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do you have any hockey lore recommendations? like articles you find interesting?

omg thank you for sending this in!! it made me rub together my hands in glee! like whenever i go to the draft i think i have more fun spotting my favorite writers than prospects LOL. i am actually so passionate about good feature writing; i think it's a dying art, not because the talent is waning but because the funding/industry is, to many people's great chagrin. i'll share a way-too-long list of some of my favorite pieces below the cut!! i've linked each piece and included a short excerpt below the title!

DISCLAIMERS: this isn't exhaustive; just a few of the pieces i've read recently that i've loved or that have lived rent free in my mind for years. i've tried to include some more unique/off the beat stories, but i'm sure i'm forgetting some really good ones — i consume a great deal of sports content i fear! additionally, this list doesn't include game/series recaps or analytics writing. that being said, most of my favorite writers are represented in the collection below. you'll also definitely notice who my favorite teams are, but i really like to stay up with the league as a whole, so it's not just caps and canucks!

one last quick note — many of these pieces are paywalled (marked with a 🔒); i encourage anyone who has the means to subscribe if you can! that being said! times are hard! popping the url here or here can usually get you a readable copy; there are also some dependable browser extensions as well (such as this one) that will work. and if you're on your phone, its native "reader mode" will often bypass paywalls :) also, a lot of sites will offer a handful of free articles so these measures may not be needed! and if there's an article that you really want to read and can't access, let me know and i'll grab it for you.

okay, off we go! this is very long; i got carried away!!

At home in Sweden, the Capitals' Nicklas Backstrom reveals the origins of his ascent to the Stanley Cup 🔒 In the NHL, he's often been an afterthought — named to the All-Star Game just once and never winning any major individual award. On the Capitals, his subtle playmaking is overshadowed by the big hits and screaming shots of longtime teammate Alex Ovechkin. But outside Gavlerinken Arena, a group of teenagers stops to gawk as Backstrom, hiding behind heavily tinted sunglasses, takes the bike around back to avoid making a grand entrance. "I guess you've never seen me like this before," he says.

‘Your truck is on fire’: An oral history of the Wild’s infamous equipment blaze and the mad scramble that followed 🔒 I just remember yelling at Chuck, “The truck is on fire. The truck is on fire. All the equipment is on fire.” He just said to stay calm and goes, “Are you alright?” That’s the first thing he asked me. “Are you guys OK?”

Fly-By Stick Replacement a Precise Exercise for NHL Benches It is a delightful, relatively rare quirk of hockey, and entirely unique in sports altogether. Consider: Where else do equipment managers get to participate? “It’s like a basketball player losing his shoe and you have to get it back on him before he makes the next play,” Myles says. And yet there they are, once or so each night, lunging over the boards and handing a fresh stick to some twigless skater, who grabs it while zipping past to rejoin the ongoing action.

The making of William Nylander: Born in Canada, raised all over, forever at home in Sweden 🔒 That's the thing about Sweden for William. It's home. It's family. It's the place he could, and can still, always come back to. It's the place where he's able to find some distance from his hockey-playing life.

Are you ready to rock, house, hip-hop, country and occasionally gospel? Given the power of music to uplift and inspire, finding the right guy to operate the play button in the locker room is crucial. It’d be a stretch to say it can mean the difference between a win and a loss, but the energy a team brings into the opening frame can go a long way toward determining a game’s outcome. Some clubs opt for DJ-by-committee; others have entrusted longstanding playlist kings. But no team prepares for that opening faceoff in silence.

When NHL players get sent down, it's like going from steak to chicken fingers 🔒 You wanna play in the NHL so bad and it feels like slow-motion. (I was) 20, you’re not going to question whether you’re going to quit but it’s like a full test on you. With the temper (I had) and playing on kind of a double-edged sword and sharp edges, you have a lot of volatility like that. The goods are really good and the bads are really bad. That’s where I think I just learned so much going through the hard times.

The Angry Beaver, King Hank, the Red River in winter: NHL writers share stories from the road 🔒 The ambitious story ideas seemed to come together. Crazy gamers felt easy and fun to write. Even getting lost in the bowels of foreign arenas felt fine, because you’d run into a player who would laugh at you then bring you along with him to the locker room. Sure enough, my first trip back Andrei Svechnikov found me wandering around Bridgestone Arena. “Haven’t you been here enough?” he said, laughing.

