Olympic Women’s Hockey Preliminary Round Recap

By Maeve Hushman, Staff Writer

Olympic Women’s hockey is one of the best sports in the winter Olympics and no, you will never change my mind. As a seldom patriotic person, nothing makes me chant USA like the United States women’s hockey team. Team USA is the defending gold medalist with Canada, the other top women’s hockey power, losing out in the shootout in the finals in PyeongChang. Now, Canada is coming for the United State’s Gold and the United States wants to defend it. However, while team USA and Canada are the main focus of this recap, there have been a lot of big stories in women’s hockey this year. Denmark for the first time ever has a women’s hockey team. China has returned to the women’s hockey competition for the first time since 2010. 

The preliminary round is over and here is how the two top teams in the tournament did. 

Day 1: 

Canada vs. Switzerland 

Canada Wins!

Final Score: 12-1

Shot count: Canada: 70 Switzerland: 15  

Goalscorers: 

Canada: Blayre Turnbull (2), Natalie Spooner (2), Sarah Fillier (2), Laura Stacey (2), Claire Thompson (1), Rebecca Johnston (1), Ashton Bell (1), Erin Ambrose (1) 

Switzerland: Lara Stalder (1) 

Takeaways: Canada is incredible. 70 shots and 12 goals are awe-inspiring. Last Winter Olympics, the Canadian team took silver after losing to Team USA in the shootout. This year they seem intent on showing off that they have the caliber team to challenge the reigning champion, USA, for that gold medal. Also, Sarah Fillier certainly doesn't look like a first-time Olympian or the youngest on her team. 

Day 2: 

USA vs. Finland

USA Wins! 

Score: 5-2

Shot count: 52-12  

Goal Scorers: 

USA: Kendall Coyne-Schofield (2), Alex Carpenter (2), Amanda Kessel (1) 

Finland: Susanna Tapani (2)

Takeaways: Even though they didn't score 12, the USA without Brianna Decker (who was injured at the beginning of the game) still dominated it. Team USA is 7-0 in Olympic opening games. They limited Finland to only 5 shots in the 1st period, 1 in the 2nd, and 6 in the third. Their speed was incredible, and their defense was just as impressive with their offense 5 on 5 as both of Finland's goals came on the power play. Team USA handily beat the third-place team in the world, establishing themselves again as the reigning champions and team to win this Olympics in Beijing.

Day 3: 

Canada v Finland 

Canada Wins! 

Score: 11-1

Shot Count: Canada: 48 Finland: 29 

Goal Scorers: 

Canada: Sarah Nurse (3), Brianne Jenner (3), Laura Stacey (2), Sarah Fillier (2), Jamie Lee Rattray (1) 

Finland: Minnamari Tuominen (1), 

Takeaways: Team Canada is a wagon. They are the biggest threat and rival to team USA, and yet how can you not love watching them regardless of nationality? They are offensively dominant, and they absolutely control whatever ice surface they are on. However, while the Canadians beat Finland by a greater score than the United States, the USA held Finland to only 12 shots. Compared to the American’s shot count, the shot count indicates that Canada plays a much more open game that allows them to generate offense at such an impressive rate, but not be as dominant on the shot clock. Finland is really looking for that bronze spot after being absolutely stomped by both the USA and Canada. 

Day 4:  

USA vs. Russia Olympic Committee (ROC) 

USA Wins! 

Score: 5-0

Shot Count: USA: 62 ROC: 12

Goal Scorers: 

USA: Savannah Harmon (1), Hilary Knight (1), Grace Zumwinkle (1), Jesse Compher (1), Alex Carpenter (1)  

ROC: N/A

Takeaways: The USA scored five goals from five players and kept ROC limited to 12 shots on goal. This USA team is incredibly deep and incredibly well rounded, being solid on offense and defense. They play a gritty and tiring physical game and have more speed and skill than many other teams in the tournament. Jesse Compher scored her first-ever Olympic goal in this game, showing that the young guns and the stars can put up points for team USA. In their game against Switzerland, ROC got a lot of their goals in tight to the net; the USA prevented them from finding that space, keeping the shot and goal count low for the ROC. Nicole Hensley also posted a shutout, an awe-inspiring feat on the world stage. It was an excellent game for the USA. 

Day 5: 

USA vs. Switzerland 

USA Wins! 

