Hockey Hall Makes Call

Hall of Famer. That's a phrase that can be handed out to a select few athletes. What that means, in simplistic terms, is that you're the best in the world at whatever you do. It means that your skill set is a step above everybody else. This year, we get six new names to enshrine in immortality in Toronto at the Hockey Hall of Fame. Martin Brodeur, Martin St. Louis, Willie O'Ree, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, Alexander Yakushev and Jayna Hefford were elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame. O'Ree, the NHL's first black player, and Bettman, who's been Commissioner since February of 1993, are going into the Hall in the builders category.

Willie O'Ree
Even though he didn't have quite as much of an impact on Hockey as Jackie Robinson did for Baseball, Willie O'Ree still had a lot of hardship to go through to get to the worlds best league. To make things more impressive, he kept pushing to try and play in the world's best league while being blind in one eye, which makes this all the more impressive. His playing career never really took off, as O'Ree scored four goals and added ten assists for fourteen points in 45 career NHL games. What O'Ree did off the ice is what's getting him inducted. O'Ree was hired by the NHL in 1998 as director of youth development and an ambassador for NHL diversity. He has championed the NHL's Hockey Is For Everyone initiative, which has introduced more than 120,000 boys and girls of diverse backgrounds to the game and established 36 local grassroots hockey programs, all geared toward serving economically disadvantaged youth. His charity work and involvement in the community have really been a positive impact for the youth around the country in both the US and Canada.

Garry Bettman
Bettman, who is the current Commissioner of the National Hockey League, has held the position since being given the title in 1993. He took the job over from then league president Gil Stein in February of that year. In his 25 year career as Commissioner of the league, there has been massive growth of the game under his watch. The league has gone over some big changes, including the expansion of the game from a 24 team circuit to the 31 team league we have right now. Annual revenue for the NHL right now is somewhere around the $4 billion mark, which is way up from about $400 million when Bettman began running the show. During his leadership, the game has also expanded on a more international level, with regular-season games played over in Europe and Japan, as well as preseason games in China. The League has participated in four Winter Olympics and held three World Cup of Hockey tournaments under Commissioner Bettman. Sure, there have been some downsides to Bettman running things, like the three work stoppages we've had due to labor disputes. One of which wiped out an entire season, something that had never happened before in hockey. All that aside, the game of hockey has grown leaps and bounds in the guidance of Gary Bettman, and for that, he is getting his just due and getting inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in November.

Jayna Hefford
The only Woman to be inducted into the Hall this year Jayna set a blazing trail for women in the sport of hockey. Hefford played for Canada at five Winter Olympics and was a part of four gold medal-winning teams (2002, 2006, 2010, 2014). She scored the gold medal-winning goal against the United States at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics and is one of five athletes to win gold at four consecutive Wi He's got a pretty long list of career acomplishments nter Olympics. Besides her Olympic success, Hefford spent most of her career in the National Women's Hockey League. She is the NWHL's all-time leading goal-scorer with 252 of them for the Brampton Thunder. She was one of the great female players to ever step foot on the ice, and helped take the game to another level for female athletes. She was one of the pioneers to help put Women's Hockey really on the map.

Alexander Yakushev
He may not be one of the more famous names to come out of the Russian hockey system, but he was one of the best players to ever come from that country. Yakushev really came to the concuss of North American hockey fans during the 1972 Summit Series. Yakushev led the Russians with seven goals during that famed eight game series against Canada. He later coached both the Kontinental Hockey League's Spartak Moscow and the Soviet national team. He's a former referee who worked prestigious events like the 1991 Canada Cup, he's considered among Russia's top historic hockey figures, taking the title of Soviet scoring champion in 1969. He was one of the key cogs in the Russian hockey system which helped turned the tide in the way the game was viewed and how hockey was played. His style of play was considered revolutionary and is viewed by a lot of younger Russian hockey players as a reason why they got into the game and a style of play that they tried to copy.

Martin St. Louis
For a guy who was never drafted, he turned out to have a pretty damn good career for himself. After spending four years playing for the University of Vermont, St Louis was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Calgary Flames. After spending parts of three uninspired years in Calgary , Marty left as a free agent and went to Tampa Bay, where his career really took off. After 13 very successful years as a Bolt, St Louis wrapped up his career over the final year and a half with the New York Rangers. He's got a pretty long list of career acomplishments. He won the Stanley Cup with the Lightning in 2004, and picked up the Hart Trophy as League MVP and Art Ross as scoring champion in 2004. He won another scoring title in 2013, and won the Lady Byng Trophy for his skill and sportsmanship in 2010, 2011 and 2013. St. Louis finished his NHL career with 1,033 points (391 goals, 642 assists) in 1,134 games and is the Lightning's all-time leader in assists (588), points (953), power-play points (300), shorthanded goals (28), shorthanded points (44), game-winning goals (64), overtime goals (10), Stanley Cup Playoff goals (33) and postseason points (68). St Louis is the perfect example of how a great career can really take off once its put in the right situation. He was proof that little guys could still play, and play at a very high level, in the modern game. Good things really do come in small packages.

