|
2006–07 Columbus Blue Jackets Season
The 2006–07 Columbus Blue Jackets season was the seventh National Hockey League season in Columbus, Ohio. The off-season was dominated by a contract dispute with top forward Nikolay Zherdev, who had threatened to return to Russia to play if Columbus did not meet his demands. Zherdev remained a holdout for much of the preseason. However, the two parties were able to come to an agreement approximately a week before the season began. The Blue Jackets, hoping to qualify for the playoffs for the first time in franchise history, got off to a disastrous start, falling as low as 6–16–2 into December, briefly holding the worst record in the NHL. The Jackets' poor start led General Manager Doug MacLean to fire Head Coach Gerard Gallant on November 13. Gallant would be replaced a week later by veteran coach Ken Hitchcock. Coincidentally, Hitchcock's first game as Jackets head coach was against the Philadelphia Flyers, the team that fired him as head coach earlier in the season. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Western Conference (NHL)
The Western Conference (french: Conférence de l'Ouest) is one of two conferences in the National Hockey League (NHL) used to divide teams. Its counterpart is the Eastern Conference. History Originally named the Clarence Campbell Conference (or Campbell Conference for short), it was created in 1974 when the NHL realigned its teams into two conferences and four divisions. Because the new conferences and divisions had little to do with North American geography, geographical references were removed. The conferences and divisions were re-aligned in 1981 to better reflect the geographical locations of the teams, but the existing names were retained with the Campbell Conference becoming the conference for the NHL's westernmost teams. The names of conferences and divisions were changed in 1993 to reflect their geographic locations. Then-new NHL commissioner Gary Bettman made the change to help non-hockey fans better understand the game, as the National Basketball Association, N ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Season (sports)
In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of September. In other team sports, like association football or basketball, it is generally from August or September to May although in some countries - such as Northern Europe or East Asia - the season starts in the spring and finishes in autumn, mainly due to weather conditions encountered during the winter. A year can often be broken up into several distinct sections (sometimes themselves called seasons). These are: a preseason, a series of exhibition games played for training purposes; a regular season, the main period of the league's competition; the postseason, a playoff tournament played against the league's top teams to determine the league's champion; and the offseason, the time when there is no official competition. Preseason In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Minnesota Wild
The Minnesota Wild are a professional ice hockey team based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Wild competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and play their home games at the Xcel Energy Center. The Wild were founded on June 25, 1997, but did not start playing until the 2000–01 season. They were the first NHL franchise in Minnesota since the Minnesota North Stars moved to Dallas, Texas in 1993. They lost their first game 3–1 to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, and recorded their first win against the Tampa Bay Lightning five games later. In the 2002–03 season, the team made their first Stanley Cup playoffs appearance, making a surprising run to the Western Conference Finals. History Preparations of a new franchise Following the departure of the Minnesota North Stars after the 1992–93 season, the state of Minnesota was without an NHL team for seven seasons. Saint Paul mayor (and future U.S. Senator) Norm Coleman ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arizona Coyotes
The Arizona Coyotes are a professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Coyotes compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and currently play at the Mullett Arena in Tempe. They first played at America West Arena (now Footprint Center) in downtown Phoenix from 1996 to 2003 and then played at Glendale's Gila River Arena (now Desert Diamond Arena) from 2003 to 2022. Founded on December 27, 1971, as the Winnipeg Jets of the World Hockey Association (WHA), they were one of four franchises absorbed into the NHL after the WHA had ceased operations, joining on June 22, 1979. The Jets moved to Phoenix on July 1, 1996, and were renamed the Phoenix Coyotes. The franchise name changed to the Arizona Coyotes on June 27, 2014. Alex Meruelo became the majority owner on July 29, 2019. The team was unstable under earlier ownership. The NHL took over the Phoenix Coyotes franchise in 2009, when then-owner ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chicago Blackhawks
The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and have won six Stanley Cup championships since their founding in 1926. They are one of the "Original Six" NHL teams, along with the Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins, and New York Rangers. Since , the team has played their home games at the United Center, which they share with the National Basketball Association's Chicago Bulls; both teams previously played at the now-demolished Chicago Stadium. The Blackhawks' original owner was Frederic McLaughlin, a "hands-on" owner who fired many coaches during his ownership and led the team to win two Stanley Cup titles in 1934 and 1938, respectively. After McLaughlin's death in 1944, the team came under the ownership of the N ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pascal Leclaire
Pascal Leclaire (born November 7, 1982) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. Leclaire was selected in the first round (eighth overall) of the 2001 NHL Entry Draft by the Columbus Blue Jackets and played in the Blue Jackets' organization for seven seasons. He was traded to the Ottawa Senators in 2009 and played in 48 regular season games with Ottawa over two seasons before retiring. Internationally, he has represented Canada on the national junior and men's teams. Playing career As a youth, Leclaire played in the 1996 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the Rive-Nord Elites minor ice hockey team. Leclaire played junior hockey in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) for the Halifax Mooseheads and the Montreal Rocket between 1998 and 2002. Leclaire was the first goaltender selected in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft, chosen eighth overall by the Blue Jackets. He subsequently bounced back and forth between Columbus and their AHL affiliate, t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vancouver Canucks
