A phenom on the ice, but not so much on the mound.

Edmonton Oilers star center Connor McDavid tossed the first pitch at Friday's Toronto Blue Jays game, and it most certainly was not a strike.

McDavid was sporting the World Cup jersey to be worn by his North American team, with the tournament set to be played in Toronto in September.

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John Torchetti hoped for more time to prove himself behind the Minnesota Wild bench.

After taking over as interim coach in February, he led the team to a record of 15-11-1 and a playoff spot, but the team jumped at the chance to hire Bruce Boudreau once he became available.

Since hired as an assistant with the Detroit Red Wings, Torchetti admits it was tough to be passed over for the job.

"I just think in the little time we had, I felt we had some chemistry going, and I wish we had some more time to prove it," Torchetti told Chad Graff of the Pioneer Press, adding he wishes nothing but the best to those making the decisions within the organization.

The Wild did offer Torchetti the opportunity to resume his post as the club's AHL head coach, but the big leagues is where he ultimately wanted to remain.

"They had given me a great offer, and I appreciate that," Torchetti said of the Wild. "That shows you they were rewarding me for my hard work with the team.

"But I just felt I wanted to be back in the NHL at this time, and I got a great opportunity with this Red Wings staff. This is a team on the upswing with some young players."

Torchetti is set to work with Detroit's forward group, as well as oversee the power play.

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More information on the NHL's prospective expansion draft, which could take place as early as this time next summer, have apparently been released to NHL clubs.

Here are a few of the latest conditions believed to have been provided to the teams, who must start making preparations for the potential introduction of a 31st franchise.

Via Sportsnet's Chris Johnston and James Mirtle of the Globe and Mail:

• Teams will apparently be required to expose two forwards and one defenseman who play at least 40 games in 2016-17, or 70 games in the previous two seasons.
• To prevent teams from hiding players on other rosters, those traded from Jan. 1, 2017 to Jan. 1, 2018 cannot be reacquired. More information on this is expected.
• The expansion team will have to spend to at least 60 percent of the salary cap, and cannot buy out a player that season.
• Players with no-trade and no-movement clauses for the 2017-18 season must be included on the protection lists.
• The expansion franchise will be receiving the third-best odds to receive the No. 1 pick in the 2017 NHL Draft.

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In hockey, there's a specific criteria that fits into an existing ideal.

This isn't to say that what's revered hasn't taken on any adaptation in more than a century of competition. But for those who play the sport, everlasting traits and archetypal aspects synonymous with what it means to be truly special, to be respected, will endure.

We're reminded of certain time-honored values in intermissions, interviews, and, in our own, predominantly short-lived playing careers, often in the back seat of minivans. The postgame lectures inducing interminable eye rolls, of course.

But for the most part, we all come to appreciate the same things; speed, skill, strength, toughness, and doing right by the game. We can credit this fact to lessons from our fathers, their fathers, and other sources we depend on to teach us such nuances. Or, just rely on human tendencies to appreciate and admire what goes beyond a basic athletic threshold.

Today, we thank Gordie Howe for manifesting this ideal for multiple generations and over the course of a career that spanned six decades.

Mr. Hockey

Howe, the man most applicably nicknamed Mr. Hockey, died Friday morning at age 88. He leaves behind a Hall of Fame family, legions of hockey fans, and a legacy that goes beyond his longevity, and insurmountable collection of records in hockey: It's the superlative manner to which he established the standard on how to compete and conduct oneself in a pro hockey setting.

You can read this information in an instructional manual. He co-authored "Hockey, Here's Howe," in 1963, a how-to hockey book that found itself in the impressionable hands and minds of many of the greats that followed Howe into the NHL. This includes the man who broke many of his records: Wayne Gretzky.

But regrettably, and unlike Gretzky, this latest generation of player and fan is limited to its reading. We didn't grow up watching this prolific attacking force who finished in the top five in NHL scoring for 20 straight seasons. We never saw the 23-time All-Star who was as lethal with his elbows as he was dazzling with the puck on his stick. We don't know the man who returned to professional hockey in 1973 - almost 30 years after his NHL debut - to not only share a line with his sons, but dominate the opposition with his offspring.

We weren't witness to his legend, but it has still undeniably impacted us.

