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.
Yearbook 2005-06
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.
Big Foote found in central Ohio
The Blue Jackets have drafted well. They’ve signed a handful of free agents to buttress the roster. They’ve remained patient and waited for it all to come together. Now, without reservation, they’re talking about making the playoffs in 2005-06, their fifth NHL season. “There’s no doubt, we have to win this year,” said president-GM Doug MacLean. “We have to win a lot more games. “We’re poised to make a big step, I really believe that.” For a team that has finished 27th (2003-04), 28th (2002-03), 29th (2001-02) and 23rd (2000-01), making the playoffs may sound like poppycock. But a lot has changed since the Blue Jackets last took the ice. Left winger Rick Nash, who tied for the NHL lead in goals (41) in 2003-04, has emerged, in the eyes of some, as one of…
Cap-savvy B’s make big moves
It’s fair to say the hockey community in and around Boston had cooled to the Bruins by the spring and summer of 2004. The last thing fans wanted to see after the second division title in three years – this one under rookie coach Mike Sullivan – was another first round playoff loss to underdog Montreal. It happened, though, despite the trade-deadline acquisitions of center Michael Nylander and Sergei Gonchar, and this one was worse than 2002. Boston had a 3-1 series lead, but as team-mates failed to prop up ailing captain/No. 1 center Joe Thornton (sore ribs), the Bruins scored only three goals over the final three games to lose in the opening round for the third straight year – and for the sixth time in their past seven post-season appearances. What…
Blues singing brand new tune
This is truly a time of transition for the Blues. Gone are two of its longest-tenured players – defenseman Chris Pronger and forward Pavol Demitra – and veteran defenseman Al MacInnis isn’t far behind. The team is up for sale, a situation that in a period of tightened purse strings has tightened those of the Blues even more. Long-term contracts and big-ticket salaries are a thing of the past for a franchise that was one of the proponents of spending heavily to try to get ahead. All this leaves the Blues’ NHL-high run of 25 consecutive seasons of making the playoffs – thanks to the lockout, you can’t say “years” any more in connection to the streak – very much in doubt. The streak would have been in jeopardy had there been…
Cap era makes sudden impact
One of the most depressing ironies for the Toronto Maple Leafs is they were arguably the NHL organization that least needed a lockout and the one that will be most adversely affected by it. After all, the Leafs have had their biggest competitive advantage – their ability to recruit unrestricted free agents with big dollars – taken away from them. They haven’t drafted and developed players wisely the way the Philadelphia Flyers have; they don’t have the recent track record of success that belongs to the Detroit Red Wings; and in the short term, their current contracts don’t give them near the salary cap freedom afforded many other teams in the NHL. To make matters worse, the Leafs are the NHL’s No. 1 revenue team, which means they’re effectively paying teams such…
Made possible with the support of
