Articles in NHL Talk

from John Lane of the NHL's website,

Artistic impression will come to life with the first live, animated NHL telecast when the Washington Capitals play the New York Rangers in the "NHL Big City Greens Classic" on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; ESPN+, Disney Channel, Disney XD, Disney+).

The alternate broadcast, inspired by Disney's Emmy-award winning comedy "Big City Greens," will feature live, real-time volumetric animation of players and teams modeled after characters on the show.

Steve Levy and Mark Messier will have the traditional broadcast of the regular-season game (7 p.m. ET; ESPN, ESPN+, SNE, SNP, TVAS and SN NOW) from Madison Square Garden, while Drew Carter and Kevin Weekes will call the special broadcast. In ESPN's Studio Z this past Friday, each wore motion capture suits working to display animation and respective avatars for the simulation modeled after characters from the show.

"I really want my curiosity to be deep, my excitement for it," said Weekes, a former NHL goalie. "Hopefully that ends up translating into the broadcast itself because we're being transported, certainly for me, I'll be transported into a different world. And more importantly, we want to be able to transport the viewer, the listener, into a different world.

"Not only are the players the artists, but so too are the characters, and now we're going to kind of merge and integrate those two in the storytelling via the animation and via that technology."

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from Sportsnet,

Sean Reynolds and Elliotte Friedman preview this week's GM meetings, looking at the role of the executive committee leading up the meetings and what issues on and off the ice will be discussed throughout the week.

watch at Sportsnet

via the YouTube page of Sportsnet,

Academy Award Nominated Filmmaker Sarah Polley lent her voice to this stirring Hockey Night In Canada intro and we challenge you not to get fired up!

from Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe,

Granted your faithful puck chronicler may have stared far too long at way too many NHL ice sheets (85 x 200 feet), but I’d like to see how (if?) play and scoring would change if both goal lines were moved 5 feet closer to center ice.

The idea would expand the length of each side’s offensive zone from 75 feet to 80 feet, and shrink the neutral zone from 50 to 40 feet. Nothing much fun happens between the blue lines, so if nothing else, the shift would make the Nothing Much Fun Happening Zone 20 percent smaller.

The goal lines, currently inked 11 feet from the rear wall (the same in the international game) would be at 16 feet, an increase of 45.5 percent in elbow room back there. It would effectively open up the sheet without having to enlarge the surface area.

Keep in mind: the NHL’s Lords of the Boards never will expand the sheet, be it by width or length. The cost of retrofitting existing buildings would be too high, and worse, it would mean fewer seats (all in high-cost loge territory) for box office inventory. If they ever make a change, it will be to shrink the area and add seats. That, friends of frozen water, you can take to the bank.

That added room behind the goal line would lead to offensive approaches not possible in today’s game. The extra space would encourage clubs, at even strength and on the power play, to design strategies for two forwards behind the net, likely force defensemen to chase them, and perhaps — praise be, ice gods — detangle that gnarled forest of legs, sticks, and skates in the high-percentage scoring areas in and between the faceoff circles.

more plus other topics including a look at Quinn Huges...

Even allowing for the dopey blackouts to protect some shitty RSN's interests while shutting out NHL fans in Montana, Idaho, and other places that are nowhere near an NHL city, how the f*** was Edmonton @ Boston last night only available via streaming on ESPN+ ? Seriously, what is the logic here? It's ESPN's 'Hockey Night' with a dream regular season match-up and cable/satellite subscribers were unable to watch because it was not being shown on television. Make it make sense.

-Rear Admiral of Bar Stool Sports has more on this topic.

from Rick Westhead of TSN,

Steve Montador had problems with alcohol and drugs before he played his first National Hockey League game, and agreed to assume the risks after being warned numerous times by team doctors and trainers about the long-term dangers of playing after suffering repeated concussions, the NHL said in a new court filing.

“During his life, Montador struggled with substance abuse, depression, anxiety, insomnia and strained/abusive personal relationships,” the NHL wrote. “Despite being repeatedly made aware of and informed about potential long-term risks of head injuries, including CTE, by numerous individuals as detailed above, Montador continued to play in the NHL for years.”

The NHL alleges Montador had developed a cocaine addiction and had been using ecstasy by 2003-04, his second full season in the NHL. The league made the allegations in a statement of defence filed on Tuesday, four months after a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Paul Montador, Steve’s father, was transferred from U.S. federal court to Illinois state court.

Paul Montador has alleged the NHL has promoted and profited off of violence while not adequately advising players of the risks of repeated long-term brain injuries. He first filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the NHL in December of 2015.

