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CAROLINA HURRICANES

NEWS CLIPPINGS • Jan. 16, 2018

Right inside the front door, first

Hurricanes changes apparent

By Luke DeCock

[email protected]

RALEIGH

Any Carolina Hurricanes fans who arrived through PNC

Arena’s south entrances on Sunday would immediately have

noticed something different: The Eye, the team store,

appeared to have metastasized into the ticketing lobby.

Where there was once shiny terrazzo, there were suddenly

racks of team gear and employees roaming with tablets

ready for quick sales.

So for anyone wondering how specifically things were going

to change for fans under new ownership, here was the first

clue. Thomas Dundon, in his months of quiet exploration into

the franchise, thought The Eye was too small, too hard to get

in and out of and took too long to check fans out at the

register. Three days after he officially took charge, fans

couldn’t get into the building without walking through an array

of Hurricanes merchandise. Impulse shoppers, grab your

wallets.

This is how it’s going to be for a while, little tweaks like that

while the gears and levers of more dramatic changes rumble

behind the scenes. And for fans and employees alike, one

conversation with Dundon can have an immediate impact.

Before he went back to Dallas after Friday’s game, Dundon

met Alain and Monica Taylor, two 300-level season-ticket

holders who got married on the ice seven years ago Monday,

with Ron the Ref officiating and Stormy serving as the ring-

bearer. Struck by their story, Dundon, as an anniversary gift,

invited them on a trip with the team at some point in the

future and announced it on Twitter on Monday. Without

passing any judgment, safe to say that wasn’t Peter

Karmanos’ style.

It’s a generous gesture and it could have significant ripple

effects. There are thousands of season-ticket holders who

haven’t been invited on the team plane – once or twice a

season, the Hurricanes will travel with a charity-auction

winner who pays dearly for the privilege – who may now

wonder where their invitation is, having stuck it out since

Greensboro. (As always, if there were as many fans in

Greensboro who now say they were there, they wouldn’t

have needed the curtain.) There were team staffers who had

to find and notify the Taylors on Sunday, and others who will

have to make the arrangements, and the coaching staff and

players may not appreciate the distraction. Imagine if there

were fans leaving with the team after Sunday’s game. They’d

probably pass.

That’s going to be the case with a lot of what Dundon does.

Employees are going to have to adjust on the fly to a

different way of doing things and execute orders they may

not necessarily agree with or understand. He’s going to want

to do a lot right away, and there’s going to be some trial and

error involved, and not all of it is going to work. The word

often used is “disruptive,” and that can be good and bad, but

for this franchise it’s a healthy disruption either way.

As an organization, the Hurricanes have been doing things

the same way, more or less, for 20 years, and for the last 10

or so at something less than 100 percent efficiency – and not

because the Hurricanes have a bunch of lazy or incompetent

employees. They just haven’t been asked to deliver more

than that for a long time. There’s a certain acceptance of fate

that has pervaded every corner of the operation, and a new

and assertive leader, whomever it ended up being, was

unavoidably going to jolt people out of their comfort zones,

beneficially so.

Dundon certainly is that.

Inevitably, for some current Hurricanes employees, this is

going to be too much. They’ll find their way elsewhere.

Others will thrive and flourish and emerge as leaders, even

some who may not realize it yet. It’s hard to predict these

things; sometimes, the people who seem most set in their

ways are energized by the change. You just never know.

Meanwhile, Dundon and North Carolina FC owner Stephen

Malik appear to have found some mutual admiration, and the

implications of that for both franchises and the MLS

expansion bid are fascinating. As Malik said Friday, “I think

mailto:[email protected]

CAROLINA HURRICANES


there’s lots of things we can do together. Some of that

obvious to everyone, isn’t it?” That relationship bears

watching.

As for the good things that were already happening with the

Hurricanes, Dundon’s going to end up getting credit for some

changes that were in motion before his arrival, like this

week’s flash sale on $40 lower-bowl tickets in February and

the Hurricanes’ future third jerseys, which are moving

through the NHL process but have yet to be revealed. That’s

fine. Tying developments like that to the change in ownership

will only generate more optimism among fans, and there will

certainly be plenty of change that Dundon directly instigates

anyway.

That’s as far as the business side goes, where Dundon

unquestionably will have free reign. There’s already a test

case for his approach to the hockey side of things. Saturday,

the Tampa Bay Lightning put J.T. Brown on waivers, the 27-

year-old winger who is not only one of Justin Faulk’s best

friends but is the son of N.C. State football legend Ted

Brown.

Based on a lot of what Dundon talked about Thursday and

Friday, this was a slam dunk. Claiming Brown and his

reasonable $1.3 million salary on waivers would have made

immediate headlines and sent reporters scrambling to talk to

his father while giving the Hurricanes a politically active black

player who also enjoys gaming with fans online – in short,

the Hurricanes had the opportunity to claim, for almost

nothing, substantial publicity and the kind of player whose

persona in this market would far exceed his ability.

But there’s ability there, too, and Brown could have added

some grit to the fourth line. He may still have the potential to

emerge as a goal-scoring threat, even if he hasn’t met the

expectations the Lightning had for him when Brown was

signed as a sought-after college free agent out of Minnesota-

Duluth.

But general manager Ron Francis, based on the team’s

scouting reports and proprietary analytics, passed. Anaheim,

one spot behind Carolina in the waiver order, claimed Brown

instead Sunday. That was a pure, old-school hockey

decision, and while Dundon’s fingerprints may already be on

decisions elsewhere around the franchise, they weren’t on

that one.

Hurricanes’ Sebastian Aho has

concussion, lower-body injury after hit

By Chip Alexander

[email protected]

Carolina Hurricanes forward Sebastian Aho sustained a

concussion and a lower-body injury Sunday when he was hit

by Mark Giordano of the Calgary Flames.

Aho, who leads the Canes in goals and points, will be

sidelined indefinitely, the team said Monday. The Hurricanes

said no surgery was required.

Aho was injured early in the third period of the Canes’ 4-1

loss at PNC Arena. Carrying the puck in the offensive zone,

he took a knee-to-knee hit from Giordano while also being hit

in the head by Giordano’s shoulder.

Giordano, the Flames’ captain, was given a match penalty

for the contact to the head, but the veteran defenseman

faces no further NHL discipline, it was reported Monday in

Calgary,

Aho was down for several minutes before being helped off

the ice by head trainer Doug Bennett and teammate Marcus

Kruger, favoring his left leg. Canes forward Justin Williams

retaliated for the hit by dropping the gloves and trading

punches with Giordano.

The Hurricanes are on their NHL-mandated bye week and do

not play again until Saturday, when they have a road game

against the Detroit Red Wings. The Canes face the Vegas

Golden Knights on Sunday at PNC Arena.

Aho, 20, leads the Canes in goals (16), points (37), power-

play goals (4) and game-winners (3).

mailto:[email protected]

CAROLINA HURRICANES


Canes' Aho out indefinitely after suffering

concussion, lower-body injury vs Flames

Raleigh, N.C. — It's unclear how long the Carolina

Hurricanes may be without the services of top scorer

Sebastian Aho, but Calgary captain Mark Giordano won't

miss any games after sending the 20-year-old Aho to the

locker room early in Sunday's 4-1 Flames win.

Aho is "out indefinitely," with a concussion and a lower-body

injury the Hurricanes announced Monday. Meanwhile, the

league said Monday that Giordano, who received a match

penalty and was ejected early in the third period for his illegal

check to Aho's head, won't face any further discipline.

Aho, 20, leads the team in points (37) and goals (16) and

has consistently delivered a scoring punch when paired with

Jordan Staal and Teuvo Teravainen.

Giordano hit Aho high as he was preparing to shoot.

Aho remained down on the ice for several minutes, had to be

helped off the ice and didn't return.

ADVERTISING

Head coach Bill Peters said after the game that he wasn't

sure "if there was much intent" in Giordano's actions.

"Obviously there was some head contact. I don't know if

there was much intent," Peters said. "I thought (Giordano's)

arm was tucked in low but he ended up catching the head

and that's unfortunate."

On top of the high hit, Peters said Aho's knee might also be

a concern.

"There's a lot to get looked at there," Peters said.

There's no doubt that Aho will be key in any playoff push the

Canes might be able to muster after their break. The Canes

entered the five-day break one point shy of a final playoff

spot in the Eastern Conference.

Sebastian Aho out indefinitely with

concussion and lower body injury

Welp.

By Brian LeBlanc@bdleblanc

The bye week could not have possibly come at a better time

for the Carolina Hurricanes to heal up and prepare for the

stretch run, but when they return on Saturday they will do so

without a key contributor.

The Canes announced Monday that forward Sebastian Aho

will be out indefinitely after suffering both a concussion and a

CAROLINA HURRICANES


lower-body injury on a third-period hit from Calgary Flames

captain Mark Giordano on Sunday. Aho has not been moved

to injured reserve, and as of yet no recall has been made

from Charlotte, with that likely to follow on Thursday or

Friday before the Canes depart for Detroit.

Aho has yet to miss a game in his two season NHL career,

playing all 82 games last season and in each of Carolina’s

45 games this year. At the time of his injury Aho led the team

in goals (16) and points (37), and his 21 assists were second

on the team to Teuvo Teravainen.

Giordano received a match penalty for the hit, but that was

the extent of discipline, as the league department of player

safety did not call for a hearing that would have served as a

precursor to a potential suspension.

Hurricanes’ Aho out with multiple injuries;

no suspension for Giordano

The Carolina Hurricanes forward Sebastian Aho has been

diagnosed with a concussion and a lower-body injury

resulting from a hit from Calgary Flames captain Mark

Giordano.

Giordano was assessed a match penalty for a hit to the head

in the opening minute of the third period on Sunday, but will

reportedly face no further discipline.

Aho was cutting across the front of the Flames net with the

puck when Giordano hit him. Hurricanes forward Justin

Williams then jumped in to fight Giordano.

Aho out indefinitely for Hurricanes with

concussion, lower-body injury

Forward left game against Flames on Sunday after hit by

defenseman Giordano

NHL.com @NHL

Sebastian Aho is out indefinitely for the Carolina Hurricanes

with a concussion and lower-body injury.

The forward was injured in a 4-1 loss to the Calgary Flames

at PNC Arena on Sunday when he was hit by defenseman

Mark Giordano, who was assessed a match penalty for an

illegal check to the head.

"I'm surprised [Aho] continued on with the puck, to be honest

with you," Hurricanes coach Bill Peters said after the game.

"He was in a real good spot to shoot it. Obviously, there was

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/teams/carolina-hurricanes/

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/players/sebastian-aho/878154

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/teams/calgary-flames/

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/players/mark-giordano/254822

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/players/mark-giordano/254822

CAROLINA HURRICANES


some head contact. I don't know if there was much intent. I

thought his arm was tucked in low. It was unfortunate."

Selected by the Hurricanes in the second round (No. 35) of

the 2015 NHL Draft, Aho leads Carolina in goals (16) and

points (37).

The Hurricanes (20-17-8) are on a six-day break and play

the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena on Saturday (7

p.m. ET; FS-D, FS-CR, NHL.TV). They trail the New York

Rangers by one point for the second wild card into the

Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.

Hanifin going to All-Star Game for

Hurricanes, remains work in progress

20-year-old defenseman more comfortable in League, still

learning from mistakes

by Tom Gulitti @tomgulittinhl / NHL.com Staff Writer

Carolina Hurricanes coach Bill Peters delivered the good

news to defenseman Noah Hanifin on Wednesday afternoon

that he had been selected to play in the 2018 Honda NHL

All-Star Game at Amalie Arena in Tampa on Jan. 28 (3:30

p.m. ET; NBC, CBC, SN, TVA Sports.

"I was pretty surprised," Hanifin said.

Peters delivered a different kind of message to Hanifin on

Friday after his turnover led to Brett Connolly's tying goal

with 3:08 remaining in the Hurricanes' 4-3 loss to the

Washington Capitals. Although Hanifin is headed to the All-

Star Game for the first time, Peters understands that he's a

young defenseman and not immune to growing pains.

So instead of criticizing Hanifin, Peters backed him.

"You've got to stay with him," Peters said. "You've got to

teach, you've got to learn from it, and you've got to stay with

people."

Hanifin, the No. 5 pick in the 2015 NHL Draft, is in his third

season in the League, but has yet to turn 21. He'll do that on

Jan. 25, the day before he leaves for 2018 Honda NHL All-

Star Weekend, which includes the NHL All-Star Skills

Competition on Jan. 27 (7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, CBC, SN,

TVA Sports).

The Hurricanes lost 4-1 to the Calgary Flames at PNC Arena

on Sunday and are 1-4-0 heading into their five-day, NHL-

mandated break before their next game at the Detroit Red

Wings on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; FS-D, FS-CR, NHL.TV), but

they are pleased with Hanifin's progress. Although the 6-foot-

3, 206-pound Boston native has been playing mostly on the

third pair with Trevor van Riemsdyk, he leads Carolina's

defensemen with seven goals and 21 points in 45 games.

"Our team, we've had a few tough games lately, but for me

individually I think it's been a pretty good year so far," Hanifin

said. "There's been some ups and downs, and there are

definitely things I can continue to work on and get better at.

I'm still pretty young in this League, so there's still a lot of

work I can do, but I think from last year and the year before

to where I am now, I think I've definitely developed and

learned a lot since I first started in the League."

Despite hiccups such as Hanifin's decision to pass out of the

right corner into the slot on the giveaway to Connolly, Peters

said his game is "better everywhere."

"Now, in Year 3, he's played [205] games in the NHL and

he's more comfortable with the League," Peters said, "He's

been around the League. He's played in every building there

is and just the confidence you gain from having been there,

done that is important, especially for a D-man. It's a tough

position to play in this league."

Going to Tampa should reinforce Hanifin's growing

confidence. He remembers watching the All-Star Game and

the skills competition with his father, Bob, when he was

growing up. Now his father will be there to see him

participate in both.

"It should be a fun experience," Hanifin said. "There's a lot of

guys in this room that could have went and fortunately I'm

lucky enough to go and represent the organization. I'm

excited. It should be a good memory."

Hanifin will be part of a young generation at the All-Star

Game that will include Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston

Matthews (20), Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid

(21) and Buffalo Sabres center Jack Eichel (21). Like Hanifin,

Eichel will be playing in his first All-Star Game.

"I'm happy to see him having such a good year. It's

awesome," Eichel said of Hanifin. "We grew up pretty close

together. We train together in the summer and skate and

hang out a lot so we're pretty tight. I'll be really cool to have

him down there."

CAROLINA HURRICANES


Three years ago, Hanifin was playing for Boston College as

a 17-year-old. At the NHL All-Star Game, he'll be teammates

on the Metropolitan Division team with players he watched

as a kid such as Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins

and Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals.

"It's pretty crazy, and it goes by pretty fast," Hanifin said. "I

still have a lot of work to do. I haven't reached the ceiling of

what I'm capable of, yet. I still think I can get a lot better in

certain areas."

Eliminating turnovers like the one Hanifin committed Friday

will help. But he's also had plenty of positives to build on.

"He's playing well," said Hurricanes defenseman Justin

Faulk, who played in the All-Star Game in each of the past

three seasons. "I think he has a lot more confidence with the

puck and with his ability to make plays out there. He's such a

good skater. He can skate himself out of trouble. He skates

himself into trouble once in a while, but he's a player who

can make those plays and put himself in a position to either

make a play or receive a pass, get a good shot off, anything

like that.

"It's been great to see this year, and I don't think we've really

scratched the surface of the potential he has."

Hometown Weekly Report: January 15

Written by Nicholas Niedzielski

Published: January 15, 2018

• Week in Review

• Team Statistics

• Overall record

21-16-1

• Home record

10-7-1

• Road record

11-9-0

• Last weeks' record

0-2-0

• Last 10 games

3-7-0

• Division Standings

5th

• Conference Standings

8th

• League Standings

14th

• Toronto 4, Checkers 1

Returning home after a tough road trip, the Checkers

couldn’t get back on track against the East’s top team. After

falling into a 2-0 hole, Andrew Poturalski sniped a shot in to

CAROLINA HURRICANES


pull the home squad within one goal through 40 minutes of

play. There would be no comeback, however, as the Marlies

notched a power-play tally early in the third to reclaim their

two-goal advantage, then tacked on an empty netter to seal

the win. Garret Sparks stood tall between the pipes for the

Marlies, who were outshot by Charlotte over the course of

the game, and turned aside 26 of the 27 pucks thrown at

him. Full recap

• Toronto 3, Checkers 1

The next night’s rematch was a similarly low-scoring affair.

After 40 minutes of a stalemate, Jeremy Bracco finally broke

the ice 90 seconds into the third frame, followed later in the

period by another Marlies’ tally to put Charlotte down 2-0.

Andrew Poturalski gave the home team some life with five

minutes to play when he redirected a point blast into the

back of the net, but that would be the end of Charlotte’s rally

attempt. A late empty netter would be the final nail in the

coffin, as Calvin Pickard’s 27 saves helped lead Toronto to a

weekend sweep of the Checkers. Full recap

• Three Stars Of The Week

• 3rd Star

• Brenden Kichton

0g, 1a

• 2nd Star

• Patrick Brown

0g, 1a

• 1st Star

• Andrew Poturalski

2g, 0a

• Notables

• MISSING OFFENSE

Despite still ranking third in the AHL, Charlotte’s offense has

had a tough time producing over this last stretch of games.

The Checkers, who have scored five or more goals 14 times

this season, have failed to eclipse two goals in six of their

last seven contests – all of which have been losses – and

have been held to one or fewer goals in each of their last

four.

• SCORING DROUGHT

That drought has seen several of Charlotte’s big guns go

silent. All Star Valentin Zykov, who still holds a share of the

league goal scoring lead, has gone scoreless in his last four

games after returning from illness. Prior to this slump, the

Russian had only failed to find the scoresheet nine times this

season and had not gone more than two consecutive games

without recording a point.

Since netting a hat trick against Hershey on Dec. 21, Aleksi

Saarela has notched one points in his last six games, while

Warren Foegele has matched a season long by going

scoreless in each of the last four games. Andrew Miller, who

racked up 20 points over 17 games from Dec. 1 to Jan. 6

while only being held scoreless twice, is on a three-game

scoreless skid, and Janne Kuokkanen has failed to find the

scoresheet in his three games since returning from the World

Junior Championship.

• POTTING GOALS

After a bit of a slow start that saw him record three points

through the first 12 games of the season, Andrew Poturalski

has ramped up his offensive production. Last season’s

leading scorer has picked up 17 points over the last 26

games and has been a bright spot among the team’s current

skid, lighting the lamp in three of the last five games.

• OFF THE MARK

Lucas Wallmark’s presence in the lineup has proven to be a

catalyst for the Checkers.

The Swede has only played 20 games with the Checkers this

season, including just eight since Nov. 10, but still ranks

fourth on the team with 23 points. The team is 15-5-0 with

Wallmark in the lineup and 6-11-1 without him, including a 1-

5-0 mark since his last appearance with the team.

Wallmark was slated to suit up for the Checkers this past

weekend against the Marlies but late injuries up top led the

Hurricanes recalling the forward prior to game time. With

Carolina on its bye week until Saturday, Wallmark should be

a welcome addition to Charlotte’s lineup for at least the two-

game set against Bridgeport.

• SPECIAL TEAMS STRUGGLES

The Checkers’ once lethal power play has gone cold as of

late. Charlotte has failed to convert on the power play in six

of the last seven games, all of which have resulted in losses.

The other side hasn’t fared much better, as the Checkers

have surrendered a power-play goal in 11 of their last 13

contests, though they were able to silence Toronto’s man

advantage on Saturday, hopefully sparking a strong run on

the penalty kill.

