No Canadian team has won the Stanley Cup since June 9, 1993 when Montreal finished off the Wayne Gretzky-led Los Angeles Kings, 4-1, in the best-of-7 series. The Edmonton Oilers will be the latest Canadian-based franchise seeking to break that hex when they face the Florida Panthers in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final on Saturday. The Oilers have lifted Lord Stanley’s chalice five times (1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1990) and the Panthers are seeking their first title.

The Oilers dominated the NHL during the 1983–84 season, finishing first overall with a franchise record 57 wins and 119 points. In the playoffs, they swept the Winnipeg Jets, defeated the Calgary Flames in seven games, and swept the Minnesota North Stars in the conference finals. The Oilers secured their first Stanley Cup by winning three consecutive games in Edmonton before being 1-1 against the New York Islanders in the Finals. Mark Messier received the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP.

During the 1984–85 season, the Oilers finished second overall with 49 wins and 109 points. Wayne Gretzky led the NHL in goals, and the team swept the Los Angeles Kings and Winnipeg Jets in the playoffs. In the Stanley Cup Finals, they lost the first game to the Philadelphia Flyers but won the next four, clinching their second consecutive Stanley Cup. Paul Coffey set records for most goals, assists, and points by a defenseman in a playoff year.

In the 1986–87 season, the Oilers secured their second straight Presidents’ Trophy with 50 wins and 106 points. They faced the Philadelphia Flyers again in the Stanley Cup Finals. After a tough battle, the Oilers won Game 7, and Ron Hextall of the Flyers won the Conn Smythe Trophy. This marked their third Stanley Cup victory. The Oilers underwent changes losing star players but still excelled in the 1987–88 season, finishing third overall. In the playoffs, they defeated the Winnipeg Jets, Calgary Flames, and Detroit Red Wings in the Campbell Conference Final. The Oilers swept the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup Finals, and Wayne Gretzky won the Conn Smythe Trophy.

The 1989–90 Edmonton Oilers, navigating a transitional period after Wayne Gretzky’s departure, marked a defining chapter under Captain Mark Messier and coach John Muckler. Despite challenges in the regular season, including Grant Fuhr’s absence, the team secured the fifth spot in the NHL standings. The Oilers triumphed over the Winnipeg Jets, Los Angeles Kings, and Chicago Blackhawks in the path to the finals. The Stanley Cup Finals saw a memorable three-overtime Game 1 against the Boston Bruins, ultimately resulting in the Oilers winning the series in five games and clinching their first championship without Gretzky. Bill Ranford’s stellar goaltending earned him the Conn Smythe Trophy, underscoring the team’s ability to succeed and thrive beyond the Gretzky era.

The Florida Panthers will face off against the Edmonton Oilers in the Stanley Cup finals. One night after the Panthers defeated the New York Rangers in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals, the players were home on their sofas watching the Edmonton Oilers and Dallas Stars battle in their Game 6 on the Western Conference side of the bracket. Edmonton won the game, and the series, knocking out the Stars in six game and punching their ticket to Sunrise.

During the playoffs, Edmonton leads all teams in scoring with 63 goals in 18 games. Florida is second with 55 in 17 games. The Oilers currently have the NHL’s top three playoff scorers – led by Connor McDavid’s 31 points – and five of the top seven. Florida has three players in the top nine. The Panthers also finished with a better regular season record, so they’ll enjoy home ice advantage in the championship series.

Both the Panthers and the Oilers will now get nearly a week to prepare for one another while allowing for any lingering injuries or ailments to heal. Florida won each of the two regular season matchups, outscoring the Oilers 10-4 including a 5-1 victory in Edmonton back in mid-December.

What Sets Stanley Apart?

True hockey fans will be the first to say that their sport has the best trophy. The truth is, we do. For one thing, the Stanley Cup goes to the players first, instead of the owners. You may even notice some coaches step back and let their players raise it first. Coming in at 34.5 pounds and standing at 35.25 inches it is truly something that you have to lift above your head.

The Stanley Cup you see is the same Stanley that Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux have lifted above their heads. Unlike other teams, a new trophy is not made every year. Instead, players get to raise the exact Cup they dreamt of raising as children. The Cup also gets the names of players, coaches, management and staff of the winning team permanently engraved on them. If you win the Cup, your name will go down in hockey history.

The players actually get the Cup for a day. Unlike other sports, the players themselves get to take the Cup to their hometown and enjoy a day with it. The NHL allows the winning team to spend 100 off-season days with the Cup, but who was the first to give each player a day with it?

