NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – January 24, 2025
Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin keeps moving closer to Wayne Gretzky’s goal record, the Red Wings unveil their Quarter-Century Team, Wild owner Craig Leipold jumps the gun on commissioner Gary Bettman’s retirement plans, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
RECAPS OF THURSDAY’S NHL ACTION
NHL.COM: Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin scored his 875th regular-season goal into an empty net in a 3-0 victory over the Seattle Kraken. Charlie Lindgren turned in a 22-save shutout while Aliaksei Protas and Ethan Frank tallied unassisted goals for the Capitals, who picked up their sixth straight win and sit first overall in the standings with 71 points. Kraken goalie Joey Daccord stopped 30 shots in his 100th regular-season game.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Ovechkin needs 20 goals to break Gretzky’s record of 894. With 34 games remaining in the Capitals’ regular-season schedule, he could break the record by April.
Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Frederik Andersen turned aside 18 shots for his 300th regular-season win as his club downed the Columbus Blue Jackets 7-4. Seth Jarvis scored twice and collected two assists and Sebastian Aho had a goal and two assists for the Hurricanes, who sit second in the Metropolitan Division with 63 points. Kent Johnson and James van Riemsdyk each had a goal and an assist for the Blue Jackets (53 points) as they cling to the final wild-card berth in the Eastern Conference.

Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Frederik Andersen (NHL Images).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Andersen became the second-fastest goalie in NHL history to reach 300 career wins (501 games played). Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightnings holds that record with 490 games played.
Edmonton Oilers forwards Leon Draisaitl and Zach Hyman each collected three points in a 6-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had a goal and an assist for the Oilers (63 points) as they snapped a two-game losing skid to sit one point behind the Pacific Division-leading Vegas Golden Knights. Brock Boeser and Filip Hronek replied for the Canucks (50 points), who’ve dropped four of their last five and sit three points out of the final Western Conference wild-card spot.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Draisaitl tallied his league-leading 35th goal and extended his home points streak to 17 games. Canucks forward Kiefer Sherwood left this game for undisclosed reasons early in the second period.
Meanwhile, the Golden Knights ended a four-game losing skid (0-3-1) by doubling up the St. Louis Blues 4-2. Mark Stone had a goal and an assist while Tomas Hertl scored in his fourth straight game to extend his points streak to seven games. Jordan Kyrou and Robert Thomas scored for the Blues (50 points), who also sit three points out of the final Western wild card.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Golden Knights played without center William Karlsson as he’s week-to-week with a lower-body injury.
Nashville Predators winger Filip Forsberg matched a franchise record by scoring in his seventh straight game in a 6-5 win over the San Jose Sharks. Forsberg finished the night with two goals while Fedor Svechkov snapped a 5-5 tie in the third period as the Predators picked up their fifth straight win. Sharks goalie Yaroslav Askarov gave up six goals on 38 shots against his former club.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Predators forward Cole Smith received a game misconduct for a hit to the head of San Jose forward Ty Dellandrea during the second period. Dellandrea had to be helped from the ice by the Sharks medical staff and was ruled out of the remainder of this game with an upper-body injury. Meanwhile, Sharks forwards Klim Kostin and Nico Sturm missed this game as both are sidelined week-to-week with injuries.
The New York Rangers extended their points streak to 10 games (7-0-3) by thumping the Philadelphia Flyers 6-1. Igor Shesterkin made 33 saves while Adam Fox, K’Andre Miller, Filip Chytil and Reilly Smith each had a goal and an assist for the Rangers. Owen Tippett scored for the Flyers as their three-game win streak ended.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Given up for dead after a six-week collapse in the standings, the Rangers (52 points) have climbed back into the Eastern playoff race, sitting one point behind the Blue Jackets for the final wild-card spot. The Flyers (50 points) are three points out.
Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin got a goal and an assist in his 700th regular-season game in a 4-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens. Moritz Seider collected two assists as the Wings snapped a three-game losing skid. They sit four points behind the Blue Jackets. Canadiens goaltender Sam Montembeault kicked out 41 shots in the loss as his club is also one point back of the Jackets.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Red Wings forward Patrick Kane missed this game with an upper-body injury and is listed as day-to-day.
