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Bob Hartley To Coach Latvia

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Bob Hartley, the 2015 Jack Adams Trophy winner, will be named the head coach of the Latvian national team, according to Aivis Kalniņš.

According to Kalniņš, all that’s left to do is sign the contract. In an interesting note, Sportsnet’s Mark Spector notes that Hartley was chosen over finalists Patrick Roy and Ron Rolston.

The legendary Avalanche goaltender resigned as the team’s coach in August over disagreements on player decisions like the Nick Holden trade. Rolston has previously coached college hockey, several AHL teams, and the Buffalo Sabres.

Hartley, a veteran of nearly 1000 NHL games, most recently coached the Calgary Flames, but was fired last summer after missing the playoffs. His Jack Adams trophy came following the 2014-15 season where the Flames rode unsustainable percentages and got to the second round of the playoffs. Hartley has previously won the Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 2001.

Hartley is a good coach to motivate Latvian players, who will have to out-work their opponents in order to have a chance against highly-skilled international teams. Former Latvian coach Ted Nolan and goaltender Kristers Gudlevskis nearly managed to beat Canada at the 2014 Sochi Olympics; Canada’s 2-1 win was one of the most exciting games of the entire tournament. Latvia was able to score on Canada, which is something that international powerhouses USA and Sweden was not able to do.

PTO Checkup

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During the offseason NHL teams extended a total of 194 professional tryouts (PTOs) to players trying to earn a professional contract for the upcoming season. Of those 194 players, only eleven earned a permanent NHL/AHL contract. Those lucky 5% have had varied success this season, and this article looks at how those players have fared so far.

Steve Bernier: New York Islanders
Steve Bernier failed to garner a contract on his PTO right away, but the New York Islanders signed him to a one-year, two-way deal on October 24, 2016. The contract pays him $600K (NHL) / $200K (AHL). Bernier has remained with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers—the Islanders’ AHL affiliate—all season, posting 8G and 5A in 15 games.

Gabriel Bourque: Colorado Avalanche
Gabriel Bourque signed a one-year, two-way deal with the Colorado Avalance worth $800K (NHL) / $200K (AHL). The 26 year-old forward has split time with the Avalanche and its AHL affiliate San Antonio Rampage this season. Bourque has failed to register a point with Colorado, but has 3G and 5A in 16 games for San Antonio

Rene Bourque: Colorado Avalanche
Rene Bourque signed a one-year, one-way deal with the Colorado Avalanche worth $650K. Bourque has impressed so far, scoring 8G and 3A in 11 games for the Avalanche. He’s already surpasses last years totals (3G and 5A in 49 games) and could come closer to regaining his prior form.

Justin Fontaine: New York Rangers
Justin Fontaine signed a one-year, two-way deal with the New York Rangers worth $600K (NHL) / $300K (AHL) after failing to earn a contract with the Minnesota Wild. The 29 year-old forward remains in the AHL so far this season and has racked up 3G and 8A in 21 games for the Hartford Wolf Pack.

Nicklas Grossmann: Orebro HK (SHL)
Nicklas Grossmann initially signed a one-year, one-way contract with the Calgary Flames for $575K. The Swedish defenseman lasted three games before the Flames attempted to demote him to the AHL Stockton Heat. Grossmann, however, did not report to Stockton, so Calgary terminated his contract. Grossman failed to register a point in those three games with the Flames.

Eric Gryba: Edmonton Oilers
Eric Gryba signed a one-year, two-way deal with the Edmonton Oilers worth $950K (NHL) / $250K (AHL). The move has not yet panned out as Gryba remains pointless through 14 games. The Oilers placed Gryba on IR on November 30th, and the defenseman is reportly nearing a return. While Gryba was never an offensive defenseman, the Oilers do expect more from him and could send him down if he doesn’t improve when he returns.

Lauri Korpikoski: Dallas Stars
Lauri Korpikoski signed a one-year, one-way contract with the Dallas Stars worth $1MM after failing to sign with the Calgary Flames—the team that initially offered Korpikoski a PTO. In 29 games for the Stars, Korpikoski has 4G and 5A, which is respectable but nothing noteworthy. He’ll have to improve if he wants to stay in the lineup after all the Stars’ injured players return.

