Nhl

Three months ago, right winger Logan O’Connor had every intention to return to the University of Denver and play out his senior season as the Pioneers’ captain. Tuesday night he will instead make his NHL preseason debut with the Avalanche and play on a line with two guys who are assured of making the opening-night roster. O’Connor, 22, went from an Avs’ development-camp invite in June to signing a maximum, two-year free agent contract July 23. He will play on a line with second-year center J.T. Compher and newcomer Matt Calvert Tuesday night when the Avs host the Vegas Golden Knights at the Pepsi Center. “It is a little surreal, being in the locker room here,” O’Connor said after the morning skate. “But I’m happy for the opportunity and looking forward to going out there and just playing hockey, and not worrying about it too much. Despite it being a higher level, it’s just a game and I have to go out there and enjoy it.” … [Read more...] about From DU captain to Avalanche hopeful, Logan O’Connor to make NHL preseason debut

3. The Ottawa Senators In a lot of ways, the Senators were pretty much the anti-Golden Knights in that everything they touched turned into a failure. After coming within a game of the Stanley Cup Final in 2017, they started the 2017-18 season by giving up a king's ransom to get Matt Duchene (including what will almost certainly be a lottery pick in 2019) and then completely fell off the map. They finished with one of the worst records in the league, the owner threatened to move the team the day before the team's outdoor game and one of the leading scorers had to be traded in the offseason because his fiance was accused of harassing Melinda Karlsson, wife of the team's best player, Erik Karlsson, following the death of their newborn son. Not enough? Karlsson has since been traded for a collection of magic beans, and the owner, just two days before training camp, released an astonishingly awkward and absurd video where he attempted to outline the team's plan to rebuild by stripping … [Read more...] about The weirdest moments from the past year in the NHL

Stephen Whyno, Ap Hockey Writer Updated 1:28 am CDT, Tuesday, September 18, 2018 Ryan Johansen remembers how the Columbus Blue Jackets didn't have a captain until one day it clicked and everyone knew it should be Nick Foligno. "There was just no doubt," Johansen said. "It's just one of those things you don't want to force. You don't want to rush. You don't want to regret. Once someone is a very clear option to being named captain, then it's usually done." For more than a century, NHL teams have named one player the captain, equipment managers stitched a "C'' on his jersey and, if all went well, he was the one who'd accept the Stanley Cup and lift it first. It's still a hockey tradition with special meaning at all levels of the game, but almost one third of the 31-team league could go into opening night without a captain, a sign of the times that it's no longer a necessity and certainly not a distinction that management and coaching staffs want to jump into without a lot … [Read more...] about Nothing to ‘C’ here: Importance of NHL captains is changing

It was one of the busiest and most impactful offseasons in recent NHL memory with John Tavares leaving New York for Toronto, the Ottawa Senators beginning a massive rebuilding phase that saw them finally trade Erik Karlsson and the Montreal Canadiens sending Max Pacioretty to the Vegas Golden Knights. It was an incredible summer. So how did your favorite team do this offseason? Let us take a look at the grades for every NHL team and their offseason performances.  … [Read more...] about Grading the offseason of every NHL team