Anaheim Ducks star Trevor Zegras took the hockey world by storm Tuesday with one of the best assists the NHL has ever seen. It turns out everyone except for John Tortorella enjoyed it.
"It's tremendously skilled. For Sonny Milano even to yell 'Michigan' in the middle of a play in a game is skill. That's a skilled play. My position, though, is it good for the game?" Tortorella said during ESPN's broadcast Friday night.
"I'm not so sure. And again, I'm not trying to be a fool here, but I'm just not so sure it's great for the game. If you did that back in 2000, late '90s, 2000, you'd get your head taken off. It's cool, it's cool to watch and all that, but I'm not so sure it's good for the game."
Zegras was alone behind the net when he lifted the puck onto his stick and appeared to be attempting the lacrosse-style Michigan move but instead flipped the puck over for Milano to bat it out of the air for a goal.
Video of the goal has recorded over 50 million views on various social media channels, including 33.9 million views on ESPN's Instagram post, according to ESPN's John Buccigross.
Tortorella said Zegras' move strays too far from how hockey should be played, adding he'd be upset if one of his players did it while he coached.
"I'd have a talk with the people - I would - after the game," Tortorella said. "Again, I'm not trying to be difficult about it. It's fun to watch, it's really cool. I just think our game has gone so far away from what the game should be. A hard game, an honest game. It's almost gotten too showman. I know you need to have it, you need to sell the game. But I'm just from the ilk that it's still a hard game to play, and a good, honest hockey game needs to be played. I think some of this stuff here we get carried away."
The former NHL coach and two-time Jack Adams Trophy winner made headlines earlier in November when he called out Connor McDavid for needing to change his game to win a Stanley Cup.
The people of Saint-Narcisse, Quebec, Yanni Gourde's hometown, packed 10 buses when they flocked an hour south to Victoriaville to watch the last regular-season game he played in junior.
He treated them to a show. Gourde's team, the Victoriaville Tigres, handed out thousands of yellow T-shirts to salute his 2011-12 QMJHL scoring title. Coach Yanick Jean wore one to spice up his pregame speech. Then Gourde met the convoy's expectations, eviscerating the Shawinigan Cataractes for a goal and four assists in a 7-5 win.
"Racking up points," Jean said. "That's what he was doing that year."
Offensive punch was Gourde's calling card a decade ago, when he bagged close to two points nightly as a 5-foot-9 overager who'd gone undrafted to the NHL. Gourde was used to the snub; no QMJHL club drafted him, either. From humble origins, he became a Stanley Cup champion twice over, pestering puckhandlers and scoring in the clutch as the Tampa Bay Lightning surged to back-to-back titles.
It was no surprise when Macklemore called Gourde's name in the Seattle Kraken expansion draft. Two months into the Kraken's NHL debut, they're several points out of the Western Conference playoff picture, but Gourde's fit in fine. Coming off summer shoulder surgery, he's put up 16 points in 22 games while matching up against elite opposition, rising to fulfill his city's standards as he did in Victoriaville.
"I think he's become a fan favorite already because of his passion and his tenacity," Kraken assistant general manager Jason Botterill told theScore recently.
Plenty of Kraken veterans have interesting backstories. Jaden Schwartz and Vince Dunn won the Cup with the St. Louis Blues in 2019. Jordan Eberle came close but never made the final with the Edmonton Oilers and New York Islanders. Once traded for Taylor Hall, former Oilers defenseman Adam Larsson signed in Seattle for a fresh start. Mark Giordano, the 38-year-old captain, just exited COVID-19 protocol and is 31 appearances away from playing his 1,000th NHL game.
Christopher Mast / NHL / Getty Images
Then there's Gourde, the Kraken archetype. His scrappy, underdog journey to the hockey mountaintop aligns with the identity the league's 32nd club is trying to establish. Namely: Be miserable to play against for 60 minutes, and don't let up.
"Nothing's going to come easy for us. We're not the most talented group. But we do have something in common. We work hard," Gourde said in a phone interview this week.
