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Lightning’s Yanni Gourde Suspended Two Games

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The NHL Department of Player Safety is on a run. After assigning Ottawa Senators forward Jean-Gabriel Pageau a one-game suspension yesterday, they have stayed in the Atlantic Division with a punishment for Tampa Bay Lightning forward Yanni Gourde. Player Safety has determined that Gourde’s illegal check to the head of the Carolina Hurricanes’ Jordan Staal is worthy of a two-game suspension.

The ban is almost more of a three-game suspension, as Gourde was tossed from Thursday night’s game after the first period altercation due to a match penalty. This is Gourde’s first incidence of supplemental discipline, having never been previously suspended or fined, but he has already set a career-high in penalty minutes this season and his often overly-aggressive style and the clear intent of the hit were enough to levy a substantial suspension. Player Safety explained as much (video):

With one hand on his stick, Staal holds off (Ryan) Callahan and moves the puck to a teammates. As he does so, Gourde cuts across the front of Staal and delivers a forceful hit that picks Staal’s head, making it the main point of contact. On a play where such head contact was avoidable, this is an illegal check to the head. It is important to note that the head is the main point of contact on this play, as Gourde’s shoulder makes clear and forceful contact with Staal’s head. While we acknowledge Gourde’s argument that Staal was bent low and stumbling as he plays the puck, this hit does not meet any of the criteria for unavoidable head contact… Based on their relative positions on the ice, Gourde has angles of approach available to him that do not require hitting through Staal’s head. In addition, Staal’s head does not materially change position just prior to contact to cause it to become the main point of contact for a hit that otherwise would have been legal… Even before Staal stumbles, Gourde takes an angle that cuts in front of Staal’s core, picks Staal’s head, and makes it the main point of contact.

Gourde clearly used his hearing with Player Safety this morning to argue that the hit to the head would not have occurred if Staal – at 6’4″ – was not stumbling forward while Gourde – at 5’9″ – was trying to make the check. Player Safety throws out this explanation, stating that Gourde’s trajectory was always one with intent to hit a defenseless Staal in the head area. Fortunately, Staal was able to return to the game. The Hurricanes star has a history of concussions and an injury absence may have landed Gourde with a longer suspension. Instead, he will miss the next to games for the Lightning, who have little to play for having already locked up the President’s Trophy.

Yanni Gourde To Face Hearing With Department Of Player Safety

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The Tampa Bay Lightning may lose one of their talented forwards for at least a game, as Yanni Gourde is scheduled to have a hearing with the Department of Player Safety today. Gourde made clear head contact with Carolina Hurricanes forward Jordan Staal last night, and received a match penalty for it. Staal returned to the game.

Gourde was guaranteed a hearing with the league as a match penalty carries with it an indefinite automatic suspension, and it’s easy to see why he was assessed the penalty. Though there may be some leniency given due to the fact that Staal was being hauled down from behind and may have not been in the position Gourde expected, but there is clear, hard contact with his head and not really any other part of his body.

The diminutive Gourde is known for his offense but is also more than willing to engage physically, and has recorded 81 hits in 75 games this season. He has never been suspended in his short career however, which also may keep his penalty down. Regardless, the Lightning almost have nothing to play for down the stretch as they have already locked up the Presidents Trophy and will be the first seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Losing Gourde for a few games will only affect his pocketbook and future disciplinary action.

NHL Prospects Receiving NCAA Conference Awards

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Tomorrow night kicks off the final weekend of conference tournaments in the NCAA, with Selection Sunday setting the stage for the NCAA Tournament beginning next week. With the collegiate regular season a thing of the past, the conferences haves used the gathering of their top teams ahead of this weekend’s games as a chance to hold end of the year banquets and announce award winners. To no surprise, many notable NHL prospects were also among those honored.

