The Hockey News has been providing the most comprehensive coverage of the world of hockey since 1947. THN is published 18 times a year, including 14 regular issues and four special issues – such as Future Watch, Draft Preview, Yearbook, the #1 selling hockey annual in North America.

January 22, 2018

The Hockey News vol.71 no.10 - January 22, 2018

<div class="byline">&#x2013; WITH SAM MCCAIG</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-0324/236404-1-eng-US/f0016-032.jpg" title="f0016-03" width="513" height="584"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(STEPAN: RICHARD A. WHITTAKER/ICON SPORTSWIRE VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>Who was your mentor growing up?</b></p><p>It has to be my father. He brought me up in a hockey environment when I was a young kid, and we always talked hockey. We always preached hockey. He never stopped teaching me the game.</p><p><b>What&rsquo;s the best piece of advice you got as a young player?</b></p><p>It&rsquo;s funny, but probably the best piece of advice came from my mother, who always just told me to have fun. It seems simple and stupid, but the biggest thing I try to remember when I go on the ice is to enjoy myself and have some fun.</p><p><b>Who did you model your game after?</b></p><p>I don&rsquo;t know if I modelled my game after him, but growing up Steve Yzerman was my favorite player. If I was able to watch an NHL game, I watched him.</p><p><b>What&rsquo;s the most important skill to work on as a young player?</b></p><p>I would tell kids to play all sports. Don&rsquo;t be overly concerned about incorporating your hockey skills until you get older. I think you need to try to be as athletic as you can be, and that&rsquo;s really important at a young age.</p><p><b>Why do you wear No. 21?</b></p><p>It was given to me in college. I wore No. 9 growing up. When I got to college, it was taken by an older guy, and I had a choice between a couple numbers. I chose 21, and after my freshman year it kind of became my number. When I got to the NHL, I started with No. 57, and after training camp our trainer came up and said, &lsquo;You wore 21 in college. Would you like to switch?&rsquo; I made the switch and wore 21 again.</p><p><b>What was your first major purchase after your first contract?</b></p><p>The house my wife and I bought in Minnesota. Other than that, we haven&rsquo;t made any real big purchases. I don&rsquo;t do the car thing. It&rsquo;s not for me. I&rsquo;m more practical when it comes to that stuff.</p><p><b>What&rsquo;s your favorite way to score?</b></p><p>I don&rsquo;t have a favorite one. Any way it goes in the net I&rsquo;m happy with.</p><p><b>What&rsquo;s the best thing about playing in the NHL?</b></p><p>There are so many things you could pick. But one of the biggest is that every single day you get to come to the rink and play the game of hockey, and you get paid to do it. I have a lot of buddies that work 9-to-5, and I get to go to the rink and play a game that we grew up playing as buddies, and I get paid to do it. That&rsquo;s the best part.</p><p><b>What&rsquo;s the worst thing about playing in the NHL?</b></p><p>Absolutely nothing.</p><p><b>What advice would you give to your 13-year-old self?</b></p><p>Wear less hats. Don&rsquo;t lose your hair at such a young age.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0016-03

IN THIS ISSUE

RAPID FIRE WITH ARIZONA COYOTES CENTER DEREK STEPAN

<div class="byline">BY CHARLIE TELJEUR</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-0167/235870-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="696" height="1004"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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THE INSTIGATOR

<div class="byline">BY RYAN KENNEDY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0044-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-0163/237994-1-eng-US/f0044-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(CATHERINE KIM/OJHL IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>FOR DAILY PROSPECT COVERAGE, VISIT <b><a href="http://THN.com">THN.COM</a></b></p><h2><b>ODD-MAN RUSHES</b></h2><p>As a standout NHL prospect, McBain often faces double-or triple-team coverage in OJHL action.</p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-0247/237987-1-eng-US/f0044-022.jpg" title="f0044-02" width="95" height="94"></div><p><b>IT&rsquo;S BEEN A DECADE</b> since the Ontario Jr. A League produced an NHL first-round pick &ndash; Brendan Smith of St. Michael&rsquo;s in 2007 &ndash; but 2018 will bring another.</p><p>In Jack McBain, the Toronto Jr. Canadiens have a big, talented center who made a somewhat surprising choice to play two years in the OJHL instead of heading to the more competitive USHL this season, but the kid has no qualms about his path. &ldquo;Ultimately it was a family decision,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I was weighing my options as to whether I wanted to leave home or not. We like the coaches, and it&rsquo;s a good spot here.&rdquo;</p><p>The son of former NHLer Andrew McBain will move next year when he enrolls at Boston College to play for legendary coach Jerry York. McBain will bring a lot of maturity with him as a freshman. &ldquo;I catch myself thinking, &lsquo;This guy&rsquo;s 25 years old already,&rsquo;&rdquo; said Toronto coach Jeff Angelidis.</p><p>Part of that comes from Mc-Bain&rsquo;s international experience. He played for Canada East at the World Jr. A Challenge last year, earning a silver medal. Before he left for the tournament, McBain was on the quiet side. Once he returned, his coach saw a much more talkative player. &ldquo;He just started taking over as one of our leaders,&rdquo; Angelidis said. &ldquo;He was very vocal on the ice and on the bench.&rdquo;</p><p>McBain was a solid scorer last season and has increased his production during his draft year, but Angelidis still gets asked if McBain is scoring enough. The coach sees it differently. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s committed to being a 200-foot player,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s one of the best penalty killers I&rsquo;ve ever worked with.&rdquo;</p><p>McBain is also facing top lines every night, and, as a 6-foot-3, near 200-pound highly regarded prospect, he&rsquo;s a known quantity in the league. He&rsquo;s seeing double-teams or even triple-teams when he has the puck. &ldquo;You try to enjoy the challenge,&rdquo; McBain said. &ldquo;You know it&rsquo;s going to happen, so you go with it and do what you can.&rdquo;</p><p>McBain won gold last summer at the under-18 Ivan Hlinka tournament, notching five points in five games, but another challenge will come at this year&rsquo;s WJAC, where McBain will play a bigger role on Canada East. Because the OJHL doesn&rsquo;t have the greatest consistency of competition, the international event will also give NHL scouts a better sense of where McBain fits in the draft picture. As it is, he&rsquo;s seen as an elite player who plays with a long stick and handles the puck well. Can he operate with less time and space than he has in the OJHL? That&rsquo;s what scouts will be watching.</p><p>In the meantime, McBain wants to work on the quickness of his first three strides. With his size and talent, a little more speed would make him downright impossible to pass up.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p></div>

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GOING OFF THE BEATEN PATH

<div class="byline">BY RYAN KENNEDY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-0165/237449-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="748" height="480"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>FROM HARE TO TORTOISE</b></p><p>Kovalchuk may return slower &ndash; but also smarter. He has worked hard on improving the nuances of his game.</p> <span class="photo-credit">(ARTYOM KOROTAYEV\TASS VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>AGE 34 | LAST YEAR nr</b></p><p><b>AS HE WAS LAST</b> summer, left winger Ilya Kovalchuk will be one of the biggest wild cards in hockey. But this time, things should be more straightforward.</p><p>Last year, Kovalchuk&rsquo;s rights were still controlled by the New Jersey Devils, meaning any return to the NHL for the KHL superstar had to go through them first. It didn&rsquo;t happen. But this summer, the 2004 Rocket Richard Trophy winner is an unrestricted free agent in every sense &ndash; and he could shake things up.</p><p>Since leaving the Devils for Russia in 2013, Kovalchuk has put his stamp on the KHL, winning two Gagarin Cup titles, earning playoff MVP honors in 2015 and being named an all-star each year during his tenure. And at 34, with 17 pro seasons under his belt, Kovalchuk is leading the KHL in scoring as part of the juggernaut SKA St. Petersburg franchise. &ldquo;As much as &lsquo;Kovy&rsquo; has accomplished in the NHL, it&rsquo;s been amazing to watch him grow as a player in his KHL career, too,&rdquo; said agent Jay Grossman. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think he&rsquo;s lost anything. If anything, his game has gotten stronger.&rdquo;</p><p>The big question, of course, is whether his KHL impact will lead to NHL success if he returns next season? The success of former KHL stars in the NHL has been a mixed bag, though it&rsquo;s important to distinguish between first-timers and returnees. Alexander Radulov, for example, played major junior with Quebec and two seasons with Nashville before heading back to Russia for most of the next eight years. When he finally came back full-time as a member of the Montreal Canadiens last year, he ended up being one of the Habs&rsquo; best players, because he knew what to expect over here. &ldquo;There are so many aspects of understanding how things work here,&rdquo; said Grossman, who also represents Radulov. &ldquo;You&rsquo;re much better prepared for the transition.&rdquo;</p><p>From the smaller ice size to the language and culture, it helps to have a head start. Vadim Shipachyov, 30, had none of that experience when he signed with Vegas in May, and it&rsquo;s little surprise his tenure with the Golden Knights was short-lived. Is it fair to compare Kovalchuk to Radulov? That&rsquo;s a tough one, since Kovalchuk is three years older. According to one NHL exec who has spoken to his scouts about him, Kovalchuk will have to reprove himself. &ldquo;The Ilya Kovalchuk that left the NHL is not the Ilya Kovalchuk that would be leaving the KHL,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s heavier. The conditioning&rsquo;s not the same there.&rdquo;</p><p>Grossman believes the bigger KHL ice requires good skaters, so perhaps that helps Kovalchuk&rsquo;s cause, but ultimately it will be up to NHL GMs. What is not up for debate is how important the big left winger will be at the upcoming Olympics. It looked a little dicey there for a moment, what with the IOC coming down hard on Russia for doping scandals, but with president Vladimir Putin giving his blessing for clean athletes to go to Korea, even though they can&rsquo;t technically represent Russia in the traditional sense, Kovalchuk will be front and center. The men&rsquo;s tournament is of course incredibly diminished by the lack of NHLers this time, but that&rsquo;s also a huge benefit for Russia, which can trot out Kovalchuk, Pavel Datsyuk and Minnesota prospect Kirill Kaprizov among others.</p><p>Given how the Russians have been humiliated at the past few Olympics &ndash; particularly on their Sochi home ice, when the national side lost in the quarterfinal with Putin watching &ndash; this will be a crucial test of the squad&rsquo;s mettle. With all of the best North American players staying home, there&rsquo;s a path to a gold medal for Kovalchuk and the Russians, but they will have to execute.</p><p>All in all, it&rsquo;s a full year for Kovalchuk. His St. Petersburg squad is a heavy favorite to win the championship, and the Olympics represent the same pressure. And of course there&rsquo;s another World Championship to reckon with in the spring &ndash; another key tournament in the Russian consciousness. Only after all that will he truly begin to think about his NHL options and, depending on how the situations involving names like John Tavares, Joe Thornton and Rick Nash turn out, Kovalchuk might be an Xfactor. His exit to the KHL may have seemed like a retreat, but the talented sniper never stopped working on his game in Russia. &ldquo;He cares about being a better player,&rdquo; Grossman said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s always thinking of ways to become a better player.&rdquo;</p><p>If Kovalchuk can recapture the NHL magic that helped New Jersey to the Cup final in 2012, he&rsquo;ll be worth every penny he gets. This summer, it will just be a matter of finding the right believer to make it happen.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0030-01

76 ILYA KOVALCHUK

<div class="byline">Jason Kay</div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span>HERE&rsquo;S AN OLD SCHOOLYARD</b> gag that has one child asking another to say &ldquo;toast&rdquo; five times quickly. You may know it. After the second kid says &ldquo;toast, toast, toast, toast, toast,&rdquo; the first one then asks, &ldquo;what do you put in a toaster?&rdquo; Typically, the answer comes back as toast. Instead of bread. It&rsquo;s a micro-brainwash. Repeat a mantra frequently enough and it becomes programmed. Knee meet jerk. Sadly, that&rsquo;s often the reaction among some fans, media members and hockey personnel when an innovative rule change is suggested to improve an already terrific game.</p><p>A recent case in point is the notion of one-minute penalties, a concept that surfaced at the NHL GMs&rsquo; meetings in the fall. Forget for a moment what these penalties would be for, because that&rsquo;s not the thrust of the argument. Many of the naysayers, including our cherished back-page columnist Ken Campbell in our previous edition, argue that a penalty is a penalty is a penalty, and the punishment should remain at two minutes across the board (except for major fouls, of course). Flip the puck over the glass or get caught cheating at a faceoff and do the same time as someone who hooks to nullify the storied scintillating scoring opportunity. Don&rsquo;t contribute to the mollycoddling that is pervasive in our culture. In other words, there&rsquo;s nothing wrong with the rulebook, it&rsquo;s the judges who need to apply it better and firmer.</p><p>Fortunately, our real-world legislators and judges don&rsquo;t subscribe to this doctrine. We&rsquo;d have convicts serving similar sentences for a swath of crimes. That&rsquo;s not how it works. Society has determined the person who carelessly and/or recklessly kills someone while driving is charged with a lesser crime and receives a far lesser sentence than the person who murders with intent or in the heat of the moment.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-0165/235571-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="284" height="376"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(JACLYN LOCKE)</span></figcaption></div><p>We can all agree that players never intend to shoot the puck over the glass while in their own zone; there is a deterrent for it, which we accept. That said, it&rsquo;s illogical to assess the same sentence for an action with no intent as one that is done willfully. If we apply that rationale to other hockey infractions, there would be two-minute penalties for offsides, icings, goalies who freeze the puck and so on. Each one of those maneuvers delays play. Yet the consequence that follows is a faceoff that gives the offending team a 50-50 chance of getting possession of the puck back immediately. Where&rsquo;s the repercussion? Talk about participation ribbons. Imagine if basketball held a jump ball every time there was an out-of-bounds.</p><p>We&rsquo;ve been wired to default to &ldquo;no&rdquo; when change is proposed, particularly when it impacts something we hold dearly. But what if we didn&rsquo;t rush to judgment so often and were trained to open our minds before our mouths? We might arrive at the same conclusions much of the time, but not every time. Will the league&rsquo;s powerbrokers, many of whom are recognized in this issue, have the courage and conviction to take the penalty concept to the next level? If I were a betting man, I wouldn&rsquo;t put much bread on it; I suspect the issue is already toast.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-0264/235564-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="222" height="123"></div><p>Editor in chief</p><span class="image-inline"><img src="mon1a2.jpg" title="common1a" width="25" height="21"></span><p><b>@JKTHN</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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HOCKEY’S PRETZEL LOGIC

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-0114/235628-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg" title="f0005-01" width="512" height="489"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="mon12.jpg" title="common1" width="54" height="54"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="mon1b2.jpg" title="common1b" width="71" height="71"></div><p><b><a href="http://twitter.com/thehockeynews">Twitter.com/TheHockeyNews</a></b></p><p>Who&rsquo;s the best UFA center available this summer?</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="mon1c2.jpg" title="common1c" width="51" height="51"></div><p><b><a href="http://twitter.com/thehockeynews">Twitter.com/TheHockeyNews</a></b></p><p>Who&rsquo;s the best UFA winger available this summer?</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-0215/235614-1-eng-US/f0005-022.jpg" title="f0005-02" width="500" height="306"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="mon1c2.jpg" title="common1c" width="51" height="51"></div><p><b><a href="http://twitter.com/thehockeynews">Twitter.com/TheHockeyNews</a></b></p><p>Who&rsquo;s the best UFA defenseman available this summer?</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-0310/235600-1-eng-US/f0005-032.jpg" title="f0005-03" width="467" height="273"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(SHANAHAN: HARRY HOW/GETTY IMAGES/NHLI; TAVARES: ANDY DEVLIN/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES; NEAL: MINAS PANAGIOTAKIS/GETTY IMAGES; CARLSON: MARK BLINCH/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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THN POLL

<span class="image-inline"><img src="mon22.jpg" title="common2" width="17" height="17"></span><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he prototype for the model was Gordie Howe. It just isn&rsquo;t how big a player is or how many fights they were in, but how they play. Power forwards crash the front of the net. They wreak havoc in the crease. They get garbage goals, they aren&rsquo;t the pretty goal scorers.</p><p><b>&ndash; Eamonn Brosnan</b></p><span class="image-inline"><img src="mon1a2.jpg" title="common1a" width="25" height="21"></span><p>Eric Lindros. The player dominated the ice. He could either go through you or dangle around you. He took on the best players every night and put up points and wins for the Flyers. He made John LeClair a goal scorer. Imagine if he had a goalie&hellip;Cups would be lined up.</p><p><b>&ndash; @cdnguinness</b></p><span class="image-inline"><img src="mon22.jpg" title="common2" width="17" height="17"></span><p>Mark Messier &ndash; put a team on your shoulders and carry them: &lsquo;The Messiah.&rsquo; Only player ever to captain two teams to Stanley Cup wins. Second in all-time playoff points. Third all-time in points in the regular season. Two Harts, Conn Smythe, Six Cups, etc.</p><p><b>&ndash; Michael Boerefyn</b></p><span class="image-inline"><img src="mon1a2.jpg" title="common1a" width="25" height="21"></span><p>Peter Forsberg. Played just as physical with the puck as most did without. Could score in multiple ways. Well over a point-per-game player. Two Cups as well.</p><p><b>&ndash; @MILLERone6</b></p><span class="image-inline"><img src="mon22.jpg" title="common2" width="17" height="17"></span><p>My childhood hero &ndash; Brendan Shanahan. Shanny had more than 600 NHL goals AND more than 2,000 penalty minutes. Olympic gold medal and three Stanley Cups.</p><p><b>&ndash; Casey Allen</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-0410/235734-1-eng-US/f0005-042.jpg" title="f0005-04" width="219" height="360"><figcaption class="caption-body">BRENDAN <b>SHANAHAN</b></figcaption></div><span class="image-inline"><img src="mon22.jpg" title="common2" width="17" height="17"></span><p>Clark Gillies created the position, therefore he needs to be acknowledged in any list. He did everything and dropped the gloves when needed&hellip;team captain&hellip;first line winger&hellip;Hall of Famer&hellip;four-time Cup winner.</p><p><b>&ndash; Marc Sabourin</b></p><span class="image-inline"><img src="mon1a2.jpg" title="common1a" width="25" height="21"></span><p>Jarome Iginla. 1,300 points and 1,000 PIMs in 1,554 career games. Never lost many fights over the years either.</p><p><b>&ndash; @MrFordy5</b></p><span class="image-inline"><img src="mon1a2.jpg" title="common1a" width="25" height="21"></span><p>Maurice &lsquo;The Rocket&rsquo; Richard. At one time the all-time goals leader, ninth quickest to 500 goals, tough and intense, cut hard through defenses to score goals and carried the Habs to eight Stanley Cups and won a Hart Trophy and 1,285 PIM. My definition of a power forward.</p><p><b>&ndash; @Improbi</b></p><span class="image-inline"><img src="mon22.jpg" title="common2" width="17" height="17"></span><p>Cam Neely hands down. Imagine the numbers he would&rsquo;ve put up if cheap shots against him wouldn&rsquo;t have taken their toll.</p><p><b>&ndash; Ron Hulett</b></p><span class="image-inline"><img src="mon22.jpg" title="common2" width="17" height="17"></span><p>People have different definitions for &ldquo;power forward.&rdquo; Mine is a player who uses his size and strength to gain an advantage over defenders. Based on this, there has never been a better power forward than Mario Lemieux. Yes he had finesse as well, but he used his size just as much.</p><p><b>&ndash; Habsterix</b></p><span class="image-inline"><img src="mon1a2.jpg" title="common1a" width="25" height="21"></span><p>Tim Kerr. Stronger than a garlic milkshake.</p><p><b>&ndash; @Skott_T</b></p><span class="image-inline"><img src="mon22.jpg" title="common2" width="17" height="17"></span><p>Todd Bertuzzi. In his prime, he was unstoppable. The only player who finally stopped him was himself.</p><p><b>&ndash; Pascal Riou</b></p><span class="image-inline"><img src="mon22.jpg" title="common2" width="17" height="17"></span><p>John Ferguson was <i>the</i> power forward before the term became popular. He made the Canadiens a very tough team to play against and was a very good all-around player&hellip; and the Cups speak for themselves.</p><p><b>&ndash; Paul Skinner</b></p><span class="image-inline"><img src="mon22.jpg" title="common2" width="17" height="17"></span><p>Obviously it was Carl Racki. The rest of this is irresponsible gibberish.</p><p><b>&ndash; @PaulFletcher97</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0005-04

SOAPBOX

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-0167/235798-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(PHOTO BY VINCENT ETHIER/ICON SPORTSWIRE VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0006-01

