by Ben Gislason | AHL On The Beat For nearly an entire calendar year, Wells Fargo Arena in downtown Des Moines sat empty. And with it, the hearts of Iowa Wild fans, staff and players sat empty as well. This is the story behind the story of how the season that almost wasn’t became a season we’ll
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With the recent play of Carey Price and the moderate success of the Montreal Canadiens, it is easy to see that the team still lives and dies by their No. 1 goalie. It would be easy to argue that the coaching changes have been a big factor in this success, but it’s no coincidence that
7:00 AM ET Handing out midseason grades in a 56-game season presents its own sample-size challenges. Handing them out in a season in which some teams have yet to actually hit the midpoint, due to postponed and rescheduled games, only complicates things. That established, here are the 2021 NHL midseason report cards for all 31
Things got so bad in Buffalo this week, the Buffalo News had the Sabres 32nd in its weekly NHL Power Rankings. That’s one spot below a team that hasn’t played: the expansion Seattle Kraken. The team quit on coach Ralph Krueger, who got fired. Jack Eichel is on his fourth coach (Dom Granato) and third
Two goals from Connor McDavid propelled the Edmonton Oilers to a 2-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday. Tyson Barrie notched a pair of assists for Edmonton (20-13-0). Mathieu Perrault had the lone goal for the Jets (18-10-2), tipping in a long shot midway through the second period to temporarily tie the game at
When the Dallas Stars were struck with major adversity in December of 2019, one man was asked to pick up the pieces: Rick Bowness. Taking over as head coach with no warning is a tough ask but Bowness handled it well. He responded by leading his team to the best record in the NHL over
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League today announced that due to league COVID-19 protocols affecting the Iowa Wild, their games scheduled for Friday, March 19 and Saturday, March 20 at the Rockford IceHogs have been rescheduled for Sunday, March 21 and Monday, March 22. Game time on both Sunday and Monday will be 6
The Tampa Bay Lightning and the Nashville Predators finished up a two-game set on Monday, with each claiming a win. Both clubs have been great examples over the years of what NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman envisioned when the league expanded into the southern United States. In cities where the sport of ice hockey was mostly
7:00 AM ET For the first two and a half years of the Vegas Golden Knights‘ existence, Malcolm Subban was Marc-Andre Fleury‘s backup, with plenty of ups and downs, and a not-so-great .397 quality start percentage. Vegas wanted to fortify its tandem, and traded for Chicago Blackhawks netminder Robin Lehner in February, 2020. Subban came
The New York Rangers got news shortly before Wednesday’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers: Rangers coach David Quinn and his entire staff would miss the game, ordered to stay away because of the NHL’s coronavirus protocols. Two minor-league coaches were summoned to run the team, joined behind the bench by a team executive hurriedly deputized
Nikolaj Ehlers’ overtime goal gave the Winnipeg Jets a 4-3 edge over the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday. Kyle Connor had a pair of goals for the Jets (18-9-2) in regulation, and Blake Wheeler opened the scoring for Winnipeg, burying the first shot of the game less than a minute into the first period. Pierre-Luc Dubois
So far into the 2020-21 NHL season, the Colorado Avalanche have been plagued with injuries. With many of their star players missing time, they needed someone to consistently be in the lineup, and have an impact — this is where Nazem Kadri has factored in. Nazem Kadri, Colorado Avalanche (Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers)
At least for the time being, the youth movement is here. With a compacted schedule in a shortened season, and a taxi squad of four to six players at the ready, the Predators had an inkling they might be dipping into their prospect pool over the course of the 2020-21 campaign – but probably not
Prior to their recent trip to the State of Hockey, the Arizona Coyotes hadn’t played great hockey over their previous few games, but they were still able to compile a 3-1-1 record in five contests from March 3-10. There was hope that they’d be able to compete against the rising Minnesota Wild, since the teams
9:00 AM ET Hockey fans always approach the NHL trade deadline hoping for exhilaration but end up with several hours of inertia. High prices scare away otherwise thirsty general managers. The rumors of what could happen are ultimately more entertaining than what actually does. That’s a shame, because a great deadline can lead to great
The Big 10 wrapped up their 2020-21 season with a fantastic game between Minnesota and Wisconsin on Tuesday night. The conference also announced their postseason award winners, which included some top NHL prospects. In the American Hockey League (AHL), a Colorado Avalanche first-round pick scored in overtime. Finally, the Chicago Blackhawks officially signed a prospect
Winnipeg Jets (18-9-2, second in the North Division) vs. Edmonton Oilers (19-13-0, third in the North Division) Edmonton, Alberta; Thursday, 9 p.m. EDT BOTTOM LINE: Mark Scheifele leads Winnipeg into a matchup against Edmonton. He currently ranks fifth in the league with 37 points, scoring 12 goals and recording 25 assists. The Oilers are 19-13-0
Connor McDavid had a goal and two assists for the Edmonton Oilers in a 7-3 win Wednesday over the host Calgary Flames. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Jesse Puljujarvi, Dominik Kahun, Darnell Nurse, Zack Kassian and Alex Chiasson also scored for Edmonton (19-13-0). Tyson Barrie had a career-high four assists and Leon Draisaitl had three for the Oilers.