New York Islanders forward Mathew Barzal isn't holding any grudges against his coach after he was benched in the third period Tuesday against the New York Rangers.
"As a young guy, I know an example needs to be set," Barzal said at Thursday's All-Star media day, according to Newsday's Laura Albanese. "I was in the wrong."
With the Islanders up by three late in the game, Barzal had a defensive lapse which resulted in a turnover and almost led to a goal. Despite having two assists on the night, head coach Barry Trotz opted to bench Barzal for nearly the last 18 minutes of the contest due to his mistake.
"I'm a competitor and I always want to be on the ice," Barzal added. "At the end of the day, Barry knows what's best for the team. ... We've had games this year where defensive errors have cost us games and he wasn't going to let that happen again.
"I was in the wrong for the play I made. Barry's got my best interests and the team's best interests. He wants to win as bad as anyone and so do I. It's over with now. We got the win and that's all that really matters."
Barzal, 22, is making his second appearance in the All-Star Game. He has 17 goals and 42 points in 49 games this season.
The Islanders will resume play after the All-Star break Feb. 1. They currently sit in third place in the Metropolitan Division with a 29-15-5 record.
2020 NHL All-Star Skills Competition Where: Enterprise Center, St. Louis, Missouri When: Friday, Jan. 24 at 8 p.m. ET TV: CBC, Sportsnet, TVA Sports (Canada); NBCSN (U.S.)
The time has come for the NHL's biggest stars to put their dazzling talents on display.
The 2020 All-Star Skills Competition will feature two new events, including a three-on-three game that showcases the best of women's hockey. Meanwhile, the winners of the individual events will each earn a $30,000 bonus.
Here's everything you need to know about Friday's action.
Fastest Skater
Dave Sandford / National Hockey League / Getty
Kendall Coyne Schofield of the U.S. women's national team put everybody on notice last year when she participated in this classic event and posted a time of 14.346 seconds that topped Arizona Coyotes forward Clayton Keller.
Coyne Schofield won't compete this year, but eight NHLers will be timed for one full lap around the rink. Each skater can choose which direction they'll go, and they're allowed to begin a maximum of 3 feet behind the starting line.
Eight goaltenders and all 36 skaters will participate in this event, which is a shootout format in which the goalies will compete to make the most consecutive saves.
Each netminder will face nine skaters from an opposing division and a minimum of nine shot attempts. Those skaters will shoot in order of their number, from the lowest to the highest, with the division's captain going last. The round cannot end with a save, so if the goalie stops the captain's shot, the shooters will continue in the same order until a goal is scored.
The goalie with the longest consecutive save streak will be crowned the winner.
If there's a tie, the winner will be the goaltender who made the most total saves. If at least two goalies are still tied, they will compete in a sudden-death round of "Goalie Goals."
Eight of the league's top snipers will duke it out in this accuracy challenge.
The players will be positioned 25 feet from the goal line. They must hit all of the LED targets in the net, and the player who does it the fastest will be the winner.
This brand-new event will treat fans to one of hockey's greatest international rivalries.
The women's three-on-three matchup will include two teams - American All-Stars and Canadian All-Stars - that are each comprised of nine skaters and one goalie. There will be two 10-minute periods with a running clock.
The American squad will include the likes of Brianna Decker, Hilary Knight, Amanda Kessel, and Coyne Schofield. The Canadian team will feature Marie-Philip Poulin, Natalie Spooner, Sarah Nurse, and Meghan Agosta, among others.
Hardest Shot
Dave Sandford / National Hockey League / Getty
Zdeno Chara, who won this competition consecutively from 2007-12, won't be involved this year. However, Shea Weber, who won it three years in a row from 2015-17, will try to take back his crown.
Each player will attempt two shots that are measured in miles per hour, and the higher speed of the two will be recorded.
The players will shoot from 30 feet out. Players can skate toward the puck but can't start from farther away than the blue line. The player who records the fastest shot speed will be the winner.
How about players shooting pucks into targets from an elevated platform above the ice? Sure, why not. We certainly can't blame the NHL for trying something new.
Eight NHLers and one player from each of the American and Canadian women's three-on-three teams will participate. Players will be positioned on the elevated platform 30 feet above the ice and shoot seven pucks at different targets. Protective netting will be installed above the fans.
Targets will have different point values, and players will be allowed to hit them more than once. The player who accumulates the most points will be the winner.
