San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa: Sharks open four game homestand starting with Columbus tonight at SAP Center

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The San Jose Sharks Justin Bailey is dazzled after scoring a second period goal against the Calgary Flames at the Saddledome in Calgary on Thu Feb 15, 2024 (Canadian Press via AP photo)

On the San Jose Sharks podcast:

#1 The San Jose Sharks Filip Zadina scored two goals and had two assists and scored a career high four points in the Sharks 6-3 win over the Calgary Flames on Thursday night a contrast from their loss to the Winnipeg Jets the night before on Wednesday night 1-0.

#2 Zadina did point out that his line hadn’t scored in awhile but was glad to get the points and help the team, “We haven’t scored as a line in a little bit but we got rewarded for the work we’ve done recently.”

#3 Zadina did have a break out game on Thursday he had only one goal and two assists in his previous 18 games before facing off against the Flames.

#4 The Sharks did have a good offensive night against the Flames with Luke Kunin scoring twice and Justin Bailey with a goal and two assists it was Bailey’s first multi point game. Mikael Granlund also contributed with a goal.

#5 The Sharks have a go with the Columbus Blue Jackets at SAP Center in San Jose tonight for a 7:30pm PT face off. The Jackets are last in the Metropolitan Division at 16-26-10 with 42 points. They oppose the Sharks who are 15-33-5 and have 35 points. The Sharks are opening a four game homestand.

Join Mary Lisa for the Sharks podcasts Saturdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sacramento Kings podcast with Tony Renteria: Kings playing .500 ball look to moving up in second half of season

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The Sacramento Kings forward Trey Lyles (top) and the Denver Nuggets forward Peyton Watson (bottom) are both not giving up the basketball that easy in the second half Wed Feb 14, 2024 at Ball Arena in Denver (AP News photo)

On the Sacramento Kings podcast with Tony Renteria:

#1 The Sacramento Kings (31-23) had a tough task going into Ball Arena in Denver on Wednesday night and they came away winners in surprising fashion after losing five of their last six games before the game against the Denver Nuggets (36-19) they opened up the offense on the Nuggets.

#2 Talking about the offense for the Kings in the third quarter they outscored Denver 30-21 it was an impact quarter that helped the outcome of the game.

#3 The Kings guard De’Aaron Fox led with 30 points and Harrison Baines and Domantas Sabonis both finished second in scoring with 20 points.

#4 One of the key players that the Kings kept his numbers was center Nikola Jokic who scored 15 points and the Kings defended him well and sometimes double teaming him.

#5 The Kings return home next Thu Feb 22nd at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento they’ll face the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs have suffered under head coach Gregg Poppovich this season. The Spurs are in dead last (15th place) in the NBA Western Conference and have lost eight of the last ten games. In spite of this do you see this being a battle or a landslide for the Kings.

Tony Renteria filled in Jeremiah Salmonson for the Kings podcasts heard Fridays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: The Asian Connection MLB Open 2024 Season in South Korea

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San Francisco Giants outfielder Jung Hoo Lee is bringing a lot of excitement to the Giants for the 2024 season at Oracle Park in San Francisco (AP News photo)

The Asian Connection -MLB Open 2024 Season in South Korea

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

Amaury Pi-González

For the first time, Major League Baseball’s regular season will open its 2024 season in Seoul, South Korea, as the Los Angeles Dodgers will face during a two-game series on March 20 and 21, where each team will play once as the home team. “There are a lot of baseball fans in Seoul, and it’s a beautiful city, so the MLB proposed that it would like to hold the opening games here, and of course, we agreed,” Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, 63, said in an interview with Bloomberg TV.

The series will be played at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul, the home of the Kiwoom Heroes of the KBO. It was also the host site of first-round games in the 2017 World Baseball Classic. The domed stadium was built in 2015 and has a capacity of 16,744

Although only 4% of all Major League players are Asian, fans in Seoul, South Korea, are hoping to see Dodgers players like Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, both from Japan as well as San Diego Padres Yu Darvish, from Japan and also a nice homecoming for South Korean Ha-Seong Kim.

