It's good news, bad news for Reilly Smith.
According to Steve Carp of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Smith won't be playing tonight against Detroit after his collision with David Savard on Tuesday. Officially, Smith is day-to-day. On the bright side, he did not return to Las Vegas; he's still on the trip. It could've been worse.
Not surprisingly, Marc-Andre Fleury gets the call tonight. This is his 20th start in 22 games.
Tomas Hyka will draw into the line-up as I presume an emergency recall. James Neal and William Carrier, while both on the ice, don't appear to be traveling with the team.
Nate Schmidt, however, will be available to play Saturday in Buffalo.
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Yesterday, the NHLPA released an interesting players' poll on a variety of topics.
According to the PA, "NHL players were surveyed on more than 20 hockey-related questions during their annual NHLPA team meetings, between the preseason and early January 2018."
The Golden Knights were represented in this poll by Ryan Reaves and Gerard Gallant.
With 44.7% of the vote, Reaves was the landslide choice for league's toughest player -- Milan Lucic was the runner-up at 14.8%. Gallant came in third for coach who players most want to play for, behind Joel Quenneville and Jon Cooper.
As for arenas, it was surprising to see the Saddledome voted fifth for best ice, considering how Gallant and his team reacted after their recent 4-2 victory in Calgary.
"The guys were disappointed with the ice. The ice was really chippy. The puck was bouncing all night long," stated Gallant on January 30th. "The guys were frustrated with the ice, more than anything else."
Bell Centre (Montreal), Rogers Place (Edmonton), Bell MTS Place (Winnipeg), and Xcel Energy Center (Minnesota) rounded out the top-five, while BB&T Center (Florida), Gila River Arena (Arizona), Barclays Center (New York), Honda Center (Anaheim), and PNC Arena (Carolina) polled poorly.
Considering Calgary's colder climate, Erik Haula was surprised in January by the Saddledome's less-than-ideal playing conditions. But Deryk Engelland, who skated there for three seasons, wasn't.
"It was always similar to that when I played there," noted Engelland. "Maybe the building's getting a little bit older?"
The veteran defender elaborated, "If it's chippy, more bouncy, you don't know where the puck is going to go. Flat passes can bounce. Takes more work to skate on soft ice, you're digging in a little more. Get a little more tired at times."
The players generally shied away from fingering the worst rinks in the league, though Haula did mention Anaheim.
To a man, everybody I spoke with preferred colder and harder ice, which is conducive to playing faster.
"Shoot the puck harder. Puck moves faster. You move faster. Better glide," stressed Alex Tuch.
Not surprisingly, both Tuch and Haula loved skating in Minnesota. Tuch and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare also recognized Winnipeg.
It's not ageism either. Both Haula and Engelland remembered traditional favorite Northlands Coliseum fondly. Another defunct facility, Joe Louis Arena, was high on Engelland's list.
As for T-Mobile Arena, Haula expressed his surprise that a rink in Las Vegas played fast.
"We've got really good ice here," observed Engelland. "It's been pretty consistent all year."
Of course, Las Vegas isn't scorching year-round -- just in the summer. Will T-Mobile Arena's ice hold up for a playoff run into June, 100 degrees outside?
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BC alum Tuch also added some thoughts about NCAA ice:
Boston College's ice was pretty good. It was [NHL-quality]. Most of the teams in the Northeast had pretty good ice. Some of the older rinks got a little crappy near the end of the period.We [would sometimes] practice at [John A. Ryan Arena in Watertown]. They have a really old rink. But I thought that ice was phenomenal.
It was cold. It was freezing at that rink. (laughs)
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