Zac Rinaldo will hear from the NHL's Department of Player Safety over the holiday break.
During Saturday's action, the Arizona Coyotes forward caught Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon with an open-ice hit, at which time 19-year-old Avalanche defenseman Samuel Girard came to his teammate's defense. Rinaldo proceeded drop Girard with a single punch to the face, prompting a line brawl that resulted in ejections for MacKinnon and Arizona's Josh Archibald.
Rinaldo received a match penalty, prompting an automatic one-game suspension pending further review.
#300 for #88! Patrick Kane scores his 300th NHL goal in the 2nd period against the Devils at the Prudential Center. See the third period now on @WGNTV! pic.twitter.com/ADJzyVFoiv
The Nashville Predators head coach and his staff sported holiday-themed suits behind the bench during Saturday's game against Dallas after his team swept a recent three-game road trip through Western Canada.
This is what Peter Laviolette has to wear tonight for losing a bet after the #Preds swept a three-game Western Canada road trip: pic.twitter.com/Jpne23taby
This fulfilled the stipulations set out in a friendly wager proposed by captain Roman Josi, per the team's website. The players would be allowed to wear holiday suits to their final road game before the holiday break if they took five of six points from those three games, and the coaching staff would have to keep theirs on during the game against the Stars if a sweep was accomplished.
Here's a look at the entire coaching staff's threads after the Predators did, indeed, beat Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary:
Dillon Dube will captain Canada's world junior team, the club announced on Saturday.
In addition, defensemen Dante Fabbro, Victor Mete, and Kale Clague were named alternates.
Dube scored two goals and added an assist in Canada's 8-1 win over Switzerland in pre-tournament action on Friday. It was the first game action he'd seen since suffering a shoulder injury on Dec. 9.
Canada kicks off the tournament on Boxing Day when it takes on Finland.
It's a poor outing for Crawford, who pieced together five consecutive victories after returning from injury earlier this month. Crawford also lost his most recent contest after allowing four goals on 22 shots to the Dallas Stars Thursday.
Backup goalie Anton Forsberg replaced Crawford with less than seven minutes remaining in the opening frame.
De Haan was injured during the Islanders' contest against the Los Angeles Kings last Saturday, but the specifics surrounding his malady remain unconfirmed.
Prior to getting hurt, de Haan had been quietly having a solid season, registering 12 points and a plus-11 rating in just under 19 minutes of ice time per night.
With the World Junior Hockey Championship getting set for puck drop, final cuts and preparations are underway ahead of Tuesday's first slate of games.
As coaches and team management groups complete last-minute adjustments in hopes of assembling a gold medal-winning lineup, we chatted with American head coach Bob Motzko about his expectations for the tournament, the outdoor game versus Team Canada, and the strength of USA Hockey.
Livingstone: Now that your team is reigning gold medalists and head into this year’s tournament as favorites to repeat as champions, will you be preparing your team any differently compared to last year now that the program has been pegged as the one to watch?
Motzko: There are differences, but mostly because of the personnel. And then you kind of coach to the strengths and weaknesses of your personnel. That's what we’re figuring out, but we have a lot of the same messaging, the staff has the same responsibilities. But on the ice, we have different players, we have seven players back from last year, but it’s a new look, new team, different year, and we have to have a strong new message that fits this group.
Livingstone: After last year's strong performance, do you feel that your team has earned the title of favorites?
Motzko: We don't even talk about that. This team is going day to day through the process to be the best team we can become. We know the ultimate end goal. If that’s what the label is, then that's what it is, but it doesn’t change the way we go about our business. We are just going day to day trying to fine tune this thing.
Livingstone: Speaking of preparation, we wanted to ask about the outdoor game and the matchup against Canada. Big crowd, great atmosphere, it’s going to be a big day. Are you looking forward to it? Handling it just like any other game?
