It’s the time of the year that NHL fans have been waiting for. The Stanley Cup playoffs are finally upon us. Sixteen teams, eight best-of-seven series in the opening round. No disrespect to Christmas, but “it’s the most wonderful time of the year” for hockey fans. Each year, there’s so much more to talk about than simply “who will win
Canada
TAMPA, FLA.—Seth Jones scored the go-ahead goal on the power play to cap Columbus’ three-goal third period, and the Blue Jackets rallied to beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3 in Game 1 of the teams’ first-round Eastern Conference playoff series Wednesday night. Jones made it 4-3 from the slot with 5:55 to play as the
Carolina Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour entered his team’s locker room last Thursday night, having clinched the organization’s first post-season appearance in a decade, and scanned the room. The Hurricanes first-year head coach first called out defenceman Justin Faulk, the 27-year-old NHL veteran who has spent his entire career with Carolina and scored the go-ahead goal
All the Toronto Maple Leafs want to do is look forward. Their recent history with the Boston Bruins, however, makes it hard not to take a long gaze in the rear-view mirror. The Leafs open the NHL playoffs at TD Garden for the second spring in a row Thursday, the same building where they fell
New Jersey Devils general manager Ray Shero has made it clear his team needs to accumulate more talent. The luck of the draw helped his team take a huge step in that direction Tuesday. The Devils will pick first at June’s NHL draft after the lottery balls fell in their favour — bumping the franchise
The New Jersey Devils will have the No. 1 pick at this year’s NHL draft. The team was announced Tuesday night as the winner of the draft lottery. The Colorado Avalanche had the best odds of landing the first pick at 18.5 per cent, but they drew the No. 4 selection. The New York Rangers
Patrik Laine views the playoffs as a fresh start for himself. He’s not the only Jets player with that approach. Winnipeg isn’t exactly rolling as it heads into its first-round playoff series against the St. Louis Blues, going 4-5-1 in its final 10 regular-season games. The Blues, on the other hand, nearly ran the table,
CALGARY—James Neal knows a thing or two about the NHL playoffs, which should come in handy for the Calgary Flames. Calgary will look to the winger for leadership when the Flames begin their first-round series against the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday. James Neal will be seeking to propel the youthful Flames deep into the playoffs
Minnesota Wild forward J.T. Brown was arrested on suspicion of public intoxication in Dallas hours before the Wild’s season finale. Police reports indicate the incident happened at British Beverage Company early Saturday. Brown did not play in the Wild’s final game that night against the Dallas Stars, who beat the Wild 3-0 to take the
Finally, we’re here. Right now. The very best time of the NHL season. Enjoy it. Savour it. It’s a frenzied two-week window of eye-catching activity, heightened rumours and real action on and off the ice that makes March Madness and all its phony hype look like a snoozy Sunday afternoon by comparison. Brayden Point, heading
BOSTON—The Boston Bruins have a successful history against their first-round playoff opponent — but they’re hardly dwelling on it. For the second straight season, the Bruins will open the Stanley Cup playoffs with a first-round series against the Maple Leafs. Boston hosts Game 1 on Thursday night. The Bruins won last year’s matchup in seven
The Colorado Avalanche may have all-star forward Mikko Rantanen back for the start of their first-round playoff series against Calgary. Rantanen has been sidelined since suffering a lower-body injury at Dallas on March 21. Rantanen is second on the team with 87 points and third in goals with 31. The right winger wore a red,
Tom Wilson tries not to read everything about him on social media. You’d think being on the receiving end of endless tweets and messages that are, well, not suitable for work would be reason enough to skip them. But Wilson can’t just ignore it all because sometimes it goes beyond hockey. “Last year there’s people
BUFFALO—The Sabres’ dreadful second-half free-fall left general manager Jason Botterill no choice but to fire coach Phil Housley after his second year on the job. “Today certainly wasn’t an easy day, but the results in the second half were just not there. We were very inconsistent,” Botterill said Sunday, shortly after informing Housley he had
EDMONTON—Oilers captain Connor McDavid said he seems to be OK following a scary leg injury in Edmonton’s season finale against the Calgary Flames on Saturday night. McDavid left Edmonton’s 3-1 victory over Calgary with a left leg injury after crashing into the Flames net in the second period. It appeared to be a serious injury,
The Calgary Flames and Winnipeg Jets are being rewarded for their on-ice success with growing online fanbases. Both teams have grown their Twitter fanbases significantly in the past two years, with the Flames’ following growing 26 per cent and the Jets’ increasing by 38 per cent. Christopher Doyle, Twitter Canada’s director, partnerships, sees it as
Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor each had a goal and an assist and the Winnipeg Jets beat the Arizona Coyotes 4-2 Saturday night to earn home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Jacob Trouba and Nikolaj Ehlers also scored, and Blake Wheeler had his 71st assist for Winnipeg, which won just two of
CALGARY—Edmonton Oilers star Connor McDavid left his team’s season finale with a left leg injury after a hard collision with the net against the Calgary Flames on Saturday. McDavid was helped off the ice by teammate Zack Kassian and a trainer after crashing into the Flames’ net. The Oilers captain fell to the ice after