Latest news with #SamReinhart
UPI
3 days ago
- Sport
- UPI
Florida Panthers to lead off NHL opening night triple-header
Forward Sam Reinhart (L) and the Florida Panthers will host the Chicago Blackhawks in the first game of the NHL regular season at 5 p.m. EDT Oct. 7 in Sunrise, Fla. File Photo by Archie Carpenter/UPI | License Photo July 14 (UPI) -- The two-time reigning Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers take on the Chicago Blackhawks in an opening night triple-header to launch the 2025 NHL regular-season, the league announced Monday. Conn Smythe Trophy winner Sam Bennett and the Panthers will raise their Stanley Cup banner and battle the Blackhawks at 5 p.m. EDT Oct. 7 at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Fla. A second opening night contest will feature the New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins at 7:30 p.m. at Madison Square Garden in New York. The Los Angeles Kings then will host the Colorado Avalanche in the nightcap at 10 p.m. at Arena in Los Angeles. All three matchups will air on ESPN. Full 2025-26 NHL schedules for all 30 teams will be announced at 1 p.m. Wednesday on NHL Network.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Stanley Cup parade: Florida Panthers fans brave the heat to celebrate sweet repeat
FORT LAUDERDALE — Standing in front of thousands of fans, Florida Panthers star Sam Reinhart didn't need to say much to get the crowd roaring in front of the stage at Fort Lauderdale Beach. "I'm going to keep this really short and sweet," Reinhart said. "In honor of DJ Khaled, 'We the best.' " Advertisement When the crowd dialed down just enough to be heard again, he doubled down on the rapper's famous words. "Another one," Reinhart exclaimed, echoing the calls for "Rock the 3," begun as a chant by Panthers fans that lasted well into the afternoon celebration. For the second time in as many years, the Florida Panthers are Stanley Cup champions, and fans from across the state and beyond flocked to see the celebratory parade along the Fort Lauderdale beach front, culminating in an address from coaches, front office staff and players on an enormous stage. More: Florida Panthers' Stanley Cup celebration, on ice level, as cool as it gets | Habib Advertisement This year's celebration was just as lively as last year, and without the pouring rain that doused all in attendance following the Panthers' first Cup win. No, as Panthers play-by-play announcer Steve Goldstein said, there was certainly no sign of "lightning" and absolutely no evidence of "hurricanes," poking jabs at the Panthers' series victories over Tampa Bay and Carolina on their way to hoisting the Cup for the second straight year. No rain on Panthers' parade, but incredible heat Jun 22, 2025; Fort Lauderdale, Florida, UNITED STATES; Florida Panthers defenseman Niko Mikkola (77) celebrates during the Stanley Cup championship parade and rally. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images In place of rain, however, was incredible heat, forcing fans to take drink breaks and seek shade as the feels-like temperature broke 90 degrees with ease. Advertisement Panthers fan Frank Klutcharch took a breather from the heat to grab a drink at Quarterdeck, a restaurant right around the corner. For him, Sunday afternoon was the cherry on top of an incredible season. Florida Panthers fans Frank Klutcharch (left) and Fernando Piedra (right) pose for a photo while taking a breather from the heat during the fun of the Stanley Cup parade on June 22, 2025. "I've been a fan my whole life," he said, sharing that he had one of the first helicopter tours of the facility and was a Sunrise resident before the team's inception. Seeing the Panthers hoist the Cup in front of the home fans was a surreal experience for Klutcharch and many others. "I couldn't ask for more, especially since my family is from Chicago are Blackhawks fans. Everywhere besides Florida, they talk s--- about us Panthers fans, but there's more of us than you think, baby." Advertisement In light of that, Goldstein's ending statement on the podium was both a message to other teams and a testament to Florida's fandom. "They're baaack," he ended ‒ leaving Panthers fans to hold three fingers in the air, hoping for yet another date with their hockey team, same time and same place next year. Jun 22, 2025; Fort Lauderdale, Florida, UNITED STATES; Florida Panthers center Brad Marchand (63) celebrates with the Stanley Cup during the Stanley Cup championship parade and rally. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Florida Panthers Stanley Cup parade leaves fans chanting 'Rock the 3'
Yahoo
10-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Hurricanes swing big again, land K'Andre Miller in sign-and-trade with Rangers
