NHL Daily: New York Rangers free agent signing Brandon Pirri has seen his production fall off as of late, Frank Vatrano back at practice with the Boston Bruins after starting the year on the IR, Chicago Blackhawks 25 days of Christmas continues, 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.
10 games were on the schedule Thursday night. The slumping Avalanche picked up two important points on the road with a 4-2 win in Boston. Philadelphia came out on top in a high scoring 6-5 final versus Edmonton. Montreal had no problem scoring without Alex Galchenyuk and David Desharnais, toppling the Devils 5-2 at home. The New York Rangers picked up two points in Winnipeg in a close 2-1 game. Calgary kept up their winning ways with a 2-1 victory in the Desert vs. Arizona. In the late game, Derek Ryan scored a pair of goals to help lift the Hurricanes to a 3-1 win over Los Angeles.
Here is your highlight of the night:
NHL Daily: Morning Coffee Headlines
Long Island Becoming Hot Bed for Talent
Daniel J. Friedman over at Sports Illustrated discusses how Long Island is quickly becoming a hotbed for hockey talent. A few names to emerge in recent years include Leafs prospect Jeremy Bracco, Bruins prospect Charlie McAvoy, and Predators defenseman Anthony Bitetto. [SI.com]
Vatrano Nearing a Return
Union and Blue
After starting the year on the injured reserve, Bruins forward Frank Vatrano was back at practice with teammates on Tuesday. He was originally given a return estimate of late December, so he looks to be just slightly ahead of schedule. [Causeway Crowd]
10 Fan Lies
Sean McIndoe over at Sportsnet wrote a piece titled “10 lies all fans tell themselves”. It’s an interesting read that includes things like, “my team doesn’t dive”, “the referees are out to get us”, and “we could probably land that big-name superstar if we put together a package of…”. [Sportsnet]
Pirri Fallen Off the Map
John Williams over at Blue Line Station discusses how free agent addition Brandon Pirri has seemingly disappeared after an extremely hot start. It’s interesting how the drop off in play seems to coincide with Mika Zibanejad‘s injury (broken fibula back on November 20th). [Blue Line Station]
Biggest Busts of 2016-17
Steve Macfarlane over at Bleacher Report takes a look at some of the biggest busts of the early season in 2016-17. The list includes names such as Dylan Larkin (DET), Justin Williams (WSH), and Andrew Ladd (NYI). [Bleacher Report]
Blackhawk Up 25 Days of Christmas
The team over at Blackhawk Up is featuring a 25 days of Christmas series featuring Chicago Blackhawks legends of past and present. Day 20 featured 1980s winger Al Secord. The gritty LW had a career-best year of 86 points back in 1982-83. [Blackhawk Up]
Next: NHL Power Rankings: Week 9
NHL Daily Morning Rant
Following in the spirit of Steve Macfarlane’s piece. Here is my condensed version featuring my top five busts of 2016-17 so far:
1. G Brian Elliott, Calgary Flames (3-9-1 3.31GAA .885 save percentage)
2. F Andrew Ladd, New York Islanders (26gp 3g 3a 6pts -4 plus/minus rating)
3. F Anthony Duclair, Arizona Coyotes (25gp 1g 3a 4pts -2 plus/minus rating)
4. D John Klingberg, Dallas Stars (26gp 2g 11a 13pts -7 plus/minus rating)
5. G Semyon Varlamov, Colorado Avalanche (5-12-0 3.08GAA .905 save percentage)
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