Gästebuch » The Coyotes brought up D Joel Hanley

TORONTO — The Montreal Canadiens visit the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday night as two long-time rivals open the season with widely different expectations.After signing free agent center John Tavares in the offseason to augment an already promising group of young players led by center Auston Matthews www.flyersshoponline.com , the Maple Leafs are shooting for the Stanley Cup this season. Tavares had a fine preseason, working well with right winger Mitch Marner.The Canadiens, however, are trying to climb back to respectability after a dismal 2017-18 season.Article continues below ...The Maple Leafs have shown signs during the past two seasons that they are growing into Cup contenders, but they have lost in the playoffs in the first round twice in a row.And with a pair of first-round losses in the past two Stanley Cup playoffs relatively fresh, the Leafs collectively shake their heads at the idea a similar fate could be awaiting them next April.“We’ve been there, done that,” defenseman Morgan Rielly said. “We have done the thing where we make the playoffs and lose in the first round. It’s not very fun and I think we’re tired of that. The goal is to start with a good couple of months, build toward a playoff push, make the playoffs and go from there. You have to take it one step at a time, but when you look at the big picture, you want to play longer and have a shorter summer than we did in the last two years.”The Canadiens made two big offseason deals, sending Alex Galchenyuk to the Arizona Coyotes and former captain Mac Pacioretty to the Vegas Golden Knights. In return, the Habs received Max Domi from Arizona and Tomas Tatar Philadelphia Flyers T-Shirts Womens , a second-round draft pick and good prospect Nick Suzuki from Vegas.The Canadiens also named defenseman Shea Weber as the 30th captain in the team’s storied history Monday, replacing Pacioretty. “I don’t know how many times you can say an honor, because you look at the guys (on the walls) in our dressing room, guys that have worn this letter in this organization’s history, it’s special,” said Weber, 33, who was acquired from the Nashville Predators two years ago in exchange for P.K. Subban. Weber underwent offseason knee surgery and is not expected to be return to competition until mid-December, which makes it even important that goaltender Carey Price regains his old magic.Habs general manager Marc Bergevin said the choice for captain was obvious. “The players all feel the same way, we all feel the same way that Shea is the right guy to lead this team and we didn’t want to wait,” he said. “Training camp was over, season starts on Wednesday and (Monday) was the perfect day.”In another development, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, the third overall pick in the draft this past June Philadelphia Flyers Hoodies Womens , has earned a roster spot to open the season. The 18-year-old is the youngest Canadiens player since Mario Tremblay broke in shortly after his 18th birthday in 1974.As the opener drew closer, the Maple Leafs were still waiting to sign their restricted free agent William Nylander.Meanwhile, the Leafs traded defenseman Connor Carrick to the Dallas Stars for a seventh-round draft choice Monday and put goaltenders Curtis McElhinney and Calvin Pickard on waivers. Both were claimed, which means Garret Sparks, the American Hockey League goaltender of the year last season with the Toronto Marlies, will begin the season as the backup for Frederik Andersen.“We’re going to be ready to go, for sure,” Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. “In the NHL, there is nothing between all of us. Every night you play it’s a one-goal game and it’s a battle. And yet the good teams win more of those one-goal games and at the end, it seems like you won every night easy. But you didn’t. You scratched and clawed your way through the year. That’s just what you do.” GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) With a win in the regular season finale, the Anaheim Ducks secured home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs and finally know who they’ll face: the Pacific Division-rival San Jose Sharks.Rickard Rakell had a goal and assist, and Ryan Miller made 31 saves to lead the surging Ducks to a 3-0 win over the Arizona Coyotes Saturday night, helping Anaheim clinch second place in the division.Rakell scored for the 12th time in his last 19 games. He led the Ducks with a career-high 34 goals and 69 points this season.”We know they have a good power play and they’re strong around the boards Philadelphia Flyers Hats Womens ,” Rakell said of the Sharks. ”They have four good lines working really hard, so we’re going to have to match that.”Miller earned his fourth shutout of the season and 43rd of his career. It was also his 370th career win, moving him past Tom Barrasso for second place on the all-time list among U.S.-born goalies.”Definitely somebody I looked up to,” Miller said of Barrasso. ”Just happy to still be playing meaningful hockey and getting some wins.”Adam Henrique scored his 24th of the season for Anaheim and added an assist, and Hampus Lindholm scored an empty-netter before the final buzzer.The Ducks (44-25-13) won their fifth straight to finish 10-1-1 over the final 12 games.The Coyotes (29-41-12) finished last in the Pacific, but went 17-9-3 in their last 29 games in a season they started 1-12-1.”I thought we got better from October, so there’s some good positive things,” Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet said. ”We just ran out of gas tonight. For the most part, the last 25, 30 games, we beat some good hockey teams and I thought some of the young guys really progressed, which is nice.”The two teams combined for 26 penalty minutes.Arizona goalie Antti Raanta appeared in his first game since signing a three-year, $12.75 million contract on Friday that will keep him from free agency. He stopped 24 shots.”Anaheim, they played a strong game Custom Philadelphia Flyers Jerseys ,” Raanta said. ”Everyone left everything on the ice but sometimes puck luck isn’t on your side.”An altercation between Coyotes defenseman Luke Schenn and Ducks forward Nick Ritchie in the first period resulted in minor penalties for both. That was followed by another confrontation involving Arizona’s Brad Richardson and Anaheim’s Derek Grant, with Richardson sent to the penalty box for two minutes.The power play for the Ducks helped when Henrique muscled in a backhand for a goal at 10:54 of the period, giving Anaheim a 1-0 lead. Rakell got an assist, his 35th.Richardson and Anaheim’s Corey Perry served five minutes for fighting early in the second period. The Ducks missed a chance to add to their lead when Jakob Silfverberg hit the post with a shot at 13:07 of the second.Rakell scored off a pass from Ryan Getzlaf with 3:43 left in the second. Getzlaf picked up his team-leading 50th assist of the season.Perry earned his 400th assist on Henrique’s goal.Anaheim logged its fifth consecutive 100-point season as a team.”We had a plan. We tried to execute the plan. I’m not standing here saying it was perfect by any means, we had a lot of speed bumps on the way,” Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said. ”We’ve got our group together here over the last six weeks and we’ve played good enough to gain points.”NOTES: The Coyotes brought up D Joel Hanley on emergency recall from Tucson, their AHL affiliate, in time for Saturday’s game. … C Clayton Keller, a rookie and the team’s leading scorer this season, was voted Coyotes Most Valuable Player for the season as voted on by local media. … Ducks C Antoine Vermette and F Troy Terry played Saturday, Vermette’s first game since March 23 and Terry’s second of the season. F Jason Chimera and F J.T. Brown were scratched. … A moment of silence was held in remembrance of lives lost in the fatal bus crash involving a junior hockey team in Canada Friday night.UP NEXTDucks: Western Conference playoffs vs. San JoseCoyotes: Offseason.