If hockey is what you seek, then the past week should have been quite fulfilling for you, because there was a LOT of it to be found. What’s more, much of the hockey that was played was quite entertaining, with each game across the various elite leagues seemingly more exciting than the previous. If this past week of hockey were a GIF, it would certainly be the Vince McMahon GIF seen below.
Yes, it has been a fun week, and we at Sound Of Hockey endeavor to continue satiating your appetite for hockey enjoyment with this latest installment of Weekly One-Timers.
Is Ron Francis wheeling and dealing?
It makes sense that Seattle Kraken general manager Ron Francis would be talking to his counterparts across the NHL to gauge their varying levels of interest in consummating side deals in the lead-up to the Expansion Draft this summer. But we’ve never officially seen or heard it reported that this was happening. Well, until now, that is.
The Athletic’s Pierre Lebrun wrote this week that Francis has been fielding calls from fellow general managers in advance of the April 12 trade deadline, as they try to get a better feel for what it will cost to keep the Kraken’s tentacles off of any newly acquired players. Lebrun also reported that according to his source, Francis is asking for “a first-round pick and a prospect and maybe another piece.”
Lebrun also discusses this starting at the 3:04 mark of the below video.
So, that’s fun.
THE KRAKEN ARE WHEELIN’ AND DEALIN’! LET’S GO!
The real March Madness
Marathon game
You saw the marathon game between North Dakota and Minnesota Duluth, right? Or at least part of it? Because it went on for six hours and 12 minutes, so you had to have at least stumbled upon it while scrolling through channels at some point in your Saturday evening. In the end, it was UMD — for the fourth consecutive time — punching its ticket to the Frozen Four, while UND players looked sad.
It was just an incredible contest in every aspect with bizarre things happening throughout. Case in point, UMD’s starting goalie, Zach Stejskal, was forced out in the fifth overtime due to cramps. He was replaced by Ryan Fanti, who came in and made several huge saves after sitting on the bench for five hours. In total, 119 shots were taken, 142 minutes and 13 seconds ticked off the clock, and one record was set for the longest game in NCAA history on either the men’s or women’s side.
UMD now has a shot at its third straight NCAA title in a year that was supposed to be transitional for the Bulldogs.
Frozen Four field set
UMD will be joined in Pittsburgh by UMass, St. Cloud State, and Minnesota State.
UMass reached the final in 2019, but at that time, they had the likes of Cale Makar, John Leonard, and Mario Ferraro, all of whom are now well on their way to successful NHL careers. This is another team that largely flew under the radar this season, but got hot at the right time, earning a Hockey East postseason championship along the way. Zac Jones, a New York Rangers draft pick, and Matt Kessel, a St. Louis Blues draft pick, make up the top defense pairing, and together they are quite exceptional.
St. Cloud lost one of its best offensive players in Easton Brodzinski in the team’s regional championship against Boston College. Brodzinski broke his leg on a nasty (but clean) hit when he cut to the middle of the offensive zone. The Huskies really aren’t built around their stars, though, as they’re an experienced team that has been through the wringer.
Minnesota State may be the most intriguing story of the Frozen Four field. The Mavericks hadn’t won a single NCAA Tournament game in their history before defeating Quinnipiac in the opening round, then following that up with a convincing victory over a favored Minnesota Gophers team.
Ryan Sandelin, son of UMD head coach Scott Sandelin, scored the overtime game-winner against Quinnipiac to keep hopes alive for a father-son showdown in the NCAA title game. Goaltender Dryden McKay has had dizzying numbers over three collegiate seasons and earned a 22-save shutout over the Gophers to send his team through. He was named a Hobey Baker finalist, along with Wisconsin’s Cole Caufield and North Dakota’s Shane Pinto. Shockingly, McKay is undrafted.
The NCAA semifinals will take place on Thursday, April 8, and the final will be on Saturday, April 10.
Signing frenzy
With so many NCAA teams seeing their seasons come to crashing halts, there was a flurry of signings of high-end NHL prospects this week.
Player
Age
Old Team
New Team
Cole Caufield
19
University of Wisconsin
Montreal Canadiens
David Farrance
21
Boston University
Nashville Predators
Alex Steeves
21
Notre Dame
Toronto Maple Leafs
Matthew Boldy
19
Boston College
Minnesota Wild
Alex Newhook
19
Boston College
Colorado Avalanche
Spencer Knight
19
Boston College
Florida Panthers
Shane Pinto
19
University of North Dakota
Ottawa Senators
Cam York
19
University of Michigan
Philadelphia Flyers
Most of these players will need some seasoning in the AHL, but there’s some serious talent in the aforementioned group, so you should see at least some of them at the top level soon.
On the topic of signings, Thatcher Demko agreed to a five-year extension with the Vancouver Canucks worth $25 million, so apparently he isn’t a future Seattle Kraken after all. Bummer!
The #Canucks signed 25 y/o G Demko to 5 yr $5M Cap Hit extension:
Yr 1: $2.5M Base Yr 2: $3.5M Base, $1M Signing Bonus Yr 3: $6M Base, $1M Signing Bonus Yr 4: $6M Base Yr 5: $5M Base
The fine system is absurd. $5,000 is the most the NHL can fine a player based on the collective bargaining agreement with the NHLPA. McDavid makes $12.5 million per year. Do you know what $5,000 is to somebody who makes $12.5 million? Well, the median salary for all Americans is $31,133 according to the US Census Bureau. Fining somebody $5,000 when they have a $12.5 million salary is the same—in terms of percentage of income—as fining somebody who makes the median American salary exactly $12.44.
