ... I don’t know if we can say we shut him down necessarily, but our guys took a lot of a pride, you want to play against those guys. He comes with An opponent's perspective on Flyers' resurgent prospect Jay O'Brien a lot of notoriety and well deserved — he’s an unbelievable hockey player."

O'Brien will head to B.U. much more prepared for the Division I By Jordan Hall competition at 20 years old compared to when he was 18 coming right April 08, 2020 9:00 PM out of high school.

Clark, who has been with Wenatchee since 2008 and was a graduate assistant for Minnesota State (where he also played), sees a player Jay O'Brien had a BCHL mission in 2019-20. ready for his second D-I shot.

He was out to regain the bravado that he lost as a freshman at O'Brien made sure everyone saw that. Providence, the get-after-you mindset that made him so appealing to the Flyers in the first round of the 2018 draft. “In college hockey, you’re playing against men, you’re playing 24-year- old men," Clark said. "A lot of times in junior hockey, you’re playing From Chris Clark's standpoint, the mission was completed. The interim against 18-, 19-year-olds, 20-year-olds — we have a limit on 20-year- head coach and assistant GM of the saw O'Brien's olds in our league, you can have only six or less. A lot of those kids are Penticton Vees plenty during the season. still developing, they’re still growing into their bodies, they’re still putting on weight. But when you get to college and you’re playing against a 24- O'Brien, a 5-foot-11, 184-pound forward rebuilding his brand and year-old senior, that’s a man, that’s a guy who’s probably ready, given penchant for scoring, put up 14 points (five goals, nine assists) in seven the opportunity, to step in and play professional hockey at a high level. games against Penticton's rival Wenatchee. "So I think that’s a big difference, but I just think with his ability to skate, “Other than the offense, the biggest thing you notice about that kid is that his ability to think the game at a very quick pace, it’s going to translate. I he has a ton of swagger and a ton of confidence," Clark said last month don’t know the ins and outs of what happened his first year at college, in a phone interview with NBC Sports Philadelphia. "He plays on the but everybody has their ups and downs throughout life — if he considers edge, he likes to get into the verbal battles, he has a ton of swagger. You that a down, I don’t know if he does or not. respect that. Obviously you don’t like to see him do well against you when they have that much swagger but you’ve got to respect a kid that "But I would say that he’s going to have no problem when next year he knows what he wants." gets to college, he’s going to be a heck of a hockey player.”

The 20-year-old looked like himself again after a difficult transition to the Division I level in 2018-19. With the Friars, O'Brien suffered upper-body injuries and scored five points over 25 games. He had trouble with the Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 04.09.2020 strength, pace and lack of space in the college game.

"You never want a year like that," O'Brien said last June, "but in a way, it was helpful for me to light the fire even more."

O'Brien transferred and took his fuel to the BCHL, a junior A league and solid stepping-stone for college-bound players. Yes, it's a different level, but O'Brien went to the BCHL with expectations and met them, a major plus for his development as he heads to Boston University in 2020-21.

With the Vees, O'Brien scored 66 points (25 goals, 41 assists) in 46 games and 10 (five goals, five assists) through five playoff contests before the coronavirus outbreak cut the BCHL season short. O'Brien's nine game-winning goals led the league and his 1.43 points per game ranked third, behind only Kent Johnson (projected 2021 first-round pick) at 1.94 and Philippe Lapointe (Michigan commit) with 1.53.

O'Brien established himself among the BCHL's elite, confidence he'll take to the Terriers.

“Oh without a doubt, him and Kent Johnson, who will be a first-round pick next year," Clark said. "I’m not taking anything away from anybody else. I thought there was a ton of talent in the BCHL this year, but he was definitely one of the top three or four players in the entire league ... not even close.

"He carries a ton of confidence and tremendous amount of swagger — which is good, you need that, you’re an offensive player, you know that every night people know who you are, you’ve got to be able to have that swagger. He definitely did this year. Hopefully for his career moving forward, he continues to develop that and have that — because there’s no doubt when he has the puck on his stick, good things are going to happen nine times out of 10.”

Against Wenatchee, a playoff team itself, O'Brien recorded four multi- point games, including a four-point outburst and an overtime winner. The Wild also held O'Brien to only one assist on three different occasions.

"Extremely talented," Clark said. "He had a large number of points against us unfortunately, scored some big goals against us, just dating back to the last regular-season game, getting the OT winner. He’s just one of those players when he has the puck on his stick, you take notice — you know that he’s got a chance to make something special happen, whether it’s scoring or setting up a guy for an unbelievable look. He’s very gifted offensively, there’s no doubt about that. 1173545 Philadelphia Flyers

Former Flyer Rick Tocchet knows NHL is in difficult spot with coronavirus outbreak

By Joe Fordyce

April 08, 2020 12:15 PM

With much of the sports world’s future unclear, the one thing that is crystal clear is that the situation caused by the coronavirus is something that nobody expected.

Former Flyer and current Arizona Coyotes head coach Rick Tocchet feels this has all been a learning experience.

“I didn’t think it would be that long, I thought maybe two or three weeks," Tocchet said in a video interview last Thursday with NBC Sports Philadelphia, "but then you see how serious it is.”

Tocchet as a player was as tough as they come. He did everything as a member of the Flyers' franchise and won three Stanley Cups with the Pittsburgh Penguins (two as an assistant coach, one as a player). Tocchet, despite being a coach, has that player’s mentality, and the current league suspension has forced him to change his daily approach a bit.

“I’m a routine guy," he said. "When you take routine away from hockey players, you get a little stir crazy, so I try to have a routine every day.”

Part of Tocchet’s routine is checking in with his players and watching video on his computer, preparing for when and if the NHL season returns. But that won’t be an easy process for hockey, which is different as far as conditioning than the other major sports.

“Guys need to skate, they need ice," Tocchet said.

“Guys aren’t skating, and to be able to just hop back in there, you have to give these guys a seven-to-10-day training camp.”

How the NHL season returns remains to be seen. Multiple scenarios of beginning with the playoffs have been hypothesized. Regardless of what happens, the likelihood of someone being unhappy is high.

“I don’t know what’s fair or not," Tocchet said. "If they said teams that are in now get in, I think we’d have to swallow that, and you’re in.”

Tocchet’s Coyotes are currently four points out of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference, so that would be an unfortunate break for the former Flyer who is looking to reach the playoffs for the first time in his third year as head coach in Arizona.

Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 04.09.2020 1173546 Philadelphia Flyers Still, the Flyers did get better as the season unfolded, and did produce a mediocre October record. But looking at Philadelphia’s start as a whole, it didn’t qualify as “slow.”

Predictions revisited: What we got right and wrong about the 2019-20 Verdict: Mostly wrong, with caveats Flyers 3. Flyers will use only three goalies this year

Correct! Unless, of course, the season resumes and injuries strike in a By Charlie O'Connor big way, the Flyers sent out only three netminders between the pipes in 2019-20: Carter Hart, and Alex Lyon, who played three Apr 8, 2020 games during Hart’s absence for an abdominal strain.

A far cry from eight goalies in 2018-19, no?

Back in October, we approached the 2019-20 Flyers season with a Verdict: Completely correct reasonable expectation — namely, that one way or the other, it would have an ending that proved, if not satisfying, then at least conclusive. 4. At least one notable roster player is moved in a ‘hockey trade’

Oh, how naive we were. The thought process behind this prediction was simple: The Flyers would have some growing pains adjusting to Vigneault’s system and the Despite the fact that the Flyers’ season — and the NHL as a whole — mandated “mindset change” pushed by general manager Chuck Fletcher remains in limbo, a season did occur, with the twists and turns that come throughout the summer and into camp. Fletcher, a GM known to make with it. And before Game 1, I made 10 bold (or not so bold) predictions, big moves and not wedded to anyone on the roster, would quickly identify which ranged from lighthearted to franchise-defining. anyone who wasn’t getting with the program, and wouldn’t hesitate to make a hockey trade to move the player out and bring in fresh blood if With the pause still in effect, let’s take a look back at all 10 predictions, necessary. and see how intelligent (or foolish) they look in hindsight. Instead, the best possible outcome played out for the Flyers — players 1. The penalty kill will finish in top-half of the league bought in to the changes. They accepted a more dump-and-chase- Nailed this one. When the season was paused, the Flyers ranked 11th in centric style. They adapted to the new emphasis on defense and two- the league in penalty kill efficiency — their best since 2013-14, when they way play. And they didn’t sulk when Vigneault criticized some players finished seventh. For the first time in more than half a decade, the PK behind closed doors or to the media. A “hockey trade” to address the wasn’t a major weakness. culture and fit was never needed.

In fact, their ranking sells the unit short. If you knock off a power play That doesn’t mean that a player or two won’t eventually be shipped out goal against for every shorthanded goal the team scored, the Flyers — Shayne Gostisbehere, in particular, has slid down the depth chart. But ranked sixth in “net PK efficiency percentage,” per NHL.com, due to their the lack of urgency on Fletcher’s part to trade Gostisbehere hints that the skill in scoring while down a man (thanks, Kevin Hayes). And their 26-year-old’s underwhelming year wasn’t the result of the player not underlying shot and chance metrics are even better. No team allowed “buying in” — it’s that Gostisbehere has struggled mightily to regain his fewer shot attempts per 60 minutes during 4-on-5 situations, and only 2017-18 form. The Flyers players largely delivered the mindset change three teams permitted fewer expected goals/60. This was an extremely their GM wanted in the summer. stingy unit. Verdict: Completely wrong What changed? For starters, the personnel improved. New acquisitions 5. Sean Couturier wins the Selke Trophy Hayes, Matt Niskanen and Justin Braun took up primary roles on the PK. Travis Sanheim, Michael Raffl and Oskar Lindblom had larger roles. And OK, this hasn’t happened yet. But Couturier won the Professional Hockey Carter Hart provided stability in net, emboldening the penalty killers to be Writers Association‘s midseason balloting exercise and also topped The more aggressive because they trusted their goaltender to bail them out Athletic’s NHL awards poll after the season was paused. from time to time. And don’t forget about Mike Yeo and the coaching staff — they instilled those aggressive tactics that worked so well. Awards haven’t been distributed, and it’s unknown when that could occur. Still, Couturier looks like the clubhouse favorite after another Verdict: Completely correct fantastic two-way season.

2. They’ll get off to another slow start Verdict: Undecided but looking very good

There is a case to be made that this prediction proved correct. After all, 6. Fletcher will be a buyer at the deadline October was the Flyers’ worst month from a points percentage standpoint — they collected just 50 percent of the possible standings points over 11 The Flyers were in a standings position that justified Fletcher games — and most of their worst losses of the season happened in the approaching the trade deadline with a buyer’s mentality, and buy he did, early going: an ugly defeat in Calgary, and back-to-back thrashings at the adding rental forwards Derek Grant and Nate Thompson. hands of the Islanders and Penguins. Grant and Thompson each appeared in only seven games before the But I don’t think it’s fair to say the Flyers got off to a slow start. They pause. But Fletcher’s willingness to be intelligently aggressive to improve actually did quite well given the circumstances. the team’s depth for the stretch run followed the famous “bias for action” push from Comcast Spectacor chief executive officer Dave Scott, and he My justification for predicting a slow start came down to two primary didn’t significantly deplete the organization’s assets in the process. factors: adapting to a new head coach’s systems and the utterly bonkers schedule to begin the season. The Flyers were slated to start 2019-20 in Verdict: Completely correct Europe, return for their home opener and then immediately leave for a 7. They’ll have either the longest winning streak or losing streak in the western Canada road trip. The NHL even slipped in a one-game trek to NHL this year Chicago during the second half of the Flyers’ October schedule. They seemed destined for a rough start. The bad news: The Flyers came up just short of the season’s longest winning streak, as their nine-game run didn’t match the Tampa Bay And while their October record (5-5-1) wasn’t shiny, it was dragged down Lightning’s incredible 11-game stretch in January and February. The by the final two games of the month and a couple of tough-luck contests good news: The Flyers didn’t come anywhere near Detroit’s 12-game in the middle. In fact, after the team’s 7-4 comeback victory over the losing streak (in fairness to the Red Wings, it started with an overtime Columbus Blue Jackets on Oct. 26, the Flyers graded out as the best loss and a shootout loss, so it’s technically only a 10-gamer), topping out play-driving team in hockey. That sure doesn’t seem like a club that failed at four consecutive defeats during their two worst stretches. to rise to the challenge of its schedule, or a team that clashed with ’s new systems. This Flyers’ season just wasn’t as chaotic as it normally is. For shame.

Verdict: Completely wrong

8. Gostisbehere will have a bounce-back season Rather than his usual “one great year, one down year” pattern, Gostisbehere delivered a second straight underwhelming season. Not only did his offensive numbers not rebound after he’d dropped to 37 points in 2018-19, they got even worse, as Ghost scored just five goals and seven assists for 12 points in 42 games — an ugly 23-point pace, and a far cry from his monstrous 65-point campaign in 2017-18.

Unlike previous down years, when the argument could be made that Gostisbehere was not an even-strength play-driving liability, 2019-20 saw Ghost’s defensive metrics drop off dramatically, dragging down his overall differentials. No one could call this an “unlucky” year for Gostisbehere — it was just a bad one.

Gostisbehere did fit in one strong performance before the pause, against the Boston Bruins on March 10 after missing nearly two straight months of action, first due to knee surgery and then because he functioned as a healthy scratch. In that game, he showed he can still be an impactful defenseman, regardless of how the past two seasons have gone. Still, it’s a legitimate worry for the Flyers that Gostisbehere’s hoped-for bounce-back season became one of further regression.

Verdict: Completely wrong

9. Morgan Frost makes his NHL debut before Jan. 1

Frost didn’t make the Flyers out of camp. But on Nov. 19, Frost received his first chance with the big club, dressing for a road game against the Florida Panthers and scoring his first NHL goal in the process.

While Frost was ultimately sent back down (and recalled again briefly later in the season), his November call-up proved the Flyers were willing to give him a shot in Philadelphia, assuming a roster need existed and Frost was meeting expectations with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Both boxes were checked, long before our arbitrary Jan. 1 deadline hit.

Verdict: Completely correct

10. The Flyers will make playoffs

Well, technically, there’s no guarantee this will be proven correct — even if it’s no fault of the Flyers. No one knows if the NHL will find a way to even start the Stanley Cup playoffs, due to concerns over the spread of the coronavirus. It’s possible the Flyers could indeed “miss” the playoffs, as could every team.

When looking at the spirit of the prediction, however, it’s clear that the Flyers were a playoff-caliber team and, barring a complete and unexpected collapse over the final 13 games, were destined to secure a spot in the 16-team tournament. This one absolutely deserves a “correct” designation in spite of the technicalities.

Verdict: Almost entirely correct

The Athletic LOADED: 04.09.2020 1173547 Pittsburgh Penguins

Ranking the Penguins’ most memorable playoff openers

JONATHAN BOMBULIE

Wednesday, April 8, 2020 4:46 p.m.

If the coronavirus pandemic hadn’t shut down the season, the Pittsburgh Penguins probably would have played their playoff opener Wednesday night. Here’s a look at the 10 most memorable playoff openers in franchise history.

1. April 13, 2016: Penguins 5, Rangers 2 — With Matt Murray and Marc- Andre Fleury out with concussions, Jeff Zatkoff earned himself a nickname. Zatkoff made 35 saves and will forever be known as Mr. Game 1. Oh by the way, Patric Hornqvist had a hat trick, too.

2. April 5, 1989: Penguins 3, Rangers 1 — After the Penguins failed to qualify in his first four seasons, Mario Lemieux finally made his playoff debut. He had an assist, and Paul Coffey scored twice in a Penguins win. A championship era was dawning.

3. April 11, 2012: Flyers 4, Penguins 3 — With the Penguins holding a 3- 0 lead in the second period, Danny Briere scored a goal on a play that was about a mile offside. Who knew that the play would be the first step down the road to total disintegration for the Penguins, who lost all composure and dropped the series in six games?

4. April 8, 1970: Penguins 2, Seals 1 — In the first playoff game in franchise history, Nick Harbaruk scored the winning goal midway through the third period, giving the Civic Arena crowd something to celebrate.

5. April 12, 2017: Penguins 3, Blue Jackets 1 — When Murray left warmups with a lower-body injury that later would be revealed as a torn hamstring, the Penguins sure were glad they didn’t deal away Fleury at the trade deadline. He made 31 saves in the win.

6. April 9, 2008: Penguins 4, Senators 0 — After the Penguins lost to Ottawa in the first round the previous season, the Sidney Crosby-Evgeni Malkin era had yet to see a playoff series victory. This opener was sign that was about to change. Gary Roberts scored twice, and Fleury made 26 saves.

7. April 11, 2007: Senators 6, Penguins 3 — Crosby scored a late-third- period goal in his first NHL playoff game. He often cited the series as a critical moment in his development as a player. It’s when he realized what it would take to have playoff success.

8. April 3, 1991: Devils 3, Penguins 1 — En route to the first championship in franchise history, the Penguins lost the opener of all four series they played. This one was no exception. Lemieux gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead, but Peter Stastny scored the next two to boost the Devils to victory.

9. April 18, 1993: Penguins 6, Devils 3 — Lemieux had two goals and two assists, and the two-time defending champs looked like they were on the way to a three-peat. A month later, David Volek had other ideas.

10. April 11, 2018: Penguins 7, Flyers 0 — The Penguins gave their hated rivals a pasting to remember. Crosby recorded his third career playoff hat trick.

Tribune Review LOADED: 04.09.2020 1173548 Pittsburgh Penguins “I think in an empty building, there wouldn’t be as much of that,” Rust said. “You have to try to create your own energy. That definitely would play a factor.”

Playoff intensity could be lost if season resumes for Penguins, NHL

Tribune Review LOADED: 04.09.2020

JONATHAN BOMBULIE

Wednesday, April 8, 2020 4:46 p.m.

Conditioned by a fistful of championship runs over the past three decades, Penguins fans know the deal by now.

Yeah, hockey season starts in October, but really, the games that matter start at the beginning of April.

If it hadn’t been for the coronavirus pandemic suspending play, the Penguins would have wrapped up their regular season Sunday night in Ottawa and would have been preparing for their playoff opener, likely against the hated Philadelphia Flyers, probably Wednesday night.

That’s when emotions would begin to run high. That’s when the physical intensity of play would double or triple. That’s when the electricity in the arena would be palpable.

Reading the latest tea leaves — and the reading changes frequently — the most plausible non-doomsday scenario would see the NHL jump right into the playoffs once players are able to safely return to the ice sometime in the summer.

According to recent reports, the NHL has been mulling a plan where groups of teams would hunker down in a handful of regional neutral sites — North Dakota and New Hampshire have been mentioned — and play multiple rounds in the same empty building.

Could a series played under those conditions carry the same emotional weight a playoff matchup normally would?

Winger Bryan Rust isn’t so sure.

“Home-ice advantage, that aspect of the game might be taken out of it,” Rust said. “The ability to ride the momentum of the crowd, even during the regular season, but it’s amplified so much more during the playoffs when the crowd gets on your side. You have a big shift or a big play or something, and you just kind of ride that momentum.”

Rust is a bit of an expert when it comes to playoff momentum.

The Penguins have won nine of the 11 playoff series Rust has appeared in. He scored in five of the nine series clinchers, netting the winning goal four times.

One clincher provides a perfect example of the emotional wave Rust referred to.

In Game 5 of a first-round series with Columbus in 2017, the Penguins held a 1-0 lead on Columbus after one period. Rust scored early in the second, then — boom — scored again less than three minutes later. The Penguins were off and running to a 5-2 series-ending win on home ice.

There are other Penguins players, of course, with a track record of success when games are at their most intense.

Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, a pair of Conn Smythe Trophy winners, are 1-2 on the NHL’s list of active playoff scorers. Crosby has 186 postseason points, and Malkin has 168.

But scroll down just one more spot on that list, passing up Joe Thornton and his 133 points, and there sits Patrick Marleau with 127. The crown jewel of the Penguins’ trade deadline acquisitions has quite a bit of playoff pedigree himself.

Then look at the list of active points-per-game leaders in the Stanley Cup playoffs. There’s Crosby (1.13) and Malkin (1.04) again in the top five, but between them sits Jake Guentzel (1.05). Easy to see why the idea of Guentzel being healed up from his shoulder injury by the time hockey resumes has some in black and gold getting a little giddy.

Under normal circumstances, Penguins fans would be packing PPG Paints Arena at some point in the next few days, expecting to see those clutch players performing under hockey’s brightest lights.

As it stands now, who knows? 1173549 Pittsburgh Penguins

North Huntingdon’s Austen Swankler on NHL Central Scouting draft list

CHRIS ADAMSKI

Wednesday, April 8, 2020 3:00 p.m.

The NHL draft, like the rest of the sports world, remains in limbo. But the league’s official internal scouting service has released its final rankings in advance of it.

And local product Austen Swankler is on the list.

Swankler, a North Huntingdon native, came in at No. 200 in the rankings of North American skaters compiled by the NHL Central Scouting Bureau. A 6-foot, 185-pound forward, Swankler played this past season for the Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League. Swankler had 18 goals, 27 assists and 61 penalty minutes playing in what is one of the continent’s major junior leagues.

Swankler was fifth on the team in goals, assists and points. In his second draft-eligible year, Swankler is hoping to become the first local player drafted since the Vancouver Canucks took Cheswick’s Miles Liberati in the seventh round in 2013.

North Huntingdon native Austen Swankler did quite a bit to catch the attention of NHL teams in the past year.

Canadian Alexis Lafreniere is the top-rated North American forward, Canada’s Nicolas Daws the No. 1-ranked North American goalie, German Tim Stuetzle the highest-rated European forward and Russia’s Yaroslav Askarov the No. 1 European goalie.

The draft was originally scheduled for June 26-27 in Montreal, but it was postponed indefinitely as a result of the NHL’s suspended season out of concerns related to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Barring a trade or a change in format, the Penguins will likely not have a pick among the top 80 of the draft. They dealt their second-round pick to the Vegas Golden Knights as part of the deal for the latter to select Marc- Andre Fleury in the expansion draft three years ago.

The Penguins in February traded their first-round pick to the Minnesota Wild in the Jason Zucker deal. That pick is conditional on the Penguins making the playoffs, though if by chance the postseason is canceled and the Penguins call on that technicality the Wild are entitled to the Penguins’ 2021 first-rounder instead.

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Penguins Foundation distributes 500 backpacks of supplies for schooling at home

CHRIS ADAMSKI

Wednesday, April 8, 2020 1:36 p.m.

Families who lack educational resources in their homes during this school-from-home period are the target of a donation from the Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation, the team announced Wednesday.

The organization’s charitable arm is donating school supplies filling 500 backpacks — 200 each to State Police barracks in Allegheny and Somerset counties and 100 to ACH Clear Pathways in the Hill District.

The backpacks include a notebook, folder, construction paper, pencils, pencil sharpener, crayons, markers, pencil case, scissors, ruler and a glue stick.

The state police will distribute the backpacks to those in need. ACH Clear Pathways describes its mission as, “To nurture creativity through the visual and performing arts by providing an opportunity to youth and family within the arts.” It supports underserved families through after-school programs.

“We are all aware that students do not always have educational resources available at home while schools are closed, and this is one way we can continue to assist our community during this challenging time,” Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation executive director Jim Britt said in a statement released by the team.

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Vote on Marc-Andre Fleury’s best playoff saves. And relive the 2009 Stanley Cup Final

TIM BENZ

Wednesday, April 8, 2020 7:18 a.m.

Wednesday’s “Essey Tire” hockey podcast features Penguins Radio Network host Brian Metzer, as we flashback to the 2009 Stanley Cup Final.

Because, well, there are no 2020 NHL playoffs to discuss right now.

Thanks for that, covid-19.

So the best we can do is look to the past. And AT&T SportsNet and 105.9 the X are helping us do so by replaying all the wins from the 2009 finals against the Detroit Red Wings.

The Game 6 victory (2-1) was on Monday. Game 7 will be played back on Wednesday. Metz and I talk about some of the lost, great moments from Game 6 because it was so incredibly dwarfed by the drama of the Game 7 victory to hoist the Cup.

What an incredibly tension-filled 60 minutes that was at Mellon Arena! If the Penguins don’t win that one, there is no Game 7. There is no save on Nick Lidstrom. There are no goals from Max Talbot.

Some of the phenomenal highlights from that contest include the two big goals from third-liners Jordan Staal and Tyler Kennedy.

That was also the night when Rob Scuderi became “The Piece” because of his incredible effort to stop the Red Wings from shoving in a loose puck from the crease during the waning moments.

Also, Fleury made a remarkable save on Dan Cleary to keep the game 2- 1.

That led me to initiating this poll on Twitter. Vote, and I’ll post the results later. I’ve already voted in the minority for the 2008 save. But, yeah, I get it. The other three came during Cup runs. So they should dominate.

Make your voice heard and reply via Twitter or post a comment below. Aside from his legendary stop at the buzzer on Nick Lidstrom—which clearly would’ve gotten every vote—which Marc-Andre Fleury Pens playoff save was the most memorable in your opinion?

We relive all those moments, plus our personal recollections of the on-ice celebration following Game 7 in Detroit, including:

*Which player’s wife almost decked a security guard who tried to stop her from getting on the ice?

*Which reporter pulled a crafty move to sneak by everyone else to get the first question in for Sidney Crosby?

*Marian Hossa’s slinking escape after the game.

Plus, we talk about how hockey may return, and we kick around the notion of all NHL teams playing in North Dakota like baseball teams may play in Arizona.

Tribune Review LOADED: 04.09.2020 1173552 Pittsburgh Penguins Mike DeFabo Post Gazette LOADED: 04.09.2020

Penguins on pause: Finally healthy, Zach Aston-Reese establishes his role

The NHL has “paused” its season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is unclear if it will resume. So, with one eye still on the future, the Post- Gazette’s Matt Vensel and Mike DeFabo are looking back at what each Penguins player did in 2019-20. We started with the captain, No. 87, and will count down by jersey number.

Penguins forward Zach Aston-Reese put one goal above all else this season: Stay healthy.

The first two years of his career, it seemed like every time Aston-Reese began to gain some traction, injured reserve kept him from taking the next step. A lower-body injury sidelined him for more than a dozen games in 2017-18. Then in the postseason, Capitals forward concussed Aston-Reese and broke his jaw with an illegal hit. Last year, Aston-Reese missed 13 more games with a broken hand.

“No matter what, everything else aside, I want to play a full 82 games and see what happens,” Aston-Reese told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in early February.

During a season in which so many significant players missed so much time, Aston-Reese was one of the few who stayed relatively healthy ... at least for the first 57 games before a lower-body injury flared up.

As a result, he found a role on the shut-down fourth line. The trio featuring Aston-Reese, Teddy Blueger and Brandon Tanev was a hard- checking, tough-to-play-against group. Coach Mike Sullivan trusted the line enough that he frequently deployed it against the opponent’s top offensive line. They also had more defensive zone starts than any other line and were three key members of the penalty kill.

Earlier in his career, Aston-Reese got looks in a top-six role, playing alongside Evgeni Malkin and others. But maybe his wall play and willingness to finish checks meshes better in this type of muck-and-grind, bottom-six scenario.

In terms of offensive production, Aston-Reese said himself that he would have liked to contribute more. During his senior season at Northeastern, Aston-Reese led the nation in goals (31) and points (63) on the way to becoming a Hobey Baker Award finalist.

He scored six goals and tallied 13 points in 57 games this year with the Penguins. Maybe there’s more offensive upside there that can be tapped into down the line as the 25-year-old’s career continues. Or, maybe, this year is an example of the type of role Aston-Reese will continue to play.

DEFINING MOMENT: Aston-Reese scored a pair of goals during a 7-2 rout in Winnipeg in mid-January. The game summed up what made the Penguins successful early in the season. With Malkin, Bryan Rust and several others sidelined with injuries, the Penguins got production up and down their lineup.

STAT THAT STANDS OUT: Aston-Reese’s defensive-zone start percentage was 69.3% this year, second only to his center, Blueger. This stat illustrates the role that the Penguins cast him in, as a shut-down defender who was counted on to step in front of shots and keep the puck out of Pittsburgh’s net.

IF THE SEASON RESUMES: While Sullivan likes to shuffle his lines to create a spark, no trio stuck together more than Aston-Reese, Blueger and Tanev. Given how much this group played together, it’s likely they’d remain intact into the postseason. The one thing that could shake up this line is that an extended layoff should give several players such as Jake Guentzel, Nick Bjugstad and Dominik Simon a chance to get healthy. There’s at least a chance the new-found health could create a ripple effect that impacts the fourth line.

LONG-TERM OUTLOOK: Aston-Reese is signed through the 2020-21 season on a deal that pays him $1 million annually. The biggest question is: Can he show more offensive upside as his career continues? As noted previously, Aston-Reese was an elite goal-scorer in college. It remains to be seen if that will eventually translate to the pro game.

1173553 Pittsburgh Penguins

Penguins on pause: Conor Sheary's second stint in Pittsburgh could already be over

The NHL has “paused” its season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is unclear if it will resume. So, with one eye still on the future, the Post- Gazette’s Matt Vensel and Mike DeFabo are looking back at what each Penguins player did in 2019-20. We started with the captain, No. 87, and will count down by jersey number.

When the Penguins reacquired Conor Sheary and immediately dropped him on Sidney Crosby’s right wing, it said something about how they felt about him.

It also said something about the team’s other options for that spot.

Dominik Simon still wasn’t scoring and was no longer doing the little things that led coach Mike Sullivan to give him top-line minutes. Patric Hornqvist had a nice rebound season but was better off down in the lineup. Dominik Kahun, before going the other way in the Sheary trade, left the Penguins wanting more.

So on deadline day, Feb. 24, general manager Jim Rutherford traded Kahun to the Buffalo Sabres for Sheary and fellow forward Evan Rodrigues. Afterward, the GM said he never wanted to trade Sheary in the first place and that sending him to the Sabres two summers ago was strictly for cap-compliance purposes.

The Penguins hoped he would do some of the same things Bryan Rust was doing on the second line — flummoxing on the forecheck, providing energy all over the ice and burying some of the opportunities created by a superstar center.

Just when it looked as if Sheary was settling into a groove with Crosby and left winger Jason Zucker, the season suddenly came to a halt. He had four points in his last five games after not registering a point in his first three games back.

Sheary, a member of the 2016 and 2017 teams, was gearing up for another Cup run with Crosby and company. Now, it is unclear if he has played his last game with the Penguins. He’ll be a free agent whenever the offseason occurs. And if this season is indeed over, the grade for the Sheary trade is “incomplete.”

DEFINING MOMENT: Sheary received a warm welcome March 3 before his first game back at PPG Paints Arena. He then scored his only goal in eight games when his back-door pass toward Crosby hit a Senators blue- liner and went in. It wasn’t pretty. But, hey, we don’t have many moments to choose from here.

STAT THAT STANDS OUT: Sheary averaged 14:27 of ice time with the Penguins. That’s 92 seconds more per game than he had with a lottery- bound Sabres team. He had nine goals, 19 points and a minus-4 rating in Buffalo this season.

IF THE SEASON RESUMES: The Penguins should be healthier, giving Sullivan more options. But Zucker and Jake Guentzel are both better off on the left wing. So Sheary would remain a top candidate to skate with Crosby, though that spot could remain a revolving door based on performance and playoff matchups.

LONG-TERM OUTLOOK: Sheary, who is earning $3,000,000 in the final year of his three-year deal, will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason. Presumably, the door is open for him to return. It would just depend on his price. If he is looking to make more than he made this season, it may be hard to fit him in.

Matt Vensel

Post Gazette LOADED: 04.09.2020 1173554 Pittsburgh Penguins While the opportunity to compete for another banner slipped away, Cooley said he’s bringing plenty from his experience at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex with him to Detroit.

West Mifflin's Logan Cooley goes from 'Little Penguins' to U.S. National “Pens have made me who I am today,” Cooley said. “Off-ice trainers are team the best. Coaches are the best. Practicing three days a week, having two workouts, video sessions, that’s really where they made everything happen.”

MIKE DEFABO In a few months, Cooley and his mother will pack their car and head to Michigan to begin the two-year residency. From there, there’s no telling Pittsburgh Post-Gazette how far his hockey journey might go. APR 8, 2020 11:00 AM

Mike DeFabo Logan Cooley was riding in the car with his mother and father to Post Gazette LOADED: 04.09.2020 Rostraver Ice Garden in Belle Vernon when he got the call.

The 15-year-old from West Mifflin started playing hockey at Rostraver in 2008-09 as one of the very first members of Sidney Crosby’s Little Penguins Learn to Play program. Maybe it was fitting then, that as he rode to the rink where it all began, Cooley learned where the next step in his hockey journey would take him.

On the other end of the line was Kevin Reiter, director of player personnel for the USA Hockey's National Team Development Program and a Pittsburgh native himself. Cooley earned a roster spot on the highly competitive U-17 national team, a distinction just 23 players in his age group receive each year.

“It’s just unbelievable,” Cooley said. “Just thrilled to make it.”

Cooley, who starred on the Penguins Elite U-16 team this year, will begin a two-year residency program at the USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth, Mich., in August.

As part of the team, Cooley will play in the United States Hockey League, the only Tier I junior hockey league in the United States. The team also competes in three international tournaments and select competitions in the North American Hockey League and Minnesota Elite League.

“You hear about guys like Auston Mathews, Patrick Kane, Jack Hughes, all the guys who have come through that program,” Cooley said. “It’s really eye-catching to see all the guys who have made it from there.”

Even before he stepped onto the ice with the Little Penguins program, hockey was in Cooley’s blood. Two of his uncles played in college, including one at Notre Dame, where Cooley is currently committed.

As the third boy in a family of four (he also has a younger sister), he has also followed in his brothers’ footsteps. One brother, Riley, played briefly for the Ice Wolves. The other, Eric, is entering his senior season at Niagara University and has already been invited to NHL camps with the and Buffalo Sabres.

The older siblings have provided the blueprint and the inspiration for Logan’s journey.

“Seeing them go through everything,” Cooley said. “It really makes me want to do what they’re doing.”

Cooley, who takes online classes so that he can spend extra time on the ice and structure school around his busy hockey schedule, has spent the past several seasons playing on the Penguins Elite program. The 15- year-old forward was moved up an age category this year to play on the Pens Elite U-16 team, where he recorded 46 points (18 goals, 28 assists) in 45 games.

His coach, Brian Mueller, said the team used Cooley at all three forward positions before he settled in at center. He describes Cooley as a deceptively fast player with great hands, a high hockey IQ and unique vision.

“Logan is a person, a player who truly loves the game of hockey,” Mueller said. “He’s always smiling. He’s always listening. He’s very open to being coached. As a coach, those are the type of kids you want, people who are open-minded and willing to try different things.”

This year, Cooley helped lead the U-16 team to the Mid-Am district title. The Penguins Elite U-16 team had qualified for the national tournament in its division and was looking forward to a chance to defend last year’s title. However, the COVID-19 pandemic forced tournament officials to cancel the event. 1173555 Pittsburgh Penguins OK, so it’s an admitted stretch of any rules to pick three players for one slot on a one-hit wonders list. Thing is, the players picked for this slot will forever be linked in Pittsburgh.

A Muskegon line, Mario’s wingers and a Moose: The Penguins’ one-hit Each of Dave Michayluk, Jock Callander and Mike Needham were wonders recalled for a second-round showdown with the New York Rangers, who had finished first overall during the regular season. Lemieux and winger Joe Mullen had been injured in Game 2 at Madison Square Garden, and even the comparably deep-up-front Penguins couldn’t rely on their Black By Rob Rossi Aces extras to suitably fill in. Michalyuk, Callander and Needham had Apr 8, 2020 formed the top line for the Penguins’ minor-league affiliate, the Muskegon Lumberjacks, who happened to be preparing for the International Hockey League final when the Penguins plucked that top line as the series against the Rangers shifted to Pittsburgh for Game 3 and 4. The The Penguins have hung banners to celebrate five Stanley Cup clubs Penguins lost Game 3 but never dropped another game that postseason. and 15 scoring titles won by four players. All of those have come over the The Muskegon Line was together for only five games that postseason, last 36 years. but the players on it combined to score three goals — or half of their That’s a lot of chart-toppers in what amounts to a fraction of the NHL’s combined career playoff total. history. 6. Luc Robitaille (1994-95 season) But even this standard-bearer among the league’s expansion franchises In what world is a Hall of Famer winger, one of the higher scoring ones in has had its share of flops among the greatest hits. And for more than 50 NHL history, on a list like this one? That would be the same world in years, the Penguins have also known their share of one-hit wonders. which the Penguins traded for Robitaille, a close friend of Lemieux, and Early in his career, Mario Lemieux seemed uniquely qualified to turn just then traded him away before he could ever play in even one game with about any winger into the equivalent of “Take On Me” — the signature Lemieux. (No. 66 took off the 1994-95 season to recover from various tune from A-Ha, which released its hits the same year as Lemieux’s health issues form previous years). Yeah, it still doesn’t make much debut in 1984. sense. Oh, and Robitaille was darn good in his lockout-shortened 1994- 95 season for the Penguins; he scored 23 goals in 46 games and added So, when it came time to choose the best of the breakout Boys of Winter, seven goals in the playoffs. Two of those postseason goals were The Athletic Pittsburgh considered only players from during or after the winners. Look, Robitaille did all right for himself before and after his Lemieux era. Our list. Our rules. abbreviated stint in Pittsburgh. He is one of the players posing in a 10. Jiri Hrdina (1991 Stanley Cup playoffs) picture taken at the NHL 100 ceremony from a few years ago. Many players wore formal attire to that ceremony, so Lemieux and Robitaille Acquired by general manager Craig Patrick to help a homesick Jaromir finally did get together while each was wearing a Penguins suit — sort of, Jagr during his rookie season, Hrdina’s on-ice contributions to the anyway. Penguins’ first title team often get overlooked. Patrick said Hrdina became a dependable depth center for a club that dressed three future 5. Stu Barnes (1996-97 to 1998-99 seasons) Hall of Famers at the position: Lemieux, Ron Francis and Bryan Trottier. This entry ends three consecutive selections that play loose with the one- Still, it’s making life comfortable for Jagr, a fellow native of the Czech hit-wonder format. The Muskegon Line was a one-hit wonder for filling in Republic, for which Hrdina is most known in Pittsburgh. Never forget, admirably on what is undoubtedly one of the great postseason clubs in though, that in Game 7 of the opening round, Hrdina scored early in the league history. Robitaille is an all-time great who only had one season first and second periods of what became a 4-0 victory over the New with the Penguins. Barnes lasted parts of 16 seasons in the NHL, and no Jersey Devils at Civic Arena. The Penguins went on to win the Cup for player pulls off that type of career without being pretty good. Barnes was, the first time. They won it again the next season. And Hrdina, who would too. He scored 261 goals in the league. A quarter of those goals were retire after the back-to-back championships, finished his NHL career with scored during parts of three seasons in Pittsburgh, where Barnes marked only those two postseason goals. 69 times in only 204 regular-season games. That’s a 0.34 per-game 9. Jeff Zatkoff (2016 Stanley Cup playoffs) goals rate compared to 0.29 for the remainder of Barnes’ career. And in the 1997-98 season, when the Penguins were operating under coach The Penguins’ title teams of 2016 and 2017 were blessed with two Kevin Constantine’s defense-first philosophies during the first year of franchise-caliber goalies: Marc-Andre Fleury and Matt Murray. But their Lemieux’s first retirement and what would be the final season in historic run — remember, the 2016 and 2017 Penguins are the only NHL Pittsburgh for Francis, Barnes scored 30 goals. His production played a team of the past quarter-century to win back-to-back championships — big part in helping the Penguins win the division. He was one of only 21 began with No. 3 goalie Jeff Zatkoff starting Games 1 and 2 of an players to score at least 30 goals during 1997-98, and the Penguins dealt opening-round series against the New York Rangers. The Penguins held him during the next season. an early-series lead in all but one series that postseason. That first one was crucial because the Rangers probably played well enough to sweep 4. Rob Brown (1988-89 season) Games 1 and 2 at Consol Energy Center. Neither they nor anyone had To borrow from Josh Yohe: “what a time to be alive,” that magical 1988- counted on Zatkoff, who would finish his NHL run with only 50 89 season. The Penguins had spent the early years with Lemieux trying appearances in the regular season and postseason, stopping 35 of 37 to build a contender around their generational star. The fruits of that labor shots in the Penguins’ 5-2 win in Game 1. were revealed, and the Penguins flashed potential that would make them 8. Dick Tarnstrom (2003-04 season) one of the NHL’s best teams of the 1990s. Brown, a charismatic winger, showed a seemingly kinetic connection with Lemieux in 1988-89. He All those scoring titles mentioned in the introduction? Yeah, they were on scored 49 goals and 115 points, second only to Lemieux on a team that the verge of being forgotten by the 2003-04 season — easily the finished second in the Patrick Division and came within a win of the Penguins’ worst since the last days before Lemieux showed up. Actually, conference final. Brown, who famously — or infamously — celebrated his Lemieux was still playing in 2003-04. Heck, he was still the Penguins’ goals with a Pete Townsend-like arm circle, scored all of his 14 career best player, even though he was 38, had one functioning hip, and was hat tricks during a most memorable run of hockey nights in Pittsburgh. Of healthy for all of 10 regular-season games. In all, 40 players appeared in course, Brown was traded a couple of years later and had the bad luck of at least one game for ’s Penguins. Indeed, the Penguins facing the Penguins in the 1992 Cup final as a member of the Chicago were coached by their former broadcaster in 2003-04. They also were led Blackhawks. And he did have a second stint with the Penguins in the late in scoring by a defenseman; Tarnstrom posted 52 points — and a minus- 1990s — after shockingly reinventing himself as a defensively 37 rating. His career lasted parts of five seasons, over which he was a responsible checking-line winger. Looking back, it’s the latter minus-86, which is, well, quite bad. But he’ll always have something in transformation that seemed more unlikely because Brown will always be common with the likes of Lemieux, Jagr, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni remembered for his free-wheeling, high-scoring peak with the Penguins. Malkin, which is, well, quite unbelievable. Well, that and other things.

