Nate Duffett Articles - Page 2

Death, taxes, and the Toronto Maple Leafs crashing and burning in the playoffs. The good news for the franchise is that they’ve cleared the first-round hump by advancing in two of the past three years, but the bad news is that they haven’t been able to progress any further. With last year’s leading point-getter, Mitch […]

Losing to your most hated rivals in the playoffs isn’t the best way to make your postseason return, but the Ottawa Senators know that contention is a marathon, not a sprint. The Senators made the playoffs for the first time since 2016-17 last season, but a first-round elimination to the Toronto Maple Leafs left them […]

Time is getting short for NHL free agents to find a home for the 2025-26 season. While most of the top free agents have found a place, some players who struggled last season are still mulling their options. One of those players is Klim Kostin, who has NHL experience with the St. Louis Blues, Edmonton […]

What can the Edmonton Oilers do to get past the massive roadblock that is the Florida Panthers? They’ve fallen to the Panthers two years in a row in the Stanley Cup Final, and the Oilers’ cap situation doesn’t offer a whole lot of room to improve in the 2025-26 season. Edmonton returns with relatively the […]

Matthew Tkachuk wasn’t at 100 percent when the Florida Panthers won their second consecutive Stanley Cup. He still made an impact, but it wasn’t quite as significant as the one he made the first time around. The lack of production stemmed from an adductor injury he suffered at the 4 Nations Face-Off, and the Panthers […]

The St. Louis Blues took some massive steps forward in 2024-25 after hiring former Boston Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery. The Blues hit a lull with their offense under Drew Bannister, and Montgomery’s attacking approach was a breath of fresh air. The 2025-26 season looks like it could be another step in the right direction […]

It’s often surprising to discover just how extensive a professional athlete’s support system is. Long gone are the days of it being just the athlete, his family, and his agent. There are now many different people available to advise the athlete, including people who help pick out their outfits. Dan Solomon assumes this role for […]

Adonis Spicer might not help athletes with their on-court production, but if they have any interests off the court, he’s the right person for the job. Spicer owns his own public relations company called Spicer PR, and he wears many hats. He is a publicist and image consultant with his company, but he has been […]

Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final had to be the worst possible time for the Edmonton Oilers to play their worst game in weeks. The Oilers had been rolling since dropping the first two games of the first round against the Los Angeles Kings. However, in one of their most crucial games of the […]

The NHL has a long and storied history, with the league being around since 1917. We have never seen a faster or more entertaining brand of hockey than what is currently on the ice. However, that doesn’t mean there haven’t been some great players to play in the league over its 106-year history.  Today, we […]

The Florida Panthers return the same top-six from last year when they defeated the Edmonton Oilers to win their first Stanley Cup. The stars are apparent, as Aleksander Barkov, Sam Reinhart, and Matthew Tkachuk must show up for Florida to have a chance against the high-powered Oilers in the rematch. However, if the Panthers want […]

The Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers prepare to meet again in the Stanley Cup Final. Game 1 drops the puck on Wednesday evening, as the NHL has gifted the teams with an extended break after they finished their respective conference finals with five-game victories. While both teams have looked dominant in their first 12 victories, […]

The Edmonton Oilers thought they had their old goaltender back when Stuart Skinner recorded back-to-back shutouts in the second round. A red-hot goaltender combined with the Oilers’ depth scoring surge was a recipe for plenty of success. It went well again in Game 1 against the Dallas Stars until the third period, when Skinner allowed […]

The Edmonton Oilers and Dallas Stars will kick off their third-round series on Thursday night. After the Oilers’ win in 2024, it is the second straight year that the two teams have met in the Western Conference Finals. The Oilers have been missing a key piece on their blue line, as Mattias Ekholm has been […]

The Carolina Hurricanes will not apologize for playing “boring hockey” if they win the Stanley Cup this season. They completely swallowed one of the top offenses in the league in this second-round series, and it has the Washington Capitals wondering if their success this season was all just a mirage. How far are Alex Ovechkin […]

The Toronto Maple Leafs have their backs against the wall, and fans wanted to see some lineup changes before Game 6. However, Toronto’s coaching staff made decisions that could leave some scratching their heads. Craig Berube inserted Nick Robertson into the lineup last game for the first time since Game 2 of the first round, […]

The Vegas Golden Knights’ second-round series against the Edmonton Oilers should’ve been a long, drawn-out battle that stole hockey fans’ attention. It was also a chance to see Jack Eichel vs. Connor McDavid, a rivalry that dates back to their draft year. However, after the Oilers went on the road and took a shocking 2-0 […]

Auston Matthews has seen every playoff disappointment imaginable during his time with the Toronto Maple Leafs, and his struggles in Game 5 contributed to one of the worst moments of his career. Matthews hasn’t scored yet in the series, and Maple Leafs fans started to fight back on Wednesday night. First, they threw two Matthews […]

Toronto Maple Leafs fans are sick of listening to the excuses in post-game press conferences during the playoffs. One of the reasons they fired Sheldon Keefe and hired Craig Berube was his more no-nonsense attitude. While some Maple Leafs players had the same old comments after their Game 5 loss to the Florida Panthers, Berube […]

The Philadelphia Flyers made their first significant summer addition after hiring Rick Tocchet as their new head coach. Tocchet, a former Flyer from his playing days, finally returns to his old stomping grounds for the first time in his coaching career. It’s a special day for Tocchet, and he broke the silence on his return […]