That oughta show ’em!
Around the boards
USA Hockey named Chicago general manager Stan Bowman and Minnesota general manager Bill Guerin as its GM and AGM respectively for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. The appointments come with a caveat that if NHL players do not end up participating, Bowman and Guerin will not lead the brain trust.
The “Fox Sports [insert your region here]” network of… networks… is no more, instead replaced by something called Bally Sports. Bally’s owns and operates casinos across the nation, so you can bet your bottom dollar (get it?) that there will be some sort of wagering-related programming and promotions coming soon to a Bally network near you. The scorebug on the newly re-branded Bally networks is obnoxiously large, so there is already plenty of space for live betting odds in regions where sports gambling is legal.
Shayne Gostisbehere was put on waivers by the Philadelphia Flyers this week. All 30 other teams passed on claiming the puck-moving defenseman, so he was assigned to the taxi squad. There was a time when we at Sound Of Hockey thought Gostisbehere could be a good fit for the Kraken. We still kind of think that, but we’re a tad more apprehensive now.
The University of St. Thomas has hired Rico Blasi as its head coach to lead the team’s transition from Division III to Division I next season, when the Tommies will join the newly re-formed CCHA. Blasi previously coached Miami University (Ohio), where he spent twenty seasons behind the bench and posted an overall record of 398–311–76.
The Canucks have Covid, and it sounds like this could be a lengthy shutdown for the team. It is not a good situation, as at least eight players have tested positive as well as at least one member of Vancouver’s staff. Here’s hoping for quick recoveries for all involved in this latest outbreak.
Yes, the 18-game winless streak is finally over after a 6-1 drubbing of the Gostisbehere-less Flyers on Wednesday.
The very next night, Jeff Skinner had a stickless breakaway. The Rangers scored shortly after the below fiasco and ultimately won this one 3-2 in overtime to sum up Buffalo’s season quite nicely.
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at Sound Of Hockey and the host, producer, and editor of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is an inconsistent beer league goalie who believes that five players have to make a mistake before the puck gets to him. Follow him on Twitter @DarrenFunBrown or email darren@soundofhockey.com.
It’s been a roller coaster of a week in the hockey world with several high points matched by equally low points. We at Sound Of Hockey are here to fill you in on anything you may have missed on this wild ride. Please ensure your safety belt is fastened, keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times, and secure your belongings. Because it’s time for another round on the high-octane thrill ride that is Weekly One-Timers.
Some good news, some very ugly news for local WHL teams
Thunderbirds dismiss two players after racial incident
We will start with the ugly and certainly more scandalous news out of the WHL. The Seattle Thunderbirds announced in a statement Thursday that two of their players have been removed from their roster following an incident in the team’s dressing room, in which they made racist comments aimed at a third player on the team.
It’s not a good situation, and I feel for the victim of the verbal abuse. It’s yet another stark reminder that hockey has a very long way to go before it can claim to be an inclusive community, which it certainly still is not.
Credit to the Thunderbirds for taking the situation seriously and invoking their zero-tolerance policy toward racism and bullying.
Dustin Wolf is good at hockey
Ok, here’s the good stuff I promised. Dustin Wolf has played three full games for the Everett Silvertips this season. He has not yet allowed a goal. The latest triumph for the 19-year-old Calgary Flames prospect came by way of a 3-0 victory over the Tri-City Americans on Wednesday, in which Wolf confidently stopped all 30 of the shots he faced.
Remember, Wolf was one of the players who was allowed to temporarily play in the AHL with the eligibility rules altered due to the ongoing pandemic. While playing for the Stockton Heat, Wolf appeared in three games. He was shellacked the first night but rebounded to allow just three combined goals in his second and third starts, returning to the WHL with a 2-1-0 professional record.
Now back in the WHL and facing shots from players more his age, Wolf looks unbeatable. The streak ties Wolf with Carter Hart for most consecutive shutouts by a Silvertips goalie and leaves him one shy of tying the league record. He now has 23 career WHL shutouts and is just three away from tying Hart and Tyson Sexsmith for the WHL career shutout record of 26.
Can Wolf come up with four more shutouts in this short 24-game season to break the all-time WHL record for career shutouts?
Tim Peel gets fired
This happened on Tuesday. Please note there is naughty language heard in the below video, so please say “Earmuffs” to any small children in the immediate vicinity before pressing the play button.
Maybe if you're a mic'd up ref, you shouldn't express how you wanted to call a penalty against a team earlier in the game, changing how you ref the rest of the game.
“What?!? How could they fire him for that? He’s just doing his job!”
“Completely unacceptable! Tim Peel shouldn’t have been fired!”
“I can’t believe the league did that!”
“This is exactly what has been happening in the NHL forever!”
Worth mentioning, none of the above quotes are real quotes from the internet, but it is a pretty fair representation of what was being said within the given timeline.
