The Vancouver Canucks reportedly won't mortgage their future at the expense of a playoff berth.
Picked by many to be a lottery team come June's draft, Vancouver is surprisingly in the thick of the Western Conference playoff race in the weak Pacific Division. The Canucks are currently one spot outside a postseason position, tied with the Kings, who own two games in hand.
However, despite being within striking distance, Canucks' management won't sacrifice their future by trading draft picks for short-term help, reports ESPN's Pierre LeBrun.
Saved by superb goaltending this season, the Canucks aging roster ranks 22nd in the NHL with 102 goals, and owns a troubling minus-17 goal differential.
For this reason, among others, and due to the long-term rebuild that team president Trevor Linden hopes to initiate, the Canucks are reportedly sticking to their plans.
The defenseman is attending to a family situation, in addition to his ongoing recovery from a back injury, Jets head coach Paul Maurice told reporters Wednesday.
"Tyler came with us on the road to Florida and had to leave on a personal family matter with the full blessing of the Winnipeg Jets, and he's still dealing with that now," Maurice said.
Staal, who missed the club's past two games with an unspecified upper-body injury, is reportedly dealing with post-concussion symptoms, according to Larry Brooks of the New York Post.
The 29-year-old has missed time with two separate concussions over the course of his career, and his timeline for a return is unclear at this point, reports Brooks.
Staal has suited up in 40 games for the Blueshirts this season, notching three goals and three assists, while averaging 19:33 in ice time.
The 3-on-3 tournament is here to stay on All-Star weekend, but the NHL's annual skills showcase will be slightly different this time around.
In a minor tweak from last year's format, the league's All-Star Skills Competition will now be contested between divisional teams rather than those of conferences, with the winner earning the right to select its first (semifinal) opponent and game time in the 3-on-3 tournament, the NHL announced.
Last year, the skills event was a matchup of the Western and Eastern conferences, and the winner did have the right to select its 3-on-3 semifinal time, but not the opponent.
The 2017 All-Star Skills Competition will take place Jan. 28 in Los Angeles, and the 3-on-3 tournament is scheduled for the following day at Staples Center.
The tourney's format will remain as it was in Nashville last year, with two 3-on-3 semifinal games and a championship final with a prize pool of $1 million going to the winner.
The Philadelphia Flyers will enjoy their five-day break starting next Monday, but they'll first play back-to-back games on Saturday and Sunday, then face another back-to-back scenario coming out of the break, a scheduling method general manager Ron Hextall doesn't exactly agree with.
Hexy on league mandated 5-day break Flyers have between two sets of back to backs: "Most asinine thing I've ever seen."
Scheduling aside, Hextall has also become quite infuriated with his team's play of late. After winning 10 straight games from Nov. 27-Dec. 14, the team has dropped nine of its past 11.
"It's driving me nuts," Hextall said, according to Sam Carchidi of Philly.com. "I hope it is for everybody else, too.
"Every night you have to be on top of your game. You don't play good, you don't win. We're not playing well enough right now."
Given the team's current slide - that still has them clinging to the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference - trade rumors are sure to rise, but Hextall insists he won't make a deal just for the sake of it.
"I'm not going to make a trade to send a message," Hextall said. "I'm (only) going to make a trade to make us better."
The Flyers will look to get back in the win column on Thursday when they take on the Vancouver Canucks to kick off their first set of back-to-back contests.
The Philadelphia Flyers will enjoy their five-day break starting next Monday, but they'll first play back-to-back games on Saturday and Sunday, then face another back-to-back scenario coming out of the break, a scheduling method general manager Ron Hextall doesn't exactly agree with.
Hexy on league mandated 5-day break Flyers have between two sets of back to backs: "Most asinine thing I've ever seen."
Scheduling aside, Hextall has also become quite infuriated with his team's play of late. After winning 10 straight games from Nov. 27-Dec. 14, the team has dropped nine of its past 11.
"It's driving me nuts," Hextall said, according to Sam Carchidi of Philly.com. "I hope it is for everybody else, too.
"Every night you have to be on top of your game. You don't play good, you don't win. We're not playing well enough right now."
Given the team's current slide - that still has them clinging to the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference - trade rumors are sure to rise, but Hextall insists he won't make a deal just for the sake of it.
"I'm not going to make a trade to send a message," Hextall said. "I'm (only) going to make a trade to make us better."
The Flyers will look to get back in the win column on Thursday when they take on the Vancouver Canucks to kick off their first set of back-to-back contests.
The Lightning goalie was a full participant at practice Wednesday, and afterward declared himself "ready to go," according to Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times.
He's been sidelined since late December with a lower-body injury.
Bishop's performance over the next six weeks will be a point of interest across league circles. The netminder is scheduled for unrestricted free agency this summer, and the Lightning have until the March 1 trade deadline to receive value on a potential deal.