The Toronto Maple Leafs have been in this position before, and the Florida Panthers present a difficult challenge. It’s slowly starting to slip away from the Leafs after taking a 2-0 series lead, and they must turn it around in a crucial Game 5. Craig Berube might want to look at some lineup changes for […]

Sidney Crosby is in a difficult position with the Pittsburgh Penguins’ head coach situation. His longtime friend and coach, Mike Sullivan, parted ways with the organization after the season and will now run the bench for the New York Rangers. Rick Tocchet is one of the Penguins’ rumored targets. He also has had a good […]

It’s hard not to feel bad for Calvin Pickard after bad injury luck could’ve cost him his starting opportunity. The Edmonton Oilers’ second-round series against the Vegas Golden Knights was shaping into an incredible story for Pickard. He won six games in a row dating back to Game 3 of Round 1, and had a […]

The Dallas Stars have been doing just fine without Miro Heiskanen as he recovers from an injury, but that doesn’t mean they don’t want to see him return as soon as possible. The star defenseman will make the Stars even better, and if fellow countryman Mikko Rantanen keeps performing like he is, there might not […]

Believe it or not, Mikko Rantanen had another three-point night in the Dallas Stars’ Game 3 win over the Winnipeg Jets. He assisted on Roope Hintz’s opening goal, grabbed another assist on Alexander Petrovic’s controversial go-ahead marker, and then added one of his own to pad the lead. It’s hard to believe how well Rantanen […]

The Dallas Stars and Winnipeg Jets were tied in Game 3 when Alexander Petrovic directed a puck towards the net with his foot. The puck passed Connor Hellebuyck, which led the officials to review whether the Stars’ defenseman used a kicking motion to score the goal. While the commentators believed it would be called a […]

Mason Marchment might want to keep his phone on after Game 3 against the Winnipeg Jets, as the Dallas Stars forward could be on the wrong side of a referee incident. The Stars were already sour entering this game after getting shut out in Game 2, and the refereeing in Game 3 didn’t help. Marchment […]

Stuart Skinner or Calvin Pickard? It’s a question that Edmonton Oilers fans were preparing to mull over for the next two days. They hoped Pickard was close enough to a return that he could be the Oilers’ starting goalie for Game 4. However, Kris Knoblauch decided not to keep anyone in suspense and made the […]

Who was to blame for Reilly Smith’s game-winning goal for the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 3? Edmonton Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner hasn’t been a popular player for the fans this season, and people took the opportunity to make fun of his positioning on Smith’s goal. However, the puck was going wide if Leon Draisaitl […]

The Vegas Golden Knights were lucky to squeak out a win over the Edmonton Oilers in Game 3 after the injury to Mark Stone. Stone missed the final 47 minutes of the game after colliding with Corey Perry, and there wasn’t much of an update from Bruce Cassidy about his captain’s status. “The potential loss […]

It’s the nature of sports that people will pile on your mistakes before they praise your accomplishments. The Edmonton Oilers wouldn’t have been in Game 3 against the Vegas Golden Knights without Leon Draisaitl’s two assists, but it was his own goal with 0.4 seconds remaining that everyone is talking about. The game looked destined […]

Edmonton Oilers and Vegas Golden Knights fans were preparing for overtime after a wild start to Game 3 when it took a stunning turn with 0.4 seconds remaining in regulation. Reilly Smith threw a prayer towards the net that was going wide, but Leon Draisaitl put his blade in front of the puck and tipped […]

The Edmonton Oilers couldn’t have been in a better spot after the first eight minutes of Game 3 against the Vegas Golden Knights. Corey Perry scored two goals to give them the lead, and a 3-0 series lead was on the horizon. However, everyone forgot one crucial detail: Stuart Skinner was in the Oilers’ net […]

The Vegas Golden Knights crawled back into Game 3 against the Edmonton Oilers after going down by two, but they’ll finish the rest without Mark Stone after an apparent injury. Stone suffered what looked like a head injury when he fell to the ice and was clipped in the head by a knee from Corey […]

There’s no one having more fun in the Stanley Cup Playoffs than Edmonton Oilers forward Corey Perry. He got promoted to the team’s top line with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, and he is also playing in front of the net on the first powerplay unit. It’s a recipe for the veteran to get plenty […]

Sometimes, a team doesn’t have good vibes against a particular team or in a specific setting, and that’s what is going on with the Washington Capitals in their second-round series against the Carolina Hurricanes. The Capitals and Hurricanes haven’t met in the playoffs since 2019, but a disturbing trend is beginning to form for the […]

While the hockey world questioned the outcome of Game 2 of the Vegas Golden Knights—Edmonton Oilers series, Bruce Cassidy has much more important things to worry about. A controversial “trip” from Viktor Arvidsson sent Brayden McNabb into the boards and injured one of the Golden Knights’ key defensemen. There was no penalty on the play, […]

It isn’t the injury update that Toronto Maple Leafs fans wanted on Saturday morning, but Craig Berube revealed to reporters the latest news on Anthony Stolarz. The Leafs’ starting goaltender has been out of the lineup since Game 1 of the second round after a collision with Florida Panthers’ forward Sam Bennett, and it doesn’t […]

Sidney Crosby is among the greatest hockey players ever, both in the NHL with the Pittsburgh Penguins and internationally with Team Canada. Although his time with the Penguins hasn’t been as great as he’d like over the past few seasons, he turned back the clock with the win at the 4 Nations Face-Off. Crosby captained […]