PRICELESS SOUVENIR

<div class="byline">BY RYAN KENNEDY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0008-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-0166/235841-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>TALKING TO TEAMMATES</b></p><p>More and more media scrums now involve writers hired by NHL teams to report on them at arm&rsquo;s length for online content.</p> <span class="photo-credit">(JONATHAN KOZUB/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>&gt; FOR UP-TO-THE-MINUTE COVERAGE, VISIT <b><a href="http://THN.com">THN.COM</a></b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-0148/235834-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg" title="f0009-01" width="412" height="419"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>WHERE TO DRAW LINE</b></p><p>If a goalie like Bishop blasts his coach, can the team-hired writer mention it on the team site? In this case, yes.</p> <span class="photo-credit">(JEFF VINNICK/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-0237/235827-1-eng-US/f0009-022.jpg" title="f0009-02" width="95" height="95"></div><p><b>AARON PORTZLINE WAS</b> 18 when he joined the <i>Columbus Dispatch</i>. In nearly three decades of service, he became the newspaper&rsquo;s Columbus Blue Jackets beat writer and, eventually, one of the best NHL beat writers around. But the veteran reporter could see things were changing. The <i>Columbus Dispatch</i> used to be family-owned. Then it was sold to a major chain. The paper even moved from its old building, and all of a sudden the magic was gone. &ldquo;Even the halls didn&rsquo;t have the same feel,&rdquo; he said.</p><p>And let&rsquo;s face it: the newspaper industry isn&rsquo;t in the strongest of positions these days. So when the opportunity came for Portzline to join an internet startup called The Athletic, he made the leap. &ldquo;I had to think about it a ton,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m so glad I made the move, but I had been a part of the <i>Dispatch</i> for 29 years, and I knew it was a super-hard decision.&rdquo;</p><p>Portzline isn&rsquo;t the only high-profile hockey writer to switch jobs this year. The entire media landscape has been in upheaval as traditional newspapers and other big media corporations slash their budgets and staff. ESPN and Yahoo gutted their hockey coverage, and even the big names weren&rsquo;t spared. Pierre LeBrun went to The Athletic, while fellow ESPN alum Scott Burnside took a new type of job with the Dallas Stars.</p><p>Burnside now works for the Stars but is still independent.</p><p>That is to say, if the Stars are playing badly, he&rsquo;s allowed to write it. When goalie Ben Bishop got angry about being pulled in a game by coach Ken Hitchcock, Burnside got the quotes, just as he would have done in his old beat writing days, even though it was controversial.</p><p>The Stars called Burnside the day he was laid off by ESPN, and so far the experiment has worked well. &ldquo;They were the ones who wanted to try something different,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo; &lsquo;Be a Stars employee,&rsquo; but in some ways at arm&rsquo;s length. They were looking to make sure they were still relevant.&rdquo;</p><p>While the <i>Dallas Morning News</i> still has a great beat writer in Mike Heika, the newspaper&rsquo;s travel budget isn&rsquo;t what it used to be. In fact, there are a number of NHL markets where beat writers no longer travel to all (or even most) road games, because their papers don&rsquo;t want to make the investment.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><blockquote class="pullQuote">IS IT WEIRD WORKING FOR A TEAM? I GUESS SO. <b>BUT I WORKED AT ESPN FOR 13 YEARS, AND THEN THINGS CHANGED</b><br>&ndash; Scott Burnside</blockquote><p>While traditional reporting jobs with team websites will continue (Gary Lawless went from the Winnipeg beat to the Vegas Golden Knights&rsquo; website, for example), it will be interesting to see if more teams go the &ldquo;arm&rsquo;s length&rdquo; route that Dallas did. &ldquo;Is it weird working for a team? I guess so,&rdquo; Burnside said. &ldquo;But I worked at ESPN for 13 years, and then things changed.&rdquo;</p><p>Perhaps an even safer landing spot for writers is the NHL itself. The league&rsquo;s website has gone on a hiring spree lately, in an initiative spearheaded by group vice-president of communications John Dellapina and aided by the NHL&rsquo;s partnership with Major League Baseball Advanced Media. &ldquo;That was a catalyst to increase content,&rdquo; said editor-in-chief Bill Price. &ldquo;John saw that as an opportunity to expand what we&rsquo;re doing and turn this into a complete site.&rdquo;</p><p>Name writers such as Nick Cotsonika, Amalie Benjamin and Mike Zeisberger are now part of <a href="http://NHL.com">NHL.com</a> and, geographically, the site has a bigger footprint. L.A.&rsquo;s Lisa Dillman can grab Eric Staal for a feature when Minnesota is in town, for example, while Tim Campbell can provide Jets coverage straight from Winnipeg.</p><p>Naturally, stories on <a href="http://NHL.com">NHL.com</a> tend to focus on the positive, and for Price, it&rsquo;s about telling good stories. There are limits &ndash; with injuries, the writers wait until the team makes an announcement &ndash; but it&rsquo;s content, and that&rsquo;s key for markets that might otherwise fall through the cracks as local newspapers cut back on coverage.</p><p>Perhaps the most intriguing media story of the past year, however, has been The Athletic. What started off as a website in one market &ndash; Chicago &ndash; has become a magnet for top-end hockey talent in numerous cities. On top of Portzline and LeBrun, the startup has brought in, among others, Michael Russo from Minnesota, Jeremy Rutherford from St. Louis and James Mirtle from Toronto.</p><p>Mirtle is the editor-in-chief of The Athletic Canada, and his hiring a year ago signified the real kickoff for a project imagined by a couple of Silicon Valley veterans who thought a subscription-based paysite could work if the quality of the writing (and writers) was good enough. The Athletic&rsquo;s sites are city-based, but they have a broader NHL network, as well. While co-founder Alex Mather got into trouble for telling the <i>New York Times</i> he wanted to suck local newspapers dry of their talent, The Athletic has also raised more than $8 million in investment funding. Full subscription numbers are not public, but the most popular city in the ring is Toronto, with nearly 20,000 subscribers.</p><p>Will there be enough buy-in from internet readers not used to paying for content, once the investment money is burned?</p><p>That&rsquo;s a media story for the future. But the site&rsquo;s writers are happy with the freedom they have and what is likely more job security. That&rsquo;s what Portzline considered in his exit from the <i>Dispatch</i>: &ldquo;Am I going to be able to retire as a newspaper guy?&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Probably not.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0008-01

WRITING OUTSIDE THE MARGINS

<div class="byline">&#x2013; MATT LARKIN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-0246/235906-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg" title="f0010-02" width="259" height="266"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-0335/235899-1-eng-US/f0010-032.jpg" title="f0010-03" width="273" height="252"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(MASK: DAVID GUNNARSSON/DAVEART.COM)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>MAXIME LAGACE | VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span>ALK ABOUT A PERFECT</b> marriage of goalie and theme. The outnumbered 300 Spartans went to war against insurmountable odds, just as Lagace did as the fourthstring goalie on an expansion team everyone expected would flop. So it was a brilliant coincidence that Lagace and artist Dave Gunnarsson came up with a red-and-gold color scheme and design featuring the warriors from the blockbuster action flick <i>300.</i><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0010-02

Behind THE MASK

<div class="byline">&#x2013; WITH KEN CAMPBELL</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-0514/235942-1-eng-US/f0010-052.jpg" title="f0010-05" width="250" height="360"><figcaption class="caption-body">DOUGIE <b>HAMILTON</b></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-0421/235949-1-eng-US/f0010-042.jpg" title="f0010-04" width="142" height="173"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-0612/235935-1-eng-US/f0010-062.jpg" title="f0010-06" width="181" height="1202"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(HAMILTON: DAVE REGINEK/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES; STICK: BAUER HOCKEY)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>DOUGIE HAMILTON | BAUER VAPOR 1X</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><b><span>I</span> SWITCHED TO BAUER</b> after I was drafted in 2011, and I&rsquo;ve had a pretty similar stick the whole time. I haven&rsquo;t changed much with the exception of adding a thing here or there when the technology improves. I try to keep it pretty much the same and work with it. I feel it works for me, so I don&rsquo;t change it too much. I don&rsquo;t do a whole lot to my sticks, just little things and not during the season. A lot of guys will change their sticks when it&rsquo;s not working, but I don&rsquo;t think it&rsquo;s the stick, it&rsquo;s the guy using it. I just try to keep it the same and work with it and it seems to work for me. My flex is 102, which is pretty typical for defensemen. Most &lsquo;D&rsquo; are probably up around 100, and it depends on how long your stick is. Mine is longer and it gets whippier. If I cut it down six inches, it would be a lot stiffer. I couldn&rsquo;t go any whippier, but maybe if I was a forward I would.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0010-05

My WEAPON

<div class="byline">BY MATT LARKIN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-0154/235978-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg" title="f0011-01" width="699" height="1198"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(JERSEY: TODD REICHER/ROCKFORD ICEHOGS; KANE: DAVID KIROUAC/ICON SPORTSWIRE VIA GETTY IMAGES; GREEN: ANDY DEVLIN/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES; GALCHENYUK+PRICE: MINAS PANAGIOTAKIS/GETTY IMAGES; THORNTON: ROCKY W. WIDNER/NHL/GETTY IMAGES; NEAL: FRANCOIS LACASSE/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>&gt; EVANDER KANE</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he Sabres are buried in the playoff race, Kane&rsquo;s contract expires this summer, and he&rsquo;s having a monster season. Teams will line up with offers for his unique power forward skills.</p><h2><b>&gt; MIKE GREEN</b></h2><p>If the Wings slide out of playoff contention, Green will be the most coveted rental on the market as a right-shot offensive blueliner with an expiring deal. The list of suitors should be long enough to force an overpay from a defense-starved club.</p><h2><b>&gt; ALEX GALCHENYUK</b></h2><p>The Habs never miss a chance to publicly stomp on one-time 30- goal man Galchenyuk&rsquo;s confidence, so a team looking to add a young, high-ceiling forward could attempt a lowball offer to swipe him away.</p><h2><b>&gt; JOE THORNTON</b></h2><p>The Sharks aren&rsquo;t a playoff shoo-in. If they sit outside the bubble by mid-winter, might pending UFA Thornton, 38, waive his no-move clause and allow a trade to a contender as part of a Cup chase?</p><h2><b>&gt; JAMES NEAL</b></h2><p>The Golden Knights have been a legendary story as an expansion team. Still, would a second-half swoon shock anyone? If the overachievers start underachieving, Neal is a pending UFA and you just know he&rsquo;d net a good draft pick and/or prospect in a trade.</p><h2><b>&gt; CAREY PRICE</b></h2><p>Stop. It&rsquo;s not happening. He hasn&rsquo;t even started Season 1 of his eightyear extension. The only way he&rsquo;s dealt is if the Habs bottom out and agree with Price to a mutual parting of ways to jump-start a scorched-earth rebuild. We aren&rsquo;t there yet.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0011-01

TRADE BAIT-O-METER

<div class="byline">&#x2013; RYAN KENNEDY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-0239/236007-1-eng-US/f0011-022.jpg" title="f0011-02" width="288" height="336"><figcaption class="caption-body">VILLE <b>POKKA</b></figcaption></div><h2><b>ROCKFORD ICEHOGS | 2017-18</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><b><span>R</span>OCKFORD&rsquo;S REGULAR CREST IS</b> perfectly serviceable by AHL standards. But the IceHogs took things to another level when they created their alternate sweater for this season. The crest brings to mind the third jersey worn by the Boston Bruins for nearly a decade before the recent league-wide uniform change, and I love how Rockford went with a realistic pig here. This looks like a restaurant I would eat at every time I was in that town.</p><p>On top of the great crest, you get a really nice grey color scheme here while still shouting out the parent club Chicago Blackhawks on the shoulder patches.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0011-02

Jersey HOUND

<div class="byline">&#x2013; BY SAL BARRY OF PUCKJUNK.COM</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-0324/236043-1-eng-US/f0011-032.jpg" title="f0011-03" width="201" height="270"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-0410/236036-1-eng-US/f0011-042.jpg" title="f0011-04" width="204" height="270"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>M</span>ARC-ANDRE FLEURY, WHO WAS</b> a collector as a kid, wanted to have hockey cards on his alternate mask during the 2012-13 season. Artist Stephane Bergeron painted loose interpretations of the Michel Dion and Tom Barrasso cards from In The Game&rsquo;s 2010-11 &ldquo;Between the Pipes&rdquo; set, recolored to match the Pens&rsquo; third jersey that season. Two years later, In The Game included a card in its 2012-13 &ldquo;Between the Pipes&rdquo; set of Fleury wearing his mask featuring the company&rsquo;s cards. It is a hockey card that pays homage to a goalie mask that pays homage to hockey cards.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0011-03

In the CARDS

<div class="byline">BY TOM THOMPSON</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0012-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-0167/236072-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p>TAYLOR <b>HALL</b></p><p>TYLER <b>SEGUIN</b></p><span class="photo-credit">(HALL: MARK BLINCH/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES; SEGUIN: ANDY DEVLIN/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>BETTER DRAFT PICK</b></p><p><b>LEADING UP TO THE</b> 2010 NHL draft, the buzz in the scouting community was all about the same question &ndash; Taylor Hall or Tyler Seguin? It was virtually unanimous that they would be the top two picks in a pretty good draft. Much of the discussion was positive, as Hall and Seguin were highly skilled prospects who appeared to have all the necessary attributes for NHL stardom. However, there was also a negative side to the discussion. There were whispers of personality issues, what some people referred to as &ldquo;character&rdquo; problems. These issues became more pronounced as discussions took place with people close to the respective junior teams or national teams where the players had performed. A number of people said that Hall and Seguin were great prospects and not really bad kids, <i>but</i>&hellip;</p><p>It&rsquo;s been more than seven years since that 2010 draft, where Hall and Seguin went No. 1 and No. 2, respectively. Hall turned 26 in November. Seguin turns 26 in January. Both are in their primes. Both established themselves as above-average NHLers early in their careers. Both have at times played at star levels. Both can be dynamic and exciting. If the 2010 draft was held again today, both would again be candidates for the first two spots, with competition from others such as Vladimir Tarasenko and Ryan Johansen. However, the negative side of the discussion has carried into their NHL careers. Both were traded in their early 20s, with Peter Chiarelli the GM in each case. Let&rsquo;s be honest about both trades. They weren&rsquo;t about money or a rebuilding team moving its assets. Boston wanted to move Tyler Seguin. Edmonton wanted to move Taylor Hall. The trades may have shocked fans, but people in the hockey community were not overly surprised. Again, people close to the Bruins and Oilers spoke of personality and character issues. There was acknowledgement of both players&rsquo; abilities and assurance that neither one was a bad person, <i>but</i>&hellip;</p><p>Let&rsquo;s take a closer look at how Hall and Seguin stack up against each other in the primes of their careers.</p><h2><b>SKATING</b></h2><p><b>THIS IS THE FOUNDATION</b> of each player&rsquo;s game. Both are elite skaters, but with different styles. Seguin has top-end speed and agility. His turns are tight and he can accelerate quickly. Hall&rsquo;s straightahead speed is exceptional. He opens up the ice for teammates and has made up-tempo hockey the base for the Devils&rsquo; surprising success. In style, Hall is like Marian Gaborik in his prime. Seguin has edge in agility, Hall has edge in speed.</p><p><b>EDGE: NEITHER</b></p><h2><b>SCORING ABILITY</b></h2><p><b>FOR TWO PRODUCTIVE OFFENSIVE</b> players, neither is a great shooter. Neither is a pure sniper with a quick release or a power shooter who intimidates goalies and defenders. They&rsquo;re volume shooters, both averaging more shots per game than noted scorers such as Steven Stamkos and Patrick Kane. Their skating and determination result in more scoring chances and they&rsquo;re able to convert their share of them.</p><p><b>EDGE: NEITHER</b></p><h2><b>PUCK POSSESSION</b></h2><p><b>OTHER THAN SKATING ABILITY,</b> the first thing you notice when you watch either player is that he has the puck for a significant part of the time he&rsquo;s on the ice. And if you have the puck, the opposition can&rsquo;t score. In this sense, both players are valuable to their teams on a consistent basis. At times, however, they don&rsquo;t move it quickly enough. When under pressure, they can resort to stickhandling too much and can be stripped of the puck and often knocked down. <b>EDGE: NEITHER</b></p><h2><b>HOCKEY SENSE</b></h2><p><b>THIS IS ANOTHER AREA</b> where different styles arrive at the same result. Both players have good hockey sense, but neither is at the elite level. Both use their exceptional skating talent and competitiveness to generate numerous scoring chances. As a center, Seguin controls the puck more often and has more opportunities to set up teammates. Both players often get assists when their scoring chances result in rebounds that their teammates convert. If you question my judgment on the limits of their hockey sense, watch them closely the next time you see them play. Elite players don&rsquo;t play 1-on-1 hockey as much. They don&rsquo;t get stripped of the puck as often or knocked down as many times in a game. This separates the very good players from the greats. <b>EDGE: NEITHER</b></p><h2><b>DEFENSIVE PLAY</b></h2><p><b>BOTH HAVE MADE THEIR</b> marks with offensive production. Both are adequate defensively. Neither has any &ldquo;bite&rdquo; to his checking game. Neither is used regularly in defensive situations or to kill penalties. Amazingly, neither has ever scored a shorthanded goal in the NHL. During the Stars&rsquo; winning streak in late November and early December, Seguin prevented a couple of likely goals with good use of his stick on the backcheck. Because of his faceoff record recently, Seguin is more valuable defensively. <b>EDGE: SEGUIN</b></p><h2><b>INTANGIBLES</b></h2><p><b>EXPECTATIONS CAN SOMETIMES BE</b> cruel. The extraordinary skill sets that Hall and Seguin possess led many hockey observers to expect them to be superstars. But neither possesses the elite hockey sense required to attain that level. With their combination of high-end skill, good work ethics and demanding coaching, both have the potential to be very good players who are important parts of championship contenders. That&rsquo;s a pretty high level of performance. Do not expect more. <b>EDGE: NEITHER</b></p><h2><b>ROLES</b></h2><p><b>HALL IS A VERY</b> good offensive winger with great speed. He works hard. Seguin is a right-handed center who can play on the first line, bring a top-end tempo and take big faceoffs. Seguin&rsquo;s role is more valuable than that of Hall. Right-handed centers in hockey are like left-handed pitchers in baseball. They&rsquo;re more difficult to find and they give a different look to the opposition. This increases their value. <b>EDGE: SEGUIN</b></p><h2><b>CONCLUSION</b></h2><p><b>ALMOST WITHOUT EXCEPTION, BY</b> the time a player is 26 years old, you know what he is. Potential for dramatic improvement is unlikely. Seguin and Hall will remain what they are &ndash; exciting crowd pleasers who will help their teams have success. Every team in the NHL would be delighted to have either of them. But since Seguin&rsquo;s role is more valuable, he&rsquo;s more valuable than Hall. Enjoy watching both of them, though. No more <i>buts</i>...</p><p><i>Tom Thompson has been an NHL scout/director/assistant GM since 1985</i><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0012-01

