News Clips Oct. 3, 2018

Columbus Blue Jackets PAGE 02: Columbus Dispatch: Coach, players like look of season-opening roster PAGE 03: Columbus Dispatch: Blue Jackets notebook: Winger Cam Atkinson set for healthy start PAGE 04: The Athletic: Forward Thinking: Blue Jackets plan to use their offensive depth as a weapon

Cleveland Monsters/Prospects

NHL/Websites PAGE 07: TSN.CA: Post 2 Post: Ranking the NHL's top starting goalies PAGE 10: The Athletic: Down Goes Brown: Your overreaction guide to the first few games of the NHL season PAGE 15: Sportsnet.ca: Sportsnet's 2019 NHL Draft Prospect Rankings: October PAGE 19: Times: On NHL Seattle timeline, sooner is better, but ‘we’re here for the long- term’ PAGE 21: Seattle Times: It’s so close to fruition. Seattle is getting an NHL team! Is the NBA far behind? PAGE 23: Seattle Times: NHL executive committee unanimously recommends forwarding Seattle expansion bid to December vote PAGE 26: The Athletic: LeBrun: Seattle’s NHL dream takes big step forward with executive committee recommendation PAGE 30: The Athletic: Why USA Hockey and others are reluctant to publish lists of banned individuals

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Coach, players like look of season-opening roster

By Andrew Erickson, Columbus Dispatch – October 3, 2018

Injuries robbed some of the drama of late training camp roster decisions, and the group has been known for a while. But on Tuesday afternoon, it became official: The Blue Jackets have their opening night roster.

The list of 23 players submitted to the league includes 14 forwards, seven defensemen and goaltenders Sergei Bobrovsky and Joonas Korpisalo, with defensemen Seth Jones and Ryan Murray on injured reserve. Murray is day to day with a groin injury, while Jones is expected to miss another three to five weeks with a sprained right knee suffered on Sept. 25.

The absence of Jones, a top defenseman who finished with 57 points last season, looms large in the days before the first puck drops Thursday in Detroit, but after more than two weeks spent identifying and finalizing a roster, coach John Tortorella said he is pleased with what he has.

“I like our team. I’m not crazy with Jonesy being out and all that, and I think he’s a huge part of our engine as far as the pace we play with, but I like our club and I’m anxious to get going and play the meaningful games,” Tortorella said. “I like the personality of our club. We’re getting more and more of that, and I like the progression we’re going in.”

Right wing Cam Atkinson, who enters his eighth NHL season on a top line that includes center Pierre-Luc Dubois and left wing Artemi Panarin, said the team’s forwards might be the deepest the Blue Jackets have ever had.

“Every line can go out there and produce and score goals at any given time, so it’s something unique that we haven’t had in the past,” he said. “We’ve had effective lines in the past, but every line seems like they brings something more dynamic, so I think it’s gonna be good for us.”

Atkinson complimented the physical presence and scoring ability of the third line, manned by Boone Jenner, Brandon Dubinsky and Josh Anderson.

The opening night fourth line of Sonny Milano, Anthony Duclair and center Riley Nash is “the most skilled fourth line I’ve ever seen,” Atkinson said.

Stashed in the bottom six forwards are a handful of weapons, from Nash’s versatility to Duclair’s speed. The challenge in Duclair’s case will be showing his ability on a daily basis with the Blue Jackets, his fourth team in five seasons, and building on what Tortorella called a good preseason.

The Blue Jackets have moved past the “Who are we?” phase in their progression, captain Nick Foligno said, to having an expectation of winning. With their roster set for opening night and the season fast approaching, the Jackets believe they are a good team that still needs to take a step toward “contender.”

“I don’t think we’re there yet but I think we have the ability to be, so I’m really excited about our group and how we’ve grown past the ‘who are we, what are we, Jekyll and Hyde,’ ” Foligno said. “Now it’s time to consistently be that great team.”

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Blue Jackets notebook | Winger Cam Atkinson set for healthy start

By Andrew Erickson, Columbus Dispatch – October 3, 2018

Cam Atkinson hit the reset button in January, allowing his return from a fractured foot to serve as the dividing line between two very different segments of his 2017-18 season.

Before the injury, the first line winger logged just six goals and seven assists in his first 32 games, a letdown after a 2016-17 season in which he had team highs of 35 goals and 62 points.

A healthy Atkinson pivoted his 2017-18 season on a dime after his return, logging 33 points (18 goals, 15 assists) in his remaining 33 games.

Entering a new season, Atkinson said he feels poised for a faster start.

“I feel the best I’ve ever felt,” he said. “I came into camp excited to keep playing.”

The 29-year-old native of Riverside, Connecticut, had a similar feeling to end last season and, as a result, spent his May playing for Team USA at the World Championships. After months of training and a challenging preseason under coach John Tortorella, Atkinson enters Thursday’s season opener lighter (179 pounds) and in “my best shape.”

He will put that to the test against the Red Wings with linemates Pierre-Luc Dubois and Artemi Panarin.

“I lost a good amount of weight and just feel refreshed,” he said. “I’m just excited to keep playing and help this team win however I can.”

For the fourth time in six seasons, the Blue Jackets will open the season with a back-to-back, playing in Detroit on Thursday before returning to Columbus for a Friday home opener against the .

The back-to-back is the only one the Blue Jackets will experience in October, but it’s not a stretch Tortorella said he minds.

“The boys are ready to play. They want to play,” he said. “We play some games ... then we have three or four days (off), which has really helped us the past couple years. We can have a mini-session (after) getting back to it and (have) opportunities to show video.”

Captain Nick Foligno said a back-to-back to start “gets the season going,” adding that he prefers to play the opening leg on the road.

“I think it just kind of brings the group that much closer together when you go into a hostile environment and it’s their home opener and you can kind of just worry about yourself and your game,” Foligno said.

Last season, the Blue Jackets opened with a 5-0 win over the before falling 5-1 to the Blackhawks in Chicago the next night.

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Forward Thinking: Blue Jackets plan to use their offensive depth as a weapon

By Aaron Portzline, The Athletic – October 3, 2018

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A decade ago, most NHL clubs structured their forward lines in a similar fashion: two scoring lines, a checking line (third) and an energy/grind line (fourth) full of plumbers and pugilists.

The game has changed across the league, as fighters have gone the way of stay-at-home defensemen and clubs have tried to create fourth lines that are something more than a liability.

The Blue Jackets of 2018-19 will have four lines, but not a fourth line. Heck, they might not have a classic third line, either.

Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella has repeatedly stated the obvious during training camp, that Artemi Panarin, Pierre-Luc Dubois and Cam Atkinson will be the club’s undisputed forward line. That trio finished so strongly last season once Dubois was elevated to the top line and Atkinson returned in late January from a broken foot.

As for the second, third and fourth lines? Those are pretty stable, too, but only as far as their personnel, not the role each line will play.

“The way Torts is talking about it, you could be on the second line one day and the fourth line the next day without changing (linemates),” Blue Jackets forward Josh Anderson said.

“It’s exciting. It’s motivating. I think it makes us a hard team to match up with, but it also keeps guys in here hungry, because we all want to play as many minutes as possible.”

The Blue Jackets will open the season Thursday in Detroit with these forward lines:

F1: Artemi Panarin – Pierre-Luc Dubois – Cam Atkinson

F2/3/4: Nick Foligno – Alexander Wennberg – Oliver Bjorkstrand

F3/2/4: Boone Jenner – Brandon Dubinsky – Josh Anderson

F4/2/3: Anthony Duclair – Riley Nash – Sonny Milano

The top line has two players (Panarin and Atkinson) who have scored 30 goals in the NHL. The second (Foligno) and third line (Jenner) each have a 30-goal scorer, too, while the fourth line has a 20-goal guy (Duclair) and two players who scored in the teens last season.

In the span of only one season, the Blue Jackets’ roster has tilted, from one that had impressive depth defensively to one that is thin on the back end but loaded up front — perhaps deeper offensively than any team ever iced in Columbus.

“The whole game is changing,” Tortorella said. “But I want us to go. The past two years, I’ve wanted us to be a team that’s going to take chances, that’s going to play straight ahead and not be afraid of making mistakes.”

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The plan, Tortorella said, is to feed the top line plenty of minutes, and it should be noted that all three forwards are now on the Blue Jackets’ top power play unit.

“I’ve got a game-breaker there in Panarin, and that line is a pretty good line,” Tortorella said. “They’ll get their ice time.”

But the other lines will dictate their ice time by how hard and how well they’re playing each game.

“If you want to play, you better be up to the task,” Foligno said. “Whatever line is going is going to play. There’s not a fourth line, really. If they’re going, they’re playing over somebody who isn’t. I’m looking forward to that. It makes us dangerous as a team.

“Especially with the pace we want to play. It’s going to really bode well for us.”

There are a few situations that bear monitoring, however.

Tortorella has had an on-again, off-again relationship with Wennberg over the last few seasons, and he clearly wasn’t impressed with Wennberg’s play during the preseason.

