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Risky bet from Vancouver Canucks' Rick Tocchet in high-stakes game with Kris Knoblauch of Edmonton Oilers
Vancouver Canucks coach Rick Tocchet just went all-in, making a risky bet in his high-stakes duel with Edmonton Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch. Both coaches have made bold decisions in the series, but Tocchet took things to a new level after his team lost 3-2 to the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night in Edmonton. Tocchet’s move? He went to battle against under-performing players on his own team after the loss. Asked about his team’s comeback to tie the game, Tocchet turned the question around. “Yeah, we’ve been a resilient group all year but we need five or six guys to get going here. I mean, it’s the Stanley Cup playoffs. With some guys I don’t know if they thought it was playoffs. We can’t play with 12 guys. We got to figure it out quick.” He returned to this theme a moment later: “We need more consistent effort from more guys.” Next he blasted the team’s four-minute power play in the first. “It just wasn’t good. Not good enough. They know it. I didn’t think they worked hard. They mismanaged the puck… You have to have a work ethic and you have to hold pucks. I didn’t think we did.” Asked about star forward Elias Pettersson not getting it done, Tocchet said, “Like I said there’s five or six guys. He’s got to get going. I don’t know what else to say.” A moment later he talked about Edmonton’s winning goal and his players not getting fast to the puck. “You know where the puck is going to go. You just got to get there before the other guy and I think we’re pausing. Some guys are playing ‘pause hockey.’ And you can’t win if you have five or six passengers, or seven. I don’t know how many, but there was at least half a dozen just passengers tonight. Quite frankly that’s what it was. But, saying that, that’s playoff hockey where the next game is a new game. So some of those guys can be a hero for us. We got to step it up.” Tocchet also promised line-up changes. I’ll let Vancouver fans and pundits figure out exactly which players that Tocchet was referencing but it was Filip Hronek who beat beat on the forecheck by Evander Kane to kick off the Virtuous Cycle leading to Evan Bouchard’s winning goal, and we don’t have to guess about Pettersson because Tocchet named him. Pettersson just signed an eight-year deal at $11.6 million per season. He scored 89 points in 82 games this year but just has one goal and three assists in 10 playoff games. Much of the talk in Vancouver is around how to get Pettersson going in these playoffs. It strikes me that Pettersson’s main issue is that he’s a smaller player and smaller players often get pushed to the outside in the free-for-all, hack-a-thon, park-the-bus slugfest that is NHL playoff hockey. We’ve seen the same thing with Mitch Marner in Toronto and to some extent with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins in Edmonton. Tocchet is now evidently trying the blunt, forceful and critical approach with Pettersson, a move not often seen these days from NHL coaches. Public criticism of players is rare, especially when it comes to grouping a star player in with “passengers” who just lost their team a big game. Will it work? Who can say? But such a harsh public-scolding comes across as a risky move. If Pettersson and his fellow passengers respond well — as some players will do — perhaps it’s just the jolt they needed to wake them up. But there’s also room for dissension here, hard feelings and discord. You can see how being so public in criticizing players might be resented. Of course, I’m just speculating here. Tocchet knows his players better than any of us do. He’s come across well, as a strong communicator and leader in the series, so perhaps he’s pushed just the right button. Related Player grades: Evan Bouchard sprinkles magic all over Edmonton's huge win over Canucks The Calculations of Coach Comatose It could also be that Tocchet’s comment came across as jarring because I’ve been so used to listening to Jay Woodcroft and Kris Knoblauch in Edmonton these past few years. Woodcroft and especially Knoblauch are perpetually supportive, calm and positive in their public statements about individual players. For example, after three straight poor games from Stuart Skinner, the most negative thing that Knoblauch would allow about the goalie was the most banal of statements, followed by positive reinforcement: “I think tonight is one he’d like to have back,” the coach said after Game Three. “We’ll see what he’s got in the future. Whether that is Game Four or Game Five or whatever it is. But we’ll be seeing Stu again. And I have no doubt that he’ll respond and play well.” Of course, Knoblauch has also taken risks in this series, namely replacing Skinner with Calvin Pickard for Game Four. I’ll suggest, though, that the Pickard-over-Skinner decision wasn’t difficult, that it was made months ago when Pickard came up and played so well in relief of Skinner during the regular season. The Oilers managers and coaches made a clear decision at that time to not pursue any other goalie in a trade, but to go with Skinner and Pickard in the playoffs. They had to know at that time that even if Edmonton was going to win the Stanley Cup, it was highly unlikely that Skinner would play every game. Surely he would have a rough patch and another goalie would be needed to step in. With Pickard playing so well, that goalie would be him. And that’s exactly what happened. Knoblauch was simply following through on a plan made months ago. For one game, this plan has worked, with Pickard playing well in Edmonton’s 3-2 in. Knoblauch made one other big move heading into Game Four, splitting up the Darnell Nurse/Cody Ceci pairing, which has struggled for almost the entire 2024 calendar year, leaking far too many Grade A shots and goals against. Edmonton tried to fix this situation at the trade deadline by moving on Chris Tanev, but Calgary chose to send Tanev to Dallas. The Oilers were left hoping Nurse and Ceci would get it together, but they have struggled to do so. At last, Knoblauch split up the long-time partnership, putting Nurse with Vincent Desharnais (a move that had been tried for a few games in February) and Ceci