Category: Maple Leafs

Leafs’ Andersen seeks more info, but says “I want to play” this summer — Toronto Sun

Frederik Andersen wants to be back in his crease this summer. Read More

Leafs’ Andersen seeks more info, but says “I want to play” this summer — Toronto Sun


Leafs’ Andersen seeks more info, but says “I want to play” this summer

Terry KoshanMore from Terry Koshan

Published:June 30, 2020

Updated:June 30, 2020 4:51 PM EDT

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Frederik Andersen wants to be back in his crease this summer.

The Maple Leafs goaltender would love nothing more than to try to help Toronto eliminate the Columbus Blue Jackets in the qualifying round of Phase 4 of the National Hockey League’s Return to Play plan.

Before that potentially happens, however, Andersen is willing to wait.

“I don’t think we have enough information yet,” Andersen said on Tuesday during a Zoom call with media, referring to which way he might vote on a return to play given the health issues regarding the COVID-19 pandemic that must be taken into account.

“The PA (NHL Players’ Association) and the league are still ironing that out and then we will see. It seems like it’s the 11th hour here, so hopefully things will progress in the next week or so because the July 10th goal (to open training camp) is coming up soon. I’ll make that decision once I get more info.

“The whole thing in general has to make sense. Safety is very important and probably the most important.

“I want to play. I don’t want to just sit and waste a summer and a season.”

The NHL announced on Monday that 26 players in total have tested positive for COVID-19 since June 8, including 15 who have reported to training facilities for optional workouts as part of Phase 2.

Andersen, who has been back in Toronto “for quite a bit now,” was asked what gives him confidence that it will be safe for the NHL to return to play games this summer.

“I’m not quite 100% confident yet,” Andersen said. “The league is very adamant in working toward that.

“I think once we get to the hub cities, everyone will have to be confident and the league will have a good setup. It’s a matter of getting there first.”

The announcement of the NHL’s two hub cities is expected relatively soon. Las Vegas, Toronto, Edmonton, Chicago and Los Angeles were the last cities to be in the running.

“If it is a bubble and it’s done the right way, I don’t think it really should matter (which cities are chosen),” Andersen said. “It could be anywhere. Whatever is the best setup, once we figure that out, I hope we should be good to go.”

And if the Leafs play in Toronto? Andersen doesn’t see that as an advantage.

“Once everyone is there, I think people will be familiar with the hotel, the rink, all that stuff,” Andersen said. “There won’t be fans, obviously, so I think all that stuff will be a pretty even playing field for everyone.”

Andersen had been staying with Leafs centre Auston Matthews initially during the NHL pause at Matthews’ home in Scottsdale, Ariz., but said he was in California working out with his personal trainer when the state of Arizona recently saw a spike in coronavirus cases. Andersen wouldn’t comment on Matthews’ positive COVID-19 test result, reported by the Toronto Sun’s Steve Simmons on June 19.

“Regarding everyone else and other people’s medical, I don’t want to comment on that,” Andersen said. “I don’t think it’s the right thing for me to do that.”

Andersen has been taking part in on-ice sessions at the Ford Performance Centre in the voluntary workouts, but otherwise must quarantine in his downtown condo until his two-week period is done. It will conclude before July 10, Andersen said.

“The Leafs have done an amazing job of cleaning the facility out there and I think they have done a really good job of setting us up for a safe environment,” Andersen said.

“I feel like I have been able to keep my good shape and work on things I could off the ice, but the on-ice timing is going to be key.”

And then, if the NHL has been able to properly move to Phase 4, a Leafs date with the Blue Jackets.

“They’re a deep team, a team we have to be ready for,” Andersen said. “It will be a tough task, but something we have to work on and getting confident we can win.”

tkoshan@postmedia.com

JONES: NHL hub city selection shouldn’t be about more than player safety — Edmonton Sun

Well, it is the Stanley Cup playoffs. So I guess you should expect a couple of overtimes. Read More

JONES: NHL hub city selection shouldn’t be about more than player safety — Edmonton Sun

Well, it is the Stanley Cup playoffs. So I guess you should expect a couple of overtimes.

