CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT QUESTIONS DIRECTLY ON GOOGLE+. When the Google+ Hangout begins, a live video window will be placed on this page, so be sure to Like, Favorite or bookmark this page to watch, whether it's live or later, as the broadcast will be archived. MORE SPORTING NEWS NFL COVERAGE ROSS TUCKER: Ex-NFL player has message for fans cheering injuries FANTASY FOOTBALL: Who were Week 6’s studs and duds for your team?...
A large portion of the trip features a 70-mph speed limit, and Ohio’s rest stops are top-notch, if that’s the sort of stuff you pay attention to; the vending machines carry Cherry Coke Zero and beef jerky. That’s not all they carry — that’d be weird — but … you get it. MORE: Players wear Go-Pro cameras | Western Conference rankings | Eastern Conference Rankings As I-70 neared Columbus, though, there was an odd, almost offputting number of abandoned cars on the side of the highway....
Boogaard made his living in the NHL as an enforcer, and his death in 2011 sparked controversy after it was discovered he had the brain disease CTE. His parents filed lawsuits against the NHL and its players’ union over their son’s death as well as a complaint against Dr. Brian Shaw. MORE: NHL careers that ended with concussions Shaw co-founded the NHL and NHL Players’ Association’s substance abuse program with Dr....
Over the course of two days, July 23 and 24, 223 players found out where they’ll get a chance to pursue their professional hockey dreams. Note that there are 224 slots but the Coyotes had to forfeit their first-rounder. Entering Friday’s first round, the Sabres held the No. 1 overall pick for the second time in four years. They selected defenseman Owen Power. His University of Michigan teammate Matty Beniers went next to the Seattle Kraken....
The longest and largest deal overall: six years and $33.5 million, Andrej Sekera with the Oilers. The largest cap hit: $6 million, Mike Green with the Red Wings. For forwards, Matt Beleskey (Bruins) and Michael Frolik (Flames) signed for the most years, with five. Frolik also had the largest cap hit ($4.3 million) and most money committed ($21.5 million). MORE: Steve Yzerman’s transition from Hall of Famer to top exec | All-day blog with analysis | Kessel, Pens surprisingly perfect match...
According to a report from the Associated Press, the Islanders left winger will stay in New York after signing a seven-year, $49 million deal. Lee took to Twitter to share his reaction and update his profile picture with a photo of him in a jersey, smiling. The Islanders already lost out on big names like Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky, but the team stuck with their captain. Lee has spent his entire career in New York after he was selected as the 151st overall pick in the 2009 NHL Draft....
According to TSN’s Frank Seravalli, Mike Smith has chosen to sign with the Oilers once free agency begins. After being acquired by Calgary in February 2017, Smith signed a two-year, $11 million extension and has been the Flames’ starter over the last two seasons, registering a .909 save percentage and 2.68 GAA. His numbers declined this past season as he went 40-23-16 with a 2.72 GAA and .898 save percentage....
While the NHL awards won’t be announced for another few months, the races have already begun with the Twitter arguments and discussions in full swing. Like every year, there are a plethora of surprising candidates that have burst onto the awards scene and will be in serious contention for individual hardware. And as always, some same faces that have earned the honors before are in a position to do so again....
Let’s get this out of the way … I was wrong. Dead wrong. A week ago, I wrote in this space that the Jets were the premier challenger to the Golden Knights’ miracle run. That, while the NHL’s 31st club was a great story and a surprise entrant into the final four of the postseason, the Golden Knights were up against a team that was too deep and too skilled....
After a four-month layoff, the ice is cooled, the teams are hot and the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs officially get underway on Aug. 11. The coronavirus pandemic has forced the NHL to get a bit creative with its restart, and because of that, hockey-starved fans get a little dose of semi-playoffs with teams jockeying for playoff position and playoff spots over a week span starting on Saturday. The gist: The top four teams in each conference will play each other once to determine seeding in the Stanley Cup playoffs, while the remaining eight teams in each conference play qualifiers to make the dance....
