Sport-scan daily brief

Daily Herald Times LOADED: 06.30.2013

682976 Chicago Blackhawks

It's all happening again on CSN

June 29, 2013, 12:00 pm

Nina Falcone

A giant celebration erupted after Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final. An even bigger one emerged yesterday throughout the streets of Chicago as the Blackhawks celebrated their victory with millions of fans.

Don't you just wish that excitement could continue forever?

Well now you can keep those memories with you as Comcast SportsNet re-airs the Blackhawks parade and rally tonight on 7:00. So set your DVRs, folks, because this is your chance to keep all of this recorded on your television. Forever.

It's time to party like it's Friday again, when everyone in the world (well, at least it seemed that way) packed the streets to celebrate the Blackhawks' season. In case you don't recall, Corey Crawford did this. Oh, and Duncan Keith had a moment of his own. And now you can keep those memories in your own personal collection for the low cost of... nothing.

So throw your jersey back on and keep the celebration going. Because it's (Chicago's) Cup.

Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 06.30.2013

682977 Colorado Avalanche

Quentin Shore hoping for better luck in second shot at NHL draft

By Caitlin Swieca

The Denver Post

Posted: 06/30/2013 12:01:00 AM MDT

A year ago, everything seemed to be lining up in Quentin Shore's favor.

He was just finishing his time with the U.S. national team development program for elite hockey prospects. He had five points in six games during the 2012 men's under-18 world championship, helping Team USA capture the gold medal.

Heading into the 2012 NHL draft, he was ranked 80th among North American skaters by Central Scouting.

But when draft day arrived, Shore wasn't selected.

"I had really high expectations going into it, so it was kind of a disappointment not getting drafted," Shore said. "My year this year showed teams that I should be."

Shore, a rising sophomore on the University of Denver hockey team, is eligible for Sunday's draft. He's not listed among this year's Central Scouting top 200 skaters, but he hopes his productive freshman season with the Pioneers caught the attention of NHL scouts.

Shore had 10 goals and nine assists in 39 games with the Pioneers and was the Western Collegiate Hockey Association rookie of the week twice.

The Denver native describes himself as a two-way center, but showed his versatility last season by spending time at wing and playing on the Pioneers' power play and penalty kill.

Although he had an opportunity to play with some of the top prospects in the country with the national team, playing at DU proved Shore can compete with older players.

"He's able to play against bigger, stronger, faster players," said DU associate head coach Steve Miller. "He's made huge strides this year and gained a lot of confidence in all types of situations he was put in."

Shore credited DU strength coach Matt Shaw for helping him improve weaker areas of his game, notably speed. Shore said he "lived under the squat rack" last season, working on his explosiveness.

"He had a lot of experience with taking care of his body and having that kind of self-responsibility and focus in what he

Quentin Shore (Denver Post file)

does," Shaw said. "It just came down to ensuring that we took him to that next level."

Shore, a member of "Colorado's first family of hockey," would follow his brothers — former DU players Drew and Nick — into the pros if he's drafted. Drew is a center with the Florida Panthers. Nick signed with the Los Angeles Kings in April after finishing his junior season at DU.

Shore said Drew described life in the NHL as "everything we dreamed of." If he's drafted Sunday, Shore will be one step closer to joining him there.

"I'm really looking forward to it," Shore said. "Hopefully I can be as excited after it as I am now."

Caitlin Swieca: 303-954-1297, cswieca@denverpost.com

Local players to watch

All north american players from ages 18-20 are eligible to be picked in sunday's nhl draft.

When an nhl team drafts a college player, the team retains his signing rights until the player finishes college and can sign the player at any time. Rankings from nhl's central scouting list:

Seth Jones, Portland Winterhawks

Former Colorado Thunderbird

No. 1 North American skater

Gustav Olofsson, incoming Colorado College freshman

Former Colorado Thunderbird

No. 51 North American skater

Will Butcher, incoming DU freshman

Defenseman from Sun Prarie, Wis.

No. 87 North American skater

Quentin Shore, DU sophomore

Denver native

Former Colorado Thunderbird

Trevor Moore, incoming DU freshman

Forward from Thousand Oaks, Calif.

