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NHLPA vote first of many big steps before NHL can return to play – Sportsnet.ca

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Those who were in the room call it a big step.

Sure, the list of items still to be worked out are much more significant in scope than the framework the NHLPA’s Executive Board voted favourably for on Friday night. But it’s a move in the right direction. The first tangible progress towards finishing off the 2019-20 NHL season after more than 10 weeks of uncertainty brought on by the novel coronavirus.

Here’s what the player reps for 31 teams agreed to: A 24-team return-to-play format that will see the top four seeds in each conference given “byes” directly to the playoffs while the other 16 enter a best-of-five play-in round to determine their opponents.

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At this point, that’s all.

Some of the other details Elliotte Friedman and I have reported on in recent days are still subject to further discussion — namely if a bracketed playoff format will be used, as is the NHL’s preference, or if seeding might apply instead.

That will help determine what the initial round-robin games played between the top four seeds mean. There had been thought they would be used to allow for some jockeying between positions, but the precise mechanics behind that still need to be hashed out.

And if a seeding system is used, it’s hard to imagine anyone other than the Boston Bruins ending up with the No. 1 spot in the Eastern Conference given that they had an eight-point lead over Tampa when the season was paused.

File that under a matter for another day.

It was a journey for the players to agree to a 24-team framework and included a Thursday night call with the Executive Board where emotions ran high. Not everyone was in favour of Montreal and Chicago being included — two teams who had infinitesimally small odds of reaching the playoffs under the traditional system.

Now they’ve each got a chance to get in by taking three-of-five games from an opponent that had a much better regular season. The Habs were 15 points behind Pittsburgh while the Blackhawks were 11 back of Edmonton, and they’re all essentially on equal footing.

Still, the Penguins voted in favour of this framework because they supported the greater good. And they weren’t the only ones.

“At the end of the day, nobody gets exactly what they want,” said Kris Letang, Pittsburgh’s NHLPA rep, in a Friday night conversation with Friedman. “But we all want what is best for hockey and to continue to grow the game.”

The vote essentially closes the book this season on the bottom seven teams: Buffalo, New Jersey, Anaheim, Los Angeles, San Jose, Ottawa and Detroit.

Everyone else still has a chance to lift the Stanley Cup.

Sportsnet Tonight

There’s still a lot more to do if the NHLPA approves a return to play format

May 22 2020

But for all the hope that comes with handicapping play-in matchups, there is considerable ground to cover before this concept becomes reality. Issues like securing enough testing capacity and agreeing to the safety protocols. Addressing player concerns about separation from families for a long period of time and determining which two cities will be used as return-to-play hubs. Getting somewhere in the neighbourhood of 100 players back from Europe and seeing if every team will be able to hold a training camp in its own city.

And, while the discussions continue on all of those items, the NHL is still looking to put the wheels in motion on the next phase of its return-to-play plan by opening team facilities for small-group workouts.

The biggest question of all remains unanswered: When might all of this start?

There are those who believe — or hope — we might be seeing NHL games played by the end of July, but that’s not something the league or anyone else can say right now with certainty.

You’re probably sensing a trend here.

Perhaps that’s why Friday night’s vote was hailed by some as a significant step: Cast alongside this mountainous to-do list, it should lead to getting one big matter struck off.

We also have a clearer idea of what everything might look like if it’s ever safe enough or feasible enough to resume the pursuit of the Stanley Cup.

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Allen on trade to Devils from Habs: 'Sometimes you've got to be a little bit selfish' – Yahoo Canada Sports

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Jake Allen loved being a member of the Montreal Canadiens.

The hockey-mad market, the crackling Bell Centre on a Saturday night, the Original Six franchise’s iconic logo.

The 33-year-old goaltender is also realistic.

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With the Canadiens still in full rebuild mode — and two young netminders in Sam Montembeault and Cayden Primeau ready for more playing time — Allen could see the writing on the wall.

Desperate for help in their own crease, the New Jersey Devils asked Montreal about the veteran’s availability. But the team, general manager Tom Fitzgerald told reporters earlier this month, was initially on Allen’s no-trade list.

There wasn’t anything the Fredericton product disliked about the organization or city. The Devils simply appeared to have their crease set for years to come.

But when the club that finished with 112 points and made the second round of the playoffs in 2022-23 was badly hampered by poor play from Vitek Vanecek, Nico Daws and Akira Schmid — each netminder owned save percentages below .900 — the Devils circled back.

And Allen had changed his tune.

“Loved my time as a Hab,” he said of pulling on Montreal’s red, white and blue threads. “I always will cherish that. Put on probably the most special jersey in hockey, in my books. But you realize in your career, it doesn’t last forever.

“You’ve got to make decisions sometimes.”

Allen, who is signed through next season, eventually agreed to a deal that sent him to New Jersey ahead of the NHL’s March 8 trade deadline for a conditional third-round pick at the 2025 draft.

Apart from playing meaningful hockey on a team trying to claw its way back into the Eastern Conference playoff race, the swap gave him more runway to get his family settled in a new city instead of waiting to see what this summer’s crowded goalie market might bring.

“Sometimes you’ve got to be a little bit selfish,” said Allen, a Stanley Cup champion with the St. Louis Blues in 2019. “Look yourself in the mirror and wonder what’s best for you and your family.”

