The New Core Four

You might think you know where Leafs Nation is. Perhaps in the downtown arena where the team plays. Perhaps in Maple Leaf Square outside that rink, where fans congregate to watch away games on big screens. Maybe, even, it’s in Florida, where Toronto fans figured out how to get tickets despite a scheme by the Panthers to limit Canadian buyers’ access.

Not Where We Thought We’d Be

Not Where We Thought We’d Be

Toronto, ON—Sometimes real life interferes with the best-laid plans. Such is the case with the Los Angeles-Edmonton NHL series being played out this week. Inside Hockey happily reported on the third and fourth games, played in LA, bringing you on-the-spot coverage of the Kings as we have done for fifteen years and two Stanley Cups. I was all primed to do game six, happening a full three days off after the prior game, played Tuesday night in Edmonton.

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Is Korpisalo McDavid’s Kryptonite?

Is Korpisalo McDavid’s Kryptonite?

Is talking about kryptonite still a thing? If so, here’s a question: Are the LA Kings Connor McDavid’s kryptonite? He had to be wondering it himself in advance of Sunday night’s 6pm contest in LA. Why else would he not have taken over the teams’ first-round series that coming into Sunday night saw the Edmonton team down by a game? They could have used his help.

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Quiet Building, Loud Game

Quiet Building, Loud Game

The arena in Los Angeles was full Friday night. This is a departure from normal, where a full house includes a lot of ghosts in seats that are sold by license. That is, a good deal of the lower bowl—empty. However it happened, there were very few gaps for empty seat...

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Tuning Up or Sliding In?

Tuning Up or Sliding In?

Tuning up or sliding in—which are the LA Kings doing as the post-season looms? There didn’t seem to be much of a sense of urgency as they wound their way through the last handful of regular-season games. Now, they ready themselves for the same opponent as last year, the Edmonton Oilers. In fact, even in playing the Edmonton team in late March and early April, they didn’t show much in 2-0 and 3-1 late-season losses.

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Stanley Cup Final tale of the tape: The 30 categories that will determine the winner

Which team has the best forwards? Best coaching staff? What about the best mascot(s), goal song, postgame trinket and playoff slogan? [...]

Expert picks: Who wins Panthers-Golden Knights?

Two teams enter, one team leaves with the most glorious trophy in sports. Here's who our experts have winning it all. [...]

Conn Smythe Watch: Counting down the MVP leaders as Stanley Cup Final begins

We polled a dozen writers, including many who will cover the championship series, to get a sense of which players are leading the way for the Panthers and Golden Knights. [...]

Who wins the Stanley Cup? Goalie confidence ratings, X factors, predictions for Panthers-Golden Knights

Two teams remain standing in the quest to hoist the sacred chalice. Here are key players for each team -- and those who need to step up. [...]

Tkachuk: Title would cap 'hardest road to Cup'

Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk said taking out the Golden Knights in the Final would cap "the hardest road to the Stanley Cup in history." [...]

Canadiens forward Pezzetta signs 2-year deal

Montreal Canadiens forward Michael Pezzetta signed a two-year, $1.625 million contract extension on Friday that spans through the 2024-25 season. [...]

Peterborough advances to Memorial semifinal

The Peterborough Petes beat the Kamloops Blazers 5-4 in the Memorial Cup tiebreaker Thursday night to advance to face the Seattle Thunderbirds in the semifinal. [...]

Kane has hip resurfacing surgery, out 4-6 months

Patrick Kane will be shelved four to six months after undergoing a hip resurfacing procedure, his agent said Thursday. [...]

New Leafs GM: Re-signing Matthews top priority

New Leafs GM Brad Treliving said re-signing Auston Matthews is a top priority, but he's not sure yet about keeping the core four together. [...]

Penguins hire ex-Leafs GM Dubas as president

The Penguins have hired former Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas as president overseeing all aspects of the hockey operations department. [...]

FANTASY HOCKEY

Fantasy Forward Rankings: 2022-23

It shouldn’t come as any surprise that Connor McDavid tops our fantasy forward rankings for 2022-23. Only 25 years old, he’s got four 100-point seasons under his belt, and if his production continues at a similar pace for another decade, he will almost certainly go down as one of the NHL’s all-time greatest players.

Fantasy Defense Rankings: 2022-23

Fantasy Defense Rankings: 2022-23

It’s hard to imagine a more perfect fantasy defenseman than Cale Makar, who combines elite skating and playmaking skills to consistently deliver point-per-game (or better) production from the blue line. Perhaps most importantly, he plays for an excellent Avalanche team, ensuring that his plus-minus rating should be a help as well.

