Nichols' Notes
/One of the more interesting storylines for the Buffalo Sabres at camp and into the beginning of the regular season this year will be what happens with Mikhail Grigorenko. Mike Harrington of The News writes that the young forward has come to development camp with a new attitude and a dramatically ramped up workout routine. Grigorenko has added 10 pounds (up to 219 now) and has been working on his explosiveness.
In terms of the past?
“From past experiences, I kind of realized it was probably no one’s fault but mine I didn’t stay in the NHL,” Grigorenko said. “If I want to play in the best league in the world, it’s just on me. No one’s going to just let me play because I was drafted first round. I just need to go out there and be the best.”
In terms of where there’s room for improvement?
“Probably just think less,” he said. “Go out, just want the puck. Go and win every single battle, just want the puck. I guess I’m an offensive player. So I just need to score goals, just bring that offense. If I don’t score goals and have points, I guess no one needs me on the team.”
There has been a large breath of fresh air transferred into this Sabres organization since Tim Murray took over and Grigorenko, armed with a new perspective after a couple of tough campaigns from which he seems to have learned quite a bit, seems up to the challenge of earning his stripes – whether it comes in the NHL or AHL for now. This kid has a strong skill-set with impressive upside and while his first few years haven’t exactly been a Disney script, he does seem better for having gone through it all. He knows it’s up to him now and he’s one of a number of reasons fans of the Sabres should be excited about the future.
The Tennessean's Josh Cooper has a good rundown article of the Nashville Predators' additions of Mike Ribeiro and Derek Roy, which basically compiles the info from the pieces earlier in the day. This one outlines the risk/reward carried by each center, along with some of the potential line permutations.
Ribeiro and winger James Neal seem likely to play together.
Roy and Craig Smith could be on a line, according to David Poile.
Matt Cullen and Colin Wilson will likely move to wing slots. Olli Jokinen could play center or wing, while the Preds also have Paul Gaustad and Calle Jarnkrok. Many options for new bench boss Peter Laviolette. It's a nice 'problem' to have.
"We have 16 forwards, so something has to give," Poile said. "Somebody is going to benefit by what has taken place in the summer, and some people will lose their jobs."
Tom Renney was discussing his new gig as president and CEO of Hockey Canada Tuesday and outlined part of the scope of his job.
“We want our kids taken care of, we want our coaches to have good ethics. Every parent feels they have the next great one and will the coach play this kid over another kid,” said Renney, via The Journal’s Jim Matheson. “But the vast majority of kids are out there to have fun. It’s developing players and good citizens.
“I want to pay particular attention to development, to grassroots hockey ... the little people have to want to play this game and older people have to want to continue to play it and when you get to that great old age, you want to play it as a lifetime sport,” said Renney.
“We have to make sure immigrants, people new to the game, embrace it as soon as possible.”
The Post's Adrian Dater followed up on a report out of Switzerland about an ankle injury suffered by Colorado Avalanche goaltender Semyon Varlamov, who is at Francois Allaire's camp. Dater relays that the team called the injury "very minor."
Here's Mike Heika's July 2013 story on Tyler Seguin shutting down his Twitter account and the events leading up to it, including how Seguin claims he was hacked. The story also delves into the partying allegations surrounding the forward during his time with the Boston Bruins.
Seguin has since put all of that nonsense behind him by digging in and having an excellent debut campaign for the Dallas Stars.
Mike Ribeiro signed a one-year, $1.05 million contract with the Nashville Predators on Tuesday after having been bought out by thePhoenix Coyotes for what GM Don Maloney called “behavioral issues.”
At Tuesday’s presser, The Tennessean’s Josh Cooper relays that Ribeiro addressed that situation.
"I had a chance to really focus on myself and really learn about myself," Ribeiro said. "That's why I'm comfortable. What Mr. Maloney said – it shocked some people, my wife wasn't happy about it. I sat down, thought about it. I'm comfortable with myself now. I'm open with what happened or didn't happen with our marriage issues, and really I think I'm comfortable with it and not trying to hide it."
Also: "I was not committed to my job because of my issues. I just wanted the year to be over so I could go work on them so I could go be a healthy person," Ribeiro said. "I think my head is really clear. I have my family with me right now, and we're ready to move forward."
Hockey Hall of Famer Bernie Parent is a regular contributor to Philly.com and his latest offering provides a scouting report of sorts on Flyers GM Ron Hextall, tracing back to Parent scouting Hextall as a junior for the Brandon Wheat Kings.
In terms of Hextall’s playing days in Philadelphia, Parent writes:
Everyone knew what Hextall did on the ice, how loud and aggressive he was. But in the locker room, he was a typical goalie: quiet. If he had a bad game, he rarely expressed himself. But do you want to know what really showed everyone the type of player Hextall was? When he left the net to go after Chris Chelios after Chelios knocked out Brian Propp with a cheap shot. Hextall was the ultimate warrior, possessed a rare intensity and stuck up for his team members. That was a defining moment in his career.
Parent concludes with this sentiment:
Hextall took “don’t mess with my teammate” to the next level. Whatever it was you thought you were going to get away with, Hextall ripped that right out from under you. Not only will this resonate with the current Flyers roster physically, but having that sort of mental attitude on top of all the preparations will take this team far.
In this position of power, you are more likely to pursue athletes that play the way you played. And I can’t wait to see it come to fruition.
How might the defensive pairings of the Columbus Blue Jackets shake out for the coming season? Dispatch scribe Aaron Portzline takes a stab at it Tuesday, following the club's signing of Tim Erixon to a one-way contract. With Nikita Nikitin having signed with the Edmonton Oilers, Portzline feels Erixon's pact gives him an edge over Cody Goloubef, Will Weber, Frederic St. Denis, and others.
Jack Johnson - Fedor Tyutin
Ryan Murray - James Wisniewski
Dalton Prout - David Savard
Tim Erixon
Speaking of defensive pairings and ICYMI Monday, The Post’s Alex Prewitt perused that topic for the Washington Capitals.
He notes GM Brian MacLellan expects Matt Niskanen, John Carlson and Mike Green on the right side, which should mean Karl Alzner, Brooks Orpik and Dmitry Orlov on the left. Orlov’s recovery from wrist surgery will be a factor, while the Caps also have John Erskine, Connor Carrick, Jack Hillen and Nate Schmidt in the mix.
Where might the newly-signed Niskanen and Orpik slot in with the pairings?
“The logic would be to go right away to something that’s comfortable, but I think it’s important to get some of the things we’re going to do, split them up, let them learn together and help them learn as teammates, especially early on,” assistant coach Todd Reirden, who will run the team’s defense, said. “We’ll try some different looks, certainly in the beginning of training camp more so than when we get closer to the end. I think it’ll be a healthy competition. We’ve got some good players back there, some good depth, and I’m just looking forward to getting it going here. I’ll be anxiously awaiting the start of rookie camp and training camp.”
Larry Playfair joined Sportsnet 960 Tuesday morning to discuss his new extension as an associate coach of the Phoenix Coyotes. One of the first points mentioned was having the stability of ownership in place and what a difference that makes for a team. Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Keith Yandle are noted as 'cornerstones.'
"We're really trying to build our organization around real stable people again, real solid people. I think that's going to be the foundation for where we're going to go forward from. In meeting with Dave Tippett lots at the end of the season we just feel we have to get back to being a real trustworthy group collectively and playing well defensively. I think we got away from some of that over the last little while and we've got to get back that. So I think our group has got a real good foundation to play well and to play well together."
Playfair on Sam Gagner:
"I think when you look at his talent level Boomer, I think he's a guy that's probably slipped behind the young, high profile kids in Edmonton. I think he's probably tried to find his way in that group. I think he's probably tried to push himself offensively to be a lot more creative and keep up with the pace of Hall and Eberle and those types of kids. I think in Phoenix, he can just focus on being a real sound, competitive, defensive player and let his creativity take place offensively on the power play and obviously five-on-five.
"I think for us, getting a young player with a lot of energy, something to prove, I think he really feels like he can be more a complete player than he's been in Edmonton and that's not a sleight against anybody in Edmonton, I think that's just a time where a player sees an opportunity for him to break loose and prove to people that he can be a 200-foot player."
Playfair was effusive in his praise of Sean Burke's work with goaltenders, including how he'll be expected to help Devan Dubnyk.
Playfair believes Brandon Gormley is close. "We see him as being a guy who's really going to push for our team right out of training camp and if he doesn't make it then, we think by Christmas time he should be a regular playing in the NHL." Playfair likes the way his defense is setting up and believes the young guys will be pushing each other for minutes.
On Keith Yandle and the continual trade talk surrounding him:
"Well, I think the one thing Boomer is that we really identified ourselves as looking and needing a No. 1 skilled center ice man. I think the way Yands plays the game, he was one player that a lot of teams came to us and asked about... It's very difficult to get a high-end center ice man or a high-end forward, a top-six guy that can play big minutes and impact the game for you. The player that everybody was talking about was going to be Yands. So we weren't running around trying to promote to move Yands. It's just that's the piece people wanted, that became the public part of it.
"So in the dressing room he's an outstanding young man. He's got lots of energy, lots of juice, a real popular teammate. I think production-wise, he was excellent on the power play. He's got as good a first pass as any defenseman in the National Hockey League. His first few steps with the puck on his stick are excellent and I think before the Olympics Keith was very dedicated to becoming a better defender. I thought he probably for 30 games of the season, he played the best defensive hockey and the best offensive hockey of the entire, probably, two or three years.
"So I think the focus for us is just to make sure Keith now recognizes that he has to improve defensively and by doing it... I think he's not going to be a big, hard player to play against, but he's quick, he's smart, he can get the stick on pucks and he's dangerous offensively. So the way he has to excel defensively is in his own way and I think Keith understands that.
"I think he was a little bit upset that he didn't make the Olympic team, so he's got something to prove to people. And again, it wasn't like we were out looking to shop Yands, I think it was more about 'listen, if you guys want this piece of the puzzle, we want that piece of the puzzle.' So he's a very big part of it. Assistant captain. He's extremely, again, upbeat in the dressing room and he's certainly a player I think can be a 60-70 point defenseman in the NHL on a consistent basis."
Playfair touched on Michael Stone as well, including how well he can get pucks on net. "He's such a joy to be around, and such a joy to coach. He's got a passion to want to learn, a passion to want to get better."
Another stellar feature article from The Gazette’s Dave Stubbs, who profiles Montreal Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher. Good content in there about the well-known friendship between Gallagher and Boston Bruins winger Milan Lucic, including how they push each other in summer training sessions. Gallagher also has some solid thoughts on leadership and everyone in the dressing room holding themselves accountable.
One of the more revealing sections of the article, though, came in outlining the relationship between Gallagher and now former teammate Josh Gorges.
“There were some rumours before the trade that they were trying to move Josh,” Gallagher said. “He sent me a text before the trade that it was going to happen. I didn’t really believe it until it went through, but there was about a week of preparation that it was going to happen.
“You could see watching his interviews and reading his texts he was sending me that Josh really did play with his heart. He left it all on the ice, every single shift, and I think that’s what he wants everyone to realize — that he loved being a Montreal Canadien, loved being a part of this organization, loved everything that came with it.
“He played that way every night. He was willing to sacrifice his body and do whatever it took to win. He’d have loved to bring a Stanley Cup to this city. In his mind, it was getting close, so the trade was tough for him.
“For us to lose him, we are going to have a void to fill, but we feel we’re capable of doing it,” Gallagher said. “It puts more responsibility on guys like myself, younger players, who have to understand that we have to step up and take on some of the responsibility that Josh seemed to take care of very easily.”
Brad Ziemer of The Vancouver Sun believes the Canucks figure to give Linden Vey a long look as the team’s third line centre at camp in the fall.
Vey accepted the team’s qualifying offer Monday and while it’s a two-way contract, his agent doesn’t seem concerned.
"At the end of the day any player would want to be on a one-way, but the reality is Linden would have to clear waivers and to be blunt we are not that concerned about that," Timothy Hodgson said.
Also: "He is looking forward to playing in Vancouver," Hodgson said. "Part of the issue in L.A. was that they were so deep at centre he just never got an opportunity and in the near future wasn't certain he would get an opportunity. He will be given an opportunity to prove what he can do, I think."