• Ranks

• Andrew Miller ranks 11th in the AHL in scoring (34)

• Valentin Zykov is tied for the league lead in goals

(19) and power-play goals (11), ranks second in the

AHL in shooting percentage (29.7)

• Warren Foegele leads the league in shorthanded

points (6) and is tied for the league lead in

shorthanded goals (4), is tied for seventh among

league rookies in scoring (27) and tied for third in

goals (17) and ranks fifth among AHL rookies in

shooting percentage (21.5)

• Trevor Carrick ranks second in the AHL in power-

play assists (14) and is tied for sixth among league

blue liners in assists (18)

• Philip Samuelsson is tied for fourth in the AHL in

plus-minus (+21)

• Alex Nedeljkovic is tied for fourth in the AHL in wins

(14)

• INJURIES

• Sergey Tolchinsky missed five games starting 12/30

http://gocheckers.com/game-recaps/checkers-struggles-continue-against-toronto

http://gocheckers.com/game-recaps/marlies-hand-checkers-fourth-straight-loss

CAROLINA HURRICANES


• Aleksi Saarela missed one game starting 1/13

• Transactions

• Incoming

• Jan. 14: (C) Lucas Wallmark assigned to Charlotte

(AHL)

• Jan. 13: (C) Mitchell Head recalled by Charlotte

(AHL)

• Outgoing

• Jan. 10: (F) Steven Lorentz assigned to Florida

(ECHL)

TODAY’S LINKS

http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/luke-decock/article194711149.html

http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/nhl/carolina-hurricanes/article194797664.html

http://www.wralsportsfan.com/aho-s-status-uncertain-as-canes-limp-into-5-day-break/17259286/

https://www.canescountry.com/2018/1/15/16894496/carolina-hurricanes-sebastian-aho-injury-concussion-lower-body-indefinite

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/hurricanes-aho-multiple-injuries-no-suspension-giordano/

https://www.nhl.com/news/sebastian-aho-out-indefinitely-for-hurricanes/c-294979390

https://www.nhl.com/news/all-star-noah-hanifin-still-work-in-progress-with-hurricanes/c-294955698

http://gocheckers.com/articles/features/hometown-weekly-report-january-15

1093246 Carolina Hurricanes

Hurricanes’ Sebastian Aho has concussion, lower-body injury after hit

BY CHIP ALEXANDER

January 15, 2018 06:29 PM

Carolina Hurricanes forward Sebastian Aho sustained a concussion and

a lower-body injury Sunday after being hit by Mark Giordano of the

Calgary Flames.

Aho, who leads the Canes in goals and points, will be sidelined

indefinitely, the team said Monday. The Hurricanes said no surgery was

required.

Aho was injured early in the third period of the Canes’ 4-1 loss at PNC

Arena. Carrying the puck in the offensive zone, he took a knee-to-knee

hit from Giordano while also being hit in the head by Giordano’s

shoulder.

Giordano, the Flames’ captain, was given a match penalty for the contact

to the head but the veteran defenseman faces no further NHL discipline,

it was reported Monday in Calgary,

Aho was down for several minutes before being helped off the ice by

head trainer Doug Bennett and teammate Marcus Kruger, favoring his

left leg. Canes forward Justin Williams retaliated for the hit by dropping

the gloves and trading punches with Giordano.

The Hurricanes are on their NHL-mandated bye week and do not play

again until Saturday, when they have a road game against the Detroit

Red Wings. The Canes face the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday at

PNC Arena.

Aho, 20, leads the Canes in goals (16), points (37), power-play goals (4)

and game-winners (3).

News Observer LOADED: 01.16.2018


Right inside the front door, first Hurricanes changes apparent

BY LUKE DECOCK

January 15, 2018 09:47 AM

Any Carolina Hurricanes fans who arrived through PNC Arena’s south

entrances on Sunday would immediately have noticed something

different: The Eye, the team store, appeared to have metastasized into

the ticketing lobby. Where there was once shiny terrazzo, there were

suddenly racks of team gear and employees roaming with tablets ready

for quick sales.

So for anyone wondering how specifically things were going to change

for fans under new ownership, here was the first clue. Thomas Dundon,

in his months of quiet exploration into the franchise, thought The Eye was

too small, too hard to get in and out of and took too long to check fans

out at the register. Three days after he officially took charge, fans

couldn’t get into the building without walking through an array of

Hurricanes merchandise. Impulse shoppers, grab your wallets.

http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/luke-decock/article194711149.html

http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/nhl/carolina-hurricanes/article194797664.html

http://www.wralsportsfan.com/aho-s-status-uncertain-as-canes-limp-into-5-day-break/17259286/

https://www.canescountry.com/2018/1/15/16894496/carolina-hurricanes-sebastian-aho-injury-concussion-lower-body-indefinite

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/hurricanes-aho-multiple-injuries-no-suspension-giordano/

https://www.nhl.com/news/sebastian-aho-out-indefinitely-for-hurricanes/c-294979390

https://www.nhl.com/news/all-star-noah-hanifin-still-work-in-progress-with-hurricanes/c-294955698

http://gocheckers.com/articles/features/hometown-weekly-report-january-15

CAROLINA HURRICANES


This is how it’s going to be for a while, little tweaks like that while the

gears and levers of more dramatic changes rumble behind the scenes.

And for fans and employees alike, one conversation with Dundon can

have an immediate impact.

Before he went back to Dallas after Friday’s game, Dundon met Alain

and Monica Taylor, two 300-level season-ticket holders who got married

on the ice seven years ago Monday, with Ron the Ref officiating and

Stormy serving as the ring-bearer. Struck by their story, Dundon, as an

anniversary gift, invited them on a trip with the team at some point in the

future and announced it on Twitter on Monday. Without passing any

judgment, safe to say that wasn’t Peter Karmanos’ style.

Had a chance to meet Alain and Monica Taylor last week who were

married on the ice prior to a game 7 years ago today. They have been

personally invited to join us on a team trip. Happy Anniversary and

thanks for being great season ticket members and Caniacs!

pic.twitter.com/Lylueyohtd

— Tom Dundon (@TDCanes) January 15, 2018

It’s a generous gesture and it could have significant ripple effects. There

are thousands of season-ticket holders who haven’t been invited on the

team plane – once or twice a season, the Hurricanes will travel with a

charity-auction winner who pays dearly for the privilege – who may now

wonder where their invitation is, having stuck it out since Greensboro.

(As always, if there were as many fans in Greensboro who now say they

were there, they wouldn’t have needed the curtain.) There were team

staffers who had to find and notify the Taylors on Sunday, and others

who will have to make the arrangements, and the coaching staff and

players may not appreciate the distraction. Imagine if there were fans

leaving with the team after Sunday’s game. They’d probably pass.

That’s going to be the case with a lot of what Dundon does. Employees

are going to have to adjust on the fly to a different way of doing things

and execute orders they may not necessarily agree with or understand.

He’s going to want to do a lot right away, and there’s going to be some

trial and error involved, and not all of it is going to work. The word often

used is “disruptive,” and that can be good and bad, but for this franchise

it’s a healthy disruption either way.

As an organization, the Hurricanes have been doing things the same

way, more or less, for 20 years, and for the last 10 or so at something

less than 100 percent efficiency – and not because the Hurricanes have

a bunch of lazy or incompetent employees. They just haven’t been asked

to deliver more than that for a long time. There’s a certain acceptance of

fate that has pervaded every corner of the operation, and a new and

assertive leader, whomever it ended up being, was unavoidably going to

jolt people out of their comfort zones, beneficially so.

Dundon certainly is that.

Inevitably, for some current Hurricanes employees, this is going to be too

much. They’ll find their way elsewhere. Others will thrive and flourish and

emerge as leaders, even some who may not realize it yet. It’s hard to

predict these things; sometimes, the people who seem most set in their

ways are energized by the change. You just never know.

Meanwhile, Dundon and North Carolina FC owner Stephen Malik appear

to have found some mutual admiration, and the implications of that for

both franchises and the MLS expansion bid are fascinating. As Malik said

Friday, “I think there’s lots of things we can do together. Some of that

obvious to everyone, isn’t it?” That relationship bears watching.

The Eye's footprint has expanded! Stop by at today's game to see the

new setup and items, including autographed merchandise!

pic.twitter.com/dV8GDe2JqG

— Carolina Hurricanes (@NHLCanes) January 14, 2018

As for the good things that were already happening with the Hurricanes,

Dundon’s going to end up getting credit for some changes that were in

motion before his arrival, like this week’s flash sale on $40 lower-bowl

tickets in February and the Hurricanes’ future third jerseys, which are

moving through the NHL process but have yet to be revealed. That’s fine.

Tying developments like that to the change in ownership will only

generate more optimism among fans, and there will certainly be plenty of

change that Dundon directly instigates anyway.

That’s as far as the business side goes, where Dundon unquestionably

will have free reign. There’s already a test case for his approach to the

hockey side of things. Saturday, the Tampa Bay Lightning put J.T. Brown

on waivers, the 27-year-old winger who is not only one of Justin Faulk’s

best friends but is the son of N.C. State football legend Ted Brown.

Based on a lot of what Dundon talked about Thursday and Friday, this

was a slam dunk. Claiming Brown and his reasonable $1.3 million salary

on waivers would have made immediate headlines and sent reporters

scrambling to talk to his father while giving the Hurricanes a politically

active black player who also enjoys gaming with fans online – in short,

the Hurricanes had the opportunity to claim, for almost nothing,

substantial publicity and the kind of player whose persona in this market

would far exceed his ability.

But there’s ability there, too, and Brown could have added some grit to

the fourth line. He may still have the potential to emerge as a goal-

scoring threat, even if he hasn’t met the expectations the Lightning had

for him when Brown was signed as a sought-after college free agent out

of Minnesota-Duluth.

But general manager Ron Francis, based on the team’s scouting reports

and proprietary analytics, passed. Anaheim, one spot behind Carolina in

the waiver order, claimed Brown instead Sunday. That was a pure, old-

school hockey decision, and while Dundon’s fingerprints may already be

on decisions elsewhere around the franchise, they weren’t on that one.



After dismal loss and Aho injury, Canes need to do some soul-searching

during break

BY LUKE DECOCK

January 14, 2018 07:37 PM

Justin Williams, at least, should be able to enjoy his break. He won’t

enjoy it, because he’ll be more miserable than anyone with the way his

team went into the break. But at least he answered the call when it came.

Williams was the first to stand up for Sebastian Aho when the Carolina

Hurricanes’ star was blasted while cutting through the slot by Calgary

Flames defenseman Mark Giordano with a doubly damaging hit that

knocked Aho out of the game – and for who knows how long.

Even if Giordano wasn’t trying to hit Aho in the chin with his shoulder, for

which he picked up a match penalty, he still caught him knee-to-knee.

Aho was down for a while, then got up dragging his left leg behind him.

Any damage to his head wasn’t as apparent.

“There’s lots to be looked at there,” Hurricanes coach Bill Peters said,

without any update Sunday on Aho’s health.

The Hurricanes were already down 2-0 at that point, and deservedly so,

on their way to a 4-1 loss in a game that goes into the “Things can

always get worse” Hall of Fame.

Whether it was a hangover from Friday’s collapse or the residual impact

of the flu bug that kept the team away from the rink Saturday, this was

abysmal from the start – Justin Faulk, maybe angling for a spot in the All-

Star Game, turned the puck over to gift the Flames their first goal – and

actually managed to get worse.

CAROLINA HURRICANES


“It could be all those things,” co-captain Jordan Staal said, once again

appearing to be the sole captain. “It’s frustrating and unfortunate. From

the start we didn’t have a lot of anything.”

“Very unusual, the way we played today,” Peters said.

Aho absorbed a gruesome-looking pretzel bend to his right knee eight

days ago on an awkward but legal hit and was back for the next game,

but this looked exponentially worse, and if his knee’s OK, who knows

about his head? And vice versa.

Too predictably, the Hurricanes had no response from anyone other than

the 36-year-old Williams, who picked up an instigator for good measure.

Other than one good Elias Lindholm pop on Andrew Mangiapane and a

few attempted hits by Brock McGinn (who, to his credit, was right behind

Williams going after Giordano), the Hurricanes as a team hadn’t hit

anyone all night and didn’t seem inspired to hit anyone after that.

“I thought Willy did a great job,” Staal said, then paused for a long time. “I

thought Willy did a good job.”

For all their youth and exuberance and skill, this is still a soft team, too

soft to win a playoff round even if the goaltending somehow holds up.

Aho is fearless – too fearless, as it turned out, Sunday – and Williams

knows what it takes to win. McGinn has some pop and Lindholm is

capable when he’s engaged, but for the most part, the Hurricanes have

neither the strength nor the mentality to exert a physical influence on the

game.

It’s not about penalty minutes, although the Flames have seven players

who would lead the Hurricanes in that category. It’s not about playing

dirty, and Giordano’s hit actually could have been worse if he’d raised his

elbow. It’s not about fighting, either. It’s about delivering hits that create

chances and absorbing hits to make plays. Too many Hurricanes appear

to have little interest in either. It’s fair to ask how much Peters’ emphasis

on positional play restricts those opportunities, taking away from one

area to strengthen another, but too many players appear determined to

avoid contact.

Either way, when opponents say the Hurricanes are tough to play against

– and they can be, at their best – it’s not because they wake up sore the

next morning.

The Hurricanes have a week off now before they resume play at Detroit

on Saturday. Peters said before the game he wanted the players to be

refreshed when they return; this week would be better spent on some

introspection and self-reflection than relaxation.

“You got to give yourself a mental break, and then you’re going to have

to wrap your head around the identity of our team and how we have to

play to be successful,” Peters said. “The nights that we’re not the

hardest-working team, and I don’t know our record, but it wouldn’t be

flattering. So if we’re not going to wrap our head around the fact that we

have to start on time, each and every night, and outwork our opponent,

then it’s going to be a frustrating second half.”

It’s hard to imagine a more frustrating final 63:08 heading into the break.

The tepid response to what happened to Aho in the minutes that followed

the hit was as stinging an indictment of this team’s will as anything.

Through 45 games, the Hurricanes are actually a point behind where

they were last season.

So it still remains to be seen whether these players are willing to pay the

price it takes to win or just content to muddle through the rest of this

season, doing just enough to stay on the playoff bubble, watching their

best player get laid out and shrugging their collective shoulders in reply.



The Hurricanes are getting time to heal and regroup. And they need it.

BY CHIP ALEXANDER

January 15, 2018 11:01 AM

Defenseman Brett Pesce is hurt.

Center Derek Ryan is hurt.

After Sunday’s game against the Calgary Flames, winger Sebastian Aho

is hurt, too.

Then there’s the flu. Several Carolina Hurricanes players have been

slowed recently by some kind of illness sweeping through the locker

room.

If ever there was a good time for time off, that time is now for the Canes.

And they’re getting it, with the next five days free for their NHL-mandated

bye week.

Pesce, placed on injured reserve Friday, may be good to go when the

Canes resume the season Saturday in Detroit against the Red Wings.

Canes coach Bill Peters said the same could be true for Ryan, injured

Thursday in the road game against the Washington Capitals.

Aho may be another matter.

Aho was injured Jan. 6 against the Boston Bruins, falling awkwardly and

twisting his right leg. It was a nasty-looking spill, but Aho quickly returned

to practice and was back in the lineup for the next game, against the

Tampa Bay Lightning.

Aho may not have been so lucky Sunday after taking the big hit from

Mark Giordano of the Flames. Carrying the puck into the Calgary zone,

Aho cut through the left circle to the middle when he was hit both on the

chin and the left knee by the Flames defenseman.

With Aho down on the ice, taking a quick look back to see who nailed

him, then rolling over in pain, Canes forward Justin Williams went after

Giordano. Dropping the gloves, Williams swapped a few quick punches

with Giordano before the two were separated.

There was no immediate update on Aho’s condition after the game,

although Peters said Aho’s knee was being evaluated. Given the contact

to the head – Giordano was given a match penalty – Aho could have

been concussed.

Peters said he wasn’t sure there was any intent on Giordano’s part to

injure Aho, and Flames coach Glen Gulutzan came to his captain’s

defense, saying Giordano’s shoulder and arm were down and Giordano

was “playing hard.”

“It’s a little bit part of the game,” Gulutzan said. “You just hope the young

guy’s not injured.”

That’s the Hurricanes’ hope. Aho, 20, leads the Canes in goals (16),

points (37), power-play goals (4) and game-winners (3).

The Canes dropped out of playoff position in the Eastern Conference

with the deflating 4-3 loss Friday to the Caps. Then, the loss to Calgary.

To lose arguably their best player for any extended period of time could

be a season-changer.

But the Canes have much to mull over during the break after the losses

to the Caps and Flames.

“It definitely leaves a sour taste in our mouth,” forward Brock McGinn

said.

Peters said he planned to take the break to relax and recharge, saying,

“I’m going to turn it off, for sure. I have to.”

That was said a few hours before the game. If there is a bad medical

report Monday on Aho, there may not be much relaxation for

management and the coaching staff.

CAROLINA HURRICANES


The Canes will have 37 games remaining when they return, 21 at PNC

Arena. Out of playoff position, they’ll be chasing again.

“It’s never good to go into the break with a loss,” center Jordan Staal

said. “We have to unfortunately dwell on that for a little bit. We’ve got to

get away, get your rest when you can, then regroup.”


1093268 Detroit Red Wings

Detroit Red Wings' Darren Helm, Justin Abdelkader out vs. Dallas Stars

Helene St. James, Jan. 15, 2018

Darren Helm and Justin Abdelkader will miss another Detroit Red Wings

game.

Their injuries are still being evaluated, but for now, they’re out Tuesday

when the Wings host the Dallas Stars at Little Caesars Arena.

General manager Ken Holland said on Monday both forwards are

“getting tests.”

Abdelkader left Saturday’s game at Pittsburgh because of a groin injury.

Helm was injured during the third period Saturday when his right leg bent

awkwardly.

The Wings have not detailed Helm’s injury beyond calling it lower body.

Detroit Free Press LOADED: 01.16.2018


Detroit Red Wings vs. Dallas Stars: Time, TV, radio information

Kirkland Crawford, Jan. 16, 2018

7:30 p.m., Fox Sports Detroit, WXYT-FM (97.1): Detroit Red Wings (18-

18-7, 43 points) hosts Dallas Stars (25-17-3, 53 points).

NHL: Detroit Red Wings at Chicago Blackhawks

Detroit Red Wings (18-18-7, 43 points) vs. Dallas Stars (25-17-3, 53

points)

When: 7:30 p.m.

Where: Little Caesars Arena.

TV: Fox Sports Detroit.

Radio: WXYT-FM (97.1; other radio affiliates).

Game notes: Perhaps the Wings catch a break with a road-weary Stars

team tonight at LCA. Dallas won a matinee in Boston, 3-2 in overtime,

and will play the second of a five-game trip through the Eastern

Conference. The Wings collected two of a possible four points over the

weekend, losing to Pittsburgh and winning at Chicago. Detroit will be

without Justin Abdelkader (groin) and Darren Helm (lower body).

Detroit Free Press LOADED: 01.16.2018


Bertuzzi asserting himself with forechecking chances

Gregg Krupa, Jan. 15, 2018

Detroit — Red Wings flying deep in the opponents’ zone without the

puck, harrying the other guys’ puck carriers and potential ones, stymying

attacks even during the countdown to launch.

It used to be a trademark.

Steve Yzerman, Sergei Fedorov, Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, Kris

Draper, Kirk Maltby and, even well into a long career, Igor Larionov all

pushed the forecheck, along with more than a few other Wings,

throughout their recent glory years.

One coach with a jutting chin, Scotty Bowman, and another with the

scowl of a bird of prey, Mike Babcock demanded it. They got it.

Jeff Blashill seems to do the same. Occasionally, he gets it.

Asked last week before the start of the second half of the season what is

essential for the Wings to do to improve from a .500 club out of the

playoffs in the current standings, Blashill talked about pressuring

opponents, especially in deep in their zone at the start of any their

offensive thrusts, and playing with pace.

They forechecked well against the lethargic Blackhawks Sunday, and not

so well against the considerably-more energetic Penguins, whose

biggest stars were shining, Saturday.

Is it mostly the performance of the Red Wings or the other guys that is

determining whether an integral element of the Wings’ success is

accomplished?

“I think it’s a little of both,” Blashill said. “The opponent and you always

have something to say about the way the game goes.

“I think in Pitt, certainly, their best players were playing at their highest

level. So, then, it’s a harder game for sure.

“I thought we got on top of Chicago,” he said, of the game Sunday, after

which Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said his team was “brutal…

out to lunch.”

So, did the Red Wings fore-check, among other things, much better

against the Blackhawks than the Penguins, or did the vastly differing

performances of the two opponents mostly account for the 4-1 loss and

the 4-0 win?

“I know that we played the way we want to, yesterday,” Blashill said. “We

didn’t play as good in Pitt. The other team sometimes has something to

say about that.”

Some Wings seemed like no-shows in the forechecking against the

Penguins, with Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel already

launched on their attacks before the Red Wings could muster any

forward resistance.

But Tyler Bertuzzi fore-checked with considerable consistency all

weekend.

The sight of number 59 alone deep in the opponent’s zone, pressuring

attackers early in the sequence, is likely to become familiar.

