Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner is expected to be out of the lineup with an ankle injury for at least four weeks, at which point he'll be reassessed by the club's medical staff, the team announced Sunday.
Marner underwent an MRI on Sunday after suffering the injury in Saturday night's loss to the Philadelphia Flyers.
The 22-year-old struggled to the bench in the second period after getting tangled up with Flyers winger Carsen Twarynski during a faceoff. Marner later took a power-play shift before heading to the dressing room. He came back to test his ankle during a TV timeout but returned to the room.
He was ruled out for the remainder of the game and sat out Sunday's contest against the Chicago Blackhawks. Marner led Toronto with 14 assists entering Sunday's game, and his 18 points in as many contests ranked second on the team behind Auston Matthews.
Marner signed a six-year, $65.35-million contract with the Maple Leafs in September after racking up a career-best 26 goals and 94 points across 82 games in 2018-19.
Jim Montgomery made it clear he's not happy with the performance of his best players so far this season.
"Very disappointed," the Dallas Stars head coach told reporters when asked about the scoring of his top players following an overtime loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday.
When asked if he is seeing signs of progress, Montgomery replied, "No, are you?"
Tyler Seguin has collected only three goals and 11 points in 2019-20, while Jamie Benn has managed just one goal and six points. Alexander Radulov has netted five goals to go along with five assists, and marquee free-agent signing Joe Pavelski has recorded just three goals and eight points. All four forwards have suited up for all 18 games.
Montgomery singled out Seguin and Benn when asked how important it is for his top players to step up amid injuries to star defenseman John Klingberg and forward Roope Hintz, who leads the club with nine goals this season.
"It's really important," the bench boss said. "You need your No. 1 center and need your No. 1 left winger to step up and do more."
Montgomery explained that the team has tried to reduce its top players' ice time and conduct 1-on-1 video sessions, but he added that the onus is on them to turn things around.
"They've got to decide that they want to be a difference maker," the head coach said. "I mean, look who scored for the Jets."
Don Cherry doesn't represent me. He likely doesn't represent you. The Canada he longs for, and the hockey community he longs for, have both long since passed out of date.
But, in choosing a set of carefully crafted words over swift action for his most recent diatribe, Rogers Communications and its Sportsnet brand continues to make it appear as though Cherry does represent us.
This is inexcusable for a company that, since taking over the Hockey Night in Canada franchise in 2014, has had multiple opportunities to part ways with the divisive commentator. Saturday night was the latest invitation for Sportsnet to take Cherry off the air, and they whiffed.
"Don's discriminatory comments are offensive and they do not represent our values and what we stand for as a network," Sportsnet president Bart Yabsley said in a short statement released Sunday morning in the wake of significant online backlash. "We have spoken with Don about the severity of this issue and we sincerely apologize for these divisive remarks."
A statement such as this - one in which Cherry's boss acknowledges the discrimination and vaguely apologizes for it - is better than nothing. But it's not nearly enough. Sportsnet, and by extension Rogers, one of Canada's largest employers, is enabling xenophobia by keeping Coach's Corner alive in its current form.
Don Cherry’s rant on immigrants:
“You people... love our way of life, love our milk and honey. At least you could pay a couple of bucks for poppies or something like that. These guys paid for your way of life that you enjoy in Canada.”
In case you missed it, Cherry claimed Saturday during his usual intermission segment that few people in downtown Toronto are wearing poppies ahead of Remembrance Day. Smaller Canadian cities aren't experiencing this issue, he insists, ostensibly suggesting immigrants aren't appreciative of Canada's war history and the country's fallen soldiers.
"You people … you love our way of life, you love our milk and honey, at least you can pay a couple of bucks for poppies or something like that," Cherry said. "These guys paid for your way of life that you enjoy in Canada. These guys paid the biggest price."
Cherry then called those who have purchased a poppy the "good Canadians." The manner in which Cherry delivered his message - full of righteous indignation and fumbling incoherence that is typical for him - left no room for alternative interpretation. He has a specific view of how Canada should be, how it should look, and who should live in it, and that view was broadcast to millions; many of whom are immigrants or second-generation Canadians.
How do you think those who work on the Punjabi production of Hockey Night in Canada feel today?
