Plus we look at the performance of Adam Henrique since being traded to Anaheim. Let’s be honest, it’s approximately 85% Ducks chat – with honourable mention to the Junior Ice Blacks who are currently in Bulgaria for the IIHF Under-20 Division 3 World Championship.

Puck Yeah is a weekly hockey podcast produced in Auckland, New Zealand. Subscribe on iTunes, SoundCloud, or with your favourite podcast app to get every episode free.

The New Jersey native currently plays for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in the American Hockey League and will provide a strong scoring presence for the USA team that will play against Canada this June in Auckland, Wellington, and Queenstown.

As a player who has previously come down to Australia for this tour, organiser Kerry Goulet was excited to have T.J. involved again, calling him “an unbelievable hockey player.” Brennan’s stats and accomplishments can definitely back that up. In 2014 and 2016 he won the Eddie Shore Award as the best defenceman in the league. For that 2015-16 season with the Toronto Marlies, he was scoring close to a point per game pace with 25 goals and 43 assists in 69 games – that led the team in scoring while also being tied for third in league scoring, a rare feat for a player of his position.

Brennan is considered to be an elite offensive defenceman at the AHL level and was recently announced in the 2018 AHL All-Star Classic rosters for the fifth consecutive year.

As the AHL affiliate to the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms are currently second in the Atlantic Division with a 23-12-5 record. Brennan is in the final year of his current two-year deal with the Flyers. At age 28, with his offensive skills from the blueline he could still provide a much-needed scoring boost to many NHL/AHL teams looking to bolster their lineup either at the Feburary 26 trade deadline or for the 2018-19 season.

In an interview with RadioSport Breakfast yesterday Kerry Goulet revealed that David Hanson (from Slapshot fame) will be the coach for the American team. The remainder of the USA and Canada team rosters for the 2018 Ice Hockey Classic are scheduled to be announced within the next couple of weeks.

Puck Yeah is a weekly hockey podcast produced in New Zealand. Subscribe on iTunes, SoundCloud, or with your favourite podcatcher to get every episode free.

(Photos sourced from Phantomshockey.com)

0:00 – Hockey at the Winter Olympics: Rosters are getting announced but do we really care about the men’s tournament without NHL players?

06:16 – How can we get a more diverse range of hockey nations competing at the Winter Olympics?

09:31 – Poor Team USA and what could’ve been according to ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski.

14:40 – Resorting to watching the World Juniors tournament illegally because apparently no one cares outsides of North America or Europe and isn’t broadcasted on New Zealand TV.

18:47 – The 2018 NHL All-Star roster selections and our frustrations with the league’s ‘need’ to have every team to be represented that leaves out much better players.

29:12 – Joe’s crazy concept for a new event at the NHL All-Star skills competition.

29:55 – An update on the Puck Yeah fantasy hockey league.

33:45 – The quality of hockey commentators for the Winter Olympics

35:48 – A short ‘rusty’ story of Logan trying to get his Sky TV signal fixed.

38:28 – A quick wrap of what we did over the Christmas/New Years break.

40:58 – New Zealand’s Secret Santa that’s done through Twitter and the amazing gift Logan got.

44:30 – The death of all other hockey podcasts is here, we welcome the arrival of 31 Thoughts: The Podcast with Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek – just don’t forget about us!

(Main photo: Chung Sung-Jun, IOC)

First up: the 2018 NHL All-Stars. With the All-Star Weekend coming up later this month the rosters were announced earlier today.

ATLANTIC DIVISION

Logan: Tampa Bay play hosts this year and they’re the hottest team in the league, it’s only fitting that four of their players feature here – it’s just scary that Kucherov, Stamkos, Hedman and Vasilevskiy are in the same team, never mind there’s also Tyler Johnson and Vladislav Namestnikov. But by having four elected, others have to miss out. Namely Mitch Marner. The Son of Marleau struggled early on in the season but his recent play shows how dangerous he is carrying the puck with confidence.

Also, is Carey Price there on name alone? Montreal are having a mediocre year backed up by equally average goaltending from their starter: 13-14-2 record, 2.89 GAA, .911 SV%, 1 shutout – the worst of the 2018 All-Star goalies. Tuukka Rask is more deserving, but the NHL needs someone from the Canadiens represented so that’s that.

Joe: First of all I want to say how much I hate this stupid every team must be represented bullshit. It’s lame and creates a “It’s not truely an All-Star but we had to be fair to the crap team” All-Star Game.