"It's been like that for my whole career: trying to be relentless on the puck, stay on the puck, do the right thing every time I'm on the ice," he added. "Little details of the game. Not forcing plays. Wait for your chances. You don't have to make the hero play every shift. Just being smart and competitive and trying to win every battle I'm in."
Christopher Mast / NHL / Getty Images
Seattle is 9-15-2 so far this season, and goaltending is largely to blame.
A low-event team that doesn't concede many dangerous chances, the Kraken have generated 49.18% of expected goals at five-on-five, according to Natural Stat Trick. But their goalies grade out as the NHL's worst - by save percentage (.875), by high-danger save percentage (.766), and by Philipp Grubauer's goals saved above expected mark (minus-16.87) as measured by Evolving-Hockey.
Gourde's fared better in the role of jack-of-all-trades center. He plays 18:51 a night, second among Kraken forwards to Alex Wennberg. Like Joonas Donskoi, Gourde logs minutes on the power play and penalty kill. Like Morgan Geekie, he wins 54% of his faceoffs. Like Schwartz, he's among the team leaders in primary assists. He's drawn 10 penalties and taken three, one of the league's best differentials.
Bally Sports Arizona, Sportsnet
Twice this season, Gourde's scored in the first minute of regulation, both times by speeding into open space and teeing off from the top of the faceoff circle. When Seattle visited the Buffalo Sabres recently, Gourde's merciless stick-lift of Rasmus Dahlin cued up Carson Soucy's shorthanded opening goal. Later, his quickness and vision on the rush led to Schwartz scoring in close.
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"What we've talked a lot about is being competitive in every game and bringing a work ethic and a pace of play. That's where Yanni fits our identity to a tee," Botterill said.
"He plays fast and he plays hard. He exemplifies what we're trying to build as an organization."
He checks stars, too. Kirill Kaprizov is the opposing forward that Gourde's faced most frequently this season, per Natural Stat Trick. Not far down the list: Kyle Connor, Leon Draisaitl, Alex Ovechkin, and Artemi Panarin.
Jon Cooper entrusted Gourde with heavy assignments when he centered Tampa Bay's third line, the turbocharger that helped spur two Cup runs. Last postseason, Jonathan Huberdeau burned the Lightning for 10 first-round points, but the Florida Panthers didn't score in the 41 minutes during which Gourde shadowed him at five-on-five. In Game 7 of Round 3, Gourde snuck into the slot and sniped shorthanded to key a 1-0 win over Eberle's Islanders.
Cooper was the coach who likened Gourde and his old linemates, Blake Coleman and Barclay Goodrow, to gnats, so irritating were they to play against. Back in 2017, when Gourde stuck with Tampa Bay out of training camp as a 25-year-old rookie, Cooper's comparison of choice was the Energizer Bunny, since he never stopped moving.
Botterill endorses both analogies: "I can't trump those," he said. They reflect the fact that effort is still Gourde's secret sauce.
"It's a message that we've (emphasized) to our younger players that we draft at age 18," Botterill said. "You look at Yanni: undrafted, but continued to develop, continued to work at his game to eventually get to where he is in the National Hockey League.
"It's a great story. So many kids who get drafted at 18, 19, they think it's done. No, it's still a long process. And, hey, we talk about Yanni's story so much to other players - young prospects in our organization."
When Gourde led the QMJHL in scoring in 2011-12, his 124 points were 23 better than the next guy's tally. He had a lot going for him when he left Victoriaville, Jean said: high-end skill, expert hockey sense, physical maturity, and the nerve to produce in big moments.
What Gourde's game lacked was more dimension. He played with an edge but rarely threw the body, Jean said. His interest in defense was negligible. In 2012, Gourde parlayed an AHL tryout into his first pro contract, but was sent down to the ECHL and skated in 336 games across both leagues before the Lightning called him up permanently.
"At the junior level, when you're dominant, you don't have to take care of those details. There are some guys who get to the pro level and they cannot make the adjustment. If you don't do it, someone else will do it, and he's going to get your spot," Jean said.
"The way (Gourde) plays now, such a complete game, it's really that he worked at it at the next level."
Mark LoMoglio / NHL / Getty Images
Early in Gourde's odyssey through the minors, he signed with the ECHL's Kalamazoo Wings, whose head coach Nick Bootland saw him tease his NHL potential.