Motzko: I think that’s going to be its own exhibition inside of the tournament. The purest in the hockey coach might say it could be a distraction, but we're saying, ‘Hey, it is what it is, it’s on the schedule.’ We are more concerned right now, we play at 8 p.m. the night before, and our opponent doesn't play. We have to manage our schedule and have our energy. That’s one of the shortest turnarounds I've heard about.
But, with the adrenaline and excitement of the outdoor game, we’re going to let our guys have fun with it and run with it. We practice two days before the game because we have a game on the 28th. So, if family and friends can be there, we’re going to let the players enjoy that game and fight to get through it and move on and try and enjoy it the best we can.
Livingstone: Is Canada the team you are most worried about facing? Or is there another country you have your eye on?
Motzko: Yeah, Denmark. We play them first. That’s the one we are worried about. When I read some articles and hear some stories that there’s a whole bunch of teams that really have a chance at the tournament, and I think there’s truth to this. We just have to put our best foot forward with our group and make sure we are ready to go. I think there’s any one of a number of programs that could win this tournament, we just got to make sure we are one of them.
Livingstone: USA Hockey has received a lot of positive attention over the last few years due to the quality of players coming out of the development program and success on the international stage. What do you feel has changed recently that has led to this?
Motzko: USA Hockey is in a great place. At the world junior level we’ve won four gold medals in the 2000s, so what we're up against, we’re not trying to do something new, it’s been done before.
And the big thing on top of that is we are developing players now throughout our country, from all over. Auston Matthews comes out of Phoenix, Arizona, and there are players from Florida even on our roster. Our country is in a great spot right now at the grassroots level from the player development standpoint today than we were in the past. I won’t define the past, but back when it used to just really be the three Ms (Minnesota, Massachusetts, Michigan), there’s a footprint now all over the U.S. with USA Hockey and the strength of their developmental program, and we’re doing a great job.
The other thing I’d add, the big thing is, years ago there was a lot of dads coaching hockey and a lot of those dads didn’t play hockey, but we have a generation of coaches out there now at the youth level of dads that have all played hockey. I think our coaching at the grassroots level is as strong as it’s ever been because of that fact alone. I think that's where Canada was ahead of the game for so many years was so many quality coaches at the youth level of people that have played.
We are getting great coaching at the youth level and great numbers throughout our country. Success breeds on itself, and now we’re believers instead chasers, we’re believers in what we’re doing.
Livingstone: Kailer Yamamoto, Kieffer Bellows, Jake Oettinger - those are players on this year’s team that we’ve heard a lot about. Are there any lesser-known names that we should be on the lookout for?
Motzko: From our standpoint, we’ve only had one exhibition game, but I can give you this example.
Logan Brown and Kailer Yamamoto, who we let go last year and didn't make the team, they are back this year with such great confidence. They are at a whole better and different place than they were a year ago. And these are good hockey players, but to see them back with the confidence they have in their game and the maturity they have in their game, I think those are two guys that I feel real safe about bringing into the conversation about what we are seeing different right now with this group.
Livingstone: Defenseman Quinn Hughes is garnering a lot of top-10 draft pick attention and has an exciting offensive element to his game. Do you think his up-tempo style will translate well into the NHL game?
Motzko: He is one electric hockey player. His skating ability, he can cut on a dime in traffic and get out of trouble very quickly. His vision with the puck is at a very high level. He is a pretty special young man from a talent standpoint. So I think the sky's the limit for him. He is on the right track and he’s an exciting player to watch.
Livingstone: With the amount of NHL-level talent on your roster, do you think that it’s gold or bust for Team USA?
Motzko: Those are terms we don’t even use. That’s the ultimate goal for us. We have a process that we put our guys through in how we want to play and get the guys in the right spot and let them know we believe in them. We’ve got to grow as a team as we go through our 21 days together. And if we can get good goaltending, get our special teams in line, we’re going to put ourselves in an awful good spot, and that’s where we want to be at the end of it.