Martin Brodeur
First year on the ballot, its no surprise that the career wins leader and, some will argue, greatest goalie to ever play the game, gets into the Hall. Martin Broduer played all but seven games of his pro career with the Devils, finishing up the final seven games of his career with the St Louis Blues. He won three Cups with the Devils (1995, 2000, 2003), he was a five time winner of the Jennings trophy for lowest goals against in the league and a four time winner of the Vezina trophy as the leagues top netminder, and won the Calder Trophy as top rookie in 1994.. He also holds almost every possible record for a goalie. Brodeur holds the NHL records for wins (688), shutouts (124), games played by a goaltender (1,266), saves (28,928), minutes played (74,438), 30-win seasons (14), consecutive 30-win seasons (12), consecutive 35-win seasons (11), 40-win seasons (eight) and consecutive 40-win seasons (three). Some are critical of Brodeur because of the system he played in with the Devils. That maybe a deterrent sure, but you still have to be able to stop the puck and make saves. Brodeur could do that and he did with regularity. He was very good at what he did. He was criticized for his style sure, but he did the job, and did it better then anybody else.

NBA Hands Out Hardware

The 2017-18 season for the National Basketball Association has been put to bed last night. The league handed out the hardware for their season ending awards, honoring the best of the best of solo efforts in a great team game. They gave out the hardware for everything from most improved, to defensive player of they year, to coach of the year, to rookie of the year, to MVP and everything in between. So enough of the fluff. Here's who walked away with the major awards for the NBA.

All-NBA First Team 
Anthony Davis, New Orleans Pelicans
Kevin Durant, Golden State Warriors
James Harden, Houston Rockets
LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers
Damian Lillard, Portland Trail Blazers

NBA All-Rookie Team
Kyle Kuzma, Los Angeles Lakers
Lauri Markkanen, Chicago Bulls
Donovan Mitchell, Utah Jazz
Ben Simmons, Philadelphia 76ers
Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics

NBA All-Defensive Team 
Rudy Gobert, Utah Jazz
Anthony Davis, New Orleans Pelicans
Victor Oladipo, Indiana Pacers
Jrue Holiday, New Orleans Pelicans
Robert Covington, Philadelphia 76ers

NBA Cares Community Assist Award: Kevin Durant, Golden State Warriors
Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year Award: Jamal Crawford, Minnesota Timberwolves
Lifetime Achievement Award: Oscar Robertson
Sager Strong Award: Dikembe Mutombo
NBA Sportsmanship Award: Kemba Walker, Charlotte Hornets
NBA Basketball Executive of the Year: Daryl Morey, Houston Rockets

Kia NBA Most Improved Player: Victor Oladipo, Indiana Pacers
There were a few names who could have walked away with the most improved this season. Could have gone to Clint Capela in Houston, it also could have gone to Spencer Dinwiddie in Brooklyn. Both guys had great years, Capela put up career highs in all the major offensive catagoires. Same thing with Dinwiddie, who played in almost every game for Brooklyn and was able to start to establish himself at this level. The reason, though, the award went to Oladipo was because of how much his game was raised in Indiana. He made the all star team for the first time. His points per game average went over 20 for the first time in his career (he averaged 23.1 ppg a new career high). He really came into his own as a threat in this game and was one of the key pieces for the Pacers all season long.

Kia NBA Sixth Man Award: Lou Williams, LA Clippers
To be fair, Fred VanVleet did a fine job as one of the "Bench Mob" in Toronto. He was a solid reason why the Raptors were the best team in the East during the regular season. At the end of the day, it came down to two guys, Eric Gordon of Houston, who won the award last year, and Lou Williams, who's now won it for a second time. Gordon averaged 18 points a game and was a pretty big cog in the machine known as the Houston Rockets. This was Williams award to lose though, because of the type of year he had. Williams had already won the award with Toronto in 2015 and was just as good off the bench for Clippers this year as he was for Toronto three years ago. He played just over 32 minutes a night coming off the bench and put up a career high 22.6 points a game. When your that productive coming off the bench almost every night, it shows just how good a ball player you are. It was also a strong bounce back year for Williams, who struggled through a rough year in Houston last year.

Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year: Rudy Gobert, Utah Jazz
The three guys that were finalists for defensive player of the year, Rudy Gobert, Anthony Davis and Joel Embiid, are all big men. Sure it was a good year for Davis, who was not only up for this award, but was also a finalist for league MVP as well, and rightfully so with the year he had for the Pelicans. The reason though he fell short in this award was because the other two guys put up slightly better defensive numbers. Embiid had a good year protecting the paint for the 76ers, but again wasn't as great on the defensive side of the floor as Gobert. Utah had the best defensive team in the league. When Gobert came back from injury, Utah allowed a league low 97.5 PPG. He ranked second in the league in blocks with 129, and was able to put up those numbers with missing 28 games. Those two numbers are the reason why Rudy walked away with the award.

