Zizing ‘Em Up: Sane Seguin beaming for stars after contemplating retirement

TORONTO– Tyler Seguin still remembers the moment he thought his NHL career might be over.

It was January 26, 2021, and the injured Dallas Stars forward sat with a pal in front of a roaring fire in Muskoka, Ontario, an upscale cottage neighborhood two hours north of Toronto, and watched on TV as his team scored 1 : 2 lost in overtime to the Detroit Red Wings.

“I looked over at my boyfriend and said, ‘I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to play again,'” the 30-year-old told NHL.com this week. “My career could be over. This could be it.

“I just didn’t see any light at the end of the tunnel.”

Twenty-one months later, retirement is the furthest thing away for him.

Seguin has gotten off to a hot start with five points (two goals, three assists) in five games and vows to increase the 49 points (24 goals, 25 assists) he had in 81 games last season by “at least 15-20 ” to surpass.

“I still think there’s no way in [heck] “Statistically, I should be where I was last year,” he said. “So I keep thinking about it, keep believing it, keep working it.”

He never forgets the time when he thought it was time for him to leave the NHL.

“Whenever there are dark times, whenever I’m down, I think about it, about being in Muskoka, about where I’m from,” Seguin said. “This will get you further.”

Video: WPG@DAL: Seguin sends a puck off his knees

It was a comeback of sweat and resilience.

After playing the Stars’ entire run to the 2020 Stanley Cup Finals with a torn hip labrum, Seguin missed all but three games in 2020-21 and spent last season working his way back from hip and knee surgeries.

“His work ethic is second to none,” said Matt Nichol, Seguin’s personal trainer. “He didn’t give up without a fight.”

Seguin says he feels better than he has in the past three years. Even after playing last season, it wasn’t until July that he started running regularly for the first time in three years, and his hip and knee finally felt normal again.

“He looks like old Tyler,” said Stars CEO Jim Nill. “It was tough for him. I knew how devastated he was. People don’t understand how injuries can threaten a career. Credit to him for working his way back to the end of his path.

“It’s like we have a new player. Except it’s not one.”

Through it all, Seguin still remembers how close he came to calling it a career.

“I feel great,” he said. “But I’ll never forget it.

“Never.”

gone but not forgotten

It’s been 17 months since Jeff Gorton was fired as GM of the New York Rangers on May 5, 2021, and while he’s executive vice president of hockey operations for the Montreal Canadiens, he still has a soft spot for those who work for him play former team and admits he still watches them play.

“I’m always happy for the players,” Gorton told NHL.com last week. “There are a lot of good guys there. I feel good that they had a lot of success last year and I think they will have a lot of success this year too.”

The Rangers reached the Eastern Conference Finals under freshman GM Chris Drury last season, falling to the Tampa Bay Lighting in six games. They’re 3-1-1 this season.

“Listen, I’m proud that they’re in pretty good shape and ready to do some runs here over the next few years,” he said. “And hopefully we can do the same around here.”

Gorton should be proud when he looks at the Rangers roster as he played an important role in creating it.

As GM of Rangers from 2015-21, Gorton signed, re-signed, traded or drafted a number of players on that year’s team, including forwards Artemi Panarin, Mika ZibanejadAlex Lafreniere, Kapo Kakko, Chris Kreider, Vitaly Kravtsovand Filip Chytil and defender Adam Fox, Ryan Lindgren, K’Andre Miller, Jacob Trouba, Brad Schneider, Libor Hajek and Zac Jones. He was the assistant GM under Glen Sather as a goaltender Igor Shesterkin was designed in 2014.

As for building something similar in Montreal, the Canadians have a promising core of young talent led by a 23-year-old captain Nick Suzuki21-year-old forward Cole Kaufield and 18 years old Juraj Slafkowski, the No. 1 pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, who scored his first NHL goal on Thursday. Yes, patience is required, but Rangers are proof that Gorton knows how to build a winning squad.

street fighter

In NHL player locker room jargon, the term “trade deadline bag” refers to an extra-large bag that players unpack to the max when they think there’s a chance they’ll be dealt before the deadline. The logic: You never know when you’ll be shipped to a new city, so you have to be prepared.

The Arizona Coyotes carry a lot of these bags around these days. But in this case, it has nothing to do with the potential to be traded.

The Coyotes are in the midst of a season-opening stretch that will see them play 20 of their first 24 games away.

“I just got the trade deadline suitcase going. I’ve got the big boys,” said the defender Shayne Gostisbehere said with a chuckle. “I feel sorry for my wife, if I come back every two weeks and she has to do my laundry, I’ll be gone in three days. But it’s not bad. I think we only have 10 away games from January to March, that’s how it is [a] give and take.”

The Coyotes are ready to play the first of three seasons at Arizona State University’s new multipurpose facility, Mullet Arena. Due to scheduling conflicts with the ASU hockey team and construction on the Coyotes’ facilities in the 5,000-seat area, Arizona has a top-heavy road schedule this fall, including a 14-game road trip from November 5 through December. 7.

“I’ll tell you one thing, no veteran will be used to this road trip,” Gostisbehere said. “But obviously it’s the hand you’ve been dealt. You can complain all you want, it won’t do anything. I mean, we know we’re going to be out here God knows how long, but we have to deal with it.”

General manager Bill Armstrong said he had heard the rumors that some players could be upset early in the season because of the extreme logistics they were facing, but said they hadn’t told him anything.

“From my point of view, they were great in difficult circumstances,” said Armstrong. “We brought them in to advise us on the construction of our dressing rooms, the training room, everything. We want them to be part of all aspects of the team.”

Arizona’s home opener, which sets up a four-game homestand, will be played Friday against the Winnipeg Jets.

QUOTE QUOTE END

“He almost died. Forget hockey, how he was able to recover is amazing. ‘Donny’ coached me in the US national team program as a teenager, so I’ve known him for a long time. For him to get an extension from the Sabers, especially when Given what’s happened in his life, I couldn’t be happier for him.”

— Vegas Golden Knights forward Jack Acorn, a former Buffalo Sabers forward, on coach Don Granato’s new two-year deal with Buffalo. Granato, then an assistant with the Sabers, was hospitalized during the 2019 preseason and says his doctor once told him he could die if he didn’t have a procedure in the next five minutes.

THE SUNDAY LIST

On June 14, eight days after being fired as coach of the Boston Bruins, Bruce Cassidy was hired as coach of the Vegas Golden Knights. It’s been a whirlwind for the 57-year-old and his family, especially with the lifestyle change from New England to the desert. Here are the top three things that surprised Cassidy in his short tenure in Vegas:

1. “Life off the [Las Vegas] stripes. When you come in as a visiting team you stay there, you’re in the midst of all the lights and bells and whistles, you play then you go. But other than that, it’s a place of communities and families. That part of it was enlightening.”

2. “How hockey grew here. No matter which of the few ice rinks you visit, they are always busy with children playing. It shows you the influence of the Golden Knights on the community.”

3. “The lack of traffic. I thought there would be a lot, but it was the opposite. It’s a big change from Boston. I mean, I don’t think I’ve heard a car horn since I got here.”