Is Alexandre Burrows a smarter hockey player than Jaromir Jagr in any way? The idea sounds outrageous. How could a third-year Vancouver Canuck who agitates and brings energy in a third- or fourth-line role compare to a five-time Art Ross Trophy winner? But the reality is that if Burrows doesn’t use his head and play […]

If you’re reading this in mid-November, you might be thinking: “Who applies for a hockey job a month before Christmas? The season’s in full swing. Most of the jobs are taken now.” You wouldn’t be far from the truth. But the fact is, there are hockey jobs available right now. And if you want to […]

The Russians used to dominate the hockey world, in part, because they were physically fitter than their opponents. Today, almost everyone’s in shape. The great dividing line, then, is often mental conditioning. And that’s an area where one Swedish captain of a Canadian NHL team could learn from another. Check out this recent excerpt from […]

When Joe Pelletier of GreatestHockeyLegends.com challenged me and other bloggers to pay tribute to a favorite retired hockey player to mark the upcoming Hockey Hall of Fame inductions, I thought it was a great idea. I also thought: “Wow, who am I going to pick?” Growing up in British Columbia in the 1980’s and 90’s, […]

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 […]

Compared to the entertainment world in general, NHL players, coaches, and officials are hardly quote machines. (Ditto for their junior counterparts.) You’re more likely to catch the Dalai Lama challenging Mike Tyson than, say, to get a colorful answer when you ask an NHLer: “So which team would you like to face in the first […]

So you get home from work and you just don’t have the motivation to whip up lasagna and a tossed salad. Instead, you grab a jumbo-sized box of Hostess Twinkies and flop down in front of the TV. Cramming the first Twinkie into your mouth, you feel that quick, easy surge of pleasure that cheap, […]

I’ve just completed a three-day media tour of Los Angeles, organized by the Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau, and one very interesting NHL-related detail leaped out at me during a presentation about the L.A. LIVE project. AEG (Anschutz Entertainment Group) is overseeing this $2.5-billion, 27-acre development in downtown Los Angeles, and it aspires to […]

For starry-eyed Leksand fans, signing goalie Ed Belfour may have given them a billion reasons to believe their Swedish second-division club could secure promotion to the Elitserien next season. But with the news that the former Vezina Trophy winner’s current physical condition is less than impressive, they’ll just have to pray 19-year-old Leksand prospect Eddie […]

The Top 60 Since 1967: The Best Players of the Post-Expansion Era By Adam Proteau and Ken Campbell Published by Transcontinental Books Hardcover, 240 pages Release Date: September 10, 2007 Coming up with a list of “the best players of the post-expansion era” in the NHL is no easy task. It’s like being asked to […]