Perhaps the top pro prospect in the NCAA and the favorite to win the Hobey Baker Award this year, it was predictable that Cale Makar (COL) would first be unanimously named the Hockey East Player of the Year. The dynamic defenseman was the No. 4 overall pick by the Avalanche two years ago and has lived up to the hype through two seasons at the University of Massachusetts. Makar was one of six UMass players to also be named all-league players, including Mario Ferraro (SJ) and John Leonard (SJ) and scoring champion Mitchell Chaffee. 2018 first-round pick Joel Farabee (PHI) was named Hockey East’s Rookie of the Year following a point-per-game freshman campaign for Boston University. Similarly impressive teenager Cayden Primeau (MTL) was named Goaltender of the Year, backstopping Northeastern University with a .935 save percentage and 2.02 GAA. Providence College’s Vincent Desharnais (EDM) and the University of Maine’s Chase Pearson (DET) were also honored as the Defensive Defenseman and Defensive Forward of the year, respectively.

In the Big Ten Conference, recent Red Wings signing Taro Hirose (DET) out of Michigan State University was named Player of the Year, as well as scoring champion as the NCAA’s leading point-getter. The University of Minnesota’s Sammy Walker (TB) was named Freshman of the Year after the seventh-round pick surprised many this season. Quinn Hughes (VAN) of the University of Michigan and Evan Barratt (CHI) of Penn State University were other notable Big Ten stars, earning first-team all-conference considerations.

Elsewhere, a trifecta of NHL hopefuls won both Player of the Year and Defenseman of the Year for their conference. Adam Fox (CAR) is the most notable, as the Harvard University product enjoyed yet another dominant year in the ECAC and could be an impact player immediately once he joins the Hurricanes. Jimmy Schuldt hopes to do the same wherever he ends up, as the priority free agent from St. Cloud State University was named both Player of the Year and Defensive Defenseman of the Year for the NCHC and will push for a National Championship this year before turning his attention to the pros. Finally, Atlantic Hockey’s undisputed top player was Joe Duszak (TOR) of Mercyhurst University, who recently signed with the Maple Leafs after leading all NCAA defensemen in scoring.

 

Other awards of note include the University of Minnesota-Duluth’s Scott Perunovich (STL) winning the NCHC’s Offensive Defenseman of the Year Award for the second year in a row and Cooper Zech (BOS) being named the WCHA’s Rookie of the Year despite already leaving Ferris State University after just one year for the AHL’s Providence Bruins. With the NCAA postseason still to come, there will be more honors on the way for college hockey’s top players, but the conference awards already show that the best of the collegiate ranks includes many NHL draft picks and free agent signings, who will hopefully go on to continue their strong play at the next level.

 

 

Carolina Hurricanes Sign Stelio Mattheos

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The Carolina Hurricanes have signed one of their intriguing young forwards, inking Stelio Mattheos to a three-year entry-level contract. Mattheos played this season for the Brandon Wheat Kings, who unfortunately did not qualify for the WHL playoffs. That’s good news for the Charlotte Checkers though, who will get Mattheos on an amateur tryout for the rest of this season, while his NHL deal will kick in for 2019-20. Hurricanes GM Don Waddell explained what he likes about his newest forward:

Stelio is a highly-skilled center coming off back-to-back 90-point seasons in Brandon. He’s shown great ability as a goal scorer and we look forward to the next steps in his development.

The 19-year old Mattheos was selected in the third round of the 2017 draft, and broke out last season for the Wheat Kings. Scoring 43 goals and 90 points he immediately seemed like a steal for the Hurricanes, and this year has only proven it further. With another 96 points he finished sixth in WHL scoring and his 44 goals trailed only three others for the league lead. The talented forward also was among the best faceoff men in the league, winning nearly 55% of his draws.

Carolina has a glut of exciting prospects coming through their system, and Mattheos will be joining the best team in the AHL for a Calder Cup run. While he may not get into a ton of action for the Checkers, he’ll get a taste of what’s necessary at the professional level and be ready to make a big impact next season. Goal scoring has long been an issue for the Hurricanes at the NHL level, but they’ll only need a couple of their talented prospects to click in order to change that and push them even closer to Stanley Cup contention.

