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Corey Crawford Ill, Blackhawks To Dress Emergency Backup

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12:04pm: Corey Crawford is undergoing an appendectomy at a Philadelphia hospital. Team physician Dr. Michael Terry said Crawford “presented this morning with acute appendicitis.”

The team is expecting a full recovery and return to action, and will update Crawford’s status when more is known.

11:19am: Less than an hour away from puck drop, the Blackhawks have signed Eric Semborski to an ATO. He’ll back up Scott Darling against the Flyers. The 23-year-old Semborski previously played club hockey at Temple U.

Because of the tight turnaround, Semborski will wear number 50, which is usually worn by the goalie that he’s replacing.

10:30am: The Blackhawks will be without their captain and their starting goalie when they take on the Flyers on Saturday afternoon.

Just a day after placing Jonathan Toews on IR, coach Joel Quenneville announced that Corey Crawford is ill and will miss the game. Crawford is not only too sick to start, but he’s also unable to serve as backup for Scott Darling.

With the Blackhawks on the road and the game starting at noon, their options are slim. Chris Hine of the Chicago Tribune suggests goaltending coach Jimmy Waite. Waite played 11 seasons in the NHL (eight with the Blackhawks) as a backup goalie. Waite has previously filled in at morning skates if the team is down a goalie.

The Blackhawks also play tomorrow evening at home to the Winnipeg Jets.

Blackhawks To Place Toews On IR

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It’s not a serious injury for Captain Serious, but Jonathan Toews is likely heading for injured reserve.

Toews has missed four games with a back injury, and is set to miss a fifth on Saturday night. CSN Chicago’s Tracey Myers reported Toews is feeling better, but will not play in Philadelphia.

Chicago Sun-Times writer Mark Lazerus quoted Toews as saying this is the kind of injury he’d “suck it up” and play through in the playoffs. But with defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk coming off IR after being out for the past five weeks, Lazerus speculates that the Blackhawks will place Toews on IR retroactive to last week to delay making another roster move.

[Related: Blackhawks Depth Chart]

Toews told Myers that he aggravated a prior injury in his last game, which was on November 23 in San Jose. The Blackhawks are 3-0-1 without Toews so far.

New Jersey Devils Activate Taylor Hall

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If you ask Taylor Hall how long three weeks is, perhaps he’ll tell you fifteen days. That’s how long the superstar New Jersey Devils winger has been out since undergoing surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee. As Andrew Gross pointed out on Twitter, and Hall hinted at yesterday, the Devils have activated him from injured reserve today, likely meaning he’ll make his return tonight against the Chicago Blackhawks. The team announced that Reid Boucher has been placed on waivers to make room.

Unsure of when exactly the injury took place, Hall showed up to the rink on the 15th complaining of pain in his knee. When an MRI revealed that surgery was needed he underwent a procedure by team physician Dr. Michael Shindle and Dr. Jonathan Glashow, the Devils’ Chief Medical Officer for a torn meniscus in his knee. His original timeline was 3-4 weeks, but obviously that has been accelerated.

Hall was acquired in one of the biggest trades of the offseason, straight up for Adam Larsson on the most infamous day in recent hockey history. His season started as well as it could have, with twelve points in fourteen games before suffering the injury. He’ll now rejoin a team that has lost six of its last seven contests after winning five straight. A 10-7-5 record currently has them fifth in the Metropolitan division, and still in a wild card position.

Boucher, on the other hand, is an interesting waiver case as his relative youth (he just turned 23 in September) and AHL success seem to point to an effective depth forward. The former Sarnia Sting has 105 points in 164 career games at the lower level, and was an impressive goal scorer in his USHD and junior days – even scoring 62 in his final year with Sarnia.  For a team looking for an offensive boost, he may provide the perfect answer.  If not, he’ll likely return to the Albany Devils and wait for his next opportunity in the NHL.

Snapshots: Anderson, LeBrun’s Power Rankings, Blues

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The Associated Press reports that Ottawa Senators’ net minder Craig Anderson will take another leave of absence to be with his wife during her battle with throat cancer. Anderson will not be available to play Thursday when the Sens take on the Flyers in Ottawa. In turn, the Senators recalled Andrew Hammond and also have Mike Condon ready to go.  Ken Warren of the Ottawa Citizen writes that Sens’ bench boss Guy Boucher said that there is no timetable for Anderson’s return but that the earliest he could be back is Saturday. Warren added a quote from Condon who said: “I can’t even begin to imagine what he’s going through and I wish him the best.”

