In case you’re wondering why updates have been infrequent recently, I spent a week vacationing in Huatulco, Mexico, where CNN occasionally shows 30 seconds of NHL highlights every four hours. When I got back, it was nice to see that the NHL had been as calm, peaceful, and serene as a Mexican beach, and the […]

Smart hockey and hard-hitting journalism. Could you ask for more of a winning combination? Why, it’s the essence of the latest NHL Quotes of the Week. “Not long ago, taking an aspirin was the medical solution for a concussion.” — Columbus Blue Jackets coach Ken Hitchcock on today’s increased awareness about this serious hockey health […]

If Mark Recchi’s NHL career ends in the same city where it began, it won’t be by the former Pittsburgh winger’s choice. The NHL’s 23rd all-time leading scorer, who cleared waivers Wednesday, is likely to get bought out and signed by another club seeking the kind of veteran leadership that he delivered in Carolina’s 2006 […]

Hockey Canada announces its selection camp roster for the 2008 IIHF World Junior Championship in the Czech Republic today, and Jordan Staal of the Pittsburgh Penguins does not appear on that list. The Penguins told Hockey Canada officials a couple of days ago that the 19-year-old forward wouldn’t be made available. Presumably, Staal himself would […]

Armed robbery. Cheating husbands. Judy Garland. We’ve got it all covered in the latest edition of NHL Quotes of the Week. “I’m going to say, ‘Hey buddy, remember me, the guy whose career you almost ended last year? See this dent in my face? Want to be roomies?’” — Journeyman enforcer Todd Fedoruk on being […]

Here are seven hockey stories from both mainstream sites and blogs that made an impression on me this month. 1. The Globe and Mail: “Speed kills”: Has the NHL gotten too fast for its own good? Eric Duhatschek investigates. Interesting to see Al MacInnis admit that sometimes he’s preferred watching international women’s hockey due to […]

“Words are very unnecessary, they can only do harm,” sang Depeche Mode in the 1990 hit single “Enjoy The Silence.” Oh yeah? Obviously, you don’t hear a lot of Depeche Mode around NHL dressing rooms. It’s just the second month of the 2007-08 regular season, and already, players, coaches, and owners are proving unable to […]

Big NHLers with surnames starting with “B” have been dishing out verbal punishment as well as fisticuffs recently. First, it was Toronto’s Wade Belak commenting on New York Rangers forward Sean Avery and the pre-game melee the latter instigated last Saturday: “If he keeps this up, someone is going to kill him. One day he’s […]

Good news lies ahead for those who object to the garish advertising that often covers European hockey jerseys. When the International Ice Hockey Federation kicks off its Champions Hockey League in 2008-09, 24 clubs from across Europe (including the champions of the top six European leagues) will compete for some 16 million Swiss francs in […]

One of the NHL’s top young offensive forwards inadvertently jabs his stick into the eye of an emerging American star. Does that sound horribly familiar? It’s what happened when Marian Hossa’s follow-through clipped Bryan Berard in an Ottawa Senators-New York Islanders game on March 11, 2000. It’s also what happened when Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby had […]