7. The Muskegon Line (1992 Stanley Cup playoffs) 3. Warren Young (1984-85) Pretend this is “Penguins Jeopardy” and the answer is: The first Rob Brown. If you buzzed in with any answer other than “Who is Warren Young?” you probably shouldn’t have been playing this game. Young was Lemieux’s first partner in crime, so to speak. The crime was that he joined a franchise with a lot of players much worse than Young, who lasted a respectable seven seasons in the NHL. Like Brown, he had two stints with the Penguins. Like Brown, he also had his best days with the Penguins. But those came during that first stint, which lasted only that one season with Lemieux. It was long enough for Young to score 40 goals, which were more than enough to earn him a big payday that offseason. The Detroit Red Wings had come away from watching the 1984-85 Penguins thinking Young was a force with which the league would need to contend for years. He scored only 22 more goals and was out of the league by 1988. Lemieux made a lot of teammates a lot of money. Young remains the standard against which “wingers made by Mario” will forever be judged.

2. Max Talbot (2009 postseason)

This is a protest placement. Talbot lasted parts of 11 seasons in the NHL. He scored at least 10 goals in four seasons even though he was regularly a bottom-six forward. The one time he wasn’t — as in, the one time injuries didn’t position Talbot on a scoring line — was the 2009 playoffs. Then, Talbot played a hybrid center/winger role on Evgeni Malkin’s line, with Talbot doing the defensive work of a traditional center while Malkin drove the offensive attack from the middle. Their chemistry was evident, and partly due to Talbot having been Malkin’s first road roommate in the NHL. And while it’s true that Malkin had once joked during an interview that Talbot had “bad hands,” it’s equally true those hands were touched by the hockey gods in the most important game of the Crosby/Malkin era. “Obviously, those are the biggest goals of my life,” Talbot said of the two he scored in the Penguins’ 2-1 win in Detroit in Game 7 of the 2009 Cup final. “If you’re asking me if that’s the game everybody will remember from me as a player, I have to say the answer is yes. And I’m OK with that. I mean, it’s an awesome thing to be remembered for. It’s not like I’m upset being known as the guy who scored all our goals in that game. How many guys get to say they scored all the goals for their team in Game 7 to win the Stanley Cup? I can.” Well said by Mighty Max. Or Superstar. Look, Talbot had a lot of nicknames and will forever hold a special place in Pittsburgh sporting lore. But he always had a knack for scoring timely goals; four of his 14 career playoff goals were winners. That includes two from the 2009 playoffs, when only Crosby and Malkin finished with more for the Penguins.

1. Johan Hedberg (2001 postseason)

Max might have been Mighty, but he was no Moose. That tag will forever belong to Johan Hedberg, who went from obscurity to a Conn Smythe contender in a matter of weeks during a spring from almost two decades ago. The Penguins had welcomed back Lemieux from a retirement of nearly four seasons in December 2000. His shocking return sparked an in-season turnaround and legitimized the Penguins as a Cup contender. They were deficient in goal, though. At least, that was the popular thought outside of Pittsburgh. Inside, too, apparently, because they traded for Hedberg at the NHL deadline. He had been a ninth-round pick by the Philadelphia Flyers at the 1994 draft, but Hedberg had never played in an NHL game before joining the Penguins. Their scouts loved him. Their fans knew nothing about him, other than he wore a mask that was painted bright blue and with the likeness of a moose. Hedberg had been the top goalie for Manitoba’s IHL team — the Moose, duh! — and he decided to keep the mask upon joining the Penguins. Why not? There was no reason for anybody to believe he would end up being the best player for a club that would go on to win nine postseason games. He went 7-1-1 down the stretch to establish himself as the Penguins’ go-to goalie. In the opening and second rounds of the playoffs, he outplayed Washington Olaf Kolzig and Buffalo’s Dominik Hasek, the only goalies to win the Vezina Trophy from 1997-2001. Hedberg would have had to take out New Jersey’s Martin Brodeur and Colorado’s Patrick Roy to complete the storybook ending to an unforgettable several weeks when the Penguins were led by a moose — and that was always the least likely scenario. Then again, Hedberg ended up lasting parts of 12 seasons in the NHL, and along the way won over everybody with a down-to-earth appreciation for everything. To forget him would be, as the legendary might say, “shame on you for six weeks.”

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Coronavirus: Top official says sports unlikely before Thanksgiving in Santa Clara County

By JASON GREEN | [email protected] | Bay Area News Group

PUBLISHED: April 8, 2020 at 9:04 p.m. | UPDATED: April 8, 2020 at 9:40 p.m.

SAN JOSE – Fans wanting to attend a 49ers game or any other sporting event in Santa Clara County could be wanting until late November, if not later.

That was the message Santa Clara County Executive Officer Jeff Smith delivered to the Board of Supervisors during a discussion Tuesday about when strict shelter-in-place orders might be relaxed. The orders, which were initially issued in mid-March, are intended to slow the spread of COVID-19.

“Sorry to say,” Smith told Supervisor Mike Wasserman, “I don’t expect that we’ll have any sports games until at least Thanksgiving, and we’ll be lucky to have them by Thanksgiving.”

“This is not going to be something that is easy to do,” Smith added.

Santa Clara County, along with the rest of the state, appears to be slowing the spread of COVID-19, but life likely won’t return to normal without a substantial increase in testing. It’s an issue that has dogged the United States’ response to the virus from the start.

Smith, who has the authority to close sports facilities, highlighted other reasons for keeping the shelter-in-place orders in place. In addition to the San Francisco 49ers and the San Jose Sharks, the county is home to the San Jose Earthquakes, the San Jose Giants and three major universities, including Stanford, Santa Clara and San Jose State.

“When the orders are weakened, it’s pretty much guaranteed there will be new infections because, at least at this point, there’s no herd immunity for those who are uninfected,” Smith said.

“There will definitely be individuals who will get sick,” he continued. “And because there are individuals who get sick, there will be individuals who die after the order is released, unless we come up with a foolproof immunization, which is highly unlikely.”

San Jose Mercury News: LOADED: 04.09.2020 1173557 San Jose Sharks When the NHL paused its season March 12, the Lightning were tied for third in the league standings with 92 points. Tampa Bay was second in the Atlantic Division, eight points back of the Boston Bruins, who had the league’s best record at 44-14-12. NHL Central Scouting: Plenty of ‘hidden gems’ for Sharks, others teams to find in draft SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA – DECEMBER 12: San Jose Sharks general manager Doug Wilson talks to the media during a press conference at SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2019. (Randy Vazquez / Bay Area News Group) By CURTIS PASHELKA | [email protected] | Bay Area News Group In his draft rankings for April, Sportsnet’s Sam Cosentino ranked forwards Lukas Reichel (Germany), Mavrik Bourque (Shawinigan) and PUBLISHED: April 8, 2020 at 12:19 p.m. | UPDATED: April 8, 2020 at Jacob Perreault (Sarnia) and defensemen William Wallinder (Sweden), 8:31 p.m. Justin Barron (Halifax) and Ryan O’Rourke (Sault Ste. Marie) as among the players that could be available late in the first round.

The Sharks and other teams should have no trouble finding quality It’s unclear if the NHL will be able to hold a scouting combine for draft players at the end of the first round and beyond in this year’s NHL entry prospects. draft, the league’s central scouting senior manager said Wednesday. Teams have been allowed to interview players all season, but now those “Teams are going to get very, very good players as they pick into the interviews are done strictly online. When it comes to medical history, the second, third and fourth round,” said David Gregory, who has been with league is asking players to fill out questionnaires that will be made NHL Central Scouting for 17 years, on a teleconference hosted by the available to the each team’s medical staffs. In terms of testing, Dan Marr league. “There’s going to be some real hidden gems there. A few years of central scouting said on-ice testing was done at various prospect from now, we’ll be talking about how did that player get taken so late.” games this season.

The Sharks have three picks in the first two rounds of this year’s draft, “The teams do have test results of 75 of the top 100 prospects for this including the first round selection they acquired from the Tampa Bay draft,” Marr said. Lightning on Feb. 24. The Sharks traded Barclay Goodrow and a 2020 Earlier this week, Doug Wilson Jr., the Sharks’ director of scouting, said third round pick to the Lightning for a first rounder this year and AHL he and his staff are preparing as if the draft will still be held in late June. player Anthony Greco. “There’s no reason to change the way that we scout,” Wilson Jr. said on The Sharks also have two picks in the second round — their own and the Morning Tide podcast. “The guys will just have to put in way more video one they acquired Feb. 18 from the Washington Capitals for defenseman reports, they’ll have to be more secondary interviews with teachers, Brenden Dillon. That pick was originally held by the Colorado Avalanche. former teammates, coaches, et cetera. No team is getting a lot of As of now, the Sharks also have two picks in the fifth round and two picks viewings right now, so we just have to go back, watch more video, do in the seventh round. more interviews and just work as hard as we possibly can.”

Sharks general manager Doug Wilson has hinted he isn’t necessarily married to using those picks to draft players, leaving open the possibility San Jose Mercury News: LOADED: 04.09.2020 of flipping some of those selections for NHL veterans as they seek to return to the playoffs next season.

“When and how those assets are utilized will be determined at some point, but it doesn’t change our approach,” Wilson said last week. “We’re going to prepare and really look under every stone to help make us a better hockey team.”

NHL Central Scouting released its final player rankings Wednesday for this year’s draft and listed left wing Alexis Lafreniere of the Rimouski Oceanic No. 1 among North American skaters. Tim Stuetzle, a left wing for Mannheim in Germany’s top professional league, was ranked as the top international skater.

The Sharks, as of now, have no shot to select any of the top ranked skaters after they dealt their 2020 first round pick to the Ottawa Senators as part of the deal to acquire Erik Karlsson in Sept. 2018.

Still, it appears they’ll have the opportunity to find a player that can help the team three or four years down the road.

“There’s lots of depth here,” Gregory said, “and lots of opportunity for the NHL clubs.”

This year’s draft was originally scheduled to be held June 26-27 in Montreal. Last month, though, the league announced that the “location, timing and format” of the draft will be “announced when details are finalized.”

It remains unclear if the league will be able to resume its season and hold the playoffs, or when the league will be able to finalize a draft order.

The pick the Sharks acquired from the Lightning realistically could fall anywhere from No. 22 to No. 31.

Ordinarily, after the draft lottery is held, picks 16 through 23 would be awarded to the nondivision-winning teams eliminated in the first two rounds of the playoffs based on reverse order of regular-season finish. Those spots would be followed by any division winners at picks 24 through 27 of the first round. Teams eliminated in the conference finals would pick 28th and 29th, the Stanley Cup runner-up would select 30th and the Stanley Cup champion would select 31st. 1173558 San Jose Sharks he didn’t like. So he lightened the mood, but what he was really doing was showing Hertl and everyone else that he had the young forward’s back.

My favorite player: Joe Thornton I also remember the immediate aftermath of the game later that night, a 4-1 Sharks win. When we went in the dressing room afterward, Thornton was the first to speak — while Billy Squier’s “The Stroke” was playing loudly on the sound system. I’m pretty sure I was the only one that By Kevin Kurz noticed it and couldn’t help but start chuckling. Thornton saw that and Apr 8, 2020 gave me a little head nod for picking up on the symbolism. That was the Sharks’ victory song for at least a few more weeks.

April 15, 2015 The sympathy started pouring in from all corners of the hockey world the day after the NHL trade deadline on Feb. 25, as Joe Thornton expressed After the disastrous 2014-15 season mercifully came to an end, there his disappointment that he wasn’t headed to a contender. The honesty in was plenty of speculation about who might not survive the coming his words and the emotion in his voice resonated for a couple reasons: 1) offseason. Just one month earlier, after general manager Doug Wilson Because Thornton’s legendary career is missing only a championship; criticized him at a season-ticket-holder event, Thornton responded by and 2) Because it’s rare that the future Hall of Famer is so candid and saying that Wilson should “stop lying and shut his mouth,” even demonstrative when there’s a camera pointed in his direction in a suggesting that Wilson had “taken a sabbatical” for the year. Could the dressing room. two possibly co-exist after that?

“I wanted another shot at the Cup,” Thornton said that day in the visitors’ But it became clear on getaway day that there was some disagreement dressing room at Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center. “Obviously, I’m between Thornton and coach Todd McLellan, too. After McLellan told getting a little bit older. It’s not my last hurrah, I still think I’ve got more reporters that he needed to take time with his family to discuss the next years left. But as you get older you realize you only have so many shots step in his career, Thornton said: “Todd said he has to talk to his family. at this thing. It would have been nice to at least have a chance.” Maybe he should talk to this family as well in (the dressing room).”

If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my nine seasons covering the Sharks, The implication, although somewhat indirect, was still evident: It was it’s that Thornton’s media scrums are usually, to put it politely, uneventful. Thornton and McLellan who couldn’t co-exist anymore. Shortly after that, Thornton knows it. Thornton’s teammates know it. The reporters know it. the Sharks and McLellan — who didn’t see eye-to-eye with Wilson, The often silly song-and-dance routine is just one of those necessary either, throughout the course of the season — announced that they were parts of the job for everyone involved, particularly when Thornton does mutually parting ways. something noteworthy in a game. From a personal standpoint, I can also vividly recall a day early in training But they still happen because every once in awhile Thornton does camp the following September. I had written in the offseason that I express how he’s really feeling inside. While 99 percent of his believed it was time for the Sharks and Thornton to part ways after interactions with the media are drab and filled with hockey clichés, there everything that went down in 2014-15. I can’t be sure, but I figured are those rare times when he really has something to say. Considering because of that piece Thornton was particularly cold with me, at one his stature as the Sharks’ all-time greatest player and how much respect point even snapping a bit over what I thought was a pretty generic he commands around the league and with his teammates, those question. The next day (through nerves I attempted to hide), I pulled Joe moments can resonate far longer than maybe he originally intended. aside, we had a quick 60-second chat and moved on.

If you haven’t noticed yet, many of us here at The Athletic have been Of course, Thornton proved me and many others wrong throughout the asked to write about our favorite player. I took the approach of selecting course of the 2015-16 season, scoring 82 points in 82 games and the player that has been the most enjoyable for me to cover since I’ve helping lead the Sharks to their only appearance in the Stanley Cup final. been in San Jose, and there were a few candidates. Dan Boyle was as Hey, I’m not always right. competitive as anyone I’ve ever covered and he almost always was an Feb. 7, 2019 insightful interview. Joe Pavelski was a total pro, taking his role as unofficial team spokesman seriously and leaving everything he had on It was just another typical morning skate. The Sharks were sitting on the the ice on a nightly basis. Logan Couture has the same kind of fire and visitors’ bench at the Saddledome waiting for the freshly cut ice to dry always makes himself available to offer his unfiltered opinion on the state when Thornton spotted a woman in the front row of the upper level of the of things, even if he’s still stewing after a tough defeat. stands wearing a Barclay Goodrow sweater from his junior days with the North Bay Battalion. But let’s face it, this was an easy decision in the end. Not everyone is fortunate to cover a true legend for nearly a decade, and I do appreciate Why she was there, I still have no idea, as morning skates are typically that I’ve been interacting with Thornton on a day-to-day basis for nearly closed to the public. But Thornton invited her down to the bench to meet that long. With that in mind, there are a few Thornton moments that stand Goodrow in person. out since I got here in 2011. Hopefully, you enjoy this as much as I did putting it together. What was particularly funny for those of us sitting in the stands waiting for the skate to begin is that the security guard didn’t know what do to Oct. 10, 2013 once she got to the bench. Who did this woman think she was, walking out toward the ice just before practice? I was, of course, in the dressing room in Vancouver after the morning skate when Thornton loudly proclaimed that if he were ever to score four Someone, though, told the guard that it was Joe Thornton who asked her goals in a game, “I’d have my cock out, stroking it.” I still have the audio, to come out there, so everything was fine. The guard quickly understood as I was speaking at the time with Patrick Marleau, who started cracking and she met the boys and even took a few photos. up at Thornton, who was standing by himself removing his gear just a few feet away. “She was a huge Goodrow fan,” Thornton explained after the skate. “From North Bay (Ontario) and drove down to see Goodie. She was up Yes, I laughed, too, and no, I didn’t think anyone would ever write it. I can top and I was just like, come on down and meet the guy, you know? recall sitting in the media room with the Mercury News’ David Pollak Goodie was so nice to meet her and sign her stuff, and (Brent Burns) when we both realized that Thornton’s comments were now going viral played with the Battalion, so he signed the jersey, too. All the guys are so on Twitter and how the hell were we supposed to handle this? (I was told good. Something hopefully she’ll never forget.” by my editor at CSN Bay Area to just ignore it.) Feb. 18, 2019 I’ve said this a few times, but what’s gotten lost in that moment is that Thornton only made those colorful comments because Tomas Hertl was Until the playoffs, this was the most exciting game of the Sharks’ 2018-19 getting criticized in some hockey circles for his between-the-legs goal season. It was almost certainly Thornton’s best game. The Sharks and subsequent boisterous celebration in a Sharks blowout win over the erased a 3-0 hole in the first period to take a 5-4 lead in the third period, Rangers a few days earlier. Hertl, a rookie who was still learning English courtesy of three goals from Jumbo. Naturally, everyone was hoping he’d at that point, was surrounded by a large contingent of media in get that fourth. Instead, the Bruins tied the game thanks to a missed call Vancouver and Thornton overheard a question about the fancy goal that in the third period and eventually won in overtime, 6-5. When asked after the game if he was disappointed he couldn’t get a fourth goal, Thornton said: “I’m sure a lot of fans were, yeah (laughs). Good thing. I was working for it, though.”

That game also spawned this popular Thornton GIF, when he raised his arms in celebration after he was shown on the jumbotron following his third goal and first hat trick in nine years. It was surely one of the loudest moments all season at SAP Center, too.

Shame we didn’t get a Sharks-Bruins matchup in the final last year, isn’t it?

Feb. 25, 2020

Might as well circle back to where we started — to the day Thornton expressed that he would’ve liked to have been traded.

Shortly after the trade deadline passed the day before, I was tipped off that Thornton was disappointed about not going anywhere. I wasn’t all that surprised. When I spoke to him one-on-one in New York just a few days earlier and he admitted he was tempted about getting traded to a contender, I figured that meant he was probably going to end up getting dealt.

The next morning in Philadelphia was the first chance that the media got to speak with Thornton after the deadline and I really didn’t know what to expect. Prior to the scrum starting, he asked this Philly-area native if I was going to get to see my family while we were in town and then apologized for not wanting to speak with me right after the deadline passed (I had put in a request with the team’s media relations staff, but Thornton declined, which I pretty much expected).

That kind of back-and-forth is typical of Thornton. He’s just a good guy like that.

The Athletic LOADED: 04.09.2020 1173559 St Louis Blues Goalie Jordan Binnington said he was spending part of his down time prepping for his shot-saving competition against Canadian crooner Justin Bieber. The date of the showdown remains to be determined.

Move over Gloria, Blues have a new victory song “Right when I found out the season was paused I ordered a computer monitor, just to get some double-screen (looks) there and really study his moves,” Binnington said. “You know, see when he’s picking up his head, how his backhand is. But for the most part, I’m just gonna wing it.” Jim Thomas While the majority of Blues have stayed in St. Louis, defenseman Marco

Scandella headed back to his native Canada. In the post-Gloria era of St. Louis Blues hockey, there was a brief “I’m actually at my cabin about an hour outside of Montreal,” Scandella mention of a new song in October. Much later in the season, defenseman said. “I’ve been going for these nature walks and bringing my axe. I’ve Vince Dunn said there was indeed a new victory song but said he didn’t actually just been chopping down dead trees, and getting some of the know the title. frustration out of having to deal with this isolation.” On Wednesday night, during a videoconference involving 25 Blues If the playoffs began today — and they were scheduled to begin players, Dunn came clean. The Blues’ victory song as they’ve defended Wednesday — the Blues would open against Nashville. David Perron their Stanley Cup is Eddie Murphy’s “Party all the Time.” was asked about a Blues-Predators postseason matchup. Obviously no one is partying these days during the coronavirus “They get up for games against us,” Perron said. “We do as well. But the pandemic. rivalry right there speaks for itself. We played them a few years ago (in But anyone who witnessed the team’s post-Stanley Cup celebration last the playoffs) and they beat us. They played us pretty well. I just think June, be it the parade down Market Street, the weekend in Las Vegas, or their team is pretty deep, from their forwards to their ‘D’ — that are the St. Louis clubs visited by the team after Game 7 — well, they realize jumping in the play every single time that they can. it’s a fitting anthem. “They got two really good goalies, so I think it’d be a good matchup. I Dunn’s answer came after co-moderator Kathryn Tappen asked him think the boys would be excited. They’re a tough opponent for us but I about the genesis of last year’s victory song — “Gloria,” by Laura think we’d be ready for it.” Branigan. After Dunn laid out that story, co-host followed No Blues player would be more excited about a return of hockey this up by asking if the team was still playing the song. season than Vladimir Tarasenko. He would’ve been ready to return from “This year we have a new one,” Dunn said. “We haven’t really been too shoulder surgery shortly after the NHL ceased games on March 12. focused on it. It’s kind of just been whatever. We didn’t want to carry “It’s been really hard here not playing all year,” Tarasenko said. “But I (Gloria) over from last year. Kind of just left it in the past. was really excited to see what this team achieved during the season. “I think this year it’s an Eddie Murphy song — ‘Party all the Time.’ We They played really well, great hockey. I was lucky enough to travel a have a pretty fun group. We like to have our fun. I think the song kind of couple road trips with the guys before this pause started. I felt like a part reflects on our group a little bit.” of the team again, more. . . . It’s been a long year, but the hockey will start someday so I’m just waiting for that day.” The NHL put together the unique videoconference as part of its ongoing effort to keep fans and the media connected to the league’s players Team captain Alex Pietrangelo closed the videoconference with a during the coronavirus shutdown. Fans and media could watch on social message to Blues fans and those on the front lines of the coronavirus media as Hughson and Tappen quizzed the players. pandemic.

General manager Doug Armstrong and coach Craig Berube made “Fans know that we miss being down at Enterprise,” Pietrangelo said. opening comments and then dropped off the videoconference, leaving “I’m sure they miss watching us play, too. But I think the biggest thing for the moderators and the entire Blues roster. (Jay Bouwmeester did not me is the more that we can all do our part, the safer we’ll all be, and the participate.) The screen looked like a modern version of the old quicker we’ll find a way to get over this hump. Hollywood Squares television show, times about three. “As a group we thank the frontline workers — nurses, doctors. But even Each member of the Blues had his own box on the screen, except for people working at the grocery story, delivery drivers. . . . Without them, Dunn and Sammy Blais, who were sharing a box, and Jaden Schwartz we’re not able to be comfortable in our home.” and Robert Bortuzzo, who were sharing another.

Each player was asked at least one question by the moderators, and St Louis Post Dispatch LOADED: 04.09.2020 most were routine queries, such as what it’s been like defending the Cup, favorite memories of last season, what players are doing during shelter- at-home, etc.

But there was new ground as well, starting with Alexander Steen going behind the scenes during the Cup Final against the Bruins.

“It was before Game 2, Gunny (Carl Gunnarsson), Sunny (Oskar Sundqvist), myself, (Colton) Parayko and (Chris) Thorburn went to a sushi restaurant (in Boston),” Steen said. “And then Gunny got that big winner for us.”

That was the so-called “Urinal Game,” with Gunnarsson scoring the game-winner in overtime in a 3-2 win that tied the series one game apiece.

After splitting a pair of home games in St Louis, it was back to Boston for Game 5. And more sushi.

“Correct me if I’m wrong, (Thorburn) was the one pushing that we had to go back,” Steen continued. “So we went there for the sushi again and won Game 5.”

The Blues lost Game 6 in St. Louis, and before Game 7 in Boston, Steen said, “There was no real discussion. We just kind of ended up out at that sushi spot. So we went 3-for-3 with the sushi in the belly.” 1173560 St Louis Blues

Blues will hold a virtual 'reunion' tonight, and you're invited (to watch)

Jim Thomas

Under normal circumstances, the NHL playoffs would start Wednesday night with the Blues beginning their Stanley Cup championship defense.

Obviously, that won’t be the case because of the league’s suspension of play due to the coronavirus pandemic. Nonetheless, the current Blues are holding a virtual reunion tonight, and fans are invited to watch.

The NHL is holding a videoconference at 7 p.m. Central involving Blues players, general manager Doug Armstrong and coach Craig Berube on social media. Fans can watch on NHL.com, stlouisblues.com, and all Blues and NHL social channels, as well as in Canada.

St Louis Post Dispatch LOADED: 04.09.2020 1173561 Tampa Bay Lightning

Lightning’s Blake Coleman enjoying time with his newborn daughter

TAMPA — Blake Coleman didn’t expect to spend much of his daughter’s first month with her. She was due to be born with about a month left in the NHL season, and the fourth-year center figured he’d be playing.

Once Coleman was traded from the bottom-dwelling Devils to the playoff- bound Lightning, it looked like it could be more than three months after her birth before hockey slowed down.

But now, Coleman has all the time in the world to get to know her.

Charlie was born on Feb. 27, a week before the Lightning left on what has became their last road trip. Two weeks after her birth, the NHL was on pause and Coleman became a stay-at-home dad.

“It’s an unexpected curveball, but it’s been pretty cool for me,” Coleman said. “We would have been on the road the whole time. Now, I get to spend time with her.”

The Lightning were scheduled to spend 16 of 38 days on the road between Charlie’s birth and the start of the playoffs. When the season paused on March 12, both sets of grandparents were in town. They’ve since returned to Texas, and Coleman’s family of three (plus goldendoodle Wyndham) has found a rhythm, one which includes a lot of FaceTime.

Of course, now there’s no excuse for Coleman not to pick up some of those 3 a.m. diaper changes. But he’ll gladly take that trade.

Coleman has seen for himself — not just learned from his wife, Jordan — that Charlie smiles when she fills up her diaper. He’s also learned for himself just how often that happens — “Not to be too graphic," he says, "but the amount of poopy diapers is pretty spectacular.”

In five weeks, Charlie has already grown so much. She’s starting to lift her head when lying on her stomach. She’s following her parents with her

“It’s a little thing every day,” Coleman said. “I would have eventually been able to see these things, but it’s so much better to be here for these firsts.”

He’s watching Wyndham (known as Wyn) get to know Charlie, as well. The almost-2-year-old puppy is used to being the center of attention but has made space for a new human in the house, cuddling up to Charlie. Wyn has had a harder time adjusting to the constantly changing scenery (first a hotel, now a condo that is “half a home and half a storage unit right now”).

Coleman is looking forward to seeing Charlie continue to grow and hopes for her sake that she looks more like Jordan as she does.

“She has a lot of Dad in her right now,” Coleman said. “Jordan keeps saying, ‘I want some people to say she looks like me.'”

Contact Diana C. Nearhos

Tampa Bay Times LOADED: 04.09.2020 1173562 Tampa Bay Lightning

Lightning’s Kevin Shattenkirk thanks those working on coronavirus front lines

Staff Report

TAMPA — The Lightning found a couple of small ways this past week to show appreciation to medical professionals working on the coronavirus front lines.

Last week, the Lightning Better Halves, a group of players’ wives and girlfriends, donated food to the staff at Tampa General Hospital, in partnership with LS Organics. They brought 100 meals and 75 wellness juice shots from the Tampa meal service.

On Tuesday, the Lightning tweeted a video from defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk thanking those leading the fight against the pandemic. He said he has gained perspective and stressed appreciation for “everyone across the medical community in Tampa Bay" — doctors, nurses, EMTs, first responders.

“I think I speak for my teammates when I say thank you for your dedication to our health and safety in the community, for your bravery in facing this and the personal sacrifices you’re making,” Shattenkirk said.

Shattenkirk and his wife have one more initiative they’re addressing as well.

On a trip to Target to stock up on diapers for their 9-month-old son, Connor, Deanna Shattenkirk found empty shelves. The only diapers available came in massive $50 packs. She found an organization called National Diaper Bank Network, which provides diapers for those in need. The Shattenkirks are raising awareness for the organization’s ongoing fundraiser.

Tampa Bay Times LOADED: 04.09.2020 1173563 Tampa Bay Lightning video game as he was on the ice. I thought I was a skilled guy, a pretty good guy. But I played him my whole time and, man, he crushed me. This guy is from another planet. It might have been “Blades of Steel.” The video games were pretty archaic back then. But he’d frickin’ kill me. I One-hit wonder or one of a kind? The wild career of Lightning’s Chris couldn’t believe it.” Kontos After Pittsburgh, Kontos was traded to the Kings and got to be teammates with Gretzky, another amazing experience.

By Joe Smith “Looking back, how many guys get to do that, play with Mario and Wayne?” Kontos asked. “I was privileged. What I remember is their IQ. Apr 8, 2020 Both of them have incredible IQ. Gretzky is more chess, with a sneaky understanding of what’s happening on the ice. Mario was raw talent with his stick and puck. He was big, and for a 6-foot-4 guy with a massive You’ve played pro hockey for a couple of decades in six different wingspan, you could see in his highlight goals how he made defensemen countries, won an Olympic silver medal and become teammates with two look silly day in and day out. He was special. I’ve never seen anything of the greatest players who ever lived. like it.”

Yet when you’re retired NHL forward Chris Kontos, you’re mostly Kontos played six games down the stretch with the Kings at the end of remembered for a few snapshots in time. There’s a Lightning franchise the 1987-88 season, even racking up a six-point night against Chicago. record of four goals in a game that he’s held or shared for more than 25 He thought he’d be able to earn a roster spot the next fall. Wrong. So he years. And, before that, there was a torrid stretch of nine goals in 11 played in Switzerland the next year. playoff games for the Kings, helping Wayne Gretzky overcome a 3-1 series deficit to beat his old team, the Oilers, in 1989. That’s when the fun began.

Fair or not, the internet will forever paint Chris Kontos as a one-hit “After my season, I came back and signed with the Kings last-minute wonder. before the midnight deadline,” Kontos said. “I had just moved into a house. We didn’t have a cell phone back then, and I had to fax the “I always get that,” Kontos said, laughing, during our phone conversation contract back to the NHL before the deadline. My dad came over at 11 at last week. “I’m a frickin’ first-round draft pick. I shouldn’t be a ‘one-hit night and pounded on my door and said, ‘You have to sign this contract wonder.’ and go to L.A.!’ My buddy owned a lumberyard called Beaver Lumber. We hustled over and faxed it, and the next day I caught a flight to L.A. “But I absolutely wouldn’t trade it for anything. You’re calling me. Around the playoffs, when a guy gets hot, my name comes up. Every year it “The media got hold of the story, and all of a sudden I was a kid working happens when a Lightning player gets three goals. All of a sudden, my in the lumberyard, eating my lunch, when my manager came over to me: phone lights up. You’d think (Steven) Stamkos or (Nikita Kucherov) could ‘You’re getting the call.’ And that’s not what happened. It was funny in the have easily got five or six goals in a game. But it’s been more than 25 States how they blew it up out of proportion. I never worked in a years now.” lumberyard or ate out of a metal lunch box. But it was a funny story.”

Kontos, now 56, is happy to take a trip down memory lane and relive that Kontos went on a tear in the playoffs, scoring nine goals in 11 games to magical night in the old Expo Hall in Tampa on Oct. 7, 1992. help the Kings beat the Oilers in seven games. He also scored his only other career hat trick. His career playoff stats: 11 goals, zero assists and When I caught up with him last week, though, he was sitting at his desk minus-12 in 20 games. at the print distribution company he owns in Midland, Ontario, just outside of Toronto. He talks about his two kids, son Kristoff, 26, who has been Playing in L.A., though, was special in itself. playing hockey in Sweden, and Joelle, 22, an opera singer. He’s been married for 31 years now to Joanne, who met him at a high school party “You wouldn’t believe it,” Kontos said. “We’d have (Sylvester) Stallone at and has followed him through life-changing moves to Sweden, Finland, the games, Tom Hanks and John Candy. It was a parade of stars. We Germany, Italy and Switzerland. became the hot ticket. It was fantastic. We’d go to the Lakers games and the ushers would put us right by Jack Nicholson. They treated us like “We got to see the world,” Kontos said. “We’re blessed.” rock stars.”

Kontos is proud of his career, and he should be, even though his time in Which is what made Kontos’ next NHL stop, Tampa Bay, quite the the NHL lights didn’t last as long as he hoped. A first-round pick (15th culture shock. overall) by the New York Rangers in 1982, Kontos played in just 230 career games split between New York, Pittsburgh, L.A. and Tampa Bay. Like many on the expansion Lightning, Kontos didn’t plan to be part of it. He finished with just 54 goals. He was training with the Canadian Olympic team, hoping to make the There have been 60 hat tricks in Lightning history, scored by the likes of team for the games in Albertville, France. But as Kontos was getting Vincent Lecavalier, Stamkos and Kucherov. But only two have ever ready to board the plane from Sweden to the Olympics, he was pulled scored four: Kontos and Hall of Famer Martin St. Louis, who tied the aside and told he was one of the final cuts. record Jan. 18, 2014. It was heartbreaking. A punch in the gut. It shouldn’t be the only thing you remember about Kontos. But that said, “I had a bit of a groin issue, and there were a few guys also in the if you’re a Lightning fan, you’ll likely never forget it. running,” Kontos said. “It was like ‘Survivor,’ and I was one of the guys As wild as Kontos’ introduction to the Lightning was, how he got there voted off the island. was just as interesting. “You know what, though? Being a hockey player it’s devastating, but if The same year Kontos was drafted, he broke into the NHL with the you can’t take that, then you shouldn’t be in the business. There’s always Rangers after a strong junior career with the in the that kind of stuff happening. And every time a door closes, another one Ontario Hockey League. The Original Six franchise was in a four-decade- opens.” long Stanley Cup drought but had some strong seasons under coach Terry Crisp was an assistant on that Canadian Olympic team and took a Herb Brooks, losing to the Islanders dynasty in the playoffs from 1982- liking to Kontos. After getting hired to be the Lightning’s first coach, Crisp 84. Kontos played in 78 games over three seasons in New York, splitting offered Kontos a two-year, two-way deal. “Terry said it was an open time with New Haven in the AHL. slate,” Kontos said. But he lost a grip on a roster spot, playing in Finland in the first half of After playing in Hollywood, the scene in Tampa was a bit humbling. The 1985-86 before finishing in the AHL. He was traded to the Penguins in Lightning played at Expo Hall, the charming but quaint barn on the January 1987 for , spending parts of several seasons with Florida State Fairgrounds. There were some legendary stories, like how Mario Lemieux and company. a father and son once walked into the dressing room at intermission “I just remember hanging out with Mario sometimes, and I thought I was during one game in the inaugural season, asking where the bathroom pretty good at video games,” Kontos said. “But he was that God on the was. “I remember my godfather was at the game (when I scored four goals),” the Swedes in the gold-medal game (remember that Peter Forsberg Kontos said. “When I got my third goal, he threw his hat on the ice. He golden goal that got him on the Swedish stamp?). was from Michigan. It’s a tradition for a hat trick, everyone knows that. But one of the ushers was telling him, ‘Hey, you! Out! You can’t be Kontos never returned to the NHL, but he played in Sweden and throwing stuff on the ice.’ Germany with stints with three IHL teams sandwiched in between. He retired in 1998. “(Founder) was yelling at the ushers and explaining the tradition. He’s like, ‘No, no, it’s hockey.'” And Kontos has no regrets.

