Buffalo Sabres get screwed by their schedule

By Sports Illustrated
December 28, 2010


Sometimes you can only scratch your head in wonderment when you examine the genius of the NHL schedule.

With the World Junior Championship taking over HSBC Coliseum (bringing victories for both Canada and the U.S. in their opening games on Sunday night), the Sabres are forced to hit the road.

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Hiller stops 45 shots, Ducks shut out Bruins 3-0

By Jimmy Golen, AP
December 21, 2010


Boston, MA — What Jonas Hiller liked best about his second shutout of the season was the way his defense helped him out.

“If we play like that every single game, with guys out there blocking shots, we’ve got a good chance to win,” the Anaheim goalie said Monday night after stopping 45 shots to lead the Ducks to a 3-0 victory over the Boston Bruins.

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Datsyuk has goal, assist in Red Wings’ victory

By The Associated Press
December 11, 2010


Detroit, MI — Pavel Datsyuk and Jimmy Howard ended the Detroit Red Wings’ losing streak.

Datsyuk had a goal and an assist and Howard made 36 saves to help Detroit beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-2 on Friday night in the matchup between Original Six rivals.

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Crosby, Penguins rout Jackets 7-2 without Malkin

By The Associated Press
December 5, 2010


Columbus, OH — Sixteen minutes was all it took.

Sidney Crosby scored two goals to extend his point streak to 15 games, and the Pittsburgh Penguins won their ninth straight by routing the Columbus Blue Jackets 7-2 on Saturday night.

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Pro hockey takes shot at legitimacy in Brooklyn

By Stuart Miller
November 29, 2010


Brooklyn, NY — The New York Aviators, a minor league hockey team based in Brooklyn, lost their first three games of the season on the road. After another long bus ride — from Chenango, N.Y., to Alexandria Bay near the Canadian border — they arrived later than expected for a game against the Thousand Island Privateers.

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Ducks beat Islanders 1-0

By Robyn Norwood
November 11, 2010


Anaheim, CA — For much of the night, it seemed as if the Ducks ought to put back on the camouflage jerseys they wore in warmups and try to slip out of the Honda Center unnoticed.

They had won four games in a row and were playing a New York Islanders team that had lost seven in a row.

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Halak, Rangers shut out Blues, 2-0

By Ira Podell, AP
Novemvber 8, 2010


New York, NY — Conklin, in just his second game this season, made 27 saves for his 15th NHL shutout as the Blues beat the New York Rangers 2-0 for their seventh straight win.

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Luongo, Canucks blank Devils 3-0

By Associated Press
November 2, 2010


Vancouver, BC — A couple of good early scoring chances helped Vancouver goaltender Roberto Luongo get into the game.

That was bad news for a New Jersey team already struggling to score.

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NHL hands Rypien six-game suspension

By Ron Sudlow, CP
October 22, 2010


Vancouver, BC - The Vancouver Canucks are supporting the six-game suspension handed to forward Rick Rypien for an altercation with a fan, but feel NHL arenas need better barriers between players and the stands.

Rypien was given the punishment Friday at league headquarters in New York, after grabbing a fan as he exited the ice during a 6-2 road loss Tuesday at the Minnesota Wild.

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Yip's goal gives Avalanche 5-4 SO win over Wings

By The Associated Press
October 12, 2010


Detroit, MI — The Colorado Avalanche beat the Detroit Red Wings at their own game.

The Red Wings usually outshoot their opponents, especially at home, but the Avalanche peppered Detroit goalie Jimmy Howard with 38 shots.

Brandon Yip then scored in the sixth round of the shootout to give Colorado a 5-4 victory over Detroit on Tuesday night.

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Kings shoot down Ducks in 8-3 victory

By The Associated Press
September 29, 2010


Los Angeles, CA — With roughly two weeks left until the regular season, the Los Angeles Kings are hoping their power play is as good as it looked Tuesday night.

The Anaheim Ducks are really hoping their defense is a whole lot better than it appeared.

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15 burning questions about NHL Western Conference

By Greg Wyshynski
September 18, 2010


Training camps are opening all over the NHL, and there are plenty of interesting battles, controversies and storylines in the Western Conference.

Here are 15 burning questions about the West.

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Future finally bright for Oilers

By Nicholas J. Cotsonika
Septermber 5, 2010


Edmonton, AB — Since the Edmonton Oilers drafted Hall first overall on June 25, the fans have been all about Hall, Jordan Eberle and Magnus Paajarvi – the three young wingers who represent the future of the franchise.

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NHL in talks to start women’s hockey league

By Jeff Z. Klein
August 27, 2010


Toronto, ON — Faced with the threat of their sport being excluded from the Winter Olympics after 2014 because of a lack of competitiveness, women’s hockey officials have held preliminary discussions with the NHL about forming an NHL-supported women’s league, representatives from both sides confirmed Thursday.

