Two famous hockey families asked to work with Hockey Canada

The President of Hockey Canada didn’t mince words.

“Canada has to get better,” said Bob Nicholson Wednesday morning as Hockey Canada announced its coaching staff for the 2014 World Junior Hockey Championship and the men’s summer Under -18.

In the last four World Under 20 hockey championships, Canada has failed to win a gold medal. In fact this year, they didn’t win a medal – at all.

In an effort to end this drought, Hockey Canada is turning to a familiar face – and a coach who has won before – as Brent Sutter takes over the coaching duties.

Sutter led Canada to gold medals at this event in 2005 and 2006.

“One of the things we wanted to do was identify who were the top coaches in this country,” said Nicholson. “And we went after them.”

Nicholson added: “He has won 2 straight world juniors. He hasn’t lost a game.”

No pressure, eh Brent?

“No,” said Sutter, the former New Jersey Devils and Calgary Flames coach who is currently the coach, GM and owner of the Western Hockey League’s Red Deer Rebels. “Been there, understand it.”

That he does. He went undefeated in 12 games over the two tournaments and was 7-0-1 in the 2007 Canada-Russia super series which featured both countries national junior teams.

A Sutter coached team plays with an edge and works hard. It’s those type of characteristics he hopes to bring to the junior team for the event to be held in late December – early January in Malmo, Sweden.

“Canada plays a certain way,” said Sutter. “Skill and talent can be overrated cause you need to have the other ingredients to win. The big part of it is character.”

While this tournament doesn’t get much attention in most of the hockey world, it is a huge event in Canada.

The Sports Network (TSN) has done a marvellous job of  broadcasting the tournament over the years. With it being played out over the quiet Christmas break, Canadians have become immersed in what is an annual tradition.

“It’s very exciting but it’s a process to go through,” said Sutter, who represented Canada as a player at the 1986 World Championships and in the 1984, 1987 and 1991 Canada Cups. “The expectations are always high.”

Yes they are. And this won’t be any different.

Meantime, London Knights coach Dale Hunter – who coached briefly the Washington Capitals for part of the 2012-2013 season – will coach the Men’s summer Under-18 team in August at the annual Ivan Hlinka tournament in the Czech Republic.

“To represent your country it’s an honour,” said Hunter. “That’s why we jumped on it.”

Hunter has spent 11 seasons as owner, president and head coach of the London Knights leading the team to three Memorial Cup appearances, winning the title in 2005.

“It’s one of those things as a player you always want to represent your country,” said Hunter. “Unfortunately I wasn’t good enough.”

But he is good enough as a coach.

For years Hunter wasn’t on Hockey Canada’s radar. Hunter doesn’t have a polished image, and as a player he was known more for suspensions than scoring goals.

His addition to the Hockey Canada program you could say is long overdue.

“Definitely, admitted Nicholson. “ We were looking at it was that a piece we were missing along the way? It could be.”

Usually when you coach the summer Men’s Under -18 team, you usually follow that up coaching the Under -20 team.

“What he has done with London is pretty special,” added Nicholson. “It’s great for him to take the  under 18 program. He hasn’t been involved in the program . We are going to learn a lot from him.”

The Memorial of  Ivan Hlinka tournament runs August 5 to 10.

The Under 20 men’s hockey championship will take place December 26 to January 5 of next year.

Maple Leafs acquire Bernier

Dave Nonis may be in store for a busy few weeks.

"Between now and July 5th you likely will see more moves," Toronto Maple Leafs GM Dave Nonis said after picking up goalie Jonathan Bernier

The first significant move made this off-season occurred on Sunday, as the Leafs acquired Bernier for goalie Ben Scrivens, forward Matt Frattin and a 2^nd round pick in 2014 of 2015.

Bernier has played only 62 games in his NHL career over the course of 5 seasons. He was a 1^st round pick and a few years ago was named the American Hockey League goalie of the year.

The 24 year-old Bernier will come into camp as the number 1 goalie. What does that mean for 25 year-old James Reimer?

“When I talked to Jonathan, I told him the same thing I passed along to Reims,” Nonis said early Sunday evening, in a conference call with reporters. “Which is ‘nothing is being guaranteed to anybody.’ “This is a situation where we feel that we’re deeper [in goal]. Both have great potential and they’re going to get an opportunity to develop and hopefully realize that potential.”

This is a deal that has been brewing for a while.

“We had talked on and off again for months,” Nonis said. “Most of this deal was in place months ago. We just had to find a time that was right for both sides.”

“This shouldn’t be looked as a knock on James at all because it’s not,” Nonis said of adding another netminder. “I believe that when you have someone pushing you, you get the most out of yourself. And I think that’s the situation here where these guys can push each other and we’re going to see some good goaltending because of it.”

