Calgary Puts Grossmann On Waivers
The Calgary Flames have placed veteran defenseman Nicklas Grossmann on waivers, reports Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. The 31-year-old has played in only three games thus far for the Flames and has yet to record a point. It seems likely that Grossmann will clear waivers and report to the AHL’s Stockton Flames, but a team has a chance to scoop up the experienced defensive defenseman today.
Grossmann joined the Flames in training camp this fall on a PTO, but was rewarded with a one-year minimum contract in early October for the 2016-17 season. His time in Calgary may already be over though, as he has failed to make an impact in limited time so far. The entire Flames squad has gotten off to a disappointing start in the new campaign with a 5-8-1 record and offensive, defensive, and special teams numbers near the bottom of the league. Recently, Flames president Brian Burke called out his team for their lack of performance and is now acting on his frustration with the waiving of Grossmann.
A veteran of nine NHL seasons, spent mostly with the Dallas Stars and Philadelphia Flyers, Grossmann has never been much of an offensive juggernaut, but has built a career around being reliable in his own end. A second-round pick in Dallas back in 2004, Grossman was a starter for parts of five seasons with the Stars before being traded to the Flyers in 2011-12, where he also played major minutes. However, a trade to the Arizona Coyotes prior to last season in a salary dump for Philadelphia saw Grossman become more of a part-time player. He then needed a PTO to find a home this season, and with this demotion it could be the last of Grossman in the NHL.
Claude Julien Wins 400th Game
With a 4-0 win over the Buffalo Sabres last night, Claude Julien picked up his 400th win as the head coach of the Boston Bruins. Julien passed the legendary Art Ross last season, who had 387 wins as the Bruins bench boss in 772 games, as the winningest coach in franchise history. Julien has 400 wins in just 716 games, with many more still to come.
After his shocking dismissal from the New Jersey Devils in 2007, Julien was hired by Boston to replace the failed experiment that was Dave Lewis. Right away Julien found success, leading the Bruins to the postseason in each of his first three seasons. He took the next step in 2010-11, when Boston went on to take home the Stanley Cup. Just two years later, they were back in the Cup Final. Overall, Julien made the playoffs for seven years in a row to begin his tenure in Boston, picking up over 300 wins along the way.
However, the past two years have not gone as smoothly for the Bruins coach. Boston has fallen victim to late season collapses and missed the playoffs each of the past two seasons. A team (and city) that had grown accustomed to making the postseason year after year were unhappy with the Bruins falling short of playoff hockey in back-to-back years, and Julien took the brunt of the blame. Yet, with his name on the chopping block in two straight seasons, the Boston brass has stuck with the franchise’s most successful coach, and Julien has continued to pick up wins.
The Bruins are off to a 7-5-0 start, and if the playoffs started today, they would finally be back in. With four wins against the division in their past five games, Boston is playing strong hockey and Juliens appears to be off the hot seat for now. He has shed the label of a coach who does not work well with young players, as giving prominent play time and responsibility to the likes of David Pastrnak and Brandon Carlo has paid off thus far. With a great core of players in their prime, including the dynamic duo of Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand and the red-hot Tuukka Rask, Julien has the pieces to put together a lineup that could do much more than simply make the playoffs in 2016-17. If he can do that, it won’t be long before Julien is picking up his 500th win as Bruins coach and chasing the top ten in all-time NHL coaching wins.
Marek Svatos Passes Away At 34
Former NHLer Marek Svatos died Saturday at his home outside Denver, Colorado. The Denver Post reports that the former Avalanche winger is survived by his wife, who he met while playing in Colorado, and two young children. The cause of death has not yet been reported. Pro Hockey Rumors joins in with the rest of the hockey world with thoughts for the Svatos family during this difficult time.
Svatos, a native of Slovakia, was drafted by the Colorado Avalanche in the seventh round of the 2001 NHL Entry Draft after putting up impressive numbers with the WHL’s Kootenay Ice. He got his first taste of NHL action in the 2003-04 season with a few games and was a full-time player with the Avs as a rookie following the 2004-05 lockout. A dynamic goal-scorer, Svatos scored 32 goals in just 61 games as a 23-year-old in 2005-06, finishing fifth in the voting for the Calder Trophy. While he would never match those numbers, the small, speedy Svatos continued to be a productive player in Colorado when healthy over four more seasons. Overall, he recorded 164 points in 316 games for the Avalanche. After leaving the team prior to the 2010-11 season, Svatos played a handful of games with the Nashville Predators and Ottawa Senators before heading overseas to play at home in Slovakia. He retired from pro hockey in 2013-14, and continued to summer in Slovakia, but spent the rest of the year living near Denver, the place he called home for much of his career.