Magnificence and mean

What separates Howe from the rest of the game's greats, and even more so than his longevity - a quality that contributed in him maintaining 19 pro hockey records - was his ability to blend magnificence with mean. This was a genetic freak but also a trail blazer in terms of conditioning. And for that, and his truck-like build, he was unlike any player in his era.

He was impossible to push off the puck, often punishing those who tried. And in his defense of his territory, he essentially sent out an open invitation to settle disputes with fists. Though after the damage he did to the face of Lou Fontinato, rarely did he have takers.

A natural goal-scorer, playmaker, and enforcer, the Gordie Howe hat trick was coined for his deeply layered dominance. Now, and until fighting is abolished, single-game performances that include a goal, assist, and fight will come with a badge of honor, and a chance for players to have their name mentioned in the same breath as Gordie's.

Affable giant

For all his intimidation on the ice, Howe was charming, shy nearly to the point of submissive, and the definition of class. He was the epitome of humble, graciousness, and avoided controversy in his decades in the limelight. But most of all, he was considered the ultimate family man.

If there was any real criticism of Howe, it was that he didn't protest for higher wages. Imagine that.

This was a farm boy from rural Saskatchewan, who was content with a Detroit Red Wings-branded jacket as his signing bonus after inking his first contract with the organization he eventually led to four Stanley Cups.

Howe never professed his greatness, but certainly understood his impact and place in history. He visited the rinks that Gretzky played at to ensure he was present when his records fell, and left but only a few awaiting hands without his signature as he toured in his post-playing career.

These moments, and in his time conversing with his admirers, are where fans who weren't around in his era can appreciate his greatness - the looks adorn on the faces of those he touched being the best place to start.

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In the eyes of many, Gordie Howe typified the game of hockey.

Both on and off the ice, Howe encapsulated the traits and qualities that one admires in a professional hockey player, in a husband, in a father, in a man doing his best to make it in this world.

There will never be another Mr. Hockey.

Here's a small sampling how he's being remembered after passing away Friday at 88.

Michael Farber, Sports Illustrated:

Sure, vengeance might be His (Romans 12:19), but as the Creator vets His newest recruit - a powerful, stooped-shouldered man with an easy smile and old-fashioned values forged in Depression-era Saskatchewan - He would be well-advised to skim the Book of Gordie. Verse 1: Do not mess with Gordie Howe. Howe, who died on Friday at age 88, had a memory as long as his unparalleled career, which touched five decades and included seven MVP awards in two leagues. Heaven might be a swell place, full of cherubim and gaping five-holes, but if Mr. Hockey suspects that he was taken from us too soon, that he could have gotten yet another day out of his rich life ... well, the Supreme Being should start skating with his head up, you know?

George Vecsey, New York Times:

That is the highest praise a Canadian can lavish on a great athlete from the True North Strong and Free. Humble, appreciative and modest. Even if he played across the border in Detroit. The powerful man was one of the fastest skaters in the league, down the right wing. And he was a good guy. It's the legend of Gordie Howe.

Nick Cotsonika, NHL.com:

Gordie Howe was more than one of the greatest players in NHL history. He was "Mr. Hockey."

He was an ambassador for the game, a man of the people. So many of us have Gordie stories whether family, friend, foe or fan: that time we met him at a game, an autograph signing or a charity event; that time he told a joke, crushed a handshake or posed for a picture, throwing up a mock elbow at the last second.

Ron MacLean, Sportsnet:

As a boy, I worshipped Howe. I bought True Line skates and gloves at Eaton's. I ordered Northland sticks, the ones Howe used. As a broadcaster, I worked so many events with Gordie and he never ceased to amaze with his grace.

On the ice he had the ferocity that is the life force of any athlete or artist, but he was first and foremost a sensitive, tender man.

His favorite saying was, "I believe in the turtle approach. Be hard on the outside, soft on the inside, and be willing to stick your neck out to get ahead."

Last week we lost Muhammad Ali, and now Gordie. "The Greatest" is a wonderful moniker, but in Canada, in sport, you could not be given a more important title than "Mr. Hockey."

