Hockey isn’t generally known as the most predictable of sports, but this year has mostly seen the NHL stray from that rule. So far in 2021-22, favorites in our Elo model have won 61.2 percent of their games, their greatest success rate in any regular season since 2005-06 (and nearly as good as the normally […]
Winning the Stanley Cup is about grit, toughness and the will to overcome adversity. But in the NHL’s salary-cap era, it’s also about finding the right mix of core talent and complementary role players to succeed while keeping an eye on the budget. Because the NHL has a (mostly) unforgiving hard cap (like the NFL) […]
Four of hockey’s elite contenders were in action against one another on Wednesday night, when the Carolina Hurricanes (No. 2 in our Elo ratings) hosted the Florida Panthers (No. 4) and the Colorado Avalanche (No. 1) visited the Vegas Golden Knights (No. 7) in a national-TV doubleheader. Together, that star-laden quartet carries a combined 48 […]
When ice hockey player Amanda Kessel got a concussion, she thought she was doing the right thing by resting. But her migraines and dizziness didn’t improve, and she became anxious and depressed. As it turns out, rest is no longer the recommended treatment for athletes suffering from prolonged concussions. In fact, it can make them […]
Almost four years ago, 3.7 million people watched a hockey game on NBC that ended after 2 a.m. Eastern, bringing an end to a drought that had spanned two decades. The U.S. women’s national team had, on the Olympic stage, finally overcome its rivals to the north for the first time in these players’ careers. […]