Articles in NHL Teams

from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun,

- Sometimes you need a different voice, a different style. Cassidy had gone stale in Boston and is now showing his stuff in Vegas. DeBoer was pushed out in Vegas and Dallas is playing like a contender in the West.

There’s little doubt owners will watch this trend to see how it plays out over an entire season. Nine teams begin this season with new coaches — 10 if you count Martin St. Louis in Montreal. Thus far, the biggest surprises in the NHL — Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Vegas, Dallas — all of them with new bench bosses.

- When the Maple Leafs fired Mike Babcock in November of 2019, they did so for a laundry list of reasons. Their record was only 9-10-4. They had relinquished more goals against than they had scored. Their play was sloppy and listless. Their effort level was well below expectations. The players and the coach had clearly lost each other. Now here we are, coming up to November of 2022, and the Leafs have lost to three of the NHL’s worst teams in their first eight games. No one other than Ilya Samsonov is playing beyond expectations. It makes you wonder, with more pressure from within than there has been in the past, with ownership more involved, whether the Leafs are heading to a similar place with Sheldon Keefe. And if they are, who does that say more about: The coach, general manager Kyle Dubas, or the players he and others have assembled?

- Just read John Shannon’s book, Evolve or Die. Highly recommend this for anyone who is passionate about hockey on television in Canada. The stories of Bobby Hull and Mike Palmateer, which make you laugh out loud, are among the best in the book.

- The top 10 scorers in the NHL as of Saturday: Three Russians, three Canadians, one Czech, one Swede, one German, one Norwegian. Not sure that’s ever happened before.

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“You keep confident. You keep working. You believe in your structure. You believe in your system. You believe in your teammates and the group that we have here and that's what we're gonna do."

-Morgan Rielly of the Toronto Maple Leafs after a 4-2 loss to the LA Kings. Luke Fox of Sportsnet has more and the game highlights are below.

* While players 23 and younger found their names all over score sheet for the Canadiens on Saturday, it was 26-year-old Christian Dvorak who completed a third-period hat trick and capped a Montreal comeback win.

* Nikita Kucherov and Brent Burns both propelled their clubs to victory and did so by scoring within the final 60 seconds of regulation and overtime, respectively.

* Matty Beniers has collected points in four straight games to boost his 2022-23 totals to 4-4—8 and overtake the points lead among all rookies this season.

from Adrian Dater of Colorado Hockey Now,

The Colorado Avalanche are going over to Finland all of next week to be good ambassadors for the game of hockey and, ostensibly, to enjoy themselves as reigning Stanley Cup champions. But there might just be a bag skate or two in the players’ near-term future after a total collapse against the New York Islanders in a game that seemed well in the bag before that.

Blowing a three-goal lead built through the first half of the hockey game, the Avalanche left the UBS Center as losers tonight. The final from Money-Makin’ Strong Island: Islanders 5, Colorado Avalanche 4.

Instead of a perfectly respectable 5-3-1 record heading to Finland, the Avalanche are the definition of mediocrity so far, at 4-4-1. It was already going to be a long plane ride to Helsinki tomorrow night. After this meltdown, the flight just got longer.

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Below, watch the Islanders score five consecutive goals.

As a hockey fan, it's not often I think about all those who work behind the scenes for an NHL hockey club.

from Matt Porter of the Boston Globe,

Every morning, Jeremy Swayman would walk into the workplace kitchen and engage in a playful shouting match with the guy running it.

“Beauty!” the Bruins goalie would holler.

“Beauty!” Keith Garman would holler back, a bit louder and longer.

They would escalate, back and forth, until the bit sent them toward ridiculous laughter.

“Every morning, Chef would say, ‘How we livin’?’ ” Swayman said. “And I would find a new word. ‘Swimmingly.’ Something fun. That was our thing.”

The Bruins entered the weekend as the hottest team in the NHL (8-1-0), but their mornings have been a lot less fun without their beloved chef.

On Oct. 11, the day before the Bruins’ season opener, Garman was playing in a pickup hockey game when he felt discomfort, left the ice, and collapsed. He died at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Brighton. He was 33.

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from Sam Carchidi of Philly Hockey Now,

Sean Couturier undewent another back surgery Thursday, the Philadelphia Flyers announced Satrday, and it’s fair to wonder if his career is in jeopardy.

It’s his second back surgery in 10 months. The Flyers say his “expected recovery time” is three to four months.