“I just think that’s what he brings,” Blashill said, of Bertuzzi. “That’s one of

the things he can be really good at.

“He’s naturally a forechecker. He’s got good stick-on-puck. He creates

lots of turnovers.

“As he continues to make progressions in this league,” Blashill said, “the

big thing is to just continue to improve that body so he gets a little extra

step, a little extra strength. And that’s something he’s going to continue to

work on for the rest of this year and into the off-season.”

CAROLINA HURRICANES


Blashill said he and GM Ken Holland would have liked Bertuzzi in the

lineup at the start of the year, but injuries set him back.

In seven games last season, Bertuzzi flashed his assertiveness, but

seemed a body too light and lacking in strength. He came to the 2017

training camp in September bigger and stronger.

“I just get on the forecheck as hard as I can,” Bertuzzi said of his

approach. “You just try to create stalls and create space for my line

mates, and obviously try to turn over the puck and create offense.”

For the Red Wings, like some other things this season and in the past

couple, it is a matter of gaining consistency.

“If you don’t get on it, they can break out easy and their ‘D’ can beat you

up the ice, and that’s how they create odd-man rushes and lots of

offense,” Bertuzzi said.

“When you get on the forecheck early, it disrupts everything.”

Detroit News LOADED: 01.16.2018


Dominic Turgeon fills gap on dinged up Red Wings' penalty kill

Gregg Krupa, Jan. 15, 2018

Detroit – The Red Wings' penalty kill, now back to 17th in the NHL with

an 80.9 percent rate after sitting in the top 10 for a stretch earlier in the

season, is battered by injuries.

When Justin Abdelkader and Darren Helm sustaining damage to their

lower bodies during the weekend, they joined Luke Glendening as

reliable penalty killers on the shelf. Abdelkader and Helm will not play

against the Stars Tuesday.

Both are considered day-to-day, the Wings said, after a practice Monday

that featured a heavy emphasis on special teams, including the power

play.

“I’m told neither looks long term but will need some time to heal,” GM

Ken Holland said.

The team will determine later in the week whether Abdelkader or Helm

can play against the Hurricanes on Saturday, Holland said.

Meanwhile, Glendening will not return until at least Jan 31 after the All-

Star break, coach Jeff Blashill said.

And so, Dominic Turgeon suddenly becomes an important quantity at

forward. Turgeon appeared in his first NHL game Sunday against the

Blackhawks, and playing 1:43 on the penalty kill. Turgeon was one of five

forwards to play on the penalty kill: Frans Nielsen (2:54), Dylan Larkin

(2:01), Andreas Athanasiou (1:56) and Tyler Bertuzzi (1:16).

Turgeon, 21, has played 111 games in Grand Rapids the past two

seasons and 259 for the Portland Winterhawks in major junior hockey in

the Western Hockey League, garnering considerable penalty killing

experience along the way.

“When I talked to Ken and (assistant general manager) Ryan Martin, the

number one criterion for the call-up in this particular case was someone

who was their best penalty killer, that could still play a four-line role,”

Blashill said.

That man is Turgeon, the Red Wings 2014 third-round pick, 63rd overall

and the son and nephew of former NHL stars.

His father, Pierre, scored more than a point per game over 19 seasons

(1,294 games, 515 goals, 812 assists, 1,327 points). In a career half as

long, his uncle, Sylvain, had five seasons of 25 or more goals, including

40 and 45 goals.

While the younger Turgeon says his game is less offensive than his

dad’s, for sure, his nine goals and 14 assists through 40 games in Grand

Rapids in his second season is a clear improvement over six and 12 in

71 games in his first.

As for the penalty kill?

“I’ve been playing PK pretty much my whole life,” Turgeon said. “So, I

definitely feel comfortable doing it.”

FRIENDS AND FAMILY

In more clear signs this is a season of development for the Wings,

Turgeon played his first game in the NHL Sunday and Tyler Bertuzzi

scored his first goal.

Among those congratulating Bertuzzi was his uncle Todd, who is familiar

with the back of the net in the NHL (314 goals, 456 assists, 770 points in

1,159 games, including 61 goals and 150 points with the Red Wings).

“Yeah, he texted me,” Bertuzzi said. “He said congrats. “It was good, he

said I was playing really well and just keep going.”

Bertuzzi said he enjoyed scoring the goal along with Martin Frk.

“You know, we played together the last few years and we’ve had a lot of

points together and contributed on goals,” Bertuzzi said. “But his one was

special for me and for him to be able to assist on it.”

When Bertuzzi was asked about the source of their obvious friendship,

Frk chuckled and cracked a broad grin. Bertuzzi paused, smiled and

started laughing.

“That’s a long story,” Frk said.

OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS

In Pittsburgh Saturday, Luke Witkowski made the most of his time.

The bearded one played all of 5:56 against the Penguins and tied for the

team lead with four shots on goal.

“Sometimes it just works like that, you know? The puck comes to you and

you get the opportunity,” Witkowski said. “At the same time, I’m going to

shoot when I get the chance.

“My mentality is just go and work hard every shift. Be a presence. Try to

finish my checks.”

STARS vs. RED WINGS

Faceoff: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Little Caesars Arena

TV/radio: Fox Sports Detroit, 97.1 FM.

Notable: Six of the next nine Wings’ games are at home through Feb. 6.

They could prove decisive, before the trade deadline Feb. 26… The

Stars are improved under GM Jim Nill since a difficult start. They have

four players with at least 40 points, Jamie Benn (42), Tyler Seguin (41),

John Klingberg (41) and Alexander Radulov (40).



Injuries force Red Wings into holding pattern

Gregg Krupa Jan. 15, 2018

CAROLINA HURRICANES


Detroit – The Red Wings haven't made a determination on how long

Justin Abdelkader and Darren Helm will be out of the lineup as they await

further tests.

But they know Abdelkader and Helm will miss the game against the Stars

at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday.

They also know Luke Glendening is out until after the All-Star break.

Both GM Ken Holland and coach Jeff Blashill said they had no further

information on Abdelkader and Helm, who were both lost over the

weekend with lower-body injuries.

Helm may have injured a knee.

They are considered day-to-day, pending further observation.

“They’re both waiting to get examined, so we’ll have better knowledge,”

Blashill said. “They’ll both be out tomorrow.

“Is it longer than that? I don’t know that answer.”

Blashill said that with Dominic Turgeon recalled from Grand Rapids,

there is no need for reinforcements.

The timing of Glendening’s return remains unclear. He is on injured

reserve.

The Red Wings’ first game after the break is Jan. 31 against the Sharks

in Little Caesars Arena.

“I don’t know that he’ll be ready after the All-Star break, but he won’t be

ready before,” Blashill said, referring to Jan. 26-28.

The Wings practiced Monday in their training center, as Pistons fans

began arriving in swarms for their Martin Luther King Jr. Day matinee in

the big arena, came after consecutive games and the five-day bye period

mandated by the collective bargaining agreement.

The Wings got in some long overdue work on the specialty teams, with

the power play and penalty kill drills occupying considerable time.

The forwards lines remained the same as against the Blackhawks, as did

the power play units and the penalty kill.

The kill personnel is experiencing a considerable turnover, with three of

the Wings prime penalty killers, Abdelkader, Glendening and Helm all

out, for a while.

Blashill said he plans to use Turgeon, who has considerable penalty

killing experience in the AHL, in the role, as well as contributing on the

five-on-five.

Turgeon played 9:01 against the Blackhawks Sunday, including 1:43 on

the penalty kill.

He had a shot on goal, a takeaway, three blocked shots and lost his only

faceoff.


1093354 Vegas Golden Knights

Knights’ Deryk Engelland gets 1-year, $1.5M contract extension

By David Schoen

January 15, 2018 - 4:09 PM

Updated January 15, 2018 - 6:41 PM

Deryk Engelland will return for a second season with the Golden Knights.

The veteran defenseman and longtime Las Vegas resident signed a one-

year contract extension worth $1.5 million on Monday prior to the Knights

departing for Nashville, Tennessee, where they begin a four-game road

trip Tuesday against the Predators.

Engelland, 35, was set to become an unrestricted free agent July 1. His

deal also includes up to $1 million in performance bonuses, making his

potential salary cap hit next season $2.5 million, according to

CapFriendly.com.

“That’s your goal going into the season, especially on a UFA, is to get

something done sooner rather than later,” Engelland said in a statement

released by the team. “I’m getting a little older now and to be able to stay

here at home and play another year, that’s your whole goal going into the

season and I couldn’t be more happy.”

Engelland is the third player to sign an extension with the Knights during

the season. He joins defenseman Brayden McNabb (four years, $10

million) and forward Jonathan Marchessault (six years, $30 million), as

general manager George McPhee continues to lock up core players for

the future.

“Deryk has been an integral part of our team, on and off the ice, from the

very beginning,” McPhee said in a statement. “We selected him in the

expansion draft because we knew he was a quality player with great

character. He’s one of our team leaders and is enjoying a great season.

“Deryk has been a longtime Las Vegas resident, and his work in the

community is exemplary. We are excited to have him a part of the Vegas

Golden Knights organization through the 2018-19 season.”

Engelland has tallied 13 points (three goals, 10 assists) and 16 penalty

minutes in 41 games. He is second on the team with 83 blocked shots.

The Edmonton, Alberta, native is one point shy of 100 for his NHL career.

“We’ve got a lot of character in that room, great leaders, great young

guys coming up,” Engelland said. “It’s a team effort, it’s been fun, and I’m

looking forward to the rest of the season here.”

Eakin injury update

Cody Eakin missed his second straight day of practice Monday but made

the trip to Nashville. Knights coach Gerard Gallant said the center is day

to day with an undisclosed injury.

Oscar Lindberg centered Eakin’s line during the 45-minute practice and

would play if Eakin can’t go against the Predators.

All-star forward James Neal (illness) did not practice but is expected to

play Tuesday.

Skol Schmidt

Nate Schmidt and Erik Haula, who live in Minnesota during the

offseason, went straight from Sunday’s Fan Fest to D Las Vegas and

watched the fourth quarter of the Vikings’ memorable 29-24 playoff

victory over New Orleans.

“It was almost too much for me to handle,” said Schmidt, who hails from

St. Cloud, Minnesota. “We went absolutely bonkers.

“Haula and I had this little bar upstairs. It was awesome. And there was

some other Vikings fans there. (Sigh) It gets me emotional just thinking

about it.”

Contact David Schoen at [email protected] or 702-387-5203.

Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.

LAS VEGAS REVIEW JOURNAL LOADED: 01.16.2018


Golden Knights defense stands tall with or without Fleury in net

CAROLINA HURRICANES


By Ed Graney Las Vegas Review-Journal

January 15, 2018 - 2:55 PM

Updated January 15, 2018 - 6:07 PM

The amazing subconscious.

It really is a million times more powerful than our conscious mind.

Deep into that part of our brain, which we must trust to guide us toward

our goals, is where those who play defense for the Golden Knights

traveled early this season.

It gnawed at them, how to react to that which wasn’t planned.

“I think we knew inside something had to happen, that we had to elevate

our game because we didn’t have the perception of who was supposed

to be back there in goal,” Nate Schmidt said. “It was very much a sense

of the unknown. That’s not to say the guys back there couldn’t do the job

— they obviously did — but we weren’t sure what we were going to get.”

It would be no different if an NFL season began and Tom Brady wasn’t

throwing passes for the Patriots after the opening week, or soon into

another NBA schedule LeBron James went one way and his knee

another and he was on the bench in street clothes for Cleveland.

It would be no different if Teddy Bridgewater and Sam Bradford went

down for the Vikings and Case Keenum was suddenly the starting

quarterback.

Wait. That one doesn’t really fit the narrative now that a New Orleans

safety tried tackling a ghost …

But among the chief reasons Vegas sits atop the Western Conference of

the NHL with 61 points is this: When a concussion took star goalie Marc-

Andre Fleury from the lineup for two months and 25 games, those

defensemen in front of him collaborated in a most impressive way.

When the face of the expansion draft and by far team’s most decorated

and famous player took a knee to the head from Anthony Mantha of the

Red Wings just four games into the season, those responsible for limiting

the shots and action any goalie sees nightly banded together.

Injuries would force the Knights to play four different goalies in Fleury’s

absence.

And still, the defense didn’t crack.

“As a group, we talked about that was definitely a time when we had to

limit chances, any 2-on-1s or breakaways for opponents,” Shea

Theodore said. “We all know about (Fleury) and that when he’s back

there, any mistakes we make, he has our backs. But when you get in that

consistency of playing well together, it gives you a greater chance to win

each night, no matter who is in goal.”

Stingy mindset

The Knights open a four-game road trip on Tuesday against Nashville

and play 10 of their next 12 away from what has been the oh-so-friendly-

and-successful atmosphere of T-Mobile Arena, meaning things get more

difficult real fast.

But numbers through 42 games paint a picture of defensive focus: Vegas

ranks among the league’s top 10 teams in goals against and shots

against, and such stinginess hasn’t changed no matter who is wearing

the mask and blockers on a given night.

The Knights have, against some of the league’s most high-powered

sides, refused many shots from dangerous areas, specifically off

rebounds and in front of the slot when trying to kill power plays.

Teams haven’t gotten much in front of the net.

It’s a defensive mindset that has continued since Fleury returned, during

which time the Knights have allowed just an average of 1.4 goals in the

nine games he has played.

Included in those decisions are shutouts of the Capitals and Predators.

The Knights aren’t some complex defensive side. They’re more the

basketball team that creates a turnover at one end, gets numbers going

the other way and increases its chances of finishing with a score.

It’s pretty basic but obviously effective stuff.

“For me, to watch from the press box (when injured) is different than

seeing it on ice,” Fleury said. “But the defense has been sharp and good

around the net all season. Talking, helping me see things, helping on

rebounds. It’s all been a big, big part of our success.

“I think we have really good balance on defense — some offense, some

skating, some physicality. It’s all good.”

That’s a conscious observation, and an astute one.

The defense was good when he was injured and has continued as such

in his return.

It gnawed at those defensemen, how to react to that which wasn’t

planned, and they responded.

Contact columnist Ed Graney at [email protected] or 702-

383-4618. He can be heard on “The Press Box,” ESPN Radio 100.9 FM

and 1100 AM, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday. Follow

@edgraney on Twitter.



Karlsson’s career year adds key ingredient to Golden Knights’ recipe

By Steve Carp

January 15, 2018 - 1:47 PM

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — William Karlsson’s recipe for success in the NHL

wasn’t that complicated. He just didn’t have all the ingredients at his

disposal until this year.

The Golden Knights’ center, who turned 25 last week, is having a career

year. He has been a huge part of the team’s great start, leading the first-

place Knights with 23 goals and totaling 37 points going into Tuesday’s

game against the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena. Yet he was

snubbed for the NHL All-Star Game when the rosters were announced

last week.

“It’s been unbelievable so far,” Karlsson said. “I’ve always known I had

an offensive upside, but maybe (23) goals is more than I dreamt of this

early in the season.”

Part of that recipe has been the chance to play with two talented

linemates in Jonathan Marchessault and Reilly Smith. Karlsson made the

most of his opportunity after the Knights selected him from the Columbus

Blue Jackets in the expansion draft, working hard in the offseason in

anticipation of an increased workload under coach Gerard Gallant.

“It’s been the best time of my life,” said the Marsta, Sweden native. “Ever

since I got picked by Vegas, I knew it was a fresh start for me, maybe get

the chance I always wanted. So I made sure I put in good work over the

summer to be as prepared as possible to be able to be one of the top

guys.

CAROLINA HURRICANES


“I started off a little slow but I picked it up after a while. Playing with

Marchessault and Smith, we have great chemistry together and just kept

it going.”

The trio has combined for 51 goals, 63 assists and 114 points in 42

games. They have clicked since Gallant put them together in early

November.

“I feel a lot more comfortable,” said Karlsson, who is averaging just over

18 minutes of ice time and has played in all 42 games for the Knights

(29-10-3, 61 points). Last year, he averaged just over 13 minutes and

scored only six goals with the Blue Jackets.

“I’m not afraid to make plays,” he said. “I’m not afraid to make mistakes.

Usually when you have that kind of confidence, that’s when you play

well.”

Asked about Karlsson’s play, general manager George McPhee said,

“‘Delighted’ is probably the right word. We really liked the line and the

chemistry of that line. They’ve helped each other have a really good start.

“Probably the most surprising aspect of his game is he plays as well in

the defensive zone as he does in the offensive zone. He’s reliable and

trustworthy and cares how he performs defensively.”

Karlsson could be up for postseason awards, perhaps the Selke Trophy

for top defensive forward or the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy for most

gentlemanly player.

But the big prize for Karlsson would be a new contract. Karlsson is a

restricted free agent at the end of the season and it’s a virtual certainty

he will be re-signed.

He is making $1 million this season, and after Marchessault recently

signed a six-year, $30 million extension, Karlsson can expect a good

bump in salary and a lengthy term. Marchessault is locked up through

2024 and Smith through 2022.

Neither Karlsson nor McPhee would publicly discuss anything about

negotiations. But Karlsson made it clear he is very happy wearing a

Knights sweater.

“Of course I want to stay,” Karlsson said. “I’m having such a great time in

Vegas; not just on the ice, but off the ice too. I love the city. So why not

play with them for a few more years? That would be great.”

Three storylines

1. Managing defeat. The Knights have done a good job of not letting

losses manifest themselves into long losing streaks. Three has been the

maximum so far. And with the team beginning a four-game road trip

following Saturday’s 3-2 overtime loss to Edmonton, it’s an important

game.

2. Sweep in Smashville? This is the third and final meeting of the regular

season between the Knights and Predators with the Knights having won

the first two games. The Predators haven’t forgotten that.

3. Power Play blues. The Knights were 0 for 6 on the power play vs. the

Oilers and last scored with the man advantage back on Jan. 2 against

Nashville. They are 21st in the NHL in power play percentage.

More Golden Knights: Follow all of our Golden Knights coverage online

at reviewjournal.com/GoldenKnights and @HockeyinVegas on Twitter.

Contact Steve Carp at [email protected] or 702-387-2913.

Follow @stevecarprj on Twitter.



Golden Knights sign Engelland to $1.5 million extension

By Jesse Granger

Published Monday, Jan. 15, 2018 | 1:43 p.m.

Updated 4 hours, 59 minutes ago

The Golden Knights have signed 35-year-old defenseman Deryk

Engelland to a one-year contract extension worth $1.5 million, the team

announced today.

“From the expansion draft to signing one year, that’s your goal going in,

to get an extension. For me to be able to play another year here at home,

that’s a dream come true,” Engelland said.

Engelland is most known for being the only Las Vegas local on the team,

having lived in the valley for more than a decade during the off seasons

prior to playing for the Golden Knights, but he’s quietly had a productive

first half of the season.

He is second on the team in shots blocked with 83 and second among

skaters with 805 minutes on the ice this season.

Primarily a stay-at-home defender, Engelland doesn’t provide much on

the offensive end, with only three goals and 10 assists on the season.

But his 13 points are already only four away from his career high for a

single season.

Engelland’s biggest contributions to the team may come off the ice. As

the Knights’ oldest player, he provides a veteran presence in the locker

room.

"Deryk has been an integral part of our team, on and off the ice, from the

very beginning," Golden Knights general manager George McPhee said.

"We selected him in the expansion draft because we knew he was a

quality player with great character. He’s one of our team leaders and is

enjoying a great season. Deryk has been a longtime Las Vegas resident

and his work in the community is exemplary."

“We’ve got a lot of character in that room — great leaders, great young

guys coming up,” Engelland said. “Every night when we’re playing, we’re

20 men deep and everyone’s going. If someone’s not contributing,

someone’s picking up the slack. It’s a team effort. It’s been fun, and I’m

looking forward to the rest of the season here.”

Despite playing in his ninth NHL season, Engelland is averaging the most

ice time per game of his career with 19:39.

He has shown general manager George McPhee that he still has enough

in the tank to extend him through the 2018-19 season.

“I’m getting a little older now and to be able to stay here at home and

play another year, that’s your whole goal going into the season, and I

couldn’t be more happy,” Engelland said.

LAS VEGAS SUN LOADED: 01.16.2018


Home security: Young Golden Knights duo are entrenched on the roster

now

By Jesse Granger

Monday, Jan. 15, 2018 | 2 a.m.

CAROLINA HURRICANES


Vegas Golden Knights rookie Alex Tuch was walking through a crowd of

people when he received a text message from teammate Shea Theodore

urging him to check his email.