The Great Hub City Series of 2020, the battle to co-host all of the games of COVID Cup, keeps getting extended.

We’re at the point now, however, where Edmonton has to be getting a complex.

At this point, you couldn’t be blamed for coming to the conclusion the NHL and NHL Players Association are trying to dodge the one location with the ultimate set-up in order to end up in a sexier city.

Let us review.

Las Vegas is a lock in the U.S. It’s Toronto, Edmonton or Vancouver as the Canadian city.

Hold it. Toronto is out. Their bid has fallen significantly short because they can’t match the safety bubble setups involving hotels and the arena that Vegas, Vancouver and Edmonton will be able to provide. It’s down to Edmonton or Vancouver in Canada to go with Vegas.

Hold it. Vancouver is out. Dr. Bonnie Henry has hit a snag when it comes to who is making the decisions on what happens to the other players on a team if someone tests positive during tournament play.

Hold it. Toronto has reshaped its bid by totally relocating its bubble away from the downtown arena and hotels to the Canadian National Exhibition grounds. It’s now down to Edmonton and Toronto.

Hold it … there’s still too much to get through here and the coronavirus numbers are going way up in Vegas. It’s going to overtime over the weekend, said NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly before heading to a New Jersey TV studio with commissioner Gary Bettman to conduct the NHL Draft Lottery.

So what’s this been like to be Oilers Entertainment Group vice-presidents Tim Shipton and Stuart Ballantyne, working their way through this putting all the pieces together, following the NHL wish lists to a T and offering everything Bettman and the league and players required and more?

And that’s complete with working out logical and reasoned logistics with Dr. Deena Hinshaw and her responsible Alberta health team?

I mean, what do they want?

They’re not on the phone asking if they can tweak this or tweak that? Just hold the phone, fellas.

Ballantyne and Shipton had nothing to say Friday and won’t until a decision has been made.

That Edmonton could finish third in this now dog and pony show is laughable.

Housing everybody at the CNE grounds in Toronto and commuting all 12 teams to Scotia Bank Arena for games and around the neighbourhood to practice ice is ludicrous in comparison to the Edmonton set-up.

In Edmonton, the players on all 12 teams would reside in the five-star J. W. Marriott hotel, secure in a bubble that includes an inordinate number of dressing rooms and a practice facility in Rogers Place, complete with a pedway between the hotel and arena.

Other people involved, staff, referees and TV people would be housed, in the first round, in the Delta and Sutton Place, a short walk away, with Edmonton police officers keeping them company to remain secure in the bubble.

I mean, compare the two.

If it’s just about hockey and life in the bubble, there’s no comparison.

How do you now come to the conclusion the league is hoping to trump the ideal set-up in Edmonton by bringing in a long list of other items into play?

• Sportsnet TV is based in Toronto.
• Hockey Night In Canada is based in Toronto.
• The NHL has offices in Toronto.
• The NHL war room is in Toronto.
• And don’t forget the Eastern Time zone.

It would be a lot easier to spread six televised games a day (even if start times are largely irrelevant with no fans in the stands) with one team in the Eastern Time zone and Vegas in the Pacific.

And it’s about Vegas.

Yes, the hotel room set up couldn’t be better anywhere else in the world. But has anybody noticed the coronavirus numbers since they reopened the casinos?

Oilers colour commentator Bob Stauffer has. He’s been keeping statistics on all this back to when the hub cities concept began.

Las Vegas has 12,204 cases (2,754 in the last week.)

Edmonton’s has had 925 total.

Vegas has 408 deaths to Edmonton’s 15 — only three in the last 56 days.

Nevada has 118 in intensive care compared to eight in Alberta and only two of them in Edmonton.

Vegas and Toronto?

If that’s how it ends up, the NHL will clearly have followed the NBA, locating to ESPN’s centre at Disney World in COVID-19 out-of-control Florida, into losing total focus on the main aim here.

If it’s all about player safety — and it should be — if the NHL loses Edmonton as a hub city, the NHL loses.