DGB Grab Bag: Loser Mobiles at Cup Parades, Drunk Ovi, and Emotions are Good Ovechkin didn't try to play the stoic. He occasionally said something beyond the usual claims of it being just another game. He didn't keep his head down and mumble about getting pucks in deep, just in case he accidentally said anything that might turn into A Thing. He didn't bother to pretend that this stuff didn't matter, because we all knew how much it did. And it wasn't just Ovechkin. The Caps had Evgeny Kuznetsov doing his little bird dance celebration. They had Devante Smith-Pelly looking like he might explode with joy after every big play. They even had Nicklas Backstrom showing honest-to-god frustration, allegedly. And they still won. The hockey gods did not smite them.

How Elias Pettersson changed everything in Vancouver 🔒 It’s the first period, opening night and Elias Pettersson explodes like buckshot through centre ice. Laying rubber in his wake, Pettersson gathers and settles a rolling puck with some slick dangling and then looks just about unstoppable, like whitewater crashing down a British Columbia canyon, as he rips a shot short side, off the bar and out.

Matthew Tkachuk's first Panthers season made him an NHL superstar. Now for an encore. 🔒 "The doctors said, 'It is what it is. He's not going to make it worse. It's just going to be painful as hell.' I wrestled with, almost, the morality of it, but he was cleared if he could tolerate it, and he wanted that chance. He was very clear he was playing that game, and I had faith in his ability to find a way."

Claude Giroux deserved better from Flyers for years. For one night — maybe the last night — they made it up to him 🔒 Giroux was good enough. He was always good enough. That’s the tragedy at the heart of Giroux’s tenure in Philadelphia. It was the rest of the organization — from the GMs on down — that failed him. But at least they didn’t fail him Thursday.

The Captaincy: How It Can Be the NHL’s Scarlet Letter We said that we’d focus on captaincy changes that involved bad blood. There’s some dispute as to just how much animosity was involved when Mark Messier took over the job from Trevor Linden in 1998; some reports suggest Linden had no problem with the move. But if we’re counting fan reactions, no captaincy change has generated more bad feelings than this one, because to this day Canucks fans are livid about how it all went down.

‘Hockey has changed’: Lightning’s fashion flex leads the way into a new era of NHL style 🔒 “When I first got here, I looked to ‘Heddy’ and his suits,” Sergachev says. “A big, tall guy, he’s obviously gorgeous. You want to take something away from him and learn from him and his style game.”

Alex Ovechkin: Once a stranger in a strange land, now a champion 🔒 The team put him up in a downtown hotel, and it didn't take long for the then-19-year-old to discover the difficulties of establishing a new life in North America. Ovechkin didn't know anyone or speak the language, so the first days in town consisted of trips from the hotel to the Capitals' practice rink and back. What exactly did he do at the hotel all by himself? "Nothing," Ovechkin, 33, said with a fleeting smile. "I didn't do anything. It was a hard time for me."

What Brock Boeser's friendship with Elias Pettersson means to him and how he plans to be the next 40-goal scorer 🔒 But at the heart of Boeser's year is a relationship that started when he first met a teenager from Sweden. "He was this quiet, shy kid at first," Boeser said. "It took me a while to get him to open up to me but once he did, I could see what a great person he is."

Known Unknown: The Capitals' Nicklas Backstrom is ready for his spotlight Watch Backstrom enough and, eventually, every part of the mosaic begins to sparkle. See him nightly and those deceptive first steps, the way he’ll pass the puck then quickly tie up an opponent’s stick, or the way he routinely emerges from the corner with what he came for, become things that cannot be missed. But many people aren’t watching the Capitals regularly, and absorbing all that nuance can require a trained eye or, at the very least, one that isn’t fixated on Backstrom’s supernova of a linemate.

Inside the ‘Odd Couple’ friendship between the Flyers’ Travis Konecny and Travis Sanheim 🔒 An outsider might look at the two and wonder how they could possibly become so close. Even Konecny himself wonders at it sometimes. “Definitely just around the room every day, it’s probably me running my mouth. And he’s just sitting there shaking his head at me,” he chuckled.

How NHL players, teams deal with the grind of back-to-back games "I hate back-to-backs more than anything." Florida Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad said. "I'm a big proponent of the fact that we shouldn't have them. ... You can play every other day and your body is fine. As soon as you start throwing back-to-backs in there and play four games in six days, it leads to injuries. Guys are getting injured on back-to-backs all over the league."