It’s true the Leafs were robbed, but not by Mitch Marner missing out, but by Morgan Rielly not being selected. Top 5 in d-man scoring, can skate like the wind, and gets beaten out by old man Mike Green. Get rid of Green and add one of the Wings young kids like Dylan Larkin or Anthony Mantha. Unfortunately, that would mean one of Tampa’s forwards miss out so that would never happen and we’re stuck with Green.

There’s nobody good on the Canadiens, even CP31 hasn’t been up to his best, but if they could, the NHL should have picked Marc Bergevin for the All-Star job he’s done at ruining this team.

METROPOLITAN DIVISION

Logan: The Metro is so loaded with talent they should have to pay a luxury tax. Crosby, Ovechkin, Tavares, and Holtby are some of the best in the game over the past decade – with Lundqvist proving that age isn’t slowing him down either. The emergence of Josh Bailey as a late-bloomer is an inspiration and he’s only getting better. Scoring a career-best 13 goals and 43 assists last season, he’s already poised to surpass that with 12G, 38A at the halfway point of the 2017-18 season. I’ll be surprised if the Metro team don’t make it to the finals. My only question is this, where the bloody hell is Phil Kessel?

Joe: I think we both know the only person that would be upset if Phil Kessel was named to the team would be Phil. I think he’s pretty stoked he doesn’t have to go. But the real issue with this team is how Noah Hanifin got picked ahead of Jaccob Slavin, Brett Pesce or Justin Faulk?!

CENTRAL DIVISION

Logan: It’s strange to see Tyler Seguin elected without Jamie Benn by his side – Seguin’s stats are only slightly better, scoring at a 0.93 points per game rate, while Benn is 0.91, they’re almost a packaged deal at this point and shouldn’t be separated. I’m a little surprised to see Brayden Schenn picked over Vladimir Tarasenko, again the numbers are almost identical but when I think of the St. Louis Blues the first player that comes to mind is always Tarasenko.

Finally P.K. Subban is getting the love he deserves after being taken for granted by the Montreal Canadiens front office. What happened to all those rumours about him being a toxic guy in the locker room? Seems like he’s doing just fine in Nashville.

Joe: Schenn to me only makes it because of Mark Scheifele’s injury – I’d even put Patrik Laine or Nikolaj Ehlers in over Schenn. And because this is an NHL event, how is there only one Blackhawk? Only Patrick Kane? Where’s Toews and Keith? I’d put Big Buff (Dustin Byfuglien) in over John Klingberg and have a skills game where you have stunt men skating across the middle with their heads down while defencemen crush them.

PACIFIC DIVISION

Logan: Fleury! Fleury! Fleury! Going to the Vegas Golden Knights, many thought this was the beginning of the end for Marc-Andre Fleury where he could just kick back and enjoy the Vegas lifestyle – but that’s not how the Flower works. After losing his starting role with the Pittsburgh Penguins to young gun Matt Murray, he’s proving to everyone that he’s still got plenty in the tank to steal a few games with a 9-2-1 record, 1.73 GAA, .945 SV%, and 2 shutouts. The Golden Knights could have more players here, in particular Jonathan Marchessault or William Karlsson, instead the selection of James Neal feels more like a ‘one last time’ for the Real Deal.

I would argue that the Pacific Division All-Stars have the best blueline with Burns, Doughty, and Ekman-Larsson. All three are offensively gifted and could easily set up the likes of McDavid, Gaudreau, or rookie sensation Brock Boeser for a few highlight reel goals.

Also, young sniper Rickard Rakell is set to make his first NHL All-Star appearance, but I’ll leave the Ducks chat to Joe…

Joe: James “I Can’t Deal” Neal being selected annoys me. How former Ducks draft pick Wild Bill Karlsson didn’t make the team is a travesty! The other crime is OEL – he’s playing like he’s got a suit on under his gear, but gets selected over Clayton Keller, that’s rough. But hey, everyone’s got to play so I guess he’s got to make it and the fact he’s in the backend saves him too.

It’s about time Ricky Rakell gets some love! The East Coast bias fans and media will get the chance to see the unbelievable hands and skills he has. P.S. Cam Fowler was robbed…

(All photos sourced from NHL via Twitter).

TEG Live state that the USA and Canada exhibition teams will feature a collection of current stars, illustrious veterans, plus promising young talent that will showcase the speed and skill of international ice hockey. Previous tours have featured the likes of Brent Burns, Scott Darling, Kyle Quincey, and Mike Commodore.

Commodore captained the Canadian side for the 2017 Ice Hockey Classic and mentions that he thoroughly enjoyed the series. “It was great to see so many passionate ice hockey fans come out and support us in Australia,” Commodore said. “Touring Australia with the Ice Hockey Classic has been a highlight in my career and it will be fantastic to reignite the rivalry with USA (in) New Zealand for yet another year.”