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from The Athletic,

NHL teams continue to struggle with how to handle Pride jerseys, with the Wild following in the footsteps of the Rangers and scrapping plans for players to wear them on the organization’s Pride Night on March 7.

In particular, this issue has arisen for teams with prominent Russian players since that country’s anti-gay laws were amended in early December, per the New York Times, to make it “illegal to spread ‘propaganda’ about ‘nontraditional sexual relations’ in all media, including social, advertising and movies.”

The Flyers also had one player (Russian defenseman Ivan Provorov) opt out of warmups with his teammates on their Pride Night in January because he didn’t want to wear the team’s Pride jersey, citing his Russian Orthodox religious beliefs.

The Wild abandoned their plans to don Pride jerseys out of concern for Russian players. Star forward Kirill Kaprizov, notably, had a difficult journey back to the United States after returning to Russia this past offseason.

The Rangers, who also have several prominent Russian players, cited “individual right to respectfully express their beliefs” in not wearing the jerseys after announcing they would.

Russian Penguins star Evgeni Malkin, on the other hand, did wear a Pride jersey on the team’s Pride Night on Dec. 12, just after Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the new legislation on Dec. 5.

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from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun,

It is all but certain – as it should be – that Henrik Lundqvist will be elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame this year.

He has the numbers. He has the credentials. He had a career with the New York Rangers that few goaltenders will ever match and that should see him elected without much question or debate as a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

And it is all but certain – with questions needing to be asked – that Curtis Joseph will be passed over for the Hall once again, just as he has for the last 10 years, without much hand-wringing, public arguing, or debate.

Joseph won 454 games for the six NHL teams he played for. That’s five fewer wins than Lundqvist, who played his entire career with the Rangers. Of the Top 12 winning goalies of all-time, nine are in the Hall, Marc-Andre Fleury is still playing, and Lundqvist has yet to be elected – which leaves Joseph alone.
The only goalie of the Top 12 to not be in the Hall of Fame or seemingly headed there.

Goaltenders, historically, have not gotten their complete share of Hall of Fame attention. Tom Barrasso, with two Stanley Cups from the Pittsburgh Penguins, is not in the Hall. Mike Vernon, with two Stanley Cups and a 32-9 won-loss record in those championship playoff seasons, is not in the Hall. Some people believe Chris Osgood belongs in the Hall – and I’m not one of them – after being part of three Cup champions in Detroit.

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The All-Star Game is trending in the wrong direction. Guys want to be in spots that are enjoyable to be in. They want to be in nice cities or warm cities. It's a long season. The game itself is a small portion of that weekend. You want to be able to enjoy it a bit. When everyone else is going on trips and enjoying themselves during the break, you don't want to be stuck in Edmonton when it's minus-30 or in Detroit. You want to be able to enjoy it.

Who is it?

from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun,

In Orr’s prime in Boston, there was no one close to him. In his six 100-point seasons, unheard of for a defenceman then or now, he scored 734 points. By comparison, the great Stan Mikita, multiple Hart Trophy winner, scored 477 through those years.

In Gretzky’s prime, there was no one close to him. In his NHL career, he scored 2,857 points. That was 1,197 more than anyone who played opposite him.

Lemieux didn’t play enough games to outscore Gretzky, career-wise, but in the 13 seasons before he retired the first time, he scored 2.01 points per game; Gretzky was second at 1.90 a game. Lemieux scored 78 playoff points in the two Pittsburgh championships in the `90s. Those remain unheard-of numbers.

Which is what McDavid is doing now with the Oilers.

He leads the NHL in goals scored, assists, and points right now. That doesn’t happen often. Gretzky did it five times. Lemieux did it twice. McDavid has eight goals more than David Pastrnak with a quarter of the season to go. He has 34 more points than anyone who doesn’t play for the Oilers. He has 45 more points than Mitch Marner, 49 more points than Sidney Crosby, and twice as many points as Auston Matthews.

Crosby has played for three Stanley Cup winners, and two Olympic gold championship teams, in a career unparalleled in hockey today. No one of this era has excelled and won the way Crosby has won. That’s all that’s missing from the growing McDavid resume.

He has separated himself from the pack, the way Orr did, the way Gretzky and Lemieux managed, the way only a handful of hockey players have ever separated themselves from the pack in their times. He will win his third Hart Trophy this season, and it should be a consensus victory. If there is a Mt. Rushmore of NHL talent — and this is with apologies to the late Gordie Howe — the carvings should be reserved for Orr, Gretzky, Lemieux, and now McDavid.

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from Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic,

Are we looking at a trend or a one-off?