The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference, and play their home games at Rogers Arena. Bruce Boudreau is the head coach, Jim Rutherford serves as the president of hockey operations, and Patrik Allvin serves as the general manager. The Canucks joined the league in 1970 as an expansion team along with the Buffalo Sabres. In its NHL history, the team has advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals three times, losing to the New York Islanders in 1982, the New York Rangers in 1994 and the Boston Bruins in 2011. They have won the Presidents' Trophy in back-to-back seasons as the team with the league's best regular-season record in the 2010–11 and 2011–12 seasons. They won three division titles as a member of the Smythe Division from 1974 to 1993, and seven titles as a member of the Northwest Division from 1998 to 2013. The Canucks, alon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2008–09 Columbus Blue Jackets Season
The 2008–09 Columbus Blue Jackets season was the ninth National Hockey League (NHL) season in Columbus, Ohio. On April 8, 2009, the Blue Jackets clinched a playoff berth after a shootout victory against the Chicago Blackhawks, the first berth in team history. Preseason The Jackets selected Russian forward Nikita Filatov with the sixth overall pick at the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. Filatov made an immediate impact with Columbus, scoring a goal in his NHL debut against the Nashville Predators. Columbus was rather aggressive in free agency, signing proven forward Kristian Huselius, and solidifying the defensive core with veteran Mike Commodore. General Manager Scott Howson also engineered two key pre-season trades, trading a draft pick to the Philadelphia Flyers for R. J. Umberger, and trading stars Nikolay Zherdev and Dan Fritsche to the New York Rangers in exchange for defensemen Fedor Tyutin and Christian Backman. Regular season Rookie goaltender Steve Mason, who missed th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eastern Conference (NHL)
The Eastern Conference (french: Conférence de l'Est) is one of two conferences in the National Hockey League (NHL) used to divide teams. Its counterpart is the Western Conference. History Originally named the Prince of Wales Conference, it was created in 1974 when the NHL realigned its teams into two conferences and four divisions. Because the new conferences and divisions had little to do with North American geography, geographical references were removed. The Prince of Wales Trophy dates back to 1925, when it was donated to the League by the Prince of Wales, who later became King Edward VIII and then the Duke of Windsor. It was originally given to the NHL's playoff champion. (Until 1926, the Stanley Cup was presented to the winner of a post-season playoff between the NHL and Western Hockey League champions.) Since 1926–27, the Stanley Cup has gone to the NHL's playoff champion. During the years when the NHL had no divisions, (i.e., 1925–26; 1938 to 1967), the Prin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atlanta Thrashers
The Atlanta Thrashers were a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta. Atlanta was granted a franchise in the National Hockey League (NHL) on June 25, 1997, and became the League's 28th franchise when it began play in the 1999–2000 season. They were members of the Southeast Division of the NHL's Eastern Conference, and played their home games at what is now known as State Farm Arena in downtown Atlanta. The Thrashers qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs in the 2006–07 season, after winning the Southeast Division, but were swept in the first round by the New York Rangers. In May 2011, the Thrashers were sold to Canadian-based ownership group True North Sports & Entertainment. The group moved the franchise to Winnipeg, which became the second incarnation of the Winnipeg Jets (the first incarnation of the Winnipeg Jets relocated to Phoenix in 1996 to become the Coyotes). The sale and relocation were approved by the NHL on June 21, 2011. With the sale and relocation ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Philadelphia Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games in Wells Fargo Center in the South Philadelphia Sports Complex, an indoor arena they share with the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Philadelphia Wings of the National Lacrosse League (NLL). Part of the 1967 NHL Expansion, the Flyers are the first of the expansion teams in the post–Original Six era to win the Stanley Cup, victorious in 1973–74 and again in 1974–75. The Flyers' all-time points percentage of 57.1% () is the third-best in the NHL, behind only the Vegas Golden Knights and Montreal Canadiens. Additionally, the Flyers have the most appearances in the conference finals of all 24 expansion teams (16 appearances, winning 8), and they are second behind the St. Louis Blues for the most playof ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Head Coaches Of The Columbus Blue Jackets
The Columbus Blue Jackets are an American professional ice hockey team based in Columbus, Ohio. They play in the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Hockey League (NHL). The team joined the NHL in 2000 as an expansion team. The Blue Jackets have played their home games at the Nationwide Arena since their inaugural season. The franchise is owned by John P. McConnell and Jarmo Kekalainen is their general manager. There have been 10 head coaches for the Blue Jackets franchise. The team's first head coach was Dave King, who coached for three seasons. Ken Hitchcock coached the team to its first playoff appearance. Scott Arniel was the head coach of the Blue Jackets from 2010 through 2012. Todd Richards was named interim head coach on January 9, 2012, and would remain with the team for more than 3½ seasons. John Tortorella became the head coach on October 21, 2015, and left the team following the 2020–21 season with the Blue Jackets' highest winning ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
