There will be one more trophy to present at this year's NHL Awards.
The NHL will unveil the Willie O'Ree Community Hero Award, which will "recognize the commitment of those who are improving lives and strengthening their communities through the game of hockey," the league announced Friday.
"We are privileged to honor Willie with the creation of this new community award," NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement."He has dedicated his life to equality and inclusion; to supporting young people of all backgrounds who are following their dreams; and to using hockey as a platform to build character and teach life skills."
The award will recognize a person, team, league, rink, or association that is not tied to the league or one of its 31 clubs.
Nominations for the award can be submitted via social media or through NHL.com. Six finalists will then be chosen before a public vote decides the inaugural winner.
In 1958, O'Ree made his debut with the Boston Bruins, breaking the color barrier as the first black player to skate in the NHL.
O'Ree appeared in 45 NHL games between 1958 and 1961.
Marchand was whistled for interference but didn't face supplemental discipline.
Count Duclair among those surprised the Bruins winger, who was suspended five games earlier this season, didn't get a call from the league.
"Everyone is going to have their own opinion," Duclair told Scott Powers of The Athletic. "At the same time, everyone knows his track record and he tends to do it.
"But sometimes, I don't know what happens, but he tends to do some dirty, dirty hits out there. I think it was pretty dirty, to be honest with you. He did reach out to me after, but I'm out for the rest of the year. I don't know what's going to happen in the future, hopefully I come back, but I thought it was pretty dirty."
It's not the first time this season Marchand has avoided suspension. Many thought he'd miss a few games following a recent cross-check to Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Andrew MacDonald. He was ultimately fined $5,000.
Last month, New Jersey Devils forward Marcus Johansson echoed similar comments to Duclair's after he missed 31 games and suffered a concussion courtesy of a Marchand elbow. Johansson called the hit "stupid" and warned that the winger could cause a career-ending injury if he doesn't change his style of play.
As for Duclair, who was initially expected to miss one-to-two weeks but has seen that timetable pushed back as he continues his recovery, he's hopeful to re-sign with Chicago and have the chance to show his offensive game.
The Blackhawks acquired him from the Arizona Coyotes in January, but injuries have limited him to just 23 appearances and eight points.
"I think next year will be sort of a different look and more of a full team," Duclair said. "I'd definitely love to be a part of the future."
The San Jose Sharks have had to persevere without Joe Thornton for the better part of two-and-a-half months and will likely have to do the same to begin the playoffs.
Head coach Pete DeBoer spoke to the media on Friday where he noted that Thornton is doubtful to return to the lineup for Game 1 of the playoffs, according to The Athletic's Kevin Kurz.
Thornton has been out of the Sharks' lineup since Jan. 23, missing the team's last 34 games due to a knee injury. Luckily, the Sharks have clinched a playoff spot and currently sit second in the Pacific Division.
In 47 games this season, Thornton has 13 goals and 36 points.
The Buffalo Sabres forward and Minnesota native will join Team USA for the upcoming World Championship in Denmark, reports TSN's Darren Dreger.
Mittelstadt made his NHL debut with the Sabres last month, joining the team after his season wrapped at the University of Minnesota. The 19-year-old has picked up three points in four games with the Sabres.
Buffalo selected Mittelstadt with the eighth pick in last year's draft.
The World Championship begins May 4, with Team USA aiming for its first gold medal since 1960.
Jonathan Pitre, otherwise known as the "Butterfly Boy' died Wednesday evening at 17 after a heroic battle with epidermolysis bullosa.
The disease makes the skin incredibly fragile and easily susceptible to blistering and erosion, making scratching and rubbing nearly impossible. He lost his fight after suffering septic shock as the result of an infection.
Pitre raised a great deal of money for the disease and was known for being a huge fan of the Ottawa Senators. Last March, ahead of a stem cell treatment in Minnesota, the Senators surprised Pitre with a meet-and-greet.
His story made waves around the NHL, so when news of his death broke Friday, many in the hockey community took to social media to pay their respects.
It was a privilege getting to know you Jonathan Pitre, thanks for sharing all of your great qualities with us all. You will always be remembered. My thoughts and prayers to Tina and the entire Pitre family.
Jonathan was the most courageous young man I’ve ever met. He had the toughest life imagineable, and yet always saw the positive in it...always found hope through endless pain. His disease gave him a purpose...to help educate, and help other kids with EB. We will never forget him. https://t.co/QYvrlhmOOb
The Senators join the rest of Ottawa and mourn the loss of our special friend. He taught us what courage and resilience really is, all the while displaying his trademark enthusiasm and smile.
My heart goes out to Tina and the rest of Jonathan Pitres family. He was without a doubt the most courageous and selfless person I have ever met. It was a privilege to know him and I will never forget how much inspiration one person can bring to this world.
I had the opportunity to meet Jonathan one of my first nights on the set at TSN; thoughts of his enthusiasm and confidence have never left me. @TSN_Sports@TSNHockeyhttps://t.co/RRiD6d9FQd
Jonathan inspired us with his courage and spirit; and made us smile because of his wit. His Mom reaffirmed love for us with her devotion to Jonathan. Sadly, the brightest lights often burn the shortest, but we never forget their intensity. RIP, Butterfly Boy. https://t.co/fjtTwDcbUJ
The TSN family is saddened to share the loss of Jonathan Pitre. Jonathan, 17, passed away after a life-long battle with Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB), a rare genetic skin condition.
Jonathan Pitre was a hero in every sense of the word - a courageous and determined fighter who persisted in the face of every challenge, and who inspired so many. My deepest condolences to his mother Tina, friends and family today. https://t.co/JqqljEyJYz
Thomas Chabot's season has the chance to end on a high note.
The Senators are likely to finish with the second-worst record in the Eastern Conference, but on the bright side, the rookie defenseman has accepted an invite to play for Canada at the World Championship, Ottawa confirmed Friday.
Chabot has dressed in 61 games this season and has put up nine goals and 25 points, good enough for fifth in scoring among all rookie defenders.
The 21-year-old recently represented Canada at the 2017 World Junior Championship, where he captured a silver medal and was named the tournament MVP, the best defenseman, and to the All-Star team.
After years of playing second fiddle to the dominant Metropolitan, the Atlantic Division is the toast of the Eastern Conference.
The Boston Bruins, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Toronto Maple Leafs have arguably been the best three teams in the East this year, racking up 150 combined wins and sitting one, two, and three, respectively, at the top of the Atlantic standings for most of the campaign.
Thanks to the NHL's implementation of a bracket-style playoff format in the 2013-14 season, these three juggernauts will most likely see a whole lot of each other in the coming weeks.
Toronto is cemented into the third position, so the immediate question is who will earn the top spot and become its opening-round opponent. In addition, barring the first overall team getting upset in their first-round series against the lower of the two wild-card teams, the second round of the playoffs will also feature two Atlantic foes going at it.
The division crown is still up for grabs, too, with Boston and Tampa Bay tied at 110 points after the Lightning's shutout victory over the Bruins on Tuesday.
Below, we break down each team's strengths, weaknesses, and recent matchup history to get a better sense of how they stack up against each other.
Boston Bruins (49-19-12)
Strengths: Physical forward group. Balanced scoring attack. Proven goalie with a ton of playoff experience. Excellent on special teams.
Weaknesses: Unproven blue line. A number of young players with limited postseason minutes. Lacking in speed. Core pieces have a lot of mileage.
Record vs. Lightning (2018)
GF vs. Lightning
GA vs. Lightning
3-1-0
10
8
Record vs. Maple Leafs (2018)
GF vs. Maple Leafs
GA vs. Maple Leafs
1-2-1
10
12
Let's get one thing straight off the jump: the Boston Bruins are for real. Finding holes in their lineup is like finding open seats on the rush-hour train home: they don't really exist.
The Bruins have the fewest regulation losses of any Eastern Conference club, they sit in the top five in both power-play percentage and penalty-killing efficiency, and their top line of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, and David Pastrnak is one of the best in the business. All three players have at least 30 goals.
Boston has shown it can beat both Toronto and Tampa, earning nine out of a possible 16 points against them during the 2017-18 campaign. However, both the Leafs and Lightning boast lineups loaded with speedy players, an obvious benefit the Bruins don't have - especially when David Backes, Rick Nash, Brian Gionta, or Zdeno Chara happen to be on the ice.
Aside from this week's statement shutout victory, Tampa has had serious trouble handling Boston's depth, failing to hold a lead at any point in the team's first three meetings. So, in terms of the Bruins versus the Lightning in a seven-game series, Boston has earned the edge.
Against their bitter rival from Toronto, the Bruins took the L in three out of four regular-season contests, struggling to match up with the Leafs' four high-flying forward lines. However, it should be noted that two of the Leafs' three victories came in one-goal games, including one in overtime, so don't map out the parade route just yet, Toronto.
Thanks to the franchise's success in recent years, most of the Bruins' core has the disadvantage of having played a lot of hockey, which could lead to the team's undoing against the youth and speed of the Lightning and Leafs - especially in longer series.
