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The NHL has released the list of award finalists for the 2018/19 season and it’s safe to say there aren’t really any surprises. Each annual trophy has been narrowed down to three finalists with the big prize being the Hart Memorial Trophy for the player voted as the most valuable to his team. This year’s Hart finalists are centre Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins, right-winger Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning and centre Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers.

Professional Hockey Writers Association members voted on the trophy winners when the regular season ended and the league announces the three finalists. The winners are then announced at the league’s annual awards show in Las Vegas, which will be held on June 19^th this year. The Hart Trophy was introduced in 1924 and let’s take a quick look at this year’s three finalists.

The 22-year-old McDavid of Edmonton racked up 116 points in 78 games this season on 41 goals and 75 assists and finished second in league scoring behind Kucherov. He also registered a point on 50.7 per cent of his team’s total of 229 goals. The Oilers’ captain just finished his fourth NHL season and his point total has risen every year. McDavid never went two games in a row without scoring a points this year becoming just the eighth NHL’er to achieve the feat while playing a minimum of 50 games. The others were Steve Yzerman, Darryl Sittler, Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Elmer Lach, Paul Kariya and Jari Kurri.

McDavid played an average of 22:50 minutes per game in 2018/19 to lead all NHL forwards. He finished in a second-place tie for game-winning goals with nine and three of those came in overtime. McDavid took the Hart Trophy home for his play in 2016/17 and he’s trying to become just the second player ever to win the silverware more than once before turning 23 years old.

The 25-year-old Kucherov of Tampa Bay already has one award under his belt this season as he captured the Art Ross Trophy for leading the NHL in scoring. He notched 41 goals and 87 assists for 128 points in 82 contests this year. The 128 points were the most in the league since the 1995/96 campaign and his 87 helpers were the most since 2006/07. Kucherov’s scoring expertise helped Tampa to win 62 games in 2018/19 to tie  league record. The Russian forward also led the league in power-play points at 48 with 15 goals and 33 assists.

Kucherov picked up at least a point in 62 games this season and posted a league-high 38 games of two or more points, including two five-point performances. His assist and point totals this season set new Tampa Bay franchise records for one season. He also becomes the highest-scoring Russian player in the league for his 128 points. Alexander Mogilny set the previous mark of 127 points with 76 goals and 51 assists in 1992/93 when he was with the Buffalo Sabres. Only one other Tampa Bay player has won the Hart Trophy as Martin St. Louis took the honours for 2003/04.

The 31-year-old year-old Crosby scored 35 goals and 65 assists for an even 100 points in 79 games for Pittsburgh this season. It was the sixth time the team captain has reached the 100-point barrier in 14 seasons. He helped his team reach the playoffs for the 13^th straight year, but they were bounced in four straight games by the New York Islanders in the very first round. Just five players have posted more 100-point seasons than Crosby in NHL history. These are Peter Stastny and Mike Bossy with seven each as well as Marcel Dionne with eight, Mario Lemieux with 10 and Wayne Gretzky at 15.

Crosby finished sixth in league scoring this season and reached at least 30 goals for the ninth time and 60 assists for the sixth time. He also reached 1,200 career points in 2018/19, becoming the 11th-fastest player to achieve the feat in 927 games. Crosby has already won two Hart Trophies as he took the award home for the 2006/07 and the 2013/14 seasons. He also led his team’s forwards in plus/minus this year at plus-18 as well as ice time. This is the seventh time Crosby has been named a finalist for the Hart Trophy in his career and if he wins it he will become the ninth player in history to capture the trophy three times.

As the NHL enters the final week of the 2018/19 season there are still a few playoff spots open as teams try to punch their tickets to the postseason.

The Tampa Bay Lightning clinched the Atlantic Division a couple of weeks ago and also locked up the top spot in the Eastern Conference and the entire league. This means the President’s Trophy Winners will have the luxury of home ice advantage throughout the entire postseason.

The Boston Bruins have also clinched a playoff spot in the Atlantic Division and they can finish the season in either second or third place. The Toronto Maple Leafs are six points behind them with four games remaining on their schedule and could possibly take second place and home ice advantage in the first round. However, the Maple Leafs still haven’t clinched a postseason berth as of April 1^st as they could be passed by the fourth-place team in the Atlantic, the Montreal Canadiens. Montreal sits five  points back of Toronto with three games to play.

