Are They Still The Islanders?

It seemed like the only thing holding up the decision by the New York Islanders to move the Bridgeport Islanders to Hamilton, Ontario was the AHL Board of Governors. It was rumoured for a while before the announcement finally came that this would be the reality for 2026-27, but it still needed the rubber stamp from the league's membership. That vote took place today, and AHL President and CEO Scott Howson made it official by announcing that the Islanders would move into the renovated TD Coliseum in Hamilton where they would shift from the Atlantic Division to the North Division next season.

This feels like the wrong move by the Islanders' franchise to make considering that the Bridgeport Sound Tigers had a solid following in Bridgeport for years since they began play in 2001-02 as an expansion team. Head coach Steve Stirling took them to the Calder Cup Final in their first season of existence before falling in the second round one year later, but Stirling was promoted to head coach of the New York Islanders in June 2003 after Peter Laviolette was fired.

From that point on, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers never won a playoff round again, missing the playoffs in nine of sixteen seasons prior to the pandemic. After the AHL returned to play a full season in 2021, the Islanders had decided to rename the team in its own image where it has continued to struggle. In four seasons, the Islanders missed the playoffs three times. They're in a battle with four teams this season for play-in game berths in the Atlantic Division standings.

In short, the Islanders are leaving Bridgeport, Connecticut without having seen a ton of success for their 25 seasons. Perhaps a fresh start with a clean slate in Hamilton, Ontario is what they need?

The last time that the AHL was in Hamilton, that franchise found success. The Hamilton Bulldogs called the southern Ontario city home from 1996 until 2015 where they won the 2007 Calder Cup, lost in the Calder Cup Final in 1997, and lost in the third round of the playoffs three times. They averaged slightly more fans that what Bridgeport has seen over the years, but moving into a renovated building within a hockey-ready market should be good for the franchise's health.

What may hurt the Islanders is the fact that they're not very good. With their current point total, they'd be in sixth-place in the North Division and would sit one point back of Rochester who has two games in-hand and holds the final play-in game berth in the division. Needless to say, moving into a more competitive division will mean that the Islanders need to improve their roster. Putting a winner on the ice would help both walk-up and season ticket sales immediately.

The other thing that could really get the people of Hamilton interested is the name chosen for the team. Despite the branding strategy used by the Islanders, the team moving to Hamilton needs to abandon the "Islanders" moniker as soon as possible for something better. If you recall, this franchise used to be the Bridgeport Sound Tigers while the city of Hamilton had an NHL team named the Hamilton Tigers from 1920-25. Might we see the return of the Tigers?

What sucks in this whole situation is that there are hockey fans in Bridgeport who are losing their team with no way of preventing it. These fans did nothing to deserve this fate, but it seems that a fresh coat of paint and some new luxury suites were all that the Islanders needed to pull their AHL franchise from Bridgeport. My hope is that hockey fans in Bridgeport can get another team shortly. They have shown they'll support hockey even if the team on the ice is bad.

Roadtrips for AHL teams can now flow through Belleville-Toronto-Hamilton or teams can play the corner of Lake Ontario with games in Toronto and Hamilton. It's a longer commute for AHL Islanders to get to the big club when recalled, but the New York Islanders won't complain if their AHL affiliate is playing winning hockey. I don't think Hamilton hockey fans will complain about that either.

Please, I beg you, just don't call them the Hamilton Islanders.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Three Head-Scratching Years

Far be it for me to question anyone's position in hockey from where I sit, but I always found it strange that the Toronto Maple Leafs hired Bred Treliving to be their general manager three years ago. That's not to say that Treliving wasn't able to do the job, but it's hard to ignore the immense pressure that comes with sitting in the big chair in a city that demands a winner. Being that 1967 is a lifetime ago and the Leafs moving away from a playoff spot has to come with consequences, and Toronto brass made the move today to correct the path the team is on by firing GM Brad Treliving.

The idea of a playoff spot is all but lost at this point in this season, but it's some of the asset mismanagment that likely called for a change in the management structure for the Maple Leafs. After all, the "trade" to move Mitch Marner for Nicolas Roy was one of the worst in the history of the Maple Leafs while his deal to trade prized prospect Fraser Minten and a first-round pick to Boston for Brandon Carlo is hard to even rationalize. Add in baffling free agent signings like John Klingberg, Ryan Reaves, and David Kampf while not finding elite goaltending, and the writing started to appear on the wall.