Score: 8-0

Shot Count: USA: 66 Switzerland: 12 

Goal Scorers: 

USA: Hilary Knight (2), Jesse Compher (2), Kelly Pannek (2), Amanda Kessel (1), Dani Cameranesi (1) 

Switzerland: N/A

Takeaways: The USA posted back-to-back shutouts with two different goalies, against the ROC with Nicole Hensley and against Switzerland with Alex Cavallini. Part of that success has to be attributed to the USA’s defensive efforts; they have not allowed more than 12 shots against in the entire tournament. They had three different players with 2 goal nights, including Jesse Compher, who scored her first Olympic goal last game. It says impressive things about the United States offensive depth, especially after losing Brianna Decker to injury for the rest of the tournament. They scored twice in nine seconds to make the game 3-0 in the first. Switzerland has not registered a win yet in the tournament and has suffered two brutal losses at the hands of the USA and Canada. Even against the ROC, the Swiss, despite only being outshot by one, lost 5-2. 

Canada vs. ROC 

Canada Wins!

Score:  6-1

Shot Count: Canada: 49 ROC: 12

Goal Scorers: 

Canada: Sarah Nurse (1), Sarah Fillier (1), Jamie Lee Rattray (1), Erin Ambrose (1), Rebecca Johnston (1), Marie-Philip Poulin (1) 

ROC: Anna Shokhina (1)

Takeaways: This game was delayed because team ROC failed to produce their Covid-19 results. Due to this failure, the game was played in masks. That just added to the intense difficulty of the highest level of international hockey. Canada continues their dominance in women’s hockey with this victory tying the USA for first with a record 3-0. This victory is significant since the Toronto Star the same day published an abomination of a click-bate article that declared women’s hockey unworthy of being in the Olympics. Team Canada continues to prove how talented and deserving women’s hockey players are, and continues the pattern of beating the same teams as the USA by a greater score, but the other team has managed to either score more or get more shots. Canada only allowed 12 shots like the USA, but they also didn’t get a shutout like team USA. This suggests that the USA plays a tighter defensive style to Canada’s more open offensive style, which comes in waves. The ROC needs to pick up their play if they want a shot at bronze. 

USA vs. Canada

Canada wins! 

Score: 4-2

Shot Count: Canada: 27 USA: 53 

Goal Scorers: 

Canada: Brianne Jenner (2), Jamie Lee Rattray (1), Marie-Philip Poulin (1)

USA: Dani Cameranesi (1), Alex Carpenter (1)

Takeaways: Whenever these two teams’ showdown, it is epic. This game was fast-paced and loaded with talent. However, team USA was goalied. Canada’s goalie Ann-Renée Desbiens made 51 saves. The USA dominated the first period, outshooting Canada 16-6, but for most of the period it was 13-2. Yet, Canada went into the second period with the lead because of a power play goal. Canada's special teams are incredible and are rolling. They are 94% on the penalty kill and 50% on the power play. That and goaltending were the significant factors. Maddie Rooney (USA's goaltender) and USA's penalty kill couldn't stop Canada on the power play. Desbiens stopped almost everything the USA threw at her. Rooney has a winning record against team Canada, so it is understandable why she started, but it is a bit shocking that they didn't ride one of the two goalies who got shutouts in the past two games. Granted those goalies only faced 12 shots, but usually, the hot goalie gets the start. Rooney was the only USA goalie to not get a shutout before this game, and she was absolutely outplayed by Desbiens. 

New Years, New Wins: The Avalanche’s January

By: Maeve Hushman, Staff Writer

Since we arrived in the New Year, the Avs have had a 15-0-1 record and have a home winning streak of 18 home games. They were the first team to hit 30 wins, are the top of the league, and continue to get praise from hockey pundits around the media. So, let’s take a look at the Avalanche’s January. 

Things to fix: The Avalanche in a lot of their most recent games have spent the first two periods behind on the score sheet or have blown a lead and had to come back. Now, because this team is as offensively deep as it is, they can pretty reliably out score their problems. However, it isn’t a good strategy in general. Look at the Edmonton Oilers, who started the season one of the best teams in the league rarely scoring the first goal and now are rapidly dropping in the standings. Relying on the offense to constantly bail you out is not a dependable strategy. It all goes back to the Avalanche’s inability to play a full 60 minutes of hockey.  They either start dominant, then drop off, blow the lead, and then fight back (like in the game against the Wild) or they start slow and have to come back in the second half of the game. 

The Avalanche have the best PDO in the league right now and a higher than normal shooting percentage (per JFreshHockey). Since the Avalanche are scoring at a much higher rate than expected, it means that their PDO is high. PDO has to do with luck, so it always regresses back to the mean as does high shooting percentage. All of that is just a fancy way of saying that the offense is not always going to score at this rate. 

