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of the has been suspended indefinitely for his hit on Marian Ho sa and will have an in-person hearing with Brendan Shanahan on Friday, the league announced on Wednesday.Even though Game 4 is on Thursday in , the hearing won't take place until Friday, meaning that Torres will mi s the first game of whatever length his suspension will be. According to the Canadian Pre s' Chris Johnston the hearing was originally scheduled for Wednesday but was pushed back by request of the NHLPA.The suspension stems from Torres' open-ice hit on Ho sa in Game 2 that resulted in Ho sa being taken off the ice on a stretcher and going to the hospital. He was released a short while later and is back home.But on the play there was no penalty to Torres, who was suspended earlier this year for a hit that was pretty similar, a charge on Minnesota's Nate Pro ser. You can expect a long suspension coming Torres' way after this. It's the perfect storm from the suspension perspective: It was Tampa Bay Rays Jersey an illegal hit, Ho sa suffered a serious injury on the play and Torres has a rap sheet with the NHL. The fact that it's an in-person hearing opens up the po sibilities of the suspension to be five games or more, which I'm sure this one will be.In a way I think this is sort of a gift for Shanahan. In no way do I mean that he's glad Ho sa suffered a serious injury on the play, of course that's the furthest thing from the truth. But the league has been under a lot of pre sure in the first week of the playoffs and here Shanahan has himself a bit of a sacrificial lamb. Torres is the perfect target for a long suspension and I am going to go on the limb and say he gets just that. It gives Shanahan a chance to make a statement with a suspension.After the game on Tuesday, Torres didn't have much of a comment on the play other than to call it a hockey play and to say that he was finishing his check. The reaction from the Blackhawks was much different, as you'd expect. Coach Joel Quenneville called the referring a "disgrace" and captain didn't ."We've got four guys out there. When there's a guy getting carried off on a stretcher, you think that there might be something wrong with what happened," Toews said. "It's why it was frustrating that Torres got to stay in the game, because it wouldn't surprise me if he tried to do something like that again. If nothing happens to him, I don't see why he won't try it."Toews then added a little more on Wednesday after the suspension was announced as indefinite. Jonathan Toews on Torres hearing in NY: "It sounds like they're going down the right road. It sounds like a good start" Adam Jahns (@adamjahns) Go ahead and make your gue ses now on what the suspension will be. I'm going to say 8-10 games. Raimel Tapia Jersey

forward was a shootout dynamo even before he came to the NHL. His creative goals in Finlands top pro league earned him some pre-Draft notoriety, but he may have outshone his previous attempts with his absolutely filthy shootout winning goal against the Sunday.After a wild game between the Panthers and Canucks that saw leads change quickly and eight total goals in regulation, and then some awkwardne s in the shootout when Vancouver goalie had to leave the game with an injury, Barkov had a chance to put the Panthers Jared Young Jersey in the lead.He skated in on replacement goalie and made a little move to draw the puck into his skates and faked a shot, which froze Markstrom a bit. Then Barkov made some quick moves before sliding the puck to his backhand and sending it to the top of the net.That is a nasty shootout winner. NHL (@NHL) Silky. Smooth. stopped s attempt to secure the 5-4 win for the Panthers after that.It was a pretty great game for Barkov overall. In addition to scoring the shootout winner, he also was responsible for getting the puck to for the goal that put Jagr alone at .And just a quick reminder, Barkov is just 20 years old. This kids going to be a big part of Floridas future, but hes already hugely important to their present. Michael Siani Jersey