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NHL no longer honors shootout victories as tie-breakers

By Greg Wyshynski
August 22, 2010


Suggesting it belongs in the Stanley Cup Playoffs remains sacrilege. The NHL's Research and Development Camp dedicated a significant amount of time to analyzing overtime format changes that would minimize the chances for a shootout. And, beginning next season, the NHL will no longer honor shootout victories as legitimate when it comes to tie-breakers in the standings.

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Capitals atop offseason NHL rankings

By Allan Muir
August 16, 2010


Though arbitator Richard Bloch made Ilya Kovalchuk's ultimate destination a bit hazy as of this writing, it is possible to get a decent handle on where all 30 teams stand as summer glides toward September training camps.

A reminder: These rankings are based on many factors, and not one is scientific. They're heavily influenced by taking into account expectations versus achievement and my uncannily intuitive gut calls on how each team stacks up against the rest of the Original 30.

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Modano signs one-year $2.5M deal with the Red Wings

By Jim Kelly
August 7, 2010


Detroit, MI — We here at SI.com, who do more often than not dabble in the negative side of the sport, will take a pause here to mention that it all seems to be going well for Mike Modano, the highest-scoring American-born hockey player ever to grace the League.

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Who is the most hated team in the NHL today?

By Sean Leahy
July 30, 2010


There's a lot of animosity in the NHL these days. Between fans. Between teams. And sometimes between executives.

Whether it's Max Talbot calling Alex Oveckin a "douche", or the Brian Burke/Kevin Lowe feud from a few seasons back or Sean Avery, well, against anyone, the hate around the NHL is something that helps promote it.

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Kovalchuk, Devils strike a cap-friendly 17-year, $102M deal

By The Associated Press
July 20, 2010


Newark, NJ — Unlike the NBA's LeBron James, the biggest prize on the NHL free agent market isn't moving.

Ilya Kovalchuk is staying with the New Jersey Devils, agreeing to a staggering 17-year, $102 million deal with the team.

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Ducks' Scott Niedermayer retires, for real

By The Associated Press
June 22, 2010


Aanaheim, CA — Niedermayer ended his 18-year NHL career Tuesday, retiring after winning four Stanley Cup titles and a wealth of medals and trophies earned everywhere from junior hockey to the Vancouver Games.

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Canadiens rout Flyers 5-1 in game 3

Associated Press
May 20, 2010


MONTREAL, QC — Michael Cammalleri and the Montreal Canadiens finally solved Michael Leighton.

Cammalleri scored in the first period to end Montreal's two-game drought against Leighton, leading the Canadiens to a 5-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers, in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference final.

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Flyers take Montreal 3-0 in Game 2

By Dan Gelston
May 18, 2010


Philadelphia, PA — Michael Leighton stopped 30 shots and recorded his second straight shutout, and the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Montreal Canadiens 3-0 on Tuesday night to take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals.

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Flyers slam Canadiens in East finals opener 6-0

By Ira Podell
May 16, 2010


Philadelphia , PA — James van Riemsdyk, Danny Briere and Simon Gagne scored in a span of 9:23 in the second period against playoff star Jaroslav Halak, and the Philadelphia Flyers routed the Montreal Canadiens 6-0 in the Eastern Conference finals opener on Sunday night.

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Luongo rebounds and so do Canucks

By Rick Gano
May 10, 2010


Chicago, IL — Kevin Bieksa scored two goals, Roberto Luongo made 29 saves Sunday night and the Vancouver Canucks beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1 to stay alive in the Western Conference semifinals.

Chicago leads the series 3-2 and now it heads back to Vancouver—where the Blackhawks captured Games 3-4—for Game 6 on Tuesday night.

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Blackhawks pound Canucks 7-4

By Brad Ziemer
May 8, 2010


Vancouver, BC — The Vancouver Canucks lost their composure Friday night and now they are just one loss away from losing their season.

The Chicago Blackhawks made the Canucks pay for a series of undisciplined penalties, scoring four power-play goals en route to an easy 7-4 win at General Motors Place that gave them a 3-1 stranglehold on the best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series.

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Hawks’ Byfuglien a big problem for Canucks

By Ross McKeon
May 6, 2010


Vancouver, BC — This just in: Should goalie Antti Niemi falter in Friday’s Game 4 here, the Chicago Blackhawks will turn to Dustin Byfuglien in net.

OK, so maybe that’s not exactly true. While the hulk of a man, who stands 6-foot-4 without skates and weighs 257 pounds sans hockey gear, would certainly fill a lot of that 6x4 real estate, Byfuglien will be spared basically the only position at which he has not appeared in this second-round playoff series against the frustrated Vancouver Canucks.

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Canucks, Blackhawks series tied at 1-1

By Rick Gano
May 4, 2010


Chicago, IL — With the clock running down, Kris Versteeg lost the puck near the goal and somehow got it back, thanks to the work of his teammates.

