From winning back-to-back titles to denting and cracking the trophy, the Florida Panthers banged up the Stanley Cup while celebrating their latest championship.

The bowl of the famous trophy is cracked and the bottom is dented. Not for the first time and likely not the last time.

The Panthers won their second consecutive championship on home ice Tuesday night, beating Edmonton in six games. The team, following decades of tradition, partied with the Cup into the wee hours and kept the revelry going in Fort Lauderdale well into Wednesday afternoon.

A spokesperson for the Hockey Hall of Fame said the keepers of the Cup are taking the appropriate steps and plan to have it repaired by the celebration parade on Sunday. Made of silver and a nickel alloy, the 37-pound Cup is relatively malleable.

Damage is nothing new for the 131-year-old Cup that has been submerged in pools and the Atlantic Ocean and mishandled by players, coaches and staff for more than a century.

The Montreal Canadiens left the trophy on the side of the road after winning it in 1924. The story goes that a car carrying some of the team had stalled going up a hill, meaning players had to get out to push. It wasn’t until they reached the top that they realized they had left one of the most famous trophies in the world behind.

Following the Detroit Red Wings’ success in 2008, Kris Draper celebrated by putting his baby daughter in the Cup for a photo. Only she left behind a little surprise … by using the legendary trophy as a toilet.

Pittsburgh Penguins forward Josh Archibald got creative with his celebrations, using his time with the Cup to baptize his son. Three-week-old Brecken was photographed receiving his blessing while sitting in the bowl at the top of the trophy.

Just this decade alone, the Tampa Bay Lightning dropped the Cup during their boat parade in 2021 and the Colorado Avalanche dented it on the ice the night they won the following year.

Thanks to the historic four-goal performance from Sam Reinhart, the Florida Panthers dominated the Edmonton Oilers and grabbed a 5-1 win in Game 6 on Tuesday night at Amerant Bank Arena in South Florida to become Stanley Cup champions once again. With the Panthers’ Game 6 win, it closed out the series 4-2 and gave the Panthers back-to-back titles and their second championship in franchise history.

The Panthers also beat the Oilers in the Stanley Cup Final last season in seven games. They are now the first team to win back-to-back titles since the Tampa Bay Lightning did so in 2020 and 2021. The Oilers’ loss also ensured that Canada’s 32-year dry spell – the country hasn’t had a team win a Stanley Cup since 1993 – continues.

The Panthers entered Tuesday’s game in Sunrise, Florida, coming off a commanding 5-2 Game 5 win in Alberta – which put them on the brink of the championship after just barely slipping in overtime in Game 4 last week.

The Panthers didn’t waste any time on Tuesday, either. Reinhart came up with a turnover and put in a wild off-balance goal not even five minutes into the game to put Florida on the board right now.

Matthew Tkachuk made it 2-0 by the end of the first, after he slipped into the center of the ice and found himself open. His goal, which came with about 45 seconds left in the period, marked the sixth straight game this series in which the Panthers have scored multiple goals in the first.

Then, late in the second period, after things started getting a bit chippy out on the ice, Reinhart got credit for another goal after Aleksander Barkov banked it in off his skate.

Reinhart then added one more goal in the third period for good measure when he threw in a deep goal on an empty net. That gave him the first-ever postseason hat trick in Panthers history, and the first one in a Game 6 of a Stanley Cup Final since 1973.

Reinhart scored his fourth goal just minutes later. He’s just the sixth player in NHL history to have four goals in a single game in the Stanley Cup Final, and the first since 1957. Vasily Podkolzin finally broke the shutout for the Oilers shortly after that goal with a quick one of his own, but it came too late.

Sam Bennett won the Conn Smythe Trophy even though he didn’t score on Tuesday night. He had 15 goals throughout the postseason, including five in the Stanley Cup Final.

The 2024 Stanley Cup Final was a classic, as the Florida Panthers were able to fight off a near-historic comeback from the Edmonton Oilers to win their first title in seven games.

Well, this instant classic of a finals is coming back as the Oilers beat the Dallas Stars 6-3 on Thursday to win the Western Conference title, which would set up the first rematch in the Stanley Cup finals since 2009.

In 2009, the Pittsburgh Penguins topped the Detroit Red Wings after losing the year before.

Leading the Oilers to their second straight Clarence Campbell Bowl were center Leon Draisaitl, center Connor McDavid, and defenseman Jake Walman, all of whom contributed two points.

