#my favorite defensemen rookies :)

[mirrorballhughes]

just the best rookies talking to each other🩷🩷

[mccanns]

THE UNOFFICIAL ST. LOUIS BLUES PRIMER PART TWO: DEFENSEMEN

COLTON PARAYKO (A)

Info: #55, RD, STL 2012

Last season: 4 goals + 27 pts

History: He's actually pretty interesting and I would recommend just reading through his wikipedia for a more in-depth read. He went undrafted in the WHL, then got dropped by his AJHL team and had to pay to tryout with another team to become their 7th defenseman. After being drafted, he played at the University of Alaska Fairbanks for 3 years, then came up to play with the Blues and took several online classes during his rookie season in 15-16 to complete his degree (Business Admininstration)(he is so boring sometimes).

Profile: FAST when he wants to be, plays a ton of minutes on the first defensive pairing but isn't very physical despite being tall as hell (6'6). He's definitely improved from last season and has already nearly doubled his scoring in half the time. Usually on the first or second PP units.

NICK LEDDY

Info: #4, LD, MIN 2009

Last season: 2 goals + 23 pts

Info: From Minnesota and drafted by the Wild, went to college at the University of Minnesota, and by the time he left he had his rights traded to Chicago. He played there and won the cup in both 2013 and 2015, then played for the Islanders for a number of years. Traded to Detroit, then in the beloathed Sundqvist + Walman trade and has played with the Blues since the 21-22 season. Currently midway through a 4 year extension

Profile: VERY good puck protection and stickhandling, though it's not flashy. Great 200-foot player, can and will take the puck from one end straight to the other. Refreshing on a team that sucks ass at zone entries. Making $4 mil a year to be a top pairing defenseman which is damn good if you ask me

Other: My mom kept mixing up him and Bortuzzo. Unfortunately this won't be a problem anymore.

JUSTIN FAULK (A) (Faulker, Flack)

Info: #72, RD, CAR 2010

Last season: 11 goals + 50 pts (career high pts!)

History: Played in the USNTDP, then played at the University of Minnesota Duluth where he won a national championship and set a school record for most points by a defenseman. Played for the Hurricanes from 2011 through the 18-19 season, including being a co-captain and an alternate captain of the team. Traded to Blues and immediately signed a big 7 year contract. 23-24 season is his first as a Blues alternate captain :)

Profile: Solid two-way defenseman, plays a lot of minutes. Good a frequent shooter, a great blueline shot presence which allows lots of tipped goals a rebounds.

Other: Was in the top 20 for longest streak of consecutive NHL games played (17th??), but recently missed 5 games due to injury :( also he's my Favorite

TOREY KRUG

Info: #47, LD, undrafted

Last season: 7 goals + 32 pts

History: A rare undrafted veteran! He played for Michigan State University for 3 years, then signed with the Bruins and made it on the roster full-time by the 13-14 season. He graduated from Michigan State after doing online courses for over 5 years (Political Science, originally Finance but couldn't get credits online). Played with the Bruins in the 2019 SCF against the Blues, and his hit on Robert Thomas actually caused a new rule to be added! Signed a 7 year contract with the Blues as a free agent in 2020

Profile: Underized (5'9) but will throw around both his body and his hands. Decent offense and solid defense.

SCOTT PERUNOVICH (Scotty)

Info: #48, RD, STL 2018

Last season: 2 goals + 20 pts (AHL)

History: I've been very impatiently waiting for this guy's real rookie year for like four years now. He played for Minnesota Duluth (where he took the defenseman scoring title formerly held by Faulk), won the NCAA Frozen Four Championship, and won NCHC rookie of the year. He's a bit undersized (5'10, 175lb) and this has had him battling injuries for the last several seasons. He played 19 games with the Blues in the 21-22 season (including the winter classic!) but spent the entire 22-23 season on the Springfield Thunderbirds recovering from injuries.

Profile: has yet to score an NHL goal but has been a great scorer both in college and in the AHL. Physical player, not much NHL experience with under 50 games under his belt and no concrete defensive partner. Still finding his groove on a team that has struggled defensively

Other: Won the Hobey Baker award in his Junior year of college! Was originally ranked to be drafted around the fourth round, but due to his collegiate performance and Blues scout Keith Tkachuk (!!) he ended up being drafted much earlier

MARCO SCANDELLA

Info: #6, LD, MIN 2008

Last season: 1 goal + 2 pts

History: played his first several years in Minnesota, then in Buffalo, and was traded to both Montreal and then St. Louis in the 19-20 season. Only played 20 games of the 22-23 season due to an early season hip injury and surgery, and then another lower body injury in April that took him out for the rest of the season. He'll be a UFA at the end of the season.

Profile: Pretty run-of-the-mill third pairing defenseman, sometimes a healthy scratch. Blues have struggled defensively and are trying to develop younger defensemen, so he's often the one to be sidelined for them.

Other: his instagram username is @ scandeezy6 which is fucking awesome

TYLER TUCKER (Tucks)

Info: #75, LD, STL 2018

History: Technically in his sophomore season! Played 28 games last year, had his first goal and his first TWO fights. Played for both the San Antonio Rampage (RIP) and the Utica Comets (temporary affiliate) before debuting in Nov 2022. Not on the Blues roster at the moment but has played a non-insignificant amount of games with them!

Profile: A strong defenseman who is very physical. Hasn't had much of an opportunity to prove himself at the NHL level, but has had good offensive seasons in the past. Currently taking a break from the press box for a conditioning stint in Springfield :)

[lovenhlboys]

NHL QUESTIONS LIST

Send me numbers in my asks to ask me some questions!!!

If you want to use my list for yourself feel free, just make sure to credit me pls 😁

Questions can be anon or not, whatever you want to do.

1. Favorite team

2. Favorite player

3. Favorite forward

4. Favorite defensemen

5. Favorite goalie

6. Favorite player from *specific team*

7. Favorite forward from *specific team*

8. Favorite defensemen from *specific team*

9. Favorite goalie from *specific team*

10. Favorite player from *specific division*

11. Favorite forward from *specific division*

12. Favorite defensemen from *specific division*

13. Favorite goalie from *specific division*

14. Favorite western division team

15. Favorite eastern division team

16. Favorite northern division team

17. Favorite central division team

18. Who do you think will win the Calder Memorial trophy this season?

19. Who do you think will win the Art Ross trophy this season ?

20. Who do you think will win the Frank J. Selke Trophy this season?

21. Who do you think will win the Hart Memorial Trophy this season?

22. Who do you think will win the Jack Adams Award this season?

23. Who do you think will win the James Norris Memorial Trophy this season?

24. Who do you think will win the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy this season?

25. Who do you think will win the Presidents Trophy this season?

26. Who do you think will win the Vezina Trophy this season?

27. Who do you think will win the northern division (20-21)?

28. Who do you think will win the western division (20-21)?

29. Who do you think will win the central division (20-21)?

30. Who do you think will win the eastern division (20-21)?

31. Give a List of your top 5 favorite forwards

32. Give List of your top 5 favorite defensemen

33. Give a List of your top 5 favorite goalies

34. Give a List of your top 10 favorite forwards

35. Give List of your top 10 favorite defensemen

36. Give a List of your top 10 favorite goalies

37. Give a List of your top 15 favorite forwards

38. Give List of your top 15 favorite defensemen

39. Give a List of your top 15 favorite goalies

40. Give a List of your top 10 favorite jerseys for this season

41. Favorite reverse retro this season

42. Favorite jersey for *specific team* this season

43. Most attractive forward central division

44. Most attractive defenseman central division

45. Most attractive goalie central division

46. Most attractive forward north division

47. Most attractive defenseman north division

48. Most attractive goalie north division

49. Most attractive forward east division

50. Most attractive defenseman east division

51. Most attractive goalie east division

52. Most attractive forward west division

53. Most attractive defenseman west division

54. Most attractive goalie west division

55. List of top 5 most attractive players

56. List of top 10 most attractive players

57. List of top 15 most attractive players

58. Rank all logos for this season

59. Rank all reverse retro jerseys for this season

60. Rank all home jerseys for this season

61. Rank *list some specific jerseys*

62. Rank all visitor jerseys for this season

63. Player with best style

64. Player with worst style

65. Player with best hair

66. Player with best eyes

67. Player with best personality

68. Example of cute, hot, sexy, and adorable with nhl players

69. Best/favorite duo

70. Cutest duo

71. Most attractive duo (I ain’t never seen two pretty best friends...except)

72. Favorite Finnish player

73. Favorite Czech player

74. Favorite Canadian player

75. Favorite American player

76. Favorite Swedish player

77. Favorite Swiss player

78. Favorite Russian player

79. Favorite rookie

80. Most attractive rookie

81. Favorite Veteran

82. Most attractive veteran

83. Best goal so far this year

84. Best save so far this year

85. Funniest moment so far this years

86. Best ‘Steve’s Dangit’ this year

87. Funniest goal this year

88. Anything else you want to ask

•••••With these questions you can add your own requirements or something•••••

Ex: #58 for the central division, #79 forward, top 5 for #17, #77 for 18-25 year olds etc. You can do this for literally any question, I tried to do as many as possible but I missed some so just whatever you wanna do.

At MOST 5 per ask. No ask limit per person though.

!!!!!! I will be answering from 3:00 PM CT on 3/12 until 12:00AM CT on 3/20 !!!!!!

Tagging some of my faves just cause : @rainbowvettel @ugh-such-a-simpbitch @puckingfabulous @heybarzy @bebananaslikethepinkhulk @youknewmyghosts @imagines-r-s @immmbabyyygraceee @itsmeeluciie

[kncny]

who are your favorite hockeys from any team right now? i need more boys to love

was clearing out my inbox and i found this i definitely would have answered this so i guess i forgot anyway let’s get to it!

alright so first i’m gonna mention roman josi. he’s the captain of the preds and he became the captain after shea weber went to m*ntreal. and then there was another captain but he retired  elite defenseman 10/10. very pretty hockey as well. 10/10.

next we’ve got claude giroux. he’s the captain of the flyers and i love him. he honestly just vibes and he is SO underrated (but i mean. we do not have to talk about his playoff performance this year.) wouldn’t say he’s pretty in a josi way but he’s definitely very handsome. what a great captain i love him

NEXT UP we got my BOY. joel farabee. now he hasn’t been around long because he’s a rookie but i love him already if he ever leaves the flyers i’m deleting the nhl. his instagram comments and tweets are the funniest things i’ve ever read and his bromance with morgan frost is chefs kiss. definitely hyperactive. definitely insane. i love him young beezer

alright so next. we got my boy quinn hughes. dude i have nothing to say he’s a cuddle bear i love him so much. his constant mood is “panik”. he’s also?? elite?? elite vancouver defenceman right there. he’s also a rookie and has not been around for long but i would die for him. i would do anything for that boy

alright. OSKAR. lindblom. BABY. literally the strongest man alive DO NOT @ ME. scores goals without trying, could dangle your team’s defensemen with his eyes closed. forgot to mention he plays for the philadelphia flyers. yeah. he’s friends with tk and patty and he was a member of the power puff line

TRAVIS KONECNY, the rat of philadelphia. elite. his chirps are top tier, he wants to murder everyone on the ice, including himself and his team. hates malkin (dont blame him). his husband is nolan patrick, their bromance is beautiful. tk doesnt know how to shut the hell up but his team and the rest of philly loves him dearly

cahtah haht. most precious goalie in existence, most adorable goalie to ever live. i started calling him “hartsy the hamster” around my friends because when he takes off his helmet his head looks so small compared to his big goalie body (same with his hands) and so he looks like a hamster. his hair looks really soft too which makes the hamster reasoning even more accurate. just saying. anyway very talented an actual brick wall

pekka rinne!! another goalie. guys i love goalies. he plays for the nashville predators who have gone downhill since 2016 but that’s ok (it’s actually not). pekka is married to juuse saros who is the backup goalie for nsh (they’re not actually married but i wish) pekka is probably going to retire soon:( anyway he scored a goalie goal this year :D

ivan provorov the first person i think of when i hear the word defenseman! russian angel:) he currently looks like a werewolf. in my opinion the flyers’ beat defenseman. he’s so good jesutueh lawrd. very attractive man indeed. he scores goals too he’s just too good too talented for the nhl to handle

[illogicallyinclined]

I have this image in my head of Logan stopping a pick by like kicking it, so what’s the most impressive way he has stopped a puck and the others’ reaction to it?