He’s been really good for his new team.

Allen was lights out in Tuesday’s first period against the Toronto Maple Leafs, making an eye-popping 25 saves in what would turn into New Jersey’s 6-3 victory.

So far he’s 4-2-0 with a .925 save percentage and a 2.51 goals against average in six starts for the Devils, who sit five points back of the East’s second wild-card spot.

“A real pro,” said interim head coach Travis Green.

Allen is a combined 10-14-3 in 2023-24 with a .900 save percentage and a 3.39 GAA. Across his 11 seasons with St. Louis, Montreal and now New Jersey, he’s 193-164-41 with a .908 save percentage and 2.75 GAA.

“Makes the saves we need to get some momentum back,” Devils captain Nico Hischier said. “If you have a solid goalie in the net, that makes your work easier.”

Allen is also 11-12 with a .924 and a 2.06 GAA all-time in the playoffs — a good sign for his new club should New Jersey manage to make the cut.

For now, though, he’s just enjoying being back in a post-season race.

“I thought this was a good opportunity to come in the rest of this year, play some games,” Allen said.

“It’s been a good start.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 28, 2024.

___

Follow @JClipperton_CP on X.

Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press

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Matthews game-time decision for Maple Leafs against Capitals with illness – NHL.com

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TORONTOAuston Matthews will be a game-time decision for the Toronto Maple Leafs against the Washington Capitals at Scotiabank Arena on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; SN1, MNMT) because of an illness.

“It’s going to be on how he feels throughout the day,” Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said.

The forward did not participate in Toronto’s morning skate. Max Domi took his place as the center on a line between Tyler Bertuzzi and Mitch Marner, a right wing recovering from a high-ankle sprain sustained March 7 and will be out the next two games.

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Matthews leads the NHL with 59 goals, one from becoming the ninth player in NHL history with at least two 60-goal seasons. He scored 60 in 73 games in 2021-22, when he won the Rocket Richard Trophy, Hart Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award. He had one goal and nine shots in 23:44 of a 6-3 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday, which extended his point streak to five games (four goals, seven assists).

He missed one game this season with illness, a 7-0 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Dec. 16.

“Of course, it’s an adjustment when your best player is out of the lineup,” Domi said, “when anybody is out of the lineup, but I think we’ve done a great job all year of guys stepping up when they have to, and we just have to continue to do that.”

Toronto defenseman Morgan Rielly will miss his second straight game with an upper-body injury.

“He just remains day to day,” Keefe said. “We’re hopeful he’s going to bounce back here. The one thing that is good is once he gets through this day or two here, it’s not going to be a lingering situation. It’s not going to be an injury that’s ongoing. Once he’s past it, he’s past it so we just need to give him some time.”

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Canucks place goalie Thatcher Demko on long-term injured list

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The Vancouver Canucks have placed all-star goalie Thatcher Demko on the long-term injured reserve list retroactively.

“It’s just cap related,” coach Rick Tocchet said after practice Wednesday. “We get some cap relief, that’s all it is.”

The 28-year-old netminder has been considered week to week since being sidelined with a lower-body injury midway through Vancouver’s 5-0 win over the Winnipeg Jets on March 9.

That injury designation hasn’t changed, Tocchet said.

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Demko boasts a 34-18-2 record this season, with a .917 save percentage, a 2.47 goals-against average and five shutouts.

Casey DeSmith has taken over the starting job for Vancouver, going 3-2-1 since Demko’s injury. He has a .899 save percentage on the season with a 2.73 goals-against average and one shutout.

The earliest Demko could be back in the Canucks’ lineup is April 6 against the Kings in Los Angeles.

He’s expected to be a key piece as Vancouver (45-19-8) prepares for its first playoff appearance since the COVID-shortened 2019-20 campaign.

Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin also announced Wednesday that the club has called up forward Arshdeep Bains from the Abbotsford Canucks of the American Hockey League.

“I’d like to see where [Bains is] at,” Tocchet said, noting he isn’t sure whether the 23-year-old winger will slot into the lineup when the Canucks host the Dallas Stars on Thursday.

WATCH | Bains makes NHL debut

 

Surrey, B.C.’s Arshdeep Bains makes Canucks debut

1 month ago

Duration 2:20

Arshdeep Bains from Surrey, B.C., has made his NHL debut with the Vancouver Canucks Tuesday night against the Colorado Avalanche. As CBC’s Joel Ballard reports, it’s been a hard-fought journey for the hometown kid to the big leagues.

Bains played five games for the NHL team in February before being sent back to Abbotsford.

“He went down, he’s done a couple of things that we like, and he’s got some speed,” Tocchet said.

Vancouver may get another forward back in the lineup Thursday.

Dakota Joshua practised in a full-contact jersey on Wednesday for the first time since suffering an upper-body injury in Vancouver’s 4-2 win over the Blackhawks in Chicago on Feb. 13.

The physical winger, who’s set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, has a career-high 26 points (13 goals, 13 assists) this season.

Sitting out injured “hasn’t been fun,” Joshua said.

“It feels like forever,” he said. “But at this point, that’s behind me and I’m moving forward.”

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