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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 →

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So the Detroit Red Wings are drafting 4th overall. Yes it’s a joke, but as many have been quick to point out, Steve Yzerman was also drafted in that same position, and he turned out to be alright. Embed from Getty Images With that in mind, let’s take a look at all the players who’ve been drafted 4th overall, and see if we can figure out who was the best of all time. There have been a LOT of drafts since 1963, so this week we’ll just be looking at the first decade of drafts. The Swinging 60s. 1963: Al Osborne Drafted by: New YorkRead More →

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To give NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman some credit, he’s working hard to make sure the 2019-2020 playoffs go ahead. Despite teams announcing cases of COVID-19, the focus is still on which hub cities will host. The lockdown, in its various forms depending where you live, has given time for reflection and as I sit here with my iced-latte, wondering what July will bring, two things are clear: it’s summer, and I don’t care about the NHL resuming. That’s not say I’m not excited about next season. I can’t wait for everyone to be fit and healthy again, and to see what the Yzerplan will bring.Read More →

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With 75% of the regular season completed, it’s common for watercooler talk to turn to ‘who’s gonna win some awards?’. Here at 4th Line Towers, we’re no different, but rather than look at the awards that already exist, why not focus on awards that should exist. Today we’re looking at the Why Haven’t You Been Fired Yet award. The contenders are Detroit Red Wings head coach Jeff Blashill, Montreal Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin and head coach Claude Julien and LA Kings head coach Todd McLellan. Claude Julien Embed from Getty Images Should he be fired? Julien returned to coach Montreal in February 2017 to replaceRead More →

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Columbus Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella has fallen out with the NHL again. His expletive filled tirade after the Jackets’ shoot-out loss to Chicago has already hit headlines. If you’re not familiar with the reason for this, it’s because Columbus’ game winning goal was ruled no good as the buzzer had already sounded to end overtime. However there was an infraction prior to this and Tortorella argues that not enough time was added back in. Had that extra second been added then the goal would have stood. Instead the game went to a shoot out and Jackets goalie Joonas Korpisalo was hurt while blockingRead More →