Sport-scan daily brief

* “I got out of the ship. I jumped out and swam back to land.” (After being traded from Chicago to playoff-bound Calgary.)

* “For us, it was office hockey, whatever you call it, You know, when you play from the office — no emotion, a flat effort.”

* “On the road, we play hospital hockey — lots of patience.”

* “We are trying to find the body parts we left out there.” (Nodding towards the ice during the playoff break.)

* “OK, the Here, There, Everywhere Line. The second stupid name was the More Speed And Heart Than Skill Line. Or, the More Everything Else Than Skill Line.” (After being asked to come up with a name for his line with Shean Donovan and Marcus Nilson.)

* “I think starting in Game 3, we had one bus and 20 drivers . . . and 20 steering wheels.”

* “Well, you start with a clean table. But it won’t take long before it’s a dirty table.” (After being asked about the upcoming series against Tampa.)

* “One thing — I will be well-rested and almost arrested.” (After serving a one-game suspension for blindsiding Vincent Lecavalier.)

* “We got outworked, we got outmuscled, we got outplayed, we got whatever-out. We got all kinds of outs. And now we are out of Tampa.”

* “What do you think would happen if I turned all the water sprinklers on in the Saddledome? Just turned them all on. Do you think there’s a chance I’d maybe get a penalty?”

* “Actually, with me and teachers, it was a love-hate relationship. They hated me until they got to know me. Then they loved me. I wouldn’t take Swedish class. Refused. You know about the rivalry between the Finns and Swedes? Well, I’d get halfway to the classroom and stop. Stop dead. I couldn’t physically go in that room.”

* “In grade school, I thought I’d be a chef. If you need potatoes peeled, I’m your man. But, sorry, I don’t do any peeling for parties of under 300 people. That ambition, to cook food for a living, passed, though. Can you see me carving the roast beef wearing my shoulder pads underneath my white chef’s outfit?”

And on and on and on. From only a few months of material.

GM Darryl Sutter had acquired Nieminen from the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for Jason Morgan. The trade forced Lynn Loyns to the press box, and Nieminen soon proved his worth — and not just in interviews.

He went on to register eight points in 19 regular-season appearances, eight points (and two suspensions) in 24 post-season dates — and to upset countless members of the opposition.

“I was at my best as a hockey player at that time,” says Nieminen. “The (2004-05) lockout came for me at the wrong time. And I think it came at the wrong time for the Calgary Flames.”

Not surprisingly, he has fond memories of his Calgary days.

“We had the best team — maybe not the best players — but the best team,” says Nieminen. “We played the best team defence. And we had a very, very tough team. Team toughness. That team was very humble because every player wanted to get better . . . and wanted to take that next step.”

Nieminen, this weekend, is never far from Barkov, who figures to be a top-four pick in the draft.

Nieminen had been his linemate this past winter for Tappare Tampere. He’s trained with Barkov since the kid was 12. And, once upon a time, he skated alongside Barkov’s father.

Nieminen hasn’t played in the NHL since 2006-07 — with the St. Louis Blues. Because of that, he insists he hadn’t spent much time thinking about North America. But being here in New Jersey changes all of that.

“I’ve started to think about my NHL career more,” he says. “This NHL draft is a second chance to live it again.”

Calgary Herald: LOADED: 06.30.2013

682962 Calgary Flames

Sportsnet analyst says Calgary Flames could open season in Saskatoon

­­— Calgary Sun Staff

First posted: Saturday, June 29, 2013 11:31 PM MDT

Since the extent of the damage to the Saddledome was revealed earlier this week, questions have lingered about where the Calgary Flames will play their home games if the arena’s not fixed by the time the first puck drops on the 2013-14 NHL season.

Well … how does a couple trips to Saskatoon sound for ya, Flames fans?

On Saturday, Sportsnet’s John Shannon tweeted that the Saskatchewan city is being looked at to house the Flames if the Dome’s not ready.

“Flames home-opener slated for October 6th ... been told that if Saddledome isn’t ready, League and Team are looking at Saskatoon,” Shannon tweeted.

The most likely venue for Flames tilts in Toon Town would be the Credit Union Centre, the home of the Saskatoon Blades with capacity for 15,190 fans.

