Blackhawks Place Corey Crawford On IR
Seemingly out of nowhere, the Chicago Blackhawks have placed All-Star goaltender Corey Crawford on the injured reserve today, the team announced. The team has recalled J-F Berube from the AHL’s Rockford Ice Hogs and he and Anton Forsberg will man the Chicago net for as long as Crawford is out with his unidentified injury.
Crawford not only played all sixty minutes for the Blackhawks last night, but even put in some extra time in an overtime loss to the Dallas Stars. At no point was there any clear injury to Crawford, nor did he leave the ice for any span of time. Yet, the Chicago keeper is headed to the IR, putting his team in a tough spot for an indeterminate amount of time. While Crawford has easily been a top ten NHL goalie this season, single-handedly winning some games for the defense-deficient ‘Hawks while posting a truly impressive .930 save percentage. Now, he’ll be substituted for two new players to Chicago that have yet to impress. Forsberg, a piece of the Artemi Panarin–Brandon Saad deal, has struggled mightily as Crawford’s backup so far. He has just one win and a 3.67 GAA in five appearance. He’s now the impromptu starter, with Berube – who has been nothing more than pedestrian in the AHL – as the primary backup. Until more is known about Crawford’s condition, this is a scary situation for the Blackhawks, who now have an inexperienced and struggling duo behind an inconsistent defense.
Fortunately, Chicago is quite out of it just yet, despite some early season issues. Their 28 points puts them outside the Central Division’s top three spots, but well within the wild card mix. Even without Crawford, upcoming match-ups with Buffalo, Arizona, and Florida favor the Blackhawks and a quick return for Crawford from whatever ails him could mean little harm comes from this whole unexpected ordeal. A long-term injury is whole other discussion though…
Opinions Differ On Injury Disclosures
Dallas Stars head coach Ken Hitchcock turned some heads last week when he made comments against the NHL’s injury reporting policies. Hitchcock’s comments were not controversial, however they were the first that anyone within the league had publicly taken a stance against a rather secretive way of doing business. The NHL does not require its teams to submit detailed injury reports like the National Football League does, for example. Instead, fans and opponents are left with the infamous “lower body” and “upper body” injuries which could be anything from a broken toe to a concussion and infinite other ailments in between. Yet, last week Hitchcock’s Stars came out and announced specific injuries: knee surgery for Marc Methot and a hand injury for Martin Hanzal. In addressing the media on his deviation from the norm, Hitchcock was blunt:
“I think we collectively hate playing the game. What I mean by that is we say upper body, then you go on the phone, and then you look up things or you go to the doctors, find out what part of the upper body… We try to make your work easier, quite frankly… Nobody thinks like that. Our feeling is just ‘tell them what the injury is and move it forward, and let’s stop the dance.'”
What Hitchcock alludes to is that secrecy surrounding injuries in the NHL is nothing more than a “game” at this point. The media and thus fans and opponents eventually find out the pertinent information and hiding behind vague “upper-body” and “lower-body” injuries is merely a hindrance on the flow of information.
So what do other coaches think? Since Hitchcock’s remarks, this has been a hot button topic for the league’s other bench bosses. Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock was asked on Saturday what his opinion was on the subject and agreed with Hitchcock on all but one specific injury: concussions. “I don’t like talking about head injuries,” Babcock qualified, “Then there are all these things about concussions and half the time it’s neck or something… I want the player and the right people to work that out.” Despite otherwise agreeing with Hitchcock, Babcock did add that the Leafs plan to stick with “upper-body” and “lower-body”, though he respects the right of all coaches to disclose injuries as they like.
Winnipeg Jets coach Paul Maurice was less cordial about Hitchcock’s comments when he addressed them this morning, completely disagreeing:
“You’re not allowed to tell anybody what a doctor knows. They’ve got laws. People can get sued for letting that kind of information (out). I don’t really have the right to come out and tell you how a guy is feeling…I would think on average (that) somewhere between nine and 11 players, about half your hockey team, every single night, has something that they’re dealing with. Bone bruises, I had a guy playing with cracked ribs. I don’t want anybody to know that.”