NBA Coach of the Year: Dwane Casey, Toronto Raptors
Talk about awkward. Dwane Casey became the first ever fired coach to win coach of the year. Toronto had the best record in the East and yet got swept in the second round of the playoffs by LeBron and the Cavs. But what he did do was lead the Raptors to the best record in the East and helped the Raptors to a franchise record 59 win regular season. What Brad Stevens was able to pull off in Boston and what Quin Snyder did in Utah were both amazing, but Casey pulling off the record setting year in Toronto says a lot for how good a coach he is. It sucks that things ended the way they did in Toronto, but over the course of the five years he spent North of the Boarder, says a lot for how good a coach he is and how we was able to get the most out of his players. Here's hoping he lands on his feet quick with his new job in Detroit

Kia NBA Rookie Of The Year: Ben Simmons, Philadelphia 76ers
Donovan Mitchell of Utah and Jayson Taytum of Boston both had good years and Taytum was outstanding for the Celtics in the playoffs. But this award goes to the best of the best during the regular season. Simmons missed all of last year with a foot injury, so he came back this year and started his career with a bang. He joined Oscar Robertson as the only other rookie in NBA history to average 15 points, eight rebounds and eight assists per game. Some are arguing that it should have gone to Mitchell because he had a good year and was a true rookie, as compared to Simmons, who missed all of last season with that injury.

Kia NBA Most Valuable Player: James Harden Houston Rockets
Some argued that Harden should have won it last year over Russell Westbrook. Well he didn't but he was able to pull it off and pick up the award this year. Harden was the highest scoring player in the league, averaging 30.4 a game all season long and helped power the Rockets to the best record in all of basketball. Not only did Harden lead the league in points per game average, he also lead the league in three-pointers made (265) and 50-point games (four). Harden received 86 out of 101 possible first-place votes. Harden had the kind of year that basketball players only dream about. It would have been better for him, and the Rockets, had he been able to lead them past Golden State and Cleveland to win a title. Take that stinging factor out of the equation, and just look at the numbers he put up during the regular season, and you realize just how great a year Harden had and why he should be named MVP of the worlds best league.

NBA Draft Winners And Losers

Sixty picks are in the books. Sixty young men's lives changed by being selected in the NBA draft. The first two picks in the draft went exactly as expected, with Deandre Ayton getting picked by the worst team in the league in the Suns, followed by Marvin Bagley getting selected by the Kings at two. After that, things got turned around a little bit, with trades and some screwy picks. It's way too early to really determine if these picks will pan out as expected, but its fun to try and gouge that now. We take a look back at some of the best, and worst, from this year's NBA Draft.

Winner:
Phoenix Suns
This was kind of a clear cut choice with the way things played out. Picking Deandre Ayton with the first overall pick was kind of a no brainer. He was the consensus top pick on almost every big board and there a good reason for that. He a big man with a tremendous amount of talent on both ends of the floor and is one of the better big men to come into the draft in quite some time, according to a lot of experts. And he's only going to get better from here. But wait, there's more. The Suns, who also had the 16th overall pick, selected Zhaire Smith, who they then traded to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for Mikal Bridges, who was the 10th pick in the draft. Bridges is already ready to play in the NBA, according to some sources. So they got a guy who has a very high ceiling and a guy who's really ready to make a huge impact in the league right now. Things are looking really good right now for the Suns to improve on their 21 wins from last season.

Loser:
Toronto Raptors
This was a team that won the Eastern Conference this past season. It looked like the Raptors were one or two players away, possibly, from taking that next step and really taking off as the top team in the conference. It all starts with the draft. Toronto didn't do anything at the draft. Toronto didn't have a pick in this draft, and to be fair neither did Miami, but Toronto is at least expected to be a major threat in the conference and the league. You'd like to think that the Raptors would be able to try and make a trade to get a pick, which could have been of major benefit to this team. They are leaving themselves in the same spot they did at the start of the playoffs, at least with the roster they have, and you saw what happened to them when they met with the Cavs a couple of months ago. Toronto needed to try and get better, and at least at the draft, they haven't appeared to make a step in the right direction yet.

Winner:
Atlanta Hawks
It may be too early to tell who really came out the winner of the deal between the Hawks and Dallas, but it looks like both could come out as a winner. It started out with the Hawks, who originally picked Luka Dončić 3rd overall. They then flipped him to Dallas for the 5th overall pick Trae Young. Young was a guy who Atlanta really had their eyes on all along, so they got their man. He wasn't the only one Atlanta picked up, grabbing Kevin Huerter with the 19th pick and Omari Spellman, who they selected at 30. Getting Huerter was a solid move because he one of the better shooters to come out of the draft from what I've heard and Spellman is a decent shooter for a big man. The trade could possibly haunt the Hawks, but way too early to tell that. Still a solid overall draft for Atlanta

Loser:
Philadelphia 76ers
Philly had a good move made with the 10th overall pick, picking up Mikal Bridges. To make that story even better, Bridges mom works for the 76ers. Then, for whatever reason, the Sixers decide to pull a fast one. They send Bridges to the Suns for guard Zhaire Smith, who's a solid player but isn't as good a defender or three point shooter. Having Bridges would have made perfect sense for the Sixers but they gt rid of him for somebody who's a step down from him. And to make matters more interesting for the club, they took Landry Shamet, another point guard, with the 26th pick. Having all of these point guards on this team makes one wonder what exactly does this mean for Markelle Fultz as a Sixer? It makes one wonder what exactly might be happening in Philly? Maybe its reading too much into it. Maybe things will work out in the end for the better for Philly.

