IT'S HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA EVERY NIGHT
Entire division with teams north of border a dream for NHL fans across the country
Ken Holland is 65 years old, has been around professional hockey for more than 40 years and giggles with the glee of a child when asked about the Canadian division of the NHL about to begin play on Wednesday night.
“It's going to be spectacular,” said the general manager of the Edmonton Oilers and four-time Stanley Cup champion.
“I think it's going to capture the attention of hockey fans across Canada like never before. Every night, you have Canada playing Canada. Every night, you have this marquee player playing against that marquee player, superstar versus superstar, and everybody believing they're a playoff team. This is going to be high-octane hockey and I can't wait.
“What are you going to see from this? You're going to see rivalries, you're going to see animosity, you're going to see emotion. We all believe if everything goes right, we're all going to be in the playoffs. One of us is going to be in the final four. I've been there a few times. And I can tell you, it's pretty darn special to do that.”
Holland knows special: He has Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl as his leadoff hitters in Edmonton. Both have won Hart trophies and scoring titles in their young careers. The Oilers may not be at the top of anyone's list of Stanley Cup contenders, but the high-end talent is second to none.
“Every night is going to feel like Saturday night, Hockey Night In Canada, coast to coast,” said Brad Treliving, general manager of the Calgary Flames. “It may only be one season, but I think it's going to be awesome.”
In fact, a view of the Canadian division (officially known as the NHL's North Division) through the eyes of the participating general managers has but one consensus view: The talent across the country, with teams not used to playing each other much, has never been of higher quality.
“Look what you see when you go coast to coast,” said Ottawa general manager Pierre Dorion. “You've got (Elias) Pettersson and (Bo) Horvat and (Quinn) Hughes in Vancouver. You've got McDavid and Draisaitl in Edmonton. You've got (Sean)
Monahan and (Elias) Lindholm and (Mark) Giordano and the new goalie, (Jacob) Markstrom in Calgary. You have all those forwards in Winnipeg and Toronto. And those kids in Montreal. And we're on the rise.
“Then you look at the goalies, you're going to be facing some of the best, (Connor) Hellebuyck won the Vezina, (Carey) Price is as good as it gets, Markstrom has been great, same with (Frederik) Andersen.
“Then you add into that the nature of the fan bases and the media and the intensity of that and the attention is going to be enormous. There won't be any division like it. I think this is the strongest division in the NHL and the deepest when it comes to talent. And I think it's going to be great for us and our development process. I can't wait for it to get going. I'm so excited for hockey I watched the Leafs' intrasquad game on Saturday night.”
The 56-game season, shortened by the novel coronavirus, will test NHL teams in ways they have never been tested. How healthy will teams be? How much will home ice matter without fans? How important will injuries be?
“And how teams handle the pandemic will matter a lot,” said Winnipeg GM Kevin Cheveldayoff. “There are so many factors we've never faced before.
“I'm trying to keep an open mind on everything. We're going to have to be nimble. We're going to have to be flexible. You might have to have something cancelled. You just don't know. There's a lot of unknowns here.
“We're playing each other a lot, in some cases back-to-back games, in some cases three times in a row. That's kind of crazy, isn't it? You know how you usually have the dog days of the schedule? Well, there won't be any dog days of winter this season. Every game is a four-pointer, every point matters, every game is going to matter.”
Like most of the GMs, the Leafs' Kyle Dubas is more concerned with his own team than with who the opposition might be on any given night. What worries him is that in each of the past three seasons, the Maple Leafs have had a midseason lull of some kind that didn't cost them a playoff spot, but cost them favourable playoff positioning.
“Now you look at all these teams, that are this close to each other, and you won't be able to succeed if you go off the track much in your season,” said Dubas. “Look at the standings from last year. I think there's basically two percentage points between the top team and the fifth team in our division. That's basically one win, one loss, either way over an entire season. That's how close this is going to be.
“And that's not counting the Canadiens, who were further back and came on in the playoffs in the bubble, or the Senators, who have really improved as a team.”
What Dubas does look forward to — as much as any hockey lover — is gauging his best against the best of the North Division opponents. He can see this season getting personal in a way that hasn't happened before.
He can see Auston Matthews inspired to play against McDavid or Mark Scheifele or Pettersson, or whoever is lighting up the NHL, and the same in reverse. The stars all know each other, he said. They all communicate with each other. That's relatively new in today's NHL.
“What excites me is that every one of these (star) players have not yet reached their peak,” said Dubas. “None of these players are on the downswing and none of these teams are going that way as well.
“Imagine being Mark Giordano or Morgan Rielly, to name two. Every night as a No. 1 defenceman you're lining up against incredible players. You're going head to head with the best in the world. If that doesn't inspire you, I don't know what will.”
It could inspire, it could embarrass, it could reveal. That's just part of the fascination and interpretation of this season. There's so much we don't know in all of this. And the quality of coaching across the country is rather high, probably starting with Vancouver's Travis Green at the top of the list. That makes the back-to-back games all the more intriguing. We know Paul Maurice and Claude Julien and Dave Tippett, who have been around forever. They have a history. We've seen one season of D.J. Smith and came away impressed. And we really don't know a lot yet about Sheldon Keefe or Geoff Ward, both in their first full seasons.
Coaching, stars, goaltending, health, and luck — and those darn extra shootout and overtime points — will factor largely in a condensed season. Hellebuyck won the Vezina Trophy last year in Winnipeg. Price, in Montreal, has won it before. Markstrom, the free agent Calgary signed, got votes for both the Vezina and Hart trophies last season. Andersen is in a contract year in Toronto. Matt Murray, a two-time Stanley Cup champion, is first time around in Ottawa. And according to 15 unnamed general managers polled in The Athletic, the North Division has four of the top 10 goaltenders in the NHL — Hellebuyck, Price, Markstrom and Andersen.
The Jets were the only Canadian team in the top half of the league in goals against last season. Calgary was 18th, Vancouver 19th, Edmonton 20th, Montreal 23rd, Toronto 25th and Ottawa at 30th. That, too, should make the hockey fun to watch.
“I remember being at a GMs meeting in Florida in my first year and we went on this fishing trip with all the Canadian GMs,” said Treliving. “It was late in the season and pretty much all of us were out of the playoffs. It's so different than the season we're about to enter. One we're all excited by. This season is about opportunity and responsibility. And we have to take advantage of that.”
“The thing is, we're used to running a mile, and for us that's 82 games,” said Holland. “That's what we do. Every year. Suddenly, it's not a mile, it's three-quarters of a mile (actually less). And instead of running a certain way and taking your time, you're sprinting. You have to be sprinting.
“That's the beauty of all this. What's the most exciting thing about sports? When you tune in and don't know who's going to win. You have to watch to find out. There's a lot of suspense in this. I think any four teams in the division can make the playoffs and it's going to be a photo finish. I don't see anybody running away with it.
“Is this the year a Canadian team can win the Stanley Cup? Absolutely. One of these teams is going to be there, final four. Which team? I don't know.”