Calgary Flames forward Dillon Dube has taken a leave of absence due to mental health reasons, the team said on X last Sunday.

Dube, the 56th pick in the 2016 Draft, has played in 43 games this year with three goals and four assists. According to the team, Dube is under the care of professionals, and the team has gone 1-3 in his absence.

Dube has been one of a number from the 2018 Canadian World Junior Team who have  taken a leave of absence in recent weeks. Dube and his teammates, Michael McLeod, Cal Foote, Carter Hart and Alex Formenton, have all stepped away from their teams for what seems to be due to a sexual assault investigation.

The alleged incident occurred at a gala celebrating the team’s gold medal win, and the NHL has had an open investigation on the incident since 2022, but no information has been released yet.

“We are aware of this morning’s press reports on a very serious matter. We will respond appropriately when the outcomes of the investigations are made public,” Philadelphia Flyers general manager Daniel Briere said. “The NHL has been very clear that teams should refer all investigation-related questions to them. In the meantime, members of the organization, including Flyers players, will not be commenting any further. That’s all we can say at the moment, unfortunately.”

Hockey Canada has seen many scandals in the past few years from their leadership, and with multiple players taking leave from their team, this seems to be another issue that they will need to address. Though the group oversees much of youth hockey in Canada with a large influence over the sport, it has only seen more criticism over the years as Nike and other sponsors ended their partnership with Hockey Canada last year.

Some fans were a little stunned by the return that Calgary Flames star forward Matthew Tkachuk was able to fetch.

Just a few days ago, it was reported that the 24-year-old informed the Flames that he won’t be signing a new contract with the team.

It did not take long after that for Tkachuk to get moved – but how quickly he was traded and the haul the Flames got was a bit shocking.

The Florida Panthers late Friday night completed a deal that sent the Flames all-star forward Jonathan Huberdeau, first-pairing defenseman MacKenzie Weegar, a conditional 2025 first-round pick and prospect Cole Schwindt.

Here are some of the top reactions by some of the fans and members of the media.

https://twitter.com/cepremacy/status/1550687569163292674

https://twitter.com/LeafsNeedGod/status/1550686557539127301

In addition to the trade, Tkachuk signed an eight-year contract worth $76 million with the Panthers, which comes with an average annual value (AAV) of $9.5 million

Tkachuk told Sportsnet that he decided that Calgary wasn’t the place he wanted his future to be after the restricted free agency period on July 13.

“There’s a lot that went into it,” Tkachuk said.

“There’s no single reason why I left At the end of the day, I wanted to re-evaluate where I’m at, and after talking to a few teams I did that, and kind of came down to that conclusion. I didn’t know what my decision was going to be until that talking period. It all changed then.”

The move comes a week after the Flames lost another star winger in Johnny Gaudreau to the Columbus Blue Jackets in free agency.

Next up, it’ll be interesting to see if the Flames will re-sign Huberdeau, who is scheduled to be a free agent.

Huberdeau, who will turn 30-years-old when his next contract kicks in, is an elite playmaker who is coming off a 115-point season.

Also, it’ll be interesting to see how both teams benefit from the deal.

We know that Tkachuk is a more valuable asset than Huberdeau but how will the Panthers be affected after losing star center Claude Giroux in free agency and their first-pairing defenseman?

The changes will make the Flames and the Panthers teams to watch for the upcoming 2022-2023 regular season.

The Calgary Flames and Vegas Golden Knights game next week will have an all-female broadcast team. The Canadian national sports network, Sportsnet, will have play-by-play announcer Leah Hextall, game analyst Cassie Campbell–Pascall and reporter Christine Simpson work the game on March 8 in Calgary.

The game finishes up the network’s week of programming recognizing International Women’s Day.

“International Women’s Day is an opportunity to inspire young women and put a spotlight on what is possible, while encouraging continued conversation and action to overcome gender-based barriers for women in the workplace,” said Alison Redmond, executive producer for Rogers Hometown Hockey. “I’m proud to work with highly talented women, whose skill, experience and perspective allow us to deliver sports programming at its best.”

