The NHL is back to normal with the regular season stretching from October through the middle of April before the two-month thrill ride that is the chase for the Stanley Cup.
Roman Josi looks around the Western Conference — and the NHL at-large — and does not see a lot of easy games for his Nashville Predators.
Steven Stamkos and the Tampa Bay Lightning are accustomed to short offseasons.
This one, the Lightning captain said, “wasn’t as fun as the previous two.”
The Stanley Cup relocated to Colorado after the Avalanche dethroned the two-time defending champion Lightning in a six-game final in July.
Jake Oettinger did not have a contract with Dallas for much of the summer, but as a restricted free agent he knew he would be playing for the Stars this season.
With that certainty in mind, Oettinger watched with fascination as other goaltenders shuffled around the NHL.
Cale Makar won the Stanley Cup and earned playoff MVP honors after a season in which he was voted the NHL's best defenseman.
Johnny Hockey moved East, though not as far as everyone thought. The champs out West couldn’t keep the entire band together. And two teams with lengthy playoff droughts made some moves hoping to change that.
Russian players on two NHL teams opening the season in the Czech Republic will be allowed to participate in the two Global Series games in Prague after all.
The Czech government has dropped its attempted ban of Russian players on the rosters for San Jose and Nashville, NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said Thursday.
DENVER (AP) — Mikko Rantanen can’t believe how quickly the summer flew by. One moment the Colorado Avalanche were riding through the streets of Denver on firetrucks and the next they’re back on the ice.
Meet the 2022 Blues, not the same as the old group from 2019 that won the Stanley Cup.
Sure, there are some holdovers, from fiery goaltender Jordan Binnington to tough, talented two-way center Ryan O’Reilly and big defenseman Colton Parayko.
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Tampa Bay isn’t content with being one of the NHL’s best teams.
Three months after falling short in a bid to become the first NHL club in 40 years to win three straight Stanley Cup titles, the Lightning entered training camp eager to begin the quest to reclaim the crown they relinquished to the Colorado Avalanche.
PRAGUE (AP) — The war in Ukraine threw a wrinkle into the National Hockey League's planned return to Europe next month to play its first games outside North America since the start of the pandemic.
DENVER (AP) — Erik Johnson just didn’t have enough hours in the day for all of the plans he had for his new companion, the Stanley Cup.
The veteran Colorado defenseman made the rounds the best he could this month as he celebrated the Avalanche’s first title since 2001.
Training camps open around the NHL on Thursday after another short offseason, a third in a row squeezed by the pandemic. That doesn’t bother Colorado Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon one bit.
For one of hockey's best players and his teammates, it's already time to get back on the ice and defend their Stanley Cup title, less than three months since they knocked off the back-to-back champion Tampa Bay Lightning.
DENVER (AP) — The Colorado Avalanche are making Nathan MacKinnon the highest-paid player in the NHL’s salary cap era.
MacKinnon, who just turned 27 earlier this month, signed an eight-year contract worth $100.8 million, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — The task ahead for Caden Sterns: take over for a Denver Broncos safety who has started 66 straight games and serves as their undisputed leader.
HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) — Nathan MacKinnon expects to sign contract extension with the Colorado Avalanche soon, and it could make him the highest-paid player in the NHL.
LONDON, Ontario (AP) — Calgary Flames forward Nazem Kadri brought the Stanley Cup to his hometown mosque on Saturday.
It was a day filled with pride and joy for the 31-year-old Kadri, who won the title with the Colorado Avalanche this past season.
CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Nazem Kadri is going to the Calgary Flames, leaving the Colorado Avalanche after helping them win the Stanley Cup for the first time since 2001.
Calgary announced a $49 million, seven-year contract Thursday, meaning Kadri will count $7 million against the salary cap through 2029.
Recent Stanley Cup winners spent the first day of NHL free agency re-signing key players to long-term contracts.
ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — The champagne had barely stopped flowing from the Colorado Avalanche's Stanley Cup celebration when they traded for a new goaltender, signaling that Darcy Kuemper would not be back.
Forward Valeri Nichushkin is staying put with the Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche, while Evgeni Malkin’s tenure with the Pittsburgh Penguins may be over after 16 seasons.
Malkin has decided to become a free agent rather than re-sign with the Penguins before the start of free agency, a person with knowledge of the move told The Associated Press on Monday.
Confronted by the harsh reality of the Tampa Bay Lightning moving on from him and with memories still fresh of being on the wrong side of the Stanley Cup championship handshake line, Ryan McDonagh approved a trade to the Nashville Predators.
DENVER (AP) — Joe Sakic's title has changed. His task has not: Keep the Colorado Avalanche at the summit of hockey.
