A quick mix of the things we gleaned from the week of hockey, serious and less so, and rolling four lines deep. EBUG-free for 14 days and counting!
1. One of the highest-scoring clubs in the league has another one coming.
Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Nick Robertson is absolutely lighting up the Ontario Hockey League, averaging 1.2 goals per game over a 44-game span.
Robertson hit the 50-goal mark in Game 43 with a short-handed, game-winning beauty in a hat-trick effort.
Even better? Only 12 of Robertson’s snipes have arrived on the power play, six have been shorties, and 10 have been game-winners. In addition to overall goals, he leads his junior circuit in short-handed and winning goals as well.
“This is not like Nick has had a good season. Nick’s an elite goal scorer. That’s what he is. One of the hardest-working players you’ll ever see,” Peterborough Petes head coach Robert Wilson told The Starting Lineup Thursday.
“You’re banking on, as a coaching staff, that Nick is scoring a goal a game — and he doesn’t let you down that way.”
Robertson’s OHL-goal-leading campaign has been all the more impressive considering Wilson has constantly juggled the 18-year-old’s linemates and the kid missed a month of action to represent the U.S. at the world juniors.
Wilson explained that Toronto has monitored the 2019 second-rounder’s progress closely, even sending Barb Underhill across the 401 for power-skating sessions.
“They’re pretty on it,” Wilson said. “Leafs fans will definitely hear about Nick.”
Toronto’s general manager, Kyle Dubas, tweeted his congratulations to Robertson this week and took a moment to praise his prospect when the executive met with reporters at the GM meetings in Boca Raton, Fla.
“He’s had a great season,” Dubas said. “With his work ethic, he’s only going to continue to push himself to get better.”
Robertson himself has been thinking about how he’ll fit into the Maple Leafs’ system since draft day.
“They play my style. They play a big skill game with Matthews (and) Marner. I’m not saying I’m that calibre of player yet – I hope to be – but there’s a lot of skill,” said Robertson, back when he was turning heads at development camp. “So it’s a great spot.
“I don’t think size is a factor. I think Toronto doesn’t see it as a factor. They’re a lot about skill and puck possession and hockey IQ. And that’s what I bring.”
2. When the Maple Leafs arrive at the rink on game days, they always discover that Santa has left an educational gift in each of their stalls: A preloaded, personalized iPad slapped with a blue leaf decal stamped with their individual sweater number.
The tradition began during Toronto’s playoff series with the Boston Bruins last spring and has continued throughout this season.
“What exactly is on the thing?” we wondered.
• An edit of each skater’s own shifts from the previous game.
• A breakdown of the night’s opposing goaltender with his tendencies and weaknesses.
• The opponent’s power-play and penalty-kill formations and strategies, for those on special teams.
• The opposition’s breakout, neutral zone and forecheck inclinations.
• Face-off tendencies of the opponent’s centremen, for those who take draws.
• Aspects the Leafs should key on for that game.
• Heart-rate monitoring software.
• Skills development drills.
Each player is left to his own devices (hey-oh!) to use his iPad when and how he chooses.
“Depends who you are, Alexander Kerfoot says. “Some guys, for sure, if it’s too much information, then they’re overthinking it. It’s better for them to just get out and play. Other guys want all the information.
“At least I know it. If I make a mistake out there, it’s on me. But I like to be prepared. I don’t think I overthink it. The more you know, the more comfortable you are, and the more you can let your instincts take over on the ice.”
Kerfoot leaves the iPad in his stall after the morning’s skate or meeting, returns to the rink post-nap well before puck drop and goes through it, focusing mostly on the face-off scouting report and any changes Sheldon Keefe has made to their Leafs’ own plan.
“It definitely helps. Probably some games more than others,” says Kerfoot, who relied on the tool heavily in the season’s early days. He was the new guy, and he was trying to take in as much as he could.
Kerfoot’s former club, the Colorado Avalanche, used the same XOS ThunderCloud system for digital pre-scouts, but the Avs weren’t served with their own preloaded tablets alongside their morning coffee.
Fellow centre John Tavares picks up the 91 tablet to drill down on the face-off scout and pays close attention to the special-teams info. He’s also brought his iPad on the ice with him during practice to keep an eye on his heart rate and making sure he’s pushing himself hard on a workday and not overexerting himself on a recovery day.
For, say, a Western Conference club, he might invest more screen time because it’s an opponent he seldom sees. For other games, he’ll scale back and lean on his own experience.
