England coach Eddie Jones joked Owen Farrell was "missing half his nose" after a shoulder charge by John Quill saw the United States flanker sent off in England's 45-7 win.

Quill received the first red card of the tournament when he made contact with Farrell's head in the second half.

But the England talisman stayed on the pitch as his side completed a seven-try thrashing in Kobe.

"I'm sure his nose is out there," Jones told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"I don't think he [John Quill] deliberately tried to take Owen [Farrell] out but he ended up hitting his head."

It follows Australian winger Reece Hodge's three-game ban after being cited for a no-arms tackle on Fiji's Peceli Yato, and Samoa centre Rey Lee-lo, whose yellow card for a high tackle on Russia captain Vasily Artemyev has also been upgraded to a three-match ban.

Former England international Lewis Moody said Quill's challenge was a "classic American football-style tackle where you lead with the shoulder".

"After all the conversation around high tackles the referee was only going to go one way," Moody told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"It was clear red card and it sets a precedent for the rest of the tournament."

While Quill was shown a straight red card, England centre Piers Francis avoided any on-field punishment, but could also be cited after a high challenge on Will Hooley.

"Piers [Francis] went in to make a tackle and there is not one player in our team who deliberately tackles high," said Jones.

"We will leave all of that to the judicial process and we are happy to take whatever they give us."

After a laboured win against Tonga on Sunday, England's World Cup campaign gathered pace in hot and humid conditions.

Captain George Ford broke free to score under the posts before Billy Vunipola and Luke Cowan-Dickie claimed tries from rolling mauls.

Joe Cokanasiga crossed twice in the second half and Ruaridh McConnochie and Lewis Ludlam both scored their first World Cup tries.

England could have had more, but handling errors denied them an even greater scoreline, something Jones put down to humidity.

"It was like a wet-weather game," he added. "But we found our rhythm and tempo really well in the second half.

"We will improve. They are quite unique conditions, it's 27C and it's 70% humidity. The ball is like a cake of soap because we know we have got good players who can catch and pass, so it must be something else."

'Argentina are a difficult team to beat'

Things will only get tougher from here as England prepare to face Argentina on 5 October before their final pool game against France.

But they may be buoyed by the return of prop Mako Vunipola and wing Jack Nowell, who will both undergo a "tough session" on Friday to test whether they are ready to play again.

"Can we play better?" Jones said. "Yes. We'll need to play better in our next game.

"We understand Argentina are going to be playing for their life. They're a passionate, proud rugby country.

"It's going to be important that we match their passion and play with control. They're a difficult team to beat."

'A calamity in Kobe'

United States head coach Gary Gold, who has worked at Premiership sides Bath and Worcester, struggled to find positives despite a late try from Bryce Campbell.

He also did not seem in any doubt that the decision to give Quill a red card was the right one.

"You're not allowed to make contact with the head and you certainly need to use the arms," he explained. "He didn't do either.

"We were taught a lesson today. We lost every single aspect of the game. That's what happens when you play world-class teams - they punish you very badly.

"It was a bit of a calamity in Kobe tonight. We're not better than England but we're a better team than that."

Analysis

Former World Cup winning England scrum-half Matt Dawson, on BBC Radio 5 Live

John Quill is absolutely shattered and he has just had a blip in the mind. It is cut and dry and no-one can argue that it wasn't a red card. He knew he was in trouble.

The highlight for me was England's discipline. I think there were only three penalties that were all in the first half. It is in stark contrast to where they were last week and the team needed to move on.

If they can get anywhere near four or five penalties against Argentina, they will blow them away. If they keep progressing like that, they are going to be a difficult team to beat.

Harlequins and England scrum-half Danny Care on BBC Radio 5 Live

I don't think anyone will begrudge the United States that try at the end. Referee Nic Berry did a great job of owning the game and making the big decisions - England will be quite happy with that.

Jonny May will definitely come back in [against Argentina], especially as England will kick more. Jonny has made that chase his own - he is genuinely rapid. If Jack Nowell is fit I'd throw him in. He's got something different to the other wingers out there.

MONTREAL – Alex Guénette will once again sub for a sidelined Alex Tagliani this weekend in the NASCAR Pinty’s Series season finale at Jukasa Motor Speedway.