In the Metropolitan Division, the first-place Washington Capitals and second-place New York Islanders have clinched playoff spots and are battling for the division title. The Capitals currently have a three-point lead over the Islanders with each club having three games to play. The Pittsburgh Penguins sit in third place, but have yet to clinch a playoff position. This is because the Columbus Blue Jackets are just three points behind them and the Carolina Hurricanes are four points back with each team having three contests remaining.

The Blue Jackets enter April as the first wild-card playoff team in the Eastern Conference with Carolina one point behind in the second wild-card spot. Montreal is one point behind Carolina and two back of Columbus with each team having three games to play. Two of the three teams will make the playoffs while the other will be eliminated.

In the Western Conference, the Calgary Flames have clinched the Pacific Division and the conference crown. It’s the first time they have won their division in 13 years. Calgary is guaranteed home ice advantage in all Western playoff games. The San Jose Sharks and Vegas Golden Knights have also sewn up playoff spots in the Pacific Division.

The Central Division is still up for grabs as the Winnipeg Jets enter the final week of the campaign tied with the Nashville Predators for top spot. However, the St. Louis Blues are just two points behind them. All three teams are guaranteed of playoff spots and have three games remaining to fight it out for the division title.

As far as the wild-card race goes in the West, the Dallas Stars own the first position while the Colorado Avalanche sit in the second spot, four points behind them. The Arizona Coyotes and Minnesota Wild are still alive in the race with Arizona just one points behind Colorado and four points behind Colorado. Dallas, Arizona and Minnesota each have three games remaining while Colorado has four. The Chicago Blackhawks and Edmonton Oilers are also mathematically alive as they could each catch Colorado for the second wild-card position if they win all four of their remaining games and Colorado fails to earn another point. Realistically though, the Western race is between Colorado, Arizona and Minnesota.

As for other late-season NHL news, 33-year-old Russian winger Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals reached the 50-goal mark again this season to become the third player in league history to do so at least eight times. Both Wayne Gretzky and Mike Bossy lead the way with nine 50-goal seasons.

Columbus Blue Jackets’ forward Cam Atkinson has tied Rick Nash at 41 goals for most goals in a season for the franchise. Atkinson now has three games remaining to break the record which was set in 2003/04. Forward Artemi Panarin of Columbus also set new franchise highs as he has 56 assists on the season along with 83 points. He set the club records lat year with 55 assists and 82 points.

Ovechkin tops the goal scoring parade with 51 and should win another Rocket Richard Trophy for leading the league in goals. Forward Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers has 47 on the year and centre John Tavares of the Toronto Maple Leafs has 45 and are the only players with a realistic chance of catching him.

Also, defenceman Brent Burns of the San Jose Sharks recently scored his 14^th regular-season overtime goal to break the old NHL record for defenceman which was set by Scott Niedermeyer.

The majority of NHL teams have reached the 75-game mark this season, meaning there are seven contests remaining on the schedule. However, it looks like some of the playoff races will likely go down to the wire by being decided on the last day of the season April 6^th. The Tampa Bay Lightning were the first to clinch a postseason berth as they recently clinched the President’s Trophy as the league’s top team. This meant they also locked up top spot in the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference and will have home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs.

A few other clubs have guaranteed themselves a shot at Stanley Cup glory this spring as the Calgary Flames, San Jose Sharks and Winnipeg Jets have all clinched a playoff spot in the Western Conference. Over in the East, the only other side to lock up a berth so far is the Boston Bruins. On the other side of the coin, the Ottawa Senators, New Jersey Devils, Detroit Red Wings, New York Rangers and Buffalo Sabres are officially out of the playoff race in the East with no chance to catch the second wild card team.However, it should just be a matter of time before the Washington Capitals, New York Islanders, Toronto Maple Leafs and Pittsburgh Penguins clinch spots in the East. As of March 25^th the Carolina Hurricanes held the first wild card spot and had a five-point lead over the Columbus Blue Jackets with each team having seven game to play. The Montreal Canadiens sat in the second wild card position and were just two points in front of Columbus with the Blue Jackets having a game in hand. The two teams are scheduled to meet each other in a crucial game in Columbus on Thursday, March 28^th.

Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Flyers and Florida Panthers were still mathematically alive, but highly unlikely to make the playoffs. In the West, the Los Angeles Kings are the only team officially without a chance at reaching the postseason. However, time is quickly running out on the Anaheim Ducks, Vancouver Canucks and Edmonton Oilers. The Vegas Golden Knights, Nashville Predators and St. Louis Blues are all on the verge of booking a ticket to the playoffs.

As for the wild card race, the Dallas Stars were sitting in the first wild card position with a one-point lead and a game in hand over the Colorado Avalanche who were in the second wild card spot. The Minnesota Wild and Arizona Coyotes were just two points behind Colorado and the Chicago Blackhawks were alive with an outside chance as they were five points behind with a game in hand on Arizona, Minnesota and Colorado.

With many of the teams that are hunting down a playoff spot still scheduled to play each other the scenario can change from day to day. While some teams are simply trying to make the postseason others are fighting for a better position to try and gain home-ice advantage where possible. Those teams who are already officially out of the races aren’t likely hoping to go on a late-season winning streak since the odds of winning the draft lottery increase the lower they finish in the standings.

It looks like the Ottawa Senators, Los Angeles Kings, Detroit Red Wings and New Jersey Devils will be fighting it out for last place overall. It won’t take long to see which team succeeded since the NHL recently announced that the 2019 Draft Lottery will take place on Tuesday, April 9^th, just three days after the regular season ends.

The Carolina Hurricanes have enjoyed a fine season under new head coach Rod Brind’Amour, but they still haven’t come close to locking up a playoff spot. As of March 11^th the team had a record of 37-24-7 for 81 points They were sitting in fourth place in the Metropolitan Division, two points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins and the final playoff spot. However, they owned the first wild card playoff position in the Eastern Conference, two points in front of the Columbus Blue Jackets and Montreal Canadiens with a game in hand on Montreal.

The Hurricanes have been one of the better puck possession clubs in the NHL this season, but it didn’t always result in wins. Their fortunes seemed to turn around when acquiring Nino Niederreiter from the Minnesota Wild for fellow forward Victor Rask  in a Jan 17^th trade. Carolina’s record since the deal is 15-5-2 and that’s vaulted them up the standings and into a playoff spot. Also, the team’s goals-per game has risen to 3.70 since the trade as the offense is now ranked 14^th in the league compared to 27^th before Jan. 17^th.

The 26-year-old Niederreiter of Switzerland had nine goals and 14 assists for 23 points in 46 games with Minnesota this season and has 11 goals and 21 points for Carolina in 22 games. He’s also a plus-7 with the Hurricanes and was a -11 with the Wild. Niederreiter has been playing with centre Sebastian Aho on the team’s top line for the most part since arriving in Carolina and they have gelled well together on the ice. Aho had 30 goals and 77 points after 68 games and the 21-year-old native of Finland was on pace for 36 goals and 93 points and a plus-30 rating.

The third member of the line is 37-year-old veteran Justin Williams who had 20 goals and 44 points in 68 games and is on pace for 24 goals and 53 points. The trio possesses plenty of skill, but has also been outworking the opposition on a consistent basis night after night. When Niederreiter arrived it allowed Brind’Amour to play Teuvo Teravainen on the second line to spread out the scoring. Teravainen has been playing with veteran centre Jordan Staal and has posted 18 goals and 63 points in 68 games and is a plus-21. Staal has 17 points in 36 games and the third member of the line Micheal Ferland, had 17 goals and 35 points in 58 contests.

The top six forwards in Carolina feature a fine balance of youth, veteran leadership, hard work, aggressiveness and skill. There may not be any superstars in the mix, although Aho will soon be considered one, but everybody knows exactly what his role is and is playing it to perfection. The team’s blue line also lacks star status, but it’s solid and has been getting production from the likes of Brett Pesce and Jaccob Slavin. Pesce had 22 points in 59 outings while Slavin had chipped in with 28 points in 68 games.

