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It's an understatement to say a lot has happened in the opening days of the NHL free-agency period. But while the free-agency moves and talk of trades may be dying down, they are far from going away.
Most teams have already done much of the heavy work in terms of filling their biggest needs and getting in position for success in 2015-16, but none of the 30 organizations are close to done with their offseason transactions. Pressing issues still need to be sorted out in various spots, whether it's an embattled player or needing to open up some salary space to get under the cap.
From the players still on the market to others who could be swapping jerseys in the coming days, let's take a look at the latest names being talked about.
Read more: NHL Rumors: Latest Roundup on Potential Trades and Free-Agency Moves | Bleacher Report
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The agent representing Chicago Blackhawks’ star Patrick Kane says his client is innocent.
Pat Brisson discussed rape allegations against his client in his first interview since the accusations first surfaced. Brisson made the comments on Canada’s SportsNet.
“The hardest part is seeing people jumping at conclusions – he’s done this, he’s done that – it’s been, what, a month? 5 weeks? I just can’t wait for him to get back to his life,” Brisson told SportsNet.
Brisson added that his client is following advice and guidance of legal counsel, and Kane is looking forward to a conclusion.
Patrick Kane has not been charged with any crime as a result of the investigation.
Pat Kane’s agent says NHL star is innocent | wivb-com
(Kane is a loser as a person - winner at hockey - loser in life.)
Pat Brisson discussed rape allegations against his client in his first interview since the accusations first surfaced. Brisson made the comments on Canada’s SportsNet.
“The hardest part is seeing people jumping at conclusions – he’s done this, he’s done that – it’s been, what, a month? 5 weeks? I just can’t wait for him to get back to his life,” Brisson told SportsNet.
Brisson added that his client is following advice and guidance of legal counsel, and Kane is looking forward to a conclusion.
Patrick Kane has not been charged with any crime as a result of the investigation.
Pat Kane’s agent says NHL star is innocent | wivb-com
(Kane is a loser as a person - winner at hockey - loser in life.)
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2006/12/07
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29893
According to preseason betting lines, the Anaheim Ducks are favored to win the most games in the NHL’s 2015-16 season, while the Arizona Coyotes will apparently be leading the lottery ball charge for local phenom Auston Matthews.
Here are the regular-season victory over/unders from Bodog. Please keep in mind that these win totals are set to encourage the most wagering.
Anaheim Ducks
Over/Under 49½
Arizona Coyotes
Over/Under 27½
Boston Bruins
Over/Under 42½
Buffalo Sabres
Over/Under 28½
Calgary Flames
Over/Under 41½
Carolina Hurricanes
Over/Under 30
Chicago Blackhawks
Over/Under 47½
Colorado Avalanche
Over/Under 38½
Columbus Blue Jackets
Over/Under 45
Dallas Stars
Over/Under 43½
Detroit Red Wings
Over/Under 42½
Edmonton Oilers
Over/Under 37½
Florida Panthers
Over/Under 36½
Los Angeles Kings
Over/Under 45½
Minnesota Wild
Over/Under 44
Montreal Canadiens
Over/Under 44½
Nashville Predators
Over/Under 42
New Jersey Devils
Over/Under 28½
New York Islanders
Over/Under 45
New York Rangers
Over/Under 46½
Ottawa Senators
Over/Under 40½
Philadelphia Flyers
Over/Under 37½
Pittsburgh Penguins
Over/Under 47½
San Jose Sharks
Over/Under 42½
St Louis Blues
Over/Under 45½
Tampa Bay Lightning
Over/Under 48½
Toronto Maple Leafs
Over/Under 32½
Vancouver Canucks
Over/Under 40½
Washington Capitals
Over/Under 45½
Winnipeg Jets
Over/Under 40½
MORE FROM: Bodog Sportsbook
Here are the regular-season victory over/unders from Bodog. Please keep in mind that these win totals are set to encourage the most wagering.
Anaheim Ducks
Over/Under 49½
Arizona Coyotes
Over/Under 27½
Boston Bruins
Over/Under 42½
Buffalo Sabres
Over/Under 28½
Calgary Flames
Over/Under 41½
Carolina Hurricanes
Over/Under 30
Chicago Blackhawks
Over/Under 47½
Colorado Avalanche
Over/Under 38½
Columbus Blue Jackets
Over/Under 45
Dallas Stars
Over/Under 43½
Detroit Red Wings
Over/Under 42½
Edmonton Oilers
Over/Under 37½
Florida Panthers
Over/Under 36½
Los Angeles Kings
Over/Under 45½
Minnesota Wild
Over/Under 44
Montreal Canadiens
Over/Under 44½
Nashville Predators
Over/Under 42
New Jersey Devils
Over/Under 28½
New York Islanders
Over/Under 45
New York Rangers
Over/Under 46½
Ottawa Senators
Over/Under 40½
Philadelphia Flyers
Over/Under 37½
Pittsburgh Penguins
Over/Under 47½
San Jose Sharks
Over/Under 42½
St Louis Blues
Over/Under 45½
Tampa Bay Lightning
Over/Under 48½
Toronto Maple Leafs
Over/Under 32½
Vancouver Canucks
Over/Under 40½
Washington Capitals
Over/Under 45½
Winnipeg Jets
Over/Under 40½
MORE FROM: Bodog Sportsbook
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2006/12/07
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29893
Osh Anderson Needs Surgery
Josh Anderson hurt his eye in a fight with Steve Oleksy during the first pre-season game against the Penguins. He cracked his orbital bone in that fight and will need surgery. He is expected to miss four weeks.
This is one of the risks when you play the type of game Anderson does. He’s a physical player who stands up for his teammates. I wish Josh all the best as he recovers.
Oleg Yevenko Signs
The mammoth 6’7 defencemen has been signed to a one year two-way deal by the Jackets. The team was impressed with his performance at the prospect tournament and in camp.
Yevenko is a grinder/enforcer type of defencemen. He spent the last four seasons playing in the NCAA for UMass where he put up just 10 points and 211 penalty minutes in 132 games.