Florida Panthers center Sam Reinhart (13) gets cross checked by New York Rangers defenseman K'Andre Miller (79) and left wing Brennan Othmann (78) during the first period of a game on Monday, April 14, 2025, at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Fla. Reinhart went on to score on the power play within the next minute. Florida Panthers left wing Ryan Lomberg (94) skates up to New York Rangers defenseman K'Andre Miller (79) during the second period of Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs at the Amerant Bank Arena on Sunday, May 26, 2024, in Sunrise, Fla. Florida Panthers left wing Ryan Lomberg (94) skates up to New York Rangers defenseman K'Andre Miller (79) during the second period of Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs at the Amerant Bank Arena on Sunday, May 26, 2024, in Sunrise, Fla. Florida Panthers center Sam Reinhart (13) gets cross checked by New York Rangers defenseman K'Andre Miller (79) and left wing Brennan Othmann (78) during the first period of a game on Monday, April 14, 2025, at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Fla. Reinhart went on to score on the power play within the next minute. Florida Panthers left wing Ryan Lomberg (94) skates up to New York Rangers defenseman K'Andre Miller (79) during the second period of Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs at the Amerant Bank Arena on Sunday, May 26, 2024, in Sunrise, Fla. Out with the old and in with the new seemed to be a Carolina Hurricanes theme Tuesday on the first day of NHL free agency, at least defensively. Gone are veteran defensemen Brent Burns and Dmitry Orlov, who each left Carolina as free agents. Coming to the Hurricanes is 25-year-old defenseman K'Andre Miller, who agreed to an eight-year, $60 million contract before being traded by the New York Rangers. Advertisement Carolina, in exchange, sent conditional first- and second-round picks in the 2026 NHL draft and defenseman Scott Morrow to New York. 'We've been talking for a while about it,' Tulsky said at a late-afternoon press conference at Lenovo Center. 'They were obviously looking at other players in free agency and needed to clear the cap space and also the roster spot. So we've been talking about what a deal would look like for a while. 'It was important for us to do it without giving up any major pieces off of our roster if we could. Obviously, Morrow was close but he wasn't quite there for us last year. It's a big price to pay but we think (Miller) is a great fit for us.' The Canes hold two first-rounders for 2026 after picking up the Dallas Stars' first-round selection in the March trade that sent forward Mikko Rantanen to Dallas. The Rangers will receive the better of the two picks, which are top-10 protected.. Advertisement On the first day of free agency, always unpredictable, the Canes first made news with a different long-term contract: the signing of forward Logan Stankoven to an eight-year, $48 million extension. That announcement came an hour before NHL free agency officially started at noon. That's when the wait began on the landing spots for Burns and Orlov, unrestricted free agents who decided to hit the open market and remained unsigned. 'Right now, I do not anticipate either of them being back with us,' Tulsky said. 'Obviously, that can change with one phone call but that's where we are right now.' Burns, who was traded to the Canes by San Jose, will turn 41 during the 2025-26 season. But he has played 925 consecutive games and spent the past three years with Jaccob Slavin on the Canes' top D pairing. Advertisement Orlov, 33, came to Carolina as a free agent in July 2023, signing a two-year, $15.5 million contract. With the departure of defensemen Brett Pesce and Brady Skjei in free agency a year ago, Orlov and Jalen Chatfield became the Canes' second defensive pairing. The departures of Burns and Orlov add up to a defensive hit for Carolina over two years. But Miller should be a key addition for the Carolina blue line, bringing size — he's listed at 6-foot-5 and 210 pounds — and toughness to the lineup. 'He's a really powerful skater who can close out really effectively and take away time and space,' Tulsky said. 