Then a second-year pro, Gourde told his wife, Marie-Andrée, that the Kalamazoo stint was his last shot to carve out a living in hockey. He never had to activate Plan B. Bootland recalls Gourde arriving in tiptop shape, munching minutes on special teams, sticking up for teammates in scrums, and voicing his opinion on the Wings' breakout patterns and other Xs and Os configurations.
To Bootland, competitiveness became Gourde's "biggest separator" once he figured out how to channel his pugnacious streak. Jawing at every opponent who hits or bugs a teammate is admirable, the coach said, but it can distract a player. When that realization clicked, Gourde's relentlessness was a net positive on more shifts.
"If you find a player who's gone down to a four-letter league and then worked his way up to the best league in the world, he's really had to battle for that. He's not going to take anything for granted," Bootland said.
"That's the guy I would have selected (in the expansion draft), knowing who he is and knowing the passion he has for the game and wanting to get better on a daily basis. Who (else) would you want to lead your team?"
Kraken management agreed. Exposed in the draft because Tampa Bay protected four defensemen, Gourde was already gone from the Lightning in August, when he and Marie-Andrée ate maple taffy from the Stanley Cup in Saint-Narcisse. In October, Seattle tapped him, Eberle, Larsson, and Schwartz as alternate captains to Giordano.
Kraken coach Dave Hakstol has shuffled his forward lines this season, testing how new combinations jell. When Gourde centers Brandon Tanev and Calle Jarnkrok, Hakstol has praised the trio's diligence and pace. Gourde said he's enjoyed lining up with Schwartz and Eberle, whose compasses are oriented in the same direction.
"They want to go north. They want to make the right plays," Gourde said. "That's right into my game and right into my identity."
In November, when Gourde returned to Tampa to receive his second Cup ring, Seattle lost 3-0 in a reflection of the NHL's pecking order. The Kraken managed a season-low 17 shots against that lockdown Lightning defense. The literal silver lining: Gourde is a product of that winning environment. Down the line, Botterill said, he pictures Gourdepassing onhis workhorse habits and playoff wisdom to Seattle draft picks.
His no-quit approach, too. A few weeks ago, Seattle was shorthanded and trailing the Chicago Blackhawks at home when Gourde outmuscled Seth Jones in a puck battle. Gourde shoved Alex DeBrincat behind the Chicago net, drew a penalty when Jones roughed him, and dropped the gloves when DeBrincat sought retaliation himself.
TNT's cameras captured Gourde smiling as they punched each other.
"You can see he's enjoying being in the game. Enjoying being in the atmosphere in our building right now. Enjoying being a Kraken," Botterill said. "It's a pretty cool thing to watch."
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is pouring cold water on the recent rumors that the Arizona Coyotes could leave the Phoenix area.
"The Coyotes aren't going anywhere," Bettman said following the Board of Governors meeting Friday, according to TSN's Pierre LeBrun.
The city of Glendale announced in August that it'll opt out of its lease agreement for Gila River Arena after this season, which means the Coyotes need to find a new home building.
On Wednesday, it was reported that the city of Glendale was planning to lock the Coyotes out of the arena Dec. 20 due to $1.3 million in unpaid state and city taxes. On Thursday, the club said it settled the debt.
Bettman argued Friday that Glendale has it out for the Coyotes and reiterated that the league has no problems with the club itself.
"There's no issue with the Arizona Coyotes," Bettman said, according to TSN's Rick Westhead. "It's clear the city of Glendale has either an agenda or an edge in the way they are dealing with the Coyotes."
There hasn't been an update on the Coyotes' plans for next season in months. However, the team did file a bid for land in nearby Tempe to be the construction site for a new arena.
With the 2022 Beijing Olympics rapidly approaching and COVID-19 cases climbing globally, there's been some concern that the NHL will pull out of its participation in the Winter Games.
However, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said Friday the decision will rest in the players' hands.
"In good faith, we made a promise to the players, and ultimately, this is going to have to be a player's decision," Bettman said, according to NHL.com's Nick Cotsonika.