The club signing Yevenko and not Dante Salituro is interesting as it shows some insight into the clubs valuation of players. The NHL really seems to be moving away from the big enforcers and going more towards skilled players who can move the puck. Signing Yevenko is a sign that perhaps Columbus is falling behind the curve on this. Remember they are one of the few teams who regularly ice an enforcer (Boll).
Bodog Odds
Whether you’re a gambler or not it’s always interesting to see what the odd makers think for the upcoming season. For the Jackets they have set the over under on team wins at 45, which would be three more than last season. I think I would bet the under on that, only because I expect the Blue Jackets to lose more games in overtime this season. Last year they lost just five games in OT which tied for the fewest in the league.
For players they have set the over/under for points as follows:
Nick Foligno – 63.5
Brandon Saad – 54.5
Ryan Johansen – 72.5
If I'm betting I would take the over on Saad and Johansen and the under on Foligno. Last year was obviously a career year for Foligno and I think he settles in around the 50 point mark. Part of the reason I see a Foligno point decline is the addition of Saad. Saad is expected to be a big part of the offense and he will get every opportunity to do so. He and Joey will be the go to guys on that top line leaving Foligno to be more responsible defensively.
Marko Dano Sent to AHL Rockford
We will end on some non-Blue Jackets news. One of the key pieces of the Brandon Saad deal, Marko Dano has not made the Blackhawks and has been sent down to the AHL. This is a very weird decision and was questioned by many. I personally thought Dano was a lock for Chicago’s top six.
This doesn’t change my thoughts on the trade, although in the short-term this makes the deal look a whole lot better from a Columbus standpoint.
Josh Anderson hurt his eye in a fight with Steve Oleksy during the first pre-season game against the Penguins. He cracked his orbital bone in that fight and will need surgery. He is expected to miss four weeks.
This is one of the risks when you play the type of game Anderson does. He’s a physical player who stands up for his teammates. I wish Josh all the best as he recovers.
Oleg Yevenko Signs
The mammoth 6’7 defencemen has been signed to a one year two-way deal by the Jackets. The team was impressed with his performance at the prospect tournament and in camp.
Yevenko is a grinder/enforcer type of defencemen. He spent the last four seasons playing in the NCAA for UMass where he put up just 10 points and 211 penalty minutes in 132 games.
The club signing Yevenko and not Dante Salituro is interesting as it shows some insight into the clubs valuation of players. The NHL really seems to be moving away from the big enforcers and going more towards skilled players who can move the puck. Signing Yevenko is a sign that perhaps Columbus is falling behind the curve on this. Remember they are one of the few teams who regularly ice an enforcer (Boll).
Bodog Odds
Whether you’re a gambler or not it’s always interesting to see what the odd makers think for the upcoming season. For the Jackets they have set the over under on team wins at 45, which would be three more than last season. I think I would bet the under on that, only because I expect the Blue Jackets to lose more games in overtime this season. Last year they lost just five games in OT which tied for the fewest in the league.
For players they have set the over/under for points as follows:
Nick Foligno – 63.5
Brandon Saad – 54.5
Ryan Johansen – 72.5
If I'm betting I would take the over on Saad and Johansen and the under on Foligno. Last year was obviously a career year for Foligno and I think he settles in around the 50 point mark. Part of the reason I see a Foligno point decline is the addition of Saad. Saad is expected to be a big part of the offense and he will get every opportunity to do so. He and Joey will be the go to guys on that top line leaving Foligno to be more responsible defensively.
Marko Dano Sent to AHL Rockford
We will end on some non-Blue Jackets news. One of the key pieces of the Brandon Saad deal, Marko Dano has not made the Blackhawks and has been sent down to the AHL. This is a very weird decision and was questioned by many. I personally thought Dano was a lock for Chicago’s top six.
This doesn’t change my thoughts on the trade, although in the short-term this makes the deal look a whole lot better from a Columbus standpoint.
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
First, this post will bring the Maple Leaf fan down. Then it hopes to bring up you back up. Make sure you get to the end.
The 99th Maple Leafs season (including the lost lockout season) starts tonight against Montreal.
Big rivalry, historic teams, yada, yada, yada.
I, for one, can't wait for the puck to drop for real, to see how this team responds to Mike Babcock's coaching and to the general feeling that the team is going to be very bad. There's reason to believe that some players will take steps forward. The coach is very high on Morgan Rielly, Nazem Kadri, Jake Gardiner and Dion Phaneuf.
Babcock has also spoken highly of Tyler Bozak and James van Riemsdyk. That's basically the core right there. How they do, how the new players who fit around them do, well, can't wait to see. Truly. It could be a train wreck. It could be a little better than that.
My prediction: The Leafs will be competitive to start, maybe hang around the playoff conversation until Christmas, then the veterans-for-draft picks/contracts firesale will begin and they'll drift down to the bottom five league-wide. I see them in dead last in their division, competing with New Jersey, Carolina, Arilzona and maybe Phliadelphia for Auston Matthews.
Some people -- oddsmakers -- are actually banking on the Leafs being bad.
HOW BAD?
One website has them as the second longest shot to win the Stanley Cup. Onlinegambling.lv has the Leafs at 200-to-1. Worse than New Jersey and Carolina (each 100-to-1). Better only than Carolina (250-to-1)
Bodog gives them a better chance, at 100-to-1, tied interestingly with Buffalo. Only Carolina (150-to-1) and Arizona (250-to-1) is worse.
HOW EXPENSIVE?
As bad as they might be, they will still be expensive. Secondary ticket seller Vivid Seats reports the Leafs have the fifth most expensive ticket at a median price of $191. The Blackhawks are the most expensive at $224.
GOT A QUESTION? Email me at [email]askkevinmcgran@gmail-com[/email] and I'll answer it in Friday's blog.
RAISE YOU UP
I draw your attention now to a fabulous video by Tim Thompson. He's an independent filmmaker who also works for CBC. Before Rogers took over Hockey Night In Canada, it was Thompson who did those pregame videos that were always, always amazing.
He's done won for the Maple Leafs. Watch it. It will give you strength.
He told me why he did it:
"The inspiration for this piece came like most of the HNIC ones did for me, from the music. The song 'Peace and Quiet'is by a really close friend of mine, Ron Hawkins, a wonderful songwriter from Toronto, who writes a lot about this city in his songs. People might know him from his band's The Lowest of the Low, The Rusty Nails, The Do Good Assassins, or from his solo work. He's one of the finest songwriters going. And this particular song is incredibly powerful, with a lot of extraordinary imagery in the lyrics.
