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.
June 13, 2013
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.
DEATH WAS PREVENTABLE
DESPITE ANY REVISIONIST HISTORY TO the contrary you may see in the weeks to come, understand this: the train-wreck end to the Canucks’ season was predicted by some as soon as the locomotive left the station Swept in the first round by the San Jose Sharks, Vancouver crumbled under the weight of an offensive drought and a goalie controversy that never should have been permitted to fester for a single regular season game, let alone the entire 2012-13 campaign and the playoffs. Some disasters are on the players. Some are on the coaches (and it’s a virtual certainty Canucks coach Alain Vigneault will lose his job, if he hasn’t already by the time you read this). But this one falls squarely at the feet of GM Mike Gillis. In the past…
BOBBY ORR AWARD
THERE WERE MANY WONDERING HOW RYAN SUTER WOULD FARE being separated from his long-time defense partner Shea Weber after he joined buddy Zach Parise and signed a 13-year, $98-million deal to join the Minnesota Wild. Making things more intriguing was that Suter would eventually be paired with a 19-year-old rookie. Well, it worked. And much like the relationship between Suter and Weber in Nashville, Suter and rookie Jonas Brodin complemented each other and formed one of the NHL’s top defense pairings. Suter helped Brodin become a Calder Trophy candidate and the young Swede helped Suter become the Norris Trophy favorite. The 28-year-old Suter has developed into a workhorse, seeing his ice time increase by 10 minutes per game since his 2005-06 rookie season. He finished the 2012-13 campaign leading all players at…
GUY CARBONNEAU AWARD
UNDERSTANDING WHO MADE the largest impact as a penalty killer this season only requires a little deductive reasoning. Toronto’s penalty kill rankings in the first seven seasons after the 2004-05 lockout: 24th, 27th, 29th, 30th, 30th, 28th, 28th. Their playoff berths over that miserable stretch: zero. Then, last summer, they signed checking center Jay McClement. He led the NHL in shorthanded ice time per game at 3:39. Toronto’s PK rank this season: second, coinciding with its first post-season appearance since 2004. Though one player’s ability shorthanded can’t on its own carry a team into the playoffs, what McClement did is as close as it gets. His high-pressure approach drastically cut down on opposing players’ reaction time when the Leafs were shorthanded. He’s suddenly a bargain at $1.5 million per season and has…
BOB PROBERT AWARD
AS THEY SAY IN BOXING and mixed martial arts, a fighter becomes a true champion not by winning the title, but by defending it. And the heavyweight kings of the NHL over the years, the Bob Proberts and Georges Laraques, earned their status not just by fighting, but fighting often. Toronto’s Colton Orr fought 13 times, second only to Tampa Bay’s B.J. Crombeen, and earns our belt for never, ever picking his spots. Name the fearsome heavyweight and Orr threw hands with him this season. John Scott, all 6-foot-8 of him: check. Ivy League maulers Kevin Westgarth and George Parros: double check. Highly regarded scrappers Shawn Thornton and Chris Neil: you bet. The list goes on. Orr also deserves a nod for turning his career around. He looked done as an…
Made possible with the support of
