adplus-dvertising
Connect with us

Sports

Canadiens Notebook: Nate Thompson has high praise for Ilya Kovalchuk – Montreal Gazette

Published

 on


“Kovy’s a good guy. I just think it wasn’t the right fit there,” veteran says about his former teammate with the Los Angeles Kings.

Ilya Kovalchuk will see a familiar face in the locker room when he joins the Canadiens after being signed by general manager Marc Bergevin as a free agent on Friday.

300x250x1

Veteran centre Nate Thompson was Kovalchuk’s teammate last season with the Los Angeles Kings and had nothing but good things to say about the 36-year-old Russian after he signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Canadiens that will pay him US$700,000 in the NHL and US$70,000 in the AHL.

“I saw his work ethic and the way he works in the gym and on the ice,” Thompson said about Kovalchuk, who has 436-423-859 totals in 897 career games after being selected by the Atlanta Thrashers with the No. 1 overall pick at the 2001 NHL Draft. “He’s still very competitive and still wants to win and do well. So I think that will be good for us. I think it will be good for some of our young guys to see him. I’m sure some guys are going to be a little bit in awe. It’s Ilya Kovalchuk and he’s had a pretty good career in this league, so it will be fun.”


Canadiens centre Nate Thompson takes part in pregame warmup before NHL game against the Philadelphia Flyers at the Bell Centre in Montreal on Feb. 21, 2019.

Dave Sidaway /

Montreal Gazette

Kovalchuk became an unrestricted free agent on Dec. 17 when he cleared unconditional waivers, allowing the Kings to terminate the remainder of his three-year, US$18.75-million contract, which had one more season after this remaining.

“Kovy’s a good guy. I just think it wasn’t the right fit there,” said Thompson, who was traded from the Kings to the Canadiens last February. “When we signed him in L.A. I think we were expecting big things that year and it didn’t work out. Sometimes things don’t work out when you sign somewhere. But Kovy wants to do well. He’s a good guy, he cares, he works extremely well. I think he’s going to be very, very motivated coming here.

“I think we play maybe a style that’s more fitting to him than it was in L.A.,” Thompson added. “Like I said, he’s a motivated guy. I think us older guys would say you’re getting another chance and you probably want to relish that opportunity. I’m sure he feels that way right now.”

When asked what his new teammates and Canadiens fans might be surprised to know about Kovalchuk, Thompson said: “I just think his work ethic on the ice and off the ice. When I was in L.A. I didn’t know what to think. I didn’t really know much about him off the ice. But I’ve never really seen many guys work as hard as him off the ice in the gym. He’s kind of an animal. It was fun to watch and I think it will be good for a lot of guys to see that here.

“I like Kovy. I love Kovy. He’s a great guy,” Thompson added. “He was a lot of fun to play with. His numbers speak for themselves in the National Hockey League. He’s obviously very talented. I think bringing him here it’s going to be positive for us.”

A positive for Thompson is that at age 35 he is no longer the oldest player on the Canadiens.

Kovalchuk was still working on visa issues Friday and isn’t expected to be in the Canadiens lineup Saturday night when they face the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Bell Centre (7 p.m., SNE, CITY, TVA Sports, TSN 690 Radio, 98.5 FM).

“Probably not,” Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin said when asked if Kovalchuk could play Saturday. “But don’t shoot me if he does. But probably not. The sooner the better. They’re working on the visa now.”

Scandella paired with Fleury

Defenceman Marco Scandella took part in his first practice with the Canadiens on Friday at the Bell Sports Complex in Brossard after being acquired from the Buffalo Sabres Thursday night in exchange for a fourth-round pick at this year’s NHL Draft.

Scandella skated beside rookie Cale Fleury on the third defence pairing, taking Brett Kulak’s spot.

“A good young defenceman,” Scandella said about Fleury. “I think we’re going to work well together. Just building that chemistry today. Just seeing how he moves out there. He’s a big kid that plays hard, so it’s going to be fun.”

Scandella, who is a Montreal native, is excited about playing his first game with the Canadiens Saturday night.

“The emotions of playing at the Bell Centre in front of these fans is just going to be huge,” the 29-year-old said.

“It’s a fast team, young team, a lot of talent,” Scandella added about the Canadiens. “So I just want to inject some positivity, bring a good defensive effort and have fun. At the end of the day it’s a game, let’s enjoy it. Let’s win some hockey games and have fun.”

