NHL

Flying Off the Handle: A Brief History of Wacky Objects Hockey Fans Have Thrown on the Ice

March 21, 2011

view all photos and attributions here Aside from the typical food, debris, and trash that all make their way to the ice, hockey fans have been hurling peculiar objects over the glass for decades. Whether it's in celebration, protest, or for good luck, fans have utilized these candid demonstrations to let teams and players know their true feelings. The classic toss accompanies the hat trick. There are several origin stories about the hat trick itself, but the history surrounding how fans came to toss their hats to the ice when a player tallied three goals is no mystery. In the 1950's, Guelph, Ontario was home to the Guelph Biltmore Mad Hatters, w...

Headshots: It's Not Just About Pacioretty and Chara

March 17, 2011

George Prax

2 Comments

About a year ago, I wrote a blog called Ten Reasons Why The NHL Will Always be #4. As you can imagine, a lot of it had to do with headshots and illegal plays in the league, but also with the business side of the league and the “dinosaur” tactics of the people running it. I forgot what really caused my outburst. I think it may have have probably been the Patrice Cormier incident. Either way, looking back at the post I can tell I was pretty angry when I wrote it. Clearly, whatever happened that caused it was long forgotten. As will most of the “dirty” hits in the league this year. But one that will probably be remembered by not only Habs fans, but hockey fans in general will be ...

Heatley & Marchand Disciplinary Hearings

March 16, 2011

Phil T

3 Comments

With both Dany Heatley and Brad Marchand set to have disciplinary hearings with the NHL this week, we thought it was the perfect opportunity for us to give our brand new, german-made, NHL Disciplinary Hearing Simulator a spin. This is the result:

Call One:

Three Changes To A Safer Game

March 14, 2011

Shahab Khan

2 Comments

Three Changes To A Safer Game Unfortunately for the NHL’s 30 GMs, they actually have something significant to discuss on their annual golfing trip get together in Florida. Concussions, headshots, injuries and media attention/bad publicity have now taken over the meet and greet and links discussions. The GMs will not be looking at the Chara Pacioretty hit. Why would they need to? In the eyes of Gary Bettman that issue is over and done with. Instead, the NHL and Gary Bettman released the following data during the meetings which according to Gary himself confirms that rule 48 which makes blindside hits illegal is working: 26% of all concussions are due to acciden...

Final NHL Standings- Projections

March 12, 2011

Matt Reed

5 Comments

Late last night, I think it’s fair to say, I became infatuated with the current NHL standings. For fun I decided to try out my skills as a predictor. An hour or two later I developed a formula to project each team’s final point total, taking into account games remaining, current points, recent winning trends and much more. Although I can’t share the ‘secret’ formula I will share the results. Follow up: Eastern Conference Points Western Conference Points 1 Washington Capitals 111 1 Vancouver Canucks 115 2 Philadelphia Flyers 102 2 San Jose Sharks 107...

Eastern Hockey vs. Western Hockey

March 3, 2011

Daniel_W

1 Comment

While taking a break from working on the first segment of my new blog series, I was watching some NHL highlights from last night. I noticed something... Western conference teams seem to garner more excitement than Eastern conference teams. Honestly, i've always thought that the Western teams in general, play a better game, and ice a more competitive team than a lot of Eastern teams. I have put a lot of thought into the question... and I can't answer it, I really don't think anyone can. For some reason, it just happens. But i've just given myself another question... why, when Bobby Ryan gets a penalty shot in a game between two of the teams that usually sit quiet and you don't hear a lot a...

Waiver wire on fire; 3 players claimed

February 26, 2011

Adam Reid

4 Comments

The waiver wire heated up Saturday as Marco Sturm, Nick Boyton and Craig Rivet were all claimed off waivers. Sturm, who was playing for the Los Angeles Kings was claimed by the Washington Capitals. The 32-year old, Sturm has spent 12 seasons in the NHL with the Sharks, Bruins, and Kings combined. He has been plagued with injuries this season forcing him to only play 17 gams this far, and has 4 goals and five assists over that time. Sturm, who has represented Germany in 4 Olympics has 238 goals, and 475 points in 872 career games. Boynton will go from the Chicago Blackhawks to the Philadelphia Flyers. Boyton, 32, has played 10 NHL seasons spending time in Bostonn, Phoenix, Fl...

Checking Is Integral To Hockey But The NHL Needs To Avoid Hits To The Head

February 16, 2011

James C Edgington

2 Comments

For those that can’t remember January 15th 1968, it was just another average day in the 60’s. Although for the family and friends of Bill Masterton, it was a day consumed by tragedy. Two days earlier Masterton took to the ice as a member of the Minnesota North Stars against the Oakland Seals in what was to be his final game. The match was only four minutes young when the North Stars centre was skating with the puck into the Seals zone. After making a pass to his teammate Wayne Connelly, he was checked by Oakland players Larry Cahan and Ron Harris. Masterton lost his balance falling backwards, crashing head first onto the ice. The force of the hit was so powerful it caused blood to ...