Dan’s Daily: Fleury’s Final Goalie Masks; Crosby, Ovechkin Future

Will Sidney Crosby play another meaningful game for the Pittsburgh Penguins, and will Alex Ovechkin pass Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goals mark this season? The old lions and their future took center stage in the hockey debate this week. Also, Marc-Andre Fleury is preparing for his final season, and his artist released the images of Fleury’s final goalie masks. Penguins coach Mike Sullivan will coach Team USA in the Four Nations Face-Off, and Wednesday he named his assistants, both of whom are also close compatriots. Elsewhere in the Daily, Montreal is salivating over Patrik Laine’s arrival, the full timeline for the Ryan Johansen vs. Philadelphia Flyers battle, and P.O Joseph might get squeezed out in St. Louis.

The good news is that Hockey Now is expanding to Seattle next week! We recently launched Ottawa and relaunched Washington, and we are having conversations in the next few days about relaunching Dallas and LA. We’ve signed a new deal (have you noticed the spiffy new ads?) with former Newscorp C-level execs to handle more of our revenue-generating streams.

It was “go time,” and I’d be lying if I said being confronted by the thought of fleeting moments didn’t play a role. There are many media outlets quietly brooming people and cutting way back. Many indie and smaller publishers are on their way out. Another day, I’ll discuss the two biggest culprits who are assaulting the industry; one is Google, another is a rival media company. We may not get to the promised land with the Hockey Now network, but damnit, if we don’t get there, we will be swinging for all we’re worth until the final horn.

In Pittsburgh, the Now Sports group (Steelers, Pirates, Penguins coverage) boasts hundreds of thousands of unique readers per month. Our numbers are significantly higher than those of other outlets touting big totals. We’re here to stay!

It’s time to play the music. It’s time to light the lights…

Pittsburgh Penguins

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: Team USA announced the assistant coaches for the Four Nations Face-Off. Of course, Penguins coach Mike Sullivan is the head coach, and Jon Hynes had already been named an assistant, but the other two are also well-qualified and quite close to Sullivan. David Quinn and John Tortorella join Team USA.

This story encapsulated much of what I reported and scouted in the spring. Take a look–Elite Prospects put out their top 100 prospects, but the top 50 list should have been a little jarring to Penguins fans as prospects taken after the Penguins’ draft picks in the last couple of years surged well past the Penguins’ prospects.

Yeah, that’s an uh oh. It also means I’m not the only one who saw the flaws.

Pittsburgh Baseball Now: The Pirates lost. A walk-off. Bednar. Anyway, prospects are what to follow now, and Griffin Floyd has the latest Pirates prospects report.

NHL Rumors, Debate & National Hockey Now

TSN video: The Washington Capitals are hopeful and starting to talk about it openly, but will Alex Ovechkin break Wayne Gretzky’s record this season?

TSN: Will Sidney Crosby play another meaningful game for the Penguins? TSN also debated that.

Sportsnet: Marc-Andre Fleury. It’s been a great ride, and there is one lap to go. In what will be Fleury’s final season, he and his artist released the goalie masks that Fleury will wear.

Yeah, they’re pretty slick.

Philly Hockey Now: It’s going to be a slobberknocker behind closed doors. Here is the complete timeline (including Jon Bailey’s inside info) on the Ryan Johansen vs. Philadelphia Flyers saga.

Forever Blueshirts: Our NY partners took a look at the best Rangers jerseys that should come back as retro jerseys. I happen to love the classic original six sweaters, but here’s their opinion on the Rangers’ jerseys.

Montreal Hockey Now: Montreal is still buzzing over the Patrik Laine trade. TSN alone had three segments debating whether he would score 30, how many wins he could add, and why it was a great trade. Our Marc Dumont is no different, and he’s just getting started on how the Laine trade will help the Canadiens lineup.

Some of you really dug in your heels in opposition to Laine being a good get. A healthy and clean Laine is going to torture goalies. And good on him.

StL Today: Oh man. P.O Joseph may have gone from the frying pan into the fire. After bolting the Penguins for barely more than minimum money, St. Louis now has nine defensemen after signing Philip Broberg in the RFA swipe. What becomes of P.O?

Also, congrats to Amanda Kessel. She and her girlfriend are engaged. Also, it appears like a pretty sweet vacation/boat ride on the Amalfi coast.