Chan Ho Park, the pitcher, was the first South Korean former professional baseball player to play in the major leagues and was the first South Korean player to be named an MLB All-Star. But there is little doubt that the most significant baseball star that fans want to see, Shohei Ohtani, has become the most well-known international figure of American Major League Baseball; Ohtani has excellent global traction.

Talking about this two-game season opener in South Korea, Commissioner Rob Manfred, “We’re going to get off quick. We’re opening in Korea, and it’ll be Ohtani’s first game (with the Dodgers),” he said, before adding with a smile, “every once in a while, you get lucky in terms of the way things shake out.”

Baseball is the most popular professional sport in South Korea, with around 6.4 million spectators during the KBO (Korean Baseball Organization) in 2022.

American missionaries introduced baseball to Korea in the 19th century. South Korea played baseball under Japanese colonial rule under the Joseon name. Lee Young-min hit South Korea’s first-ever home run in 1921.

Local interest: Are there any South Korean players in the Bay Area? Last December, the San Francisco Giants signed signed 25 year old South Korean star outfielder Jung Hoo Lee.

ESPN will carry the Dodgers-Padres two-game opener of the 2024 MLB season from South Korea. “Why do people sing Take Me Out to The Ballgame when they’re already there? -Alex Rodríguez.

Oakland A’s relocation podcast Augie Mesenburg: Sacramento is A’s first choice for 2025 season; City of Oakland wants guarantee of expansion team

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Oakland A’s team president David Kaval has met with the Oakland Coliseum Joint Powers regarding a lease extension beyond 2024. The A’s could play the remaining three years at the Coliseum 2025-27 before the Tropicana ballpark is ready in Las Vegas (photo by ABC Sky7 still photo)

On the Oakland A’s relocation podcast with Augie:

#1 The Oakland A’s brass met with the Oakland Coliseum Joynt Powers. Seeing that players’ union most likely will not sign off to play in a minor league ballpark and most importantly the A’s don’t want to miss out on that $67 million annual television money from NBC Bay Area Sports California contract.

#2 There has been no disclosure to how much a year and how long the A’s will be staying at the Coliseum as the new park in Las Vegas is supposed to be ready by 2028. It’s sounding like it might be the three years 2025-27 to finish up in Oakland similar to what the Raiders did before they left Oakland for Las Vegas.

#3 Some are asking could this lead to something being worked out with the Mayor of Oakland and the City of Oakland for a chance that the A’s brass could re-visit Howard Terminal again? It doesn’t seem likely on the surface but there are two law suits coming from Strong Public Schools and Schools over Stadiums that will challenge the Nevada public funding of the Tropicana ballpark and the A’s might be looking at a back up plan.

#4 Augie, the A’s try hard as they may have not nailed down a location to play their games after 2024. A’s owner John Fisher and team president David Kaval have looked at numerous sites Las Vegas Ballpark (home of the A’s minor league triple A team), Sutter Health Park (home of the Sacramento Rivercats), Salt Lake City (home of the minor league Bees), and Oracle Park in San Francisco. All of the parks didn’t work out either it was a minor league park or at Oracle Park they would have to share it with the Giants and the Giants were concerned about the turf being torn up. The latest from Thursday’s news is Sacramento’s Sutter Health Ballpark is a front runner for the A’s in 2025.

#5 This might be more than just a kick the tires meeting to see if it’s worth to come back to the Coliseum after 2024 the A’s who were rumored at one point considering just shutting down operations between 2025-28 have not much choice and no where to go but the Coliseum until the new park in Vegas is ready that is if the Vegas ballpark can withstand the lawsuits by Schools over Stadiums and Strong Public Schools in Las Vegas.

Augie Mesenburg filled in for Daniel Dullum for the Oakland A’s relocation podcasts heard Fridays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com. Augie is also a reporter for KHAI FM 104.5 and AM 950 Honolulu.