The Avalanche dominate when they get the other team to play their game, but sometimes they fall into the trap of playing the game of the opposing team. The Avalanche are all about speed and offense, while other teams want to slow down the game which makes the Avalanche more susceptible to making mistakes. In their rematch against the Leafs, for the first half the Leafs controlled the game and forced the Avalanche to play the way they wanted. When the Avs started to come back they forced the Leafs to play their game. No one plays the Avalanche’s game better than the Avs. 

Net front defense continues to be a problem and nowhere was that seen more than the game against the Kraken. Two of the goals scored by the Kraken in that game were scored at the net front. The Avalanche need to get better at moving players out of the net front. So many times players are allowed time in space in front of the Avs net and they either score or they are used as a screen which also leads to goals against. In the playoffs, goals are scored in front of the net as games get played tighter and more defensively stringent. If the net front is left undefended, they will feel it most in those tight playoff situations. 

Nathan MacKinnon was injured in the Bruins game by Taylor Hall and will need to have nose surgery. He will miss the All-Star game but hopefully be back in the line up after the All-Star break is over. MacKinnon has had horrible injury luck this season. He was just starting to heat back up before this hit by Hall. However, losing MacKinnon shouldn’t hurt the Avs too much because of the way the rest of the line up has been 

Positives: Honestly, everything else. This team is an absolute powerhouse that always finds ways to win. MacKinnon looks like he forces the game to his will. The whole first line look like world beaters and with the rate that they are scoring they probably are. Nazem Kadri continues to be on fire. Everyone on this team is playing their part and helping this team get to victory. Despite the concerns brought up in the last section, this team is almost completely perfect. 

The Avalanche’s offense has been lethal. It is deep and prolific, constantly able to bail the Avalanche out at every turn and this goes beyond the forward group. Cale Makar has been unreal and will be going to the All-Star game. He is generating offense and creating more scoring threats for the Avalanche, which should help them from regressing too much when their PDO goes back down to the mean. The Avs D-core has looked incredible lately, which it is. It saves the Avs when the passes to nowhere start becoming a prevalent problem in the game. 

One plus of the Avalanche’s continued comeback victories is that it shows mental toughness and resilience. They keep fighting and do not give up no matter the score. That determination keeps them competitive. It is a good sign when it comes to the mindset of the Avs, they won’t let things get them discouraged. They will always keep fighting. 

Darcy Kuemper and Pavel Francouz have both looked incredible in net. Francouz has had two shutouts in the past few games and Kuemper made JFreshHockey’s list of statistically best goalies this season so far. That goaltending tandem has looked shaky at times but is coming into their own and have played a series of strong games. 

Conclusion:The Avalanche are the best team in the league hands down, but they are also riding a wave of high PDO and unreal offense. No team is 100% perfect, the Avalanche come pretty close. If they keep up this tenacity, resilience, and ability to find a way then they will be in good shape to win the President’s Trophy again this year.

Fixing an Oil Spill: What’s Wrong with the Edmonton Oilers?

By: Maeve Hushman, Staff Writer

Last year in the first round of the Scotia Bank North Division Playoffs the Edmonton Oilers were slated to play against the Winnipeg Jets. Everyone, and I do mean almost every hockey pundit, picked the Oilers to advance and why shouldn’t they? The Oilers have two of the top ten players in the league: Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid (the best player in the NHL). The Oilers were higher ranked in the North division than the Jets, they were receiving unreal goaltending from Mike Smith, and their offense was unstoppable. The Jets on the other hand had decent offensive forwards, a horrific blue line, and a top three goalie in Connor Hellebuyck. Despite these seemingly daunting disparities, I picked the Jets to beat the Oilers, and the Jets did just that, sweeping the Oilers in the first round. Why was I able to predict that the Oilers would lose despite all of the experts and signs saying it would go the other way? Everyone forgot about one simple fact: that the Oilers are a fatally flawed team whose flaws are concealed by the performances of Draisaitl and McDavid. 

The Oilers had an explosive start to the 2021-2022 season and were being called contenders after only the first month. Now winter has come and cooled the red-hot Oilers down revealing their true colors once again. They have 2-9-2 in their last few games and haven’t looked like the so-called contender they were painted as. So, what is the problem with the Oilers? It comes down to construction. The Oilers are a poorly constructed team that lacks an effective blue line and scoring depth causing them to rely too heavily on inconsistent goaltending and two players to eke out wins. The worst part is General Manager Ken Holland has done little to fix it, and in the case of the blue line has actively made it worse. The Oilers had an eventful off season, even signing former Toronto Maple Leafs right wing Zach Hyman to add depth scoring and grit. However, while they managed to sign Hyman and make other off season moves, they failed to fix a lot of other problem areas including defense, goaltending, and reliable bottom six scoring. 