The Panthers were able to get to the Stanley Cup Final after beating the Carolina Hurricanes with a 5-3 win in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Final. The Panthers will be entering their third straight Stanley Cup Finals appearance.

The Oilers and Panthers will be just the fifth Stanley Cup Final rematch in consecutive years in the NHL expansion era, which began in 1967.

The Oilers will now seek their sixth Stanley Cup and first since 1990. In 1984, after losing to the New York Islanders in 1983, they won a rematch to claim their first trophy.

The Panthers are looking to win back-to-back Stanley Cups as they look to break the pattern of the winners of last year’s cup losing the next year when rematches occur.

The Panthers beat the Oilers twice this season. Both games were decided by one goal.

The Oilers’ Connor McDavid is the favorite to win the Conn Smythe Award at -110, followed by Panthers’ goalie Sergei Bobrovsky at +250 at ESPN BET.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has congratulated Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin for setting the NHL record for goals in a career.

“I congratulate you on your outstanding record,” Putin said. “You have surpassed legendary masters in the number of goals scored in National Hockey League regular-season games.”

In setting the new record, Ovechkin passed Hall-of-Famer Wayne Gretzky. It was Ovechkin’s 895th career goal.

Ovechkin set the record on Sunday afternoon in a game against the New York Islanders. Despite Ovechkin’s goal, the Capitals lost 4-1.

Ovechkin has been a strong supporter of Putin. In 2017, he set up a social media movement called PutinTeam in an effort to have Putin reelected.

Ovechkin has previously stated that his support of Putin is not a political statement but a support for his country.

Ovechkin and Putin have not talked as of yet, but Putin reportedly “highly values Ovechkin’s sporting result.”

With Ovechkin’s goal on Ilya Sorokin, Ovechkin has now scored on 183 different goalies in his career.

International ice hockey has made its way back to the big stage.

The most recent example is the NHL’s Four Nations Face-Off, where stars from the USA, Canada, Sweden and Finland participated in a tournament that replaced the standard All-Star game. The competition drew excitement and eyeballs. Canada vs. USA, the final, drew over 16 million viewers – the most ever for a non-NFL game on ESPN.

Much of that excitement came from the political atmosphere surrounding the matches. Canadian fans took to booing the American national anthem in the wake of comments from President Donald Trump about annexing Canada, and Trump weighed in on the contest several times, including a phone call to Team USA the morning of the Final.

The 2026 Winter Olympics are already on everyone’s mind, particularly as NHL players will be allowed to compete for the first time since 2014. But one massive hockey nation likely won’t be included.

Due to its invasion of Ukraine, Russia has been banned from all events run by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) since early 2022. This came atop its four-year ban from Olympic events as a result of widespread doping violations and also caused Russia’s exclusion from the Four Nations.

Needless to say, the bans are brutal for some of hockey’s biggest stars – Nikita Kucherov, who won the Art Ross Trophy for most points last season; Igor Shesterkin and Andrei Vasilevskiy, both Vezina winners for best goaltending; and even Alexander Ovechkin, whose race to break Wayne Gretzky‘s all-time goals record has been well-documented.

The international political turmoil associated with Russian hockey at the moment makes it understandable, but no less surprising, that Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly proposed hockey matches between the USA and Russia on a Tuesday phone call with Trump. The Kremlin’s release states that “Donald Trump supported Vladimir Putin’s idea to organize hockey matches in the USA and Russia between Russian and American players playing in the NHL and KHL.”

The KHL refers to the Russian Kontinental Hockey League, comprised of 23 teams in Russia, Belarus, China and Kazakhstan.

As far as practical logistics go, though, any series seems at the very least far away. The NHL said that it had not been consulted on the possibility of an NHL-KHL series, and any such series would be subject to the approval of both NHL owners and the NHL Players’ Association (NHLPA).

Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin scored his 30th goal of the season Tuesday, continuing his determined march to break Wayne Gretzky’s all-time record. The 39-year-old veteran is now just 11 goals behind, putting him firmly on pace to break the record in the coming weeks.

Still performing at an elite level at the tail end of his career, this is the 19th time in 20 seasons that Ovechkin has scored 30 goals. In order to break Gretzky’s all-time total of 894 goals, Ovechkin has required consistent excellence and exceptional longevity. He is nearly there now, though it would be hard to tell by his typically muted comments to reporters.

“My linemates, teammates do a pretty good job finding me out there and I just have to finish it up,” Ovechkin said after the game Tuesday, a 3-1 loss to the Calgary Flames.