The general opinion of Sound Of Hockey on the matter is that Tim Peel got screwed. He was a veteran referee on his way to retirement after this season. He was managing the game, just like every NHL referee has done and will continue to do. His only crime was that he got caught on a hot mic verbalizing the unwritten strategies that officials employ to make sure they aren’t the ones deciding the outcomes of games.
Have you ever noticed that there are far fewer penalties called later in games? Have you ever noticed that if a team has a questionable call go against it, it tends to get the next one in its favor? Have you ever noticed that penalties are simply not called consistently in any game ever?
It’s all game management. Peel just talked about it and was heard on a broadcast, and now he’s been scapegoated.
If the league wants referees to simply call games as they see them, then it needs to identify the game-management approach as a problem and holistically re-think how it trains officials. Firing a guy just for talking about what he’s always been expected to do isn’t the answer.
Here’s a little something to remember Peel by as he rides off into the sunset in a way he certainly never expected.
In honor of the @NHL firing referee Tim Peel today for his hot mic incident, I'd like to play him off with his finest moment as an official when he took a puck to the nuts that ended up in the net pic.twitter.com/4c7PDfYEtw
The NCAA Men’s Hockey Tournament is starting Friday morning (that’s today!) at 10AM Pacific when MY WISCONSIN BADGERS take on the Bemidji State Beavers on ESPN2. Could MY WISCONSIN BADGERS follow in the enormous footsteps of the Badger women by winning another national championship for the **undisputed best school in the nation?
**Note: Asterisks indicate a heavily disputed claim.
As much as I would love to see Wisconsin win this thing (UPDATE: Wisconsin lost in the first round to Bemidji State), it’s North Dakota’s tournament to lose. But as we learn every year, anything can happen in the NCAA Tournament, and that’s what makes it such a great viewing experience.
There was supposed to be a second game played at 10AM Friday, but Notre Dame has been forced to back out of the tournament due to COVID protocols. Ironically, the Fighting Irish were only included in the field because St. Lawrence University previously had to shut down its season for the same reason. Notre Dame’s game against Boston College is considered a no-contest, so the Eagles automatically advance and will now have to win just one game to reach the Frozen Four.
Hopefully this is the last COVID-related hiccup, as this is primed to be an incredible tournament.
UPDATE: It was not the last hiccup, as Michigan has also had to back out due to a positive test. UMD automatically advances.
Here is the full bracket.
NWHL Isobel Cup Playoffs
Another big-time tournament gets underway on Friday, as the NWHL will finally finish its condensed season and award the Isobel Cup this weekend. The semifinals will be played Friday at 2PM and 5PM Pacific and the final will be played Saturday at 4PM Pacific. All games will be shown live on NBCSN.
The Boston Pride, Connecticut Whale, Minnesota Whitecaps, and Toronto Six make up the four-team field.
You Don’t See That Every Day
Goalie Goal
We have a goalie goal in the USHL! I repeat, we have a goalie goal in the USHL! This is not a drill.
Tri-City Storm netminder Todd Scott absolutely drills it, then celebrates accordingly. Yes, I am crying. It’s just so beautiful.
“We’re going to need clean-up in the Taggart box, please”
Pierre Dorion got really mad after his Ottawa Senators lost in overtime to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday and took his frustrations out on what appears to be lemonade or some other citrusy beverage.
We’re just really hoping our box gets cleaned before we can get back into it…😂 https://t.co/MAzVBUcTTE
The outburst reminded me of Cam Neely whipping his water bottle two years ago during the playoffs, and it also reminded me that I performed some video magic at that time.
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at Sound Of Hockey and the host, producer, and editor of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is an inconsistent beer league goalie who believes that five players have to make a mistake before the puck gets to him. Follow him on Twitter @DarrenFunBrown or email darren@soundofhockey.com.
It was a relatively quiet week from a Seattle Kraken perspective, but we did get a few new images of the inside of Climate Pledge Arena and the progress that is being made there.
NEW: @ClimateArena is starting to really take shape.
These pictures, via the @SeattleKraken, show how the light will shine in & how the bowl will be dramatically different than the old barn that sat here.
A personal hockey anecdote comes to mind when I look at these photos of Climate Pledge Arena. When I was a young lad, growing up playing goalie for a city called Burnsville, a suburb of Minneapolis, our closest rival was Apple Valley. One of Apple Valley’s two ice arenas was connected to its high school and had a glass façade on one end, allowing sun to freely shine through during the day. It allowed for some great natural light, no doubt a rarity in hockey arenas around the globe.
But perhaps there is a reason that most arenas do not allow for significant natural light to enter.
If you had the misfortune of tending goal during a day game at Apple Valley High School, then Godspeed to you when you played at the end that faced that façade, because you could not see a damn thing. I recall getting absolutely torched during a Saturday afternoon game in peewees and then vehemently blaming the sun in the locker room after the game. As a consolation prize for giving up nine goals that day, I at least went home with a nice tan, partially from the sun and partially from the goal light illuminating behind me so frequently.
With this torturous experience in mind, I can’t help wondering if curtains will be installed at Climate Pledge Arena, because if not, then we will likely have more of the below.
My guess is that the Kraken have thought of this for Climate Pledge Arena. The sun, after all, is the NHL’s greatest enemy as per Gary Bettman.
Oh, and also, the Kraken have been ranked higher than the Buffalo Sabres in the latest NHL power rankings produced by The Buffalo News. Movin’ on up!