They also said last month that doctors said he would NOT need a second surgery.

In other words, it’s a guessing game.

No one really knows when he will return. No one really knows if he will be effective again or if he’ll be a shell of his former self, a one -time Selke Trophy winner as the NHL’s best defensive forward.

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from Ken Wiebe of Sportsnet,

The building was rocking and the mullets were flowing.

In short, the anticipation and build-up for the first NHL game at Mullett Arena actually lived up to the hype, as the music pulsated, the drum line banged away and the student section brought the electricity.

There was a sincere element of the unknown that came along with playing an NHL game on a college campus in a rink that only holds 5,000 fans and change.

The Coyotes provided a nod to their past and a glimpse of the future by having former captain Shane Doan and his son Josh (who is the captain of the Arizona State Sun Devils and a Coyotes draft pick) on hand for the ceremonial puck drop.

As expected, the bulk of those in the building were fans that were dressed in Coyotes gear, and they did their part to make sure this was a memorable atmosphere, chanting, cheering and clapping throughout.

There was definitely a college hockey vibe at times, with the chorus of “It’s all your fault” being directed at Jets goalie David Rittich after the two goals were allowed and the “You can’t do that” which was voiced toward the Jets players who committed an infraction and made their way to the penalty box.

There were some Jets fans that made the trek, along with a smattering of supporters of other teams, ranging from the Seattle Kraken to the Minnesota North Stars.

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Winnipeg won the game 3-2 in OT, highlights are below.

* Opening night at Mullett Arena in Tempe, Ariz., included an appearance by Shane Doan and his son, Josh Doan, a team-first achieved by Christian Fischer and a multi-goal comeback win in line with early trends in 2022-23.

* It was a night to remember for Islanders forward Josh Bailey, who capped his 1,000th NHL contest with a game-winning goal.

* The Avalanche (Saturday at NYI) and Blue Jackets (Sunday at NJD) each play one more game before heading overseas for two contests as part of the 2022 NHL Global Series in Tampere, Finland (Nov. 4-5, both at 2 p.m. ET).

from NHL.com,

Ethan Bear and Lane Pederson were traded to the Vancouver Canucks by the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday.

Carolina received a fifth-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft.

Bear, a defenseman, has not played an NHL game this season. He had 14 points (five goals, nine assists) in 58 games for Carolina last season and did not play in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The 25-year-old signed a one-year, $2.2 million contract with Carolina on July 28 and can become a restricted free agent after the season.

"We're pleased to have added an established defenceman to our blueline," Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin said of Bear. "It gives the coaching staff another option with his right shot, his ability to move pucks, and his ability to get the puck out of our own end quick. His transition game has been something that I've watched over the years that I like."

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from Sam Carchidi of Philly Hockey Now,

It was Throwback Thursday at the Wells Fargo Center, as the Philadelphia Flyers paid homage to their teams from the 1960s and 1970s with videos, appearances by former players, and music that had understandable lyrics. (Damn, I sound old.)

On the ice, the Flyers looked like a version of the 1969-70 team (17 wins in 76 games) in the opening 20 minutes Thursday, as they allowed a season-high 19 shots in the period and were badly outplayed and outhustled.

But they recovered, cashing in on their few chances against Sergei Bobrovsky.

Final: Flyers 4, Florida Panthers 3.

Somehow.

The Flyers (5-2) are in first place. The Flyers are in first place. The Flyers are in first place.

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Highlights are below.

from the CP at TSN,

Ilya Mikheyev scored his first two goals of the season and the Vancouver Canucks ended their season-opening losing streak at a franchise-record seven games, beating the Seattle Kraken 5-4 on Thursday night.

Elias Pettersson, Andrei Kuzmenko and Conor Garland each had a goal and had an assist to help coach Bruce Boudreau reach 600 NHL victories. Garland scored the winner into an empty net.

“Just to to hear the music in the (locker) room and knowing how hard they’ve practiced and they’ve never given up hope,” Boudreau said. “... The spirit has never been down where we’ve gone into a game and gone, ‘Oh, woe is me.’ So I think it was a great reward for them.”

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Game highlights are below

* Connor McDavid had his League-leading second hat trick of the season and birthday boy Leon Draisaitl scored the go-ahead goal with 37.6 seconds remaining in regulation to cap a frenetic contest at United Center which featured five tying tallies.

