'It's like family. It's like they're my sons'
Michael Futa, who plucked Wayne Simmonds and Mark Giordano from obscurity, reflects on their 1,000th games...Northeastern women make it five, three stars and an awkward birthday in our Monday Roundup
As a senior consultant to the GM of the Carolina Hurricanes and an analyst for Rogers Sportsnet, Michael Futa could have easily scored himself a pass Saturday night to watch the Toronto Maple Leafs host the Vancouver Canucks from the press box. But he wanted to sit in the seats and enjoy it as a fan. And he’ll do the same Tuesday night when the Maple Leafs host the Seattle Kraken.
After all it’s not every day that two players you plucked out of hockey obscurity play their 1,000th games in the NHL. On the same day. At precisely the same time Wayne Simmonds suited up for his milestone game for the Leafs, Kraken captain Mark Giordano was doing the same when Seattle visited the Washington Capitals. Simmonds and Giordano will face each other in their 1,002nd games Tuesday night. Simmonds will receive a silver stick to commemorate the feat and, as it happens, Giordano will be lined up on the other blueline.
“With the exception of the birth of my daughters and my two Stanley Cups, that’s probably the proudest moment I’ve ever had,” Futa said of the Saturday night games. “Those two guys kind of defined my career. It’s like family. They already have incredible families, it’s like they’re my sons. Wayne Simmonds went from getting cut from the Mississauga Ice Dogs to 1,000 games. For Mark Giordano to go from being a AA hockey player to a Norris Trophy-winning defenseman who is one of the most prestigious captains in the game is amazing.”
Long before they played their 1,000th NHL games, both Giordano and Simmonds had aspirations of playing in the Ontario Hockey League. The only problem is that nobody wanted them. In 2001-02, then the GM of the Owen Sound Attack, Futa learned about Giordano from his coach at the time, Frank Carnevale. Giordano was already 18 at the time and playing Jr. A hockey. “He looked like he belonged at Wasaga Beach,” according to Futa, who signed him as a free agent the next season. Four years later, Futa dispatched assistant GM Chris Byrne and scout Ken Cook to Brockville to watch Simmonds, who was 17 at the time. Futa chose Simmonds in the sixth round of the OHL draft in 2006.
For each player, it was a case of overvaluing character before the talent level was able to catch up. As both Giordano and Simmonds have proven over the years, they have those particular assets in abundance, which is why they’ve both managed to last 1,000 games, and counting, in the best league in the world.
MAKE IT FIVE FOR NORTHEASTERN
There are a lot of reasons why the women’s team at Northeastern University has won five straight Hockey East championships. One of them is that they have players such as Alina Mueller and Maureen Murphy. Both players were key to Northeastern sweeping the league championship, with Murphy scoring five goals and seven points in three games and Mueller scoring two goals and nine points.
It turned out Mueller was chosen the MVP of the tournament, but felt Murphy deserved it more. Then this happened:
“I didn’t even know it had happened until (Saturday) night when somebody sent me the video,” said Northeastern coach Dave Flint. “Maureen Murphy had a great tournament. But also Murphy really stepped up when Alina was at the Olympics (playing for Switzerland) and really carried the load for us. I think Alina was saying, ‘I think Maureen deserves more recognition.’ I think that was her point.”
Because the NCAA extended the eligibility for senior players last season because of the pandemic, Northeastern has seven players who have been there for all five championships. But the Huskies have not won a national title in those years. And they won’t have an easy road if they want to win one this year. Seeded No. 3 going into the NCAA tournament, the Huskies will play the winner of a one-game showdown between Wisconsin and Clarkson on Saturday night for the right to go to the Women’s Frozen Four. Wisconsin defeated Northeastern 2-1 in overtime in the NCAA championship game last year and between Wisconsin and Clarkson, they have won each of the past four national titles.
GREAT GAMES FOR ROBERTSON, EH?
First star of the weekend goes to Jason Robertson of the Dallas Stars. Robertson became the 16th player in NHL history to score back-to-back hat tricks, a feat he accomplished Friday night against the Winnipeg Jets and Sunday afternoon against the Minnesota Wild. Yeah, that was really impressive.
But it was his comment after the Stars’ 6-3 win over the Wild that gains him all the accolades. When asked about Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger almost scoring on the Wild’s empty net near the end of the game, Robertson replied, “That was something, eh?”
Robertson was born in Arcadia, California. Of course, he did spend five years in Canada, one year playing for the Don Mills Flyers under-16 team before spending four years in the OHL with the Kingston Frontenacs and Niagara Ice Dogs.
Second star of the weekend goes to Nick Schmaltz of the Arizona Coyotes, who scored seven points in Arizona’s 8-5 win over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday. I went back and looked at all five of his assists and each one of them was legitimate. Schmaltz became the second former U.S college player to score seven points in a game, after Red Berenson. Want to hear something crazy? Wayne Gretzky scored seven points nine times in his career. Mario Lemieux did it seven times.
Third star goes to New York Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin, who stopped 77 of 79 shots in wins over the New Jersey Devils and Winnipeg Jets this weekend.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, YOU’RE WAIVED
If you’re a fan of the Detroit Red Wings, you learned two things on Monday. First, it’s that professional sports can be very, very cruel. Most of us already knew that. Second, and probably a little less well-known, NHL hockey operations departments aren’t always in tune with the social team. The same day defenseman Danny DeKeyser was put on waivers by the Red Wings, the team put out the following tweet:
Happy 32nd Birthday, indeed. Man, that’s awkward.