Florida Panthers centre Denis Malgin (62) moves in on Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Frederik Andersen (31) during first period NHL hockey action in Toronto on Feb.3, 2020.
Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press
Frederik Andersen feared the worst.
On Feb. 3, the starting goaltender for the Toronto Maple Leafs endured the unintentional wrath of speeding Florida Panthers forward Frank Vatrano. The skater was rushing toward the net to recover a pass, but he couldn’t quite catch up to the puck and instead barrelled full speed into Andersen and the Toronto net.
The goaltender was slow to get up. He stayed in for the remainder of the first period before he was pulled and back-up Michael Hutchinson took over.
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Andersen and the Leafs were fortunate. He passed concussion protocol and ended up missing just three starts before making his return against the Dallas Stars on Feb. 13.
But the experience has made him nervous and he now questions his safety on the ice. Knowing it could easily happen again, he isn’t keen on players policing themselves on the issue.
“I’m not that confident in it,” Andersen says of the officiating of players crashing the net. The NHL has “taken a really good step in putting the onus on [preventing] players hitting other players, especially in a vulnerable position, but I think the same could be done for the goalies and making sure nothing bad like that happens too often.”
The NHL has been making a concerted effort to increase goal scoring across the board for some time now, but some observers and players – such as Andersen – are wondering if the moves are coming at the expense of safety.
Goaltender concussions are on the rise. Just two NHL goalies were concussed in 2016-17, missing a total of 15 games, the Associated Press reported in September. In comparison, 14 different goalies have missed a total of 276 games with a concussion over the past two seasons.
The increase in injuries, observers say, is the product of a host of changes going back to at least the 2005-06 season, when officials removed the two-line pass and added penalties for obstruction, both of which resulted in more power-play opportunities. In recent years, the NHL added faceoffs in the attack zone to start even more power plays.
Equipment reform also came into effect in 2017, when goalie pants were slimmed down, followed by reductions in the size of chest and leg pads. Equipment advancements for skaters, meanwhile, have helped them move faster and shoot harder.
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Another issue, experts say, is the inconsistency and subjectivity surrounding interference calls. A lack of clarity is resulting in skaters being more willing to risk crashing the net, with the intent that any goal call will be upheld on review.
“I think it’s one of the worst questions asked,” says former NHL goaltender and TSN analyst Jamie McLennan about the current definition of interference. “You understand the letter of the law of it, but the interpretation of it is still subject to the individual [referee].”
The collective changes appear to be working in improving scoring, with the number of goals per team steadily increasing in recent seasons, according to hockey-reference.com. Through 971 out of 1271 regular season games played this year, the number had increased to an average of 3.03. Should that pace hold steady, it will be the highest total since the 2005-06 season, when it was 3.08.
The byproduct of the increase, observers and some players say, looks to be more situations such as the one endured by Andersen. The collision in early February wasn’t his first – he has had at least two other serious injury near-misses.
Others haven’t been as lucky. Stanley Cup-winning goaltender Tim Thomas recently made his first public appearance since walking away from the game in 2014, where he detailed how a concussion suffered in his final season changed his life.
“I woke up the next morning after [the hit] and I couldn’t decide what I wanted to eat, where I wanted to go,” he told reporters ahead of his induction into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in December. “I survived following the team schedule the rest of the year and just made it through that season.”
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Thomas revealed that two-thirds of his brain was receiving less than five per cent blood flow, meaning he suffered significant head trauma over the course of his career. The reveal reverberated within the goaltending community.
Hutchinson, one of the Leafs’ backups, says the NHL hasn’t taken a serious look at protection for goaltenders since 2005-06, which is when the Edmonton Oilers lost Dwayne Roloson to injury in the playoffs after a collision.
As the recent hit to his teammate Andersen illustrates, goalies need extra protection given how they play the game.
“I think the league has gone away from goalie safety,” he says. “A lot of times as goaltenders you are on your knees and you are already in a vulnerable spot. Your head is usually in the way if you get hit.”
Experts say analytics could help narrow the problem, with an important step happening in this year’s playoffs. The NHL is implementing puck- and player-tracking technology for the first time, so the actual speed of players crashing the net will soon be known.
Armed with data, officials will at least be able to take a fresh look at the issue and determine if new rules or protections are needed.
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“I think there is something there to be honest,” McLennan says. “Goaltending safety has to at least be considered. I don’t think it’s not [considered], but I don’t think it’s the worst thing to shine a light on.”
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — DeMar DeRozan scored 27 points in a record-setting performance and the Sacramento Kings beat the Toronto Raptors 122-107 on Wednesday night.
Domantas Sabonis added 17 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds for his third triple-double of the season for Sacramento. He shot 6 for 6 from the field and 5 for 5 at the free-throw line.
Keegan Murray chipped in with 22 points and 12 rebounds, and De’Aaron Fox scored 21.
The 35-year-old DeRozan has scored at least 20 points in each of his first eight games with the Kings, breaking a franchise mark established by Chris Webber when he reached 20 in his first seven games with Sacramento in 1999.
DeRozan spent the past three seasons with the Chicago Bulls. The six-time All-Star also has played for Toronto and San Antonio during his 16-year NBA career.