* Brad Marchand had three points in his return to the Bruins’ lineup as Boston extended its season-opening home winning streak and improved to 7-1-0 (14 points).

* Friday’s slate opens with new NHL “Ironman” Phil Kessel and the Golden Knights hosting the Ducks in a Nevada Day matinee at T-Mobile Arena.

His 12th career hat trick. Edmonton defeated Chicago 6-5.

from Jordan Hall of NBC Sports Philadelphia,

Sean Couturier's on-ice rehab work has come to a halt.

The Flyers' first-line center had been skating this month in his recovery from a back reinjury. But with a back issue, especially following a reinjury, it's such a wait-and-see approach every day.

"Pretty much," Couturier said Oct. 9. "At the same time, I really want to just get out there and rip some pucks and go 100 miles per hour, but the trainers are really kind of holding me back, just really trying to slowly progress me where I don't have any setbacks."

Couturier has endured a setback given he's no longer on the ice.

"He stopped skating," Flyers head coach John Tortorella said Thursday during the team's optional morning skate. "He's just not ready to skate right now. That's a ways, that's a ways away."

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from Larry Brooks of the New York Post,

After four straight defeats (0-2-2) in which the Rangers have scored a sum of five goals and only one on the power play (at five-on-three, no less), the first instinct might be to change things up for the sake of changing things up.

To do something for goodness sakes — to do anything! — to stop the club’s longest losing streak since Gerard Gallant went behind the bench at the start of last season.

But that is not how the 3-3-2 Rangers are processing things at the moment. To the contrary, according to Very Important People Mika Zibanejad and Artemi Panarin, who advise that this is not time to panic, not time to overthink it, but instead an occasion to stay the course.

“We can do things a little better, don’t get me wrong, but I feel we are doing the right thing a large part of the time and are just not getting the end result we want,” Zibanejad told The Post following the Blueshirts’ 3-0 defeat to the Islanders at UBS. “I think we have to be careful to understand that just because pucks are not going in that we shouldn’t abandon what we’re doing and look for a different play, or the next play.

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Game highlights are below.

from Greg Wyshynski of ESPN,

Is tanking worth it? Absolutely, when you're securing the services of a player like Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, Patrick Kane, Connor McDavid or Auston Matthews. Or probably of Connor Bedard, whose presence in the 2023 NHL draft class encouraged some teams' apparent self-imposed mediocrity before a single puck was dropped this season.

But not everyone respects the tank.

"Is it an effective way to rebuild? Yes, if you totally lack integrity and character. Because it attacks the very soul of the game," Pittsburgh Penguins president Brian Burke told me this week.

When Burke was a general manager and his team was mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, he would speak with the players. His message would be clear: Don't worry about where we'll end up drafting. Your job now is to "wreck teams' playoff hopes" and win as many games as possible.

While with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Burke remembers going to the TSN studios in Canada for the NHL draft lottery show and watching his peers' giddy anticipation of the drawing.

"Everyone was rubbing their hands together like little kids at Christmastime," he said. "Aren't we all embarrassed? Isn't this the most embarrassing thing that we do all year is come to the lottery? I was mortified."

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* Ilya Sorokin made 41 saves, recorded his 11th career shutout and joined rare company in the process as the Islanders stifled the Rangers in this season’s first “Battle of New York.”

* Jason Payne and Joel Martin manned the benches for the Cincinnati Cyclones and Kalamazoo Wings of the ECHL on Wednesday, likely marking the first time that two Black head coaches have gone head-to-head in a North American men’s pro hockey game.

* Shane Pinto can become the NHL’s first rookie to post a six-game goal streak since 2014-15 as his Senators look to win their fifth straight contest, all of which have come at Canadian Tire Centre.

from Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet,

- Vancouver has two points in seven games. I can find one team that made the playoffs since 2005-06 in a full 82-game season despite such a poor start. That was 2013-14 Philadelphia, which was 1-6. The Flyers went 41-24-10 to get there.

Of all the things Jim Rutherford said in his riveting After Hours appearance with Scott Oake, this is the most relevant right now: “We may very well be in a rebuild in the direction we’re going. But ideally, we’d like to transition this team on the fly. We do have some core players, some young players that are really good.”...

