Quick Strikes for Friday, August 25th

The Bolts

• Cory Sznajder continues his deep dive into each playoff series with a look at the Lightning vs. Isles series. If you enjoy systems analysis, this is some of the best hockey work available publicly. [The Energy Line]/

The League

• The Avalanche hired Jared Bednar, last year’s Calder Cup winning head coach, to take over for Patrick Roy. [Mile High Hockey]
• The Panthers used prospect Lawson Crouse as bait to get the Coyotes to take Dave Bolland’s contract. Florida also acquired two picks in the deal. [Litter Box Cats]
• The Rangers signed bargain forward Brandon Pirri to one year deal. [Blueshirt Banter]
• Injuries to some of Detroit’s players could open the door to younger players ready to show they deserve more minutes. [Wingin’ it in Motown]
• Colorado signed forward Rene Borque to a PTO. [Today’s Slapshot]
• The Blues announced that Alex Pietrangelo will be their captain for 2016-2017. [St. Louis Gametime]
• Adam Gretz looks at Joe Pavelski’s emergence as an elite goal scorer. [Today’s Slapshot]
• Franklin Steele writes about what to expect from the Blues in the upcoming season. [Today’s Slapshot]
• Las Vegas hired former Florida Panther’s exec Scott Luce as Director of Amateur scouting. [Today’s Slapshot]
• The Canadiens promoted Eric Crawford to Director of Pro Scouting. [Eyes on the Prize]/

The Game

• Jonathan Toews will be one of the alternate captains for Team Canada in the World Cup. [Second City Hockey]
• Shea Weber will serve as the other alternate captain. [Eyes on the Prize]
• Pavel Datsyuk scored his first goal of the KHL season. [Today’s Slapshot]
• Garret Hohl and Mike Fail collaborated to create a graphic that helps illustrate how statistics are used to evaluate teams and players. [Hockey Graphs]
• Arizona skating coach Dawn Braid is the first woman to be a full-time assistant coach in the NHL. HappyCaraT shares some thoughts on the barriers to entry for women in professional coaching. [Arctic Ice Hockey]/