30 SPORTS FIGURES WHO DIED IN 2018 – TRIBUTE SLIDESHOW 

The campaign on Sportsnet will see features of female sports trailblazers, including tennis legend Billie Jean King, Toronto Raptors vice president of basketball operations Teresa Resch and former WTA head Stacey Allaster.

Calgary Flames General Manager Brad Treliving said this week he is looking into an allegation that head coach Bill Peters used a racial slur ten years ago.

The former player who accused Peters is Akim Aliu, a Nigerian-born player that Peters coached from 2008-10 on the Rockford Ice Hogs, a minor league team affiliated with the Chicago Blackhawks and that plays in the American Hockey League.

Aliu claims that Peters and him did not get along because of the coach’s distaste in his music. Aliu tweeted on Monday that the protege of former Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock had “dropped the N bomb several times towards me in the dressing room in my rookie year because he didn’t like my choice of music.”

Aliu also said he was the “first to rebel” against Peters because of his alleged use of the racial slur. The Flames are looking into this because Babcock was Peters’ coach in college.

According to Aliu, he was having a very good season that year for a 20-year-old and was on pace to score 20 goals. He claims Peters called two Chicago Blackhawks executives who were trying to get him demoted.

“Instead of remedying the situation he wrote a letter to John McDonough and Stan Bowman to have me sent down to the ECHL,” Aliu wrote of Peters.

IN MEMORIAM: SPORTS FIGURES WHO DIED IN 2019

Aliu was ultimately sent to the Toledo Walleye of the ECHL during the 2009-10 season. Aliu, who is originally from Africa, was raised in Canada and Ukraine. Later in his career, he ended up playing seven games in two seasons with the Flames.

“We’re aware of the tweet from former player Akim Aliu. Obviously we’re playing so I haven’t had the chance to sit down with Bill or our people internally to talk about this and get to the bottom of it.  We take these matters very, very seriously, ” said Treliving. The Flames said they would address the issue after they had an opportunity to discuss it internally.

Six different NHL teams played in their first playoff game on Thursday night, and the three who emerged the winners were the Nashville Predators, the Washington Capitals and the Anaheim Ducks.

NHL Playoffs Round 1: Capitals Top Maple Leafs In OT, Predators beat Blackhawks

Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne stopped 29 shots, and winger Viktor Arvidsson scored a goal at 7:52 of the first period to lift the Predators to a 1-0 road victory over the Chicago Blackhawks.

The Predators now lead the Western Conference first-round series 1-0.

“We did a really good job messing up their systems and didn’t give them too much flow,” said Rinne, who recorded his second NHL postseason shutout. “They like to play with a lot of speed and puck possession, and we did the right things on the ice. I think that’s a credit for us to interrupt their style of play.”

Game 2 of the best-of-seven series will be held Saturday night at 8 pm EST in Chicago.

The previous two times the Blackhawks and Predators faced off in the postseason, (2010, 2015) the former eliminated the latter in the first round.

Chicago outshot Nashville 29-20, including 23-9 in the last two periods.

Marian Hossa and Patrick Kane combined for just 10 shots on goal for the Blackhawks, while Jonathan Toews didn’t record a single shot on goal in 20:38 of ice time.

Corey Crawford made 19 saves for the Blackhawks, who were shut out in a home playoff game for the first time since 2012. Meanwhile, it was the Predators’ first road shutout in their nine-year postseason history.

“We’ve just got to keep getting better in this series,” Crawford said. “That was a pretty good game by us, but we have better in us.”

Arvidsson’s goal came off a defensive error from Chicago. Predators centre Ryan Johansen took the puck from Arvidsson and drew three defensemen to him before passing to Filip Forsberg, who passed to Arvidsson.

“I figured Ryan would put it over there [to Forsberg],” Arvidsson said. “I just tried to get lost behind them, and [Forsberg] made a great shot-pass. I just tapped it in.”

