Notable NHL Players Who Made Comebacks
In light of Eric Lindros‘ comments yesterday about former Philadelphia Flyers’ GM Paul Holmgren suggesting he attempt a comeback to the NHL in 2012, five seasons after retiring, let’s take a look at few notable NHLers who did come back after some time away:
Richard Zednik and Clint Malarchuk – Zednik and Malarchuk survived two of the scariest on-ice incidents in NHL history. In 1989, Malarchuk, then a Sabres goaltender, had his cartoid artery sliced by a skate. His life was saved by the trainer Jim Pizzutelli, who was a former US Army Medic who served in the Vietnam War. Nineteen years later, Zednik had his exterior cartoid artery sliced by the skate of Olli Jokinen. Both men survived and ultimately returned to the NHL the next season, though neither man played much longer.
Gary Roberts – After playing parts of 10 seasons with the Calgary Flames, Roberts was forced to retire at age 30 because of nerve issues in his neck. However, he began working with a chiropractor on a new form of physiotherapy and was able to return to the NHL after missing the 1996-97 season. The Flames traded his rights to Carolina, where the travel would be better than in the Western Conference, and he played 11 more seasons with a handful of teams before retiring in 2009. He founded the Gary Roberts High Performance Centre and Fitness Institute in Ontario, where he trains several high-end athletes including Steven Stamkos and Connor McDavid.
Saku Koivu – The longest-tenured captain in Montreal Canadiens history made an unforgettable comeback in the 2001-02 season. In September of 2001, Koivu was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. He missed nearly the entire season, but made a triumphant return in the Canadiens’ third last game of the season. He was welcomed back with an eight-minute standing ovation by fans, and had two assists in three games as the Canadiens clinched a playoff spot. They went on to beat the first-seeded Boston Bruins in six games before losing to the upstart Carolina Hurricanes, who were on their way to a Stanley Cup Final appearance. Koivu won the Masterton Trophy that season for dedication to hockey.
Mario Lemieux – Lemieux retired after the 1996-97 season. While he was still dominating the NHL, scoring 50 goals and 122 points in 76 games that season, he stepped away from the game at age 31. He was just a few years removed from his battle with Hodgkin’s Disease, a form of cancer. The Hockey Hall of Fame waived the mandatory three-year waiting period and immediately inducted Lemieux. He was part of a team that bought the Penguins to keep them in Pittsburgh in September 2000. Four months later, the team announced that he would be returning to the lineup. In his second NHL debut, Lemieux had an assist on his first shift and ended up with a goal and two assists versus the Maple Leafs. Lemieux went on to captain Team Canada to gold at the 2002 Olympics and 2004 World Cup. He scored 229 points in 170 NHL games over the next five seasons, including a 91-point performance in 2002-03, before an irregular heartbeat sidelined him once more.
Canadiens To Scratch David Desharnais
The Canadiens may have won two in a row since their 10-0 blowout loss, but they’re still making lineup changes.
Coach Michel Therrien confirmed that center David Desharnais will be among the scratches for Thursday night’s game versus the Los Angeles Kings. Greg Pateryn will also be up in the press box while Sven Andrighetto and Joel Hanley draw in.
While the other three men have all missed time as healthy scratches, this is the first time Desharnais has found himself healthy scratched in a while. He’s in the final year of a four-year, $14MM contract. The 5’7, 171 lbs center has bounced around the lineup since the Canadiens moved Alex Galchenyuk to center last season.
The 30-year-old Desharnais has just four points in 13 games so far this season. His point totals have been up and down since coming into the NHL, scoring 22, 60, 28, 52, 48, and 29 points.
Canadiens Place Artturi Lehkonen On IR, Recall Sven Andrighetto
The Montreal Canadiens announced that they have placed left winger Artturi Lehkonen on injured reserve with an upper body injury, meaning he will miss at least a week of action. The issue likely occurred on Saturday night where the Finnish forward did not play a single shift in the third period against Philadelphia. In a corresponding move, the team announced the recall of right winger Sven Andrighetto from St. John’s of the AHL.
