Category: Sports News

Jason York is heading to the Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame on Wednesday night.

The honour recognizes York's long NHL career that included five memorable seasons with the Ottawa Senators during the rise of the franchise in the late 1990s.

"Yorkie's" run began 30 years ago this fall when he was traded from Anaheim to Ottawa, and in his first season playing in his hometown, the Senators made the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time.

York played 380 games wearing the centurion crest and made the playoffs every year he was here. In 2001, he became an unrestricted free agent and signed back in Anaheim.

In all, York played 757 games in the NHL and scored 42 goals, 187 assists, and 229 points.

His last NHL game came in 2007 with the Boston Bruins, and fittingly, it was against the Ottawa Senators, the team he spent more than half of his NHL career with. It figures that Daniel Alfredsson, Yorkie's ex-teammate and old captain, would lead the way with a three-point evening in a 6-3 Ottawa win.

The Senators were pretty good back then. A few months later, Alfie led the Senators to their only appearance in the Stanley Cup Final.

After his playing days, York took a multi-year turn at TSN 1200 radio in Ottawa, where I also happened to hang my work hat for a couple of decades. He did the show right after mine, and in the studio changeover and chit-chat, I can't recall him ever being in a bad mood. The guy always seemed to be in mid-chuckle.

These days, York does NHL colour commentary for regional TV broadcasts of the Calgary Flames, and he also has a Senators podcast, Coming in Hot. He says he's excited that he's going to have his people around him on Wednesday night.

“It’s a great honour," York told Andrew Wilimek on the Senators website. "I’m going to have a lot of friends and family there, which is going to be special for me, because that’s what it’s all about,” said York.

York will be honoured along with the 1976 Rockland Nationals, who also have a strong Senators connection. A 33-year-old Bryan Murray was that team's head coach. York played for the Shawville native in 2001, the year he moved back to Anaheim.

Also being honoured Wednesday night:

• Keith Brown (Builder – Community)
• Rachel Homan & Emma Miskew (Athletes – Curling)
• Val St. Germain (Athlete – Football)

Legacy Category: Joe Barber (boxing), Paul Barber (horse racing), Vera Charlebois (golf), Bud Clark (skiing), Françoise Desbiens (speed skating), Joe Lamb (hockey), Allan Shields (hockey), and the 1906 Capital Lacrosse Club.

Quite frankly, the list of guys from Ottawa who played more than 750 games in the NHL is extremely small, so it's a little surprising that it's taken 19 years for York to get the call.

But for honours like these, it's always better late than never.

By Steve Warne
The Hockey News

This article was first published at The Hockey News Ottawa Senators site

Senators Will Reportedly Add Another Alternate Jersey Next SeasonFanatics is reportedly launching "Hometown Remix" uniforms for every NHL franchise next season.

The Los Angeles Kings have been busy at the start of the offseason as they prepare to hire their next franchise head coach. There have been plenty of rumors and options LA has been considering since the offseason, with names like Bruce Cassidy and Peter Laviolette at the top of the list. 

But Wednesday afternoon, a new report from NHL insider Frank Seravalli stated that Jay Woodcroft, who reportedly interviewed with Los Angeles last week, is also expected to interview with the Toronto Maple Leafs later this week. 

#Leafs coaching search update, per sources:
- #FlyTogether Jay Woodcroft scheduled to interview this week. Interviewed with #LAKings last week. Handicapped as “one of the front runners” for the Toronto job. Either spot, solid bet to be an NHL HC again next season.
- Wide swath of…

— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) May 27, 2026

Seravalli also reported that Woodcroft is viewed as a "strong candidate" for Toronto's coaching vacancy and remains a strong candidate to return behind an NHL bench next season. 

Woodcroft becomes the second confirmed candidate connected to the Los Angeles Kings coaching search this offseason, after reports earlier this week also linked former New York Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette to interviewing for the Kings coaching job. 

