Fear not, hockey fans, we have all the good, bad, weird and viral news and stats you may have missed on and off the ice from the past seven days. Let’s dive in
Every week, we’ll update you on all the important musings in the hockey world over the past seven days — from the NHL and beyond.
There were plenty of viral happenings on and off the ice last week, including the alleged impaired driver who struck the Gaudreau brothers laying out his defence, Paul Bissonnette beefing with the Blackhawks, rosters taking shape for the 4 Nations Face-Off amid injuries for Team Canada and USA, a rare 10-game suspension doled out to Ryan Hartman, Patrick Kane solidifying himself as the NHL’s shootout king, an electric goalie fight in the USHL and more.
Here’s the top sights, sounds and news you might have missed in hockey last week.
Driver who allegedly killed Gaudreau brothers lays out stunning defence
The alleged impaired driver accused of killing former NHL star Johnny Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew, says he is being unfairly prosecuted and that the two victims were more impaired than he was, according to court papers filed in New Jersey.
Attorneys for Sean Higgins, 44, filed a motion to dismiss the case amid their request for more information about the “testing protocols employed” when on-scene investigators measured the blood-alcohol concentrations of Higgins and the Gaudreau brothers following the collision.
The recent court filing from Higgins’ attorneys claims both Johnny and Matthews Gaudreau had a higher blood-alcohol concentration than Higgins at the time they were struck. The filings, per NBC News, claim Johnny’s BAC was 0.129 per cent and Matthew’s was 0.134 per cent, while Higgins’ attorneys previously pointed out that Higgins’ blood alcohol content at the time of crash was .087 per cent — just above the legal limit of 0.08 per cent.
The motion seeks information on how the blood evidence was collected, according to NBC. Higgins attorneys’ motion to dismiss cites a “failure to present exculpatory evidence” to a grand jury.
Johnny Gaudreau, 31, who suited up for the Columbus Blue Jackets and Calgary Flames over a ten-year NHL career, and his brother, Matthew Gaudreau, 29, were fatally struck while riding bicycles on Aug. 29 — the eve of their sister’s wedding — just outside Philadelphia.
Higgins was charged with reckless vehicular homicide and aggravated manslaughter and could get up to 35 years in prison.
Blackhawks beef with Bissonnette after analyst’s ‘pond hockey’ comments toward Bedard
NHL on TNT analyst Paul Bissonnette has never been one to hold back his opinion, and his most recent comments lamenting star sophomore Connor Bedard’s style of play rubbed one team’s fanbase — and the team itself — the wrong way.
During TNT’s broadcast of the Oilers-Blackhawks clash last Wednesday, Bissonnette claimed Bedard was out there playing “pond hockey” — referring to what the analyst feels is a consistent lack of defensive effort from the 2023 first-overall pick.
Bedard took the higher road when asked about Bissonnette’s “pond hockey” comments, claiming he doesn’t really pay attention to the outside noise while acknowledging that analysts are there to do exactly what their job title says: to analyze what they see on the ice.
“I’m not watching broadcasts or anything, I’m playing hockey.” Bedard said.
“Their job is to say what they see. I couldn’t really care less what people on the outside think of me. But I’m not going to be butthurt if someone says I made a bad play. It’s their job.”
The Blackhawks social media team, however, got a little greasy with their response to Bissonnette, torching the former NHLer with this ruthless comparison graphic:
Canada replaces injured Pietrangelo with Doughty for 4 Nations Face-Off
Los Angeles Kings blueliner Drew Doughty has been named a late addition to Team Canada as the veteran defenceman will replace the injured Alex Pietrangelo at the 4 Nations Face-Off, which gets underway this week.
Pietrangelo was initially named to the Canadian squad but withdrew from the event a couple weeks ago, citing “ongoing” ailments and his desire to remain healthy for the Vegas Golden Knights’ stretch run.
Doughty has certainly done his fair share of winning with Team Canada in the past, winning back-to-back Olympic golds donning the Canadian maple leaf in 2010 and 2014, and also claiming gold as part of Canada’s 2016 World Cup of Hockey-winning squad.