The NHL and its partners love to tout the 'Hockey is for Everyone' diversity campaign, but the initiative's message gets dragged through the mud whenever the 85-year-old Cherry undermines people who don't look like him. "Hockey is at its best when it brings people together," the NHL said in its own statement, which was released two hours after Sportsnet's. "The comments made last night were offensive and contrary to the values we believe in."
This, of course, is not a one-off incident, and now the ball is in Sportsnet's court. Saying Cherry doesn't represent the company's values in one breath and then trotting him out week after week to a gigantic audience does nothing to solve the core problem. Based on history, a slap on the wrist won't deter Cherry from wading into these waters in the future. Next Saturday will come quick.
Cherry, who has been on Hockey Night in Canada for nearly four decades, doesn't deserve the benefit of the doubt at this point. His unique platform - speaking directly to millions in a peak slot as a part of the sport's most storied brand - is a privilege, not a right. It's time to take that privilege away and hand the primetime role to someone inclusive and open-minded.
On the whole, Cherry's views on hockey are shallow and outdated. Two of his most common shticks revolve around the correlation between wearing expensive suits and winning games, and how bare-knuckle fighting is a necessity. One assumes kids can't respect the game without his approved pre-game uniform, and the other is an affront to everyone who has suffered from the dark toll of rock-em-sock-em hockey. He rarely adds insight to the sport's weekly conversation.
Cherry's hopelessly stuck in the past, and a mountain of evidence has given Rogers and Sportsnet a hell of a case for dismissing him from his role on Hockey Night in Canada. When will enough be enough?
Sportsnet issued a statement on Sunday apologizing for Don Cherry's disparaging remarks during his most recent "Coach's Corner" segment on Hockey Night in Canada.
"Don's discriminatory comments are offensive and they do not represent our values and what we stand for as a network. We have spoken directly with Don about the severity of this issue and we sincerely apologize for these divisive remarks," read the statement from Bart Yabsley, president of Sportsnet.
With Remembrance Day approaching, Cherry ranted about people who immigrate to Canada apparently not purchasing enough poppies.
Don Cherry’s rant on immigrants:
“You people... love our way of life, love our milk and honey. At least you could pay a couple of bucks for poppies or something like that. These guys paid for your way of life that you enjoy in Canada.”
"You people that come here, you love our way of life, you love our milk and honey, at least you can pay a couple of bucks for poppies or something like that," Cherry said.
"These guys paid for your way of life that you enjoy in Canada."
Cherry, 85, has been an open supporter of the military throughout his career, and he's received plenty of online backlash over this outburst. It doesn't appear he'll face any additional discipline, and Cherry hasn't addressed the matter since the segment aired.
Carolina Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind'Amour knows his club needs to dig deep after dropping its fourth straight game in regulation Saturday against the Ottawa Senators.
"It’s a soul search time for our group," Brind'Amour said following the 4-1 loss, according to FOX Sports Carolinas. "We’re better than what we’re showing right now, for sure, but tonight was not acceptable."
The Hurricanes allowed three first-period goals, including a Senators-record two tallies in four seconds, and they never recovered.
"To come out and play like that at the start is very disturbing," Brind'Amour said. "So, you know, that's what you get in this league if you're not ready to play ... we just weren't focused on what we had to do."
The Hurricanes have been outscored 17-7 during their slide despite outshooting opponents in each of the four losses. Brind'Amour recognizes that the team hasn't gotten the results it's deserved and stressed the importance of staying focused through the tough stretch.
"We lost a couple games that we actually could have won, and we were playing pretty well. This is the one egg that we threw in all year, but when you're in a situation where you're losing games, you can't afford that."
After winning five straight to begin the season, Carolina has posted a 4-6-1 record and sits fifth in the Metropolitan Division.
Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner has been ruled out for the remainder of Saturday's contest against the Philadelphia Flyers with an ankle injury, the team announced.
Marner got tangled up off the faceoff with Flyers forward Carsen Twarynski during the second period and appeared to be in discomfort as he struggled to the bench.
The Ontario native emerged from the dressing room during a TV timeout to test out his skating ability, but returned to the room without playing a shift.