Author: Hockey Feed

Categories
Hockey Feed

Evgeni Malkin admits the uncomfortable truth for Penguins

Bleacher Report

In a game that they absolutely had to have, the Pittsburgh Penguins instead found themselves trailing and eventually losing to the tanking Chicago Blackhawks. The 6-2 setback dealt a serious blow to their already faint postseason hopes, meaning that their fate will be sealed with the results of Thursday evening’s season finale against the lowly Columbus Blue Jackets.

The fans in attendance last night at PPG Paints Arena voiced their displeasure as the seconds ticked off the clock, and even more “Fire Hextall” chants were heard from those who hadn’t departed early to get a head start on the traffic. 

And afterward, it was Penguins longtime forward Evgeni Malkin who had to admit the uncomfortable truth for his team, which features many players on the wrong side of the age of 30.

“I think we tried so hard. We tried everything. I try to play hard every game, you know,” Malkin said. “But the league is young. They play so hard. It’s a new generation. It’s coming.” 

“We try to play hard, but it’s probably like, I don’t know, it’s like …”

There was a time where the Penguins were the face of the “new” National Hockey League that emerged after the lockout that wiped out the entire 2004-05 season with young Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin leading the way. But as always, Father Time is undefeated. 

Regardless of what happens on Thursday night, it’s becoming more and more evident that the fantastic run that Pittsburgh has been on the past 16 years is coming to an end. This summer will bring interesting decisions from maligned GM Ron Hextall, who continues to feel the wrath of the frustrated fan base. 

Categories
Hockey Feed

Huge controversy when it comes to Jets’ Neal Pionk’s punishment by the NHL

HockeyDaily365

We’ve already told you in a chippy game between the Minnesota Wild and Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday night. In a game that could have been a playoff contest, thins got ugly down the stretch with Jets head coach Rick Bowness and Wild coach Dean Evason were even jawing at each other.

Earlier on Wednesday, it was announced that Wild forward Ryan Hartman will get a hearing for levelling Nikolaj Ehlers with an open-ice, shoulder-to-shoulder hit after Ehlers went after superstar Kirill Kaprizov, who was taunted all night long by fourth-liner Saku Maenalanen.

Wild fans reacted to the fact that Jets’ Neal Pionk was not called in for his brutal cross-check to the ribs of Marcus Johansson.

Finally on Wednesday, the NHL’ Player Safety department announced that Pionk has been fined $5,000, the maximum allowable under the CBA, for the crosscheck.

Fans are quite unhappy that Pionk isn’t getting a call for a potential suspension as well.

This game was nuts and now even when it’s over, it’s still getting lots of reactions!

Recommended articles:

Categories
Hockey Feed

Jonathan Huberdeau and Nazem Kadri could ask for trade if Darryl Sutter remains Flames’ coach!

NHL.com

While Flames general manager Brad Treliving’s future in Calgary remains unsure, seeing that he has yet to sign a contract extension as GM. It’s clear that Treliving deserves praise from what he managed to pull last summer after losing forward Johnny Gaudreau to the free agent market and Matthew Tkachuk declining a long-term contract extension to get traded to the Florida Panthers for Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar. On top of that, Treliving signed Nazem Kadri.

“I think what’s going to happen in the coming days is that Treliving and the Flames’ front office need some time to take stock because that organization is numb right now, explained Pierre LeBrun on Insider Trading on TSN last night. “They can’t believe they didn’t make the playoffs. But Treliving, individually, has to decompress and look at the fact that he’s been there nine years and ask himself if there’s an offer from ownership, does he sign it? Does he move on? I think there’s a lot going through Treliving’s mind just like there’s a lot going through a lot of people’s minds in Calgary right now.”

However, the Flames were officially eliminated from playoff contention following Monday’s 3-2 shootout loss to the Nashville Predators. It’s been noticed more than once that Huberdeau, Kadri and goalie Jacob Markstrom were among the notables who struggled under head coach Darryl Sutter, whose two-year contract extension kicks in next season. All of this prompted Sportsnet’s Eric Francis to wonder if Huberdeau or Kadri could demand to be traded if Sutter remains as the coach in an article that asks more questions than it answers them about what’s coming in Calgary.

To make things worse, Francis also speculates about players such as Elias Lindholm, Tyler Toffoli, Mikael Backlund and Noah Hanifin as they could pull a Tkachuk and force trades by declining to sign contract extensions…

“How many of them will make it crystal clear they’re disinterested in staying in Calgary and be swapped out early, a la Matthew Tkachuk?”

As Francis concludes, whatever answers come in Calgary will definitely shape what the Flames’ roster will look like in 2023-24.

Recommended articles:

Categories
Hockey Feed

More tragic details emerge from sudden death of former NHLer

GoFundMe

Last night, Hockey Feed had the heartbreaking task to share the news of the sudden passing of former Dallas Stars forward Raymond Sawada. The 38-year-old died of a heart attack while playing hockey Monday evening.

Sawada was raised in Richmond and played at Cornell University before he inked a two-year deal with the Stars. After his NHL stint, he returned close to Richmond and was also a Burnaby firefighter.

