🏒 While Maple Leafs rookie Gavin McKenna has been dragged through the media gauntlet since training camp began and needlessly babied by the team—third-line status, second power play unit, not used in overtime, benched just for the hell of it—San Jose’s Ivar Stenberg is cruising along in a pressure-free environment, occasionally enjoying first-line status alongside Macklin Celebrini, regular duty on the first power play unit and multiple overtime shifts. Perhaps it’s time for the Buds to take off the training wheels and let their prodigy figure things out.
🏒 Boston Bruins coach Marco Sturm opted to healthy-scratch his giant-sized defenceman Nikita Zadorov in an attempt to send a message about his lack of on-ice discipline. Will Zadorov get the message and start thinking outside the box about being inside the box?
🏒 Which is dumber: baseball fans booing every time a pitcher throws over to first base to check the runner, or hockey fans booing a disgruntled former player every time he touches the puck?
🏒 From Calgary netminder Devin Cooley: “I have to let my unconscious brain do the work because it reacts a lot quicker. The past is dead. There’s nothing for you there.” There are three possible explanations for these odd remarks. Cooley offered the first himself: post-game adrenalin and endorphins. The second is that he’s taken one puck too many off the facemask. The third is that he’s from Mars.
🏒 There’s another NHL outdoor game happening this coming Sunday. The Heritage Classic features the Canadiens and the Jets. Wake us when it’s over. Bettman and his boys have milked this boring cow dry.
🏒 Veteran NHL coach Peter Laviolette (on pace to coach every team in the world) has a reputation as a leader who can quickly revive a team’s fortunes. It looks like he’s finally met his match in Los Angeles, where the Kings got off to a dazzling 0-4-2 start. If his “new coach bounce” magic has suddenly vanished, he may be the one soon getting bounced.
🏒 Former Columbus president and GM Doug MacLean has a new book out (Game Day: The Uncensored Life of an NHL GM), one that apparently details what it’s like to be the key decision maker in an NHL front office. Based on his less-than-impressive 172–258–62 record before being sacked, nobody will accuse him of giving away the secret to winning. Perhaps a better title would have been “On Second Thought.”
🏒 Why is the Maple Leafs’ centre-ice logo closer to black than blue? Our agents are working on an answer as we speak.
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