Though he’s played in just a handful of games since making his season debut with the Kings on Jan. 29, Doughty has had a decorated NHL career (156 goals and 670 points in over 1,100 career games) and his coming off one of his best campaigns yet in 2023-24 where he tallied 15 goals and 50 points while suiting up in all 82 regular-season games for the Kings.
The 4 Nations Face-Off begins this Wednesday, Feb. 12, from Montreal and Boston.
Injury concerns for Team USA, Canada heading into 4 Nations Face-Off
The Americans were dealt a fairly significant blow over the weekend as Vancouver Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin announced on Sunday afternoon that superstar blueliner and 2024 Norris Trophy (NHL’s top defenceman) winner Quinn Hughes will sit out the 4 Nations Face-Off for Team USA because of an injury.
Ottawa Senators defenceman Jake Sanderson will take Hughes’ place on Team USA’s defence corps.
Hughes’ withdrawal from the tournament comes as the result of an injury the Canucks blueliner during Vancouver’s Jan. 31 contest with the Dallas Stars, where he exited the game and eventually returned, but missed the Canucks’ final four games before the 4 Nations break with what is believed to be an oblique injury.
Canada, meanwhile, is preparing for the possibility of life without one of its stars as captain Sidney Crosby missed his team’s final two games before the break with an upper-body injury. They were the first regular-season games Crosby has missed since early April 2022.
The Penguins have reportedly left the decision to play for Canada in Crosby’s hands.
There was some encouraging news on Monday, however, as Crosby was a full participant in Team Canada’s practice ahead of the 4 Nations Face-Off — skating on Canada’s second unit alongside Golden Knights’ winger Mark Stone and Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon.
Though it’s likely Crosby will be named to Canada’s roster by Monday’s 5 p.m. ET deadline, his availability is still unknown at this point and will be determined on a game-to-game basis. Winnipeg Jets star forward Mark Scheifele was “placed on alert” by Canadian brass last week, and is expected to replace Crosby in case he can’t play in the event, which kicks off Wednesday night for Canada vs. Sweden.
Team USA and Canada are the betting favourites entering this year’s 4 Nations Face-off — the first best-on-best international competition featuring NHL players since 2016.
NHL comes down hard on Hartman after attack on Stutzle
The NHL doled out a massive suspension to Ryan Hartman last week. The Minnesota Wild forward was handed a 10-game ban, without pay, for “roughing” Ottawa Senators forward Tim Stutzle.
The play in question was a nasty one:
There was some encouraging news on Monday, however, as Crosby was a full participant in Team Canada’s practice ahead of the 4 Nations Face-Off — skating on Canada’s second unit alongside Golden Knights’ winger Mark Stone and Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon.
Though it’s likely Crosby will be named to Canada’s roster by Monday’s 5 p.m. ET deadline, his availability is still unknown at this point and will be determined on a game-to-game basis. Winnipeg Jets star forward Mark Scheifele was “placed on alert” by Canadian brass last week, and is expected to replace Crosby in case he can’t play in the event, which kicks off Wednesday night for Canada vs. Sweden.
Team USA and Canada are the betting favourites entering this year’s 4 Nations Face-off — the first best-on-best international competition featuring NHL players since 2016.
NHL comes down hard on Hartman after attack on Stutzle
The NHL doled out a massive suspension to Ryan Hartman last week. The Minnesota Wild forward was handed a 10-game ban, without pay, for “roughing” Ottawa Senators forward Tim Stutzle.
The play in question was a nasty one:
Blooper of the week: Tony DeAngelo fools his own goalie
Tony DeAngelo, who recently made his return to the NHL with the New York Islanders, had his “welcome back to the league” moment last week versus the Wild, when he put one right past his goalie and into his own net.
Cele of the week: Going at Gophers fans
The wildest celebration in hockey last week came from the NCAA, when Wisconsin freshman Adam Pietila went ballistic in taunting the Minnesota Golden Gophers student section.
Scrap of the week: Goalies go at it in USHL
Goalie fights are so rare these days, they must be savoured.
