San Jose Sharks forward Evander Kane still believes there's a long way to go as the NHL deals with racism and hatred tied to hockey.
"For me, it's really just disappointing, it's shocking. And the disappointment comes because I love hockey so much, and I think our sport is the greatest sport by far out of any," Kane said to TSN's Mark Masters and Rick Westhead.
"And all this racism does is drag it down," he continued. "For me, as a player, who really wants this game and this league to grow as big as it possibly can to get on some of the levels that other leagues are on, we're not going to be able to do that until we fix this massive issue that all we've done so far is just cover it up or try to cover it up."
"This is just kind of the beginning of people understanding that there's still racism in hockey whether you want to pretend there isn't or there is," he added.
The 28-year-old has been subjected to racist taunts from fans while playing in the NHL. During the 2019 playoffs, a fan in Colorado told him to "stick to basketball," which Kane later addressed on Instagram.
He believes players still face similar issues today, pointing to Akim Aliu, who recently revealed his past experiences with racism in professional hockey.
"I think there's a lot more stories like that. This wasn't racism from another player on another team or another coach on another team, this was from right in his own locker room," Kane said. "That happens as well, it's happened to me."
"This isn't about Akim being good enough to play in the NHL or not, it's about while he was playing in the NHL, or while he was playing in the AHL, or while he was playing in the OHL, he encountered racism," he added. "Whether that happened yesterday or whether that happened 10 years ago, it makes no difference because the people - specifically to Akim's story - that were causing that sort of racism and displaying those types of remarks and verbalizing that were still active participants in our league, so it is current. It is real. It's not about how long ago it was."
Aliu wrote a piece published on The Players' Tribune last week calling for change across all levels of hockey to improve diversity and inclusivity.
Montreal Canadiens captain Shea Weber is aware that the proposed 24-team playoff format provides him and his team a chance to seize an unexpected opportunity to compete for the Stanley Cup.
"Obviously, I think we're excited. Do I think it's fair to all the teams that were in the playoffs? No," Weber said on TSN 1040. "At the same time, that gives us a chance to win and it gives us a chance to keep playing."
The NHL is inching toward officially opting for a 24-team playoff format if the league returns to complete the 2019-20 season. On Friday, the NHLPA voted in favor of authorizing further negotiations with the NHL to examine additional details regarding the format.
Montreal sat 24th in the league standings when the season was paused March 12. Despite a near zero percent chance of making the playoffs, the Canadiens would squeeze in as the final team under the proposed format.
"Obviously, the situation we were in where we weren't officially out (of the playoffs) but it would have been a tough road ahead to get in, and I think now it gives us a little bit of hope," Weber added. "At the end of the day, I think everyone's going to consider it, whether they'll give it an asterisk ... it's still the Stanley Cup."
Expectations are that the league will formally announce the approval of the format in the coming days, according to TSN's Bob McKenzie, who adds that a timetable or return date is unlikely to also be included.
After "The Last Dance" reminded fans of the greatness of Scottie Pippen existing in the shadow of Michael Jordan, theScore's feature writers decided to examine some of the most compelling second bananas in other sports. Previous entries in the series came from college football and MLB.
It was Game 1 of the 1992 Stanley Cup Final and the defending champion Pittsburgh Penguins were trailing 4-3 with five minutes left in regulation. They were in trouble, until one Pittsburgh forward - No. 68, the guy with the brown mullet spilling out of his helmet - intercepted a clearing attempt and began a dizzying path of destruction in the offensive zone.
First, Jaromir Jagr maneuvered around a Chicago Blackhawks defender, slowing down to quickly survey the zone from the half boards. When a second defender unleashed a poke check, Jagr deftly dangled the puck through his legs before sidestepping a third body. On his way through the slot he avoided a fourth opponent, then shuffled a backhand through Ed Belfour's five-hole.