“It gives you as much information as you want or as you need. It’s a great tool to have,” Tavares says. “Some guys are on it in between periods. It just depends on the way you feel. Sometimes I feel like there’s too much information, and it’s just nice to just go out there and trust your instincts.”
3. Jake Casey, everybody. Fathers, hide your daughters:
4. Precisely four weeks out from the conclusion of the regular season, here are my major individual trophy leaders.
Hart: Leon Draisaitl Norris: John Carlson Selke: Brad Marchand Vezina: Andrei Vasilevskiy Calder: Quinn Hughes Lady Byng: Teuvo Teravainen Jack Adams: Alain Vigneault Jim Gregory: Joe Sakic
(Note: Writers don’t get a vote on top coach, goalie or GM.)
5. The NHL’s salary cap is projected to rise from $81 million in 2019-20 to somewhere between $84 million and $88.2 million. That $4.2 million is a wide range, enough to accommodate a top-four defenceman like Oscar Klefbom, Jonas Brodin, or Josh Manson.
It could also mean the difference between giving one of your impending UFAs the raise he’s gunning for or letting him walk and find his riches elsewhere.
Every GM wants more salary to play with, but cap-tight teams facing major decisions with key contributors are probably praying the ceiling gets pushed as close to $88.2 million as possible.
The Vancouver Canucks (Jacob Markstrom, Chris Tanev), Washington Capitals (Braden Holtby), St. Louis Blues (Alex Pietrangelo), Arizona Coyotes (Taylor Hall or suitable replacement), and Boston Bruins (Torey Krug) stick out.
6. Markstrom had earned the Vancouver Canucks points in four straight games before going out long-term with his knee injury.
Since the goalie has been sidelined, the Canucks have gone 2-4. Friday’s first regulation win since Markstrom’s injury — a biggie over Colorado — is hopefully one to build on.
As a franchise — and a city — expecting to build on a campaign with so much excitement and promise, how can Vancouver not re-sign Markstrom and roll into fall with its fate in the hands of Thatcher Demko?
(That’s no slight to Demko. Markstrom wasn’t ready to carry the load and be a No. 1 when he was 24 either.)
7. Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Casey DeSmith made 36 NHL appearances last season and zero with the farm club. He was rewarded with a three-year, one-way deal in 2019 for $3.75 million.
And, as the flip side of the Tristan Jarry success story, he’s played the entire 2019-20 campaign in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for the baby Pens. Certainly, this is not how he imagined life as a millionaire.
“I just think he was a victim of circumstance, but he’s an NHL goalie,” says Mike Vellucci, DeSmith’s coach.
Especially when the season opened, DeSmith took his demotion hard. Vellucci describes it as a “Why me? What did I do wrong?” kind of a thing.
For about two weeks, the coach let his disappointed athlete cool. Then he called DeSmith in for a good chat. The coach explained that DeSmith’s bump to the minors was purely circumstantial — it helps the big club’s cap picture that, until July 1, Jarry carries a more manageable hit — and that people would take notice of how he responded to this challenge.
“He started playing great,” Vellucci says. “It’s not what happens to you; it’s how you deal with what happens to you. And that’s what I talked to him about: Which way does he want to go? He’s taken the positive route and worked really hard on his game. I’m really proud of how he’s handled it.”
If Pittsburgh opts not to give both Jarry and Matt Murray juicy raises in free agency this summer, they have a No. 2 in DeSmith who is hungry and under contract. If Jim Rutherford does want to reward both Jarry and Murray, DeSmith becomes intriguing trade bait for one of the handful of clubs that will be eager to shake up their crease.
8. Kudos to the league for easing up on its nitpicking around the blueline and reducing offsides to a touchdown-esque “breaking the plane” determination.
The spirit of the rule was to discourage cherry-pickers, remember? If everyone could turn back the clock, would we not just go back to letting offsides be the official’s call, for better or worse.
Getting mad at refs is infinitely more fun than getting mad at the precious life minutes wasted by video review.
9. The NHL did the right thing by not drafting a batch of new rules and regulations surrounding the buzzy EBUG, a fluke occurrence that happens so infrequently and, it turns out, doesn’t even harm the team you’d think.
If they were going to alter anything about the role, how about making it a paid gig?
David Ayres signed a contract for an amateur tryout (ATO) and was officially paid $0 for his win — although he kept his Hurricanes sweater, and we’re guessing his media tour included a few perks.
