Mile High Hockey - All Posts

The Kelly Cup controversy is the summer’s funniest story

2019-06-02T10:31:09-06:00

The ECHL’s mysterious trophy debacle with Colorado almost seems too wild to be true

It’s not every day that you have a professional sports team and a professional sports league feuding on Twitter.

There have been secondhand reports of teams and leagues going to battle, with tales circulating any time a franchise folds and anecdotal stories of chaos making their way through the rumor mill. But publicly, brazenly going to battle on social media using the ‘he said/she said’ method of warfare? Utter madness.

Here we are, though. 2019, baby!

The rundown is about as convoluted as one might expect in a social media hearsay battle. According to the ECHL, the Colorado Eagles kept the Kelly Cup — the league’s championship trophy — upon winning it in 2018, but the Colorado Eagles insist that the league simply refused to retrieve it when the team offered it up.

“The management of the ECHL has full knowledge of the situation with the Kelly Cup. We have made numerous attempts to return it. They have chosen to ignore our requests, therefore the Kelly Cup remains in Colorado. This is all that will be released regarding this matter,” said the Eagles owner, Martin Lind.

Initially, the ECHL released a statement of their own insisting that the Eagles — who are now in the American Hockey League — had ignored multiple opportunities to give the cup back.

“As stated by ECHL Commissioner Emeritus Patrick J. Kelly yesterday morning, the tradition of returning the Championship Trophy to the League was not honored by the Colorado Eagles. Despite a confirmed plan with Eagles’ management to return the Kelly Cup to the ECHL in December 2018, the arrangement was not fulfilled,” the league wrote on June 1st. They revealed that a new Kelly Cup had been made, and threw some barely-disguised shade at the Eagles by suggesting that the original cup could be returned for preservation and exhibition at any point in time.

“If the Colorado Eagles do intend to return the Kelly Cup, the ECHL welcomes its return so that it too may be a part of hockey history.”

By the next morning, though, that particular link had been taken down, and it was re-posted from a different (but nearly identical) link that didn’t link to the social media tweet initially put up. It was the kind of chaos that one would expect from a semi-pro team far from the reaches of social media, but not from the third-highest men’s professional hockey league in North America.

THE HISTORY OF REPLICAS AND KEEPING THE CUP

In theory, the Eagles aren’t the first team to keep a championship trophy and leave the league to make a new one. Once upon a time, it was actually accepted in professional soccer; prior to 2009, teams that won the Champions League either five cumulative times or three consecutive times could keep the trophy for good, and Brazil won the right to keep the original World Cup trophy for good when they won that particular championship for a third time in 1970.

The Champions League did away with their rule eventually, though, handing out a replica instead, and the World Cup trophy has been kept locked away since 2006 while a replica gets handed out there as well.

Replica trophies aren’t as rare as one might think, either. The current Kelly Cup isn’t the original — as the league stated in their bizarre clapback, there are three previous models already enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame as well — and even the Stanley Cup handed out isn’t the original trophy itself. Trophies are stolen and replaced, with the Minnesota Vikings even outright misplacing the Ed Thorpe trophy until it was rediscovered in 2015 and mysteriously ended up in custody of the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame.

If the Ed Thorpe debacle is any indication, there’s a lot of bad juju surrounding teams that get messy with their handling of championship trophies. The Vikings have long held the belief that the misplacing of the Memorial Trophy sparked a jinx that’s prevailed over the team ever since, leaving them with a 50-year dry spell they still haven’t broken.

In theory, that leaves the Eagles safe from any sort of jinx, since they technically moved up a league to the AHL rather than merging with another league like the Vikings did following their own misplacement of a trophy. And the Eagles simply kept their own controversy-surrounded trophy in team custody rather than handing it back over to a league, so maybe they’ll escape a jinx by not outright losing the thing.

Overall, though, it seems like a whole lot of drama over what likely amounts to nothing more than a shipping charges dispute. And while it’s a bit of a bummer that the Toledo Walleye and the Newfoundland Growlers are having their own championship series overshadowed by the whole mess, it’s hard to deny that it’s one of the funniest things to happen in a long time.

Morning Flurries: We The North

2019-05-31T09:08:54-06:00

Sorry, not sorry

Yes this is a site about hockey in Colorado, but for today let’s talk about basketball - more specifically the Toronto Raptors. Kawhi Leonard, Pascal Siakam and the Raptors are doing something that hasn’t happened for 25 years. One of the teams I cheer for is actually playing for a championship (unless you want to count the Memorial Cup run by the Oshawa Generals in 2015). So I’m going to talk about them.