Tom McCollum: Calgary Flames
Tom McCollum signed a two-year, two-way deal with the Calgary Flames worth $575K and $650K in the NHL and $175K and $200K in the AHL. Despite the two-year deal, however, McCollum has seen little action. The former first rounder has played 1 game in the AHL with the Stockton Heat and 3 games in the ECHL with the Adirondack Thunder.

Devin Setoguchi: Los Angeles Kings
Devin Setoguchi returned to the NHL this year with the Los Angeles Kings on a one-year, two-way deal worth $575K (NHL) / $45K (AHL). The former eighth overall pick has 3G and 4A in 24 games. Setoguci returns after playing in Switzerland for a year, and is still looking to regain his scoring touch with the Kings.

Jack Skille: Vancouver Canucks
Jack Skille signed a one-year, one-way deal with the Vancouver Canucks worth $700K. In 22 games this season Skille has 3G and 1A and plays less than nine minutes a night. Skille has never lived up to his draft position—7th overall in 2005—and has bounced around the league ever since.

Kris Versteeg: Calgary Flames
Kris Versteeg signed a one-year deal with the Calgary Flames worth $950K after failing to maintain a contract with both SC Bern (Swiss) and the Edmonton Oilers. Versteeg’s SC Bern contract was voided when Versteeg failed his medical exam. In 19 games with the Flames, however, Versteeg has 4G and 7A. So far the signing seems to have paid off for Calgary.

Comparative Standings: One Year Ago

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With the first third of the season completed for all but Columbus (who have amazingly played just 26 games, six fewer than the Winnipeg Jets), there have been some huge swings from a year ago.

Those Blue Jackets are the league’s most improved team, with a staggering 18 more points through 26 games than last season. Their huge swing is only matched by the Dallas Stars equally amazing drop-off of 18 points the other way. The Jackets can attest their improvement to the development of young players like Zach Werenski and Alexander Wennberg, while the Stars have seen a litany of injuries to their star players including Jason Spezza, Patrick Sharp and Johnny Oduya.

The Central Division as a whole is off to a slower start this year, with only the Chicago Blackhawks bettering their 2015-16 record. The Colorado Avalanche, expected to take a step forward with their young core has suffered the exact same fate with 23 points through 27 games.

The two biggest Canadian rebuild stories, Edmonton and Toronto have both improved, though not as largely as the fan bases in each city might have you believe. Four points for the Maple Leafs and five for the Oilers lend credence to the idea that it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish that counts. Though both franchises have a lot to look forward to, keeping up an advanced pace for an entire season is extremely difficult. The two teams finished last season with just 69 and 70 points respectively.

Below are the current standings. In parenthesis is the difference in points through the same amount of games last year.

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Milestones: Chris Neil and Jarome Iginla

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Ottawa Senators forward Chris Neil and Colorado Avalanche forward Jarome Iginla will hit major milestones tonight when they hit the ice for their respective teams. Neil is set to play his 1,000th game while Iginla will play his 1,500th.

Chris Neil has played all of his 999 games for the Ottawa Senators. He was drafted in the 6th round (161st overall) in 1998—one pick before Montreal Canadiens defenseman Andrei Markov and ten picks before former Detroit Red Wings forward Pavel Datsyuk. In his 999 games Neil racked up 112 goals, 136 assists, and a whopping 2,492 penalty minutes. Known more as an enforcer than a scorer, Neil has dropped the gloves at least 172 times in his NHL regular season career, according to HockeyFights.com.

Jarome Iginla has split his 1,499 games between the Calgary Flames (1219 games), Pittsburgh Penguins (13 games), Boston Bruins (78 games), and Colorado Avalanche (189 games). He’s amassed 614 goals and 665 assists in those games alongside an additional 37 goals and 31 assists in 81 playoff games. Iginla was the centerpiece of the Flames from his first season in 1996-97 to when he was traded at the 2012-13 trade deadline to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Despite being 39 years old, Iginla has remained productive, scoring 30, 29, and 22 goals in his last three seasons.