Given a second chance, he responded. Versteeg ripped a shot from the left circle that went past Vancouver goalie Roberto Luongo with just 1:30 left Monday night, sending the Chicago Blackhawks to a 4-2 victory over the Canucks and tying the Western Conference semifinal series at 1-1.

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Canucks bury Blackhawks 5-1

By Rick Gano
May 2, 2010


Chicago, IL — “We know how important Game 1 is, especially facing these guys. In other series we’ve been in, we’ve lost that first game and managed to bounce back,” Chicago’s Patrick Sharp said Sunday, hours after the Canucks’ 5-1 win the night before.

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Penguins over Canadiens 6-3

By Alan Robinson
April 30, 2010


Pittsburgh, PA — Defensemen Kris Letang and Alex Goligoski each had a goal and an assist and the Pittsburgh Penguins shredded Montreal’s penalty-killing unit that Washington never solved in the opening round, beating the Canadiens 6-3 Friday night in the first game of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

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Ovechkin’s Capitals get ready for another Game 7

By Howard Fendrich
April 28, 2010


Arlington, VA — Alex Ovechkin knows all about playing in a Game 7. Every NHL playoff series of the two-time MVP’s career has gone the distance.

His Presidents’ Trophy-winning Washington Capitals probably weren’t even considering the possibility of dealing with another Game 7 when they took a 3-1 series lead over the eighth-seeded Montreal Canadiens in the first round this year.

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Blackhawks eliminate Predators with 5-3 win

By Teresa M. Walker
April 27, 2010


Nashville, TN — The Chicago Blackhawks are moving on thanks to strong penalty killing and a couple of key bounces of the puck.

Jonathan Toews scored a power-play goal to cap a wild first period that featured one goal off Patrick Kane’s toe near mid-ice, and the Blackhawks held on for a 5-3 victory over the Nashville Predators on Monday night. Chicago advanced to the Western Conference semifinals for the second straight year.

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Canucks' NHL conspiracy theory, and the case for kicked goals

By Greg Wyshynski
April 20, 2010


Just over 3 minutes into the third period of last night's game at the Los Angeles Kings, Daniel Sedin continued a furious Vancouver Canucks rally with a goal to cut the deficit to 4-3. Or at least that's how it was ruled on the ice by the officials, despite the puck deflecting off Sedin's skate past goalie Jonathan Quick.

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Coyotes beat Red Wings 4-2 for 2-1 lead in series

By Larry Lage
April 18, 2010


Detroit, MI — The Phoenix Coyotes have thrived in the face of adversity all season.
They did it again Sunday in Game 3 against the Detroit Red Wings.

Overcoming the loss of captain Shane Doa and another key player, Petr Prucha and Radim Vrbata scored midway through the third period to lift the Coyotes to a 4-2 victory and a 2-1 series lead.

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Bruins even series, 5-3 over Sabres

Associated Press
April 17, 2010


Buffalo, NY — For once, Michael Ryder and the Boston Bruins avoided questions about their sputtering offense.

In cracking the Buffalo Sabres ' third-period lockdown, Ryder and Zdeno Chara scored two minutes apart and led the Bruins to a 5-3 comeback victory on Saturday that tied the first-round, Eastern Conference playoff series at 1.

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NHL Western Conference is wide open

By Ross McKeon
April 12, 2010


In the wild, wild West, seven of the eight playoff teams reached 100 points. No one would be surprised if a lower seed were to knock off a higher one in the conference quarterfinals, or any round for that matter.

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Flyers head to playoffs topping Rangers 2-1

By Dan Gelston
April 11, 2010


Philadelphia, PA — Brian Boucher couldn’t make the stops. He opened his arms wide as a blue line and let all the Flyers in. Danny Briere was first with the celebratory hug. Claude Giroux joined the mob that swarmed Boucher.

The Flyers needed three periods, overtime, and a thrilling shootout in the 82nd game to make the playoffs.

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Rangers still alive, topping Flyers 4-3

By Ira Podell
April 9, 2010


New York, NY — Marian Gaborik broke a second-period tie with his 42nd goal and the New York Rangers stayed alive in the Eastern Conference playoff race with a 4-3 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Friday night in the first half of a home-and-home series that will determine both teams’ postseason prospects.

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Best and worst of painful hockey season

By Michael Farber
April 7, 2010


The Year of the Headshot will not go down as a fabulous hockey season, at least by most metrics.

Midway thought the final week of an NHL campaign in which blindside hits left us as dizzy as the success of the wards-of-the-state Coyotes, there still is no 50 goal-scorer and only three 100-point men. The playoff slots have been decided in the Western Conference and the turtle race for the last three Eastern spots has been a joke. (Since 2003-04, no playoff team has had fewer than 90 points. The East could have as many as three.)

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