Well-respected and well-liked by teammates and coaches alike, his sudden loss has been felt by many. The Colorado Avalanche, now led by former Svatos teammate Joe Sakic, issued a statement describing Svatos as “a tremendous person, a talented hockey player and a great teammate”. Other than Sakic, Svatos also played with current Avs Matt Duchene and Cody McLeod, as well as team officials Adam Foote and Brett Clark. Fellow Colorado rookie Cody McCormick remembered Svatos this morning, as did former teammate Craig Anderson and good friend Darcy Tucker. Many around the NHL and beyond are saddened at the loss at a young age of a great former player and even better person.
Canucks And Leafs Combine For 130 PIM And Six Game Misconducts
Last night’s game between the Vancouver Canucks and Toronto Maple Leafs quickly descended into madness. After nearly two and a half periods with only 14 penalty minutes, everything fell apart six minutes into the third period. The Canucks were moving the puck up the ice when the Leafs’ Morgan Rielly laid a huge, late hit on the Canucks’ Jannik Hansen. However, Vancouver was able to keep the play going forward, and Daniel Sedin held the puck on a 2-on-1 with brother Henrik Sedin. Just as Daniel shot – and scored – Leafs center Nazem Kadri flew towards Sedin with a crushing, high hit. While Sedin was down, an enraged Hansen jumped Kadri and began a full-on line brawl. Kadri was given two five-minute majors, for charging Sedin and fighting Hansen, and a game misconduct, while Hansen was awarded a major for fighting as well as a two-minute minor for instigating and a game misconduct of his own. Reilly was not penalized for his initial hit on Hansen. Kadri will not be suspended for his hit on Sedin.
It did not stop there. Less than five minutes later, Vancouver enforcer Derek Dorsett started a fight with Toronto’s Leo Komarov, for which both got major penalties. Right afterwards, Reilly and Alexandre Burrows dropped the gloves and took their five minutes, but Burrows was also given an instigator and a 10-minute misconduct.
That still wasn’t even the real climax of the violent action. Again, just minutes later, all hell broke loose. The Leafs’ highly-paid enforcer, Matt Martin, unsurprisingly entered the fray by jumping Canucks rookie defenseman Troy Stecher. Who was there to protect the young blue liner? None other than goalie Ryan Miller, who sprung out of net to attack Martin. In response, Toronto goalie Frederik Andersen skated all the way down the ice to break up Miller and Martin. Martin proceeded to drop the gloves with Vancouver’s Brendan Gaunce, while Toronto’s Connor Carrick left the bench to support his teammates in the brawl. When the dust settled, Martin was (predictably) given a game misconduct as well as a fighting major and roughing minor; Gaunce was given a game misconduct while Stecher was surprisingly given the fighting major; Miller and Anderson were each given two minutes for leaving the crease and a game misconduct; Carrick earned himself a game misconduct for leaving the bench.
Games like the one last night between the Canucks and Maple Leafs are rare in today’s hockey climate. However, there is no doubt that there is some definite entertainment value to such an intense, high-tempered showdown. The two teams meet again on December 3rd, with some scores surely left to be settled. If you enjoy an old-school brawler game, that rematch will be one to watch.
Canada: The New Championship Drought To Watch For
The Chicago Cubs won the World Series on Wednesday night, their first since 1908, snapping a 108-year championship drought, the longest by any team in North American professional sports history. Back in June, the Cleveland Cavaliers won the NBA Championship, snapping a 52-year drought for a city with three major pro sports teams. So what’s next on the drought-busting checklist?
Sure, there are a few teams and few cities still struggling. The NBA’s Sacramento Kings organization has not won a title in 65 years and never since their move to California. Wednesday night’s losers, the Cleveland Indians, haven’t taken home the hardware in 68 years. Ten NFL teams still have yet to win it all in the Super Bowl era. Yet, with the Cubs and Cleveland off the books, it seems like there’s a void in the championship drought department right now.
It’s time that attention turns not to any one team or city, but to the country of Canada. Canadian teams have combined to go 199 straight seasons without winning a major North American title. In 1993, the country was championship central, with both the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Blue Jays winning their respective leagues. Since? Nothing.
It’s been 23 years now for the Blue Jays since they were MLB champs. They have come close over the years, but have failed to even take home an American League pennant. Playing in a division that has been one of the strongest in baseball over the past decade plus, which has housed four New York Yankees championship teams and three Boston Red Sox championship teams since 1993, it’s been an uphill battle for the Blue Jays. Meanwhile, the Montreal Expos, title-less since their inception in 1969, were forced to relocate to Washington, D.C. in 2004 (where the drought continues to this day).