- Several sources described Bettman’s revelation that the cap could go up $4M next season as “ambitious,” but have also indicated that the league legitimately believes this is possible based on early-season revenue projections. While I was surprised at the possibility, I wasn’t surprised that Bettman would paint an optimistic picture. That’s what he’s always done, and we shouldn’t expect otherwise. It’s also very possible he wants to show that the NHL is a healthy investment in a challenging economy. One of the indicators to watch is the Canadian dollar. Apparently, the estimates include a valuation of the Canadian buck at 75 cents.

- I see some of your DMs about the board advertising. I do think everyone is looking at solutions for horizontal movement. Vertical doesn’t seem to be as much of an issue.

- Love, love, love Mickey Redmond’s nickname for the Michael Rasmussen, Elmer Soderblom, Oskar Sundqvist line: The Treesome. And if Redmond says it, you know Red Wings fans accept it.

more Thoughts

Eight minutes for all the goals.

from Michael Traikos of the National Post,

Something has to give when you start the season 0-5-2. And unfortunately for Boudreau, who took over from Travis Green last December after a similarly ugly 8-15-2 start, the easiest thing might be canning the coach.

“There’s been a number of tough years in Vancouver. Everyone’s frustrated,” Canucks president Jim Rutherford said in a phone interview on Tuesday. “Certainly when you have a record like we do, sometimes you get put in a position that you don’t want to be in.”

After all, we all knew the Canucks weren’t going to challenge for a Stanley Cup this year. But after Boudreau went 32-15-10 last year — a 106-point pace — the hope was that they would challenge for a playoff spot. At the very least, they should be competitive. Not setting records for blown multi-goal leads or getting blown out by the Buffalo Sabres. Or playing so poorly that fans were tossing jerseys and booing the team off the ice in the home opener. ...

This is the worst start in the franchise’s history. The Canucks are the only team in the NHL without a win. And that’s in a league where Arizona, Chicago and others are trying to tank for a chance at drafting top prospect Connor Bedard.

“I don’t want to say I’m not surprised what’s happened here,” said Rutherford. “I am surprised that we haven’t won a game at this point, but I‘m not totally surprised at what’s going on.”

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from Joshua Clipperton of the CP at CBC,

The Coyotes begin life at Arizona State University on Friday when they host the Winnipeg Jets following a six-game road trip to open the schedule....

Everything's brand new," Arizona winger Clayton Keller said of Mullett Arena's cozy confines. "We'll just go from there. The atmosphere will be cool. There's standing bleachers behind the net, which no NHL team has.

"It's unique and brings a different aspect."

There were inevitable jokes made when Arizona's move to an arena — which is named for a prominent ASU donor family — that's a fraction the size of the league's other 31 venues was announced, but NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said it will benefit the franchise both now and in the future.

"Full building every night," he said. "It could help the team and player performance when you have that type of environment....

As for playing in a 5,000-seat facility, NHL stars have mixed feelings.

"Certainly gonna be different," Edmonton captain Connor McDavid said. "Not really too sure what to expect. Definitely hope it works out."

"I don't know," Colorado centre Nathan MacKinnon added with a smile. "We'll see, I guess."

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added 12:53pm, Below, check out the dressing room for the visitors for the first 4 games.

Sometimes goofy is good.

from Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times,

The trio of Climate Pledge Arena matchups presents an opportunity for the Kraken in their bigger, ongoing battle to define for local fans what type of team they’ll be. Establishing a stronger on-ice identity would be a step toward greater relevance in a market where their season debut was overshadowed by the playoff Mariners. They’ll also compete for attention in coming months with the surprising first-place Seahawks.

Through seven games entering Tuesday’s matchup against Buffalo, the Kraken showed signs of escaping their placement among the NHL’s bottom rungs. And that would be critical to making them a hotter ticket and filling some of the ample empty seats at an officially “sold out” home arena, where the Kraken failed to win their first three games.

But wanting it and actually going out and getting it done are different things.

This team is fast becoming a case study for glass-half-full, glass-half-empty factions. Optimists point to wins at Los Angeles and Colorado amid a .500 performance in five consecutive games against expected playoff squads as proof that the Kraken can contend all season.

And that ability to hang around, lending importance to games not just now but down the road in March and perhaps April, will be the true measuring stick for Kraken success. Expansion team or not, nobody running the Kraken expected them to perform as poorly as they did last season, and there is zero appetite within the fledgling organization for another campaign filled with struggles to build value in the product they’re trying to sell.

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