Congrats to the Cubs
Touch ’em all, Joe, you’ll never manage a bigger game in your life! #1908
— Jon Cooper (@CoopersLaw) November 3, 2016
ICYMI
Raw Charge Thunder of the Month: Brayden Point
Tampa Bay Lightning prospect Taylor Raddysh named October’s OHL Player of the Month
The Bolts
“The Tampa Bay Lightning will host Hockey Fights Cancer Night, presented by Moffitt Cancer Center, on Thursday, Nov. 3, when the team takes on the Boston Bruins at AMALIE Arena at 7:30 p.m.” [Fox]
Kucherov’s back. “But it was more than Kucherov’s scoring, his four points (two goals, two assists) matching a career high. He was a beast at both ends of the ice, from board battles to backchecks, the most encouraging sign the 23-year-old Russian is finding his groove.” [TBT]
Last season, Valtteri Filppula’s production was nowhere near what it was in 2011-12. This season, he seems to be returning to form. “Valtteri Filppula took a pass off of a turnover, deked around Craig Anderson and scored his third goal of the season. A pretty insignificant event to most people, but it represented a distinct change in Filppula’s performance from just a year prior.” [Bolts Jolts]
What’s your opinion? “Isles d-man Calvin de Haan isn’t scheduled to face a disciplinary hearing for his hit on Tampa Bay forward Jonathan Drouin, an NHL spokesman confirmed.” [NHL]
de Haan hit on Drouin pic.twitter.com/aegVv71NgG
— Stephanie (@myregularface) November 1, 2016
The League
The first openly gay professional hockey referee speaks out. [THN]
Raised in rinks and arenas, Barone observed a youth hockey culture so relaxed in its homophobia that he never once questioned his own sexuality. “It was very isolating,” he said. “It wasn’t a friendly environment to be around. That in itself kind of never let me even think of the idea I might be gay. It wasn’t like I knew I was gay and hid it. It was, I legitimately had no idea I was gay.”
It’s been painful and good to watch Jonathan Marchessault take off this season. Sportsnet’s Dimitri Filipovic took a closer look at the guy we all knew so well. “A trendy early-season story that’s been grabbing a lot of ledes in the first month of the season has been Jonathan Marchessault’s offensive explosion for the Florida Panthers.” [Sportsnet]
Apologies for the editorial, but: “Two straight bumper crops of youngsters are changing the game with precocious speed and skill. They’re also bringing hope to frustrated fan bases across the continent – particularly north of the border, where some of the best talent is taking flight.” Flight? THEY HAVE NO CHOICE. [Associated Press]
“The NHL is putting the Penguins in what amounts to a no-win situation with Marc-Andre Fleury and Matt Murray. With the upcoming expansion draft, Pittsburgh would be forced to protect Fleury due to his no-movement clause, which would leave Murray unprotected.” Good. [THW]
“This season, for the first time, teams themselves no longer have the final say on whether a player should come out of the game to be further examined by a doctor.” So far this season, increased viligance by the League’s concussion spotters has been considered positive. [Bleacher Report]
Hockey history: Five teams that used way too many goalies. [Down Goes Brown]
Die by the Blade reviews hockey broadcasters. “Sometimes I wonder if I’d love hockey half as much if that voice had belonged to someone else. What if the guy who broadcasted Sabres games in the early 1970s had been 30% science teacher and 70% fake radio voice guy?” [DBDB]
Five things the Islanders need to fix to get better, because they currently suck. [THW]
Kevin Bieksa: Enforcer, prankster, and humanitarian. “Some know Kevin Bieksa as a tough man on the ice. His current and former teammates know the prankster with a high degree of empathy.” [Sports Illustrated]