Defense: The Oilers, in the McDavid -Draisaitl era specifically, have never been a defensively dominant team. Last season they lost Oscar Klefbom to injury and surgery, which definitely hurt the blue line as he was one of the most valuable pieces in their defensive core. They managed to resign another key defensive piece in Darnell Nurse this off season, which was a good signing. Nurse is a solid D-man. However, while they did have some adversity with the Klefbom injury and had a good move with re-signing Nurse, they made a few nonsensical defensive moves in the off season. 

The Oilers decided to trade bright young defenseman Ethan Bear to the Carolina Hurricanes for forward Warren Foegele. Now the acquisition of Foegele is, on its own, a good thing. Foegele is a solid middle six forward and like Hyman, adds a lot of sandpaper to the line-up. However, losing Bear came with a steep cost. He was a cheap, talented, and young defensemen with a high ceiling for success. Players like Bear were the future of the Oilers blue line and they traded him away. If they had been able to replace Bear with a similar or better player via trades or free agency, maybe this is an appropriate risk to bring in more scoring depth, but the Oilers failed to do that. Instead, they traded another young defenseman, Caleb Jones, for 38-year-old Duncan Keith on an outrageous contract. 

Keith in his heyday won three cups with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2010, 2013, and 2015 in addition to a Conn Smythe for his role in the 2015 cup win. He was brought in because of his experience in the playoffs and for “veteran leadership”.  However, it should be noted that Keith, along with all the other members of the 2010 Blackhawks team, were complicit in the cover up of the sexual assault of Kyle Beach and allowed Beach to face abuse by fellow teammates in 2010, so rumors of his leadership are much exaggerated. Keith has been declining in his abilities ever since 2015 and has looked like a defensive liability more often than not even before he was traded to the Oilers. It was a stupid move by the Oilers to bring on not only the contract of Keith, but also his complete defensive ineptitude especially after losing Bear and another prospect in Jones. However, this move could be buried. Keith could be sent down to the minors or they could bury him as a seventh depth defenseman, but they continued to fail to bolster the blue line and there were two final nails in the coffin. 

The Tyson Barrie signing, like the Bear trade, in isolation doesn’t look too bad. Barrie, who was drafted by Colorado, signed a one-year deal with the Oilers for the 2020-21 season coming off of a disappointing season with the Toronto Maple Leafs. In 2020-21, he finished the season with 48 points. Barrie is an offensive defenseman and a skilled power play quarterback meaning that his style of play lends itself to putting up points but not necessarily shutting down the other team’s offense. On a team with McDavid and Draisaitl, Barrie was able to help generate goals and also increase his own personal points totals. So, the Oilers decided to re-sign him this off season, which like stated prior, is not a bad move in isolation. Barrie gets a bit of a bad rap, especially from Leafs fans like me, but he is very good at what his role is: scoring points and moving the puck. He was not what the Leafs needed at the time, and definitely not what the Oilers needed. He is a luxury piece for them, a way to keep the power play in the top ten and to help compliment the already existent style of the Oilers of offense hiding all other team problems. So, while he is an asset to the Oilers, he doesn’t provide anything the Oilers were lacking including competent defense.  

Signing Cody Ceci was the straw that broke the camel's back when it came to the Oilers D-core. Oh, Ceci, my old nemesis, the bane of every Leafs fan’s existence until Dubas let him walk. Ceci came off a horrific stint with the Leafs, played a good year with the Penguins, and the Oilers decided to sign him to a four-year deal. That decision gave the Oilers the right-side depth of Barrie and Ceci. Now those two names together might seem familiar, and if it is, that is because that was the right-side depth the Leafs had in the 2019-2020 season. In 2019-2020, the Leafs were one of the worst defensive teams in the league. That team lost to a 42-year-old emergency back-up goalie/zamboni driver, and yet Ken Holland looked at the right side of that blue line and said “I want some of that”. Signing Ceci instead of the stay-at-home defenseman the Oilers so desperately needed signed the death certificate of the Oilers blue line. 

The Oilers need at least one shut down pair, especially if their top forwards, Draisaitl and McDavid, refuse to increase the defensive aspects of their games. Management failed to provide that. Instead, they traded away future blue liners Bear and Jones, replacing them with the corpse of Keith. They signed the Leafs former failing right side in Ceci and Barrie to long term big money contracts instead of finding that shut down D-man needed. In the playoffs, offense dries up and if you can’t out score your problem, that D-core really becomes a glaring issue. It especially becomes an issue when you do not have a strong and consistent goal tending to fall back on. 