Despite missing five weeks this season to recover from a broken fibula, Ovechkin is still tied for seventh in goals scored across the league. Oilers star Leon Draisaitl’s 43 goals will be tough to catch, but Ovechkin is only three behind second place, a testament to his production when he’s been on the ice this season.

Record chasing has served Washington well this season, as Ovechkin’s hunt coincides with the team’s 38-12-8 record. Though the Capitals aren’t considered a front runner for the Stanley Cup, they’re solidly in the running for the President’s Trophy with a commanding lead in the Eastern Conference.

Barring an injury, Ovechkin’s 20th NHL season could end up being the most important in his career. The next 23 games will be spent breaking Gretzky’s record and further cementing his own. After that, he will lead a talented Capitals team to the playoffs, where he will have the chance to win his second Stanley Cup. For one of the all-time greats, there are countless ways to get to a storybook ending.

The only question the Florida Panthers need to answer on Tuesday is whether the parade will be held in a shopping mall or Fort Lauderdale after they staved off a historic collapse and eked out a 2-1 game seven victory over the Edmonton Oilers.

A week ago, everything lined up for the Panthers to coast to their first Stanley Cup in the 30-year franchise history. They won the first three games of the series, and even after being blown out by the Oilers 8-1 in game four, the Panthers had an opportunity to close out the series on home ice. Fast forward to Monday, and Edmonton, led by three-time MVP Connor McDavid, dragged the series back to Sunrise for a do-or-die game seven, a game some analysts said was the most critical NHL game of the 21st century.

Florida scored first in the opening five minutes with a Carter Verhaeghe deflected goal, a crucial tally since McDavid’s men went on the board first in the last three games. Still, the Oilers responded two minutes later with a Mattias Janmark breakaway goal as he got behind D Aaron Ekblad and lifted the puck over G Sergei Bobrovsky’s blocker.

The pace of the game slowed, and the teams were tied 1-1 heading into the first intermission. With neither team wanting to make a mistake, the second period started cagey. Neither team found a way through until Sam Reinhart broke the deadlock. The pending UFA and 50-goal scorer went through the neutral zone with speed on a 3-2, ripped a wrist shot past G Stuart Skinner above the pad, and bellow his blocker for what turned out to be the game-winning goal. In the first place, Skinner turning into a brick wall helped Edmonton find their way back in the series, but that will be a blemish he will want to have back.

First-year head coach Kris Knoblauch tried everything he could to spark the Oiler offense in the third period, loading up McDavid with Leon Draisaitl and Zach Hyman, but nothing broke down the Florida defense. With the puck pinned on the wall for the final ten seconds, reality set in for the amazing Amerant Bank Arena crowd that their hometown team finally broke through. The Panthers came up short last year in the SCF, losing to the Vegas Golden Knights, but that is forgotten now as the South Florida team reached the hockey pinnacle.

Winning the largest trophy in sports is a dream for everyone, especially for Panthers head coach Paul Maurice. Maurice coached in the NHL for 26 years without winning a cup until last night, almost retiring before taking this job. He seemed the most relieved of any person wearing red and blue that he ended his streak.

Even though his team lost, McDavid won the Conn Smythe trophy for playoff MVP. Bobrovsky was the best player on the best team, carrying the Cats to a championship. Some people believed he should have won the award, but he settled for the first star in game seven last night.

For a while, it looked like hockey could never work in South Florida. The team struggled with where to play between Miami and Broward and where to market their product. Three years ago, the Panthers won the President’s Trophy for best regular season in the NHL and seemed destined to break through, only to lose in the second round to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Now, Sunrise, FL, is the capital of the hockey universe.

The Chicago Blackhawks have issued a strong statement after Nina Sanders, an outside contractor specializing in Native American relations, filed a lawsuit accusing them of fraud and sexual harassment. The team claims that it only severed ties with Sanders after she expressed frustration over her working situation and opted out of an agreed-upon extension.

Sanders’ lawsuit claims explicitly that one Blackhawks employee made unwanted advances toward her and sent explicit images to her through Snapchat. She also claimed to have witnessed multiple incidents in which male employees made similar advances to other women working for the team. She considered her attempts to report these incidents as the reason the team cut ties with her, which directly conflicted with the team’s account of their agreement.

In their statement, the Blackhawks claim that they conducted a thorough investigation and did not find any evidence of internal wrongdoing.