The building held just over 10,000 fans, but it boasted an electric “I wasn’t a quitter, I’ll tell you that,” Kontos said. “I played for 16 years, atmosphere for that franchise opener against the Blackhawks in October and it started with the Rangers, a first-round draft choice. Got sent down 1992. to New Haven. I never drank — I’m the odd man. I was more of a prankster and joking guy, trying to fit in. It was just mentally grueling “It was so intimate because everyone was right there on top of you, when you come out of junior and you’re touted. You’re a good guy, screaming,” Kontos said. “It felt like we were in Chicago during the should be going in that direction and, all of a sudden, you might be a anthem. It was awesome.” good player but you don’t fit in their plans.

Kontos made it a night to remember with his four-goal game, lifting the “In hindsight, they should have sent me back to junior to finish when I Lightning to a 7-3 victory. He scored all four on reigning Vezina Trophy was lighting it up. But that’s life.” winner . Kontos’ four-goal game record remained his for 22 years until St. Louis The first two goals came on the same power play in the first period, matched it in 2014. There were 42 Lightning hat tricks scored in between. starting with a five-on-three tally. Kontos found himself at the back post For almost every one of those, there were reporters in the press box (and as Adam Creighton forced the puck loose behind the net on the fans in the stands) thinking of Kontos and his record. forecheck. He got it out to Rob Zamuner near the left circle. Kontos re- directed the shot/pass in for the first goal in franchise history. “I was at the right place at the right time,” Kontos said. “As long as Tampa stays in the league forever, it’s not like you got the first goal in “I was just setting up to the side and Zamuner hit me at the side door,” history and they’re not there anymore. It’s pretty Kontos said. “I had just come through camp and was first or second on special. It’s a bucket-list thing and at least I did that.” the team in points for training camp. I was lighting it up, which got my foot in the door for the opening game. I wouldn’t have gotten that opportunity As we wrapped up our conversation, I asked Kontos whatever happened if I hadn’t had a really good camp. Everything was going right in.” to the milestone pucks from that game? He posed afterward in the locker room with the four pucks from each of his goals. Kontos’ second goal came just 58 seconds later on the five-on-four power play. Zamuner had hit the post from the high slot area just a few “I think they’re in front of my house at the bottom of Georgian Bay seconds before. The Lightning retrieved the puck and moved it around, (northwest of Toronto),” Kontos said, laughing. “We had a rink on the with Kontos creeping over to the same back post. John Tucker hit him water, and the kids would be playing and taking a shot and it’d go over with a cross-crease pass, which deflected off a Blackhawks defenseman the snowbank. They’d lose it and say, ‘We need a puck.’ I had a drawer right to Kontos, who tapped it in. with memorabilia, and they kept going in there. They were only 8-9-10 years old. The Lightning were up 5-1 midway through the second period when Kontos got his hat-trick-clinching goal. He slid into the slot and Joe “It’s kind of funny, right?” Reekie put it on his tape.

“The third one was a snapper five-hole on Belfour,” Kontos recalled. “It’s The Athletic LOADED: 04.09.2020 funny. When I was with the Kings and (had that playoff run of goals), it was against Grant Fuhr — he was the guy back then. And when we play Chicago that first night, it was Belfour, and he had just won the Vezina. I figured I just had to keep shooting. The puck had eyes for me.”

Was he aiming five-hole? Or just trying to get a shot on net?

“I was a five-hole shooter,” Kontos said. “It was my go-to spot. Back then we used those big, heavy wooden sticks and aluminum/wooden blades. After I retired, I tried my son’s carbon fiber sticks. Those things came off like a rocket, like shooting a bow and arrow. The puck just flies off your stick.”

It was funny after the third goal to hear the TV announcers explain the tradition of throwing hats on the ice: “It can be costly.” By the way, did Kontos’ godfather get kicked out? “No way,” Kontos said. “There’s no way he was leaving that game.”

Kontos’ fourth and final goal came with 28 seconds left in the second period, also on the power play. He was positioned on the left side down low and redirected a Joe Reekie pass through Belfour.

“A between-my-legs deflection,” Kontos said, “the one that (Sidney) Crosby does all the time like it’s nothing.” Kontos laughs: “I was ahead of my time.”

He ended up with 27 goals (51 points) that season in 66 games. “At the 20th game, I had 21 goals and was ahead of Gretzky and Lemieux,” he quipped.

But later in the season in Toronto, Kontos collided with Leafs defenseman Drake Berehowsky and blew out his MCL. There went his season — and, even worse, his stint with Tampa Bay. “I could have at least hit 30 or 35 goals,” he said. “But that’s life.”

Kontos said there was an issue with his contract after the season, and he was allowed to get out of it to pursue his dream of playing on the Canadian Olympic team. He made the team for the 1994 games in Lillehammer, Norway, and won a silver medal as the Canadians lost to 1173564 Toronto Maple Leafs “You try to just put your finger on what’s happening, and then you get told to go home. It became pretty real that morning,” he said. “You go out for groceries, and you realize that you have to get to the grocery store early enough in the morning so you can actually pick something. It becomes NHLers reflect on league pause: ‘All of a sudden someone turns the car that much more real then, too. off’ “It’s scary.”

Devils defenceman P.K. Subban said he was prepared for the schedule JOSHUA CLIPPERTON to be halted even though it was tough to swallow.

THE CANADIAN PRESS “It was pretty sudden and abrupt,” he said. “It didn’t really catch everybody off guard, but that’s when it started to set in how serious it PUBLISHED APRIL 8, 2020 was. UPDATED APRIL 8, 2020 “Just weird to see the world kind of stop.”

Florida Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky was on the phone with his Josh Morrissey figures he has more close friends on the Edmonton agent the night before their game in Dallas. Oilers than any other rival NHL team. “It creeped into my mind that it’s a crazy time,” he said. “Unbelievable It led to some unusual heat-of-the-moment conversations for the and crazy.” Winnipeg defenceman the night of March 11, after news broke during the Canucks forward J.T. Miller said Vancouver’s players made the most of Jets’ game at that the NBA was suspending its season in the down time prior to their flight home after learning the club’s game in the wake of Jazz star Rudy Gobert’s positive test for COVID-19. Arizona was called off. In the heat of a playoff race, uncertainty was in the air. “Played some golf,” he said. “We went to local course for a couple hours, One thing, however, seemed crystal clear. played a couple holes and got back to the bus.”

“We saw the writing on the wall,” Morrissey recalled this week of the on- Back to that Wednesday night before the pause, Morrissey said the Jets ice conversations between whistles. “That was probably our last game.” knew they were sitting out of the playoff picture in the Western Conference, and those two points up for grabs in Edmonton could be At least in the short- and medium-term, they were right. crucial with so many unknowns.

The NHL, along with most sports in North America, paused its schedule “You start thinking about different scenarios,” he said. “You never know less than 24 hours later amid the widening novel coronavirus outbreak. what’s going to happen going forward if you don’t get to play any more regular-season games and they’re trying to determine the playoffs. Thursday marks four weeks since the league shuttered operations, and it remains anyone’s guess when society – which has ground to a halt in an “It was a really weird feeling.” era of mass job losses, self-isolation and social distancing – will return to some semblance of normal and games are allowed to resume. Winnipeg pulled off a 4-2 comeback victory to move into the first wild- card spot, although the Jets sit below the cut line when it comes to points Oilers blueliner Darnell Nurse said there was chatter before the meeting percentage, which could wind up as the determining factor if no more with Winnipeg about the NBA, but it still didn’t seem real until he learned regular-season games are played. of basketball’s unprecedented decision to suspend play. “You’re thinking about the health and safety of your family, your friends, “We share arenas and travel to the same cities, stay in the same hotels,” your loved ones ... just the craziness going on,” Morrissey said. “Basically he said. “It’s hard for them to shut down and us to justify being out there from the start of the second period until probably another three, four on the ice and putting our fans in the same environment. It was a tough days, things were always up in the air.” day, tough night. You’re so invested at that point. You’re playing every other day. You’re on autopilot. Unfortunately, not much has changed.

“Then all of a sudden someone turns the car off.”

Nurse added that while the pause remains disappointing, it quickly Globe And Mail LOADED: 04.09.2020 became clear the situation was so much bigger than hockey.

“This virus, it gives a really big reality check as a player, as a human being, as a person,” he said. “You’re worried about not just yourself, but your family and keeping everyone safe.”

Carolina Hurricanes centre Jordan Staal was at dinner with teammates that now-infamous Wednesday ahead of their game in New Jersey the following night when the NBA pulled the plug.

“I’m like, ‘There’s no way we’re gonna stop playing,“’ Staal remembers saying. “Next thing you know [a basketball player] has it and that’s it.”

The Pittsburgh Penguins were supposed to battle the Blue Jackets in Columbus without fans that Thursday after officials in Ohio banned large gatherings.

“Your first impression is, ‘This is pretty serious and we’ve got to take this serious right away,“’ Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said. “That kind of hit me.”

That game, and 188 more scheduled through the end of the regular season, didn’t go ahead. The Stanley Cup playoffs, which were supposed to start Wednesday, are on indefinite hold as well.

Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Morgan Rielly, who was preparing to take on Nashville at the time of the pause, said his view of the pandemic that’s now killed thousands and infected many more worldwide has changed with time. 1173565 Toronto Maple Leafs

Maple Leaf halts work at Ontario poultry plant after three COVID-19 cases

Staff Report

THE CANADIAN PRESS

PUBLISHED APRIL 8, 2020

UPDATED APRIL 8, 2020

Maple Leaf Foods Inc. is suspending operations in its poultry plant in Brampton, Ont., after three employees at the facility tested positive for COVID-19.

The company says it’s deep cleaning the plant including common areas and offices as it completes an investigation into the cases.

Maple Leaf says an additional COVID-19 case has occurred in an employee at a plant in Hamilton, but the worker had not been present at the plant for two weeks before the diagnosis.

It says it has completed thorough sanitation at that plant and it is fully operating.

In addition to its normal cleaning and use of personal protective equipment at its plants, the company says it has increased the cleaning of all common areas and taken steps to ensure spacing on production lines where possible.

Maple Leaf Foods is a producer of food products under several brands including Maple Leaf and Schneider’s.

Globe And Mail LOADED: 04.09.2020 1173566 Toronto Maple Leafs The pitch to lure him out of retirement At that point, the 33-year-old Svehla was the Panthers’ all-time leader in

games played and goals, assists and points by a defenceman. He was The bizarre saga of Robert Svehla’s brief, yet impactful, Maple Leafs perennially among the league leaders in hits, at least in part (the thinking tenure went) to generous stats-keeping from the folks in South Florida. Prior to his retirement announcement, Svehla and the Panthers had squabbled over a new contract of his own.

By Jonas Siegel But what Svehla really wanted from the Panthers was money from his next contract to be diverted to Dukla Trencin, the Slovakian army team Apr 8, 2020 he’d played for as a young man while completing his military service. The club was strapped for cash.

It began with a head-scratching trade. And then a little over a year later, it “This is the team that gave me a chance to play for the national team and was over. from there I went to Sweden and the NHL,” Svehla told the Star in 2002.“The army no longer gives money to hockey, and of course, they In between, there were retirement threats, an All-Star Game appearance, need money to get good players. When I came to Trencin, I started to contentious negotiations, a bitter breakup, a most unusual NHL contract play big hockey and they helped me and I want to help them.” and millions of dollars left on the table. Even Carlton the Bear got dragged into it. The Detroit Red Wings, coming off a Stanley Cup and NHL-leading 116- point regular season, were also reportedly interested in Svehla, but not at Robert Svehla’s single-season stint with the Toronto Maple Leafs in his asking price. 2002-03 is one of the strangest tales in recent NHL memory. In order to lure him out of retirement, according to the Globe and Mail, Imagine Jake Muzzin had not signed his four-year, $22.5 million the Leafs agreed to pay Svehla $4 million for the 2002-03 season, with extension with the Leafs back in February. Now imagine the Leafs $1 million of that going directly to Trencin. The contract also carried two, continuing to hold out hope that a deal would eventually get done. But one-year team options, and according to the Star, a five-year “working then free agency opens without a deal in place. Then word comes that agreement” between the Leafs, Svehla and Trencin. Muzzin has decided to retire, leaving the Leafs with a giant hole in their top four, and few desirable options left on the market with whom to It was an unusual arrangement, and one the Panthers weren’t willing to replace him. agree to.

Well, in the summer of 2003 that’s the predicament the Maple Leafs “It’s a very unique package that I find hard to believe,” Bill Watters, who found themselves in with Svehla, at the time, the team’s best all-around was then the Leafs assistant general manager, told the Star. “From the defenceman. And that’s only half the story. time we were given permission to speak to him, I couldn’t believe that his sole intention was to make sure Trencin survived.” Now, almost two decades later, looking back on the Robert Svehla Saga is a reminder of just how weird his single season in blue and white was. Nearly 18 years later, Watters recalled the deal came down to the Leafs simply believing Svehla was a superior player. Let’s begin with Carlton the Bear, of all people. The Maple Leafs mascot found himself thrust into the headlines in the summer of 2002 thanks to “He was a lot better player than people knew about,” Watters said. “(Fans Toronto defenceman Dmitry Yushkevich. and media) weren’t familiar enough with Robert Svehla. He could play for anybody in the top two on the team.” “The most honest person in the organization is Carlton the Bear because he never says anything,” a stunned and angry Yushkevich told The Legendary toughness Toronto Star’s Ken Campbell after a surprising July 18 trade had shipped Svehla, the first Maple Leaf to wear No. 67, was every bit as tough and him to the Florida Panthers, straight up for Svehla. as physical as Yushkevich. He was also durable, having not missed a The trade had ruffled some feathers in Toronto. Yushkevich was almost game in over three seasons. And he brought more offensive punch to the three years younger than his counterpart, and he had put his body on the table than Yushkevich, as Quinn explained it at the time. Svehla was line for the franchise, in good times and bad, for seven seasons. coming off seasons of 28 and 29 points for the Panthers, but had averaged 46 points in his first five NHL seasons. Yushkevich felt the Maple Leafs had deceived him when they asked him to undergo a physical not long before the trade. The 30-year-old Russian Yushkevich had failed to top 28 points in a season with the Leafs. defenceman understood it to be for “insurance purposes,” according to “… I think Svehla was a lot smarter, a lot smarter,” Watters said recently. reports at the time, but the real purpose of the exam was to facilitate the “He had better hockey sense. He was a solid player. As a European, he trade with the Panthers. Yushkevich, who saw his 2001-02 regular- was rugged. He didn’t take any quarter from anybody.” season end prematurely due to a blood clot, had also accused the Leafs (specifically, the club’s board of directors) of preventing him from Svehla’s toughness was the stuff of legend. returning to the lineup in the playoffs. Once, as the story goes, Svehla was kicked in the face by Eric Lindros, More pointedly, the popular Yushkevich questioned the organization’s of all people, and needed 41 stitches. Not wanting to lose the extra five commitment to winning the Stanley Cup. Such accusations ran rampant minutes it would take to freeze his face and repair the damage, Svehla in certain corners of the Toronto media and fan base during the pre-cap told the Panthers medical staff to begin sewing him up right away — era when the team was still owned by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension before the numbing agents could take full effect. Plan. Yushkevich fanned those flames. It didn’t help that only a couple of weeks earlier, another Toronto fan-favourite, Curtis Joseph, had taken “The boot (of Lindros’ skate) surgically crossed his upper lip like a scalpel less money to sign on with the Detroit Red Wings because he felt he had cut,” Florida’s dentist told the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel at the time, a better chance to win there. as relayed by the Star.

Prior to the trade, Yushkevich, a nasty, minute-munching defenceman, Svehla had suffered a broken jaw and lost several teeth. His nose was had apparently been seeking a lucrative contract extension from the broken. He was leaking blood. But he wanted to play. Leafs. The late Pat Quinn, then the Leafs GM and coach, described the With Svehla anchoring their blue line, the 2002-03 Maple Leafs entered demands of the Yushkevich camp as “frightening,” and openly conceded the season with Stanley Cup aspirations. They would win 44 games and to past challenges dealing with Yushkevich’s agent, Mark Gandler. amass 98 points. Quinn paired Svehla with 24-year-old Tomas Kaberle Talk of a lockout (which would finally occur in 2004) was already on the team’s top unit. Svehla averaged almost 24 minutes per game in bubbling, too. The Leafs were looking to move on from Yushkevich, who 2002-03 while racking up 45 points, tied for 11th-best among all NHL was headed for salary arbitration prior to the start of the 2002-03 season. defencemen.

Enter Svehla, who, get this, had retired from the Panthers at the end of He was widely considered the team’s best all-around defender. the ’02 season when the Leafs first began showing interest in acquiring “Nothing flashy, not one of those guys that’s just gonna stick-handle him. through you, but (he had) a really good offensive brain, and for the most part, he was just a steady influence back there for our other The will-he or won’t-he intrigue around Svehla’s status only added to an defencemen,” teammate Darcy Tucker said. “He was strong as a bull, already turbulent summer for the Leafs. that’s for sure. He was one of the strongest guys I ever played with. And he had a really good stick.” When training camp opened in September of 2003, Svehla’s name was still on the club’s roster. But a few days into camp, Svehla made an In that spring’s playoffs, the Leafs drew the Philadelphia Flyers in Round announcement: He had signed his retirement papers and was officially 1. Prior to the trade deadline, in the hopes of a deep playoff run, the done with the Leafs and the NHL. Leafs loaded up by trading for veteran forwards Owen Nolan and Doug Gilmour, and defencemen Glen Wesley and Phil Housely. “It’s simple: Family 1, Maple Leafs 0,” Winter told the Globe’s David Shoalts at the time. “My job is to make sure he’s not signing (the The Leafs would fall to the Flyers in seven games, dropping the deciding retirement papers) when he’s tired or frustrated by not winning in the game 6-1 in Philadelphia while being outshot 36-19. Adding insult to playoffs. He’s had a whole summer to think about it and (yesterday), he injury for the Leafs was the fact that Yushkevich, who had been acquired said, ‘You know what? It’s over. My kids are happy, my wife’s happy, I’m by Philadelphia at the deadline, had played a strong series, scoring once happy.’ There was some suggestion this was always about money. Well, and adding four assists. Svehla had three assists and was minus-5 over it really wasn’t.’” the seven games. The Maple Leafs had opened camp with a new, 36-year-old general Wham, bam, thank you Maple Leafs manager: John Ferguson Jr.

Nevertheless, the Leafs were more than happy with what they’d received With Svehla out of the picture, Ferguson moved quickly to sign free agent from Svehla. They viewed him as a key piece of their club as they defenceman Ken Klee. The 32-year-old was no Svehla, but he managed entered the summer of 2003, during which they planned to further bolster to soak up more than 22 minutes per game for the Leafs in 2003-04. At the team for another crack at the Cup. Picking up the first of their two the 2004 trade deadline, Ferguson Jr. sent picks and prospects to the club options to bring him back was a no-brainer. New York Rangers in exchange for future Hall of Fame defenceman Brian Leetch. The Leafs would finish with 103 points, their best total in But apparently Svehla had other ideas. the Quinn era, and just three behind Tampa Bay for the most in the In late April, Svehla’s agent, Ritch Winter, told the Star he wasn’t Eastern Conference. But once again, they would be eliminated in the optimistic about his client returning to the Leafs. He said a resolution was playoffs by the Philadelphia Flyers, this time in six games in Round 2. needed in 10 days or he was gone. The Leafs were prepared to Would Svehla have made a difference versus the Flyers? It’s impossible guarantee both team options, at $8 million over the two years. Svehla to know for sure, but a hypothetical Leafs top four of Leetch, Svehla, was still leaning toward retirement, though it was believed a better offer Kaberle and McCabe is much more dangerous with Svehla playing 22- might change his mind, perhaps something approaching $5 million per plus minutes per game as opposed to Klee. season. Winter insisted his client deserved a bigger payday for the minutes he ate up and the points he produced. The great Leafs’ one-hit wonder walked away from a guaranteed $8 million by retiring. With his NHL career over, Svehla remained in Slovakia Watters remembered Winter to be a challenging adversary in the to coach his prized Trencin squad and become an assistant on negotiations. Slovakia’s national team. He later served as the GM of his country’s “That’s always an experience,” he said of dealing with the agent, who world championship teams in 2016 and 2017. memorably ripped the Philadelphia Flyers while his client Ilya Bryzgalov He celebrated his 51st birthday in January of this year. struggled there. Watters, who left the Leafs front office just before Ferguson was hired When reached by email last week, Winter declined to make himself or and Svehla officially called it quits, probably speaks for many Leafs fans Svehla available for comment. Further attempts to reach Svehla were and players from that era when he says: unsuccessful. “I wish we could’ve kept Svehla for a while,” he said. “But we didn’t.” Though this latest retirement threat from Svehla might have sounded like another ploy for more money, his NHL friends and countrymen, including Zdeno Chara and Marian Hossa, believed it was no threat. The Athletic LOADED: 04.09.2020 “Money is not everything to him,” Hossa told the Star.

That May, Svehla suited up for Slovakia at the world championships in Finland. He told reporters that his hockey career would end there.

But …

Come early June, Svehla was said to be reconsidering retirement. The Leafs subsequently picked up his $4 million option for the 2003-04 season. Come early July, Svehla was now leaning back toward retirement, though he was reluctant to sign his retirement papers for fear of closing the door on his NHL career entirely. He had told Quinn as much when the two talked.

“I’m happy and I don’t want to come back, but you never know what can happen in December,” Svehla told the Star that summer. “This is more my agent’s thinking, more of what he’s telling me. He says it’s better for me if I don’t sign (the retirement papers).”

But a potential December return did nothing to help the Leafs’ needs over the summer.

With the team now on the hook for Svehla’s $4 million salary should he return at any point in 2002-03, they weren’t big spenders in free agency. Defenceman Glen Wesley, whom they had acquired from the Carolina Hurricanes at the trade deadline and were interested in re-signing, instead re-signed in Carolina. Local media grumbled that Leafs ownership was once again pinching pennies. And given that this was a pre-salary cap world — when Money Ain’t a Thang — they might have been right.

In the midst of all this was talk of Quinn dropping the GM gig (but staying on as coach), while Ken Dryden, the team’s president, was either going to be fired or demoted. (Dryden left the following spring.) 1173567 Vegas Golden Knights Have you seen and heard Bettman without falling asleep? Yeah. Games will eventually be canceled.

A waiting game Golden Knights’ pledge to T-Mobile Arena workers stays on track The Knights had four regular-season home games remaining when the NHL went dark, and it’s those that were included in the team’s pledge. By Ed Graney Las Vegas Review-Journal But until things become official as to how many of the four —likely all of April 8, 2020 - 6:33 PM them — are called off, it’s not known how much money will be needed to help those who were scheduled to work each one.

I’ve assumed for some time that nothing could penetrate that bizarre More than ever now, communication is vital. lovefest this town has with this team. But any hint at backing off this pledge would strongly test such a theory We crave information, whether it’s about a growing number of coronavirus cases or, in the case of those who work at T-Mobile Arena, The Knights won’t do that. They have no reason to. the status of their paychecks. Sadly, one trait workers must own in this process is the same one almost It was reported last month that the Golden Knights pledged a minimum of nearly impossible to embrace. Nobody feels much like being patient $500,000 to help part-time and hourly gameday employees affected by these days. the interruption in the NHL season. Is time really the most valuable thing a person can spend? Concerns from those in line to receive such aid about how soon those funds would be available have found the email boxes of myself and Not now. colleagues. Many of those workers say they haven’t heard when those People need to pay rent and purchase groceries. funds will arrive.

There have been instances (see the Washington Capitals) where teams simply paid those scheduled arena workers soon after everything came LAS VEGAS REVIEW JOURNAL LOADED: 04.09.2020 to a halt. Even if canceled events are eventually held, employees will keep that extra cash. Call it a needed bonus. I don’t tell people how to spend their money. Have said and written it often. Would it be nice if the Golden Knights followed such a lead and paid workers regardless? Of course. But that’s an organizational choice. “Information regarding distribution will be communicated when appropriate and once clarity is received from the NHL on the status of the rest of the Golden Knights regular season schedule,” a team statement said. “We understand it is a complex situation. We’ll be working with all the entities involved to ensure that individuals are accounted for.” Anxiety real I get the anxiety for those out of work. It’s a horrible time. People need money. Any amount will help. Some are wondering when their next paycheck will come. Rent to pay. Food to purchase. The most basic of necessities now difficult to cover. It’s also not just those who work at T-Mobile. This is everywhere. So many are jobless and hurting. But when it comes to the hockey side of things, more than the Knights are in play. Levy, the hospitality arm of the arena, suggested in a recent memo to employees that they file for unemployment. Makes sense. And in no way would it affect whatever sum the Knights might provide individuals. Other third parties are involved. Cleaning crews. Merchandising outfits. Most workers at T-Mobile aren’t even employed by the Knights. It’s also true that much goes into the overall experience of a game, including those who work the day before and after an event. I would hope the Knights ensure that anyone and everyone who plays a part in the process is compensated. Regardless, the team clearly should communicate better by updating those potentially in line for funds. Of all the entities involved, the Knights are the most popular. Those workers want to hear from them, even if there is nothing definitive yet to say. This is the part about details. Understand first that the NHL hasn’t canceled anything. Not one game. Play has only been suspended. Now, chances that the league will pick up where it left off if it returns at all this season compare to commissioner Gary Bettman headlining Comedy Night. 1173568 Vegas Golden Knights And while Cousins refused to make any of his best chirps public – saying “I want to keep my game a secret, so I can’t tell the media” – he did reveal some of his best verbal battles have been with now-teammate Jonathan Marchessault. Embarrassing or hilarious? Vegas’ Nick Cousins is one of the worst trash-talkers “I’ve had a couple good ones with Marchessault, back when we played Vegas and I was in Arizona,” Cousins said. “I feel like in the dressing room he never stops talking, so he’s naturally like that on the ice, and I feel like I’m kind of the same way. I forget what I said because we’ve had By Jesse Granger so many battles.” Apr 8, 2020 Cousins didn’t have much opportunity to make an impact with the Golden Knights after being traded from Montreal at the trade deadline. He suited up for only seven games before the season was paused, but did tally a Find a post-whistle scrum and there’s a good chance that somewhere in goal and two assists in that short time. the middle of that tangled mess of stretched jerseys and yapping jaws is Nick Cousins. He’ll be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights this offseason and should be in line for at least a small pay raise from his current $1 million The 26-year-old forward thrives in those scrums and has built quite a AAV. He hasn’t had much time to settle into the city of Las Vegas either, reputation as one of the most vocal players on the ice. His abrasive with the shutdown happening just weeks after he moved. playing style combined with a sharp tongue make him one of the most irritating foes in the NHL. He spent the first few weeks of self-isolation in an apartment in Las Vegas, before finally returning to his house in Ontario this week. When Vegas acquired Cousins at the trade deadline, Golden Knights defenseman Alec Martinez described Cousins as a “shit disturber,” and “I spend my summers here, so I have a little bit of a better setup, so he’s certainly lived up to that creative descriptor. that’s good,” Cousins said. “Part of the reason why I came back here was I was getting a little claustrophobic in (the apartment).” When the NHLPA asked players around the league who is the worst trash talker in the NHL, 5.61 percent said Cousins. That’s good enough While at the apartment Cousins did what he could to stay in shape for fourth-place, which makes it back-to-back seasons in which Cousins without a gym or equipment to train with. He went on runs and hiked was voted one of the five worst trash talkers in the league. when he could, and did Pilates at home in between. “I always have a good chuckle at that,” Cousins said Tuesday on a phone “One day I just went and drove down The Strip,” he said. “I just wanted to call from his summer home in Belleville, Ontario. “A couple former go for a drive to get out of the house, and it was dead. Not used to teammates actually sent (the poll results) to me, and they were all seeing that in Vegas.” laughing. They were telling me it’s embarrassing. I think it’s hilarious.” Cousins is still under the Golden Knights control as a restricted free Cousins burst into laughter at the mere mention of the poll. Being voted agent, but his future is uncertain considering Vegas’ tight salary cap the worst in anything isn’t usually a good thing, but he doesn’t mind. In situation that may get even worse if the league lowers the cap ceiling due fact, he sees it as assurance that he’s doing something right. to lost revenues. “I feel like it’s working then,” Cousins said, still holding back laughs. “If Whatever the team decides to do, it seems Cousins would welcome a they think of me during the question then I have to be doing something return to Vegas in 2020-21. right. If I’m under their skin just a little bit, then I guess it’s working.” “It’s a fun place to play,” he said. “You don’t really think of Vegas as a Cousins doesn’t have the same name recognition as the players above hockey market, especially when they first got the expansion team, but him on the poll (Brad Marchand, Drew Doughty and P.K. Subban), so the just driving around the city you see so many Golden Knights tags, and fact that his name comes to mind when players are asked about trash- Golden Knights license plates and stuff, so I’ve really enjoyed it here.” talking means his chirps are memorable if nothing else. He isn’t much of a scorer but loves his role on the ice. His career high for The Athletic LOADED: 04.09.2020 points is only 27, but he was on pace to break that with 25 when the NHL paused the season. But he does bring value as a versatile bottom-six forward who can play center or wing and isn’t afraid to dig pucks out of the corner. Despite being only 5-foot-11, 185 pounds, Cousins was on pace to top 100 hits for the third consecutive season. During his two seasons with the Coyotes he finished top-five among forwards in hits despite being one of the smaller players on the team and playing bottom-six minutes. Cousins has also increased his points per 60 minutes in each of the past three seasons, improving from 1.12 in 2017-18, to 1.27 last season and 1.57 this year. His willingness to engage physically and his progressing offensive game make Cousins a valuable asset. The trash talk that leaves an unforgettable impression on his opponents is just icing on the cake. “Those are the guys you like to have on your team but hate to play against,” Cousins said. So what exactly makes trash talk good? “I feel like the best guys have the one-liners and they’re really witty,” Cousins explained. “They’re really good at coming back right away and not having to think about it. “Those two (Marchand and Doughty) in general are probably the best. You see them get under a guy’s skin, and guys are so mad at them by the end of the game. I have a lot of respect for those guys, and they’re tremendous players.” Right behind Marchand and Doughty on the list of the NHL’s best talkers was Cousins’ Vegas teammate: Ryan Reaves. “Yeah, he’s one of the best for sure,” Cousins said. “Guys are so intimidated by him that they won’t say anything back. So I can see why he’s on there for the best.” 1173569 Washington Capitals Washington Post LOADED: 04.09.2020

Capitals’ John Carlson is focusing on the present as the NHL season remains paused

By Samantha Pell April 8, 2020 at 3:03 PM EDT

Washington Capitals defenseman John Carlson doesn’t want to think too far ahead. As he has always done, Carlson is focusing on the present, even as the novel coronavirus pandemic continues. Right now, Carlson is less concerned with predictions about when the NHL season might resume. Instead, he tries to spend his time thinking of activities for his two sons, Lucca and Rudy, and staying mentally and physically ready. Carlson knows he was having a historic season before the NHL schedule was paused in mid-March, but those milestones and points weren’t — and still aren’t — at the forefront of his mind. Carlson just wants the chance to lace up his skates again. “I’m just worried about playing at this point,” Carlson said Wednesday on a video conference call with reporters. “I don’t want to be too optimistic of coming back so quickly and being able to finish the regular season and all that. All I’m thinking about right now is trying to keep myself in the best shape that I can with the circumstances.” Carlson was on pace for 89 points over an 82-game season before the pause, even after cooling off from his blistering start to the campaign . He led all NHL defensemen with 75 points (15 goals, 60 assists) and already surpassed his previous career high of 70 points set in 2018-19, doing so in 20 fewer games. His 60 assists rank first among defensemen and fourth overall. He was an early Norris Trophy favorite, and as the leader of the Capitals’ blue line he was trying to carry the group into the Stanley Cup playoffs. But for now, with everything on hold, Easter crafts, coloring with his kids and playing hockey outside his Virginia home will have to do. Many other Capitals players who stayed in the Washington area with their families have had a similar routine. Nicklas Backstrom, whose partner, Liza Berg, gave birth to the couple’s third child last week, has been trying to keep his kids occupied with bike rides and baseball. Alex Ovechkin has been entertaining his son, Sergei, by playing hockey in their driveway, playing the NHL 20 video game and dancing around their house — anything to keep busy. “We’ve been doing our best trying to come up with as many activities as we can,” Carlson said. “I think we’re almost down to none of our Easter stuff that we got the kids just from pulling things out and trying to find some ways. It’s been great to spend a lot of time with them, but it’s a change.” When asked about the idea of playing NHL games tournament-style at a centralized location or in a handful of different sites, Carlson said it seemed like a “long shot” but that any option is a good option at this point. He is in favor of having a training camp followed by some sort of abbreviated regular season before teams jump into the playoffs. If the NHL does return this season, Carlson thinks it will feel like a “brand new slate.” “It doesn’t matter if you were playing good or bad, we’re all going to be at the same level in terms of what we’re dealing with now or what we’ll be dealing with at training camp or games or whatever gets decided and happens,” he said. “So, yeah, it will definitely feel like a new season, almost. Although not being that far removed from the day-to-day normalcy that we had before, it will definitely be new.” The biggest hurdle for players, he said, will be skating at the same level they were before the break, and getting a feel for the ice again. Carlson has been trying to stay in shape by using programs the Capitals’ training staff has been sending every week since the season paused. “It doesn’t matter how hard you work, that first week on the ice is always brutally tough,” Carlson said. “Hopefully this won’t feel the same as it does the first day on the ice in the summer, but we’re all dealing with the same things … It doesn’t matter how hard you train, the on-ice stuff is different and we’re going to have to pick it up pretty quick when things turn around here.”

1173570 Washington Capitals

Carlson: North Dakota-based NHL return a 'longshot,' but any option a good one

By Adam Zielonka - The Washington Times Wednesday, April 8, 2020

The NBA reportedly has considered moving its entire postseason to Las Vegas in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic. Major League Baseball has floated playing regular-season games exclusively in Arizona for what could be several months. And the NHL — well, the NHL is looking to North Dakota. The Canadian outlet Sportsnet reported that the NHL and NHLPA are “spitballing” scenarios for how, when and where professional hockey can return. One idea involves basing everyone in North Dakota, which is relatively isolated and not densely populated, to play a tournament-esque Stanley Cup Playoffs with an undetermined number of teams. Washington Capitals defenseman John Carlson considered the idea “a longshot” during a conference call with reporters Wednesday. “I think it seems like a longshot, but I think that any option is a good option at this point with all the uncertainty going around,” Carlson said. “I think it would be cool. We’ve all been away from each other for a while now and it would be nice to have the abbreviated training camp and maybe play as many games as we need to at something like that. That would kick-start everyone back into gear and get ready for the rest of the season and the playoffs.” The University of North Dakota’s ice hockey arena in Grand Forks could work for hosting NHL games in this climate. It’s a large enough building, with a capacity of 11,640 — although no fans would be allowed to attend under this supposed plan. T.J. Oshie might be on board with playing playoff games in the Peace Garden State: He played at the University of North Dakota before entering the NHL. Carlson believes there would need to be some “abbreviated” conclusion to the regular season when hockey returns, partly so that teams that will miss the playoffs won’t have their season end prematurely, but also so playoff teams could get warmed up to hockey before it becomes do-or- die. “At the same time, as a player, we’re in a playoff position, (and) I don’t think you would want your first game to be Game 1 of the first round of the playoffs,” Carlson said. “How do I see it playing out? If I had to guess, maybe we would maybe do half of the remaining games in the regular season, but that’s all for up for debate and depends on the timeline and what we’re able to fit in, if at all.” For now, Carlson said he doesn’t want to become “too optimistic” that the NHL will come back quickly. He understands there is no guarantee the regular season will even be completed. “I think I just try to leave it out of my hands,” he said. “There’s nothing that I can say or read or watch that’s going to change the outcome of anything. So, it’s good to be informed, but it’s also I’m not going to get in the way of myself in thinking things that … aren’t realistic.”

Washington Times LOADED: 04.09.2020 1173571 Washington Capitals Winnipeg leads Vegas 1-0 Edmonton leads Calgary 1-0

Next game Holtby shuts out Islanders to start NHL 20 simulated playoffs with a Capitals victory Game 2 will be simmed on Thursday.