As for the pressure of being a hometown boy playing for the Canadiens, Scandella said: “There’s always pressure. I played for Team Canada. When you play in the NHL you’re expected to perform. We’re paid to play this game and I just try to bring that outlook of positivity every day, have fun with it. I mean we’re playing a game. I work hard, I get to enjoy this game. I’m one of the lucky ones that got to play at this age. So I’m just enjoying every minute of it and playing in Montreal is just going to be special.”

Scandella can become an unrestricted free agent this summer and Bergevin didn’t rule out the possibility of re-signing the defenceman, depending on his performance the rest of this year.

“He’s got good size and we have good skaters in Kulak, (Victor) Mete, (Jeff) Petry and even Ben (Chiarot),” Bergevin said about Scandella. “He’s a bigger body who’s more defensive, and I don’t know if Claude (Julien) will use him with Petry or Fleury, but we’ll find out over the next couple of days and probably tomorrow.”

The lines

Thompson had a therapy day and didn’t take part in Friday’s practice. Here’s how the forward lines and defence pairings looked:

Tatar – Danault – Cousins
Lehkonen – Domi – Suzuki
Poehling – Kotkaniemi – Weal
Vejdemo – Peca – Weise

Chiarot – Weber
Mete – Petry
Scandella – Fleury
Kulak – Folin

Gallagher is feeling better

Bergevin said Friday that Brendan Gallagher is feeling better after suffering a concussion during a 3-1 loss to the Hurricanes on New Year’s Eve in Carolina.

“He’s feeling better today,” Bergevin said about Gallagher, who was placed on the injured-reserve list. “He could be sooner than later but, again, there’s a protocol you have to follow. If he’s good the next four days and on the fifth day he doesn’t feel good again, then it’s starting all over again. So I don’t know, but there’s hope he could be the first guy to be back. But again, I don’t have any time frame.”

Gallagher is one of five Canadiens on the injured-reserve list along with Jonathan Drouin (wrist), Joel Armia (hand), Paul Byron (knee) and Matthew Peca (knee).

Bergevin said that the next two weeks in the schedule — with eight games in 14 days after facing the Penguins Saturday night — will be crucial for the Canadiens before they head into their bye week.

“Again, everybody gets injuries, I get that,” Bergevin said. “But it happened with the guys we got injured, Drouin was playing very well, Armia was a force, Paulie Byron scored 20 goals the last two seasons. Now Gally’s out. Those are big pieces of our team. I believe if these guys would have been healthy we’d probably be in the playoffs or even closer now. I don’t think we’re out. I think we’re trying to stay in, hang in there until the break and start having our guys back.”

The Canadiens hit the midway point of the season with Thursday night’s 2-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning, which dropped their record to 18-17-6.

Bergevin keeping eye on Caufield

Cole Caufield, the Canadiens’ first-round pick at this year’s NHL Draft, had only one goal and one assist in five games with Team USA at the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship, but that doesn’t concern Bergevin who didn’t rule out the possibility of the right-winger signing with the Canadiens after his freshman season with the University of Wisconsin.

“Possible, but not a guarantee,” Bergevin said. “If you look at (Alex) DeBrincat’s (world junior) tournament, I think he had one assist one year and the second year he didn’t make the team. But today we see he’s a guy who’s performing really well in Chicago. So I’m not basing my evaluation on just what happened the last week (with Caufield). We have time to make a decision on him, but he’s still one of our top prospects.”

Team USA lost 1-0 to Finland in the quarterfinals of the world junior tournament.

Caufield has 12-8-20 totals in 18 games with the Wisconsin Badgers.

What’s next?

The Canadiens have a morning skate scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Saturday in Brossard before facing the Pittsburgh Penguins Saturday night at the Bell Centre (7 p.m., SNE, CITY, TVA Sports, TSN 690 Radio, 98.5 FM).

The Canadiens then have a rare Sunday practice scheduled in Brossard at 11 a.m. to prepare for four games next week. The Winnipeg Jets will be at the Bell Centre Monday (7 p.m., TSN2, TSN3, RDS, TSN 690 Radio, 98.5 FM) before the Canadiens fly to Detroit to face the Red Wings on Tuesday (7:30 p.m., TSN2, RDS, TSN 690 Radio, 98.5 FM). The Edmonton Oilers will be at the Bell Centre next Thursday (7 p.m., TSN2, RDS, TSN 690 Radio, 98.5 FM) and then the Canadiens will wrap up the week next Saturday in Ottawa against the Senators (7 p.m., CBC, SN, SN360, TVA Sports, TSN 690 Radio, 98.5 FM).

scowan@postmedia.com

twitter.com/StuCowan1

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

728x90x4

Source link

Continue Reading

Sports

Need to Know: Bruins at Maple Leafs | Game 3 | Boston Bruins – NHL.com

Published

 on


Familiar Territory

James van Riemsdyk has played his fair share of playoff contests here in Toronto – but all of them have come in blue and white. On Wednesday night, he would be on the other side for the first time if he indeed makes his Bruins postseason debut, which appeared to be a strong possibility based on the Black & Gold’s morning skate.

