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TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | June 4th

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By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – The 2015 NHL Draft had two gems right at the top. With the No. 1 pick, Connor McDavid was selected by the Edmonton Oilers. The No. 2 pick – Jack Eichel – was a no brainer and fell right into the lap of the Buffalo Sabres.

McDavid, out of Richmond Hill, Ontario, is often referred to as the best player in the NHL. There are rarely arguments, but McDavid has only advanced his team to the Conference Finals.

Eichel has taken a different path, call it the Scenic Route, to the 2023 NHL Stanley Cup Final.

A native of North Chelmsford, Massachusetts, the Boston University product took home the prestigious Hobey Baker Award as a freshman. The award recognizes the best player in all of NCAA men’s ice hockey and Eichel was the second freshman to ever receive the award, following NHL legend Paul Kariya.

For BU, Eichel was the Most Valuable Player in Hockey East. He led the Conference in scoring, was voted Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, First Team All Conference, First Team All-Rookie. Eichel scored 26 goals and had 45 assists for 71 points for BU, all while playing for the USA Hockey Developmental team. In 2015, he turned pro and signed a three-year entry contract with the Sabres.

All was not sunny in Buffalo.

Eichel was the top goal scorer for the Sabres and No. 2 on the team in points, quickly rising to accept the team’s captaincy, an honor usually reserved for the most NHL-tested veterans.

Despite an NHL All-Star appearance and an eight-year $80 million contract extension, Eichel fought through two severe ankle sprains and played 67 of 82 games in 2018. He hit the 100-goal mark and 300 points mark as the NHL plowed its way through a COVID-19 season. By late April 2021, Eichel required surgery for a spinal disc herniation.

The scenic route was getting pretty ugly and he sparred with the front office and direction of the Sabres. By September of 2021, Eichel had failed his team physical, was stripped of the team captaincy and placed on the Sabres’ long-term injury list. The division was enough to force the Sabres to trade him and his $10m a year contract to the Vegas Golden Knights.

After the six-year sojourn in Buffalo, Eichel turned the page and started anew in 2022-23 as the Golden Knights were doing the same with their new coach, former Boston Bruins man, Bruce Cassidy. The stars began to align and Vegas qualified for the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs, defeating Winnipeg, Edmonton (bye-bye Connor McDavid) and the Dallas Stars to earn their place in the Stanley Cup Final. (Game 1: Saturday, June 3).

While Vegas played its Jack, the Denver Nuggets played a Joker, as in center and former NBA MVP Nikola Jokic.

Born in the north of Serbia, Jokic played 2012-2014 out of Belgrade with Mega Basket, the Clip Show of Belgrade to the more Lake Show Partizan club. Jokic played in Serbian League games and Adriatic League games and caught the eye of Denver Nuggets Assistant GM/scout Arturas Karnisovas, a former Seton Hall star and Lithuanian national team player, now the president of basketball operations for the Chicago Bulls.

Denver spent its first-round pick (No. 11 overall) on guard/forward Doug McDermott, the sharpshooter out of Creighton. As the draft progressed, Chicago took Bosnian center Jusuf Nurkic with the 16th pick and Michigan State guard Gary Harris at No. 19. Both players were shipped to Denver as part of the deal.

Karnisovas pressed the brass at his post in Denver to select Jokic with the club’s second-round pick which came along at No. 41. They grabbed him after Spencer Dinwiddie, Jerami Grant and Glenn Robinson III went ahead of Jokic with picks No. 38-40. No. 41 should’ve come gift-wrapped.

Interestingly, Dario Šarić (Orlando at No. 12), Jusuf Nurkić (Chicago at No. 16) and Bogdan Bogdanović (Phoenix at No. 17) were all drafted ahead of their European counterpart, much to Denver’s delight.

After being voted to the All-Rookie team in 2016, Jokic has five All-NBA selections, three on the first team, five NBA All-Star appearances, and two NBA Most Valuable Player awards. He fell to second in the MVP voting this season behind Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid.