Richmond Sockeyes President Doug Patterson says it was a traumatic blow to the community when news of Sawada’s death broke. The president shared tragic details on the last day of Sawada’s life, per Global News.

“It was his oldest daughter’s birthday yesterday,” he said. “He’s celebrating her birthday, then going off to hockey and poor fella doesn’t return home to his family. It’s just devastating and it’s just been really tough on all of us.”

That’s just tragic to read… Especially knowing how Patterson grew close to the family, explaining how he and his wife’s families have a long history in Richmond.

“Nicole’s family, the Sawada family are both longtime Richmond families,” Patterson added. “When this something like this happens, it just it really just rocks the community.”

If you would like to help in any way, a GoFundMe has been set up for the family of Sawada, who is is survived by his wife Nicole and his two daughters Victoria (9) and Charlotte (6).

“For the girls and Nicole, losing their dad and husband is going to leave a sad mark on their hearts and make for a long road ahead,” organizer Brianne Sameshima wrote on the page.

May he Rest In Peace, and we send our thoughts and prayers to his family and friends.

Recommended articles:

Categories
Hockey Feed

Shane Wright gets a promotion and a demotion at the same time

Zuma Press

Shane Wright is an absolutely fascinating hockey player to me.

The 4th overall pick in this past summer’s 2022 NHL Entry Draft was the presumptive #1 overall pick for literally years heading into his draft year. Then he slowly fell to the #2 position following the emergence of Slovakian forward Juraj Slafkovsky. Then at the draft Wright didn’t go 1st, 2nd or 3rd… he went 4th overall to the Seattle Kraken in a pretty shocking draft day development.

Cut to Wright’s first training camp and it looked like he’d be a full-time member with the team given a strong early showing. As the early season unfolded though it was clear that head coach Dave Hakstol had no trust in the rookie and ended up using him very sparingly. Then he got sent to the AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds and lit up the league with four goals in five games. Then he got called back up to Seattle where he did absolutely nothing…

Then he captained Team Canada to gold at the 2023 World Junior Championships. Then he officially got demoted back to the OHL for the rest of the season.

Up and down and up and down and up and down.

The OHL’s Windsor Spitfires then traded two players and seven draft picks to the Kingston Frontenacs in exchange for Wright only to absolutely blow it in the first round of the playoffs to the #8 seed Kitchener Rangers.

Yikes…

Well, at least Wright can join the Kraken for the playoffs, right?

Think again, today the Kraken announced that Wright has been sent to the AHL once again.

Technically, this move is a promotion for Wright but with the Kraken right there and with the team’s first ever playoff berth on the horizon, you have to imagine that Wright was hoping for a roster spot in Seattle. As it turns out though, the Firebirds have already locked up a playoff spot so Wright will join a team that IS ready for the playoffs, just not the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Categories
Hockey Feed

A nervous Sidney Crosby talks about missing the playoffs for the first time since his rookie season

Pittsburgh Penguins

Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins find themselves in a very unfamiliar position at this point in the regular season.

The Penguins are one point behind both the New York Islanders and the Florida Panthers for a Wild Card spot in the NHL’s Eastern Conference standings meaning that Sid the Kid and the Penguins’ 16 year playoff streak is in serious jeopardy. If in fact the Pens come up short of a post-season invitation, it will be just the second time in Crosby’s career that the team has done so… the last time coming during Crosby’s rookie season in 2005-06.

Both the Panthers and the Islanders are in action this evening and you can bet that Crosby and the Penguins will be watching for scores.

“I’m sure I’ll keep an eye out, whether I watch or watch the score,” Crosby said after his team’s practice earlier today. “But it doesn’t change what we have to do. Obviously, we got to worry about ourselves in that way.”

The Penguins have two games left on the schedule and, in theory, shouldn’t have too much difficulty with their opponents. They play the 32nd ranked Columbus Blue Jackets and the 31st ranked Chicago Blackhawks to end off their regular season.

“Knowing how close it’s been for a while now, we all understood that there was a good chance it was going to come down to the last game, and that’s the way it is,” Crosby said. “We’ve done a good job the last couple games of focusing on the game in hand, and we got to do that tomorrow.”

Of course, the Penguins will need some help even if they managed to pocket four points in their final two regular season games. They’ll need the Islanders to stumble against either the Washington Capitals or Montreal Canadiens in their final two games and/or for the Panthers to stumble against the Toronto Maple Leafs and Carolina Hurricanes. 

Now, obviously the Penguins have the easiest schedule of these three playoff hopefuls, but to me the Panthers have by far the toughest. The Leafs and the Hurricanes are two of the best teams in the East, so if the Panthers want a ticket to the dance they’ll need to earn it.

Categories
Hockey Feed

Blackhawks sign former USA Olympian in goal

Zuma Press

According to a report from ESPN NHL insider Kevin Weekes, the Chicago Blackhawks have signed former 2nd round pick (46th overall in 2020) Drew Commesso to an entry-level contract.

The 20 year old netminder recently wrapped up his season with the Boston University Terriers after a stellar campaign. The Norwell, MA native put up 24 wins in 34 games with a 2.46 goals against average and a .913 save percentage. He also represented Team USA at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China.