By J.J. Regan Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 04.09.2020 April 08, 2020 3:08 PM

The Capitals opened the playoffs on the right foot on Wednesday with a 3-0 shutout victory in Game 1 over the New York Islanders in an NHL 20 simulation. Result: Caps 3, Islanders 0 1st period No goals 2nd period 1-0 Caps goal: Alex Ovechkin from Tom Wilson and Brenden Dillon A breakout pass from Dillon set-up a 3-on-2 rush for the Caps. Wilson fed the puck to the high-slot where Ovechkin one-timed it past goalie Semyon Varlamov into the top corner. 2-0 Caps goal: John Carlson, unassisted The Islanders halted T.J. Oshie as he entered the offensive zone with the puck. A trailing Carlson picked up the loose puck and fired a slap shot that hit off the cross bar and planted itself on the goal line. Defenseman Andy Greene tried to take the puck off the line behind Varlamov, but accidentally knocked it over instead. 3rd period 3-0 Caps goal (empty-netter): Carl Hagelin, unassisted Defenseman Scott Mayfield got a bit too cute in the offensive zone as he tried to bank a pass off the boards. It was intercepted by Hagelin who took it from the Caps' defensive zone to the other end of the ice, finishing off the game with the empty-net goal. How the Caps won 1. The 2nd period Things were pretty even after the opening frame. The Islanders were dominating in shots on goal 11-5, but the Caps had more higher-quality opportunities in what was, to that point, a scoreless game. Washington took complete control in the second period. Not only did Ovechkin and Carlson give the Caps a 2-0 lead, but the team put on a possession clinic, keeping the puck off the sticks of the Islanders at every turn. The Caps outshot New York in the middle frame 7-0. 2. Braden Holtby Despite misfiring in the second, the Islanders did manage a few quality shots and fired 11 shots on goal in the third period, but Holtby was there to turn each one of them aside. After not getting a shutout almost the entire season, Holtby now has two in as many simulations. He blanked the Florida Panthers in the regular-season finale as well. 3. Physical hockey The blue and orange were left black and blue by the Caps who manhandled them physically throughout the game. New York had a tendency to hold onto the puck a bit too long looking for open passes and Washington made them pay each time. Carlson in particular was a wrecking ball. He was credited with only three hits, but in all three he knocked his opponent down to the ice. Round 1 scoreboard Washington leads New York 1-0 Philadelphia leads Pittsburgh 1-0 Boston leads Toronto 1-0 Tampa Bay leads Florida 1-0 Minnesota leads St. Louis 1-0 Colorado leads Dallas 1-0 1173572 Washington Capitals

With NHL season paused, a ranking of Capitals' best wins of 2019-20: No. 3

By Mark Zaner April 08, 2020 4:46 PM

While we wait for the NHL to hopefully resume its season, NBC Sports Washington is looking back at the 20 best wins of the Capitals' season so far. Mark Zaner, producer for Caps Faceoff Live and Caps Overtime Live, has watched every game. His rankings continue with No. 3, a 5-2 win over the Vegas Golden Knights on Nov. 9 that featured a complete effort from the Capitals, a first for Jonas Siegenthaler and some pregame espionage from Brent Johnson. WHAT HAPPENED In a 2018 Stanley Cup Finals rematch, and perhaps a matchup you could see in the 2020 Stanley Cup Final, Washington came out flying. Dmitry Orlov feathered a perfect two-line pass past three Golden Knights defenders and right to Evgeny Kuznetsov. Kuznetsov had no problem beating Vegas goalie Marc-Andre Fleury 58 seconds into the game The Capitals make it 2-0 just minutes later. Amid a line change, the Knights coughed up the puck in their own end. Tom Wilson, who was about to go off the ice, jumped back into the attack and beat Fleury with a wrist shot. Two Vegas goals sandwiched a Siegenthaler tally to make it 3-2 Capitals entering the third period. Enter Nicklas Backstrom. His first goal came on the power play. With all the Knights attention focused on Ovechkin, Backstrom threw a wrister on Fleury from the right faceoff circle. Fleury got a piece of it, but let it trickle through for the score. Backstrom scored a rare empty-net goal late in the period instead of deferring to Ovechkin. The Capitals owned the third period on their way to an impressive 5-2 win. MEMORABLE MOMENTS Siegenthaler made his NHL debut on Nov. 9 in 2018. Exactly one year later he scored his first career goal. Travis Boyd and Nic Dowd executed a picture-perfect dump-and-chase. Boyd waited in the corner for a line change and fed Siegenthaler, who was streaking to the net without anyone marking him. WHY IT WAS SIGNIFICANT If you look at the rest of my Top 10 Caps wins, most of the games are exciting comebacks or see-saw affairs. Games that were generally exciting to watch or something crazy happened. This game makes the list because it’s peak Washington Capitals. This team was playing almost flawless hockey from the middle of October through the end of November. This was Washington’s sixth straight win. In this game, the Caps got more shots, earned more power plays, won more faceoffs, blocked more shots and out-hit their opponent. And they weren’t playing the Ducks (entry #9) or the Kings (#7). The Vegas Golden Knights were - and are - a legitimate Western Conference contender. I would argue that the Capitals win over Vegas was their best 60-minute effort against a quality opponent all season long. WHAT WE WERE TALKING ABOUT Backstrom was an assist short of a Gordie Howe hat trick. Backstrom and T.J. Oshie started a bit of a fight towards the end of the second period. Not a shock to see the Caps and Knights chirp at each other, but it was unusual to see those two at the center of it. If Fleury looked a little sluggish, he might have had a good excuse. NBC Sports Washington’s Brent Johnson, who played with Fleury in Pittsburgh, took his good friend out to a big steak dinner the night before the game. That’s how you work the long con. Good job, Johnny.

Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 04.09.2020 1173573 Washington Capitals

John Carlson is enjoying family time but gets glimpse of what his wife 'had to deal with' at home

By J.J. Regan April 08, 2020 1:35 PM

This time of year is typically one of the busiest times for a hockey player, especially for a team like the Washington Capitals. Had the season not been put on pause by the coronavirus, this would have been the first week of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. That means a lot of travel, a lot of practice, a lot of games and not much time for family. While stuck at home, John Carlson is taking full advantage of the extra time to just be a dad. “Yeah, it’s interesting and great," Carlson said on a video conference Wednesday. "I think just being able to see what my wife’s had to deal with for the last couple months is pretty sobering, I would say. But, yeah, it’s fun to get to do a lot of things. Although we are quarantined to the house, it is fun to see them more. Hearing my name screamed around the house a lot more is fun." Carlson and his wife are the parents of two boys: Lucca, who will turn 5 in June, and Rudy, who will turn 2 in May. More family time is great, but it also comes with challenges. Those are difficult ages for kids to be stuck inside. Carlson noted he had to do his workout early in the morning or his kids would make it difficult. Findings ways to keep them occupied is a frequent struggle as well which is bad news for their Easter baskets. "We've been doing our best trying to come up with as many activities as we can," Carlson said. "I think we're almost down to none of our Easter stuff that we got the kids just from pulling things out and trying to find some ways. It's been great to spend a lot of time with them, but it's a change." As every parent knows, the days are long, but the years are also short. As exhausting and trying as it may be to try to parent with everyone stuck at home, Carlson knows this is time with his kids he would not have otherwise gotten. While no one is happy about the coronavirus or how it has disrupted all of our lives, more time with the family is a blessing and is something Carlson is very thankful for. "I think when we look back," Carlson said, "and hopefully this thing turns around and everything is going to be able to finish out like it was, it will definitely be a moment that I’ll remember, that I got to spend that much more time with them and see them kind of grow and turn into real human beings. It’s pretty special."

Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 04.09.2020 1173574 Washington Capitals

Capitals' Nic Dowd and wife Paige host logo design contest for Autism Awareness Month

By Caroline Brandt April 08, 2020 12:52 PM

April is Autism Awareness Month, and Capitals center Nic Dowd and his wife Paige are using their foundation, "Dowd's Crowd," to bring awareness to the cause through a logo design contest. Dowd's Crowd, founded by the couple during the 2018-19 season, aims to make the sport of hockey more inclusive for people with autism, who often suffer from sensory overload. The foundation is creating sensory kits in conjunction with Autism Speaks, and the Dowds announced Wednesday that fans now can have a hand in creating the logo for drawstring backpacks included in the kits. Other items within the kit include noise-canceling earphones, sunglasses, a foam puck and a conversation card so that children with autism can enjoy a Caps game without experiencing sensory overload. Interested participants should complete their design on a blank puzzle piece, which is the symbol for autism. The template can be found on the Capitals' website. Completed designs should be submitted via email to [email protected] by May 1. The winning design will not only be featured on the backpacks, but the designer will also win four tickets to a future Caps game, a meet and greet with the Dowds and 10 backpacks featuring their design.

Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 04.09.2020 1173575 Washington Capitals goal. His poke check led to Vrana and Oshie playing give-and-go and Vrana finished the play with a quick shot from inside the right circle. It was so quick, no one saw it go in. It took the refs at least five seconds to figure out where the puck was. Just 3:45 into the third period the Capitals Best comebacks of 2019-20 bracket: A Long Island miracle vs. beating were back within a goal. the Bolts The Caps turned to Old Reliable to tie the game a few minutes later.

Washington was on the man-advantage. Ovechkin. From “the office”. Staff Report One-timer. Goal. By NBC Sports Washington It was Ovechkin’s 17th of the season and Orlov got the primary assist. April 08, 2020 10:00 AM In overtime, it was Orlov again. He wanted to pass to Wilson who was charging toward the net. The lane never materialized, so Orlov took the wrist shot instead. Andrei Vasilevskiy was cheating toward Wilson and With the NHL hitting pause on the 2019-20 season, NBC Sports Orlov’s shot surprised him for the game-winner. Washington is looking back at the highlights from the first 69 games of The Importance the regular season. The Comeback Caps dug many holes and climbed back out of a large number of them, so we created a bracket to identify RB: Ovechkin passed Mario Lemieux on the all-time goals list and tied the best comeback of the season. Steve Yzerman for ninth on his climb to 700. This game sent the Caps into the All-Star break on a three-game winning streak and cemented Round 1: Ovi’s hat trick leads Caps 5-goal 3rd period to beat Isles (Ryan them as the best team in the league with 71 points. Couldn’t ask for Billie) vs. Orlov’s OT winner completes comeback vs Bolts (Mark Zaner) much more. The Set-up MZ: The Capitals won less than 24 hours later against Detroit and RB: The final game before the All-Star break can get lost quickly as the wrapped up the month of November with a 10-2-2 record. Washington promise of a week off following 60 minutes of hockey looms large. ended the month with the best record in the NHL and was playing some Washington’s final game before the break, taking on the New York of its best hockey of the season entering December. The Caps also Islanders on the road, started out well enough with Alex Ovechkin established early in the season that the game was never over until the seemingly destined to continue his torrid pace, scoring the game’s first final buzzer. Four of their ten wins in November were comebacks in one goal just a little over halfway through the first period on a beautiful send- form or another. in from Nicklas Backstrom. But from there, everything went wrong. Which comeback gets your vote? Sloppy play in their own zone led to two goals for the Islanders late in the RB: It’s always good to beat a division foe. Even better to beat a division first, with Brock Nelson and Casey Cizikas capitalizing and giving the foe… on the road… after being down four goals… after being mocked by hosts the lead after one. The second period wasn’t much better, with said division foe… and having your captain notch a second straight hat Jordan Eberle picking up a power play goal on a pass that deflected in off trick. This game literally had it all. Braden Holtby. But the critical moment came with 2:35 left in the second. Devon Toews capped a nice passing play with his first goal of the game MZ: No doubt about it, the win against the Islanders was one of the best and then followed it up by mocking Evgeny Kuznetsov’s bird celebration. moments of the season so far. A huge comeback, a hat trick from That would prove to be a regrettable decision. Ovechkin and comeuppance for a villain like Toews. Orlov coming up with a multi-point game doesn’t quite hold the same cache. MZ: The day after Thanksgiving featured the first matchup of the season between two heavy-hitters in the Eastern Conference. The Capitals The only way I can sell the comeback win over Tampa being better is looked like they had a little too much tryptophan in their system early. because of the quality of the opponent. The Bolts are currently the The Lightning struck three times in the first two periods and completely second-best team in the Eastern Conference while the Islanders are tilted the ice in their favor. Defending Hart Trophy winner Nikita Kucherov clinging on to a playoff spot for dear life. These are the games that assisted on all three goals. Kuznetsov’s power play goal was the only Tampa usually wins and the Islanders have made a habit of giving away. positive early on. Washington trudged into the second intermission down 3-1. The Comeback Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 04.09.2020 RB: With just one period to go before the All-Star break, instead of folding the tents, the Caps decided to step on the gas. And the Islanders never knew what hit them. Carl Hagelin started the third-period onslaught just 2 and half minutes in with a greasy goal in front of Semyon Varlamov, cutting the lead to 2. There was life. Just about three minutes later, the Capitals went from having life to having all of the momentum. Ovechkin, off a great feed from John Carlson, flew down the wing, dangled past Scott Mayfield, and knocked the puck in off of Ryan Pulock. It was one of those goals that we’ve come to expect from Ovechkin, the type of goals that leave the opposing defensemen looking up to the scoreboard to wonder “What the hell just happened?” It was at that moment you could sense that this comeback was going to happen. The Islanders had no answer for the Caps in the third, mustering just seven shots in the period. They were hanging on for dear life, and after a Tom Wilson deflection goal off a Dmitry Orlov slapshot, it appeared they just wanted to leave the building with a point. Jakub Vrana had other ideas… T.J. Oshie out-muscled Toews (Irony? Karma?) at the Islander blueline to get the puck into the offensive zone. Josh Bailey’s lazy clearing attempt was swiped by Vrana who then took two strides towards Varlamov and fired off a wicked wrist shot, top shelf, game over. There was one more piece of business before the final horn. Ovechkin picked up his second straight hat trick with an empty netter to seal the deal. MZ: The biggest catalyst in the comeback was Dmitry Orlov. He forced the neutral zone turnover that started Washington towards their second 1173576 Washington Capitals

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman recognizes finishing regular season 'may not be possible'

By J.J. Regan April 08, 2020 6:00 AM

News of a possible plan by the MLB to return to play in May has sparked optimism around the country that sports could be returning sooner than expected. For the NHL, however, any news of a possible return date is still weeks away at the earliest. “I think right now there’s too much uncertainty," NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said Tuesday on NBCSN's new "Lunch Talk Live" show. "Hopefully we’ll all know more by the end of April. From an NHL standpoint, we’re viewing all of our options. We want to be ready to go as soon as we get a green light…Nothing’s been ruled in, nothing’s been ruled out.” President Donald Trump held a conference call with several leading sports figures including Bettman on Saturday, but Bettman remarked that call gave no clarity on any specific timetable for when sports might return. "We're all going to have to wait until we have a lot more information, maybe in the next few weeks, before we can make any decisions," Bettman said. The NHL season has been on pause since March 12. The regular season was scheduled to end this past Saturday with the Stanley Cup Playoffs beginning this week. Obviously, that has not happened. Restarting the season will be no easy task and the deeper the league's pause goes into the spring and perhaps even the summer, the more difficult it becomes to finish out the remainder of the season. While there are some, such as Alex Ovechkin, who are advocating that the league jump right into the playoffs once play resumes, Bettman believes the best scenario remains to finish the regular season, though he is not sure if the league ultimately will be able to do so. "The best thing and the easiest thing would be if at some point if we could complete the regular season and then go into the playoffs as we normally do," Bettman said. "We understand that that may not be possible and that’s why we are considering every conceivable alternative to deal with whatever the eventuality is.” But it wasn't all pessimism from Bettman on Tuesday. Obviously, hockey is not in the cards until health officials begin to get the coronavirus pandemic under control. The fact that the NHL wants to have a full 82-game season next year means that the current pause can't go on perpetually. There has to be a drop-dead date in which this season cannot extend past in order to protect the 2020-21 season. Whatever that date may be, however, it is probably not as early as you may think as the NHL is prepared to play into the summer to decide a champion. While maintaining ice is certainly easier in lower temperatures when arenas do not have to deal with as much humidity, Bettman definitively stated, "Ice won't be a factor." “I do believe we can play well into the summer," Bettman said. He added, "The days of when games had to be postponed because there was no air conditioning in a building are long behind us…We can handle making ice now in any condition." If awarding the Stanley Cup in 2020 means summer hockey, that's what the league will do. But for now, all we can do is wait as there are more important things to worry about now than just hockey. “All of us running sports are basically focused on the same things," Bettman said. "First and foremost, people’s health and well-being and safety is the most important, and while we all miss sports, either putting it on or watching it, and we all want to come back as quickly as possible, we understand what the number one priority is.”

Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 04.09.2020 1173577 Washington Capitals

Alex Ovechkin is the best of the Beltway after beating Johnny Unitas in final

By Gregory Lee Jr. Apr 8, 2020

Today’s superstar topped a star of yesteryear as Alex Ovechkin got more votes than Johnny Unitas in the first Beltway Madness Tournament Final for the most influential athletes who have played on pro teams in Washington, D.C., and Baltimore. The Capitals star, who was the lone hockey player in the Sweet 16, beat the Colts Hall of Famer with 60 percent of the vote. Ovechkin had the second-highest margin of victory (79 percent) for the tournament. Baltimore Orioles great Cal Ripken Jr, who lost to Ovechkin in the semifinals, had the highest margin of victory in the event, garnering nearly 81 percent of the vote against his combined five opponents. The Athletic staff in D.C. and Baltimore had the same results in its own bracket as Ovechkin topped Unitas. Fans and The Athletic staff also had the same final four with Ray Lewis and Cal Ripken in the group. The Orioles had five players in the Sweet 16, the most of any franchise. The Nationals, Redskins and Bullets each had two. The fans’ tournament results showed there was no recency bias as only three current players qualified for the Sweet 16. There was a total of 16 players who are currently playing. There were very few upsets in the field as two Nationals — Ryan Zimmerman and Stephen Strasburg were the lone double-digit seeds to qualify for the Sweet 16. Mystics star Elena Delle Donne was the highest-ranked woman in the field, finishing 17th in the standings.

The Athletic LOADED: 04.09.2020 1173578 Winnipeg Jets “As a coach you just feel so proud and emotional, because of what he’s overcome so far,” Patrick said. “He could not have been a better role model for us this year. He took on a leadership role, he grew up — it was a real interesting journey, seeing Isaac from the start of the year to the A life recouped: Ice player's comeback will continue in Winnipeg end of the year.” In 62 games, Johnson scored 28 goals and set up 45 more, shattering his WHL career highs and showing the promise the scouts had seen Paul Friesen three years earlier. April 8, 2020 9:36 PM CDT Watching him blossom in his own back yard was Jets assistant GM Craig Heisinger, who has a knack for unearthing hidden gems, late bloomers, players like Johnson, skipped over in the draft. The tweet, posted Jan. 10, 2019, had a tone of finality to it: Heisinger called and made him an offer to turn pro. “Isaac Johnson has retired from hockey at the age of 19 for personal reasons,” it read, courtesy of an account called Complete Hockey News. The call kept Johnson’s childhood dream alive, the dream so many hockey-playing kids in Manitoba and Minnesota cling to. Of playing Johnson hears those words now, 15 months later, and isn’t sure it felt hockey for a living. Making the NHL. that final for him. For Johnson, the call felt warmly familiar, too. But there’s no debating how far he’s come from the day he walked away from the game. “They sounded so welcoming and positive,” he said. “And it was close to home. It just seemed meant to be.” On Wednesday, Johnson signed his first pro contract with the Winnipeg Jets’ AHL affiliate, the . Isaac Johnson’s one season with the new WHL team in Winnipeg got off to a muddy start. “Sometimes I can’t even put it into words,” he said from his home in Andover, Minn., some six hours south of Winnipeg. “Now that I just Trying to get to the brand new Ice training centre on McGillivary signed that contract, I couldn’t be more proud of myself. And other Boulevard — it was so new it wasn’t even on Google Maps, yet — people that believed in me and the coaches that helped me get to where Johnson took a wrong turn. I am. “So I started driving down this dirt road,” he recalled. “And it had rained “I’m very, very excited to be part of the Moose.” the night before. So my car was in mud and I just drifted off and I couldn’t steer.” Johnson was with the Western Hockey League’s Tri-City Americans when a family emergency called him back home. Ice coach James Patrick picks up the story from there. He prefers to keep the details private. But he’s an open book about how “He got stuck in the mud in a farmer’s field and we had to get a tow truck down he was, and what spurred his return to the game he loves and a to get him out of there,” Patrick said. “So Jake (Heisinger, assistant GM) second chance with the new WHL team in Winnipeg. went to get him out and then Jake got stuck in the mud.” “Things come up in the world,” Johnson, now 21, said. “I was just sitting It got better. and kind of thinking about life … about family and stuff. That comes first “The tow truck got stuck as well,” Johnson said. “So we had to get a for me. If I didn’t have that break, who knows what would have second tow truck to come and get us. It was just a mess.” happened? In every way it helped me, off the ice. And recouped my life. Johnson’s first skate with his new team would have to wait a day. “If I could take that back, I don’t think I would.” “We were like, ‘Oh my god, what is this kid going to be like?’” Patrick Sparking Johnson’s comeback was a call, last spring, from his former said. coach in the U.S. junior ranks, Dave Allison. Of course, nobody forgot it for a while. Allison reminded him how talented he was. How good a person he was. And he reignited the spark in a 6-foot-3 playmaker who’d been ranked “I got made fun of for the next week,” Johnson said. “I think maybe 10 No. 97 among North American skaters going into the 2017 NHL Draft. people sent me directions to the rink every single morning.” “I can’t thank him enough for what he’s done,” Johnson said of Allison. The good news: the Iceplex, where he’ll eventually start training camp “He said don’t waste the talent I got given to me. That really pushed me with the Manitoba Moose, is on Google Maps. to train in the summer. And once I got the skates back on my feet, I really missed it … it felt amazing. “I know my way,” Johnson said. “Do not take dirt roads.” “I think everything happens for a reason. So when those phone calls happen and people are pushing for me to go and play hockey, that Winnipeg Sun LOADED 04.09.2020 means a lot. There’s people that care out there.” The other phone call came from the Winnipeg Ice, telling him they wanted to trade for him. It sounded so positive, and welcoming. And it was close to home. “I took it, and didn’t really know what was going to happen,” Johnson said. “I don’t think they knew exactly what they were going to get. A guy not playing hockey and then you trade for him … I can’t thank them enough for what they did.” Ice head coach James Patrick acknowledges he wasn’t sure, either, what he was going to get. Johnson’s slow start was no surprise, given the rust he had to work off. “But boy, from mid-November on, he was a dominant player in the league,” Patrick said. “A high-end playmaker. “No matter what league you’re in, it comes down to who makes plays. Part of it you can’t teach. He can make space when there isn’t much space.” But there was more. A commitment and maturity that hadn’t been there as an 18-year-old. The qualities that sometimes only come from hard life experience. 1173579 Vancouver Canucks “I’ve obviously had a pretty good season and team wise, we were right there knocking on the door to be in the playoffs.”

Pearson was fifth in club scoring with a career-high 45 points (21-24) Canucks Pearson has family ties to fighting COVID-19, Bauer innovation when the season was suspended. He is obviously buoyed by what the Canucks could do in the post-season — depending on how decision dominoes fall — with a healthier roster, four 20-goal scorers and a fourth- ranked power play. BEN KUZMA At the schedule pause, the Canucks were tied with Nashville for the final April 8, 2020 4:31 PM PDT Western Conference wild-card spot with 78 points apiece. The Predators hold the tiebreaker with more regulation wins, and if the regular season was sacrificed and playoffs awarded on points, the Winnipeg Jets, with Tanner Pearson, left, hit a career high with 45 points when the NHL 80, and Predators would claim the two wild-card spots. The Canucks season was paused on March 12. He was giving goalies like Jonathan would be out. Quick of the Los Angeles Kings a tough time before the season stopped because of the novel coronavirus pandemic. However, if the regular season was scuttled and post-season berths determined by points percentage, the Canucks would advance to the "Everyone wants to get back and not miss out on a chance to compete in playoffs for the first time in five years. And even if the season was rolled the playoffs. But you have to go about this in a safe way and smart way back to an equal 68 games, the Canucks would claim the second wild- that makes sense for every team." — Tanner Pearson, Vancouver card position on points and face the Colorado Avalanche in the opening Canucks round. The novel coronavirus numbers in Tanner Pearson’s home province are As for the points-percentage possibility, the Canucks would be third in staggering. the division on the win tiebreaker with a .565 percentage and be the No. 3 seed and face No. 2 seed Edmonton Oilers. The Canucks went 2-2-0 As of Wednesday, there were 5,276 confirmed cases in Ontario and 203 against the Oilers in the regular season and Pearson had seven points had died. Only Quebec had higher national confirmed numbers with an (3-4), including his first career four-point effort in a 5-2 win at Edmonton astounding 10,031 COVID-19 cases and 175 deaths. on Nov. 30. And yet, even with self-isolation and social-distancing directives, the “They obviously have the two heavy hitters (Connor McDavid, Leon Vancouver Canucks’ winger knows there’s always hope because of Draisaitl), but if we do get the call back and we’re in (on points health initiatives and technological innovations. And he doesn’t have to percentage), anything can happen after that,” said Pearson. look far in his native Kitchener, Ont. for historical and family footprints.

Bauer Hockey was founded in Pearson’s hometown in 1927. It has production facilities in Blainville, Que. and Liverpool, N.Y. and employs Vancouver Province: LOADED: 04.09.2020 Tanner’s father, Tim, as strategic program manager. The sporting goods manufacturing giant answered the COVID-19 call for transition by switching from making hockey visors to medically-approved face shields for front-line health workers. It not only helped a company in a production predicament when the NHL regular season was paused on March 12, it has helped reduce a worldwide critical shortage of masks for hospital workers. As of this week, there were more than 700,000 orders. The company is mass producing masks at a break-even point of $6 apiece with any profits destined for charities. Anything to stem the spread of COVID-19 and flatten the confirmed-case curve. “It’s a huge part, and not just what Bauer is doing,” Pearson said Wednesday during a conference call from Kitchener. “Companies are making medical gowns out of jerseys and others are making similar face shields. It has gone a long way and everyone wants to help out, which is a real positive thing going around the community for sure.” So is virus awareness on a daily basis. “We have people around here who are involved in the health care system, so we have a good idea of what’s going on around town and we’ve done a pretty good job of not leaving the house,” added the 27- year-old Pearson. “We’ve been getting a lot of stuff delivered and wiping it down. Our families just drop stuff off at the doorstep and we talk to each other through the car window. It may seem silly, but we have to take care of my son (Tucker) and family and grandparents. It’s scary how easily this can spread.” The COVID-19 restraints keep Pearson, his wife (Meaghan) and son planted in their new home and they attempt to unwind and unplug. “No video games in this household and we’ve put electronics away as much as possible,” said Pearson. “We’ve watched shows when Tucker is having a nap or is being put to bed. We attempted a couple of puzzles but never got through them — too frustrating. But we’re going to rock the Scrabble board tonight.” In addition to maintaining a level of conditioning with body-weight exercises, Pearson also purchased a Peloton stationary bike and rollerblades around Kitchener. As to what may or may not come of the season on hold, Pearson is pragmatic about the resumption amid health concerns. “Everyone wants to get back and not miss out on a chance to compete in the playoffs,” said Pearson. “But you have to go about this in a safe way and smart way that makes sense for every team in the standings. 1173580 Vancouver Canucks “It’s scary.” Devils defenceman P.K. Subban said he was prepared for the schedule

to be halted even though it was tough to swallow. NHLers reflect on league pause: ‘All of a sudden someone turns the car “It was pretty sudden and abrupt,” he said. “It didn’t really catch off’ everybody off guard, but that’s when it started to set in how serious it was. JOSHUA CLIPPERTON “Just weird to see the world kind of stop.” THE CANADIAN PRESS Florida Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky was on the phone with his agent the night before their game in Dallas. PUBLISHED APRIL 8, 2020 “It creeped into my mind that it’s a crazy time,” he said. “Unbelievable UPDATED APRIL 8, 2020 and crazy.” Canucks forward J.T. Miller said Vancouver’s players made the most of the down time prior to their flight home after learning the club’s game in Josh Morrissey figures he has more close friends on the Edmonton Arizona was called off. Oilers than any other rival NHL team. “Played some golf,” he said. “We went to local course for a couple hours, It led to some unusual heat-of-the-moment conversations for the played a couple holes and got back to the bus.” Winnipeg defenceman the night of March 11, after news broke during the Jets’ game at Rogers Place that the NBA was suspending its season in Back to that Wednesday night before the pause, Morrissey said the Jets the wake of Utah Jazz star Rudy Gobert’s positive test for COVID-19. knew they were sitting out of the playoff picture in the Western Conference, and those two points up for grabs in Edmonton could be In the heat of a playoff race, uncertainty was in the air. crucial with so many unknowns. One thing, however, seemed crystal clear. “You start thinking about different scenarios,” he said. “You never know “We saw the writing on the wall,” Morrissey recalled this week of the on- what’s going to happen going forward if you don’t get to play any more ice conversations between whistles. “That was probably our last game.” regular-season games and they’re trying to determine the playoffs. At least in the short- and medium-term, they were right. “It was a really weird feeling.” The NHL, along with most sports in North America, paused its schedule Winnipeg pulled off a 4-2 comeback victory to move into the first wild- less than 24 hours later amid the widening novel coronavirus outbreak. card spot, although the Jets sit below the cut line when it comes to points percentage, which could wind up as the determining factor if no more Thursday marks four weeks since the league shuttered operations, and it regular-season games are played. remains anyone’s guess when society – which has ground to a halt in an era of mass job losses, self-isolation and social distancing – will return to “You’re thinking about the health and safety of your family, your friends, some semblance of normal and games are allowed to resume. your loved ones ... just the craziness going on,” Morrissey said. “Basically from the start of the second period until probably another three, four Oilers blueliner Darnell Nurse said there was chatter before the meeting days, things were always up in the air.” with Winnipeg about the NBA, but it still didn’t seem real until he learned of basketball’s unprecedented decision to suspend play. Unfortunately, not much has changed. “We share arenas and travel to the same cities, stay in the same hotels,” he said. “It’s hard for them to shut down and us to justify being out there Globe And Mail LOADED: 04.09.2020 on the ice and putting our fans in the same environment. It was a tough day, tough night. You’re so invested at that point. You’re playing every other day. You’re on autopilot. “Then all of a sudden someone turns the car off.” Nurse added that while the pause remains disappointing, it quickly became clear the situation was so much bigger than hockey. “This virus, it gives a really big reality check as a player, as a human being, as a person,” he said. “You’re worried about not just yourself, but your family and keeping everyone safe.” Carolina Hurricanes centre Jordan Staal was at dinner with teammates that now-infamous Wednesday ahead of their game in New Jersey the following night when the NBA pulled the plug. “I’m like, ‘There’s no way we’re gonna stop playing,“’ Staal remembers saying. “Next thing you know [a basketball player] has it and that’s it.” The Pittsburgh Penguins were supposed to battle the Blue Jackets in Columbus without fans that Thursday after officials in Ohio banned large gatherings. “Your first impression is, ‘This is pretty serious and we’ve got to take this serious right away,“’ Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said. “That kind of hit me.” That game, and 188 more scheduled through the end of the regular season, didn’t go ahead. The Stanley Cup playoffs, which were supposed to start Wednesday, are on indefinite hold as well. Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Morgan Rielly, who was preparing to take on Nashville at the time of the pause, said his view of the pandemic that’s now killed thousands and infected many more worldwide has changed with time. “You try to just put your finger on what’s happening, and then you get told to go home. It became pretty real that morning,” he said. “You go out for groceries, and you realize that you have to get to the grocery store early enough in the morning so you can actually pick something. It becomes that much more real then, too. 1173581 Vancouver Canucks The Grizzlies games we didn’t go to we watched on TV or listened to on the radio. Bibby’s participation in the Rookie-Sophomore game at All-Star weekend in 2000 was a can’t miss event, even during a visit to grandma’s. (That was the same All-Star weekend of Vince Carter’s My favourite player: Mike Bibby sublime slam dunk contest performance. Between-the-legs dunks soon became a staple of my mini hoop activities.)

Near the end of that season, the Grizzlies held an autograph session with By Israel Fehr players. Fans arrived at the arena and were shuffled off to individual Apr 8, 2020 tables to receive autographs from two players — and only those two players.

Disaster struck. We weren’t assigned to Bibby’s table. When I entered General Motors Place on March 18, 1999, I had no idea that the Vancouver Grizzlies were an objectively terrible NBA team. My mom insisted to a Grizzlies staffer that we simply needed to get Bibby’s autograph. That this meant more to us than having a generic I was 5, not quite old enough to understand standings or much of athlete scribble a signature on a piece of cardboard that would be anything about the reality of professional sports. All I knew was that it forgotten a week later. That this interaction would be cherished. was my dad’s birthday and we were going to watch basketball, a sport I had enjoyed at a summer camp the year before. Mothers can be extremely persuasive. We were promptly directed toward Bibby’s table. Crisis averted. Autograph secured. Memory made. Even with burgeoning curiosity, I couldn’t have anticipated what would happen next. The meeting itself was straightforward. We lined up and when it was our turn, approached the table. During a quick introduction, Bibby showed We walked around the concourse and I was surrounded by more people genuine appreciation for our enthusiasm. Then he signed the cards, than I’d ever seen before. I came across sounds and smells I’d never handed them over and smiled. encountered. That’s when I realized he was human. That he wasn’t a superhero whose The sheer amount of noise overwhelmed me. I stayed close to my dad, powers were limited to a basketball court. That day, my sense of awe afraid to stray too far into the fray. The scent of an arena is a familiar one diminished and was replaced by respect that made the bond even more now but I wasn’t used to the stale mix of sweat, beer and who knows real. what else that clings to the concrete walls. The aroma of burgers from the Triple O’s concession stand was a pleasant diversion, though. By then, I had a better grasp of the ins and outs of the pro sports world, too. I was aware the team was struggling and that its Vancouver future It was sensory overload, and the game hadn’t started yet. was in jeopardy. The action exceeded my wildest expectations. The energy inside the But the losing didn’t bother me. The games were fun, even if the highlight arena was incredible. It felt like everyone’s attention was focused tended to be the antics of the mascot Grizz. Every so often, though, squarely toward the court. In the moment, it seemed as if there was Bibby and the ragtag bunch were capable of special moments. That nothing in the world more important than the game. made it all worth it. And that night, the forces of the universe aligned for the Grizzlies to beat Still, when the Grizzlies left Vancouver in 2001, I was devastated. But it the Minnesota Timberwolves — one of their eight wins during the 50- turned out OK for Bibby. He was traded to Sacramento, played a big role game lockout-shortened season. on some contending Kings teams (I’m still not totally over the 2002 Western Conference final) and wound up retiring in 2012 after a 14-year How did we get so lucky? NBA career. Looking at the box score, Bryant “Big Country” Reeves was Vancouver’s And despite my relocation-related heartbreak, my basketball journey star in the game. But I only had eyes for Mike Bibby. continued too. In the years to come, Steve Nash rose to prominence and He looked much smaller than the other players on the court. He was became an inspiration for me and many other basketball-loving quick and shifty. The ball was often in his hands. He could shoot and Canadians. At the grassroots level, the sport took off locally. The pass and dribble (that might not sound like an accomplishment for an Grizzlies were gone but my passion did not dissipate. I played basketball NBA player but these are the Grizzlies we’re talking about). through the end of high school and because I was small, quick and shifty I was a point guard. (True story: I wore that Bibby jersey underneath my I was hooked. Steve Nash Youth Basketball team’s jersey for every game for at least six years. It was my good-luck charm.) At home over the next few months, I constantly replayed a video from the Grizzlies website of Bibby stealing the ball from Kevin Garnett late in the My Grizzlies fandom also instilled a level of civic pride in me, which fourth quarter, driving to the hoop for a layup and drawing a foul (he shifted seamlessly to the Canucks as the West Coast Express era team missed the free throw). Again and again. More than 20 years later, I can began to captivate Vancouver. still recite the call from Grizzlies play-by-play announcer Don Poier: “Stolen by Bibby! It’s a foot race, fouled on the shot, can he make it So, yes, on the surface it would be fair to say the Grizzlies didn’t leave three?!” me with much more than a pile of losses, my Bibby jersey and an unceremonious exit. While the Grizzlies weren’t long for Vancouver — only two more seasons before the franchise moved to Memphis — I devoured every morsel I But the personal impact it had on me goes deeper than that. Mike Bibby could. was my first favourite player, and that sparked an enthusiasm for sports and my city that still goes strong to this day. The Grizzlies game had been such a hit with me that my family bought a four-pack of season tickets up in the nosebleeds for the next season. My obsession with basketball could not be satiated. We installed a mini The Athletic LOADED: 04.09.2020 hoop on the outside of my bedroom door and played in the hallway. Soon that wasn’t enough, and I was given a full-sized 10-foot outdoor hoop as a birthday present. And whether I played alone or with my dad or my brother or my friends, I always mimicked Bibby. And what was under our Christmas tree that year? Bibby jerseys for my younger brother and me. For such a relatively short period of time, I have so many vivid memories. A lot of it was an education in Bibby. I learned he was the second overall pick in the 1998 draft — kind of a big deal. I found out he went to the University of Arizona and won the NCAA Division I championship, so I developed a soft spot for the Wildcats. I adopted his No. 10 as my favourite number. The Fehr brothers in their Bibby jerseys. (Courtesy of France Fehr) 1173582 Websites Maddie always selected different causes that aligned with her mission, but she continued to weave her passions together. Hockey often provided direction for the beneficiaries of her efforts. The two primary recipients of Books against Bullying are Shine a Ligh7, and “Give 16” an The Athletic / How a young hockey fan merged her fight against bullying initiative run by former Wild player, Jason Zucker. with a love of hockey But, going into the 2019-20 NHL season, Maddie wanted to do something a little different. She decided to go all in on helping others while still enjoying her love of hockey. By Alison Lukan “I thought that I could just donate to the causes associated with each of Apr 8, 2020 27 the NHL teams or players that were (aligned with) caring for critical needs of kids and other issues,” Maddie said. Maddie Kegley says she wants to be an NHL general manager someday, The goal was $100 to a charity associated with each NHL team for a total and given her track record at setting goals and reaching them, it’s annual fundraising effort of $3,100. probably not a good idea to bet against her. The gift earmarked for the Blue Jackets went to Nationwide Children’s Maddie is only 12, but started showing her determination early in life. Hospital in honor of Nick Foligno. When she was just 5 years old, the Minnesota native discovered the And on March 12, the final gift was made in honor of Luke Kunin of game of hockey. By the time she was 6, she was demanding her family Maddie’s first love, the Minnesota Wild. get a subscription to NHL Center Ice so she could “watch all the teams,” and by age 8, she was on the ice herself…left wing is her position of Maddie had reached her goal. In fact, she had exceeded it. She raised choice, and when asked if she was a playmaker or a scorer, without $3,400 in total and upped her donation to $500 for Friends Colorado, an missing a beat the reply comes: “I can be both.” anti-bullying foundation supported by Avalanche player Gabe Landeskov. Maddie Kegley plays left wing for her local team in Minnesota But Maddie’s work for this year was not done. Hockey became all-encompassing for Maddie. While the hometown Wild As the COVID-19 pandemic caused so many things, including Maddie’s were her favorites, another team caught her eye, and her heart, the beloved hockey, to pause, she knew she wanted to do something to help. 2015-16 Blue Jackets. That group had a rough start to the season. They But in respect of social distancing guidelines, book sales were out of the were 0-7 when they headed to Minnesota with a newly hired John question. Tortorella behind the bench, but Maddie believed they were better than their record and she wanted them to win. On March 24, Maddie announced via her organization’s Twitter that she was going to auction off her signed Landeskog stick to raise funds for “They were having a rough season at the start, so I made a book for local and national food banks. them,” Maddie said. “Then I gave it to Nick (Foligno).” When all was said and done, Maddie had raised $650 that she plans to Maddie Kegley meets her favorite Blue Jacket player, Nick Foligno, in distribute between No Kid Hungry, Feeding America, and Neighbors Inc 2015 (her local food bank). The Blue Jackets didn’t win that night in Minnesota, but Foligno got a Now as Maddie waits for hockey to return, she’s keeping track of any signed puck to Maddie, and a new forever fan of his was born. donations that come into Books against Bullying and the girl described as “knowing every NHL player and all the stats” can keep brushing up on And hockey didn’t just give Maddie a sport to love. While attending a her hockey knowledge. She wants to be in a team’s front office one day, camp when she was 10 years old, Maddie came across the “Shine a after all. Ligh7” foundation, run by fellow Minnesotan and former NHL player, Paul Martin. The focus of the organization is helping children deal with mental “She’s an almost 13-year-old hockey fanatic with dreams…well goals, health issues and bullying. actually, of becoming the first female NHL general manager,” Amanda said. “And she also plans to change the world someday. She’s working That resonated with Maddie and she wanted to do something to help. on it as we speak.” “Maddie has always had a soft spot for the people that aren’t doing the greatest,” Maddie’s mom Amanda said. “(Charities like Shine a Ligh7) align so closely with the things she is most passionate about — anti- The Athletic LOADED: 04.09.2020 bullying, youth mental health, and suicide prevention.” But what to do? Another one of Maddie’s passions is books. She has closets full of her favorite reads. So, she decided to turn that into a fundraising idea – why not have a book sale? Maddie started asking around her community and school for any books that people may want to donate toward charity. No genre was off limits. Maddie would sell the books from her driveway — each book would be sold for $1 — and all the proceeds would go to Martin’s charity. The goal was $200. Maddie raised $610. It was going to be a one-time event, but then a classmate’s sibling took their own life. The causes Maddie has raised funds for became even more personal. So she decided to hold one more book event, this time, with proceeds going toward the family coping with the loss of their child. That sale was a success too, and Books Against Bullying was born. Maddie Kegley’s Books Against Bullying sells books to raise money for anti-bullying charities These days, Maddie holds a book sale “every other weekend, usually.” She partners with other local events to host her Books Against Bullying table. Her inventory is constantly being restocked through donations. And in the instance that people give monetary contributions, for every dollar donated, Maddie, in turn, gives one book to a local school, little library, church, or senior living home, depending on the subject matter. “That is part of it, too,” Amanda said. “We want people’s donations to go to mental health awareness, suicide prevention, and anti-bullying charities and other critical needs for kids. And Maddie’s also donating books. So it’s kind of two, right? Two different causes.” According to the Kegleys, by 2019, Maddie and Books Against Bullying had raised $10,000 for anti-bullying and youth mental health charities. 1173583 Websites Hockey Sense Grade: 60 Byfield’s hockey sense is the biggest area of debate about his skill set in

the scouting community. Some scouts think it’s very good, with the odd The Athletic / Pronman’s scouting report: Why Quinton Byfield is a top one saying it’s his best trait, and a lot of scouts think it’s his biggest NHL prospect weakness. I personally think he’s a very smart player and a high-end playmaker. By Corey Pronman This play from early in the season displays NHL caliber vision, where he takes a look going into the corner for the puck for an option coming from Apr 8, 2020 the other corner of the offensive zone and delivers a crisp pass to set up a chance.