The league committed to allowing NHLers to go to the Olympics as part of a new CBA signed during the summer of 2020. Players weren't permitted to attend the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics.
It's been reported that the league has until Jan. 10 to officially withdraw from the Games, but deputy commissioner Bill Daly said there's no hard deadline for the NHL to pull out.
Bettman added that "a number of players are expressing concerns" about going to Beijing and quarantine requirements, according to ESPN's Greg Wyshynski. There are no official protocols set out yet, but players could potentially be required to quarantine in China for multiple weeks if they test positive for COVID-19 while there.
The Olympics are set to begin Feb. 4 and conclude Feb. 20.
Thursday was a mixed bag on the ice. While the side and total picks in our best bets failed to hit, the three shot props highlighted in the player props article all came through.
We'll look to end the week on a high note as we comb through the best bets for the weekend ahead.
I know this is a game I want to target tonight, but we just have to wait for goalie news to find the best way to approach it.
If Juuse Saros is able to return in goal for the Predators, the under of six goals (-115) is very attractive. Nashville has conceded 14 fewer high-danger chances than the next closest team over the last 10 games. The Preds' stingy defense, coupled with strong goaltending from Saros, would likely lead to very little action on the scoreboard, especially given the matchup.
The Devils' defense has tightened up of late, ranking 10th in expected goals against over the last 10 games and boasting a high-end penalty kill. If Mackenzie Blackwood can provide serviceable goaltending, they should be able to keep Nashville to a low number as well.
However, if Saros isn't playing, New Jersey is suddenly very appealing. The Predators are playing their third road game in four nights against a rested Devils team that hasn't travelled in over a week.
The Devils' five-on-five numbers are respectable, the penalty kill has been elite, and their power play is (finally) showing signs of life.
We'll have to wait for news on if Saros is starting to determine which route to take, but this is a game I want to be involved in either way.
Bet: Under 6 goals (-115) if Saros starts, otherwise Devils (-120)
The Oilers have hit a bump in the road of late, but they're still playing pretty good hockey. They've controlled nearly 52% of the expected goals at five-on-five over the last 10 games, but theirsore spot has been finishing.Edmonton is shooting just 6.25% as a team, good for 27th in the NHL over that stretch.
Part of the reason for that is a lack of depth; the Oilers are top-heavy and don't have many guys capable of scoring in their bottom-six. Even so, they're running a little too dry right now.
I think we're going to see the offense come to life sooner than later, perhaps aided by the power play.
Though the Hurricanes are a fantastic defensive team, they are prone to taking penalties. They've been shorthanded for eight minutes more than any other team over the last 10 games, which could lead to real trouble against the Oilers.
As effective as the Hurricanes are at killing penalties, they'll be playing with fire - to an extreme - if they parade to the box against Connor McDavid and Edmonton's lethal power play.
Bet: Oilers (-111)
Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @ToddCordell.
On Thursday, Jim Rutherford - the trade-loving architect of three Stanley Cup-winning teams in the salary-cap era - was named the Vancouver Canucks' new president of hockey operations. The soon-to-be 73-year-old also holds the title of interim general manager while he searches for a permanent replacement for Jim Benning, who was fired Sunday.
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Rutherford has yet to speak at length with the media, so it's unclear how he'll attack the search. There are a handful of paths he can take here, including:
Hiring a former NHL GM
Hiring a current assistant GM with close ties to Rutherford
Hiring a current assistant GM with little-to-no ties to Rutherford
Hiring from within the Canucks' front office
Hiring an atypical GM candidate
The first option, which winks at the possibility of chasing recently fired Montreal Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin, would be counterproductive. Considering Rutherford and his new GM will be leading the hockey ops department in tandem, there should be a diversity of thought and background. Rutherford brings an old-school approach, institutional credibility, and a history of making bold decisions. The Canucks don't need another Rutherford.
As for convincing a familiar assistant GM currently employed elsewhere to come work for the Canucks … well, that's much more palatable. Rutherford's management tree includes several high-profile names, including the Buffalo Sabres' Jason Karmanos and the Seattle Kraken's Jason Botterill. Would the mix of familiarity and differing skill sets (Karmanos and Botterill, both in their 40s, are considered modern execs) make for a solid fit? Probably. Going this route would be relatively safe because Rutherford will know exactly what he's getting.