The National Hockey League announced the participants for Friday's All-Star Skills Competition in St. Louis, and some of the sport's biggest names will lace them up as part of the festivities.
Here are the players who will participate:
Fastest skater
Michael Martin / National Hockey League / Getty
Player
Team
Jack Eichel
Sabres
Nathan MacKinnon
Avalanche
Connor McDavid
Oilers
Mathew Barzal
Islanders
Chris Kreider
Rangers
Anthony Duclair
Senators
Travis Konecny
Flyers
Quinn Hughes
Canucks
Save streak
Icon Sportswire / Icon Sportswire / Getty
Goalie
Team
David Rittich
Flames
Tristan Jarry
Penguins
Jordan Binnington
Blues
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Lightning
Frederik Andersen
Maple Leafs
Jacob Markstrom
Canucks
Braden Holtby
Capitals
Connor Hellebuyck
Jets
Accuracy shooting
Harry How / Getty Images Sport / Getty
Player
Team
Jaccob Slavin
Hurricanes
Tyler Bertuzzi
Red Wings
Leon Draisaitl
Oilers
Jonathan Huberdeau
Panthers
Nico Hischier
Devils
Tomas Hertl
Sharks
Alex Pietrangelo
Blues
Mark Scheifele
Jets
Hardest shot
Bruce Bennett / Getty Images Sport / Getty
Player
Team
Mark Giordano
Flames
Seth Jones
Blue Jackets
Shea Weber
Canadiens
Victor Hedman
Lightning
Elias Pettersson
Canucks
John Carlson
Capitals
Shooting Stars
Bill Smith / National Hockey League / Getty
The Shooting Stars competition will feature eight NHL players, one American elite women's All-Star, and one Canadian elite women's All-Star. Participants will attempt to hit targets positioned on the ice while standing on an elevated platform 30 feet above.
Player
Team
David Pastrnak
Bruins
Matthew Tkachuk
Flames
Patrick Kane
Blackhawks
Tyler Seguin
Stars
Brady Tkachuk
Senators
David Perron
Blues
Ryan O'Reilly
Blues
Mitch Marner
Maple Leafs
Canadian Women's All-Star
TBD
American Women's All-Star
TBD
The two women's All-Stars will be selected through a social media vote.
Elite Women's 3-on-3
Icon Sportswire / Icon Sportswire / Getty
Some of the best in women's hockey from Canada and the United States will take the ice in a three-on-three game. The 20-minute contest will be played in two 10-minute periods, and the game will use a running clock.
Team Canada: Meghan Agosta, Melodie Daoust, Rebecca Johnston, Sarah Nurse, Marie-Philip Poulin, Natalie Spooner, Blayre Turnbull, Renata Fast, Laura Fortino, Ann-Renee Desbiens
Team USA: Alex Carpenter, Kendall Coyne Schofield, Brianna Decker, Amanda Kessel, Hilary Knight, Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson, Annie Pankowski, Kacey Bellamy, Lee Stecklein, Alex Cavallini
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When people see a post telling them to avoid betting certain teams to win the Stanley Cup, there's a tendency to overreact. The automatic assumption is the author thinks those teams suck.
Spoiler: I don't.
The St. Louis Blues and Boston Bruins could definitely still win the Stanley Cup, as they're two of the NHL's top teams. But don't back them at their current price.
The 2019 Stanley Cup finalists are among the top three favorites to lift the trophy in June, just behind the league-leading Washington Capitals.
Team
Odds
Washington Capitals
15-2
St. Louis Blues
8-1
Boston Bruins
9-1
Tampa Bay Lightning
9-1
Pittsburgh Penguins
9-1
Colorado Avalanche
9-1
Dallas Stars
14-1
*only teams with odds shorter than 15-1 are displayed
Both teams have earned a place atop the oddsboard, but at 8-1 and 9-1, there's next to no value in backing either to win the Stanley Cup. There's enough evidence to believe those prices are inflated, partially due to misleading records and recency bias.
The Blues have been one of the league's best and most consistent teams over the past calendar year, but a 2.53 expected goals for per game (xGF/60) shows they're not as good as the club's record indicates. That mark, which ranks 23rd, is largely rooted in the Blues struggling to create scoring opportunities.
