Author: Patrick Hoffman
Patrick covers the NHL for Inside The Rink. He has previously covered the league for The Ultimate Hockey Fan Cave, WTP Sports, Sportsnet.ca, Kukla’s Korner, Spector’s Hockey, NHL Network Radio blog, TheHockeyNews.com, The Fourth Period, Stan Fischler’s “The Fischler Report”, as well as a slew of others.
The Fall of Blues Goaltender Jordan Binnington
When St. Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington fully arrived on the NHL scene during the 2019-20 NHL season, everything came up aces. In his first start on January 7, 2019, he shut out the Philadelphia Flyers 3-0. In his first 20 starts, Binnington, 29, went 16-3-0-1 with a 1.70 goals-against average, a .933 save percentage, […]
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Appreciating Penguins Head Coach Mike Sullivan
As a New York Rangers fan, I definitely appreciate what head coach Gerard Gallant has done for the team so far. I believe that under his watch last season, the team overachieved as they got to within two wins of reaching the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2014. He was also a […]
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Campbell Must Turn Around His Game for the Oilers
When it comes to the Edmonton Oilers, they are all offense all of the time. With guys like Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Evander Kane, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Zach Hyman, and Kailer Yamamoto, the puck will go in the net. The team’s offense has never really been a problem. It’s the goaltending that has hurt the Oilers. […]
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It’s Anyone’s Game in the Pacific Division
When looking at the NHL standings this season, there are a lot of exciting races going on. Will the New Jersey Devils, who currently (Tuesday, January 31) have 68 points, find a way to catch the Carolina Hurricanes (72 points) for first in the Metropolitan Division? Will this be the year that the Buffalo Sabres […]
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Varlamov Continues to Be Reliable on Long Island
Decades ago, teams in the NHL played their starting goaltender anywhere between 60-70 games. Back in those times, it was pretty much a given that it was the starter’s net for almost the whole season unless he faltered for long stretches. The backup’s job was to play anywhere between 10-15 games in the regular season. […]
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Sabres Must Improve Defensively to Make Postseason
When it comes to making the Stanley Cup Playoffs, a team needs to be able to put the puck in the net, have players that can score goals on a consistent basis, play well defensively, be good on special teams, and get good goaltending. One team that really wants to make the postseason this year […]
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Giroux Having a Strong Season in Ottawa
It has been an up-and-down season for the Ottawa Senators this year. They have dealt with injuries, stretches of great play, periods of poor play, and games where fans did not know what to think about the team. That has been this franchise’s theme for the last several seasons. With that said, the team managed […]
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Halak’s Strong Play Shows He Deserves More Playing Time
When it comes to the New York Rangers and their goaltending, it will always start and end with Igor Shesterkin. Shesterkin, 27, is currently (Monday, January 30) 21-8-0-7 with a 2.45 goals-against average, a .918 save percentage, and one shutout. He was named to his first All-Star game and won the Vezina Trophy last season […]
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What is Going on With Vegas?
Last season was one to forget for the Vegas Golden Knights. They missed the playoffs for the first time in franchise history, fired their head coach, dealt with many injuries, and were just a disappointing hockey team to watch. When you put all those things together, you have a team that deserved to miss the […]
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Fleury Starting to Turn His Game Around for the Wild
There is no doubt that Minnesota Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury is a future Hockey Hall of Famer. As of this writing (Monday, January 30), Fleury, 38, has 536 career victories, three Stanley Cups (2009, 2016, and 2017), a Vezina Trophy as the league’s top goaltender (2021), 72 career shutouts, and five All-Star Game appearances. He […]
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