In other NHL news:

  • The Chicago Blackhawks remain #1 on Pierre LeBrun’s Power Rankings as the first of December approaches. Though they went 3-3-1 on the annual Circus Trip, the Hawks were able to survive without captain Jonathan Toews, who has missed the past three games. Seated second are the Montreal Canadiens, followed by the New York Rangers, who are tops in scoring in the NHL. Fourth and fifth in LeBrun’s rankings are the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Ottawa Senators jumped six spots to number six, while the Tampa Bay Lightning, St. Louis Blues, Columbus Blue Jackets, and Nashville Predators round out LeBrun’s top ten respectively. In the power rankings basement? The Islanders hold the spot, due to only a pair of wins in November. LeBrun wonders if ownership will still be as patient if similar results follow in December.

  • Despite an earlier report indicating that the St. Louis Blues could be cutting ties with AHL affiliate the Chicago Wolves, KSDK Sports Director Frank Cusumano was contacted directly by a Blues Executive who denied such reports.  NHL.com’s Lou Korac wrote earlier that the Blues were readying to put a new AHL team in Kansas City, and the report, via his blog “In the Slot,” was posted on KSDK’s site.  Though Korac said the Blues have not made the plans official, a source told him that it’s pretty much a “done deal.” That news conflicted with what a Blues executive told Cusumano, saying that, “No decisions are close to being made.  We are talking to a lot of people.” 

Forbes’ 2016-17 NHL Team Valuations

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If you’re looking to buy an NHL franchise, here is your market value. For those who do not know of the world-famous company, Forbes is a leading American business magazine, named for its editor-in-chief, Steve Forbes. The company focuses on financial and business stories in a multitude of industries, including technology, sciences, art, law and, of course, the professional sports industry. Each year, Forbes runs a valuation of sports franchises around the globe, from NFL football in the United States to UEFA “football” in Europe. Today, Forbes released its valuations and rankings of all thirty current NHL teams – with the Vegas Golden Knights not quite ready to be analyzed just yet.

Unsurprisingly, the most successful team in North America’s biggest city reigns supreme over the rest of the league. With deep playoff runs in back-to-back years and a hot start to 2016-17, the New York Rangers are considered to be the NHL’s most valuable franchise with a $1.25B valuation. The Rangers top the chart for the second year in a row, after being denied the top spot for more than a decade prior, and see a 4% bump in their value from last year. Success coupled with some heavy renovations to Madison Square Garden and nearly a nightly sellout rate brings New York the big bucks, as they took in about $219MM in revenue last year, $17MM more than the next in line.

Second and third overall are Original Six Canadian power houses: the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs. Both hold on to their respective places from last year. However, the Maple Leafs held the top spot for an astonishing ten-year stretch from 2005 to 2014, before being bumped down to #3 last year. Having made the playoffs just once in the last decade, as well as seeing a 13-year sellout streak snapped in 2014-15, there is no doubt that the team has lost some value. A $1.1B valuation for a team that has struggled as much as Toronto has is not too shabby though, and is a testament to the city and its fans. Meanwhile, Montreal joins the Rangers as the only team to bring in over $200MM in revenue in 2015-16. The annual leader in attendance among the seven Canadian NHL teams, Montreal is a titan of industry in Canadian pro sports with a $1.12B valuation. Although both the Canadiens and Maple Leafs lost value this past year (5% and 4% respectively), this is most likely due to the weakness of the Canadian dollar. Both teams continue to excel fiscally, worth much more than any other Canadian NHL team or the Toronto Blue Jays, Toronto Raptors, or likely the entire Canadian Football League combined.

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Injuries: Callahan, Landeskog, Toews

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Injury updates tonight in the NHL:

  • Tampa Bay Lightning forward Ryan Callahan is out tonight against the Columbus Blue Jackets with a lower body injury, reports Tom Gulitti of NHL.com. The Lightning winger is off to a slow start this season with only 2G and 2A in 15 games so far. His ice time has diminished as a result—Callahan is averaging less than 15 minutes a game. It is unclear what caused the injury, but Callahan did participate in the team’s morning skate today, reports Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times.
  • Adrian Dater reports that Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog may be suffering from a charley horse that refuses to heal. According to Cam Tucker of NBC Sports, Landeskog isn’t even skating with the team, indicating that he may be out longer than expected. The Swedish forward had 4G and 4A in 15 games before the injury, and the flailing Avalanche need him back as soon as possible. They currently sit one point out of last place in the Western Conference.
  • The Chicago Blackhawks will be without captain Jonathan Toews for the third straight game, reports the Chicago Tribune’s Chris Kuc. Toews sits out with an apparent back injury suffered last Wednesday against the San Jose Sharks. Coach Joel Quennevillle does not consider the injury serious and labelled the captain day-to-day. Toews is experiencing an uncommonly low shooting percentage so far this season, scoring on only 7.4% of his shots, while his career average is just under 15%. He’ll hope to improve on those numbers when he returns. The Toews-less Blackhawks face the Florida Panthers tonight in what is their first game of five in eight nights.

Injury Notes: Little, McNabb, Toews

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The Winnipeg Jets have scored a respectable 62 goals in 24 games, and they’ve done it without one of their top weapons. Bryan Little has been out since being injured just two and a half minutes into his season, but will return tonight against the New Jersey Devils on home ice. The 29-year old is a proven goal scorer in the NHL, with 163 to his name including four seasons of 20+. The Jets have placed Nic Petan on injured reserve retroactive to November 27th to make room.

While the media has focused on the Jets’ lack of faceoff success, Little thinks he can help the team in that department.

That’s one of my goals to come back. It’s something I feel like I can be good at right away again, to get back into the faceoff dot. I see the guys working on it every day, they’re talking to the coaches, watching video and practicing in practice.

I think we can all help each other a bit. Throughout the game we take faceoffs against different centermen on the other team…we’ve got some good communication through the centers of trying to work through things.

Little is actually a 48.6% faceoff man throughout his career, though he won just over half of his draws last season which led the Winnipeg centers.

  • According to Jon Rosen of NHL.com, Brayden McNabb took to the ice today for the first time since injuring his collarbone on October 29th. While he didn’t take part in any drills, it’s a step in the right direction for the big defenseman. Rosen passes on from head coach Darryl Sutter that McNabb is still “at least a month away”. The 25-year old had been logging over 20 minutes a night for the Los Angeles Kings before being injured, skating alongside Drew Doughty in what was considered by some to be the second-best pairing in the league. The Kings, not short on defenders, have continued to be tough to score against even without McNabb or Jonathan Quick, who remains out.
  • Jonathan Toews will miss his third straight game tonight when the Chicago Blackhawks take on the Florida Panthers. The team captain was seen in street clothes while the team was practicing, meaning his return might not be imminent. Chicago is 1-1-1 without Toews in the lineup, having lost to the Kings in overtime on Saturday.

PHR Originals: 11/20/16 – 11/26/16

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While we already looked at the five key hockey stories of the week, here’s some of the original material produced by Pro Hockey Rumors from last week:

  • Glen Miller took a look at the 2016 UFA all bargain team, a list that included the likes of Eric Staal, Jonathan Marchessault, Brian Campbell, and Chad Johnson. 
  • Brian La Rose investigated some defenseman who could garner attention in the trade market, which of course, included Kevin Shattenkirk.
  • Gavin Lee compiled a list of goaltenders who would be great additions to the Vegas Golden Knights roster should they be available during the expansion draft.
  • Zach Leach conducted a deep dive into the post-Brent Burns free agent market heading into the 2017 offseason.
  • Finally, I was able to interview the Athletic’s Scott Powers who gave us his thoughts on Chicago’s play with a quarter of the season in the books.

Central Division Snapshots: Arvidsson, Blues, Hawks, Johns, Oduya

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Nashville Predators forward Viktor Arvidsson is establishing himself as a legitimate top-six forward in the league with a strong early performance in Music City. In a feature on the team’s official NHL.com website, John Glennon writes that Arvidsson, after going undrafted on two separate occasions before finally going in the fourth-round of the 2014 entry draft, is exceeding any expectations associated with someone of that pedigree.

The Swedish winger saw significant action during the 2015-16 campaign, appearing in 56 regular season games and all 14 postseason contests, but only flashed his on-ice abilities. Arvidsson tallied just eight goals and 16 points last year but through 20 games this season, the 24-year-old has nearly matched that level of production with six goals and 13 points. He’s on pace to register 20-plus goals and eclipse the 50-point plateau, which is production commensurate with a top-six forward.

After going undrafted in both the 2012 and 2013 entry drafts, Arvidsson worked hard in his native Sweden to turn himself into an energy player:

“When I got up to the Elite League in Sweden, they wanted me to work on my strength and stamina so that I could play at a high level every game and every shift. I worked really hard, and I think it helped me a lot. Since then, I’ve been an energy player. Before that, I was kind of an average player.”

Glennon compares Arvidsson to a popular former Predator, tough guy winger Jordin Tootoo, in that despite playing different styles, there is a “buzz” generated when they are on the ice.

Earlier this season, Arvidsson graduated to the team’s top line with center Ryan Johansen and winger James Neal. He’s currently fifth on the club in scoring and second behind only Neal in shots on goal with 61.

Arvidsson is just another example that procuring NHL talent is an inexact science at best. Quality players often go undrafted but with hard work can become regulars in the NHL.

Elsewhere in the Central Division:

  • Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch provides updates on a couple of injured Blues. According to Rutherford, Alexander Steen returned to practice Saturday but it’s still unclear when he’ll return to action. Steen has missed the last five games due to an upper-body-injury. Meanwhile, the news is more optimistic for blue liner Joel Edmundson. He also returned to practice Saturday but Blues bench boss Ken Hitchcock indicated the 23-year-old defender could be ready to return to game action next week.
  • After a 3 – 3 – 1 start to the campaign, the Chicago Blackhawks have turned their fortunes around, winning 11 of their last 16 decisions and accumulating 24 of a possible 32 standings points. This is despite boasting the league’s worst penalty kill, which allows nearly three goals for every 10 opportunities. The team has fared much better at even strength with a +13 goal differential in five-on-five man situations. But, as Chris Hine writes for the Chicago Tribune, the team feels as if they need to be even better. Head coach John Quenneville believes the team needs to generate more offensive opportunities at even strength: “We haven’t given up much five-on-five, but we haven’t generated what we’re looking for. A lot of games we’re neutralized (five-on-five), be it the neutral zone or both zones.”
  • Lastly, Mike Heika of The Dallas Morning News discusses the juggling that Stars head coach Lindy Ruff is having to do with the team’s blue line. Dallas has eight NHL-caliber defenders on the roster but obviously can only dress six on any given night. Johnny Oduya is currently on IR with a lower-body-injury but Ruff has still found it difficult to get Stephen Johns into the lineup. Consequently, the team assigned Johns to their AHL affiliate to get some game action this weekend. Johns scored three goals in two games for Texas, earning a quick recall to the big club. Meanwhile, Oduya appears to be nearing a return, according to Heika.

Predators Make Handful Of Roster Moves

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The Nashville Predators appear to have lost three key regulars to upper-body-injuries and to take their places the club has recalled four from Milwaukee of the AHL. James Neal, Ryan Ellis and Colton Sissons all missed either all or part of the team’s game Friday and each sat out practice today, according to the team’s official website. Jim Diamond, who covers the Predators for the AP, tweeted that the players were all listed on IR on the NHL media site.

Robby Stanley, the team correspondent for NHL.com, reported via Twitter that the team recalled forwards Kevin Fiala, Frederick Gaudreau and Michael Liambas along with blue liner Petter Granberg.

The loss of Neal is a particularly tough one for the Predators. The veteran winger leads the team in goals with 10 and his 15 points rank second on the team.

Ellis is one of the team’s top defenseman, averaging the third most ice time among skaters on the team. He has nine points in 19 games and is a plus-six on the season.

Fiala, one of Nashville’s top prospects, has appeared in 10 games this season with the Predators and has two goals. He has tallied two goals and eight points in seven AHL contests.

Liambas is known more for his toughness than for his skill. He has just one goal but 29 penalty minutes in 16 contests with Milwaukee. The 5-foot-10, 195-pound winger was originally signed as an undrafted free agent by the Chicago Blackhawks in July of 2015. The 27-year-old has yet to appear in an NHL game during his career.

Gaudreau played in one game earlier this season, the first NHL action of his career, seeing nine minutes of ice time and failing to register a point. He has nine points in 15 games for the Admirals.

Granberg appeared in a career-high 27 games last season with Nashville, recording two assists while averaging 13:43 of ice time. The 24-year-old was selected by Toronto in the fourth-round of the 2010 entry draft but was lost to Nashville on waivers last year. In 16 games for Milwaukee, Granlund has not registered a point.

 

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