Eichel took the scenic route to the NHL Stanley Cup Final from his No. 2 selection while Jokic took a non-stop, direct flight to stardom with the Denver Nuggets and is playing in the 2023 NBA Finals. Jokic started his Finals experience, becoming only the second player in NBA history to record a triple-double (27, 10 and 14 assists) in his first Finals game. The other was guard Jason Kidd with the NJ Nets.

Anyone in the NBA care to re-draft?

BY THE WAY: Why is it the NHL Stanley Cup Final but the 2023 NBA Finals?

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HERE NOW, THE NOTES: USA Basketball will have two teams in the FIBA 3×3 World Cup semifinals for the second time in event history (2016). In their quarterfinal matchups Saturday evening in Vienna, Austria, the men defeated France 21-19 followed an hour later by the women overtaking Austria 21-17.

Kareem Maddox, Dylan Travis, Jimmer Fredette and Canyon Barry make up the USA Basketball men’s team.

On Sunday, the women will take on China, who defeated Germany in the quarterfinals, at 8:30am (ET). The men will face Brazil, who stunned Poland on a last-second two-pointer in the quarterfinals at 10:05am (ET).

The 3×3 World Cup is streaming live on FIBA’s 3×3 YouTube. Game times are subject to change.

FIBA HALL of FAME: This week, USA Basketball legend Katrina McClain was been selected to the FIBA Hall of Fame Class of 2023. McClain is one of 12 members of a class that also includes NBA great Yao Ming (CHN), and former WNBA’s star Penny Taylor (AUS).

SALE OUT: The Boston Red Sox placed oft-injured, left-handed pitcher Chris Sale on the 15-Day Injured List due to left shoulder inflammation. Sale, 34, has made 11 starts for the Red Sox this season, going 5-2 with a 4.58 ERA (30 ER/59.0 IP). In Friday’s start against the Cincinnati Reds, he allowed one run on five hits with one walk and six strikeouts in 3.2 innings, before exiting the game in the fourth inning due to left shoulder soreness.

The left-hander is 45-27 with a 3.23 ERA (225 ER/627.0 IP) in 106 career games with the Red Sox, and is 119-77 with a 3.08 ERA (370 ER/1,737.0 IP) in 334 career games (254 starts) with the Chicago White Sox (2010-16) and Boston (2017-23).

TIDBITS: Former Phoenix Suns, Sacramento Kings and Kansas City Kings Public relations Director Julie Fie will receive the 2023 Bell Tower of Fame at opening ceremonies of the annual Bell Tower Festival, Friday, June 9.

Tower of Fame recipients are chosen for their international, national or statewide personal or professional efforts that bring awareness and pride to Greene County. Awardees must have lived in Greene County sometime in their lives. Julie is being recognized for her outstanding NBA public relations career.

STADIUM SERIES: Just prior to the face-off of Game 1 of the 2023 Stanley Cup Final, the National Hockey League said the 2024 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series™ will take place Feb. 17-18 at MetLife Stadium, the home of the NFL’s New York Jets and New York Football Giants. The event will feature four teams – the Philadelphia Flyers, New Jersey Devils, New York Rangers and New York Islanders – in two NHL regular-season outdoor games. On Saturday, Feb. 17, the Devils will play host to the Flyers, and on Sunday, Feb. 18 the Rangers will face off against the Islanders.

ROCKPORT = ROCK BOTTOM: The Rockport Company LLC has submitted a state notice that it is shutting down its Newton, Massachusetts headquarters and could layoff nearly 150 employees.

In a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Act (WARN) notice filed on May 9, the shoe company indicated it plans on laying off 148 employees sometime between July 8 and July 22.

Rockport was founded in Marlborough, Massachusetts in 1971 by Saul L. Katz and his son, Bruce R. Katz. The business was acquired by Reebok in 1986 and then sold thirty years later in 2015. The Rockport Company moved to its Newton home in 2017, before filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2018.

