CAROLINA HURRICANESdownloads.hurricanes.nhl.com/clips/clips092917.pdf · 2017-09-29 · Read the full team preview right here. Nashville Predators You would be hard pressed to find

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NEWS CLIPPINGS • Sept. 29, 2017

2017-18 NHL season outlook: Previews, breakdowns for all 31 teams

A rundown of all the team-by-team previews entering the 2017-18 campaign

Here's a rundown of each and every preview, which include reviews of every franchise's best and worst summer moves and a look at what's in store this season, with links to the full breakdowns of all 31 teams:

Colorado Avalanche

Same old, same old. Maybe Matt Duchene surprises with a rebound and some more help -- if he isn't finally traded and if he can get any help. They're still about as bad on paper as they were when they finished an awful 2016-17.

Read the full team preview right here.

Vegas Golden Knights

Their real impact should come in a few years once they've had a chance to use some of their many, many draft picks. Early on, they'll probably be a low-scoring, defensive-oriented spoiler with a little more veteran juice than you would think.


Vancouver Canucks

Veteran additions are intriguing, and with time, their new coach and core talent could surprise. But setting the bar too high too early is likely a mistake in Vancouver. Until play-makers develop or arrive, the Canucks don't have it just yet.


Arizona Coyotes

The ultimate boom-or-bust team. After a circus of an offseason that featured a staff overhaul and more talk of a potential relocation, Arizona is somehow a little better equipped than it was months ago. Still, expectations should be tempered.


New Jersey Devils

There are still lots of questions on defense after cap-loaded general manager Ray Shero couldn't net Kevin Shattenkirk, but the offensive stock is rising. They're still a ways from competing, but youthful prospects are finally not lacking.


Buffalo Sabres

They seem to be in good hands with their new staff, and they've got an "it" factor between young standout Jack Eichel, Evander Kane and newcomer Casey Mittelstadt. The question is how long it'll take for the season results to change.


Detroit Red Wings

The defense is improved, even if ever so slightly, and the motivation shouldn't be lacking after their 25-year postseason streak ended. But they remain severely salary-cap strapped with a little too much old, expensive weight.


Dallas Stars

The offseason champs. GM Jim Nill went all out by raking in one big name after another for new (old) coach Ken Hitchcock. If Ben Bishop is as good as advertised, the Stars should be back in the playoff mix. After their moves, they need to be.


Florida Panthers

Bob Boughner is probably the right fit here, but Florida let way too much talent walk out the door this summer to be considered a serious playoff contender. Evgeny Dadonov should make the Panthers fun to watch, but he can't do it alone.


Los Angeles Kings

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How can anyone get that excited about them? Even with Ben Bishop and younger versions of all their aging offensive leaders, they couldn't overcome inconsistencies in 2016-17. New voices behind the bench can't coach speed.


Carolina Hurricanes

If their haul of ex-Chicaco Blackhawks pays off, they should be playoff bound. Their main obstacles will be the tough Metropolitan Division and, of course, replicating their strong finish from a season ago. They're trending up.


Winnipeg Jets

A still-formidable Central Division might very well stand in the way of a wild-card berth, and goalie questions might or might not be answered by Steve Mason, but they have the look of a team that could go for the Stanley Cup in a few years.


Philadelphia Flyers

Nolan Patrick is a gem of an addition at No. 2 in the draft, Brian Elliott is an underrated bargain-bin find at goalie and the Flyers still have a lot of offense. But did they get better for 2017-18? Maybe. Playoffs aren't a guarantee.


Tampa Bay Lightning

Even with the slightest of defensive improvements, they should be serious contenders. Steven Stamkos is back with a high-powered offense, and the front office has its future core locked up. Another top-10 scoring year is in the cards.


New York Islanders

A tricky one to dissect. New York didn't really do much to help its cause this summer, but it still has enough high-scoring ability to compete. The biggest concern of all: What does the future hold for John Tavares?


Nashville Predators

You would be hard pressed to find a team built better both to contend now and in the future. They lost some veterans, and it's going to be hard to replicate how they peaked in 2016-17. But their core is energetic playoff material.


Calgary Flames

Outlasting Pacific Division powerhouses is going to be a challenge again, but the Flames are working with an even better defense that could mask some goalie questions. They're primed for another underdog run to the postseason.


Toronto Maple Leafs

Overpaying for Patrick Marleau might be overshadowed by another top-five offensive season. In a favorable division for a return to the playoffs, they're locked and loaded with additional experience for a serious push.


Boston Bruins

After all the David Pastrnak contract holdups, they still have elite scorers up front. But the depth is lacking, and a cap-strapped summer didn't help. For another wild-card shot, their blue line has to stay gritty and healthy.


Ottawa Senators

You have to love their grit as a "boring" winner on defense. Losing Marc Methot and relying on an aging Craig Anderson to repeat a huge playoff performance, however, aren't keys to topping their unexpected conference finals run.


San Jose Sharks

Are they more like the team that surged with a top-five defense early in 2016-17 or the one that crashed right before the playoffs? Their blue-liners are still for real -- playoff material. But an old Joe Thornton can't take them all the way.


St. Louis Blues

They're built to win now. If Jake Allen shows out in net and the beefed-up offense doesn't try too hard to replicate the hot start from 2016-17, this is a Stanley Cup sleeper. A formidable Central Division stands in their way.


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New York Rangers

The defense is better, but there are question marks at center and regarding Henrik Lundqvist's durability over the long haul. Caught in between a rebuild and a run at it all, they seem more like a fringe contender.


Edmonton Oilers

Paying big bucks to Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl cost them some depth, but don't forget they have -- wait for it -- Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. Outside the Penguins, they top the NHL in speed and title potential.


Montreal Canadiens

Their busy summer was filled with big changes, including familiar faces departing a defense that locked up Carey Price, and it's up to Jonathan Drouin to turn around the offense. Much like the Stars, they're kind of boom or bust.


Anaheim Ducks

An elite group of blue-liners got some John Gibson insurance in Ryan Miller, and the Ducks are as consistent as anyone when it comes to getting to the playoffs. The Oilers stand in their way, though, and that's no small problem.


Minnesota Wild

Early-round playoff woes will hang over this team all season, but that doesn't mean they don't have a plethora of scorers

to give Bruce Boudreau another shot at righting his record. This time, they should finally outdo Chicago.


Columbus Blue Jackets

Another 108-point season seems a little too lofty a goal here, but then again, Artemi Panarin is as splashy an offensive addition as they come. They might not be Cup ready, but they're certainly feisty postseason material.


Chicago Blackhawks

Jonathan Toews got his friend back in Brandon Saad, and Patrick Sharp is also in the mix. Nostalgia won't save them after losing loads of key players in a cap-strapped summer, though. They'll be competitive but shakier than usual.


Washington Capitals

Their "all-in" 2016-17 left them in an unenviable place this offseason, and they didn't come out of it undamaged. There are still some big faces around, but might they be dealt sooner rather than later? Disappointment incoming.


Pittsburgh Penguins

A lot of familiar faces are gone, but there's probably not a better team stocked from top to bottom for another run. They have elite playoff experience, elite goal scorers and soon-to-be elite up-and-comers. The bar is high.


Carolina Hurricanes Cut Six Players from Training Camp Roster

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Carrick and Saarela headman the list of Carolina’s roster cuts on Thursday.

by Brett Finger@brettfinger Sep 28, 2017, 2:13pm EDT

The training camp roster is now down to 27 as the Carolina Hurricanes made another wave of cuts on Thursday.

Forwards Nicolas Roy, Aleksi Saarela, and Valentin Zykov were all assigned to the Charlotte Checkers and will join the team’s training camp immediately.

Defensemen Trevor Carrick and Jake Chelios and goalie Jeremy Smith will have to pass through waivers in order for them to join the Checkers. We will find out Friday at noon whether or not the trio will stay in the organization.

The only surprising name on the cut list is Carrick as he had an impressive training camp and preseason but ultimately lost the sixth and seventh defenseman jobs, likely to Haydn Fleury and Klas Dahlbeck.

It will be interesting to see if Carrick will be picked up on waivers. With how he played in September, I wouldn’t put it past a team for giving him a look in the dying days of preseason.

Among the notable names still in camp are Phil Di Giuseppe, Janne Kuokkanen, Martin Necas, Lucas Wallmark, Jake Bean and Haydn Fleury.

The team will play its final preseason game on Friday against the Washington Capitals.

Carolina Hurricanes 2017-18 Season Preview: Goalies

There’s a new sheriff in town and he just may be the answer to Carolina’s long-running goaltending woes.

by Justin Lape@LankyLape Sep 28, 2017, 11:03am EDT

We’ve taken a look at the wingers, centers and defenseman for the Carolina Hurricanes heading into the 2017-18 season. Justin Lape takes a look at the goalie tandem for the ‘Canes.

Needing to stabilize a position that had been a long-running question mark, this past offseason Carolina Hurricanes general manager Ron Francis made a daring move, acquiring the rights to former Chicago Blackhawks goalie Scott Darling and then signing him to a four-year contract with an average annual value of $4.15 million. Simply put: there’s a new sheriff in town.

Last season, the Hurricanes finished 26th in team save percentage and allowed 2.8 goals per game, worse than the league average. Cam Ward played too much, Eddie Lack couldn’t find much consistency, and Francis’ hand was forced, sending Lack packing in a deal with the Calgary Flames for...not much, really. With a new look in net, there is a hint of optimism in the air for the future prospects of the ‘Canes goaltending situation.

Scott Darling

Age: 28 2016-17 Stats: 18-5-5, .924 save percentage, 2.38 goals against average Acquired: Trade with Chicago, 4/28/17

Darling was brought in with one charge: solidify the Hurricanes’ goaltending situation. He thrived in a back-up role in Chicago last season and it was only a matter of time until he got his shot with a team that allowed him to be a starter. He posted above average stats over 32 games backing up Corey Crawford. Now, he’s expected to be the man for the ‘Canes this season.

But it’s not fair to expect him to waltz in on day one and play lights-out hockey. Darling needs time. He will have to get acquainted to playing behind a new defense and become

acquainted to Bill Peters’ system. The early season nerves may lead to a shaky start in October but once he’s settled in, Darling should thrive.

He doesn’t have to be perfect and an immediate Vezina candidate. In fact, if Darling simply provides league-average goaltending - which would be a step down from what he did last season - the Hurricanes could be a playoff team. The team has structured reliable defensive pairings and a talented top-9 forward core to provide enough stability in front of Darling. He should thrive and 30-35 wins in his first full season should be achievable in 2017-18.

Cam Ward

Age: 33 2016-17 Stats: 26-22-12, .905 save percentage, 2.69 goals against average Acquired: 1st round (30th overall) pick, 2002 NHL Draft

The longest-serving member of the Hurricanes is a terrific guy through his community outreach programs and respect for fans and media. He’s given a lot to the franchise and has stuck with the team through some pretty bad seasons.

With that said, Cam Ward was largely hung out to dry last season, playing 61 games and wearing down over the course of the year. He played well the first half of the season but with Lack first unreliable and then injured for two months, Ward broke down. The graph shows his save percentage game by game, and looks a bit like a ski jump. Playing every day clearly limited Ward’s performance, but Peters had no real choice but to ride him for months at a time, culminating in his highest number of starts in six years.

Now, with Darling in the fold, a smaller sample of games may benefit the veteran goalie. Ward turns 34 in February, and has plenty of miles on his pads through his 12 seasons in the NHL. He’s shown flashes of brilliance over the past few seasons, but the more he’s played, the less effective he’s been.

Ward should be better this season in a smaller sample size. Much like Darling, he will not need to be a star in net. Improving on his save percentage and making a few more

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saves on the glove side could pay big dividends for the team. If Ward starts 30 games, he should be fine. Any more than that and the Canes will be pressing their luck again.

Jeremy Smith

Age: 28 2016-17 Stats: Split time between NHL/AHL, 2.57 goals against average, .911 save percentage (at AHL level) Acquired: Free agent signing, 7/1/17

Jeremy Smith will be the veteran goalie for the Charlotte Checkers this season as Tom McCollum, who carried the Checkers on his back and into the Calder Cup playoffs while on loan last season, returned to the Flames organization and was then traded to Detroit. Smith has experience at the AHL and NHL level, most recently as a member of the Colorado Avalanche organization.

Smith’s stats dropped at the AHL level last season, after recording a 2.02 goals against average and a .934 save percentage with the Providence Bruins a season before. However, even with Smith’s experience, don’t expect him to be a savior for the Canes if one of Darling or Ward goes down with an injury. Smith got his first taste of the NHL last season with the Avs, and it didn’t go well. In ten games, he had a 3.54 goals against average and a .888 save percentage.

Smith may receive a majority of the starts in Charlotte but he won’t have to be outstanding. Charlotte’s offense is significantly improved from a year ago with the additions of Julien Gauthier, Warren Foegele and Nicolas Roy, among others. If he posts similar stats compared to his time with the San Antonio Rampage, the Checkers should be in fine shape.

Elsewhere

It’s far from certain as to which young netminder will share the net with Smith in Charlotte. Alex Nedeljkovic had a rough first professional season within the organization, spending time in the ECHL and posting a 3.40 goals against average and a .881 save percentage with Charlotte. He wasn’t able to remain consistent and would allow goals in bunches.

20-year-old Callum Booth will begin his first professional season after developing in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Booth is reminiscent of Darling, using his big body and frame to keep pucks out of the net. Checkers head coach Mike Vellucci might be apprehensive about starting Booth right out of the gate, but expect Booth to see time in a Checkers uniform at some point. The Checkers goaltending situation was a rotating carousel last season and it looks to continue to be so heading into 2017-18.

Checkers Look Ahead To Preseason Series In Lehigh Valley

Written by Nicholas Niedzielski

Published: September 28, 2017

The 2017-18 campaign continues to draw closer, and with the conclusion of Thursday’s practice the Checkers’ focus now shifts to their preseason slate.

The team packed up this afternoon and is headed to Pennsylvania for a pair of preseason tilts against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Friday and Saturday. Charlotte has spent the entirety of the past week on the Bojangles’ Coliseum ice for training camp, so the impending game action will offer up the chance to put what they’ve learned to the test.

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“We worked on our system all week,” said head coach Mike Vellucci. “Now we want to make sure we’re in a good position all over the ice.” With several new faces in the fold – the group heading to Lehigh Valley is comprised of most of the players participating in the first week of camp – the preseason action also lets the team pick up some game action that can carry over into next week’s second half of training camp. “It’s a young team so after this weekend we can make sure we look at video after and teach,” said Vellucci. “We can do a lot more teaching with these two games than we can with practice. We’ll be able to see them in a game environment and get video.” The final scores of the weekend’s preseason contests aren’t much of a priority in the grand scope of things. Instead the focus is on individual performances, with the coaches’ attention being divided among bubble players fighting for a roster spot and the core skaters ramping up for the regular season. “We’re going to try to look at everybody,” said Vellucci. “Make sure the guys that are under contract get a good opportunity to show me what they have. And then some of the guys that are on American League deals, we want to

make sure they get that opportunity too. We’re going to try to split it as much as we possibly can.” One aspect the staff will be zoning in on over the weekend is the power play, which was the focus of Thursday’s practice and has Vellucci excited for the future. “Both units were good,” he said. “We had [Brenden] Kichton on the point and he has a really good shot. Even [Nick] Schilkey had a couple of good shots today, he’s a really good hockey player. Brownie [Patrick Brown] played in front of the net, I know he played that in college and has done it a lot here in the American League. There’s some good pieces there and then obviously with the guys that we get back from Carolina whenever they come back there will be some guys who will be big pieces on the power play.” This marks the second consecutive season that the Checkers have visited the Phantoms for preseason games, though Charlotte’s move to the Eastern Conference means this is a precursor for several meetings during the regular season. Regardless, the hope is that the trip will set the Checkers up for success going forward. “It’s good to get on the road,” said Vellucci. “The guys get together and get familiar with each other. It’s good to get some games in and get used to how we want to play.”

TODAY’S LINKS

https://www.cbssports.com/nhl/news/2017-18-nhl-season-outlook-previews-breakdowns-for-all-31-teams/

https://www.canescountry.com/2017/9/28/16380212/carolina-hurricanes-cut-six-players-training-camp-roster-trevor-carrick-aleksi-saarela-

nicolas-roy

http://gocheckers.com/articles/features/checkers-look-ahead-to-preseason-series-in-lehigh-valley

https://www.canescountry.com/2017/9/28/16377058/carolina-hurricanes-2017-18-season-preview-goalies-scott-darling-cam-ward-jeremy-

smith

1075472 Carolina Hurricanes

Hurricanes to have 81 games televised by Fox

BY CHIP ALEXANDER

The Carolina Hurricanes and Fox Sports Carolinas have announced that 81 of their 82 regular-season games will be televised by the regional sports network.

The Hurricanes will have one national broadcast on NBC Sports, April 5 against Philadelphia.

Fox Sports Carolinas will televise 74 games and seven will be carried by Fox Sports Southeast. The 81 games will be available on Fox Sports Go

(FOXSportsGo.com), a free app that provides streaming video through select programming distributors.

John Forslund will handle the Canes’ TV play-by-play for the 23rd consecutive season and Tripp Tracy will be in his 19th season as

analyst.

News Observer LOADED: 09.29.2017

1075571 Washington Capitals

With penalty potential high this season, Caps still searching for Jay

Beagle’s new PK partner

By Isabelle Khurshudyan September 28 at 10:47 AM

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After the Capitals’ 4-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday night, forward Tyler Graovac seemed conflicted as he stood in front of his

locker room stall. Graovac had another strong showing in an effort to make Washington’s opening night roster; he scored the team’s only goal of the game and just the Capitals’ second five-on-five goal of the preseason.