The best thing about him though?

Check out his vintage gear set-up with BU:


I mean… that’s worth a million dollar contract in my books.

In all seriousness though, Commesso is exactly what the Blackhawks need to kick-start their rebuild a bit. I imagine that they’ll start him off with the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs, just so he can get acclimated to the pro life grind before throwing him into the fire of the NHL. Personally, I think he’s got a lot of potential but he is still quite raw. After a season or two of quality development though, he could emerge as one of the better young goalies in the game. Great signing for GM Kyle Davidson, but now the real work begins.

Categories
Hockey Feed

Reported Leafs line combinations for Matthew Knies debut

Hockey Patrol

The Toronto Maple Leafs are back in action this evening in the Sunshine State against the Florida Panthers, who are scratching and clawing (no pun intended) to earn a postseason berth for the 4th consecutive year; they can do so with a win tonight against the visiting Leafs.

However, the Leafs will be looking to keep that from happening by making it a positive transition to the National Hockey League for top prospect Matthew Knies, who was signed by the team to a three year entry level contract over the weekend. 

Knies will be in the lineup tonight for his first taste of action at the NHL level, and according to a report from Maple Leafs Insider, he could be skating on a line with 2019 Conn Smythe Trophy winning center Ryan O’Reilly. Take a look at the projected forward line combinations: 

Bunting/Matthews/Marner
Kerfoot/Tavares/Nylander
Knies/O’Reilly/Acciari
Aston-Reese/Kampf/Lafferty

The contract Knies signed with the Leafs carries an annual average value of $925,000, and because there are less than nine games remaining in the regular season, his suiting up won’t shave off a year of the three year deal. 

Knies is a second-round draft pick (57th overall) of the Maple Leafs in the 2021 NHL draft, and he tallied 21 goals along with 21 assists this season playing collegiately for the Minnesota Golden Gophers. 

Tonight’s game against the Panthers will kick off from FLA Live Arena starting at 7:00 PM EST. 

Categories
Hockey Feed

Minnesota Wild sign Golden Gophers captain

Fox 9

A true homegrown talent from the State of Hockey will not only have gotten the chance to suit up for the University of Minnesota, but is now taking the next step by joining the Minnesota Wild. 

The team announced on Sunday that Golden Gophers captain Brock Faber has been signed to an entry level contract worth a reported $2.775 million ($925,000 a year in the NHL, and is prorated this season) and that he’ll be joining the team immediately for their game later tonight against the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center. 

A two-time Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and a two-time All-Big Ten first-team selection, Faber scored seven goals with 46 assists in 97 career collegiate games played. He was originally drafted by the Los Angeles Kings in 2020, and was acquired by the Wild in the deal that saw Kevin Fiala head to Hollywood. 

He’ll be wearing jersey number 7, and will be skating on a defensive pairing with veteran Alex Goligoski. Take a look at tonight’s projected line combinations: 

Johansson-Gaudreau-Boldy
Nyquist-Steel-Foligno
Petan-Rossi-Hartman
Duhaime-Dewar-Reaves

Middleton-Addison
Goligoski-Faber
Merrill-Klingberg

Categories
Hockey Feed

Flames fans are not happy with Sutter’s post-game comments

Calgary Flames

In case you missed it last night, the Calgary Flames’ Stanley Cup hopes officially came to an end following a 3-2 shootout loss to the Nashville Predators.

The Flames outshot and outplayed the Predators for much of the game, but as has been the case for the Flames this season, it simply wasn’t enough. The shots were 44 to 29 for the Flames, yet they lose by a goal in the shootout. It’s a stat line that has been duplicated over and over for the Flames this season and it was ultimately their undoing in the playoff race.

The worst part about it all is that with the season on the line, with their backs up against the wall in the shootout and who does head coach Darryl Sutter call on at his team’s biggest moment? Nick Ritchie…

Seriously?

Seriously.

You call on Nick Ritchie of all people to save your season? With Tyler Toffoli and Andrew Mangiapane sitting on the bench? Good grief…

So… what’s the thinking here, Coach?

So… if I’m hearing this correctly, Sutter put Nick Ritchie in this critical shootout because he scored against Preds goalie Juuse Saros way back on Nov. 21, 2022. While Ritchie was still with the Arizona Coyotes… on one of his just 5 career shootout attempts. That’s… that’s crazy.

Needless to say, there’s no lack of outrage amongst Flames fans online. I could share a few of the replies to Sutter’s comments but it’s mostly just people dog piling on the ‘Fire Sutter’ train.

Look, there’s no denying Sutter’s accomplishments. He has reached the peak of this sport as a head coach… but his best coaching results come nearly a decade ago and he consistently hamstrung his team with stubborn decisions all season long. I suspect that this may have been his final season in the NHL as a head coach and almost certainly his last season in the Flames’ organization. And frankly, there should be no shame in that.

Again, Sutter has accomplished all there is to accomplish as an NHL coach. He was one of the best coaches of his generation, but it’s becoming painfully obvious that the game is simply passing him by. It happens to all the greats at one point or another.