Non-Minnesota NHL News XIV - Seattle Expansion(?)

[Bazeek]

The Wild took Braydyn Chizen with Florida's pick and he is actually having a nice season so far after struggling with offense earlier in his junior career.

It's petty, but I always root for Chizen to earn a pro contract just for the novelty of having a 6' 9" defenseman in the system.

He needs to drop at least one of those y's though.

 

[Dee Oh Cee]

Nice.

 

[tomgilbertfan]

Haula with 18 goals so far this season. Barring something terrible he's going to post his first 20+ goal season! Good for him, glad he's succeeding in Vegas.

 

[57special]

37, I think. Sounds like it was more Nashville convincing him to come back than him convincing Nashville to let him come back, which is interesting.

A smart move by NSH. Rather than spend assets on a TDL deal, and hope that the player acquired jells in their system, they have a guy who costs them nothing, and know exactly how to slot him in to their team. His body probably feels pretty good at this point, and ready to go for a stretch run.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

Sounds like MacKinnon is going to miss some time. Never want to root for an injury, but a Colorado losing skid would be a welcomed sight.

 

[Wabit]

Sounds like MacKinnon is going to miss some time. Never want to root for an injury, but a Colorado losing skid would be a welcomed sight.

He was playing like a top-5 (league wide) center so far this year too. 2-4 weeks with an upper body injury is the initial projection. Kerfoot is coming along nicely, but he's a big step down from MacKinnon as a 1C.

 

[Bazeek]

Cue Yakety-Sax.



Glad they clarified this over the All-Star break

 

[tomgilbertfan]

That's ridiculous.

 

[Uberdachen]

Did Allen not make a visible attempt at going back towards the net when he's out of view or something petty like that?

 

[Bazeek]

Did Allen not make a visible attempt at going back towards the net when he's out of view or something petty like that?

He would've had to have submitted a notarized "Intent Not to Save" document in triplicate to justify that one.

 

[Uberdachen]

He would've had to have submitted a notarized "Intent Not to Save" document in triplicate to justify that one.

If each Bruin that escorted him to submit it made a copy on the way, it's not that out of the question.

 

[57special]

Haula with his 19th goal last night.

 

[Dee Oh Cee]

Guy is on fire. It feels like he scores every game, so it's almost surprising he 'only' has 19. Good for him.

 

[57special]

Hurts because he was my 2nd favorite player on the Wild.

 

[HollaHaula]

Haula also saved a goal in OT. The guy has smarts and always finds himself in the best spot on the ice.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

Yeah, super happy for him.

Damn you expansion draft.

 

[Engebretson]

Good for Haula. Always liked him and was sad to see him go.

 

[57special]

Liked his annoying to the other team goal celly's.

 

[tomgilbertfan]

It's long, but this ECHL article on the Athletic (unlocked/free) is fantastic.

In one: My four wild days trapped in minor-league hell with the Brampton Beast

Just one great part of a really, really fascinating article.

D’Agostini doesn’t want to eat, but he needs to.

Earlier in the season, he was the team’s third-string goalie, as Hogberg and Montreal Canadiens prospect Michael McNiven were with the team. D'Agostini was practicing with injured players one morning when frequent healthy scratch Ian Harris curled around a cone and took a slapshot from inside the hashmarks.
The shot hit D'Agostini in the mask at the perfect angle to do damage: His mouth was open, his straps snapped and the impact broke his two front teeth in half.

Even after five procedures to repair and cap his teeth, it hurts to eat.

“That whole day I had to wait to go see the dentist. I just tried not to breathe through my mouth. Now looking back, I wish it didn’t hap… no, I shouldn’t say that, it builds character, that stuff. They froze my mouth and built them up a bit just to make them half presentable – and they weren’t, they were brutal. I had like 60 per cent of my teeth. Then as the procedures went on they built onto them again. They wanted to give them time just to make sure I didn’t need root canals.

“I was practicing this whole time, and it sucked, just the fear of the puck, which you can’t have as a goalie. It felt like it happened so easy — you feel like it could happen again no problem. They grinded them down to little nubs. It’s still sensitive when I clench my teeth. I don’t know how long that’s going to last.”

...

If he can get his finances in order, he wants to get a master’s degree in leadership in his spare time.

But his finances aren’t in order. Last year, the Beast finished 22nd in a 27-team league in attendance, drawing a little over 3,000 fans per game. This season, a team's salary cap in the ECHL is just $12,800 a week, with a salary floor of $9,700.

When a team runs a 20-man roster, the average weekly pay per player ranges between $485 for a floor team and $640 for a spend-to-the cap roster. A player like D'Agostini, who is at the margins of the league, would be lucky to make $13,000 if he stays on the roster for every day of its 26-week regular season. Which he doesn't.

...

“If you get a pay cut, you don’t want to ask questions because this might be your only opportunity. I’m living out of my jeep right now,” D’Agostini says, his voice cracking as he rubbed his eyes, struggling to finish his story.

“This has been kind of a difficult year. You realize how much you can put up with when you go through these circumstances. Every day I go day-by-day. Am I going to stay in Scarborough tonight or am I going to stay in Guelph with my girlfriend? My bags are in my car all the time. That’s kind of like my room. I’ll bring them into one house or the other. I have to do laundry at the rink, pack, get them in the jeep, go there. The schedule will kind of help determine where I’m going to stay that night. It’s a juggling act. It’s a grind. But it makes you better, right?”

 

[Dee Oh Cee]

So good. Took a long time to read but it was a great in depth look at a league a lot of people don't even think about. That road trip sounded like pure hell...then having to play three games too? No chance.

 

[Wabit]

Boston is on a heck of a run. 16-1-4 in their last 21 games (140p full season pace for reference). Rask is 18-0-2 in his last 21 games (20 starts), and hasn't had a regulation loss since around Thanksgiving. They've almost caught Tampa in their Division, 5 points back with 2 games in hand.

 

[57special]

ECHL can be no fun. Constant strain on any personal life you may have. Once you get to be an AHL regular, things are better. Good pay, and you get to end your career in a nice league in Europe like the Swiss league, where the travel is light, living quarters arranged, and it's family friendly. The AHL is nowhere near as tough as it used to be, but it's still pretty physical.

 

[Bazeek]

I was bummed that we dropped that game to Dallas, but I hadn't realized how close St Louis was to getting sucked into the Central Wildcard Vortex:

	GP	W	L	OT	Pts
Winnipeg	54	32	13	9	73
Nashville	51	32	12	7	71
St Louis	55	32	20	3	67
Dallas	54	31	19	4	66
Minnesota	53	29	19	5	63
Colorado	52	29	19	4	62
Chicago	53	24	21	8	56

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

 

[Dee Oh Cee]

Haha Chicago.

 

[Wabit]

Haha Chicago.

Losing Crawford around X-mas sunk their season. They've been treading water at 7-7-3 without him, but a .500 record just won't work in the Central.