Snapshots: Lundqvist, Rantanen, Crosby
In a shocking turn of events, Henrik Lundqvist has been scratched from today’s matchup with Russia at the World Cup. As of this morning, Lundqvist was the expected starter, but came down with an illness that is making him unable to play in the game. Jacob Markstrom will take his place in net, while the backup will be Jhonas Enroth.
For Sweden, it’s a huge blow to their chances against the high-powered Russians who will ice a top line of Nikita Kucherov, Pavel Datsyuk and Alex Ovechkin. That trio had 96 goals between them last season, even with Datsyuk obviously in the tail end of his career. While the Russian defense isn’t nearly as strong, their top two lines can play with anyone in the world, and probably outscore the majority of them. Lundqvist would have been a huge part in any Swedish victory.
- According to Mike Chambers of the Denver Post, the injured Mikko Rantanen will not play today against Anaheim in the Colorado rookie showcase. While it was reported yesterday that his sprained ankle isn’t as bad as originally thought, the Avalanche have now released that it will keep him out 2-4 weeks. Rantanen is trying to show that he has developed enough to be considered for a full-time NHL job this season, after dominating at the AHL level a season ago.
- Sidney Crosby is one of, if not the, best players in the world and no one denies it. But when you hear his teammates on Team Canada speak so highly of him, like Matt Duchene did with TSN today, it really drives the point home. Duchene says “He’s not a guy who’s winning Selke trophies, but he easily could be.” Jay Bouwmeester chimed in as well, saying “He’s not just a pure goal scorer, a guy who’s just hanging out and getting points. He plays the game and he makes a lot of things happen out there, just through the way he moves, and what a powerful skater he is and how smart he is. It’s pretty impressive.”
Mikhail Sergachev Leaves Game After Taking Illegal Check
According to Ken Warren of the Ottawa Citizen, Montreal Canadiens top prospect and first round pick Mikhail Sergachev has been removed from his rookie-camp game after a check from behind by Vince Dunn. It’s unlikely he will return to the game.
Sergachev was taking part in the Canadiens rookie tournament against the Ottawa Senators today in London, and had already completed a wonderful rush to record an assist and open the scoring. His offensive game is well developed for such a young defender, leading some to believe he could make the jump to the NHL as soon as this season.
Taken ninth overall in the most recent draft, Sergachev was crowned the OHL defenseman of the year in his rookie season. His ability on the powerplay, along with a developing defensive game puts him among the game’s top prospects going into this season. If he has suffered a head or neck injury from the hit, it would be a big blow to his development time and possible start to his pro career.
This Day In Hockey History: Scotty Bowman
September 18th is an important day in hockey history for a few reasons. Not only will it mark the first time a ‘young guns’ team has hit the ice at an international competition of this magnitude, it was also the day one of the greatest coaches of all-time was born.
September 18th, 1933 in Verdun, Quebec a boy was born who would change the hockey world. As most boys did in Canada, Scotty Bowman quickly took to hockey and was a talented winger, even making it into the Montreal Canadiens minor league system, until March 6th, 1952 when he was struck in the head with a stick and suffered a fractured skull. Bowman remembers having blurry vision and headaches that made him unable to play to the level he was used to. He missed only one game with the head injury, a stark contrast to the brain injury protections that our now in the game.
He’d turn his attention to coaching, and led the Montreal Junior Canadiens soon after. In 30 years of NHL coaching, Bowman would amass over 1200 wins, 28 playoff appearances and 9 Stanley Cups. He’d raise the cup for three different teams, and go down as clearly one of the top few coaches in all of hockey history, if not the single greatest.
As Bowman tweeted out himself this morning, this would have been his 50th NHL training camp, should he have attended one this year. At 83, he’s been a force in hockey for longer than many coaches have been alive, and is an inspiration to young players and front office types alike. Happy Birthday William Scott Bowman, and thank you.
