TAMPA, Fla. - Scotty Bowman was 12 years old when he saw Jackie Robinson play in Montreal. More than 70 years later, Bowman says Montreal welcomed Robinson during the Hall of Famer's one season with the International League Royals.
''Adoration,'' the winningest coach in NHL history said. ''Montreal fans embraced him.''
Robinson ended racial segregation in major league baseball on April 15, 1947 when he made his big league debut at first base in a Brooklyn Dodgers home game against the Boston Braves at Ebbets Field.
Robinson is honored every April with ceremonies throughout baseball. All MLB players will wear his retired No. 42 jersey in Saturday's games.
Robinson's journey to Brooklyn had one final stop after being signed in 1945 by Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey: a season in the minor leagues.
Bowman attended Sunday games at Delorimier Stadium in 1946, where Robinson was part of a powerful Dodgers Triple-A team that won the IL title and the Junior World Series. Robinson hit .349 with three homers, 66 RBIs, 113 runs scored and 40 stolen bases over 124 games in his lone minor league season.
''He could have played in Brooklyn that year,'' Bowman said. ''We went to the games, my friends and I, and you could see it. He was an all-around player.''
Robinson remains revered in Montreal. The house where he rented an apartment is a landmark.
''They made it a heritage building,'' Bowman said.
Robinson, raised in California, got a taste of the Canadian winter as the Royals capped off the year by beating the American Association's Louisville Colonels for the Junior World Series championship.
''It was snowing in one of the games,'' said Bowman, currently a senior adviser with the Chicago Blackhawks. ''It didn't bother them, they won.''
After Bowman had his hopes of an NHL playing career derailed by injuries, he eventually ended up becoming a Montreal legend, too. Five of Bowman's NHL-record nine Stanley Cup coaching championships came from 1973-79 while with the Montreal Canadiens.
This marks Hanifin's fourth time that he will dress for the United States at the tournament. As for Keller, this marks the second time this year that he will represent his country after he contributed three goals and eight assists in seven games at the World Junior Hockey Championship.
Hanifin is coming off a strong sophomore season in the NHL that saw him post 29 points in 81 games - a seven-point improvement over his rookie year.
Meanwhile, Keller is coming off his first year at Boston University where he posted 21 goals and 45 points in 31 games. The 18-year-old also got his first taste of the NHL collecting two assists in three games with the Coyotes.
The Anaheim Ducks could receive a boost to their lineup sooner rather than later.
Head coach Randy Carlyle spoke to reporters after Friday's practice and noted that injured defenseman Cam Fowler is improving "rapidly," based on a Thursday assessment. The team is hopeful that Fowler will begin skating within a week.
Fowler missed the final two games of the regular season and Thursday's playoff opener after a knee-on-knee hit from Calgary Flames defenseman Mark Giordano on April 4. His timeline was expected to be anywhere between two and six weeks.
The 25-year-old Fowler led all Ducks defenders with 11 goals and 39 points in 80 games this season, his highest points output since his rookie campaign back in 2011.
The Anaheim Ducks sure know how to put out a spread.
At Friday's practice - following Thursday's 3-2 Game 1 victory over the Calgary Flames - the Ducks provided media members with a spread of burgers and fries from In-N-Out Burger, and it was something to behold.
With a flick of the wrist, Tom Wilson became a very popular man.
The Washington Capitals forward was the hero of Game 1 on Thursday, scoring the overtime winner against his hometown Toronto Maple Leafs. When he looked at his phone after the game, he had 91 text messages from family and friends in both cities, according to Tarik El-Bashir of CSN Mid-Atlantic.
Of course, the goal makes Wilson more an enemy than a hero in his hometown, but teammate Brett Connolly said that should make Games 3 and 4 in Toronto even more exciting for Wilson.
Sooner or later, Clarke MacArthur believes the Ottawa Senators will catch up and start scoring goals at a more consistent clip.
Speaking to reporters Friday ahead of the team's Saturday matinee against the Boston Bruins, the forward was confident in his team, and compared Ottawa's lack of offense to a condiment issue.
"It's like banging the ketchup bottle here, waiting for it to ooze out," MacArthur said, according to Sportsnet's Kristina Rutherford.
Goals have been tough to come by for the Senators of late. Bobby Ryan netted the team's lone marker in Game 1, and over the last five games, the Senators as a team have managed just nine goals.
The longer view doesn't bode well for the Senators either: They had the 22nd-ranked offense during the regular season, the lowest among all playoff teams.
Head coach Mike Babcock said Friday that he expects Zaitsev to miss Game 2 of the Leafs' first-round series, according to TSN's Mark Masters.
Zaitsev did not dress for Thursday's 3-2 overtime loss to the Washington Capitals after being forced from Sunday's game against the Columbus Blue Jackets with an upper-body injury.