“Under this agreement, the Player shall receive no salary, bonus (of any kind) or any other form of compensation,” reads the NHL regular-season ATO contract.
Like a true rent-a-goalie, the Carolina players dug into their own pockets to show some thanks for showing up in a pinch. “Yes, we did give a little bit of money,” Sebastian Aho told Ilta-Sanomat, a Finnish outlet .
Funny: The NHL got its biggest mainstream publicity boost from its lowest-paid player. It probably wouldn’t kill HRR for the league to kick in a bigger stipend to the next EBUG.
Not that he’s in it for the dough, but perhaps Ayres gets some form of compensation down the line. Maybe from his hockey card — which is totally going on my Christmas wish list:
10. Mika Zibanejad scored five goals, including the overtime winner, Thursday. At the time, that was more than 441 NHL skaters had scored all season long. Dude is a star.
And his teammates mobbing only the third Ranger to pop five in one game is everything…
11. With Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe still tinkering around with his bottom six as he tries to find the perfect mix for secondary scoring, and Toronto’s offence going dry during its California swing, I wonder if Kenny Agostino gets a call-up and a brief look.
The 27-year-old journeyman (Flames, Blues, Bruins, Canadiens, Devils) has 85 NHL games on his resume but none this season.
Taking off under new AHL coach Greg Moore, Agostino is now the Marlies’ top scorer, outproducing a quartet of teammates who have earned a look with the big club: Pontus Aberg, Nic Petan, Egor Korshkov and Adam Brooks.
“Kenny has been our best player for the last two months. He’s really, really driven the offence for us and even at times when we get down by two goals, he goes out and has physical shifts and gets a couple good hits and brings energy. He’s finding ways to have an impact in every hockey game,” Moore told reporters. “He can absolutely wire a puck.”
With weeks still remaining in the season, the left-winger has already established a new career in goals (27) and has added 22 assists. Friday’s two-goal performance gave him nine points in six games.
“It feels good,” Agostino said. “We’ve had so many different line combos the whole year. I just think it speaks to the depth of our team really. We have so many forwards that are skilled and can make plays and I’ve been fortunate to play with a lot of them like Aberg, Petan, (Tanner) MacMaster as of late, Korshkov. I’ve really kind of played with everyone at some point.”
But not the Leafs… yet.
Kenny Agostino pushes off the defender and backhands the puck into the net before it comes off. Marlies down 6-2. pic.twitter.com/MNVHafXH5B
— Wipe the slate, clear the canvas part 2 (@RodBlanchard) February 29, 2020
12. Strombone 1 love.
On Saturday night, Roberto Luongo will become the first player to have his number (1) retired by the Florida Panthers. Fun fact: At the same time, the Panthers will become the first NHL franchise to begin retiring sweater numbers sequentially. No other team began their rafters-hanging tradition with a player who wore No. 1.
Sources say there is no truth to the rumour that the Canucks must chip in $3,033,206 to Saturday night’s retirement party in Sunrise.
Olympic champion Maggie Mac Neil announced her retirement from swimming Thursday.
The gold medallist in the women’s 100-metre butterfly at Tokyo’s Summer Games in 2021 made the announcement in an Instagram post alongside a photo of her swimming as a child.
“The little girl above would have never dreamed this is where her love of swimming would take her,” Mac Neil wrote. “I am so grateful for all the memories, people, and places I have gotten to experience just through swimming.
“I’m excited to begin the next chapter of my life journey, as I embark on discovering who I am outside of swimming.”
The 24-year-old from London, Ont., earned a complete set of medals in Tokyo after helping relay teams to silver and bronze medals.
Mac Neil’s five gold medals at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, were the most by a Canadian athlete at a single Pan Am Games.
She was fifth in butterfly and was a member of two women’s relay teams that finished fourth at the recent Olympic Games in Paris.
“Anyone who I crossed paths with never, ever told me I couldn’t achieve my goal of going to the Olympics,” Mac Neil wrote. “It’s still surreal to be able to say I’m a two-time Olympian.”
She completed her master’s degree in sport management at Louisiana State University this year.
Born in China and adopted by Dr. Susan McNair and Dr. Edward MacNeil, Mac Neil’s mother wanted her to take swimming lessons for safety reasons because of the family’s backyard pool.