Winner:
Dallas Mavricks
Gotta give Dallas credit for having the guts to go out and make the move they did. Facts are, Dirk Nowitzki might not a whole lot left in the tank. His age for one thing, he is 40 years old, might work against him as time catches up to everybody in this game. So they go out and make a trade with Atlanta, sending Trae Young to the Hawks (see above) to get Luka Doncic, who is now possibly going to be a replacement in Dallas for when Dirk retires. Luka is considered by some to be the best player in this draft class so good on Dallas for being able to land him. Mavs also had three other picks in the draft and were able to land Jalen Brunson (33rd), Ray Spalding (56th) and Kostas Antetokounmpo (Giannis’ little brother at 60). All in all, I'd say it was a sound draft for Dallas, they got the player they wanted and added good depth pieces. Good on the Mavs.

Loser:
Washington Wizards
Taking Troy Brown with the 15th overall pick was a good selection. Brown is a decent shooter and could make an impact for this Washington basketball team. However its where they picked him that has me a little puzzled. He went at 15, which means that Zhaire Smith, Donte DiVincenzo, and Lonnie Walker IV all got taken after him. All three guys could easily have gone in that spot or possibly higher. They passed up for a guy who isn't that great of a shooter in Brown. Sure, he maybe a solid defender and ball handler but not being a good shooter is a receipt for disaster in the world's best league. Plus, the pick made at 44 in Issuf Sanon, a kid who's going to be a work in progress at point guard.

NHL Schedule Announced

Start marking your calenders now, my fellow hockey fans. The National Hockey League has announced its schedule for the 2018-19 season. Opening night for the league is Wednesday, October 3rd, with the regular season concluding on Saturday, April 6th. We get into the locals in a moment, but first things first. There's some big games around the league to look at this season. Washington raises their first ever Stanley Cup Banner against Boston on opening night, October 3rd. We got our first finals rematch between the Capitals and Golden Knights in Washington on October 10th. The league goes international this year, with Edmonton taking on New Jersey in Gothenburg, Sweden (October 6th), Florida will play Winnipeg in a pair of games at Hartwall Arena in Helsinki, Finland (November 1st and 2nd). The Winter Classic takes place on New Years day at Nortre Dame Stadium between the Blackhawks and Bruins, while the Stadium Series will be played on February 23rd at Lincoln Financial Field as the Flyers host the Penguins. Finally the All Star Game takes place on January 26th in San Jose.

That's just some of the stuff going on around the league. Here's the full 82 game schedules for the local teams.

OCTOBER
Thu, Oct 4 vs Nashville 7:00 PM
Sat, Oct 6 @ Buffalo 7:00 PM
Sun, Oct 7 @ Carolina 5:00 PM
Thu, Oct 11 vs San Jose 7:00 PM
Sat, Oct 13 vs Edmonton 1:00 PM
Tue, Oct 16 vs Colorado 7:00 PM
Wed, Oct 17 @ Washington 7:00 PM
Sun, Oct 21 vs Calgary 7:00 PM
Tue, Oct 23 vs Florida 7:00 PM
Thu, Oct 25 @ Chicago 8:30 PM
Sun, Oct 28 @ Los Angeles 3:30 PM
Tue, Oct 30 @ San Jose 10:30 PM

NOVEMBER
Thu, Nov 1 @ Anaheim 10:00 PM
Sun, Nov 4 vs Buffalo 7:00 PM
Tue, Nov 6 vs Montreal 7:00 PM
Fri, Nov 9 @ Detroit 7:30 PM
Sat, Nov 10 @ Columbus 7:00 PM
Mon, Nov 12 vs Vancouver 7:00 PM 300
Thu, Nov 15 @ NY Islanders 7:00 PM
Sat, Nov 17 vs Florida 7:00 PM
Mon, Nov 19 vs Dallas 7:00 PM
Wed, Nov 21 vs NY Islanders 7:00 PM
Fri, Nov 23 @ Philadelphia 1:00 PM
Sat, Nov 24 vs Washington 2:00 PM
Mon, Nov 26 vs Ottawa 7:00 PM
Thu, Nov 29 @ Ottawa 7:30 PM

DECEMBER
Sat, Dec 1 @ Montreal 7:00 PM
Sun, Dec 2 vs Winnipeg 6:00 PM
Sat, Dec 8 @ Florida 7:00 PM
Mon, Dec 10 @ Tampa Bay 7:30 PM
Fri, Dec 14 vs Arizona 7:00 PM
Sun, Dec 16 vs Vegas 1:00 PM
Tue, Dec 18 vs Anaheim 7:00 PM
Sat, Dec 22 @ Toronto 7:00 PM
Sun, Dec 23 vs Philadelphia 7:00 PM
Thu, Dec 27 vs Columbus 7:00 PM
Sat, Dec 29 @ Nashville 8:00 PM
Mon, Dec 31 @ St. Louis 7:00 PM

JANUARY
Wed, Jan 2 vs Pittsburgh 7:00 PM
Fri, Jan 4 @ Colorado 9:00 PM
Sun, Jan 6 @ Arizona 4:00 PM
Tue, Jan 8 @ Vegas 10:00 PM
Thu, Jan 10 vs NY Islanders 7:00 PM
Sat, Jan 12 @ NY Islanders 1:00 PM
Sun, Jan 13 @ Columbus 6:00 PM
Tue, Jan 15 vs Carolina 7:00 PM
Thu, Jan 17 vs Chicago 7:00 PM
Sat, Jan 19 @ Boston 7:00 PM
Tue, Jan 29 vs Philadelphia 7:00 PM
Thu, Jan 31 @ New Jersey 7:00 PM

FEBRUARY
Sat, Feb 2 vs Tampa Bay 7:00 PM
Mon, Feb 4 vs Los Angeles 7:00 PM
Wed, Feb 6 vs Boston 8:00 PM
Fri, Feb 8 vs Carolina 7:00 PM
Sun, Feb 10 vs Toronto 7:00 PM
Tue, Feb 12 @ Winnipeg 8:00 PM
Fri, Feb 15 @ Buffalo 7:00 PM
Sun, Feb 17 @ Pittsburgh 12:30 PM
Tue, Feb 19 @ Carolina 7:00 PM
Thu, Feb 21 vs Minnesota 7:00 PM
Sat, Feb 23 vs New Jersey 1:00 PM
Sun, Feb 24 @ Washington 12:30 PM
Wed, Feb 27 vs Tampa Bay 7:30 PM

MARCH
Fri, Mar 1 vs Montreal 7:00 PM
Sun, Mar 3 vs Washington 12:30 PM
Tue, Mar 5 @ Dallas 8:30 PM
Thu, Mar 7 @ Detroit 7:30 PM
Sat, Mar 9 vs New Jersey 7:00 PM
Mon, Mar 11 @ Edmonton 9:00 PM
Wed, Mar 13 @ Vancouver 10:00 PM
Fri, Mar 15 @ Calgary 9:00 PM
Sat, Mar 16 @ Minnesota 8:00 PM
Tue, Mar 19 vs Detroit 7:00 PM
Sat, Mar 23 @ Toronto 7:00 PM
Mon, Mar 25 vs Pittsburgh 7:00 PM
Wed, Mar 27 @ Boston 7:30 PM
Fri, Mar 29 vs St. Louis 7:00 PM
Sun, Mar 31 @ Philadelphia 12:30 PM

APRIL
Mon, Apr 1 @ New Jersey 7:00 PM
Wed, Apr 3 vs Ottawa 7:30 PM
Fri, Apr 5 vs Columbus 7:00 PM
Sat, Apr 6 @ Pittsburgh 7:00 PM

OCTOBER
Thu, Oct 4 @ Carolina 7:00 PM
Sat, Oct 6 vs Nashville 7:00 PM
Mon, Oct 8 vs San Jose 1:00 PM
Sat, Oct 13 @ Nashville 8:00 PM
Wed, Oct 17 @ Anaheim 10:00 PM
Thu, Oct 18 @ Los Angeles 10:30 PM
Sat, Oct 20 @ San Jose 10:30 PM
Wed, Oct 24 vs Florida 7:00 PM
Sat, Oct 27 @ Philadelphia 1:00 PM
Sun, Oct 28 @ Carolina 5:00 PM
Tue, Oct 30 @ Pittsburgh 7:00 PM

NOVEMBER
Thu, Nov 1 vs Pittsburgh 7:00 PM
Sat, Nov 3 vs New Jersey 7:00 PM
Mon, Nov 5 vs Montreal 7:00 PM
Thu, Nov 8 @ Tampa Bay 7:30 PM
Sat, Nov 10 @ Florida 7:00 PM
Tue, Nov 13 vs Vancouver 7:00 PM
Thu, Nov 15 vs NY Rangers 7:00 PM
Sun, Nov 18 vs Dallas 1:00 PM
Wed, Nov 21 @ NY Rangers 7:00 PM
Fri, Nov 23 @ New Jersey 4:00 PM
Sat, Nov 24 vs Carolina 7:00 PM
Mon, Nov 26 vs Washington 7:00 PM
Thu, Nov 29 @ Boston 7:00 PM

DECEMBER
Sat, Dec 1 vs Columbus 7:00 PM
Tue, Dec 4 vs Winnipeg 7:00 PM
Thu, Dec 6 @ Pittsburgh 7:00 PM
Sat, Dec 8 @ Detroit 7:00 PM\
Mon, Dec 10 vs Pittsburgh 7:00 PM
Wed, Dec 12 vs Vegas 7:00 PM
Sat, Dec 15 vs Detroit 7:00 P
Mon, Dec 17 @ Colorado 9:00 PM
Tue, Dec 18 @ Arizona 9:00 PM
Thu, Dec 20 @ Vegas 10:00 PM
Sun, Dec 23 @ Dallas 8:00 PM
Fri, Dec 28 vs Ottawa 7:00 PM
Sat, Dec 29 @ Toronto 7:00 PM
Mon, Dec 31 @ Buffalo 6:00 PM