On Tuesday, while asked to assess the play of Dubinsky and Wennberg in camp, Tortorella spoke highly of Dubinsky’s performance and conditioning after a come-to-Jesus summer.

When his thoughts turned to Wennberg, Tortorella made it known that the slate is clean starting Thursday. But he’s watching.

“We’ll see,” Tortorella said. “I don’t think he’s had a great camp. But, as I always say, I don’t want to totally judge any player on exhibition games. The reason stuff starts Thursday.”

The arrival of Nash as a free agent this summer gives Tortorella the ability to flip him and Wennberg if he’s not happy with Wennberg’s play.

And, let’s be honest, Nash didn’t sign with Columbus to be a fourth-line player, especially getting a taste in the top six with Boston last season. He excelled during his two-week trial in Patrice Bergeron’s place between Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak.

“(Nash) really isn’t (a fourth-liner),” Tortorella said. “I can move him all over the place. I’m going to see how it goes, see what happens from there, especially early in the year.

“I need to experiment and not be down about a certain guy’s play all the time, maybe give him another guy to play with and see if that works.”

Nash’s winger on the (not) fourth line also deserve to play higher in the lineup, Tortorella said.

Duclair, who signed with Columbus at the NHL minimum, has been one of the Blue Jackets’ best players throughout camp. Milano had 14 goals in limited ice time last season.

“Who knows what happens with that line,” Tortorella said. “I don’t consider it a fourth line. I might plop another center in there. I might move Duke up.

“There’s a lot of different things you can do with the line we have constructed.”

Notebook

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• The Blue Jackets made no further roster moves Tuesday ahead of the 5 p.m. league deadline. C Alex Broadhurst cleared waivers and was sent to AHL Cleveland. The Jackets will carry 14 forwards, seven defensemen and two goaltenders to start the season.

• D Justin Wade, a Notre Dame product, signed a one-year AHL contract to play with Cleveland. He looked fast and strong in Traverse City and fared well during the Blue Jackets’ preseason.

• Tortorella shared a funny story about G Joonas Korpisalo, who could be in line for more work this season. Tortorella was pleased with Korpisalo’s training camp and didn’t want his confidence shaken by an ugly game Saturday in Chicago. The Blue Jackets sent an AHL lineup to face a full lineup by the Blackhawks, and the game went about as well as expected. Korpisalo played very well, but once he allowed a fourth goal near the middle of the second period, Tortorella took action, even though he wasn’t at the game. He dialed Blue Jackets video coach Dan Singleton, known as “Single Malt” because of his refined taste for only the best scotch, with a “long-distance call to the bullpen.” Tortorella: “I said to Single Malt, ‘Tell (assistant coach) Kenny (McCudden) to tell (assistant coaches Brad Shaw and Brad Larsen) to get (Korpisalo) the hell out of the game.”

• AHL Cleveland opens the season at home Friday versus Rockford.

• The Blue Jackets might face a familiar face in their home opener Friday against Carolina. Goaltender Curtis McElhinney, placed on waivers by Toronto on Monday, was claimed by Carolina on Tuesday. Hurricanes starter Scott Darling went down over the weekend with a lower-body injury and will be out for at least a couple of weeks. That puts Petr Mrazek into the starter’s role, presumably, but Carolina plays Thursday before facing the Jackets on Friday.

• Former Blue Jackets forward Sam Gagner cleared waivers for Vancouver and will likely be assigned to the AHL. The Canucks are reportedly trying to get Gagner assigned to AHL Toronto, closer to his home in Ontario.

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TSN.CA / Post 2 Post: Ranking the NHL's top starting goalies

By Jamie McLennan, TSN.CA – October 3, 2018

You can have all the speed, puck movement and scoring up front you want, but at the end of the day you still need solid goaltending to get you through a full regular season campaign and the grind of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

That said, check out my Post 2 Post list of the top starting netminders going into this NHL season.

1. Sergei Bobrovsky, Columbus Blue Jackets – The two-time Vezina Trophy winner is consistently great for Columbus.

2. Pekka Rinne, – Defending Vezina winner is an ultra-skilled goalie who doesn’t get enough respect.

3. Andrei Vasilevskiy, – Still coming into his prime, the Lightning netminder has the talent and the work ethic.

4. Connor Hellebuyck, – He’s still growing as a goalie but already has very good mechanics.

5. Carey Price, – Still has it in him to be the best in the world. Price needs a good run of health and his team to be better in front of him.

6. Jonathan Quick, – A great goalie who gets lost in the shuffle because he plays on the West Coast.

7. Marc-André Fleury, – Flower would have been a finalist for the Vezina last season if he hadn’t missed time with a concussion.

8. Braden Holtby, – He’s still a great goalie and now he has a Stanley Cup on his resume. He played a little less last season because of some struggles and a breakout performance by backup Philipp Grubauer.

9. Tuukka Rask, – He was as good as anyone in the league from November on last season.

10. Roberto Luongo, – The veteran remains consistently elite as he enters his 19th NHL season. His health (hip) and age (39) remain his biggest challenges.

11. Frederik Andersen, – Technically sound and durable, Andersen will be a top-10 goalie this year with goal support from Toronto’s stacked lineup and better attention to defensive play.

12. Martin Jones, – The San Jose netminder flies under the radar. Jones is a really good goalie with a consistent, economical game.

13. John Gibson, – The 25-year-old played in a career-high 60 games last season and is just starting to realize his potential as an elite goalie.

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14. Devan Dubnyk, – Dubnyk has been quite consistent and very durable since landing the starting job in Minnesota.

15. Henrik Lundqvist, – Is King Henrik on the downswing? The team in front of him may not help his cause this season.

16. Semyon Varlamov, – Injuries have really hurt Varlamov, who only played in 51 games last season. There’s no doubt he has top-10 skill.

17. Antti Raanta, – He was great from January on last year, but injuries limited him to 47 games and hurt his ranking.

18. Mike Smith, – Smith was great for the Flames until he was forced out of the crease in February with a groin injury. He never got back on track down the stretch.

19. Matt Murray, – The two-time Stanley Cup winner struggled to find consistency after injuries and a personal leave last season. He has more to offer.

20. Cam Talbot, – Talbot was brilliant two seasons ago, but couldn’t find his game last year. I thought he looked unsettled and like he lacked confidence on some nights. He could and should be a top-10 goalie.

21. Cory Schneider, – Schneider is coming off a bad season where he was hampered by injury and inconsistency. He ended up losing starts to backup Keith Kincaid.

22. Craig Anderson, – Anderson needs a bounce-back year for the rebuilding Senators. His career stats show that’s what he does: one good season, one subpar season.

23. Ben Bishop, – The biggest knock on Bishop is his inability to stay healthy. You can’t bank on him because of it.

24. Jake Allen, St. Louis Blues – Allen still needs to prove he can come through as an everyday guy. He hasn’t been consistent enough.

25. Jimmy Howard, – Howard is bound to get hung out to dry on a lot of nights playing behind a young, rebuilding team.

26. Robin Lehner, New York Islanders – You never know what you’re going to get from him on a nightly basis. He’s a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde goalie who needs to prove he can be consistent.

27. Brian Elliott, – He’s not a 60-game starter at this point in his career, but works well in a tandem. That will be his role as the Flyers wait for Carter Hart to develop.

28. Cam Ward, – The off-season signing will be relied on heavily if Corey Crawford isn’t healthy. If Crawford’s back soon, he’s a Top 10 goalie. But if it takes a while, Ward will have to carry the load. There’s also a lot of uncertainty about the team in front of him.

29. Carter Hutton, – He’s not a proven starter, but Hutton is one of the best tandem guys in the NHL. Buffalo signed him to be good in the short term and mentor youngster Linus Ullmark.

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30. Scott Darling, Carolina Hurricanes – Darling is still trying to push through as an everyday starter. He wasn’t able to prove himself last season.

31. Jacob Markstrom/Anders Nilsson, – Neither guy is a proven starter, so the Canucks will do it by committee this season. Expect prospect Thatcher Demko to get some games as well.

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The Athletic / Down Goes Brown: Your overreaction guide to the first few games of the NHL season

By Sean McIndoe, The Athletic – October 3, 2018

Opening night is almost here, with the NHL regular season kicking off Wednesday night. That means it’s time for an annual hockey tradition: People reminding you to stay calm, to avoid panic, and not to overreact to every little thing that happens in a team’s first game or two of a long season.

Will we listen? No we will not. Those people are annoying, and it’s way more fun to overreact to every minor thing that happens in the season’s earliest days. We didn’t wait out three whole months of offseason just so we could be calm and measured once the season started. We want to hyperventilate now.

But even a good old-fashioned freak out works better with a plan. So to help you get started, I’ve come up with a half-dozen early storylines that will be ripe for overreaction. Feel free to get a few practice reps in before the puck drops, so that you’ll be ready to once it’s time to start mashing that panic button.

What could happen: doesn’t score and the Capitals drop their home opener to the Bruins.