Kevin Allen, USA Today:

Howe has long had a reputation as one of the NHL's top ambassadors. Mark Howe has often told the story of how he was able to hone his hockey skills by playing ball hockey after every Detroit home game, because he knew his father would always spend an hour signing autographs for every person who waited.​

Kevin Paul Dupont, Boston Globe:

The more calculating Howe, deemed by many to be the perfect hockey player, saw defense and offense as an equal mission, grinding away at his craft with the single-mindedness of an automotive assembly line worker. In a town that built its reputation on producing Fords and Chevys, its population peaking at some 2 million not long after World War II, Detroit coveted Howe as one of its cherished brands.

Roy MacGregor, Globe and Mail:

He played in, believe it, six decades, joining the Wings in the 1940s and playing a single shift for the Detroit Vipers in the 1990s when he was 69 years of age. Incredibly, he had almost been killed in 1950 when he fractured his skull in a horrible on-ice collision with Toronto’s Ted Kennedy. Doctors thought they would lose him in the emergency ward but he came back, played again, and ended up with six National Hockey League scoring championships, six Hart Trophies as the NHL’s best player and 21 All-Star selections.

Keith Olbermann, ESPN:

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Gordie Howe was a legend in so many ways, and there are plenty of anecdotes to prove it.

The most enduring figure in NHL history died Friday at age 88, and tributes are pouring in from around the hockey world.

Beyond his on-ice accolades and accomplishments, Howe's character is defined by the countless stories being retold in tribute to his life and career.

Here are nine of the best anecdotes that help define Mr. Hockey's legacy.

There was the time he taught another legend a lesson:

After Howe suffered a serious stroke in 2014, ESPN's Keith Olbermann recounted the time Howe fractured his skull in the 1950 playoffs and returned to win the scoring title the next season.

Here's a vivid reminder that Howe was not to be tested.

Howe was tough as nails at the rink, but he had a great sense of humor off the ice.

His vision was simply unparalleled.

Howe was apparently ambidextrous.

Wayne Gretzky relayed a great story to Dan Patrick on Friday, as told to him by Harry Neale, who coached Howe with the New England Whalers when Howe was 50 years old.

"They had played like four games in seven nights and (Neale) had an optional practice. Gordie showed up to the rink and (Neale) said, 'What are you doing here?' (and Howe) said 'No, no, I've got to practice.'"

"Harry said, 'I had to hide his skates from him at 50 years old so he'd take a day off."

Related - Gretzky: Howe was 'the greatest hockey player who ever played'

Neale told another classic story to Greg Thomas of Slapshot Diaries in an older piece that recirculated Friday, highlighting Howe's penchant for payback years after the original offense:

Bobby Baun, with whom I played junior, tells a great story about Howe. When he played for Toronto his first year, he hit Gordie Howe in the Olympia in Detroit. Howe wasn’t knocked out but he didn’t know where he was as he got to the bench. That incident occurred in 1960. In 1967 or 1968, Baun was playing for the Seals in Oakland against Detroit at the Olympia. Almost the exact same incident happened again. Howe came down, cut across the ice and Baun slipped across to hit him like he did his first year in Toronto. Howe saw him coming and crosschecked him right in the neck. Baun said, :I couldn’t breathe for two minutes. I thought he had broken my neck and when I finally looked up after ten or fifteen seconds of not knowing where the hell I was, Gordie was looming over top of me." He said, "Now we are even, you son of a bitch." That was Gordie’s theory and he lived by it. If you asked players if roughing Howe up was a good idea, they would tell you it wasn’t.

Never forget.

Howe's No. 9 was retired by the Detroit Red Wings in 1972 and by the Hartford Whalers in 1981, but the Carolina Hurricanes chose not to retire it when the Whalers moved to Raleigh in 1997.

That hasn't stopped Hurricanes players from respecting Howe, though.

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Gordie Howe and Steve Yzerman are two of the Detroit Red Wings' most iconic figures.

Though generations apart, both shared similar success on and off the ice in Motown, and Yzerman - now general manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning - issued a statement Friday in the wake of Howe's death.

"It was very saddening to hear the news of Gordie's passing this morning," Yzerman wrote. "He has been an icon not only in Detroit, but throughout the entire hockey world for as long as I can remember. As one of the greatest players to ever play in the NHL, the majority of his career being in Detroit, it was an honor to wear the same uniform, spend time with, laugh, joke, and seek advice from him. Gordie's humility and kindness left a permanent impression on me, greatly influencing how I tried to conduct myself throughout my career.

