NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – July 29, 2020

by | Jul 29, 2020 | News, NHL | 14 comments

Results from the first exhibition games of return-to-play, an update on David Pastrnak, the Ducks re-sign Sonny Milano, and more in today’s NHL morning coffee headlines.

NHL.COM: Connor McDavid scored twice to lead the Edmonton Oilers over the Calgary Flames 4-1 as exhibition games began yesterday leading up to the upcoming playoff tournament beginning Aug. 1. Elias Lindholm netted the sole goal for the Flames, who outshot the Oilers 37-30.

Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid scored twice in a 4-1 win over the Calgary Flames in exhibition play yesterday (NHL Images).

Scott Laughton scored in overtime as the Philadelphia Flyers edged the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2. Penguins captain Sidney Crosby played over 19 minutes and said he had no issues after missing five of six practices last week to an undisclosed ailment.

The Toronto Maple Leafs tallied two shorthanded goals to double up the Montreal Canadiens 4-2. Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly scored and set up two others while Alexander Kerfoot potted two goals. The Canadiens went zero-for-six on the power play.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The overall play in those three games wasn’t bad. Granted, these were exhibition games following a nearly five-month layoff for the teams involved, lacking the intensity and crisp play one expects to see when the tournament begins on Aug.1. The players were still working out the kinks.

Nevertheless, the quality of play was better than I expected. Not great, but not horrible. The games also felt a little weird with piped-in noise and no fans, but I didn’t find it detracted from the on-ice action. I’ll get used to this as Phase 4 (hopefully) rolls on.

NBC SPORTS BOSTON: Bruins winger David Pastrnak took responsibility for his actions that resulted in missing almost all of the Phase 3 training camp with his teammates. He confirmed returning to quarantine after skating with some amateur players at a rink north of Boston at the start of Phase 3. He traveled with the Bruins to Toronto for Phase 4 and has resumed practicing with his teammates.

THE PROVINCE: Canucks winger Micheal Ferland continues to impress his teammates with his play in practice. Ferland was questionable to participate in the playoff tournament after missing most of this season dealing with head-trauma symptoms. He’s expected to be in the lineup for today’s exhibition game against the Winnipeg Jets.

THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER: The Anaheim Ducks yesterday re-signed Sonny Milano to a two-year, $3.4 million contract. The 24-year-old winger was acquired from the Columbus Blue Jackets at the February trade deadline, collecting five points in nine games with the Ducks.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: As per Cap Friendly, Milano’s annual average value ($1.7 million) leaves the Ducks with over $77.3 million invested in 17 players for 2020-21.

 







14 Comments

  1. Never in my wildest dreams would I have guessed Chi as the youngest team..,. Big surprise for me

    I had thought it would be NYR

    Saw Leafs/Habs ; Oil/Flames ; Pens weren’t broadcast

    Agree, nothing extrordinary; some rusty flubs and bonehead moves; but overall OK for an exhibition games and better to work out kinks before reality sets in this weekend

    If Pens move past Habs (🤞) and the East top 4 RR ends like standings; Pens would play Flyers …. so I guess this was a good lookee lookee

    So glad Hockey is back…. Mrs. Pengy , not so much (🤓)

    • I admit I was also surprised to see the Blackhawks with the youngest roster in the tournament.

      • One injury to a late 30’s vet and they boot to the top of the “youngest” list 😂🤣

        I wonder how many slots Pens move up if they exclude Marleau?

        Marleau out ; Poulin in…. that’s 21 years ….. divided by 31 …. 0.68…. that moves them up the list a few spots 🤪

  2. Laughton’s goal for the Flyers was a beauty. Hope we see plenty of those in the real games.
    Was there any mention of ice conditions? I didn’t hear any – if so, that’s a good thing.

    • Hi BC Leafs Fan

      How did u see the game… I couldn’t find it broadcast

      • Highlights, Pengy, highlights. Who wants to watch Sid anyway?

      • I watched all 3 games. It was so great to get hockey back. Pengy cut the cord get an IPTV and enjoy all the hockey regardless of who broadcasts it. It didn’t bother me that there were no fans and I didn’t even notice when I was paying attention to the game. The crowd sounds were not overblown and worked really well. In my opinion the NHL did a great job. There’s always going to be a few issues and improvements that can be made but I was more then satisfied. Can’t wait to watch more hockey today.

    • Watched Pens vs. Flyers. Saw the puck stick to the ice a couple times. Pens play-by-play guy mentioned it at least once.

      The game was good. Excited to see hockey again. The level of play concerned me a little. I know Lyle mentioned being surprised by how good it was. I guess i wasn’t surprised to see some mistakes. It just makes me worry that we won’t see good hockey until the 2nd or 3rd rounds. Until these guys really knock the rust off.

  3. PENS game was broadcast in the US on NBCSN – but the other 2 games were blacked out on NHL NETWORK?? Don’t they want all of the visibility they can possibly get at this point? And I just had my 1st payment taken in a long time for the NHL NETWORK

    • They blacked it out because the fans aren’t coming out to support the team. For the first time in team history they had literally 0 fans show up.

  4. Correction to my previous comment – NHLTV not NHL NETWORK

    • I know I’m late to this but it’s due to the NBC broadcast rights buyout. So NBC has sole rights to broadcast the games nationally if they choose to and no one else can; so they will normally if your in the blackout market, it’s a 48hr delay before you can watch. If it’s out of market it’s about 15mins max after the game has ended. Exclusive rights don’t help fans watch does it? D-u-m dumb.

  5. revenue opportunity for the NHL –

    Add a green screen to cover the empty seats instead of the generic gray colour fabric and let fans pay to place their avatar at the games.

    Fans upload a couple different avatars for cheering, jeering and snoring, along with their home-made banners. It could make some interesting TV.

  6. Just read Alexander Kerfoot’s comment about ice: “Sloppy, hard to make plays.”
    Kerfoot scored twice – go figure.