What it would mean: Maybe if the Caps had spent less time doing keg stands and more time doing pushups they’d be ready to repeat like Sidney Crosby and the Penguins did.

The Capitals summer-long quest to drink all the alcohol was easily one of the offseason’s best stories. After almost a decade of hearing about how they could never win the big one, the team finally broke through and captured their first Cup, with Ovechkin capping it all of by taking home the Conn Smythe. Hockey players aren’t supposed to ever seem like they’re happy about anything, but the long-suffering Caps apparently decided it would be OK to let loose a little and enjoy the aftermath. There was drink, song, and a half-naked swim in a fountain. It was great.

And for the most part, the old-school traditionalist types let them have their moment. If there were any lectures about proper decorum, I don’t remember them. It’s safe to say Ovechkin and friends don’t either, because I doubt they remember anything. Either way, the party-pooper brigade stayed down.

But if Ovechkin and the Caps start off slow, all bets are off, and it’s not hard to imagine the critics coming after Washington’s stars if they seem to stumble out of the gate. You can almost picture the hot takes in advance. Good Canadian boys like Crosby and Jonathan Toews win multiple Cups because they celebrate with a lukewarm mug of skim milk and then get back to training, but apparently one ring is enough for glory boys like Ovechkin.

Or maybe not: It should go without saying that any sort of celebration-shaming would be nonsense. The Caps didn’t do anything different from every other Cup winner, other than not working as hard to hide their fun from the cameras. Trying to read anything into a slow start would be silly.

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And that slow start is certainly possible; the Caps kick off their season with five straight against teams that made the playoffs last year, including four that posted at least 100 points. Things get easier from there, with eight straight against non-playoff teams, but by that point, the narratives will be set. Ovechkin won’t start off as super-nova hot as he did last year, but here’s hoping he can net a goal or two to ward off the fun police.

What could happen: The Golden Knights lose to the Flyers on Thursday.

What it would mean: The magic is over, regression has come for last year’s feel-good story, and the Knights will finally look like an expansion team.

It’s not an exaggeration to say that last year’s Knights may have been the biggest surprise in modern NHL history, if not all of North American pro sports. And in the process, they made the experts and the analysts look foolish.

Many of those same experts were all ready to pick the Knights to miss the playoffs this year. It wasn’t an unreasonable take – while last year’s success was earned, it was also a season where plenty seemed to break right. Nudge a few of those career years and unexpected breakthroughs back in line with expectations, mix in the loss of guys like James Neal and David Perron, and factor in some of the other teams gunning for the Pacific, and it started to seem like a reasonably safe bet that the Knights would come back to the pack – and maybe even fall below it.

But then they went and landed Paul Stastny, and then Max Pacioretty. And now you look at the roster, and … dammit, these guys still look pretty good. Maybe not quite run-away-with-the-division good. But yeah, maybe that.

Or maybe not: Last year’s Golden Knights opener was one of the most memorable nights of the season, and the emotion from that win helped propel the team to a great start that they never really looked back from. By comparison, Thursday will be just another game. Given the circumstances, that’s a good thing.

The Flyers represent a tough matchup, and the Knights follow that game by heading out onto the road for five straight. It’s certainly not the cream puff early schedule the league made sure to serve up last year. As with the Capitals, a bumpy start won’t be a surprise, and won’t necessarily tell us much.

This year’s Knights probably won’t be as good as last year. It’s not out of the question that they might not be especially good at all. But it will take a while to figure that out, so we can save the “it was all a fluke” victory laps until we’re close to Christmas.

What could happen: Somebody looks sad in Columbus.

What it would mean: Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky are each going into the season without an extension, meaning that in theory either or both could bolt on July 1. Both have said odd things that certainly weren’t indications that they wanted out, but didn’t exactly inspire confidence that they saw themselves as Blue Jackets for life. Either one deciding they wanted to leave would be a major blow for a team that seems to have built a legitimate contender. Both leaving would be devastating.

You know what that means: It’s time for the body language police to get on the case. Those same fine folks who spent the last few years hyper-analyzing every slouch, frown or shrug by Phil Kessel or Max

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Pacioretty or Erik Karlsson or even Connor McDavid at the draft lottery can now turn their attention to Panarin and Bobrovsky.

Are they smiling? OK, but how much are they smiling? Did they just glare at John Tortorella? Is he glaring back? Was that a glance at the scoreboard, or a sarcastic eye roll? Let’s go the slow-motion replay and find out.

(Granted, the fact that Bobrovsky will be wearing a mask will complicate matters a bit. Those water bottle breaks are going to be crucial this year.)

Or maybe not: I mean, we could all just agree not to do this, and let the situation play out however it does in however long it needs.

No? OK, body language police it is. I’m pretty sure I just saw Panarin mouth the words “Trade me right bleeping now,” although it might also have been “Nice shift.”

What could happen: The Sharks beat the Ducks on Wednesday and the Kings on Friday, especially if Erik Karlsson and/or Brent Burns score.

What it would mean: It’s over. Hand the Pacific crown to the Sharks.

It’s rare that one team has two Norris winners at the same time. When it does happen, it almost always means the same thing: They win a championship. It can take more than one year, and we should probably bake in some extra uncertainty in today’s parity-laced NHL, so we won’t go overboard and make the Sharks the presumptive Cup champs based on two games. But the weak-ish Pacific Division? Sure, wrap it up.

Or maybe not: For one thing, the Ducks might not be any good this year, especially with Corey Perry out, and the Kings are also a question mark. Beating both would be nice, but let’s see the Sharks against the rest of the division.

But that’s the thing – the Sharks opening schedule is kind of weird. Once they’re done with the Ducks and Kings, they play eight straight without another Pacific matchup – and that’s a rematch with the Ducks. They don’t play a non-California division opponent until their 18th game of the year, when they host the Flames. They don’t face the Knights, Oilers or Canucks until the fourth week of November, and they don’t see Arizona until December.

I’m not sure we really need to dissect a Coyotes/Sharks game to figure out how the Pacific will play out, but it’s still a bit of an oddity for a San Jose team that most seem to think if the division favorite. They’ll get two chances to prove it early on, and then that first impression will have to last us for a while.

What could happen: The Maple Leafs win. Or lose. Or pretty much anything happens.

What it would mean: Plan the parade! Or maybe this overhyped “contender” is going to be a disaster. Either way, prepare the wall-to-wall coverage that the people demand and will also complain about.

I mean, it’s the Maple Leafs, right? They spent much of the last decade dominating the conversation even when they were mediocre or worse, so now that they’re finally contenders again (we think), you can see how this will play out. A few big wins – especially if they’re driven by John Tavares – and anyone who’d prefer to hear or read about other teams might be out of luck.

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By the same token, a few bad games should generate coverage that’s either panicked or gleeful, depending on the source. Did Tavares go pointless in two straight? He’s washed up. Did Frederik Andersen give up four goals? Get used to it, with that terrible blueline. Did the offense struggle? They miss William Nylander (unless he’s back, in which case this is all his fault and he’s clearly not worth whatever he just signed for).

It’s going to be awful. Or great. Maybe both.

Or maybe not: It should go without saying that no matter what happens to the Maple Leafs this week, it would be ridiculous to either crown them as champions or write off their chances. Let’s pencil that in for early next week.

What could happen: One of the non-playoff teams looking for a breakthrough season gets off to a slow start.

What it would mean: Chalk up another wasted season.

We saw this one play out last year with the Coyotes, who looked like a trendy breakout pick right up until they stumbled out to one of the worst starts ever. By the time the season ended, they’d found their legs and even looked like a genuinely good team on some nights. But it didn’t matter. Their season was over by Halloween.

The Sabres followed a similar story. They came into the season hoping to at least sniff a playoff race. Instead, they lost five straight and 21 of their first 27. From there, it was basically four months of killing time before the draft lottery.

This year, the Sabres and Coyotes are both back to looking like potential breakouts. We could include the Hurricanes in that group as well, and probably Edmonton and Calgary too. Chicago wants to get back into the hunt, and Dallas and St. Louis both seem to be playoffs-or-bust. Heck, even the Canucks and Islanders seem to think they fall into the dark horse category, even if nobody else does.

That’s a lot of teams gunning for not many spots. And at least a few of them are going to start slow enough to cause some concern.

Or maybe not: Actually, this one might have some legs.

Dismissing the defending champion Capitals after a few bad games would be ridiculous. Doing the same to the second-year Golden Knights isn’t quite as silly, but they’ve earned some benefit of the doubt. But teams like Arizona and Buffalo? Not so much. They need to start fast.

But with all due respect to the Sabres and Coyotes and whoever else, the pressure to get off to a decent start can’t get any higher than it is in Edmonton. Last year’s early four-game losing streak set off all sorts of alarms, but also triggered plenty of wait-and-see optimism. In hindsight, the team’s 3-7-1 start set the stage for a miserable season. And it brought back memories of starting 3-7-0 in 2015, or 0-4-1 in 2014, or 1-6-1 in 2013. You get the picture. The only strong start the Oilers have had in recent memory came in 2016, when they charged out at 7-1-0. That team made the playoffs. None of the others came close.