Calgary Sun: LOADED: 06.30.2013

682963 Calgary Flames

SIX players the Calgary Flames could pick at No. 6

By RANDY SPORTAK ,Calgary Sun

First posted: Saturday, June 29, 2013 10:35 PM MDT | Updated: Saturday, June 29, 2013 11:14 PM MDT

The Calgary Flames — barring a trade — will complete the first six-pack of players chosen in Sunday’s NHL Draft.

Just who will fill the final spot in that collection of talent remains to be seen.

As much as the Flames have a wish-list of who they want most with the first of their three first-round picks, they are at the whim of the five clubs that draft before them.

It’s impossible to imagine Nathan MacKinnon or Seth Jones will be around when Calgary GM Jay Feaster and the rest of the braintrust step to the lectern at the draft in New Jersey and make their first selection.

Odds are Jonathan Drouin and Aleksander Barkov will also be long gone in the top four, but it’s not a slam dunk with the likes of Darnell Nurse, Valeri Nichushkin, Elias Lindholm and Sean Monahan in the mix.

Still, we’ll assume MacKinnon, Jones, Drouin and Barkov will be the top four picks when dissecting who could be available for the Flames to choose from when they step to the podium.

Here’s a six pack of players who could be in the mix when the Flames make their pick and why they should be thrilled to get him:

1

LW Valeri Nichushkin (Chelyabinsk, KHL)

41 GP 15 G 8 A 23 Pts.

Central Scouting Ranking:

No. 2 European Skaters

The Flames need a first-line centre and a top defenceman more than a top-line winger, but the big Russian might sway them. He’s big, has scoring ability and is willing to drive to the net. There is definitely a risk-reward element to drafting Nichushkin — he could be a top-line winger or the next Nikolai Zherdev.

2

C Elias Lindholm (Brynas, Sweden)

48 GP 11 G 19 A 30 Pts.

Central Scouting Ranking:

No. 3 European Skaters

A strong, two-way player who led all junior-aged players in the Swedish Elite League this past season, Lindholm was also the rookie of the year. His scoring abilities include being a strong passer, making him a potential top-two centre the Flames desperately need. He may not have the size you want in a cornerstone centre but is very competitive on the ice.

3

D Darnell Nurse

6-foot-4, 189 lb.

68 GP 12 G 29 A 41 Pts

Central Scouting Ranking: No. 4 North American Skaters

The nephew of former NFL quarterback Donovan McNabb, Nurse is more likely to be known more for his defensive game than as an offensive standout, but he does possess enough game at both ends of the ice to be a potential top-pairing blueliner. The Flames could count on finding a top-line forward down the road if they believe Nurse and T.J. Brodie are their top pair of the future.

4

C Sean Monahan (Ottawa, OHL)

58 GP 31 G 47 A 78 Pts.

Central Scouting Ranking: No. 5 North American Skaters

A two-way centre who is more of a playmaker than shooter in the offensive zone, the Ottawa 67’s captain was the team’s leading scorer during what was a awful season for the club. His skating is a bit of a question, but his competitive nature helps the cause. Known for his smarts, he’s also very good on faceoffs, another area the Flames are dreadful.

5

C/LW Hunter Shinkaruk (Medicine Hat, WHL)

64 GP 37 G 49 A 86 Pts

Central Scouting Ranking: No. 6 North American Skaters

An exciting player in the offensive zone, the Calgary product has the ability to both score and set up goals. He seems more like a winger than a centre, and he does need to add size to be ready for the NHL grind. It’s hard to imagine he’ll be able to jump to the big leagues immediately, but over time, he will develop his game.

6

D Rasmus Ristolainen (TPS, Finland)

52 GP 3 G 12 A 15 Pts

Central Scouting Ranking: No. 4 European Skaters

With mobility to go with his size, the big blueliner is a good puck-mover and willing to play a physical game. It would be going somewhat off the board for the Flames to take him sixth overall, especially if the more heralded Darnell Nurse is available and a defenceman is the priority.