31. Seattle Kraken. Bettman hopeful Opening Night in October will be in front of full house. (NR)
32. Buffalo Sabres. A circus act that deserves to be below a yet-to-start expansion team. (31)
Ralph Krueger out, Don Granato in
Speaking of Buffalo, the Sabres have fired Ralph Krueger after an abysmal start to the season and a downright impressive 12-game losing streak. When the axe finally fell, Krueger’s Sabres were 6-18-4. He becomes the sixth coach fired in Buffalo in just eight years and lasted just one and a half seasons behind the bench. It’s quite remarkable how many different tactics they’ve taken within that organization; how many different players, coaches, and managers they’ve thrown at the issue that is Sabres hockey with seemingly the same miserable result every season.
And speaking of Burnsville, Minnesota, Don Granato—a Burnsville High School alumnus—takes the job over on an interim basis. Granato had been Krueger’s assistant and frankly has paid his dues. He has coached at seemingly every level of hockey, from USHL to the National Team Development Program to college hockey to the NHL. He is the brother of Seattle Kraken pro scout Cammi Granato and University of Wisconsin men’s head coach Tony Granato.
Don Granato nearly died last year after complications from pneumonia, so one has to feel good about the guy getting a shot. Still, it will be a steep uphill battle for him because the situation in Buffalo is quite dire. Only time will tell if Granato can right that porous and listing ship, or if yet another coach will be brought in to face the same impossibilities as the previous half-dozen combatants.
Women’s Frozen Four
The first day of the NCAA Women’s Frozen Four played out on Thursday.
In the earlier of two semi-finals, Skylar Fontaine scored late in the first overtime period to give tournament favorite Northeastern a 3-2 win over Minnesota Duluth.
🚨 NORTHEASTERN GOAL 🚨
In the final minute of the first overtime…SKYLAR FONTAINE WINS IT FOR THE HUSKIES! pic.twitter.com/0nHo4il3CL
The Huskies overcame a 2-0 deficit in the contest with three unanswered goals. The win means they will play in their first ever NCAA championship game.
In the later semi-final, Wisconsin jumped out to a 3-0 lead over Ohio State. The Buckeyes made a game of it, but ultimately the Badgers came away with a 4-2 victory. Wisconsin now has a chance to win its sixth NCAA title.
Northeastern and Wisconsin were the Nos. 1 and 2 seeds entering the tournament, so this should be a fun matchup for the title. That final game will be played Saturday at 4:30PM Pacific (today!) and can be viewed nationally on ESPNU.
NWHL’s founder resigns
Dani Rylan Kearney founded the NWHL in 2015 and served as commissioner of the league until this past October. Since then, she stayed involved in an advisory role and continued serving as president of W Hockey Partners, which owns the Buffalo Beauts, Connecticut Whale, Metropolitan Riveters, and Minnesota Whitecaps. She has resigned from those remaining roles, meaning her involvement in the league that she created has now ceased.
The league didn’t give any particulars on why Rylan Kearney severed ties with the league she launched, opting to instead issue a vague press release.
The NWHL is still planning on finishing its season March 26 and 27 at Warrior Ice Arena in Brighton, Mass.
You don’t see that every day
Jamie Drysdale and Trevor Zegras each score first goal
The Anaheim Ducks have several touted prospects in their pipeline, highlighted by Trevor Zegras, the superstar of the gold-medal-winning Team USA World Junior Championship team. Zegras, 19, has been up with the Ducks for 11 games but entering Thursday’s contest against the Arizona Coyotes had been held without his first NHL marker.
That changed when the slick-mitted forward gathered a bouncing Troy Terry pass and lofted it over the outstretched pad of potential future Kraken Aiden Hill.
What was most remarkable about Zegras scoring his first NHL goal was the fact that his roommate, Jamie Drysdale, had beaten him onto the scoreboard with his first NHL goal just minutes earlier, and Drysdale also assisted on Zegras’s goal. Oh, and by the way, this was Drysdale’s first NHL game.
The New York Rangers, who frankly haven’t been great this season, hung a nine spot on the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday. You don’t see that every day. What you especially don’t see every day is a team hanging a nine spot on another NHL team when the winners do not have any of their coaching staff on the bench due to Covid-19 protocols.
Here are all nine tallies, including three from Mika Zibanajad, who doubled his season goal total in one period.
Perhaps the struggles on Broadway have been because of the guys behind the bench?
Tragedy in Russia
We at Sound Of Hockey were devastated to hear of the tragic passing of Timur Faizutdinov, a 19-year-old who was playing for Dynamo St. Petersburg’s junior team.
Faizutdinov was struck in the head by a puck during a game this week against Yaroslavl and eventually perished after several days in the hospital. The fatal blow came from an innocuous-looking dump-in from the neutral zone that apparently found its way around Faizutdinov’s helmet and hit him in exactly the wrong place.
Our thoughts are with Faizutdinov’s friends, teammates, and loved ones.
19-year-old Dynamo Saint Petersburg defenseman Timur Faizutdinov has tragically passed away.
He was in intensive care following a head injury sustained in an MHL match against Loko Yaroslavl on March 12.
