The National Hockey League drops the puck on a new season today, but of the league's 30 teams only a handful will have a legitimate shot at hoisting the Stanley Cup in June.
League champion Carolina Hurricanes are one of six teams in action on opening day when NHL returns to the ice for the 2006-2007 campaign.
But the Hurricanes will be hard pressed to be included in the elite group with San Jose, Buffalo, Anaheim, Ottawa and Calgary as a frenzy of off-season player movements appear to have downgraded them to a tropical storm. Carolina used a talented core of veterans to win a dynamic seven-game series over the Edmonton Oilers in the finals but they may now be victims of their own success.
With goalie Martin Gerber, defenseman Aaron Ward, forwards Doug Weight, Matt Cullen and Mark Recchi gone, their lineup has been stripped of several key components.
Carolina forward Eric Staal isn't worried about the exodus and reminds people what happened last year when some counted them out. Staal says there is no reason why the 'Canes can't be the first repeat Stanley Cup champions since the Detroit Red Wings won back-to-back titles in 1997-1998.
"I like our group again," Staal said. "We feel confident again in our team and in our own room.
"Doesn't really matter what anyone else has to say, same as last year. We have our own inner confidence and we want to continue to get better," he said.
Last season was one of unprecedented change after the league decided to revamp its product after losing the 2004-2005 season owing to a labor dispute.
The most noticeable one was that scoring was up with seven players reaching at least 100 points and 11 players hitting the elite 40-goal plateau.
The offensive boost was a result of a successful crackdown on obstruction but the major challenge now facing referees is to get more consistent with their calls.
Eight teams have new coaches and six clubs have new general managers. One of those eight is former Vancouver Canuck coach Marc Crawford who now has the task of rebuilding the Los Angeles Kings.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB