NHL Notebook: Columbus Blue Jackets healthy scratch Patrik Laine, Panthers Aleksander Barkov listed as day-to-day, and more
8 months ago
The Columbus Blue Jackets made star player Patrik Laine a healthy scratch for Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers.
The 25-year-old is struggling early this season, with two goals on 22 shots, and a 93.7 PDO. Laine started the season with two points in three games, but his fourth would result in an upper-body injury due to an illegal hit from Calgary Flames defenceman Rasmus Andersson.
He returned to the team on November 11th, recording his second goal of the season against the Detroit Red Wings. However, he hasn’t gotten on the scoresheet in Columbus’ previous four games.
On Saturday night, Laine amassed 12:21 of ice time throughout the Blue Jackets’ 4-3 loss to the Washington Capitals, which added salt to the wound after being benched for the remaining 9:53 of the third period during the team’s 3-2 loss to the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday.
“He’s not happy about the decision, don’t get me wrong,” Blue Jackets head coach Pascal Vincent said regarding Laine’s sidelining.
“But right now I think Patty needs to take a deep breath, go back to the working lab and get his touches back, get his shot back, get his confidence back. Nobody’s bigger than the Blue Jackets: not myself, not a group of players. We need the best Patrik Laine as possible.”
The Blue Jackets have had a tough start to the 2023-24 campaign and currently hold a record of 4-10-4. They will head into Sunday evening’s game with 11 forwards and seven defencemen, with Adam Boqvist as an addition to the lineup.
Panthers Aleksander Barkov listed day-to-day
Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice announced that captain Aleksander Barkov will miss the next few days of action with a knee injury.
Barkov suffered the injury early into the third period of the Panthers’ Friday evening matchup against the Anaheim Ducks. Barkov was assisted off the ice after a collision with Ducks defenceman Jackson LaCombe. At the time of the incident, Barkov had two shots on net with a 50% face-off percentage and almost 13 minutes of ice time.
“We got lucky,” Maurice said, noting that Barkov will be assessed daily, checking the level of swelling in his knee and range of motion, among other things. “Those are dangerous, dangerous plays.”
The forward has appeared in 16 of the Panthers’ 17 contests in 2023-24. He’s collected six goals and 17 points, tying forward Matthew Tkachuk for the team lead in points. Barkov currently holds a plus-14 rating which ties him for first in the league in that category alongside Vancouver Canucks captain Quinn Hughes. Last season, he scored 23 goals and 78 points while leading the Panthers to the 2022-23 Stanley Cup Final, where he collected another five goals and 16 points before the team fell short to the Vegas Golden Knights four games to one.
Florida currently sits second in the Atlantic division with a record of 11-5-1. The Panthers will undergo a three-game homestead starting with the Edmonton Oilers on Monday night; it’s expected that Barkov will not be in the lineup but could return as early as the Panthers game on Wednesday night against the Boston Bruins.
Jonathan Goldbloom named Hockey Canada board chair
Hockey Canada hosted their annual meeting in Montreal this weekend, electing its new board of directors, including Jonathan Bloomgold, as their new board chair.
Goldbloom will serve a three-year term after being appointed as its chair.
Goldbloom will serve a three-year term after being appointed as its chair.
“I am very proud of the meaningful progress that our transition board of directors made in leadership renewal, sport safety, good governance and financial transparency and accountability for Hockey Canada,” said Goldbloom.
“We have a strong foundation to build upon and I am eager to work with my new colleagues and Hockey Canada’s leadership team to continue to advance the sport that we love as Canadians.”
Goldbloom was previously an executive committee member for the inaugural Beyond the Boards Summit and led Canada’s recent president and chief executive officer search committee.
Hockey Canada elected six individuals to join Grant Borbridge, Goldbloom, and Marian Jacko, the group that was re-elected after serving on the organization’s transition board of directors. The six members include Gillian Apps, Amanda Fowler, Kristi Miller, Krista Outhwaite, Geoffrey Wong, and Corey Hirsch.
“We welcome Jonathan as the new chair of the Hockey Canada Board of Directors and look forward to continuing to work with him to ensure hockey in our country embodies safety, excellence and sport for all,” said Katherine Henderson, president and chief executive officer of Hockey Canada.
Hugh L. Fraser was the board’s former chair but announced that he would seek re-election on Friday due to his desire to pursue other projects.
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