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CAROLINA HURRICANES NEWS CLIPPINGS • June 25, 2014

Hurricanes re-sign defenseman Hainsey and forwards Gerbe, Terry

By Chip Alexander

RALEIGH — Ron Hainsey is staying put with the Carolina Hurricanes.

The defenseman, due to become an unrestricted free agent July 1, agreed to a three-year deal Tuesday. Hainsey, 33, will be paid $3 million in the 2014-2105 and 2015-2016 seasons, and $2.5 million in 2016-2017.

On Friday, Canes general manager Ron Francis said he hoped to re-sign some players before NHL free agency began. Bringing back Hainsey should help bolster a blue line that showed improvement last season in shots-against and goals-against.

Hainsey signed a one-year contract as a free agent with the Canes last season. One of two players to play in all 82 regular-season games, he had four goals and 11 assists, and was second on the team in blocked shots with 124.

Hainsey averaged 21 minutes, 26 seconds in ice time per game last season and helped Brett Bellemore develop as a younger defenseman.

A former first-round pick of the Montreal Canadiens, Hainsey has played 673 career games with the Habs, Columbus, Atlanta, Winnipeg and Carolina.

The Canes also announced Tuesday that forward Nathan Gerbe has signed a two-year contract. The deal will pay Gerbe $1.5 million in 2014-15, and $2 million in 2015-16.

Gerbe, 26, scored 16 goals last season, his first with the Hurricanes.

In another personnel move Tuesday, the Canes signed forward Chris Terry to a one-year, two-way contract that will pay him 600,000 on the NHL level or $300,000 on the American Hockey League level in 2014-15.

Terry, 25, played a career-high 10 NHL games in 2013-14. He scored the game-winning goal in the shootout for the Hurricanes Nov. 15 against the Minnesota Wild.

Terry spent much of the season with the Charlotte Checkers, leading the Checkers in assists (41) and shots (230) and finishing second on the team in goals (28) and points (69).

Terry agrees to one-year, two-way contract

Posted by Chip Alexander on June 24, 2014

The Canes said Tuesday they have signed left wing Chris Terry to a one-year, two-way contract.

The deal will pay Terry $600,000 on the NHL level or $300,000 on the American Hockey League (AHL) level in 2014-15.

Terry, 25, played a career-high 10 NHL games in 2013-14, totaling two assists. He scored the game-winning goal in the shootout for the Hurricanes on Nov. 15 against the Minnesota Wild, and earned his first two NHL assists against Dallas on April 3.

Terry spent much of the season with the Charlotte Checkers (AHL), ranking first among Checkers in assists (41) and shots (230) and second on the team in goals (28) and points (69). He was tied for third in the AHL in power-play points (37).

Eye on the Draft: Jake Virtanen

Posted on June 23, 2014

The Canes have the No. 7 selection in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft, which begins Friday. Each day this week, CanesNow will take a look at a potential pick.

Today: Jake Virtanen.

Jake Virtanen scored 45 goals and had 71 points this past season for the Calgary Hitmen of the Western Hockey League, and goes into the draft ranked sixth among North American skaters by Central Scouting.

Virtanen has good size at 6 feet and 208 pounds and knows how to use it. The winger from Abbotsford helped Canada win the gold medal in the 2013 Ivan Hlinka Memorial and competed well for Canada in the 2014 Under-18 World Championship in Finland.

Tony MacDonald, the Canes' director of amateur scouting, called Virtanen the "prototypical power forward."


"He's a big man who can skate," MacDonald said. "He's an NHL skater and he's got an NHL shot. This guy can really shoot the puck. He's a shoot-first, ask-questions-later kind of player.

"He can use his speed to go around bigger guys or he might go over the top of you. He's a physical guy."

MacDonald also noted Virtanen, who models his game after Jonathan Toews of the Chicago Blackhawks, had 100 penalty minutes, an indication of his physicality.

Virtanen, a right-handed shooter, was ninth in the midterm Central Scouting rankings but has bumped up the board. He’s trending well, as they say, at the right time.

"In terms of size, speed and skills, he has it," MacDonald said. "He's probably as close as anyone to being able to play in the NHL from a physical standpoint."

Former Oilers coach Steve Smith joins Peters' staff as Canes assistant


The Carolina Hurricanes announced Monday that they have hired Steve Smith as an assistant coach, joining new coach Bill Peters and assistant Rod Brind’Amour.

Smith, 51, served as assistant coach for the Edmonton Oilers the past four seasons. A native of Glasgow, Scotland, he also spent one season as an assistant for the Calgary Flames in 1997-98 before returning to the ice as a defenseman for the Flames for three more seasons.

“Steve had a solid career as a player and has gained valuable coaching experience with two teams, especially when it comes to working with young defensemen,” Canes general manager Ron Francis said in a statement.

Smith was a sixth-round draft pick by the Oilers in the 1981 NHL draft and played 804 career regular-season NHL games. He had 375 points and 2,139 penalty minutes with Edmonton, Chicago and Calgary and was a part of three Stanley Cup championship teams with the Oilers.

Smith had three 50-point seasons, notching a career-high 57 for Chicago in the 1992-93 season. He had 52 points in 134 career playoff games.

Eye on the Draft: Nikolaj Ehlers


The Canes have the No. 7 selection in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft, which begins Friday. Each day this week, CanesNow will take a look at a potential pick.

Today: Nikolaj Ehlers.

Nikolaj Ehlers of the Halifax Mooseheads appears to be an intriguing prospect, one that has peaked the interest of many NHL scouts.

"He's a helluva of a player, a dynamic offensive force," said Tony MacDonald, the Canes' director of amateur scouting.

Ehlers, from Aalborg, Denmark, isn't a big guy (5-11, 176). He's not one of the top 10 North American skaters (13th by Central Scouting). But the winger may work his way into the top 10 in the draft Friday night in Philadelphia.

Ehlers finished fourth in scoring last season in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and was named the league's rookie of the year. He had 49 goals and 104 points in 63 games, then put together an impressive postseason that saw him notch 28 points (11 goals, 17 assists) in 16 games. He’s a sniper who quickly made the adjustment from the Swiss Elite League and European rinks to the smaller confines of North American ice.

MacDonald noted that Ehlers played part of the season for the Mooseheads on a line with Jonathan Drouin, the Tampa Bay Lightning first-round pick (third overall) in 2013. Drouin was third in scoring in the QMJHL.

"There's some talk that Drouin made Ehlers better," MacDonald said. "Maybe so, but he contributed to Drouin's success, too.

"He scored 49 goals. He had more than 100 points. He's not afraid to go into the tough areas. In one game I saw him get hit about as hard as anyone all season and he didn't miss a shift."

Ehlers, 18, has starred for Denmark's Under-20 and Under-18 Division 1A World Junior teams, coming back with gold medals. He also has good bloodline: his father, Heinz, played pro hockey in Europe.

While Canes general manager Ron Francis has talked about a preference for adding bigger, stronger players, Ehlers is a smaller, quicker player with a big game.

"He's got skill, he can skate and he can create," MacDonald said. "He's an offensive player but he's also pretty responsible without the puck. There's no doubt he's a top-end prospect."


Canes agree to terms with Terry, resign Hainsey, Gerbe

Erin Summers

The Carolina Hurricanes agreed to terms with left wing Chris Terry on a one-year, two-way contract Tuesday and resigned defenseman Ron Hainsey as well as forward Nathan Gerbe.

Hainsey will receive $8.5 million over three years - $3 million in each of the first two years and $2.5 million in year three. Gerbe's deal will earn him $3.5 million over the next two years.

Hainsey played in all 82 games of the 2013-14 season, tallying 15 points (four goals, 11 assists) while averaging better than 21 minutes of ice time per game.

Gerbe, 26, set or tied career highs in goals (16), power-play goals (3), points (31) and shots (221) a season ago.

Terry's deal will pay him $600,000 on the NHL level or $300,000 on the American Hockey League (AHL) level in 2014-15.

Terry, 25, played in 10 NHL games in 2013-14, totaling two assists. The Brampton, Ont., native scored the game-winning goal in the shootout for the Hurricanes on Nov. 15 against the Minnesota Wild, and earned his first two NHL assists against Dallas on April 3.

Terry spent the majority of the season with the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers, ranking first among Checkers in assists (41) and shots (230) and second on the team in goals (28) and points (69). He was tied for third in the AHL in power-play points (37), sixth in scoring, tied for 10th in goals and tied for 11th in assists.

Terry (5’10”, 195 lbs.) was selected by Carolina in the fifth round, 132nd overall, of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, and has appeared in 13 career NHL games with the Hurricanes, totaling one goal and two assists (3 points).

Hurricanes Add Steve Smith as Assistant Coach

Former NHL defenseman has five seasons of experience as NHL assistant

By Terrell Williams

RALEIGH, NC – Ron Francis, Executive Vice President and General Manager of the National Hockey League’s Carolina Hurricanes, today announced that the team has agreed to terms with Steve Smith as assistant coach. Smith will join new head coach Bill Peters and assistant coach Rod Brind’Amour behind the Hurricanes’ bench.

“Steve had a solid career as a player and has gained valuable coaching experience with two teams, especially when it comes to working with young defensemen,” said Francis.

Smith, 51, served as assistant coach for the Edmonton Oilers for the past four seasons. The Glasgow, Scotland, native had also spent one season as an assistant coach for the Calgary Flames in 1997-98 before returning to the ice as a player for the Flames for three more seasons. Smith also gained experience as a scout with the Chicago Blackhawks prior to joining the Oilers coaching staff.

Selected by the Oilers in the sixth round of the 1981 NHL Draft, Smith played 804 career regular-season NHL games and

recorded 375 points (72g, 303a) and 2,139 penalty minutes as a defenseman with Edmonton, Chicago and Calgary. He was a part of three Stanley Cup championship teams with the Oilers, and advanced to the Stanley Cup Final twice more with the Blackhawks, totaling 52 points (11g, 41a) in 134 career playoff games. Smith had three 50-point seasons as a blueliner, including a career-high 57 points (10g, 47a) for Chicago in 1992-93.

Prior to turning professional, Smith played for London of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) from 1980-1983, totaling 20 goals, 83 assists (103 points) and 481 penalty minutes.

Canes Agree to Terms with Forward Chris Terry

Left wing led Charlotte Checkers in assists in 2013-14

By Terrell Williams

RALEIGH, NC – Ron Francis, Executive Vice President and General Manager of the National Hockey League’s Carolina Hurricanes, today announced that the team has agreed to terms with left wing Chris Terry on a one-year, two-way contract. The deal will pay Terry $600,000 on the NHL level or $300,000 on the American Hockey League (AHL) level in 2014-15.

Terry, 25, played a career-high 10 NHL games in 2013-14, totaling two assists. The Brampton, Ont., native scored the


game-winning goal in the shootout for the Hurricanes on Nov. 15 against the Minnesota Wild, and earned his first two NHL assists against Dallas on April 3. Terry spent the majority of the season with the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers, ranking first among Checkers in assists (41) and shots (230) and second on the team in goals (28) and points (69). He was tied for third in the AHL in power-play points (37), sixth in scoring, tied for 10th in goals and tied for 11th in assists.

Terry (5’10”, 195 lbs.) was selected by Carolina in the fifth round, 132nd overall, of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, and has appeared in 13 career NHL games with the Hurricanes, totaling one goal and two assists (3 points). Terry represented the Checkers at the 2012 AHL All-Star Classic and has served as an alternate captain for Charlotte for the past two seasons.

Hurricanes Agree to Terms with Ron Hainsey

Defenseman agrees to three-year pact after playing all 82 games in 2013-14

By Terrell Williams

RALEIGH, NC – Ron Francis, Executive Vice President and General Manager of the National Hockey League’s Carolina Hurricanes, today announced that the team has agreed to terms with defenseman Ron Hainsey on a three-year contract.

The deal will pay Hainsey $3 million for the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons and $2.5 million in 2016-17.

Hainsey, 33, was one of two Hurricanes to play in all 82 games during the 2013-14 season, his first with the team. The Bolton, CT, native totaled four goals and 11 assists (15 points) for Carolina, his best scoring totals since the 2010-11 season. Hainsey (6’3”, 201 lbs.) ranked second among Hurricanes in blocked shots (124) and third on the team in ice time per game (21:26) last season, and registered an even or better plus/minus rating in 14 consecutive games from Oct. 28-Nov. 27.

Selected by the Montreal Canadiens in the first round, 13th overall, of the 2000 NHL Entry Draft, Hainsey has totaled 207 points (38g, 169a) and 316 penalty minutes in 673 career NHL games with Montreal, Columbus, Atlanta, Winnipeg and Carolina. He notched his 200th career point with an assist on Riley Nash’s goal against Nashville on Dec. 2, 2013. A product of the United States National Team Development Program, Hainsey spent two seasons at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell prior to turning professional. He has represented the United States at four major international tournaments: the 2009 IIHF World Championship, 2000 and 2001 World Junior Championships and 1999 U-18 World Junior Championship.

Canes Agree to Terms with Nathan Gerbe

Forward scored 16 goals in first season with Carolina

By Ken Preston

RALEIGH, NC – Ron Francis, Executive Vice President and General Manager of the National Hockey League’s Carolina Hurricanes, today announced that the team has signed forward Nathan Gerbe to a two-year contract. The deal will pay Gerbe $1.5 million in 2014-15, and $2 million in 2015-16.

Gerbe, 26, set or tied career highs in goals (16), power-play goals (3), points (31) and shots (221) in 2013-14, his first season with the Hurricanes. The Oxford, MI, native ranked fourth on the team in goals and seventh in points, playing in 81

of the team’s 82 games after signing as a free agent in the offseason. Gerbe played his 200th career NHL game on Oct. 28 against Pittsburgh, and notched his 100th career point with a shorthanded goal against New Jersey on March 8.

Selected by the Buffalo Sabres in the fifth round, 142nd overall, in the 2005 NHL Draft, Gerbe (5’5”, 178 lbs.) has scored 45 goals and earned 58 assists (103 points) in 269 career NHL regular-season games with Buffalo and Carolina. Gerbe has represented the United States in a number of international competitions, including the 2004 and 2005 U-18 World Junior Championships and the 2006 and 2007 World Junior Championships. Prior to turning professional, he played three seasons at Boston College, helping the Eagles capture the national championship in 2008.

Hurricanes GM Francis faces difficult decision on goalie Cam Ward

John Manasso

When Jim Rutherford was hired earlier this month as general manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins, following a 20-year stint in the same position with the Hurricanes/Whalers, he was asked why he thought his former franchise had not earned a playoff berth since 2009.

His answer: mostly injuries at the goaltender position.

In inheriting the roster, new general manager Ron Francis also inherits this franchise-defining question: What to do about goaltender Cam Ward?

Having hired Bill Peters as coach last week, Francis now faces his second major test as one of the NHL's busier times of the season in terms of player movement is set to begin. The draft,


often a time for major trades, begins on Friday and the free agency period starts a week from Tuesday.

While Francis will have to make decisions about a number of free agents and negotiate contracts with others -- particularly unrestricted free agents like injured defenseman Joni Pitkanen, forward Manny Malhotra and goalie Justin Peters and restricted free-agent forwards like Jiri Tlusty and Nathan Gerbe -- what to do about Ward could dominate Francis' agenda.

The goalie who led the franchise to its only Stanley Cup in 2006, earning the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP, has two more seasons left on a contract that pays him $6.3 million per season. However, he in all likelihood enters as the backup and with a troubling recent injury history. Ward has played only 47 games over the past two seasons, 27 less than the number he played in 2010-11, when he led the NHL in that category and tied for third in wins.

Anton Khudobin, who also battled injuries last season but, at 28, is younger than the 30-year-old Ward and has far less mileage on him, ranked eighth in the NHL in save percentage (.926) last season among those who played more than 10 games. Meanwhile, Ward, at .898 in 30 games, finished 73rd among 97 goalies in that category last season.

Francis' task is complicated by the fact that the free-agent goalie market is filled with a number of quality players. Ryan Miller, most recently of St. Louis, headlines the group. Anaheim's Jonas Hiller is another player capable of steering a team into the playoffs as a No. 1. Two older goalies have four Stanley Cups between them -- Martin Brodeur and Tim Thomas -- and are likely to be far cheaper than Ward. Younger goalies like Boston's Chad Johnson, Arizona's Thomas Greiss and even Ray Emery are also available, potentially diminishing the market for Ward.

In most scenarios, Francis will have to end up paying some of Ward's salary in any trade, a step that Rutherford was forced to

take last season when he moved Tuomo Ruutu to New Jersey, eating $950,000 in the process. Owner Peter Karmanos is likely to be understanding in that case, as Ward's deal did not come on Francis' watch.

Other complicating factors include Ward's no-trade clause and his standing with his teammates. On Monday, Philadelphia showed that a player can be persuaded to waive his no-trade clause when the Flyers informed wing Scott Hartnell that he had no future with the club. Hartnell waived his clause and the Flyers sent him to Columbus. Perhaps the 'Canes can convince Ward to do the same.

Among the team's leadership, such as captain Eric Staal, Ward is close personally and such moves do not go over easy. But that is the business of the league. The New York Rangers, fresh off reaching the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in 20 years, were forced last week to buy out center Brad Richards, one of the team's most respected players.

Francis could always choose to retain Ward, but the goalie might not step so quietly into the role of a backup. It's also not the ideal way to start the tenure of Peters, who will be a rookie coach in the league. A fresh start for all could be more workable.

In his introductory press conference, Peters cited three factors he wanted to improve. One was the team's start to games. This often can come down to a goalie making an early, timely save. Goalies with .898 save percentages often come up short in that respect. Peters also said he wants to win at home more and, generally, to be harder to play against. Again, strong goaltending goes a long way in those respects.

Francis told The News & Observer that he needs to make a decision on Ward's future by the end of the month. For the man who was known as "Ronnie Franchise" as a player, it's come down to crunch time.

Hurricanes release 2014-15 regular-season schedule

Peter Koutroumpis, Triangle Sports Network

RALEIGH, N.C. – The National Hockey League (NHL) released the 2014-15 schedules for its 30 member clubs on Sunday.

The Carolina Hurricanes, led by recently named new head coach Bill Peters, will open their 82-game slate at PNC Arena on Fri., Oct. 10, against the New York Islanders.

The Hurricanes’ early-season schedule places the team on the road to western Canada in October before returning home to

play seven home games in November, including a Nov. 2 matchup against the 2014 Stanley Cup-champion Los Angeles Kings.

The Hurricanes will then open a five-game home stand on Nov. 29 against the Pittsburgh Penguins heading into December.

During the latter part of the season, Carolina will play 11 of its 15 games in March at PNC Arena, primarily set in two five-game home stands.

On Mar. 17, the Hurricanes will host the Ottawa Senators, marking the team’s first St. Patrick’s Day home game since arriving in North Carolina.


The team will wrap up the season at home against Peters’ former club, the Detroit Red Wings, on Sat., April 11.

Of the Hurricanes’ 41 home games, 22 will fall on Fridays, Saturdays or Sundays and will be part of a total 16 sets of back-to-back games, four fewer than the team played last season.

Carolina Hurricanes re-sign Chris Terry


RALEIGH, N.C. – The Carolina Hurricanes re-signed left winger Chris Terry on Tuesday.

The team agreed to terms with Terry on a one-year, two-way contract which will pay him $600,000 on the NHL level or $300,000 on the American Hockey League (AHL) level in 2014-15.

Terry, 25, played a career-high 10 NHL games in 2013-14, totaling two assists.

Highlights of his season included scoring the game-winning goal in the shootout for the Hurricanes on Nov. 15 against the Anaheim Ducks, and earning his first two NHL assists against Dallas on April 3.

Terry, the Hurricanes’ fifth round pick in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft (132

nd overall), spent the majority of the season with the

AHL’s Charlotte Checkers, ranking first among Checkers players in assists (41) and shots (230), and second on the team in goals (28) and points (69).

He was tied for third in the AHL in power-play points (37), sixth in scoring, tied for 10

th in goals, and tied for 11

th in assists.

Terry has appeared in 13 career NHL games with the Hurricanes, totaling one goal and two assists (3 points), represented the Checkers at the 2012 AHL All-Star Classic, and has served as an alternate captain for Charlotte during the past two seasons.

Peters brings lunch pail work ethic to Carolina Hurricanes


RALEIGH, N.C. – When Bill Peters was introduced as the head coach of the Carolina Hurricanes last week, no one noticed the hard hat, tool belt and lunch pail that he brought along with him.

No, the dark suit and tie was the substitute for what he should have worn – a red, white, and black hard hat and a hammer hanging from his waist to go along with the gritty, hard-working attitude that only a blue-collar construction foreman possesses.

His comments barely five minutes into his press conference on how he would make the players accountable spoke volumes of the type of work he and the Hurricanes would get into very soon – hard and grueling.

If it wasn’t good work, then the ultimate consequence would show in ice time, or lack of it.

“I have the ultimate hammer as a coach,” Peters said.

“The hammer is the ice time, right? They all want ice time, they all feel they deserve more ice, they all wanna’ play in the situations that matches their skill set. And I’m all for that, as long as you’re givin’ me the things that I need in the work ethic to play away from the puck, the attention to detail. That’s the perfect marriage when it all comes together. When it doesn’t all come together, I gotta’ swing the hammer.”

It was a clear cut and straight-forward choice of words.

Every player on the Hurricanes roster, a group that has underachieved in not making the playoffs for the past five seasons, will deal with a man who is trying to prove that he can lead them to the postseason and beyond.

He has no favorites, so on the first day of training camp and beyond, there should be little chance that any one of them will give anything less than 100 percent effort.

That is, if they want to play.

Otherwise fans won’t see much of them.

At the same time Peters will have one hand on his hip to draw upon his hammer, the coach, who presented executive vice president and general manager Ron Francis and his management team a power point presentation as well as detailed notes on how he would lead the team, understands that he and his staff must also teach and instruct.

“That’s my ultimate weapon,” Peters continued.

“It’s the ice time. But I wanna’ make players comfortable. I want them to succeed. I’m gonna’ put them in positions to succeed and if they follow the template and the structure we’re gonna’ play with, they will be successful. We’ve got lots of good quality players here. We just gotta’ give ‘em a little bit of guidance and let ‘em know where they can negotiate, what’s negotiable, what’s not negotiable. The work ethic part of it is not negotiable. You look at around the league at any team that’s any good; they’re some of the hardest working teams in the league. That’s where it starts.”

Growing up in a small Alberta farming town, Three Hills, Peters described it as a really good hockey community that spawned former NHLer’s like brothers Mike and Randy Moller among others.

He also spent part of his childhood in a town just north of Three Hills, in Killam, Alberta where he continued to play his minor hockey under head coaches that influenced his desire to get to another level.

“In a small town you have the opportunity to be on the ice every day and you’re on the ice with not only your own team, but the team that’s the next age group up,” Peters said.