PARTING WORDS & MUSIC: It’s Game 2 of The 2023 NBA Finals and tonight, it’s all about the Joker – Nikola Jokić – He’s a Joker, a picker, a grinner, a roller. He gets his love in on the run. No one calls him Maurice.

 

TL

Stanley Cup Finals: Florida at Vegas

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LAS VEGAS – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – During a gathering of about 5,000 fans to reveal his new team’s nickname and logo outside T-Mobile Arena in November of 2016, Vegas Golden Knights owner Bill Foley made a rather bold prediction.

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When asked by the emcee how long it would take his expansion franchise to lift the Stanley Cup, Foley replied, “I did say seven years, but it should be six years now. Six years.”

Vegas, which made a storybook run to the Stanley Cup Final in its inaugural season in 2018 before losing in five games to the Washington Capitals, has one last chance to make Foley look like a prophet.

The Golden Knights face this year’s Cinderella team of the playoffs, the Eastern Conference winning Florida Panthers, in the best-of-seven Stanley Cup Final beginning tonight in Las Vegas.

Vegas, which missed making the playoffs for the first time in franchise history a year ago, rebounded to post a Western Conference-best 111 points while winning the Pacific Division title. The Golden Knights then disposed of the Winnipeg Jets in five games in Round 1, took down Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers in six games in Round 2 and defeated the Dallas Stars in six games in the Western Conference finals.

Florida, which finished tied for just 17th overall in the NHL in points with 92, has won 11 of its last 12 games, including seven in a row by one goal, behind the play of Conn Smythe Trophy frontrunners Matthew Tkachuk (21 points, nine goals, four game-winners) and Sergei Bobrovsky (11-2, .935 save percentage).

The Panthers — back in the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 1996 when they were swept in four games by the Joe Sakic-led Colorado Avalanche — rebounded from a 3-1 deficit to stun the record-setting and top-seeded Boston Bruins in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. Florida followed that up with a 4-1 series win over Toronto in Round 2 and swept the Carolina Hurricanes in four games in the Eastern final.

Florida will have had nine days off since their series-clinching 4-3 win over Carolina on May 24 while Vegas has had just a four-day break since their 6-0 clincher at Dallas on Monday. Could the long break cause the Panthers to lose their momentum and be a little rusty heading into Game 1?

“None of the things that you would have normally wanted to have happen has happened to us and they all turned out good, so be careful what you wish for,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said. “So we’ve just decided not to wish for anything, just take what it is. … It’s a big block of time off and how do you stay sharp, but I would take the rest over worrying about how sharp we’re going to be in Game 1.”

Vegas has relied on a strong defense led by past Stanley Cup winners Alex Pietrangelo (St. Louis) and Alec Martinez (two with Los Angeles). It also has a solid group of veteran forwards that includes William Karlsson (team-high 10 goals), ex-Panther Jonathan Marchessault (nine goals in the last 10 games) and Jack Eichel (18 points, six goals).

Eichel, the No. 2 overall pick of the 2015 NHL Draft, is taking part in the playoffs for the first time in eight seasons. He brings a seven-game goal drought into the Final but has impressed with his all-around play.

“It’s a great opportunity for our group,” Eichel said. “Everybody wants a chance to play in a Stanley Cup Final and to compete for the ultimate goal.”

The Golden Knights, who used five different goaltenders because of injuries during the season, have also gotten surprisingly good play from Adin Hill in net. Hill, who took over for injured Laurent Brossoit in Game 3 of the second round against Edmonton, is 7-3 with a .937 save percentage and two shutouts.

“He’s been great,” Marchessault said. “He’s given us a chance to win every night. At (this) time of the year, if you don’t have a good goalie, I don’t think you go through.”

Marchessault was asked about Foley’s prediction of winning a Stanley Cup in six years.