But Graovac was unhappy with the other part of his audition. Playing on a top penalty-killing pair with forward Jay Beagle, Graovac was on the ice for two of the Devils’ three power-play goals in the first period.

“You have to take responsibility for it and you have to make the proper adjustments,” Graovac said. “For me, I want to take that opportunity and have that responsibility this year.”

With the NHL cracking down on slashing, the start to the regular season may feature a lot of penalties, as has been the case in exhibitions. That puts even more spotlight on a penalty kill that could still be a work in progress this time next week. The Capitals have two preseason games left to decide who will start the season on either side of Beagle on the

fourth line. But figuring out who in the lineup should replace Daniel Winnik as Beagle’s regular penalty kill partner might stretch into the regular season.

“I think someone who anticipates well off of him,” Coach Barry Trotz said. “That’s sort of key. It’s almost like a pair of defensemen; you want to have the ability to anticipate. Sometimes you put two guys together, and you think it should work and it really doesn’t. Then you put another pair together and they just instinctively work well together. Last year, Beags and Winnie were really good and Lars [Eller] and Tom [Wilson] had a little bit of chemistry [on the second unit]. That is going to be very, very

important for us going forward, finding that next guy.”

Beagle has played in two preseason games, and in the first one,

Washington paired him with Devante Smith-Pelly on the penalty kill. The Carolina Hurricanes won that game, 4-1, and in four power play

opportunities, Carolina scored one goal, when Smith-Pelly and Beagle weren’t on the ice. On Wednesday night, the Devils had three power

plays in the first 14 minutes, and they scored less than a minute into all three. Washington kept New Jersey off the board the rest of the game.

Washington’s penalty kill has been a source of strength for the team over the past two years, and Beagle has played a large part in that. Since the start of the 2015-16 season, the Capitals have an 84.5 penalty kill percentage, third-best in the league, and Beagle has logged more than 337 shorthanded minutes in that span, which is more than any forward and third-most on the team. Winnik, now on a professional tryout with the Minnesota Wild, played with Beagle most in that role, and preferably one of Beagle’s new linemates will replace him.

“It’s easy to build off of and get chemistry with another guy when you’re killing with a guy and then playing five-on-five,” Beagle said. “It comes

faster.”

T.J. Oshie and Beagle made a dynamic penalty-killing pair for a short

stretch of games early last season, but it’s a lot to ask of Oshie to play in the top-six forward corps at even strength and then also take on top

power play and top penalty kill responsibilities. While Oshie and center Nicklas Backstrom log shorthanded minutes, it tends to be just at the end

of the penalty kill, which makes the transition back to five-on-five easier because Oshie and Backstrom play on a line together. Creating shorthanded pairs who also play together at even strength helps maintain

line continuity in the shifts after a penalty kill.

Graovac seems to be a favorite to make Washington’s opening night roster because his play at five-on-five has been so strong, and it’s likely he gets another opportunity to penalty kill with Beagle. The two together

would seem to be an advantage for the Capitals on faceoffs because both are natural centers and have opposite dominant hands.

“You know what, he’s a smart player, and I really just kind of feed off him,” Graovac said. “You just follow his stick and you’ve just got to fill the

lanes and hold that to the intersection. I think there was a couple times where they didn’t really get to set up too many times, and that’s key for us. That’s something I liked to do on the PK when I played last year a little bit; if they can’t even set up, then that’s the best PK. I think we did a little bit of that, but unfortunately, tough start on the PK.”

Along with Graovac, forwards Nathan Walker and Alex Chiasson appear to be the front-runners to seize Washington’s depth forward openings, and they have experience killing penalties, too. Beagle said he likes to make note of who he has chemistry with in games, practices and scrimmages, but the pieces around him have rotated so much during this

training camp that it’s been hard to handicap.

“We’ve still got some good players that are going to get an opportunity to

showcase that next game,” Trotz said. “We’re going to have to make some decisions as we’re getting down to the short strokes with two

games left.”

Washington Post LOADED: 09.29.2017

1075572 Washington Capitals

In lengthy statement, former Cap Joel Ward explains why he won't kneel for national anthem

By J.J. Regan September 28, 2017 1:27 PM

Former Capitals forward Joel Ward told The Mercury News on Tuesday

that he would consider joining in the growing protest across the sports world by kneeling for the national anthem.

On Thursday, he expanded on his thoughts with a lengthy note on Twitter regarding the protest saying he had decided not to kneel.

"I also feel that the original message that was trying to be communiated has been lost," Ward says.

"The focus has shifted to the act of the kneeling itself or to a protest of the flag or military. What are we really talking about here?"

You can read Ward's full statement here.

Some thoughts...excuse the length! pic.twitter.com/YUNMgjaAgn

— Joel Ward (@JRandalWard42) September 28, 2017

MORE CAPITALS: AFTER ANOTHER ROUGH PRESEASON PERFORMANCE, IS IT TIME TO WORRY ABOUT THE CAPS?

Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 09.29.2017

1075509 Minnesota Wild

Matt Cullen misses another preseason game for the Wild

By Joe Christensen Star Tribune SEPTEMBER 29, 2017 — 12:43AM

Wild forward Matt Cullen tries to get a shot on net while being defended by Gustav Olofsson during training camp.

Matt Cullen has not played in five of six preseason games for the Wild, leaving coach Bruce Boudreau cautious about the 40-year-old's season outlook.

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"I don't know; we haven't seen him play yet," Boudreau said Thursday morning. "We have seen him play one game. I think on paper, in the summer, it's important [re-signing Cullen], and he brings a lot to the table. He's just another guy we want to get a little bit healthier and hopefully he gets to play Saturday night."

The Wild plays its final preseason game that night against Dallas before opening the regular season on Thursday at Detroit.

Cullen, who turns 41 in November, skated at full speed during Thursday's optional practice but did not play in the Wild's 3-2 preseason victory over the St. Louis Blues on Thursday night in Kansas City, Mo. Boudreau was

looking forward to seeing 15 or 16 of the team's regulars play together in that game.

Cullen's one preseason game came against Winnipeg on Sept. 21, when he logged 14 minutes, 33 seconds of ice time. Cullen was said to be day-

to-day with an unspecified injury earlier this week, though the coaches were encouraged with his progress in practice.

Cullen played 72 regular-season games and 25 postseason games for the Pittsburgh Penguins last season.

Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk, making his second start of the preseason, made one of his 24 saves in a 3-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Thursday night at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo. Charlie Coyle scored a short-handed goal with five seconds left in the third period to give the Wild the victory. Missouri native Luke Kunin, trying to make the team in his first NHL camp, and Kyle Quincey also scored for the Wild, which improved to 4-2 in the preseason with one game to go. The regular season begins Thursday at Detroit.

Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk, making his second start of the preseason, made one of his 24 saves in a 3-2 victory over the St. Louis

Blues on Thursday night at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo. Charlie Coyle scored a short-handed goal with five seconds left in the third

period to give the Wild the victory. Missouri native Luke Kunin, trying to make the team in his first NHL camp, and Kyle Quincey also scored for

the Wild, which improved to 4-2 in the preseason with one game to go. The regular season begins Thursday at Detroit.

Parise to go 0-for-7

Zach Parise was one of four Wild players still on the roster who didn't skate in Thursday's optional practice and is not expected to play Saturday, meaning he will have missed all seven preseason games with a back issue. "He hasn't taken physical contact yet, so I would venture to guess no [Parise won't play Saturday]," Boudreau said.

Kunin impressing

Boudreau added to the recent praise GM Chuck Fletcher heaped on 19-year-old center Luke Kunin, who scored against the Blues on Thursday night.

"I think we've got the idea of what Luke Kunin is all about," Boudreau said. "He's going to be a solid NHL player for a lot of years, whether it's

right now at the start, or much down the road or six months down the road. We know his character and he can play."

Etc.

• Defenseman Matt Dumba returned to practice after tweaking an ankle in

Tuesday's game.

• Boudreau returned to the team after missing two preseason games

following the Wednesday celebration of life of his younger brother, Bryan. "I don't think we will really miss a step here," Boudreau said. "It's just work as usual now."

•The Wild assigned goaltender Niklas Svedberg to Iowa, after he cleared waivers. The former Boston Bruins goalie is basically third on the Wild's goaltender depth chart behind Devan Dubnyk and Alex Stalock.

•All six other players the Wild placed on waivers Wednesday (Alex Grant, Pat Cannone, Landon Ferraro, Kurtis Gabriel, Zack Mitchell and Cal O'Reilly) cleared and were sent to Iowa, as well.

Star Tribune LOADED: 09.29.2017


Wild All-Star Ryan Suter strives to improve at age 32

By Joe Christensen Star Tribune SEPTEMBER 28, 2017 — 11:49PM

Inside the Wild locker room, high on the wall above Ryan Suter's stall, there's a prominent quote from NBA legend Jerry West that says, "You won't get much done in life if you only work hard on the days you feel good."

Suter chuckled this week when asked how often he looks at that quote.

"I didn't know it was up there," he said. "I sit below it, so I don't see it."

It's not like Suter needs the inspiration. He has finished an entire season

without missing a game seven times in his career, including four of the five he has been with the Wild.

At 32, Suter is showing no signs of slowing down as he enters Year 6 of his 13-year, $98 million contract. An All-Star last season, he led the NHL with a plus-34 rating.

"He was outstanding," Wild General Manager Chuck Fletcher said. "With this guy, it wouldn't surprise me if he signed another contract after this. [Chris] Chelios played to [age 48]. This guy could play to 45 if he wants to."

That might sound like wishful thinking for a franchise that still has eight

years remaining on the matching contracts it gave Suter and Zach Parise as free agents in July 2010.

Parise, 33, takes more of a pounding with his style of play. The 5-11, 197-pound left wing missed the 2016 postseason because of a herniated

disk, and has yet to be cleared for contact in this training camp because of a back injury.

But the 6-1, 200-pound Suter has been the model of consistency he was for Nashville before signing with the Wild.

"He's in great shape," Fletcher said. "He came even leaner this year than he has been in past year — both he and Mikko [Koivu]. And that's exciting to me that they continue to evolve and find ways to keep quickness and keep their game at a high level."

On the first day of training camp, Suter breezed through coach Bruce

Boudreau's infamous skate test, which requires players to cover 4 ½

lengths of the ice at full speed three times within a short span.

Suter joked that he did this without any summer conditioning.

Fellow Wild veteran Matt Cullen marveled: "I don't think [Suter's] heart

rate got over 150."

Suter averaged more than 29 minutes per game over his final three seasons playing for former Wild coach Mike Yeo, and that number dropped to 26:55 last season under Boudreau.

Coming into this camp, Boudreau said, "He's going to still be put in every situation needed, and we're going to play Ryan as much as we can to help us win games. … This year, I have no qualms about playing him as much as I need to play him."

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Suter and Jared Spurgeon have been defensive partners, but Boudreau wants to pair Suter and Matt Dumba this season, hoping Suter can play "a little more of an offensive role."

Suter scored a career-high nine goals last season, though his assist total dropped to 31 after he notched a career-high 43 the previous season. Still, it was arguably a career season for Suter.

"Last year was the best I'd felt coming in, and I feel the same way," he

said. "I don't think I've plateaued yet, at least I hope I haven't."

The Wild has been to the postseason every year of the Suter/Parise era

— but the two stars have yet to lead the team past the playoffs' second round.

"In the past we've spent so much energy trying to get in the playoffs, and then you get there and it's kind of a letdown," Suter said. "So for us, I feel like we want to have a steady, level season and then be trending upward as you get closer to the playoffs."

After Suter said this, he set off to do more conditioning. Later that night, he and his wife, Becky, hosted 225 guests at Xcel Energy Center for the annual "Skate with the Greats" event, benefiting the Ronald McDonald House Charities.

From his locker, Suter might not be able to see the Jerry West quote above him, but he has a clear view of another one across the room from Vince Lombardi. That quote says, "The dictionary is the only place where success comes before work. Hard work is the price we pay for success."

"I stare at that one all day," Suter said.



Bruce Boudreau returns, but Wild won't have Zach Parise or Matt Cullen tonight vs. Blues

By Joe Christensen SEPTEMBER 28, 2017 — 11:42AM

Wild coach Bruce Boudreau returned to the team this morning after

spending time with family following the death of his brother, Bryan.

Boudreau was all-business with the Wild getting ready to travel to Kansas City, Mo., for tonight's game against the Blues.

"It's good to be back," Boudreau said.

The Wild held an optional practice this morning, and Zach Parise was one of only four players remaining on the roster who weren't on the ice. Asked if Parise has been ruled out for the team's final two preseason games, Boudreau said, "I’m just under the assumption that that’s probably the [case]. He hasn’t taken physical contact yet so I would venture to guess no."

The Wild concludes its seven-game preseason Saturday against Dallas at Xcel Energy Center.

Matt Cullen did practice this morning but isn't in tonight's projected lineup. Asked how important the Cullen acquisition was for the Wild late

this offseason, Boudreau said, "I don't know. We haven't seen him play yet. We have seen him play one game. I think on paper, in the summer,

it's important and he brings a lot to the table. He's just another guy we want to get a little bit healthier and hopefully he gets to play Saturday

night."

Tonight's game will feature a Wild lineup with far more regulars than it had earlier in the preseason. The list:

G - Alex Stalock

G - Devan Dubnyk

RW - Charlie Coyle

D - Mike Reilly

D -Ryan Murphy

C - Mikko Koivu

RW - Chris Stewart

C - Eric Staal

C - Joel Eriksson Ek

LW - Jason Zucker

LW - Marcus Foligno

C - Luke Kunin

RW - Ryan Malone

LW - Nino Niederreiter

D - Gustav Olofsson

D - Jonas Brodin

LW - Daniel Winnik

D - Kyle Quincey

D - Jared Spurgeon

D - Carson Soucy

RW - Tyler Ennis

RW - Mikael Granlund



Charlie Coyle’s game-winner lifts Wild to 3-2 win over Blues

By DANE MIZUTANI | PUBLISHED: September 28, 2017 at 10:12 pm | UPDATED: September 28, 2017 at 10:47 PM

Charlie Coyle scored the game-winning goal with 4.3 seconds left on

Thursday night to lift the Wild to a 3-2 exhibition win over the St. Louis Blues.

With the game being played at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Luke Kunin and Kyle Quincey scored the other goals for the Wild, while goaltender Devan Dubnyk was outstanding in his second game of the preseason.

Vladimir Tarasenko and Oskar Sundqvist scored goals for the Blues.

Now the Wild will shift their focus ahead to the final game of the preseason on Saturday night against the Dallas Stars. That game will likely be the final roster audition for many of the players in roster battles, including forwards Joel Eriksson Ek, Luke Kunin, Daniel Winnik and Ryan Malone, and defensemen Gustav Olofsson, Mike Reilly, Carson

Soucy and Ryan Murphy.

Pioneer Press LOADED: 09.29.2017

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Wild think Luke Kunin will be an NHL player, maybe very soon

By DANE MIZUTANI PUBLISHED: September 28, 2017 at 3:49 pm |

UPDATED: September 28, 2017 at 9:43 PM

A couple of weeks into training camp, top prospect Luke Kunin is still hanging around. He hopes he can say the same on Oct. 5, when the the

Minnesota Wild open the regular season against the Red Wings in Detroit.

“My goals have been the same the whole time,” said Kunin, who signed an entry-level contract in March following his sophomore season at the University Wisconsin. “I want to make the team.”

Kunin, 19, knows a lot is riding on the final week of training camp. He has played in five of the six preseason games so far, including Thursday’s game against the St. Louis Blues in Kansas City, in which he scored his first goal of the preseason.

Kunin said he wasn’t approaching the game as his final audition despite

being in a roster battle with Joel Eriksson Ek, Daniel Winnik and Ryan Malone for one or two spots.

“I look at every game the same and focus and prepare the same way I always do and just go out and play my game,” Kunin said.

His game has impressed the coaching staff so far.

Asked how much stock he’d be putting into Thursday’s game, coach

Bruce Boudreau quipped, “Well, if he scores four goals or something, then all of a sudden things happen.”

“I mean, I think we’ve got the idea of what Luke Kunin is all about,” he added. “He’s going to be a solid NHL player for a lot of years, whether it’s right now at the start … or six months down the road. We know his character. He can play.”

Kunin was the 15th overall pick in the 2016 NHL Draft following a stellar freshman season for the Badgers in which he recorded 19 goals and 13 assists. He followed that with an even better sophomore season: a team-high 22 goals and 16 assists while also captaining Team USA to a gold

medal at the World Junior Championships.

Kunin finished last season with the Iowa Wild of the American Hockey

League (AHL) after signing his entry-level contract. He played 12 games on an amateur tryout agreement (ATO), recording five goals and three

assists, including a hat trick in the third game of his career.

His reputation at the lower levels reverberated around the Wild locker

room long before he arrived.

“I heard a lot of about him before this,” winger Charlie Coyle said. “You

can tell he’s very focused on making the team. He’s just taking everything in. He’s not the most talkative guy right now, which is understandable. He’s doing his job. He’s playing well. He’s got good speed. I think he’s going to be really good whenever he plays for us.”

Kunin has played center throughout the preseason but can play any of the three forward positions.

“He probably has a little bit more familiarity playing wing the last couple seasons, so I think we’ve asked a lot of him,” general manager Chuck Fletcher said. “We aren’t quite as deep at center as we are at wing, so he’s stepped up and just plays. You know, wherever we put him, he

plays.”

“We will continue to see what makes sense for him long-term,” the GM

added. “He’s going to be a big part of our future. In the short-term, we’ll have to see how it plays out here in the next few days.”

Kunin understands that aspect of it, too, and while he’s hopeful to make the Wild out of training camp, he knows this experience has been important for his development nonetheless.

“It’s been good,” Kunin said. “I just want to keep seeing that progress. … There’s still a long ways to go.”