“People are helpin’ you along if you show a little bit of enthusiasm towards the game and that’s what happened.”

As he advanced in his playing career, he didn’t play junior hockey, but instead skated in the Canadian college system.


While attending Red Deer College of the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference, Peters played under current Red Wings coach Mike Babcock, whose mentorship further strengthened his passion to stay in the game after playing by stepping behind the bench.

“All of a sudden you’re exposed to good coaching and teams that are well prepared and that’s where my passion for the game grew.”

Peters finally realized in his early 20’s that his career in hockey wasn’t going to continue as a player, but as a coach, and so he took his first position as an assistant with the Spokane Chiefs of the Western Hockey League (WHL).

From there he followed the coaching road through junior hockey and into the pros which has now put him in Raleigh as the head coach of the Hurricanes.

Will he be the right person to get this team into the postseason and excite a loyal fan base that has reached its limit?

Will a guy with small town Canadian roots, who never played in the AHL or NHL, but has cut his teeth in the game gaining success and opportunity behind the bench be the one to get through to this team and finally push them over the playoff cut line?

He thinks so, if the players are properly informed of what’s expected of them and if the work they produce is up to his standards.

Otherwise, the hammer will be swung until the right combination of guys do it.

“They have to know what you want from them,” Peters said.

“So if you haven’t laid it out, what’s expected of them, then they’re unsure. So you take away all that uncertainty by explaining how we’re gonna’ play as a team, how they’re skill set fits into what we’re tryin’ to do, and then away you go.”

As far as what the fans should expect – they should see an honest effort.

“You know what people wanna’ see?” Peters asked.

“They wanna’ see people workin’ hard. That’s what they wanna’ see. Everybody wants an honest effort that they can hang their hat on. You’re not gonna’ win 82 times in this league, but you have an opportunity to show up all 82 times, right? And at home, you’ve got an advantage with matchups a little bit, with line changes and some situations that favor the home team and you have to take advantage of those. Travel is usually an issue quite a bit in this league. There’s some traveling schedule issues for teams, so when you have a team that’s maybe vulnerable, you have to pounce and take advantage. All that comes into play, but it starts with being ready for yourself. Worry about your own team, so the individual player worries about himself, all 20 guys that are dressed that night, and collectively we’ve got everybody ready to go. Make sure we have a good plan – everybody on the same page to execute that plan – and then let’s go out and play. And we’ll like our results at the end of the day more often than not.

Hurricanes add Smith to coaching staff


RALEIGH, N.C. – Carolina Hurricanes head coach Bill Peters has a new assistant coach to join him and assistant Rod Brind’Amour behind the bench.

The Hurricanes announced on Monday that Steve Smith had agreed to terms to become the team’s other assistant coach.

“Steve had a solid career as a player and has gained valuable coaching experience with two teams, especially when it comes to working with young defensemen,” Francis.said.

Smith, 51, served as assistant coach for the Edmonton Oilers for the past four seasons.

He also spent one season as an assistant coach for the Calgary Flames in 1997-98 before returning to the ice as a player for the Flames for three more seasons.

Smith worked as a scout with the Chicago Blackhawks prior to joining the Oilers coaching staff.

Selected by the Oilers in the sixth round of the 1981 NHL Draft, Smith played 804 career regular-season NHL games and recorded 375 points (72g, 303a) and 2,139 penalty minutes as a defenseman with Edmonton, Chicago and Calgary.

He was a part of three Stanley Cup championship teams with the Oilers, and advanced to the Stanley Cup Final twice with the Blackhawks, totaling 52 points (11g, 41a) in 134 career playoff games played.

Smith had three 50-point seasons as a blueliner, including a career-high 57 points (10g, 47a) for Chicago in 1992-93.

Smith played his junior hockey with the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) from 1980-1983, finishing his career with them by posting 20 goals and 83 assists (103 points) along with serving 481 penalty minutes.


Mockable Mock Draft : The Carolina Hurricanes Select...

Adam French

30. New Jersey Devils : Kasperi Kapanen 29. Los Angeles Kings : Brendan Lemieux 28. Tampa Bay Lightning : Julius Honka 27. Chicago Blackhawks : Conner Bleackley 26. Montreal Canadiens : Nick Schmaltz 25. Boston Bruins : Alex Tuch 24. Anaheim Ducks : Jack Dougherty 23. Colorado Avalanche : Travis Sanheim 22. Pittsburgh Penguins : Nikolay Goldobin 21. St. Louis Blues : Joshua Ho-Sang 20. San Jose Sharks : Brendan Perlini 19. Tampa Bay Lightning : Ivan Barbashev 18. Minnesota Wild : Roland McKeown 17. Philadelphia Flyers : Sonny Milano 16. Columbus Blue Jackets : Jakub Vrána 15. Detroit Red Wings : Adrian Kempe 14. Dallas Stars : Robby Fabbri 13. Washington Capitals : Dylan Larkin 12. Arizona Coyotes : Jake Virtanen 11. The Nashville Predators : William Nylander 10. Anaheim Ducks : Jared McCann 9. Winnipeg Jets : Nikolaj Ehlers 8. Toronto Maple Leafs : Nick Ritchie 7. The Carolina Hurricanes select Defenseman Haydn Fleury of the Red Deer Rebels in the WHL 6’3, 203lbs, 1996-07-08 : 17 years old 70 – 8g – 38a – 46p After Ekblad there is a pretty much clear choice as the second best defenseman in the draft. Fleury is coming off a very strong season that ended with a great showing at the U18’s where he

was named the “Best Defenseman” of the tournament. It was based on his excellent defensive showing. His strong skating abilities and willingness to play a smart physical game is extremely useful. He can grind it out without losing his head and taking bad penalties. Positioning and smarts make him effective and hard to beat. With added muscle and filling out, he could be a force out there and the perfect complimentary defender for a dynamic defenseman. Mostly because he has the ability to keep up with them and the mentality to cover for mistakes.

It’s hard to say what his offensive potential is at the NHL level. On the Rebels he was given by default a lot of offensive zone starts and PP time, simply because they didn’t have anyone better. Yet at the U18’s it was apparent that they wanted him in an almost purely shutdown role, something he excelled at. There is potential for some offensive production, but at the NHL level expectations should probably be tempered in that regard. His shutdown ability is what will dazzle and make him important to any team that picks him. 21 of his 46 points came on the PP (half his goals), but I don’t think he has the offensive capabilities to run an NHL power play where there will be more dynamic players that are built for offensive defending.

He logs big minutes, plays all situations (though as mentioned earlier he won’t see much PP time in the NHL) and is tasked with shutting down opponents best players. At the next level, this is what you can hope from him. The Hurricanes are entering a non-Rutherford era for the first time in seemingly forever. The Canes have done extremely well with their forward selections, yet have never seemed to be able to develop a defender. Faulk is one of the few and he wasn’t even their first pick. The Canes will need defense if they ever plan to compete again, not just flashy defense, but guys who can muck it up and get things done in their own end. Fleury is that guy. Comparison : Dan Hamhuis


30 Thoughts: NHL free agents reluctant to commit early

By Elliotte Friedman

From May 1 to June 30, 2012, more than 20 unrestricted free-agents-to-be signed in advance of the annual summer meat market, insuring their futures before anyone could bid.

Three were traded to new locations before they committed: Brad Stuart, Tomas Vokoun and Dennis Wideman. The rest included Paul Gaustad, Josh Harding, Barret Jackman, Chris Kelly, Travis Moen, Lee Stempniak and Jarret Stoll. We've still got another week to go before this year's extravaganza, but do you know what the number is in 2014? No peeking! Eight -- and five are goalies in a very tight market for that position. The three skaters are Mike Brown (San Jose), Kimmo Timonen (Philadelphia) and Marek Zidlicky (New Jersey). That's it. There is time for this number to increase, but it's clear one major post-2012 change impacted a player's willingness to sign early. The new CBA allows a week-long "courting period" where free agents can chat with potential employers to see if there's a match. Technically, no financial inducements can be made, but that's almost impossible to enforce. You can imagine the conversations. GM or owner, not wanting to break the rules: "Do you like numbers with lots of straight lines? Or do you like curves?" Player: "Definitely curves."

GM/owner (in his head): "Does he mean $6 million? Or $8 million?" I was a big supporter of this idea for two reasons. First, teams were really complaining about tampering. Second, it is great for fan and media interest, as we race to find out who's talking to whom. After spending some time on the phone last weekend, it's clear the players love it and the agents love it. But, my goodness, do the teams HATE it. A couple of the rants were sports-radio-caller brilliant. "It used to be that, come July 1, the risk was shared equally,"

said one GM with a calmer take. "The player could say, 'I want to see what's out there,' and that would be fine, because we could say, 'Go ahead, but we also want to see what's out there.' The player risked losing his seat at our table. That's not the case anymore. They can test free agency, but we can't replace them in free agency -- yet." That's why there is so much talk about trades. The free agent class is weak to begin with -- teams want to settle their problems beforehand. But somebody is going to miss out. If you're Ales Hemsky or Paul Stastny or whomever, don't you want to make sure? It makes the teams crazy, because it creates uncertainty. And that uncertainty will add a little more wildness to a loopy week. 30 Thoughts 1. The Toronto Sun's Steve Simmons reported L.A.'s offer to Marian Gaborik was three years and $15 million US. I'd heard an average annual value of closer to $5.5-$6M, but the same length. There was optimism something would get done. Whatever the case, Gaborik's decision absolutely affects the market. 2. When Los Angeles announced John Stevens's promotion last week, it also revealed new contracts for Davis Payne and Bill Ranford. Who didn't come up? Darryl Sutter. That led to speculation he might work one more year before Stevens takes over. Doesn't sound like that's Dean Lombardi's plan. Word is discussions are underway on a new contract for Sutter. 3. As we head towards Philadelphia, site of Draft Smorgasbord 2014, who are the teams to watch? Well, Florida is atop the list, because of its willingness to separate itself from the first overall selection. Other teams don't believe GM Dale Tallon will make his final decision until Thursday night, so there might be a lull beforehand. Why show your best offer on Tuesday when it might not matter for 48 hours? 4. One team that has definitely made an offer? Vancouver. I believe it included their first pick in this draft (which is sixth overall) and Hunter Shinkaruk, who was taken 24th in 2013. There was at least one other piece, probably off the main roster, but I can't pin it down. It's not Ryan Kesler, who won't go there. 5. The Ottawa Sun's Bruce Garrioch reported Kesler would only go to Chicago or Pittsburgh. I don't think the list is a long one, but it does include Anaheim.


