The 33-year-old center scored 26 points (10 goals, 16 assists) in 55 games with the Wild this season and also can help in the face-off circle; he won 52.8 percent and has won more than 50 percent in each of his past four seasons. Bonino plays in all situations; he averaged 14:51 of ice time per game with 1:54 coming on the power play and 1:52 on the penalty kill. The two-time Stanley Cup champion has scored 308 points (132 goals, 176 assists) in 681 regular-season games with the Anaheim Ducks, Vancouver Canucks, Pittsburgh Penguins, Nashville Predators and Wild.
Blake Coleman, Tampa Bay Lightning
Coleman is a versatile forward who can play up and down the lineup. He scored 31 points (14 goals, 17 assists) in 55 games. He is a two-way player with 2:13 of his 15:28 of average ice time per game coming on the penalty kill. The 29-year-old was second on Tampa Bay with 109 hits (two behind Barclay Goodrow), and has scored 126 points (71 goals, 55 assists) in 301 regular-season games with the New Jersey Devils and Lightning and has won the Stanley Cup each of the past two seasons.
Phillip Danault, Montreal Canadiens
Danault scored 24 points (five goals, 19 assists) in 53 games and led the Canadiens in face-off percentage (52.5, minimum 100 face-offs). He has won 53.1 percent in his seven NHL seasons. The 28-year-old center also led Montreal forwards in shorthanded ice time per game (2:17) and has not had a negative plus-minus rating since the 2015-16 season. He has scored 199 points (55 goals, 144 assists) in 392 regular-season games with the Chicago Blackhawks and Canadiens.
Nick Foligno, Toronto Maple Leafs
Known for his grit and leadership, the physical left wing had 133 hits this season and was captain of the Columbus Blue Jackets for the past six seasons before being traded to the Maple Leafs on April 11. Foligno averaged 17:46 of ice time per game with 1:52 on the penalty kill. He scored 20 points (seven goals, 13 assists) in 49 games. The 33-year-old has scored 486 points (203 goals, 283 assists) in 957 regular-season games with the Ottawa Senators, Blue Jackets and Maple Leafs.
Ryan Getzlaf, Anaheim Ducks
Getzlaf is the Ducks all-time leader in games played (1,101) and assists (703), ranks second in points (982) and fourth in goals (279). The 36-year-old center could decide to retire, but if not, likely would join a team in a reduced role. He scored an NHL career-low 17 points five goals, 12 assist) averaging 16:35 of ice time in 48 games, and won 51.8 percent of his face-offs.
Taylor Hall, Boston Bruins
After scoring 19 points (two goals, 17 assists) in 37 games with the Buffalo Sabres, Hall was rejuvenated following a trade to the Bruins on April 12, scoring 14 points (eight goals, six assists) in 16 games. The 29-year-old left wing has scored at least 20 goals six times in his 11 NHL seasons. Hall has scored 596 points (228 goals, 368 assists) in 680 regular-season games with the Edmonton Oilers, Devils, Arizona Coyotes, Sabres and Bruins, including 171 (66 goals, 105 assists) on the power play.
It was a down season for Hoffman, who scored 36 points (17 goals, 19 assists) averaging 15:04 in ice time in 52 games and was a healthy scratch at times. The forward had scored at least 22 goals and 56 points in each of his previous six seasons, including at least 21 power-play points in each of his previous four. The 31-year-old has scored 395 points (189 goals, 206 assists) in 545 regular-season games with the Senators, Florida Panthers and Blues.
David Krejci, Boston Bruins
Krejci doesn’t get the recognition some of his teammates do, but the center has done it all for the Bruins. He scored 44 points (eight goals, 36 assists), including 16 on the power play (three goals, 13 assists), and won 54.2 percent of face-offs in 51 games. The 35-year-old averaged 17:08 of ice time per game, including 2:32 per game with the man advantage. In the past 13 seasons, Krejci has had a negative plus-minus rating twice. He has scored 730 points (215 goals, 515 assists) in 962 regular-season games with Boston.
Gabriel Landeskog, Colorado Avalanche
The Avalanche captain scored 52 points (20 goals, 32 assists) in 54 games, and has scored at least 20 goals in eight of his 10 NHL seasons and at least 50 points in seven. He was second among Colorado forwards in ice time per game (19:57) behind center Nathan MacKinnon (20:22), led them in hits (81), and won 56.6 percent of face-offs. The 28-year-old left wing has scored 512 points (218 goals, 294 assists) in 687 regular-season games with the Avalanche.
Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals
It’s hard to see Ovechkin playing anywhere other than Washington. The 35-year-old left wing scored 42 points (24 goals, 18 assists) averaging 19:30 of ice time in 45 games, the 16th straight season he’s scored at least that many goals. Ovechkin ranks sixth on the NHL all-time goals list with 730 and has scored 1,320 points, including 499 on the power play (269 goals, 230 assists), in 1,197 regular-season games. He won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP in 2018 to help the Capitals win the Stanley Cup and has won the Rocket Richard Trophy as the leading goal scorer an NHL-record nine times.
Palmieri had scored at least 20 goals in five straight seasons prior to scoring 10 in 51 games with the Devils and New York Islanders. His 21 points were his fewest since scoring seven in the 2011-12 season. The 30-year-old right wing is a gritty player who can help on the power play and also get to the front of the net. He has scored 359 points (185 goals, 174 assists) in 612 regular-season games with the Ducks, Devils and Islanders.
Corey Perry, Montreal Canadiens
The 36-year-old right wing said he plans to continue playing in the NHL and would like to remain with the Canadiens. He scored 21 points (nine goals, 12 assists) averaging 13:44 of ice time in 49 games and was second on Montreal with 39 penalty minutes (Defenseman Ben Chiarot had 50). Perry has scored 818 points (386 goals, 432 assists) and has 1,219 penalty minutes in 1,094 regular-season games with the Ducks, Dallas Stars and Canadiens and has 167 games of Stanley Cup Playoff experience.
Brandon Saad, Colorado Avalanche
Saad may have earned himself a new contract after scoring seven goals in the playoffs, one behind MacKinnon for the Avalanche lead. The 28-year-old left wing scored 24 points (15 goals, nine assists) and averaged 14:06 of ice time in 44 regular-season games and has scored double-digit goals in each of his nine full NHL seasons. Saad has scored 371 points (184 goals, 187 assists) in 632 regular-season games with the Blackhawks, Blue Jackets and Avalanche and won the Stanley Cup with Chicago in 2013 and 2015.
Jaden Schwartz, St. Louis Blues
Schwartz is in line for a bounce-back season after scoring 21 points (eight goals, 13 assists) and averaging 17:42 of ice time in 40 games; he scored at least 22 goals four times in his previous seven seasons. The 29-year-old left wing has scored 385 points (154 goals, 231 assists) in 560-regular-season games and helped St. Louis win the Stanley Cup in 2019.
Paul Stastny, Winnipeg Jets
Stastny scored 29 points (13 goals, 16 assists) in 56 games, his fewest since scoring 24 points (nine goals, 15 assists) in 2012-13. The 35-year-old center won 54.7 percent of face-offs and has won 53.6 since entering the NHL in 2006-07. Stastny has scored 755 points (263 goals, 492 assists) in 1,001 regular-season games with the Avalanche, Blues, Jets and Vegas Golden Knights, and has played in 103 playoff games.
Joe Thornton, Toronto Maple Leafs
The 42-year-old forward scored 20 points (five goals, 15 assists) and averaged 13:43 of ice time in 44 games. Though his offense may be on the decline, Thornton can still be a playmaker and ranks seventh on the NHL all-time assists list with 1,104. He is a respected leader on and off the ice and has scored 1,529 points in 1,680 regular-season games during his 23 NHL seasons with the Bruins, San Jose Sharks and Maple Leafs and has played in 186 postseason games.
TORONTO – The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced cookie brand Oreo as the team’s helmet sponsor for the upcoming NHL season.
The new helmet will debut Sunday when Toronto opens its 2024-25 pre-season against the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Arena.
The Oreo logo replaces Canadian restaurant chain Pizza Pizza, which was the Leafs’ helmet sponsor last season.
Previously, social media platform TikTok sponsored Toronto starting in the 2021-22 regular season when the league began allowing teams to sell advertising space on helmets.
The Oreo cookie consists of two chocolate biscuits around a white icing filling and is often dipped in milk.
Fittingly, the Leafs wear the Dairy Farmers of Ontario’s “Milk” logo on their jerseys.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
MacKenzie Weegar wasn’t bitter or upset as he watched friends live out their dreams.
The Calgary Flames defenceman just hopes to experience the same feeling one day. He also knows the road leading to that moment, if it does arrive, will likely be long and winding — much like his own path.
A seventh-round pick by the Florida Panthers at the 2013 NHL draft, Weegar climbed the ranks to become an important piece of a roster that captured the Presidents’ Trophy as the league’s top regular-season club in 2021-22.
