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June 22, 2015
The Hockey News has been providing the most comprehensive coverage of the world of hockey since 1947. In each issue, you'll find news, features and opinions about the NHL and leagues across North America and the world.
WHAT’S A COACH WORTH?
MIKE BABCOCK WILL NEVER SCORE A goal for Toronto, block a shot, make a save or have a shot attempt rating. Yet he was the most hyped free agent of 2015. It's a curious phenomenon. Babcock has built a reputation as being the best coach of this generation, and there's no argument he's a tremendous hockey man. But what is his value in terms of wins? We can only rely on anecdotal evidence and team success, or failure, to give us a barometer. And both those factors are canyon-wide when it comes to interpretation. As a colleague who's been in the industry for 25-plus years said, "how many fewer games do you think Detroit would have won if I'd been their coach?" The peer has never instructed beyond youth hockey, and was…
TORONTO
IN SOME CIRCLES, that Toronto even pushed Boston to seven games and held a lead late into the third period was viewed the worst thing that could have happened to the organization at that point, because it gave the braintrust a false sense of hope. Instead of recognizing the Leafs were a poor possession team in need of a drastic remodelling, Toronto merely tweaked things that summer, bringing in veterans such as Dave Bol-land and David Clarkson. The Clarkson contract ended up being a disaster, while Bolland's effectiveness was limited by injuries and he was soon gone for sunnier locales (literally, to Florida). Reimer's fall from grace in Game 7 led to the Jonathan Bernier trade, costing the team Frattin, Ben Scrivens and a second-round pick. Now, imagine if Reimer helped…
DEFENSIVE DOMINANCE
AS HALL OF FAME INDUCTION classes go, 2015 will go down as one of the best ever on the blueline. Probably the second best, depending who you ask. Seven-time Norris Trophy winner (and three times a runner-up) Nicklas Lidstrom will be joined on the red carpet by Chris Pronger, who won the Norris in 1999-00, the same season he won the Hart Trophy. The official announcement will be made June 29, and the induction ceremony will be held Nov. 9 in Toronto. Among other first-time eligible players, Sergei Fedorov is also expected to get the call. There’s always room for four former players, so that last spot could go to someone passed over in a previous year (see sidebar). Lidstrom was a dominant defenseman for 20 years in the NHL, all of them…
GREATEST HOCKEY FIGHT OF ALL-TIME
HE MISSED ALL THE FUN Reardon started a Broadway melee but missed it because he was rushed off to get stitches in his lip. KENNY REARDON, THE RAMBUNCTIOUS MONTREAL CANADIENS defenseman, had one thing in mind as he stickhandled across Madison Square Garden ice on the night of March 16, 1947 -freeze the puck. "Dick Irvin, our coach, had bawled me out for losing the puck and the game last time we were in New York," Reardon said. Montreal was leading the Rangers 4-3 with 32 seconds left. If the visitors could hold the lead they'd clinch first place and a new prize of $1,000 for each player the NHL was giving away that year The downtrodden Rangers, on the other hand, needed the win to stave off elimination from a playoff berth. As…
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