Category: Sports News

It’s 2026 and the first Hockey Show episode of the New Year has arrived!

First off, THS co-hosts Roy Bellamy and David Dwork had a lot of Florida Panthers topics to get to.

They got into the entire spectacle of the 2026 Winter Classic, which was held last week at loanDepot park in Miami and featured the Florida Panthers hosting the New York Rangers.

While the game itself was a bit of a stinker, especially from a Panthers perspective, the event, the venue, the sights, the vibes, the ambiance…it was all excellent.

Outside of the Winter Classic, the Panthers have followed up a strong finish to 2025 with a rough patch to start the year.

An extremely solid victory over the league-best Colorado Avalanche has been surrounded by the loss to the Rangers and a pair of road defeats to Toronto and Montreal in which Florida has been outscored 10-3.

Matthew Tkachuk is one of several injured who has been practicing and is nearing a return to the lineup, and in Tkachuk’s case, he’s expected back sometime on the trip.

This week’s guest on The Hockey Show was NHL insider David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period.

He discussed the latest in Carolina with Jesperi Kotkaniemi, who the Hurricanes are looking to trade, what the Panthers may be up ahead of the Trade Deadline, which is less than two months away, and the status of the new Italian arena being built for next month’s Winter Olympics in Milan.

That led to a discussion about ideal foods that should be available at the Italian arena and the boys’ overall excitement for the Olympics.

This week’s episode of The Hockey Show and the full interview with Pagnotta can be seen below:

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The Buffalo Sabres have made a roster move, as they have announced that defenseman Zac Jones has been assigned to their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Rochester Americans. 

Jones was called up to the Sabres' roster earlier this week, but did not get into any game action for the NHL club. Now, with this latest transaction, he is returning to the Amerks' roster. 

Jones has yet to make his Sabres debut since signing with the club during this off-season. This will continue to be the case for the time being now that he has been reassigned to Rochester's roster. 

The Amerks will undoubtedly be happy to have Jones back, though, as he has been fantastic for the AHL club this season. In 28 games for Rochester this season, Jones has scored three goals and has an AHL-leading 28 assists. With this, there is no question that he has been a strong addition to Rochester's roster. 

In 115 career NHL games, Jones has posted four goals, 24 assists, 28 points, and a minus-10 rating. 

The Philadelphia Flyers have announced that they have recalled defenseman Adam Ginning from their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. 

The Flyers calling up Ginning comes with defenseman Jamie Drysdale being placed on injured reserve by the Metropolitan Division club. Now, Ginning will get another shot on the NHL roster with Drysdale sidelined and will be aiming to impress. 

By calling up Ginning, the Flyers will have another defenseman to work with on their NHL roster. 

Ginning has played in five games this season with the Flyers, where he has recorded zero points, four hits, five blocks, and an even plus/minus rating. He has primarily played in the AHL with the Phantoms this season, however, where he has one goal, three points, and a minus-2 rating in 17 contests. 

The Flyers placed Ginning on waivers back in late November, but the 6-foot-4 defenseman passed through them unclaimed before being sent down to Lehigh Valley. 

In 16 career NHL games over four seasons with the Flyers, Ginning has posted one goal, 17 blocks, 25 hits, and a minus-1 rating. 

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The National Hockey League's newest 500-goal scorer is Detroit Red Wings forward Patrick Kane, who achieved what only 49 other players before him had achieved during Thursday's 5-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks. 

Following Kane's historic tally in the third period, not only was he mobbed by his teammates on the ice, but he also received an extended standing ovation from the crowd at Little Caesars Arena.

POV: you're in the TV booth with Ken & Mickey when Patrick Kane scores goal #500 🎙️ pic.twitter.com/PpoEGGlg4M

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 9, 2026

Kane has only played for Original Six franchises, spending the bulk of his career with the Blackhawks and briefly with the New York Rangers before signing with the Red Wings as an unrestricted free agent in December 2023 following hip resurfacing surgery.

One of the key factors in Kane's decision to choose Detroit over other destinations was Alex DeBrincat, whom he had previously played with in Chicago.

DeBrincat was instrumental in recruiting Kane to Detroit, and the aura and magnitude of not only playing for an Original Six franchise but also pursuing another historic milestone as part of it have not been lost on him.