This year, the Oilers start with four on the road and seven of their first nine against teams that won at least one playoff round last year. That’s rough. What happens if the Oilers get to the last week of October sitting at something like 2-6-1? The answer might involve a lot of people losing their jobs.

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“Don’t panic” is a nice phrase for a book cover, and it’s usually the right advice for a hockey fan in October. But sometimes, a well-earned right to a little bit of panic comes with the territory. When that territory is an entrenched spot at the bottom of the standings, it’s never too early for a little first-week overreaction.

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Sportsnet.ca / Sportsnet's 2019 NHL Draft Prospect Rankings: October

By Sam Cosentino, Sportsnet.ca – October 3, 2018

For the second straight year, it looks like we will have a player go wire-to wire as the top rated prospect for the 2019 NHL Draft. There’s no doubt Jack Hughes will be that guy.

After watching his brother Quinn go seventh overall to Vancouver in 2018, Hughes is poised to be the next “big thing” in hockey. We’ve witnessed quite a run of exceptional first overall picks recently, dating back to Connor McDavid (2015), working through Auston Matthews (2016), Rasmus Dahlin (2018) and now Hughes. Unlike 2018, things are wide open beyond Hughes, with names like Kaapo Kakko, Dylan Cozens, and Vasili Podkolzin expected to be in the top five.

After having a record low two players go in Round 1 of 2018, the WHL is poised for a big rebound in 2018-19. It’s a down year in the OHL, where as the QMJHL is solid, but we will have to wait until 2020 to see the likes of Alexis Lafreniere and Justin Barron. For a second straight season the USNTDP will boast five or more first-rounders. The Finnish contingent is not quite as strong as the past two seasons, where the same can’t be said about the Russians. Sweden will be well represented once again.

Several players came into this season already with looks from last year’s U-17s and the book has continued through the Hlinka-Gretzky Cup, the USA Hockey All-American Prospects game, the USHL showcase and, of course, the start of the regular season.

As scouts continue to compile reports, here’s our initial list of of the top 31 NHL Draft prospects for 2019.

The Playbook

2019 draft loaded with American talent, starting with Jack Hughes

September 17 2018

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1. Jack Hughes, C, (USNTDP) 5’10.25, 168 pounds: Give it a month to separate the haves and have-nots before fans of the have-nots begin living by the phrase, “lose to choose Hughes.”

2. Vasili Podkolzin, RW, (SKA St. Petersburg, MHL) 6’1, 190 pounds: If first impressions mean anything, then we’re looking at a budding star. Has produced in all the major international events to date, and was particularly noticeable at the Hlinka-Gretzky Cup where he put up 11 points, including a hat trick in the bronze medal game.

3. Dylan Cozens, C, (Lethbridge Hurricanes, WHL) 6’3, 181 pounds: Quiet confidence, extremely respectful, his character alone makes him a first-rounder. But with size and skill he’s cemented amongst the elite in this draft class.

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4. Kirby Dach, C, (Saskatoon Blades, WHL) 6’3.5, 199 pounds: Used the Hlinka-Gretzky Cup as a springboard. High hockey IQ consistently has him in good position to score. While finishing was an issue a year ago, the early returns say that won’t be a problem this season.

5. Kaapo Kakko, RW, (TPS, Liiga) 6’2.25, 194 pounds: Thinks it well, enjoys controlling the pace of the game which he can do with size and good puck protection skills. Off to a great start in the Liiga. The next big thing from Finland in what has been an amazing run for the country since 2015.

6. Raphael Lavoie, C, (Halifax Mooseheads, QMJHL) 6’3.5, 191 pounds: Has size and strength that will make him a physical force once he fills out. Is a snipe show who doesn’t mind the play turning physical. Lackadaisical lapses creep into his game from time-to-time, but those should become less frequent with age and working under new Halifax bench boss Eric Veilleux.

7. Bowen Byram, D, (Vancouver Giants, WHL) 6’0.5, 194 pounds: Experienced great growth under Giants assistant coach Dean Chynoweth last season and should benefit even further this season being exposed to Chynoweth’s replacement, Jamie Heward.

8. Alex Turcotte, C, (USNTDP) 5’11, 189 pounds: High hockey IQ as a result of coming from a hockey family. Is self aware and doesn’t play beyond his capabilities. Has good vision and shows patience with the puck.

9. Peyton Krebs, C, (Kootenay Ice, WHL) 5’11.25, 180 pounds: Takes a pro mentality to the ice regardless of game or practice. Well-rounded player who drives the play and makes others around him better.

10. Philip Broberg, D, (AIK, Allsvenskan) 6’2.75, 199 pounds: A massive coming-out party at the Hlinka- Gretzky Cup brought him from out of nowhere to first-round consideration. Fearless in rushing the puck, he will have to improve his stick skills to be considered a true, modern defenceman.

11. Alex Newhook, C, (Victoria Grizzlies, BCHL) 5’10.25, 190 pounds: Had a monster rookie season in the BCHL, regularly exhibiting highlight-reel abilities. His playmaking ability is elite, but he can shoot it too, and becoming a more complete goal-scorer will be the plan this season. Effort doesn’t deviate on the defensive side.

12. Matthew Boldy, LW, (USNTDP) 6’1.5, 187 pounds: High compete level in his game, has excellent stick skills, especially in tight. Has good vision and patience, but must play with more pace.

13. Trevor Zegras, C, (USNTDP) 6’0, 166 pounds: Good vision and has the hands to allow that vision to work in traffic. Has stick skills that play well with his speed and agility. Shifty player who makes plays.

14. Ryan Suzuki, C, (Barrie Colts, OHL) 6’0.25, 178 pounds: The OHL will hang its hat on the brother of Vegas first-rounder Nick. Plays and thinks the game at a high pace. Will continue to develop offensive skills in Barrie under one of the best in Dale Hawerchuk.

15. Matthew Robertson, D, (Edmonton Oil Kings, WHL) 6’3, 201 pounds: Has had to take some lumps by being overplayed early on in his career. All of the elements are in place to become a top four defenceman at the next level.

16. Matvei Guskov, C, (London Knights, OHL) 6’1.25, 177 pounds: While centre might be what he projects as at the next level, he’ll learn the North American game from the wing in London. This son of a former player is a better shooter than playmaker.

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17. Yaroslav Likhachyov, RW, (Gatineau Olympiques, QMJHL) 5’10, 168 pounds: One of Russia’s better players in August. Possesses some of the best one-on-one skills in this class. If he can pace his feet to match his magic puck skills, sky’s the limit.

18. Victor Soderstrom, D, (Brynas, Sweden U20) 5’11, 179 pounds: Right shot offensive defencemen are always coveted. Uses good, agile skating ability to retrieve pucks, exit the zone and be part of the rush. A puck-mover with the ability to work on the PP.

19. Maxim Cajkovic, RW, (Saint John Sea Dogs, QMJHL) 5’0.75, 185 pounds: Shoot-first mentality will serve this sniper well. His shot is hard, heavy, quick and accurate. He will get ample opportunity to be part of a hastened rebuild in Saint John.

20. Cole Caufield, RW, (USNTDP) 5’6.75, 155 pounds: Looks like and plays similar to Alex DeBrincat. Small in stature, big in heart, wicked shot, deceptive quick release and has just enough jam in his game to not be taken advantage of.

21. Arthur Kaliyev, RW, (Hamilton Bulldogs, OHL) 6’1.25, 190 pounds: Can score at will, but his playmaking is highly underrated. His performance in last year’s OHL Championship against Sault Ste. Marie vaulted him into first-round consideration. Produced well with 24 of his 31 goals last year scored at even strength.

22. Cam York, D, (USNTDP) 5’11.25 , 171 pounds: Think prototypical new-aged defenceman. A great skater who moves pucks quickly and efficiently. A southern California native once coached by Scott Niedermayer.

23. Valentin Nussbaumer, C, (Shawinigan Cataractes, QMJHL) 5’10.5, 167 pounds: Sees the ice well and creates offence where there’s seemingly no play to be made. Slight of frame — adjusting to a more physical brand will be key in determining his place in this class.

24. Alex Vlasic, D, (USNTDP) 6’5, 193 pounds: Rangy D-man whose straight skating plays well on both sides. He’s still growing into his body and agility will come with maturity. There’s some untapped offensive upside there, but he has no problem playing with a defence-first mentality, which has served his cousin Marc-Edouard well in San Jose.

25. Nolan Foote, LW, (Kelowna Rockets, WHL) 6’3.5, 190 pounds: Busted on to the scene two years ago and lit up the WHL with 19 goals while playing the PP for a great Kelowna team. Fell out of the public conscious due to injury issues last year, but if healthy will rise up the draft board by the time June rolls around.

26. Anttoni Honka, D, (JYP, Liiga) 5’10.25, 179 pounds: Right shot defenceman uses feet and a lightning quick release with the wrist shot to get pucks through. Will carry it fearlessly, with good top-end speed and mobility.