No. 192 North American skater

Brad Hawkinson, incoming DU freshman

Forward from Aurora

Former Colorado Thunderbird

Caitlin Swieca, The Denver Post

Denver Post: LOADED: 06.30.2013

682978 Colorado Avalanche

Advice for Colorado Avalanche: Keep the top pick in Sunday's NHL draft

By Adrian Dater

The Denver Post

Posted: 06/30/2013 12:01:00 AM MDT

Updated: 06/30/2013 12:26:05 AM MDT

NEW YORK — Should the Avalanche trade the first pick in Sunday's NHL draft? That was the question facing Avs management Saturday.

Joe Sakic, Patrick Roy, Greg Sherman, Craig Billington and the team's scouting staff were in meetings together much of the day, mulling final options heading into draft day at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.

While the new era of Avs management has been more open to the media than the old one, none of the above was saying anything Saturday about what will happen. Sakic did say earlier in the week he had gotten a few inquiries as to what it might take to pry the No. 1 pick from the Avs, but overall he characterized things as pretty quiet.

There were murmurs Saturday that things got a bit more active, but the Avalanche wouldn't confirm that. What likely will play out until 1 p.m. MDT on Sunday is this: The Avs will continue to listen to offers for the top pick, just because it's the smart thing to do. But the offer would have to be extraordinarily attractive for them to part with that pick.

My two cents: The Avs can't blow this. Which is why, if I were Sakic, I'd keep the pick, draft Nathan MacKinnon and go back to Denver secure in the knowledge that I got the player deemed the best available on the latest list of most NHL scouts.

I still like defenseman Seth Jones if I were picking first, but since the Avs said they won't take him, I've focused on the top forward available and that seems to be MacKinnon. Jonathan Drouin has a ton of skill — probably the most of any player available Sunday — but his size worries me if I'm in charge. It wouldn't worry me if I had the No. 3 or No. 4 pick and he was available, but in the No. 1 slot? I don't know. All those fancy moves of his that worked so easily in junior hockey aren't going to work as well playing in the NHL.

Aleksander Barkov? I'm not sure the Finnish League is the best place to develop for the NHL, and he seems a tad slow. Again, we're talking about him in the perspective of a No. 1 pick.

If the Avs trade the top pick for a roster player or two and no lower than the No. 4 pick in return, they had better make sure they get quality. No "big name but past their prime" expensive guys such as, say, Ryan Miller from Buffalo. No "project" guys, either — guys who may have a lot of potential but haven't really proven it. The Avs have made too many of those trades (Erik Johnson, Derek Morris, Semyon Varlamov).

If they trade the first pick, the Avs can't come away with anything short of a bona fide roster player or two, plus nothing lower than the No. 3 pick.

Yes, this is a deep draft, one that's said to compare favorably to the 2003 draft, considered one of the best in NHL history. But if the Avs deal the top pick, they essentially will tell the world: "We didn't get the best player available in the draft. We decided to take someone we had pegged a notch or two below MacKinnon and a player or two deemed expendable from another team."

That doesn't sell too well. The optics would be bad. If the Avs are on record as saying MacKinnon is the best player available in the draft, they should take him. He's been compared by some to Sidney Crosby. He's been a winner everywhere he's played. And his wish as a kid was to be drafted by the Avs.

Sometimes the best trade is no trade. That, in this case, applies to the Avalanche.

Denver Post: LOADED: 06.30.2013

682979 Colorado Avalanche

For Nathan MacKinnon, hockey success was always in the card

The Denver Post

Posted: 06/30/2013 12:01:00 AM MDT

Updated: 06/30/2013 12:22:36 AM MDT

NEW YORK — Graham MacKinnon still has the hockey card to prove the story is true.

When his son, Nathan, was 7 or 8 years old, he got a personalized hockey card made for Nathan. The front showed him in hockey gear posing for the camera, while the back had blank space to fill in personal information. What did young Nathan write?

"He said 'I want to play for the Halifax Mooseheads, then I want to get drafted by Colorado and play with Joe Sakic,' " Graham said.

While he never got the opportunity to play with Sakic, Nathan Mac-Kinnon could be the No. 1 pick by Sakic and the Avalanche in the NHL draft Sunday in Newark, N.J.

What are the odds? It's never been about luck for the 17-year-old from Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia.

