Community Picks: Montreal Canadiens 0% vs Colorado Avalanche 0%

Hockey fans starstruck on this #DennaDay at @TheBostonPride game to see a player & young woman they so admire #WCVB pic.twitter.com/uMuuyfF4tb — Juli McDonald (@julimcdonald) February 14, 2016 While many are celebrating their love on Valentine's Day, Denna Laing's team, the Boston Pride, took to the ice to celebrate her on what is dubbed as "Denna Day." It's been a month and a half since Laing experienced a significant spine injury while playing in the Women's Outdoor Classic on New Year's Eve. She has been seen in multiple photos and videos since that day. For the first time Sunday, Laing made her first public appearance, taking to the ice with her team in the pregame. Denna Laing joins her @TheBostonPride teammates on the ice prior to warm ups. @NWHL pic.twitter.com/LsN6sSTrw4 — Justin Bradford (@justinbbradford) February 14, 2016 Approximately 1,900 fans showed up at Harvard's Bright Landry Center for the Pride's game against the Connecticut Whale. All attendees were encouraged to wear yellow to support Denna. Everyone is #14Strong today #DennaDay pic.twitter.com/Xu9bPFLiWl — Boston Pride (@TheBostonPride) February 14, 2016 The NWHL made Laing shirseys and bracelets were available for sale with proceeds going towards her recovery. Fans could also send their well wishes through cards accepted on-site. Make #Cards4Denna , buy bracelets, raffle tickets and chuck a puck! All proceeds go to the Denna Laing Fund pic.twitter.com/HtKTj2MHyq — Boston Pride (@TheBostonPride) February 14, 2016 Laing appeared to be the good luck charm for the Pride as they beat the Whale 4-1. Boston takes over first place in the NWHL after Connecticut got off to a roaring start. #NWHL @TheBostonPride all come together in pregame to have a moment with Denna Laing. #DennaDay pic.twitter.com/BZkXDP5FZQ — NWHL Gifs (@nwhlgifs) February 14, 2016 Earlier in the week, the NHL announced $63,484.52 was raised for Laing in the auction of game-worn Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens jerseys from the Winter Classic.  Donations and updates on Denna's recovery can be found at DennaLaing.org .  - - - - - - - Jen Neale is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow her on Twitter! Follow @MsJenNeale_PD . MORE FROM YAHOO HOCKEY: Continue to Article

February 14, 2016 5:44:pm EST

Arizona Coyotes president and CEO Anthony LeBlanc is confident his team may have some kind of announcement on a new home in the Phoenix area by the end of the NHL’s regular season. LeBlanc indicated the location could be in the East Valley, where he said a lot of the team’s fans are located.  “Like any business you look at heat maps of a geography of where our fan base is and for us we look at where people who are attached to hockey are. It tends to be on the east side of the Valley, which is Phoenix, Tempe, Mesa and Scottsdale,” LeBlanc said. “One of the things we’ve been pretty open about as have they is we’ve had deep discussions with Arizona State University. There are so many natural synergies with ASU especially since they’ve moved to a Division One (hockey) program.” The Coyotes’ relationship with the city of Glendale, where they currently play, has been contentious. The city and the Coyotes came to a two-year lease agreement for Gila River Arena last summer , after Glendale voted to terminate the team’s prior lease via a special vote.  During the summer of 2013, the Coyotes and Glendale came to a 15-year $225 million lease agreement.  Last year, Glendale said it was going to entertain other offers to manage the arena, meaning the Coyotes would not do so. The team was not pleased with the development. Recently Glendale announced AEG would manage the arena. The Coyotes started play in Glendale during the 2003-04 season.   “Our view, and the commissioner shares this, if we can get a new arena in the right location this should be one of the, going from where we are now where we’re in the bottom-10 of the league in regards to league revenues, it’s a strong expectation we can get to the midpoint if we can get this franchise into the right location,” LeBlanc said. “It was pretty easy to see, by just talking to our fan base that they wanted to see us on the east side of the Valley. Now that’s not exclusive. We do have some great fans that live in the West Valley. But the majority of our fan base tends to travel and during the week it’s not easy getting out to Glendale.” The Coyotes continue to insist that they’re stable in the Phoenix area. Unlike years past when they put effort into staying in the market, they’re now aggressively pushing to add more young fans. It’s a different approach for the team and one that could have a long-term impact on the team’s health. In three games this month, the Coyotes will give replica jerseys for children, up to the age of 14, if their parent turns in a jersey of another team. This is to take advantage of the area’s large transplant population . The Coyotes did one of these trade-ins on Friday night against the Calgary Flames and will do others – against the Montreal Canadiens on Feb. 15 and the St. Louis Blues on Feb. 20. The old jerseys will be given to the organization “Defending The Blue Line” an organization that helps military members play hockey. While the Coyotes embrace the area's transplants, they know a way to become successful, along with getting a new building, is by seeing the children of transplants embrace their team. It’s an issue that’s present in just a small group of NHL markets. Continue to Article