“Based on the information available to us, we found insufficient evidence to substantiate her claims,” the team’s statement read. “Of note, the persons identified by Ms. Sanders in your question are not, and have never been, independent contractors with nor employees of the Chicago Blackhawks.”

In addition to denying Sanders’ claims, the Blackhawks also attempted to clarify their working relationship with Sanders, who was hired in 2020 to assist the team in formalizing relationships with local indigenous groups, specifically the Sac and Fox Nation. Despite claiming to have offered Sanders a contract extension in 2023, the team also criticized her job performance and claimed that she did not mention her issues with the team until she denied an extension.

“After contract negotiations dissolved, Ms. Sanders shared her frustrations with the organization over the working relationship and introduced noted allegations, none of which had been shared by Ms. Sanders at any time during her engagement with the Chicago Blackhawks,” the team said in its statement.

In attempting to clarify Sanders’ minimal role in the Blackhawks’ Native American relations campaign and criticizing her professional abilities, the team is creating a vastly different account than the one Sanders provided in her lawsuit. The allegations of sexual harassment are not the only thing that the team will have to fight against in court, as Sanders is claiming that her complaints relating to those incidents were the motivation for the team to violate the terms of her contract.

The NHL’s attempt at hockey in the desert is going on hiatus.

On Thursday, the NHL put to bed any lingering conspiracies or questions about the future of the Arizona Coyotes and announced that the team was officially moving to Salt Lake City. Ryan and Ashley Smith, who lead the Smith Entertainment Group (SEG), will be the two owners of the team, who will have a new name and branding due to not having the rights to the Coyotes trademark.

However, several major elements of the Coyotes will carry over when the team relocates, including the roster, draft picks and Hockey Operations Department. The Arizona Coyotes name will be designated as “inactive,” but it could be brought back if owner Alex Meruelo can create a new, NHL-ready stadium for the team in the next five years.

“As everyone knows, Utah is a vibrant and thriving state, and we are thrilled to be a part of it,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said in the statement released by the NHL. “We are also delighted to welcome Ashley and Ryan Smith to the NHL family and know they will be great stewards of the game in Utah. We thank them for working so collaboratively with the League to resolve a complex situation in this unprecedented and beneficial way.”

Both Smiths displayed excitement in the statement to have a team in Salt Lake City. “This is a transformative day for our state and our fans,” they said. “Our intention had always been to pursue an expansion team. Commissioner Bettman conceived and proposed an ingenious plan that would allow us to acquire an NHL franchise while also helping to address and remedy an immediate need of the NHL. ”

“We are committed to building a Stanley Cup-contending team and are thrilled to welcome incredible players, coaches, staff, and their families to Utah. Today is a great day for Utah, for hockey, and for building a legacy that will have a lasting impact on generations to come.”

For the Arizona Coyotes fan base, the news of the team’s relocation has to be painful. The team relocated to Phoenix in 1996, during the NHL’s decades-long plan to bring professional ice hockey to the Sun Belt region of the United States. The Coyotes were rarely at the top of the league standings, making it as far as the Western Conference Finals only once in the 2011-2012 season.

The NHL had to take control of the franchise temporarily in 2009 after then-owner Jerry Moyes filed for bankruptcy. Ever since, the Coyotes have had trouble securing agreements with local stadiums for them to play home games, eventually resorting to playing at Mullett Arena at Arizona State University in the team’s last two seasons.

The state of Utah has a history of hockey and winter sports at large. In its history, the state had two lower-level hockey teams, the ECHL’s Utah Grizzlies and the WHL’s Salt Lake Golden Eagles, although the latter relocated to Detroit in 1994. Several former Golden Eagles players, including Kevin Cheveldayoff and Theo Fleury, went on to be successful in the NHL. 

The city also hosted the 2002 Winter Olympics, and the region is well-known as one of the best places in the United States for skiing and other snow-related sports.

The New York Rangers defeated the New Jersey Devils 4-3 Wednesday night. The game began with a massive five-on-five brawl on the opening face-off. Four players on each team were ejected, continuing a bitter rivalry that the two teams have revived this season.

It is all but certain that the Rangers’ young center, Matt Rempe, was the source of the opening fight, which officially occurred two seconds into the game. The 21-year-old giant has made a name for himself as an extremely physical player early in his career. He has now been ejected from all three games that he has played against the Devils.

