Let's start today with Ben Kuzma's feature on Nils Hoglander, who signed his entry-level contract with the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday.
One interesting detail that came out of the media availabilities with Hoglander and general manager Jim Benning on Wednesday is that the club asked Elias Pettersson for his input before selecting Hoglander in the second round of the draft last June.
“Petey thought he’d be a really good player,” recalled Benning.
As for Hoglander's hockey traits...
“You don’t know for sure until we go through the process, but he (Hoglander) was at our development camp last year and knows the organization,” said Benning. “Let’s wait and see. He didn’t look out of place in the SHL.
“He’s strong and protects the puck well and buys time to make plays to get his looks. He’s a hard-working kid and we really like his character.
“He has the vision to buy time and space and make good plays from top of the circle down in tight spaces, And the way he plays with his courage level, I don’t think he’s going have a problem.”
With the more relaxed restrictions in Sweden, Kuzma reports that Hoglander has been skating, which could give him a leg up on his NHL training camp, whenever that might turn out to be.
As often happens with young European players, there's discussion of where he'd land next season if he doesn't crack the Canucks roster. Kuzma reports that his contract does have a European assignment clause, which is not unusual.
It could also be very important next season. Elliotte Friedman sounded an alarm this week that gate-driven lower leagues like the AHL, which don't get significant TV revenue, could be in big trouble if next season begins without the opportunity for them to fill their arenas to normal capacities.
Friedman leads 31 Thoughts this week with a conversation with AHL president Dave Andrews, who's leaving his position on June 30 after 26 years and being replaced by one-time Columbus Blue Jackets GM Scott Howson. Like with most everything these days, there's not much certainty about next year's plan for the AHL, but Andrews is trying to get the league's ducks in a row so all viable options are on the table. Friedman says that other gate-driven leagues will be watching for models that they can apply to their own businesses.
Friedman also mentions that one reason why the current AHL season has not yet been officially cancelled is because some NHL teams might need to tap their minor-league roster if we do get the 2019-20 season rolling again at some point this summer. I feel like if they do go with the 'playing in a bubble' idea, they'd need to make sure they have a good-sized roster within the bubble right from the start.
If injuries or even positive COVID tests happen, teams wouldn't want to have to wait through a 14-day quarantine period before a player would be allowed to join their group — not to mention that there's probably be issues with players' fitness levels if they hadn't been practicing with the team.
In his latest column,
Ed Willes of The Province says:
If the league resumes, the players will move into a hermetically sealed environment that will include their teammates, the coaches, equipment managers, medical people and that’s about it. One league source said the early indication is no more than 40 people would be allowed in the rink during practices. That would be 30 players, five coaches, three equipment guys and a couple of medical people.
I guess doughnuts for the media is out of the question.
Willes also floats an idea of establishing playoff teams by looking at the top four from each division — and by that count, the Canucks are in. My feeling is still that they'll find some way to play regular-season games before jumping into the playoffs — to help balance the schedule, and to get some reps for the players before the intensity really cranks up.
That being said, if it's a playoff race, it's still intense. I'd imagine if Edmonton and Calgary play each other as they're battling for their spot in the standings, for example, there would still be plenty of hate at play.
On The Full 60 podcast last week, Tyler Seguin talked about how even at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, the hate flowed instantly when Canada and the U.S. met for a pre-tournament game on September 9 in Columbus. A peek at that
Game Summary sheet shows an incident where Shea Weber, Brad Marchand and Brandon Dubinsky all got roughing minors late in the first period of the 4-2 win for the U.S., then Weber and Jonathan Toews took roughing minors when Ryan Kesler got dinged for a boarding major and game misconduct late in the second. The stat sheet seems to confirm Seguin's point.
I know we're hearing talk about how some players are reluctant to be away from their families for long periods of time — and certainly, I'd have some concern about whether players whose immune systems are compromised should think about playing. But in addition to the whole "Hockey players love to play hockey" thing, I feel like once the dollars and cents are laid out to them in detail, they'll find a way to make peace with whatever option is presented to them, once it has been approved by not just the league but also the players' association and the presiding health authorities.
Near the end of this week's "31 Thoughts," Friedman also has a few leftover tidbits from his massive two-part Canucks oral history that I thought were pretty interesting:
• There's a feeling that Alex Burrows has a career path ahead of him in coaching if he wants it. He's currently working as an assistant with the AHL's Laval Rocket.
• Sounds like Roberto Luongo would be open to a career in management. He's currently the special advisor to Florida Panthers' GM Dale Tallon.
“I really enjoy what I’m doing right now,” he told Friedman. “There’s a lot of stuff to learn in management. I really enjoy being part of the day-to-day decisions. Hopefully, (I will) just move up the ranks, a little more of a prominent role in the years to come.”
• Friedman also has some pretty hilarious quotes on how long it took various people to figure out a way to tell the Sedins apart, and Kevin Bieksa's take on one of the cutting-edge rehab machines that the Canucks brought in to try to speed up injury recoveries.
I did watch Game 4 of the 2011 Canucks/Blackhawks series on Thursday night. Probably enough said right there about that 7-2 loss, which saw Henrik finish as a minus-4, Daniel as a minus-3, Robert Luongo get the hook after giving up five goals on 22 shots and Dave Bolland named first star thanks to a four-point night. Bolland, Bryan Bickell and Michael Frolik drove the Blackhawks in that game, each plus-four. Wow.
Game 5 goes Sunday at 8:30 p.m. PT on Sportsnet.
Also Sunday, Season 5 of "Billions" begins — on Crave in Canada.
I got into this show last year, bingeing the first four seasons quickly, so it's been a long wait for me. Reading an interview with one of the stars, Paul Giamatti, this morning, apparently the production team was only able to complete seven episodes before being shut down by the pandemic — but that's better than nothing, right?
We made it through another week! Sounds like the B.C. government will announce a timeline to start opening things up early next week, so hopefully that's a positive step toward getting us closer to being back to normal.
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