'The aggressive way we play is going to suit him very well. He's also very strong in front of the net, defending and protecting the front of the net. I think his skating and recovery speed is going to be really effective for us.' Defenseman Alexander Nikishin, who left Russia to join the Canes at the end of the regular season, is expected to fill a lineup spot on the back end. Nikishin, 23, is 6-4 and 215 pounds and underwent a trial-by-fire getting in four playoff games for the Canes. Advertisement A left-shot defenseman, Miller was made a first-round pick by the Rangers in the 2018 draft, taken 22nd overall, He made his NHL debut in the 2020-21 season, playing 53 games as a rookie alongside veteran Jacob Trouba and being named to the NHL All-Rookie team. The Minnesota native has been a durable D-man for the Rangers, playing 74 or more games in each of the past four seasons. He averaged 21:57 in ice time in 2024-25, exactly matching his career high from 2022-23. Miller signed a two-year, $7.744 million contract extension with the Rangers in July 2023. Miller was a part of the U.S. National Team Development Program, playing international competition for the U.S., and had another two years of college hockey at Wisconsin. Advertisement The Hurricanes added a depth defenseman Tuesday by signing veteran Mike Reilly to a one-year, $1.1 million deal. Reilly, 31, played 18 games for the New York Islanders last season after undergoing a heart procedure in November. Reilly has played more than 400 career games for six NHL teams. The Hurricanes also added more depth to their goaltending Tuesday, signing Amir Miftakhov out of the KHL to a one-year, two-way contract. The deal will pay Miftakhov $775,000 on the NHL level or $100,000 on the AHL level, with a guarantee of at least $240,000. Miftakhov represented Russia at the 2020 IIHF U20 World Championship, winning silver, and the 2019 U20 World Championship, winning bronze. Advertisement 'Amir has put together a number of solid seasons in the KHL and is ready to return to professional hockey in North America,' Tulsky said in a statement. Miftakhov, 25, played with AK Bars Kazan in the KHL this past season, finishing with a 13-11-3 record, 2.18 goals-against average, .927 save percentage. He also has played in the AHL. Miftakhov represented Russia at the 2020 IIHF U20 World Championship, winning silver, the 2019 U20 World Championship, winning bronze, and the 2018 U18 World Championship, where he was named a top three player on the team. The Canes on Monday worked a deal with the Montreal Canadiens for the rights to goalie Cayden Primeau, who spent much of the 2024-25 season with Laval Rocket of the AHL. Carolina gave up a seventh-round pick in the 2026 NHL draft.
New York Times
04-07-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
NHL 2024-25 prediction contest results, where playing it safe finally paid off
July 1 has come and gone, marking one of the most important dates on the entire NHL calendar. Free agency? Extensions? The start of the new league year? Yeah, I guess that all matters a bit. But I'm talking about the truly big stuff: The end of the annual prediction contest. Yes, with the first day of free agency over with, we can officially close the book on the 2024-25 contest. It was the fourth time we've run this thing, and scores have been increasing every year. In theory, you guys are getting better at this. In reality … well, we'll get to that. Advertisement As usual, the gimmick here is that the questions are easy, but you take a zero if you offer even one wrong answer, so the risk-reward can get tricky. If you missed out on the contest or could use a refresher on how it all works, you can find the original post here. An initial summary came a week later, in which we learned that nobody believed in Sam Reinhart. Correctly, as it turns out. I'm sure he'll be crushed once he and the rest of his teammates sober up. If they ever do. The good news is that, unlike last year, there was no tie at the top this time. There was one winner. Was it you? Maybe! (No.) Let's go through the questions and see how this played out for the 1,200 or so entrants. Question 1. Name up to five teams that will make the playoffs. Right off the bat, you ran into a major problem with what, in theory, was one of the easier questions. Roughly three-quarters of you, 913 in all, had the Rangers on your list of postseason sure-things. It's hard to blame you, given they were coming off a 114-point season that saw them win the Presidents' Trophy, but their unexpected collapse meant that the vast majority of you started with a zero. All told, only 241 of you banked any points at all on Question 1, with Vancouver, Boston and Nashville also taking out dozens of entries. Question 2. Name up to five teams that will not make the playoffs. This one went a little better, with the top four responses (San Jose, Columbus, Chicago and Anaheim) all being correct, although the Blue Jackets sure made 1,106 of you sweat. The problem came with the fifth team, and the 680 of you who knew there was no way that the Canadiens would see the postseason. They did, taking out more than half of you. The Blues, Senators and Capitals also did some damage here. In past years, banking the maximum 30 points across the first two questions was close to mandatory if you wanted to compete for the top spot. Needless to say, it was a rough start this time around, and we have two Original Six surprises to thank for that. Advertisement Question 3. Name up to five teams that will finish in the middle 16 