E-mail: tjones@postmedia.com

On Twitter: @ByTerryJones

Vancouver Out As Potential NHL Return Hub City, Canucks Announce — NESN.com

Another city was taken off the short list for consideration to become one of two hub cities for the National Hockey League’s return-to-play plan. The Canucks confirmed on Thursday that Vancouver was out of the running via Twitter. “From the beggining, our goal was to help the NHL get hockey back on the ice if…

Vancouver Out As Potential NHL Return Hub City, Canucks Announce — NESN.com

Positive coronavirus tests among NHL players don’t make Leafs’ Spezza less optimistic — Toronto Sun

In the bubble, Jason Spezza will trust. Read More

Positive coronavirus tests among NHL players don’t make Leafs’ Spezza less optimistic — Toronto Sun

In the bubble, Jason Spezza will trust.

That’s if the National Hockey League successfully advances to Phase 4 of its Return to Play plan in the midst of the COVID-19 global pandemic.

Spezza, the veteran Maple Leafs forward whose rosy outlook and experience carried considerable weight in the dressing room during the 2019-20 regular season, remains confident that the NHL is on the right track to resume games, even with the news late last week that 11 NHL players have tested positive for the coronavirus.

“There’s lots of people everywhere testing positive,” Spezza said on Tuesday during a Zoom call with media. “As players, we realize there is going to be some risk of a positive test.

“I put trust in the league and the PA (NHL Players’ Association) that we’re going to come up with a bubble scenario that will keep everybody safe. The biggest challenge would be getting to that point, because we’re not in a bubble scenario right now.”

The NHL announced five days ago that the 11 positive tests had resulted from the 200-plus NHL players who had been tested since June 8, when team facilities were permitted to open for voluntary training. Postmedia’s Steve Simmons reported that one of those players who had a positive test result was Leafs centre Auston Matthews, who has remained at his off-season home in Arizona to train.

“It probably becomes a bit of a reality check for making sure that everybody is doing everything possible hygiene-wise to make sure we are not spreading it,” Spezza said, speaking of the positive tests in general.

“We knew there was going to be positive tests. It’s probably good there has some positive tests because it gives us some practice on how to deal with it.”

Spezza has been enjoying the workouts at the Ford Performance Centre, skating in a group that includes forwards Kyle Clifford and Kasperi Kapanen, defenceman Calle Rosen and goaltender Eamon McAdam, a former Leafs farmhand who played for Adirondack of the ECHL last season.

As much as Spezza is glad to be back on the ice with an eye toward starting Phase 3 and training camp on July 10, the 37-year-old has taken full advantage of the NHL pause to spend as much time as possible with his wife Jennifer and their four daughters at their Toronto home. To that end, the family has been preparing for the idea that Spezza potentially will be away for at least several weeks, living in the Phase 4 bubble in one of the NHL’s two hub cities once the post-season starts.

“We have had family conversations about it and it’s not going to be easy, especially after having three months of probably the best family quality time I’ve ever had with my kids and wife,” Spezza said. “It’s going to be a big adjustment and there will be some tears involved.

“They understand that Daddy has a dream of trying to win a Stanley Cup and there are not too many more years left. It’s a big family sacrifice and they are on board with it.”

Spezza has been sticking close to home during the pandemic, noting that the Leafs have been helpful in ensuring players and their families have the resources to be safe.

At the same time, players will have to fight the temptation to get some normalcy back in their lives, especially with the NHL determined to hold the playoffs and eventually award the Stanley Cup.

“My bubble is pretty tight as it is and there is not a whole lot of going out and doing things,” Spezza said. “Most of my time has been spent going on walks with the kids, playing outside.

“I have avoided stores. The team did a phenomenal job in helping us with groceries and really doing everything possible to make sure we don’t have to be exposed if we absolutely don’t have to be.

“One of the biggest challenges for players is that as everything around us starts opening up, we almost have to tighten up because we’re going back to play and that is going to be an adjustment for us.