Maurice seems to take the stance that not only is revealing a specific injury a violation of a player’s privacy, but it also can be detrimental to the team. The one point on which Maurice agreed with Hitchcock over Babcock was concussions, as Maurice feels that there is a “responsibility to show our league is handling them in a certain way.”
For media and fans, the clear choice is with Hitchcock, as complete information is always a benefit to the spectators. So long as coaches support vague injury reports though, it seems unlikely that the league will implement any blanked changes to injury disclosures.
Changes Lead To Seguin's Hat Trick
Forward Thomas Vanek is having a bigger effect on the Canucks than previously expected writes Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre. Though some fans were concerned about the one-year deal Vanek inked, the early indicators are that Vanek will turn out to be quite the bargain. Though the Wild cut him loose with a buyout during the summer of 2016, the Red Wings took a flier and then flipped him to the Panthers for a draft pick and Dylan McIlrath thanks to a nice return during his five months in Detroit. Though he only potted two goals for the Panthers, MacIntyre points out that he has five goals and fifteen points in 23 games already for Vancouver. For a player seeing third and fourth line work (13:18 ATOI), Vanek has been a low risk signing that has produced with limited minutes. Though there was concern he would block prospects, it’s shown that the veteran forward still has value.
- Tyler Seguin embraced the change from sniper to two-way forward reports Dallas Morning-News beat writer Mike Heika. While many weren’t sure how he would react going from goal scorer to having to be more defensively conscious, Seguin couldn’t wait. Heika writes that the moves, however, created some problems for Hitchcock and Seguin. Calling him a “goal-scorer,” Hitchcock tweaked lines to get some of the early season magic back for Seguin. Pairing him with Jason Spezza on Friday night, Seguin responded with a hat trick in a 6-4 win over Calgary. Spezza moved to right wing and the gamble paid dividends as Seguin notched his first hat trick of the season. Though Alexander Radulov and Jamie Benn were the ideal linemates for Seguin, it was necessary for Hitchcock to keep the team balanced. Friday’s move is one that Hitchcock hopes can keep Seguin’s name on the score sheet consistently.
- As the Oilers stumble through their first quarter of the season, Sportsnet’s Andrew Berkshire wonders if Connor McDavid is truly regressing defensively. Much has been made about Edmonton’s struggles to score goals outside of McDavid, and Berkshire writes that it’s splitting hairs picking on a player who is responsible for nearly 50% of the Oilers scoring. Instead, Berkshire takes the opposite approach, showing both graphically and through words that McDavid has actually been just fine this season–especially where he’s been criticized heavily when it comes to turnovers. A closer look reveals time lost due to penalties–which is a team-wide problem, as one of the culprits. Berkshire argues that a 32 second increase in penalty minutes and a three second decrease in power play time caused a drastic swing in performance for not only McDavid, but the entire team performance. A closer look at the problem, through the use of numbers, reveals that McDavid isn’t the problem at all.
Injury Notes: Bruins, Rakell, Weber, Wennberg, Sutter
The Boston Bruins injury list keeps growing as the team is dealing with injuries to Brad Marchand, Anders Bjork, Ryan Spooner and Peter Cehlarik. However, the one good piece of news is that forward David Backes, who underwent surgery to have a piece of his colon removed on Nov. 1, has already been cleared for contact in practice, according to NBC Sports Joe Haggerty.
Originally estimated to be out for eight weeks, putting the timetable to early January, Backes has already been skating with the Bruins for a week and could be returning sooner than expected.
The other news isn’t as good, according to Haggerty, who says that Marchand will miss today’s game against the Edmonton Oilers and was still sporting a non-contact sweater in practice Saturday. Bjork is expected to miss another week with an upper-body injury, while neither Spooner or Cehalrik practiced Saturday. The scribe says only Spooner has a chance to play today.
- Eric Stephens of the Orange County Register tweets that Anaheim Ducks center Rickard Rakell, who didn’t play in Saturday’s game against the Los Angeles Kings due to an upper-body injury, won’t travel with the team starts their road trip. Stephens adds that coach Randy Carlyle was vague about when Rakell would return to the team.
- Montreal Canadiens defenseman Shea Weber, who has missed the past three games lower-body injury, missed practice today, according to the Montreal Gazette’s Stu Cowan. Instead, the veteran defenseman opted for therapy. He remains day-to-day as Montreal hosts Columbus on Monday.
- Cowan also reports that defenseman David Schlemko, who is on a condidtioning stint with the Laval Rocket of the AHL, was practicing with the Canadiens today, suggesting a return could be near.
- Columbus Blue Jackets center Alexander Wennberg, who has been out with an upper-body injury since Nov. 11, participated in practice fully today and is expected to travel with the team for Monday’s game against the Montreal Canadiens, according to The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline.
- Vancouver Canucks center Brandon Sutter, who is expected to miss today’s game against the New York Rangers, is more than just “day-to-day,” according to Canucks head coach Travis Green. The coach adds that it’s nothing too serious, but in his place Alexander Burmistrov will fill in for him while he is out.
- Dallas Morning News’ Mike Heika reports that defenseman Stephen Johns, who was suffered an upper-body injury in Friday’s game against the Calgary Flames, skated today and is expected to be ready for Tuesday’s game against the Vegas Golden Knights.
Snapshots: Campbell, Wideman, McDavid
The Los Angeles Kings acquired Torrey Mitchell earlier tonight in a trade with the Montreal Canadiens, but it’s not the only move they’ve made recently. Late last night the team signed goaltender Jack Campbell to a two-year, $1.35MM extension. The deal is two-way for 2018-19, but becomes a one-way contract in 2019-20.
Campbell has rediscovered his game after leaving the Dallas Stars organization, who originally selected him 11th-overall in 2010. He ran with the starting job for the Ontario Reign of the AHL last season, posting a .914 save percentage and has improved on that early in this season. The 25-year old was once considered one of the top goaltending prospects in the league and will continue to try and fight his way towards the NHL. Though Jonathan Quick is signed long-term, the Kings will have an opening to back him up after Darcy Kuemper‘s deal expires this summer.
- Dennis Wideman has returned to hockey, this time as an assistant coach of the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers. The Rangers, who are one of the most impressive teams in the league this season, are currently coached by former NHL defenseman (and Wideman teammate) Jay McKee. Wideman, a Kitchener native, was unable to secure a contract this summer after the Calgary Flames decided not to re-sign him. In 815 career NHL games, he had 387 points.
- Connor McDavid has been playing through a serious illness according to Darren Dreger of TSN, who reports that the Edmonton Oilers captain has lost between five and ten pounds recently. Amazingly, McDavid has nine points in his last five games, the best stretch of the season so far for the reigning Hart Trophy winner. McDavid and the Oilers remain near the very bottom of the NHL standings, with just 18 points through 22 games.
Minor Transactions: 11/23/17
Even though there aren’t any games today in the National Hockey League, the movement up and down from the minor leagues never stops. We’ll keep track of all the day’s transactions right here.
- The Edmonton Oilers have sent Ryan Stanton to the AHL, after just a single day with the club. Stanton was up with the team but didn’t dress for last night’s game against the Detroit Red Wings, as he waits to make his Edmonton debut. The veteran of 120 NHL games cleared waivers at the beginning of the month, so can be sent up and down for the time being without needing them again.
- The Arizona Coyotes have called up goaltender Marek Langhamer on an emergency basis, after starter Antti Raanta was forced from last night’s game with an upper-body injury. Langhamer has one NHL appearance under his belt, but has played well in limited action for AHL Tucson this year. Scott Wedgewood is expected to start in Raanta’s absence.