The veteran forward is in the final year of his contract with the Avalanche that pays him $5.33MM a year, and it is unclear whether Iginla steps away from the game in the offseason. He is off to a slow start this season with only 3G and 3A in 25 games, which could be signs of decline or just a product of Colorado’s anemic offense—the team ranks 29th in goals for. There will be suitors for Iginla this offseason if he decides to continue playing, and the wily veteran could be a worthy addition to the expansion Vegas Golden Knights.

Minor Moves: Witkowski, Kulak, Wotherspoon

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Thursday night in the NHL and there are 10 games on the docket tonight. With so many teams playing, there are sure to be a handful of minor moves to fill out rosters and cover injuries. We’ll keep you up to date right here.

  • The Tampa Bay Lightning are off to a solid 14-11-2 start to the season, but have been struggling lately, losing five of their last six games. With three days off to regroup since their game on Sunday, the team has called up Luke Witkowski to give them a bit of a defensive boost. The Syracuse Crunch captain, Witkowski has played six games for the Lightning this year and offers a big physical presence on the back end. The 26-year old was a sixth-round pick of the Lightning back in 2008 and was a standout at Western Michigan University before joining the Crunch.
  • Going in the opposite direction, the Calgary Flames are on a four-game winning streak but will make a move to give some more icetime to a young player. Brett Kulak has been sent down to the AHL to play more, as he’d sat out the last five games. Kulak is a 22-year old defender that the Flames think can be an NHL player for a long time, and they’d like him to develop just a bit more before installing him on their blueline. To replace him, the team has called up Tyler Wotherspoon from the Stockton Heat. A former second-round pick, Wotherspoon is a bit more polished and can offer a more physical game. Though Wotherspoon only has 26 NHL games under his belt, this will be his fourth season spending time with the Flames. No word on whether he’ll get into the lineup right away, or just take Kulak’s spot in the press box.
  • The Vancouver Canucks have recalled Andrey Pedan from the AHL. Pedan has played 18 games for the Utica Comets this season, scoring just three points while racking up thirty penalty minutes. The former third-round pick played thirteen games for the Canucks last season, but hasn’t been able to crack the NHL lineup this year.
  • After not playing in last night’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Teemu Pulkkinen has been sent down to the AHL. Just like his entire career to this point, Pulkkinen has been an outstanding scoring threat at the lower level but is unable to replicate it in the NHL. With 15 points in 16 games for the Iowa Wild, but just a single goal in 8 contests for Minnesota, the enigma persists.
  • Brad Hunt, the AHL’s leading scorer, has been recalled by the St. Louis Blues. Amazingly, the defenseman has 29 points in 23 games playing for the Chicago Wolves. Always a big point producer at the lower level, Hunt has suited up in 21 NHL contests over the years.

Akim Aliu Signs In ECHL (Update: AHL PTO)

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Update (2/12/2017): Everyone’s favorite Nigerian-Ukrainian hockey player is getting closer to a return to the NHL. Columbus Blue Jackets beat writer Aaron Portzline reports that Aliu has signed a professional tryout offer with the Jackets’ AHL affiliate, the defending Calder Cup champion Cleveland Monsters. While an AHL tryout is still very far away from an NHL call-up, it’s certainly a step closer than an ECHL deal. If he performs well in Cleveland and earns a contract, he could be playing with friend, junior teammate, and Columbus captain Nick Foligno by next season. Aliu has 12 points in 13 ECHL games so far this season and, unbelievably, 61 penalty minutes as well.

12/6/2016: One of the more interesting prospects of the last decade is back in North America. Akim Aliu, a second-round pick of the Chicago Blackhawks back in 2007, has signed with the Florida Everblades, the ECHL affiliate of the Carolina Hurricanes. Aliu returns to the United States after playing with Amur Khabarovsk of the KHL last season.

A native of Okene, Nigeria, Aliu is one of three native Africans to ever play in the NHL, and the only one to line up at forward. Much like fellow countryman Rumun Ndur and the legendary Olaf Kolzig, Aliu left Africa at a young age, spending much of his young life living in Ukraine. Following the fall of the Soviet Union, Aliu’s family moved to Canada, where he discovered hockey. Despite having never played the game before, Aliu was such a natural talent that he was drafted into the Ontario Hockey League after just a few years on the ice.

