Kukla's Korner Hockey

* Sidney Crosby had a night to remember as he moved into the NHL’s top 10 for points, became the 14th player in League history to record 1,000 assists and helped boost his team back into the second Eastern Conference Wild Card position, marking the fifth time in the past seven days that spot has changed hands.

* The Kings guaranteed their place in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs as they extended their home winning streak to seven games, their longest run since 2012-13 (also 7-0-0).

* It was another night of noteworthy performances for the current leaders in both the Art Ross Trophy and Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy races as Nikita Kucherov surpassed 140 points and Auston Matthews hit 68 goals.

* The Rush to the Stanley Cup Playoffs continues Friday with 10 teams in action, including the Golden Knights who hold the final Wild Card spot and the Blues who are just three points outside the playoff picture.

TSN’s Hockey Insiders have the latest on the league and the Coyotes-Salt Lake City speculation, its effect on the Coyotes players, the Flyers and head coach John Tortorella, Noah Hanifin’s extension with Vegas and Canada’s 4-Nations GM

Watch at TSN

10 of them.

from ESPN,

Frozen Four schedule

All times Eastern

at Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, Minnesota

National semifinals, April 11

Denver vs. Boston University, 5 p.m. (ESPN2, ESPN+)

Boston College vs. Michigan, 8:30 p.m. (ESPN2, ESPN+)

National championship game, April 13
Semifinal winners, 6 p.m. (ESPN, ESPN+)

more on the teams

* The West is not set thanks to the Blues, who are now three points back of the reigning Stanley Cup champions for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

* The regular-season will end one week from today, with four playoff spots still up for grabs (two in each conference) and all eight First Round matchups to be determined.

* None of the 12 teams that have clinched a playoff spot have secured a specific seed, and each of them have at least four potential opponents in the First Round. Click here to see all the possible outcomes.

* All five contenders in the Eastern Conference playoff race are in action tonight, with the Capitals able to overtake the Islanders for third in the Metropolitan Division standings. If that doesn’t happen, the winner of the Red Wings-Penguins matchup could move back into the second Wild Card spot.

9 minutes to watch.

from Frank Seravalli of The Daily Faceoff,

The NHL is concurrently drafting two versions of a league schedule matrix for the 2024-25 season, one with the Arizona Coyotes and another with the Coyotes franchise playing in Salt Lake City in the event of relocation, multiple sources told Daily Faceoff.

That does not mean the NHL has firmed up plans to relocate the franchise yet, just that the league has a viable contingency plan for next season. But the news comes on the heels of billionaire prospective owner Ryan Smith publicly soliciting potential names for an NHL team in Utah earlier this week.

As the NHL has been working on dual paths, multiple sources indicate Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo is intimately involved in both. The first, of course, involves the Coyotes remaining in the Phoenix area by building a new arena via Arizona State Land Trust auction, which is scheduled for June 27.

continued

from the NHLPA,

The NHLPA Player Poll has returned with the 2023-24 edition. During the regular season, 639 NHL players were surveyed on 15 hockey-related questions. Players weighed in on a variety of topics, including top positional players, most complete player, best playmaker, best style, toughest arena to play in and more!

If you need to win one game, who is the goalie you want on your team?

Make it three seasons in a row now for Andrei Vasilevskiy who received 289 votes as the players’ top pick to defend the crease for their team in a must-win game. With two Stanley Cups, a Conn Smythe Trophy and a Vezina Trophy already in his back pocket, this netminder’s experience is hard to ignore.

If you need to win a faceoff, who would you pick?

Blink and you’ll miss it! As a veteran in the faceoff circle, Ryan O’Reilly gets another clean win with 80 votes. Sidney Crosby finished closely behind with 75 votes. Meanwhile, Claude Giroux and Luke Glendening placed third and fourth, respectively, and Jordan Staal received one vote more than Anze Kopitar to round out the top five.

more plus two related videos below...

* Alex Ovechkin recorded an NHL-record 18th career 30-goal campaign to propel the Capitals into a playoff spot on the same night Auston Matthews scored his 66th goal of 2023-24 to surpass Ovechkin for the highest single-season total among active skaters.

* Nathan MacKinnon, Juraj Slafkovsky and Steven Stamkos each netted hat tricks for their clubs. Tuesday marked the first time three first-overall picks each registered a three-goal performance on the same day.

* The Predators clinched the sixth postseason berth in the Western Conference and are officially headed to the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

* More movement can be on the horizon during a three-game Wednesday – the Golden Knights have a chance to jump into third place in the Pacific Division when they face the Oilers on TNT, MAX, TVA Sports and various Sportsnet channels.

Watch the hit below and these two teams meet again on Saturday afternoon.

