It's been a superb 365 days for hockey.
As 2016 comes to a close, we're looking back at those stories and players that dominated puck conversation over the year.
Matthews and Laine
Auston Matthews and Patrik Laine were the talk of 2016.
From the 2016 world juniors, to the '16 world championship, to the draft, to the World Cup, and, finally to the NHL. Matthews and Laine. Laine and Matthews.
| Player | Tournament/League | GP | Goals | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laine | World juniors | 7 | 7 | 13 |
| Matthews | World juniors | 7 | 7 | 11 |
| Laine | Worlds | 10 | 7 | 12 |
| Matthews | Worlds | 10 | 6 | 9 |
| Laine | Finnish Elite League | 46 | 17 | 33 |
| Matthews | Swiss League | 36 | 24 | 46 |
| Laine | World Cup | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Matthews | World Cup | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| Laine | NHL | 38 | 19 | 30 |
| Matthews | NHL | 35 | 18 | 30 |
Rather remarkable, right? That the two head into the new year separated by only a goal in the best hockey league on the planet is fitting.
Matthews and Laine, one-two, changing the fortunes of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Winnipeg Jets. Countless headlines. And they're only getting started. It's difficult not to wonder what they'll do in 2017 for an encore.
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Sidney Crosby, of course. A story in and of himself. The NHL's Person of the Year.
What was available to be won in 2016, Crosby did. The Stanley Cup. The Conn Smythe Trophy. The World Cup. The calendar Art Ross (he goes into action on New Year's Eve with 100 points in 75 regular-season games).
Between Connor McDavid, Laine, Matthews, Mark Scheifele, Nikita Kucherov, Johnny Gaudreau, Jonathan Drouin, and more, the NHL is rich with young talent. It's arguably never been richer. But Crosby remains the best hockey player on the planet, period.
Montreal Madness
Never a dull moment in Montreal. And no one should want it any other way.
It's been a rollercoaster 2016 for the Canadiens and their supporters, but you can probably break the year down into three parts: The collapse, the trade, the rise.
Everyone learned a valuable lesson in 2016: The Canadiens are only as good as a healthy Carey Price. Without him, their 2015-16 campaign went off the rails.
On June 29, Montreal played an integral role in what will go down as one of the most important days in modern NHL history, trading P.K. Subban to Nashville for Predators captain Shea Weber in a monumental one-for-one deal.
So far, so good. Price is healthy, has won 18 of 26 starts, and owns a .931 save percentage. Weber's third on the team with nine goals, eight of them on the power play, and he's outproducing Subban.
Most importantly, Montreal's in first place in the Atlantic Division, and will be there on Jan. 1.
Enjoy the ride in 2017.
Blue Jackets rising
The Blue Jackets have been making headlines since January.
Six days into the year, Columbus traded Ryan Johansen, its franchise center, to the Predators for Seth Jones in a blockbuster nobody saw coming. The club went 34-33-8 with John Tortorella behind the bench; good things appeared in store moving forward.
Then the stars aligned for the Blue Jackets at the draft lottery, as Columbus ended up with the rights to the third overall selection. The team went into the lottery looking at pick No. 6, which they had 33.2 percent odds to land. They only had a 9.7 percent chance at No. 3, which they eventually used to draft Pierre-Luc Dubois.
On Dec. 31, Columbus is the best team in the NHL. Say it out loud if you don't believe it. The Blue Jackets have the NHL's best goal differential (plus-48) and are riding a monumental 14-game winning streak.
Most surprising of all, perhaps, is that Tortorella has mellowed. And that's saying something, considering Columbus has points in 29 of 34 games, winning 25 of them.
McDavid's Oilers
Connor McDavid, the savior, is living up to the billing.
Here are the point-per-game averages of the top 10 scorers in calendar 2016:
| Rank | Player | PPG |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Crosby | 1.33 |
| 2 | McDavid | 1.13 |
| 3 | Patrick Kane | 1.07 |
| 4 | Artemi Panarin | 1.03 |
| 5 | Joe Thornton | 0.99 |
| 6 | Vladimir Tarasenko | 0.95 |
| 7 | Brent Burns | 0.94 |
| 8 | Erik Karlsson | 0.91 |
| T9 | Phil Kessel | 0.90 |
| T9 | Joe Pavelski | 0.90 |
When you're second only to Crosby on that list, at 19 years old, you're special. And McDavid is more than that; he's already the Oilers.
Edmonton hasn't made the playoffs since 2006, when it lost the Stanley Cup Final to the Carolina Hurricanes in seven games. On Jan. 1, 2017, the Oilers will be in playoff position.
New captain, new building, new beginning. The lost decade is over.
Honorable mention: The Florida Panthers, and Jaromir Jagr. From the club's success on the ice, to the upheaval in its front office, and to Jagr's incredible accomplishments at 44, it was a banner year.
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