• The Canadian Press

    'Kings fatigue,' high prices dampen enthusiasm for Oilers playoff tickets

    EDMONTON — The in-house decibel meter shot past 100 throughout the game. More than 1,150 hats — 14 bags full — were collected after Zach Hyman scored his third goal of the game. Just another raucous playoff night at Edmonton's Rogers Place, right? Not quite. The Oilers announced a sellout crowd for their 7-4 win over Los Angeles on Monday that opened a first-round playoff series with the Kings. Unoccupied seats, however, were noticeable throughout the arena. There was an entire row that was empt

  • The Canadian Press

    Defensemen injuries are already piling up early in the NHL playoffs

    Deep NHL playoff runs Jason Demers went on during his playing career usually ended the same way. “The injuries just accumulated too much,” he said. “And then you’re just not playing at 100%.” That attrition is already showing early in the first round this spring at Demers' old position, as defenses have been depleted by existing and new injuries, from Tampa Bay’s Mikhail Sergachev and Colorado’s Samuel Girard being out long term to Carolina’s Brett Pesce going down Monday night and Washington be

  • The Canadian Press

    Canada adds Tij Iginla, son of Hall of Famer Jarome Iginla, to U18 squad

    CALGARY — Hockey Canada completed its 25-player roster for the upcoming world men's under-18 hockey championship Tuesday with the addition of forward Tij Iginla. The 17-year-old son of Hockey Hall of Famer forward Jarome Iginla had 47 goals and 84 points in 64 games with the Western Hockey League's Kelowna Rockets this season. He added nine goals and 15 points in 11 playoff games before Kelowna was defeated 4-1 by the Prince George Cougars in the second round. Iginla is the No. 9-ranked North Am

  • The Canadian Press

    Samsonov's solid play, mental resolve helps Leafs tie Bruins 1-1: 'He's battled hard'

    BOSTON — Ilya Samsonov had just made a small mistake that quickly turned into a massive problem. The Maple Leafs goaltender fumbled a puck late in the first period of Game 2 against the Bruins. The sequence quickly mushroomed into a jarring shot off the side of his mask, a lost defensive zone faceoff, a goal for David Pastrnak and a 2-1 Boston lead. Already down 1-0 in this best-of-seven series — and without much going its way — Toronto could have gone completely off the rails. Samsonov, meanwhi