That was the 1994-95 New Jersey Devils who made the tradition what we know today. They started giving it to each player and front office member for a day. Since the Devils won the Cup again in 2003, the Hall of Fame has been keeping a journal of Stanley’s travels.

Where’s Stanley?

Stanley has been all over the world — even to Afghanistan — all accompanied by its keeper, of course. Phil Pritchard has been the keeper of the Cup since 1991 and travels everywhere the Cup goes. His journeys with the Cup can be found on his Twitter. When Lord Stanley donated the Cup he made sure to mandate that two trustees would always ensure that the Cup remained safe. Currently, Brian O’Neill and Ian Morrison are those two trustees and have absolute power over all matters regarding the Stanley Cup. When handling the Cup, these men always wear white gloves.

Stanley Records

The youngest player to ever win the Cup was Larry Hillman. He was just 18 years, 2 months, and 9 days old when the Detroit Red Wings won the Cup in 1955.

Chris Chelios was the oldest player to win the Cup. He was 46 years, 6 months when he won the Cup with Detroit in 2008.

Henri Richard, brother of Maurice Richard, has his name on the Cup 11 times as a player.

Scotty Bowman has his name on the Cup nine times as a coach, split between the Penguins, Red Wings and Canadiens.

The Montreal Canadiens are the winningest team in Cup history with 24 Stanley Cup victories to their name. They won it five years in a row between 1956 and 1960. Only the 1976 to 1979 Canadiens and 1980 to 1984 New York Islanders have four consecutive wins.

The only eighth-seed team to ever win the Stanley Cup were the 2012 Los Angeles Kings.

Two babies have been baptized in the Cup. The first was Sylvain Lefebvre’s daughter, who was baptised after the Colorado Avalanche won in 1996. The second was Tomas Holmström’s niece. The Detroit forward allowed his cousin to baptize his seven-week-old daughter in the bowl when the Red Wings won in 2008.

The costliest celebration was the 2011 Bruins celebration at the MGM Grand at Foxwoods. They managed to rack up a $156,679.74 tab at the bar that was partially helped by a $100,000 bottle of champagne.

As of 2024, the most valuable NHL team is the Toronto Maple Leafs, with an estimated value of $2.8 billion. This valuation has pushed the Maple Leafs back to the top spot for the first time since 2014, surpassing the New York Rangers, who are now valued at $2.65 billion??.

The top five most valuable NHL teams in 2024 are:

1. Toronto Maple Leafs – $2.8 billion
2. New York Rangers – $2.65 billion
3. Montreal Canadiens – $2.3 billion
4. Los Angeles Kings – $2 billion
5. Boston Bruins – $1.9 billion?
6. Chicago Blackhawks – $1.875 billion
7. Edmonton Oilers – $1.850 billion
8. Philadelphia Flyers – $1.650 billion
9. Washington Capital – $1.600 billion
10. New York Islanders  $1.550 billion

These teams’ values are influenced by factors such as market size, team performance, revenue from ticket sales and merchandise, and lucrative sponsorship deals. The Maple Leafs’ value, for instance, is bolstered by their ownership of the Scotiabank Arena and the broader portfolio of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, which also includes the Toronto Raptors (NBA) and Toronto FC (MLS)?.

As the NHL’s most financial struggling team the Arizona Coyotes moves to Salt Lake City Utah and become a new name and new team after the NHL Board of Governors voted unanimously Thursday to approve a $1.2 billion sale from Alex Meruelo to Utah Jazz owners Ryan and Ashley Smith, the city & fan base that is most deserving of a franchise is still waiting in Quebec City. We have seen cities like Las Vegas & Seattle get an expansion team in the NHL in recent years before Quebec. We have seen the Atlanta Thrashers be sold and moved to Winnipeg Jets where they are thriving.

Formed in 1972 as part of the now-defunct World Hockey Association, the Quebec Nordiques had been losing money for years. It had been originally owned by a San Francisco group as the San Francisco Sharks but when the investors failed to come up with the necessary financing it had been hastily sold to a group of Quebec City investors. After the WHA collapsed the team moved over to the NHL in 1979. What the Nordiques lacked was a fan-base. Quebec City was the smallest market in the NHL and the second-smallest major-league city in North America. Only Green Bay, Wisconsin; home to the NFL’s Green Bay Packers, was smaller. Though the Nordiques had the loyalty of local hockey fans, they weren’t enough to keep the team viable in a rapidly changing hockey environment.

