Blue Jackets fire Laviolette,

hire Jim Montgomery!

Blue Jackets GM made the decision to fire HC Peter Laviolette with 1 game to go in the regular season.

It might seem like a weird move to make, but Laviolette was in the last year of his contract and the Blue Jackets were not going to extend him past the 2024 / 25 season.

Although the Blue Jackets have been battling for 1st in the Metro division, the team lost too many games they should have won and didn’t win enough games against top opponents.

The decision was made to move on now and hire Jim Montgomery on a permanent basis.  Coach Montgomery will be receiving a 4-year contract to coach the Blue Jackets.

Throughout his career coach Montgomery has coached teams that have had a lot of success, the hope is that he will bring that success to Columbus and help the Blue Jackets win the Stanley Cup!

Tight race in the Metro!

The 2024 -25 season brought on a tight race in the Metropolitan Division.

With a 1/3 of the season completed the top 4 teams in the Metro division are separated by 1 point.

The Islanders, Hurricanes, Devils and Blue Jackets are in a tight race where 1 win moves you up 3 spots and 1 loss combined with the wins from the other 3 teams can take you from 1st to 4th.

Add to the fact that these 4 teams face each other 3 times each makes all of those games’ potential 4-point games if the games end in regulation.

It will be exiting to see how this race develops and ends up.

I wish I could say good luck to the Devils, Canes and Islanders but that would be a lie, LOL!

Panther’s first year GM Dylan Jacob-Smith is trying to have a storybook finish to the regular season for the Florida Panthers as they make a push for the finally playoff spot. They recently took on the league’s front runners for the President’s trophy Buffalo Sabres and according to GM DJS “it’s not necessarily story they intended to tell”.  

"It wasn't a script we would have written," Panthers coach Mike Babcock said after their 7-1 drubbing by the hands of the Sabres. The Sabres  GM’s Tyler Wilson/Andrew Hallman have their in playoff form with a record of  47-5-3 with a total of 97 points to lead the league . This victory was in front of 18,000 fans at First Niagara Center in which the Sabres continue to put the puck behind the net at an alarming rate for goalies. Just ask the Panther’s when Sabres as a team put 5 in the back of the net against their former teammate Karel  Vejmelka. Some quotes from the fans of the Sabres that commented on the game said “It was crazy. It was awesome. We have the best GM’s in the league!”

The Sabres took an early 2-0 lead in the 1st period when Ovechkin scored on the power play 1:48 into the game. William Nylander and Cale Makar both assisted on Ovechkin power play goal which they took a 2-0 lead into the 1st intermission. The 3rd period is when the wheels fell off for the Panthers as the Sabres put 5 pucks in the back of the net as the cruise 7-1 win. Once the clock struck zero the Sabres Alex Ovechkin scored a hat trick and got the W.

"There were a couple of [calls] where we didn't necessarily agree," Panthers Captain Aaron Ekbald said. "One kind of felt like a late call, whatever it is, and the ref make up his mind. You got to go out there and get the job done."

In the end according to the Sabres GM Tyler Wilson "You still get two points for a win. But at the same time, you want to enjoy this win. And there's no better way to finish this off than with a win like that."  

#sabresrule

Hey everyone!

Here are the results of the 2024 HSHL All-Star Game! Congratulations to the GM's with players selected as the three stars!

https://hshockey.ca/2024all-star.php

Hey everyone!

The HSHL All Star Game is rapidly approaching! Here are the players selected to represent each conference:

A big thank you to Nick, Justin, Derek and Dylan for selecting the rosters!

We are looking for a couple GMs to set the lines for the All Star game next weekend. Please reach out to any of our BoG members if you're interested!

Good luck to everyone at the All Star Game taking place February 3rd!