Once upon a time, NHL goaltenders were among the singular stars of the game, and you could tell who they were with just a glance. Ken Dryden, at 6-feet-4, towered above his contemporaries, a statue when the puck was in the opposite end of the rink, cool and collected when the action was right at … Read more
Nikita Nesterenko had awakened from an afternoon nap on Monday when he received a cellphone notification. Nesterenko, a former Boston College forward now playing for the American Hockey League’s San Diego Gulls, saw the name of former college teammate Cutter Gauthier pop up in a post sent out by the Anaheim Ducks. “Originally, I felt … Read more
From the moment he was traded to the Anaheim Ducks on Monday, Cutter Gauthier has been pilloried in some circles, with social media-fueled attacks on his character after the Philadelphia Flyers effectively said good riddance to their former prize prospect. Gauthier answered questions Wednesday about the stunning deal, which saw the Flyers trade the 19-year-old … Read more
The top under-20 men’s players from Czechia, Finland, Sweden and the United States will vie for a spot in the gold medal game during the semifinals of the 2024 World Junior Championship on Thursday. The best women in that age group won’t have the chance. They never have. Since 1977 the IIHF has sanctioned a men’s … Read more
TORONTO — The line began at the gates of Mattamy Athletic Centre and stretched a full city block. Women’s hockey fans, after decades of waiting for a best-on-best league, were happy to wait a little longer for the doors to open for the first-ever Professional Women’s Hockey League game. The line was dotted with reminders … Read more
Gino Cavallini knows precisely what would have happened if Connor Bedard or Trevor Zegras pulled off or even attempted a lacrosse-style shot in his day. “They would have started a line brawl,” said Cavallini, who played in the NHL in the 1980s and 1990s. Cavallini isn’t one of those old-school people shaking his fist at … Read more
Seventeen years and more than 1,200 games ago, Andrew Cogliano remembers how difficult it was to traverse the state of California. The Los Angeles Kings, Anaheim Ducks and San Jose Sharks were three of the biggest, heaviest teams in the league. If you had to play all three in succession? Well, good luck. Not only … Read more
WENDAKE, Quebec — The line reaches across the lobby to the glass door entrance 15 minutes before warmups for a hockey game in a low-level pro league just north of Quebec City. We pay $12 a ticket at a table next to the Wendake Sports Complex pro shop, where a game-worn Black Jack No. 87 … Read more
Are the Pittsburgh Penguins pulling the plug on Erik Karlsson already? Rumors have surfaced that the Pittsburgh Penguins’ management is contemplating a significant change. Karlsson has emerged as a possibility, a key element in Kyle Dubas’ efforts to bolster the team’s defensive capabilities. Expressing his dissatisfaction with the Penguins’ underwhelming performance, the president of hockey … Read more
Fifteen goals. That’s all Alex Ovechkin is on pace to finish the 2023-24 season with at this rate. Ovechkin’s never finished a season with a measly 15 goals. He’s never fallen below the 20-goal marker, not even in condensed seasons. And now, for the first time in his career, he’s gone 13 straight games without … Read more