In the last matchup between the two teams on March 11, Rempe illegally elbowed Devils defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler, giving him a concussion. He received a four-game suspension for the hit. The start of Wednesday’s game was clearly planned by the Devils as a form of retaliation, but the Rangers were prepared.

To quickly recap, Rempe’s fight with New Jersey’s Kurtis MacDermid was the clear highlight of the brawl. The two fought the longest and only stopped due to fatigue.

“It was great to see the team responding that way and having each other’s backs out there,’’ MacDermid said after the game. “l have a lot of respect for him (Rempe). He’s a young kid trying to do his thing. I understand that.”

The Rangers’ Jimmy Vesey and K’Andre Miller won their fights decisively, taking down Curtis Lazar and John Marino, respectively. New York defenseman Jacob Trouba fought Chris Tierney and center Barclay Goodrow battled Kevin Bahl. Though hockey fights are scored subjectively, all five Rangers players ended the fray on their feet.

Because Vesey and Lazar technically started the action in the referees’ eyes, they were permitted to stay in the game. Every other fight, however, was ruled as a secondary altercation, so all eight of the other players who fought were ejected.

Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette seemed to be aware of something brewing at the team’s practice Tuesday.

“We gotta win. The division games are always, I think, a little bit more competitive,” Laviolette said. “When you play inside your division more than you do anyone else, there’s probably a little bit more tension inside those games.”

Even Laviolette got in on the action Wednesday night, hurling insults at Devils interim head coach Travis Green from the Rangers’ bench. The two coaches had plenty of time to verbally spar while referees sorted out 130 penalty minutes in the first two seconds.

A few minutes after play resumed in the first period, Devils center Dawson Mercer and Rangers left winger Will Cuylle had a fight of their own after Cuylle landed a hit on one of Mercer’s teammates against the boards. Mercer was ejected for instigating the fight.

The Rangers blew a 2-0 lead in the second period but went on to win the game 4-3 on a power play goal from Chris Kreider in the third. New York improved to 51-21-4, preserving the team’s current standing as the best in the NHL. The Devils continued their 2023-24 skid, falling to 36-36-4, relegating them to seventh in the Atlantic Division.

Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews scored his 50th goal Wednesday night in a 6-3 win over the Arizona Coyotes. It is the second time he has reached the milestone in his career, having scored 60 in the 2021-22 season.

“It’s great,” Matthews said after the game. “It’s a small step in the long season, but obviously coming to play at home and playing a team that has had our number for the last couple of seasons … it was a good win, a good effort, everybody contributed. I’ll take the two points and get back at it tomorrow.”

With two goals against the Coyotes, Matthews now has 51 in the 2023-24 season, far outpacing the rest of the league. Everyone else in the top 10 has between 31 and 39, making his 12-goal lead over second place authoritative. He is currently one of four players in serious consideration for the Hart Trophy.

The Maple Leafs have taken full advantage of Matthews’ explosive season and are currently third in the Atlantic Division with a 31-16-8 record. The team is currently on pace to reach the postseason for the eighth straight year.

Matthews has been Toronto’s leading scorer every year but one since the 2016-17 season, his first in the NHL. He has led the team to the postseason with unflinching consistency but has only made it past the first round once.

“It’s still disappointing with the same result,” Matthews said of the team’s playoff struggles in 2022. “But I think there’s a lot of things that you can take — a lot of positives — from it and move forward. You can’t live in the past.”

With 22 games remaining in the regular season, Matthews has a real chance to break the Maple Leafs’ franchise record for goals in a single season for a second time. His 60 goals in the 2021-22 season stands head and shoulders above any other Toronto player since the team’s inception in 1917. His 51 at this point in the 2023-24 season could easily surpass that total.

Seattle Kraken forward Jordan Eberle will likely miss out on the game against the Colorado Avalanche due to a skate-cut injury. 

According to general manager Rob Francis, Kraken winger Jaden Schwartz stepped on a puck and lost his balance. His skate later came up and slashed Eberle, who suffered a cut near his quad muscle and went through an MRI to determine his injury’s severity.

“I think we dodged a bullet, But he’s going to be pretty sore tomorrow,” Francis said about the injury.

Coach Dave Hakstol stated that Eberle is day-to-day after suffering the cut on Wednesday. 

Prior to the injury, Eberle had one goal and three assists in 13 games for the Kraken this season.

The Kraken has since called up top prospects Shane Wright and Ryan Winterton from Coachella Valley of the AHL in place of Eberle. Wright is the Number 4 overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft and played eight games last season. Winterton, who was a third-round pick in 2021, will have his parents flown out to Toronto to see their son’s debut.