“We have to probably be a little more careful as we get close to training camp.”

tkoshan@postmedia.com

Columbus, Minnesota out as NHL hub list for Phase 4 believed to be whittled to six — Toronto Sun

Columbus is out as a potential hub city in the event the National Hockey League is successful in moving into Phase 4 of its Return to Play plan, and Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minn., reportedly is no longer in the running either. Read More

Columbus, Minnesota out as NHL hub list for Phase 4 believed to be whittled to six — Toronto Sun

Devils’ Hischier spending NHL offseason in Swiss army — The Small Sports Blog

Hischier had thought about fulfilling it during the season, but with the Devils uncertain when they would return, it turned out to be the perfect option. * This article was originally published here

Devils’ Hischier spending NHL offseason in Swiss army — The Small Sports Blog

Devils’ Hischier spending NHL offseason in Swiss army

Associated PressJun 20, 2020, 3:43 PM EDTLeave a comment

With the New Jersey Devils missing out on the NHL’s 24-team return from the pause caused by the novel coronavirus, center Nico Hischier is putting his extended offseason to good use.

The No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 draft is fulfilling his military obligation to Switzerland, which has a mandatory 18-week service for men followed by three-week stints over the next six or seven years.

Hischier had thought about fulfilling it during the season, but with the Devils uncertain when they would return from the pause, it turned out to be the perfect option.

“One reason I did it was I needed to stay in shape,” Hischier said Saturday on a Zoom call. “I didn’t know where to go because gyms weren’t open and I couldn’t just work out at home. I just didn’t have the tools for a good workout there. For a couple weeks it worked, but I felt like I needed to go somewhere to be prepared when we had to go back and play again. Then the army came and they had a great solution because where I’m working right now, that’s a great building. They have everything there you need.”

The 21-year-old Hischier is in a special program for athletes, although the first four weeks of classes were held remotely because of the virus. He is now attending classes to learn emergency medical techniques, among other things, in the mornings and working out with fellow athletes in the afternoon, including some hockey players from the Swiss national team.

He is not learning how to march or drive a tank, and he’s not heading to the firing range to shoot an automatic weapon. The soldiers in Switzerland’s professional army do that.

Hischier does get a uniform and there are rules to follow. He works five days, goes home and returns the following week. He does not have a rank – yet.

“We didn’t do much army stuff yet,” Hichier said, although he expects jt will increase by the time he finishes in mid-August.

Hischier is coming off what he considers a disappointing season. Like most of the Devils, he played well after a bad start led to the firing of coach John Hynes and general manager Ray Shero. He finished with 14 goals and 22 assists in 58 games. New Jersey posted a 28-29-12 record, finishing 12-5-4 in the last 21 contests under interim coach Alain Nasreddine.

“Obviously, it wasn’t a year that we expect,” Hischier said. “A lot of things happened, obviously, with all those changes. It wasn’t easy. I think the biggest thing for us was that we had a really bad start. It’s always frustrating and not easy when you’re down in the standings and you have to catch up.”

Hischier felt he took a few steps forward in his third season, but the team’s lack of success took away from that.

With the late-season trade of defenseman Andy Greene, Hischier is open to the idea of replacing him as the Devils’ captain next season. He was an alternate captain this season.

“At the end of the day, I’m still a young player,” Hischier said. “I still got a long, long way to go, a lot of things that I don’t know yet. I need to learn.”

It’s like learning to be in the army in some ways.

Tampa Bay Lightning Reportedly Close Training Facilities After Players, Staff Test Positive — BroBible

On May 25 the NHL announced its framework for Phase 2 of its four-step plan to resume play beginning in June. While it was just framework followed by a June 9th announcement by commissioner Gary Bettman about a 24-team playoff format, it was a step in the right direction and brought hope that we would […]

Tampa Bay Lightning Reportedly Close Training Facilities After Players, Staff Test Positive — BroBible

All has seemingly been going to plan, but Bob McKenzie delivered some unsettling news on Friday reporting that one team has had to close its training facilities after three players and two staff members tested positive for the coronavirus.

I believe it’s three players and two staff who tested positive. Remaining players and staff are being tested. If no further positive tests, expectation is training facility will re-open, Phase Two will continue. If there are further positive tests, well, we will see what happens.

— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) June 19, 2020

Following his initial tweets about the news, McKenzie revealed the team in question is the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The team in question is the Tampa Bay Lightning.

— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) June 19, 2020

Florida had its biggest spike yet in new coronavirus cases on June 18 with 3,208 new cases in just 24 hours. The latest numbers show that there are 85,926 confirmed cases in the state and 3,061 deaths.

Among the many takeaways from the NHL’s Phase 2 plans, it states that all members of every organization would have to be tested before they can begin training and subject to daily temperature checks while being forced to quarantine if they test positive. Social distancing measures is also supposed to be enforced during training to a point where you can’t even have a spotter while lifting.

Who will make the Lightning playoff roster? — TampaBayProSports

The Tampa Bay Lightning are working out and trying to get back into game shape as the countdown to the season begins. Some European players have decided not to come to Tampa, yet. There are quarantined in their own country and will make the trip to Tampa when training camp officially opens on July 10th. […]

Who will make the Lightning playoff roster? — TampaBayProSports

Mitch Marner hopes NHL playoffs won’t be derailed — Toronto Sun

Read More

Mitch Marner hopes NHL playoffs won’t be derailed — Toronto Sun

Mitch Marner has one eye on July 10, the scheduled opening of training camps for 24 NHL playoff teams, and the other on a worsening COVID-19 situation in the United States.

Three months after the league shut down, could it be the dreaded second wave of the disease derails the methodical plan to finish the 2019-20 season? Marner, the creative winger on the Maple Leafs, has faith the league will take every precaution as it nears a decision on the two hub cities who will host the tournament, at least one of them expected to be south of the border.

“I think they’re going to do what’s best for their athletes and make sure that they’re willing to look after us and take care of us,” Marner said Thursday on a conference call with Toronto reporters.

As he spoke, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey reversed a previous decision and authorized local governments to require face coverings in public as his state was flagged as one of the current COVID-19 hot

Marner was asked about two key Leafs who are there in Scottsdale who’ve yet to come back for the workouts at Ford Performance Centre. Leading scorer Auston Matthews and house guest/goalie Frederik Andersen have been in Arizona almost since the start of the lockdown.

The duo’s reasoning is they’d rather stay in their regimen of daily workouts than come home and be unable to leave their residence for a full 14 days under the Canadian quarantine. As July 10 nears, they and others hope the Canadian NHL cities get a bit of a break from the government and that practice facilities would be designated as part of the players’ restricted zone for the 14 days.

“All that stuff’s voluntary,” Marner said of his friends preference to wait it out.

Toronto has been in and out of the running among 10 NHL cities initially identified by commissioner Gary Bettman as potential hubs. Together with Vancouver and Edmonton, there is a push to have the Canadian government alter the two-week quarantine rule so at least one of the cities can reap some economic benefits from empty hotels being occupied by up to 50 players and staff of the 12 teams. Las Vegas is believed to be a favoured American

Marner and five to six Leafs at a time continue to work out in preparation for the best of five opening round series against the Columbus Blue Jackets, like the others, tentatively scheduled for sometime in August.

As expected, the Jackets announced Thursday that star defenceman Seth Jones will be ready for the series, activated off injured reserve with fellow blueliner Dean Kukan.`

lhornby@postmedia.com

Hours in the life of a Leafs player in NHL’s Phase 2 are used efficiently: Hyman — Toronto Sun

Three hours, without a minute to spare. That’s the amount of time each Maple Leaf gets for treatment, workouts and skating once he arrives at the Ford Performance Centre to voluntarily participate in Phase 2 of the NHL’s Return to Play plan. Leafs winger Zach Hyman laid out the new world order, for NHL players […]

Hours in the life of a Leafs player in NHL’s Phase 2 are used efficiently: Hyman — Toronto Sun

Three hours, without a minute to spare.

That’s the amount of time each Maple Leaf gets for treatment, workouts and skating once he arrives at the Ford Performance Centre to voluntarily participate in Phase 2 of the NHL’s Return to Play plan.