Calgary Sun: LOADED: 06.30.2013

682964 Carolina Hurricanes

Time has come for Hurricanes to put plan into action

Published: June 29, 2013

By Luke DeCock - staff columnist

The NHL Draft is as much about older players as it is the league’s newest generation of players. You can’t put that many general managers in one place without a few trades happening by accident. This summer, with several teams scrambling to get under the declining salary cap, there may never have been more players available.

That’s good news for the Carolina Hurricanes, who need to upgrade their roster in several areas, have some cap space available and maybe even a little money to spend for a change.

Even if the Hurricanes don’t make a deal this weekend in New Jersey, they’ll certainly know who’s available – or is likely to be available once the initial days of free agency sort themselves out, starting Friday.

This is a big weekend for the Hurricanes, and it has nothing to do with who they draft fifth overall Sunday. (The smart play, in what may be the deepest draft in a decade, would be to either trade up for one of the three elite players in the draft – Nathan MacKinnon, Seth Jones and Jonathan Drouin – or down for additional first-round picks.)

There will be opportunities, if not now, then soon. It’s absolutely imperative the Hurricanes act on them.

There are three areas that probably need the most strengthening: defense, third-line center and depth forwards who can kill penalties and win a faceoff or two.

The blue line is in obvious need of a talent injection, and there are free agents like Ron Hainsey and Andrew Ference available, while the Toronto Maple Leafs are rumored to be shopping Dion Phaneuf.

Meanwhile, Marc Staal is a year away from free agency and the New York Rangers just made a coaching change. With concerns over his eye injury and contract status, could the Hurricanes pry a Staal brother loose for the second straight summer?

Neither Phaneuf nor Staal would come cheap. Neither, for that matter, will Hainsey nor Ference or anyone else on the open market. But if the Hurricanes are serious about fixing a defense that was painfully exposed as inadequate after Cam Ward was injured last season, they’re going to have to pay for it. That means spending money, and it may mean giving up either the No. 5 pick or a player like Jeff Skinner.

(The possibility of trading Skinner, as noted at the end of the season, is something the Hurricanes should consider – if, and only if, the return justifies his departure.)

There are probably 28 other teams looking for upgrades on defense, which is almost always the case, so it’s never easy nor cheap – which is one reason why the Hurricanes have procrastinated for years, since the core of the 2002 and 2006 teams aged out of the league. They’ve tried to do it on the cheap (remember Josef Melichar?) and they’ve tried to buy low on players who have underachieved elsewhere, like Joni Pitkanen, without success.

As for the additions forward, it sounds like an easier task, but it rarely is. Some of the names floating around are certainly attractive, but not without their negatives.

A guy like Rich Peverley is the kind of multi-role player the Hurricanes need at forward, and the Boston Bruins are likely going to have to trade him for cap reasons, but he’s making more than $3 million. That would make him the Hurricanes’ sixth-highest paid forward, too much for his role as the roster is currently constructed.

Then again, teams that play for the Stanley Cup two out of the past three years are willing to pay that kind of money to that kind of player.

The Hurricanes have talked a good game about increasing their payroll, fixing the defense and getting a better mix of forwards. The time has come to get to work. The time has come to back those words with action.

News Observer LOADED: 06.30.2013

682965 Carolina Hurricanes

Canes’ high NHL draft pick: High stakes, big investment

Published: June 29, 2013 Updated 6 hours ago

By Chip Alexander — calexander@newsobserver.com

If all goes as planned, the Carolina Hurricanes will have the No. 5 pick Sunday in the NHL Entry Draft, looking to choose a player who can jump into the lineup, produce immediately, excite their fans and get the Canes back in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Whether they take a Russian winger such as Valeri Nichushkin, a Swedish center such as Elias Lindholm or a Canadian defenseman such as Darnell Nurse, the Hurricanes will have spent thousands of dollars scouting players in which they will invest millions. And millions more in revenue – in merchandise sales, gate receipts, playoff payoffs, you name it – could be at stake.

In 2010, with the seventh overall pick, the Hurricanes took Jeff Skinner. The forward would score 31 goals, win the Calder Trophy as NHL rookie of the year and become highly marketable.

Skinner’s draft choice was deemed a “home run” by management. Having missed the playoffs the past four seasons, the Canes now need to hit another one.