The rest of the rearguards are also dependable as Calvin de Haan, Dougie Hamilton and Justin Faulk had combined for 67 points. In net, the Hurricanes have been relying on veteran Curtis McElhinney and Petr Mrazek. Both of them have been among the hottest netminders in the league since February when it comes to goals-against average and save percentage. However, neither of them are mentioned in conversations when it comes to the NHL’s best goalies.

Even though they’ve risen up the standings, the Hurricanes are far from home and dry at this stage. They have 14 games remaining in the season with some tough opposition ahead of them. They play the Philadelphia Flyers and Washington Capitals twice with the Flyers still clinging to their playoff hopes. They must meet the Tampa Bay Lightning and Toronto Maple Leafs as well as teams in the Western Conference fighting for their playoff lives such as the Colorado Avalanche and Minnesota Wild.

In addition, the Hurricanes must tackle the teams they’re directly battling with for a playoff spot in the East as they have to go head to head with Montreal and Columbus once each and face Pittsburgh twice more. Every game is important the rest of the way, but the duels with Montreal, Columbus and Pittsburgh will go a long way in deciding who does and who doesn’t make the playoffs.

It appears there’s a race to the basement of the NHL this season as the prize will be greater odds in this summer’s draft lottery. American prospect Jack Hughes is expected to be taken with the first overall pick and what team wouldn’t want him?  Well, the Ottawa Senators have the inside track on last place overall and the Edmonton Oilers also have an outside chance at claiming the dishonour.

The Senators are falling apart at the seams and don’t currently own a first-round draft pick this year. They traded it away last season to the Colorado Avalanche in a deal that landed them star forward Matt Duchene. The transaction didn’t look too bad at the time, but Duchene was scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent this July 1^st. The Senators gambled they could re-sign Duchene and also took a chance of trading away the top overall draft selection in June.

If you haven’t heard by now, the Senators definitely won’t be re-signing Duchene as he was sent to the Columbus Blue Jackets at the trade deadline for draft picks and prospects. In addition, Ottawa also dealt pending unrestricted free agent forwards Ryan Dzingel and Mark Stone. When you add in the fact the team sent Erik Karlsson and Kyle Turris packing in the last year or two we find the Senators have arguably traded away their best five players a few of the top performers in the league.

Ottawa must now rebuild from scratch, but it’s not going to be easy to keep their fans happy. The team already struggles to sell tickets to its home games in the outskirts of Kanata and fans certainly won’t be flocking to see a squad that lacks a legitimate NHL star and a team with little chance of making the playoffs. To add salt to the wounds, it doesn’t look like Ottawa will be getting a new rink in the city’s downtown core anytime soon.

The Edmonton Oilers on the other hand are arguably icing the best player in the world right now in centre Connor McDavid and it appears his talents are being wasted with the non-contender. Former general manager Peter Chiarelli was understandably fired earlier this season, but he left the club in a bit of a mess when it comers to salary cap space. In addition, Edmonton doesn’t really have many prospects to turn things around whereas the Senators now have plenty of them due to their recent trades.

Of course, prospects aren’t proven NHL players and they could turn out to be either studs or duds. But at least Ottawa has a few to fall back on. But even so, they need somebody to coach these youngsters as former bench boss Guy Boucher was recently fired. It was a bit of an odd move considering there are less than 20 games remaining in the season and the Senators have no chance at making the playoffs.

Back in Edmonton the team also has high-scoring forward Leon Draisaitl to ice along with McDavid,  and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is a fine player. However, the organization is lacking when it comes to the blue line and goaltending. Chiarelli traded high-scoring Taylor Hall to the New Jersey Devils for rearguard Adam Larsson, but that was a one-sided deal for the Devils as Hall was named the NHL’s most valuable player for 2017/18 and took home the Hart Trophy.

Chiarelli also paid $42 million over seven years million for enforcer Milan Lucic and handed netminder Mikko Koskinen a new three-year deal worth $13.5 million even though he had just 32 games of NHL experience under his belt. As far as prospects in Edmonton go, Chiarelli selected forward Jesse Puljujarvi with the fourth overall selection in the 2016 draft and he scored four goals and five assists this season before being taken out of the lineup for hip surgery. Let’s not forget Matthew Tkachuk was still available in the draft at the time.

