There is nothing in sports that matches the drama of an overtime game in the Stanley Cup Final. The desperation of both teams, the buzz in the crowd at each shot and save, the sheer euphoria of the winners - and the dejection of the losers - are like nothing in any other sport. But even within the specialness that is overtime in the Final, some games stand out -- whether it's for the dramatic e...

When your team doesn't score goals, it doesn't win games. When it doesn't win games, the coach gets fired. John Tortorella's team didn't score goals. It didn't win. And on Wednesday, the New York Rangers fired him. Tortorella got the ax from GM Glen Sather on Wednesday, four days after the Rangers' season ended with a 3-1 loss to the Boston Bruins in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference Sem...

Unlike the NBA, where first-round upsets in the playoffs are rare, the National Hockey League 's history is full of opening-round surprises in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The inability to get past the first round has spoiled a brilliant season for more than one Cup favorite. No matter how great a team's regular season is, all those points mean nothing once the playoffs start -- especially against ...

Even were there not a lockout this season, NHL rinks would be dark on Christmas Day – just as they’ve been every year since 1972. The last time the NHL played on Christmas was 1971, ending a tradition that went back to the inception of the League – and leaving journeyman forward Stan Gilbertson with a distinction all his own. You’ve heard of the Gordie Howe hat trick?...

Time marches on, and history can't stand in its way. The Nassau Coliseum is 40 years old – that’s about 200 in arena years these days. Thirty years ago, the Stanley Cup spent four years living here; it would visit every spring from 1980 to 1983 when the New York Islanders won the Stanley Cup. Those days are long gone. And soon, so too will be the Islanders. Hockey will abandon...