Regardless, Boston is in the midst of one of the best seasons in club history, heading into the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs as a team no one will want to tangle with.
Tampa Bay Lightning (53-23-4)
Strengths: Top-ranked offense. Deadly power play. Speed on all four forward lines. Reliable D-core.
Weaknesses: Brutal penalty kill. Inefficiency on the faceoff dots. Vasilevskiy's poor rebound control. Relatively soft up front.
Record vs. Bruins (2018)
GF vs. Bruins
GA vs. Bruins
1-3-0
8
10
Record vs. Maple Leafs (2018)
GF vs. Maple Leafs
GA vs. Maple Leafs
3-1-0
13
10
A campaign that started without a ceiling has come back down to earth for the Lightning over the latter portion of the 2017-18 season, in which Steve Yzerman's group has lost six of 11 games down the stretch.
Offensive prowess is what wins games for Tampa, which boasts a lineup including the likes of Steven Stamkos, Brayden Point, and Hart Trophy candidate Nikita Kucherov. That trio, among others, has been instrumental in pushing the Bolts to the top of the NHL scoring list, tallying a sensational 281 goals heading into Friday's games.
However, any experienced puckhead knows scoring is far from the be-all and end-all of winning contests in the spring, as games get tighter and lower-scoring. So Tampa Bay will also have to lean heavily on 23-year-old Russian netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy, who's been in the Vezina Trophy conversation basically all year long.
The Lightning struggle mightily on the penalty kill and faceoff dots, though, which means they could have difficulty with both the Bruins and Maple Leafs - teams that excel on the man advantage and at faceoffs - in a seven-game series.
With an offense that has paced the league for the majority of the season, the Lightning are never truly out of any game. And, if Vasilevskiy can steal one or two contests, there really is no telling how far this group can go. But one thing is for sure: getting past the first and second rounds won't be an easy task.
Toronto Maple Leafs (48-26-7)
Strengths: High-flying offense. Ability to roll out three scoring lines. Speed up and down the lineup. Efficient power play. Disciplined.
Weaknesses: Lack of size and aggression, both up front and on the blue line. Tendency to blow leads. Weak defensively. Limited playoff experience.
Record vs Lightning (2018)
GF vs. Lightning
GA vs. Lightning
1-2-1
10
13
Record vs. Bruins (2018)
GF vs. Bruins
GA vs. Bruins
3-1-0
12
10
Having an elite goaltender has done wonders for the Maple Leafs' confidence, as Frederik Andersen has easily been Toronto's MVP this season.
His Vezina-type numbers (37 wins, five shutouts, .917 save percentage) have provided stability to a Leafs club that had been searching for a bona fide No. 1 netminder since the Curtis Joseph and Ed Belfour days. Factor in Toronto's stacked forward group, and hockey fans in The Six finally have a reason for optimism for the first time in two decades.
While there's no denying the Leafs can score goals with the best of them, sitting fifth overall in team scoring with 260 goals, Toronto's blue line leaves something to be desired. Nothing against guys like Jake Gardiner, Morgan Rielly, and Ron Hainsey, but those three aren't good enough to make up for the rest of Toronto's rag-tag back end.
Given the Leafs' propensity to allow a ton of shots (they allow the fourth-most per game), Andersen could be tested early and often against two teams in the Lightning and Bruins that like to get pucks on net.
His brilliance this season has somewhat masked the Leafs' tendency to blow leads, and he'll need to be equally stellar during the postseason if Mike Babcock and Co. want to advance to the second round. Both the Lightning and Bruins would give Toronto all it could handle in a seven-game series.
Through the remainder of the regular season, we'll take a look at how the night's action impacts the playoff races, highlighting which teams' postseason odds went up or down significantly.
Western Conference
Team
Result
Playoff Chances
Change
Blues
Off
46.2%
+11.8%
Avalanche
4-2 L vs. SJ
53.8%
-11.8%
The Colorado Avalanche entered Thursday night with a one-point advantage over the St. Louis Blues for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference and the last playoff position up for grabs.
However, with a 4-2 loss to the San Jose Sharks, the Avs failed to stretch their lead over St. Louis and have now put their playoff hopes into the hands of the Blues, who have a game in hand heading into the weekend.
Eastern Conference
Team
Result
Playoff Chances
Change
Panthers
3-2 W vs. BOS
6.3%
-5.4%
Flyers
4-3 W vs. CAR
93.7%
+0.7%
The Florida Panthers did everything right Thursday night to keep their slim playoff hopes alive. They topped the mighty Boston Bruins 3-2 in a tight affair. Just one problem; they didn't get help from anyone else.