of the regular-season standings (i.e., between 9th and 24th). This is meant to be a low-key tricky one, but you mostly did well this year. Your four most common answers — the Wild, Islanders, Red Wings and Penguins — were all correct, although Pittsburgh needed the second tiebreaker to sneak into 24th place. The most common wrong answers were a pair of overachievers, with the Kings (534 entries) and Capitals (314) both finishing in the top eight. Other wrong answers on the good side included the Jets (232 entries) and Lightning (175), while the other side of the ledger saw some of you punished for believing in the Sabres (233), Kraken (191) and Predators (150). Man, the Sabres being bad, who could have ever seen that coming? Shout out to Jeff P. and John B., both of whom managed to go 0-for-5 on this question. I'm not sure how the math works, but I feel like that's probably harder than going 5-for-5. Nice work, gentlemen. Question 4. Name up to five coaches who will not be fired or otherwise leave their job before July 1, 2025, NOT including any of the 12 coaches who were hired after October 1, 2023. Question 5. Name up to five GMs who will not be fired or otherwise leave their job before July 1, 2025, NOT including any of the 11 GMs who were hired after October 1, 2022. As always, the coaches and GMs had to make it through not just the regular season, but the start of the offseason, too. That turned out to be important for the most common wrong answer on the coaching side, who was still employed into June. That would be Pete DeBoer, who cost 487 of you here. Other common misses included Rick Tocchet (415), Peter Laviolette (271) and Jim Montgomery (249) All told, 971 of you tried for max points by listing five coaches, but only 84 pulled it off successfully. A further 86 managed to pick up at least a few points by going the cowardly conservative route with fewer answers. The good news is that the GM question was basically free money, given that only three teams made changes. None of those were surprises, at least according to your entries — the most common wrong answer was Seattle's Ron Francis, whose firing took out a relatively meagre 82 entries. The Kings' Rob Blake was only mentioned 29 times, and the Islanders' Lou Lamoriello only caught 22 of you. All told, an impressive 817 of you maxed out this question, and 153 more got at least something. Advertisement And of course, as always, way too many of you did not bother reading the full question and tried to list recent hires. That included Dianne P. and Nik S., who both listed 10 total names across these two questions, every one of which was hired too recently to be eligible. Hey, if you're going to miss, miss big. Question 6. Name up to five goaltenders who will start at least 50 games this season. This is another question that's traditionally been a source of 5-for-5 points for eventual winners. This year's answers featured a clear big three of Connor Hellebuyck, Juuse Saros and Igor Shesterkin, who all appeared on at least 900 entries and were indeed correct answers. The most common misses were relatively painless, with Jacob Markstrom, Linus Ullmark and Alexandar Georgiev(!) all getting at least 150 mentions. Also, congratulations to Mike P. and Matthew B., the only two entries out of 1,200+ to list Vezina finalist Darcy Kuemper for the goaltending question. He barely made it, recording 50 starts (and not a single relief appearance), but he counted. Question 7. Name up to five rookies who will finish in the top 10 of Calder balloting. This one has been an entry-wrecker for the last few years, which scared most of you off — only 335 of you listed the maximum five players here. But that turned out to be a mistake this year, as the most common answers were all the correct ones. We didn't get to any wrong answers until Rutger McGroarty and Josh Doan, who appeared on just 51 and 46 entries, respectively. In fact, not only did each of the seven most common entries qualify as right answers, they made up the actual top seven in Calder balloting. Nicely done by everyone, but especially the 203 of you who went 5-for-5. Question 8. Name up to five defensemen who will finish in the top 10 of Norris balloting. After the relatively easy points from the Calder question, this one was a bloodbath. Eventual winner Cale Makar appeared on almost every entry, and Quinn Hughes was also safe despite missing time. But those were the only two names from your collective top seven to deliver. Adam Fox took out 977 of you on his own, and if you dodged him, then you probably fell victim to Roman Josi (808 entries), Miro Heiskanen (553), Evan Bouchard (427) or Charlie McAvoy (110). I'll pause here to applaud Alan F. and Jonathan B., the only two entries to include Norris runner-up Zach Werenski, as well as Karl Eric S., who was the only entry in the