The Stanley Cup champion Avalanche promoted Sakic on Monday to president of hockey operations, which means he no longer deals with the day-to-day general manager responsibilities.
The top players expected to be available in NHL free agency include an MVP candidate who might have the chance to go home and a veteran who flipped his old playoff script to become a Stanley Cup champion.
Alexander Georgiev signed a three-year deal with the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday, completing the final step toward making him the defending Stanley Cup champions ' starting goaltender in their title defense.
While Julien BriseBois knows exactly how confident he is about the possibility of re-signing playoff performer Ondrej Palat and veteran defenseman Jan Rutta, he's not saying.
MONTREAL (AP) — When Brian MacLellan declared his intention to change up the Washington Capitals' goaltending situation, the seasoned general manager knew he was joining a crowded market given how many teams already had the same need.
MONTREAL (AP) — Joe Sakic didn’t want to make the call to Darcy Kuemper telling him the Colorado Avalanche were not bringing back their goaltender who was in net when they won the Stanley Cup.
MONTREAL (AP) — Rather than tip his hand on who the Montreal Canadiens plan to select with the first pick in the NHL draft, general manager Kent Hughes joked they’ll end up with all three of Shane Wright, Juraj Slafkovsky and Logan Cooley.
MONTREAL (AP) — Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin said Kirill Kaprizov remains in Russia and is doing well, denying a report the star winger returned to the U.S. and adding the team is trying to find out more about the situation.
DENVER (AP) — The Stanley Cup championship celebrations are quieting down for the Colorado Avalanche. Time to get down to the business of defending their title.
Colorado's first big move in what's sure to be a busy offseason was re-signing veteran forward Andrew Cogliano to a one-year deal Tuesday.
DENVER (AP) — Nazem Kadri will be jubilantly waving to the fans at the parade Thursday through the streets of Denver.
Possibly waving goodbye, too.
Some tough decisions loom for the Colorado Avalanche after dethroning the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Stanley Cup Final.
Hours before Canada beat the U.S. to win women’s hockey gold at the Beijing Olympics in February, International Ice Hockey Federation officials lamented having only two medal events on sports’ biggest stage.
DENVER (AP) — Randall Grichuk and Elias Diaz homered and the Colorado Rockies continued their Coors Field mastery of Clayton Kershaw with a 7-4 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday night.
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Three consecutive trips to the Stanley Cup Final, two championships and a strong — though ultimately unsuccessful — bid for a third.
Any way you list the accomplishments, it’s been quite a run for the Tampa Bay Lightning, who feel they are nowhere close to being done after falling short of becoming the first team in nearly 40 years to win three consecutive NHL titles.
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — In a copycat league known for following the Stanley Cup champions, Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog paused when asked what other teams could do to emulate their success.
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Andrew Cogliano shouted at Nathan MacKinnon in the midst of the Colorado Avalanche’s Stanley Cup celebration.
DENVER (AP) — Joe Sakic was so busy relishing and reminiscing that he nearly missed the team photo with the Stanley Cup before racing over just in time to join the on-ice celebration at Amalie Arena.
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly presented the Stanley Cup to Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog on Friday night because Commissioner Gary Bettman was sidelined by the coronavirus.
Cale Makar led the Colorado Avalanche in scoring on the way to winning the Stanley Cup. It was no surprise the dynamic defenseman was the unanimous choice for the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — The Tampa Bay Lightning didn’t relinquish their grip on the Stanley Cup without a fight.
Andrei Vasilevskiy rejected shot after shot, keeping the two-time defending champions’ quest for a threepeat alive.
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Nathan MacKinnon could not find the words. Gabriel Landeskog cracked a smile and a joke.
After years of playoff disappointments, the Colorado Avalanche are back atop hockey’s mountain after dethroning the two-time defending champions.
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — The status of a couple of key players remains uncertain for Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final.
Colorado coach Jared Bednar says there’s a chance Game 1 overtime hero Andre Burakovsky could return Sunday night following a three-game absence from the best-of-seven series.
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — If this is Ondrej Palat’s final playoff run with the Tampa Bay Lightning, he’s certainly making it count.
Soon he could be counting in the tens of millions of dollars on a new contract.
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Josh Manson still had his bags half-packed from the Colorado Avalanche’s last time on the road, when they returned home with the chance to win the Stanley Cup.
That didn’t happen, and now he and his teammates are confronted with Game 6 Sunday night against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the arena they hoisted the Cup a year ago to become back-to-back champions.
DENVER (AP) — The Stanley Cup was in the building and just waiting to be paraded around the ice.
Pack it up. It's heading back to Florida.
The resilient Tampa Bay Lightning spoiled Colorado's party to stay in the hunt for a third straight Stanley Cup title, beating the Avalanche 3-2 on Friday night in Game 5.