Logan is So Good at what he does. (and what he does is make other teams cry)

Logan makes a lot of fantastic saves, so i’m going to go over some trends rather than one save in particular:

one of Logan’s absolute favorite stops to make is the windmill, wherein a goalie makes a save by tossing their arm up in a rapid, circular motion. he’s a Long Boy with some Long Arms, so it’s a reliable move for when someone tries to go top shelf (above the shoulders) with a shot

breakaways? stressful, but also thrilling. he does well with one-v-ones, and there is something undeniably gratifying about stopping an opponent in their tracks on your own

he has gotten a few saves with his skate, although he’ll admit that those are usually desperation saves. it’s incredibly difficult to keep track of the puck when you’re upside down, but if he sees where an opponent is shooting from, he can usually kick out a skate into the correct position when his arms are otherwise pinned/preoccupied

saves off the shaft of his goalie paddle? no problem. (no-stick saves? a bit tougher, but he can make it work)

one time, one of the rookie defensemen accidentally turned over the puck right in front of the net, and Logan caught a 90 mph slapshot point blank. the opponent literally asked “did you really just fucking catch that?” Out Loud. Logan did not preen, shut up

Logan’s got a pretty good track record with successful diving saves across the crease. (he’s incredibly adept at throwing his Large and Flexible body where it needs to be to stop the puck from crossing the goal-line)

Logan will come all the way out of his net and nearly up to the blue line to race an opposing player to a moving puck if he doesn’t feel like attempting to stop the break-away up close. this gives his team Many Heart Attacks, but he’s never failed when he chooses to do this. (he doesn’t take risks lightly. they should know that by now)

three words: Behind the Back

Team Reactions

when Logan first starts playing for the Aces, they are consistently in awe at the saves that he makes each game. later on, they...are still consistently in awe. but at least they know what’s coming.

there is a LOT of gently tapping his goalie pads with their sticks in appreciation and pulling him into quick hugs between plays for bailing them out of the occasional disaster. 

the first time Roman was mic’ed, you could literally hear him go “Holy Shit” for like,,, five of Logan’s saves. (Logan teases him about this, which. you know what? that’s fair.)

D: Other Goalies Want What Logan Crofter Has

jared, after logan stops a penalty shot that jared accidentally gave away: logan, i owe you my life; logan: no thanks. i've seen it, and I'm not impressed.

[newworldofsports]

A Fan’s Favorites

Every sport fan has their favorite things: teams, moments, celebrations, players etc. But not every fan has similar favorites, specifically when it comes to players. Every fan has a favorite athlete, while some even have one, or several, in each and every sport. Many even have favorite athletes of all time.

There are many reasons why fans are attracted to certain athletes. Fans usually love their best players on their favorite team, but also tend to follow and root for players on other teams as well. Perhaps one athlete plays the same position or sport as them, or their character, charisma, or knack of winning draws them even more fandom.

As a lifelong Boston sports fan, the large majority of my favorite athletes have worn Boston across their chest. However, there are several players who have never called Boston home that I have watched and rooted for. So, who are they? Let’s find out:

Cale Makar, Defenseman, Colorado Avalanche

The University of Massachusetts hockey team never really caught my eye, until one night I visited my brother on campus and attended a game. It didn’t appear as the team caught the rest of the campuses’ eye either, as we walked right up the front row of the rink.

But watching the game, one thing certainly did catch my eye: the freshman defensemen from Calgary, Cale Makar. Makar was clearly a step above everyone else on the ice – skating past and deking around opposing defenders with ease, while showing off his strong puck moving abilities. I was immediately drawn to his game.

Standing at just 5-foot-11, 187 lbs., many questioned Cale Makar’s ability to anchor a defensive blue line – especially when the Colorado Avalanche drafted him fourth overall back in 2017. However, after playing just over 100 career games, Makar has quickly put those doubts to rest.

After winning the Hobey Baker Award as the top men's player in NCAA ice hockey, Makar put on the skates for his first career NHL game just three days later. He wasted no time proving he belonged, scoring the eventual game winning goal against the Calgary Flames in Game 3 of the Western Conference First Round.

The goal was just a sign of things to come, as Makar has quickly taken the league by storm with his elite skating and offensive game. Despite missing time due to injury is rookie season, Makar won the Calder Trophy, awarded to the league’s top rookie, after scoring 50 points in 57 games. He went on to score 15 points in 15 Stanley Cup playoff games before the Avalanche lost to the eventual Western Conference champions.

So far in his sophomore season, the word slump wouldn’t dare be used to describe Makar. The 22-year old has continued his torrid pace, leading all NHL defenseman in points per game played (1.0), and being a key figure on the league leading Colorado Avalanche.

The former UMass Minuteman has proved to not only be one of the best defenseman in the game, but one of the league’s best players in just two short years.

Tom Brady, Quarterback, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

This may be a small stretch, as the all-time great dawned a New England jersey for the last 20 years before moving down South to Tampa Bay. But, even a change of scenery at age 43 couldn’t slow down TB12.

In his first year with the Bucs, Brady led them to a Super Bowl victory over the Kansas City Chiefs – winning his seventh Super Bowl trophy.

Brady’s rise to success has not been like many others. A sixth-round draft pick back in 1999, he was given an opportunity to start after the Patriots lost their starting quarterback, Drew Bledsoe, to an injury in 2000. As Brady took over, he led the Patriots to a Super Bowl 36 victory over the Los Angeles Rams, which was just the start.

Just a few years later in 2004, Brady led the Patriots to a second straight, and third total, Super Bowl championship. After ten more years of domination but falling up short, Brady finally secured his fourth Lombardi trophy after completing one of his heralded fourth-quarter comebacks against the Seattle Seahawks. Two years after, he capped off an improbable 28-3 comeback against the Atlanta Falcons for his fifth Super Bowl victory, while securing a sixth championship just two years after that against the same team he won his first against, the Los Angeles Rams.

Now with seven rings, Brady has gone from a scrawny sixth-round pick to one of the greatest football players to ever live. While he may not be the most athletic or fastest player on the field, his competitive drive, leadership, and football IQ has allowed him to overcome his deficiencies.

As a lifelong Patriot fan, Brady has spoiled us. Watching him run out of the tunnel and deliver a massive fist pump followed by a “Let’s Go” still sends goosebumps up my arm. During any game where New England found themselves in a hole, no matter what size, it never felt like an issue with TB12 back in the pocket.

Tom Brady has defined the words consistency and winner throughout his career and there are no signs of him slowing down.

Luis Robert, Outfielder, Chicago White Sox

It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon at McCoy Stadium in 2019 as the PawSox were preparing to take on the Charlotte Knights. However, there was an unusual buzz in the air for a Triple-A baseball game. The reason? Luis Robert was in town.

Robert, a centerfielder from Cuba, signed a minor-league deal with the Chicago White Sox in 2017 that included over $20 million in guaranteed money. At the time, the 20-year old was known for his power and elite speed, as many pegged him to be MLB’s next superstar.

Robert worked his way through Chicago’s minor leagues quickly, also quickly moving up the top MLB prospect lists. After torching the minor-league opposition in 2019, including a 30-home run and 30 stolen base season, Robert made his last stop in the minors before reaching the big leagues, where he finally caught my eye.

It was there that he traveled with the Knights up to Pawtucket to face off with the PawSox. After camping out during the game in center field and exchanging several head nods with Robert, I finally met him after the game before he left on the team bus.

There was quite the crowd around the No. 3 overall prospect in baseball, but he made sure to stop and sign my freshly bought baseball, which is still displayed in my room and brings back special memories.

Since that day, Robert collected an assortment of minor league awards and made his way to the big leagues as baseball’s No. 3 overall prospect. Before he even appeared in a game, Robert signed a six-year, $50 million contact, setting the record for the largest contract in history for a player with no service time.

When he did finally take the field, Robert showed off what scouts saw in him at 20 years old. His power was clear from the jump, leading all MLB rookies in RBIs (31) and tying the home run lead (11). His speed and defensive abilities were immediately some of the best in the league, as he was awarded an AL Rawlings Gold Glove.

Robert finished second Jackie Robinson American League Rookie of the Year voting, but proved he is an elite player in the MLB and has a chance to be long time star.

[jessamygriffin]

The Legend

Dear @youcantdothatpod

Hello, Hockey Coven, it is I, one of the two responsible for the Pierre-Édouard Bellemare DreamBoat Manifesto of old, penning this under my normal Tumblr journal instead of the hockey one for no good reason, and I come to you, with respect, and with full knowledge of certain coven members love of Russian players (though this one is not a Siberian) to ask for either a history lesson or dream boat nomination for my guy - for having an interesting life, to say the least. He is my favorite Russian player. Yes, possibly even over Ovi. 

And yet he never made the NHL.

Oh. My. GOD. some listeners must be thinking at this point. Why even BOTHER with this guy??? he’s not in the fucking NHL!

(And can I just say, in this case, we must never be the Bettmans of the hockey world, who was bloated with hubris thinking to bring hockey like a Messiah to the unenlightened Asian continent a few years back [ha ha fuck off, they’ve had hockey here as long as the NHL has existed? I live in Japan btw] and we must not think that the NHL is the end-all-be-all of hockey aspiration. It wasn’t. It isn’t. Times were different. There wasn’t even a KHL at the time our story begins.)

I bring him to your attention because he is THE BEST.

His story begins in the Siberian IHL, passing a pretty tough try-out as a kid to start playing for the Red Army team, CSKA Moscow.