Why Elias Pettersson has ‘unbelievable’ skills, in the eyes of Swedish NHLers 🔒 What stood out to these observers wasn’t just Pettersson’s preternatural hockey sense, wicked shot, next-level playmaking, or wizard-like stickhandling. Yes, all of those tools were impressive. But the cherry on top which made them confident in the teenager’s potential was a trait that won’t land on highlight reels. “Some players have the talent but they don’t work hard,” explained Jarnkrok. “But Elias, he’s working his ass off every time I see him play. I think that’s special about him.”

Rooting for Goliath: The life and legacy of Eric Lindros People outside the game just had a visceral reaction: Eric Lindros was the villain. He landed in the perfect place for him: Philadelphia, the city that tore down heroes, including but not limited to Wilt Chamberlain, Mike Schmidt, Richie Allen and anyone under centre for the Eagles. Philadelphia, perfect, that way he could be hated everywhere and the farthest thing from beloved at home. “Nobody roots for Goliath,” Chamberlain had said, and Lindros knew this too well.

Alexander Ovechkin Thoroughly Earned His Stanley Cup Moment When a woman in the stands merrily flashed the Capitals as they skated around the rink in victory, Ovechkin was so focused on the Cup that he didn’t even notice the … cups. (The screenshot of the rest of Ovechkin’s teammates drawn to the girl gone wild like moths to a flame, while their captain kept skating unaware and alone, was instantly iconic—as well as a possible preview of the upcoming #Dadvechkin era.) And speaking of Dadvechkin, there was no moment more protective and tender than when Ovechkin reached in to help an injured Backstrom, who has been playing with a busted hand, keep his grip on the Cup.

‘Dad’s smiling in heaven’: Canucks’ Brock Boeser, and his biggest fans, enjoying a special season 🔒 Every game day, Brock looks forward to the arrival, like clockwork, of a voicemail from his “G’ma” left just before puck drop. And anytime he scores a goal, Brock knows he can go to his phone after the game and find a voicemail from her left seconds after that goal.

Mayhem in Philly: An Oral History of the Epic Senators-Flyers Brawl It just got so out of hand and it was funny because you don't expect that from these guys. So you're sitting there, and players start coming in after they get thrown out and they were having a little slumber party in the dressing room—that's how excited they were.

How Blake Wheeler came to define the Winnipeg Jets: ‘I gave it everything I had’ 🔒 But there Wheeler was, at 36 years old, trailing 4-0 in the game and battling his way to the front of the net. The rocket boots that used to propel him around and through the sport’s best defenders have lost their explosiveness. Twelve years of blood, sweat, cracked ribs and all kinds of pain will do that to a player. But Wheeler got to the slot and took his shot. When that shot was stopped, he went to the corner and won the puck back, firing a pass to Kyle Connor that created Winnipeg’s only goal of a miserable game. Right until the end, Wheeler was simply not wired to quit.

First Capitals Cup Crystallizes End of D.C. Drought Yes, it was all real. The fans pressed against the glass, chanting, "C-A-P-S! CAPS! CAPS! CAPS!" The baseball caps and towels emblazoned with STANLEY CUP 2018 CHAMPIONS. The ice buckets stocked with brut champagne and light beer, the ballroom awaiting their after-party at the Mandarin Oriental. The smile plastered across the face of Trotz, fourth all-time in NHL wins but absent a title until now. The tears shed as winger T.J. Oshie discussed his father Tim, who is battling Alzheimer’s but will, Oshie says, surely remember this. The tight embrace shared by Backstrom and Ovechkin after the final horn, a deep gaze into a pair of liberated souls.

Legend Has It: Did Oilers win Gretzky in a backgammon game? The story of how Wayne Gretzky was almost a Winnipeg Jet has been part of hockey lore for decades. It has twisted and turned in retellings, morphing into one of those tales that just seem too good to be true. It goes like this: In 1978, 17-year-old Wayne Gretzky was wagered in a game of backgammon after playing just eight times for the Indianapolis Racers of the World Hockey Association. While the dice were rolled and pieces moved, Gretzky was sitting on a plane, uncertain whether it was going to land in Edmonton or Winnipeg—and whether he’d then become an Oiler or a Jet.

Language barriers, culture shock and isolation: How the NHL's loneliest players cope 🔒Trenin was 17 years old when he left Russia to pursue his hockey dreams halfway around the world in North America. He had done his homework, too, taking classes to learn some rudimentary English so he at least could have a hope of understanding his coaches and fitting in with his teammates. The whole situation was terrifying. Then he showed up in Quebec. “I didn’t know they only speak French there,” Trenin said. “I was preparing for English and I get there and they all speak French.”