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at Sound Of Hockey and the host, producer, and editor of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is an inconsistent beer league goalie who believes that five players have to make a mistake before the puck gets to him. Follow him on Twitter @DarrenFunBrown or email darren@soundofhockey.com.
From the hottest of scoops to the coldest of beers, Sound Of Hockey has all the latest news from the Seattle Kraken and beyond in this edition of Weekly One-Timers.
It’s been another week of somewhat significant stories around the hockey world, so sit back, relax, crack open a cold one if you can (it is Friday after all), and let’s get you caught up on what’s happening on and off the ice.
Seattle Kraken final NHL payment update
Sound Of Hockey has confirmed via email from a team representative that the Seattle Kraken have not yet made their final payment to the NHL.
In 2017, the Vegas Golden Knights signed their first free agent, Reid Duke, on March 6. This means that they would have submitted their final payment on or before that date. Astute readers would notice that we are now past that date, so the Kraken are behind the Vegas timeline.
Seattle can make no such signings until that final payment is made. This is notable because college and some European league seasons are ending. When the NCAA season concludes, there is always a clamoring by NHL teams to sign the best players that slipped through undrafted, so unless the Kraken complete that last transaction soon, there is a chance they could miss out on some of those prospects.
The team also cannot vote on issues brought to the league’s Board of Governors, such as whether or not to move the NHL Entry Draft, which has been discussed at length recently.
The payment will of course get made in due time, and it really is nothing to worry about for Kraken fans. As the team confirmed this is on schedule, though exactly where final payment falls on that schedule was not disclosed.
That last payment is the final milestone for the team to hit before real hockey transactions can begin.
Silver Bullets in Seattle
In my college days, I drank a lot of light beers. Miller Light, Bud Light, Busch Light, Michelob Golden Light, Milwaukee’s Best Light, Natural Light, something called Beer 30 Light… You know, good stuff!
For whatever reason, though, I was just never a huge fan of Coors Light.
My beer palate has become quite refined as I’ve aged, but my general dissatisfaction after a Coors Light—regardless of the blueness of the can’s mountains—remains in tact. So, you can imagine my dismay when the Seattle Kraken announced that they had come to an agreement with Molson Coors to make Coors Light the official domestic beer partner for both the team and Climate Pledge Arena.
Thankfully for hopheads like myself, there will be other options available at Kraken games, as Hop Valley Brewing—also a Molson Coors entity—will provide craftier options. Phew!
Read all about the deal and what it means for the gameday experience here.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I shall take a break to enjoy a refreshing and completely flavorless Natural Light, or as I like to call it, a naughty water.
Mainstream Kraken
Ok, now that I’ve been refreshed with an ice-cold naughty water, I’m ready to watch Steven A. Smith talk about the Kraken.
Aaawwwwwww Sugar Crackers! Your Boy’s about to get into Hockey. Yes! HOCKEY!!! Check me out! pic.twitter.com/8Sr4ERzTjS
In a peculiar way, this man shouting at us is why the NHL going back to ESPN is so important for the league. ESPN still has the ears and eyes of the sports fan, and the network has been doing its damnedest to make hockey disappear from the sports lexicon since the league took its talents to something called the Outdoor Life Network in 2005.
But ESPN, ABC, and the NHL announced a new seven-year deal this week. The agreement will bring 25 regular-season games back to those networks starting just in time for the Kraken’s inaugural puck drop, plus playoff games and NHL All-Star Games. Additionally, the out-of-market content we now stream from NHL.tv will be moved to ESPN+.
In all, the deal is reportedly worth $2.8 billion.
It still is not all that easy to find anything about the NHL on ESPN.com, though, so here’s hoping that changes as the self-proclaimed “worldwide leader in sports” re-embraces the game we love so dearly.
Now, give me Gary Thorne calling hockey, or give me death.
NWHL to award Isobel Cup after all
The NWHL’s Lake Placid bubble burst at the beginning of February, abruptly curbing the momentum that was building for the league. When that happened, most in the hockey world assumed that was the last we would see of the league and its players this season.
It was a good try, and the tournament gave the NWHL a nice moment in the sun, but the pandemic had won. It was time to head home and just wait it out until this COVID thing subsides, and then we can start fresh next season.
Wrong!
The league announced this week that it will still award the Isobel Cup to a champion, after four qualifying teams—the Toronto Six, Boston Pride, Minnesota Whitecaps, and Connecticut Whale—battle it out March 26 and 27 at Warrior Ice Arena in Brighton, Mass.
One of the most disappointing aspects of the bubble (or “Whubble” as it became more commonly called) bursting was that the NWHL was on the verge of having games nationally televised for the first time ever when it was forced to shut down.
These newly announced games will be carried on NBC Sports, though, giving the league and women’s hockey another opportunity to shine on a national stage. It’s fantastic news all around.
You Don’t See That Every Day
Former Tri-City Americans defenseman, Dylan Coghlan, entered Wednesday night’s game for the Golden Knights with zero career NHL goals. He left with three.
Artemi Panarin returned to the New York Rangers after a leave of absence that began on Feb. 22. The superstar forward stepped away from the team after he was accused of assaulting a young woman in 2011 during his time playing in the KHL. The unsubstantiated allegations came on the heels of Panarin expressing support for Alexei Navalny, the leader of the opposition to Vladimir Putin in Russia.