By dealing Frattin the door has been opened for the likes of prospects Joe Colborne, Josh Leivo and Tyler Biggs. Can they make the step next season?

With Tyler Bozak and Clarke MacArthur unrestricted free agents, Toronto’s forward unit could have a vastly different look next season.

With the salary cap dropping from $70.2 M to $64.3 M this upcoming season, Bozak and MacArthur may have to accept less money than free agents in their situations in past years.

That’s the challenge facing Nonis and all GM’s.

“I can’t stress this enough: The cap is coming down,” Nonis said. “It’s the first time in history that it’s come down, and we have to make sure we’re spending our money wisely.

“Not to just retain all the players you have but be in a position where you can try to get a different piece or two. We have to make sure if we’re spending a significant amount of money and term on players that they line up [with what we want to spend] and that it makes sense for us.”

So what’s next for Nonis and the Leafs?

Expect them to use a compliance buy- out on Mike Komisarek and that will save them $3.75 M.

Once they do that, the Leafs will have 11 players under contract at $43.5 M.

Bernier, Nazem Kadri, Carl Gunnarsson and Cody Franson are restricted free agents and will likely see slight pay hikes from last year.

The Leafs will look to upgrade their defence and centre positions (just like all teams) and may be willing to make Dion Phaneuf as part of the package to do just that.

They may look to deal Mikhail Grabovski in an effort to shed some salary.

John-Michael Liles and his long-term contract could be a buy-out possibility as well.

The draft is a week away and you get the feeling Nonis will be busy before, during and after the draft. 

Jones and Mackinnon - who will go # 1 in NHL draft?

When Nathan Mackinnon has some down time he likes to play the “Grand Slam” tennis video game. He always takes on the role as Roger Federer.
“He never breaks a sweat,” said Mackinnon, projected to be the 1^st player taken in the NHL draft later this month. “He shows great composure and is a fierce competitor.”

Much like Federer, Mackinnon shows great composure, always seems to be in control of the situation, hates losing and is a star in his sport.

“I think I’ve had a good season and proved to the teams I can be the first overall pick,” said Mackinnon from the NHL scouting combine.
The Colorado Avalanche hold the 1^st pick and with Patrick Roy – who watched Mackinnon while coaching Quebec in the Quebec Major Junior hockey League – having a say in who the Avs pick, Mackinnon is intrigued at the possibility of playing for the hall of fame goaltender.

“He has a very competitive nature and I think I have that too, so I think it’d go really well,” said Mackinnon. “He wants to win and I’d love to play for him. It’d be great.”

Seth Jones is also getting plenty of consideration for the top pick.

As a youngster growing up in Denver and being introduced to the game thanks to watching Joe Sakic and the Colorado Avalanche, being the first pick by the Avs would come with high expectations.

“Yes, there would be pressure,” admitted Jones.  But it’s the kind of pressure he feels would make him a better player.

Jones convinced his 6-foot-8 father, former NBA player Popeye Jones, to allow him to try his hand at hockey.

The younger Jones recalled the first time his father joined him on skates.

“That was pretty funny,” said the 6-foot-4 Portland Winterhawks defenseman. “He did not let go of the boards, literally, pulling himself around the rink. He had some custom size 15 CCM skates and an extra- long stick with a six inch knob.”

Jones is a mobile defenceman who has a great shot, is mobile, but scouts wish he had a nasty streak.

Jones and Mackinnon have in the words of the Halifax Mooseheads forward a “healthy” relationship and have been playing hockey against each other for years.

While Mackinnon was dominant in the Mastercard Memorial cup – 7 goals, 6 assists in 4 games – Jones did lead the U.S. to gold at the world junior hockey championship.
There is a mutual respect there and also a competition to be the 1^st player chosen June 30 at the NHL draft in Newark, New Jersey.

“I don’t want to get into that kind of stuff,” said Mackinnon. “There are a ton of good players in this draft and I would like to think that I’m one of them, but at the same time everybody has their own strengths.”

NHL draft is deep

In the early morning hours of the NHL scouting combine, a high ranking team executive told me, "this draft features so many great kids."

He went on to say, "I've been involved in countless interviews with prospects over the years, and this year was the best for interviews. There are just so many good quality kids."

OK, so the crop available in the draft this year features young men of high character. But can they play?

"I see 8 to 12 guys playing in the NHL from this draft next year," said a team scout. "There's a lot of high end talent."

"You can compare this draft to the 2003 draft (one of the best all-time) in terms of quality and depth," said a high league scouting guru.

"I felt bad stopping at a top 100 list," said another draft guru, talking about his top 100 projection for the draft.

Just from talking to hockey people at the combine, teams with multiple draft picks in the first round can get a big head start on rebuilding their team.