6. Interesting scenario of the week: Will the Canucks and Kesler work towards a three-way deal that gets Kesler where he wants to go if Vancouver can't find a match with one of his preferred destinations? 7. Islanders GM Garth Snow is on record telling Newsday's Arthur Staple that he will give up the fifth selection for a player who can help them win now. Other teams are more in "stealth mode," and one is definitely Toronto. Dave Nonis is like a baseball GM, throwing 25 players on the waiver wire to hide the one he really wants to move. 8. There is no doubt he is testing the market on a significant portion of his roster. I don't think Toronto will make a deal just for the sake of it, but the Leafs are looking to add depth up front and re-arrange the blue-line. Teams asking about Morgan Rielly are being laughed out of existence. I also don't think Jonathan Bernier and Phil Kessel are available, either. They get asked a lot about Jake Gardiner and James van Riemsdyk, but are you willing to make an offer that doesn't allow Toronto to say no? 9. Nonis was not available to comment, but he has always maintained he will only trade youth for youth. Or, if we're talking about a more veteran player, someone with term who can still help. Toronto will consider moving up, but would the Maple Leafs consider dropping out of the first round entirely if they got a significant asset? 10. Two others to watch: Carolina and Winnipeg. When the Hurricanes introduced new coach Bill Peters, GM Ron Francis said, "I don't foresee a major makeover." That may be true, but it would surprise no one if he made one significant move to jolt his group. Not sure his top young players (Justin Faulk, Jeff Skinner) are available, though. 11. As for Winnipeg, we've all heard the Evander Kane rumours, and there is growing consensus the Jets are willing to do it. Zach Bogosian's name is getting around too, which surprised me. But the Jets are probably in the same position as the Maple Leafs (and others), listening to inquiries about almost everyone on their roster, not necessarily pulling the trigger, but listening intently. They know the honeymoon is running out. 12. Finally, there's Philadelphia. It would be a surprise if the Flyers, hosts of this draft, did not at least inquire about what it would take to get near the top -- if not right at it. This is a franchise unafraid to take bold swings. 13. There were rumblings a few weeks ago about Edmonton moving up, but that trail's gone cold. 14. The Oilers offered Steve Smith a chance to stay, but as the "eye in the sky" as opposed to being on the bench. Apparently, he's interviewed elsewhere. If Dallas Eakins is looking for someone else who played defence in the NHL, he might turn to AHL Lake Erie's Dean Chynoweth, a friend of his who made a positive impact with Travis Hamonic (as an Islanders assistant) and Tyson Barrie. But Chynoweth might not want to be in the

press box, either. 15. Hearing a lot of Montreal's decisions are based on whether or not the Canadiens decide to keep Andrei Markov. His asking price (reported to be three years and $18M) is steep, especially that third year. Accepting that, or something close to it, affects Marc Bergevin's ability to do other things. He's undoubtedly looking to see if there's something he can do that would make this choice an easier one. 16. In the middle of all the Jason Spezza rumours, he did a really nice thing for Sam Bennett. Bennett told reporters while attending Game 3 of the Stanley Cup final that Ottawa's captain (for now) reached out to him when news broke that the upcoming first-round pick couldn't do a single pull-up at the NHL combine. The two work out at the same gym. So what was said? "I don't really know Sam, but he is around the gym. So I called him because I felt bad for him," Spezza wrote by email. "I know the pressure he must be under before the draft." 17. He continued: "I told him that I have never really watched him play; the only reason why people are making a big deal about this is because you are an amazing player. [Don't] make what should be a positive life experience of getting drafted become a negative because of one test... I said he is probably well aware that he needs to work at his upper-body strength. Use the criticism constructively and use it to motivate, not to beat yourself up... My whole career people have told me about all the things I do wrong but it just drives me to get better... And I told him to own it, don't be cocky about the fact that you can't do a pull-up but don't run from it either... Anyways, that's kinda the Coles Notes version of my talk." That's great stuff. (Spezza responded through a third party -- no way he's giving me his email address right now.) 18. There's a lot of linkage between Spezza and St. Louis, which makes a ton of sense. I asked four execs to name the one trade they think will happen, and Spezza to St. Louis got three votes. (This, of course, means it won't occur. Eric Staal would also look great in a Blues jersey, if Carolina wanted to do that.) Anyway, the key name being mentioned in return is Patrik Berglund, who needs a new contract after making $3.2M last season. There are differing opinions on him. He's bounced a bit from centre to wing and has this weird career history of strong production in odd-numbered seasons (eg. 2012-2013, which is a good omen for next year) but lower totals in even ones (2013-14). 19. The Blues have a few options with Berglund if this is not to be. Almost everyone is looking for centres and Berglund won't cost as much as Kesler or Spezza or Joe Thornton (assuming he is even available). For example, if the Canucks trade Kesler and still desire to add more, would they look at Berglund to fill holes? 20. So, Bill Peters, is Eric Staal a centre or a winger? "Both. But, to me, he's a centre to start. 21. Peters had a great line about his captain. I asked if he'd had a chance to speak to Staal and he said he was going to


talk to him as soon as we were done. "You're talking to me before you talk to him?" I asked. "I'm almost finished driving," Peters answered. "I don't need to take notes with you. I do need to take them with him." 22. A couple things he said were pretty interesting. About making the playoffs, he said, "I'm going to ask our players, 'Can we get one more win a month?' That's 14 points. It's not that daunting of a task." He also pointed out how the Hurricanes had 70 more minutes on the power play than the penalty kill (third-best in the NHL), but ranked 28th overall with the man-advantage. That's a killer. 23. Peters impressed every team who interviewed him with his preparation. Apparently, the binders he brought were really something. And he made sure to have enough for everyone talking to him, meaning he researched how many people would be in the interview. As someone who is occasionally brutal on details, I enjoy hearing about this stuff. 24. So, what happened in Pittsburgh? There is zero doubt the Penguins were going to hire Peters or Willie Desjardins. They were the top two on the list. When Carolina snapped up Peters, Desjardins was the guy. Desjardins can answer this better than anyone else, but in the end I think his heart was in Vancouver. 25. He's from Western Canada and has the Medicine Hat connection with Trevor Linden. But do not underestimate the place of Doug Lidster in all this. Lidster -- who worked alongside Desjardins in AHL Texas -- is very tight with Linden and also will be joining Vancouver. If Linden and Desjardins had any doubt about each other, Lidster would have erased it. If Desjardins wouldn't be able to take Lidster with him to Pittsburgh, as it was reported, that would have been a problem. (For the record, another Penguins candidate said he was not told about any restrictions on assistants. That source

is not Peters, who is quoted above.) 26. The Canucks were supposed to interview Scott Arniel on Monday and Desjardins on Tuesday. They changed the schedule. Pittsburgh brought Desjardins into town last Thursday, met with him and, word is, were ready to offer him the job Friday morning. I'd like to see Linden's phone records from Thursday night. Whatever the case, someone from Vancouver made a pre-emptive strike, making sure it was all but done before Pittsburgh could close. 27. The Penguins are unlikely to promote their AHL coach, John Hynes. If Peters and Desjardins were the choices, is that good news for Todd Nelson? Very similar resume. Another new interviewee will be Mike Johnston, who coaches at WHL Portland and was on Vancouver's list. 28. Penguins fans are looking at this and saying, "What the heck? Does no one want to coach Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin?" It's a great question and one we are all asking. The number one answer: It hasn't been a lot of fun there. Ownership and the team's CEO, David Morehouse, are taking most of the heat, but that's not a true picture, because it extended onto the bench and in the dressing room. The demands, the pressure and the disappointment took its toll on a lot of people. No one likes to lose, but things used to be joyous there. That must be re-discovered. It also reveals what a great job Ray Shero did preventing all of this from going public while he was in charge. 29. One other Pittsburgh note: hearing Kris Letang will not be traded, barring a ridiculous offer. 30. OK, one more. Assistant coach Todd Reirden, responsible for defence and given permission to look for other work, may end up in Washington alongside Barry Trotz

Carolina Hurricanes agree to 3-year deal, $8.5 million deal with defenceman Ron Hainsey

The Canadian Press

RALEIGH, N.C. - The Carolina Hurricanes have reached a three-year, $8.5 million deal with defenceman Ron Hainsey.

The deal will pay Hainsey $3 million for two seasons, then drop to $2.5 million for the 2016-17 season.

The 33-year-old was one of two Hurricanes to play all 82 games last year, his first with the team. He finished with four goals and 11 assists.

The Hurricanes also signed a two-year deal with forward Nathan Gerbe. The deal pays Gerbe $1.5 million for the upcoming season and $2 million for the next season. Gerbe scored 16 goals last season for Carolina.

The Hurricanes have also reached a one-year deal with left wing Chris Terry, who will make $600,000 on the NHL level or $300,000 at the American Hockey League level.


Hurricanes hand Gerbe two-year, $3.5 million extension

James O’Brian

It’s been a busy Tuesday for the Carolina Hurricanes (and really, a busy week in general). The latest move comes as the franchise locked up forward Nathan Gerbe to a two-year, $3.5 million extension.

The contract is worth $1.5 million in 2014-15 and $2 million in 2015-16.

Much like today’s other noteworthy signing* Ron Hainsey, Gerbe made an impression with Carolina in his first season

with the ‘Canes. The under-sized forward scored 16 goals and 31 points in 2013-14, tying career-highs in the process.

Despite being a small player, it doesn’t seem like Gerbe’s offensive stats masked overall deficiencies, as his possession stats were pretty solid last season to boot.

With new head coach Bill Peters in the mix and these supporting cast players returning, the Hurricanes are covering their bases early in the offseason. Then again, these moves could also be the prelude of even bigger things to come as new GM Ron Francis changes things up.

* - They also locked up Chris Terry to a one-year, two-way deal today.

HURRICANES INK D HAINSEY TO THREE-YEAR, $8.5 MILLION DEAL

TSN.CA STAFF

The Carolina Hurricanes have agreed to terms with defenceman Ron Hainsey on a three-year contract.

The deal will pay Hainsey $3 million for the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons and $2.5 million in 2016-17.

The 33-year-old Hainsey was one of two Hurricanes to play in all 82 games last season; his first with the team. The Bolton, CT, native totaled four goals and 11 assists, his best scoring totals since the 2010-11 season.

Hainsey ranked second among Hurricanes in blocked shots (124) and third on the team in ice time per game (21:26) last season, and registered an even or better plus/minus rating in 14 consecutive games from Oct. 28-Nov. 27.

Selected by the Montreal Canadiens in the first round, 13th overall, of the 2000 NHL Entry Draft, Hainsey has totaled 38 goals, 169 assists and 316 penalty minutes in 673 career NHL games with Montreal, Columbus, Atlanta, Winnipeg and Carolina. He notched his 200th career point with an assist on Riley Nash's goal against Nashville on Dec. 2, 2013.

A product of the United States National Team Development Program, Hainsey spent two seasons at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell prior to turning professional. He has represented the United States at four major international tournaments: the 2009 IIHF World Championship, 2000 and 2001 World Junior Championships and 1999 U-18 World Junior Championship.


Assistant coach Smith leaves Oilers for Carolina

By Joanne Ireland

EDMONTON - Now that Steve Smith has accepted an assistant coaching post with the Carolina Hurricanes, the Edmonton Oilers will be looking to fill the void in their revamped staff.

Smith, 51, had been with the Oilers for the past four seasons but not only was his contract up for renewal, his role was going to change if he had elected to stay on. Earlier this month, the Oilers reassigned Kelly Buchberger to the player personnel department and hired Craig Ramsay, who was subsequently assigned the defence and the power play while Keith Acton was tasked with the penalty kill.

That left Smith, who ran the defence and the penalty kill last season, as the odd man out of the bench area.

Head coach Dallas Eakins said at the time of Ramsay’s hire that he had hoped Smith would stay on but that if he did, it

would be as the assistant stationed in the press box on game days.

Instead, Smith will work with new head man Bill Peters and assistant Rod Brind’Amour in Carolina. General manager Ron Francis said in a press release that Smith “had a solid career as a player and has gained valuable coaching experience with two teams, especially when it comes to working with young defencemen.”

Smith worked as an assistant with the Calgary Flames during the 1997-98 season and is the second to travel from Edmonton for Carolina. Ricky Olczyk, who was the Oilers assistant general manager for six seasons, is now Francis’ right hand man.

Peters was hired last week to replace Kirk Muller. He was coaching Chicago’s American Hockey League team when Smith was scouting for the Blackhawks.

