The Hockey News Playoff Preview 2019

WE’RE STILL A rollercoaster ride away from discovering if the Golden Knights were indeed a Stone’s throw from a Stanley Cup, but what is clear is their success story is still hurtling. Short of winning a championship in Year 2, Vegas’ encore season was always going to feel anticlimactic, but if viewed in a silo, their prodigious performance remains unprecedented. Entering the stretch, the Knights were hovering around .600, double-digits positive in goal differential and among the very best 5-on-5, consistently outshooting and outchancing opponents. By comparison, since Buffalo and Vancouver joined in 1970, no other expansion club has had a winning record or qualified for the playoffs in either of its first two seasons. The critics, who wondered if Vegas caught lightning in a bottle in Year 1, have been…

Dear readers, Loyal readers of The Hockey News no longer need me to trumpet all the additional content they’ve been receiving since I acquired the magazine in January 2018. It’s old news to them. If you’re a new reader of the print edition or our digital offerings, you’ve chosen a great time to come on board. The same group of writers, editors and designers that came over from TVA in 2018 has essentially produced all the extra features to this point. Initially, they worked on pure adrenaline to meet the increased demands, but over time I noticed the lights in the office were still burning in the wee hours. It was terrific to see the work ethic and camaraderie, but championship squads require depth and fresh legs to keep the motor humming. Enter…

I REFEREED MY FIRST NHL playoff game on April 5, 1973, at the Montreal Forum. That night the Canadiens were hosting the Buffalo Sabres in the second game of their quarterfinal series. By that point, I had spent three years in the NHL as a referee and done my time before that in the WHL, CHL and AHL to name a few leagues, but there is definitely something different about the NHL post-season. I remember standing at the red line that night, and as Roger Doucet sang the anthems my knees were shaking so bad that I thought I was going to end up at the blueline by the time he was done. Now don’t get me wrong, even with all the pressure and scrutiny involved, a playoff assignment is the one that…

CARLTON | TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS The average polar bear measures nine feet tall and 1,800 pounds. By those standards, it’s a monstrous creature. “Monstrous,” however, is not a term anyone would use for the NHL’s polar bear: Carlton, mascot of the Toronto Maple Leafs. His official tale of the tape is a mere 6-foot-4 and 270 pounds. But that said, he can be scary. For Halloween 2018, Carlton put a true fright into several Leafs players by standing still and then jolting to life as they walked past him after a practice. Google the video for a good chuckle. Carlton’s first public appearance was Oct. 10, 1995, at the Leafs’ home opener against the New York Islanders at Maple Leaf Gardens. The name and number Carlton was given comes from the location…

NUNAVUT | 2019 CANADA GAMES The 2019 Canada Winter Games featured the best under-16 players in the country, representing their provinces in a tourney that saw Quebec edge Ontario in the final. But the Games also had a new entry, as the territory of Nunavut iced a team for the first time. And the kids looked really good, even if they only won one game. The sweater, which features the Inukshuk-dominated Nunavut flag set within a circle crest, brought some splashy primary colors to the table, and the combination worked out well while also being quite unique. The striping on the jersey is very solid, too, particularly with the band behind the main crest.…

PROSTARS WAS A SATURDAY cartoon in 1991 that starred fictionalized, animated versions of Michael Jordan, Bo Jackson and Wayne Gretzky. The trio teamed up to help kids or fight crime – and in one episode they even saved the Stanley Cup. But the characters were bizarre; Jordan was a technical whiz and Jackson had superhuman strength, while Gretzky was the group’s practical joker. He did shoot exploding pucks, though, which was sweet. The similarly named Pro Stars cereal issued ProStars cards inside specially marked boxes, including three of Gretzky.…