entire contest to have Thomas Harley. Advertisement All told, not a single entry managed a 5-for-5 on this question. In fact, nobody even managed a 4-for-4, and only 21 of you managed to get any points at all. That's a new record for futility. Let's never speak of this again. Question 9. Name up to five players who will finish in the top 15 of Hart Trophy voting. Welcome to life as a Leafs fan in the playoffs, because you should all be really mad at Auston Matthews. He was named on 1,106 entries, making him this year's record-holder for the most common wrong answer. Combined with the support for Jack Hughes (273 entries), Sidney Crosby (123) and Artemi Panarin (99), this was another tough one. How tough? Of the 808 of you who listed five names on this question, a measly three escaped with max points. (Nice work Jason J., Asher S. and Logan F.) And only 43 of you got any points at all. And that brings us to the obvious question: Did anyone manage to get points on both the Norris and Hart questions? Yes … two of you. Congratulations to Francis G., who listed Quinn Hughes for the Norris and Connor McDavid for the Hart to earn a combined total of two whole points. That's pathetic, but only one entry could beat him — Dylan B., who had Makar for the Norris and McDavid and Nathan Mackinnon for the Hart. Credit where it's due, that's five points that Dylan banked and you didn't. Question 10. Name up to five players who are currently on an NHL roster who will change teams between October 9 and the end of the first day of 2025 free agency (scheduled to be July 1). This means they must be on a new roster via trade, free agency, waivers or whatever else, but does not include retirement, leaving the league entirely or being an unsigned free agent. The dreaded roster move question, which takes us right up to 11:59 p.m. on July 1. That was bad news for the 167 of you who had Nikolaj Ehlers finding a new team by then, but he was only the fourth most common miss. The top spot actually went to Frank Vatrano, who was named on 407 entries before deciding to re-up with the Ducks. All told, only four of you went 5-for-5 here; nice job by Corey B., Sean F., Chris B. and Holden M. (Also, our friend Dylan B. listed only Timothy Liljegren here, earning him yet another point. If the contest only had another 60 or so questions, his conservative strategy would have had him in the running for top spot.) Optional bonus question: For 15 bonus points, name one and only one player who will finish this season with at least 50 goals, but who is not Auston Matthews. Once again, you had the option to risk your entire entry on the bonus. Once again, most of you did — 794 of you chose to answer here, while 445 decided not to chance it. That latter group may have had the right idea, as this season only served up a single 50-goal scorer in Edmonton's Leon Draisaitl. Advertisement The good news is that Draisaitl was the second most common answer. The bad news is that only 158 of you had him, meaning 636 of you flushed your entry away on picks such as David Pastrnak (300 entries), Connor McDavid (92), Nathan MacKinnon (73) and Kirill Kaprizov (65). The list of entry-wiping answers also included both of you who believed in Sam Reinhart. By the way, the league's second-place goal-scorer with 45 in the year, William Nylander, was not named on a single entry. Not you. But you know that by now. It was a tough year, with nobody cracking the 100-point mark for the first time since 2022 (when there were fewer questions). Only seven entries even managed to get to the 80-point mark, a list that included Brian W.'s 80 on the nose, as well as 81 points for Samuel F. and Daniel B. Close, but not close enough. The silver medal will be split three ways, with Vladic K., Hugo T. and Samuel P. all finishing with 85 points. Each of them maxed out four questions for 15 points each, added a 10-spot somewhere else, and then nailed Draisaitl for the bonus. And each fell just short. All three will have plenty to think about over the offseason — Vladic can blame the Kings for missing the mushy middle by a few points, Hugo can curse Georgiev for falling three starts short of 50, and Samuel had an agonizing four different questions with just one miss: Montreal for question 2, Seattle for question 3, Matthews for question 9 and Vatrano for question 10. Not only would he have won the contest if any of those had come through, he'd also have won if he'd only left any of those answers off his entry entirely. Safe is death, as John Tortorella once said, but Samuel would be our champion if he'd only played it just a bit safer. But he didn't, and that's good news for our winner: Congratulations to Matt A., whose 88 points were enough to top our leaderboard in a 'Jamie Benn wins the Art Ross' level performance. Matt banked the max points on each of the first