Hosting an outdoor hockey game takes a lot of work as seen on the ‘Road to the Winter Classic’ documentary series that follows the progress of the NHL teams and ice crew as they prepare for the annual event, but it’s a challenge that Westpac Stadium’s chief executive Shane Harmon is aware of and excited for.

“The team have a 72-hour turnaround period to build, freeze, unfreeze and dismantle the rink. But we believe it is worth the effort to create such an exciting and innovative event experience for fans,” Harmon told Stuff.

Tickets go on sale from midday today via Ticketmaster for Auckland and Ticketek for Wellington and Queenstown.

Auckland: June 22, tickets range from $79 to $199.
Wellington: June 23, tickets range from $31 to $171.50.
Queenstown: June 28, standing for $81.50, $101.50 for unreserved seating.

(Photos supplied by TEG Live)

When will the obsession with Patrick Kane and the Chicago Blackhawks end?

Anyway, it’s already that time of year again. You know Christmas must be close when the voting opens up to decide the four division captains representing the Pacific, Central, Metro, and Atlantic divisions.

Voting is done via NHL.com, and by that we mean once again you’re able to spam their ballot box with up to ten votes every 24 hours until New Year’s Day.

The option is there for fans to make different selections in each of those ten ballots, but these are the four players that Team Puck Yeah want to see in the NHL’s spotlight that weekend.

JOE’S PICKS

Connor McDavid (Edmonton Oilers – Pacific division):
The NHL would be stupid not to make McDavid the captain and then American fans might be able see him play for once.

John Tavares (NY Islanders – Metro division):
Garth Snow will be sending bribes Gary Bettman’s way in order to keep JT as happy as he possibly can be in order to convince him to stay in Brooklyn/Long Island.

Alex Pietrangelo (St. Louis Blues – Central division):
He won’t win a Norris this year even though he probably should, so at least give him some recognition.

Steven Stamkos (Tampa Bay Lightning – Atlantic division):
How can you not make the captain of the team hosting the All-Star game the captain of one of the teams? Well it is the NHL so it’s possible.

LOGAN’S PICKS

Drew Doughty (LA Kings – Pacific division):
A mic’d up Drew Doughty is my favourite version of Drew Doughty. It’s not all about the slick flow or the trademark missing teeth with him, he can also dish out a few good chirps. The NHL needs to bring out the personalities of its players more and the Kings number one d-man has loads of personality.

Phil Kessel (Pittsburgh Penguins – Metro division):
Sure, you could pick Crosby, but that’s a little obvious isn’t it? Picking Kessel for captain purely comes from wanting to see more great footage of Phil being a Thrill. 81 doesn’t ball as hard as he thinks he does, but that doesn’t matter out on the ice – Kessel could dominate the weekend with his antics.

P.K. Subban (Nashville Predators – Central division):
Speaking of bringing out the best NHL personalities… P.K. Subban might piss off the purists but the man knows how to have fun, which is exactly what the All-Star Weekend needs. If he’s having a good time, his team will too.

Auston Matthews (Toronto Maple Leafs – Atlantic division):
Touted by many as the next captain of the Maple Leafs, why not get in some practice early? He knows how to have fun, yet his stoic demeanour is ideal for a leader. If you get under his skin, he won’t show it, instead he’ll get busy by filling your net with pucks and feel damn good about it.

So there you have it, that’s the Puck Yeah picks for the 2018 NHL All-Star captains.

Let us know who you would pick and remember, you can spam the NHL by voting up to ten times every day, so do your worst to help get your favourite players to Tampa Bay.

Make sure you check programming guides closer to game time as these may change, but for now the upcoming slate is as follows.

OCTOBER

October 27, 1200-1500: Pittsburgh Penguins v Winnipeg Jets (Sky Sport 1)

NOVEMBER

November 2, 1500-1800: Anaheim Ducks v Toronto Maple Leafs (Sport Pop-up 2)
November 8, 1600-1900: LA Kings v Anaheim Ducks (Sky Sport 2)
November 17, 1300-1600: Toronto Maple Leafs v New Jersey Devils (Sport Pop-up 2)
November 23, 1400-1700: Nashville Predators v Montreal Canadiens (Sport Pop-up 2)

DECEMBER

December 1, 1430-1730: Chicago Blackhawks v Dallas Stars (Sky Sport 4)
December 9, 1300-1600: Washington Capitals v New York Rangers (Sky Sport 4)
December 17, 1300-1600: Ottawa Senators v Montreal Canadiens (Sport Pop-up 2)
December 21, 1300-1630: Columbus Blue Jackets v Toronto Maple Leafs (Sky Sport 1)
December 24, 1400-1700: Vegas Golden Knights v Washington Capitals (Sky Sport 3)
December 30, 1600-1900: Anaheim Ducks v Calgary Flames (Sky Sport 4)

Disclaimer:

We would like to thank Puck Yeah contributor John Broadbent for this information. While he has previously worked for SKY, he doesn’t anymore and can’t help with getting more games on per week, but we appreciate any games they do show!

