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Snapshots: Round Two And World Championships

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The NHL is expected to wait on the result of Game Seven tomorrow night between the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs before announcing a full schedule for the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. However, they have at least put an end to the wait on the dates and times of the series openers. No one is more relieved than the Vegas Golden Knights, who have already been inactive for a week after sweeping the Los Angeles Kings. The Knights will host the San Jose Sharks, also fresh off a sweep of the Anaheim Ducks, at 10 PM ET on Thursday, April 26th. The second round will kick off earlier that evening with the third-straight postseason collision between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals. With their Metropolitan Division rivals out of the way, that series will get underway in Washington at 7 PM ET on Thursday. Friday night, the 27th, will feature the much-anticipated match-up between the Nashville Predators and Winnipeg Jets, the top two teams in the NHL in the regular season. That series starts in Nashville at 8 PM ET on Friday. Finally, the Tampa Bay Lightning await the winner of Bruins-Maple Leafs and the decision also affects when their second round begins on Saturday, the 28th. If the Bruins win on Wednesday night, they’ll travel to Tampa for a 3 PM ET puck drop, but if the Leafs pull off the comeback and take the series, they’ll take the ice against the Lightning later in the day at 8 PM ET. Stay tuned for more Round Two schedule updates in the next 36 hours or so.

  • Meanwhile, the “consolation playoffs”, the IIHF World Championships, will begin in Denmark on May 4th and teams continue to add talent from those NHL teams who have been eliminated from the postseason. Insider Juha Hiitela adds another name to the list, confirming that Minnesota Wild forward Mikael Granlund will suit up for Finland at the tournament. Granlund scored at the highest clip of his career in 2017-18, recording 67 points in 77 games, including a career-high 46 assists. He added another three points in Minnesota’s first round playoff series versus Winnipeg, but the Wild were outmatched by the Jets and fell in five games. Now, Granlund will have a chance to return to the World Championships, where last he scored 12 points in 10 games to lead Finland to a second-place finish.
  • However, Hiitela adds that New Jersey Devils top defenseman Sami Vatanen will not be joining Granlund in Denmark. Per Hiitela, Vatanen suffered a concussion in the Devils opening series against the Tampa Bay Lightning. This adds some clarity to the recent situation in which Vatanen missed most of Game Four and all of the deciding Game Five with an undisclosed upper-body injury. Just as he was missed by New Jersey, he’ll be missed by Finland at the World Championships. This would have been the first appearance at the tournament for the five-year NHL veteran.

Retired Official To Join Situation Room For Goaltender Interference Reviews

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7:30PM: The NHLPA has worked quickly to review the proposed changes. The Competition Committee announced this evening that they have approved the “NHL General Managers Recommended Change to Rule 78.7(ii) Governing Coach’s Challenges for Goaltender Interference”. The Committee, made up of members Mike Cammalleri, Ron Hainsey, Kevin Shattenkirk, Cory Schneider and Daniel Winnik, was joined by other players in making this decision. Players’ Association executive and long-time NHLer Mathieu Schneider stressed that “first and foremost, the players want consistency in the application of the rule”. The last remaining step in the process is for the recommendation to be approved by the NHL’s Board of Governors. At this rate, the rule change could be made by the end of the week.

10:30AM: The league knew something had to be done about the goaltender interference problem, and today at the GMs meetings in Florida Gary Bettman announced that a retired official will join the situation room in Toronto to determine the call on interference reviews. This announcement, as reported by several sources including Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, comes pending approval from the Competition Committee and Board of Governors.

Though the league demonstrated that there hasn’t been considerably more challenges this season than those the last few years, the decisions have come under much greater scrutiny. Weekly there is a decision that is met with ire from fans of a certain team, and coverage was only increased when the league admitted they would be instructing their officials to call things differently after the All-Star break.

Now things seem to be taken out of the on-ice officials’ hands, as the league will make the decisions themselves—though one can suspect they will consult the game referees. Still, theoretically it should provide some more consistency to the calls at the very least. As Darren Dreger of TSN points out, the league could eventually move to the same system they have for offside reviews, in which a team receives a minor penalty if they challenge and get it wrong.

Frank Seravalli of TSN believes that the six referee supervisors will be the ones who rotate through the situation room, listing Don Koharski, Paul Devorski, Rob Shick, Mick McGeough and Don Van Massenhoven as potential options, while Greg Wyshynski of ESPN adds Bill McCreary and Director of Officiating Stephen Walkom.

Snapshots: Gustavsson, Stamkos, Global Series

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The Ottawa Senators have been focused on adding young players to their organization lately, and one of the most important names is Filip Gustavsson. The 19-year old goaltender was the main piece coming back for Derick Brassard at the trade deadline, and today the team announced that they’ve finished the paperwork required to bring him to North America.