Wild coach Bruce Boudreau returns following death of his brother

By DANE MIZUTANI | PUBLISHED: September 28, 2017 at 12:05 pm | UPDATED: September 28, 2017 at 12:06 PM

Wild coach Bruce Boudreau returned to the team Thursday morning after missing the past few days while mourning the death of his younger brother, Bryan, who died unexpectedly Saturday night.

A celebration of life was held Wednesday in Toronto.

While this week has been hard on the entire family, it seemed therapeutic for the 62-year-old Boudreau to return the team.

“Yeah,” he said. “It’s good to be back.”

Boudreau was expected to resume his spot behind the bench for Thursday night’s exhibition game as the Wild prepared to take on the St. Louis Blues in Kansas City.

Boudreau stayed in contact with the coaching staff while he was away — assistant coach John Anderson served as the acting head coach in his absence — and wasn’t anticipating any hiccups during the Wild’s second-to-last preseason game.

“We have all the video on the pre-scout done and everything. We talk all the times about the lines, so we knew what the combinations and

everything were,” Boudreau said. “I don’t think we’ll really miss a step here. It’s just work as usual now.”

Boudreau said the Wild losing to the Blues in the first round of playoffs in May still haunts him now and again. That said, he doesn’t look at this

game as a rematch.

“I’m not dwelling on it like, ‘Oh, we’re playing St. Louis. We have to beat those buggers,’ ” Boudreau said. “That’s not what today is about. You know, today is, quite frankly, about the fact that we’ve finally got 14 or 15 of the players that are playing and getting some continuity in the games and getting to know each other a little bit more like, ‘Oh yeah, that’s what he used to do.’ That’s what we want to do.”

PARISE UPDATE

It’s not looking like Zach Parise will play in any games this preseason.

“I’m just under the assumption that that’s probably the (case),” Boudreau

said. “You know, he hasn’t taken physical contact yet so I would venture to guess no.”

That leaves Parise’s status for the Oct. 5 season opener against the Red Wings in Detroit up in the air.

Asked about it earlier this week, general manager Chuck Fletcher seemed to be holding out hope that the $98 million man would be ready

to go.

“Well, I’m sure that’s his goal if you ask him,” Fletcher said. “I just want

him to be ready. … The next step will be if he continues to do well, at

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some point here progress to practice with contact, and guys often don’t need a lot of days at that, so it’s not out of the question.”


1075478 Columbus Blue Jackets

Blue Jackets 4, Predators 3, SO | Turning up the intensity

By Mark Znidar

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Blue Jackets and Nashville Predators met in a game Thursday night at Bridgestone Arena in which the statistics didn’t count and two points weren’t awarded for a victory, but it sure looked like the real thing.

The message both teams sent: The tryout portion of camp is long gone.

Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella said the final two exhibition games —

the finale is Saturday at Pittsburgh — are important dress rehearsals.

The Blue Jackets got shootout goals from Matt Calvert and Artemi

Panarin, and Bobrovsky stopped Viktor Arvidsson in the second round for a 4-3 victory.

Oliver Bjorkstrand, Nick Foligno and Zach Werenski scored goals for the Blue Jackets in regulation.

“Both team played their National Hockey League guys, and the thing I liked about it was the game was played with pace,” Tortorella said. “I’m glad it went to four-on-four and the shootout so we could see the dynamic of that. A lot of good things.”

The Blue Jackets have pared their roster to 29 players — 18 forwards, nine defensemen and two goaltenders — and must get to 23 for the

season.

The unsettling part is that center Brandon Dubinsky has yet to play a

minute because of offseason wrist surgery. The same goes for wing Boone Jenner, who has what the team calls a middle-body injury.

Dubinsky has been practicing, and the hope is he can play at Pittsburgh.

There’s also the question of what is going to happen with wing Josh

Anderson. He and the team are at an impasse in contract talks.

Center Alexander Wennberg didn’t mind playing extra.

“It’s good to practice that,” he said of overtime and the shootout. “It’s very important. Every game now teams are starting their best lines, and it’s a great opportunity to get ready for the season. You always want to win and you always want to play better.”

The Blue Jackets’ first goal, a 12-footer just to the right of the net by Bjorkstrand 3:38 into the first period, resulted from a slick combination that looked like it belonged in a regular-season highlight.

Foligno, skating behind the goal against the boards, slipped a pass to

Pierre-Luc Dubois standing about 8 feet to the right of the goal. From there, Dubois instantly passed to Bjorkstrand for a wide-open shot.

Twenty-six seconds later, former Blue Jacket Scott Hartnell scored on a pass from Arvidsson. Hartnell’s contract was bought out during the

offseason, but his landing was a soft one. He played his first six seasons with the Predators after being the sixth pick in the first round of the 2000

NHL draft.

It took the Blue Jackets 30 seconds to score in the third period on the

power play when Foligno tapped the puck through goalkeeper Pekka Rinne from point-blank range. Wennberg and Panarin got the assists.

Werenski made it 3-1 on a goal with 15:18 gone in the second period. Assists went to Panarin and Wennberg.

Columbus Dispatch LOADED: 09.29.2017


Puck-rakers | Jackets regulars to see bulk of time as preseason

concludes

By Adam Jardy

To borrow a line from Caddyshack, the kidding around is pretty much over for the Blue Jackets. With two preseason games remaining, one of which is tonight at Nashville, the Jackets will field a lineup of first-team choices with an eye on solidifying lines and units for the season opener next Friday.

“We’re down to our team,” coach John Tortorella said after the team’s morning skate at Nationwide Arena. “This morning we had video as far as our neutral-zone forecheck, some defensive zone coverage. Now it’s

working on our game and really ramping up. It’s time to get to business here. Business-like attitude. Two good teams we’re playing against. This

is your club, let’s get ready for the season.”

As cases in point, here are tonight’s lines:

Artemi Panarin-Alexander Wennberg-Cam Atkinson

Pierre-Luc Dubois-Nick Foligno-Oliver Bjorkstrand

Matt Calvert-Zac Dalpe-Sonny Milano

Tyler Motte-Lukas Sedlak-Markus Hannikainen

Zach Werenski-Seth Jones

Jack Johnson-David Savard

Gabriel Carlsson-Ryan Murray

Sergei Bobrovsky

Save for injuries and one unsigned player, that’s not far off from what the

Jackets roster was projected to look like when camp began.

Tonight against the Predators and Saturday at Pittsburgh, Atkinson said

he’s looking forward to building chemistry on that top line with offseason acquisition Panarin and Wennberg, whose arrival at camp was delayed due to visa issues.

“We talked about it a little bit before practice (today), how we’re approaching the last two games as a little bit more business-like,” he said. “We pretty much do have our team here, so it’s getting most of the kinks out and getting back to the fundamentals of how we are supposed to play. It’s exciting to play with those guys. It was exciting to get the first one out of the way. I think we did some good things and obviously not-so-good things. We just have to learn each other’s tendencies. I think

we’ll be better tonight and continue to improve.”

The Jackets beat St. Louis at Nationwide on Tuesday night, 5-2.

Preseason wins don’t carry over, and Tortorella said a victory isn’t necessarily the ultimate goal tonight.

“I always think you put the uniform on, you want to win, but for me I still need to look at different combinations at certain times on different lines,”

he said. “I’m going to focus in on some combinations as far as the penalty killers. Yeah, it’s not the end-all, but I think anytime you put the

uniform on, you want to win the game. But I still have some things I need to work through also.”

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On the injury front, Boone Jenner remains sidelined with an undisclosed middle-body injury and Tortorella said he’s not sure of his progress.

“It’s not day to day,” the coach said. “I’m not sure where it’s at. It’s a

finicky thing. He’s getting all the work that he needs on it and we’ll see how that goes. I’m just not sure where that’s at.”



Blue Jackets: Kekalainen denies that Anderson has requested a trade

By Adam Jardy

Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen on Thursday denied a report that forward Josh Anderson has requested a trade.

“We are hoping he will sign soon and continue playing in the National

Hockey League,” Kekalainen said in a text message to The Dispatch.

On Thursday morning, Elliotte Friedman of SportsNet.ca reported that a

trade had been requested by the restricted free agent who is holding out in a contract dispute.

The article has since been updated but still says that the right winger has requested a trade as contract negotiations have stalled. Kekalainen, however, said no request has been made to the Blue Jackets. Anderson has missed the entirety of the Blue Jackets preseason, which continues with its seventh of eight preseason games tonight.

In his first full NHL season last year, Anderson scored 17 goals — all even-strength, third-best on the Blue Jackets — and had 12 assists in 78 games. He entered the offseason without a contract, and the Blue Jackets front office maintained that they planned on him being present for the start of camp.

Anderson’s agent, Darren Ferris, told The Dispatch two weeks ago that negotiations between the two sides had stopped. Thursday, Ferris said he couldn’t comment on the negotiations or speculations made on the negotiations other than to say, “They are ongoing and would hope to have a resolution soon.”

He did not respond to a message asking him to confirm the trade request.

The Blue Jackets open the regular season one week from Friday at home against the New York Islanders. They currently have 29 players in camp.



Blue Jackets | Strong start the focus for Oliver Bjorkstrand

By Adam Jardy

For three-quarters of last season, Oliver Bjorkstrand struggled to find his form with the Blue Jackets. Then after shuttling between the NHL and the team’s minor-league affiliate in Cleveland, the second-year pro put together a prolific cap to the season upon being recalled.

Now he is aiming to prove just which player he is.

“This year I’ve got to find a way to find that level at the beginning of the season so there’s no worries about how I’m going to be on the ice,” said Bjorkstrand, a 22-year-old right wing. “That’s my main focus right now, and I still have some work to be done to get to that level.”

Coach John Tortorella has no patience for players who describe themselves as “slow starters.” He has a word for it, too, but it can’t be printed here. Last season, Bjorkstrand had an abbreviated offseason after helping the Monsters win the Calder Cup capped by his decisive overtime goal.

That came June 12, more than two months after the Blue Jackets’

season ended.

“It’s no surprise that last year was not the best camp for me and start of the season,” Bjorkstrand said. “I feel better this year. I don’t really have any excuses — not that I had last year, but I don’t have any excuses this

year to not be ready. It’s a long summer and I had a lot of time to prepare myself.”

That much has been evident to Tortorella, but he’s still looking for more.

“The biggest point for (him) is he spent a lot of time here this summer,” he said of Bjorkstrand. “I thought he was more prepared this camp, did a lot of great work in the summer. We kept closer tabs on him. He’s had some good minutes and has had some struggles, just like everybody else on our team.”

After seeing diminishing ice time in three straight early-season games, Bjorkstrand was sent down with no points to his name. He had 12 points in 21 games after he was recalled for good on Valentine’s Day, and his advanced stats in limited time are exceptional: His average of 2.50 points per 60 minutes of ice time was ninth-best in the NHL last season.

Bjorkstrand’s sample size is obviously skewed by his lack of extended

playing time, but it does show the potential that is there.

He has remained on the roster through three waves of cuts. On Tuesday,

he had two assists in a win against St. Louis, three nights after scoring in a 3-2 win at Chicago.

Now he’s hoping for more.

“I’ve just got to make sure that I play some good hockey and make sure that I don’t play myself off the team,” he said. “I feel like the coaching staff likes me, but even though I say that I’ve got to play good because if I don’t, they’re going to send me down and I won’t be here.”

Roster cuts

Four players were sent Tuesday to Cleveland: defenseman Dean Kukan,

center Justin Scott and left wings Nick Moutrey and Calvin Thurkauf. Right wing Vitaly Abramov was assigned to his junior club in the Quebec

Major Junior Hockey League. Defenseman Brady Austin and center John Mitchell were released from their tryout contracts.


1075582 Websites

The Athletic / Bourne: Coach-speak to English dictionary: on vague phrases that can be specific

Justin Bourne

16 hours ago

When it comes to interviews with coaches “say what you mean and mean what you say” is hardly an adage held dear. Half the time they’re speaking directly to their players, knowing they read what’s said in the

CAROLINA HURRICANES


media. Other times they’re trying to shape the narrative around something that isn’t going swimmingly with the team.

While parsing what they really mean is a nearly unattainable goal, we

can at least better understand the phrases they use on a day-to-day basis. A lot of things sound pretty straight forward – “we want to play fast,” for example – but the words actually mean something more specific than some assume.

This was probably the biggest surprise I encountered when joining the Toronto Marlies in November 2015. I grew up immersed in hockey, yet I barely spoke the same language as the staff when discussing tactics.

And while I can’t go into the specific details of the Maple Leafs language – that’s their own information that they use to run their organization – I

can get into the more general terms used by nearly every coach around professional hockey today.

So let’s open the hockey dictionary and get a look at some commonly used terms, shall we?

Play fast

We’ll start here since I already mentioned it. “Playing fast” does not, in fact, mean skating around aimlessly at a high rate of speed. After all, players are supposed to be in specific spots, so skating fast for the sake of skating fast is as likely to pull you out of position as it is to help. When I’ve heard it, it’s almost always in reference to how D-men operate on the regroup. A team that “plays fast” doesn’t bring their forwards all the way back to come up the ice as a unit. Their D-men, upon first touch, get skating up-ice, get their heads up, and move it up as quick as possible.

The idea is that they don’t want to allow their opponent time to get into their structure. Even if all there is as an option is gaining the red line and dumping it in, at least they’re playing in the opposition’s end.

Good stick

This purely refers to times you don’t have the puck, and mostly refers to

one action: on the forecheck, a good stick is on the ice, likely extended with one hand with the blade as close to the puck as you can get it. You

can still finish through with the body, but your stick should limit the room D-men have to work with. This is the same idea in the defensive zone,

where a D-man would keep his stick “on” the puck when an opposing forward has it. In the neutral zone, a D-man defending a rush would operate similarly, taking away play-making space. It can also be used to describe a penalty killer taking away the correct passing lanes of the power play (he’s “sheparding” the play, trying to dictate who gets the puck next). Players with “good sticks” were almost certainly the little brother who kept a finger an inch from his brother’s face saying “I’m not touching you, I’m not touching you.” These guys are annoying as hell.

Play heavy

This is a go-to Mike Babcock-ism in his pressers. But it doesn’t mean that

everyone should run around and smash guys through the boards and punch faces, despite how it sounds. In its common parlance, Johnny

Gaudreau can play heavy — it’s more of an offensive trait. It just means you’re heavy on your stick, so it’s tough to take the puck off you. It means

you’re heavy on your skates, so you’re not getting bumped off the puck. It means you hold your ground in front of the net when a D-man wants to

push you off a rebound. All these things I’ve mentioned happen in the offensive zone. Playing heavy isn’t playing tough. It’s playing tough to get

the puck from.

You can only hit a one-timer at one speed. You hit it, it never stops, there is no alternative way to do this. Release – to me, anyway – refers expressly to how quickly a player with possession can get a puck off their blade, and with how much force and accuracy. It refers to how quickly someone can go from making a hockey act that isn’t shooting, to getting the puck off their blade and on top of a goaltender. These young players today, who grew up using one piece sticks and really know how to harness their energy, have some crazy releases. Phil Kessel’s special gift is becoming increasingly more common.

Pace

As I’ve heard it over the years, “pace,” like “fast” is often used – not always mind you, but most commonly – to describe one act: wingers

leaving their D-zone early and without the puck, which forces the opposing D to pull out. Doing that creates room underneath for their teammates to make plays on the breakout. That’s “dictating the pace” because you’re forcing the opposition to move before the play gets to them.

Coaches around the league use these terms so commonly behind the scenes they forget fans don’t always know exactly what they’re referring

to.

It may sound like they’re always giving generic soundbites, but they’re often sharing more about tactics than it sounds.

The Athletic LOADED: 09.29.2017

1075583 Websites

The Athletic / The Most Interesting Men on the NHL Waiver Wire: Sept. 28

Jonathan Willis

15 hours ago

After a couple of interesting days on the waiver wire, Thursday is a little bit boring. There are plenty of reasonable recall options and even the odd older prospect or two, but not many players good enough to warrant a claim when every team in the league is busy cutting its reasonable recall

options and older prospects.

If there’s an exception, it’s probably the 24-year-old first-round pick who landed with his second organization via the wire last season.

Matt Puempel, LW, Rangers

The primary selling feature on Puempel has always been that he’s a

goal-scorer, and that’s as true today as it was the day the Senators made him the 24th overall selection of the 2011 draft.

The last time we saw Puempel in the AHL was 2015-16, where he scored 17 goals in 34 games. Only four of those goals were on the power play, and he managed the difficult trick of topping three shots per game while also converting on 16 percent of his shots.

He can score in the NHL, too. He has 10 goals in 79 career games, mostly while playing fourth-line minutes. Despite playing with passers of limited ability he’s a career 12 percent shooter in the NHL.

Add in decent size and willingness to fight and it’s easy to understand why Puempel was a first-rounder. Yet his skating isn’t great, his two-way play leaves room for improvement and he’s the kind of guy NHL coaches

have always struggled to deploy in a fourth-line role.

He’s still a young goal-scorer, but the rest of Puempel’s game leaves

enough to be desired that he’ll probably clear waivers this time.

In Brief:

WAIVERS: #OILERS #PENGUINS #RANGERS #SENATORS #PANTHERS #HURRICANES #DUCKS #HABS

PIC.TWITTER.COM/CAMZZRVRW4

— RENAUD LAVOIE (@RENLAVOIETVA) SEPTEMBER 28, 2017

Anaheim Ducks: C Sam Carrick, LW Mike Liambas, RW Scott Sabourin, RW Corey Tropp, RD Steve Oleksy. As long as this list is, there aren’t

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any players here who stand out at this point in the season. Liambas and Sabourin are physical forwards who don’t really score, while Tropp and Oleksy are older skaters who had brief NHL careers in their prime years and are now recall options. Carrick is the most noteworthy to me because he’s a right shot in the prime of his career who seemed to respond well after landing in San Diego last season, but even so he’s probably not a full-time NHL guy today.

