For what feels like the millionth year in a row, the Devils need to acquire a goalie in the off-season. But who are the options, and what do the Devils need to do to acquire each one? Sigh… here we go again. Another off-season hoping for the Devils to improve their goaltending. The Devils haven’t had a legit starter since Cory Schneider in 2016. Mackenzie Blackwood showed some promise as a young goalie in 2019 and 2020 but ran into injury problems and never truly recovered and returned to what he was in his first two seasons with the Devils. Then, New Jersey had to use seven goalies in 2022 an ..read more

The New York Islanders’ season is officially over as they dropped Game 5 to the Canes in Raleigh, NC on Tuesday. Tied at 3 after two periods, the Isles allowed two goals in 8 seconds, less than 5 minutes into the third. The final score would be 6-3 after an empty-netter from Seth Jarvis. This was the second major blown lead in this series, but the trend began many moons ago during the regular season. It was the theme of the entire 2023-24 effort, and ending it like that is gut-wrenching. Nonetheless, a lot of the series saw the Isles battling hard. Even if they were completely outmatched in ta ..read more

The Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins are going to a first-round game seven for the fourth time in eleven years. To quote Dan Hicks at the 2008 U.S. Open, expect anything different? These two teams are destined to play seven games, no matter how they get there, and even though the Leafs looked horrible in game four, I still had a funny feeling we would be watching hockey Saturday night. If game five was a great example of how to play playoff hockey facing elimination without your best player, game six was the magnum opus. Toronto was never going to win this hockey game by scoring four or ..read more

The Toronto Maple Leafs defeat the Boston Bruins 2-1 in overtime and live to fight another day, and their toxic, manipulative relationship with their fans does, too. They are incredible at doing just enough to ensure you cannot give up on them; no matter what, they always find a way to rope you back in. The power play still sucks, they are unable to score more than two goals, but hey, they’re still fucking alive! It would have been silly to start anywhere but with the guy in between the pipes, and that’s because of how good Joseph Woll was. Woll was spectacular, saving 27 of 28 shots and maki ..read more

A year ago today, John Tavares scored at 4:36 of the first overtime period to win game six against the Tampa Bay Lightning and send the Leafs to the second round for the first time in 19 years. GAME WINNER! SERIES WINNER! LET’S. GO. LEAFS. NATION!!!!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/dkttq8eBpW — Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) April 30, 2023 That goal was supposed to be the goal to exorcize our demons. The goal that made us forget about five game-seven losses in ten years. The goal that put behind us the eras of Ron Wilson, Randy Carlyle, and Mike Babcock. The goal that wiped away all of the misery ..read more

Well it is never fun getting swept in a playoff series especially against the Rangers who lets face it were better than us in all facets of the series. I will stand on my ground that I said we were playing with house money even making the playoffs, so I am not as bummed as I would have been if we were the presidents trophy winners and roles were reversed. So Sunday afternoon our Washington Capitals NHL season came to a close at the hands of the Broadway Blueshirts with a score of 4-2. After a horrid turnover by Nick Jensen who basically served Kaapo Kakko the first goal of the game on a silver ..read more

The words ‘missed opportunity’ feel like they’ve come to define the Leafs over the last few years with this core, and game three against Boston should be described as such. Game-to-game momentum is a fickle thing in the playoffs insofar as it may not even exist, but Toronto had an incredible chance to build off a character win just three nights ago in Boston and take a firm grip on the series. But they didn’t. Speaking of missed opportunities, the Leafs’ power play woes continued in game three, going 0/5 with only a few promising chances. It’s mind-boggling that a team with Toronto’s talent c ..read more

Ok ok lets get it out of the way early no the refs didn’t lose us this game bad turnovers did, but should some of the calls gone the other way? Of course! The biggest play of the game was the Artemi Panarin hit on TJ Oshie’s head which clearly should have been a penalty and a power play chance for Washington in the 3rd period, but instead McMichael gets a roughing penalty for having his teammates back capital B Bullshit! Artemi Panarin did not get a penalty for this hit on TJ Oshie but Oshie has left the game pic.twitter.com/khawdaZwwG — B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) April 24, 2024 This hit co ..read more

Exhale. Wow. We knew the Capitals would come back with some fire tonight. That was a fourth of July fireworks display. The key for the Rangers, however, is that they outshined them on the scoresheet. It was a game that personified NHL playoff hockey. We can sit here and argue what was dirty and what wasn’t, but if I start that game, it won’t end until the cup is raised, regardless of who lifts it. What I can tell you with certainty is this; TJ Oshie hit the fuck around button tonight. Naturally, he found out. I present, and this is just scratching the surface, Exhibit A: Perfectly clean…pic ..read more

If sports games, as many joke about, are written with a script, then game one of this series felt like it was written by the most clichéd Leafs hater of all time. It had all the old tropes: out-goalie’d, bad penalties and penalty kill, lack of offence from the stars, etc. But game two? Game two must have been written by someone who had a window directly into the hearts and minds of Leaf fans because last night’s game could not have felt any better for those who cheer for the Blue and White. A monumental game from Auston Matthews with a game-winning goal, coming from behind to get the victory ..read more