The Nordiques inability to expand their following was largely the result of Quebec City’s status as a monolingual francophone city. With no privately-owned English-language radio stations and only one privately-owned English-language television station, there was little opportunity for the team to broaden its reach. he near-total lack of English-language media limited the Nordiques’ appeal to the rest of the continent and made Anglophone players wary of playing for them. As the team continued to lose money, its owners begged for a bailout from Quebec’s provincial government. Premier Jacques Parizeau turned the request down flat. No politician was prepared to risk subsidizing a sports organization that paid its players multimillion-dollar salaries.

Finally in May 1995, right after the Nordiques were eliminated from post-season play, Nordiques CEO Marcel Aubut announced that he had no other choice but to accept an offer from COMSAT Entertainment Group, owner of the NBA’s Denver Nuggets. COMSAT moved the team to Denver where it was renamed the Colorado Avalanche. Though the Nordiques franchise and Aubut himself never lost money on the team, Aubut feared losing money and sold the team before the possibility became a reality. The sale price was enough to put a $15 million payout in Aubut’s pocket. Things are different now and Quebecor, a large Canadian diversified media and telecommunications company serving Québec based in Montreal, are looking to bring a team back to Quebec City

Quebec City also has a modern arena that needs a team to fill its seats, and we know full well that there’s a deeply-ingrained hockey culture there that would rush to support an NHL team. We also know that there’s an uphill climb for Quebec City when you strictly look at its population,  Quebec City’s city population of approximately 550,000 would be the smallest of any NHL market, while the metropolitan population of more than 800,000 would be the second smallest. Quebec is a smaller locale, but, like the Winnipeg Jets, they have a built-in, ready-to-go fan base that undoubtedly would have better attendance than many current NHL markets.

And yet Salt Lake City got a franchise!

So we are now down to 4. The Conference finals are upon us, starting tomorrow as the 4 finalists face off against their conference rivals. After last night’s game 7 win for the Edmonton Oilers, we now know who are the four finals that will face off for a right to play in the finals and contest for Lord Stanley’s Cup. Edmonton having won a tough series against the Western Conference leaders the Vancouver Canucks, having to had come back twice from trailing in the series will face off against the Dallas Stars. The Stars had it a bit more easier winning 4-2 against the Colorado Avalanche.

In the West the New York Rangers, who were the points leaders in the regular season, had it easier than anyone, resting since the 17th of May having seen off the Carolina Hurricane 4-2. A day later the Florida Panthers defeated the Boston Bruins 4-2 and will now face off each other in the conference finals. I think the Rangers are really strong and will be difficult to beat but I hope Edmonton wins the Cup.

Scotty Bowman’s Four Straight

From 1976 to 1979, the Montreal Canadiens, coached by Scotty Bowman, won four consecutive championships. But they came at the expense of only two head coaches. Fred Shero was the coach of the Flyers in 1976 when they lost to the Habs. Don Cherry took the Bruins to the Stanley Cup Final in 1977 and 1978, losing both times. And when the Habs beat the Rangers in 1979, Shero had made the move from Philadelphia to New York and lost to Bowman in the Final again.

Dick Irvin’s Annual Trip

From 1931 to 1955, teams coached by the great Dick Irvin appeared in the Final 16 times. The Irvin-led Maple Leafs lost in the Final six times in nine years from 1931 to 1940, winning once (1932). But Irvin would capture the Cup again in 1944, 1946 and 1953. In total, though, Irvin-coached teams would lose in the Final 12 times.

The Original Six

The NHL didn’t reduce to six teams until 1942. What is now called “The Original Six” became the NHL, and the top four teams at the end of the regular season played two best-of-seven series to determine the champion.

New Kids on the Block

In 1967, the NHL doubled in size from six to 12 teams. In each of the first three seasons after expansion, one of the new franchises, the St. Louis Blues, advanced to the Stanley Cup Final. Three years in a row the Blues, coached by Scotty Bowman, lost. In 1970, the loss was punctuated by Bobby Orr’s goal that was followed by his Superman-like dive, which has been immortalized in bronze.

The Four-Peat

Since 1950, only two organizations (and three coaches) have won four consecutive Stanley Cup championships:

• Montreal Canadiens (Toe Blake): 1956-1960
• Montreal Canadiens (Scotty Bowman): 1976-1979
• New York Islanders (Al Arbour): 1980-83

In this era of the salary cap and player movement, it’s hard to imagine eight years in which only two cities hosted the Cup as champions, but from 1976 to 1983, only Montreal and New York won the title.