The Raptors are a team who has been the little brother in Toronto for two and a half decades. Even as they were leading the NBA in regular season wins and had the weight of the world’s biggest pop star behind them, they were the second (or third) fiddle in their own city. That’s changing. Toronto is the most multicultural city in North America and that’s causing a shift in the landscape of sports fans in the city. They’re a team run by an immigrant from Nigeria. A team who’s super fan is known as nothing other than Uncle Nav (if you have a few minutes, read about the greatness that is Nav Bhatia). a team with a roster including players from the United States, Canada, Cameroon, Spain and the Republic of Congo, plus the first Taiwanese-American to play in the NBA finals. Simply put, they’re a team that perfectly encapsulates what Toronto is as a city and what it means to be a Torontonian.

“We’ve always been a melting pot and one of the biggest in the world,” proclaims former national team member and Raptors analyst Sherman Hamilton. “So to see all of the rainbows of colors out here cheering for the team, we’re used to it. And we’re very proud of it.”

People here love the Maple Leafs, but there is a passion for the Raptors that is different and more authentic. There’s a reason the US media is has been so caught off guard by what is happening down at Jurassic Park during this playoff run [The Ringer]. “The spirit is way different,” said former Raptors star Chris Bosh. “Even me being back and seeing how much it means to people here, it’s a little different. The passion and enthusiasm is way different.”

The Raptors aren’t the Leafs - they’re something entirely unique. They legitimately changed the way Canadian children in this city look at sports. You don’t have to look any further than the Denver Nuggets for proof of that. Jamal Murray has helped turn the Nuggets into a contender. A Canadian kid has become the face of a Denver sports franchise that isn’t hockey. That’s all thanks to the Raptors. Murray has spoken in the past about how he is only a professional basketball player because of Vince Carter and the growth of the Raptors in the early 2000s.

My 6-year old daughter loves watching hockey with me but she wants to play basketball. She dribbles her basketball on our walk to school every morning - and that’s because of the Raptors. They’re fun, they’re open and they elicit a feeling in people across Canada that goes beyond sports fandom.

Only one will stand at the end of it all.

Rise up for the @Raptors, Canada. #NBAFinals | #WeTheNorth pic.twitter.com/M9e8alNpIW
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 30, 2019

I was eleven years old when the Raptors played their first NBA game. Hockey was the game I grew up playing, the one that had been ingrained in my family, but over the last 24 years I’ve fallen in love with a new team and a new sport. They might not win another game this season and I’m ok with it. I didn’t go into the series expecting the Raptors to win - I still don’t expect it - but for now they are leading 1-0 in the best of seven NBA Finals so I’m going to celebrate it.

Now on to hockey.

The Stanley Cup Final is still underway (even if no one cares about it) and the Blues are going to be short handed as the series shifts to St. Louis. Forward Oskar Sundqvist has been suspended one game for a dangerous hit that sent Matt Grzelcyk into concussion protocol.

Off the ice, we saw a minor transaction as the Minnesota Wild traded for unsigned prospect Fedor Gordeev from the Toronto Maple Leafs. Gordeev was selected in the 5th round of the 2017 entry draft and just finished off a run to the Memorial Cup with the Guelph Storm.

MIN and TOR have a trade for the rights to unsigned junior Fedor Gordeev, who goes back into the draft if not signed before June 1. 7th round pick if he signs in MIN. Which is fully expected to happen.
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) May 30, 2019

Shortly after the trade was announce, the Wild signed Gordeev to an ELC meaning the Leafs receive Minny’s 2020 7th round pick to finalize the deal.

Despite suffering through injuries during the early part of his career, Coyotes defender Jakub Chychrun has quickly become a fan favorite in Arizona and a lot of it has to do with his actions away from the ice. An example of that is Chychrun’s work with The New Foundation - an organization that works with Arizona youth who suffer from mental health issues.

What if I told you a defenseman named Nikita Z requested a trade away from his current team? Well that’s exactly what happened yesterday but don’t worry Avs fans, it wasn’t Nikita Zadorov.

After a difficult season, TOR and Nikita Zaitsev are working together to find him a fresh start. He is available and we will see where it goes.
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) May 30, 2019

Zaitsev is a decent 3rd paring RD who was given an absurd contract by Lou Lamoriello a couple seasons ago. He’s making $4.5m a season for the next five years. The Leafs won’t get much (if anything in return) but simply getting the contract off the books would be a huge win.

Alex Turcotte is going to be drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks. It sucks but we’ll have to deal with it.

Alex Turcotte said he grew up a #Blackhawks fan living in the Chicago area. Loves the Jonathan Toews comparisons, and has definitely fantasized about playing in Chicago one day. Has met with the Hawks multiple times so far.
— Slavko Bekovic (@SBekovic) May 30, 2019

There’s a very good chance Kirby Dach is going to be a member of the Colorado Avalanche a month from now. It’s time to start embracing it. Last year armchair scouts started to downplay the talents of Brady Tkachuk. “He’s overrated because he’s big” was the common refrain. Now that’s happening with Dach and he’s going to end up making a lot of critics look very silly in a few year.