Lehkonen, a 2013 2nd round pick (55th overall) of the Canadiens, made the opening roster out of training camp and has played in all 12 of their games so far this season, bouncing from the first to third lines. He has two goals and an assist so far this season with 27 shots on goal, which ranks tied for eighth league-wide among rookies.
As for Andrighetto, he made the team out of camp but was placed on waivers in mid-October and went unclaimed. He’s off to a strong start in the minors this year with five goals and six assists in ten games. The Swiss winger has 56 NHL games under his belt in his career – including 44 last season – with nine goals and eleven assists.
[Related: Canadiens Depth Chart]
Seth Jones Out Three Weeks With Broken Foot
Some terrible news came down from the Columbus Blue Jackets today, as they announced that Seth Jones will miss at least three weeks with a hairline fracture in his foot. Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch provides some graphic notes on how the injury occurred in a series of tweets, saying that Patrik Berglund‘s skate cut through the laces and tongue of Jones’ boot to fracture his foot.
Jones came over from the Nashville Predators last season and made an immediate impact on their top defensive unit. Paired with uber-rookie Zach Werenski this season, Jones has six points in ten games and is logging over 24 minutes of ice-time a night.
Luckily, the team has other effective defensemen to take his place, though obviously he’ll be missed. Ryan Murray and Jack Johnson, currently the second pair, will likely be asked to take on a greater responsibility while David Savard probably moves up to Werenski’s right side. Columbus next plays Anaheim on Wednesday night, in the first game at home since the 10-0 shellacking of the Montreal Canadiens.
Morgan’s Latest: Rangers, Montoya, Yakupov
Craig Morgan tackled a variety of topics today in his latest “Craig’s List” column on Today’s Slapshots. Among them, Morgan questions whether the New York Rangers’ hot start is sustainable. He cites the home-heavy early schedule that has seen the Rangers play eight of their first 12 games at MSG as one reason to doubt that the Blueshirts can maintain their level of play.
Additionally, as Morgan also notes, the team has received a lot of production from unexpected sources. Michael Grabner, for instance, already has seven goals and 10 points through 12 contests for the Rangers. Last season in Toronto, Grabner tallied just nine times in 80 games and has failed to crack the 20-goal mark in four years. It’s certainly unlikely Grabner will continue his torrid pace.
Morgan also singles out rookie winger Jimmy Vesey, who has six goals for the Blueshirts, as another player whose production is almost sure to fall off as the season wears on. Vesey never played more than 37 games in a single season while at Harvard and at some point will hit the proverbial “rookie wall.”
Finally, Morgan writes that the Rangers PDO (a combination of team’s shooting and save percentages) is likely set for regression. New York currently owns the 4th highest five-on-five PDO in the league at 104.29, buoyed in large part by a ridiculous 11.72% shooting percentage, tops in the league. However, it should be noted the Rangers also led the NHL in shooting percentage in 2015-16, converting 9% of their shots on goal at five-on-five into goals. Even if the Blueshirts shooting percentage regressed to that 9% figure, they’d still be among the highest scoring teams in the league.
Plus, while Morgan highlights several players whose production is probably unsustainable over the course of a full season, there are a few Rangers who have yet to play up to their potential. Derek Stepan, who has averaged 0.25 goals/game throughout his career, has just one through 12 to start this season. Mika Zibanejad is averaging nearly three shots on goal per contest but only two have found their way into the back of the net. His career shooting percentage is 10.6% suggesting if he was converting at his normal rate he’d have more goals on his ledger.
Naturally the Rangers should not be expected to win three out of every four games but this is a team that plays fast and has four lines that can score. Add to that one of the best goalies in the game in Henrik Lundqvist, and this Rangers team has the look of Stanley Cup contender. The question is, will they look like one next spring.
