JOSH, DAVE MANSON ARE STILL FAMILY, EVEN IN THE PLAYOFFS
Colorado D-man, Oilers assistant coach buck old hockey tradition and get together
Friends don't talk in the playoffs.
See coaches Todd Mclellan and Jay Woodcroft in the Los Angeles Kings-edmonton Oilers series.
See tough guys Milan Lucic and Zack Kassian in the Calgary Flames- Oilers series.
But family? That's a lot harder to turn on and off even with high stakes. Like with Colorado defenceman Josh Manson and his father, Oilers assistant coach Dave Manson. The lines of communication are still wide open, baby.
Dave saw two-year-old granddaughter Gemma on Monday afternoon.
“We had some good time together. Dad came over right after they were done practising, so they played a bunch and she was all over him, so it was great. Made me happy too,” said Josh, who was also around the Oilers dressing room a bit when he was really young, after Dave was traded from Chicago to the Oilers.
So, is Gemma, a precocious two-year-old, a Colorado or Edmonton fan?
“She's not pulling for a side ... well, she better be pulling for me. She does love her grandpa but if she's not pulling for me, we'll have words,” laughed Josh.
Josh, traded to Colorado from Anaheim at the deadline, saw his dad more when Dave was the assistant coach in Bakersfield, Calif., with head man Woodcroft, before both came up in February to work for the Oilers.
“Oh no. family comes first. That's been my dad's motto, always. I think it's different because he's behind the bench. He's not on the ice, right? That makes things a lot different,” said Josh.
“We'll talk and communicate but when we've talked hockey before it's never about each other's teams or personal things. So, the relationship doesn't need to change. He'll be there for me and I'll be there to talk to him about whatever. I don't think there'll be no lines crossed. We'll keep our secrets to ourselves but we'll still have that good relationship,” said Josh
No lessons from Dave on his game?
“He never really calls to give advice, unless I'm really in a slump and he can't hold it in anymore. It's always short and he's so good at reading your body language and tone of voice. Knowing when to push and when to back off, I think that's what makes him a good coach as well.” said Josh.
A STAR IN WAITING
Oilers defenceman Tyson Barrie saw Cale Makar in the 2019 playoffs after he left University of Massachusetts-lowell after his sophomore year and played 10 Avs games with six points.
“I knew I was in trouble right when I got on the ice with him the first morning. I thought, `I'm going to be out of here,'” said the soothsayer Barrie, who was traded to Toronto along with Alex Kerfoot for Nazem Kadri a few months later.
Kadri and Barrie swapped rental properties after the trade.
“I do have a house here and he definitely got the better deal. His spot was beautiful in Toronto, but it was condo living. It was great, but I'm more of a suburb guy,” said Barrie.
TURNING BACK THE CLOCK
As much as we've got two No. 1 picks — Connor Mcdavid (2015) vs. Nate Mackinnon (2013) — we've also got the first and second picks in the 2011 draft, Ryan Nugent-hopkins vs. Avs captain Gabe Landeskog. Landeskog won the Calder in 2011-12 with Nugent-hopkins, who separated his shoulder, finishing second. That was a deep draft although there were no generational players. Here's the top 10 with no misses: Nugent-hopkins, Landeskog, Jonathan Huberdeau, Ryan Strome, Mika Zibanejad, Mark Scheifele, Sean Couturier, Dougie Hamilton and Jonas Brodin. J.T. Miller also at 15.
First miss: Colorado's second first-rounder, defenceman Duncan Siemens at 11. He played 20 NHL games. The Oilers had Oscar Klefbom (19th), back home, his career in jeopardy (shoulder) but last seen taking part in a charity tennis match in Sweden.
Landeskog was named Avs captain when he was 19, back in 2012. "A real even-keel guy. He soaks it all in like a sponge and understands what our game plan is, understands all of the personalities and their tendencies in our locker-room attitudinally,” said Avs coach Jared Bednar.
“He's in a position to comfort guys when they need it with a pat on the back and give them a kick in the butt when they need it. I just find that he understands all of the guys in the locker-room.”
FOES, NOT FRIENDS
Blues goalie Jordan Binnington, who injured his knee when Kadri tumbled into him in the crease last series, won't be pumping Kadri's tires anytime soon. He explained at the Blues players' garbage bag day why he tossed an empty water bottle at the Avs centre when Kadri was doing a post-game interview.
“God-given opportunity,” said Binnington. “I see him smiling and laughing doing an interview and I'm in a knee brace limping down the hallway.”
THIS ' N' THAT
With the Oilers reaching the Western Conference final, it means they'll be picking in the bottom four — 29th, 30th, 31st or 32nd overall — in July. That's the latest number they've ever selected (Andrew Cogliano, 25th in 2005) in Round 1. They selected last in a 21-team league in '87 with Peter Soberlak, in '86 with Kim Issel, in `84 with Selmar Odelein and in 1979 with Kevin Lowe. Craig Simpson, who missed Game 5 in Calgary because of laryngitis, with Kelly Hrudey filling in beside Chris Cuthbert, is back with his voice intact ... For zebra enthusiasts: Kelly Sutherland worked his 204th playoff game and Gord Dwyer his 90th as the referee pair in Game 1. Sutherland did Game 6 of the Oilers-l.a. series. Eight refs are still in play: Wes Mccauley, Dan O'rourke, Chris Rooney, Eric Furlatt, Jean Hebert and Frederick L'ecuyer, along with Sutherland and Dwyer.