I feel like I ought not throw in all his info here? Maybe just a few highlights? And some comments. Ok who am I kidding it will get long.

Here: Vladislav Tretiak.

Vladislav Aleksandrovich Tretiak, goalie, current president of the IIHFR.

He won a lot of shit. I’ll just link the Wiki here - it’s a list.

He looks kinda like Spock, but in the best red-blooded ways, not that I would ever judge anyone for wanting to get freaky with a green-blooded half-alien. His goalie training looks a lot like cossack dance.

(MUTE THIS VIDEO THO)

There’s some other worse quality vids of him doing similar and playing with his son, so. There’s that. Skip ahead to the tennis ball part.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrfOsCVakvs

He started hockey kinda late, at age 11.

And Canadian hockeys LOVED him. *See below pic of jersey swap with Wayne Gretzky for proof.

Really, you gasp. Say it ain’t so! Impossible!!!

Truth.

How did the so-called hockey world (which of course was based in NA according to old boring hockey men) discover this Dumbo-eared wunderkind? The 1972 Summit Series.

(Yes, he grew his hair out and covered the mudflaps, and it was MUCH BETTER, sorry Vladdy.)

‘Ho hum,’ said the Canadians, ‘Russia thinks they are good at hockey, how ‘bout we have the Summit Series and quash their pretensions? That gold medal in Sapporo? a FLUKE. Ha ha, look at their goalie, this will be a cakewalk, he let in EIGHT GOALS in this game we just saw, oh well, let’s go have a beer and light up a dart, eh, boys? Eight games, pfft. We’ll sweep them.’

Joke was on them - Vladdy or Vladik was gettiing married the next day and weirdly? Couldn’t concentrate.

Summit Series ended up with one tie, 3 Russian wins and 4 Canadian, with the Canadians playing their dirty rough style, and the Russians their smooth, machine-cog style. That series was a gongshow of biased refereeing, Russian goal judges not turning on goals lights, and teams leaving the bench to have Canadian or Russian tantrums. Actual ankle-breaking occured.

Canadians had two goalies. Russian had one. He was 20. My boy. He KILLED it. And to say the Canadians were pretty horned about about this alien cheekboned man-child after expected a blow-out? MASSIVE understatement, HUGELY horny. As they should have been. Ken Dryden LOVED him. Jacques Plante himself, maybe feeling sorry for the kid, came and talked to him before the tournament started and let him know how different players would try to score. ‘A big help,’ Vladdy said. ‘I don’t know why he did that.’  LOTS of players were in awe. Canada was turned upside, Toronto became Tijuana and nothing was ever the same. The Interest in Russian Players was, officially, a Thing. (Kharlamov was a big part of the interest but that’s a whole ‘nother story.)

The horniness was, in fact, so uncontainable that several NHL teams expressed an interest, and one team was bold enough to draft him in 1983, when he was the ripe age of 31, which at the time was not TOTALLY hockey-old for goalies and players like it is now. Yes, the Habs. Consider that 3 years later rookie Patrick Roy backstopped the Canadiens to several Stanley Cups, and imagine what they could have been even earlier, with Tretiak. HOooooO.  Serge Savard hit up Moscow four times during the winter of ‘84 to try and secure his release.

Russian wouldn’t let him go, of course. Tretiak was a only lieutenant-colonel in the Soviet army, and not playing the high level hockey he had previously, and thusly COULD be replaced in the system. Soviet officials ultimately vetoed a transfer. “Oooh his dad was a major, how can we let this son of a distinguished man go and play HOCKEY, it’s a disGRACE!” Or at least that’s what we were told. Okay, Jan.

He quit playing at age 32. Thirty fucking two!!!  He’d done his 4th Olympics in a row by this point in 1984, and had the honour of carrying the flag for his nation, though he said it was probably because no one else had done 4 Olympics in a row. He wanted to spend more time with his family, and asked Tikhonov, coach of the national team and CSKA to let him have, ya know. Quality family time. (You’ll remember this douche from previous Russia Hockey Stories.) Tikhonov said, no, you live at the compound like everyone else for 11 months of the year. Ah ha ha.

Roll back a few years, for a grudge. Tretiak, if you’ll recall from the Miracle on Ice, was pulled from the game against the Americans by ol’ Tikky after letting in ONE (1) goal in the first period. All the Russians knew, but would never say until much much later, what a massive mistake that was - and you know the Miracle story anyway. Tretiak said himself it was a mistake, and he wouldn’t have lost the game. 

So, all things considered, in spite of having loads of playing life left in those kicky legs, Tretiak noped out and retired, for the reason of  being denied time with his family. And not getting to go abroad to play, which was probably a bitter pill and so quitting while he was still useful was a good Fuck You to the officials who used him up like a tissue playing hockey for his team and country. And of course, he was exhausted. At age 32.  "I'd played fifteen years with the Army Club and the National Team without a break. Backup goalies came and went, as did three generations of forwards and defensemen, but through four Olympic Games, all the important ones with the professionals, all the World Championships, all the Izvestia tournaments, it was I who played in the net."

Frankly, he should have just defected like others did later. Sent his family to watch him in a tournament and done a Sound-of-Music-esque Von Tretiak escape out the Zamboni exit, over the mountains and far away.

He would have been the first if he had. One of the most famous players in Russia, leaving for a career in the corrupt West. I’m glad he at least thought about it a little, even if it never happened. God, that would have been great. I’m glad that the NHL were able to pull their xenophobic heads from their asses enough to know greatness, and to want that brilliance shining on their teams.

But really, in the end, the man done him dirty. “In spite of aggressive discussions with Soviet authorities, Canadiens' general manager Serge Savard was unable to secure Tretiak's release for Montreal. "I would have loved to play in the Forum," Tretiak admits. "I was hoping to one day play in the NHL. I would have liked to do it even for just one season. Unfortunately, it didn't work out that way. I regret not having the chance." “

Still, the NHL and hockey in NA didn’t forget him. There were laurels left to be given.

He was the first Russian to be inducted into the HHoF, and the first to be entered without ever having played in the NHL.

Was he done with hockey? Heck no. Remember when I said Canadians loved him? It may have been mentioned a time or five.

In 1988, hockey royalty got married - Wayne Gretzky and Janet Jones. Befitting royalty, her dress cost $40,000, and gifts filled three rooms of the hotel. Notably, amongst them was a gold swan from a certain Soviet goalie Vladislav Tretiak. Why??? Swans are good luck, said Vladdy. They mate for life. And lo, the couple is still together.

In 1990, Mike Keenan hired him to be a goalie coach for the Blackhawks, and was (again) so turned on by his mastery that he suggested the 38 year could still play in the NHL? Vladik laughed and said no, but coaching was the next best thing. He worked with the best - Belfour, Hasek, Thibault, and you’ll be shocked that loads of tendies wear his #20 in tribute. He runs - or ran? website not updated in a while - the most challenging goalie school in NA in Toronto in summers.

He worked with the ‘Hawks until 2007, and then went on to be a pillar in Russian hockey leadership. Coach. Etc.

He wrote a book, which was really what got me into Russian hockey - it was wild to me at the time when I read it in high school some (Cough cough) years ago, so alien. But it’s chock full of the stories you love. His first coach Tarasov, wanted him because he was ‘tall’ (6′ is tall in Russia???) and had ‘huge hands’ and reminded him of Jacques Plante. The book’s pretty frank about hockey history and the role ‘Miracle on Ice�� played into a kind of American propaganda, which is refreshing. He was politely horrified by seeing Canadian players smoking. His training was bonkers, and included tree-climbing at speed. The Russian team was always trying new stuff, and one time decided on sports psychology, which a teammate helpfully volunteered Vladik for, ‘He’s the most important player, he’s the last defence, work with him!’ (since no one else wanted to). The positive thinking mantras seemed to work as at the next practice they were amazed by his clean play and kicks. But lol, no, next game he got blown out, and was probably glad to send the sports shrink on the way.

And he was crushed  when his teammate, Valeri Kharlamov, with whom he played so long, died at the young age of 33 in a car accident. But Kharlamov is a guy for another section of Hockey Histories.

So. This dream boat.

Ok. I know y’all prefer a defection story, and I think some listeners also? But. Here’s the thing. It’s sexy and romantic but also traumatic as fuck to ditch your country, your life in that political climate, to play the game. And dangerous,  shit man. 1983. U.S.S.R.!!! People still got disappeared! It was fine to treat players like garbage and lock them up for months in a compound and not let them see family! And I sometimes get the feeling that people consider the NHL the pinnacle, like, what a fool is Tretiak? who wouldn’t throw away everything to play NHL hockey? But that’s like, Bettman thinking, that the NHL is the best and perfect when we all know it’s fucking garbage, I know the current KHL has issues, SO MANY it would be a three hour podcast to talk about! So there’s no high ground, really. And in the end, Vladislav Tretiak made a choice that did good by himself, going on to a successful post-hockey career and the upper echelons of Russian hockey, and did well by his family, and of course, being patriotic is sexy, as anyone screeching at their team during the current World Cup of hockey knows. It’s okay that he stayed there. It’s fucking sexy NOT to defect, sometimes. Dude was a champion either way, his life is not a tragedy or lesser for not having played in the NHL and I really want people to know that. 

"For me, it was all, and all of it is with me forever."

Yes, there is life and hockey beyond the NHL. 

And it’s beautiful.

[your-dietician]

What will ESPN’s coverage of the NHL look like next season?

New Post has been published on https://tattlepress.com/nhl/what-will-espns-coverage-of-the-nhl-look-like-next-season/

What will ESPN’s coverage of the NHL look like next season?

The network’s coverage starts with the July 21 Seattle expansion draft, hosted by Chris Fowler on ESPN2. John Buccigross will host the NHL Draft two days later. Those shows will be produced by NHL Network.

When Gross spoke over the phone this past week, ESPN (which reportedly paid $410 million a year for seven years of NHL rights) and Turner ($225 million a year over the same period) still hadn’t divvied the games. The NHL had yet to release its 2021-22 schedule. Its puck- and player-tracking data has not seen the light of day.

“One thing we’re trying to get our arms around is what analytics teams and coaches use to showcase in our game coverage, our studio coverage,” Gross said. “Camera positions is another thing we’re looking at, talking to the league to see how we can showcase and document the games.”

Strategy and speed are the buzzwords Gross hears in his daily conversations with NHL people. Capturing both, while serving hard-core fans, hooking viewers from the massive pool of casual sports viewers who don’t give hockey much thought, attracting diverse genders and backgrounds . . . all are among Gross’s concerns.

“There has to be a level of entertainment without it being forced,” he said. “There’s really nothing worse on TV than forced fun. We have to find our spots, when we get [Chris] Chelios and [Mark] Messier together, who have a relationship. We’ll mix and match with other folks.”

Chelios and Messier, along with Steve Levy, will likely work the major events. “We know how that works,” Gross said. Hearing the two Hall of Famers, owners of some sharp elbows, chime in on player safety decisions should be interesting.

