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When you talk about historic moments at Joe Louis Arena Adidas Olli Maatta #3 Jersey , a vast majority of Detroit Red Wings fans would put March 26, 1997, atop the list. That was the night the Wings beat the Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche 6-5 in overtime and Detroit forward Darren McCarty put a beating on Colorado counterpart Claude Lemieux during a first-period line brawl, exacting revenge for the facial injuries suffered by Detroit’s Kris Draper when he was hit into the boards in the deciding game of the 1996 Western Conference final. The Wings would go on to beat the Avalanche in the 1997 Western Conference final en route to their first Stanley Cup win since 1955, and from 1996-2002, the Detroit-Colorado rivalry featured some of the fiercest hockey ever played, as the two teams split five Stanley Cup titles over that span. Nearly 20 years later, as the Avalanche arrive at Joe Louis Arena for the final time to face the Wings on Saturday afternoon Adidas Bryan Rust #17 Jersey , no such drama will unfold. Colorado is currently 30th overall in the NHL, poised as favorites to win the draft lottery. Detroit is doing a slow bleed of its own, about to miss the playoffs for the first time since the 1989-90 season. “We thought we would be in a better position by now,” Detroit forward Tomas Tatar said. “It’s hard, you know, but we dug ourselves into this position, so we need to get out by ourselves. “We have to work harder, we have to work on some stuff and we have to do some changes.” The Wings come home off a 5-4 shootout win over the Arizona Coyotes Adidas Patric Hornqvist #72 Jersey , improving to an NHL-best 8-0 in the shootout. “Thomas Vanek’s not here anymore, but he added an element,” Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said of their shootout success. “(Frans) Nielsen’s done a good job, (Gus) Nyquist’s done a good job. “So we’ve got guys that can score in the shootout and our goalies have done a good job stopping them.” The Avalanche are also in a winning frame of mind after Wednesday’s 3-1 triumph at the Pepsi Center over the Red Wings. Colorado has won three of its last five games. “I like some of the things we’re doing,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar told the Denver Post. “We’re playing with a little more passion and energy, I feel like lately.” With the playoffs out of the question, both teams are giving auditions to rookies with an eye toward the future. Defenseman Randy Russo was recalled from AHL Grand Rapids by the Wings last week and is skating in a pairing with fellow rookie Xavier Ouellet. “We played together all year last year (in Grand Rapids),” Ouellet said. “We have pretty good chemistry. We kind of know where we are on the ice. “It makes it kind of easy.” Avalanche forward J.T. Compher Adidas Ryan Reaves #75 Jersey , a former captain with the Michigan Wolverines, recorded his first NHL goal in the win over the Wings and defenseman Anton Lindholm made his NHL debut in the same game. “It’s a good feeling to have the first game in the bag,” Lindholm told the Denver Post. “I was nervous coming in and certainly did some overthinking my first couple of shifts, but I thought I played a pretty decent game.”. Morgan Rielly Jersey   Nazem Kadri Jersey   Tie Domi Jersey   Tiger Williams Jersey 

EDMONTON Authentic Youth Ezekiel Elliott Jersey , Alberta — Todd McLellan was a fixture in San Jose. He coached the Sharks through 540 regular-season games and 62 playoff matches. But, after he and the Sharks mutually agreed to part ways following the 2014-15 season, he was tasked with taking over the Oilers, a rebuilding team that hadn’t made the playoffs since 2006. This season, McLellan’s second behind the bench in Edmonton, he led the Oilers to their first 100-point season in, gulp, 30 years. So, of course the Oilers’ first playoff series of the McLellan Era would feature the San Jose Sharks as the opposition. Sports has a strange way of coming full circle on a guy. The two teams open up their first-round, best-of-seven series Wednesday at Rogers Place. The Oilers haven’t lost at home since March 12. They would be a handful even if they were facing a red-hot, healthy team. But the Sharks aren’t healthy and they aren’t hot. The Sharks won three out of four to close the season, but that came after a stretch that saw San Jose lose eight of nine and slide from first to third in the Pacific Division. Veteran Joe Thornton missed the last week of the season with a knee issue, and after Tuesday’s practice said he feels confident Navy Blue Dez Bryant #88 Jersey , but he is still listed as day-to-day. Logan Couture, who had 52 points in 73 games, missed the last seven games of the regular season after suffering severe facial injuries from taking a puck to the mouth. When asked by reporters if