Bobrovsky shares Barkov’s stance against jump to playoffs

Florida Panthers netminder Sergei Bobrovsky agrees with teammate Aleksander Barkov that the NHL shouldn't jump right into the playoffs if the 2019-20 season resumes.

"I think it's not really fair, because it's still, I believe, 12 or 13 games (remaining)," Bobrovsky said Tuesday, according to Sportsnet's Luke Fox. "Lots of games, and we're right in the mix. We have the opportunity to be in there, and if they just cut it off, I don't think it's fair."

Barkov shared the same sentiment in March. With the season on pause, the Panthers sit three points shy of a postseason berth with 13 games left. If the league decided to end the campaign and award the final playoff seeds based on points percentage, Florida would still miss out.

"From a sports standpoint, the season is 82 games and then the playoffs start," Bobrovsky said. "You just can't cut off where we are and move right into the playoffs."

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said Tuesday that the league continues to explore all options, though he admitted that completing the regular season "may not be possible."

Bobrovsky inked a seven-year, $70-million pact with the Panthers in July, but has struggled to find his game in Sunrise. The 31-year-old puck-stopper owns a .900 save percentage through 50 games.

Florida is in danger of missing the playoffs for a fourth straight campaign and the 17th time in the past two decades.

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2019-20 NHL season betting review: Least profitable home teams

Find line reports, best bets, and subscribe to push notifications in the Betting News section.

Last week, we looked at the five teams that were most profitable this season when it came to defending their rink.

Here, we flip the coin and break down the clubs that caused bettors all sorts of headaches with their inability to make the most of home-ice advantage.

Note: Profits listed for $100 bettor

1. Montreal Canadiens, -$1,828

Bettors who consistently backed the Canadiens to win in La Belle Province this season took an absolute bath. Not even the best atmosphere in hockey (according to several NHL player polls) could help Montreal to a good record at the Bell Centre in what was a lost year for Claude Julien's team after posting a top-five record on home ice last season.

Only the Detroit Red Wings had a worse home record than the Habs (14-23 straight up, 37.8%). But the Canadiens sit comfortably atop this list with the Red Wings nowhere to be found because of their average line of -137 on home ice, compared to +165 for Detroit.

2. Nashville Predators, -$1,167

The Predators have typically been one of the league's more consistent teams on home ice, but that wasn't the case this year, as they posted a better record on the road (18-16 SU) than at home (17-18 SU).

Nashville offers a prime example of how a bad stretch can skew season-long results, though. The Predators lost seven of eight at home between Oct. 31 and Dec. 3, most of them as large favorites, losing the $100 bettor $1,112 over that span - just $55 shy of their season total.

3. Washington Capitals, -$824

Coming into the season, the Capitals were not a team you would have expected to find on this list. Washington posted a cumulative win percentage of 66.2% over the previous three seasons, earning bettors a league-best $2,130 in profits over that span.

However, in 2019-20, the Caps compiled an 18-15 SU record (54.5%). Paired with an average line of -188, that was enough to punish bettors.

4. Toronto Maple Leafs, -$819

Besides the Capitals, the Maple Leafs are the only team on this list that owned a winning record on home ice this season, albeit barely. Toronto went 18-16 SU (52.9%) but was undone by an inflated average line of -184. Only four teams had one shorter.

Before Leafs fans blame Mike Babcock for this, it's worth noting they lost $387 (47% of $819) under Sheldon Keefe.

5. Calgary Flames, -$806

The Flames took a page out of the Predators' book, posting a winning record on their travels (20-17 SU) and a losing one at home (16-17). And like the Leafs, Calgary can't really blame its former coach. The Flames were 6-5 at home under Bill Peters and 10-12 at the Saddledome following his resignation.

Alex Moretto is a sports betting writer for theScore. A journalism graduate from Guelph-Humber University, he has worked in sports media for over a decade. He will bet on anything from the Super Bowl to amateur soccer, is too impatient for futures, and will never trust a kicker. Find him on Twitter @alexjmoretto.

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QUIZ: Test your Stanley Cup Playoffs knowledge

How much do you know about the NHL postseason and players who've won Lord Stanley's mug?

Wednesday was supposed to be the start of this year's Stanley Cup Playoffs, but with hockey on hold for the foreseeable future, take the quiz below and see how your game stacks up against the competition.

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Wickenheiser, Ryan Reynolds team up to provide PPE for frontline workers

Find out the latest on COVID-19's impact on the sports world and when sports are returning by subscribing to Breaking News push notifications in the Sports and COVID-19 section.

Former Team Canada captain Hayley Wickenheiser and Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds are stepping up to help provide Canadian frontline health care workers with personal protective equipment as they continue to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

Wickenheiser, who is in her final year of medical school, said she'd been receiving texts from her friends in the field expressing their concerns about the shortage of equipment. When the Hall of Fame forward turned to social media to ask for help, Reynolds, a close friend, offered to help spread the call.

"It's been amazing," Wickenheiser told TSN's Gino Reda on Tuesday. "Some people have a lot to give and some people don't. Whether it's a dollar from a young student in India, to 200,000 masks coming up from Denver, people from all around the world have really (reached out). We've had 700 emails in 24 hours from folks that have legitimate things that they want to donate."