More from Morgan:
- Apparently, leaving Al Montoya in for all 10 goals in Montreal’s 10 – 0 loss Thursday night was not well received within the goalie community. Not surprisingly, no active tender expressed his opinion publicly but former NHL netminder Corey Hirsch was not shy about his feelings: “I just thought it was disrespectful to Montoya. It’s basically saying we care about Carey Price. We really don’t care what happens to you. It’s not like they’re scratching for their playoffs lives. It’s October, they were 9-0-1 and this is a guy who helped get them there when Price was out at the start of the year. For me, it took away from the team concept you try to build. If I’m a teammate, I’m looking around and saying ‘I guess he’s not afraid to throw one person to the wolves. Maybe I’m next.’” According to Morgan, several other former NHL goalies agreed with Hirsch’s sentiments though none wished to be quoted on the subject. Of course Montreal is no stranger to this type of controversy. Back in 1995, then Canadiens bench boss Mario Tremblay allowed Patrick Roy to remain in a game against Detroit in which the Hall of Fame goalie would eventually allow nine goals before being removed. As he stormed off the ice, Roy told team president Ronald Corey that he had played his final game for Montreal. He was dealt a few days later to Colorado and the rest is history.
- When the St. Louis Blues acquired Nail Yakupov from Edmonton it was expected they would be patient with the enigmatic but talented winger. That patience may already be starting to wear thin, however, as Morgan notes Yakupov was a healthy scratch Saturday night. Head coach Ken Hitchcock tried to deflect that line of thinking by pointing out the team has 14 forwards on the roster and he was just trying to get everyone in. “We’ve got lots of choices. We’ve got 14 forwards and everybody is going to play this weekend, so we’ll just figure it out from there. If he doesn’t play (Saturday), he’ll be back in (Sunday), so it’s not a big deal.” Evidently Hitchcock changed his mind as Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch tweeted earlier that the Blues were going with the same lineup as Saturday night with Yakupov and Ty Rattie scratched. Perhaps it’s a sign that Yakupov is falling out of favor already in St. Louis or maybe it’s just a tactic to try to motivate the former top overall draft pick.
Atlantic Notes: Canadiens, Senators, Lightning, Red Wings
How are the top four teams in the Atlantic Division really doing? There have been some surprises like Montreal’s red-hot start doused by a 10-0 drubbing at the hands of the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Ottawa Senators have played great defensively. And the Detroit Red Wings will need a lot more effort wise should they want to make a 26th consecutive playoff appearance. For now, let’s take a closer look at the top four teams in the division.
- Montreal Canadiens (9-1-1; 19 points; 1st place)
The Habs have benefitted from the return of Carey Price, who has been sparkling between the pipes, registering a 6-0 record, a .964 save percentage, and a goalie point share of 2.3. Al Montoya was fine through Friday night until he surrendered 10 goals in a ghastly game against Columbus. Shea Weber has also been a bright spot, making Marc Bergevin look smart early after the blockbuster trade netted him for P.K. Subban. Weber has ten points (4-6) in 11 games, and leads the Habs in average ice time, logging nearly 26 minutes per night.
- Ottawa Senators (7-3-0; 14 points; 2nd place)
The Sens have looked strong early, riding a three game winning streak through Friday despite playing a brutal game of musical chairs in net. Craig Anderson has been tending to his wife during a health concern and has been in and out Ottawa, understandably. Andrew Hammond suffered a lower body injury that will keep him out for at least a week. Despite this, the Sens have charged on, and contribution from Erik Karlsson, Kyle Turris, and Ryan Dzingel have helped. Though some think they’ll come back to earth, Guy Boucher has done well early on.
- Tampa Bay Lightning (6-4-1; 13 points; 3rd place)
The Bolts have scored a lot of goals–but they’ve also been fishing the puck out of the net. After jumping out to a 5-1 start, the Lightning have gone 1-3-1 since and suffered from Ben Bishop looking very human with a pedestrian .891 save percentage. Though some of this can be chalked up to struggles and on the blue line, Bishop is in a contract year and isn’t doing enough to help himself–or the Bolts should they look to deal him away instead of losing him for nothing. Steven Stamkos continues to be dominant, putting up 13 points (7-6), while Nikita Kucherov is tied with him (3-10).