Warriors Squeak Past Jazz 140-137; Golden State wins sixth out of last seven games

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The Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson (11) defends against the Utah Jazz Keynote George (3) in second half action at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Thu Feb 15, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

Thursday night the Golden State Warriors (27-26) took on the Utah Jazz (26-30) in Utah in a close contest. The Warriors had beaten the Jazz last Monday night 129-107 but this game was far closer. Klay Thompson was the hero in this win willing his team to the victory shooting for 35 points for the final of 140-137.

Wednesday night the Warriors lost a heartbreaker to the Clippers 130-125 after leading for most of the game. They had little time to mull over the loss. After the game the Warriors had to immediately hop on a plane heading back to Utah for the second time this week to take on the Jazz (26-30). Thursday’s game was the makeup game that had originally been scheduled for January 17.

There had been talk of Thompson taking a bench role and Thursday that talk became to be. For the first time since his rookie season Thompson came off the bench. He not only came off the bench, he came to his team’s rescue scoring 35 points and knocking down 7 3-pointers.

In a three point difference, every last point that he scored was critical. In fact the entire starting lineup had double digits. The Jazz came into this game on a mission and came very close to winning the whole thing.

Before this game Thompson was asked how he felt about coming off the bench. The truth is that he was ok with it. He has suffered a few pretty serious injuries and he has struggled throughout this season.

Thompson was fine with his new role and he just wanted to help the team in whatever capacity he was assigned. He was lights out and just maybe this was the change that would work for him. He decided that instead of pout he would just go out there and make a difference and that is just what he did.

Game recap: The first quarter was a close one with the Jazz prevailing 39-36 but the Warriors came roaring back in the second quarter 48-32 and leading at the half 84-71.

Despite the 13 point deficit, the Jazz continued to fight but Golden State won the third quarter as well taking a 120-102 lead. By the looks of it, Golden State was aiming to wrap up this final game before the break.

This game took on a whole new look in the fourth quarter as the Jazz went to town outscoring the Warriors in the fourth quarter 35-20. It was a valiant effort by Utah who came up just short; and Golden State had survived partially in thanks to Thompson who had one of his best offensive efforts all season.

Thompson had the team high with 35 points. Draymond Green had a terrific showing with 23 points, a season-high, and Andrew Wiggins finished with 19 points and seven rebounds. Stephen Curry had 16 points and 10 assists. The Warriors did have 13 turnovers that turned into 29 Jazz points.

This was a disappointment for Utah coming so close and coming up short. The Jazz’s Collin Sexton missed a 3-pointer allowing the Warriors to hold on winning their eighth game in their last 10 games. Sexton had the high for Utah with 35 points and Keyonte George finished with 33 points. The was Utah’s third straight loss at home and their fourth straight loss overall.

The Warriors will now have a nice stretch before they continue the season taking on the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday February 22. Tipoff for that game is scheduled for 7:00 PM.

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Barracuda shut out by Coachella Valley 4-0

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Tried as hard as they could the San Jose Barracuda were just blitzed by the Coachella Valley Firebirds at Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert on Thu Feb 15, 2024 (San Jose Barracuda photo)

Photo courtesy of San Jose Barracuda.

By Titus Wilkinson (@TitusWisme)

The Barracuda on a roll looked to keep the good times going as they took on Coachella Valley.

For San Jose Magnus Chrona was in goal while for the Firebirds Chris Driedger got the start.

It was a slow start offensively for both teams as a goal wasn’t put on the board until 15:24 in when Kole Lind got Coachella Valley the lead.

Right after the goal San Jose found themselves down a man as Artem Guryev was given a match penalty for a hit to the head. Ozzy Wiesblatt would sit in the box to serve the penalty.

Heading into the middle frame the Firebirds were on the power play but were unable to capitalize.

There was no scoring in the second though San Jose would take two penalties and the Firebirds one.

After an extended period of no goals the third period got the offense going quickly as Max McCormick scored his 20th of the season less than two minutes in.

Later in the period the Barracuda pulled their goalie while on the power play but the Firebirds scored two empty net goals to put the game fully away. The two goal scorers were Ryan Winterton and Marian Studenic.

