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Tag Archives for " Ron Francis "

How the NHL expansion draft will work for the Seattle Kraken: Schedule, format, rules, players available

While the hirings on the management and coaching side continue — and construction on Climate Pledge Arena continues, with a mid-October opening date still the goal — the roster of players remains to be determined as well. The next step in that process is the expansion draft. If you aren’t entirely caught up, we’ve got […]

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Chicago Blackhawks’ Stan Bowman to be U.S. Olympic team GM

Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin will serve as Bowman’s assistant GM. “The combination of a Stanley Cup-winning GM [Bowman] and a Hall of Fame player [Guerin] who has competed in the Olympics in addition to his experience as an NHL GM, is certainly something we’re excited about,” USA Hockey executive Pat Vanbiesbrouck said in […]

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Seattle Kraken hire former NHL player Gary Roberts, six others in hockey operations, analytics

Roberts, who played in 21 NHL seasons, has become a well-known trainer since retiring. Roberts works with several high-profile players in the offseason, including Connor McDavid and Steven Stamkos. McDavid and Roberts even teamed up to release a video of at-home exercises for fans while the NHL was on pause in April. According to the […]

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Alex Pietrangelo’s savvy ‘local hero’ pressure play on the St. Louis Blues

Alex Pietrangelo, 30, is the belle of the free-agent ball this offseason, the kind of top-pairing defenseman in his prime who could complete a Stanley Cup puzzle for several teams — and one who is coveted even more for having won the Cup last season. Pietrangelo’s “stuff” is very much in St. Louis. Based on […]

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Should the New York Rangers trade the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NHL draft?

My father grew up in the city. His first attempt at a pronunciation was “Lufthansa.” The Canadian hamlet of Saint-Eustache produced an exquisite French Canadian moniker — Alexis Lafrenière. On the tongues of New Yawkers, it’s going to sound like a Claude Debussy suite performed by an orchestra of accordions. The second worst thing about […]

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Dismantling the Buffalo Sabres

This isn’t meant to be a “Jeopardy!” answer to “This National Hockey League team has had six head coaches, four general managers and zero playoff appearances since 2011,” although that would be applicable. This is a legitimate question: Who are they? What style do they play? Is the roster built for a hard-checking strategy or […]

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The best lines of the past 30 years for all 31 NHL teams: Top overall, cult classic and current

It’s created by a coach attempting to mesh three players together into a cohesive unit; it’ll stick around for anywhere from a few periods to a few games; and then it’s either broken up, with the spare parts added to different lines, or it passes the chemistry test, living on for months or perhaps for […]

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Inside Conor Garland’s ascension: Fueled by perseverance, adaptation and tenacity

As the Coyotes stare down the final quarter of the season, they’re clinging to the second Western Conference wild-card spot. They’re averaging slightly more offense than last season, but their leading goal scorer isn’t Kessel or Hall. It’s not Clayton Keller, the No. 7 overall pick of the 2016 draft; nor is it Nick Schmaltz, […]

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Why the Buffalo Sabres are the NHL’s biggest disaster

Peter Tripi is a passionate Buffalo Sabres fan, something increasingly rare for the moribund franchise. The kind of fan who shouts “Buffalo’s on the rise!” because it fires up other people, and because it’s what he inherently believed about his team. His family used to have season tickets before the resale market dried up like […]

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