The Hockey News Trade Deadline Issue 2019

PART OF HOCKEY’S CHARM is its folksiness. It might also be one of its shackles. The homespun wisdom most of us grew up with includes a host of axioms that have been bequeathed and ingrained through the generations. The two-goal lead is the worst in hockey. Every five-hole goal is bad. It’s your fault if you get clocked cruising across the middle, admiring your pass or forgetting to keep your head on a swivel (also known as an oscillating neck). The problem is, when you put some of these standards to a fact test, they wither. Or times change and the maxims should, too. Scott Stevens built a Hall-of-Fame career, in part, on devastating checks that were legal at the time but now seem excessively violent in light of medical…

Dear readers, The 2018 Trade Deadline Preview was my first issue as owner and publisher of The Hockey News. Alex Tuch of the Vegas Golden Knights graces the cover, emphatically celebrating, the home crowd cheering its approval in the background. The word “JACKPOT!” stretches across the front page, a call-out to the expansion team’s historic season. Now picture me, in the same Alex Tuch pose, screaming “JACKPOT!” after I successfully closed the deal to purchase The Hockey News, on my third attempt to do so. I was that excited. The editorial team must have seen the similarities between Tuch’s exuberance and mine – they had the cover and my first Publisher’s Letter framed, then presented it to me. It now hangs on the wall over my desk. As thrilled as I was, I…

THE NHL BELONGS TO the fast and the skilled. Several different rule changes and rule enforcements have brought the league to this place, and the results are borne out in the statistics this season. As of the 2018-19 all-star break, the NHL was experiencing lower save percentages, fewer fights and fewer shootouts. Meanwhile, the number of players on pace for 100 points or more has skyrocketed. All these trends are interconnected, but let’s look at them individually, with thoughts from the top players in the game today. FIGHTING According to hockeyfights.com, scraps are at an all-time low, with just 0.19 fights per game in the NHL. That translates to one tilt every five games, which is half the amount from just five years ago. Simply put, the goons are gone, and even…

AT FIRST GLANCE, THE casual fan might be forgiven for thinking that Fin was a shark – that is until he starts spraying mist out of his blowhole. Vancouver’s mascot made his (presumably splashy) debut in 2001 and, beyond the blowhole, what makes the Canucks’ killer whale mascot so unique is he’s one of the few who plays goaltender (perhaps something the team should consider if goalie-of-the-future Thatcher Demko needs more time). He’s also shared a kiss with actress and B.C. native Pamela Anderson and, not surprisingly, is pretty happy the Hartford Whalers are no longer around. The Canucks even tried to send Fin to the 2018 draft lottery as the team’s representative but, sadly, were rebuffed by the league. The best thing about Fin, however, is all the work he…

THE MONTH APPROACHING the trade deadline may be the most pressure-packed time of the season for NHL GMs. Parity and the frequency of three-point games combine to bunch the majority of the teams together in the standings. In spite of this, fans and media insist all 31 teams must fall into one of two categories – those teams that can win the Stanley Cup this season (buyers) and those teams that have no chance (sellers). If a team is considered to be a contender, it is expected to go all out to add that final piece of the puzzle that will put it over the top. For the most part, the best players made available prior to the trading deadline are those who will be UFAs at the end of…

SIXTEEN TEAMS MAKE THE playoffs every year, and it goes without saying, they all have a chance to win the Stanley Cup. It seems every few years we see a team squeak into the playoffs on the final weekend of the season, then storm their way to the final. But for all intents and purposes, there are only six to 10 teams every year that we’d classify as true Cup contenders. Even though we’re well aware first-round upsets are as common as centers getting thrown out of faceoff circles for cheating, we can’t resist rating the field for hockey in April, May and June. In this exercise, we wondered which teams have the best chance of winning the Cup in a five-year window. And we ranked them accordingly. As you’d imagine, this…