1. “Oh, goody—we get to watch another decentralized NHL Entry Draft in 2026,” said no one ever. The new format (first tried in July 2025) was a cringeworthy mess.
2. Based on former NHL goaltender Kelly Hrudey’s countless appearances on Hockey Night in Canada, we can now confirm with certainty that no NHL goalie has ever made a mistake or allowed a bad goal. Thank goodness that’s been cleared up.
3. The much-anticipated “Auston Matthews Reveal” is quickly approaching. Will Matthews’ once-elite shooting skills return when training camp opens this fall? Or will his mystery injury from last season continue to restrict his velocity and accuracy? With his favourite playmaker, Mitch Marner, now rolling the dice down in Las Vegas, Matthews will need his secret weapon more than ever.
4. Who can forget the recently completed Four Nations Faceoff tournament and the Tkachuk brothers’ laughable “send a message” antics? It was hard to establish what the message was when neither of the Tkachuks could win their pre-planned fights. At least Brady Tkachuk challenged a reasonably feisty opponent (Sam Bennett), unlike his less-than-brave brother, who went after Team Canada’s smallest player (Brandon Hagel)—and still got beat. Too funny.
5. The next NHL team to precede the game with an acapella version of a national anthem should be assigned a two-minute bench minor to begin the game. While many would prefer no anthems at all, if that option isn’t up for debate, teams could at least use the moment to enhance the pre-game buildup—not crash it with these energy-killing funeral marches.
6. C’mon, National Hockey League! C’mon, Professional Hockey Writers Association! Let’s talk about the annual Selke Trophy voting process, which supposedly identifies “the forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game.”
It says here, voters have no idea who should rightfully win the award each year. Unless these decision-makers watch NHL games every waking hour of the season, they are undoubtedly flying blind when it comes time to cast their ballot.
The award got off to a reasonable start when defensive specialist Bob Gainey took home the hardware in year one. In fact, Gainey won the honours four years in a row until copycat voters finally figured out who else to give it to. Over time, there has been ten different repeat winners, a clear indication that this is a reputation-based, follow-the-leader voting process.
More recently, a significant number of goals and assists have seemed to be a requirement for consideration—despite no previous mention of offensive prowess when the award was first established in 1977-78.
Perhaps the criteria to win should be revised to read as follows:
“The Selke Trophy will be awarded to the forward who voters saw backcheck at least once, while also scoring a goal in the same game. If in doubt, voters can simply vote for a previous winner or ask a fellow voter who they saw try real hard at least once this year.”
7. The requirement for a sports journalist to gain recognition as a bona fide “NHL Insider” has evolved over time. Initially, a true insider would regularly write breaking-news columns for a major newspaper—earning a 24-hour advantage over competitors, who couldn’t join the fray until the following day’s edition hit the stands.
Fast-forward to today’s all-online, all-the-time world, and we now see all kinds of self-anointed “insiders” who post a breaking news item a good six or seven seconds before twenty other “insiders” do the same.