"It almost scared me. At age 2, he took right away to skating," said MacKinnon's father, who played junior C hockey as a goaltender. "I had trouble keeping up with him, no joke. We never pushed hockey on him at all. He just took to it right away, fell in love with it and hasn't stopped. When he was 9 or 10, I'd sometimes say to him, 'You know, not everyone makes it in hockey,' and he'd just get mad. He'd say, 'I'm playing hockey, I'm playing hockey. I don't have a Plan B, I just have a Plan A.' He'd say, 'Plan B is just a distraction from Plan A,' and he was so serious about it."

MacKinnon and his parents — Graham and Kathy — traveled to weekend tournaments when he was a kid. While others might be up late on Saturday nights in whatever town they were in, young Nathan always was in bed early.

"A lot of his best games in those tournaments were on Sundays because the other kids would be tired from staying up late and he'd be well rested," Graham said.

After a dominant Memorial Cup tournament in which he posted 13 points (seven goals) in four games for the champion Mooseheads, MacKinnon jumped to the top of many scouts' lists as the best player available in this year's draft.

Sakic, now the Avalanche's executive director of hockey operations, has said the team is leaning toward making MacKinnon the first pick overall.

If that happens, MacKinnon's hockey card wishes will come true. But until they do, the blond center isn't going to jinx anything by assuming Sakic and new Avs coach Patrick Roy have a similar dream.

"It's been pretty cool to hear that they might want me, especially from two Hall of Famers like Joe and Patrick. It would definitely be a great opportunity to go there, but I don't want to get my hopes up too much. A lot can change," MacKinnon said.

MacKinnon, like most top draft prospects, has spent the weekend attending NHL and media functions. It's natural to assume there is a chilling rivalry between him and highly rated defenseman Seth Jones, whose team he beat in the Memorial Cup title game. The opposite is true. They sat together for much of a media luncheon Friday next to the Hudson River, laughing and joking.

"He's a great guy," Jones said of MacKinnon. "He's turned into a good buddy of mine. I'll be happy for him if he goes No. 1, and I think he'd feel the same for me. Of course, I wish he hadn't scored so many goals on us in the Memorial Cup, but that's just how good he is."

MacKinnon is quick to return any and all compliments.

"Seth is going to be a great player. He already is one. And he's just an awesome guy," MacKinnon said.

MacKinnon hasn't been all about hockey, according to his 19-year-old sister, Sarah.

"We had some fierce Scrabble games growing up," she said. "He wanted to win at that as much as anything else ever. Whatever it is, Nate just wants to win and be the best."

Her brother even has good taste in music, she said.

"Anything from Elton John to country, to R&B and rap, I'm always stealing his iTunes," Sarah said.

If he is introduced to the Denver media at the Pepsi Center on Monday — as the Avs plan to do with their top pick — it won't be the first time MacKinnon walks through the arena doors. Last year, he traveled to Vail with his father to get his knee examined at the Steadman Hawkins Clinic and had a minor procedure done. They noticed the Avalanche was in Denver for a game against the St. Louis Blues during the visit, and attended the game as paying customers.

Soon, the Avs may be paying MacKinnon a lot of money to come to the arena.

"It's surreal to think about," Graham said.

Denver Post: LOADED: 06.30.2013

682980 Colorado Avalanche

Sakic gets another big shot for Avalanche

By Mark Kiszla

The Denver Post

Posted: 06/30/2013 12:01:00 AM MDT

Here in Colorado, we count on Joe Sakic to deliver the Stanley Cup.

Sunday, we find out if Super Joe can deliver again.

With the first pick in the NHL draft, the Colorado Avalanche selects ... a path back to championship contention.

Don't mess it up, Mr. Sakic.

Nathan MacKinnon is the best choice. Yes, the young center is a better choice than Seth Jones, the son of a pro basketball player and a kid who fell in love with hockey during a golden time in Colorado sports history, when Sakic could match Broncos quarterback John Elway stride for stride as a local hero leading the victory parade.

MacKinnon is the better choice because a goal-scorer can light the lamp and reignite hockey enthusiasm throughout Denver in a way no defenseman possibly can. MacKinnon is the right choice because he doesn't shy away from the label of being the next Sidney Crosby. MacKinnon is the smart choice because if the Avalanche trades down in the draft, Sakic would never hear the end of it should the No. 1 pick start to build a Hall of Fame résumé.

