Hockey Rambling

Los Angeles removed the interim tag from head coach Jim Hiller and he’ll be the full-time coach heading into the 2024-25 season. After taking over at the All-Star break, the team went 21-12-1 to secure their playoff spot. They were bounced in the first round by Edmonton, but they were a legitimately great defensive team [...]

A couple of quick thoughts for the leagues where you get to replace eliminated players. In leagues where you cannot double-up on replacement players, then Edmonton is the last team I would like to select players from, because their scoring is so top-heavy right now that even selecting a few depth players would mean that [...]

Frank Seravalli reported that Brock Boeser’s blood clot issue is going to make him miss the rest of the playoffs regardless of the result of Game 7. That is just a brutal circumstance for the winger who had a career season and was such a big part of the team’s success. It appears he’ll he [...]

Hey all, it’s Alex filling in for Brennan. I have to say when I told Brennan two months ago that I would cover this Rambling date, it was not on my radar that it was the long weekend – sneaky bugger, I hope you’re enjoying yourself. * With both the Boston/Florida and Dallas/Colorado series ending [...]

The Oilers dominated a must-win Game 6, forcing a winner-take-all Game 7 with the Canucks on Monday night in Vancouver. Oilers 5, Canucks 1 (series tied 3-3) Evan Bouchard and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins each scored a goal and added two assists in the Oilers’ Game 6 victory. Bouchard in particular had a strong game, finishing with [...]

In Friday’s playoff pucks, two more teams advanced to the conference final, which leaves just one spot remaining. Panthers 2, Bruins 1 (Panthers win series 4-2) Gustav Forsling scored the game-winning goal with just 1:33 remaining in regulation to win both Game 6 and the series for Florida. The Panthers will now face the New [...]

Two games of playoff pucks on Thursday. The Rangers become the first team to advance to the conference final, while a last-minute goal in regulation places the Canucks one win away from their own trip to the conference final. Rangers 5, Hurricanes 3 (Rangers win series 4-2) With a 3-1 lead after two periods, the [...]

Prior to Game 4, Colorado got some bad news regarding Valeri Nichushkin but there was also a surprise scratch in Devon Toews. The good news is that Toews was back in the lineup for Game 5 and he is certainly one of the most important cogs of the team after Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar. [...]

I would have thought that Valeri Nichushkin’s suspension (discussed by Cliffy yesterday) would have made room in the lineup for another black-ace scorer on the wing in Nikolai Kovalenko. Kovalenko put up excellent numbers in the KHL this year, but has only gotten a very limited look in the post-season here, playing a total of [...]

The NHL announced Carson Soucy is suspended one game for his cross-check on Connor McDavid on Sunday night while Nikita Zadorov got a $5000 fine for another cross-check on McDavid a split-second before the Soucy cross-check. There seems to be a theme here but I can’t quite put my finger on it… * Filip Chytil [...]