Hockey Page 546 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
2021 NHL Previews: Don’t believe the media, it’s over in Nashville
I’m not even sure the Preds are that highly thought of this year. It definitely feels that whatever cycle they were on has come to an end, and there was a temptation to put the Avalanche here, who look set for goalie-related heartbreak come May. But I’ve never missed an opportunity to completely sh...
Robin Lehner decided he didn’t want to burn down the NHL after all
Robin Lehner unleashed fury and chaos over the weekend, but he’s had a change of heart after a talk with the NHL....
Another black eye for hockey
It’s not so surprising that hockey could step on a few rakes before its season even starts. It’s just surprising how not surprising it is. It would have been bad enough for the sport to deal with Robin Lehner’s accusations of NFL-like painkiller distribution among its teams, trainers, and players. Y...
Vegas goalie Robin Lehner in stunning Twitter attack on Vigneault, Flyers
As a goalie, Robin Lehner is used to having shots fired at him, but on Saturday night, he was the one unloading, as the Golden Knights goalie accused Flyers coach Alain Vigneault of… well, it’s not entirely clear, but the implication was pushing drugs on players....
The last thing we need is a Maple Leafs docuseries
The whole behind-the-scenes docuseries has been a bit played out. Hard Knocks started it, and it came to hockey almost a decade ago with the 24/7 series that tracked the two teams in that given year’s Winter Classic for the month leading up to the New Year’s Day game. Some of it was compelling stuff...
Sabres start over without ever having finished
Can you technically rebuild something if you never built anything in the first place? It’s just a “build” then, right? This being the Buffalo Sabres, it’s even arguable that anything gets constructed in the first place. It’s just that building in your neighborhood that’s been four or five different ...
Roberto Luongo still hangs over the Canucks
While I do love the image of Roberto Luongo stalking the rafters in the Rogers Arena in a dark robe, perhaps slung over half his face (and Luongo himself might be tempted to actually act this out given the goofball he is) it’s not quite that simple. It’s not even totally the fault of either Luongo o...
Free Connor McDavid (and other stars)
Simply by the numbers, Connor McDavid had one of the more incredible seasons in NHL history last year. 105 points in just 56 games, which would have averaged out to 154 points over a full, 82-game season. His 1.87 points-per-game was the best rate seen in 25 years. It came with the caveat of the uni...
TNT’s hiring of Paul Bissonnette for its NHL coverage proves hockey has no interest in rising above trash
The NHL returns to training camps in a couple weeks, with the season just about a month away. The league wants to make a big deal of its new TV contracts, putting a new shine and look to the league, with both ESPN and TNT picking the national coverage. The hope, as forlorn as it always is, was that ...
NHL players in the Olympics has always been better in theory than practice
Late last week, one of hockey’s more annoying fights seemed to have reached yet another conclusion, when the NHL, the NHLPA, and the IIHF reached an agreement on sending NHL players to the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. As with everything these days, it’s COVID-dependent, but the NHL schedule has ...
NHLers are returning to the Olympics... let’s build some rosters
The Olympics have always felt like the pinnacle for several sports around the world. Only the best sprinters in the world can win gold at the 100-meter dash. Only the fastest swimmers can rise above everyone else in the 200-meter freestyle. Yet, for other sports, the Olympics hasn’t felt like the to...
Unvaccinated hockey life will be perfectly miserable, as it should be
AThe NHL apparently is not fucking around for the upcoming season when it comes to vaccinations. A memo went out last night that outlines what will be different this season for players who are vaccinated and those who are not....
Hurricanes tweet Kotkaniemi offer sheet news in French out of sheer pettiness
Two years after the Montreal Canadiens tried to pry Sebastian Aho away from Carolina with an offer sheet, the Hurricanes have exacted their revenge, getting Jesperi Kotkaniemi to ink an offer sheet for one year and $6,100,015....
Robin Lehner has big shoes to fill with the Golden Knights, but his feet look about the right size
Almost a month ago now, the Vegas Golden Knights shipped their Vezina-winning netminder, Marc-Andre Fleury off to Chicago to dump some salary. Fleury had been arguably Vegas’ best player since the franchise’s inception in 2016. He’s been without a doubt, the most beloved player as the face of the fr...
Glendale says 'Adios, 'Yotes!'
The Coyotes will not play their 2023 home games in the Gila River Arena, after the city of Glendale announced that it would be opting out of the team’s lease agreement — meaning the team will be forced out of their current home on June 30, 2022....
Hey, Jumbo: That Cup isn’t happening
Joe Thornton is a pretty divisive player in NHL circles. Some people love him, love his beard, and consider him a sure-fire Hall of Famer. Others believe Jumbo Joe to be a quietly dirty player citing examples like incessantly sticking his finger in Henrik Sedin’s eye during a game in 2011 and his hi...
So how will the NHL, official partner of PointsBet, Bally’s, and MGM Resorts, handle Evander Kane?
Gambling on your own team’s games has always been the biggest line to cross in team sports. It’s why Pete Rose is still out of the Hall of Fame and probably always will be (though, being pretty much the same unrepentant asshole he was on the field doesn’t help his cause much). While it’s certainly b...
It took a game-tanking accusation for the NHL to finally realize it has an Evander Kane problem
At some point by now, you would think that the National Hockey League would have had Evander Kane sit down for a bit, either as discipline, or to help him get his life on track....