JANUARY
Thu, Jan 3 vs Chicago 7:00 PM
Sat, Jan 5 @ St. Louis 8:00 PM
Tue, Jan 8 vs Carolina 7:00 PM
Thu, Jan 10 @ NY Rangers 7:00 PM
Sat, Jan 12 vs NY Rangers 1:00 PM
Sun, Jan 13 vs Tampa Bay 7:00 PM
Tue, Jan 15 vs St. Louis 7:00 PM
Thu, Jan 17 vs New Jersey 7:00 PM
Fri, Jan 18 @ Washington 7:30 PM
Sun, Jan 20 vs Anaheim 3:00 PM
Tue, Jan 22 @ Chicago 8:30 PM

FEBRUARY
Fri, Feb 1 vs Tampa Bay 7:00 PM
Sat, Feb 2 vs Los Angeles 7:00 PM
Tue, Feb 5 @ Boston 7:00 PM
Thu, Feb 7 @ New Jersey 7:00 PM
Sat, Feb 9 vs Colorado 1:00 PM
Feb 10 vs Minnesota 3:00 PM
Tue, Feb 12 @ Buffalo 7:00 PM
Thu, Feb 14 @ Columbus 7:00 PM
Sat, Feb 16 vs Edmonton 7:00 PM
Wed, Feb 20 @ Calgary 9:30 PM
Thu, Feb 21 @ Edmonton 9:00 PM
Sat, Feb 23 @ Vancouver 10:00 PM
Tue, Feb 26 vs Calgary 7:00 PM
Thu, Feb 28 vs Toronto 7:00 PM

MARCH
Fri, Mar 1 vs Washington 7:00 PM
Sun, Mar 3 vs Philadelphia 3:00 PM
Tue, Mar 5 vs Ottawa 7:00 PM
Thu, Mar 7 @ Ottawa 7:30 PM
Sat, Mar 9 vs Philadelphia 7:00 PM
Mon, Mar 11 vs Columbus 7:00 PM
Thu, Mar 14 vs Montreal 7:00 PM
Sat, Mar 16 @ Detroit 2:00 PM
Sun, Mar 17 @ Minnesota 6:00 PM
Tue, Mar 19 vs Boston 7:00 PM
Thu, Mar 21 @ Montreal 7:30 PM
Sat, Mar 23 @ Philadelphia 1:00 PM
Sun, Mar 24 vs Arizona 3:00 PM
Tue, Mar 26 @ Columbus 7:00 PM
Thu, Mar 28 @ Winnipeg 8:00 PM
\Sat, Mar 30 vs Buffalo 7:00 PM

APRIL
Mon, Apr 1 vs Toronto 7:00 PM
Thu, Apr 4 @ Florida 7:00 PM
Sat, Apr 6 @ Washington 7:00 PM

Lets drop that puck!

And The Award Goes To......

At the conclusion of the hockey year, the best of the best gather in Las Vegas. Every year in late June the National Hockey League hands out the hardware for the highest individual honors in this great team game. The 2017-18 season was no different, providing fans with high energy hockey, a different look to the game with new superstars stepping into the forefront and helping move along the coolest game on earth. This was, and is, the proper way to close out the year that was and get everybody ready for what's to come with the draft and free agency period looming. So here now is a look at this year's award winners in the NHL for the 2017-18 season.

All Star Teams
First Team
Goalie: Pekka Rinne, Nashville Predators
Defense: Drew Doughty, Los Angeles Kings
Defense: Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay Lightning
Center: Conor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers
Right Wing: Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning
Left Wing: Taylor Hall, New Jersey Devils

Second Team
Goalie: Connor Hellebuyck, Winnipeg Jets
Defense: Seth Jones, Columbus Blue Jackets
Defense: P.K. Subban, Nashville Predators
Center: Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche
Right Wing: Blake Wheeler, Winnipeg Jets
Left Wing: Claude Giroux, Philadelphia Flyers

All Rookie
Goalie: Juuse Saros, Nashville Predators
Defense: Will Butcher, New Jersey Devils, Charlie McAvoy, Boston Bruins
Forwards: Matthew Barzal, New York Islanders, Brock Boeser, Vancouver Canucks, Clayton Keller, Arizona

Here's some of the other awards given out in Vegas.

Art Ross Trophy (Leading Scorer): Conor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers - 108 Points
"Rocket" Richard Trophy (Leading Goal Scorer): Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals - 49 Goals
William M. Jennings Trophy (Fewest Goals Against): Jonathan Quick, Los Angeles Kings - 203 Goals Against
Conn Smythe Trophy (Playoff MVP): Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals
Mark Messier Leadership Award (Awarded to the player who exemplifies great leadership qualities to his team, on and off the ice, during the regular season): Deryk Engelland, Vegas Golden Knights
King Clancy Memorial Trophy (Awarded to the player who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution in his community): Daniel and Henrik Sedin, Vancouver Canucks
General Manager Of the Year: George McPhee, Vegas Golden Knights
Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy (Awarded to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey): Bryan Boyle, New Jersey Devils
Frank J. Selke Trophy (Best Defensive Forward): Anze Kopitar, Los Angeles Kings
Ted Lindsay Award (MVP voted on By Players): Conor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers

Jack Adams Award (Coach Of The Year): Gerard Gallant, Vegas Golden Knights
Bruce Cassidy of the Bruins had a good year in Boston, as did Jared Bednar, who lead the Avalanche to a fantastic year in Denver. But what Gallant was able to do in Vegas with the Golden Knights is the stuff of legend. He was able to take a bunch of guys who were viewed, to a degree, as castoffs from the rest of the league, and turn them into a team that came three wins shy of winning hockey's ultimate prize. Gallant lead the Golden Knights to one of the greatest inaugural seasons, not only in the history of hockey, but in possibly all of sports. Gallant was let go after a slow start with the Panthers a season ago, now stands on top of the hockey world as the best coach in the game this year.