Skate blade cuts have been a recent topic of conversation in the hockey world. On October 2, former Pittsburgh Penguins player Adam Johnson died after his neck was cut by a skate blade during a game in England.

The Boston Bruins hosted the New York Islanders at home on Thursday night, where they won 5-2. With an 11-1-1 record, they are currently at the top of the Atlantic division with 23 points. 

The Bruins Trent Frederic opened the scoring with around six minutes remaining in the first period, but the Islanders found the equalizer through an air rebound by Forward Brock Nelson before the quarter was over.

In the second period, Boston scored on the power play, where Pavel Zecha set up Charlie Coyle in a calculated pass movement. It was Coyle’s 150th goal.

The third period saw the Islanders tie the game 2-2 through a goal from Simon Holmstrom. However, less than a minute later Boston took the lead through a goal by David Pastrnak. The Bruins later pulled away with the win thanks to two goals by Coyle.

The loss saw the Islanders’ record go to 5-4-3, currently placing them fourth in the Eastern Conference Wild Card.

Los Angeles Kings rookie Alex Laferriere had his family on their feet in his debut after winning a fight against Colorado Avalanche forward Logan O’Connor. The Avalanche went on to win the game 5-2, but Laferriere stole the show before heading to the penalty box.

The altercation occurred after one of Laferriere’s Kings teammates was penalized for tripping in the second period. Referees succeeded in subduing most players in the scrum, but Laferriere and O’Connor were not deterred and dropped the gloves.

Laferriere, drafted out of Harvard University in the third round of the 2020 NHL Draft, invited his family to his first game in the league. His parents were spotted in the crowd celebrating after their son took down O’Connor in a fight that ended in less than a minute.

Though Laferriere has not yet earned his first point in the league, he managed to make an impression in his debut nonetheless. It is unlikely that he will be satisfied with a fight victory alone, however, as he stated a very clear goal over the summer.

“Winning games,” Laferriere told reporters when asked about his objectives as a rookie. “Right now, we’re just focused on winning games to try and get this team into the playoffs. The boys in that Reign room care a lot. No matter where I am, I just want to win games.”

In two seasons as a member of the Crimson, Laferriere scored 35 goals and played an important part in the team’s back-to-back trips to the NCAA Tournament. His father, Rob Laferriere, played college hockey at Princeton University and then Boston College, the latter of which he played for three seasons.

With the Kings trading away much of their established talent, young players like Laferriere will have ample opportunities throughout the season to develop and gain experience. Success may not come right away, but the team is trending upward.

After his arrest on July 9, Alex Galchenyuk admitted on Tuesday that he will enter the NHL and NHLPA’s player assistance program.

This comes at the heels of the former Coyotes ice hockey center making death threats toward officers during his arrest in a hit-and-run incident, which led Arizona to cut ties after signing him only two weeks ago.

According to the police report, Galchenyuk told officers, “One phone call and you’re all dead, your whole family, your bloodline is dead,” citing his connections in Russia.

These threats were made after the 29-year-old crashed a car into a sign, with him making racial slurs towards a cop in training a few times while resisting to cooperate during the arrest, according to the report.

Galchenyuk apologized for his “deeply disrespectful and despicable behavior,” as the former professional hockey veteran reached out to four Scottsdale police officers via a letter sent through a prosecutor. This was to express regret to those cops personally, saying he knows he has “a long road ahead of him.”

NHLPA executive director Marty Walsh told ESPN that the players association is still contemplating whether it will file a grievance on behalf of the troubled professional hockey star regarding his contract termination.

Galchenyuk was with his father during the arrest. and was cited with misdemeanor charges but was released. His dad, Alexander Galchenyuk Sr., runs his offseason program as a former professional hockey player from Russia.

In the letters to Scottsdale Police Department officers, Galchenyuk said they “did not deserve that outburst” and he was “sorry for the pain that it had caused.”

“My actions after drinking alcohol were not representative of who I am, but I must take responsibility for them and I hope to one day be able to show you that I am a better person than who you sadly encountered last week,” Galchenyuk wrote. “What all of you do, putting your lives on the line to protect and serve others, is nothing short of selfless and heroic. I appreciate and respect each of you and I want you to know I will work on myself every day with the goal of one day being able to make amends and to try to earn your forgiveness.”

