Some of the NHL's Awards were given out tonight, the rest will be awarded tomorrow night before Game two of the Stanley Cup Finals.

NHL Announces 11 Award Winners

The National Hockey League announced some of the winners of this year’s awards today. In a slightly different setting than the past few years, they did so in a low-key panel show starting at 5:00 PM on the NHL Network.  In previous years, they had a large show in Las Vegas that felt more like the Grammy’s. Today the winners of the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, Frank J. Selke Trophy, King Clancy Memorial Trophy, Lady Byng Memorial Trophy, the Jack Adams Award, the Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award, the NHL Foundation Player Award and the General Manager of the Year …

Team Hartnell's Justin Williams and Simon Gagne battle Team Richards' Steve Eminger and Cory Perry at Operation Hat Trick.

Players Giving The Fans What They Want

The blame game has been a big part of the current NHL lockout. Is the league at fault? The players? Both? Believe what you will, but one thing has been made certain: the players want to play. They miss the game and they know their fans miss it, too. Need proof? Consider the slew of pick-up and charity games that have been popping up recently. Spurred by a request from TSN’s Cabbie Richards, Mike Richards and Andrew Ladd organized an impromptu street hockey game in Winnipeg back on November 13 (similar to what Brandon Prust did in Montreal back in …

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CBA 101: The Bonus Cushion and Bonus Overages

One aspect of the upcoming  (It is coming right? Eventually?) new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) that I am particularly interested about is the concept of Bonus Cushions and Bonus Overages. I’ve seen a number of people assume that the Bonus Cushion will exist, because it has before and, well, why wouldn’t it? I’ve also seen a seemingly equal number of people that don’t believe it will be included. Cue, the mumbo jumbo Section 50.5(h): (h) Accounting for Performance Bonuses. No SPC may contain Performance Bonuses except in accordance with Section 50.2(b)(i)(C) above. For purposes of a Club’s Upper Limit and Lower Limit, as …

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Then and Now: Matt Ellison

In the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals, the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Philadelphia Flyers in six games for their first title in 49 years. The team from The Second City had nine players record at least 10 points in their 22-game playoff run. One of those players was forward Patrick Sharp, who tied Dustin Byfuglien for a team-high 11 goals and finished third in points behind Conn Smythe winner Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. Sharp used to be a member of the Philadelphia Flyers until December of 2005, when he and Eric Meloche were traded to the Blackhawks for Matt Ellison and …

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Atlantic Watch: 2/15-2/21

The Flyers won two of their three games this week, as the club is still trying to turn things around before the playoffs. Although they are 4-5-2 since the All-Star break, Philly won two of their last three games. Fortunately for the Flyers, their next three games are away from the Wells Fargo Center, a scenario they are 19-9-2 in this season. In their first contest, the Flyers pounded the visiting Buffalo Sabres by a score of 7-2. After Jason Pominville and Thomas Vanek tallied in the first for Buffalo, the Flyers rattled off seven straight goals. The performance of …

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