Rinne made a sprawling left-skate save against Artem Anisimov with 8:15 left in the second period to stop the Blackhawks from tying the game. Anisimov returned after missing the last 13 games of the regular season with a lower-body injury, while Predaotrs forward Calle Jarnkrok came back from his own lower-body injury after missing the regular-season finale. Nashville forward Colin Wilson (lower body) missed his third consecutive game.

In Washington, meanwhile, Tom Wilson scored 5:15 into overtime to lift the Capitals to a 3-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night.

The Capitals now lead the Eastern Conference first-round series 1-0.

“Lots of emotion,” Wilson said. “Obviously, pretty crazy. Once the puck goes in, it’s a whirlwind. Got to watch it briefly on an interview. You know what? It’s a good feeling. Hopefully we keep building those good feelings and keep it rolling here.”

The winger knocked the puck down with his hand to keep it in the zone on a clearing attempt by the Leafs, and then shot past goalie Frederik Andersen for his first goal in 29 playoff games. Wilson is also the first Capitals player to net his first postseason goal in overtime.

Toronto gained a 2-0 lead 9:44 into the game thanks to goals from Mithcell Marner (at 1:35 of the first period of his first-ever playoff game) and Jake Gardiner. However, Washington tied it with two goals from Justin Williams.

“Everything’s about momentum,” Williams said. “They certainly had it to start, and we kind of calmed down, settled the nerves and we did what we wanted to do: Come back from (down) two goals, and now you keep the pressure on.”

Williams’ first goal came on a power play at 12:24 of the first period, and then his second tied it 2-2 with 4:00 remaining in the middle period. On his second goal, Williams got a puck loose in the crease and scored through Andersen’s legs.

Gardiner’s goal was initially waved off for goaltender interference, although the call was reversed following a coach’s challenge from the Maple Leafs.

“A confidence-builder, for sure,” Toronto coach Mike Babcock said. “I liked our game. I didn’t like that we wouldn’t shoot the puck. We had so many opportunities to shoot and we wouldn’t, we wanted to pass. I thought Wilson did a good job of doing that, you just throw it on net. That’s playoff hockey. Things bounce to somebody and it goes in.”

Andersen stopped 41 shots, while Capitals goalie Braden Hotlby made 35 saves.

Wilson’s goal came after he intercepted Martin Marincin’s clear from near the end boards five minutes into overtime. Wilson then shot past defenseman Morgan Rielly and over Andersen’s shoulder from the right face-off circle to seal the victory.

Andersen made two great saves in succession in overtime: he fell to the ice to block Brooks Orpik’s shot, and then denied Andre Burakovsky with his toe.

Capitals defenseman John Carlson played 19:27 after missing the last four games of the regular season.

The Capitals and Leafs face off again for the second game of the series at 7 pm EST on Saturday at Verizon Center.

Finally, the Ducks beat Calgary 3-2 in Anaheim on Thursday for their 28th straight win over the Flames at Honda Center, including an NHL-record 25 straight regular-season games against Calgary.

Anhaeim now lead the Western Conference first-round series 1-0. The Ducks and Flames will meet for Game 2 of the best-of-seven series in Anaheim at 10:30 pm EST on Saturday.

The Chicago Blackhawks’ incredibly lackluster penalty kill was evident again on Monday night, as the team allowed their 13th and 14th power-play goals in just 26 chances in a 3-2 home shootout loss to the Calgary Flames.

Blackhawks Penalty Kill Fails Again In Seven-Round, 3-2 Shootout Loss To Flames

Kris Versteeg scored in the seventh round and goalie Brian Elliott didn’t allow a shootout goal to help Calgary (2-4-1) avoid a three-game losing streak.

Versteeg, a former Blackhawks forward, deked Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford to the ice and slipped the puck past his left pad after a combined 13 missed shots.

“Anytime you know a guy’s tendencies, it just helps you,” said Elliott, who made 31 saves after entering the game with a 4.72 goals-against average. “But they know ours just as much as we know theirs. It’s kind of a battle between that and [Versteeg] coming up big.”