Bill Wippert / Getty Images
If you remove the familiarity aspect from the equation, Rutherford's talent pool expands. For instance, the Colorado Avalanche's Chris MacFarland, who's been on the rise for a number of years, is an interesting name. A capologist and scout with a strong belief in analytics, MacFarland could be the type of well-respected executive who's worth taking a chance on. Also, MacFarland presumably wouldn't be a "yes man," which is something Rutherford should want in this arrangement.
There are also a few notable internal candidates. One is interim AGM Ryan Johnson, who, like MacFarland, is on track to become an NHL GM someday. Rutherford could see Johnson as somebody who has the pulse of the club, can be mentored, and won't command a hefty salary from ownership, which is now paying two top hockey ops execs (Benning had handled both roles). Meanwhile, franchise icons and senior advisors Henrik and Daniel Sedin seem destined to become Canucks co-GMs down the road. Do you start the succession plan earlier than planned, or do you let them continue to learn the hockey ops ropes? Probably the latter.
Lastly, Rutherford, who's known for his shocking trades, could hire somebody out of left field, like super agent J.P. Barry or broadcaster Ray Ferraro. This is a highly unlikely scenario, and who knows if either of those guys, or their contemporaries, would even be interested. But, as Rutherford has shown over the years, expect the unexpected when he's in charge.
Lightning striking again
The two-time defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning are on fire, with a 5-0-0 start to December vaulting them into a three-way tie for the Atlantic Division's top spot.
On the surface, of course the Lightning are killing it. After all, over the past five-plus years, no team has accumulated as many regular-season points as Tampa Bay, and the club's enviable core of superstars remains intact.
Icon Sportswire / Getty Images
That said, achieving this level of success through the first quarter of the campaign hasn't been easy, nor was it a foregone conclusion.
For starters, the capped-out squad entered the season with fewer impactful depth pieces. The Lightning lost, among others, all three members of the highly effective Barclay Goodrow-Yanni Gourde-Blake Coleman line. Tampa Bay has also been without the services of Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point for 23 and 10 games, respectively. Neither world-class player is replaceable. And, let's face it, the entire organization must be feeling at least slightly fatigued after competing in an NHL-high 200 total games since the start of 2019-20.
"I've gotta give them credit, they're finding ways to win," Lightning head coach Jon Cooper told reporters Tuesday after his players pulled out a 3-2 comeback victory over the Montreal Canadiens. Two nights later, the Lightning took down the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-3 while yet another invaluable piece, center Anthony Cirelli, was forced to watch from the press box due to injury.
Ten of Tampa Bay's 26 games have ended in overtime or a shootout. The Lightning have won six, giving them 16 of a possible 20 points in that scenario. Those kinds of early-season tests - and triumphs - are undoubtedly beneficial to a shorthanded group trying to become the first team in four decades to win three consecutive Stanley Cups.
Mark LoMoglio / Getty Images
So far, the Lightning's list of standout performers includes the usual suspects: Steven Stamkos up front (32 points, including 13 goals), Victor Hedman on defense (27 points, plus elite defending), and Andrei Vasilevskiy in goal (.927 save percentage). A second tier - namely forwards Ondrej Palat, Alex Killorn, and Corey Perry - has provided ample support, especially of late.
Perry, a former star who signed a two-year deal with Tampa Bay this past offseason, has found a niche as a bottom-six winger. He isn't the first player to be seamlessly folded into the team's winning culture.
"Everything he says makes sense," Cooper said Tuesday when asked about the 37-year-old's emerging voice in the dressing room. "There's no fluff to him. There's no BS."
It turns out there's been no BS, period, around the Lightning this season.
NHL's elite forward lines
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We're at the point in the season where it's safe to drop the "it's early but … " caveat. Two months of on-ice action offers a big enough sample size.
Here we go: The Calgary Flames' top forward line of Elias Lindholm between Matthew Tkachuk and Johnny Gaudreau has been the NHL's best trio - by far.