Confused, Tuch logged on to find something he’s waited for his entire

professional career — a housing letter.

“I just kind of fist-pumped right in the middle of a large public era,” Tuch

said. “People were looking at me like, ‘What the heck just happened?’

That’s a big step in your career. When you get that letter, you’re here for

the long run.”

Shea Theodore

• Number: 27

• Position: defenseman

• Height: 6-2

• Weight: 195 lbs.

• Age: 22

• Drafted: First round, 26th overall in 2013 by Anaheim

Alex Tuch

• Number: 89

• Position: right winger

• Height: 6-4

• Weight: 222 lbs.

• Age: 21

• Drafted: First round, 18th overall in 2014 by Minnesota

Teams can move young NHL players on entry-level contracts back and

forth between their major- and minor-league clubs as often as they see

fit. Whether it’s because they aren’t ready for the NHL or the team just

doesn’t have enough roster spots, players often bounce from city to city

repeatedly.

Theodore, for example, was sent from the NHL to the AHL 10 times as a

member of the Anaheim Ducks last season.

When an NHL team calls a player up from the AHL, it puts him in a hotel.

The players stay in hotels until they receive a housing letter, which

essentially tells them they’re settling in as members of the NHL club.

The Golden Knights stationed Tuch and Theodore at Red Rock Resort,

across from the team’s practice facility, early in the season. They enjoyed

staying together at Red Rock so much that they decided to rent a house

together.

“We clicked right away,” Tuch said. “It’s been really fun and easy. We are

both pretty laid-back and like to have a good time. We mesh well

together.”

Sharing the house comes with monetary benefits as well.

“We are both trying to save some money. We aren’t making millions of

dollars a year like James Neal over here,” Tuch said, laughing as he

looked down a few stalls in the locker room. “It’s just a really good

situation.”

The two aren’t making minimum wage, either. Tuch makes $925,000 per

year and Theodore $863,333, but it’s a far cry from the NHL maximum

contract of $7.8 million.

Living out of Red Rock Resort helped the pair with their expenses, and

also came with other benefits.

“The permanent smell of smoke isn’t great when you’re walking around,

but there are lots of places to eat, there’s a movie theater and things like

that,” Theodore said. “It’s good to have options like that, especially to eat,

and the rooms are nice too.”

But the two are decidedly in favor of their newfound job security, and

living in a house they can call their own.

“It was nice having room service and getting your bed made every day

and stuff, but getting to sit on your own couch and lay on your own bed,

having video games at your disposal is so much better,” Tuch said.

As professional athletes with a strict eating regimen, being able to cook

their own meals is a major plus.

“(Theodore) doesn’t cook,” Tuch joked. “Don’t listen to him. I’m the cook.

He makes bowls of cereal.

“No, seriously, if we don’t eat a pregame meal (at the practice facility), I’ll

make some pasta and a whole dinner. He’s more of a griller. He likes

doing the grill, and I trust him on that.”

The housing letter has allowed Tuch and Theodore to live more of a

normal existence. They’ve been able to have their families in town

together at Christmas, for example.

They said the stability has helped their contributions to the Golden

Knights.

“It allows you to kind of ease in and get comfortable on the ice,” Tuch

said. “They wanted me up here not only because they think I’m good

enough, but they want this coaching staff to help develop me, and

they’ve done a great job so far, I think. I’m learning a lot every day and

trying to get pieces here and there. I think that’s one of the reasons I got

that housing letter is they trust in the process and the coaching staff.”

Theodore said he can play more freely now, without the worry that a

mistake could land him back in the AHL.

“This has probably been the easiest year, stress-wise, because I got

called up and got my housing letter right away,” Theodore said. “The past

couple years, when I was with Anaheim, I never had that. I never had

that certainty of having a home outside of a hotel.”

Going into the Jan. 13 game, Tuch was tied for seventh on the team in

points with nine goals and 12 assists; Theodore is third among

defensemen with four goals and nine assists, and both are major

contributors on the power play.

As a whole, the Golden Knights have bonded quickly. The players, most

of whom had never played together, already feel like a tight-knit unit, but

no teammates are closer than Tuch and Theodore. And with Tuch only

21 years old and Theodore 22, the two appear to be important building

blocks for the franchise going forward.

“I want to be here for the long run,” Tuch said. “I wouldn’t mind Las

Vegas being my new home for a while.”

LAS VEGAS SUN LOADED: 01.16.2018

1093327 Pittsburgh Penguins

Just tuning in? Fans switching to Penguins will like what they see

Jonathan Bombulie

With the season coming to an inglorious end at Heinz Field on Sunday

and the Gerrit Cole trade seemingly signaling the start of another sell-off

of top stars at PNC Park, it's safe to assume the sporting public in

Western Pennsylvania will soon be turning its attention to PPG Paints

Arena.

If fans had fixed their gaze on the Penguins three weeks ago, they

wouldn't have liked what they saw.

CAROLINA HURRICANES


The two-time defending Stanley Cup champs looked beaten down

coming off a pair of long postseason runs. Superstar scorers were

struggling through slumps. The team was barely hanging around on the

fringes of the Eastern Conference playoff picture and the general

manager was talking about making a trade or two just to shake things up.

If fans take a look at the Penguins now, however, the picture is much,

much prettier.

The team has won its last four games, using an up-tempo, high-pace

style to pressure opponents into submission. Sidney Crosby, Evgeni

Malkin and Phil Kessel are piling up points at a breakneck pace. A run

toward the top of the Metropolitan Division seems much more probable

than a free fall to the bottom.

General Manager Jim Rutherford is still likely to make a deal or two

before the Feb. 26 trade deadline, especially to add a third-line center,

but the moves won't be meant to shock the system of a struggling team.

They'll be meant to bolster a group ready for a run at a three-peat.

Here are four reasons why the Penguins have won their last four games.

1. Star burst

Crosby and Malkin were perfectly OK in the first half of the season, but

the last four games have shown why they're not just good, they're

generationally great. Crosby has 10 points during the span. Malkin has

five goals.

Add in the performance of Kessel, who has been scoring consistently

throughout the team's struggles, and the stars are leading the way.

"It's leading by example," goalie Tristan Jarry said. "With all us younger

guys, it really helps. It makes us push ourselves even more."

2. Special order

The Penguins didn't fall off a cliff during a subpar first half of the season

largely because their special teams were still pretty good. Lately, they've

been great.

The penalty kill has allowed a grand total of one power-play goal on 25

tries over the last nine games.

The power play leads the league with a 26.5 success rate, better than the

franchise record of 25.9 percent set in 1995-96.

"All year it's been like that," Kris Letang said. "We've been confident our

power play could get big goals for us and keep us in games."

3. New-look defense

Rutherford's December trade for 6-foot-7 Jamie Oleksiak from Dallas has

been a nice pick-up, but a return to form for Letang has been an even

more welcome development for the Penguins.

Ranking last in the league in plus-minus rating at times in the first half of

the season, Letang struggled coming off April neck surgery. In the last

eight games, the Penguins have held a 186-108 advantage in even-

strength shot attempts while Letang has been on the ice. That's an

indication he's back to driving play in a big way.

"We have all the pieces here," Oleksiak said. "Top to bottom in the

lineup, everyone's kind of contributing. We're playing confidently right

now."

4. Showing some style

The most striking change in the Penguins over the last four games has

been their style of play.

Rather than looking for every opportunity to retreat to the net and block

shots, their defensemen are aggressively playing on their toes. Rather

than collapsing around the cage to aid the defense, wingers are flying

into the neutral zone with speed.

Breakaways and odd-man rushes have come in bunches.

"When you play the game the right way and you defend hard and you

defend as a group, usually you create a turnover or a loose puck that

gives you an opportunity to jump the other way in transition," coach Mike

Sullivan said. "That's always been one of the strengths of our team."

Tribune Review LOADED: 01.16.2018


No snub this time: Penguins' Phil Kessel earns NHL weekly honor

JONATHAN BOMBULIE | Monday, Jan. 15, 2018, 12:15 p.m.

Phil Kessel's not an all-star, but he is one of the NHL's three stars of the

week.

Recording two goals and five points in two Penguins victories over the

weekend, Kessel earned third star honors as the league handed out its

weekly awards Monday. He netted the game-winning goal in both games.

Kessel's goal in the second period of Sunday's 5-2 win over the Rangers

gave him 20 goals in a season for the 10th consecutive year. He's only

the third American-born player to accomplish the feat, joining Keith

Tkachuk and Patrick Kane.

Calgary's Johnny Gaudreau was the first star after recording two goals

and eight points in four games. Flames goalie Mike Smith went 3-0-0 to

take second-star honors.

Kessel, who leads the Penguins with 52 points in 47 games, was left off

the Metropolitan Division roster when teams for the NHL All-Star Game

were announced last week. Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang will represent

the Penguins instead.



Ex-Penguin Kevin Stevens opens up about addiction struggle

RENATTA SIGNORINI | Monday, Jan. 15, 2018, 8:54 a.m.

Former Penguins winger Kevin Stevens is back with the franchise after

serving as a scout from 2005-12.

Former Pittsburgh Penguins star Kevin Stevens' two-decade battle with

addiction is the subject of a 22-minute documentary and article from

Sportsnet of Canada.

Stevens, 52, opened up about his drug use in a video that includes

interviews from friends, family and several former teammates, including

Rick Tocchet, head coach of the Arizona Coyotes, and Mario Lemieux,

who co-owns the Penguins.

The video includes clips of Stevens getting injured in a 1993 playoff

game against the N.Y. Islanders and news accounts of his arrest on drug

possession charges.

After that injury, Stevens was prescribed painkillers. He later descended

into addiction and he spent millions of dollars on drugs, according to his

interview.

CAROLINA HURRICANES


"Addiction just takes and takes and takes," Stevens said. "It gives you a

lot of shame, a lot of guilt. When I'm in that addiction part of it, it's really,

really hard to get out of it."

A proud family man and a two-time #StanleyCup champion, Kevin

Stevens had it all, until an injury rocketed him into a life of drugs and

arrests.Now, with the help of family and friends, Stevens is rebuilding his

life piece by piece.Extended feature: https://t.co/Z5b6wAxqD2

pic.twitter.com/7OjvN059rw

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) January 14, 2018

Stevens played at Boston College. He won Stanley Cups with the

Penguins in 1991 and 1992.

He was sentenced in December 2016 to three years' probation and fined

$10,000 for conspiring to sell oxycodone.

In June, Stevens helped Penguin coaches at development camp in

Cranberry.

ICYMI, here's the latest #BigRead from @RobsonDan : Inside Kevin

Stevens's 25-year fight with addiction. https://t.co/SpW94tUKAh

pic.twitter.com/T9m0ynSrJ2

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) January 14, 2018

Renatta Signorini is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach her at 724-837-

5374, [email protected] or via Twitter @byrenatta.



Sidney Crosby always skates with young players on his line. Here's why.

JASON MACKEY

The search for someone to play with Sidney Crosby was not short.

Perhaps the Penguins were simply fishing in the wrong part of the lake.

Since moving past players such as Marian Hossa or Zach Parise, only

one of whom the Penguins actually landed, the age of Crosby’s wingers

has skewed much younger, with Conor Sheary, Jake Guentzel, Bryan

Rust, Daniel Sprong and Dominik Simon between 20-25 years old.

We’ve seen it over and over pretty much since Mike Sullivan became the

Penguins’ coach in December 2015. Sullivan has never been shy about

trying Crosby with some of the youngest players on his roster, and the

results have been really good.

“In my tenure here, we’ve used a lot of young players with Sid, and

they’ve thrived,” Sullivan said.

Here’s some of what Sullivan means:

• Conor Sheary scored 23 goals in 61 regular-season games in 2016-17

while primarily playing with Crosby and Patric Hornqvist or the more

popular line of Sid and the Kids. It undoubtedly helped Sheary earn a

three-year, $3 million contract over the summer.

• Jake Guentzel scored 23 goals and produced 40 points from Feb. 28 of

last season and through the playoffs, where he led all scorers with 13

goals. It established Guentzel as an elite scorer and Crosby’s most

regular sidekick to date, even though he’s currently filling in at third-line

center.

• Sprong and Simon have recently been promoted from the AHL. Since

they have been put together as Sid and the Kids 2.0 on Jan. 5 in

Brooklyn, Crosby has responded in a big way, with three goals and 11

points in four games. Sprong has two goals, and Simon picked up his

first NHL tally Sunday.

Why has it worked so well?

“All of these guys are good players,” Sullivan said. “They all have good

offensive instincts. I think Sid is a great teacher himself. I think he

relishes the role of mentoring these guys and kind of taking them under

his wing. He does a great job at it.

“I think Sid has the ability, when he’s playing an inspired game as of late,

to elevate anybody’s game, whoever plays with him. These kids, they

look up to him. They’ll go through a wall for him. They want to help him.

They want to have success. They understand the privilege it is to play

with a guy like that.

“When you get that dynamic, it certainly can be something that serves

our team well.”

The process of playing with a marquee player is nothing new for Simon.

He played next to, and clicked with, Jaromir Jagr during the 2015 World

Championships, while suiting up for his native Czech Republic.

One of the things that jumped out to Simon about playing with Crosby

was how easy he made things for his linemates.

Whether it was communication, supporting the puck or generally keeping

a positive attitude, how Crosby conducts himself has actually made it

very easy.

“He’s an unbelievable player,” Simon said. “He’s always there to support

you if something goes wrong. It feels better and better every game. I’m

just trying to do my best.”

There’s another thing at play here that’s bigger than any one player.

We’re talking about five forwards whom the Penguins either drafted or

signed as free agents out of college.

Simon was a fifth-round choice in 2015; Rust (2010) and Guentzel (2013)

were third-round picks; and Sprong was taken in the second round in

2015. Sheary went undrafted before the Penguins gave him a shot on an

amateur tryout in 2014.

What that means is that the Penguins have created a culture where

young players can develop, enhance their skills, then are given a real

path to the NHL. Not only that, they’re given an opportunity to nail down

meaningful minutes.

“When you see guys coming up from Wilkes-Barre and winning Stanley

Cups, it’s motivating,” Simon said. “You want to be one of them.”

It’s motivating for Crosby in a way, too.

He likes to occasionally make self-deprecating remarks about his age —

“I’m not getting any faster,” was one he threw out there about playing

with these kids — but there is perhaps a kernel of truth here.

Younger players tend to be fast and play with a sense of urgency. Crosby

likes that. He also likes how eager they are to learn and how willing they

are to adapt their game.

“They’re the ones coming in with the hunger and the willingness to learn,”

Crosby said. “They’re put in some important situations right away. They

take advantage of it. They’re enthusiastic and excited to be here. We can

all feed off of that.”

The Penguins can, and they have.

Whether it’s been these five with Crosby or Rust with Evgeni Malkin or

Tom Kuhnhackl on the fourth line or even Scott Wilson or Josh Archibald

before they were traded, Sullivan has zero resistance to giving young,

hungry players big opportunities.

Knowing how his core players will handle it has been a reason why. The

same goes for how those guys contribute in a hockey sense.

CAROLINA HURRICANES


“They’re players that play the style of play or able to play the style or the

type of game that we’re trying to play with our group,” Sullivan said.

“Because of that, they tend to be complementary to some of our core

players. Since I’ve been the coach, we’ve moved those guys in and

around our core players based on who’s playing well at a given time.

“That’s something that I’ve done since I’ve been the coach here and

probably will continue to do as long as we get an influx of youth like we

have over the last couple years.”

Post Gazette LOADED: 01.16.2018


Phil Kessel honored as NHL's 'Third Star of the Week'

JASON MACKEY

It wasn’t the honor everyone expected, or the one Phil Kessel deserved,

but the Penguins’ leading scorer was recognized as the NHL’s “Third

Star of the Week” on Monday for what he did in a pair of wins.

Kessel scored two goals and produced five points, as the Penguins beat

the Red Wings and Rangers to stretch their winning streak to four

games, tying a season long. Both of Kessel’s goals were game-winners.

This marks the second consecutive week that a Penguins player has

been named “Third Star of the Week.” It happened to Sidney Crosby last

Monday.

Kessel leads the Penguins in goals (20), assists (32) and points (52). He

reached the 700-point mark Sunday, becoming the 27th American-born

player to do so. He also hit 20 goals for the 10th consecutive season.

Among American-born players, only Keith Tkachuk and Patrick Kane

have done that.

Kessel, who somehow will not attend the NHL All-Star Game late this

month in Tampa, Fla., ranks seventh in the NHL in scoring.

Post Gazette LOADED: 01.16.2018

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The Athletic / LeBrun: Derek Roy's Olympic dream finally comes true

By Pierre LeBrun 19 hours ago

More than eight years after having his Olympic hopes seemingly crushed

forever, Derek Roy is proof that one should never give up on one’s

dreams.

Roy was invited to Team Canada’s orientation camp back in August 2009

after two big offensive seasons in Buffalo. Among an impressive who’s

who of NHLers, there was Roy, 26 at the time, in his prime, and deep

down knowing it was probably his best and only shot at ever making it to

the Olympics.

He was a darkhorse candidate. Some were surprised he was invited to

the camp, but Steve Yzerman — GM of Canada’s gold medal Olympic

squads in 2010 and 2014 — said via text message Sunday he

remembers how well Roy played in the 2008 and 2009 world

championships.

On an Olympic team that would include the likes of Sidney Crosby, Ryan

Getzlaf, Joe Thornton, Jonathan Toews, Patrice Bergeron and Mike

Richards as natural centres, Roy didn’t make it although he certainly was

on the radar.

“It was disappointing around Christmas time when I didn’t get the call,”

Roy told The Athletic. “It was tough. But life goes on. And here I am

today with the chance.

“I’m super excited to have this chance to play for my country.’’

The NHL’s decision to back out after five Olympics, while utterly

disappointing, has indeed opened the door for some wonderful stories for

the PyeongChang Games, and Roy is one of them.

The native of Rockland, Ont., finally gets his Olympic shot at 34, his

strong season with Linkoping in Sweden earning him the call from

Hockey Canada last week.

“He is going to be a go-to guy for us,’’ Team Canada GM Sean Burke

said Sunday. “And he brings leadership.’’

The first people Roy told after getting the cherished call? Easy.

“My parents, obviously,” Roy said. “They were a big part of me growing

up playing hockey. They had three boys growing up playing hockey and

sacrificed their time and energy and money to get us to the rink.’’

Playing for the Olympic team is the final international checkmark on

Roy’s résumé, having played in the world under-18, the world juniors and

two worlds championships.

“I’ve played almost every level for Canada you can possibly play at,” said

Roy, who also played for Team Ontario in the world under-17. “So this is

a great opportunity now to have played in pretty much every event. It’s

awesome.’’

His NHL exit to Europe was bittersweet but ends up fulfilling his Olympic

dream. He’s in Sweden this year after a year in the KHL and a year in

Switzerland the year before that.

Injuries slowed down his NHL career although, in his last season on this

side of the ocean, 2014-15, he did put up 22 points (11-11) in 46 games

with the Edmonton Oilers.

“We liked him,” said Craig MacTavish, who was Oilers GM at the time.

“He played well for us. I remember he found some chemistry with (Nail)

Yakupov. We actually talked to them about re-signing him. But it didn't

work out. He's a smart player though.’’

Europe beckoned after failing to catch on with Washington in September

2015 after going to camp on a PTO. A Capitals source said last week

that Roy played well in camp but in the end they didn’t have a spot for

him, and there were concerns over his foot speed.

After more than 700 games over 11 NHL seasons, Roy was Europe-

bound.

“Yeah, it was really tough,” Roy said of his NHL exit. “I had a good

second half of the season in Edmonton after I got traded from Nashville. I

thought I was going to re-sign in Edmonton.’’

As Roy recounts with a chuckle, the Oilers won the lottery that summer

and got franchise centre Connor McDavid and they were pretty set down

the middle.

“It was a tough summer. I went to Washington’s camp and got first star

the first (pre-season) game and I thought after that it was looking pretty

good,” Roy said. “It was just one of those numbers things. It was tough to

swallow. But I went to Bern and ended up winning a championship there.

And won a Spengler Cup with Canada. It was just one of those things

where life moves on; I’ve had the chance to see other countries and learn

about different cultures. It’s been a fun few years. And with this now to

top it all off, it’s been great.’’

Roy got engaged last summer to longtime girlfriend Nancy and she’s

been by his side during his three seasons overseas.