"That was probably the greatest goal I've ever seen," Penguins captain Mario Lemieux gushed to reporters after his team's 5-4 win. "I've scored a lot of big goals, but (down one), he picked up the puck and beat three or four guys. He's got such great balance, can beat a guy one-on-one at will, and he's very strong with his upper body. That was a great goal."
Lemieux - regarded as one of hockey's all-time greatest players, if not the greatest by some - was at the peak of his powers when he made those remarks. Only three years removed from an obscene 199-point campaign, Super Mario had just earned another scoring title after accumulating 131 points in the 1991-92 regular season and was three games away from claiming his second straight Conn Smythe Trophy.
Powered by Lemieux, the Penguins won back-to-back Cups to start the 1990s. A formidable supporting cast was headlined by a young Jagr and Hall of Fame-bound veterans Bryan Trottier, Paul Coffey, Joe Mullen, Ron Francis, Larry Murphy, and Mark Recchi. Jagr lived in Lemieux's shadow for those two runs, his first experiences in the NHL, laying the foundation for his Gordie Howe-esque pro hockey journey, which amazingly entered its fifth decade in January.
"As Jags' career went on, he became a superstar, the franchise, the man in the spotlight," Jim Paek, a defenseman on those Cup teams, said in an interview.
Early-career Jagr might be hockey's closest comparable to Scottie Pippen, with Lemieux representing Michael Jordan. Jagr was an overqualified sidekick and protege.
But Lemieux was the perfect advisor for Jagr at the start of his career. Lemieux was seven years older and also tall and preternaturally skilled, commanding respect on and off the ice. Dominating the game seemed to come easily for Lemieux.
"Jagr was loaded with talent, size, and strength, but he was still coming into his own," Alex Hicks, who played left wing for the 1996-97 and 1997-98 Penguins, said earlier this week. "In terms of a pecking order, Mario was firmly at the top. He was the best and everybody knew it. Jags was having fun, riding shotgun, and getting better everyday."
Denis Brodeur / Getty Images
Among his various claims to fame, Jagr was the first Czech hockey player to get drafted into the NHL without having to defect from the former communist nation. And if not for some trickery on Jagr's part, he could have easily ended up in a different city, according to then-Pittsburgh general manager Craig Patrick's recollection of the 1990 draft.
Jagr assured the Penguins' brass he would move to North America shortly after the draft while at the same time telling numerous other teams that he wouldn't necessarily be leaving Europe right away. So, thanks to a bit of luck, he landed in Pittsburgh's lap at fifth overall.
The rationale behind Jagr's tactics: He apparently desperately wanted to share the ice with Lemieux, the man he idolized as a teenager in Kladno, an outer suburb of Prague.
"Everything I know I learned from him," Jagr told reporters in 2008.
"That's why you never should forget where you learned everything. I came there at 18 years old. I didn't know much. But I kept my eyes open and watched the best player in the league for so many years. How he did it. That was probably the best thing that happened to me - to be on the same team as him. I could learn a lot."
Jagr earned the nickname Mario Jr. early in his 11-year tenure in Pittsburgh, a convenient anagram of "Jaromir." Jagr, while learning the game and about life in North America, also provided a counterpoint to Lemieux, as well. Lemieux was the squad's quiet leader, a big-brother figure to many teammates during an injury-ravaged career. His leadership was not only evident in his willingness to battle through constant back pain and Hodgkin's lymphoma but to maintain excellence.
"There was this aura about Mario," Hicks said. "Jagr was the complete opposite. Happy go lucky, hanging around with Petr Nedved. Laughing, giggling. He was the one guy who could joke around with Mario in a comfortable way. He loosened everybody up."
Jiri Hrdina, another Czech forward, is credited with helping ease Jagr's transition to the U.S., though the charismatic Jagr we came to know and love over his career was more or less present from Day 1. Jagr coupled natural ability with an insatiable drive - solitary late-night and early-morning workouts, 1,000 squats a day - and knew when to use his playful sense of humor. He drove fast cars, celebrated goals with a cheeky salute, and embraced his heritage.
