Is it the biggest New Year’s Eve game in the National Hockey League since the Red Army visited the Montreal Forum? Well, this much we do know: Saturday will mark the first time in NHL history that two teams with winning streaks of more than 11 games have ever squared off.
The two teams? The Columbus Blue Jackets and the Minnesota Wild.
Welcome to Gary Bettman’s NHL, folks.
“It’s an interesting scenario for sure, not one you’d expect to line up this way,” mused Minnesota goalie Devan Dubnyk, whose Wild have won 12 straight, while Columbus has rattled off 14 in a row. The game is being shown for free online by the NHL, and it is getting a ton of hype for two cities that aren’t even considered top tier markets in the USA.
“It’s not the Super Bowl, it’s not the Stanley Cup,” cautioned Wild coach Bruce Boudreau. “It’s Game 36. It’s got a good, little storyline. That’s all it is.”
| GAME DATE | VISITING TEAM | STREAK | HOME TEAM | STREAK | RESULT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov. 6, 1991 | Montreal | W-8 | NY Rangers | W-6 | MTL 4-1 |
| Nov. 13, 1993 | NY Rangers | W-6 | Washington | W-6 | NYR 2-0 |
| Dec. 2, 2010 | Atlanta | W-6 | Pittsburgh | W-7 | PIT 3-2 |
| Jan. 21, 2016 | Chicago | W-12 | Tampa Bay | W-6 | TB 2-1 |
| Dec. 31, 2016 | Columbus | W-14 | Minnesota | W-12 | ??? |
Yeah, sure Bruce.
Oilers centre Mark Letestu spent four seasons in Columbus and loved the time he spent there. Even if, as a sports town, Columbus still belongs to The Ohio State University.
“When we made the playoffs (in 2014) against Pittsburgh, that atmosphere was incredible,” Letestu said. “Let’s be honest: It’s a Buckeyes town. But once the Buckeyes are done, the attention turns to the Blue Jackets.”
And these aren’t your Daddy’s Blue Jackets either. Finally, Columbus appears to be legit.
“Their back end moves the puck as good as anybody in the league now. They are scoring (3.44 goals per game, tops in the NHL), and their goalie (Sergei Bobrovsky) has the kind of work ethic and competitiveness that can drive a team,” Letestu said. “To me, the success he’s having isn’t a surprise. He and (goalie coach) Ian Clark — it’s not good luck. It’s hard work.”
Between Columbus (two playoff berths in 15 seasons) and Minnesota, which has made the playoffs for four straight springs now after qualifying just three times in the Wild’s first 11 years, Saturday’s matchup provides some chicken soup for the souls of coaches and fan bases who have struggled for success.
“It’s pretty promising for a number of teams in the league, like us, who have struggled,” Edmonton coach Todd McLellan said Friday. “It doesn’t necessarily happen fast, but … it makes believers out of some of the teams that haven’t had success. It can happen.”
Said Letestu, whose Oilers open a four-game road trip in Columbus next week: “I kinda hope (the Jackets) win, because I want to take a crack at them on January 3rd.”
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Burr in the Saddle
Alex Burrows played career NHL game No. 800 Friday night in Vancouver, against old teammates Ryan Kesler, Kevin Bieksa and the rest of the Anaheim Ducks. Like him or not, you can’t deny that Burrows took the long, hard road to an NHL career that turned out better than anybody ever could have ever thought — especially him.
“When I first started, I just wanted to stay as long as I could. It’s been a fun journey that’s for sure. I never thought I’d get (to 800),” he told media in Vancouver before the game.
His contract is up after this season. At age 35, Burrows may be able to keep playing if he can accept a major pay cut from the $3 million he’s earning this season. The question will be if teams think he can still keep up in an ever-faster NHL.
Burrows was asked if he could recall his first pro game, in the East Coast Hockey League: “I was a fourth liner, just trying to get in the lineup every day. In Greenville, South Carolina. For the Grrrowl. Three ‘Rs’.”
I haven’t always loved his tactics, but you’ve got to take your hat off to an undrafted player who has never had anything handed to him. Congrats.
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Darryl being Darryl
As a reporter, you never know when you’re going to get funny Darryl Sutter, grumpy Darryl Sutter, or the sage Darryl Sutter who has been around the game since he played his first NHL game as a Chicago Blackhawk back in 1980 — 36 years ago.