Goaltending: The Oilers starting goaltender, Mike Smith, is 39 years old and was just re-signed for two more years. Smith is a decent goalie capable of incredible hot streaks. Last season was a hot season for Smith, posting a .923 save percentage. He has failed to replicate that success this year, only averaging a .898 save percentage. This stat makes sense since goaltenders are fairly hard to predict and when you have age as a factor it makes them even more unpredictable. Smith is a decent goaltender capable of being great, but he isn’t the kind of goalie who season after season can be the brick wall that protects your team from falling apart. Mikko Koskinen is younger and has an even .900 save percentage on the year, (also not great) but is also not that guy. The best goaltender the Oilers have had this season was Staurt Skinner who was posting a .907 save percentage before he was put on COVID protocol.  The only way the Oilers can have a defense core as depleted as they do and win is if they have game breaking goaltending. Some teams can pull that off, last year’s Winnipeg Jets for example or the 2016-17 Maple Leafs, but it isn’t the most sustainable strategy. 

Last year Smith performed extremely well, and people were looking at the Oilers as a contender, but in the playoffs Smith was outdueled by Hellebuyck. This off season, Holland could have addressed goaltending and give the Oilers a bonafide starter. 2020-21 Veznia winning goalie Marc-Andre Fleury was traded for nothing to the Chicago Blackhawks. Darcy Kuemper, who is an extremely talented goaltender, was acquired by the Colorado Avalanche this off season as well. Both moves show that Holland had ample options to address the issue of goaltending but chose not to. Instead, he invested in Ceci and Barrie who, like stated earlier, are not the shutdown defenseman that can bail out a goaltender when they need it. 

After their 4-1 loss to the New York Rangers, Head Coach Dave Tippet tried to blame Koskinen’s performance for their loss, but the Oilers lost the next game with Smith in net 4-2 as well.  Adding a talented goaltender like Fleury might bail the Oilers out and get them back on track. Holland might make that step and try to save himself and Tippet from being fired before the trade deadline. However, even though I love Fleury both as a goalie and as a person, he is also 37, on a large contract, and has shown that he isn’t always as solid behind an anemic blue line like the Oilers have. Fleury may help but it is like patching a hole in your expensive yacht with duct tape. Sure, maybe it will hold for a while, but it isn’t a permanent solution. 

Forward Group: Koskinen fired back against Tippet’s comments pointing out that he, as a goalie, cannot actually score goals. He is right, a goalie can only cover up defensive flaws, but when an offense dries up there is nowhere to hide. The Oilers’ reputation in the McDraisaitl era has been that of an offensive powerhouse. They will out score you no matter how hard you try to resist, and you will be so busy trying to prevent them from scoring that you can’t even score yourself. That reputation is really only true for McDavid and Draisaitl. Once you move beyond those two forwards the offense dries up and suddenly the Oilers can no longer out score their problems. 

Forward depth has always been an issue for the McDavid era Oilers. You have the one-two punch of McDavid and Draisaitl, then nothing else. To the Oilers credit, their depth scoring has been improving. Kailer Yamamoto brought that last year but hasn’t been able to replicate that performance this year. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, a former first overall pick, re-signed last season but also hasn’t brought the depth scoring needed. Holland, for all his mistakes with the blue line and between the pipes, did try to address forward depth in the off season. He brought in Warren Foegele, Derek Ryan, and Zach Hyman while also buying out James Neal. Even with these moves the depth scoring has not increased. 

When it comes to goals, because let’s all be honest those are what matter most when it comes to actually winning games, McDavid and Draisaitl have 19 and 26 goals respectively but the drop off afterward is somewhat steep with Hyman scoring 11. Hyman is a great player but was never the third highest scorer when he was in Toronto. I made a comment earlier in the year on Twitter after Leafs fans were blaming the loss of Hyman for their slow start, that if a player like Hyman is what makes or breaks your team then your team probably wasn’t very good to begin with. Hyman is a great play, but he alone can’t turn a team around. Bottom/Middle six forwards Yamamoto, Jesse Pulujarvi, Michael McLeod, Foegele and Tyler Benson haven’t been producing at the level they should be in order for the Oilers to have reliable depth goal scoring.

McDavid and Draisaitl have been criticized for the poor defensive play.  They do not necessarily need to play more defensively since their main gifts are their abilities in the opposing zone. However, if the Oilers plan to go forward with a blue line similar to the one they have currently, which seems likely as Nurse, Barrie, and Ceci all have long-term deals, the onus falls on the forwards. The Leafs are another offensively dominant team who used to have a reputation for being horrific in their own zone. Then star forwards Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and William Nylander all committed to playing a more two-way style. Now the Leafs defense is capable. Now, granted the Leafs blue line is better, but when the D-core is weaker, the forwards, especially the best players and leaders, need to step up and start putting up better defensive stats. I’m not agreeing with former Coach John Tortarella who suggested McDavid needs to change his game. The Oilers need McDavid to outscore their problems so it isn’t a must that McDavid up his defensive performance, but it is a potential temporary solution to the problems on the blue line and in net. 