Below, watch his three goals tonight in two periods.

via the NHL PR department,

It could be the three 130-point players, the 65-goal scorer, the five teams separated by two points battling for two Eastern Conference playoff spots, the three Western Conference playoff seeds still up for grabs, the five clubs separated by six points at the top of the NHL standings, the changing-daily potential playoff matchups or “all of the above” that is making for “sweet, beautiful, end of the season mayhem.”

from Sportsnet,

The pursuit of a forever home for the Arizona Coyotes seems to be a never-ending saga.

In their latest hitch, Scottsdale mayor David Ortega opposed the Coyotes' plans to purchase land in North Phoenix — bordering Scottsdale — to build their arena in an opinion piece written Monday for the Arizona Digital Free Press, calling the project unfeasible and unwelcome.

"The prospect of a rookie developer attempting to buy Arizona State Trust Land with absolutely no infrastructure on the Phoenix side of Loop 101 and Scottsdale Road intersection at the doorstep of Scottsdale is not feasible, or welcome," Ortega wrote.

"I admire the hockey sport, Arizona Coyotes community involvement and phenomenal youth clubs at Scottsdale Ice Den. But I along with City of Scottsdale staff will continue to monitor any actions that occur, and negative repercussions for Scottsdale. As it stands today, the fantasy hockey project must move west, away from Scottsdale."...

The Coyotes declined to comment on Ortega's statement when contacted by Sportsnet.

read on

* The Penguins pushed their point streak to nine games to match the idle Red Wings (Wild Card 2) at 84 points. Pittsburgh will watch Tuesday as the other six teams in the Eastern Conference playoff race hit the ice, including a pivotal showdown between the Capitals and Red Wings on ESPN (7 p.m. ET).

* A Canucks comeback win against the Golden Knights featured noteworthy performances from their top scorers as J.T. Miller recorded his first 100-point season and Brock Boeser notched his first 40-goal campaign.

* Auston Matthews continued his quest to the 70-goal milestone by scoring his 65th of 2023-24, tying Alex Ovechkin for the most in a season among active players.

* The Predators and Kings can clinch playoff spots, while the Rangers, Stars and Bruins can secure division titles.

from Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic,

The question is whether teams, players and fans are tired of this format, and whether they would prefer going back to the conference playoff format the league had before: 1 versus 8, 2 versus 7, etc.

I posed that to team presidents around the league over the past few days. I asked them because this is a Board of Governors matter, not a GMs matter.

“I understand the thought behind the current format to create rivalries between divisional opponents; there just isn’t as many regular-season divisional games like there used to be,” Boston Bruins president Cam Neely said via text message. “I’d like to see how a conference format would be received by hockey fans.”

Another Hockey Hall of Fame player turned team president, the Los Angeles Kings’ Luc Robitaille, said he doesn’t have a problem with the current playoff format but does wish there would be more divisional games in the regular season. Still, like Neely he would be open to having the discussion.

“Honestly, this is the first year where I feel like people are talking about that,” Robitaille said over the phone. “It seems to be more vocal. I have not looked into it, in terms of what it would do with everything around it, the big picture of it all. But like Cam, I would listen at least and study it, yes.”

A dozen or so other team presidents and governors requested anonymity in their responses, as the commissioner prefers this subject not be hashed out in public by teams.

Of those, the majority were in favor of going back to the 1-8 conference format or at least having a serious conversation about it.

more ($)

NEW YORK (April 8, 2024) – Tampa Bay Lightning right wing Nikita Kucherov, Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby and New York Rangers left wing Artemi Panarin have been named the NHL’s “Three Stars” for the week ending April 7.

from Luke Fox of Sportsnet,

A quick mix of the things we gleaned from the week of hockey, serious and less so, and rolling four lines deep. We're finding things out: I don't have a clue how to write.

- The wildest stat, in a season full of them, might be the New York Islanders blowing 22 third-period leads through their first 74 games. Lock up half of those, and they cruise to a postseason berth.

Can you really look at the goal differential of the clubs just outside the wild-card cut line and argue with a straight face that they deserve to be part of some expanded playoff tournament?

more topics...

* The race for the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference remains as crowded as ever, with Detroit defeating Buffalo and concluding Sunday holding the position thanks to Ottawa’s overtime win against Washington.

* The Red Wings became the fifth different team to occupy the Eastern Conference’s final Wild Card spot through play in the past five days, following the Capitals (April 3), Islanders (April 4), Flyers (April 5) and Penguins (April 6).

* The Stars (49-20-9, 107 points) moved ahead of the idle Bruins (46-17-15, 107 points) for second in the NHL standings and kept pace with the first-place Rangers (53-21-4, 110 points), while Nathan MacKinnon (48-85—133 in 78 GP) had two assists to climb within three points of League leader Nikita Kucherov (43-93—136 in 76 GP) in the Art Ross Trophy race.

