10 NHL Things – Volume IV

Re-printed with permission from the South Florida Tribune:

1 – A month ago when we said hockey season was here, it didn’t feel right even though there was plenty of league business being tended to at the time. But now it really is here! NHL training camps open this week and the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning (rookies) will find themselves in games this weekend at the NHL’s Southeast Rookie Showcase in Nashville.

The Panthers face the host Predators at 2:00 pm CT on Friday followed by the Lightning taking on the Carolina Hurricanes at 5:00 pm CT. We caution you again that these are rookie lineups – not Tkachuk vs Stamkos – but if you’re into roster construction and prospect pools like us, this weekend is for you.

2 – Over the past few weeks the Panthers and Lightning announced their rosters for this tournament (which wraps up Monday morning with Florida facing Tampa Bay at 10 am CT). A name which caught our eye from the Panthers side was hard-nosed forward Josh Davies. The Airdrie, Alberta product helped lead the Portland Winterhawks to the WHL Championship series last spring and a year ago, raised eyebrows at the Rookie Showcase in Estero, FL with his strong play and by dropping the gloves!

Meanwhile we tabbed Lightning prospect Ethan Gauthier as the best player in the whole tourney last year. The son of former NHL’er Denis Gauthier led Drummondville to the QMJHL championship last season, and he’ll be suiting up for the Bolts in this weekend’s tournament as well.

3 – Selfishly I’ll be following the play of Lightning prospect Jaydon Dureau in the Rookie Showcase too. I’ve known the White City, SK product since he was 10-years old and after a great WHL career in Portland, Jaydon’s been trying to crack Tampa’s lineup since being a fifth round pick way back in 2020. A foot injury kept Jaydon out of last year’s Rookie Showcase so we watched together from the stands! The left-winger notched 25 points in 34 games last season with the ECHL’s Orlando Solar Bears and got into two games with the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch (both Lightning afilliates).

4 – Having been to every junior hockey arena in Western Canada, several across Eastern Canada plus the Maritimes, and almost every arena in the NHL, I have to say that the Hertz Arena in Estero, FL is pretty much perfect. At last year’s NHL Rookie Showcase I took a tour of the facility which opened in 1998. With a seating capacity of 7,181, multiple restaurants, an elevator, just the right amount of luxury suites, a spacious press area and being located between the Interstate and a sprawling mall, it’s got it all. For what it’s worth, if I was building a multi-use facility, this is exactly what I’d design. Bravo!

5 – You’re going to hear it a ton this month just like you do with every league when the preseason rolls around annually; “ExHiBiTiOn gAmEs DoN’t MatTeR!” Look – watch if you want, or don’t. The longer you read this column you’ll realize my philosophy is simple: Do what makes you happy and let others do the same. I love preseason hockey.

6 – After a wild summer of partying, the Stanley Cup continues to make its rounds around South Florida. Last week the most beautiful trophy in all of sports visited seemingly dozens of places including the Coral Springs Police Department, Westglades Middle School, the Amerant Bank Arena offices, Pantherland and various bars and restaurants. I was able to attend a function at Café Seville in Fort Lauderdale where the Cup was on hand, following a private party held by Panthers Sports Performance & Rehabilitation Tim Wittenauer which was attended by Cats great Aaron Ekblad. Thanks for the invite!

7 – Stanley Cup custodian/bodyguard Phil Pritchard is becoming almost as famous as the trophy itself. The Burlington, Ontario product is an employee of the Hockey Hall of Fame and annually travels with the trophy as it makes its way around the world with members of the winning team. He’s been doing it for over 30 years! Phil’s been featured in Mastercard commercials and was profiled during an ESPN pregame segment during last year’s Stanley Cup Final.

8 – Cup Facts: Pritchard’s taken the Cup to 31 countries for player visits over the years, however it didn’t go to Russia this summer. That’s okay! Sergei Bobrovsky, Dmitry Kulikov and Vladimir Tarasenko celebrated with Lord Stanley just fine in Florida. … Phil polishes and disinfects the bowl and entire trophy daily. Imagine how many times he’s shined it. … Pritchard says the wildest incident he’s witnessed came in the summer of 2018 while travelling with goaltender Philipp Grubauer of the Washington Capitals. At a private event in Germany, an uninvited cow wandered down out of the Bavarian Mountains and started drinking out of the Cup!  … Phil explained the tradition of players taking the Cup for a day began back in 1989 with Colin Patterson of the Calgary Flames.

9 – Speaking of Tarasenko, the left-winger signed as a free agent with the Detroit Red Wings this summer. Wings fans have asked me what they’re getting but you’d think they’d know after the Russian sniper spent 11 seasons with the rival St. Lous Blues, winning a Cup in 2019! The book on Tarasenko has always been that he’s lazy – did I mention my Dad scouted for the Dallas Stars for 26 years? – but I’ve never seen evidence of that and the fact remains he’s a four-time NHL All Star and two-time Stanley Cup winner. After being acquired at last year’s NHL Trade Deadline from Buffalo, Tarasenko put up 14 points in 19 games with Florida plus another nine points in the playoffs. He hustled his butt, backchecked, went in the corners, and spent time on PP1 and PP2 so I still don’t know what the critics are talking about. Maybe he was just on his best behavior for three months but either way, it worked out perfectly for all.

10 – Last week in this space I forgot to do another divisional prediction. Oops! My bad. So here’s my prediction for first-to-worst in the Metropolitan Division (which I agonized over): NY Rangers, Carolina, New Jersey, NY Islanders, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Washington, Columbus. I’m pretty confident with that!

See you in the rink …

(Rod Pedersen covers the NHL for the South Florida Tribune. He also hosts the weekly Cats N Bolts Podcast and daily Rod Pedersen Show on Game+TV and WQEE Radio)