he’ll be ready to play Wednesday, Couture answered with a curt, “I don’t know.” When he was repeatedly asked how he felt, he repeatedly answered, “same as yesterday.” Even if both play in Game 1, will they be close to 100 percent? And, other stars were held out of the Sharks’ final game of the regular season, including defenseman Justin Braun, veteran forward Joel Ward and, most notably, captain Joe Pavelski Noah Brown Dallas Cowboys Jersey , who tied for the team lead with 29 goals. Coach Peter DeBoer said that all of the players who missed the regular-season finale were dealing with day-to-day, nagging issues. But what the Sharks do have is experience. They are the reigning Western Conference champs. Their roster is filled with veterans who have long playoffs resumes. For a lot of the key Oilers players, this will be their first playoff experience. But McLellan said their youth could be an advantage. “I don’t think there’s a lot of fear in young players,” he said. “The approach we’re going to take is that we’re going to play game 83. It just happens that games 83 to 90, we’re going to play the same team. We’re not going to change a lot as a team. We’re going to continue to try and improve from night to night, you have to do that in the playoffs. Preparation is going to be a little more extensive than what it normally is, because the games come so fast.” The Sharks will need to limit what is arguably the best one-two combination in hockey: Oilers center Connor McDavid led the NHL with 100 points, while right winger Leon Draisaitl scored 29 times and finished eighth in the scoring race. “We’ve played them a lot this year, and we’ve played them a lot recently,” said McDavid. “We know their game pretty well, and they know ours pretty well. It doesn’t take a lot of getting used to off the start.” “It will be very exciting,” said Draisaitl. “The crowd is going to be buzzing and loud. Everyone in this city is excited and so are we. We are looking forward to this and I think it is going to be a very fun series.” Oiler defenseman Oscar Klefbom was named the NHL’s second star of the final week of the regular season; he has seven assists in his last four games. He’ll present another problem for the Sharks. But Sharks defenseman Brent Burns, who tied for the team lead with 29 goals Black Mens Chidobe Awuzie Jersey , said his team is used to adversity. After all, they still remember the pain of losing last year’s Stanley Cup final to the Penguins. “We’ve been through a lot together,” said Burns. “It was great, it was fun. It was heartbreaking at the end, but those are experiences you don’t trade — and you hope to re-create it and get to the next step this year.” Despite the Sharks’ slide down the standings in the spring, DeBoer spoke about the fact that, for much of the season, his team was at the top of the division. He knows the Sharks will need to recapture that form against the Oilers. “We’ve played long stretches of real good hockey this year,” he said. “So, I think we’ll get healthy, get our guys back and they know the level that they have to play at when this time of year starts. I have no doubt we’ll be at that level.”. Chris Neil Senators Jersey   Chris Wideman Jerseys   Clarke MacArthur Jerseys   Cody Ceci Jerseys 

As part of a running series Adidas Ian Cole #28 Jersey , Puck Prose will diagnose what went wrong with the eliminated playoff teams. Next up from the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs: the Toronto Maple LeafsThe Toronto Maple Leafs lost in six games versus the Washington Capitals in round one of the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs. They were a young team, one not expected to overwhelm the Capitals. They came close though, and not much went wrong in their playoff series.But there are things that did go wrong. We’ll discuss these, breaking down each one. Let us begin with:Defensive LeadershipToronto Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly (44) skates with the puck (Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports)It would be wishful thinking for me, as a Chicago Blackhawks fan, to say that the Toronto Maple Leafs desperately need Brent Seabrook. But they do need somebody, an experienced defenseman capable of playing top 2 minutes. Somebody with veteran presence who can help the Maple Leafs blue line youth.Somebody who can play above Morgan Rielly and Jake Gardiner and Nikita Zaitsev, who can come in handy in clutch situations and help develop these defensemen.Because Toronto desperately needed an experienced defenseman outside of those three. They need a true top 1 or 2 defenseman, somebody who can play upwards of 28 minutes a night in the playoffs. There’s not a lot of those guys, but there are some available to the Maple Leafs.That includes, in free agency, Kevin Shattenkirk. There will be a bidding war for Shattenkirk’s