On Saturday night, Alex Ovechkin scored his 700th goal and is well on his way to Wayne Gretzky’s 894-goal record. Gretzky himself admits that the game is tougher now that it was in the 1980s, so if Ovechkin were playing when Gretzky did, would he have already topped his record? The team breaks down the […]
Being a head coach in any professional sport is a good way to experience meager job security. But even relative to coaches in other sports, hockey’s bench bosses have it especially tough. According to research Peter Tanner conducted for FiveThirtyEight a few years ago, the average NHL coach stayed in his post for 2.4 seasons, […]
There’s never a dull moment these days when it comes to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Usually just mediocre-to-bad, the Leafs tantalized their long-suffering supporters by actually showing flashes of real potential over the last few seasons. And for a fan base that celebrates the slightest success, playing in the media capital of Stanley Cup-starved Canada, […]
With just two months to go in the NHL’s regular season, the Tampa Bay Lightning are back in a familiar role: Stanley Cup favorites. According to an average of the title probabilities found at Hockey-Reference.com and the futures odds from Vegas, Tampa Bay currently has a league-best 10.8 percent chance of hoisting Lord Stanley’s mug […]
The NHL’s annual All-Star weekend is upon us, and that means fast skaters, blistering shots, mascot hijinks and even a new trick-shot competition. For the fifth-straight year, it also means a heavy focus on the 3-on-3 format, including a women’s All-Star Game on Friday night and the four-team men’s tournament on Saturday. The NHL seldom […]