with Brett Kulak. Things worked out better for all players in Game Four, but I’ll suggest to win the Cup more change will be needed on the blueline, that Edmonton is going to need more speed and puck moving, and that big, fast Philip Broberg might well go in for Ceci at some point. A few forwards are also struggling, namely Corey Perry and Warren Foegele, so again I can see Knoblauch going with Sam Gagner, Adam Erne or Sam Carrick instead for a game or two. Shuffling the forwards is a small bet. Going with Broberg over Ceci would be a huge bet, but fortune favors the bold. Perhaps Tocchet’s boldness will be rewarded with huge games from his passengers players in Game Five. But Knoblauch still has moves he can make as well. And just now I’m liking his calm and calculated approach, one that has earned Knoblauch the nickname of Coach Comatose from Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. Player hockey is a cauldron of fear and glory. A cool head and steady hand on the stir stick strikes me as just the ticket. Recently at the Cult of Hockey P layer grades: STAPLES: Game 4 — Oilers 3, Canucks 2 McCURDY: Game 3 — Canucks 4, Oilers 3 STAPLES: Game 2 — Oilers 4, Canucks 3 (OT) LEAVINS: Game 1 — Canucks 5, Oilers 4
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Filling a Mitch Marner-size hole in regular season would be difficult for Maple Leafs
Let’s assume there’s a Maple Leafs world in 2024-25 that doesn’t include Mitch Marner. First, though, let’s be clear. If there does come a time when the Leafs and Marner go their separate ways, we’re not going to know for a while yet. The Leafs made it apparent on Friday that after years of playoff frustration under president Brendan Shanahan — who, naturally, remains in his position — they’ve finally come to the realization that the core as it stands isn’t going to win in the playoffs. Just don’t expect there to be a straight line between what the front office may have planned during the off-season and what actually happens. If it’s Marner that general manager Brad Treliving intends to move, Marner and his agent, Darren Ferris, will have that knowledge long before July 1, when the sides can negotiate on a contract extension. Any talks on July 1 and beyond won’t be necessary if Marner decides to waive his no-move clause. Somewhere, too, we should leave room for the idea that maybe, just maybe, Marner remains a Leaf next season and he can take another run at what would be his first 100-point season in the National Hockey League. There would exist the possibility, even small, that the Leafs wouldn’t find a trade to their liking, even though potential suitors will be lined up around the block at Scotiabank Arena. When the Leafs had their exit meetings last week, Marner said he wants to stay with Toronto for the longterm. Holding firm on his no-move clause is a distinct possibility. Back to the idea that Marner has played his last game in Leafs sweater, or will at some point in the next year. With 85 points in 69 games this past season, Marner was on pace for 101 points had he played in all 82 games. He hit 99 points in 2022-23, 97 the previous season and had 94 in 2018-19. He’s going to record 100 points, whether it’s with the Leafs or another team. There’s the rub if Marner is deleted from the roster. If you think the Leafs should be getting a premier defenceman in return in any trade involving Marner — and that’s what Treliving should demand because there’s not going to be a ton available in free agency — all of those points that Marner amasses in the regular season, those same points that have helped the Leafs attain lofty status in the Atlantic Division, will be gone. There’s no one on the Leafs roster now or in the pipeline who will replace those points, and expecting that collectively from several players would be a tall ask. Never mind that if Marner eventually is no longer part of the Leafs picture, the team would be in some trouble at forward if Auston Matthews or William Nylander was injured for any length of time. A potential Marner subtraction from the roster has to have been part of the interview process that Treliving is believed to have had with, at least, Craig Berube and Todd McLellan for the vacant coaching position. Regarding Matthews, of his franchise-record 69 goals in 2023-24, Marner had the primary assist on 25 and assisted on eight others. Full respect to the chemistry that Max Domi had with Matthews when the two were on the same line as Marner recovered from an ankle injury suffered on March 7. But Domi is no Marner. Marner’s failure to make a difference in the playoffs, most recently his paltry three points in seven games against the Boston Bruins, helped reinforce the opinion that changes must be made to the core. Beyond Matthews, Nylander, Marner and captain John Tavares, the group of forwards that the Leafs have under contract for next season includes Matthew Knies, David Kampf, Calle Jarnkrok, Ryan Reaves, Pontus Holmberg and Bobby McMann. Restricted free agents include Nick Robertson, Connor Dewar and Noah Gregor. Outside of Knies, McMann and Robertson, it’s not a pool of players overflowing with the potential for increased offensive production in the event that Marner is traded. If you’re counting on, say, Easton Cowan and Nikita Grebenkin to make the roster and tip the offensive scales, we would humbly suggest you’re probably seeking too much. If Marner is no longer part of the picture, Treliving will need to accomplish more than re-signing Domi and Tyler Bertuzzi, if either happens, to try to ensure more offence comes from the forwards. Said out loud, “changing the core” sounds pretty straightforward. Putting that into motion is not going to be easy, and if it happens with a Marner trade, there’s going to a regular-season hole up front that will be next to impossible to fill. We’re not saying changes are not required for the Leafs to make headway, once and for all, in the playoffs. There should be the reminder, though, that the regular-season bumps on the way to the post-season would bigger without Marner. tkoshan@postmedia.com X: @koshtorontosun Berube? Keefe? Arniel? Options aplenty as Jets search for next bench boss SIMMONS: Another shining toy for the remarkable, still young, Larry Tanenbaum
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