February 13, 2016 12:51:pm EST

The NHL auction of the Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins autographed Winter Classic-themed jerseys worn on Jan. 19 has raised $63,484.52 to support Denna Laing, the NWHL player who suffered a serious spinal injury during the Women’s Outdoor Classic at Gillette Stadium on New Year’s Day. The auctions were done through the NHL- MeiGray Group Game-Worn Jersey Authentication Program from Jan. 19 - Feb. 11 with 100-percent of proceeds going toward expenses related to Laing’s recovery and rehabilitation.  Patrice Bergeron’s jersey sold for the highest amount ($5,100) , with Brad Marchand ($3,720.63) and Tuukka Rask ($3,520) right behind him. P.K. Subban ($2,870) and Tomas Plekanec ($2,420) were the top sellers on the Canadiens side. Here’s the player-by-player breakdown via the NHL Auctions site :  Dennis Seidenberg - $2,620 Max Talbot - $2,141.21 Zdeno Chara - $2,028 Brendan Gallagher - $2,020 David Krejci - $1,820 (game-issued) David Pastrnak - $1,760 Andrei Markov - $1,490 Max Pacioretty - $1,470 Loui Eriksson - $1,370.05 Torey Krug - $1,370 Mike Condon - $1,300 Matt Beleskey - $1,299.99 Ryan Spooner - $1,221 Jimmy Hayes - $1,220 Frank Vatrano - $1,210 Alex Galchenyuk - $1,150 Mark Barberio - $1,041 Adam McQuaid - $1,020 (game-issued) Kevan Miller - $1,020 Colin Miller - $980 (warmup-worn) Zach Trotman - $970 Zac Rinaldo - $960 Brett Connolly - $896.99 Tyler Randell - $880 (warmup-worn) Joe Morrow - $825 Lars Eller - $820 David Desharnais - $740 Jeff Petry - $740 Landon Ferraro - $726.29 Dale Weise - $724.32 Jonas Gustavsson - $710 Joonas Kemppainen - $680 Devante Smith-Pelly - $670 Tomas Fleischmann - $660 Torrey Mitchell - $650.01 Nathan Beaulieu - $640 Brian Flynn - $620 Ben Scrivens - $620 Paul Byron - $610.01 Greg Pateryn - $590.01 (game-issued) Jacob de la Rose - $570.01 (warmup worn) Alexei Emelin - $560 Victor Bartley - $440 (warmup worn)  During All-Star Weekend in Nashville, the NHL announced it had donated $200,000 toward Laing’s recovery, and some of the league’s partners, including Honda and Ticketmaster, were giving the family a retrofitted 2016 Honda Odyssey to help transportation needs. Visit the Bruins home page for ways you can help Laing and her family. - - - - - - - Sean Leahy is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Sean_Leahy MORE FROM YAHOO HOCKEY : Continue to Article

February 12, 2016 3:20:pm EST

Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price hasn’t played since Nov. 25, defeating the New York Rangers and moving his team to 17-4-2.  They’ve gone 10-20-2 since then, tumbling from first place in the conference down to three points out of a playoff spot. But it is just three points. There is hope. And of course, there’s the hope that the reigning MVP and top goalie in the NHL will ride in and literally save the season. It’s hope that the Canadiens have helped create by being coy with Price’s status. GM Marc Bergevin said in January that Price would be out at least another month – bad news in the context of the initial prognosis, but good news in the sense that he’d be back. But La Presse reports on Friday that this is basically a ruse. Price is still suffering from an injury to the MCL of his right knee. They didn’t opt for surgery, but rather for rehab. It’s hasn’t worked, and the chances are “slim” that he’d be back for the end of the regular season or the playoffs. From Richard Labbe:  Sources say team is no longer hoping for his return to action, as Price has been out since November with right knee injury, still not confirmed by team. At this point, the optimistic scenario appears to be for Price to return by season's end, maybe in time for playoffs, if the team can make it that far in April. According to a source, to La Presse: "The team doesn't think he'll be back for the regular season at this point, wondering whether it is really worth it to try and push for him to come back, said an unnamed source with knowledge of the situation. They can's say that publicly, they want to keep any hopes alive, however small. They don't want fans to quit on their team. There is a marketing element to this." There’s some validity to this, as empty seats have been seen at Bell Centre during the team’s swan-dive down the standings. But like many teams, the Canadiens seem to underestimate the appetite of their fan base. Many have written off the season. Many have written off the coach. Many have decided that it’s better to shut down Price, enter the lottery and try again next season with a fresh start. If they’re marketing hope, the fans have already brought it. Just not the brand the Canadiens are currently selling.  -- Greg Wyshynski  is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at  puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com  or  find him on Twitter.  His book,  TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK , is  available on Amazon  and wherever books are sold.   Continue to Article

February 12, 2016 10:49:am EST