No one can say for sure, of course, but the unprecedented number of trades in the period leading up to Friday’s NHL trade deadline sure makes you wonder.

Is this how it’s going to be from now on?

It was rather unbelievable for the league, at least. Quality and quantity. Day after day after day for weeks. Banger after banger....

But in all seriousness, is this the way the NHL is going to conduct business in the weeks leading up to the deadline, going forward?

The first word on it goes to a general manager who has half a century of trade deadlines under his belt.

“My two cents: I think we’re very competitive people, and I don’t think it’s necessarily a trend. I think every year is different,” retiring Predators GM David Poile told The Athletic. “I believe in a domino effect — that certain things happen and people react to that, whether they were planning to or not.

“I think the (Bo) Horvat deal was a big deal that got things kicked off, and things just snowballed from there.”

read on ($)

from Larry Brooks of the New York Post,

George Parros is useless in his job as senior vice president of the NHL’s ironically named Department of Player Safety. He acts as a human guardrail against prosecuting predators. That apparently was the job description when he was hired following a 474-game NHL career in which the Princeton product picked up 1,092 penalty minutes and engaged in 158 fights (per HockeyFights) while recording 18 goals and 18 assists.

If the NHL is going to go into contortions to excuse a prior offender such as Austin Watson after he charged Tyler Motte and simultaneously thrust himself upward to deliver a headshot with his elbow and shoulder, then the department should be disbanded.

It is as if the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau were working in concert with banks and credit card companies.

This isn’t the first time Watson has committed a similar offense. He was suspended for two games for an elbow and shoulder to Boston defenseman Jack Alcahn just last February. That was his second two-game suspension. Motte is all but certainly concussed.

Yet the Department of Player Safety, with full endorsement of the league and Board of Governors, finds a way to legitimize hits to the head by splitting infinitives between initial conduct and secondary conduct as if the brain knows or cares. Truly, it is beyond me why team owners authorize this type of woefully titled supplementary discipline system that increases the likelihood of injury.

continued plus more topics...

from Alex Sherman of CNBC,

• ESPN has talked with major sports leagues and media partners about launching a feature that would link users directly to where a live sporting event is streaming, sources said.
• The actual media partners haven’t yet been determined, and there’s no timeline on when a feature would launch.
• It could involve global streaming services and direct-to-consumer regional sports network products, and would aim to make ESPN the TV guide of live sports.

Disney’s ESPN wants to be the hub for all live sports streaming — even for its competition.

The sports network has held conversations with major sports leagues and media partners about launching a feature on ESPN.com and its free ESPN app that will link users directly to where a live sporting event is streaming, according to people familiar with the matter.

That could include national or global streaming services, such as Apple TV+ and Amazon Prime Video, or a regional sports service such as Sinclair’s Bally Sports+ or Madison Square Garden Entertainment’s MSG+.

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from Paul Friesen of the Winnipeg Sun,

Anybody else out there think the NHL’s annual trade deadline has gotten out of control?

This time of year used to produce strategic moves by a handful of teams who believed they had a real shot at winning the Stanley Cup.

All they needed was “the missing piece,” the forward or defenceman to put them over the top. Most moves took surgical precision from a GM, with one eye on his salary cap, the other on team chemistry.

That’s all out the window in favour of a week-long free-for-all, a greedy grab at any object that looks a little shinier than the one in a rival dressing room.

The scene resembles the first day of trading on the floor of a commodities exchange.

GMs don’t have to be shrewd talent evaluators as much as financial gymnasts.

read on

from Larry Brooks of the New York Post,

The only way this NHL trade deadline could be more dramatic and entertaining is if the league and the Players’ Association would agree to allow teams to expressly trade cap space instead of the wink-nod bartering of it by dealing long-retired legends inhabiting long-term injury lists across the league.

Be serious, were you even as remotely shocked as I that Shea Weber waived his no-move to go to Arizona?

Amending the collective bargaining agreement to allow pay-for-play deals would promote and provoke a veritable orgy at the marketplace. It would also increase the escrow calculation, however, which is pretty likely a nonstarter position to endorse for an executive director just assuming office, as is the PA’s Marty Walsh. The rule also likely protects big-market contenders from themselves.

But it sure would produce a lot more fun and a fair amount of additional chaos into the period that defines the deadline.

continue for more hockey topics...

The sites and sounds from the Stadium Series weekend and game between Carolina and Washington.

from Bill Shea and Daniel Kaplan of The Athletic,

If you have questions about the future of your team’s live games on your local cable, satellite or digital provider, particularly those on Bally Sports channels, we’re here to answer with what we know so far.