"Really confident young man," ex-NHL defenseman Jeff Chychrun, who joined the Pens in February 1992, recalled. "I remember Jags really sticking up for his European heritage: 'European hockey player, we better than North American.'"
B Bennett / Getty Images
On the ice, Jagr's intelligence, stickhandling, and passing created a distinct mix with his solid 6-foot-3 frame. He had a low center of gravity for a bigger dude, and it wasn't long before his rear end became a renowned puck-shielding tool in an era of clutching and grabbing.
"It was like he was playing keep away with a kid," Hicks said.
"In hockey terms, he had such a big ass," Paek said. "You couldn't knock him down or get the puck from him. And his knack around the net to score goals - his hockey sense, which you can't teach - was just incredible."
Jagr finished sixth in Calder Trophy voting after recording 57 points in 80 games in 1990-91. Excluding the lockout-shortened 1994-95 campaign, Jagr racked up 90 points or more every single season from 1992-93 to 2000-01, his last in Pittsburgh, hitting triple digits in four of eight years: 149 in 1995-96, 102 in 1997-98, 127 in 1998-99, and 121 in 2000-01. Oh, and he won the Art Ross Trophy in that abbreviated 1994-95 season, with 70 points in 48 games.
In total, Jagr picked up eight major trophies in a Penguins uniform - five Art Rosses as league scoring champion, two Lester B. Pearsons as the players' choice MVP, and one Hart Trophy. The team made the playoffs all 11 years of his tenure but failed to return to the Cup final until 2008, when he was long gone and Sidney Crosby had taken up the superstar mantle.
Jagr got to be top dog in Pittsburgh for three-and-a-half seasons - Lemieux sat out 1994-95 for health reasons and retired after the 1996-97 season. When Lemieux returned partway through the 2000-01 season, it just wasn't the same. Pittsburgh lost in Round 3 and Jagr left on a sour note.
He was traded to the Washington Capitals in a salary dump, with the Penguins receiving only spare parts in exchange for a legitimate superstar. Jagr, then 29, finally had the spotlight to himself. He quickly signed a monster deal paying him $77 million over seven years.
And that's where Jagr's HockeyDB profile turns into a 1,000-piece puzzle. Since inking that deal with Washington, Jagr later dressed for seven more NHL teams: the New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Dallas Stars, Boston Bruins, New Jersey Devils, Florida Panthers, and Calgary Flames. He's taken his talents overseas three times over the years, too, most recently out of necessity as his dwindling foot speed ended his NHL career in 2018, just short of his 46th birthday.
Graig Abel / Getty Images
Last we heard, Jagr was doing quite literally everything for the Kladno Knights, a Czech team he owns, operates, manages, and plays for. In his post-Pittsburgh NHL life, there were strong individual showings in New York (a third Pearson award), New Jersey, and Florida. His reputation grew at every stop (remember the Traveling Jagrs?) and through appearances at five Olympic tournaments. NHL team success didn't follow him, yet Jagr's longevity is legendary.
"To continue to do what he's done, he seems immortal," Paek said.
Even now, with a seemingly endless resume, nothing compares to Jagr's first NHL home. Pittsburgh is where he won; where he paved the way to eventually climb the league's all-time points list all the way to No. 2, behind only Wayne Gretzky; where he learned how to be a captain; and where he rocked an iconic mullet. It's where he became a superstar, thanks to a deep skill set and a big ass. Really, when you think about it, Jagr spun a Lemieux sidekick gig into a successful and impossibly long career.
"When Mario was there, I knew it don't matter how good I'm gonna be, I'm still never gonna be better than him," Jagr told Sportsnet in 2015. "That guy was the most talented player. (Young) people don't even know."
One of a kind, and larger than life. Likely the best European-born NHLer ever. Arguably one of the top 10 NHLers of all time. The ultimate second banana.
Ian Cole is confident his Colorado Avalanche could defeat any NHL club in a traditional playoff matchup.
