The Four Nations Faceoff is mere days away, with the planet's best skaters assembling to represent their nations in competition. The NHL will suspend its schedule for two weeks to allow for the tournament.
The regular schedule will resume on February 22, with 14 games today and two on Sunday.
For Canada, the biggest question mark is whether Sidney Crosby will be healthy enough to go. Crosby, captain of the Penguins, is healing an injury, and it's not yet determined whether he will have recovered enough to suit up.
Although a position is being kept for him, a backup is prepared, according to Darren Dreger.
The backup, according to him, could include Mark Scheifele, a Jet, who's been put on alert in case Crosby isn't healthy enough, or in case a secondary injury happens.
Adding him is a smart move, with an incredible 31 goals and 63 points in 56 games this season. And with no games for the Jets on Saturday and Sunday, the odds of him getting injured beforehand are pretty much nil.
In a strange development, Renaud Lavoie recently wrote a column about having left him off the team in the first place for concerns over behavior, even with a strong performance.
With Crosby's availability uncertain, it seems Canada will forgive and forget in an attempt at having an additional top scorer in its lineup.
The 48-hour timeline will seal Crosby's fate, but in case he can't go, odds are high we will see Scheifele in a Team Canada jersey.
POLL | ||
FÉVRIER 8 | 375 ANSWERS We Now Know Who Will Replace Sidney Crosby if He Does Not Attend the Four Nations Faceoff Will Mark Scheifele end up replacing Sidney Crosby? | ||
Yes | 164 | 43.7 % |
No | 211 | 56.3 % |
LIST OF POLLS |
G | A | PTS | ||
Jack Eichel | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
Tomas Hertl | 3 | - | 3 | |
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins | 3 | - | 3 | |
Logan Cooley | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
Filip Forsberg | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
Luke Evangelista | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
Jake Guentzel | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
Jonathan Huberdeau | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
Patrick Kane | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
Nick Schmaltz | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
Mark Stone | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
Rasmus Andersson | - | 3 | 3 | |
Jonny Brodzinski | 2 | - | 2 | |
Matthew Coronato | 2 | - | 2 | |
Thomas Harley | 2 | - | 2 | |
Kaapo Kakko | 2 | - | 2 | |
Alexander Kerfoot | 2 | - | 2 | |
Brayden Point | 2 | - | 2 | |
Juraj Slafkovsky | 2 | - | 2 | |
Sam Bennett | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Complete stats |
STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Capitals | 70 | 47 | 15 | 8 | 102 | |
Jets | 70 | 48 | 18 | 4 | 100 | |
Stars | 69 | 44 | 21 | 4 | 92 | |
Golden Knights | 69 | 41 | 20 | 8 | 90 | |
Avalanche | 71 | 43 | 25 | 3 | 89 | |
Hurricanes | 69 | 42 | 23 | 4 | 88 | |
Maple Leafs | 70 | 42 | 25 | 3 | 87 | |
Oilers | 70 | 41 | 24 | 5 | 87 | |
Panthers | 70 | 42 | 25 | 3 | 87 | |
Kings | 68 | 38 | 21 | 9 | 85 | |
Conference | Cumulative |