“Bill’s a smart man, right?” Marchessault said with a smile. “He’s done a lot of good things in his life. We’ll see how it turns out.”

–Field Level Media

Bergeron Played with Bad Back

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BOSTON – Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron told reporters that he was playing with a herniated disc in his back during Boston’s first-round Eastern Conference playoff series against the Florida Panthers.

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Bergeron sustained the herniated disc during the Bruins’ final game of the regular season, a 5-4 victory over the host Montreal Canadiens back on April 13. It was labeled as an upper-body injury at the time, and Bergeron did not return to the game against Montreal for precautionary reasons.

The injury forced Bergeron to miss the first four games of the series against Florida, but the Bruins won three of those contests. Bergeron returned for Game 5 and scored a goal — his lone point of the 2023 playoffs — but it wasn’t enough, as Boston fell 4-3. The Panthers then won Games 6 and 7 to stun the Bruins and advance to the second round.

With the offseason now upon Boston after its historic 65-12-5 (135 points) regular season, Bergeron also said that he was weighing his options when it came to the future.

“I gotta take some time and talk with the family and go from there,” Bergeron said. “Right now it’s too hard to process anything. Obviously we’re shocked and disappointed.”

Bergeron, 37, recorded 58 points (27 goals, 31 assists) in 78 games this season, his 19th with the Bruins.

–Field Level Media

Bruins Eliminated in OT

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – While Boston Bruins fans were ruing their team’s first-round upset at the hands of the Florida Panthers, oddsmakers were understandably not shedding many tears.

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The Stanley Cup favorites at every sportsbook following their historic regular season, the Bruins were the biggest liability at many entering the playoffs. That includes at BetMGM, where Boston had accounted for 28.1 percent of the Stanley Cup champion bets and a whopping 42.7 percent of the money wagered.

“Entering the playoffs, the Bruins were the betting favorites to win the Stanley Cup and a significant liability for the sportsbook,” BetMGM Sports Trader Seamus Magee said. “While heartbreaking to fans and those who closely followed their run, Boston losing in the first round was a good outcome for the sportsbook.”

Boston’s demise coincided with the defending champion Colorado Avalanche bowing out on Sunday night, and the good news kept on rolling for the sportsbooks on Monday when the New Jersey Devils took out the New York Rangers in yet another Game 7. That meant the top three liabilities at BetMGM entering the playoffs failed to make it out of the first round.

With the top three American teams eliminated, the new Stanley Cup futures list has a distinctly Canadian flair.

The new favorite entering the second round is Toronto, with the Maple Leafs being offered at +350 at BetMGM and DraftKings. Next are the Edmonton Oilers, who are +375 and +425 at the two sportsbooks, respectively.

The Oilers do remain the biggest liability at BetMGM to win the Western Conference, having drawn 23.2 percent of the total bets and 26.1 percent of the money at +750 behind the prohibitive favorite Avalanche at +175.

Since we’re talking about sports betting, it’s fair to say the Seattle Kraken are “playing with house money.”

The first team to claim a franchise’s first playoffs series victory against a reigning Stanley Cup champion, the Kraken are significant longshots across the boards. They are by far the longest shots to win the title at both BetMGM (+1600) and DraftKings (+2000), where the Kraken have twice the longest odds of the next-closest team — the Panthers at +1000.

Stanley Cup championship odds (BetMGM/DraftKings)
Toronto Maple Leafs (+350/+350)
Edmonton Oilers (+375/+425)
Dallas Stars (+600/+550)
New Jersey Devils (+600/+600)
Vegas Golden Knights (+600/+650)
Carolina Hurricanes (+600/+700)
Florida Panthers (+1000+1000)
Seattle Kraken (+1600/+2000)

–Field Level Media

Panthers Extend Series vs. Bruins

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Florida’s Matthew Tkachuk scored at 6:05 of overtime to lift the visiting Panthers to a season-saving, 4-3 win over the NHL Presidents’ Trophy-winning Boston Bruins in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series. The Panthers cut their deficit in the best-of-seven series to 3-2 heading to Game 6 tonight in Sunrise.