 

Minor Transactions: 03/21/19

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After a relatively quiet Wednesday night in the NHL, the league is roaring back with 12 games on the schedule. Those include prime matchups that could go a long way in determining playoff seeding down the stretch. The Montreal Canadiens are fighting for their postseason lives in a matchup with Mathew Barzal and the New York Islanders, while the Dallas Stars are trying to put the Colorado Avalanche to bed once and for all. As teams prepare for tonight’s action, we’ll be here keeping track of all the minor moves.

  • The New Jersey Devils will be without Kyle Palmieri and Will Butcher tonight, and have recalled Josh Jacobs to make his NHL debut in the latter’s place. Jacobs was a second round pick of the Devils in 2014 and has recorded 12 points in 60 games this season for the Binghamton Devils. Butcher is dealing with an illness and is not capable of playing.
  • Matt Read has been recalled by the Minnesota Wild once again under emergency conditions, the eleventh transaction to include the veteran forward this month. Read has played a total of seven games for Minnesota but has operated as valuable insurance on game days.
  • The Carolina Hurricanes have sent defenseman Haydn Fleury back down to the AHL with Calvin de Haan ready to return to the lineup. After playing in 67 games with the Hurricanes last season, Fleury has only played in 17 with Carolina this year compared to 23 with the Charlotte Checkers.
  • With several forwards finally back at full health, the Calgary Flames made the expected move of sending Curtis Lazar back down to the minors. Lazar has had yet another disappointing season; the former second-round pick has played in just one game with the Flames this season after failing to produce consistently as a regular last season.

Prospect Notes: Kuokkanen, Hughes, Caufield, Malone

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The Carolina Hurricanes are down a depth option with the playoffs approaching, but the bigger hit will be to the Charlotte Checkers, the top team in the AHL. Checkers head coach Mike Vellucci has revealed that forward Janne Kuokkanen is done for the year. The top prospect has missed more than a month now with an upper-body injury, but both the ’Canes and Checkers hoped he would be able to return. Instead, Kuokkanen is scheduled for surgery in two weeks that will end his season. The 2016 second-round pick is in his second pro season and had been on pace to put up major numbers in the minors. Prior to his injury, Kuokkanen had 38 points in 48 games, close to his 60-game total from last year, and remains second on the team in per-game production. Kuokkanen has also played eleven games with Carolina, including seven this season, and likely would have been a top injury replacement consideration. The talented forward will instead have to focus on his recovery and will likely be given a chance to break camp with the Hurricanes next season.

  • On one goal last night, history was made for two players in the U.S. National Team Development Program writes NHL.com’s Mike Morreale. Facing the USHL’s Green Bay Gamblers, presumptive 2019 first-round picks Jack Hughes and Cole Caufield connected for a goal late in the third period of a lopsided blowout; it was yet another of countless the duo have combined for in their time with the program. The assist to Hughes, the favorite to go No. 1 overall in June, was his 190th point in his two-year stint with the program, passing Clayton Keller for the most all-time. It was his fifth assist of the game and his 130th as a member of the USNTDP. Hughes now tops a list that includes Keller, Phil Kessel, Patrick Kane, Jeremy Bracco, and Auston Matthews next in line. The goal for Caufield was his sixth of the game and somehow more impressively his 105th for the USNTDP, the new all-time high. Caufield takes the overall title away from Kessel and is just four goals away from passing Matthews for most goals in a single season. Although just 5’7″, Caufield is an elite sniper whose game has been complemented nicely by Hughes’ next-level play-making abilities. Questions about his size and ability to produce when not surrounded by top talent persist, but the University of Wisconsin-bound forward is still expected to be picked in the first half of the first round this spring. Hughes and Caufield are now names for the USNTDP record books, but soon they’ll be topping charts as NHL prospects and even NHL scorers sooner rather than later.
  • A recent University of Wisconsin standout had a nice night of his own. Seamus Malone, who wrapped up an impressive four-year career with the Badgers last week, signed a tryout deal with the AHL’s Utica Comets. In his pro debut, Malone also picked up his first career goal. An undersized, but capable center, Malone was a model of consistency at Wisconsin, recording 23+ points in 35+ games in each of his four seasons. However, his senior campaign also showed that he has developed into a more well-rounded two-way contributor. Malone was a player that some were surprised to see go undrafted during his years of eligibility, but now the 22-year-old may end up in the NHL after all. He is bound for far more than just a tryout deal and will likely land an AHL contract, if not an entry-level contract for next season, especially if he keeps scoring in his current stint with the Comets.