Matthew Tkachuk, the Panthers' goalie-goading throwback, delivers hits — and wins — when it counts 🔒 He played most of his second year with Auston Matthews and Jack Roslovic, which was an unreal line. Auston was the marked man, and Matthew — after being around his dad — was like, well, "Auston is my center, nobody is touching him." And he started to become that guy. Any little scrum, he was right in the middle of it to make sure that his teammates were taken care of.

Sad Strombone: A Retirement Farewell to Roberto Luongo, the People’s Goalie Roberto Luongo sat on a toilet in Anaheim in May 2007, living out a gnarly and highly specific anxiety dream. Less than a month earlier, the young Vancouver Canucks goaltender had made his NHL playoff debut with a 72-save, quadruple-overtime win over the Dallas Stars, going on to post a ridiculous .950 save percentage in the series. Now, though, the Canucks faced elimination against the Ducks in Game 5 of the second round, and with the score tied 1-1 at the end of regulation, a huge overtime was about to begin. Actually, it had already begun, which Luongo could hear from his seat in the bathroom.

'Okay, Who Else Saw It?' Hockey's Best and Brightest Fall, and Laugh About It, All the Time Even in the heat of an NHL game, no matter the period or score, T.J. Oshie typically reacts the same way if a teammate absolutely eats it on the ice with no one else around. First, the Washington Capitals winger laughs from the bench. Falling down is hockey’s most humbling error, and therefore its funniest when committed by supposedly professional skaters. “Then,” says Oshie, “you turn to the assistant coach and go, ‘Make sure you clip that.’”

Nicklas Backstrom isn’t playing. His mark remains on the Capitals. 🔒 For 16 years, Nicklas Backstrom was involved in everything the Capitals did, little and large. The Caps he leaves behind are pushing forward with goals for the team (to return to the playoffs) and for Ovechkin (to catch Gretzky). If and when they reach either or both, everyone involved should remember and acknowledge the role Backstrom played in it all. His locker is empty. His heart should be full.

The Blue Jackets' 'fine master' and the battle of the hoodie 🔒 The concept of a “fine master” isn’t a new one in professional hockey. Always done in good fun, almost every team has a fine master, and every player knows how it works. Late for a bus? Pay a fine. Fall during warmups? Pay a fine. Violate dress code? (A-ha!) Pay a fine. The fine master collects all the resulting monies and then disperses them through the season as charitable donations, and payment for team dinners and get-togethers.

Farewell, Enforcers: A Eulogy for an NHL Institution I loved enforcers back then, and even more, I hated lectures from snobby anti-fighting sportswriters who clearly had never enjoyed a good honest scrap in their life and had no right to talk down their noses to those of us who did. All of which makes it a very strange experience to write these words: The NHL’s enforcer era is coming to an end, and I’m happy about that. I don’t want those guys in the game anymore.

Why Quinn Hughes has something to prove — "A lot of guys don't watch the West' 🔒 Hughes lives hockey. His family lives hockey. There’s a reason he’s one of the smartest defenders in the game today, and it’s because he knows this sport inside and out. He tracks obscure records, he’s aware of the statistics and the conversation around the league, and yes, he noticed where he stood in recent lists of the best players in the NHL compiled both by ESPN and The Athletic.

No Place Like Home: Visiting Ilya Kovalchuk in Russia I wasn’t mad as I watched the “Shaybu!” video, nor did I harbor a grudge. I knew how much he’d enjoyed playing in the KHL during the lockout, so I wasn’t surprised. But Kovalchuk looked so buoyant, so comfortable, as he shouted silly song lyrics in a room full of his peers, that a small part of me just felt jealous. It was like happening upon a Facebook photo album of an ex looking blissful with someone new. Why couldn’t we make him that happy? I wondered. What do they have that we don’t? I went to Russia to see for myself.

AND a bonus short read. tysm to @msmargaretmurry for the reminder about this absolute CLASSIC: Baby, Joel Ward’s got back 🔒 It's a large rump by his own admission, one for which he nervously thanked his mother. It can shield opponents from pucks, bump them from forechecks and destroy centers of gravity. It can block incoming shots or deflect them toward the net, create goal-mouth traffic or sweep it away.

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