TAYLOR HALL Vs. TYLER SEGUIN

<div class="byline">BY MATT LARKIN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-0424/236318-1-eng-US/f0014-042.jpg" title="f0014-04" width="241" height="367"><figcaption class="caption-body">ZDENO <b>CHARA</b></figcaption></div><p><b>BEST SALARY SITUATIONS</b></p><p><b>EVERY TRADE AND SIGNING</b> has a ripple effect on a roster for years to come. As we peruse each NHL franchise&rsquo;s salary-cap forecast for the summer of 2018, it&rsquo;s amazing how decisions made many moons ago continue to impact teams&rsquo; fates. Case in point: the Detroit Red Wings, who clung to the playoff bubble for years as they extended their streak of berths to 25. As a result, GM Ken Holland handed out some long, lucrative deals to mediocre players. Today the Wings are no longer perennial playoff hopefuls, but they still can&rsquo;t properly rebuild, as they&rsquo;re haunted by a pile of immovable contracts, which will make it difficult to sign their important young players to extensions.</p><p>The Wings earned max punishment in these rankings of team&rsquo;s cap situations because they have a lethal cocktail of: (a) many players left to sign, (b) important and expensive players left to sign, (c) little money left for upgrades outside the organization, and (d) bad contracts to carry for many more years. The top teams in these rankings have their best, priciest players locked up to long-term deals, with room left to make some moves in free agency. After that we get a mix of teams with little cap space but strong rosters &ndash; and teams with lots of cap space but many players to re-sign.</p><p>Salary information, up to date as of early December, comes from <a href="http://capfriendly.com">capfriendly.com</a>.</p><span class="image-inline"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-0164/236339-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="42" height="43"></span><h2><b>1 PHILADELPHIA FLYERS</b></h2><h3><b>2018-19 CAP SPACE: $16.38 MILLION NHLERS SIGNED: 18</b></h3><p>No star players need new deals. UFA Filppula frees $5 million. Flyers can be aggressive in free agency if they want, though Provorov&rsquo;s 2019 extension looms.</p><span class="image-inline"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-0248/236332-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="42" height="43"></span><h2><b>2 NEW JERSEY DEVILS</b></h2><h3><b>2018-19 CAP SPACE: $20.82 MILLION NHLERS SIGNED: 16</b></h3><p>Devils don&rsquo;t lose anyone they really need this summer. Rebuild ahead of schedule, so they can be players in free agency. Think Leafs last summer with Marleau.</p><span class="image-inline"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-0333/236325-1-eng-US/f0014-032.jpg" title="f0014-03" width="42" height="43"></span><h2><b>3 DALLAS STARS</b></h2><h3><b>2018-19 CAP SPACE: $17.67 MILLION NHLERS SIGNED: 13</b></h3><p>No &ldquo;scary&rdquo; contract negotiations this summer. Seguin is a UFA in 2019. With Lehtonen&rsquo;s big cap hit gone, GM Nill can consider spending on veteran D-man.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-0522/236311-1-eng-US/f0014-052.jpg" title="f0014-05" width="512" height="452"><figcaption class="caption-body">IVAN <b>PROVOROV</b><span class="photo-credit">(PROVOROV: HARRY HOW/GETTY IMAGES; CHARA: MARK BLINCH/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><span class="image-inline"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-0613/236304-1-eng-US/f0014-062.jpg" title="f0014-06" width="43" height="43"></span><h2><b>4 PITTSBURGH PENGUINS</b></h2><h3><b>2018-19 CAP SPACE: $13.33 MILLION NHLERS SIGNED: 15</b></h3><p>Will likely trade disgruntled Cole, a pending UFA. Can evaluate Hornqvist, Reaves throughout year. None of Pens&rsquo; core guys will get squeezed out by cap.</p><span class="image-inline"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-077/236297-1-eng-US/f0014-072.jpg" title="f0014-07" width="43" height="42"></span><h2><b>5 BOSTON BRUINS</b></h2><h3><b>2018-19 CAP SPACE: $12.92 MILLION NHLERS SIGNED: 16</b></h3><p>Every core member, from Marchand to Krug, signed long-term. Chara comes off books or returns at discount. Bruins could have room to add someone major.</p><span class="image-inline"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-084/236290-1-eng-US/f0014-082.jpg" title="f0014-08" width="43" height="42"></span><h2><b>6 ARIZONA COYOTES</b></h2><h3><b>2018-19 CAP SPACE: $33.30 MILLION NHLERS SIGNED: 15</b></h3><p>Endless cap space is nice, and Domi only major RFA to worry about this summer, but it&rsquo;s not like Coyotes spend to cap, so advantage is largely theoretical.</p><span class="image-inline"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-094/236283-1-eng-US/f0014-092.jpg" title="f0014-09" width="42" height="43"></span><h2><b>7 VANCOUVER CANUCKS</b></h2><h3><b>2018-19 CAP SPACE: $29.37 MILLION NHLERS SIGNED: 14</b></h3><p>Vanek, Gudbranson should get dealt at deadline. If Sedins return, it&rsquo;ll be for far less than current $14 million. Canucks will have breathing room under cap.</p><span class="image-inline"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-104/236276-1-eng-US/f0014-102.jpg" title="f0014-10" width="42" height="42"></span><h2><b>8 CALGARY FLAMES</b></h2><h3><b>2018-19 CAP SPACE: $17.84 MILLION NHLERS SIGNED: 14</b></h3><p>Backlund deserves pretty penny as a UFA, but Flames can afford it. He&rsquo;s their only major contributor who needs new deal. Helps to have Stajan cap hit gone.</p><span class="image-inline"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-113/236269-1-eng-US/f0014-112.jpg" title="f0014-11" width="42" height="42"></span><h2><b>9 CAROLINA HURRICANES</b></h2><h3><b>2018-19 CAP SPACE: $25.51 MILLION NHLERS SIGNED: 13</b></h3><p>Hanifin extension affordable, especially if it&rsquo;s a bridge deal. Canes must be careful, though. Have to re-sign a ton of impact players in 2019. It will be difficult.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-0153/236262-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="516" height="392"><figcaption class="caption-body">WILLIAM <b>NYLANDER</b></figcaption></div><span class="image-inline"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-0241/236255-1-eng-US/f0015-022.jpg" title="f0015-02" width="43" height="43"></span><h2><b>10 ST. LOUIS BLUES</b></h2><h3><b>2018-19 CAP SPACE: $14.26 MILLION NHLERS SIGNED: 15</b></h3><p>Edmundson an RFA. If Stastny returns, it&rsquo;ll be for way less than $7 million. Silver lining of Fabbri injury: now much cheaper as an RFA. Blues are comfortable.</p><span class="image-inline"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-0331/236248-1-eng-US/f0015-032.jpg" title="f0015-03" width="43" height="43"></span><h2><b>11 SAN JOSE SHARKS</b></h2><h3><b>2018-19 CAP SPACE: $17.52 MILLION NHLERS SIGNED: 18</b></h3><p>Sharks are a swing team in 2018. If Thornton era ends, it frees up $8 million to take franchise in new direction. He&rsquo;ll still cost a lot if they keep him, though.</p><span class="image-inline"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-0424/236241-1-eng-US/f0015-042.jpg" title="f0015-04" width="43" height="43"></span><h2><b>12 COLORADO AVALANCHE</b></h2><h3><b>12 2018-19 CAP SPACE: $26.90 MILLION NHLERS SIGNED: 16</b></h3><p>Solid amount of cap space, but will Avs use it? Rantanen&rsquo;s entry deal ends after next season, and he&rsquo;ll likely be worth a lucrative long-term contract by then.</p><span class="image-inline"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-0519/236234-1-eng-US/f0015-052.jpg" title="f0015-05" width="43" height="42"></span><h2><b>13 NASHVILLE PREDATORS</b></h2><h3><b>2018-19 CAP SPACE: $9.08 MILLION NHLERS SIGNED: 17</b></h3><p>Pro: GM Poile has locked up almost his entire roster core for next season. Con: little room to make this team better, so he has to hope it&rsquo;s good enough as it is.</p><span class="image-inline"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-0613/236227-1-eng-US/f0015-062.jpg" title="f0015-06" width="43" height="42"></span><h2><b>14 TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS</b></h2><p><b>2018-19 CAP SPACE: $26.03 MILLION NHLERS SIGNED: 15</b></p><p>Enough money for Nylander extension this summer and Matthews/Marner next. Some or all of UFAs van Riemsdyk, Komarov, Bozak will be casualties as result.</p><span class="image-inline"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-079/236220-1-eng-US/f0015-072.jpg" title="f0015-07" width="42" height="43"></span><h2><b>15 TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING</b></h2><h3><b>2018-19 CAP SPACE: $11.00 MILLION NHLERS SIGNED: 17</b></h3><p>Most of Yzerman&rsquo;s heavy lifting done in past couple off-seasons. The focus now: extension for Kucherov, who is eligible to sign a year out, starting this July 1.</p><span class="image-inline"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-085/236213-1-eng-US/f0015-082.jpg" title="f0015-08" width="42" height="43"></span><h2><b>16 COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS</b></h2><p><b>2018-19 CAP SPACE: $16.79 MILLION NHLERS SIGNED: 17</b></p><p>Johnson&rsquo;s expiring deal helps, but Jackets can&rsquo;t spent wildly. Need mountains of cash for Werenski and Bobrovsky, who are due new deals by summer 2019.</p><span class="image-inline"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-095/236206-1-eng-US/f0015-092.jpg" title="f0015-09" width="42" height="43"></span><h2><b>17 FLORIDA PANTHERS</b></h2><h3><b>2018-19 CAP SPACE: $11.68 MILLION NHLERS SIGNED: 17</b></h3><p>No daunting re-signings. If Luongo retires, cap-recapture penalty would be much smaller than his $5.33-million AAV, of which Vancouver pays $800,000.</p><span class="image-inline"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-104/236199-1-eng-US/f0015-102.jpg" title="f0015-10" width="42" height="42"></span><h2><b>18 VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS</b></h2><h3><b>2018-19 CAP SPACE: $40.88 MILLION NHLERS SIGNED: 13</b></h3><p>Unpredictable, just like their 2017-18 season. Tons of expiring contracts. Who stays? Priorities should be UFAs Marchessault, Neal and RFA Karlsson.</p><span class="image-inline"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-114/236192-1-eng-US/f0015-112.jpg" title="f0015-11" width="42" height="42"></span><h2><b>19 BUFFALO SABRES</b></h2><h3><b>2018-19 CAP SPACE: $23.44 MILLION NHLERS SIGNED: 13</b></h3><p>Enough dough to re-sign Reinhart. Do they want to roll with Lehner as longterm netminder? Will they trade Kane? They have the means to re-sign him.</p><span class="image-inline"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-124/236185-1-eng-US/f0015-122.jpg" title="f0015-12" width="43" height="43"></span><h2><b>20 MONTREAL CANADIENS</b></h2><h3><b>2018-19 CAP SPACE: $14.07 MILLION NHLERS SIGNED: 18</b></h3><p>Saddled with a few bad contracts, but Plekanec&rsquo;s $6-million AAV evaporates. Enough money to re-sign RFA Danault and talk 2019 extension with Pacioretty.</p><span class="image-inline"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-134/236178-1-eng-US/f0015-132.jpg" title="f0015-13" width="43" height="42"></span><h2><b>21 NEW YORK RANGERS</b></h2><p><b>2018-19 CAP SPACE: $23.59 MILLION NHLERS SIGNED: 11</b></p><p>Huge relief with Nash contract ending &ndash; but his money goes right to crucial quartet of RFAs in Hayes, Miller, Skjei and Vesey. Only 11 players signed. Gulp.</p><span class="image-inline"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-144/236171-1-eng-US/f0015-142.jpg" title="f0015-14" width="43" height="43"></span><h2><b>22 WINNIPEG JETS</b></h2><h3><b>2018-19 CAP SPACE: $21.49 MILLION NHLERS SIGNED: 13</b></h3><p>Trouba, Morrissey, Hellebuyck tie up almost all cap space as RFAs. Next summer: Laine and Connor. Jets are stuck. At least they&rsquo;re stuck with great players.</p><span class="image-inline"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-154/236164-1-eng-US/f0015-152.jpg" title="f0015-15" width="43" height="43"></span><h2><b>23 MINNESOTA WILD</b></h2><p><b>2018-19 CAP SPACE: $12.81 MILLION NHLERS SIGNED: 15</b></p><p>Zucker, Dumba command raises as RFAs, and Wild have several players to sign. As usual, won&rsquo;t have much room to add because of many pricey veteran cap hits.</p><span class="image-inline"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-163/236157-1-eng-US/f0015-162.jpg" title="f0015-16" width="43" height="43"></span><h2><b>24 ANAHEIM DUCKS</b></h2><p><b>2018-19 CAP SPACE: $14.76 MILLION NHLERS SIGNED: 13</b></p><p>They&rsquo;ll pay RFA Montour but may have to let a decent UFA like Cogliano walk if they want to save cash to extend more important Gibson, Silfverberg in 2019.</p><span class="image-inline"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-173/236150-1-eng-US/f0015-172.jpg" title="f0015-17" width="43" height="42"></span><h2><b>25 NEW YORK ISLANDERS</b></h2><h3><b>2018-19 CAP SPACE: $33.85 MILLION NHLERS SIGNED: 12</b></h3><p>It&rsquo;s not just kingpin UFA Tavares. Isles have UFAs Bailey, de Haan and RFA Nelson to worry about. No GM has more work to do this summer than Snow.</p><span class="image-inline"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-183/236143-1-eng-US/f0015-182.jpg" title="f0015-18" width="43" height="42"></span><h2><b>26 EDMONTON OILERS</b></h2><h3><b>2018-19 CAP SPACE: $13.57 MILLION NHLERS SIGNED: 14</b></h3><p>Do you keep Maroon and Letestu, who have played their way into raises as UFAs? Doing so won&rsquo;t leave much room for the Oilers to do anything else.</p><span class="image-inline"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-193/236136-1-eng-US/f0015-192.jpg" title="f0015-19" width="42" height="43"></span><h2><b>27 LOS ANGELES KINGS</b></h2><h3><b>2018-19 CAP SPACE: $8.15 MILLION NHLERS SIGNED: 17</b></h3><p>No money to pursue upgrades. Even next summer, when Doughty becomes a UFA, Kings will be tight to the cap. Can they afford to pay him $9-plus million?</p><span class="image-inline"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-203/236129-1-eng-US/f0015-202.jpg" title="f0015-20" width="42" height="42"></span><h2><b>28 OTTAWA SENATORS</b></h2><h3><b>2018-19 CAP SPACE: $10.15 MILLION NHLERS SIGNED: 18</b></h3><p>Weighed down by horrible Ryan, Phaneuf deals. RFA Stone will eat up most cap space &ndash; and Karlsson next summer. Very little room to add outside help.</p><span class="image-inline"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-213/236122-1-eng-US/f0015-212.jpg" title="f0015-21" width="42" height="43"></span><h2><b>29 CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS</b></h2><h3><b>2018-19 CAP SPACE: $7.69 MILLION NHLERS SIGNED: 16</b></h3><p>Less cap space than any other team, as usual, and what&rsquo;s left goes to RFA Hartman. Not much room to make improvements via the open market.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-223/236115-1-eng-US/f0015-222.jpg" title="f0015-22" width="247" height="370"><figcaption class="caption-body">JOHN <b>CARLSON</b><span class="photo-credit">(NYLANDER: CLAUS ANDERSEN/GETTY IMAGES; CARLSON: TONY QUINN/ICON SPORTSWIRE VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><span class="image-inline"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-232/236108-1-eng-US/f0015-232.jpg" title="f0015-23" width="42" height="42"></span><h2><b>30 WASHINGTON CAPITALS</b></h2><h3><b>2018-19 CAP SPACE: $16.10 MILLION NHLERS SIGNED: 12</b></h3><p>Losing Carlson would be crippling, and he deserves huge contract. Caps have other important free agents to sign, too. Second straight disastrous summer?</p><span class="image-inline"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-242/236101-1-eng-US/f0015-242.jpg" title="f0015-24" width="42" height="42"></span><h2><b>31 DETROIT RED WINGS</b></h2><h3><b>2018-19 CAP SPACE: $12.82 MILLION NHLERS SIGNED: 15</b></h3><p>What a mess. Larkin, Mantha, Athanasiou need new deals. Barely enough cash to re-up them all since Wings are buried in a sea of ugly veteran deals.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0014-04

THE COUNTDOWN

<div class="byline">BY SAL BARRY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-0164/236375-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="304" height="318"><figcaption class="caption-body">MERVYN &lsquo;RED&rsquo; <b>DUTTON</b> <span class="photo-credit">(DUTTON: B BENNETT/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>I</span>F THE TITLE OF</b> Dale Morrisey&rsquo;s new documentary doesn&rsquo;t give you pause, then his motivations to make a film about a long-gone team just might. <i>Only The Dead Know The Brooklyn Americans</i>, which plays off the title of the famous story <i>Only The Dead Know Brooklyn</i> by Thomas Wolfe, is about the Big Apple&rsquo;s first NHL team, known as the New York Americans from 1925 to 1941, then the Brooklyn Americans for their last hurrah in 1941- 42. But why make a 72-minute movie about a team that&rsquo;s been gone for 75 years? &ldquo;The Americans represent the pre-Original Six era,&rdquo; said Morrisey. &ldquo;Without the Americans, the NHL probably doesn&rsquo;t exist today.&rdquo;</p><p>That is a lofty but not unfounded theory. The Americans influenced, to varying degrees, the New York Rangers, Toronto Maple Leafs and the NHL&rsquo;s continued migration into the U.S.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-0237/236368-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="150" height="210"><figcaption class="caption-body">Only The Dead Know the Brooklyn Americans <i>is available on DVD or can be streamed on iTunes, Google Play, Verizon FIOS, Super Channel and Amazon.</i></figcaption></div><p>This is Morrisey&rsquo;s third hockey documentary. He also directed <i>Father Of Hockey</i> (2014) and <i>Hockey&rsquo;s Lost Boy</i> (2016), about former Leaf-turned- Amerk George Patterson. It was making that film where Morrisey met Americans&rsquo; expert Steven M. Cohen. The two agreed to collaborate on this project shortly thereafter.</p><p>Narrating <i>Only The Dead</i> is Larry King, the longtime CNN host and a Brooklynite himself. Getting a top-tier talent to lend his voice was the easy part, as King is a friend of Cohen&rsquo;s family. Finding those who remember the Americans proved more difficult. Fortunately, a few Amerks fans are still among the living, including longtime hockey scribe and historian Stan Fischler, who followed the team as a boy. &ldquo;The Rangers were the bluebloods, the Americans were the dead-end kids,&rdquo; said the 85-year-old Fischler. &ldquo;It was a perfect rivalry in that respect.&rdquo;</p><p>Adding to the Americans&rsquo; mystique was the team&rsquo;s owner for much of its existence: mobster &lsquo;Big&rsquo; Bill Dwyer, who made his fortune in rum-running. &ldquo;Once Prohibition ended,&rdquo; said Fischler, &ldquo;that was the end of Dwyer and all the dough he had.&rdquo;</p><p>Yet, the Amerks limped along for another nine seasons, laying the groundwork for other U.S. teams.</p><p>&ldquo;Without the Americans, there&rsquo;s no foothold for the NHL in big metropolitan cities,&rdquo; Morrisey said. &ldquo;The Americans were the spark that got things going in the United States.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0016-01

DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES

<div class="byline">WITH MATT LARKIN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-0234/236433-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="696" height="480"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>RISK VS. REWARD</b></p><p>Brown figured the backlash for his gesture would be harsh &ndash; and it was &ndash; but it sparked conversations and opened doors.</p></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-0156/236447-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="103" height="121"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><span class="image-inline"><img src="mon1a2.jpg" title="common1a" width="25" height="21"></span><p>@THNMATTLARKIN</p><p class="dropcap"><b><span>I</span>T WAS NO EMPTY</b> gesture, and J.T. Brown understood the stakes. Two weeks after some NFL and MLB athletes began kneeling during national anthems to condemn police brutality against black people, Brown, one of the NHL&rsquo;s few black players, was about to become the first in his league to step up and protest. He spoke to his wife, Lexi, and Tampa Bay teammates about it beforehand. He knew there would be public backlash, including death threats. But an act promoting equality was worth the risk.</p><p>So before an Oct. 7 game against Florida, during <i>The Star-Spangled Banner</i>, Brown closed his eyes and raised his right fist in hopes of making a difference.</p><p>But even Brown didn&rsquo;t imagine just how much change he&rsquo;d effect right away. He attracted national media attention, but also the eye of Brian Dugan, chief of the Tampa Police Department. Dugan didn&rsquo;t see Brown&rsquo;s gesture as adversarial toward the police. Instead, Dugan recognized it as an opportunity for a meeting of minds or, as Brown later described on social media, a chance to &ldquo;bridge the gap&rdquo; between minorities and the police. Dugan approached Brown after a game and invited him to visit the Tampa PD, undergo some training exercises and experience some traffic stops.</p><blockquote class="pullQuote">HAD I NOT RAISED MY FIST, <b>WOULD I HAVE THIS RELATIONSHIP WITH CHIEF DUGAN?</b> &ndash; J.T. Brown</blockquote><p>Brown was joined by teammates Vladislav Namestnikov and Gabriel Dumont. They ran through tactical simulations, learning how to identify hostiles, and where and when not to shoot. Brown later attended ridealongs, during which the Tampa PD hunted for the Seminole Heights serial killer. Brown didn&rsquo;t witness any hairy situations, but the experience meant a lot to him, because riding with an officer for a night and getting a chance to talk and get to know each other humanized the police in his mind. That very idea is at the heart of what Brown aims to do. He wants law enforcement to stop racially profiling black people, just as other protesting black athletes do, but Brown also wants to take the discussion a step further by trying to dispel stereotypes about the other side. There are far more benevolent cops than corrupt ones in America, and there&rsquo;s a chicken-and-egg effect if young people learn to hate all police officers from Day 1, leading to a more hostile attitude toward them, which in turn leads to more aggressive behavior from the police. And the vicious cycle goes on and on. &ldquo;You want to make sure first interactions with police are positive and not, &lsquo;Oh, it&rsquo;s the police,&rsquo;&rdquo; Brown said. &ldquo;We want to create positive interaction with young adults as well, and older adults.</p><p>&ldquo;Everyone driving by a cop puts their hands at 10 and 2 and drives like you&rsquo;re taking a license test again. It&rsquo;s like that mentality, but it&rsquo;s different when you&rsquo;re driving versus when you&rsquo;re with cops on the street.&rdquo;</p><p>Brown doesn&rsquo;t just want to point a finger at tragic interactions between police and minorities. He wants to get both sides talking and changing the way they think in hopes of preventing repeat cases. He&rsquo;s proof a protest isn&rsquo;t just for show. It can have global impact, and that&rsquo;s why it was important to include Brown in this year&rsquo;s edition of our top 100 people of power and influence. &ldquo;Had I not raised my fist, would I have this relationship with chief Dugan?&rdquo; Brown said.</p><p>Brown believes the NHL has made strides in its social progressiveness, pointing out programs like Hockey Is For Everyone, which promotes inclusivity for the sport&rsquo;s LGBTQ community. But in terms of race relations, the NHL is largely underrepresented. It&rsquo;s a league dominated by white athletes, many from privileged backgrounds. That puts more responsibility on Brown&rsquo;s shoulders within his sport than, say, Colin Kaepernick&rsquo;s in the NFL. &ldquo;I wanted to make sure I was doing the right thing by trying to get the ball rolling, and maybe that starts the conversation we need to have,&rdquo; Brown said. &ldquo;In the other three sports, there are more Americans and more African Americans, maybe not in baseball but the NFL and NBA. When it comes to race, it&rsquo;s not always the easiest conversation to have. But when the majority of athletes in the NFL or NBA are black, or American, it does make a difference.&rdquo;</p><p>Brown doesn&rsquo;t have strength in numbers backing him in hockey, but he doesn&rsquo;t care. He&rsquo;s fighting for change anyway. That makes his impact all the more powerful and commendable.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0017-02

