It’s just the preseason, but Roope Hintz looked good in his debut last night, scoring a goal for the Dallas Stars in a 3-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche. Hintz is coming off a groin injury, but it sure didn’t look like it on the ice:
Asked what he liked about Hintz’s game, [head coach Rick] Bowness said, “Everything. He was flying out there.”
…
“When you see him coming through the middle of the ice like he was tonight, you know he’s feeling great,” Bowness said. “His reads were better than I thought they would be, his timing was really good, he showed what a great player he is.”
Hintz had a breakout season last year, scoring 43 points in just 41 games despite playing through a groin injury. If he’s 100% this year, big things are in store for the young center:
“He’s got great speed, he’s a big body, very skilled,” said defenseman Ryan Suter… “You don’t realize how skilled some of these guys are until you practice with him. Just seeing them handle the puck and seeing how they carry themselves on the ice every day, it’s very eye opening.”
You can read more from Mike Heika here.
More Stars News
With Hintz back, the super line of Hintz, Jason Robertson, and Joe Pavelski will be ready to make waves:
As the Stars’ best unit last season, Robertson, Hintz and Pavelski look to build off of success | @MDeFranks https://t.co/7pJOYYJJCM
— SportsDay Stars (@dmn_stars) October 8, 2021
Speaking of Robertson, here’s an exclusive look at his goal from last night’s untelevised game:
Bad news: Our camera froze when we were shooting Robo’s goal.
Good news: You get this version of instant replay of it instead! pic.twitter.com/7JAgtnKJ32
— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) October 8, 2021
Anton Khudobin had a solid game last night — has the Stars’ goaltending logjam been resolved?
Stars depth chart: Goaltending gridlock clearing up, and the group of defensemen looks elite https://t.co/DTV0Woqdn1
— Saad Yousuf (@SaadYousuf126) October 8, 2021
Andrej Sekera is the first Star to be named to an Olympic roster. Woo!
We love to see the return of some big names to the big ice. #Slovakia will be flexing some muscle with the addition of Andrej Sekera, Erik Cernak and Jaroslav Halak on the @Beijing2022 roster.
More info 👉 https://t.co/ZUknuqtwVb@NHL @DallasStars @TBLightning @Canucks pic.twitter.com/xLfA4HjOux
— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) October 8, 2021
Around the League
How hopeful are the fans of each NHL team? Some results might surprise you:
“Are you optimistic about your favorite NHL team?”
The question was simple. More than 10,000 people answered it.
This, from 1 to 32, is the Hope-O-Meter. https://t.co/ZjJ0kf5Py4
— Sean Gentille (@seangentille) October 8, 2021
The Florida Panthers were at the top with 100% optimism, which was reinforced today as they extended Alexander Barkov for eight years at $10M AAV:
A very fair deal for one of the best players in hockey. Barkov should remain an elite player worth $10 million for the majority of his contract. pic.twitter.com/bUoYa9WoMG
— dom at the athletic (@domluszczyszyn) October 8, 2021
RIP the all-Canada division:
The @NHL changed all of its divisions for 2020-21 — a season shortened to 56 games — with the aim of cutting travel and potential COVID-19 exposure.
🇨🇦 teams were forced to play each other – but now they’re returning as close to normal as possible: https://t.co/hqct3kg3Q6
— The Hockey News (@TheHockeyNews) October 8, 2021
NHLers continue to pour our support for Carey Price:
Montreal Canadiens players are showing their support for Carey Price as the goaltender enters the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program.https://t.co/JOe9DZ5vz5
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) October 8, 2021
Blake Coleman will be missing his regular season debut for the Calgary Flames:
Calgary’s Blake Coleman has been suspended for one preseason game and one regular season game for Boarding Winnipeg’s Jansen Harkins. https://t.co/E9EsokYFd5
— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) October 7, 2021
Finally, here’s a deep dive that’s rather… interesting:
“The last five years, I wasn’t happy to be playing hockey.”
Last month, Nikita Popugaev, a 22-year-old New Jersey Devils prospect, announced he was retiring from hockey.
Now he’s starting a new career — as a social media influencer.https://t.co/c2SgRwOQCF
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) October 8, 2021