Carolina Hurricanes: LD Trevor Carrick, LD Jake Chelios, G Jeremy Smith. As in the last bullet point, Carrick is the most interesting name on this list. He can skate, play with the puck, and likes to hit. So far he’s less

than the sum of those disparate parts, though he should certainly be in the recall conversation. Smith finally got a chance in the NHL after years

as a top AHL ‘tender, but got lit up in the tire fire that was Colorado last season. Chelios is the son of Chris, but the 26 year old should clear

waivers again this year.

Edmonton Oilers: C Brad Malone. The typical NHL player hits his prime

at age 25-26, and fittingly those were the two seasons in which Malone was a full-time major-leaguer (in his case a serviceable fourth-line

centre/winger). He had a bunch of looks at the NHL level in earlier years, which one would expect given that teams are rarely totally sure what young players are. The bad news for Malone and other older players is that teams are sure of them post-prime, which is why he spent all of last season in the AHL.

Florida Panthers: G Harri Sateri. After four seasons as an unremarkable AHL goalie in the Sharks’ organization, Sateri headed to the KHL. He’s back now after three years as a starter at that level, and can boast back-to-back .929 save percentage efforts in his last two Russian campaigns. He’s probably, but not definitely, a third-string guy.

Montreal Canadiens: LW Chris Terry. On offensive talent alone, Terry is an NHL player. He put up big numbers in junior and last year scored 30

goals in 58 AHL games. He’s not a projectable player, though; for all his skill and smarts he lacks both size and speed. When people talk about

players who can light up lower levels but can’t quite make the jump the majors, Terry is what they have in mind.

Ottawa Senators: G Andrew Hammond. “The Hamburglar” became famous in 2014-15, when he went 20-1-2 with a .941 save percentage for the Sens, who promptly signed him to a three-year contract. Hammond’s 7-13-2 record and .898 save percentage in the AHL(!) that same year argued eloquently that this was probably a mirage, and so it proved to be. Hammond’s play slipped even before a hip injury wiped out last season and that along with his $1.35 million cap hit should guarantee he

makes it through waivers.

Pittsburgh Penguins: LW Tom Sestito. Sestito is best known for his fists, once even leading the NHL in penalty minutes. He’s actually a pretty solid player in an enforcer role — he had 16 points in 33 AHL games last year — but he’s 30 and enforcers have almost been entirely phased out in the NHL.

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Sportsnet.ca / Kasperi Kapanen forced to wait even longer for his Maple

Leafs opportunity

Chris Johnston

September 28, 2017, 5:46 PM

TORONTO – Kasperi Kapanen has been competing against William Nylander in international competitions since they were 16 years old.

When he scored the golden goal for Finland at the 2016 world junior tournament, he jumped around the ice at Hartwall Arena with the likes of Patrik Laine, Sebastian Aho and Mikko Rantanen.

So as the 21-year-old winger surveys the landscape at the dawn of a new hockey season, it’s understandable why he might be feeling a little left behind. An increasing number of his peers are climbing the ranks in the NHL while he prepares to get back on the buses in the American Hockey League.

“I think it’s all natural,” Kapanen’s father, Sami, said in an interview. “The young players, they compare themselves all the time with the other

players at the same age or a year or two (apart). They’re kind of like: ‘OK, well he’s playing there, why am I not playing here?’

“They can get confused and lose the mindset.”

There was no mistaking his son’s disappointment on Thursday after the Toronto Maple Leafs were separated into two groups at training camp and he found himself skating with the AHLers. It wasn’t a surprise given the organization’s glut of forwards, but it was confirmation that he’ll almost certainly be part of the Marlies when the regular season opens

next week.

Sami Kapanen sees the situation from all angles.

As a father, he obviously wants what’s best for his son. But as a veteran of more than 800 NHL games, he knows that it often takes longer than you expect to break through. And as a coach now himself with KalPa Kuopio in the Finnish league, he understands why those in charge of a hockey team tend to lean on established players.

That’s why Sami urges Kasperi to focus only on what he can control: Working tirelessly to become an indispensable part of the organization.

“You’ve got to find a way to get in the lineup,” said Kapanen. “A lot of times you get into a lineup, into a roster, playing in the bottom lines. Kind of like two-way hockey, starting as a grinder. Hopefully get some PK time

and win the coaching staff on your side and make them believe in your ability to play in the defensive places.”

It’s an unfamiliar position for someone who became a first-round draft pick on the strength of incredibly strong skating and offensive flair.

However, Kapanen made huge strides on the defensive side of the puck in the AHL last season before getting called up by the Leafs in March – just in time to score his first NHL goal against Pittsburgh on the night they clinched a playoff spot and two more, including the overtime winner, in Game 2 of the first round against Washington.

He’s simply on the wrong side of a numbers game now.

The addition of free-agent Patrick Marleau gave the Leafs eight forwards who scored at least 18 goals last season. That doesn’t include role players like Zach Hyman, Leo Komarov, Miro Aaltonen, Dominic Moore, Matt Martin or Josh Leivo.

While Sami Kapanen makes a point of not talking about hockey too much during phone conversations with Kasperi – “I’m trying to be more the

father” – he understands that there’s probably some underlying frustration. It took until age 22 before he got his own chance to play in the

NHL.

“I think that’s probably the hardest thing for young kids – to stay patient,”

said Sami. “I think they just want to show the world what they’re capable of. They want to score goals, they want to put up the numbers and kind

of make the name for yourself. You’ve got to understand that a lot of these young kids, they grew up piling up points and playing all the offensive situations and carrying the team and being relied on to score the winning goal or making the plays.

“You’re coming to NHL, you’re facing the players that they’ve been playing there up through the years. Players that have all the same tools, but they have all the experience of playing in the NHL. They are probably physically more capable.”

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The strong bond between father and son should ultimately help this situation. At five-foot-eight, it took Sami Kapanen years to get a NHL team to believe in him. He was passed over in the entry draft four times before winning a gold medal at the 1995 IIHF World Hockey Championship and getting taken by Hartford in the fourth round.

Then on the first day of his first training camp with the Whalers, Kapanen slipped as Gerald Diduck threw an open-ice hit and the impact led to severe bleeding around his brain, neck and spinal cord.

Kapanen spent a few weeks in bed before undergoing rehab. “The worst time of my hockey life,” he says now. Once healthy, he wound up

bouncing between the AHL and NHL a couple times before enjoying a 12-year run with the Whalers, Hurricanes and Flyers.

It’s a journey Kasperi is familiar with.

“I’ve had some ups and downs,” he told reporters this week. “Just looking at my dad’s career and how he got to the NHL, mine’s nothing compared to his. I just try to push myself each and every day and kind of be like him.”

Once the sting of his expected demotion wears off, he’ll be able to look at the situation more clearly. Mike Babcock has made it clear that the makeup of the Leafs won’t be finalized in his mind until the second month of the season.

There’s going to be changes and, inevitably, some injuries.

Sami Kapanen believes his son benefitted from the 14 games he played

for the Leafs in the spring and will be more than ready when the elusive opportunity finally appears again.

“I think he’s set his mind on making the lineup this year,” said Kapanen. “He showed up there way earlier than usual (in August) – he wanted to

get the workouts done over there, get skating, get to be with the guys and kind of showing that he’s committed to making the team.

“I think this is the year that he’s willing to do whatever it takes to get in the lineup and that’s the way it should be with the younger players.”

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Sportsnet.ca / Battle for Maple Leafs’ fourth centre job ‘very unclear’

Luke Fox


TORONTO – This is a battle we could not foresee.

When it became apparent that Brian Boyle, the most recent Toronto Maple Leaf with a tenuous grip on the fourth-line centre role, would be headed to free agency, the club phoned Dominic Moore as soon as the

negotiating window opened in June.

Moore, a former Leaf and GTA native who acts as his own agent, wasted

no time flying to Toronto to meet with club president Brendan Shanahan and general manager Lou Lamoriello in person. Moore declined other

offers, and pen met paper on July 1.

“We added a veteran forward to go into our fourth-line slot, who can kill

penalties and also move up in the lineup if necessary,” Lamoriello said upon finalizing the one-year, $1-million contract. “He has great legs, he

still skates well and fits in with the type of game Mike [Babcock] plays, so we feel very good about that.”

Done deal. Slot filled. Let’s move on.

Well, not so fast.

For Monday’s pre-season tilt against the Montreal Canadiens, Babcock iced an NHL lineup that should be a reasonable facsimile of what fans

will see when the puck drops for real on Oct. 4 in Winnipeg.

Moore, 37, did not dress.

In his stead was 24-year-old Miro Aaltonen, a comparative unknown pickup out of the Kontinental Hockey League via the Swiss Elite League.

Roster contests in a Leafs camp short on question marks are few but fierce: 6D and 4C, if you’re playing lineup bingo at home.

Starting with Wednesday’s exhibition, a Canadiens rematch in Quebec City, Babcock will give plenty of pre-season ice time to players on the bubble.

Ben Smith and Eric Fehr look like long shots for the fourth-line gig. Fehr, a $2-million cap hit through June, tells us his finger is unlikely to ever be 100 per cent after he broke it blocking a shot in Columbus last March. (“It’s still not moving the best,” Fehr says, “but it’s working well enough.”)

The coach insists he’s running a meritocracy.

“They’re playing games, and they can figure it out. I’ll watch,” Babcock says. “[When camp ends] we’ll probably still not know what’s going on,

but we’ll have to submit a lineup [on Oct. 3], 23 men. Over 10 games or so, we’ll probably get it right after that.

“There is a lot very unclear yet.”

Babcock denies that Aaltonen has surpassed expectations in his first

small-ice pro camp; the Leafs signed the “greasy” forward because they knew he could play.

After the 5-foot-11, 176-pound Finn starred for five seasons in Sweden, Aaltonen made a smooth transition to Russia. His 19 goals and 44 points

in 59 games for Podolsk Vityaz in 2016-17 made him the KHL’s top point producer under the age of 24, but he lost more faceoffs than he won.

“Skating is the biggest thing in my game,” Aaltonen says. “Here, I need to play PK and fourth-line centre, but I think I can make that.”

The only teammate Aaltonen knows well is global citizen Leo Komarov. The fast pals carpool to practice pumping Finnish rap music.

“He’s been great,” fellow centre Tyler Bozak beams of Aaltonen. “The Finnish, Swedish and guys from Europe are really smart hockey players.

They think the game very well. He has a good stick and knows where to be on the ice. He thinks the game well and makes a lot of really smart

plays.”

If Babcock opts for the younger, faster, smaller pivot over Moore, it could

mark a philosophical tweak. Typically, the 4C brings savvy, eradicates man advantages, and wins the majority of his draws.

That’s 12-season veteran Moore, one of the league’s most trusted and well-travelled faceoff men. He’s coming off a bounce-back season in

Boston, where he chipped in 11 goals and 25 points while starting just 33.8 per cent of his shifts in the offensive zone.

Babcock praises the Harvard grad’s intelligence, confidence and personality.

“[Moore] has gotten better every single day. He missed a little bit before camp so he wasn’t skating,” Babcock says. “He’s in a battle with some other guys here. Dom’s a big boy; he’s been battling his whole career. That’s what he does.”

Moore’s dialogue with his new head coach, a man he’d never met prior, has been limited to a few seconds here and there. Camp is busy.

Developing rapport with his new teammates is “a work in progress.”

He says he can’t focus on being shuffled to the B group, only learning the

Leafs’ systems, finding his rhythm, and displaying the dogged work ethic that has kept the 2000 draft pick in the league.

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“Every camp is kind of never what you expect. Every camp is competitive, so that’s nothing new for me. I always try to prepare the same way,” says Moore, now on his 12th NHL wardrobe change.

“New team, new faces, new systems. It’s not something I haven’t been through before, but at the same time, it takes time to get comfortable.”

Decipher the tea leaves: Does Aaltonen appear like the fourth-centre frontrunner because he’s getting reps with Connor Brown and Matt

Martin? Or does Babcock simply want to see more of Aaltonen because Moore is a known commodity?

Aaltonen could inject fresh legs into a fourth line that, if it includes 20-goal man Brown, could present another scoring threat. Moore could be the reliable 13th forward you can plug and play.

For now, the message from the bench is simple.

“You know you’re in a battle. Here it is,” Babcock says.

“There’s no sense being anxious. You might as well be loose and driving. Get out there and play.”


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Sportsnet.ca / Nikita Soshnikov’s NHL chances damaged by summer of

distress

Chris Johnston

September 26, 2017, 12:54 PM

TORONTO – He wondered about his health and his mind and even his future. There was plenty of time to mull over every undesirable possibility

during Nikita Soshnikov’s summer of distress.

“I’m thinking about it every day, you know, and waiting until when the day

is coming when you feel fine,” said Soshnikov. “Every morning you’re waking up expecting to feel normal again.”

Day after day of disappointment.

The 23-year-old Toronto Maple Leafs winger would start a workout and

immediately feel “foggy” when his heart rate rose. He returned to the ice in June, but something wasn’t right. So he’d take a couple days off to “reset” and then put his skates back on.

It felt like an endless cycle.

“Try again, try again, try again,” he said.

Soshnikov last played for the Maple Leafs on March 20. He took two offensive zone hits in that game from Boston Bruins captain Zdeno Chara and neither really stood out as dangerous at the time. However, Soshnikov gave up 10 inches and 65 pounds in those exchanges and appeared to strike the side of his head on the glass with each.

He was on the ice in the final minute as Toronto protected a one-goal lead against the Bruins that night and consulted with the training staff

afterwards.

It was a concussion. The first documented one of his career.

Naturally, it was officially labelled an “upper-body injury” by the team – a development that didn’t raise much alarm since Soshnikov had

experienced shoulder issues in the past. His absence also triggered the series of events that saw Kasperi Kapanen called up for the push to the

playoffs and a first-round series with Washington.

Publicly, there wasn’t much hint of what Soshnikov was going through. I was surprised to learn just how miserable his recovery had been after asking the most innocuous of questions: “How was your summer?”

Soshnikov says his concussion symptoms included dizziness, fogginess, nausea, mood swings and sleeplessness.

“I’ve been training all summer, but I had symptoms every day afterwards,” he said. “It was for six months. It was really long.”

His condition was bad enough that he wasn’t permitted to travel back home to Russia to visit family – remaining instead in Toronto, where he

could be monitored by the Leafs medical staff.

It’s now been a year and a half since he was last in his hometown of Nizhny Tagil. He misses the mountains and food. There isn’t a day that passes without him speaking with his parents on the phone.

“They were worried about me a lot and so am I,” said Soshnikov. “They support me really well. I don’t know what I would do without them.”

His girlfriend Anastasia – a Ukrainian he met in Toronto – has been a rock as well. She’s probably most responsible for the dramatic improvement in his English since they flip back and forth with Russian.

After a summer of starts and stops, the fog lifted earlier this month.

A sense of normalcy began to return for Soshnikov about two weeks before training camp, and he was cleared for full participation. If you’ve

been watching the pre-season and thought he looked a bit tentative, your eyes aren’t deceiving you. This is a process.

“I knew it’s going to be really tough,” he said. “I’m nervous for sure.”

It was natural to worry about how he’d feel after getting hit during the first

game in Ottawa last week. Those concerns had eased considerably by Saturday’s visit to Buffalo. He’ll make his third exhibition appearance

against the Montreal Canadiens in Quebec City on Wednesday night.

Undrafted and somewhat undersized at five-foot-11, Soshnikov willed his way to the NHL with tenacity and a big-league work ethic.

The biggest challenge when he arrived in North America two years ago was getting him to take a day off. He quickly established himself as an effective forechecker and played 56 games as a fourth liner for the Leafs last season.

It remains to be seen what kind of long-term impact the concussion might

have on him. He sought out as much information as possible about how best to recover.

“I asked so many guys,” said Soshnikov. “From this team, from other teams, from Russia, everywhere. That’s the thing with concussions:

Everybody’s different and you just never know. They’re searching, but even doctors, they don’t know the answer, you know?”

In the short term, it’s certainly impacted his chances of cracking the Leafs lineup this fall. He barely seems to be in the conversation.

Soshnikov doesn’t require waivers to be sent to the American Hockey League – falling three career NHL games short of the threshold – and is likely bound for the Marlies given Toronto’s considerable roster crunch at forward.

Despite that possibility, this is a good news story.

“I feel myself again,” said Soshnikov. “That’s the main point for me right now.”


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Sportsnet.ca / Canadiens’ Drouin gives scouting report on East’s other top centres

Eric Engels


BROSSARD, Que.— There was no hesitation from Jonathan Drouin.

The top centre for the Montreal Canadiens was asked on Thursday which one of his competitors he’d be most inclined to emulate, and he

immediately spit out Patrice Bergeron’s name.

"It’s about his two-way game," says Drouin of his Boston Bruins counterpart. "I don’t think it affects his numbers. He could score more, but just the way he plays is what I admire. He’s always on the puck, always hounding, and he cuts off all options at 5-on-5 and on the penalty kill. I’m definitely trying to take some things from his game and bring it to the ice this year."

Borrowing from Bergeron—or some of the other top centres in the league—can’t be a bad idea. It’s something Drouin intends to do as he feels out his first season as a full-time centre in the NHL.

The benefit of being in his position is that he’ll be matched up against someone great to learn from on a nightly basis.

In light of that, we thought it would be fun to get Drouin’s insight on each of the top centres he’ll be facing in the Eastern Conference.

Because we couldn’t quite pin down who that player will be for the Detroit Red Wings this season—we suspect it’ll be Dylan Larkin, but it could be

Andreas Athanasiou if his contract situation gets settled in short order and if he continues on the trajectory he set out on last season—we

omitted them from the process. We’ll also have to wait for Drouin to play against New Jersey’s rookie sensation Nico Hischier before offering up his opinion.