The Toronto Raptors are still seeking that elusive NBA championship. It’s been 21 years since the Raptors and Vancouver Grizzlies brought pro basketball to Canada in 1995, and neither team has been able to get it done. The Grizzlies moved to Memphis in 2000, where they too have yet to find glory. In a league that is unquestionably the most competitively unbalanced, a Raptors team with a lot of talent are still annual underdogs against the likes of the Cleveland Cavaliers and other Western Conference powerhouses.
Of course, the biggest drought-magnifier is the NHL. With seven teams competing in a 30-team league, Canada should have close to a 25% chance to win the Stanley Cup every season. Alas, no such feat has been accomplished in 23 seasons. The odds of that happening: less than 1%. The Toronto Maple Leafs are tied with the St. Louis Blues for the longest championship drought in the league at 48 years. The Vancouver Canucks, established in 1970, have never won the Cup. After Alberta went back-to-back in 1989 and 1990, the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers have not won since. The Ottawa Senators, the 1992 NHL expansion team, has also never gotten it done, and their first season, 1992-93, was the first and last time that they even saw a Canadian champ, with Montreal taking the crown. Both iterations of the Winnipeg Jets are also without a Stanley Cup and Quebec Nordiques fans sat and watched their team move to Denver and establish the Colorado Avalanche dynasty at the turn of the century.
To make matters worse, no Canadian team even qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs last year, and the Oilers have a league-high ten-year drought of even making the postseason. Canada’s NHL teams are in need of some puck luck, and the Blue Jays and Raptors will take some as well. With the two biggest drought story lines in sports now over, it’s time that North American sports fans turn to the northernmost of the two participating countries. Canada needs a championship, and they need one soon.
If there’s any consolation, the only more tortured fan base than the country of Canada is their closest neighbor to the south, Buffalo, New York. Misery loves company.
Jets Place Tyler Myers On IR
The Winnipeg Jets have placed star defenseman Tyler Myers on injured reserve today. Myers suffered a lower-body injury and has missed the past two games. It is unclear how long Myers is expected to be out, but the 4-6-1 Jets face a tough upcoming stretch on the road against the Detroit Red Wings and New York Rangers before returning home to the Dallas Stars, and would rather have the big blue liner healthy.
Myers, the 2010 Calder-Trophy winner, isn’t much of an offensive threat, but is one of the best shutdown defenseman in the league. Acquired from the Buffalo Sabres in 2015 alongside Drew Stafford, Joel Armia in a package for Evander Kane and Zach Bogosian, Myers has become one of the leaders of the young Jets squad. Myers and Dustin Byfuglien give Winnipeg some of the best depth on the right side of the blue line of any team in the league.
While Myers remains sidelined, the Jets had previously called up Julian Melchiori. The young defenseman appears likely to remain on the roster as long as Myers remains on IR. While Winnipeg would undoubtedly rather have Jacob Trouba filling in, those talks still appear to be going nowhere.
To fill the roster space created by the designation, Winnipeg announced today that they have called up Nic Petan. The 2013 second-round forward played in 26 games last season and will try to work his way into the lineup and secure a spot on the team for the rest of 2016-17.
Sabres’ Carrier To Make NHL Debut
The last of the returns from the Ryan Miller trade is about to make an impact. When the Buffalo Sabres dealt Miller and Steve Ott to the St. Louis Blues at the NHL Trade Deadline in 2014, William Carrier felt like more of a toss-in compared to Jaroslav Halak, Chris Stewart, and two high picks. However, when Buffalo flipped Halak, traded both picks, and let Stewart walk after a season and a half, by default Carrier became the centerpiece of a return for a franchise goalie. After two seasons in the AHL, Carrier has been called up to join the Sabres and expectations are high.
A second-round pick in 2013, the 21-year-old Carrier was a star in the QMJHL with the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles. Although he struggled with injuries during his junior career, when healthy Carrier was an elite mix of skill and strength. In his past two years with the Rochester Americans of the AHL, Carrier has struggled to put up eye-popping numbers, but has continued to develop a complete game.
Carrier was called up as the other side of fellow young winger Justin Bailey being sent down. Bailey has yet to record a point in ten NHL games and now Carrier will be given a chance to show what he can offer. Carrier is expected to slot right into Bailey’s spot on the fourth line for now.