Both teams’ sets of fans must be quite frustrated with how things have panned out lately. But on the bright side, Ottawa does have several prospects to help turn things around in the future and the Oilers still have the best player in the world in McDavid and a more than capable sidekick in Draisaitl. However, if the teams fail to make the playoffs again next season there may be more than just a few empty seats at their respective rinks.

As expected, the ageing Detroit Red Wings didn’t look like a playoff contender to start the NHL season. However, things looked up after they posted 11 wins in a 15-game stretch a few weeks later. The light at the end of the tunnel soon disappeared though as the team then won just seven of its next 25 games and lost several players to injuries. The Red Wings were enjoying a three-game winning streak as of Feb. 4^Th, but it looks like it’s a case of too little too late as far as the playoffs are concerned.

Detroit still sat 10 points behind the last wild card playoff spot in the Eastern Conference and had half a dozen teams to pass in the standings to reach it. If they miss the postseason again this season it’ll be the third straight year they’ve failed to make the playoffs. Of course, this is a shock to the fan base in Detroit since the club made the playoffs for 25 consecutive seasons before the streak was halted in 2016/17.

The future isn’t too dark in the Motor City though as 22-year-old Dylan Larkin looks destined to become a legitimate NHL star. Larkin has produced 22 goals and 27 assists for 49 points after 51 games  and is on pace for a 34-goal, 76-point campaign. The speedy youngster was taken 15^th overall in the first round of the 2014 NHL Draft and impressed as a rookie with 23 goals and 45 points in 2015/16 and was a plus-11.

The organization and its fans were left scratching their heads the next season though when Larkin dipped to just 17 goals and 15 assists in his second year for 32 points and was a minus-28. The native of Waterford, Michigan bounced back last season with 63 points in 82 games, but still found the back of the net just 16 times for a career low. It now looks like he’s back on track for good and will set new highs in goals and points this year.

Larkin is maturing at a steady rate and has led the squad by example. He’s a tireless worker who combines skill and determination and it’s certainly paid off. In fact, he’s impressed head coach Jeff Blashill and general manager Ken Holland so much that he’s likely to be named the team’s next captain. Larkin has been averaging 21:54 of ice time per game this season to rank eighth in the league for forwards and is depended on in all game situations. He’s also proven to be a timely scorer with four game-winning goals so far this year and is one of the best faceoff men in the league at just over 54 per cent.

It’s true that Larkin doesn’t really excel in one specific area of the game, other than perhaps his speed, but he does do everything well, which makes him a very complete two-way player. If he can keep developing at the same pace Red Wings’ fans may be comparing him to their former captain and current Hall of Famer Steve Yzerman. But while Larkin is the team’s brightest star there are also some other fine young prospects in the organization to help him out.

The future success of the organization also lies in the hands of young forwards Andreas Athanasiou, Tyler Bertuzzi, Jacob De La Rose, Christopher Ehn, Filip Zadina, Evgeny Svechnikov, Michael Rasmussen and Anthony Mantha. There’s also some promise on the blue line with the emergence of Dennis Chowlowski, Joe Hicketts and Filip Hronek.

With the NHL trade deadline approaching on Feb. 25^Th, the Red Wings could have some big decisions to make regarding veterans such as defencemen Nick Jensen and Niklas Kronwall as well as forwards Thomas Vanek and Gustav Nyquist and goaltender Jimmy Howard. Holland may move some of his veterans if possible to make room for younger prospects next season. Either way, the Red Wings should have a good shot at returning to the playoffs in 2019/20.

With the NHL recently on its All-Star break, the Professional Hockey Writers Association took advantage of the down time to announce the league’s mid-season award nominees. Writers in each NHL city cast their votes for the different awards which are annually handed out every June. In some cases the mid-season winners may end up on the podium at the end of the season while others may miss the boat. A pair of non-traditional awards were also announced which were the the Rod Langway Award for the league’s top defensive defenceman and the Comeback Player of the Year Award.

The mid-season Hart Trophy nominees as the most valuable player to his club were Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers along with Johnny Gaudreau of the Calgary Flames and Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning. All three forwards were leading their respective teams in scoring.

