CAROLINA HURRICANES NEWS CLIPPINGS August 10, 2018 - NHL.com
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CAROLINA HURRICANES
NEWS CLIPPINGS • August 10, 2018
The Full 60: Jaccob Slavin
Catching up with the Canes' defenseman CH.com: You look at what the Hurricanes have done this
offseason, upgrades on the defense. What's it going to be
By Michael Smith like to play with guys like Dougie Hamilton and Calvin de
Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin dropped by Haan?
the second week of the teams' summer youth hockey camps Slavin: I think it's going to be awesome. I think the guys we
at Raleigh Center Ice last Thursday, and we had the chance brought in are very skilled and very talented, and hopefully
to catch up with him. we're able to all buy into the same system and the same
Let's set the table for our chat before going "the full 60" with mentality starting the year off. The guys we lost, I wish them
the Canes' blue liner. the best. I'm going to miss them for sure. They were great
guys, but I think the new guys coming in are going to be
CarolinaHurricanes.com: How's your summer been? awesome, as well.
Jaccob Slavin: My summer's been good. It's been really CH.com: You've had Rod Brind'Amour as an assistant
good. My wife and I have been here in Raleigh for most of it. coach, and now you get to have him as a head coach. What
We've just been hanging out, doing a lot of church stuff with do you think he's going to bring behind the bench?
a lot of friends we've made through there. We have made a
couple trips back home to see her family and back home to Slavin: He's such an outstanding guy. I think he's going to
see my family, but the majority of it has been spent here. bring a sense of work ethic, like his game when he played.
He's going to expect that out of us every single night and
First Period: Summer Workouts every single practice and expect it to be 110 percent all the
CH.com: The workouts you've been doing with Bill Burniston, time, never taking a shift off or a night off. Having that
you did that last year as well, right? mentality from the top down is going to be a big influence on
our team.
Slavin: Yeah, I've been here the past three summers now.
CH.com: This team has made some progress over the past
CH.com: So, are you guys in a sort of rhythm now? few years. Do you feel like it's close and the pieces are there
in order to get back to the playoffs?
Slavin: Yeah, absolutely. I love Billy. It's fun being here with
him this summer. He's got his new place up in North Raleigh, Slavin: I definitely think so. I think the offseason moves have
so that's nice. A little more space. We've been having a lot of helped. I think the pieces are there to make that push this
fun there. Working on speed, working on strength, just trying year and make that jump this year, to not just be a borderline
to get ready for the season.2018 team but to be in the playoffs. We want to go deep in the
playoffs, and we'll see what we can do.
CH.com: What's it been like working with Scott
Darling, Valentin Zykov, Cam Ward, just having those guys Third Period: Another Slavin in the NHL
around all working toward similar goals?
CH.com: Your brother, Josiah, was drafted into the NHL this
Slavin: It's a lot of fun. Last summer it was just me here in summer.
Raleigh for the most part. Wardo and I worked out at
different times last summer. This summer, having those guys Slavin: Yeah, that's awesome. I was really excited for Jo.
in there and being able to get some good workouts in and Seventh round to Chicago, and I know he was ecstatic about
have some friendly competition always makes it more fun. it. I know he did really, really well at their development camp,
It's been good to see them working hard and knowing that as well. (Joel) Quenneville went on to say that Jo was one of
they're putting in work, too, getting ready for the season. the main ones that really impressed him throughout the
camp. Just to give Josiah that confidence going into his last
CH.com: What are you personally hoping to accomplish this year of junior is huge for him. Then he's following to CC
summer heading into the season? (Colorado College) like I did. I'm just excited to see where life
and his career takes him. I hope one day we get to play
Slavin: For myself, just putting on a little bit of weight to be
together. He's coming out tonight for a while, so he'll be here
stronger in the corners and stronger in front of the net. That's
with me for the next two weeks.
my big thing.
CH.com: Nice. Are you going to train together?
Second Period: New Faces on the Blue Line
CAROLINA HURRICANES
NEWS CLIPPINGS • August 10, 2018
Slavin: Yeah, we'll work out and skate together and Slavin: We did a 40-day fast in a bible study we were doing,
everything. It will be fun to have him out here, and my other so I was off of everything for 40 days.
little brother is coming out as well, but he's only 13, so he's
got some years ahead of him before he's even draft-able. CH.com: That was probably refreshing.
CH.com: What was Josiah's draft day like? Slavin: It was. It was very refreshing. But I'd probably say, I
like Instagram a lot. Twitter's not bad, either. I don't really
Slavin: My wife and I were in Charlotte. I was trying to follow use Facebook anymore.
the draft as best I could online. Jo was actually on the ice
when he got the call. Or actually, no, he was not on the ice CH.com: I don't either. At development camp, I think every
when he got the call - he was getting undressed. He opened kid had Twitter or Instagram, but none of them had
up his phone and was like, "Oh, no congratulatory texts or Facebook.
anything. Guess it didn't happen. That's OK." Then he got Slavin: If I had to go for my favorite, I think I'd say Snapchat.
the call from his advisor saying, "Hey! Did you see what I love Snapchat. The filters you can put on, I think they're
happened?" Then all the texts started pouring in. He was funny.
pumped, and I was pumped for him. I think I was probably
more excited for him than he was. It was awesome. It was a 2. Favorite thing to do in the summer?
good day for him. Slavin: I think my favorite thing to do during the summer, it
CH.com: What can you tell him about the journey and what it doesn't happen much, but when I can get her out on the
takes to get to the NHL? course, I love golfing with my wife. But she's not as big of a
golf fan as I am, so that's a bummer.
Slavin: I think the biggest thing he needs to look at - and I
think he understands it - is that, fourth round, seventh round, CH.com: Who's better at golf?
first round, it doesn't matter. He's just got to continue to work Slavin: [whispers] I am. She can hit the ball really well. We
hard. He has the right mindset. He's putting God first and golfed back in Colorado with my family, and she drove the
putting it into his hands. I know that's his mindset going into green on a par 4, 227 yards.
things and into each game, so I'm proud of him for that. As
long as he continues to work hard - that's his game, the work CH.com: Nice!
ethic and being a reliable player at both ends of the ice - I
Slavin: Yeah, she ended up getting a par that hole. We've
think he's going to go places. I'm not worried about him. I'm
got a good scoring system for her. If she gets par or better,
excited to see where he'll be at in five years.
we'll write down the score. If not, if she finishes the hole, she
Overtime: Officer Slavin gets a smiley face, and if she doesn't finish the hole, she
gets a frowny face.
CH.com: And your older brother …
CH.com: That's perfect.
Slavin: Yeah, my oldest brother (Justin Slavin), he just got
sworn in as a police officer when I was back home in Slavin: It always keeps her motivated.
