Category Archives: Hockey News

Report: Dismissed analytics expert pleaded to scrap Subban trade

Analytics consultant Matt Pfeffer may have lost his job for trying to talk the Montreal Canadiens out of trading P.K. Subban.

Pfeffer made a passionate presentation to the club's brass in an effort to convince them not to make the deal that sent the star defenseman to the Nashville Predators for Shea Weber, a source told Sportsnet's Eric Engels on Wednesday.

Pfeffer's insistence on the subject might have led to his dismissal, the source said, adding that when general manager Marc Bergevin ignored Pfeffer's advice, it reinforced the idea that the GM was using other criteria to judge the players.

Canadiens senior management reached out Thursday to Engels to say they are "very committed to analytics" and will be bolstering that department, reiterating the club's response to his initial report of the club parting ways with Pfeffer.

The longtime analytics specialist, who formerly assisted the San Jose Sharks and Hockey Canada, was reportedly informed Wednesday that his contract with the Canadiens would not be renewed.

The club told Engels on Thursday it's in the process of figuring out who to add to the analytics department.

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Red Wings sign Luke Glendening to 4-year extension

The Detroit Red Wings continue to secure their depth, signing forward Luke Glendening to a four-year contract extension, the club announced Thursday..

Terms of the deal have not been disclosed by the team, but General Fanager reports the contract carries an AAV of $1.8 million.

The 27-year-old pivot has spent the last three seasons with the Red Wings, notching a career-high 21 points in 81 games last season.

Detroit also inked Darren Helm, 29, to a five-year extension this offseason.

Before extending Glendening's contract, Detroit had just over $3 million in cap space, with restricted free agents Danny Dekeyser and Petr Mrazek still to be signed.

Additionally, youngsters Tomas Tatar, Tomas Jurco and Andreas Athanasiou are all RFA's next year.

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Bruins re-sign Morrow to 1-year contract, announce extension for Miller

The Boston Bruins have signed defenseman Joe Morrow to a one-year contract worth $800,000, and also confirmed Wednesday's report of reaching a two-year, $2-million deal with blue-liner Colin Miller, the club announced Thursday.

Morrow appeared in 33 games for the Bruins last season, registering one goal and six assists.

Miller, meanwhile, was a restricted free agent and signed a one-way deal, likely meaning increased ice time for the 23-year-old.

In 42 games with Boston, Miller recorded three goals and 13 assists.

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Watch: Penguins’ Zatkoff carries Stanley Cup down waterslide

That's one way to celebrate.

Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Jeff Zatkoff held his day with the Cup on Wednesday in his hometown of Cary, N.C.

Accompanied by some friends, Zatkoff carefully hoisted Lord Stanlely while slowly slithering down a waterslide.

Zatkoff started the first two games of the Penguins' march to the championship, before giving way to Matt Murray.

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NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – July 14, 2016

P.K. Subban on his trade to Nashville, latest contract signings and more in this morning’s collection of NHL headlines.   SPORTSNET: Eric Engels has a two-part interview with defenseman P.K. Subban, who talks about his time with the Montreal Canadiens and his trade to the Nashville Predators.     SPECTOR’S NOTE: Like Canadiens owner Geoff Molson and […]

Crosby wins ESPY for Best NHL Player

Sidney Crosby continues to rack up the hardware.

The Pittsburgh Penguins captain was named Best NHL Player at the ESPYS on Wednesday.

The Penguins agreed with the decision.

Crosby won the 2016 Conn Smythe Trophy after helping the Penguins win the fourth Stanley Cup in franchise history.

He was also a finalist for the Hart Trophy on the strength of his 36 goals and 49 assists during the regular season.

The awarding of Best NHL Player was not part of the televised portion of the ESPYS.

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Subban on trade: ‘I don’t hold the cards and make those decisions’

After admitting that he always envisioned playing for the Montreal Canadiens in part 1 of his sit-down interview with Sportsnet's Eric Engels, P.K. Subban continued to dive into the deal that sent him to the Nashville Predators in part 2.

Related: Subban speaks: 'I never envisioned myself playing for any other team'

Subban reflected on the trade itself and his final moments with the team - spent on a stretcher - and why he felt that his beloved Canadiens ultimately traded him away. Through it all, the 27-year-old appeared to still be unsure as to why he was shipped out.

"I did everything that I could to help the team win every night, I gave everything tried to represent the Canadiens the best way I could, but at the end of the day I don't hold the cards and make those decisions," Subban said. "I just wish I could have won a Stanley Cup for that organization and this city, I just don't have that opportunity to do that now so I have to focus on Nashville."

During his time with the Canadiens, the media clung to the notion that Subban might not have had the best rapport with his teammates, especially given multiple episodes of fights in practice, but Subban remained firm on the assertion that such claims are false.

"I would have to disagree with that. With the guys that I'm with every day that I travel with, that I play with, we're all different," said Subban. "At the end of the day I'd like to hope these guys respect me and I respect them and that's really what it's been built on."

Of course Subban's trade comes at a very monumental time in the United States. The country is currently amid daily protests for social change following recent extreme acts of gun violence and the #BlackLivesMatter campaign.

Subban - being Canadian - noted it wasn't necessarily his place to comment on another country's politics, but that he shares the same sentiment of others in hoping that there will hopefully be a peaceful resolution.

"Obviously there is a lot of different things going on around the world all we can hope is that one day all the violence can stop," said Subban. "When it comes to the world in general, I do hope that the violence can stop and we don't have to read about that stuff anymore."

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Islanders owners confident Snow, Capuano can continue team’s progress

The New York Islanders ownership group is standing behind general manager Garth Snow and head coach Jack Capuano, but with an important caveat: This past season's success must be the new norm in Brooklyn.

Co-owner John Ledecky says he and Scott Malkin support the "hockey folks" within the organization 100 percent, but reiterated Wednesday the goal remains winning, especially after the club advanced to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs during the last season of Charles Wang's tenure as majority owner.

"They have to keep performing, and we define performing as progressing," Ledecky said, according to Brett Cyrgalis of the New York Post. "We won our first playoff series in 23 years, we made it to the second round. If the puck bounced a couple ways differently, we would have made it to the semifinals. But we’re eighth in the league in points over the last two years, we made the final eight, and that’s the standard now.

"They have to progress. You have accountability. There is accountability for performance. The fans demand that."

While Snow has added free agents Andrew Ladd and P.A. Parenteau this offseason, the club allowed Kyle Okposo and Frans Nielsen to hit the open market and sign elsewhere.

Still, the Islanders have a franchise center in John Tavares and a solid defense corps to build around, with several of Snow's draft picks set to begin making more of an impact at the NHL level.

The Metropolitan is one of the most competitive of the NHL's four divisions, and Snow, while endorsed by the new owners, will need to ensure his club keeps pace in order to remain one of the longest-tenured general managers

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