It’s easy to write off Peter Horachek as merely a caretaker. Logical, too.
Most figure when this Maple Leaf season is over, Brendan Shanahan will cast his line into the water and come up with a big name, and forward the Leafs will go with Mike Babcock or Dan Bylsma or Bruce Boudreau or whichever marquee coaching name shakes free.
But what if it doesn’t happen that way?
Specifically, how cool would it be if Horachek, a hardworking lifer in the business for whom this is really his first taste of the big-time, managed to actually have some success with these Leafs?
He’s the kind of hockey man you root for: a player who never got a taste of the NHL, a nuts-and-bolts assistant in Nashville, a head coach in Florida with the Panthers who was rinsed from the job after less than a full season.
In two games, Horachek has looked like both a coach who can be ignored just like Randy Carlyle, but then also one who seemed to actually have the attention of his team in a win over Columbus on Friday.
So if he takes this team to a post-season berth, and then into the second round, would he be allowed to keep the job on a permanent basis with a long-term contract?
We shall watch and learn.
Other weekend takeaways:
From Modo with Love: The Leafs have decided to recall first-round pick William Nylander from Modo of the Swedish elite league and assign him to the AHL Marlies. The team says it’s determined to keep Nylander with the Marlies this season and not recall him to the NHL, similar to the way in which Connor Brown has played very well for Gord Dineen but hasn’t been recalled when injuries have hit the parent club.
Left unsaid is that the Leafs must have changed their minds that Modo was the best place for Nylander to develop this season. Signing Donald Brashear earlier this year probably didn’t leave the best impression with the Leafs’ brass.
From all-star to ouch: The ink had barely dried on Detroit goalie Jimmy Howard’s invitation to the all-star game this month in Columbus when he appeared to badly injure his groin early in a game against Washington Saturday night.
Howard was taken off the ice on a stretcher and yesterday was put on injured reserve. He had an MRI and ultrasound to determine the severity of the damage, but it appears unlikely he’ll be in Columbus. Marc-Andre Fleury seems the logical all-star replacement.
For the Wings, Jonas Gustavsson has been out with a dislocated shoulder since Nov. 5 and is likely at least two more weeks away from returning. Petr Mrazek, 22, becomes the starter, and former Guelph Storm netminder Thomas McCollum has been recalled from the minors.
Goalie ouch No. 2: Battered Philly goalie Steve Mason left the Flyers game on Saturday against Boston and is out two weeks—at least—with an undisclosed lower-body injury. Mason is believed to have injured his right knee.
It’s now up to Ray Emery to take the ball and run with it for a Philly team that seems destined to miss the playoffs. Rob Zepp has also been recalled.
Reunited in the Desert?: Max Domi and Connor McDavid sat beside each other in the Team Canada dressing room during the recent world junior championship and became close buddies. The Erie Otters even made a pitch to add Domi and play him with McDavid before Friday’s OHL trade deadline, but London delivered a flat “no” in reply.
But could it happen somewhere down the road? Domi is already drafted by Arizona, and the way the Coyotes’ season is going, they could easily end up being in a position to draft McDavid in June.
GM Don Maloney, meanwhile, was in London on Friday to watch McDavid and Domi go head-to-head when the Otters and Knights clashed, with Erie winning 6–2.
Busy but not staying: Right now, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment CEO Tim Leiweke is up to his armpits in business, between finalizing plans for the 2016 World Cup of Hockey to be played in Toronto and negotiating the transfer of some new soccer talent to Toronto FC during the current transfer window.
He’s scheduled to depart MLSE at the end of June, but a replacement has yet to be named. There was a report last week that the MLSE board might be inclined to ask Leiweke to stay on, but sources suggest Leiweke isn’t interested.
“Nothing has changed,” said one.
Curious numbers: You may or may not like plus-minus as a statistic in these days of advanced analytics. But Ryan Suter, star defenceman of the Minnesota Wild, has now gone minus-18 in his last 19 games, including minus-3 versus Chicago Sunday night.
That can’t be good for the plummeting Wild.
Common sense hits Edmonton: It was, all in all, a good week for the Oilers organization despite a disappointing loss at home to Florida on Sunday night.
The club beat Chicago on Friday, Darnell Nurse starred at the world juniors, they finally did the right thing and got Leon Draisatl back to junior, Derek Roy started helping out at centre and both Matt Fraser and Klinkhammer gave the club a little size and grit on the wings. Some of these sensible moves, it’s fair to say, might have helped Dallas Eakins save his job.
