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“I don’t even know who Craig Billington is, that’s a name you just made up.” – Joel. Here at 4th Line Towers, we answer the questions that other podcasts (and their affiliated websites) dare not. In episode #202, Carl made a reference to Craig Billington, a former Colorado Avalanche goalie that Joel believed to be a fabrication. While not one to usually question Carl’s knowledge about one of his beloved teams, I had to admit that I’d never heard of Billington either. Is Craig Billington Real? Yes. Not only is he real, but he also tended the goal of the Colorado Avalanche between 1996 andRead More →

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The theme of the season so far has been that goaltending is carrying the Buffalo Sabres. Carter Hutton showed strongly as the team split the first 4 games followed by Linus Ullmark‘s shutout. With a 3-2 record, despite being out-shot almost every night, play certainly has improved but there is a need to control play. Good goaltending is needed but Buffalo’s five skaters must progress in terms of puck possession to get to the next level. If not, the losses will be like those against Boston and Colorado. Embed from Getty Images Tonight, the Sabres continue their road trip as they attempt to sweep theRead More →

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People are getting all kerfuffled over the Carolina Hurricanes’ unique twist on post-game fan appreciation tributes. ESPN, which doesn’t even cover hockey so’s you’d notice, deemed this story important enough to commission a piece by Greg Wyshynski titled, “Inside the Hurricanes’ wild new postgame celebration,” as if it was a carefully orchestrated campaign of a President’s Cup-winner, rather than a quirky bit of fun at the end of a nothing game. I have to assume ESPN’s hockey editor — if there ever were such a person — had their tongue firmly in cheek when slapping this title on because pretending there was any “inside” toRead More →

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The question isn’t whether or not Joe Thornton can return — he can; the question is, should he? And it’s high time — not only for Sharks and NHL fans who mostly love Jumbo Joe — but for Sharks management and coaching staff to seriously consider it, before he does return. Because he will. Knee surgery #1 – April 2017 Thornton had knee surgery number one in April 2017. What stood out to me during the ensuing games that spring was the contrast between the media narrative and what I saw on the ice. The talk was all about the hope for a returning Jumbo,Read More →

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Rejoice, Caniacs everywhere: we are fast, we are physical, and we are competitive on the ice this year! The Canes started off the season against 3 Metropolitan division rivals, and took 5 out of 6 possible points, going 2-0-1 to start the year. But there’s something even more important to note about this team full of scrappy veterans and young prospects- they have a great time together on the ice, and it shows when watching. Embed from Getty Images Sebastian Aho is the best player on this team, and he’s going to have to continue to make strides at the center position in order forRead More →

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Jalen Ramsey, the all-pro cornerback for the Jacksonville Jaguars, stirred up a lot of negative attention from the hockey community with his comments at the end of August. In the NFL Preview Issue of ESPN The Magazine, Ramsey told ESPN’s Mina Kimes that with six months of training, he could probably crack the NHL. Now, even though this is in response to him discussing his stick handling from a background in lacrosse, it’s absolutely asinine. However, it did get me thinking which North American sports stars would be best on the ice, what positions they would play, and why. (It should be noted that IRead More →

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As the first games of the NHL season have started, I’ve been hearing the name “Oscar” quite a bit. I decided to dig a little deeper and found that there’s been a few players with some recent NHL history with the first name of “Oscar” or “Oskar” It turns out it’s a pretty popular name. It happened to be the 4th most popular name for boys in 2004 in Sweden, although the players on this list were all born prior to 2004. With the way these players are progressing and how popular the game has become, the popularity of this name is only going toRead More →

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Every season it happens — those woebegone teams who have struggled for seasons on end once again get left behind in the dust of discussions about “contenders.” But every season, it also happens that some of them get good and mad and surprise us all . . . or some of us at least. This season, let’s look at just a few that will bring enough shock and awe to make the post-season or at least come close enough to smell it. In order of surprise by season’s end, let’s go: #1 – Buffalo Sabres People talk about Rasmus Dahlin and Jack Eichel, maybe evenRead More →

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After ridding themselves of the goose eggs in the win column (vs. Rangers), the Buffalo Sabres look to string two, or more, together. Heading into today’s matinee (3pm. Also a Hi Sticking game. Play it on Twitter), the 31st place team from last season faces one that was in the Stanley Cup Finals. Despite matching records, the Vegas Golden Knights have proven to be a fast team, which is typically the achilles heel for Buffalo. The Sabres have acquired faster hockey players though it has not made game-play much better. Game 1 was horrendous while they scrapped by the New York Rangers in number 2.Read More →

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The Colorado Avalanche started their 2018-2019 campaign at home against the Minnesota Wild this year. The team has a whole lot to be excited about between having found a WC spot last season with tons of potential left to build around and still having a chance at the first-overall pick in the Jack Hughes lottery. In order to look ahead to the upcoming season, it’s important that we go backwards first. The Colorado Avalanche were the Cinderella Story behind the Cinderella Story last year. In a season which saw the team go from the worst record in hockey to beating out the Blues for theRead More →