"I kept thinking it would make a really emotional piece for the Leafs. Lyrically, the song is a perfect fit for the connection this city has had with the team over the years. So I thought well I just make a video. I have a ton of old footage on hard drives, and I sat in my home studio, in my free time over the past week or so, and went to work. I really miss making these for Hockey Night, so it felt good to get back at it. I just wanted to simply pay homage to the team, to the fans, and to this incredibly strong and unbreakable bond that exists between them, through the good times and the bad. It seems that they are headed towards better days, so the time felt right to make this. As I wrote for the video, "sometimes a dream from the past, can bring hope to the future..."
"The reaction has been unbelievable so far. I've received the most amazing and heartfelt messages. It seems to have really struck a chord."
Leafs will be bad, but there is still hope | Toronto Star (Tim Thompson)
The 99th Maple Leafs season (including the lost lockout season) starts tonight against Montreal.
Big rivalry, historic teams, yada, yada, yada.
I, for one, can't wait for the puck to drop for real, to see how this team responds to Mike Babcock's coaching and to the general feeling that the team is going to be very bad. There's reason to believe that some players will take steps forward. The coach is very high on Morgan Rielly, Nazem Kadri, Jake Gardiner and Dion Phaneuf.
Babcock has also spoken highly of Tyler Bozak and James van Riemsdyk. That's basically the core right there. How they do, how the new players who fit around them do, well, can't wait to see. Truly. It could be a train wreck. It could be a little better than that.
My prediction: The Leafs will be competitive to start, maybe hang around the playoff conversation until Christmas, then the veterans-for-draft picks/contracts firesale will begin and they'll drift down to the bottom five league-wide. I see them in dead last in their division, competing with New Jersey, Carolina, Arilzona and maybe Phliadelphia for Auston Matthews.
Some people -- oddsmakers -- are actually banking on the Leafs being bad.
HOW BAD?
One website has them as the second longest shot to win the Stanley Cup. Onlinegambling.lv has the Leafs at 200-to-1. Worse than New Jersey and Carolina (each 100-to-1). Better only than Carolina (250-to-1)
Bodog gives them a better chance, at 100-to-1, tied interestingly with Buffalo. Only Carolina (150-to-1) and Arizona (250-to-1) is worse.
HOW EXPENSIVE?
As bad as they might be, they will still be expensive. Secondary ticket seller Vivid Seats reports the Leafs have the fifth most expensive ticket at a median price of $191. The Blackhawks are the most expensive at $224.
GOT A QUESTION? Email me at [email]askkevinmcgran@gmail-com[/email] and I'll answer it in Friday's blog.
RAISE YOU UP
I draw your attention now to a fabulous video by Tim Thompson. He's an independent filmmaker who also works for CBC. Before Rogers took over Hockey Night In Canada, it was Thompson who did those pregame videos that were always, always amazing.
He's done won for the Maple Leafs. Watch it. It will give you strength.
He told me why he did it:
"The inspiration for this piece came like most of the HNIC ones did for me, from the music. The song 'Peace and Quiet'is by a really close friend of mine, Ron Hawkins, a wonderful songwriter from Toronto, who writes a lot about this city in his songs. People might know him from his band's The Lowest of the Low, The Rusty Nails, The Do Good Assassins, or from his solo work. He's one of the finest songwriters going. And this particular song is incredibly powerful, with a lot of extraordinary imagery in the lyrics.
"I kept thinking it would make a really emotional piece for the Leafs. Lyrically, the song is a perfect fit for the connection this city has had with the team over the years. So I thought well I just make a video. I have a ton of old footage on hard drives, and I sat in my home studio, in my free time over the past week or so, and went to work. I really miss making these for Hockey Night, so it felt good to get back at it. I just wanted to simply pay homage to the team, to the fans, and to this incredibly strong and unbreakable bond that exists between them, through the good times and the bad. It seems that they are headed towards better days, so the time felt right to make this. As I wrote for the video, "sometimes a dream from the past, can bring hope to the future..."
"The reaction has been unbelievable so far. I've received the most amazing and heartfelt messages. It seems to have really struck a chord."
Leafs will be bad, but there is still hope | Toronto Star (Tim Thompson)
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
It’s cold and callous and probably the last thing the NHL needs, but an email that appears to marginalize retired players who are suffering from long-term concussion issues creates more of a PR problem for the league than a legal one.
The email, written in 2009 by NHL Deputy General Counsel Julie Grand to Commissioner Gary Bettman and Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly, is part of a group of documents related to ongoing concussion litigation that was ordered unsealed by the court.
In it, Grand offers four suggestions on “next possible steps” for the NHL-NHLPA Concussion Working Group, including proposals that the league work with equipment manufacturers and study recovery methods along with the long-term neuro-cognitive and psychological effects of repeated concussions. Grand then argues that the league should not put an emphasis on exploring the alleged link between concussions and long-term brain injuries among retired NHL players because they are “removed from the current issues we face,” and should “leave the dementia issues up to the NFL!”
Read more: NHL email in concussion lawsuit makes league look bad - NHL - SI-com
The email, written in 2009 by NHL Deputy General Counsel Julie Grand to Commissioner Gary Bettman and Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly, is part of a group of documents related to ongoing concussion litigation that was ordered unsealed by the court.
In it, Grand offers four suggestions on “next possible steps” for the NHL-NHLPA Concussion Working Group, including proposals that the league work with equipment manufacturers and study recovery methods along with the long-term neuro-cognitive and psychological effects of repeated concussions. Grand then argues that the league should not put an emphasis on exploring the alleged link between concussions and long-term brain injuries among retired NHL players because they are “removed from the current issues we face,” and should “leave the dementia issues up to the NFL!”
Read more: NHL email in concussion lawsuit makes league look bad - NHL - SI-com
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
Manne wrote:
It’s cold and callous and probably the last thing the NHL needs, but an email that appears to marginalize retired players who are suffering from long-term concussion issues creates more of a PR problem for the league than a legal one.
