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There was something a tad much about what Jonathan Toews said Thursday morning. Something overboard, something overdone. Something too too, if you know what I mean. “When y...(full article)

What had become almost a doormat (dormant?) NHL franchise now has life again. First, Joe Sakic agreed last month to become more of a factor in the day-to-day running of the Colora...(full article)

We’re big believers that your best columnists have to step it up for the playoffs. We just gotta hope Scott can get it going. Q: Talk about the column so far. A: Getting that fir...(full article)

NEW YORK — The Bruins propped up an accommodating collection of players to speak with the media following yesterday’s optional skate at Madison Square Garden, but it w...(full article)

Spring and early summer is the busiest time of the sports calendar. A new baseball season opens, the NFL Draft happens, and the NHL and NBA playoffs occur. Amidst this flurry of ...(full article)

More Recent Articles

Great Players = Bad Coaches? Not With Roy

Great players make bad coaches. That's the saying in pro sports, and those who say it have plenty to back it up. Magic Johnson, Wayne Gretzky, Ted Williams, Bryan Trottier, Bill ...

Tortorella Has Lots to Say, None of It Good

We love it, of course. Can’t get enough of it. Every time John Tortorella, the egomaniacal coach of the New York Rangers, calls out one of his players, we’re like the little g...

For Red Wings, Grit Wins Games

Detroit -- If it moved, the Red Wings hit it. If it bounced, they chased it. The Blackhawks kept passing and pressuring, and the Red Wings kept pressing and pressing, slamming bod...

Penguins Wasting Iginla's Talent

When the Penguins' line of Jarome Iginla, Evgeni Malkin and James Neal broached the boards for the first time Sunday night, that actually was the left-to-right configuration:...

Kings, Sharks Share Distaste for Refs

SAN JOSE -- The Sharks and Los Angeles Kings are having themselves a nice little fairly excellent hockey playoff series. The referees, not so much. If there is a common bond betwe...

Red Wings Need to Get Out of Own Way

It is never good, in the sports world, to be worried about your “own end,” not in horse racing, not in sumo wrestling and certainly not in hockey.   But the Red W...

Bruins-Rangers Was Worth the Wait

The hockey experts got this one right. Man, did they ever.   They said this Bruins-Rangers Eastern Conference semifinal was going to be one of those nail-biting, could-go-either-...

Order From Hockey's Unfettered Chaos

The voice of hockey grew up in a town called LaFontaine. That sounds perfect, doesn’t it? LaFontaine! Could a city name sound more like hockey? LaFontaine! It isn’t just the ...

Sure Hall of Famer Jagr: 'I'm Not That Good'

There are flecks of gray in Jaromir Jagr’s playoff beard. He turned 41 three months ago, and he is the only player in the Eastern Conference semifinal series between the Bo...

Why Can't Capitals Capitalize?

Sometimes the easiest explanation is something extraordinary, something out of human control. It could be a curse, an extraordinary lack of luck, or conspiratorial favoritism by t...

Bruins Had Nothing to Lose, So They Won

Whatever happens from here on out, it’s important that we take some time — and that we do it now, while the memories are still fresh — to put last night’s ...

Brain Damage, Addiction Haunt NHL

Descend into the 53 wrenching pages of the wrongful death lawsuit Derek Boogaard’s estate filed against the NHL late Friday and pill by pill, fight by fight, the reality becomes ...

NHL Defenses Favor Size Over Speed

When they reset the game coming out of the lockout of 2004-05, the National Hockey League welcomed back the little guy. The largely European Vancouver Canucks would win six of the ...

NHL Sued Over Death of Player

The family of Derek Boogaard has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the National Hockey League. It contends that the N.H.L. is responsible for the physical trauma and brain da...

Crosby Should Win 'Most Outstanding'

The NHLPA on Thursday announced the finalists for the Ted Lindsay Award, as center Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins, right wing Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals and...

Top 10 Sports Broadcast Theme Music

This week, NBC announced that Carrie Underwood would be taking over for Faith Hill on the Sunday Night Football theme song duties. Hill is a country megastar, but let's be honest:...

Vokoun Deal Makes Pens' Schero Look Prescient

The Pittsburgh Penguins' Ray Shero probably will win the NHL General Manager of the Year Award primarily on the strength of his ability to corner the trade market on both classy c...

Desperate Penguins Must Switch Goalies

You would guess that when the first Islanders goal of Game 4 was the approximate length of a garden hose, it was a pretty clear indication Tuesday was not going to be a great nig...

Penguins Must Change Goalies

Marc-Andre Fleury owns a Stanley Cup ring, a stranglehold on most of the Penguins' goaltending records and a truly special level of athleticism that, in and of itself, annually ...