Boston’s Best

In the postseason history of the Boston Bruins, four players have reached 100 points: Raymond Bourque (161), Phil Esposito (102), Rick Middleton and John Bucyk (100 each). Bourque’s 161 points is the second-highest total for one organization by a defenseman, but what is more amazing is that Esposito posted his 102 points (46 goals, 56 assists) in only 71 postseason games.

The Habs-Bruins Rivalry

Anyone in Boston or Montreal will tell you the teams don’t like each other. But it isn’t because of their regular-season battles.The Habs and Bruins have faced each other in 33 playoff series, totaling 170 games. Montreal holds a 102-68 advantage and has outscored the Bruins 511-420 over the years.

Kurri’s Greatness

From 1980 to 1990, Jari Kurri was one of the most lethal scorers in the game for the Edmonton Oilers; it didn’t hurt that he was skating next to Wayne Gretzky for most of that time. Still, no player in NHL history has scored more postseason goals for one organization than the 92 that Kurri posted for the Oilers.

Passing 40

Only two players in NHL history have reached the 40-point plateau in a single postseason: Wayne Gretzky (three times) and Mario Lemieux. The last time the mark was achieved was by Gretzky in 1993.

151 Wins As A Goalie

Roy was the No. 51 pick in the 1984 NHL draft, and he would suit up for the Montreal Canadiens and Colorado Avalanche. When Roy retired in 2003, he was the winningest goalie of all time, but the top two goaltenders on this list would later pass him. To this day, Roy still leads all goaltenders in playoff wins (151). Roy won four Stanley Cups, three Vezina Trophies and three Conn Smythe Trophies (a team MVP award). He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2006, and he’s currently the head coach of the New York Islanders.

SO I am a few days late but since I was hospitalized, I wasn’t able to update my blog at all. I watched most of the series games via the highlights on the NHL official channel. I was 50% disappointed and 50% happy as I wanted all 4 Canadian teams in the payoffs to proceed to the second round. Only 2 did and they face each other, so only 1 Canadian team will make it to the Conference finals. So let’s look at the teams that did not go through first.

In the Eastern Conference, Toronto battled valiantly and almost made it through but they lost 4-3 to the Boston Bruins. This was the chance for the Maple Leafs but they could not finish it. In something of an upset, the Florida Panthers defeated their more successful Florida rival, Tampa Bay Lightning, 4-1. Has the tie shifted in terms of power down south? New York Rangers, who seem to be everyone’s favourites having won the League in terms of points, blitzed past Washington Capitols in what was a clear indication of their motives. And finally the Hurricanes of Carolina beat the New York Islanders 4-1.

Out in the Western Conference, 3 Canadian teams were competing and 2 went through. The one that didn’t is my second team – the neutral favourite Winnipeg Jets, who were beaten by Cale Makar’s Colorado Avalanche. But the Edmonton Oilers beat the Los Angeles Kings 4-1 and did it in style. The top team in the West, the Vancouver Canucks also beat out the Nashville Predators 4-2 to become the second Canadian team in round 2 while the Dallas Stars beat out defending champions Las Vegas Golden Knights 4-3.

In the second round the Canucks face the Oilers and the Stars face the Avalanche while Florida will look to beat out the Bruins of Boston as the Ne York Rangers face off against Carolina.

1. The Stanley Cup is named after Frederick Arthur, Lord Stanley of Preston.

Frederick Arthur, Lord Stanley of Preston, was the Governor-General of Canada when he purchased the decorative cup in London for 10 guineas in 1892. Stanley donated the cup to award Canada’s top amateur hockey club after he and his family became infatuated with the sport at Montreal’s 1889 Winter Carnival; it was first awarded to the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association (or MAAA) in 1893.

2. There are actually three Stanley Cups.

Stanley’s original cup from 1892, known as the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup (above), was awarded until 1970, and is now on display in the Vault Room at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. In 1963, NHL president Clarence Campbell believed that the original cup had become too brittle to give to championship teams, so the Presentation Cup was created and is the well-known trophy awarded today. (Skeptics can authenticate the Presentation Cup by noting the Hockey Hall of Fame seal on the bottom.)

The final cup is a replica of the Presentation Cup, which was created in 1993 by Montreal silversmith Louise St. Jacques and is used as a stand-in at the Hall of Fame when the Presentation Cup isn’t available.

3. It’s one of a kind …

Unlike other major league sports trophies, a new cup isn’t made every year. Instead, after each championship, the names of the players, coaches, management, and staff of the winning team are added to the cup. The first team to have its roster engraved was the 1906-07 Montreal Wanderers, whose names were etched within the inner bowl of the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup. The only other team names engraved on the inner bowl are the 1914-’15 Vancouver Millionaires.

