The New York Islanders are one of the NHL’s most storied franchises, making their mark on the league during their brisk ascension in the late 1970s and early 1980s. After their four straight Stanley Cups and 19 consecutive playoff series wins, the Islanders found themselves on a bumpy road as they fought to stay relevant
NHL Coaching
Disregarding interim head coaches, the San Jose Sharks have only had 7 head coaches in their soon-to-be 29th season of existence. Considering that they have still yet to win a Stanley Cup, there isn’t exactly a clear-cut answer to who the greatest coach in franchise history has been. I plan on answering this question by
With the nature of the 2010-21 NHL season’s schedule, a team’s ability to adjust and adapt from game to game will be a big factor in their success. Since teams are only playing against their division rivals, they will know who to watch out for and what to expect from their opponents. Being able to
After falling to the Montreal Canadiens in the opening round of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs, many questions arose about the state of the Pittsburgh Penguins. With an aging core and back-to-back first round exits, general manager Jim Rutherford needed to make some changes. Head coach Mike Sullivan has proven to be a strong NHL
Craig Berube coached a number of players on his current roster before they ever put on a St. Louis Blues jersey. Take Jordan Binnington for example. On the surface, it might seem as though he had a quick, seamless rise to prominence. Soon after he put on a Blues uniform in December of 2019, he
The ’12 Days of Christmas’ is a classic holiday song first published in its current form in 1908. In a nod to the classic carol, join The Hockey Writers as we count down the 12 Days of Hockeymas. Each day, we will provide you with a piece of hockey history as we eagerly await the start of the
When the Toronto Maple Leafs signed Paul MacLean, I immediately thought of Taylor Swift. Why? Do they look alike? Sing at a similar pitch? No, but in my mind, these two are forever linked. Paul MacLean is the new assistant coach for the Toronto Maple Leafs Photo BY Canadian Press. June, 2011. Rewind to Dec.
As NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman recently revealed, the start date for the upcoming 2020-21 season could be within the late December or early January time frame. With a fresh start on the horizon, the New York Rangers will dive into their 94th season with their newly hired assistant coach, Jacques Martin. The news broke in
There has been plenty of speculation and guessing on who will be the Seattle Kraken’s first head coach. A few high-profile names have been mentioned repeatedly as candidates for the job. Gerard Gallant, Mike Babcock, and Peter Laviolette being the most prominent. Laviolette is now off the table after being hired by the Washington Capitals
The Washington Capitals currently find themselves down 3-0 in their Stanley Cup playoff series against the New York Islanders. This is certainly not where this team expected to be and it cannot be where general manager Brian MacLellan expected them to be. It’s hard to look at the roster with the deadline additions MacLellan made
For a young coach, Travis Green’s camps are what many would consider a retro throwback. On July 15 — and multiple times after that — the Canucks’ social media team released a video showing a punishment for the losing team of the scrimmage (seen below). The grueling and mildly humiliating punishment, had the players (literally)
Throughout the 53-year history of the Philadelphia Flyers, there have been 21 men to perform the duties of head coach. Some have stuck around for plenty of successful years, while others were shown the door before they’d even coached a full season. Heading into the 2019-20 NHL season, Alain Vigneault became the latest addition to
When we look back at the 2019-20 National Hockey League season, we are going to remember it as the year of the coaching change. You can officially add Bruce Boudreau to the list of coaches who have either been fired or resign since the puck dropped on the regular season. Wild Ready to Move Forward
Bruce Cassidy watched from afar as coach after NHL coach was shown the door. A lot of good ones, too. All in the span of eight weeks. It started when the Toronto Maple Leafs fired Mike Babcock on Nov. 20 and culminated with the Vegas Golden Knights axing Gerard Gallant — the man responsible for leading the franchise
When an NHL team gets talked about and analyzed, the brunt of the attention goes to the players (for obvious reasons). If attention goes elsewhere, it is on the general manager or head coach. In the case of the Philadelphia Flyers, Alain Vigneault is the one mainly taking care of business as the head coach
With former head coach Jim Montgomery dismissed from the Dallas Stars, coaches from across the organization were moved up a peg in order to fill team needs. New to Dallas, the organization pulled Texas Stars head coach Derek Laxdal to take over the Stars power play. Being a new face to the organization and the
After the Tampa Bay Lightning experienced one of the worst postseason collapses in NHL history, head coach Jon Cooper found himself on the hot seat despite leading the team to a 62-win season. Cooper, who is currently the longest-tenured coach in the NHL, has been a regular target of ire due to the Lightning’s playoff
When we discussed the St. Louis Blues’ offseason needs back in June, the first focus was power play help. At the time, we noted that the help could arrive either in the form of additional personnel, or with an additional assistant coach dedicated to special teams. It now looks like the Blues have addressed that