The Colorado Avalanche put together the worst season of the salary-cap era in 2016-17, but team president Josh Kroenke says general manager Joe Sakic isn't going anywhere.
"Joe's leash hasn't changed at all," Kroenke said Wednesday when asked if Sakic's leash has been shortened, according to Terry Frei of the Denver Post. "Nobody wants to get the Avalanche back to where they were, where we all expect them to be, more than Joe Sakic.
"We're going to continue to give him every resource at his disposal. ... At the end of the day, Joe wants what's best for the Colorado Avalanche. Whether that's him in his current role or something else, it doesn't matter."
Sakic captained the Avalanche to two Stanley Cups during his playing days and is the most decorated player in the franchise's history.
He has been in charge of the team's personnel decisions since May 2013. Since then, the once-promising team has taken a nosedive, finally hitting rock bottom this season.
Year
Points
2013-14
112
2014-15
90
2015-16
82
2016-17
48
Though this year's Avs were right up against the salary cap, they managed just 48 points. The 2013-14 and the 2014-15 Buffalo Sabres, who were in clear "tank mode," managed to earn 52 and 54 points, respectively.
Kroenke called Colorado's 2016-17 campaign "unacceptable." However, taking into account factors including head coach Patrick Roy's abrupt August resignation and injury-riddled seasons from defenseman Erik Johnson and goaltender Semyon Varlamov, he said Sakic "deserves the benefit of the doubt" based on what he's done for the organization as both a player and an executive.
"I want to be sure that this staff, based on being in the tough position that they were, has a chance to get it right," said Kroenke.
The Pittsburgh Penguins captain, who missed Wednesday's Game 4 against the Washington Capitals due to a concussion, took part in an optional, no-contact practice Thursday.
It is an off day for the Penguins but Crosby was on the ice with a few other players in full gear.
"Sid skated this morning (and) is in the process of rehabbing," Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan said later. "We'll leave it at that. It's a day-to-day process."
Crosby suffered the concussion after a cross-check to the head delivered by Matt Niskanen early in Game 3. He missed six games at the beginning of the regular season due to the same injury.
Last time Crosby got concussion diagnosis, skated on his own next day. He kept skating and undergoing testing. Came back two weeks later.
Bridgestone Arena has also been bumping on game nights, with an atmosphere that undeniably stacks up against any market around the NHL.
One win away from advancing to the Western Conference Finals for the first time in franchise history, the rise of the Predators might only just be starting.
▼ Mike Milbury
Speaking of the Predators, NBC analyst Mike Milbury recently came under fire for comments made about defensemsan P.K. Subban prior to Game 2 against the St. Louis Blues.
As a refresher, here's what Milbury had to say after Subban was seen dancing on the ice during warmups, per Joe Rexrode of The Tennessean:
When I see this I start to think maybe (Predators coach) Peter Laviolette ought to give him a rap on the head and say, 'Hey, P.K., we've got a game tonight, focus in. You don't need to be a clown out there. And he will. He's been a clown in the past, and we've seen him act like a clown. When he's serious and focused, he's one hell of a player.
The Predators have posted a record of 7-1 so far this postseason, and Subban has contributed one goal, five assists, 17 shots, and (for old-school analysts who still care about the stat) a plus-7 rating.
As mentioned above, Nashville is one of the hottest hockey markets the NHL has going these days, and Subban represents all that is fun and good about the game in 2017.
His game and personality should be celebrated and embraced, not questioned and suppressed.
It's not that Ottawa wasn't receiving a good player in Brassard, but more the five-year age gap that exists between the two players, and the fact Zibanejad was much further away from reaching his ceiling.
As fate would have it, the two clubs are embroiled in a second-round playoff series less than a year later, with both Brassard (two goals, six assists) and Zibanejad (one goal, six assists) leading their new teams in playoff points.
It's Zibanejad, however, who's making a bigger mark on the current matchup, having registered three assists in three games against the Senators, while also averaging four shots a game on Senators goalie Craig Anderson. Brassard, meanwhile, has been kept off the scoresheet for Ottawa, with zero points on his old mates.
