Hockey Page 519 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Will The NHL Mandate Visors Before Someone Loses An Eye And A Career?
There's been no update on Rangers defenseman Marc Staal, who left the game after taking a deflected puck in the eye. He did not go to the hospital, which is great news. (The puck appears to have struck just above the soft tissue, in the brow or orbit. It was only a matter of chance and of millimeter...

Here Is Every Known Gruesome Angle Of Marc Staal Taking A Slapshot In The Eye Tonight
I'm old enough to remember a few dudes in the NHL who played without a helmet. Dinosaurs of an earlier age like Brad Marsh and Greg Smyth Craig MacTavish were grandfathered in, showing what was left of their mullets and their intelligence while substituting machismo for brains (or the prospect of ...

Claude Julien Complained About The Canadiens' "Embellishment," So Someone Made This Highlight Reel Of Bruins Dives
After a chippy loss to Montreal on Monday, Bruins coach Claude Julien came out firing in his postgame press conference, accusing the Canadiens of diving and flopping all over the place. Some of his comments:...

Jeff Carter Scored A Hat Trick On Hat Giveaway Night
The Kings' win over Nashville was bizarre, as far as 5-1 wins go. Scoreless through one, just 1-0 through two, Los Angeles just couldn't put pucks on net. The Predators blocked shots, clogged up the blue line, and made this one look like it would go down to the horn. Only, Pekka Rinne couldn't sto...

This Is What A Hockey Player Looks Like After Breaking His Face In A Fight
Flyers rookie forward Tye McGinn threw hands with the Maple Leafs' Mike Brown one week ago today. McGinn didn't win, and he had his orbital bone broken in the scrap. (Also? Brown was traded today from Toronto to Edmonton.) McGinn had surgery this weekend, but it's not known if the above photo was ta...

Stephen A. Smith Thinks Hockey Has Ties, Is Not As Dumb As People Who Expected Hockey Analysis From Stephen A. Smith
After weeks of increasing criticism of ESPN's less-than-comprehensive hockey coverage, the NHL finally made SportsCenter. After a 19-0-3 start, a record, the Chicago Blackhawks have finally become a "sports" thing instead of a hockey thing. But be careful what you wish for: on this morning's Sport...

Patrick Kaleta Deserves A Long, Unpaid Vacation For This Hit From Behind
Noted Buffalo dirtball Patrick Kaleta has been somewhat quiet recently—slipping all the way to a career-low 10th on the most-hated players list, but he's angling to get back among the leaders after this brutal cross-check that sent New York's Brad Richards headfirst into the boards....

The Islanders And Nassau County Are Getting Divorced, So It's Time To Pay Up
This we knew, but now things are getting ugly. Even setting aside the actual product on the ice for a moment, the recent history of the Islanders in Nassau County has been miserable. A terrible lease for a terrible arena has kept them shackled in a county that can't afford to pay for anything even ...

Rick DiPietro Says He Battled Depression. Does This Mean We Should Feel Like Assholes For All The Jokes?
Islanders goalie has had a week to come to terms with being waived, and possibly the end of his star-crossed NHL career. Yesterday he sounded upbeat about his AHL assignment, telling Newsday, "The last couple of years, with all the injuries, if it's taught me anything, it's that I need to enjoy what...

The Flames Just Made The Most Inexplicable Trade Of The Year
Brian McGrattan is no catch: the journeyman brawler has bounced around from team to team, and up and down from the AHL, since the lockout. So when the Predators waived him, he cleared easily. He was assigned to their AHL affiliate yesterday. This morning, Calgary traded for him....

"You Don't Have To Act Like A Baby": Mike Milbury Goes Off On Alex Ovechkin
It's all gone wrong for the Capitals, sitting firmly in last place in the East. (They do have a game in hand on the Islanders, which is a very sad parenthetical to write.) Fairly or not, much of the blame has fallen on Alexander Ovechkin, once a consensus Top-2 player in the world, now painted as ...

Paul Bissonnette Has A Three-Game Point Streak, Is History's Greatest Hockey Player
You probably know Coyotes big man Paul Bissonnette as an enforcer, and also as some guy from Twitter. But here's what you may not have known about the force known as Biz Nasty: He's earth's greatest hockey player, probably ever....

Hockey Sure Is Having A Lot Of Concussions Lately
The numbers are kind of insane—there are currently 25 players out with concussions, or "upper body injuries" that include "concussion-like symptoms." (That includes Rene Bourque, whose team has "no idea" when he suffered it.)...

Don't Look Now, But The NHL's Best Hockey Is Out West
You could be forgiven for feeling a twinge of nostalgia for the Western Conference yesterday, after news emerged that the NHL is nearing an agreement on radical realignment. The new setup is better almost every way: less travel, more geographic rivalries, the chance for every team to host every othe...

The NHL Appears Ready For Radical Four-Conference Realignment
A year ago, the NHL introduced a major realignment plan. Gone were the six divisions, and two conferences. In were four geographic conference, with the winners of each thrown into a final four for the Stanley Cup. The Board of Governor's approved the plan, but it was essentially scuttled by the lock...

Ilya Bryzgalov's Thoughts On Meteors, Asteroids, And Life Are Simple Yet Profound
During an interview with Flyers goalie Ilya Bryzgalov, the folks at WIP had the good sense to ask him for his thoughts on that big-ass meteor that recently landed in Russia and that even bigger-ass asteroid that whizzed by Earth and threw us all into a brief, existential meltdown. Bryzgalov's respo...

Islanders Waive Rick DiPietro To A Fate Worse Than Death: Living In Bridgeport For Eight Years
Rick DiPietro (full legal name: Oft-Injured Goaltender Rick DiPietro) may have come to the end of the road on Long Island. The Islanders put him on waivers today after he made just three starts this season—all multi-goal losses—and an era has come to an end....

Flyers-Penguins Scramble Makes For The First Harlem Shake Video That Doesn't Suck
In that bananas Flyers-Penguins game Wednesday night, the oddest of some odd goals came when Nicklas Grossmann finally put home a puck after an interminable goalmouth scramble. Paul Bissonnette identified the chaos as reminiscent of the Harlem Shake. The Youtube genius behind HockeyVideoHD did the...

Flyers-Penguins Is The NHL's Best Rivalry
You could call it hockey for people who don't like hockey, but that's a disservice to those of us who love a good, boring, defensive clinic, and also love Flyers-Penguins barnburners. Last night's edition featured everything you'd want to show a friend who isn't sold about the NHL: end-to-end action...

Lindy Ruff Fired As Buffalo Sabres Coach After 16 Years
When Lindy Ruff was hired as Sabres coach in the summer of 1997, Nail Yakupov was three years old, Mario Lemieux was the reigning Art Ross winner, and Teemu Selanne was already a veteran. Now, in the middle of his 15th season, Ruff has been fired....