Justin Bieber wrote a “love letter” to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Please don’t tell any of my colleagues here at Sound Of Hockey, but I kind of love it.
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at Sound Of Hockey and the host, producer, and editor of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is an inconsistent beer league goalie who believes that five players have to make a mistake before the puck gets to him. Follow him on Twitter @DarrenFunBrown or email darren@soundofhockey.com.
Welcome back to another thrilling edition of Sound Of Hockey’s Weekly One-Timers, where your knowledge of current hockey events will surely be augmented every seven (or so) days. We’re happy to have you here. Let us start with the latest Seattle Kraken news, shall we?
Seattle Kraken news
A week of good deeds
It’s been a week of good deeds for our soon-to-be favorite team, as the Seattle Kraken put their weight behind the University of Alaska Anchorage’s “Save Seawolf Hockey” campaign. It is widely known that the UAA hockey program is on its last legs unless it can raise $3 million to convince the school’s Board of Regents to include the program in its budget moving forward.
The beloved @UAAHockey program at @uaanchorage is in danger of closing down, but with your help, we can help #SaveSeawolfHockey and help turn the Pacific Northwest into a college recruiting hotbed.
The Kraken pledged $200,000, but perhaps more importantly, launched a massive marketing campaign to bring awareness to the cause and to urge fans to donate.
$200K is a nice gesture, but really the main piece here is that it’s a brilliant marketing play by the Kraken, who have not been shy about wanting to include Alaska as part of their fanbase. This is an investment in the hockey community as a whole in Anchorage and beyond.
According to the Save Seawolf Hockey website, the organization has raised $1.8 million so far, but that has not been updated since Feb. 25.
The Kraken also announced that they will found an MBA program at Seattle University in partnership with the Mariners, Seahawks, Sounders, and Storm. The program focuses on helping persons of color and women gain high-ranking roles in the sports industry.
We're excited to partner with all the Seattle sports teams, @oakviewgroup & @ClimateArena to support @AlbersatSU’s new sport & entertainment MBA program which will focus on diversifying leadership within our industry.
We’ve known for quite some time that friend of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast, Everett Fitzhugh, will be the voice of the Kraken over the radio airwaves, but we have not known exactly which airwaves. That question was answered this week when Seattle announced 950 KJR as its flagship radio partner. Read all about it here.
The deal was not exactly a closely guarded secret, as we’ve seen plenty of hints over the last year or two indicating that KJR would ultimately land the rights, but this makes it official.
Sure, KJR has been known to poo-poo hockey in the past, with hosts disparaging the Key Arena renovation plan and going so far as to say they would refuse to talk about hockey on the air if the NHL were to expand to Seattle. But that’s all irrelevant now! RADIO PARTNER! WOO!
Ward out, Sutter (back) in
Darryl Sutter and his incredible facial expressions and press conferences are back!
After Geoff Ward’s Calgary Flames defeated the Ottawa Senators on Thursday, he sat before the media and said this:
"We just gotta stick with our process. … We've got to get ourselves ready again for another hard hockey game. … We're really not thinking about what's happened in the past, we're thinking about what we need to do to prepare ourselves [for] the next one."
Minutes later, the Flames announced that Ward was out as head coach and that Sutter had been hired to replace him, reportedly on a three-year contract.
This is Sutter’s fifth stint as a head coach in the NHL and second with Calgary, where he spent three seasons in the early 2000’s, including a run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2003-2004. He won two Stanley Cups at the helm of the Los Angeles Kings and holds a career record of 634-467-101.
Ward was named interim coach of the Flames after Bill Peters resigned in Nov., 2019, amidst a well-documented racism scandal. Ward’s interim tag was only removed in Sept., 2020, so he did not make it a full season as the full-time head coach. The Flames—who had high expectations after signing a bunch of former Canucks in the offseason—are 11-11-2.
I always enjoyed a good side-by-side of Sutter with Beaker from The Muppets.
This week, the Canadiens added goaltending coach Stéphane Waite to their list of recently axed employees. Waite has had a wildly successful career, winning two Stanley Cups with Chicago and spending eight seasons with the Habs, where he has guided Carey Price.
Montreal replaces Waite by promoting Sean Burke, who had been serving the team already as a goaltending consultant.
Could Waite be a candidate for the head goalie coaching job in Seattle? Absolutely. He will be a hot commodity, though, so if the Kraken want him, they will need to act quickly to get him into the fold.
Brent Seabrook retires hangs it up
Brent Seabrook, 35, has decided that his body just can’t take it anymore. After dealing with major hip and shoulder issues for years, and after battling so hard to get back to the level of play that made him central to Chicago’s three Stanley Cups, the veteran defenseman has decided it’s finally time.
In classic Blackhawk fashion, though, it’s not time for Seabrook to retire, but rather to announce he can no longer play because of injury, meaning Stan Bowman saves his cap space. But that’s neither here nor there.
Seabrook played 1,114 career games, all for the Blackhawks. He scored 103 goals and 361 assists. He unfairly became maligned in the last few years of his career for having too big of a contract, which certainly any Blackhawk fan would have rejected had they been offered such a lucrative deal.
The Blackhawks no longer have to protect Seabrook—who also had a no-movement clause in his contract—from the Seattle Kraken Expansion Draft, so they will now likely add either Nikita Zadorov or Lucas Carlsson to their protected list.
