Around the rinks: Scoring drought or no, Ovechkin counts 2018 a good year
Alex Ovechkin failed to score in the six final games of 2018, but he still thinks it was a pretty good year.
“For the organization, for my family, it’s been a great year, for fans as well,” said the Stanley Cup champion. “Everyone is trying to do it again in 2019. We’ll see.”
As for his six-game scoring drought?
“It’s OK. That’s hockey. It’s a new year.”
Making headway: Former NHLer Johan Franzen has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of concussions suffered while playing. He checked into a brain health institute this spring and recently spoke with Swedish newspaper Expressen about it. “Sometimes my whole world falls apart and I can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel,” he said. “Most of the time I think I am moving in the right direction, but when I have down periods there is nothing positive. I almost give up then, and it is even worse because you think you have been better for a while. All I can do then is to sleep and lay in my bed. I take antidepressants and try to feel better again. But it quickly gets dark. Very dark.” Four-year degree: Denmark captain Jonas Rondbjerg has played in four straight world junior tournaments, joining 10 other players who have made four appearances at the event, according to the IIHF: Phil Baltisberger (Switzerland), Bjorn Christen (Switzerland), Michael Frolik (Czech Republic), Jochen Hecht (Germany), Andrei Kostitsyn (Belarus), Michel Riesen (Switzerland), Reijo Ruotsalainen (Finland), Robert Sterflinger (West Germany), Konstantin Zakharov (Belarus), Erik Cernak (Slovakia). “It’s sad it’s my last one,” Rondbjerg said. “It’s a fun tournament, especially in Canada, with the crowd. It’s a great achievement for me to play in four.”
Eclipsing Brodeur: Mackenzie Blackwood, who was one of Team Canada’s goalies at the world juniors in 2016, became the youngest goalie in New Jersey Devils history to record back-to-back shutouts. He was 22 years and 22 days old. The last 22-year-old New Jersey goalie to accomplish the feat was Martin Brodeur, (22 years, 338 days). “We’re the type of team that needs to have a lot of contributions from a lot of guys on a nightly basis and Mackenzie has come in and played real well,” Devils coach John Hynes said. “But that’s what we are, we need to be a team with strong goaltending, strong special teams, who defends well and no passengers.”
Notes and news: The NHL announced its outdoor series and special event hosts for the 2019-20 season: The Calgary Flames and Winnipeg Jets will play Heritage Classic at Mosaic Stadium in Regina, Sask. on Oct. 26 ... The Dallas Stars will hold the Winter Classic next season in the Cotton Bowl against an opponent to be named later ... The St. Louis Blues will host the 2020 all-star weekend at Enterprise Center Jan. 24-26 ... The Colorado Avalanche will hold an outdoor game at the U.S. Air Force Academy’s Falcon Stadium on Feb. 15.
Stats and facts: Connor McDavid led all players with 121 points in the last calendar year. Other leaders: Alex Ovechkin with 54 goals, Mikko Rantanen with 79 assists, and the Tampa Bay Lightning with 57 wins and 119 points ... Tampa Bay went all of December without a loss in regulation (14-0-1) ... The Penguins have won six in a row ... Detroit’s Dylan Larkin has a 14-game points streak (eight goals, nine assists) ... Colorado has lost five straight.