Kirby Dach pretty fun watch sometimes pic.twitter.com/y19pNwtnMR
— AJ Haefele (@AJHaefele) May 30, 2019

Kirby dach: outside of his 14 game slump (3 5v5 pts) ((which should not be discounted)) here is what he did:

48 games 24G 46A 70Pts (1.46ppg)
5v5 20G 21A 41Pts

Over a season

62 games 31G 60A 91Pts
5v5 26G 27A 53Pts
PP/SH 5G 33A 38Pts #NHLDraft
— Luke (@JCLCommodities) May 31, 2019

SB Nation Mock Draft

A couple guys the MHH community loves (Krebs and Zegras) went at the end of the top-10:

The Colorado Avalanche should look into a Phil Kessel trade

2019-05-30T11:00:00-06:00

The Pittsburgh Penguins are looking to trade Phil Kessel. It’s the perfect opportunity for the Avalanche to fill a hole in their lineup

The NHL season hasn’t even come to an end yet and already we’re getting some juicy offseason trade rumors. Last week it was reported that the Pittsburgh Penguins were on the verge of trading Phil Kessel to the Minnesota Wild only to have the star winger use his no-trade clause to veto the deal. The trade would have sent the former University of Minnesota Gopher to the Wild in a deal that would have sent Jason Zucker to the Penguins. Now it appears to be only a matter of time before Kessel is moved out of Pittsburgh - they just need to find a destination that is suitable for him.

The 31-year-old winger has three years remaining on his contract. The has an annual cap hit of $8-million - $1.2m of which is owned by the Toronto Maple Leafs. A $6.8m cap his is pretty good value for a guy who has put up 174 points over the last two seasons and hasn’t missed a game since 2010. What makes Kessel’s contract even more appealing is that it was front-loaded making his actual salary only $19m over the next three seasons.

Sure Kessel is on the wrong side of 30, but he hasn’t been aging the same way as most of his cohorts. Kessel’s best two offensive seasons have come after his 30th birthday. He’s been durable, a point per game player and you wouldn’t be committing to him long-term. He’s exactly the kind of complimentary player the Avalanche should be looking for.

The Penguins need to get younger and it appears as though Kessel is going to be the first one to be moved out.

What he would cost

If Zucker is the main piece the Penguins were going to get back from Minnesota, that might cause an issue for Joe Sakic. Zucker isn’t as good as the Avs best players but he’s a huge step up from their secondary group. If it’s a player like Zucker Pittsburgh is looking for then Colorado is out of luck.

That said, one thing the Avalanche have that would be quite appealing to the Penguins is cap space. Pittsburgh only has about $3.2 million to play with this summer so any Kessel trade would likely have to act as a partial salary dump. The Avalanche could offer one of their young RFAs along with a strong pick or prospect, allowing Pittsburgh to add a roster player while creating a little cap flexibility.

Would a deal centered around Alexander Kerfoot or Nikita Zadorov - who is due new contracts in the $3m-$4m range - be enough to get a deal done? Who knows, but it’s worth a try. That kind of trade would cut Pittsburgh’s salary obligation for next season while giving them a legitimate NHLer (and presumably a couple other assets) to plug into the lineup.

A perfect fit for the Avs

By now it’s no secret what the biggest hole is for the Avalanche - the team needs forwards that can score. The big-3 of Nathan MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen have done a great job of carrying the offensive load for the past two seasons, but if Colorado hopes to take the next step towards contention, they top line is going to need some help.

Enter Phil Kessel. He is a bonafide 30 goals scorer and has proven he is able to fill up the stat sheet when he’s not being asked to be the team’s best player. During his time in Toronto, Kessel was miscast as the offensive leader and his production suffered as a result. Since becoming a complimentary player in Pittsburgh, he’s played the best hockey of his career and won two Stanley Cups.

He’s one of the few players in the league that can play at a pace close to MacKinnon’s and would add a much needed right-handed shot to the forward group. With Kessel driving the offense on the second line, the Avs could have a legitimate second wave to throw at the opposition immediately following the onslaught of the MacKinnon line. This Avalanche team likes to play with a ton of speed, Kessel would fit that perfectly.

Maybe the Avalanche aren’t a desired destination for Kessel either but he’s worth Sakic making a call to inquire. This Colorado lineup is one that would be much more appealing to play with than the one Kessel said “no thank you” to in Minnesota. Point per game players don’t become available every day, so in a situation like this the Avalanche should be making a strong push.

Morning Flurries: Barstool Bruins

2019-05-30T07:50:51-06:00

St. Louis ties up the Stanley Cup Final

The Colorado Avalanche may be gearing up for the draft now, but the Stanley Cup playoffs are still in full swing for another few games — and it wouldn’t be a Stanley Cup Final without a controversy or two.

The NHL has already managed to incite more complaints about officiating with the inconsistency displayed throughout the postseason, including a hit in Game 1 by Torey Krug that sparked plenty of discussion online.

Now, as the St. Louis Blues evened up the series to a game apiece with a 3-2 overtime win over Boston at TD Garden, there’s a player injury that could spark even more debate:

Dangerous hit. Hard to believe that this was only a two minute minor, for boarding none the less.

