Nick Bonino has been playing hockey a long time, and with great distinction. Starting at Farmington High, then Avon Old Farms and Boston University, he’s grinding his way through 15 NHL seasons, winning a Stanley Cup.
But Bonino wasn’t too set in his ways to see the need for a change. The recent death of a hockey player in the United Kingdom convinced Bonino he should wear a neck guard.
“The severity of it, the pro setting, puts it that much more on your radar and you realize that freak accidents can happen,” Bonino said from the team’s practice facility in Tarrytown, N.Y.
Adam Johnson, 29, died when his neck slashed by a skate during a game. Johnson played in the NHL a few years ago, and a number of players have since ordered neck guards. Bonino got his from Amazon and started wearing it in December, the first Rangers player to do so. He was wearing it during the Rangers’ practice session this week, as well as in games.
“To me, it’s not uncomfortable, so why wouldn’t I wear it?” Bonino said. “I know it does aggravate some guys. If it affects your game, OK.”
Dom Amore: CT native Jonathan Quick providing Rangers a battle-tested backup in the crease
Bonino, like Hamden’s Jonathan Quick, is a veteran player from Connecticut signed to help bring a winning edge to the Rangers. He’s not just wearing the neck guard to protect himself, but for his children, daughters Maisie and Isobel, and his son Bowie — and perhaps your son or daughter, too.
“I know my daughter has to wear one with her youth team,” Bonino said. “And if she watches the TV and sees me wearing one, maybe it normalizes it a little bit more. … I just want everyone to be safe, whether it’s adults or kids.”
Johnson’s death came less than two years after a Connecticut prep school player, Teddy Balkind of St. Luke’s in New Canaan, was killed when his throat was hit by a skate, touching off a debate about wearing neck guards. NHL players have generally been reluctant.
“It’s a very fast game with very sharp steel,” Bonino said. “You’ve seen arm injuries, leg injuries and unfortunately, neck injuries, so you try to protect those places and hopefully save lives.”
Bonino, 35, helped win the Stanley Cup with the Penguins in 2016. The Rangers are his seventh NHL team. Peter Laviolette, who coached him in Nashville, sought Bonino after he became the Rangers coach.
“You’re talking about somebody who thinks the game really well,” Laviolette said. “Real smart defensive player, good in the faceoff circle, very reliable on penalty kill. Courageous. You want to bring people who found success, on how to have a team be successful and be part of that.”
Bonino has played in 28 games for the Rangers, who lead the Metropolitan Division, with a goal and three assists. Known as a defensive forward, Bonino has been the NHL’s premier shot blocker among forwards, 4.2 per 60 minutes, since 2000, when they started keeping that stat. The Rangers envisioned him as a fourth-line center, where he could be a defensive specialist. Injuries have him on the third line, where a little more offense is needed, for now.
His value is in his grit, not to be measured by stats.
“He’s one of those glue guys,” Quick said. “Every team needs those types of guys, block shots, win faceoffs, he does all the little things. He’s a very important piece to our team.”
Perhaps Bonino’s true value will be shown in the spring, when playoff players play. He has 19 goals, 29 assists and is plus-six in 105 playoff games. What makes a playoff player?
“Being consistent, even keeled,” Bonino said. “Not getting too high or too low; there’s a lot of emotions in the playoffs. Just being able to bring your game from the regular season, maybe elevate it a little bit. Big moments are amplified. Little defensive plays are magnified in the playoffs.”
More for your Sunday Read:
"It's been an outstanding experience. I came into it really with an open mind, just trying to take it all in and I think I've left with so much."@QU_WIH head coach Cassie Turner reflects on being a guest coach at Capitals practice the past two days.#ALLCAPS x #BobcatNation pic.twitter.com/4XYM74sshI
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) December 13, 2023
Rare opportunity for Quinnipiac’s Cassandra Turner
Quick and Bonino weren’t the only Connecticut folks in the NHL this week. Quinnipiac women’s hockey coach Cassandra Turner was selected to spent two days with the Capitals as part of the league’s guest coach program.
Turner has built an impressive record as women’s hockey coach at Quinnipiac, a .652 winning percentage (181-91-25) since 2015, including 73-23-3 since the fall of 2021, but she got an opportunity to improve her skills even more this week, spending two days with the Washington Capitals staff as part of the NHL Coaches’ Association Female Coaches Development Program.
“It was pretty cool,” Turner said. “I didn’t expect to be fully immersed the way I was. They included me in all of their meetings, their video meetings, their practice planning sessions, and I got opportunities to ask questions of everybody on their coaching staff, including some time with (head coach) Spencer Carbery. It was really outstanding, I got so much out of it.”
The Bobcats are 17-3 this season, seventh in the pairwise rankings which puts them in good shape to make the NCAA Tournament for a third year in a row. Turner will have some new ideas when they return to action Dec. 30 vs. LIU.
“So many little things,” Turner said. “There are some things we can tweak and change in terms of how we go about what we do that will continue to improve the process that we have. (For example), how we prepare our goalies for practice. … What he NHL looks like and what the college game looks like, men’s and women’s, is different. There’s a lot more puck pressure at our level, a little but more trapping and route that are predictable at the NHL level. It was just fun to take that all in.”
All in all, a rather good use of the semester/holiday break.
“And this was something I never thought about doing,” Turner said. “I’m so excited about the next part of our season. I’m completely energized and refreshed. We have an exciting team, and it got me excited for some little things that can make a big difference for our program.”
