Avalanche Trade Deadline Recap

By Maeve Hushman, Staff Writer

The Avalanche were a team to watch at the 2022 trade deadline. They were reportedly in on multiple big fish like Claude Giroux. While they didn’t land Giroux, they did make a couple big moves to increase their depth going into the playoffs. 

Acquired (from the Anaheim Ducks):  D Josh Manson, 50% salary retained 

Return (to the Ducks): 2023 2nd Round Pick and D Drew Helleson

Trade report: This is a solid move. Josh Manson was one of the top defensive pieces on the trade bait list and has been for the past few years. Manson is a big, physical, two-way defenseman whose underlying numbers have taken a dip in the past two seasons. He is still extremely capable and passes the eye test as a reliable depth defenseman. He is the perfect piece to make the D-core more formidable and more resilient in the playoffs. He is a rental, so if he doesn’t work out the Avalanche are not weighed down under his contract. It was an expectedly savvy move by GM Joe Sakic. 

Acquired (from the Minnesota Wild): F Nico Strum 

Return (to the Wild): Tyson Jost  

Trade report: Tyson Jost is a fan favorite but hasn’t been having a great season. This, however, was more of a cap move. Strum makes $1.7 million less than Jost. His biggest asset is that he is a true center who does well in a depth aspect. He has played well in his first few games and seems like another solid depth pick up who doesn’t move the needle much. 

Acquired (from the Montreal Canadiens): F Artturi Lehkonen, 50% Salary retained 

Return (to the Canadiens): Justin Barron and a 2024 2nd round pick 

Trade report:  While Barron may be a bit of an overpay for what will reportedly be a third line winger, Lehkonen is a very talented player. In Montreal, he played quite well despite an abysmal year for team success. Lehkonen is obviously very skilled and probably could play in the top six, should injuries require it. While Barron being moved seems like an overpay, as Barron is a highly skilled prospect, if the Avalanche make a deep run this year it will all be worth it. 

Acquired (from the San Jose Sharks): F Andrew Cogliano 

Return (to the Sharks): 2024 5th round pick 

Trade report: Cogliano is a veteran piece with playoff experience as well as experience in the cup final. He got into a fight in his very first game in the blue and burgundy. He is another solid depth piece and brings a level of grit and toughness to the team. 

Overall, the Avalanche had a successful deadline. They bolstered their depth preparing for a lengthy playoff run. While the amount of UFAs on their roster is somewhat concerning, it only increases the urgency. This group will likely look very different come next year so the pressure to win is higher than ever. The team is in win now mode and the additions they made are further adding to the stakes. This is it, all or nothing with this group of players. 

Big Avalanche Updates

By Maeve Hushman, Staff Writer

March 12 was a big day for Avalanche announcements. In the same post-practice press conference, it was announced that the Avalanche locked up backup goalie Pavel Francouz, defenseman Samuel Girard is out for the next four weeks, and that Captain Gabriel Landeskog is having knee surgery. 

Pavel Francouz extension: 

Let's start with the positives. The Avalanche signed one of their pending UFAs, backup goalie Pavel Francouz, to a $2 million two-year extension. With both goalies pending UFAs this off-season, re-signing Francouz ensures that the Avalanche at least has one option in net locked in. Francouz is also a perfectly adequate backup goalie. Despite being injured to start the season, Francouz has played only 14 games but has a save percentage of .920 and a Goals Against Average of 2.46. He is a perfectly suitable backup who can step up big when it counts. The Francouz signing looks like another great move by General Manager Joe Sakic. 

Sam Girard out 4 weeks: 

Sam Girard plays on the second pairing for the Avalanche, and despite his rough season, he has been one of the top offensive defensemen for the Avalanche. Girard has 27 points this season with 22 assists and five goals. His underlying numbers have taken a dip this year due to his partnership with Jack Johnson and Bowen Byram, both of whom he lacks solid chemistry with.

 All that being said, Girard is a critical piece for the Avalanche, and losing him for four weeks will not be ideal. Luckily, this is happening before the trade deadline. This might shift Sakic's moves at the deadline. The Avalanche have been linked to top-tier forwards like Claude Giroux and JT Miller but not any star defensemen. With Girard's absence, they might choose to bring on a cheap option to replace Girard for the time being and be injury insurance for the blue line. It remains to be seen if Girard will be placed on LTIR, but if he is, that will also give the Avalanche $5 million in additional space ahead of the deadline. 

Gabriel Landeskog Knee Surgery: 

Jared Bednar announced that Landeskog, the team's captain, will be undergoing knee surgery. Bednar says it has been a nagging issue and that they hope he should be back before the "stretch run," meaning he could be ready for the playoffs. Landeskog re-signed with the Avalanche this off-season and has had a fantastic season. He has 30 goals on the season and 59 points. He looked unreal, and he did this all with a nagging knee injury. Landeskog's underrated grit and steady, strong leadership are essential to this team. He is a top-six winger who also serves as the designated net-front guy on the first power play unit. While this knee surgery is necessary, his absence will leave a gaping hole in the Avalanche lineup.

