hockey Page 32 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
Date goes great for Avs fan, could open NHL's eyes to what actual inclusivity looks like
Sometimes sports are cute, and the last two days have been pretty freaking cute in one corner of the sports world. Much like a tweet to the Arizona Diamondbacks last month about a date taking place at their game, it started with a simple tweet to the Colorado Avalanche account on Tuesday....
Alex Nedeljkovic may not win the Calder Trophy, but he’s undoubtedly been the NHL’s most valuable rookie
Earlier today, the three finalists for the 2021 Calder Trophy were named....
MLB doesn’t need a 'face of baseball,' and the proof is in the playoffs
Mike Trout has as many MVP awards as career playoff games played, with three, and for as much talk as there might be in baseball — even from the commissioner — about MLB’s need for the best player of his generation to take on the mantle of the face of the game, no amount of marketing can make up for...
If only playoff hockey could just be playoff hockey and not these garbage hits
When hockey fans tell you, and they will tell you, that playoff hockey is the best thing in sports, what they’re imagining is that every game, every series, looks like Game 2 of the Avalanche and Knights. The thing is, of course, it doesn’t, and a lot of series are just noisy slogs as coaches really...
Hey, Knicks fans: At least you’re not the Maple Leafs
How bad was the Toronto Maple Leafs’ collapse? It’s better to be a Knicks fan right now....
Now the Leafs have the calamity they’ve always wanted
Because everything is outsized with the Leafs, the idea that they’ve been coughing up genuine chances at the Stanley Cup year-after-year has grown at the rate and scale of The Blob. Being the Leafs, everything around them is audibly multiplied by at least 12, so the sheer volume that is emitted from...
If it’s not the Leafs this season, which teams have the best (worst?) shot at passing the Rangers 54-year Cup futility?
The New York Rangers are the historic gold standard for futility in the NHL, having gone 54 years without winning the Stanley Cup until finally getting the job done in 1994 (see Mark Messier with the Cup above) — after decades of being taunted with “1940” chants in enemy arenas....
Top 5 NHL playoff saves of all time
We always remember the goals: Bobby Orr flying through the air, Ray Bourque scoring in the Stanley Cup Finals at 40 years old, and Matteau! Matteau! Matteau! Legendary moments. But what about the goals that didn’t happen? What about the goals that were snagged away with a flash of the leather or a f...
Seems like old times, eh Leafs?
By now you know the key points. The Toronto Maple Leafs haven’t won the Stanley Cup since 1967, haven’t been to the Final since then either, haven’t beaten the Canadiens in a series since their ’67 title clash, won their first division title since 2000 this season (thanks to being in the all-Canadia...
Hats off to a great deal in Vegas
The Golden Knights traded a couple of draft choices to get Mattias Janmark from Chicago in April, and whatever those picks turn out to be, Vegas can rest easy that it was worth it....
This is the Jimmy Butler I remember
The Bucks-Heat series was supposed to be one of the most intriguing of the first round. Last year’s Eastern Conference champ, going up against a Bucks team that, if they were to spit it early for the second straight year, could be facing some kind of organizational overhaul. There was the added spic...
Connor McDavid and Mike Trout: one and the same
Two guys walk into a bar. They’re both dressed to the nines with glamorous accolades and praise, yet they hang their heads low. They sit a few seats apart and order the same drink. The two get to talking....
The Penguins tried to game the system and lost big
One of the many catchphrases that Eddie Olczyk has been trying to “fetch” for more than a decade is “Goaltending: If you don’t have it, you got no chance.” Like most of the things Eddie O says, it probably sounds way cooler and more clever in his head. It’s not a play on words, it doesn’t rhyme, it’...
Man U. falls to Villareal in Europa Final after keeper beats keeper finish
Anytime we get keepers taking penalties, we should cherish it. The Europa League Final yesterday was mostly dogshit, as Manchester United couldn’t turn control of the ball for pretty much the entire second half result into a second, winning goal. By the time extra-time rolled around, they had punche...
I’m pretty sure NHL Network’s Dominic Moore is Merlin reincarnated
I don’t believe in the supernatural. There has not been anything I’ve experienced that couldn’t be explained naturally. I’ve always viewed magic, illusionism, and fortune-telling as impossible. That being said, I’m pretty sure NBCSN’s Dominic Moore is a wizard....
The Great One won’t be much in-studio
TNT’s hockey coverage isn’t off to a great start....
Maybe it’s about Connor Hellebuyck, not Connor McDavid
The reflex is to point and laugh at the Edmonton Oilers once again. It’s combined with frustration that the game’s best player is leashed to such a clown car of an organization, one of the most brilliant individual seasons going completely to waste. And if you’re a long-term hockey writer or analyst...
Obligatory 'Is This It For The Capitals?' post
In a sport as random and silly, and at times downright stupid, as hockey, it’s oxymoronic to try and weave some overarching narrative from a playoff exit. Games and series are decided on a few bounces and deflections most of the time. Change any one variable, and you can get a completely different r...
Basketball returns home
Even as just a casual basketball fan, I have not missed out on the schadenfreude of the New York Knicks the past decade. It’s always affirming when a place that considers itself essential to a sport, perhaps to the world through that sport, is rendered irrelevant. Watching the Knicks’ sense of self ...
The Panthers got a finish lesson
It sounds stupid to almost everyone who loosely followed the Panthers-Lightning Game 4 yesterday, considering that the Cats gave up six goals and lost by four. But for most of the game, especially in the first period, Florida kicked the absolute shit out of the Lightning. They relentlessly attacked ...