This next play doesn’t result in a chance on net, but it shows his creativity Quinton Byfield and Alexis Lafreniere have established themselves as a as a passer to fool the goalie and defense. top two prospects in the upcoming draft class. Byfield has the potential to become an important piece of a rebuild. Today we will dive into what Like with the other parts of his game, what stands out about Byfield is the makes him a top hockey player. speed at which he can make plays. He can make high-end plays while pressuring defenders with his speed and size. References to the 20-80 scouting scale are made in this column when discussing his various tools. In this scale, 50 projects as pro average, 55 When you combine this element of his game with his hands, it makes him as above-average, 60 as top third, 70 as elite and 80 as among the very a true multi-dimensional threat and very difficult to check. best; on the opposite end, 45 is below-average and 40 is fringe pro quality. I only grade the shot if it is notably good. His puck handling is very creative with the ability to fool defenders with how he attacks, and the same applies to his passing as he occasionally Skating reaches for a highlight reel type play to throw teams off. Skating Grade: 55; For 6-foot-4: 60 He may not be an elite set up man on the power play, but he can find seams and has the patience to wait out plays, as these next two The foundation of Byfield’s game is his skating ability. For a 6-foot-4, 215 sequences show. pound player, he’s a great skater and above-average overall. Some scouts often differentiate between a prospect being good or poor skater On a good team, I could see him as a net front/bumper type on the PP1, for their size – some hate that type of distinction, I see it as more logical but I think he could play the flank, too. I get why some have concerns on and have chosen to go with that path. his hockey sense. There were stretches during the season where I didn’t see him make a ton of truly high-caliber plays, and you could argue I Byfield has legit NHL quickness. You can see in the following clip that picked his best moments. I did see enough moments where he showed he’s able to beat several in a footrace cleanly and create a clear chance high-end vision over a long enough period of time to believe in that at the net using his speed. aspect of his game. When a man that big and powerful can skate with that kind of burst, it Shot makes him very difficult to stop off the rush. When he got going through the neutral zone at the OHL level, it was almost a guaranteed zone entry Shot Grade: 60 with control. I wouldn’t call Byfield’s shot a top-three element of his game, but it’s very His edges are very good, too. good. There’s a reason why he scored 29 goals as a 16-year-old and his full season pace this past season was 48. He’s got a hard wrist and slap This rush doesn’t end up with a chance on net, but I want to illustrate shot, and when defenders take his passing options away, he’s able to how he’s able to spin while in stride, that’s something I saw often beat goalies from mid-distance, doing so semi-often over the past two throughout the season. seasons. I don’t want to spend too much time going through his skating, as it will Physicality become obvious as we go through the rest of his skill set that it’s a clear strength of his game. Physical Game Grade: 65 Puck Skills I’m sure there are some readers who are thinking they like all the speed and the skill, but one reason they want a 6-foot-4, 215-pound center is to Puck Skills Grade: 65 be a physically dominant type of player. I wouldn’t call Byfield a guy who Byfield has truly elite hands, which I consider the most impressive part of is going to run people over. He competes hard but skill is certainly more his skill set. prominent in his game than grit. There are two things about his puck skills that stand out: first is how he He is a powerful player who does engage physically, and when he does makes plays through opponents at full speed, and second is how he uses decide to land a clean, hard hit, his opponent is going to feel it. his reach. He doesn’t shy away from playing in the middle third of the ice, and when Watching this following sequence from the Canada-Russia series he decides to insert himself near the net, he can bully his way into illustrates what makes Byfield an exciting prospect. chances. This high-skill play at that speed for a player that size and creating a I wouldn’t call him a pure net driver. He does like to dance around the chance at the net is a high-end NHL maneuver. perimeter making skilled plays and shooting from mid-distance, but he can and does get to the middle. Byfield’s ability to use his long reach and elite hands to inside-out defenders is something you don’t see often. Byfield is a solid defensive center who killed penalties for both Sudbury and Canada’s U18 team, showing the ability to use his size and speed to These next two sequences are examples of how he does both those break up a lot of plays. things at once. Production “If off the rush I can bring a defender wide, cut in and make a move, if you’re going at top speed you have a much better chance at beating Byfield’s 68 game pace was 48 goals and 124 points. When you talk them,” said Byfield when I talked to him about his game. about the best U18 seasons in the OHL of the modern era – Mitch Marner, Tyler Seguin, Steven Stamkos, Dylan Strome, even John These types of rushes make Byfield a force because of the speed he can Tavares – Byfield’s campaign is right in that mix. He did that as one of make such highly skilled plays at, and how difficult it is to strip the puck the youngest players in the draft class as an August 2002 birth date. His from a player with his frame when he can dangle around you at that kind underage season wasn’t as dominant as some of the best U17 seasons of pace. ever, but it was still extremely impressive. He’s always a shift away from a highlight reel moment and it’s the In the one-month period he went to the world juniors, Sudbury without combination of speed, power and skill that projects him to become a top Byfield was outscored 32-19. The rest of the season it outscored driver of offense at the NHL level. opponents 240-208. Hockey Sense I think it’s fair to say his international track record isn’t elite. I don’t get overly concerned by U18s performances at the world juniors, especially on Canada which usually has very deep rosters and the 17-year-old’s are never expected to be key players. Byfield’s Hlinka Gretzky performance in August was just OK. He had some good games but faded into the background in others. His U17 Challenge was good but not amazing. I did like him versus Russia at the U20 Canada-Russia series, though. What the hockey world is saying Cory Stillman, Coach of Sudbury Wolves: “Quinton has a complete game. He can play in all situations. He’s big, he’s strong, he skates extremely well for a big guy, he makes plays, he makes people around him better. When he wants to, he can go win a game by himself. He hounds pucks, he creates turnovers by himself through his skating and how strong he is.” Rob Papineau, GM of Sudbury Wolves: “He has a lot of qualities that make him attractive as a player. He’s an elite skater, he’s a big man in a big body, but he has the speed and agility of a smaller man. It’s incredible how he can turn on a dime and the speed he can do it with. He has great vision, a pass-first kind of guy but he has a pro shot, too. We feel he was the best player in the OHL last season and probably the greatest Sudbury Wolf player that’s ever come through here.” Alan Millar, GM for Canada’s U18 Team: “He’s a unique package. He’s 6-foot-4, can skate, he has the skill and very good vision. He makes a lot of plays, and when you have that kind of skill and that size, it makes him a special player that doesn’t come along too often.” Quinton Byfield: “I always want to be the first guy on the puck. I’m never afraid of going into a battle. I like to play fast, I want to use my speed to win races and use my speed to set up my teammates.” NHL scout: “Byfield’s size and skating combination on its own would make him a top prospect, but he combines it with some of the best hands in this draft class. His ability to break a game open with a display of individual skill makes him the type of player that is likely too good for junior hockey beyond this season.” NHL scout: “The athletic tools and the skill are no doubt elite, but I question whether he sees the game at a high level.” Projection Byfield is a player who is easy to get excited about. He checks off all the boxes you want in a top NHL prospect. Excellent skater? Check. Elite skill? Check. Great vision? Check. Can score goals? Check. A physically imposing player who competes? Check. A very impressive statistical track record? Check. You are talking about a 6-foot-4 center who projects to be above, if not well above NHL average in terms of speed, skill and playmaking. Some will point to his poor world juniors. It’s fair to an extent. He didn’t have the same tournament as some other U18 Canadians did in modern times such as Tavares, Stamkos, Jason Spezza, Ryan Ellis, Sidney Crosby or Connor McDavid. That group is a very high bar, though, and a lot of elite Canadian players in the NHL didn’t crush it at the U20 level or even make the team. Lafreniere at the same age was invisible at the tournament last season, a more analogous comparison than his MVP performance in January given he’s a 2001 birth date to Byfield’s August 2002. Some may argue Byfield tailed off a bit in the second half after his torrid start, but he still ended the season with one of the best 17-year-old performances in the OHL in the modern era. In my opinion, other than Lafreniere, nobody else in this draft class is particularly close to Byfield. He is a projected star-caliber first-line forward who can be a foundational piece of a rebuild.

The Athletic LOADED: 04.09.2020 1173584 Websites If you watch the clip, he never really takes a direct look to see if the teammate is there before he enters the zone or after he gets the puck, although he likely saw him at the blue line coming up the ice. This play shows his elite situational awareness and offensive intelligence. The Athletic / Pronman’s scouting report: Why Alexis Lafreniere is a top NHL prospect This pass from the World Junior camp this past summer is also a favorite of mine. It displays his vision, creativity and skill all in one instance as he creatively knocks the pass backward. By Corey Pronman “[Joe Veleno] called for the puck. I knew he was close to that spot. He got it and made a sick play after,” said Lafreniere. Drop passes are a Apr 8, 2020 pretty common play to make, but to make a drop pass on a single touch, at the angle he did and to execute it as he did is a truly high-end play. Alexis Lafreniere is the odds on favorite to be the first-overall pick in the This flip pass from Lafreniere early in the season shows a ton of skill to 2020 NHL Draft. He’s dominated the junior circuit the past few years, and execute and put the puck in the right spot over several defenders, but it we’ll take a deep dive into what makes him unique and why he’s such a also shows the vision to see the play and time it perfectly. desirable NHL prospect. “I saw [his teammate] gain some speed through the neutral zone so I References to the 20-80 scouting scale are made in this column when couldn’t make a straight pass through a couple of defenders. I flipped it discussing his various tools. In this scale, 50 projects as pro average, 55 so he could skate to it and it worked pretty well. In the moment you are as above-average, 60 as top third, 70 as elite and 80 as among the very just trying to make the smartest play possible, that was the right play to best; on the opposite end, 45 is below-average and 40 is fringe pro make, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, lucky enough that it led quality. I only grade the shot if it is notably good. to a goal,” Lafreniere said about this sequence. Puck Skills I also liked this play a lot even though it didn’t connect. Pump fakes happen at the blue line, but I thought this idea of him in motion to fake Puck Skill Grade: 70 the defender was brilliant and unique. You don’t usually see that play happen, and to do it to create a passing lane showed how excellent his Lafreniere is one of the most purely skilled players I’ve ever seen as a creativity and sense are even if it didn’t result in a great chance on net. first-year draft-eligible prospect. I could do a whole column just illustrating his puck skills, as his highlight reel is extremely long. I had to be selective “I practice a lot of fakes to freeze defensemen. A lot of them go knee- even in a rather long section about which incredible videos to use to down so if you fake and they bite you have them beat and have better show his skill. He is always a moment away from bringing fans to their angles now to shoot or pass,” said Lafreniere. feet with how makes plays through defenders with his tremendous hands and offensive creativity. There are plenty of other plays I could have shown, quick seam passes on the power play and typical high IQ plays you see players make, but I If a defender misplays their angle by even an inch, Lafreniere can make didn’t see a need to show those. The examples shown above are them look foolish. In this play from the U18 World Championship, he evidence of the unique things Lafreniere can do, as he can certainly do makes Team USA’s Ty Emberson, a rather solid defender, look like a the more routine high-skill passes. Although even the routine plays he pylon. makes I like a lot because he makes them quick. He doesn’t catch the puck and wait, he fires the puck quickly into seams and shows the “The [defenseman] was close to me and not in the best position you want attributes of a true half-wall PP1 quarterback in the NHL. to be in. I tried to take advantage of that and it worked out pretty well,” said Lafreniere about this play when we sat down for an interview. His Competitiveness ability to read that angle and make that deke is unique. Competitiveness Grade: 60 This play from the recent world juniors shows his ability to improvise, using the net on his backhand to make a play around a check. Lafreniere is easy to spot on the ice because of his skill, but what excites scouts and coaches a lot about him is he is the most skilled player on the What I like a lot about his skill is how he makes elite plays in motion. His ice, and often one of the hardest working players as well. He is ability to display elite 1-on-1 ability while on the move is what he will need responsible defensively, competes for pucks, drives the net and throws to beat NHL defenders. his body around. Here are two examples of that tremendous skill while moving. This play shows great defensive awareness and hustle to make up steps on a player on a break and cleanly eliminate a scoring chance. “Making plays like those, you don’t practice those moves too much, you’re in the moment and just trying to beat defensemen 1-on-1,” said Rimouski’s GM/head coach Serge Beausoleil commented on Lafreniere’s Lafreniere as we went through his highlight reel. His creativity is certainly play off the puck and his development in that area, saying: “In Midget of the highest grade. AAA, (it needed work) but now he’s trying to bring his game to another level, especially without the puck because with the puck he got it! Without His hand-eye coordination is incredible. An example of that is how he the puck he has room for improvement and the kind of play (like the one shortens up to catch this pass in the air, and on the next touch he makes shown above) that’s exactly what we’ve worked with him to do, stick lift, a play through the Swiss defender to get a break toward the goal. be involved, strong on pucks, win challenges, battle 1-on-1, spatial “Every time there is a puck in the air I try to get it,” said Lafreniere. “I awareness in his zone and this year as something new we’ve used him work on that in practice to get pucks out of the air and on the ice.” on the PK. We know he won’t play PK that much in the show, but we wanted him to develop spatial awareness and, honestly, he’s a threat on And yes, he has a flair to the flashy plays too, as seen here. the PK too.” Hockey Sense Lafreniere is not a perimeter player. He makes hard plays to the net using his skill, strength and will to create chances. Hockey Sense Grade: 65 He doesn’t drive that often, but he’s so skilled and smart that he’s as Lafreniere thinks the game at a high-end NHL level, showing the ability to valuable from the wall as he is in the tough areas. He doesn’t have fear be a top playmaker. He’s extremely creative and understands how to in his game though and attacks when he sees a lane. “Most of my goals create offense at an elite level. come from in front of the net,” said Lafrenière. “That’s the area where the most chances and the best chances. I have some goals from up top but These two plays are some of the most creative passes I’ve seen by any most are right around the net. In tight areas I can get free pucks.” player at any level the past few years. This play shows incredible determination to stay with the play (after a First, this play against Cape Breton, which is one of my favorite typical high-end skill move) to get the centering pass through and create Lafreniere plays, one that completely fools the goalie. You never see a the opportunity. goalie that out of position on a lateral pass of that distance that isn’t a bullet one-time pass. He’s got a little push back and physicality in his game, and has been a high penalty minutes player historically. He’s not afraid to hit guys, to “I saw [his teammate] coming on the weak side. If I make a straight pass engage early in a battle and he rides the legality line at times in terms of the goalie could read it, so I fake the shot to freeze him a little bit and how he uses his body. then get the puck across,” Lafreniere explained. Shot Shot Grade: 60 0.77 Lafreniere is known as more of a playmaker than a scorer, and he 1.44 himself would admit that too. But he also thinks his goal-scoring ability is a very underrated aspect of his game. Pierre-Luc Dubois Lafreniere scored quite a few mid-distance goals this past season and June some very nice ones where he picked a corner from a long way away to 17 YO season beat a goalie clean. It’s not the best part of his game, but it would be the best part for many other prospects if they had a shot like his. 0.68 Skating 1.6 Skating Grade: 55 18 YO season If I had to pick a weakness in Lafreniere’s game, this would be the area 0.44 to focus on, but I still give it an above-average grade. I say “weakness” because, in watching a lot of Lafrenière’s games, I find his game can lack 1.15 pace and speed at times. He doesn’t hit the line with speed on a lot of his Sean Couturier zone entries and the play dies on his stick. December Lafreniere does have quickness in him though. I find it’s more a lack of pace in his game at times than lacking the pure skating ability. 17 YO season This play shows his straight-away speed and his ability to pull away. 0.60 And he can certainly hook the net and get going with good, albeit not 1.41 great quickness. 18 YO season When I polled NHL scouts for a weakness in Lafreniere’s game, they pointed to his skating, saying it wasn’t as elite as the other parts of his 0.62 game. 1.66 When I asked Lafrenière if he thought that was fair, he said: “Yes, I need to keep working on my skating. I’m a good skater but you need to keep Timo Meier getting better, like every aspect of your game.” October Production 17 YO season Lafreniere is a late birthday, meaning due to the fact he was born after 0.26 Sept. 15, 2001, he was not drafted with the 2001 birth year; but will instead be with the 2002 birth year. Technically this past season was his 0.52 18-year-old season, and 2018-19 was his 17-year-old season. 18 YO season To put that in context, I will line his numbers up next to some top QMJHL picks who were either first-year eligible as late birthdays, or younger 0.72 players who were born in the second half of the year. 1.48 Alexis Lafreniere Nico Hischier October January 17 YO season 17 YO season 0.61 0.67 1.72 1.51 18 YO season I included Nico Hischier since he was a first-overall pick and, as a 0.67 January birthday, he was only three months younger than Lafreniere is at the same point of their draft cycles. 2.15 Lafreniere was the first 16-year-old since Sidney Crosby to score 40 Nathan MacKinnon goals in the QMJHL (Crosby scored 54 goals and 135 points) and was a top player in the QMJHL almost from the second he got to the league. He September was the MVP of the QMJHL and CHL in 2018-19, which he will likely 17 YO season repeat when those awards are announced again. 0.73 I wouldn’t call his statistical production otherworldly. It’s the track record of a projected NHL star, but not one of a projected top 5-10 player in the 1.7 league. Comparatively, he’s somewhere in between Nathan MacKinnon and Jonathan Huberdeau by their box car numbers – worse places to be. Jonathan Huberdeau NHL scouts have become increasingly tough on interpreting QMJHL July production, particularly in relation to the OHL and WHL. I think the QMJHL is a very good league, but it’s fair to say, compared to the OHL, 17 YO season you need to make a mild adjustment. 0.64 Internationally, Lafreniere was the MVP of the recent world juniors, had 1.57 one of the best Hlinka Gretzky tournaments ever and was one of the better underage Canadians to play at the U18 worlds – checking a lot of 18 YO season boxes you would want to see for a No. 1 pick. 0.81 What the hockey world is saying 1.95 Serge Beausoleil, GM/coach of the Rimouski Océanic: “He sees the ice so well. He’s a huge playmaker. He’s a play ahead of everybody, and Filip Zadina anybody can play with him. He has a tremendous wrister too, so he’s a November threat on the ice wherever he is. He has a huge compete level, he wants to be a difference-maker." 18 YO season André Tourigny, Coach of the Ottawa 67’s, assistant coach of Canada’s 2020 U20 team, coach of Canada’s 2018 U18 team: “Alexis is many things. You look at him and think 'OK, he’s good,' but then the pace raises and you think 'he’s still good,' and then it raises again and you’re like 'he’s still good!' He’s the best player at any pace of the game. He’s a big-game player. He has the passion and the ability to be a game- breaker whatever the stakes are. He’s a different animal because of his poise, his compete level, he wants the puck in those key situations.” Alexis Lafreniere: “I think my vision is my biggest strength, my ability to see the ice and find my teammates.” NHL scout: “He’s a guy who has continued to raise his game over time. He’s elite and has separated himself from his peers.” NHL scout: “He’s exceptional in nearly every regard. His straight-line speed is average, but his edges, balance and work in traffic is excellent. He gets to the hard areas without fear and makes high-end plays in traffic.” NHL scout: “He’s a really competitive kid, he brings it every night. He’s a natural goal-scorer. He can play a physical game, he goes to the scoring areas out of natural instincts. He has the skill, he has a great brain. He’s produced from such a young age.” Projection Lafreniere has looked the part of an elite prospect for years. He’s dominated the QMJHL for three straight seasons. He’s been one of the better Canadians in junior international play in recent memory. He has elite skill and elite vision. He can make incredible plays, and if given space he can beat goalies from a distance. He competes his tail off, he’s physical and he can play off the puck. His skating isn’t high-end, but it’s good. The nitpicks of him could be his pace. The fact he’s a winger and not a center, something he said he hasn’t done much of his life and is much more comfortable being a winger. I’m not so sure positions are that important, and it feels like hockey is developing, at least for skaters, into more of a position-less sport the more time goes on. He’s not a perfect prospect. He didn’t crush the CHL the way a guy like Crosby, John Tavares or Connor McDavid did, and given Lafreniere's lack of elite speed, I wouldn’t feel comfortable discussing him as that tier of a prospect. He is a projected impact player though given all his amazing attributes. He is even as a winger someone who can project to become a foundational part of a team’s rebuild, a true star and a potential leading scorer in the NHL.

The Athletic LOADED: 04.09.2020 1173585 Websites finished third in Calder voting, ahead of Hall of Famers Rob Blake, Mats Sundin and Jaromir Jagr.

