Blog

First, last and only: players who stayed with the franchise that drafted them.

In the era of free agency, trade deadlines and salary caps, a player spending his entire career with the team that drafted him is...

Mar 14, 20238 min read

Not drafted? No problem!

For most NHL players, the start of their pro career comes on a magical day in June known as the NHL entry draft. Alongside family and...

Mar 1, 20239 min read

The horror of the Ottawa Senators expansion draft

It is well documented how poor the expansion draft set up was in 1993 for the Ottawa Senators and Tampa Bay Lightning. If you want to...

Feb 13, 20239 min read

Hockey homonyms

A homonym is two or more words having the same spelling or pronunciation but different meanings and origins. For this post I am loosely...

Jan 27, 202310 min read

The Triple Gold Club

Professional hockey, unlike the other pro sports in the ‘big four’, has the greatest involvement of professional players in its...

Jan 12, 20239 min read

Hockey players that ain't no dummies

In doing some quick research for this post, I wanted to see what percentage of players who play in the three leagues (WHL, QMJHL, and...

Dec 26, 20228 min read

The All Z team

In honour of one of this week's featured players, Rick Zombo, I wanted to see the best starting lineup I could create solely from...

Dec 5, 20229 min read

A brief history of the 1995-96 Florida Panthers

The 1995-96 Florida Panthers are the 1990s expansion team that experienced the most immediate success, reaching the Stanley Cup Finals in...

Nov 18, 202210 min read

Fun with numbers - 1990-91 edition

There are few official rules when it comes to jersey numbers in the NHL. The number 0 or 00 (as the number messes with NHL statistics...

Oct 28, 202210 min read

Long lost trophies - the Ken McKenzie Trophy

The Ken McKenzie Trophy, named after the co-founder of The Hockey News, was awarded in the International Hockey League (IHL) to the top...

Sep 8, 20228 min read

No goals, no problem - defensive defencemen in the playoffs.

It is not secret that scoring decreases in the NHL playoffs compared to the regular season. With every game of the utmost importance,...

Aug 12, 202210 min read

Goalies get their recognition

Historically, goalies do not get a lot of love in awards categories outside of their own dedicated award, the Vezina Trophy. Rarely are...

Jul 17, 202211 min read

The man advantage specialist men

Special teams are the key part of a successful hockey team. While all NHL teams would love a roster full of players capable of starring...

Jun 21, 202210 min read

Last rounds gems from 1990s drafts

The NHL draft is a gamble. Teams are trying to judge the future career performance of players as young as 18 years old. Nowadays the most...

May 27, 202211 min read

1992-93: the last scoring bonanza

The 1992-93 season was unlike anything seen before, or after, in terms of individual scoring efforts. Sure, Mario Lemieux won the scoring...

Apr 29, 202211 min read

Taking on Probert: profiles in courage

In researching this post’s featured players, I stumbled across an interesting fact: Troy Crowder, renowned tough guy, fought arguably the...

Apr 8, 202210 min read

Building a champion - the Nordiques-Avalanche recipe

The Quebec Nordiques joined the NHL in 1979 as one of the four former WHA teams to join the NHL. The franchise relocated to Colorado for...

Mar 25, 202210 min read

The history of goalie goals

A position dedicated solely to keeping pucks out of the net, goaltenders have scored 15 goals in the modern history of the NHL. Billy...

Mar 4, 202211 min read

The plight of expansion team goaltenders

Being a goaltender on an expansion team is not the easiest job in hockey - in fact it's probably one of the worst. Two players featured...

Feb 24, 202211 min read

Sutter brothers bingo

The story of the Sutter brothers is legendary in professional hockey. Six brothers who grew up on cattle ranch in Viking, Alberta, that...

Feb 5, 202210 min read