World Cup Notes: Matthews, Team USA, Canada B
Team North America hits the ice for the first time in Toronto today, as they prepare for their opening match against Finland. While many eyes are drawn to Oilers’ superstar Connor McDavid or the reunion of Jonathan Drouin and Nathan MacKinnon – the two starred together for the Halifax Mooseheads before being drafted – it was Auston Matthews that got much of the attention at this morning’s presser.
Matthews will be skating on the top line alongside McDavid and Mark Scheifele, despite never having played a professional game on North American soil. He’ll be in front of his new team’s fans, trying to make an impression on Leaf Nation before the season even begins. According to Craig Custance of ESPN, Head coach Todd McLellan spoke highly of Matthews when asked, saying he is hockey’s version of a 5-tool player (a term in baseball that means a player who can do everything well), and saying “he’s got better every day.”
As we wrote yesterday, Matthews is a big part of the Maple Leafs rebuild, and he’s showing why he was the first overall pick and most talked about prospect during the season. If he can keep up with the best in the world, at just 19 years old, he’ll be well positioned to have a long and successful career in the NHL.
- Team USA head coach John Tortorella is still taking a lot of heat today over his decision to bench Kyle Palmieri and Dustin Byfuglien prior to last night’s loss to Team Europe, and as the team hit the ice for practice the lines had already been mixed up. According to Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun, Palmieri was back among the first 12 forwards, skating with Max Pacioretty and Brandon Dubinsky on the fourth line. Stephen Whyno adds that Byfuglien – widely expected to be a big part of the top pairing – is back skating with the powerplay unit (though the second group).
- James Mirtle of the Globe and Mail revealed an interesting couple of tidbits that had been just rumored so far regarding the structure of the World Cup. First, he reported that an original idea for the tournament was to have two Canadian teams, because of the strong depth the country has; he goes on to list P.K. Subban, Kris Letang, Mark Giordano, Taylor Hall and many others as examples of the talent “Canada B” would have. Second, he says that it’s widely believed that the tournament will return to an eight-country format in 2020, meaning that teams like Slovakia, Switzerland and Germany will all have chances. He doesn’t, however, mention if Team Europe or North America will return, though with good showings from both thus far, it would be surprising to see them removed.
Linus Arnesson To Miss Camp With Upper Body Injury
According to a release from the Boston Bruins Sunday morning, prospect Linus Arnesson has suffered an upper-body injury, and will miss all of rookie camp. Arnesson is coming off shoulder surgery in the spring.
The 21-year old is a former second-round pick of the Bruins from 2013, and played all of last season with the Providence team, scoring five points in 48 games. The shutdown defensive prospect has turned in some stellar performances, but has never been able to develop much of an offensive game to help him get to the next level.
Still young, Arnesson projects as a bottom pairing NHL blueliner one day, capable of helping against a tough forecheck and contributing on the penalty kill. Limited already in his short career by injury, we’ll see how long it takes him to get back to full strength after this latest upper body problem.
2016-17 Season Preview: St. Louis Blues
With the NHL season just weeks away, PHR is looking at each team, in-depth. Today: the St. Louis Blues.
Last Season: 49-24-9 (107 points), 2nd place in the Central Division. Lost 4-2 to San Jose Sharks in Western Conference Finals.
Cap Space Remaining: $3.96MM via CapFriendly.
Key Newcomers: David Perron (signed as a free agent from Anaheim); Carter Hutton (signed as a free agent from Nashville); Landon Ferraro (signed as free agent from Boston).
Key Departures: David Backes (signed with Boston); Troy Brouwer (signed with Calgary); Brian Elliott (traded to Calgary).
Player to Watch: Kevin Shattenkirk. Rumors swirled that Shattenkirk was on his way out and then in mid-July, general manager Doug Armstrong told Craig Custance that he expects Shattenkirk to spend the season in St. Louis. When Custance pushed him on what he meant, Armstrong clarified that Shattenkirk would stay in St. Louis. However, with the Blues weaker than last season, it will be interesting to see what happens should Shattenkirk’s stock rise more by the trade deadline. If negotiations don’t go well for a new contract, it’s not crazy to think Shattenkirk will be shipped somewhere else for a king’s ransom.