The email, written in 2009 by NHL Deputy General Counsel Julie Grand to Commissioner Gary Bettman and Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly, is part of a group of documents related to ongoing concussion litigation that was ordered unsealed by the court.
In it, Grand offers four suggestions on “next possible steps” for the NHL-NHLPA Concussion Working Group, including proposals that the league work with equipment manufacturers and study recovery methods along with the long-term neuro-cognitive and psychological effects of repeated concussions. Grand then argues that the league should not put an emphasis on exploring the alleged link between concussions and long-term brain injuries among retired NHL players because they are “removed from the current issues we face,” and should “leave the dementia issues up to the NFL!”
Read more: NHL email in concussion lawsuit makes league look bad - NHL - SI-com
Email leaves NHL. I was smiling yesterday,I am smiling today and I will smile tomorrow. I will not cry for that 😁
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2006/12/20
Messages:
978
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2006/12/07
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The Florida Panthers and Pittsburgh Penguins went into overtime for the third time this season and, for the first time, the Panthers won.
Jussi Jokinen scored in the fifth round of the shootout and the Panthers defeated the Penguins 2-1 at BB&T Center on Monday.
"It was a good game," Panthers coach Gerard Gallant said. "We played a real good hockey team and it was a battle. Every time we play Pittsburgh it seems to go into overtime and we finally got on the winning side of it. So it was a real big two points. We needed them."
Florida (33-18-6) defeated Pittsburgh (28-19-8) after the Penguins won the first two meetings, each by a score of 3-2.
The Panthers won for the first time in its six-game homestand, which began with losses against the St. Louis Blues (5-3) on Friday and Nashville Predators (5-0) on Saturday. Florida is 6-1 in shootouts this season, including six straight wins dating back to Nov. 14, the most in the NHL.
Read more: www-nhl-com/news/al-montoya-florida-panthers-top-pittsburgh-penguins/c-278840806?tid=278508118
Jussi Jokinen scored in the fifth round of the shootout and the Panthers defeated the Penguins 2-1 at BB&T Center on Monday.
"It was a good game," Panthers coach Gerard Gallant said. "We played a real good hockey team and it was a battle. Every time we play Pittsburgh it seems to go into overtime and we finally got on the winning side of it. So it was a real big two points. We needed them."
Florida (33-18-6) defeated Pittsburgh (28-19-8) after the Penguins won the first two meetings, each by a score of 3-2.
The Panthers won for the first time in its six-game homestand, which began with losses against the St. Louis Blues (5-3) on Friday and Nashville Predators (5-0) on Saturday. Florida is 6-1 in shootouts this season, including six straight wins dating back to Nov. 14, the most in the NHL.
Read more: www-nhl-com/news/al-montoya-florida-panthers-top-pittsburgh-penguins/c-278840806?tid=278508118
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2016/01/28
Messages:
75
It's been a slow burn, but the Dallas Stars are finally combusting right before our eyes.
Dallas' ascension to the top of the NHL standings was much swifter than anyone could've imagined. Buoyed by the best start in franchise history, the Stars essentially locked up their ticket to the Stanley Cup Playoffs by the end of December.
But it's fallen apart since. The downside to such a rapid rise is that you get everyone's attention. They learn your tendencies and adjust, and you have to adjust with them to remain threatening. The Stars didn't do that quickly enough (Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin haven't been themselves in almost two months), and the Blackhawks, Blues, Ducks and Kings all caught up to them in the Western Conference. On Tuesday, Dallas left more points on the table with an overtime loss in Montreal.
Sure, Dallas could've survived even that. But now John Klingberg is out for an unspecified period of time and coach Lindy Ruff is guesstimating that Jason Demers' injury in Montreal will keep him out for the rest of the season. Suddenly their weakest link (their blue line) is showing cracks as their goalies plod along and their stars struggle to snap their slumps.
Stars fans should be grateful for the tremendous first half of the season. The final nine games of their schedule features two games against Chicago and matchups with the Blues, Kings, Lightning, Islanders, Sharks and Predators. It's a gauntlet of a finale. Pick any of the past five years at this time (with the Stars on the playoff bubble) and the season would be over tonight.
Dallas built themselves a cushion. But it's hard to ignore how hard they've landed on it, and whether they'll have enough left to weather a first round victory in the playoffs.
Scores
Rangers 4, Sabres 2
Hurricanes 4, Senators 3 (SO)
Blue Jackets 5, Red Wings 3
Islanders 2, Penguins 1
Canadiens 4, Stars 3 (OT)
Bruins 1, Lightning 0 (OT)
Predators 4, Jets 2
Sharks 3, Oilers 0
Dallas' ascension to the top of the NHL standings was much swifter than anyone could've imagined. Buoyed by the best start in franchise history, the Stars essentially locked up their ticket to the Stanley Cup Playoffs by the end of December.
But it's fallen apart since. The downside to such a rapid rise is that you get everyone's attention. They learn your tendencies and adjust, and you have to adjust with them to remain threatening. The Stars didn't do that quickly enough (Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin haven't been themselves in almost two months), and the Blackhawks, Blues, Ducks and Kings all caught up to them in the Western Conference. On Tuesday, Dallas left more points on the table with an overtime loss in Montreal.
Sure, Dallas could've survived even that. But now John Klingberg is out for an unspecified period of time and coach Lindy Ruff is guesstimating that Jason Demers' injury in Montreal will keep him out for the rest of the season. Suddenly their weakest link (their blue line) is showing cracks as their goalies plod along and their stars struggle to snap their slumps.
Stars fans should be grateful for the tremendous first half of the season. The final nine games of their schedule features two games against Chicago and matchups with the Blues, Kings, Lightning, Islanders, Sharks and Predators. It's a gauntlet of a finale. Pick any of the past five years at this time (with the Stars on the playoff bubble) and the season would be over tonight.
Dallas built themselves a cushion. But it's hard to ignore how hard they've landed on it, and whether they'll have enough left to weather a first round victory in the playoffs.