The Panthers must win their remaining two games, but even then, the Flyers can claim the final playoff spot in the East with just a single point in their final game against the New York Rangers on Saturday.
As NHL teams are officially eliminated from Stanley Cup contention, theScore NHL freelance writer Katie Brown looks back at the highs and lows of their seasons, along with the biggest questions ahead of 2018-19. The 12th edition focuses on the Carolina Hurricanes.
The Good
One fine Finnish duo. Linemates Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen are the Hurricanes’ leading scorers and have looked good doing it. In his second NHL season, Aho has set career highs in goals, assists, and points. Teravainen is having a strong year, too; his 23 goals and 62 points are the highest of his five-year career.
Lots of cap space. Come July 1, the Hurricanes will have quite a chunk of change to play with - almost $26 million, to be exact. There are RFAs to be re-signed and a couple of UFAs who might be brought back, but they'll still have a significant amount of money available to improve the team in a market where things aren’t getting any cheaper.
A solid prospect pipeline. The past few years, it’s seemed the Charlotte Checkers are the ones who’ve benefitted from the Hurricanes' prospect pool. Ron Francis did a good job stocking the cupboard during his tenure, but it’ll be up to his successor to utilize those resources. Valentin Zykov, who’s scored six points in eight games, and defenseman Roland McKeown will be ones to watch for next season.
The Bad
Subpar goaltending. When the Hurricanes signed Scott Darling to a four-year, $16.6-million contract last May, they certainly didn’t expect him to have such a disastrous season. Darling’s .888 save percentage made Cam Ward’s.905 look good by comparison. The Hurricanes were forced to rely on Ward more often than they probably would have liked, instead of Darling shouldering the majority of the starts. Some of this can be blamed on poor play and some on the failings of the defense.
An inconsistent defense. While the Hurricanes' defense is young and full of potential, it’s still, at best, inconsistent and unpredictable. Considering the depth available, they should have been better, but that didn’t always translate on the ice. This isn’t a new problem, either. It’s hard to recall the last time the Hurricanes were able to ice a decent blue line for even part of a season.
One bad stretch. For a good portion of the season, the Hurricanes looked like a playoff team. And even late in the season, they still had a shot at capturing a wild-card spot. They didn’t do themselves any favors, though, as evidenced by a truly impressive collapse. Losing 11 of 15 games during a crucial stretch effectively wiped out any chance the Hurricanes had of making it to the postseason for the first time in nine years.
Questions
Who’s going to be GM? Not long after Tom Dundon took over as the Hurricanes new owner, he relieved Francis of his duties, ending his four-year tenure in the role. Francis was then appointed president of hockey operations. Dundon announced the next GM would report directly to him, but less than two weeks later, the search was put on hold as Dundon didn’t feel he had the time to do it properly. This news came out around the same time as reports of three possible candidates withdrawing interest in the position. It’s not going to be easy to find someone willing to operate under Dundon’s parameters for the job.
Does Bill Peters return? Peters won’t have his fate decided until Dundon hires a new GM, but he could decide to take advantage of a clause in his contract (he has one year remaining) as a way out. Up to one week after the end of the season, Peters can terminate his contract. But if he stays, he could have more sway with a new GM than he did with Francis.
What needs to be fixed? One of Carolina’s primary needs is a first-line center. Is that Victor Rask? Maybe. Or will he be traded while his value is high? Though the defense has been glaring at times, all that really needs to be done is to surround the youth with some complementary pieces. As for goaltending, Ward is in the last year of his contract. It might be wise to keep him around for another year or two as a veteran presence while Darling figures things out, and hope for better results next season.
Someone left Rogers Arena in Vancouver a very rich man on Thursday night.
The 50/50 raffle at the Canucks-Coyotes game reached $1,014,555 CAD, meaning one lucky fan took home $507,278 (or $397,275 USD) tax free, setting a record for the largest 50/50 prize in North American sports history, according to ESPN's Darren Rovell.
$507,278: What a Vancouver Canucks fan is taking home tonight, tax free, thanks to the largest 50/50 raffle prize in North American sports history. (Prize is $397,275 in US Dollars) pic.twitter.com/d7H7kGIIKj
Every fan in attendance was treated to quite a show, as the Sedins had a dramatic ending to their careers, connecting on the game's overtime winner, but this one fan in particular clearly had the best night of his life.
The pot was already at $412,000 with unclaimed funds an hour and a half before puck drop, which explains why it reached over $1 million, according to Nick Cotsonika of NHL.com.
