Kerry Fraser had a big piece on TSN about how Brendan Shanahan blew it by not suspending Milan Lucic for his hit on goalie Ryan Miller. Fraser says that without a Lucic suspension, it’s going to be open season on goalies: Players (and more importantly goalies) would know that the League still considers them endangered [...]
One of the few nice things about a minor penalty, like a hooking call, is the duration is always a given. The hook could be a minor infraction or a bold water-skiing-like take down, and either way, the responsible party is always going to get two minutes. It’s simple, yet effective. There’s no judgement required. [...]
Some days, Tampa Lightning coach Guy Boucher’s psychology background is practically visible. Yesterday was one of those days. Down three games to two and facing elimination, Boucher has named Dwayne Roloson as his starting goalie for game six. Roloson struggled in game four and was replaced by Mike Smith in game five. Smith was very [...]
I have to admit I’m not totally looking forward to the Boston Bruins-Philadelphia Flyers second round matchup. Between Boston’s defensive crouch and Philadelphia’s often overly physical play, I’m concerned there won’t be too much skating or movement. Also, both teams have pretty bad power plays going right now. And factor in that the Flyers have [...]
Zdeno Chara’s controversial hit on Max Pacioretty is showing how many boundaries are blurring between the NHL and external parties. The NHL, like just about every sports league, has aggressively pursued advertising opportunities, essentially putting the league in business with its advertising partners. The league gets money from these deals and the advertisers get exposure [...]
On the one hand, yesterday’s trade deadline was a bit of a letdown in that there weren’t any huge and/or exciting deals. But maybe there’s a silver lining to the lack of big deals. Like how the lack of big trades was the result of so many teams being in playoff contention. There were very [...]
If you’re an NHL player, it’s a bad thing having your name linked to a potential trade. But it’s even worse actually getting traded (unless you’re traded away from an awful team or a bad city). But being almost traded but then not? And not during the February trade deadline? That’s got to be the [...]
The more I think about the structure of the NHL, the more I think it needs to be more of an international institution. We have six NHL teams starting the season in Europe this year: The Hurricanes and Wild are in Helsinki, the Blue Jackets and Sharks are in Stockholm, and the Bruins and Coyotes [...]
Joe Thornton and the Sharks are already starting to talk contract extension. Thornton’s current contract ends at the end of the upcoming season. Here’s the thing about Thornton and the Sharks: The Sharks want to keep him around and Thornton wants to stay in San Jose. He’s comfortable in San Jose, where he and his [...]
Blake Wheeler’s arbitration hearing with the Bruins is set for this morning. Wheeler, heading into just his third NHL season, has been remarkably mature and solid. He seems to have found a groove as a 20ish goals per season player, who helps out on special teams and can handle plenty of minutes. For whatever reason, [...]