- Another day, another transaction for Julius Honka, who has been recalled once again by the Dallas Stars. The promising young defenseman was sent down just yesterday by the team when they needed some help up front in case of injury. Curtis McKenzie and Mike McKenna have both been sent to the AHL in a corresponding move.
- Samuel Blais has been recalled by the St. Louis Blues, potentially giving the 21-year old another shot at the NHL. Blais made his debut for the club earlier in the season, recording his first NHL point just over a month ago. The sixth-round pick has flourished offensively since the Blues drafted him in 2014, and has 13 points in 11 games for the San Antonio Rampage this season in the AHL.
Minor Transactions: 11/22/17
With everyone but St. Louis in action tonight before the day off tomorrow, it could be a busy day for promotions and demotions across the NHL. Keep up with all the action right here:
- The Montreal Canadiens have recalled blue liner Jakub Jerabek from the AHL, according to TVA’s Renaud Lavoie. Jerabek is in his first season in North America after signing with the Habs this summer. However, the Czech native has yet to make his NHL debut, as Montreal has plenty of veteran albeit under-performing defensive depth. However, with the Laval Rocket, Jerabek has 11 points in 17 games and is a +10; impressive totals worthy of a recall. Jerabek also had the option of returning to Europe if he had not been recalled by mid-December, so there is strategy to the Canadiens’ move as well.
- Another young import, Finnish forward Henrik Haapala, could also make his NHL debut tonight. Per NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti, the Florida Panthers have called up the small scoring winger. Haapala is in his first season in North America after scoring 60 points in 51 games in the Finnish Liiga last year. Thus far in 2017-18, Haapala has seven points in 11 games for the AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds. The Panthers have been liberal with number of call-ups and variety of players called up so far this season, as Haapala is just the latest to join the list.
- Philadelphia is bringing in reinforcements. The team announced the return of young defenseman Samuel Morin and the first recall for forward Danick Martel. Morin is a name most fans recognize as a former first-round pick of the Flyers, however it is Martel who may be more intriguing. In his fourth pro season, Martel has exploded this year, leading the AHL with 14 goals. Martel scored just 20 goals last season and already has half as many points in 17 games as he did all of last year in 68 games. The Flyers surely hope that his hot hand continues at the next level.
- In a corresponding move, Philly also sent defenseman Mark Alt and veteran forward Matt Read to the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms. It was only a matter of time (and health) before Morin replaced Alt on the NHL roster, but the demotion of Read is certainly a big deal. The long-time Flyer cleared waivers last week and will now head to the minors, his 400+ games of NHL experience not enough to keep him around.
- Colorado has recalled goalie Andrew Hammond and the former Senators keeper could make his Avalanche debut sooner than expected. Hammond was acquired as more or less a salary dump by Ottawa in the recent Matt Duchene–Kyle Turris blockbuster. With Semyon Varlamov and Jonathan Bernier in the net, no one thought Hammond would be anything more than a depth asset for the Avs. However, with Varlamov too sick to even suit up, “The Hamburglar” will get his chance. After a remarkable run for the Sens in 2015-16, Hammond struggled greatly in both the NHL and AHL last season and could use a fresh start.
- The Edmonton Oilers have made a flurry of moves already today, first terminating the contract of Ziyat Paigin, who predictably cleared unconditional waivers yesterday. Paigin came over from the KHL last season, but it was never a good fit between the two sides. Paigin failed to record a point in the only 12 AHL games he played. With no chance of a bump up to the NHL, Paigin wished to return to Russia and the Oilers were more than willing to oblige him. Edmonton then recalled defenseman Ryan Stanton from the Bakersfield Condors. A free agent acquisition this off-season, the journeyman rearguard could help out the struggling Oilers with his sound defensive game. In a corresponding move, veteran forward Brad Malone was reassigned to the AHL.
