Tag Archives: Hockey

Watch: Craig Cunningham walks without assistance in latest update

What a difference a week makes.

Seven days after TSN's Ray Ferraro tweeted an inspiring video of Craig Cunningham using a walker to make his way down a hall, the analyst shared a new one showing the former Arizona Coyotes farmhand walking purely under his own power.

Cunningham collapsed in an AHL game back in November and required emergency surgery. During the surgery, he went into cardiac arrest and had to have his left foot and part of his leg amputated.

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Arvidsson snipes 1st career OT winner past Holtby

The Nashville Predators bested the league-leading Washington Capitals on Thursday, thanks to Viktor Arvidsson's first career overtime goal.

The 23-year-old beat Braden Holtby on a two-on-one break to seal the win and hit the 25-goal plateau in the process.

The victory was the Predators' third straight and pushed their point streak to five; the Capitals have now dropped six of their last 10.

(Video Courtesy: NHL.com)

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Coyotes sport Diamondbacks threads in warmup

Arizona pride.

Prior to Thursday's contest against the Detroit Red Wings, the Arizona Coyotes sported the look of a fellow desert club, wearing Arizona Diamondbacks-style uniforms in the pregame warmup.

The Diamondbacks are in the midst of spring training. The team resumes Cactus League play Friday, with split-squad games against the Oakland Athletics and Seattle Mariners.

Diamondbacks center fielder A.J. Pollock dropped the puck in a pregame ceremony.

As for the Coyotes, they'll try for their fourth straight win Thursday after scoring victories over the New Jersey Devils, Colorado Avalanche, and Los Angeles Kings.

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Watch: Maroon’s 2nd goal in a minute comes off unreal McDavid pass

Think Patrick Maroon likes playing with Connor McDavid?

The Edmonton Oilers teammates combined for a brilliant goal Thursday night against the Boston Bruins.

Maroon finished it off for his second tally in 59 seconds, after McDavid set it up spectacularly by redirecting Leon Draisaitl's saucer pass.

The Oilers scored three times in less than four minutes in the first period, a frame in which the teams combined to strike six times.

(Video courtesy: NHL.com)

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Bettman: No reason for NHL to focus on Seattle in absence of arena

Build it and they may come.

Amidst his Western Canada media tour, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman was in Vancouver on Thursday and spoke about the possibility of an NHL future in bordering Seattle.

"There's been a lot of talk for a long period of time about a building or not, and frankly if the city ever gets it act together on a building, then maybe there will be a reason for us to focus on it," Bettman told reporters. "I'm not saying it will happen if there is a reason, but there's no reason to focus on it in the absence of a building."

Local businessman Chris Hansen has been connected with building a new arena in the city, but with a focus on returning the NBA to Seattle. The SuperSonics left for Oklahoma City in 2008.

Seattle has often been mentioned as a new market for the NHL, and an addition in the Pacific Northwest would create a natural rival for the Canucks.

The city has a rich history of hockey. In 1917, the Seattle Metropolitans won the Stanley Cup. Forty-five years later, KeyArena opened and played host to the WHL's Thunderbirds from 1985 to 2008, when the team left for nearby Kent.

In the meantime, a local Seattle group, led by Tim Leiweke, who has previously been part of both the NHL and NBA, wants to renovate KeyArena in order to accelerate the city's efforts in attracting a pro team.

Leiweke told Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times that he believes KeyArena can be brought up to par in three to four years. It's a similar time frame to the construction of the new T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, which broke ground in 2014 and will open to the NHL's Vegas Golden Knights next season.

Still, Leiweke was quick to add Seattle will need to build its team through expansion, noting neither the NHL or NBA sees a franchise relocation on the horizon.

"We believe that there is no franchise today in the NHL or in the NBA that is in danger of being lost as an opportunity over the next few years," Lieweke told Baker. "And we believe that should Gary Bettman make a decision to expand, that if you look at the last process they just went through, it was a three- to four-year process to get that building built and to get that (Las Vegas) team up and running this next season."

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Hall’s incredible Forsberg-esque goal forces Mason from game

Talk about adding insult to injury.