Oil drops — Oilers prospects Darnell Nurse and Greg Chase are among the 41 players who have been invited to Canada’s national junior team summer development camp. Edmonton Oil Kings forward Curtis Lazar has also received an invite.

Hurricanes name Steve Smith assistant coach

Monday, 06.23.2014 / 5:57 PM / News

The Carolina Hurricanes named Steve Smith assistant coach, they announced Monday.

Smith will join new coach Bill Peters and assistant coach Rod Brind'Amour behind the Hurricanes' bench. Peters was hired last Thursday to replace Kirk Muller.

Smith, 51, served as assistant coach for the Edmonton Oilers the past four seasons. The Glasgow, Scotland native also spent one season as an assistant coach for the Calgary Flames in 1997-98 before returning to the ice as a player for the Flames for three more seasons.

"Steve had a solid career as a player and has gained valuable coaching experience with two teams, especially when it comes

to working with young defensemen," Hurricanes general manager Ron Francis said.

Selected by the Oilers in the sixth round of the 1981 NHL Draft, Smith played 804 regular-season games and had 375 points (72 goals, 303 assists) and 2,139 penalty minutes as a defenseman with Edmonton, Chicago and Calgary. He was a part of three Stanley Cup championship teams with the Oilers, and advanced to the Stanley Cup Final twice more with the Blackhawks, scoring 52 points (11 goals, 41 assists) in 134 postseason games.

Hurricanes sign Terry to one-year, two-way contract

Tuesday, 06.24.2014 / 1:40 PM / News

The Carolina Hurricanes and forward Chris Terry agreed to terms Tuesday on a one-year, two-way contract for the 2014-15 season.


Terry will make $600,000 at the NHL level or $300,000 at the American Hockey League level.

Terry, 25, played 10 games for the Hurricanes this season. He had the winning shootout goal Nov. 15 against the Anaheim Ducks and also scored his first two NHL points, both assists, on April 3 against the Dallas Stars.

Terry also led the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL in goals (28) and points (69). He finished sixth in the league in scoring and third in power-play points (37).

Carolina's fifth-round pick (No. 132) in the 2007 NHL Draft, Terry has one goal and three points in 13 career NHL games.

Hainsey agrees to three-year deal to stay with Carolina

Tuesday, 06.24.2014 / 6:23 PM / News

The Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday came to terms with defenseman Ron Hainsey on a three-year, $8.5 million contract.

Hainsey, 33, will make $3 million each of the next two seasons and $2.5 million in the final year.

Hainsey had four goals and 15 points, and was one of two Hurricanes to play in all 82 games during the 2013-14 season, his first with the team. He also ranked second on the team in blocked shots (124) and third in ice time per game (21:26).

A first-round pick (No. 13) by the Montreal Canadiens in the 2000 NHL Draft, Hainsey has career totals of 38 goals and 207 points in 673 games with the Canadiens, Columbus Blue Jackets, Atlanta Thrashers, Winnipeg Jets and Hurricanes.

Hurricanes re-sign Gerbe to two-year contract

Tuesday, 06.24.2014 / 6:46 PM / News

The Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday re-signed forward Nathan Gerbe to o a two-year, $3.5 million contract that will pay him $1.5 million next season and $2 million in 2015-16.

Gerbe, 26, signed as a free agent with Carolina last summer and set or tied career highs in goals (16), power-play goals (3), points (31) and shots (221) in 2013-14. He ranked fourth on the Hurricanes in goals and seventh in points while playing in 81 of the team's 82 games.

Gerbe played his 200th NHL game on Oct. 28 against the Pittsburgh Penguins, and notched his 100th career point with a shorthanded goal against the New Jersey Devils on March 8.

The 5-foot-5, 178-pound former Boston College star was selected by the Buffalo Sabres in the fifth round (No. 142) of the 2005 NHL Draft, He has 45 goals and 103 points in 269 NHL regular-season games.

Earlier Tuesday, the Hurricanes re-signed forward Chris Terry and defenseman Ron Hainsey.

Healthy Crosby cleans up at NHL Awards

Tuesday, 06.24.2014 / 11:03 PM / 2014 NHL Awards

By Dan Rosen - NHL.com Senior Writer

LAS VEGAS -- First remember what Sidney Crosby was doing two and a half years ago. Now look at where he was and what he was doing Tuesday night.

It's an accomplishment so impressive it's worth three trophies.

Crosby went from waiting, wondering and hoping his concussion issues would subside so he could resume his career to standing on stage at Encore Theater in Wynn Las Vegas accepting the three trophies that represent overall individual excellence in a NHL season.

The Pittsburgh Penguins captain won the Hart Memorial Trophy for the second time in his career, finishing with 128 of 137 first-place votes. He previously won the Hart in 2006-07, when he was 19 years old. Injuries derailed potential MVP seasons in 2010-11 and 2012-13.

He also took home the Ted Lindsay Award (formerly the Lester B. Pearson Award) for the second straight season and third time in his career. In addition, he was feted with the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer for the second time in his career.

Crosby finished with 104 points, 17 clear of Anaheim Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf, who was second in the scoring race and in the Hart Trophy vote and a finalist for the Ted Lindsay Award.

"You look back at 19, I probably took it for granted a little bit," Crosby said. "When you win [the Hart Trophy] that young, you probably expect to win it maybe sooner and you might think it's a little easier than it actually is. You need a lot of things to go right. You need to play with a lot of good players. You need to stay healthy. I'm happy to be able to do that this year."

Crosby hadn't been able to stay healthy since the 2009-10 season, when he had 110 points in 81 games and finished as the runner-up to Vancouver Canucks captain Henrik Sedin in the Hart Trophy vote.

He looked like a runaway winner for the NHL's MVP award through the first half of the 2010-11 season, but Crosby couldn't play the second half because of a concussion. He finished with 66 points in 41 games, his last on Jan. 5, 2012.

Crosby didn't play another game until Nov. 21. His return was brief, eight games to be exact, before he had to go back on the shelf because of further issues related to his concussion. He didn't play again until March 15, 2013.

Through it all, Crosby wondered if he would ever be able to resume his career. He couldn't even imagine winning another individual award.

"Having gone through that and being on the other side of it, hopefully, I have a much greater appreciation for all this stuff," Crosby said. "Even though you're not playing for [individual awards] you definitely don't take it for granted and you try to enjoy it a little more."


Crosby's goals entering this season had nothing to do with individual awards. He simply wanted to play a full season. He hadn't done that since 2010-11.

He played in the first 36 games of 2012-13 and again looked like he would be a runaway League MVP with 56 points until his jaw was shattered by an errant shot, forcing him to miss the final 12 games and the first game of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Crosby missed two games in 2013-14, including the last game of the regular season, which was meaningless for the Penguins.

"This stuff [the awards] is kind of an added bonus," Crosby said. "I was happy to be able to [play a full season]."

That he overcame his injury woes to return to being the game's premier player is a testament to his competitiveness, said Detroit Red Wings coach Mike Babcock, who has won the past two Olympic gold medals with Crosby.

"He's a great competitor," Babcock said. "He's a committed, committed guy to getting better. He's a leader in that way and that's why he's been so successful."

Considering that competitiveness, it's no surprise that Crosby's next individual goal is to improve on what he did in 2013-14. He constantly sets the bar higher for himself, and in a way Crosby views this season as a new start for him after all the injury problems.

"There's still a level I can get to," Crosby said. "Before I got hurt was probably the best I felt and I'd like to get back to that point. I don't feel like I got to that point this year. I feel like I was consistent and that was a product of our team and the guys around me, but I still feel like I can improve and learn a lot more. That's exciting."

Avalanche, Crosby, Bergeron win big at Awards

Wednesday, 06.25.2014 / 12:30 AM / 2014 NHL Awards

By Dan Rosen - NHL.com Senior Writer

LAS VEGAS -- The Colorado Avalanche were 13 voting points shy of a perfect show Tuesday night at the 2014 NHL Awards.

Three out of four is still quite the accomplishment for a team that last year at this time was preparing to select first in the NHL Draft, hoping to build for the future with a new coach and management hierarchy.

"Unfortunately [goalie Semyon Varlamov] couldn't win, but it's definitely nice to have us all win," said Avalanche center Ryan O'Reilly, who won the Lady Byng Trophy. "We can celebrate it together."

Colorado's Patrick Roy won the Jack Adams Award in his first season as a NHL coach, topping Detroit Red Wings coach Mike Babcock and Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper. Roy received 68 out of 95 first-place votes, was named on 89 ballots and had 399 voting points, 236 more than Babcock. It's all a result of him leading the Avalanche to a 112-point season and the Central Division regular-season title.

Colorado was third in the overall standings this season after finishing 29th in 2012-13.

"Throughout the year he always reinforced that whatever we did to do it with intensity and to do it as best we could," O'Reilly said of Roy. "There were times where we could have relaxed a bit, but he kept us going. He made adjustments when he needed to and without those adjustments there's no way we would have won the division."

Nathan MacKinnon, the player Colorado selected with the No. 1 pick last June, was a landslide winner in balloting for the Calder Trophy as the League's top rookie, receiving 130 of 137 possible first-place votes. The 18-year-old forward is the youngest player in history to win the Calder Trophy.

He led all rookies with 39 assists, 63 points, 241 shots on goal and eight power play goals. He was tied for first among rookies with 24 goals and five game-winning goals. MacKinnon had a 13-game point streak from Jan. 25 to March 6, breaking Wayne Gretzky's record for longest single-season point streak by a player age 18 or younger.

"I was very fortunate to be brought into a good team," MacKinnon said. "A lot of high picks come into teams that struggle for the first few years. Thankfully, I jumped into a winning [environment]. We started off strong and we kept it going from there. Overall it was definitely the best year of my life."

O'Reilly joined Hall of Fame member and current Colorado president of hockey operations Joe Sakic as the only Avalanche players to win the Lady Byng Trophy, which is awarded "to the player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability."

O'Reilly had two penalty minutes in 80 games this season. He led the Avalanche with a career-best 28 goals and was first in the NHL with 83 takeaways. O'Reilly blew away his competition, finishing with 110 of 131 first-place votes and 1,181 voting points. New York Rangers forward Martin St. Louis was second with 358 points.

"When I lose a game, I tend to get a little emotional and a little upset, which is something I've tried to overcome. But on the ice, my dad has always said you can't score a goal from the penalty box," O'Reilly said. "He always said when you want to get back at someone and hurt the team you're playing against the most, you have to put the puck in the net, you've gotta score, you've gotta beat them. That's the only way to truly hurt a team. That's been a guideline that I've always played by."

Varlamov came close to winning the Vezina Trophy but he was edged by Boston Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask, who finished with 16 out of a possible 30 first-place votes and 113 voting points to win the Vezina for the first time in his career. Varlamov had eight first-place votes and 90 points. The NHL general managers vote on the Vezina Trophy.

"They know the game really well and maybe in the future I have some friends there in other teams, if they like me that


much," Rask joked. "But they really know the game and it means a lot that the bosses voted you as the best goalie."

Rask had 36 wins to help the Bruins' win the Presidents' Trophy. He allowed two or fewer goals in 37 of 58 starts and was first in the NHL in shutouts (seven), second in save percentage (.930), fourth in goals-against average (2.04) and fifth in wins.

He was admittedly stunned that he won.

"It's a great honor as everybody says, but I'm still kind of shocked that I can't really answer any questions," Rask said. "It's a great honor. There's so many good goalies in the League that 10 guys could have easily won it. They picked me, so it's a great honor."

Rask was joined by Bruins' teammate Patrice Bergeron as a winner Tuesday night.