Colorado. That's really exciting for him. I'm excited to see
CH.com: I would get a ton of frowny faces.
how he does at it. I know he's been working hard for that.
3. Favorite restaurant in Raleigh?
CH.com: Was that a career path he wanted to follow?
Slavin: Oh, there are a lot of good ones I like. I'll give you my
Slavin: Yes and no. He always wanted to be a strength
top three or four. I love Cowfish. I love Firebirds, even though
coach and physical trainer. It's hard business to make it in.
it's not necessarily just a Raleigh restaurant. We love Gonza.
You've got to put in a lot of time and a lot of effort. He had
I think to top off the list, we love Sola Coffee Café.
some doors close on him, and this door opened for him.
Once he realized what he was getting himself into, I think he CH.com: You mention Gonza. Eddie Lack had his signature
got more excited as he was going through the academy. I taco there. If you were to make a signature taco, what would
know he's excited about it and thrilled about it, being an you put on it?
officer in the town we grew up in.
Slavin: I love their carnitas tacos, but what I typically get
CH.com: In Colorado? there is the burrito and switch out the chicken or steak for the
carnitas. So, I'd make a carnitas burrito, and then probably
Slavin: Erie, Colorado. It should be fun for him. I know he
put some queso in there.
has some training to do still.
CH.com: That sounds delicious.
Shootout
Slavin: It's so good.
1. Favorite social media platform? You haven't been on it too
much this summer.CAROLINA HURRICANES
NEWS CLIPPINGS • August 10, 2018
Hurricanes ready for Traverse City NHL Prospects Tournament
By Peter Koutroumpis All teams competing in the eight-team tournament hosted by
the Detroit Red Wings organization will be comprised of
RALEIGH, N.C. – The Carolina Hurricanes announced on drafted players and signees, as well as amateur tryout
Wednesday the team’s roster for the 2018 NHL Prospects invitees.
Tournament that will take place at Center Ice Arena in
Traverse City, Mich., Sept. 7-11. A limited number of players with prior professional
experience – in no case more than one full season – are
Traverse City NHL Prospects Tournament: Schedule/Live eligible to compete.
Stats
With round-robin play taking place in two divisional groups,
The Hurricanes lineup will include first-round draft picks Carolina’s competition in the Gordie Howe Division
Andrei Svechnikov (2018, 2nd overall), Martin Necas (2017, begins Fri., Sept. 7, at 3:30 p.m. against the St. Louis Blues,
12th overall), Jake Bean (2016, 13th overall), and Julien followed by games against Chicago (Sept. 8 – 3 p.m.) and
Gauthier (2016, 21st overall)among 11 total of the team’s Columbus (Sept. 10 – 7 p.m.).
recent picks.
Along with teams from the Ted Lindsay Division, all teams
Other higher-profile prospects acquired via trade or free will play a final game on Tues., Sept. 11 to determine final
agency who will participate include selection Cliff Pu (Buffalo tournament ranking.
Sabres), Aleksi Saarela (New York Rangers), and free-agent
signee Michael Fora. Carolina won the event in 2009 and 2016, finished third
in 2017, fourth in 2014 and 2015, and placed sixth in 2013.
Mike Vellucci, Hurricanes assistant general manager and
head coach of the American Hockey League (AHL) Charlotte
Checkers will assume head coaching duties.
Cam Ward’s Carolina Hurricanes legacy defines an era for the franchise
Through highs and lows, the Canes’ most accomplished 1. Ron Francis, 16
goaltender saw it all in his 13 seasons with the franchise.
That’s it. That’s the list.
By Brian LeBlanc
Two hundred seventy-two goaltenders have played at least
“Have Fun.” one NHL game since Ward made his debut on opening night
of the 2005-06 season. Of those, 267 played fewer than
Cam Ward writes those words on every stick he plays with. Ward’s 668 games. The only four with more: Henrik
He has them inscribed on his mask. Sage advice from his Lundqvist, Roberto Luongo, Ryan Miller and Marc-Andre
father early in his junior hockey career, the phrase is less Fleury.
mantra than reminder that the game is just that.
Ward is the only goaltender in franchise history to win 300
For 13 seasons Ward wrote those words on his sticks as a games. He holds the club record for both games played and
member of the Carolina Hurricanes. If Eric Staal was the wins, more than doubling second-place Arturs Irbe’s totals in
Hurricanes’ identity, as I said in this space when he was each category. Among qualifying goalies, only Trevor
traded two years ago, then Ward was the Hurricanes’ Kidd, Anton Khudobin and Kevin Weekes top Ward’s .909
standard-bearer. In those 13 years, Ward was as career save percentage. They combined for seven total
synonymous with his team’s net as Martin Brodeur, his idol seasons with the team. Ward has six years on them by
and frequent playoff adversary, was with the New Jersey himself.
Devils’. As Ward went, so went the Hurricanes, to
improbable highs and the lowest of lows. Although Staal was drafted a year later and immediately
claimed a spot on the roster, Ward’s selection with the
A list of the players who spent more than Ward’s 13 seasons penultimate choice in the first round of the 2002 NHL
with the Hurricanes franchise, including the years in Hartford, Draft marked a watershed moment. For only the second time
makes for some remarkably light reading. Here now, we in franchise history, and the first time since the Whalers had
present that list: drafted Jean-Sebastien Giguere in 1995, the team spent aCAROLINA HURRICANES
NEWS CLIPPINGS • August 10, 2018
first round pick on a goaltender. They didn’t miss with He even scored a goal. (Really!)
Giguere, an eventual Conn Smythe Trophy winner in his own
right who was traded for Gary Roberts in the summer of But, as so often was the case, as Ward went, so went the
1997. They couldn’t miss with Ward, either. Hurricanes. Even in the larger narrative of those solid
numbers, the start of the 2009-10 season was a nightmare
They didn’t. for Ward. He began the season 2-9-3 with a sub-.900 save
percentage, and then the bad season turned horrifying.
Ward spent two more seasons with WHL Red Deer before
turning professional and joining the Lowell Lock Monsters in November 7, 2009, was the night I covered my first
2004, just in time for the lockout that wiped out the NHL Hurricanes road game, in Columbus. Midway through the
season that year. Lowell was stacked with young talent, first period, the Canes watched in horror as Ward’s leg was
including Staal, Mike Commodore, Chuck Kobasew, Chad cut by the skate of Blue Jackets captain Rick Nash, sending
LaRose and Mark Giordano, and the team’s 100-point him to the hospital and causing him to miss a month of
season ended in a second round playoff upset to action. I will never forget the silence that permeated the
Providence. But it was another future teammate, Michael Hurricanes’ locker room that night.
Leighton, that provided the foil for perhaps the most bizarre
moment of Ward’s career. By the time Ward returned to the ice in December, the
season was already a lost cause. An upper-body injury late
On December 11, 2004, a group of Hurricanes fans traveled in the season only served to hasten the inevitable, and
north to Norfolk to watch the Lock Monsters face the Norfolk despite Ward posting a .931 after returning, the Canes could
Admirals. They were treated to a 5-1 Lowell win that almost never recover.
no one remembers, because the game also featured a line
brawl that saw Ward and Leighton square off: So what did Ward do as an encore? He turned in the best
season of his career the next year. With 37 wins, a career-
It wasn’t the only time Ward would show aggression best .923 save percentage and nearly 23 goals saved above
simmering beneath his otherwise placid exterior. Those league average, Ward did everything he could to help the
sticks with “Have Fun” on them were summarily destroyed at Canes return to the playoffs, ultimately falling one game
times when playing goal for the Hurricanes was anything but. short. On a team where Jay Harrison played 20 minutes a
night and no player came within 25 points of Eric Staal’s 70,
Twitter Ads info and privacy Ward’s standout performance nearly singlehandedly kept the
Twitter Ads info and privacy Canes in the playoff conversation.
Twitter Ads info and privacy As far back as the 2012 offseason, when the Canes brought
Dan Ellis to town to back Ward up, there was an
And when players got too close to him, especially if their understanding that the workload that Ward had shouldered
name was Patric Hornqvist, Ward boiled over. over the previous four seasons was untenable. But with the
When Ward reached the NHL in 2005, he earned the start in exception of Anton Khudobinwrestling the starting job away
the season opener, just in time to see the Tampa Bay from Ward late in the 2013-14 season, the team always
Lightning lift their 2004 Stanley Cup championship banner needed to turn back to Ward. Rightly or wrongly, he was
that had been delayed a year by the lockout. Two nights perceived as the least bad option.
later, he was scheduled to have the night off, but then Martin It wore Ward down, and it wore the fanbase down. For years
Gerber suffered an injury and Ward was pressed into action the complaint was the same: if Ward could play backup’s
against the Pittsburgh Penguins and their rookie minutes, he’d be fine. Yet he was never able to do that, first
sensation, Sidney Crosby. being thrown into a 1A/1B setup with Ellis, Khudobin
By now, you know the story. In the Hurricanes’ first-ever or Eddie Lack that inevitably ended in Ward being
shootout, Ward stopped Mario Lemieux, Ziggy Palffy designated the 1A, then finally being named the
and Crosby, earning his first NHL win. It was the start of a unquestioned backup behind Scott Darling. And when
magical season that ended with Ward, again pressed into Darling went south, who was left to turn to?
service in relief of Gerber, becoming the first rookie By the end of the 2017-18 season, it had reached a breaking
goaltender since Patrick Roy to win both the Conn Smythe point. The Hurricanes couldn’t afford to move on from
Trophy and the Stanley Cup. Darling. They weren’t about to hand the starter’s crease back
Just as soon as Ward was handed the reins and made the to Ward. So off he went to Chicago after 13 seasons, and
unquestioned starter, though, he fell back to Earth. His while it’s fair to say he shoulders some blame for what that
regular-season numbers in the Cup year were never great, had happened up to that point, his departure was less a
and it took him four years to get his skates underneath him in commentary on his play and more a realization that there
the grind of an NHL season. But finally, in 2008-09, was simply not a fit on the Canes’ roster for him anymore.
everything came together. While Ward had moments of fleeting wizardry in the years
The four-season stretch from 2008 to 2012 was Ward’s peak since 2012, they were few and far between. But in that four-
with the Hurricanes. 60% of his starts were quality starts over season stretch, Ward certainly lived up to his first-round
those four years. He played nearly every night. He caught pedigree.
fire in 2009, backstopping the Canes to the Eastern But the story of Cam Ward doesn’t end with statistics, and it
Conference Final after a pair of seven-game series wins over doesn’t end with destroying sticks, and it certainly doesn’t
New Jersey and Boston. end with an uneasy parting of the ways after spending moreCAROLINA HURRICANES
NEWS CLIPPINGS • August 10, 2018
than a third of his life in North Carolina. An intensely private Ward, also a prodigious oenophile, teamed up with his
man who strove to keep his personal life separate from his teammate Tim Gleason to establish the Vineyard 36 winery,
hockey career, Ward’s interests outside the rink were varied and if you’re into wine the way Ward is and signed up for the
but no less influential than any number of players with more winery’s mailing list, you might just get an email from the
public personas. man every so often.
Ward and his wife Cody purchased a suite at PNC Arena in Ward’s career is far from Hall of Fame caliber. But it is
2006, and began a program of honoring and recognizing almost certain that he will be the final player in Hurricanes
nonprofits that serve people with disabilities through sports. history to wear number 30 - that is, until Nolan, himself a
Thousands of people benefitted from the Wards’ generosity, goaltender who wears his dad’s number, finds his way onto
and “Cam’s Champs” was an in-game fixture for twelve the Hurricanes’ roster. Similar to a fellow Stanley Cup
seasons, in particular spotlighting various Special Olympics champion, Glen Wesley, Cam Ward’s Hurricanes career is
chapters. one of longevity, moments of brilliance and a sustained
period of above-average play standing out as highlights of
It was an ironic twist, for a player who devoted his off-the-ice the franchise’s second-longest serving player. Wesley’s
time to the special needs population, when Cam and Cody’s number hangs in the PNC Arena rafters, and one day Ward’s
son, Nolan, was born deaf in 2010. Ward talked about his will likely join it.
son’s journey in a memorable 2016 Players’ Tribune article,
and shared the ice with him as the starter of the game in His dad’s advice was wise indeed. In so many ways, both on
February of 2018, on a night Ward was honored for his 300th and off the ice, Cam Ward ends his Hurricanes career having
career victory. Like so many before him, Ward became a had fun.
family man in his time in North Carolina, raising two children
here and repeatedly referring to Raleigh as home. It will be
no surprise to see him back here when his career is over.