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After Carter Verhaeghe picked off Boston goaltender Linus Ullmark’s attempt to clear from behind the net, the puck bounced off Ullmark’s pads and onto the stick of Tkachuk for a backhanded, game-winning tally.

Tkachuk finished with a goal and an assist, and Anthony Duclair, Sam Bennett and Sam Reinhart scored in regulation for Florida. Verhaeghe logged three assists. Bennett has recorded points in all four of his games in the series, scoring a goal in three of them.

Panthers goal-keeper Sergei Bobrovsky made 44 saves in his second consecutive start.

Boston forward Brad Marchand had a goal and an assist while returning centerman Patrice Bergeron and Taylor Hall each scored for the Bruins, who had a 47-25 shot advantage and finished 2-for-5 on the power play.

Boston’s Charlie McAvoy had two assists, and Ullmark made 21 saves.

Florida led 2-1 through two periods before the teams traded power-play goals in the first 5:14 of the third.

Hall scored his fifth goal in as many playoff games at 9:16, pulling a rebound out of traffic in the slot and ripping it off the crossbar to tie the game 3-3.

The Panthers also killed a too-many-men penalty in the last four minutes of regulation. Bobrovsky denied a Marchand breakaway attempt before the third-period buzzer.

Florida’s strong start included holding Boston without a shot on its first power play and taking the lead at 8:26 of the opening period. Off a Tyler Bertuzzi turnover, Duclair batted Verhaeghe’s pass to score out of the air.

The Bruins tied the game with a man advantage 2:27 into the second. McAvoy made an incredible feed from the right point to Marchand, who corralled his own initial shot that sat loose.

Boston had a dominant 18-8 shots edge in the second, but a late lapse allowed the visitors to take a 2-1 lead with 1:08 left. Bennett whipped home a shot from the slot after Verhaeghe won a puck battle and slipped the puck out of the corner.

The home team’s onslaught continued with seven shots to begin the third, and Bergeron needed just six seconds of a power play to make it 2-2. At 4:33, the Boston captain deflected home Marchand’s shot from above the left dot for his 50th career postseason goal.

Florida’s power-play unit went to work and got the lead back when Reinhart buried a wrister in the slot off Tkachuk’s feed at 5:14.

–Field Level Media

NHL Says “Games On” for Sweden

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NEW YORK – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The National Hockey League announced its NHL Global Series will feature four teams playing four games in Stockholm, Sweden, from Nov. 16-19, 2023 The Toronto Maple Leafs will play regular season games outside of North America for the first time.

It will be the second trip overseas for both the Detroit Red Wings and Minnesota Wild and the third for the Ottawa Senators.

There have been 38 NHL regular season games played outside of North America to date, including 13 in Sweden.

The full schedule with all games played at Avicii Arena, and the local starting times:
–Nov. 16: Red Wings vs. Senators, 8pm
–Nov. 17: Maple Leafs vs. Red Wings, 8pm
–Nov. 18: Wild vs. Senators, 5pm
–Nov. 19: Maple Leafs vs. Wild, 2pm

–Field Level Media

Bruins Part Ways with Mitchell Miller

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BOSTON – Two days after signing controversial defenseman Mitchell Miller to an entry level NHL contract, “the Boston Bruins have decided to part ways with Miller, effective immediately,” said team president Cam Neely.

“The decision to sign this young man was made after careful consideration of the facts as we were aware of them: that at 14-years-old he made a poor decision that led to a juvenile conviction,” said Neely in a prepared written statement. “We understood this to be an isolated incident and that he had taken meaningful action to reform and was committed to ongoing personal development. Based on that understanding we offered him a contract.