The former third overall pick from the 2012 NHL Draft also apologized via letter separate from the cops, telling the fans, and the Coyotes organization, that his behavior was “deeply offensive, uncalled for, horrendous, embarrassing, disrespectful and just plain awful.”

“I am beyond embarrassed and disappointed with myself and I feel awful for everyone I have let down,” Galchenyuk wrote. “My family was counting on me to be better, the Coyotes and the amazing Coyotes fans deserve better and the brave police officers who risk their lives to keep us safe deserve better.”

It has been a tough year for the journeyman, as he was drafted by Montreal Canadiens (played there for six seasons) but since 2018, has played with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Minnesota Wild, Ottawa Senators, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Colorado Avalanche. Galchenyuk signed a one-year, two-way deal with Arizona worth $775,000 on the opening day of unrestricted free agency on July 1.

It would have been his third stint with the Coyotes, as he played for them in 2018-19 (72 games) and 2021-22 (60 games). Now, Galchenyuk is a free agent – and hockey will have to take a backseat in his road to recovery.

The New Jersey Devils signed forward Timo Meier to an eight-year, $70.4 million deal Wednesday, securing their short-term acquisition from last season for the foreseeable future. The Devils added Meier before the deadline earlier this year in a massive trade with the San Jose Sharks.

In a statement, Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald said that the team was happy with Meier’s contributions and went to great lengths to secure him long-term.

“We were excited to acquire Timo at the deadline, but it’s an even greater feeling knowing that he’ll be here for the next eight seasons,” Fitzgerald said in a statement. “Timo’s unique blend of style of play, goal-scoring ability, and physical presence will prove valuable for us. In talking with him, Timo realized, and I always believed, that this is the right place for him as a player and a person. We’ve locked up another piece of our young core that is looking to take that next step together for greater success.”

In 21 games for the Devils last season, Meier scored nine goals and earned five assists, helping the team as it prepared for the postseason. Combined with his 31 goals for the Sharks before the trade, he earned his second straight 40-goal season. New Jersey defeated the New York Rangers in the first round of the playoffs before falling to the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Meier scored four points in the postseason on two goals and two assists.

The Devils have made several similar deals this offseason to secure established talent. Earlier this month, New Jersey also re-signed forward Erik Haula, new to the team last season, to a three-year deal and secured longtime forward Jesper Bratt to an eight-year deal as well. Though the Devils still appears to be an outsider to the Stanley Cup picture entering the 2023-24 season, they have retained much of their talent and will likely remain a key contender in the Eastern Conference.

Connor Bedard, hockey’s newest phenom, was selected first overall by the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2023 NHL Draft Wednesday. The 17-year-old centre is already being compared to the greats of the sport and has already made his mark on the Chicago fanbase.

“It’s incredible. I can’t it put into words,” Bedard said in his Wednesday news conference. “Growing up, they were going on their runs, winning [Stanley] Cups. You see the United Center going crazy and all of Chicago getting behind them. I’m so happy to part of the Blackhawks organization.”

Going into the draft, the debate surrounding Bedard had nothing to do with his ability, but his ceiling. Some hesitate to call him a generational talent, on the level of Wayne Gretzky or Connor McDavid when they first entered the league. Others are more than prepared to do so, however, as multiple teams are rumored to have tanked their 2022-23 seasons in order to draft him.

“He’s a pretty special player, a very special person, Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson told reporters. “We’ll let him determine how special that first season is.

Within hours of the draft, the Blackhawks made $2.5 million in season ticket sales, an immediate result of Bedard’s arrival in the city. With a 26-49-7 record last season, Chicago’s fanbase has immediately been revitalized by the team’s most recent acquisition.

“I can’t put into words growing up and obviously, that’s when they were going on their runs winning Cups,” Bedard went on to say. “You watched a lot of them and you see the United Center going crazy and all of Chicago getting behind them and you know (the) Original Six and so much history here.”

For the past three seasons, Bedard has made a name for himself in the junior-level Canadian Hockey League, playing for the Regina Pats. He gained entry to the league one year early after gaining exceptional status. Representing Canada at the 2022 Junior Ice Hockey Championships, Bedard broke Gretzky’s record for most goals scored by a 16-year-old at the event.

Winnipeg Jets center Morgan Barron had to receive more than 75 stitches after taking a skate to the face during Game 1 of the team’s first-round Western Conference series against the Vegas Golden Knights. Barron later returned to the game and contributed to a 5-1 Jets victory.

