The following is a (reportedly legit) letter than Jordyn Leopold — the daughter of new Wild defenseman Jordan Leopold — wrote prior to her father getting dealt back to his native Minnesota:
Leopold, 34, is something of a Minnesota legend — after playing his high school hockey at Armstrong, he led the Golden Gophers to the 2002 NCAA Championship while capturing the Hobey Baker.
NHL on NBC analyst and 2019 NHL Hockey Fights Cancer ambassador Eddie Olczyk discusses his career and fight with colon cancer in an interview with Kathryn Tappen in a 30-minute special.
Olczyk was named the NHL’s Hockey Fights Cancer ambassador earlier this month and November marks Hockey Fights Cancer Month throughout the league.
Olczyk was diagnosed with Stage 3 colon cancer in Aug. 2017 and after a long journey was deemed cancer-free seven months later. Since beating cancer, he has been dedicated to be an advocate for those fighting the disease and their families.
MORE: Book excerpt from Eddie Olczyk: Beating the Odds in Hockey and in Life
When the Nashville Predators got off to an 8-3-1 start no one was really surprised. Most people expected them to be a good team this year, so why would those positive results be shocking? Well, on the flip side, this six-game losing streak they’re currently riding is pretty shocking. But why are they struggling so badly?
This slump started with an ugly 9-3 loss in Denver on Nov. 7. Since then, the Predators haven’t won a game and they’ve collected just one of a possible 12 points in the standings. As you’d imagine, they’ve been tumbling down the Western Conference standings. Only the Minnesota Wild (20 points) and the Los Angeles Kings (19 points) have fewer points than Nashville’s 21 (the Preds have a game in hand on both those teams though).
You don’t have to look far to see why they’re slumping so badly. They’ve given up at least five goals in four of the six losses. When they’ve held the opponent to two goals or fewer, they’ve only managed to score once. Yeah, that’s an issue.
The really strange thing about the boatload of goals that this team is giving up, is that they actually have lowest XGA in the league at 31.97, according to Natural Stat Trick. So the fact that they’re giving up so many goals while seemingly limiting their opponents’ quality scoring chances has to be concerning.
Pekka Rinne‘s been pulled in each of his last two starts and his individual stats aren’t flattering either. He owns a respectable 8-4-2 record, but his goals-against-average of 3.06 and his save percentage of .889 aren’t great by any means. Is the 37-year-old just showing his age or is this slide only temporary? Will they have to turn to Juuse Saros more often? These are all valid questions that need to be answered soon.
The goalies need to come up with some saves to bail out their team, but that doesn’t excuse the performance from everyone else on the team.
But blaming the goalie for Thursday night’s loss to the Canucks isn’t fair. The Predators surrendered five power play goals to Vancouver during the 6-3 defeat.
“Things aren’t bouncing our way right now, but at the same time, we’re not making it easy on ourselves either,” Matt Duchene said after the game, per NHL.com. “Whenever things are tough sledding like right now, you’ve got to do whatever you can to give yourself a chance. You take that many penalties, I don’t know how many we took, six or seven, I don’t know what it was. They got three or four great bounces on the power play and just put pucks to the net.”
Even though the Preds are 10th in the NHL in goals scored, they’ve seen a lot of their high-end offensive players go cold in the last few games. Here’s the statistical rundown for their top forwards:
— Matt Duchene: Six points in his last seven games, but he’s found the back of the net just once in his last five outings.
— Filip Forsberg: No points in his last three games.
— Ryan Johansen: One goal in his last 17 games.
— Viktor Arvidsson: No goals in seven games and he’s scored just once in his last 12 contests.
— Mikael Granlund: One goal in his last 16 games.
Those are some heavy offensive hitters that have gone cold in the goal department. You won’t win regularly if that many top players go quiet.
Overall, it’s quite clear that the Preds need some serious work in a lot of different areas. There’s no denying that the team is talented, but what happens if this drought lasts a little longer? Does head coach Peter Laviollette get the Mike Babcock treatment? For now, it looks like management will give everyone the benefit of the doubt before they make a major trade or a firing.
At least the group still seems to believe they can get this straightened out.
“We’ve got to stick together. It’s a tough time,” forward Rocco Grimaldi said after Tuesday’s loss to Winnipeg. “It’s a rough patch. But honestly everyone goes through it. You look at St. Louis last year and remember where they were, so it’s just something everyone goes through. And if you’re a great team, how do you respond to this? How do you guys grow closer together? How do you guys grow stronger together through this? So this is something we’ve just got to make it band us together and not break us apart.”
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Joey Alfieri is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @joeyalfieri.
GLENDALE, Ariz. — New Toronto Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe spent a decent chunk of a 30-minute morning skate on Thursday teaching instead of running drills.
There’s a lot for his new team to learn and not much time to do it.
The 39-year-old Keefe is now in charge of the Maple Leafs after veteran coach Mike Babcock was fired Wednesday with the team mired in a six-game losing streak.
Keefe was officially introduced Thursday morning as the 31st head coach in Maple Leafs history. He’s got a long history with general manager Kyle Dubas, who hopes Keefe is the right choice to help Toronto bounce back from a disappointing 9-10-4 start.
Keefe believes it can be done.
”We’ve got a lot of talent and the ability to make life hard on the other team in a lot of ways,” he said. ”Focusing on that, we believe, will produce positive results. Because the players are good enough for that to happen.”
Keefe inherits a roster that includes talented forwards like Auston Matthews, John Tavares, Mitch Marner and William Nylander.
Tavares said there were ”many mixed emotions” because Babcock was so dedicated and committed to the team. He said the team feels a burden because it hasn’t played up to expectations but is ”turning the page” and moving forward.
”Sheldon’s got a great mind for the game,” Tavares said. ”We’re excited about the energy and the things he’s bringing and trying to improve from where we’re at.”
Keefe will make his coaching debut during Toronto’s game against the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday night.
Dubas said the franchise must show patience as Keefe, a first-time NHL coach, embarks on the difficult task of taking over a team midseason and trying to quickly turn things around.
He’s confident the players understand there will be ups and down.
He’s also aware that outside perception might be a little less forgiving.
”It’s all part of what makes working and playing in Toronto great,” Dubas said. ”You can’t go anywhere in Toronto without people caring deeply about the team. I read the greatest quote this morning on the way here: ‘You can look at it as a burden or look at it as a trampoline.”’
Toronto is a team that needs quite a bounce.
The 56-year-old Babcock went 173-133-45 in his four-plus seasons with Toronto and made the playoffs the past three years, though the Maple Leafs lost in the first round each time. When the team started slowly this season, Dubas and team President Brendan Shanahan knew it was time for a change.
Shanahan flew to Arizona on Wednesday to break the news to Babcock, whom he hired in 2015.
He acknowledged it was a hard day. Some more hard days may follow as Keefe tries to quickly implement his system, though the franchise is confident it’s headed in the right direction.
Keefe was in his fifth season as head coach of the American Hockey League’s Toronto Marlies. He was 199-89-31 with the Marlies and helped the franchise win its first Calder Cup championship in 2018.
Several of the Leafs’ current players were coached by Keefe when he was with the Marlies, which is the franchise’s top minor-league affiliate.
• Should the Montreal Canadiens hire Mike Babcock? (Montreal Gazette)
• The Devils have been struggling badly on special teams. (All About the Jersey)
• Lightning forward Yanni Gourde is even better than you think. (Raw Charge)
• How easy will it be to fix the Toronto Maple Leafs? (Pension Plan Puppets)
• Brett Connolly has been a very useful asset for the Florida Panthers. (Rat Trick)
• The Coyotes goalie tandem has been terrific this season. (Five For Howling)
• The NHLPA is challenging the Dustin Byfuglien suspension. (Winnipeg Free Press)
• The Bolts can benefit from this difficult start. (NHL.com)
• Where is the San Jose Sharks’ offense? (Rotoworld)
• The Ducks are satisfied with Garnet Hathaway‘s three-game suspension. (OC Register)
• Sheldon Keefe has a quiet confidence about him that should help him guide the Leafs. (TSN)
• Zack Kassian has found a spot on the Oilers’ top line. (Sportsnet)
• There’s a lot of questions facing Keefe and his level of success will depend on how many he can answer. (Editor in Leaf)
• Patrice Bergeron is starting to get healthier. (NBC Sports Boston)
• The Blue Jackets have added Paul MacLean to their staff (NHL.com/BlueJackets)
• Brendan Perlini talks about his fresh start in Detroit and his English upbringing. (Sporting News)
• Isles goalie prospect Ilya Sorokin wants to be in the NHL next season. (The Sports Daily)
• Kris Versteeg left the Rockford Ice Hogs on Sunday and the team isn’t in a rush to name a new captain. (Second City Hockey)
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Joey Alfieri is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @joeyalfieri.
