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Elias Pettersson named 2nd Star of the week as Canucks wing it to Motown |
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The Vancouver Canucks have landed in Detroit and are practicing on Monday ahead of the first game of their latest six-game road trip, which will come against the Red Wings on Tuesday.
Sunday was a travel day. The group seems relaxed on its flight east, as captured by DJ/Videographer Michael Del Zotto:
There is a backstory behind Ben Hutton's "Tomas Plekanec" turtleneck. Intrepid Canucks reporter Derek Jory takes us behind the scenes:
Here's the scene from Monday's practice:
After missing practice on Saturday, Brock Boeser skated ahead of the main group but is not taking part in the regular practice. It's being suggested that the issue is still his wonky groin—not that cross-check he took from Colorado's Matt Calvert last Friday.
Chris Tanev is practicing for the first time since he was injured on October 24 in Vegas and has now missed five games. It'll be determined after practice whether he's ready to get back into the lineup on Tuesday.
Here's how the lines shook down on Monday:
As Jory mentions, several other injured players are not on the trip: Sven Baertschi, Alex Edler, Brandon Sutter and Jay Beagle. Anders Nilsson is with the group.
Off the ice, it's another day for bouquets for Elias Pettersson, who was named the NHL's second star on Monday morning:
Sean Monahan had 4-4-8 as the Calgary Flames went a perfect 4-0-0 last week—on the road in Toronto and Buffalo, then at home against Colorado and Chicago. His 18 points in 15 games put him in a five-way tie for eighth overall that also includes his teammate Matthew Tkachuk.
By comparison, Pettersson was 4-3-7 in the Canucks' three home wins—against Minnesota, Chicago and Calgary. He scored his first career game-winning goal against the Wild on Monday, then picked up the last-minute game-tying goal and primary assist on the winner on Friday as he became the youngest Canuck ever to record five points in a game.
Pettersson is also just the 16th player in NHL history to score nine or more goals in his first nine career games. With 15 points over that span, he holds a six-point lead in the rookie scoring race and his 1.67 points per game tie him with Evgeni Malkin for second overall in the league. Mikko Rantanen is first (1.71) and some guy named Connor McDavid is fourth (1.62).
With three points in two games since his call-up, Brendan Gaunce's 1.50 points per game have him currently tied for sixth with the injured Brady Tkachuk of Ottawa.
The NHLPA went one better than the NHL, giving Pettersson their Player of the Week award:
Can't say the kid isn't getting his fair share of attention!
No games in Canada on this trip, but Pettersson will be showing his stuff in the Eastern Time zone for the first five games.
The other big news of the weekend: a familiar face is back in the NHL.
The Los Angeles Kings relieved coach John Stevens of his duties on Sunday, and have replaced him with our old pal Willie Desjardins as interim bench boss.
Here's my look at the situation, for Forbes:
Count me among the group that didn't expect to ever see Willie back in the NHL. Sounds like one of the reasons why he was tapped for this gig is because he was willing to accept the short-term "interim" title while more experienced candidates like Alain Vigneault and Dave Tippett were not. He is expected to hold the reins for the rest of this year.
The hiring of Marco Sturm as a new assistant coach could turn out to be the most significant part of this move. I covered Sturm as coach of Team Germany at the last three World Championships. The first two years, his teams exceeded expectations, then he really caught the world's attention when Germany captured the silver medal at the Pyeongchang Olympics last February. In Denmark last May, Germany faltered, finishing 11th, but there was plenty of chatter about how the former NHL left winger was hoping to eventually secure an NHL coaching gig.
We haven't seen a European head coach in the NHL since the early part of the 2001-02 season. During the 2000 offseason, Finland's Alpo Suhonen was tapped to coach Chicago and Ivan Hlinka of the Czech Republic got the head job in Pittsburgh. Suhonen was forced to take a medical leave during his one season in Chicago and was eventually replaced by assistants Al MacAdam and Denis Savard. After getting the Penguins to the Eastern Conference Final in 2001, an 0-4 start the following season earned Hlinka his walking papers. He was replaced by his assistant coach Rick Kehoe.
The Kings' move on Sunday may be part of a longer-term plan that will allow Sturm to gain some experience behind an NHL bench before taking over a head coaching position, with Willie serving as a mentor figure.
It'll be interesting to see if Desjardins can kickstart a turnaround in L.A. As I mention in the Forbes article, there was some talk that the Kings players lost faith in Stevens a couple of weeks ago when he accused them of quitting in a game.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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