They're also 23rd in scoring chances per game (SCF/60) and 27th in high-danger chances per 60 minutes (HDCF/60). St. Louis has been converting a high percentage of its opportunities, which means the Blues are inevitably due for some regression. It's difficult to remain consistently successful against NHL-caliber goalies without a proven ability to generate quality chances. Of course, the Blues play smart fundamental hockey and don't approach games intending to simply outscore teams, but these numbers are at least cause for some concern.
St. Louis will never sizzle offensively, and injuries to some key forwards aren't helping. But the team's defensive numbers are perhaps even more worrisome.
The Blues are middle of the pack in expected goals against per game (17th), and in preventing high-danger scoring chances against (16th). They've come to rely heavily on a league-high .854 save percentage in high-danger situations. Jordan Binnington is good, but that's unsustainable.
The Bruins, meanwhile, may not find it difficult to suppress offense, but creating it is a problem.
They rank 21st in xGF/60 and, like the Blues, an inability to muster consistent scoring opportunities is the main culprit. Boston ranks 17th in SCF/60 and 25th in HDCF/60 while benefiting greatly from a 22.8 shooting percentage during high-danger chances. That's the fourth-highest mark in the league and an efficient source of offense that will be hard to sustain. In fact, we've already seen that number come down significantly from a month ago when Boston ranked first in that category.
Since Dec. 5 the Bruins have won just nine games while losing 14. They're playing well-below .500 hockey, and with the Tampa Bay Lightning surging behind them, their once seemingly insurmountable Atlantic Division lead is slipping from their grasp.
It's also worrying that Boston is struggling against top teams. Excluding the Bruins, 10 teams have notched 60-plus points heading into the All-Star break. The Bruins have produced a 5-11 record against those squads that they'll likely be facing on a nightly basis in the playoffs.
While the Blues and Bruins undoubtedly possess the talent to again reach the finals, where's the value in backing them at such short odds given these flaws?
Only one team has appeared in back-to-back Stanley Cup finals over the past decade - the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2016 and 2017 - and at these prices, you definitely shouldn't be betting St. Louis or Boston to become the second.
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.
Despite a difficult 2019-20 campaign, it doesn't appear San Jose Sharks general manager Doug Wilson is on the hot seat.
"While we are all very disappointed in the team's performance thus far this season, Doug has a long history of leading our team to success," Sharks majority owner Hasso Plattner said Thursday.
Entering the All-Star break, the Sharks sit third from the bottom in the Western Conference. The team already fired head coach Pete DeBoer in December and replaced him with Bob Boughner.
"The last time we failed to meet our winning standards in the 2014-15 season, we were able to quickly rebound and re-establish a winning culture for the next several years," Plattner added. "I am supportive of Doug's plan to get our team back on track."
The Sharks made a trip to the Stanley Cup Final in 2015-16 and have qualified for the playoffs in every season since. However, the club is currently 11 points back of a wild-card berth with 32 games remaining and will likely miss the postseason for just the second time since Wilson's hiring in 2003.
Wilson has made several key moves in recent years to keep the Sharks' Stanley Cup window open, but a dramatic drop-off on the offensive end combined with weak goaltending has resulted in the unsuccessful campaign to date.
Aaron Ekblad would like to offer a reminder of a frequently forgotten fact: A mere 38 days separated him from being a normal player in the 2011 Ontario Hockey League draft. If he had been born in late December 2005, not early February 2006, the troublesome "exceptional status" label that's colored the narrative of his career would have never been an option.
"It's hyped up like crazy, but realistically it's a month and seven days difference," Ekblad said in a recent interview. "I was just like any other kid going to play hockey with some older guys. It worked out for me, and it was the right play in terms of development. … To me, it felt normal."
Exceptional status allowed Ekblad to enter the OHL as a 15-year-old, and he was clearly above average. He won rookie of the year honors as an underager and, by the end of his three-year tenure with the Barrie Colts, was considered the league's best blue-liner. He was physically, mentally, and emotionally mature. But Ekblad also raises a valid point about his birthdate and how certain labels can take on a life of their own.
"When he came to us at 15, he transitioned really well," Colts general manager Jason Ford said. Then, Ford added, the crazy comparisons started. "Somebody early on threw out the name Bobby Orr, which is not really fair. When you watch him, he's not that type of defenseman anyway. The person who threw it out there must not have seen him play."
Claus Andersen / Getty Images
It's all a little ironic nowadays, seeing as there's a strong case to be made that Ekblad is actually underrated and underappreciated at the NHL level. Sure, he created buzz during his Calder Trophy-winning debut with the Florida Panthers. What about in the four-plus years since? He's been largely forgotten amid a slew of injuries and the incremental nature of his development. Perhaps he's simply been out of sight, out of mind.
