Search for your favorite player or team
© The Hockey News. All rights reserved. Any and all material on this website cannot be used, reproduced, or distributed without prior written permission from Roustan Media Ltd. For more information, please see our Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.
October 11, 2010
The Hockey News has been providing the most comprehensive coverage of the world of hockey since 1947. In each issue, you'll find news, features and opinions about the NHL and leagues across North America and the world.
Phoenix
WITH FIVE different NHL stops the past five years, Eric Belanger has led something of a nomadic existence since the lockout, making it easy to forget he played five seasons in Los Angeles after being drafted by the Kings in 1996 While in L.A., Belanger crossed paths with Dave Tippett, who was an assistant on coach Andy Murray’s Kings staff from 1999 to 2002 before moving on to coach the Dallas Stars and now the Phoenix Coyotes. It was Tippett’s presence at the Coyotes’ helm – and the sense the Desert Dogs wanted what he could bring - that eventually convinced Belanger to sign a one-year, bargain-basement contract for $750,000 just before the start of NHL training camps. The Coyotes made a pitch for Belanger early in the free agent game, but…
PARITY REIGNS
IN DEFERENCE TO the two-time defending champions, let us indulge in a respectful yawn as we say the Hershey Bears again have a target on their backs. Hershey won last season’s East Division by 29 points, earning 17 more wins than second-place Albany. That is no small amount in an 80-game season. At 60 wins and 123 points, the Bears were the best team in the Eastern Conference by 19 points and eight points better than Western Conference-champion Hamilton for first overall. In the post-season, it was a relatively easy walk en route to the first back-to-back championships in nearly 20 years, the six-game final over Texas won with punctuation after dropping the first two games at home. But let the yawning stop there, since a Chocolatetown cakewalk in 2010-11 appears to be anything…
Plus/Minus
RICHARDS REWARD P.E.I. boy Brad Richards donates $500,000 to a Charlottetown hospital. CUT OUT THE SLASHES Blackhawks blueliner Nick Boynton has now been suspended twice during his career for making throat-slash gestures. THE NEW IGLOO After some very tumultuous years and ownership issues, the Pens start life in the luxurious new Consol Energy Center. KNEED-LESS A veteran like Brooks Orpik should know there’s never a good time to knee somebody, especially in the pre-season like he did to Detroit’s Johan Franzen. PRE-SEASON PUCK Hey, it might not be as good as the real thing, but exhibition games still let us glimpse some youngsters who could soon star.…
PICKING UP THE PIECES
THE NHL MAY very well be firmly ensconced at No. 4 (or, gulp, lower) in the American sporting consciousness, but no other league can even come close to duplicating its enduring symbol of excellence. The Stanley Cup has an anthropomorphic quality about it that sets it apart. It’s big, it’s beautiful and it looks really cool when you hold it over your head. The trophies for the three other major professional sports are made at a place called Tiffany & Co., an outfit in New York where rich people buy their diamonds. Pfft. The Vince Lombardi Trophy weighs seven pounds. You could take somebody’s friggin’ eye out with the World Series Trophy. Try taking a drink out of the Larry O’Brien Trophy sometime and let us know how that works out. Yes,…
Made possible with the support of
