The 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs were the most unprecedented in league history. COVID-19 drastically altered the entire format to hold a fair end to an unforeseen, premature regular season conclusion. The playoff format featured scenarios never seen before or ones unused in decades. Twenty-four teams went into the Edmonton and Toronto bubbles with Stanley Cup
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For as long as professional athletes have played the sport of hockey, a battle has been raging, an ongoing arms-race pitting performance against safety. And with injuries to players last season, like Bryan Little of the Winnipeg Jets and the New York Islanders’ Johnny Boychuk looking to be of the career-ending variety, it’s becoming clear
I’ll just say it. Overall, I don’t like the Adidas “Reverse Retro” jerseys. I don’t like how cartoonish most of them look, and I don’t like the fact that this is obviously another cash grab for both the National Hockey League and Adidas. The NHL is one of the most financially stable sports leagues in
Defense wins championships. It’s a saying as old as hockey itself, but there is truth to this wisdom. A stout defense can both limit the opponent’s scoring chances while placing additional pressure on them in the offensive zone. When a defense is playing near perfection, it also helps ease some of the burdens on both
That was a fun offseason project — ranking the NHL teams by position. Fun and enlightening, yet challenging since the league’s parity is so prevalent on paper. There were tiers at every position that opened the door to much debate, with the slightest of margins separating several teams. That made for difficult decisions from top
Last but not least, the forwards — the guys who get most the goals and thus most the glory. If you can’t score, you can’t win, so this position is as important as any. It’s also as difficult to rank as any since there are 12 forwards in the lineup compared to just six defencemen
Defence wins championships, right? Well, if that’s true — and the St. Louis Blues were pretty darn good on the back end — then the top teams here could have a leg up on the competition. Defensive depth is crucial, but having a couple studs on the blue line is also invaluable. There is no
Every single year, Canadian fans are force-fed a nonsense narrative that we must back our last remaining city battling through the postseason. That’s beyond illogical, for a number of reasons. I’m here to clear any confusion — with only USA-based cities now remaining — on who all of my Canadian neighbours should be cheering for
On July 17, I learned via the Merrit Centennials twitter account that the BCHL was eying a Dec. 1 start date. That got me thinking about the junior leagues that compose the CHL. #BCHL #NEWS:The BCHL has announced that they are planning to open the regular season on December 1st. Read more: https://t.co/NgFqD6uSkD #BCHL pic.twitter.com/gY1Oi44h2G
The NHL playoffs are perhaps the most grueling postseason in professional sports, normally lasting from April to June. This year, though the NHL playoff format will differ from typical seasons, it will maintain the same difficult length. Commissioner Gary Bettman stated, “Obviously, we anticipate playing over the summer and into the early fall.” Should playoffs
NHL players have immense skill and playmaking ability, and often this combination produces jaw-dropping highlights and impressive statistics. David Pastrnak had 48 goals in 70 games, while Mika Zibanejad had an astonishing 41 in 57. Leon Draisaitl averaged almost an assist per game with 67 in 71. Players like Pastrnak and Draisaitl are superstars meeting
You will often hear about certain players being labelled “locks” for the Hockey Hall of Fame (HHOF). If their career ended today, their current resume would be enough to get them into the Hall without any more games played. Related: 7 Highly Questionable HHOF Selections There are plenty of players like Connor McDavid and Auston
There might not be hockey on the ice at this point. But the Columbus Blue Jackets spent Friday and Monday signing players for next season and beyond. On Friday, the Blue Jackets gave All-Star goaltender Joonas Korpisalo a two-year extension. Then on Monday, they signed former Sabre and Avalanche forward Mikhail Grigorenko to a one-year
It doesn’t take rocket science to figure out that we could be in our homes with no sports to watch — or to play for that matter — for a long, long time. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti told CNN on Wednesday night that Los Angeles might not open for recreational activities such as concerts
In the first part of this series, I suggested that the NHL end the 2019-20 season after the 68th game (the number of games played by every team at the time of The Great Pause of 2020.) Any games played beyond that would be disregarded, as would any points in the standings earned in those games. Related: Pavel Bure
The 2020 OHL Priority Selection has come and gone. When the dust settled, 300 prospects heard their name called during the draft process. What did we learn on Saturday? Here are five things that we took from the day. You can see the full draft results here. No Real Surprises At The Top Once it
Let’s not sugarcoat things. The Arizona Coyotes had an absolute nightmare of a Western Canada road trip over the past few days – one which has put their playoff hopes in grave danger. After picking up a massive come-from-behind victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday, the ‘Yotes followed that up with visits to the
In sports, uniforms are sometimes taken for granted. With enough time, even the nicest jersey or sweater can begin to feel boring and routine. But over time, great sweaters become iconic. A beautiful hockey sweater tied to a winning team goes down in history, while big mistakes on bad teams go down in infamy (looking