- Detroit Red Wings (6-5-1; 13 points; 4th place)
Sure, they’re fourth, but the Red Wings record is probably the weakest of the any team in the Atlantic. The Bruins have two games in hand, and are only a point behind while the Leafs and Panthers are two points behind, with a game in hand. The Sabres, last in the division, are only three points out of the Wings’ spot. Thomas Vanek was a bright spot until a hip injury sidelined him for 2-3 weeks, but the defense has been abysmal. Worse, the Red Wings are coughing up leads in the third period. Personnel decisions have been questionable, too. The deployment of the OMG line–Steve Ott, Drew Miller and Luke Glendening–has been lampooned by many while younger players, such as Andreas Athanasiou, continue to get limited ice time. The Red Wings can’t afford to sit back should they want to make another playoff appearance. The division–and conference–are much better.
Rookie Notes: Laine, Werenski, Marner
After writing yesterday about the incredible group of teenagers that inhabit the NHL right now, they continued to show why they deserve to have ink spilled every night about them. Patrik Laine, playing in his 12th NHL game scored his seventh goal (while seemingly practicing his golf game) which is the fastest since it took Evgeni Malkin just six games in 2006. The Finnish sniper now has 9 points in those 12 games, and is showing why he was drafted so high.
The Jets are obviously pretty high on Laine, as he’s averaging over 19 minutes a night which leads all rookie forwards this season. As fans watch him play, they must be reminded of another Finnish scoring winger that made an impact as a rookie once upon a time – Teemu Selanne‘s amazing rookie season started with 11 goals in his first 12 games, and ended with 76.
- The idea that defensemen take longer to develop than forwards is being thrown out the window in Columbus, as Zach Werenski continues to dominate in his rookie season. The Blue Jackets are currently tearing the Montreal Canadiens apart (8-0 as this article is written), and Werenski is a big part of it. Though he has just one assist tonight, he’s also the quarterback of an effective powerplay that has gone 4/5 in the game. This 19-year old blueliner was drafted eighth overall in 2015 and is providing huge dividends already for the Blue Jackets; they’ll be 5-3-1 after tonight, with Werenski scoring (at least) nine points.
- Though Mitch Marner wasn’t included in the original post, he probably should have been. His start with the Maple Leafs has been overshadowed slightly by Auston Matthews, but the former fourth-overall pick has played extremely well in his own right. Two goals last night led the Maple Leafs to victory in Buffalo, a place they’ve had trouble winning in for years. Though Marner now has eight points in eleven contests, it’s his defensive play that is repeatedly mentioned by head coach Mike Babcock. The diminutive winger has nine blocked shots on the season, which leads all Toronto forwards.
Canada: The New Championship Drought To Watch For
The Chicago Cubs won the World Series on Wednesday night, their first since 1908, snapping a 108-year championship drought, the longest by any team in North American professional sports history. Back in June, the Cleveland Cavaliers won the NBA Championship, snapping a 52-year drought for a city with three major pro sports teams. So what’s next on the drought-busting checklist?
Sure, there are a few teams and few cities still struggling. The NBA’s Sacramento Kings organization has not won a title in 65 years and never since their move to California. Wednesday night’s losers, the Cleveland Indians, haven’t taken home the hardware in 68 years. Ten NFL teams still have yet to win it all in the Super Bowl era. Yet, with the Cubs and Cleveland off the books, it seems like there’s a void in the championship drought department right now.
It’s time that attention turns not to any one team or city, but to the country of Canada. Canadian teams have combined to go 199 straight seasons without winning a major North American title. In 1993, the country was championship central, with both the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Blue Jays winning their respective leagues. Since? Nothing.
It’s been 23 years now for the Blue Jays since they were MLB champs. They have come close over the years, but have failed to even take home an American League pennant. Playing in a division that has been one of the strongest in baseball over the past decade plus, which has housed four New York Yankees championship teams and three Boston Red Sox championship teams since 1993, it’s been an uphill battle for the Blue Jays. Meanwhile, the Montreal Expos, title-less since their inception in 1969, were forced to relocate to Washington, D.C. in 2004 (where the drought continues to this day).
The Toronto Raptors are still seeking that elusive NBA championship. It’s been 21 years since the Raptors and Vancouver Grizzlies brought pro basketball to Canada in 1995, and neither team has been able to get it done. The Grizzlies moved to Memphis in 2000, where they too have yet to find glory. In a league that is unquestionably the most competitively unbalanced, a Raptors team with a lot of talent are still annual underdogs against the likes of the Cleveland Cavaliers and other Western Conference powerhouses.
