![]() If you understand that publicly, it gives you the best chance to fix what must be cleaned up privately.Ģ. When things go badly, everyone feels the pain. What has been lost here (among other things) is that when you speak for Hockey Canada, you represent everyone in hockey in this country. I was worried about the effect on my family and embarrassed for the great people in front of and behind the camera who care so much about what they do. The two situations are not comparable, but when I screwed up the swimming in Rio, I was not concerned with the fallout for myself - but my wife, son and co-workers at CBC. We will find out if that’s true - I hope those who genuinely want to make a difference aren’t scared off - but one of the problems is public-facing representatives have been so poorly prepared for their appearances, which comes with major consequences. The bigger challenge might be the interim, because many of these are volunteer positions and there’s worry people won’t be interested. ![]() It took longer than people wanted, needing sponsor pressure to eliminate the inertia, but now we get to the most important of questions: who (individually or in a group) is best positioned to take us where we must go? This shouldn’t be rushed. Hockey Quebec’s statement said it best on Tuesday, referring to the mass departures from Hockey Canada as “inevitable.” CEO Scott Smith is leaving and the board of directors is out, joining Andrea Skinner, who resigned last weekend as a director and interim board chair. Toronto and Vegas are the most fascinating teams because their ceilings are so high, but no one knows how the goaltending will go. Calgary, Minnesota and the Rangers could have the most to say about it, especially if the Rangers find a way to tighten up a bit around Igor Shesterkin. So, with the knowledge all of this could blow up in my face, I’m going with a 2006 rematch of Carolina/Edmonton. How do you overcome them? The Avalanche and Lightning are as close to perfect as you get in the NHL, and I do think there’s a drop from them to number three. Several years ago, Mark Messier said that in a cap world, everyone has a fatal flaw (or flaws). But you’ve got to expand your horizons, and that takes me to Edmonton/Carolina. It’s like being asked to pick your favourite hamburger without a bun and meat. But Power’s going to play a lot of minutes and will have greater opportunity to shine.Įliminated candidates: Colorado and Tampa Bay. Wanted to pick McTavish, who is coming off some kind of year, but it’s hard to go against Power. Dylan Guenther looked really good for Arizona, too. Matty Beniers, Kent Johnson, Mason McTavish, Owen Power, Shane Wright. The thing I worry about is Vancouver’s location makes it harder on someone who’s going to see a lot of rubber. The Canucks are hugely reliant on him, and he’s getting better. I predicted Jacob Markstrom last year, and didn’t want to do it again. He’s becoming Dallas’s best player, and it’s not unnoticed.Įliminated candidates: Igor Shesterkin, Andrei Vasilevskiy. I’m a first-class (with wireless) passenger on the Charlie McAvoy train, but he’s out a while, this is not the year. He’s going to have a massive year.Įliminated candidates: Adam Fox, Victor Hedman, Roman Josi, Makar. With Kevin Fiala in Los Angeles, there will be even more need for him to lift the offensive burden. This isn’t a huge stretch, because he got votes last year, but I’m going with Kirill Kaprizov. I’m as guilty as anyone, sometimes we twist ourselves into knots to try and look extra smart. He won the Conn Smythe, he’s incredible and unique. There will be a huge push for Cale Makar. Here goes:Įliminated candidates: Leon Draisaitl, Auston Matthews and Connor McDavid. So, this year, I’m eliminating obvious candidates for Hart, Norris, Vezina and the Stanley Cup Final. I’m actually not crazy about predictions either, but if you’re going to be forced to do them (Sportsnet basically tortures us to do so), you’ve got to find a fun way. I think it’s going to be an incredibly entertaining year. ![]() And with apologies to both Toe Blake and Bob Cole, I’m excited for this season. ![]() “Don’t tell me what you think,” he snarled. The next thing he heard was a loud smack as Blake’s hand slammed the counter. They were sitting next to each other at a game when the Hall-of-Famer saw something on the out-of-town scoreboard and asked Bob if it was a final result. When we’d work together, I’d say, “Going to be a great game tonight,” and he’d reply, “How do you know? You have no idea!” It wasn’t a joke, either. The legendary Bob Cole hates predictions.
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