Scores
Rangers 4, Sabres 2
Hurricanes 4, Senators 3 (SO)
Blue Jackets 5, Red Wings 3
Islanders 2, Penguins 1
Canadiens 4, Stars 3 (OT)
Bruins 1, Lightning 0 (OT)
Predators 4, Jets 2
Sharks 3, Oilers 0
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2006/12/07
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29893
Nashville Predators general manager David Poile has spent more than four decades in the NHL and yet every time he looks at his coach Peter Laviolette’s game preparation he feels as if there is more to learn.
“When he talks about his system, or puts something up on the board, you feel like you are in a chemistry class at MIT,” Poile told USA TODAY Sports.
Coaches in the NHL have become increasingly more experienced and sophisticated in recent years. Look no further than the men behind the bench for the opening round match-ups in the Western Conference.
Four of the coaches have won Stanley Cup championships as head coaches, and two others have reached the Stanley Cup Final. John Torchetti is the Minnesota Wild’s interim coach, but even he was an assistant coach with the Chicago Blackhawks when they won a Stanley Cup in 2010.
Joel Quenneville (Blackhawks), Darryl Sutter (Los Angeles Kings), Ken Hitchcock (St. Louis Blues), Lindy Ruff (Dallas Stars), Peter DeBoer (San Jose Sharks) and Laviolette have combined for 11 trips to the Stanley Cup Final.
“The coaching now in the league is unbelievable, and particularly in the Western Conference,” Poile said. “There is not a weak link in my opinion.”
Pierre McGuire, who won a Stanley Cup as a Pittsburgh Penguins assistant coach in 1992 and is now an NBC analyst, argues that nothing helps a coach more in the playoffs than what he has learned from being there in the past.
“The experience of getting to the Final and coaching in the final is such an important asset,” McGuire said. “It’s a huge advantage because you understand so many things – travel, work-to-rest-ratio, dealing with the media, how to get your stars to the next level. ... There are so many things that go into i.”
Sutter’s expertise is even more extensive than people realize because he has reached the Final with three different organizations. Before coaching Calgary and Los Angeles to a Final, he went to the Stanley Cup Final as Mike Keenan’s associate coach in 1992.
“Darryl is a killer because he understands everything about coaching,” McGuire said. “Quennville also won a Cup as an assistant in Colorado. People forget that. When you start doing the math on this group in the West, and it’s amazing."
With so much coaching experience in the West, gamesmanship is rampant, even though they won't actually admit it.
"There’s a lot of it,” McGuire said, “because every single one of them is looking for an edge whether it’s using the media, trying to one-up an official or trying to plant a seed of doubt in an opposition player’s head. A lot goes into it.”
Publicly, the coaches try to ignore each other. “I’m not worried about Hitch,” Quenneville said Monday. “I worry about our own team and every game is a different game … The guys at the end of the day are sorting it out on the ice and that’s what I’m worried about.”
Allen: When it comes to NHL coaches, best are in West
“When he talks about his system, or puts something up on the board, you feel like you are in a chemistry class at MIT,” Poile told USA TODAY Sports.
Coaches in the NHL have become increasingly more experienced and sophisticated in recent years. Look no further than the men behind the bench for the opening round match-ups in the Western Conference.
Four of the coaches have won Stanley Cup championships as head coaches, and two others have reached the Stanley Cup Final. John Torchetti is the Minnesota Wild’s interim coach, but even he was an assistant coach with the Chicago Blackhawks when they won a Stanley Cup in 2010.
Joel Quenneville (Blackhawks), Darryl Sutter (Los Angeles Kings), Ken Hitchcock (St. Louis Blues), Lindy Ruff (Dallas Stars), Peter DeBoer (San Jose Sharks) and Laviolette have combined for 11 trips to the Stanley Cup Final.
“The coaching now in the league is unbelievable, and particularly in the Western Conference,” Poile said. “There is not a weak link in my opinion.”
Pierre McGuire, who won a Stanley Cup as a Pittsburgh Penguins assistant coach in 1992 and is now an NBC analyst, argues that nothing helps a coach more in the playoffs than what he has learned from being there in the past.
“The experience of getting to the Final and coaching in the final is such an important asset,” McGuire said. “It’s a huge advantage because you understand so many things – travel, work-to-rest-ratio, dealing with the media, how to get your stars to the next level. ... There are so many things that go into i.”
Sutter’s expertise is even more extensive than people realize because he has reached the Final with three different organizations. Before coaching Calgary and Los Angeles to a Final, he went to the Stanley Cup Final as Mike Keenan’s associate coach in 1992.
“Darryl is a killer because he understands everything about coaching,” McGuire said. “Quennville also won a Cup as an assistant in Colorado. People forget that. When you start doing the math on this group in the West, and it’s amazing."
With so much coaching experience in the West, gamesmanship is rampant, even though they won't actually admit it.
"There’s a lot of it,” McGuire said, “because every single one of them is looking for an edge whether it’s using the media, trying to one-up an official or trying to plant a seed of doubt in an opposition player’s head. A lot goes into it.”
Publicly, the coaches try to ignore each other. “I’m not worried about Hitch,” Quenneville said Monday. “I worry about our own team and every game is a different game … The guys at the end of the day are sorting it out on the ice and that’s what I’m worried about.”
Allen: When it comes to NHL coaches, best are in West
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Manne wrote:
Nashville Predators general manager David Poile has spent more than four decades in the NHL and yet every time he looks at his coach Peter Laviolette’s game preparation he feels as if there is more to learn.
“When he talks about his system, or puts something up on the board, you feel like you are in a chemistry class at MIT,” Poile told USA TODAY Sports.
Coaches in the NHL have become increasingly more experienced and sophisticated in recent years. Look no further than the men behind the bench for the opening round match-ups in the Western Conference.
Four of the coaches have won Stanley Cup championships as head coaches, and two others have reached the Stanley Cup Final. John Torchetti is the Minnesota Wild’s interim coach, but even he was an assistant coach with the Chicago Blackhawks when they won a Stanley Cup in 2010.
Joel Quenneville (Blackhawks), Darryl Sutter (Los Angeles Kings), Ken Hitchcock (St. Louis Blues), Lindy Ruff (Dallas Stars), Peter DeBoer (San Jose Sharks) and Laviolette have combined for 11 trips to the Stanley Cup Final.
“The coaching now in the league is unbelievable, and particularly in the Western Conference,” Poile said. “There is not a weak link in my opinion.”
