hockey Page 35 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Please, please, send John Smoltz to a farm upstate
It was a slow, lazy Saturday afternoon. It would have to be for me to turn on the Mets when Jacob deGrom isn’t pitching (though Marcus Stroman can be a very entertaining watch, too). I grew up at a time here in Chicago when we hated the Mets as much as the Cardinals, and those instincts still flicke...

It ain’t been a banner year for women’s hockey (and men’s ain’t been so hot either)
It’s not as if women’s hockey wasn’t facing enough obstacles in normal times. It fights for attention and funding at every level just like women’s sports have always done, and that’s a fight that is still very much a hard one. So what it doesn’t need is to have that be joined by self-inflicted wound...

Deadspin Fixes: The NHL schedule
Yesterday over at ESPN, Greg Wyshynski put forth a report that says the NHL is looking to start next season somewhere around October 12. It’s a little later than a season would normally start, thanks to this season ending in the middle of July for two teams at least, and maybe more if the league has...

While Robin Lehner’s frustration is valid, he (and each of us) needs to realize we’re not done with COVID-19
Robin Lehner once again got on his personal soapbox that he carries with him everywhere he goes to rail against the NHL’s response, or lack thereof, to players getting vaccinated. ...

Why did the NHL even bother?
While nowhere near the most important facet or phenomenon around the Derek Chauvin verdict, it was rather startling that, within minutes, dozens of companies ushered statements out into the world. This means they had them prepared, which means they had ones prepared for the other outcome, too. Which...

Do you smell what Steph Curry is cookin’? W's playoff hopes upgraded to simmering
Draymond Green may think the play-in games to the playoffs are beneath him, but Steph Curry apparently is going to drag Green and the rest of the Warriors there by their collective dick if he has to....

Just say you wanna f**k the Stanley Cup
Hockey’s hallow-fication of The Stanley Cup has been cartoonish for a while. It’s perhaps the pointy end of its #PleaseLikeMySport inferiority complex. “We play for a Cup while others play for a championship,” as if it wasn’t really the same fucking thing. ...

Canucks won last night, but that’s not worth celebrating
The Canucks returned to the ice last night, beating the Toronto Maple Leafs in overtime, 4-3. Which resulted in a predictable reaction from the hockey press:...

Once again, for those in the back: Cancel the Canucks season now, because this proposed schedule is doo-doo
The NHL came to its senses a tiny bit by pushing back the Vancouver Canucks’ return to the ice, but a team that already has a minuscule chance of making the playoffs still will be asked to play a grueling gauntlet of a schedule to close out the season....

J.T. Miller and the Canucks think this is as stupid and unfair as we do
Last week, I laid out all the obstacles the Vancouver Canucks would face returning to action after nearly three weeks out thanks to a swath of positive COVID tests, with some players seriously ill with the virus, as well as some of their families being at risk. I argued that their season should just...

After lying with racists and sexists, the NWHL thought it would try transphobes, too
The NWHL was able to finish its Isobel Cup belatedly two weeks ago, as the Boston Pride beat the Minnesota Whitecaps. The league had something of a false start in the winter with their attempted bubble in Lake Placid that didn’t really bubble, the league was able to complete the playoffs in Boston....

The NHL trade deadline, and the Maple Leafs in particular, continue to be really weird
There’s nothing like the NHL trade deadline to warp what you thought you knew about teams’ priorities and how players are valued. GMs alternate between desperation to chase the Cup and desperation to get anything for players who can’t wait to high-tail it out of town at the season’s end. The process...

Canucks finally set to return after teamwide COVID nightmare, but why?
The Vancouver Canucks will return to practice on Sunday, and resume their season on Friday against the Oilers, the NHL announced. What’s more, the eight games the Canucks have missed, or will miss, have been rescheduled, extending their season to May 16....

Si Woo Kim goes full 'Tin Cup' after breaking his putter
If you break your bat in baseball, you get a new bat....

Filthy rich NFL owners aren’t <i>quite</i> as rich as other sports' fat cats, according to new list
In American sports, everybody is always trying to catch up to the NFL. They have the biggest ratings, the largest fan base, and new stadiums constantly trying to out-gargantuan the others. It’s also a league full of shrewd business people who don’t have to pay guaranteed contracts....

Jazz and Suns give us a sensational late-night cookie in a season lacking real drama
I’ve used this space to try and quiet any meaning to NBA regular-season games. It’s been especially acute this season, when teams have rarely been at full-strength, and they seem more intent on just being intact for the playoffs, which they know are what counts and are more likely to have at least s...

With 25 COVID-19 cases, just cancel the Canucks' season already
The news out of Vancouver isn’t getting any better....

Miracle on Ice hero Mark Pavelich’s suicide is why it's unacceptable that the NHL does little to end hits to the head
When I get mad about the lame-ass suspensions and fines the NHL hands out for hits to the head, this is why....

After another sensational two weeks, the NCAA women’s tournament broadcast package needs to level up
When people talk about investing more resources into the women’s game, it goes far beyond any monetary value....

Carter Hart looks good in return, but the Flyers still suck
Carter Hart made his return to the net after an eight-game “reset” for the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday, and no, let’s not go with any rising from the dead analogies, but he was looked to as the savior of the franchise....