27. John Beecher, LW, (USNTDP)- 6’2.75, 204 pounds: One of the more cerebral players in this draft class in that he’s not flashy and doesn’t dazzle you with any particular part of his game. However, with his size and ability to play a complete game, he almost always finds a way to contribute.

28. Michael Vukojevic, D, (Kitchener Rangers, OHL) 6’3, 205 pounds: A late arrival on the OHL scene, it didn’t take long for Vukojevic to earn top billing on Kitchener’s back end. Made his mark during

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Kitchener’s post-season run where he played big minutes continuously matched-up against the opposition’s best. Some cooled on him with a mediocre August tournament.

29. Nick Robertson, LW, (Peterborough Petes, OHL) 5’8.75, 162 pounds: Smallish, quick, nifty puck handler and a wicked shot have the younger brother of Dallas prospect Jason beginning to make noise with solid showings at both the Hlinka-Gretzky Cup and the All-American Prospects game.

30. Samuel Poulin, RW, (Sherbrooke Phoenix, QMJHL) 6’1.25, 206 pounds: Continuing a trend over recent years, the son of former NHLer Patrick has a high compete level matched only by his work ethic. While he may not be as skilled as some on this list, he will likely remain in the top 31 because of his size, pedigree and work ethic.

31. Anthony Romano, C, (Sioux Falls -USHL) 5’10.25, 188 pounds: A bit of a flyer here, but he jumped off the page at the USHL Fall Classic. Great skater, solid work ethic and an honest all-around game. His resume is undercover, due mostly to injury, but had a big year in Tier II, posting more than a point per game with Aurora during 2017-18.

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On NHL Seattle timeline, sooner is better, but ‘we’re here for the long-term’

By Geoff Baker, Seattle Times – October 3, 2018

NEW YORK – Navigating an ever-tight path to an October 2020 launch date for Seattle’s expected NHL team turned out not to be the deal-breaker long assumed.

Both NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and members of a Seattle delegation lobbying for a team said Tuesday that having KeyArena renovated in time for the 2020-21 season won’t be a factor in awarding the franchise. Bettman made clear the league still prefers a 2020 opening, but would make a final decision on that only after a December vote by the NHL board of governors on making Seattle its 32nd entrant.

“I think everybody agrees sooner is better,” Bettman said. “But we have to and they have to get comfortable with the timeline as to what’s realistic. Obviously, it would be unfortunate in the extreme if we decided to go at one time and the building wasn’t ready.’’

He added that the league plans to closely monitor the renovation into next year for “variables and trigger points’’ related mostly to construction before ultimately deciding a launch date. If the renovation hits snags that delay the 2020 opening, “then we’ll go with 2021, but I think everybody’s preference would be sooner rather than later.’’

Both Bettman and the Seattle delegation members participating in a Tuesday morning presentation to the NHL’s executive committee said the renovation timeline wasn’t a primary concern. Bettman said the league cares more about the long-term viability of the Seattle market and that’s what the approval vote at the upcoming Dec. 3-4 board of governors meetings in Sea Island, Georgia, will be about.

“Seattle is one of the fastest growing cities in the country,’’ he said. “It gives us a geographic balance. It creates a nice geographic rivalry with Vancouver. I know Vancouver’s particularly excited about the possibility. The ownership group, plans for the arena. I mean, it’s all of the above. It’s never one factor. If you’re going to have a successful expansion application, all of the bases need to be touched.”

NHL Seattle president and CEO Tod Leiweke said the nine executive committee members didn’t spend much time dwelling on the 2020 start date.

“We didn’t really get into too much detail there,’’ Leiweke said. “We were talking about not one year but the long-term viability and that’s what they’re thinking about. Not a year, not a day. They’re thinking about long term. Is this a fit for the .’’

Future team owner added: “This is not about this year. This is forever. It’s a long-term partnership with the city, with long-term issues. And we’re not about to get overwhelmed by short-term issues.’’

If the franchise is awarded – which appears overwhelmingly likely — the readiness of KeyArena won’t be the only issue owners weigh when deciding next year whether to launch in 2020 or 2021. Vancouver Canucks owner said some of his fellow governors are concerned about having enough

19 time to prepare for an expansion draft so they can protect their best players better than when the Vegas Golden Knights pillaged the league two years ago.

Seattle would benefit from the same draft rules as the Knights did.

“We need to make sure that the existing clubs have an ample opportunity to make sure that they’re planned appropriately for the expansion draft,’’ Bettman said. “The expansion draft would be the same rules as Las Vegas… so, we want to make sure that there’s enough notice for the existing teams to do the appropriate planning that they have to do to comply with the requirements of the expansion draft.’’

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It’s so close to fruition. Seattle is getting an NHL team! Is the NBA far behind? | Stone

By Larry Stone, Seattle Times – October 3, 2018

It’s all over but the Zamboni.

This messy process, always contentious, often ugly, is nearing an end game that once seemed unthinkable.

A new arena WILL be built in Seattle Center. An NHL hockey team WILL be playing in our city, quite possibly by 2020.

And now, it’s legitimate to dream about a day when NBA basketball will return as well. I know, many of you have had that dream since 2008, when the Sonics bolted for Oklahoma City, only to see it cruelly dashed so many times.

But I would say that the prospects of a return of the NBA are brighter than at any time since January 2013, when Chris Hansen’s group reached agreement to buy the and relocate them to Seattle. The jubilation and anticipation in these parts was immense.

We all know what happened next – rejection of that sale by the NBA Board of Governors in April 2013, followed by a series of roadblocks in Hansen’s continuing efforts to build a Sodo Arena that would entice another NBA team.

In the middle of all that, not one but two powerful development groups emerged with the seemingly preposterous idea of renovating KeyArena. The city embraced that plan as a way to solve a civic problem on someone else’s dime — $700 million worth of dimes, to be precise.

Eventually, ’s won out over Seattle Partners (which included Oak View’s rival AEG) in June 2017 on their bid to do the renovation. Which brings us, 15 months and many hurdles later, to Tuesday’s events, and the impending arrival of the NHL.

Oh, it’s not absolutely official, but you can go ahead and celebrate, if you’d like. Raise a toast to Pete Muldoon, coach of the 1917 Stanley Cup champion Seattle Metropolitans. Tip your hat to Hansen, whose indefatigable efforts to bring a basketball team back to Seattle invigorated the entire effort when such a notion was all but dormant.

What’s left now is just window dressing and formalities. The long list of things that could have gone wrong has been systematically eliminated.

When no appeals were filed on the city’s environmental impact statement by the Sept. 13 deadline, leading to unanimous approval by the Seattle City Council on Sept. 24, the Oak View Group was cleared to demolish the existing KeyArena and replace it with a new palace. Gigantic Step One. And on Tuesday in New York, when the NHL’s executive committee voted 9-0 to forward Seattle’s expansion bid to a full board of governor’s vote in December, it made the awarding of a team to Seattle a virtual fait accompli. Gigantic Step Two.

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Say what you will about this process and how it appeared tilted from the start against Hansen. It’s impossible to ignore the fact that Leiweke’s group – which now includes his brother, Tod, as team president – has delivered precisely what they said they would, on the timetable they said they would.

It’s also impossible to ignore the vast connections Oak View holds in the sports world that greased the paths to the NHL expansion bid. As Geoff Baker pointed out, just about every member of the NHL’s executive committee had a link to either the Leiwekes or prospective owners David Bonderman and . OVG holds those same connections with the NBA, which bodes well for an eventual return of an NBA team.

And that’s still the ultimate goal of the majority of fans, I firmly believe. They will welcome the hockey team, but yearn for the Sonics, or whatever version they can get. That’s why Seattle City Councilwoman Debora Juarez was so off base when, after the Key renovation was approved, she said, “I guess sometimes when I hear people just go on and on about ’08 and their hearts being ripped out, I get a little annoyed because that was 10 years ago, so you kind of gotta let that go.”

Believe it or not, it’s possible to revel in the Seattle Storm’s great success, welcome the NHL, and still feel the deep pain of the Sonics’ departure.

There’s no need to “let it go” or stop living in the past – another Juarez comment. With a tantalizing taste of the NBA coming to KeyArena via Friday’s exhibition game between the and Sacramento Kings, in fact, it’s only going to reawaken the NBA nostalgia – and raise the volume of laments over the 10-year void.

Hansen has long been the clear choice of NBA fans as the best hope for bringing a team back. He’s certainly shown single-minded passion for that outcome. But the stark reality is that OVG, with a new arena on the way, appears well-positioned to do that.

Not that it’s a sure thing. There’s the question of whether NBA expansion is on the horizon, whether failing that, there are any teams that are subject to relocation, whether the NBA has qualms about sharing a building with the NHL, and whether they can put aside past issues with KeyArena. And, oh yeah, the whole traffic and parking thing.

But on this day, when one longshot sports dream took a giant step toward becoming reality, it seems appropriate to keep alive the NBA dream. No need whatsoever to “let it go.”