Key Storyline: The Blues finally pushed through the Blackhawks in the playoffs and survived through the Conference Finals, where they were dispatched by the Sharks in six games. Then started the purge. Elliott was dealt to Calgary, Brouwer packed up and followed his former teammate there, and Backes went east to Boston. Though they still have talent on the roster, this is a weaker St. Louis team than last season. Nashville certainly improved with the addition of P.K. Subban and the Western Conference improved almost everywhere. Playing the always competitive Central Division will be more perilous than usual. Ken Hitchcock will be handing the reins over to Mike Yeo, and after an up and down tenure in Minnesota, what will Yeo do differently with the Blues? While the team is still strong with the likes of Vladimir Tarasenko and Alex Pietrangelo to name a few, they may be a step back from what St. Louis has been accustomed to.
Snapshots: Team USA Reaction, Prospect Tournaments, Rantanen
It was paramount for the United States to put themselves in a good position heading into its tilt with Team Canada on Tuesday. Instead, they made things even tougher on themselves. Lauding a gritty style that would intimidate opponents, the US looked anything but intimidating in a 3-0 loss to Team Europe. Until the third period, the US seemed to lack any sense of urgency.
USA Today’s Kevin Allen writes that while the US can still hypothetically advance, it would take a number of scenarios for that to happen. Further, Allen reports that giving up three goals in just shots never allowed the US to get control of the game. Puck Daddy’s Jen Neale writes more about how even before the game, Team USA was making odd decisions.
Head coach John Tortorella had defenseman Dustin Byfuglien as a healthy scratch, a befuddling move that had every analyst wondering what was going on. Neale goes on to write that the US team looked “listless” and then more telling, that after scoring its first goal, Team Europe sat back to allow the US to “implode on themselves.”
Frank Seravalli was even more blunt:
Just about everything Team USA had been billed as before the tournament started did not show up on Saturday for the first game of the tournament. They weren’t rugged or tough to play against. In fact, they played most of the game like the environment inside the arena: quiet and without much intensity.
The US will have to find that intensity quickly or else they will have a short stay in the tournament.
In other hockey news:
- Gustav Forsling had an impressive showing for the Blackhawks during a 5-0 whitewashing of the Red Wings prospects at the Rookie Tournament in Traverse City, Michigan. Forsling had three points, with one coming as a goal. Nathan Noel, and Alex DeBrincat each added a goal while Alexandre Fortin scored two. In other action from Traverse City, the Rangers knocked off the Stars 5-4 in overtime. Jimmy Vesey had an assist and a shootout goal in the win.
- It appears that Mikko Rantanen‘s injury is not a serious one. Mike Chambers tweets that the Avs classified it as an ankle sprain and nothing more. It was reported earlier that Rantanen suffered an apparent right leg injury that looked troubling.
Mikko Rantanen Suffers Apparent Right Leg Injury
5:51pm: Mike Chambers reports that the injury is an ankle sprain and nothing serious.
5:16pm: According to Mike Chambers of the Denver Post, Colorado Avalanche prospect Mikko Rantanen was helped off the ice in today’s rookie tournament game with a right-leg injury. Chambers calls it “trouble”, and if Rantanen is seriously injured it would be for the Avalanche.
Drafted 10th overall in 2015, Rantanen made his NHL debut last season after dominating the AHL. 60 points in 52 games at the lower level, he was one of the best scoring threats in the league, and was expected to contribute to the NHL level this year.
Still just 19-years old, Rantanen is already 6’4″, 211 pounds, and is one of the best power forward prospects in the league, a position that often develops slower than others. While not a lock to break camp with the team, he’ll be a big part of the top-six for the Avalanche for years to come, pairing with their smaller skilled players to make a balanced, effective line in all three zones.
