All Habs Headlines: Friday July 22, 2016 |
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On this day in hockey history… 1970 — Long time NHL defenceman Sergei Zubiv was born. 2003 — A rare three-team trade that saw Mike Sillinger go to Phoenix, Darryl Sidor to Columbus and Teppo Numminen to Dallas. |
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► Farnham Joins Habs
- The Montreal Canadiens added to their forward depth by signing free agent Bobby Farnham on Friday. Farnham is inked to a one-year, two-way contract worth a reported $575,000 AAV.
So pumped to join @CanadiensMTL. Looking forward to a great season!
— Bobby Farnham (@bobbyfarnham24) July 22, 2016
► O’Byrne Hangs Up the Skates
- Former Canadiens defenceman Ryan O’Byrne announced his retirement from hockey on Twitter after a 10-year career playing in 526 pro grames.
- O’Byrne intends to return to Cornell University to complete his degree.
After 10 years, I'm retiring from Pro Hockey. Can't begin to thank everyone enough for the support and friendship over the years! (1/2)
— Ryan O'Byrne (@ryanobyrne84) July 21, 2016
► McDavid Welcoming Of Lucic
- It was pretty well-telegraphed that the Edmonton Oilers would be acquiring Milan Lucic and to no one’s surprise it’s being taken with full compliance and joy from Connor McDavid.
- McDavid did an interview for NHL.com in which he mentioned the welcomed addition that is Milan Lucic, “It means so much. It kind of gives us that swagger, that meanness that we have been looking for.”
- “We tried to do that a little bit last year in adding a couple of bigger bodies and it definitely helped, but now you have the addition of Lucic and those guys we added before, ” said McDavid.
- There’s no doubt the 20-year old will be well insulated and protected by Peter Chiarelli’s additions, “We definitely have that mean streak that other teams won’t want to be pushing us around.”
- With the addition of the likes of Zack Kassian and Patrick Maroon along with Lucic, the Oilers will undoubtedly be a tougher team to play against next season.
► Tortorella Exited For World Cup
- John Tortorella just keeps receiving employment. Why? I don’t know, but he’s made his opinion clear on the importance of the World Cup of Hockey relative to all his other accomplishments.
- “For a U.S. team to go into Toronto, a Canadian city, fantastic hockey city, what that atmosphere is going to be like,” Tortorella told CBS Sports. “And to go in there and do our business and try to do it the right way, at this point in time in my career, it’s going to have to rank as one of the top things because it’s your country and it’s the U.S. in Canada.”
- The Blue Jackets head coach is extremely excited, “We’re really looking forward to it. I was very fortunate to win the Stanley Cup, [but] to do something in this situation and try to come into a situation and win it, man oh man, I’m not sure where you’d rank that.”
- Becoming the head coach in Columbus marked Tortorella’s fourth head coaching position, the others being in Vancouver, New York and Tampa Bay.
► Richards Retires
- A potential future Hall of Famer just decided to hang ’em up with two-time Stanley Cup champion Brad Richards announcing his retirement this week.
- Richards, who was originally selected 64th overall by Tampa Bay in 1998, retired as a member of the Detroit Red Wings organization following signing a one-year contract with the club last season.
- The Murray Harbour, PEI native amassed over 1,100 games in the NHL, scoring two shy of 300 goals and 932 points with the Lightning, Stars, Rangers, Blackhawks and Red Wings.
- As was previously mentioned, Richards lifted Lord Stanley’s mug twice, once as a member of the Lightning in 2003-04 and once as a member of the Blackhawks in 2014-14.
- The 6-foot now-retired centerman played in the playoffs for five consecutive seasons prior to calling it quits, most notably getting the key assist on Patrick Kane’s Stanley Cup clinching goal against Tampa Bay.
► Patrick Kane’s Phenomenal (Genius Analysis)
- Blackhawk fans have once again been subjected to heartbreak this offseason with the departure of fan favourite Andrew Shaw but a mitigating factor is they still have the most talented player in the NHL.
- In a promotional video for Bauer, Kane stickhandles through a variety of elaborate set ups including small tires through which he does back hand saucer passes and stick leaning on cones which he stick handles through.
- Although still not the pure display of talent Kane displayed in the now infamous video with seemingly perpetual pucks that he stick handles through, this is an incredible feat.
► Grigorenko Avoids Arbitration
- The Colorado Avalanche and forward Mikhail Grigorenko have agreed to a one-year, $1.3 million contract extension, narrowly avoiding arbitration by two days.
- Grigorenko, who was shipped to Colorado in the transaction that saw Ryan O’Reilly and Jamie McGinn head to Buffalo, is a case of a player who needed to play in the AHL but was restricted by CHL rules.
- Rather than keeping him in junior hockey, which they perceived he outgrew, Grigorenko was kept with the Sabres past the point where he burnt a year on his contract and then was soon sent to the OHL, hampering his development.
- Last year was the former 12th overall pick’s most productive as an NHL player, recording six goals and 27 points in 76 games, occasionally spending time on the team’s top line at right wing.
- Despite rumours circulating about the long-term futures of some of the team’s young core players, Grigorenko has yet to be mentioned in any trade speculation.
► Yakupov For Petrovic A No-Go
- Speculation has been running rampant with the rumour of Nail Yakupov being dealt to the Florida Panthers in exchange for defenceman Alex Petrovic, however evidently that’s all hearsay.
- According to Panthers reporter Harvey Fialkov, there’s truth to the rumour that’s been circulating the web and water coolers alike.
- “Source confirms there is ABSOLUTELY no validity to trade rumors involving D Alex Petrovic for Oilers F Nail Yakupov,” Fialkov stated via his Twitter account earlier in the week.
- Florida has a deep forward core with minimal opportunity for Yakupov to play consistent minutes, especially in a capacity that’s conducive to quality offensive opportunities.
- The former first overall pick’s tribulations have been well-documented, recording a career-low eight goals and 23 points last season in Edmonton.
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