Mark Giordano

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Flames’ Talbot ready to put last season behind him

By Scott BilleckJul 6, 2019, 4:08 PM EDT

Cam Talbot says last year was an outlier in his career and that he’s looking forward to having a stout defense in front of him this season in Calgary.

All it took was a few-hour drive down the road (and a one-year contract worth $2.75 million), away from the Edmonton Oilers and a season where he only started 29 games (winning just 10 of them) and had a career-worst .893 save percentage. It’s a far cry from the 42 wins he put up in 73 starts two seasons prior. Then, the Oilers, as a whole, were a good team. This past season they were anything but.

Talbot lost his starting job to Mikko Koskinen and the Oilers gave the Finn a big money deal based on not a whole lot. As such, Talbot was traded at the deadline to the Philadelphia Flyers. Behind Carter Hart, Talbot barely played and was just as ineffective when he did.

“Last year was an outlier in my career,” Talbot said on Saturday after being introduced to the media. “Just take everything in stride. Any time you have a season like that, it puts things in perspective. Things aren’t always going to go your way. It’s how you can battle back and make yourself better in the long-run.”

Talbot said he has to come in refreshed and let last year slide.

“Have a short-term memory,” he said. “I think it’s easier said than done sometimes. I just want to come in here and prove that I still have a lot of hockey left in me.”

He’ll get to do so under Bill Peters, who coached Talbot at the World Hockey Championships. Talbot said he feels comfortable in the system, one that is defense-first and includes the reigning Norris winner in Mark Giordano.

“It’s exciting for myself,” Talbot said. “It’s a very deep team.”

[ProHockeyTalk’s 2019 NHL free agency tracker]

David Rittich is the started in Calgary, but he split time with the outgoing Mike Smith (ironically, he’s gone to Edmonton) last season and Smith took the crease for the playoffs. Still, Talbot realizes he’s 1(b), if not the backup heading into next season.

“He’s a good, young goaltender… took his game to another level last year, had a heck of a season,” Talbot said. “I’m just coming in here trying to compete and pushing each other to be better.”

Flames general manager Brad Treliving said the expectations for Talbot are rather simple.

“Come in an stop the puck,” he said.

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Scott Billeck is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @scottbilleck.

2019 NHL Awards: All the winners, video, more

By Ryan DadounJun 19, 2019, 10:28 PM EDT

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A lot naturally happened during the 2019 NHL Awards and there are still some winners left to highlight. Before we do that though, let’s recap some of tonight’s big winners:

Calder Trophy: Elias Pettersson

Lady Byng: Aleksander Barkov

GM of the Year: Don Sweeney

Norris Trophy: Mark Giordano

Masterton Trophy: Robin Lehner

Selke Trophy: Ryan O’Reilly

Jack Adams: Barry Trotz

Vezina Trophy: Andrei Vasilevskiy

Hart Trophy and Ted Lindsay: Nikita Kucherov

Now let’s tackle the other winners.

King Clancy Trophy: Jason Zucker,

Zucker and his wife Carly began the Zucker Family Suite and Broadcast Studio with a $160,000 donation and have raised over $1.2 million in under a year. The project allows kids and their families at the University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital to watch Minnesota Wild games in a space that mimics the experience of being at the game.

Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award: Wayne Simmonds

Before being traded to the Nashville Predators in February, Simmonds was deeply involved with the Flyers’ community efforts. Among other things, he was a board member for the Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation for six years. He also spent four years as an honorary chairman of their annual golf tournament, which is the foundation’s biggest fundraiser.

Willie O’Ree Community Hero Award: Rico Phillips

Of course, the Art Ross Trophy went to Nikita Kucherov, the Rocket Richard Trophy went to Alex Ovechkin, and the Jennings Trophy was shared by Robin Lehner and Thomas Greiss.

First All-Star Team:
G: Andrei Vasilevskiy
D: Brent Burns
D: Mark Giordano
C: Connor McDavid
RW: Nikita Kucherov
LW: Alex Ovechkin

Second All-Star Team:
G: Ben Bishop
D: Victor Hedman
D: John Carlson
C: Sidney Crosby
RW: Patrick Kane
LW: Brad Marchand

All-Rookie Team:
G: Jordan Binnington
D: Rasmus Dahlin
D: Miro Heiskanen
F: Elias Pettersson
F: Anthony Cirelli
F: Brady Tkachuk

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Ryan Dadoun is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @RyanDadoun.

At 35, Mark Giordano finally wins Norris Trophy

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By James O'BrienJun 19, 2019, 8:58 PM EDT

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The 2019 Norris Trophy goes to: Calgary Flames defenseman Mark Giordano. Giordano beat finalists Brent Burns (San Jose Sharks) and Victor Hedman (Tampa Bay Lightning).

Sometimes the wording of an award can provide some insight, or perhaps semantic debates, on an award, so note that the Norris Trophy is described as: “defense player who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest all-round ability in the position.” Do with that, what you may.

Giordano, 35, didn’t have the instant transition into the NHL that, say, Hedman enjoyed. The 35-year-old went undrafted, and was playing in Russia as recently as 2007-08 before finally truly cementing his spot with the Flames starting in 2008-09. He’s been one of those “hidden gems” for some time, but he won’t slip under the radar any longer, as Gio is now a Norris Trophy winner.

As you can see the voting really dropped off after the top five, while John Carlson and Morgan Rielly weren’t that far from being in the top three.

Hedman won the Norris Trophy in 2018, while Burns won in 2017, so they’re probably not too upset to see Giordano get his kudos.

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James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.

WATCH LIVE: 2019 NHL Awards

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By Sean LeahyJun 19, 2019, 7:00 PM EDT

NBCSN will televise the NHL Awards Wednesday night at 8 p.m. ET from Las Vegas, as the NHL celebrates the top performers of the 2018-19 season from the Mandalay Bay Events Center.

The 2019 NHL Awards will recognize the best regular-season players in a variety of categories, including most valuable player (Hart Trophy), outstanding goaltender (Vezina Trophy), outstanding defenseman (Norris Trophy) and outstanding rookie (Calder Trophy). The Ted Lindsay Award, which is presented annually to the “most outstanding player” in the NHL as voted by fellow members of the National Hockey League Players’ Association (NHLPA), will also will be awarded.

St. Louis Blues’ Doug Armstrong, Boston Bruins’ Don Sweeney, and Carolina Hurricanes’ Don Waddell are finalists for General Manager of the Year, while St. Louis’ Craig Berube, Tampa Bay’s Jon Cooper, and N.Y. Islanders’ Barry Trotz are finalists for the Jack Adams Award, which honors the league’s top head coach. Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby, Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov and Edmonton’s Connor McDavid are all finalists for the Hart Trophy.

Willie O’Ree Community Hero Award finalists Anthony Benavides, Tammi Lynch and Rico Phillips also will be in attendance.

[WATCH LIVE – 2019 NHL AWARDS LIVE STREAM]

2019 NHL Awards finalists:
Hart Trophy
Sidney Crosby, Nikita Kucherov, Connor McDavid

Ted Lindsay Award
Patrick Kane, Nikita Kucherov, Connor McDavid

Norris Trophy
Brent Burns, Mark Giordano, Victor Hedman

Selke Trophy
Patrice Bergeron, Ryan O'Reilly, Mark Stone

Calder Trophy
Elias Pettersson, Jordan Binnington, Rasmus Dahlin

Vezina Trophy
Aleksander Barkov, Sean Monahan, Ryan O’Reilly

Jack Adams Award
Craig Berube, Jon Cooper, Barry Trotz

Masterton Trophy
Nick Foligno, Robin Lehner, Joe Thornton

GM of the Year
Doug Armstrong, Don Sweeney, Don Waddell

Actor Taylor Kinney also will present at the event. Jon Hamm, Alex Trebek and Kinney join previously announced presenters Hockey Hall of Famers Willie O’Ree and Mark Messier; NHL star P.K. Subban; broadcasters Jackie Redmond, Kathryn Tappen and Elliotte Friedman; actors Jay Baruchel (“How to Train A Dragon: The Hidden World”), Jay Harrington (“S.W.A.T.”), Thomas Middleditch (“Silicon Valley”), Kel Mitchell (“All That”) and Nico Tortorella (“Younger”); “Jeopardy!” champion James Holzhauer; Miss USA Cheslie Kryst; model Camille Kostek; Miss Universe Catriona Gray; and race car drivers Kurt Busch and Simon Pagenaud.

Trevor Gretzky, Alexa Lemieux, Lynn LaPaugh and Jesse Robitaille, family members of NHL legends Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, the late Ted Lindsay and Luc Robitaille, respectively, and special assistant to the executive director with the National Hockey League Players’ Association Mathieu Schneider, also will present.

PHT Morning Skate: Thornton not ready for retirement; Best Lundqvist trade scenario

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By Joey AlfieriJun 19, 2019, 9:16 AM EDT

Welcome to the PHT Morning Skate, a collection of links from around the hockey world. Have a link you want to submit? Email us at phtblog@nbcsports.com.

• Cam Neely and Jeremy Jacobs were impressed by Zdeno Chara‘s level of courage throughout the Stanley Cup Final. (WEEI)

• It’s going to be a really interesting off-season for Torey Krug. (Bruins Daily)

• The Canadiens should force the Jets’ hand by going after Nikolaj Ehlers. (Habs Eyes on the Prize)

• Could the Capitals move up or down in the first round of the NHL Entry Draft? (NBC Sports Washington)

• ESPN looked at how former first overall pick Patrik Stefan was able to move on from a disappointing career. (ESPN)

• The Hockey News got to chat with Penguins star Sidney Crosby at the NHL Awards. (The Hockey News)

• Will Barry Trotz and/or Robin Lehner come away with major awards in Vegas? (Newsday)

• What does the ideal Henrik Lundqvist trade scenario look like? (New York Post)

• Rasmus Dahlin had one of the best rookie seasons in Sabres history. (Buffalo Hockey Beat)

• It doesn’t sound like Joe Thornton is ready to hang up his skates just yet. (NHL.com)

• Flames forward Sean Monahan believes his teammates Mark Giordano is a no-brainer for the Norris Trophy. (Flames Nation)

• What do the Vegas Golden Knights look for in a draft pick? (Sinbin.Vegas)

• Neal Pionk was shocked when he found out he was being traded to the Jets. (Winnipeg Free Press)

• Bobby Brink might be the first player from Minnesota taken in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. (Minneapolis StarTribune)

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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.