Walter Gretzky passes away
The Great One announced that his beloved father passed away this week.
It’s always thrilling to include a bit of #Minnutiae in our Weekly One-Timers. The Wild have been surprisingly pretty good and had a sniff of first place in the Honda West Division before losing two straight to the division-leading Vegas Golden Knights. In the first of those two contests, Minnesota led late, with Marc-Andre Fleury pulled for an extra skater. Zach Parise extended his shift after what he called an attempt to help teammate Marcus Foligno get an empty-netter for his first career hat trick. The Wild failed to score, and with a tired Parise still on the ice, the Golden Knights tied the game. The VGK’s ultimately won in overtime, and Parise was widely blamed by Wild faithful for the loss.
The response by coach Dean Evason was to have Parise, 36, watch the second game of the series from the pressbox. Remember, Parise is on a 13-year, $98 million contract that pays him just north of $7.5 million AAV against the salary cap. He has never been scratched since signing that deal with Minnesota in 2012 and has racked up 391 points in 532 career games for Minnesota. He has been the face of the franchise for a long time. Evason has some serious cojones.
Alex Ovechkin was fined $5,000 for spearing potential Kraken Expansion Draft selection, Trent Frederic, where the sun doesn’t shine.
If you’re going to commit a fineable offense, you might as well get your money’s worth, and one could argue that Ovi got excellent value out of that vicious poke to the nether regions.
That said, we at Sound Of Hockey sincerely hope that Frederic was wearing a protective cup and that it had not shifted out of place, as those things tend to do under hockey equipment.
Seattle Carolina Slew
Brett Pesce pulled an obvious and very dirty slew foot on Robby Fabbri. Pesce was also fined $5,000—again, might as well get your money’s worth—for his actions, which we at SOH believe sets a bit of a dangerous precedent.
Brett Pesce with a blatant slew-foot on Robby Fabbri. A bad/dangerous play that led to the Wings taking a 2-1 lead on the power play. pic.twitter.com/B4znhCK2YS
The slew foot is one play that makes every hockey player particularly angry because of the potential serious damage it can cause. Fabbri was lucky to not get injured on this play.
Blichfeld suspended
Former Portland Winterhawk Joachim Blichfeld was given a match penalty Wednesday and was subsequently suspended two additional games for his hit to the head of Nathan MacKinnon.
This was just the fourth NHL game of Blichfeld’s career and first this season. Oopsy daisy. Sounds like MacKinnon is fine.
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at Sound Of Hockey and the host, producer, and editor of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is an inconsistent beer league goalie who believes that five players have to make a mistake before the puck gets to him. Follow him on Twitter @DarrenFunBrown or email darren@soundofhockey.com.
It has been another relatively quiet week on the Seattle Kraken front, and around the Seattle sports scene in general there has been practically no news or semblance of significant controversy [slams door just in time to fend off barrage of rotten vegetables, daggers, and pitchforks].
There have been some major bombshells heard from around the rest of the hockey world, though, so those will be the focus of this edition of Weekly One-Timers. For the Kraken-minded reader, here are a couple items to at least whet your appetite because again, we know there hasn’t been much to talk about for Seattle sports fans.
What an odd ride the last six months have been for Claude Julien. In August, he was hospitalized with chest pains which led to him missing the entire NHL playoff bubble. In October, general manager Marc Bergevin made several huge splashes to improve the Canadiens. With newly acquired Tyler Toffoli, Josh Anderson, and Jake Allen under his watch, Julien returned to training camp in January with elevated expectations. Fast forward a month and change, and Julien is out the door, despite the Habs getting off to a hot start and despite them still sitting in a playoff spot.
What happened?
Well, in 2019-2020, the Habs nosedived into a few pits from which they never could fully emerge, highlighted by two separate eight-game losing streaks. In 2021, after they came out looking like world-beaters in the early going, Bergevin saw the Canadiens heading into another one of those holes. After the team lost six of eight including its last three in a row under Julien, Bergevin decided to take a proactive approach to stopping the bleeding. Assistant coach Kirk Muller was also issued a pink slip.
Julien is replaced in an interim basis by Dominique Ducharme, 47, who has been at Julien’s side since 2018. He is viewed as a progressive coach that will bring a new philosophy to Montreal’s bench.
Julien to the Seattle Kraken?
So will Julien be the first head coach in Seattle Kraken history? Maybe. Maybe not. That’s the extent of our conjecturing at this point.
But seriously, he will likely at least get considered for the job. Julien has 18 years of NHL head coaching experience that consists of two stints with the Canadiens, a brief stop in New Jersey, and 10 years behind Boston’s bench. His Bruins also hoisted the Stanley Cup in 2010-2011, and he boasts a career record of 667-445-152.
We at SOH do believe Seattle will select somebody with NHL head coaching experience as its first benchboss, and the team has made no bones about being patient until the right candidate becomes available. Is Julien that guy?
Artemi Panarin allegations are questionable
The other whopper of a story this week was New York Rangers superstar Artemi Panarin taking a leave of absence after being accused of assaulting a young woman in Riga, Latvia, in 2011. The claim comes from Panarin’s former KHL coach, Andrei Nazarov.