While he may not be hockey’s answer to Charles Barkley, Chelios does seem like a straight shooter. In a phone call, he acknowledged he wasn’t looking for a gig when he reached out to ESPN after the announcement. He was calling as a dad, hoping that his daughter, Lightning TV reporter Caley Chelios, was on the network’s radar.

“I like to think I’ll call it like it is,” said Chelios, 59, “Even though it’s a little different than when I played, hockey’s hockey.”

Messier, Chelios, Hilary Knight, Ray Ferraro, Brian Boucher, and Cassie Campbell-Pascall were among the first names Gross mentioned when speaking about his roster, but a lineup has yet to be solidified. He noted that women will be featured prominently in on-air roles.

The list of local connections is long, from Boucher (Woonsocket, R.I.), A.J. Mleczko (Nantucket/Harvard), former Red Sox play-by-play man Sean McDonough (Boston), Buccigross (who has Boston roots), Rick DiPietro (Winthrop/Boston University), ex-Boston College Eagles Blake Bolden and Bob Wischusen, and Emily Kaplan, a former Globie.

Gross said another fan favorite from the past, play-by-play announcer Gary Thorne, remains an option. He spoke with the agent for Thorne, 73, this past week.

“We’re not done yet,” Gross said. “We want to see what the schedule looks like, and what other decisions we have to make. We still have time.”

What’s the game-changing idea that will separate ESPN? It won’t be glow pucks and robots (fun as they were for younger fans in the ’90s). What’s hockey’s version of the K-Zone?

“Some people thought the first-and-10 line would be too intrusive,” Gross mused. “Now you can’t really watch a game without it.”

AWARD SEASON

One voter’s ballot in depth

Connor McDavid became the first unanimous MVP since Wayne Gretzky in 1982, collecting all 100 first-place votes for the Hart Memorial Trophy.DARRYL DYCK/Associated Press

I consider it a privilege to vote on year-end NHL awards as part of my duties with the Professional Hockey Writers Association. I’m not alone. My peers and I want to get it right.

When it came to this season’s MVP, I believe we did.

Connor McDavid earned all 100 first-place votes for the Hart Trophy, becoming the second unanimous MVP ever (Wayne Gretzky, 1982). McDavid’s 105 points in 56 games goes down as one of the most dominant seasons in league history. He was playing at a different speed than everyone else.

In the voting bloc — trimmed from about 175 to 100 members, and dispersed regionally to address imbalances created by the divisional-only schedule — we saw some refreshingly progressive thinking, and as always, some strange calls. One Edmonton writer voted McDavid’s teammate, Leon Draisaitl, second for the Selke. Draisaitl made strides this season, but it would be generous to call him an above-average defensive forward, much less elite.

In this space last year, I delved into my methodology, which blends in-person viewings, video study, and number-crunching. Obviously this season, I relied more on the latter two. I was among the few beat writers who traveled all season, but I only watched the East Division up close.

My ballot, and some quick takes:

Hart Trophy — 1. McDavid; 2. Auston Matthews; 3. Nathan MacKinnon; 4. Aleksander Barkov; 5. Brad Marchand.

Relatively easy calls. McDavid was incredible, and the other four were the driving forces on good teams. Marchand was ranked as high as No. 2 on six ballots.

Norris Trophy — 1. Adam Fox; 2. Cale Makar; 3. Charlie McAvoy; 4. Dougie Hamilton; 5. MacKenzie Weegar.

A youth movement, and an ECAC/Hockey East top three. Makar (UMass) missed 12 games, or 21 percent of the season, leaving the door open for Fox (Harvard), who was the Rangers’ MVP in his second season. McAvoy (BU) might be the best five-on-five defender in the game. Weegar opened eyes after Aaron Ekblad’s injury. Eleven blue liners earned top-three votes. Victor Hedman was down-ballot for me, after an injury-plagued regular season. Don’t ask me why someone gave Kris Letang a first-place vote. Fun fact: Fox is the first player of Jewish descent to win a major NHL award.

Calder Trophy — 1. Kirill Kaprizov; 2. Jason Robertson; 3. Alex Nedeljkovic; 4. Josh Norris; 5. Igor Shesterkin.

Kaprizov (27 goals and 51 points in 55 games) was a slam dunk, though Robertson had a brief midseason run that made it interesting.

Lady Byng Trophy — 1. Jaccob Slavin; 2. Jared Spurgeon; 3. Barkov; 4. Roope Hintz; 5. Johnny Gaudreau.

I’ve said before that writers should not vote for this. Referees should. Slavin, an elite defender playing heavy minutes, committed one penalty all season (for shooting the puck over the glass). Good enough for me.

Selke Trophy — 1. Barkov; 2. Patrice Bergeron; 3. Joel Eriksson Ek; 4. Phillip Danault; 5. Joe Pavelski.

Barkov had a strong MVP case, but his 200-foot excellence was properly recognized here. Bergeron is still Bergeron. Could see Danault, after his lockdown playoffs, be front of mind for a lot of voters next season.

The PWHA does not vote on the Vezina Trophy (the general managers selected Marc-Andre Fleury), but we do pick the year-end All-Star teams. My goalies, in order, were Andrei Vasilevskiy, Fleury, and Juuse Saros. We also pick All-Rookie teams. I had Kaprizov, Robertson, and Norris as my forwards, Ty Smith and K’Andre Miller as my defensemen, and Nedeljkovic in goal.

ETC.

League will not rush to judgment

Commissioner Gary Bettman said the league is waiting for an independent review of the Blackhawks alleged cover-up of sexual abuse before proceeding.Karl B DeBlaker/Associated Press

The alleged cover-up of sexual assault by the Blackhawks was the leading topic in Gary Bettman’s annual pre-Stanley Cup Final news conference this past week. Rightfully so.

Bettman said the league learned of the allegations “relatively recently” and will wait for an independent review.

According to a lawsuit filed in May, a former Blackhawks player alleges he and another player were assaulted by then-video coach Brad Aldrich during the team’s 2010 championship run. The team’s leadership, which included current GM Stan Bowman, were allegedly informed of the incident by then-skills coach Paul Vincent, whom the players had told.

Aldrich later worked at a high school in Michigan, where he was convicted of sexual assault involving a student. He is now on Michigan’s sex offender registry.

Multiple ex-Blackhawks, including Nick Boynton, Daniel Carcillo (then with the Flyers), and Brent Sopel, spoke out this past week. One unnamed player told The Athletic that “every guy on the team knew.” Captain Jonathan Toews took issue with that, telling that outlet he didn’t hear about the allegations until the end of that summer. He said he couldn’t say for sure if the team “mishandled” the situation.

Bettman, a former lawyer, pumped the brakes. “Let us see what the investigation reveals, and then we can figure out what comes next,” he said. “I think everyone is jumping too far, too fast. This is going to be handled appropriately and professionally, and done right.”

Let’s hope so.

Beijing Olympics not a given

Commissioner Gary Bettman said the NHL has concerns over the feasibility of sending players to the Olympics next winter.Wilfredo Lee/Associated Press

Later in his Q&A, Bettman shared the league’s “real concerns” over whether it was “sensible” to have a two-week shutdown for the 2022 Beijing Olympics.

Wait, what?

After sitting out 2018 — and watching interest in Olympic hockey wane — the NHL and NHLPA last summer collectively bargained to participate in the 2022 and 2026 Winter Olympics, pending further agreement with both parties, the IIHF, and IOC. But there is no plan yet.

COVID-19 variants remain a worry, and NBC isn’t likely to lobby on the NHL’s inclusion following the expiration of the TV deal. The NHL hopes to release its 2021-22 schedule shortly after the Cup Final.

“Time is running very short,” Bettman said, which came as disappointing news to Tampa Bay’s Victor Hedman.

“The Olympics is one of the biggest dreams of mine and I haven’t been able to participate in one. This might be the last chance I get. That sucks to hear,” said Hedman, who was left off Team Sweden in 2014. “When you get an opportunity to represent your country on the biggest stage, it’s one of those things that you’ll probably never forget. For me, it’s obviously something I’ve been dreaming about my whole life and something I want to do before I hang up my skates.”

Pride working on title defense

The Boston Pride, two-time Isobel Cup winners, are preparing a title defense for 2021-22.Mary Schwalm/Associated Press

The NWHL’s Boston Pride are deep into an Isobel Cup summer, hauling the trophy from New England lake houses to the Grand Canyon.

As he preps for a title defense, coach Paul Mara is playing his cards close. After a few defections, he’s using his newfound salary-cap space — the league doubled the ceiling to $300,000 — to bring in some outside help.

“Working on a few things,” he said.

The NWHL is feeling momentum entering its seventh season. An influx of sponsorship dollars, visibility from its Isobel Cup playoffs broadcast on NBCSN, and a lot of player raises have elevated the mood.

Since last month, the four franchises under league control — the Buffalo Beauts, Connecticut Whale, Metropolitan Riveters, and Minnesota Whitecaps — were sold to private owners, making it a league of six independent clubs. Expansion is on the horizon, with Montreal a primary target.

Also notable: This past week’s draft, which was streamed on Twitch, included appearances from a range of pro sports personalities, including NHL league and team executives, and USA Hockey reps. The NWHL hasn’t always had such vocal support.

For all the growth, players aren’t yet earning a living wage. Contracts are yearly. Outside opportunities create a talent drain.

The Pride lost president Hayley Moore to the AHL (vice president of hockey operations), replacing her with 1998 US Olympian Colleen Coyne. They are searching for a GM, after Karilyn Pilch this past week signed on with the Chicago Blackhawks’ scouting and player development department.

They also need a few good forwards. Mary Parker, Carlee Turner, and Lexie Laing departed for job and school reasons. Czech standout Tereza Vanisova signed with Leksands IF in Sweden, which will better help her participate in a demanding Olympic training schedule.

League MVP Jillian Dempsey, recovered from shoulder surgery, returns with All-Star linemates McKenna Brand and Christina Putigna, the No. 1 defense pair of Kaleigh Fratkin (two-time NWHL Defender of the Year) and Mallory Souliotis, and netminders Lovisa Selander and Victoria Hanson. That crew, plus whomever Mara can lure to town, should keep the Pride near the top of the standings.

Unlike last season, when the Pride got a boost from No. 1 overall pick Sammy Davis (BU) and six drafted rookies, the draft won’t have a major impact. Because they lost their 2021 first- and second-round picks when they traded up to select Davis, and dealt their third-rounder to Buffalo for future considerations, the Pride picked in the fourth and fifth rounds (Weston’s Finley Frechette and Beverly’s Abby Nearis, both forwards).

The NWHL’s player pool was thinned after the NCAA granted players an extra year of eligibility, leading many of the top draft-eligible players to return to school. Because of that, Boston isn’t the only team that believes next year’s draft will be loaded.

