NHL: Sabres hitting the road to host Winter Classic again
The Buffalo Sabres, who hosted the first Winter Classic at what is now New Era Field in Orchard Park, N.Y., are the hosts again for the 10th edition. This time, they’ll “host” in the backyard of the team they’re playing, the New York Rangers. There are tax reasons, and profitability reasons, for the Jan. 1 game to be held at Citi Field, home of baseball’s New York Mets. It matters not to NBC, which believes the game is now appointment viewing. “When we launched the first one of these, there was a very skeptical feel whether it was going to work and what it was going to be like,” executive producer Sam Flood told a conference call. “We were very fortunate that snow came in the morning of that first game and created a snow globe effect . . . So it’s fun to see it evolve.” FLYING STREAKS: The Philadelphia Flyers followed a 10-game stretch without a win with a six-game stretch without a loss. Coach Dave Hakstol, understandably, is seeking some level of stability. “The results would say streaky,” he told the Philadelphia Daily News. “But we have played good hockey over the whole stretch.” A loss on Tuesday ended that sixgame winning streak. “We’ve just got to make sure we don’t get stuck on losing,” said forward Jakub Voracek. “We have to find a way to win and hopefully start another streak.”
LINE OF THE CENTURY: One of the best line nicknames is St. Louis’s Century Line, which is made up of players whose combined ages eclipse 100. Wingers Scottie Upshall and Chris Thorburn are both 34, while centre Kyle Brodziak is 33. Brodziak just played his 800th game. “It’s a good little milestone that, once you finish your career, you can look back and be proud of,” he said. “It’s a lot of hockey games over the years, but I feel pretty privileged to do that.”
COYOTES STAYING: The Coyotes renewed their lease to play next season again at the Gila River Arena in Glendale. The Coyotes had threatened in March to leave Glendale if a new arena wasn’t built closer to downtown, though politicians seem to have balked at the idea. The Coy-
otes will remain a target for relocation — Houston is a prime landing site — but the team says it is committed to the Phoenix area.
WELCOME KAZAKHSTAN: The central Asian country of Kazakhstan earned a berth to the 2019 world junior hockey tournament — to be played in Victoria and Vancouver — with a 6-1 win over France in Courchevel, France, this week. It will be the Kazakhs’ first trip to the world juniors since 2009. Artus Gatiiyatov led the tournament with four goals and three assists. Kazakhstan won all five games — three in regulation and two in overtime — in Division 1-A.
STATS PACK: Canucks forward Thomas Vanek earned the 10th hat trick of his NHL career Tuesday. Only Alex Oveckin (20), Jaromir Jagr (15), Marian Gaborik (14), Eric Staal (13) and Evgeni Malkin (11) have netted more hat tricks among active players . . . Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist is one win away from tying Tony Esposito (423) for eighth place on the NHL’s all-time list. Kevin McGran