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NHL executive committee unanimously recommends forwarding Seattle expansion bid to December vote

By Geoff Baker, Seattle Times – October 3, 2018

NEW YORK – Hours before delivering a winning pitch Tuesday, two key members of a Seattle contingent seeking an NHL expansion franchise plotted strategy over breakfast.

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NHL Seattle president and CEO Tod Leiweke, still sweaty from a subway ride over from the upper-east- side home he owns, sat in a Midtown Manhattan eatery with an intently listening Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan. She had flown in Monday night and missed an afternoon staging session by other Seattle delegation members to work out the tone and timing of their hour-long presentation to the league’s all- powerful executive committee.

So Leiweke, coffee and food flowing, brought the group’s critical “ringer” up to speed. The Seattle delegation had felt Durkan would play the key role in persuading the committee to recommend that the league’s full 31-member board of governors approve their expansion application at a December vote in Sea Island, Ga.

By Tuesday afternoon, after the committee had indeed recommended and forwarded the bid by a 9-0 count, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman left little doubt about the role Durkan played.

“I think Mayor Durkan did an excellent job of presenting the case for Seattle as a city and as a base of enthusiasm for NHL hockey,” Bettman said.

For now and into next year, the league will monitor the progress of KeyArena’s construction timeline to see whether work can be completed in time for the 2020-21 NHL season. The Oak View Group, headed by Leiweke’s brother, Tim, and handling the massive renovation, says it can have the renovation finished by that season’s October 2020 start date.

Bettman said that’s the league’s goal as well. He said speculation that a potential NHL lockout in September 2019 might delay a Seattle launch until October 2021 was overblown.

“The focus for everybody is 2020,” Bettman said. “That’s what we’re focused on. There are a variety of factors that could impact that, including the construction timeline. The sooner construction can begin, obviously, the more likely an early start.”

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Bettman’s remarks came after a four-hour meeting of the full NHL board of governors Tuesday at a hotel several blocks from the league’s head office, where the morning executive committee meeting with the Seattle delegation had taken place. At that afternoon gathering, governors were apprised of what the executive committee had heard and were told it was recommended they support the expansion bid at their meetings Dec. 3-4 in Georgia.

Though the December vote requires 75 percent approval to pass, the board of governors has never failed to approve an expansion recommendation by its executive committee. And emerging from the afternoon board meeting, a handful of governors said the vibes in the room were largely supportive of the Seattle bid.

”The way leagues are nowadays, even getting something to a vote is impossible unless everybody wants to do it,” one governor said, requesting anonymity. “The last thing you need is any dissension in the group.”

OVG and NHL Seattle count many friends and business partners among the league’s governors. Executive committee chairman , the influential Boston Bruins owner, has a deal for his family food and beverage business, Delaware North, to become lead concessionaire at a remodeled KeyArena.

Jacobs said after exiting Tuesday’s meeting called the Seattle presentation “wonderful” and said of of the city: “It’s a great town.”

Vancouver Canucks owner Francesco Aquilini, who longs for a regional rivalry with a Seattle-based club, said: “We’re all very excited about Seattle. … I think it’s going to happen.”

Still, members of the Seattle delegation had left little to chance. They had planned to keep their presentation fast-paced with multiple speakers covering an array of topics.

Billionaire David Bonderman led off, detailing in his soft-spoken manner his days attending the University of Washington and his plans as the future team’s majority owner and managing partner.

“I used the opportunity to tell them my story,” Bonderman said.

From there, the more effusive Tod Leiweke spoke about the Seattle market, his experience as a Seahawks CEO and Sounders vice president and the area’s fan base.

Tim Leiweke told the committee about how the KeyArena renovation would transform it into one of the world’s most compelling sports venues. From there, newly imported minority team investor Len Potter – a longtime business associate of Bonderman – went over the specifics of the team and arena project’s financing.

“I told them about the incredible partnership between the Oak View Group and the city,” Potter said. “Where it’s a win-win. We’re going to put a first-class product on the ice and make it a first-class experience for the fans.”

From there, Tod Leiweke spoke to the committee again, followed by Hollywood producer Jerry Bruckheimer – one of the main team investors with Bonderman – brought in for some closing wow factor.

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But between the pitches given by the two Leiweke brothers came Durkan as the presentation’s third speaker. She was tasked not only with introducing a SLIDE SHOW and video about Seattle and its sports scene, but in talking up the city as enthusiastically as she could while sounding genuine in her ability to make things happen.

Durkan knew she had to convince the executive committee that a 2020 start date is possible. That Seattle, a city the league had become wary of over the years for an agonizingly slow bureaucracy, was capable of getting things done in short order.

Upon finishing breakfast, Durkan and Tod Leiweke returned to her Midtown hotel for some quick freshening up 45 minutes before they were expected at the league’s offices.

Standing in the hotel’s air-conditioned lobby, they watched Hall of Fame baseball player Reggie Jackson stroll by quietly and unnoticed in street clothes. By then, both used to high-stakes drama in their chosen fields, the magnitude of the New York stage they’d soon perform on was hitting home.

After Durkan momentarily excused herself, Leiweke leaned over and said: “I don’t think there’s ever been a team approved in sports without having somebody like her there to make the case.”

Moments later, upon returning, Durkan mentioned that the Seattle City Council would have to approve any waiver to begin KeyArena construction before a team is formally approved. “It’s written very specifically, so there are things they’d need to see from the league in order to make that happen.”

As to how she’d make her case to the NHL executive committee, she smiled and quipped that it wouldn’t be difficult.

“I get the easy part – talking all about Seattle and how great a city it is,” Durkan said. “I do that all the time, so this is like second nature to me.”

From there, she and Leiweke hopped in a chauffeur-driven car and made their way to the league’s offices, where they met up with the rest of the delegation in a conference room and waited to be summoned. And once they were, they made it count.

“We have a great story to tell,” Leiweke said immediately after the meeting was done. “I think we put our best foot forward.”

He praised his morning breakfast companion, Durkan, for her “enthusiastic presentation” that helped sway the committee.

As for Durkan, she said the work is only starting, and she’s committed to getting KeyArena completed on time.

“They saw that this isn’t just going to be good for us in Seattle,” Durkan said of the committee members. “It’s going to be good for us and the NHL.”

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The Athletic / LeBrun: Seattle’s NHL dream takes big step forward with executive committee recommendation

By Pierre LeBrun – October 3, 2018

NEW YORK — There was a glow about them as they left the most crucial of meetings, their biggest step yet in fulfilling their dream of bringing the NHL to Seattle.

The Seattle group knew they had hit it out of the park.

Owner David Bonderman, CEO and president Tod Leiweke and Seattle mayor Jenny Durkan sounded like college students acing a key exam.

Now they would anxiously wait a few hours to get the news they desperately needed yet quietly and confidently expected.

“The recommendation is to proceed with expansion in Seattle subject to completing the process thoroughly with a report and presentation to the full Board to vote on in December,’’ NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced to the media following the full Board of Governors meeting Tuesday.

“We are very excited for what this could mean to hockey fans in Seattle but focused on completing this mission and will carefully follow the NHL’s process,’’ Leiweke said Tuesday evening in reacting to Bettman’s announcement.

Unless a giant sinkhole magically appears and swallows the land Key Arena sits on in the next few months, Seattle will become the NHL’s 32nd team. I can’t see any reason why the NHL’s 31 owners would vote it down come the Dec. 3-4 meeting in Sea Island, Georgia.

To be honest, Seattle felt like a slam dunk from the moment Bettman officially welcomed its application last December. The league has always wanted Seattle in the picture.

But the key for the Seattle group was proving the massive, total gutting and renovation of Key Arena, a $700-million monster of a project, would be pulled off without a hitch. That was a big part of the group’s presentation to the nine owners plus the commissioner and deputy commissioner Tuesday morning.

They clearly aced it.

“The presentation was outstanding,’’ Montreal Canadiens chairman Geoff Molson, a member of the executive committee, told The Athletic before boarding a flight. “And then obviously it’s a pretty interesting market that’s got lots of head offices. They said it was one of the fastest-growing cities in the U.S., which is pretty good, too. And they’re building a group of people that are going to oversee this thing that have a lot of experience. I think that’s certainly a great start.’’

Added Chicago Blackhawks owner , also on the executive committee: “Everything went well, it was a good presentation. They did a great job.’’

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Jets chairman and part-owner Mark Chipman knows all about bringing an NHL franchise into a market albeit not a new one in returning the NHL to hockey-crazed Winnipeg. Still, he knows what to look for and the Seattle group delivered.

“It was a very impressive presentation from a very impressive group of owners and managers from a proven sports market,’’ said Chipman, another executive committee member.

It checked a lot of the boxes for the opinion-swaying executive committee.

“Yeah I think there’s still some more work to do, but it was quite impressive, it really was,’’ said Chipman.