Calder Memorial Trophy (Rookie Of The Year): Matthew Barzal, New York Islanders
Barzal ran away with the Calder as top rookie and it was a pretty obvious choice that he was going to win the award. He finished with 85 points, which not only lead the league among the rookies, but it was also good enough to top the Islanders in scoring, one point better then team captain John Tavares. He's also the fifth Islanders player to win the award, joining Denis Potvin (1974), Bryan Trottier (1976), Mike Bossy (1977) and Bryan Berard (1997). With Barzal, he was at the top of his game most of the year and was one of the fastest skaters in all of hockey. The only rookie who came close to putting up the numbers Barzal did was Brock Boeser, who got hurt with a back injury in late March and missed the rest of the season. If Boeser had been able to stay healthy, he may have made this a closer race for the Calder. Barzal was still top of the heap for the rookie class this year.

James Norris Memorial Trophy (Best Defenseman): Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay Lightning
This was a close decision to make between Hedman, PK Subban of Nashville and Drew Doughty of the Los Angeles Kings. Hedman is the first Lightning player to ever win the award. Hedman is also the third Swedish to win the Norris Trophy, joining Erik Karlsson (twice) and Nicklas Lidstrom (seven times). This year's voting was close as both Subban and Doughty had fantastic seasons, but Hedman put up something that was different. Both Subban and Doughty had played on good teams, as did Hedman, but those two have been playing at a level that are expected of them. Hedman is too but he took his game to another level this season and was viewed as the total anchor of this Tampa team that was one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference. I just feel that if you take all three guys out of their respective lineups, Tampa's blue line would have been a little more effected by the loss of Hedman then Nashville without Subban and LA without Doughty.

Vezina Trophy (Best Goaltender): Pekka Rinne, Nashville Predators
After being nominated for the award four times prior, and playing brides maid twice, Rinne finally waked away with the award for the best goalie in the game. Its the first time a Nashville goalie has walked away with the award. The other two finalists for the award, Connor Hellebuyck and Andrei Vasilevskiy, had outstanding years in their own rights. Vasilevskiy lead the league with 44 wins and Hellebuyck broke the record for most wins in a single season by an American born netminder. But Rinne also put up numbers that seperated himself from the rest of his netminding brothers. Rinne ranked fifth in goals-against average (2.31) and tied for sixth in save percentage (927). He also tied with Vasilevskiy for the league lead with eight shutouts on the year. What also helped separate him from the rest of the pack is where the Predators finished in the regular season standings. The fact that Nashville finished the year with the best record in all of hockey say something. Rinne was a huge reason for that and is fully deserving of being the best goalie in the league this year.

Hart Memorial Trophy (League MVP): Taylor Hall, new Jersey Devils
Taylor Hall becomes the first New Jersey Devils player to win the Hart as league MVP. He just edged out Nathan MacKinnon of Colorado and Anze Kopitar of the Kings. MacKinnon did a lot to be able to help carry the Avs to a playoff spot after being one of the worst teams in the league the year before. There's no denying he had a fantastic year. But he wasn't able to do what Hall did for the Devils. Hall finished this season with 39 goals and 94 points, both of which were career highs. Those numbers are good, but what makes Hall's season even more impressive is that the next highest point producer on the Devils was Nico Hischier, who had 52 points. Hall nearly doubled the point production of the next best player on the Devils this year. He also had a 21 game point streak during the season. Hall's performance helped power the Devils from the bottom of the Eastern Conference to their first playoff berth since 2012. Just imagine how bad the Devils would have been had they not had Taylor Hall in the lineup. He was the best player in the best league in the world in 2018.

New Coach On Markets

There's no better way to start a summer if your a hockey coach. Winning the Stanley Cup as a coach is just as exciting for the coaches as it is the players. Winning the Cup can be the crowning achievement for a bench boss the same as it could be for his players. Well Barry Trotz is going out on a high note. Just weeks after winning Hockey's Holy Grail, Trotz has announced that he's stepping down as the head coach of the Washington Capitals.

It was announced earlier today by TSN and hockey insider Pierre LeBrun. According to a tweet from LeBrun: Barry Trotz had a clause in his contract where if he won the Stanley Cup he could accept a two-year extension with a $300k bump in salary. Obviously since he was only making $1.5M, low by today's NHL coach's standards, a $1.8-million salary doesn't cut it. So Trotz stepped down.

Here's the statement made by the Washington Capitals earlier today:

"Barry Trotz informed the organization today of his decision to resign as head coach of the Washington Capitals. We are obviously disappointed by Barry's decision, but would like to thank Barry for all his efforts the past four years and for helping bring the Stanley Cup to Washington. Barry is a man of high character and integrity and we are grateful for his leadership and for all that he has done for our franchise."