4. … And it’s always changing.

More and more teams wanted to be immortalized, so the decision was made to put a separate single ring below the original cup that each new winning roster could be etched on it. Between 1927 and 1947, a new, more streamlined and vertical incarnation of the cup was used. Thanks to its cylindrical shape, it was nicknamed the Stovepipe Cup—but by 1948, the trophy had become too tall to hold or put on display, so the shape was changed to the tiered version used today.

5. The Stanley Cup’s rings are detachable.

Since 1958, five bands of championship names are engraved around the base of the cup. When the rings become full, the oldest band is removed and preserved in Lord Stanley’s Vault at the Great Esso Hall in the Hockey Hall of Fame. A blank replacement band is then put in its place to be filled with the names of the next champions. If all of the rings in the archive were added to the current Stanley Cup, it would be 6.25 feet tall (which is still not as tall as Zdeno Chara).

6. The NHL has official engravers put each name on the cup.

There have been only four official engravers sanctioned by the NHL. The first was the 1948 Stanley Cup designer Carl Poul Petersen, a Danish engraver who moved to Montreal in 1929 and worked with his sons Arno, Ole, and John Paule in his engraving shop until his death in 1977. The current engraver is Louise St. Jacques (creator of the replica of the Presentation Cup), who took over from the second and third official engravers, Doug Boffey and his father Eric, at their shop Boffey Silversmiths in Montreal in 1989.

7. But they’re not always perfect.

Many champion player and team names are misspelled on the Stanley Cup. The name of the 1980-’81 New York Islanders is misspelled as “Ilanders,” and the 1971-’72 Boston Bruins’ name is misspelled as “Bqstqn Bruins.” Most of the errors are left as they are—it would be too costly to fix the mistakes. But fans believe the errors add to the idiosyncratic nature of the cup.

8. There can be extenuating circumstances.

When the Detroit Red Wings won the Stanley Cup in 1998, the team asked that Vladimir Konstantinov’s name be engraved on the cup, even though he didn’t play that year. The NHL allowed it because Konstantinov was a team member who was seriously injured in a car accident before the Wings defended their title. There are also a couple of instances where no names were inscribed at all, like when the cup wasn’t awarded in 1919 due to the influenza pandemic. It also wasn’t awarded for the 2004-’05 season because of a lockout between the league and the players union. The entire space for the players’ names reads “SEASON NOT PLAYED.”

Against this backdrop of technological advancements and fan-focused initiatives, NHL teams are seeing their values skyrocket. Recent deals and investments underscore the league’s popularity and economic potential.  Despite their last Stanley Cup victory dating back to 1967, the Maple Leafs boast a valuation of $150 million higher than the second-ranked New York Rangers, standing at $2.65 billion.

And now the race to 16 wins begins. After the arduous 82 game season we now begin the playoffs to see who will win Lord Stanley’s Cup. From Boston vs. Toronto to the Battle of Florida to Edmonton vs. LA Part III, the postseason will feature some of the most dramatic, physical and heart-stopping moments in any sport. You’ve got New York vs Washington and the battle of Florida, the most unlikely of hockey heavyweights also going head to head.

While I doubt that I will watch any live watches  I just don’t have the time – I will catch some highlights. My safe bet is for a Vancouver vs New York Rangers final though of these teams I would most like for Edmonton to in the cup again. Jets remain another favourite of mine and I hope they do well. Colorado and Tapa are dark horses to win it as well I think.

Canadian former NHL enforcer Chris Simon has passed away at age 52. Simon’s family confirmed the 52-year-old took his own life and believe he was suffering from brain trauma. Simon was a mainstay of the NHL’s bruiser era, playing 15 seasons. Seven of those came with the Washington Capitals, where Simon remains one of the club’s most penalized players, with 666 penalty minutes in 320 games.

Born in Wawa, Ontario, his father, John, is of Ojibwe descent from the Wiikwemkoong First Nation  on Manitoulin Island. As a teenager, he struggled with an addiction to alcohol but was helped to sobriety by future Buffalo Sabres and New York Islanders coach Ted Nolan in 1992. Simon grew up in Wawa, Ontario, playing his minor hockey for the Wawa Flyers of the NOHA. As a Bantam, he played Jr.B. hockey for the Sault Ste. Marie Thunderbirds of the NOJHL in 1987–88. He was selected in the 3rd round (42nd overall) of the 1988 OHL Priority Selection by the Ottawa 67’s. As a teen, he fought addictions and served an eight-game suspension for a stick-swinging incident while on the 67’s. Simon subsequently became sober and counselled indigenous youth on the dangers of alcohol.

Simon was drafted in the 2nd round (25th overall) of the 1990 NHL Entry Draft by the Philadelphia Flyers, but was traded as part of the Eric Lindros trade to the Quebec Nordiques before playing any games for the Flyers. The Nordiques awarded Simon his NHL debut in the subsequent 1992-93 season, with Simon netting two points and 67 penalty minutes in just 16 NHL games. He’d break the 100-penalty minutes mark in 1993-94, a feat he’d achieve in each of the next four seasons and pull off nine total times in his career. His most penalized year in the NHL was 1995-96, when Simon totaled 250 penalty minutes in 64 games, the sixth-most in Nordiques/Colorado Avalanche history. Simon was also a major piece of Colorado’s 1996 Stanley Cup win, providing a physical presence and grit that pushed the Avalanche down the stretch.

He also played for the Calgary Flames, Colorado Avalanche, Washington Capitals, Chicago Blackhawks, New York Rangers (where he split the season as a left wing and right wing), New York Islanders, and Minnesota Wild. Simon was a member of the Washington Capitals when they went to the Stanley Cup finals in 1998. He had been enjoying great offensive success that season until a shoulder injury knocked him out for much of the playoff run. He underwent season-ending shoulder surgery in December 1998. He was the team’s leading goal scorer in the 1999–2000 season with 29 goals in 75 games. He also made it to the Stanley Cup finals with the Calgary Flames in 2004, and played for the Flames for two seasons before being signed as a free agent in 2006 by the New York Islanders. He was then traded to the Minnesota Wild for a 6th round draft pick.

In 1996, he won the Stanley Cup with the Avalanche. Each player on the winning team is given 24 hours alone with the Cup. Simon took it to his hometown of Wawa, Ontario. After showing it to the townspeople he and his maternal grandfather took the Cup on a fishing trip. Simon was seen as a role model to Native Canadians for his accomplishments in the NHL. Simon’s first wife was Lauri Smith and they had a son. Later they divorced. He and his second wife Valerie had four children and they divorced in 2017. In 2017, Simon filed for bankruptcy and claimed he was unable to work due to his hockey injuries. In the filing, a doctor testified that Simon had symptoms of chronic traumatic encephalopathy which were believed to be attributed to significant brain trauma during his hockey career. The doctor further claimed that Simon suffered from depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and arthritis.

Chicago Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson said Tuesday the front office was told during a team trip last week about Corey Perry committing possible misconduct, which led to an internal investigation culminating with the organization cutting ties with the veteran winger. Davidson spoke with reporters for 10 minutes to address the team’s decision to move on from Perry after the Blackhawks announced earlier in the day that they placed the 38-year-old on unconditional waivers for the purposes of terminating his contract.

In their initial statement, the Blackhawks alleged Perry engaged in conduct they described as “unacceptable,” saying it was in violation of both the terms of his contract and the team’s internal policies that are “intended to promote professional and safe work environments.” They did not detail what allegedly happened. Upon being asked if the incident itself was criminal or could potentially become criminal, Davidson said: “It was a workplace matter.” Davidson said the NHL and the NHLPA were aware of what’s happening before noting it was “a team incident and so it was a team decision.”

Davidson said the team was first notified of the allegations last week when the Blackhawks were in Columbus, Ohio, on Wednesday to play the Blue Jackets. Sources told ESPN’s Emily Kaplan that Perry indeed traveled with the team to Columbus last Tuesday, a day before the game, and an incident occurred that day involving a team employee. Davidson said Perry, who did not play in the team’s 7-3 loss, was “immediately pulled” from the game once the Blackhawks were notified, and at that point, the club began an investigation.

Asked for how Perry responded to the team’s decision, Davidson declined to get into the details of his discussion with him. Davidson said he did speak with the team earlier in the day to inform it of the Blackhawks’ decision to place Perry on waivers. He also said the players have no knowledge or any details of the incident. Perry’s status with the Blackhawks had been in question. His most recent game came Nov. 19 in a 3-2 loss to the Buffalo Sabres that saw Perry finish with zero points — the last game the Blackhawks played before Davidson said they first learned about the allegations.

Perry had initially taken a leave of absence from the team, with Davidson telling reporters on Saturday the decision to send him away from the team was made by management. Perry’s agent, Pat Morris, said in a statement that same day that it was Perry’s decision to leave the Blackhawks. The questions around Perry’s absence eventually led to social media speculation over the past few days that the incident itself may have involved the family member of a Blackhawks player. Davidson addressed those rumors in his opening statement. He said the incident did not involve any players or their family members.