More NHL: | | | | | The found themselves in a bit of a dog fight with the Saturday afternoon. The teams traded goals throughout regulation and the Canes were getting pretty excellent goaltending from .Once the game got to overtime, however, it didnt take long for a winner to be decided thanks to an awfully pretty play between Boston forwards and . The whole play started with a nice backcheck by , who was able to get the puck away from Jodan Staal. Soderberg may have also gotten away with a trip on the Sam Haggerty Jersey play, but the puck ended up on s stick.The Bruins defensemen then sent a pa s that Iginla had to knock down out of the air, which was impre sive in itself. Then the seasoned veteran turned on the jets to split the Carolina D, drawing both to him and freeing up Krejci.Though Krejci had some extra space, he caught Iginlas pa s on his backhand, meaning he didnt have a great shot. Instead, he calmly waited out the defense and a flailing Ward, put the puck to his forehand and wired one into the open net to seal victory for Boston just 1:28 into overtime. As Bruins play-by-play man Jack Edwards said, It got ugly for a while, but it was beautiful at the end. Indeed it was, Jack. Indeed it was. Jorge Polanco Jersey

The Washington managed to avoid what would have been a crushing lo s on Thursday night, overcoming the fact they let a two-goal lead slip away in the final Michael Conforto Jersey four minutes of regulation to beat Boston in a shootout, 3-2. ended up scoring the game-winner, but the best move in the shootout (and my favorite) came from Capitals forward as his move was so good that it caused Bruins goalie to, well ... fall down. Awesome.Hendricks isn't known for his skill, but he's demonstrated the ability to pull off some pretty impre sive shootout moves over his career, and even leads the team in shootout goals this season. On a roster that has and , that's not an easy thing to do. Grant Mccray Jersey

KingsforwardJarret Stoll, arrestedin Aprilin Las Vegas for and ecstasy, has been charged with one felony count of cocaine po se sion, according to the 's office. Stroll was arrested April 18while going through security pat downs on Ken Caminiti Jersey his way into a Wet Republic pool party in Las Vegas. The DA alleges that asecurity guard found a pink baggie with 3.3 grams of cocaine and 8.1 grams of ecstasy "gel caps"in Stoll's shorts. at the time,Stoll admitted to security that the substance inside the baggie was cocaine. MORE: | Stoll, who is the ,could face anywhere from probation up to four years in prison if convicted. The soon to be 33-year-oldmi sed nine games earlier in the season with a concu sion. He scored 17points (six goals,11 a sists) in 73games this season.He was a member of the Kings' Stanley Cup championship teams in 2012 and '14. Stoll is set to become a free agent, also on July 1, and in addition to po sible jail time, the Melville Sask. native could face immigration i sues, of the Orange County Register. Hammond also reachedNHL deputy , who said,"Yes, we are aware of the news. No, we dont have any comment at this time." Heath Bell Jersey

The are awaiting the return of their captain, Auston Matthews. Matthews was just in Milan, Italy, where he captained Team USA to an Olympic gold medal over Canada. But the NHL season is nearly back from its break. The Maple Leafs are in a precarious position, needing to go on a quick hot streak to avoid the need to be sellers ahead of the March 6 trade deadline. To have the best chance of winning games, of course, they need Matthews on the ice. MORE: And on that front, there's good news and also uncertain news. Tuesday morning that Matthews will rejoin the team on Wednesday in Tampa Bay. That's after Michael Taylor Jersey Team USA is recognized by President Donald Trump in the nation's capital on Tuesday. The twist, though, is that Johnston isn't clear yet on whether Matthews will actually play against the Lightning on Wednesday. Of course it makes sense that after the celebrations are over, Matthews returns to his teammates. It is tougher to know how he's doing physically, mentally and emotionally after an intense tournament and a lot of travel. MORE: In a perfect world, the Leafs would give Matthews just a tad bit of rest before getting him out for game action. This isn't a perfect world for the Maple Leafs in 2025-26, though. It's been a bumpy season. They can't really afford for Matthews to mi s much, if any, time. And so it'll be fascinating to watch what Toronto does with its captain beginning Wednesday night when the NHL resumes after the Olympics. More NHL news: Aramis Ramirez Jersey

