WASHINGTON, DC – Garret Sparks made 33 saves in his season debut for the Los Angeles Kings, who rallied for a 3-2 win against the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena on Sunday.
Sparks, who signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Kings on July 28, was making his first start since April 2, 2019, and earned his first win since March 20, 2019, with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
DENVER, CO – The Colorado Avalanche Hockey Club announced today that the team has signed forward Cal Burke to a one-year contract through the 2022-23 season. Burke will remain with the American Hockey League’s Colorado Eagles.
Burke, 24, has recorded 14 points (6g/8a) in 19 games for the Eagles this season. He ranks fifth on the team in points and is tied for third in goals. Now in his second professional campaign, the 5-foot-10, 185-pound right wing has produced 23 points (8g/15a) in 52 career AHL contests, all with the Eagles. He recorded a point (0g/1a) in two postseason contests in 2021.
DALLAS, TX – One streak continued, and one ended on Tuesday night at American Airlines Center, as the Stars lost 4-1 to the St. Louis Blues.
Not only was it the Stars’ fourth consecutive loss, but it also snapped an eight-game home winning streak – tied for the second-longest such streak in franchise history.
The loss put a damper on an electrifying goal from Riley Damiani, who scored in his NHL debut. His goal gave the Stars a 1-0 lead with under five minutes remaining in the second period in what was a tightly contested scoreless contest up to that point. His goal sent the crowd of 18,012 into a frenzy and gave the Stars life.
“I just fanned out to the backdoor, and Klinger made a great play,” Damiani said to reporters after the game. “I think he’d be pretty mad if I missed that one. It was exciting and I’m happy it went in. All around a good feeling.”
Unfortunately for Dallas, the Blues came roaring back. They found the equalizer less than two minutes later on a goal from Colton Parayko, and then scored three times in the third period on a tallies from Justin Faulk, Ryan O’Reilly and Vladimir Tarasenko to give them a 4-1 cushion.
WINNIPEG, MB – After spending the past two years playing pro hockey, Cole Perfetti is ready to lead Canada in his last hurrah in junior hockey. He hopes his time playing with Winnipeg and Manitoba will help him be a leader on the international stage.
Let’s just do a recap of the past 18 months for Cole Perfetti.
His OHL season was delayed, preventing him from playing his Draft+1 year. Then, he made Canada’s World Junior Selection Camp roster, and that too had a two-week delay due to positive COVID-19 cases within the team. He made the team, but Canada came up short, and Perfetti didn’t play a prominent offensive role.
Then, he got the unique experience of playing in the AHL for the rest of the season, something that typically isn’t allowed for U-20 North American prospects belonging to CHL teams. He then finished things off by playing as Canada’s 13th forward at the men’s World Championship, winning gold.
Now, he has two NHL games under his belt with Winnipeg and is a key offensive contributor for the Manitoba Moose, entering Canada’s camp after leading Manitoba with 15 points in 17 games. But right now, his focus is on helping Canada win gold at the World Junior Championship, something he came short of last year in Edmonton.
Clearly, a lot has happened since that point. And the goal-scoring winger hopes it translates into the more coveted piece of hardware around his neck when the tournament comes to a close.
This is actually Perfetti’s third camp appearance after failing to make the team in 2020. So, in a way, the 19-year-old is like a seasoned veteran. And the experience of playing against men over the past two years is something Perfetti finds valuable heading into his second tournament appearance.
“It’s been great for me,” Perfetti said about his experience in pro hockey. “It’s hard to explain just how the adjustment period works. It’s different for everyone, but I think the only way to get better is to experience the next level. Being thrown into the AHL last year was really good for me in the sense that I got used to playing against men. The speed, the size, the physicality, the skill. Everything is just at another level.
“Being adapted to the pro game and the pro style at a young age, it’s extremely helpful and beneficial.”
Perfetti was awarded that opportunity because the AHL allowed players that were still junior-eligible the chance to play in the league while the CHL sat out of commission during COVID-19. That’s usually not an option for players heading into this tournament, but 13 players – including undrafted goaltender Brett Brochu – have played at least one AHL game to date on Canada’s world junior team.
So Perfetti isn’t alone, but he’s definitely had the most success. Perfetti is the only forward with at least 15 games played in the AHL and is the only player to have double-digit points with 41 in 49 career games. There wasn’t much for Perfetti to accomplish in Saginaw, anyways: in his draft year, Perfetti had 111 points in 61 games. Had Perfetti been forced to remain in the OHL, they’d essentially be legalizing torture at the hands of Perfetti, who turns 20 just before the quarter-final kicks off.