Canes Revisionist History: Brooks Orpik never breaks Erik Cole’s neck
Sticking with the theme of things that could’ve changed Cole was extremely lucky to not be paralyzed and even
2006, where would the Canes have ended up barring the luckier that he did not need to have surgery. Instead Cole
dirty Orpik hit? wore a brace for weeks until he was medically cleared to
remove it in a clandestine meeting with a Colorado doctor
By Cody Hagan that was kept quiet from everyone. At this point it was now
Today we take a look at a defining moment in the magical May and the Hurricanes were thick in to the Stanley Cup
2005-2006 season, a fairy tale return that many pinpoint as a playoffs. Had the Hurricanes exited the playoffs any earlier
major reason why the Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup. Cole’s season would have been over. Instead, as fate would
have it, the Hurricanes kept playing until the very last day
Erik Cole returned to the Canes’ lineup in Game 6 against possible in June 2006.
the Edmonton Oilers just 11 weeks after having his neck
broken by Brooks Orpik. Cole’s return, while ineffective that With the team up three games to two and heading back to
night, is looked at by many as the extra willpower that Edmonton with a chance to bring home the Cup, Cole
pushed the Canes to that all so memorable victory in game mysteriously traveled with the team and up until the very last
seven. But what would have happened if Orpik never minute nobody knew he would play. Yet Cole suited up and
slammed a defenseless Cole into the boards in March of took the ice, giving the Canes a massive emotional boost. As
2006? we all know it helped very little in Game 6, but his presence
on home ice in Game 7 may have been that final boost of
What Happened energy the players, fans, and the entire city of Raleigh
On March 4th, 2006 the Carolina Hurricanes traveled to needed to help bring home Lord Stanley.
Pittsburgh to face a Penguins team mired in mediocrity. The So that’s how it all went down - but what if Orpik had never
game meant nothing to the Penguins and everything to the hit Cole on that March night?
soaring Hurricanes who were on the cusp of winning the
Southeast Division. With roughly 14:44 left to go in the third The Alternate Version
period Erik Cole took the puck in to the Penguins end and Had Brooks Orpik never laid that vicious hit on Erik Cole one
skated to the boards in an attempt to keep the puck. Brooks has to believe the Hurricanes would have gone on to still win
Orpik followed #26 to the boards and absolutely buried a the Southeast Division. Cole was one of the top scorers on
defenseless Cole face first in to the boards. The hit landed the team at the time of the injury (he finished 5th in points
Orpik a three game suspension back in 2006, but would even after only playing 60 games). But here is where the
likely warrant much longer in today's NHL. water gets murky.
Laying there unable to move, Cole was eventually helped off Having never had to go through the trauma of watching your
the ice by Canes trainer Pete Friesen. He was diagnosed teammate have his neck broken and having to live with that
with two fractured vertebrae and would miss rest of the every day, the Hurricanes still go down 2-0 to Montreal in
regular season - and his hockey career was hanging in the round one. The team would quietly bow out in five games
balance. ending their season. The tragic accident that never
happened was never there as inspiration when the teamCAROLINA HURRICANES
NEWS CLIPPINGS • August 10, 2018
faced adversity. The team faced little adversity all season but the Hurricanes are never treated to such memories as
since Cole never went down and therefore was not prepared the Miracle Finnish in 2009.
to deal with it in the playoffs.
Ultimately, Cole eventually signs elsewhere but not nearly for
As a result of this the Hurricanes would never win the as big of a deal as Montreal actually gave him. As for the
Stanley Cup. Canes? My guess is they would have actually made the
playoffs at least once if not multiple times in later years,
Meanwhile, Cole would never go on to score more than 50 mostly through better draft picks facilitating an earlier rebuild.
points and his career would have taken a different trajectory.
The motivation of having to come back and prove yourself So all in all they would not have a nine-year playoff drought
after such an injury never occurs. Therefore Cole is never on their resume, but they also would not have won the
sent to Edmonton in exchange for Joni Pitkanen. Not only Stanley Cup in 2006.
does this mean Pitkanen never faces his career ending injury
Dellow: The Skinner trade return was pretty reasonable — but what does it mean for
Ottawa?
By Tyler Dellow to be awfully tight with them. Last year’s trade deadline saw
the following first round picks moved:
Last week, the Carolina Hurricanes traded Jeff Skinner to the
Buffalo Sabres in exchange for prospect Cliff Pu, a second • Pittsburgh’s 2018 first round pick, a 2019 third
round pick in 2019 and third and sixth round picks in 2020. round pick, Ian Cole and Filip Gustavsson to Ottawa
Somewhat to my surprise, reaction to the trade was strongly for Derick Brassard and Ottawa’s 2018 third round
unfavourable. To me, it seemed like the Hurricanes moving pick (Brassard was signed for another year as well).
out an expensive player who wasn’t really in their plans for
the future and getting a pretty standard return. To a lot of • Boston’s 2018 first round pick, a seventh round pick
other people, it seemed to be Carolina moving out a player in 2019, Ryan Spooner, Ryan Lindgren and Matt
who consistently put up goals and points on a team that Beleskey (at half of his $3.8-million cap hit) for
struggled to score, at a time when they’re trying to contend pending UFA Rick Nash from the Rangers.
for the playoffs and not getting very much. It’s an interesting
trade that kind of underlines a point about the market for • Tampa’s 2018 first round pick in 2018 and a
players without much time left on their deals: regardless of conditional first round pick in 2018 or 2019, Brett
how good they are, you aren’t getting anything remotely Howden, Libor Hajek and Vladislav Namestnikov for
close to that player in return. Ryan McDonagh (signed through 2018-19) and JT
Miller (a pending restricted free agent).
If Skinner had been moved at the trade deadline, the return
would likely have been similar. Looking back at rental players • Nashville’s first and fourth round picks in 2018 and
who were dealt at the trade deadline recently, they simply Victor Ejdsell for Ryan Hartman (pending restricted
don’t bring the return that they did twenty years ago. A free agent) and a 2018 fifth round pick.
reasonable expectation for the Buffalo 2019 second round
• Winnipeg’s 2018 or 2019 first round pick, Erik Foley
pick is that it falls somewhere between 32 and 47. Whatever
and a conditional fourth round pick in 2020 for Paul
you think about the Sabres — Toronto, Tampa Bay and
Stastny (pending UFA).
Boston are clearly miles ahead of them. I’d suggest that
Florida is as well, which leaves one to ask whether it’s • A conditional first or second round pick in 2019 or a
realistic to expect Buffalo to be better than the fifth best team first round pick in 2020 and a conditional fourth
in the Metro Division. If not, that pick falls somewhere in the round pick in 2020 or a third round pick in 2019 and
first half of the second round. Danny O’Regan for Evander Kane, a pending UFA.