The 23-year old from Terrebonne, Quebec, will be making his 19th NASCAR Pinty’s Series start, his second-straight at the wheel of the No. 18 EpiPen/RONA/St Hubert/Spectra Premium Chevrolet.

Last weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Guénette posted the best result of his Pinty’s Series season with a seventh place finish for Team 22 Racing.

“The healing process is almost complete, and I was mentally ready to return to competition at Jukasa,” said Alex Tagliani, who is recovering from a minor myocarditis viral infection. “But on second thought, I realized that I nothing to prove this season except preserving our fourth place standing in the owner’s championship, something that can be achieve by Alex Guénette.

“It is best for me to continue on the road to recovery and rest until the date set by my physician, so I don’t suffer any after-effects. The risk of violent contact while driving my car could endanger and lengthen the healing process. I would rather close the book on this season and start training for the next one when I get the green light from my doctor. But really, there was no other option.”

BARRE, Vt. – The 57th Vermont Milk Bowl presented by Northfield Savings Bank is on deck at Thunder Road Int’l Speedbowl this weekend.

Booth Bros./H.P. Hood Qualifying Day on Saturday and the Vermont Milk Bowl on Sunday will feature some of the top Maplewood/Irving Oil Late Model racers in the state, region, and country battling for victory.

Two hometown racers, Jason Corliss and Nick Sweet, will be chasing history this weekend. Corliss, the newly-crowned King of the Road, is chasing an unprecedented third-straight Milk Bowl crown. Sweet, meanwhile, is one of two drivers – along with Patrick Laperle – who could match Robbie Crouch’s all-time record of four Milk Bowl triumphs.

“I feel good,” Corliss said. “I have confidence, and the team has confidence. But the Milk Bowl is its own animal – previous results and history don’t mean a whole lot. You have experience, and you know you can get the job done, but as soon as the green flag drops in the time trials, it’s a whole new deal. There’s no resting on previous results. It’s all eyes ahead on what you have to accomplish to get in the show, hopefully get a good starting spot, and then do well in Segment 1. You just have to take it one step at a time, one practice at a time, and get the car driving the best you can – and enjoy the process as you go.

While Corliss will be focused on not getting ahead of himself when he gets to the track, he admitted the dream of three straight Milk Bowl wins has crossed his mind in the meantime. Such an accomplishment would be befitting a driver who fell in love with the Milk Bowl even before he got started in the Allen Lumber Street Stock ranks nearly 15 years ago.

“This race is huge,” Corliss stated. “It’s a big deal. It means the world to me. Just growing up at Thunder Road and being a part of this race as a fan or crew member, and now as a driver, it’s as big as it gets. (The Milk Bowl) is tough, it’s not easy, and it shows. The fans and everyone involved can see just how difficult this race is. You really have to have a perfect day to be able to win the race between car performance, driver focus, and just plain luck.”

Sweet, on the other hand, made a last-minute decision to enter this year’s event. As of Monday, Sweet was just planning to run the Pro All Stars Series (PASS) Super Late Model event on Saturday. However, a conversation with his Maddog Motorsports boss Eric Chase quickly changed that.

“I was talking to Eric and giving him the update on the shop status,” Sweet recounted. “And he said, ‘so what about you for the Milk Bowl?’ I replied, ‘What about me? I’m planning on working with you (as crew chief). I’ve got the PASS car.’ And he said, ‘No, no, you’re going to race, too.’ I said, ‘Well, I don’t have anything prepared.’ He was like, ‘I don’t care. Get working.’”

“So here we are,” Sweet continued. “We’re trying to manage getting people involved and get the car ready. It’s about as unprepared as I’ve ever been for the Milk Bowl – so it’ll be interesting.”

Still, fans of Northeast racing have learned to never count out Nick Sweet at Thunder Road or the Milk Bowl. He won three Vermont Milk Bowls between 2013 and 2016, a three-in-four-years feat that had previously only been accomplished by Laperle and Russ Ingerson. Add in his two track championships, four Labor Day Classic wins, three Community Bank 150 wins, and numerous other accomplishments, and it would be foolhardy to think Sweet won’t be a factor.