RJ Barrett had 23 points to lead the Raptors. Davion Mitchell scored 20 in his first game in Sacramento since being traded to Toronto last summer.
Takeaways
Raptors: Toronto led for most of the first three quarters before wilting in the fourth. The Raptors were outscored 33-14 in the final period.
Kings: Fox played strong defense but struggled again shooting from the floor as he is dealing with a finger injury. Fox went 5 for 17 and just 2 of 8 on 3-pointers. He is 5 for 25 from beyond the arc in his last three games.
Key moment
The Kings trailed 95-89 early in the fourth before going on a 9-0 run that gave them the lead for good. DeRozan started the spurt with a jumper, and Malik Monk scored the final seven points.
Key stat
Sabonis had the eighth game in the NBA since at least 1982-83 with a triple-double while missing no shots from the field or foul line. The previous player to do it was Josh Giddey for Oklahoma City against Portland on Jan. 11.
Up next
Raptors: At the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday night, the third stop on a five-game trip.
VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Whitecaps are one win away from moving on to the next round of the Major League Soccer playoffs.
To get there, however, the Whitecaps will need to pull off the improbable by defeating the powerhouse Los Angeles FC for a second straight game.
Vancouver blanked the visitors 3-0 on Sunday to level their best-of-three first-round playoff series at a game apiece. As the matchup shifts back to California for a decisive Game 3 on Friday, the Whitecaps are looking for a repeat performance, said striker Brian White.
“We take the good and the bad from last game, learn from what we could have done better and go to LAFC with confidence and, obviously, with a whole lot of respect,” he said.
“We know that we can go there and give them a very good fight and hopefully come away with a win.”
The winner of Friday’s game will face the No. 4-seed Seattle Sounders in a one-game Western Conference semifinal on Nov. 23 or 24.
The ‘Caps finished the regular season eighth in the west with a 13-13-8 record and have since surprised many with their post-season play.
First, Vancouver trounced its regional rivals, the Portland Timbers, 5-0 in a wild-card game. Then, the squad dropped a tightly contested 2-1 decision to the top-seeded L.A. before posting a decisive home victory on Sunday.
Vancouver has scored seven goals this post-season, second only to the L.A. Galaxy (nine). Vancouver also leads the league in expected goals (6.84) through the playoffs.
No one outside of the club expected the Whitecaps to win when the Vancouver-L. A. series began, said defender Ranko Veselinovic.
“We’ve shown to ourselves that we can compete with them,” he said.
Now in his fifth season with the ‘Caps, Veselinovic said Friday’s game will be the biggest he’s played for the team.
“We haven’t had much success in the playoffs so, definitely, this is the one that can put our season on another level,” he said.
This is the second year in a row the Whitecaps have faced LAFC in the first round of the playoffs and last year, Vancouver was ousted in two straight games.
The team isn’t thinking about revenge as it prepares for Game 3, White said.
“More importantly than (beating LAFC), we want to get to the next round,” he said. “LAFC’s a very good team. We’ve come up against them a number of times in different competitions and they always seem to get the better of us. So it’d be huge for us to get the better of them this time.”
Earning a win last weekend required slowing L.A.’s transition game and limiting offensive opportunities for the team’s big stars, including Denis Bouanga.
Those factors will be important again on Friday, said Whitecaps head coach Vanni Sartini, who warned that his team could face a different style of game.
“I think the most important thing is going to be to match their intensity at the beginning of the game,” he said. “Because I think they’re going to come at us a million miles per hour.”
The ‘Caps will once again look to captain Ryan Gauld for some offensive firepower. The Scottish attacking midfielder leads MLS in playoff goals with five and has scored in all three of Vancouver’s post-season appearances this year.
Gearing up for another do-or-die matchup is exciting, Gauld said.
“Knowing it’s a winner-takes-all kind of game, being in that kind of environment is nice,” he said. “It’s when you see the best in players.”
LAFC faces the bulk of the pressure heading into the matchup, Sartini said, given the club’s appearances in the last two MLS Cup finals and its 2022 championship title.
“They’re supposed to win and we are not,” the coach said. “But it’s beautiful to have a little bit of pressure on us, too.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.
Each PWHL team operated under its city name, with players wearing jerseys featuring the league’s logo in its inaugural season before names and logos were announced last month.
The Toronto Sceptres, Montreal Victoire, Ottawa Charge, Boston Fleet, Minnesota Frost and New York Sirens will start the PWHL’s second season on Nov. 30 with jerseys designed to reflect each team’s identity and to be sold to the public as replicas.
Led by PWHL vice-president of brand and marketing Kanan Bhatt-Shah, the league consulted Creative Agency Flower Shop to design the jerseys manufactured by Bauer, the PWHL said Thursday in a statement.
“Players and fans alike have been waiting for this moment and we couldn’t be happier with the six unique looks each team will don moving forward,” said PWHL senior vice president of business operations Amy Scheer.
“These jerseys mark the latest evolution in our league’s history, and we can’t wait to see them showcased both on the ice and in the stands.”
Training camps open Tuesday with teams allowed to carry 32 players.
Each team’s 23-player roster, plus three reserves, will be announced Nov. 27.
Each team will play 30 regular-season games, which is six more than the first season.
Minnesota won the first Walter Cup on May 29 by beating Boston three games to two in the championship series.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
