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NHL Notebook: Bakersfield Condors sign NCAA free agent Ethan De Jong to two-year deal, Calgary Flames announce arena deal and more

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Photo credit:Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports
Zach Laing
1 year ago
The AHL’s Bakersfield Condors have signed forward Ethan De Jong to a two-year contract.
De Jong, 23, is coming off a five-year career with the NCAA’s Quinnipiac University where he was a National Championship this past season. He appeared in 41 games this season scoring 10 goals and 40 points.
A native of North Vancouver, B.C., De Jong stands at 5’11, 181 lbs. and over his 184 NCAA games, scored 61 goals and 144 points. Serving as assistant captain his final two seasons, De Jong was a nominee for the ECAC’s best defensive forward in 2021-22 and finished the past season a +25.

Flames new arena deal

The Calgary Flames’ new arena deal was made official on Tuesday.
The $1.2-billion project features contributions from the Flames, city of Calgary and the Province of Alberta. The massive project comes a year after a previous deal had been nixed.
I covered the announcement for Flamesnation, and here’s some of what I wrote about the project:
The new project will see massive changes to the area and will feature an event centre, a 1,000-seat community rink and an enclosed plaza nearby.
Tuesday’s announcement is about an agreement in principle, Calgary mayor Jyoti Gondek said and until definitive agreements are made, there’s no date for shovels in the ground or when the arena could be open.
The total cost of the project will top $1.2-billion featuring major contributions from all three parties. The Calgary Sport and Entertainment Corporation will contribute $365-million towards the project, while the City of Calgary will contribute $537.3-million and the Province will kick in $330-million, as well.
Funding for the event centre from the province must be approved by the provincial cabinet and the treasury board by the end of summer, Alberta premier Danielle Smith said Tuesday.
Calgary city councillor Sonya Sharp, meanwhile, said she expects whoever wins the upcoming Alberta election to honour the agreement.

Devils flip the script

The New Jersey Devils dropped games one and two of their first round series against the New York Rangers, but have roared back with two big performances at MSG.
Now, they are set to return home with all the momentum in their favour.
On Tuesday’s Daily Faceoff Live, Tyler Yaremchuk and Frank Seravalli talked about the series.
Yaremchuk: The road teams won every game in the Battle of the Hudson River, Frank. For the New Jersey Devils, an unexpected hero has stepped up. Akira Schmid has been absolute nails for this Devils team with a .961 save percentage and has allowed just 1 goal in each of the games he has started. They have shut down the New York Rangers. What’s been the most impressive part of this Devils turnaround?
Seravalli: Well Schmid has been a big part of it. 57 saves on 59 shots is bonkers. A 22-year-old without a lot of NHL experience to hang his hat on won both games in Madison Square Garden to even this series. Two years ago he was playing for the Sioux City Musketeers in the USHL; this is a guy that has gone a long way in a short period of time.
The Devils have also played a lot better in front of him. Jack Hughes has been really good and this team’s speed has been on full display, but the more concerning part for me is not what the Devils have done, it’s what the Rangers haven’t done.
You heard them get put on blast by their coach Gerard Gallant, who really questioned their effort and compete level. The best way for me to explain what I’ve seen from the Rangers in the last couple games is that it looks like pond hockey. Their star players are constantly blowing the zone and blowing coverages, not coming back the other way. They’re always sort of looking for the home run, the easy exit, the stretch pass. That might work in the regular season, but I’m concerned that it might not in the playoffs.
A team like the Devils that just is a little bit more detail-oriented are creating and causing havoc for the Rangers with the way, frankly, that New York hasn’t played.
Yaremchuk: You mentioned Gerard Gallant, and how about this comment from today’s conference call with the media. He said “for me it’s the top-six forwards. They’ve got to be a lot better, they’ve got to be more productive. In this business, as we all know, it’s not what you’ve done yesterday, it’s what you’re going to do in the next game.” Panarin, Zibanejad, and Trocheck have combined for 5 points in this series. It’s just not enough. We talked about whether the Kid Line could provide enough depth-scoring for this team, but Frank, it’s the big guns that have been quiet.
If they don’t turn this thing around, it’s over for New York.
Seravalli: I think it’s premature to say that This is a series a lot of people saw going the distance, we’re four games in and the Devils have drawn even. They need to prove they can win on home ice which hasn’t happened yet. For the Rangers, it feels like a matter of time before their top players will get going. Patrick Kane has lived up to his billing so far, and I think there’s still a lot of time for the Rangers to find it. I just have more questions about their total game that have stood out for me more so than the lack of production from their stars.

Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.

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