services, and the Maple Leafs only have about fourteen million to spend on six players. If there was a guy and a time to overpay Adidas Evgeni Malkin #71 Jersey , though, it would be Shattenkirk for this team.TradesBut overpaying can only go so far – if Shattenkirk’s contract gets over six million, move on. There are other defensemen available to the Maple Leafs. Most of these are through trades.Ottawa Senators defenseman Marc Methot (3) passes the puck (Russell LaBounty-USA TODAY Sports)With a smart trade, the Maple Leafs could acquire somebody like Ryan Ellis or Mattias Ekholm from Nashville – they won’t be able to protect both in the expansion draft. The Maple Leafs could trade for Brent Seabrook and more from the Blackhawks for a very small amount in return, but there’s a reason for that.The Maple Leafs could also trade for one of the other top defensemen available at the entry draft, because of Vegas’s expansion draft. Names like Cam Fowler, Mike Green, Jack Johnson, Alec Martinez, Thomas Hickey, and Marc Methot might be available. All of these guys could play top 2 minutes.Marc Methot is especially appealing.Clutch PlayThe Toronto Maple Leafs lost three games in the 2017 Stanley Cup playoffs in overtime. They also won two in OT, but still. Losing the majority of overtime games, especially when you 2-1 back to back Adidas Matt Murray #30 Jersey , is going to hurt you. And it did.So how do the Maple Leafs find OT scoring? Well, they have stars that didn’t produce in OT. Neither Mitch Marner nor Auston Matthews scored an overtime goal. Both Marner and William Nylander, the third of the rookie trio, scored just one goal.Toronto Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews (34) looks for a pass (John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports)And while that can be blamed on being all three of those guys rookie years and their first taste of the playoffs, they still needed to step up bigger in clutch situations. Matthews especially, who already delivered a forty goal season, needs to step it up in overtime.In fact, only three Maple Leafs scored more than once. While Matthews led the team with four goals (hey, I’m not saying he played poorly, just in overtime), James Van Riemsdyk and Tyler Bozak tied at two. One of Bozak’s was an overtime winner.So the rookies are going to have to learn from Tyler Bozak as a model for overtime play. I mean, just look at his whole play on this goal. It’s remarkable.[Via Youtube.com]Everybody on this Leafs roster next year should be attempting to emulate Tyler Bozak. Something I’d never thought I’d say.Just Too Darn YoungThe Maple Leafs really only had one fundamental flaw in the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs… they were too damn young. Yeah, getting defensive leadership will be critical in the offseason Adidas Jake Guentzel #59 Jersey , and the kids could play better in overtime.Next: Preds One Playoff Win From Franchise HistoryBut at the same time, they took the Washington Capitals to six games the year everyone though the Capitals would finally win the Cup. That’s a remarkable feat. The Maple Leafs are special. They just need more than one year in the playoffs, and they will likely be better next year.A few of the guys need to show up more than once – Marner, Nylander, Nazem Kadri – but other than that, they played really well. Sit back and relax Toronto fans, there’s not much to fix on this roster.More from Puck ProseNashville Predators: One Playoff Win Away From Franchise History1 h agoNHL Playoff Power Rankings: St. Louis Falls, Nashville On Top8h agoPittsburgh Penguins’ Evgeni Malkin Is One of the Best Players Ever10h agoNHL Expansion Draft: Arizona Coyotes Protection Strategy12h agoNHL Daily: Spooner Trade, Leafs Eyeing More Defenseman and More15h agoThis article originally appeared on . Logan Brown Senators Jersey   Mark Stone Senators Jersey   Matthew O'Connor Jerseys   Mike Hoffman Jerseys 

The playoffs are coming and Columbus’ Sergei Bobrovsky is a hot goaltender. That’s always a key to Stanley Cup playoff success. And with the first-round matchup the Blue Jackets might get Womens Aaron Rodgers #12 Jersey , a hot goaltender will be a must. The second- and third-place teams in a division face off in the first round. So get ready for the Blue Jackets and the Pittsburgh Penguins — owners of the second- and third-best records in the league — to play a high-profile first-round series. The Washington Capitals are setting the pace in the Eastern Conference and the Metropolitan Division with 106 points. The Blue Jackets and Penguins have 103 each. With less than two weeks left in the season, it is unlikely either team will finish worse than third. The best both can hope for is to surpass the Capitals and play a wild-card team in the first round. Columbus continues its pursuit of Washington at home Tuesday night against