Hockey Page 545 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

It’s not time to push the panic button on the Dallas Stars
It’s been three weeks since the start of the NHL season. In those three weeks, the Dallas Stars have played nine games, but have only scored nine goals 5-on-5. That’s the fewest of any team in the league, and these struggles at even strength have led many fans wondering what’s going on. Jason Robert...

Gary Bettman isn’t paid for this, and it shows
Maybe it’s only people of older generations, of which I’m a part, who still perceive the position of “commissioner” as some sort of custodian of a particular sport. Even though we know in our minds that all they’re just the hand of the owners, and exist to ensure maximized profits, our hearts still ...

Welcome to hell, NHL! Your stay is long overdue
The NHL is not in a good place, and that’s good. For too long have victims of high-ranking members in NHL front offices gone unseen and unheard....

Was it worth it, Joel?
A day late, and really 11 years late, Joe Quenneville resigned from his head coaching gig, though now it’s with the Florida Panthers. Quenneville was cowardly and disgustingly allowed to be behind the bench Wednesday night for the Cats, not even an hour after Kyle Beach had poured his heart out on T...

Strip Jonathan Toews of his captaincy and set the NHL on fire
(TW: Sexual assault)...

No, your favorite team doesn’t ‘know something’ you don’t
(TW: Sexual assault)...

In failing to properly protect John Doe’s identity, Chicago has allowed him to be victimized once more
A paltry $2 million fine for the franchise, less severe than the New Jersey Devils’ penalty for salary cap circumvention. Stan Bowman allowed to resign as general manager, rather than getting fired, with good odds that when hockey’s old boys network cranks up again, he’ll be a consultant or an assis...

The Blackhawks are forced to face their reckoning, 11 years too late
The details are always worse than you can imagine, even if the overall arc of the story is exactly what we all expected. And so it proved as the Chicago Blackhawks released the findings of their internal investigation into how the organization handled accusations of sexual assault and harrassment by...

You’ll never believe this, but everyone’s losing their mud about the Maple Leafs
If you looked up and to the north this morning and thought you could make out a noxious cloud in the distance, don’t worry, it’s just the usual October phenomenon. The NHL season is two weeks old and the Toronto Maple Leafs have not awarded the Stanley Cup due to the majesty of their excellence and ...

Vladimir Tarasenko is on the warpath
Let’s watch Vladimir Tarasenko ether something called Mikey Anderson during the Blues’ 3-0 win last night over the Kings, shall we:...

Alex Ovechkin is in a hurry, because he has to be
One of the pleasures of getting back to a normal NHL schedule is that we pick up perhaps the biggest record chase in North American sports, and that’s Alex Ovechkin’s quest for 895 goals. He seems to recognize the urgency, as he’s scored five goals in five games so far this season. But if you’re Ove...

Someone please explain San Jose’s hot start for me
I know it’s early, but how in the world are the San Jose Sharks 4-0? There is nothing about this team that jumps off the page when you look at their roster. In fact, their roster looks filled to the brim with huge, unfulfilling contracts attached to players way past their prime, unproven youngsters,...

Can we make a ‘Habs-not’ joke real quick?
It was no secret that this season was going to be tougher for the Montreal Canadiens. They had to sneak into the playoffs last year when all they had to do was beat out the rest of the trash Canadian teams, and then went on a run because Carey Price was able to channel 2014 for a few weeks. ...

NHL suspends Evander Kane for 21 games
Speaking of assholes getting the heave-ho, Evander Kane got suspended by the NHL for 21 games for faking a vaccination card and violating COVID protocols the league had set up. We knew the league wasn’t fucking around when it came to this kind of thing, and this kind of suspension proves it. ...

They say your twenties are the best years of your life...
Jack Hughes played 117 games in the NHL as a teenager over the course of two pandemic-shortened seasons, and he scored 18 goals with 34 assists. Not a star performance, by any means, but good for a teenager — especially since he showed lots of improvement in his second campaign....

The NHL returned to ESPN, so here’s what it lacked
The NHL returned to ESPN on Tuesday night, with the self-proclaimed World Wide Leader celebrating itself and especially the old ESPN hockey theme....

2021 NHL Previews: Flyers haven’t made a good move since acquiring Gritty
The Metro Division is jam-packed with teams who could disappoint. Sid and Geno are back for their 16th season in Pittsburgh, and the bottom has to fall out eventually. Similarly, Alex Ovechkin is 36 and coming off a career-worst 24-goal season. Carolina was one of the darlings of hockey last year, b...

Catching up with the NHL (We hardly had time to miss ya!)
The NHL is back on its regular schedule after two straight pandemic-curtailed seasons, and that means it kicks off right now, even though it still doesn’t feel like hockey season outside in most of North America....

2021 NHL Previews: Fifty-four years between Cups for Toronto, going on 55
The Toronto Maple Leafs have now crossed the Rangers Line. The most famous Stanley Cup drought in history belonged to New York, which for years had to hear “1940” chants until Mark Messier, Mike Richter, and company finally broke the hex in 1994....

2021 NHL Previews: The Canucks will upset you deeply
Look, I had to pick someone. This division is sadness. If the NHL had relegation, at least three-quarters of the league would probably be booted before the season started, just to save the time and travel costs. So, really, no one has expectations that I can bust. Vegas doesn’t even really have to b...