The nominees for the Norris Trophy as the league’s best defenceman were Mark Giordano of Calgary followed by Morgan Rielly of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Brent Burns of the San Jose Sharks. These were the top-scoring blue liners in the league at the All-Star break as Burns had 55 points, Giordano was second with 52 and Rielly had 50.

The three players named as nominees for the Frank Selke Trophy were Patrice Bergeron of the Boston Bruins, Mark Stone of the Ottawa Senators and Aleksander Barkov of the Florida Panthers. This award is handed out for the best defensive forward in the league.

The league’s best rookie receives the Calder Trophy and the mid-season nominees were forward Elias Pettersson of the Vancouver Canucks along with defenders Rasmus Dahlin of the Buffalo Sabres and Miro Heiskanen of the Dallas Stars.

The most sportsmanlike and gentlemanly player is rewarded with the Lady Byng Trophy and the candidates were forwards Aleksander Barkov of Florida and Sean Monahan of Calgary along with Toronto defenceman Morgan Rielly.

The Vezina Trophy nominees as the best goaltender in the league were John Gibson of the Anaheim Ducks, Frederik Andersen of Toronto and Marc-Andre Fleury of the Vegas Golden Knights.

The candidates for the Jack Adams Award as the top coach were Barry Trotz of the New York Islanders along with Bill Peters of Calgary and Jon Cooper of Tampa Bay.

The General Manager of the Year Award’s nominees were Brad Treliving of Calgary along with Doug Wilson of the San Jose Sharks and Lou Lamoriello of the Islanders.

Mattias Ekholm of the Nashville Predators, Calgary’s Mark Giordano and Victor Hedman of Tampa Bay were nominated for the Rod Langway Award as the most effective defensive defenceman while the candidates for the Comeback Player of the Year Award were goaltender Robin Lehner of the New York Islanders and forwards Jeff Skinner of the Buffalo Sabres and Zach Parise of the Minnesota Wild.

As for the three-on-three All-Star Game itself in San Jose, California on Jan. 26th, The Central Division downed the Pacific Division 10-4 in the first round while the Metropolitan beat the Atlantic 7-4. The Metropolitan then doubled the Central 10-5 in the final. Pittsburgh Penguins’ captain Sidney Crosby was named the event’s most valuable player.

In the Skills Competition, Edmonton’s Connor McDavid won the fastest-skater event for the third straight year with his lap of the ice timed at 13.378 seconds. Defenceman John Carlson of the Washington Capitals blasted the hardest-recorded shot at 102.8 miles-per-hour while defender Brent Burns of San Jose came second at 100.6 mph.

David Pastrnak of the Boston Bruins won the shooting accuracy competition while fellow for ward Leon Draisaitl placed first in the premier passing event. Goaltender Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers made the most consecutive saves with 12 and Calgary’ forward Johnny Gaudreau captured the puck-control event.

The Vegas Golden Knights took the NHL both by storm and surprise last season by winning the Pacific Division and reaching the Stanley Cup Final. The club enjoyed one of the most successful seasons ever in pro sports for an expansion franchise. However, the fairy tale ending they hoped for didn’t materialize as they were ousted in five games by the Washington Capitals who hoisted the Stanley Cup for the first time in team history.

It looked like the rest of the NHL knew exactly what to expect from the upstart side this season as Vegas struggled out of the starting gate with a 5-6-1 mark in the first month. Opponents appeared to be much better prepared for them when the season faced off as they knew just how dangerous and talented the squad could be. It wasn’t a complete surprise to most experts as it looked like the team had simply come back down to earth following last year’s magical campaign.

Vegas had to play the first 20 games of 2018/19 without defenceman Nate Schmidt though as he was suspended following a failed drug test. Since his return, the Golden Knights have been vastly improved  and are once again challenging for top spot in the Pacific Division. The team was 8-2 in its last 10 games as of Jan. 21^st and owned an overall record of 29-17-4. They also had one of the best home marks in the league at 16-4-3 while playing .500 hockey on the road.