Toronto won't have a first- or a second-round selection this season at the NHL Draft, so finding some immediate help will have come via trade or free agency. The team will need to make decisions on Calle Jarnkrok, Matias Maccelli, and Nick Robertson, but it's hard to see either of Maccelli or Robertson sticking with Toronto if another team appears interested. Robertson has asked for a trade out of Toronto for the past two seasons before finding a roster spot this season, so we'll have to see if he'll return on a new deal next season.

If that mismanagement of depth players isn't enough, making the decision to fire Sheldon Keefe while hiring the defensively-minded Craig Berube is also a head-scratcher. Keefe recognized that the defence and goaltending was, at best, in the middle of the pack. To counter this, he pushed the offensive side of the play as the Leafs scored a lot during the regular season. That wasn't a great strategy for the Leafs in the playoffs where the defensive play gets ratcheted up a few notches, but Keefe was playing the hand he was dealt.

Treliving was questioned for firing Keefe who was 212-97-40 over parts of five campaigns, but his playoff record shows that success was fleeting as he recorded a 16-21 record in the postseason including a 1-5 series mark. At the time, Treliving stated, "Sheldon is an excellent coach and a great man. However, we determined a new voice is needed to help the team push through to reach our ultimate goal."

Craig Berube was hired by Treliving following his brief success in St. Louis, the Leafs finally won just their second playoff series in more than 20 years under Berube's watch, but the Leafs dropped from 54 wins to 52 wins in 2025 before winning just 31 games to this point this season. If losing Mitch Marner had that much of an effect on the Leafs, this squad under Berube is more than just a few tweaks and minor moves away from being a Stanley Cup contender again.

In three consecutive seasons under Treliving, the number of wins and points fell. For the first time in ten seasons, the Maple Leafs are poised to miss the playoffs. For the first time since 2016, it appears there's a good chance that the Leafs won't have a 30-goal scorer on their roster. Some of that can be attributed to coaching, but a lot of it has to do with the roster that was assembled this season. The Leafs weren't good enough, weren't deep enough, and didn't get the contributions they needed with the personnel they currently have.

As was discussed in yesterday's article about the Golden Knights, accountability for the roster's successes or failures ultimately falls on the general manager. Based on the significant drop-off this season and the slight decline last season, changes had to be expected in Toronto. The first domino fell today with the dismissal of Brad Treliving as the Maple Leafs will look for a new candidate to lead them out of this mess and into a better, more successful era.

I can't deny that Toronto amplifies it by a million times, but hockey is still a results-driven business where winning matters. Brad Treliving is the latest evidence of that reality after being dismissed today.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

It's Time For Some Accountability

I have never met Bruce Cassidy, but people have said that he's a well-spoken, thoughtful man who would give insights to his decisions made while coaching. We can debate all day about his reluctance to name Logan Thompson the starter in Las Vegas, eventually leading to Thompson being traded to Washington where he's now 4-0 against his former team including stoning them in the shootout yesterday, prompting the reaction above. The knee-jerk reaction by Vegas to fire a coach who led the team to the Stanley Cup and who has turned in excellent results since that victory reeks of "what have you done for me lately". Being in a results-driven business, Kelly McCrimmon fired Cassidy and hired John Tortorella for the rest of the season.

Vegas has struggled this season as they currently sit in third-place in the Pacific Division and staring down a first-round matchup with the Edmonton Oilers. They're six points back of the Anaheim Ducks with eight games to play, and they don't face the Ducks again. They still have a shot at capturing first-place in the Pacific Division, but they're going to need some help while playing nearly-perfect hockey from this point forward as the John Tortorella era begins today.

The problem is that the four goaltenders that Vegas has employed this season have a woeful .879 save percentage as they've allowed 216 goals on 1788 shots. The fact that they're even in a playoff spot should surprise people because that kind of mediocre goaltending usually results in management hunting for a significant upgrade between the pipes. Adin Hill, who appears to be Vegas's starter, will bring his 3.10 GAA and .866 save percentage to the playoffs against the likes of McDavid and Draisaitl if Vegas doesn't catch Anaheim.