* The MultiVersus NHL Face-Off Draft took place Sunday ahead of the real-time animated presentation of the Avalanche-Golden Knights game on April 14, with Colorado’s roster featuring Velma, Superman, Steven Universe and Finn the Human and Vegas’ including Shaggy, Batman, Bugs Bunny and Wonder Woman.

* Monday’s two-game slate features the Penguins looking to unseat the idle Red Wings when they visit Pittsburgh general manager Kyle Dubas’ former team as well as the Pacific Division-leading Canucks hosting the Golden Knights in a potential 2024 First Round matchup.

from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun,

You don’t want to face Andrei Vasilevskiy in the playoffs. In his past 10 starts, the Lightning are 8-1-1, his goals against average is right around 2 and his save percentage is .937 in that time … When the Leafs lost to Sergei Bobrovsky and the Florida Panthers in Round 2 last May, Bobrovsky had a save percentage of .940 in the series … Since the trade deadline, the Carolina Hurricanes are 11-3-1 and key pickup Jake Guentzel has 20 points in the 13 games he has played for the Canes … What a lame playoff race this has been in the Eastern Conference. Philadelphia has won five of its last 17 games and is still in a playoff position. Detroit has won four of its last 16 games and is one point out. Makes you wonder how Buffalo and Ottawa couldn’t make a playoff push.

more hockey talk including who wins the Hart Trophy...

* Auston Matthews added to his goal total to reach the 100-point mark for the second time in his career and tied Connor McDavid (64 in 2022-23) for the third-most goals in a campaign in the past 30 years – a list topped by Mario Lemieux (69 in 1995-96) and Alex Ovechkin (65 in 2007-08).

* Sidney Crosby reached the 40-goal mark for the third time in his career – and first in seven seasons – to propel the Penguins into a playoff spot for the first time since Nov. 14 after sitting nine points out just last week.

* Washington and Detroit can move back into a Wild Card spot as part of a busy nine-game Sunday – one that could also feature Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin make NHL history with his 18th career 30-goal season.

via Sportsnet's YouTube page,

On this edition of Saturday Headlines, Elliotte Friedman discusses Keith Pelley assuming the role of President and CEO of MLSE, the Vancouver Canucks not rushing Thatcher Demko back from injury, the latest on Mikko Rantanen's injury, and more.

from Larry Brooks of the New York Post,

Auston Matthews is coming up on 65 goals and has had the Rocket Richard locked down for weeks, Nathan MacKinnon and Connor McDavid are embroiled in an Art Ross race for the ages with Nikita Kucherov, and all of this probably means that Sidney Crosby won’t get a single vote as first all-star team center despite the fact that No. 87 is having one of the great seasons of his decorated career.

This serves as an explanation for why Peter Stastny never made a first- or second- all-star team during his career, why Pat LaFontaine made the second team once (first team, never) and Steve Yzerman was never so honored until his 17th season when he was voted onto the first team in 1999-2000.

That was life in the fast line for centers when the NHL was ruled by the Wayne Gretzky-Mario Lemieux hegemony. Now, there are McDavid, MacKinnon and Matthews and one of these three will not be voted onto either all-star team.

Crosby may not get a vote as an all-star, but he might be a factor in the Hart Trophy balloting. Tampa Bay’s right wing Kucherov, who entered Saturday with 133 points to MacKinnon’s 131 and McDavid’s 128, seems to be leading the polls....

continue for more on Crosby plus other topics like...

I wonder whether the Wild’s twin additions of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter on July 4, 2012, ultimately represent the most disappointing and perhaps destructive free-agent signings in NHL history even while at the same time at least partially filling their objective.

* The Oilers, Maple Leafs and Lightning all clinched a berth into the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, leaving just five more spots up for grabs – two in the East and three in the West – with 13 days left in the regular season.

* Connor McDavid became the fifth active player with eight-plus 30-goal campaigns, while teammate Leon Draisaitl joined a group of six other skaters this season to have reached the century mark for points.

* The Blues and Blues Alumni presented $600,000 to The V Foundation for Cancer Research to support projects at Siteman Cancer Center, with the donation including proceeds from Friday's “Puck Cancer” charity game at Centene Community Ice Center and a $200,000 commitment from this season's Hockey Fights Cancer initiative.

* Playoff races take center stage during the second-last Saturday of the regular season as all eight First Round matchups remain uncertain.

Professional sports are no stranger to innovation, and hockey is no exception. With the rise of technology comes the opportunity for expansion and advancement. One such example is the adoption of cryptocurrency, more specifically Bitcoin, in the world of hockey. The explosion of Bitcoin across different sectors of the economy has not left the hockey arena untouched, and we dive deep to explore this innovation.