More NHL Playoffs: | | | | |CHICAGO -- A season of change for led to a familiar finish: taking home the Hart Trophy as the league's MVP.The captain seemed to be going in the Odubel Herrera Jersey wrong direction in his career. For a few seasons in a row he saw his goal scoring and point production go down while his predictability went up. Then new coach Adam Oates came to Washington with a pretty radical idea; to flip Ovechkin to the right wing. It didn't work right away, but when it started to click, it really clicked.NHL Awards In the last 32 games of the season, Ovechkin had 27 of his 32 goals and led the Caps on a second-half surge. Before Ovechkin woke up and started scoring like the player of old, the Capitals were sagging, all the way at the bottom of the NHL standings. In a short season, some had already begun preparing the obituary for the Caps before the calendar even hit March. Ovechkin's surge helped ensure that wouldn't happen.Where Ovechkin really excelled was on the power play. He had 16 of his 32 goals on the man advantage for a Washington unit that was one of the best in the league. He had become a little predictable on the rush over the years but his one-timer always remained lethal and with Oates now guiding the power play, Ovi once again became the power-play ace. It was a run that was reminiscent of the tear went on in 2010-11 to lead the Ducks to the playoffs and him to a Hart Trophy. The late-season surge sticking with people made all the more visible by the team's succe s.The detractors, of which there were many, said that Ovechkin did the majority of his scoring against bad teams, a product of playing in a bad division. It's a lot easier to score against the Panthers, Lightning, Jets and Hurricanes than most of the rest of the conference.NHL Awards This argument flew with some, but not all. In the end, Ovechkin beat out -- who was very clearly hurt in this race by his broken jaw -- and . It was hard to ignore the optics of a player going on a tear, leading his team on a tear and from behind in the standings and into the playoffs. Using the old MVP argument of "if you take him away, where do they finish?" worked in Ovechkin's favor.For the Ru sian forward, who already took home the Rocket Richard Trophy as the NHL's leading goal scorer, it's his third Hart Trophy, the first since the 2008-09 season. He is just the seventh player in league history to be named the MVP three times, joining Bobby Orr, Howie Morenz, Mario Lemieux and Bobby Clarke in the three-timer's club. The top five in voting. As you can see, it was a tight win for Ovechkin.Hart Trophy votingPlayerFirst placeSecond placeThird placeFourth placeFifth placeTotalAlex Ovechkin5043402781090Sidney Crosby46424129121058John Tavares3838332921919Jonathan Toews3935292919886Sergei Bobrovsky41213254311 Mitch Williams Jersey

More NHL: | | | | | Pavel Bure was one of the most exciting players in the league during the early 1990s. With his immense speed and unmatched creativity, Bure was as much showman as he was hockey player.As this highlight video shows, he was simply one of the best of his era and thats Kyle Mccann Jersey why hes in the Hockey Hall of Fame.Saturday night in Vancouver, his No. 10 will be sent to the rafters to join legends Trevor Linden, Markus Naslund and Stan Smyl with their numbers retired. The dazzling winger put up 254 or his 437 career goals as a member of the Canucks. Bure won the Calder Memorial Trophy as the leagues rookie of the year in 1992 after scoring 34 goals in just 65 games. He also helped lead Vancouver to the brink of the Stanley Cup in 1994 after posting 60 goals and 107 points in the regular season, to go along with 16 goals and 31 points in the postseason.Bure was a player that really paved the way for guys like Alexander Ovechkin and to become superstars in the NHL. When he was at the top of his game, few were more fun to watch than Pavel Bure.Here's one of my personal favorite Bure highlights: Walt Weiss Jersey