Logan Thompson played 46 games for the Vegas Golden Knights in 2023-24 where he went 25-14-5 with a 2.70 GAA and a .908 save percentage. Adin Hill, who split time in the crease with Thompson, was 19-12-2 with a 2.71 GAA and a .909 save percentage. As you can see, Thompson likely had every right to believe he could win more games based on his statistics that season, so asking the team for greater responsibility in the crease should have been a discussion where Cassidy and McCrimmon could have laid out a scenario where Thompson was given the opportunity to be the starter, especially after Thompson played well from January through to the playoffs.

Instead, it seemed like there was always going to be a competition between the goalies in Las Vegas, and Thompson made the decision to ask for a trade where he could seek a starter's role with another team. Vegas obliged, and he was traded to Washington at the 2024 NHL Entry Draft in exchange for two third-round picks. The rest, as they say, is history as Vegas has struggled in the crease while Thompson has played well for Washington with two sub-2.50 GAA and .910-or-better seasons, earning a Canadian Olympic roster spot.

Clearly, this problem goes higher than the coach as it wasn't Bruce Cassidy's decision to trade Thompson despite Steven Valiquette's assertion that Cassidy and Pete DeBoer not liking Thompson. Add in the fact that Vegas only has six picks on the first three rounds of the next four NHL Entry Drafts with no first-round picks until 2028, and there's more evidence that management is making bad decisions. It also bears mentioning that Adin Hill and his 3.10 GAA and his .866 save percentage are being paid $6,250,000 until 2031, making the general manager's office the source of Vegas's problems. Spending their way into division titles was a win-now ideology.

Perhaps spending $12 million per season on Mitch Marner was a good idea in the moment as Adin Hill held a 2.47 GAA and a .906 save percentage, but those numbers were the best numbers Hill has posted in any NHL season to date with the number of games he played. They weren't trending in that direction; they were an aberration away from his rather pedestrian baseline numbers. McCrimmon went seeking more help in the crease when he gambled on Carter Hart which, for the most part, has been an utter disaster on the ice as well as for the team's public image, and his follows his trade of fan favourite Marc-Andre Fleury, bailing on Robin Lehner when he needed help, and trading away Thompson. Now we'll see another coach to try cover up the damage that McCrimmon has caused with his short-sighted, win-at-all-costs mentality.

At some point, Kelly McCrimmon has to be responsible for the team he's assembled. Yes, the coach can and will make mistakes when it comes to player deployment or line combinations, but Bruce Cassidy proved he has the skills to do the job with the Stanley Cup ring he earned. Instead, this year's push will fall to John Tortorella after McCrimmon fired Cassidy one day after the Logan Thompson fist pump at the end of the shootout. Tortorella is only signed through to the end of the season, so this coaching carousel could start up again the moment that Vegas is eliminated from the 2026 playoffs.

Perhaps at that point, Kelly McCrimmon will finally be held responsible for results turned in by Kelly McCrimmon's team.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Friedman With A Curious Thought

I had a good chuckle when social media went off about Alexander Ovechkin taking his first defensive zone face-off ths season despite the Capitals having played 73 games this season. It's not like Ovechkin has ever been up for a Selke Award in his career, and I don't think anyone would put him on the ice in the dying seconds of a game while up a goal. His talents are scoring goals, not stopping them, but Elliotte Friedman's 32 Thoughts article published on Sportsnet's website yesterday got me thinking about a new record in hockey.

To that point of the season on Thursday night in Utah, Ovechkin had watched every defensive zone face-off from the bench this season. That works out to about 4500 minutes of hockey without him ever lining up for a face-off mere feet from his own goal. It was Friedman's 32 Thoughts that got the wheels turning when he wrote,

With Ovechkin turning 41 years-old to begin the season next year, could he go an entire season without taking a defensive zone face-off? He went through 73 games this year without doing one, but he could do the full 84-game schedule - it's two games longer in 2026-27! - without starting a play in his own zone if he plays next season?

I'm not sure that's a record that anyone would want to hold, but it seems like that option may give Ovechkin the best shot at scoring a number of goals while keeping him fresh for all 84 games. If scoring goals means that much to Ovechkin and his coaches and teammates are fine with it, more power to him. This could be the way he hits 950 goals in his career which would be an impressive total to reach, but it clearly requires some sacrifices to parts of his game.