Pierre McGuire, who won a Stanley Cup as a Pittsburgh Penguins assistant coach in 1992 and is now an NBC analyst, argues that nothing helps a coach more in the playoffs than what he has learned from being there in the past.
“The experience of getting to the Final and coaching in the final is such an important asset,” McGuire said. “It’s a huge advantage because you understand so many things – travel, work-to-rest-ratio, dealing with the media, how to get your stars to the next level. ... There are so many things that go into i.”
Sutter’s expertise is even more extensive than people realize because he has reached the Final with three different organizations. Before coaching Calgary and Los Angeles to a Final, he went to the Stanley Cup Final as Mike Keenan’s associate coach in 1992.
“Darryl is a killer because he understands everything about coaching,” McGuire said. “Quennville also won a Cup as an assistant in Colorado. People forget that. When you start doing the math on this group in the West, and it’s amazing."
With so much coaching experience in the West, gamesmanship is rampant, even though they won't actually admit it.
"There’s a lot of it,” McGuire said, “because every single one of them is looking for an edge whether it’s using the media, trying to one-up an official or trying to plant a seed of doubt in an opposition player’s head. A lot goes into it.”
Publicly, the coaches try to ignore each other. “I’m not worried about Hitch,” Quenneville said Monday. “I worry about our own team and every game is a different game … The guys at the end of the day are sorting it out on the ice and that’s what I’m worried about.”
Allen: When it comes to NHL coaches, best are in West
The second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs begins Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET (NBCSN) when the New York Islanders visit the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The first round officially concludes after the next round begins — Game 7 between the Nashville Predators and the Anaheim Ducks (10 p.m. ET, NBCSN), so check back for that series prediction. The winner will play the San Jose Sharks.
USA TODAY Sports' NHL staff makes its second-round picks — and explains why — below.
NHL playoffs 2016: Round 2 staff predictions
The first round officially concludes after the next round begins — Game 7 between the Nashville Predators and the Anaheim Ducks (10 p.m. ET, NBCSN), so check back for that series prediction. The winner will play the San Jose Sharks.
USA TODAY Sports' NHL staff makes its second-round picks — and explains why — below.
NHL playoffs 2016: Round 2 staff predictions
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2016/02/05
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Would the Washington Capitals be better off if forward Marcus Johansson had been unable to return to the ice during Monday night’s loss to the Penguins? No one would seriously hope for such an outcome. And yet the NHL’s disciplinary process for dangerous hits at least raises such questions.
Johansson was hit high and late Monday night by Kris Letang, the Penguins’ brilliant defenseman, who received a one-game suspension for his infraction. Letang has averaged about 32 and a half minutes of ice time in this second-round series, easily the most of any player on either team. He could be Pittsburgh’s least replaceable star.
The Capitals don’t want to play without Johansson, of course, and he helped them mount their furious push at the end of Monday’s loss. But one player is a forward who has toggled between the second and third lines this year. The other was a fringe Norris Trophy candidate who is on the ice half the game. Taking them both out would benefit Washington.
This wouldn’t be a concern — even a hypothetical one — if the league did not explicitly include injury among the factors it considers when levying suspensions. But the CBA between the NHL and its players union specifies that injury to the opposing player is a factor in supplemental discipline, as the Caps were reminded Sunday night. That’s when Brooks Orpik was suspended three games for a high, hard and bad hit that sidelined Pittsburgh defenseman Olli Maatta indefinitely.
Orpik was shown “making significant head contact and causing an injury” in the Department of Player Safety’s explanation video. The key strikes against Orpik: “interference, injury and history.”
Letang’s punishment video, on the other hand, noted that “Johansson went to the dressing room for treatment, but returned to the game and completed it.” Exactly which team should be happiest about that development?
And so Tuesday morning brought immediate quips that the Caps were engaging in postseason gamesmanship by keeping Johansson off the ice at their off-day workout. The team chalked his absence up to “an upper-body injury,” which highlighted another absurd twist to this process. NHL teams are as stingy releasing accurate injury information as any pro sports league; an NHL coach would refer to post-guillotine Marie Antoinette as day-to-day because of an upper-body injury.
The league receives official medical reports about injured players before passing down judgment. Still, if a fourth-liner is ever on the receiving end of a superstar’s shoulder, could there be a temptation to hold out that lesser player, putting more pressure on the league to penalize the star? And what of an initial misdiagnosis, or an injury that turns out to be worse than it initially appears?
“We’ve seen players shake it off: They come back and they play, and maybe two or three days later they’re messed up,” former Capital Alan May said. “It’s no different from someone getting in a car accident: They feel fine, and a couple days later, they can’t walk.”
This isn’t a new issue, and as several Capitals said Tuesday, there might not be a perfect solution. Suffering a concussion after a high hit is almost prima facie evidence that something went wrong in the hit, and any debilitating injury — especially in the postseason — will lead to calls for justice. “Our player isn’t well enough to play,” goes the theory, “so yours shouldn’t be allowed to.”
But that’s retribution, a less noble goal than deterrence. This marquee series already has been marred by multiple hits that players on both teams have said should be removed from the game. The way you remove them is by penalizing the action, not the consequence.
“It’s got to be judged primarily based off of the hit, not the result,” said Caps winger Tom Wilson, who has himself delivered several hits this postseason that had opposing fans calling for punishment. “A lot of the time you see intent, and it’s too bad that it has to be a guy that’s hurt in order to have repercussion.”
Professional hockey is impossibly fast, and head injuries will never disappear. The crucial moment, though, should be before contact, when a player consciously avoids delivering a head shot, rather than after contact, when a player hopes his head shot didn’t happen to cause a brain injury.
“I think that some guys just get hurt easier than other guys or some guys will battle through things that other guys won’t,” Caps defenseman Karl Alzner said. “Every play is different, and it’s hard to say, but I don’t think injuries should factor in.”
So then consider Pierre-Edouard Bellemare’s hit from behind on Dmitry Orlov during Washington’s bruising first-round series against the Flyers. As Orlov careened head-first into the boards and was slow to get up, many observers assumed he was seriously damaged.
“This was as close as I have seen to somebody possibly breaking his neck,” NBC’s Jeremy Roenick said, while calling for Bellemare to be suspended for the rest of the postseason.
