Category: Sports News

Multiple Czech media outlets reported on Monday that David Pastrňák has finally agreed to play for his home country in this year’s IIHF World Championship. Czech national team GM Jiří Šlégr confirmed the news after the team’s practise.

“I spoke with David today before practise and his final decision is positive for all of us,” said Šlégr. “He decided to participate in the World Championship, which we are all very happy about.”

It was previously confirmed that the Boston Bruins had medically cleared Pastrňák to play, and many had interpreted that as confirmation that he would. However, the player himself had not committed until now.

https://thehockeynews.com/international/latest-news/no-gudas-kubalik-or-tomasek-for-czechs-at-this-years-worlds-but-what-about-pastrnak

Šlégr was also asked about Calgary Flames winger Adam Klapka, who became available when the Calgary Wranglers were eliminated from the AHL playoffs.

“We are in communication,” Šlégr said about Klapka. “On the way here, I communicated with the Calgary general manager and we are negotiating.”

Adam Klapka: “I knew deep down that I would play in the NHL one day”At 6-foot-8 and 236 pounds, Adam Klapka is a hard guy to miss. But the Czech winger managed to fly under the radar for much of his amateur career and even in his early years as a pro. He never played in the U18 Worlds or the World Juniors, was never drafted by an NHL team and at age 21, split the season between the Bílí Tygři Liberec of the Czech Extraliga and HC Benátky nad Jizerou of the tier-two Chance Liga.

The final leg of the 2024-25 Euro Hockey Tour will be played this weekend, Thursday through Sunday, in Brno, Czechia. This leg of the tour, which is almost always hosted by the Czechs, is used by the four teams as a final tune-up for the World Championship. It is generally the only part of the tour that includes any NHL players. Here is the lineup that the Czechs will take:

Goaltenders: Daniel Vladař (Calgary, NHL), Karel Vejmelka (Utah HC, NHL), Josef Kořenář (HC Sparta Prague).

Defensemen: Filip Pyrochta (BK Mladá Boleslav), Jan Košťálek (HC Vítkovice Ridera), Jiří Ticháček (Kladno Knights), Tomáš Kundrátek (HC Oceláři Třinec), Radek Kučeřík (Ässät Pori, Finland), Michal Kempný, Jakub Krejčík (both HC Sparta Praha), David Špaček (Iowa Wild, AHL), Filip Hronek (Vancouver Canucks, NHL), Daniel Gazda (Ilves Tampere, Finland).

Forwards: Jiří Černoch, Ondřej Beránek (both HC Energie Karlovy Vary), Petr Kodýtek (IFK Helsinki, Finland), Radan Lenc (HV 71, Sweden), Michal Kovařčík (Kärpät Oulu, Finland), Ondřej Kovařčík (HC Oceláři Třinec), Daniel Voženílek (EV Zug, Switzerland), Kristian Reichel (Adler Mannheim, Germany), Matěj Stránský, Filip Zadina (both HC Davos), Michael Špaček, Filip Chlapík, Pavel Kousal (all HC Sparta Praha), Kevin Klíma (Mountfield HK), Jakub Lauko (Boston, NHL).

Team Staff

General Manager: Jiří Šlégr, Manager: Milan Hnilička, Head Coach: Radim Rulík, Assistant Coaches: Marek Židlický, Jiří Kalous, Tomáš Plekanec, Goaltending Coach: Ondřej Pavelec.

Karel Vejmelka & Filip Hronek To Play For Czechs In World Championship; Pastrnak Maybe Goaltender Karel Vejmelka of Utah HC and defenseman Filip Hronek of the Vancouver Canucks will play for Czechia at this year’s IIHF World Championship in Herning, Denmark and Stockholm, Sweden, according multiple media sources.

The NHL revealed the final three goaltenders who can win the Vezina Trophy. 

The finalists for the award, going “to the goalkeeper adjudged to be the best at this position,” are the Winnipeg Jets’ Connor Hellebuyck, Tampa Bay Lightning’s Andrei Vasilevskiy and Los Angeles Kings’ Darcy Kuemper. The three netminders are all competing in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

GMs of all 32 NHL teams vote for this award.

Hellebuyck and Vasilevskiy won the award before. Hellebuyck earned the honor in 2020 and 2024, meaning he could win the Vezina in back-to-back years for the first time since Martin Brodeur did so in 2007 and 2008. Vasilevskiy won the Vezina Trophy in 2019.

Kuemper has never won the award, but he did finish fifth in voting in 2018-19 and seventh in 2019-20 when he played for the now-inactive Arizona Coyotes.

Hellebuyck is the favorite to win this award, leading in nearly every goaltending stat throughout the regular season. He finished the 2024-25 campaign with the best goals-against average (2.00) and the most shutouts (eight) among goalies who played at least 25 games. 

He finished second in the league in save percentage with a .925 SP, just behind Toronto Maple Leafs netminder Anthony Stolarz, who recorded a .926 SP.

