To be named the captain of an NHL team is an honor. He is the first to hoist the Stanley Cup after a victory and is often the center of media attention. He is the one who interacts with the refs on the ice and is often the face of the organization. Every team has
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On the walls of a small house in Landrienne, Quebec, a tiny rural community in the Abitibi region 645 kilometers north of Montreal, hung three pictures: one of Pope Pius XII, one of Quebec Premier Maurice Duplessis and the other of Maurice “The Rocket” Richard. These iconic personalities not only represented the main areas of
The saying is that records are meant to be broken, but in certain cases, they simply won’t be broken. Barring radical changes to the playing style and rules of the NHL, it’s highly unlikely that we’ll ever see anything like the below occurrences. Some relate to scoring, others awards, and a few singular oddball events
The National Hockey League has witnessed a number of sensational rookie campaigns throughout its storied history and this trend is set to continue. With the next squad of exceptional young stars, the NHL is stronger than ever in terms of elite young talent. However, despite the incredible skills of these players, it is highly unlikely that any
While most jokes about the Philadelphia Flyers are aimed at the guys who play between the pipes, the Flyers actually have a rich history of goalies. Unfortunately, for recent teams — or even the teams of the ’90s — those goalies played, for the most part, in the ’70s and ’80s. The three best goalies
Little Big Men have always been a staple in the NHL. You know the type: fast as the wind, nimble on their feet, quick with their hands and tough to play against. Henri Richard, Marcel Dionne, Brian Gionta. In the modern era of hockey, it’s impossible to discuss the phenomenon of the Little Big Men
What makes for a great NHL backup? Judging by this list of the best ones in the game today, it could really be either youth or experience. There’s really no rhyme or reason to the job, although it’s safe to say that if you’ve got a Vezina Trophy win notched on your belt, like the
The Chicago Blackhawks are one of the NHL’s “Original Six” teams. As such, Chicago has gone through many goalies in the history of the franchise — some memorable, and some not so memorable. For this list, the focus will be not just on the most memorable, but the absolute best. The cream of the crop.
Hockey is played hard and fast. Athletes will hook, trip, face wash and pester to gain a winning edge. Like all sports, hockey has official rules and unwritten rules. It also has a code of respect. And there are many players that blur the lines between the two. Or cross them entirely. They can be
Mats Naslund played a style of hockey that was far larger than his 5-foot-7, 160-pound frame. Possessing tremendous speed and an ability to generate offense seemingly on a whim, Naslund was the star forward for the Montreal Canadiens during the decade of the 1980s. Combining his skill, determination, and Nordic heritage, the fans of Montreal
Perhaps no team in the National Hockey League had as inauspicious a start as the Washington Capitals. In the entire century-plus of NHL history, the 1974-75 Capitals, one of two expansion teams to enter the league that year (after a horrendously unfair expansion draft from an already depleted league), hold the league’s worst-ever single-season points
Frank Finnigan is not in the Hall of Fame, nor was he ever the biggest star for the original Ottawa Senators. From 1923 to 1937, he only led his team twice in scoring and was overshadowed by future Hall-of-Famers Cy Denneny, Alex Connell, Frank ‘King’ Clancy and Frank Nighbor. Yet, Finnigan’s No. 8 hangs from
In today’s NHL, fans and coaches alike see any goalkeeper who starts 60 games or more as an absolute workhorse. Starting goalies are usually expected to play 45-55 games, unless they are truly at the top of the heap in the league. 20 years ago, goalies starting 60-plus games was more common, but it certainly
Thursday, just hours after Washington Capitals star Alexander Ovechkin claimed his second consecutive ESPY award for Best NHL Player, a Capitals star of the past took to social media to take “credit”…of sorts…for the Caps’ recent run of success. “After 18 years we should look the positive way. If I would play very good ,
* originally published in Jan. 2018 Scott Stevens can be considered one of the last of a breed of NHLer that wreaked havoc on other players. During a time when checks were seemingly more vicious than in today’s game, Stevens threw his share of hits that rattled opposing players; some were injured, some were just
Beginning in 1981, Dale Hawerchuk became one of the most dominant centers in the National Hockey League and was the face of the Winnipeg Jets. After a junior career in the QMJHL in which he scored 81 goals and 102 assists in all of 72 games for the 1980-81 Cornwall Royals , he was at
The late sixties were an eventful period to say the least. Peace rallies opposing the continued American military presence in Vietnam were growing like wildfire, the Beatles maintained their dominance of the music charts with the release of their “Sgt. Peppers Lonely Heart Club Band” album, and the summer months were dubbed the “summer of
“The wait is over. The New York Rangers are Stanley Cup champions and this one will last a lifetime.” Never has a phrase spoken by a broadcaster been more poetic. Those words were uttered by Rangers announcer Sam Rosen on June 14 after the team won Game 7 to capture the 1994 Stanley Cup. It