Veteran goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury took a stand against NHL regulations by wearing a custom-designed mask for the Minnesota Wild’s Native American Heritage night on Friday. Despite being informed by the league that such a display was not allowed, Fleury hit the ice against the Colorado Avalanche proudly donning the specially crafted mask. Agent Allan Walsh confirmed earlier reports that the NHL had prohibited Fleury from wearing the mask, even during warmups. The league has a strict policy against players showcasing specialty jerseys, masks, stickers, decals, or tape for theme nights. This stance has drawn criticism in the past, notably during Pride nights when the NHL initially banned rainbow-colored tape, only to backtrack following backlash from the hockey community.

For Marc-Andre Fleury, the motivation behind his defiance was personal and poignant. Wanting to honor his wife, Véronique, an Indigenous woman, Fleury aimed to celebrate Native American Heritage Night in a meaningful way. The 38-year-old goaltender from Montreal, Quebec – a three-time Stanley Cup champion and the 2021 Vezina Trophy winner for the league’s top goaltender – made a powerful statement about recognizing and respecting diverse backgrounds within the hockey community. Marc-Andre Fleury’s actions have reignited discussions about the NHL’s uniform policy and the balance between honoring cultural heritage and adhering to league regulations. His decision to prioritize personal expression and support for his wife adds a compelling chapter to the ongoing conversation about inclusivity in the sport.

Despite the NHL’s strict regulations against players donning specialty items for theme nights, it appears that goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury and the Minnesota Wild may avoid fines for the custom-designed mask worn during Native American Heritage night. Fleury, seeking to honor his wife, Veronique, who is of Abenaki and Mi’kmaq descent, offered to pay any potential fine personally. In response, the NHL reportedly threatened the organization with an “additional significant fine.”

Joe Thornton has officially announced his retirement from the NHL following a 24-year career as one of the game’s top playmakers. The 44-year-old Thornton hadn’t played since the 2021-22 season with Florida but hadn’t made an official declaration about his plans until releasing a video Saturday through the San Jose Sharks. Thornton entered the NHL as the No. 1 overall pick by Boston in 1997, had his greatest success in 15 seasons with San Jose following a trade to the Sharks, and then finished his career by playing one season in Toronto and Florida.

He played 1,714 regular-season games, recording 1,109 assists and 430 goals. He was a four-time All-Star, an Olympic gold medalist for Canada in 2010 and won the Hart Trophy as MVP and Art Ross Trophy as scoring leader in 2005-06 after getting traded early that season from Boston to San Jose. Thornton ranks seventh all-time in assists, 12th in points with 1,539 and sixth in games played. About the only thing Thornton didn’t accomplish was winning a Stanley Cup, losing in his only trip to the final round in 2016 with the Sharks against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

But with his pristine playmaking and iconic beard, Thornton became the face of the Sharks franchise after being acquired from Boston on Nov. 30, 2005. San Jose had only intermittent success before his arrival but made the playoffs all but two seasons during Thornton’s time with the Sharks. He helped the team win the Presidents’ Trophy with the best record in 2008-09, make back-to-back conference finals appearances in 2010 and ’11, the Stanley Cup Final in 2016 and another trip to the Western Conference final in 2019. His No. 19 will one day be raised to the rafters at the Shark Tank next to his old running mate Patrick Marleau’s No. 12 that was retired earlier this year.

At the time of his retirement, Thornton was the last active player in any of the major North American professional sports leagues to have played in the 1990s, and the last active NHL player to have played in an NHL game against Wayne Gretzky. Thornton is married to Tabea Pfendsack, whom he met while playing in Switzerland during the 2004–05 NHL lockout. The couple has a daughter and a son. Born in St. Thomas, Ontario, Thornton became a naturalized American citizen in July 2009 at a ceremony in Campbell, California, a suburb of San Jose; he later also received a Swiss passport. Joe and former Sharks teammate Scott Thornton are first cousins.

Vegas Golden Knights Win the Stanley Cup in Just Their Sixth Season. The Western Conference  champion Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Eastern Conference champion Florida Panthers four games to one in the best-of-seven series to one to earn their first championship in their sixth season. The Knights, the top seed in the Western Conference, used a high-speed, sharp-elbowed attack to overwhelm the Panthers, the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference, in five games. The Knights were making their second appearance in the finals, the same as the Panthers.