The pair teamed up with Conquer COVID-19, a grassroots organization that's helping Canadian health care workers access PPE and other supplies to treat patients. Physicians and frontline workers can log onto the website to list what they need and the organization will try to deliver those items.

To facilitate this initiative, Wickenheiser coordinated a weekly Saturday drive at XYZ Storage in Toronto where donations such as N-95 masks, gloves, baby wipes, and sanitizers can be dropped off.

The four-time Olympic gold medalist says the response has been incredible so far and they expect to gather even more equipment over the weekend.

"It's in the hundreds of thousands of items that we've physically brought in and it's going to be into the millions by the time our Saturday drive happens," Wickenheiser said.

Several professional sports teams, organizations, and athletes have made efforts to assist frontline medical workers over the past few weeks, including the NBA's Dallas Mavericks, Carolina Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey, Montreal Canadiens defenseman Jeff Petry, and NASCAR.

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Bobrovsky tried to do ‘right thing’ with $100K donation to part-timers

Find out the latest on COVID-19's impact on the sports world and when sports are returning by subscribing to Breaking News push notifications in the Sports and COVID-19 section.

Florida Panthers netminder Sergei Bobrovsky was the first NHL player who made a donation to support part-time arena workers during the league's hiatus - a donation he believes was necessary.

"I tried to do the right thing," Bobrovsky said Tuesday, according to NHL.com's Nick Cotsonika. "The workers in the arena, they're a big part of our event, and they're a big part of our support, and there was the risk for them to lose their job and don't have the possibility to feed their family.

"Right now, it's a tough time for everybody, for the whole world, and for hockey as well."

After the season was paused on March 12, the Panthers star donated $100,000 to support BB&T Center's part-time employees. He also recently donated thousands of N95 masks to South Florida hospitals.

Meanwhile, Bobrovsky is quarantining at home and trying to stay ready for game action.

"For a goalie it's a little bit harder to train alone, especially (off) the ice," he said. "You need somebody to shoot on you. You need to see the puck, to read the players and stuff like that. At this point, at this moment, I don't have that possibility, so I can only build my body to be strong, to be fast, to be quick."

Bobrovsky added that he's attempting to use the time off as an opportunity to get better. The 31-year-old struggled in his first season with the Panthers, putting together a 23-19-6 record with a 3.23 goals-against average and a .900 save percentage before the hiatus.

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Flames GM Treliving holding out hope for return to ice

Calgary Flames general manager Brad Treliving is still optimistic about a return to the ice this season.

"We remain hopeful that at some point we'll be able to see what this team can accomplish if and when we get back together," Treliving said on a video conference call Tuesday, according to The Canadian Press.

Treliving added that while he hopes for a return to hockey, he understands that it isn't a top priority in the world right now.

"What we're doing is way down on the list of important things. I've got family members, nieces and aunts, that are in the medical community," Treliving said. "The people on the front lines, we want to recognize them both in our city, our province, throughout the country, and globally."

While reflecting on where Calgary stood prior to the league's hiatus, Treliving noted that the Flames were in third place in the Pacific Division, four points behind the Edmonton Oilers, and were scheduled to finish their season against their provincial rivals last Saturday.

"It's not lost on us Saturday night would have been a big night, the conclusion of the regular season and the final Battle of Alberta," Treliving said. "I'm sure there would have been lots of implications with that game and certainly leading up to start this week with the playoffs."

Commissioner Gary Bettman said Tuesday that there is a possibility the regular season may not be completed, but that the league is still weighing its options amid the coronavirus pandemic.

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NHL podcast: How Seattle’s team plans to revolutionize the fan experience

Welcome to Puck Pursuit, an interview-style podcast hosted by John Matisz, theScore's national hockey writer.

Subscribe to the show on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher, and Spotify.

Todd Humphrey, senior vice president of digital and fan experience for the still-to-be-named Seattle NHL franchise, joins the show to discuss a variety of topics, including:

  • How COVID-19 is affecting his job and the Seattle organization.
  • The appropriate time to unveil the team's logo, name, and colors.
  • How Seattle's team plans to revolutionize the sports fan experience.
  • What it's like to work alongside GM Ron Francis and owner Jerry Bruckheimer.
  • His junior and minor pro playing career, and how he ended up in Seattle.

... and more

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Oilers’ Cave in medically induced coma after suffering brain bleed

Edmonton Oilers farmhand Colby Cave underwent emergency surgery Tuesday to remove a colloid cyst that was causing pressure on his brain, the team announced.

Cave remains in a medically induced coma at Toronto's Sunnybrook Hospital.

The 25-year-old's condition is not related to the coronavirus, his agent, Jason Davidson, told Sportsnet's Mark Spector.

Cave played 11 games for the Oilers before the season was postponed. He's spent the majority of this campaign with the AHL's Bakersfield Condors.

The forward, who's been with the Oilers for parts of the last two seasons, played in the Boston Bruins organization for five years to begin his career.

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