Blackhawks have learned to maximize short summers after three Stanley Cups BROOKLYN, N.Y. – The Chicago Blackhawks spent a third summer since 2010 celebrating a Stanley Cup championship and a fifth off-season since 2009 recovering from playing hockey into late-May, early-June. The off-seasons have been short. Three of them have featured parades and parties, and not a lot of time for the … [Read more...]

Calgary's goaltending controversy, and trying to make sense of it (Trending Topics) A little while back I wrote a column saying that goaltending controversies are almost always overblown by the media and that, in reality, teams usually ought to have a pretty good idea of which of their goalies is the best. One team that is quite notably going through a goaltending controversy right now, … [Read more...]

NHL Three Stars: Niemi assists on his shut out; Parise goes hatty in Wild comeback No. 1 Star: Antti Niemi, Dallas Stars The storyline heading into Dallas' game against the Pittsburgh Penguins was the new super duo of Phil Kessel and Sidney Crosby. Niemi crushed that narrative with a beautiful 34-save performance in his first game with the Stars. Dallas defeated the Penguins 3-0. Niemi also … [Read more...]

NHL's first 3-on-3 OT leads to unexpected breakaway winner (Video) It took just 2:17 for the first NHL 3-on-3 overtime to end with a victory. Defenseman Jason Garrison scored on a breakaway for the Tampa Bay Lightning to give them a 3-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers.  Yes, Jason Garrison – a defenseman known for howitzer one-timers from the blueline rather than blazing speed scored the … [Read more...]

Sabres' Eichel scores in NHL debut Jack Eichel doesn't wait long to make his presence felt in Buffalo. (USATSI) It's been a long summer of waiting for Buffalo Sabres fans, and even though their season-opening game got off to a rocky start, the home fans had something to smile about when the third period rolled around. The highly anticipated debut of No. 2 overall pick Jack Eichel ended up … [Read more...]

Robin Lehner suffers 'lower body injury' in Buffalo Sabres season opener One of the Buffalo Sabres big summer acquisitions was hurt in the team’s season opener. Goaltender Robin Lehner dropped down to his knees, anticipating a shot on goal in the second period of their game against the Ottawa Senators. Except he had trouble getting up. [Play Yahoo Daily Fantasy and get a 100% deposit bonus … [Read more...]

Sens score on first shot The good spirits in Buffalo didn't last long.(NBCSN) It's been a summer of excitement for the Buffalo Sabres. Multiple additions -- including top prospect Jack Eichel, Ryan O'Reilly and Evander Kane -- were set to make their Sabres debuts on opening night. There was the electricity of the home opener to match that offseason buzz as the Sabres welcomed the Ottawa Senators. … [Read more...]

Karri Ramo makes incredible save vs. Sedin Twins (Video) The Calgary Flames eliminated the Vancouver Canucks in the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season in six games, with goalie Karri Ramo getting the win in relief of Jonas Hiller. Ramo got the opening night start for the Flames against the Canucks, and midway through the first period on Wednesday night he got the better of the Sedin Twins … [Read more...]

Yahoo Fantasy Hockey: Finding gems on the waiver wire Dobber launched his fantasy hockey website DobberHockey back in 2005 and has been Puck Daddy's resident fantasy hockey 'expert' since 2009. Usually when I do this column I run through some of the hot and cold streaks from around the league. But of course we're just one day in, so I'm going to do what I did here last year at this time. … [Read more...]

McDavid and Eichel eras begin; Subban goes Jays crazy; On Blackhawks fandom (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].   • Jaromir Jagr's decision to grow back his mullet has … [Read more...]