Hockey Hearsay compiles stories from around the hockey world and runs weekdays, 12 months a year.
OTTERS’ MCDAVID IN “CROSBY TERRITORY”
The Edmonton Journal reminds readers that 16-year-old Connor McDavid, the centre from the Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League, isn’t eligible until the 2015 NHL draft.
A case is presented that McDavid may be the first franchise-defining player since Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby and there’s no argument from Kevin Prendergast, who put together Canada’s gold-medal winning team at the world under-18 championship.
Prendergast — a big fan of Seth Jones, the expected number one pick in the summer — feels McDavid would go first or second this June.
“I know (Nathan) MacKinnon and (Jonathan) Drouin are really good players in this draft, but this Connor kid does things you can’t teach players. He’s got some physical growing up to do … his legs have to get stronger, but from a hockey-sense perspective, he’s got everything. He doesn’t back down,” Prendergast said.
“Yeah, he’s in Crosby territory,” Prendergast continued. “He did things on the ice and, at the age of these kids, they’d be on the bench, jumping up and saying, ‘Can you believe that?’ Most teams would be saying, ‘Ah, that little so-and-so.’ Not this team. They loved him.”
BATTAGLIA BROTHERS WIN AMAZING RACE
The Raleigh News & Observer notes former NHLer Bates Battaglia recently found another way to get his competitive juices flowing — participating on “The Amazing Race.” The CBS reality show held its 22nd season finale Sunday night, and Battaglia and his brother, Anthony, won the competition on the show that was taped from mid-November to mid-December.
“It was awesome,” he said in a recent interview. “I said to Anthony, ‘If we ever get a chance to do it again, I’d do it in a heartbeat.’
“It’s a lot like hockey. It’s very competitive. You’re going nonstop. It gets your competitive spirit going. It’s nonstop racing, just a great time.”
Congrats to former NHL player @batesbattaglia and his brother Anthony for taking 1st place in The Amazing Race. #AmazingRace #Canes
— NHL (@NHL) May 6, 2013
The 37-year-old Battaglia held a viewing party for the two-hour finale Sunday night at his Glenwood South bar, Lucky B’s, and laughed when told he now might be more recognizable for being on the show than as a former NHL player.
“I wasn’t exactly a superstar in hockey,” he said, laughing.
LEAFS’ POULIN DEFENDS KESSEL TRADE
The Boston Herald details how ex-Bruin Dave Poulin, Toronto’s vice president of hockey operations, gives a nod for the organization’s long-term plan beginning to pay off to the chief architect of the Leafs roster, Brian Burke. Burke was abruptly fired as general manager Jan. 9, and replaced by assistant Dave Nonis.
“Burkie is a part of it in every way except his physical presence; we all know that,” Poulin said. “He’s a huge part of it.”
Burke, of course, is best remembered by Bruins fans for his acquisition of Phil Kessel — the deal that led to the B’s landing Tyler Seguin, Dougie Hamilton and Jared Knight. Garden fans may chant, “Thank you, Kessel,” for what they see as a steal of a deal. But Poulin doesn’t necessarily view it the same way.
“The thing that most people don’t consider is that (Kessel is) 25 years old,” said Poulin, before Kessel netted the game-winning goal Saturday night. “There are only three players in the NHL since the start of the 2010 season who had more points than Phil Kessel. And I think his overall game is growing, I really do. He’s put in different situations now, he’s involved more.”
FLYERS’ SNIDER HINTS AT BRYZGALOV BUYOUT VARIABLES
The Philadelphia Inquirer points out no one is more frustrated with how things unfolded for the Flyers than Ed Snider, the franchise’s founder and chairman of Comcast-Spectacor, the team’s parent company.
“Most teams would have a difficult time recovering from a depleted defense like ours,” Snider said. “It was sort of like everything that could go wrong did go wrong. It was the perfect storm.”
Snider expressed support for coach Peter Laviolette and general manager Paul Holmgren.