Whichever team comes out on top in this series, the Rangers have to be excited about what they're seeing from Zibanejad on the big stage.
▼ Washington Capitals
Here we go again.
Following a Game 4 loss on Wednesday, the Washington Capitals find themselves on the brink of being eliminated at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second round for the second year in a row.
And this after finishing atop the NHL regular-season standings for the second straight season.
On top of that, defenseman Matt Niskanen is rightfully feeling the heat for a hit to the head that left Sidney Crosby sidelined with a concussion for the second time this season.
As a result, the Capitals' latest apparent shortcomings aren't drawing much sympathy around the hockey world.
There's elite company, and then there's the company Penguins forward Jake Guentzel joined by scoring his eighth goal in his first nine playoff games Wednesday against Washington.
Most Goals, 1st 9 Playoff Games, Modern Era (43-44) Maurice Richard 12 Mario Lemieux 11 Wayne Gretzky 9 Jake Guentzel 8
Maurice Richard, Mario Lemieux, Wayne Gretzy, and Jake Guentzel. Wow.
What's perhaps most impressive is that three of Guentzel's playoff goals have been game-winners. He's delivering in the clutch.
Of course playing on a line with Sidney Crosby helps, but the speedy forward still managed to pick up a goal and an assist without Crosby in the lineup, though he did have some help from Capitals defenseman Dmitry Orlov.
The captain stepped up when the team needed him most.
The Anaheim Ducks found themselves in a 2-0 hole Wednesday after the first period of Game 4 against the Edmonton Oilers, but erased the deficit with three unanswered goals in the second. Two were scored by Ryan Getzlaf, who earned the primary assist on the third.
For him, it was all about walking the walk.
"I can say anything I want in the dressing room, but I have to go out and live it," Getzlaf said after the win, according to the Ducks' website. "I tried to do that in the second period and the group went along with it. We kept playing."
Though the Oilers tied the game late in the third, Getzlaf beautifully assisted Jakob Silfverberg's overtime winner, drawing praise from head coach Randy Carlyle.
"It's just another exclamation point on the type of player he's been for our hockey club," Caryle said. "He's our captain and leader. He's done a lot of things that go unnoticed. Now, in these situations in the playoffs, he's been a guy who has stepped to the forefront. Even the play in overtime, he read that, cut the pass off, and found Silfverberg all alone."
Cam Talbot wasn't happy with the officiating after the Edmonton Oilers' Game 4 loss Wednesday night.
The goaltender implied that he might need to start faking contact to get calls after Anaheim Ducks forward Corey Perry touched him in the crease on Ryan Getzlaf's goal early in the second period of Game 4.
Oilers head coach Todd McLellan challenged the play looking for a goaltender interference ruling, but the call on the ice was upheld.
"I thought that was pretty obvious," Talbot told reporters postgame, according to Sportsnet's Gene Principe. "(Perry) ran into my bIocker/pad. I play with integrity and don't flop but maybe I have to."
Talbot and the Oilers lost the game on Jakob Silfverberg's overtime winner that came 45 seconds into the extra frame.
The series is tied 2-2 with Game 5 scheduled for Friday night in Anaheim.
The Anaheim Ducks forward slammed a one-timer past Edmonton Oilers goaltender Cam Talbot only 45 seconds into overtime for a 4-3 victory that evened the second-round series at 2-2.
Ryan Getzlaf fed Silfverberg for the winner and finished with four points, including a pair of goals of his own.
"We wanted to go out there and try to win one for Sid, and well, that’s what we did tonight," Chris Kunitz told reporters after the Penguins' 3-2 win over the Washington Capitals in Game 4 that gave them a 3-1 series lead in the second-round matchup.
Crosby was concussed on a cross check by Capitals defenseman Matt Niskanen in Game 3 on Monday night. He was ruled out for Game 4, and his status going forward remains unclear.
Despite Crosby's injury, the team that's also missing the likes of Conor Sheary, Matt Murray, and Kris Letang will have an opportunity to eliminate the Capitals in Game 5 on Saturday night.