Hoping Grzelcyk is feeling alright pic.twitter.com/ZuUrpOrcpG
— Cam Kerry (@camkerry7) May 30, 2019

Bruins defender Matt Grzelcyk ended up in the hospital following the hit, which only earned two minutes — so fully expect the comments to come fast and strong as the league awaits Game Three between the two clubs.

Oh, and Boston drew plenty of ire with an ill-fated playoff towel sponsor ahead of Wednesday night’s game, to boot:

Keys to Game 2: Cycle the puck. Pucks in deep. Pucks on net. Thanks to @barstoolsports and @stoolpresidente for tonight’s rally towels. pic.twitter.com/cTcYfJD6L9
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) May 29, 2019

Barstool has developed a reputation as a Boston-centric sports lifestyle blog, and they have more than enough revenue to sponsor a rally towel in the kind of crucial game that Boston played on Wednesday.

Of course, that entirely overlooks the fact that Barstool has a history of getting into problematic legal situations, which have included everything form incidents of harassment online and stolen work to further their own brand.

The ambiguous and not altogether stellar nature of their presence in the sports world - and their history with women and marginalized groups - made Barstool a surprising choice as a sponsor for a professional sports team in the year 2019. But for the Bruins, the entire ordeal was more than they felt like commenting on:

Official response from the Bruins, via email, regarding their association with Barstool Sports tonight on the rally towels.

"We will not be commenting on this activation."
— Marisa Ingemi (@Marisa_Ingemi) May 29, 2019

For those interested in the inner workings of the NHL draft and how teams prepare, here is an interesting video from inside Vancouver’s scouting meetings:

With the #NHLDraft just a few weeks away, #Canucks scouts and management talk strategy and debate prospects as they finalize their rankings lists. pic.twitter.com/uxWPnKvwun
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) May 29, 2019

Also, what the shit:

We can only hope the entire NHL combine is thrown out into that hallway. pic.twitter.com/js5jxhIoMr
— Paul Campbell (@WayToGoPaul) May 29, 2019

In Breckenridge, the Global Goaltending Retreat continued on Wednesday with an incredibly important talk about mental health in sports:

Here we go with Lift The Mask! #MentalHealthAwareness @TheGoalieGuild pic.twitter.com/QZStTCaEIx
— Ben Meisner (@ben_meisner) May 30, 2019

In other league-wide prospect news, the Chicago Blackhawks have signed one of their own prospects to a new, entry-level deal ahead of the 2019-20 season. [Second City Hockey]

Finally, ahead of the draft, here’s a cool tidbit about where some of the draft’s up-and-coming prospects and college commits are coming from:

Looking at last 12 months, the top sources of DI players per @collegehockey are:
1. USHL 192 (players)
2. NAHL 154
3. BCHL 104
4. NE Prep 94
5. AJHL 48
6. MN HS 43
7. NTDP 33
8. OJHL 29
9. IND HS/Prep 26
10. CCHL 25@NAHLHockey @USHL @AJHLcommish @GoBCHL
— Jeff Kolcon (@kkolcon) May 29, 2019

SB Nation Mock Draft

We have our first surprise as the Buffalo Sabres take a little reach for Cole Caufield.

Morning Flurries: Dave Tippett and the LOilers

2019-05-29T06:30:00-06:00

Well that will fix everything

The Edmonton Oilers have tried seemingly everything.

They’ve gone with old-school coaches like Craig MacTavish and innovative young minds like Dallas Eakins, storied former divisional rivals like Todd McLellan and Stanley Cup coaching champions like Ken Hitchcock.

So far, no one has seemed capable of overcoming the team’s managerial incompetence on a long-term scale, but they’ll give another name a try next year with the official hiring of Dave Tippett.

The #Oilers have named Dave Tippett as Head Coach. Tippett joins the organization with 14 years of @NHL head coaching experience including, most recently, eight seasons with Arizona from 2009 to 2017. pic.twitter.com/rItEdXmwwA
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) May 28, 2019

Tippett has been out of the NHL coaching game since 2017, when he mutually parted ways with the Arizona Coyotes following yet another playoff-less season in the desert.

He’s been credited as one of the coaches in the NHL best known for spinning straw into gold, getting a budget-conscious Coyotes team to the Western Conference Final in 2012 and nearly pushing the team into the postseason in both 2013 and 2014 as well. His defense-heavy coaching style could be what Edmonton sorely needs, given the team’s lack of stability on the blue line and inconsistent goaltending depth chart.