Diamond Sports Group, the Baltimore-based corporate parent of the 19 Bally Sports channels that air 47 NBA, MLB, NHL and WNBA teams, announced Feb. 15 that it would skip a $140 million debt payment due that day and use the month-long grace period as part of its effort to financially reorganize itself.

Many observers interpret the move as a precursor to a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, though that is not a certainty. Diamond has $8 billion-plus of debt, incurred as part of parent Sinclair’s 2019 purchase of the regional sports channels, and lost $1.2 billion in the most recent fiscal quarter.

“Certainly more likely that they will file bankruptcy because they did not make the payment,” said Schuyler Carroll, a bankruptcy attorney who is not connected to Diamond. “But not necessarily that they will file bankruptcy. They are still continuing discussions with their creditors to try and avoid bankruptcy. But those can often be difficult.”

Diamond in a Feb. 15 statement said it “intends to use the 30-day grace period to continue progressing its ongoing discussions with creditors and other key stakeholders regarding potential strategic alternatives and deleveraging transactions to best position Diamond Sports Group for the future.”...

Here’s an FAQ on what we know about the Diamond Sports situation and about how watching your teams — and paying to watch them — may be affected. This story will be updated as news develops.

Will I still be able to watch my teams?

If a bankruptcy occurs and Diamond stops rights fee payments, the three men’s leagues — MLB, NHL and NBA — are putting in place contingency plans to make sure fans can watch. And in the case of MLB, that league almost seems to be hoping for this. Just how you watch, who broadcasts or streams them, and how much you pay after a bankruptcy reorganization is all still unknown.

The NHL and NBA are toward the end of their regular seasons and most rights fees for the 2022-23 year have been paid. But MLB has the whole season coming up. Commissioner Rob Manfred this week has been outspoken that MLB has a plan and is ready to step in and produce the games. And he sees a silver lining: Currently, most of the RSN deals with distributors ban streaming of the games (if you are a cable company, digital streaming can take away viewers). By ripping up all those deals in a bankruptcy, MLB can then package digital with linear TV....

more ($) plus other FAQs...

RALEIGH, N.C. (Feb. 17, 2023) – A look at the 2023 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series “By the Numbers.”

1 – The Carolina Hurricanes are set to play in their first NHL regular-season outdoor game on Feb. 18 in the 2023 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series. The Hurricanes will become the 28th NHL team to play in an NHL regular-season outdoor game.

2 – Number of individuals in the NHL’s expansion era to play 10-plus seasons and coach five-plus seasons with the same franchise. Besides current Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour (10 from 1999-00 – 2009-10; 5 from 2018-19 – Present), Lindy Ruff (10 from 1979-80 – 1988-89; 15 from 1997-98 – 2012-13 w/ BUF) is the only other to do so.

NEW YORK (Feb. 16, 2023) – The NHL is set to debut a new series giving fans an unprecedented inside look at the NHL’s marquee events and star players. Produced by NHL Original Productions, the first one-hour special in the series will be NHL BTS: 2023 NHL All-Star Show on Saturday, Feb. 18 on ESPN+ and YouTube/NHL.com, on NHL Network at 12:30pm ET, and on Sportsnet at 5 p.m. ET.

The first episode in the documentary-style series features sit-down interviews with several of this year’s NHL All-Star players, coaches and special guests, as well as behind-the-scenes moments from Media Day, the 2023 Honda NHL® All-Star Game and every competition at the 2023 NHL All-Star Skills™ presented by DraftKings Sportsbook, including exclusive access to the taping of two new outdoor All-Star Skills events – Chipotle NHL Pitch ‘n Puck and the Enterprise NHL Splash Shot.

from Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet,

- Before we get back to more deadline considerations, wanted to address a continuing story. On Wednesday, Diamond Sports Group announced it would skip a $140-million payment, thereby entering a 30-day grace period that most likely leads to a bankruptcy filing. It’s not the most front-facing sports story, but it is a monumental business development.

Many of our great U.S.-based fans watch regional NHL games on Bally’s, which is owned by Diamond. This collapse is being felt across hockey, MLB and the NBA with more than 40 teams and almost $1.8 billion in rights fees at risk. The NHL had a Board of Governors meeting hours after the announcement. Best I can gather, there is still no absolute clarity where this is going. The good news is teams are expecting to be paid for the time being, the bad news is, apparently, some teams have been warned it will not be the full amount....

- Spent a lot of time watching Patrick Kane the last few games. There’s a few things I think here. First and foremost, I think reality setting in has been an enormous shock. No matter what was pitched to him, or what he was told, it sure seems like there was hope/desire to stay at least another season. Barring that, the Rangers were his first choice. Now, we’re not looking at either option, so he’s stunned.

