Kukla's Korner Hockey
The Montreal Canadiens Are Having A Season Of Futility
by Paul on 01/26/22 at 08:37 AM ET
Comments (0)
from Stu Cowan of the Montreal Gazette,
This could end up being the worst team in Canadiens history.
In 1939-40, the Canadiens finished in last place in the seven-team NHL with a 10-33-5 record and a .260 winning percentage.
This season, the Canadiens reached the midway point with an 8-2 loss to the Wild Monday night in Minnesota , leaving them in last place in the 32-team NHL with an 8-26-7 record and a .280 winning percentage.
One thing the 1939-40 Canadiens were able to do that this year’s team hasn’t done so far is win two games in a row. The 1939-40 team did that three times.
The worst team in NHL history was the 1974-75 expansion Washington Capitals, who finished with an 8-67-5 record for a .131 winning percentage. They never won two games in a row.
The Canadiens look like they could match that this season.
Just when it appeared the Canadiens might be making some headway, going 1-0-2 in their previous three games, they were totally outplayed in Minnesota. As one fan noted on Twitter: “At least there’s no cannon like in Columbus.”
Filed in: NHL Teams, Montreal Canadiens, | KK Hockey | Permalink
NHL Short Notes
by Paul on 01/26/22 at 05:54 AM ET
Comments (0)
* For the first time in over 30 years, the NHL has a new “Ironman” as Keith Yandle passed Doug Jarvis for sole possession of the longest consecutive games played streak in League history.
* Sidney Crosby collected the 155th three-point game of his NHL career, while Joe Pavelski posted multiple points for the fourth time in his last five appearances.
* Colorado can claim its 17th consecutive home win as the Avalanche welcome the Bruins to Ball Arena Wednesday.
Filed in: NHL Teams, | KK Hockey | Permalink
Video- Jonathan Drouin On His Absence Last Spring In Montreal
by Paul on 01/25/22 at 10:54 PM ET
Comments (0)
via TSN's YouTube page,
Recently, the Canadiens placed Jonathan Drouin on the injured reserve with a lower body injury. Inconvenient for sure, but nothing compared to the reason he had to leave the team last April, which had him miss Montreal's Stanley Cup run. Drouin later explained he was dealing with mental health issues - including anxiety and insomnia. The Canadiens forward sat down with TSN's John Lu to discuss how he's dealing with it now.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Montreal Canadiens, | KK Hockey | Permalink
Video- Drake Batherson Out With Ankle Injury
by Paul on 01/25/22 at 10:15 PM ET
Comments (0)
Batherson will be out long term. DJ Smith says he won’t go to the all star game. It’s an an ankle injury.
Smith calls the play “ridiculous” and says Dell has a history for doing what he did to Batherson.
Smith it’s tough. “Our best leading scorer is going to be out and it didn’t have to happen.”
Watch the injury below.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Ottawa Senators, | KK Hockey | Permalink
Keith Yandle Plays In His 965th Consecutive Game In The NHL
by Paul on 01/25/22 at 07:43 PM ET
Comments (0)
via the NHL PR department,
Flyers defenseman Keith Yandle skated in his 965th consecutive regular-season game Tuesday and passed Doug Jarvis (964 GP from Oct. 8, 1975–Oct. 10, 1987) for sole possession of the longest “Ironman” streak in League history.
* Jarvis had held the distinction since Dec. 26, 1986, when he played in his 915th straight contest to grab the League record from Garry Unger (914 GP from Feb. 24, 1968–Dec. 21, 1979). Jarvis extended his career-opening streak to 964 consecutive games before it ended when he was sent down to the Binghamton Whalers of the AHL.
* When Yandle’s run began on March 26, 2009: Instagram had not yet officially launched; the first Uber ride had yet to happen; Netflix was not available in Canada; Barack Obama was two months into his first term as President of the United States; and it had been less than a year since Iron Man (2008) began the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Philadelphia Flyers, | KK Hockey | Permalink
Impressed Or Not?
by Paul on 01/25/22 at 02:52 PM ET
Comments (7)
What team (s) has/have impressed you the most at this point of the season?
Me- Florida, Colorado, Tampa and Nashville.
Now for the disappointing teams?
Me- Philadelphia, Montreal, NYI and Ottawa (they had high expectations from inside the organization).
You?