NHL Juggles Level of Violence for Max Appeal

How much violence is good for business?     That's a question the NHL seems to be concerned with these days, particularly during the playoffs, when more eyes than usual are focu...

Devastating Hit Rocks All-Canada Series

There was not a provocative word spoken in the days leading to Game 1 of the Montreal Canadiens-Ottawa Senators Eastern Conference quarter-final. Just a great deal of respectful ...

New Bruins Finally Playing Like Old Bruins

It only took the Bruins 49 games to find themselves.   One of the ancient axioms of hockey met its demise last night at the Garden. Turns out you can just flip a switch. &nbs...

Hard to Place Blame for Flyers' Flop

The NHL managed to start its postseason Tuesday night without any help from the Flyers for just the second time in the last 18 seasons. Everyone has a different theory as to why ...

Matching Hockey to Hollywood Stars

The NHL playoffs may be the greatest annual mystery in sports. They begin Tuesday and, as usual, no one has any idea who's going to win the Stanley Cup. Last year, the Los Angel...

8 Questions as Stanley Cup Playoffs Open

The mad 48-game lockout-shortened sprint is over, and the playoff field has been set. As the grueling battle for the Stanley Cup begins, here are some important questions to ponder...

NHL Journeymen Make Great GMs

When Joe Nieuwendyk was hired as GM of the Dallas Stars four years ago, he was heralded as one of the game’s bright young minds, despite the fact the only managerial experie...

Where NHL Playoff Pressure Builds the Most

Chris Osgood was already on the bench when he watched Marc-Andre Fleury crush his dream of winning a fourth Stanley Cup championship. Fleury robbed Henrik Zetterberg with a pad sav...

Sharks' Playoff Past Doesn't Bode Well

SAN JOSE -- We begin with the Sharks where we always begin with the Sharks before the postseason begins.   Should we salute them for what they have accomplished?   Or should we ...

Red Wings Salvage Postseason Streak

DALLAS — Spring arrives, and the Red Wings leap into the playoffs. So it has been since 1991, and so it is again this year. The Wings secured the seventh seed in the Western Con...

Hockey Night in ... India? Not Quite

CALGARY, Alberta — Harnarayan Singh and Bhola Chauhan sat at a desk in the CBC’s studio here last month, watching the first period of a game between the Toronto Maple L...

Quebec Hasn't Noticed Nordiques Are Gone

Three years ago, Jerome Landry founded a fan club for a professional hockey team in his hometown of Quebec City. Since then, he says, it has grown to include 90,000 members.  ...

By Unanimous Vote, Senators Spiking

The Ottawa Senators were playing for a postseason berth on Thursday night in Washington DC, but eyes weren't on the No. 7 or No. 8 seeds. They were on No. 65. Erik Karlsson, who ...

Ovechkin Sparks Caps' Push Into Playoffs

In his 600th game as a National Hockey League player, the Capitals'Alex Ovechkin did not emerge with a victory. Ottawa beat Washington 2-1 in overtime Thursday night at Verizon Cen...

Red Wings Need to Score or Go Home

Detroit -- Four games left for the Red Wings to try to make the playoffs for a 22nd consecutive season, and if they pick up their offense even slightly, beginning tonight with thr...

Bruins' Biggest Foe Is Themselves

BOSTON—When they are successful, the Boston Bruins are a delightful team to argue about.   Do they win because they are one of the best puck-possession teams in the NHL, with d...

Strong Finish Meaningless in NHL Playoffs

There is a sentiment, repeated again this week by the Boston Bruins’ Jaromir Jagr, that if an NHL team is not playing well heading into the postseason, it has little chance...

Shorter Season Would Benefit NHL

Lockout? What lockout? The playoff races, the talk of multiple outdoor games and the renewed regional rivalries have made us all but forget the 100-plus days of pain that was inf...

Toronto Aims to Rejoin Big-Boy Cities

Ever wonder what the ultimate sports punishment is? Try living here. Toronto is North America's fourth-largest city—bigger than Chicago—yet it is a lightweight on the ...

Bruins Lose a Game, Revive a City

The Chicago Stadium was, in the minds of many, the very best place ever to watch a hockey game. And on Jan. 19, 1991, for a few very special minutes, it may well have been the be...

Ovechkin Streaks Into MVP Debate

It was only a few months ago that the Sid vs. Ovie debate seemed to have been put to rest for good. Alex Ovechkin basically waved the white flag himself during a Feb. 7 trip to Pi...

Is NHL's 'Stadium Series' Outdoor Overkill?

At some point in young adulthood, you figure out that, theoretically, you could eat birthday cake at every meal. Most people don't. The NHL is putting its own version of that con...

If He Ever Left, Ovechkin Surely Back

To say the man is back presumes he went somewhere in the first place. In a sense, Alex Ovechkin did. For five years he was half the answer to hockey’s greatest debate – Sid or...

