Nichols' Notes
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The Tampa Bay Times’ Joe Smith details how the Lightning had appealed to Brian Boyle (and his wife, who is from Orlando, Florida) as a free agent. He’ll fill a similar defensive-minded forward role who will be strong on the penalty kill, which was a driving force behind his success on the New York Rangers.
"If that was going to be my role, I wanted to do it better than anybody," he said. "I try to be hard to play against, make it difficult as I can for opposing guys, not give them much space."
Bryan McCabe, who is working in player development for the Florida Panthers, offered his observations on top pick Aaron Ekblad.
“He's a kid in a man's body but is very confident and well-rounded in his game,” said McCabe, via The Miami Herald’s George Richards.
“He's very grounded and humble and doesn't act like a first overall pick. He's going through the grind with everyone else. ... He has handled the pressure thus far, there's no reason to think he won't now. He is very mature for his age.''
St. Louis Blues head coach Ken Hitchcock joined Prime Time Sports Monday. He touched on the playoff disappointments, including an interesting observation into what we might expect in the regular season from the Blues now.
"The part that's impressive was how well we played for so much of last year. But some people are thinking if you run hot at 90, 95 percent, it's hard to have another gear like it seems like Chicago and L.A. do in the West here, so we've had to do some thinking about that. Can we run a little bit quieter and still get in the playoffs. So there's a lot of reflecting going on. There's some, obviously development side of things that's been very impressive, but I don't think anybody in management or the coaching staff is over the fact that we've lost four straight to the Stanley Cup champions. Doesn't matter how you cut it, losing four straight isn't good enough."
Hitchcock was asked to follow up on the running quieter comment, to which he responded he wants to stretch out his roster a bit more and play four lines deep.
The coach also mentioned analytics, noting his top players ending up starting in their own zone too often last year and it might have worn them out a bit.
Insightful comments on the lessons learned from the Ryan Miller trade too. Hitchcock said it's not as big of a deal to bring in a defenseman or forward via trade in-season, but when it's a goaltender - especially one who has played in a different system for so long, as Miller did with the Sabres - it's a difficult adjustment. And it showed in some of the goals Miller allowed. Hitchcock said the lack of practice time after the Olympics didn't help either and he wishes he would have done more on-ice defensive walk-throughs to help.
More thought from Hitchcock on analytics, too.
"I think you've got to be careful that you don't get overwhelmed by it. There's good information there. I use it specifically for match-ups and I use it for chemistry. So each coach uses it differently. I use it for what I consider are good match-ups and bad match-ups and I use it - it's very helpful for me on my own in-house chemistry. So, you know, these three guys don't work well together, whereas if you put this guy with these same two guys it works well together.
"There's great analytics that can really help you there. But as far as scoring chances, and all that stuff, I don't use it that much. I want to eyeball that.
"One area that's going to come, I think every team is going to use it in the next couple of years, and that is the starting points of your players. Because there's great analytics that when certain players start in certain situations, on the ice, faceoff dot-wise, they have very - a higher level of success or a higher level of failure. And I think that's information you can get and that's very helpful in how you place your players on the ice, when you put them out, and what their success ratio is. So I think that's the part of analytics that it wouldn't surprise me in the next couple of years everybody is using."
York University psychology professor Gordon Flett spoke with Toronto Star writer Kevin McGran, wondering what sort of impact a coaching staff with a softer disposition might have on the Leafs.
“If you’re getting the pressure to be perfect, you’re going to more concerned about making mistakes, and highly focused on the possibility of making them, or not being able to forget them,” says Flett, who studies perfectionism as it relates to sports.
“You get to be self-doubting . . . It could account for times when a team like the Leafs don’t seem very resilient when things go bad. If you get criticized on top of it, it gets to be an overwhelming focus on the negative.
“You need people with expectancies, but who can be supportive in a positive way and realize that nobody is perfect.”
Sean Monahan recalls facing off against Sam Bennett in the OHL. Now the two have become teammates for the Calgary Flames.
"It was his first year playing against me as a rookie, and he was always giving little chops and stuff," Monahan noted, via The Sun’s Wes Gilbertson. "He's a little pest, but he's got a lot of skill and he plays with heart, and I think that's what you want in a hockey player.
"He competes hard. I think he's going to be a great addition to our team."
The Journal’s Joanne Ireland notes the Edmonton Oilers signed defenceman Jeff Petry to a one-year, $3.075 million contract on Monday. He’ll be eligible to become an unrestricted free agent next summer and has already been the subject of trade speculation.
“It’s part of the business,” Petry said of the rumblings. “But I don’t read too much into them. You just don’t even know where they are coming from, so I won’t worry about it unless something happens.”
Anton Thun, the agent for Dave Bolland, was on Prime Time Sports Monday afternoon. Bolland signed a five-year, $27.5 million pact with the Florida Panthers and Thun wanted to clear the air on misinformation floating around in the media.
"The way it works in today's world, unfortunately, because of Twitter and leaks that happen out there is I'm getting communications from media people based on what they believe the Leafs offers are going to be before I get anything from the Leafs. It's a strange world in today's internet age how the media ends up being managed by franchises."
Thun also had some interesting comments about his perception of why players (not Bolland) may not want to play for the Leafs.
ICYMI over the weekend, Jacob Markstrom asked the Vancouver Canucks to trade him once they signed Ryan Miller. The team has looked into it and, according to The Province's Jason Botchford, there is interest from at least three teams.