There were some extra circulars after the goals as Scott Sabourin and and McCormick got into it. Overall on the night San Jose took 37 penalty minutes.

With the loss San Jose falls to 16-23-8 while the Firebirds continue their dominance improving to 28-12-4.

The shots at the end of this game favored the Firebirds 32-25 while both teams failed to score on the power play going a combined 0/6.

The playmaker of the night was Andrew Poturalski who racked up two assists bringing his total assists up to 22.

The three stars of the game were: 1st: Chris Driedger 2nd: Kole Lind 3rd: Max McCormick

The Barracuda will look to bounce back against the Condors as they continue their road trip on Saturday at 7 p.m.

Sharks Douse Flames 6-3, Zadina and Kunin 2 Goals Each

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The San Jose Sharks Luke Kunin (right) and the Calgary Flames Brayden Pachal (left) watch the play in front of them in the first period at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary on Thu Feb 15, 2024 (Canadian Press via AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

In their first meeting this season, the San Jose Sharks defeated the Calgary Flames 6-3 on Thursday. Mikael Granlund and Justin Bailey scored for San Jose, while Luke Kunin and Filip Zadina each scored twice. Mackenzie Blackwood made 31 saves for the win. Zadina had four points in the game, a career high. Nazem Kadri, Mikael Backlund and Andrei Kuzmenko scored for Calgary. Dustin Wolf made 25 saves in the loss.

After the game, Sharks forward Justin Bailey, who had three points in the game, said:

“Obviously things haven’t been easy for us as a group but I think the one thing that’s been a staple throughout the whole year is we’ve maintained a positive attitude, we’ve maintained trust and belief in the system of what we’re doing and nights like tonight when all things kind of seem to go in your favor, it feels good as a group.”

Nazem Kadri scored the only goal in the first period, giving Calgary a 1-0 lead at 4:19. Kadri deflected a rebound from Martin Pospisil’s shot in a three-on-one rush. The Flames had two power plays in the first period and out-shot the Sharks 13-8.

The Flames had another power play less than two minutes into the second period, but the Sharks killed that and tied the game at 4:52. Mikael Granlund scored with a wrist shot from the face-off circle. An assist went to Filip Zadina.

The Sharks took the lead at 7:50 with a goal from Justin Bailey. After a quick give and go in front of the net with Zadina, Bailey had an open net to shoot at.

At the very end of their first power play of the game, the Sharks made it 3-1 with a goal from Luke Kunin at 12:30. Kunin slipped the puck by Wolf right at the post. The goal came in what was really a 16 second power play for the Sharks, as most of the power play was eaten up by four-on-four play due to overlapping penalties. The goal was missed at first and only on review did the officials identify it. Assists went to William Eklund and Kyle Burroughs.

Mikael Backlund cut the lead down to one with at goal at 19:40. His wrist shot found its way through a crowd at the corner of the net. A scrum followed as Blackwood was knocked over by two falling skaters, one from each team. The Sharks challenged the goal on the basis of goaltender interference, but the goal was upheld. Assists went to Chris Tanev and Noah Hanifin.

Filip Zadina made it 4-2 at 4:38 of the third period. Zadina deflected Nico Sturm’s shot from the point, using the shaft of his stick while skating through the faceoff circle. Assists went to Sturm and Bailey.

Zadina scored again less than a minute later at 5:15. This time, he scored with a wrist shot while using a Calgary defender as a screen. Assists went to Bailey and Marc-Edouard Vlasic.

Luke Kunin scored his second of the game at 15:30 to make it 6-2. After the puck in the neutral zone, Kunin surprised the Flames and skated into the zone all on his own. He put the puck up under the crossbar to beat Wolf.

Andrei Kuzmenko redirected a shot by Chris Tanev to make it 6-3 at 16:40.

At 13:22 of the second period, Jan Rutta fell to the ice with some help from Walker Duehr’s wide-swinging leg that took out Rutta’s legs. He left the game.