Coaching: Now that the team has fallen off after starting so hot, everyone is searching for a person to blame. They figure that since the team played so well in the beginning of the year, it can’t be a construction problem, so naturally the onus falls on the coach, Tippet. Now Tippet hasn’t done himself a ton of favors. He shows blatant favoritism toward one goalie while blaming the other for their losses; refuses to play Skinner after his great game against the Boston Bruins; plays McDavid and Draisaitl for arguably too long; gives Keith too much ice-time when other parts of the D-core fail; and gives players who don’t generate much offense, like Devin Shore, more ice time than deserved. Those decisions have made some Oilers fans call for his termination. The Vancouver Canucks was an awful team to start the year despite having what looked like a decent team on paper. They fired their head coach Travis Green and hired Bruce Boudreau, since then it seems like the Canucks can’t lose. As tempting as it seems to make Tippet the scapegoat, he is not the problem. Tippet cannot change the production of the team, make a poorly constructed D-core play beyond their abilities, or increase the goaltender’s save percentage. Tippet has made some mistakes, but don’t be distracted since the blame for this falls squarely on Holland’s shoulders. 

Conclusion: The Oilers are a poorly constructed team that rely on the two of the best players in the world to outscore their problems, but when those players aren’t scoring at unprecedented levels the truth of this team is revealed. The defense, goaltending, and even the forward group are broken and need to be fixed in order for the Oilers to contend for a Stanley Cup, let alone make the playoffs. The Oilers are currently out of a playoff spot in the Western Conference. If the Oilers don’t fix something soon, they are going to miss the playoffs and waste another year of McDavid and Draisaitl’s talent.

Aftermath of Sexual Assault Report on Chicago Blackhawks

By Maeve Hushman, Staff Writer

It has been over two months since the Jenner and Block report revealed that Chicago Blackhawks had covered up the sexual assault of a player, now identified as Kyle Beach, by former video coach Brad Aldrich. I first wrote an article about the issue after the report first came out. Since that article there has been a lot of momentum, some good and some bad when it comes to holding those responsible for the cover-up accountable. So here is an update on where things stand after the Jenner and Block report and brave testimony of Kyle Beach and John Doe 2. 

Personnel: 

Joel Quenneville, the former Blackhawks head coach, was allowed to resign from his position as head coach of the Florida Panthers. He did so after a meeting with NHL Commissioner, Gary Bettman. The meeting concluded that should Quenneville want to work in the NHL again, he would have to meet with Bettman before taking the job. It seems unlikely that he will work in the NHL again for a while. 

Kevin Cheveldayoff, the former assistant General Manager of the Blackhawks, met with Bettman and was allowed to remain at his post as General Manager of the Winnipeg Jets and faced absolutely no punishment for his role in the cover-up.  Bettman justified this action by stating that Cheveldayoff’s involvement was minimal, despite being named in the report. It was determined that because of Cheveldayoff’s position, his level of knowledge and agency was diminished. It seems almost preposterous that the league would not punish a top executive who was indicated to be at the meeting when the cover-up was decided on. That was Commissioner Bettman’s decision, but whether it was a good decision or not is up for debate.  

Jonathan Toews, captain of the Blackhawks back in 2010 and currently despite his failure as a leader and as a captain. He still wears the C and even though his second statement to the media was better than the first, he lied about knowing about what happened to Kyle Beach and allowed homophobic abuse to occur within his locker room. Like Cheveldayoff, Toews escaped accountability for his role in this entire cover up. 

The NHL’s response: 

The NHL had a tumultuous press conference to address the report. It started off right with Bettman apologizing to Beach for the horrific ordeal he went through. Bettman reportedly met with Beach to discuss how the NHL can protect players in the future. They failed to call on reporter Rick Westhead, the reporter who first broke the story, for most of the Zoom press conference. It actually took another reporter, Pierre Lebrun, to point out that Westhead had not been called on for Commissioner Bettman to call on him. Westhead’s question was very pertinent. He asked if the NHL would offer counseling and other services to John Doe 2, a former Michigan high school hockey player who was assaulted by Aldrich too. Aldrich was able to obtain his subsequent jobs at University of Miami in Ohio and Houghton High School because the Blackhawks failed to report Aldrich to the proper authorities, investigate him, or even mention the allegations in any of the reports on him. Bettman’s answer left much to be desired as he failed to give a clear yes or no, saying he needs “more information before committing” even though the Jenner and Block report is plenty information.  Bettman said later that the NHL would not support John Doe 2 who was traumatized as a result of bad actors from within the league. 

