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The Avs
The Colorado avalanche had their Halloween party on Wednesday night and shared their fun times from the holiday in this video. If you want to see everyones costumes, Arielle did an amazing job covering them all in yesterday’s Flurries. [Mile High Hockey]
Backup goalie Pavel Francouz is breaking in his new custom Avalanche mask during practice this week. What do you think?
Pavel Francouz with a new mask at the start of practice today. #Avs pic.twitter.com/VbBwcggmIF
— Ryan S. Clark (@ryan_s_clark) October 31, 2019
The Prospects
Avs prospect Denis Smirnov got hit *hard* in last night’s USNTDP game. Fingers crossed that Denis is okay, Lauren will have more on this and Smirnov’s progress as a prospect in her prospect report on Monday.
Roman Ahcan with another big hit, this time on Nittany Lion forward Denis Smirnov. Both players going for the loose puck and Ahcan just takes the body.
— Stars n’ Stripes Hockey (@StarsStripesHKY) November 1, 2019
Ahcan gets 2 and a 5 and a game on the play, according to the scoresheet. #Badgers #HockeyValley pic.twitter.com/IHSKayA2tr
The Game
Adam Boqvist will be the 16th player drafted in 2018 to make his NHL debut as he’s moved up from the AHL to the NHL at a lightning quick rate. Boqvist’s AHL career is likely only going to last six games at this rate. [Second City Hockey]
Boqvist, a right-handed shot, is known as an offensive-minded blue liner with strong skating skills and a quick wrister. He scored 20 goals and 60 points in 54 regular-season games last season with the London Knights in the OHL. The 6-foot, 181-pounder added 10 goals and 13 points in 11 playoff games.
The Washington Capitals had a lot of fun celebrating their city’s second championship in as many years. Even the team dog partied hard!
am i doing this right ? @Nationals @Capitals
— Captain (@CapsPup) October 31, 2019
last night —————-> this morning pic.twitter.com/ehAKUCdppp
With the drama surrounding Dustin Byfuglien and the Winnipeg Jets, the team from Atlanta currently has more injury woes — this one more heartbreaking and terrifying than anything else. Get well soon, Mark Letestu. [Arctic Ice Hockey]
Winnipeg Jets head coach Paul Maurice revealed today that Mark Letestu is being shut down for a minimum of six months as he recovers from myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle. It is not expected to affect Letestu’s long-term health, according to Maurice.
Sending positive vibes to Mark Letestu, one of the nicest men I've met in hockey. He has been diagnosed with Myocarditis, a virus that attacks the heart. Long-term prognosis is good, but he'll be out for six months. Wishing him, his wife Brett and entire family a speedy recovery.
— Jason Gregor (@JasonGregor) October 31, 2019
Here is the aforementioned Byfuglien drama. Apparently he had surgery this week without telling the team? [Arctic Ice Hockey]
Based on this recent news, on the Elisabeth Kubler Ross five stages of grief model (denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance), I’ve officially moved into the final stage, acceptance. I think it’s best for my sports fan mental health to accept that the Jets will play this season without Dustin Byfuglien.
John Klingberg had quite a progressive take for hockey standards when he saw Roman Polak injured on the ice at the beginning of the month. Don’t fight through the pain, that is stupid as heck. [Defending Big D]
Through the mysterious “upper-body” and “lower-body” injuries, there are a few that stand out. Usually, they’re the gruesome kinds. The kinds that leave an indelible mark in the psyche, that remind us that this is a dangerous game with sharp skates and surfaces that don’t give when a speeding object hits them at full force.
From The Athletic, stories about how players learned that they got traded!
Always interested in ‘how-I-found-out-I-got-traded’ stories, and had a great conversation w/ former #TBLightning prospect Brett Howden on that this week. When an autocorrect in @TSNBobMcKenzie scoop had his head spinning. Deal was “blessing in disguise” https://t.co/ok0xmunwjj pic.twitter.com/QYGrUCoBMh
— Joe Smith (@JoeSmithTB) October 31, 2019
Keeping with Bob McKenzie, Hockey’s First Insider will be taking a step back from his normal duties on TSN and NBC Sports following this season. Thank you, Bob, for an amazing and eye-opening 40 years. Long Live Bobby Margarita!
I’m not ready to retire — see the recent five-year contract extension I just signed — but the reality is this is the last season where I’ll be doing “everything” I’ve been doing for better part of the last 40 years. So 2019-20 will be special for me in too many ways to count.
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) October 31, 2019
Bob followed this tweet with a few dozen anecdotes stemmed from questions he solicited while waiting for a flight. They are really cool and I’ve linked my highlights below:
Doing a WJC RUS-SWE game in 1996 with @GMillerTSN. We were both off our game that day. I froze and didn’t have anything to say, not good for a color commentator, and there was dead silence. I said, oh, there’s a problem with my mic. Gord deadpanned: You have to talk into it. https://t.co/0N5lDDmbrI
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) October 31, 2019
Most uncomfortable on-air interview. NHL ASG in MTL, live in the dressing room between periods with Eddie Balfour. Eddie a good guy but he hated talking and I was a novice broadcaster miscast in the Scott Oake role. Thought I was going to puke on live TV. https://t.co/4nd6kXUEpY
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) October 31, 2019
The late Barry Tabobondung being drafted by PHI at the Montreal Forum and stepping on a seat and getting his foot caught in the seat. Forum maintenance had to come and take the seat apart while he just stood there, unable to get to the draft floor. https://t.co/Q9dYHKLxIZ
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) October 31, 2019