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It has been a while! After taking some much needed time to focus on life, I am pleased to return to writing on hockey again. Since my last article, I have changed careers (again), witnessed the birth of my daughter, and have regained work-life harmony for the first time in seven years.  Changes in life, however, were not the only reason. Hockey, for as long as I can remember, was enjoyable to watch, play, and discuss with friends and family. My first ever NHL game was the Buffalo Sabres vs the Vancouver Canucks in 1998 and I was falling in love with the game evenRead More →

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Brodie’s Thoughts With the NHL season nearing its midpoint, where better to celebrate than heading to Vegas for the annual All Star game. What’s become a sort of perfunctory affair has been improved with the introduction of 3 on 3, but, especially this season with its erratic, Covid ravaged schedule, it’s lacking a certain fanfare. Or at least that was the case until recent comments from Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon who floated the idea, not that players avoid the world famous buffets, but that there need not be a representative for every team, as it’s not a participation game (it is…) which, in a certainRead More →

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With NHL training camps getting under way, and the Habs and Canes once again providing more offseason content than the rest of the league combined, we can finally circle back to one of our intrepid editor’s favourite subjects: Offer Sheets. Nearly as rare as a Leafs post season run (and usually as successful) this is a weapon under the CBA that players and GM’s alike can take advantage of, yet so many are reluctant. Why? Well, as we’ve seen with Montreal and Carolina, you risk putting out an offer that’s easily matched than instantly looking foolish, (not to mention the compensation) and subsequently putting theRead More →

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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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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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It’s no secret that Uncle Gary (Bettman) is not one to make waves. To his credit, he is one of the most responsive commissioners in all of sports. This is why it’s time for the league, the owners, and the commissioner to take a signal from across the pond, and do more than just put out public relations pieces or boost the message of prominent figures in the world. While this would be an unusually public stance from the NHL, this would go beyond a video or Instagram post. The unity this would present would go a long way, while hockey is not the glueRead 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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The world of sports lends itself to all manner of water cooler debate: Which player would you rather have? Who’s the greatest of all time? How exactly are the Patriots cheating this week? And if you could change one rule, what would it be? Generally speaking the NHL’s done a decent job with theirs. You may get the odd fan grumbling about a puck over the glass resulting in a delay of game infraction or the infamous instigator rule, but by and large, it’s not a book fans want totally rewritten. However, if there’s one rule the NHL has right now that’s so incredibly irritatingRead More →

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From the Quiet Ice . . . by Mike Filce In-game Entertainment You can’t help noticing with all of the pundits, talking heads, bloggers, podcasters and assorted Twitter-drunk commentators, some ideas come up again and again, and some of them receive respectful consideration — when they should be squashed like the stink bugs they are. Let’s look at a few. Late in a recent “31 Thoughts” podcast episode, Jeff Marek broached the topic of “pump[ing] up the home team” with in-game music. We’re talking about the practice of silencing the music as the puck drops so fans can hear the sounds of the game. ElliotteRead More →