Dan Hurley: Distance no deterrent to adding Gonzaga
The UConn men finished their challenging nonconference schedule with a coast-to-coast trip to play Gonzaga in Seattle. There has been much talk of a Big East expansion including Gonzaga, the durable basketball power based in Spokane, Wash., far to the west of any school currently in the conference. But Huskies coach Dan Hurley thinks the burden of travel would be more than offset by the value the Bulldogs could add.
“If we could get a program of Gonzaga’s caliber to come into the Big East,” Hurley said, “we could really use another big-time program to strengthen the league, TV contracts and everything that goes into it, we should just suck it up. It would certainly be worth it just for the basketball boost it would give to our conference.”
Big East commissioner Val Ackerman made the trip out to Seattle to see UConn’s victory. “It’s been great for us, and maybe Gonzaga would like the Big East or something,” Hurley said.
Sad news to report. Original Met Ken Mackenzie passed away at his home this morning in Guilford, CT. https://t.co/Q71ciMMxkM
— Jay Horwitz (@Jay_HorwitzPR) December 14, 2023
Sunday short takes
*Sad news this week in the passing of Ken MacKenzie, an original 1962 Met who had pitched for Yale and lived most of his life in Guilford. I spent a delightful afternoon with Mr. MacKenzie in February of 2022, and he made it to the team’s 60th anniversary that summer. Wonderful man, and he’ll be ever remembered as the only pitcher with a winning record (5-4) on baseball’s losingest team (40-120).
*The Edmonton Oilers took some flak back in Western Canada when they fired a popular coach Jay Woodcroft after a 3-9-1 start and plucked Kris Knoblauch from the Hartford Wolf Pack. It was surmised that Knoblauch’s relationship with the team’s top player, Connor McDavid, was behind the move. Whatever. The Oilers turned it around immediately, winning 10 of Knoblauch’s first 14 games, including eight in a row before losing to Tampa Bay Thursday..
*Trinity is the state’s ‘it’ team in D-III men’s basketball this winter. The Bantams, ranked 13th nationally are 11-0, with wins over UHart, Mitchell College and Saint Joe’s along the way. They’re back in action Dec. 30.
*UConn men’s hockey standout Matthew Wood, a first-round pick of the Predators, has made Team Canada’s final roster for the World Juniors Championships in Sweden Dec. 26-Jan. 5.
*The dynamic duo of Joe D’Ambrosio and Wayne Norman, longtime partners on UConn broadcasts, are getting together again to do a game in the New London Day Holiday Classic at Mohegan Sun Arena. Joe D. and “The Mayor” will call Windsor vs. New London Monday at 6 p.m. on theday.com.
It was a whole lotta Connecticut on Monday Night Football @ajdillon7 @will_levis
Keep Dreaming CT!
— JPinny (@Jason_Pinnock) December 12, 2023
*Great night for Connecticut guys on Monday Night Football. Windsor’s Jason Pinnock helped the Giants win with an interception, New London running back A.J. Dillon was productive in a losing cause for the Packers and Xavier’s Will Levis quarterbacked Tennessee to a win over Miami. “It was a whole lotta Connecticut on Monday Night Football,” Pinnock posted on X. “Keep dreaming, CT.”
*UConn freshman KK Arnold was delighted to point out she got the assist on Paige Bueckers’ 1,000th career point last Sunday. “That’s the highlight of my career so far,” she said.
Former UConn star Tiffany Hayes says she’s retiring from WNBA
Last word
Former UConn star Tiffany Hayes, who played last season with the Connecticut Sun, called it a career in the WNBA this week, announcing her retirement on a podcast.
Way back when, coaches flocked to Florida to watch another player, April Sykes, but Hayes, her AAU teammate, caught the eyes of UConn coaches Tonya Cardoza and Geno Auriemma and she went on to a memorable career in Storrs, winning two championships.
She distinguished herself in the WNBA with the Atlanta Dream and, coming back from an injury, made solid contributions to the Sun last season, averaging 12.1 points, dropping 30 on the Liberty in Game 2 of the semifinals.
Hayes was always a lot of fun to watch, and never cheated a teammate, coach or fan of her best efforts. She says she’ll continue to play some overseas; she doesn’t want to subject her body to the year-round grind any longer. She’s earned the right to do what she wants to do, and not do what she doesn’t want to do.
Commercials Cooperation Advertisements:
(1) IT Teacher IT Freelance
立刻註冊及報名電腦補習課程吧!
电子计算机 -教育 -IT 電腦班” ( IT電腦補習 ) 提供一個方便的电子计算机 教育平台, 為大家配對信息技术, 電腦 老師, IT freelance 和 programming expert. 讓大家方便地就能找到合適的電腦補習, 電腦班, 家教, 私人老師.
We are a education and information platform which you can find a IT private tutorial teacher or freelance.
Also we provide different information about information technology, Computer, programming, mobile, Android, apple, game, movie, anime, animation…
(2) ITSec
www.ITSeceu.uk
Secure Your Computers from Cyber Threats and mitigate risks with professional services to defend Hackers.
ITSec provide IT Security and Compliance Services, including IT Compliance Services, Risk Assessment, IT Audit, Security Assessment and Audit, ISO 27001 Consulting and Certification, GDPR Compliance Services, Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA), Penetration test, Ethical Hacking, Vulnerabilities scan, IT Consulting, Data Privacy Consulting, Data Protection Services, Information Security Consulting, Cyber Security Consulting, Network Security Audit, Security Awareness Training.
Contact us right away.
Email (Prefer using email to contact us):
SalesExecutive@ITSec.vip