"Big two-way defenceman," Verhoeff said. "I like defending. I take pride in my defensive zone, hard on guys in the D-zone. Then getting up the ice, I'm kinda able to transition the puck pretty quickly I think. Using my size and my shot in the offensive zone to create time and space and create some passing lanes and be able to wire the puck."
It seems like more than other sports, professional hockey players have family ties to current players and those of days past. Last night was the first game of the CHL vs USA top prospects game, as Parker Trottier, the grandson of six-time Stanley Cup champion and NY Islanders legend Bryan Trottier, was part of the USA's 4-2 victory. While grandpa came from the Canadian plains, born in Val Marie, Saskatchewan, Parker hails from Edina, MN, currently playing for the NTDP.
The San Jose Sharks visit the best team in the NHL in a measuring stick game that will show how well San Jose stacks up against the Colorado Avalanche. San Jose has already done something that only a few teams in the National Hockey League have done to date and that's beat the Avs, who have a 16-1-5 record and an .841 points percentage. The Sharks won 3-2 in overtime on Nov. 1.
The trio was dominant and showed great chemistry in the Bears' two games against the Cleveland Monsters late last week, scoring six goals combined, with all three players tallying once in each game. Protas even notched his first three-point game as a professional in Friday's contest, highlighted by a brilliant primary assist on a Trineyev goal where he put the puck through his legs before dishing on his backhand.
Trineyev, mentored by Aliaksei Protas at the start of his AHL career, has become one of the Hershey Bears' best players, serving as a major contributor offensively and defensively. He is the first player off the bench for the penalty kill and also gets power-play time on the team's second unit. He currently sits second on the team in points with 12 (6g, 6a) in 15 games. He rooms with Ilya Protas and Eriks Mateiko.
Selected in the fourth round (115th overall), Gamzin has taken the reins as starting netminder for CSKA Moskva in the KHL. The 22-year-old backstop took over the role from former NHLer Spencer Martin, who recently left CSKA after losing the starting job, signing with the NY Rangers, and is currently playing for the Hartford Wolf Pack. Despite playing in a low-scoring league, Gamzin's numbers have been phenomenal.
Hockey players are no stranger to bridging the language gap. With more than a dozen countries represented across the NHL, learning English is often a vital part of adjusting to the league. But for Capitals goaltender Logan Thompson, the flow of knowledge is going the other way. Thompson has started to pick up some Russian, enlisting Aliaksei Protas as a tutor. Protas, who hails from from Vitebsk, Belarus, was all to happy to oblige.
Schaefer takes the quarter-season Calder Trophy The question immediately surrounding Schaefer was whether he could stick in the NHL for a full season. Then it became, how much can he produce? Now the only question is, how high is his ceiling? NHL.com polled 16 of their writers using a 5-4-3-2-1 system to determine their quarter-season Calder Trophy winner, with Schaefer running away with the award totalling 80 points, followed by Ivan Demidov of the Montreal Canadiens (57) and Beckett Sennecke of the Anaheim Ducks (34).
Fantilli was drafted third overall out of the University of Michigan in 2023, and is still continuing to grow into his role in Columbus. As one of the many young and exciting rookies expecting to sign a big deal next summer, Fantilli is likely going to be one of the players who has the season to prove his worth, and if things continue to improve, he will meet that value with no issue whatsoever.
Signed to a bridge deal on July 1st, Eklund's contract was at first criticized for not being long enough and for the Sharks refusing to take the gamble on Eklund's potential. But what if that was the correct move? What if that's the proper way to do reconnaissance and one's due diligence before making a long-term investment into a future cornerstone?
Kampf was a serviceable piece for Toronto during the height of the Core Four era. Kampf was part of the replaceable depth pieces that supported the big guns. However, Kampf's role on the team gradually diminished as his limited scoring vaporized, and his defensive play didn't warrant a lineup spot. The situation came to a head this season when Kampf didn't even make it out of training camp.
The New York Islanders have done something they haven't done in over a calendar year: Win a game in a shootout. Facing a second straight loss after Freddy Gaudreau of the Seattle Kraken snuck the opener past Islanders netminder David Rittich, the red-hot Bo Horvat converted what would have been his side's final chance with a quick wrister that beat netminder Joey Daccord. Kyle Palmieri snapped the winner in the next round, lifting the Islanders to a 1-0 victory on Sunday night at UBS Arena.