“It’s always special to play in this building,” said van Riemsdyk, who played in 20 postseason games with Toronto, including nine at Scotiabank Arena. “In this rivalry, it’s always a lot of fun. This time of year is always amazing, no matter where you’re at – if you’re at a 500-seat arena or a rink with all the tradition and history like this. It’s always fun and always a great opportunity to get in there.”

van Riemsdyk was a healthy scratch for the first two games of this series, following a trend across the second half of the regular season, during which he sat out several games.

300x250x1

“Playoff time of year is always the best time of year,” said van Riemsdyk, who has 20 goals and 31 points in 71 career playoff games between Philadelphia and Toronto. “Obviously, in this rivalry, it’s always a lot of fun – two fun buildings to play in. You cherish every opportunity you get.

“This time of year, you learn that along the way, it’s all about the team. Whatever the team’s asking you to do, that’s always got to be your mindset and approach…you stay at it every day and just take it one day at a time.”

Montgomery said that if van Riemsdyk does re-enter the lineup, he’ll be looking for the veteran winger to help the Bruins’ offensive game. He also complimented van Riemsdyk’s professionalism throughout a trying second half.

“I guess getting his stick on more pucks,” Montgomery said on what he wants to see from van Riemsdyk. “We’ve talked about it a lot of times internally. Him and [Kevin] Shattenkirk have been great. They’re true pros. Every day come to work, come to get better. It’s not an easy situation, but he’s been great.”

van Riemsdyk concurred with his coach’s sentiments about helping Boston’s offensive attack, saying that he’ll be aiming to be around the net as much as possible.

“I think you’ve got to stay true to who you are as a player and play with good details and manage the game well and play to your strengths as a player,” he said. “This time of year, being around the net is always an important trait. You see all the goals being scored, it’s all within 5-10 feet of the net. That’s an area that I pride myself on, so going to be doing my best to get there and have an impact there.”

Adblock test (Why?)

728x90x4

Source link

Continue Reading

Sports

NHL teams, take note: Alexandar Georgiev is proof that anything can happen in the playoffs

Published

 on

It’s hard to say when, exactly, Alexandar Georgiev truly began to win some hearts and change some minds on Tuesday night.

Maybe it was in the back half of the second period; that was when the Colorado Avalanche, for the first time in their first-round Stanley Cup playoff series against the Winnipeg Jets, actually managed to hold a lead for more than, oh, two minutes or thereabouts. Maybe it was when the Avs walked into the locker room up 4-2 with 20 minutes to play.

Maybe it was midway through the third, when a series of saves by the Avalanche’s beleaguered starting goaltender helped preserve their two-goal buffer. Maybe it was when the buzzer sounded after their 5-2 win. Maybe it didn’t happen until the Avs made it into their locker room at Canada Life Centre, tied 1-1 with the Jets and headed for Denver.

At some point, though, it should’ve happened. If you were watching, you should’ve realized that Colorado — after a 7-6 Game 1 loss that had us all talking not just about all those goals, but at least one of the guys who’d allowed them — had squared things up, thanks in part to … well, that same guy.

300x250x1

Georgiev, indeed, was the story of Game 2, stopping 28 of 30 shots, improving as the game progressed and providing a lesson on how quickly things can change in the playoffs — series to series, game to game, period to period, moment to moment. The narrative doesn’t always hold. Facts don’t always cooperate. Alexandar Georgiev, for one night and counting, was not a problem for the Colorado Avalanche. He was, in direct opposition to the way he played in Game 1, a solution. How could we view him as anything else?

He had a few big-moment saves, and most of them came midway through the third period with his team up 4-2. There he was with 12:44 remaining, stopping a puck that had awkwardly rolled off Nino Niederreiter’s stick; two missed posts by the Avs at the other end had helped spring Niederreiter for a breakaway. Game 1 Georgiev doesn’t make that save.

There he was, stopping Nikolaj Ehlers from the circle a few minutes later. There wasn’t an Avs defender within five feet, and there was nothing awkward about the puck Ehlers fired at his shoulder. Game 1 Georgiev gets scored on twice.