The question, though, will be whether or not he’s still the kind of coach that can thrive in a faster, more offense-heavy NHL. [Yahoo Sports]

What remains unquestioned, though, is the fact that the NHL’s officiating has been a miserable shitshow as the postseason has progressed. At this point, no one is sure what anything is — and that includes charging, sparking a bizarre debate following Torey Krug’s hit in game one against the St. Louis Blues. [CBS Boston]

NEWS: Mandy Cronin has been named the general manager of the Beauts! Welcome to Buffalo, Mandy!
https://t.co/Spus3gstlh pic.twitter.com/3kHtD0TPst
— Buffalo Beauts (@BuffaloBeauts) May 28, 2019

The NWHL is in flux following the announcement by dozens of star players that they’re taking a ‘gap year’ to focus on improving conditions for the women’s game. But despite dozens of questions left for the women’s pro game in the 2019-20 season, at least one team has been moving forward as if things are all operating normally. [The Ice Garden]

Congratulations to Frank Brown and Jim Hughson on their @HockeyHallFame honour, respectively recipients of the Elmer Ferguson Memorial and Foster Hewitt Memorial awards https://t.co/gZox3ZPnpU via @NHLdotcom
— Dave Stubbs (@Dave_Stubbs) May 28, 2019

Finally, the state of Colorado is currently playing host to dozens of goaltenders, goaltending coaches, and experts up in the mountains for the Goalie Guild annual Global Goaltending Retreat.

The coaches have been providing dozens of unique new drills for the goaltenders and the workshops have been enlightening and positive. But perhaps the most fun has been the goaltending drills coming out of Switzerland:

Grab a guy, bring him up to 9,600 ft elevation, and spin him in circles until he can’t tell the shooter from the net. pic.twitter.com/0fWxLMJNf6
— Catherine Silverman (@catmsilverman) May 28, 2019

And in case we needed more evidence that goalies are nuts:

Never a dull time in Breckenridge with three maritimers. Featuring swivel-vision goggles. Mask. X-Tracker. #goalielifestyle @FinnGoalieNS @TheGoalieGuild pic.twitter.com/kYYLt9FmGP
— Ben Meisner (@ben_meisner) May 29, 2019

SB Nation Mock Draft

We’re though the top-5 picks:

NHL Mock Draft 2019: Colorado Avalanche select Kirby Dach with the No. 4 pick

2019-05-28T09:03:30-06:00

Have the Avalache locked in on Ryan Getzlaf 2.0

I recently re-watched one of my favorite movies, Interstellar by Christopher Nolan, director of the Batman trilogy, Inception and Memento (And coming in 2020 Tenet, his version of James Bond!) All of his movies have great music to accompany it. Like the great film makers of our age, Quentin Tarantino for example, their movies are always linked to a great score or soundtrack. Take out the music, and the film is nowhere near as good. Interstellar has a great theme song, composed by Hans Zimmer, which really sets the tone of the movie, it happens to be a song I listen to as part of my pre-game play list, and it also helps in putting my 5 week old baby girl to sleep. Saskatoon is a good team, but when Dach came to play this year, he added such a dominant soundtrack it elevated the whole experience.

The Numbers

It was the tale of 3 different parts for Dach this year. Overall he had a solid year, posting 25 goals and 73 points in 62 games for the Blades, going at a 1.18 point per game pace. 55 points were primary, including 21 goals and 44 points 5v5. But that’s the whole picture. How he got there is really interesting. The first 23 games of this season, he was on fire. Notching 13 goals and 39 points in 23 games at a whopping 1.7 ppg! If that had held though the season, he would of finished the season with 35 goals, 70 assists for 105 points. But then a 6-week slump hit. From November 17 till the new year, he managed 1 goal and 3 points in a 14 game period. This wall really caught people off guard and by new years, scouts had him outside the top 10. But the final 25 games and a push for the playoffs, the Dach we expected came back, and in force. He scored 11 goals and had 31 points in this time frame. This was good for 1.24 ppg, slightly above his season average. But more than the points, Dach became a force on the ice.

Size, skill and vision

It is pretty hard to miss Dach when he steps on the ice. Standing at 6 foot 4, he is a tower of a man, and as the season progress, he started to use all 6 foot 4 200 pound frame. It took time, from the slight pushing players off their mark, but by the back third of the season and into the playoffs, he was man among boys. Players couldn’t force him off the puck, he hit to hurt, he hit to get the puck and his puck protection really started to elevate to another level. With that puck protection it created extra time, which increased scoring opportunity for himself and his teammates.

Another thing that has been on his resume since the day he was drafted was his elite passing and vision. He might be the best passer in the draft next to Jack Hughes. His vision is also one of the best in the draft. Accompanied with his great puck protection, he is lethal in the cycle game in the offensive zone. His ability to hold then find his open man is outstanding. He has very soft hands for a big man, and in around the net, he is very lethal one on one with a defender.

Perceived as a pass first guy, he is not afraid to go straight to the net and use his soft hand and elusive wrist shot to try to get the puck into the net. He was used mainly as the set up guy on the power play, but 5v5 he is just as likely to pass as he is to shoot.

Highlights

Kirby Dach's vision and puckhandling gets lots of talk (deservedly so), but I've also been impressed with his defence. He's so active on the backcheck, preventing entries and forcing dump ins.

