Lundqvist to miss season, Rangers gather informally, Canada teams in US? (Lundqvist)

Lundqvist

Lundqvist to miss season, Rangers gather informally, Canada teams in US?

By Jan Levine

Dec 17, 2020 • 9:06 pm

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Henrik Lundqvist dropped a bombshell today, announcing that due to recently discovered heart position, he won't play this season. The Rangers have a large gathering skating in NY. Could the Canadian Division not end up being a reality this season?

Henrik Lundqvist's statement:

Commissioner Gary Bettman's announcement at 2:40pm:

Rangers statement of Lundqvist progression:

Two hours and 40 minutes after Lundqvist's statement:

Larry Brooks:

First and foremost, hoping for a full and complete recovery for Lundqvist. Second, anyone whose first thought was "why couldn't this have happened three months so the Rangers could have saved the cap hit from the buyout," let yourself out now. The first thought should have been I hope Hank will be okay. Then, if you want to say the timing is not ideal, understand, but in no way, shape or form, should that be the primary focus. Lundqvist looks to be definitely out this year, but he has not yet retired or closed the book on his career, as that will depend on the condition and if the remediation allows him to play.

My main concern also is did the team doctor's miss something or did this situation just arise. Neither is ideal, but if the former, that has to make you concerned that other issues might not be caught as well. The Rangers need to verify when the situation arose and make sure that protocols within the organization are in the right place so no gaps do occur with the doctors or trainers.

I would love for him to retire as a Ranger with no games played elsewhere. But recognize, he wants to go out on his own terms. So far this year, that has not been the case, given he lost the 31 job, was bought out and now, can't play for the Caps.

My tweets on the Rangers "delay" in tweeting a message to Hank received some ire on Twitter. Here is my view. we live in an immediate society for better or worse. I was not expecting one in 15, 30 or 60 minutes. But when the NHL commissioner has already posted a message and others have weighed in and the place where he made his career hasn't, that's a bad optic. The word "petty" I believe was used to describe me. My view is that what the Rangers ended up sending up was right on point and perfect. I just felt the timing of such a message just looked bad vis-a-vis others, which is not a cause celebre. But is one seeing the delay in the handling of the K'Andre Miller zoom incident and the possibility that the team did get some kind of heads up - speculated by me - the tweet should have come out earlier.

Brooks says it perfectly:

Lundqvist’s commitment and focus are legendary. The Swede’s attention will now turn from the rink to his health, and to his heart that always has belonged to New York. This may not represent the perfect ending that he envisioned and others wished for on his behalf, but then, this is not a perfect world.

Return to the US, practice and league news:

Brooks wrote this Monday, apologies for missing it: 

The Rangers reopened their practice facility on Monday, adhering to essentially the same COVID-related protocols that were in place this past July for Phase 2 of the 2020 pre-bubble restart.

Players must both adhere to New York State requirements for quarantine and pass a requisite number of tests administered in an area outside the building before they are permitted to enter the rink and skate.

The NHL and NHLPA have yet to reach an agreement on protocols and regulations for the 2020-21 season, though teams were advised by the league on Monday that the objective—if not hope—is to have an agreement that can be presented for ratification by both parties by the end of the week.

Pending that agreement, clubs and players have been told to prepare for the opening of a training camp on Jan. 3 that would precede season openers scheduled for between Jan. 13 and 16. There is precedent for such a short training camp. Indeed, teams had just six days on the ice to prepare for the 2012-13, 48-game lockout season.

There were up to 15 players skating Monday, including Artemi Panarin, Alexis Lafreniere, Chris Kreider, Adam Fox, Tony DeAngelo, Brendan Smith, Brendan Lemieux, Brett Howden, K’Andre Miller, Julien Gauthier, Morgan Barron, Kevin Rooney, Keith Kinkaid, Brandon Crawley and Justin Richards. On- and off-ice workouts are split into two different groups.

Miller and Barron, pro freshmen who will compete for spots on the varsity, spent nearly all summer working out with Kreider at the Prentiss Hockey Performance facility in Stamford. Lemieux and Smith both spent the summer here for their offseason training. Lafreniere has been training in the area for the last month.

Panarin was one of two European players to have returned to New York as Igor Shesterkin arrived Tuesday from Russia. Goaltending partner Alex Georgiev is due shortly. Libor Hajek is scheduled to arrive this weekend.

The remainder, including Mika Zibanejad, Pavel Buchnevich and Kaapo Kakko, should not be too far behind.

Georgiev in Finland awaiting work visa to come to US:

Teams are starting to gather informally, Having 15 players already here - a number that will increase when Shesterkin clears COBID protocols, as he is back in the US, the same I believe for Buchnevich - should allow the team to hit the ground running once/if an agreement is reached. Zib is still in Sweden, but hopefully he returns shortly, allowing him to practice once camps open in earnest. Hopefully the others, including Ryan Strome and Filip Chytil, not yet in camp, arrive shortly and are ready for the first day of practice.

Triple-header Opening Day?

Kind of like the Opening Day of baseball. League needs all the coverage they can get in order to generate revenue. This is why ads on helmets appear to be a foregone conclusion. As we discussed, if a patch or non-obtrusive ad is on the helmet, as a way for sponsors to make up some of the advertising they are losing by having no fans - at least initially - in the stands, then I am all for it.

Canadian teams to play in US?

Look for this topic to get lots of play in the media. Canada's Public Health Agency's statement almost implies that the league is not following protocol. I would expect this to me much ado about nothing, but you never know. The Blue Jays played in Buffalo and the Raptors are in Florida. Could we see the Houston Oilers again?

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