NHL as of February 20th

The NHL this week had a milestone, an odd coaching change, new teams in contention and a dirty head shot. Sidney Crosby got his 1,000th career point against the Jets on an assist and he's the 86th player in NHL history to do so. The Canadiens fired head coach Michel Therrien and hired Claude Julien immediately which was an absolute shocker considering Claude Julien coach the Canadiens' rival Bruins.In a game between the Jets and Senators Jacob Trouba of the Jets hit Mark Stone of the Senators with a direct hit to  he head and Stone is the leading goal scorer for the Senators and will have a hearing soon so he will be suspened. The Senators are also surprisingly only 2 points away from being first in the Atlantic after missing the playoffs last year. The Panthers, Islanders, and Flyers are all one win away from taking the Maple Leafs' final wild card spot which has been really close all year. I also want to note since the Lightning are doing bad because they lost Steven Stamkos and will have a higher draft pick than usual, Stamkos' injury could be a good thing for the future. Did the Canadiens make the right choice? How long will Trouba be suspended for? Is Stamkos' injury a good thing? stay tuned....

Notable Injuries:
Sami Vatanen - unknown
Stephan Johns - unknown
Mike Green - day to day
Benoit Pouliot - unknown
Kyle Quincy - unknown
Cal Clutterbuck - day to day
Mark Stone - unknown
Mike Hoffman - unknown
Bobby Ryan - unknown
Justin Schultz - day to day
Olli Maata - 6 weeks
Carl Hegelin - unknown
Mitch Marner - day to day
Toby Enstrom - unknown

NHL as of February 13th

The NHL had an interesting week that had, and owner pass away, an ugly high sticking, and comeback teams. Red Wings owner Mike Ilitch passed away this week and he owned the Red Wings for 35 years and led his team to many Stanley Cups. He was 87. Speaking of Red Wings, Gustav Nyquist had an ugly intentional high sticking on Jared Spurgeon against the Wild. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRu-AppKGq I'll let the video speak for itself. He will have a hearing with the department of player safety soon and will be suspended. The New York Islanders are literally one point out of a playoffs start after their horrible 1st half which had them almost last in the NHL. The Florida Panthers are also back after their bad start. I want to get this post out quickly since it's late so I'll just link the injuries here With Mike Ilitch's passing impact the Red Wings? How long should Nyquist be suspended for? Will the Islanders and PAnthers make the playoffs? stay tuned....

NHL as of February 5th

Yes I know the site looks different, I decided to change things up a little bit so I'll use this look for now. Anyways the NHL had a solid week that had a losing streak snapped, injuries, milestone celebrations, a rookie hat trick, big returns and just really good games. The Avalanche snapped a 9 game losing streak last night to the Jets by winning 5-2 at home. The Avalanche are still in last by a landslide. Alex Ovechkin got a golden stick today during a pregame ceremony to celebrate his 1,000 NHL point that he got on the 11th. Maple Leafs' rookie William Nylander got his first NHL hat trick against the Bruins in a 6-5 win in Boston even though his team was out shot 41-26. Jonathan Huberdeau and Alexander Barkov have finally returned to the Panthers, Huberdeau was injured during preseason and Barkov was injured on December 28th plus Huberdeau scored in his first game back. The Panthers are currently 3 points away from a playoffs spot after a slow first half so maybe the Panthers will be as good or even better than last year. I recommend you watch some highlights of some of the games this week because they were just really good games, and a lot of games were one goal games. For all of my fellow Americans watching the Super Bowl tonight GO FALCONS. Notable Injuries are below. Is Ovechkin one of the best of all time? Are the Avalanche going to get the first overall pick? Can the Panthers turn it around with their star players back? stay tuned....

Notable Injuries:
Patrice Bergeron: day to day
William Carrier: unknown
Tyson Barrie: day to day
Jason Spezza: unknown
Niklas Kronwall: 7-10 days
Philip Danault: day to day
Roman Josi: unknown
Cal Clutterbuck: day to day
Kevin Hayes: unknown
Carl Hagelin: day to day
Conor Sheary: 4-6 weeks
Joonas Donskoi:  7 days
Robert Fabbri: rest of season
Ondrej Palat: day to day
Drew Stafford: unknown