A few clips from Oct 5. He led his team in failed entries against (6).#2019NHLDraft pic.twitter.com/wrWqEVh7vA
— Mitch Brown (@MitchLBrown) October 12, 2018

Kirby Dach makes it 1-0. He’s good. pic.twitter.com/QvQFokkfgk
— Pat McKay (@PatMckayCTV) April 8, 2019

What a shift by Kirby Dach (#77 in yellow). Dach forces a play on the backcheck, moves low and steals possession. Then he breaks the puck out, wins a footrace, and makes two slick passes.

The #2019NHLDraft eligible already has 41 points in 27 games. The complete package. pic.twitter.com/QanVZYHrV0
— Mitch Brown (@MitchLBrown) November 30, 2018

What others are saying about him

“When you think of what teams are looking for in a No. 1 center, it looks a lot like Dach. He’s a right-shot centerman who measures in around 6-foot-4, with a lot of skill and offensive IQ and plays heavy minutes.” Corey Pronman ~ The Athletic

“He’s huge, he’s strong on the puck, he handles it well in tight (rare for a player his size), he’s a better skater then he gets credit for and his length makes him a lot to handle when he drives the net or controls the pucks on the cycle.” Scott Wheeler ~ The Athletic

Avalanche Fit

If the Avalanche takes Dach with 4th pick, they will be drafting their future 2C. A big, physical, elite playmaking center at that. He would make an excellent 1-2 punch with MacKinnon. He has the elite vision and his playoff elevation was very impressive which makes taking Dach very easy.

The fact that he shoots right is a bonus given how lefty-heavy the Avalanche forward group is.

Where will be drafted and NHL time frame

While he is physically close to being NHL ready, I believe a year or 2 in junior will help him fill out his frame. Let him continue what he started in the playoffs, being a dominant force on the ice and continue to take over games. He has shown he can put up the points, with his 1.7 ppg sample, now if he can find something similar to that next year, he might be a one and done. With a couple over agers leaving, next year will be his chance to show why drafting him at 4 was the right move.

SB Nation Mock Draft

Our Other Scouting Reports:

Morning Flurries: Boston wins; who cares?

2019-05-28T08:04:03-06:00

Hockey on the ice, draft in our minds

The Stanley Cup Final has finally begun as the St. Louis Blues traveled to Boston for game one Monday night. After falling behind 2-0 early, the Bruins were able to score four unanswered goals to take a 1-0 series lead. But really, who cares? We are well into draft prep season.

Speaking of, yesterday we kicked off our annual first round NHL mock draft across the SB Nation NHL network. There was very little suspense in the first two picks as All About the Jersey and Blueshirt Banter followed the course with the consensus top prospects:

New Jersey Devils - Jack Hughes

New York Rangers - Kaapo Kakko

Picks three through five will be published today - you know what that means.

Before we get to the new players that will be joining the Colorado Avalanche organization, we need to note the success a couple current players are having on the ice. Both Tyson Jost and Nikita Zadorov will be coming home from the World Championship in Slovakia with some hardware around their necks.

Big Z won a bronze medal as Russia defeated the Czech Republic in a shootout while Jost and Team Canada are coming home with a silver. [NHL dot com]

With the 2019 World Championship in the books, the IIHF has released the the groups for the 2020 tournament in Switzerland:

No announcement has been made yet, but the Edmonton Oilers have selected their new coach and it’s going to be ex-Coyotes bench boss Dave Tippett.

Hearing Oilers will announce their new head coach in the next few days. Dave Tippett still the only name we’re hearing.
— Mark Spector (@SportsnetSpec) May 27, 2019

Mark Spector spoke with a number of Tippet’s former players and if nothing else, they’re saying the right things to get Oilers fans excited about the hiring:

“I would tell them, be prepared to have to play a full 200-foot game,” began Ray Whitney, who played two seasons under Tippett in Phoenix. “I think Tipp has learned that the game has changed. You’re going to have to give those types of players the time and space to do what they’re going to do. And Connor and Leon, they’re going to get their points no matter what,” Whitney said. “What they’ll have to buy into is, Leon, if you don’t score 50 goals and 100 points — but you get 40 goals and 85 points and we make the playoffs — is that going to be good enough? If they buy into it, they still might get to their 100 points, but they will be much better at both ends of the rink.

Dave’s is a team where everybody is asked to play the same way — within reason.” [Sportsnet]

One bit of interesting offseason news has come out in the past few days. It appears as though Phil Kessel has vetoed a trade that would have sent him to the Minnesota wild in exchange for a package centered around Jason Zucker. Phil Kessel has a list of eight teams that he can be traded to without his consent and apparently the Wild were not on it. His time in Pittsburgh has come to an end and it’s only a matter of time before Kessel is traded. Elliotte Fridman of Hockey Night in Canada reported over the weekend that the Arizona Coyotes might be the desired landing spot for 32-year old winger.

