Good morning Hockey fans,
Hope all is well with you. We are back with more news from around the league with the Trade Deadline coming up.
- In some very unfortunate news, Former NHL enforcer Chris Simon has died at age 52. Simon, who was selected 25th overall in the 1990 NHL Draft was able to play 857 regular-season games in over 15 NHL seasons. He was known as a tough guy, fighting in more than 100 times and racked up 1,824 penalty minutes, to rank 67th in league history. Simon also won the Stanley Cup with Colorado in 1996 and was part of runs to the final with Washington in 1998 and Calgary in 2004. Off the ice, he was a leader and a very kind soul and is remembered for his impact on and off the ice.
- Some other heartbreaking news is that Konstantin Koltsov, former NHL player has also died by ‘apparent suicide’ at age 42. Koltsov spent three seasons in the NHL with the Pittsburgh Penguins between 2003 and 2006 and represented Belarus at the Winter Olympics in 2002 and 2010. He had played 144 games and put up 12 goals and 26 assists. We send our deepest condolences to both him and the Simon family.
- NHL GMs discuss expanding coach’s challenge through video review, player safety and the future of the Arizona Coyotes franchise over the past weekend as the GMs met in Florida for their annual meeting. There is a lot to discuss including some rule changes but nothing around the cap situation at this moment as that would be a CBA change.
- Recently the Canadian Embassy hosted a PWHL watch party to both “celebrate women athletes” and to continue to support the new league, as it continues to sell out and break attendance records in its inaugural season. This is a great way to continue to acknowledge and grow the game.
- The University of New Brunswick has also won the U Sports University Cup in Toronto this past weekend, where fourteen former OHL players lifted the trophy. It is their 10th championship in team history, and had a perfect season where they went 38-0 through the regular season, playoffs, and during this championship. We had just interviewed Sarah Hilworth, Head Coach, University of New Brunswick Reds, Women’s Hockey Team, who sits on the Central Female Hockey Association’s board and is part of that great winning culture.
- Also in other news Philadelphia Flyers captain Sean Couturier was a healthy scratch against the Toronto Maple Leafs, where the Flyer won 4 to 3. This has been a bit questionable by others in the hockey world, given the level of talent Couturier has and being recently named captain of the team, but it seems that Tortorella has a unique way of coaching and is still helping the team trying to make the playoffs. This may be a jolt for the team for the last month of the season.
- With a goal against the Anaheim Ducks, Kirill Kaprizov records his 150th career goal, making him the 4th fastest active NHL skater to reach that mark, in 265 career games. He trails only Auston Matthews (223 GP), Alex Ovechkin (234 GP), and Steven Stamkos (245 GP) as players who got there faster. Although the Minnesota Wild are 34-28-8 and are still pushing for a final wildcard spot and he has been a very electrically fun player to watch.
Thoughts? Questions? Suggestions? Then remember to tune in each week to get all the latest news in the world of hockey. For more hockey news, different takes or if you want to chat about anything hockey give me a follow @hockey_two on TWITTER and give us a follow on YouTube, or at https://twoguysandhockeytalk.com/.
- Pawel ‘The Cat’