“The pressure is tremendous, and you feel it with every pick at the top,” said Dan Marr, the NHL’s director of Central Scouting and a former NHL scout. “You want to be right with that first-rounder. They can be the staples of the franchise as you move forward, so there is that pressure.”

In 2003, the Hurricanes took center Eric Staal with the No. 2 pick after the Pittsburgh Penguins made goalie Marc-Andre Fleury the first overall selection. Three years later, Staal was lifting the Stanley Cup. He’s the Canes’ team captain, the face of the franchise.

Then there was 2005. Picking third, the Hurricanes took defenseman Jack Johnson. He played college hockey at Michigan, rebuffed the Canes’ requests to start his professional career and eventually was traded to the Los Angeles Kings, never putting on a Carolina sweater.

“There is more pressure the higher the pick, no doubt,” Canes general manager Jim Rutherford said. “There’s more focus on it.”

In the Canes’ case, the focus also is on Tony MacDonald, the team’s director of amateur scouting.

The eventual first-round choice is made generally by committee, after meetings in the team’s offices at PNC Arena and more discussions in the days before the draft. But MacDonald is the front man, for good or bad, and senses the urgency of being right.

“The trend (in the NHL) now is these guys need to come in and make your team,” MacDonald said of the high-end draft picks. “We think we will pick a player at five who is able to come in and make our team.

“You’d like him to make a big impact on the lineup, but that’s asking a lot of someone who’s 18 years old. Jeff Skinner made a pretty solid impression in his rookie year. That doesn’t always happen. If we pick someone this year who can score 31 goals we’d be pretty pleased.”

Following an abbreviated season, the NHL will hold an abbreviated draft Sunday. Normally a two-day affair, the league will pack all seven rounds into one day at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.

The ‘eyeball test’

A year ago, MacDonald and the scouting staff were prepared for the No. 8 overall pick in the draft in Pittsburgh but never used it. The Hurricanes upstaged the first day of the draft, packaging their first-round pick in the trade for the Penguins’ Jordan Staal.

That could happen again Sunday. The Canes are seeking a top-four defenseman, their offseason priority, and Rutherford said the search could continue Sunday on the draft floor.

“It’s always important to make the right pick but what’s really important for us is the overall picture of what we need to do in the next 30 days,” Rutherford said this week. “Do we move down in the first round, with a trade, and pick up a player? Do we keep the No. 5 pick?

“When you have an off-year you earn the right to pick fifth. We know the reason why we’re there. Obviously we have a lot of work to do. We’ll keep an open mind right up until the time comes to pick.”

The player selection comes after much in-game scouting – the “eyeball test” – and hundreds of video reviews. It comes after scouts trek to the such events as the World Junior Championship in Russia and the 5-Nations Tournament in Sweden.

MacDonald is in his sixth year as director of amateur scouting. Former Canes forward Robert Kron heads up Carolina’s European scouting, and Rutherford said the team now “has a better handle than ever before” on the European prospects.

“It’s a big-time commitment,” said ESPN.com draft analyst Grant Sonier, a former NHL scout. “You go to games, you meet the kids one-on-one, you go to the NHL combine, the scouts get together and meet . It’s quite a process. But when you can possibly get a franchise player in the five-hole at the draft, you have to get it right.”

The combine

The NHL prospects combine was held in Toronto in late-May. MacDonald was there. So was Pete Friesen, the Canes’ head athletic trainer, who tracks all the measurables – wing span, grip strength, long jump, etc. – while trying to project a player’s body shape at, say, 24 or 25.

Friesen, for example, doesn’t remember the Russian’s name – possibly defenseman Nikita Zadorov – but he remembered the look. He was 6-foot-4 and 230 pounds, Friesen said, with low body fat and an impressive vertical jump.

“He looked like that Russian boxer in the ‘Rocky’ movie,” Friesen said.

That would be “Rocky IV” and the Ivan Drago role played by Dolph Lundgren.

“The maturity level for some is much higher than others,” said Friesen, who files in-depth reports on the prospects to Rutherford..

Friesen believes vertical jump is a good indicator of how strong a player will be on the puck, noting Eric Staal had an impressive vertical jump. Most good centers, he said, have wing spans that measure more than their height.

