HOCKEY NHL ARTICLES

Wednesday night brings the start of a new National Hockey League season with an NBCSN Tripleheader. The middle matchup of the three games could prove to be the most interesting of all. The Tampa Bay Lightning will begin the defense of their Stanley Cup championship. Tampa Bay is a preseason co-favorite with the Colorado Avalanche to win the 2021 Stanley Cup. The Lightning will host a Chicago Blackhawks team that hasn’t finished in the top eight of the Western Conference for the past three seasons. Once mighty Chicago remains a team in transition. ... 

Last year the Tampa Bay Lightning were the prohibitive favorite to win the Stanley Cup. Tampa Bay blew away the rest of the NHL as the President’s Trophy champion, emblematic of the top regular season team in the NHL. Tampa Bay jumped out to a 3-0 lead over the Columbus Blue Jackets in the opening game of that season’s playoffs. However, when the Blue Jackets rallied for a 4-3 comeback win the roof literally caved in on the Bolts. Tampa Bay ended up being humiliated in a four-game sweep to the e... 

By near universal acclaim the Stanley Cup Playoffs are regarded as the best in all of professional sports. Even non-hockey fans acknowledge this fact. The NHL post season sets itself apart because of its unpredictability. Every year there is a new Cinderella story. Take the 2018 season as an example. A first-year expansion team known as the Vegas Golden Knights went all the way to the Stanley Cup Final. In 2012 the eighth and last seed of the Western Conference, the Los Angeles Kings, hoisted Lo... 

It would be hard to find a starker contrast of playing styles than what we will get in the Eastern Conference Final between the New York Islanders and Tampa Bay Lightning. New York is the most disciplined and structured team in the league. Head coach Barry Trotz is celebrated for his defensive mastery. What the Isles lack in skill and firepower they more than make up for in suffocation of their opponents. By contrast the Lightning are deep and loaded with skill and scoring ability. At the same t... 

Although the Philadelphia Flyers are the top seed in the Eastern Conference most members of the hockey community as well as the NHL betting public believe that the Tampa Bay Lightning and Boston Bruins are the actual beasts of the East. Tampa Bay is coming off a satisfying five game series revenge win over the pesky Columbus Blue Jackets while the Bruins dominated the solid Carolina Hurricanes, also in five games. Boston and Tampa Bay entered the NHL Hub of Toronto as the Eastern Conference co-f... 

The New York Islanders made quite the statement in their five-game series sweep of the Washington Capitals. Washington had far more firepower and scoring than the Isles. But New York’s structure and discipline proved decisive in the matchup. Islanders head coach Barry Trotz has engineered what could be the toughest out in the playoffs. Alain Vigneault is another coaching success in his first year with the Philadelphia Flyers. Philadelphia is in its best form in 10 years and has finally found a c... 

The Vegas Golden Knights had their share of ups and downs before the COVID-19 pause. However, no team has looked better or more powerful than Vegas since the restart in the NHL Hub of Edmonton. Vegas steamrolled the outgunned Chicago Blackhawks in five games to open the playoffs after curb stomping opponents in the round robin to gain top seed in the Western Conference. The Vancouver Canucks have become the Cinderella story of the Western Conference after their six-game series win over the defen... 

In their five-game series win over the Arizona Coyotes the Colorado Avalanche were so impressive that they joined the Vegas Golden Knights as co-favorites to win the Western Conference championship and, for that matter, the Stanley Cup itself. When the Avalanche utterly destroyed Arizona by identical scores of 7-1 in games four and five the display was that of utter terror. The Dallas Stars had a more difficult series with the Calgary Flames, rising from death in what should have been a game four loss. Dallas won the series 4-2 as Calgary never recovered from that game four overtime defeat in which Dallas forced the extra frame with only 12 seconds remaining in regulation. Now the Stars are dogs to Colorado in the Western Conference semifinal. ... 

The Stanley Cup title defense got off to a rough start for the St. Louis Blues. It’s a good thing those round-robin games were only for seeding purposes. They went from having the best points percentage in the Western Conference during the regular season to the No. 4 seed by going 0-2-1 in round-robin play, drawing the Vancouver Canucks in a first-round best-of-seven series that opens on Wednesday in Edmonton. Having won three games in a row to oust Minnesota in the qualifying round, taking two ... 

If defense wins championships the Dallas Stars have to feel good about their chances to advance in the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Stars allowed the second-fewest goals during the regular season and hope to have former Vezina Trophy finalist Ben Bishop back between the pipes when they open their first-round series against the Calgary Flames inside the Edmonton hub on Tuesday. Now if the Stars can only produce more offensively they would be a serious contender to win the Cup. Calgary won two o... 

Last year the Carolina Hurricanes were the surprise team of the Eastern Conference. Carolina advanced all the way to the Eastern Conference Final as a Cinderella team. Midnight struck, however, against the Buzzsaw known as the Boston Bruins. Indeed, the Killer B’s brought out the broom in a four-game sweep. But Carolina left the handshake line with restored respect for their franchise and renewed passion from their fans. Carolina and Boston will now have a playoff rematch that begins on Tuesday ... 

Last year the Columbus Blue Jackets stunned the hockey world with one of the biggest upsets in Stanley Cup Playoff history. As massive underdogs and eight seeded against the top seed Tampa Bay Lightning, the Blue Jackets won in a shocking four game series sweep. It was an utter humiliation for the Lighting, one that will never be forgotten. And the only way to make good for it would be to win their upcoming playoff rematch with the Blue Jackets. Tampa Bay is heavily favored once again but now ha... 