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“It’s great to have the support of a loved one when you’re going from

country to country to country playing,” he said. “You can’t make it

yourself, you need help from your parents, your family, your friends, your

loved ones.’’

You wonder if perhaps a big Olympics for Roy might get him noticed

back home but he says that’s not on his mind.

“I’m just focused on trying to help my country win a gold medal,” said

Roy, who won silver at the 2003 world juniors and silver again at the

2008 and 2009 worlds. “It’s not about trying to get as many points as you

can so that somebody recognizes you back in North America. It’s putting

on the jersey and representing your country and doing every you can to

help that team win. If people notice me, they notice me, but I’m focused

on helping Canada winning gold.’’

Having played the last three years overseas, Roy has a good grasp of

the player field at the Olympic tournament.

“I know a lot of the players and know some of the tendencies,” Roy said.

“Obviously, there’s the ice surface. You got to play the game a little

different compared to back in North America. That’s one thing I have a

little advantage of having been over here for three years. I know a lot of

the players and that should help me.’’

There was such a fuss made before the Sochi Olympics about Canada’s

adjustment to the larger international ice surface, head coach Mike

Babcock even brought in Ralph Krueger to help with that, but that’s one

thing Team Canada doesn’t have to worry about this time around. Given

that most of its roster is made up of players playing overseas, the big ice

is a daily reality.

“No, it shouldn’t be a factor,’’ Roy said. “But one thing we got to do when

we get to Latvia (for training camp next month) is get ready to get some

chemistry right away: power play, penalty kill, five-on-five, all the little

details that are going to help win hockey games. Because we know every

game is going to be really tight. So have to make sure we’re better at the

little things than everybody else.’’

Well, and, shake hands for the first time with some teammates.

“I haven’t even met some of the players on the team yet,’’ chuckled Roy.

“But whenever you get Canadian hockey players in a room and on the

ice, it’s easy to get along and it’s easy to find that work ethic, it’s easy

chemistry. We won’t have a problem with that.’’

You can sense the excitement over the phone line in Roy’s voice. The

Olympics beckon.

He would have never imagined it back in 2009.

“Just never give up on your dreams, right?’’ Roy said. “You never know

what can happen.’

The Athletic LOADED: 01.16.2018

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The Athletic / Oliver Bjorkstrand drawing meager minutes, even though

Blue Jackets are starved for goals

By Aaron Portzline 17 hours ago

It's easy to peg the Blue Jackets' sharp decline in goal scoring this

season on the long-term injury absences of Cam Atkinson and Brandon

Dubinsky. But that ignores the fact that scoring goals was a problem

even when Atkinson and Dubinsky were healthy.

Only the Pittsburgh Penguins (-0.55 per game) have endured a sharper

decline in goal scoring since last season than the Blue Jackets (-0.42 per

game).

Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella has shown patience (Tortorella?

Patience?) with some of his struggling forwards, continuing to play

Alexander Wennberg (four goals), Boone Jenner (four) and Nick Foligno

(nine) in top roles despite their struggles.

Then again, Tortorella has no choice but to keep sending those veterans

over the boards, hoping they rediscover their offensive touch soon, right?

Or is there another option on the roster?

It might come as a surprise to many that right winger Oliver Bjorkstrand

(8-18-26) is the Blue Jackets' second-highest point producer among

forwards so far this season, trailing only left winger Artemi Panarin.

Not Pierre-Luc Dubois. Not Josh Anderson. And not one of the struggling

veterans, Atkinson, Foligno or Jenner.

But you may also be surprised that Bjorkstrand is 10th among forwards

— and 16th overall — in ice time, drawing just 14:05 per game.

That's exactly the amount of ice time he averaged last season, when the

Blue Jackets were roaring along and Bjorkstrand was no more than a

second- or third-tier scoring option.

“Any player — especially when you feel like you have offensive ability —

wants to play as much as they can,” Bjorkstrand said. “For me, I probably

still have stuff I need to prove to them, being more consistent in different

areas of the game.”

Bjorkstrand turned a little sheepish when the obvious follow-up question

was asked: Which areas?

“Maybe you need to ask Torts that question,” he smiled. “It's hard for me

to say, and I don't want to say anything stupid. It's probably just being

more noticeable.”

Tortorella, like any coach, doesn't dole out ice time based merely on

point production. But on a goal-starved club like the Blue Jackets, it

defies logic that Bjorkstrand plays so little.

Asked why it's been so hard for him to find Bjorkstrand playing time,

Tortorella at first provided a one-word answer.

“Checking,” he said.

Then …

“Around the puck … it's very similar, but not to the extreme of Sonny

(Milano), just understanding the battle level.”

Tortorella's issues with Milano have been well chronicled. For the longest

time, he didn't trust Milano with or without the puck. He trusts him to

make better decisions with the puck now, but his play away from the

puck can still be a carnival ride.

Bjorkstrand, 22, plays a more cerebral game. He's positionally sound and

makes good decisions with the puck, especially at the end of long shifts

when a scoring chance isn't in the offing.

But Bjorkstrand is a light player — 6 foot, 177 pounds — and he doesn't

always throw his body around and scratch and claw to retrieve pucks. As

he said, he isn't always “noticeable.”

Tortorella said before Friday's 5-2 loss to Vancouver that he was moving

Bjorkstrand up in the lineup and hoping to give him more ice time.

Bjorkstrand joined left winger Jenner and center Wennberg on the

second line, pushing captain Foligno down to the third line.

But Bjorkstrand still drew only 15:17, seventh among forwards, in a game

the Blue Jackets trailed for the final 35 minutes of play.

CAROLINA HURRICANES


“When you're trying to get guys in offensive positions, it's always that

play away from the puck, the battle level,” Tortorella said. “(Bjorkstrand)

has been a little inconsistent of late here.

“He scored a couple of goals in that one game (Jan. 2 in Dallas), but it

kind of goes up and down with him right now. I want to try to help him.

There's a number of guys who are going to be very important in the

second half. He's one of them.”

Only two players in the NHL have as many points as Bjorkstrand and

average less ice time: Colorado's Alexander Kerfoot (29 points, 13:38)

and Winnipeg's Mathieu Perreault (26 points, 13:38).

Winnipeg is fourth in the league in scoring (3.30), and Colorado is fifth

(3.29), meaning Perreault and Kerfoot, respectively, are second- and

third-tier scoring options, like Bjorkstrand was in Columbus last season.

The Blue Jackets, meanwhile, are 28th in the league in scoring (2.59),

having scored just six even-strength goals over the last seven games.

While some players have no problem walking from the dressing room

down to Tortorella's office to ask for more playing time, Bjorkstrand said

he hasn't taken his wishes further than assistant coach Brad Larsen.

“He doesn't say shit,” Tortorella said. “He's just a really quiet guy.”

Bjorkstrand said he pours his frustration into doing more video work,

looking for ways he can improve … ways he can build more trust with

Tortorella.

“I try to video with Lars, kind of clear my head and get myself ready for

the next game,” Bjorkstrand said. “Even though it's things I might know

already, it's good to get that kind of feedback, to hear it from coaches. It

clears your mind and gets you ready for the next game.

“I'm a player. I'm competitive. I want to help the team win. I want to be a

part of that, scoring goals. I'd definitely like to play more. I have to find a

way to show the coaches that they need to put me out there. That's on

me to prove it to them.”

— Reported from Columbus


1093370 Websites

The Athletic / Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli has questions to answer after bye

week meetings

By Allan Mitchell 9 hours ago

The Edmonton Oilers are off this week, a welcome respite from the rigors

of a long season. Ownership and management have no such luxury, as

there is much disappointment in the land, a great deal of unrest and the

demand for answers up and down the line. As the organization must

have had similar meetings leading into last summer — meetings that

didn't bear fruit — I thought it might be an idea to chime in with some

agenda ideas and questions for the group. Here we go:

Can anyone tell me what balance means?

For every season of this century, the Oilers have left the station out of

balance. Even in the SCF season of 2005-06, the goaltending was

woeful until the deadline and Dwayne Roloson's acquisition. The old-

timey tradition of letting things mesh and work out through Christmas is

gone and NHL teams (even the expansion ones) look to hit the ground

running.

Now would be a good time to make a list of problems — second-pairing

right defence, scoring right-wingers, penalty killers — that keep the

current roster from being balanced. There could be a solution at the

deadline, but based on this past summer's decisions, it's probably a good

idea to make sure the problems are known and part of a 'to do' list.

How many auditions is too many?

At the beginning of the year, the Oilers had several newcomers

auditioning for jobs and some youngsters looking to move up the depth

chart:

Laurent Brossoit looked to grab the backup goaltending job.

Matt Benning (and then Darnell Nurse) looking to make up for the loss of

Andrej Sekera through the season's early months.

Kailer Yamamoto trying to make things happen three months after his

draft day on the No. 2 line, then No. 1 line with Connor McDavid.

Ryan Strome trying to drive his own line without a substantial offensive

winger (opening night saw him play with Jussi Jokinen and Drake

Caggiula).

Jujhar Khaira getting a full shot as an NHL regular on a line with Mark

Letestu and Zack Kassian.

One or two of those, even three, would be fine. However, five full

auditions before the injuries hit? I think it's reasonable to ask if that's too

many. I would note that Anton Slepyshev was hurt but he would have

been pushing for a role, too. How many is too many? I think that's a

dandy question to have answered by training camp in the fall.

What did the general manager know and when did he know it?

In the days leading up to the season opener, coach Todd McLellan was

trying to find lines that rhymed. Late in the pre-season, he began running

Leon Draisaitl on right wing with Connor McDavid, a clear sign

youngsters Jesse Puljujarvi and Kailer Yamamoto hadn't shown enough

for the coach to justify playing either man (initially) with McDavid.

It would be interesting to know if the Oilers contemplated a move to add

a more veteran piece on right wing at that time. General manager Peter

Chiarelli would have known Jesse Puljujarvi was heading to the farm and

that Slepyshev was going to be a little late getting into the lineup (he

played a rehab game in Bakersfield on Oct. 6). Was a trade

contemplated? A trade for some right wing help at that time might have

made a substantial difference to this season. If a trade wasn't

contemplated, why not? Was there a lack of urgency on the part of the

general manager at that time? Did the fine showing of Yamamoto

compared to the other youngsters suggest there needed to be some

cover for all involved? The general manager would have been justified in

making a late pre-season move in this instance.

Is there such a thing as being too stubborn?

This year's Oilers have had difficulty adjusting, the penalty kill being the

most obvious example. Fans often point to the assistant coaches but at

some level responsibility goes all the way to the top. Why did the penalty

kill issue remain one so deep into the season? I don't know if it's

coaching or personnel but the ideas and the fix took a very long time to

develop.

Why is Anton Slepyshev being shopped?

If the Oilers continue to fade in the standings, there will be 30-plus

games in which the club can use to see if some of the younger players

are able to step up. Edmonton has very few wingers worthy of regular

time, so the news that Slepyshev is being shopped runs counter with the

auditions to come.

I can buy the idea that the organization has made their decision on him,

but that should mean some additional talent coming in before the

deadline. Slepyshev out, another young winger in? That makes sense to

me.

The no-movement contracts

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Edmonton currently has four men who own contracts with no-movement

clauses. Milan Lucic, Andrej Sekera, Kris Russell and Cam Talbot all

have no-movement clauses, and those four deals represent almost $20

million in cap. Added to Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, 2018-19

has $40 million in cap tied up in six players. Is that a good idea? Was

there concern about getting boxed in before the Russell signing? If not,

why not? Are there efforts being made to see if the team can get out from

under one of these deals?

Does the owner have confidence in the general manager?

I saved this one for last, although it probably belongs at the top. It's a

meeting that likely takes place between Daryl Katz and Bob Nicholson,

and maybe it's a meeting that takes place at the end of the season. For

the owner, there's tremendous risk here, as the efforts to build around

Connor McDavid appear to be faltering in some very important areas.

Can the Oilers afford to trade Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, or Oscar Klefbom,

in exchange for another piece that fits the vision of current management?

Does that vision represent a superior path to that of, say the Vegas

Golden Knights and its all-speed team? Are the evaluation methods of

current management similar to industry best practices? Is attention paid

to analytics and is management gathering the right information? If

management is gathering the correct information, why have so many

bets turned sour so soon?

This is often the point where those poor pro scouts get hammered, but as

is the case with the coaching, the responsibility runs all the way to the

top. I think Katz owes it to Oilers fans to find an answer to the following

question: Should he have confidence in Chiarelli? If his answer is no, the

way is clear.


1093371 Websites

Sportsnet.ca / Islanders’ Mathew Barzal, John Tavares too much to

handle for Canadiens

Eric Engels

January 16, 2018, 12:22 AM

MONTREAL — It took the New York Islanders 59:50 to get to 20 shots

on net on Monday, but all John Tavares and Mathew Barzal needed to

lead them to a 5-4 overtime win over the Montreal Canadiens was just a

few good opportunities.

Tavares had an unassisted goal on a short-handed breakaway in the

second period and scored the winner 1:51 into the extra frame.

Meanwhile, Barzal somehow outshone him by scoring a goal and two

assists and displaying a flair for the game that is practically unrivalled in

the world’s best league.

“It’s unbelievable to see a 20-year-old or 21-year-old skate the way he

(Barzal) does with the puck and handle it probably as close as I’ve seen

to [Connor] McDavid in terms of skill and speed,” said Canadiens forward

Paul Byron. “Incredible talent to watch and play against. At the same

time, it was a big challenge for our line to match up against him and

unfortunately we came out on the wrong end of it.”

There’s no doubt about that.

New York’s one-two punch up the middle looked like an impossible

challenge for the Canadiens to overcome, and it proved to be exactly

that—in spite of the fact that they threw more pucks (56) at Islanders

goaltender Thomas Greiss than they had recorded in a regular-season

game in 28 years. With centre Phillip Danault nursing concussion

symptoms from a Zdeno Chara slapshot that struck him in the head on

Saturday, and with centre Andrew Shaw suffering a lower-body injury in

the same game, the Canadiens were reduced to moving Byron and

Jacob de la Rose to the middle from the wing.

“Tough start getting out there and getting a couple of minuses,” Byron

said.

It wasn’t going to be easy playing a position he’d never really been in

over his eight-year NHL career.

The Canadiens were creating havoc in front of Greiss on the second shift

of the game when Barzal took the puck and flew out of the zone. He sent

it up the ice to Anthony Beauvillier, and a perfect shot from the 20-year-

old Quebecer made it 1-0 New York.

There was no catching Barzal five minutes later, when he took off on a

two-on-one break, faked pass from his strong side and ripped a snap

shot over Carey Price’s glove to make it 2-0.

“He’s by far the best skater in the league,” said Canadiens captain Max

Pacioretty. “It’s no question. A lot of guys judge speed goal-line to blue

line or whatever, a straight line. But he’s crossing over the entire game,

winding up, building up speed. Every time we lose the puck in the o-

zone, you turn around for a second and I can just see his hair flapping in

the wind in front of me and I had to get on my horse and get

back…That’s the toughest matchup that I’ve had this year.”

And then there was Tavares, who was kept largely in check by Tomas

Plekanec but buried his two best opportunities of the game.

This is the difference two dynamic centres can make for a team. If there’s

any franchise that knows it, it’s the Canadiens, who have been missing

those pieces of the puzzle for far too long. That they were reduced to

options E and F on Monday was a big factor in why they fell to eight

points back of the Islanders for the second wild-card position in the

Eastern Conference and 11 points back of the Toronto Maple Leafs for

third place in the Atlantic Division.

Jonathan Drouin, who is miscast in the role of No. 1 centre according to

Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin, had one of his best games of the season,

but couldn’t rival what he saw from the Islanders’ two top pivots.

Drouin snapped a 13-game goalless drought in the second period, had

five shots and nine attempts and was dangerous all night.

Byron managed to score a goal to make it 2-2 in the first period.

But the Canadiens could do nothing but watch the game be decided by

two players who are largely responsible for keeping the Islanders in the

race this season. They were a disallowed goal from winning it outright in

regulation, but the right call on an offside challenge made that moot.

Greiss did just enough to make Tavares and Barzal’s contributions count.

It won’t get any easier for the Canadiens this week. They’ll travel to

Boston for a game against the playoff-bound Bruins Wednesday and

then move on to Washington for a game against the Metropolitan

Division-leading Capitals on Friday. Montreal wraps up Saturday with

another game against Boston—this one at the Bell Centre.

Montreal will have Logan Shaw to help fill the void left by Danault and

Andrew Shaw at centre. They picked him up off the Anaheim Ducks

through waivers Monday.

But Logan Shaw has just two goals and six assists through 42 games

this season. He’s got nothing on Tavares or Barzal.

Neither do Drouin and Byron.

Sportsnet.ca LOADED: 01.16.2018

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Sportsnet.ca / The Calgary Flames are deep, talented and worthy of

some hype

Eric Francis

January 15, 2018, 4:35 PM

Early on in Sunday’s seventh win in a row, the Calgary Flames provided

an interesting snapshot that helps explain how this team managed to hit

the midway mark of the season as the NHL’s hottest club.

All three Flames forwards on the ice – Mark Jankowski, Garnet

Hathaway and Andrew Mangiapane – had started the season as a line in

the AHL. On the blue line was another Flames farmhand – Brett Kulak –

who’d played just 30 games over the last three years with the Flames.

As a group, they dominated the shift.

The organization that hasn’t been able to count on AHL call-ups for the

better part of two decades now sits second in the Pacific, thanks to a run

fueled in part by youngsters who weren’t on the roster when the season

began.

That group includes backup goaltender David Rittich who has gone 4-1-1

with a 2.03 GAA and .932 save percentage since being called up from

the Stockton Heat.

The newfound depth of the organization has allowed competent kids to

fill significant holes on a roster that otherwise would have counted far too

much on the Flames’ top-heavy lineup.

It’s with their help the Flames have been able to ice a far more balanced

squad, now capable of guiding them through the inconsistency that

plagued the team early on and throughout the last three seasons.

“They’ve come in and they’ve made a difference,” said GM Brad

Treliving, who deserves the bulk of the credit for following through on his

stated goal of stocking cupboards the organization had left bare for eons.

“That’s all part of the growth here. We’re going to need that to continue,

but the good news is I think we have more coming.”

The seven-game win streak the Flames enter their five-day break on is a

reminder to the rest of the league this team is, in fact, a serious

contender.

The off-season acquisition of Mike Smith finally gave the club the type of

reliable goaltending it hasn’t had since Miikka Kiprusoff’s second-last

year here in 2012. Rittich has done the same, giving the team more

confidence it can spell off the veteran workhorse even more down the

stretch.

The strong, deep, mobile group of defencemen in front of them has

slowly rounded into the form that had some comparing them in the

summer to the brilliance of blue lines in Nashville and Anaheim. Over the

last month they have finally proven to be worthy of such comparisons,

significantly reducing the number of quality scoring chances against as

the season has progressed.

The defencemen have done that while returning to being the type of

offensive threats that have seen Dougie Hamilton score the game-winner

in three of the team’s last five outings. Not bad for a lad dealing with the

departure of brother and roomie Freddie Hamilton via waivers.

Mark Giordano also has three game-winners, including an overtime

thriller against Chicago that got the streak started on New Year’s Eve.

Johnny Gaudreau is off to the best start of his career (54 points in 45

games) as is Sean Monahan, whose 21 goals includes seven game-

winners. Micheal Ferland has found the consistency on their right side to

land him 19 goals and give the Flames one of the most formidable lines

in the league.

“We’re getting scoring throughout but our top players are our top

players,” said Treliving, reminding people success isn’t possible without a

backstop. “To me it starts in net. Our goaltenders have been excellent.

Thing is, everyone’s going to point to the seven games but I saw a lot of

good signs in December when we were getting criticized. Sometimes

results lag behind the process.”

Michael Frolik’s jaw injury disrupted the 3M Line’s chemistry, prompting

the insertion of Troy Brouwer, who has acquitted himself well alongside

Mikael Backlund and Matthew Tkachuk, who continues to grow as one of

the best young players in the NHL. He’s certainly one of the most

impactful.

Illustrating the team’s problems early was the fact the Flames didn’t have

a single goal from their third or fourth line until Game 16 of the season,

which may very well be an NHL record.

Jankowski’s arrival put a merciful end to Sam Bennett’s time up the

middle, opening the door for the duo to impact several games ever since,

regardless of whether Jaromir Jagr or Hathaway completes their group.

