Snapshots: World Cup Power Rankings, Updates
TSN’s Scott Cullen writes that Canada is the team to beat in the World Cup of Hockey. Cullen ranks Canada, Sweden, and North America ahead of the American squad, who he pegs as fourth in his tournament power rankings. Cullen expects the Americans to be competitive but can’t see a team squarely more concerned about a “tougher” style of play going very far in a tournament that emphasizes speed and skill. The US, Cullen writes, is all about smash mouth hockey, but their goalie tandem of Cory Schneider, Ben Bishop and Jonathan Quick could give those aforementioned skilled teams some fits. Cullen places Canada at the top simply because of the top end talent they boast on every line. Sweden, he writes, has an “absurd” defensive corps with Erik Karlsson, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Victor Hedman, Anton Stralman, Hampus Lindholm, Niklas Hjalmarsson and Mattias Ekholm all on the roster. He cautions that in order to knock off favorite Canada, they’ll need young forwards Filip Forsberg and Gabriel Landeskog to carry the team in scoring.
Team North America is one that Cullen believes could truly shock everyone. With young, fast, and skilled players like Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel, and John Gaudreau, the under 23 team could turn some heads, and possibly pull some upsets that could unseat the favorites. For the rest of his rankings, Cullen places Russia, Finland, Czech Republic, and Europe as the bottom four teams respectively.
In other World Cup of Hockey News:
- The USA’s 4-2 victory over Canada featured a lot of aggressive play and injury scares that remained only as fears and nothing serious. Several high profile players took vicious hits, and some had to leave the ice. Flyers captain Claude Giroux took a hit from Joe Pavelski and didn’t return until later in the third period. Logan Couture also took a hard hit from T.J. Oshie in the second period but returned in the third. Though Shea Weber was slammed into the boards by Ryan Kesler in the second period, he didn’t miss any ice time. Kesler was assessed a boarding major and a game misconduct. Pavelski recorded the game winner while Derek Stepan sealed the game with an empty net goal in a contest that became more physical as it wore on. Earlier in the day, PHR recapped some of the other injury scares during exhibition play on Thursday.
Twenty More Players Join Concussion Lawsuit
Head injuries lead the list of the most devastating an athlete can suffer, and former NHL players are standing up to the league for putting them at risk. Today, twenty more former players have added their names to a lawsuit being brought before the court by more than 100 former NHLers, including names like Gary Leeman and Bernie Nicholls. According to a list from James Mirtle, the new players are:
Darren Veitch
Sheldon Kannegiesser
Steve Dubinsky
Jamie Huscroft
Ron Zanussi
John Stewart
Robert McClanahan
William “Billy” Huard
Iain Duncan
Frank Lessard
John Wayne Rivers
Daniel Sexton
Marc-Andre Bourdon
Ray Schultz
Andre Deveaux
Garrett Burnett
Robert Liddington
Bruce Hoffort
Perry Pelensky
Robert Robins
According to a piece by Michael Drapnek of CBC back in February, when Grant Ledyard and eleven others added their names, the lawsuit alleges that “the NHL knew or ought to have known about the link between repetitive concussive events and long-term brain damage but failed to protect or educate its players.”
It also states that Ledyard suffers from “headaches, mood swings, losing his temper for little or no reason, and depression. He drinks alcohol to assist with sleep. He has issues with sensitivity to light.” Much anecdotal evidence supports these claims, including the recent article by Gabriel Landeskog in the Players Tribune. In it, Landeskog references the “warrior mentality” that the league perpetrates, though he does clearly state that the issues are being resolved, if slowly.
The lawsuit will be presented in a Minneapolis court later this year.
Central Notes: Landeskog, Sobotka, Wild
Concussions are a touchy subject in the NHL. In the older days of the league, players who ‘had their bell rung’ often returned to the game as if nothing had happened. That mindset has slowly started to change but in a piece penned for The Players’ Tribune, Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog argues that more change is still needed.
Landeskog recalled the concussion that he suffered early in the 2012-13 season and that he felt the pressure to stay the game, something that was exacerbated by the fact he had recently been named the new captain of the team. Even the following day with the symptoms clearly present, he admitted that he was telling his teammates and the trainer that he was alright even though he clearly wasn’t.
Landeskog notes that there is a culture change in the dressing rooms around the league as more and more players are becoming aware of the significance of concussions. However, he suggests that associating the common term ‘warrior mentality’ with players who try to play through their head trauma sends the wrong message throughout the sport that those who take the proper time to recover are weak. There’s no doubt that there is more understanding about the effects of concussions but there is still further progress to be made.
More from the Central Division:
- Six weeks ago, it was reported that the Blues were expected to bring center Vladimir Sobotka back from the KHL but as of yet, no official announcement has been made. Louis GM Doug Armstrong told ESPN’s Craig Custance that they’re in the process of finalizing the paperwork to make it official. Sobotka last played in the NHL in 2013-14, picking up 33 points in 61 games. He will play on a one year, $2.725MM contract that was awarded via arbitration in the 2014 offseason.
- Wild majority owner Craig Leipold has started the process of buying out minority owner Matthew Hulsizer, reports Michael Russo of the Minnesota Star-Tribune. Hulzizer owns 27% of the Wild and purchasing his stake will take Leipold’s ownership percentage to 95% in a process that will take place over the next few months. The timing may seem strange but Leipold is exercising an option in the original purchase agreement from February 2015 to call back the shares. Leipold notes that Hulsizer had a key role in Minnesota’s increased use of analytics both in terms of scouting as well as their on-ice play.