Despite this résumé, Sweet is keeping his expectations modest for this weekend. He’ll have a hectic schedule between preparing his Milk Bowl car and attempting to defending his PASS Super Late Model year from last year against the likes of D.J. Shaw, Derek Griffith, Bobby Therrien, and Vermont Governor Phil Scott. Nevertheless, he remains excited about the biggest Thunder Road race weekend of the year.

“It’ll be interesting, but it’ll be fun,” Sweet said. “Either way, I get to go out and race. Hopefully we can put it in the show – that’ll be the biggest thing. I’m looking forward to it. Things are just going to be a bit chaotic the next couple days. If I’m a little wall-eyed the next time you see me, it’s just because of no sleep!”

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Ilmor Engineering and NASCAR have announced the preliminary results of an investigation the engine failures during the recent NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Four of Ilmor’s NT1 engines failed during the World of Westgate 200 on Sept. 13, including those in the ThorSport Racing Ford trucks of playoff drivers Grant Enfinger, Johnny Sauter and Matt Crafton. The engine in the Young’s Motorsports No. 02 of Tyler Dippel also failed.

As a result of the engine failures, Enfinger and Sauter both failed to advance to the second round of the Truck Series playoffs. Enfinger was the regular season Truck Series champion entering the playoffs.

Ilmor Engineering attributed the engine issues to, “the high engine load condition combined with the extreme weather conditions in Las Vegas,” according to a statement from company officials.

“Ilmor Engineering is committed to our partnership with NASCAR and to the long-term development of the NT1 engine,” the company said in its statement. “To that end, following the issues experienced by a number of different teams and competitors during the Sept. 13 race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, engines were returned to the NASCAR R&D Center for technical inspection and data review. The combination of the high engine load condition combined with the extreme weather conditions in Las Vegas resulted in some engines suffering severe detonation. Ilmor is taking new measures in engine calibration to ensure to this situation is corrected for all future races.”

In a story appearing on NASCAR.com, it was revealed that NASCAR officials visited the ThorSport Racing shop in the days after the race at Las Vegas to collect all of the damaged engines. They also collected the engine from the No. 99 ThorSport truck driven by Ben Rhodes when it was discovered that engine also suffered some damage.

Additional issues were discovered in other NT1 engines, including the engine out of the No. 24 GMS Racing Chevrolet driven by Brett Moffitt, resulting in Ilmor requesting all 32 engines be returned to their shop for inspection.

According to Andrew Richards, a motorsports development engineer with Ilmor who was quoted in the NASCAR.com story, there was no particular part that resulted in the failure of the engines. Instead, failsafes in the engines turned out to be “insufficient.”

“We commend Ilmor Engineering for their thorough review and the forthright way they’ve claimed ownership of the engine issues suffered by teams during the Sept. 13 race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway,” NASCAR officials said in a statement. “The NT1 engine has played a vital role in the health of the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series and that’s been evident in the tremendous competition we’ve seen all season. We’re confident that will continue in the years ahead.”

GERMANTOWN, Tenn. – Sammy Swindell has a 48-year winning streak on the line.

Swindell has captured at least one victory during every year he’s competed. However, between misfortune, wet weather and a lack of consistent races, this year has been a roller coaster ride and he’s still looking for a trip to victory lane to extend the streak.

A trio of big-time races stand out as possibilities to do just that, starting with the 46th annual Fall Nationals at Devil’s Bowl Speedway in Mesquite, Texas, Oct. 18-19 with the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour.

Two weeks later the ASCS National Tour invades Texas Motor Speedway in for the Tony Stewart presents the Vankor Texas Sprint Car Nationals doubleheader, Oct. 31 and Nov. 1.

The Can-Am World Finals hosted by The Dirt Track at Charlotte, set for Nov. 7-9 and featuring the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series, is the final stout event circled on the calendar.

“We’ve done well at all three tracks throughout my career,” he said. “We’ve earned a lot of wins at Devil’s Bowl Speedway, nearly won at Texas Motor Speedway last year and have been to victory lane at Charlotte. I think with the right circumstances we can win at any of those events this year.”

Swindell has been strong at Devil’s Bowl Speedway, where he’s won in the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. He has captured a trio of ASCS National Tour wins at the half-mile oval, including two in 1995 and most recently in 2010.

Swindell has also earned a dozen World of Outlaws triumphs at Devil’s Bowl as well.