The six-year journey Jankowski took from being a first round pick out of

Canadian high school now has him as a full-time NHLer who could score

20 goals despite starting the year in Stockton. He’s also teamed up with

Hathaway to help turn around a penalty kill that was one of the team’s

biggest weaknesses early.

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It’s well-documented Jagr has played his last game with the team as

injuries and his advanced age of 45 have conspired against him making

meaningful contributions moving forward. However, off the ice he’s been

able to help several youngsters, including Gaudreau, who is better

shouldering the pressure Jagr felt as a young star.

The early inconsistency that prompted coach Glen Gulutzan to heave his

Hespeler into the stands during practice at the beginning of their win

streak has given way to a confidence that makes the Flames so

dangerous.

That was on display in Tampa last week when they waxed the class of

the league, 5-1.

Buoying local hopes the Flames can not only make the playoffs but make

some noise this spring is the fact the organization still has extensive

depth on the farm, particularly on the blue line where the post-season’s

war of attrition typically hits hard.

Talents like Rasmus Andersson and Oliver Kylington also provide the

team with the type of assets sellers would be looking for should the

Flames entertain the notion of grabbing a rental player at the trade

deadline. It’s not out of the question for the Flames to consider being in

on talks to nab someone like Mike Hoffman or Max Pacioretty.

Can they catch Vegas atop the Pacific?

It’s possible given the hellacious schedule the Golden Knights have in

the second half. After all, the two have yet to meet, leaving them with four

meetings, including the last game of the year.

The Los Angeles Kings will continue to be a formidable challenger for the

Flames, followed by a long list of threats in the west who will continue to

make it hard for the Flames to pull away and lock up a playoff spot.

Flames fans can only hope the team can enter the playoffs on a similar

hot streak to the one they punctuated their first half with. One of their big

litmus tests will come Saturday when their first game back has the Jets in

town for a rare afternoon tilt on Hockey Day in Canada.

A national audience can then assess just how far the Flames have come,

and just how far they might be able to go.

CAROLINA HURRICANES



1093373 Websites

Sportsnet.ca / Tavares question looms large as Islanders seek

goaltending help

Mark Spector

January 15, 2018, 12:45 PM

It’s difficult to fully convey the gravity of the next couple of months for the

New York Islanders. I know. Sounds dramatic, right?

But think about it for a moment.

If re-signing pending unrestricted free agent John Tavares is absolutely

mandatory for a club heading into its new arena at Belmont Park in a

couple of years, then general manager Garth Snow is officially on the

clock. Because losing Tavares, an established superstar having a career

season, is a franchise-crippler that would have a ripple effect throughout

the Islander roster.

Free agents would take Tavares’ cue and go elsewhere, and internally

the team would be gutted, its leader and premier player walking away

just as the team steps into a modern, real hockey palace, hopefully for

the 2020-21 season. The Islanders have been largely irrelevant for years

now. They’re on the cusp of something good here, but without Tavares, it

will be more of the same for this franchise.

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So it is Snow’s job to build the team that Tavares decides to play the rest

of his career with. So far he’s done a decent job, with an Islanders club

that is sniffing around the playoffs as usual. But now it’s with some very

good young players like Mathew Barzal, Josh Bailey, Anthony Beauvillier

and others.

But here’s the problem: The Islanders have the 29th ranked team save

percentage in the league at .894. As a team, the Isles give up more goals

per game (3.61) than any other in the NHL.

On Monday morning the Islanders found themselves four points out of

third place in the Metropolitan Division, and just one point south of an

Eastern Conference wildcard spot, with two teams to leapfrog. Tavares

has made the playoffs three times in nine seasons as an Islander. Just

once, he made it to Round 2 — two seasons ago — then the team

stepped back and missed the playoffs altogether last season.

Snow’s goaltending isn’t just suspect. It is borderline bad, with the

tandem of Jaroslav Halak and Thomas Greiss both having subpar

seasons behind a thin blue-line that could surely use an injection of

experienced talent.

Of the seven clubs with the lowest save percentages in the NHL, not a

single one is currently in a playoff position. So, armed with extra first- and

second-round draft picks from Calgary in the Travis Hamonic trade,

Snow will have to find a goalie and a Top 4 defenceman if he is to break

the cycle of playoff misses or first-round exits that has defined Tavares’

time with the Islanders.

Tavares and his agent, Pat Brisson, of course, have not publicly laid

down the gauntlet. This summer however, the 27-year-old will sign the

defining contract of his career — either an eight-year deal with the

Islanders or a seven-year pact with another team. So, the pressure

remains on Snow to show Tavares that this dog-paddling franchise is

finally ready to become elite.

The NHL trade deadline is Feb. 26. As this week begins, we count six

definitive sellers on the NHL market: Buffalo, Ottawa, Montreal, Arizona,

Vancouver and Edmonton. For the sake of conversation, let’s add Florida

and Detroit to that conversation, as they’re both about a three-game

losing streak from ‘next year’ country.

So, who can provide the goalie that Snow requires?

There is Robin Lehner in Buffalo, who has somehow fashioned a .910

save percentage behind a loose Sabres lineup. He has played a career

total of two playoff games, five years ago in Ottawa. But Lehner is a

pending RFA, which at least gives Snow flexibility in the aftermath.

Detroit would quite possibly make Jimmy Howard available, with another

year remaining on his deal at $5.29 million. His numbers — .915 and

2.68 — are OK. But is “OK” enough to make the Islanders competitive in

April and May?

Montreal might part with unproven Charlie Lindgren, but he has played

only 11 NHL games. Arizona, Vancouver and Florida can’t help Snow.

Edmonton won’t part with Cam Talbot, and it’s probably not a great time

to invest in Ottawa’s Craig Anderson (.889 save percentage), struggling

at age 36.

Let’s face it: There aren’t 31 legitimate No. 1 goalies in the league, and

the reason why many of the sellers are sellers is because their

goaltending (among others departments) hasn’t been very good. And the

UFA market this July 1? Forget about it.

Snow has wisely armed himself with the requisite draft picks to fix his

goaltending problem at the deadline. Now, he’d better find a goalie worth

spending those picks on, or it could be a sad Canada Day this summer

for the Isles.


1093374 Websites

Sportsnet.ca / Winnipeg Jets Prospect Report: Pipeline of talent shows

promise

Rory Boylen

January 15, 2018, 3:15 PM

When you identify the teams that draft best in the NHL, it always comes

down to how many impact players are added after the first round. While

it’s important to hit on your first pick, teams with sustainable success are

always built on the back-end of the draft.

The Jets aren’t at the level of some of the best-drafting NHL teams yet,

but there is growing potential that their 2015 draft becomes something

special. Their top two picks, Kyle Connor and Jack Roslovic, have

already gotten NHL time, while a couple of their late-rounders are

breaking out as surprise rookie stories in the American Hockey League.

Four of Winnipeg’s top five scorers are under the age of 25 and there is

still a lot of promise on the horizon, from the AHL to the USHL, major

junior and Finland. The Jets have some intriguing prospects at all levels,

which means this season could be just the start of long-term success.

The Next Ones

Join Jeff Marek and Sam Cosentino for all the CHL and NHL prospect

talk you can handle.

REASON FOR OPTIMISM

Mason Appleton, 22, F

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Drafted: Sixth round, 168th overall, 2015

Season to date: 39 GP | 12 G | 23 A | 35 PTS | +14

Appleton has not stopped growing as a player since the Jets used a late-

round pick to take him in the NHL Draft in 2015. He spent two years at

Michigan State, leading his team in scoring as a sophomore, and is now

one of the best surprises in the Winnipeg pipeline. The 22-year-old is tied

with Nick Merkley for second among all AHL rookies with 35 points and

leads all first-year players with 23 assists. Normally a winger, Appleton

was moved to centre on the top line when his regular pivot, Jack

Roslovic, was on a call-up to the Jets.

“When I think about Mason Appleton, I think about his compete level,”

Moose head coach Pascal Vincent recently told the Winnipeg Sun. “I

think about his hockey sense and his ability to adjust his game. He plays

heavy minutes. His ability to win battles, one-on-one, drive the net – he’s

really good at driving the net and finding the open ice.”

AHL, MANITOBA MOOSE

Jack Roslovic, 20, C

Drafted: First round, 25th overall, 2015


Injuries to the NHL team made room for Roslovic to get his first call-up of

the season, though he hasn’t registered a point in four games playing

between eight and 13 minutes per game on the fourth line. The 20-year-

old was sent back to the Moose while the Jets are on their bye week, but

could be recalled at the end of the week. Roslovic has seen a promising

uptick in production for an improved Moose this season and was third in

AHL scoring before his call-up with 35 points in 32 games.

Sami Niku, 21, D

Drafted: Seventh round, 198th overall, 2015


We’ve already mentioned Appleton, who has come on as a potential late-

round find and Niku follows in similar fashion. A seventh-rounder in the

same 2015 draft Appleton was taken in, Niku is third in scoring among all

AHL defencemen in scoring — and he’s a rookie playing in North

America for the first time. The 6-foot blue liner moves the puck and

skates well, just the type of defenceman that fits into the style of today’s

NHL.

Brendan Lemieux, 21, LW

Drafted: Second round, 31st overall, 2014 by Buffalo


The feisty forward is already six points past his total AHL offensive output

from last season and has earned a few NHL looks this season where

he’s fill-in as a sub-10 minute fourth-liner. Lemieux projects as an energy,

depth-line player in the NHL if he makes it full-time, but has to work on

discipline. The 21-year-old has 203 penalty minutes in his last 86 AHL

games and 19 PIMs in eight NHL games this season — it will be key for

him to be able to draw more than he takes.

Eric Comrie, 22, G

Drafted: Second round, 31st overall, 2014 by Buffalo

Season to date: 18 GP | 11-6-1 | 2.71 GAA | .912 SP

Comrie has slowly been developing as a potential future factor in the

Jets’ crease, but that day isn’t here yet as he shares the AHL net with

Michael Hutchinson. Comrie has been a little up and down this season,

but all told has a .912 save percentage, which is an improvement over

the past two seasons.

Tape II Tape

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fun, leaning on a varied group of hockey voices to give their take on the

country’s most beloved game.

Listen Now | Subscribe | Boylen on Twitter | Dixon on Twitter

NCAA

Erik Foley, 20, LW

Drafted: Third round, 78th overall, 2015


The 2015 draft keeps on giving to the Jets, as third-rounder Foley is third

in Hockey East scoring. At 6-feet and 185 pounds, Foley can be an

agitator and plays hard around the net. He has been a significant scorer

at both the NCAA and USHL levels in his career.

Dylan Samberg, 18, D

Drafted: Second round, 43rd overall, 2017

Season to date: 21 GP | 0 G | 5 A | 5 PTS | -1

Though he hasn’t been a big offensive contributor in his freshman

season with the University of Minnesota-Duluth, Samberg had a great

World Junior Championship, scoring four points and fitting in well to a

strong lineup. Samberg is still learning to play against bigger and older

competition in the NCAA, but at 6-foot-3 and 190 pounds, Samberg’s

size is an asset and, as he showed at the WJC, he can play well at both

ends of the ice. More ice time and improved offence will come.

FINLAND

Kristian Vesalainen, 18, F



The 6-foot-3, 207-pounder was expected to pour in the points at the WJC

and hopefully help lead Finland back to a medal — and though his team

didn’t get that far, he did tie for the team lead with six points in five

games. In SM-liiga, Vesalainen has taken a big step forward and is

second in team scoring for HPK Hameenlinna. He had four points in his

first game back from the WJC, a tournament he is still eligible to play in

again next year.

Vesalainen forces a turnover and fires it on net for one of his assists

today. He's got 25 points in 28 games this season and 10 points in his

last 5 Liiga games! #NHLJets pic.twitter.com/3jvEbbxMAQ

— Jets Prospects (@jets_prospects) January 12, 2018

OHL

Logan Stanley, 19, D


Season to date: 40 GP | 12 G | 20 A | 32 PTS | -3

The 6-foot-7 giant will soon pass his career best for scoring as an OHLer,

but wasn’t able to crack Canada’s very deep blue line at the WJC. The

knock on Stanley is his skating and the ability to keep up with the fast

pace of today’s game, but his reach and strength are certainly

advantages. After winning a Memorial Cup with Windsor last season,

Stanley is a big part of this year’s Kitchener Rangers, a top three team in

the Western Conference that could make its own run.

USHL

Mikhail Berdin, 19, G

Drafted: Sixth round, 157th overall, 2016

Season to date: 20 GP | 10-5-1 | 2.76 GAA | .924 SP

CAROLINA HURRICANES


An intriguing goalie prospect for the future, the uncommitted Berdin is top

five in USHL save percentage for the second straight season. After a

good start in the Canada-Russia series, the Ufa native made his

country’s WJC team, but didn’t get any starts.


1093375 Websites

Sportsnet.ca / Down Goes Brown Weekend Wrap: Can Flames make a

run at Pacific crown?

Sean McIndoe

January 15, 2018, 11:03 AM

Every Monday, Sean McIndoe looks back at weekend play in the NHL

and the league’s biggest storylines. You can follow him on Twitter.

Opening faceoff: The Plural Alberta Advantage

It’s been a rough season for the two Alberta teams. The Oilers are

responsible for most of that, as we may have mentioned once or twice.

But while they haven’t been a disaster on anywhere near the same level,

the Flames have at least been a disappointment, the kind of

underachieving team that can give a coach fits. Literally.

So when an opportunity presents itself to go a few paragraphs saying

almost entirely positive things about these two teams, let’s jump on it.

The weekend was a very good one for the province, with each picking up

a pair of road wins as they head into their bye-week break.

For Calgary, the wins continued a recent streak that now stands at seven

games. The weekend visits to Florida and Carolina spelled the end of a

four-game road trip, and make the Flames the hottest team in the league

right now. At this point the Flames would probably rather skip their

mandated bye and just keep playing, but since that’s not an option, they’ll

have to settle for at least temporarily passing the Kings for second place

in the Pacific. That’s probably going to be temporary – the Kings have

two games in hand – but it’s still a pretty stunning achievement given the

Flames were 11 points back of L.A. on Jan. 4.

It’s too early to start worrying about playoff scenarios, so we’ll just say

this: With the Kings fading, the Knights still at least somewhat of a

question mark and the rest of the division looking underwhelming, the

Pacific is looking very winnable right now if a team wanted to hit the gas

in the second half. Right now, the Flames are that team.

The Oilers haven’t been quite as hot, and they’re still well out of the

playoff race. But if the season ends up being the write-off it looks like it

will be, this weekend may stand out as the high point. The Oilers went

into their bye week on a high note, earning road wins in Arizona and Las

Vegas to string together their first win streak since they briefly showed

signs of a turnaround before Christmas.

The weekend didn’t start off well, with the Coyotes scoring twice in the

game’s first few minutes to chase Cam Talbot and take an early 2–0 lead

on Friday. But Al Montoya closed the door the rest of the way and

Edmonton fought back to earn a 4–2 win, with Darnell Nurse getting the

winner in the third period. The Saturday-night game was even more fun,

as the Oilers seemed to figure out a counter to the growing legend of the

Golden Knights’ home-ice advantage: Just have your fans show up and

take over the whole building.

The invasion served as a celebration of Connor McDavid’s 21st birthday,

one that even included a first-period serenade. And the fans were

rewarded with a third-period comeback capped off by an overtime win,

with Nurse playing the hero once again.

It’s not all good news. The Oilers lost Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to injury and

came within inches of losing Milan Lucic, too. Meanwhile, the Flames

were missing Sean Monahan for the first time all season, and captain

Mark Giordano was ejected from last night’s win and could face further

discipline for this hit on Sebastian Aho. But for two teams that have

already handled their share of negativity, we’ll skip over that and let

Alberta’s fans enjoy a productive weekend, and a quick break to gear up

for whatever comes next.

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Road to the Cup

The five teams that look like they’re headed towards Stanley Cup–

favourite status.

5. Winnipeg Jets (26-13-7, +26 true goals differential*): They head into

the break with two straight losses, but still hold first place in the Central.

4. Washington Capitals (28-14-3, +11): A Jay Beagle buzzer beater in

Carolina sent them into their bye on a winning note.

3. Boston Bruins (24-10-7, +29): With at least a point in 12 straight, three

games in hand and a relatively easy schedule coming up, maybe tracking

down the Lightning for top spot in the Atlantic isn’t completely out of the

question after all.

2. Vegas Golden Knights (29-10-3, +29): They have points in 16 of their

last 17. But if the big correction is ever going to come, it will be now;

they’re on the road for 10 of their next 12, including tough matchups in

Nashville, Tampa, Winnipeg and Washington.

1. Tampa Bay Lightning (31-10-3, +49): The news on Victor Hedman isn’t

good, but it’s better than it could have been. The Norris candidate will

miss up to six weeks with a knee injury, but will return in plenty of time for

the playoffs after initial fears that he could be done for the season.

(*Goals scored minus goals allowed, without counting shootouts like the

NHL does for some reason.)

The NHL’s relationship with bye weeks is complicated. The concept was

proposed by the players, and was negotiated into the deal that saw the

league switch to a 3-on-3 format for the all-star game. In theory, it’s a

great idea — the regular season is a six-month grind of injuries and

fatigue, so why not give the players a quick break to recharge for the

stretch run? When players are healthy and rested and at their best,

everyone wins.

Well, almost everyone. Here’s who doesn’t win: Teams coming off their

bye weeks. It quickly became apparent during last season’s initial foray

into the bye-week concept that we’d all underestimated the rust factor.

The numbers were jarring; teams coming off a bye and facing a team that

wasn’t posted a record of 8-14-4. Many of those losses weren’t close,

with plenty of bye teams struggling to so much as score a goal in their

first game back.

That helped kick off a mini-backlash against the concept, with coaches

like John Hynes and Mike Babcock leading the way. And for once, the

league listened, agreeing that the idea hadn’t worked out as hoped. Gary

Bettman told reporters that “if this doesn’t work any better and we still get

the negative feedback that we got then I think we’re going to have to

consider getting rid of it,” a rare case of the commissioner acknowledging

a problem publicly.

And the league took steps to address the issue. As fans have no doubt

noticed, this year’s byes aren’t spread out like they were last year.

Instead, half the league was off last week, with the other half heading out

this week. That gave the league the opportunity to schedule everyone

coming off their bye against an opponent in the same situation, wiping

CAROLINA HURRICANES


out any sort of advantage. But while the schedule does feature nine such

matchups, that still leaves 13 teams to face the dreaded bye-vs.-non-bye

scenario.

Three of those matchups came this weekend, and two involved the Oilers

getting the theoretically easy matchup against a rusty team. Sure

enough, the Oilers won both, beating the Coyotes and Knights. The third

team, the Sharks, pulled off a win, although their defence was shaky and

they needed a last-minute goal to force overtime before Marc-Edouard

Vlasic could win it.

The real test will come this week, as 10 more such matchups play out. In

an interesting twist that will surely be noticed by any schedule conspiracy

theorists, the expansion Golden Knights get to spend the week facing

three different teams coming off their bye. The list of teams facing a

tough post-bye matchup include some that need all the wins they can

get, including the Blackhawks, Hurricanes and Senators. (The Sens, by

the way, are the only Canadian team to find themselves facing such a

matchup.)

We probably shouldn’t see as big a gap as we did last year; several of

the teams who aren’t coming off a bye are just a day or two removed

from it, so their advantage should be reduced. But if we do see another

week of bye-week returnees getting stomped, expect the league to take

action. And that might mean we say bye-bye to the byes.

Road to the lottery

The five teams that look like they’re headed towards watching Rasmus

Dahlin highlights and playing with draft-lottery simulations.

5. Montreal Canadiens (18-20-5, -22): The scariest moment of the

weekend came in Montreal on Saturday, as Canadiens’ forward Phillip

Danault took a Zdeno Chara slapshot to the side of the head. Danault lay

motionless for several minutes before being transported to the hospital,

but early reports are positive and he’s now resting at home.

4. Ottawa Senators (15-18-9, -28): GM Pierre Dorion is apparently

approaching his second-half decisions with patience. He may be the only

one in Ottawa who feels that way.

3. Vancouver Canucks (18-21-6, -25): The Oilers and Flames aren’t the

only Canadian teams heading into the bye after two straight weekend

wins, as the Canucks beat the Jackets and Wild to leapfrog past Ottawa

into 28th place.

2. Buffalo Sabres (11-24-9, -51): With the deadline approaching, talk

around Evander Kane will heat up. Here’s a look at why that deal may

not necessarily be the home run Sabres fans are hoping for.

