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Ottawa Senators To Hire Basketball’s Dave Smart As Consultant

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The Ottawa Senators have decided to tap into the world of sports to help improve their franchise as the team has hired Canada’s most accomplished men’s basketball coach, Dave Smart, as a consultant, according to Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch. Smart, who won 13 USports Men’s National Championships throughout his coaching career, carried a .925 winning percentage against USports competition, and won the OUA Coach of the Year award 13 times as well, in his time with Carleton University, will be expected to help out with the team’s young core.

“The reason he’s on board is he’s the winningest coach in college basketball with the championships that he has,” said Ottawa head coach D.J. Smith. “Whether it’s hockey, basketball, baseball, football whatever, it’s still coaching and you’re dealing with people. He’s here to kind of help me in a senior role to see ’Are we pushing the guys enough?’ ’Are we pushing them too hard?’ And give us perspective from his side.”

It’s not as unusual as it sounds, however. Smart has actually been brought in by the Senators for several years now to speak to their prospects during the club’s rookie training camp in the summers, according to TSN’s Ian Mendes. An exceptional motivational speaker, Smart’s words truly affected Smith, who was brought in this summer by Ottawa to be the team’s new head coach due to his strong ability to connect with young athletes. With the team in full rebuild mode, Smith convinced Ottawa management to bring him in on a more regular basis.

“I listened to him talk to our young guys at rookie camp and I thought it was exceptional,” said Smith. “Just his view on how you put winning teams together and it’s very similar to what I believe in. I just said that’s a guy I can use.”

Smart, who retired in March of this year, taking a new position over at Carleston University, Director of Basketball Operations. Smart is expected to play the fly-on-the-wall and observe everything from the coaching staff to the players.

Longtime Player, Coach Ted Green Dies At 79

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Ted Green, a longtime member of the Boston Bruins during the 1960s and a head coach for the Edmonton between 1991-94, passed away at the age of 79. The Oilers announced his death today and he was honored at Saturday’s New York Rangers game. Green was an assistant coach for the Rangers between 2000 and 2004.

Green was known as “Terrible Ted” during his playing days due to his physical style of play on the ice. In fact he had more than 100 penalty minutes in six of his first seven seasons in the league. In 11 season with the Bruins, Green picked up 254 points (48 goals and 206 assists) and 1,029 penalty minutes in 621 games. He played in the 1965 and 1969 all-star games and was named an the NHL Second Team All-Star in 1969, while finishing third in the Norris voting that year. Green was on the team that captured the 1970 Stanley Cup Championship, but he never played that year after sitting out the season after being hit in the head with a stick during the preseason that year. Regardless, his name still engraved on the cup.

The blueliner played for the Boston Bruins from 1961 to 1972 before opting to sign with the New England Whalers of the WHA where he played for three seasons and then played another four years with the Winnipeg Jets, winning three championships. He retired in 1979.

After he retirement, he took up coaching, working as an assistant with the Edmonton Oilers under former teammate Glen Sather from 1982 to 1990 before becoming co-coach for the 1990-91 season and eventually becoming head coach of the Oilers in 1991-92. The team went 65-102-21 in his two and half years at the helm in Edmonton. He was eventually fired after starting the year off at 3-18-3 in 1983. After taking a few years off from coaching he returned to the Oilers as an assistant once again in 1997 and stayed until 2000, before joining the New York Rangers in the same capacity after that.

Everyone at PHR wishes the best for the family and friends of Green at this time.

Blackhawks Assign Kirby Dach To AHL For Conditioning

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The status of Chicago Blackhawks’ Kirby Dach remains up in the air as to where he will play this year. The 2019 third overall pick suffered a concussion during training camp and has spent the first part of the year on the injured list with a non-roster designation. However, the Blackhawks announced today that the team has activated Dach and assigned the 18-year-old to the Rockford Ice Hogs in the AHL for conditioning purposes.

That could give Dach another small window to show Chicago brass whether he is ready for NHL action as he now has a 14-day window before the team has to decide on whether to place him on their NHL roster. He is expected to start tonight in Rockford’s home opener. The team’s only other option once his conditioning stint is over is to return him to his junior team, the Saskatoon Blades of the WHL. He cannot play in the AHL this season, conditioning stints excluded.