"He's in Florida. If he were anywhere else on the planet he'd get a lot more recognition," said Willie Mitchell, Ekblad's former teammate and mentor.
Ekblad, who turns 24 on Feb. 7, battled through multiple concussions and a neck issue prior to finding his way back to elite form. The eight-year, $60-million deal he signed in July 2016 may have looked like a mistake the following season (Ekblad's self-described "weak year"), but that's not the case now. He's a legitimate No. 1 NHL defenseman in 2020.
"He's done a lot of great things for us over the years," Panthers forward Vincent Trocheck said. "But, with his skill set, he has all the tools to be a top-five defenseman in the league. He's got size, he's got speed, he's got skill, he's got a shot. He can do it all."
Mark LoMoglio / Getty Images
With five goals and 23 assists in 47 games, Ekblad is in the middle of the most productive campaign of his pro career. He's on pace for 48 points in 80 games following an offseason of specialty coaching. As a big man - 6-foot-4 and 200 pounds - in a small man's game, he's well aware that he must try his best to "stay relevant in terms of creativity and puck-handling ability."
"For me, puck handling is the biggest thing," Ekblad explained. "Can I have my head up while handling the puck and make a play? Some coaches want a high-flip kind of game, a puck-off-the-glass defenseman, but I think the game has transitioned to defensemen being more skilled, quicker, able to make plays, and be up on the rush for the five-man attack."
It's fair to suggest Panthers coach Joel Quenneville is pleased with the early returns. Powered by the NHL's most potent offense, Florida has a 28-16-5 record, which at the All-Star break places the team third in the Atlantic Division and eighth overall in points percentage. With Ekblad, the Panthers have been an objectively better squad at five-on-five. Based on the heat maps below, the club takes higher-percentage shots in the offensive zone when he's on the ice versus when he's not. Key in on the red blobs:
HockeyViz.com
Ekblad, the club's ice-time leader, is 11th in relative shot differential among the 164 defensemen who have played at least 500 even-strength minutes this season. The Panthers own a cool 53.2% of the shot share when Ekblad is between the boards and only 48.4% when he's on the bench. His most common defense partners - MacKenzie Weegar, Keith Yandle, and Michael Matheson - have all seen their underlying numbers dip when they're paired with someone else, which suggests Ekblad's doing a lot of the heavy lifting.
According to Brian Campbell, his first NHL partner, Ekblad's had a certain composure since his debut in 2014. "I played too cautious myself, expecting that maybe he's going to take some time to grow and learn," Campbell said, still impressed. "It was almost more of an adjustment for me. This kid was ready to go right from the get-go."
Campbell left the organization after the following season. It was no coincidence he returned to Chicago, where Quenneville was still running the bench. "I think you'd have to give him a lot of credit for keeping it very simple for Aaron," he said of Quenneville. "For us, as players, you want to know what's going on and not have any gray areas. That's what Joel does."
Ekblad and the rest of Florida's longtime core - Aleksander Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau, Trocheck, and Yandle - are already on their fourth coach. Ask Ekblad about his past few years and the challenges he's faced and he immediately brings up Quenneville's predecessor, Bob Boughner.
Bill Wippert / Getty Images
"He did a great job teaching me some things that helped me evade situations where I could get injured," Ekblad said. And these instructions led to better habits. "If the puck was dumped in my corner, it was all about knowing where guys are on the ice and know who you're up against.
"But also, get back on the puck as quickly as possible so that you have time to make a play and get your stick or put your shoulder into the guy to protect yourself a bit. The faster you can make a play the quicker you can protect yourself."
Mitchell suffered several concussions during a 900-game NHL career. He compares a player's post-concussion approach to the mindset of an overly defensive driver. You're bound to get into a car accident if you're timid behind the wheel.
"I like to look at the glass half full," Ekblad said. "I don't think they've affected me too much here. I feel goodday-to-day. I'm happy, I feel healthy, and I'm learning ways of avoiding that kind of injury."
Which brings us full circle. Over the phone, Ford mentions Ekblad's numbers this season. The Colts GM is impressed by his point production and nightly workload against stiff competition and suggests there's room to grow. Maybe the "exceptional" alumnus will hit 20 goals and 40 assists one day. "He's still relatively young for a defenseman in the NHL, right?" Ford said.
