Welcome back to NHL notebook — the series here at CanucksArmy where we dive into news and notes from around the National Hockey League, oftentimes through a Vancouver Canucks-tinted lens. 
The league’s games may be on pause thanks to the 4 Nations Face-Off, but that doesn’t mean the NHL news cycle has slowed down. In fact, there’s no roster freeze during the break in the schedule, meaning teams are still free to trade players and place them on waivers. And yet somehow, today’s NHL notebook isn’t about any player movement.
Not yet, at least
Noah Dobson swithces agents 
Word broke on Wednesday that New York Islanders defenceman Noah Dobson switched agents from Andrew Maloney to Judd Moldaver and Olivier Fortier of Wasserman.
Wasserman represents some of the NHL’s biggest stars, including Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews.
I won’t say from who, but I did get a very interesting text after this report from someone in the know that told me this is a development to watch from a Canucks perspective. As has already been reported, the Canucks are very high on Dobson (who wouldn’t be?), who is set to become a restricted free agent at the end of this season.
Typically, when a player switches agents, it’s because they want something to change. For Dobson, is that change coming at the negotiating table with the Islanders? Is he looking for a change of scenery from Long Island? Is he looking to specifically come to the Canucks?! We can’t possibly know the answers to any of these questions, but it’s certainly one of those things that makes you go “hm.”
From a Canucks perspective, they could almost certainly afford Dobson’s next contract on their books, and it’s at a time like this that shedding the long-term commitment to JT Miller really shows its value. The Canucks have flexibility for what feels like the first time in a long time. But do they have the assets to trade for Dobson? That might be harder to gauge, and it’s almost impossible to know what Lou Lamoriello is thinking at the best of times.
Dobson, a big right-shot defenceman, would certainly be a welcome addition to the Canucks’ blue line. Or any NHL team’s blue line, for that matter.
Kraken invite out young officials who were assualted by a parent 
Crazy hockey parents are nothing new, but when someone goes to the extent of hopping onto the ice from the stands to push two young officials down, it deservedly so gets a good amount of attention.
That’s what happened when videos circulated online of two officials, aged 14 and 13, being shoved to the ice by an unruly parent at a U12 game on Sunday at the Kraken Community Iceplex, the official practice facility of the NHL franchise.
Here is an excerpt from Daily Faceoff about what took place:
After a physical altercation between the two teams, the refs were trying to determine what penalties should be handed out. At this time, a parent jumped on the ice, went over to the refs, and knocked both of them down, leaving both officials injured. Video of the incident spread quickly throughout hockey circles, with players, officials and parents alike calling for the defense of the teenagers and officials in general.
The parent, now facing two counts of assault filed by the City Attorney’s Office, was quickly located by police after the incident. He claimed his son was being kicked and punched for a long period of time. However, police reports refuted that scenario happened during the game.
Jeff Marek later reported that the Seattle Kraken are inviting these two young officials and their families out to an NHL game.
Look, I’ve never refereed a hockey game in my life, but I did umpire plenty of baseball games growing up. I had plenty of parents compliment me for the job I was doing, but I also did have at least one parent or coach per game who made it clear they didn’t like one of my calls when I was behind the plate. Hey, maybe I was a lousy ump, but that’s beside the point. There was never any one incident, but I do remember at one point simply deciding that this was just no longer fun or worth my time or effort.
Folks, your kids need officials in their games. There’s reportedly a shortage of officials across youth sports right now, and we wonder why.
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