On the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Toronto Maple Leafs rookie Nick Robertson reflected on his own battle he grappled with that day in a California hospital.

On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, Robertson was born 10-to-12 weeks premature and without fully developed lungs. Doctors gave him three unsuccessful shots to try and get oxygen to his brain. According to the Robertson family, the fourth shot could have either saved him or killed him.

"With the tragedy that was happening then, people were fighting for their lives, but I was fighting for my life too, ironically," Robertson said, according to the Toronto Star's Kevin McGran. "But the circumstances were different."

At the same time, his mother, Mercedes, was also fighting for her life and needed blood. Robertson's father, Hugh, got into the line to donate and was confused as to why the queue was so long. Fearing more attacks across the nation, Californians lined up en masse to donate their blood to help potential victims. Hugh found out about the attacks after asking those waiting.

"They told him about the plane hitting the towers. And then one by one, they let my dad go in front of them to donate blood," Robertson said.

Fortunately, Robertson and his mother are now healthy. As the young forward gets older, he tends to look at the bigger picture on his birthday.

"My birthday doesn't seem like a birthday," he said. "It's more a memorial in recognition of the tragedy that happened that day."

Robertson's parents haven't seen him play a game in person since February 2020, but he said they will both be in attendance at the NHL rookie tournament in Michigan later this month.

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Former San Jose Sharks forward Marcus Sorensen won't be returning to the Bay Area for the 2021-22 season.

The 29-year-old will instead play for Djugardens IF of the Swedish Hockey League, according to NBC Sports' Dalton Johnson.

Sorensen confirmed his departure on Twitter Saturday morning.

Sorensen put up 64 points across 226 games with the Sharks over five seasons. He was limited to 29 contests during the 2020-21 campaign, his lowest amount since his rookie year.

The Ottawa Senators drafted Sorensen in 2010, but he opted to play in the Djugardens organization for several years. Sorensen's rights with the Senators ultimately expired, and he signed an entry-level contract with San Jose in 2016. He just finished a two-year deal with an average annual value of $1.5 million.

Sorensen represented Sweden at the 2021 IIHF World Championship, registering four points in seven games.

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Craig Berube is operating under the assumption that disgruntled forward Vladimir Tarasenko will be in the St. Louis Blues' lineup on opening night.

"I expect Vladdy to play for us," the Blues head coach said Tuesday on the "Cam and Strick Podcast." "I'm going to treat him like every other player. Yeah, he asked to be traded, and things happened, but again, we want Vladdy to play good hockey for us."

Berube indicated that nothing would change in terms of Tarasenko's fit with the club.

"He's going to have a role on the team like he always has," the bench boss said. "We'll deal with it internally and we'll go from there."

Tarasenko requested a trade early in the offseason and reportedly didn't trust the club because he was upset with how it dealt with two of his three shoulder surgeries.

St. Louis then exposed him in the expansion draft. One day before the proceedings, Tarasenko's surgeon said the winger's shoulder was "100% ready" for the upcoming season. The Seattle Kraken ultimately picked Vince Dunn from the Blues.

Tarasenko was limited to 34 games over the last two campaigns due to his shoulder woes. He's a five-time 30-goal scorer who netted a career-high 40 with St. Louis in 2015-16.

The Russian helped the Blues win the Stanley Cup in 2019, posting 11 markers and six helpers in 26 playoff games that spring. Tarasenko ranks fifth on the franchise's all-time goals list with 218 in 531 contests, and he's spent his entire nine-year career with St. Louis.

The 29-year-old is under contract through 2022-23 at a $7.5-million cap hit, according to CapFriendly.

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The Ottawa Senators will welcome back fans to the Canadian Tire Centre on Sept. 18 for a rookie showcase against the Montreal Canadiens, the team announced Friday.

Following guidelines released by the province of Ontario, the club will only welcome back guests who are fully vaccinated.

With the Senators' first home game slated for Oct. 14, the organization's expectation is that the Canadian Tire Centre will be able to host at full capacity.

Earlier in August, the Winnipeg Jets became the first Canadian team to announce that it will host games at full capacity for fully vaccinated fans. The Calgary Flames also announced a similar policy late last month. For the Montreal Canadiens, fans will need to be fully vaccinated but the Bell Centre will be restricted to 7,500 fans.

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The Calgary Flames inked defenseman Erik Gudbranson to a one-year deal worth $1.95 million.

Gudbranson was an unrestricted free agent who finished last season with the Nashville Predators.

More to come.

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Elvis Merzlikins is taking another step to honor his late teammate, housemate, countryman, and fellow goaltender Matiss Kivlenieks.

The Columbus Blue Jackets netminder's new mask prominently displays Kivlenieks' No. 80 in front of a pair of wings on the chin. It also features an inscription reading, "You saved the last puck, little brother."

Kivlenieks died in a fireworks accident on July 4 at the age of 24. Renowned mask artist David Gunnarsson designed the headgear.

Merzlikins gave his newborn son Knox the middle name Matiss in Kivlenieks' memory. Earlier this week, Merzlikins said he wanted to "win a f------ Vezina (Trophy)" for his late friend. At the memorial service, Merzlikins revealed Kivlenieks "died a hero" and saved lives, including that of Merzlikins' pregnant wife.

Both goalies were born and raised in Latvia, and Kivlenieks lived in Merzlikins' guest room.

Former Blue Jackets forward Pierre-Luc Dubois - who's now with the Winnipeg Jets - switched to No. 80 as a tribute to Kivlenieks in August.

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