You can probably say the same thing about the third round • A 2018 first round pick, a 2019 second round pick
pick in 2020, albeit with somewhat less certainty, given that and a third round pick in 2021 from Vegas to Detroit
it’s another year into the future and things do happen. A for Tomas Tatar (signed through 2020-21).
quick poll of my Twitter followers suggests that the crowd
doesn’t expect Buffalo to make the playoffs then either. It’s hard not to notice that these tended to be deals involving
They’re in a tough division. players with longer periods of control for the acquiring team,
centres and defencemen. In the case of the Nash deal, the
People get fixated on picking a guy on Friday night instead of Rangers ate some bad money too. You could make an
Saturday morning but the difference between a late first argument that Skinner should have returned something
round pick and an early second round pick isn’t much. similar to Kane but all Buffalo got for him was a pick that
There’s no guarantee that Carolina could have obtained a could turn into a first round selection if the Sharks extended
late first for Skinner at the deadline anyway —looking at him. The Tatar package is certainly better than what Carolina
recent trades involving first round picks, teams have tendedCAROLINA HURRICANES
NEWS CLIPPINGS • August 10, 2018
received but Tatar came with three more years of team the playoffs but went on big runs. Those teams were all
control at fixed salary. obviously better than their seeding but it doesn’t really
matter. General managers tell fans (and maybe owners and
The 2017 trade deadline was similar. Martin Hanzal, a even themselves) that if they can just get in to the playoffs,
centre, returned a package that included a first round pick. they have a chance. It’s not really true but you can sell it.
Minnesota’s owner was grousing about the deal a few
months later. Kevin Shattenkirk went to Washington in As a result, teams tend to be moving players with very little
exchange for a package that included Washington’s first time left on their contracts in situations where the player is
round pick and a conditional pick tied to the Capitals having unlikely to be a difference maker in winning a Stanley Cup.
success or re-signing him, neither of which happened. In It’s hard for any one player to make that difference in hockey
2016, the only first round pick that moved at the deadline and even Jeff Skinner’s biggest fans would be unlikely to
was as part of a package for Andrew Ladd. argue that he’s that player. Even if it’s a player like Artemi
Panarin or Erik Karlsson, the return’s going to feel
You can’t reasonably say that the Hurricanes should have underwhelming.
expected to get more than they got now at the trade deadline
if they moved him then. They might have gotten a first round The frustrating thing for teams in this situation is that it’s hard
pick but it would be surprising if the expected value was to see a way out of it. Karlsson would presumably have been
significantly different than what Buffalo gave up now. Worse traded already if Ottawa could find a way to get something
for their owner (although it’s quite reasonable for nobody more than draft picks in the mid-first round or later and non-A
else to care), if they were moving him at the trade deadline, prospects for him. The Panarin situation in Columbus is
they’d have spent another $4.5 million on him without it similar to the Skinner situation, except that Columbus
having done anything to move the needle on a playoff run. probably views making the playoffs as a necessity, Panarin’s
a better player and they’d like to keep him. They won’t get
To me, that’s what this really boils down to from Carolina’s current value approaching his value though, so it’s a choice
perspective. Was it worth spending $4.5 million for whatever between hampering their chances in the short term or letting
gains you might expect Jeff Skinner to provide over 60 Panarin leave after the season.
games? Leaving aside the question of whether Skinner’s a
guy whose value is less than his boxcar stats suggest, I can Ottawa’s actually in a somewhat more interesting position
see the argument that it’s not. This is particularly true given than the typical team with expiring contracts because they
that holding him would have come with risk of injury (maybe could market their three expiring contracts as a package. If
you end up paying him and get nothing) and that Carolina’s you could make the argument that Matt Duchene, Karlsson
not really expecting to contend for the Stanley Cup this year, and Mark Stone can turn a good team into a real Stanley
whatever they might say publicly. If they make the playoffs, Cup contender, that team could justify giving up more than
great. If not, well, it’s a year of experience for Martin Necas usually moves at the deadline or more than those players
and Andrei Svechnikov. If you look at this strictly in terms of might return individually. That might be a way for Ottawa to
winning the Stanley Cup, Carolina moved closer with this escape the hard truth about returns at the trade deadline.
deal. Maybe the picks will pan out, maybe they won’t, but
there’s a chance. In most cases though, the only obvious way out of the trap of
a return built around, at best, a late first round pick is to be
There’s a larger point here. NHL teams that aren’t realistic more aggressive in making decisions about players, like the
contenders probably hold on to players for too long if they New York Islanders did in trading Travis Hamonic with term
define success as winning the Stanley Cup. The problem is left on his contract. Carolina’s window to get a better
that success is a blurry thing in hockey. For marketing package for Skinner closed a long time ago. Last week’s
reasons, teams love to point to teams like the 2012 Los trade was a decision to accept that before spending another
Angeles Kings or 2017 Nashville Predators, or, going back a $4.5 million and needlessly carrying risk for another six
little bit further, the 2006 Edmonton Oilers, that barely made months.CAROLINA HURRICANES
NEWS CLIPPINGS • August 10, 2018
Techno 'Brass Bonanza' among picks in fan vote for Hurricanes goal song
Field narrowed to eight finalists, including Led Zeppelin, Zeppelin's "Rock and Roll," Avicii's "The Nights," and Muse's
Petey Pablo "Uprising."
There's an election happening in North Carolina this summer And you can't have a vote on a North Carolina-based party
that promises to rock the people to their very core. song without Petey Pablo's "Raise Up." Is it North Carolina's
state song? No. Should it be? Absolutely.
The Carolina Hurricanes need a new goal song, and they're
leaving it up to a fan vote. And before you think this is some You don't have to be a Carolina fan to weigh in, but you do
frivolous contest with an obvious winner, get a load of the have to place your vote on the Hurricanes website.
nominees.
The site contains handy audio files that let you hear each
In their effort to mix old with new, there's a Techno mix of choice in context following the goal call, crowd cheering, goal
"Brass Bonanza," the beloved Hartford Whalers' goal song. horn, announcement and signature "Woo! Woo! Woo!"
Then there are popular hits, including House of Pain's "Jump
Around," Nirvana's "Lithium," DMX's "Party Up," Led Every vote counts, so make your voice heard by 11:59 p.m.
ET on Monday
TODAY’S LINKS
https://www.nhl.com/hurricanes/news/jaccob-slavin-interview-q-and-a/c-299717756
http://trianglesportsnet.com/carolina-hockey-network/hurricanes-ready-for-traverse-city-nhl-prospects-tournament/
https://www.canescountry.com/2018/8/9/17669192/cam-ward-tribute-carolina-hurricanes-chicago-blackhawks-stanley-cup-conn-smythe-trophy
https://www.canescountry.com/2018/8/9/17669106/carolina-hurricanes-revisionist-history-brooks-orpik-erik-cole-broken-neck-pittsburgh-penguins
https://theathletic.com/462565/2018/08/09/dellow-skinner-trade-return-reasonable/
https://www.nhl.com/news/techno-brass-bonanza-among-picks-for-carolina-hurricanes-goal-song-vote/c-299724916
1102855 Websites How could any self-respecting sportswriter, particularly one born and
raised in Edmonton, part with that tiny cassette simply labelled: “The
Trade.”