Kessel would be a very interesting fit in for the Avalanche. He plays an offensive game that is based around his speed and while he’s already into his 30s, he’s coming off of his two more productive seasons in the NHL. Joe Sakic should definitely be making a call.

NHL Scouting Combine

For those interested, the scouting combine gets underway Wednesday May 29th, here is a list of when the prospects will be testing. The prospects will be taking part in the following tests: Bench press, Pro agility test, Pull ups, Standing long jump, Standing height, Wingspan, Wingate Cycle Ergometer test.

*Numbers indicate a bib number and NOT NHL Central Scouting ranking.

7:30 a.m.

Tobias Bjornfot (No. 16, D)
Ville Heinola (No. 21, D)
Mikko Kokkonen (No. 27, D)
Simon Lundmark (No. 41, D)
Patrik Puistola (No. 105, RW)
Antti Saarella (No. 85, C)
Isaiah Saville (No. 6, G)
Antti Tuomisto (No. 58, D)

8 a.m.

Hugo Anlefelt (No. 5, G)
Ryder Donovan (No. 112, C)
Albin Grewe (No. 104, RW)
Nils Hoglander (No. 94, LW)
Albert Johansson (No. 23, D)
Marcus Kallionkieli (No. 21, LW)
Mattias Nordlinder (No. 33, D)
Victor Soderstrom (No. 28, D)

8:30 a.m.

Egor Anasyev (No. 144, LW)
Domenick Fensore (No. 20, D)
Spencer Knight (No. 8, G)
Ilya Nikolaev (No. 82, C)
Nikita Okhotyuk (No. 44, D)
Cameron Roew (No. 9, G)
Marshall Warren (No. 30, D)
Trevor Zegras (No. 90, C)

9 a.m.

Ronald Attard (No. 51, D)
Samuel Bolduc (No. 35, D)
Alexander Campbell (No. 92, LW)
Taylor Gauthier (No. 7, G)
Peyton Krebs (No. 79, C)
Nathan Legare (No. 127, RW)
Trent Miner (No. 3, G)
Ethan Phillips (No. 83, C)

9:30 a.m.

Alex Beaucage (No. 123, RW)
Colten Ellis (No. 4, G)
Hunter Jones (No. 12, G)
Alex Newhook (No. 81, C)
Jakob Pelletier (No. 97, LW)
Matthew Robertson (No. 57, D)
Ryan Suzuki (No. 86, C)
Alex Turcotte (No. 89, C)

10 a.m.

John Beecher (No. 146, C)
Nolan Foote (No. 129, LW)
Jack Hughes (No. 96, C)
Ryan Johnson (No. 32, D)
Artur Kaliyev (No. 126, RW)
Robert Mastrosimone (No. 95, LW)
Shane Pinto (No. 115, C)
Mads Sogaard (No. 14, G)

10:30 a.m.

Layton Ahac (No. 50, D)
Harrison Blaisdell (No. 73, C)
Kirby Dach (No. 111, C)
Kaedan Korczak (No. 40, D)
Connor McMichael (No. 80, C)
Nicholas Robertson (No. 98, LW)
Philip Tomasino (No. 88, C)
Michael Vukojevic (No. 60, D)

11 a.m.

Nikita Alexander (No. 72, C)
Philip Broberg (No. 36, D)
Judd Caulfield (No. 125, RW)
Dylan Cozens (No. 74, C)
Matvey Gustkov (No. 76, C)
Artemi Kniazev (No. 25, D)
Vladislav Kolyachonok (No. 39, D)
Cameron York (No. 31, D)

11:30 a.m.

Cole Caufield (No. 102, RW)
Samuel Fagemo (No. 93, LW)
Thomas Harley (No. 37, D)
Karl Henriksson (No. 77, C)
Pyotr Kochetkov (No. 15, G)
Case McCarthy (No. 42, D)
Yegor Spiridonov (No. 116, C)

1 p.m.

Mikhail Abramov (No. 71, C)
Bobby Brink (No. 101, RW)
Roman Bychkov (No. 24, D)
Pavel Dorofeyev (No. 118, LW)
Trevor Janicke (No. 78, C)
Jackson LaCombe (No. 49, D)
Owen Lindmark (No. 131, C)
Vasily Podkolzin (No. 119, RW)

1:30 p.m.

Bowen Byram (No. 17, D)
William Constantinou (No. 19, D)
Drew Helleson (No. 38, D)
Michael Koster (No. 26, D)
Moritz Seider (No. 43, D)
Brayden Tracey (No. 100, LW)
Alex Vlasic (No. 61, D)

2 p.m.

Adam Beckman (No. 91, LW)
Graeme Clarke (No. 103, RW)
Simon Holmstrom (No. 106, RW)
Anttoni Honka (No. 22, D)
Brett Leason (No. 145, RW)
Jordan Spence (No. 29, D)
Michal Teply (No. 122, LW)
Lassi Thomson (No. 46, D)

2:30 p.m.

