December 30, 2009 by Joe Scaringi

Battling for position atop the NHL's Eastern Conference, the Pittsburgh Penguins clashed with the Buffalo Sabres last night in a wild affair at the HSBC Arena in Buffalo, New York. It took the Penguins 21 minutes and 28 seconds to jump to a 3-0 lead and chase Buffalo goaltender Ryan...

December 21, 2009 by Joe Scaringi

It's a bird, it's a plane... no, wait, it's... Andrei Markov? Perhaps no less than a Superman in Montreal, the Canadiens' blue-liner made his triumphant return to action Saturday versus the New York Islanders. After suffering lacerated tendons in his leg in the Habs' season-opener Oct. 1 versus the Toronto...

December 11, 2009 by Mark Farmer

At this time of year comparisons run ramped in the NHL. With a new crop of draft picks heading into the NHL entry draft, every hockey fan is looking for a current NHLer to compare their team's next pick to. Ottawa 67's winger Tyler Toffoli hasn't modeled his game after...

December 4, 2009 by Joe Scaringi

Have you ever gotten yourself all dolled up on a Friday night, ready to go for a night on the town, only to find that when you got there, there was really nothing going on? Well, that would be the best way to describe the Montreal Canadiens right now, as...

November 28, 2009 by Joe Scaringi

Twenty-five forwards, 16 defenceman and five goaltenders - that's how many players were invited to Hockey Canada's orientation camp this past August. The best that Canada has to offer gathered at the Pengrowth Saddledome in Calgary, each with the same goal in mind: to crack the roster for Canada's men's...

November 3, 2009 by Joe Scaringi

The cities of Toronto and Buffalo have a lot in common. They are both part of a metropolis, they both house numerous professional sports teams and they sit, geographically, separated by just two hours along the QEW highway, despite their obvious different nationalities. Beyond that, however, the commonalities seem to...

September 24, 2009 by Mark Milner

Brian Burke is not afraid to take a risk. His latest move as general manger of the Toronto Maple Leafs was to trade the Leafs' next two first-round picks and a this-year's second rounder for Phil Kessel, who he then signed for five years. Any move involving the Leafs is...

September 22, 2009 by Chris Pope

First Claude Lemieux, now Jason Allison and Theoren Fleury. Two players that have seen better days, yet they follow in the footsteps of many just like them. Too many. Players who have had a nice little picnic in the National Hockey League, achieved mediocre careers - at best - and made...

September 21, 2009 by Joe Scaringi

In the latter half of the 2007-08 NHL season, long-time Toronto Maple Leaf captain Mats Sundin had a couple of opportunities to do right by his hockey club. Depending on what you consider to be noble - standing by your team or gracefully stepping down - Sundin had the chance to do...

September 10, 2009 by Mark Milner

Jim Balsillie is not going away quietly. He wants to buy a NHL team. He is willing to pay dearly for one, much more than others are willing to pay. His latest bid for the Phoenix Coyotes is over $212 million, much more than the only other major offer, a...

August 24, 2009 by Joe Scaringi

There you sit, centre of centres, dividing the playing surface in two. Unlike your cousins, the blue lines, you perform a task ever so critical, a duty that is carried out by no other. You proudly sit in the middle of the cold ice surface, separating it ever so symmetrically...

August 11, 2009 by Anthony Lopopolo

The man was never a complex being, only stating his intentions and thoughts with various hues and arrays. And yet, it could not be more complicated to invoke a sentence, painting or photo that would singularly encompass the character and persona of Jeremy Roenick. Splatter a paint ball on canvas...

August 7, 2009 by Joe Scaringi

In the summer of 1993, the city of Montreal was busy celebrating their hockey club's 24th Stanley Cup championship. That same summer, the team drafted 18-year-old Saku Koivu, a promising young Finnish prospect playing for TPS in Finland's SM-Liiga. After a couple more successful seasons in Europe, the Montreal faithful...

July 24, 2009 by Joe Scaringi

Many words come to mind when one mentions the name Joe Sakic. Passion, dedication, leadership, loyalty, class, and humility are a small handful of descriptors that characterize the seasoned NHL veteran, but perhaps no word personifies Sakic's illustrious career in the National Hockey League better than the word excellence. Joseph...

July 23, 2009 by Rob Boudreau

Last April, I wrote about the "most winningest" team in sports, and based on the success of the story, have decided to take a deeper look into the numbers behind the experiment. For the next four weeks, I'll be dissecting the four major sports and the teams that have won...