In 324 five-on-five minutes, Tkachuk-Lindholm-Gaudreau has obliterated the opposition to the tune of a league-high plus-17 goal differential and an NHL-high goals-for rate of 87%. Territorially, the line is also a cut above the rest, with an expected goals-for rate of 66.9%, according to Evolving Hockey data.
In other words, the Calgary trio is dominating during the run of play and on the scoreboard, nailing down the process and enjoying the results.
Check out who's challenging them on the leaderboard:
You'll notice neither Connor McDavid nor Leon Draisaitl is mentioned above. Their lines don't stack up well here because these metrics exclude special-teams situations - where both players thrive - but include defensive play. It's no secret the Edmonton Oilers - not necessarily McDavid and Draisaitl, specifically - tend to give up plenty of shots, chances, and goals.
Bonus shoutout to the Anaheim Ducks' No. 1 line of Trevor Zegras between Sonny Milano and Rickard Rakell. The three of them have been on the ice together for only 119 five-on-five minutes this season, but they've churned out excellent numbers - 85.7 GF%, 68.8 xGF%, plus-10 goal differential.
Extra credit: Zegras and Milano hooked up Tuesday for an absurdly nice goal.
An oft-forgotten part of the transition to North America for players from places like Sweden is the task of getting from Point A to Point B in a foreign country.
I couldn't help but chuckle last month when Jonatan Berggren, a forward in the Detroit Red Wings organization, confirmed a humorous story about his introduction to life in the U.S. during a chat in Grand Rapids, Michigan. (I was there to report this feature about the Wings' extensive rebuild.)
Icon Sportswire / Getty Images
Berggren, a 21-year-old from Uppsala, Sweden, was sent by the Wings to AHL Grand Rapids in early October after drawing into some NHL preseason action. Standard stuff; he wasn't projected to make the opening-day roster.
He and his girlfriend Tilde, who's also from Sweden, hopped in a rental car, Berggren punched the words "Grand Rapids" into the GPS system, and off they went. Two hours later, the couple arrived safely in Grand Rapids … Ohio, a farming town of roughly 1,000 people located 30 miles southwest of Toledo.
"In Sweden, we never have two places where the name is the same," Berggren said, smiling at the bungle, which made headlines back home. "I was thinking there was only one Grand Rapids in the U.S.A. But I was wrong."
For the record, Berggren and Tilde quickly realized the error, turned around, and had no issues finding the "real" Grand Rapids, which is two hours west of Detroit. Berggren's since settled in, posting 16 points in 20 AHL games.
Parting thoughts
Chris Kreider: The New York Rangers winger is at it again. After finishing with 20-10 in 50 games last season, Kreider is challenging for hockey's (totally pretend) Cy Young Award with a stat line of 17 goals and four assists (17-4). Others in the conversation: Andrew Mangiapane at 17-3 and Brandon Saad at 11-3.
Colorado Avalanche: The Avalanche, a popular preseason Cup pick, own a .652 points percentage through 23 games but rank 29th in goaltending. What gives? Well, they're scoring goals at the same rate as the 1995-96 Pittsburgh Penguins, a team with prime-time Mario Lemieux and peak Jaromir Jagr.
After scoring 7 goals tonight, the @Avalanche have now scored 69 goals in their last 13 games.
That's the most goals by any team over a 13-game span since the Penguins had 69 from November 25 to December 22, 1995.
Jomboy: The internet personality Jomboy, best known for his MLB lip-reading videos, is now posting breakdowns of notable hockey moments. His blow-by-blow (bite-by-bite?) accounting of the Brendan Lemieux-Brady Tkachuk incident is must-consume content. Trust me.
Head coach Lindy Ruff said he's "worried and concerned" about the goalie's long-term health due to a hip injury, according to team reporter Amanda Stein. Bernier has been dealing with the injury all season.
The 33-year-old has appeared in 10 games this season, going 4-4-1 with a .906 save percentage and a 3.06 goals-against average. He started off the season hot - rattling off three straight wins - but has lost five of his last six.
The club recalled netminder Akira Schmid in a corresponding move.
