NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – May 2, 2022

by | May 2, 2022 | News, NHL | 17 comments

Connor McDavid wins the Art Ross Trophy, Auston Matthews takes home the Richard Trophy, and the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs begin tonight. Check out the latest in the NHL morning coffee headlines.

SPORTSNET: Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid won the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL’s points leader while Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews won the Maurice (Rocket) Richard Trophy as the league’s leading goal scorer in 2021-22.

Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid (NHL Images).

McDavid finished the season with a career-high 123 points in 80 games, marking the fourth time he’s taken home the Art Ross Trophy and the fifth time he’s netted 100-or-more points in a season.

Matthews won the Richard Trophy after scoring a career-high 60 goals. It’s the second straight year the Leafs center has led the league in goals.

NHL.COM: The 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs begin tonight with the puck dropping on four of the eight first-round, best-of-seven series. The Boston Bruins face off against the Carolina Hurricanes, the Tampa Bay Lightning travel to Toronto to meet the Maple Leafs, the St. Louis Blues square off against the Minnesota Wild, and the Los Angeles Kings are in Edmonton to face the Oilers.

NBC SPORTS WASHINGTON: All signs point to Alex Ovechkin being in the Washington Capitals lineup for Game 1 of their opening-round series against the Florida Panthers on Tuesday. The Capitals captain missed the final three regular-season games nursing a shoulder injury but took part in regular practices with his teammates over the weekend.

FLORIDA HOCKEY NOW: Speaking of the Panthers, sidelined defenseman Aaron Ekblad is practicing with his teammates and could be ready for Game 1 against the Capitals. Ekblad’s been out of the lineup since March 18 with a lower-body injury.

THE NEWS & OBSERVER: The Hurricanes will be without starting goaltender Frederik Andersen for Game 1 against the Bruins tonight. He’s been sidelined since April 16 with a lower-body injury. Andersen’s taken part in off-ice workouts but has yet to take part in full on-ice drills.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Andersen was the Hurricanes MVP this season and a potential contender for the Vezina Trophy. His absence could be a critical factor in this series with the Bruins.

THE DENVER POST: The Colorado Avalanche got some good news as team captain Gabriel Landeskog has been medically cleared for Game 1 against the Nashville Predators on Tuesday. The 29-year-old winger has been sidelined since March 10 by knee surgery.

TRIBLIVE.COM: Pittsburgh Penguins starting goalie Tristan Jarry (foot injury) and winger Jason Zucker (undisclosed) are listed as day-to-day and won’t be part of the lineup in their upcoming series with the New York Rangers.

NEW YORK POST: The Rangers, meanwhile, will get sidelined forwards Artemi Panarin and Andrew Copp back in the lineup for Game 1 against the Penguins tomorrow night. Both of them missed the final two games of the regular season for precautionary reasons nursing minor injuries.

EDMONTON JOURNAL: Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse was back on the ice with his teammates for practice on Sunday after missing the final four games of the regular season with a lower-body injury. His status remains unconfirmed for Game 1 tonight against the Kings but it’s assumed he could be in the lineup.

THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS: The Stars expect to have John Klingberg and Vladislav Namestnikov in the lineup for Game 1 of their first-round series against the Calgary Flames on Tuesday. Klingberg missed the final game of the regular season with a lower-body injury while Namestnikov missed the final five games.

CBS SPORTS: Toronto Maple Leafs winger Michael Bunting (undisclosed injury) is doubtful for Game 1 tonight against the Lightning.

THE PROVINCE: Brock Boeser revealed his father’s battle with dementia during an emotional season-ending press conference yesterday. He revealed it took a toll on him throughout this season. “He’s not doing well. He has pretty bad dementia right now. It got pretty bad this year,” said a tearful Boeser. “It has really hit me hard.”

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Boeser was overcome with emotion and understandably left the press conference soon after. The Province’s Ben Kuzma reported his teammates praised the winger’s perseverance as he attempted to remain a difference-maker for the Canucks.

Fans and pundits sometimes forget the players have to deal with personal issues just like everybody else. Sometimes, it can affect their performance despite their best efforts. My sympathies go out to Boeser and his family during this difficult time.

WINNIPEG SUN: The Jets signed general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff to a three-year contract extension.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: So much for the speculation suggesting Cheveldayoff was in danger of losing his job following this disappointing season. He’ll have his work cut out for him this offseason. The Jets have been declining since reaching the Western Conference Finals in 2018. One of his priorities will be determining Mark Scheifele’s future with the franchise. I’ll have more in today’s NHL Rumor Mill.

NHL.COM: The Arizona Coyotes have parted ways with assistant coach Phil Housley, who was in the final season of a three-year contract.

NBC SPORTS CHICAGO: The Blackhawks parted ways with associate coach Marc Crawford and assistant coach Rob Cookson. Crawford had a year remaining on his contract. Derek Kings remains the interim head coach but a decision on his future is expected soon.

NHL.COM: The 2022 Draft Lottery odds were released yesterday, with the Montreal Canadiens leading the 16 eligible teams with 18.5 percent, followed by the Arizona Coyotes (13.5) and the Seattle Kraken (11.5). The lottery will be held on May 10.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: You can see the complete list by clicking the link above.

MONTREAL GAZETTE: Thousands of Canadiens fans lined up yesterday outside the Bell Centre to pay their respects to the late Guy Lafleur as he lies in state through today. His funeral will be held in Montreal on Tuesday. Lafleur succumbed to lung cancer on April 22 at age 70.







