Updated:
Patrick Kane is a freak of nature. He never ceases to amaze me with his other-worldly creative and skill.
On Saturday night in Game 6 if front of God and the world, Kaner created a sonic boom around the hockey world when he toed the game with this grotesque clapper from the left circle. Two things to keep in mind:
1). Pekka Rinne is a Vezina Trophy finalist. He has been a human brick wall this season. 2). Kane should not be playing right now due to the busted clavicle that he suffered in February. He was supposed to be lost to the Hawks until the third round of the playoffs.
How do you explain this Kaner dagger?
He's a generational player.
Watching Kaner's post-goal celly brought Jack Eichel to mind.
Yes, Eichel is also a generational player, but cut from bigger cloth than Kane is. Kane is pure finesse while Eichel plays a high level power-finesse game. Kane dances D-men and forwards with relative ease on his way to the net. Eichel would just as soon go through a guy than go around him.
Kane and Eichel are different and similar at the same time. Both create scoring chances for teammates and like to light the lamp on their own.
Another similarity is that Kane and Eichel celly hard after they get the red light spinning. I love that about both players. They aren't afraid to show emotion after they or their line mates score a goal. Their cellies are not ordinary in any way. They are unique signatures of themselves, like sizzling guitar licks of Eric Clapton or Edward Van Halen.
Often imitated, never duplicated.
Buffalo Sabres fans are going to love watching Eichel burn down the house with his post goal celebrations. If opponents don't like the celebrations, they will have to find ways to stop the kid before he performs larceny against their goalie.
I present to you Jack Eichel "Showtime, Jr."
***
The Calgary Flames hate and detest the first forty minutes of their hockey games. They love the final twenty minutes more because that's where the drama and fun lives.
Calgary Flames pulled off yet another third period comeback on Saturday night to advance to the next round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs where they will face the Anaheim Ducks. It's been eleven years since the Flames have advanced in the playoffs. In 2004, they lost to Tampa in the Stanley Cup Finals.
The Flames somehow pushed the reset button after falling down 3-0 early in the game. They kicked their game into gear and defeated the Vancouver Canucks 7-4 in Game 6 of their Western Conference First Round series. They advanced to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 2004 and just the second time since winning the Stanley Cup in 1989.
If Calgary Alberta had it's own paper currency, you better believe that Michael Ferland's face would be on it. The rambunctious winger scored twice, added an assists and had 7 hits in the knockout game versus Vancouver.
Ferland has become a rock star in Calgary and rightly so.
He scored two goals and added two assists. His 21 PIMs led the Flames.
Ferland landed 40 hits on the Canucks in round one. Dude needs to sit in a trainer's tub filled with ice for the next three days!
"Best feeling ever. Best ever," Ferland said in the winner's locker room. "I don't even know how to describe it."
Thanks, Flames TV
Calgary love their comebacks.
The Flames trailed 3-0 after 9:42 of game action. The Canucks and their fans were licking their chops as they smelled a victory. Then, Ferland scored to make it 3-1 Canucks late in the first period. Then, the flood gates opened when Calgary's top line of Sean Monahan, Johnny Gaudreau and Hudler scored twice in a span of 4:33 in the second period for their first even-strength goals of the series.
Vancouver took a 4-3 lead off the ice at the second intermission.
Then Monahan, Gaudreau and Hudler victimized Ryan Miller with a PPG at the 6:14 mark of the third period.
Monahan, Gaudreau, and Miller combined for 10 points in the game. The line accounted for 17 points in round one:
Hudler: 3G, 3A Monahan: 2G, 4A Gaudreau: 2G, 3A
"I don't think anything was said," Monahan said afterwards in the victor's room.
"We understand the situation we were in, and we looked at this game like it was a must-win. It's on home ice and we could knock them out and move on to the second round. We were still excited on the bench when we were down 3-0 and we wanted to win. We did what we could, pushed back and found a way."
Flames head coach Bob Hartley was brimming with pride after the decisive comeback win that advanced his pesky Flames to the next round against the big, bad, Anaheim Ducks. "When you coach a group of athletes that believe, you get crazy games like this one," Hartley said. "Look at the scoreboard - it was 3-0, there was nine minutes gone in the period and guys were still saying, 'There's plenty of time, let's get the next one. Those guys are just amazing. And what about the crowd? The crowd never left us. When we were down 3-0 we felt, still, their support. What a great story."
"We persevered through. We're able to move on."
Hartley knows that the Ducks are a formidable foe that just shot down Winnipeg Jets in 4 straight games in round one. Hartley says he could not be opr
"This season, the season is way bigger than the game," Flames coach Bob Hartley said. "From Day 1 of camp, what we invested in those players, the way those players represented not only this great organization but also this community. They never stop. They never stop. Our players are role models. I have so much respect for my group.
