The Montreal Canadiens, who were a big surprise story in last spring’s playoffs, provided hockey with an amusing moment as the curtain was coming down on 2010. (Scott Audette/NHLI via Getty Images)

By Stu Hackel

The Hockey Gods must have been very amused to hear a league executive raise the possibility of a rain delay during an NHL game. They responded by making a team take a too-many-men-on-the-ice penalty and, while killing it, take a second too-many-men penalty. For good measure in another game, the gods made a team’s player shoot a puck off the crossbar and into the stands where it hit his wife.
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A rough season for the Blackhawks just got rougher with the loss of captain Jonathan Toews to a shoulder injury in the teeth of a tough Western Conference race. (Bill Smith/NHLI via Getty Images)

By Stu Hackel

The Blackhawks have staggered through the opening half of this season, in part because of the changes to their roster after they won the Stanley Cup, and because no team has had more injuries to its key players. Jonathan Toews is the latest casualty, gone for up to two weeks, and that’s going to make the task of securing a playoff spot more daunting for a team that is hanging on to the eighth spot in the Western Conference.
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Fourth-year blueliner Jack Johnson has been a two-way force in the Kings’ strong defensive effort. (Len Redkoles/NHLI via Getty Images)

By Stu Hackel

No one is filming a reality TV series about the run up to tonight’s Flyers-Kings game, but it’s a compelling match between two teams that are legitimate Stanley Cup contenders.
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After weeks of relentless hype, the NHL finds its midseason marquee event jeopardized by a dire weather forecast for Saturday at Pittsburgh’s Heinz Field. (Dave Sandford/NHLI via Getty Images)

By Stu Hackel

There’s a chance, and it might be a serious chance, that the Winter Classic will be rained out this weekend, or at least postponed until Saturday evening or even Sunday. While the NHL understands the uncertain nature of an outdoor game (“Weather is part of the game’s DNA,” John Collins, the N.H.L.’s chief operating officer, told The New York Times. “Just being outdoors, it’s unpredictable.”), a change or cancellation would have some serious consequences and raise the question of whether the league has overemphasized this one game in a long season filled with many high points.

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It could make sense for the Flames to start their rebuilding process by dealing popular captain Jarome Iginla for picks and useful cheaper players. (Noah Graham/NHLI via Getty Images)

By Stu Hackel

What might the Flames start to look like with Jay Feaster now in charge — at least on an interim basis — after Darryl Sutter was asked by Flames president Ken King to step down as general manager? Don’t expect them to look like the Tampa Bay Lightning, which Feaster turned into Stanley Cup champions, any time soon.
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By Stu Hackel

An outstanding performance in Denver brought Chris Osgood win No. 400 on Monday night, making him the 10th NHL goaltender to hit that plateau. It was his third try at reaching the milestone and it was not sealed until Niklas Kronwall scored in overtime. But winning 400 won’t necessarily gain Osgood a spot in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
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By Stu Hackel

The Hurricanes lost to the Capitals, 3-2, on Sunday night and the game changed on this play…

…as Carolina’s Tim Gleason hit Washington’s Mathieu Perreault near the end of the first period. It was a shot that sure looked like it targeted the head — despite Hurricanes TV analyst Tripp Tracy’s contention — but was not punished under the new Rule 48 that prohibits blindside or lateral blows to the head. That rule has been criticized as a half-measure in some quarters (including by former referee Kerry Fraser, who has called for the rule to include all hits to the head), but the NHL says it has seen a decrease in targeting of the head because the new rule is in place.
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The Sabres have lost their leading scorer, Derek Roy, to a torn quadricep tendon just when they could use his production on a grueling Western road swing. (Scott Audette/NHLI via Getty Images)

By Stu Hackel

Sometimes you can only scratch your head in wonderment when you examine the genius of the NHL schedule.

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It remains to be seen how struggling sniper Ilya Kovalchuk will play better for a coach whose defense-first system has become an anachronism since the 2004-05 lockout. (Rich Kane/Icon SMI)

By Stu Hackel

Merry Christmas, John MacLean. You’re fired. And down the Devils’ chimney once again comes Jacques Lemaire who, depending on your perspective, is either hockey’s smartest coach since Scotty Bowman or the evil genius who ruined the NHL. But if the purpose of this change is to get New Jersey into the playoffs, it may be too late.

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The Red Wings will have to manage without Pavel Datsyuk, the NHL’s most complete, if not best, player for at least a month after he broke his wrist on December 22. (Bill Smith/NHLI via Getty Images)

By Stu Hackel

How much will the Red Wings miss Pavel Datsyuk, who will be out for at least a month after breaking his hand? How much would any team miss the guy who is perhaps the best player in the game?
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