Added Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis, another member of the executive committee: “Seattle’s a great city. The league has to do more research and we’ll see what the commissioner decides. But I’ve known Seattle for a long time. I’ve been going up there since the early ‘80s because I worked with Microsoft and then Amazon. It’s a great place.’’

Some key things to consider now:

Realignment?

Seattle’s eventual inclusion will finally give the NHL its long-desired conference balance of 16 teams on each side.

I asked NHL commissioner Gary Bettman on Tuesday whether the league had discussed realignment internally already in the event Seattle does come in. No question they have in my mind.

He said no firm decisions had been taken but did say he didn’t think it would be a major realignment. What I take from that, unless I’m misreading the tea leaves here, is that the idea would be for Seattle to join the Pacific Division and Arizona to go to the Central. But again, if that’s indeed the case, it would also require Board of Governors approval.

Now a cynic (not me!) would say putting Arizona in the Central Division is handy in case the Coyotes can’t figure out their arena issues and eventually move to say … Houston? Just saying…

Expansion rules

I get this question all the time, I mean, incredibly often from fans: will Seattle have the same juicy expansion rules as Vegas? Bettman actually answered this back at the All-Star Game in Tampa in January but just in case anyone is wondering, the answer was the same again Tuesday.

“The expansion draft will be the same terms as Las Vegas,” Bettman reiterated. “Las Vegas doesn’t participate. That was part of our deal coming in. We want to make sure there’s enough notice for the existing teams to do the appropriate planning that they have to do to comply with the requirements of the expansion draft.’’

So Vegas, understandably, gets a pass on this process since it just entered the league, but the other 30 teams must go through it again. What will be different this time around is that some teams will be hit harder than others. For example, Toronto was able to sleep-walk through the Vegas draft process because the rebuilding Leafs had all their key young players not eligible for it. This time around it’ll be

27 different for them, they’ll need to make tougher decisions and lose a decent player; it’ll be that way for several other teams who had it easier two years ago.

Regardless, the clear sentiment that I’ve garnered from many GMs is that time around, they won’t overplay their hand or overthink things. I mean, consider how things turned out for Minnesota (Alex Tuch, Erik Haula) and Florida (Reilly Smith, Jonathan Marchessault) and the idea is that instead of trading assets to protect certain guys, perhaps just sit on your hands and let Seattle take one guy. They can only select one player. Don’t overreact.

“Yeah I would imagine like anything the second time will be easier for everyone who were involved before,” Blues GM Doug Armstrong said after Tuesday’s Board of Governors meeting. “(Vegas GM) George McPhee did a masterful job getting the team to the Stanley Cup finals, and in the end (through the expansion draft process) getting a lot of draft picks to protect players; I think everyone will be a little more prepared for the next one. It’ll be a little more difficult for the Seattle GM maybe to get as creative as Vegas was.’’

Timeline issue

Whether it’s the massive Key Arena renovation or the potential for an NHL labour war, the issue of whether Seattle would begin play as desired in the fall of 2020 or have to wait until the fall of 2021 is an important one.

“There may be variables and/or trigger points that decide either we’re going to make it [for 2020] or we’re not, with construction proceeding,” Bettman said. “They have a lot of work to do. They have to stop events at key arena, do demolition, dig a bigger hole, they’ve got to put the steel in. Once that’s all accomplished and a timeline set, we’ll have a better sense. If it’s ready, then 2020, and if it’s not, then 2021.’’

The league’s preference is 2020. And obviously that’s very important to Seattle. They’ve got 32,000 ticket deposits and don’t want to wait an extra year to get going.

“I’m very confident we’re going to get what we need from the NHL to move forward and stick to the schedule so we can have hockey in 2020,’’ said Seattle mayor Jenny Durkan.

“They know we want it in 2020 and they want it in 2020, too, if we get the team,” she added.

Still, about the sticky CBA situation. If the CBA is reopened for 2020, then what? It really wasn’t part the focus of discussion between Seattle and the executive committee Tuesday, Leiweke said.

“This is a long, long-term decision,” said Leiweke. “So there’s a lot of curiosity on what the start date might be, but we didn’t really get snagged on that because this is a story about long term the NHL fitting in Seattle and that’s the level at which we were dealing with today.

“This can work long term,’’ he added. “We have the right building plan, we have the support from the city, the fans are there and we wanted to lay out a good story and we did.’’

You can understand why the league doesn’t want the CBA narrative to dominate the Seattle discussion. That’s a potential leverage point in CBA talks for the NHL Players’ Association.

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And so no question Bettman will downplay that angle every time now when asked about a Seattle launch timeline.

“The plan is, if everything that needs to be in place for 2020 is in place, they’ll go in 2020,” said Bettman. “If for a variety of reasons, including the building not ready on time, then it’ll go to ’21. There seems to be a lot of attention as to 2020 versus 2021, and at the end of the day, if we can do 2020, we will; and if we can’t, we’ll go a year later.’’

Still some due diligence

While I do think it’s a slam dunk at this point that Seattle is getting its team, that doesn’t mean the league is done asking questions. The next few months before the vote in December remain important.

“We want to make sure we’re on top of their plans for the building, we want to make sure that we have all the details of the financing, there are more mechanical things and we have to finish the expansion agreement,” said Bettman. “There has to be a report that lays out all aspects of this expansion to the full board, because this is a decision that gets made by the full board by a three-quarter vote.’’

The Seattle group isn’t counting its chickens yet.

“This is a project full of challenges, so we’ve got to continue to not be presumptuous,” said Leiweke. “We’ve got to let the process play out. Today wasn’t a defining moment. It was another step. And we wait until we hear and if we’re lucky enough, we get to present again … I think Seattle has put its best foot forward and now we’ll let the cards fall where they will.’’

But there’s comfort in knowing they nailed it. The NHL’s powerful executive committee nodded in agreement. The door has been opened.

“I’ll sleep well tonight because I thought we told a great story,’’ said Leiweke.

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The Athletic / Why USA Hockey and others are reluctant to publish lists of banned individuals

By Katie Strang, The Athletic – October 3, 2018

In August, parents of at least two hockey players on a 16-and-under travel team in suburban Atlanta told local police that their children had been victims of sexual misconduct by their coach.

Jason Greeson, 40, was a fixture at the IceForum rink in Duluth, Georgia, where his Atlanta Phoenix club practiced and a well-known figure in the tight-knit local hockey community. Within hours of being notified of the allegations against him and as a detective from the Gwinnett Police Department was in the process of securing a search warrant, Greeson shot himself in a church parking lot.

According to a sheriff’s report, his death on Aug. 23 was ruled the result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Earlier that day, he had informed a family member that he had made some “bad choices” and had “fucked up.” With Greeson deceased, police are no longer investigating the matter.

USA Hockey is, however.

According to documents obtained by The Athletic, USA Hockey’s general counsel Casey Jorgensen sent an email on Aug. 30 to parents of athletes Greeson coached, saying the organization “has begun and will be continuing its investigation to try and identify if there were other victims, to offer support where possible, and to identify if possible anything that might have prevented the abuse or caused it to come to light sooner.”

Multiple sources have confirmed to The Athletic that Greeson held preseason team-building sleepovers with young athletes at the rink and violated USA Hockey’s social media and electronic communications policies, texting players without copying parents on the messages and following them on their personal social media accounts.

USA Hockey confirmed it retained outside counsel to continue the investigation and provide support. The two attorneys have years of experience conducting sexual misconduct investigations, according to Dave Fischer, USA Hockey’s director of communications. These attorneys have visited Atlanta on multiple occasions as part of the investigation.

“We’re not perfect, but one thing I know is we’re serious to follow up on everything that happens,” Fischer said.

Yet it is another troubling allegation of child sex abuse in sports, and it thrusts into the spotlight the very question of how each youth-serving organization deals with this issue and protects its athletes.

USA Hockey clearly recognizes this is a dire problem that must be treated with the appropriate level of gravity and vigilance. But following the Greeson case, and so many others, the question can be asked: Could USA Hockey and other national governing bodies under the U.S. Olympic Committee’s umbrella do more to ensure the safety of their athletes?

Why so many of these organizations do not make public a list of banned individuals from each sport is one topic that has incurred repeated scrutiny. Most recently, this issue was a topic of conversation at

30 the Sept. 21 press briefing following the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Assembly in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

It should be noted that Greeson would not have appeared on any such list before August. Additionally, Fischer said that Greeson passed a background check and had no other allegations of prior sexual misconduct.

But would the existence of such a list in the public domain inspire more reporting of inappropriate actions? Would victims feel more comfortable coming forward knowing they were not alone?

USA Hockey is among the NGBs that has yet to publish its list of banned individuals — a list that clearly identifies anyone suspended or permanently ineligible for participation. This is despite the fact that USA Hockey is largely believed to be one of the most sizable, sophisticated and financially robust of NGBs.

It seems to share some of the major qualifying factors with larger organizations that publicly share a list, including close relationships with local member affiliates, and the organizational wherewithal and resources to gather, document and vet the document.

In fact, it has such a list at the ready that is internally maintained and updated regularly. Yet, thus far, USA Hockey has chosen not to make it public.

