Penguins hire Ron Hextall and Brian Burke
Mike DeFabo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: The Pittsburgh Penguins have hired Ron Hextall to be their next general manager, and well as hiring Brian Burke to be their president of hockey operations. Burke will be Hextall’s primary advisor, with Burke reporting to president and CEO David Morehouse.
“We feel incredibly lucky to bring in two highly respected executives with a combined 50-plus years of NHL management experience,” Morehouse said in a statement. “Ron and Brian are well-known in the hockey world as fierce competitors with championship pedigrees. They’re very well-connected and experienced in all aspects of the game. They are both excited to get to work here in Pittsburgh, blending their skills and building on our long tradition of success.”
Flyers-Capitals postponed, Blues-Coyotes rescheduled
NHL PR: The NHL has postponed another game and re-scheduled another. NHL’s Statement:
“POSTPONED
Philadelphia at Washington:
As a result of a second Philadelphia Flyers Player entering the NHL’s COVID Protocols earlier today, the team’s game tonight against the Washington Capitals will be postponed. The decision was made by the League’s NHLPA’s and Club’s medical groups out of an abundance of caution while the League continues to analyze test results in the coming days. The rescheduled date will be announced when available.
RE-SCHEDULED
St. Louis at Arizona:
- Game orginally scheduled for April 15 changed to Friday, Feb. 12 at 9 p.m. ET
- Start time for game on Saturday, Feb. 13 changed to 8 p.m. ET”
Tortorella on benching Patrik Laine
Jeff Svoboda: Columbus Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella after benching Patrik Laine last night.
“Shortened bench – That’s gonna stay in house. I know you guys are going to try to work me on that. It wasn’t because of the missed assignment. There’s a number of things that come into play with that. That will stay in the locker room.
It’s what I feel I need to do. The last thing I want to do is bench a player. But as I answered your first question, we’re just disjointed in all areas – quite honestly both on and off the ice. It’s an easy thing to bench a player. Honestly, that’s the last thing I want to do but if I think I need to do it then I need to do it. I did with Patty and I felt I needed to it with Kuks where he was struggling so bad. This came in from the game too. Kuks has given us some really good hockey but that last couple of games, it’s been a struggle.”
On how Laine will handle the benching?
“I don’t know. We have a day off . I am sure Patty and I will talk and I know …. again, I know you think it’s a big thing, I think it’s part of a process of understanding our team concept, how we do things here, the discipline of being a pro, all hat stuff comes into play. I’m still learning – we have I think six or seven new players here that we are trying to filter into a standard of play and culture that I am damn proud of, how we’ve gone about it the last 3-4 years. I’m proud of how we present ourselves. And it’s been a little bit of a struggle to get to that standard this year, and things happen in trying to get everybody there. Through hell or high water I am going to try to find a way to get us to that tightness with a lot of new bodies coming in here and understanding the standard and the culture that we want here.”