CHICAGO -- Reports of Rocky Wirtz's decree were greatly exaggerated.

The Blackhawks chairman chuckled recalling a conversation earlier this month with Crain's Chicago Business widely interpreted as Wirtz putting general manager Stan Bowman and coach Joel Quenneville on notice. In the Crain's interview, Wirtz implied changes could come around ...Read more

Former Blackhawks Daniel Carcillo and Nick Boynton are suing the NHL for withholding information about concussion-related brain injuries.

The suit, filed Friday by attorneys Thomas A. Demetrio and William T. Gibbs, claims that the players were never warned about the risk of brain damage caused by repeated hits to the head. According to the ...Read more

The salary cap for the 2018-2019 NHL season was set at $79.5 million and the floor was set at $58.8 million, the NHL and the NHL Players' Association announced Thursday.

The ceiling of $79.5 million is an increase of $4.5 million from the 2017-18 season. The extra room should help teams that have been near the previous limit and have hefty ...Read more

The Florida Panthers made a significant move to upgrade their scoring by acquiring embattled forward Mike Hoffman from the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday morning. In addition to Hoffman, the team traded for a seventh-round pick in this weekend's draft and gave up next year's second-round pick, plus this year's fourth- and fifth-round selections.

...Read more

When playing the game of trying to nail down whom the Blackhawks will take with the eighth overall pick in the upcoming NHL draft, it serves you well to consider the characteristics they value in their players.

And for that we turn to Mark Kelley, the Hawks' vice president of amateur scouting.

"The hockey IQ, the skating, the skill set," said ...Read more

Dave Tippett once stepped in to replace Wayne Gretzky. He played alongside and remains good friends with Mario Lemieux.

And while Tippett isn't a similar household name for casual sports fans locally, anybody in hockey knows who he is and has been curious about where the onetime NHL coach of the year would land next.

The answer is here in ...Read more

WASHINGTON -- The Washington Capitals are one victory from putting to rest the anguish and angst spawned by more than four decades of playoff failures.

Gaining strength with each shift, the Capitals overpowered the Vegas Golden Knights, 6-2, on Monday at Capital One Center to put themselves in position to win the Stanley Cup on Thursday at Las ...Read more

WASHINGTON -- Washington Capitals defenseman Brooks Orpik, eight months past his 37th birthday, doesn't move as fast as he once did. Not that he ever was a speedster. He's an old-school, physical defender who clears opponents from the front of his net and rarely jumps into the play or figures in his team's scoring exploits.

It was no surprise, ...Read more

LAS VEGAS -- The Washington Capitals spoiled the Vegas Golden Knights' playoff party Wednesday, pulling out a split of the first two games of the Stanley Cup Final and handing Vegas only its second loss in nine home playoff games.

Washington winger Alexander Ovechkin scored a power-play goal in the second period, defenseman Brooks Orpik scored ...Read more

LAS VEGAS -- A year ago, the Vegas Golden Knights were merely a glimmer in the eye of Commissioner Gary Bettman and were labeled suckers for having shelled out $500 million to become the NHL's 31st franchise. On Monday they won the opener of the Stanley Cup Final, continuing a season full of unlikely feats that undeniably are their normal.

If ...Read more

A Stanley Cup champion is about to be determined, and the winner will be the Vegas Golden Knights, who are the first team in major North American professional sports since the Blues to reach the Stanley Cup Finals in their first season, or the Washington Capitals, a team whose level of frustration rivals only a few teams because it joined the ...Read more

Eleven months after piecing together a hockey team, the Vegas Golden Knights have become one of the most improbable underdog stories in pro sports history.

Never has an American expansion franchise excelled like the Knights, who blistered their way through their debut season to inexplicably reach the Stanley Cup Final.

No team in modern NHL, ...Read more

Paul Fenton takes over as general manager of a Wild team that has made the Stanley Cup playoffs for six consecutive seasons.

To team owner Craig Leipold, that wasn't good enough. Leipold joined Fenton and coach Bruce Boudreau, and team captains Mikko Koivu, Zach Parise and Ryan Suter, at an introductory news conference Tuesday morning at Xcel ...Read more

The Wild made their first major acquisition of the offseason Monday, tabbing Paul Fenton as their next general manager exactly a month after cutting ties with Chuck Fletcher once the season ended.

"It is my distinct pleasure to welcome Paul Fenton as the General Manager of the Minnesota Wild," owner Craig Leipold said in a statement. "Paul is ...Read more