Hockey Hearsay compiles stories from around the hockey world and runs weekdays, 12 months a year.
MUM’S THE WORD FOR LEAFS’ KADRI
You may have seen Nazem Kadri’s interview with us Wednesday, where he discussed the latest on contract talks with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
In general, Kadri has been quite open recently about sharing his thoughts on negotiations.
The Toronto Sun relays that asked on Thursday for an update on talks, Kadri sent out a club intermediary who politely said the young Leafs centre was taking a vow of silence on the topic “until the deal gets done.”
Kadri did relay that “negotiations are continuing and the lines of communication are open”.
A frustrated Kadri said last week that he and his agents were taking the Leafs cap squeeze into consideration, but that he believed the strides he made last year as the club’s second-leading scorer warranted some kind of reward.
Assistant general manager Claude Loiselle offered this: “We’re talking, we’re going back and forth, but historically, we don’t comment on specifics.”
CHIARELLI LAUDS FORMER BRUIN FERENCE
Boston general manager Peter Chiarelli shared his thoughts with the Edmonton Journal on former Bruins defender Andrew Ference, who signed with the Oilers when the declining salary cap squeezed him out of Boston.
“He’s aggressive, he’s efficient, he closes on guys really well, defends well and for his size, he’s very strong. He’s one of those guys with a low centre of gravity. He’ll fight, and was part of our leadership group,” Chiarelli said.
Could Ference import some of his leadership skill into an Edmonton group that’s trying to emulate what the Bruins are doing?
“I think so,” said Chiarelli, “but I think he’s also cognizant of the fact that you just can’t take it from here and put it there. It’s case by case. The Oilers are a lot younger and you can’t force feed some of that stuff on younger players.”
SENS’ METHOT KNOWS HE’S OLYMPIC UNDERDOG
The Ottawa Citizen believes it is no slight to Senators defenceman Marc Methot’s hockey abilities to say that he probably needs three or four injuries to other players in order to make Canada’s Olympic team.
“I’ve got to play my lights out,” he said on Thursday, one day after returning from the camp. “There’s no doubt that I’m a serious underdog. I mean, you look at all the big names.
“But do I think I’m an underdog? I don’t think so. I know I can play there and do well.”
He’s 28 now and entering his eighth season as a pro, so he knows his way around.
“Maybe if you asked me that question five years ago I would have had a different answer, but not anymore,” he said. “I’m older than a lot of these players, too. So for me, it doesn’t seem like a daunting task being around those guys.
“The biggest thing is proving to a lot of people that I belong in that group, and that’ll start up for me at the start of the season.”
BACKES READY TO GO FOR BLUES
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch points out now that the orientation camp is over, the American players must set aside their Olympic aspirations and start gearing up for NHL training camp. The Blues, who report Sept. 11, are considered strong contenders in 2013-14.
“It’s tough to turn it off,” Blues captain David Backes said. “We got to hear some speeches from people who have served our country, whose mental toughness isn’t about winning or losing, but living or dying. It makes you want to strap up the next day. I wish that was the case, but it’s not like that.
“I am excited about (Blues’) camp. The lead-up to camp is something we haven’t had in two full years, so I’m excited about all of those things. That said, it’s a long (NHL) season with 82 games, six or seven months. The regular season counts but we need to not be satisfied with a good finish in the regular season. The playoffs are not just an option, they’re (mandatory) and we need to do well when it matters most.”
FRANZEN: I’M MORE THAN A GOAL SCORER
The Detroit News observes that Red Wings forward Johan Franzen has been labeled a goal scorer, and sometimes a streaky one at that.
Franzen doesn’t like the “goal-scorer” tag.
“I am not a goal scorer,” he said. “I am a hockey player. I never look for goals. I look to play good and then people score or I do.”
Franzen is looking forward to the new competition in the Eastern Conference.
“It will be a lot of new faces and you’ve got to learn how those teams play, and it’s going to be different, probably take a while before you get to know everyone,” said Franzen. “You have to be extremely focused and you’ve got to come prepared because we’ve played so many years (in the Western Conference) and you pretty much know every guy on those teams.”
Franzen plans to make himself scarce once the HBO 24/7 cameras come out prior to the Winter Classic: “I’ll try to hide somewhere. I really don’t like being in front of the camera.”
BRUNETTE TO OVERSEE WILD’S POWER PLAY
The Minneapolis Star Tribune notes in addition to his duties as adviser to the hockey operations department, Andrew Brunette also will be the Wild’s new power-play consultant.
“He’s an invaluable resource,” Wild head coach Mike Yeo said of Brunette, who was on the ice for more power-play goals (216) than any other player in Wild history. “Our power play had the opportunity to be a lot better last year than it was. We were sixth in the league in total power-play shots on goal. That tells you we’re just not doing enough to score goals.
“There are things Bruno can help us with to generate more shots, to generate more quality shots, to teach us different times to take pucks to the net, different positions to be in front of the net that only a guy with that kind of experience can teach.”
Assistant coach Darryl Sydor used to run the power play, but Yeo said handing the reins to Brunette will free up Sydor to do more one-on-one work with players.
“He’s really strong at that, and I felt having the power play took that away from Syd,” Yeo said.
GERVAIS THINKS STREIT WILL BOOST FLYERS’ D
CSNPhilly.com indicates the competition for a roster spot on the Flyers blueline this fall is going to be keen.
“We have a lot of numbers on defense coming into camp and we had to bring in eight or nine guys last year by the end,” Bruno Gervais, who is fully recovered from successful surgery on an abdominal tear, said. “It was that kind of year, and by the end we had one or two guys left. Nobody wants a repeat of last year. And we’re going to need depth, too.”
Gervais is excited for Mark Streit’s arrival.
“He was my partner for a little over a year on the Islanders,” Gervais said. “A lot of people talk about his age (35), but he’s not what his age seems. He has a lot left in him.
“He was a terrific team leader and captain. And he just plays. He was averaging close to 30 minutes with the Islanders. He’s going to mean so much to this team.”
WHAT THEY’RE TWEETING ABOUT
Great skate with the wings at the joe today. @kbieksa Sammy had great things to say about you. Hahaha
— Ryan Kesler (@Ryan_Kesler) August 29, 2013
Donation presentation with @NHLPA and our JDRF representative pic.twitter.com/nxNuyBXcwc
— Cory Conacher (@conhockey19) August 29, 2013
Love when you want to crash on the couch and slap shot is on.
— Bobby Ryan (@b_ryan9) August 30, 2013
Does David Ortiz own a baseball glove or is he just bat in hand all the time? #NotABadGig
— Jamie McGinn (@JamieMcGinn11) August 29, 2013
Good reason not to fight with a visor. Especially in Europe. And in the preseason. What an idiot. pic.twitter.com/3drtpK58Fa
— Brendan Bell (@BBell09) August 29, 2013
Painting the ice was so awesome. Excited that it's that time of year again. #TwoWeeks #BackAtIt #LetsGo pic.twitter.com/apRSxqHAWW
— Ben Smith (@BenASmith12) August 29, 2013
Vail bound, see you in two hours CO! #GodsCountry
— Matt Duchene (@Matt9Duchene) August 29, 2013