Minor Transactions: 03/15/19

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The NHL has six games scheduled for this Friday night and at least one of them is must-see television for those who are watching the playoff race in the Eastern Conference. The Carolina Hurricanes travel to Columbus to take on the Blue Jackets in a huge matchup that could decide their playoff fates. The Montreal Canadiens find themselves two points behind the Hurricanes and tied with the Blue Jackets for the wild card spots, meaning they have a chance to catch whichever team loses tonight. As teams prepare for the final stretch drive, we’ll be here to keep track of all the minor moves.

  • The Philadelphia Flyers will have Jakub Voracek back in the lineup against the Toronto Maple Leafs tonight, so there was no need to keep Justin Bailey up in the NHL. The young forward has been reassigned to the minor leagues, where he has eight points in 16 games for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
  • Last night, the New Jersey Devils recalled Nick Lappin and Eric Tangradi from the minor leagues once again and could have them in the lineup for tonight’s game against the Vancouver Canucks. The Devils have been decimated lately with injury, and are just playing out the string with no hope of making the playoffs this season.
  • Landon Bow has been recalled by the Dallas Stars, as the team waits to see how long Ben Bishop will be out with his latest injury. Bishop has been back at his Vezina-caliber level this season, but will need a little more to help the Stars do any damage in the playoffs.
  • The St. Louis Blues have recalled Jordan Kyrou again, his third transaction in the span of a day. The young forward will get a chance to help the Blues down the stretch and into the playoffs after a dominant season at the AHL level.
  • The Edmonton Oilers have recalled Joseph Gambardella from the minor leagues, giving them another forward option as they try to hold onto their playoff hope. Gambardella is among the league leaders in goal scoring in the AHL with 27 in 45 games, but failed to record a point in his four games earlier this season for the Oilers.
  • The San Jose Sharks have sent a pair of forwards to the minor leagues, assigning Lukas Radil and Dylan Gambrell to the San Jose Barracuda. Gambrell knows this game having been bounced up and down all year, but Radil hasn’t spent much time in the AHL this season. The team did include Radil in a paper transaction at the deadline, meaning he is eligible for AHL playoffs if the team chooses to keep him down.

Calvin De Haan To Make Full Recovery From Eye Injury

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It was a scary moment for Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Calvin de Haan when Alexander Kerfoot’s stick came up and hit him in the eye during last night’s game. The veteran defenseman writhed in pain on the ice for a few moments before leaving the game and travelling to a nearby hospital. GM Don Waddell updated the situation with some great news today, indicating that de Haan avoided serious injury.

Calvin sustained an injury to his right eye last night, but was released from the hospital in time to make the flight home with the team. At this point, his eye is responding as we would hope. We are optimistic that he will make a normal recovery without restrictions to his ability to play hockey in the near future.

de Haan, 27, has come back strong this season after dealing with injury for much of 2017-18. Signing a four-year, $18.2MM deal with the Hurricanes in the offseason, he has stepped into a valuable role for the team as one of their key penalty killers. Logging nearly 19 minutes a night, de Haan also leads the team in hits with 169 and has contributed 14 points on the season.

