Olli Maatta hopes to finally put health problems behind him LOS ANGELES – Returning from some kind of health problem has become routine for Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Olli Maatta. Too often in his career he’s missed time with some type of injury or other issue. When asked about his latest health problems, leaving the lineup in mid-November with an upper body injury, and then returning to … [Read more...]

Barry Trotz not thrilled with replay decision in Jets' win over Capitals (Video) The crowd at the MTS Centre though the Winnipeg Jets had defeated the Washington Capitals 2-1. Forward Mark Scheifele had just scored what appeared to be the overtime winner, except Washington Capitals coach Barry Trotz challenged the play as being off-side. And after a very lengthy review the replay was deemed … [Read more...]

Swiss player scores beautiful goal, misses empty-net breakaway later (Video) Martin Pluss of Switzerland’s SC Bern had an eventful game Friday night against EHC Biel. The 38-year old forward scored what turned out to be the winning goal in beautiful fashion late in the third period. Then minutes later, he botched an empty net breakaway opportunity. First, here’s Pluss’ eighth goal of the … [Read more...]

Desperate for backup goalie, AHL's Toronto Marlies sign Zamboni driver It’s been a crazy week for goaltending in the Toronto Maple Leafs organization.  First, Garret Sparks emerged as a feel-good story after his first NHL start. Then, because of that, Jonathan Bernier is sent down to the AHL’s Toronto Marlies for a conditioning stint, leaving Sparks and James Reimer as the two netminders for … [Read more...]

NHL Three Stars: Johnny Hockey's hatty; Devils dads are awesomely awkward Johnny gets the fire helmet tonight! pic.twitter.com/Y2MZa0ewW1— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) December 5, 2015 No. 1 Star: Johnny Gaudreau, Calgary Flames Just another night for the one they call Johnny Hockey. In an insane game against Boston (see Honorable Mention), the hockey version of the Boy Who Lived scored four … [Read more...]

Gaudreau hat trick helps Flames top B's in OT Under coach Claude Julien, the Boston Bruins have almost always played tight, low-scoring defensive slugfests. This season, we're watching the bizarro-Claude Julien Bruins. Thanks to a subpar defense, a struggling Tuukka Rask in net and an offense that has surprisingly overachieved, their games have averaged a league-best 6.09 goals (the league … [Read more...]

Hamilton on leaving Boston; Bure on Ovechkin; 10 types of hockey fans (Puck Headlines) Here are your Puck Headlines: A glorious collection of news and views collected from the greatest blogosphere in sports and the few, the proud, the mainstream hockey media. Have a link you want to submit? Email us at [email protected]. • This is getting out of control.  • The end of the relationship … [Read more...]

Mark Stone knocks puck out of mid-air for nifty goal (Video) It takes excellent hand-eye coordination to play hockey at the NHL level. Take a look at Mark Stone’s third period goal in the Ottawa Senators’ 4-3 OT win over the Chicago Blackhawks as an example. After Chicago goaltender Corey Crawford made a save on Erik Karlsson the puck flew up in the air. Stone waited for it to fall below … [Read more...]

Patrick Kane ties Blackhawks record with 21-game point streak Patrick Kane’s historic season hit another high point Thursday. The Chicago Blackhawks winger tied franchise icon Bobby Hull for longest point streak in team history at 21 games. Hull set the mark in 1971-72.  Kane scored a goal on Ottawa Senators netminder Craig Anderson to tie the record. The score cut in Ottawa’s lead at the … [Read more...]

Blackhawks/Senators game delayed after shot opens hole in boards (Photo) The Chicago Blackhawks’ game at the Ottawa Senators on Monday was delayed 10-15 minutes because an errant shot put a hole in the boards. The above photo of the hole is from @myregularface. The hole was caused off a shot by Ottawa defenseman Cody Ceci. Here is a gif of how the play happened. here's how the hole got … [Read more...]