Rebuilding A Franchise: Toronto Maple Leafs
When a team has a rich history of success followed by decades of disappointment, they become the league’s punchline. A joke so easy to make, some even start to sympathize with their plight – just see the pre-2004 Boston Red Sox, who fans cheered for to dethrone the mighty Yankees and get back to their previous glory.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are one of these teams. Almost universally hated at one point, they’re now just one of the bottom-feeders, and an afterthought in many fan’s minds. But since Brendan Shanahan took over in April of 2014, the team has had a clear (if sometimes ineffective) plan to tear down the culture and history of the last fifty years, and replace it with a new mentality.
The Leafs ended up at the very bottom of the standings last year, but many believe this was part of the plan. Auston Matthews was the prize, and the team can now start to head back in the right direction, with an ultimate goal of raising the Stanley Cup for the first time since 1967, and 14th in team history.
Now, as they head into their centennial season and celebrate the past greats that have donned the blue and white, the team will look for even a modicum of improvement. Matthews will help, as he looks like a lock to be a star forward in the NHL as soon as next year. He’s already playing on team North America despite never hitting the ice as a professional in NA.
They’ve built an elite prospect pool, that includes Mitch Marner and William Nylander, two blue-chippers that can support Matthews and fellow star Morgan Rielly in the resurrection of one of the leagues worst current franchises.
But in what might be their greatest accomplishment, the Shanahan-led front office has convinced a Toronto market – that is usually one of the harshest in the league – to buy into a rebuild in a way never seen before. When nine players made their debut all at once for the Maple Leafs last year, instead of disgust, fans embraced the rookie mistakes and pointed out the encouraging moments.
One of the problems, however, is that they’re not the only team in the Atlantic division to be “doing it the right way”. Buffalo, one of Toronto’s biggest rivals due to their geographic proximity, is following almost the same blueprint to turn around a once proud franchise. Their team has just as many (if not more) elite level prospects/young players, and is trying to create the same winning mentality.
For the Maple Leafs, this may sound like a broken record. They’ve tried rebuilds before, at least for a little while. What they haven’t had, since the Pat Quinn-led, pre-salary cap powerhouses (that still never got all that close to a Stanley Cup), is this level of talent. Matthews, Rielly, Marner, Nazem Kadri and James van Riemsdyk all represent all-star level talent. It’ll be up to Shanahan, Lou Lamoriello and head coach Mike Babcock to keep the team on this path, and really complete the rebuild.
Rookie Notes: Shmaltz, Puljujarvi, Erne
Rookie tournaments around the league are underway, with various teams putting their youngesters up against each other to determine readiness and sometimes NHL futures. For Chicago, today is the second of back-to-back matchups, and one of the notable names isn’t participating in the game. Nick Schmaltz, the recently signed NCAA standout was a late scratch from today’s matchup, as Scott Powers of The Athletic reports. Schmaltz was a big part of the game last night against the Blues, and is expected to make his NHL debut at some point this season.
After two seasons at the University of North Dakota, Schmaltz (the Hawks’ first round pick from 2014) is set to make an impact for a Chicago team that has seen many home grown talents leave due to salary cap restraints over the past few years. If he can slide into a scoring role like he did with North Dakota – the 20-year old put up 46 points in his sophomore year in only 37 games – he’ll help to replace the offense that Teuvo Teravainen and Andrew Shaw will be taking with them.
- After surprisingly dropping to fourth overall in this year’s entry draft, Jesse Puljujarvi is already making an impact for the Oilers at their rookie camp. After a three point outburst last night against Vancouver, Puljujarvi is one of the hottest topics in the city of champions. He’ll sit out today though against Calgary, though it’s believed he’s not out with an injury. If the Finnish winger develops as most expect him to, Edmonton may have another franchise forward on their team to step into the shoes of the recently departed Taylor Hall.
- As Bryan Burns of NHL.com writes, Adam Erne will be heading into his fourth rookie camp with the Lightning, after injuries have derailed the early part of the former second-round pick’s career. This time, the winger isn’t just trying to make an impact on the NHL club, but stay healthy enough to compete in a full professional season. An elite scoring threat at the junior level, Erne put up 29 points in 59 games last season with the Syracuse Crunch of the AHL.