The Boston Bruins blanked the Ottawa Senators 2-0, handing the latter their second straight shutout loss. Bruins goalie Joonas Korpisalo made 29 saves against his former team while Morgan Geekie and David Pastrnak scored the only goals. Anton Forsberg gave up only one goal on 24 shots for the Senators, who are tied with the Rangers and Canadiens with 52 points.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Bruins starter Jeremy Swayman missed this game with a minor upper-body injury. They called up Michael DiPietro to back up Korpisalo.
Senators winger David Perron returned to action for the first time in two months. They placed goalie Linus Ullmark on long-term injury reserve to accommodate Perron’s return. Meanwhile, it was a lousy day for Sens forward Claude Giroux as he was the victim of car theft for the second time in four months.
Anaheim Ducks forwards Mason McTavish and Alex Killorn each scored two goals to drop the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-1 and snap a four-game losing skid. John Gibson stopped 31 shots for the Ducks. Michael Bunting replied for the Penguins, who’ve lost nine of their last 12 contests.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Penguins (48 points) are five points out of the final Eastern wild-card spot. Winger Bryan Rust left this game with an undisclosed injury.
The Utah Hockey Club got a 26-save shutout from goalie Karel Vejmelka in a 4-0 win over the Minnesota Wild. Barrett Hayton tallied twice for Utah to extend their winning streak to three games.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Wild sit second in the Central Division with 60 points but they’ve lost four of their last five games.
Calgary Flames forwards Jonathan Huberdeau and Nazem Kadri each had a goal and two assists to beat the Buffalo Sabres 5-2. Dustin Wolf made 32 saves for the win as the Flames (53 points) hold a three-point lead over the Canucks in the final Western Conference wild-card spot. Mattias Samuelsson and Tage Thompson scored for the Sabres, who have lost three of their last four.
HEADLINES
THE ATHLETIC: Michael Russo and Chris Johnston report Minnesota Wild owner Craig Leipold said the executive committee of the NHL’s Board of Governors has been planning for the retirement of league commissioner Gary Bettman.
The longest-tenured commissioner in North American pro sports, Bettman was hired by the NHL in 1992. Leipold claims the BoG is in the process of finding Bettman’s successor.
Leipold, however, hadn’t realized the 72-year-old Bettman hadn’t formally announced his retirement plans. The commissioner told The Athletic he hasn’t decided when he’ll retire but brought it up for the first time to the executive committee ahead of last month’s BoG meeting in Florida.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Leipold put Bettman and the league in an awkward spot by jumping the gun. Nevertheless, Bettman will inevitably retire at some point, perhaps before the end of this decade.
Bettman’s not going anywhere before a new collective bargaining agreement is hammered out with the NHL Players’ Association. The current CBA is set to expire in September 2026 but Bettman has announced the two sides intend to begin discussions next month. He could set his retirement plans in motion after that.
NHL.COM: The Detroit Red Wings unveiled their Quarter-Century Team on Thursday.
The First Team features forwards Steve Yzerman, Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg, defensemen Nicklas Lidstrom and Niklas Kronwall, and goaltender Chris Osgood.
Forwards Sergei Fedorov, Brendan Shanahan and Dylan Larkin, defensemen Chris Chelios and Bryan Rafalski, and goalie Dominik Hasek comprised the Second Team.
NEW JERSEY HOCKEY NOW: Devils goaltender Jacob Markstrom could be sidelined for weeks with an ankle injury suffered during Wednesday’s game against the Boston Bruins.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Losing their starting goalie is a big blow to the Devils. If he’s sidelined for a lengthy period it could affect their plans for the trade deadline.
THE SCORE: New York Islanders defenseman Noah Dobson is listed as week-to-week with a lower-body injury. Fortunately, he won’t require surgery.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Islanders have struggled to remain in the playoff chase. Losing their top defenseman is a significant setback that could turn this club into a trade-deadline seller if it hampers their efforts to qualify for the postseason.
