NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – April 9, 2024
The Leafs’ Auston Matthews tallies his 65th goal, Canucks forwards J.T. Miller and Brock Boeser reach personal scoring milestones, the three stars of the week are announced, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
GAME RECAPS
NHL.COM: Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews scored his league-leading 65th goal of the season in a 3-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins. Jake McCabe scored in overtime with Matthews picking up the primary assist for the 45-23-9 Leafs as they hold third place in the Atlantic Division with 99 points. Rickard Rakell and Drew O’Connor replied for the Penguins (36-30-12) as they extended their points streak to nine games. With 84 points, they’re just outside the final Eastern Conference wildcard berth.
Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews (NHL Images).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Matthews is tied with Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin for the most goals in a single season in the salary-cap era. Meanwhile, the Penguins have the same amount of points as the Detroit Red Wings but the latter holds that wildcard berth with a game in hand.
The Vancouver Canucks overcame 2-0 and 3-2 deficits to defeat the Vegas Golden Knights 4-3. Conor Garland scored twice, J.T. Miller reached the 100-point plateau and Brock Boeser netted his 40th goal of the season for the Canucks (48-22-8) as they sit fifth in the overall standings with 104 points. Jack Eichel scored twice and Tomas Hertl collected an assist in his first game with the Golden Knights (42-27-8) as they hold the final Western Conference wildcard spot.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Miller leads the Canucks in points. It’s the first time he’s reached 100 points. He fell one point short of the plateau in 2021-22. Boeser leads the Canucks in goals this season in what’s been a career-best performance for the 27-year-old winger.
HEADLINES
NHL.COM: Tampa Bay Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov, Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby and New York Rangers winger Artemi Panarin are the NHL’s three stars for the week ending April 7, 2024.
ARIZONA SPORTS: The Mayor of Scottsdale, Arizona opposes the Coyotes’ plan to purchase a plot of land in North Phoenix for a new arena and entertainment complex. David Ortega believes the proposed arena would not be feasible on that 95-acre piece of land because of a lack of infrastructure. He also stated that Scottsdale water assets “are absolutely not available.”
The auction date for the land is scheduled for June 27 with a starting price of $68.5 million. Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo issued a statement last week emphasizing the team’s intent to win that auction.
TAMPA BAY TIMES: Lightning defenseman Mikhail Sergachev returned to practice yesterday in a non-contact jersey participating in offensive drills. He’s been sidelined since Feb. 7 after breaking the tibia and fibula in his left leg during a game against the New York Rangers.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: There’s no timetable for Sergachev’s return. He’s not expected to be ready for the opening round of the playoffs.
TSN: Florida Panthers winger Carter Verhaeghe is currently listed as week-to-week with an upper-body injury. However, he is expected to be ready for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
SPORTSNET: Calgary Flames defenseman Oliver Kylington is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
THE HOCKEY NEWS: Colorado Avalanche forward Brandon Duhaime pranked former teammate Marc-Andre Fleury last week by “TPing” his vehicle. Fleury got his revenge on Duhaime this week by placing flowers and dirt on the bonnet of his vehicle, removing all four tires, and placing a “for sale” sign on the window.
Don’t mess with Fleury, he’s coming back at ya hard! Well done.
I have never seen this before: He also stated that Scottsdale water assets “are absolutely not available.”
I am sure there are always hurtles to overcome in a deal like this when working with cities. Not sure how you get over that one.
Or they realize Muerelo might not be someone they want to get in bed with. Pay your bills.
Re; TheScore, Write up today
its about the land the Coyotes owner wants to buy…..
Sounds like that a Big No Go from the Mayor
as they would need infrastructure/ Water from Scottsdale for it to work.🤔
Scottsdale mayor slams Coyotes’ new arena plans: ‘Not feasible’ ‼️
Moving to
Salt Lake City is looking more like a real thing…
I don’t know much about it but it sounds like this land is in the boondocks. More smoke and mirrors from Coyote ownership than anything else.
Just get it over with so the players can look at real estate in Salt Lake! The only thing the players will miss is those Arizona State Co Ed’s!
I know Bettman keeps looking at that large market in Arizona, but at what point does even his legendary stubbornness give way to sheer common sense?
When he retires
Bettman just won’t admit his mistakes, no matter how many hundreds of millions of dollars he alone has cost the league (owners AND players [share in HRR])
Owners would benefit greatly by buying out Bettman’s contract
Then the relocation fees are shared by owners. Relocation to SLC or Houston or Quebec, got to be $300 M + in relocation fees, add to that a massive contributor (to HRR) from current “taker” (of Shared revenues), and each owner gains much more (as do players)
Can’t they fire Bettman for dereliction of duty?