“My question is why is there no penalty on that?” Hellebuyck told the Winnipeg Sun's Paul Friesen on Friday. “It’s not like I dove in front of him. He wasn’t pushed in. He just made a dumb route. You see that more coming around this game. People aren’t really afraid around the goalies anymore.”
Hellebuyck then implied that it's time for the league to take action.
“Something needs to change there,” he said. “Because I get called for a penalty in L.A., right? So now I have more penalties called against me than I drew. And I think that’s ridiculous.
“You can see in the young guys, like (Flames forward Matthew) Tkachuk – (he) tries to push me into the net. It’s ridiculous. Something needs to be called or something needs to be changed with the goalies. We’re players too.”
The 2017-18 Vezina Trophy finalist said he's noticed a developing trend in which "they're trying to take a little more from us," and he doesn't think there's a desire to fix it.
“They don’t want it to change," Hellebuyck said. "They like the goals. They want more goals and want to take more from us. (Hanifin) wasn’t shoved in or anything. What needs to happen is a penalty needs to be called, and then their coach is going to say that was a dumb penalty to take, and then he’s not going to come storming at the net when I’m covering the puck.”
The first-place Jets have dropped two consecutive games following Saturday's 2-1 defeat to the Minnesota Wild. However, Hellebuyck was hardly to blame for either loss, and he's posted a .924 save percentage over his last nine starts.
From a veteran superstar finally realizing his dream to expansion intrigue on multiple fronts to seemingly never-ending drama in Canada's capital, there were plenty of hockey talking points that endured throughout the calendar year.
While Gritty has been the talk of the NHL and beyond since the strangely lovable Philadelphia Flyers mascot was introduced in the fall, a handful of significant subplots have pervaded hockey discourse for much of the last 12 months.
Here are five of the league's biggest storylines from 2018:
5. Erik Karlsson's future
Andre Ringuette / National Hockey League / Getty
Whether Karlsson would ultimately be traded or choose to re-sign with the Ottawa Senators was a burning question that began to simmer in 2017, but it reached a boiling point this year, and even now, his future beyond this season remains uncertain.
The all-world defenseman's name was firmly entrenched in the rumor mill at the beginning of 2018, but he remained with Ottawa through the trade deadline, insisting afterward that he never asked to be dealt.
On July 1, the first day the Senators could formally offer him a contract extension, they did just that, but the uber-talented blue-liner turned it down. The club then gave other teams permission to negotiate with him, which led to the Tampa Bay Lightning reportedly making a failed bid for him several days later.
The trade talk cooled down until late August when he denied a report that he was unwilling to sign a long-term deal in Canada. The saga culminated with the trade that sent him to the San Jose Sharks in September.
However, Karlsson's future plans are still unclear. The 28-year-old remains in the final year of his contract, and although he's looked much more comfortable recently amid what may still be an adjustment period in San Jose, there have been no firm indications from his camp of his intentions beyond the current campaign.
4. The Senators' scandals
It wasn't just Karlsson's uncertain future that regularly put Ottawa in hockey headlines in 2018. The Senators were involved in a slew of off-ice incidents this year, as a disappointing 2017-18 season on the ice preceded a disastrous spring, summer, fall, and winter away from the rink.
Then-assistant general manager Randy Lee was arrested on a harassment charge at the draft combine in late May, which led to his eventual resignation in August. An online harassment case brought forth by Karlsson's wife, Melinda, against Monika Caryk, the fiancee of Erik's then-teammate Mike Hoffman, led to Hoffman being traded one week later.
Then, in November, Ottawa players were captured in a video criticizing assistant coach Martin Raymond inside an Uber, which led to apologies, the driver being fired, and an admission from Mark Stone that the club knew about the footage before it went viral.
Later in November, the Senators and Trinity Group, the club's partner in its downtown arena proposal, revealed an internal dispute between the two parties. Then, in December, Eugene Melnyk announced through the team that his company, Capital Sports Management, was suing Trinity Group for $700 million in the wake of the failed redevelopment bid.
3. Seattle
Patrick McDermott / National Hockey League / Getty
The fact that it was essentially a foregone conclusion didn't stop Seattle's pursuit of an NHL franchise from being a consistent topic of discussion throughout the calendar year.
If there was any doubt that there would be demand for the league's product in the Pacific Northwest, those fears were allayed in March, when the then-prospective team sold 10,000 ticket deposits within 12 minutes of making them available.
Fans in the Emerald City won't get to see their new squad play until 2021-22, and the team has yet to establish its full identity. But much like the supporters of the league's previous expansion darlings (more on them below), the Seattle faithful have made it clear early on that they're more than ready to support an NHL team.
2. The Golden Knights
Jason Halstead / Getty Images Sport / Getty
Vegas' inaugural NHL season was unlike anything the league - and arguably professional sports - had ever seen before.
Yes, the Golden Knights officially joined the NHL in 2016 and technically began play in 2017, but they truly peaked in 2018, simultaneously captivating and shocking the hockey world by making an improbable run all the way to the Stanley Cup Final in June.
They became the most successful expansion team ever in the process, surpassing even the most generous expectations and doing so in uniquely Vegas fashion, with absurdly delightful pregame presentations, a drumline, and a makeshift castle inside T-Mobile Arena.
Sin City put its one-of-a-kind stamp on the NHL in the Golden Knights' debut campaign, and the league's 31st franchise was undoubtedly one of the best stories in hockey this year.