Matthew Boldy (No. 117, LW)
John Farinacci (No. 75, C)
Raphael Lavoie (No. 114, C)
Samuel Poulin (No. 128, RW)
Jamieson Rees (No. 84, C)
Jayden Struble (No. 45, D)
Henry Thrun (No. 47, D)
Cade Webber (No. 59, D)

Morning Flurries: We’re back!

2019-05-27T06:00:00-06:00

The summer links where you can chat about hockey and mostly other stuff in the comments is back!

The Avs

Two major spring tournaments concluded on Sunday in the world of hockey. First, the CHL Memorial Cup was handed out to the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies of the QMJHL following a 4-2 win over the host team Halifax Mooseheads. [Sportsnet]

Championship Moments

For the first time in the @QMJHL’s 50 year history the #MemorialCup Presented by @KiaCanada title is celebrated by @HuskiesRn.

Captain Harvey-Pinard accepts the honour alongside overagers Neveu, Harvey, Abbandonato pic.twitter.com/MR0TNLaPwA
— CanadianHockeyLeague (@CHLHockey) May 27, 2019

Halifax grad and Colorado Avalanche center, Nathan MacKinnon, was in the building to cheer on his teenage team that he won the Memorial Cup with way back in 2013. When he was introduced to the crowd, he straight up brought the house down. [Halifax Today]

Welcome back @Mackinnon9!@Avalanche star and 2013 #MemorialCup champion and MVP returns to his @HFXMooseheads roots with an overwhelming reception pic.twitter.com/D9RQ1g3odQ
— CanadianHockeyLeague (@CHLHockey) May 27, 2019

Bringing the house down before the @CHLMemorialCup Championship game. @Mackinnon9. Unbelievable feeling. #GoMooseGo pic.twitter.com/ESiCJ786UJ
— Halifax Mooseheads (@HFXMooseheads) May 26, 2019

They love Nathan MacKinnon here pic.twitter.com/tX17y7UoyU
— Steve McLean (@SteveMcLean888) May 26, 2019

The other tournament that concluded was the IIHF Men’s Hockey World Championships. Nikita Zadorov and Team Russia beat the Czech Republic 3-2 in a shootout to take home the bronze medal. Zadorov ended the tournament with one assist and 14 penalty minutes in nine games skating as the 6/7 defenseman for the team.

Russia lost on Saturday to the eventual gold medal-winning Finns, who beat Tyson Jost and Canada in the Championship game. Jost had two assists in eight games for his country skating on the fourth line with Adam Henrique and World Juniors teammate Mathieu Joseph.

At the site, Tom argues that draft picks are a commodity that could let a team like the Avalanche with a lot of options exploit those options better. [Mile High Hockey]

Colorado Avalanche draft picks:

First round - 4th overall

First round - 16th overall

Second round - 47th overall

Third round - 63rd overall

Third round - 78th overall

Fifth round - 140th overall

Sixth round - 171st overall

Seventh round - 202nd overall

On Twitter, the Avalanche are sharing the highlights from each player on the team. Sunday was Big Ol’ Carl Soderberg’s turn. He celebrated a lot this season, notching 23 goals and 49 points this season. Three of which came in the same game (against the Maple Leafs), his first night of that kind in his career.

Carl Soderberg recorded his first career hat trick.#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/XEARjsNjvw
— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) May 26, 2019

... And he had plenty to celebrate: he tallied his first 20+ goal season!#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/A11YhQPQqU
— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) May 26, 2019

The Game

So did I mention that Finland won the World Championships? Because they did, and they partied like crazy. [NHL dot com]

And the fans go wild as #Finland @Leijonat wins the ice hockey World Championships! If you're not at the #Helsinki market square, this is how insane it is with THOUSANDS of fans at 1am on Monday morning! #leijonat #mmkisat #MM2019 #IIHFWorlds #suomi pic.twitter.com/KzsBYiZR76
— David Mac Dougall (@davidmacdougall) May 26, 2019

It’s midnight in Finland and this is the scene in Helsinki right now. #letsgotomarketplace pic.twitter.com/gedi2wSSLX
— Sami Hoffrén (@shoffren) May 26, 2019

DAMN YOU DRAFT LOTTERY!!! DAMNNNN YOUUUUUU!!!!! *Ahem* nah, I’m cool. I’m cool. Kirby Dach has a cool name or something.

Not only did Kaapo Kakko play very well at the #IIHFWorlds, he has now also won the U18 WJC, U20 WJC and WC at the tender age of 18 #NHLdraft https://t.co/p9j1T4SkTe pic.twitter.com/MyMcGjf92t
— Eliteprospects (@eliteprospects) May 26, 2019

Highlight of the Night: Dmytro Timashov made a pretty slick move in the Calder Cup semi-finals. His Toronto Marlies lost the game and series later that night in double overtime, though. So, awks.

Got him with the no shot #BackForMore | #MarliesLive pic.twitter.com/9Wx83ZWttZ
— Toronto Marlies (@TorontoMarlies) May 27, 2019