Bergeron was actually a triple winner: He took home the Selke Trophy as the League's top defensive forward and the NHL Foundation Award, which goes to the player "who applies the core values of (ice) hockey commitment, perseverance and teamwork to enrich the lives of people in his community."

Bergeron was also voted as the EA Sports NHL 15 cover athlete.

"How many did he get, four or five?" Rask joked about Bergeron's awards. "He deserved every single trophy he gets, and today he got many so I'm really happy for him."

Bergeron is now a two-time Selke Trophy winner; he also won in 2012. It's his first time as a NHL Foundation Award winner.

Bergeron was third in the League in faceoff percentage (58.6 percent) and was tops with 1,015 faceoff wins. He was second in the League with a plus-38 rating, finishing 66 of his 80 games even or better. He also had a League-best 61.2-percent Corsi-for rating, according to ExtraSkater.com.

Bergeron received 112 first-place votes of the 137 ballots cast. Los Angeles Kings center Anze Kopitar was second and Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews was third.

Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby was also a triple winner Tuesday, taking home the Hart Trophy, the Ted Lindsay Award and the Art Ross Trophy. Crosby led the League with 104 points. He received 128 out of a possible 137 first-place votes for the Hart Trophy.

Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith won the Norris Trophy for the second time in five years. He received 68 first-place votes, was named on 129 of 137 ballots and had 1,033 voting points. Bruins captain Zdeno Chara was second with 667 points and Nashville Predators captain Shea Weber finished third with 638 points.

New York Rangers center Dominic Moore won the Bill Masterton Trophy for "perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey." Moore returned to the NHL this past season after taking a year off following the death of his wife, Katie, who passed away in January 2013 from a rare form of liver cancer. She was 32.

"Awards like this, especially this award about perseverance, is a shared thing," Moore said. "I'm just grateful for all the support and encouragement that I've personally gotten throughout my coming back and playing. It was a lot harder than I ever thought. I owe a lot to the people around me for getting through and this award is a nice recognition of that."

Bob Murray of the Anaheim Ducks won the GM of the Year Award, which is voted on by the League's 30 general managers and a panel of NHL executives, print and broadcast media. The Ducks won the Pacific Division regular-season title with 116 points and finished one point behind the Bruins for the Presidents' Trophy.

"Your peers vote on this, so any time your peers vote an award to you it's really special," Murray said. "That's what it means to me, my group of guys deemed me worthy of this. It's just really special that way."

Los Angeles Kings captain Dustin Brown won the Mark Messier Leadership Award presented by Bridgestone. He beat out finalists Ryan Getzlaf of the Ducks and Toews for the award that goes to a player "in recognition of his commitment and service to charities in his community."

Edmonton Oilers captain Andrew Ference was feted with the King Clancy Memorial Trophy, which is awarded "to the player who best exemplifies leadership on and off the ice and who has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution to his community."

Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin was given the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy as the NHL's leading goal-scorer. He finished with 51 goals to win the trophy for the second straight season and fourth time in his career.

Kings goalie Jonathan Quick, who was not in attendance after having surgery on his wrist earlier Tuesday, won the William M. Jennings Award, which goes to the goalie or goalies who played a minimum of 25 games on the team that allowed the fewest goals.

Quick saw the most action on a Kings' team that allowed a League-low 174 goals. He allowed 100 goals in 49 appearances and finished with a 2.07 goals-against average, .915 save percentage and six shutouts.


The 5 best and worst things about 2014 NHL Awards Show

By Ryan Lambert

When you tune into the NHL awards every June, you do so knowing only that you're going to be put through hell to find out who won the trophies.

Its very existence ensures a lack of enjoyment. No one could make this work.

And so with that in mind it must be said that this was probably the best of the three NHL Awards Shows actually done in the current format. This is, of course, damning the show with the faintest praise detectable by modern science, given that 2011 featured more player name mispronunciations than NHL2k5, and the host-free 2012 show was DOA. But nonetheless, I didn't watch this show in abject horror so much as plaintive eagerness that the end would come soon. That is, in fact, a compliment.

They kept the things that made past incarnations of the show to a... well, they didn't keep them to a minimum, obviously. A minimum for what you could expect from the NHL awards, probably. If you were being honest with yourself, the eye-rolling could not have been as vociferous this time around. There were even, I swear to you, actual highlights that bordered on being entertaining. The lack of Kevin Smith and Nickelback was a definitive plus, for instance.

However, it should also be noted that the celebrity rollouts were, as with past seasons, a little tedious, and made worse by the fact that almost every one of them — with two stated dissenters — was a sworn fan of the Los Angeles Kings. It got to be a bit much, but when the league insists on trotting out its meager few celebrity fans (no matter how much I might enjoy their individual work. I'm looking at you Retta and Colin Hanks) who don't mind being caught dead at this particular ghastly early-summer awards event in the middle of the desert, this is what happens.

At least they didn't have anyone reading tweets this year.

Here, then, are a handful of things about this show that were not actively terrible, and I only had to cheat once.

The Best

5. Ryan Getzlaf's advice

Maybe the worst part of the NHL awards is the red carpet pre-show that precedes it, broadcast on the NHL Network. This was pared down from the previous three insufferable hours to a merely interminable two. Hosted by Kathryn Tappen and

Barry Melrose in a delightful repartee of the former saying one short sentence, then letting the latter yammer on for a good minute and a half about nothing in particular, pausing only to veer into wildly inaccurate statements, such as this season being reigning Norris winner PK Subban's “coming out party.”

They also, occasionally, kicked over to Kevin Weekes for some player interviews.

It was in one of these that Weekes asked a somewhat risque question — as these things go on such a sterile broadcast — prodding Hart finalist Ryan Getzlaf on whether he actually tells his linemates “Go to the net, and I'll make you rich.” Getzlaf confirmed that this is a thing he actually says regularly.

Other than that, though, it was two wasted hours of dead-eyed, canned responses. Two hours of them. Two hours the viewer could have spent learning a foreign language or with a loved one.

4. PK Subban as backstage correspondent

Perhaps this is my undying love of PK Subban sneaking into the proceedings here, but the Habs defenseman was actually pretty good at his role interviewing a few award winners backstage wasn't the worst idea. Again, it wasn't a great one, but at least he knew these guys and had some sort of rapport with them. His questions were even a little better than the standard, “What does winning this award mean to you?”

There were two things that were good about this change:

1) Tuukka Rask had no time at all for him, and forced things to be cut short after a single question because he seems not to like PK Subban very much.

2) The Las Vegas-themed background actors, like Elvis and Michael Jackson impersonators and stereotypical Showgirls, silently walla-walla-rhubarbing their way through the most obvious fake conversations in television history.

The latter was perhaps one of the most compelling things on the show.

3. Having a host (who actually knows hockey)

After the disastrous Jay Mohr experiment of 2011 (we weep for thee, Steve Whyzerman), the league went without any sort of host for 2012 and things were somehow worse. Directionless, it turns out, is worse than a bad direction. So they went back to the original format this time around, bringing CBC presenter and Rogers desk host-elect George Stroumboulopoulos run the show.

Again, no one could make this material work. Billy Crystal would die a thousand deaths with it. One can only assume the


quote-unquote jokes, such as they are, are merely the printouts of a rudimentary computer algorithm that looks for as many ways to squeeze hockey puns into a one-paragraph throw to a video package as possible.

But Stroumboulopoulos at least tried. He pronounced everyone's name right. He exhibited actual hockey knowledge. A huge step in the right direction. They're still a couple light years from the final destination, of course, but the journey of a thousand miles starts with a single … SLAPSHOT.

(Hire me for next year, NHL awards. This is an example of the quality of my work, i.e. better than what got trotted out again this year.)

2. Rich Peverley and Dominic Moore

Dominic Moore (hopefully, for his sake) wrapped his “You Poor Man” sympathy tour by winning the Masterton award, presented to him by Rich Peverley, who might just win it next year even if he doesn't play a single game.

Very deserved, and there even seemed like an actual moment of genuine feeling between the two players while they talked about what it takes to stick through tough personal times and continue to play. Just very nice. That's all.

1. Cuba Gooding, Jr.

This could have been, in all honesty, The Best Nos. 1-40. I don't know what happened to Cuba Gooding backstage — maybe he just got excited to be working again — but he came out with a fire under his ass, which he kindly asked both Adam Graves and Mark Messier not to touch, on mic.

He shouted at inappropriate times, uncomfortably put his arms around people, kicked a box off the stage, hit on Andrew Ference's wife, and for a few brief minutes made the entire affair briefly not-boring.

As reward for doing so, you can be assured that he will neeeeeeever be invited back to the NHL Awards. That's the greatest gift a man can receive, because this awards show is mostly...

The Worst

5. Phillip Phillips

Maybe I'm not as in with the “42-year-old squares” crowd as I need to be to know who this person is — Wikipedia tells me he won American Idol two years ago, so I'll take their word for it — but his musical performance, of his hit No. 58 song “Raging Fire” was, well, it was something.

For one thing, it was not live. It was taped at several different Las Vegas locations. Not, like, in front of things you'd recognize or anything like that, because this is the NHL awards, where even the Las Vegas landmarks must, by rule, max out at B-list. And not only was it taped, it was obviously also playing the single version of the song and having him lip sync the lyrics, in the league's worst faking-it epidemic since the Habs were eliminated.

Were it not for the fact that the league got Phillips, whose songwriting is as imaginative as his parents' child-naming, to

put on the league's 30 different team jerseys (in still images, mind you), this could have been a bad music video for the song and there would have been no way of knowing.

My takeaway, though, is that I now know who Phillip Phillips is, and I am poorer for it.

4. It wasn't live on CBC

Perhaps as one final F.U. to the league for the whole Rogers thing, the CBC chose not to air the awards live from 7-9 p.m. East Coast time, when they were live. Instead, it pushed the show back an hour.

Lucky Canadians. They could just sit back and not-watch this, and find out who won every award, and all the voting totals, on Twitter. I suppose I or any other American could have done this as well, of course, but we need that immediacy, don't we? I mean, the only reason I watched it was it's just my job at this point and also I hate myself, but Canadians were at least given a reasonable excuse to not do so.

3. Doc Emrick calling bubble hockey

The oddest segment of the night by far was when they kicked the show over to a pre-taped segment from the red carpet event during which various awards nominees, for some reason, played each other in bubble hockey.

Doc Emrick was on hand, for some reason, to provide play by play, for some reason. It was filled with all the usual non-sequitur jabbering about who-knows-what that you've come to expect from Emrick's call on national television, and because one of the teams wore white and red he, for some reason, referred to them as though they were the Red Wings. From 2012. At least, that's what I can only assume, because he, for some reason, referred to one of them as “Brad Stuart.” I didn't understand it.

Was there a point to this segment? Of course there wasn't. Was there a joke anywhere in there at all? Obviously not. Was it entertaining? What do you think.

With all that in mind, one can only assume that this will, for some reason, return next year.

2. The pace

At one point in the show, while talking to Alex Ovechkin, Stroumboulopoulos lamented that this was “only” a two-hour show. This led one to wonder whether that was actually true, because at that point there was still about 50 minutes left and it felt as though I had been watching this my entire life, whether I had ever done something besides take notes about the 2014 NHL awards. It seemed as though I must have, but then I could recall no such events.

But once the show ended I was able to collect my thoughts and remember that this was actually one of the faster-feeling versions of the show — they even tried to play Duncan Keith off during his (underserved) Norris acceptance speech.