THE DENVER POST: Colorado Avalanche forward Miles Wood is expected to return to action on Saturday against the Boston Bruins. He’s been sidelined since Nov. 27 by a back injury.
Giroux may have to singlehandedly bring back The Club. Remember that?
I think there are better more modern anti theft devices these days.
Agree to all 3 ; with clarification
he did not increase their values or brand to the extent he easily should have been able to
One needs only to cite the nightmare in Aizona
For 2 decades a draw on shared revenue; and a public fiasco
If he’d moved the franchise literally anywhere, when he should have, Revenues would be much higher and for all those years
That is just one thing
The list goes on and on
No one will ever convince me that any other person would have done better.
This retirement will benefit owners, players, fans, sponsors, etc
You and I will disagree on this point.
8787: Arizona was the only drawback. You can say Atlanta was but he landed on his feet with that one by moving them to Winnipeg. You look at the franchise values of the long-established clubs and they far exceed what they were five, 10,15, 20, 25 years ago. Even the recent franchises have exceeded expectations.
The NHL’s expansion into the American Sun Belt was a tremendous success in the long run. They’ve also expanded their brand around the world, making in-roads into Europe and even growing the game in China.
Yes, Bettman has had his blunders over the years and his handling of Arizona was a big one. The lockouts alienated fans briefly but didn’t do any long-term damage. But those three issues I mentioned are the only three that ultimately matter. The record speaks for itself. He succeeded in each of them and that’s why his tenure was so long. Otherwise, the team owners would’ve replaced him a long time ago.
Just because they are more modern doesn’t necessary make them better Chrisms.
The Club, is a simple effective device. Seems if you have the right tech these days, stealing a car is pretty flippin’ easy. Hence so many are getting stolen. The dumb ole’ club would stop them, or at least delay them long enough where they move on.
I had my car stolen once, but my own fault, I might as well put a sign up that said steal me. Along with my laptop and business trip clothing.
Obviously there are better anti theft devices these days. My comment was on the snarky side because those modern anti theft devices don’t seem to be doing Giroux any good. But The Club remains an integral part of automobile history.
😂. I love this dialogue. I was a youngster when my mamma had a club. Used to pretend I was a police officer and it was my nightstick.
Rangers on the rise. Don’t count them out.
Re : “NHL’s Board of Governors has been planning for the retirement of league commissioner Gary Bettman.”
Add “with glee” between “planning” and “for”
Parros is absolutely distraught as he knows he’s fired the very second Gary retires.
Actually, most of the NHL owners will be sad when Bettman steps down. Under his watch, their franchise values have exploded to numbers most of them didn’t expect to see in their wildest dreams. He accomplished the three things they wanted: improve their franchise values, crush the NHLPA, and expand their brand. Love him or hate him or love to hate him, Bettman succeeded on all three counts.
Yes, and he has done a wonderful job of fattening the wallets of the owners, players, as well as his own.
Mine, on the other hand, is thinner due, in no small part, to Bettman’s efforts.
Iago: Your wallet would be just as thin regardless of who was commissioner. It’s the business of sports. The team charges what its market will bear. Nobody’s forcing you to pay it.
Agree with Lyle on Bettman.
Iago and the other Bettman haters, who do you think Bettman has worked for the entire time? Us the fans? C’mon man!
When it come to the NHL the only one who can make your wallet thinner is you. Pay for it or don’t, your choice.
Hi Lyle
Fully agree values are higher
But they are nowhere near what they could have been
Work stoppages, canceling a season, Atlanta, Arizona etc etc etc ; all crimped (substantially) revenues; and therefore club values and player salaries.
I stand by my assertion that anybody else in that job over his time in office; and league revenues much higher, team values higher, player earnings higher
As soon as he’s out the door; changes will follow and better results will happen
No commissioner, CEO, etc etc should EVER repeatedly stand by stubbornly on their mistakes (I’ll just use Arizona here as an example) ; completely disregard the concerns of everybody else; cause tremendous financial losses for the people who pay his/her salary , as well as those who provide his product (players) only because he or she absolutely refuse to admit their mistakes.