Why not?

“I think everyone is trying to come to grips with how could this work, and it’s not that we have an overwhelming anxiety of publishing it, if you will. It’s just how would it work, practically,” Fischer said.

Critics wonder why there is such a painstaking review for so many organizations over a simple process. Publishing a banned list would add transparency to a process that requires exactly that. It could make for an easily accessible aggregation of individuals who should not be allowed around minors, in any capacity. It would not be susceptible to user error in the same way that a searchable database might be. And it could be used as a cross-reference by NGBs in other sports as well.

John Manly, a plaintiffs lawyer for many of the survivors in the Larry Nassar case who has also represented clients in cases of clergy abuse, referenced the wave of archdioceses that have published records of banned priests in recent years. Even the Roman Catholic Church is recognizing the need for public accountability in this domain.

“If a youth sports organization doesn’t share the names of known sexual predators, that’s a big fucking problem,” he said. “And you can quote me on that.”

Congress appears to agree.

In May, as part of a wide-sweeping investigation into sexual abuse within the U.S. Olympic Movement, Congress requested a trove of internal documents from all the NGBs.

Based on a concern that a “pervasive and systemic problem” exists in Olympic sports, Congress asked the organizations to hand over, among other items, any information on whether they maintained a list of banned individuals.

The five-pronged request asked organizations to detail whether they had such a list, when this list began, the circumstances in which a name would be added to the list, if the list is publicly available (if

31 so, when this happened; if not, why not?), how often this list is updated and how many people on this list are included therein because of sexual abuse.

Of the 48 NGBs surveyed in advance of a congressional hearing, only 18 had published such a list. Others told the committee they either had a list available to members, a list that was kept confidential or had no list at all because no individuals had been banned on any basis.

Susanne Lyons, then the acting CEO of the USOC, testified in May before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. She said then that the USOC did not require NGBs to maintain such a list or make it publicly available, but that doing so was a “priority” for the future.

And yet, more than four months later, the majority still do not.

There are myriad reasons why an organization may not publish a list of banned individuals. There could simply be philosophical oppositions to the publication, or logistical constraints, such as a lack of organizational infrastructure and resources. The decision may also reflect an organization’s history dealing with issues such as sexual abuse, and prior civil litigation within the ranks.

USA Hockey has a master list of banned individuals, Fischer confirmed. But that list, which is maintained and updated regularly by the member services department, has not been published because Fischer said the organization has internal “mechanisms” by which to protect and ensure athlete safety.

“We feel good at least in the standpoint that we do have a system in place where we have preventative measures that (if someone) is banned or suspended, they cannot register for USA Hockey or its programs,” Fischer said.

So how does USA Hockey ensure the safety of its participants?

Fischer said USA Hockey keeps an internal database with information on individuals who have prompted complaints, investigations and against whom there are any pending or final disciplinary actions. Should any such individual try to register as a coach with USA Hockey, the application would be internally flagged in the system. That individual’s registration ID number would come up as invalid, and the member services team would be notified of that individual’s attempt to register. Subsequently, the local regional affiliate would be notified of such an attempt.

There is also a multi-pronged system that requires any coach or player, once registered as a member of USA Hockey, to be “claimed” by a member club. It would be impossible to add anyone to an official team without a valid registration ID.

Fischer said most of this enforcement is done at the affiliate level, where local officials have a more nuanced, comprehensive understanding of their respective member clubs and personnel.

Greeson, for example, was immediately suspended by the Southern Amateur Hockey Association, a USA Hockey affiliate, after the allegations against him were reported. The SAHA then contacted the affiliate’s U.S. Center for SafeSport coordinator, and a report was filed with the national arm.

The U.S. Center for SafeSport, based in Colorado Springs, was designated by the USOC in March 2017 as the central clearinghouse to handle complaints relating to sexual misconduct. It maintains an online, searchable database for banned or suspended individuals, and is working to bolster that database with

32 more comprehensive data, but its scope is still extremely limited since it only reflects decisions rendered since its inception.

As The Athletic reported in April, USA Hockey received 118 reports alleging sexual abuse from Sept. 1, 2016, to March 21, 2018. Seventy went directly to SafeSport. The SafeSport database includes 34 individuals with ties to hockey who have been temporarily suspended or permanently banned by the organization since its inception almost a year and a half ago.

Two of the most notable actions relate to former youth hockey coaches Christopher Prew and Bob Richardson.

Prew, of Marblehead, Massachusetts, received a lifetime ban by SafeSport after he was arrested and charged in February with sexually abusing multiple boys (he pleaded not guilty in February and is scheduled to appear in Salem Superior Court later this month for a motion hearing). Richardson, also based in Massachusetts, is serving an interim suspension following allegations by multiple former players that he sexually abused them as teens in the 1990s. Richardson was acquitted of charges in the first case in 2005; prosecution in the other case against him was dropped in 2017 because the player who was serving as the key witness died of a drug overdose before he could testify.

Richardson is currently under investigation by SafeSport, according to multiple sources who have been interviewed as part of the investigation. The attorney who represents both Prew and Richardson did not return a message left with his office on Monday.

No one is suggesting USA Hockey is being deliberately reckless or negligent by declining to publish its list of banned individuals. The decision, more than anything, is puzzling, because it seems incongruous with USA Hockey’s otherwise rather rigorous reputation.

Multiple people who have been involved with USA Hockey describe its enrollment requirements for coaches, officials, participants and parents as comprehensive and multi-layered.

Coaches and officials must complete mandatory SafeSport training, which is offered to parents as well (there is some internal discussion of making these training materials available to players in the future). Anyone who has regular and routine interaction with minors — coaches, officials, team managers, locker-room attendants, etc. — must undergo background checks every two years. The organization requires one screened adult to monitor the locker room during team activities and strictly prohibits any adult from meeting individually with a minor participant in a locker room unless another adult is present.

The USA Hockey SafeSport Program Handbook also dictates a policy on social media communication between minor participants and coaches. Minor participants are not allowed to be connected via a coach’s personal social media page and electronic communications (email, text messages) between both sides must be both non-personal in nature and copied to the player’s parents.

Fischer readily admits the system is not without its vulnerabilities. Background checks don’t always turn up everything. A banned individual could also, in theory, not register in an official capacity but still appear at rinks without recourse or volunteer without necessarily flagging attention.

“Is it foolproof?” No,” Fischer said. “But nothing really is, honestly.”

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Publishing a banned list would not be foolproof either, and it certainly should not be relied upon as a singular measure of defense in terms of prevention.

Alison Feigh, a program manager with the Gundersen National Child Protection Training Center in Minneapolis said there must be ample considerations, policies and procedures in place to ensure athlete safety.

“I think it would be dangerous to assume this could be the main way to keep kids safe,” Feigh said. “It’s one tool but it can’t stand alone.”

Why USA Hockey and so many other NGBs decline to publish their banned individuals list is a matter of public debate.

In July, Lyons appeared before another Congressional committee in Washington, D.C. Asked when the USOC will require all NGBs to make their list of banned members public, Lyons indicated that NGBs were “generally very, very willing” but cited legal “roadblocks” in requiring organizations to make their lists public.

This is a common refrain.

SafeSport CEO Shellie Pfohl, in a May interview with The Athletic, said the following when asked why no universal banned list is available:

“The decision to have a searchable database has been debated among legal and other scholars for decades,” Pfohl said. “We feel like we’re utilizing the best practice in having a database.”

But this defense doesn’t hold up for some who follow the actions of the USOC and SafeSport.

Officials have stated there could be potential legal exposure to publishing the list of banned and suspended individuals, but legal sources disagree.

Nancy Hogshead-Makar, a former Olympic swimmer who is now a civil rights lawyer, points to a “limitation on liability” clause located in a subchapter of the 2017 Safe Sport Authorization Act.

The act states that “an applicable entity shall not be liable for any damages in any civil action for defamation, libel, slander or damage to reputation arising out of any action or communication if the action arises from the execution of responsibilities or functions described in this section.” The only exception to this is when an applicable entity acts out of actual malice.

Any argument about a national governing body not publishing a list because of concern about a lack of protection under this clause (as Lyons alluded to in her July testimony) is effectively null. National governing bodies are clearly spelled out as applicable entities entitled to such protection.

“It is not because they can’t,” said Hogshead-Makar, who has strongly rebuked the USOC and SafeSport in recent months for the ways in which they have handled cases of sexual misconduct. “There’s no reason why an NGB and the USOC and the U.S. Center for SafeSport shouldn’t publish a list.”

Feigh, who has worked in child sex abuse advocacy for almost two decades, also preached the necessity of vigilance. She said she’d like to see the current concept of organizational loyalty challenged.

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“We need to turn the tide so the loyalty to an organization means speaking up on kids’ behalf. It shouldn’t mean keeping your mouth shut,” Feigh said.

“I don’t want another case for us to wake up as a country. Prevention is so important. It’s not about covering (an organization’s) reputation. It’s about what kids need.”

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