Of course, the biggest drought-magnifier is the NHL. With seven teams competing in a 30-team league, Canada should have close to a 25% chance to win the Stanley Cup every season. Alas, no such feat has been accomplished in 23 seasons. The odds of that happening: less than 1%. The Toronto Maple Leafs are tied with the St. Louis Blues for the longest championship drought in the league at 48 years. The Vancouver Canucks, established in 1970, have never won the Cup. After Alberta went back-to-back in 1989 and 1990, the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers have not won since. The Ottawa Senators, the 1992 NHL expansion team, has also never gotten it done, and their first season, 1992-93, was the first and last time that they even saw a Canadian champ, with Montreal taking the crown. Both iterations of the Winnipeg Jets are also without a Stanley Cup and Quebec Nordiques fans sat and watched their team move to Denver and establish the Colorado Avalanche dynasty at the turn of the century.
To make matters worse, no Canadian team even qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs last year, and the Oilers have a league-high ten-year drought of even making the postseason. Canada’s NHL teams are in need of some puck luck, and the Blue Jays and Raptors will take some as well. With the two biggest drought story lines in sports now over, it’s time that North American sports fans turn to the northernmost of the two participating countries. Canada needs a championship, and they need one soon.
If there’s any consolation, the only more tortured fan base than the country of Canada is their closest neighbor to the south, Buffalo, New York. Misery loves company.
Anaheim Calls Up Sgarbossa, Kase; Assigns Tokarski To AHL
After a 4-0 drubbing of the Los Angeles Kings last night, the 4-4-0 Anaheim Ducks have decided to make some changes today. According to Helene Elliott of the LA Times, the team has called up Michael Sgarbossa and Ondrej Kase while sending down Dustin Tokarski down to the AHL.
Sgarbossa has played four games for the Ducks this year after spending all year with their AHL team last season. The former Colorado prospect has shown an ability to score at the minor league level but has never found any consistent playing time in the NHL. Only 24, he may yet develop into a useful piece for the Ducks.
Kase is a much different story, as still little has been seen of the Czech forward in North America. While only getting into 25 games last season with the San Diego Gulls, Kase put up 14 points and was a contributor in their short playoff run. The 20-year old was the Ducks’ seventh-round selection in 2014 and is off to a good start with the Gulls this season.
Tokarski had a short-lived stint with the Ducks this year, getting into one game in garbage time in relief of John Gibson last week. The former Montreal Canadiens netminder was dealt to the Ducks last season in exchange for Max Friberg. Tokarski made his first impression on the NHL when he replaced Carey Price in the 2014 playoffs after the Canadiens’ MVP went down with a knee injury.
Ottawa Acquires Mike Condon From Pittsburgh
According to Bob McKenzie of TSN, the Ottawa Senators have acquired Mike Condon from the Pittsburgh Penguins for a fifth-round draft pick. Since Craig Anderson was forced to take a short leave of absence from the team (he has since returned) and Andrew Hammond was placed on injured reserve with a groin injury, the Senators have been looking high and wide for some help in net. It’ll come in the form of Condon, who was selected off waivers by the Penguins just before the start of the season.
For Pittsburgh, this is a nice return for a player who only spent a few weeks in your system. Condon was an emergency claim by the Penguins once Matt Murray wasn’t able to start the season due to his broken hand. Now, as Murray returns, the team had to make a decision on Condon as he would obviously require waivers once again to go to the AHL.
For the Senators, Condon will provide some assurance that they’ll have an NHL caliber goaltender in net each night even if Anderson has to take any more time off. While the team will likely come into the same situation once Hammond returns, they won’t have to make a decision for at least some time.
Condon broke into the league last season when Carey Price went down, playing 55 games for the Canadiens to mixed results. With a .903 save percentage and 2.71 goals against average, the 26-year old rookie at least showed he’s capable of helping an NHL squad, though perhaps not for the majority of a season.
It must sting the Canadiens the worst, as they were unable to get anything in return for Condon before the season. While a fifth-rounder isn’t a huge return, it is at least something tangible.