The Arizona situation was just one thing but it was so tremendously bad and tremendously costly; that alone should have gotten him fired.
Any commissioner in any other sport would have been fired long ago.
Any CEO doing similar would have been ousted eons ago. Stockholders are not happy with gross incompetence with their investments.
Don’t get me started on the CTE issue
Why wasn’t he fired? 8 BOGs overrule 24 (part of Gary’s contract). Gary has 9 very close friends on the BOG and they eon’t vote against him
This retirement is
very good for the NHL.
Very good for the players.
Very good for the fans.
Very good for the sponsors.
Bettman’s work stoppages may have hampered that growth, but it was a cost he and the team owners were willing to pay to crush the NHLPA. Once that was successfully completed, the focus shifted full-time to improving franchise values and growing the brand. Again, it was successful at all three levels. The growth over the past decade has been significant, exceeding everything that came before it.
“Why wasn’t he fired”, you ask? True, he was shrewd enough to ensure he only needed the support of eight BoG members, but it never got that close. A few BoG members may have grumbled from time to time, but overall, their support for him has been rock-solid. Why? Because he delivered on the three issues that mattered most to them: franchise values, crushing the PA, and growing the brand.
Fun fact: New York Rangers owner James Dolan attempted to challenge Bettman’s authority following the season-killing lockout of 2004-05 over the internet ownership rights of the Rangers. Dolan believed it should belong to him, Bettman believed they belonged to the league. Three guesses who won that battle and the first two don’t count. Here’s a hint: it wasn’t Dolan.
If you’re interested, I recommend Jonathan Gatehouse’s biography of Bettman. I read it during the 2012 lockout and found it very informative.
https://www.amazon.ca/Instigator-Bettman-Remade-Changed-Forever/dp/0670065927
I still the NHL would work in the Phoenix area if they had good ownership (not a guy who doesn’t pay his bills and burns bridges with the very people he needs to be successful), a quality hockey guy running it, enough capital (the owner before this last one) to afford to be a little patient, and an arena in the right location.
Not just saying that to make 87’s head explode either. Waiting a few years would likely be best to let the stink of the last episode wear off.
Go ahead, let er rip, I’m expecting it.
Bettman – shrude businessman… his job was to grow the NHL and make money for the owners…bottom line… like Lyle said, if he wasn’t good, the owners would have fired him…He worked for them!!!
If people didn’t like his decisions, then they know ZERO about the “business” of hockey and just want to be hockey fans without caring about the money. (which is fine)… but to say he didn’t do a FANTASTIC job… well, that’s just in correct.
Did he make a few mistakes in 30+ years?…. who hasn’t made mistakes at their job in 30 years? Not me.
BTW, you can’t convince me other wise
Bettman has done 1 good thing in his career – the salary cap. Everything else is either blunders or just luck. Sure franchise values are way up, but that’s true for all “major” leagues. By the time Bettman ends his tenure, the NHL will be ridiculous behind the NBA (NFL and MLB go without saying) and will probably behind MLS as well.
Brock: I don’t disagree that Bettman’s had his share of blunders. Nearly selling the Islanders to a con man in the mid-90s was among the most significant. The Coyotes 20-year saga was the biggest. However, he’s got more than the salary cap on the happy side of his ledger. Overseeing the expansion of the game into the Sun Belt was no fluke or dumb luck and it was a major success. He was the one who saved struggling Canadian teams with a revenue-sharing plan when the Canadian dollar was at all-time lows at the turn of this century. The league’s financial growth under his watch has been significant. Suggesting he had little impact or input on that is just plain wrong. Efforts to grow the game have been largely successful.
Well Brock, if you are so sure it was dumb luck and it would be so simple, then apply.
Appears to be an opening soon.
I’d definitely do a better job. For one, I actually love the game.
Do we know Bettman doesn’t Brock? If so how?
Find me a picture of him skating with a hockey stick in his hand and I’ll take it back.