NHL Out Front in Fighting Homophobia

This is evolution for us,” says Gary Bettman from his office in New York, after an afternoon spent running the media gauntlet. The National Hockey League and the NHLPA had fo...

With Free Agency, Trading Sparse

The last Primanti Brothers sandwiches and Iron City brews have been consumed and we’re left with one nagging question from NHL draft weekend in the Steel City. Where the he...

Draft Weekend Winners, Losers

Every team in the NHL is happy with the draft picks they made this weekend. To hear the early projections and future scouting reports of the 211 players that were selected in Pit...

Penguins to Chase Parise, Suter

Armed with salary cap space — and a captain they believe can serve as hockey’s finest pitchman — the Penguins aim to go nuclear when NHL free agency opens July ...

Flyers Reunite Schenn Brothers

Brayden Schenn was watching the NHL Draft on Friday night in Saskatchewan when he heard the news about Penguins forward Jordan Staal being reunited with his older brother, Eric, in...

Kings Can Reload Under Cap

As hard as it is to repeat as Stanley Cup champs these days, the Los Angeles Kings may be better positioned than any other recent winner to pull it off. For one, this was a team ...

Goalie Quick Wins Conn Smythe

Jonathan Quick held the Conn Smythe Trophy for as long as he could, through a live television interview, and then swapped it for his 2-year-old daughter, Madison. His grip was a...

Smart Trades, Draft Built Kings

There will probably be more attention paid to who signs where on July 1 when hockey’s silly season begins anew, but the Los Angeles Kings are the latest example of why what h...

Brown Delivers Knockout Punch

Dustin Brown wasn't sure how to express himself with the celebration around him after the game. He had handed off the Stanley Cup to teammate Willie Mitchell a good 20 minutes ea...

Kings Controlling Play, Missing Target

The Los Angeles Kings hardly sounded daunted on Sunday. Sure, they had lost two games in a row and allowed the New Jersey Devils back into the Stanley Cup finals, but they were a...

Brodeur Hopes to Stay With Devils

Martin Brodeur will play again next season and he thinks it will be for the Devils. Nevertheless, the 40-year-old goalie who silenced some doubters, said he will become an untrestr...

Devils Suspect Kings Are Frustrated

It's not that Kings can't handle adversity in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It's that they haven't really faced it until the Stanley Cup Final against the New Jersey Devils. For thre...

Devils Plant Doubt; Kings Fight It

Jonathan Quick was in a corner of the room, hemmed in, and he all but growled when asked a perfectly reasonable question. Is it natural that, after whipping through the West like...

Kings Searching for Answers

After seven weeks of waltzing through the Western Conference and to within one win of the Stanley Cup, the Los Angeles Kings have arrived at their biggest challenge to da...

Devils Chipping Away at History

Only two teams that trailed 0-3 in a Stanley Cup Final have ever pushed the series to six games: the Detroit Red Wings in 1945 and the famed '42 Toronto Maple Leafs, who won the ...

NHL Positive Despite Dip in Ratings

The front office of the NHL might have been almost as disappointed as NBC, fans at the Belmont Stakes and the owners of I’ll Have Another. The prospect of a Triple Crown rac...

Kings Look to Brown to Make Impact

Kings captain Dustin Brown has had a huge impact on the team's march to the Stanley Cup Final, making his mark by scoring clutch goals and delivering game-changing hits that left...

Brodeur, DeBoer Have Devils Focused

After 1,394 combined NHL regular season and playoff games, there is not a whole lot that Martin Brodeur has not seen or done. Still on the list: coming back from a 3-0 deficit in...

Devils' Lineup Shift Pays Off

When you’re down three games to none in the Stanley Cup finals, lineup adjustments are to be expected. And as he has done all playoffs, Devils coach Pete DeBoer made the ri...

With Henrique, Devils' Future Secure

As the New Jersey Devils fell into that darkest of playoff holes, a 3-0 series deficit, it was hard not to imagine them as they might be. Captain Zach Parise is almost certainly he...

Why Stanley Cup Ratings Are Terrible

The NHL's ratings for the Stanley Cup Final are continuing to suffer after an NHL playoff season that started out so well for the league. Game One was down by 25%. Game Two on Sat...

Brodeur's Play Boosts Teammates

All Martin Brodeur wants to do is his job. It's all he's really ever wanted to do. If because he does it so well that means people are going to fawn over all of the spectacular sa...

Kings Comfortable on the Road

On the road again. It's a ballad better suited for a team in a country and western city. It could work in Dallas or Nashville, but the L.A. Kings will at least feel comfortable b...

Depth Has Kings on Brink of Title

The only number that matters to the Los Angeles Kings is 16. They're one win away from it. The number that has helped them get closer to win No. 16 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs tha...

Kings Remain Businesslike

Don’t put the champagne on ice just yet. That was the mindset a day after the Los Angeles Kings snowplowed the New Jersey Devils, 4-0, in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup finals. Th...

Parise's Last Game With New Jersey?

The clock is not only ticking on the Devils’ season, but on Zach Parise’s career in New Jersey, for when the puck is dropped tonight for Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Fin...

Devils Can Find Hope in 93-Year-Old

The last man alive who knows how it feels for a team to dig itself out of the deepest of craters will not be watching to see if these Devils can accomplish the feat. Wally Stanows...

Devils Must Give Better Effort

See, here’s the thing: If the Devils truly believe they worked to maximum effort last night, if they believe that other for a break or two they could have won this Game 3 t...

Penalty Kill Stellar for Kings

Defense in hockey means more than punishing hits, acrobatic saves and blocked shots. As the Los Angeles Kings are demonstrating in this year’s Stanley Cup playoffs, effective...

Vokoun Should Ease Fleury's Load

A potentially busy offseason for the Penguins began with general manager Ray Shero making a move to bolster a weakness. The Penguins acquired goalie Tomas Vokoun to replace Brent J...

Why Isn't U.S. Watching Stanley Cup?

The Los Angeles Kings and New Jersey Devils were going to be a tough sell as a Stanley Cup Final. Neither team has the enormous national fan support that Pittsburgh, Detroit, Phil...

Kings on Verge of 16-2 Finish

The Los Angeles Kings made some history on Monday night. They're ready to make even more on Wednesday. The Kings' 4-0 victory against New Jersey in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final...

Lineup Changes Unlikely for Devils

Perhaps some coaches would feel the need to make lineup changes after losing the first two games of the Stanley Cup Final on home ice, but Peter DeBoer doesn't appear to be one of...

Devils Confident Despite Deficit

To win the Stanley Cup, the New Jersey Devils have to win four of the next five games against a team that has lost only twice in 16 games this postseason. The New Jersey Devils are...

Kings Fans, Get Ready to Celebrate

The Kings got this. Got it? The Kings are two wins away from winning the Stanley Cup. It's time to shed those 45 years of disappointments and heartache and let it all go. The Kings...

Doughty Comes Up Big on Defense

The best defenseman on the top pairing on the hottest team in the N.H.L. logged the most ice time in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup finals Saturday night, just as he did in the series...

Brodeur Good, Needed to Be Great

Martin Brodeur tried planting his stick on the ice to stop Jeff Carter’s shot from the high slot, but Brodeur made his move a split-second too late. The Los Angeles Kings th...

Many Peers Learn From Lamoriello

Jerry Reese grew up in rural Tennessee, not exactly a hotbed for ice hockey. So he isn’t being modest when he sums up his knowledge of the sport in four words: “I don...

Devils Rue Missed Opportunities

Zach Parise sat his locker, head hung low, recounting how close he and his teammates came to grabbing a late lead Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Los Angeles Kings o...

Kings' Domination by the Numbers

It was not the start the New Jersey Devils wanted. On home ice to start the Stanley Cup finals, the Devils were tentative in the first period and overwhelmed in the second, with t...

Offensive Stars Struggle for Devils

There was Zach Parise sprawling around the Kings net, desperate for any chance to finally make his mark on the opening game of the Stanley Cup Finals. The Devils’ captain h...

Kings Take 1st Step Toward Cup

There are passes. And then are passes. Anybody with two eyes could see that the Kings, who had smoked Vancouver, St. Louis and Phoenix to get to their first Stanley Cup Final in ...

Could NHL Lose Another Season?

(Today's festival of overwriting, tortured logic and mangled syntax is brought to you by Craig Stanke, who whipped them all in his day and still had the time and stre...

Comes Down to Brodeur vs. Quick

The NHL's lion in winter is back in the spring. Martin Brodeur turned 40 this month. He should be in his anecdotage -- because there are few players who can tell a story about th...

Kings Gear for Devils' Potent Offense

The Devils and Kings will meet Wednesday night in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals, and though past Devils’ Cup-winning teams were defensive-minded, this New Jersey squad p...

Keys to the Series

So here’s the Stanley Cup Final no one could have anticipated in early April. Kirk Penton of The Winnipeg Sun figured out that this is the “worst” match-up in 20 ...

Analyzing the Finals through Stats

To say that the 2011-12 Stanley Cup Final between the Los Angeles Kings versus the New Jersey Devils was predicted by advanced analysis would be folly — even the most ardent ...

Kings Feed Off Penner's Humor

Humor is often used as a coping mechanism to deal with life's stresses. It's no wonder Dustin Penner is the jokester of the Kings locker room. Even when he scored more pancakes th...

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