- Julius Honka is headed back to the minors, as the talented, young blue liner was demoted by the Dallas Stars today in exchange for forward Curtis McKenzie, per a team announcement. The Stars have been underwhelming in 2017-18, but their biggest issues continues to be goal prevention. As promising an offensive defenseman as Honka may be, he’s not what Dallas needs right now. Perhaps two-way forward McKenzie, who is also scoring at a point-per-game pace in the AHL, can help the cause.
Trade Rumors: Coyotes, Canadiens, Jets, Islanders
In all likelihood, the recent three-way trade that sent Matt Duchene to the Ottawa Senators and Kyle Turris to the Nashville Predators will be the biggest deal made this season. Yet, that hasn’t stopped the whispers of an bustling trade market, especially this early in the season. At the quarter pole of the 2017-18 campaign, it’s been an unpredictable season, prompting an unexpectedly active market. The Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch has had his ear to the ground and has plenty of input on who the buyers and sellers are right now:
- To no one’s surprise, Garrioch states that the floundering Arizona Coyotes are “willing to talk about pretty much every player on their roster”. That of course doesn’t include Calder-hopeful Clayton Keller or many of their other 21-and-under starters, but the rest of the roster may as well be up for grabs. The big off-season acquisitions of Derek Stepan, Antti Raanta, Niklas Hjalmarsson, and Jason Demers have done nothing to change this team’s ability to win hockey games. At some point, GM John Chayka is going to go from “up-and-coming” to “up-and-went” and that pressure could force him to make some major moves as he rethinks his rebuild. While impending UFA’s like Raanta, Brad Richardson, and Luke Schenn would be the easiest pieces to move, the stakes are high for a Coyotes team whose core has done next to nothing for years and key pieces like Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Max Domi, Anthony Duclair, and Tobias Rieder could soon be on their way out.
- Perhaps the only team more disappointing than Arizona in 2017-18 is the farthest team from them across North America: the Montreal Canadiens. Under new head coach Claude Julien, the Habs have fallen apart. However, the newly-signed coach isn’t going anywhere, putting GM Marc Bergevin, who Garrioch calls ” the NHL’s most active GM”, on the hot seat. Bergevin may be willing to make a big move to save his job, and of course the first name that comes to mind is young forward Alex Galchenyuk, who has predictably struggled under the defense-first Julien. Galchenyuk seems lost in Montreal, without an identifiable position, role, or spot in the lineup, and could use a change of scenery. However, he is not wholly to blame for the Canadiens’ struggles. Tomas Plekanec has long been on the block and if the team truly commits to a rebuild, big names like Max Pacioretty, Shea Weber, and (if anyone is willing to take on his monstrous new contract) even Carey Price could soon join the list.
- Garrioch mentions both the Winnipeg Jets and New York Islanders as possible sellers, but given the surprising success of both clubs thus far, neither is likely rushing to trade pieces away unless they can make their teams better this season. Impending Jets UFA’s Shawn Matthias and Matt Hendricks may draw interest, but if Winnipeg is in playoff position come deadline time, they would want veteran depth for themselves. It seems more likely that GM Kevin Cheveldayoff could use his overflow of young forwards like Marko Dano, Joel Armia, Andrew Copp, Adam Lowry, or Brandon Tanev as trade bait to bring in another top-six forward for a team that doesn’t shoot the puck nearly enough. As for the Islanders, Garrioch singles out first-time UFA Calvin de Haan as the player to watch. Yet, de Haan is one of, if not the best shot-blocker in the NHL, can play major minutes, and is reliable in both ends. If the Isles can resign him, wouldn’t they? Obviously, John Tavares is the main focus and the team thinks highly of younger options like Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock, but the loss of a player like de Haan, especially with Travis Hamonic now in Calgary, could cripple a playoff-bound Islanders squad. Odds are de Haan sticks around, at least as long as New York remains playoff-bound.
- So who’s looking? Garrioch mentions the Florida Panthers, Calgary Flames, Columbus Blue Jackets, and the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins as suitors for forward help, with the Dallas Stars potentially looking to make another big blue line trade to turn their season around. With that many buyers and several disappointed sellers, the trade NHL trade market may not wait until 2018 to heat up.