In his first junior season with the Windsor Spitfires, Aliu was involved in a highly publicized incident with teammate Steve Downie, after Aliu refused to take part as the victim of a hazing ritual. This led to Downie attacking Aliu in practice which then led to a fight. Both players were suspended and demanded trades out of Windsor.

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Calgary Flames Send Shinkaruk To AHL

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After a huge win powered by the return of Johnny Gaudreau last night, the Calgary Flames have trimmed their roster by one. Hunter Shinkaruk, the former first-round pick of the Vancouver Canucks has been sent to the Stockton Heat of the AHL. The team will likely hold the roster spot open for Lance Bouma’s return from injured reserve this week.

Shinkaruk was recalled exactly a month ago when Kris Versteeg was sidelined with a groin issue, and stayed with the team through various other injuries. The forward didn’t see much icetime however, as he only suited up for seven NHL games and played less than 10 minutes most nights. A single assist is all he can show for it and, as Mark Spector of Sportsnet says: “by all accounts, he’s not ready.”

The 22-year old Shinkaruk had a great season in the AHL last year, split between Utica and Stockton – he was traded for Markus Granlund in Feburary – scoring 51 points in 62 games. The former Medicine Hat Tiger has always been projected as a top-six forward capable of scoring in bunches, but hasn’t been given a real chance in the NHL yet.

Bouma, sidelined at the same time as Versteeg a month ago, has gotten into 13 contests this year and has just one point. The veteran forward is a much better fit for the bottom-six role, and offers a much more physical game. Just two seasons ago Bouma ranked seventh in the league in hits with 264 though has dealt with injuries since then. That was also his best offensive season, one in which he scored 16 goals and 34 points and looked like a key piece going forward for the upstart Flames.

Alberta Notes: Gaudreau, McDavid

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Johnny Gaudreau’s surprising return from a broken finger boosted the Calgary Flames in a big way.

Initially expected to be out until after Christmas, Gaudreau returned three weeks early in time for last night’s game against the Anaheim Ducks. He played on a line with Sam Bennett and Alex Chiasson. Wearing a newly-reinforced glove, Gaudreau scored on his first shot on his first shift, on his way to a two-point night in an 8-3 beatdown of the Ducks.

He also assisted on Chiasson’s second period goal, which was the second of three goals the Flames scored in just 1:27 to go up 4-1. Gaudreau played just thirty seconds less than his season-average, so there doesn’t appear to be much rust on him, despite missing just under three weeks.

The Ducks were playing their second game in two nights, having lost to the Oilers in overtime the night before. After John Gibson allowed three goals in the overtime loss to the Oilers, Jonathan Bernier was left in for all eight goals against the Flames. Post-game, Ducks coach Randy Carlyle was very specific when explaining decision by saying Gibson had a very specific flu-symptom and couldn’t go in the game.

Speaking of the Oilers, there was some minor controversy in their Sunday night OT loss to the Minnesota Wild. During the second period, Connor McDavid was tripped by Jared Spurgeon and hit his mouth on the ice. He briefly held his mouth, checking for blood, and then got back up and played the next shift. The Wild took another penalty, and McDavid jumped over the boards for the five-on-three, but was pulled from the game by the league’s concussion spotters. He missed the last six minutes of the second period and then returned for the third with no ill effects.

The normally reserved McDavid was vocal about his disappointment after the game. “I was pretty shocked, to be honest. I hit my mouth on the ice. You reach up and grab your mouth when you get hit in the mouth; it’s a pretty normal thing.”

“Obviously the spotter thought he knew how I was feeling. He pulled me off. A s**tty time of the game too. We had a bit of a partial five-on-three and then a power play late in the second game that if we had capitalized on that, it could have changed the game.”

The Oilers as a whole were upset about the decision, with Patrick Maroon and Milan Lucic being upset about it because it was clear that there were no averse symptoms. Lucic told Spector that he understands the liability issue, but was still upset that the Oilers “best player [wasn’t] out there… because he got hit in the mouth.”