(That one might’ve been poetic justice. It was Ehlers who’d put the first puck of the night on Georgiev — a chip from center ice that he stopped, and that the crowd in Winnipeg greeted with the ol’ mock cheer. Whoops.)

By the end of it all, Georgiev had stared down Connor Hellebuyck and won, saving nearly 0.5 goals more than expected according to Natural Stat Trick, giving the Avalanche precisely what they needed and looking almost nothing like the guy we’d seen a couple days before. Conventional wisdom coming into this series was twofold: That the Avs have firepower, high-end talent and an overall edge — slight as it may be — on Winnipeg, and that Georgiev is shaky enough to nuke the whole thing.

That wasn’t without merit, either. Georgiev’s .897 save percentage in the regular season was six percentage points below the league average, and he hadn’t broken even in expected goals allowed (minus-0.21). He’d been even worse down the stretch, putting up an .856 save percentage in his final eight appearances, and worse still in Game 1, allowing seven goals on 23 shots and more than five goals more than expected. That’s not bad; that’s an oil spill. Writing him off would’ve been understandable. Writing off Jared Bednar for rolling him out there in Game 2 would’ve been understandable. Writing the Avs off — for all of Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar’s greatness — would’ve been understandable.

It just wouldn’t have been correct.

The fact that this all went down now, four days into a two-month ordeal, is a gift — because the postseason thus far has been short on surprises, almost as a rule. The Rangers and Oilers are overwhelming the Capitals and Kings. The Hurricanes are halfway done with the Islanders. The Canucks are struggling with the Predators. PanthersLightning is tight, but one team is clearly better than the other. BruinsMaple Leafs is a close matchup featuring psychic baggage that we don’t have time to unpack. In Golden KnightsStars, Mark Stone came back and scored a huge goal.

None of that should shock you. None of that should make you blink.

Georgiev being good enough for Colorado, though? After what we saw in Game 1? Strange, surprising and completely true. For now.

Adblock test (Why?)

728x90x4

Source link

Continue Reading

Sports

"Laugh it off": Evander Kane says Oilers won’t take the bait against Kings | Offside

Published

 on

The LA Kings tried every trick in the book to get the Edmonton Oilers off their game last night.

Hacks after the whistle, punches to the face, and interference with line changes were just some of the things that the Oilers had to endure, and throughout it all, there was not an ounce of retaliation.

All that badgering by the Kings resulted in at least two penalties against them and fuelled a red-hot Oilers power play that made them pay with three goals on four chances. That was by design for Edmonton, who knew that LA was going to try to pester them as much as they could.

That may have worked on past Oilers teams, but not this one.

300x250x1

“We’ve been in a series now for the third year in a row with these guys,” Kane said after practice this morning. “We know them, they know us… it’s one of those things where maybe it makes it a little easier to kind of laugh it off, walk away, or take a shot.

“That type of stuff isn’t gonna affect us.”

Once upon a time, this type of play would get under the Oilers’ skin and result in retaliatory penalties. Yet, with a few hard-knock lessons handed down to them in the past few seasons, it seems like the team is as determined as ever to cut the extracurriculars and focus on getting revenge on the scoreboard.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, the longest-tenured player on this Oilers team, had to keep his emotions in check with Kings defender Vladislav Gavrikov, who punched him in the face early in the game. The easy reaction would be to punch back, but the veteran Nugen-Hopkins took his licks and wound up scoring later in the game.

“It’s going to be physical, the emotions are high, and there’s probably going to be some stuff after the whistle,” Nugent-Hopkins told reporters this morning. “I think it’s important to stay poised out there and not retaliate and just play through the whistles and let the other stuff just kind of happen.”

Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch also noticed his team’s discipline. Playoff hockey is full of emotion, and keeping those in check to focus on the larger goal is difficult. He was happy with how his team set the tone.

“It’s not necessarily easy to do,” Knoblauch said. “You get punched in the face and sometimes the referees feel it’s enough to call a penalty, sometimes it’s not… You just have to take them, and sometimes, you get rewarded with the power play.

“I liked our guy’s response and we want to be sticking up for each other, we want to have that pack mentality, but it’s really important that we’re not the ones taking that extra penalty.”

There is no doubt that the Kings will continue to poke and prod at the Oilers as the series continues. Keeping those retaliations in check will only get more difficult, but if the team can continue to succeed on the scoreboard, it could get easier.

 

728x90x4

Source link

Continue Reading

Trending