NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – March 19, 2020
The league continues evaluating its options to resume the season while looking ahead at 2020-21, plus the latest on Alexander Radulov, Sidney Crosby and much more in today’s NHL morning coffee headlines.
THE HOCKEY NEWS: NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said the league continues to entertain all options regarding the resumption of the 2019-20 season. “In terms of where we go from here, we’re modeling all sorts of options and everything is on the table,” he said. “But we’re going to have to be flexible and react to things that are beyond our control.
Bettman hopes the Ottawa Senators player who tested positive for COVID-19 makes a swift recovery. He also said the league is taking steps to ensure all its employees are safe and taken care of during this crisis. Bettman indicated he’s been in constant contact with businesses, other hockey leagues and sports leagues.
NBC SPORTS: NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said playing a full 82-games schedule in 2020-21 is the league’s priority. Whatever steps are taken to resume this season must not adversely affect its ability to stage a full ’20-’21 campaign.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: If maintaining the remainder of the current schedule creates risk for 2020-21, I believe they’ll either cancel the rest of the regular season in favor of staging the 2020 playoffs. If that isn’t feasible, they’ll have to scrap the entire thing and focus on staging a full ’20-’21 campaign.
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER: The Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks say none of their players have shown COVID-19 symptoms at this time. They’ll continue monitoring their players through the league’s self-quarantine period through March 27. An Ottawa Senators player tested positive for the virus after coming down with symptoms following his return from the club’s recent California road trip.
THE DENVER POST: The Colorado Avalanche may have been exposed to the coronavirus during a recent road game against the San Jose Sharks. Santa Clara County, where the Sharks play their home games, was a coronavirus hot spot at the time.
THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS: Stars winger Alexander Radulov tested negative for COVID-19. Radulov was ill for six days before the league pausing its schedule a week ago, missing two games.
Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby has cancelled his summer hockey school over coronavirus concerns (Photo via NHL Images).
TRIBLIVE.COM: Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby canceled his summer hockey school in Cole Harbour, NS as a result of the current pandemic.
PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE: Speaking of the Penguins, general manager Jim Rutherford and team president and CEO David Morehouse will take voluntary pay cuts to ensure other members of the Penguins staff won’t be financially affected by the pandemic.
SPORTSNET: The Montreal Canadiens recently donated 13,000 pounds to a local food bank. The food was originally slated to be used during the remainder of the club’s home games in March.
NBC SPORTS BOSTON: The Bruins are the only NHL team yet to announce how they’ll take care of their employees during this pandemic. A group of concerned Bruins players is running a GoFundMe page soliciting donations to help TD Garden employees. The club last week released a statement indicating they intend to reveal further information about helping those employees, citing the sheer size of their parent company Delaware North as one of the challenges.
THE SCORE: Seattle’s NHL expansion franchise has pushed back its March 31 plan to unveil its team nickname.
THE HOCKEY NEWS: CHL leagues canceled the remainder of their regular-season schedules.
NBC SPORTS: The USHL and NAHL canceled its seasons.
ESPN.COM: The cancellations of all NCAA winter and spring championships robbed Cornell University of a shot at a rare double national championship. Their men’s and women’s teams are both ranked No. 1 in the country.
BARDOWN: Former NHL enforcer Tie Domi ripped into Hockey Hall of Famer Scott Stevens, calling the former New Jersey Devils defenseman “the biggest phony” he ever played against.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: What do you think, folks? Is Domi right? Or is it merely a case of sour grapes? Feel free to weigh in via the comments section below.
NBC SPORTS: The 10 finalists for the 2020 Hobey Baker Award have been revealed:
Morgan Barron, Jr., F, Cornell
Jason Cotton, Sr., F, Sacred Heart
Jack Dugan, So., F, Providence
David Farrance, Jr., D, Boston University
Jordan Kawaguchi, Jr., F, North Dakota
John Leonard, Jr., F, Massachusetts
Dryden McKay, So., G, Minnesota State
Marc Michaelis, Sr., F, Minnesota State
Scott Perunovich, Jr., D, Minnesota Duluth
Jeremy Swayman, Jr., G, Maine
So Domi … the master of the sucker-punch – thinks Stevens is a phony. Takes one to know one I guess.
I can’t say I don’t agree on Domi, however the article I read backed up what Domi said with some video examples of what he stated.
