With the National Hockey League action back in full force after being locked out for what seemed like an eternity, which players were able to turn the stress of not playing in the NHL and improve their game? Who are the top 10 players in the NHL today?
1. Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins
Was there ever a doubt as to which player would top this list? His 2012-13 numbers have been incredible. With 39 points (11 goals, 28 assists), he leads the Read the rest of this entry »

Hard hitting hockey is a growing sport with many loyal fans. Even so, many die-hard fans may not be familiar with a few of these fun facts.

-The St. Louis Blues joined the NHL expansion in 1967, where they made it to the Stanley Finals for the first three seasons, but were taken out each time. The blues haven’t returned to the Stanley Cup Finals since then, over forty years ago.

-A home team has not won the Stanley Cup Finals since 2007.

-The year 2007 was the last time Read the rest of this entry »

In 2011, the NHL Stanley Cup Trophy belonged to one team: The Boston Bruins. The team dominated the regular season; finishing the year with 46 wins and 25 losses. Tim Thomas–the Bruin’s goalie–helped the team win their sixth championship in 39 years. Arguably, The Boston Bruins is one of the best teams in the NHL.

Current Team Roster
46 David Krejci
17 Milan Lucic
37 Patrice Bergeron
18 Nathan Horton
28 Mark Recchi
33 Zdeno Chara
73 Michael Ryder
63 Brad Marchand
44 Dennis Seidenberg
11 Gregory Campbell
26 Blake Wheeler
19 Tyler Seguin
22 Shawn Thornton
55 Johnny Boychuk
21 Andrew Ference
54 Adam Mcquaid
20 Read the rest of this entry »

Any NHL fan will be interested in looking up information on their favorite player. There are many different sources of information on the players of the NHL you just need to know where to look. One of the first places to visit is the official website for the NHL this will have a biography and team info on every player in the league. This is a great source of general info to see what your favorite player has been doing during the season and some background information on them. After you have checked out Read the rest of this entry »

There are many different issues in the NHL that need corrected, but probably the number one is safety for the players. It seems more and more players are suffering injuries for needless reasons. Yes, NHL Hockey is a hard hitting sport, but just like the NFL you have to make some rules to protect your star players. If you do not the sport will struggle to expand and grow without top stars able to play.

Another area that The NHL needs to address is growing Read the rest of this entry »

If you’ve been counting down the days until your favorite team’s back on directstartv.com shooting and scoring count yourself among the millions of hockey fans doing the same thing. When the season starts back up in a couple of months you’ll want to keep your eyes on the following teams…
Boston: The Bruins aren’t letting down just because they’ve already won the Stanley Cup and they’re bound to come back fighting this year. After Read the rest of this entry »

Over 40 games in, nearly 50 depending on your team of choice, a host of favorites have emerged to take home the end of the year hardware revered as the Hart Memorial Trophy, or for more casual fans, the NHL’s equivalent of the MVP award. Here’s a look at how the race is shaking out:1. Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins, Center Clearly the frontrunner at this juncture, Crosby leads the league in goals next to top 5 assists numbers, which for the mathematicians out there gives him a clear inside track on taking home this year’s high point total. Barring injury or a rare slump from the 2007 Hart winner, Crosby is well on his way towards adding another identical honor to his trophy case.2. Tim Thomas, Boston Bruins, Goalie The only legitimate threat to Crosby from a statistical standpoint, Thomas is hindered by his position, as only two goalies have taken home the Hart Trophy since Jacques Plante in 1961-62 (the two being Dominik Hasek in ’96-’97/’97-’98 and Jose Theodore in ’01-02). Still, Thomas’ first half of the season is a remarkable story. Expected to be unseated as the primary goalie in Boston, Thomas is the only netminder in the league with a Goals Against Average under 2.00 or a Save Percentage above .940, postponing the Tuukka Rask era by at least another year. Read the rest of this entry »

1. Chicago Blackhawks It’s hard to knock the defending champs from their top spot, especially not having played a single exhibition game at this point in the year, so why try? The Blackhawks proved to be deep enough to win Lord Stanley’s Cup, but that didn’t stop them from making moves this summer. Left wing, Viktor Stalberg, acquired via trade with Toronto, provides additional size and talent in an already potent offense, adding further depth to one of the elite frontlines in the game. It may be tough to repeat as league champions, but with the core of Toews, Kane and Hossa still intact, it may be even tougher to knock of the Hawks. Read the rest of this entry »

1. Pittsburgh Penguins Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, now joined by off-season additions Paul Martin and Zbynek Michalek that should help the Pens answer questions about their grittiness on the defensive end, form arguably the most talented all-around team in the NHL. Without the pressure of defending the Stanley Cup, the Penguins are in great position to open their new arena with the 3^rd championship in franchise history. Marc-Andre Fleury was somewhat of a mixed bag a season ago, though by no means a major disappointment. Should the former 1 overall pick max out his potential in his 3^rd year full-time in net, delivering more consistently on a nightly basis, the Penguins could be considered league-wide frontrunners going into the year. Read the rest of this entry »

Paul Martin, Defenseman, New Jersey to Pittsburgh Teams hoping to woo Martin didn’t have much time to prepare as the Penguins inked their new defensemen within 24 hours. Martin will fill Gonchars void in the Pittsburgh D, giving the team some fresh legs down the stretch.Keith Ballard, Defenseman, Florida to Vancouver With arguably the league’s best goalie Roberto Luongo in net, the Canucks could probably hold fan try outs for their defensemen slots and still remain competitive at least through a period or two. Fortunately for Canucks fans, Luongo’s job just got a little easier when Vancouver acquired Keith Ballard in a draft day trade from the Panthers. Ballard has led his team in hits every year in his NHL career and should be a three pronged contributor for his new team, offense, defense and intimidation. Read the rest of this entry »