Loose pucks

Bruce Cassidy (left) has been promoting from within, with assistant coach Jay Pandolfo (center) leaving for Boston University.Winslow Townson/Associated Press

The Bruins have promoted from within of late, calling up coaches from Providence and the player development ranks. It makes sense that fourth-year P-Bruins coach Jay Leach would replace Jay Pandolfo on Bruce Cassidy’s staff, but player development staffers Chris Kelly and Jamie Langenbrunner will also get a look. Like Pandolfo, they were two-way forwards with long NHL résumés . . . As for Pandolfo, the move to BU gives him a shorter path to a head coaching gig. Albie O’Connell, who is entering the final year of his deal, has had a spotty run . . . Bruins strength and conditioning assistant Kenny Whittier also made the move to BU . . . A few first-timers joined NHL benches this past week, including two ex-players, Alex Tanguay (Detroit assistant) and Tuomo Ruutu (Florida assistant), and André Tourigny (Arizona coach). The latter move was particularly interesting, for a league that often recycles head coaches . . . Toews, after a year out of the spotlight with a mysterious illness, is back on the ice. He posted a video message to fans after a practice, saying doctors told him he has “chronic immune response syndrome,” a catch-all term for constant, debilitating stress reactions. Still dealing with a few symptoms, the Blackhawks’ captain believes the condition was brought on by a nasty bout with COVID-19 in February 2020, before the pandemic hit in full; the toll of 13 NHL seasons; and the year-round hockey training schedule he’s followed since he was a young teenager. “I think there’s a lot of things that just piled up,” he said, “where my body just fell apart.” He hopes to return in October . . . Edmonton trimmed Ryan Nugent-Hopkins’s $6 million cap hit, but took a beating on term, when it locked up the No. 2 center to an eight-year, $41 million deal with a full no-move clause. He will be 36 when it expires. “No contract is perfect,” GM Ken Holland acknowledged . . . Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon’s take on game jersey ads, which are coming to the NHL sooner rather than later: “If we look like Formula One or NASCAR, that’d be fine with me.” . . . Glad to see college athletes everywhere get a chance to make some cash off their name and image, following the Supreme Court’s hammering of the paternalistic NCAA. A small step, long overdue.

Matt Porter can be reached at matthew.porter@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter: @mattyports.

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[mirrorballhughes]

rookies matching ???

[lovenhlboys]

NHL QUESTIONS LIST (Day 3/8)

Send me numbers in my asks to ask me some questions!!!

If you want to use my list for yourself feel free, just make sure to credit me pls 😁

Questions can be anon or not, whatever you want to do.

1. Favorite team

2. Favorite player

3. Favorite forward

4. Favorite defensemen

5. Favorite goalie

6. Favorite player from *specific team*

7. Favorite forward from *specific team*

8. Favorite defensemen from *specific team*

9. Favorite goalie from *specific team*

10. Favorite player from *specific division*

11. Favorite forward from *specific division*

12. Favorite defensemen from *specific division*

13. Favorite goalie from *specific division*

14. Favorite western division team

15. Favorite eastern division team

16. Favorite northern division team

17. Favorite central division team

18. Who do you think will win the Calder Memorial trophy this season?

19. Who do you think will win the Art Ross trophy this season ?

20. Who do you think will win the Frank J. Selke Trophy this season?

21. Who do you think will win the Hart Memorial Trophy this season?

22. Who do you think will win the Jack Adams Award this season?

23. Who do you think will win the James Norris Memorial Trophy this season?

24. Who do you think will win the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy this season?

25. Who do you think will win the Presidents Trophy this season?

26. Who do you think will win the Vezina Trophy this season?

27. Who do you think will win the northern division (20-21)?

28. Who do you think will win the western division (20-21)?

29. Who do you think will win the central division (20-21)?

30. Who do you think will win the eastern division (20-21)?

31. Give a List of your top 5 favorite forwards

32. Give List of your top 5 favorite defensemen

33. Give a List of your top 5 favorite goalies

34. Give a List of your top 10 favorite forwards

35. Give List of your top 10 favorite defensemen

36. Give a List of your top 10 favorite goalies

37. Give a List of your top 15 favorite forwards

38. Give List of your top 15 favorite defensemen

39. Give a List of your top 15 favorite goalies

40. Give a List of your top 10 favorite jerseys for this season

41. Favorite reverse retro this season

42. Favorite jersey for *specific team* this season

43. Most attractive forward central division

44. Most attractive defenseman central division

45. Most attractive goalie central division

46. Most attractive forward north division

47. Most attractive defenseman north division

48. Most attractive goalie north division

49. Most attractive forward east division

50. Most attractive defenseman east division

51. Most attractive goalie east division

52. Most attractive forward west division

53. Most attractive defenseman west division

54. Most attractive goalie west division

55. List of top 5 most attractive players

56. List of top 10 most attractive players

57. List of top 15 most attractive players

58. Rank all logos for this season

59. Rank all reverse retro jerseys for this season

60. Rank all home jerseys for this season

61. Rank *list some specific jerseys*

62. Rank all visitor jerseys for this season

63. Player with best style

64. Player with worst style

65. Player with best hair

66. Player with best eyes

67. Player with best personality

68. Example of cute, hot, sexy, and adorable with nhl players

69. Best/favorite duo

70. Cutest duo

71. Most attractive duo (I ain’t never seen two pretty best friends...except)

72. Favorite Finnish player

73. Favorite Czech player

74. Favorite Canadian player

75. Favorite American player

76. Favorite Swedish player

77. Favorite Swiss player

78. Favorite Russian player

79. Favorite rookie

80. Most attractive rookie

81. Favorite Veteran

82. Most attractive veteran

83. Best goal so far this year

84. Best save so far this year

85. Funniest moment so far this years

86. Best ‘Steve’s Dangit’ this year

87. Funniest goal this year

88. *Anything else you want to ask*

•••••With these questions you can add your own requirements or something•••••

Ex: #58 for the central division, #79 forward, top 5 for #17, #77 for 18-25 year olds etc. You can do this for literally any question, I tried to do as many as possible but I missed some so just whatever you wanna do.

!!!!!! I will be answering until 12:00AM CT on 3/20 !!!!!!

[islesblogger]

2019 Islander Inventory

On Friday May 3rd 2019 the Islanders’ season officially ended. The Islanders need to work on putting the team back together. This is how I see it happening

2018-19

I’ve assembled a roster whiteboard to better understand the roster construction of the Islanders. This will break down the team by its 23 roster spots and their on-ice roles. This is what the 2018-19 Islanders looked like under that prism.

John Palmieri | Islesblogger

YELLOW indicates pending UFA, GREEN indicates pending RFA and RED indicates possibly 2019-20 IR candidate.

The team had over $10M to use all season for trades or free agent signings. They were unable to find suitable upgrades without giving up significant assets and ended the season with that money unused. That will probably not be an option in 2019-20.

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Free Agency

Unrestricted Free Agents

The Islanders are currently in what could be a mass exodus year. They have seven UFA’s that spent the majority of the season on the 23 man roster (highlighted in YELLOW above) and Tanner Fritz, who was an important piece, even though he only played eight NHL games with the teams before falling to injury.

Entering UFA status this year are:

Anders Lee : The Islanders’ captain and only 40 goal scorer will be a highly sought after LW. I fully expect him to be Lou’s number one priority. The team is stacked with LH forwards, but Lee’s work on and off the ice has made him a fan favorite and the pinnacle of team leadership.

Brock Nelson: Entering the 2018-19 season there were a lot of questions about where Brock would be with his new responsibilities under a new regime. Nelson answered all of the questions positively and proved to be the teams most valuable center. He played big minutes in all situations was in a virtual tie with Mathew Barzal for the lead in TOI amongst forwards. Brock is also among a select few “top 6” centers that will be available on July 1st. I expect him to be an Islander next year, but I also expect him to use that leverage to it’s fullest.

Robin Lehner: Robin signed a one year deal last year at bargain basement rates. He was coming off a season of turmoil with the Buffalo Sabres and had more question marks in his resume than Frank Gorshin. Much like Nelson he answered all of those questions positively. He and Thomas Greiss will share the Jennings Trophy for the least goals allowed by a team, and is a finalist for the Vezina Trophy. He is the third UFA that I expect back in 2019-20. His leverage has gone up, but he would probably benefit from a shorter deal as one year with a highly defensive system and under the best of coaching teams is just a step in rebuilding his reputation amongst NHL GMs. I expect a 2-3 year deal in the neighborhood of $5M AAV.

Jordan Eberle: This may be a bit of a surprise to some. I started the season expecting Eberle to be gone at the trade deadline. The team’s success kept him in blue and orange this year, and he second half success will probably keep him on the island a bit longer. I wrote on this a while back. Looking at the right handed forward options available, Jordan will have good leverage going into July. The Islanders would do well to sign him for 5 years in the neighborhood of $7M AAV.

Tanner Fritz: Yes, I am listing Tanner ahead of Val Filppula and Tom Kuhnhackl. Fritz checks two very important boxes for the Islanders. He can play center and he’s a right handed forward. He will also come in about $2M AAV less than Filppula. He showed at the end of the season that he can handle decent minutes, kill penalties and will dd speed to a roster that desperately needs it. Tanner will make the 23 more flexible.

Tom Kuhnhackl: I do not expect Tom back. He had a very good season, and an even better playoff run as the Isles’ 13th forward. They are flush at LW, and with the emergence of Michael Dal Colle as a restricted free agent he would just be an expensive waiver wire walker in a healthy year. They have a few left handed forward prospects behind him in Otto Koivula and Kieffer Bellows. Kuhnhackl has probably earned himself a $2M AAV contract somewhere, but most likely not on the Islanders.

Val Filppula: I’d really like to see Val back, but I just see too many scenarios where this is not going to happen. The Islanders could replace him with somebody like Kevin Hayes or (if Lou can find a phone booth with a cape in it) Matt Duchene. Both would truly stretch the Islanders CAP budget, and be miracle signings in a 31 team market. I expect the Islanders to re-sign Nelson, and elevate Cizikas. They’ll then have a few years to work with Fritz, Koivula and other prospects to elevate through the system. If Val returns I expect it to be a very short term deal. 1-2 years, and around the same $3M AAV.

Lucas Sbisa: Sbisa will cause me to have massive stroke should he be resigned. The emergence of Devon Toews made him expendable during the season and with the Islanders probably spending to within $5M of the salary cap it would be hard to imagine a 23 man roster with him on it.

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Restricted Free Agents

There are three key restricted free agents this year. They will all cause some thought when they are qualified. They will all be talked about as part of trade deals, but most likely they will all return to the Islanders organization, or at least their rights will.

Anthony Beauvillier: This is Beau’s first year of restricted free agency and with that comes very little leverage. He is a 20G forward and does have some value on the offer sheet table. I’d expect $2-2.5M AAV for 1-2 years so he can build his leverage, and work towards his arbitration deal. A longer deal is possible. If the Isles want to buy some of his arbitration and UFA years his AAV could go as high as $3.5-4M.