Gustavsson will join the Belleville Senators this week, and the team could give him an opportunity right away. The baby Senators have just 19 regulation or overtime wins this season, and are well out of a playoff spot with 11 games remaining. Though there isn’t much to look forward for fans of the franchise, Gustavsson’s arrival is a shining light.

  • Steven Stamkos has been fined $5,000 (the maximum amount) for a “dangerous trip” of Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly last night. Though that amount may not seem like very much to a player earning $9.5MM this season, every incident of supplementary discipline is added to his record for future events. Stamkos was also fined earlier this year for unsportsmanlike conduct when he squirted water from the bench.
  • The NHL announced today that tickets to the 2018 Global Series are already sold out. The games will include matches in Finland, Sweden, Switzerland and Germany, in an attempt to continue growing the game and the NHL brand around the world. With these events proving successful so far, the future of the Series seems safe.

Goaltender Interference Dominates GM Meetings

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The NHL General Managers are currently at their yearly meetup in Boca Raton, Florida, and the agenda is filled with discussions on how to make the game better and more appealing to fans. Goaltender interference reviews were one of the biggest issues heading into the meetings, and one brought up today in a long discussion behind closed doors. Out of that meeting, several reports surfaced that the general consensus was to work towards centralizing the decision making to a league office or war room, though Chris Johnston of Sportsnet adds that no final decisions have been made.

Interestingly though, Emily Kaplan of ESPN tweets that NHL Executive VP Colin Campbell believes there is a growing problem with goaltender embellishment and that it is being coached into them. Notably, Frederik Andersen was fined earlier this season for embellishment after his second such incident, though he has since been free of supplementary discipline.

If goaltenders are being coached to react to contact, it may be partially due to the fact that the review process has been so inconsistent up to this point. Players and coaches have actively spoken out against the decisions, explaining that no one knows the rules or how they will be enforced. The meetings are meant to correct some of this process, but obviously there are various viewpoints including the one held by Campbell. Reviews already underwent a change at the All-Star break, when officials were instructed to go with the on-ice call more often, but it didn’t quell the tide of anger and confusion felt by fans all around the league.

Bettman Addresses Seattle And Carolina

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NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman spoke to the media tonight, following the NHL Board of Governors meeting, and filled in many of the blanks regarding major league story lines in Seattle and Carolina. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman and TSN’s Pierre LeBrun were among many in attendance to run through the long list of Bettman’s answers.

Following the recent approval by the city of Seattle to build a new arena in hopes of recruiting NHL and NBA teams to the city, there has been no bigger story around the league than the possibility of another expansion franchise in the near future. The proposal included a projected cost of $660MM to construct the arena, but according to Bettman, that will be only half the cost to join the NHL. Bettman confirmed this evening that the Board of Governors has agreed that they will accept an expansion application from the Seattle group, led by billionaire businessman David Bonderman, but that the board has set the expansion fee at $650MM, which is $150MM more than what Bill Foley and the Vegas Golden Knights just recently paid. Bettman clarified that the application also does not guarantee that a team will be placed in Seattle.

However, it certainly seems like a plan is in motion, with an eye on the 2020-21 season. Bettman specifically mentioned that the Seattle group may begin a ticket drive, similar to the one that found great success in Las Vegas. He also was clear that the league would not be accepting bids from any other cities, despite concrete interest from Quebec City and Houston among others. He also says that – as of now – there are no teams that the league sees as re-location candidates. The conference balance that the Seattle market would bring, in addition to a city with hockey history, seems to make Seattle a perfect market for expansion.

Speaking of re-location, the Carolina Hurricanes aren’t going anywhere. Bettman confirmed the report that Tom Durndon has signed the purchase agreement to buy up the majority share of the  ’Canes from Peter Karmanos, but added the stern caveat that “this is not a team that will be moved.” Durndon will take on 52% of the team’s shares, with Karmanos holding on to 48% and Durndon having the option to buy the remaining shares over three years. The sale is not quite done yet, but should be in the books soon, with Durndon vowing to keep the team in Raleigh once he is in control.

NHL Considering Changes To Minor Penalties

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All 31 NHL general managers met in Montreal on Friday for the annual GM Meetings to discuss important league policies and procedures. Despite little conversation on the topic arising beforehand, Sportsnet insiders Christ Johnston and Elliotte Friedman report that one of the major issues discussed was potential changes to minor penalties, specifically the length of certain minor penalties and the length of minor penalties in overtime.