THE BRIDGE BETWEEN GAPS

f0018-01

100 PEOPLE OF POWER & INFLUENCE

<div class="byline">BY KEN CAMPBELL</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0020-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-0163/237254-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(CCM HOCKEY)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>AGE 27 | LAST YEAR 59</b></p><blockquote class="pullQuote"><i>Have no fear of perfection, you&rsquo;ll never reach it.</i><br>&ndash; Salvador Dali</blockquote><p><b>THERE&rsquo;S A GOOD CHANCE</b> no one ever will achieve perfection, but that won&rsquo;t stop John Tavares from pursuing it. The hockey world loves to refer to Jonathan Toews as &lsquo;Captain Serious,&rsquo; but if anyone could break Toews in a &lsquo;You Laugh, You Lose&rsquo; contest, it would be Tavares. Long before he went end-to-end to score a shorthanded goal on his first-ever shift in major junior with the Oshawa Generals three days after his 15th birthday, he was maniacally dedicated to everything related to his craft. Nothing has changed in that regard, yet John Tavares is not perfect. &ldquo;But he&rsquo;s pretty close,&rdquo; said former teammate Travis Hamonic, who now patrols the blueline for the Calgary Flames.</p><p>Type &lsquo;John Tavares controversy&rsquo; into Google and you get 350,000 items of incredibly benign stuff. One of the headlines reads: &ldquo;John Tavares Distraction Free.&rdquo; Just makes you want to rip into that one, doesn&rsquo;t it? Name one time as an NHLer Tavares has slipped up, said the wrong thing, gotten suspended, showed up late for a meeting, chirped an official, caused a yard sale by throwing his equipment off in exasperation in the penalty box. We&rsquo;ll wait. The guy has only one fighting major in his career, seven years ago against Alexander Burmistrov, which shouldn&rsquo;t even count as a fight as far as we&rsquo;re concerned.</p><p>And so it is that Tavares enters one of the most important phases of his career and life. Tavares is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent July 1. If that happens, he&rsquo;ll be the most sought-after UFA in the history of the game. His decision on or before July 1 will have enormous ramifications on the game and on him. Two years ago, Anze Kopitar signed an eight-year extension worth $80 million with the Los Angeles Kings, about five months before Steven Stamkos signed an eight-year pact worth $68 million with the Tampa Bay Lightning. So Tavares is going to get his money and his term, whether it&rsquo;s with the cap-flexible Islanders for eight years or somewhere else for seven.</p><p>But the money is almost secondary. The Tavares signing represents a referendum on the Islanders as a franchise, one that finds itself living a nomadic existence as a tenant in an unsuitable building with landlords that view them as a nuisance. On the ice, which is generally regarded as among the worst in the league at Barclays Center, the Islanders are on the cusp of doing some special things. But that could all fall apart if Tavares signs elsewhere in the summer and leaves them with nothing to show for it. That&rsquo;s why Tavares is No. 1 among the 100 people on our power and influence list for 2018.</p><p>Nobody knows which way Tavares will ultimately go with this decision. You get the impression that even those within his inner circle have no idea. Tavares&rsquo; agent, Pat Brisson, says he only speaks to Tavares every couple of weeks these days and that his client is so focused on having a good season that the subject rarely comes up. But as every day passes and Tavares is not signed, people will continue to bring it up.</p><p>But one person you won&rsquo;t hear talk about it, at least beyond generalities, is Tavares himself. When informed of his No. 1 status on our list and the reason for the ranking, Tavares politely declined to be interviewed for this story. &ldquo;As good of a player and a person as he is,&rdquo; Hamonic said, &ldquo;I really don&rsquo;t think John likes the spotlight. Maybe because he&rsquo;s been under it his whole life.&rdquo;</p><p>It&rsquo;s true that attention has found Tavares much more than he has sought it. He has a penchant for scoring big goals in big games and making players around him better. Just ask former linemates such as Matt Moulson and P-A Parenteau, who parlayed seasons with Tavares into pretty good contracts themselves.</p><p>It&rsquo;s fair to say that Tavares could make this into a major talking point with the snap of his fingers or at least an offhand remark. People would listen and react to anything specific Tavares had to say the same way the hockey world went into a tizzy when Drew Doughty and Erik Karlsson vocalized their contract demands. And they aren&rsquo;t UFAs until 2019.</p><p>But even if he chose to say nothing publicly, Tavares knows he&rsquo;d be able to manipulate the situation and put all kinds of pressure on the Islanders if he wanted to. &ldquo;This could be a gong show,&rdquo; Brisson said, &ldquo;but it&rsquo;s not, because John won&rsquo;t let it become one.&rdquo;</p><p>Tavares, meanwhile, prefers to concentrate on what he&rsquo;s doing on the ice to help the Islanders win this season. As of mid-December, they were hanging with the best teams in the Metropolitan Division while Tavares was on pace for career highs in goals (46) and points (95). Yes, timing is one of his best attributes on and off the ice. But anyone who thinks Tavares has been saving his career season for a contract year doesn&rsquo;t understand what he&rsquo;s all about. From his preparation to his execution, Tavares is driven by the pursuit of perfection and it&rsquo;s all coming together for him this year. He&rsquo;s also playing on a team that is better and with linemates &ndash; Anders Lee and Josh Bailey in December &ndash; who have made enormous strides.</p><p>Islanders fans will fret that he has yet to sign an extension, and they probably should. After all, if he was going to sign with them, why wouldn&rsquo;t he have done so by now? But you&rsquo;ll recall that Stamkos signed his extension with the Lightning just two days before the July 1 deadline two summers ago after meeting with a few teams during the league-sanctioned free agency courting period. Tavares has never, ever tipped his hand one way or the other. &ldquo;People take him, because of his history, because of his personality, at his word,&rdquo; said Isles coach Doug Weight. &ldquo;And that word has been, &lsquo;Listen, there&rsquo;s no controversy. I&rsquo;m a thinker and I want to think through this, I want to ask the necessary questions and let this come to a head whenever it does.&rsquo; I think people listen to what he says more so than other players, and they say, &lsquo;Yeah, he&rsquo;s telling the truth. He&rsquo;s going to keep his word.&rsquo; And he&rsquo;s done that. He&rsquo;s earned that with his reputation.&rdquo;</p><p>There are essentially three things that will dictate where Tavares plays next season. And they are, in no particular order:</p><p><b>1. Money.</b> It&rsquo;s about money inasmuch as it&rsquo;s always about money. And Tavares will get his, but more than annual average salary, it will be about total dollars. And that&rsquo;s where the Islanders have an advantage in being able to offer an eight-year deal. For Tavares, eight years at $11 million per season ($88 million) will be more money than seven seasons at $12 million ($84 million) elsewhere. A good comparison is Anze Kopitar at $10 million AAV. While Kopitar has two Stanley Cups, he doesn&rsquo;t have Tavares&rsquo; offensive credentials and he&rsquo;ll be in the third year of his deal, while Tavares will be in his first in an environment where the salary cap keeps rising.</p><p>In theory, this shouldn&rsquo;t be a problem for the Islanders. They have just $41.2 million committed to 12 players in 2018-19, which means they&rsquo;ll have between $36.8 million and $40.8 million depending on the salary cap next season. The Islanders are not a cap team, but it&rsquo;s doubtful they&rsquo;ll try to pinch pennies with a franchise player they want to keep. And it&rsquo;s not as though they haven&rsquo;t been getting a bargain (just $5.5 million AAV) the past five seasons and this one.</p><p>After posting 54 and 67 points his first two years, Tavares took the security of a six-year extension and signed a deal that kicked in starting in 2012-13 that in retrospect makes Isles GM Garth Snow look like one of the best negotiators in NHL history. That, of course, is classic revisionist history. Brisson would&rsquo;ve preferred Tavares play out his third year before signing but respected his client&rsquo;s desire for security. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a good question,&rdquo; said Brisson when asked why Tavares signed for such a reasonable amount. &ldquo;You have to give Garth credit. Based on his performance, it was a very fair deal. With $33 million, he was set for life. But within about 20 games, he outperformed that contract.&rdquo;</p><p>Tavares signed the deal with one year left on his entrylevel contract, then exploded, finishing eighth in NHL scoring. One of the biggest knocks on Tavares at the time was his skating, but he worked with Dawn Braid, since hired as skating coach for the Arizona Coyotes, to ditch his clunky, off-balance style. He made that aspect of his game one of his strengths and became stronger on the puck. His shot got better and he used it more, his training and diet regimen became more focused, and he responded by notching 31 goals and 81 points.</p><p>Tavares will get what the market will bear, and the chances of him making more money grow exponentially depending upon whether he sees this through to unrestricted free agency. But while there will be no hometown discount for the Isles this time around, there also is not a sense Tavares is looking to make up for lost wages. &ldquo;If it were me, I probably would, but for him, I don&rsquo;t know,&rdquo; says former teammate Matt Martin, now with Toronto. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s going to get paid wherever he goes, and someone will be willing to give it to him, but I&rsquo;m not sure that&rsquo;s his priority. He wants to win a Cup, and I do think he loves New York. He&rsquo;s a very loyal guy, and from everything he&rsquo;s ever told me, he loves playing there. But this contract is where he&rsquo;s going to spend the rest of his career, so I think he&rsquo;s earned the right to take his time with the process.&rdquo;</p><p>Which brings us to&hellip;</p><p><b>2. Where are the Islanders going?</b> No really, where are the Islanders going? Unfortunately, nobody inside or outside the organization can make that determination, nor is there any guarantee it will be any clearer by the time Tavares has to make a decision. Something about the Empire State Development, the body that will factor enormously into the Islanders&rsquo; future, not really having the contract status of one player foremost on its mind.</p><p>Tavares got engaged last summer and will be looking to put down roots with his next deal on Long Island or somewhere else. The Islanders&rsquo; marriage with Barclays Center in Brooklyn seemed doomed from the start, an eventuality that was realized when Barclays triggered an escape clause after 2018-19. The situation is far from ideal for the players, most of whom live where they did when the team was in Uniondale. The Isles need a new arena. Full stop. And while their plans to build one at Belmont Park look promising, there&rsquo;s no real sense of where this is actually going to go. Empire State Development just opened public consultation into the project in December, and the NYC Football Club is also vying for the spot, although NYCFC has alternative sites in mind.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-0166/237247-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="510" height="503"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(MARK BLINCH/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>If Tavares absolutely needs to know where he&rsquo;s going to be playing for the duration of this contract, that doesn&rsquo;t bode well for the Islanders. And even if they do get the go-ahead to build their new arena, it won&rsquo;t be ready for occupation until Tavares is well into this contract anyway. And if the Islanders can&rsquo;t negotiate an extension with Barclays until then, well, that complicates a complicated situation even further.</p><p>Brisson calls the situation &ldquo;a puzzle&rdquo; of which the arena is a part. &ldquo;Everything is interconnected by virtue of a domino effect,&rdquo; Brisson said. &ldquo;We agreed not to look at any one thing and say, &lsquo;OK, if that happens it will trigger either a yes or no.&rsquo; It&rsquo;s an overall feel. The Islanders have done some really good things with chefs and a sports scientist. It&rsquo;s things like that, the building, the team services, the ice being better, those are all meaningful to John.&rdquo;</p><p><b>3. Where can Tavares win a Cup?</b> If the Islanders are indeed trying to run Tavares out of town, they&rsquo;re doing a terrible job of it this season. They&rsquo;re better than people thought, and while it will almost certainly go down to the wire for a playoff spot, there is a lot to like about this roster.</p><p>The Islanders&rsquo; prospect list is middling, but there is quality there in the form of Kieffer Bellows, who is tearing it up in the WHL after a year at Boston University, and Ilya Sorokin, one of the top goalies in the KHL. But there is a lot to like about the current roster. Mathew Barzal, who is playing as a secondline center behind Tavares, has emerged as a legitimate Calder Trophy candidate, and Bailey is finally cashing in on the offensive promise he has shown. Lee has rounded out his game and, along with Tavares, has become one of the most dangerous scorers. The Jordan Eberle trade has worked out very well.</p><p>There are no guarantees Tavares will win a Cup wherever he signs. Weight calls Tavares, &ldquo;beyond uber important&rdquo; to the Islanders with his work in all facets of the game and his approach to his craft. It&rsquo;s hard to quantify exactly what that means to the organization, but the benefits are substantial. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s always first in the meeting, and he&rsquo;s always working 100 percent every single drill past the whistle,&rdquo; Weight said.</p><p>&ldquo;And it runs through your team like a winning streak. To everybody else, it&rsquo;s instant accountability, from Mathew to Josh Ho-Sang. It&rsquo;s instant. It&rsquo;s not being yelled at, it&rsquo;s not having to tell them not to cut corners because if the best player and the captain is doing that, there&rsquo;s really nowhere to run and hide, and there&rsquo;s no argument for you.&rdquo;</p><p>Most of the teams that are in a position to win the Stanley Cup at the moment have that status largely because they have star players who are already commanding top salaries, which could make signing with a short-term contender prohibitive. Hey, Philadelphia has a really good prospect list. But when it comes to the long term, the Islanders look as promising as a lot of other teams. &ldquo;People in hockey are still going to talk about it, let&rsquo;s be real here,&rdquo; Weight said. &ldquo;He has great people who work for him that we have a great relationship with, and we have a great relationship with him, and it&rsquo;s going to take its course. I&rsquo;m sure it&rsquo;s going to get hairier as we go, but to this point it&rsquo;s been great.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0020-01

JOHN TAVARES

<div class="byline">BY MATT LARKIN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-0147/237283-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="472" height="594"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>KEEP IT CLEAN</b></p><p>Parros has put &ldquo;non-hockey&rdquo; plays in his crosshairs, as evidenced by Radko Gudas&rsquo; 10-game suspension.</p> <span class="photo-credit">(BRUCE BENNETT/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>AGE 38 | LAST YEAR nr</b></p><p><b>THE SMARTEST GUY IN</b> the room isn&rsquo;t the one talking up his IQ or Ivy League education. He&rsquo;s the guy admitting how little he knows about the world and constantly trying to learn more. It doesn&rsquo;t take long to figure out which category George Parros fits into.</p><p>Sure, he has an economics degree from Princeton, which, coupled with his trademark <i>Magnum P.I.</i>-esque moustache, made him one of the NHL&rsquo;s most unique enforcers during his nine-season career. But he never spent his playing days looking down his bloodied nose at opponents who barely earned their high school diplomas. Parros thought of himself as an underdog. Even while playing NCAA Div. I, he never dreamed he&rsquo;d become a pro hockey player. Once he made the NHL, he aspired to work in the game after he retired, but not before sponging up everything he could about the business side of it. He became an active and vocal member of the NHL Players&rsquo; Association and toiled on the front lines as part the negotiating committee during the 2012-13 lockout. He studied GMs closely, too, to learn from the inside how they constructed teams. And when he joined the NHL&rsquo;s department of player safety in 2016, he became a student of the rulebook.</p><p>It was only natural he apprenticed with another extough guy in Stephane Quintal, who headed the department. Now named to the captain&rsquo;s chair as senior vice-president of player safety, Parros has a similar philosophy: he thought of himself as a protector on the ice for 22 other players, and now he wants to do the same for more than 700. &ldquo;Never once was I suspended, so I know where the line is,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I was always concerned about guys who were going out to hurt my guys. I would try to hit a guy as hard as I could, but I would always try to do it in a clean fashion.&rdquo;</p><p>Parros notes the speed of the modern game produces more accidental collisions than before, often with players putting themselves in vulnerable positions at the last second. Those plays are hard to discipline, but Parros has come down hard on something else: &ldquo;non-hockey&rdquo; plays, violent incidents that have nothing to do with the X&rsquo;s and O&rsquo;s of winning a game.</p><p>Parros established his authority quickly, slapping edgy Philadelphia defenseman Radko Gudas with a 10-game suspension in November for a slash to the head of Winnipeg&rsquo;s Mathieu Perreault. Gudas&rsquo; use of his stick had no impact on the Flyers thwarting a scoring chance. It was pure malice, and Parros wouldn&rsquo;t tolerate that. &ldquo;Stephane is a bit more reserved and tends to stay out of the spotlight, whereas George is a little more up front,&rdquo; said Damian Echevarrieta, the NHL&rsquo;s group vice-president of player safety and hockey operations. &ldquo;Regardless of their approach, both use their experience to relate to players on both sides of any given incident, which goes a long way with the players we are trying to keep safe as well as the players that may be facing supplemental discipline.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0023-01

16 GEORGE PARROS

<div class="byline">BY RYAN KENNEDY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0164/237312-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="748" height="546"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>THE TRIGGERMAN</b></p><p>From Los Angeles to Toronto and now potentially Seattle, Leiweke has been a boardroom finisher in hockey.</p> <span class="photo-credit">(JONATHAN BIELASKI)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>AGE 60 | LAST YEAR nr</b></p><p><b>THE CHANCE OF SEATTLE</b> getting an NHL franchise skyrocketed in December, as the city approved an arena plan and the league authorized the potential ownership group to start a seasonticket drive and officially apply for a team. And none of this would have happened without Tim Leiweke.</p><p>An all-star mover and shaker in the sports and entertainment world, Leiweke is the CEO of the Oak View Group, a consortium that also includes music industry heavyweight Irving Azoff and Florida Panthers veteran executive Peter Luukko. The Oak View Group is in charge of renovating KeyArena, the former home of the NBA&rsquo;s Seattle Supersonics and a building with its own challenges. Leiweke and his group have signed a $660-million memorandum of understanding with the city that allows for a privately financed arena that could house an NHL team.</p><p>What is most unique about the project (other than the privately financed part) is that KeyArena&rsquo;s sloped roof is so well-known in the area that it was granted historical landmark status &ndash; so the old facility can&rsquo;t just be chopped down by a demolition team and built back up. Instead, the construction must occur under the roof, making things more difficult. But Leiweke is an old hand when it comes to big projects.</p><p>The St. Louis-born Leiweke first made waves in the hockey world as president and CEO of AEG, the company that owns the Los Angeles Kings. Leiweke took the job in 1996 and was integral in building the L.A. Live entertainment district around Staples Center. His benefactor was Philip Anschutz, the media-shy billionaire who owns AEG and the Kings. Leiweke served on the NHL board of governors and while he sometimes had Kings legend Luc Robitaille fill in for him at meetings, the executive made a good impression. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s very garrulous, smart and interesting,&rdquo; said a source who has also served on the board of governors. &ldquo;He sees the big picture and he&rsquo;s got some P.T. Barnum in him. He&rsquo;s a showman.&rdquo;</p><p>Leiweke also helped launch the greatest era of Kings hockey ever when he hired GM Dean Lombardi to rebuild the team in 2006. Los Angeles went on to win its first Stanley Cup ever six years later, and another arrived two seasons after that. But by the 2014 triumph, Leiweke was gone. According to insiders, his failure to get an NFL team (and a new stadium downtown for them to play in) led to his ouster by Anschutz, but it wouldn&rsquo;t take long for Leiweke to land on his feet.</p><p>His next job took him to Toronto and Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, the group that owns the NHL&rsquo;s Leafs, NBA&rsquo;s Raptors and soccer&rsquo;s Toronto FC, among other entities. Leiweke hired Brendan Shanahan as Maple Leafs president in 2014 and, since then, the &lsquo;Shanaplan&rsquo; has turned the organization from a laughing stock to a seriously competitive threat.</p><p>Not only that, but the Raptors nabbed a highly esteemed GM in Masai Ujiri during that time, and Toronto FC acquired key pieces that eventually led to the squad&rsquo;s firstever championship in 2017.</p><p>But again, Leiweke was already working on Seattle by the time the soccer side was having its victory parade. The next challenge will be just as big. On top of the $660-million arena deal, the NHL&rsquo;s expansion fee is $650 million. For those counting at home, that&rsquo;s more than $1.3 billion, and Leiweke&rsquo;s business powers alone won&rsquo;t cover it. &ldquo;He&rsquo;ll put together a great arena and concert package,&rdquo; said the source. &ldquo;But someone has to pay for it.&rdquo;</p><p>That&rsquo;s where billionaire businessman David Bonderman and Hollywood mega-producer Jerry Bruckheimer (who&rsquo;s a well-known puckhead himself) come in. Leiweke&rsquo;s Oak View Group has a lot of talent on it that isn&rsquo;t limited to hockey and will help make the arena viable during the off-season. Azoff, for example, has managed The Eagles, Van Halen, Christina Aguilera and Harry Styles among others and was named the most powerful person in the music industry by <i>Billboard</i> magazine in 2012.</p><p>Oak View has also partnered with Delaware North on a concessions contract, which really hammers home Leiweke&rsquo;s savvy: Delaware North is owned by Jeremy Jacobs, the Boston Bruins scion and the most influential owner in the NHL.</p><p>For now, Leiweke and his team will continue to work on the details in Seattle &ndash; but his track record suggests that hockey fans in the Pacific Northwest should get excited.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0024-01

