Michael Whitaker Articles - Page 4

Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews has solidified himself as one of the NHL’s top goal scorers so far in his career, which began as a rookie in the 2016-17 NHL season. While his numbers for 2024-25 aren’t what they were last season when he scored 69 goals to capture the Art Ross Trophy, he’s […]

This is not a good situation that the Vancouver Canucks are finding themselves in as the schedule officially hits crunch time with the NHL Trade Deadline now only days away. Following Saturday night’s loss to the Seattle Kraken, the Canucks are now 1-4 in their last five games. Even worse is that captain Quinn Hughes, […]

It appears as though the writing is on the wall for New York Rangers forward Reilly Smith when it comes to his future in the Big Apple. While the rest of his Rangers teammates will be in action on Sunday night against the Nashville Predators at Madison Square Garden, Smith will not be suiting up. […]

Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Seth Jones made no secret about the fact that he’s tired of the losing and doesn’t want to wait for the club to turn around their fortunes. But with a massive contract and considerable cap hit, finding a team to take him on was going to prove difficult. But in a stunning […]

As they enter the stretch run of their season, the Ottawa Senators are about to get three very valuable pieces of their team back on the ice. The Senators expect Josh Norris, Shane Pinto and Brady Tkachuk all to play on Saturday night against the lowly San Jose Sharks at Canadian Tire Centre, as they […]

The Vancouver Canucks continue to struggle when it comes to putting together consistent performances. They’ve fallen well short of the 2023-24 squad that convincingly won the Pacific Division and also advanced to Game 7 of the Western Conference Semi-Finals. Only a single point out of fifth place in the division this season, the Flames have […]

The San Jose Sharks have once again trudged through an incredibly difficult rebuilding season that has them in last place in the Pacific Division by a wide margin. They’ll once again be nowhere close to a playoff spot, now making it several years since they last qualified. As the NHL Trade Deadline approaches, Sharks general […]

The last thing that the struggling Edmonton Oilers need right now is to be missing their top defenseman. Unfortunately, they won’t have Darnell Nurse available to them for Thursday night’s showdown against the Florida Panthers in a rematch of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final. Nurse was named a scratch and is dealing with an injury […]

Thanks to an ankle injury he suffered during exhibition play, the Los Angeles Kings were forced to play the first several months of the 2024-25 NHL season without veteran defenseman and assistant captain Drew Doughty. And while he recently returned to the Kings lineup and also played for Team Canada in the 4 Nations Face-Off […]

The 2025 NHL trade deadline is on the horizon, and speculation continues to abound regarding the future of star forward Mikko Rantanen with the Carolina Hurricanes. Having already been traded to Carolina from the Colorado Avalanche last month, what are the chances that Rantanen could soon return to the Western Conference? Not only are several […]

Losing top defenseman Adam Fox is the last thing that the New York Rangers need right now, but the unfortunate reality is that is their current situation. Fox has been placed on Injured Reserve by the Rangers after getting hurt during their 6-1 win over the New York Islanders at UBS Arena on Tuesday night. […]

It’s now been over a decade since the Los Angeles Kings last won the Stanley Cup, though two top players who were a part of the 2012 and 2014 championship squads remain on the roster in Drew Doughty and Anze Kopitar. The Kings, who are in third place in the Pacific Division with 69 points, […]

The Florida Panthers are the defending Stanley Cup champions, so they will have a hard time finding people to feel sorry for them now that forward Matthew Tkachuk has been injured and isn’t expected to be available for an indefinite amount of time. If he were to be out long-term, could the defending champs look […]

Once again, the Colorado Avalanche have been forced to play a lengthy period of time without forward Valeri Nichushkin — and once again, they’re preparing to welcome him back into their lineup. The Avalanche, who host the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday night at Ball Arena in Denver, will have Nichushkin back for the first […]

It’s been a struggle for the Pittsburgh Penguins the last handful of seasons, as they’ve now missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs for two straight years and are on track for a third straight miss unless something changes in a hurry. Despite their struggles, team captain and franchise icon Sidney Crosby has no desire to go […]

The Toronto Maple Leafs returned to their NHL scheduling on Saturday night against the visiting Carolina Hurricanes, but the memory of the painful 4 Nations Face-Off tournament loss still lingered for Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews. Matthews, who is the captain of the Leafs and was also named captain of Team USA, failed to score […]

While the New York Islanders have been banged up this season with several key players missing considerable time, they’re getting a bit of positive news on injured defenseman Noah Dobson. Unavailable to the Islanders since getting hurt on January 20 against the Columbus Blue Jackets and having missed the last nine straight games, Dobson has […]

It’s been a long time coming for the Seattle Kraken, but for the first time in ages, they’ll be getting their on-ice veteran leader back into the lineup. Captain Jordan Eberle, who hasn’t played since getting hurt against the Chicago Blackhawks on November 14, will be back int the lineup when the Kraken face the […]

Now that the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament has concluded, the Vancouver Canucks have welcomed back Elias Pettersson and Kevin Lankinen, both of whom were participants for Team Sweden and Team Finland, respectively. Unfortunately, they’ve announced a discouraging health update on Pettersson; he’s not expected to be able to play in Saturday’s Canucks game against the […]

Former New York Yankees pitcher Roger Clemens is regarded as one of the game’s greats at his position, having earned over 350 victories and 4,600 strikeouts while picking up seven Cy Young awards during his career which included tenures with the Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, and Houston Astros. He also helped the Yankees […]