By the way, John isn’t entirely responsible for the selection but if you like what’s on offer, then yes, he did help.

Ultimately what will show Sky Sport that Kiwis want ice hockey on their TVs is ratings – so if you have a subscription or perhaps you manage a sports bar, tune in!

0:00 – Introducing this week’s guest, Steve Dangle, and his favourite moments creating the Leafs Fan Reaction videos.
2:31 – The Blue Room where the videos are filmed
3:33 – Late nights producing a same-day video of the latest game
5:23 – When Steve makes innocent mistakes in his videos
6:28 – Does Steve take more joy out of the Leafs being actually good or the Canadiens being terrible?
7:41 – Is it easier to make videos about the Maple Leafs now?
9:25 – Working for Sportsnet

13:00 – Creating the many different voices and characters that show up in the LFR videos, including the famous Mike Babcock impression
14:20 – Would Steve ever consider doing colour commentary for hockey broadcasts or another role in the future?
16:45 – What happens when Ron and Don retire from Hockey Night In Canada?
18:25 – The many different career paths for getting into today’s sports media
22:40 – Was the NHL debut of Australian Nathan Walker a big deal for Canadian hockey media?
24:04 – Steve Dangle gets his oil change and we say goodbye before slowly wrapping up another great episode. Perhaps our greatest yet?

Below are a few of Steve’s classic videos – the thumbnails really make you want to click, don’t they? Enjoy!

On the night of October 1st, a gunman opened fire on a music festival from his Mandalay Bay hotel room. 58 people sadly lost their lives that day, a further 489 were injured. It is the deadliest mass shooting in US history committed by an individual. Those 58 were honoured during the Golden Knights home opener as were the first responders that came to their aid.

“Athletes are often referred to as heroes. Tonight as we introduce your Vegas Golden Knights, we’d like to introduce our heroes…the heroes of Las Vegas. Those people who’s actions on 1 October will forever remind us of the best of humankind.”

58 seconds for a moment of silence. One second for each person who lost their life that day. At the end, all of their names were displayed on the ice as The Star-Spangled Banner was sung by the capacity crowd in attendance.

During the ceremony, the Arizona Coyotes stood behind the Golden Knights as a sign of solidarity and togetherness.

Following on from the anthem, Las Vegas native and Golden Knights defenseman Deryk Engelland delivered an emotional speech that will likely see him become an instant hero in his hometown – as if he wasn’t one already.

“To the families and friends of the victims, know that we’ll do everything we can to help you and our city heal.” – Deryk Engelland, VGK

Engelland went on to score, helping the Vegas Golden Knights win their home opener 5-2 and become the first expansion team in NHL history to start their inaugural season with a 3-0-0 record.

To cap off the magical night, both teams saluted the crowd at centre ice to show they played just as big of a part in the stands as the players did on the ice.

The very thought of having an expansion team in this market brought its naysayers; but after what transpired in the home opener, what is very clear is this: Hockey belongs in Las Vegas. This city needs a team like the Golden Knights to rally behind and it’s clear VGK are not taking that responsibility lightly.

Main photo: Twitter, Vegas Golden Knights

While it wasn’t the most glamorous way to notch up your first NHL goal, he still had his moment, and better yet his family witnessed it from the stands.

Nate’s big day started off with the Washington Capitals posting a video featuring numerous Australian athletes sharing their best wishes.

Although, why isn’t New Zealand laying claim to Aron Baynes? We could have two Kiwis in the NBA.

Nathan Walker’s debut was eventful to say the least!

He even nabbed the coveted Hockey Night In Canada towel! Some players take years to get interviewed by HNIC and have that towel wrapped around their neck, but Walker was a total natural chatting with Chris Simpson during the intermission.

Congratulations, mate! It might be a few more years before New Zealand hockey fans can celebrate a Kiwi playing in their NHL debut, but we’ll be tracking your progress with great interest. Here’s to what will hopefully be a long, successful career in the world’s biggest hockey league!

By the way, kudos to the Washington Capitals social media team on coming up with the #GdayNate hashtag. Genius.