Hellebuyck also won his second straight William M. Jennings Trophy as the goaltender who allowed the fewest goals against among goaltenders with at least 25 appearances.

Bruce Boudreau Believes The Jets Are The Real Deal, Rooting For Them To Win The Stanley CupThe Winnipeg Jets entered the playoffs with the best regular-season record (56-22-4), winning the Presidents’ Trophy and looking utterly dominant in front of Hart Trophy Candidate, Connor Hellebuyck. Despite that, many fans and analysts still do not believe the Jets can win the Stanley Cup.

Vasilevskiy drastically improved from last season, when he posted a .900 save percentage and a 2.90 goals-against average. This season, he recorded a .921 SP with a 2.18 GAA while playing 11 more games.

Early last season, he required surgery to address a lumbar disk herniation, and it affected his performance for the Lightning. However, he’s now a Vezina Trophy finalist for the fifth time in his 11-year career.

As for Kuemper, the Kings have never had a Vezina Trophy winner in franchise history. They were close in 2011-12 and 2015-16 when Jonathan Quick was the runner-up for the award.

Kuemper has the opportunity to be the first King to claim the Vezina, while having one of the best seasons of his career at 34 years old. 

The Kings’ netminder finished the regular season with a 31-11-7 record and was a key component for the team earning a second-place spot in the Pacific Division. He recorded the most wins in a season for Los Angeles since Quick’s 33 in 2017-18.

He was steady all year for his team, posting a 2.02 GAA and a .922 SP. Last season, with the Washington Capitals, Kuemper recorded a 3.31 GAA and a .890 SP, so the former Stanley Cup champion really bounced back this year.

The winner of the award will be announced during the Stanley Cup final.

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When John Tavares was pulled off the ice by the NHL's concussion spotters in overtime Game 4 against the Ottawa Senators, he had no idea that the Toronto Maple Leafs were going to the power play.

The 34-year-old was removed from the game in overtime after Artem Zub hit Tavares in the head in front of Ottawa's net. Tavares was out for the entire power play, returning to Toronto's bench just under 11 minutes into overtime.

"I don’t think I really need to explain it. I think pretty obvious what happened on the play. Puck’s nowhere near me," Tavares said of his hit Monday. 

The forward had the Maple Leafs' first goal in Game 4 in Ottawa, deflecting William Nylander's pass into the net for his third goal of the series. Tavares has five points in the series, the fourth-most on the team behind Nylander, Auston Matthews, and Mitch Marner.

"I feel good," Tavares said. "A little bit of soreness in my jaw and cheek area, but felt good on the ice today."

alright, standard set pic.twitter.com/xRKrSqtnHA

— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) April 27, 2025

There was no penalty or supplemental discipline from the NHL on the play, which head coach Craig Berube seemed displeased with. "I don’t like the hit. Puck’s nowhere near him. Looked like a headshot to me," he said Monday.

"You're interested to see why nothing gets called on that, but that's sometimes how the play goes," added Mitch Marner. "Lucky enough, Johnny's fine and good to go. That's all that matters."

Toronto had several chances, but didn't score on their four-minute power play in overtime. Tavares got three shifts after returning to Toronto's bench and was on the ice for Ottawa's overtime-winner.

'Just Keep Going': How The Maple Leafs Will Combat The Seed Of Doubt In Game 5 Against SenatorsAs the Toronto Maple Leafs walked into the dressing room following their 4-3 overtime loss to the Ottawa Senators, they could have thought either of two ways: it was only one loss, or their sky was beginning to fall.

When Chris Tanev was with the Calgary Flames last season, the NHL's concussion spotter pulled him during a game. He looks back on that moment, remembering he wasn't happy to be taken off the ice.

What would it be like for Tanev if he were in Tavares' position on Saturday?

"Yeah, I'm probably not happy. I mean, yeah, they're doing their job," the defenseman said. "It's obviously a good thing that the league's done now for a long time to try to prevent head injuries, keep concussions to a minimum. I mean, you can't comment on that too much, but I'm sure he wasn't very thrilled."

'That's An Easy Decision For Me': Maple Leafs Miss 4-Minute Overtime Power Play, Squander Chance to Sweep SenatorsKANATA, Ont. — The Toronto Maple Leafs were afforded a golden opportunity to complete a four-game sweep of the Ottawa Senators on Saturday. 

Tavares detailed the protocol process, which took 10 minutes of game time and around 15 real-time minutes to complete. He added on Monday that he's gone through the process before.

"Just a series of tests and evaluation of where you’re at, and making sure that you’re OK," he said. "Obviously, it’s there for safety reasons, so you just go through it and determine how you’re feeling, along with medical and the checkpoints that have to be hit for you to return."

It appears all systems are a go for him to play in Game 5 at home in Toronto, where the Maple Leafs have another chance to close the series. He skated in his usual spot on the second line, between Pontus Holmberg and Nylander at practice on Monday.

