In today’s NHL rumors rundown, Montreal Canadiens owner Geoff Molson spoke with the media about the changes made to the management of the team. Meanwhile, the majority stake of the Pittsburgh Penguins has been officially sold to Fenway Sports. Jonathan Quick makes an odd comment while trying to defend Brendan Lemieux and the Ottawa Senators have four legitimate buy-out candidates. Finally, are the Carolina Hurricanes interested in trading for a pending UFA defenseman?
Owner and President of the Montreal Canadiens, Geoff Molson met with the media on Monday and said, “I strongly believe that this organization needs a fresh start.” He noted that it wouldn’t be so much at the player level because the team is better than their record indicates but in the management of this team where things have not gone as expected.
Montreal Canadiens owner Geoff Molson (Photo by David Kirouac/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Molson confirmed the hiring of Jeff Gorton and said he is signed to a long-term deal. Saying that he appreciates the work Marc Bergevin did, he called the job too big for one person. He noted, “It’s a lot for one person. If I could go back a couple of years, and know what I know today, I would have complimented [Bergevin] with another person.”
While he believes the team is stronger than it has shown this season, Molson also confirmed that Gorton and the new GM will decide if a rebuild of the roster is necessary. He’ll be supportive of it if it made sense for the betterment of Montreal. Chris Johnston names Mathieu Darche as a candidate to replace Marc Bergevin as GM of the team. Darche is currently Director of Hockey Ops for the Lightning. Other names in the mix are Daniel Briere, Martin Madden Jr., Martin Brodeur, and Roberto Luongo.
Bergevin released a statement about his release and gave thanks to everyone that offered him an opportunity to run the Canadiens. He noted, “Even if I always said that the goal was to make the playoffs and that everything was possible once there, the real objective was always to bring the Cup to Montreal.”
Quick Slams Brady Tkachuk
Jonathan Quick has come to the defense of Brendan Lemieux who has an in-person hearing with the NHL DoPS on Tuesday for biting Brady Tkachuk of the Ottawa Senators. Quick said:
“I have my own opinion of what happened or did not happen last night, and what I can tell you is that any comments that were made about Pep were garbage. He’s a valuable player who sticks up for his teammates. We all support him and I’d rather have him on my team than that kid any day of the week.”
It feels odd to add that he’d not want a player like Brady Tkachuk on his team but the sense is he was trying to prove a point here in that Tkachuk has a reputation as well.
Senators Buy Out Candidates
According to Shawn Simpson of TSN, the Senators have four players who are legit buyout candidates after the season — Matt Murray, Colin White, Nikita Zaitsev, and Michael Del Zotto. They have a combined $18 million cap hit. Simpson notes that during a rebuild, you can’t have that much bad money on the books.
Matt Murray, Ottawa Senators (Photo by Richard A. Whittaker/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Matt Murray did clear waivers and we’ll see if the Senators look to trade the goaltender and retain part of his salary in the process.
Hurricanes Interested in John Klingberg
According to Jeff Marek, the Carolina Hurricanes are one of the teams interested in pending UFA defenseman John Klingberg. He notes:
“It’s a team that’s always looking for superstar players. This team was in the Jack Eichel sweepstakes when he was available from the Buffalo Sabres. The owner likes stars, the hockey operations department likes good players.”
This does not mean that Klingberg is going to be traded as the Dallas Stars have not ruled themselves out of playoff contention just yet.
Brad Marchand to Have Hearing with NHL DoPS
Boston’s Brad Marchand will have a hearing today for slew-footing Vancouver’s Oliver Ekman-Larsson. This is now the second incident in a matter of days Marchand has been involved in. First, he was accused of making inappropriate remarks to Artemi Panarin about Russia, now this.
Brad Marchand, Boston Bruins (Jess Starr/The Hockey Writers)
The incident is getting a lot of attention because Marchand wasn’t penalized for the incident, and Ekman-Larsson stayed in the game, but the Bruins’ forward is getting a hearing. Meanwhile, P.K. Subban has repeatedly slew-footed opponents and only received fines. Marchand was fined $10,000 for slew-footing defenseman Niklas Kronwall in 2017.
Penguins Purchased by Fenway Sports
It was made official on Monday, Fenway Sports Group (FSG), a global sports, marketing, media, entertainment, and real estate company, has entered into an agreement to acquire controlling interest in the Pittsburgh Penguins. It is believed the price tag on the Penguins’ sale to Fenway Sports Group is around $900 million.
The Pittsburgh Penguins and Fenway Sports Group (FSG), a global sports, marketing, media, entertainment, and real estate company, today announced that FSG has entered into an agreement to acquire controlling interest in the Penguins.
Details: https://t.co/7rdSTv2wzLhttps://t.co/Rx3YKG5f8A
Fenway Sports Group, principally owned by John Henry, also owns portions of the Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing NASCAR team and they purchased the Boston Red Sox in 2001 and have owned Liverpool since 2010. In March, Fenway Sports Group confirmed an investment by RedBird Capital Partners that valued FSG at $7.35 billion.
Mario Lemieux will keep his ownership stake in the team and said, “This is an exciting day for the future of our franchise… This is a new beginning, not the end of an era.” Ron Burkle will also maintain his ownership stake. Fenway Sports Group also says it will keep the current senior management team in place, which means there won’t be major changes in terms of the way the team is run and the personnel behind key decisions.
Jim Parsons is a senior THW freelance writer, part-time journalist and audio/video host who lives, eats, sleeps and breathes NHL news and rumors, while also writing features on the Edmonton Oilers. He’s been a trusted source for five-plus years at The Hockey Writers, but more than that, he’s on a mission to keep readers up to date with the latest NHL rumors and trade talk. Jim is a daily must for readers who want to be “in the know.”