Filed in: NHL Teams, | KK Hockey | Permalink
Does Connor McDavid Want Out Of Edmonton?
by Paul on 01/25/22 at 09:13 AM ET
Comments (3)
from Stan Fischler at the Hockey News,
Do you believe that Connor McDavid wants to spend the rest of his hockey-playing life in Edmonton? I don't.
Did Wayne Gretzky? No. The Great One loved L.A.
Did Mark Messier? No. He loved New York.
Or, recent Hall of Famer Kevin Lowe? No again. (See Mess)
At least the above trio previously had enjoyed Stanley Cup years in The True North. So far, Lord Connor has known nothing but cold and cold-hearted underachieving Oilers sextets.
As Rob Tychkowski noted in The Hockey News Yearbook: McDavid has "One playoff win to show for the first six years of his NHL career."
You'd think he'd tell his battery of agents, marketeers and assorted other reps something akin to "Enough already! Get me outa here!"
Granted that Edmonton ranks among the all-time intense hockey cities, overflowing with super-intelligent fans and writers who can tell the expiration dates on Official NHL Pucks.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Edmonton Oilers, | KK Hockey | Permalink
Video- Sometimes A Video Doesn’t Tell The Story
by Paul on 01/25/22 at 09:05 AM ET
Comments (5)
from Michael Traikos of the National Post,
I’ve watched — and re-watched — the video of Jacob Panetta shrugging his shoulders towards Jordan Subban during an ECHL game on the weekend many times in the past 48 hours.
To me, it did not look like it was racially motivated. But I wasn’t on the ice. More importantly, I’m not black.
So I don’t know — and I can’t know — what must have been going through Jordan Subban’s mind when he saw an opponent making what looked like “monkey gestures” at him. To Subban, who is black, it must have looked similar to the racist gesture that occurred days earlier in the American Hockey League, when a player made a racial gesture towards Boko Imama.
Panetta, who was released from his team and suspended indefinitely, said that wasn’t the case.
In an interview with Postmedia on Monday night, the 26-year-old claimed he was only making “a tough-guy, muscle-flexing pose” towards Subban and that it got misinterpreted. It’s the same gesture Panetta said he has made many times before. There’s even video evidence to back that up, as well as of Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson doing the same thing at the NHL level.
Watch the incident below.
Filed in: Non-NHL Hockey, Minor League, | KK Hockey | Permalink
NHL Short Notes
by Paul on 01/25/22 at 04:34 AM ET
Comments (0)
* Keith Yandle skated in his 964th consecutive regular-season game and tied Doug Jarvis for the longest “Ironman” streak in NHL history. Yandle is set to pass Jarvis when the Flyers visit the Islanders Tuesday.
* Chris Kreider reached the 30-goal mark in a single season for the first time in his career and overtook top spot in the NHL’s 2021-22 Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy race.
* Minnesota matched a franchise record with eight goals as Kirill Kaprizov joined elite company by recording his 100th career point in 92 contests.
Filed in: NHL Teams, | KK Hockey | Permalink
Emilie Castonguay Continues Her Journey
by Paul on 01/24/22 at 07:23 PM ET
Comments (2)
from Ben Kuzma of the Vancouver Province,
Jim Rutherford promised to cast a wide and diversified hiring net. On Monday, the Vancouver Canucks ‘ president of hockey operations and interim general manager delivered by hiring Émilie Castonguay as the club’s assistant general manager.
Castonguay, who had a vision board to plot her preferred career destination and job description, becomes the first female AGM in team history and continues the hockey operations department re-shape after John Weisbrod and Chris Gear were fired last month.
“It’s a big day, a historic day, and it goes to show that women have a place in sports and in hockey,” Castonguay said during a Zoom conference call from Montreal. “Obviously, I’m starting as assistant general manager and we’ll see where that takes me. I’ve always had high aspirations in my career, and in life in general. I’ll start with this for now.
“I’ve had (a personal vision) board for over five or six years, and on it I had written a certain age and Vancouver beside it. I wanted to be in Vancouver at that point in my life and I didn’t know how I was going to get there — whether working as an agent or with the NHL — but I turn that age in about a month and a half. It’s pretty awesome that it worked out that way.
“Vancouver was a no-brainer — a good, young team that is hungry to win. I’m just really happy to be part of the journey.”
Filed in: NHL Teams, Vancouver Canucks, | KK Hockey | Permalink
About Kukla's Korner Hockey
Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.
From breaking news to in-depth stories around the league, KK Hockey is updated with fresh stories all day long and will bring you the latest news as quickly as possible.
Email Paul anytime at pk@kuklaskorner.com