“That situation could work itself out over the summer,” GM Jim Benning said. “The teams that are interested may have to move out another guy.
“We’re exploring that for Jacob. But if that doesn’t happen, Jacob comes to camp. He has a good attitude. He understands the situation.
“Look at Minnesota last year. They went through about five goalies.”
OTTAWA - The Ottawa Senators announced today that General Manager and President of Hockey Operations Bryan Murray has been recently diagnosed with cancer. The Senators organization issued the following statement:
“Mr. Murray is undergoing further testing and will begin treatment immediately for this condition as prescribed by the team’s doctors in collaboration with specialists.
Mr. Murray’s treatment schedule may require him to be away from the Senators office periodically. During his periodic absence, assistant general managers Pierre Dorion and Randy Lee will be responsible for managing the Ottawa Senators hockey operations department.
On behalf of the entire Senators family, the team is asking that the thoughts, prayers and support of the entire hockey community are with Bryan and his family.
The Senators and Mr. Murray ask that you please respect his family’s privacy during this time.
There will be no further comment from the Senators organization.”
Good read from The Post-Dispatch's Jeremy Rutherford on the St. Louis Blues opting to take Vladimir Sobotka to arbitration, along with the intricacies involved.
Star Tribune scribe Michael Russo confirms the Minnesota Wild will be bringing forward Cody Almond back into the fold. He has been playing in Switzerland and had actually just recently signed a new five-year pact to stay there.
The Edmonton Journal’s Joanne Ireland outlines the military-style overnight trek arranged for the Oilers prospect orientation camp on the weekend, which was put together by Andrew Ference and Staff Sargeant Lucas Carr, a U.S. Army Ranger.
“It’s about working as a team under duress,” said Carr. “You need skill and intestinal fortitude to play in the NHL.”
Ference noted, “It’s pretty much the full meal deal. It’s not a little camping trip. If guys are going to complain after one night, well, every one of these guys has done six to nine months straight, with people actually shooting at them.
“If you can’t handle one night of it, what are you going to do in the playoffs when the plane is delayed and you’re only getting four hours of sleep? Or if you’re in the last minute and you’re down by a couple of goals? It’s always about pressure. And the pressures we have to deal with are pretty small.”
The Province’s Ben Kuzma reflects on the fact that Vancouver Canucks newcomer Radim Vrbata and mainstay Alex Burrows used to be teammates back in the Q. Burrows knows the positive qualities Vrabta can bring to the table, and is also looking forward to a clean slate.
“I’m really excited because it’s a fresh start for everyone and you want a team where everybody pushes each other to be better and compete for jobs,” said Burrows. “It’s going to be interesting. I want to show what I can do and log some good minutes and start having some good games.
“For me at this point of my career, it’s about winning games and getting to the playoffs. We’re in a tough division and a tough conference, but if we can stay healthy and have 20 guys buying into Willie’s game plan and get good goaltending, you can compete with the best teams in the West.”
The Tribune-Review’s Josh Yohe points out that the six UFAs signed by Pittsburgh Penguins GM Jim Rutherford were each given a single-year deal.
“For right now,” Rutherford said, “I find that I'm very comfortable in dealing with one-year contracts.”
Each player will be his own case in terms of length of a deal, but the GM likes the roster flexibility.
“The fact is that we don't know where the cap is going,” Rutherford said. “So this puts us in a strong position going forward.”
The Sun’s Wes Gilbertson outlines how part of the Calgary Flames’ depth up the middle in the prospect pipeline includes Mark Jankowski, who was drafted a few summers ago as a longer-term project.
“You look at him now from where he was two years ago, you can see there’s still a lot of boy in him, but he’s continuing to get stronger. He’s developing. He’s maturing,” Treliving said Sunday.
“Listen, I saw Mark play the last couple of years. You look at him now, when he fills out, he’s pushing 6-foot-4. Skill … hockey sense — that’s a great combination.
“So we’re going to be patient with him. I don’t think anything has changed from when he was drafted. He’s going to take some time, but I think there’s some great tools there to work with.”
Very cool story from Scott Cruickshank of The Herald, looking at new Calgary Flames development coach Troy Crowder and how he’s become a skate guru of sorts, including how his customization helped high-end prospect Aaron Ekblad.
“My brain’s always trying to figure out puzzles . . . it was kind of a game in my head, you know?” Crowder says. “People who know me — people back home — they always knew I was that kind of guy. Thinking outside the box. Looking at things differently.
“The average Joe would just think that I was a tough-guy goon, dragging my knuckles on the ground, right?”
The Philadelphia Inquirer's Sam Carchidi looks ahead to the coming season for the Flyers, including taking a stab at potential line combinations.
Raffl-Giroux-Voracek/ Lecavalier-Schenn-Simmonds/ Umberger-Couturier-Read/ Bellemare or Akeson/ Laughton-Rinaldo.
The Tampa Tribune's Erik Erlendsson relays how well Lightning prospect Anthony DeAngelo has looked at the team's summer development camp.
“He’s a guy that controls the game from the back end and can really skate and can really move the puck,’’ Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman said. “I think your first impression of him, the way he wears his equipment, the way he skates, and he’s a right-handed shot, it’s a good comparison to Dan Boyle. I don’t know if he’s going to turn into Dan Boyle, but we’d be thrilled if he did. But that’s who he reminds me of and the style of game that he has.’’