BLH provides you with the latest NHL news, rumors, and speculation featuring Leon Draisaitl, Ilya Kovalchuk, Marc-Andre Fleury, Braden Holtby, and more!
Watch 16yr Old Wayne Gretzky Destroy the Czechs at the ’78 World Juniors!
Watch Connor McDavid help Team Canada end a five-year WJHC gold medal drought right here!
Evan Bouchard has been recalled from his loan in Sweden, now he’s got to make the Oilers or his future could be cloudy. Read about that here.
Read what TSN’s Craig Button had to say about Carter Savoie, Dylan Holloway, and the 2020 World Juniors right here!
At the 2010 World Juniors, Jordan Eberle was a hero but it was all for naught in the Gold Medal Final… Watch the epic 6-5 battle with Team USA in its entirety right here.
NHL Rumors and Speculation
- Kurt Leavins (Cult of Hockey): Had this to say on the following Edmonton Oilers in his latest 9-Things blog,
- Ethan Bear – “There is “zero” chance of a deal not getting done. But it’ll be on the austere side.”
- Jesse Puljujarvi – “Is there a bigger wild card on the roster this season than Puljujarvi and whether he can finally realize his full potential?”
- Tyler Benson – ” I think given the depth that Ken Holland has built up front that Benson is unlikely to crack the opening night lineup. More likely he’s on the taxi squad at least until the AHL season can begin.”
BLH’s Thoughts: I’m in agreement with Bear and Puljujarvi, but I’m not confident that Benson sees much NHL time this year. Despite him playing games regularly to date, Edmonton is deep on the wings with proper NHL players. Now, the practice time he’ll get with the Oilers on their taxi squad will be very good for his development and that in itself could propel him to the next level OR let management know he’s not fit for that level.
- Sportsnet: After the design for his new mask was criticized as cultural appropriation, Vancouver Canucks goaltender Braden Holtby and mask artist David Gunnarsson are collaborating with an Indigenous artist on a new design for the upcoming season.
BLH’s Thoughts: Can you steal a style of art? Don’t get me wrong, I’m 100% in favour of what Gunnarsson and Holtby are doing now. I really like the idea of a collaborative effort.
I’m just wondering, how did it get to this point and how many other Canucks goaltenders will feel the heat of the masks they wore in the past that had indigenous artwork on them? Surely, Holtby isn’t the only one to have donned it. Also, what’s the difference between the Orca logo and that goalie mask?
I don’t know. Maybe I’m missing some important details. If so, I’d love to be educated on what I’m not getting.
- Eric Duhatschek (The Athletic): On the future of the Washington Capitals,
- “The future is going to be ugly; right now, the goal is to push any long-term planning as far back as humanly possible.”
BLH’s Thoughts: Would it be a stretch to say that we’re going to start to see that ugly future rear it’s head this year? I mean, look at that defence… Yikes.
- Sean Allen (ESPN): Says Leon Draisaitl is a “Bust Concern” and he’d be avoiding him in every fantasy draft this year.
BLH’s Thoughts: So because Draisaitl isn’t on Connor McDavid’s wing full-time, you avoid last year’s MVP and one of the highest goal-scoring forwards in the NHL the last two seasons? Talk about some weird logic…
- Ken Boehlke (SinBin.Vegas): Speculates that with the Washington Capitals now needing a back-up, could Marc-Andre Fleury and the Vegas Golden Knights be the answer with the help of a third team?
- “If the Golden Knights retained 50 percent ($3.5 million), then a team like the Red Wings retained 50 percent ($1.75 million), the Capitals would only pay $1.75 million. They’ll get $1.5 million in LTIR space from Lundqvist.”
BLH’s Thoughts: I love the idea on paper… We’ll just leave it at that.
- Aivis Kalnins: Ilya Kovalchuk is heading back to the KHL to sign with Avangard Omsk according to his agent.
BLH’s Thoughts: I can’t say that there wasn’t a small part of me that wanted to see Kovalchuk in Edmonton… It’s took bad that things didn’t work out for him.
You may have already seen this …but @EdmontonOilers 2019 1st Round pick Philip Broberg has been named Captain for Team Sweden.
He was stellar in Edmonton at the Hlinka-Gretzky in the Summer of 2018. pic.twitter.com/ncPXFuEPdC— Bob Stauffer (@Bob_Stauffer) December 20, 2020
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My hometown’s university hockey team needs help due to cutbacks and obviously financial pressures thanks to the pandemic, so they’ve set up a Go Fund Me to try and raise enough money to keep their program alive.
I can’t even begin to imagine how many hours I spent as a boy running around the Max McLean Arena in Camrose at Vikings games. It has to be in the hundreds as my dad took me to as many as we could get to and add in all the Viking Cup games. Without this hockey program, many people wouldn’t have been able to be introduced to the likes of Henrik Lundqvist, Dominik Hasek, Mike Comrie, Olli Jokinen, Mikko Koivu, PJ Axelsson, Dave Tippett, Fernando Pisani, Petr Klima, Sergei Zubov, Ziggy Palffy, Milan Hejduk, Andrei Markov, Henrik Zetterberg, Tuuka Rask, etc. before they became NHL superstars and that’s thanks to the Vikings and the fine people over the years that have worked tirelessly to keep things afloat.
If you have time, visit the Go Fund Me, and if you have an extra buck or two, help out. I know it’s not easy these days, but Camrose without the Vikings would leave a massive hole in the fabric of that town.
Yes, this is something near and dear to my heart…https://t.co/zpPI0i4rVn
The @UofA_AugVikings hockey teams need some help to make future seasons possible after provincial and university budget cutbacks. #GoVikingsGo #gofundme— Jess Jackson (@thewrongjess) December 17, 2020