the Buffalo Sabres, who hope to play the spoiler role for the third straight game. The Sabres (32-32-12) beat Toronto on Saturday. The Maple Leafs are clinging to a one-point hold on third place in the Atlantic Division over Boston. On Monday, the Sabres all but doused the Florida Panthers’ flickering Eastern wild-card hopes with a 4-2 victory. “I liked the way we played,” Sabres forward Marcus Foligno said of the Toronto victory. “We were physical, we didn’t have sloppy breakouts the whole time and we were smart in the offensive zone. “We shot a lot of pucks last game. That’s what’s got to happen in the next seven games. We have nothing to lose so we’ve just got to make sure we’re playing as a team.” Columbus (48-19-7) has had a season full of positives. Bobrovsky is at the top of that list with seven shutouts David Bakhtiari Home Game Jersey , including a 1-0 victory Sunday over Philadelphia to snap a two-game losing streak. “He’s locked in,” Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella told The Columbus Dispatch. “There’s not a lot extra movement. He just looks confident. To have 100 points and more (in the standings), that’s a key position, and he’s been consistent with that all year long.” Bobrovsky owns a Vezina Trophy as the league’s top goaltender already, but after three seasons of groin injuries his success this season has been more than anyone could have expected. His league bests of 40 victories, 1.99 goals-against average and .934 save percentage could mean a second Vezina Trophy. Bobrovsky Authentic Aaron Rodgers Packers Jersey , though, prefers to talk about the final push toward the playoffs and his team’s pursuit of the President’s Trophy. “Our most important games are ahead of us, but we still have to compete, still have to work hard,” Bobrovsky told The Dispatch. “That’s what will get us ready for the playoffs.” To try to take a little pressure of Bobrovsky, the Blue Jackets worked on some different power-play alignments in Monday’s practice Authentic Nike Mike Daniels Jersey , according to bluejackets.com. The Jackets have failed to score on their past nine power plays in six games. Buffalo has been hot on the power play. The Sabres converted twice Saturday and twice again against Florida. Brian Gionta’s power-play goal Monday was his 15th of the season in a milestone game. Gionta played in his 1,000th game for the Sabres. The team captain is the seventh player to do that in a Sabres uniform.. Jean-Gabriel Pageau Senators Jersey   Kyle Turris Senators Jersey   Logan Brown Jerseys   Mark Stone Jerseys 

VANCOUVER Adidas Patrice Bergeron #37 Jersey , British Columbia (AP) Dallas Stars head coach Lindy Ruff said he needed more from his leaders after a string of demoralizing losses. Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn stepped up to the challenge Seguin scored on the power play in the third period and the Stars beat the Vancouver Canucks 4-2 on Thursday night to snap a three-game slide. ”The guys did a great job responding,” Seguin said. ”Our compete level was a lot higher, just our will. … We were missing it the last few games.” Ales Hemsky, Esa Lindell and Radek Faksa had the other goals for Dallas, which got 26 saves from Kari Lehtonen. John Klingberg and Jason Spezza each added two assists. Sven Baertschi and Ben Hutton scored for Vancouver. Ryan Miller stopped 32 shots in his 12th start in the last 13 games. Both teams are well back in the Western Conference playoff race, and the Stars were outscored 17-4 during their recent skid, including a 7-1 demolition at the hands of the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday. ”It’s no secret we were embarrassed by the last two games and the season in general Youth Brandon Carlo #25 Jersey ,” Spezza said. The Canucks, meanwhile, finished winless on their five-game homestand (0-3-2), with the last three losses coming in regulation. Seguin snapped a 2-2 tie at 9:07 of the third, blasting a one-timer past Miller for his 24th of the season after the Stars zipped the puck around the Canucks’ zone. Faksa then took advantage of a turnover by defenseman Troy Stecher at the side of his own net to bury his 11th past a helpless Miller at 15:31 as the Stars improved to 12-0-1 in their last 13 games against Vancouver. Dallas grabbed a 1-0 lead at 8:41 of the first period after its 30th-ranked penalty kill held Vancouver’s 28th-ranked power play off the scoreboard during an early four-minute man advantage. Hemsky, who has missed 59 games this season with hip and groin injuries, swooped past Hutton and beat an indecisive Miller to a loose puck before scoring his first goal since March 24 Womens Ryan Spooner #51 Jersey , 2016. ”It’s frustrating,” Hutton said. ”We want to win, especially here in our home rink in front of our fans. One mistake here, one mistake there and it’s two points for the other team and