Hockey

A Good Weekend to be a Hockey Columnist
Disaster and misery always make a good sports story. So everyone is having a fine old time at the expense of the hapless Tampa Bay Lightning. The firing of Barry Melrose...

Hockey Democracy: Vote Early, Vote Often
Fan voting for the NHL All Star game is now open, a process not unlike the election of a high school student council. Despite the respectable veneer of democracy, everyone knows...

The Year of the Teenaged Defenseman
Steven Stamkos was the NHL's pre-assigned rookie sensation going into this season. But so far Stamkos and his fellow rookie forwards are being outplayed by the defensemen. Drew Doughty in Los...

Concussions Up Close and Personal
Every time someone gets clocked in the head, the debate rages anew. For every guy who believes a shoulder to the jaw is part of the good old hockey game, there's...

The Most Essential Player Goes Down
It's hard to imagine the New Jersey Devils without Martin Brodeur in net, and impossible to imagine a player more essential to his team. The elbow injury putting Brodeur on the...

The Illusion of the One-Goal Win
It's often said that great teams find a way to win close games. But at this early point in the season, it's hard to tell whether a string of one-goal victories...

Sticking It to Crosby
As we all know, NHL players are obliged to give dreary interviews, devoid of opinion and personality. But Alexander Semin of the Washington Capitals has yet to read that clause in...

It's Time to Stop Fixing the NHL
There's nothing wrong with a high-scoring hockey game. But the deluge of boneheaded ideas meant to "fix" the NHL by creating more goals is getting ridiculous. The latest brain wave from...

Head Shots and Credibility Gaps
One sure sign that an NHL team just lost a player to a concussion: the general manager suddenly discovers he's gravely concerned about hits to the head. "I've had four...

NHL Teams Embrace the No-Fun Policy
If you think there isn't enough scoring in the NHL, don't blame the goalie equipment, the size of the net, the size of the ice, or any of that other...