"I have to say that in my book, this team ranks as probably one of the most enjoyable bunch of athletes to work with. Not only are they great hockey players, they're great athletes, but they're unbelievable human beings.
Flames vs. Ducks is going to be a rodeo on ice. I can't wait for it!
Thanks, Flames TV
***
Last spring, Buffalo Sabres GM Tim Murray was searching for a head coach. Ted Nolan's contract has expired following the 2013-14 season. One of the candidates that Murray spoke with about his head coaching vacancy was Binghampton Senators head coach Luke Richardson. Murray and Richardon have a strong professional and personal bond that dates back to the time they worked with one another in Bingo and in Ottawa. When Richardson informed Murray that due to family reasons he would not be interested in the Sabres bench boss job. Richardson's take: I'm not saying no forever, just no no for now. Murray understood Richardson's circumstances fully and completely. Richardson's daughter was about to enter her junior year at Cornell University. Luke was not about to uproot his family and move them to Buffalo. No for now, he said.
Comes word tonight from Elliotte Friedman that Richardson is now willing to listen to NHL head coaching offers. His daughter will be a senior at Cornell this fall and logistically it may be time to start pondering his hockey future. Tim Murray knows the Richardson family intimately and respects his friend's family-first philosophy. Murray fired Ted Nolan and 95% of his coaching staff earlier this month. Murray is not interested in finishing 30th overall in the NHL standings for a third straight season. The Buffalo rebuild is transitioning to the next phase. Murray has a core of young studs and he needs a patient man to mentor and teach them. Richardson fits that bill to a tee. Luke and Tim have an AHL Calder Cup championship on their combined resume. They vowed to one day work together again when the time was right. Is this Luke Richardson's time to coach the Buffalo Sabres or is Murray gunning for Mike Babcock or Todd McLellan instead?
Is Richardson ready to dive into an NHL head coaching job? Or, would he prefer an assistant coaching job on the staff of a proven winner like Babcock or McLellan? Not sure. Murray and Richardson can talk about it in their interview.
Richardson cannot lose because there are several high profile NHL head coaching jobs available right now besides the Buffalo-Murray opportunity.
After retiring from the National Hockey League (and the Ottawa Senators) early in the 2008-09 season, the 20-year NHL veteran was named a part-time member of the Senators coaching staff for the final three months of the season. He remained in that role until assuming his current position with Binghamton.
An Ottawa native, Richardson played in 1,417 NHL games (plus 69 playoff games) over his successful career, which ranks him 26th all-time in that category. After playing two seasons with the Ontario Hockey League’s Peterborough Petes, he was a first-round selection (seventh overall) by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1987 NHL Entry Draft. He immediately made the jump to professional hockey, appearing in all but two of the Maple Leafs’ 80 games during his rookie season of 1987-88.
Richardson played for three of the NHL teams that are currently looking for a new head coach" Edmonton Oilers (6 years), Toronto Maple Leafs (5 years) and Philadelphia Flyers (5 years).
Over the course of his 20 year NHL playing career, and his six year coaching carer, Richardson has earned the respect of his peers who have transitioned into being NHL team builders Brendan Shanahan, Ron Hextall, Peter Chiarelli, and Doug Wilson.
Richardson was a big, nasty, tough as leather NHL D-man. His professional reputation precedes him inside the NHL.
The San Jose Sharks also are looking for a new head coach and it would not surprise me if Doug Wilson calls Richardson for an interview. The Boston Bruins and Edmonton Oilers may also be making coaching changes in the days to come.
The team that hires Luke Richardson will be better for having done so. He relates extramely well to young players and veterans alike. He's not a yeller and a screamer. He's a patient, thoughtful teacher of the game. He doesn't berate players and scorn them. He works with them to set and achieve their personal and professional goals.
One need only look at today's Ottawa Senators roster to see the positive, lasting impacts that Luke Richardson has had on the young kids and prospects on that pesky hockey team. Richardson has influenced and shaped the careers of: Mark Stone, Mike Hoffman, JG Pageau, Cody Ceci, Mark Borowiecki, Mika Zibanejad, Andrew Hammond, Eric Gryba, Robin Lehner, Zack Smith, Jared Cowen and Patrick Wiercioch. Great young players all, however, needed to learn how to play the pro game. They will be forever indebted to their Bingo head coach Luke Richardson for teaching them how to be pros. The future is very bright in Ottawa and Luke Richardson's finger prints are all over their current roster.
I'd say that Richardson is ready for prime time. His record speaks for itself.
Richardson's phone will be ringing shortly, if it hasn't already.