Golden Knights Name Conflict, World Juniors & More

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No Issue Expected Despite Name Conflict for Golden Knights

When Las Vegas was working on revealing the name of their franchise, it wasn’t without obstacles. Though they are now named the “Golden Knights” there was some uncertainty about whether or not they would even get to use the word “Knights” at all due to the London Knights owning the rights to the name. During the actual name and logo presentation, majority owner Bill Foley waited patiently to unveil a video that would reveal the name of his franchise; the video ultimately never worked and Foley opted to simply use a countdown to lead up to the naming. Unfortunately for the Golden Knights, that isn’t the only controversy surrounding their name as the United States Army is reportedly reviewing the use of “Golden Knights” as it also happens to be the name of the Army’s parachute team.

Foley had this to say about the topic:

I have complete respect for the US Army and all that it does for our nation.

Our development and use of the name Vegas Golden Knights was based upon Nevada being the largest gold producing state in the country and the golden tones of the Las Vegas strip.

Our use of the Golden Knights is distinctive from the Army Golden Knights just as the N.Y. Rangers are distinctive from the Texas Rangers or the Arizona Cardinals are distinctive from the St. Louis Cardinals. There already exist the Clarkson College Golden Knights and many other Golden Knights across the country.

– Bill Foley

When talking about the naming, NHL deputy commissioner said “I don’t expect an issue” which bodes well for Foley and the Golden Knights as they look to put all of their focus on hiring a coach and icing the best team possible by the start of the 2017-18 season.

Coyotes and the World Juniors

It’s good for the game of hockey when young players step up and can make an NHL team at a very young age. The NHL is trending in the right direction with young talent making the jump straight from the draft to the league, and the Arizona Coyotes are benefiting from that fact as much as anybody with players like Jakob Chychrun and Lawson Crouse showcasing their talents. Unfortunately, when a young player makes it to the NHL early, it also means teams are often unlikely to loan them to the World Junior Championships to represent their country – this is true of the Coyotes as it pertains to both Chychrun and Crouse.

Despite the fact that Chychrun has been a healthy scratch five times in the Coyotes last seven games, the Coyotes have no intention of loaning him to Canada for the World Junior Championships. The Coyotes have been winning, and though head coach Dave Tippett may want to reinsert Chychrun to the lineup, it’s hard to shuffle a lineup that’s winning.

Chychrun has been impressive to start his career, however, he’s still just 18-years-old and isn’t without fault – as is often the case with rookies, he’ll have to endure the ups-and-downs of his first season as he looks to become a bonafide top-tier defenseman in the league.

In the case of 19-year-old Lawson Crouse, the Coyotes also don’t intend on loaning him to the World Juniors tournament either. The former 11th overall draft pick from 2015 has one goal in 17 games so far with the Coyotes and is going through the same tribulations as Chychrun as they booth attempt to learn the NHL game at just 18 and 19 years-old.

Brian Boyle Vocal About Tampa Bay’s Issues

Prior to the start of the NHL season, many expected the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning to run away with the Atlantic Division race. It was essentially a two-horse race for the first position in the division, though that’s not exactly how things have gone. The Florida Panthers have fired their head coach and hold an 11-10-2 record and sit in sixth in the Atlantic Division, and the Tampa Bay Lightning, who currently sit in third in the division, have had a lot of trouble winning as of late. This hasn’t sat well with veteran center Brian Boyle.

 

 

To conclude the month of November, the Lightning have lost four of five games, being outscored 14-5 by the Columbus Blue Jackets – who they’ve played twice – and the Boston Bruins in three of those contests.

I’d love to play against us right now in our own end — it’s easy. We’ve relied on our goalies, they’ve been phenomenal. They’re great teammates because they haven’t ripped into us yet for how we’re treating them, for how we’re defending. The worst part is we know how to do it.

– Brian Boyle

The Lightning, of course, are without captain Steven Stamkos for at least the next four months, though the Lightning haven’t been leaning on that as a crutch.

Odds & Ends

– Jack Eichel returned to the Buffalo Sabres lineup Tuesday and scored a goal and recorded two points in his first 10 minutes in his season debut. The 20-year-old center missed the Sabres first 21 games with an injury suffered prior to the start of the 2016-17 season.