Joe Sakic

Peter Laviolette has won more games than any other American-born coach in NHL history. But he didn't win enough of them lately to keep his job with the Carolina Hurricanes. The Hurricanes fired Laviolette on Wednesday, brought back Paul Maurice to take...

The Carolina Hurricanes fired Peter Laviolette and put Paul Maurice, the winningest coach in franchise history, back behind the bench. They also moved Hall of Famer Ron Francis from the front office to associate coach. Laviolette, who replaced Maurice...

The words of Ricky Bobby, scrawled on the dressing-room message board, sent the Ducks onto the ice: "If you ain't first, you're last." So the Ducks' frustration had reached the point they were taking inspirational cues from a fictional character in...

Sergei Samsonov and Ray Whitney scored 3 1/2 minutes apart in the third period to help the Hurricanes rally past the Montreal Canadiens 2-1 on Tuesday night in Raleigh, N.C. Whitney followed Samsonov's first goal of the season with the go-ahead score...

Chris Drury had two of New York's three rare power-play goals and finished his hat trick scoring short-handed for the Rangers, who beat the Tampa Bay Lightning for the third time this season, 5-2 Thursday night in New York. Ryan Callahan had a power-play...

Dany Heatley scored for the fifth consecutive game and Jesse Winchester had his first NHL goal to lead the Ottawa Senators to a 4-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night. Alex Auld stopped 17 shots and Anton Volchenkov and Chris Neil...

How do you like me now? I've taken so much ribbing about my new column photo — "psychopath, assassin," and, most vicious of all, "old man" — I decided to put on my Halloween mask a day late. Yes, today I work under my first column mug from...

The rich got richer, as the defending Stanley Cup champion Red Wings signed prized free-agent forward Marian Hossa and signed goaltender Ty Conklin as a backup to Chris Osgood. No team has repeated as Cup champion since the 1997 and 1998 Red Wings, but...

The Nikolai Khabibulin situation is nearing a conclusion. The Blackhawks have told the veteran goaltender he will not practice with the team until the next course of action is determined. Khabibulin cleared waivers this week and is in a holding pattern...

Favorite team growing up? I liked the L.A. Kings because my favorite player was Wayne Gretzky. Hockey idol? Gretzky. He was The Great One. He was awesome. I liked him when I was a really little guy. I had his jerseys. I was a pretty big fan. Favorite...

A sign above one of the doors that opponents use to enter the Pepsi Center reminds them the altitude in the Mile High City is 5,280 feet. The Blackhawks left Denver flying high of their own accord after they defeated the Colorado Avalanche 2-1 Friday...

You can give the Islanders credit for acting boldly and aggressively at the trade deadline. They traded for the best player available in the hopes of (a) a long playoff run, and/or (b) convincing Ryan Smyth to sign a long-term contract. But if you're...