Michael Dal Colle: Much like Beau this is Michael’s first RFA year. Unlike Beau, Dal Colle has not built the same leverage. He had a good rookie year in the AHL, but regressed in his second. This year was outstanding. He dominated at the AHL level and did everything he was asked in the NHL. It’s a small sample size though and I expect he’ll sign a one year deal for somewhere between $1M and $1.5M AAV. He should have a lot more leverage next year.

Joshua Ho-Sang: I couldn’t possibly document the scope of, nevermind the actual opinions on where and what Josh could be in this organization. So I’ll just express my own. He is a highly talented hockey player who doesn’t want to color inside the lines. He is in an organization where coloring inside the lines was made the standard the day Lou Lamoriello was named President/General Manager. The team will probably qualify him at the minimum, and shop him on draft day. If he accepts their offer he’ll probably spend another unhappy year in Bridgeport, or be traded. If he doesn’t he might find himself much happier in Europe If the team is unable to sign or replace Eberle and Oliver Wahlstrom isn’t ready for his first call-up, we might see another NHL stint for Mr. Ho-Sang. Hopefully he can work things out. He would be a fine addition to the team if he could just accept being an addition to a team.

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Draft Day

It would be almost impossible to speculate accurately about the 2019-20 roster before the 2019 draft. Not that any draft pick would be on that roster, but that day is often a time for NHL GM’s to move surplus role players, prospects, salary and picks for needed role players, picks and prospects.

The Islanders have two general role surpluses. Left handed defensemen and left handed forwards. They have need at center, right handed forward and right handed defensemen. In that order.

I expect a number of players to be in play. There are some health concerns as well. I look at prospective draft day trades with the health of Andrew Ladd and Cal Clutterbuck in mind. Both could be issues next season. I’d also add Johnny Boychuk to that list, but I do expect him to at least start the season, and like the past few seasons, soldier through.

They should either target a wing with their available assets or target Brett Leason in the first round. Leason is a 6’5″ 200LB 20 year old right handed center who was passed over in the previous two drafts. He can immediately take his new found scoring touch to the AHL where he would join Otto Koivula as prospective pivots for the fourth line, or a replacement for Clutterbuck.

With that in mind I feel Nick Leddy is the most valuable, and expendable asset the Islanders possess. After that there is Beauvillier, Aho, DalColle, Bellows and Mitch Vande Sompel. I don’t expect them to trade any of the 2018 draft class. Those players have shown some success in the NHL or NHL readiness to where they should have some value in trade talks. Depending on which UFA’s have signed by draft day Lou will be wise to fill as many of the remaining holes with trade targets. Going into July 1st with a roster that looks like swiss cheese is not wise. Especially for the Islanders.

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2019-20

I suspect that every GM goes into each off season managing their team’s cap space for the following three years, or at least he tries. For the optimum result Lou will have to move three salaries. Leddy will most likely be shopped hard on draft day. Ladd and Clutterbuck are almost untradeable, but if they come back they’ll have some value. If they can’t they have to be put on LTIR so their cap space can be recaptured.

I’ll use the projected salaries I expect for returning UFAs as a basis for the below 23 man roster. Of course, there are a lot of variables. For one, I use a $7M/5yr deal for the three top returning UFA forwards, and $5M/3yr deal for Lehner. This would be the base going into July 1st:

John Palmieri | Islesblogger

If those deals are done before July 1st, then the team can go into the market with three spots to upgrade on and over $12M to spend. That money quickly disappears if any of the UFAs get outrageous deals, or if Lou is unable to manage the three contracts mentioned above. In my scenario, the Isles would be shopping for a 2/3 center, a 4th RHD and a RH forward.

There is still room to manage the return of two of the three contracts I’ve removed. Leddy’s $5.5M, Clutterbuck’s $3.5M and Ladd’s $5.5M. This plan would not work if all three were to return.

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UFA Options

Center

If Lou is unable to bring back Nelson his options for an “upgrade” are limited. Matt Duchene is the obvious choice, but he will most likely command over $10M AAV and that will be very difficult to manage as soon as next year when Mat Barzal, Ryan and Ryan Pulock will be looking for substantial raises.

Kevin Hayes could also be a target. I see him more as a lateral move from Nelson, or a substantial upgrade on the third center role. To go into the season with Barzal, Nelson, Hayes and Cizikas down the middle would be a fine accomplishment.

They could also target Nazem Kadri in trade talk on Draft Day.

Right Handed Forward

There isn’t much after Jordan Eberle on the free agent list. There is a slim chance they land Artemi Panarin or Mats Zuccarello. I would suggest the Islanders focus on solving this issue on Draft Day.

Right Handed Defenceman

There are some decent RHD on the UFA list this summer. I’d eliminate any player looking for more than 2 years. The Islanders don’t need a high priced, long term solution. One of their positives is that role is in a god place with the drafting of Dobson and Wilde last year.

What they need is somebody willing to share time with Scott Mayfield and Johnny Boychuk. They may have filled that role with Grant Hutton as a college free agent at the end of the 2018-19 season. They could also use Dobson or Wilde for 9 games without burning their first ELC year.

Dobson was probably ready for that last year, but the new coaching staff opted to sign Lucas Sbisa. The team has established their ability to handle Trotz’ system, so I see Dobson as a seventh defenceman early in the season. If he can handle the minutes he may earn a full time NHL role.

External UFAs

Here’s a list of the most prized UFA’s this summer. The order is my own based on Islander needs.

Matt Duchene: Matt would immediately displace Barzal or Nelson as the Islanders number one center. He’d also need to be paid as such, and would devalue Nelson. So this couldn’t truly happen if Nelson was re-signed. Being strong up the middle is something the Islanders should strive for every year, and Duchene would help that cause for quite some time. The main issue is salary. Giving Matt over $10M AAV would almost immediately make the Isles top heavy in terms of CAP space, as Mat Barzal will get paid next year.

Artemi Panarin: The bread man cometh, most likely to the Florida Panthers. If that can’t be worked out, then Lou has to take a swing here. In the scenario I lay out above there is room for all the returning UFA’s and Panarin. That would be the power ball in the 2019 NHL Summer Lottery. He will most likely demand over $10M AAV and extended term, and is one of the top three on this list because it’s somebody who they should try for, even if the cap future is sketchy.

Erik Karlsson: I didn’t put him in the RHD category because I didn’t think he would be a realistic fit. But if Lou could convince him to sign with the Islanders they could move other pieces and make it work. He’d have to deal with CAP hell later.

Kevin Hayes: Hayes is also a part of the 2010 draft class reaching their first year of UFA status. As a center in that class, much like Brock Nelson, Hayes will get paid. Unlike Duchene, I think Hayes and Nelson can co-exist on the same roster with Mat Barzal. I don’t, however, think that Kevin has Long Island as one of his preferred destinations. I hope I am wrong in this, but it will remain something to look for until he signs.

Mats Zuccarello: Zook was a Ranger favorite. He was moved in their fire sale and helped the Dallas Stars for a few minutes before sustaining a season ending injury. His play in the playoffs, plus his natural leadership qualities make him a good fit to stay in Dallas. If he becomes available in July I’m pretty sure Lou will fire a shot that way. He’d be a nice fit with the Islanders, especially if they lose Eberle to free agency and/or Clutterbuck to injury.

Jeff Skinner: Skinner would be a huge addition to the Islander roster. At the moment it appears he will stay in Buffalo. Skinner, like Anders Lee, has scored over 100 goals over the past three seasons. Two of those years were with the goal scorer oppressing Carolina Hurricanes. Skinner is going to get paid on July 1st regardless of where he lands. If he were to land on Long Island it would probably be for over $8M AAV with extended term. It’s something that could be done. I only see it if they miss with Lee and/or Eberle.

Jake Gardener: Gardener will be out there, and the Islanders should have ZERO interest in him unless they have traded away multiple left handed D with much more valuable contracts. Keep him in your sideview if some combination of Pelech, Hickey and/or Leddy are dealt on draft day.

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Summary

It appears that Lee and Nelson will be the first dominoes to fall. If they are, or are not, signed by the NHL Draft will determine their trade strategy and the targets in free agency. The Islanders have not done well historically on July 1st. Hopefully Lou is successful bringing back the bulk of his own UFAs. I would like him to start with $7M AAV and 5 years as a target for all three. If he hits or exceeds that target Islander fans should be very happy.

The Islanders have gone through two mass exodus July’s in recent history. In both 2007 and 2006 the following season was a disappointment after a playoff season. The Islanders can’t afford that step backwards while still dealing with arena issues.

Another thing to keep in mind is that Lou stepped in last June and made some very questionable personnel moves. He replaced John Tavares, Nikolai Kulemin, Calvin deHaan and Jaroslav Halak with Val Filppula, Leo Komarov, Lucas Sbisa and Robin Lehner. The addition of Barry Trotz and staff made those moves from an almost certain decline in standings points to 100 less goals against and 23 more standings points.

Lou has certainly changed the culture of the New York Islanders. What was not clear to Isles’ fans last summer should be crystal clear to them this year. Don’t necessarily root for the expected. Let Lou do his magic. He knows hockey, and he understands the type coach he needs to teach it, and the players he needs to execute it.

Islander fans have great confidence in Lou Lamoriello getting the job done. This off season will define his Islander legacy as he has so many spots to fill this summer. It will not be easy, but he does have an opportunity to move the team forward.

2019 Islander Inventory was originally published on islesblogger.com

[hockeyknowitall]

NHL Awards explained

Someone asked me to go through each Award given at the NHL awards and explain how they’re given and what they’re for so instead of answering an ask I decided to make a separate post.

All these awards are based on the regular season only and votes are cast before the playoffs even begin.

Hart Memorial Trophy

This is the leading lady of the NHL Awards. The Hart Memorial Trophy is in essence the MVP award. It was first awarded in 1924 and is voted on by the Hockey Writers Association. Each member of this association votes for a first, second, and third place winner and they are all added up with first place votes weighing more then third and so on. This association votes on most of the awards. It officialy goes to the player most valuable to their team and does not necessarily go to the best player in the league, although most of the time it does.

Lady Byng Memorial Trophy

This trophy basically goes to the most gentlemanly player in the league. Imagine playing a sport know for being so rude you award players who are nice. It was donated to the lead by Lady Byng of Vimy in the 1920′s. Anze Kopitar is the current holder of the award, and like a lot of awards the winner is chosen by the Hockey Writers Association. A lot of the time it goes to a player with the highest playing ability matched with the lowest penalty box score. Usually theyre a top 6 forward on a team and some only go to the penalty box once or twice all season.

Vezina Trophy

This is another big ticket, the Vezina trophy is the MVP but for goalies. Goalies can still win the Hart, Carey Price for instance one both in a single year. The trophy is named after a goaltender for the montreal canadiens who played for the club from 1910-1925. It was first awarded in 1927 and the current holder is Braden Holtby of the Washington Capitals. It’s generally used as a good measure to how good a goaltender is, which may sound weird to clarify but a lot of these awards don’t measure what they  say they do according to critics. However, the Vezina is pretty straight forward. 

