Welcome back everyone, for another week of news from around the world of hockey and around the league. Some of the news from the past week is:
- The NHL announced that both Connor McDavid and defenceman Tyler Myers have been suspended for 3 games each after the weekend game between the Edmonton Oilers and the Vancouver Canucks where Connor McDavid crossed checked Conor Garland in the head, during a scrum, while Myers cross-checked Evan Bouchard in the head unprovoked. Canucks beat the Oilers 3-2 but the dialogue afterwards was wild online between both fan bases and all hockey fans about the level of suspension. Both teams will face off again on Thursday night again, so perhaps we will see some fireworks.
- The Edmonton Oilers have also signed defenceman John Klingberg to a 1-year, $1.75 million dollar deal. Klingberg, 32, who has been out for a while last had 5 assists in 14 games for the Toronto Maple Leafs last season before having season-ending hip surgery in December 2023. He is still day to day but is practicing with the team.
- As for the Vancouver Canucks, it looks like there was almost a trade over the weekend for J.T. Miller with the New York Rangers. It appears as if the organization is willing to move Miller out, given the tension between him and Elias Pettersson, and it is possible we see a trade soon. Other teams to keep an eye on are the New Jersey Devils and the Carolina Hurricanes, so keep an eye out on them.
- Speaking of other issues around the league, the DOPS have suspended New York Islanders forward Maxim Tsyplakov, also for three games without pay, for an illegal check to the head of Philadelphia Flyers forward Ryan Poehling. This was also a scary hit and it looks like that the DOPS is cracking down on hits to the face as it can be much more severe. We don’t want to see this in the game.
- In business news, the NHL has cancelled escrow payments for the players and will be sharing profits with all the players. This means that the league has a healthy growth and will allow the cap to go up quite a bit moving forward (after a setback with the pandemic). This is good news for players and teams like the Colorado Avalanche and the Toronto Maple Leafs, who have some big names to sign (Mikko Rantanen & Mitch Marner).
- The new Utah Hockey Club is reporting some legal hurdles as it searches for a permanent name, as the name Utah Yetis was denied by the United States Patent and Trademark Office due to a “likelihood of confusion” with the Yeti cooler brand, along with names like Utah Blizzard and Utah Venom. Will we see some other names be patented, as a poll that was presented last summer when the team was acquired, asking if names like Blizzard, Mammoth and Outlaws would be liked by the fans. We will see as we are excited about the design they will use for their jerseys. The articles with more details is here: https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/report-utah-hockey-club-has-multiple-trademarks-denied/
- Finally, in some really sad news, long-time NHL linesman Danny McCourt has passed away. McCourt, 70, officiated over 1,600 NHL games and served almost two decades in scouting and development with the League’s officiating department. Our thoughts are with his family and friends.
- As always, there is a lot more news so make sure to tune in for our aired Season 6, Episode 19 of Two Guys & Hockey Talk next Wednesday. We dive into some of these great topics, and so much more.
Thoughts? Questions? Suggestions? Then remember to tune in each week to get all the latest news in the world of hockey. For more hockey news, different takes or if you want to chat about anything hockey give me a follow @hockey_two on TWITTER and give us a follow on YouTube, or at https://twoguysandhockeytalk.com/.
- Pawel ‘The Cat’