Kings Have Their Sights Set On Stanley Cup Winning Head CoachThe Los Angeles Kings have shown interest in multiple suitors for their Head Coach opening and have even had preliminary conversations with a former Stanley Cup winning bench boss.

Woodcroft and Laviolette are the only confirmed coaches with whom LA has been granted an interview. Additionally, Bruce Cassidy is a name that the Kings are still keeping a strong eye on, but the Vegas Golden Knights have not yet granted permission for Los Angeles to speak with him.

Here's why Woodcroft makes sense as a potential head coach for the Kings. The former Oilers head coach took over Edmonton as an interim in the 2022 season and led the team to a  26-9-3 finish and a berth in the Western Conference Final.

In the 2022–23 season, his first full season as head coach, he led Edmonton to a 50-23-9 record and set an NHL record for the most efficient power play (32.4%).

Woodcroft has experience leading young, talented players and elevating their play, including Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, and has consistently operated one of the league’s most dangerous power plays. 

The same style of play can appeal to the Kings' young talent, who struggled to generate offense consistently around Quinton Byfield and Brandt Clarke, something that can change moving forward with Woodcroft behind the bench.  

This past season, he helped lead the Anaheim Ducks to the playoffs as an assistant coach under head coach Joel Quenneville for the first time since the 2017-18 season, and the Ducks defeated his former team in the first round.

Woodcroft's fresh and young, offensive-minded approach brings something new and interesting to the Kings' coaching position compared to some of the veteran candidates linked to Los Angeles. 

Los Angeles may view him as a long-term coach who can help elevate their young talent into stars. 

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LAS VEGAS -- The Golden Knights weren't the only ones who needed to relearn about themselves when John Tortorella took over as coach on March 29.

Turns out, the grizzled veteran coach who's been known to ruffle some feathers with an abrasive approach became a student, too.

"In the short time I've been with them, I watched them and listened to them," Tortorella said Tuesday night after the Golden Knights clinched a berth into the Stanley Cup Final. "I've learned a ton from them. I've learned ... I think coaches overcoach. I think we overcoach, and I think we get in the way sometimes.

"This group here, especially after me being with younger teams prior to this, I hope to be a better coach and learned more to have some listening skills when you're dealing with veteran players."

The Golden Knights were on the brink of being eliminated from playoff contention after losing 19 of 27 when former coach Bruce Cassidy was fired and Tortorella was brought in to spark life into the team.

Vegas closed the regular season on a 7-0-1 run, won the Pacific Division, won 12 of 16 in the playoffs - including their last six - and now return to the Stanley Cup Final for the third time in the team's nine-year existence.

Vegas beat the top-seeded Colorado Avalanche in four games, taking Games 1 and 2 in Denver and then sealing things at home in Games 3 and 4, including Tuesday's 2-1 clincher at T-Mobile Arena.

"I think it's just the way that he communicates with us on a day-to-day basis, his message, his demeanor," Vegas star center Jack Eichel said. "I think it's definitely felt like a group effort, and he's constantly coming to us for feedback, and I think his message has been received really well."

Eichel said it's been the cohesiveness between Tortorella and the players that made the transition from Cassidy, who led the team to its first Stanley Cup title in 2023, seamless with eight games left in the campaign.

"I think the guys have a lot of confidence in him, and really believe in what he's saying," Eichel said. "And I think he's done a good job of getting the most out of the group, so it's definitely been a collective group effort."

Tortorella also said coaching an elite group with playoff experience and great chemistry allowed him to differentiate between two coaching philosophies.

"I think in the regular season, I wasn't here much during the regular season, sometimes you coach at them," Tortorella said. "During the playoffs, you coach with them. So it gave me an opportunity to be with them and understand what they see. And with such a veteran group, I learned a ton.

"Hopefully, we play a few more games and continue to learn more and succeed together."

The Knights await the winner of the Eastern Conference Final between the Montreal Canadiens and Carolina Hurricanes, who lead the series 2-1.