Calder Memorial Trophy

the Calder is another headliner at the NHL Awards because it’s the MVP for rookies. It is named after Frank Calder who was the first ever president for the NHL. The Oldest ever player to win the calder was 31 years old, as he played in the KHL for most of the career before playing his rookie season in the NHL. After that they changed the rules so only rookie players under 26 as of September 15th of that year, could win the calder. This is also voted on by the Hockey Writers Association.

Art Ross Trophy

This one is different because this is not a trophy that is voted on it’s earned. The Art Ross Trophy goes to the player with the most points at the end of the season. It was donated to the league by Art Ross who was a GM and coach for the Boston Bruins until the mid 50′s.

James Norris Memorial Trophy

this is one that I personally don’t really like. The Norris trophy is supposed to be a sort of MVP for defensemen but it doesn’t really measure good defensemen it measures defensemen who score a lot. A lot of people would tell you that a defenders job is not to be a forward. It was named after James Norris who was the owner of the red wings from the 30′s to 1952. Bobby Orr won the award 8 straight seasons. The winner is chosen by the Hockey Writers Association.

Bill Masterton Trophy

This trophy is awarded to the player who shows the most perseverance and dedication to hockey. This trophy tends to start a lot of controversy because people like to think it’s the award that goes to the player who was closer to dying. They obviously do not see how terrible it is to award a player for almost dying. But that’s another conversation. It was named after Bill Masterton, a North Stars player who died after he sustained an injury in a hockey game. The trophy has been around since the 60′s. The winner is chosen by the Hockey Writers Association.

Ted Lindsay Award

This is a unique one, and it’s usually paired with the Hart trophy but not always. Basically it’s another MVP award except the big difference is that this award is voted on by the NHLPA, basically the players vote on the MVP. It was called the Lester B Pearson award but in 2010 they renamed it after Red Wings great Ted Lindsay.

 Jack Adams Award

The Jack Adams is another award I don’t like much. It’s awarded to the best coach at the end of the regular season. But it usually ends up being the coach that over-preformed or a coach of a team that over-preformed. For me it’s usually the “wow we didn’t think your team would be this good” award. Usually the team that wins it baffles us so much that it could only be the coach. This though means coaches like Quenneville only won it once,a nd he was with the Blues at the time. Other coaches like Alain Vigneault have never won it after leading his team to the President’s trophy and now rehauling the New York Rangers. instead it goes to guys like John Tortorella, who was being paid not to coach the canucks for a bit. And Dan Bylsma who was fired from the team he won it with because of how poorly the team was preforming. My favorite was Patrick Roy, who won it in 2014 and 2 years later quit because he was doing nothing. Basically, in my opinion, it’s like another Vezina trophy except the goalie gets no credit. The only time it really semed to actually go to the best coach recently was this past winner was Barry Trotz.

Frank J Selke Trophy

I like to call this trophy the Bergy because he’s won it 3 times and has been nominated almost every other year he’s been eligible for it. This award, like most of them, is voted on by the Hockey Writers Association. It goes to the best two-way forward. Basically a high scoring player who is also defensively inclined. Players usually up for this award are like Bergeron, Toews, Kopitar, last year there was also Ryan Kesler ect. Basically the guys who aren’t high scorers but big names anyway on their team. It’s been awarded since about 1977

William M Jennings Trophy

This is another award that is based on stats and is therefore earned differently than the other ones. This trophy goes to the best goalie tandem, or the goalies of the team with the best goal for.  As in if your team lets in the least amount of goals during a season both goalies will receive this award. It’s a little goofy in my opinion because goal differential is a team stat but i like the idea of multiple goalie awards.

King Clancy Memorial Trophy

This award is awarded to the player who exemplifies leadership on and off the ice and has made a humanitarian contribution to their community. This usually goes to players who have some sort of leadership place on their team whether with an A or a C but who also is known for charity and programs for their community. It’s one of the two Charity awards. It is voted on by the Hockey Writers Association.

NHL Foundation Player Award

This award is the other charity award. Basically this award goes to the player who applies the “values of hockey to enrich their community.” The winner of this award gets a 25,000 check donated to a charity of their choice from the NHL.

Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy

Soon their going to change this one to the Alex Ovechkin trophy, just kidding kind of not really. Anyway this one is another one based on stats. the Rocket Richard Trophy is awarded to the highest goal scorer that year. This is just based on goals and not on points total like the Art Ross is. Rocket Richard was the first ever NHL player to hit 50 goals in a single season and he’s an iconic Montreal Canadiens player. The Habs donated this award to the league in 1998 and it was first awarded in 1999 to Teemu Selanne. And I joked a little at the beginning but Ovechkin has a record 6 Rockey Richard trophies

Mark Messier Leadership Award

This is a unique award because the winner for this award is chosen by Mark Messier himself, who also awards it personally to the winner on stage. The winner of the Messier Leadership Award is usually a captain who best shows leadership skills on and off the ice for his team.

The NHL General Manager Award

This one is pretty self explanatory. IT is awarded to the best general manager of the year. It has been awarded since 2010 and has not been given to someone more than once. the winner is chosen by a panel of all the general manages, a few executives and a few media members. 

[jakeoettinger]

11, 20, 21

11. which NHL team has the coolest color scheme?

currently i think i’m gonna go with the canucks... however if the seattle team’s colors are what are rumored.. the canucks are going to have to take a seat. also, honorable mention, i love the flyers thirds set up. 

20. make a team of five players + goalie: someone from your favorite team, someone from your most hated team, someone from a team you feel neutral about, a rookie playing in their first year in the NHL, someone who has played over ten years in the NHL.

i mean does it have to be 3 forwards and 2 defensemen? it wasn’t stated. I’m just gonna pick some people real quick.fav: roopehated: fjdkasl; i love how i went to pick edmundson and then realized he isn’t a blue anymore smh.. can i pick klim kostin?neutral: barkovrookie: denis gurianov10+: ovi?goalie: tuukka

no defense, only score. 

21. answered here! :)

21. which hockey would: fancy meal edition

a. burn down the kitchen trying to cook a fancy meal based on the fact that charlie coyle obviously had never used an oven before this week, i’m gonna go with him.. but it’s the thought that counts when you’re standing outside waiting for the fire department to show up. b. not even try johnny gaudreau… unless you think adding cheetos to your pb&j qualifies as *fancy*c. order take outjake virtanen. i don’t have a reason i just feel it in my bones.

send me an nhl suspension ask 👉🏻👈🏻

[thrashermaxey]

Dobber: Top 10 Hidden-Value Young PP Performers

  With Tom Collins on vacation this week, I figured that since I’ve always wanted to do this column – why not now? It’s been years since you’ve seen a non-Ramblings/Rankings, non-trade breakdown article from yours truly on DobberHockey. Happy to put an end to it here.

Last week we added a new stat and new reports in the Report Generator for Frozen Tools. The new stat is the PPPts/60, which is what it says – the power-play points of a player broken down in 60 minutes of PP time intervals. Nikita Kucherov leads the league with 10.2 PPPts/60, while a player like Viktor Arvidsson has a mere 0.8 PPPts/60 with his measly two points with the man advantage on 146:04 of power-play ice time. The report, which can be found here, also has a few young players on it with high productivity but secondary PP time. If they can continue performing like this, you should see a jump in their PP time next season (or 2020-21) with overall production rising accordingly.

Here are my favorites.

  10. Micheal Ferland, Carolina

The energetic winger is set to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer and he stands to really cash in. And by extension, a big salary number generally means a high standing in the lineup – which means more PP time. Ferland sees about 2:08 per game, which isn’t bad. But he has 11points in those 124 over all PP minutes and getting onto the first until will add even more value.

  9. Alexander Kerfoot, Colorado

This one won’t pan out next season, barring an injury to one of the Big 3 in Colorado. But who knows what the future brings for 2020-21. Kerfoot has 11 PPPts with 1:54 of average PPTOI. Last year he had 17 with 2:29. He is consistently productive and this will eventually pay dividends for his fantasy owners.

  8. Pavel Buchnevich, NY Rangers

A frustrating player because we know he has talent and major upside (“Major Upside reporting for duty, Sir!”), but for whatever reason be it attitude or laziness or imaginary – coaches don’t like him. He has nine PPPts in just 95:31 of total PP ice time, or 5.7 PPPts/60. Since the Deadline, with Kevin Hayes and Mats Zuccarello now gone, Buch is finally on the top power play.

  7. Henrik Borgstrom, Florida

He’s seen just 41 minutes of PP time in 37 games so far, and has four points to show for it. That’s 5.8 PPPts/60, a solid ratio. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’re probably aware that this rookie has high upside. This number further justifies it.

  6. Josh Morrissey, Winnipeg

The future sure looks bright in Winnipeg. Three members of the Jets make this list and to be honest a fourth could have easily been added in Nikolaj Ehlers. But this isn’t a Top 10 underused Winnipeg players list, so Ferland got the final spot instead of Ehlers. As for Morrissey, his talent is elite and one day he will sit among the top five in scoring among defenseman. You can mark that down right now and I’ll sign it. The wait may be two or even three years though, so no angry emails before then please. Anyway, Morrissey has 5.8 PPPts/60.

  5. Neal Pionk, NY Rangers

The 23-year-old had 11 PPPts in his first 20 games and that wave has carried him to a high number (7.2 PPPts/60) even here in March. While he has fallen off dramatically, the early numbers hint at something special coming down the road. If Kevin Shattenkirk continues to decline, Pionk will see a corresponding ascent.

  4. Jacob Trouba, Winnipeg

The second member of the Jets to crack the list, Trouba has an impressive 7.3 PPPts/60. The problem is that he is third on the pecking order for PP time behind Morrissey and Dustin Byfuglien, and he also has Tyler Myers needing PP time as well. But players of this caliber with this kind of upside eventually find a way. The cream always rises to the top, you just need patience.

  3. Kevin Labanc, San Jose

The young winger already sees 2:10 in PP time each game on average, so his skills are already being acknowledged. But there is another level yet and he is showing he is deserving of it with his 17 power-play points. That’s fourth on the Sharks behind players who see a full minute per game more than he.

  2. Mike Matheson, Florida

As with the talented defensemen above him such as Trouba and Morrissey, Matheson is buried behind a high-priced and highly-skilled puck mover. In this case it is Keith Yandle. But Matheson has very high upside – you just won’t see it come to fruition for another three years. He has six PPPts despite getting just 56 seconds of PP time each game, or 57 minutes in all. That’s a 6.3 rate.

  1. Jack Roslovic, Winnipeg

The third and final Winnipeg player on this list sits at the top. The Jets have high-end talent on their top power play. And they have very good talent on the second unit. And to think they have players not on either unit who could step in and produce, such as Roslovic. Seeing just 42 seconds of PP time per game, Jack has six PPPts for a rate of 7.9 PPPts/60. The wait won’t be as long for him as it would be for the defensemen.

    from All About Sports https://dobberhockey.com/hockey-home/fantasy-hockey-top-10/dobber-top-10-hidden-value-young-pp-performers/

[killjoynoise]

Good afternoon ladies and lads, if you hate hockey rants you should probably start scrolling.