While Zaitsev did not take the ice for practice with the team, Masters reports the blue-liner was spotted riding the stationary bike.
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Here is a look at the Squad Up daily NHL fantasy picture for Friday, April 14:
Dynamic Duos
C Sidney Crosby (78K) and LW Conor Sheary (48K), Penguins (vs. Blue Jackets): The Penguins are an incredible offensive force at home, averaging 3.8 goals per game there during the regular season. They potted three in their series opener against the Blue Jackets and easily could have had several more. Crosby and Sheary are the most cost-effective forward pairing among several options.
C Connor McDavid (77K) and LW Milan Lucic (50K), Oilers (vs. Sharks): If the Oilers can reclaim the early magic they showed in their Game 1 loss to the Sharks, they should rebound to even the series. McDavid will be critical, as always, to Edmonton's success, and is the most dangerous player on either end of the ice. Lucic is more of a risky play, but his Squad Up upside is immense.
Goalie Breakdown
TARGET - Carey Price (116K), Canadiens (vs. Rangers): Price put together a solid performance in the opener with 29 saves, but was overshadowed by the brilliance of Henrik Lundqvist. Both goalies are as elite as they come, and with the Canadiens in immediate must-win mode, look for Price to be at his best Friday night. Of course, it wouldn't hurt to see his teammates give him some offense this time.
BARGAIN - Henrik Lundqvist (87K), Rangers (at Canadiens): It boggles the mind to see King Henrik's price remain so low given how well he performed in Game 1. The Canadiens boasted a league-average offense this year, and while Montreal had Lundqvist's number during the regular season (4.04 GAA, .871 SV%), none of that matters now. Take a chance on an encore performance and save some bucks.
FADE - Marc-Andre Fleury (131K), Penguins (vs. Blue Jackets): While the Penguins have the second-highest win probability on Friday's slate, the game's over/under of 5.5 is also the highest on the schedule. The Blue Jackets will come in waves, and Fleury - coming off a 31-save effort in Game 1 - will be in tough to duplicate that performance. At this price, he's virtually unplayable.
CONTRARIAN - Jake Allen (75K), Blues (at Wild): Why not? After putting up a sensational 51-save showing in a stunning Game 1 win, Allen represents a terrific contrarian/bargain double against the reeling Wild. This isn't the safest way to anchor your lineup, but if you're looking to make a major splash, rostering Allen will allow you to maximize the amount of salary you spend at forward and on defense.
Bargain Plays
C Brandon Dubinsky (37K), Blue Jackets (at Penguins): Dubinsky had a quiet Game 1 against the Penguins, held without a point while registering just two shots on goal - his first in four games. But Dubinsky sees enough high-leverage ice time to be worth a gamble, particularly if the Blue Jackets come out more assertive on offense. It's a major risk on a slate full of quality centers - but if it works, you'll be in great shape.
Marc-Edouard Vlasic (28K), Sharks (at Oilers): Vlasic's primary goal in this series is to prevent McDavid from looking like Wayne Gretzky - but Vlasic has been a valuable Squad Up contributor of late, averaging better than 20 fantasy points over his previous five games. That includes a 35-point effort in Game 1 - and a similar result Friday would make him one of the top value options on the slate.
Top Fades
RW Vladimir Tarasenko (79K), Blues (at Wild): Tarasenko is skilled, no doubt - but carrying a salary this high requires far more upside that the Blues' sniper has Friday night. While he scored three goals in five regular-season meetings with Minnesota, he was limited to an assist and four shots in the series opener - and with the Wild focused on shutting him down, he isn't going to see a lot of open space. Look elsewhere.
RW Brendan Gallagher (58K), Canadiens (vs. Rangers): Only four right-wingers have higher Squad Up salaries than Gallagher - and given his recent performances, that's unnecessarily generous. Gallagher is averaging fewer than eight fantasy points over his past five games - all while carrying a 50K-plus salary. Might he break out Friday? It's possible - but this is one expensive way to find out.
Contrarian Options
Evgeni Malkin (79K), Penguins (vs. Blue Jackets): Most of the Squad Up universe will opt for Crosby, as he's the more dynamic offensive player and is actually 1K cheaper. But Malkin has similar upside and is a great Crosby pivot in big cash events; he skates alongside a surging Phil Kessel on Pittsburgh's second line and is the middle man on the Penguins' ever-dangerous No. 1 power-play unit.
Oscar Klefbom (44K), Oilers (vs. Sharks): Klefbom will likely see reduced ownership due to the immense upside of Sharks counterpart Brent Burns. But Klefbom has been no slouch himself, recording 27.5 Squad Up points in the series opener and a whopping 64 points the previous time these two teams met on April 6. Burns is a terrific option, but so is Klefbom - and he's nearly 20K cheaper to boot.