John Doe 2’s mother spoke out publicly in an interview with Westhead and said how the NHL’s dismissal of her son’s trauma has negatively impacted him. It is important to remember that the NHL and Blackhawks organization failed John Doe 2 as well as Beach and should take responsibility for what happened to both of them at the hands of a man they not only employed but protected. 

The Chicago Blackhawks Organization and Lawsuit: 

The Chicago Blackhawks organization tried to dismiss the lawsuit filed by Beach after promising in their earlier press conference to settle. They said that the case was past the statute of limitations and challenged Beach’s reports of repressed memories. It is very common for survivors of traumatic events, including sexual assault, to repress the memories in order to cope and attempt to move forward with their lives. Considering that Beach was told by team and league officials that assault was his fault or that he was lying about the assault as well as being bullied by his own teammates, it makes sense that he would repress the traumatic memory of what Aldrich did to him. However, the Blackhawks failed to get the lawsuit dismissed and reached a confidential settlement with Beach. The lawyer for both Beach and John Doe 2 now plans to go forward with the John Doe 2 lawsuit. Since Beach received a settlement, which means the Blackhawks acknowledge wrongdoing, she is hopeful that John Doe 2’s lawsuit will also be settled. 

There is still a lot of headway that is needed for justice to be properly served to the victims of Brad Aldrich and the Chicago Blackhawks, but is the NHL capable of that? Under Commissioner Bettman it doesn’t look like that will happen. Cheveldayoff is still employed, Toews remains captain of the Blackhawks, and the NHL has abandoned John Doe 2. There has also not been much made public about how to prevent another situation like what happened to Beach and John Doe 2. Hockey culture claims to be virtuous. It’s all about working hard, earning your stripes, and caring about the team; but what it has been revealed to be is all about winning even if it means sacrificing your morals and principles to do it. Where was the team for Beach? What is the NHL “family” doing to help John Doe 2? The stories of Kyle Beach and John Doe 2 are more than just an indictment of the NHL, they are an indictment of hockey culture itself.

December to Remember: Avalanche December at a Glance

By Maeve Hushman, Staff Writer

The Avalanche’s December was cut short by COVID-19 as was a large chunk of the league’s. Five teams including my favorite Toronto Maple Leafs have opted to postpone the games until after the holidays due to COVID-19 concerns. By the Avalanche’s last game against the Nashville Predators, they had five players out due to COVID-19. So, with December games coming to an end, let’s take a look at the Avalanche’s hot December. 

With the 10 games the Avalanche played in December they went 7-2-1. Nathan MacKinnon re-joined the line-up and the offense was on fire. In three straight games they scored 7 goals. However, they began their December with a blowout 8-3 loss to the Leafs and ended it with a 5-2 loss to Nashville. 

So here are the takeaways from the month of December Avalanche hockey: 

Things to fix: 

Okay so as a Leafs fan, please excuse me while I briefly revel in the complete and utter dismantling the Leafs committed against the Avalanche. Losing 8-3 is never good. Before the game I jokingly wrote up a tweet where I listed advice for the Leafs going into their game against the Avalanche, and the Avalanche played exactly with those weaknesses on display. That December first game was the Murphy’s Law of Avs Games, everything that could go wrong very much did go wrong. I left the tip that Avalanche don’t start the game on time and if they do they fail to hold energy level for a full 60 minutes. The Leafs scored three goals in the first period with little resistance from the Avalanche. The Avalanche struggle to defend the front of the net. Auston Matthew, the Leafs leading goal scorer and last year’s recipient of the Rocket Richard Trophy for leading the league in goals, was left completely undefended in front of the net. Matthews had enough time and space to handle the puck a bit, like a lion playing with it’s food, before finally roofing it over Jonas Johansson. It was the first goal of Matthews subsequent hat trick. Now, some Avs fans were pointing to Johansson’s poor performance in net as cause for the game’s results, but I would say that three of those goals don’t go in with Darcy Kuemper in net. That still leaves the game at 5-3, which while better than 8-3 is still a loss for the Avalanche. 

