Quick Strikes for Friday, August 19th

The League

• Believe it or not, Nathan Gerbe is even smaller than Tyler Johnson. He wrote about his path to the NHL for the Player’s Tribune. [Player’s Tribune]
• Roberto Luongo isn’t just getting older. He’s also getting better. [TSN]
• Mile High Hockey images what life will be like in Colorado after Patrick Roy. [Mile High Hockey]
• The Penguins will need to continue to be creative if they want to avoid salary cap problems. [Pensburgh]
• Pavel Zacha, the New Jersey Devils’ 6th overall pick in 2015, looks ready to join the big club this year. [All About the Jersey]
• Jiri Hudler is one an interesting name who remains available on the free agent market as a depth forward. [Eyes on the Prize]
• Conflicting reports out of Russia question whether Vladimir Sobotka will return to the St. Louis Blues this season. [St. Louis Gametime]
• Las Vegas has added former NHLer Murray Craven to its front office team. [Today’s Slapshot]
• Bauer, which is one of the most popular brands of hockey gear is under investigation for fraud. [Russian Machine Never Breaks]
• Gordie Howe’s ashes will reside in a statue to the hockey legent in Saskatoon. [CKOM]
• Not to be outdone by the Rangers, the Islanders are bringing out their own celebs in a campaign to attract Jimmy Vesey. [NY Isles Blog]
• Watch Carey Price teach a goaltending drill to improve glove positioning and reactions. [InGoal Mag]
• Jack Han shares the fundamentals of hockey analytics. [Hockey Graphs]
• Johnny Gaudreau compares favorably to some of the NHL’s top scorers. [NHL Numbers]/

The Sport

• The KHL has banned Damir Ryspayev for life after his gutless assault on the entire Kunlun Red Star team during a pre-season game earlier this month. [Today’s Slapshot] /