“Based on new information, we believe it is the best decision at this time to rescind the opportunity for Mitchell Miller to represent the Boston Bruins. We hope that he continues to work with professionals and programs to further his education and personal growth.

“We owe it to our fans, players, staff, partners and community to make sure that our practices and protocols are in keeping with the ethos that we demand from ourselves and as an organization. As such, we will be reevaluating our internal processes for vetting individuals who wish to earn the privilege of playing in the National Hockey League for the Boston Bruins.

“We are sorry that this decision has overshadowed the incredible work the members of our organization do to support diversity and inclusion efforts. We will continue to stand against bullying and racism in all of its forms.

“To Isaiah (the victim of Miller’s misguided activities) and his family, my deepest apologies if this signing made you and other victims feel unseen and unheard. We apologize for the deep hurt and impact we have caused.

“Finally, as a father, I think there is a lesson to be learned here for other young people. Be mindful of careless behaviors and going with the group mentality of hurting others. The repercussions can be felt for a lifetime.”

Miller, 20, skated in 60 games with the Tri-City Storm of the USHL in 2021-22, recording 39 goals and 44 assists for 83 points with a plus-43 rating. The 5-foot-10, 189-pound blueliner was named the USHL’s Player of the Year and Defenseman of the Year after the season in which he set league records for goals and points by a defenseman. Miller has appeared in 154 career USHL games with Tri-City and Cedar Rapids from 2017-22, totaling 51 goals and 82 assists for 133 points with a plus-54 rating. The Sylvania, Ohio native was originally selected by the Arizona Coyotes in the fourth round (111th overall) of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft.

Bruins Sign Controversial Free Agent

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BOSTON – (Staff Report from Official News Release) – Boston Bruins General Manager Don Sweeney signed controversial defenseman Mitchell Miller to an entry-level contract. He is scheduled to report to the Providence Bruins minor league franchise.

“When I was in eighth grade, I made extremely poor decisions and acted very immaturely,” said Miller. “I bullied one of my classmates. I deeply regret the incident and have apologized to the individual. Since the incident, I have come to better understand the far-reaching consequences of my actions that I failed to recognize and understand nearly seven years ago. I strive to be a better person and positively contribute to society.

“As a member of the Bruins organization, I will continue to participate in community programs to both educate myself and share my mistakes with others to show what a negative impact those actions can have on others. To be clear, what I did when I was 14 years old was wrong and unacceptable. There is no place in this world for being disrespectful to others and I pledge to use this opportunity to speak out against mistreating others.”

“Representing the Boston Bruins is a privilege we take seriously as an organization,” said Bruins President Cam Neely.

“Respect and integrity are foundational character traits we expect of our players and staff. Prior to signing Mitchell, our hockey operations and community relations groups spent time with him over the last few weeks to better understand who he is as an individual and learn more about a significant mistakes he made when he was in middle school. During this evaluation period, Mitchell was accountable for his unacceptable behavior and demonstrated his commitment to work with multiple organizations and professionals to further his education and use his mistake as a teachable moment for others. The expectation is that he will continue this important educational work with personal development and community programs as a member of the Bruins organization.”

Miller, 20, skated in 60 games with the Tri-City Storm of the USHL in 2021-22, recording 39 goals and 44 assists for 83 points with a plus-43 rating. The 5-foot-10, 189-pound blueliner was named the USHL’s Player of the Year and Defenseman of the Year after the season in which he set league records for goals and points by a defenseman. Miller has appeared in 154 career USHL games with Tri-City and Cedar Rapids from 2017-22, totaling 51 goals and 82 assists for 133 points with a plus-54 rating. The Sylvania, Ohio native was originally selected by the Arizona Coyotes in the fourth round (111th overall) of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft but was released after public pressure.

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | October 16th

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While We’re Young (Ideas) Examines the Upcoming 2022-23 NHL Season

By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – The weekly notebook has listed sports franchise valuations, underrated rock bands, NFL Power Rankings, and NCAA College Football Playoff possibilities week-by-week.

