The winner of the inaugural playoff series between Vancouver and San Jose will earn the right to vie for a first ever Stanley Cup title and irrevocably shake off the label of underachievement that has dogged both franchises in the past.
On their fourth try, the San Jose Sharks finally eliminated the Detroit Red Wings with a 3-2 win at home in Game 7 of their Western Conference semifinal on Thursday.
The Sharks' 3-2 victory over the Detroit Red Wings in Game 7 was typical for this series -- sensational, innard-grinding stuff that does the sport credit. And remarkably, the Sharks followed the script that cost them Game 5 four days earlier.
The similarities between Trevor Linden — Vancouver's 1994 hero — and current Canucks star Ryan Kesler are eerie, writes Nabil Karim, who says Kesler is on his way to becoming a revered leader.
Injured centre Manny Malhotra skated briefly with the Vancouver Canucks during practice Thursday, but team officials quickly dismissed speculation he could return to play during the NHL playoffs.
Jordan Binnington made 41 saves and Geoffery Schemitsch scored the winner in the third period and the Owen Sound Attack forced a decisive Game 7 in the Ontario Hockey League final by defeating the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors 3-2 Thursday.
Moscow and St. Petersburg will host the 2016 ice hockey world championship, winning the bid by default after its only rivals, Denmark and Ukraine, withdrew their bids at a congress of the International Ice Hockey Federation on Friday.
If Montreal Canadiens general manager Pierre Gauthier has his eye on Russian defenceman Alexei Yemelin at the IIHF World Hockey Championship, he's not talking about it.
Canada was left bloodied, bruised and beaten during its second straight quarter-final exit at the world hockey championship. Alexei Kaigorodov and Ilya Kovalchuk scored 3:12 apart in the third period as Russia sent Canada packing with a comeback 2-1 victory on Thursday in Bratislava, Slovakia.
Rogers Sportsnet has fired on-air host Damian Goddard in the wake of his tweets on the debate sparked by New York Rangers forward Sean Avery's support of same-sex marriage
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