Snapshots: Three Stars, Bouwmeester, Eichel, Backes, Borowiecki
The NHL announced their “Three Stars” of the week ending on Nov. 19, with Carolina Hurricane’s Teuvo Teravainen taking top honors after a week in which he led the NHL with five goals and 10 assists in four games. The 23-year-old forward posted his first NHL hat trick against the Dallas Stars on Nov. 13, then had two assists on Nov. 16 against the New York Islanders. He had one assist against the Buffalo Sabres two days later before putting up two goals and another assist against the Islanders Sunday.
Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Frederik Andersen and Colorado Avalanche’s center Nathan MacKinnon each received the second and third stars of the week, respectively. Andersen was perfect in two starts for Toronto, stopping 75 shots and helping Toronto to a six-game winning streak, while MacKinnon scored two goals and had five assists in the team’s two wins. The 22-year-old had career highs with four assists and five points in the team’s victory over the Washington Capitals on Nov. 16.
- St. Louis Blues head coach Mike Yeo said the plan is to take defenseman Jay Bouwmeester off injured reserve today and is expected to return to the lineup for Tuesday’s game against the Edmonton Oilers, according to St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Jim Thomas. The 34-year-old blueliner has not played yet this year due to an ankle fracture, but should provide a big boost to the team’s penalty killing unit immediately. Thomas also notes that Patrik Berglund will not play versus Edmonton on Tuesday, but is inching closer to a return to the ice after missing the entire season so far after undergoing shoulder surgery.
- Buffalo Sabres center Jack Eichel looks to have been demoted to the team’s third line at Monday’s practice ahead of their game tonight against the Columbus Blue Jackets, according to Amy Moritz of The Buffalo News. Head coach Phil Housley placed him with Zemgus Girgensons and Jason Pominville. “We’re obviously trying to get things going and switch things up so we’ll see tonight,” Eichel said of the new line combinations. “No message. It’s part of the game.”
- Steven Harris of the Boston Herald writes that just three weeks removed after having part of his colon removed, Boston Bruins’ David Backes returned to practice today in a non-contact sweater. Despite an eight-week prognosis, Backes was skating, shooting and handling pucks. “The doc’s advice (was), if it doesn’t hurt, I can continue to progress and add more workload on,” said Backes. “I haven’t been notified that the timeline has changed at all. So I’m just going to keep putting in the work.”
- Edmonton Sun’s Ken Warren reported that Ottawa Senators defenseman Mark Borowiecki will return to Ottawa after sustaining a viscous hit Sunday from New York Rangers defenseman Brandon Smith that left the Senators’ blueliner momentarily unconscious after he hit the boards. He will be further evaluated once he returns to Ottawa, and could miss significant time as coach Guy Boucher referred to the injury as a concussion.
Stars’ Methot Out 4-6 Weeks, Hanzal Out Too
The Dallas Stars will be without two regulars as the team announced today that defenseman Marc Methot will miss four to six weeks after having his knee scoped today, while center Martin Hanzal will miss three to seven days with a hand injury.
The Methot injury explains the team’s minor transaction earlier today when the team recalled defenseman Julius Honka. The 32-year-old Methot had missed the previous four games with what was described as a lower-body injury. He attempted to practice on Friday, but had to leave the ice after just 15 minutes. Methot has been a fixture in the Stars’ defensive rotation all season since the team acquired the veteran from the Vegas Golden Knights for a 2020 second-round pick. While Methot has not accumulated a point in 15 games, the veteran has averaged 19:23 of ice time and has a -1 plus/minus rating.
Hanzal has been a disappointment so far after the team signed the 30-year-old this offseason to a three-year, $14.25MM deal. He has just a goal and two assists in 17 games so far this season, although there were reports that his play was starting to improve, especially in the team’s victory over the Florida Panthers last Tuesday.