1. Arizona Coyotes (10-28-7, -54): With their season over, attention is

shifting to the fate of Oliver Ekman-Larsson. They’ve spent years

swearing they wouldn’t trade him, but now it’s starting to feel like a

question of when, not if.

Now that we’re at the mid-way mark of the NHL season, it seems like a

good time to check in on how the power rankings have played out so far.

Have we settled into any sort of consistency, or are things still just as

chaotic as in those early weeks when teams were swapping in and out

based on a handful of games?

The answer depends on where you look. The top few spots of both

rankings has been remarkably consistent virtually all year long. In the top

five, the Blackhawks held onto the No. 1 spot for the first two weeks

thanks to a hot start (that included them demolishing a Penguins team

we all assumed was still good.) But ever since, it’s been all Lightning.

This week marks their 12th-straight appearance in the top spot, and if

anything their hold is getting more secure as the season wears on.

The same is largely true of the bottom-five list. From week two on, it’s

been the Coyotes and Sabres flipping back and forth for worst-team

honours. Again, the gap between those two and the rest of the league

might be getting bigger, although a trade-deadline selloff in Vancouver or

Ottawa could change the dynamic.

But once you get past the top spots on either list, things have been a lot

murkier, with plenty of teams making appearances. Both lists have

featured 14 different teams showing up for at least a week. And three

teams have appeared on both lists — the Oilers, Jets and Golden

Knights. We can chalk that up to the season’s first week, when we had

only a couple of games to go on and were relying mostly on pre-season

expectations. That got the Oilers into the top five, and the Knights and

Jets into the bottom rankings. By week two, all three teams were gone

from the list and starting their journeys towards the other side of the

tracks.

Tape II Tape

Ryan Dixon and Rory Boylen go deep on pucks with a mix of facts and

fun, leaning on a varied group of hockey voices to give their take on the

country’s most beloved game.

So with 14 teams on each list and three pulling double duty, that leaves

us with six teams that haven’t shown up on either. We can call this the

stuck-in-the-middle brigade. The half-dozen teams have taken the

league’s mantra of perpetual parity to heart by never being quite good or

bad enough to be worth singling out.

One of those teams is the red-hot Flames, who’ve spent the season

lurking around the fringe of the playoff race while never looking quite as

good as we all thought they’d be. Three of their fellow Western wild-card

contenders are also in the club, with the Wild, Stars and Ducks managing

to stay off the radar at either extreme.

Out East, the Islanders have had an up-and-down season but haven’t hit

either list yet. And then there’s the Devils, who probably did deserve a

top-five spot at some point early in the season, at least based on the

standings. But we tend to be skeptical of unexpected early results around

these parts, as Golden Knights fans could tell you, so we waited to see

just a little more before the Devils earned their spot. With six straight

losses knocking them perilously close to non-playoff status, it looks like

we were right to be patient.

Will any of those six teams earn a spot somewhere before the season

ends? The Flames might have a shot if they keep rolling over everyone.

The unpredictable Islanders feel like the team most likely to plunge down

to the bottom five, although the way their season has gone your guess is

as good as mine.

But as the season goes on and the standings solidify, there’s a good

chance the power rankings do, too. Being stuck in the middle isn’t a great

place to be in the NHL. Then again, as teams like the Sabres and

Coyotes could tell you, there are worse fates.

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Quick shifts: 10 more notable moments from around the league

• The star of the weekend was Islanders rookie Matthew Barzal, who

racked up five points in a 7–2 blowout win over the Rangers.

It’s the second five-point game of Barzal’s rookie season, a feat that

players like Mario Lemieux, Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid never

pulled off. I think he might be good.

• On Saturday, we mentioned the decline of old-school NHL rivalries.

Apparently the Kings and Ducks missed the memo.

• More fallout from that game: Andrew Cogliano‘s 830-game ironman

streak, the fourth longest in NHL history, will end tonight with a

suspension for his headshot on Adrian Kempe.

• The Jaromir Jagr watch is on hold; the Flames put the legendary winger

on injured reserve, at least temporarily delaying a decision as to his long-

term future with the team.

CAROLINA HURRICANES


• Don’t look now, but the Penguins have won four straight, their stars are

all scoring, they’re back in a playoff spot and are just one point back of

the Devils for third in the Metro.

• Also red hot: The Avalanche, who’ve win six straight to move within two

points of a wild-card spot.

• This was an interesting feature: In a modern era where shots are

getting harder and harder, NHL goaltenders occasionally get a whiff of

actual burning rubber.

• Blue Jackets defenceman Jack Johnson has reportedly asked for a

trade. Now the question is what a Columbus team trying to win right now

will do with him — and whether any other team really wants to pay up to

add him.

In his 11-season NHL career, Jack Johnson has been:

a) a negative 5v5 Corsi player 11 years

b) a negative 5v5 shots player 11 years, and

c) a negative 5v5 goals player 10 years

He does play tougher minutes, but this is not a player who significantly

moves the needle.

— Jonathan Willis (@JonathanWillis) January 13, 2018

• Never let it be said that Wild fans haven’t had much to cheer about this

year.

• Finally, this feature on the long struggle of Kevin Stevens is a tough

read, especially for fans who remember him at his best. But it’s well

worth your time.


1093376 Websites

Sportsnet.ca / When Corner Brook won the Allan Cup with help from

Crosby’s uncle

Gare Joyce

January 15, 2018, 3:33 PM

When the Nova Scotia Oilers broke training camp back in 1985, they had

bad news for Rob Forbes: The AHL club in his hometown of Halifax didn’t

have room for him. All they had to offer was a spot on their roster in

Muskegon in the now-long-gone International Hockey League.

Forbes was a bit of an East Coast legend years before his nephew —

that being Sidney Crosby — was born. Forbes had played virtually all his

hockey Down Home and didn’t like the idea of scuffling along in the pro

game’s low minors. It was then that he got a call — from even further

east. It turned out to be the luckiest break and wildest ride of his hockey

career: The Corner Brook Royals were in the market for an import, some

skill up front, for the 1985–86 season.

“For me it was a pretty easy choice,” Forbes recalls of his decision to

head to Corner Brook, the site of this year’s Scotiabank Hockey Day in

Canada. “The Royals had made it to the Allan Cup finals the season

before, losing out to Thunder Bay at home in seven games. They had a

good team and they really wanted to be the first team from the province

to win the Allan Cup.

“The Newfoundland Senior league was a semi-pro league but I knew it

was a high level of hockey, a lot of players with AHL experience, even

NHL experience. And as an import, I was looked after really well by the

team — some guys were holding down jobs as well as playing.”

Forbes’s first game with the team was one of the most memorable of his

career — and not necessarily for the right reasons.

“My first game with the team was against Stephenville, and in the first

period they had the biggest bench-clearing brawl that I had ever been

involved in,” he says. “It was like something that you’d see in the movies.

I wondered what the heck I had got myself into. A bunch of guys were

thrown out and the benches shortened, but after that it was a pretty high-

energy game, a lot of fun to be involved in, for sure.”

Forbes wasn’t much on brawling — he wound up winning the league’s

award for the most sportsmanlike player. (It probably says something

about the loop that he won the award even though he racked up 54

penalty minutes in 40 games.) Forbes also lit up the league with 53 goals

and 64 assists. Though he showed the way in scoring, Forbes says the

Royals’ key player was Dave Matte, who won both the league’s award as

top goaltender and the Gus Soper Trophy as most valuable player.

“Dave was the best player at any position that I ever played with who

didn’t play in the AHL,” Forbes says.

STEPHEN BRUNT

The Royals played out of Humber Gardens, a small arena where the fans

were up close to the action.

“It was an amazing atmosphere,” Forbes says. “The small ice surface…

fit me perfectly.”

Newfoundland and Labrador Allan Cup Wins

1. Corner Brook Royals, 1986

2. Clarenville Caribous, 2011

3. Grand Falls-Windsor Cataracts, 2017

The Royals had a brutal road to get back to the Allan Cup in 1986 and

almost didn’t get off the Rock, outlasting Stephenville in six games. The

toughest test came in the next round when the Royals packed off to

Ontario for a seven-game series against the Flamboro Mott’s Clamato’s,

champions of the Ontario Hockey Association Senior A league.

“Winning a best-of-seven in the other team’s arena is a pretty tall order

and [the Flamboro team] was loaded — they had guys with NHL

experience like Rocky Saganiuk and Stan Jonathan,” Forbes says. “They

had a team built just like us and there were a couple of real donnybrooks,

lots of fights, but eventually you just have to get down and play hockey.

“We wound up winning in seven games and their GM Don Robertson

said that the Royals were the best senior league he had ever seen.”

In the wake of a couple of wars you might have thought that the Royals

would have been spent after traveling another three times zones west to

take on the Nelson Maple Leafs in B.C. in the Allan Cup final. Instead the

series was, as Forbes says, “an anti-climax”: Corner Brook won in four

straight games.

“When we got home there was a motorcade from the airport and a line-

up on the road for two kilometres,” Forbes says. “I think the party

probably went for three days.”


1093377 Websites

TSN.CA / Kadri: Time for Leafs to be 'more consistent’

By Mark Masters

CAROLINA HURRICANES


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 Monday.

Nazem Kadri insists he didn’t think much about hockey during the recent

bye week.

"We earned those few days off to just relax and hang out and just put

hockey to the side," the Toronto Maple Leafs centre said of the five-day

break.

So, the scoring drought isn't bugging him?

“I’ve been dealing fine with it,” said Kadri, who has just one goal in his

last 16 games. “I try to contribute each and every night and it doesn’t

have to be by scoring. I know, obviously, that’s an incentive for me and

what I like to do, but we have lots of talent in the room. I think we’re able

to hold the fort down in case some guys aren’t scoring, other guys can

pick it up and that’s part of our depth.”

While his personal statistics aren’t a concern, Kadri admits changes need

to be made when it comes to the team’s overall performance. Toronto is

5-7-2 since Dec. 12 with just three regulation victories in that stretch.

“We’d like to string a few wins together and get on a bit of a streak,” Kadri

said. “Now’s the time for us to kind of take it to the next level. Structurally,

we just have to be a little bit more consistent and not have those lapses

where we’re giving up odd-man rushes or having too much time in our D

zone, just try and be more consistent and our talent’s going to win us

games.”

Toronto will play six games in 10 days before the all-star break, with four

on the road.

“Obviously, we need to get focused,” said head coach Mike Babcock.

“Since Christmas we’re .500 (3-3-2) and haven’t been good enough so

we have to find a way to get better. We’ve talked about that and tried to

address some of our needs and we have to get playing.”

Leafs Ice chips: New number, new opportunity for Dermott

Despite the team's recent struggles, Mike Babcock didn't make any major

changes at the team's first post-bye practice. But it does appear like the

defensive rotation will continue with Travis Dermott, paired with Roman

Polak during the workout, likely to draw back in against the Blues.

Dermott, whose number has changed from 3 to 23, did not get a bye

week as he was sent down to the minors during the break.

New number, new opportunity for Dermott

Despite the struggles of late, Babcock didn’t make any significant lineup

changes during Monday’s practice. Although promising young

defenceman Travis Dermott, a scratch in the final pre-bye game, appears

likely to draw in on Tuesday against the St. Louis Blues. Dermott skated

with Roman Polak on Monday while Connor Carrick was with Jake

Gardiner.

Unlike his teammates, Dermott didn’t get a bye week. Instead, the 21-

year-old was sent down to the AHL where he played a couple games

with the Marlies in Charlotte. He admitted to feeling a bit envious about

the warm-weather tales being told in the dressing room.

“It sounded pretty nice,” Dermott noted with a chuckle. “But rainy

Charlotte, North Carolina, wasn’t too bad for me either.”

Dermott said the fact he won’t be dealing with any rust will “hopefully”

give him a bit of an edge.

“I really didn’t want to overthink those (AHL) games. Just went out there

and worked on the things they wanted me to work on and made sure I

was in full flight when I came back up here.”

Dermott, who wore No. 3 (previously worn by Dion Phaneuf) in his first

two career NHL games, was sporting No. 23 at Monday’s practice. He

said he wasn’t sure why the initial assignment was made or why it has

now been changed.

“I don’t think I would come in telling anyone what number I want any time

soon,” the rookie said with a laugh. “It was on my helmet so I’m going

with it.”

Frederik (The Goat) Gauthier was also recalled on Monday after

spending Toronto's bye week with the Marlies.

Babcock wary of overloading Rielly

Morgan Rielly is averaging 22:04 of ice time per game this season, but

has been above that total in each of the last seven outings as Babcock

continues to tinker with his blueline in the wake of the Nikita Zaitsev (foot)

injury.

Rielly played more than 26 minutes in the last game before the bye

against Ottawa and logged over 25 minutes in the previous game against

Columbus. In both those games, Rielly made a glaring mistake late in the

third period – an ill-advised stretch pass against the Blue Jackets and a

poor pinch against the Senators – which led to goals against.

“We need Mo to not only be good offensively, but be a lock-down guy for

us, play against the best people and be a star for us,” said Babcock. “We

need him to make all the right plays at the right times. We got to be

careful about overplaying him here of late just because any time you take

Zaitsev out of the lineup, there’s a lot of minutes there and when guys

play too much sometimes the decisions aren’t as good as they should

be.”

Babcock said there was no specific timeline for Zaitsev’s return. The

Russian has been sidelined since blocking a shot against the Red Wings

in Detroit on Dec. 15. Zaitsev is averaging 22:50 of ice time per game

this season, which led the Leafs at the time of his injury.

Lines at Monday’s practice

Forwards

Hyman-Matthews-Nylander

Marleau-Kadri-Komarov

van Riemsdyk-Bozak-Marner

Martin-Gauthier-Brown

Leivo, Moore

Defencemen

Rielly-Hainsey

Gardiner-Carrick

Dermott-Polak

Borgman

Goalies

Andersen

McElhinney

TSN.CA LOADED: 01.16.2018

1093378 Websites

TSN.CA / Recharged Leafs aim to hit 'the next level’

By Kristen Shilton

CAROLINA HURRICANES


TORONTO – The Toronto Maple Leafs swapped a little R & R for

practice sweaters on Monday afternoon, capping off their bye week break

with a prolonged workout that signalled the team that has been playing

.500 hockey since Christmas is fully back to business.

“You get some time to reflect on the season so far,” said defenceman

Morgan Rielly. “I think [the five-day break] came at a good time; we got

an opportunity to re-energize and we’re ready to go.

“It’s important we come out strong and win some hockey games.”

Toronto (25-17-3) didn’t do much winning in the lead-up to their break,

leaving players with a nagging desire to prove they’re a superior team

than their recent record suggests. The Leafs are 3-3-2 since Christmas,

putting them firmly in what coach Mike Babcock calls the “mud puddle” of

the NHL standings. Toronto is third in the Atlantic Division, three points

behind the Boston Bruins with three more games played, and 10 points

ahead of the fourth-place Detroit Red Wings, who have two games in

hand.

The Leafs play six games in 10 days before the Jan. 27-28 All-Star

Weekend, starting Tuesday with the St. Louis Blues at Air Canada

Centre. By the end of January, the goal is to have banked a few more

wins, and dropped a few lingering bad habits.

“We’d like to string a few wins together and get on a streak. I think now is

the time for us to take it to the next level,” said centre Nazem Kadri.

“Structurally, we just have to be a little more consistent game to game

and not have those lapses where we’re giving up odd-man rushes and

having too much time in our D-zone. I think just being more consistent (is

key); our talent is going to win us games.”

As the Leafs navigate a busy second half of their season, management

opted to take one of the franchise’s guiding principles and put it right on

the dressing room wall. Replacing the previous “Play Fast. Play Right”

slogan that had been in place since last February is the phrase, “It’s a

privilege. Not a right,” bookended by Maple Leaf logos with the initials

'JB' – for the late Leafs goaltender Johnny Bower.

Rielly described the change in motto as “one of our things we have; it’s a

team thing we do” but more specifically, it came about because of Bower

himself. While he never spoke the words directly, it was the general

sentiment projected about Bower before and after his death last month

as a reason why he remained so entrenched with the organization right

from his playing days.

“To me, obviously Johnny is a special guy, a special Leaf, special human

being,” said Babcock. “For him to view (playing here) that way, and at his

celebration of life for people to talk that way (about him), I thought it was

really special and what jumped out to me and I was hoping the same

thing (it) did for (the players). So I like to think we all take it seriously. I

think it looks good (on the wall) and Johnny is here with us.”

Still, the Leafs need more than just the spiritual presence of a franchise

great to reach their full potential. Toronto hasn’t won a game in regulation

since Dec. 28 against the Arizona Coyotes, and dropped five of seven

going into the bye. And all the while, they’ve looked a long way away

from the dominant offensive team that emerged on a 6-1-0 run out of the

gate in October.

The task of winning gets no easier for the Leafs this week either, with a

trio of teams on deck (St. Louis on home ice, Philadelphia and Ottawa on

the road) they’ve already lost to at least once. The Blues will be coming

off their break as well, putting the clubs on equal footing in that respect,

but Toronto has no laurels left to rest on – playoff spot or not.

“Everything is pretty tight from here on out. I think we’re pretty happy with

the position we’re in, but a lot can change,” said Auston Matthews. “It’s

nice to get a mental break from everything and come back re-energized.

The 40-through-60-game mark of the season is kind of a grind, and just

to have that break and get away from hockey for a little bit, especially at

this point in the season, is nice.”


1093379 Websites

TSN.CA / Recharged Leafs aim to hit 'the next level’

By Kristen Shilton

TORONTO – The Toronto Maple Leafs swapped a little R & R for

practice sweaters on Monday afternoon, capping off their bye week break

with a prolonged workout that signalled the team that has been playing

.500 hockey since Christmas is fully back to business.

“You get some time to reflect on the season so far,” said defenceman

Morgan Rielly. “I think [the five-day break] came at a good time; we got

an opportunity to re-energize and we’re ready to go.

“It’s important we come out strong and win some hockey games.”

Toronto (25-17-3) didn’t do much winning in the lead-up to their break,

leaving players with a nagging desire to prove they’re a superior team

than their recent record suggests. The Leafs are 3-3-2 since Christmas,

putting them firmly in what coach Mike Babcock calls the “mud puddle” of

the NHL standings. Toronto is third in the Atlantic Division, three points

behind the Boston Bruins with three more games played, and 10 points

ahead of the fourth-place Detroit Red Wings, who have two games in

hand.

The Leafs play six games in 10 days before the Jan. 27-28 All-Star

Weekend, starting Tuesday with the St. Louis Blues at Air Canada

Centre. By the end of January, the goal is to have banked a few more

wins, and dropped a few lingering bad habits.

“We’d like to string a few wins together and get on a streak. I think now is

the time for us to take it to the next level,” said centre Nazem Kadri.

“Structurally, we just have to be a little more consistent game to game

and not have those lapses where we’re giving up odd-man rushes and

having too much time in our D-zone. I think just being more consistent (is

key); our talent is going to win us games.”

As the Leafs navigate a busy second half of their season, management

opted to take one of the franchise’s guiding principles and put it right on

the dressing room wall. Replacing the previous “Play Fast. Play Right”

slogan that had been in place since last February is the phrase, “It’s a

privilege. Not a right,” bookended by Maple Leaf logos with the initials

'JB' – for the late Leafs goaltender Johnny Bower.

Rielly described the change in motto as “one of our things we have; it’s a

team thing we do” but more specifically, it came about because of Bower

himself. While he never spoke the words directly, it was the general

sentiment projected about Bower before and after his death last month

as a reason why he remained so entrenched with the organization right

from his playing days.

“To me, obviously Johnny is a special guy, a special Leaf, special human

being,” said Babcock. “For him to view (playing here) that way, and at his

celebration of life for people to talk that way (about him), I thought it was

really special and what jumped out to me and I was hoping the same

thing (it) did for (the players). So I like to think we all take it seriously. I

think it looks good (on the wall) and Johnny is here with us.”

Still, the Leafs need more than just the spiritual presence of a franchise

great to reach their full potential. Toronto hasn’t won a game in regulation

since Dec. 28 against the Arizona Coyotes, and dropped five of seven

going into the bye. And all the while, they’ve looked a long way away

from the dominant offensive team that emerged on a 6-1-0 run out of the

gate in October.

The task of winning gets no easier for the Leafs this week either, with a

trio of teams on deck (St. Louis on home ice, Philadelphia and Ottawa on

CAROLINA HURRICANES


the road) they’ve already lost to at least once. The Blues will be coming

off their break as well, putting the clubs on equal footing in that respect,

but Toronto has no laurels left to rest on – playoff spot or not.