Taylor Hall scored a beautiful one-handed deke goal early in the third period to give the New Jersey Devils a commanding 4-2 lead on Thursday.

Unfortunately for the Philadelphia Flyers, not only did the goal hurt them on the scoreboard, but netminder Steve Mason also appeared to stretch too far on the play and was forced to leave the game with an apparent lower-body injury.

The goal was Hall's 16th of the season and extended his point streak to three games.

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Watch: Del Zotto finishes off pretty tic-tac-toe with Giroux, Voracek

Michael Del Zotto snapped his 25-game goalless skid thanks to some nifty passing on Thursday night.

The Philadelphia Flyers defenseman finished off a pretty tic-tac-toe with Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek, ultimately putting the puck past a down-and-out Keith Kinkaid.

The goal gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead, but the New Jersey Devils responded with a tally from Kyle Palmieri.

(Video courtesy: NHL.com)

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U.S. women’s team stands by boycott threat as deadline passes

USA Hockey's deadline elapsed without any backtracking from the national women's team, and the players' stance hasn't changed.

The governing body of American hockey gave the female players a 5 p.m. ET deadline Thursday to revoke their plan to boycott the upcoming World Championship unless significant headway is made in negotiations over wages.

"We were aware of USA Hockey's deadline and have allowed it to pass," the U.S. women's national hockey team said in a statement, according to ESPN's Craig Custance.

"We are focused on the issue of equitable support and stand by our position. We continue to be grateful for the encouragement and loyalty of our fans."

The players' attorney, John Langel, echoed that sentiment, telling The Associated Press' Stephen Whyno that his clients are "resolute in their focus on equitable support."

USA Hockey spokesman Dave Fischer told veteran reporter Philip Hersh that the deadline was "never meant to be (a) line in (the) sand," adding that "efforts will continue to come to (a) resolution so players we have selected can play."

Training camp for the World Championship begins Tuesday in Plymouth, Mich., and the tournament itself starts March 31.

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Capitals trio respects women’s team’s stance in fight with USA Hockey

Three American Washington Capitals defensemen with international experience say they don't disagree with the U.S. national women's team's decision to threaten a boycott over what they claim are unfair wages.

"I respect it," Capitals defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk told ESPN's Scott Burnside. "I think it takes a lot of courage to make that sort of stand. And I've known some of those girls for a little while now from my (Boston University) days training in the summers with them and seeing them at Olympics."

The U.S. women, including team captain Meghan Duggan and veteran Hilary Knight, announced Wednesday they plan to boycott the World Championship - for which training camp begins next week - if stalled negotiations over compensation don't progress significantly beforehand.

Related: Hilary Knight: 'I kind of dare' USA Hockey to go to worlds without us

"Those girls have a full plate, year-round, with what they do," Shattenkirk said. "For them to ask for better pay and substantial pay for all the sacrifice that they give to the program, I think is valid and it's warranted."

USA Hockey set a 5 p.m. ET deadline Thursday for the women's team to revoke its boycott threat, according to The Canadian Press.

The governing body issued a statement Wednesday in response to the threat, citing the support it already provides and claiming each player could earn up to $85,000 in stipends and medal bonuses at the 2018 Olympics, but Duggan called that claim "misleading and dishonest," denying the offer was ever made.

John Carlson believes the women are entitled to more financial support than they're receiving and acknowledged their struggle is entirely different from that of the men.

"They deserve every bit of everything they get and probably a lot more because they've been awesome competitors and it's a whole different landscape that they have to deal with," he said.

Brooks Orpik agreed with his U.S. compatriots and Capitals teammates, particularly on the point that they can't fully relate to what the female players are up against.

"It's tough for us to know exactly what situation they're in financially but knowing what most of the salaries are in that (women's) league, asking for a little bit more than what they're supposedly getting doesn't seem unreasonable to me."

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Mock expansion keeper list: Central Division

Each day this week, we'll publish mock expansion keeper lists by division, and last but not least is the Central. On Friday, we'll publish our mock expansion Las Vegas Golden Knights roster.