I absolutely despised Scott Stevens. Every hit was an intent to injure from that pos. And those type of hits today would result in suspensions and ultimately a permanent ban!
Kariya, Lindros, etc! Ruining careers!
https://www.foreverblueshirts.com/legendary-rangers-enforcer-tie-domi-mocks-tough-guy-scott-stevens/?fbclid=IwAR3M8ls6cOOB1_JdqXXo0Y-xmb_o23hoM0B9qzpSPQDIs_853Pe4_-ImD2I
Oh I agree Nyr4life – that’s why I said “takes one to know one …”
Care to give an example of him being a master of sucker punch? Saint, no but master of sucker punch must mean you have a few good cases.
Sucker punch – sucker elbow – take your pick – he also cold-caulked Arvidsson of Ottawa in the same manner –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckcnbaqWqqI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPbN72u4hxs
I dont see a season being played any further this year ..as per Daly and the models he is looking at
Really miss watching the stretch of games here …there was at least 6 teams spread out by 1 to 2 points and was making for great theatre ..I may have been saved the heartache of watching the Leafs blow a playoff year in the end ..
My money was on Boston or Vegas in the end …
Hope you are doing well…I miss you guys ignoring my posts ..LOL
Take care …cheers
You too Kal El. Anyone heard from Pengy over the past 10 days? Hope everything’s OK with him and his family.
Yeah, I miss Pengy too.
Hard for me to believe that Daly thinks having a complete 2020-2021 regular season is more important then having a Stanley Cup winner. I thought that is why they played the games.
Maybe more to do with players don’t get paid for playoff games.
Scott Stevens was a reminder to all players to keep your head up at all times cuz otherwise, you become vulnerable.
As for the phony part, just because Stevens did not engage Domi on the ice does not mean Stevens is a phony. In short,why would a Top 4D want to incur a 5 minute fighting penalty with a 4th line winger? Fear or common sense?
He fought plenty of other scrubs in the nhl…. so I don’t see that as a legitimate excuse.
That is a abomination of an excuse for head shots… they shoulda kept their heads up. No. The player shouldn’t target the other players head.
What a crock.
Chrisms, not defending head shots. Most of the hits Stevens gave were predatory in nature and career ending.
My basic point is keeping your head up while on the ice to avoid needless exposure to injury is a good idea no matter who’s on the ice.
And that is not a croc.
Couple things about Scott Stevens – he would have a problem these days with suspensions – targeting the head of a vulnerable opponent.
And there is irony, maybe some justice, in the way his career ended.
There is an irony in the way his career ended – and yes he would have multiple suspensions in todays game.
It needs to be remembered that at the time those were vicious hits but mostly legal. Intense competition and money pushed pros to play closer and closer to the edge of legal and beyond what was normally acceptable.
Maybe Domi knows more about the man than I do but it is unfair to judge Stephens by the current standard. I loved Domi in the peg, he and King opened up a lot of ice for Sellanne, Zhamnov, Tkachuk (Tkachuk had fought all the battles for most of a season), Housely etc.
Domi sucker punched Ulf Samuelson behind the play. Dropped him with one cheap shot to the chin.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTX3hSPWvYQ
My favorite Domi memory.
Ya 2.0, we know more now than we did then regarding head injuries. Those type of hits, like Stevens, were actually celebrated in many hockey circles. And are actually the first ones I remember even being questioned.
Obviously, knowing what we know now, that was wrong. The first time I was concussed playing hockey, actually lost consciousness for a few seconds in the 1st period, I got smelling salts in the room, was out for the 2nd. I was 14.
Maybe things were different in small town Sask, but basically you got your “bell rung” and everybody thought that you sucked it up and played and there were no lasting effects. I remember how bright it seemed. I don’t blame my coaches for not holding me back. They didn’t know either.
It is easy to criticize some of the ignorant stuff large parts of society did/believed in all kinds of areas not just sports a decade plus ago.
Just like 10, 15, 20 years from now we will look back and think of some of the things we do and believe today and shake our heads.
Yep Ray – been there done that too. When I played football, primarily, they called it “having your bell rung” and got you back in the game as soon as possible. What the hell did we know?
Must run in the family
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzjiEe6bmuo
George, that might explain your not knowing the nice lady on your couch lol.
Ha. Never thought of that BCLeafFan. Anyway, I’ll hang onto it as an excuse! 🙂