Bishop has posted poor numbers this season after a runner-up finish in the Vezina Trophy voting last year. He has nine wins from 22 appearances with a .907 save percentage.
Jonathan Toews might be worthy of an All-Star nod after all.
Minnesota Wild head coach Bruce Boudreau - who will serve as head coach of the Central Division All-Stars - joined TSN's 1050 radio on Wednesday where he addressed the idea that the Chicago Blackhawks captain could be overrated after being named an All-Star despite having just 21 points in 34 games.
Bruce Boudreau with us on @LeafsLunch1050 today: "If you're evaluating Jonathan Toews only on points, you're missing it completely."
Following the announcement that he had been named an All-Star on Tuesday, Toews admitted he felt teammates Marian Hossa, Artem Anisimov, and Artemi Panarin were all more worthy candidates.
Be that as it may, Toews will be at All-Star weekend, barring an injury, and he'll just have to further prove his worth in the coming weeks.
Whatever direction hockey takes, seldom is there resistance.
Directive can dictate change, but for the most part, the sport's organic, season-to-season growth is borne out of success. When one team takes the lead in the NHL, 29 others attempt to mimic their process.
For this reason we see few stylistic matchups - unlike many other sports. There is some variance from conference to conference, and sometimes personnel determine style, but teams are largely trying to achieve a similar product. One can hope that a skill-based, up-tempo, puck-moving style is indeed the direction that the current's headed.
The systems that coaches and tacticians use work to acculturate players. In turn, idiosyncrasies fade, and players end up performing the same tasks, while talent determines the effect.
Then there's Alex Ovechkin, forever swimming upstream.
The greatest goal-scorer of a generation is on the brink of reaching another checkpoint en route to becoming the greatest ever.
On Monday night in Montreal, Ovechkin notched his third point of the night, and 999th of his career, scoring with an unorthodox, sling-style, one-touch wrist shot from his home on the power play. It was the 544th goal of his illustrious career, matching him with Maurice "Rocket" Richard, the Canadiens legend that lends his name to the trophy Ovechkin's monopolized over the past decade.
Wednesday night, with a national audience against longtime rival Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins, Ovechkin has a chance to pass Richard, and become the first player in his era to record 1,000 points in less than 12 seasons.
Done his way, like he always has.
This isn't a Ovechkin-versus-Rocket debate (though if it was, we would point out that Ovechkin required 99 fewer games to score his 544th goal, and has seven times the 50-goal seasons), because the nonconforming Washington Capitals superstar is simply incomparable.
No one else has such an endless reservoir of sheer force. No one else is predictable, yet unstoppable. No one else has resisted compromise quite like Ovechkin, or scored with similar flair, distinctiveness, and dynamism.
Like the bad seed, but in the best possible way.
To scratch the surface of what he's accomplished in 11-plus seasons:
Ovechkin has ascended to 29th in history with 544 goals. Only Mike Bossy and Mario Lemieux have a better per-game goal rate among those ahead of him.
His seven 50-goal seasons are tied for the most all time with Bossy and Wayne Gretzky.
He owns a share of the NHL record for overtime goals.
If he continues to produce near his career average, he should pass Dave Andreychuk for the all-time record in power-play goals before his contract expires in 2021.
He's produced a minimum of 32 goals every season throughout his entire career. He's on pace for 39 this season.
Like all great players, Ovechkin's production will begin to dip in the latter half of his career. But if he maintains a reasonable level of consistency, and his body continues to hold up (he's missed fewer than 10 games in a season in 11 straight years, which just five others have done), his place in the annals of NHL history will be undeniable.
But it's not too early to declare him one of, if not the, most impactful goal-scorers ever. In arguably the most difficult era to score, he has 178 more goals than the next-best sniper, and the most points since entering the league in 2005.
Using data, we can make certain inferences and draw loose comparisons when examining the impact of players from different generations. One that flatters Ovechkin in particular is adjusting for scoring trends in specific seasons, which already puts him on the cusp of the top 10 in goal scoring.
But let's face it: This is an evolving species. And with human advancement and, maybe more importantly, the furtherance of technology, the athletes we watch today (with some exceptions, of course) are the greatest, and most capable, that we've seen.
So as Ovechkin towers over his peers as goal-scoring greats did in the past, what other interpretation is there to make, really?
With the Los Angeles Kings acting as hosts, the Pacific Division will don the black-and-gray versions. The Atlantic Division will dress in gold, the Central Division will sport purple, and the Metropolitan Division will suit up in white and gray.
The jerseys will help pay homage to the league's 100-year anniversary, according to the league:
Each jersey features a band of stars that is reminiscent of the uniforms worn in NHL All-Star Games from 1989-91. Each of the 10 stars represents a decade in the 100-year history of the League. Four stars on the socks represent the four divisions in the NHL today.
The tournament kicks off Sunday, Jan. 29 following Saturday's skills competition.