But while the Panthers came within one round of a championship for the first time since 1996, the Knights made the second-fastest trip to a Stanley Cup victory by any team in the expansion era that began in 1967, trailing only the Edmonton Oilers, who won the Cup in their fifth season in the league. (The Oilers played seven seasons in the World Hockey Association before joining the NHL). This was the first Finals series since 2018 in which neither team had previously won the Stanley Cup.

Quebec native Jonathan Marchessault was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as MVP of the playoffs. Vegas became the second fastest team to win the Stanley Cup as an expansion franchise, following the Edmonton Oilers in 1984. The win gave the state of Nevada and the Las Vegas metropolitan area its first ever major (North American “Big Four”) professional sports championship and the first ever championship for a North American Big Four professional sports team that was founded in the 21st Century.

The Stanley Cup playoffs – I have missed most of it, only following a little bit. I didn’t realize that the final has started.  The Vegas Golden Knights are taking on the Florida Panthers in a battle between the top seed in the West and the lowest seed in the East. That may seem like a lopsided series, but the Panthers have looked like anything but a No. 8 seed in the postseason. Florida took down the Boston Bruins, the Stanley Cup favorites, in the first round before going 8-1 against the Toronto Maple Leafs and Carolina Hurricanes in the next two rounds.

The Golden Knights were one of the favorites to win the West, and they’ve played like one. Vegas rolled through Winnipeg in the first round and defeated the Edmonton Oilers in the second round. The Golden Knights took a 3-0 lead on the Dallas Stars in the conference final, but the Stars clawed their way back for a couple wins before Vegas slammed the door with an emphatic Game 6 win. Both teams have looked worthy of the Stanley Cup through the first three rounds, but only one of them can win it all now. No matter who wins, we will have a first time Cup winner.

Wayne Gino Odjick, (September 7, 1970 – January 15, 2023) a Canadian professional ice hockey left winger who played twelve seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1990 to 2002 for the Vancouver Canucks, New York Islanders, Philadelphia Flyers and Montreal Canadiens has passed away at the age of 52. A fan favourite who played eight seasons with the Vancouver Canucks, he death was announced live during the broadcast of the Sunday’s Canucks game against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Odjick was born in the Algonquin  reserve  of Kitigan Zibi just outside the town of  Maniwaki,  Quebec. Odjick was the fourth child and only son of six children for Joe and Giselle, after Debbie, Shelley, Judy and ahead of Janique and Dina; the Odjicks also raised at least 32 foster children. Originally named Wayne, Odjick was soon given a new name, Gino, as the family found out there was another Wayne on the reserve. He played in the 1983 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a minor ice hockey team from Maniwaki. While at the Hawkesbury Hawks, a Tier II junior team from Ontario, Odjick was given the nickname “the Algonquin Assassin,” a reference to his heritage and skills as a fighter.

As a youth Odjick played two seasons with the Laval Titan of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, playing for the Memorial Cup both seasons. Odjick was drafted by the Vancouver Canucks in the fifth round (86th overall) in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft. He played 17 games for the Canucks’ minor league affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals of the International Hockey League before joining the Canucks full-time in 1990. His primary role with the Canucks was as an enforcer. For part of his time in Vancouver, he played on a line with the high scoring Pavel Bure. For the 1993–94 NHL season, Odjick had a career high of 16 goals and 13 assists for 29 points. He played in a total of 8 seasons for the Canucks from 1990–91 to 1997–98. During six of those seasons, he had over 200 penalty minutes and twice he had over 300.

His sixth season (1997–98) with over 200 penalty minutes was split between the Canucks (181 penalty minutes in 35 games) and New York Islanders (31 in 13 games). In the 1997–98 season, Odjick was traded to the New York Islanders and played there until 1999–2000 when he was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers. He left Philadelphia during the 2000–01 for the Montreal Canadiens. His last NHL season was with Montreal in 2001–02 as he had to sit out the next season due to concussion. In 2003, Odjick moved back to Vancouver and partnered with the Musqueam First Nation to manage the Musqueam Golf & Learning Academy. On June 26, 2014, Odjick revealed that he was diagnosed with the rare terminal disease AL amyloidosis, a rare blood disorder and whose exact cause is often unknown.

This condition had slowly been hardening his heart by coating it in abnormal protein deposits, which eventually led Odjick to suffer a heart attack. He received the Indspire Award in the sports category in 2015. Given just months to live, Odjick turned to an experimental new treatment for his illness. Odjick began recovering, and three years later, his heart was working at 60% of its capacity. Odjick died from a heart attack on January 15, 2023, at the age of 52. Odjick’s parents, Joe and Marie-Antoinette, predeceased him. He had eight children and five sisters.