nhl Page 31 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
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 ...
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...
It’s time to send Bob Nightengale to a farm upstate
It’s not much of a story that Bob Nightengale was once again spewing out lava of baseball drivel. That’s been his gig for years now, essentially just acting as a conduit for whatever bullshit the powers that be want out there in exchange for his beloved “access.” Access which he’ll use to lord over ...
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,...
Sometimes you have to just sit back and appreciate what’s on offer
Perhaps I’m feeling wistful because last October, we didn’t have our normal schedule. There’s a clock to this, a rhythm, that we have spent our entire lives attuned to. Hockey and basketball start during the MLB playoffs. Go a year without it, and suddenly the axis is off, red lights are blinking, t...
You always want a Laz Diaz show in a League Championship Series, amirite?
I’ll put it right here at the top when discussing the Astros 9-2 win in Game 4 over the Red Sox, because I’ve spent the latter half of my life having Red Sox fans yell at me in some sort of fashion anyway. The non-strike call Laz Diaz came up with on Jason Castro from Nathan Eovaldi’s curve in the n...
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. ...
Dave Roberts can’t help himself
The MLB playoffs can get pretty muddled between decisions and results. Rarely do they line up because... y’know, baseball. It doesn’t cooperate. Right decisions, wrong results, vice versa, the throughline is rarely consistent. But Dave Roberts has been at this for years now, so he certainly makes fo...
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....
Someone get the Canucks an editor stet… err, stat!
When Alex Chiasson played for the Vancouver Canucks in their season opener on Wednesday night in Edmonton, his name was spelled correctly on the back of his jersey....
I’ve had it with relievers
Maybe I’ve rebelled against getting older as long as I can, and I’m coming to accept the hair growing out of my ears combined with the opinions that something in a modern sport isn’t as good as I remember. It’s weird, because I don’t remember having any attachment to relief pitchers of my youth. The...
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....
Here’s our <em>Squid Game</em> All-Star roster
Squid Game, a Korean dystopian Netflix series, is the highest-rated show in the world right now....
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...
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....