32 TIM LEIWEKE

<div class="byline">BY RYAN KENNEDY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-0157/237341-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="356" height="418"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(BILL WIPPERT/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>AGE 54 | LAST YEAR 45</b></p><p><b>JOHNNY GAUDREAU SHOULD SEND</b> Stephen Walkom a fruit basket. Or at least a gift card. Last year, the Calgary Flames whiz was constantly getting hacked on the hands, forcing him to miss 10 games with a fractured finger and limiting his effectiveness. But thanks to the NHL&rsquo;s crackdown on slashing, Gaudreau is back to his usual devastating offensive self. Walkom is the man who makes sure such edicts are enforced. As the NHL&rsquo;s director of officiating, the veteran referee is in charge of the game&rsquo;s officials and how they manage each contest. Slashing was one of several points of interest this season and, after some rocky pre-season penalty-fests, the players got the message. The result? Scoring is at its highest level in a decade.</p><p>Slashing is an effective but dangerous way to slow down a puck carrier, and it was hurting skill players, even as they tried to play through it. Walkom recalled one conversation he had with a player about rule enforcement that stuck with him: &ldquo;He said, &lsquo;You guys don&rsquo;t call (a penalty) if I make a play, but that wasn&rsquo;t the play I wanted to make,&rsquo;&rdquo; Walkom said. &ldquo;The players are smart. They&rsquo;ll test you to see if you&rsquo;ll call it.&rdquo;</p><p>Walkom made videos and talked to his refs during training camp, so they were prepared. Two other points of emphasis &ndash; faceoff rules and how players wear their helmets &ndash; also caught headlines early. Toronto&rsquo;s Leo Komarov got a penalty for illegal equipment in the season opener because his visor was perched too high. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s actually in the rules that players are dressed uniformly,&rdquo; Walkom said. &ldquo;The officials&rsquo; job is to make sure the players are dressed properly, whether it&rsquo;s a visor, jersey or skate laces.&rdquo;</p><p>Referees were also instructed to enforce a rule that calls for a bench minor if a team commits two faceoff violations on the same draw. Whether it was the man taking the faceoff or players trying to move in from the sides early, the refs made the call in pre-season. &ldquo;It was about reclaiming some ice and making sure we maintained integrity,&rdquo; Walkom said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s supposed to be a skill play, not a rugby scrum.&rdquo;</p><p>Helping Walkom&rsquo;s perspective is the fact it hasn&rsquo;t been that long since he was a ref himself. This is his second stint as director of officiating, but in between he was on the ice from 2009 to 2013. Getting the whistle back during the postlockout era gave him a new appreciation on how the game had changed and the work his colleagues had done in the interim. Because when it comes down to it, refs and linesmen take pride in enforcing the NHL&rsquo;s standards. &ldquo;Our guys are very much students of the game,&rdquo; Walkom said. &ldquo;They want to do it right, and video isn&rsquo;t foreign to them. They can have their own personalities out there, but if they all call the game the same, they know it&rsquo;s better for the game.&rdquo;</p><p>The next challenge for Walkom is continuity. His crew of 80 full-time officials and 10 or so managers changes every year, and Walkom believes it&rsquo;s important to have a good mix of veterans and youngsters. Just like on a hockey team, he wants a strong culture. To that end, some of his senior officials &ndash; guys who may be retiring in the next couple years &ndash; have volunteered to go down to the AHL for some games, where they can mentor the next generation. It&rsquo;s that dedication that fills Walkom with pride in his charges. &ldquo;These guys work tired, they work hurt, and they work sick,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;And the only thing they want is to work more playoff games.&rdquo;</p><p>They even make suggestions. Officials see a ton of hockey and, when it came to slashing, Walkom says they knew it was a problem already. They&rsquo;ve also offered ideas to increase offense (for example, perhaps restricting goalies to the blue ice when playing the puck). And while the slashing crackdown seems to have worked, Walkom still hears from GMs who thought their player didn&rsquo;t deserve a penalty. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s always that desire to win,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s an understanding, but that doesn&rsquo;t mean there&rsquo;s a great deal of kindness towards the officials.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0025-01

33 STEPHEN WALKOM

<div class="byline">BY KEN CAMPBELL</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-0165/237377-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="591" height="805"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>FINDING HIS CALLING</b></p><p>Friedman was a shy sports nerd until he discovered his voice and his confidence at a student newspaper.</p> <span class="photo-credit">(SPORTSNET)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>AGE 47 | LAST YEAR 41</b></p><p><b>THE VISITORS&rsquo; DRESSING ROOM</b> at the Air Canada Centre after a morning skate is the epitome of organized chaos. On this morning, the Calgary Flames are in town, and Elliotte Friedman is in the middle of it, completely in his element, doing what he does best. The hockey insider for Rogers Sportsnet and <i>Hockey Night in Canada</i> flits from one player to the next, rarely taking notes but diligently gathering information for that night&rsquo;s broadcast and his wildly popular &ldquo;31 Thoughts&rdquo; column. The Flames have brought a couple of corporate sponsors along for the trip, and Friedman happily stands arm-in-arm with people he&rsquo;s never met before, smiling for photos and talking to them as though they&rsquo;re the most important people in the room.</p><p>There have been bumps along the way, but life is good for Friedman. Outstanding, actually. At 47, he&rsquo;s indisputably at the top of his game. He has a wife and son, he can pick up the phone and have his calls returned by anyone in the game, and he&rsquo;s gained a reputation as one of Canada&rsquo;s foremost hockey journalists and newsbreakers on all platforms. He is clearly a man comfortable in his skin. He&rsquo;s dedicated, passionate, poised and unwaveringly sure of himself. It&rsquo;s hard to believe it hasn&rsquo;t always been this way, even if the first thing he tells himself every single time before he goes on air is, &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t ruin the show. Don&rsquo;t ruin <i>Hockey Night in Canada</i>.&rdquo;</p><p>But there was a time when Friedman was a socially awkward sports nerd who knew he had talent somewhere for something but was struggling to find his place in life. The grandson of Holocaust survivors who met at the Bergen- Belsen after their own spouses were killed, Friedman was just 11 when his mother died of cancer on her 35th birthday. In very different ways, Moishe and Mania Yaakov &ndash; anglicized to John and Mary Kay after they came to Canada &ndash; and their daughter, Molly, would shape Friedman&rsquo;s view of life and his place in it. His grandparents taught him he had no right to be unhappy. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re my heroes,&rdquo; said Friedman over lunch after the Calgary skate. &ldquo;They had every reason to give up on life and they never did.&rdquo; His mother taught him life is fleeting and there are no guarantees. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t have a lot of memories of my mother being healthy,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;She had been sick for a while. I saw that and I was like, &lsquo;I&rsquo;m not dying unhappy.&rsquo; My mother had regrets, and I was like, &lsquo;I won&rsquo;t have any regrets. I&rsquo;m going to do it my way.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p><p>It turns out all that shy, awkward kid had to do was find his voice. And he did that when he joined <i>The Gazette</i>, the student newspaper at the University of Western Ontario, in 1989. Friedman had always aspired to write for <i>Sports Illustrated</i> and poured himself into his work at the paper, so much so that he finished at Western a credit-and-a-half short of getting his English degree. When asked why he simply doesn&rsquo;t pick up the credits, he says Algebra wouldn&rsquo;t be so tough, but writing four essays and two exams for Shakespearean Literature might just do him in. Friedman talks about his days at Western as life-changing, in his own self-deprecating way. &ldquo;I realized there was something in life I was actually good at,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I discovered a little bit of self-confidence, and I discovered alcohol, and my life has never been the same since.&rdquo;</p><p>Scott Feschuk, who would go on to become one of Canada&rsquo;s top humorists and a speechwriter for a prime minister, would look out of his editor-in-chief&rsquo;s office and see Friedman tapping away at his computer as the paper&rsquo;s sports editor. &ldquo;We used to call him &lsquo;Trivial Pursuit,&rsquo; because there was literally no factual question about sports that he couldn&rsquo;t answer,&rdquo; Feschuk said. &ldquo;It was like, &lsquo;Hey, how many goals did Mike Bossy score in 1981?&rsquo; And he&rsquo;d know. And he&rsquo;d know for the most obscure player. In the time he was there, he kind of became the person you see on TV now. It was amazing how quickly he got better and how good he was at relationships. I would look out and see him on his computer, eating a bag of chocolate rosebuds that he bought at the Bulk Barn, typing, typing, on the phone, then typing. He put three years of work into his first year at <i>The Gazette</i>.&rdquo;</p><p>That dogged determination has never left Friedman. It served him well as a freelancer, then as an unpaid intern at The Fan, the all-sports radio station in Toronto. From there, he went to The Score, then was elevated to <i>HNIC</i>. And when Rogers wrested the Canadian NHL rights from CBC and TSN four years ago, the network made a quick and wise decision to keep him on and hire him outright. In that time, Friedman has become a go-to source of reliable information and analysis, whether it&rsquo;s in front of the camera or behind a keyboard. He&rsquo;s remarkably plugged in for someone who doesn&rsquo;t have the advantage of having played the game. His &ldquo;31 Thoughts&rdquo; column &ndash; inspired by all the extra tidbits of information he had for broadcasts that he couldn&rsquo;t use &ndash; has become a vital source for information, quirky content and scuttlebutt in the industry. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m surprised at what it&rsquo;s turned into,&rdquo; Friedman said. &ldquo;There are some days I really hate writing it, but I love the challenge of it.&rdquo;</p><p>Friedman is constantly talking to people in the industry &ndash; players, coaches, GMs, owners &ndash; for his information, something he admits still seems a little uncomfortable in situations like the one in the Calgary dressing room. He doesn&rsquo;t want to be perceived as someone who&rsquo;s always asking for something, which is why he takes time to forge relationships with the people upon whom he relies for information. He has learned valuable lessons along the way. Early in his tenure at The Fan, he was reamed on-air by his co-host and suspended for showing up late, and he said the only time friend and <i>HNIC</i> colleague Kelly Hrudey has been furious with him was at the 2006 Olympics in Italy when Friedman showed up late for the daily meeting five days in a row. Former <i>HNIC</i> analyst Harry Neale nicknamed him &lsquo;5 to 7&rsquo; because he was always five to seven minutes late. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m better now,&rdquo; Friedman said. &ldquo;I used to be really bad.&rdquo;</p><p>There was nothing, however, that could have prepared Friedman for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, where he was supposed to appear as a poolside reporter for CBC. But health issues prevented Steve Armitage from going and, three weeks before the games, Friedman learned he&rsquo;d been elevated to playby- play. (Or is it stroke-by-stroke?) Friedman&rsquo;s world came crashing down on him when, during the 200-meter individual medley, he infamously mixed up American swimmers Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte, declaring Lochte the winner in what would have been a stunning result. Friedman was devastated and was immediately concerned he would be fired. Those close to him worried about his mental wellbeing and told him to stay away from social media. Trevor Pilling, the head of CBC Sports, drove from the broadcast center to the pool to console and motivate him before the next day&rsquo;s broadcast. Twitter was both supportive and vicious. He still has never watched or listened to the broadcast and probably never will, and it was almost a full year before he could go a day without thinking about it and until his confidence fully returned. He was ripped by the likes of Billy Bush and Matt Lauer on <i>The Today Show</i> (karma&rsquo;s a bugger, eh guys?) and ridiculed at home and abroad. One broadcast colleague had what Friedman perceived as a particularly nasty tweet. Friedman has met him several times at games and in crowds and is cordial, but he still seethes over it. He intends to speak to him about it one day when he knows he can do it without erupting. &ldquo;I was worried the first couple of times that I&rsquo;d want to choke him,&rdquo; Friedman said.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-0154/237370-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="458" height="356"><figcaption class="caption-body">JACOB TROUBA & <b>ELLIOTTE FRIEDMAN</b> <span class="photo-credit">(DARCY FINLEY/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>Learning the lessons from both his grandparents and mother, Friedman got through it and is right back near the top. Friedman has his challenges in life. He can almost always be seen wearing a pin to promote autism awareness, and it&rsquo;s not unusual to see him tweet about autism issues. His Twitter bio, which says &ldquo;Trust the Weirdness, and You Are Not Alone,&rdquo; links to the website <a href="http://autismjourney.org">autismjourney.org</a>. It&rsquo;s not an industry secret that he has a close family connection to autism, but out of respect to certain people who don&rsquo;t want it public, he doesn&rsquo;t talk about it.</p><p>As far as his own career goes, Sportsnet&rsquo;s deal with the NHL has eight more years to go after this one, and Friedman would like to see it through. He&rsquo;d be 55 by that time. Although there has been speculation he will replace Ron MacLean when he retires, that might not be the best use of Friedman&rsquo;s skills. &ldquo;I want my family to be happy and that drives me to do well,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I hope to finish this run with <i>Hockey Night in Canada</i>. If I get through this deal with Rogers where I stay the whole 12 years, we&rsquo;ll see where we are then, but I&rsquo;ll be happy.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0026-01

43 ELLIOTTE FRIEDMAN

<div class="byline">BY MATT LARKIN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0167/237420-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="748" height="982"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>ICON FOR THE AGES</b></p><p>Jagr&rsquo;s sprawling, spectacular legacy has earned him a singular standing in the annals of the game.</p> <span class="photo-credit">(GERRY THOMAS/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>AGE 45 | LAST YEAR 40</b></p><p><b>YOU GO TO BED</b> staring up at his poster on your wall. You spend countless days controlling his avatar in your video game. And then, one day, you&rsquo;re sharing the ice with him. Jaromir Jagr is your linemate. Life doesn&rsquo;t get much more surreal for Calgary Flames forwards Sam Bennett, 21, and Mark Jankowski, 23, whose combined age falls short of Jagr&rsquo;s 45 years.</p><p>The experience of players suiting up with an icon multiple decades their senior is virtually unprecedented. Gordie Howe did it with his sons in the late 1970s, sure, but the world has changed so much since then. There are far more images and YouTube clips of Jagr. He was more ubiquitous to kids like Bennett and Jankowski, whereas Howe&rsquo;s admirers grew up listening to his exploits described on the radio or, at best, watching him huddled around a snowy TV set. We&rsquo;ve thus never seen anything quite like the spectacle of kids playing on an NHL team with Jagr, who is less than half a season&rsquo;s worth of games behind Howe for the all-time NHL lead. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know if it was intimidating, but I was just amazed that I was playing with him and had him on the same team,&rdquo; Bennett said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a living legend. Obviously now I&rsquo;m used to it, but at first it was really cool.&rdquo;</p><p>Toiling on the Flames&rsquo; third line, where he puts up consistently elite possession numbers, Jagr acts as a player-coach whenever his aging body co-operates enough to keep him in the lineup. He breaks down every play after every shift in the middle of games. Stop trying to win every battle 1-on-1, he tells Bennett, teaching him to shield the puck with his body and wait for help. And Jagr sees untapped potential in Jankowski, the late bloomer who reached the NHL full time five years after being drafted as a surprise first-rounder. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a big guy with a long stick just like myself,&rdquo; Jankowski said. &ldquo;I try to protect the puck like he does, and he&rsquo;s always showing me stuff, how to hold pucks away from defenders and look to make plays.&rdquo;</p><p>They comment on how warm and funny Jagr is, too. As much as they want to call him their peer, they clearly look up to him. And so does the entire league. Jagr is the only player on Earth who&rsquo;s equally worshipped by fans as well as his own teammates and opponents. The fans still want to watch his dazzling stickwork, even if his legs have abandoned him and his days of winning scoring titles are long gone. Players want to observe his famously fanatical training regimes, and crave his wisdom, most notably Flames left winger Johnny Gaudreau, who, in a year with Jagr as a regular mentor, has gone from star to superstar and Hart Trophy candidate. Media stake out Jagr&rsquo;s stall after a game hoping he&rsquo;ll hold court and provide some sound bites. Whatever he says becomes news. Even when he claimed Connor McDavid could score 100 goals, which was clearly a joke, the quote got legitimate headline treatment.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0152/237413-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="748" height="532"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>FAN FAVORITE</b></p><p>His skills have diminished, his on-ice impact isn&rsquo;t what it used to be and he&rsquo;s prone to injury. But Jagr is still the focus of attention from many fans.</p> <span class="photo-credit">(JENN PIERCE/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>And Jagr has become such hockey royalty that he follows a customized set of rules. He declined to speak for this story because, well, he just didn&rsquo;t feel like it, and it&rsquo;s generally accepted that Jagr does what he wants and can&rsquo;t be controlled by anyone. He&rsquo;s earned that right as someone who has given the game so much. He&rsquo;s played in 10 All-Star Games. He&rsquo;s won the Art Ross Trophy five times. He&rsquo;s only won one Hart Trophy but has been voted MVP by his peers, the players, three times. He owns the best mullet and rosiest cheeks in NHL history. In the era that ushered in almost universal visor use, he&rsquo;s one of the few players left purely identifiable by his facial features. His look inspired &lsquo;The Travelling Jagrs,&rsquo; a group of merry hockey nuts who travel city to city dressed as him and add a member every time he changes teams.</p><p>Jagr had boasted about playing until 50 when he was lighting it up on the Florida Panthers&rsquo; first line the past couple seasons, but his mentality evidently changed this summer, when he waited so long for a team to make him an offer that he took to Twitter to advertise his services. Playing reduced minutes, he sees the end sooner rather than later and has suggested to media that &ldquo;99.9 percent&rdquo; this is his final season. But what if he ends up just short of Howe&rsquo;s games mark? Jagr claims not to care about such milestones, but if he&rsquo;s just a few games away, he&rsquo;d only be human if he felt tempted to return and break the record.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0237/237406-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="356" height="449"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(JEFF VINNICK/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>Expect speculation about Jagr&rsquo;s future and media coverage of his potential final games to ramp up come April, whether he&rsquo;s on a playoffbound squad or not. He&rsquo;ll likely earn a majestic sendoff not seen since Wayne Gretzky retired. That was in 1999. The player who scored the overtime winner in that storied game: Jagr.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0028-01