“Everything is pretty tight from here on out. I think we’re pretty happy with

the position we’re in, but a lot can change,” said Auston Matthews. “It’s

nice to get a mental break from everything and come back re-energized.

The 40-through-60-game mark of the season is kind of a grind, and just

to have that break and get away from hockey for a little bit, especially at

this point in the season, is nice.”


1093380 Websites

TSN.CA / Kadri: Time for Leafs to be 'more consistent’

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 Monday.

Nazem Kadri insists he didn’t think much about hockey during the recent

bye week.

"We earned those few days off to just relax and hang out and just put

hockey to the side," the Toronto Maple Leafs centre said of the five-day

break.

So, the scoring drought isn't bugging him?

“I’ve been dealing fine with it,” said Kadri, who has just one goal in his

last 16 games. “I try to contribute each and every night and it doesn’t

have to be by scoring. I know, obviously, that’s an incentive for me and

what I like to do, but we have lots of talent in the room. I think we’re able

to hold the fort down in case some guys aren’t scoring, other guys can

pick it up and that’s part of our depth.”

While his personal statistics aren’t a concern, Kadri admits changes need

to be made when it comes to the team’s overall performance. Toronto is

5-7-2 since Dec. 12 with just three regulation victories in that stretch.

“We’d like to string a few wins together and get on a bit of a streak,” Kadri

said. “Now’s the time for us to kind of take it to the next level. Structurally,

we just have to be a little bit more consistent and not have those lapses

where we’re giving up odd-man rushes or having too much time in our D

zone, just try and be more consistent and our talent’s going to win us

games.”

Toronto will play six games in 10 days before the all-star break, with four

on the road.

“Obviously, we need to get focused,” said head coach Mike Babcock.

“Since Christmas we’re .500 (3-3-2) and haven’t been good enough so

we have to find a way to get better. We’ve talked about that and tried to

address some of our needs and we have to get playing.”

Leafs Ice chips: New number, new opportunity for Dermott

Despite the team's recent struggles, Mike Babcock didn't make any major

changes at the team's first post-bye practice. But it does appear like the

defensive rotation will continue with Travis Dermott, paired with Roman

Polak during the workout, likely to draw back in against the Blues.

Dermott, whose number has changed from 3 to 23, did not get a bye

week as he was sent down to the minors during the break.

New number, new opportunity for Dermott

Despite the struggles of late, Babcock didn’t make any significant lineup

changes during Monday’s practice. Although promising young

defenceman Travis Dermott, a scratch in the final pre-bye game, appears

likely to draw in on Tuesday against the St. Louis Blues. Dermott skated

with Roman Polak on Monday while Connor Carrick was with Jake

Gardiner.

Unlike his teammates, Dermott didn’t get a bye week. Instead, the 21-

year-old was sent down to the AHL where he played a couple games

with the Marlies in Charlotte. He admitted to feeling a bit envious about

the warm-weather tales being told in the dressing room.

“It sounded pretty nice,” Dermott noted with a chuckle. “But rainy

Charlotte, North Carolina, wasn’t too bad for me either.”

Dermott said the fact he won’t be dealing with any rust will “hopefully”

give him a bit of an edge.

“I really didn’t want to overthink those (AHL) games. Just went out there

and worked on the things they wanted me to work on and made sure I

was in full flight when I came back up here.”

Dermott, who wore No. 3 (previously worn by Dion Phaneuf) in his first

two career NHL games, was sporting No. 23 at Monday’s practice. He

said he wasn’t sure why the initial assignment was made or why it has

now been changed.

“I don’t think I would come in telling anyone what number I want any time

soon,” the rookie said with a laugh. “It was on my helmet so I’m going

with it.”

Frederik (The Goat) Gauthier was also recalled on Monday after

spending Toronto's bye week with the Marlies.

Babcock wary of overloading Rielly

Morgan Rielly is averaging 22:04 of ice time per game this season, but

has been above that total in each of the last seven outings as Babcock

continues to tinker with his blueline in the wake of the Nikita Zaitsev (foot)

injury.

Rielly played more than 26 minutes in the last game before the bye

against Ottawa and logged over 25 minutes in the previous game against

Columbus. In both those games, Rielly made a glaring mistake late in the

third period – an ill-advised stretch pass against the Blue Jackets and a

poor pinch against the Senators – which led to goals against.

“We need Mo to not only be good offensively, but be a lock-down guy for

us, play against the best people and be a star for us,” said Babcock. “We

need him to make all the right plays at the right times. We got to be

careful about overplaying him here of late just because any time you take

Zaitsev out of the lineup, there’s a lot of minutes there and when guys

play too much sometimes the decisions aren’t as good as they should

be.”

Babcock said there was no specific timeline for Zaitsev’s return. The

Russian has been sidelined since blocking a shot against the Red Wings

in Detroit on Dec. 15. Zaitsev is averaging 22:50 of ice time per game

this season, which led the Leafs at the time of his injury.

Lines at Monday’s practice

Forwards

Hyman-Matthews-Nylander

Marleau-Kadri-Komarov

van Riemsdyk-Bozak-Marner

Martin-Gauthier-Brown

Leivo, Moore

Defencemen

Rielly-Hainsey

CAROLINA HURRICANES


Gardiner-Carrick

Dermott-Polak

Borgman

Goalies

Andersen

McElhinney


1093381 Websites

TSN.CA / TradeCentre: Eastern Conference needs, wants, wishes

By Frank Seravalli

Exactly six weeks remain until the NHL’s trade deadline, so here is a look

at each Eastern Conference team’s needs, wants and wishes:

BOSTON

Top priority: Versatile, left-shooting defenceman

Scoop: The Bruins are the East’s wild card. With just three regulation

losses (18-3-4) since mid-November, GM Don Sweeney seems destined

to add. The question is: How big of a splash will he make? As solid as

Matt Grzelcyk has been this season, a well-rounded blueliner who can

chew up minutes (big or small) in key situations just might do the trick.

Paging Ian Cole of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

BUFFALO

Top priority: Maximize lottery odds

Scoop: Sabres fans are holding their breath to see the return for Evander

Kane, one of the few real chips GM Jason Botterill has to help turn this

around. But after watching consensus No. 1 pick Ramus Dahlin star in

their hometown at World Juniors – the kid described as Half Karlsson,

Half Lidstrom – this season is now all about piling up the ping pong ball

combinations, previous tank job be damned.

CAROLINA

Top priority: Find a true difference maker

Scoop: The Canes are knocking at the door. They have a tremendous

collection of complementary young players on the rise, but no real star to

push them over the top on a nightly basis. They may need to wait until

the summer to bring one in. But with new owner Tom Dundon re-

energizing a fan base that hasn’t seen the playoffs for eight years, this

might be when GM Ron Francis moves to push this team over the hump.

COLUMBUS

Top priority: Experienced depth at centre

Scoop: The blossoming of rookie Pierre-Luc Dubois since U.S.

Thanksgiving – 17 points in his last 22 games – has certainly quelled

some of the concern. But the fact is, with Brandon Dubinsky out, no

skater in Columbus’ lineup has won a single playoff series. They could

use a little experience, and with D Jack Johnson asking for a trade, could

a rental-for-rental swap be in the cards?

DETROIT

Top priority: Make Mike Green 2018’s Martin Hanzal

Scoop: Ken Holland knows the best way to turn a two-year skid into the

next 25-season playoff streak is to accumulate as many assets as

possible. Quietly, the Red Wings are hoping right-shot defenceman Mike

Green will be for them what Martin Hanzal was for the Coyotes at last

year’s deadline. Hanzal brought back a first-round, second-round and

conditional pick in a package with Ryan White.

FLORIDA

Top priority: Scoring depth

Scoop: The Panthers’ 20th-ranked offence has gotten just 23 of 120

goals from its third and fourth lines. In other words, they remain a

relatively easy team to match up against, with their top-heavy young

talent on the first two lines. With the playoffs seemingly out of reach

again, GM Dale Tallon may wait until the summer to get creative.

Dreger: I think Nashville is looking for a Pacioretty or a JVR and are

willing to pay

OverDrive hosts Bryan Hayes & Jamie McLennan are joined in studio by

TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger to discuss the plan for Travis Dermott

who the Leafs called up Friday and if there is any update on a potential

trade for a top defenceman.

MONTRÉAL

Top priority: No. 1 centre

Scoop: Duh. Nearly six years into his tenure as Habs’ GM, Marc

Bergevin still has not found one. He admitted last week that Jonathan

Drouin, try as the Habs may to make him into one, is not a true centre:

“There is no doubt, in an ideal world, he’s a winger,” Bergevin said.

NEW JERSEY

Top priority: Enjoy the ride

Scoop: Ray Shero already checked New Jersey’s biggest box this

season when he swapped Adam Henrique for Sami Vatanen. The Devils

have gotten balanced scoring from both halves of their lineup. Their

defence pairs have a nice mix of go and stay. It’s unlikely the Devils will

be shipping off futures to ensure the playoffs this year, so time to enjoy

the ride and see what happens. New Jersey is playing with house

money.

N.Y. ISLANDERS

Top priority: A stop in net

Scoop: The real priority is to keep John Tavares happy. The best way to

do that is to get into the playoffs. The Islanders have been thrilling to

watch with budding star Mathew Barzal piling up points. They just can’t

keep the puck out of their net. The Isles rank 29th in save percentage,

clumped around non-playoff teams Arizona, Ottawa, Buffalo and

Edmonton. Would trying anything other than Jaroslav Halak in net show

Tavares the Islanders are serious about winning? It can’t hurt.

N.Y. RANGERS

Top priority: Listen to anything

Scoop: So much of the Rangers’ underlying issues this season have

been masked by tremendous goaltending from Henrik Lundqvist. New

York has won just nine of their last 20 games (9-8-3) but remains

squarely in the playoff chase. That means while Rangers brass probably

won’t be in sell mode, it makes sense to listen to anything – from pending

UFAs like Rick Nash or Michael Grabner to something bigger that might

germinate now and culminate around the draft.

OTTAWA

Top priority: Shave salary

Scoop: Owner Eugene Melnyk did more than hint at the plan when he

said in his December rant on Parliament Hill that payroll at $68 million is

“way too much over a revenue base that we have.” Why else would the

CAROLINA HURRICANES


Sens be willing to move skilled winger Mike Hoffman, who has two more

seasons remaining at a manageable $5.2 million cap hit?

PHILADELPHIA

Top priority: Trust the process

Scoop: The Flyers are building, but this isn’t the year circled on the

calendar. Still, it’d be a shame to let tremendous seasons from Claude

Giroux, Sean Couturier, Jake Voracek and Shayne Gostisbehere to go to

waste. The sense is Philadelphia will sniff around on anything to

potentially push them over the playoff cut line, but the price will have to

be modest because the Flyers aren’t trading futures to make it happen.

PITTSBURGH

Top priority: Third-line centre

Scoop: Sidney Crosby (with considerable help from Evgeni Malkin) has

pushed the Pens to two Cups flanked by rookies in Conor Sheary and

Jake Guentzel. It’s possible Dominik Simon and/or Daniel Sprong repeat

that trend, but if the Pens were to find someone who could finally fill Nick

Bonino’s role at third-line centre, that would bump Guentzel back up to a

familiar (and successful) spot. It’s almost as if the Penguins’ indifferent

play suggests they’re waiting for Trader Jim (Rutherford) to spark them

with a move. If he does, the Metro side of the bracket remains wide open.

TAMPA BAY

Top priority: Right-shooting, top-four defenceman

Scoop: Steve Yzerman has flirted with the possibility of bringing in a

defenceman like Cody Ceci to help solidify his team’s one perceived

weakness. The preference, if Yzerman is going to pay a premium

anyway, would be to get someone who can fit in the age scheme for a

number of years. It would also help in case of injury to one of Tampa

Bay’s big boys, particularly for a team that hasn’t had much luck with

injuries in the biggest moments over the years.

TORONTO

Top priority: Right-shooting, top-four defenceman

Scoop: Nikita Zaitsev is scheduled to be back in a couple weeks, so his

return will almost be like an “own trade” for Toronto. Leafs brass believed

this is a team that can win now, but the question is whether that same

contender status will be felt around the deadline after a couple

meandering months. If not, maybe one of their potential UFAs – James

van Riemsdyk, Tyler Bozak or Leo Komarov – can be sold off and then

flipped in part for a solid defenceman at the draft.

Should the Leafs move on from Polak when Zaitsev returns?

Leafs Lunch host Andi Petrillo and co-hosts Mark Roe & Andy Chiodo

are joined by “TSN 1050’s General Manager Lou” who shares his offer

list including wanting the Leafs to move on from Roman Polake once

Nikita Zaitsev is healthy, that the best course of action is to not overplay

Auston Matthews during the regular season & Travis Dermott should

have earned a full-time spot on the roster.

WASHINGTON

Top priority: Veteran blueliner

Scoop: Brian McLellan’s playbook over his first three deadlines as Caps

GM: Tim Gleason (2015), Mike Weber (2016), Tom Gilbert (2017), before

also pulling the trigger on Kevin Shattenkirk last year. That seems to be

the play this year, too, particularly with an offence clicking along in fine

form and rookies Christian Djoos and Madison Bowey playing meaningful

minutes on the backend.


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USA TODAY / NHL power rankings 8.0: Alex Ovechkin leads

Washington Capitals' rise

Kevin Allen, USA TODAY Sports Published 10:06 p.m. ET Jan. 15, 2018

| Updated 10:22 p.m. ET Jan. 15, 2018

Alex Ovechkin’s leadership skill has been questioned because of the

Washington Capitals' poor playoff history.

But an argument can be made that Ovechkin has done some of his best

work as a captain this season.

The Capitals were projected to take a half step back because they lost

too many players to a salary cap crunch. Instead, the Capitals hold the

NHL’s third-best record.

With 28 goals in 45 games, Ovechkin deserves some Hart Trophy

consideration. He's leading by example. The Capitals are No. 3 on USA

TODAY’s NHL power rankings.

Our list:

1. Tampa Bay Lightning: With Victor Hedman (lower body) sidelined

three to six weeks, look for Mikhail Sergachev to have an expanded role.

The rookie's strong season (eight goals, 26 points in 44 games) has been

lost in the Lightning’s team success.

2. Vegas Golden Knights: Feel free to believe that Jonathan

Marchessault deserved a place in the All-Star Game. James Neal has

been a go-to guy, but Marchessault leads the team in points (41) and

shots (138).

3. Capitals: Even though Ovechkin is on pace to score more than 50

goals, the Capitals rank 10th in scoring average. They could use more

scoring depth.

4. Winnipeg Jets: Those who don’t believe the Jets’ all-around game is

strong enough for the playoffs should note they rank fourth in goal-

scoring average (3.30) and 12th in goals-against average (2.74).

5. Boston Bruins: No team is performing better than the Bruins the last

several weeks. Since losing a game to the Edmonton Oilers on Nov. 26,

the Bruins are 14-2-4. In those 20 games, the Bruins have given up no

goals or one goal 10 times.

6. Nashville Predators: Despite being one of the NHL’s top contenders,

the Predators don’t have any player among the top 50 scorers.

7. Los Angeles Kings: A primary reason why the Kings lead in goals-

against average is they are No. 1 in penalty killing (87.1%). Every other

team is below 85%.

8. St. Louis Blues: The Blues will need to improve on their 29th-ranked

power play (15%) before the playoffs. With Vladimir Tarasenko up front,

the Blues should be much better.

9. Dallas Stars: Making Jason Spezza a healthy scratch might fuel more

trade speculation, but he'll be difficult to move because he has a $7.5

million cap hit this season and next.

10. Calgary Flames: Add Micheal Ferland, 25, to your list of underrated

players. He has 19 goals this season, topping last season's 15.

11. Toronto Maple Leafs: Since coming back from a concussion, Auston

Matthews has six goals in nine games. Oddly, he has no assists in his

last eight games.

12. Minnesota Wild: Are the Wild the NHL’s most difficult read? They are

6-2-2 in their last 10, yet it feels as if they should be more impressive.

Are they a true contender? It’s hard to tell.

CAROLINA HURRICANES


13. San Jose Sharks: Although the Sharks have their share of veterans

with plenty of goals on their resumes, scoring seems to be their biggest

need heading into the trade deadline. They rank 20th at 2.81 goals per

game.

14. Columbus Blue Jackets: The Athletic reports that defenseman Jack

Johnson has asked for a trade. He will be an unrestricted free agent next

summer, but the Blue Jackets are a contender and Johnson plays 19

minutes, 24 seconds per game. It’s unlikely they would disrupt their

defense at this point. They do need to add a goal scorer.

15. New Jersey Devils: Taylor Hall leads the Devils with 144 shots on

goal and no one teammate has reached 100. Rookie Nico Hischier is

second with 96.

16. Colorado Avalanche: Owning a seven-game winning streak, the Avs

are the talk of the NHL. Their 51 points in 43 games are three points

more than they had in 82 games last season.

17. Chicago Blackhawks: The Blackhawks headed into their break talking

about the need to do some soul-searching. Coach Joel Quenneville

called their Sunday loss to Detroit a “brutal” performance. They have

looked out of sync. No word about when injured goalie Corey Crawford

would be back in the lineup.

18. Pittsburgh Penguins: Sidney Crosby has three goals and eight

assists in his past four games to climb to 13th in the scoring race. The

Penguins won those four games and are starting to look more like a two-

time defending Stanley Cup champion.

19. New York Rangers: Nothing is mysterious about their recent

difficulties: They have to tighten up defensively to make the playoffs.

They give up an average of 34.2 shots per game, ranking second to last.

Goalie Henrik Lundqvist hasn’t faced fewer than 33 shots in a start since

Dec. 13. Coach Alain Vigneault is under pressure to improve the

defensive play.

20. Philadelphia Flyers: Of the bottom 14 teams in the NHL on Monday

morning, the Flyers were the only team to have a winning home (11-8-4)

and road record (9-7-4), plus a positive goal differential (+3).

21. Anaheim Ducks: Andrew Cogliano’s thoughts about losing his 830-

game ironman streak on a suspension: “It’s a tough pill to swallow, I’m

not going to lie. I’ve played hard and I’ve battled.” He said teammates

have been supportive: “I think there has been a lot of people that have

reached out and initiated that I have done something special. The more I

look back on it, it’s pretty cool. I think that playing 830 games in a row,

not a lot of guys can say that and that’s something that I will hold to my

heart”

22. New York Islanders: Pending free agent John Tavares said again that

he wants to stay. Shouldn’t the Islanders be inquiring about the

availability of Buffalo goalie Robin Lehner or even Detroit’s Jimmy

Howard?

23. Carolina Hurricanes: Noah Hanifin is the ‘Canes All-Star

representative, but he’s their No. 4 defenseman in terms of playing time.

He leads Carolina’s defense in goals (seven) and points (21).

24. Florida Panthers: Florida All-Star Aleksander Barkov leads NHL

forwards in ice time with an average of 22:30 per game. Teammate

Vincent Trocheck is third at 21:41. Anze Kopitar is second (21:56) and

Connor McDavid is fourth (21:24)

25. Detroit Red Wings: As Andreas Athanasiou’s minutes have risen, his

shots on goal total has spiked. He has three goals and 23 shots in his

past five games. He had an eight-shot game against the Rangers on

Dec. 29.

26. Edmonton Oilers: McDavid has 14 multiple-point games this season

and now Crosby has 14 multiple-point games.

27. Montreal Canadiens: With goals in each of his last four games, Max

Pacioretty is back to a 20-goal pace. That hasn’t quieted trade rumors.

28. Vancouver Canucks: With 32 points in 45 games, Thomas Vanek

looks like he could be a quality fit for a contending team seeking an

offensive spark. The trade market is short on scorers. Can the Canucks

land a second-rounder for Vanek?

29. Ottawa Senators: Mike Hoffman is still leading the NHL in trade

speculation this week.

30. Buffalo Sabres: Evander Kane’s trade value might be diminished by

his lack of playoff experience, but it's strengthened by the fact that there

are few available players with his blend of goals and grit. He totaled 48

goals and 204 penalty minutes in two seasons from 2015-17. This

season, he has 36 points in 44 games.

31. Arizona Coyotes: The Coyotes are second to last in goal scoring (2.3

per game) and goals-against average (3.45) and last in team save

percentage (.891). Any more questions about why the Coyotes are last in

the power rankings?

USA TODAY LOADED: 01.16.2018

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