News & Views

The Third Annual Puck Junk Awards

A.K.A. 7 NHL Awards We Need Right Now

The NHL gives out 17 individual awards at the end of the season. To some, that might seem excessive. Do we really need a Mark Messier Award for Leadership when the league already has two awards for MVPs? 

However, I would argue that the NHL needs more awards, so in 2018 I created some new ones. We all know who the highest scorer, top coach and best goalie are. Now, let’s give props to the toughest player, greatest surprise and biggest jerk, among others. Plus, there is a new Puck Junk Award for 2020. 

Here are your winners of the third-annual Puck Junk Awards. 

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Blake’s Takes: Coyotes Renounce Pick

Last week was hot with news as most of it came from the desert. The Arizona Coyotes dominated the headlines when they renounced their rights to a draft pick after ugly details from his past surfaced. The organization also made a minor move that might actually benefit the team, too.

As always, I wrote about one of my favorite signings and a scorching hot jersey reveal. You won’t want to miss this week’s set of takes.

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Blake’s Takes: Additional Free Agency and League Notes

Sadly, there were no sexy storylines in the NHL last week. But, as I mentioned before, so much happened over the last two weeks with the opening of the free-agency window and the draft, there is plenty for me to write about.

This week, I’ll touch on some storylines that weren’t pressing enough to make into my columns over the last few weeks. Happy Monday!

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The Voice of Hockey Calls it a Career

Legendary NHL Broadcaster “Doc” Emrick Retires

Since 2005, when NBC acquired the rights to NHL broadcasting in the United States, there has been one consummate voice featured behind the microphone, serving up his eloquent and sometimes frantically excitable play-by-play for the feature games every week. On Monday, that voice decided to sign off for the last time. Mike “Doc” Emrick announced that after more than 50 years in the broadcasting business, he was retiring.

As the story goes, the first time Doc ever got the opportunity to cover a game in the NHL, he did so under the guise that he wasn’t getting paid anything…except a press credential. Continue reading “The Voice of Hockey Calls it a Career”

Blake’s Takes: More Free Agency Madness

In this week’s column, I’ll look at some of the major free-agent signings of the last few weeks. So much happened around the league during the first week of free agency that I couldn’t cover everything in my previous column. 

In addition to free agency news, I’ll highlight one of my favorite new uniforms released in the last few weeks. Happy Monday!

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Blake’s Takes: Offseason Moves

Last week was a busy one in the NHL. In one week we saw the start of free agency and the NHL Draft take place. I could rattle off 20 takes this week. I’ll stick to my usual five, but I’ll include some of this week’s news in future columns because there is so much to talk about.

This week, I’ll focus on the bigger transactions around the league as well as a major points jersey announcement . Happy Tuesday!

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The 11 Biggest Hockey Stories of 2019-20

By Sal Barry, Tim Parish, Blake Isaacs, Jim Howard & Kyle Scully

Before we turn our attention to the upcoming hockey season, we wanted to take a look back at the 2019-20 NHL season. And what a crazy season it was! A global pandemic halted the league for the first time in over 100 years. Players spoke up and spoke out against racial injustice in the United States. A Zamboni driver became a goaltending hero.  And that’s just the start of it. 

The past season was the longest NHL season, too, starting on October 2, 2019 and ending almost a full year later on September 28, 2020. The team at Puck Junk rounded up what they thought were the biggest stories of the 2019-20 season. Like the fictional band Spinal Tap, we couldn’t settle on just 10 — we turned it up to 11. So, here are the 11 biggest stories of the 2019-20 NHL season. 

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Blake’s Takes: Tampa Bay Wins the Stanley Cup

After the NHL season was paused in March, no one was sure if we would see the Stanley Cup lifted. Well, the circumstances surrounding the Stanley Cup Final may have been odd and unexpected, but, the Stanley Cup was awarded to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

In this week’s column, I’ll explore how the Lightning’s legacy has changed with their Stanley Cup win.

The rest of the league was busy last week, too! I’ll share my takes on a few notable signings and trades. Happy Tuesday!

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Re-Imagining the 1995 NHL Entry Draft

With the 2020 NHL Entry Draft finally taking place this week, it is time for my annual retro fantasy redraft. This time, we’re traveling back 25 years to 1995 — the year that the New Jersey Devils won their first Stanley Cup and “The Macarena” ruled the airwaves.

The 1995 NHL Entry Draft was the second draft in a row where the top two players selected were defensemen. In fact, the top three picks in 1995 were d-men. Meanwhile, a future 600-goal scorer was taken 11th overall, while a future Vezina Trophy winner wouldn’t be selected until the 5th round!

Knowing what we know today, what would the first round of the 1995 NHL Entry Draft look like? Who would go first overall? Fifth overall? Twenty-fifth-overall? Let’s find out! 

“And with the first-overall pick, the Ottawa Senators select…”

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Blake’s Takes: Lightning One Win Away

After everything that’s happened since the league paused for COVID-19 back in March, the Stanley Cup will be lifted this week. Tampa Bay won three straight games, but couldn’t close it out against Dallas in Game 5. They’ll face off again in Game 6 tonight with Tampa up 3-2 in the series.

The Stanley Cup Finals has provided its share of storylines, from the return of Steven Stamkos, the dominance of Joe Pavelski, and bad luck of Tyler Seguin.

Outside of the Stanley Cup, the other 30 teams have been busy handing out extensions and making trades.

You can find five of my favorite storylines below.

Also, here’s the best song I heard last week!
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