This is a show in desperate need of tightening but with no real way to do it. You can't cut it to just an hour, because that would make everything feel too rushed. Would we excise the vast


majority of the clunky jokes told to an audience with a seeming genetic predisposition toward not-laughing? Yeah, but the scant few half-decent parts of the show would be squeezed as well.

You also can't go to 90 minutes, because that's a clunky run time. It's ideal in terms of making the viewer not want to crawl into their own mouths to live the rest of their lives in their own bile-filled stomachs, but TV people wouldn't go for it.

So it's 120 minutes that feels like double that. And it's going to be forever.

1. Matisyahu

For the second year in a row, a musical act everyone stopped caring about some time ago stole the show with an inexplicable, bad performance. Last time out it was Nickelback, which has been ruining things for as long as it has existed. This time it was Matisyahu, who your puka shell-wearing college classmate told you was, like, totally chill back in 2006 but who you haven't heard of or thought about since.

He apparently wrote a song about the Los Angeles Kings, and it was the same kind of nonsense pablum he's been peddling for the last decade that appeals to people for whom Bob Marley is just too, y'know, edgy.

Then, in the middle of the song, several members of the Kings who inspired the song came out on stage with the Stanley Cup and stood there awkwardly while the show went to commercial. Again, this is in the middle of the song. While it would have been nice to see a rap battle between Matisyahu and Bill Ranford — to match the out-of-place street crew breakdancing showdown of the NHL15 cover vote winner later in the show— the NHL Awards again left viewers wanting.

In reality, a milquetoast musical performer who hasn't been popular since Eric Lindros was still in the league throwing to commercial while a bunch of hockey people stand there awkwardly is a perfect encapsulation of everything wrong with the NHL awards: Out of touch, boring, curious, and bad in a way you can't quite put your finger on.

How Sidney Crosby won the 2014 Hart Trophy

By Greg Wyshynski

Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins won the 2014 Hart Trophy, awarded "to the player adjudged to be the most valuable to his team" as selected by the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association.

And it wasn’t even close.

Crosby got 128 first-place votes from the 137 ballots cast. This is his second Hart Trophy, having previously won in 2007. Ovechkin has three, so he’s got’em there, which is something, we guess.

Earlier in the NHL Awards, Crosby won the Ted Lindsay Award, a.k.a. the player of the year award given out by the NHLPA. He topped his Hart finalists, Ryan Getzlaf of the

Anaheim Ducks and Claude Giroux of the Philadelphia Flyers, for that award as well.

From the NHL:

Crosby posted 36 goals as well as a League-leading 68 assists and 104 points to lead the Penguins to their second consecutive division title. He registered points in 60 of the 80 games he played in (75.0%), including 30 multi-point performances, and never went more than two consecutive games without registering a point. Crosby also reached the 100-point milestone for the fifth time in his career and on Nov. 29 hit 700 career points, doing so in his 497th game, the fastest among active players and sixth-fastest in NHL history.

Here’s the voting:

Pts. (1st-2nd-3rd-4th-5th) 1. Sidney Crosby, PIT 1341 (128-8-1-0-0) 2. Ryan Getzlaf, ANA 877 (5-96-28-5-0) 3. Claude Giroux, PHI 435 (2-15-42-27-19) 4. Semyon Varlamov, COL 256 (1-8-23-22-9) 5. Patrice Bergeron, BOS 137 (0-4-9-17-13) 6. Tyler Seguin, DAL 84 (0-1-6-12-11) 7. Joe Pavelski, SJ 71 (0-0-3-11-23) 8. Anze Kopitar, LA 58 (0-0-4-9-11) 9. Jonathan Toews, CHI 53 (0-2-4-4-7) 10. Ben Bishop, TB 52 (0-0-5-6-9) 11. Tuukka Rask, BOS 35 (0-1-2-5-3) 12. Jamie Benn, DAL 35 (0-1-2-4-6) 13. Corey Perry, ANA 29 (0-0-3-4-2) 14. Carey Price, MTL 20 (1-0-1-0-5) 15. Duncan Keith, CHI 19 (0-0-1-3-5) 16. Gustav Nyquist, DET 13 (0-1-0-2-0) 17. Matt Duchene, COL 11 (0-0-1-1-3) 18. Alex Steen, STL 9 (0-0-1-1-1) John Tavares, NYI 9 (0-0-1-1-1) 20. Patrick Sharp, CHI 7 (0-0-0-2-1) 21. Shea Weber, NSH 4 (0-0-0-1-1) 22. Joe Thornton, SJ 3 (0-0-0-0-3) 23. Jaromir Jagr, NJ 1 (0-0-0-0-1) Patrick Marleau, SJ 1 (0-0-0-0-1) Alex Ovechkin, WSH 1 (0-0-0-0-1) Ryan Suter, MIN 1 (0-0-0-0-1)

Our ballot is here.

The top three was fairly concrete, although it's interesting to see Varlamov and Bergeron finiish ahead of Seguin, who must have had Benn eating some of his votes.

Nyquist? A second place vote? Seriously? For 57 games?

Guess being minus-a billion on a non-playoff team doesn't get Alex Ovechkin many votes.

How Tuukka Rask won the 2014 Vezina Trophy

By Greg Wyshynski

Boston Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask won the 2014 Vezina Trophy, handed to the "goalkeeper adjudged to be the best at his position," as selected by NHL General Managers.


Rask was the pick for 16 of 30 GMs, with Semyon Varlamov of the Colorado Avalanche a distant second with nine first-place votes. Ben Bishop of the Tampa Bay Lightning, the third finalist, actually only received one first-place vote while fourth-place finisher Carey Price had two.

(Oh, and for poops and giggles: Steve Mason finished ahead of 2013 Vezina winner Sergei Bobrovsky in the voting.)

From the NHL:

Rask's win marks the third time in the past six seasons that a Bruins netminder has taken Vezina honors, following first-place finishes by Tim Thomas in 2009 and 2011.

Rask posted a 36-15-6 record, highlighted by a career-best 10-game point streak from Mar. 20-30 (9-0-1), as the Bruins captured their first Presidents’ Trophy since 1990 and led the Eastern Conference in team defense (2.08 GA/game). He allowed two goals or fewer in 37 of 58 starts, set single-season highs in wins and appearances, and was the only goaltender to rank among the NHL’s top five in each of the major statistical categories: first in shutouts (seven), second in save percentage (.930), fourth in goals-against average (2.04) and fifth in wins.

Here’s the voting:

Pts. 1st-2nd-3rd 1. Tuukka Rask, BOS 103 (16-6-5) 2. Semyon Varlamov, COL 90 (9-13-6) 3. Ben Bishop, TB 32 (1-6-9) 4. Carey Price, MTL 26 (2-3-7) 5. Jonathan Quick, LA 9 (1-1-1) 6. Henrik Lundqvist, NYR 5 (1-0-0) 7. Steve Mason, PHI 3 (0-1-0) 8. Sergei Bobrovsky, CBJ 1 (0-0-1) Kari Lehtonen, DAL 1 (0-0-1)

Varlamov exceeded expectations, and his leap from good to great was too much to ignore. Well, save for the general managers that just totally did.

How Bob Murray of the Anaheim Ducks won GM of the Year

By Sean Leahy

Bob Murray was named the 2014 NHL General Manager of the Year after voting "conducted among the 30 Club General Managers and a panel of NHL executives, print and broadcast media at the conclusion of the regular season." (Note: voting was actually extended through Round 2 of the playoffs.)

The Anaheim Ducks GM beat out Dean Lombardi of the Los Angeles Kings and Marc Bergevin of the Montreal Canadiens.

From the NHL:

Murray paved the way for the finest season in Ducks history, leading the team to its second straight Pacific Division title; the top record in the Western Conference for the first time in club history; and franchise records in wins (54), points (116), points percentage (.707), home wins (29) and road wins (25). He set

the Ducks up for success by re-signing Matt Beleskey, Saku Koivu, Ben Lovejoy and Kyle Palmieri as well as enticing Teemu Selanne to return for one final season. Murray also traded for Mathieu Perreault during the preseason; added depth players in Mark Fistric, Tim Jackman, Stephane Robidas and Jakob Silfverberg; and oversaw the development of young goaltenders Frederik Andersen and John Gibson.

Two of the last three winners of this award (Ray Shero and Mike Gillis) were both fired this season. Guess that means bad news for Murray in about a year's time.

Interesting that Jim Nill received the third-most first place votes among the bunch. You could make a case what he did with the Dallas Stars in his first year deserved to place him among the top three.

OK, who gave Dale Tallon a vote?

How Patrick Roy won the 2014 Jack Adams Award

By Sean Leahy

Patrick Roy's first year behind the bench with the Colorado Avalanche ended with a return to the the Stanley Cup Playoffs and the Jack Adams Award, which is given to "the NHL coach adjudged to have contributed the most to his team's success," as selected by the NHL Broadcasters’ Association.

Mike Babcock of the Detroit Red Wings and Jon Cooper of the Tampa Bay Lightning were the other two finalists.

From the NHL:

Roy lifted the Avalanche (52-22-8, 112 points) to a historic turnaround in his rookie season as an NHL head coach, helping the team finish third in the overall League standings after placing 29th in 2012-13. Colorado became the first club since the NHL expanded to 21 teams in 1979 to go from the bottom three to top three in a single season. The Avalanche matched a franchise record for wins, recorded the NHL's best road mark (26-11-4), ranked fourth in the League in goals (250) and did not suffer a regulation loss when leading after two periods (35-0-3)

Given how the Adams is typically given to a head coach who leads a big turnaround for his team, it's kind of surprising Cooper finished behind Babcock. But when you consider the kind of season the Detroit Red Wings went through and the fact that they managed to keep their playoff streak alive, you can see why Babcock received so much love.

In case you're wondering, yes, Barry Trotz is the only head coach on this list to receive a vote and not make the playoffs.

How Duncan Keith won the 2014 Norris Trophy

By Greg Wyshynski

Duncan Keith of the Chicago Blackhawks won the 2014 Norris Trophy, awarded to the defenseman with "the greatest all-


around ability in the position” as voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers Association.

And Keith never thanked Brent Seabrook. Jerk.

It’s Keith’s second Norris, having previously won in 2010.

Keith was named on 129 of 137 ballots, including 68 first-place votes. The other finalists were Zdeno Chara of the Boston Bruins and Shea Weber of the Nashville Predators. Ryan Suter of the Minnesota Wild and Alex Pietrangelo of the St. Louis Blues were fourth and fifth.

Neither Chara nor Weber cracked 1,000 points in the voting. Here’s how that went:

Pts. 1st-2nd-3rd-4th-5th 1. Duncan Keith, CHI 1033 (68-35-17-7-2) 2. Zdeno Chara, BOS 667 (21-39-22-19-17) 3. Shea Weber, NSH 638 (26-23-29-19-15) 4. Ryan Suter, MIN 351 (9-12-20-22-11) 5. Alex Pietrangelo, STL 304 (3-13-18-25-18) 6. Drew Doughty, LA 284 (8-6-17-18-23)

7. Erik Karlsson, OTT 70 (0-5-3-4-8) 8. Ryan McDonagh, NYR 53 (0-1-4-5-11) 9. Victor Hedman, TB 42 (1-1-0-5-10) 10. Mark Giordano, CGY 36 (1-0-2-3-7) 11. Matt Niskanen, PIT 36 (0-1-2-5-4) 12. Marc-Edouard Vlasic, SJ 21 (0-1-0-3-5) 13. Niklas Kronwall, DET 10 (0-0-1-1-2) 14. O. Ekman-Larsson, PHX 6 (0-0-1-0-1) PK Subban, MTL 6 (0-0-1-0-1) 16. Andrei Markov, MTL 3 (0-0-0-1-0) 17. Jay Bouwmeester, STL 1 (0-0-0-0-1) Brent Seabrook, CHI 1 (0-0-0-0-1)

Our ballot is here.

