Hockey Hearsay compiles stories from around the hockey world and runs weekdays, 12 months a year.
FLAMES’ HARTLEY OFFERS ROY INSIGHT
The Calgary Herald elicits keenly insightful comments from Flames coach Bob Hartley on Patrick Roy, who is heavily rumoured to become the next coach of the Colorado Avalanche. Hartley coached Roy when both were with those same Avs years ago.
A time-worn theory is that great players seldom made the transference to great coaches in any sport.
“He’s gonna be different than a lot of them because along with a lot of talent he had a fantastic attention to detail,” predicts Hartley. “Coaching is all about details. Patrick never sat on his talent. He’d have a bad game and I’d be driving home from the game with a smile on my face because I knew we’d have a good chance to win the next 10. The next morning the lion would come out of his cage and he’d be on the ice 45 minutes before everybody else, he’d have sat in the video room an hour before everybody else, watching the goals he’d given up, punching the walls. When we started on the ice, he’d skate by me and say ‘I won’t give up that kind of goal again for a long, long time.’ And all I’d say is: ‘I know.’
“He’s the best winner I’ve ever coached. It’s not for me to say what will happen, but for him, in Colorado, it’s a natural. Especially now, with Joe (Sakic, who is the team’s new VP of Hockey Ops).”
Read the entire article to see more phenomenal quotes on why Hartley isn’t the least bit worried about Roy’s legendary hair-trigger emotional reactions.
UTICA, NEW YORK COVETS CANUCKS’ AHL AFFILIATE
The Vancouver Sun writes that the mayor of Utica, N.Y., is bullish on having the Canucks operate their American Hockey League franchise in his city and is fairly confident the team will be well supported if the franchise does indeed land there.
“Utica definitely has hockey in its blood,” mayor Robert Palmieri said Tuesday in a phone interview. “Utica is a hockey town and it’s been that way for years and years and years. I think, quite frankly, bringing in another AHL team makes a tremendous amount of sense. I think Vancouver and Utica would be just a perfect marriage for great hockey in this area.
“I’m very optimistic. We are a city on the rise and I think there is a lot of interest in hockey. Behind the scenes, we’ve been working diligently for multiple months and I’m very encouraged. I think it would be outstanding for civic pride for Utica to have another AHL team.”
KARLSSON, METHOT VS. CROSBY
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review points out that whenever Sidney Crosby gets onto the ice, two Ottawa Senators defenseman — Erik Karlsson and Marc Methot — usually aren’t far behind.
“They both skate very well,” said Senators coach Paul MacLean. “I thought they were able to maintain a gap sufficient enough to stall him. He got some chances, too. So I’m not sure if they stopped him … or he stopped himself … or maybe it was Craig Anderson that stopped him … or maybe it was a combination of all those things.”
“Don’t turn the puck over,” said Methot. “You turn the puck over against a guy like Sidney, and he’ll burn you.”
GREENING’S DREAM COME TRUE
The Ottawa Sun imagines Colin Greening’s Game 3 overtime goal was a moment he had imagined and played out, probably a couple of hundred times, as a kid growing up in St. John’s, NL.
“When you’re in your driveway, you always picture yourself being Wayne Gretzky or Mario Lemieux. I shouldn’t say Mario Lemieux, because he was a Penguin,” said Greening. “Scoring the overtime winner, it’s something kids dream of. So to go through it, it’s pretty special. To be able to score a big goal like that, it was huge for us. We lose that game, we’re down 3-0.
“It was nice to have that, but that was two days ago. We’ve got a game (Wednesday). At the end of the day, it’s still 2-1. We’ve got to win (Wednesday). My old coach (Kurt Kleinendorst) in Binghamton had a good saying: ‘With anything like that, you can enjoy it until your head hits the pillow, then the next day is a new day.’
JETS’ TROUBA FITS IN AT WORLDS
The Winnipeg Sun speculates that depending on what happens in free agency this summer, Jets prospect Jacob Trouba could very well be looked upon to jump into Winnipeg’s six-man rotation on the blue-line next season.
“It’s pretty good just confidence-wise, knowing that I can do it,” Trouba said, reflecting on being part of Team USA’s bronze medal squad at the World Championships. “I mean, I know that I can do it, but just showing that I can do it, that’s definitely something that’s helpful and will help me in the summer and going into next year.”
At Michigan he often had to be the offensive catalyst, but with the American squad he was able to focus on his defensive play first and then shift into offensive mode when it presented itself.
“I didn’t have to really force it,” he said. “That’s not my role anymore. I just have to get it into the forwards’ hands and play solid defence.
“I’m glad I went. It was pretty cool. Representing your country’s always pretty cool, and coming away with a medal is a good experience. It was a lot of fun.”
STARS NOT WORRIED ABOUT ERIKSSON
The Dallas Morning News observes Loui Eriksson did not have a good NHL season by his standards. That’s why it was nice to see him tally 10 points (5G, 5A) while playing on a line with Daniel and Henrik Sedin for Team Sweden at the World Championships. Eriksson got stronger as the tournament went on, and played his best in the medal round games.
“He has a long career that says he is an excellent player in this league, so I have no worries about him,” said new Stars GM Jim Nill. “Even to have one bad year in a normal career, I don’t think that’s cause for concern. But you have to be really careful with not overreacting in a shortened season like last year. It was a strange year, and I know he had a lot of different challenges with which line he was on and how he was used on the power play, so I think we look back and learn from that and move forward.”
He added: “He’s the ultimate professional, he’s a no-maintenance player, he’s just a great example for everyone. If there’s a player I’m not worried about, it’s Loui Eriksson.”
HOUSLEY, WILD LACKED TIMING
The St. Paul Pioneer Press notes the Wild had expressed interest in just-hired Nashville Predators assistant coach Phil Housley as an assistant two years ago, when he coached the U.S. Junior team to the gold medal in the World Championship in Ufa, Russia, but that didn’t work out.
“I would have jumped at the opportunity,” Housley said. “But I respect that. Now, I couldn’t turn down this opportunity. It’s the right time.”
Housley will be in Nashville on Wednesday for the official announcement.
“I’m pretty pumped,” the 21-year former NHL defenseman said Tuesday. “It’s something I wanted to do, but I didn’t think it would come this quickly. I was expecting to put out my resume this summer.”
PATIENCE PAYS OFF FOR WINGS’ KINDL
The Detroit Free Press illustrates how Red Wings defenseman Jakub Kindl, 26, said there were times when he wasn’t sure if he’d ever get a chance to play a significant role for the Wings in the playoffs.
“For two years and a half, you’re the seventh defenseman, of course you’re thinking maybe this isn’t the team I should be playing for,” Kindl said. “Should I go somewhere else? Of course I was thinking this way too.
“But at the time, I always believed in myself that I could be part of this team and it worked out so far. I’ve gotta be confident. I am confident.”
He also noted: “I always wanted to play for this team,” he said. “This is the first year where I’ve been playing all the playoff games. I’m enjoying my life, to be honest.”
BOLTS’ THOMPSON RELISHED WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP EXPERIENCE
The Tampa Bay Times relays that Lightning center Nate Thompson called winning a bronze medal with the United States at the world championship “a once in a lifetime experience I will never forget.”
His time there may have even helped his advance work for the 2013-14 NHL season.
“The style of play is completely different,” Thompson said, citing the larger international ice surface, “but it can only help you. There are a lot more plays to be made out there. You’re not really dumping and chasing as much. It’s a lot more puck possession. Whenever you can play that kind of game, I think it can only help you. It improves your game with the puck.”