Sportsnet.ca / The Gretzky Trade: A day that shook Edmonton's sporting Full disclosure: It was not recorded live at the Molson House, the venue
foundation where Wayne Gretzky famously broke down, admitting, “I told Mess I
wouldn’t do this.” No, I was a junior reporter at the Edmonton Journal,
told to stay back at the office and work the phones.
Mark Spector | @sportsnetspec August 9, 2018, 10:21 AM
So instead I called Walter Gretzky at the house in Brantford, as was my
assignment, and informed him that his son had been traded to Los
Angeles.
This column was originally published on the 25th anniversary of the
Gretzky trade. “You sure about that?” Walter said.
The micro-cassette still sits in my desk drawer, though we’re not sure we “I’d better be,” I thought, before saying, “Well, the press conference goes
still possess the micro-cassette recorder to play it on. in a couple of hours.”CAROLINA HURRICANES
NEWS CLIPPINGS • August 10, 2018
Each week, Jeff Blair and Stephen Brunt tackle the most impactful stories nearly every hockey fan in the game, and the Oilers were a travelling
in the world of sports and their intersection with popular culture. Come for road show that did for this smallish Northern Alberta city what no travel
the sports; stay for the storytelling and cigars. board could dream of.
He might have known of the deal, but Walter played it like he’d never Soon, he would be coming through town with a divisional rival, dressed in
heard anything or the sort. “How could I be informing him about The black and silver. And for every Oilers fan, it must have truly sucked.
Trade?” I thought. Then again, nothing went the way it was supposed to
go that August day, a day that was a blur on so many levels. “We really didn’t know how to react the first time we played against
Wayne,” remembers MacTavish. “I remember Kevin (Lowe) … taking a
Not because it was the most impactful trade possibly in the history of vicious run at him, and that kind of set the tone on the mentality going
hockey, but more because it was pure heresy to trade the best player in forward, on how we were going to deal with (Gretzky).
the world.
“It was at that point I really felt from a player’s perspective that there was
Edmonton had won four Stanley Cups in the past five years; Gretzky was a separation between Wayne the friend and Wayne the L.A. King.”
the best player on earth, the first-line centre on the previous summer’s
Canada Cup. He’d won seven Art Ross Trophies in a row, and only lost Wayne Gretzky would not win another Stanley Cup after leaving
the 1987-88 race by 19 points to Mario Lemieux, only because Gretzky Edmonton. Obviously, Edmonton would never have another player like
played 13 less games than Mario. He had won the Hart Trophy eight No. 99.
straight times, where no one else had ever won it more than four straight It was, alas, a deal that hurt both sides.
times (Gordie Howe and Phil Esposito).
Sportsnet.ca LOADED: 08.10.2018
Gretzky was king. Why on earth would anyone want to make him a King?
It was the day that shook Edmonton’s sporting foundation, a moment that
changed the course of the franchise abruptly. Within years the Oilers 1102856 Websites
were an also-ran without a chance. Peter Pocklington sold Gretzky; Glen
Sather recouped enough actual players to help win one last Cup in 1990,
and by 1993, the Oilers fell off the edge of the earth. Sportsnet.ca / Gretzky talks Olympics, growing the game in China and
summer hockey
No Gretzky, soon no Messier, no Kurri, no Fuhr… No chance. Outside of
one fluky run in 2006, the franchise has never recovered.
But to understand the impact that Aug. 8, 1988 had on this city, you have Mark Spector | @sportsnetspec August 8, 2018, 8:25 PM
to recall what 1988 was like. There was no Internet for the masses, no
Twitter. Nobody had a cell phone yet, and in fact, as reporters dispatched
for Molson House and the early afternoon news conference, I for one
EDMONTON — Wayne Gretzky may be retired from playing, but when it
was still naïve enough to wonder if somehow it was all a hoax.
comes to Olympic participation, teaching the game in China, or Canadian
“It was back in an era where there wasn’t much technology, and the kids and summer hockey, he’s still got strong opinions.
media wasn’t breaking all the stories. It was a pretty well kept coup, from
Gretzky met with the media Wednesday at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup in
what I remember,” said Craig MacTavish, a third-line centre on that 1988
Edmonton, where he was peppered with questions on a slow day in the
Oilers team. “Quite a shocking time, for not just Edmontonians and the
hockey world. We put them together here, one day short of the 30th
Edmonton Oilers players, but for the entire country.”
anniversary of his trade (read: sale) from Edmonton to the Los Angeles
Former Edmonton Oilers owner Peter Pocklington and his company face Kings back in 1988.
new securities charges in the United States. The Securities and
That topic, ironically, was the one subject he didn’t much care to speak at
Exchange Commission has charged Pocklington, his medical device
length on. Here is the conversation:
company and others with defrauding investors by hiding his previous
charges and misappropriating investor funds. Pocklington is seen making On the death of Stan Mikita:
his way to the 1984 Stanley Cup Reunion media availability in Edmonton
on Wednesday, October 8, 2014. (Jason Franson/CP) Wayne Gretzky: Obviously it’s a sad day for his family, teammates,
people that knew him and obviously the fans in Chicago. He was one of
Former Edmonton Oilers owner Peter Pocklington. (Jason Franson/CP) my dad’s favourite players, so the very first game I played, the first face-
off I got to go against Stan Mikita, so I thought that was pretty cool.
There wasn’t a person in Edmonton who didn’t think owner Peter
Pocklington wasn’t capable of selling Gretzky at some point, as the Oilers He just was a special guy and not too many guys in the game of hockey
longtime owner was The Grinch incarnate. Once considered a flashy have had the most penalty minutes and then won the Lady Byng
entrepreneur, if you lived here, by 1988 you knew that Pocklington was [Memorial Trophy], and then won the scoring race and the Hart Trophy,
forever being chased for unpaid debts, real or perceived. so good on him. He was great for our sport and he was innovative and
was probably a big part to bringing the curved stick to hockey today. But
He was ruthless in business, as the bitter, six-month long Gainers strike
most importantly, he was very much liked by his teammates and had a
had proven. Peter Puck had the gall of 10 men, accepting a $55 million
tremendous family.
loan from the Alberta government of the day to help save Gainers, then
walking away from the meat packing plant within three years. Thursday is the 30th anniversary of the trade to L.A. Your thoughts?
But Gretzky was different. Gretzky: It’s for other people to talk about. I don’t really talk about it
much. It happened, it’s part of life, it’s part of history. It seems like it was
No. 99 wasn’t Pocklington’s to sell, was he? Gretzky belonged to
10 years and then 25 years and here we are at 30 years. In 35 years I’m
Edmonton where he’d shown up during the World Hockey Association
sure I’ll probably get asked the same question.
days, and Sather had shrewdly shielded The Great One from the
National Hockey League’s Draconian expansion draft. What does the China ambassador job entail?
