neil (Neil Paine, senior sportswriter): Well, the NHL did it — we’re (mostly) done with one of the weirdest regular seasons in hockey history, and it’s finally time to get Cup Crazy: The playoffs are every hockey fan’s favorite time of year, and now we even know when the playoffs will be, which is nice. […]
After plenty of twists and turns (and game postponements), the NHL’s 2021 regular-season journey is nearly over. The average team now has just 10.6 remaining games in which to make its final case for the postseason — though in all practicality, many of those playoff spots are basically clinched already. According to our Elo-based model, […]
When the NHL playoffs began, the bookmakers didn’t give the Dallas Stars much of a chance to win the Stanley Cup. The Stars had a decent regular season, buttressed by their excellent goaltending tandem of Ben Bishop and Anton Khudobin, who each ranked among the league’s top 10 in terms of save percentage and quality […]
We all know that a strong performance from a goaltender is crucial for Stanley Cup playoff success. But shelling out the most money for a goaltender might not be the answer. As we are well into the third round of the National Hockey League’s pandemic postseason, we’ve seen less and less star power in net. […]
The Carolina Hurricanes are one of the least successful franchises in NHL history, boasting the third-worst win percentage of the expansion era. Only the Arizona Coyotes and the California Golden Seals/Cleveland Barons have been worse, the latter of which doesn’t exist anymore. Aside from a lone Stanley Cup win in 2005-06 — an admittedly extraordinary […]