Orlov, remarkably, didn’t miss a game. And Bellemare, a player without a checkered history, received just a one-game suspension.
“I cringe every time I see that hit,” May said. “I felt it was unintentional, but I still felt it was suspendable. A quarter of an inch [in a different direction], he never plays hockey again; he’s a quadriplegic, a paraplegic or worse. Does that make it any less worse of an incident? I don’t think so.”
A league and union serious about reducing head shots would adopt the NCAA policy: Any direct contact to the head or neck of an opponent is a major penalty and a game misconduct. Barring that, they’d agree to punish hits to the degree to which they violate rules, not the degree to which they cause harm.
“It shouldn’t be based on injury,” Washington Coach Barry Trotz said Monday morning, before Letang’s hit. “It should be based on situation.”
The most important outcome of the Letang hit is that Johansson was apparently unharmed.
Johansson was hit high and late Monday night by Kris Letang, the Penguins’ brilliant defenseman, who received a one-game suspension for his infraction. Letang has averaged about 32 and a half minutes of ice time in this second-round series, easily the most of any player on either team. He could be Pittsburgh’s least replaceable star.
The Capitals don’t want to play without Johansson, of course, and he helped them mount their furious push at the end of Monday’s loss. But one player is a forward who has toggled between the second and third lines this year. The other was a fringe Norris Trophy candidate who is on the ice half the game. Taking them both out would benefit Washington.
This wouldn’t be a concern — even a hypothetical one — if the league did not explicitly include injury among the factors it considers when levying suspensions. But the CBA between the NHL and its players union specifies that injury to the opposing player is a factor in supplemental discipline, as the Caps were reminded Sunday night. That’s when Brooks Orpik was suspended three games for a high, hard and bad hit that sidelined Pittsburgh defenseman Olli Maatta indefinitely.
Orpik was shown “making significant head contact and causing an injury” in the Department of Player Safety’s explanation video. The key strikes against Orpik: “interference, injury and history.”
Letang’s punishment video, on the other hand, noted that “Johansson went to the dressing room for treatment, but returned to the game and completed it.” Exactly which team should be happiest about that development?
And so Tuesday morning brought immediate quips that the Caps were engaging in postseason gamesmanship by keeping Johansson off the ice at their off-day workout. The team chalked his absence up to “an upper-body injury,” which highlighted another absurd twist to this process. NHL teams are as stingy releasing accurate injury information as any pro sports league; an NHL coach would refer to post-guillotine Marie Antoinette as day-to-day because of an upper-body injury.
The league receives official medical reports about injured players before passing down judgment. Still, if a fourth-liner is ever on the receiving end of a superstar’s shoulder, could there be a temptation to hold out that lesser player, putting more pressure on the league to penalize the star? And what of an initial misdiagnosis, or an injury that turns out to be worse than it initially appears?
“We’ve seen players shake it off: They come back and they play, and maybe two or three days later they’re messed up,” former Capital Alan May said. “It’s no different from someone getting in a car accident: They feel fine, and a couple days later, they can’t walk.”
This isn’t a new issue, and as several Capitals said Tuesday, there might not be a perfect solution. Suffering a concussion after a high hit is almost prima facie evidence that something went wrong in the hit, and any debilitating injury — especially in the postseason — will lead to calls for justice. “Our player isn’t well enough to play,” goes the theory, “so yours shouldn’t be allowed to.”
But that’s retribution, a less noble goal than deterrence. This marquee series already has been marred by multiple hits that players on both teams have said should be removed from the game. The way you remove them is by penalizing the action, not the consequence.
“It’s got to be judged primarily based off of the hit, not the result,” said Caps winger Tom Wilson, who has himself delivered several hits this postseason that had opposing fans calling for punishment. “A lot of the time you see intent, and it’s too bad that it has to be a guy that’s hurt in order to have repercussion.”
Professional hockey is impossibly fast, and head injuries will never disappear. The crucial moment, though, should be before contact, when a player consciously avoids delivering a head shot, rather than after contact, when a player hopes his head shot didn’t happen to cause a brain injury.
“I think that some guys just get hurt easier than other guys or some guys will battle through things that other guys won’t,” Caps defenseman Karl Alzner said. “Every play is different, and it’s hard to say, but I don’t think injuries should factor in.”
So then consider Pierre-Edouard Bellemare’s hit from behind on Dmitry Orlov during Washington’s bruising first-round series against the Flyers. As Orlov careened head-first into the boards and was slow to get up, many observers assumed he was seriously damaged.
“This was as close as I have seen to somebody possibly breaking his neck,” NBC’s Jeremy Roenick said, while calling for Bellemare to be suspended for the rest of the postseason.
Orlov, remarkably, didn’t miss a game. And Bellemare, a player without a checkered history, received just a one-game suspension.
“I cringe every time I see that hit,” May said. “I felt it was unintentional, but I still felt it was suspendable. A quarter of an inch [in a different direction], he never plays hockey again; he’s a quadriplegic, a paraplegic or worse. Does that make it any less worse of an incident? I don’t think so.”
A league and union serious about reducing head shots would adopt the NCAA policy: Any direct contact to the head or neck of an opponent is a major penalty and a game misconduct. Barring that, they’d agree to punish hits to the degree to which they violate rules, not the degree to which they cause harm.
“It shouldn’t be based on injury,” Washington Coach Barry Trotz said Monday morning, before Letang’s hit. “It should be based on situation.”
The most important outcome of the Letang hit is that Johansson was apparently unharmed.
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[FONT="]The Pittsburgh Penguins can claim their fourth Stanley Cup Thursday night (8 PM ET, CBC and NBC) with a win over the San Jose Sharks. Pittsburgh took a 3-1 series lead Monday by beating San Jose 3-1 as a +105 road dog; Matt Murray made 23 saves for the Penguins.
Pittsburgh Penguins vs San Jose Sharks on thursday...
[/FONT]
Pittsburgh Penguins vs San Jose Sharks on thursday...
[/FONT]
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Oh goodie, a chance to tee off on analytics! First off, get off my lawn. Second, you can take your Corsi and. ... No, actually I'm not an anti-analytics guy. Do I think some of the new breed of stats are a bit tedious and borderline silly? Yeah. But overall, I'm a guy who believes the more information, the better.