Two years ago, coach Barry Trotz led the Washington Capitals to the first and only Stanley Cup in their 46-year history. This landmark accomplishment came by way of Trotz orchestrating what no other coach of Alex Ovechkin was able to implement. Trotz was able to sell Ovechkin on committing to a complete game. The Great Eight worked hard on both ends of the ice. As team captain he led by example for his teammates. In sum, Ovechkin gave Trotz the respect and buy-in necessary to win a championship.... 

The Montreal Canadiens entered the NHL Hub of Toronto as the 12th and final seed in the Eastern Conference. The Habs were also considered to be the weakest of all 24 teams invited to the post season. But Montreal brought a goaltender that can steal a series almost on his own. Carey Price was stellar in the Habs first round series upset of the Pittsburgh Penguins. But most important of all he had plenty of help. The Philadelphia Flyers were perfect in the three-game round robin. As a result, they... 

The Chicago Blackhawks are playing with house money so their opponent in the first round of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs is only appropriate. Sitting in last place in the Central Division with 72 points when the regular season was halted, the new postseason format gave the Hawks a second lease on life. They made the most of it by downing the heavily-favored Edmonton Oilers in four games in the qualifying round. Now, the Hawks turn their attention to the West’s No. 1 seed Vegas Golden Knights, w... 

A trendy pick to contend for the Stanley Cup when the season started nearly a year ago, the Colorado Avalanche now get the chance to show what they’re all about when they take on the No. 11 Arizona Coyotes in the first round of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Colorado earned the second seed in the Western Conference by going 2-0-1 in round-robin play. Meanwhile, the Yotes upset Nashville in the qualifiers, a popular theme in that round. Colorado opened as a big favorite after producing 18 more po... 

If there’s one team that was happy to see the regular season end when it did it was the New York Islanders. Losers of seven straight games before the shutdown, the Isles built a big enough cushion thanks to a hot start to enter the reimagined playoffs as the No. 7 seed. The Florida Panthers, meanwhile, get a second chance. The club went all in before the start of the campaign signing netminder Sergei Bobrovsky to a lucrative deal and they were a few points out of a wild card spot prior to the sh... 

The Toronto Maple Leafs have home-ice advantage for every game of the Eastern Conference playoffs. Does that mean anything since there are no spectators allowed in the arena? And they still have to play the game, which is going to be a difficult chore in their best-of-five qualifying round matchup with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Even though both teams finished the regular campaign with 81 points in 70 games, the Maple Leafs were pegged as the -160 favorite. Toronto got the better of the regular ... 

Not many remember who came in second the previous season. Even fewer fans remember the other two in the final four. The Carolina Hurricanes have a chance to come out of the shadows when they open the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs with a qualifying round matchup with the New York Rangers from Toronto with oddsmakers pegging the Canes as a -145 favorite. The Canes advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals last season getting swept by the Boston Bruins. They were an inconsistent bunch this season finis... 

With other leagues easing into their season after the COVID shutdown, the NHL is jumping right into the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The qualifying round matchup between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Montreal Canadiens might be the most one-sided of the eight series with the Penguins holding a 15-point bulge with nine more victories than their opponent during the regular season. Of course, the regular season was over four months ago and neither team has played a competitive game since the shutdown, so I ... 

For many years the Nashville Predators were known for their stout defense and goaltending which catapulted them to the 2017 Stanley Cup Final. Since that time the Predators have declined on the back end and between the pipes. Ironically enough it has been increased goal scoring that has kept Nashville in the status of being a bona fide playoff team, though much more inconsistent than at the height of their glory. The Arizona Coyotes got off to a strong start through the first two months of the s... 

At the onset of the regular season, the Vancouver Canucks were one of the great surprises of the NHL. Vancouver peaked on February 1 to stand at 30-18-4. But from there the Canucks went into a tailspin that may have cost them a playoff spot had the season continued through its entirety. Vancouver’s thin blue line was unable to prevent enemy offenses from lighting the lamp as the season progressed. As ... 

By nearly all accounts the Western Conference preliminary round series between the Winnipeg Jets and Calgary Flames is expected to be the best of the eight matchups taking place. Gamblers have the Flames as a slight favorite in a matchup considered to be even on paper. Calgary is seen by most observers as an overachieving team while the Jets are seen as an underachiever, capable of far more than they showed in the regular season. Further Winnipeg has more impressive metrics. The Jets were also i... 

Not that long ago the Chicago Blackhawks were the marquee franchise of the NHL. Chicago won three Stanley Cup championships from 2010 through 2015. Additionally, the Blackhawks earned 100 or more points in seven out of eight full season schedules during that era. However, no dynasty lasts forever. Age and the tight NHL salary cap forced the Blackhawks to shed their roster of important role players. If not for COVD-19 the Blackhawks would be nowhere near the playoffs. On Saturday 12-seed Chicago will face the 5-seed Edmonton Oilers and their young superstar Connor McDavid, the best player in the NHL. ... 

The NHL has joined the NBA and MLB with a return to play plan, but unlike the other two sports, the NHL will forego the rest of their regular season and jump right into the playoffs. The NHL is letting 24 of their 31 teams into the Stanley Cup playoffs with eight teams getting first round byes, while the other 16 meet in what they are calling Stanley Cup Qualifiers. Games will be held in Toronto and E...