We started off with Steven Stamkos, who Drouin knows well from their time together in Tampa Bay.

Without further ado, here’s Drouin’s scouting report on his competition.

On Steven Stamkos (Tampa Bay Lightning):

JD: "He’s sneaky. Him and (Nikita) Kucherov score goals where they

sneak away and you forget about them in some way. Also, the thing with him is opportunities. He doesn’t need many shots. Some guys shoot 10

shots a game, and sometimes he’ll shoot 10 times. But he can shoot twice and score twice. He’s a guy who will score 50 or 60 because he

doesn’t need more than one or two chances.

SN: What have you learned from him over the years?

JD: "Just the way he positions himself in the offensive zone. He’s a smart player. Obviously he had a lot of injuries so I didn’t get to play as much

with him as I wanted to, but he’s so smart. He knows where to go on the ice, and he’s obviously a great shooter."

On Auston Matthews (Toronto Maple Leafs):

JD: "Awesome player. Awesome guy, as well. It’s pretty impressive that he scores goals, but they’re not always highlight-reel goals. He scores those dirty goals. In his first year, if you look at his playoff goals, he’s always around the net. It’s a rebound or a tip or something like that. You look at [Pittsburgh Penguins captain] Sidney Crosby and that’s how he scores. I think he’s probably looking at Crosby and taking from that. You get to those dirty areas in your first couple of years and score those

goals—I think that’s pretty big."

SN: What’s the best part of his game?

"His release, I think. His release is unbelievable for a young guy, and he shoots the puck hard. I remember at the World Cup [in 2016], in the first practice, guys were looking at each other like, ‘This kid can really shoot it.’ That release is so quick. It’s on his stick and off his stick in a hurry."

Drouin and Matthews pictured at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. (Ryan Remiorz/CP)

On Jack Eichel (Buffalo Sabres):

JD: "Great skater. Eichs is a special skater. With that long stride and that long stick he reminds me of [Anaheim Ducks centre Ryan] Getzlaf a little

bit. Both guys are pure shooters, but they make plays, too. He looks like he’s going to shoot but goes backdoor for a tap-in for somebody. That long reach is a big advantage for him."

SN: He’ll always be tied to Connor McDavid because they were 1-2 in the draft a couple of years ago, but you get the sense he’s in the shadow and he believes he shouldn’t be and that he’s just as good.

JD: "I think he is as well. Nothing against Connor or anything, but he would’ve went first in a lot of drafts if Connor wasn’t there. But you have to believe in yourself that way. I think that’s good for him. He’s definitely shown he’s a top player in this league, no matter how young he is."

On Patrice Bergeron (Boston Bruins):

JD: "To me, he’s the best centre in the league if you’re looking at the all-

around 200-foot game. He’s tough to beat. He’s always competing for every loose puck, neutral zone, anywhere—he’s always on it. He’s

somebody you hate to play against, and at the end of the day he still scores and produces points without cheating offensively."

SN: What stands out to you when playing against him?

JD: "His stick. I’ve played against him, and his stick is always on the ice,

always on your stick, always in your face. It gets annoying. He doesn’t throw a lot of body checks, but his stick positioning is always on the puck, which makes it hard to make plays against him."

On Aleksander Barkov (Florida Panthers):

JD: "That’s a guy who gets forgotten. He’s playing in Florida, and people don’t talk about that guy enough. Look at his stats and the way he plays; he’s a big boy, he’s heavy on the puck in the corners. But you also watch him in the shootout and you see how sick his hands are. He’s up there

with Eichel and McDavid talent-wise."

On Kyle Turris (Ottawa Senators):

JD: "Great shot. I think you’ve seen that release many times, where he pulls that puck back and fires it. Just the way he shoots it and moves the

puck makes him smart on the power play, and that release really stands out."

On Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins):

JD: "All around. Just the way he’s so strong on the puck in the corners,

you’re almost wasting energy if you’re pushing him in the corner because it doesn’t really do much. He also gets his stick on the puck defensively the way Bergeron does, and I think he’s shown over the last 10 years that he’s the top player in this league. I really think he’s still No. 1."

SN: What do you take from him?

JD: "Just the way he competes for how good he is as a player. When you look at how long he’s been doing this and how good he is, how hard he works really stands out. Every game he wants to be the best, and he has that edge to him. We all know the skill he has, but he competes hard. He gets those goals that Matthews gets now; those tips and rebounds. It

definitely helps his stats."

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On John Tavares (New York Islanders):

JD: "I’ve played him. He’s so smart. Great power play guy. Those guys

all train together—him, Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon—and they all have that lower-body strength that allows them to just turn on you, put the stiff

arm up, and you can’t really do much against that. I think he gets a little bit forgotten, too. He has such great skill and he’s so heavy on the puck."

On Victor Rask (Carolina Hurricanes):

JD: "I haven’t played much against Carolina, but he’s up and coming for

sure. He’s a big boy. That team is pretty good, and I think they’re going to be really good in the next couple of years. He and Elias Lindholm are a big part of that. I haven’t seen that much of him, but he’s a big boy, he’s skilled and has a good shot, and he plays the game the right way."

On Mika Zibanejad (New York Rangers):

JD: "Played him more when he was with Ottawa, but he’s a shooter. Kind of [Washington Capitals star Alex] Ovechkin-like. He goes to that spot on the power play and gets his one-timers. He’s a good right-handed shooter. He’s still getting better. He might be a bit older (he’s 24), but he’s still getting better.

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On Claude Giroux (Philadelphia Flyers) Drouin is aware he’s been tested

at left wing in pre-season but still considers him as Philadelphia’s top centre:

JD: "Not the best skater, but he always finds a way to get a step on a guy. Even if he’s not the quickest or nicest skater, he’s so smart. He gets away with it because of how smart he is. All the little plays he makes—he’ll never beat a guy one-on-one at full speed, but he’ll find a way to beat him in some other way. His hands are also definitely pretty good."

SN: Do you see similarities between you and him?

"Definitely. The way he sees the ice and plays on the power play—he’s calm and he’s not trying to rush things. Same as me. I don’t think you

want to rush things or force things out. You have a power play with a specific way to set things up, and he’s the man to do it. I watched a lot of

him growing up and saw him play in Gatineau when I was younger—my dad used to bring me to his games—and he’s just such a smart player."

On Alexander Wennberg (Columbus Blue Jackets):

JD: "Upcoming. He was great last year. That team was great last year.

He’s so smart, as well. I skated with him four summers ago, and you couldn’t tell who he was then, but you could tell he was good. That goes

to vision; he sees the ice well. He’s not the fastest skater, but he sees the ice so well. He really makes good plays out there. I think last year brought out who he was, and I’m sure he’s going to have a great year this year."

On Nicklas Backstrom (Washington Capitals):

JD: "One of the best passers in the game, if not the best passer. He’s so calm and so smooth, and he’s one of the biggest reasons Ovechkin scores all those goals."


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Sportsnet.ca / NHL Board of Governors discuss place of anthems before games

John Shannon

September 28, 2017, 11:58 PM

“It” wasn’t supposed to even be on the agenda at Wednesday’s NHL

Board of Governors meeting.

This was supposed to be a regular, run-of-the-mill meeting in New York

City to rubber stamp a rule change, and get regular updates from various league departments.

“It” was a discussion about national anthems, and their role prior to hockey games. You see, what occurred throughout the NFL on Sunday and Monday forced the topic onto the agenda. It was deemed important to talk about how to handle potential protests by players as well as anthems, as was the pending Penguins visit to the White House.

For many years, hockey has done a much better job of embracing the anthem both in arena and on television than other sports in North America. There are few, if any, alive that can remember an NHL game

without an anthem just minutes before puck drop. It has become key to every game, almost as a countdown or last signal that the game is about

to begin.

Other sports in North America have been asked by television to move the

anthem(s) outside that eight-to-10 minute “TV Window” just prior to the start of the game. Networks have used that time adjacent to the game to

run high-priced commercials instead.

So when the NHL governors discussed it, much of it could be described

as constructive, and in the end, consensus was that fans come to the games to watch the games and enjoy the event. And the anthem is part of the event. It was viewed as a positive tradition. It was also discussed how teams would and should handle any player protest. When it comes to political and social issues, the consensus was to respect the players and they have to decide what makes them comfortable.

Internally, the owners viewed the anthems as a “good” tradition. Citing the Stanley Cup experience in Nashville, as well as what occurs at

United Center in Chicago, there was a belief that fans like how the anthem is treated in NHL arenas.

They also believe that running both O Canada and the Star Spangled Banner, back to back, was something truly unique to hockey that should

not be squandered. As well, there was no appetite to shy away from running them because of how many arena crowds, in both countries,

actually sing along with the anthem singers. It’s as much of a tradition as it is patriotic, if not more.

That discussion is actually in contrast to a Twitter poll I ran on Sunday night.

Just asking…

With the controversy surrounding anthems at sporting events,would you be in favour of teams not playing them before a game?

— John Shannon (@JSportsnet) September 24, 2017

Results that overwhelmingly suggested that anthems really shouldn’t be played prior to a game. Any game. Hardly scientific, the poll results actually surprised me, but one has to wonder if the timing of the poll on an emotional, time-sensitive issue made the data predictable.

Hockey, as a business, is conservative by nature, and respectful of many traditions. Change, even if required, takes time. On a positive note, at

least the issue wasn’t ignored and constructive discussion occurred.

And for many, the anthems remain intact, just before puck drop.

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Sportsnet.ca / The definitive ranking of the NHL’s top 23 right-wingers

over three seasons

Andrew Berkshire

September 28, 2017, 12:29 PM

Last year around this time, with the help of some smart people, I posted a series of articles ranking the top-20 NHL players at each position over the previous three seasons. We’re going to do the same thing this year, but change it up fairly significantly as well.

Like last year, the list will be limited to players who have participated in 2000-plus 5-on-5 minutes over the past three seasons in order to get an adequate sample size of play to draw from.

Like last year, this is a complicated task that requires outside input, and whenever I take on a project this large I like to rely a little on people

smarter than myself. The framework of the rankings is built on the input I got last year from Dom Luszczyszyn, Steve Burtch, and Jonathan Willis,

while this year I received additional input from Luszczyszyn again and Dominic Galamini, as well as the ideas of smart people like Manny Perry

and Tyler Dellow.

Statistics for this project were collected from Sportlogiq, Natural Stat

Trick, Puck IQ, Hockey Reference, NHL.com, and Luszczyszyn’s Game Score database. Each statistic was individually weighted in categories,

scored as a percentile from the highest score at the position in order to award a score to each player.

This year for all forward positions I adjusted the categories slightly, taking five points from transition play and adding it to offence, while adding a new category for difficulty of minutes played that is applied as a multiplier to all categories. As such, the highest theoretical score would now be 125 points instead of 100 if a player were to be the best in the NHL at every single statistic while playing the toughest minutes in every category

in the difficulty matrix, but no one scores that high so practically we’ll keep the numbers out of 100 even after the adjustment.

Because wingers have less defensive responsibility than centres, the breakdown is 60 points for offence, 25 points for transition play, and 15

for defensive play.

Also new this year is weighting season scores by how recent they are,

using the same breakdown as Galamini does with his HERO charts; 22.2 per cent for 2014-15, 33.3 per cent for 2015-16, and 44.5 per cent for

2016-17.

Here are the statistics used in each category:

For offence: 5-on-5 and power play goals, primary assists, secondary assists, scoring chances, high-danger scoring chances, scoring chances generated for teammates, shot attempts, passes to the slot completed, penalties drawn, and on-ice goals for relative to teammates per 60 minutes, and offensive zone pass completion rate.

For transition play: 5-on-5 outlet passes, stretch passes, controlled carries out of the defensive zone, neutral zone passes, controlled entries into the offensive zone per 60 minutes, Corsi, and Corsi relative to

teammates and pass completion rates relative to teammates in the defensive and neutral zones.

For defence: 5-on-5 and shorthanded loose puck recoveries by zone, pass blocks, stick checks, body checks, penalties taken, on-ice goals-

against relative to teammates, on-ice shot-attempts against relative to

teammates per 60 minutes, and turnover rates relative to teammates by zone.

For difficulty of minutes played: Puck IQ’s competition-faced

percentages, Game Score’s quality of competition, Game Score’s quality of teammates, PDO, offensive zone starts percentage, 5-on-5 time-on-ice, and overall time-on-ice.

With all that information out of the way, let’s get to the rankings. This year

we’re adding a few extra, doing the top-23 at each position. For the right wing position, 69 players qualified.

23. Craig Smith

Difficulty Matrix: 1.12/1.25

Offence: 33.93/60 | Transition: 15.99/25 | Defence: 6.83/15

Total: 56.75/100

One of the NHL’s most underrated forwards, it doesn’t help that Smith had a really rough season last year that further pushed him into obscurity. Those struggles dropped him six spots down the rankings, but he remains an excellent winger who drives offence and pushes the game forward.

Smith’s main asset is his nose for the net, as he generates a ton of

scoring chances from in tight that create goals and rebound chances for his teammates. Losing him to injury for most of their playoff run was a

bigger blow to the Predators’ chances than most people realize.

22. Gustav Nyquist



Total: 56.80/100

Early in his career Nyquist was known mostly for his offensive

production, and while he’s still no slouch there, he’s significantly grown his game in moving the puck up the ice and defending without it.

Nyquist isn’t a big passer in transition, but when he does do that he rarely misses. His preference is to carry the puck through the neutral zone and set things up himself, which he does better than most. On the defensive side of the puck he doesn’t have a standout skill, but is strong enough in every area that his impact is greater than the other aspects of his game.

21. Patric Hornqvist



Total: 57.23/100

Hornqvist is a funny player to say the least. Without the puck he’s very strong, he’ll strip it from opponents or recover loose pucks with his size and positioning. With the puck he’s a great goal scorer and one of the NHL’s leaders in high-danger scoring chances. But ask him to move the puck? Not so great.

In the offensive and defensive zones you can rely on Hornqvist to be a

big-time contributor to your team, but in the neutral zone you’ll find he becomes a turnover machine when asked to handle the puck, and he

struggles to make plays at both blue lines.

20. Mats Zuccarello



Total: 57.71/100

The pint-sized Zuccarello is a spark plug of a player, but who would have

guessed he had such a strong defensive presence? Small players are often underestimated defensively for whatever reason, and that holds

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true for Zuccarello. He’s aggressive on puck carriers in the neutral zone especially, and an excellent zone exit player who can be trusted not to turn over the puck in the defensive zone.

Offensively, Zuccarello is a high-end playmaker at even strength, and a decent driver of on-ice goals and scoring chances, though his power play work isn’t as strong.

19. Phil Kessel



Total: 57.72/100

For all those pundits in Toronto who were harping on Kessel being a defensive liability, you were definitely right. For all those analysts in Toronto who said it didn’t really matter when you account for the rest of his game, you were definitely right, too. Kessel is such an odd player: a terrific skater who transitions the puck well, but doesn’t work hard to get the puck himself.

When he does have the puck, though, there aren’t many players who are more dangerous. Kessel has a deadly shot, but he might be an even better playmaker than he is a shooter. His playmaking is especially

dangerous on the power play where he has a bit more room to move. The soft minutes he’s played in Pittsburgh the past two years agree with

him.

18. Jordan Eberle



Total: 58.23/100

Not the first and probably not the last victim of Being in Edmonton Too

Long Syndrome™, Eberle is an excellent winger with a fairly well-rounded game who has seen the perception of him drop precipitously for very little reason. A fourth-straight 20-goal season that likely would have been his sixth-straight if not for a lockout-shortened season in 2012-13 wasn’t enough to convince Oilers management he was worth keeping around.

Eberle is an excellent transition player who loves to skate and dangle the puck to create offence for his teammates, but he does have a weakness

when it comes to turnovers, especially in the neutral zone where he was among the worst in the NHL last season.

17. Cam Atkinson



Total: 58.33/100

Cam Atkinson has increased his goal total each season he’s played in the NHL. After rising to an incredible 35 last year, that growth probably won’t continue, but four-straight 20-goal campaigns have put him in the spotlight as one of the Blue Jackets’ best offensive weapons.

He displayed the most prowess on the power play last season, where he boasted one of the best on-ice goals for percentages relative to his teammates in the league. Atkinson isn’t an amazing possession or transition player at this stage, but he keeps things tidy with a high pass success rate and low turnover rate in the defensive zone, meaning he’s not a liability outside the offensive zone.

16. Jakub Voracek



Total: 58.74/100

I think Voracek is a little underrated here because I skew the offence scores for wingers towards goal-scoring more than playmaking, but his biggest strength is in his transition game anyway. He’s the first player on the list to have an area of his game above the 75th percentile, driven primarily by the fact that no winger partakes in transitioning the puck from defence to offence as much as Voracek.

He is brilliant with the puck on his stick from goal line to goal line, always making smart decisions and very rarely dumping the puck out of the defensive zone or into the offensive zone. He had a bit of a tough season last year, as did a few Flyers, but he should rebound in short order.

15. Kyle Palmieri



Total: 59.83/100

Palmieri isn’t the best player between the blue lines, but offensively he’s extremely dangerous, even if his point totals don’t wow you. Palmieri is great at creating scoring chances for his teammates, and can finish at a high rate on his own chances, especially on the power play where he has had a lot of success.

What’s most impressive about Palmieri is his ability to create offence without much talent around him, which bodes well for the Devils as they

slowly add some scoring punch.

14. Corey Perry



Total: 60.16/100

At 32 years old, Corey Perry may be beginning to get hit by the dreaded

decline brought on by age, but one season isn’t enough to know for sure, even if he went from six-straight seasons pacing for 30 or more goals to just 19 last year. Even if Perry can no longer put 35 goals into Anaheim’s season with regularity, he’s still a well-rounded player you can trust on a top line.