Eight teams remain to battle it out for the 2020 Stanley Cup. There are perennial contenders such as the Boston Bruins, Tampa Bay Lightning, Vegas Golden Knights and Dallas Stars. The New York Islanders continue to be a thorn in the side of many top clubs as Barry Trotz looks for his second Cup in three years, and the Colorado Avalanche are making back-to-back second-round appearances. In the Eastern Conference, it has been eight years since the top-seeded Philadelphia Flyers advanced past the first two weeks of the playoffs; in the Western Conference, it has been nine years for the Vancouver Canucks....
Add forward Bryan Rust and defenseman Justin Schultz to that long list of hurt Penguins. MORE: Furious Phil Kessel shakes off frustration, scores Game 2 winner Losing Schultz is a major blow as Pittsburgh is already playing without defensemen Kris Letang and Trevor Daley. Schultz crashed hard into the boards in the first period and left the ice immediately. Rust was injured on a huge open-ice hit by Ottawa defenseman Dion Phaneuf....
Even though Reaves wound up on top at the end of the battle, Kane compared the Golden Knights’ winger to a character from a nursery rhyme. “For the so-called toughest guy in the league, I don’t know if he landed a punch,” Kane told reporters, via Fear the Fin. “At times, I thought I was fighting the Muffin Man. “Didn’t expect that, I expected more of a battle.” The fight, which came with two minutes left in the third period of Game 3, was the culmination of plenty of chirping between the pair and featured some serious haymakers from both players....
Carolina’s rookie winger suffered a concussion in a fight with Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin last week and has yet to be fully cleared from the concussion protocol, leaving him “highly doubtful” for Game 6 on Monday, coach Rod Brind’Amour announced Sunday. The same goes for injured forwards Jordan Martinook and Micheal Ferland. “You take three guys out of our top nine (forwards) … and it’s the competitive guys you’re taking out,” Brind’Amour said, via the News and Observer....
The Islanders forward scored a goal for the third straight playoff contest as his team defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-1 on Sunday and took a 3-0 stranglehold on their first-round series. The 28-year-old’s first-period marker represented the equalizer after the Penguins had taken an early lead. Just 28 seconds after Garrett Wilson put Pittsburgh up 1-0, Eberle received a pass from Ryan Pulock on the left wing and immediately shot a sharp-angle wrister above Penguins goaltender Matt Murray’s right shoulder....
The 2021 Stanley Cup Final will feature the defending champion Lightning against the most storied franchise in NHL history, the Canadiens. One team was expected to be here and one team, well, was not. But that doesn’t matter now as the NHL playoffs are down to the final two. Montreal was down 3-1 to the Maple Leafs in the first round but turned things around and beat them in seven games....
Sixteen teams are set to begin the gauntlet of the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs, and there’s no telling which will be the club to drink out of Lord Stanley’s Cup. In Canada, four teams from four provinces — Maple Leafs (Ontario), Oilers (Alberta), Jets (Manitoba) and Canadiens (Quebec) — will battle it out to represent the North Division. It has been a while since a Canadian team (Winnipeg in 2018) made the final four, but there will definitely be a team from across the border in the semifinals....
Officially, the slate has been wiped clean and all 31 teams are now set to travel, on what they hope, is a road painted in silver with the Stanley Cup at the end. But that road is a long, twisting, curving one with never-ending potholes. It is one that eventually splits where only one can take the road less traveled — one that less than 100 teams have taken — one that ends in a championship....
Following months of contract negotiations, the Senators are poised to part ways with Matt Duchene at the trade deadline with unrestricted free agency looming. On Sunday, TSN’s Darren Dreger reported the club plans to trade the 28-year-old center barring any last-minute change in talks. Dreger’s colleague Pierre Lebrun said the Blue Jackets and Predators are among a number of teams looking into Duchene’s availability. MORE: Top 10 players most likely to be traded at 2019 deadline...
With the NHL’s annual eight-day holiday roster freeze beginning at 11:59 p.m. ET on Dec. 19, notable trade chatter has picked up around the league. Last week, we observed growing media conjecture over what moves could be in store for the struggling Blues. As they continue to flounder in the standings, anticipation over a major move is growing. MORE: SN’s top 50 NHL prospects | 2018-19 farm system rankings...