While most reports of this manner result in society quickly piling on athletes and celebrities and finding them guilty in the court of public perception, the opposite has happened here. Instead, countless journalists and former teammates and even the Rangers themselves have rushed to support Panarin, calling the accusations fabricated.
Well, Panarin has spoken out against Russian President Vladimir Putin in the past. On Jan. 21, Panarin posted on his Instagram in support of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who survived an attempted poisoning while traveling abroad. Navalny eventually returned to Russia and was promptly jailed by Putin’s regime upon arrival. His arrest led to mass protests throughout Russia.
This is pretty significant: New York Rangers superstar forward Artemi Panarin showing support for jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny ahead of planned Saturday protests all over Russia. Hashtags this Instagram post “Freedom for Navalny” https://t.co/9rwcP87oKKpic.twitter.com/8zZyjEjOeO
And wouldn’t you know? Coach Nazarov happens to be a staunch Putin supporter. VICE News had a fantastic write-up on the fascinating and generally bizarre story.
NHL Outdoors was a disaster… But then it wasn’t!
The ice melted. Hand up, I’ll admit it. I did not see that coming.
Through the first period of the Avalanche versus Golden Knights on Saturday, ruts in the ice were horrible, guys were falling all over the place, and play was generally slow and choppy.
So, the league made the very tough call to postpone until 9PM Pacific that night, and also to push back the start of Sunday’s game between Boston and Philadelphia until the evening.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman announced that the remainder of today's #NHLOutdoors game at Lake Tahoe will resume tonight at 9pm PTpic.twitter.com/cOGVvVzyFz
In the end, it still was a great event, even with what some would perceive as an embarrassing eight-hour delay in the middle of the first game. The visuals were still stunning, the off-ice coverage was fun to consume, and the Flyers-Bruins game was the most-watched regular-season game ever to air on NBCSN.
Stealing the show was undoubtedly Gritty, who took in the sights of Lake Tahoe, shredded some gnar, and even crashed a wedding.
We can’t help feeling bad for Blades the Bruin, who played second fiddle to his Philadelphian counterpart all weekend, earning just a small fraction of Gritty’s recognition. Blades did have the last laugh when the Bruins beat the Flyers 7-3 on Sunday, though.
WHL schedule released
The WHL announced the full schedule for its US Division’s abbreviated season. The Seattle Thunderbirds will open on March 19 at home against the Spokane Chiefs. The Everett Silvertips will open the following night also at home and also against Spokane. The season will last until early May, and there will not be any playoffs.
Fans will not be allowed to attend games in person, but the WHL did announce a new streaming service through CHL TV that will allow viewing access to all scheduled WHL games. WHL Live, as it’s called, is $59.99 for the full season or $6.99 for a 24-hour pass. If you are a WHL fiend, remember, the Central Division starts play on Friday, so you’ll immediately have something to watch.
Seth Jarvis is good at hockey, Dustin Wolf bounces back
Typically, 19-year-old CHL players are ineligible to play in the AHL until their CHL season ends. But with the ongoing pandemic leaving major junior hockey in limbo for so long, the leagues made an unprecedented agreement to allow those that had signed entry-level pro contracts to temporarily level up until their respective CHL teams return.
Portland’s Seth Jarvis was selected in the first round of this year’s NHL Entry Draft by the Carolina Hurricanes. While he waits for his Winterhawks to return to play, he has been allowed to compete for the AHL’s Chicago Wolves, where he has been very impressive. Despite playing his first professional hockey, Jarvis already has six goals and three assists in just seven games.
Everett’s Dustin Wolf—selected in 2019 by the Calgary Flames—has been suiting up for the Stockton Heat. Wolf made his debut on Sunday and got shellacked by the Toronto Marlies, allowing five goals on just 11 shots. We’re happy to share that the friend of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast recovered beautifully in his next appearance, stopping 36 of 38 shots to earn his first professional win and first-star honors.
Wolf and Jarvis will return to the WHL when their teams start back up in March.
The King is back
Oh, you thought you had seen the last of Henrik Lundqvist’s dashing good looks after he said he wouldn’t play this season because of a heart condition? Well, look who’s back on the ice after open-heart surgery!
Could you imagine looking this good while running? I certainly can’t.
Today is a good day. The checkup with the doctor this morning reaffirmed what I’ve been feeling last few weeks, everything looking great. It energized me so much I had to go out for a run (FYI, I’m not a runner) Today is a good day! 😃👍🏻#Stepbysteppic.twitter.com/AXrZzMDbts
The Sioux Falls Stampede of the USHL will officially change its name (temporarily) to the Sioux Falls Fighting Wiener Dogs on Saturday. It’s the second time the team has performed this stunt, which comes in conjunction with the Sioux Nation Pet Clinic Wiener Dog Races. Get your Wiener Dog gear here!
Bruce Boudreau bought his second USPHL team over the summer, this one in Hershey, PA, his full-time home. The team has cleverly named itself the Hershey Cubs, and the logo is a thing of beauty.
The Cubs logo takes after the old Minnesota Fighting Saints of the WHA, for whom Boudreau played in the 1975-1976 season.
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at Sound Of Hockey and the host, producer, and editor of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is an inconsistent beer league goalie who believes that five players have to make a mistake before the puck gets to him. Follow him on Twitter @DarrenFunBrown or email darren@soundofhockey.com.