Heading across the state, Swindell hustled from 10th to third before he capped the Vankor Texas Sprint Car Nationals at Texas Motor Speedway with a runner-up result last year.

Swindell won the inaugural World of Outlaws race at The Dirt Track at Charlotte in May 2000 and he also visited victory lane there in 2012.

The only race currently solidified on Swindell’s schedule is a pavement winged midget race with Bertrand Motorsports on Oct. 5 at Lee USA Speedway in Lee, N.H., with the NorthEastern Midget Ass’n.

Swindell earned a fifth-place finish during his debut at the track on Aug. 16, which was also his most recent race.

“We’re looking forward to getting back there (to Lee),” Swindell said. “We had a good run to move forward in the heat and the feature last month. Since we’re returning to a track we’ve been to the handicap system shouldn’t bury us as deep in the field so that will give us a better shot at starting near the front than we’ve ever had.”

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The Sabres have returned top prospect Dylan Cozens to his Canadian junior team.

The rookie first-round draft pick was assigned to Lethbridge of the Western Hockey League on Thursday after the 18-year-old center had zero points in three preseason games with Buffalo.

Cozens was selected with the seventh overall pick in the draft in June, becoming the first player from Canada's Yukon Territory to be chosen in the first round. He scored 34 goals and had a Lethbridge-leading 84 points in 68 games last year.

The Sabres close the preseason at Pittsburgh on Saturday before returning to open the regular season there next Thursday.

Montreal Canadiens legend Guy Lafleur underwent successful quadruple bypass heart surgery Thursday, the team announced.

"This procedure was necessary after a routine examination detected a cardiac issue," the statement said. "The operation was successful, and doctors predict a full recovery after several months of convalescence. The family wishes to thank the entire medical team, as well as the personnel at the CHUM (Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal), and will not issue any further comment."

The 68-year-old Lafleur built his Hall of Fame career from 1971 to 1991. He was a six-time All-Star who won the Hart Memorial Trophy twice. The winger helped the Canadiens win five Stanley Cups.

Lafleur is the only player to record 50 goals and more than 100 points in six consecutive seasons. He is the Canadiens' all-time leading scorer.

However, his 14-year run with the Canadiens ended in acrimony when the team wouldn't honor his trade request, and he retired after 19 games in the 1984-85 season.

He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1988 but then decided to return to the game. At age 37, he played a season for the Rangers -- putting up 18 goals and 45 points. He played parts of two more season with the Nordiques before calling it quits.

In 2017, he was named one of the 100 greatest NHL players. His statue stands in front of the Bell Centre, the home of the Canadiens.

The tricky thing about being a sports pundit, or at least playing one on TV, is the constantly raging internal war between what the facts tell you should happen and what you really want to see happen. Left brain vs. right brain. Analyst vs. fan. Scully vs. Mulder. All of it.

Well, logic has no home in this particular column. In this edition of The Wysh List, I'm ignoring the trends, X-ing out the analytics sites on my browser and letting my freak flag fly. This is not about forecasting; this is about faith.

Here are 10 things I'm hoping, with all my hockey heart, will happen in the 2019-20 season. Just don't hold me to them.

Also in this week's Wysh List: Jersey Foul | Puck headlines
Winners and losers of the week

Either the Kings or the Blackhawks make the playoffs

One look at my T-shirt drawer will confirm that I have trouble letting go of familiar things, no matter how old, tattered and in need of a refresh they might be.

That might explain my affinity for the Chicago Blackhawks and Los Angeles Kings, two of the most successful teams of the past decade that have aged like a fine wine left next to a furnace.

The Kings are probably about three years away from serious contention again, and the Blackhawks ... well, they might have a defensive pairing of Olli Maatta and Brent Seabrook this season, so there's that. It probably wouldn't amount to a championship, but I'd like to see some life out of them. Maybe I just want to see Jonathan Toews and Drew Doughty play another meaningful game without having to wear a Team Canada jersey.

John Tortorella leans into 'Us Against The World'

When your team has suffered a massive talent defection and has been effectively written off by most of the hockey world, there is no one you want coaching your team more than John Tortorella. Who better to tap into the deep well of resentment among the Columbus Blue Jackets? Who better to dig a rhetorical foxhole for his players to climb into for the season-long fight? He should start coaching games in full military fatigues like he's Stanley McChrystal.