three questions before getting tripped up by DeBoer and Tocchet on the coaches. He recovered with max scores on the GMs and the goalies, dodged the Calder bullet by listing only Macklin Celebrini and Lane Hutson; his fans probably booed him for playing it safe, but those three points made the difference. He banked 10 more points on the Hart question to get to 88, which was enough to overcome misses on the Norris and the transactions. And yes, you're reading that right — for the first time, our winner is an entrant who bypassed the bonus question. I wasn't sure it could be done, but the NHL is full of surprises. Congratulations to Matt. Thank you to everyone who played along, even if you were one of the many entries to get a zero for the year. And a huge thanks to Mike, whose work in scraping the data and maintaining the entry database is invaluable. We'll plan to do it all again in September. Until then, take the summer to strategize. Most of you have nowhere to go but up. (Top photo of Auston Matthews: Dan Hamilton / Imagn Images)
Yahoo
24-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Sam Reinhart wasn't at the Panthers' first parade. He lived it up this time
Sam Reinhart made his way to the stage on Fort Lauderdale Beach on top of Brad Marchand's shoulders, pumping his fist and firing up a crowd of more than 200,000 Florida Panthers fans on Sunday afternoon. It was a moment long in the making. Advertisement Reinhart didn't take part in the Panthers' championship parade last year when they won the Stanley Cup for the first time in franchise history because he had to attend his best friend's wedding that day. 'Obviously you'd love to be there for the parade and to celebrate with the fans,' Reinhart, who scored the game-winning goal in Game 7 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final to secure the championship, said at the start of training camp. 'Certainly there's some FOMO [fear of missing out] there, but I made the right decision. I know that. Hopefully, it's something we can build towards again and I'll be there for the next one.' Fast forward one year, and here the Panthers are again on Fort Lauderdale Beach after winning a second consecutive Stanley Cup — something only six other teams have accomplished in the expansion era (since the 1967-68 season). And this time, Reinhart was there to enjoy in the festivities. Florida Panthers forward Sam Reinhart makes his way to the stage on forward Brad Marchand's shoulders during the team's Stanley Cup championship celebration parade on Sunday, June 22, 2025, at Fort Lauderdale Beach, Florida. After entering on Marchand's shoulders, he took the mic from captain Aleksander Barkov as a few notable plays from his Stanley Cup playoff run — including his first of four goals in the Cup-clinching Game 6 of the Cup Final against Edmonton — played on screen. Advertisement 'The only thing I've heard all day is how this is the best parade that's ever happened in South Florida,' Reinhart said. 'Thank God I missed last year and not this year.' Reinhart then channeled in inner DJ Khaled for the rest of his speech. 'We the best! And I mean that!' said Reinhart, who led the Panthers with 39 goals and 81 points in the regular season, tied for the team lead with 23 points (11 goals, 12 assists in the playoffs) and finished runner-up to Barkov for the Selke Trophy given annually to the NHL's best defensive forward. 'Another one!' Florida Panthers center Sam Reinhart kisses Matthew Tkachuk's ring during the Florida Panthers Stanley Cup Championship victory parade on Sunday, June 22, 2025 down Las Olas in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. It capped a wild week that saw Reinhart unleash his wild side. Advertisement His peak moments came Thursday night into Friday morning when the team went to E11even, a worldwide known nightclub in Miami. Reinhart climbed a stripper pole to grab a signed Barkov jersey from the a trapeze bar hanging from the rafters to chants of his nickname, 'Reino! Reino!' Later in the night, Reinhart was seen with forward Evan Rodrigues pouring shots down people's throats and even handing out full bottles. 'Reino's had a couple legendary moments so far,' Marchand said. Added coach Paul Maurice on Saturday: 'I would think any celebration and anything that he would enjoy like that would be strictly for the other players, the laughter amongst them, right? Sam's not trying to build a brand here, but he has one in our room. He's got a great sense of humor. He's very, very bright. Really well spoken. Understands the game at a high level. He understands the game completely differently and on a higher level than I do because he's a player. He's a quiet man, but he has a voice. When you need it, he will say something on the bench. He has a great sense of when they need him to speak and he has that time.'