Perry’s strength typically has been fore-checking and working in around the net to get high-danger scoring chances with a strong shot that allows him to roof chances from tight areas, but that ability to finish seemed to

disappear for long stretches last year.

13. Justin Williams



Total: 60.64/100

At 35 years old Williams’ best offensive days are likely behind him, but he remains a high-impact transition player and a defensive stalwart who can turn a good line into a great one. Williams’ attention to detail without the puck can insulate a centre who needs some defensive help, and he’s still skilled enough offensively to push 20 goals.

Williams played relatively soft minutes in Washington, but he’s one of the most involved wingers in the game in recovering pucks in the defensive zone and then distributing out of the zone to start rushes. He fits right into the dynamic Carolina is building.

12. Brendan Gallagher



Total: 63.46/100

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A rough season of abysmal shooting luck and a Shea Weber slap shot blowing his hand apart dropped Gallagher a couple spots from last year, but his all-around game is so strong that he remains one of the NHL’s best right-wingers.

With his finishing ability hurt, Gallagher compensated by recording more scoring chances than any other year in his career, leading all wingers in shot attempts at 5-on-5, and focusing on improving his transition game by making better decisions with the puck around the blue lines, and making more accurate passes. Even if Gallagher’s hand never fully recovers, he generates offence for his teammates by creating havoc in

the offensive zone better than most players in the NHL.

11. Rickard Rakell



Total: 63.53/100

Rakell was quick to establish himself as an NHL regular, and his progress has been consistent as he’s developed into a high-end top-line winger. He’s one of the top even strength goal scorers at his position, and creates tons of chances for his linemates through rebounds off his

chances that don’t end up in the net on the initial shot.

Also a strong transition player, Rakell is a controlled entry machine for

the Ducks, creating chances off the rush with speed that other top Ducks forwards aren’t as capable of due to slower strides.

10. T.J. Oshie



Total: 64.04/100

Bolting up the list from 20th last year, Oshie’s strong overall game has been boosted by back-to-back career highs in goals with the Washington Capitals. Working the bumper spot on the power play has made Oshie nearly as big of a threat with the man advantage as Ovechkin, but at even strength he led all right-wingers in goals per minute played last season.

Part of the reason behind Oshie’s goal scoring breakout last year is an unsustainable 23.1 per cent shooting percentage, but he still scored

almost a half goal a game, an incredible feat. Oshie is also a strong playmaker who can make long distance feeds with startling accuracy,

whether that’s a stretch pass out of the defensive zone or a cross-ice feed to set up a one-timer.

9. David Pastrnak



Total: 65.31/100

Playing with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand is a great gig if you can get it, just ask Loui Eriksson. But Pastrnak has displayed offensive prowess that makes him closer to their peer than a ride-along. Missed games have sort of obscured the fact that Pastrnak has averaged 28 goals per 82 games from ages 18 to 20, a remarkable feat that neither of his esteemed linemates can claim.

He isn’t great defensively, which isn’t uncommon for players his age, but he doesn’t need to be while playing with Bergeron. Once Bergeron gets the puck, Pastrnak is a great option to move it up the ice, as he’s excellent at skating the puck through the middle from defence to offence.

8. Tyler Toffoli



Total: 65.95/100

Like most of the King players, Toffoli had a really tough year offensively in 2016-17, when he saw his goal total cut in half and missed 19 games.

That drop in offence cut him from third last year down to eighth, but he remains one of the best right-wingers thanks to the strength of his all-around game.

One of the better puck rushers at his position, Toffoli is very involved in

the Kings’ defensive zone breakouts, and boasts high pass success rates and low turnover rates, making everyone else’s jobs much easier when he’s handling the puck. If he can get back into his career high range, he’ll

be one of the most complete wingers in the game.

7. Jaromir Jagr



Total: 67.03/100

Doubt the old man at your peril, because at 44 years old last year Jagr was still on the edge of being elite. The knock on him is that he’s slow, which is true, but that lack of speed doesn’t seem to hinder him because his hockey sense is nearly unparalleled.

Jagr remains one of the best generators of on-ice goals at even strength in the NHL, transitions the puck more effectively than almost any winger

in the game, and dumps the puck less than any other right-winger. Jagr’s ability to protect the puck and complete a smart play makes his linemates

better, and he was almost the sole reason the Panthers weren’t completely in the tank while most of their star players suffered injuries

last year. He’s incredible, and some team needs to sign him right now.

6. Nino Niederreiter



Total: 68.04/100

For me, this was the biggest surprise among the right-winger rankings. I like Niederreiter a lot, but I didn’t think he was this well-rounded or this good. Niederreiter is a feisty player who doesn’t hesitate to get involved in all three zones, and positionally he is sound.

While Niederreiter is a very strong playmaker at even strength, on the

power play he’s even more dangerous because he’s a potent goal scorer there as well. In terms of his transition game, Niederreiter has developed

into a Corsi monster, and rarely misses passes relative to his teammates. When it comes to puck management, he’s a bit loose in the neutral zone,

but rarely turns the puck over in the defensive and offensive zones.

5. Mark Stone



Total: 73.11/100

Mark Stone just keeps getting better. He is, far and away, the best defensive winger in the game today. For the second straight year no winger recovered more loose pucks than Stone, nor did any winger strip opponents of possession more often. The weirdest thing to me based on his play and defensive awareness is that he’s never really been tried as a centre. Maybe he’s really bad at faceoffs?

Guy Boucher cut Stone’s quality of competition slightly last year, which was a weird choice, but resulted in significant boost to his on-ice goal differential. Though with Stone’s skill set, you’d think it’d be wise to use

him against the other team’s best players. Either way, if I had a vote for the Selke, he’d have been in the mix last year.

4. Blake Wheeler

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Total: 74.42/100

It’s rare to see a dominant line built around a winger instead of a centre, but if you were to ask who the perfect candidate for that would be, you’d

do a lot worse than Blake Wheeler. He’s massive, uses his size smartly instead of running around trying to smash faces into the boards, a

brilliant skater, a confidant puck handler, and a versatile offensive forward.

There isn’t much that Wheeler doesn’t do well, and the strength of his all-around game allows the Jets to load up their top line with Mark Scheifele, Patrik Laine, and Nik Ehlers, not worrying about putting all their eggs in one basket. Oh and he’s also their captain, and not afraid to speak his mind. What’s not to love about this guy?

3. Vladimir Tarasenko



Total: 78.30/100

The most dynamic goal-scoring winger on the right side of the ice,

Tarasenko tears teams to shreds with his quick dekes and even quicker release. Tarasenko is the uncontested even strength scoring chance king

of the NHL the past two years, and the gap is actually quite large. He finds ways to get to dangerous areas and get shots off, and he does it

mostly without the help of top playmakers on his line, no disrespect to the centres of the St. Louis Blues.

Defence is a weakness for Tarasenko, as he doesn’t expend near the effort to get the puck as he does to make a play when he has it, and he

can be a bit careless with the turnovers. But he makes up for that with strong play in transition, especially when it comes to making plays at both blue lines.

2. Nikita Kucherov



Total: 79.47/100

The contract the Lightning signed Kucherov to has to be illegal, right?

How can a player who is this good be making under $5 million for two more seasons? The Lightning had better hope they win a Stanley Cup in

one of those two seasons though, because after that they might be looking at a $9 million dollar per year player.

Kucherov’s biggest strength is his offensive game, where he’s a deadly goal scorer and nearly as good at setting up goals for others. Without

Steven Stamkos last season, Kucherov put up a power play performance that was as dominant as Stamkos has ever been. What’s a little

surprising is that Kucherov is nearly as strong defensively as he is offensively, largely because he rarely turns the puck over. He’s a special player.

1. Patrick Kane



Total: 81.95/100

Kane is a borderline liability without the puck, but when he has it on his stick, there are only a couple players in the NHL you’d rather rely on to

get results. The past two years have been the most dominant of Kane’s career, which coincided with Artemi Panarin’s arrival.

Kane’s transition game is unequalled among wingers, as his combination of speed, agility, and stickhandling make him extremely hard to defend,

so that’s unlikely to go away, but I do wonder if his offensive numbers will remain as dominant now that Panarin is in Columbus. The two truly had something special together.


1075590 Websites

Sportsnet.ca / Ranking the NHL goalies under most pressure this season

Corey Hirsch


Former NHL goaltender Corey Hirsch ranks the league’s goalies in terms of pressure this season.

Western Conference

15. Colorado – Semyon Varlamov

Plays behind one of the most challenged defensive corps in the NHL. Any chance of this team even being respectable lies on Varlamov’s

shoulders.

14. Arizona – Antti Raanta

Never been a No. 1. Coyotes have one of the best defences in the NHL that other goalies would salivate to play behind.

13. Vegas – Marc-Andre Fleury

Fleury is the star on a team that otherwise has no stars. He will need to be super human some nights to keep this team from getting embarrassed.

12. LA Kings – Jonathan Quick

This team is only as good as Quick. It’s a big weight to carry on a guy

that missed almost all of last season.

11. Vancouver – Jacob Markstrom

First opportunity to be a No. 1 goalie in the NHL. Fail and he’s labeled a career backup.

10. Winnipeg – Steve Mason

Can’t seem to stick in any market he’s been in. Has to prove Winnipeg didn’t throw a dart hoping he can be its saviour.

9. San Jose – Martin Jones

Big Joe isn’t getting any younger. Don’t be the reason a legend never

wins a Cup.

8. Nashville – Pekka Rinne

Can he perform the same magic two seasons in a row?

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7. St. Louis – Jake Allen

Got sent home at one point to clear his head, but was incredible in the playoffs. Which goalie shows up?

6. Minnesota – Devan Dubnyk

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Vezina candidate for three quarters of the year last season. Down the stretch not so much. Needs a complete season start to finish.

5. Anaheim – John Gibson

Hasn’t been able to get through the Conference Finals. His pressure won’t come until the playoffs.

4. Chicago – Corey Crawford

A first round sweep with that lineup can’t happen again.

3. Dallas – Ben Bishop

Dallas has some serious firepower and goaltending let them down last

year. Bishop is expected to be the savior.

2. Calgary – Mike Smith

Smith wanted to go somewhere with a chance to win. Needs to prove he’s not just a good goalie on bad teams.

1. Edmonton – Cam Talbot

Oilers have the best player in the world and a legitimate chance to win the Cup. Snubbed of a Vezina nod, Talbot needs prove last year wasn’t a fluke.

Eastern Conference

16. Carolina – Scott Darling

Was incredible at times in Chicago, but now doesn’t have an all-star defence in front of him.

15. Ottawa – Craig Anderson

Anderson has arguably the best defenceman in the NHL on his team. Needs to follow up on last season’s playoff performance.

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14. Florida – Roberto Luongo

At 38 years old, needs to prove that his best years aren’t over or he’ll be

on the end of the bench.

13. Boston – Tuukka Rask

Boston has underachieved the last few seasons. Rask is 30 years old, time is running out.

12. Pittsburgh – Matt Murray

Already won two Cups and has Crosby on his team looking for a three peat.

11. Buffalo – Robin Lehner

Buffalo changed its whole front office staff. Lehner was a Tim Murray

trade. His safety blanket is gone.

10. New Jersey – Corey Schneider

Nico Hischier gives them a chance to be playoff contenders. Can Schneider provide the rest?

9. Tampa Bay – Andrei Vasilevskiy

Tampa traded Ben Bishop so he could be the No 1.

8. New York Islanders – Jaroslav Halak/Thomas Greiss

Halak got sent to the minors with a $4 million salary. If that doesn’t say shape up, I don’t know what does.

7. Philadelphia – Brian Elliott

Needs to shake off the inconsistency that plagues him or the Flyers faithful will run him out of town.

6. Detroit – Petr Mrazek

Detroit didn’t make the playoffs for the first time in 25 years last season. A new building and a new attitude, Red Wings fans expect more this

year.

5. New York Rangers – Henrik Lundqvist

He’s 35 years old now. How long until the Rangers decide he’s not the guy that can get them a Cup anymore?

4. Columbus – Sergei Bobrovsky

See Montreal and Carey Price…they should be called the Columbus Bobrovskys. He’s the team.

3. Washington – Braden Holtby

Being the best in regular season means nothing if you can’t get it done in the playoffs.

2. Montreal – Carey Price

The Montreal Canadiens are Carey Price and Carey Price is the Montreal Canadiens. How’s that for pressure in the world’s most legendary goalie market?

1. Toronto – Frederik Andersen

Last year he had zero pressure. This year the Toronto faithful are tentatively planning a parade route.


1075591 Websites

Sportsnet.ca / RFA Josh Anderson requests trade from Blue Jackets

Elliotte Friedman

September 28, 2017, 10:38 AM

Josh Anderson, who remains unsigned eight days before the Columbus Blue Jackets begin their regular season, has requested a trade from the NHL club, although the club says that has not been conveyed to them.

After the original publication, Columbus GM Jarmo Kekalainen reached

out.

“This trade request is news to me,” he said. “And we are not looking to

trade Josh Anderson.”

This might be an issue of semantics… that the idea of a sign-and-trade

was broached, but it’s clear a difficult negotiation has taken its toll.

Anderson is a restricted free agent. On Tuesday, The Athletic’s Aaron

Portzline reported the team and player were “as little as $150,000 per year (apart) on a three-year contract — but both sides are standing firm

on principle.”

An improving player who took a big step last season, Anderson was expected to be an important piece in the team’s plans for 2017-18. The Blue Jackets worked hard to avoid exposing him in the NHL Expansion Draft and it’s believed they rejected Colorado’s requests to include him in any Matt Duchene trade.

Anderson’s agent, Darren Ferris, said via text he would not comment.

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Ferris has said he would send Anderson to Switzerland to practise with a team there while he waits for a new contract, but, at this time, I don’t know if that’s going to happen. If the Blue Jackets do decide to make a move, there would be a lot of interest. Teams like what Anderson brings.


1075592 Websites

Sportsnet.ca / Leafs’ Babcock: NHL puts heat on coaches with new

penalty

Luke Fox


TORONTO – Mike Babcock believes the National Hockey League is making head coaches take the heat as it tries correct a rule that got abused.

The NHL’s board of governors gave final approval for a rule change Wednesday, replacing the lost timeout for a failed offside challenge with

a two-minute bench minor.

“The league made the rule. The league didn’t like it. So what they did is they put it on the coaches now,” said Babcock following Toronto Maple Leafs practice Thursday. “Whatever, doesn’t matter to me.”

Commissioner Gary Bettman said the league is steepening the cost of the video review requests in attempt to discourage use of the challenge on borderline offside goals.

In 2016-17, the first season in which the NHL instituted the much-derided offside challenge, coaches called for an offside review 117 times in the regular season. On 78 occasions, or 66.6 per cent of the time, the official’s original call was upheld.

“Sometimes you don’t know what’s going to happen once you install a rule. No one would’ve predicted that every quarter-inch blade off the ice at the blue line would [result in a challenge],” said Leafs defenceman Ron Hainsey, a member of the competition committee that suggested the adjustment to the board.

“I think this will ease the super-close offside, which wasn’t the intent of the rule. The intent of the rule was the five-foot offside where everyone in

the stands was like, ‘Holy cow! How’d they miss that?’ That penalty is going in to satisfy what was an unintended consequence.”

Babcock’s bench has been quick to adjust to coach’s challenge rules. In October 2015, the Leafs became the first team to dispute a goal with a

successful goaltender interference challenge.

But this new wrinkle will test the eyes of video analysts Adam Jancelewicz and Jordan Bean.

“You gotta think about it, right? You’re trying to get that right and your game’s on the line, it’s going to be a tough decision. You imagine how much heat it’s going to put on the poor guys in the video room? You have no idea,” Babcock said.

“Obviously they thought it happened too much in the league. They wanted to find a way to put it on us, so they put it on the coaches.”


1075593 Websites

TSN.CA / Babcock unhappy with Marleau-Kadri-Komarov chemistry

By Mark Masters

TSN Toronto reporter Mark Masters checks in daily with news and notes

from Maple Leafs practices and game-day skates. The Maple Leafs practised at the MasterCard Centre on Thursday.

- Nazem Kadri arrived at Leafs training camp five pounds lighter than how he ended last season. "I feel quicker," he said. "I feel a little more

agile, a little more elusive." Not long ago, Kadri's commitment to nutrition was questioned. Back in 2012, Marlies coach Dallas Eakins described Kadri's body-fat level as "unacceptable."

How'd the 26-year-old, who weighed in at 190 pounds last week, shed some weight?

"Just tried to lay off the snacking at night," he said. "That's basically what it was. Just trying to get into bed a little bit earlier, do my whole routine, including brushing my teeth, earlier and that way you kind of fight the craving. I think that's most people's nightmare and most people's problem is that late-night munch, so just tried to limit that and tried to bring the

body fat down a little bit."

There's one type of treat that Kadri has found hard to avoid in the past.

"Chocolate-chip cookies, for sure," he said with a grin. "Yeah, I love those ... any chocolate-chip cookie will do, but, to be honest with you, my

mom makes some pretty lights-out, homemade chocolate-chip cookies. That's something that I've been around for a long, long time. I don't know

if it's the Lebanese kick she gives it, but it's something that's unbelievable."

So, no more cookies at all?

"Ah, I never said that," Kadri noted with a smile, "but not nearly as often. Off days you obviously want to treat yourself a little bit, but what I've learned is it's all about moderation."

Have Kadri's teammates noticed the change in his physique?

"Actually, I did," James van Riemsdyk said. "I mean, that's one of the first things I saw when I came in. He looked really good ... When you’re doing things like taking care of that stuff you’re feeling better and you’re more

energized and your body probably holds up better to the grind of the season."