With the bump up in pay, Trotz was slated to make about $1.8 Million each of the next two years, which is a low ball offer by a lot of coaching standards these days. For a guy who just won the Cup, that's way below par. Perfect example is the salary of some of the other coaches around the NHL right now. Toronto coach Mike Babcock makes $6.25 million a year, while Joel Quenneville in Chicago is making $6 million a year, Claude Julien makes $5 million a year up in Montreal. Trotz now joins a list of four other coaches who have left their teams after winning a title. He joins Scotty Bowman (1979 Montreal for Buffalo GM and Detroit 2002 retired), Bob Johnson (1991 Penguins dude to illness) and Mike Keenan (1994 Rangers to coach Blues).

Here's the surprise factor. With the numbers that Trotz put up behind the Caps bench, I'm still surprised he got the low offer. During his four year run at the helm of the Capitals, Trotz lead the Capitals to a 205-89-34 record, which was the best in the league during that stretch. Which makes little sense that the Caps would let him go, after all he did just guide you to you're first Cup title in the 43 year history of the franchise. That has to speak volumes right there right?

Not by the Caps logic, who weren't going to really pay up for his services. Hey those win totals speak pretty well to how good the guy did. It doesn't hurt that you have one of the best players on the planet in Alex Ovechkin but still you have to know how to push the right buttons. You don't win over 200 games as a coach in four years if you don't know how to push those buttons. As it sits right now, the only other opening for a head coach around the league that's not the Capitals would be the New York Islanders. If, somehow, Lou could pull off resigning John Tavares and higher Barry Trotz as the head coach, that would speak volumes for the direction that the Islanders are heading in.

We shall see how things shape up over the next week or two, but there's a new coach on the market.

How Much Can OBJ Fetch?

There's no denying true greatness when it arrives. For the New York Giants, they currently have that in the form of wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. After being drafted 12th overall by the Giants in the 2014 NFL Draft, Beckahm has put up some solid numbers over his short NFL Career. There are a few big questions that still remain around him. Is he worth the bigtime money that he's asking for? Is he going to get that money with the Giants? If not, then who else is going to be willing to pay him? Lets take a look at some of that right now.

He's been in the NFL for four years now, last year being the shortest one of his career due to injuries. In the first three years of his career, he hauled in 1,305, 1,450 and 1,367 yards respectively.  That goes along with 13, 12 and 10 touchdown seasons. Last year, was a short one for Beckham who was dealing with ankle and leg injuries all year. The numbers should be able to prove that, when he's healthy, he can be a dangerous threat. The numbers don't lie. He's coming off the leg injury last year and he enters this season in the final year of his contract. What he does on the field this year will go a long way to determine what he gets as far as a contract goes.

He's got two things against him right now, one physical and one mental. The physical aspect is pretty easy to figure out. How can his legs hold out during the course of a long season? If he can play a full year healthy and put up numbers close to what he did before his injury, then I see no problem with Odell getting a good deal. It's the mental aspect that has people worried, and for good reason. His antics during play with the kicking net and his touchdown celebrations have been well documented. Once he starts cutting out that stupid stuff and gets his head screwed on straight then I think that will take care of his problems and make his game just that much better.

He's got the numbers that can rank among the best in the game. He had better receiving yards over his first three years then Jerry Rice, almost similar to Randy Moss, better then Isaac Bruce. Which is pretty good company to keep. He got the talent level to make it with the greatest to ever play the game, which is still a long way away. He got the talent to be productive and under new GM Dave Gettleman and new Head coach Pat Shurmur, he can really take it to another level. More on them in a moment.

The argument can be made that he will be one of the top wage earners among wide outs in the league. Mike Evans is making $82 million over the next five years, Antonio Brown is entering the 2nd year of a four year deal with him making $68 Million. DeAndre Hopkins is in year two of a five year deal with $81 million. Larry Fitzgerald is coming into the last year of his seven year deal he signed in 2011 that was worth $110 million. All of them are great receivers who are making a lot of money. OBJ has the skillset to get there, if he can stay healthy. If he stays with the Giants its up to Gettleman and Shurmur.

The Giants new GM and coach will have to determine if he fits into their plans after this season, which I would assume yes, because of how good he is. New York would be so foolish to just let a guy of this talent walk away. One of two things is going to happen, if for some reason he isn't hanging around. He's either going to walk with the Giants, or they're going to trade him and get something in return, which I can't really see happening, but it is a possibility.

At the end of the day, I have this gut feeling that Beckham is going to stay here in New York by season's end and stick with the Giants. He's the best weapon this team has had at receiver since all time leader Amani Toomer retired in 2008. He has the chance to shatter the receiving records for this team and he has stated that he wants to stay put here in New York. He wants to be the highest paid player in the game, and I really don't think that's going to happen, not with his attitude. However I do feel he's going to get quite a nice chunk of change when he does hit the market. There's no real way I can see the Giants just up and letting him leave, they won't let their new face of the franchise go. In order for him to really get a max contract that he's going to be happy with, he's going to have to perform again on the field and have a sever attitude change in order to get the money he wants.