Kukla's Korner Hockey

from Luke Fox of Sportsnet,

Patrick Roy is ready and open to a National Hockey League return.

That message was broadcasted by his new agent, Neil Glasberg, on Monday when Glasberg fired off a tweet destined to pop up in the feeds of NHL owners and managers.

Roy, the 55-year-old Hockey Hall of Famer and four-time Stanley Cup champion, is happy acting as general manager and head coach of the QMJHL’s Quebec Remparts. He is not departing the junior club.

But when Roy was approached by Glasberg -- whose PBI Sports & Entertainment represents more NHL coaches than any other agency -- and pitched the idea of exploring a return to the big leagues, Roy was enthused.

The two signed an agreement over the weekend in preparation for the inevitable coaching and executive changes that will take place following the conclusion of the 2020-21 regular season.

Several teams -- including the Arizona Coyotes, Buffalo Sabres, Carolina Hurricanes, Columbus Blue Jackets, Montreal Canadiens, Detroit Red Wings and Vancouver Canucks -- do not have a coach under contract for 2021-22.

“He could be a president of hockey ops. He could be a GM. He could be a co-GM. He could be a head coach,” Glasberg told Sportsnet Monday. “It's going to be situational. That's the truthful answer.”

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NEW YORK (April 26, 2021) – San Jose Sharks center Patrick Marleau and clinical nurse educator generalist Jane Vergara have been named the NHL’s “First Stars” for the week ending April 25.

Throughout the 2020-21 season the NHL is celebrating the remarkable efforts of the off-ice stars who make it possible for us to play our games amid a pandemic by honoring frontline healthcare heroes from the regions represented by the League’s weekly and monthly “Stars.”

Vergara, a clinical nurse educator generalist at a local San Jose hospital, hires and teaches clinical staff and contracted nurses to ensure they are well-informed and confident in providing exceptional patient care. She has taken charge of various types of teaching throughout the hospital, helping grow the Clinical Education, Practice and Informatics Department over the past five years.

Vergara has not been slowed down during the pandemic, instead rising to every occasion as her hospital has adapted to new equipment. She always maintains a positive, enthusiastic and humorous energy that she incorporates into her training, helping staff members stay engaged and excited about their work.

Rounding out the “Three Stars” of the week are Minnesota Wild goaltender Cam Talbot and Florida Panthers left wing Jonathan Huberdeau. More on each NHL player’s performance can be found below:

from John Ourand and Mark J. Burns of Sports Business Journal,

NBC has officially pulled out of the bidding for the NHL’s second TV package, according to U.S. and Canadian sources. Next season will now mark the first time since the '05-06 campaign that the network will not carry any NHL games. NBC would not comment on this story.

continued, the article is supposed to be free to read but at this point it is not, I will keep an eye on it.

from Emily Kaplan of ESPN,

The NHL is a league of time-tested traditions, and one of the players' favorites is the rookie solo lap. Last week, before Florida Panthers goalie Spencer Knight made his NHL debut, it was his turn.

"Usually guys are excited, pumped up, going full speed," said former NHL goaltender Roberto Luongo, who now oversees the Panthers' Goaltending Excellence department. "I was watching Spencer, and he was just like strolling around the rink. Casual."

After the game -- in which the 20-year-old Knight stopped 33 shots in a 5-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets -- Luongo went down to congratulate the rookie in the locker room.

"I was talking to him for a couple minutes, asking him, 'So, how do you feel? Were you nervous?'" Luongo said. "And he was like, 'Oh, no, I was good.'"

Luongo laughed recalling the moment. "I mean, my first game I was so nervous I could barely hold it in," said the 42-year-old, who ranks third all time among NHL goaltenders with 489 wins. "But Spencer was like, 'I just told myself to enjoy the game, and I did.' ... I was like, oh my God, this is great."

Hype and hoopla have surrounded Knight ever since he played for Avon Old Farms prep school as a first-year student.

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from NHL.com,

Andrew Shaw is ending his playing career because of concussions, the Chicago Blackhawks forward said Monday.

The 29-year-old was placed on long-term injured reserve March 5. He last played Feb. 9, when he sustained a concussion in a 2-1 overtime win against the Dallas Stars, and was advised by the Blackhawks medical staff to discontinue his career in hockey because of the potential long-term consequences

Shaw scored four points (two goals, two assists) in 14 games this season.

"There comes a time when every athlete needs to realize when their health is a priority and a future with their family is what is most important," Shaw said in a statement. "That point for me is now. After several concussions, doctors have strongly recommended I stop playing the game that I love. For once in my life, I am going to listen.

"I am extremely proud of what I accomplished in my career, and I want to make it clear: I would not change anything about it. I won two Stanley Cups, made lifelong friends -- and some enemies, too -- and will cherish those memories for the rest of my life."