The lack of support for Mark Giordano is an example of how sample size and ignorance of advance stats by the voters, because his numbers were off the charts.

Interesting that Vlasic didn’t get more support, given the hype. Interesting that Subban and Markov got even less.

TODAY’S LINKS:

http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/06/24/3961700/hurricanes-re-sign-defenseman.html?sp=/99/103/400/120/ http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/06/24/3961042/terry-agrees-to-one-year-two-way.html?sp=/99/103/400/120/1533/

http://www.wralsportsfan.com/canes-agree-to-terms-with-forward-chris-terry/13761368/ http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/06/23/3958659/eye-on-the-draft-jake-virtanen.html?sp=/99/103/400/120/1533/ http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/06/23/3958983/smith-joins-peters-staff-with.html?sp=/99/103/400/120/1533/

http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/06/24/3960544/eye-on-the-draft-nikolaj-ehlers.html?sp=/99/103/400/120/1533/ http://trianglesportsnet.com/hurricanes-release-2014-15-regular-season-schedule/

http://trianglesportsnet.com/carolina-hurricanes-re-sign-chris-terry/ http://trianglesportsnet.com/peters-brings-lunch-pail-work-ethic-carolina-hurricanes/

http://trianglesportsnet.com/hurricanes-add-smith-coaching-staff/ http://hurricanes.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=723562 http://hurricanes.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=723602 http://hurricanes.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=723655 http://hurricanes.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=723660

http://msn.foxsports.com/carolinas/story/hurricanes-gm-francis-faced-with-difficult-decision-on-goalie-cam-ward-062414 http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog/Adam-French/Mockable-Mock-Draft--The-Carolina-Hurricanes-Select/155/60841

http://www.cbc.ca/sports-content/hockey/opinion/2014/06/30-thoughts-nhl-free-agents-reluctant-to-commit-early.html http://www.thehockeynews.com/articles/57322-Carolina-Hurricanes-agree-to-3year-deal-85-million-deal-with-defenceman-Ron-

Hainsey.html http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2014/06/24/hurricanes-hand-gerbe-two-year-3-5-million-extension/

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=455611 http://www.edmontonjournal.com/sports/hockey/edmonton-oilers/Assistant+coach+Smith+leaves+Oilers/9968043/story.html

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=723567 http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=723625 http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=723662 http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=723684 http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=723709 http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=723762

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/the-5-best-and-worst-things-about-2014-nhl-awards-show-033922802.html http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/how-sidney-crosby-won-the-2014-hart-trophy-033603077.html http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/how-tuukka-rask-won-the-2014-vezina-trophy-033403642.html

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/how-bob-murray-of-the-anaheim-ducks-won-gm-of-the-year-005753074.html http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/how-patrick-roy-won-the-2014-jack-adams-award-003122748.html

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/how-duncan-keith-won-the-2014-norris-trophy-002727902.html


Anaheim Ducks

Bob Murray had to take center stage Tuesday night in Las Vegas as his colleagues honored him as the NHL General Manager of the Year over two other strong finalists, the Kings’ Dean Lombardi and Montreal's Marc Bergevin.

Calgary Flames

According to Vancouver-based reporter Juha Hiitela, former Flames star Miikka Kiprusoff will serve as the goaltending coach for Finland’s U-20 national squad.

Carolina Hurricanes

Ron Hainsey is staying put with the Carolina Hurricanes.

The defenseman, due to become an unrestricted free agent July 1, agreed to a three-year deal Tuesday. Hainsey, 33, will be paid $3 million in the 2014-2105 and 2015-2016 seasons, and $2.5 million in 2016-2017.

On Friday, Canes general manager Ron Francis said he hoped to re-sign some players before NHL free agency began. Bringing back Hainsey should help bolster a blue line that showed improvement last season in shots-against and goals-against.

The Canes also announced Tuesday that forward Nathan Gerbe has signed a two-year contract. The deal will pay Gerbe $1.5 million in 2014-15, and $2 million in 2015-16.

In another personnel move Tuesday, the Canes signed forward Chris Terry to a one-year, two-way contract that will pay him 600,000 on the NHL level or $300,000 on the American Hockey League level in 2014-15.

Colorado Avalanche

Paul Stastny wants to “see what’s out there”, Joe Sakic reports. So, we are officially entering into the period where teams are free to call Stastny and Matt Keator and put on the full-court press. But, as reported yesterday: essentially Stastny/Keator have made a vow to Sakic and the Avs: that they will circle back Colorado and give them the right of first refusal to keep him.

The Avs will then be faced with the decision to either come up on their existing offer for him (Sakic won’t say exactly what it is, but it’s safe to say it’s between $5 million and $6 million per year) or let him go. It’s dangerous territory for sure. Some team can just make some blowout offer to him for god knows how much money and it might be too good to pass up.

But, Sakic said the talks with Keator were “good.” So, hey, sounds like absolutely anything can happen still and it’s going to be an interesting few days.

Detroit Red Wings

Daniel Alfredsson sounds like he wants to play more hockey — for the Red Wings.

Alfredsson, 41, who had 18 goals and 31 assists in 68 games last season, was troubled with a sore lower back at times through the season. But he evidently does want to return and play another season in the NHL.

"I talked to him; we're gonna talk again before Monday," general manager Ken Holland said. "Basically his message to me was he feels good. He's not 100 percent. He'd like to feel a little bit better but he feels good.

"He's not ready to make a decision right now that he's gonna retire. He wanted (to) just kind of pass that news on to me and get my thoughts."

The Red Wings would be interested in Alfredsson returning to them but only if he fits into their salary structure — and depending on what occurs this weekend at the NHL draft in Philadelphia.

"I said, 'Let's take a few days,' and I'm gonna explore the phone lines Wednesday and Thursday and see what's in Philadelphia (at the draft) and then he and I will touch base," Holland said.

Vancouver Canucks

The Canucks have reportedly extended qualifying offers to restricted free agents Zack Kassian and Chris Tanev but not to Jordan Schroeder and Zac Dalpe.

Los Angeles Kings

Kings goalie Jonathan Quick underwent wrist surgery Tuesday, and his availability for the start of training camp in September might be in question.

A Kings spokesperson confirmed that Quick had surgery and estimated the goalie’s recovery time at 10-12 weeks. Training camp is scheduled to open in mid-September, approximately 11 weeks from now. The regular season begins Oct. 8.

In a brief text message, General Manager Dean Lombardi said Quick “should be” ready for the start of camp.

Quick’s injury apparently happened during the Kings’ second-round playoff series against the Ducks in early May, but Quick never missed any game action. Quick completed seven-game series against the Ducks and Chicago, then helped the Kings beat the New York Rangers in five games in the Stanley Cup Final.

The Kings officially signed defenseman Matt Greene to a new contract Tuesday, a four-year deal worth an average of $2.5 million per season. Greene, 31, would have become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.

Minnesota Wild

Cody McCormick met with his agent today and his agent plans to speak with GM Chuck Fletcher on Wednesday.

According to multiple sources, the Wild continues to shop Kyle Brodziak heading into this weekend. He has a year left on his deal and currently looks like the Wild's fourth-line center heading into next season.

The Wild continues to work on its restricted free agents -- Nino Niederreiter, Darcy Kuemper, Justin Fontaine, Jason Zucker and Jon Blum. No rush, Fletcher says.

New Jersey Devils

GM Lou Lamoriello wasn’t ready to say whether he’ll be in the market a goaltender to back up Cory Schneider next season. Martin Brodeur, the Devils’ longtime No. 1, has stated his intention to see what opportunities are available to him on the UFA market and that he’s “not inclined” to return to the Devils for what he expects to be his final NHL season.

If Brodeur doesn’t come back, that would leave the Devils to decide between rookies Keith Kinkaid and Scott Wedgewood or to sign a veteran to be their backup.

Lamoriello said again that he would like to re-sign the team’s other potential unrestricted free agents, a group that still includes defenseman Mark Fayne and fourth line forwards Ryan Carter, Stephen Gionta and Steve Bernier.

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Fayne’s agent, Peter Fish, said via email he’s already had contract discussions with the Devils and “they will probably continue while we are at the draft.”

Gionta and Ryan Carter seem to be at similar stages in contract talks.

Gionta’s agent, Stephen Bartlett, said he has had good conversations with Lamoriello so far and they also plan to meet “face to face” at the draft.

Carter’s agent, Neil Sheehy, he’s had conversations with Lamoriello as well.

Philadelphia Flyers

Ron Hextall on Tuesday said he wasn't shopping Scott Hartnell, who was traded to Columbus on Monday. (AP)

If Scott Hartnell had refused to waive his no-movement clause to veto a trade to Columbus, Flyers general manager Ron Hextall says he would have understood.

Instead, Hartnell accepted Monday's trade to the Blue Jackets for R.J. Umberger, though he said, “It was pretty clear that the team that wants you is a better place than the team that doesn’t want you.”

Hartnell's cap hit is $4.75 million, while Umberger's is $4.6 million -- a total of $150,000 savings for the Flyers.

Pittsburgh Penguins

General manager Jim Rutherford has somebody in mind to become the Penguins' next coach.

That somebody did not interview with Rutherford last week. That leaves Ulf Samuelsson and John Hynes as unlikely contenders.

“My concentration right now is on a guy that would have been on my original list, but I was told he had a commitment,” Rutherford said Tuesday.

Rutherford would not identify his candidate, but team and league sources told the Tribune-Review that Mike Johnston has interviewed with Rutherford. Johnston is the general manager and coach for Portland of the Western Hockey League, where he worked with Penguins top prospect Derrick Pouliot.

Tampa Bay Lightning

A new long term contract for Ryan Callahan to stay with the Tampa Bay Lightning appears near.

Callahan, acquired from the New York Rangers on March 5, is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent on July 1. But it appears he may not reach the open market.

A tweet from Scott Bartlett, one of Callahan’s agents at Sports Consulting Group, hinted that something could be done soon.

“Very productive talks today between SCG and @TBLightning regarding pending UFA Ryan Callahan. Finding common ground toward new deal,’’ Bartlett wrote.

A text to Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman concurred with the assessment of where talks stood and indicated a deal could be reached soon.

Washington Capitals

Nearly two weeks after news broke that the Capitals planned to hire goaltender coach Mitch Korn from the Nashville Predators, the move was finally made official with a news release on Tuesday afternoon.

“I am very pleased to join the Washington Capitals and continue to work alongside [Coach] Barry Trotz,” Korn said in a news release. “I look forward to working with all of the talented goaltenders in the organization and helping them improve and succeed on the ice. I want to thank the Nashville Predators for a great 16 years and wish them the very best in the future.”

Korn replaces Olie Kolzig, the longtime Washington staple, who is expected to remain with the franchise in a part-time capacity while moving closer to his family in Tampa Bay.

NHL Daily Transactions

Carolina Hurricanes Chris Terry Re-Signed, One-year contract

Carolina Hurricanes Ron Hainsey Re-Signed, Three-year, $8 million contract

Carolina Hurricanes Nathan Gerbe Re-Signed, Two-year, $3.5 million contract

Los Angeles Kings Matt Greene Re-Signed, Four-year contract

Vancouver Canucks Pascal Pelletier Signed with European team, Medvescak Zagreb-KHL

END

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