Dach was considered a top-10 prospect in the 2019 NHL draft, but many were surprised when Chicago selected Dach with the third overall pick. The 6-foot-4 Dach scored 25 goals and 73 points in 62 games in his draft year with the Blades, but quickly moved up in the draft.

 

Evening Notes: CBA Talks, Kempny, Smith, Miller

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The good news for the NHL and the NHLPA is that both sides continue to have bargaining talks to work towards a new CBA contract. While many thought talks might cool down between the two sides after the players opted out of its option to terminate the current agreement, that has not happened. However, Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston writes that there are other issues that could make it an interesting negotiations.

One of the biggest roadblocks is Olympic participation as the league isn’t that interested in allowing players to play.

“I’ll say, because I think I need to say, from the NHL owners’ perspective, Olympic participation is not seen as something that’s either essential or even useful to our business,” said deputy commissioner Bill Daly. “It’s highly disruptive to our season, puts our players in jeopardy of injury with no financial benefit to the NHL or the clubs.”

If the NHL wants to bend on this aspect of negotiations, they would have to not only change their stance, but then begin negotiations with the IOC in regards to travel, insurance and hospitality arrangements, which had been the issues that the NHL had with the IOC in the past.

  • The Washington Capitals are already getting forward Evgeny Kuznetsov back from suspension, but they might just be closer to getting back defenseman Michal Kempny, who has been out with a hamstring injury, according to The Athletic’s Tarik El-Bashir (subscription required). Head coach Todd Reirden said that until Kempny competes in 5-on-5 practice and can prove he’s healthy, Reirden won’t even consider playing him. The next opportunity to prove himself will be Monday.
  • Newsday’s Colin Stephenson writes that New York Rangers defenseman Brendan Smith, who was used as a fourth-line forward Saturday, but also used as a defenseman in short-handed situations, could find himself in a similar role for a while. Head coach David Quinn said that he likes using Smith in that role. “I think he had a really good (training) camp, and he had a great stretch last year when he played forward and no problem playing it for an extended period of time,’’ Quinn said of Smith, who scored an empty net goal in the season opener Thursday against Winnipeg, when he was on the ice as a defenseman in a six-on-four situation.
  • Sticking with the Rangers, The Athletic’s Rick Carpiniello (subscription required) writes that after hearing that New York prospect K’Andre Miller was suspended at the University of Wisconsin, he immediately called Wisconsin head coach Tony Granato, who acknowledged that the infraction that got him suspended wasn’t serious. “Nope. Nothing major,” said Granato. “I have done the same with probably seven or eight guys already. … It is exactly what it is. He broke a team rule and is suspended for (Sunday’s) inter-squad game. Nothing more.”

Pacific Notes: Coyotes Offense, Eakin, Sheahan, Motte

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Having scored just one goal over their first two games, the Arizona Coyotes were definitely hoping for more offense after an offseason where they upgraded in major ways. Despite the slow start in the offensive end, head coach Rick Tocchet said he isn’t worried about the team’s offense yet, according to Matt Layman of AZ Sports.

“I’m not panicking. We’re a good hockey club,” Tocchet said. “These guys worked hard. These are winnable games. It’s a ‘woulda, coulda, shoulda,’ and I don’t play that game. But with a little bit of push here and there for some individuals, we could be 2-0. We need everybody to push a little bit harder, but I thought generally, the team played hard.”

One thing that Tocchet is happy with is the play of the team’s first line of Clayton Keller, Derek Stepan and Phil Kessel, who have already developed chemistry together. Against Boston on Saturday, Kessell and Keller each had five shots on goal each with several close goals. What the team needs to improve is the power play which is 0-for-3 this year and that same power play, coached by new assistant Phil Housley, is just 0-for-6 on faceoffs.

“We haven’t got much set up on the zone time,” Kessel said of the power play. “I mean if you can’t set it up, you’re not going to have much success. So we’ve got to get it set up and work for each other, and hopefully get it going.”

  • The Athletic’s Jesse Granger reports that the Vegas Golden Knights could get one of their injured players back soon. While he is not expected to play Tuesday against Boston, center Cody Eakin skated on his own. Head coach Gerard Gallant said that he could be ready to play after the Boston game. Eakin was expected to center the third line, but when he got hurt, the Golden Knights opted to keep Cody Glass on the roster and promoted him to the second line to center Mark Stone and Max Pacioretty, while shifting Paul Stastny to the third line. With everyone playing well, Eakin might be pushed down to the fourth line now.
  • The Edmonton Journal’s Kurt Leavins writes that the team has really missed center Riley Sheahan and the team is expecting the third-line center back in the lineup soon. With Sheahan out, Leon Draisaitl has had to take full penalty killing duties and has been averaging 26:26 of ATOI in the first two games, something that isn’t sustainable. However, once Sheahan returns, the team must decide whether to remove Colby Cave or Gaetan Haas from the lineup.
  • Postmedia’s Ben Kuzma writes that the Vancouver Canucks could get back forward Tyler Motte soon. The forward was seen practicing in a contact jersey Sunday. The 24-year-old scored nine goals and 16 points in 74 games last season and has provided solid depth on the team’s bottom-six.

Central Notes: Strome, Little, Dickinson, Comeau

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After watching a long line of restricted free agents waiting until the end of the summer (and many well into training camp) to sign, many teams are trying to get their RFAs locked up as soon as possible. After the Chicago Blackhawks signed Alex DeBrincat to a new three-year, $19.2MM deal the day before the season started, the next question many fans have now is whether Dylan Strome might be next in line for a contract.

The tough point for Chicago, however, is the sample size, according to NBC Sports’ Charlie Roumeliotis. Strome struggled significantly while with Arizona before finally taking off once traded to the Blackhawks. He scored 17 goals and 51 points in 58 games once traded to the Blackhawks. However, does that mean Strome should get a big contract based on that partial season?

“I don’t anticipate negotiating through the press with Dylan either and I think that was a nice thing with Alex, you guys kind of left us alone with that one, so I would suggest to do the same thing,” Stan Bowman joked with the media. “But we have time on that. Certainly that’s the next order of business. Whether we do it now or in a month or in six months, I can’t say at this point, but certainly that’s something we’ll take a look at.”

  • NHL.com’s Mitchell Clinton reports that Winnipeg Jets veteran center Bryan Little skated with the team at Sunday’s morning skate, wearing a gold non-contact jersey. Little has been out for a week since suffering a concussion a week ago in their preseason finale against the Wild. It’s a step in the right direction, but don’t expect Little to be inserted into the lineup immediately. “You get him out there with a lot of traffic and motion and see how he feels,” said head coach Paul Maurice. “He’s moved closer, but I don’t think he’s ready for (Pittsburgh) because he’d need more than one full contact practice. We’ll get him through at least one or two more in the gold.”
  • The Athletic’s Sean Shapiro (subscription required) writes that forward Jason Dickinson is still expected to be out another week, if not more, with an upper-body injury after taking a cross check against Boston, while veteran Blake Comeau remains out between two to four weeks with a lower-body injury. Dickinson was just starting to establish himself as a second-line option for Dallas before the injury. He scored six goals and 22 points last year in his first full season. The team is hoping for more from the 24-year-old. Comeau is a key bottom-line player for Dallas.

Atlantic Notes: Kapanen, Hoffman, Nordstrom

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With the offense running on high already this season and possibly even looking more dangerous than it was last season, the team does have some problems ahead. What is the team going to do when Zach Hyman returns to the lineup? It’s a good problem to have, but with the lines already clicking, it could spell bad news for winger Kasperi Kapanen.

James Mirtle of The Athletic (subscription required) writes that Hyman is very likely to move back to the John Tavares line when he returns from injured reserve, as Kapanen hasn’t been a good fit there. However, while it would then just make sense to move Kapanen back to the third line, that may not happen after an impressive start by Ilya Mikheyev–Alexander Kerfoot–Trevor Moore line, which seems to be improving their chemistry and has proven to be a hard-working line.

The scribe writes that could mean that Kapanen could find himself on the fourth line soon.

  • The Athletic’s George Richards (subscription required) writes that the Florida Panthers will likely have to choose between two of their own during the offseason when forwards Evgenii Dadonov and Mike Hoffman both become unrestricted free agents. So far, Hoffman may be earning himself an even bigger paycheck next season, as his hat trick on Saturday against the Tampa Bay Lightning now give him four goals on the season. Dadanov has no points in two games. The 29-year-old Hoffman wouldn’t mind staying with the Panthers next season. “It has been great ever since I got here. I have loved every second of it,” Hoffman said Saturday. “The guys here are great, ownership is great. It is definitely a fun place to play and we were able to pick up some key acquisitions over the summer. That’s a positive thing and I’m looking forward to the future. I am going to do the best I can for this hockey club this year and I will let everything else kind of sort itself out.”
  • The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa (subscription required) writes that forward Joakim Nordstrom is expected to play sometime before their road trip ends. The team still has two games on their road trip, including games Tuesday at Vegas and Thursday at Colorado. Nordstrom, out with an undisclosed injury, is traveling with the team, but head coach Bruce Cassidy feels that the 27-year-old is close to returning to the lineup.

Snapshots: Phillips, Lafleur, Heinola

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The Ottawa Senators announced that they will be retiring the number of longtime defenseman Chris Phillips on Feb. 18, 2020 when the Senators host the Buffalo Sabres. Phillips played his entire 17-year career with Ottawa between 1997 to 2015.

“Chris Phillips personifies all the wonderful things about being an Ottawa Senator,” said Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk. “He was drafted first overall in 1996, and we all watched him grow into a legendary competitor on the ice and a community leader and family man who has made Ottawa his home. I’m very pleased to announce that the Senators Player Honouring Committee has decided to retire Chris’ legendary number 4. I’m happy that generations of Senators fans both present and future will be able to learn and appreciate one of the greatest players and people in this team’s history.”

Phillips, who was the first overall pick in 1996, played 1,179 games with Ottawa in the NHL, scoring 71 goals and 288 points and served as alternate captain from 2006 until he retired. Phillips will be just the third player in Senators’ history to have their number required. Frank Finnigan and Daniel Alfredsson were the other two.

  • NHL.com’s Dave Stubbs reports the good news that Montreal Canadiens Hall of Famer Guy Lafleur was discharged from a Montreal hospital Friday, following quadruple bypass surgery on Sept. 26, and has returned home and is resting in comfort. “My thanks to everyone for their incredible support,” said the 68-year-old Lafleur.
  • The Winnipeg Free Press’ Mike McIntyre writes that with the way Ville Heinola is playing, it’s extremely unlikely that anyone will be able to bump him out of the rotation any time soon. The 18-year-old blueliner, who was the 20th overall pick in this year’s draft, can play up to nine games with the Jets before it burns the first year of his entry-level contract. Many believed the Jets were just using Heinola for the first nine games to help fill the void on Winnipeg’s defense while they wait for Dustin Byfuglien to decide on whether he wants to return and the return of injured Sami Niku. However, Heinola is playing so composed on the ice that it could be very possible that he’ll remain with the Jets indefinitely.

Pacific Notes: Hextall, Eriksson, Yamamoto

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The Los Angeles Kings have undergone an entire front office change in the last few years, a new head coach this past summer and the team also quietly added former Philadelphia Flyers’ general manager Ron Hextall as a part-time advisor to hockey operations. The Kings believe that Hextall will be a key asset, especially with his strength as a GM with rebuilding a franchise like he did in Philadelphia.

In fact, team President Luc Robitaille feels the team’s rebuilding effort should really be helped by Hextall’s presence, especially with his experience on the East Coast, which should give the team another big advantage.