For interview requests or to provide content info, follow Jim on Twitter or his social media accounts. They appear under his photo on articles like this one.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe remain undefeated in women’s doubles at the WTA Finals.
The 2023 U.S. Open champions, seeded second at the event, secured a 1-6, 7-6 (1), (11-9) super-tiebreak win over fourth-seeded Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in round-robin play on Tuesday.
The season-ending tournament features the WTA Tour’s top eight women’s doubles teams.
Dabrowski and Routliffe lost the first set in 22 minutes but levelled the match by breaking Errani’s serve three times in the second, including at 6-5. They clinched victory with Routliffe saving a match point on her serve and Dabrowski ending Errani’s final serve-and-volley attempt.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will next face fifth-seeded Americans Caroline Dolehide and Desirae Krawczyk on Thursday, where a win would secure a spot in the semifinals.
The final is scheduled for Saturday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Nov. 5, 2024.
EDMONTON – Jake Allen made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and 26th of his career as the New Jersey Devils closed out their Western Canadian road trip with a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.
Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist and Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier also scored for the Devils (8-5-2) who have won three of their last four on the heels on a four-game losing skid.
The Oilers (6-6-1) had their modest two-game winning streak snapped.
Calvin Pickard made 13 stops between the pipes for Edmonton.
TAKEAWAYS
Devils: In addition to his goal, Bratt picked up his 12th assist of the young season to give him nine points in his last eight games and now 15 points overall. Nico Hischier remains in the team lead, picking up an assist of his own to give him 16 points for the campaign. He has a point in all but four games this season.
Oilers: Forward Leon Draisaitl was held pointless after recording six points in his previous two games and nine points in his previous four. Draisaitl usually has strong showings against the Devils, coming into the contest with an eight-game point streak against New Jersey and 11 goals in 17 games.
KEY MOMENT
New Jersey took a 2-0 lead on the power play with 3:26 remaining in the second period as Hischier made a nice feed into the slot to Bratt, who wired his third of the season past Pickard.
KEY RETURN?
Oilers star forward and captain Connor McDavid took part in the optional morning skate for the Oilers, leading to hopes that he may be back sooner rather than later. McDavid has been expected to be out for two to three weeks with an ankle injury suffered during the first shift of last Monday’s loss in Columbus.
OILERS DEAL FOR D-MAN
The Oilers have acquired defenceman Ronnie Attard from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for defenceman Ben Gleason.
The 6-foot-3 Attard has spent the past three season in the Flyers organization seeing action in 29 career games. The 25-year-old right-shot defender and Western Michigan University grad was originally selected by Philadelphia in the third round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. Attard will report to the Oilers’ AHL affiliate in Bakersfield.
UP NEXT
Devils: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.
Oilers: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes threw for 291 yards and three touchdowns, and Kareem Hunt pounded into the end zone from two yards out in overtime to give the unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs a 30-24 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night.
DeAndre Hopkins had two touchdown receptions for the Chiefs (8-0), who drove through the rain for two fourth-quarter scores to take a 24-17 lead with 4:17 left. But then Kansas City watched as Baker Mayfield led the Bucs the other way in the final minute, hitting Ryan Miller in the end zone with 27 seconds to go in regulation time.
Tampa Bay (4-5) elected to kick the extra point and force overtime, rather than go for a two-point conversion and the win. And it cost the Buccaneers when Mayfield called tails and the coin flip was heads. Mahomes and the Chiefs took the ball, he was 5-for-5 passing on their drive in overtime, and Hunt finished his 106-yard rushing day with the deciding TD plunge.
Travis Kelce had 14 catches for 100 yards with girlfriend Taylor Swift watching from a suite, and Hopkins finished with eight catches for 86 yards as the Chiefs ran their winning streak to 14 dating to last season. They became the sixth Super Bowl champion to start 8-0 the following season.
Mayfield finished with 200 yards and two TDs passing for the Bucs, who have lost four of their last five.
It was a memorable first half for two players who had been waiting to play in Arrowhead Stadium.
The Bucs’ Rachaad White grew up about 10 minutes away in a tough part of Kansas City, but his family could never afford a ticket for him to see a game. He wound up on a circuitous path through Division II Nebraska-Kearney and a California junior college to Arizona State, where he eventually became of a third-round pick of Tampa Bay in the 2022 draft.
Two year later, White finally got into Arrowhead — and the end zone. He punctuated his seven-yard scoring run in the second quarter, which gave the Bucs a 7-3 lead, by nearly tossing the football into the second deck.
Then it was Hopkins’ turn in his first home game since arriving in Kansas City from a trade with the Titans.
The three-time All-Pro, who already had caught four passes, reeled in a third-down heave from Mahomes amid triple coverage for a 35-yard gain inside the Tampa Bay five-yard line. Three plays later, Mahomes found him in the back of the end zone, and Hopkins celebrated his first TD with the Chiefs with a dance from “Remember the Titans.”
Tampa Bay tried to seize control with consecutive scoring drives to start the second half. The first ended with a TD pass to Cade Otton, the latest tight end to shred the Chiefs, and Chase McLaughlin’s 47-yard field goal gave the Bucs a 17-10 lead.
The Chiefs answered in the fourth quarter. Mahomes marched them through the rain 70 yards for a tying touchdown pass, which he delivered to Samaje Perine while landing awkwardly and tweaking his left ankle, and then threw a laser to Hopkins on third-and-goal from the Buccaneers’ five-yard line to give Kansas City the lead.
Tampa Bay promptly went three-and-out, but its defence got the ball right back, and this time Mayfield calmly led his team down field. His capped the drive with a touchdown throw to Miller — his first career TD catch — with 27 seconds to go, and Tampa Bay elected to play for overtime.
UP NEXT
Buccaneers: Host the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.
