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.
Season Preview 2017-18
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.
8 VEGAS> GOLDEN KNIGHTS
PACIFIC BEST-CASE SCENARIO YOU KNOW WHAT they say about all the distractions going on in Las Vegas. Can the Golden Knights pick up on that and use it to their advantage? It’s human nature for individuals and teams to play down to the level of their competition. Not intuitively, of course, but maybe it won’t always be the ‘A’ game coming to town. Will visiting teams come into Vegas and think an 80-percent effort is good enough against a collection of castoffs? If the NHL’s 31st franchise, under coach Gerard Gallant, can execute on creating a team-first model and bring it night after night, maybe they won’t finish last overall. Marc-Andre Fleury has gone on runs in the past decade where he’s the best goalie in the league, regardless what the shot count…
BATTLE FOR BRAINS
WE KNOW DR. BENNET Omalu as the man Will Smith portrayed in the movie Concussion. Dr. Omalu popularized the term CTE, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, after performing an autopsy on a former NFL player. No mind in the field of concussion study carries more public weight. But to think of Dr. Omalu as a Hollywood-ized crusader against the establishment, be it the NFL or the NHL, is to misunderstand his goal. Dr. Omalu did jump into the NHL concussion lawsuit this year, penning a letter slamming the NHL’s hired medical expert, Dr. Rudy Castellani, for denying CTE’s existence. Dr. Omalu believes a corporation like the NHL would eventually profit from a progressive stance on head injuries, just as a company like Tesla got rewarded with a sales explosion years after taking the…
RAPID FIRE
Who was your favorite team as a kid? Flyers, Philadelphia. I’m from that area, and we had a personal relationship with Bobby Clarke through my family, so I grew up watching those guys. Who did you model your game after? Always growing up I drew comparisons to Todd Bertuzzi a little bit. I think probably not as hard or tough as him, but at the same time we play a lot in similar ways: use our bodies to protect the puck and get to the net. He was always a guy I looked up to, and I got to play with him (in Anaheim in 2007-08). What was your ‘welcome to the NHL’ moment? It was unfortunate. I opened my career with my first two games over in London, England, so it wasn’t the same.…
5 CAROLINA> HURRICANES
METRO BEST-CASE SCENARIO IF THE RISING top-four defense corps of Justin Faulk, Brett Pesce, Jaccob Slavin and Noah Hanifin keep their pace, they’ll be Nashville East and help Carolina beguile opponents with a transition game that moves the puck up the ice cleanly while also defending with vigor and contributing on the scoresheet. Should the Hurricanes get that, they’ll be well on their way to the post-season, a place they haven’t ventured since 2009. If Victor Rask can continue to progress, Carolina’s void in the No. 1 center slot would be mitigated enough. The arrival of Justin Williams and the maturation of Elias Lindholm and Sebastian Aho will push the offense forward, while Jordan Staal and newcomer Marcus Kruger can provide excellent shutdown play and loads of experience at center. Assuming Jeff Skinner…
Made possible with the support of
