The Hockey News World Juniors 2023

THE MORNING OF THE gold-medal game at the 2022 World Junior Championship in Edmonton this past summer, I woke up and stared out my hotel window to see what kind of day it was going to be. As I gazed down at the city’s downtown core, I was perplexed, to say the least: many of the pedestrians seemed to be dressed like characters from Alice in Wonderland. At the mall a few hours later, lunch was served amid a steady throng of Mad Hatters and March Hares tucking into A&W burgers and wonderful food-court Chinese food. I had a feeling, I joked, that these folks were not in the neighborhood for hockey. And there were definitely more people cosplaying than there were at the bronze-medal game later that day. The fact is,…

EACH YEAR, MORE THAN 100,000 people from around the world volunteer their time to their local hockey organization. They volunteer because they love the game and understand how important these leagues are to the community that they live in and to the development of youth into functioning adults in society. Hockey is often the very first way children understand the importance of being a productive member of a group and to work with others for a common goal. I’m a product of this very system of parents volunteering their time from the age of six. They were my coaches, timekeepers, on-ice and off-ice officials and even those people who came with shovels to clear the ice of snow before and during games. Yes, that’s right, shovels, as I only played in…

IN LOOKING AHEAD TO the 2023 NHL free-agent class, it’s important to get this one out of the way: David Pastrnak isn’t going anywhere. The Boston Bruins and the 26-year-old pending unrestricted free agent have spent the early season passing proposed contract terms back and forth like love notes, and there is little reason to doubt how this all ends. Boston is a competitive franchise with roughly $25 million coming off the books next summer. Given that financial flexibility – and projections of a significant rise in the salary cap – Pastrnak will get some semblance of what he wants. And Boston will keep its top talent in town. There is, however, far less certainty about another prime-aged pending UFA. Though the Detroit Red Wings slapped the ‘C’ on Dylan Larkin in…

Alex Stalock & Petr Mrazek > Chicago Blackhawks THANKS TO OJIBWAY ARTIST Patrick Hunter and Potawatomi artist Nicole BanditGrey, Blackhawks netminders Alex Stalock and Petr Mrazek were able to take the crease in style throughout November’s Native American Heritage Month. Mrazek’s helmet, designed by BanditGrey, pays homage to Potawatomi culture through patterns that represent traditional beading and quillwork, one of the first art forms of the Potawatomi. Meanwhile, Stalock and Hunter worked together on a minimalist mask that honors Ojibway art and Stalock’s love of hunting and fishing – symbolized by arrows and antlers adorning the crown of the helmet.…

Saskatoon Blades > 2022-23 WHERE DOES THE TIME go, eh? Throwback jerseys used to be from the 1970s and ’80s – or older – but the 1990s are now officially a long time ago. And the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades have gone strong with these retro jerseys featuring a look that the team wore from 1994 to 1999. The ‘City of Bridges’ is well represented here, while the steel-grey skateblade ‘L’ really pops thanks to the surrounding colors and the blue bridge underneath. These days, the Blades wear gold and blue, but this throwback brings red into the equation as well. Saskatoon was scheduled to play in these beauties five times this season, once per month.…

THIRTY YEARS AGO, ERIC Lindros was the most anticipated rookie entering the NHL. Naturally, card companies wanted to include ‘The Big E’ in their 1992-93 sets that fall. But Score had a deal with Lindros that allowed them to work exclusively with him until he played in his first NHL game. This caused problems for competing companies, who usually produced cards in the summer for release around the start of the season. Score used pictures of Lindros in his new Flyers uniform from a photoshoot they arranged, but other companies had to get creative. For example, Upper Deck performed a “head swap,” putting Lindros’ noggin and jersey number on a teammate’s body. Meanwhile, Topps used a photo of Lindros from a summer press conference. The card was secretly included in…