He was asked this past week about morning skates, and whether — like Tortorella in Columbus — he would lean towards eliminating them from the L.A. Kings repertoire.
“If you were a hockey fan 30 or 40 years ago, there weren’t morning skates,” Sutter replied. “But once track suits came out, we thought they were sexy. So we’d go to morning skates to wear our track suits. And then they came out with helmets. So guys started wearing their helmets.”
So, Darryl, would you do away with them?
“Doesn’t mater to me. It’s pretty much optional for us, but (in) today’s ‘optional,’ everyone skates.”
As players, particularly young ones, gain the confidence to take morning skates off as their bodies require the rest, we can see the tradition of game day skates being available for those who wish to take part, but not compulsory for the entire roster, with mandatory film and stretching sessions back at the hotel for teams on the road.
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Calling the Rulebook? Or Writing It?
Anyone who has read this space regularly knows I have always leaned towards defending the on-ice officials. I’ve seldom seen a player play a perfect game, and never quite understood why we expect to see a referee get reprimanded every time he misses a call, when even the best NHLers miss the net on a breakaway, or cough up a puck for a goal.
But last week we saw an instance where two referees — Justin St. Pierre and Chris Schlenker — came to a very odd decision that pared two separate minor penalties into one call. Watch the video:
Clearly, St. Pierre has called a penalty on Justin Braun as he and Connor McDavid exit the defensive zone. His arm goes up, even though you could argue it’s a bit of a light foul.
Then Schlenker, who played four WHL seasons as a left-winger for Regina and Prince Albert, is basically forced by Braun to raise his arm for a minor when Braun mugs McDavid in the offensive zone. Somehow however, after the two conversed, only one minor gets called.
The point isn’t that McDavid deserves extra calls. He leads the league in penalties drawn. It is that these two referees appear to be re-shaping history by turning two calls into one.
Refs get paid to make calls, and the fact they miss some is an acceptable part of sports. They do not get paid to re-write the rulebook. For the record, the NHL took a long look at this one.
•••
A Christmas Wish
By now Twitter, and the kind of responses one gets there, shouldn’t be a surprise. But I must say, the responses I received last week made me cringe.
With the NBA and NFL playing games on Christmas Day, that had some hockey fans asking for NHL games on Dec. 25. My feeling has always been this: Sure, the players, coaches and media have to work on Christmas, but they’re well compensated. But what about the guy parking cars for minimum wage, the girl selling popcorn or the arena clean-up crew?
They’re forced to take a shift on Christmas Day or lose the gig. I never liked that.
The responses I received — and I know Twitter is a small sample size — were along the line of, “If you don’t like your job, get a new one.”
I wonder how many of those folks were working on Christmas Day? Or how many of them have to pick up a broom and sweep arena aisles to make ends meet?
If the NHL goes to games on Dec. 25, I’ll be at the rink. But I admit: I’ll be sour. Not as much for myself and my Sportsnet brethren, as for the folks who make sure the arenas are ready for us when we arrive, and tended to after we leave.
•••
Loose Thoughts
Regardless of the point totals between Auston Matthews and Patrik Laine — they’re tied atop rookie scoring with 30 points — Matthews is pulling ahead in any Calder discussions we’ve been part of. He’s the full package. Laine might be one day too, but he’d have to outscore Matthews by a ton to get this Calder vote … Speaking of which, will McDavid and Sidney Crosby give us an epic, back and forth scoring race for the remainder of the season? Or does Sid simply pull away and not look back? “He’s the best player in the world,” McDavid said of Crosby this week … How does L.A.’s Anze Kopitar (three goals, 16 points) have four less points than New Jersey’s Adam Henrique, who plays for the fourth lowest scoring team in the NHL? Kopitar was listed at No. 71 in scoring among NHL centres Friday … Colorado is a complete and utter train wreck, going 3-11-0 in December. The Leafs walked into Denver this week and beat the Avalanche for fun, and Colorado will wake up on New Year’s Day a full 14 points south of the playoff line. Vultures will be circling around defenceman Tyson Barrie, who is having a rough season (team-high minus-19) after signing that four-year, $22 million deal last summer … Have a Happy New Year folks. Stay safe, but have fun.