The Sharks next play on Saturday at 7:30 PM PT in San Jose against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Bears show fight but trounced by Cougars up North in Pullman 85-65

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The Washington State Cougars forward Isaac Jones (13) puts up a prayer with the Cal Bears forward Fardaws Aimaq (00) putting on the pressure in the second half at Beasley Coliseum in Pullman on Thu Feb 15, 2024 (AP News photo)

Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024

Beasley Coliseum, Pullman, Washington

California Golden Bears 65 (10-15 Overall; 6-8 Pac-12)

Washington State Cougars 85 (19-6 Overall; 10-4 Pac-12)

By Stephen Ruderman

The Bears went up north to Pullman, Washington, and though they put up some fight, they were subdued, as they lost to the Washington State Cougars, 84-65, in the opener of the road trip.

Cal lost a tough one Saturday at home against the UCLA Bruins. The Bears came back from down 14 points to take the lead, but eventually fell in overtime. Tonight, they were going to have to bounce back on the road, and on the turf of the powerful Washington State Cougars.

The game started scoreless for a whole minute and 49 seconds until Jaylon Tyson made a pullup jumper. The Cougars then scored 10 unanswered points to pounce out to an early 10-2 lead.

The Bears then scored eight unanswered points. Rodney Brown Jr. hit a three; Tyson hit a driving layup; and Grant Newell sank a three-ball to tie it at 10-10 with 11:28 to go in the first half.

The game remained tight as the first half went along. Jaylen Wells hit a three to put the Cougars back ahead at 13-10. From there, the Cougars kept the small lead for the next several minutes, but the Bears were able to stay closely behind.

Fardaws Aimaq was fouled and hit two from the line to put Cal within three at 22-19 with 4:22 to go. However, Andrej Jakimovski hit a three, and Myles Rice laid one in to open Washington State’s lead to 27-19.

Jalen Celestine hit a three to make it 27-22 with 2:48 left, but the Cougars closed out the first half with seven unanswered points, and altogether a 12-3 run, to go into the half uo 34-22.

Aimaq slammed one down to start the second half, but the Cougars kept adding. Wells hit a jumper, and Rice hit a three to make it 41-26.

Being down by double digits in the early minutes of the second half was nothing new to the Bears, who have come back from many such deficits this season. There was no reason to believe they couldn’t do so tonight.

The Bears had already come back from a large deficit early in this game. When the Cougars jumped out their 10-2 lead out of the gate, the Bears immediately scored eight unanswered points to tie it up. The Bears had all the confidence in the world that they could come back again.

Keonte Kennedy hit a three, and Tyson dunked one to make it 41-31. The Bears definitely believed they could come back, but the Cougars just would not relent, as they jumped out to a 51-33 lead with 15:17 to go. Brown and Newell then hit threes to make it 53-39, but the Cougars were too powerful, and they put the game away.

The Cougars opened their lead to 20 at 66-46 with 9:51 to go, and it was apparent that the Bears were not going to come back tonight. To Cal’s credit, they didn’t fall much further behind, as they never trailed by more than 23 points.

However, once all was said and done, Washington State comfortably won, 84-65.

Tyson led the scoring with 18 points for the Bears, but there was no stopping Myles Rice, who scored 25 for the Cougars. Isaac Jones wasn’t too far behind Rice, as he scored 21.

The Bears fall to 6-8 in Pac-12 play, and 10-15 overall. Now, they will head across Washington State to Seattle, where they will take on the Washington Huskies at 5:30 p.m. Saturday night.

Huskies rout Cardinal 85-65 in Pac-12 hoops

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Stanford Cardinal conferenced but just couldn’t figure out how to stop the Washington Huskies offense at Alaskan Airlines Arena in Seattle on Thu Feb 15, 2024 (Stanford Cardinal image)

By Daniel Dullum

Thursday, February 15, 2024

Stanford opened its penultimate Pac-12 men’s basketball road trip Thursday with an 85-65 defeat by Washington at Alaska Airlines Arena in Seattle.

