HABS PROSPECT TURNING HEADS
Cayden Primeau having stellar NCAA season
There has been no sophomore jinx for goaltender Cayden Primeau.
The Canadiens’ goaltending prospect had an impressive freshman season at Boston’s Northeastern University in 201718, putting up great numbers and finishing as one of the five finalists for the Mike Richter Award, which goes to the best goaltender in U.S. college hockey.
The Huskies won the Beanpot tournament, a competition among the four Division 1 hockey programs in Boston, for the first time since 1988. They also qualified for the NCAA tournament, losing 3-2 to Michigan in the opening round.
The expectations weren’t as high this season after Northeastern lost its top line of Adam Gaudette, Dylan Sikura and Nolan Stevens. All three signed pro contracts and Gaudette, the 2018 Hobey Baker Award winner as the top player in the U.S. college hockey, is playing for the Vancouver Canucks.
But Northeastern is in the mix for another invitation to the NCAA tournament and Primeau is among the nominees for this year’s Hobey Baker Award along with Northeastern defenceman Jeremy Davies.
Primeau, who took time off to backstop the United States to a silver medal at the world junior tournament, is having another very good season. He has a 15-8-1 record with a 2.37 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage. This week, he led the Huskies to a second consecutive Beanpot title with a 4-2 win over Boston College. Primeau stopped 59 of 62 shots — that’s a .952 save percentage — in the tournament and was named the most valuable player.
The Canadiens weren’t planning to select a goaltender in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, but when they saw that Primeau was available, they traded for Philadelphia’s seventh-round pick.
There’s an ironic twist because the Flyers have struggled for years to find good goaltending. Primeau grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia and his father, Keith, ended his NHL career with the Flyers.
Primeau isn’t the only Northeastern player with a Montreal connection.
Defenceman Jordan Harris was drafted by the Canadiens in the third round last June and stood out at the team’s development camp in July. Harris earned a spot in the top four as a true freshman and has the best plus/ minus rating on the team at plus12. The 18-year-old has one goal and seven assists.
Davies is from Ste-Anne-deBellevue and played for the Lac St. Louis Lions before heading to the USHL. The five-foot-11, 198-pound junior, is Northeastern’s second-leading scorer with five goals and 17 assists. Davies was drafted by the New Jersey Devils in the seventh round in 2016 and attended the Devils’ development camp last summer.
Lest we forget, Northeastern coach Jim Madigan is a Montreal native who played minor hockey in N.D.G. and at Loyola High School before he accepted a hockey scholarship at Northeastern.
When it comes to discipline in the NHL, is there a double standard? It certainly seems that way after first-time offender Paul Byron got a three-game suspension for a boarding penalty last month and repeat offender Evgeni Malkin got one game for swinging his stick at the head of Philadelphia Flyers’ Michael Raffl on Monday.
Toronto lawyer Richard Rodier has been upset since 2015, when the NHL Players’ Association ended his role as a consultant on hockey-related revenue, which is the key to how money is split between the owners and the players.
Rodier says the NHLPA has failed to pursue claims for hockey-related revenue, which could total US$1 billion. He claims the hockey-related revenue should have included savings that resulted from the City of Detroit cancelling a debt owed by the Red Wings and that teams routinely subtracted taxes paid on gate receipts.
But Rodier’s most interesting claim involves regional TV rights in Canada. He believes there’s a sweetheart deal between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the communications giants that own 75 per cent of the Leafs’ parent company. He’s wondering why Rogers and Bell pay the Leafs less for their regional rights than they pay for similar rights in Vancouver and Montreal, which have significantly smaller audiences.
The NHLPA has responded to Rodier’s claims by saying either they have been examined and found to be without merit or are being investigated.
Montreal’s Les Canadiennes will be short-handed this weekend because many of their star players are competing in the final game of the Canada-USA Rivalry Series in Detroit on Sunday (Noon, TSN3, TSN5, RDS).
The good news is Les Canadiennes should have enough talent to beat the Worcester Blades, who are winless in 24 games.
The Rivalry Series is tied 1-1 and Les Canadiennes played have played roles in both victories.
Hilary Knight scored the only goal as the U.S. beat Canada 1-0 Tuesday in London, Ont., while Emerance Maschmeyer made 20 saves in the loss. Canada tied the series with a 4-3 win Thursday in Toronto. Marie-Philip Poulin had a goal and an assist, while Les Canadiennes’ other goalie, Geneviève Lacasse, picked up the win.