“It’s a little more of a heavier game,” Perfetti said about the AHL compared to the OHL. “There’s certain things you can, at both levels, that might not work. The mindset should never change. My mindset is kind of the same, play the best hockey that I can and have fun and be the best player I can be.”
On top of having that pro experience, Perfetti also knows what it’s like to lose on the international stage. After rolling through the first six games with ease, Canada ultimately lost the gold to the United States in the championship game. Having later won gold at the men’s World Championship, Perfetti takes that losing experience in stride for his second go-around at the title in Alberta.
“It sucks to lose,” Perfetti said. “Getting the experience at the men’s worlds this year and winning, it’s having both ends of the spectrum. You want to be on that winning side, it’s something you’ll never forget. It’s a new year this year, it’s a fresh group, lot’s of new faces and I think everyone’s really hungry and looking forward to it.”
As for where Perfetti’s season takes him next, he said he hasn’t had talks with the Jets on whether or not he’ll head to the NHL after the tournament. Perfetti got two games of action early in the season but has since been Manitoba’s best player in the AHL. His play is worthy of a call-up, but it’s unclear whether the Jets believe it’s best for his development to bring him back up to the big club, especially as the team struggles to find its groove right now.
That’s for future Cole to worry about. Current Cole has a goal in mind: score many of them, and, hopefully, have a big reason to celebrate in front of a full Rogers Place on Jan. 5.
STOCKTON, CA – The American Hockey League announced today that Stockton Heat defenseman Connor Mackey has been selected as the AHL Player of the Week for the period ending December 5, 2021.
In two games last week, Mackey recorded three goals – two of them shorthanded – and two assists to help the Pacific Division-leading Heat to a pair of victories.
Mackey scored his first two goals of the 2021-22 season on Friday, one shorthanded and one on the power play, as part of a three-point night to lift Stockton to a 4-1 victory over San Diego. And in Saturday’s rematch with the Gulls, Mackey earned an assist before giving the Heat the lead for good with another shorthanded marker en route to a 3-2 win.
A second-year pro, Mackey has totaled three goals and six assists in 17 games for Stockton this season after garnering Canadian Division All-Star honors as a rookie in 2020-21, when he posted three goals and 13 assists in 27 contests. Mackey also made his NHL debut with Calgary last season, recording one goal and two assists in six games, and earned a bronze medal with the United States at the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship.
Mackey, a native of Tower Lakes, Ill., originally signed with Calgary on Mar. 20, 2020, following three seasons at Minnesota State University, Mankato.
TORONTO, ON – There comes a time when the question isn’t asked anymore. It comes during the growth of a hockey team, and of an individual player.
That time has come for the Maple Leafsand goaltender Jack Campbell.
The question of whether the Leafs’ goaltending is good enough isn’t being asked. By anyone. It has been answered with an emphatic yes.
AUSTIN, TX – Texas Stars forward Riley Damiani’s game is clicking, and he is of the mind that his team’s collective game will follow soon.
The Stars had just wrapped up a two-game stay at Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg this past weekend, dropping both games to the Manitoba Moose. In Sunday afternoon’s 5-3 defeat, Damiani took his goal streak to three games while pushing his point streak to five games (three goals, three assists). That surge has taken him to 12 points (five goals, seven assists) in 16 games on the season.
ANAHEIM, CA – Dallas Eakins recalls his first conversation with Troy Terry vividly.
Eakins was coaching the Anaheim Ducks’ American Hockey League affiliate in San Diego. It was a morning skate after Terry had been sent down by the big club.
They were on the ice in front of the visitors’ bench.
“He simply said to me, ‘I’ve lost all my confidence,’” Eakins recalled. “And I said, ‘Alright.’ And then I just walked him through it.”
Eakins told Terry that it didn’t matter to him how many mistakes the winger made in that night’s game –it wasn’t going to cost him.
UTICA, NY – The Utica Comets entered the Adirondack Bank Center with a chance to make history should they win their 12th straight game but standing in their way were the 2019 Calder Cup Champion Charlotte Checkers. Despite going down early in the contest, the Comets managed to have a second period explosion of goals and rewrote the history books with a 4-1 victory.
The Checkers jumped out to an early lead in the first period, scoring less than two minutes into the game. Checkers forward Max McCormick was in the right place at the right time as he redirected a point shot past Comets’ goaltender Nico Daws. Both teams traded chances for the remainder of the period, but neither were able to find the back of the net. The Comets registered 10 shots on net, compared to eight from the Checkers.
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