"His impact on the Red Wings organization is still evident today. I travel the world and constantly hear stories from people who love the Wings and share memories of the glory days when Gordie and his teammates ruled the NHL. For all players fortunate enough to play for the Wings, we should take time to thank and honor Gordie, for he is a significant reason why Detroit is such a special place to play."

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Wayne Gretzky is The Great One, but he believes Gordie Howe was the greatest.

"He was a special person, he was a great ambassador for the game of hockey, he was a great father and great grandfather," Gretzky said on The Dan Patrick Show on Friday.

"To me, he was the greatest hockey player who ever played."

Gretzky recalled meeting his idol for the first time, admitting such an experience can be disappointing, but said Howe couldn't have made a better impression.

"The first time I met him, I was 10 years old, and my dad said to me, 'How was it meeting Mr. Howe?' and I said, 'It was the greatest day of my life.'"

Gretzky compared Howe's legacy to that of another iconic athlete who recently died.

"He went on to do so many great things for so many people and he's going to be sorely missed, as (Muhammad) Ali (was). They're special athletes who were special people and you just don't replace them, so it's a sad day not only for the hockey world but the Howe family, because he was a special man."

Gretzky was inexorably linked to Howe throughout his career, and he passed him on the all-time goal-scoring list in 1989.

Mr. Hockey still holds the record for games played, appearing in 1,767 NHL contests over five decades.

Gretzky later added to his sentiments on Twitter.

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Upon retiring as the NHL's all-time leader in goals, points, and games played, Gordie Howe's colossal legacy is perhaps most remembered for a statistic he hardly ever recorded.

A goal, a fight, and an assist, in one game - known simply as the "Gordie Howe hat trick" - is one of hockey's most illustrious single-game performances.

Related: By the numbers: Looking back at Gordie Howe's incredible career

Skill and toughness - the two mainstays of Mr. Hockey's inimitable style of play - ironically only resulted in two Gordie Howe hat tricks throughout his career, one in 1953, and one in 1954.

Yet with 801 career goals, 1,049 assists, and 1,685 career penalty minutes in his NHL career, the title is only suitable for a legend like Howe.

There is no stat for Wayne Gretzky, nor Bobby Orr. Just for Howe, who patrolled the ice while feared for both his relentless physicality and his unprecedented knack for scoring.

The all-time leader in the unique statistic is Rick Tocchet, who recorded 18. Hall of Famer Brendan Shanahan and Brian Sutter are tied in second with 17.

The most recent came from San Jose Sharks defenseman Brent Bruns on March 7, 2016.

As fights in the NHL continue to decline, the Gordie Howe hat trick has become an antique, but the accomplishment still garners notoriety and respect from peers, all because of No. 9.

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Detroit Red Wings owner Mike Ilitch understands what Gordie Howe meant to the organization and the league as a whole.

"Today is a sad day for the Detroit Red Wings and the entire hockey world as together we mourn the loss of one of the greatest hockey players of all time," Ilitch said in a statement Friday.

Howe died Friday morning at the age of 88.

"The Red Wings organization and the National Hockey League would not be what they are today without Gordie Howe. There is no nickname more fitting for him than 'Mr. Hockey,'" Ilitch said.

"He embodied on and off the ice what it meant to be both a Red Wing and a Detroiter. He was tough, skilled, and consistently earned success at the highest level. His achievements are numerous and his accomplishments immeasurable. It is truly a blessing to have had him both in our organization and our city for so many years. He will be deeply missed."

Howe played 25 seasons with the Red Wings, setting countless records. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1972.

Related - By the numbers: Looking back at Gordie Howe's incredible career

"People that aren't even associated with the National Hockey League understand how important Gordie is to our country," Red Wings general manager and fellow Canadian Ken Holland said.

Howe played three seasons with the New England/Hartford Whalers in the WHA and NHL toward the end of his career from 1977-80.

"Gordie Howe was a true legend in every sense of the word, and we are proud that he and his sons are a part of our organization's history," Carolina Hurricanes general manager Ron Francis said in a statement.

"I was lucky to have the opportunity to take the ice with him during my time in Hartford, and his impact on our sport is immeasurable. The Carolina Hurricanes organization sends its deepest condolences to the Howe family and everyone affected by his loss."

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