Oilers fans were frustrated by the decision, because the previous night’s win over the Ducks saw shutdown center Ryan Kesler hit his head and stay down until a whistle was blown while he was penalty-killing. However, he got up and stayed out there for the rest of the penalty kill. Kesler does have a reputation for diving, but there still appears to be a disconnect between different spotters and what level of impact is required to pull a player.

Spector raises one last question about the incident, asking why neither 6’3, 217 lb Zack Kassian nor 6’4, 211 lb Kurtis Gabriel were pulled out for testing after spending a minute punching each other in the head. Spector believes if the NHL is serious about checking on its players’ brains, they should start checking players after fights.

Johnny Gaudreau Set To Return Three Weeks Ahead Of Schedule

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According to the Calgary Flames official Twitter account, star winger Johnny Gaudreau is set to return to action and is expected to play tonight. Gaudreau underwent surgery to repair a broken finger on November 17th and at that point was expected to miss six weeks. Clearly the diminutive winger is quick to heal as he bested the initial timeline by more than three weeks.

Gaudreau was off to a somewhat slow start in 2016-17 with just 11 points in 17 games and a -10 plus-minus rating. Although the gifted forward appeared to be getting his game on track, scoring three goals and four points in the four games prior to suffering the injury. In 2015-16 Gaudreau averaged nearly a point-per-game and finished tied for sixth in the league in scoring with 78 points.

Calgary has fared surprisingly well during Gaudreau’s absence. The Flames have won six of 10 decisions and accumulated 13 points since Gaudreau went down with the injury. That push has helped the Flames resurface in the playoff race out west after a slow start to the season. Gaudreau’s return should only help Calgary in their continued pursuit of a postseason berth.

 

Jakub Nakladal Signs In KHL

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One of this off-season’s more intriguing stories has finally come to an end, as Jakub Nakladal has opted to sign overseas, giving up his dream of finding an NHL team… at least for now. The 28-year-old defenseman has joined Lokomotiv Yaroslavl on a one-year contract, as confirmed by KHL insider Aivis Kalnins. Nakladal will immediately become one of the most talented defenseman in the Kontinental League.

After a long, successful career in Europe, including multiple seasons in the KHL, Nakladal made the trip across the Atlantic prior to last season after signing a one-year, $925K deal with the Calgary Flames. Though he appeared in only 27 games with the team and posted just five points, the Flames’ fan base was highly supportive of bringing the Czech native back for another year. Nakladal had been very impressive in 35 games with Calgary’s AHL affiliate, the Stockton Heat, and had done enough in his limited NHL minutes to impress many fans. A stay-at-home defenseman who is very sound in his own end but also has strong possession numbers, implying an ability to move the puck as well. Many felt that, given the opportunity to play more and show his ability, Nakladal could turn out to be top-six defenseman. Although he is not much of a scorer or play-maker, Nakladal is a responsible blue liner who could have helped a young, offensively-minded Flames squad.

Instead, the summer dragged on and no contract offer came from Calgary. As July turned to August, and the free agent market for defenseman dried up, Nakladal was left as one of the few viable options available. Despite rumors, no firm offer ever presented itself. Even after Nakladal impressed many on the global stage with a strong performance with the Czech Republic team that surprised many at the World Cup of Hockey, nothing came immediately following. Finally, on October 9th, Nakladal signed a one-year, $600K pact with the Carolina Hurricanes. However, it seemed that as soon as he got there he was gone. After playing in just three games and posting a -4, the Hurricanes terminated Nakladal’s contract just two weeks ago after he cleared waivers. Nakladal was a free agent once more and it was clear that there was no market for his services in the NHL this season.

Now, Nakladal heads back home to Europe, where he has spent the majority of his career, and is set to join Lokomotiv. Currently third in the Tarasov Division of the KHL’s Western Conference, Lokomotiv is one of the better defensive teams in the league and is about to get even better. Joining former NHLers like Max Talbot, Brandon Kozun, and Stanislav Chistov, Nakladal hopes to shine for Lokomotiv this season and lead the team to success in an effort to again try to earn the attention of NHL decision makers. Expect the defensive defenseman to try his luck at an NHL deal again next summer, as time is running out as he approaches 30 years old.

 

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