Paul Kariya Retires

Sadly a great goal scorer has had to retire due to post concussion syndrome.
Sidelined for the entire 2010-2011 season, St Louis Blues winger Paul Kariya announced his retirement today.


He currently ranks 82nd alltime with 402 career goals and 79th all time in points with 989.


Drafted 4th overall in 1993 by the Anaheim Mighty Ducks he spent 9 season with the Ducks and led them to the Stanley Cup finals in 2003 against the New Jersey Devils. The series went the full 7 games with NJ winning game 7 on home ice, 3-0.


His last good season was his first of 2 with the Nashville Predators where he had 31 goals and 54 assist.  He signed with St Louis for the 2007-2008 season.

New Hockey Hall of Fame Inductees

Today the Hockey Hall of Fame announced its 2011 class to be inducted November 14th


Ed Belfour
Mark Howe
Doug Gilmour
Joe Nieuwendyk

Read the full article

The Jets Are Back!

True Sports made it official tonight at the NHL Entry Draft in Minneapolis, that the Winnipeg team will once again be the JETS

2011 NHL Awards Winners

2011 Hart Trophy - NHL MVP - Corey Perry (Anaheim)

2011 Richard Trophy - NHL Top Goal Scorer - Corey Perry (Anaheim)

2011 Ross Trophy - NHL Leading Scorer - Daniel Sedin (Vancouver)

2011 Ted Lindsay Award - Players Choice MVP - Daniel Sedin (Vancouver)

2011 Vezina Trophy - NHL Top Goaltender - Tim Thomas (Boston)

2011 Conn Smythe Trophy - Stanley Cup Playoffs MVP - Tim Thomas (Boston)

2011 Norris Trophy - NHL Top Defenseman - Nicholas Lidstrom (Detroit)

2011 Selke Trophy Trophy - NHL Defensive Forward - Ryan Kesler (Vancouver)

2011 Lady Byng Trophy - NHL Most Gentlemanly Player - Martin St Louis (Tampa Bay)

2011 Jack Adams Trophy - NHL Coach of the Year - Dan Bylsma (Pittsburgh Penguins)

Stanley Cup Fact of the Day

The last 2 seasons before 2010 (Chicago Blackhawks) and 2011 (Boston Bruins) that 2 different Original 6 teams won the Stanley Cup in consecutive years was 1972 (Boston Bruins) and 1973 (Montreal Canadiens).

1996 Stanley Cup Finals

June of 1996 saw the first Stanley Cup in the "Modern Era" of the Finals (since 1927 when the NHL gained full control over the Cup) in which 2 franchises were in their first Stanley Cup finals appearance.
The Colorado Avalanche faced off against the Florida Panthers in a 4 games finals that saw the Avalanche sweep but game 4 quickly became a classic as it went 3 overtime periods before being decided.


The Avalanche were in their first season in Colorado after moving from Quebec the previous off season, while the  Florida Panthers in their 3rd season had knocked the heavy favorite Mario Lemieux led Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference Finals.  The Panthers had beaten the #1 seeded Philadelphia Flyers in the conference semi finals.
Colorado beat the regular season champion Detroit Red Wings in the wicked and rough Western Conference finals to make their first Stanley Cup finals appearance.


The first 2 games of the Finals weren't even close as Colorado took both games at home by 3-1 and 8-1 scores.  Patrick Roy early making a case for the Conn Smythe as playoff MVP.  He was challenging teammate and team captain Joe Sakic.
Sakic would win the MVP award with 18 goals, 16 assist and 34 points.


Defenseman Uwe Krupp would become a hero for the Avalanche fans as he scored the Cup winning goal.

2 Stats of the Night

The first Stat

The Most Stanley Cup playoff points by a USA-born players 
(The Top 5)

1 - Brett Hull (202 games) = 190 
2 - Mike Modano (176) = 146
3 - Chris Chelios (266) = 144
4 - Jeremy Roenick (122) = 122
5 - Craig Janney (120) = 110

2nd Stat
There have only been 2 Stanley Cup final series since 1927(when the NHL took sole possession of the Stanley Cup Trophy) that featured 2 teams/franchises that were in their first finals appearance.  


1996 - Colorado Avalanche vs Florida Panthers
2007 - Anaheim Ducks vs Ottawa Senators (expansion franchise with no connection to the original)

The Sad Demise of a Hockey Team

Congratulations to the Bossier-Sherevport Mudbugs on winning the 2010-2011 President's Cup as the Champions of the Central Hockey League.

That was the good new, now the bad news.  Less than a week later the Mudbugs ceased operations.

Read about the sad demise of a championship team.


More about the fans and friends of the Mudbugs.

Stanley Cup Finals Game 5 6/10/11

2011 Stanley Cup Finals Game 4

Today in NHL History

1967 - New franchises in the National Hockey League were awarded to the Minnesota North Stars, the California Golden Seals and the Los Angeles Kings. 

Stanley Cup Fact of the Day

Alex Burrows OT goal at 11 seconds is 2nd-shortest in Stanley Cup Final history (shorter: 9 sec. by Skrudland in '86: MTL 3, CGY 2 in Game 


From ELIAS Sports Bureau : Mark Recchi is oldest player with a goal in Stanley Cup Final history (43, 123 days). Previous oldest: Igor Larionov (41, 189 days)

Stanley Cup Finals 2011 Game 1

What is a Canuck?

here from Yahoo! Sports is a great article on the origins of "Canuck"

read on here