Let’s review news and notes from across the NHL on day nine of the formal training camps.
Flyers’ Carter Hart leaves practice on a day filled with news keepers from NHL training camps
On Tuesday he released a list of fairly heavy news and notes for the NHL training camp goalkeepers.
[NBC and NBCSN TV schedule for the 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifiers]
Carter Hart hurts, Flyers teammates indicate it might not be serious
If you’ve followed the news coverage of the NHL training camp on PHT, you will notice that the teams are not coming up with injury updates. He attributes it to league culture, and even NHL mandates, but this leads to “COVID-19, injury or restroom?” discussions None of this is fun.
So we can only speculate on Hart. According to NBC Sports Philly’s Jordan Hall, Hart quietly left during the first period of a Flyers scrimmage. Hall notes that it was unlikely to be an equipment problem, since Hart did not return.
For fans hoping for optimism, Kevin Hayes’ comments bring a mixed bag. He seems optimistic about it … but Hayes didn’t realize Hart left either. You may not be fully informed, but any ideas are welcome as NHL teams prefer the “keep everyone in the fog” approach.
“I think it is nothing too serious,” Hayes said, through Hall. “Obviously it’s important to get in shape and prepare for the game, but if you have something minor that you don’t want to push, it’s not a big deal to get off the ice that way.” We would prefer it to be 100 percent instead of pushing hard like 85, 90 percent. Probably a smart move from him. I don’t think it’s anything important. “
Flyers like Sean Couturier said all the right things about Brian Elliott being capable if Hart is unavailable, but if we’re honest it’s hard to trust Elliott too much at this point in his career.
(On the other hand, goalkeepers are unpredictable, and the 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifiers may end up being even more difficult to forecast.)
Latest round of Bruins updates, including troubling news from Tuukka
Since the Bruins have many veterans, it is not surprising that they were a team to watch the news from training camp. Still, it can be a little tiring for fans, players, and staff to try to analyze the details, as David Pastrnak, Charlie McAvoy, and others miss training camp activities.
Apparently, there was even a Brad Marchand scare on Tuesday.
Brad Marchand inadvertently took a stick in the eye in #NHLBruins practice. He stayed on the ice and examined a shot by Zdeno Chara! Phew!! pic.twitter.com/sk6zCXUlLs
– The Camera Guys (@NBCSCameraGuys) July 21, 2020
Marchand and others seem to get rid of concerns about Pastrnak’s missed opportunities to get rid of rust. Similarly, Tuukka Rask did not seem overly concerned despite admitting that he suffered a broken finger while training.
. @ tuukkarask talks to the media about his finger injury and preparing for the NHL return: “He’s getting better. I’m not worried about it. Everything will be ready once we start playing.” pic.twitter.com/bmRdKXOFyq
– Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) July 21, 2020
Hmm, none of this seems ideal. At least the Bruins are simply struggling to seed during the Round Robin portion of the 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifiers, huh? Also … at least Jaroslav Halak also offers initial quality numbers, right?
(Insert cringe emojis when appropriate).
Blackhawks bullish on Crawford, Toews still running out of time
After switching to Robin Lehner, the Blackhawks’ optional defense ability to annoy the Oilers may depend on whether Corey Crawford can play. That remains unknown, as Crawford has yet to participate in Phase 3. Speaking to the media, Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman seemed hopeful that Crawford would be available.
“We have hope for that,” Bowman said, via NBC Sports Chicago. “We can give you a better idea for the weekend. Something we are still looking for, but I have no definitive comment. I still hope that is the case.
Jonathan Toews recently joined Crawford in the mysterious training camp’s absence zone. After Toews left the team’s activities early Monday, Blackhawks coach Jeremy Colliton insisted that the team is simply trying to keep Toews fresh. However, Toews also missed the action from Tuesday’s training camp, and this time Colliton was no longer “not fit to play.”
Hmm
Other NHL training camp news and notes from day nine
- Here’s one for the “Thank God” archives: Jay Bouwmeester is in Canada, but won’t be joining the Blues. Considering what Bouwmeester went through and what he accomplished during his long NHL career, it’s probably wiser to hang them all up. For now, we will settle for cooler heads that prevail in at least this case.
- Zach Hyman returned to action for the Maple Leafs, who deployed him with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner. Toronto is rolling with many interesting looks during this stretch of NHL training camps. Selfishly, I would love to see combinations of crazy scientists like Matthews, Marner, and John Tavares more often.
- Speaking of crazy science, the stars continue to flirt with the good (Tyler Seguin with Denis Gurianov and Roope Hintz) and the bad (Corey Perry on the second line, while Joe Pavelski and Alexander Radulov languish on the fourth). Perhaps it will be more situational and, therefore, more logical, than those designations seem on paper? Either way, I wouldn’t be thrilled if it was Jamie Benn possibly loaded with a dramatically declining Corey Perry.
- Agent Dan Milstein notes that Ilya Sorokin (islanders) and Alexander Romanov (Canadiens) are destined for Toronto. Good news, even if they can’t help their teams until 2020-21 at the earliest.
Ilya Sorokin and Alexander Romanov NHL tied up! #WeAreGoldStar! pic.twitter.com/AXJtO6CLlR
– Dan Milstein-Hockey (@ HockeyAgent1) July 21, 2020
More about NHL’s return to the game, CBA extension, COVID-19:
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James O’Brien He is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Leave a line at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.