Also if you’re going to come at me and start mansplaining hockey to me, keep scrolling, I ain’t having that shit today.

Motherfucking FUCK!!!!! I have had it to the roof with the Wild’s management. Trading our boys for draft picks and lesser trades like no tomorrow. First the Nino/Rask trade, which holy shit I will never get over. People keep saying “oh he’ll get better” , bitch when???? He was shakey when he was playing, now out on injury, while Nino is killing it with the Canes. The Coyle/Donato trade I think I can safely say I ate my words on. I was not super impressed with his stats, but he’s won me over, plus I’m more lenient with younger players, he’s fresh out of college. This fucking Granlund/Fiala trade....like what the fuck. I’m not gonna say anything negative about Fiala yet just because he’s a kid, but Fenton really dropped the ball on this trade. Even trade? Granny was worth at least a draft pick along with a player. People seem to only be focusing on the age of the players we’re getting and how many goals the players we’ve traded had, which isn’t the whole picture. Granlund was leading our team with assists, we can’t score if we can’t set the puck up. Straight shots aren’t our thing, especially since other teams love to crowd their goalies. He’s made some seriously good goals, plus he saved Dubnyk’s ass the other day when he was doing his playing out of the net bullshit (don’t get me wrong, I love Duby but Jesus he needs to be chained to the goal post some days). We have some decent forwards, line combinations need to be changed around some, except the “kid line” (Kunin, Donato, and Eriksson Ek) is working really well, and we need to build up our d-line, because from I can see, the only defensemen who have been working their asses off consistently are Dumba, who is currently injured, and Spurgeon. The rest, meh. Some of them like Greenway are younger and they’ll get better with age, but we need to get a solid d-line out there so Dubnyk isn’t playing goalie and defenseman. Everyone screaming “salary caps” with these trades is only focusing on the money. Yes we need to spend money to get good players and to keep good ones, but these rookies aren’t going to being getting 7-8 million dollar contracts. Also, I’m sorry but winning isn’t everything. Winning championships is great, believe me I’d love to see the Wild win the Cup, but having down to earth genuinely nice players that fans feel a connection to, that’s in my opinion what draws me to certain teams. It’s a huge part of the reason I cheer for Minnesota teams year after year, it’s the players. The Twins suck, but the players year after year are stand up awesome guys, I’ve met some and other people who have met them say the same things. Same with the Wild, one of my friends met some of the players and she said that they were all genuine and sweet guys.

And one last thing. Everyone (mostly men) saying that everyone needs to “suck it up and get over it” can shove it. We’re allowed to grieve the loss of our players. We can carry on about it for as long as we damn well please. A lot of people choose their favorites because of personality and how they are on and off the ice instead of who’s the best, so when we lose them, it fucking hurts. Granny’s gonna do well in Nashville, I’m sure of that, but we’re gonna welcome him back with open arms when we play the Preds on Sunday.

[mitchbeck]

CANTLON: WOLF PACK TRAINING CAMP ABOUT TO OPEN

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - Sunday in Cromwell off-ice training, physicals, and hitting the ice will take place at the XL Center kicking off the Hartford Wolf Pack’s 23rd AHL campaign. The Wolf Pack will have the normal fluid roster for this time of year. Four more players from the team's NHL affiliate, the New York Rangers, will join six others who've already been sent to Hartford. On Friday, the Rangers sent three defensemen, Brandon Crawley, who enters the last season of an entry-level contract, a third-year pro, Darren Raddysh, who was acquired last season from the Rockford Ice Hogs (Chicago Black Hawks) for Peter Holland, who is entering the last season of his original entry-level deal. Also, Vincent LoVerde, who was signed as an off-season free agent who played with Toronto last season as the assistant captain for the Marlies. For two years in Ontario, LoVerde was their captain when they were in the ECHL. He played three years for Manchester, NH and was the captain on their last AHL Monarchs team that won the Calder Cup. The lone forward is Jake Elmer. He played five games at the end of the year last season for the Wolf Pack adding two goals and four points after completing his junior career with Lethbridge (WHL) where he had had 39 goals and 81 points in 68 games. Five other players were sent down at the beginning of the week. Two of the five players were goalies. AHL veteran Tom McCollum was signed in the off-season and was also a Rangers' training camp invitee. Francois Brassard, from Carleton University (OUAA), was the other. The other three reassigned are forwards. They are right-winger, Ville Meskanen, who showed flashes of promise in his rookie camp. Matt Beleskey was one of his linemates for a majority of last season. Second-year pro center, Ty Ronning, was dispatched and split last season between Maine and Hartford. The third is winger is none other than veteran Ryan Gropp, who played better in the second half of last season after being sent to Maine in November last season. Gropp is entering the last season of his entry-level contract and being sent back to Hartford so early is certainly not a good sign. Belesky was the first player reassigned and not invited to Rangers camp. He enters the last season of a four-year, NHL, one-way deal that was originally signed with the Boston Bruins. Beleskey gets $1.9 million with the Bruins picking up half of his salary. His cap-friendly deal gives the Rangers just an $825K cap hit for this season. Beleskey had to go through waivers first on Friday, the day before Wolf Pack camp opens, in order to be formally assigned. Defenseman Sean Day had off-season hip surgery. He will be in residence for a period of time that has yet to be determined. He has been skating, but still is in a no-contact red jersey. New Russian defenseman, Yegor Rykov, had an ankle injury in Traverse City but has healed and is back on skates. Another defenseman from Finland, a fourth-round draft pick, Tarmo Reunanen, who signed an entry-level deal, is going to be returned at the end of training camp to his Finnish club Lukko Rauma (Finland-FEL) for the season. That move will allow him to be with the Wolf Pack at the end of 2019-20 season and hopefully for the post-season as well. The Wolf Pack first preseason game is in Danbury against Springfield this coming Wednesday night. NOTES: Incredible how time flies. On Friday, defenseman, Dan Girardi, 35, announced his retirement from professional hockey. It seems like yesterday he was walking on with an ECHL deal only for the then, Charlotte Checkers in the Coast League. He played about a month before he came to Hartford. Then played a season and a half in Hartford before a recall to the Rangers and never came back. He played 927 NHL games between New York and Tampa Bay with 56 goals 208 assists 264 points and a plus-78 rating. He helped the Rangers to a division title, a President’s Trophy and a Stanley Cup Final appearance in 2014. He has the most block shots since the NHL added the stat in 2005-06 and stopped 1,954. He played in the NHL playoffs in 12-of-his-13 pro seasons and had 788 games with Rangers. “On behalf of the entire Rangers organization, I want to congratulate Dan on an outstanding NHL career,” Rangers Senior Advisor to the Owner and Alternate Governor Glen Sather said. “Dan was the ultimate warrior. From the moment he joined the Rangers, he gave his heart and soul to his teammates, the organization, and the fans. Dan’s relentless effort and dedication to the Rangers was an inspiration to everyone..” Former Hartford Courant writer Bruce Berlet who covered the Wolf Pack for eight years and the NHL Whalers was effusive in his praise. “Amazing this "walk-on" played 13 years in the NHL, but it shows just what a hard-trier and great team player that he was. He is one of my all-time favorite Wolf Pack/Rangers players that I ever dealt with for just that reason and because he was so professional and classy with how he handled himself.” The Rangers finally got ex-Pack, Tony DeAngelo, under contract becoming the last player (RFA) to sign with the Rangers. This will allow promising, but not yet ready righty shooting rookie rearguard Joey Keane to be assigned to Hartford in the very near future. In fact, expect a slew of players to be assigned by Sunday/Monday to Hartford as the Rangers and all of the NHL teams work toward their CBA required 23 players permitted. Good news is neither the NHL or NHLPLA will reopen the CBA, so the current CBA will run its course until 2022. That means the NHL will be sending players to the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. The Bridgeport Sound Tigers open their camp as well-received, ex-Pack, Ryan Bourque, who signed his AHL deal, Colin McDonald (Wethersfield), Connor Doherty (Sacred Heart University-AHA), Parker Wotherspoon, and AHL vets Ben Thomson, and Steve Bernier, Kyle Thomas and among the first signees of the Danbury Hat Tricks (FHL) Dustin Jesseau. Former Wolf Pack defensemen, Hubert Labrie, and Mark Kastelic, and the son of a former Whaler, Ed Kastelic, were assigned to the Belleville Senators camp. Many ex-Pack players were sent to their respective AHL camps from their NHL parent teams; Rob O’Gara (San Antonio), Dustin Tokarski (Wilkes Barre/Scranton), Chris McCarthy and Tommy Hughes (Hershey) while Shawn O’Donnell and Matt Register were both cuts from Minnesota’s camp earlier in the week. Former Sound Tigers include Casey Bailey (Hershey), Dyson Stevenson (Utica), and Eamon MacAdam (Binghamton). Goalie Beau Starrett (Selects Academy at South Kent Prep) was assigned to Bakersfield. Sons of players also were sent to the AHL include Nolan Stevens, the son of ex-Hartford Whaler, John Stevens, is in San Antonio. Brad Malone, the nephew of ex-Whaler Greg Malone and the cousin of former Pack Ryan Malone, is in Bakersfield. Mitch Eliot, the son of former New Haven Nighthawk, Daren Eliot, is in Utica while Luke Esposito (Greenwich/Brunswick Prep), the nephew of Rangers great, Mark Messier, is in Bakersfield. Mason Primeau, the nephew of former Whaler, Keith Primeau, was sent back to North Bay (OHL). In the ECHL, former Wolf Pack, Alex Krushelnyski, the son of former Ranger Mike Krushelnyski, signs with Indy (ECHL). Mitch Jones, the son of former Nighthawk and Ottawa Senator, Brad Jones, signs with Jacksonville (ECHL). River Rymsha, the son of former Nighthawk, Andrew Rymsha, finished his NCAA career with Miami (OH) (NCHC) and earns a degree from Dartmouth, has signed with the Norfolk Admirals (ECHL). The team’s former head coach was Robbie Ftorek, a former player and head coach of the Nighthawks, and also a former Norfolk assistant coach in former Whalers goalie, Peter Sidorkiewicz, both of whom were let go this summer. Ex-Pack goalie, Charles Williams, is in Rockford’s camp and has a deal with Indy (ECHL). Peter Quenneville, a former QU Bobcat, is in Tucson’s camp and has an ECHL deal with Rapids City. Jake Marchment, the nephew of ex-Whaler Bryan Marchment, signs with the Orlando Solar Bears (ECHL). Billy Exall, of the two-time defending national champions, the University Minnesota-Duluth (NCHC) signs with Rockford (AHL). That makes 210 collegians to sign pro deals and 280 collegians overall. Nick Capone (East Haven/Salisbury Prep) will play with the Tri-City Storm (USHL) this season. He also de-committed from the University of Maine Black Bears (HE) and will skate for the UCONN Huskies (HE) in 2020-21. Read the full article