1. Ovi
The Washington Post / The Washington Post / Getty
If this past offseason was the "Summer of Ovi," 2018 was unquestionably his year.
Alex Ovechkin silenced the critics once and for all by leading his Washington Capitals to a Stanley Cup championship for the first time in his career. That feat alone was a gargantuan story, but the Russian sniper did far more over the course of the year, accomplishing several other impressive on-ice feats and then going on a bender for the ages after hoisting Lord Stanley's mug.
He was named an All-Star for the 10th time, hit the 600-goal plateau in March, scored the all-important opening goal in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Lightning, tallied in Game 5 of the Cup Final to help Washington win the title, captured the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP, and won the "Rocket" Richard Trophy for the seventh time.
Then, there was the partying, as he commemorated the championship by doing push-ups in a fountain with his teammates, doing a keg stand with the Cup, and generally entertaining the masses with his months-long celebration.
His offensive exploits both last season and so far in this one are all the more impressive considering he has done it in his 13th and 14th NHL seasons and is now 33 years old. Ovechkin was the biggest hockey story of 2018, and it wouldn't be surprising to see him in the 2019 conversation, as well.
Dallas Stars CEO Jim Lites ripped into forwards Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn on Friday, but owner Tom Gaglardi made it clear that Lites' comments don't mean that any sort of shakeup is imminent.
"Our best players have to be our best players," Gaglardi told Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman. "This is not about trading anyone. This is not about firing anyone. We are in danger of missing the playoffs for the third straight year, and this team is built to win and contend now. We need to take advantage of the opportunity we have in front of us."
However, Friedman believes that there will be fallout if the club does indeed miss the playoffs.
Benn is averaging 0.79 points per game, which is the worst since his rookie season. The captain is the currently the team's highest-paid player at $9.5 million.
Seguin is also having a down year, as his 0.84 points per game are his worst since arriving in Dallas. He signed an eight-year, $78.8-million extension this past summer that will kick in next season. Both players have full no-movement clauses.
Jim Montgomery is in his first season as head coach of the Stars, while general manager Jim Nill has been in charge since April of 2013.
Lites' harsh comments have been a point of discussion for the NHLPA, according to The Athletic's Sean Shapiro.
Legendary Buffalo Sabres play-by-play man Rick Jeanneret is back in the broadcast booth on Saturday after he was removed from the KeyBank Center on a stretcher and was hospitalized one week ago.
Jeanneret, 76, was feeling light-headed and stopped talking during the broadcast before he was taken to the hospital.
Jeanneret started with the Sabres in 1971 and is the longest-tenured play-by-play announcer with a single team in NHL history. He is honored in the Hockey Hall of Fame as a Foster Hewitt Award winner for outstanding broadcasting.
Tampa Bay Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois is confident that he'll be able to work out a contract this summer with star forward Brayden Point.
Point, who has recorded 22 goals and 49 points so far in his third NHL season, will be one of over a dozen premium pending restricted free agents likely to command big bucks this summer, which brings the threat of an offer sheet.
But BriseBois isn't concerned about that possibility:
#tblightning GM Julien BriseBois held court for half hour. Lot of good stuff. BriseBois said he's "not concerned at all" about potential offer sheets this summer, on Brayden Point. Will find a way to keep the player. No talks until this summer though though
While BriseBois thinks he'll be able to ink Point long term, the first-year GM will likely have to do some finagling to make his roster fit under the salary cap.
Chabot took a big hit from Islanders enforcer Matt Martin in the second period, after which he left the game and didn't return.
The club continues to classify it as an upper-body injury. Boucher said on Friday night that it was not to the head.
Chabot is on a point-per-game pace for the Senators so far, having racked up 38 in as many contests. The 21-year-old blue-liner ranks second in the NHL in points among rearguards behind Morgan Rielly of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Jamie Benn downplayed the remarks from Dallas Stars CEO Jim Lites when asked about the comments on Saturday, less than 24 hours after the tirade.
“I don’t play for him," the Stars captain told reporters, including the Dallas Morning News' Matthew DeFranks. "I play for every player in this room and the coaching staff. I come to the rink and ... I’m proud to be a Dallas Star and proud to go out there every night and battle with these guys in games.”
Lites lambasted Benn and Tyler Seguin in a pair of interviews on Friday. He told The Athletic's Sean Shapiro that the duo "are fucking horseshit" and that the two forwards "were terrible" in Thursday's win over the Nashville Predators. He then told DeFranks that the "terrible play" from Seguin and Benn has "pissed me off."
Seguin also addressed the criticism on Saturday.
"I hear the message," he said, according to DeFranks. "I think Jamie and I hear the message. I think the whole team hears it."
Seguin added that Lites' assessments came as "a little bit of a surprise" because the two haven't had a conversation since the end of last season, according to Mark Stepneski of the club's official website.
Meanwhile, Lites implied that he wants Seguin, Benn, and their teammates to use his critiques as motivation.
The trade gives the club some added depth at the goaltending position. Backup Garret Sparks has just 26 games under his belt in his short NHL career. The club's AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies, has struggled mightily this season, especially in goal. Kasimir Kaskisuo, Jeff Glass, and Eamon McAdam have each played double-digit games for the team and none have posted a save percentage above .891.
Hutchinson, on the other hand, has 106 NHL contests to his credit. He has spent the majority of this season with the AHL's Springfield Thunderbirds where he's gone 2-3-1 with a .906 save percentage.