Do we know he loves the game, Ray? If so, how?
I didn’t want to jump into a nearly pointless debate on Bettman, but what is conspicuously absent in the exchanges I see is Bettman’s adamant refusal to acknowledge the issues of CTE. The NFL has recognized a degree of responsibility. The NHL via Bettman has not.
Why? $$ of course. If you measure Bettman’s impact on financial benefits (which would include player salaries) then has been highly successful. Player Safety, including the laughable Player Safety Committee? LOL!
It’s also my opinion that expansion has made for a watered down product. Some may say that the games are still competitive and enjoyable. IMO, the fight for wild card spots in the East this year is an anomoly. Most years too many teams have no chance of making the playoffs far too early.
If there were only 20 teams, wouldn’t the concentration of talent be better, and make for better hockey? Wouldn’t the 3/4 forward lines and 5/6 D be better?
Pointless as a debate on Bettmam is, let’s have a full list of issues canvassed.
I’ll buy that someone really believes in contraction of the league when they offer up their own franchise as first in line to get the axe.
I didn’t say he loved the game LJ.
I was simply responding to Brock saying he would do a better job than Bettman because he loves the game, which IMO makes no sense as that isn’t what the job is. Yes, it is about the $$, because it’s a business, and that is how he is measured. News flash.
Then I thought to myself, I have no idea if Bettman loves the game or not, so how the hell would Brock know. Truth is nobody on this site knows. He might, he might not, and plenty of people on this site never played it and they luv the game. So that makes no sense either.
I just get annoyed when people talk like; this guys an idiot or sh*tty at his job, and I could do better, blah blah blah. With absolute confidence.
Yeah, OK, sure you could.
I’ll bet Brock would be a straight up champ when it comes to getting booed while announcing the cup. 😁
I’d at least be wearing much nicer suits while being booed!
I have no idea what the answer is in Ottawa right now… this many times being shut out? Lackluster play all around. Horrible.
Are they just burned out from the horrible schedule?
theSaint, the Sens are still a developing team and about where they should be at this point. Besides a bit more seasoning, they really are a couple of pieces away from being a perennial playoff bound team.
Them losing again will only pump them up for their “cup game” against a Leafs team that will unfortunately share your opinion of them. Aka a big mistake.
The Leafs will have a Saturday night feast.
No Ullmark. No Sanderson. No Jensen. No Hamonic. No Bernard-Docker. No Norris No Gregor. No chance.
I appreciate that someone has more faith than I…
I am trying to keep my head up, but this is the type of stuff that should be happening at the beginning of the season and then getting ironed out now.
I am hoping they can recharge while that sham of a tournament goes on and they can come back sharp and ready for a drive.
This weekend’s game… Leevi will need to stand on his head and one of the leaders will have to lead if they have ANY hope of beating the Leafs.
I should have added: No goal-scorers – just before No Chance … I can understand an individual player in a long, personal funk … maybe even two … but a whole bloody team?
That’s a long list George that includes their best Tender, a top 2 D-man, #3 Dman, 2 C.
Not many teams overcome that on a regular basis.
GeorgeO what happened to Sanderson? Was looking for him in Boston last night!
George, the list of teams fighting for a wild card have been unsustainably hot. The Habs look like they are cooling off. The Rangers have gone from a losing to a winning streak. A lot of hockey left, with all types of streaks, luck, and yes injuries to factor in.
Sr. who knows? Other than the “lower body” crap – which suggests it could be anything from a lower rib to a big toe.
@George – the “lower/upper body” bullcrap infuriates me.
I am not a betting man, but I am even LESS inclined when I don’t have a clue what is happening… it’s bad enough that Linus went from day to day with back pain/spasms to likely returning to oops… LTIR.
Some interesting reading on the subject, particularly the second link
https://everythinggp.com/2024/04/30/when-it-comes-to-nhl-player-injury-transparency-mums-still-the-word/
https://blog.betway.com/nhl/tough-stuff-a-data-driven-insight-into-nhl-injuries/