Way back in 1996, Sakic presented the Stanley Cup to tens of thousands of Denver fans who had been waiting all their lives to feel like major-league winners.

In 2001, Sakic handed the Cup to Ray Bourque in a feel-good moment guaranteed to shine forever.

As Elway could tell Sakic, however, the goodwill earned as a player doesn't immunize against second-guessing when you undertake a second career as a front-office executive.

Elway heard howls of protest when he dumped Tim Tebow for Peyton Manning and his creaky neck.

The easy way out for Sakic would be to make Jones the No. 1 selection with a solid Colorado connection.

There's nothing easy, however, about winning the Cup.

Denver Post: LOADED: 06.30.2013

682981 Colorado Avalanche

St. Patrick is back and ready to win

By Woody Paige

The Denver Post

Posted: 06/30/2013 12:01:00 AM MDT

Legend has it that one St. Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland; the other drove the dread wings from Colorado.

Only one tale is true.

There were no snakes in Ireland when the original St. Patrick arrived.

On Sunday afternoon, The Wizard of Wah, Patrick Roy, returns to action for the Avs for the first time since retiring as a player 10 years ago.

Coach Roy will join with fellow Hall of Famer, former Stanley Cup teammate and Avalanche executive vice president of hockey operations Joe Sakic to make the No. 1 pick in the NHL draft and make the Avalanche relevant again.

Don't mess it up, Joey and Patty.

Just go with Nathan "Kid Magnificent" MacKinnon.

Roy is on the clock.

"I know I will get fired someday," Roy, who has never minced meat or words, told me.

What? How about if you win the Stanley Cup and retire?

"When I win one, I will want to win another and another, but all coaches get fired eventually." (The two Avs coaches who won Stanley Cups were.)

Welcome back, St. Patrick. The Avalanche, the NHL and all of us in Denver have missed you. The Avs haven't won a championship without the game's greatest goalie. They don't even reach the playoffs (as they did in all eight of his seasons in Colorado) anymore.

I asked Roy to define his team's personality in 2013-14. "We may not win the Cup, but I want passion, and we will be entertaining," he said. Roy always was a passionate entertainer.

It has been pointed out that Roy is a rookie as a coach. He has pointed out that all NHL coaches had been rookie NHL coaches.

But I pointed out two other problematical and historical issues.

None of the ex-NHL goalies who became NHL coaches ever won a Cup, and most were unsuccessful and fired.

None of the Hall of Famers who became NHL coaches was the coach for a Stanley Cup champion the entire season (*).

The list isn't long in both categories.

Roy is only the eighth former goalie to be named an NHL coach. (Two others served a few games on an interim basis.)

Gerry Cheevers coached the Boston Bruins to four first- and second-place division finishes, then was fired in his fifth season. Emile Francis coached the New York Rangers and St. Louis Blues for 13 seasons, but lost in his only Stanley Cup Finals.

Roy is the 11th Hall of Fame player to become a coach. Cheevers, Wayne Gretzky, Bryan Trottier, Phil Esposito and the rest didn't earn a title as coach. *The Devils captured the Cup in 2000 with Larry Robinson, but he took over with only eight regular-season games left. With Robinson at the helm for a full season, the Devils lost in the Finals to Roy and the Avs.

Roy listened patiently and silently before responding confidently and assertively:

"Goalies only concentrated on stopping the puck. I was different," Roy said.

Roy was an aggressive, Sean Connery-like hockey player who wandered from goal, handled the puck and started plays and fights (particularly against two Detroit goaltenders). He could have been a forward or a goon. "I always studied the complete game and tried to get into the minds of the attackers and the defensemen, to anticipate what they were going to do and how they played. I understand every position and aspect of the game," Roy said.

"Great hockey players don't become great hockey coaches because they're not willing to put in the hard work and put in the time working their way up. They show up 25, 30 minutes before practice and ask the assistants, 'What are we going to do today?' I'm more demanding of myself.

"After retiring (in 2001), no, I wasn't considering being a coach. I became owner and general manager (of a Quebec Junior Hockey League team). Then I decided that, yes, I also wanted to coach (in 2005)." As a rookie coach he guided the Ramparts to the Memorial Cup. "I've approached coaching the same way I did as a player. I showed up at 7:30 in the morning and didn't leave sometimes until 1:30 a.m.," Roy said.