Getting him back in the lineup quickly will be important for Carolina, who suddenly have jumped into a divisional playoff spot in the Metropolitan. With a 7-2-1 record in their last ten, the team now sits just four points behind the New York Islanders for second in the division and four points clear of a Columbus Blue Jackets team sitting in the final wild card position. There’s no guarantee that they’ll make the postseason, but having de Haan healthy and on the ice in the coming weeks will certainly help.

The team has recalled Haydn Fleury from the AHL under emergency conditions for the time being.

Minor Transactions: 03/12/19

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It’s another important night in the NHL playoff race, as teams like the Columbus Blue Jackets and Arizona Coyotes get a chance to make up some ground. They’ll take on the Boston Bruins and St. Louis Blues respectively in two of the eight match-ups scheduled for this evening. As teams prepare for the action, we’ll be here keeping track of all the minor moves.

  • The Bruins have recalled Trent Frederic under emergency conditions in time for their game against the Blue Jackets tonight. Frederic, 21, has zero points in his 11-game NHL career so far but will try to change that when he gets back into the lineup tonight. The 2016 first-round pick has 20 points in 45 games with AHL Providence this year.
  • Haydn Fleury has earned another call-up from the Carolina Hurricanes, marking his eighth promotion of the year. Buried in the organization’s loaded blue line depth, Fleury has skated in just 14 games with the ’Canes this season after playing in 67 last year. The 2014 No. 7 overall pick will take any chance he can get to get back into the Carolina lineup.

Snapshots: Hart, Forsberg, Ferland, Debrusk, Hirose

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The Philadelphia Flyers got some good news as it looks like rookie goaltender Carter Hart is healthy once again and could find himself in net as early as Monday against the Ottawa Senators, according to Philly.com’s Sam Carchidi.

Hart has been out since Feb. 21 with an ankle injury, but he was also coming off two of his worst performances, having been pulled in back-to-back games in which he allowed three goals on just six shots in both appearances. If the team opts to start him against Ottawa, it would be an opportunity to ease him back into the lineup as the Senators are 1-8-1 in their last 10 games.

The 20-year-old Hart is having a impressive season considering he was not meant to spend it in the NHL. Originally slated to spend his first professional season in the AHL, he appeared in just 18 games before being promoted alongside interim head coach Scott Gordon when he was hired. Since then, Hart was helped the Flyers rebound from a tough start with a 13-8-1 record with a 2.79 GAA. While that number doesn’t stand out, his .917 save percentage does.

  • Paul Skrbina of The Tennessean writes that Nashville Predators forward Filip Forsberg missed Saturday’s game and remains day-to-day with an upper-body injury, according to the team. Forsberg missed practice Thursday and Friday, but was believed to be available for Saturday’s game, but didn’t play in the end. Forsberg missed 19 games with an upper-body injury earlier this season, although there is no word on whether this injury is related to that one. The 24-year-old has 22 goals and 41 points in 52 games this season.
  • Michael Smith of NHL.com reports that Carolina Hurricanes forward Micheal Ferland remains day-to-day with an upper-body injury and did not travel with the team on their three-game roadtrip that started in Nashville today, according to head coach Rod Brind’Amour. Ferland has been having a solid season, putting up 17 goals and 35 points in 52 games. The 26-year-old has played under 14 minutes combined over the last two games.
  • The Boston Bruins’ Jake Debrusk is expected to miss a few more games as the forward is still in a walking boot, according to The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa. While he’s expected to miss this weekend’s games, he could be back not long after that as head coach Bruce Cassidy said that Debrusk was the closest, of all their injured players, to return.
  • Fox Sports’ Jon Rosen reports that the Los Angeles Kings are interested in undrafted Michigan State forward Taro Hirose, currently the NCAA leading scorer. According to Rosen, Hirose is friends with Kings’ prospect James Anderson-Dolan and could be convinced to sign with L.A. although there is no word on whether the junior forward is ready to leave college. He has 16 goals and 37 points this season for Michigan State.

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