What exactly was discussed? While the league has expressed its pleasure with the cleaner game this season as a result of tighter penalty calls, it has now come to the attention of all GM’s that perhaps not all minor penalties are worthy of the same penalty. The solution debated Friday was instituting one-minute minors. Johnston reports that two-minute minor penalties in overtime, where each and every second is amplified, are perhaps too punitive in regards to a five-minute period. A one-minute minor for all minors in OT would still allow for the drawing team to have an advantage, without eliminating the scoring chance of the penalized team for nearly half of the overtime frame. Friedman continued that besides the situational OT one-minute minors, GM’s discussed cutting a pair of controversial minor penalties in half during regular time as well. Unsurprisingly, these two penalties are delay of game and face-off violation. The delay of game penalty for putting the puck over the glass has been criticized since its inception for unduly harming a team for what is almost always a pure accident. The new face-off violation penalty has also been seen as unworthy or penalty status, though the frequency of the call has dropped off substantially from the preseason to the regular season.

A change in penalty time in the overtime period would be a novel move for the NHL; something unseen in most major sports. The change in time for specific minor penalties though would not be unlike lacrosse, in which most leagues use a wide range of different penalty lengths depending on the infraction. It is an intriguing idea that is just in its infancy, but variable minor penalty times could serve to benefit the NHL.

Sale Of Carolina Hurricanes Hits A Snag

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It’s no secret that the ownership situation of the Carolina Hurricanes has been less than ideal in recent years. However, it seems current owner Peter Karmanos will hold onto the team at least for a little while longer. According to The Hockey News’ Ken Campbell, negotiations toward a sale of the team have been slowed due to financial complications.

Chuck Greenberg, a partner in the ownership group of the MLB’s Texas Rangers, has been actively pursuing a deal with Karmanos to purchase the Hurricanes. Campbell reports though that rumors had recently arisen that Greenberg had pulled out of a possible deal due to a lack of financial banking. When he reached out, Greenberg ensured Campbell that he was very much still talking to Karmanos, but that he had in fact been having issues raising sufficient funds. It is estimated that Karmanos is open to selling the team for $500MM, which is hard number for anyone to produce offhand. Take it into account the recent struggles, both in the NHL standings and in attendance numbers, for the Hurricanes and it is understandable why drumming up interest in purchasing Carolina has been somewhat of a struggle for Greenberg.

Yet, things are trending in the right direction. The Hurricanes have the longest playoff drought in the league, having last seen postseason action in 2008-09. When the ’Canes were en route to a Stanley Cup in 2005-06 though, the RBC Center was selling out. With a young core, including arguably the league’s best group of youthful defensemen, and a few top-notch prospects still to come, the future is bright. Carolina may only be 4-3-1 to start the season, but no one would be surprised if their (lack of a) postseason streak snapped this year. A few years from now, they could be a Stanley Cup contender and no one would be shocked. So, with a chance to buy low on a promising franchise, Greenberg can find a way to secure his funding if he really is serious about the transaction. Then, the Hurricanes can truly move forward, with a new ownership group at the lead.

NHL Officially Approves Rule Change For Offside Challenge

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The NHL’s Board of Governors officially approved the rule change to asses a minor penalty to any team who challenges an offside unsuccessfully. The coach will no longer require his timeout to make the challenge, but risks putting his team down a man for two minutes should he be incorrect. The offside challenge still must occur only after a goal has been scored.

While this will certainly reduce the number of challenges this season—something that fans and coaches alike can get behind—there were countless instances last year where it wasn’t obviously clear whether the player was onside or not. Those close calls will be tough to challenge as a coach, as you could both allow a goal and put your team at a disadvantage directly afterwards. Hopefully this will make only the most egregious mistakes stop the game for the referees to confirm or overturn the call.

One may worry though, that since linesmen seemed to blow fewer plays dead last year for offside knowing that they could always go back and check, it could result in goals that shouldn’t have been allowed under normal circumstances but are still too close to risk challenging. Remember, if it is blown offside but in fact shouldn’t have been, there is no way to challenge anyway.

Other than the minutia of whether or not a play is blown dead, this likely will accomplish the goal for the league of reducing the amount of lengthy delays during an NHL game. Several times last year reviews took close to ten minutes, completely changing the flow of the game and allowing viewers at home to click off to other programming. As baseball has instituted recently with the manager’s clock, review mechanics only work if they’re done in a timely fashion; otherwise, the benefit of “getting the call right” is far outweighed by the frustration of waiting for a decision to be made.

Faceoffs, Slashing & Powerplay Opportunities

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The first taste of preseason hockey the last few days has been notable for two things: injuries and penalties. While teams like the St. Louis Blues and Ottawa Senators have already had their fair share of the former, the league seems intent on increasing the latter. Through 18 preseason games so far (the boxscore for three matches is unavailable on NHL.com) teams are averaging 7.25 powerplay opportunities per game, thanks in part to the crackdown on slashing and faceoff violations.