The veteran defenseman, who's won two championships with the Pittsburgh Penguins, said he's all for the reported return-to-play proposal, or for any format that allows the paused season to resume.
"I like to keep it simple: Whatever gets us back and playing, I'm 100% for," Cole told the Denver Post's Mike Chambers on Thursday. "Whether that's 16 teams, 24 teams - 30 teams, 31 teams - whatever gets us back and playing."
"You only have so many opportunities to be on a really great team that has a very legitimate chance, and I view us as a team that has a very legitimate chance to win (the) Stanley Cup," Cole continued. "I look around at all the teams in the league, and, obviously, I'm quite a bit biased, but I think we can beat any team in this league in a seven-game series."
The 31-year-old, who helped the Penguins win back-to-back titles in 2016 and 2017, is in favor of the reported wrinkle in the potential format that would pit the top four teams in each conference against each other in a round-robin tournament to determine their seeding before they face the winners of best-of-five series involving the other 16 clubs.
"I like competing for that top spot in the conference," Cole said. "If we are able to do that, that's something we'd like to do."
That shouldn't come as much of a surprise, considering that at the time of the pause, the Avalanche ranked second in the Western Conference behind the St. Louis Blues in terms of both total points (two back with one fewer game played) and - more importantly - points percentage (total points divided by maximum possible points).
On Friday night, the NHLPA's executive board agreed to hold more talks with the league regarding its 24-team return-to-play proposal.
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The NHLPA's executive board has authorized more talks with the NHL on a 24-team playoff format, the union said in a statement Friday night.
"Several details remain to be negotiated and an agreement on the format would still be subject to the parties reaching agreement on all issues relevant to resuming play," the NHLPA added.
The players have agreed to the format, despite the fact that other critical issues still have to be negotiated, reports TSN's Pierre LeBrun, who reiterated a point he made earlier Friday that the NHL will now have to conduct its own "process," with an announcement expected to come within the next few days.
One of the issues that remains open for discussion is whether a playoff bracket will be used or whether the teams would reseed, according to Sportsnet's Chris Johnston.
The NHLPA's executive board reportedly held a conference call to discuss the league's 24-team playoff format Thursday night, after which it initiated a vote.
The postseason structure in question would have the top four teams in each conference receiving byes but playing one another in a round-robin tournament before facing the winners of the best-of-five matchups between the next-best 16 clubs.
If and when a further announcement is made, it's not expected to include a timetable for a return or a list of critical dates, TSN's Bob McKenzie reported earlier Friday.
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A vote by the NHLPA's executive committee is expected to result in the union's approval of the league's return-to-play proposal, reports TSN's Bob McKenzie.
A conference call Thursday about the proposal "got a little heated at times," and players still hold a wide range of individual views on the 24-team playoff plan, adds McKenzie.
The NHLPA executive board - comprising one player representative from each of the league's 31 teams - reportedly opened voting Thursday evening to determine whether to accept the NHL's return-to-play parameters. The board requires 18 votes to pass, according to TSN's Pierre LeBrun.
McKenzie reported Friday that an eventual announcement of the format isn't expected to include a timetable or a list of critical dates.
The NHL has reportedly been discussing a 24-team format in which the top four clubs in each conference would receive byes but would face off against one another in a round-robin tournament to determine playoff seeding. The next-best eight teams in each conference would take part in bracketed best-of-five series to determine their subsequent postseason matchups.
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The University of Alabama in Huntsville is discontinuing its men's hockey program due to financial challenges resulting from the COVID-19 crisis, the school announced Friday.
UAH is the first Division I hockey school to cancel its program since the pandemic and the first to do so since Wayne State in 2008, according to USCHO. The university also eliminated its men's and women's tennis programs.
The Chargers won two games this season and have a combined record of 48-181-24 over the last seven years.
UAH's departure leaves Arizona State as the only D-I men's hockey program located in the Sun Belt.