The Bruins become the NHL's version of "Succession"

Jeremy Jacobs, 79, passed ownership of the Boston Bruins to his children this offseason, with the Boston Globe writing that it was "all part of a long-planned succession."

I don't know anything about the Jacobs kin, but I'm summarily obsessed with the idea that the Bruins will become embroiled in a sibling rivalry for control like a binge-able HBO drama. Kendall Jacobs becomes an empty husk after the failure of an attempted coup. Roman Jacobs attempts to run an ECHL team to prove that he's more than a bundle of nihilistic asides. Shiv Jacobs risks her ascendance to the throne with a joke about "the NHL's dinosaur owners." In the end, cousin Greg -- sorry, "Gregory" -- ends up running the Bruins.

The NHL All-Star Game skills competition gets goofy again

NHL players are constantly complaining about the way they're marketed and then balking at anything that might take them out of their comfort zones. That is why the NHL All-Star Game fantasy draft and that shootout with the hats and the Superman capes and using Johnny Gaudreau as prop comedy are distant memories.

Here's my hope: It's a generational thing, and the new wave of NHL stars live that "Storm Surge lack of humility" life. Here's my wish: The skills competition incorporates at least one goofy event that you'd find between periods of a regular-season game -- racing in sumo suits, giant hamster balls, tiny tricycles, or the event that has become a fanatical cause for me: human bowling.

Thanks for your votes...in honor of the winner Human Bowling let's send @dylanjunker down the ice in 3...2..1. pic.twitter.com/YuAEMpXeKf

— CleanIce23 (@CleanIce23) February 1, 2017

I just want to see Victor Hedman go human bowling. Is that so wrong?

Mark Stone wins the Selke Trophy

We're getting closer, folks! The Patrice Bergeron of wingers finished ahead of the actual Patrice Bergeron as a Selke Trophy finalist last season, but he lost the prize to Ryan O'Reilly in one of those "well, we can't give him the Hart, buuuuuutttttt..." voting results.

Opposing players have called Stone's defensive game "a nightmare." He has the respect. He has the stats. The only two things he doesn't have are a spot at center, which unfortunately has been the mandate for winners for the past 16 years, and the Selke Trophy, which Stone is owed.

Erik Karlsson plays a full, healthy season

It's incredible to think back to 2013-16, when Karlsson didn't miss a single regular-season game. Then it was 77 games played in 2016-17. Then 71 games the next season. Last season, with the Sharks, it was 53 games, and he was so injured in the playoffs that he became a liability. We never got to see the awesome power of that fully armed and operational San Jose Sharks defense, with Karlsson and Brent Burns eating up 50 combined minutes per game. I want to see it.

Jack Hughes and Kaapo Kakko have a Sid vs. Ovi-style classic

The top two picks in the draft are starting their careers in the same season, in the same division, on two geographically and spiritually rival teams in the New Jersey Devils and the New York Rangers. It's awesome. Or at least, it has the potential to be awesome.

What I want is something on the level -- but without the stakes, at least for now -- of the Sidney Crosby vs. Alex Ovechkin double-hat-trick game in 2009, which remains one of my favorite sporting events I've ever had the honor to cover. And then hopefully either Kakko or Hughes will complain about how long it took for the ice crew to clean up the hats, like Sid did that night, thus securing supernova heat from fans.

The Stars make their 'Mooterus' jersey their Winter Classic jersey

Which Stars jersey is your favorite? pic.twitter.com/UbuDeieRdK

— NHL on NBC (@NHLonNBCSports) September 21, 2019

That's it right there. Letter C. From 2003 to '06, the Stars bravely wore this astrological logo that fans immediately found anatomical. As you can see, the Stars have some other classic looks they could resurrect for the highly anticipated Winter Classic at the Cotton Bowl against the Nashville Predators. But there is only one option that is udderly, er, utterly perfect for the biggest outdoor stage of the season. Wear the Mooterus!

Phil Kessel and Evgeni Malkin find their smiles

Hearing about the falling out between Malkin and Kessel with the Penguins last season was like watching your favorite band implode because the lead guitarist hates the drummer. (Sid, in this case, being your lead singer. A bit more Eddie Vedder than Thom Yorke, if we're being honest.)