“… for me, you look at the job he’s done in Philly, he’s done a tremendous job at rebuilding a team,” said Robitaille in a Q&A with Fox Sports’ Jon Rosen. “Everybody talks about all their prospects and so forth, so we know he’s had the experience of picking the right guys, and plus he knows the east coast, and I know Rob’s going to use him to do some scouting and work on several projects, so it’s a win for us. The influence he had on our staff and our players here was great, so to have the opportunity to have a guy like that and see where it goes, it’s going to help us.”

  •  The Province’s Patrick Johnston writes that Vancouver Canucks veteran Loui Eriksson will be a healthy scratch tonight against the Calgary Flames for just the second time in his Canucks’ career. The much criticized Eriksson debuted against Edmonton on Wednesday and played 13:12, but finished with just one shot on goal and a stat line with a lot of zeros, not including the minus-1 plus/minus. Not a good sign for a player in the fourth year of a six-year, $36MM player. Head coach Travis Green intends to insert young center Adam Gaudette into the lineup instead, who impressed many during training camp to win a spot in the lineup despite being one of the few waiver eligible players.
  • The Edmonton Oilers need to get some production from some of their forward prospects and the Edmonton Journal’s David Staples writes that they may finally have a healthy Kailer Yamamoto who could eventually be pushing his way back into the Oilers’ lineup. The 2017 first-round pick struggled with a wrist injury last year and didn’t look like himself, but now with the Bakersfield Condors of the AHL on their top line, Yamamoto looks like his old self. The 21-year-old could be at the top of the forwards battling for the first crack at the Oilers lineup after an impressive first game Friday, including a big goal.

Report Suggests Connor McDavid Intends To Give Ken Holland Two Years

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The Edmonton Oilers haven’t exactly been the model franchise since their star Connor McDavid signed his eight-year, $100MM back in July of 2017. The 22-year-old continues to do his part, having scored 224 points over the past two seasons and winning the Art Ross and Ted Lindsay awards in 2018. However, the team hasn’t built much of a winning program around him. The franchise hasn’t reached the playoffs in those two years and the teams till seems to have a questionable list of wingers to help McDavid and fellow star Leon Draisaitl. There are plenty of fans that are starting to wonder if McDavid regrets signing long-term with the Oilers.

Appearing on Sportsnet 590 radio on Friday, Elliotte Friedman said that he believes that new general manager Ken Holland will get two years to prove to McDavid that the team is heading in the right direction. However, he also believes that McDavid is getting impatient with the organization.

“I think the answer is no, he’s not patient,” Friedman said. “But he’s also willing to be convinced. I think they’ve got two years to show him they’re going in the right direction. This year and next year.”

Friedman added the he believes the team might be better off getting one more lottery pick after this season in hopes of striking it rich in a deep 2020 draft year and then take that next step, although that doesn’t necessarily mean the team isn’t intent on making the playoffs this season. Holland was active during the summer despite little cap space to work with. He traded veteran Milan Lucic to Calgary for winger James Neal in hopes the veteran might bounce back to his 20-goal scoring ways this year. He also dipped into the international market, signing Joakim Nygard and Gaetan Haas, who both made the team out of training camp. The GM also brought in veteran goaltender Mike Smith to help balance out the goaltending situation.

The team does have a lot of young prospects that are on the brink and much of it is on the defensive end. The team has 2018 first-round pick Evan Bouchard in the AHL, but he could come up at any time and become a regular. They also have prospects Dmitri Samorukov and Philip Broberg, who may only be a year away. They also have a number of young forward, including Kailer Yamamoto and Ryan McLeod and Tyler Benson, who could contribute in the near future as well and help the team take that next step. Other than Broberg, who is playing in the SHL this season as an 18-year-old, the majority of the team’s top prospects are with the Bakersfield Condors of the AHL, which should be a loaded team this season.

The team also is right up against the cap, which has a lot to do with McDavid and Draisaitl’s deals, but the team also has quite a few contracts on the book that aren’t helping. The Oilers must also deal with the eventual contract of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who will be a unrestricted free-agent after the 2021 season. Edmont has to hope that McDavid is patient enough to wait around while they rebuild the team and try and get it to a point where the team is challenging for a Stanley Cup on a regular basis while McDavid remains in his prime or he could eventually demand a trade.

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