Columbus with 3 first- round picks (14, 19 and 27), Buffalo (8 and 16), Dallas (10 and 28) and Calgary (picking 6, 22 and 29) certainly should benefit.

"This is a deep draft," said a team scout. "For example, we could have a player rated 10th, while another team could have that same player at 30."

"The best draft class I've seen in my 18 years of doing this," said an editor of a draft publication. "Our #7 overall, Sean Monahan would have gone #1 in some past drafts."

So while Seth Jones, Jonathan Drouin and Nathan Mackinnon made most of the headlines, this draft is more than just the big 3.

Leafs need to get better this off season

A couple of observations from the Maple Leafs locker clean out on Thursday:

*The sting of the game7 loss to Boston is still fresh.

*The Leafs won’t overspend to keep unrestricted free agent Tyler Bozak

*GM Dave Nonis expects to make his team better through trades, and not via free agency.

Nonis may have said it best on Thursday talking about the heartbreaking playoff exit to Boston when he called it a “once in a lifetime.”

“We have to find a way of flushing that memory out of our system because if we dwell on it for the next three months we’re not going to be prepared for October,” said Nonis.

“The only thing I said to them is that it’ll take some time,” said coach Randy Carlyle. “Time will heal this, but we can never forget.”

“I mean it stings,” winger James van Riemsdyk told me. “So you look for stuff going into the summer to try to maybe keep in the back of your mind and maybe push you through some of those workouts.”

Now Nonis and his staff begin the process of making the team better next season.  

Carlyle may have said it best when he said next year the Leafs won’t surprise anyone and it will be “more difficult” for the team to make the playoffs.

“We took significant steps, but there’s room for improvement,” said Nonis.

Among the chief issues for Nonis will be dealing with his 6 unrestricted free agents: Tyler Bozak, Clark MacArthur, Colton Orr, Ryan Hamilton, Ryan O’Byrne and Mike Kostka.

The most intriguing will be how he handles Bozak. He played on the Leafs top line this year and earned just $1.5 M, so he is in line for a big raise. The Leafs likely will offer him a deal in the $4 to $4.5 M range. If Bozak wants to make more, he will have to explore free agency.

“If there’s a contract that makes sense for us and makes sense for Tyler, then we’ll sign him,” Nonis said. “It’s not a situation where we have to sign Tyler Bozak because there are number that make sense for the team, and there’s numbers that make sense for Bozie.”

Keep in mind the salary cap drops to $64.3 M next season, which will make it a challenge not only for the Leafs but all NHL clubs.

James Reimer looks to be the #1 goalie for the Leafs and Nonis said he did a “very good job for us.”

“At this point I’d say he’ll be back as # 1,” added the General Manager.

Again with the salary cap dropping next year, and Reimer is a $1.8 M cap hit next year the final year of his contract. So the Leafs likely will spend money in other areas and go with the 25 year-old Reimer.

Nazem Kadri, Joe Colborne and Cody Franson are among 7 restricted free agents and will be in line for pay hikes.

Expect Nonis to use his compliance buyout on Mike Komisarek this summer which should open some cap space for the Leafs.

Nonis must also decide if he should offer Phil Kessel and Dion Phaneuf contract extensions. Both players have just one year left in their deals and the Leafs.

The GM had plenty of praise for Kessel saying the way he played against Boston was “the best stretch of hockey Phil Kessel has ever played.”

As far as Phaneuf is concerned, Nonis was asked if he would consider trading his captain to make his team better.

“I’ve always felt the word untouchable is really silly in this sport,” said Nonis. “There are players you would be unlikely to move and players we see as being long-term solutions to success here. But untouchable doesn’t help you if you’re looking to get better. You look at some of the teams that have gotten better and shake their head, but they’ve gotten better doing it.”

 

The Leafs have 12 players under contract next season at a cap hit of $45.1 M (again the cap is $64.3 M)

Mikhael Grabovski: $5.5 M

Nikolai Kulemin: $2.8 M

Phil Kessel: $5.4 M

Joffrey Lupul: $ 5.25 M

James van Riemsdyk:  $4.25 M

Jay McClement: $1.5 M

Matt Frattin: $925,000

Dion Phaneuf: $6 M

John Michael-Liles: $3.75 M

Jake Gardiner: $ 1.2 M

James Reimer: $ 1.8 M

Ben Scrivens: $612,500

This may be the off season, but that’s not the case for the Leafs general manager or his management team.

Leafs better prepared for the Bruins

March 19, 2012 is a day that Randy Carlyle won’t forget.

“Terrible,” said the Maple Leafs coach describing how he felt following an 8-0 loss in Boston to the Bruins that night. “It was not a good feeling back there.”

