One thing that’s a bit frustrating about the NHL is that a lot of weight is attached to well-known names.
It seems that a lot of GMs look at names rather than stats before they make a move.
How else to explain all of the interest in Mike Modano, he of the 14 goals and 16 [...]

The nice thing about San Jose’s advancement into the Western Conference finals is that there are quite a few heroes responsible for the Sharks finally dumping their choke artists reputation. Here are five thank yous the Sharks need to express:
Thank You One: Coaching
First of all, you have to thank coach Todd McLellan, who has kept [...]

I’m loving the San Jose-Detroit series because of how it represents a rebirth for the Sharks. Instead of being a first-round choke kind of team, they’re suddenly confident and composed.
The officiating has been a bit strange, though. Specifically, the NHL suddenly seems to have taken exception to some of Detroit’s around-the-net play.
Last night Henrik Zetterberg [...]

For all of the talk about the new NHL, with its speed and its goal-scoring, the reality is that the playoffs are very much the old NHL, with its hooking and its defense and its checking.
The Flyers and Bruins made it into the second round of the playoffs playing pre-lockout NHL hockey, with a lot [...]

Vanity Fair has an interesting piece on John Hughes, the iconic director who died in August.
In addition to being a huge 80s director, Hughes was also a big hockey fan. In fact, one of his last public appearances might have been the Wings/’Hawks Winter Classic.
The article points out some cool things, like how in FERRIS [...]

Not to be a jerk about the Olympics, but what exactly is the NHL thinking?
The Penguins are obviously already gassed from their successful Stanley Cup run. They beat Atlanta last night, but had dropped their previous five. And now, instead of just focusing on making it to the All-Star break, they’re going to send key [...]

Last night was kind of interesting. There were 10 games played, with four shutouts.
Goalies Steve Mason (CBJ), Ryan Miller (BUF), Ty Conklin (backup; STL), and Nik Backstrom (MIN) each kept the red light off behind them.
So is this a sign defense is back in the NHL? Is the NHL reverting to its pre-lockout lockdown defensive [...]

Tim Panaccio took a quick look back at Brett Hull’s career.
That amazing wrist shot from the circle? It was actually his dad, Bobby Hull’s, idea. Which is shocking, since Bobby Hull is synonymous with the slapshot. But the elder Hull said the quicker NHL game required a quicker shot.
It’s funny how we’ve come full circle. [...]

Anaheim has a couple of issues right now, mostly that they’re 3-5-1 and have dropped four of their last five.
But their most pressing problem might be goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere’s groin.
Giguere is making $6 million this season and $7 million next season, even as the Ducks have a much stronger, cheaper goaltending option in Jonas Hiller.
It’s [...]

The start of the season is tough, because you always want to make grand statements about teams when you’re really just working off of a small data set.
Watching last night’s Rangers-Devils, on Versus (I’m one of the 50 people left with Versus), I was very impressed by the Devils. They didn’t look like a typical [...]