The Avalanche really struggled with the Leafs defense, which has finally taken a step forward. There is an important distinction in the way the Leafs defend versus the other defensive methods. The Leafs primary defensive strategy is to push opposing players to the outside, preventing opportunities in tight and clogging up shooting lanes. It is not the neutral zone clogging offense destroying defensive system of the 2020-2021 Islanders. It is not the controlling of space that Vegas’ defense does so well either, and it also is beyond the traditional man-to-man coverage of most teams. The kind of defense which really stifles the Avalanche is not the simple man-to-man coverage model, but the kind that takes away their offensive options. The Leafs and Vegas do this well. The Avalanche when playing against Florida, who do not play this kind of defense, while being stifled for the first period eventually broke through. The Avs offense is so dominant that eventually even the best defense yields to their will, which is why a team that doesn’t just stop individual players but instead moves them out of place and disrupts the flow of the Avalanche’s game causes actual impact. 

Goal-tending depth really did rear its ugly head in all of the Avalanche’s losses, which is tough. Being “out-goalied”, or losing a game simply because your goalie cannot hang, is frustrating. Francouz was finally back from injury and in the Nashville game behind a very depleted line up, Justus Annunnen managed his NHL debut and Johansson never looked quite as bad as he looked in the Leafs game, but that is an important thing to remember. Goaltending depth and goaltending in general has been the Avalanche’s sore spot for the past couple of seasons. I was honestly very surprised that the Avalanche did not claim Dallas Stars goaltender and former Stanley cup finalist Anton Khoudobin when he was on waivers earlier this month. No doubt Joe Sakic has a plan and will address the goaltending depth at the upcoming trade deadline. 

This team could also work on utilizing their rebound opportunities better. The Leafs game especially had a lot of easily exploitable rebounds. Rebounds and dirty, scrappy, net front opportunities are how games are decided in the playoffs. You can win regular season games without them, but when the game gets tighter, and the offense dries up the ability to score off those chances is incredibly crucial to a deep playoff run. 

The Penalty Kill has also dropped to 28th in the league which is somewhat alarming. While this could be attributed purely to the goaltending troubles the Avalanche are having, it is an important dip to note. 

Positives: 

The offense is clicking. Nathan MacKinnon is back to scoring goals and back to generating chances. That chemistry and finishing ability which seemed to be just a tad bit off in the Avalanche’s slow start is back. Scoring 7 goals in 3 straight games is an incredible accomplishment and I don’t think it is getting enough attention. The Avalanche offense is on fire and back to its completely dominant form. 

The defense keeps improving. I swear the more I see Devon Toews on the ice the more I love his play. He and Cale Makar have been absolutely killing it.  While the blue line in general have allowed odd man rushes, especially in the Senators and Leafs games, they are still doing a much better job than in games past. The Avalanche’s blue line is generating offensive opportunities as well as doing their best at limiting the other team’s chances. They have had to figure out how to play in front of less-than-ideal goaltending which is always an adjustment period. 

Nazem Kadri, is also on an absolute heater. Kadri has always seemed to be a good second- or third-line center. He is highly skilled, but he is not skilled enough to be the face of a Stanley Cup winning franchise. Then MacKinnon was out leaving a vacuum Kadri stepped up in spectacular fashion to fill the gap. Even when MacKinnon came back, Kadri continued to play extremely well. He scored two out of three goals in the game against his former team and hometown team, the Leafs. This is a contract year for Kadri and his performance will make him a hot commodity in free agency, especially if he plays well and remains in the game during the playoffs. Kadri is cementing himself as a very important piece in the Avalanche’s offense. Hopefully he continues this success in the playoffs and continues to be that extra punch needed on offense. 

The power play is top ten in the league which is a great sign after the early season power play struggle. The Avalanche’s offense usually is not the problem, and it remains so dominant. It is truly a force to be reckoned with. Now, seeing that offense working on the man advantage is a huge bright spot. The Avalanche are one of the best offensive teams in the NHL their power play should ideally always be producing at a top 10 level or above. 

Conclusion: 

Despite the way this article appears, there is more to be positive about for the Avalanche’s play than negative. They are playing extremely well. If the Avalanche continue to play at the level they are playing at now, but also make small improvements on long standing issues, then they will soon assume their rightful place as top in the NHL. The resurgence of COVID-19 cases hit the Avalanche extremely hard, but after the pause if they find their rhythm again, they should be back on a good path to make the playoffs with a healthy control of the Central Division.

Sugar Maple

By Maeve Hushman, Staff Writer

Sweet little sugar maple 

With golden leaves 

Turning red up to the top 

Watching the perfect little leaves 

Scatter around the ground 

Sweet little sugar maple 

Stopping just to stare at you 

Small and just a bit innocuous 

But noticeable 

Seen 

Loved 

Noted 

The sweetest sugar maples 

Are those that are secret