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Yearbook 2011-12
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.
Money Matters
It’s the final year for the collective bargaining agreement that ended the lockout of 2004-05 and brought in a new era of salary-capped NHL hockey. So everything’s great now, right, no changes? Not so fast. Even though the salary cap rose every year of the deal – thanks to ever-increasing hockey-related revenue and a five percent in-flator the union had the option of adding on – many owners were grumbling behind the scenes that the system was costing them too much money. One prominent player agent estimated the CBA was not working for about the middle two-thirds of the league. From the NHL’s perspective, one item that needs to be re-examined is what can be referred to as “leakage,” when it comes to expenses. The best example involves New York Rangers defenseman…
BRUCE BOUDREAU
Bruce Boudreau continues to try to find the right buttons to push to take his Washington Capitals beyond the second round, a place they’ve yet to be since his tenure began in November of 2007. We chatted with the 56-year-old coach about his style behind the bench, bounce-back years for Alex Ovechkin and his stars and what it would mean to finally scale the championship mountain. THE HOCKEY NEWS If Bruce Boudreau the coach had Bruce Boudreau the player for a stretch of time, what would the coach’s advice for the player have been? BRUCE BOUDREAU I would have taught him to be responsible in his own zone, there’s no doubt in my mind. When you’re a scorer for the most part, especially in the minors or junior, you have a tendency…
Healthy Outlook
Central Division, Western Conference A FAN BASE that watched the Blues open 2010-11 with a franchise-best 9-1-2 start thought the club might have finally turned the corner. As it turned out, it was only a tease in what became one of the most injury-riddled seasons in team history. The Blues lost top players David Perron, T.J. Oshie, Roman Polak and Andy McDonald for lengthy stretches and eventually finished 10 points out of a playoff spot. “We should be better,” said Blues president John Davidson. “Last year was, I hope, just a real strange set of circumstances that we can put behind us.” Inconsistency was another problem. The Blues had a winning streak of seven games, but also had three five-game losing streaks. GM Doug Armstrong sensed a need for experienced players to help guide…
Bolts Strike Back
Southeast Division, Eastern Conference IT’S A GOOD BET no one going into the 2010-11 season saw the Lightning coming. Heck, coach Guy Boucher said he didn’t really recognize he had something special until around Christmas. But the close-knit team got terrific seasons from role players such as Sean Bergenheim, Dominic Moore, Adam Hall and Nate Thompson. Captain Vinny Lecavalier was rejuvenated in the second half of the year and Martin St-Louis and Steven Stamkos led the offense. First-year GM Steve Yzerman chipped in with two timely moves (getting goaltender Dwayne Roloson and defenseman Eric Brewer) and Boucher brought together the disparate parts with a 1-3-1 system that was both a variation of the neutral-zone trap and a way to spark a dangerous transition game. The result: The team reached the East final, where it…
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