If the Flyers don’t use a buyout on Ilya Bryzgalov, he and Mason will battle for the No. 1 job in training camp. But if the Flyers need to get Bryzgalov’s annual $5.7 million cap hit off the books to acquire or sign another player, he will be bought out.
The Flyers’ wish list includes a No. 1 defenseman and a sniper forward, preferably with size.
“If Paul has to get under the cap for a specific reason, he will. But if you’re not getting a player, you don’t have to,” Snider said. “It’s a game of chess, and that’s still up in the air.”
LOCKOUT’S IMPACT ON MONTREAL
The New York Times posits the cost to Montreal’s business community from the NHL lockout cannot be measured precisely. But several economists and analysts agreed that whatever the amount, it was substantial and unrecoverable.
Douglas Porter, the chief economist of BMO Capital Markets, a unit of the Bank of Montreal, estimated that the effect was national in scope.
“You can’t put a dollar estimate on this and at best, this is a broad estimate,” said Porter, who added that Canada’s gross domestic product fell by one-tenth of 1 percent because of the lockout and rebounded by the same amount when play resumed in January. Indeed, he said that the return of hockey helped perk up the overall economy this spring.
The lockout’s effect varied by city, Porter said. “My rule of thumb is that the smaller the city, the greater the impact,” he said. “In Winnipeg, it was very powerful.”
Since the Expos left town in 2004, the Canadiens are the only sports team in Montreal that still plays in one of the four major North American leagues. “Montreal, in terms of professional, Tier 1 sports, we’re a one-trick pony,” said Bruno Delorme, who teaches marketing at McGill University and HEC Montreal, a business school. “Any business model that isn’t diversified is at risk.”
ORIGINS OF KANE’S ZEST FOR PASSING
The Chicago Sun-Times reflects on Hawks forward Patrick Kane’s ridiculously skilled passing ability, which Kane insists never used to be the case. He said that when he was a kid, 11 or 12, he rarely passed the puck, instead preferring to take the puck down the ice and trying to finish it off himself.
“I finally ran into a coach that said ‘you’re going to have to pass the puck or you’re going to sit on the bench,’ ’’ Kane said. “I remember I went down the full length of the ice, scored a goal, and I sat on the bench for the rest of the period. From that moment on, I just tried to improve my vision and my passing ability, and that’s probably where it came from. A lot of practice, too.”
JACKETS SEEK TO BUILD ON FOUNDATION
The Columbus Dispatch indicates the main objective this summer for Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen is to build on a foundation of hard work and defensive intensity, specifically with a player or two who can boost the club offensively.
“It’s tough to win games 2-1 every night,” Kekalainen said. “It’s going to be easier for us to win more games if we score more goals. Skill and speed are a great part of this game, and that’s an area we’re going to work on this summer.”
The Blue Jackets have three first-round draft picks, which could be used in a number of ways — as part of a trade package to move up on this year’s draft board, or to be traded for established NHL players who could help now.
Kekalainen made it clear, however, that he won’t be pressured into making a deal.
“I think (an offensive boost) can come from the inside,” Kekalainen said. “I think some of our guys can improve in that area.”
COYOTES’ GOALTENDING UP IN THE AIR
The Arizona Republic writes that Coyotes goalie Mike Smith headlines the team’s class of impending unrestricted free agents, and a revolving door in the crease isn’t advantageous to a system that is anchored by the play between the pipes.
“You have to spend wisely, so we’ll have to sit down with Mike and his agent, and one thing with Mike, until we solve where this team is going to play next year, he’s been very hesitant to commit and I don’t blame him,” general Manager Don Maloney said.
Backup Jason LaBarbera is also set to be a free agent, as is No. 3 Chad Johnson. LaBarbera would like to return, but contract talks didn’t happen during the season.
“I don’t know what their plans are. I have no idea,” LaBarbera said. “It’s kind of unchartered territory, for me anyway. I don’t know, but obviously I love the guys here. I love the staff here. I love it here. It’s great.”