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ELMONT, N.Y. — PWHL New York is changing coaches after reaching a mutual agreement with Howie Draper, who decided to step down and return to his former job coaching the University of Alberta women’s hockey program, the league announced Saturday.

The move comes a week after the Professional Women’s Hockey League closed its inaugural season with New York finishing last in the six-team standings with a 9-12-3 record.

As part of the agreement, Draper will remain involved with New York in a special advisory role with the scouting department. He returns to an Alberta program where Draper spent 26 seasons and holds the Canadian university women’s hockey record with 667 career coaching wins.

This marks the league’s second coaching change after Charlie Burggraf cited family reasons for his decision to step down from his job with Minnesota in late December, less than a week before the start of the season. He was replaced by former NHL defenceman and former U.S. women’s national team coach Ken Klee.

“I’ve been blessed to have been a part of PWHL New York this past season,” Draper said in a statement. “It was an honour to have worked alongside this outstanding group of staff and athletes. I look forward to the opportunity to remain involved in the continuing growth of the program.”

New York won the PWHL’s inaugural game with a 4-0 victory at Toronto on Jan. 1 and opened the season 6-4-1 before going on an 0-5-2 skid. The team was eliminated from playoff contention with three games left in its season.

“We are grateful for the opportunity to have gotten to know Howie both personally and as a coach,” New York general manager Pascal Daoust said. “His contributions will forever be a part of this team’s foundation, and I feel privileged to have worked alongside him.”

New York also faced adversity in having difficulty finding a home and generating support in the tri-state area. After splitting home games between Bridgeport, Connecticut, and the New York Islanders’ home in Elmont, N.Y., the team closed its season with two games at the New Jersey Devils’ home in Newark, N.J.

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4. Ron Ellis, former Leafs legend, dead at 79  CP24
5. Maple Leafs legend Ron Ellis dies at 79  Daily Faceoff

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Ron Ellis looked around the dressing room beneath the stands at Maple Leaf Gardens and quickly realized that one of these guys just didn’t belong. It was 1964 and the Leafs had won three straight Stanley Cups. The team was a dynasty, stacked with stars like Dave Keon, Red Kelly and Frank Mahovlich. Ellis was just 19 years old, a rookie among legends. His success scoring goals in junior meant nothing now.

“All these guys were stars on their junior team,” Ellis recalled when I spoke to him back in 2012. “For me to have a career and not just a cup of coffee, I was going to have to diversify my game.”

Over the next two decades, Ellis became one of the best two-way forwards in the NHL.

“I knew I wasn’t a Bobby Hull. I knew I wasn’t a Jean Béliveau,” he said. “I knew where I fit in.”

As a winger, he averaged more than 20 goals a season, while backchecking with such tenacity that Johnny Bower considered him one of the most valuable assets on the team.

Ellis died at the age of 79 Saturday and was recently the recipient of the NHL Alumni Association’s Keith Magnuson Man of the Year Award for his countless contributions to his community and the hockey world.

His career began as a standout 13-year-old centre for the Melville Dodgers. He was playing in the Ottawa Auditorium when a Leafs scout noticed his speed and scoring touch. That season Punch Imlach and King Clancy flew to Ottawa to convince Ellis’s parents to let him move to Toronto to join the Leafs organization. They agreed, and Ellis spent three seasons with the Toronto Marlboros. In his final season with the Marlies, coach Jim Gregory had him switch from centre to right wing, knowing that the Leafs were stacked up the middle.

The Marlies went on to win the Memorial Cup that season, with Ellis leading the team with 46 goals.

When he joined the Leafs, he instantly brought life to an aging dynasty. Fans nicknamed him “Ronnie the Robot.” He scored 23 goals in his first season, tying Mahovlich for most on the team.

But his most memorable moment came two seasons later, when Ellis again led the team with 22 goals. The Leafs limped through that 1966–67 season, but managed to fight their way into the Stanley Cup Final against Montreal. In Game 6, halfway through the second period at Maple Leaf Gardens, Kelly broke into the Montreal zone and fired a shot on Gump Worsley as Ellis rushed to the net and ripped the rebound into the corner. It was the first goal of the game, giving the Leafs the advantage en route to a 3–1 victory to win the Stanley Cup.

It was the end of an era for the Leafs, but it was still just the beginning of Ellis’s career. In 1968, Mahovlich was traded to Detroit for Paul Henderson and Norm Ullman, two forwards with a tendency to gamble on offence. They were a perfect tandem to play with Ellis.

“He was one of the most conscientious defensive hockey players who ever played in the NHL,” said Henderson. “He could put the puck in the net, too.”

They became one of the league’s best lines. Ellis scored a career-high 35 goals in 1969–70.

As a veteran, Ellis was a mentor to rising stars like Lanny McDonald.

“He was helpful in trying to explain what I needed to be successful,” McDonald said. “Even though he knew I would end up taking over his spot and his ice time. But that’s the kind of guy he was.”

Ellis retired in 1975, after years of being worn down by the grind of professional hockey and dealing with what he’d later discover to be a lifelong struggle with depression. He returned in 1977, playing three more seasons before being unceremoniously cut from the team by Imlach partway through the 1980–81 season, at age 35.

