Friday's hockey: Cossa, Griffins tie franchise record with seventh straight road win
Red Wings prospect Sebastian Cossa made 25 saves for Grand Rapids to tie a franchise record with seven straight road wins on Friday in American Hockey League action in Rockford, Illinois.
The Griffins beat the IceHogs 3-2 on Austin Czarnik's shootout goal. Josiah Didier and Amadeus Lombardi scored goals, Marco Kasper had an assist and Cossa improved to 10-7-3 with a 2.70 goals against average and .908 save percentage this year.
Since Christmas, the Griffins are 11-2-1 and are now tied for second place in the Central Division with the Texas Stars. The last time Grand Rapids won seven consecutive road games was in 2015.
Michigan 4, Ohio State 2
Garrett Schifsky scored two goals for No. 12 Michigan in a 4-2 victory against Ohio State on Friday in Columbus, Ohio.
Tyler Duke had a goal and two assists, Nick Moldenhauer also scored, Kienan Draper added two assists and Jake Barczewski stopped 35 shots.
Notre Dame 4, Michigan State 1
No. 8 Michigan State dropped a 4-1 decision against No. 20 Notre Dame in NCAA hockey action at the Compton Family Ice Arena in South Bend, Indiana.
Isaac Howard scored the only goal for the Spartans and goalie Trey Augustine stopped 27 shots.
Denver 3, Western Michigan 2
Hobey Baker Award nominees Luke Grainger and Dylan Wendt (Grand Haven) scored goals and goalie Cameron Rowe made 30 saves for No. 15 Western Michigan in a 3-2 loss against the No. 5 Denver Pioneers on Friday at Magness Arena in Denver.
Red Wings draft pick Shai Buium (second round, 2021) recorded his seventh multi-point game with a goal and an assist for the University of Denver.
McDavid takes home $1 million prize
Connor McDavid played a big role in redesigning the NHL All-Star skills competition. Then he dominated the new version.
The reigning and three-time MVP took home the $1 million prize while showing once again why he is considered the best hockey player in the world. And he did so as a local hero in the arena where he grew up watching games, to the delight of his hometown crowd.
McDavid helped the league and union fix the skills competition after thinking in previous years it had gotten “a little gimmicky, a little out there.” With his assist, it went back to the basics, and the Edmonton Oilers captain shined with the spotlight on him.
“I thought it was entertaining,” McDavid said. “I know from a competitive side, it definitely got competitive out there. I was huffing and puffing. Guys were working hard, trying to put on a good show. I feel like we did that. I think we can feel good about it. Ultimately, it’s up to the fans, and hopefully they enjoyed it.”
McDavid finished first in the fastest skater, winning that event for the fourth time in his career, and stick-handling, and he went 4-for-4 in accuracy shooting.
“Obviously he’s the epitome of competitiveness on a daily basis, so I’m not surprised,” Oilers teammate Leon Draisaitl said.
Three players from the Western Conference rival Colorado Avalanche also put on a show. Nathan MacKinnon won the one-timers event, while Cale Makar had the hardest shot at 102.56 mph. Goaltender Alexandar Georgiev made nine saves – on McDavid – in one on one to win $100,000.
“It’s a really fun challenge,” Georgiev said. “I love going against Connor. Congratulations to him. He’s awesome, so fun to watch.”
Kings fire ex-Wing McLellan
The Los Angeles Kings fired coach and former Red Wings assistant coach Todd McLellan on Friday and named former Northern Michigan and ex-Red Wings forward and assistant coach Jim Hiller the interim coach for the rest of the season.
The Kings had a 20-7-4 start to the season, with the 44 points tied for the most in team history after 31 games. Since Dec. 28, they have gone 3-8-6 and are in the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference. The three wins are tied for fewest in the league in that span and the 12 points are tied for the fifth worst.
McLellan, an assistant coach in Detroit for three years from 2005-2008, was in his fifth season behind the Kings' bench. He led them to the Stanley Cup playoffs the past two seasons before they were eliminated by Edmonton in the first round.