Also an admitted sweet tooth, van Riemsdyk can't help but chuckle when asked how much has changed when it comes to nutrition.

"It's funny the way diet stuff has changed since I first started in the league until now," said van Riemsdyk, who is entering his ninth NHL

season. "I remember when I first came into the league we’d come into the rink eating Cap'n Crunch and stuff like that for breakfast.”

Kadri cuts down on late-night cravings especially cookies

Nazem Kadri lost five pounds over the Summer, because he cut out late-night snacking from his diet especially chocolate-chip cookies. It wasn't easy, because Kadri's mom is quite a baker and Nazem is known to have a sweet tooth. Mark Masters has more.

- Mike Babcock, who had challenged Kadri to have a big summer of training, was asked about the trimmed-down centre on Thursday, but wasn't interested in talking about that.

"I thought early he was really going good, but that line’s got to be better," the coach said. "I told them all that today. They’ve got to be better. That

group can be way better, way quicker, way more diligent, so they got to upgrade. We need Naz to be real good for us to be effective, so that

group’s got to find some chemistry and get going."

So far in training camp, Kadri has skated alongside Patrick Marleau and

Leo Komarov. Before Babcock's media session, Kadri told reporters he

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felt that things were progressing on the line, although he acknowledged he's still getting used to Marleau.

“I’ve learned that when he gets the puck in the corner or in open ice

sometimes you tend to want to go support your winger and be a little bit closer to him, but with Patty I think you got to give him some space," Kadri explained. "He’s a big, strong guy. He can beat guys one-on-one, so in order for me to read off him I have to get into areas where I can be a threat offensively to score because he’s going to get me the puck.”

Babcock sends message to Marleau-Kadri-Komarov line

With only a few days left in training camp, Mike Babcock isn't thrilled with what he's seen from the trio of Patrick Marleau, Nazem Kadri and Leo Komarov. The Leafs coach met with the trio on Thursday to let them know they must be "way quicker, way more diligent."

- The Leafs will wrap up the preseason schedule with games against the Red Wings on Friday in Detroit and Saturday at Ricoh Coliseum. Babcock expects to use a stronger "NHL" lineup in the first game. The games represent one last chance for those on the bubble to prove their worth.

"We've tried to make it as competitive as we possibly can," Babcock said. "We've tried to let them know in advance where they stand. We've tried to put them in all different situations and we'll continue to do that ... especially on defence, the competition's better than I expected, the players are better than I expected."

The third pairing defence spots remain up in the air with Connor Carrick, Martin Marincin, Calle Rosen, Travis Dermott, Andreas Borgman and Roman Polak in the mix. Dermott and Polak did not skate with the NHL group on Thursday, instead working out with the group destined to play for the Marlies in the AHL. Polak, who broke his leg in the playoffs and is

in camp on a pro tryout, hasn't played an exhibition game yet, although Babcock expects him to dress on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Miro Aaltonen still appears to be in the driver's seat in the battle for the fourth-line centre job. He skated between Matt Martin and

Connor Brown at Thursday's workout while Dominic Moore skated between Josh Leivo and Eric Fehr.

Leafs Ice Chips: Things starting to get real at Leafs camp

Miro Aaltonen remains on track to win the fourth-line centre job while Martin Marincin is making a late push for a defence spot. And one of the regular lines – Patrick Marleau, Nazem Kadri and Leo Komarov – have been put on notice by Mike Babcock.

- After playing 67 games last season with the Leafs and six more in the playoffs, Carrick is considered the clear favourite to start as the third right-shot defenceman. The 23-year-old was asked where he'd like to improve this year.

“It’s about knowing the things I do well and doing it more consistently,"

Carrick said. "There were spurts of myself watching video last year thinking, 'You know, that’s a really good NHL defenceman,' and then

there were times when I wasn’t happy with the reads I was making. And that's the beauty of the NHL. It’s not one game. It’s an 82-game season

and you got to bring it, ideally, nine games out of 10. So, for me, it’s that growth in terms of consistency and ceiling.”

- Babcock was asked what he thought about the NHL's decision to change the offside challenge system. A team will now be assessed a

minor penalty for incorrect challenges instead of losing a timeout.

"The league made the rule. The league didn't like it. So what they did is they put it on the coaches now," Babcock said.

"You gotta think about it, right? You’re trying to get that right and your game is on the line, it's going to be a tough decision. You imagine how much heat it’s going to put on the poor guys in the video room?"

How much heat?

"You have no idea. Obviously they thought it happened too much in the league. They wanted to find a way to put it on us, so they put it on the coaches."

Lines at Thursday's practice:

Andersen

McElhinney

Rielly-Hainsey

Gardiner-Zaitsev

Marincin-Carrick

Rosen-Borgman

Hyman-Matthews-Nylander

van Riemsdyk-Bozak-Marner

Marleau-Kadri-Komarov

Martin-Aaltonen-Brown

Leivo-Moore-Fehr

TSN.CA LOADED: 09.29.2017

1075594 Websites

TSN.CA / McElhinney aims to make the most of his opportunities

By Kristen Shilton

TORONTO – The Maple Leafs’ stable of elite young forwards has been known to give even veteran NHL defenders fits. But they’re not the only

ones. Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and company are so fast and skilled on the ice they make one of their own goaltenders a little self-

conscious, too.

“They kind of make me feel pretty embarrassed at times skating with them. It humbles me in a sense,” Leafs backup goalie Curtis McElhinney said Thursday after practice. “It’s one of those things where you’re just trying to keep up with them, and just by trying to do that I’m getting better.”

It was those same kids test-driving their newest shootout moves on McElhinney at the end of practice who convinced the journeyman backup

Toronto was the right place for him. The 34-year-old was claimed off waivers by the Leafs last January from the Columbus Blue Jackets,

playing in 14 games behind Frederik Andersen.

In June, Toronto re-signed the free agent to a two-year, $1.7-million

contract. Toronto is the sixth NHL club McElhinney has played for since 2007-08, and he knows enough to recognize a good thing when he sees

it.

“If I learned anything in the second half of the season, there’s just a lot of

fun with the kids,” McElhinney said. “A lot of youthful enthusiasm, and we had some good things happen. I’d like to continue that. It’s always nice to come back to a place where you had a little bit of experience before, some familiarity with the guys and the systems that they’re trying to implement.”

The Leafs hope locking up McElhinney will help guard against what happened last fall with Jhonas Enroth. The goaltender was signed by the Leafs in the off-season but never thrived in the support role Toronto needed him to play. As McElhinney would learn when he arrived, the

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backup’s starts for Toronto tend to come on back-to-back nights, with tired skaters who usually travelled the night before playing in front of him.

Enroth lasted four starts – all losses -– and appeared in six games before

he was placed on waivers in December. McElhinney earned his first win in his second start for the Leafs, finishing the season with 2.85 goals-against average and .914 save percentage.

“It’s important to have a guy who can really hold the fort for you,

especially when you’re getting started in that second game of a back-to-back. We give him all the terrible starts,” head coach Mike Babcock said of the decision to bring McElhinney back. “He was just a good pro, brings

it every day, and gave us some good opportunities.”

“I know that’s the position I’m in, and if everything goes well, in a perfect world those [back-to-backs] are my games,” added McElhinney. “I know what to expect. I get ready for it and you just want to get the results when

you have those opportunities.”

McElhinney’s attitude made all the difference for Andersen, who had his own struggles at the start of last season in the midst of the Enroth drama. Andersen carried an even heavier load after his departure, with rookie

Antoine Bibeau taking just two starts off his plate in December before the backup post was finally stabilized by McElhinney.

“He’s comfortable in his role which is really good for me,” Andersen said. “He started pushing me right away and we push each other now. He’s good when he’s called upon and has the mentality where he’s used to playing fewer games. He’s great in recognizing that you don’t stick around in the NHL for that long if you’re not a good team guy.”

An injury to Andersen last April thrust McElhinney into the starter’s net with three games remaining to clinch a postseason berth. His pad save against Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby that helped the Leafs

punch their playoff ticket will be remembered as a defining moment of his NHL tenure.

“It was one of those proving points,” he said. “Where I’m at in my career, you don’t typically expect those starts. To have success there was really

rewarding, just seeing all that hard work come together.”

Babcock had previously thrown out 60 as the number of starts he was

aiming for with Andersen this season, but that number seems likely to increase based on how Andersen plays, how much rest he needs and where the Leafs are in the standings down the stretch.

Toronto has 13 back-to-backs throughout the season, down from 18 a year ago, which could mean a few less-terrible starts for McElhinney, too.

But the numbers have never been McElhinney’s focus. He’s made an entire career out of maximizing his moments, whenever they come.

“Nothing really gets to him,” Andersen said. “…He’s really relaxed and doesn’t get caught up in anything on the outside; he just goes about his business.”


1075595 Websites

TSN.CA / Murray owns the crease as Penguins chase three-peat

By Frank Seravalli

As the Stanley Cup was kissed and passed from one Penguin to the next

on that Nashville ice – from captain Sidney Crosby first to Ron Hainsey and eventually down to Matt Murray – the contrast in the journey to hoist

it was stark.

Here was Hainsey, the 36-year-old defenceman who slogged through 907 regular-season games before appearing in his first Stanley Cup playoff game, celebrating with Murray, who has two Cup rings after about five collective minutes in the NHL.

And Murray was still technically a rookie.

“That happens sometimes,” Hainsey said Wednesday. “It’s hard to believe he’s only been in the league for a couple years and had this

much success. In his case, you’ve got to give him credit. He went to a team that’s been a good team for a long time and stepped in there big time. He took the net and has been a top goaltender ever since.”

Murray, 23, has accomplished what Patrick Roy, Ken Dryden and Cam Ward could not, becoming the first goaltender ever to capture the Stanley Cup in each of his first two seasons.

Now, Murray may be able to join the greatest-of-all-time conversation before his 25th birthday if he is able to help the Penguins become just the third team to three-peat in the post-1967 NHL world.

“I don’t know too many goaltenders who have had as big of an impact as him in the league,” Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford said Thursday. “Nobody can do it themselves, but he’s a difference maker. It’s not like we’ve had a No. 1 defensive team in front of him. What he’s done, with his mental toughness, facing a lot of quality shots in double overtime in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final, not a lot of people have been there.”

Even Rutherford, now 68, marveled at how quickly this has all come together for Murray. Rutherford spent parts of 13 years as an NHL netminder and made just eight total postseason appearances.

But Rutherford believes Murray and the Penguins have a real chance to do it again, to cement this group’s legacy on the Mount Rushmore of

NHL greatness.

Yes, Murray will be asked to play more than 50 regular-season games for

the first time in his career. Yes, Marc-Andre Fleury has moved on, along with familiar faces in Chris Kunitz, Nick Bonino, Trevor Daley, Hainsey

and Matt Cullen. Yes, Rick Tocchet will no longer be there to act as confidant to the Penguins’ stars.

Rutherford thinks the Penguins actually have a chance to be better with all the changes. For one, all-world defenceman Kris Letang is back healthy again after a serious neck surgery. And it’s easy to forget that a player like Bonino wasn’t on the ice for the Stanley Cup Final.

“I say this with all due respect to the players who moved on, but I think change is good,” Rutherford said. “It was coming anyway. We were fortunate in the [salary cap] cycle last year that we could pretty much keep the same team. That wasn’t the case this year.

“When you win, there is no guarantee that players will be at the same level they were when you won. In saying that, there’s also no guarantee

that the players who replace them will be at that same level, either.”

At the centre of it all, of course, is the in-tact top two lines, stacked with

what Rutherford called Pittsburgh’s “core, impact players” in Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. The Penguins are hoping Jake Guentzel can take even a

bigger step forward than the one Conor Sheary took last season.

Guentzel, who turns 23 next week, scored 29 goals in his combined 65

regular and postseason NHL games last season, including a team-leading 13 goals in the playoffs.

“What I like is these young or new guys recognize the opportunity that’s there for them,” Rutherford said. “When you win two Stanley Cups, you don’t need to say a whole lot to motivate them.”

And in net, Rutherford has the ultimate trump card to play in Murray, who has an eye-popping 1.95 goals-against average and .928 save percentage in 32 career postseason appearances.

Antti Niemi will now back him up, and the goaltending guru who helped groom him, Mike Buckley, is now the Penguins’ goalie coach. Mike

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Bales, who worked well with Fleury, moved on to Carolina after four seasons with the team. It’s a support system that Rutherford said will make Murray “feel comfortable.”

“With him back there,” Hainsey said, “they’ll have one heck of a chance every year here moving forward.”

There is no clear path to three-peat, Rutherford admitted, and the Penguins can’t afford to get ahead of themselves.

But part of what Rutherford exuded in conversation was a hunger to win again that is a prerequisite, one that can’t be faked and should have the

rest of the NHL on alert.

He told a story about driving home that night the Penguins knocked off the Senators in double overtime in Game 7 – a shot away from their run ending at one Cup – when a deer collided with his vehicle. Thankfully, everyone in the car was fine, but the crash left $10,000 worth of damage.

“I just shrugged it off, like ‘Ah, no big deal,’” Rutherford said, laughing. “You’re really in a bubble, winning is all that matters. You don’t even have time to think about anything else.”

Rutherford wants to be all-consumed again.

“I’m going to be honest, I went through a 30-day period after we won

where I was almost having withdrawal,” Rutherford said. “I know Mike Sullivan said the same thing. We were supposed to be relaxing, but our

bodies were in such a rhythm of gearing up for a game every other day. I’m ready for that again.”


1075596 Websites

TSN.CA / NHL says subpoenas for Bettman, others an effort to 'harass'

By Rick Westhead

The National Hockey League is accusing former player Mike Peluso of

trying to “create a sideshow” by issuing subpoenas for commissioner Gary Bettman and two other high-ranking NHL executives in advance of

Peluso’s upcoming workers’ compensation trial.

In a Sept. 22 filing with a workers’ compensation court in California, NHL lawyer Christopher Stettler wrote that Peluso is trying to “harass” Bettman, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly and former New Jersey Devils’ general manager Lou Lamoriello, who now holds the same position with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Peluso’s lawyer, Shawn Stuckey, on Sept. 8 issued subpoenas for the three NHL officials to be deposed in advance of Peluso’s trial.

Stettler wrote that none of the three has been served and that neither Bettman nor Daly should be required to be questioned because Peluso

has never worked for the league. Stettler was given copies of the subpoenas on Sept. 13 during a court hearing.

“Peluso offers no reason why these two officials have any personal knowledge (Let alone “unique or superior” knowledge) regarding the

basis for his allegations in this action,” Stettler wrote in his filing, a copy of which was obtained by TSN. “These subpoenas to Bettman and Daly are designed to harass the NHL and gain settlement leverage. The subpoenas should be quashed.

“Peluso’s attempt to pull the NHL into these proceedings is clearly designed to create a sideshow to, and distract from, the weakness of his own claims against Defendants.”

Stuckey wants to ask Bettman and Daly about how teams communicate information to players about injuries, according to his subpoenas. Stuckey also wants to obtain details about the NHL’s drug policies, including record-keeping practices for the distribution of prescription painkillers by NHL team doctors and trainers.

Stuckey also plans to ask Lamoriello whether he reviewed key medical reports related to seizures Peluso suffered following a fight in 1993 that resulted in a concussion.

“Lamoriello was already deposed by Peluso’s attorneys and questioned about Dr. Ruderman’s report,” Stettler wrote in his Sept. 22 filing.

“Peluso’s attempt to re-depose Lamoriello is an attempt to misuse the orderly discovery process by avoiding obvious, less intrusive discovery

and instead harass a high-ranking club official.”

“Lamoriello has not been served with the subpoena in Canada and this

court has no jurisdiction to order this belated deposition subpoena in a foreign country,” he wrote. “Peluso will still have an opportunity to

examine Lamoriello a second time to the extent Peluso or the Defendants call Lamoriello to testify at trial.”

Peluso filed his workers' compensation lawsuit in Santa Ana, Calif., five years ago. The former enforcer alleges that he suffered a string of seizures while playing in the NHL. He says the Devils and other teams allowed him to keep playing and fighting on the ice even after he began suffering seizures.

Peluso alleges he is now permanently disabled and he has named four of the five NHL teams he played for – New Jersey, Ottawa, St. Louis and Calgary – and insurance companies including Chubb Ltd., as defendants in the claim.

Peluso told TSN on Sept. 6 that he is determined to proceed to trial after

rejecting in late August a $325,000 (U.S.) offer from the defendants to settle his workers’ compensation lawsuit.

Stuckey has said the workers' compensation case would likely proceed to a four-day, open-court trial that would be held in Santa Ana, Calif., likely

in late February or early March.


1075597 Websites

TSN.CA / Subpoenas issued for Bettman, Daly and Lamoriello in Peluso lawsuit

By Rick Westhead

Three high-ranking National Hockey League executives, including

commissioner Gary Bettman, have been subpoenaed to testify in former NHL player Mike Peluso’s upcoming workers’ compensation trial, according to documents obtained by TSN.

Peluso’s attorney, Shawn Stuckey, said Thursday he issued subpoenas to Bettman, deputy commissioner Bill Daly and former New Jersey Devils’ general manager Lou Lamoriello, who is now the Toronto Maple Leafs’ GM.

The subpoenas were issued on Thursday night. It’s unclear whether a process server has delivered the documents to the NHL executives. A subpoena is a document that starts what is usually a several-step

process to secure the testimony of a witness. They are not typically filed in open court.

According to the three subpoenas, copies of which were obtained by TSN, Bettman has been directed to appear for a deposition on Nov. 1.

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Daly has been directed to appear on Nov. 2 and Lamoriello is to be deposed Nov. 3. All three depositions are scheduled for New York.

