Owen Tippett feels he’s ready to make an impact in NHL
COLLEGES: An appeals court is upholding a misdemeanor child endangerment conviction against former Penn State president Graham Spanier over his handling of a 2001 complaint about Jerry Sandusky showering with a boy in the football team locker room. ... The family of Tyler Hilinski, the Washington State football player who committed suicide, said the 21-year-old QB had extensive brain damage that’s been linked to concussions from playing the sport. Hilinski was found dead in his apartment with a gunshot wound and a suicide note on Jan. 16 . ... South Florida hired Michael Kelly, the chief operating officer of the College Football Playoff, to be its athletic director.
NBA: ESPN reported the Wizards agreed to trade C Marcin Gortat to the Clippers for G Austin Rivers. Gortat, 34, is a durable, screen-setting big man who has played 12 years in the NBA. He averaged 8.4 points and 7.6 rebounds last season. Rivers, who turns 26 in August, averaged a career-best 15.1 points and four assists last season while playing for his father, Doc, the Clippers’ coach . ... Magic Johnson declared that he will step down as the Lakers’ president of basketball operations if he can’t persuade an elite free agent to sign with the 16-time NBA champions within the next two summers. “Next summer, if nobody comes and I’m still sitting here like this, then it’s a failure,” Johnson said. With Paul George and potentially LeBron James headlining the market this summer, Johnson is leading the Lakers’ efforts to land both players.
NFL: A body has been found at a New Jersey home owned by Giants CB Janoris Jenkins. The Bergen County prosecutor’s office says it is investigating a death at the house in Fair Lawn, about 10 miles north of MetLife Stadium . ... CBS Sports hired former referee Gene Steratore as a rules analyst for its NFL broadcasts. Steratore retired after leading the officiating crew at the Super Bowl in Minneapolis.
NHL: Commissioner Gary Bettman, pioneering black player Willie O’Ree and Martin Brodeur, the league’s leader in wins among goaltenders, will headline the latest class for the Hockey Hall of Fame. Former Lightning F Martin St. Louis, four-time gold-medal-winning Canadian women’s national team star Jayna Hefford and Russian Alexander Yakushev will round out the six-person class that will be inducted Nov. 12 in Toronto . ... The Lightning re-signed F J.T. Miller to a five-year, $26.25 million contract. Acquired from the Rangers at the trade deadline, Miller put up 18 points in 19 regular-season games with the Lightning and then another eight in 17 playoff games . ... The Penguins re-signed F Bryan Rust to a four-year deal that runs through the 2021-22 campaign. The deal carries an average annual value of $3.5 million.
TENNIS: The ATP fined Nick Kyrgios $17,500 for inappropriate behavior during the Queen’s Club tournament. Kyrgios was caught on camera performing an imitation of a lewd act as he sat in a courtside chair at the change of ends during his semifinal loss to Marin Cilic on Saturday . ... Third-seeded Petra Kvitova, a two-time Wimbledon champion, rolled to a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Kateryna Bondarenko in the second round at the Eastbourne International.
For most players, an invite to a player development camp is an opportunity to impress coaches, get some tips to improve their game, and not much more. In all likelihood, it’ll be at least another season before most of them see the ice in the NHL.
Owen Tippett has never really been in that position. The first-round pick of the Florida Panthers in 2017, Tippett came to development camp last year with every intention of making the NHL roster, and he did. But after seven games with the team, he was sent back to the OHL to preserve his entry-level contract before ending the season with the AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds.
This year, there’s no mistaking where Tippett and the Panthers want him to play this season.
“I expect him to come to camp and fight for a job,” Panthers general manager Dale Tallon said Tuesday. “You know, he’s a great shooter, no one can shoot the puck better than this kid. He loves to shoot it, and we’ve got a lot of playmakers that can give him the puck. So we’re gonna give him every opportunity to make our team. It doesn’t matter how old you are, it’s how good you are and how hard you work.”
Added Tippett: “Obviously it’s a goal of mine to crack the lineup this year. And obviously I want to stick this year.”
Tippett’s brief time in the NHL and AHL last season, where he had two goals and three points in 12 games, gave him confidence and a chance to see what the speed of the game is like in the pros.
That’s translated to being comfortable at development camp. At times throughout the practice on Tuesday, coaches used Tippett to demonstrate different drills for the new prospects around him.
Tippett knows the drill, both literally and figuratively, and he knows the coaches around him now. That’s also helped him get Vatrano and Curtis Valk.
As far as any potential upcoming negotiations are concerned, Tallon says he feels good about them.
“We’re very optimistic that we’re gonna get everyone done,” Tallon said.
“You know, it’s a process, and it takes time. You know, but everyone’s waiting to see what other teams are gonna pay their players. And that’s all about comparables. And the agents want to make sure they don’t shortchange their players, and we’re trying to do the best we can for our budget. So it’s always a good argument, but we’re confident that we’re gonna get everyone done.”
As for the talent on the ice on Tuesday, Tallon said he’s excited for the players that were there. But in terms of who might make an impact in the NHL in the near fu- comfortable.
“It benefits a lot,” Tippet said. “I mean, obviously, just for me too, to talk to [the coaches], I feel like I can go up to them more. I mean, I’m not as shy as I was last year, maybe. But no, it feels good to have that one-onone face time with them.”
While Tippett wasn’t on the team last season, the Panthers’ roster was further forming into shape.
They now have a core, young group of forwards, including Aleksander Barkov, Vincent Trochek and Jonathan Huberdeau, who are all 24 or younger coming off seasons of 69 points or more.
Add to that the Panthers’ most recent free agent signing of Mike Hoffman, a 28-year-old 56-point scorer in his own right, and Tippett has some talent surrounding him.
For some, that might provide pressure to perform in an environment that’s enjoyed such success from its young players. But Tippett’s excited by the roster he’s joining.
“I mean, obviously, it’s pretty exciting,” Tippett said. “You saw what they did at the end of the year last year. And it’s great for the hockey club and great for the city.
“They missed the playoffs by one point, and obviously I want to contribute this year.”
Despite the lofty external expectations for Tippett and his clear talent on the ice, he’s still saying and doing the right things. He worked hard last season to get his body in good shape, and that’s something Tallon noticed and commented on. Tippett also says he’s just using this camp to make as good an impression as possible.
But his goals are unmistakable. The next step in his career is to make the Panthers’ roster this year and make an impact.
And unlike a lot of the guys at development camp, Tippett has a good chance of making his goal a reality.
mpersak@ sun-sentinel.com, 954-425-1955, Twitter @MikeDPersak ture, two potential are missing from camp.
Finnish forwards Aleksi Heponiemi and Henrik Borgstrom, along with the Panthers brass, decided that it would be best for them to stay and work out in Finland rather than come to Coral Springs this week.
“We didn’t want they’re training Tallon said.
“They’ve been here before. We know what they can do. Heponiemi had a long, long year, and Borgstrom, we’ve seen him here. We know what he can do, and this is not gonna really help him, this camp. But he’ll come back here to Florida early in August along with [Aleksander] Barkov and train with him and that’ll really help him.” options development
mpersak@ sun-sentinel.com, 954-425-1955, Twitter @MikeDPersak to in disrupt Finland,”