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"It's definitely special to be a part of Original Six teams, he's been on three, and when you get those milestones, you just are joined in with a special group of people," DeBrincat said of Kane. "You look up there and see how many guys have scored their 500th in a Red Wings uniform, the list is pretty cool. For him to be added to that list, I feel like I'm using the word cool a lot, but it's such a cool thing. 

"We take a lot for granted in this life we live and playing in the NHL, but these are moments you can take back and know that you're gonna remember for the rest of your life." 

Red Wings head coach Todd McLellan, who coached against Kane multiple times, not only as an assistant with the Red Wings but also as the head coach of the San Jose Sharks, Edmonton Oilers, and Los Angeles Kings, considers it a privilege in his NHL career to have won the Stanley Cup with and currently coach an Original Six team. 

"My first time through, I don't know if I appreciated it," he said. "I'd have gone anywhere to have the opportunity, but when you sit back and think about it, the people that I was fortunate enough to be around, being on an Original Six team, is a privilege." 

McLellan played five NHL games during his playing career with the New York Islanders, and would work his way up through the ranks of coaching in various minor leagues to eventually become an assistant with the Red Wings in 2005 under Mike Babcock, eventually culminating in the club's 2008 Stanley Cup victory. 

"To be in the League is a privilege, but (to be on) an Original Six Team, to talk through the locker room and the history of it, it's incredible," McLellan explained. "We're 100 years old, and now Kaner is a part of it. His picture will go up in the rink, and generations of Wings fans will go, 'I heard about that guy', and go look the goal up on the computer or whatever we use in the future, and they'll see it." 

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The latest player to hit the rumour mill in the NHL is Jesperi Kotkaniemi. The 25-year-old has struggled over the past few seasons with the Carolina Hurricanes, with the relationship hitting a point where a fresh start for both parties may be best. As expected, his name has been connected to the Vancouver Canucks, as he has been a player the organization has discussed acquiring in the past. 

In a recent article on Sportsnet.ca, Elliotte Friedman wrote that Kotkaniemi was one of the players offered to Vancouver in the Hurricanes trade proposal for Quinn Hughes. His name was also tied to the Canucks in regards to center Elias Pettersson, who Carolina has had interest in for the past few years. In the end, neither trade ended up working out for the Hurricanes, as Kotkaniemi remains in the organization.

Kotkaniemi's name continually being linked to Vancouver is a sign that Canucks management has at least discussed the idea of bringing in the former third overall pick. If Vancouver hinted that they had no interest in acquiring him, it is hard to imagine that the Finnish center would still be linked to the Canucks. As for the potential interest, Kotkaniemi does make sense based on Vancouver's needs, as he is a center under the age of 26 who can win faceoffs. 

The problem is that the Canucks are not in a position where they should be targeting a player like Kotkaniemi in-season. Vancouver is currently ranked 31st in the league, and unless they go on a historic run, they are projected to finish at the bottom of the standings. The Canucks also can not afford to part with draft picks and prospects as they need those assets to build for the future, rather than stay in the mushy middle of the NHL. 

Bringing in a player like Kotkaniemi also carries risk. As mentioned, he has struggled over the past few seasons and currently only has six points in 25 games. Kotkaniemi also carries a cap hit of $4.82 million until 2030, which, based on his production, would cause issues to Vancouver's cap situation. 

For the sake of argument, let's say this management group really wants to add Kotkaniemi to the roster. If that is the case, there is no need to rush the situation. There is a good chance that he will still be available in the summer, which means the Canucks could negotiate the deal then rather than risk losing draft position now. 

In short, trading for Kotkaniemi in-season is not something Vancouver should consider. The only way an in-season trade makes sense is if the Canucks are given assets to take on his contract, like how in 2019, Carolina acquired Patrick Marleau, a conditional 2020 first-round pick and a 2020 seventh-round pick from the Toronto Maple Leafs for a 2020 sixth-round pick. Ultimately, Vancouver should be acquiring picks and prospects as they head towards the 2026 trade deadline rather than using assets to get another first-round drafted player who hasn't worked out as expected in the NHL. 

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For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.