Next Up?

The TL Sunday Sports Notes a.k.a. “While We’re Young (Ideas)” will take a crack at the brand new National Hockey League season and list the best of the best and as the list goes, the bottom-feeder “hosers” will be left to the age-old chore (before the great Zamboni was invented) to hose down the ice for the next period.

For the ultimate face-off, “While We’re Young (Ideas)” is picking the Colorado Avalanche to play the New York Rangers in the 2023 Stanley Cup Finals. The Avs dominated the Edmonton Oilers in the 2022 Western Conference Finals, winning the series in four straight. There is nothing on the radar screen to spark another western winner, although Edmonton, St. Louis, Las Vegas, Nashville and Calgary remain as contenders for a Cup Finals appearance.

In the East, the New York Rangers behind goalkeeper Igor Shesterkin have stepped-up as the team to beat. To advance to the Stanley Cup Finals, the Rangers will have to reverse the outcome of last season’s Eastern Finals when the Tampa Bay Lightning eliminated New York, 4-games-to-2.

Last season’s contenders in the East – Carolina, Florida, Pittsburgh, Toronto and Boston – can all challenge the NYR and TB with a combination of goaltending, luck, avoiding injury and playoff positioning determining who might face the West (Colorado) in the final.

While Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews, Nikita Kucherov and Shesterkin are top-rated players and most frequently listed as favorites for NHL Most Valuable Player (Hart Trophy) winners, the player who led the Avs to their third Stanley Cup title, Nathan MacKinnon, is the player to watch. He will determine the success of the Avs and can will the club to a championship, just as he did a year ago. In recent memory, only Mark Messier’s efforts for the 1994 New York Rangers can compare.

Jack Eichel, the local Boston favorite out of BU, left Buffalo and landed in Vegas where he finished the 2022-23 season strong. Orlando-born and Toronto-bred Jack Hughes of the New Jersey Devils, the No. 1 pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, is another player to watch this season.

NHL POWER RANKINGS – (As of start of the 2022-23 NHL regular season)

  1. Colorado Avalanche
  2. New York Rangers
  3. Tampa Bay Lightning
  4. Carolina Hurricanes
  5. Edmonton Oilers
  6. Toronto Maple Leafs
  7. Calgary Flames
  8. Florida Panthers
  9. St. Louis Blues
  10. Pittsburgh Penguins
  11. Nashville Predators
  12. Minnesota Wild
  13. Boston Bruins
  14. Los Angeles Kings
  15. Las Vegas Knights
  16. Washington Capitals
  17. Dallas Stars
  18. Winnipeg Jets
  19. New York Islanders
  20. Vancouver Canucks
  21. New Jersey Devils
  22. Ottawa Senators
  23. Columbus Blue Jackets
  24. Philadelphia Flyers
  25. Buffalo Sabres
  26. Detroit Red Wings
  27. Anaheim Ducks
  28. San Jose Sharks
  29. Seattle Kraken
  30. Montreal Canadiens
  31. Chicago Blackhawks
  32. Arizona Coyotes

East: New York Rangers over Tampa Bay Lightning, 4-games-to-3

West: Colorado Avalanche over Edmonton Oilers, 4-games-to-1

Cup: Colorado Avalanche over New York Rangers, 4-games-to-2

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: In the world of sports, you learn something new everyday. A Premier League peep whispered to drop everything and tune-in to the USA Network at about 2:45pm (ET) Friday for the Brentford v. Brighton match.