Nail Yakupov even scored against the Hawks. But then he gave away the puck on the clinching goal by the Panthers in a 4-2 loss.
Rushing teenagers: The Oilers have been justifiably roasted for rushing teenagers to the NHL. But the Panthers aren’t much different. It’s working right now for 18-year-old Aaron Ekblad, or course, but the development of Jonathan Huberdeau (seven goals) and Alexander Barkov (three goals) doesn’t seem to be moving along nearly as smoothly.
By comparison, Nick Bjugstad insisted on staying an extra year at the University of Minnesota before turning pro. Now he’s got 15 goals after scoring 16 all of last season.
Looking for blue paint assistance: The Wild outshot the Predators and the Hawks on the weekend, but lost 3–1 and 4–1 as GM Chuck Fletcher’s frustrations continue.
Nicklas Backstrom surrendered the seven goals, and with Darcy Kuemper out at least until mid-week, this has only intensified Fletcher’s search for goaltending help. Cam Ward seems too rich for Minny’s tastes, but one of the Buffalo tandem of Jhonas Enroth and Michael Neuvirth might be a better fit.
Signs of life from free-agent winger Tomas Vanek (seven goals, 41 games) wouldn’t hurt, either.
Wounded zebras: It was a tough weekend on NHL referees. Dean Morton collided with Toronto’s David Clarkson on Friday night and ended up with a broken rib. Then the next night Rob Martell went down with a knee injury in St. Louis.
Denis LaRue has been out for a while following a minor operation, while Mike Hasenfratz hasn’t officiated all season due to injury problems.
Hot topic for GMs in March: It seems certain the use of video review for goalie interference is coming, and a call in the Nashville-Dallas game last Thursday has Preds GM David Poile convinced it can’t come soon enough.
Nashville forward Filip Forsberg seemed to have scored a goal in the third with Craig Smith tangled up with Dallas goalie Kari Lehtonen outside the crease on the other side of the net. The officials huddled, and the goal was wiped out. It sure seemed as if there was a decision that something unfair had occurred, but they weren’t sure what. Problem was, replays showed Smith was clearly crosschecked into Lehtonen by Jason Demers.
The GMs are likely to make a decision on this at their March meetings.
This D is well-rested: It was good to see Carlo Colaiacovo get one more chance at the NHL when the Flyers signed him in the fall after a slew of injuries to their blueline.
Turns out, however, it was more to watch than play. Colaiacovo has now been scratched for 25 straight games.
Coming to life: Calder Trophy winner Nathan MacKinnon’s scoring woes have been peculiar this season, and the Avs have shifted him to right wing from centre in an effort to get his production moving.
After scoring just two goals in 22 games, MacKinnon now has two in his last three games, bringing him up to eight on the season.
Responding to change: The firing of Peter DeBoer in New Jersey hasn’t turned the Devils around, but it has made life more interesting for young defenceman Adam Larson, frequently a healthy scratch under DeBoer.
Under the watchful eye of Scott Stevens, Larson has now played 26:37, 24:38, 23:35, 22:16 and 24:47 in the last five games while playing with veteran Andy Greene for the most part.
Three’s fine company: Martin Brodeur has been a healthy scratch for the Blues in the last two games, sparking some speculation the Blues might release him soon.
Not so, says GM Doug Armstrong. The plan is to go with three goalies in St. Louis, possibly for the rest of the season.
Better late than never: Calgary’s first-round pick, Sam Bennett, finally started skating again last week in Calgary and could be ready to start playing in a couple of weeks as he recovers from shoulder surgery. He’s actually ahead of schedule.
The betting here is still that he is sent back to Kingston to finish the season with Doug Gilmour and the Frontenacs.
Expanding west: The possibility of the AHL developing a Pacific Division, something many western NHL clubs would love to see, gained more steam last week with the announcement Anaheim is moving its affiliate from Norfolk, Virginia, to San Diego.
Already, Calgary is eying the ECHL team in Stockton, Calif., and Edmonton owns a team in Bakersfield. L.A. could theoretically convert its ECHL team in Ontario to an AHL operation. Arizona may be interested in putting its farm club in Phoenix, and Colorado may be interested in locating a team in Denver.
All these NHL clubs are tired of having their top farm clubs so far away it often makes it difficult to recall players.
There are AHL meetings scheduled for Jan. 25 in Utica where this will certainly be discussed.