Two months later following a second-round playoff exit, he was traded to the Flames along with Jonathan Huberdeau for Matthew Tkachuk. And less than two years after that, the Panthers were hoisting the Stanley Cup.
“Happy for the city and for the team,” Weegar said of Florida’s June victory over the Edmonton Oilers. “There was no bad taste in my mouth.”
His sole focus, he insists, is squarely on eventually getting the Flames to the same spot. The landscape, however, has changed drastically since Weegar committed to Calgary on an eight-year, US$50-million contract extension in October 2022.
Weegar has watched a list that includes goaltender Jacob Markstrom, defencemen Chris Tanev, Noah Hanifin and Nikita Zadorov and forwards Elias Lindholm and Andrew Mangiapane shipped out of town since the start of last season — largely for picks, prospects and young players as part of a rebuild.
Despite that exodus, he remains committed to the Calgary project steered by general manager Craig Conroy.
“It’s easy to get out of all whack when you see guys trying to leave or wanting new contracts,” the 30-year-old from Ottawa said at last week’s NHL/NHLPA player media tour in Las Vegas. “I just focus on where I am and where I want to be, and that’s Calgary.
“I believe in this team. The city has taken me in right away. I feel like I owe it to them to stick around and grind through these years and get a Stanley Cup.”
The hard-nosed blueliner certainly knows what it is to grind.
After winning the Memorial Cup alongside Nathan MacKinnon with the Halifax Mooseheads in 2013, Weegar toiled in the ECHL and American Hockey League for three seasons before making his NHL debut late in the 2016-17 campaign with the Panthers.
He would spend the next five years in South Florida as one of the players tasked with shifting an organizational culture that had experienced little success over the previous two decades.
“There’s always going to be a piece of my heart and loyalty to that team,” Weegar said. “But now I’m in a different situation … I compete against all 32 teams, not just Florida. There’s always a chip on my shoulder every single year.”
Weegar set career highs with 20 goals — eight was the most he had ever previously registered — and 52 points in 2023-24 as part of a breakout offensive performance.
“I think my buddies cared a lot more than I did,” he said with a smile. “All I hear is, ‘fantasy, fantasy, fantasy.'”
Weegar was actually more proud of his 200 blocked shots and 194 hits as he looks to help set a new Flames’ standard alongside Huberdeau, captain Mikael Backlund, Nazem Kadri, Blake Coleman and Rasmus Andersson for a franchise expected to have its new arena in time for the 2027-28 season.
“You have to build that culture and that belief in the locker room,” said Weegar, who pointed to 22-year-old centre Connor Zary as a player set to pop. “Those young guys are going to have to come into their own and be consistent every night … they’re the next generation.”
Weegar, however, isn’t punting on 2024-25. He pointed to the NHL’s parity and the fact a couple of teams surprise every season.
It’s the same approach that took him from the ECHL a decade ago to hockey’s premier pre-season event inside a swanky hotel on Sin City’s famed strip, where he stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the game’s best.
“From the outside — media and even friends and family — the expectations are probably a bit lower,” Weegar said of Calgary’s outlook. “But there’s no reason to think that we can’t make playoffs and we can’t be a good team (with) that underdog mentality.
“You never know.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept 17, 2024.
Jose Maria Celestino da Costa was named vice-president and head of soccer operations while Marianne Brooks was appointed vice-president of partnerships, Kelly Shouldice as vice-president of brand and content and Joyce Sou as vice-president of finance and business operations.
The new six-team women’s pro league is set to kick off in April.
“Their unique expertise and leadership are crucial as we lay the foundation for not just a successful league in Canada, but one that stands among the top sports leagues in the world,” NSL president Christina Litz said in a statement. “By investing in top-tier talent and infrastructure, the Northern Super League is committed to creating a league that will elevate the game and set new standards for women’s professional soccer globally.”
Da Costa will oversee all on-field matters, including officiating. His resume includes stints with Estoril Praia, a men’s first-division team in Portugal, and the Portuguese Soccer Federation, where he helped develop the Portuguese women’s league.
Brooks spent a decade with Canucks Sports & Entertainment, working in “partnership sales and retention efforts” for the Vancouver Canucks, Vancouver Warriors, and Rogers Arena. Most recently, she served as senior director of account management at StellarAlgo, a software company that helps pro sports teams connect with their fans
Shouldice has worked for Corus Entertainment, the Canadian Football League, and most recently as vice-president of Content and Communications at True North Sports & Entertainment, where she managed original content as well as business and hockey communications.
Sou, who was involved in the league’s initial launch, will oversee financial planning, analysis and the league’s expansion strategy in her new role.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