According to Rob Rossi of The Athletic, a catalyst for both of their struggles last season was a comfort level that set in after their years of championship accomplishment, as well as a general misunderstanding of who they really are.

Now Phil is in Arizona, with perhaps the only coach with whom he has connected, Rick Tocchet. Meanwhile, Malkin is declaring, "I [have] not shown my game at 100 percent." I want to see both of these guys at the height of their powers and with a renewed affinity for what they're doing. It's a shame we'll never get a reunion tour.

Finally, a team that hasn't won the Stanley Cup in the past 40 years wins it (or the Lightning)

Watching the St. Louis Blues and the Washington Capitals graduate from what my friend Jason Brough calls "The Sad Club" (i.e. those teams that have never won the Stanley Cup) has made the past two seasons feel positively storybook, and I want another fan base to enjoy those feelings.

The Buffalo Sabres, Vancouver Canucks, Ottawa Senators, Minnesota Wild and Columbus Blue Jackets probably aren't graduating from the Club this season, but the Nashville Predators, San Jose Sharks, Florida Panthers, Arizona Coyotes, Winnipeg Jets and those long-suffering fans from Vegas all have at least a chance at the celebration of celebrations.

But let's expand our scope to include the Toronto Maple Leafs, whose title celebration would make the Raptors' look quaint by comparison, and the Tampa Bay Lightning, who last won in 2004, but after what happened last year ... yeah, it'd be nice to see them flip the script on postseason humiliation.

At least that's my hope.

Jersey Fouls

It's never too early for Jersey Fouls.

Never too early for a preseason #jerseyfoul @wyshynski pic.twitter.com/L3HcmsAZVV

— Greg Colombo (@gmcolombo73) September 21, 2019

This is the Buffalo Sabres' 50^th anniversary jersey. I checked the Sabres' store and they do not sell this sweater with "SABRES 50" on the back. If it was a gift from the team, then that's not a Foul, by the letter of the law. If it was something this fan asked for at the pro shop ... boy, that's close, but it does fall under the Special Events Provision that allows for nameplates and numbers on limited-release jerseys like the ones for the Winter Classic. We're going to say that, overall, this is not a Foul.

A case of the exes

Dave Tippett is the sixth coach the Edmonton Oilers have had in the last eight seasons. That's remarkable in itself. What's also remarkable is that three of their previous coaches were all hired to new gigs last summer: Todd McLellan with the Los Angeles Kings, Dallas Eakins with the Anaheim Ducks and Ralph Krueger with the Buffalo Sabres.

Krueger coached the Oilers for 48 games in their lockout-shortened season of 2012-13. His tenure ended infamously, with GM Craig MacTavish -- last seen getting fired after eight games as head coach of the KHL's Lokomotiv Yaroslavl -- dismissing Krueger over Skype.

He was always an interesting blip in the history of the Oilers. His team wasn't successful, and despite the shortened season didn't show improvement from the previous season. But that shouldn't have been enough to get him fired after just one truncated campaign, and the Oilers' young collection of standout players all lamented him not getting another year to figure things out.

"I have no hard feelings towards Edmonton because I was grateful for the opportunity and moved on quickly from that," he said after getting hired by Buffalo.

One of the reasons he was dumped is because Dallas Eakins was available. He was in his mid-40s and was a hot-shot coaching candidate with the AHL Toronto Marlies. At the time, landing him was a coup for the Oilers. He lasted 113 games, and was fired 31 games into his second season.

Krueger didn't glean all that much from his time in Edmonton. For Eakins, it was like a template of what not to do as a new NHL coach.

"When I went into Edmonton, there was really no doubt that it was really messed up. I was brought in there to change the culture," Eakins told me last week. "I took a road that was not too familiar to me, and I went in there hard. The line was drawn in the sand. And it was on. And that was not a good way to build a culture."

It was too much, too soon, and he knew it.

"I thought I made the appropriate steps in the second year. I mended some relationships, and I thought the dressing room felt a lot differently in that second year. Instead of it being me and them, it was now us," he said.

But he was fired, and interim coach Todd Nelson took over.

Eakins spent four years with the AHL San Diego Gulls before getting the bump from Ducks GM Bob Murray to take over in Anaheim this season.