Without being subpoenaed, Bettman, Daly and Lamoriello are under no

legal obligation to testify. Daniel Wallach, a Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based lawyer whose focus is the sports industry, said that if they don’t cooperate, Stuckey could file a motion with the court to compel their appearances.

“If the judge grants the motion, the execs could be found in civil contempt the next time they blow it off,” Wallach said.

Stuckey said he plans to ask Bettman and Daly about how teams communicate information to players about their injuries. Stuckey also said he wants to obtain details about the NHL’s drug policies, including record-keeping practices for the distribution of prescription painkillers by NHL team doctors and trainers.

Stuckey said he plans to ask Lamoriello whether he reviewed key medical reports related to seizures Peluso suffered following a fight in 1993 that resulted in a concussion.

In addition to their depositions, Peluso’s attorneys are also seeking 33 sets of documents, including those regarding the independence of NHL team doctors, information about payments to those team doctors, and details about whether team doctors are required to share information with players about their injuries before team staff.

The NHL has also been directed by Stuckey to hand over records related to the league’s practices and policies for the retention and destruction of documents. If the NHL refuses to turn over those documents, Stuckey again could file a motion asking the judge to compel the league to.

A spokesman for the NHL did not respond to emails requesting comment. Lamoriello declined comment through a Maple Leaf Sports

and Entertainment spokesman.

Peluso filed his worker’s compensation lawsuit in Santa Ana, Calif., five

years ago. The former enforcer alleges that he suffered a string of seizures while playing in the NHL. He says the Devils and other teams

allowed him to keep playing and fighting on the ice even after he began suffering seizures.

Peluso alleges he is now permanently disabled and he has named four of the five NHL teams he played for – New Jersey, Ottawa, St. Louis and Calgary – and insurance companies including Chubb Ltd., as defendants in the claim.

“I want the world to hear Bettman and Lamoriello have to answer for what they have done,” Peluso said on Friday. “So many players have been abandoned by the NHL. When you can’t promote their game anymore, if you’re not a big name or a star, they toss you aside.”

Peluso allegedly has permanent damage to the right side of his brain and, according to a July 13, 2016 court filing, “has dementia at the young

age of 50, and struggles daily with depression, anxiety, memory loss, and the constant threat of seizures from a constant seizure disorder.”

He says he has spent as much as $75,000 on medical bills for seeing a neurologist and for anti-seizure medication.

Peluso told TSN he is determined to proceed to trial after rejecting in late August a $325,000 (U.S.) offer from the defendants to settle his workers’

compensation lawsuit.

Stuckey declined to comment on Peluso’s settlement claim, which Peluso

said was made in late August.

Stuckey did say that the workers' compensation case would likely proceed to a four-day, open-court trial that would be held in Santa Ana, Calif., likely in late February or early March.


1075598 Websites

TSN.CA / Flames lacking offence at right wing

By Travis Yost

A number of Canadian NHL teams feel like they are on the upswing, and

that list absolutely includes the Calgary Flames.

Calgary is looking to build on their 94-point season from a year ago. If

you were an unassuming third party, last year’s team was as fun to watch as any around the league. They had one of the best lines in hockey, gave great teams fits through a strong blueline and agile forward group, and occasionally couldn’t stop a shot. At aggregate Calgary was a quality team, but on any given night you never knew what to expect.

The Flames looked to patch holes where they could during the offseason. The big summer add came on an already strong blueline in the form of Travis Hamonic. They also transitioned their entire goaltending unit – moving from the Brian Elliott-Chad Johnson combination to the duo of Mike Smith and Eddie Lack.

One interesting non-move was at right wing. The Flames have more or less brought back their same group from a year ago, a group that has

been notably unproductive in the grand scheme of things. Local Flames writer Kent Wilson posited the following as expected initial line

combinations for this season – make particular note of what’s going on at right wing here.

The lack of firepower on the right side is immediately noticeable. Goal-scoring in today’s NHL is critical – when you have such low-scoring

games, guys who can find the back of the net with regularity are at a premium. Every marginal goal is worth a substantial amount towards win probability. The Flames don’t have a ton of production in these four wingers, regardless of how you deploy them.

To illustrate this, I grabbed every above-referenced forward’s three-year individual goal scoring rates. But instead of taking a pure three-year average, I weighted recent seasons more heavily. Why is this important? Well, if you are a Flames fan, you’d probably reasonably argue that 2017

Micheal Ferland is a lot better than 2014 rookie Micheal Ferland, because age and development matters. The reverse is true for 2017 Troy

Brouwer. It’s hard to believe he (at age 32) will out-produce his peak years. Thus, instead of throwing away meaningful data, we just place more importance on what’s happened recently.

The weighting is a bit subjective – I used 10 per cent, 30 per cent, and 50

per cent respectively – but you can pretty much look at this any way and arrive at the same conclusion: Calgary doesn’t have a lot of help on the right side.

Let’s work line by line. (Note: for rookie Mark Jankowski on line four, I basically used a replacement player’s expected scoring rates.)

On line one was Ferland – an interesting player, but clearly the third-biggest talent on his line. Ferland had a “career” year last season, scoring 15 goals in 76 games. In one swoop, Ferland went from checking-line option and career 4 per cent shooter to top-six option and 14 per cent shooter. At any rate, the point worth hammering here is that Ferland had a fantastic shooting year and still scored just 15 goals.

Based on that, our best guess for Ferland would be something around 12 goals this year – which would have been better than a little less than half of the forwards in the league last year. That’s certainly good enough to be in the league, but it probably means he’s best suited for third-line duty.

Frolik is on line two, and our best guess for him is around 15 goals. If Tkachuk develops the way he should in his sophomore season, it seems that Frolik – like Ferland – will also be the third-best player on his line. But the key here is that Frolik doesn’t look particularly out of place.

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Scoring 15 goals isn’t insignificant in today’s NHL, and although it’s not going to set the world on fire, it’s still meaningful production.

Line three is where it sours, and quickly. This is a make-or-break year for

Curtis Lazar. He now has 180 games under his belt and 13 goals to show for it. Lazar was touted as a two-way player coming into the league and it’s one of the big reasons why he was taken in the first round, but at this point he’s struggling to hold onto even a depth-forward role at the NHL level. Regardless of whether he’s on line three or four, he’s going to be the weakest offensive link.

We have Brouwer on the fourth line. Say what you will about Brouwer’s

game and contract, but he’s at least provided scoring punch from time to time. One would argue that Brouwer – who at 16 goals this year would be

considered second-line scoring calibre – is probably better suited for the slot Lazar’s in. At the very least, Calgary would have three reasonably

dangerous lines, though it’d leave the Flames in a precarious fourth-line position.

At aggregate, you can see why Calgary – true in a relative sense, but also true when compared to other right-wing situations around the league

– is in a bit of a dangerous spot. This roster can absolutely compete this season and should be pushing deep into the postseason. However, one has to wonder if they can with such line imbalance.

If production on the wing goes as planned, expect the Flames to be in the market for a right winger at the trade deadline.


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TSN.CA / Flames president says team is becoming a have-not market in NHL economy

Ken King , The Canadian Press

CALGARY — The president of the Calgary Flames says the team is not swimming in money.

Ken King told Calgary's chamber of commerce Monday that the team has

gone from a giver to a taker in NHL revenue sharing.

"We've gone from a top-10 revenue contributing team, where we wrote

the cheques in the last few years to help the other teams, and we have now crossed the line," King said. "We're now receivers. We'll get a

cheque this year.

"Isn't that ridiculous in this beautiful market? It shows where this is

heading and it's in the wrong direction.

"I can say sadly we have crossed one of the remedies off the list and that

is the new facility. I honestly do not know where that part of the story is going to end."

Under NHL revenue sharing, the league's richest teams give up a portion of their revenue to help lower-grossing clubs pay players.

With the Oct. 16 civic election as a backdrop, the city and Calgary Sports and Entertainment have each gone public with what they are willing to pay and what they think the other side should pay for a new NHL building.

King declared earlier this month on behalf of Flames owners Murray Edwards, Alvin Libin, Clayton Riddell, Allan Markin and Jeff McCaig that

they were halting negotiations with the city because talks were "spectacularly unproductive."

Their position is the team will continue to operate out of the 34-year-old Saddledome "for as long as we believe it is feasible."

While King declared during Monday's question-and-answer session "the

file is closed" on more arena talk, he used his platform to talk about the economic challenges the Flames face in a Canadian market considered foolproof for an NHL team.

The Flames regularly sell out the Saddledome, which seats 19,289.

"When people are telling you 'this is a great market' and it is, it's a minimal market," he said. "It's on the margins when it comes to the

number of people you need."

CSEC said they would have put $275 million of owners' money into a $500-million building and that the city should raise the remaining $225 million through a community revitalization levy.

A CRL allows the city to divert property taxes from new development that would theoretically spring up around a new arena into paying for it.

The city proposed a three-way split on the cost of a $555-million arena, with the city and the Flames each paying $185 million and the remaining third raised from a surcharge on tickets.

The city said the Flames would control the new arena and receive all

revenue from it.

King insists the city's offer amounts to the team paying the entire cost, or

more, because CSEC considers a ticket surcharge paid by users revenue that belongs to the team and because the city wants CSEC to

pay property tax.

When asked Monday to explain how ticket surcharge revenue counts as

Flames revenue towards arena costs, King said "I could, but I'm not going to."

CSEC owns the Canadian Football League's Stampeders, Western Hockey League's Hitmen and National Lacrosse League's Roughnecks in addition to the NHL's Flames.

The American finance magazine Forbes valuated the worth of the Flames franchise at US$410 million in 2016, which was 16th among its economic ranking of the 30 NHL teams.


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USA TODAY / NHL point projections: How we see 2017-18 season unfolding

Kevin Allen, USA TODAY Sports Published 10:23 a.m. ET Sept. 28, 2017 | Updated 3:00 p.m. ET Sept. 28, 2017

The last time the Edmonton Oilers claimed a division championship

Wayne Gretzky won the NHL scoring championship with 183 points and Kevin McClelland and Steve Smith combined for 403 penalty minutes.

It was 1987. Ronald Reagan was president, gas cost 89 cents a gallon and a new Ford Escort could be purchased for $6,895.

Last season, Connor McDavid, 20, was the only NHL player to reach 100 points, and he’s the primary reason the Oilers could win their first division

crown in 30 years.

USA TODAY Sports is projecting that all four divisions will have new

champions this season. The Pittsburgh Penguins will win the Metropolitan, the Tampa Bay Lightning will finish first in the Atlantic and the Nashville Predators will capture the Central.

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The Lightning are one of last season's non-playoff teams that we believe will qualify this season. The others: the Carolina Hurricanes, Dallas Stars and Los Angeles Kings. We also have the New York Rangers, Montreal Canadiens, San Jose Sharks and Arizona Coyotes on the periphery of the postseason.

Here is a quick overview of the division races:

Atlantic Division

It's still a mystery that the Tampa Bay Lightning missed the playoffs last season, but they have the look of a contender this season. They added

Dan Girardi and prospect Mikhail Sergachev to a defense that includes stars Victor Hedman and Anton Stralman. They also picked up Chris Kunitz. ... The Ottawa Senators, meanwhile, are a team built for the playoff grind. They are a plucky bunch who believe they can will their way to victory. Defenseman Erik Karlsson’s recovery from surgery could

hamper their start, but this is an impressive group. ... You have to go back to the 1960s to find a Toronto Maple Leafs team that generated this

much excitement. Auston Matthews can do as much for the Leafs as McDavid is doing for the Oilers. ... GM Don Sweeney hasn't received

enough credit for the job he’s done keeping the Boston Bruins competitive. Keep an eye on young defenseman Charlie McAvoy. Zdeno Chara is still a factor at 40. ... The Montreal Canadiens are the X factor in the Atlantic. Goalie Carey Price always gives them a shot to contend, but their defense doesn’t seem strong enough. ... The Buffalo Sabres will take a step forward, although it still might leave them short of the playoffs. New GM Jason Botterill has upgraded their defense. ... The Florida Panthers lost their way last season, and it might take them another season to get back where they were. ... The Detroit Red Wings have talented youngsters such as Anthony Mantha and Dylan Larkin, but

not enough to re-energize the roster.

Metropolitan Division

The New York Rangers and Washington Capitals might take a half-step backward, and the Pittsburgh Penguins and Columbus Blue Jackets will

play at the same level as last season. ... The Capitals’ depth was eroded by salary cap issues. ... Can free agent signee Kevin Shattenkirk put a

charge into the Rangers? ... ... Artemi Panarin gives the Blue Jackets the dynamic scorer they were lacking. I guess we will find out how much he was helped by Patrick Kane in Chicago. ... There’s a buzz about the Carolina Hurricanes’ improvement. They added Scott Darling in goal and Justin Williams and Marcus Kruger up front. ... How much will John Tavares’ pending free agency distract the New York Islanders? Players will say not at all, but history has taught us otherwise. ... The Philadelphia

Flyers seem similar to last season, and their hope for improvement rests on the play of new goalie Brian Elliott and the continued improvement of

younger, talented defensemen. ... GM Ray Shero is making an impact with the New Jersey Devils, but he still needs time.

Central Division

The Nashville Predators are a trendy pick to win the Stanley Cup. They have one of the NHL’s top defenses, and goalie Pekka Rinne showed in last spring’s playoffs that he can carry a team for two months. ... The Minnesota Wild have the talent to be a postseason force. The question is whether they have the mental toughness to get the job done. ... The Chicago Blackhawks are coming off a 109-point season, but they might not reach 100 points this season. Their defense is more suspect than it

has been in years. ... No team did more to improve in the offseason than the Dallas Stars. They added goalie Ben Bishop, defenseman Marc

Methot, center Martin Hanzal and winger Alexander Radulov. ... The St. Louis Blues have already suffered multiple injuries, including to Robby

Fabbri, Jay Bouwmeester and Alexander Steen. ... If the Winnipeg Jets’ goaltending is sharp, they will be in the playoff hunt. ... They have plenty

of scoring. The Colorado Avalanche will be 20 points better and still not be close to the playoffs.

Pacific Division

The key for the Edmonton Oilers will be the play of their defense. Can Oscar Klefbom, Adam Larsson and Darnell Nurse take another step in

their development? ... Injuries to Ryan Kesler, Sami Vatanen and Hampus Lindholm could slow the Anaheim Ducks early, but they will be a contender in the end. ... The Calgary Flames defense, led by Mark Giordano and Dougie Hamilton, is among the league’s best. If Mike Smith excels in net, the Flames have a shot at 100 points. ... With Jonathan Quick in net, the Los Angeles Kings are always a threat to be a playoff factor. ... With the additions of Niklas Hjalmarsson, Derek Stepan, Jason Demers and rookies Dylan Strome and Clayton Keller, the Arizona Coyotes are much improved. ... The San Jose Sharks are a talented squad, led by Brent Burns, but they have a hint of staleness. ... There

could be modest improvement from the Vancouver Canucks. Keep an eye on rookie Brock Boeser. ... The Vegas Golden Knights could be

better than we think, but they will make trades that will help their future and hurt their point total this season.

USA TODAY LOADED: 09.29.2017

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USA TODAY / Has Connor McDavid surpassed Sidney Crosby as best player in NHL?

Kevin Allen, USA TODAY Sports Published 7:06 a.m. ET Sept. 28, 2017 | Updated 7:59 a.m. ET Sept. 28, 2017

A growing number of people in the hockey world now view Edmonton

Oilers captain Connor McDavid as the NHL’s best player, and yet he is unwilling to wear that crown.

“I definitely think (Sidney) Crosby is still on top,” McDavid told USA TODAY Sports earlier this month. “Everyone still has to chase him. There are so many different factors that go into it. No. 1 is winning, and (Crosby) is a proven winner. For all the young guys around the league, you have to win first to be considered.”

Just recently, Pittsburgh Penguins captain Crosby’s eight-year run as the No. 1 player in TSN’s Top 50 Player rankings ended when McDavid was chosen No. 1 by a panel of 22 experts. According to TSN, he had 59% of

first-place votes.

“I have no problem saying that he was the best player in the league last

year," Crosby told USA TODAY Sports before those results were announced. “He should be proud of that. It's not easy to accomplish what

he did.”

McDavid, 20, won the NHL scoring championship with 100 points (30

goals) and was the league's regular-season MVP. Crosby won the goal-scoring title with 44 goals (89 points), the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff

MVP and the Stanley Cup.

“Hockey is such a team sport it’s hard to pick who the best player in the world is,” McDavid said. “The list goes on and on with so many good candidates.”

What isn’t up for debate is that both players are respectful of the other’s abilities. Crosby said McDavid deserved the attention he received last season because “he took that next step.”

“I know he’s a humble guy, but to do the things he’s doing, is not easy,” Crosby added. “If anyone can appreciates that, and the pressure and expectations that go with it. ... I can relate to it.”

The Crosby vs. McDavid debate has no answer because you are comparing a young superstar with limitless promise to a 30-year-old

player who has done it all.

If you define the "best" as being the guy you most want on your team, the

guy with the most spectacular tools, you probably take McDavid, 20,

CAROLINA HURRICANES


because he is the reigning MVP and points leader and he’s expected to dominate for another 12-15 seasons.

If you define the best as the player who has proven the most, it’s clearly

Crosby who has won three Stanley Cup championships, two Conn Smythe trophies and two Hart Trophies. He’s also scored a goal-medal winning goal for Canada at the Olympics and was the MVP when Canada won the World Cup of Hockey in 2016.

Crosby welcomes the challenge of having another Canadian-born forward competing against him for trophies and championships.

“I don’t think I’m ever going to have the speed he has,” Crosby said, laughing. “But I think these kind of matchups are good for hockey. As player you get excited about these kinds of matchups. When you are in Game 50 in February, it’s cool to have these matchups to get you going.”

USA TODAY LOADED: 09.29.2017

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