Elliott’s greatest save came at the end of regulation. He denied Chicago forward Richard Panik with a sprawling skate save to force overtime. Elliott– who led the St. Louis Blues to defeat the Blackhawks last season in the Stanley Cup Playoffs– also helped the flames kill a penalty in overtime, finishing with six saves.

Patrick Kane and Brian Campbell scored for the Blackhawks (3-3-1). Crawford had a fantastic night, finishing with 29 saves.

The penalty kill wasn’t Chicago’s only problem, nevertheless. The Blackhawks lost promising young defenseman Gustav Forsling to an upper-body injury after he was struck in the second period. Coach Joel Quenneville said Forsling is day to day. The Blackhawks had the NHL’s worst penalty kill by far (30th), although the Flames entered with the league’s worst power play at 1-for-25.

Calgary improved that percentage early in Monday’s game, when Sam Bennett got good position in close on Crawford and chipped in a rebound off a shot from Dougie Hamilton to give the Flames a 1-0 lead at 4:51 of the first period.

After Kane tied it at 1:32 of the second period with a one-timer, Sean Monahan gave Calgary a 2-1 lead at 6:52 on another power play.

The Flames got three more power plays in the second but were unable to capitalize, not even on a four-minute man-advantage with 5:14 left after Tyler Motte was called for a high-sticking double minor.

“It just seems no matter what, it finds a way, a different way, every time,” Quenneville said. “We had a couple big kills in the second period, and that was positive. We built off it, had a good third period and found a way to get a point. Could’ve had two.”

Campbell tied it 2-2 at 4:12 of the third with his first goal of the season. Campbell’s shot deflected in off Flames defenseman T.J. Brodie.

“We just didn’t do a job again early in the game,” Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews said. “A couple pucks, it just seems to find its way to the back of the net if we just make one little mistake.”

The Blackhawks will next visit the New Jersey Devils on Friday, while the Flames will visit the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday.

CHICAGO, IL – OCTOBER 24: Jyrki Jokipakka #3 of the Calgary Flames knocks the puck away from Jonathan Toews #19 of the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center on October 24, 2016 in Chicago, Illinois. The Flames defeated the Blachawks 3-2 in a shootout. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

Hockey is undoubtedly an emotional game, but one player’s emotions may have crossed line on Wednesday night. After Calgary Flames defenseman Dennis Wideman was run into the boards by Nashville winger Miikka Salomaki the veteran knocked over linesman Don Henderson on his way to the bench.

After the game, Wideman insisted that he would never intentionally check an official.

“I took a pretty good hit down in the corner and had some pretty good pain in my shoulder and neck,” he explained. “I was just trying to get off the ice and kind of keeled over. At the last second, I looked up and saw [Henderson] and couldn’t avoid it. I went up to Donnie and apologized to him on the ice.

“I didn’t see him. I didn’t know where to go and how to get out of the way. I’ve been around for a few years, and I think I’ve treated every official with the utmost respect, and I would never intentionally try to hit a linesman or a ref. It was completely unintentional, and I already apologized to him.”

Some have also speculated that Wideman wasn’t feeling 100% after taking the hit in the corner; the NFL, is in the midst of a concussion controversy.

If the league determines that the defenseman’s actions were intentional, he’ll face a minimum suspension of 20 games.

Photo: Calgary Flames defenseman Dennis Wideman by Resolute via Wikimedia Commons

During yesterday’s game between the New York Rangers and Calgary Flames, goaltender Karri Ramo possibly made the save of the year: if it is not, it is certainly a candidate.

In the midst of a Rangers power play during the first period, Ryan McDonagh hit a slap shot off the post, resulting in a wide open net for center J.T. Miller. Somehow Ramo was able to dive across the crease and snatch the quick shot out of the air, robbing him and the hometown crowd of a goal.

The Rangers would end up beating the Flames 1-0, with Ramo stopping 28 of 29 shots: Calgary continues their east coast road trip with the New Jersey Devils tonight and the New York Islanders on Friday.