That night the Bruins finished up going 6-0 against the Leafs for the season, outscoring Toronto 36-10.

Carlyle had been hired as Leafs coach a few weeks earlier, and his team was still in the playoff chase. That game pretty much ended all playoff hopes, while at the same time leading to the turnaround seen this season.

“That was part of us recognizing as a coaching staff and management that things had to change for our group,” said Carlyle on Monday, as the Leafs get ready to face the Bruins in this year’s playoffs. “We couldn’t afford to be embarrassed to that level and it was an eye opener for us.”

This is a different Leafs team. Among those who played in that game and aren’t on the roster now include Tim Connolly, Mathew Lombardi, Luke Schenn, Mike Komisarek, Colby Armstrong, David Steckel and Joey Crabb.

In are the likes of Nazem Kadri, Leo Komarov, Jay McClement, James van Riemsdyk, Mark Fraser, Cody Franson,  Colton Orr and Frazer McLaren.

This year’s Leafs have an attitude, won’t get pushed around and are not intimidated by the Bruins.

“The biggest change for us is we feel we can go into any building and have a chance for success,” said Carlyle. “I don’t know if you could say that before.”

The Leafs lost 3 of 4 to Boston this year (one loss in a shootout) but the games were much more competitive and Toronto was outscored only by a 9-7 margin.

“Last year is a total wash. We don’t even remember anything that has to do with last year,” said Kadri. “It’s a whole different season. I think Boston understands that too.”

“We’ve played them this year as hard as we have in the last four (years),” said GM Dave Nonis. “We were competitive in all the games.”

Toronto lost February 2 at home 1-0 as Chris Bourque scored the game’s only goal.

On March 7, Tyler Seguin scored a pair for the Bruins – including an empty net goal – 

in a 4-2 Bruins win.

Toronto snapped an eight-game losing streak March 23 with a 3-2 win over Boston on home ice.

Two nights later, the Bruins won on home-ice thanks to a 3-2 win in a shootout.

“We understand how we have to play in order to beat these guys,” said Kadri.  “We have a good fore-check and back-check system and it’s just a matter of doing it.”

“We are playing against an exceptional hockey team that’s very well coached and very deep,” said Nonis. “It’s a good challenge and measuring stick for our group.”

Thanks in part to an 8-0 whitewash to the Bruins last year, the Leafs feel they are better prepared for them in these playoffs.

Maple Leafs ready for new playoff memories

James van Riemsdyk knows the playoffs are a different animal.

“You can feel it, the desperation every shift,” said the Maple Leafs forward, who has scored 11 goals in 39 playoff games in his NHL career.

Now he will have a chance to add to those totals as the Toronto Maple Leafs are heading into the playoffs for the first time since 2004.

“We’re far from done. We want a long run in the playoffs,” said Ryan O’Byrne.

Carl Gunnarsson knows fans in Toronto are starving for post season hockey.

“Hopefully it’s going to be crazy and I think it will. I’m looking forward to that,” said Gunnarsson, who is in his 4^th season with the Leafs.

The Maple Leafs clinched a playoff spot on Saturday, and with back to back games in Florida later in the week, the Leafs arrived in Tampa early Sunday morning.

They golfed and lounged around the pool for a couple of days of rest and relaxation, before getting back to the ice on Tuesday.

“It’s great timing,” said O’Byrne. He called the time in Florida “invaluable” as they approach the final three games on the regular season.

Usually when the Leafs golf in late April, it means they missed the playoffs. This time it was a reward for making the postseason.

The games against the Lightning on Wednesday and Panthers on Thursday are both extremely winnable. The game Saturday at home against Montreal could potentially be for home-ice advantage in the first round, possibly against Montreal.

“You can feel the buzz around the city,” said O’Byrne.

You can only imagine what it would be like if it is Montreal the Leafs face in the first round. That hasn’t happened since 1978-79.

The Leafs earned a spot in the playoffs thanks to solid goaltending, a much improved penalty kill, more depth at forwards and a belief in how they were playing.

“This year we all pulled in the same direction,” said Gunnarsson. “We thought we were going to be a playoff team.”

As they head into the final week of the season, the Maple Leafs lead the league in fights (44), hits (1,518), and blocked shots (233).

While James Reimer has a save percentage in the top 5 (.926) and a penalty killing unit that is operating at 87%, also top 5 in the NHL.

The last time Toronto hosted an NHL playoff game the Iphone was still a few years away. There was no twitter, facebook or instagram. That was May 4, 2004. Gas was on average 87 cents a litre.

The Leafs will look to create some new playoff memories starting in a week.

“I can’t wait to see the ACC (Air Canada Centre) for our first playoff game. It’s going to be nuts,” said O’Byrne.