Mac Neil’s 2017 diagnosis of sport-induced asthma — which can be triggered by the swimming staples of heat and chlorine — forced a switch from longer distances to sprints.
Mac Neil became Canada’s first world champion in the women’s 100-metre butterfly two years later.
The nearsighted Mac Neil, who doesn’t wear contacts or prescription goggles, has seen multiple times a meme of her squinting hard at the scoreboard in Tokyo as she tried to decipher her result.
“I like to think it helps because I can’t see where other people are and I’m able to focus on my own race,” Mac Neil said before the Olympic Games in Paris. “That was definitely the case in Tokyo.
“I got that meme sent to me at least three times in January even though it’s been three years since.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 26, 2024.
NYON, Switzerland (AP) — Serbia and Albania are set to co-host the men’s Under-21 European Championship in 2027 in a soccer project that aims to overcome political tensions.
UEFA said Thursday only the Serbia-Albania bid met a deadline this week to file detailed tournament plans. Belgium and Turkey had declared interest earlier in the bidding process scheduled to be decided at a Dec. 16 meeting of the UEFA executive committee.
The Serbian and Albanian soccer federations teamed up in May to plan organization of the 16-team tournament played every two years that needs eight stadiums to host 31 games.
Albania soccer federation leader Armand Duka, who is a UEFA vice president, told The Associated Press in May that “it’s a 100% football project” with “a very good political message that we can get across.”
Weeks later at the men’s European Championship held in Germany, historic tensions between the Balkan countries — which in soccer included a notorious drone incident at a Serbia-Albania game in 2014 — played out at separate games involving their senior teams.
An Albania player was banned for games by UEFA for using a megaphone to join fans in nationalist chants, including targeting Serbia, after a Euro 2024 game against Croatia. Fans of Albania and Croatia earlier joined in anti-Serb chants, leading UEFA to impose fines for discrimination.
UEFA also fined both the Albanian and Serbian federations in separate incidents at Euro 2024 for fans displaying politically motivated banners about neighboring Kosovo.
After historic tensions were heightened by the 1990s Balkans conflicts, in 2008 majority ethnic Albanians in Kosovo declared independence for the former Serbian province. Serbia refuses to recognize that independence and considers Kosovo the cradle of its statehood.
An Albanian fans group daubed red paint on the federation offices in May when the cooperation with Serbian soccer for the Under-21 Euros was announced.
“We did have a few negative reactions from fans, mainly, and some interest groups,” Duka said then, “but not from the Albania government.”
UEFA has shown broad support for Serbia and Albania under its president, Aleksander Ceferin, who is from Slovenia.
The next annual congress of UEFA’s 55 national federations is in the Serbian capital Belgrade on April 3, and an executive committee meeting in September 2025 will be held in Tirana, Albania.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Philadelphia’s mayor has revealed the terms of the deal negotiated with the city’s pro basketball team for a new $1.3 billion arena downtown.
The agreement reached earlier this month calls for the Philadelphia 76ers to finance the entire project, with no city funding involved. There is, however, a provision that would let the NBA team make annual payments in lieu of taxes averaging $6 million per year. The agreement also calls for a $50 million investment in businesses, neighboring communities and the city’s schools to blunt the project’s impact, Mayor Cherelle Parker said during a news conference Wednesday night.
“I truly am proud having made this decision and negotiated an agreement that will definitely ensure that our Sixers are staying home right here in Philadelphia, where they should be,” Parker said.
City officials also released drafts of the nine bills and two resolutions needed to authorize the project, including measures that allow the city to acquire the arena property and change zoning rules. Parker said her administration would hold a series of town halls in the coming months where residents could discuss concerns about the proposal.
Team owners say their planned “76 Place” project would improve a struggling retail corridor near City Hall and capitalize on the city’s public transit. They also have vowed not to renew the lease on their current space, a circa 1996 arena in the city’s South Philadelphia sports complex, when their lease runs out in 2031.
The proposal has drawn significant opposition from activists in the city’s Chinatown area, who fear it would disrupt or displace residents and businesses. They say the city has ignored concerns that the project will increase vehicle traffic in their pedestrian-friendly neighborhood and force vulnerable residents — older people, low-income families and new immigrants — to move out. Parker on Wednesday renewed her pledge to preserve the area, which is just over a block from the proposed arena site.
If ultimately approved by the City Council, demolition work in the area would begin in 2026 with construction starting two years later. Officials hope to open the arena in time for the 76ers’ 2031-32 season.
