NHL Daily: Gustav Nyquist, Jake Allen, Francois Beauchemin
By Ryan Ritchie
NHL Daily: Detroit Red Wings forward Gustav Nyquist was offered an in-person hearing for his high stick on Wild D Jared Spurgeon, St. Louis Blues may have some issues down the final stretch but Jake Allen will not be one of them, Francois Beauchemin could be an issue moving forward for the Avs, and more! (Morning Coffee Headlines)
Grab your morning cup of coffee and join us here at Puck Prose for a compilation of NHL daily links that will help keep you updated with everything going on in the hockey world.
Six games were on the schedule for Sunday. San Jose grabbed two road points in New Jersey with a 4-1 win, Minnesota beat the Red Wings 6-3 at home, NY Islanders made easy work of the Avs in a 6-1 victory, Nashville beat division rival Dallas 5-3, Boston beat a slumping Habs squad 4-0, and Vancouver edged the Sabres 4-2.
NHL Daily: Morning Coffee Headlines
Nyquist Offered In-Person Hearing
On Sunday, Detroit Red Wings forward Gustav Nyquist delivered a retaliatory high-stick on Minnesota Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon. Despite calling it an accident in post-game interviews, it looked pretty vicious. The in-person invitation suggests he could be looking at five or more games potentially. [NHL.com]
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Blue Line Station
Allen Will Be Fine
St. Louis Blues netminder Jake Allen has taken a lot of heat in 2016-17 after failing to run with the starter role. As Steven Conklin over at Bleedin’ Blue puts it, “the Blues have had their share of issues, and still may have more down the stretch, but Jake Allen won’t be one of them”. [Bleedin’ Blue]
This Day in Hockey History
On this day in hockey history (Feb.13), the NHL said goodbye to the Maple Leafs Gardens in 1999. At the time, it was the last original six arena still in use. Interestingly enough, the Chicago Blackhawks handed the Leafs a loss in both the opener and final game at the Gardens. [NHL.com]
Brind’Amour to Blame for Canes PP Woes
Justin Gilliland over at Cardiac Cane released an interesting piece this morning. He talks about the Carolina Hurricanes PP struggles and why he believes assistant coach Rod Brind’Amour is to blame. [Cardiac Cane]
Trade Rumors Gaining Steam
Cody Benjamin over at CBS Sports released a list of trade rumors gaining steam ahead of the March 1st deadline. Among them, he talks about the Blues moving Kevin Shattenkirk, Matt Duchene to the Predators… or Penguins? and much more. [CBS Sports]
Avs Have an Issue in Beauchemin
Nadia Archuleta over at Mile High Sticking wrote an interesting piece on Sunday. She talks about defenseman Francois Beauchemin and how he is quickly becoming a big problem for the Avs. Nadia makes a strong case citing performance issues such as leadership and of course that contract that could force the club to use a 4-4-1 protection scheme in the expansion draft due to his NMC. [Mile High Sticking]
Next: Week 18 NHL Power Rankings
NHL Daily Morning Rant
If you didn’t catch the highlight by Gustav Nyquist on Sunday, I’ve linked it here.
It was interesting to see the Department of Player Safety respond so quickly on Sunday to the incident. By offering an in-person hearing for the vicious high-stick, it suggests Nyquist could be looking at five or more games.
Despite apologizing and calling it accidental in post-game interviews, I’ve got to say, that was pretty nasty. If you’ve followed my work, you’ll know I have a more conservative view towards things such as fighting and hitting. There’s just no place in our game for what Gustav Nyquist did. In my opinion, he obviously didn’t like what Spurgeon did and it seemed like he just snapped without even thinking about the potential harm. That type of reckless behavior should earn him between 7-10 games, and I wouldn’t blame the NHL for coming down even hard to send a message to the league.
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