He has a career mark of 598-412-134 with his 598 regular-season wins ranking 23rd in NHL history. He was 169-138-44 overall with the Kings. Prior to coaching Los Angeles, McLellan spent five seasons with Edmonton and seven in San Jose.
Hiller, who scored 76 goals in three years with Northern Michigan from 1989-1992 and scored two goals in 21 games with the Red Wings in 1992-1993, has been an assistant with the team the past two seasons after eight seasons as an assistant with the New York Islanders, Toronto and Detroit in 2014-15.
Prior to his NHL coaching career, Hiller spent 12 seasons in the Western Hockey League and British Columbia Hockey League, including five years as head coach with the Tri-City Americans.
McLellan is the sixth coach fired this season, following Edmonton’s Jay Woodcroft, Minnesota’s Dean Evason, St. Louis’ Craig Berube, Ottawa's D.J. Smith and the Islanders' Lane Lambert. Mike Babcock resigned at Columbus on the eve of training camp after an investigation into his practice of asking to see photos on players’ phones.
Jets acquire Monahan
The Winnipeg Jets acquired Sean Monahan in a trade Friday with the Montreal Canadiens, giving one of the top Stanley Cup contenders in the Western Conference more depth at center for a potential playoff run.
Winnipeg sent its 2024 first-round pick and a conditional third-rounder in 2027 to Montreal for the pending free agent. The trade comes two days since the NHL-leading rival Vancouver Canucks acquired center Elias Lindholm from Calgary.
“The teams that were in the race for Lindholm shifted to Sean,” Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes said in French on a video call with reporters. "So, it accelerated things.”
Acquiring Monahan gives the Jets an elite one-two punch down the middle, after Mark Scheifele. With captain Adam Lowry and ex-Red Wing Vladislav Namestnikov already on the roster, the Jets look to have the centers to compete with anyone in the NHL.
It fills an important need because the Jets have struggled since Scheifele suffered an lower-body injury. After being atop the league in mid-January, they've lost four of six games without Schefiele, whose return date is unknown.
Enter Monahan, a 29-year-old veteran of 760 regular-season and playoff games over 11 seasons in the league with Calgary and Montreal. He has 35 points in 49 games this season with the rebuilding Canadiens.
NHL to send players back to Olympics
NHL players are returning to the Olympics for the first time in more than a decade.
The world's top hockey league will allow its players to participate in the Games in 2026 in Milan and in 2030 under an agreement announced Friday by the NHL, the NHL Players’ Association, International Ice Hockey Federation and the IOC.
NHL players have not been at the Olympics since 2014 in Sochi.
"There is a recognition of how important this is to the players," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said at a news conference during All-Star Weekend. “Everybody felt on our ownership side that it was the right thing to do. … This really came down to doing something because the players really wanted it.”
IIHF president Luc Tardif smiled and said, “We made it" after two years worth of work that picked up over the past six months.
Milan, barring another unforeseen circumstance like the pandemic that caused players to miss Beijing in 2022, will be the first Olympics for a generation of stars led by Canadians Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar and Americans Auston Matthews, Jack Eichel and Adam Fox. The tantalizing rosters could see the likes of McDavid, Sidney Crosby and Connor Bedard on the same team battling for gold.
“Extremely badly want to play in the Olympics,” McDavid said Thursday. “All these guys that haven’t had a chance to represent their country at a best on best, I think it’s something that we’re all hungry to do.”
Michigan-area hockey this week
Friday
▶ Grand Rapids 3, Rockford 2 (SO)
▶ Michigan 4, Ohio State 2
▶ Notre Dame 4, Michigan State 1
▶ University of Denver 3, Western Michigan 2
▶ Northern Michigan 4, Michigan Tech 1
▶ Bowling Green 4, Ferris State 3
Saturday
▶ Michigan at Ohio State, 8 (Big Ten)
▶ Michigan State at Notre Dame, 6:30 (Peacock/730)
▶ Western Michigan at University of Denver, 8
▶ Northern Michigan at Michigan Tech, 6
▶ Bowling Green at Ferris State, 6
Thursday
▶ NTDP U18s 5, Youngstown 3
Wednesday
▶ Ottawa 3, Red Wings 2 (OT)