With Schmidt patrolling the Vegas blue line alongside partner Brayden McNabb, the team isn’t given up as many scoring chances and its offence and puck possession has improved. During Schmidt’s 20-game ban Vegas went 9-11-1 and they have now gone a highly-impressive 20-6-3 since he returned to the lineup. The team’s record may also be somewhat surprising considering some of its key players have been hit by injuries, including Colin Miller, Reilly Smith, Alex Tuch, Erik Haula and newcomers Paul Stastny and Max Pacioretty.

Haula, Smith and Miller are still sidelined, but Tuch, Stastny and Pacioretty are back and are playing consistent hockey together as a line with the veteran Stastny centering it. The Golden Knights are also getting solid if unspectacular performances out of forwards Smith, Brandon Pirri, William Karlsson and Jonathan Marchessault as well as goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury. The Smith-Karlsson-Marchessault line isn’t posting the same types of numbers as last season, but has still been the team’s top trio when Smith was healthy.

The Golden Knights’ offence should kick into another gear once the injured players return and as long as the goaltending remains steady the team could take another run at the cup. The 34-year-old Fleury entered the Jan. 21^st game with  a league-high 27 wins and six shutouts along with a 2.49 goals-against average and 91.1 save percentage. His stats may be slightly lower than last season, but he’s still among the top goaltenders in the NHL.

The Golden Knights have been quietly going about their business this season without the fanfare and headlines of their inaugural campaign. The team’s lineup has been subject to a few changes with James Neal, Tomas Tatar and David Perron more or less being replaced by Stastny and Pacioretty over the past year. But the Golden Knights are still proving to be one of the toughest teams to handle in the NHL and should wrap up a playoff spot long before the season’s over.

We’ve all heard it, the NHL says that ads on their jerseys are “coming” and they estimate that this would generate about 120 million in revenues for the league. However, no one has really asked the question, how would this be done and what would the repercussions be?

First, if we look at the jersey side of thing, the NHL’s current contract with Reebok will expire in 2016. Many companies including Adidas, Bauer and possibly Under Armour are expected to bid on the license which, according to SportsOneSource analyst Matt Powell, generally costs about 50 million dollars up front and 10% a year in royalties. It’s not nearly as much as the potential of sponsors on NHL jerseys but would any of those companies agree to pay this amount (or more) if there were other sponsors on the jerseys? Not only would there be many companies overpowering their branding on the jersey but it would complicate the production and most likely hurt their sales.

Next, I think we can all agree that these sponsors would be negotiated on a team-by-team basis. The NHL teams are owned by 30 billionaires, most of which own a large corporation or who have an arena already sponsored by a large corporation. Are there any companies who have the money to spend on advertising that wouldn’t come in conflict with any of those owners? I doubt it.

If sponsors are negotiated on a team-by-team basis, it would likely be each team’s decision to put sponsors where they wish. Do you really think Geoff Molson would put a bunch of corporate sponsors right around the Montreal Canadiens logo on the front or Rocky Wirtz on the Chicago Blackhawks jerseys or MLSE on the Toronto Maple Leafs jersey? Not a chance. The only real option would be to put them as shoulder patches which would be more discrete, probably wouldn’t upset as many fans but then again it probably wouldn’t be worth 120 million a year.

The other aspect that hasn’t been considered is the impact of the market for fake NHL jerseys on this. For the purpose of this example, let’s say Bell is willing to pay a few million dollars a year to put their logo as a shoulder patch on the Montreal Canadiens jerseys. Yes it would bring them additional exposure but it also means that you would have dozens of unlicensed factories in China replicating the Bell logo. A quick look on the Bell website led me a document with many rules on how the Bell logo can be used, a specific CMYK colour and so on. If you’re Bell or any other large corporation that is generally picky about the use of your logo, do you really want your logo replicated like that in the wrong font and colour? Do you want thousands of fans walking around with a Montreal Canadiens jersey with your logo on the shoulder in the wrong colour? I highly doubt it.

So with all that said, yes the idea of generating additional revenues is certainly appealing for the NHL but I don’t think all teams would agree to this and I think it would be very difficult to find sponsors willing to put their logos on the jerseys. The idea will likely be tested on the World Cup jerseys in 2016 but I have a feeling that it won’t go much further than that.

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