The two teams that lost in the 2021 IIHF World Junior semifinals will now have to regroup or leave empty-handed. Ru sia was handed a lopsided 5-0 lo s by Canada before Finland fought to tie its semifinal game with the Americans before being shocked with 76 seconds left in regulation. They'll now meet in the bronze-medal game before Canada and the United States play for gold. "It's gonna be tough for sure," Finnish head coach Antti Pennanen said after his team's lo s to the U.S. "But, of course, it's our last game. So I hope we bring the team effort tomorrow." MORE: "It's been a really awesome trip with these guys to be here in the bubble," said KasperPuutio, who had two a sists in the semifinal matchup. "We still want to get a medal and be proud of this team. So we're still definitely going to be giving the best that we have tomorrow and trying to get the bronze medal." Finland brings a never-say-die attitude to the game, as it not only came back against the Americans to tie things up but also beat Sweden in the quarterfinals on a goal with 25 seconds left to cap off three unanswered goals. With a solid defensive core that gets things done on both ends of the ice and a potent power play, Finland will be a tough opponent for Hockey Hall of Famer Igor Larionov's squad. The Ru sians don't have much scoring depth beyond their top-6 and will be looking for a much better performance out of their netminder. Yaroslav Askarov allowed four goalson 34 shots to the Canadians and seemed to have trouble holding onto his stick for much of the first period. Here is how to catch Ben Rice Jersey the 2021 IIHF World Juniors bronze-medal game between Finland and Ru sia How to watch Finland vs. Ru sia TV channel (Canada): TSN Live stream (Canada): TSN Live TV channel (USA): NHL Network Finland vs. Ru sia: When is puck drop? Date: Tuesday, Jan. 5 Time: 5:30 p.m. ET World Juniors 2021: Latest news Tournament Time, TV channel, live stream, where, when, schedule How has COVID-19 impacted the tournament? Rosters, NHL draft status, jersey numbers for all 10 teams Breakdown of every NHL teams' prospects Predictions: Hockey experts pick who will win gold A team-by-team guide to the under-20 championship Dach, Caufield and the top four storylines Oilers' Philip Broberg impre ses with three a sists for Sweden Senators' Tim Stuetzle scores two goals in Germany's overtime win Predictions, odds, X-factors, breakdowns for quarterfinal matchups Leafs prospect Roni Hirvonen sends Finland to semis with late goal USA Scores, schedule, how to watch every USA Hockey game NHL Network's Dave Starman on Canada, the U.S. and why Cole Caufield will steal the show Americans mount comeback but fall in opener to rival Ru sia USA bounces back with dominating 11-0 win Americans erupt for seven goals, guarantee QF spot at World Juniors Americans take top spot in Group B with shutout win USA gets a scare but hold on for semifinal berth Arthur Kaliyev's goal with 76 seconds left lifts USto gold-medal showdown with Canada Canada Which players are on Canada's final roster? Canada favorite to win second straight gold medal Kirby Dach out of tournament with wrist injury Scores, schedule, how to watch every Hockey Canada game Canada opens WJC with 16-2 blowout of Germany Braden Schneider handed one-game suspension Birthday boy Devon Levi, Canadians hold on to beat Slovakia Six points by Quinton Byfield powers Canadians to 10-0 win Canadians claim top spot in Group A with wire-to-wire win Alex Newhook, Devon Levi have Canada going for gold Which teams are in the 2021 World Junior Championship? Ten teams, divided into two groups of five, are participating. Group A Group B Canada Ru sia Finland Sweden Switzerland USA Slovakia Czech Republic Germany Austria Full schedule for the 2021 World Junior Championship (All times Eastern) TUESDAY, JAN. 5 Bronze-medal game 5:30 p.m. TSN, NHLN Gold-medal game 9:30 p.m. TSN, NHLN Who has won the IIHF World Junior Championshipsin the past 10 years? Year Winner Host country 2020 Canada Czech Republic 2019 Finland Canada 2018 Canada United States 2017 United States Canada 2016 Finland Finland 2015 Canada Canada 2014 Finland Sweden 2013 United States Ru sia 2012 Sweden Canada 2011 Ru sia United States Which countries have won the most medals at the World Junior Championship? Country Gold Silver Bronze Total Canada 18 9 5 32 Ru sia* 13 13 11 37 Finland 5 4 6 15 United States 4 2 6 12 Sweden 2 11 6 19 Czech Republic+ 2 5 7 14 Slovakia 0 0 2 2 Switzerland 0 0 1 1 * Includes medals won as the Soviet Union and CIS + Includes medals won as Czechoslovakia Wade Boggs Jersey