People who know Kane are convinced he’s still got plenty to offer and badly desires to show it somewhere else. Wednesday in Toronto was a perfect opportunity to make a splash on a massive stage, but it was an ugly 5-2 loss. I understand how much losing sucks, and he’s reeling from what’s happening. But he’s got to do two things: let everyone know where he’s willing to go (if anywhere) and put on a show in the meantime. Kane clearly is annoyed about the speculation surrounding his hip, but he’s got to show it’s not an issue....

- Holland has said he’s wary of players who tend to have injury issues, which is why I think he’d hesitate on Joel Edmundson. No doubt Edmundson would cherish that kind of a playoff opportunity, though.

Same goes for Tyler Bertuzzi, who Holland drafted in Detroit. As Jeff Marek reported, Dallas and Tampa Bay are there, as well. The Stars are searching for another scorer.

more on the first two topics plus other notes...

from John Matisz of The Score,

Which wolf are you feeding?

That's a question Justin Bourne, the former pro hockey player turned Sportsnet NHL analyst, ponders daily. Like the rest of us, Bourne feeds either his inner good wolf or his inner bad wolf with every decision he makes.

This past Sunday, Bourne's daughter Molly suddenly wanted to "play superheroes" in the basement of the family's Toronto home. The timing wasn't ideal, as the Super Bowl was about to kick off. Bourne fed the good wolf, though, and chose Molly's contentment over the game's opening 10 minutes.

"If I were still drinking," the 40-year-old Bourne said, "I wouldn't have been there for her.

"It's a little thing, right? But I feel like I did the right thing. And, on large, I'm just trying to remind myself that when faced with those decisions - big or small - more food needs to go to the good wolf than the bad wolf in order for me to feel like I'm in control of my life."

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from Dan Robson of The Athletic,

Since October, we’ve been counting down the top 100 NHL players of the post-expansion era. We called it NHL99 because we all knew the list would stop at No. 99. So here is the final installment of The Athletic’s best 100 players in modern NHL history....

It was never a secret.

Not here, on The Athletic’s list of the 100 greatest players of the NHL’s modern era — a series titled NHL99, because the top spot was so apparent.

Not anywhere.

It hasn’t been a secret since he was a boy filling hockey rinks across Ontario. Famous by the time he was 10 and scoring 378 goals as an 11-year-old peewee with the Nadrofsky Steelers in Brantford. From the start, Gretzky was on course to be the greatest to have played.

At the core, Gretzky’s appeal was the magic conjured. He traveled through time each game, knowing where each player would be and where the puck was heading. His vision made opponents appear stuck in the past.

Gretzky wasn’t entirely alone in his rare genius. Mario Lemieux and Orr both wielded similar superpowers and their enthusiasts, Gretzky included, will argue they ought to hold an equal status on the pantheon.

But Gretzky’s greatness is measured in the staggering magnitude of his record. It’s in his 2,857 NHL points — with, famously, enough assists that if he’d never scored a goal he would still be the league’s all-time points leader with 1,963.

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from Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet,

- For the record, Jim Rutherford denies he is considering resigning from the Canucks. Vancouver’s got a lot of decisions to make, on and off the ice, but he’s determined to lead that process.

- We’re going to have a better idea what Kane and Jonathan Toews are thinking around 10 days before the March 3 deadline. On some level, they hoped that there could be a way to stay, but that’s dissipating. The Blackhawks want to move on and the reality of what Chicago is doing has set in on both. The big question is, how many teams both players are willing to consider. A few players at All-Star praised Kane for playing through something that clearly is bothering him, especially since Chicago is hoping what they get in return benefits the rebuild.

- We’ll see if Bo Horvat’s eight-year, $68-million extension moves the line for Larkin and Steve Yzerman. Generally, Yzerman digs a trench and doesn’t go much further, although Nikita Kucherov pushed Tampa Bay’s ceiling to $9.5-million two months before Yzerman resigned from the team. I don’t believe that’s where we’re going here, but what it shows is that sometimes, things can move.

Larkin’s best attribute is that, as a centre, he’s difficult to replace. Top-line centres are very hard to find. My guess is this ends somewhere in the eights. If Yzerman believed he couldn’t sign Larkin, he would have traded him last summer before the captain’s no-trade clause kicked in.

- I thought an 84-game schedule might be on the docket in March’s GM meetings, now I’m not so sure. What I do think we could get is a discussion on cutting down the number of pre-season games.

more Thoughts