Leafs winger Zach Hyman laid out the new world order, for NHL players in the midst the COVID-19 global pandemic, to reporters during a conference call on Tuesday.

“It’s pretty air-tight with time,” Hyman said, adding that his check-in time for Tuesday at the rink was slated for 12:15 pm.

“(After checking in), you see the doc, get your temp taken, and if it’s your testing day, you get tested.

“Then you go into the change room. You get ready, get treatment if you need it, and then you’re in the gym for probably 45 (minutes) to an hour.

“You rush over (to the dressing room), get changed to go on the ice, go on the ice for 40 minutes or so, then you hop off, you have to quickly shower off, take turns.

“And then you’re out of there. So it’s real quick turnaround — three hours in and out — and it sounds like enough time, but it’s tough when you’re trying to get everything through. It’s just great to be on the ice, so it’s worth it.”

Hyman and his teammates — in his small group are Alex Kerfoot, William Nylander, Morgan Rielly, Travis Dermott, Joseph Woll and Ian Scott — will take whatever they can get right now.

“Just getting out of the house and everything that goes with that,” Hyman said when he was asked what has been most helpful about taking part in Phase 2, which began last week for the Leafs. “Seeing the guys and feeling like it’s a little bit normal, even though everybody is wearing masks.

“Skating is the biggest (advantage). You can always work out wherever you are, you can modify your workouts, I was working out in my condo, so I felt I was in good shape, but you can’t modify skating.

“And you can’t modify interacting with people, interacting with friends and teammates. Actually interacting with your friends and being on the ice is the best.”

FITTING JACKETS

One of the unique aspects of the NHL’s Return to Play is teams in the qualifying round — assuming we get to that point in Phase 4 — will have known for months who their opponents will be.

Hyman doesn’t have any doubt about the Columbus Blue Jackets’ work ethic, but won’t take much for granted.

“The funny thing is, you never know,” Hyman said. “Things could change from a system perspective. Coaches in the off-season sometimes tweak their systems and this is the unknown.

“When you go from the regular season to the playoffs, you don’t really tweak too much. You just roll into the playoffs.

“This is a completely different beast where what you watched a couple of months ago may not be the team you are playing against in the summertime. It’s almost like a brand-new year with the same roster. It will be interesting to see how everything turns out around the league with the long layoff.

“I think the team that comes back the best in shape is going to have a massive advantage.”

We should count on the notion that the Blue Jackets, under coach John Tortorella, will be in tune physically and mentally from the opening faceoff of Game 1. That the Jackets managed to earn a chance to compete for a playoff spot, considering the losses last summer of Sergei Bobrovsky, Artemi Panarin and Matt Duchene to free agency and then a raft of injuries during the 2019-20 regular season, is a minor miracle.

“Columbus was never a team that we envisioned playing,” Hyman said. “They’re a hard team. They upset Tampa last year, their style of play is a lot different than our style of play.

“I’m sure our coaching staff loved the fact they have a couple of months to prepare and watch video, and once we get back in the swing of things (at camp in Phase 3, scheduled to start on July 10), we’ll get caught up on all of that.”

LOOSE LEAFS

Hyman on the potential of living in a bubble in a hub city for an undetermined length of time, if and when Phase 4 starts: “It’s a tricky question. There are not many guidelines (yet) to what the bubble is. It’s going to be tough. These are circumstances that are difficult and affect everybody. If we’re going to have a chance to play, we’re going to have to be in a bubble and isolate and potentially not see our families for a period of time and that’s a decision that guys have to make.” … This, to us, from Ottawa 67’s general manager James Boyd on Leafs prospect Nick Robertson, who will try to earn a spot in the Toronto lineup for the Columbus series after scoring 55 goals for the Peterborough Petes last season: “He can make split-second decisions, which translates really well to pro, and he senses pressure. The coaching staff can go over it — ‘Watch Robertson, watch Robertson,’ — they can say it 100 times, but he scores the winner with no one within 30 feet of him. The pass is behind him, in front of him, in his feet, but he is going to get a shot off. He has that dexterity, even off back passes, he can let it go.”