Seth Jones, a defenseman with the Portland Winterhawks of the Western Hockey League, had the longest wing span this year at 81 inches. Tops among the forwards was Michael McCarron (79.5).

Friesen said he and others were disappointed Jones and two other top prospects, forwards Nathan MacKinnon and Jonathan Drouin of the Halifax Mooseheads, were at the combine but elected not to go through the fitness testing. All cited long Memorial Cup playoff runs and fatigue.

“If they don’t do it, you can’t judge the others based on their benchmarks,” Friesen said.

The interviews

Marr, of NHL Central Scouting, called it an anomaly. He noted former Windsor Spitfires star Taylor Hall sat out testing in 2010 – and later was the No. 1 pick in the draft by Edmonton – and added, “I don’t see it being a trend.”

MacDonald interviews players at the combine. He said 60 interviews, mostly 10 to 15 minutes in length, were held this year, which he said was more than normal.

The Canes had 11 pre-draft interviews scheduled this week at their Manhattan hotel, Rutherford said. They again are using video sessions as a way of gauging a player’s instincts and hockey acumen, as they did in Pittsburgh last year.

“We’re just trying to get inside a player’s thought process and create scenarios from real game situations,” MacDonald said. “There are no right or wrong answers. We just want to get a feel for what a player might do in game situations.”

Ron Francis, the team’s vice president of hockey operations, heads the video sessions, which were well received by prospects last year. Forward Filip Forsberg, who would be drafted in the first round by the Washington Capitals and later traded to the Nashville Predators, noted, “It was like they asked you questions to test your hockey sense.”

Marr said the final interviews give the general managers a chance to sit face-to-face with the prospects. The scouts have done their work and all the background information is in, but a prospect can make a final impression with management.

“It’s a chance to eliminate any mystery about a player,” Marr said.

Finally, it’s on to the arena. It’s draft day. The prospects sit anxiously in the stands with their parents and siblings.

“Waiting for your name to be called in the draft, that’s what every kid who grows up playing hockey dreams of,” Skinner said.

Skinner’s big moment came in 2010 in Los Angeles at the Staples Center. He slipped into a Carolina sweater and cap, looking impossibly young but very soon to be an impact player.

On Sunday, the Hurricanes will be after another.

News Observer LOADED: 06.30.2013

682966 Chicago Blackhawks

Hawks believe deep draft will benefit them

With No. 30 pick overall, then none to 4th round, they're prepared for many contingencies

By Chris Kuc, Chicago Tribune reporter

June 30, 2013

Even as the confetti swirled during the Blackhawks' Stanley Cup victory parade, the team was preparing for the future.

The Hawks currently own five picks in Sunday's 2013 NHL draft in Newark, N.J., and they want to stockpile talent in their effort to keep the organization at a high level for years.

"We've built this team, for the most part, from the draft and adding a few pieces outside it," general manager Stan Bowman said. "We'd like to continue that process."

Because of the Hawks' magical run in the regular season when they finished atop the NHL standings and captured the Presidents' Trophy with the league's best record, they will have the final selection in the first round at No. 30. They also entered draft weekend without second- and third-picks, having traded them to the Jets in 2012 for defenseman Johnny Oduya.

Still, Director of Amateur Scouting Mark Kelley, who missed Friday's parade and rally because he was already preparing at draft headquarters in New York , believes the Hawks can secure talent along the likes of Brandon Saad, who was drafted No. 43 overall in '11 and Saturday was named to the 2012-13 NHL All-Rookie team.

"It's a good draft," Kelley said. "It has a very good top end in the first round. There are probably five or six players who are going to have a strong impact. Then there are probably another eight players who are on the verge of becoming those types of players.

"Really, it goes right through the first round into the second. It's a deep draft."

There is also the possibility Bowman will add more picks or even move up in the draft through trades.

Kelley said he asks Bowman to acquire additional selections "all the time, all the time. He keeps telling me, 'We're going to try.'

"We'll get a good player because the draft is that deep. (But) we try to know the top end of the draft and we're prepared in case anything happens. … We don't try to look at it with the picks we have and try to target players there yet. You're trying to put value on players so when we get to the draft we can make the move whether they go forward or if the players we like might slide back."