The pre-game commentators for USA Net were touting their Soccer Showcase at Dilworth Park on Saturday and Sunday in Philadelphia by comparing the “biggest weekend” they’ve ever televised,’ with all the “big” games in the Philly. This weekend, MLB’s Philadelphia Phillies host, and defeated the Atlanta Braves at Citizen Bank Park a couple hours ahead of the Philadelphia Flyers facing the Vancouver Canucks at the Wells Fargo Center, right across the soft pretzel-packed street. Of course, the “biggest game” of the weekend will feature the Philadelphia Eagles playing host to the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night Football at Lincoln Financial Field, a 9-iron from the basketball/hockey arena and an easy wedge away from the baseball field. By the way, the Sixers open the NBA regular season on Tuesday here in Boston and then return to the “City of Brotherly Love” to host the Milwaukee Bucks this Thursday.

Working backwards to what was learned this week, my surprise was teed-up by Rebecca Lowe, host of NBC’s English Premier League coverage, as her Philly-based introduction to the game in London was done just as the Brentford players took to the pitch:

BRENTFORD has a great tradition, far better than the tired, old Red Sox playing of “Sweet Caroline” in the middle of the 8th inning. During pregame introductions, seemingly every one of the 18,000+ Brentford fans raises their red & white team scarf and belts out The Beatles’ “Hey Jude.” … If the team wins, the song is sung – once again – in the postgame.

The good times came to a halt postgame, however, as sadly, after the 2-nil Brentford victory and the postgame “Hey Jude II.” Striker Ivan Toney, who notched the two Brentford goals, was “subjected to disgusting, racist abuse via a direct message received on social media,” according to the club statement issued after the game.

“We condemn this discriminatory behaviour in the strongest possible terms. An attack on one of our players is an attack on all of us. Ivan will receive the full backing from the Club and from the Brentford fans who we have already seen condemning the abuse.

“We expect strong support from the police, legal authorities and from Instagram’s parent company, Meta, to ensure that the individual involved faces the full force of the law for this despicable hate crime.”

[Read more…] about TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | October 16th

Bruins Sign Krejci; Await Pastrnak

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BOSTON – The Boston Bruins signed forward David Krejci to a one-year contract through the 2022-23 season worth $1 million, plus an additional $2 million in performance-based incentives. The announcement was made by Bruins GM Don Sweeney on the same day the club re-signed forward Patrice Bergeron.

Sweeney has one other key free agent that remains unsigned in David Pastrnak. On his conversations with Pastrnak, Sweeney would not elaborate but indicated talks were on-going through-out the off-season.

“Ongoing would probably be the best way to describe it,” said Sweeney.  “We’ve been in regular communication. Obviously, David’s still over in Europe and the likelihood is he’ll come back and we’ll talk between now and then. When he gets back, we’ll maybe have a better idea of a deal timeline. But I don’t have one today and you guys know me well enough, I’m not going to comment publicly on ongoing negotiations, but we’ve been in regular contact with JP.”

Krejci, 36, played the 2021-22 season in the Czechia league for HC Olomouc. In 51 games, Krejci led his team in goals (20), assists (26) and points (46). The Sternberk, Czech Republic native also represented his country at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, China and at the IIHF World Championship in Finland. In four Olympic Games, Krejci recorded one goal and three assists. At the World Championships, he finished second on his team in scoring with three goals and nine assists for 12 points to help his team win a bronze medal.

Prior to his season with HC Olomouc, Krejci played 15 seasons in the NHL, all with the Bruins. In 2020-21, the 6-foot, 188-pound forward appeared in 51 games, tallying eight goals and 36 assists for 44 points and plus-16 rating. In 11 playoff games, he recorded two goals and seven assists for nine points.

Krejci has appeared in 962 career NHL games with Boston, totaling 215 goals and 515 assists for 730 points. In 156 career playoff games with the Bruins, he’s totaled 42 goals and 82 assists for 124 points. He led Boston in postseason scoring in 2011 en route to winning the Stanley Cup. Krejci ranks seventh in Bruins history in games played (962), assists (515), eighth in points (730) and 10th in game-winning goals (41).

Krejci was originally selected by Boston in the second round (63rd overall) of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft.