All Habs Headlines: Sunday June 21, 2015 — Happy Father’s Day! |
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On this day in hockey history… 1973 – The U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame opened in Eveleth, Minnesota. 1984 – Boston Bruins acquired Kenny Lineseman. 1991 – Mike Bossy, Bob Pulford, Denis Potvin, and veteran Clint Smith were elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame. 1995 – Quebec Nordiques franchise was given approval by the NHL Board of Governors to move to Denver. They were renamed the Colorado Avalanche. |
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► QO for Bournival
- La Presse is reporting that Michael Bournival has received a qualifying offer from the Montreal Canadiens. The forward was set to become a restricted free agent on July 1st.
- Bournival’s agent Christian Daigle told La Presse, “We are in discussion with the leadership of the Canadiens. We are making progress.”
- With just five points in 29 games, Bournival has not placed himself in a strong negotiating position. The 23-year-old has been passed on the depth chart by several of the Canadiens prospects.
► Joey MacDonald to Europe
- Joey MacDonald has decided to take his career overseas instead. The former Hamilton Bulldogs netminder has signed a one-year deal with the Schwenninger Wild Wings a team in Deutsche Eishockey Liga (German Elite League.) MacDonald and 32-year-old, Soviet-born Dimitri Pätzold will form the goaltending tandem for the Wild Wings.
- “With Joey MacDonald, we now have the desired strong goalkeeping duo together, which will give the team the necessary support in the net. With his skills and his experience we were looking for for this position, Joey MacDonald is just the man.” — Jürgen Rumrich, sports manager of Wild Wings.
- MacDonald, 35, appeared in 26 games for the Bulldogs this season in which he put up a solid 2.77 GAA and a .910 save percentage. He was the backup to Mike Condon who won the starter’s job. MacDonald was called up for a couple games this season when Carey Price was nursing an injury but did not play in any games.
- MacDonald made his NHL debut in 2006 after playing five years for the Red Wings AHL and ECHL affiliates. The journeyman has played for six NHL teams and the majority of his games played have come in the American Hockey League.
- This move makes sense for the Canadiens due to the transition of Zachary Fucale into professional hockey in the fall with the IceCaps.
► Patrick Sharp moving along?
- According to Brian Hedger of NHL.com, the Blackhawks will most like deal forward Patrick Sharp in the upcoming week.
- The 3-time Stanley cup champion and 4-time 30-goal scorer is at the tail end of a contract that will pay him $5.9 million for the next two years. It’s an obvious move for the Blackhawks as Sharp’s role and play has been declining of late. With the emergence of guys like Brandon Saad and Teuvo Teravainen, Sharp is more expendable than ever.
- It has been reported that the Blackhawks are demanding a first round pick, an “A” level prospect and a top six forward on an entry level contract for the sniper’s services. It will be interesting to see what the Hawks get for the 33-year-old who was a leader on the Stanley Cup winning roster.
- Sharp was originally drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers 95th overall in 2001 where he spent four seasons playing 64 NHL games. He was traded to Chicago, on December 5th 2005, alongside Eric Meloche for Matt Elison and a third round pick.
- After playing most of four seasons in the Flyers’ farm system Sharp found a home in the Windy City, never playing another game in the AHL. After playing two years in Chicago he finally had his breakout year in 2007-08 when he scored 36 goals and threw in 26 helpers in 80 games.
- The “Sharp Shooter” signed a 5-year $29.5 contract in 2012 that will be up after the end of the 2016-17 season.
► Profile of Carey Price
- It was a season without equal for goaltender Carey Price. He already has a share of the Jennings trophy and could walk away with the Vezina and the Hart this week.
- Price has also been nominated for the Ted Lindsay award by the NHLPA. He was profiled here.
- Dale Weise on Price, “Carey deserves to be a finalist because in my mind, he was the most important player to his team this year. He’s extremely hard-working, he’s humble and he’s so talented, that every day I get to practice and play with him, it’s an honour. He’s an amazing teammate, who never calls guys out for screening him or if someone was to tip it in his own net. He takes blame for goals and games when he shouldn’t have. He’s just a stand-up individual.”
► Up next: Awards, Draft, Free Agency, Development Camp
- With the awarding of the Stanley Cup to the Chicago Blackhawks, the 2014-15 season comes to a close. But there is no down time for hockey fans with the NHL Awards, NHL Entry Draft, and free agency following in quick succession. All Habs Hockey Magazine will be in Sunrise to bring you Draft coverage.
- Habs fans will get their first chance to see the newly-drafted crop of players at the annual Canadiens development camp. The camp will run from July 4-9 at the Bell Sports Complex in Brossard.
► Move the icing line
- There have been a number of proposals floating around early this off-season designed to help increase the offense in the NHL. In recent days, TSN Analyst Dave Naylor joined the chorus of those wanting to increase the size of the nets.
- Ronnie Shuker, an associate editor with the Hockey News, has proposed moving the icing line. Instead of using the red line as a measure for icing it would be the team’s own blue line. That would turn the icing area from 100 feet to 125 feet. This could benefit teams like the Canadiens who play a chip-and-chase style.
- It is a radical idea that would have a slim chance of ever being adopted but don’t rule it out as an option being tested in the AHL for the 2016-17 season.
► Is Sprong worth the risk?
- Draft eligible forward Daniel Sprong isn’t exactly what Marc Bergevin would call a player with character. His play has been described as selfish and his attitude as immature.
- When asked about projected 26th overall pick (ISS Hockey) McKeens hockey head scout Grant McCagg said that he spoke to scouts that said that they wouldn’t take Sprong in any round let a lone in the first round of this year’s draft. He also profiles the Holland-born forward as “high-risk.”
- Sprong came to Canada with his parents to play hockey in Quebec for both Deux Rives and Lac St. Louis.
- He had just over a point per game in his rookie year in the QMJHL on a horrific Charlottetown Islanders team. In his second season he had 39 goals and 49 points in 68 games playing alongside another draft eligible centreman Filip Chlapik.
- His character flaws are so evident and impactful upon his draft status that even though he had this great review from elite prospects he still was ranked 33rd by Bob McKenzie, who wrote, “A prolific scoring winger who possesses an elite-level skillset: has dynamic skating ability, is a creative passer, and has incredible puckhandling ability. While he is offensively dominant, he is also defensively responsible. A very hard working player who strives to improve all aspects of his game. Absolutely electric.”
► Serious allegations against Ribeiro
- Mike Ribeiro’s legal troubles continue as the former family nanny has accused him of sexual assault. The Quebec native was a member of the Nashville Predators last season and will become an unrestricted free agent on July 1st.
- Court documents in the civil lawsuit reported by On The Forecheck (story contains graphic detail) claim that Ribeiro made unwanted sexual advances on the nanny dating back to 2007. TMZ reports that the lawsuit is in excess of $1 million.
- The Ribeiro’s lawyer has said that his clients strongly deny the allegations.
- Earlier in June, Ribeiro’s agent, Don Meehan said that it his client would prefer to stay in Nashville but was looking for a multi-year deal.
► Michael Backlund signs
- The Calgary Flames have signed centreman Michael Backlund to a 3-year contract. This extension has an average annual value of $3.575 million. Backlund has played all of his 298 NHL games with the Flames and is the teams third line centre behind Sean Monahan and Matt Stajan.
- The former 24th overall pick in the 2007 draft career had a career high for points in 2013-14 with 29 and in his one year in the WHL he recorded 30 points in 28 games.
- Backlund is now insulated by the likes of the aforementioned centreman and newly-acquired Drew Shore.
► Bergevin mural
- James Lyng High School in St. Henri has painted a mural on the side of their building of Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin.
► Prust to Italy
- Brandon Prust and his girlfriend Maripier Morin are on their way to Italy
► Odds to win the Stanley Cup 2016
Odds for 2016 Stanley Cup from Bovada. pic.twitter.com/Jrf8PxoI7K
— Mark Stepneski (@StarsInsideEdge) June 16, 2015
► An Orr award?
- J.D. Larange honours the greatest defenceman of all time, Bobby Orr.
► Habs fans are everywhere
- Guest Writer Ryan Ferguson writes about his journey to find his love of the Habs.
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