“I was trying to figure out if the puck went in because it was pretty close,” Barron said after the game. “I saw the skate coming. It was an unlucky play. The first thought was that I could see out of the [right] eye was the main thing.”

Barron suffered the injury with 13:51 remaining in the first period when Vegas goalie Laurent Brossoit sliced the opposing center in the face with his skate during a fight between the teams for a loose puck. He had to go back to the locker room to receive the stitches but returned well before the end of the second period and finished the game.

Barron downplayed the severity of the injury, which teammate Adam Lowry compared to getting “attacked by a shark,” and praised the medical staff for assisting him in the locker room.

“Obviously, it missed my eye,” Barron said. “I was glad it didn’t get me in a real bad spot, but they did a great job fixing me up.”

Barron rejoined a game that the Jets would go on to win in convincing fashion on the road, upsetting the Golden Knights, the top-ranked team in the Pacific Division this year. Winnipeg scored five goals in the final two periods to take a one-game lead in the series. Coach Rick Bowness said after the game that Barron’s return played a part in motivating the team.

“I think more his presence coming back because we all realized how bad it was, and that gave everyone a big boost,” Bowness said.

Gino Odjick, a retired NHL player known as a notorious enforcer, died of a heart attack in a Vancouver medical clinic Sunday. He was 52.

Odjick was in the waiting room of the clinic for a routine checkup when he went into cardiac arrest, His friend, Peter Leech, was accompanying him and said that nurses treated him for 45 minutes but could not save him.

“I was there for the whole thing,” he said, according to the Montreal Gazette. “He had a heart attack, couldn’t recover from it. We knew this day was going to come, we didn’t know when. We were hoping much later.”

In 2014, Odjick was diagnosed with amyloidosis, a disease in which proteins built up in his heart tissue. Originally given months to live, he received experimental treatment that saved his life. He had multiple bouts with it in subsequent years and received chemotherapy in 2022. An infection in his leg required routine bandaging, which was to be replaced at the clinic before his heart attack.

“That’s what he had. Unfortunately, that big heart gave out,” Leech said. “He lived life, we always joked.”

Odjick competed in the NHL from 1990 to 2002 and spent his first seven full seasons with the Vancouver Canucks. During the 1996-97 season, the Quebec native was traded to the New York Islanders, the 1999-2000 season. In six of his first eight seasons in the league, he spent at least 200 minutes in the penalty box and twice surpassed 300. Despite only playing for 12 seasons, he ranks 17th all-time in career penalty minutes with 2,567 in just 605 games.

As a member of both the Canucks and Islanders, he was beloved by fans and was often referred to as “the Algonquin Assassin,” a reference to his Algonquin heritage as well as his dominant physical presence on the ice. Toward the end of his career, he also played for the Philadelphia Flyers and Montreal Canadiens.

With a hat trick in a 7-3 blowout win against the Chicago Blackhawks Tuesday, Alexander Ovechkin became the third player in NHL history to score 800 career goals, joining Wayne Gretzky and Gordie Howe. It wasn’t the prettiest score of his career, but it would’ve been a tall task for the Washington Capitals star to make his 800th his best.

Between 14 postseason berths and a Stanley Cup victory in 2018, Ovechkin has given more to the Capitals than any individual in the franchise’s history. In fact, his impact on the team and league is so widely understood that some Chicago fans threw their hats on the rink as a show of respect after his historic score.

Now at 800, the Great Eight is one goal away from tying Howe for the second-most goals all time. Though Gretzky’s total of 894 is still out of reach, Ovechkin has nevertheless ensured that he will be remembered as one of the greatest goal scorers in the history of the sport. He will have a chance to tie or overtake Howe on Thursday when the Capitals play the Dallas Stars at 7:00 p.m. ET.

“Let’s take it step by step,” Ovechkin said. “It’s a big number. It’s the best company you ever can imagine since you started playing hockey, with Gordie (and Wayne) — 800, I’m the third person who ever scored that many goals.”

Ovechkin’s longevity has been a marvel in itself, as the Capitals’ captain has remained healthy for years in an especially punishing sport. His sustained success has been even more remarkable, however, as he has now scored at least 20 goals in every season since his NHL career began in 2005. He is on pace for another highly productive season this year at age 37 with 20 goals in 31 games thus far.

Ovechkin’s performance has not yet propelled the Capitals in the standings, as the team is sixth in the Metropolitan Division, standing at 15-12 with four overtime losses.