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Fantasy Goalie Rankings: 2022-23

Fantasy Goalie Rankings: 2022-23

It will be difficult for Igor Shesterkin to top his terrific Vezina Trophy-winning season, but with a young roster jelling in front of him, their improvements could make his job quite a bit easier. In particular, more goal-scoring support could certainly help improve his regular season won-loss record.

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Kane underwent hip resurfacing Thursday, per Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. Visit RotoWire.com for more analysis on this update. [...]

NCAA HOCKEY

Don Adam Out as Director of Officiating

During the summer months, not a lot happens in college hockey. We're kind of in the dead period before the 2023-24 season begins. Sure, you have roster moves and coaching additions and subtractions, but there's not a lot is going on. After a relatively uneventful...
Drew DeRidder Emerging as UND’s Starting Goalie

Drew DeRidder Emerging as UND’s Starting Goalie

The University of North Dakota hockey team has been waiting for a goalie to emerge and take the net. To date, three goalies have started in the net for the Fighting Hawks. Team defense and goaltending have been an area where UND has struggled. Looking at the national...

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Mike Harder will be the new head coach at Colgate, sources have told College Hockey News... [...]

Nick Oliver, head coach of the USHL's 2023 regular-season champion Fargo Force, is joining Wisconsin as an assistant coach. He replaces Andy Brandt, who was temporarily held over by new… [...]

Boston University fans may have to wait a little bit longer to get their first look at Macklin Celebrini in a Terriers sweater... [...]

Hobey Baker Award finalist Logan Cooley has decided to return to Minnesota for his sophomore season, the school said today... [...]

Tensions over the transfer portal are unavoidable these days, with good players leaving programs left and right at the drop of a hat... [...]

Michigan State achieved a few things at the end of its first season under new head coach Adam Nightingale. Most notably, playoff success. Even though the Spartans missed the NCAA… [...]

Bentley's Ryan Soderquist, head coach the last 21 seasons at his alma mater, has resigned... [...]

As we approach the annual coaches convention in Naples (and it's more than just coaches — conferences and athletic directors have meetings there too), it's time for the annual chatter… [...]

HOCKEY VIDEO GAMES

NHL 23: Breaking the Illusion

NHL 22 was the first hockey game developed for next-gen consoles, and while it was very solid in every regard, expectations were that NHL 23 would build upon that foundation to deliver a truly game-changing experience. Did EA Sports deliver?

NHL 23 Coming on October 14th

NHL 23 Coming on October 14th

EA Sports’ annual hockey video game – NHL 23 – will be released on October 14th, and as always, Inside Hockey will be here to cover it. The cover athletes for NHL 23 are Trevor Zegras (Anaheim Ducks) and Sarah Nurse (Team Canada). Nurse is the first woman to appear on the cover of the EA NHL hockey video game.

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Review: NHL 22 Makes Huge Strides

Review: NHL 22 Makes Huge Strides

It’s been 30 years since Electronic Arts released the original NHL Hockey for the Sega Genesis, and each year since, an updated version of the game has built upon its predecessor. This year’s game manages to hit on all fronts, offering a huge leap forward with regard to both presentation and gameplay.

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HOCKEY HISTORY

Retro Rangers: Remembering “Leapin’ Louie” Fontinato

“Leapin’ Louie” Fontinato was one of the most popular players to ever don a New York Rangers sweater. The 6-1. 195 pound defenseman was born in January 1932 in Guelph, Ontario and came up through the Guelph Biltmore pipeline that provided the Rangers with so many young prospects such as Harry Howell, Dean Prentice, Ron Murphy and later Jean Ratelle and Rod Gilbert.

Retro Rangers: The Garden’s Cast of Eccentric Characters

Retro Rangers: The Garden’s Cast of Eccentric Characters

Like most NHL teams. the New York Rangers have had their share of eccentric fans. There was Sally Lark, a buxom, platinum blonde, interior decorator from Brooklyn, who was a fixture at the Old Garden during  the 1940s and 1950s. Her seat was directly  adjacent to the penalty box and she was given the nickname “Sin Bin Sally.”

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Leswick Knew How to Launch “The Rocket!”

Leswick Knew How to Launch “The Rocket!”

Tony Leswick was born in March, 1923, in Humboldt, Saskatchewan. He was the seventh of nine children born to Jim and Mary Leswick and learned how to play hockey from his three older brothers who had varying degrees of success in the sport. After playing Junior hockey with the Saskatoon Quakers, Tony turned pro at age 19, with the Cleveland Barons in 1942. He served two years in the Royal Canadian Navy and was then selected by the Rangers in June 1945 in the Inter-League Draft.

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