hockey Page 23 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

<i>My time in Permian Panthers country</i>
I didn’t know how I was going to feel eight months out of college packing up everything I own, shoving it into my midsize sedan, and moving nearly two time zones away from the East Coast for the first time. But I knew for growth personally and professionally, I needed to feel it....

These skiers, snowboarders, curlers, and skaters will have you chanting ‘U-S-A!’
Yes! The Winter Olympics are here, and I’m not going to be sitting at a copy desk in a Colorado ski town awaiting results from halfway around the world this time. I don’t know what to be happier about: My work inbox being free of Olympic coverage plans, or my knowledge of skiers, snowboarders, cross...

Who are the Columbus Blue Jackets?
It was a slow night as far as news goes. So as I was kicking around various sites and headlines, I noticed the Calgary Flames put up a touchdown on the Columbus Blue Jackets, a 6-0 blanking. And then looking under the hood, I saw that the Jackets surrendered 62 shots. 62....

Give some shine to the NHL’s new Iron Man
Keith Yandle isn’t a household name because he’s spent most of his 16-year NHL career with putrid teams, including this season with the woebegone Flyers, who have somehow gotten even worse since their coaching change....

Let both offenses touch the ball in playoff overtime
I feel like we have this conversation every other year. When a beloved team loses in overtime without their offense ever taking the field, NFL fans get divided into two extreme camps. ...

Of course they’re willing to miss games
While the MLB owners and MLBPA actually talked to each other yesterday, and even plan on talking to each other today with spring training coming over the horizon, the news out of yesterday’s meeting was that MLB owners expressed to the players that they basically had no problem canceling regular-sea...

Hockey was never going to eradicate its racism problem instantly
It would be easy to label it “just another weekend in hockey.” And that’s what it was, as the NHL’s two minor leagues dealt with incidents of blatant and horrific racism....

Maybe Draisaitl has a right to be ‘pissy’
Athletes are people. People get upset when they and/or the group they associate themselves with aren’t living up to expectations. Hence, with the Edmonton Oilers having gone 2-10-2 in their last 14 games, 2020 Hart Trophy winner Leon Draisaitl might find it a little patronizing when a reporter asks ...

I won't get fooled again!
Before this NHL season started, I made myself a promise. Under no circumstances would I be suckered by the Carolina Hurricanes again. It would be the first time in a while I wasn’t lured in, seduced by the treats I thought I would find within the Canes’ bandwagon, only to be thrown into a boiling ca...

Here are the Penguins again, hanging around, hanging around, can’t get rid of them…
In a world where the Patriots didn’t exist (and what a world that would be), perhaps the gold (and black) standard for bucking against the tides, refusing to be victims of a salary cap and system specifically designed to prevent sustained success, and just general obstinance would be the Pittsburgh ...

The Rangers are a mystery that analytics can't figure out
The best way to determine the best teams in any sport is to look at the standings, right? If they’ve been playing well, they’ll be near the top of the league. As Bill Parcells said, “You are what your record says you are.”...

Sorry Nate MacKinnon, but the NHL All-Star Game should be a Participation Game
What should an All-Star Game be: an opportunity to see the best players all playing in the same game, or a celebration of the sport and league that brings fans together?...

Baseball season won’t start on time, and it’ll be mostly ruined when it does
It flew under the radar, which should be something the owners should notice, but MLB actually did make a proposal to the MLBPA yesterday, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan and Jesse Rogers. It was their first negotiation about the core issues of this lockout now six weeks in, which shows you just how ...

Seriously, how did Ken Holland win those Stanley Cups?
Edmonton Oilers owner Daryl Katz is a headline-chaser. He wants to win the press conference, get the attention, and that might be priority No. 1 for him most of the time. I mean, look at this fucking guy. This is someone who wants to be fawned over....

It was a very NHL day in the NHL
No one does “all over the map” quite like the NHL. And almost all of it is by accident, because there isn’t a guiding light to the league as to what it wants to be, or how it would get there if it did. Stuff just happens every day in this league, most of it makes you slap your forehead. Though somet...

Teams are lining up to give Evander Kane his 34th chance
If we’re midway through another NHL season or thereabouts, it must mean that Evander Kane has fucked up in some way....

Can Tuukka Rask play center?
It is cute, if not delicious, that Tuukka Rask’s imminent return to the Boston Bruins is being greeted as something of the cavalry arriving. Because Bruins fans (and media) have never hesitated to throw whatever available cutlery was around at Tuke Nuke ‘Em every spring because he wasn’t Tim Thomas,...

It was nice they tried
I was never as down on The Athletic as some. I suppose I appreciated their aim, or stated aim, of creating an online sports section, as I was one of the few of my generation, or the ones to come after, to still grow up on sports sections. I was raised on Bob Verdi and Bernie Lincicome (pre-crank) in...

SEE IT: Cale Makar turned the ’Hawks into sock puppets
There are a bunch of caveats I could throw at Cale Makar’s goal in OT against the ’Hawks to give the Avs a 4-3 win. I’ve never been a fan of 3-on-3 overtime, as it’s a forced gimmick. It’s an artificial stage meant to generate highlights like this without the usual context. Makar wouldn’t have had t...

Darkness has fallen upon the Edmonton Oilers once again
The fault, dear Brutus, lies not in our stars. Though apparently if you’re covering the Edmonton Oilers or a fan of them, that’s the going theme. Perhaps after years and years of the same problem, Oilers observers are just tired of complaining about the same things, so they’re looking for things tha...