The one-hit wonder: “She’s So High” by Tal Bachman. The Athletic / Down Goes Brown: Remembering some of the NHL’s Why it fits: Both Bachman and Hodge Jr. did some solid work in their greatest one-hit wonders career. But when dad is a legend, it can be tough to live up to expectations. By Sean McIndoe Hodge Jr. went on to cap off his strong season with a decent playoff run. But he followed that year up with just six goals in 1991-92, spending half Apr 8, 2020 the year in the minors, and was traded to the expansion Lightning (whose GM, Phil Esposito, had been a longtime teammate of his father). Even on an expansion roster, Hodge Jr. couldn’t regain his touch; he scored two I love a good one-hit wonder. goals in 25 games and never saw the NHL again. Honestly, I don’t even really need the “good” qualifier. One-hit wonders Chris Kontos are one of my favorite genres of music, and they don’t even have to be The player: Kontos was a first-round pick in the 1982 draft (going one all that good. My playlist is clogged with these things, especially from the pick ahead of 600-goal man Dave Andreychuk), and broke into the NHL 80s and 90s. with the Rangers shortly after turning 19. He put up 15 points in 44 Some people would make the argument that this is because I’m “old” and games as a rookie, then struggled to match even those numbers as he “uncool” and “have bad taste in music.” None of that rings especially made stops in Pittsburgh and Los Angeles. He had a memorable playoff untrue. But those people can criticize me as much as they want. I get run with the Kings in 1989, scoring nine goals in 11 games, but that knocked down, but I get up again. You can’t steal my sunshine. proved fleeting. By 1990 he was buried in the minors, seemingly for good. I also love a good one-hit wonder story when it comes to sports, especially the NHL. A lot of fans seem to want to look down on a player The season: In 1992, Kontos signed with the expansion Lightning and who only managed one memorable season as if the rest of their career made the opening night roster. He scored four goals in the team’s first- was a disappointment. But the odds of even making the big leagues are ever game, then went on to match his total from his entire career up to so slim that it seems like getting all the way there, and then having it all that point by scoring 27 goals on the season. come together for one magical season, is a story worth celebrating. The one-hit wonder: “You Get What You Give” by the New Radicals. That’s what we’re doing this week at The Athletic. Today we’re looking at Why it fits: While I don’t know how Kontos feels about Courtney Love and the NHL, with features on players like Guillaume Latendresse, Dave Marilyn Manson, his career and this song share something unusual. Hindmarch, Joe Juneau and Kjell Dahlin. I’m going to cover a few of my Normally, in sports or music, a one-hit wonder will be followed by a few favorites, with a twist: I’m going to raid my awful playlist and try to find a less successful follow-ups. But not in these cases. The New Radicals musical one-hit wonder that best matches the NHL version. broke up pretty much immediately after their hit, and never released Can we make beautiful music together? Not really, no, but we can find a another album. As for Kontos, his breakthrough season was also the last few hits. Let’s do this. of his career. He’d play for the Canadian national team in 1993-94, and he bounced around the IHL for several years. But he never saw the NHL Jim Carey again. The player: Carey was an American goaltender who debuted for the Warren Young Capitals with a very good rookie showing in the lockout-shortened 1994- 95 season. He seemed set for big things, and we didn’t have to wait long. The player: Young was a big forward from Toronto who headed to the United States to play college hockey in the mid-70s. He was drafted by The season: In his first full season, Carey played 71 games for the Caps, the Golden Seals in 1976 but stayed in school. By the time he graduated, winning 35 while also leading the league in shutouts. He won the Vezina there didn’t seem to be much of a path to the NHL available to him, and was voted a first-team All-Star. He even finished eighth in Hart especially since the team that had drafted him no longer existed. He Trophy voting. played a few years in the minors and signed with the North Stars in 1981, getting into five games over the next two seasons. The Stars cut him The one-hit wonder: “Informer” by Snow. loose, but he latched on with the Penguins in time for the 1983-84 Why it fits: Two reasons. First, because Carey’s more famous namesake season. pretty much ended Snow’s career with one of the most vicious parodies He scored one goal, the team finished dead last, and they drafted a in music history. Good lord, Jim, the man has a family. There was no pretty good player with the first overall pick. You can probably see where coming back from that. this is headed. But more importantly, Carey’s Vezina season is Snow-like in that it The season: At the age of 28, Young finally found himself playing his first doesn’t hold up well in hindsight. Sure, he won a lot of games, ranking full NHL season in 1984-85. He was technically a rookie, and the second in the league, and he was third in goals-against average. But his Penguins put him on a line with another first-year player: That first overall .906 save percentage was well outside the top ten, so even by what pick, a kid named Mario Lemieux. would be considered basic metrics, he wasn’t close to being the best goalie in the league. Young scored 40 goals and 72 points while shooting a league-leading 30.5 percent, which to this day is one of the highest marks of all-time. He Therefore, it wasn’t surprising that Carey’s success didn’t last. What was finished fourth in that year’s Calder voting. shocking was how quickly it all fell apart. The Penguins lit him up in the playoffs — one version of the story says that they realized he couldn’t go The one-hit wonder: “Somebody’s Watching Me” by Rockwell. side-to-side and made sure to make cross-ice passes before shooting — and the book was out. One season later, he was traded to the Bruins. A Why it fits: Rockwell came out of nowhere to score a major hit mainly season after that, he played 10 games. A season after that, he was back because he had the hottest artist in the world drop in to sing backing in the minors before being cut altogether. By the end of the 1998-99 vocals. Young had Mario freaking Lemieux feeding him passes. season, just three years after his Vezina win, his NHL career was over. Young signed with the Red Wings in the offseason, and to his credit, he Ken Hodge had a respectable 1985-86 season with 22 goals and 46 points. The Wings traded him back to Pittsburgh before the next season, but a The player: No, not that Ken Hodge. The two-time Cup winner and first- reunion with Mario never really got off the ground. He scored just eight team All-Star who scored over 300 goals for the Hawks, Bruins and goals in 50 games, was back in the minors a year later and was done by Rangers wasn’t a one-hit wonder. But his son was. Ken Hodge Jr. was 1988. drafted by the North Stars but only managed to crack the NHL for five games before he was traded to the Bruins for a fourth-round pick in 1990. All in all, his NHL career lasted parts of seven seasons and included 72 (Fun fact: The Stars used the pick on franchise mainstay Jere Lehtinen.) goals, 40 of which came in one year. The season: Hodge Jr. stepped into the Boston lineup almost Scott Bjugstad immediately. He didn’t score as a Bruin until his 10th game, but once the The player: Bjugstad was a longshot to even make the NHL. He was a goals started coming they didn’t stop. He had two goals on the season’s skinny forward who’d put up decent numbers in college, but was just a final night to hit the 30-goal mark, an impressive enough total that he ninth-round pick by the North Stars in 1991. He finished his college career, including an offensive breakout in his final year, and then joined game. Soon he was playing on a line with Doug Gilmour, and he ended the U.S. national team. up scoring 34 goals, tying Wendel Clark’s team record for a first-year player. He followed that up by scoring one of the biggest goals in modern By the time he arrived in the NHL, he was 22, and saw action in five late- Leafs history in the playoffs. season games in 1983-84, failing to register a point. He made the roster full-time the following year but managed just 15 points. The one-hit wonder: “What is Love” by Haddaway. The season: In his second full-season, Bjugstad suddenly turned into a Why it fits: I’m pretty sure Borschevsky hasn’t been beaten into the sniper, potting 43 goals and 76 points. ground by a repetitive Saturday Night Live sketch yet. But his Game 7 goal and the release of this song came just one week apart in May 1993. The one-hit wonder: “Obsession” by Animotion. And more importantly, both he and Haddaway would end up spending Why it fits: Because that song is legitimately great. Yeah, the video is the next few years asking people not to hurt them no more. awful, and the lyrics are vaguely creepy if you actually listen to them, but In Borschevsky’s case, nobody listened; he never came close to playing nobody does because this song is unironically fantastic. There’s a reason a full NHL season again. He suffered a scary ruptured spleen early in the it was the theme song to every third TV show that aired in the mid-80s; 1993-94 season, and while he made it back to the lineup for 45 games when you’ve got everyone from the WWF to the fashion industry to Don and scored a respectable 14 goals, that was pretty much it for him as an Cherry on board, you know you’ve got something good. NHL player. He was traded to the Flames at the 1995 deadline and also Also legitimately good: Bjugstad’s 1985-86 season. With most of the had a brief stint with the Stars. But the injuries kept piling up, and he was NHL’s one-hit wonder, it’s not all that hard to figure out what happened. out of the NHL by 1996 and hockey altogether by 1998. In all, he scored They got to play on a line with a generational superstar, or they went on 49 NHL goals, just one of which came in his final two seasons. a shooting percentage bender that could never last. But Bjugstad was Jonathan Cheechoo just really good for a year, with no warning. The player: The winger whose seven-season NHL career ran from 2002 He played with some good players, like Dino Ciccarelli and Neal Broten, to 2010 and tends to be among the first names hockey fans think of but it wasn’t like he was Warren Young and had some Mario-level deity whenever the one-hit wonder topic comes up. bouncing goals off of his backside. And while he did shoot 20 percent that year, he was always a high-percentage guy (he shot almost 14 The season: In the post-lockout season of 2005-06, lots of weird stuff percent for his career). It was just one of those years when everything happened. But maybe none of it was weirder than Cheechoo teaming up clicked. with a newly acquired Joe Thornton to form an unstoppable combination for the Sharks. By the time the season was over, Cheechoo had scored And then, it pretty much unclicked. Bjugstad only scored four goals in 39 56 goals to beat out Jaromir Jagr, and Alexander games during an injury-shortened 1986-87, then added ten more in Ovechkin for the Rocket Richard trophy. 1987-88. He was traded to the Penguins and had a stint with the Kings, but totaled just eight goals in 88 games across four seasons with those The one-hit wonder: “All Star” by Smashmouth. teams. By 1993, his career was over. Why it fits: For a few reasons, including that Cheechoo was indeed an In all, he played parts of nine NHL seasons and scored 56 percent of his All-Star, and if we have to play this stupid song once a period in every career goals in just one of them. NHL arena we might as well use it here. Blaine Lacher But more importantly, it fits because there’s a good argument that Smashmouth isn’t a one-hit wonder at all. They didn’t have much in the The player: Lacher was an undrafted goaltender who’d had success in way of longevity, at least in terms of making music you’ve heard of. And the CCHA when the Bruins offered him a contract in 1994. Boston had “All Star” was definitely their biggest hit, by far. But was it their only one? lost starter Jon Casey to free agency and wanted some extra competition That depends how generous you want to get, but the band had other for veterans Craig Billington and , but didn’t seem to songs you’ve heard of. (Don’t act like you didn’t like “Walking on the Sun” have much in the way of expectations for Lacher beyond serving as an when it came out.) For every one-hit wonder ranking that features insurance policy. Smashmouth near the top of the list, you can find another arguing that The season: Lacher ended up taking over the starter’s job for most of they aren’t one at all. that lockout-shortened season, going 19-11-2 with a solid .902 save Cheechoo might belong in the same territory. No, he never won another percentage and a very good (for the era) 2.41 GAA. The Bruins lost in Rocket Richard; he never came close. But it’s not like he was a bum. He the first round of the playoffs, although Lacher performed well there too. had 37 goals in 2006-07 — which, by the way, was the year that he was He finished fifth in Calder voting. an All-Star, not 2005-06 (when there wasn’t a game because of the The one-hit wonder: “Baby Got Back” by Sir Mix-a-Lot. Olympics). And if you think he was just a product of Thornton’s arrival and the increased offense of the post-lockout era, remember that he had Why it fits: Because whatever you think about the song itself, you have to a respectable 28 goals as a 23-year-old in 2003-04. admit that “Sir Mix-a-Lot” is a phenomenal name for a rapper. And while Lacher’s days as an NHL starter didn’t last long, he did earn one of the All in all, he had four 20-goals seasons and 170 goals in his career, so best nicknames in hockey history: The Lach Net Monster. his 2005-06 explosion only accounted for about a third of his career production. That’s pretty high, and he’ll probably always be mentioned I mean, that’s top-shelf. It’s a double pun! You know my stance on among the NHL’s one-hit wonders. But does he deserve a better fate hockey nicknames, but even I have to tip my cap to that one. If nickname than being the club’s poster child? I’d say yep. What a concept. quality determined a player’s career success, Lacher would be in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Sadly, they do not. Lacher struggled early in his sophomore season, The Athletic LOADED: 04.09.2020 losing starts to Billington, and when the Bruins made a midseason trade for it pretty much spelled the end. Lacher finished the year in the minors, and after a shaky start to 1996-97 in the IHL, he was done. His entire pro career lasted less than three years. The player: The diminutive Russian winger had put together a solid career in the Soviet league. But his breakthrough came at the 1992 Olympics, where he scored seven goals in eight games while winning gold with the Unified Team. That caught the attention of North American scouts, and the Maple Leafs used a third-round pick on Borschevsky in that summer’s draft even though he was already 27 years old. The season: Borschevsky went into the 1992-93 season as a bit of a novelty; he was listed at 180 pounds but looked like he weighed roughly half that, and he could pass as anywhere from 12 years old to roughly 55 depending on which day it was. He didn’t exactly seem like a Pat Burns type of player, but he made the team and scored twice in his first NHL 1173586 Websites high-octane battles for the Cup of all-time. It’s a shame we didn’t get that. Only eight teams have had Stanley Cup odds greater than 20 percent (two have won for those counting at home, that’s 25 percent), and this season was one of two times where there were two in the same season: The Athletic / By the numbers: Revisiting the last decade of NHL playoff Washington and Minnesota in 2016-17 were the other, though Pittsburgh series and San Jose were close in 2015-16. Chicago made it through as many expected and its Stanley Cup victory was about as predictable as it gets in this crazy league. But what By Dom Luszczyszyn happened to Washington was much more difficult to imagine, especially Apr 8, 2020 with my model considering Alex Ovechkin to be the best player in the world, in the midst of winning three straight Lester B. Pearson awards. I always wonder how his career might have unfolded had these playoffs gone a different direction. Today is when the most exciting part of the NHL season would’ve started: the playoffs. It would’ve been the day I unveiled our odds for There have been 19 series where the favourite had a greater than 75 which teams were most likely to win the Stanley Cup and faithful percent chance to win and only three have lost. In terms of bookmaker commenters would’ve responded with how much I hate their favourite odds, this is the only series to eclipse 80 percent. That series was about team. I never thought I’d say this, but I miss those comments. as lopsided as it gets and was won primarily by way of goaltending. Interestingly enough, my model rated Jaroslav Halak as the second-best Aside from that, one of the more frequently asked questions I get goaltender in the league, so while that helps explain some of this result, it regarding my model is how accurate it has been in the past. It’s a very doesn’t bridge the gap entirely as evidenced by the pre-series odds. important question because past accuracy helps determine how much stock can be put into the model. If it spit out gibberish in the past, it Every series turned out as expected except for four: the first two round probably isn’t going to be very helpful. series featuring Montreal and Philadelphia; they eventually met in the conference final. The winner would face Chicago in what was the most But it was a question I didn’t have an answer to because the model was lopsided Stanley Cup final according to pre-series odds over the past 10 created last summer. It’s based on similar models I’ve used for three seasons. My model called two more series than oddsmakers, getting years prior, but it’s not nearly the same model, nor is that a long enough Boston in Round 1 (impressed by the projected eighth-best defenceman period to use, either. It’s not as simple as saying these are the teams it Zdeno Chara, Tuukka Rask and strong centre depth) and Chicago in the liked based on different stats because it’s based on the value of each third round. individual player – value determined by a player’s prior three seasons. It’s not super complicated, but it would take some time to rebuild 2010-11 everything for past seasons, time I didn’t have during the season. This was generally viewed as The Year for Vancouver, but interestingly That’s obviously changed with the entire world coming to a halt. We’ve all my model was a lot more fond of San Jose in the West, even favouring collectively had nothing but time. In between learning guitar and the Sharks in the third round series. That the Sharks were the league’s extensive video game sessions, I’ve spent the last few weeks rebuilding top expected goals team and Vancouver was 18th might have something my model as if it were the start of the playoffs for each of the last 10 to do with it, but despite being only average there, my model still placed seasons (the maximum for me as the data I use only goes back to 2007- the Canucks second with Boston third and tops in the East. That’s a 08 and each player needs three seasons of priors to measure value). decent indicator that expected goals isn’t the only contributing factor. Then I simulated what each team’s Stanley Cup odds would be at the That Vancouver had the Sedins in their prime, Ryan Kesler at his best, start of the playoffs, plus the odds for each series based on their Game 1 plus elite goaltending absolutely matters. A healthy Manny Malhotra puts rosters (with the exception that if prominent players played more than them in higher standing too. Still, they weren’t that much better than half the series, their value was used assuming their injury timeline was Boston, not nearly as much as the market indicated, giving the Canucks known at the time). a 68 percent chance. Chicago was a much tougher first-round draw than given credit for, too. That’s all well and good, but those results would still lack important context for an acceptable accuracy rate. No one is expecting perfection. The Lightning show up well by my model thanks to being second in We need a baseline, and that’s where Sports Odds History comes in. It’s expected goals, but were pretty underrated by the market. Tampa Bay a site that catalogues the bookmaker odds for each series over the past was an underdog to Pittsburgh in the first round despite the Penguins decade, a strong stand-in for the prevailing wisdom at the time of each missing Sidney Crosby (who had retaken the crown for Best Player in the series. Generally, if a model is more accurate than the market it’s doing a world after an exceptional 41-game run) and Evgeni Malkin for the entire good job. Doing so is not easy as the market is usually the most accurate series. If that information was known (I’m not 100 percent sure on this), reflection of a team’s odds. Tampa Bay should’ve been an overwhelming favourite. On top of that, it’s cool to look at past seasons under a different lens Aside from those tidbits, pretty much everything happened as expected using better data. Analytics have become more advanced through the this year including a first round where the “favourite” won each series. years and it’s interesting to see what a more detailed model might’ve produced at a time where analytics was either non-existent or limited to 2011-12 just Corsi. This was a weird year, one of two where the favourites according to my Over the past 10 seasons there have been 150 series. The favourite model lost more series than they won. But it was also the year where according to my model has won 97 series compared to 87 for analytics really started being taken seriously in mainstream hockey oddsmakers. That means that in a typical year, favourites by my model conversations and that’s because of the Stanley Cup-winning Los have won around 10 series, one more than predicted by oddsmakers. It’s Angeles Kings, owner of an elite Corsi rate post-trade deadline thanks to “called” more favourites in six of 10 years, with one being a tie. a trade for Jeff Carter. More important though is the log loss, a measure of prediction accuracy. You’ll notice that the eighth seed Kings are favoured against the The further away a prediction is from reality, the more a model gets Presidents’ Trophy-winning Canucks, a far cry from conventional penalized. There, my model has been stronger in seven of 10 seasons, wisdom. Vancouver lost a lot of depth this season, and when healthy the with an average of 0.628, well below the oddsmakers’ 0.665. series would’ve been a 50/50 coin flip. What often gets glossed over about this massive win for the analytics movement is that the Canucks What’s interesting is the recent trend over the last three seasons where played the first three games without Daniel Sedin. He was worth 3.9 wins both my model and oddsmakers have been below average at predicting and rated as the fifth-best player in the world. With him, the series is series. Whether that’s random variation (we do expect some below much closer and maybe hockey history is a bit different. But even then average seasons) or a trend is difficult to determine at this point, but it the series probably wasn’t as lopsided as many expected. The Canucks might be something to keep an eye on. weren’t as deep as the year before and the Kings were genuinely improved after adding Carter. Now, we’ll dive into each season, starting with 2009-10. For each year, I’ll also show which skaters my model projected to be the most valuable But I think results-based thinking taught some people the wrong lesson players (it’s an estimate of their true talent level, not how well the player with the Kings’ run: that they were the best team because of their performed that year). outstanding Corsi and the Stanley Cup proved it, and not that teams with lower odds can win rounds and win the Stanley Cup. That Los Angeles 2009-10 had a soft path from the Sedin injury, St. Louis starting Brian Elliott Washington and Chicago were co-favourites for the Stanley Cup and it instead of Jaroslav Halak and Arizona and New Jersey making it far seemed like the two were destined to meet in the final for one of the most arguably supports that. The Kings entered the postseason with the eighth-best odds according to my model – a little better than oddsmakers but I don’t believe they were the league’s best team. They were likely Blackhawks were tied for sixth-best team in the league, but two of the better than given credit for, though, with my giving them better odds than teams above were in their division. the market in each of the team’s four series. Chicago was viewed as better than Nashville but not enough to As for the other series, it’s a lot of underdogs winning both by my model overcome home ice. My model liked Minnesota more in the second round and oddsmakers. I think no matter what way you look at it, it’s just one of primarily due to the team’s acquisition of Devan Dubnyk as well as the those years. A 35 percent chance means a team wins 35 percent of the team’s strong depth that gave the Wild the league’s best expected goals time (of the 40 series between 60 and 70 percent, 26 have gone to the rate. In the third round, it liked the Ducks by a little bit and in the final it favourite, 65 percent) – sometimes that’s clustered more prominently in a liked the Lightning by a little bit. I think I would’ve only agreed with that single playoff. Having said that, my model was likely too strong in its last one so these are strange results – the strangest of any season. distaste for Arizona, Nashville and New Jersey. While Chicago wasn’t favoured in any series, the Blackhawks were never big underdogs either. Every series was a virtual coin flip, so it’s not too 2012-13 unlikely for a team like that to win it all, I just think Chicago was likely Like 2010-11, two of the three best teams made it to the Cup final, but it’s better than given credit for. At the same time, this was the season where another team that loses in the third round that my model believed was the team’s underlying numbers really started trending down, dropping to stronger. This time it’s the Penguins with Crosby at the peak of his 51 percent expected goals. powers, projected to be worth an astronomical 6.3 wins, nearly two more Aside from that, most of the series probabilities aren’t too strange aside wins than the next best player and the highest my model has ever rated a from Ottawa being favoured over Montreal. That’s entirely due to Andrew player. The projection covers his run from 2010-11 to 2012-13 where he Hammond starting the series after his magical end-of-season run to get was at his absolute best and this looked like the year he would add to his Ottawa into the playoffs. The clock struck midnight once the playoffs trophy case. Oddsmakers agreed, giving Pittsburgh the best odds too. started, though, and my model overrated Ottawa as a result. The Penguins ended up losing to Boston in the third round and while my model favoured Pittsburgh, it wasn’t as much as oddsmakers did. What likely comes as a shock to some Islanders fans is my model not hating their favourite team. It’s true. This season, many thought the Interestingly enough, it favoured Boston over Chicago in the final – Islanders were finally breaking through and though they sagged at surprising given Chicago’s regular season dominance and with Jonathan season’s end, the team was still an elite expected goals team and viewed Toews at his own peak (fun fact: my model had him second to Crosby by my model as one of the league’s top contenders. Barry Trotz’s this year thanks to his two-way ability). Maybe the odds change with Capitals had other ideas, though. more data from a longer regular season, but my model saw Boston having the better goaltender as the main difference-maker with the two Lastly, there’s Calgary. Every year there’s a team that “defies” analytics teams being neck-and-neck aside from that. and this season it was the Flames. Despite weak underlying numbers as a team, my model thought Calgary was just average (just like Colorado Despite that error (and I do believe Chicago was the better team that and Toronto in the years before and other teams in years after), not as year), the model was still stronger overall, calling the Rangers, Detroit bad as detractors suggested (and I was one of the leaders for that), but and San Jose in the opening round when oddsmakers suggested not as good as their record either. Funny enough, I remember Kris otherwise (I recall the analytics community agreeing with Detroit but not Russell being scorned a lot because of his bad Corsi. My model actually as sure about the other two series). liked him a decent amount, having him worth about one win, almost all of 2013-14 which was from his insane shot blocking. His underlying numbers were bad, yes, but him stopping a lot from getting to the net arguably did help. This was an average year for the model but a rough one for oddsmaker. They only called six of 15 series correctly (though one was 50/50). Still, 2015-16 their odds weren’t that far off even if the side was wrong and you’ll notice This was my model’s most successful season, missing just one series that my model’s odds and bookmaker odds are starting to converge a and earning a log loss of .495. The two best teams by a wide margin, little compared to prior years – they’re in line and in the same range more Pittsburgh and San Jose, made it to the Stanley Cup final where the often than not. better team won. The one series it got “wrong” was Nashville beating The big battle that year was about the Avalanche and the team losing in Anaheim in the first round where the Predators were at 48 percent the first round was seen as a big analytics win. Again, what seems to be (mostly due to my model’s dislike of Pekka Rinne). It was a very strong forgotten about that is that Colorado was without Matt Duchene for five of year. It’s also the only year where the “clear-cut” favourite won – though the seven games. Colorado was not a deep team, depending heavily on Chicago was a co-favourite in 2009-10. its star players with Duchene being the team’s most important outside Three of the wins my model “called” were simply liking Pittsburgh more goaltender Semyon Varlamov. My model had him worth 3.5 wins and his than Washington and San Jose more than Los Angeles and St. Louis. I absence was the difference between being favoured and not. In either know most models would agree with the Penguins take, but San Jose’s sense, the Wild won a coin flip. model dominance here might’ve been a bit more controversial. Corsi was The Kings won the Cup again this season and it’s not that my model still the prevailing metric of choice and the Kings were king there, but by didn’t think they were strong – at an expected win percentage of .594 expected goals percentage the Sharks were second to only Pittsburgh they were ranked fourth in the league – it was more that there were other and a full percentage point higher than Los Angeles. The core of players teams in the West that looked stronger and they would be on the road was also exceptional, led by Joe Pavelski, who briefly took over Best against all of them. San Jose, the Kings’ first-round opponent (I still can’t Player in the world for one season, an extremely bold choice based on believe the Sharks blew a 3-0 series lead, but missing the fourth-best the combination of his goal scoring ability and excellent defence. The defender in the league according to my model for the back half of the reason it’s not Crosby was due to his off start under Mike Johnston series likely contributed to that), and Chicago, their third-round opponent, where he struggled to produce and drive play. Take that data out and both qualify. Anaheim wasn’t that far off thanks to their shooting talent he’s the rightful leader. and would have home-ice advantage in a series too. In any sense, a Cup The other call was a surprise to me: the Islanders over the division- win wasn’t a foregone conclusion and the Kings would have to earn winning Panthers. It’s by the narrowest of margins so it doesn’t even every inch, which they did with three straight seven-game series to make really count, but the big difference was again injury-related with Florida it through the West. Still, my model likely underestimated the team’s missing Vincent Trocheck for all but two games. Models built at the overall chances. player-level were, to my knowledge, non-existent at the time, but that Though my model viewed Boston as the league’s best team, the Rangers absence would’ve been key. were ranked as the second best team in the East so their journey to the The one surprise this season per my model was Tampa Bay making it to Cup final wasn’t too unexpected. I remember some analytics folks being the third round. Again, it was injuries as the team was missing Anton very high on them and my model agreed, though having Henrik Lundqvist Stralman for the first two rounds and Steven Stamkos for all but the final definitely helped. He was consistently ranked as the league’s best goalie game of Round 3. The Lightning end up much higher if not for that. by my model during his prime. 2016-17 2014-15 The Penguins win again, but this time they’re not favourites, mostly due This season was by far the one that my model performed worst in. It also to an injury to Kris Letang. That goes to Washington coming off its happened to be the season with the most wide open field of contenders, second straight Presidents’ Trophy and this really felt like the Capitals’ with the Blues’ 13 percent Cup chances being the lowest for a favourite. year to win, especially after going all-in at the deadline to acquire Kevin Oddsmakers were better overall calling 11 of 15 series correctly (with Shattenkirk. With an expected win percentage of .655, this Washington one series dead-even) and had a much lower log loss. The differences team was regarded by my model as the best of any team over the past were all over the board, but it starts with my model not liking the eventual 10 seasons. Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks as much as other teams. The Washington Capitals (2016-17): 0.655 and that drops their total Cup odds to below 20 percent. The 19 percent is much lower than what I had last season which was closer to 30 Pittsburgh Penguins (2015-16): 0.652 percent. San Jose Sharks (2015-16): 0.652 One of the other reasons I made changes to the model was the Chicago Blackhawks (2009-10): 0.645 underrating of the Islanders. While my model genuinely did like the team better, it still offered the same lopsided first-round series odds against Tampa Bay Lightning (2018-19): 0.643 Pittsburgh, which the model really loved as it has in almost every season that Crosby and Malkin have played in. With no age adjustment in place As it turns out, this wasn’t the Capitals’ year as they lost to Pittsburgh in here, my model considered Crosby the best player in the world again, the second round again, though this time they were the favourites by my taking the reigns back from Connor McDavid. model. Here’s how my model rated each team at the start of the playoffs in each Ottawa was Pittsburgh’s challenger in the conference final and though season in terms of expected win percentage. the run was very surprising, hindsight paints a slightly different picture of that first round. Ottawa faced off against a Bruins team that led the Team-by-team expected win percentage league in Corsi, but my model had Ottawa favoured. How does that happen? The reason, once again, is injuries. No Torey Krug or David Anaheim Ducks Krejci for Boston makes the Bruins significantly less formidable, enough 0.529 for Ottawa (who had home ice) to have the edge. Knowing injury timelines likely alter the odds to bring it back in Boston’s favour (I recall 0.476 Krejci’s timeline being uncertain), but either way Ottawa had a better chance than conventional wisdom. 0.487 The unconventional wisdom was that Nashville was the team to watch in 0.491 the West, championed by me and my old model which loved the 0.558 Predators. This new model? Not as much, interestingly enough. My model rated Nashville as the eighth-best team in the league, but still fifth 0.577 in the West and that was when the team was optimized and healthy. Without Colin Wilson to start the playoffs, Chicago’s odds in the opening 0.552 round were closer to what oddsmakers had than my old model, which put 0.559 it closer to 50/50. And while the Predators were favoured over the Blues, my model actually liked the Ducks a lot more, mostly due to Nashville’s 0.563 injuries. 0.457 Minnesota was the second favourite and while that wasn’t too far off from conventional wisdom, they were probably overrated with a 23 percent Arizona Coyotes chance to win it all and a 79 percent chance in the opening round. Though in hindsight, Jake Allen stealing that series seems even more 0.493 absurd. 0.482 2017-18 0.472 The prevailing thought was that Tampa Bay and Nashville were the 0.494 prohibitive favourites, the top two teams from the two divisions that housed the league’s four best teams. My model went in the opposite 0.448 direction, liking Winnipeg more than Nashville and Boston a hair more than Tampa Bay. Call it a split decision – not that it matters given the 0.285 Stanley Cup final didn’t feature either team, instead being played by 0.414 Washington and Vegas. My model wasn’t particularly fond of either team. 0.318 Vegas was in its inaugural season and had just a slightly above average expected goals rate. My model had them favoured over Los Angeles and 0.442 slightly so over San Jose due to home ice, but it should’ve ended in Winnipeg. As we know, it didn’t. Washington’s underlying numbers were 0.484 even worse, but the Capitals had a lengthy history of being elite that Boston Bruins pushed them up a bit. It wasn’t enough to have the team favoured in any series. My model was closer than the bookmaker in the final two rounds, 0.55 but not the first two. It’s a miss, one that continues to this day for this team that remains model-defying. It was this season, the Cup-winning 0.575 one where that began (as you saw, it liked the team plenty before that). 0.567 At four percent and with the 12th best odds, the Capitals were the least likely Stanley Cup winner in the last decade and the only team in the 0.611 bottom half of Stanley Cup probability to win, though they likely deserved a better standing than that. 0.633 Aside from that, all the odds are pretty closely in line with oddsmakers 0.549 and the relationship between the two has only gotten closer each season. That’s the books getting sharper with better data. Over the last 0.534 few years, the difference in log loss between my model and oddsmakers 0.507 has become more negligible, especially in comparison to the wide gap in the previous seven. 0.601 2018-19 0.602 It was this playoff run that made me re-evaluate where I was with my old Buffalo Sabres model. In my post detailing changes I made I noted that the new model would’ve likely liked St. Louis a lot more due to its strength on defence 0.504 and its stronger expected goals rate compared to the team’s Corsi rate. 0.511 Now, we can see how much, and the effect was noteworthy as it rated the Blues as the team to beat in the West. St. Louis was favoured in each 0.525 of its first two series and was then a toss-up in Round 3 due to home-ice advantage. The Blues were underdogs to the Bruins in the final, but not 0.449 as much as I listed last season (I blame using Elo for that) and not as 0.282 much as oddsmakers did either. 0.247 The Lightning still come out on top as expected, but their first-round odds against the Blue Jackets come in lower than what I figured last season 0.388 0.382 0.391 0.363 0.512 0.394 0.514 Calgary Flames 0.47 0.482 0.465 0.538 0.556 0.477 0.569 0.425 0.568 0.439 0.468 0.496 0.477 0.502 0.485 0.479 0.511 0.456 0.562 0.568 Carolina Hurricanes 0.57 0.475 0.543 0.492 0.46 0.458 0.545 0.436 0.541 0.456 Detroit Red Wings 0.418 0.561 0.36 0.549 0.452 0.585 0.465 0.545 0.54 0.52 Chicago Blackhawks 0.527 0.645 0.484 0.604 0.444 0.557 0.415 0.593 0.382 0.624 Edmonton Oilers 0.572 0.345 0.55 0.366 0.556 0.452 0.482 0.419 0.445 0.38 Colorado Avalanche 0.342 0.469 0.421 0.406 0.54 0.45 0.474 0.422 0.425 0.487 Florida Panthers 0.448 0.438 0.471 0.439 0.345 0.468 0.434 0.343 0.514 0.391 Columbus Blue Jackets 0.479 0.423 0.51 0.447 0.486 0.486 0.469 0.463 0.488 Los Angeles Kings 0.415 0.477 0.419 0.514 0.414 0.553 0.488 0.54 0.38 0.594 New York Islanders 0.542 0.451 0.585 0.44 0.531 0.452 0.487 0.538 0.416 0.495 Minnesota Wild 0.588 0.459 0.523 0.444 0.499 0.425 0.479 0.464 0.5 0.507 New York Rangers 0.596 0.506 0.516 0.562 0.637 0.572 0.572 0.58 0.483 0.586 Montreal Canadiens 0.555 0.501 0.551 0.473 0.541 0.465 0.428 0.562 0.388 0.515 Ottawa Senators 0.53 0.477 0.443 0.422 0.532 0.461 0.407 0.473 0.51 0.422 Nashville Predators 0.558 0.491 0.477 0.501 0.509 0.52 0.381 0.459 0.34 0.485 Philadelphia Flyers 0.572 0.516 0.544 0.564 0.528 0.559 0.567 0.487 0.567 0.487 New Jersey Devils 0.458 0.545 0.483 0.455 0.471 0.485 0.523 0.498 0.42 Pittsburgh Penguins 0.355 0.576 0.385 0.491 0.511 0.616 0.554 0.638 0.612 0.584 Vancouver Canucks 0.554 0.591 0.652 0.606 0.621 0.502 0.592 0.513 0.615 0.461 San Jose Sharks 0.493 0.595 0.361 0.616 0.345 0.575 0.35 0.545 0.376 0.626 Vegas Golden Knights 0.571 0.537 0.651 0.555 0.565 Washington Capitals 0.543 0.637 0.585 0.578 St. Louis Blues 0.533 0.488 0.536 0.527 0.499 0.564 0.519 0.509 0.598 0.56 0.655 0.61 0.543 0.601 0.523 0.509 Winnipeg Jets 0.501 0.4 0.592 0.437 Tampa Bay Lightning 0.462 0.453 0.451 0.563 0.476 0.437 0.548 0.532 0.491 0.494 0.528 0.585 0.612 0.555 0.54 0.516 And here’s a Dropbox link containing every player’s projected GSVA over the last decade as well as actual GSVA per season since 2007-08. A 0.587 reminder that the former is the player’s projected true talen using the 0.643 prior three years of data, while the former is a measure of a player’s value in a given season. Toronto Maple Leafs Overall, there should be two main takeaways: this model does 0.425 reasonably well at measuring team strength to create probabilities and predicting outcomes relative to conventional wisdom and that it’s far from 0.42 perfect. Nothing will ever be, but especially not with the data we currently have available to us. There are model outcomes that are questionable at 0.449 both the team level and player level that bring pause, but the overall 0.509 picture is still a strong one. We don’t want to let perfect be the enemy of good, and over the last decade this model has been good. So while it can be trusted, it is not above questioning. There’s plenty of room for debate in how it measures teams and players and while the model will be right fairly often, there will still be times where it’s not. Figuring out when and why is the fun part.

The Athletic LOADED: 04.09.2020 1173587 Websites 7. Lucas Raymond, LW, Frolunda (SHL): Brings a well-rounded skill set to the table. Makes plays in small areas and isn’t afraid to get his nose dirty. Sportsnet.ca / Sportsnet’s 2020 NHL Draft Prospect Rankings: April 8. Cole Perfetti, LW/C, Saginaw Spirit (OHL): An elite hockey brain and an abundance of character will allow him to transition easily to the NHL. It may not be as early as next year, but down the road he’s a top-six player all day long. Sam Cosentino 9. Dylan Holloway, C, Wisconsin (NCAA): As the NCAA’s second- April 8, 2020, 10:10 AM youngest player, his adaptation to the college game took a long time, but he was beginning to look a lot like the 2019 CJHL Player of the Year by season’s end. We find ourselves in a fascinating time. I’ve worked in sports since I was 16, when I started as a bat boy with the at old 10. Yaroslav Askarov, G, SKA (VHL): The enormous gap to the next best Exhibition Stadium. Sports never stop. My only memory of sports taking a goalie prospect in addition to his size and athleticism makes Askarov a pause was on Sept. 11, 2001. Nearing the end of the season, baseball viable option from pick No. 5 on. took a break for six days, as did several other sporting events. It was a 11. Jack Quinn, RW, Ottawa 67’s (OHL): Unfazed by the year’s worth of sign of respect for those who lost their lives in the terrorist attacks, and it attention, he was able to crack the 50-goal mark, while developing his was also out of fear of large gatherings becoming targets for future play away from the puck and utilizing his defensive awareness to round attacks. out his game. That event forever changed our lives. Getting on a plane or crossing a 12. Anton Lundell, C, HIFK (): The questions surrounding his border became increasingly more time-consuming due to necessary strict offensive upside have not subsided, but there is security in a projection safety measures. Attending an event of any size meant emptying bags that he’ll eventually at least be able to play effectively down in the lineup. and walking through metal detectors. All of these safety measures remain in effect and are often being added upon to ensure our continued 13. Jake Sanderson, D, (USNTDP): Comes by his pro mentality honestly safety. and was in the midst of a second-half surge when hockey shut-down. COVID-19 may have a similar effect in terms of its life-altering aftermath. 14. Dawson Mercer, C, Chicoutimi Sagueneens (QMJHL): Effective at adapting his game from pace to puck protection. Plays with passion and It has already had a profound impact on the game of hockey. With a smile on his face. crunch-time in effect, teams were battling to either get into the playoffs, or jockey for better playoff positioning. Meanwhile, scouts were going 15. Kaiden Guhle, D, (WHL): There’s big value in about their business tidying up loose ends by making final trips to Europe this complementary defenceman. Combination of size, amazing skating before they would have converged in Plymouth, Mich., for the World U18 ability and nastiness are attractive. Championship. The U18’s usually put a bow on a year of work where all the best draft eligible players come together. 16. Connor Zary, C, (WHL): Remarkably consistent performer in all three zones. Never had a stretch of more than one game Many teams had set forth a schedule that would’ve seen several scouts where he went pointless. and executives in attendance to get a better feel on the 2020 draft class. But of course, that’s not happening now, and when you add to that the 17. Rodion Amirov, LW, Toros Neftekamsk (VHL): Can impact a game scouts’ inability to witness players performing in the most pressure- effectively at even strength. Most recent viewings were impressive. packed time of year in the playoffs, you essentially have an incomplete 18. John-Jason Peterka, LW, Munchen (DEL): More of a safe bet than book. his fellow countryman Lukas Reichel, but not quite the same offensive Let’s not forget about the all-important NHL Combine, which presents upside. teams with a great opportunity to meet players up close and personal. It 19. Braden Schneider, D, Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL): Another also gives a level playing field in terms of physical fitness testing data defenceman who rates as a complementary player, but his offensive that is collected and distributed to teams. It looks more and more like this upside may develop further somewhere down the road. event is in peril. Senior Writer Ryan Dixon and NHL Editor Rory Boylen always give it In the meantime, teams have made contingency plans, tasking their 110%, but never rely on clichés when it comes to podcasting. Instead, scouts to complete reports, to Watch video for final viewings on players they use a mix of facts, fun and a varied group of hockey voices to cover and to reach out to players to initiate or continue the interview process. Canada’s most beloved game. Teams are also conferencing regularly in order to compile their draft lists. 20. Hendrix Lapierre, C, Chicoutimi Sagueneens (QMJHL): Great In terms of the 2020 NHL Draft, one thing is certain: There must be an background work will have to be done on this player. If health is a non- end point to the season before a draft can take place. What that end issue, and that’s a big question, there’s a steal waiting to happen. point looks like is anybody’s guess, but we need to get there first to determine draft order, open up trading, and figure out how conditional 21. Jeremie Poirier, D, Saint John Sea Dogs (QMJHL): Hitting the 20- picks will be resolved. goal mark for any defenceman is impressive. Poirier possesses sick hands, a big shot, and can skate like the wind. Here are the rankings for the month of April. 22. Lukas Reichel, LW, Berlin (DEL): Plays a very aware offensive game, 1. Alexis Lafreniere, LW, Rimouski Oceanic (QMJHL): Here’s a certainty knowing where his linemates are at all times. Possesses the skill to make amidst all the uncertainty in the world today: Alexis will be the first player plays to open space for himself, or create lanes to distribute. off the board. 23. Mavrik Bourque, C, Shawinigan Cataractes (QMJHL): Last played on 2. Quinton Byfield, C, Sudbury Wolves (OHL): Played in 10 games and Feb. 7, where he was in the midst of a three-game/11-point stretch. missed 10 more after the WJC. Was starting to crank it up again before Could’ve used some playoff and U18 hockey to showcase the goal- the abrupt end to the season. scoring ability that’s been present in Shawinigan the past two seasons. Quinton Byfield and Alexis Lafreniere are the top two ranked prospects in 24. Jacob Perreault, RW, Sarnia Sting (OHL): Another fascinating player the 2020 NHL Draft. (Peter Power/CP) in this draft class, whose best trait is goal-scoring. Yet there are question 3. Tim Stützle, LW, Mannheim (DEL): Plenty of discussion surrounding marks about his play away from the puck. Stützle as the second-best prospect available in this draft class. 25. William Wallinder, D, MODO (Sweden U20): His size and skating 4. Alexander Holtz, RW, Djugarden (SHL): There are some deficiencies jump out immediately. Looking to find the balance between poise and in his game, but many believe the goal-scoring ability he has is urgency. translatable to the NHL. Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman talk to a lot of people around the hockey 5. Marco Rossi, C, Ottawa 67’s (OHL): Has been cemented in the fifth world, and then they tell listeners all about what they’ve heard and what spot all season long. He’s smart, competes hard and has a drive to they think about it. continuously get better. 26. Noel Gunler, RW, Lulea (SHL): A wildcard for a number of reasons, 6. Jamie Drysdale, D, Erie Otters (OHL): The gap between him and the including limited playing time, being excluded from international teams, next two best defencemen has shrunk, but Drysdale’s smooth skating and inconsistency. Those factors work against his elite scoring ability. and elite decision-making will still leave him as the first rearguard taken. 27. Justin Barron, D, (QMJHL): Ran out of runway to get back to the player he was prior to the health issues. 28. Ridly Greig, C, Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL): An old-school player whose determination to hunt pucks and create havoc on the forecheck create a combination of skill and braun that is hard to find in today’s game. 29. Seth Jarvis, C, Portland Winterhawks (WHL): Left a lasting impression with a second half that saw him put up 65 points in his last 31 games played. 30. Ryan O’Rourke, D, Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHL): Great self awareness will allow him to adapt. At his worst, he’s a simple, hard-to- play-against, puck-moving defenceman of high character. 31. Luke Evangelista, RW, London Knights (OHL): Has grown by leaps and bounds since the season started and his work has been rewarded by a coach who consistently produces NHL players.

Sportsnet.ca LOADED: 04.09.2020 1173588 Websites Engvall’s turnover rate in the defensive zone is just eight per cent, which is the second-lowest rate of any forward in the entire NHL after teammate Ilya Mikheyev — and Engvall’s maintaining that while making controlled plays with the puck more often than not, since he chooses to exit the Sportsnet.ca / Highlighting an unheralded player from Canada’s Eastern zone with a dump out attempt just 5.2 per cent of the time. That rate is Conference teams also the lowest in the league. When Engvall is forced to dump the puck out, though, he boasts a 92.9 per cent success rate at getting the puck into the neutral zone, which is, Andrew Berkshire | @AndrewBerkshire as you may have guessed, the top mark in the league. April 8, 2020, 11:51 AM When the Leafs need to move the puck in the defensive zone, Engvall is a man to trust and fans have noticed. Last week, sparked by a question for the analytics mailbag, we looked Anthony Duclair, Ottawa Senators into some unheralded local fan favourites on Canadian teams in the Duclair has received his share of press this season, but it’s a little bit Western Conference. In that article, we looked at what makes Andrew tough in Ottawa to find someone on the roster who the fans are attached Mangiapane, Kailer Yamamoto, Andrew Copp, and Josh Leivo stick out to that everyone doesn’t already know something about. Everyone knows for fans despite rarely getting national spotlight. about Thomas Chabot, for example. Moving on to the Eastern Conference, we’re going to look at three more Senators fans are more focused on prospects and the future than the forwards who deserve a bit more recognition. current team, which makes total sense when you see what stage of a Nick Suzuki, Montreal Canadiens rebuild they’re currently in. The young rookie, who was the main asset in the return for Max Duclair was the talk of the league for a short time earlier in the season Pacioretty when he was traded to Vegas, has been a relatively consistent when he was scoring at the same pace as Auston Matthews, but he has bright spot for a Canadiens team that has desperately needed positive slowed down considerably since then, and was closer to a 30-goal pace stories as they stare down a third straight season of missing the playoffs. after being on pace for over 40 at one point. Suzuki’s 41 points in 71 games before the league was suspended was Nevertheless, Duclair has been full value for the goals he has scored, the highest point total for a Canadiens rookie since Michael Ryder scored and the underlying numbers suggest this is who he is when he’s given a 63 back in the 2003-04 season — and he was 23 at the time, while chance. Suzuki turned just 20 right before the season began. To find a Canadiens Duclair is in the top five per cent of all forwards in inner slot shots on net rookie closer to Suzuki’s age who also produced this well, you have to go per 20 minutes, and the top two per cent in shots on net from the slot all the way back to 1994-95 with Saku Koivu scoring 45 points at age 21. overall. He’s also incredibly accurate within the slot, where 73.5 per cent In fact, looking at that name beside Suzuki’s, I think I know why he has of his shot attempts hit the net, which is within the top one per cent of all captured the hearts of Canadiens fans so quickly. Suzuki has a very forwards. similar frame and playing style to Koivu, as well as a similar blend of More than being just a good shot, Duclair is also within the top five per offensive and defensive smarts. cent of all forwards in controlled entries, and he’s an underrated Suzuki doesn’t have the speed that Koivu did — especially before a playmaker with fringe first-line level slot passing and rush passing. collision with Jeff Shantz started a runaway train of injuries that kept Without the puck Duclair leaves a bit to be desired, but as a scoring Koivu from being truly appreciated league-wide for his talent — but there winger there aren’t many teams who wouldn’t love to have him. are a lot of similarities when you dig into it.

Despite his skating not being among the league’s elite, Suzuki has been a strong transition player as a rookie, completing 19.5 plays that move Sportsnet.ca LOADED: 04.09.2020 the puck up the ice per 20 minutes, which is within the top five per cent of all forwards. He’s in the top 20 per cent of all forwards at both blue lines, where he creates tons of controlled zone exits and entries and that has allowed him to force his way up the lineup, and from the wing to the centre position. Without the puck, Suzuki is among the top 10 per cent of all forwards in blocked passes, and in the top two per cent in loose puck recoveries overall. Those are key metrics to quantify a player’s positioning and hockey smarts, which he has in spades. Koivu is probably a lofty goal for Suzuki to emulate, but the similarities are hard to ignore. Senior Writer Ryan Dixon and NHL Editor Rory Boylen always give it 110%, but never rely on clichés when it comes to podcasting. Instead, they use a mix of facts, fun and a varied group of hockey voices to cover Canada’s most beloved game. Pierre Engvall, Toronto Maple Leafs If you ever venture into Leafs Twitter you probably see a lot of Pierre Engvall mentions. Fifteen points in 48 games doesn’t look that impressive, but Engvall brings a surprisingly well-rounded game to Toronto’s bottom-six forwards. As a shooter Engvall isn’t brilliant, but he is within the top 20 per cent of all forwards in both inner slot shots and slot shots overall. He also controls the puck a lot, with offensive zone possession time in the top 20 per cent of all forwards as well. Where Engvall truly stands out, though, is how he moves the puck forward. He’s in the top 10 per cent of all forwards in successful transition plays per 20 minutes, with a specific strength of getting the puck out of the defensive zone. Engvall is in the top three per cent of all forwards in controlled exits, and he’s downright clinical with the puck in his own zone, succeeding on 75.2 per cent of his attempted plays in the defensive zone, which is in the top one per cent of all forwards. 1173589 Websites “I’ve always believed in myself that I can score 20 goals in this league,” Pearson said. “Especially after how last year… ended with the Canucks and that hot streak, it gave me a boost of confidence. Definitely proved to myself what I can do if I really buckle down and have fun with the game Sportsnet.ca / Canucks' Pearson soaking up family time after reigniting and just focus on the little things.” career Senior Writer Ryan Dixon and NHL Editor Rory Boylen always give it 110%, but never rely on clichés when it comes to podcasting. Instead, they use a mix of facts, fun and a varied group of hockey voices to cover Iain MacIntyre | @imacSportsnet Canada’s most beloved game. April 8, 2020, 7:03 PM Pearson said what made the Canucks special this season was how close the players, and even their spouses, became. When play stopped, Vancouver was tied in points for the final playoff spot in the Western VANCOUVER – Without hockey’s grandest stage the last four weeks, Conference, behind on a tiebreaker but in post-season position on Tanner Pearson has been eclipsed in fame by both his father and his winning percentage. son. They look like a playoff team, but will have to prove it if the NHL finds a Tim Pearson is an executive with Bauer Hockey, which announced two way to finish its season by staging games in July and August. Pearson weeks ago it was joining the fight against the coronavirus pandemic by turns 28 on Aug. 10. adapting plants in Quebec and New York to manufacture medical face shields instead of hockey visors. Bauer shared blueprints for the shield “If you’d have told me five years ago to think about playing an NHL game on its website. on my birthday, I probably would have told you you were crazy,” Pearson, who could have said five weeks, told reporters. “But right now, And Tucker Pearson, who turns one in May, has become a social media crazier things are happening. superstar after his dad posted a video on April 1 of the toddler belly- laughing uncontrollably as Tanner lobbed shots against him with a “I don’t know who would be more upset (playing on Aug. 10) because squishy ball. As we write this, the video has been viewed 181,000 times. that’s my wedding anniversary, too. That’s a testy one.” It is impossible to watch Tucker chuckling without also laughing. Pearson would love to find out. Even Tanner’s dog, Emma, is almost more famous than the Vancouver Canucks winger after winning an on-ice race against mutts belonging to teammates during an intermission at Rogers Arena in February. Sportsnet.ca LOADED: 04.09.2020 The National Hockey League? Yeah, it seems like a long time ago. “He’s kind of at the age where he’s a lot of fun, buzzing around the house,” Pearson said Wednesday of Tucker during a video conference for reporters. “He brings a joy to your day every day. To see him grow, and not miss out on anything, to see him every day is pretty cool.” As with most players, one of the few benefits for Pearson of the NHL suddenly halting on March 12 is the rare opportunity for quality family time during what has always been hockey season. 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. Tanner and his wife Meaghan took their family home to Kitchener, Ont., soon after players were released by their clubs on March 16. Pearson said it is strange being unable to train properly while self- isolating. At least he can play mini-sticks with Tucker. “I’m trying to make him more of a Chris Tanev than a Marky,” Pearson joked, referring to his shot-blocking Canucks teammate and Vancouver goalie Jacob Markstrom. “That was a good video. He was loving a ball being shot at him, that’s for sure, which is oddly weird. He was (laughing) for a solid minute-and-a-half before we actually started the video. He was having a good day.” At one point, Emma, a shepherd-collie cross, video-bombed Pearson during his 20-minute press conference. Both need regular exercise. “My house is fairly new so I don’t really have a lot of stuff here,” Pearson said when asked about trying to stay fit in case the NHL resumes in late spring or summer. “The last week and a half I’ve been buying stuff. The first thing I did when I got home was buy a Peloton (stationary bike). Just anything you can really do to stick with it. “It’s weird because you can’t even get on any ice or go to the gym. You’re strapping up the rollerblades and going out for a wheel around town.” The veteran was wheeling for the Canucks all winter. Pearson built a bounce-back season by scoring 21 goals and a career- high 45 points in 69 games while playing with Bo Horvat on a matchup line. And while six of Pearson’s goals were into an empty net – it was indicative of coach Travis Green’s trust in Pearson that he was used so frequently to defend a late lead – it was impossible not to see how much better the player was than last season, when he was traded twice. Including the nine goals he scored at the end of last season after he was acquired from Pittsburgh at the 2019 trade deadline for Erik Gudbranson, Pearson has 30 goals in 88 games for the Canucks. He has reignited his career in Vancouver. 1173590 Websites “That’s the big thing here right now,” Smith said. “If your mother or father, grandmother or grandfather was in there you’d realize just how real it is. It has hit home here in Windsor pretty good.” Sportsnet.ca / Senators coach D.J. Smith: It's time for team to take 'next Ready if called upon step' Smith has no idea if the NHL will resume the regular season, skip ahead to a playoff schedule, or cancel everything, but if there are any games for his non-playoff group to play, he doesn’t think the Senators would need a Wayne Scanlan long training camp. April 8, 2020, 4:56 PM “I think we’re at an advantage there, we’re such a young team,” Smith said. “Young guys can get going quickly.”