July 16, 2009 by Chris Pope

What does it take to really call a team a dynasty? Back-to-back championships? Or does a team have to win three in a row or three in four years? In the NHL, dynasties are recognized in the Hockey Hall of Fame and, to date, there are nine inductees. With back-to-back...

July 13, 2009 by Anthony Lopopolo

Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke will be able to tell anyone about the thoroughbred details of free agency, the frustration and downright insanity of it all when it comes to simply attracting a player's signature. Some of those players don't even have to be in the same league...

June 24, 2009 by Chris Pope

Matt Duchene is often the forgotten one when talking about the top prospect in this year's NHL Draft. Growing up in Haliburton, Ontario, kids have to find different ways to entertain themselves than the traditional movie watching and mall trips. Duchene spent his spare time firing pucks, playing road hockey...

June 19, 2009 by Joe Scaringi

Dear the Detroit Red Wings, on the night of Tuesday, June 9th, 2009, I sat in the bowels of Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, awaiting the outcome of Game 6, contemplating what another year with your organization would be like. Since 1997 I have spent four years with you in...

June 17, 2009 by Austin Kent

Does it bother Marc-Andre Fleury that when you Google images of his mom a picture of Jim Carrey in The Mask pops up? Probably not. It didn't bother him when she smacked a good luck smooch on his skinny little cheek after arriving at Mellon Arena for Game 6 either....

June 11, 2009 by Joe Scaringi

It really doesn't get any better than this. Tomorrow night the Pittsburgh Penguins will square off with the defending champion Detroit Red Wings in the Motor City in a winner-take-all showdown for the most coveted prize in hockey. To the victor go the spoils. To the loser go - well not...

May 26, 2009 by Jesse Michael

Compared to the thousands of kids who grow up playing hockey in Canada, an increasing number of American players in the NHL don't know what it's like to live in a town or city without the sport as the number one thought come winter. Kelowna defenseman Tyler Myers is an...

May 22, 2009 by Anthony Lopopolo

With a slew of incidences miring the game of hockey into a fray of apologetic dialogue, the NHL has been rife with questions pertaining to the spectrum of violence and pugilism in the game. Nothing piqued this interest or disdain more so than the nuisance of provocative New York Rangers ...

May 14, 2009 by Chris Pope

Ryan Ellis is the epitome of the phrase, "size doesn't matter." Listed as 5'10", the slick skating Windsor Spitfires defenceman has heard his whole life that he is too small, and quite frankly, he doesn't care. "Anytime someone points that out, it doesn't bother me too much because I've proved...

May 12, 2009 by Eric Rosenhek

Deep in the Carolina Hurricanes' vast collection of promotional photos is a picture of a young Ron Francis. The future hall-of-famer, decked out in the colours of the Hartford Whalers, is seen jumping in the air after scoring a goal against the Philadelphia Flyers. What makes the photo unique isn't...

May 7, 2009 by Rob Boudreau

When was the last time you saw Mario Lemieux smile? Before last night's 3-2 overtime Penguins win over the Washington Capitals, you might have been hard-pressed to think of the answer. But even after Kristopher Letang found the back of the net, Lemieux was only seen giving a quick head...

May 6, 2009 by Eric Rosenhek

As Wayne Gretzky skated around the ice during his final NHL match, there was celebration and sadness wafting through Madison Square Garden. The historic career of "The Great One" was coming to an end. It was a vocation that captivated hockey fans in Canada and the United States. The number...

May 4, 2009 by Austin Kent

If John Tavares goes to the Toronto Maple Leafs, will the world collapse? You may have wondered this yourself. You're not alone. We here at The Good Point laboratories like to consider ourselves experts on each; scientists of both the known and undiscovered. Whether you consider this Slurpee-induced November diatribe...

April 28, 2009 by Joe Scaringi

Each and every general manager in the National Hockey League shares the same objective: build a championship-winning team. A GM searches out players high and low with the ultimate goal of orchestrating a winning formula. It goes without saying that such a formula most certainly requires the proper components. While...

April 16, 2009 by Joe Scaringi

Well, it's that time of year again - the time when it's just so much fun to be a hockey fan - the time for some good, old-fashioned playoff hockey. The race for John Tavares has officially come to a close and the New York Islanders are the winners. The...

April 15, 2009 by Chris Pope

In today's world, we all worry about our appearance - hockey players are no different. To the blind eye, when watching a hockey game, the equipment players wear is solely for protection. But, to many, these articles mean so much more. They are a way to express one's self while...

