LNN: Front office hires, Isobel Cup news, Olympics, and more!

• Brad Marchand has been suspended six games. Good news for Ottawa, who play the Bruins twice during that time.
• The Premier Hockey Federation recently announced that the Isobel Cup playoffs will be held in Florida this year. The final will be held on March 28th and broadcast on ESPN. No word yet on a Canadian broadcast.
• You may remember the Canadiens’ last coaching change, when Claude Julien was fired right after a loss to the Sens. Clearly, Dominic Ducharme hasn’t had a great time behind the Canadiens’ bench lately, as the Habs just fired him, after signing him to an extension over the summer. Martin St. Louis will take over in Montreal.
• The other, more exciting hockey hire: the Canucks have added hall of famer Cammi Granato as an assistant general manager. Granato had previously worked as a scout for the Seattle Kraken.
• After 15 seasons and an attempt at a comeback, Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask has officially announced his retirement./

A statement from Tuukka Rask.#NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/Lae4E8rLfI

— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) February 9, 2022

• Jack Eichel is now practicing with the Golden Knights in a full-contact jersey, indicating that he’s probably pretty close to a return (this matches the timeline he had initially set for himself, as he wanted to play at the Olympics). Eichel’s return will be exciting all on its own, but it’s even more exciting when you remember that Vegas still has to clear up a whole bunch of cap space if they want to take him off IR.
• The Olympics are well underway, and if you’re not following the women’s hockey tournament, you’re missing out. Monday’s late night game between Canada and the US had the highest ratings of all of CBC’s Olympic coverage so far. Canada was largely outplayed, but came out ahead thanks to a combination of stellar goaltending, special teams dominance, and of course a timely goal from Captain Clutch, Marie-Philip Poulin. The quarterfinals begin tonight, with the US taking on Czechia. Canada plays Sweden at 8am tomorrow morning. The gold medal game will be played at 11pm on February 17th.
• Speaking of Olympic hockey, the men’s tournament began yesterday, and Canada and the US each played this morning. Canada won 5-1 over Germany after scoring 3 just in the first period. Meanwhile, USA got off to a slow start against China but ultimately won 8-0. Sens prospect Jake Sanderson did not play, but according to his Instagram stories, he was getting on a plane to Beijing last night. So far, I have not seen any official confirmation that he is at the Olympic village, but hopefully he’ll be able to join the team soon.
• If you’re looking for more Sens connections in the men’s hockey tournament, it should come as no surprise that the German team has a connection to Tim Stützle. German forward David Wolf was Tim Stützle’s linemate and mentor in Mannheim. He featured quite prominently in Timmy’s draft day documentary. Although it’s disappointing that Stützle can’t go to the Olympics, I’m sure he’s rooting for this German team, and I suggest Sens fans become David Wolf fans. We owe him this, since he raised our boy.
• CBC spoke to a few Black hockey players about racism in hockey and some of the challenges they face in reporting it./