He was the last player remaining from the 1967 team — a staple through two eras of Leafs hockey. And though his name is often overshadowed by Hall of Famers like Keon, Mahovlich and McDonald, Ellis was no less of an icon for Leafs fans. That humble kid in the locker room found a way to skate with legends.

Ron Ellis, who played over 1,000 games with the Toronto Maple Leafs and was a member of Canada's team at the 1972 Summit Series, has died at age 79.

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Ron Ellis, who played over 1,000 games with the Toronto Maple Leafs and was a member of Canada’s team at the 1972 Summit Series, has died at age 79.

The Maple Leafs confirmed his death on social media Saturday and a cause of death was not given.

Ellis played his entire 15-season NHL career in Toronto and had 640 points (332 goals, 308 assists) over 1,034 games. He was a four-time all-star and member of the last Maple Leafs team to win the Stanley Cup in the 1966-67 season.

“We mourn the loss of Ron Ellis, a lifetime Leaf whose legacy is woven into the fabric of the blue and white,” the Maple Leafs said in a statement.

“Ron played his entire NHL career for Toronto. He was one of only five Maple Leafs to skate in more than 1,000 games for the club while also scoring the fifth most goals in team history. Ron was a true gentleman of the game who will be deeply missed.”

A consistent offensive threat, Ellis had 11 seasons with 20 or more goals and surpassed the 30-goal mark twice.

Ellis received a rare tribute in 1968 when Leafs legend Ace Bailey asked the club to bring his No. 6 out of retirement so Ellis could wear it. Ellis, who was wearing No. 8 at the time, wore Bailey’s number for the final 11 seasons of his career.

Internationally, Ellis played all eight games in Canada’s Summit Series win over the Soviet Union on a line with Bobby Clarke and Paul Henderson.

Ellis, from Lindsay, Ont.,  played junior hockey with the Toronto Marlboros of the Ontario Hockey Association, winning a Memorial Cup in 1964.

He played one game for the Leafs in the 1963-64 NHL campaign before joining the team full-time the next season. He has 23 goals and 16 assists in 62 games in his rookie season in 1964-65.

He had 22 goals and 23 assists in 1966-67 before helping the Leafs win the Stanley Cup in six games over Montreal. He had two goals in the playoffs, including the opener in Toronto’s Cup-clinching 3-1 victory over the Canadiens.

After putting up a career-high 61 points (32 goals, 29 assists) in 1974-75, Ellis retired at age 30 during training camp the following season.

After representing Canada at the 1977 world hockey championship, he returned to the Leafs and played four more seasons.

After retiring a second time, Ellis ran his own sporting goods store in Brampton before joining the Hockey Hall of Fame as a director of public affairs and assistant to the president.

Ellis was candid about the wear-and-tear hockey took on his body. He wrote candidly of his battles with clinical depression, which he attributed to head injuries sustained while playing, in his autobiography “Over the Boards: The Ron Ellis Story” 

“I had my share of concussions and my doctors believe it led to some problems with depression I’ve had later in life.” Ellis said in a 2014 interview.

After Brad Marchand left Game 3 of the Boston Bruins‘ series against the Florida Panthers Friday night, the hit he received from Sam Bennett in the first period became a talking point between the two teams on Saturday.

On the play, Bennett passed the puck ahead before getting the best of Marchand as the two players collided. The Bruins captain went to the bench in pain but was able to make it to the end of the second period. He didn’t come out for the third, which the team said due to an upper-body injury.

“There’s a history there with Bennett. There’s clearly evidence of what went on,” Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery told reporters Saturday. “People can say it wasn’t intentional. We have our view of it.”

Bennett has received two suspensions in his career, one in the 2021 playoffs for a hit on Blake Coleman and one for a hit to the head of Cedric Paquette in the 2021-22 regular season.

Last post-season, he was fined for cross-checking Michael Bunting in the Panthers’ second-round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Reporters asked Panthers head coach Paul Maurice if Bennett threw a punch at Marchand on the play.

“No. It was just a collision,” he said. “In a perfect world, every team has everybody healthy. Nobody likes to see him get hurt.”

Marchand is considered day-to-day ahead of Game 4 on Sunday. The Bruins will try to avoid falling behind 3-1 in the series after Friday’s Game 3 loss put the Panthers ahead in the series.

In nine games this post-season, Marchand has three goals and 10 points, including two assists this series.

Game 3 was Bennett’s first game of the series. He had been out since Game 2 of Florida’s first-round series win over the Tampa Bay Lighting after taking a shot off his hand.

You can watch Game 4 on Sportsnet or Sportsnet+ on Sunday. Coverage starts at 6:30 p.m. ET / 3:30 p.m. PT.

1. Bruins, Panthers debate Sam Bennett’s hit on Brad Marchand  Sportsnet.ca
2. Bruins' Marchand day-to-day with upper-body injury  Daily Faceoff
3. Bruins' Marchand day-to-day after hit in Game 3  TSN
4. Bruins hoping Marchand can return and give team a boost in Game 4 vs Panthers  Toronto Sun