There was just one other thing an Edmontonian could say that his city (Gretzky was announced Wednesday as the global ambassador for
possessed that was better than anything anyone else had of the sort, and Kunlun Red Star of the KHL. He and his son Ty will open two hockey
that was a stupid mall. Gretzky actually made Oilers fans the envy of schools in China).CAROLINA HURRICANES
NEWS CLIPPINGS • August 10, 2018
Gretzky: We’ve been working on this for close to two years. The Chinese When I finished playing hockey, in mid-April usually, I threw my bag in
people and the Chinese business community have really rallied around the basement and I didn’t get it back until after Labour Day. I didn’t skate
ice hockey because they’re hosting the 2022 Winter Olympics, so they in the summertime. I didn’t go to hockey schools — my family couldn’t
really want to have a good showing and they’ve built these academies. afford it, to be honest — so I played baseball and lacrosse. I think they
They have one in Canada and one in the United States. helped my hockey career, and the other thing was, when I came back in
September I was fresh and excited to play again because I hadn’t skated
So we’re going to go over, my son and I, we’re going to do a little hockey for three or four months.
academy there and we’re going to see about building ice rinks in China.
And it turns out there will be an NHL game (Calgary vs. Boston) when (Even as a pro), by not skating in the off-season, I was always a lot
we’re there, so we’ll get to see a game. It’ll be a fun trip. I’ve never been fresher in January and February.
to China. I’m looking forward to it and it should be a lot of fun.
Did you pattern yourself after Stan Mikita at all?
It’s an untapped market…
Gretzky: No, I couldn’t wear the helmet. It looked too heavy. And the stick
Gretzky: The Chinese people have really rallied around hockey. had too big of a curve. I played golf with him a couple of times and he
Somebody told me that last year, Pittsburgh and Nashville had 36 million was one of the great golfers, as a hockey player. Like, a one handicap. I
people in China that watched Game 6. So it shows you the size of the played with him in Chicago at Medinah one year. I must have shot close
market in China is pretty amazing. So, good on the NHL for realizing that, to 100 and I think he had 71 or 72. It was pretty embarrassing.
and they’ve stepped in. They’re really trying to put a bit of an imprint of
our game and our sport in China and it just helps make our game bigger. What’s it like going to a major golf tournament now, when Dustin
Johnson is your daughter’s significant other?
Los Angeles Kings Wayne Gretzky
Gretzky: It’s interesting. He’s very serious, very focused. I just try to stay
You were credited with spreading hockey’s gospel through the South out of his way … especially the night before. You don’t really want to talk
when you were traded to L.A. Is this the same thing, but in China? a lot, and just focus on what you’re doing. He has his routine.
Gretzky: No. This is great for hockey, it’s a good business transaction for It’s strange for me to see him, when he plays in the afternoon he works
me and my family — my son runs hockey camps and this will really be a out for two hours in the morning. But that’s his routine and he sticks to it.
great experience for him. But one person doesn’t make the game, one
person doesn’t sell the game. It takes everyone. Ryan Dixon and Rory Boylen go deep on pucks with a mix of facts and
fun, leaning on a varied group of hockey voices to give their take on the
The sport makes the player, the player doesn’t make the sport. country’s most beloved game.
Are you in favour of the NHL participating in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Tell us about your relationship with Ivan Hlinka.
Beijing?
Gretzky: Well, I played against him a bit and then I got to know him at the
Gretzky: I’ve made no secret that I believe the players should be at the ’98 Olympics, where he stole our gold medal (laughing). Losing is so gut-
Olympics. I think it’s special, I think it rallies the country, the players love wrenching, especially at that level. But it was unreal for hockey when the
to play in it … Hopefully they can come to an agreement, the league and Czechs won that gold medal … and he was a huge part of that, as their
the union, and we can get the best players back into the Olympics. coach.
Can this arrangement you have in China create an environment that the What advice would you give to the kids playing at this tournament?
players union and league can not say no to?
Gretzky: You just don’t know, at 16 and 17, who is going to be… You’ve
Gretzky: I don’t know about that — that’s up for the union and the players got the Lemieux’s and Crosby’s who are can’t-miss guys. Then you’ve
and the commissioner to make that decision. That’s not for me. I don’t got guys who come along in the second or third round and become Hall
have all the answers to all that sort of stuff. That’s between the union and of Famers. So, I would give them the same advice that Gordie Howe
Mr. Bettman. gave me: You’ve got to be the hardest working player every night. Work
hard, good things happen. And guys who love the game the most work
I’ve made no secret, I think it’s great for guys like Connor (McDavid) and the hardest and put the time in.
(Leon) Draisaitl playing in the Olympics. It was great for me, it was great
for Sidney [Crosby]. I’d love to see those kids get that chance. It’s not a big secret why guys like Mark Messier and Paul Coffey are in
the Hall of Fame. Because they loved to play. The bigger the game, the
What about the Hlinka Gretzky Cup? Is there an education process for more excited they got, the better they played.
the fans?
I met with the kids before Game 1 and said, “This is something you’ll
Gretzky: Listen, I played in ’77 at the World Junior. We had 1,200 people never forget. Work hard, and you’ll love it.”
in the Montreal Forum. Now, look at a World Junior when Canada plays
— you have 17,000 people. So it isn’t going to happen over night. This is What about Canadian star Alexis Lafreniere?
a nice hockey town and a great sports city.
Gretzky: That kid is pretty good, isn’t he? He reminds me of Gilbert
The Canadian team … I am very impressed with their size, skill and Perreault. He can skate, handle the puck … I said to someone, “I think
speed. This is a stepping stone. Two years from now, (crowds) will be he’s going to be a centre in the NHL,” and they said, “No, he’s a left
better and better. winger.” I said, “One of the best centres ever (Messier) played the wing
for three years. He didn’t have any problem moving into the middle.”
Bobby Orr recently said he thought that too many Canadian kids played
hockey year-round. What are your thoughts on summer hockey? He’s just around the puck so much. When you have that much puck
sense, that much speed, I can see him being a centreman at the next
Gretzky: I’m a big believer in Bobby Orr. I’ve said (the same thing) for a level.
lot of years. When I was 12, 13, 14, I played baseball, lacrosse, track and
field … I think all those sports helped me to be a better hockey player. I Sportsnet.ca LOADED: 08.10.2018
think there’s an unfair balance. Some kids can’t afford to play all year
round, and they think they get left behind. That’s not true. By playing
soccer, lacrosse, those sports help their hockey. 1102857 WebsitesCAROLINA HURRICANES
NEWS CLIPPINGS • August 10, 2018
Sportsnet.ca / Maple Leafs' Dermott thrilled by Tavares, 'awesome' GM “Oh, it’s awesome. That guy’s been great to me the whole time I’ve been
Dubas with the Leafs organization,” Dermott says. “He cares more on a personal
side than I’ve seen before with a GM. He really cares about you as a
person and your relationships and your life — all that before hockey.
