2.
I saw our friend Curtis Lazar the other day in one of the elevators at Prudential Center… well, at first, I didn’t see him until I heard someone say to the elevator attendant, “Excuse me, please don’t let her on the elevator!” (or something to that effect; I can’t remember the exact words!).
Lo and behold, I turn around, and there’s Lazar in an elevator full of people chirping at me.
I had to look at the attendant and tell him it was just a joke…. I think?!
Good to know Curtis hasn’t lost his sarcastic touch!
3.
We’ve known all along about the elite level of talent Jack Hughes has. It’s why he was picked first overall in 2019.
But what we are seeing this year under Sheldon Keefe is a completely new version of elite-level talent because it has been coupled with a defensive responsibility that Hughes hasn’t always been a part of.
Jack is being used to protect a lead at the end of games, on the ice defending a 6-on-5 with the goalie pulled and getting reps on the penalty kill.
He’s basically doing it all – and excelling.
He’s already surpassed, in 19 games, the number of penalty kill minutes he had all of last season. He played 4:04 on the penalty kill in 82 games during the 2023-24 season, whereas he's already up to 4:12. His game, in other words, is growing and becoming well-rounded and with a new dynamic level.
“What he has shown me is not only can he do it, but he’s elite at it,” Sheldon Keefe said late last week. “Winning puck battles, his timing, his ability to get under his stick and surprise people. It’s a combination of his skill and his intelligence being met with his work ethic and competitiveness. When you have that, it’s a very dangerous combination and I’ve seen that in some of the elite players that I’ve coached when they combine all that it’s really difficult for the opposition and it gives them the puck more.”
4.
One of the first things Paul Cotter told me about his game when I met him during training camp for the first time was that, basically, "I'll be what they want me to be."
"What do they want me to do?" he asked rhetorically.
Cotter is a copybook example of what Sheldon Keefe has instilled in this team from Day 1.
Buy in.
"At the end of the day, we’re all here to serve the team," Keefe said. "We all elected to be part of the ultimate team sport, and everybody has a job to do, and the game calls for different things at different times."
Wherever Cotter has been asked to play, whatever role he's slotting into, he's embraced it with that buy-in attitude and excelled. He leads the team in hits (52) and is tied for third in goals scored (7). All seven of his goals have been scored at even strength, leading the club.
Paul has this ability to, well, do what they want him to do.
That includes, apparently, providing ample entertainment!