61 JAROMIR JAGR

<div class="byline">BY JARED CLINTON</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-0158/237478-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="356" height="418"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(EZRA SHAW/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>AGE 28</p><p>LAST YEAR nr</p><p><b>IN THE CATALOG OF</b> classics between the American and Canadian women&rsquo;s teams, the 2017 World Championship gold medal game ranks high on the list. Tied 2-2 through regulation in a back and-forth contest, overtime was necessary to solve the affair between the two blood rivals. Then, 10 minutes into the extra frame, Hilary Knight broke up the ice and found twine just as she has so many times before, capturing gold for Team USA.</p><p>Was Knight elated? That might be an understatement. But surprised? Hardly. To her, there was no doubt that World Championship gold was staying south of the 49th parallel. &ldquo;We find ourselves in overtime, and I&rsquo;m looking around the room, like, &lsquo;We got it,&rsquo;&rdquo;Knight recalled. &ldquo;Just because we&rsquo;ve been through the fire together.&rdquo;</p><p>The proverbial fire that Knight, 28, speaks of is arguably the most monumental moment in the history of USA Hockey&rsquo;s women&rsquo;s program. Two weeks before the 2017 World Championship in Plymouth, Mich., the team announced it was prepared to boycott the tournament unless USA Hockey made progress in providing players with fair wages and equitable support. Knight, widely regarded as one of the best players in the world, was front and center in those negotiations. It was a cause near and dear to her, a fight not just for herself but for her teammates and all those who will come after her. Days before the tournament began, the team and USA Hockey reached an agreement. &ldquo;We have a lot of responsibility to impact the game as we&rsquo;re playing but also as we move forward and transition into the next chapter of our lives,&rdquo; Knight said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s super empowering to go through an equitable support battle and to learn a lot about your resilience, passion, your character. You&rsquo;re putting your career essentially on the line to try and better other people&rsquo;s careers in the next generation.&rdquo;</p><p>To be sure, Knight&rsquo;s influence on the future of women&rsquo;s hockey goes beyond her off-ice victories. Her on-ice performance has made her an icon of the sport. She has won championships in the NCAA, CWHL and NWHL, and the gold at the 2017 worlds was her seventh. Once the fresh face on a national team with her idols, such as Hall of Famer Angela Ruggiero, Knight now skates alongside some of the same women she inspired to strive for the Olympic dreams. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a really cool moment to look at someone&rsquo;s sweatpants in the locker room and see that they went to the national championships for their youth program the same year you were competing in the Olympics,&rdquo; Knight laughed.</p><p>One thing the role reversal has given Knight is the opportunity to pass down some of the same teachings she got from Ruggiero, who was an influence beyond being a childhood hero. &ldquo;She empowered me and instilled a lot of confidence in me,&rdquo; Knight said. &ldquo;She really just said, &lsquo;Hey, go out there and play.&rsquo; And that&rsquo;s something you have to remember when you&rsquo;re in these high-pressure situations. She made that transition from the high school program into my international career that much easier by taking me under her wing and making sure I felt comfortable.&rdquo;</p><p>Knight is working to make a bigger impact on the sport and program at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics. Watching the U.S.&rsquo;s victory at the 1998 Nagano Olympics was one of the most influential moments of her career, giving her hope for a future in the game and a dream for which she could strive. However, despite Team USA rolling unlike ever before &ndash; having won three straight world championships as well as three consecutive Four Nations Cups &ndash; Knight believes the Americans are the underdogs heading into Pyeongchang, as it has been 20 years since the U.S. women&rsquo;s team last captured Olympic gold. But Knight is living by the team&rsquo;s mantra that they can be&ldquo;a part of something bigger than ourselves&rdquo; by winning. &ldquo;There are so many great things that will come out of a win,&rdquo; Knight said. &ldquo;Our fight is almost more noble in that respect because we need to change the game of ice hockey in the U.S., and that&rsquo;s the way to do it.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0031-01

82 HILARY KNIGHT

f0032-01

CHINA SHARKS

<div class="byline">BY ROBERT MACKENZIE</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0038-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0244/237620-1-eng-US/f0038-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(RICHARD A. WHITTAKER/ICON SPORTSWIRE VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0167/237627-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg" title="f0038-01" width="74" height="84"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><p>FOR UP-TO-THE-MINUTE COVERAGE, VISIT <b><a href="http://THN.com">THN.COM</a></b></p><p><b>IT TOOK SOME TIME</b> for Oliver Ekman-Larsson to get used to life in Arizona. The dry desert heat was a far cry from the cold, snowy winters in his tiny hometown of Tingsryd, where the weather is much more like its sister city, Lindstrom, Minn. &ldquo;It was a weird feeling, to be honest with you,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m so used to having cold and winter when you play hockey back home in Sweden. I was used to the snow and stuff, and now you walk over in shorts and flip flops.&rdquo;</p><p>Eight years later, Ekman-Larsson acclimatized to the desert. He&rsquo;s now a staple in Arizona and one of the few recognizable faces on a team that has undergone major turnover in recent years.</p><p>After captain Shane Doan re- tired in August, Ekman-Larsson became the longest-serving active Coyote. Since the franchise moved from Winnipeg to Phoenix in 1996, he ranks eighth on the team&rsquo;s all-time scoring list, third in points by a defenseman and first in goals by a defenseman &ndash; all by the age of 26. Yet he doesn&rsquo;t receive the same attention as other elite blue liners around the league. A two-time top-10 finshier in Norris Trophy voting, Ekman-Larsson remains one of the NHL&rsquo;s more underrated defensemen. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s been in Arizona his whole career and probably hasn&rsquo;t got that much attention,&rdquo; said Erik Karlsson, who has played with Ekman-Larsson on Sweden&rsquo;s national squad. &ldquo;But everyone who watches hockey and knows hockey knows he&rsquo;s a quality defenseman in this league and has been ever since he got in the league.&rdquo;</p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0327/237613-1-eng-US/f0038-032.jpg" title="f0038-03" width="95" height="95"></div><p>After struggling on the ice and dealing with tragedy away from it in 2016-17, Ekman-Larsson has slowly returned to peak form. And despite Arizona&rsquo;s terrible start to this season, his goal now is to lead a young Coyotes team to a future of contention.</p><p>Going into last season, Ekman-Larsson was focused on improving the team&rsquo;s play after two straight years near the bottom of the standings. He was coming off back-to-back 20-goal campaigns &ndash; the only defenseman other than Karlsson and Brent Burns to do so since Ekman-Larsson&rsquo;s rookie year in 2010-11. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s nice when things are going good for yourself, but it doesn&rsquo;t really matter in this league, because it&rsquo;s a team sport, and if you don&rsquo;t make the playoffs, you&rsquo;re not going to be happy about your game,&rdquo; Ekman-Larsson said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t care if I&rsquo;m putting up 50 or 60 points if we&rsquo;re not playing good as a team.&rdquo;</p><p>His 2016-17 season got off to a rocky start, however, as he broke his left thumb early after taking a slash. He said he couldn&rsquo;t shoot or pass the puck properly for three months, which was reflected in his total shot attempts on the year &ndash; his lowest in four seasons.</p><p>But the injury was nothing compared to the emotional pain Ekman-Larsson was dealing with behind the scenes.</p><p>His mother, Annika, passed away late last season after a long battle with cancer. She was only 51. Although she&rsquo;d been sick for more than 10 years, her cancer progressed at the start of last season. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think I&rsquo;m going to go through anything like that again ever. That was probably the toughest year of my life,&rdquo; Ekman-Larsson said. &ldquo;She wanted me to stay over here, and she wanted me to do what I love doing, and I did that for her.&rdquo;</p><p>Ekman-Larsson&rsquo;s mom was always involved in his hockey life, ever since he was a kid. Even though Sweden is eight hours ahead of Arizona time, she never missed him play. &ldquo;She stayed up all night watching the games, (then would go) straight to work. Doing that when you&rsquo;re sick, that&rsquo;s pretty impressive. She was a strong, strong woman.&rdquo;</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><blockquote class="pullQuote">IF YOU TRADE AN OLIVER EKMAN-LARSSON, YOU START LOOKING FOR OLIVER EKMAN-LARSSON. <b>HONESTLY, I DON&rsquo;T EVEN LIKE TALKING ABOUT THE CONCEPT, BECAUSE I FIND IT SILLY</b><br>&ndash; Coyotes GM John Chayka</blockquote><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0158/237606-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg" title="f0039-01" width="513" height="688"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(MARK BLINCH/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>With his mother fighting for her life back home in Sweden, Ekman-Larsson found it difficult to focus on hockey at all last season. His 12 goals and 39 points were his lowest full season totals since 2011-12, as he and the team struggled through another losing, rebuilding year.</p><p>In the summer, however, a flurry of moves saw Arizona bring in a new coach, starting goalie, top-line center and two top-four defensemen. Also factoring in a full season of rookie Clayton Keller, many expected the Coyotes to improve upon their 28th-place finish and contend for a wildcard spot in the Western Conference. So to say Arizona got out to a disappointing start is an understatement. The Coyotes lost their first 11 games and took until Nov. 16 to get their first regulation win.</p><p>But despite their dreadful start, there have been a few bright spots. Keller has had a Calder-contending start, while youngsters Brendan Perlini and Christian Fischer have also been impressive early on. Ekman-Larsson has found his footing, too. Through 33 games, he was second in team scoring with 18 points. He also had a six-game stretch in November when he tallied four goals and seven points.</p><p>Ekman-Larsson continues to lead Arizona in ice time, as he has the past five seasons, logging heavy minutes in every situation. He&rsquo;s also formed chemistry with newcomer Jason Demers, acquired in a trade with Florida in September. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a strong skater, passer, he&rsquo;s got a great shot, and I&rsquo;m just trying to complement those things,&rdquo; Demers said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s an all-star. He&rsquo;s been in the league for a long time. He&rsquo;s played at an elite level.&rdquo;</p><p>With Arizona&rsquo;s poor start, rumors began to spread about whether the team would consider trading its star defenseman for a Matt Duchene-like package of assets before Ekman-Larsson&rsquo;s contract expires in 2019. But the Coyotes have plenty of prospects and also plenty of losing seasons as of late. They boast the league&rsquo;s third-youngest roster, and the line of Lawson Crouse, Dylan Strome and Nick Merkley on the Tucson Roadrunners was one of the AHL&rsquo;s highest scoring units before Strome was called up at the end of November.</p><p>What the Coyotes don&rsquo;t have is another No. 1 defenseman &ndash; a young, foundational piece who has been through the highs and many lows and wants to stay in Arizona and help turn the team into a contender. &ldquo;You build teams around No. 1 defensemen,&rdquo; said Arizona GM John Chayka. &ldquo;Oliver is a No. 1 defenseman. If you trade an Oliver Ekman-Larsson, you start looking for Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Honestly, I don&rsquo;t even like talking about the concept, because I find it silly.</p><h2><b>WEATHERING THE STORM</b></h2><p>On top of his team&rsquo;s struggles, Ekman-Larsson endured an injury and family tragedy in a trying 2016-17.</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got prospects continuing to come in waves. We want to surround Oliver with great players, give him a chance to lead a team&hellip;and be a part of something special.&rdquo;</p><p>The last time the team made the playoffs was in 2012. Ekman-Larsson is the only Coyote remaining from that squad, and he wants to be there when they get back. &ldquo;I love Arizona,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I love the weather, I love the organization. There have been some rough years, but at the same time I want to be the guy who turns it around, and I think that&rsquo;s why I&rsquo;m still here.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0038-02

TOP DOG ON THE BLOCK?

<div class="byline">&#x2013; JARED CLINTON</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-0239/237789-1-eng-US/f0040-022.jpg" title="f0040-02" width="696" height="605"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(DAVID KIROUAC/ICON SPORTSWIRE VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-0165/237796-1-eng-US/f0040-012.jpg" title="f0040-01" width="74" height="84"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>MIDDLE MANAGEMENT</b></h2><p>Getting moved to center placed more responsibility on Larkin&rsquo;s shoulders and has increased his impact on games.</p><p><b>THE FIRST THING YOU</b> notice in the video is the couch. Cream colored with vertical white stripes. You know the one, aged out of the living room and relegated to the basement of your run-of the-mill Midwest home. To the left of the frame sits a rosy-cheeked 13-year-old kid, an American flag draped over his shoulders and dark hair spilling out from under a rally cap. Soon, he&rsquo;s joined by his helmet-wearing, American Eagle-clad co-host. For the next three minutes and 25 seconds, &lsquo;E.G. Slayer,&rsquo; a.k.a. Evan Gizinski, and &lsquo;D-Boss,&rsquo; alias Dylan Larkin &ndash; yes, <i>that</i> Dylan Larkin &ndash; take us on a&ldquo;snip show&rdquo; odyssey. It&rsquo;s the teenaged Larkin who introduces us to &lsquo;The Dungeon,&rsquo; Gizinski&rsquo;s basement in Michigan, and stifles his laughter long enough to showcase the&ldquo;whips,&rdquo; what the layperson would call hockey sticks, that the two will be using to demonstrate their sharpshooting acumen.</p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-0326/237782-1-eng-US/f0040-032.jpg" title="f0040-03" width="95" height="95"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><blockquote class="pullQuote">IT WOULD BE FUN TO RACE CONNOR MCDAVID.<b>I THINK HE&rsquo;D PROBABLY BEAT ME, BUT I&rsquo;D GIVE IT A GOOD SHOT</b><br>&ndash; Dylan Larkin</blockquote><p>Shot in November 2010, the video laid dormant on YouTube for more than five years before it caught the eye of some deepdiving hockey fan. And once it hit social media in February 2016, months into Larkin&rsquo;s rookie season with the Detroit Red Wings, the two-man highlight reel went viral. &ldquo;I was a little embarrassed,&rdquo; Larkin said. &ldquo;My teammates gave me a hard time. But people seemed to enjoy it. We sold T-shirts, and I&rsquo;ve opened up to it a bit more. I&rsquo;ve embraced the name, and it&rsquo;s all fun now. At first, though, I was definitely caught off-guard and selfconscious about it.&rdquo;</p><p>The video has become part of the lore of Larkin&rsquo;s young career, to the extent that he was approached prior to the start of the 2017-18 season to set up a giveaway for a Red Wings&rsquo; December home game: a bobblehead featuring his alter-ego in a recreation of the opening scene from the viral video. But make no mistake, &lsquo;D-Boss&rsquo; isn&rsquo;t the only thing from Larkin&rsquo;s rookie season that is re-emerging.</p><p>After Larkin suffered through a significant sophomore slump last season, one that saw his point total dip by a baker&rsquo;s dozen, his scoring touch has reignited. It took him 19 games to register 15 assists, matching his total from 2016-17, and Larkin had 22 points by the end of November, leaving him 10 shy of last season&rsquo;s output. And helping Larkin find his stride again are his new role and increased responsibility.</p><p>At the 2017 World Championship in France and Germany, Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill headed up the American squad and tapped Larkin to play down the middle, where he logged big minutes in all situations. His two-goal, 10-point performance and penalty killing prowess were enough for Blashill to inform Larkin, who previously played the wing for most of his NHL career, that he&rsquo;d be a full-time center this season in Detroit. His early production shows it was a wise move, but Larkin has eyes on getting even better, studying tape to learn how to become a more effective, point-producing pivot. &ldquo;You watch Henrik Zetterberg,&rdquo; Larkin said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s not the fastest guy on the ice, but he gets the puck in the middle of the ice and does a great job finding little holes where he can be shifty, use his edges, find ways to get up the ice and move the puck to make his linemates better.&rdquo;</p><p>One big difference between Larkin and Zetterberg, however, is that Larkin is usually among the fastest players on the ice. And while he claims that wasn&rsquo;t always the case and that he isn&rsquo;t the league&rsquo;s speediest skater, the All-Star Game record book says otherwise, even if some argue his&ldquo;fastest skater&rdquo; record is tainted and the real mark should belong to Connor McDavid, who wasn&rsquo;t allowed the same running start in the 2017 skills competition that Larkin had in 2016. About that, though: Larkin isn&rsquo;t opposed to trying to settle it once and for all. &ldquo;With what happened at the 2016 All-Star Game, where I got the head start that everyone talks about, especially McDavid fans, I think it would be fun (to race McDavid),&rdquo; Larkin said. &ldquo;I think he&rsquo;d probably beat me, but I&rsquo;d give it a good shot.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0155/237775-1-eng-US/f0041-012.jpg" title="f0041-01" width="403" height="595"><figcaption class="caption-body">DYLAN<b>LARKIN</b> <span class="photo-credit">(ANDY DEVLIN/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>But Larkin has his sights set on bigger things than an all-star record. He&rsquo;s driven to become a dominant player, one whose will matches his skill. That&rsquo;s why he passed on off-season outings and appearances in order to spend weekends training, why he ramped up workouts as training camp approached and got himself in shape to hit the ice feeling as refreshed as ever.</p><p>Pair that with what he learned through the trials and tribulations of his sophomore campaign, and you have a wiser, more laser-focused Larkin. &ldquo;Everyone who plays wants to be a good player, but I can&rsquo;t do it without working,&rdquo; Larkin said. &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t just rely on my skills alone. I have to play the right way and work hard. And it&rsquo;s good to see this year, with a little bit more work ethic, working away from the puck, attention to detail and penalty killing, that I&rsquo;m seeing some results. When I&rsquo;m working hard, I can make things happen.&rdquo;</p><p>Or as D-Boss would say,&ldquo;make a snip show.&rdquo;</p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0239/237768-1-eng-US/f0041-022.jpg" title="f0041-02" width="95" height="95"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>EASTERN CONFERENCE</b></h2><p><b>BEST BANG FOR THE BUCKS</b></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0326/237761-1-eng-US/f0041-032.jpg" title="f0041-03" width="52" height="52"></div><p>As part of the &lsquo;Ilya Kovalchuk Rule&rsquo; from the 2012-13 lockout, it was agreed that players&rsquo; cap hits would match their salaries after 40. As a result, Boston has a bargain ($4 million) in <b>ZDENO CHARA</b>, as the 40-year-old is still its top minute-muncher and most important penalty killer.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0421/237754-1-eng-US/f0041-042.jpg" title="f0041-04" width="52" height="52"></div><p>It&rsquo;s almost impossible to make the case that anyone in Buffalo is earning his paycheque this season, but at least they didn&rsquo;t wildly overpay <b>BENOIT POULIOT</b> on his one-year, $1.2-million deal. Pouliot has chipped in some offense and seems to have shed his habit of taking lazy penalties.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0518/237747-1-eng-US/f0041-052.jpg" title="f0041-05" width="52" height="52"></div><p>He&rsquo;s the top scorer on the team yet only the sixth-highest paid forward. <b>TEUVO TERAVAINEN</b> makes just $2.9 million, and he still has one more season on his deal. For that price, Carolina gets a Stanley Cup winner who has already forged great chemistry with fellow Finn Sebastian Aho.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0617/237740-1-eng-US/f0041-062.jpg" title="f0041-06" width="52" height="52"></div><p>Remember when <b>JOSH ANDERSON</b> and the Jackets had a tough contract negotiation this fall? Maybe Anderson&rsquo;s camp was onto something. He&rsquo;s quickly become one of the team&rsquo;s best weapons. For $1.9 million, Columbus has a big, aggressive winger who can score and drop the gloves.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0715/237733-1-eng-US/f0041-072.jpg" title="f0041-07" width="52" height="52"></div><p><b>ANDREAS ATHANASIOU</b> stared down the Wings in a contract stalemate over the summer and lost. He settled for a one-year pact worth $1.4 million. Despite missing the first 10 games, he was on pace for a 40-point season, which would be the most productive of his young career.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0814/237726-1-eng-US/f0041-082.jpg" title="f0041-08" width="52" height="51"></div><p>Florida hasn&rsquo;t been renowned for its personnel moves over the years, but <b>VINCENT TROCHECK&rsquo;S</b> six-year, $28.5-million deal was a home run. A point-per-game producer this season, he&rsquo;s on the verge of becoming a major offensive contributor, and he&rsquo;s under contract through 2021-22.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0910/237719-1-eng-US/f0041-092.jpg" title="f0041-09" width="52" height="51"></div><p>In early December, <b>JORDIE BENN</b> had as many goals (four) as Erik Karlsson, Brent Burns, Victor Hedman and Buffalo&rsquo;s entire D-corps combined. Even better for Montreal&rsquo;s bottom line, Benn&rsquo;s contract &ndash; which he signed with Dallas &ndash; pays him just $1.1 million per year through next season.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-1010/237712-1-eng-US/f0041-102.jpg" title="f0041-10" width="52" height="52"></div><p>Very few NHLers make less money than <b>BRIAN GIBBONS</b> ($650,000), but he&rsquo;s putting a lot of multimillionaires to shame. The diminutive 29-year-old has become an unexpected sniper and led the team in goals despite only having five goals in 66 career NHL games prior to this season.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-1110/237705-1-eng-US/f0041-112.jpg" title="f0041-11" width="52" height="52"></div><p>Perhaps the NHL&rsquo;s most underrated player, <b>ANDERS LEE</b> is a bargain at $3.8 million. His size, athleticism and skill have made him a dangerous sniper. Since the start of the 2016-17 campaign, only five players have more goals &ndash; Kucherov, Crosby, Ovechkin, Matthews and Tarasenko.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-126/237698-1-eng-US/f0041-122.jpg" title="f0041-12" width="52" height="52"></div><p>The usefulness of <b>MICHAEL GRABNER</b> continues to amaze. The speedster uses great anticipation to disrupt the opposition and create chances off the rush. He&rsquo;s the Rangers&rsquo; top goal-scorer while also taking his usual turn as a top penalty killer. All that for just $1.7 million a year.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-135/237691-1-eng-US/f0041-132.jpg" title="f0041-13" width="52" height="52"></div><p>The Senators should enjoy <b>MARK STONE&rsquo;S</b> $3.5-million cap hit while they can, because it&rsquo;s going to cost them about twice that next season. On the third year of a bridge deal, the two-way star has emerged as Ottawa&rsquo;s best forward, leading the team in scoring and all forwards in ice time.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-145/237684-1-eng-US/f0041-142.jpg" title="f0041-14" width="52" height="52"></div><p><b>SEAN COUTURIER&rsquo;S</b> elevation to the top line has made him even more valuable, and for just $4.3 million, the Flyers have a great asset on a sweet deal until 2022. Couturier is still a bigbodied center with tenacious defensive skills. Now he&rsquo;s on pace for his best offensive season.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-155/237677-1-eng-US/f0041-152.jpg" title="f0041-15" width="52" height="52"></div><p>With two Cups already, <b>MATT MURRAY</b> has already proven himself to be one of the league&rsquo;s best money goalies. But he doesn&rsquo;t get paid like one. His cap hit is an extremely reasonable $3.8 million, and the Penguins have him locked down until 2020. Injuries are a concern, but nothing else.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-163/237670-1-eng-US/f0041-162.jpg" title="f0041-16" width="52" height="51"></div><p>The best bang for the buck in Tampa Bay goes to <b>NIKITA KUCHEROV</b>, who was leading the league in scoring in return for a $4.8-million cap hit. He&rsquo;ll make that amount again next season, but you can bet the Lightning will be eager to sign him to a long-term extension come July 1.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-172/237663-1-eng-US/f0041-172.jpg" title="f0041-17" width="52" height="52"></div><p>After a 20-goal rookie campaign, <b>CONNOR BROWN</b> took a hometown discount over the summer when he accepted a three-year deal that pays him $2.1 million per season. He&rsquo;s on pace for another 20-goal effort, and he&rsquo;s an underrated talent who contributes in all areas of the game.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-182/237656-1-eng-US/f0041-182.jpg" title="f0041-18" width="52" height="52"></div><p>Maybe it&rsquo;s because he looks like a villain from a 1980s slobs vs. snobs movie, but it&rsquo;s hard to find players like <b>TOM WILSON</b>. The big right winger can play up and down the lineup, punish the opposition physically and drop the gloves with the NHL&rsquo;s best. For $2 million, that&rsquo;s pretty good.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p></div>