not us.” Vancouver responded when Reid Boucher, playing in his 100th NHL game, fed a slick pass to a pinching Nikita Tryamkin. The big defenseman had both his initial shot and rebound stopped by Lehtonen before the puck popped into the slot to Baertschi, who buried his 17th at 13:27. The Stars nudged back in front with 7.2 seconds left in the period when Lindell scored his sixth on a wrist shot from well out that went in off Miller’s blocker. Tryamkin tossed Jamie Benn to the ice with under four minutes to go in a previously sleepy second period Authentic Rob O'Gara Elite Jersey , with the Stars captain going back at the hulking Russian and dropping the gloves in what was a spirited fight. Both players went to their respective locker-rooms after the dust up, but Benn didn’t come back for the third because of what the Stars called an upper-body injury. It wasn’t clear if the injury to Benn, who will be re-evaluated Friday, happened during the fight or earlier in the game. ”I like it,” Ruff said of seeing his captain and second-leading scorer drop the gloves. ”It sends a message to the team that the fight is still on. You’ve got to win games and play hard. Hutton then tied the score on the power play to snap a 1-for-33 stretch on the man advantage. NOTES: The Stars are 6-0-1 in their last seven games at Rogers Arena dating to the 2012-13 season. … Vancouver D Christopher Tanev missed a third straight game because of food poisoning. … Dallas F Jiri Hudler was a healthy scratch for the fifth straight game. Stars: Wrap a four-game trip at Calgary on Friday night. Canucks: Open a five-game trip Saturday night in Edmonton.. Chris Neil Senators Jersey   Chris Wideman Jerseys   Clarke MacArthur Jerseys   Cody Ceci Jerseys 

The Dallas Stars are bringing back Stanley Cup-winning coach Ken Hitchcock Premier Olli Maatta #3 Jersey , hoping to turn themselves back into a championship contender. Hitchcock is returning to Dallas and will be named coach at a news conference Thursday. A person with direct knowledge of the situation confirmed the hire to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Wednesday because the team hadn’t announced it. Hitchcock, 65, won the Cup with Dallas in 1999, coaching there for parts of seven seasons from 1995-96 through 2001-02. He has since coached the Philadelphia Flyers, Columbus Blue Jackets and St. Louis Blues. ”Congrats Ken Hitchcock on the (Stars) head coach job,” 1999 Cup winner and Stars legend Mike Modano tweeted . ”My schedule is pretty open.” Hitchcock was fired as Blues coach in February and replaced by Mike Yeo. Even before that Youth Replica Jake Guentzel Jersey , St. Louis had announced it was Hitchcock’s final season there and that Yeo would take over. Hitchcock replaces Lindy Ruff, who was fired Monday after four seasons in Dallas. The Stars missed the playoffs this year after winning the Central Division last season. The Edmonton native is fourth on the NHL’s all-time wins list, one shy of legendary New York Islanders coach Al Arbour for third. Hitchcock can now pass Arbour back with the team that he led to its only title in franchise history. In all, Hitchcock has 781 wins, 474 losses, 88 ties and 111 overtime or shootout losses in 1 Adidas Carl Hagelin #62 Jersey ,454 regular-season games. In addition to the Cup in 1999, he led the Stars to the final in 2000. Dallas considered former Florida Panthers coach Gerard Gallant and others for its vacancy but went with the affable Hitchcock, whose recipe for success has worked through several eras of hockey. Good friend and Washington Capitals coach Barry Trotz said he believes Hitchcock will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame one day. ”He’s a guy that tries to teach the game,” Trotz said. ”He’s a little bit old-school sometimes because he’s demanding and it’s funny. When you’re demanding with players, they don’t like it at the time, but when you go away or there’s a change and they come back 10 years later and they go Womens Sidney Crosby #87 Jersey , `You had it right. I was all wrong.”’ Hitchcock made the playoffs in all five full seasons he coached the Blues, leading them to the Western Conference final last spring. He won the Jack Adams Award as NHL coach of the year in 2011-12 when St. Louis won its first of two division titles during his tenure. Blues general manager Doug Armstrong was emotional about the difficult decision to fire Hitchcock and agreed with Trotz about the coach’s impressive resume. ”He’s not here anymore, but there’s one former guy in that room that I think’s going to the Hall of Fame and that’s Ken Hitchcock,” Armstrong said at the time. — More AP NHL: http://apnews.com/tag/NHLhockey — Follow Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno on Twitter at .. Jean-Gabriel Pageau Senators Jersey   Kyle Turris Senators Jersey   Logan Brown Jerseys   Mark Stone Jerseys