National Hockey League

National Hockey League

The NHL Awards races this season have been anything but predictable, given some of the chaotic variables. Florida Panthers star Aleksander Barkov won the past two Selke Trophies as the NHL's best defensive forward. He has yet to play a game this season after a preseason injury required knee surgery. Winnipeg Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck has won the past two Vezina Trophies as the NHL's top netminder, as well as the Hart Trophy as league MVP last season.

On Sunday, it was announced that the San Jose Sharks and veteran Alexander Wennberg had agreed on a three-year extension that will keep the Swedish center in the Bay Area for the next few seasons. The contract will run until the end of the 2028-29 regular season and will carry an annual cap hit of $6 million. Throughout his career, Wennberg has been seen as a key depth piece for playoff rosters.

The Hershey Bears are hosting their biggest regular-season game of the year this afternoon at Giant Center. The team will host its 25th Teddy Bear Toss, aiming to break its ice hockey world record of 102,343 set last season. The team accomplished the feat on January 5, 2025, against the Providence Bruins when Mike Sgarbossa scored Hershey's Teddy Bear Toss goal at 14:45 of the first period, starting the sweet cuddly mayhem.

We are not sure of the cause of the injury, and whether it is upper or lower-body, which could be a good or bad thing. Berube mentioned that he doesn't believe that the injury is a reason for concern, but the Leafs won't know until the testing is completed. McCabe suffered an upper-body injury back on November 22nd, but did not miss anytime.

It would be a tough loss for the Maple Leafs if Tanev misses the rest of the regular season. Toronto is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time during the Auston Matthews era, while Brandon Carlo is still working his way back into form from a foot injury that has kept him out of the lineup since mid-November. Tanev signed a six-year contract with the Maple Leafs worth an average annual value of $4.5 million in July 2024.

The Hershey Bears authored an impressive comeback victory on their third Washington Capitals' night of the season. Wearing their tan Screaming Bear jerseys, Capitals prospect Andrew Cristall registered the first three-point game of his career, while Bears captain Aaron Ness scored the game-winning goal with 11:50 remaining in the third period to give the Bears a 5-4 victory over the Rockford IceHogs.

Alexis Lafreniere is a bust. As a huge fan of Lafreniere (he is my favorite player on the New York Rangers), it's taken me far longer to say that than most. I held out hope through an up and down first season. I held out hope through a rough second season. In the 2022 postseason, I was the first one to point out his seemingly improved play. In 2024, I was the first person screaming that this was the start of a breakout for the young forward.

Alexis Lafrenière had three assists and Igor Shesterkin stopped 36 shots for the Rangers, who improved to 6-0-0 in outdoor games. Sam Reinhart scored for Florida, which was playing outdoors for the first time and lost for the fourth time in its last six contests overall. The Panthers gave up goals to Zibanejad and Panarin 64 seconds apart late in the first period, giving New York a 2-0 lead, and the Rangers kept control the rest of the way.

Four of the team's six draft picks participating in the tournament lit the lamp for their respective nations. The four players, Petr Sikora, Cole Hutson, Maxim Schafer, and Leon Muggli, combined for eight points (4g, 4a) in the three games that they featured in. While the four players had great individual games, only one of them, Sikora, will play again at this year's tournament. The other three saw their runs at more World Juniors glory end.

Obviously, pretty tough week for me,