In this edition of "On the Fly," theScore's NHL roundtable series, we discuss who should take home the major hardware at the NHL Awards in June.
*Please note: this is not an official ballot.
Calder Trophy - Auston Matthews
Craig Hagerman: This was far from a two- or even three-horse race, but in the end, your Calder Trophy winner is Auston Matthews.
Matthews set a plethora of Toronto Maple Leafs records including most goals and points by a rookie in a season. He was the only player to record at least a shot in every game this season, his 40 goals were the most by an American-born rookie in NHL history, and sorry, he was just that much better than Patrik Laine.
The 19-year-old also tallied the most goals by a rookie since Alex Ovechkin scored 52 during the 2005-06 season, while his 69 points are the eighth-highest mark since 2000.
Factor in his play on the other side of the puck and what he was able to help the Maple Leafs achieve this season and there's no question he deserves the award. Still, huge props to what's easily the best rookie class the NHL has seen in some time.
The Russian goaltender ranked second in wins this season with 41, trailing both Braden Holtby and Cam Talbot by a single victory. But it's his save percentage - dividing the number of saves by the total number of shots on goal - that sets him apart from the field.
Among all goalies with at least 41 appearances, Bobrovsky ranks first with a save percentage of .931, with Holtby (.925) coming in second. In five-on-five play, Bobrovsky continued to hold an advantage over Holtby, with the former posting a save percentage of .939 and the latter coming in at .937.
The one extra win should not cancel out Bobrovsky's ability to more regularly stop the puck. That, after all, is the chief aim of goalies.
In an impressive year all around in Columbus, Bobrovsky was the backbone, and the best goalie league wide.
Jack Adams Trophy - John Tortorella
Cory Wilkins: After a disastrous and short-lived season with the Vancouver Canucks, and an even worse showing leading Team USA at the World Cup, veteran head coach John Tortorella was all but left for dead.
Pundits across the hockey landscape chose Tortorella as the first coach to be fired this season. The reasoning: His style had gone stale, and in a league moving more and more toward youth, communication is key, leaving little room for Tortorella's fiery demeanor.
But all he's done in his first full season as coach in Columbus (he coached 75 games with the team last year) is pull the team into hockey relevancy. The Blue Jackets spent nearly all of their first 15 years in the league's basement, but emerged as a contender this season, making a 32-point improvement on 2015-16 and finishing as just one of four teams to crack the 50-win plateau.
Tortorella tossed aside the meaningless morning skate. He unleashed his young players and worked through their growing pains as they learned from their mistakes. Through it all, Tortorella mellowed. For those reasons, coupled with the team's success, the Blue Jackets bench boss deserves to be this season's coach of the year.
Norris Trophy - Erik Karlsson
(Photo courtesy: Action Images)
Sean O'Leary: When Drew Doughty captured the Norris Trophy last season, nearly everybody outside the Kings organization was shocked, believing Erik Karlsson deserved it after the most prolific season of his NHL career (82 points).
Now, Doughty is an all-world talent - his ability to thrive at both ends of the ice won him the award, and voters said it was his time. Fast forward a season, and here we are debating whether it should be Brent Burns or Karlsson, both beyond worthy candidates.
Burns had more points, 76 to Karlsson's 71. But if offense didn't win Karlsson the Norris, why would it win Burns one?
Karlsson adapted to Guy Boucher's defensive regime, and thrived. Karlsson blocked more shots, logged more time on ice per game, and suppressed opponents' offense more effectively than Burns this season on a team that quietly registered 98 points.
Burns has undoubtedly become one of the game's most polarizing superstars both on and off the ice, but Karlsson is a true generational talent, and if I had a vote in this debate, it would go toward No. 65's third Norris Trophy.
He finished with 100 points, an Art Ross winner at 20, in his second NHL season at only 19.
Almost more impressively, Edmonton finished with 103 points. Remember, this is the Oilers. A team that hadn't hit 80 points since 2009, or 90 since 2006, in the Cup Final season. Not only are the Oilers back in the playoffs, they have home ice in the first round, hosting last year's Western Conference finalists. They had a chance to win the Pacific Division with only hours to play in the 82-game season. The math, it don't lie.
I could get into more of the numbers - the even-strength dominance, the percentage of the Oilers' offense McDavid accounted for - but if you watched him this season, you know why he's the MVP. You saw why.
That's taking nothing away from Sidney Crosby, who is dominant in a way no other player is, not even McDavid. But there's something about No. 97 - it may very well be his speed, and his ability to do things at speeds no one else can.
He stands out, stands apart, in a way no other player does.
So many of the league's top teams are loaded with talent. It's tough to argue the Oilers, though they finished tied for seventh in the NHL in points, are one of them. It's McDavid and the boys. McDavid's that good. He's the most valuable player, because the Oilers probably are not the Oilers without him.