Luke Fox | @lukefoxjukebox August 9, 2018, 1:00 PM “Hockey comes second to him. He cares about you as a person first, and
that’s great to see. That’s a guy you can relate to more than anyone else,
really—a guy that cares about you genuinely, not just what you bring to
Few, if any, can lay claim to experiencing what Travis Dermott did in the the team. Having him around will be great for the team. And just for
spring of 2018. myself, having him around, there’ll be a comfort level. I’m used to having
him around. He’s an easy guy to talk to.”
Within a matter of weeks, the Toronto defenceman had not just one but
the two greatest professional hockey seasons of his 21 years culminate Travis Dermott is a Calder Cup Champion
in bittersweet Game 7s. pic.twitter.com/6DP1CXOm6O
First came the Maple Leafs’ blow up in Boston, in which the puck- — Flintor (@TheFlintor) June 15, 2018
pushing visitors seized three separate leads and still fumbled away their
Round 1 elimination game 7-4. Dermott scored his first-ever playoff goal The Leafs have been careful with their 2015 34th-overall pick. Coach
in that game, a beautiful single-effort play that involved winning a battle Mike Babcock likes his prospects to arrive “overripe” so they stick. So
at the blue line after having his initial attempt blocked, kicking the puck to despite Dermott’s impressive performance during 2017’s preseason, he
his blade and ripping a wrister through traffic and past Tuukka Rask. needed to wait another half-season to break through. Once called up,
however, his fixture in the lineup looked undeniable. Despite hopping into
At the time, it knotted the game at three and set the stage for Kasperi the league mid-stream, the rookie put up 13 points in 37 games, and his
Kapanen’s second-period go-ahead goal. Boston’s four unanswered possession metrics (54.5% Corsi at even-strength) made the reddit
goals in the third, however, made it all moot. For all of Toronto’s boards drool.
defensive gaffes in that one, Dermott actually finished plus-1 but was
only used 11 minutes and 20 seconds. “I was really impressed with Dermy in training camp,” says ex-Leaf
Dominic Moore, who invited Dermott to his Smashfest event earlier this
Seven weeks later came the AHL Marlies’ run to the city’s first pro month. “I didn’t really know much about him, but once I saw him, man,
hockey championship in 51 years. Once the Leafs cleaned out their he’s really agile and plays a pretty aggressive style for a D-men.
lockers, Dermott was loaned back to the farm team for the playoff push,
but a nagging injury prevented the top-pair from dressing for “He had some growing pains at times, as you would expect from any
championship Game 7 versus the Texas Stars. defenceman, but he’s a great athlete, and he’ll continue to get better.
He’s a really good player, and he’s got a great attitude in terms of he
Opting not to participate in the biggest game of his life, Dermott says, wants to be a difference-maker.”
was the most difficult decision of his career. A decisive 6-1 victory,
however, quickly eased his mind. In order to become that, however, the left-shot Dermott must take a
couple minutes from a 2017-18 top-four workhorse like Jake Gardiner —
“It was tough. You go into that with the little injury that I had and you’re who topped all Toronto D-men in ice time (22:32) and is one of the few
kinda thinking, ‘If I wanted to gut it out, I could.’ But I didn’t know if I core Leafs signed before the Shanaplan — or play more shifts on the
trusted myself with how much I could handle,” Dermott says. right side.
“So I put all the reins in [Andrew] Nielsen’s hands, and he did good. He Despite his knack for the net, Dermott averaged just 35 seconds of
helped the boys out in Game 7, and they pulled through seamlessly — as power-play time per night, although it’s difficult to make a case against
you could see by the score. It was a tough decision to make, but once Morgan Rielly and Gardiner since each are coming off career 52-point
the boys got up a couple, it was like, ‘All right, that was the right choice.’ seasons.
Especially when you’re raising the Cup, you realize, yeah, you miss out
on one game, but it’s worth it. If we’d lost and I didn’t play that much, I Entering the fray this September will be righty prospect Justin Holl. The
would’ve felt pretty guilty.” late-blooming 26-year-old shone in the Marlies run and scores in every
NHL game he plays. With trusted veteran Roman Polak signing in Dallas,
Dermott threw on a sweater, slapped on a winner’s cap, stepped on the it says here that Holl is about to battle Connor Carrick for the right side
ice to party with his pals, looked at a camera and delivered the best on the third pairing.
celebratory quote of the night. Watch, please:
“Can Holl crack the roster this fall?” we ask Dermott.
Three days after the champagne dried was Father’s Day, so Dermott
stole a few hours with the Cup “for my dad,” the first person he reached “I’m not the guy that makes that decision, but I’ve played with him a fair
out to on that cold January day he discovered he’d made the show. amount. I know he’s an unreal defenceman, very skilled. He’s very
determined to get where he wants to get in life. He’s a real smart guy,”
Then Dermott and his girlfriend jetted to Mexico for a couples getaway Dermott replies.
with Cup-winning goal-scorer Mason Marchmant and his better half. “It
was warm there by the time we were done playoffs here,” Dermott “I’d hang out with him even if he didn’t know what hockey was. He’s just
smiles. ALSO: He always smiles. that kinda guy you want to be around. He makes you feel better about
yourself. In a hockey aspect, he’s a guy you want on your team. When
The nimble, offensive-minded defenceman was at his parents’ home on the time matters, he’s the best he can be. He’s someone I’d want on my
July 1. Not unlike the rest of Leafs Nation, he was magnetized to his team. Going forward, we’ll see what spots are available, but I’ve love to
smartphone, monitoring the John Tavares sweepstakes. have him.”
“I got four notifications right away from Sportsnet apps or whatever. I was Healthy, refreshed and enthused by what’s to come, Dermott is back
like, ‘Wow!’ I don’t think many people expected it, but it’s a great addition, training daily at MasterCard Centre, the club’s practice facility, pushing
obviously,” says Dermott, who’s faced Tavares twice and is hoping never himself toward his first full season in the bigs.
again. “He’s such a great captain.”
“Just getting back into the groove of things,” he smiles. “Trying to get
The installation of the Tavares wooer, 32-year-old Kyle Dubas, as Maple better each day.”
Leafs GM draws an even more enthusiastic response from the young
player. Championships — yes, farm-level ones — bind. Sportsnet.ca LOADED: 08.10.2018You can also read
