Paul Pidutti

4 days ago | dailyfaceoff.com | Paul Pidutti

Editor’s note: The original version of this story ran in November 2024. This is an updated version. You could argue the Hockey Hall of Fame’s Class of 2024 was more steak than sizzle. Salary cap era stars Pavel Datsyuk and Shea Weber were first-ballot choices. They were joined by longtime American holdovers Natalie Darwitz, Krissy Wendell, and Jeremy Roenick — each previously passed over for more than a decade.

1 week ago | dailyfaceoff.com | Paul Pidutti

Former players, executives, and coaches: you’ve been warned…If you get a call from a 416 area code on Tuesday, answer the phone. Amidst the chaos of a must-watch Stanley Cup Final, next week’s NHL Entry Draft, and the hype around the league’s free agent frenzy on July 1st, the Hockey Hall of Fame’s Class of 2025 announcement might catch you by surprise. But these calls will change lives forever. The Selection Committee will bestow an exclusive and permanent honor upon the Hall’s newest members.

3 weeks ago | dailyfaceoff.com | Paul Pidutti

In the near future, the Hockey Hall of Fame is going to have a rat problem. Incoming Board Chair Mike Gartner won’t need to call an exterminator to Brookfield Place in Toronto, though. These famous rats, Brad Marchand and Corey Perry, may get invited to infest the Hall’s celebrated plaque room in a few years. With the careers of this divisive duo about to intersect in the Stanley Cup Final, the time is right to profile their accomplished, controversial hockey lives.

1 month ago | dailyfaceoff.com | Paul Pidutti

The Stanley Cup Playoffs are designed to generate heartbreak and disappointment. It’s reality in a league that starts with 32 teams and ends in a 16-team battle royal. Half the NHL’s fan bases support teams that don’t even make the playoff cut. Among those that do, all but one’s story finishes on the wrong end of a handshake and exhausting postmortem. Thirty-one losers. One winner. Right now, that remains the Florida Panthers until a new contender strips their bragging rights.

1 month ago | dailyfaceoff.com | Paul Pidutti

They say time flies when you’re having fun. Somehow, it’s been a full decade that Connor McDavid has wowed us with his peerless combination of speed, skill, and playmaking at the NHL level. For the third time in four seasons, his Edmonton Oilers are among the final four playoff teams. After a crushing Game 7 defeat in the Final last spring, McDavid continues to seek the ultimate, elusive jewel in his crown — the Stanley Cup.