Hall happy to be home, but focused on the job
Taylor Hall is back in Edmonton, hoping for an extended stay as a member of the Arizona Coyotes.
The former first overall pick and 2018 Hart Trophy winner is trying to lead the Coyotes past the Nashville Predators into the Stanley Cup Playoffs, something he was unable to do with the Edmonton Oilers despite six excellent seasons with the club.
Due to the COVID -19 pandemic, Hall is getting an opportunity to play in Edmonton again as Rogers Place is hosting the Western Conference qualifiers and playoffs.
“It’s a city that I spend a lot of time in,” Hall said following a 4-1 exhibition loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday.
“Six years is a lot of time to spend with a team. I didn’t play in this arena (Rogers Place) as an Oiler and I’m happy to be here as a Coyote.
“The city definitely has some meaning to me, but we’re in a bubble. The only thing relative to me is that we’re staying at Sutton
Place (hotel) and that’s where I started when I was drafted by the Oilers. There are definitely some memories there, but as of right now, I think my focus and our team’s focus is getting ready for Game 1. In saying that, I always enjoy coming back to Alberta, I spent a lot of my life here, so that’s pretty cool.”
Hall, 28, was acquired by the Coyotes from the New Jersey Devils in mid-december in exchange for prospects Kevin Bahl, Nick Merkley, Nate Schnarr, a conditional first-round pick in 2020 and a conditional thirdround pick in 2021. He’ll become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season and the Coyotes want him back.
The organization, however, is in turmoil following the abrupt and unexpected departure of general manager John Chayka last week. The Coyotes put out a statement saying Chayka “quit” on them and the club was very disappointed in his actions and timing.
The Coyotes aren’t addressing the Chayka issue in Edmonton, electing to keep their focus on the ice. They didn’t look great in the loss to Vegas as Hall scored their only goal.
However, if anything positive can come out of the current situation, it’s that Hall was able to spend extra time getting to know his new teammates during training camp to prepare for the restart.
“He’s getting more and more comfortable and with the break, not just him, but a lot of our team could reset and reboot,” said Coyotes head coach Rick Tocchet. “He’s starting to work with Devo (Christian Dvorak), they’re talking a lot more, which is good because that’s a big line for us. He’s a big horse.”
SO FAR, SO GOOD FOR WILD
Minnesota Wild coach Dean Evason is enjoying his time in the NHL secure zone. It reminds him of simpler days growing up playing the game.
“It’s been awesome, it really has,” Evason said Friday. “It’s unique, there’s no question, but it’s really cool to see the players adapting and their reaction to certain things and how positive they’ve been. We’ve had the opportunity to talk to different organizations and different coaches and people within the organization and everybody is saying the same thing. The guys just want to play hockey.”
The Wild face the Vancouver Canucks in a qualifier starting with Game 1 on Sunday night.
He’s getting more and more comfortable and with the break, not just him, but a lot of our team could reset and reboot.
GOLDEN KNIGHTS LOOK READY
Forward Reilly Smith is ready for the Western Conference round robin, scoring two goals for the Golden Knights in a win over the Coyotes.
Smith scored a short-handed goal, burying a feed from William Karlsson on a short-handed two-on-one, and then added a power play marker later in the first period.
The Golden Knights play the Dallas Stars in their first round robin contest on Monday.
“When we have all our lines going, which I think we did (on Thursday), it makes it really tough on teams,” Smith said. “I think (Tomas) Nosek’s line did a great job of being able to change momentum. In every game other teams are going to get different momentum swings, and they did a good job shutting them down, and we were able to build off that and create offence.”
The NHL experimented with piping in crowd noise during the game, but at times it was difficult to distinguish.
“I heard some, but it wasn’t very loud,” goaltender Marc-andre Fleury said. “It wasn’t loud like the music. I think it would be fun if they turned up the volume a bit and make it feel a bit more like a game.”