Atlantic | Pacific | Metropolitan | Central

*NMC = No-movement clause
*All first- and second-year professionals, along with unsigned draft choices, will be exempt from selection (and will not be counted toward their club's applicable protection limits).
*Notable protected 2017 unrestricted free agents are kept based on the assumption they will re-sign with their respective teams before Las Vegas' window to negotiate with UFAs opens.

Chicago Blackhawks

F D G
Jonathan Toews (NMC) Brent Seabrook (NMC) Corey Crawfrord (NMC)
Patrick Kane (NMC) Duncan Keith (NMC)
Marian Hossa (NMC) Niklas Hjalmarsson (NMC)
Artem Anisimov (NMC)
Dennis Rasmussen
Ryan Hartman
Richard Panik
  • Thanks to numerous no-movement clauses, the Blackhawks protection list is practically automatic. Artemi Panarin and Nick Schmaltz being exempt certainly helps, too.
  • With such a wide range of contract situations here, center Marcus Kruger - an important role player during two Stanley Cup runs - is likely to be exposed.

Colorado Avalanche

F D G
Nathan MacKinnon Erik Johnson (NMC) Calvin Pickard
Matt Duchene Francois Beauchemin (NMC)
Gabriel Landeskog Tyson Barrie
Mikhail Grigorenko Nikita Zadorov
  • Colorado's disastrous roster could look very different by next season, but leaving trade chips exposed for nothing simply isn't an option.
  • There are plenty of ugly contracts on the roster - particularly Carl Soderberg, whose possible departure for Vegas would be a blessing for Colorado's brass.
  • A No. 1 option in goal for the NHL's newest team could be Semyon Varlamov, though he does have two more years and $5.9 million remaining on his current deal.

Dallas Stars

F D G
Jason Spezza (NMC) John Klingberg Antti Niemi
Jamie Benn (NMC) Esa Lindell
Tyler Seguin Stephen Johns
Antoine Roussel
Cody Eakin
Valeri Nichushkin
Radek Faksa
  • The Stars might wish for a world in which they could expose both Niemi and Kari Lehtonen based on their appalling seasons in goal, but Niemi ultimately gets the nod due to a smaller cap hit.
  • GM Jim Nill said 2013 first-round pick Valeri Nichushkin, currently in the KHL, will probably be protected despite his slow development.

Minnesota Wild

F D G
Zach Parise (NMC) Ryan Suter (NMC) Devan Dubnyk
Mikko Koivu (NMC) Jared Spurgeon
Jason Pominville (NMC) Matt Dumba
Charlie Coyle
Eric Staal
Mikael Granlund
Nino Niederrreiter
  • Minnesota is bound to lose a good player, be it a forward or defenseman.
  • If GM Chuck Fletcher was to replicate the list above, forward Jason Zucker would be free, as would blue-liners Jonas Brodin and Marco Scandella.

Nashville Predators

F D G
Filip Forsberg P.K. Subban Pekka Rinne (NMC)
James Neal Roman Josi
Ryan Johansen Mattias Ekholm
Viktor Arvidsson
Mike Fisher
Colin Wilson
Calle Jarnkrok
  • The rationale behind choosing to protect Mattias Ekholm over Ryan Ellis comes down to term, as Ekholm is under contract until 2022 at a reasonable cap hit, while Ellis is due for substantial raise in 2019.

St. Louis Blues

F D G
Vladimir Tarasenko Alex Pietrangelo Jake Allen
Paul Stastny Jay Bouwmeester
Alex Steen Joel Edmundson
Jaden Schwartz
Jori Lehtera
David Perron
Patrik Berglund
  • With zero no-movement clauses to deal with, keeping the Blues' core intact seems relatively simple.

Winnipeg Jets

F D G
Mark Scheifele Dustin Byfuglien (NMC) Connor Hellebuyck
Blake Wheeler Toby Enstrom (NMC)
Bryan Little Jacob Trouba
Mathieu Perreault Tyler Myers
  • Going with the four forwards, four defensemen, one goaltender strategy could lose the Jets one of Adam Lowry, Marko Dano, Joel Armia, or Andrew Copp, but securing both Myers and Trouba on the back end should be a priority with several strong forward prospects still in the system.

(Photos Courtesy: Action Images)

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