Bergenheim Signs With Frolunda
Another player is headed overseas, but this time it’s one who hasn’t seen meaningful NHL action in some time. Sean Bergenheim has signed on to play with Frolunda HC of the Swedish Elite League, the team announced (link in Swedish). The Finnish winger was back in North America this off-season on a professional tryout agreement with the Anaheim Ducks, but was unable to earn a contract. Last season, Bergenheim played with Bern of the Swiss NLA, with his last big league action coming back in the 2014-15 season split between the Florida Panthers and Minnesota Wild.
A first-round pick of the New York Islanders all the way back in 2002, Bergenheim got his NHL start early on, cracking the Islanders’ roster at the young age of 19. By 23, he had carved out a nice top-nine role for himself in New York. Never quite a 20-goal scorer, Bergenheim instead thrived as a strong two-way presence, capable of being a shutdown penalty killer, but also putting up 25+ points per season. After five seasons on the island, Bergenheim signed an affordable one-year deal with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2010-11 and had a breakout year. He followed up a career-high 29 points in a career-high 80 games with nine goals in 16 playoff games for the Lightning. His success translated into a nice raise in the form of a four-year, $11MM contract with the cross-state rival Florida Panthers that off-season. While Bergenheim continued to be a reliable player, his numbers didn’t live up to his contract, and he missed the entire lockout-shortened 2012-13 season with an injury. In the final year of his deal in 2014-15, a fed up Panthers team shipped Bergenheim to the Minnesota Wild, where he was a complete non-factor down the stretch. Bergenheim has not played in the NHL since.
Bergenheim’s contract with Frolunda, one of the most decorated teams in Sweden , is for just one year. Don’t be surprised if the 32-year-old veteran of over 500 NHL games tries his hand at earning a North American gig again next season.
Blues Place Bortuzzo On IR; Call Up Hunt
The St. Louis Blues announced today that they have placed defenseman Robert Bortuzzo on the injured reserve. Bortuzzo suffered an undisclosed lower-body injury against the Detroit Red Wings on October 27th, and has not played since. Bortuzzo had not registered a point and was averaging just 11 minutes per game through four games before he was injured.
A defensive defenseman who has been used sparingly in his NHL career, Bortuzzo’s position on the Blues was further diminished by the breakout of Colton Parayko last season. Behind Parayko, Alex Pietrangelo, and Kevin Shattenkirk – the most talented collection of righty defenseman in the entire league – Bortuzzo has been forced into a limited role, if he plays at all. Bortuzzo was already expected to split time with Carl Gunnarsson and Joel Edmundson this season, and St. Louis cannot be too worried about his absence.
However, while Bortuzzo is out, the Blue have occupied his roster spot with defenseman Brad Hunt. The 28-year-old veteran is in his first season with the Blues organization, having played all 21 of his previous NHL contests with the Edmonton Oilers over the past three seasons. Signed this off-season for this very reason, to provide veteran depth and a more offensive option if needed, Hunt is ready to work his way into the St. Louis lineup. Thus far in 2016-17, he is leading the AHL’s Chicago Wolves with ten points.
NHL Investigating Islanders’ Ice
According to New York Islanders beat writer Chris Botta, the league has reached its limit with tolerating the problems with the ice at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The NHL is sending experts to the building to inspect the ice conditions and facility. There have been complaints about the ice conditions for over a year now, since the team first began play, from both Isles’ players and visitors and something must be done.
In a series of tweets two weeks ago, Botta detailed the main issue with the Barclays ice. Essentially, the piping system in the arena does not meet NHL standards, yet arena leadership has not done anything about it. Around the same time as Botta’s analysis, a New York Post article detailed some honest comments from Cal Clutterbuck, who did not hesitate to call it “the worst ice I’ve ever seen”. When the Islanders were winning last season in spite of the poor conditions, the team was not as heavy-handed with their commentary. However, with New York off to a rocky 4-6 start, the last thing the Islanders need is an added disadvantage as they try to right the ship.
It’s no secret that the Barclays Center was not designed for hockey. The Brooklyn Nets were meant to be the sole inhabitants, but an interest in a move from the Nassau Coliseum by the Islanders late in the game led to New York heading to Brooklyn last season. However, the Islanders have an out clause in their contract allowing them to leave after next season. With many design flaws in the stadium already apparent and attendance down for the second straight year, if the ice issues persist, it will be foregone conclusion by the end of the 2017-18 season that the Islanders will be on the move. Whether they return to a renovated Nassau Coliseum, begin building a new arena, or decide to depart New York altogether, the ice is just another factor leading towards an almost-inevitable Barclays departure.