f0040-02

SPEED TO BURN, A LOT TO LEARN

<div class="byline">&#x2013; JOSH COOPER</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-0241/237951-1-eng-US/f0042-022.jpg" title="f0042-02" width="690" height="688"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(HARRY HOW/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-0165/237958-1-eng-US/f0042-012.jpg" title="f0042-01" width="56" height="63"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>SHOOT FIRST, PASS LATER</b></h2><p>Kopitar has become more selfish with the puck &ndash; in a good way. He looks to score rather than always setting up teammates.</p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-0329/237944-1-eng-US/f0042-032.jpg" title="f0042-03" width="95" height="94"></div><p><b>LOS ANGELES KINGS RIGHT WINGER</b> Dustin Brown doesn&rsquo;t need to look at the stat sheet to know Anze Kopitar is shooting more this season.</p><p>Really, Brown just uses his eyes to confirm that Kopitar is being more assertive with firing the puck versus a year ago. &ldquo;For sure, I&rsquo;ve noticed it, because he hasn&rsquo;t passed it as much,&rdquo; Brown joked. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s definitely shooting the puck more. You can probably say this for our whole team. There&rsquo;s an element of fun to our game now.&rdquo;</p><p>Kopitar and the Kings slogged through a 2016-17 season that saw them miss the playoffs for the second time in three years. His 12 goals and 52 points in 76 games were full-season lows. But a coaching change and a more offensive style have reignited Kopitar and the Kings this season in what has become a renaissance for the 30-year-old Slovenian and the organization.</p><p>Kopitar has already surpassed his goal total from last season, and Los Angeles has spent most of 2017-18 near or at the top of the Pacific Division. And Kopitar is averaging about half-a-shot more per game compared to a year ago, which means Brown&rsquo;s analysis is spot-on. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m enjoying myself for sure,&rdquo; Kopitar said. &ldquo;A good individual start and good team start will do that to you. It&rsquo;s obviously a lot more fun than it was last year from my point of view of scoring goals and putting up points and just, bottom line, playing. I know how to play. Last year it was a really bad year. I put it behind me now and I&rsquo;m looking ahead.&rdquo;</p><p>Asking too many questions of Kopitar about 2016-17 prompts some frustration from the Kings captain. It could be a coping mechanism that he uses to move past the disappointment. He&rsquo;s fine with acknowledging it, but doesn&rsquo;t want to dwell on it. &ldquo;You can&rsquo;t get too low on your self, that&rsquo;s for sure,&rdquo; Kopitar said. &ldquo;Maybe I was guilty of doing that a couple of times last year where I wasn&rsquo;t feeling great, but then your head gets spinning and it probably has a worse effect on you than you actually think. Again, it&rsquo;s behind me now and that&rsquo;s it.&rdquo;</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><blockquote class="pullQuote">YOU CAN&rsquo;T GET TOO LOW ON YOUR SELF.<b>I WAS GUILTY OF DOING THAT A COUPLE TIMES LAST YEAR. YOUR HEAD GETS SPINNING</b><br>&ndash; Anze Kopitar</blockquote><p>Kopitar&rsquo;s teammates could definitely sense something was wrong last season, coming off a banner 2015-16 in which he won the Selke Trophy and Lady Byng Trophy. &ldquo;We get to play a game for a living, I understand that, but I talked to &lsquo;Kopi&rsquo; a lot last year,&rdquo; Brown said. &ldquo;We sit next to each other in the locker room. We sit next to each other on the bus. I think he just wasn&rsquo;t enjoying the game last year.&rdquo;</p><p>Kopitar&rsquo;s problems could&rsquo;ve had to do with some off-ice changes coupled with all the hockey he played prior to the start of the season. In the summer of 2016, Kopitar was named captain, replacing Brown, who had led L.A. to two Stanley Cups. Kopitar&rsquo;s new eight-year, $80-million contract was about to kick in at the start of 2016-17. And, before the season even commenced, he had played nine high-intensity games between Slovenia in Olympic qualifiers and Team Europe in the World Cup.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-0153/237937-1-eng-US/f0043-012.jpg" title="f0043-01" width="425" height="689"><figcaption class="caption-body">ANZE<b>KOPITAR</b> <span class="photo-credit">(FRANCOIS LACASSE/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>Early in 2016-17, Kopitar injured his wrist, which may have prevented him from using his heavy shot as effectively as in the past. &ldquo;He couldn&rsquo;t shoot a whole lot, plus I&rsquo;m sure the new contract kicked in and everything&hellip; he became a captain, so a lot of things going on for him,&rdquo; said Marian Gaborik, Kopitar&rsquo;s teammate with the Kings as well as on the European World Cup squad.</p><p>When the Kings fired coach Darryl Sutter and GM Dean Lombardi, new coach John Stevens and new GM Rob Blake said they wanted to institute a more offensive style. They believed Kopitar&rsquo;s struggles last season were just a blip in a sterling career in which he had never averaged fewer than 0.8 points per game before 2016-17. Still, they wanted him to adjust his approach from playing heavier hockey, which was the Kings&rsquo; style under Sutter, and towards a more speed oriented game plan.</p><p>The Kings kept tabs on Kopitar during the summer while he was training, and the team thought he was at least putting himself in position to play at a high level again. At camp, Kopitar and Brown quickly gelled on the top line. They set the tone for L.A. from Day 1 and have shown no signs of slowing down. &ldquo;Obviously this year he came in really good shape, a little thinner and just really devoted to this team, and he has been off the charts,&rdquo; Gaborik said. &ldquo;Hopefully he can keep it up, and obviously he&rsquo;s our horse.&rdquo;</p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-0234/237930-1-eng-US/f0043-022.jpg" title="f0043-02" width="95" height="94"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>WESTERN CONFERENCE</b></h2><p><b>BEST BANG FOR THE BUCKS</b></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-0326/237923-1-eng-US/f0043-032.jpg" title="f0043-03" width="56" height="55"></div><p><b>CAM FOWLER</b> is making $4 million this season on a five-year deal that started in 2013. That ranks just 70th among NHL D-men. His new eight-year deal, which kicks in next season, gives him a big raise to $6.5 million. Nice hike, but that will be a relative bargain within a few years.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-0422/237916-1-eng-US/f0043-042.jpg" title="f0043-04" width="56" height="55"></div><p><b>OLIVER EKMAN-LARSSON</b> is easily a top-20 defenseman in the NHL. But his $5.5 million AAV doesn&rsquo;t fall within that range. His composed two-way play would make him a No. 1 on most teams in the league. The 26-year-old will be in huge demand if he becomes a UFA in 2019.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-0517/237909-1-eng-US/f0043-052.jpg" title="f0043-05" width="56" height="55"></div><p><b>MICHEAL FERLAND</b> finished last season on the top line and produced down the stretch (14 points in his final 29 games). So his new two-year deal with an AAV of $1.75 million is very affordable. Ferland has kept the magic going, scoring at a 30-goal pace through mid-December.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-0616/237902-1-eng-US/f0043-062.jpg" title="f0043-06" width="56" height="55"></div><p><b>DUNCAN KEITH</b> shows signs of aging at 34 but remains one of the NHL&rsquo;s best workhorses. Only seven defensemen have more points in the 2010s. Each of them makes at least $6.4 million per season. Keith sits at $5.5 million. He has the 23rd-highest cap hit among NHL blueliners.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-0714/237895-1-eng-US/f0043-072.jpg" title="f0043-07" width="56" height="55"></div><p>The Avs scooped <b>NAIL YAKUPOV</b>, 2012&rsquo;s No. 1 overall pick, for a song at $875,000. He&rsquo;ll never win the Selke Trophy, but he chipped in seven goals in his first 20 games. Excluding players on entry-level deals, he had the ninth-lowest cost per goal in the NHL at $125,000.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-088/237888-1-eng-US/f0043-082.jpg" title="f0043-08" width="56" height="55"></div><p><b>JOHN KLINGBERG</b> is in Year 3 of a seven-year deal carrying a $4.3-million AAV and led all NHL defensemen in points through mid-December. If you doubled his salary, he still wouldn&rsquo;t be the league&rsquo;s top-paid D-man. P.K. Subban earns more than twice as much as Klingberg.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-098/237881-1-eng-US/f0043-092.jpg" title="f0043-09" width="56" height="55"></div><p>The better <b>PATRICK MAROON</b> plays, the less likely it is that Edmonton will have money in its budget to retain him when he becomes a UFA in July. The power winger is wrapping up his fifth contract and making $2 million. In 125 games with the Oilers, he has scored at a 28-goal pace</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-106/237874-1-eng-US/f0043-102.jpg" title="f0043-10" width="56" height="55"></div><p><b>DREW DOUGHTY</b> is the seventh-highest paid defenseman at $7 million, and he finished seventh in Norris Trophy voting last season. But in previous seasons, he was first, second, third and sixth in Norris voting. On the open market (Doughty gets there in 2019), he&rsquo;s a $10-million blueliner.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-114/237867-1-eng-US/f0043-112.jpg" title="f0043-11" width="56" height="55"></div><p><b>JASON ZUCKER</b> is scoring at a 40-goal clip and plays on the Wild&rsquo;s shutdown line&hellip;for a measly $2 million. He&rsquo;s poised to more than double his paycheque this summer. He has scored on 20.3 percent of his shots and is a 12.8-percent career shooter, however, so a regression is likely.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-122/237860-1-eng-US/f0043-122.jpg" title="f0043-12" width="55" height="56"></div><p>Preds GM David Poile is the king of paying players just before they break out. <b>ROMAN JOSI</b> at $4 million might be the league&rsquo;s biggest bargain. Since signing a seven-year pact in 2013, he ranks top-five among blueliners in points and ice time. <i>Sixty-nine</i> defensemen have a bigger cap hit.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-132/237853-1-eng-US/f0043-132.jpg" title="f0043-13" width="56" height="56"></div><p>The case can easily be made that <b>MARC-EDOUARD VLASIC</b> has been underpaid in each of his 12 NHL seasons. He was impressive as a kid and outperformed his next two contracts. Now in the final year of a $4.25-million AAV pact, he&rsquo;ll get the raise to $7 million he deserves next season.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-142/237846-1-eng-US/f0043-142.jpg" title="f0043-14" width="56" height="56"></div><p>Gritty <b>JOEL EDMUNDSON</b> carries big responsibility for a guy making $1.05 million. His ice time has jumped more than two minutes to nearly 20. He&rsquo;s a stay-at-home D-man, but had six goals by December. Not bad for someone with eight goals in 100 career AHL games, let alone NHL.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-15/237839-1-eng-US/f0043-152.jpg" title="f0043-15" width="56" height="56"></div><p>You never know what you&rsquo;re going to get with <b>THOMAS VANEK</b> these days. The 30-plus goal seasons (four of them) are clearly behind him, but the enigmatic right winger can have solid stretches. His pace of 20 goals and 50-plus points is his best in four years, all for $2 million.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-16/237832-1-eng-US/f0043-162.jpg" title="f0043-16" width="56" height="56"></div><p>When you lead the team in scoring and are making just $1 million on the final year of your second contract, you&rsquo;re easily the biggest bargain. <b>WILLIAM KARLSSON</b> has thrived in his go-to offensive role with the Knights. He&rsquo;ll be 25 and in for a big pay day this summer as an RFA.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-17/237825-1-eng-US/f0043-172.jpg" title="f0043-17" width="56" height="56"></div><p>Winnipeg gave <b>CONNOR HELLEBUYCK</b> a one-year&ldquo;prove it&rdquo; deal worth $2.25 million, and he responded by catching fire and reclaiming the crease from Steve Mason. Hellebuyck ranks in the top 10 in every major goalie stat yet has the second-lowest cap hit among starting stoppers.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p></div>

f0042-02

PUTTING THE FUN BACK IN THE GAME

<div class="byline">&#x2013; RYAN KENNEDY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0045-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-0157/238023-1-eng-US/f0045-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(ANDRE RINGUETTE/HHOF-IIHF IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>PLAYMAKING</b></h2><p><b>&ldquo;IT&rsquo;S RIGHT UP THERE</b> with his hockey sense. They go hand in hand. When you watch him on the power play, you really see it. Vaxjo&rsquo;s power play is really clicking right now, and it works through him. He finds those clean passing lanes.&rdquo;</p><h2><b>HOCKEY SENSE</b></h2><p><b>&ldquo;IT&rsquo;S A STAPLE OF</b> his game and where he excels the most. I dare say his hockey sense could be elite. He anticipates the play so well.&rdquo;</p><h2><b>DEFENSE</b></h2><p><b>&ldquo;IT&rsquo;S GOOD. HIS MOTOR</b> runs and he works hard coming back on defense. He knows his assignments. This year has been a good challenge for him, playing against men again, but this time in the SHL instead of the Allsvenskan (Sweden&rsquo;s second-best circuit). He&rsquo;s good with the details.&rdquo;</p><h2><b>COMPETE LEVEL</b></h2><p><b>&ldquo;FOR HIM, THERE&rsquo;S A</b> separation between compete level and physicality. His compete level is good. He has a great energy level and work rate. But he needs to fill out and get stronger physically, because winning battles is tough for him right now. The will is there.&rdquo;</p><h2><b>SHOT</b></h2><p><b>&ldquo;IT&rsquo;S EFFECTIVE AND HE&rsquo;S</b> smart with it. He gets it through traffic and it&rsquo;s accurate. Once he gets physically stronger, his shot will have more velocity, and he&rsquo;ll be able to get it off in traffic more and fight through stick checks.&rdquo;</p><h2><b>SKATING</b></h2><p><b>&ldquo;I WAS JUST OVER</b> in Sweden watching him, and that was something I focused on. The pace was higher, and I was impressed. He&rsquo;s doing everything firmer this year, and his feet are always moving.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0045-01

SCOUTING REPORT ELIAS PETTERSSON

<div class="byline">BY STEVEN MAH</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-0331/238059-1-eng-US/f0046-032.jpg" title="f0046-03" width="276" height="387"><figcaption class="caption-body">ALEKSI<b>HEPONIEMI</b><span class="photo-credit">(MARISSA BAECKER/GETTY IMAGES; VALIMAKI: MARISSA BAECKER/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>SWIFT CURRENT BRONCOS</b>center Aleksi Heponiemi has passed every test put in front of him since coming to North America last year.</p><p>The native of Tampere, Finland, has made a seamless transition, racking up 108 assists in his first 100 WHL games. &ldquo;Dynamic is probably the best way to describe him,&rdquo; said Broncos coach Manny Viveiros. &ldquo;His vision on the ice is very special. He sees things that other people don&rsquo;t see, that we don&rsquo;t see on the bench sometimes He puts pucks in the air sometimes and guys are there to score open-net goals.&rdquo;</p><p>Heponiemi, 18, had a fantastic rookie season with Swift Current, prompting the Florida Panthers to pick the 5-foot-10 pivot 40th overall in the 2017 draft. He has doubled his efforts as a sophomore, with a ridiculous 71 points in his first 29 games. Needless to say, he&rsquo;s happy with his decision to leave his home country for small town Saskatchewan. &ldquo;Obviously the hockey here was a huge part,&rdquo; Heponiemi said. &ldquo;How skilled the players are here in the league and how fast the game is here is a big reason why I came here. The small rink is the way the NHL plays it. Obviously I want to get to know that. It is really good hockey.&rdquo;</p><p>And while there is no question Heponiemi is a premier playmaker, he&rsquo;s been practically allergic to shooting in his young career. &ldquo;I gotta shoot more,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I like to pass the puck a lot. I like to make good plays, but I also have to use my shot more and get to those goal-scoring areas more.&rdquo;</p><p>When you&rsquo;ve got a sniper like Arizona Coyotes prospect Tyler Steenbergen on your line, it&rsquo;s understandable why Heponiemi likes to dish. His passes are getting buried in the back of the net in bunches. But shooting isn&rsquo;t the only thing Heponiemi needs to improve upon if he&rsquo;s going to play at the next level: he also needs to raid the fridge.</p><p>Listed at 141 pounds, the kid needs to pack on some serious pounds in the coming years. &ldquo;For me it is obviously going to take a while,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got to still work hard. A lot has to do with my physical size, and I have to learn more about the game and just get better every time.&rdquo;</p><p>According to his coach, it&rsquo;s a matter of when, not if. &ldquo;He is a driven young man who knows where his future is,&rdquo; Viveiros said. &ldquo;He puts the work in, and that will come in time.&rdquo;</p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-0160/238066-1-eng-US/f0046-012.jpg" title="f0046-01" width="95" height="95"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-0251/238052-1-eng-US/f0046-022.jpg" title="f0046-02" width="511" height="632"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(STEVE HISCOCK / SASKATOON BLADES;)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>MISSION: PACK ON POUNDS</b></h2><p>Heponiemi possesses NHL-worthy skills, no doubt. Now he badly needs to fill out his 141-pound frame.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0046-03

PURE PASSER NEEDS TO FEED

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-0427/238095-1-eng-US/f0046-042.jpg" title="f0046-04" width="238" height="281"><figcaption class="caption-body">JUUSO<b>VALIMAKI</b></figcaption></div><h2><b>JUUSO VALIMAKI</b></h2><h3><b>TRI-CITY (WHL)</b></h3><p><b>Drafted:</b> Calgary, 16th overall, 2017</p><p>He&rsquo;s already been an integral part of the Americans&rsquo; defense corps for a season-and-a-half and was tasked to play solid two-way minutes for Finland at the world juniors this year, too. He was great for them at summer camp.</p><h2><b>HENRI JOKIHARJU</b></h2><h3><b>PORTLAND (WHL)</b></h3><p><b>Drafted:</b> Chicago, 29th overall, 2017</p><p>Very much a new-style defenseman, Jokiharju is a power play ace with good mobility but not a ton of size. Nonetheless, he&rsquo;s been producing at more than a point-per-game pace for Portland in his second WHL campaign.</p><h2><b>EEMELI RASANEN</b></h2><h3><b>KINGSTON (OHL)</b></h3><p><b>Drafted:</b> Toronto, 59th overall, 2017</p><p>If Finland wanted a big dude on the back end, Rasanen is the guy. The 6-foot-7, 226-pounder has a big-time shot and plays physical. In his second year with the Frontenacs, he has improved defensively, too.</p><h2><b>OTTO SOMPPI</b></h2><h3><b>HALIFAX (QMJHL)</b></h3><p><b>Drafted:</b> Tampa Bay, 206th overall, 2016</p><p>Now in his third season with the Mooseheads, Somppi has become an important center for the team. He wins faceoffs, has sweet moves in the shootout and brings a veteran presence to a young and talented squad.</p><h2><b>SAMPO RANTA</b></h2><h3><b>SIOUX CITY (USHL)</b></h3><p><b>Drafted:</b> Eligible in 2018</p><p>A sturdy left winger with mobility and goal-scoring ability, the 17-year-old is the top scorer on a weak Musketeers squad. He&rsquo;s bound for the University of Wisconsin next season where he&rsquo;ll have a lot of talent around him.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0046-04