Washington (14-11 overall, 6-8 Pac-12) was led by Deion Brooks Jr. with 30 points on 8 of 14 field goal shooting, and Koren Johnson with another 30 points off the bench, including six 3-pointers. Shaver Wheeler was next for the Huskies with 14 points, eight assists and two steals. Braxton Meah had 13 rebounds.

Maxime Raynaud and Brandon Angel were the Cardinal scoring leaders with 19 points each. Raynaud also had a game-high 16 rebounds to go with two steals. Angel was 7 of 7 at the free throw line, and Raynaud’s double-double was his 10th of the season, Andrej Stojakovic added 10 points off the bench.

There were 13 lead changes and seven ties throughout most of the first half. Raynaud scored 11 of the Cardinal’s first 17 points, and scored seven points in a 10-0 Stanford run that put the visitors up 16-8.

The Huskies responded with an 8-point run and hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to take a 40-38 halftime lead.

Washington opened the second half with a 12-0 run, and while the Cardinal (12-12 overall, 7-7 Pac-12) cut their deficit to single digits with 11:14 left on a Stojskovic 3-pointer, the Huskies methodically pulled away.

The Cardinal resume their Northwest road swing on Saturday, when they visit Washington State. Game time is 3 p.m.

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro: Blackhawks Bedard back in line up tonight; Panthers Reinhart smartest forward in NHL says coach; plus more news

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Chicago Blackhawks Connor Bedard will return tonight against the Pittsburgh Penguins at the United Center in Chicago. Bedard who suffered a broken jaw in early January has returned a lot earlier than expected. (AP file photo)

On the NHL podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 Connor Bedard the number one NHL draft choice is back in the line up tonight from a broken jaw he and the Chicago Blackhawks will be facing off against the Pittsburgh Penguins His return is earlier than expected and Bedard leads the Blackhawks in scoring.

#2 Things are going relatively well for the Florida Panthers forward Sam Reinhart. Reinhart has a career high 39 goals. Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said that Reinhart has the high IQ of a forward.

#3 Len, the Vancouver Canucks Phil Kessel will be working out at the Canucks AHL affiliate Abbotsford Canucks facilities. Kessel played all last season for the Vegas Golden Knights and has not played for Vancouver yet. Kessel is 36 years old and had 36 points, 14 goals, 22 assists in 82 games regular season games for the Knights. Kessel did not play in the Knights post season.

#4 The Philadelphia Flyers who will be in the Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series outdoor game this Saturday against the New Jersey Devils at Met Life Stadium in East Rutherford are still waiting to see how Tyson Forester (lower body injury) and Rasmus Ristolainen (upper body injury) are coming along. Neither played on Monday against the Arizona Coyotes nor practiced on Wednesday.

#5 The Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Reilly who crossed checked the Ottawa Senators Ridly Grieg in the head was suspended by the NHL Department of Player Safety for five games. Grieg as laid out after the cross check in Saturday’s game. The penalty happened within the last few seconds of the game as the Senators were leading the Leafs 4-3. Grieg scored on a empty netter with six seconds left and that’s when Reilly came up from behind Grieg and crossed checked him. Reilly’s motivation for the crosscheck was that Greig was piling on when the Sens had a one goal lead with six seconds left for a 5-3 Senators win.

#6 Tuesday the Boston Bruins goaltender Linus Ullmark was fined $5,000 for high sticking the the Tampa Bay Lightning’s forward Michael Eyssimont. The penalty was at 5:21 of the third period. Sometimes frustrations happen but apparently the officials ruled that Ullmark’s high stick went too far and Ullmark ended up getting the maximum fine by the NHL’s Department of Player safety.

#7 The San Jose Sharks wing man Tomas Hertl will miss several weeks after having left knee surgery. The surgery was performed to remove cartilage from the knee. Hertl after recovery will rehab and will be evaluated when he could return. Hertl was aware of the knee prior to playing the NHL All Star Game and decided to have the surgery after the All Star break.

Join Len Shapiro for the NHL podcasts Thursdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com