Likewise, regarding injury concerns of a sudden restart to hockey, Smith CrossFit training in the driveway is a thing at D.J. Smith’s home. feels that more veteran teams trying to get into playoff shape in a hurry Hockey people aren’t so different from anyone isolating with loved ones will find that a challenge. during the COVID-19 outbreak. Time for Ottawa’s ‘next step’ Smith, the Senators head coach, is a great example of a father, husband Senators coaches were in contact with each other by phone on a daily and hockey man trying to juggle a bit of work, some fitness, parenting basis up until last week. As for watching team video, Smith says he and and general boredom as he isolates at home in Windsor, Ont., with wife, his staff watch their own team to the point of “exhaustion.” Christie, and children Colton, 16, and Brock, 3. “We know our team inside and out,” Smith says. “What’s more important On a video conference call Wednesday, Smith said a typical day for him to me now is watching what other teams are doing. And what can we starts around 6 a.m., the waking hour of the couple’s three-year-old son. steal from what the best teams in the league are doing.” From there, the new daily routine for Smith goes something like this: In particular, Smith wants to see his team get better on special teams. Either he or Christie will get up with Brock, see that he is fed and kept The power play started horribly, improved and then tailed off. The penalty entertained. And by later in the morning, the family does CrossFit kill had been pretty good but also faded at the end. workouts in the driveway or garage, mostly programs Christie has found online, since CrossFit gyms, like nearly everything else, are closed. Smith’s overriding message to his players, especially the young core players like Brady Tkachuk, Thomas Chabot and Colin White, is a “She tells me (the routines) and I just kind of do them,” Smith says. change in mindset from a rebuilding team to a contender. While the couple misses their restaurant outings, Smith says he is “Whether we play this year or next, our mentality has to change,” Smith probably in better shape without his favourite dining haunts, whether in says. “It’s time for us to take a step. How big a step that is, we’re going to Ottawa or on the road. Nearly all their food is home-cooked now. find out. But we certainly need to take a step mentally, with the “She keeps me in check,” Smith says. Tkachuks, Chabot and Whites etc. Most afternoons, Smith will take little Brock out for a car ride for a change “You watch the best teams, the Boston Bruins and the Washington of scenery. Often the coach will make a call to Senators general manager Capitals, for example, when they come to the arena they expect to win Pierre Dorion just to check on things. Nights are spent trying to find new every night. I think every team wants to win every night, there’s a programming on Netflix. Join the club, coach. difference between wanting to and knowing that you can win every night.” Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman talk to a lot of people around the hockey Senior Writer Ryan Dixon and NHL Editor Rory Boylen always give it world, and then they tell listeners all about what they’ve heard and what 110%, but never rely on clichés when it comes to podcasting. Instead, they think about it. they use a mix of facts, fun and a varied group of hockey voices to cover Canada’s most beloved game. ‘The fear hadn’t set in’ Asked if there was any one game of which he was most proud, Smith Of all the NHL teams that shut down operations one month ago, none pointed to a string of home games the Senators played in November. had quite the experience of Smith and the Senators. The Senators and From Oct. 23 through Nov. 27 the Senators were 7-1 on home ice and Los Angeles Kings played the final game before the stoppage, on March counted wins against teams like Boston, Tampa Bay and Philadelphia. 11 at the Staples Center. “That has to be the Ottawa Senators going forward,” Smith said. “You The Senators had played in Anaheim the night before and in San Jose come in and we expect to beat you in our home building. We were hard the previous Saturday, March 7. As the Bay Area was at the time the to play against. We were tough. We fought. We had energy. We scored epicentre of the outbreak in the United States, Smith said it was goals. We blocked shots. All the things we had to do.” somewhat eerie walking around San Jose, where the usually bustling downtown sidewalk streets were quiet. But otherwise, there were no For a brief moment, one month of the season, the Senators were playing outward signs of a pending pandemic. winning hockey, cheering for one another and pushing each other. “The fear hadn’t set in,” Smith said. “San Jose was a little bit lighter but “We were in the middle of the pack, and you could see how much energy when we were in Anaheim everything was normal. Anaheim and LA were winning brings to the room,” Smith said. What followed were a string of living life as normal. There was the odd mask you could see before we injuries on the blue line and the Senators fell back in the standings. left, but the world as we know it today wasn’t evident.” But it was a glimpse into what could be when Ottawa’s roster improves. And yet, because of modern communications, players knew what was Smith added that his greatest source of pride was his team’s commitment coming. From their phones they had heard the NBA was postponing its to working hard, in games and practices. season due to a player testing positive. Some wondered if that March 11 game versus the Kings would even happen. Asked to name an individual who progressed the most in 2019-20, Smith cited goaltender Marcus Hogberg, who wasn’t even with the NHL team “It certainly was a different atmosphere than any other game I’ve been a out of camp but stepped in to become the de facto No. 1, due to injuries part of,” Smith said. “We just waited for direction from the league. “Once to starters Craig Anderson and Anders Nilsson. Nilsson suffered a the NBA cancelled their games, we knew we wouldn’t be far behind.” concussion and Smith isn’t sure of his current status, but hopes this long Since returning to Ottawa, seven people on the Senators charter flight break will help him heal. Ditto for injured defenceman Mark Borowiecki, have tested positive for the coronavirus, initially two players and who suffered a torn ankle ligament on Feb. 13. broadcaster Gord Wilson; then three more players and one staff member. Also named by Smith for their progress were Tkachuk, for his will and Smith said all are doing well and are on the “other side” of the virus now. determination, and Chabot, who stepped up his defensive play in the “I’m glad our organization is doing well but it certainly was a scary time,” second half. Smith said. “He showed me he can play the big minutes and face the other team’s After isolating in Ottawa for more than two weeks, Smith and his family best guys,” Smith said. went home to Windsor, where there have been major concerns as well. Smith was congratulated by reporters for son Colton getting selected in Smith said that seven local seniors’ homes have been hit with COVID the second round, 25th overall in the recent OHL draft by the London cases. Knights. Colton plays forward for the Kanata midget AAA Lasers, coached by ex-Senators Shean Donovan and Chris Phillips. Donovan is also a player development coach for the Senators. “It’s such a proud moment,” Smith said. “He started playing hockey when he was four years old, and he had ups and downs. Every time he grew his skating wasn’t very good. Then he grew into his body and was good again.” Smith credits Donovan for developing Smith’s son and many others. Donovan had three players picked in the top 25, and his own son, Jorian Donovan, went sixth overall. Smith laughed at the prospect of his son playing with the Knights, the sworn enemy when he was coaching the Windsor Spitfires. “I certainly hated the London Knights growing up, I hated coaching against them but you must respect the fact that Mark and Dale (Hunter) do a phenomenal job,” Smith said. “They continue to have NHL prospects and players come out of there. They continue to outwork people in the league.” All in all, Smith couldn’t imagine a better place for his son to get an opportunity to be a pro hockey player. “Our whole family is proud,” Smith said, “and now it’s up to him to get to work.”

Sportsnet.ca LOADED: 04.09.2020 1173591 Websites virtue of his rehabilitation protocol. His knee has responded well, to the point there’s hope he could join the team if there is a summer playoff.

“I guess the answer would be maybe,” Treliving said, adding that the Sportsnet.ca / Flames' Treliving puts discussion of hockey, stalled team’s focus is the first-rounder’s long-term recovery, meaning no season in perspective shortcuts will be made short-term. Treliving’s three main files include preparing for the draft, planning for a possible return this summer, and preparing for next season. Eric Francis | @EricFrancis He said the team will continue to pursue college and junior players ready April 8, 2020, 11:30 AM to turn pro, as he did last week when they signed Connor Mackey and Colton Poolman.

He’s stayed in touch with all his players, as well as agents of pending Brad Treliving started his media availability by adding the proper free agents he’d like to try to re-sign. perspective to his ensuing hockey talk. He knows, as do we all, where the game and its multi-billion dollar industry rank in people’s minds these Alas, he’s quick to point out, deals are hard to contemplate without days. knowing what the salary cap will be next year. Thus, no headway can be made on trying to re-up players like Travis Hamonic or TJ Brodie. Near the bottom. And so, like the rest of us, he bides some of his time watching the With that, he wanted to extend his thoughts and best wishes to ailing classics on Sportsnet. Oiler Colby Cave and his family. He gave pause to remember the second anniversary of the Humboldt Broncos bus crash, before thanking the “I’ve watched a lot of Kelly Hrudey games,” he chuckled, adding that he front-line medical personnel endeavouring to protect the world from simply couldn’t stomach Tiger King, which his daughters implored him to COVID-19. watch. He knows that whenever hockey returns, it will do so as part of a new “I can’t believe he wore those pads. Some of the games are just normal that will make it even harder to sell tickets in a local economy awesome. What in the hell was a penalty back then? Just the already decimated by the oil war being lost in Alberta. manslaughter that took place on every shift.” “Talking about some of the things we’re talking about seems irrelevant It’s the type of hockey talk he can’t wait to return to on a daily basis. when people are going through what they’re going through,” said Treliving. When it’s appropriate to do so. “You have to be cognizant of what the world is going to look like when we get through this. What we’re doing is way down on the list of important Sportsnet.ca LOADED: 04.09.2020 things.” He cited the fact that his two daughters are too young to know what travelling was like before 9/11, when you essentially breezed through airport security. But we adjust. What lies ahead for us all is the unknown. Senior Writer Ryan Dixon and NHL Editor Rory Boylen always give it 110%, but never rely on clichés when it comes to podcasting. Instead, they use a mix of facts, fun and a varied group of hockey voices to cover Canada’s most beloved game. It’s with that the Flames GM touched on a handful of issues surrounding the team, unsure when or if several of his files will end up being a waste of time. The top of his list of daily duties is to stay on top of news as it relates to the increasingly unlikely event this season can ultimately be played to its conclusion this summer. Reports that Major League Baseball is considering neutral-site games in empty stadiums, as is the NHL, are intriguing, if not premature given that the novel coronavirus is still increasing its assault on the world. “When you see things like that, it certainly gives you optimism people are coming up with ideas,” said Treliving, who pointed out it’s not lost on him that Wednesday would have been the start of the playoffs. “We’re all looking for good news. We’ve got to take our appropriate place and place the importance of our games in the appropriate spectrum. It’s way down on the list. The overwhelming thought is there’s hope. The league is looking at everything and there are no bad ideas right now. At some point you may run out of time, but we’re not there yet. At some point somebody may tell us that’s not going to happen. You have to look at it at almost monthly and see at the end of April where we’re at globally.” He’s thankful none of his players, who are scattered across North America and Europe, have contracted the virus. That said, none of them have been tested, as have the eight NHLers who have tested positive. He dreams of the day they’ll reconvene, and hopes it’s this summer so a final chapter can be written on his team’s crazy season. “You’re really excited to see what this team can do,” he said. “I thought we went through a lot of adversity this year, and in a lot of ways that hardened us, and I was really excited for the stretch drive and what would happen in the playoffs.” One cause for optimism has been the rehabilitation of Juuso Valimaki, who is the only Flames player who has permission to skate right now, by 1173592 Websites everybody in the whole world and for hockey as well. I think I just tried to do the right thing for those people."

Bobrovsky is working out twice daily at his home gym, streaming Russian Sportsnet.ca / Panthers' Bobrovsky against jumping to playoffs: 'I don't films selected by his wife at night, and having all his food delivered. think it's fair' The two-time Vezina winner has admittedly endured a shaky season, battling injuries (he’s feeling fine now) and posting an atypically low save percentage (.900). But he’s staying in shape as best he can and remains Luke Fox | @lukefoxjukebox hopeful the NHL can squeeze in a lucky 13 more games. April 8, 2020, 11:09 AM "It wasn’t an easy season for me. New team, new coach, new surroundings — everything is new," he said. "As far as the team standpoint, we’re fighting for the playoffs. We’re right in the mix. It’s all in As the weeks flip by and the rinks remain silent, NHL commissioner Gary our hands. The most important thing is the team success. We have the Bettman finally vocalized Tuesday what the hockey world has been possibility to get into the playoffs, and that’s the really important thing for thinking: that completing hockey’s regular season may not be possible. me." A jump directly into a playoff tournament for the 2020 Stanley Cup once health conditions permit would no doubt frustrate those franchises Sportsnet.ca LOADED: 04.09.2020 paused within striking distance of a post-season berth. "I think it’s not really fair, because it’s still, I believe, 12 or 13 games [remaining]," Sergei Bobrovsky said Tuesday. "Lots of games, and we’re right in the mix. We have the opportunity to be in there, and if they just cut it off, I don’t think it’s fair. "From a sports standpoint, the season is 82 games and then the playoffs start. You just can’t cut off where we are and move right into the playoffs." Whether you order the clubs by standings or points percentage, none is closer to making the cut than Bobrovsky’s Florida Panthers. Florida (35-26-8) is frozen just three points back of the Toronto Maple Leafs (36-25-9), holds one game in hand and an advantage of first tiebreaker. Moreover, seven of the Cats’ final 13 games were scheduled against non-playoff teams. The Panthers are tied for 15th overall in points percentage (.565), a scant .014 behind Toronto. Understandably, Bettman is exploring all options — scrapping the remainder of the regular season; abbreviating the post-season; playing in empty arenas at neutral, population-light sites — to crown a 2020 champion and salvage revenue without putting the 2020-21 campaign in doubt. "From the economy standpoint, it’s a different situation," Bobrovsky conceded, "but from a sports standpoint, I don’t think it’s fair." Bobrovsky’s stance aligns closely with that of Arizona’s Oliver Ekman- Larsson ("It’s fair to start where we left off here. It would be good for the playoffs too, to get those games going again. It would benefit all of us") and Edmonton’s Connor McDavid ("A fair season is a full season"). On the flip side, superstars Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby both said they’d be fine with skipping directly into playoff action after a mini-camp. "We’re looking at all options. Nothing’s been ruled in. Nothing’s been ruled out," Bettman said Tuesday during an interview on NBCSN, the league’s U.S. broadcast partner. "The best thing and the easiest thing would be if at some point we could complete the regular season and then go into the playoffs as we normally do. We understand that may not be possible." "We stay at home in self-isolation," Bobrovsky said. "We can’t go outside, so we go in our backyard. We have a pool, so we can spend some time in there. There’s not much to do." After backstopping the Columbus Blue Jackets to three consecutive playoff berths and that franchise’s first-ever series victory, Bobrovsky secured a monstrous seven-year, $70-million contract from the Panthers in free agency last summer. Responding quickly to the NHL’s pause, the 31-year-old donated $100,000 to aid BB&T Center part-time employees who’d been put out of work. Following his lead, Goalie Bob’s teammates pledged to match his donation. In concert with friends and fellow Russians Artemi Panarin and Semyon Varlamov, who are doing the same in New York, Bobrovksy has now donated thousands of valuable N95 masks to hospitals in South Florida. "It’s good to support those people with these high-quality masks," Bobrovsky said from quarantine. "The workers at the arena are a big part of our events and a big part of our support. And there was the risk for them to lose their jobs and possibly not be able to feed their families. Right now, it’s a tough time for 1173593 Websites still has vocational elements to work on including giveaways, high danger scoring chances against and puck possession.

But there is enhancement and that growth comes from two sources TSN.CA / Dylan Samberg signing key move for Winnipeg Jets, great specifically: the Jets coaching staff understanding his usage, providing news for fans more trust in his game while at the same time diligently driving home a consistent message on how his game can develop without mentally damaging the player; and, Laine himself for understanding where he needs to improve and taking the necessary steps in applying that on the Paul Edmonds ice in order to become an all-around, elite NHL player – one that he assuredly strives to be. The signing of defenceman Dylan Samberg this week is a significant NOTEBOOK move for the Winnipeg Jets and the best hockey news in our market in Prior to the league going into COVID-19 abeyance, the Jets had lost four nearly a month. straight games that went overtime after winning four straight to start the After selecting the 21-year-old in the second round (43rd overall) of the season when their games were decided in the five-minute extra frame. 2017 NHL Entry Draft, the team secured his services for at least the next There is certainly no science behind either trend, as most teams spend six years and immediately improved their organizational depth on the little time in practice focusing on the execution of 3-on-3 overtime play. blueline. But the best-on-best format is entertaining – win or lose – for the fans….One of the new wrinkles hybrid icing has featured in the NHL of He will undoubtedly compete for a job and be given every opportunity to late is a scheme teams are using to dump and chase into the offensive make the team based on his size (6-foot-4, 215-pounds) and elite zone from the defensive side of the ice. More and more this season we positional play, which includes a solid, active stick and physicality. But witnessed certain teams using the opportunity to shoot the puck in from there also needs to be a level of caution surrounding the product of their side of the red line in hopes of having a teammate beat the Hermantown, Minn., regarding his readiness and his ability to saunter defensive player to the puck before a whistle for icing. The idea – which right into the lineup next fall and assume top-four minutes. works surprisingly more than it doesn’t – is to gain possession in the attacking zone and, thus, create a scoring chance off that. I’m not sure Samberg will undoubtedly be a good player for the Jets at some point this stylish pattern was part of the original design for hybrid icing, but it is and that may be sooner-than-later, but the speed of the NHL game will certainly one becoming more popular in the league whereby teams be a major adjustment for a player who needs foot speed improvement, transition quickly without being contested in the neutral zone….Laine along with better decision making with the puck, especially relating to his indicated recently that he has stopped using a new stick for his team’s first pass out of the defensive zone. And for a stay-at-home rearguard, power play opportunities. He used to change sticks every time from 5v5 those are two important and crucial areas to master. play to when the team went on the man advantage….I truly wonder what As such, Samberg likely will find himself with the AHL's Manitoba Moose the future holds for Bryan Little. Of course, everyone is cheering for him at least to start next season, where a quick transition to the NHL could to return, but you wonder if there might be something within him that says follow. Until then, one wonders where he’d actually fit currently on the he’s had enough based on the severity of injuries he’s incurred the last blueline behind veteran Josh Morrissey and other left-handed shot handful of years, which includes a fractured vertebrae in his neck and his prospects like Ville Heinola and Logan Stanley and left-handed Sami current eardrum issue. I’ll watch with great interest in the coming months Niku, who almost prefers to play his on opposite side. Again, based on and quietly cheer for his return….Where does Kristian Vesalainen fit into his size and style of game he could supersede one of the aforementioned the Jets plans next season or is another year at the AHL level a prospects for a roster spot since the team is devoid of his type of game necessary step to continue his development? At this point, I’m very and possesses an abundance of smaller, offensive-minded blueliners. uncertain an NHL spot is held in trust for next season especially with the emergence this season of Mason Appleton and Jansen Harkins as full- One other hindrance to a potential quick ascension to the NHL could be time NHL players....One of the most frequently asked questions during based on the potential for some salary cap relief that will be available to this unprecedented time in our society has been what we’ve been doing the Jets this off-season. As such, there’s a solid possibility that they’ll as a family to stay occupied, busy and stimulated? Aside from emailed most certainly be in play for a veteran free agent on the left side of the homework for the kids, we have been active in a variety of things such ice, too. That potential could knock Samberg down the depth chart to as: snowmobiling, ice fishing, building puzzles, treadmill time, movies, start. reading, PVR cleanup, general house cleaning, baking and some video games. Oh, and I filed my taxes this week, too. However, there is nothing diminishing his potential and the experience Samberg possesses from two NCAA championships as a member of the Stay safe and healthy everybody! University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs and a pair of U20 (World Junior Championship) medals (silver and bronze). Both will serve him well in making the jump to the highest level of competition, perhaps as soon as TSN.CA LOADED: 04.09.2020 October. LAINE'S 200-FOOT GAME At the risk of the analytics community firing road apples at my front door, if you’re looking for one metric to understand the improvement in Patrik Laine’s defensive game this season it has to be the maligned plus-minus statistic. I acknowledge that the measurement can be misleading, but over a larger sample size it does give you a tangible reading of a player’s ability to defend the opposition while helping his team score on them. At the conclusion of last season, the soon-to-be 22-year-old Finn was a team-worst minus-24, while this year he’s fourth on the Jets at plus-8 and the second-best forward behind teammate and friend Nikolaj Ehlers. That 32-tick improvement speaks volumes about his improving trend as a 200- foot player. Sure, there are some analytics that still need to be amended, but the eye test will also tell you he’s harder on pucks, better at forechecking, backchecking, protecting the puck and general defending. This season, Laine was on pace for career-bests during 5v5 play in rebounds created (19) and hits (93), along with other prorated statistics that were likely to rise had the season not been paused. This is not to mention that he was also on pace for his fourth straight 30-goal campaign. Of course, it wouldn’t be sage to confuse praise in this space for anything else but acknowledging the improvement in Laine’s game overall, as he 1173594 Websites Smith – like all other NHL head coaches – is in a holding pattern. After serving his 15-day quarantine period in Ottawa after returning from California, Smith took his wife and his two sons back to his hometown of Windsor, Ont. TSN.CA / D.J. Smith recalls ‘different feel’ of coaching final game before NHL’s pause While some of his counterparts have designs on the Stanley Cup if the 2019-20 season can be salvaged, Smith and the Senators have no grand illusions of a playoff spot. The team was sitting in 30th place when the season was paused, with just 62 points after 71 games. Ian Mendes But even though his team would have nothing to play for in the final 11 regular-season contests, Smith is hopeful his squad can lace up again in As the Ottawa Senators were preparing for their game against the Los the 2019-20 season – if only for the Ottawa fans who endured another Angeles Kings at the Staples Center on March 11, it felt like the world long year. outside was crumbling. “Certainly yeah, we want to finish on the right note,” Smith says when Within a one-hour span that evening, a series of COVID-19 stories were asked if he would like to finish the campaign. “We would have loved to breaking at unbelievable rate. have played one last hard game for them on the way out.” Actor Tom Hanks tested positive for the disease. The NBA suspended its Whenever the Senators do come back to play, Smith wants to the bar to season a few minutes later after Utah Jazz star Rudy Gobert also had a be elevated in this market. Three consecutive seasons of languishing at positive test result. The United States halted all incoming flights from the bottom of the standings has taken its toll on the fan base, and the Europe. head coach believes it’s time for a change in mentality. As these events were unfolding, Senators head coach D.J. Smith and his “Whether it’s this season or next, we know we have to take a step team were well aware of the evolving situation. Smith said he and a forward,” Smith said. “I talked to a lot of the young guys and, whether we handful of staff members even watched U.S. president Donald Trump’s play this year or it’s next year, whenever the Ottawa Senators play, our televised speech that evening before they took the ice to face the Kings. mentality has to change. It’s time for us to take a step.” “The world is different today with guys having phones and social media. If the 2019-20 NHL season does resume at some point in the weeks or Guys were aware that an NBA player tested positive around 5 p.m. With months ahead, Smith believes his youthful group will have a distinct us being on the west coast, we were ahead of it. There were some advantage when it comes to shaking off any rust due to an extended questions about whether we were going to play,” Smith said on period of inactivity. Wednesday, during a video conference call with Ottawa reporters. “It was “With us having such a young team, young guys can get up and get a different atmosphere than any game I’ve been a part of. Once the NBA going. Our guys can probably get up and get playing sooner than most cancelled their games, we knew we wouldn’t be far behind.” teams,” Smith said. “If you’re an older team heading into a playoff run The Senators and the Kings played that game – the last official major and have been sitting around, you might have a tough time getting up to sporting event in North America before all leagues ground to a halt. As speed.” the clock counted down during the 3-2 Kings’ victory, an eerie sense of resignation permeated the Staples Center – one that was palpable to those involved in the game. TSN.CA LOADED: 04.09.2020 “I’d be lying if I said we didn’t. It was certainly a different feel to it for both teams,” Smith admitted. “There was stuff on everyone’s minds. What’s going to happen tonight? What’s going to happen tomorrow? It was a different experience. There was so much unknown at the time.” The next day – with the NHL season officially on pause – the Senators flew back to Ottawa on their charter aircraft. In the ensuing days, the team would become the reluctant public face for COVID-19 in the NHL, with five of their players testing positive for the virus. There were questions whether the Senators should have been playing games in California in early March – especially in San Jose, where Santa Clara County had already been attempting to place a ban on large public gatherings before the Senators game against the Sharks on March 7. Smith said that there were some early signs of social distancing starting to take hold in San Jose when the team arrived. “In San Jose, it was kind of weird. There really wasn’t a lot of people out,” recalled Smith. But in southern California – where the team spent the final few days of their road trip – it seemed like business as usual. “At that point, nobody knew what we know now. The fear hadn’t set in. Everyone in Anaheim, in L.A. was living life as normal. You’d see the odd person with a mask in L.A.,” said Smith. The five Senators players who tested positive have never been publicly identified, but Smith reiterated on Wednesday that none of them exhibited any symptoms that escalated to the point where they were in any serious danger. “Every one that had it didn’t have the horrible symptoms that you’re seeing on TV,” explained Smith. “Some guys didn’t feel well, but being athletes, they got through it and are on the other side now.” Smith does admit, however, that having such a close personal encounter with the disease and seeing so many people he knew afflicted served as an eye-opening experience. “This disease doesn’t spare anyone. It doesn’t matter – actors or actresses, rich or poor. You have to make sure you stay safe,” he said. “I’m glad that everybody on that plane is now doing well. It hit us, but it probably saved a lot of us too. We probably got a bit of a jump on this.” 1173595 Websites 1 Colorado vs. WC2 Vancouver 2 St. Louis vs. 3 Dallas

Pacific Division TSN.CA / Seravalli: How a 68-game rollback might be NHL's most fair standings format 1 Vegas vs. WC1 Nashville 2 Edmonton vs. 3 Calgary Frank Seravalli Metropolitan Division 1 Philadelphia vs. WC1 Carolina For the first time since the National Hockey League hit pause on March 2 Washington vs. 3 Pittsburgh 12, commissioner Gary Bettman acknowledged Tuesday that the regular season might not be completed. Atlantic Division “The best thing and easiest thing would be if we could complete the 1 Boston vs. WC2 Islanders regular season and then go into the playoffs as we normally do, but we 2 Tampa vs. 3 Toronto understand that may not be possible,” Bettman said in an interview with NBCSN. The matchups would be juicier in the 68-game rollback. A Battle of Alberta, Sidney Crosby against Alex Ovechkin, plus Vegas versus “That’s why we’re considering every conceivable alternative to deal with NashVegas •– all in the first round – would qualify as sensory overload. whatever the eventuality is.” The rollback could be perceived as the more equitable solution to an The bulk of NHL stars who have spoken publicly – from Connor McDavid untenable problem because it eliminates the debate between points to Sergei Bobrovsky – have been resolute in their wish for regular- accumulated and points percentage. season action before stepping into the Stanley Cup playoff pressure cooker. With an unbalanced number of games played, teams with more points say they’ve actually earned the points, while those with fewer games say Short of playing out the remaining 15 per cent of the schedule, the ideal they were robbed of the opportunity to do so. scenario would be to at least get all 31 teams to a level ice surface in terms of games played. It is also not unprecedented. Twice in the last 25 years, with two lockouts in 2013 and 1995, the Stanley Cup playoffs began after a shortened 48- But even that would be tricky now. Eight teams have played as many as game schedule. 71 games, while two others (Carolina and the Islanders) have played as few as 68. Creating a balanced shortened schedule, in which each team would play the same number of warm-up games before the playoffs while finishing with the same number of total games played for the season TSN.CA LOADED: 04.09.2020 would be nearly impossible. To date, the idea of points percentage has received the most attention for determining a 16-team Stanley Cup playoff bracket. But there may be another, more equitable, way if the regular season is cancelled. The Ontario Hockey League deserves credit for the idea. Since all of the OHL’s teams had played at least 61 games when the season was cancelled, their priority draft lottery standings were formulated using each’s teams accrued point total through 61 games. In other words, any game beyond 61 played was wiped out. The same principle could apply for the NHL. Call it the 68-game rollback. Under this plan, only each of the team’s first 68 games of the season would count for the playoff standings. Eight teams would have three games negated, 11 teams, two each; and 10 teams, one each. Interestingly, the same 16 teams that would qualify under points percentage would also qualify under the 68-game rollback scenario. Point Percentage Central Division 1 St. Louis vs. WC2 Calgary 2 Colorado vs. 3 Dallas Pacific Division 1 Vegas vs. WC2 Nashville 2 Edmonton vs. 3 Vancouver Metropolitan Division 1 Washington vs. WC1 Carolina 2 Philadelphia vs. 3 Pittsburgh Atlantic Division 1 Boston vs. WC2 Islanders 2 Tampa vs. 3 Toronto 68-Game Rollback Central Division 1173596 Websites Truth is, Driscoll actually got a kick out of the acid-tongued Ferraro when the abuse wasn't directed at him.

"He was pretty entertaining to have on the ice ... He always seemed to TSN.CA / Linesman Scott Driscoll hopes his NHL career isn’t over just have something smart to say." yet The whiniest team Ferraro was the first of many players to give Driscoll a hard time. It's just Mark Masters the nature of the business. "I was working a game between Vancouver and San Jose this season and San Jose was just whining a lot. I stopped in front of the bench and I Scott Driscoll hopes his distinguished 28-year career as a National said to [Canucks coach] Travis Green, who I used to battle with, I said, Hockey League linesman isn't over just yet. 'Hey Travis, that team down there, they'd give the 2003-04 Toronto Maple Leafs a run for their money for being the whiniest team,' and the His farewell season was set up so that he'd finish with 1,850 regular- players on the bench were laughing and going, 'Really?' And I was like, season games. When the league hit pause on March 11 due to the 'Oh yeah.' And they were like, 'How was Travis?' And I was like, 'He was COVID-19 pandemic, Driscoll still had three to go. about 10th.' They were like, 'Really?' And I'm like, 'Oh yeah, you got [Tie] Driscoll's last outing was in Toronto on March 10, when the native of tiny Domi, you got [Darcy] Tucker, you got [Shayne] Corson, you got [Gary] Seaforth, Ont. was honoured with a video tribute in the first period and Roberts, you got Mats Sundin, and I went down the whole list. This was received congratulatory handshakes from Leafs players after their win. during the game and Travis was giving a big belly laugh." "That was really cool and surreal and right now that's holding up as After that game, Driscoll's last in Vancouver, Green gave him a nice maybe my last game ever," Driscoll said. bottle of wine. It was a nice send-off, but not the career capper Driscoll had envisioned. There are always harsh words exchanged in the heat of battle, but That would've been at Madison Square Garden on March 18. there's usually a mutual respect as well. "My favourite building in the league is New York. I just love the city and I "A guy I battled with forever, but that's how he was on the ice, was had 82 people coming to that game. I'm hopeful that I have at least one Shayne Corson," Driscoll said. "And I went to a charity event last year, it more to go." was like a Habitat for Humanity type thing over in Kitchener-Waterloo, and there were a lot of different ex-NHLers there and the one person who Driscoll spoke to TSN by phone to go through some of his career came up to me and gave me a big hug was Corson. And you just don't highlights. think that’s going to happen. 'Cub' is born "Over time you learn that it's not personal. Even a guy like Pat Quinn, he used to yell at officials, but he's not yelling at you personally." Driscoll is an imposing figure on the ice, standing 6-foot-4 and 255 pounds, but his nickname doesn't reflect that. Driscoll worked one NHL All-Star Game, 2004 in Minnesota, where Quinn coached the Eastern Conference team. Driscoll brought his son "In my first training camp for NHL officials I roomed with [linesman] Ron Ryan, then eight, to the event. Quinn invited Ryan to stand on the bench Asselstine and his nickname was, 'The Bear,' and just a day and a half with him during the skills competition. Quinn then signed a picture of the into training Rob Shick had already named me 'Cub,' and that name has pair and sent it to Driscoll. That picture still hangs in Ryan's room. stuck. Twenty-eight years later I’m still, 'Cub' or 'Cubby.'" A special relationship with Spezza Driscoll wears No. 68, his birth year, but back when he broke into the league the officials still had their name on the back of their sweaters. In The guy Driscoll liked talking to the most was Jason Spezza. his first game, Driscoll's crew mates decided to pull a prank on the rookie. "He's such a special, cordial young man. We had a great rapport." "While I was stretching they took my jersey out, unfolded and taped my Back in 2007, Driscoll worked the Stanley Cup Finals and brought his nickname, 'Cub,' on the back," Driscoll recalled with a chuckle. "They family to a game in Ottawa. folded it back up and put it in my bag and I had no idea. I skated on the "My then seven-year-old, Devon, had a Jason Spezza shirt and that ice and people were laughing, trainers were laughing, but it sure made ended up being the one T-shirt that every time I came home from a road me feel at ease and I laughed. It was a great moment." trip and did the laundry it was always dirty and I told Jason that. He kind Ferraro leads the welcoming committee of giggled and then, without me asking, he signed a stick and sent it down to my son. Since then he'd always ask how my son Devon is doing. Driscoll's NHL debut came on Oct. 10, 1992 with the Islanders taking on Devon's now officiating. …Jason always, always asked how Devon was the Bruins. doing and asked about my family. When I told him Devon was officiating he actually sent a stick down that night and it was signed, 'To Devon, "One thing I remember is played and he was kind of abusing there's no doubt you'll be the best referee in the Driscoll family.'" me, because I called a five-minute major on Pat Flatley halfway through the second period for high sticking. The crew got together and the ref, After his last game in Toronto, Driscoll gave Spezza a gift. Rob Shick, didn't see it. Leon Stickle was the other linesman and he's just an amazing man and helped me keep the nerves away. So, I called "I wear a jersey every period and I signed my jersey from the first period the five-minute major. to him, because he's just been so amazing. My second last game with Toronto I told Jason, 'Okay, we'll meet at centre ice after my last game "Ferraro was chirping me the rest of the night. For the rest of the game and swap jerseys,' and he was, 'Like in soccer?! We're going to swap he kept calling me, 'Chubby.' He was skating around going, 'Nice call, jerseys?' And I was like, 'Yeah.' And he was like, 'I can't do that, I don't Chubby! Way to be a hero, Chubby!' And I'm like, 'What the f--k? It's my have the body for that.' And I go, 'Neither do I,' and he's like, 'Yeah, but first game and I'm just doing my job. Why are you being a little rat?'" you're retiring.'" One week later, Driscoll was doing another Islanders game. The Carcillo incident "I was working with a senior lineman in Gord Broseker and he was like, Driscoll was working Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals in 2014 'How's everything going?' And I'm like, 'Pretty good.' He goes, 'Any between New York and Montreal when the normally anonymous difficulties the first week?' And I'm like, 'Not really. Well, there was one. I linesman was thrust into the spotlight. made the right call and Ferraro was skating around the rest of the night calling me, 'Chubby' and I didn't like that.' And he goes, 'Oh, we'll fix that Early in the first period, Montreal's Brandon Prust levelled Derek Stepan tonight.' with a late, high hit, breaking his jaw. That play went unpenalized on the ice, but eventually led to a two-game suspension. So, the emotions, "So, really early on in the game, Gord was getting ready for the faceoff already high in a playoff game, were amplified. A few minutes later, New and I was delivering the puck to him and he puts his hand up and says, York's Daniel Carcillo took a run at Prust and was whistled for charging. 'Hey, stop.' And he looks at Ray and says, 'Ray, I understand you're Derek Dorsett and Prust then dropped their gloves. calling my friend here, Chubby. You call him Chubby again tonight and he's going to pick you up and body slam you over the boards, got it?' And "When Dorsett and Carcillo came on the ice at the same time as Prust all Ray had this 'Oh s--t' look on his face and the rest of the night he was four of us had a heightened awareness," Driscoll said of the officiating picking up the puck and handing it to me and apologizing." crew. "And after Carcillo hit Prust and referee] Kevin Pollock had his arm in the air for a delayed penalty, I was already in motion to intercept That woman was Joyce McClure, who passed away a couple years ago, Carcillo before the whistle went. Carcillo wanted to get into the fray." but not before Driscoll sent her a signed sweater. Driscoll got a hold of Carcillo in an attempt to escort him to the penalty It was a few years later when Driscoll was playing Junior B hockey with box. Carcillo threw an elbow. St. Mary's that he realized officiating might be more than just a fun way to make a little extra cash. "My mandate is to get him to the penalty box as quickly as possible and then return to assist my linesman partner, Steve Miller, because he can't "I would see guys out there working our games wearing OHL pants and I break up the fight alone. As soon as Dan struck me he knew he had found myself actually watching them during our games and looking at crossed the line. He basically went limp as I escorted him to the penalty their nuances," he said. box. I managed to lower my physicality too, as it would have been very easy to manhandle him into the penalty box." Driscoll, a stay-at-home defenceman, continued to pursue his playing career, which took him to Wilfrid Laurier University. In 1990, Laurier lost Carcillo received an automatic 10-game suspension for abuse of an in the national championship game, but Driscoll earned a look. official. "I was given a tryout with Vancouver in 1990. When I had that opportunity "It's not a highlight, but definitely ranks as one of the most memorable I knew I would never make it to the NHL, but it made me more events of my life, getting hit by Carcillo, because it took everything I had marketable as an official." not to react in an adverse way and take my frustrations out on him." Fighting Odjick at Canucks camp In the aftermath of the incident, Rangers coach Alain Vigneault suggested Driscoll exacerbated the situation by being so aggressive in "I wasn't a pugilist by any stretch of the imagination, but at training camp grabbing Carcillo. I ended up fighting Gino Odjick so [pause] that's why I’m a linesman. Pretty tough character. "Knowing Alain, all he was doing was taking the heat off Carcillo, because he never once after that said anything to me. There was a "His centre was Jack Capuano's brother, Dave, and he was a bit of a hearing and the Rangers were present and Glen Sather exonerated me mouth piece, to say the least. I took liberties with him at the end of a shift and had no excuse for Carcillo. It was just the Players' Association and I forgot that Gino was his winger. I turned to look and all the sudden wanted to appeal it to lower his suspension and it is what it is. I mean, at Gino was coming at me and the gloves were off and I was like, 'Oh s--t.' the meeting Dan apologized to me and there was never any ill will after "I held my own. I definitely didn't get destroyed. I hadn't fought in at least that. It was something that happened in the game and was left on the two years of playing university hockey. I definitely wasn't on the ice." offensive. I was on the defensive. It is what it is. I still picked up my The suspension was eventually reduced to six games allowing Carcillo to gloves and continued to play. It's not like I was carried off the ice." play in the Stanley Cup Finals. Only a couple years later, Driscoll was back on the ice with Odjick, but "I worked the Finals that year too and the Rangers played, so we got past this time wearing stripes. that point and it was never mentioned again." "My first game in Vancouver, Gino comes over and said, 'Hi,' and we Keeping coaches calm went out drinking after the game," Driscoll said. "This past season, my last game in Vancouver, Gino came down to the room and we took a Sometimes Driscoll played peacemaker when a dispute broke out picture together." between coaches. That was the case in a recent game between Montreal and Columbus. Late in the first period, Canadiens forward Andrew Shaw Man cave needs a makeover hit Blue Jackets defenceman Adam McQuaid, who was injured on the "I have collected more memorabilia in the last six weeks than I have in play. Shaw got two minutes for interference. the last 28 years and it's from players that have sent down sticks, signed "John Tortorella wanted a major. Claude [Julien] wanted no penalty and jerseys for me and teams that have had their jerseys made up with my said McQuaid had embellished it. Torts heard and he went nuts. Claude name and number. It’s been pretty cool. It does mean a lot." called me over at the first commercial time out of the second period and presented Driscoll with a Leafs sweater with his told me to tell Torts he apologizes for his comments. So I did. name on it signed by some current players and Darryl Sittler, who was “The next commercial timeout Torts called me over and tells me to tell his favourite player growing up. It was a No. 27 sweater, Sittler's number. Claude that it's not him he has to apologize to, it's his injured player. So I Did any gift catch Driscoll off guard? did. The next time out, Claude calls me over to tell me to tell Torts he will come down personally after the game. The next period Torts calls me "The one that totally caught me by surprise was from [Golden Knights' over and says, 'Tell Claude we all say things we regret.' He had the president] George McPhee, who popped down in Vegas with a gold puck biggest s--t-eating grin on his face. I told Claude and they both looked at to present to me and that kind of floored me." each other and gave a little nod." McPhee is from Guelph where Driscoll and his family have lived since he The biggest stages got the NHL gig. The league requires its officials to live within 100 miles of a major airport, which necessitated the move. Driscoll pretty much did it all during his career. By 1996 he was already on the international stage working at the World Cup. Driscoll made his "The joke is I’m going to have to redo the man cave, because at my NHL playoff debut later that season, but it took another eight years house there actually isn't that much memorabilia. I'm actually a before he was ready for the biggest stage of all: the Stanley Cup Finals. passionate World War II historian, so there's more World War II stuff in my house." "To reach the pinnacle is a great feeling and you never forget those," he said. Military man Driscoll also got the nod to work the Finals in 2007 and, as previously Driscoll's interest in the Second World War was sparked by a family noted, 2014. connection. I asked Driscoll what makes a good linesman. "My uncle, a really quiet, unassuming, kind man from my hometown of Seaforth, landed on the beach on D-Day. He was in the Canadian Army "Being in the right place at the right time and knowing what to look at," he and one of the 15,000 men that went ashore on D-Day and I didn't find said. "When we have a younger official, who was a player and makes the that out until 20 years ago. I had always been interested in it, but that transition, they get very puck-focused and the thing you have to do as a sparked it." linesman is almost see the play on the periphery. When you think about it, there's usually two guys maybe three, battling for the puck, so there's Driscoll attended the Medal of Honor Society's Gala held in Tampa Bay seven other guys out there doing stuff and quite often that's where things last October. The Medal of Honor is the highest award for an individual get missed." serving in the United States Armed Services. It's given for valor in action against an enemy force. Humble roots An annual convention began several years ago to bring together How did Driscoll get into officiating? surviving recipients for a time of reflection and commiseration. The 46 "I was 12 years-old and a lady, who was the local assigner for officiating, attending Medal of Honor recipients were honoured on the ice before the came to myself and a couple of my friends and asked if we'd be Penguins-Lightning game on Oct 23. Driscoll worked the game and was interested in getting into officiating. It was a rural town and we didn't have able to attend the gala a couple nights later. a lot of young officials." "The chance to meet one of the two surviving Medal of Honor recipients, Woody Williams, at that event was incredible." What's next? Driscoll has reached out to some Ontario university teams about assistant coaching positions. He'd also be interested in getting involved on the development side with amateur officials in Ontario. "My dream job would be to do World War II tours over in Normandy ... that would be my dream job, run two or three small trips a year to Normandy and pass on the knowledge I've accrued in the last 20 years." At some point, Driscoll wants to bring Tortorella, whose son is a U.S. Army Ranger, to Normandy. You can bet Driscoll will be back in Europe sooner than later. "It was surreal to be over there this past year for the 75th anniversary of D-Day and seeing the ceremonies. People come up and when they find out your Canadian, they thank you and it's a real great feeling. It's something you can't describe."

