The Reign took the series from the Gulls four games to one and advanced to the American Hockey League’s Western Conference final. Here’s the recap from our man on the scene, Jim Alexander: http://www.pe.com/articles/pushed-802964-reign-test.html
Here’s the more Gulls-centric story from the San Diego Union-Tribune: http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2016/may/14/gulls-reign-playoffs-hockey/
Game 1 against either Grand Rapids or Lake Erie is Saturday in Ontario.
Here’s the story on the Reign’s unlikely hero in their Game 4 overtime victory Friday over the Gulls, via Jim Alexander of the Press-Enterprise: http://www.pe.com/articles/kid-802913-plays-reign.html
Here’s the view from the San Diego Union-Tribune: http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2016/may/13/gulls-reign-chris-mueller-kings-ducks/
Game 5 is Saturday night in Ontario.
Free agency doesn’t begin until July 1, but the Kings (and every other NHL team) can give their own players contract extensions at any point between now and then. They’ve already done it with one unrestricted free agent, agreeing to terms with coach Darryl Sutter on a new deal that will kick in when his old one expires July 1.
Here are the Kings’ unrestricted free agents (eligible to sign with any team without the Kings able to match the offer), per generalfanager.com:
Forwards Milan Lucic, Kris Versteeg and Trevor Lewis.
Defensemen Jamie McBain and Luke Schenn.
Goalie Jhonas Enroth.
Here are the Kings’ restricted free agents (the Kings have the right to match offers from other teams):
Forward: Nic Dowd.
Defenseman:Brayden McNabb.
Kings coach Darryl Sutter
The Kings and Darryl Sutter have agreed on a new contract. A team spokesman said a formal announcement would be made Friday. Terms were not immediately available. Sutter’s three-year contract was due to expire July 1 and Kings general manager Dean Lombardi said last week there was a “very fair” offer on the table. The Los Angeles Times first reported the agreement Thursday afternoon.
Sutter is 186-112-45 in four-plus seasons with the Kings. He led the team to Stanley Cup championships in 2014 and ’12. The San Jose Sharks eliminated them in the first round of the playoffs this season, and there’s been plenty of speculation in recent days and weeks that the Kings’ roster could undergo a major shakeup for 2016-17. The head coach will remains the same, however.
“Failure is the best teacher,” Lombardi said last week. “So it’s very simple for every part of this organization right now … We have to look at ourselves in the mirror and admit that these two things happened, and now we have to get back on that path – the innovation, the spark, the challenge that was there seven years ago and we were coming from the gutter. You’ve got to get it back.”
Here’s the recap from our man in Ontario, Jim Alexander: http://www.pe.com/articles/ontario-802356-series-alexander.html
Here’s the story from the San Diego Union-Tribune: http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2016/may/08/gulls-overcome-adversity-to-beat-reign-3-0/
Game 4 is Friday in San Diego.
Here’s the recap from Jim Alexander, our man on the scene Saturday in San Diego: http://www.pe.com/articles/pay-802307-persistence-reign.html
Here’s the San Diego Union-Tribune story: http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2016/may/07/despite-hacketts-heroics-gulls-fall-2-1-to-reign/
Game 3 is Sunday in Ontario.
Here’s what Ducks general manager Bob Murray said about the Minnesota Wild’s hiring of Bruce Boudreau as their coach Saturday: “On behalf of the club, congratulations to Bruce and the Minnesota Wild. Although coaching changes are extremely difficult, we felt that Bruce could be back behind the bench quickly. Everyone in the organization is very pleased he’s getting another deserved opportunity.”
Well, that didn’t take long. Bruce Boudreau was named the Minnesota Wild’s new coach a little more than a week after the Ducks fired him after a fourth consecutive Pacific Division championship and a fourth straight Game 7 loss at Honda Center.
Darren Drager of TSN and Kevin Weekes of NHL Network each reported the news via Twitter on Saturday night and the Wild later confirmed the hiring. Boudreau was 208-104-40 with the Ducks. He also won four Southeast Division titles and was 201-88-40 with the Washington Capitals.
Boudreau also interviewed with the Ottawa Senators before coming to terms on a four-year contract with the Wild, as reported by the Star-Tribune newspaper. The team said via Twitter that Boudreau would be available to speak to reporters Tuesday in St. Paul, Minn.
Ducks general manager Bob Murray said he would take his time in searching for Boudreau’s replacement. Here’s a link to my story last week about possible successors to Boudreau: http://www.ocregister.com/articles/ducks-714129-coach-league.html
Kings coach Darryl Sutter.
Kings general manager Dean Lombardi said Friday he made a “very fair” offer to Darryl Sutter to return as the team’s coach for next season and beyond, but no agreement has been reached. Lombardi said money is not the issue, but the direction of the team is.
“Darryl has an offer on the table,” Lombardi said during a conference call. “I think there’s an offer that’s certainly respectable. I don’t think this is about money. It’s, are we ready to do this? That issue of where we’re going and where we are is always out there. It’s a different challenge. You want to hear what our game plan is. It’s not different than when I first hired him.”
Here’s a look at the Freeway Series opener from our man Jim Alexander of the Press-Enterprise: http://www.pe.com/articles/first-802102-ontario-reign.html
Here’s the report from the San Diego Union-Tribune, which also is covering the series: http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2016/may/05/gulls-start-too-cautious-fall-5-3-to-reign/
Game 2 is Saturday in San Diego.