"I'm sure I made mistakes here already, and might not know it yet," he said.

But now he'll be more cognizant of them. Even when things go well for Eakins, he likes to "go back and do an autopsy" on his team. "Not only did I go through a thorough one there, but the guys that were still standing when I got let go, after two or three weeks, I reached out to them and told them that I wanted them to be deadly honest. What did we do well? What did we mess up?"

What did he learn? "It doesn't take six weeks. It takes lots of time. So I should have gone slower on a lot of things," he said.

McLellan left Edmonton feeling hurt.

"I'm past it, but it hurts to get fired. Somebody's telling you that you're not good enough and you don't belong here anymore," he said of the Oilers, a team McLellan said he would have gladly coached "forever" if given the chance.

"There's an old adage that 'guys get hired to get fired,' and I don't buy that one. The outside world sometimes thinks that coaches get paid so much that they shouldn't care if they get fired. Well, it doesn't resonate that way for us. It hurts."

More than Krueger and Eakins, McLellan speaks about his time in Edmonton in the context of what the organization as a whole, rather than one coach, could have done differently.

"You can't just win with one player," he told me, during a conversation about Connor McDavid. "The people that are around him have to be doing their thing as well."

Three ex-Oilers coaches. Three new gigs. Better luck to them all.

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This Week's Winners and Losers

Winner: Julien BriesBois

The Tampa Bay Lightning general manager showed that Steve Yzerman wasn't the only salary-cap ninja, getting Brayden Point in at three years and $6.75 million annually, retaining his restricted free agent rights for another season after that. State taxes, the chance to win the Stanley Cup and living in Tampa are a heck of an enticement, apparently.

Loser: Toronto Maple Leafs

Auston Matthews is facing a disorderly conduct charge after being involved in an incident in May in his hometown of Scottsdale, Arizona. The details of that charge are ugly. It became the lead story in Toronto when the news broke. I don't really care what this means for the Leafs' captaincy; I care that the Leafs, through media reports and coach Mike Babcock, didn't seem to know this news was coming. That's a bad look for them, and a worse look for their young star and his reps.

Winner: Justin Faulk

Faulk went from a diminishing role on a crowded Hurricanes blue line to the defending Stanley Cup champions, where the anticipation is that he'll quarterback their power play. Oh, and that seven-year extension for $45.5 million doesn't hurt either, whether he remains in St. Louis or in the unlikely event his old GM Ron Francis tries to pluck him away in the Seattle expansion draft.

Loser: Winnipeg Jets

Faulk was one of the better available defensemen on the trade market. Unfortunately, he also had trade protection, and ultimately chose St. Louis. But watching another defenseman move (to a division rival, no less) while watching an injury scare for defenseman Josh Morrissey once again underscored the predicament they're in after losing Jacob Trouba and Tyler Myers this offseason, and with Dustin Byfuglien's future in question.

Winner: Cammi Granato

The two-time Olympian and U.S. hockey legend is officially the NHL's first female pro scout after getting hired by Seattle. We've said for years that changing the gender makeup of NHL hockey operations is only going to come when women are in significant positions in those departments. This could be the first significant step for Granato to that end.

Loser: Everyone who didn't hire Cammi Granato

Seriously, it took Seattle getting an NHL team before someone hired a Hall of Famer to scout for them? Congrats to the newbies for thinking outside the box, for once.

Puck headlines

Katie Strang has more details on the Auston Matthews incident from police body cam footage. ($)

TMZ has the actual video of Matthews's accuser.

Remember Lalia Anderson, the young fan who inspired the St. Louis Blues? Well, now the Hockey Hall of Fame will.

May we forever see Jaromir Jagr scoring goals.

Targeting opiod use in youth hockey players. "When they looked at the different sports, ice hockey came out to about three-fold increased odds compared to the other sports."

A good look at the fight for ice time for the hockey community in Iowa.

Interesting note on faceoffs in the NHL, and how a rule change might alter them.

Hockey tl;dr (too long; didn't read)

Craig Custance is back with his goalie tiers. ($)

In case you missed this from your friends at ESPN

Sach Chandan with a look at celebrities who played (or still play) hockey, from Steve Carell to Paris Hilton.