Friedman notes that it would have been "tremendous" for Ovechkin to have played the entire season without ever lining up in own zone, but, considering that the Capitals are on the outside of the playoff picture right now, this isn't a winning formula. Of course, Ovechkin could have been taking defensive zone face-offs and the Capitals could be in the same position or worse, but we won't know what impact he had at helping the team win defensive zone face-offs if he follows Friedman's thoughts and commits to taking none next season.

I should point out that the Capitals saw no harm on the two defensive zone face-offs where he was on the ice in Utah, so things are looking up for Ovechkin's defensive game already! Selke Trophy in 2027?

As for the multi-city send-off that Friedman floated, the answer is a hard "no" from me. As a Penguins fan, I can ackowledge his talents, but I'm not celebrating his career in any manner. I didn't care when he tied Gretzky's record for goals, and I didn't care when he broke the record. I'll tip my cap to him when he does retire because he certainly rewrote some records that were once believed to be untouchable, but it still needs to be mentioned that he won his only Stanley Cup when Barry Trotz forced him to play a 200-foot game.

If defence wins championships, the evidence is the 2018 Stanley Cup. Records will ultimately fall, but winning never, ever gets old.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

I Forgot About Marty

Marty McSorley isn't a player that one forgets about thanks to his impact on the game when he played. The 62 year-old enforcer was a decent defenceman who was known more for throwing knuckles than making crisp passes, but he was memorable. Whether it was the illegal stick in the 1993 Stanley Cup Final or the stick-swinging incident against the Vancouver Canucks, McSorley may also be remembered for the major mistakes he made while playing the game. One of the things that I forgot, though, was that he took bit parts in movies while playing for the Los Angeles Kings, and I encountered one of those movies tonight as I was searching for something to watch.

Known mostly for wearing #33, I had forgotten that he wore both #36 and #55 while skating for the New York Rangers during his nine-game stint in Manhattan that saw him, Shane Churla, and Jari Kurri traded to New York from Los Angeles on March 14, 1996 for Ray Ferraro, Nathan LaFayette, Ian Laperriere, Mattias Norstrom, and a draft pick. He had just two assists in those games and held a -6 rating, but he did pick up 21 PIMs during that short spell in The Big Apple.

On April 7, 1995, Columbia Pictures released Bad Boys, an action movie featuring Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, and Tea Leoni that was the directorial debut for Michael Bay while being produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. The film brought in just over $140 million at the box office against a production cost of around $20 million, so it seems audiences liked the Smith-Lawrence duo. The studio certainly did as it has now spawned three sequels since the original hit theatres.

As I re-watched the film for the first time in what has to be decades, I found myself shocked when one of the thugs staked out to watch detective Marcus Burnett's house began to look quite familiar to me.

The man on the left is none other than hockey pugilist Marty McSorley in his first Hollywood role as an actor! As per IMDB, his role listed him as "Henchman" in the script, but he got a few lines in the next scene!

Back at the police station, he's intensely interrogated by Detective Sanchez, played by Nestor Serrano, and Detective Ruiz, played by Julio Oscar Mechoso, as they try to get a name out of McSorley's character as to who hired them to watch Burnett's house, eventually getting the name "Fouchet" out of McSorley. The detectives would then piece together the crime and where it would be going down, and all four detectives - Lowery (Smith), Burnett (Lawrence), Sanchez, and Ruiz - set out to capture Fouchet, played by Tchéky Karyo. Commentary on McSorley giving up his boss aside, he played his role well in the film!

If you're wondering how McSorley landed in the film, it's reported that Jerry Bruckheimer began working out and playing hockey with several Los Angeles Kings players including both Luc Robitaille and McSorley. McSorley has also landed in other Bruckheimer productions including Con Air and CSI: Miami, so the hockey connection between the two men seems to have worked out quite nicely for both!

No one will mistake Marty McSorley for Martin Short, Martin Landau, or Martin Sheen, but his small roles saw him work alongside Will Smith, John Malkovich, Nicolas Cage, and Billy Crystal. That's a pretty cool side gig when you consider his "day job" was skating alongside the likes of Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, and Joe Thornton. Who else can claim those coworkers for their jobs?

He didn't win an Oscar nor did it help his hockey talents, but I had completely forgotten Marty McSorley was in Bad Boys. Rewatching the film certainly gave a "Michael Bay movie" feeling, but it was pretty cool seeing Marty McSorley's acting debut in the action film!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!