If the Maple Leafs win on Tuesday, it'll be the first time they've closed out a series at home since the 2004 Battle of Ontario.

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We reported on Sunday that the NHL had warned the Montreal Canadiens and the Washington Capitals to be very careful about how they handled themselves during warmups, TV ad breaks, and the intermission periods.

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On Monday morning, both teams were fined $25,000 for unsportsmanlike conduct in the warmup. Canadiens’ defenseman Arber Xhekaj also received a $3,385.42 fine, and Capitals’ healthy scratch blueliner Dylan McIlrath a $2,018.23 one by the NHL Department of Player Safety.

There was nothing much to the incident, and one can wonder if the Department is aptly named. The players weren’t unsafe in warmup on Sunday night. Since the start of the series, actions have gone unpunished on the ice and could easily have been reviewed had the NHL not been wary of admitting its referees had missed some calls.

Those fines are unlikely to diffuse to a situation that is currently brewing between the two sides, and the physicality is likely to go up, not down, when the two sides meet again on Wednesday night for game five.

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On April 28, 2024, the Vancouver Canucks clawed back from a 3–1 deficit in game 4 to put the Nashville Predators on the brink of playoff elimination. They ultimately won the game 4–3 in overtime, taking a 3–1 series lead. Keep reading to reflect on some of this game’s milestones. 

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For starters, Vancouver’s goaltending situation was up in the air. Earlier on in the series, Thatcher Demko had been ruled out for an indefinite amount of time (he later returned in December 2024). Casey DeSmith, who started games 2 and 3 against Nashville, was dealing with an ailment that forced young goaltender Artūs Šilovs into the crease for game 4. This was Šilovs’ first NHL playoff start. He made 27 saves on 30 shots against to help his team along to a win. 

Game 4 was notable for more than just the start of Šilovs’ surprising playoff run. After he opened the scoring 2:55 into the first period, Canucks forward Brock Boeser added two more goals in the third period to record his first NHL playoff hat trick. His third goal came with less than a minute left in the third period, sending the game into overtime. 

The game-winning goal was scored by mid-season acquisition Elias Lindholm, who ended the game slightly over a minute into the extra frame. This was his second goal of the 2024 playoffs, with his first being scored in game 1. With this win, Vancouver became the eighth team in NHL history to score twice in the final three minutes of the game and ultimately win in overtime. 

Make sure you bookmark THN's Vancouver Canucks site and add us to your favourites on Google News for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more. Also, be sure to leave a comment at the bottom of the page and engage with other passionate fans through our forum.

The Montreal Canadiens have had some terrific battles this season, but there are no moral victories as they face elimination against the Washington Capitals.

The Canadiens had a 2-1 lead in Game 4 Sunday night, thanks to Juraj Slafkovsky and Cole Caufield, before the Capitals scored four unanswered goals in the third period and won 5-2. This game showed the Habs’ issue with their offense arising more often than not in this series.

This game was there for the taking, but the Canadiens ultimately failed on offense. They managed only 18 shots on net, half of which came in the first two periods combined. It was a far cry from the 35 shots they had in Game 1, the 26 in Game 2 and 40 in Game 3, so their lack of just getting pucks on net killed much of the momentum from Friday’s 6-3 win.

That said, no matter how many shots on net they’ve had, their goal-scoring is a bigger problem. Outside of that Game 3 win, the Canadiens have only scored five goals in the other three contests combined. Even when looking at expected goals on naturalstattrick.com, which evaluates the quality of the chances they’re creating, they’re below average during the playoffs, and that includes their Game 3 win.

The Canadiens have only been shorthanded 10 times in the first round, which is tied for the second-fewest in the NHL, but five of them came in Game 4. Even though they killed all of them, it’s much tougher to produce any sort of offense when they’re playing short, and it came at a brutal time when Montreal could have tied this series.

All these issues leave a lot of pressure on goaltending to hold the fort. Sam Montembeault is effective at that when he’s at the top of his game, helping the Canadiens force overtime in Game 1 and stay close in a 3-1 loss in Game 2. He’s not a top-tier goalie like Jake Oettinger or Connor Hellebuyck, and consistency is part of that reason, but he has shown his value when he’s hot.

That value became clearer when he couldn’t play Game 4, and Jakub Dobes had a .875 save percentage and minus-0.9 goals saved above expected, according to moneypuck.com.

Canadiens: About That Devastating HitThere was a before and an after the Tom Wilson hit on Alexandre Carrier in Sunday night’s Montreal Canadiens—Washington Capitals game. By obliterating Carrier, Wilson seemed to energize his team, directly resulting in the Caps’ game-tying goal and eventual win.

It is encouraging to see the Canadiens battle hard in this series, just like they did in the regular season to clinch a playoff spot when many expected them to miss again as part of the rebuild. But Montreal doesn’t have the experience to make a comeback all that likely, and Game 3 is starting to look like an outlier in a series where nothing can make up for their lack of goal-scoring.

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