In fact, in 2009, Roy turned down a coaching overture from the Avs because he didn't think he was ready yet. He is ready now. "My new challenge is to bring another Cup to Colorado."

What about that legendary Red Wings rivalry? "We believed every year we would have to go through Detroit to win the Cup. It's not the same. They're moving to the Eastern Conference (and the teams will play only two games next season), and I guess we have to find another rival. Maybe Chicago (which just won the Cup). Maybe we play the Red Wings in the Finals."

Wouldn't that be entertaining?

St. Patrick could drive those snakes from Detroit out of Colorado once more.

Denver Post: LOADED: 06.30.2013

682982 Columbus Blue Jackets

Michael Arace commentary: Blue Jackets had best act swiftly with Bobrovsky

By Michael Arace

The Columbus Dispatch Saturday June 29, 2013 6:07 AM

NEW YORK — The Blue Jackets are trying to work out a contract extension for Sergei Bobrovsky, who is 24 years old, coming off a Vezina Trophy-winning season and entertaining a lucrative offer from a team in Russia’s Continental Hockey League. Both sides are groping for comparable NHL contracts, and there is not one that fits.

We are here to help. No, really, it’s our pleasure.

Bobrovsky’s agent, Paul Theofanous, is holding a strong hand. His client has a Vezina. His client’s contract reaches term on Monday, at which point SKA St. Petersburg can open a vault for him. His client can begin soliciting offer sheets from other NHL teams on Friday. The upshot of all of this: If the process is dragged out, Theofanous does not mind, because the price is only going to rise.

So, if you are Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen, what do you do? That depends. If you feel that Bobrovsky is the real deal — and his résumé, although abbreviated, suggests that he is — you do not mess around. You do this deal sooner rather than later, because the price is only going to rise.

There is a strong indication that Kekalainen believes in Bobrovsky. To wit: He has said he will match any offer tendered his restricted free-agent goalie by any other team. If you are Kekalainen, do you let it go that far? For instance, what happens when, say, the Philadelphia Flyers swoop in and offer something crazy? After Friday, any one of a handful of teams can step in and set the market price for your property. You don’t want to take that risk.

If you want Bobrovsky, you must act with alacrity and decisiveness. If he is your guy, you get it done.

You do not offer him, say, Artem Anisimov money. Anisimov signed a three-year, $9.85 million contract — with an annual salary-cap hit of $3.28 million — this week. Anisimov is a fine player and an important piece. He also is a second- or third-line center. He is not a No. 1 goaltender holding a Vezina Trophy.

If you want Bobrovsky, you do not put him in the same contract range as a top-nine forward.

So, what do you do?

If you want to go long-term, you do not have to pay him as much as, say, Jonathan Quick, who had a Stanley Cup and a Conn Smythe Trophy at age 26. Quick also has a 10-year contract worth $58 million. It was signed last year, before front-loaded contracts were strongly regulated. The market is different now and, besides, Bobrovsky does not have Quick’s bona fides.

Here is a long-term deal: four years, $20 million. That is$5 million per, which is more than your second/third-line center makes. You are paying a moderate price to buy Bob out of his first year of unrestricted free agency and you are assigning him the same salary-cap hit as Marc-Andre Fleury, who has a Cup. Done.

From what we have heard, Kekalainen would prefer a two-year deal. He would like to have Bobrovsky next come up with another year of restricted free agency remaining. Fine — but if you’re going to go short-term, understand, the annual fee goes up. That is just the way it is, and if you don’t get that, you are playing ultracheap with your Vezina winner.

Here is a short-term deal: Two years, $11 million. You assign Bobrovsky the third-highest salary-cap hit on your team, after Marian Gaborik ($7.5 million) and James Wisniewski ($5.5 million). You still have him as a restricted free agent in 2015, and by then you will know, beyond a doubt, whether he is your franchise goaltender. Done.

If Bobrovsky turns his back on legitimate offers, he will at least understand that you are not messing around. After that, he can go solicit the rest of the NHL. Or, he can bolt for Russia and make a career out of stopping Nikolay Zherdev and Nikita Filatov.