Generally, I like all the possession stats, things like Corsi percentage and Fenwick, and I like the new iteration of stats that show where shots came from and how often certain players shoot from certain spots and the percentage of closer-in shots some goalies face than others.
If I have to name one overrated stat here, though, I'm going to go with "giveaways." How can it ever be good for a player to have a high number of giveaways or for their occurring at all to be considered insignificant? How is giving the puck away a lot not considered a horrible thing?
Well, let's take a look at the top five giveaway leaders, according to Sportscharts-com, in the league this past season, according to Sporting Charts. They were: 1, P.K. Subban (106); 2, Brent Burns (102); 3. Joe Thornton (98); 4, Drew Doughty (97) and, 5, Erik Karlsson (96).
Would anyone say any of those five guys had a bad year...that they wouldn't want them on their team? No. Well, maybe the Montreal Canadiens would with Subban, but we digress. You can't turn the puck over if you don't have the puck on your stick. And these five guys have the puck on their sticks a lot. Doughty, in fact, led all players with a 58.1 Corsi percentage. That's a big reason why he won his first Norris Trophy this year.
Yet, if anyone were to be easily swayed by giveaway stats, they would likely think Doughty is a turnover machine and not worth having. Now look, some guys do turn the puck over too much, and the stats accurately portray them as shaky. Andrej Sekera, with Edmonton last year for instance, was charged with 82 giveaways in 81 games. But his Corsi percentage was only 49.1. He was a liability with the puck even when he had it, which wasn't very often.
The top five giveaway leaders, though, all had Corsis over 50. That's why the giveaway stat is the most deceiving in my book.
Read more: NHL Twitter Mailbag: What Is Hockey's Most Overrated Statistic? | Bleacher Report
Generally, I like all the possession stats, things like Corsi percentage and Fenwick, and I like the new iteration of stats that show where shots came from and how often certain players shoot from certain spots and the percentage of closer-in shots some goalies face than others.
If I have to name one overrated stat here, though, I'm going to go with "giveaways." How can it ever be good for a player to have a high number of giveaways or for their occurring at all to be considered insignificant? How is giving the puck away a lot not considered a horrible thing?
Well, let's take a look at the top five giveaway leaders, according to Sportscharts-com, in the league this past season, according to Sporting Charts. They were: 1, P.K. Subban (106); 2, Brent Burns (102); 3. Joe Thornton (98); 4, Drew Doughty (97) and, 5, Erik Karlsson (96).
Would anyone say any of those five guys had a bad year...that they wouldn't want them on their team? No. Well, maybe the Montreal Canadiens would with Subban, but we digress. You can't turn the puck over if you don't have the puck on your stick. And these five guys have the puck on their sticks a lot. Doughty, in fact, led all players with a 58.1 Corsi percentage. That's a big reason why he won his first Norris Trophy this year.
Yet, if anyone were to be easily swayed by giveaway stats, they would likely think Doughty is a turnover machine and not worth having. Now look, some guys do turn the puck over too much, and the stats accurately portray them as shaky. Andrej Sekera, with Edmonton last year for instance, was charged with 82 giveaways in 81 games. But his Corsi percentage was only 49.1. He was a liability with the puck even when he had it, which wasn't very often.
The top five giveaway leaders, though, all had Corsis over 50. That's why the giveaway stat is the most deceiving in my book.
Read more: NHL Twitter Mailbag: What Is Hockey's Most Overrated Statistic? | Bleacher Report
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
Manne wrote:
Oh goodie, a chance to tee off on analytics! First off, get off my lawn. Second, you can take your Corsi and. ... No, actually I'm not an anti-analytics guy. Do I think some of the new breed of stats are a bit tedious and borderline silly? Yeah. But overall, I'm a guy who believes the more information, the better.
Generally, I like all the possession stats, things like Corsi percentage and Fenwick, and I like the new iteration of stats that show where shots came from and how often certain players shoot from certain spots and the percentage of closer-in shots some goalies face than others.
If I have to name one overrated stat here, though, I'm going to go with "giveaways." How can it ever be good for a player to have a high number of giveaways or for their occurring at all to be considered insignificant? How is giving the puck away a lot not considered a horrible thing?
Well, let's take a look at the top five giveaway leaders, according to Sportscharts-com, in the league this past season, according to Sporting Charts. They were: 1, P.K. Subban (106); 2, Brent Burns (102); 3. Joe Thornton (98); 4, Drew Doughty (97) and, 5, Erik Karlsson (96).
Would anyone say any of those five guys had a bad year...that they wouldn't want them on their team? No. Well, maybe the Montreal Canadiens would with Subban, but we digress. You can't turn the puck over if you don't have the puck on your stick. And these five guys have the puck on their sticks a lot. Doughty, in fact, led all players with a 58.1 Corsi percentage. That's a big reason why he won his first Norris Trophy this year.
Yet, if anyone were to be easily swayed by giveaway stats, they would likely think Doughty is a turnover machine and not worth having. Now look, some guys do turn the puck over too much, and the stats accurately portray them as shaky. Andrej Sekera, with Edmonton last year for instance, was charged with 82 giveaways in 81 games. But his Corsi percentage was only 49.1. He was a liability with the puck even when he had it, which wasn't very often.
The top five giveaway leaders, though, all had Corsis over 50. That's why the giveaway stat is the most deceiving in my book.
Read more: NHL Twitter Mailbag: What Is Hockey's Most Overrated Statistic? | Bleacher Report
And ultimately, defensive end Will Clarke should take the most blame for the play, ... Another vastly overrated statistic, to me, is interceptions.
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Most teams have already done much of the heavy work in terms of filling their biggest needs and getting in position for success in 2015-16, but none of the 30 organizations are close to done with their offseason transactions. Pressing issues still need to be sorted out in various spots, whether it's an embattled player or needing to open up some salary space to get under the cap.
From the players still on the market to others who could be swapping jerseys in the coming days, let's take a look at the latest names being talked about.
Read more: NHL Rumors: Latest Roundup on Potential Trades and Free-Agency Moves | Bleacher Report