FINN IMPORTS MAKING NOISE

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-0248/238131-1-eng-US/f0047-022.jpg" title="f0047-02" width="696" height="511"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(JANUARY 22, 2018 THE HOCKEY NEWS |47| JANA CHYTILOVA/FREESTYLE PHOTOGRAPHY/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-0164/238138-1-eng-US/f0047-012.jpg" title="f0047-01" width="114" height="143"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?</b></h2><p>The world is changing, and the NHL needs to change along with it in order to keep selling out arenas and keep fans riveted.</p><p>WITH RYAN KENNEDY</p><span class="image-inline"><img src="mon1a2.jpg" title="common1a" width="25" height="21"></span><p>@THNRYANKENNEDY</p><p><b>HOCKEY MOVES SLOWLY. NOT</b> on the ice, of course &ndash; quite the opposite. But when it comes to the gears of progress, the sport tends to take its time. Helmets, for example, were made mandatory in 1979, with an exception for players who were already under contract. Craig MacTavish ended up being the last NHLer ever to go without a lid nearly <i>18 years</i> later. So when I&rsquo;m at a near-empty arena for a junior game or see a bunch of seats with no fans in them at an NHL game, I wonder if the stewards of the sport can move fast enough. Because big changes are coming to how sports are consumed, whether hockey is ready or not.</p><p>Technology has always affected the way we consume sports, but that concept has gone into hyperdrive lately. For me, it&rsquo;s awesome that I can watch a free online stream of a Minnesota high school game (shoutout to Pete Waggoner) or a lower-tiered IIHF tournament in order to see NHL draft prospects, and I love that the global hockey world is getting smaller in that sense. At the same time, I think about the $5.2 billion Rogers Media paid for 12 years of Canadian NHL rights just a few years ago and wonder how that&rsquo;s going to look even two years from now.</p><p>We&rsquo;ve already seen the beginning of a reckoning in the United States, with ESPN bleeding from cord cutters and the NFL no longer impervious to damage. And while some people talk about the NFL product and message no longer resonating as they once did (due to concussions, politics, the Cleveland Browns&hellip;), it&rsquo;s only fair to look at how fans are digesting things, too. A growing number of folks care more about their fantasy teams than their home teams, and that doesn&rsquo;t make for a three-and-a-half hour commitment on a Sunday afternoon.</p><p>Hockey has actually been good about keeping game times down in recent years, and rule enforcements are helping drive scoring, but there must be vigilance. Ratings are in a good place, but is the in-game experience still keeping fans riveted? Because we know that ticket prices keep getting higher, while the average fan isn&rsquo;t gaining more disposable income out there. And there have never been so many entertainment options available. When I find myself at a near-empty rink, I wonder if the future of hockey &ndash; at least at the lower levels, or smaller markets in the NHL &ndash; comes in smaller arenas. Boutique rinks, if you will. The Winnipeg Jets are in a perfect situation, as their MTS Centre seats a little more than 15,000 for hockey. But they pack that rink every night and probably will for years.</p><p>Attendance is a tricky thing to get a handle on, because even when a franchise is successful, it&rsquo;s important to distinguish between tickets sold and how many people show up. If someone who owns season tickets doesn&rsquo;t show for a game, for example, you&rsquo;ve made that money but not the revenue from parking, beer, hot dogs, souvenirs and anything else that requires actually showing up. And with big, fancy TV screens at home now, hockey teams need to hustle.</p><p>Again, I still believe hockey is OK in this area for now, because seeing a game live is still better than watching it on TV &ndash; just look at the magic during Nashville&rsquo;s playoff run last season &ndash; but will it always be that way? The cost, the travel (&rsquo;sup, Ottawa fans), dealing with drunks&hellip;it can all pile up. One canary in the coal mine? Right now, 13 NHL teams are playing to 100-percent capacity crowds or more. But last year, it was 15 &ndash; and this season there&rsquo;s one more team in the pool, thanks to Vegas (who is playing to 102.6-percent capacity, good for third overall behind Chicago and Minnesota).</p><p>Now, I&rsquo;m not going to cry if a bunch of billionaires and mega-corporations lose money, but the problem with folks like that is they really <i>hate</i> losing. And if they&rsquo;re trying to save money, it&rsquo;s bad for the sport.</p><p>What I do like to see is innovation. Comcast Spectacor, which owns the Philadelphia Flyers, recently got into the eSports game, founding a team called the Philadelphia Fusion. The Fusion&rsquo;s colors are orange and black, naturally, and while they don&rsquo;t play hockey video games (the shooter game <i>Overwatch</i> is the medium), there&rsquo;s obviously a link to the Br0ad Str33t Bullies. For us who follow traditional sports, this is an entirely new and foreign venture, but it&rsquo;s hugely popular. Maybe one day eSports tournaments involving hockey video games will happen at the same venue as the actual NHL game, perhaps even as a packaged ticket.</p><p>But maybe eSports is a fad and virtual reality is the key. We can only guess what&rsquo;s going to hit big in the future, but we must acknowledge that things won&rsquo;t ever be static. How we consume hockey is going to change. Are the stakeholders ready?<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0047-02

FORECASTING THE NEXT ICE AGE

<div class="byline">BY STAN FISCHLER</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-0162/238167-1-eng-US/f0048-012.jpg" title="f0048-01" width="513" height="574"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(HHOF IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>KEEP THE FANS HAPPY</b></h2><p>Lockhart got high grades for creativity and marketing, even if facts and accuracy weren&rsquo;t his strong suit.</p><p><b>IT COULD BE SAID,</b> without fear of contradiction, that at one time Tom Lockhart had two distinctions as a hockey man of power and influence.</p><p>&bull; He was, without a doubt, the busiest hockey executive of all-time.</p><p>&bull; The Manhattan-born extrack star and bike racer was the zaniest power broker this side of a Zamboni. Here&rsquo;s why:</p><p>Between periods, while orchestrating hockey shows at Madison Square Garden, Lockhart once featured a skating bear and, on another occasion, indoor airplane races, with model planes zooming around.</p><p>Another time, while launching the Eastern Amateur Hockey League, he dispatched a collection of phony game scores to newspapers since no rinks were available for the games. &ldquo;You know,&rdquo; Lockhart once told me at his Upper East Side Manhattan apartment,&ldquo;we seemed to have more fun than they do nowadays.&rdquo;</p><p>Lockhart&rsquo;s theory was simplicity itself: give him a gimmick and, guaranteed, he&rsquo;d love it. &ldquo;If you told me you wanted to come to a game and walk the length of the ice on your head,&rdquo; Lockhart said,&ldquo;I would bill you.&rdquo;</p><p>The busy business side of Lockhart&rsquo;s bill included five titles at one time: business manager of the New York Rangers; business manager of the AHL&rsquo;s New Haven Ramblers; president of the EAHL; manager of the EAHL&rsquo;s New York Rovers; and, founding president of the Amateur Hockey Association of the U.S. (now USA Hockey). Lat- er, he served on the U.S. Olympic Committee and council of the International Ice Hockey Federation. He wound up in the Hockey Hall of Fame as a builder and the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame. &ldquo;Me, Tommy Lockhart,&rdquo; he said,&ldquo;who had never owned a pair of roller skates let alone ice skates, had to sell amateur hockey at The Garden.&rdquo;</p><p>This was in the early 1930s when the Rangers and New York Americans shared MSG ice at night and amateur games were Sunday afternoons. One of his most amazing sales jobs took place in the mid-1930s, at the end of the EAHL&rsquo;s first season. He had a homestretch schedule to fill but no rinks in which to play. That&rsquo;s where his creativity came into play: he faked it.</p><p>Lockhart:&ldquo;I couldn&rsquo;t accommodate all the extra games, so I had to cheat a little. I&rsquo;d make up phony games, have, say, the Crescents beating New York A.C. 1-0 and put down somebody&rsquo;s name for scoring and add an assist or two. I&rsquo;d add two more and a couple of ties. Turned out 21 games were never played but nobody noticed.&rdquo;</p><p>Except one scribe from the<i>New York Times</i> who queried him about the invisible contests. Lockhart&rsquo;s alibi was they were&ldquo;dark house&rdquo; games played on weekday afternoons. &ldquo;If you look back at the <i>Times</i>, you&rsquo;ll find a story about those &lsquo;games,&rsquo;&rdquo; Lockhart said. &ldquo;The seats were standing up and cheering. Yep, 21 games never occurred and the league finished its full schedule that year.&rdquo;</p><p>No shenanigans were necessary once his EAHL began drawing huge crowds every Sunday afternoon at The Garden. To supplement the Rovers games and provide a double bill, Lockhart also founded the Metropolitan Hockey League, comprised of local lads with NHL ambitions. &ldquo;I felt,&rdquo; Lockhart said,&ldquo;any American kid could play the game as well as any Canadian youngster as long as the American has enough ice.&rdquo;</p><blockquote class="pullQuote">I&rsquo;D MAKE UP PHONY GAMES.<b>TURNED OUT 21 GAMES WERE NEVER PLAYED BUT NOBODY NOTICED</b><br>&ndash; Tom Lockhart</blockquote><p>One of his biggest challenges took place in 1949-50 when the Rangers and Red Wings were marooned on a train in a blizzard near Buffalo. Lockhart was at MSG watching a Rovers game when he got the S.O.S.: Rangers coach Lynn Patrick phoned Lockhart and told him he had no idea when, or whether, they&rsquo;d make it for the game. &ldquo;Big trouble,&rdquo; Lockhart recalled. &ldquo;They&rsquo;d have 15,000 people in the building and no Rangers. Even worse, I was the guy they asked to save the whole shebang.&rdquo; Miraculously, Lockhart rounded up the Met Leaguers and, instead of the Rangers and Wings coming out, two teams of all-New York players appeared and put on a show. &ldquo;Those Met Leaguers played like they never did before, they must&rsquo;ve thought they were in the NHL the way they went at it and soon the entire crowd was roaring as though it was a Cup final,&rdquo; Lockhart said. &ldquo;They played two periods of great hockey. The thing that annoyed people was we were about to start the third when the Rangers and Wings showed up and we couldn&rsquo;t finish.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;People said, &lsquo;Gee, they&rsquo;ve got quite an act, you&rsquo;ve never seen anything like it,&rsquo;&rdquo;said Lockhart, who died at 87 in 1979. &ldquo;That was good for hockey.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0048-01

INFLUENTIAL IMPRESARIO

<div class="byline">BY LARRY HUMBER</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-0161/238217-1-eng-US/f0049-012.jpg" title="f0049-01" width="513" height="513"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(GUESS WHO: SAN JOSE SHARKS; NAME GAME: GETTY IMAGES; CROSSWORD: DAVE REGINEK/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-0251/238210-1-eng-US/f0049-022.jpg" title="f0049-02" width="470" height="459"></div><h2><b>Name GAME</b></h2><p>Use the picture clues to uncover the name of a prominent hockey personality.</p><h2><b>ACROSS</b></h2><p>1 Dustin Byfuglien&rsquo;s nickname</p><p>4 The Habs used to play at the Montreal ___</p><p>7 &lsquo;The Jackie Robinson of ice hockey&rsquo;</p><p>8 ___ City was home of the CHL&rsquo;s Blazers</p><p>10 Fannies in the seats</p><p>12 The Panthers play in Sunrise, in the ___ metropolitan area</p><p>13 Fighting mad</p><p>14 Passing the puck lightly, with touch</p><p>18 The last non-NHL city to hoist the Cup</p><p>19 He went first overall in 2007</p><p>20 Pucks</p><p>21 Broadcaster Christine ___ is Craig&rsquo;s older sister</p><h2><b>DOWN</b></h2><p>1 Hockey&rsquo;s first &lsquo;Turk&rsquo;</p><p>2 As Bob Johnson liked to say, &lsquo;It&rsquo;s a ___ ___ for hockey&rsquo;</p><p>3 Czech with Dallas</p><p>4 Elite players, or teams in general</p><p>5 First-year player, briefly</p><p>6 Make the grade, ___ up</p><p>9 Fred Sasakamoose was the NHL&rsquo;s first ___ player</p><p>11 Team that won just eight times in 1974-75, a record for futility</p><p>12 He went first in 2015</p><p>15 Rich and Ron Sutter, for instance</p><p>16 Detroit D-man with nasty slapper, pictured</p><p>17 Sends the puck the length of the rink</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-0339/238203-1-eng-US/f0049-032.jpg" title="f0049-03" width="238" height="313"></div><h2><b>Guess WHO?</b></h2><h3><b>CLUE #1</b></h3><p>&ldquo;I grew up playing baseball and I'm a diehard Blue Jays fan.&rdquo;</p><h3><b>CLUE #2</b></h3><p>&ldquo;I scored 32 goals in 2010-11, setting a San Jose Sharks rookie record.&rdquo;</p><h3><b>CLUE #3</b></h3><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m the only player in the past seven years to get 30 points in one playoff run.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-0434/238196-1-eng-US/f0049-042.jpg" title="f0049-04" width="546" height="445"></div><h2><b>PUCK PUZZLE</b></h2><p>Can your hockey brain bring its A-game? The challenge is on!</p><p>The Stanley Cup was last won by a Canadian team in 1993. The first Cup winner also hailed from there. Which city? Fill in the blank spaces to get eight Cupwinning U.S. cities. The letters in red boxes will give you the Canadian winner.</p><p><b>GUESS WHO ANSWER:</b> LOGAN COUTURE <b>CROSSWORD SOLUTION: ACROSS</b> 1. BIG BUFF, 4. FORUM, 7. O&rsquo;REE, 8. OKLAHOMA, 10. ATTENDANCE, 12. MIAMI, 13. IRATE, 14. FEATHERING, 18. VICTORIA, 19. KANE, 20. DISKS, 21. SIMPSON <b>DOWN</b> 1. BRODA, 2. GREAT DAY, 3. FAKSA, 4. FRANCHISES, 5. ROOK, 6. MEASURE, 9. INDIGENOUS, 11. CAPITALS, 12. MCDAVID, 15. TWINS, 16. GREEN, 17. ICES <b>PUCK PUZZLE SOLUTION:</b> TAMPA BAY, BOSTON, ANAHEIM, SEATTLE, PITTSBURGH, NEW YORK, CHICAGO, PHILADELPHIA (FINAL ANSWER: MONTREAL)<b>NAME GAME SOLUTION:</b> PATRIK LAINE<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0049-01

CROSSWORD

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-0257/238253-1-eng-US/f0050-022.jpg" title="f0050-02" width="696" height="438"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(MINAS PANAGIOTAKIS/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-0163/238260-1-eng-US/f0050-012.jpg" title="f0050-01" width="103" height="126"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>RINK OF DREAMS</b></h2><p>Quebec City built the Centre Videotron in the hopes of luring an NHL team. It hasn&rsquo;t happened, and there&rsquo;s no guarantee it will.</p><p>WITH KEN CAMPBELL</p><span class="image-inline"><img src="mon1a2.jpg" title="common1a" width="25" height="21"></span><p>@THNKENCAMPBELL</p><p><b>IF THE NHL DOES</b> expand to Seattle and the Totems or Metropolitans begin playing in 2020-21, it will mark the longest-ever gestation period for a franchise. If it seems as though the NHL and Seattle have been playing footsies without ever actually holding hands forever, well, by the time this relationship gets consummated it will have been going on for the better part of 50 years.</p><p>Seattle and the NHL go back. Way back. A group led by Murray Costello, who later become executive director of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association, applied for a franchise in 1970, but the league opted for Vancouver and Buffalo. The city was granted an expansion franchise for 1976-77, but couldn&rsquo;t come up with the $6-million expansion fee. Accounting for inflation, that&rsquo;s the equivalent of about $29 million today, which is $621 million less than the group led by David Bonderman and Jerry Bruckheimer will pay for the privilege to join the club now.</p><p>This may be as close to a slam-dunk as you&rsquo;re ever going to see. The NHL has long coveted the Pacific Northwest as an expansion site and Seattle has long wanted to be a part of the NHL. All that was needed was an arena, a small detail that was taken care of when the city of Seattle signed a memorandum of understanding with the Oak View Group for renovations to the KeyArena that will run $600 million. All of which means that for the first time in history, between building a rink and paying expansion fees, anyone wanting to join the NHL is going to need to find more than a billion dollars in U.S. funds in their couch cushions.</p><p>Which brings us to the good people of Quebec City, who have done everything they&rsquo;ve been told and are patiently waiting for their turn. (Full disclosure: The Hockey News is owned by TVA Sports, which is a subsidiary of Quebecor Media, the company at the forefront of trying to bring the Nordiques back to Quebec City.) We hate to break this to you, but you might be waiting for something that never arrives. Or it might and when it does, the sticker price might not make any sense. The cost of an expansion team won&rsquo;t go down in the future and the Canadian dollar, one of the reasons Quebec was spurned in the last round of expansion, could make it cost-prohibitive.</p><p>Part of the problem for Quebec is they&rsquo;re in this thing up to their necks. The NHL made it clear no city without a building would be considered, so it went out and built Centre Videotron, which still has good tickets for the Quebec Remparts and Cirque de Soleil available, with almost $400 million in public money. The Centre Videotron opened in 2015 and every day that passes is one more day closer to it becoming obsolete.</p><p>And if you think that&rsquo;s an outlandish notion, just ask the hardworking folks in Hamilton about it. They spent more than $40 million in 1985 to build Copps Coliseum, a shiny new bauble that was supposed to attract the NHL to the most underserviced hockey fan base in the world. And it almost did. When the league expanded in 1992, Hamilton looked to be a shoo-in. But potential owners asked the NHL if they could pay the expansion fee in installments and the NHL instead chose Ottawa, a group that was hatched after a beer-league game and had no money and no suitable building. Before and after, Hamilton was a stalking horse for any team needing leverage for a better lease or a new building. Meanwhile, Copps Coliseum is an antique by NHL standards and nobody is talking about Hamilton and the NHL anymore. But, hey, they do have community skates there every other weekend.</p><p>Has Quebec City become a modern-day Hamilton? It&rsquo;s too early to tell, but it spoke volumes that the NHL invited only Seattle to the expansion process and, more importantly, gave it the green light to start a season-ticket campaign. Seattle would fill the NHL&rsquo;s need to balance the conferences and that&rsquo;s where things start to get interesting.</p><p>For years, the league has fought to keep the Arizona Coyotes in the desert, but at some point the NHL has to start looking at opportunity cost. The Coyotes are without an arena lease and no new home prospects on the horizon. They&rsquo;re terrible, again, and they bleed money. So it&rsquo;s pretty clear the league is going to have to hold at least one city as a landing spot and that city is, in all likelihood, Houston, the largest TV market in the U.S. without a team. (In fact, it&rsquo;s possible that Houston joins the NHL before Seattle, if the Coyotes get to the point where they need to get out of Dodge quickly.)</p><p>So unless the league decides to expand to 34 teams, that leaves Carolina or Florida for Quebec. Under terms of the sale of the Hurricanes, new owner Tom Dundon can&rsquo;t think about relocation until 2026. And the Panthers have an ownership group that is committed to the area, with a lease that expires in 2028, with an opt-out clause in 2023.</p><p>Put in hockey terms, Quebec could be like that player who does everything he&rsquo;s told by every coach he&rsquo;s ever had. Great team player, works hard, trains like a demon, works tirelessly on his skills and shows he&rsquo;s willing to do everything it takes to be an NHLer. But there are times, lots of them, when they don&rsquo;t make it. And do you know why? Because as hard as they&rsquo;ve worked and as good of people as they are, the game owes them nothing. Unfortunately for hockey fans in Quebec, it doesn&rsquo;t owe them anything, either.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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January 22, 2018

RAPID FIRE WITH ARIZONA COYOTES CENTER DEREK STEPAN

THE INSTIGATOR

GOING OFF THE BEATEN PATH

76 ILYA KOVALCHUK