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In episode #329 of The 4th Line Hockey Podcast, the boys are discussing Connor McDavid‘s amazing tally of 100 points in this shortened season. Stevie Nick says this: …would McDavid be putting up this amount of points if he had to play every other team in the league? It’s a good question, and before the Edmonton fanbase starts waving their pitchforks, we all know that McDavid is absolutely the best player in the league. No argument there. Has he been helped by the fact that he’s only playing against six other teams? We’ll never know the answer for certain, but we can compare his unbelievableRead More →

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When the Tim Peel news broke, my immediate reaction was one of shock and surprise. Not that game management and make-up calls happen, but that this was somehow a surprise to a lot of people. Game management by officials has been part of the sport for a long, long time and while there’s an argument that it shouldn’t be, there’s a stronger argument that it should. Embed from Getty Images In a sport where every game is televised, officials are more under the microscope than ever before. Slow motion, multi-angle replays allow every call/missed call to be analyzed in minute detail. Often conveniently ignoring theRead More →

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The highlight of the Detroit Red Wings season so far is that they’re not Ottawa. Sorry Ottawa fans, but that’s really all we’ve got left to hold onto as Detroit fans. That said, I’m not stressing over it. This NHL season has been madness so far, and isn’t likely to last much longer, only the Canadian teams seem to be holding it together. Were this a typical season? I’d be losing my mind. I’ve no idea what coach Jeff Blashill is doing with the skaters he’s putting on the ice, or the coaching that’s going on between games. Nothing makes sense anymore. Red Wings andRead More →

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NHL hockey is back, and at time of writing has yet to be postponed/cancelled. With the divisional shakeups, we wanted to look at what the most exciting match-up is in each division. Which series of games will be most entertaining to watch? Which old rivalries have been reignited? Let’s take a look: North Division Edmonton Oilers vs Calgary Flames The Battle of Alberta is the most fierce of all hockey rivalries, in Alberta. Since October 1980, the Edmonton Oilers have been duking it out with the slightly more westerly Calgary Flames. For the record Calgary have the edge historically, and mostly battered the Oilers lastRead More →

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What would you get if the Atlantic and Metropolitan divisions had a baby? It’s the East division! With the Christmas holidays wrapping up and a brand new NHL season approaching faster than Santa’s sleigh, let’s review what the teams of the ‘North’ division had asked for from St. Nick, hoping something good under their hockey stick tree. Boston Bruins On the Christmas List: The Next Torey Krug After nine seasons in Boston, big-time blue-liner Torey Krug upped and left for St. Louis. This leaves a big hole for the Bruins to fill as Krug is not great in front of his goalie, but also handy withRead More →

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What’s Going On? It looks like the NHL has finally cottoned onto the fact that helmets, jerseys, shorts etc are all super valuable sponsorship real estate. The reaction of fans has been somewhat mixed. For some reason, this is a big deal. Taking money to pop a company’s name on kit is nothing new in the world of most sports everywhere. #BREAKING: Sources say the #NHL Board of Governors could approve helmet ads for the '20-21 season as early as today, adding that it is "likely" the measure is approved in today's BOG call (@markjburns88). Free to read: https://t.co/xEReDCWZe3 pic.twitter.com/seLHduPKpm — Sports Business Journal (@sbjsbd)Read More →

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It’s now December, and there’s still no sign of the NHL season starting in January, and I’m OK with that. The world isn’t in a place where it can support national league sports. From all of the Denver Bronco’s quarterbacks catching the virus, to the EPL postponing games. With the best will in the world, we’re just not ready yet. So what does the NHL do instead? Cancel the season and just focus on preparations for next October? This is definitely an option worth considering. As Carl and Nick discussed on the show, the financial impact of playing games without fans is so severe thatRead More →

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They say the secret to great jokes is timing. A few hours after deciding to write about how great it would be for the NHL to open the season with the Winter Classic, this was tweeted: NHL announces postponement of Winter Classic and All-Star Weekend. https://t.co/sOcHxLGDtz #WinterClassic #NHLAllStar pic.twitter.com/eYDzN8WBiC — NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) October 22, 2020 Thanks a bunch NHL. To be fair, I hadn’t envisioned a Winter Classic full of fans (given the current circumstances), rather an outdoor game that was a celebration of the sport as a whole. An event that rather than glorify the excesses (one-time jerseys, I’m looking at you)Read More →

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Where the 1960s Amateur drafts were lacking, the following decade tried to make good. The 1970s would see four hall of famers drafted 4th overall (it’s poetic really) and a whole heap of names that we’ve actually heard of. The 1960s brought more teams to the league, and the subsequent drafts presented more opportunities for prospects to get serious ice time than before. The 4th overall pick is oft-forgotten but many found their name forever etched on the Stanley Cup. Let’s take a look at the 4th overall picks from the 1970s: 1970: Rick MacLeish Drafted by: Boston Bruins Embed from Getty Images 846 NHLRead More →

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With the current climate, there’s a lot of focus and scrutiny on how organisations and sports teams are responding to what’s happening in the news. Whenever a professional sports team throws its weight behind a cause that’s at least partly political in nature, there’s often a social media backlash. When the New Jersey Devils tweeted recently that they’ve added ‘Black Lives Matter’ to the ice at their practice rink, the response ranged from support all the way through to threats of cancelling season tickets. A recent change in our ice reflects an unwavering commitment to changing the game for racial equity. #WeAreOne | #NJDevils pic.twitter.com/nBWqt8UEOYRead More →