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With the conclusion of the 2013 NHL regular season, Grant Sonier provides his final rookie rankings. Montreal's Brendan Gallagher tops Grant's list of Calder Trophy candidates, followed by Chicago's Brandon Saad and Florida's Jonathan Huberdeau.

Story | Conversation | May 02, 2013

Here's what you need to know about the Chicago Blackhawks' first-round opponent, the Minnesota Wild: The Wild sputtered into the playoffs. They went 5-8-1 and were outscored 41-25 in April. They scored more than two goals just twice in the month...

The Chicago Blackhawks will play the Minnesota Wild in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Wild secured the No. 8 spot in the Western Conference with a 3-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday. The Wild finished with a 26-19-3 ...

The Chicago Blackhawks have had to wait until the final day of Western Conference action to discover their first-round playoff opponent. The top-seeded Blackhawks will play either the Detroit Red Wings, Minnesota Wild or Columbus Blue Jackets in ...

CHICAGO -- Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane isn't making the mistake again of trying to analyze the team's first-round playoff opponent. Kane did that last season and was wrong when it came to how the Blackhawks matched up with the Phoenix ...

If the Western Conference remains a place of high anxiety for teams such as the Minnesota Wild, Detroit Red Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets, who are wrestling for the final two playoff berths in the final days of the regular season, there is at last ...

The Minnesota Wild didn't get any help on the scoreboard Thursday night with both the Detroit Red Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets winning. So Friday night's game with the Edmonton Oilers does indeed matter, the Wild needing a victory to clinch the...

Jack Johnson's calm belies the decidedly jittery situation in which the Columbus Blue Jackets find themselves. Johnson was taking time before the Blue Jackets boarded their flight to Dallas, where they will play one of the most important games in...

The Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings just may have not seen the last of each other in the Western Conference. The Red Wings moved back into the playoffs and into the No. 8 spot with their 3-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday. As...

With the end of 2013 NHL regular season approaching, Neil Greenberg outlines his picks for the Hart, Norris, Calder, Byng and Selke awards. Among the selections, the Islanders' John Tavares gets the nod for this season's Hart Trophy.

Story | Conversation | April 25, 2013

The Chicago Blackhawks are down to four potential Western Conference first-round opponents after the San Jose Sharks and St. Louis Blues assured themselves higher seeds with wins on Tuesday. The Detroit Red Wings is the team of note on Wednesday. ...

Not on Z's watch. Those were Dan Cleary's words Tuesday when discussing how badly the Detroit Red Wings want to avoid missing the playoffs for the first time in 22 seasons. It just can't happen in Henrik Zetterberg's first tour of duty wearing ...

When you make the playoffs every year since 1990, as the Detroit Red Wings have, you're going to run into some naysayers and skeptics along the way. That's been the case pretty regularly since the last lockout, and yet the Wings keep plugging along, ...

The Chicago Blackhawks, who stood atop ESPN's NHL Power Rankings again Monday, recently assured themselves of the top spot in the Western Conference, but the identity of their first-round foe is still unknown. The Blackhawks could still play one o...

Grant Sonier updates his NHL rookie rankings heading into the final week of the regular season. Montreal's Brendan Gallagher and Chicago's Brandon Saad retain the top two spots while Edmonton's Justin Schultz resurfaces on the list at No. 8.

Story | Conversation | April 22, 2013

So, maybe we were a bit hasty in assuming the Minnesota Wild were locks to make the playoffs. After a lackluster 4-1 loss Sunday night to the lowly Calgary Flames, the Wild woke up Monday to find that they'd sunk into a tie with the Columbus Blue...