17 Comments

  1. Uh, there was an actual hockey game yesterday. The Jets beat the Kraken 4-3. I realize it was a play-out-the-string game, but no mention?

    • Oops! Apologies for the oversight but thanks for mentioning the game.

  2. Florida, Boston, Tampa and New York

    Colorado, Calgary, Minnesota , Edmonton

    Tampa and Boston are my upset picks.

    If i was to pick an upset in the west i think it will be Nashville; however, that would go against my season open prediction of Colorado vs NY Rangers

    • FLA, CAR, Leafs, Rags
      COL, STL,CAL,OIL

    • Caper, c’mon man? You might want to drink in a dose of reality, Nashville will be lucky to if they manage to win one game in this series! With Landeskog being healthy and Nischushkin, Kadri, Rantanen, Makar, etc and the list goes on with Kuemper, The Avalanche will steam role the Predators. GO AVS!!!!!!!

      • tommyboy, lol yes i may want to; i do want to see the Avs in the finals and expect them to be there. something about this matchup.

  3. On a more serious note, prayers go out to Boeser and his family. I know what he’s going through, as I’m sure do many of us, as my mother had Alzheimer’s. There’s nothing worse than seeing a parent slowly deteriorate to the point that they don’t recognize their own children. It’s the worst possible way of leaving this world – both for the ill individual and their family. And as Boeser is only 25 years old, it’s likely his father isn’t elderly. Early onset is an even bigger tragedy.

    Stay strong Brock! Best to your family in this difficult time.

    • Boeser was part of the trade rumours a lot heading up to the trade deadline. Good on the Canucks organization for not trading Boeser while dealing with this situation with his father.
      My prayers go out to him and his family.

    • the more serious note for me centers around his private business being brought up at a garbage bag day meeting….it says “he revealed”. I watched it….he wasn’t going to reveal anything until prompted by some talking head.

      Irresponsible. And then to say “we forget they’re real humans with real problems blah blah”…how can we forget…with TMZ level behavior by even mainstream media. IF it gets revealed that he knew he’d be asked and probably couldn’t avoid the question, that doesn’t make it any better.

      FOUR independent media groups avoided talking about Melnyk’s failing health leading up to his death….and he was a JERK to all of them. And independently they decided to leave it alone. That’s CLASS right there.

      I’m not anti-media at all. But laziness, entitlement and irresponsible reporting/fact checking…are all things I’ve seen and experienced from our big media outlets for about the past half decade or more. If that last paragraph sounds like a broad sweeping generalization…it IS…..it’s learned behavior from what I read and see.

    • Hi Howard

      Sorry to hear about your mom.

      I’m seeing this now with a few of my friends parents (now hovering either side of 90) and all the difficulties my friends are having.

      I am only witnessing this “from the sidelines” so to speak; I can’t imagine how it feels.

      • Not a great situation Pengy, believe me – going through the early stages with my wife. It’s heartbreaking to witness.

      • Really sorry to hear that George

        Prayers out

  4. Re: “Pittsburgh Penguins starting goalie Tristan Jarry (foot injury) and winger Jason Zucker (undisclosed) are listed as day-to-day and won’t be part of the lineup in their upcoming series with the New York Rangers.”

    The Pittsburgh Media has ruled both out for games 1 and 2 but has not ruled either out for the entire series.

    I would think Zucker back before Jarry; and I would expect Zucker has a fair shot at playing in Game 3 or 4.

    Not that it matters much —- Shesterkin could very well Shestshut the door on Pens scoring.

    • Pengy, not sure if a typo, but no Avs in RD1 of your draft?
      I would have loaded up hard on them if that was the case.

      • Sorry Ray

        when I said “basically Flames, Cats, Bolts only in first round”, I didn’t mean totally

        Mac K (mid first round); Rats (late first round); Breadman late 1st round; Zib, late first round— ALL other picks first round (16 of 20) were Flames, Cats, Bolts

        Hoobie went # 1 , Stammer #2, Johnny Hockey #3

        My first pick was not until #7… Barkov

  5. Had our annual draft on Saturday.

    20 guys (almost all the same guys for the last 4 decades of this pool)– all 20 grew up in the GTA; 16 solely diehard Leafs fans; one Habs fan; one Bruins fan; one Oil fan; and me (Leafs/Pens fan)…..10 rounds… 200 picks. First Leaf to be picked was not until late round 4 (AM). Marner next in round 6. Only 8 total Leafs picked.

    $10K pool… so we don’t pick from our hearts (or wants) but logic/gut only.

    From the outcome of the draft…. basically Flames, Cats, Bolts only in first round; those 3 teams fully exhausted of picks by end of round 5. Avs gone by end of round 7.

    I’m gambling big on Bobo… I ended up with 4 Cats, 4 Flames, 2 Avs

    My gut really is Avs/Cats or Avs/Rangers in SCF (of course that all is pending healthy starters for all 3 teams. If Shesterkin goes down… Pens can potentially beat Rangers.

    For ships and giggles— my feeling for first round:

    Cats over Caps
    Rangers over Pens (damn Shesterkin)
    Bolts over Leafs

    Avs over Predz
    Flames over Stars
    Wild over Blues
    Oil over Kings

    Bruins/Canes…. 7 game toss up— I can’t choose

    • 3 teams fully exhausted of picks by end of round 5— typo — round 8