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from Larry Brooks of the New York Post,

The Sabres gave the Rangers the puck, and the Blueshirts took it. The Sabres gave the Rangers time and space, and the Blueshirts took that, too. If you want to deduce that the Sabres gave the Rangers the game at the Garden on Sunday night, well, the Rangers took that, as well.

And so, after the 6-3 victory achieved against a team that allowed the Blueshirts to flaunt their skill without a heck of a lot of opposition, the Rangers have returned to the fringes of the playoff race, back to within four points of the Bruins for the final divisional invite after gaining four points on Boston within 48 hours.

The B’s, beaten by the Sabres on Friday and by the Penguins on Sunday afternoon, still hold two games in hand. They have nine to go, as opposed to seven for the Rangers, whose final two games are set to be played in Boston on May 6 and 8. The Bruins will still have two to play following that set, one at home against the Islanders before their finale in Washington.

So the Rangers in essence need to pick up at least four points on the Bruins over the next five games and then sweep Boston in regulation time. Owning the regulation wins tiebreak, that would clinch a playoff spot.

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from Ron Cook of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette,

Mike Sullivan is very good, maybe the best coach in the NHL. He has done terrific work with the Penguins this season despite losing 249 man-games to injury or illness. The proof is in the East Division standings where the team sits in first place. It’s in the overall standings where its 67 points are more than any team but Vegas (70) and Carolina (68).

But the challenges never end for Sullivan. His task now is to get the Penguins to duplicate their performance Sunday afternoon against the Boston Bruins — again and again. If he can do that, he and the team will have an excellent chance to win their third Stanley Cup in six years.

The Penguins played a strong postseason-style game in their 1-0 win. They kept their composure and didn’t take a single penalty. They didn’t get frustrated with the Bruins’ stifling defense, didn’t take foolish chances and didn’t allow many odd-man breaks. They remained patient and waited for their stars to capitalize on an inevitable opportunity to win the game.

It really was a perfect playoff-type performance.

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THREE HARD LAPS

* With three of 16 postseason spots already accounted for, the Hurricanes and Panthers look to inch closer to a berth in the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs tonight.

* Mika Zibanejad helped the Rangers keep their playoff hopes alive with his NHL-best third hat trick of the season.

* The Penguins continued their success at PPG Paints Arena and moved past the idle Capitals for top spot in the MassMutual East Division.

from Stu Cowan of the Montreal Gazette,

Canadiens fans can be forgiven if they’re now thinking the first 10 games this season might have only been a dream.

The Canadiens started the season with a 7-1-2 record while outscoring the opposition 44-27.

Spotlight on Canadiens’ 2021 disappointments | HI/O Bonus

Since then, the Canadiens have a 13-16-7 record and have been outscored 108-90. They now have a minus-1 goal differential for the season.

The Canadiens had a 9-5-4 record with Claude Julien as head coach and are now 11-12-5 under interim head coach Dominique Ducharme following Saturday night’s 5-2 loss to the Flames in Calgary. This team has been getting worse instead of better as the season goes on.

While Canadiens fans might have been dreaming about a 25th Stanley Cup 10 games into the season, missing the playoffs now looks like a real possibility. After two wins in two nights over the Canadiens, the Flames are only four points behind in the chase for the fourth and final playoff spot in the North Division with Montreal holding one game in hand.

The final game of this three-game series Monday night in Calgary (6:30 p.m., TSN2, RDS, TSN 690 Radio, 98.5 FM) will be huge.

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from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun,

- If I’m ESPN and I’ve got NHL back on my network next season, my first phone call is to Ray Ferraro, who used to do ESPN work. My second phone call is to Gord Miller, assuming Chris Cuthbert isn’t going anywhere. And then you build around Steve Levy, assuming he can be available with his Monday Night Football duties still significant.

- Winnipeg’s Kyle Connor may be the best offensive player in the NHL who nobody talks about. All he does is score. He’s on 39-goal pace this year, scored 38, 34 and 31 the three previous years. And he’s only 24.

- The more you watch Quinn Hughes, the more you realize he does things that no one else can do.

- Patrick Marleau will be in the Hockey Hall of Fame one day. But should he be there before Jeremy Roenick, Keith Tkachuk, Alex Mogilny, Daniel Alfredsson or Theo Fleury? Or Joe Thornton? Not if I’m voting.

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THREE HARD LAPS

* The Wild benefited from a six-goal outing to win and have qualified for the postseason for the eighth time in nine seasons (since 2012-13).

* Panthers defenseman Keith Yandle (915 GP) now trails only Doug Jarvis (964 GP) for the longest “Ironman” streak in NHL history.

* The Capitals and Penguins each skated to victories on Saturday and continue to jockey for top spot in the MassMutual East Division.