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A great read on new Leafs goalie coach Steve Briere and his relationship with top goalie guru Mitch Korn, an update on Cody Franson, expansion news, and more in the links.
Wednesday Links:
- Kevin Woodley: New Maple Leafs goalie coach latest Korn disciple (NHL.com)
“I have my level 5 certification in coaching and my Master’s degree in school, and spending all these years with Mitch is like getting a doctorate degree in goalie coaching,” Briere told NHL.com. “I was coaching Division I College Hockey and spending days in Nashville learning from Mitch. So it wasn’t like I just popped into the NHL the next day. He is by far the number one reason all of this has come about.”
I - Staff: Cody Franson on possible return to Toronto: “I’m still hopeful that’s a possibility” (MLHS)
Morgan Rielly said he’d love for you to come back to Toronto. Is that a possibility?
Franson: I hope so. We haven’t had too many discussions with Toronto, but I always hope that that door stays open. I’d loved it there and loved the guys there. I think we left on good terms and I’m still hopeful that that’s a possibility.
I - Staff: Morgan Rielly: “There’s been some rumours about Phil, but he’s probably one of the best teammates I’ve had” (MLHS)
Rielly: There’s been some rumours about Phil, but, personally, he’s probably one of the best teammates I’ve had. He’s a good team guy. He takes a lot of heat obviously, but, you know, I love him. He’s a hard working guy. It changes things, but I think the team just has to get better and just move forward from it.
I - Lindsay Kramer: Former Syracuse Crunch forward Carter Ashton leaves Tampa Bay organization (Syracuse.com)
Syracuse Crunch forward Carter Ashton has decided to play in Europe next season. Tampa Bay assistant general manager Julien BriseBois said he was informed of that news by Ashton’s agent over the weekend. BriseBois did not want to specify where Ashton is going.
I - Lance Hornby: Maple Leafs snag top Red Wings’ scout (Toronto Sun)
Toronto announced Monday that Ari Vuori is its new head of European scouting. The 53-year-old should make a strong combination with Leafs’ principal European scout Thommie Bergman, who is apparently going to scale back his workload as he enters his late 60s.
I - Ken Campbell: It’s official: No NHL expansion bid coming from Toronto area (The Hockey News)
A spokesman for venture capitalist Graeme Roustan acknowledged there was no bid from in this round of expansion, but said the dream of a second NHL team in Toronto is not dead. “While we continue to focus on developing the GTA Centre, we were not able to complete the necessary work by the application deadline,” said GTA Centre Sports and Entertainment spokesman Jesse Bernstein. “We hope that another such opportunity presents itself in the future.”
I - Josh Cooper: NHL moves forward with expansion bids from only Las Vegas and Quebec City (Puck Daddy)
The NHL announced it has indeed received expansion applications from two cities by Monday’s deadline and as reported earlier they are Quebec City and Las Vegas. Overall, the NHL said it received requests from 16 groups for applications. Yikes, that’s a really low percentage of city/arena/ownership groups.