TSN.CA LOADED: 04.09.2020 1173597 World Leagues News

Coronavirus in sport: Premier League launch charity fund

By Sajith B Warrier Published: Thursday, April 9, 2020, 10:52 [IST]

Bengaluru, April 9: Premier League footballers have switched into a damage control mode by launching a fund to raise money for National Health Service (NHS) charities to help tackle the coronavirus outbreak. With the Premier League at a standstill, the players have been criticised in the British media over the last week for resisting calls from the clubs to accept wage deferrals and cuts to reduce wage bills. The players union, however, questioned the call for a 30 per cent player wage reduction, saying it would reduce tax revenue for Britain's NHS. The union said that the players wanted to ensure their contributions supported the clubs they play for, non-playing staff, lower league clubs and the NHS. Tottenham and England captain Harry Kane and Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson were among the players to tweet a statement with the hashtag #Playerstogether. "We can confirm that after extensive conversations between a huge number of players from all Premier League clubs, we've created our own collective player initiative, #PlayersTogether," said the statement. It added that it would partner with NHS Charities Together (NHSCT), which represents over 140 NHS charities, to "assist them in generating and distributing funds quickly and efficiently to where they are needed most." The statement added: "#PlayersTogether is about we, as players, collaborating together to create a voluntary initiative, separate to any other club and league conversations, that can help get much-needed funds to those that need it right now." Earlier, the England's Football Association (FA) had announced also up to 30 per cent temporary pay cuts for its highest earners and proposed staff paid more than £50,000 yearly accept a reduction to mitigate financial issues caused the coronavirus pandemic. FA announces pay cut This is despite the Professional Footballers' Association's claim that essential public services would lose important revenue if players take the 30 per cent pay cut proposed by Premier League clubs. myKhel.com LOADED: 04.09.2020 1173598 World Leagues News

NBA, ESPN could hold H.O.R.S.E. tournament in absence of live sports due to coronavirus by JESSIE KARANGU | Sinclair Broadcast GroupWednesday, April 8th 2020

WASHINGTON (SBG) -- The NBA and ESPN are in negotiations to broadcast a H.O.R.S.E. competition which will involve current NBA and WNBA players as well as recent NBA alumni, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowksi. Players would compete in their home gyms while in isolation due to the spread of coronavirus around the world. Each participant would shoot a wacky, unique shot that they believe their opponent would not be able to score. The goal is for the loser to miss five shots against their opponent which would spell out the word "horse." Most recently, the NBA held a H.O.R.S.E. competition in 2009 and 2010 but it has not been a staple event for the league since the 1970's. Circumstances have changed due to the stoppage of play which began on March 12 after Utah Jazz player Rudy Gobert tested positive for coronavirus. Chris Paul of the Oklahoma City Thunder, Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks and Zach LaVine of the are among the possible participants, ESPN reports. It is unknown when this competition will actually take place and whether it will air on television live or pre- recorded. The NBA isn't the only league adjusting their events due to coronavirus concerns. NBC Sports reports the NFL will hold their draft virtually with a combined broadcast on ESPN and the NFL Network that will be based out of ESPN's studios in Bristol, Connecticut. Buffalo Wild Wings is also trying to fill the void of live sports by holding a H.O.R.S.E. tournament of its own featuring two viral social media users. The broadcast will air on the restaurant's Twitch channel, according to Mobile Marketer. Sinclair Broadcast Group LOADED: 04.09.2020 1173599 World Leagues News Running Man. We don’t need Mortal Kombat. What we need is to grow the hell up and wait this out.

thenation.com LOADED: 04.09.2020 The Plans to Bring Sports Back Are Truly Dystopian

By Dave ZirinTwitterYESTERDAY 11:41 AM

In Stephen King’s The Running Man, the masses in a near-future dystopia are entertained by a hellish live-action death match where alleged “criminals” have to escape a gauntlet of “good guys,” or be killed in the process. It’s the most popular show in a broken world defined by rampant decay. We have not reached Running Man levels yet in the post-coronavirus sports world, but it seems like various sports commissioners want to give it their best shot. The Trump-encouraged plans to start play would create an apocalyptic funhouse where athletes (workers) risk their lives as diversion for the subjects of a flailing empire. The specific ideas being bandied about are as cruel as they are bizarre, with no concern for either public health or the well-being of those running these virus-infused gauntlets. Take Ultimate Fighting. UFC’s war chief Dana White has a plan to use an unnamed private island as a site for family-friendly combat. He also, according to The New York Times, has an almost unthinkable planned venue for a fight on April 18—a Native American reservation in California. By staging this match there, White is able to skirt California’s statewide shelter-in-place laws. He said: I’m ready to get back. You keep people in their houses for too long without entertainment, people are going to start losing their minds. Dana White is a dear friend of Donald Trump, who is also thirsting for the diversion that sports provide. Anything to take the focus from his disastrous handling of this pandemic. In Major League Baseball, commissioner Rob Manfred is shepherding a brazenly irresponsible plan to start in early May. The blueprint is to sequester players for four and a half months from friends and family and play all their games in the Spring Training parks of Arizona, which should hit 120 degrees in the shade by July. (I’m sure management will remind them that it’s a dry heat.) As one Mets player said to the New York Post, “It’s the desert. Stuff doesn’t live there, it dies there.” Their only travel would be to and from the stadiums. The ideas about how to maintain social distancing strain credulity. Meetings on the mound between pitcher and catcher would be forbidden. Players would sit in the stands at a safe distance from one another, instead of the dugout. In addition, umpires would be positioned six feet away from every base, with an electronic strike zone in use to further keep everyone at a good safe space. No word yet if you can tag someone out at a distance of six feet. MLB is conjuring this plan alongside the union, which must make Marvin Miller do the Triple Lindy in his grave. Rob Manfred and the billionaire bosses also have the go ahead from “federal officials” to execute this, which in the context of Trump must be seen as motivated by impulses both politicized and corrupt. They certainly aren’t inspired by public health, not if they’re backing this. And Lord knows what the NFL is brewing in its Park Avenue offices to put the players on the field. A league that has shown it cares little for the health of its players won’t hesitate to put them out there with two Advil and a prayer. The NBA seems to be the only league with its head on straight. One general manager said to ESPN, [NBA Commissioner] Adam [Silver] was the first to close, and that resonates. We’re not going to be the first to open and have it be a disaster. As Silver himself said, The fact is now, sitting here today, I know less than I did then, and I think in some ways, just as I listen to the public health experts and the people advising us, the virus is potentially moving faster than maybe we thought at that point, so maybe it will peak earlier. What that means, in terms of our ability to come back at some point, whether it be in late spring or early summer, is unknown to me. What a curious idea: having the virus, not the needs of billionaires and chummy unions, determine the timeline of returning to the field. We don’t need bread and circuses. We don’t need distractions. We don’t need The 1173600 World Leagues News Cheyenne Frontier Days in Wyoming’s capital city will carry on as planned in 2020.

“If we were going to play the world series, traditionally like we have done Iconic sports cities turn eerie during coronavirus shutdown for many, many years, we need to be playing and picking teams by the middle of June,” said Little League President Stephen Keener, who has yet to set a drop-dead date for deciding whether the season-ending By Associated Press tournament will be held in its usual August slot. Cheyenne Frontier Days, billed as the “Daddy of ’em all,” has celebrated the cowboy way of life for 123 consecutive years. In 2019, it drew more They are cities defined by iconic sporting events. than a quarter-million people to what is essentially a supersized county fair, a mix of rodeo events, musical acts, artery-busting food and carnival When Augusta comes up, one instantly thinks of the Masters. If Omaha rides stretching over 10 days in July. is mentioned, it’s often in the same breath with the College World Series. It’s hard to imagine Louisville without the Kentucky Derby. For now, Frontier Days remains on the calendar. In the coming weeks, The Associated Press will look at those cities and But the countdown clock on the festival’s web site is a stark reminder that others like them — from Williamsport to Oklahoma City to Cheyenne — time is running out on a festival that generated nearly $28 million for the to examine how the shutdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic is an county a year ago. . especially wrenching blow. “Through all the wars, through the depression, we’ve never missed a “This is who we are,” said Jason Fink, the chamber of commerce year,” lamented CEO Tom Hirsig, whose event is scheduled from July president in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, which has been synonymous 17-26. “It certainly wouldn’t be the end of Cheyenne Frontier Days, but it with the Little League World Series since it was founded in 1947. could change the face of it to miss a year.” They can certainly relate to that sentiment in Augusta. Augusta National, which includes some of the world’s wealthiest and most influential people among its members, can weather the pandemic’s The Masters got its start in 1934 on the grounds of a former nursery and financial impact better than most sports institutions. the golf tournament is usually held the first full week of April. But it’s going to be a much tougher blow for those outside the gates, who This week, the city looks like a ghost town. rely on the Masters to provide a huge boost to their bottom lines. It Augusta National Golf Club is all locked up. Washington Road, which remains to be seen how many will still be around in November to reap should’ve been teeming with cars and commerce and humanity, is the benefits of a rescheduled tournament. desolate instead. The Masters is even more intertwined with the local community because A tradition unlike any other has become a year unlike any since the end of all the private homes that are rented out to handle the huge influx of of World II. tournament spectators, sponsors and media who descend on Augusta each year — far more than can be handled by the limited hotel space. No ticket brokers offering to buy and sell the coveted badges. No long lines trying to land a table at TBonz steakhouse. This is usually a week when thousands of locals head for the beach or take a cruise. “It’s a big hiccup,” said Mark Cumins, who co-founded TBonz in 1985 and serves up a who’s who of golfers, athletes and celebrities during Masters Now, most everyone is stuck at home. week. “It’s not going to destroy us, but it hurts.” Sports — and some of its most iconic cities — have gone dark. While the Masters has been rescheduled for November, it won’t be quite LOADED: 04.09.2020 the same. Another event seeping in tradition, the Kentucky Derby is headed for quite a shakeup — assuming it actually gets to the starting gate. The Run For The Roses is usually held on the first Saturday of May. Because of the pandemic, hold those mint juleps until Labor Day weekend, when the first leg of the Triple Crown is crammed into a slot that also marks the start of college football season. Not so fortunate: the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska and the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City, both of which have already been wiped from the 2020 calendar. The NCAA Division I baseball championship has been decided in Omaha for the past 70 years. The eight-team tournament is such a part of the city’s identity that $100 million TD Ameritrade Park was constructed a decade ago in exchange for a 25-year promise not to move the event. Rich Tokheim’s sports apparel shop is right across the street from the 24,000-seat stadium, which is dark most of the year other than the occasional local college game played before sparse crowds. More than half Tokheim’s annual revenue comes from those 11 or 12 days when the CWS is held each June. “We’re here because of the College World Series,” he said. “It’s just so many people.” Oklahoma City will feel a similar blow in late May and early June, when it was supposed to host the Division I tournament for the 30th time. To accommodate what were expected to be record crowds, USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium underwent a 4,000-seat expansion that raised its capacity to about 13,000. All the new seats were already sold out. Turns out, they won’t be needed this year. Other prominent events are still clinging to the hope of being held. But each day of mounting deaths tolls and millions of people locked down in their homes makes it increasingly unlikely that either the Little League World Series — actually played in South Williamsport — or the 1173601 World Leagues News

Coronavirus: Concern has grown among NFL coaches and staff about logistics of 2020 NFL Draft, per report

Bryan DeArdo

The coronavirus pandemic has created another obstacle for the NFL as it relates to the 2020 NFL Draft, which has not been postponed and will be conducted virtually. Over the past several days, a concern has grown amongst certain certain coaches and other NFL staff members about IT employees entering their homes for fear of spreading the virus, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. Certain IT employees are also concerned about entering the homes of NFL coaches and staff members. NFL coaches and front office members have been working remotely from home for the last several weeks after NFL commissioner Roger Goodell prohibited them from being able to go to their facilities due to the COVID- 19 pandemic. The issues surrounding this year's draft have been a hot-button topic after the NFL decided not to postpone the draft to give teams more time to evaluate prospects. The NFL's general manager subcommittee unanimously recommended to Goodell to push back the start of the draft, Schefter and fellow ESPN NFL insider Dianna Russini reported late last month. Earlier this week, it was Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert who reportedly proposed that each team receive three more picks in this year's draft. With no college pro days and in-person meetings, NFL teams have been reduced to interviewing prospects virtually. When asked about the effectiveness of these meetings, Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa recently said that it can be "very difficult" when trying to answer questions. "Some of the content that the coaches try to teach you or try to show you, you can't really see it as good sometimes," Tagovailoa told NFL Network's Steve Wyche. There's also been questions regarding the execution of the first-ever remote draft, as Ravens head coach John Harbaugh recently expressed his concern over the possibility of an all-virtual draft getting "hacked." In response to this, the league plans to have a 32-team "mock draft" to iron out any issues before the actual draft kicks off later this month. The draft is currently slated to start on Thursday, April 23. CBS Sports LOADED: 04.09.2020 1173602 World Leagues News In theory, the strategy could work if players adhered to extreme restrictions. In reality, health experts say, it represents a high-stakes gamble. Is bringing back sports during coronavirus realistic or safe? We asked the “Even professional athletes who test negative for COVID-19 with regular experts testing could be false positives and could get sick,” said Summer Johnson McGee, dean of the School of Health Sciences at the University of New Haven in Connecticut. By DAVID WHARTONSTAFF WRITER The risk is amplified by the nature of athletic competition. There is no room for social distancing amid constant physical contact in football and basketball. Baseball has its tradition of players spitting and managers Football has been on Larry Chang’s mind the last few days. He cannot arguing, nose-to-nose, with umpires. help thinking about his Baltimore Ravens and the return of games this fall. “It’s not just the games,” Chang said. “Every practice is a high-risk transmission event.” “I’m a huge NFL fan,” he said, musing about the team’s star quarterback. “I want to see Lamar Jackson back on the field.” On a practical level, the Johns Hopkins doctor wonders about a player testing negative before kickoff, then showing symptoms of the virus the But as an infectious disease specialist at Johns Hopkins School of following morning. Medicine, in the city where the Ravens play, Chang asks an important question: “Is that realistic?” “Technically,” he said, “all those people who played in the football game should be quarantined for 14 days.” There has been a lot of talk about the return of sports to a nation yearning for some hint of normalcy amid the coronavirus pandemic. A single, undetected case of coronavirus could multiply into infections across the league. Major League Baseball has discussed quarantining all 30 of its teams in Arizona, keeping players, coaches and staff in a virus-free BioDome “The potential of illness or even death among elite athletes is something facsimile and holding games in empty ballparks. The Ultimate Fighting that professional sports leagues should not risk,” McGee said. Championship reportedly has scheduled bouts on tribal land in Central California, and its president, Dana White, has floated the idea of staging Though people who are young and fit appear more likely to be subsequent bouts on a sequestered island. asymptomatic or recover from COVID-19 without serious consequence, there is still potential danger. Research of the Spanish Flu of 1918 has Even President Trump has weighed in, envisioning packed grandstands shown that when a healthy immune system overreacts to infection, the in late summer, saying, “I want fans back in the arenas.” resulting autoimmune disorders can be more harmful than the disease itself. But Chang isn’t the only one who worries about resuming play, even with no spectators. He and other public health experts fear it would be a risky “Sometimes the most strapping people are the ones who have the proposition if the outbreak persists or, as some expect, recedes during strongest immune response,” said Jackson of UCLA. “It was immune summer and reappears in fall. response that killed so many people in 1918, not the virus.” “I would be very nervous about having any sports, whether it’s football or :: basketball or even baseball,” said Dr. Richard Jackson, a former CDC official and professor emeritus at UCLA’s Fielding School of Public For all their concerns, experts see a couple of paths back to the playing Health. field. Jackson dismisses the idea that professional athletes, young and fit, hold The development of a reliable treatment would make COVID-19 both less some kind of “get out of jail free card” when it comes to the coronavirus. dangerous and less onerous to the healthcare system. Just as useful, extensive serologic testing could identify players who possess antibodies “This is not just the plain-old flu,” he says. to fight off the virus. :: “Professional athletes who have COVID-19 antibodies playing against other athletes with those antibodies would present zero risk,” McGee Setting aside any qualms about sports in a time of pandemic — the said. “This might limit rosters somewhat significantly, but at least games example it might set for a populace asked to shelter in place, the use of could resume for some teams.” scarce testing resources on otherwise healthy, millionaire athletes — fans might be tantalized by recent news from South Korea. Such testing could also trigger what Chang calls “a perverse incentive.” As widespread testing flattens the curve of reported cases in that A player who has immunity would become more valuable to his team; a country, pro baseball has resumed training and intrasquad scrimmages, third-stringer could vault into the starting lineup by way of the required with the Korean Baseball Organization’s 10 teams inching toward an antibodies. He could develop those antibodies by surviving the disease. opening day next month. “If I’m a player and I’m healthy, I might think about that,” Chang said. “I Players are constantly checked for symptoms and body temperature. might say, ‘What the hell, let me get infected with coronavirus and I’ll be Stadiums remain shuttered. Even one reported case of COVID-19 could one of the privileged few.’” bring the experiment to an abrupt halt. The prospect frightens Jackson. The LG Twins play an intrasquad scrimmage with no spectators present April 5 in Seoul. “The damage this virus does to the lungs is substantial,” he said. “You’re not going to be running a 9.5-second dash after having pneumonia from In the U.S., where testing is far less prevalent, the process would be coronavirus.” more complex. But the allure of sport, especially now, could prompt leagues to continue A league could gather all of its players, coaches and staff, testing searching for a way back. The money involved — millions in player everyone to ensure a virus-free community. Teams could live in contracts, billions in broadcast rights — only boosts the incentive. designated hotels or dormitories, remaining isolated from the public, venturing outside only to practice and compete in sequestered ballparks. As a fan and a doctor, Chang understands the conflicting motivations. Games could be televised to a home-bound nation eager for diversion. “There is really no way you can have sports without increasing the risk,” Top league executives believe ratings could reach levels not seen since he said. “But it may be that our society decides it’s a risk worth taking.” the pre-digital era. Los Angeles Times LOADED: 04.09.2020 Major League Baseball officials have identified such a plan as “one potential option” for salvaging a season that was supposed to begin last month. They also added a disclaimer. “The health and safety of our employees, players, fans and the public at large are paramount, and we are not ready at this time to endorse any particular format for staging games in light of the rapidly changing public health situation caused by the coronavirus,” MLB’s statement read. 1173603 World Leagues News

Coronavirus Has 2020 College Football Season, NCAA's Future Up In Air

Christopher Walsh 13 hours ago this, is there?" As the coronavirus pandemic threatens the college football season, administrators and experts explain the options and why the current NCAA system could hang in the balance If the coronavirus leads to a major downturn in the college football economy, then what? Sports Illustrated writers Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) and Pat Forde (@ByPatForde) sought answers for the far-reaching implications. They asked two dozen administrators and industry experts to answer four pressing college sports questions. What they found was that the impact of the novel coronavirus to the NCAA's cash cow, football, could spell sweeping changes to the landscape of college athletics. The financial fallout of a shortened or canceled football season could be devastating for college athletics as as whole. "Football allows us to have these other sports." With NCAA canceling all sports for the remaining school year, college football was saved by having its championship in January. However, with schools closed, and state officials still keeping bans on large gatherings, can college football see a push back on its September start date? "If they have to start football in a blizzard in January, they’re going to do it." Did you notice? • If you haven't seen Forde's ultra-sarcastic column ripping Mike Gundy's approach to the coronavirus, we strongly recommend it. • Tom Brady did a super-long sit-down interview with Howard Stern, durning which he opened up about a lot things including leaving the Patriots, he skipped OTAs the past couple of years because of his wife Gisele, and the quarterback claimed he does not care about his legacy. • According to a report, 88% of athletic directors support expanding the College Football Playoff. The lighter side ... Two-time NBA champion Ray Allen took to social media and shared how he is spending his time during the quarantine period. The Hall of Fame player posted a photo of himself balding. "! For those of you that don’t know I have cut my own hair my whole life," Allen said in his instagram post. "So it’s been hard not to put the clippers to it but when I look back at these pics I will remember Rona! Lol. " Allen went on to challenge LeBron James to post a picture of his current hairline. si.com/ LOADED: 04.09.2020 1173604 World Leagues News “The core issues for us is our landlords,” he said. “If we can’t cut new lease deals, I don’t know if we’ll survive. Even if we can, we’d need to rely on some real help from our vendors. But it’s not worth even having Licensed sports industry hit hard by coronavirus pandemic those conversations if we can’t get our leases redone — and I’m pretty sure we come behind Starbucks and Apple stores for mall owners.”

Sports Business Journal LOADED: 04.09.2020 By Terry Lefton

Over 10 agonizing days in March, Lids shut all 1,100 of its mall-based stores in North America, furloughing more than 8,500 employees. With no end in sight to the sports shutdown catalyzed by the coronavirus, the outlook for the nation’s largest brick-and-mortar retailer of licensed sports products hasn’t improved. Reflecting the misery across the $15 billion licensed sports industry, Lids has ceased paying rent, and stopped paying its vendors. There are fewer than 10 employees remaining. Lawrence Berger, co-founder and partner at Ames Watson, which acquired Lids in February 2019, is anxiously hoping malls will reopen in June. Even then, “I’m pretty sure people will still go into malls and buy sunglasses from Sunglass Hut,” he said. “Are they going to come into Lids and buy a sports cap if the NBA or NHL seasons have been canceled, and maybe MLB’s?” Lids’ vendors, including the likely manufacturer of that sports cap, are similarly distressed. Last week saw layoffs or furloughs at most of the biggest sports-licensed product brands, including ’47 Brand, Mitchell & Ness, New Era, Outerstuff and WinCraft, along with Lids. In some cases, even the very buyers of licensed products for pro team venues have been laid off. Photo/collectibles licensee Photofile, a 33- year-old company, was in a precarious position before the virus-induced shutdown. Industry sources say it has now closed its doors. Seasonal slowdown If there’s a wholesale order for licensed sports products in this quarter that hasn’t been canceled yet, it’s a mistake. The best case scenario is that the industry has lost only an entire quarter of sales, though this time of year is relatively slow for licensed sports. “None of us could plan for all of our retail and sports being shut down simultaneously,” said Fanatics Executive Chairman Michael Rubin, who averred that his company will not be furloughing its 2,500 office, factory and warehouse/fulfillment personnel. “The industry is effectively frozen. It’s a double negative for all of us, and you have to believe that malls will be back and open before sports are.” Fanatics would not comment on whether its staffers were taking salary cuts. With the new quarter beginning, payments to big licensors including the NFL are due. Few, if any of those, are being paid. The NFL has told its licensees that they can pay in July. It’s more likely that most of those won’t be paid if and when the NFL season opens. “For now, I don’t know of a single licensee paying any league or any of their vendors,” said a licensing executive at one of biggest selling properties in sports. Added a longtime NFL licensee, “For the NFL to suggest that, because they are in their regular league year, that all their agreements are expected to be fulfilled, is just fanciful. We’re all in distress.” WinCraft furloughed 600 of its 650 workers at its Winona, Minn., plant, after that state issued its “stay at home” order on March 25. “None of us caused this,” said WinCraft President/CEO John Killen. “This is not something any of us could have ever predicted or planned for — it’s how we deal with it that will count. I find some solace in that, as we contend with all of this.” Shrinking retail locations At some point, sports will come back, the recession will ease and licensed products will begin to sell again. But where? The retail distribution footprint for licensed sports goods was already shrinking, and Modell’s said last month that it was shutting its remaining 153 locations — before almost anyone in America knew what COVID-19 was. What condition retail will be in, post-coronavirus, and which, if any, licensees fail to survive this dark period will dictate what the new order will be. It could look considerably different. Berger, for example, is uncertain how many Lids stores — if any — will reopen, and he’s concerned about malls in China reopening there, post-corona, with a 20- 30% reduction in foot traffic. 1173605 World Leagues News

Will fans be scared to attend games when sports return after coronavirus pandemic? New study shows alarming results

By Joe Giglio

Now this is a major problem for professional sports. Eventually, social restrictions will be lifted in America and across the world. Science will catch up to the coronavirus, and life will resume. But that doesn’t mean things will go completely back to normal right away. According to a study from Scout 360 Horizon Media, more than half of sports fans won’t feel comfortable in a stadium when things return to normal. Bad news for sports leagues: 60% of fans won’t feel comfortable going to a sporting event for at least a couple months after getting an “all clear,” according to new Scout 360-Horizon Media study @Scoutsande @HorizonMedia #SportsBiz — Scott Soshnick (@soshnick) April 7, 2020 This, of course, is understandable. The longer that social distancing and restrictions stay in place, the more “normal” will feel odd to go back to when the time comes. Plus, it’s not going to be easy to convince people that safe is actually safe vs. an invisible enemy. Unlike when 9/11 changed the world and new security measures were put into place, we won’t be able to see protection from the coronavirus when experts tell us to go back to normal. It will have to be a trust thing, and that can take time. The good news for owners of sports teams: Respondents to this study cited months, not years before being ready to come back. Fans are, well, fanatical. If the perceived threat of this virus and pandemic wanes over the next six months to a year, people will be eager to get back to some sense of normalcy. That includes attending events, especially sporting events. Eventually (and hopefully) a vaccine will arrive for COVID-19, and this will be past our society. We’ll all be able to walk into a stadium for a game again like it was 2019, and not think twice about it. But until then, some will be wary of going into large crowds. I know I will, and think that feeling is perfectly normal for fans to experience. silive.com LOADED: 04.09.2020 1173606 World Leagues News can’t we have a break on that for a while?’ Everything is dependent on football."

USA TODAY LOADED: 04.09.2020 Temporary changes in college sports may be needed due to coronavirus, athletic directors survey indicates

Steve Berkowitz

A new survey of major-college athletic directors indicates that some have interest in short-term changes to the pay of highly compensated employees and to the NCAA’s academic rules as their programs deal with impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. The survey’s overall picture of college sports’ current financial landscape — including the prospect of a disrupted football season — has some athletic directors also wondering about a temporary change in the NCAA’s requirement that Football Bowl Subdivision schools have at least 16 varsity teams, the leader of the AD’s organization that co-sponsored the survey said in an interview with USA TODAY. Forty percent of respondents said they believe, or strongly believe, that “high earners should voluntarily offer to make a personal financial sacrifice during this crisis,” according to results unveiled Thursday by the LEAD1 Association, which represents athletic directors at the NCAA’s 130 FBS schools, and Teamworks, which provides internal communications software for many college sports programs. Forty-five percent of respondents said they were neutral on his notion. The survey was taken last week. On Tuesday, NCAA president Mark Emmert informed the membership that he and other top executives of the association are taking 20% pay cuts. Wednesday evening, Iowa State AD Jamie Pollard announced a one-year temporary pay cut for coaches and certain staff, as well as a one-year suspension of incentive bonuses for all coaches. In addition, Wyoming AD Tom Burman said on Twitter that he will be taking a 10% salary cut through Dec. 31. The new survey also showed that nearly 90% of the respondents said that academic progress is one of their top three concerns for their athletes over the next three months, an outcome that shows possible sentiment for a temporary change in the NCAA’s academic-progress regulations as campus closures have moved all students into distance learning. The survey provided other insight into FBS programs’ financial situations: ►Nearly 70% of respondents said their worst-case scenarios for the 2019-20 fiscal year involved a revenue decrease of no more than 20%. ►But more than 60% of respondents said their worst-case scenarios for the 2020-21 fiscal year involved a revenue decrease of at least 20%, including 35% who said their worst-case involved a decrease of more than 30%. That’s without knowing whether the football season will be impacted. ►More than 55% of respondents said their programs do not have a financial reserve to help them through this situation. The 15-question survey was conducted electronically from March 23 through March 27, and 111 AD’s responded, according to LEAD1. Of that group, 48 were from schools in the Power Five conferences, 62 from schools in the Group of Five (one did not indicate a classification). That means the number of respondents skewed somewhat toward lower- revenue schools. Respondents did not have to answer every question, and no question was answered by more than 100 respondents. LEAD1 President and CEO Tom McMillen highlighted athletic directors' concern about athletes’ academic progress. While he said his organization was not yet advocating for temporary changes to NCAA academic rules, he said online-only class situations, combined with disruption to normal academic-support routines and some schools’ increased use of pass-fail grading for the spring semester “changes the whole calculus” of the NCAA’s Academic Performance Rate system. The APR measures the academic eligibility and retention of athletes. Teams must meet a benchmark to be eligible for postseason play. The NCAA also has rules that require athletes to make various rates of progress toward their degrees with certain minimum grade-point averages. On the broader financial picture, McMillen said: “Folks are torn between the mission of college sports — providing as many broad-based opportunities to participate as possible — and the business side, relative to making budgets balance. Some of them are saying, ‘Sixteen sports — 1173607 World Leagues News “I’m super proud of this team,” said Dave Wheeler, an executive vice president at New Balance. “They’ve put in 18- to 20-hour days solely because the passion is there to fight the battle, and we have the With Games Paused, Sports Companies Shift to Making Medical capability.” Supplies Wheeler said he and his technicians have consulted with physicians at Massachusetts General and Brigham and Women’s Hospitals, along with experts at Harvard and M.I.T. to expeditiously produce the best possible By David Waldstein masks. They have retrofitted some machinery and fabrics from their sneaker production, but are also working with new materials, including nonwoven, At a pub in London last month, shortly before Britain ordered its citizens melt-blown fabrics. Those could help New Balance to provide N95 to stay home, a small group of life savers shared drinks. It included masks, which block 95 percent of airborne particles that are 0.3 microns Rebecca Shipley, a professor of health care engineering at University or larger, and can be used in emergency rooms. College London, her U.C.L. colleague, Tim Baker, a former racecar engineer, and some intensive care unit physicians. In Charlotte, N.C., TheMagic5, a fairly new company that produces goggles for competitive swimmers, has been sending custom-built On the agenda that night was a discussion to devise methods of handling goggles at cost ($15) to several dozen emergency medical workers, the deluge of patients infected by Covid-19. The doctors said that the nurses and doctors in New York after they send the company scans of most critical items needed were mechanical ventilators and continuous their faces. The project is in the early stages, but the initial testing positive airway pressure machines, or CPAPs. suggests the goggles can be worn by health care professionals for long stretches without pain, adjustment or fogging up. Baker instantly knew where to turn. In another life he had designed engines for the Jordan Racing team (now Racing Point), a team in “I was thinking, how bad would I feel if we didn’t help, if we didn’t even Formula One racing. He knew that Formula One teams trained in shaving test whether they could work,” said Rasmus Barfred, a triathlete and one milliseconds off their race times are capable of producing extremely high of the company’s founders, who lives in New York. “I think a lot of people quality machinery in a remarkably short span. in sports think that way, too.” The next day, March 25, Baker met with two engineers from Mercedes- While much of the sports world has focused on producing gear that AMG Petronas, the leading Formula One team, based in the British protects medical personnel, the Formula One effort, nicknamed Project Midlands. They had lunch, then worked through the night on a new Pitlane, is aimed at helping patients. Covid-19 can cause severe design for CPAP machines that could be produced rapidly. breathing difficulty in its worst cases, but the CPAP machines could help keep people off the ventilators, which are in short supply. Within 100 hours of the initial pub meeting they had a prototype in hand, and within 10 days they had first regulatory approval from the British According to Shipley, the U.C.L. medical engineer, data from Italy and government to begin production. China shows that patients who use CPAP machines soon after infection are 50 to 60 percent less likely to need a more invasive ventilator, which “We are approaching 200 already in circulation,” Baker said in a also requires sedation. telephone interview from London, “and we have the go-ahead to produce 300 a day for a week and then 1,000 every day.” CPAP machines pump a continuous flow of air through a mask to keep a patient’s airway from narrowing. The Mercedes and U.C.L engineers are Like Mercedes, other Formula One teams are working long hours to still perfecting air flow pressure to minimize oxygen loss as air travels accelerate the production of much-needed ventilators, and across through the new CPAP machines. But that is exactly the kind of athletics many sporting goods manufacturers are repurposing their engineering challenge that Formula One teams excel at, often making factory floors and lending their equipment, material and know-how in a modifications from week to week on their cars through the use of state- widening team effort to fight Covid-19. of-the-art machinery at their headquarters. “Our company culture is an athletic mind-set,” said Ed Kinnaly, the chief “I’ve been utterly bowled over by them,” Shipley said of the Mercedes executive of Bauer hockey equipment, which is making face shields for engineers. “They’ve been phenomenal, not only with the commitment, medical personnel. “Our employees viewed this challenge of beating this but in the speed and quality of what they’ve done for us.” virus like beating a competitor.” While Mercedes focuses on the CPAP, engineers from the other teams in Bauer, and its sister companies Cascade and Maverik, are based in Britain, including Haas, McLaren, Racing Point, Red Bull, Renault and Liverpool, N.Y., and in Blainville, Quebec. Their factories normally Williams, continue work on the mechanical ventilators, conferring and produce Bauer’s hockey skates, helmets and face shields as well as collaborating like never before. lacrosse equipment. But now they are turning out larger plastic face shields, similar to welding masks, to be used by hospital workers as extra “I’ve probably spoken to my opposite number at our competitors more protection against splatter that could contain the contagion. times in the last two weeks than I have in the last 12 months,” said James Colgate, the operations director at Williams. “The whole grid has Kinnaly said one of his engineers approached him last month with the come together to help support this project.” idea. A design was created, the machinery adjusted and soon after production was underway. The company began by making about 3,000 Much of their work is aimed at helping the ventilator manufacturers scale units per week at each location and, as the work force grows more up production at least tenfold — from 25 to 250 per week — and perhaps familiar with the process, Kinnaly hopes to ramp up production to 70,000 soon after by a factor of 100. Colgate explained that mechanical per week by the end of April. ventilators are the size of a shoe box, with 800 parts, some of them tiny; but not as complex as a Formula One car. They are not alone. In Lawrence, Mass., the New Balance athletic shoe company is making cloth face masks for doctors, nurses and hospital “It’s in the DNA of motor sports to find solutions quickly and we are staff. Just outside of Oxford, England, the ROKiT Williams Racing team fiercely competitive,” Colgate said. “Now we are just focusing our has joined with several other Formula One teams to produce ventilators competitive spirit on this instead. Doing it quickly and safely is what and in Easton, Pa., Fanatics, a company that normally makes baseball Formula One is good at.” uniforms, is using that fabric — pinstripes and all — to manufacture masks and gowns. Last week, the New England Patriots sent one of its The New York Times LOADED: 04.09.2020 team jets to China to bring back 1.2 million of the desperately needed N95 protective masks while many other sporting goods companies and teams also contribute to the effort. And it is not just sports. Several other industries, including fashion houses like Prada, Gucci and Eddie Bauer, and perfumeries like Dior and Givenchy, shifted their factory production toward medical supplies and hand sanitizer for the battle against the coronavirus. In many cases the stories are similar: As people in the Western Hemisphere became increasingly aware of the shortage of vital medical equipment like ventilators, and masks, which help health care professionals guard against infection, people at those companies realized they could help.