Are the Los Angeles Rams contemplating a trade of quarterback Matthew Stafford? Stafford, who has had a dispute with the Rams regarding his contract and has had his name pop up in trade rumors, has reportedly been given permission to talk about opportunities with other NFL clubs. NFL Insider Tom Pelissero explained as much while […]

The 4 Nations Face-Off tournament is now complete, as Team Canada forward Connor McDavid delivered the knockout blow against Team USA in Thursday night’s deciding game at TD Garden in Boston. But despite the historic goal, he kept the focus on the rest of his teammates who helped make it possible, via The New York […]

Despite entering the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament with serious question marks in goal, Team Canada was able to get a heroic performance from Jordan Binnington in Thursday’s championship game in Boston at TD Garden. Binnington turned back the clock and delivered a clutch outing reminiscent of his Game 7 Stanley Cup-winning victory for the St. […]

The Nashville Predators have been one of the biggest disappointments in the National Hockey League this season. They entered the campaign with bonafide Stanley Cup expectations thanks to the additions of Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault, and Brady Skjei, and they also re-signed goaltender Juuse Saros to an eight-year contract extension. However, the Predators have been […]

Team USA and Team Canada are duking it out for the right to call themselves the champions of the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament, but the former is playing without a key part of their lineup. Defenseman Charlie McAvoy is out for Thursday night’s game and possibly longer for the Boston Bruins thanks to an infection […]

The Los Angeles Dodgers have thrown around some serious money during this offseason, signing Blake Snell for $182 million, Tanner Scott for $72 million, Teoscar Hernandez for $66 million, Blake Treinen for $22 million, and a handful of other contracts. This comes a year after they signed Shohei Ohtani for a whopping $700 million. Oh, […]

It would be difficult for fans of the St. Louis Blues to imagine life without their captain Brayden Schenn. After all, he was instrumental in the franchise’s first and only Stanley Cup victory to date in 2019. During that postseason run, Schenn contributed five goals with seven assists and later lifted the Stanley Cup alongside […]

The 4 Nations Face-Off tournament has officially moved to Boston, and there’s still one matchup to go on Monday as Team Sweden will take on Team USA. However, Team Sweden has announced a last-minute critical change in their lineup. Thanks to feeling under the weather, Team Sweden will be unable to play Linus Ullmark between […]

The 4 Nations Face-Off tournament has turned into appointment viewing for even the average fan thanks to the high-intensity matchups. The tournament has now moved to Boston; all remaining games will be played at TD Garden, the home of the Boston Bruins. On Monday, Team Finland faces a desperate Team Canada on the heels of […]

What an incredible start to Saturday night’s massive 4 Nations tournament game between Team USA and Team Canada at Bell Centre! You could cut the tension in the building with a knife, starting with more controversial booing of the United States’ national anthem. But immediately after the opening face-off at center ice, the physical play […]

While the Golden State Warriors have moved on from Oracle Arena, the venue is still being used and building more memories. Oracle Arena was the sight of the 2025 NBA All-Star Celebrity Game on Friday night, and is hosting the HBCU All-Star Classic on Saturday before the 2025 NBA All-Star Game is played at Chase […]

The National Hockey League Trade Deadline is now just weeks away, and there are several teams who will soon be looking toward the future and officially punt on the 2024-25 season. One of those teams is the Seattle Kraken, who are on track to miss the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the third time in their […]

The offseason work has begun for Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Omar Khan, and he’s already made a decision regarding the future of one key player on the defensive side of the ball. Khan has informed linebacker Preston Smith that he won’t be returning to the Steelers in 2025, releasing him from the roster. We have […]

It’s nearly time for Team Sweden and Team Finland to face one another in the 4 Nations Face-off tournament, and both teams will be looking for their first victory after having been defeated by Team Canada and Team USA, respectively. After having started Filip Gustavsson in their loss to Canada on Wednesday, Finland has made […]

Are we about to witness the end of an era with the Boston Bruins? Former Boston head coach Mike Milbury believes that the Bruins could be forced into a very painful decision of trading team captain Brad Marchand if they aren’t in a playoff position when the NHL Trade Deadline rolls around less than a […]

Not only did the Dallas Cowboys fail to live up to team owner and general manager Jerry Jones’ pledge to go “all-in” during their last offseason, but they went through a frustrating 2024 campaign that saw them miss the playoffs. Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott also missed considerable time with a season-ending hamstring injury, which halted […]

The Montreal Canadiens have struggled in recent weeks after a lengthy hot streak, and it’s also included power-play specialist Patrik Laine seeing his ice time reduced. Laine, who will play for Finland in the 4 Nations Face-off, is looking forward to seeing his ice time increase as part of the tournament and also delivered a […]

The Buffalo Bills have begun their process of making tweaks to their coaching staff, having fired special teams coordinator Matthew Smiley. And they didn’t have to wait long to select who his replacement would be. As reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Bills are set to hire former Carolina Panthers interim head coach Chris Tabor as […]

The 4 Nations Face-Off is upon us, and not surprisingly, the roster for Team USA includes Florida Panthers assistant captain Matthew Tkachuk and Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk. The brothers are the sons of former NHL forward Keith Tkachuk, who played for the United States internationally in the Olympics as well as helping them win […]