Who will fill this absence is the biggest question. The Avalanche are an extremely deep team, but there is just no replacing the captain who happens to be one of the top wingers on the team from within the lineup right now. However, the Avalanche have been linked to J.T. Miller, another left-wing, and Claude Giroux, a right-shot winger. Miller might easily slot into Landeskog's place in the lineup. Still, Giroux, the current Flyers' captain, could bring the leadership and grit aspect of Landeskog's play back to the Avalanche.

The only real upsides you could find from Landeskog's surgery are that Landeskog will likely return an even more dangerous player, and that his cap hit will be off the book. Landeskog going on LTIR to get knee surgery gives the Avalanche $7 million in cap space to make moves at the deadline. 

All of the implications aside, hopefully Landeskog has a quick and complete recovery in time for him to play in the playoffs. He is one of the group's key players, and his impact cannot be replaced. 

The Avalanche had a big day on March 12th, announcing not only the long-term absence for two key players but the re-signing of backup goalie Pavel Francouz. The Avalanche were going to be big buyers at the trade deadline before the Girard and Landeskog injuries. Now it looks like Francouz resigning is the first of many big moves they will make as the deadline approaches.

Avalanche Stay Hot in February

By Maeve Hushman, Staff Writer

The Avalanche only cooled down slightly in February going 7-2-1 in their 10 games. They snapped their home winning streak in a shootout loss to the 31st place Arizona Coyotes. So, let’s look back at this short month: the good, the bad and the ugly. 

Things to fix: 

The PDO has started to regress, which is why the offense has not been putting up the insane numbers they posted in January. It was bound to happen. In the shootout loss to the Coyotes, they hit the post multiple times and just couldn’t seem to capitalize on funky bounces of rebounds. They could get the lucky bounces for themselves. Part of that can be in the players’ control when it comes to making your own luck. Getting more scrappy and ugly opportunities increases the likelihood of scoring against a hot goalie. In the game against the Dallas Stars, they needed that. Dallas is a heavy defensively dominant team who struggles with offense, but they are a heavy hard-hitting team who come in to do damage. That strategy got to the Avs and the Stars, who mostly play 2-1 hockey, were able to score 4 on the Avalanche. That could indicate more than just issues finding ways to generate offense. Defense needs to be able to stand up to a team with a lot of muscle that isn’t afraid to use them. The Stars’ play shut down D, and the Avs use that in addition to the true picture of “the best defense is a good offense”. When a team like the Stars forces the Avalanche to play their game, they struggle just like they struggled against the Stars in the bubble. The Stars have never seemed to get back to the level they were playing at when they were in the Stanley Cup Finals two years ago. Still, they had the Avs number in that game and that can be dangerous.

The Avalanche have also fallen into their old ways of failing to play a full 60 minutes of hockey. They had to overcome a three-goal deficit against the Winnipeg Jets, whose season has been nothing short of a dumpster fire. They fired back by scoring six unanswered goals, but they wouldn’t have had to do that if they had started well and at the very least kept the score at something more manageable to overcome. They also failed to show up against Boston and got smacked. The same happened against Vegas, and Kuemper had to bail them out. As the puck luck starts to dry up, and in the playoffs where all teams hit harder and play tighter, they cannot afford to take any time off during a game. 

Positives:

Darcy Kuemper has a .93 save percentage since December 1 and has stolen a game for the Avalanche against the Golden Knights. Even with his stellar performances and save percentages, I’ve seen Avalanche fans saying that the team will not be able to make it deep in the playoffs with Kuemper in net. Well, I hate to break it to them, but if the team can’t make a deep playoff run with a .93% goalie, then they probably can’t make it deep in the playoffs at all. All of this to say Kuemper isn’t what Avs fans need to be worrying about ahead of the trade deadline. Avs fans are haunted by how many times their goaltending has been outplayed when it mattered most, and they seem nervous about Kuemper. However, there isn’t a need to worry. Kuemper is a solid starter whose play keeps improving as the season goes on. Yes, he had a rough game in Boston, but other than that he has been a strong presence in net capable of standing on his head and stealing games. Avs fans relax, Kuemper is incredible and can hold his own against any opposition. Kuemper can take this team on a cup run and he continues to demonstrate it. 

Kuemper isn’t the only Avalanche player who has been playing well. Gabriel Landeskog is red hot and Nathan MacKinnon is playing like himself again. This team is getting a little less lucky, but the talent has always outweighed the luck. The team is not letting losses or multi-goal deficits get them down. They bounce back by the next game or the next period. Resilience is needed and this team displays it in droves. 

The Golden Knights, who have had the Avalanche’s number all season prior, seem to have lost their ability to solve the Avs. Maybe it was the lack of Mark Stone and Robin Lehner, but the Avalanche were able to beat the Knights and the freshly returned Jack Eichel. Even in their second game against the Knights where Kuemper stole the game, the Knights couldn’t get it done. The Avs and Knights are, on paper, the biggest cup threats in the West. The Knights also eliminated Avalanche in another second-round heart break last year. Beating them now is an important moral win for the Avalanche and a good sign for their systems. The ability to adjust and find success when a team has the existing systems figured out is an immensely positive sign. Coach Jared Bednar is more than capable of coaching his way out of a situation where the team is getting stuck. 

Conclusions: 

The Avalanche are the best team of the league, and they continue to demonstrate this game in and game out the month of February was no different as they continue to play dynamic and dominant hockey.

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.