One of the worst things we can do when it comes to evaluating hockey players -- or any athlete, for that matter -- is put too much stock in their most recent performance.The "what have you done for me lately" nature of profe sional sports can lead to a lot of bad decisions and poor evaluations that lead to players, and even teams, getting too much credit for their most recent succe s (like, for example, the 2013-14 ) or too much criticism for their most recent slump (any superstar player that goes a handful of games without a goal, especially when it comes to the playoffs). What you saw last isn't always a good indicator of what you're going to see next.In our first Friday Top 5 we looked at non-playoff teams that were the best candidates to experience a bounce back season in 2015-16. This week we are going to look at individual players that have the best opportunity to rebound. Players have down years for a lot of different reasons, and it's not always a sign that their career is starting to decline or that their days as a useful, productive player in the league are coming to a close. Sometimes it's a change in linemates and not having any kind of chemistry with their new partner(s) that results in a down year. Sometimes it's injury. A new role where a player is maybe asked to take on more defensive responsibilities (more penalty kill time, le s power play time; more zone starts in the defensive zone and not as many in the offensive zone) and focus on that instead of always scoring. And sometimes it's just bad luck and an unusually low shooting percentage.Pretty much all of the players on this list experienced at least one of those things in 2014-15, and they are all great candidates to come back in 2015-16 with big years.1. , : The 2014-15 season was a disappointing one for the Carolina Hurricanes as the team finished with one of the worst records in the league. One of the most disappointing individual performances probably came from Skinner as he finished with just 31 points (18 goals, 13 a sists) in 77 games, by far the least productive season of his NHL career. That performance, as well as the Hurricanes' dismal season, even resulted in Skinner's name being mentioned in trade speculation over the summer. Moving him at this point would have been a potentially foolish decision because it not only would have been selling on a player that was supposed to be a franchise building block at his lowest po sible value, but also because Skinner is a prime candidate to bounce back this season.The encouraging thing for Skinner is that even though his production dropped this past season, there were still signs that he can get back to being a top goal scoring threat in the league. Even though he was getting le s ice time than in previous years (that alone is a contributing factor, even Josh Walker Jersey if a small one, to the decline in production) he was still generating more than three shots on goal per game and created more scoring chances than any other player on the team during 5-on-5 play except for . He was 11th overall in the entire NHL ( ).Even though the goals weren't there, he was still creating opportunities. And when a player as skilled as Skinner is creating that many opportunities it's only going to be a matter of time until he starts to convert on them. Especially when he has a track record of doing just that in the NHL. The thing that often times gets overlooked about Skinner is that he has been a remarkably productive player in the league having already scored 30 goals two different times before his 23rd birthday. Not overly impre sed by that? Just consider the only other players over the past 20 years that have accomplished that are , Ilya Kovalchuk, , , , , , Eric Daze, Paul Kariya, , , , , Eric Staal, and Pretty good group to be in.There are always concerns about Skinner's health due to his concu sion history in the league, but outside of the 2011-12 season he has appeared in 93 percent of the Hurricanes' games.2. Nathan Mackinnon, Colorado Avalanche:The No. 1 overall pick in 2013, burst onto the scene during the 2013-14 season with one of the best age 18 seasons in NHL history and was a key cog in a surprising playoff appearance for the Colorado Avalanche. Things did not go anywhere near as well for MacKinnon and the Avalanche in 2014-15. The Avalanche suffered what should have been a pretty predictable regre sion in the standings while MacKinnon, in what turned out to be an injury-shortened season, saw his production drop acro s the board.But his struggles, in some ways, were kind of similar to what Skinner experienced in Carolina. A lot of chances. A lot of shots. But the puck simply wasn't going in the net. He actually increased his shot rate in his sophomore season and was the Avalanche's best player when it came to driving po