Joe ThorntonThough part of that is due to the bigger gap in talent preseason games represent, and the league trying to show off their new stance on enforcing rules that have always technically been part of the game, this number would be monumental should it carry over to the regular season. Powerplay opportunities peaked in the first season after the lockout, when obstruction rules were put into place to speed the game up. In 2005-06, teams were afforded 5.85 powerplays per game. That resulted in some pretty spectacular totals.

In that year, a whopping seven players broke the 100-point mark, with Joe Thornton leading the way with 123. He did it on the back of 54 powerplay points, and each of the rest of the group tallied at least 40 points with the man advantage. Last year, when powerplay opportunities were at an all-time low of 2.99 per team, per game, Niklas Backstrom of the Washington Capitals led the entire league with 35 powerplay points.

While no one is expecting the league to suddenly hand out close to 15 powerplays a game, even a moderate increase will have huge effects on the league. If, suddenly players are given two or three more opportunities a game for points, the overall increase in production could have a marked effect on the contracts signed next summer.

As an example, William Nylander led the Toronto Maple Leafs with 26 powerplay points, good for 15th in the entire league. Should that total balloon to 40+ due to no other fact that he was given more opportunities, he’ll likely be looking at an 80-point season, and a huge negotiating boost next summer when he looks to cash in. In seems then, that teams who took advantage of a signing window this offseason may be rewarded in the short term. Though obviously teams will try to use even strength totals as the basis of contracts, agents will use anything they can to try and secure the best deals for their clients.

Enforcing these rules is a good thing for injury, as hopefully we’ll see less incidents like the ones concerning Marc Methot and Johnny Gaudreau this year. But make no mistake, leaning into the idea of more powerplays will have ripples throughout the structure and finances of the game.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

League Notes: Bettman, Peluso, Nassau Coliseum

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NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, along with deputy commissioner Bill Daly and Toronto Maple Leafs GM Lou Lamoriello, have been subpoenaed to testify in a worker’s compensation case brought by former NHL enforcer Mike Peluso against the New Jersey Devils, Ottawa Senators, St. Louis Blues, and Calgary Flames, according to a report by TSN’s Rick Westhead. Peluso, now 51 years old, retired from the NHL in 1998 after a nine-year career in which he recorded nearly 2000 penalty minute and was known as a fearless fighter. However, five years ago, Peluso filed a worker’s compensation claim against several of of his former teams, alleging that they breached the duty of care owed to him by insufficiently advising him of health risks and withholding key medical records during his playing time. Peluso argues that, but for this negligence, the severe head trauma that has caused his permanent disability could have been prevented. Peluso suffers from frequent seizures, early onset dementia, and overall neurological impairment that leaves him unable to work. Peluso has previously clashed with Lamoriello, the former New Jersey GM when Peluso played, and the Devils in regards to gaining access to medical records, and now seeks to depose his former general manager as well. Additionally, Peluso has filed a lawsuit  against the Devils and Blues alleging battery, intentional and/or negligent infliction of emotional distress, fraud and misrepresentation in relation to their knowledge and alleged cover up of his brain trauma.

By being subpoenaed, Bettman, Daly, and Lamoriello are now scheduled to make depositions in early November as to the role of injury reporting in the NHL and, should they refuse to show up, could be legally compelled to do so. These depositions could play a major role in the ongoing concussion issues facing the NHL, if either of these three prominent and respected executives were to admit that teams did not share information with players in a proper manner. Peluso has already turned down a $325K settlement offer and is on record as saying “I want the world to hear Bettman and Lamoriello have to answer for what they have done… so many players have been abandoned by the NHL. When you can’t promote their game anymore, if you’re not a big name or a star, they toss you aside.” Peluso seems just as motivated to expose the league as he does to recover for his medical condition and this could be the beginning of a highly publicized and heated exchange. The concussion issue has publicly plagued the National Football League for years and could soon hit the NHL in such a way.

  • Bettman has yet to comment on his subpoena, but in fairness has been dealing with another league issue that has many upset. No, not the Olympics, but the future (and past) home of the New York Islanders. Bettman recently shut down rumors of a possible Isles’ return to the Nassau Coliseum, telling Newsday’s Jim Baumbach and Steve Zipay that he doesn’t see the location as a viable option. Bettman adds that the Islanders have not yet inquired with the league whether they would be allowed to return to Nassau County or not, but Bettman’s “gut reaction” was that it would not happen. Local legislators have been doing their part to try to woo the Isles back home, but have not gotten anywhere to this point. For now, the Islanders will continue to play at Brooklyn’s Barclay’s Center, which is poorly-suited for hockey, but can opt out of their 25-year-lease without issue if they do so prior to January 30th, 2018. There has been no word as to whether the Islanders are ready to make that commitment or not, but the Newsday article does mention that plans are moving forward for the Islanders to move on from both Barclay’s and Nassau, opting instead to build a new facility near Belmont Racetrack in Queens.

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