April 13, 2009 by Anthony Lopopolo

With the Toronto Maple Leafs in the midst of a rebuilding project that started at the beginning of this season, it was inevitable that general manager Brian Burke would have to rely on his team's AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies, to provide recruits for on-ice auditions. That, coupled with a...

March 31, 2009 by Chris Pope

There has long been a silent but well known code in Junior hockey. The rookies are to do what the veterans tell them to do, no questions asked. In recent years, that so called code has been thrown out the window by new rookies who think they should gain instant...

March 26, 2009 by Joe Scaringi

Following the 2004-05 NHL Lockout, Alexander Mikhaylovich Ovechkin entered the National Hockey League and it would never be the same again. On October 5, 2005 Ovechkin made his highly anticipated debut and immediately made an impact, notching two goals in a 3-2 victory. That, as they say, is a fine...

March 20, 2009 by Anthony Lopopolo

The Florida Panthers were thought to have extinguished the stigma commonly pasted on expansion teams in their first years as an NHL franchise. Just two seasons removed from their inauguration, the Panthers had not only established themselves as a legitimate force, but threatened to become world champions in 1996. However...

March 13, 2009 by Joe Scaringi

History has a funny way of repeating itself. On January 14, 2006, Montreal Canadiens general manager Bob Gainey fired his head coach and assumed the role himself for the remainder of the club's season. The fatality was Claude Julien. Three years, one month and 23 days later, he did the...

March 10, 2009 by Austin Kent

Cody Hodgson has his life together - think about it. Not one year removed from graduating high school, the charismatic young man with the boyish grin and chiseled jaw was a shoo-in for the program of his choice at a substantial university in Ontario. He's well-spoken, polite and people like...

March 5, 2009 by Joe Scaringi

It is said that Steve Yzerman has the toughest job in all of hockey. Yes, even tougher than captaining the Detroit Red Wings. As Executive Director for Team Canada, Yzerman has the dubious assignment of selecting Canada's roster for international play. What's so hard about that, you ask? After all...

March 3, 2009 by Eric Rosenhek

On March 4th, many Canadian sports fans will abandon their daily chores and sit in front of their television sets, listening and watching attentively. Their reason won't be to watch a championship match or the opening ceremonies of a prestigious tournament. Instead, fans will stop everything they normally do for...

February 23, 2009 by Chris Pope

A total of 31 playoff appearances in 32 seasons with the Ottawa 67's. Over 1,100 wins with almost 500 different players. Nine divisional, three league and two Memorial Cup Championships. The coach behind all of these is the legendary Brian Blair Kilrea, simply known as Killer. Kilrea spent the majority...

February 19, 2009 by Joe Scaringi

Exactly one year ago today - February 19th, 2008 - the entire hockey world bared witness to the single greatest comeback in the history of the Montreal Canadiens franchise. For a club that has been in existence for a full century, earning the greatest of anything is without question a remarkable...

February 6, 2009 by Rob Boudreau

A public opinion poll by Harris-Decima of over 1,000 Canadians recently revealed that although the numbers of those who want fighting out of hockey are up, they are not up enough to entice the NHL to actually do anything about it. Just 54 per cent want to see fighting removed...

February 4, 2009 by Joe Scaringi

They say that the Stanley Cup is the hardest trophy to win in all of pro sports. Think about it: 82 regular season games, four gruelling rounds of playoff hockey, all over a period of eight months. While the playoff match-ups are determined by a simple formula - best versus...

January 29, 2009 by Chris Pope

It's time for people to accept the NHL All-Star game for what it is. The All-Star game comes with the rich tradition of being scheduled every year since 1947 and only being missed six times. It has long given fans a display of the greatest players to ever...

January 22, 2009 by Austin Kent

Before you start reading this, go outside and punch your neighbour in the face. It doesn't matter which one. No, don't worry, I'll wait... Done? Okay, good. Do you feel better? I bet your friends are pretty jazzed right now - I am. You're a tank. After an otherwise...

January 16, 2009 by Chris Pope

As Wednesday's NHL action came to a close earlier this week, all 82 teams had played half of their season. Now is usually a good time to gauge how a team is going to finish, which players are going to flourish and which players are on their way...

January 8, 2009 by Chris Pope

The state of Massachusetts has been the site of six major championships since the turn of the century and by early June it could be getting its first Stanley Cup in over 30 years. Coming into this NHL season, the Boston Bruins were expected to battle for the bottom...