Pittsburgh Penguins forward Michael Bunting earned praise last night from his head coach Mike Sullivan (as per Seth Rorabaugh of Tribune-Review Sports). Sullivan compared Bunting to former Penguins player Patric Hornqvist, saying that Bunting has the ability to get under the opponent’s skin.
It wasn’t that long ago that Bunting appeared to be getting under the skin of Sullivan, as the 29-year-old had just a single assist in his first 12 games this season. Bunting found himself a healthy scratch in mid-October and had to work his way out of the doghouse and back into the lineup. November wasn’t exactly a month to remember, but it did enough to quiet trade rumors as Bunting was back to his usual production, posting five goals and four assists in 14 games.
In other evening notes:
- TSN’s Pierre LeBrun tweeted that Team Canada’s 4-nations roster has been finalized and will be announced after the deadline tomorrow. LeBrun added that the final decisions were made last night and the decision on the final few roster spots was quite difficult. Team Canada already named their first six players back in June, and those names were Sidney Crosby, Cale Makar, Connor McDavid, Brad Marchand, Brayden Point and Nathan MacKinnon.
- Winnipeg Jets defenseman Ville Heinola was scratched once again today, marking the second game in a row he has sat in the press box (as per Mike McIntyre of the Winnipeg Free Press). The 23-year-old was recalled from his AHL conditioning assignment last Sunday and played twice this past week, going scoreless while averaging 13:01 in ice time per game. Logan Stanley remained in the Jets lineup today, presumably over Heinola, and struggled as he took three minor penalties against the Stars.
Let me just say, if team Canada wants to be a true problem for their Nation opponents all they have to do is put Brayden Point, Connor McDavid & Nathan MacKinnon on the same line as they would technically have the 3 fastest skaters in hockey on 1 line. Good luck trying to stop that force of nature as that would be an utter nightmare to defend.
That’s fun to think about
I think they are regretting the early nod to Marchand at this point.
Just for the record,
We went 10-2 at the end of last year when we scratched Ryan Graves.
Now, we are on a 3 game winning streak after scratching Ryan Graves.
I think we have more issues than just Ryan Graves, but…man, it speaks to just how bad this guy has been that he is singlehandedly the difference between a mediocre team losing most of it’s games vs. winning most of it’s games.
Bunting has been better, but honestly, he’s still not playing very hard, just getting a bit more puck luck. We need more from him. When your “plays with heart” guys is dogging it…no good.
There is NO comparison to Hornqvist and Bunting, LOL. Bunting is an overrated 3rd liner. As for the 4 nations NHL money grab, It’s a meaningless exhibition that absolutely nobody cares about, With the exception of true NHL fans like myself that will be denied games for two weeks.
The only thing worse than an all star weekend…..
#BoreNations
You sure told them Wilf! Now go ahead and really let them have it by paying attention and ranting about the tournament in every available forum.