Recapping a Busy NHL Season

Surprises, disappointments, and questions. What a year it was

Image via Jacketin.com

Another wild NHL regular season has come to a close. A year full of controversies, questions, surprises, and disappointments have led to what is sure to be an exciting post-season. Before we look ahead to the Stanley Cup run before us, let’s look back at a season to remember.

Biggest Surprises

Meteoric Rise of the Columbus Blue Jackets

Historically, the Columbus Blue Jackets have never been very good. They have qualified for the playoffs only twice since their inaugural season in 2000–01, and have won more than 40 games just three times. A team that seemed to be trending in the wrong direction after a 76 point season a year ago, the Jackets now find themselves in strong form heading to the playoffs. While they face a difficult Pittsburgh team in the first round, they are coming off their best regular season performance to date with 108 points, a near record 16-game winning streak, and a third place finish in a difficult division. Many have credited head coach John Tortorella with the turnaround, and rightly so. This collection of young players has performed well and hope to expand on this in the postseason.

Coaches Firing Spree

Five teams fired their head coaches this season, and some of the moves were very surprising. The dismissal of Gerard Gallant in Florida started it all off, and teams that followed suit had mixed results. Florida and the New York Islanders missed the playoffs (New York by just one point) while Montreal won their division and are being joined in the playoffs by Boston and St. Louis, both of whom finished in their respective division’s top three. In some cases, it worked. Most interesting was the firing — and subsequent re-hiring in Montreal — of Boston’s Claude Julien. Fired from a playoff-bound team at the time, he now coaches the team that won the very same division. The successes and failures of these teams make this narrative all the more entertaining at playoff time.

The firings have continued now that the season is over as well — both Darryl Sutter and Willie Desjardins were let go from their respective positions. With such a plethora of available coaches, this year’s firings will make for some interesting hires in the offseason.

Return of the Canadian Teams

Last season, Canada was shut out of the playoffs. The birthplace of hockey has seven NHL teams and not one of them participated in the playoffs last year — a hard pill to swallow. This year has seen a complete turnaround with five of the seven making the postseason, and the True North has a real chance of seeing at least one of its teams make a deep run in this year’s second season. Great storylines are abound in these five teams, especially in the incredible youth movements happening in Toronto and Edmonton, so each of these five franchises hold an important banner for their fans and for their country. The playoffs feel like the playoffs again.

Big Disappointments

Image via CBS Sports

Los Angeles Kings

A team that’s won two Stanley Cups in the last 5 seasons and had a strong postseason showing recently, the Kings experienced diminished offensive production and missed the playoffs this year. This has resulted in the unfortunate firing of coach Darryl Sutter and General Manager Dean Lombardi, and the elevation of former players Luc Robataille and Rob Blake into executive positions.

Tampa Bay Lightning

General Manager Steve Yzerman spent a lot of money this past offseason, and the Lightning seemed primed to jump to the top of the Eastern Conference. However with the continued injuries to Steven Stamkos and Ben Bishop, things didn’t quite work out that way. Tampa traded Bishop and now feature Andrei Vasilevskiy and Peter Budaj at goalie, and can only hope for a healthier and more productive 2017–18.

Philadelphia Flyers

How often does a team that has a 10-game winning streak miss the playoffs? In the history of the league, only once. This year’s Philadelphia Flyers. The absolute definition of a hot-and-cold team, the Flyers struggled with consistency and dealt with strange injuries and illnesses to their goalies late in the year when every win mattered. The Flyers were a preseason favorite to make the playoffs, but couldn’t find the consistency to deliver.

Biggest Question: What’s on Tap for New NHL Teams?

Image via Yahoo Sports

The Vegas Golden Knights were announced as the NHL’s 31st team and will hold their expansion draft on June 21st. The changes that will come as a result are hard to predict; teams will be scrambling to protect and expose the right players, knowing that someone may be taken by the NHL’s newest franchise. Beyond the buzz this will create questions regarding this new market. Is Vegas a sustainable option? What players will find themselves with the league’s newest franchise? How successful will Western expansion be by adding multiple clubs in the desert? Which leads to another question — what will become of the Arizona Coyotes? Will their arena issues be sorted out, or will the NHL be forced to move them to a new city? Would that city be Quebec City, a deserving candidate if they can sort out their ownership issues? Or will it be Seattle, if they can have a sustainable arena in place? If the Coyotes move does that impact whether the NHL will add a 32nd team? The discussion around league expansion and added teams is ongoing and has huge implications for the existing 30 teams.

The NHL, for all of its history, has always been driven by its amazing stories and players. As the NHL continues to expand and grow, the story continues to be written. The greatest sport in the world kicks off the race for the world’s greatest trophy this week — and nothing could be more entertaining.