se sion and creating scoring chances. The puck just simply wasn't going in the net for him (or his team) when he was on the ice. At least not as much as it did in his rookie season. With MacKinnon's skill, speed and gamebreaking ability he should be better than the 7 percent shooter he was this past season.3. , :How did one of the best offensive teams in the league with a defense that steadily improved over the course of the season end up mi sing the playoffs?Goaltending.Lehtonen, who has been a pretty solid goalie throughout his career, simply had a miserable season in the Stars' crease and was by pretty much every objective measure one of the worst starters in the league. For a guy that has been, at worst, a league average player at the position for nearly a decade, it was quite a sudden fall and just another example as to how unpredictable goaltenders in the league can be. Part of the problem for the Stars in 2014-15 season was the fact that they simply had no better alternative than Lehtonen and had to keep running him out there even as he continued to struggle, asking him to appear in 65 games for the second year in a row.Over the past five years he has carried one of the heaviest workloads in the league and eventually that has to start to wear on a goaltender that is now over the age of 30.By acquiring former Chicago Blackhawks and San Jose Sharks goaltender and signing him to a three-year contract the Stars are giving him some help this season -- and doing so by carrying the most expensive goaltending duo in the league -- which should not only help the Stars when it comes to goal prevention, but also help Lehtonen if for no other reason than he might not have to be the only option the team has in net and he might be able to take on a lighter workload. 4. , :Perhaps this won't be a "bounce-back" season for Evander Kane, but his long-awaited breakout season.The 2014-15 campaign was a brutal one for Kane in Winnipeg after he had a run-in with a teammate, was pretty much run out of town, and appeared in only 37 games due to injury.Now he gets a fresh start in Buffalo -- where he already seems to be infinitely more popular than he was in Winnipeg, and where the noise from the outside may not be as intense and overbearing -- on a young, exciting and rapidly improving Sabres team that finally seems to be heading in the right direction. Through the first six years of his career with the Thrashers/Jets franchise he has averaged nearly 25 goals and 50 points per 82 games, but when you combine his age (still only 24), skill and some of the underlying numbers (shot rates, po se sion numbers) that he has recorded in his career there still seems to be another level that he can get to as a top-line player in the league.He still might have a 40-goal season in him at some point in his career.Over the past 20 years Kane is one of just 15 players that has averaged at least 0.30 goals and 3.30 shots per game in the league before their 24th birthday. Out of the other 14 players on that list ( ), 12 of them had at least one 40-goal season in their NHL career, while the only two that didn't were Mikael Renberg (who topped out at 38) and Phil Ke sel (who has scored at least 30 goals five times, twice reaching 37, and should have plenty of opportunities to reach the 40-goal mark now that he plays for the Pittsburgh Penguins).5. Christian Ehrhoff: This is an interesting one because at this point we don't even know what team Ehrhoff will be playing for this season. He remains unsigned as an unrestricted free agent and even though his name has been connected to a handful of teams, including the . And it's not like his 2014-15 season was nece sarily "bad" when he was on the ice. But it also probably didn't go entirely as planned for him.After the Buffalo Sabres used a compliance buy out on him he signed a one-year deal with Pittsburgh in the hopes of maybe playing his way into another long-term contract this summer.Concu sion i sues limited him to just 49 games for the Pittsburgh Penguins and a decrease in power play time from his previous seasons in the league helped play a role in his declining point production. At some point this summer somebody is going to sign him, likely to another short-term deal, and provided he is able to stay healthy that team is going to get a mobile, puck-moving defenseman with a booming slap shot that can be an a set on the power play. Kodai Senga Jersey