The Hockey Writers

5 days ago | thehockeywriters.com | William Espy

The Columbus Blue Jackets signed James van Riemsdyk late in the offseason, as teams were gearing up for training camp and the preseason rookie tournaments league-wide were underway. Although van Riemsdyk wasn’t a top player for the Blue Jackets this season, he quietly lived up to expectations and performed well offensively. At 35 years of age, he was brought in to be a veteran presence in a locker room that desperately needed it.

5 days ago | thehockeywriters.com | Zach Martin

Well, it’s finally here, the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs. After an 82-game season, the real fun begins as 16 teams fight for Lord Stanley. After a season with a record of 47-30-5 (99 points), the Carolina Hurricanes are back for a seventh consecutive season as head coach Rod Brind’Amour’s team looks to win the coveted Stanley Cup for the second time in franchise history. The road to winning it all starts on Easter Sunday (April 20) as they will face the New Jersey Devils for Game 1.

5 days ago | thehockeywriters.com | Mark Scheig

The 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs get underway on Saturday night. With 16 teams hopeful they can make a serious run at winning a championship, only one will win the right to do so. With that comes varying amounts of pressure. One look at the 16 teams in the playoffs show how they are each at different points in their cycle. This week, the NHL on ESPN held their annual press conference to discuss the storylines heading into the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

5 days ago | thehockeywriters.com | Mark Scheig

ESPN’s Steve Levy has been a mainstay at the World Wide Leader in Sports since he started there in August 1993. He’s been the lead commentator over a wide variety of sports including football and hockey. While you may still get to hear him in the broadcast booth on occasion, Levy has carved out a role of late as the host of the pregame and intermission desk on ESPN/ABC hockey broadcasts. He is joined by NHL greats Mark Messier and P.K. Subban.

6 days ago | thehockeywriters.com | Mariah Stark |Mariah Holland

The Minnesota Wild have had an up-and-down few weeks, dealing with injuries and inconsistent efforts in their games heading into the postseason. They had beaten teams higher in the standings than them and then lost to teams lower than them, and those losses followed outstanding efforts in the game prior. Despite those losses, there were some positives, including finding chemistry with different line combinations.