NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – September 23, 2020

by | Sep 23, 2020 | News, NHL | 5 comments

The latest on Nikita Kucherov, Tyler Seguin, Ryan Kesler and more in today’s NHL morning coffee headlines.

TAMPA BAY TIMES: Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov isn’t allowing the Dallas Stars to frustrate him and knock him off his game during the Stanley Cup Final. In the past, opponents would target Kucherov and get under his skin.

Tampa Bay Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov (NHL Images).

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Kucherov’s taken his lumps from the Stars during the first two games of the series. He was held off the score sheet in Game 1 but the Lightning as a team played poorly for most of that contest. In Game 2, Kucherov got the primary assists on the Lightning’s first two goals and leads all NHL scorers with 28 points.

NATIONAL POST: The Stars need more from Tyler Seguin if they hope to win the Stanley Cup. The first-line center has just two goals and eight points in 22 games, with one assist in the last 12. His last goal was on Aug. 26 against Colorado.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The decline in Seguin’s production is troubling but could attributable to an undisclosed injury. He missed an exhibition game against Nashville and a round-robin game against St. Louis. It was a topic of concern in early August but hasn’t been mentioned much as the Stars rolled to the Cup Final.

ESPN.COM: Anaheim Ducks center Ryan Kesler said the lack of education among NHL players regarding the painkiller toradol led to his chronic digestive problems. Kesler and other former NHL players talked about the overuse of pain medication in the TSN documentary, “The Problem of Pain”.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The NHL must do a better job educating its teams, medical staff, and players regarding pain management and the use of pain medication. Failure to do so can lead to addiction or serious medical side effects.

NHL.COM: The Ottawa Senators won’t have a captain for 2020-21. They’ll go with three alternate captains on a game-by-game basis. Head coach D.J. Smith said the plan is to transition younger players like Thomas Chabot and Brady Tkachuk into leadership roles.

OTTAWA SUN: Speaking of the Senators, they and the other teams that didn’t qualify for the return-to-play program could be granted a longer training camp leading up to next season if the NHLPA agrees to it.

TSN: The San Jose Sharks named Bob Boughner their full-time head coach. Boughner took over on an interim basis on Dec. 29 after the club fired Peter DeBoer.

ARIZONA SPORTS: The Coyotes fired assistant general manager Lindsay Hofford.

 







5 Comments

  1. Pengy on September 23, 2020 at 9:10 am

    With most teams striving to cut down 20/21 budget (somehow ?) and therefore not looking to near the Cap ceiling… would lead logic of team to take overage hit all in year one

    But Chi has just shy of $8M left to fill 6 spots; including 2 goalie spots and 5 of the slots are RFAs (Kubalik; Strome; Cagiulla; Koekkoek; Subban) and are they bringing back Crawford?? So… splitting the overage 50/50 over two years is nigh definite

  2. Pengy on September 23, 2020 at 9:15 am

    Good move re Sens and no Captain…. I like the idea of those two building their own confidence as leaders…. Sens then hoping one will shine more than the other

    IMHO , as at now…. toss up between those two for future captain

    The only other thing …. perhaps Dorian is leaving the door open for a key trade acquisition in the next few weeks that could fill the captaincy roll?

  3. Chrisms on September 23, 2020 at 10:20 am

    Toradols gastric aide effects is a well known concern with the medication. It’s one reason why limits are generally placed on how many doses one can get. Any md that isn’t negligent would know this. More to this story than on the surface

    • Ray Bark on September 23, 2020 at 10:39 am

      Exactly what I thought when I read this Chrisms.
      Where was the team doctor?
      Any properly run organization would have the MD involved and making the final decision, so safe to assume that was the case here.
      Negligent is the proper word.

      • BCLeafFan on September 23, 2020 at 12:58 pm

        In fairness to the team doctors involved, Kesler has always done things his way. He may have used this medication against medical advice or without medical advice. There’s definitely more to come on this story.