The 2017-18 NHL season is the 101st season of operation (100th season of play) of the National Hockey League. With the addition of a new expansion team, the Vegas Golden Knights, 31 teams compete in an 82-game regular season. The regular season began on October 4, 2017, and will end on April 7, 2018. The 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs will then begin a few days afterwards, with the Stanley Cup Finals held in early June.
Video 2017-18 NHL season
League business
Expansion
On June 22, 2016, the NHL confirmed that it had granted an expansion franchise in the city of Las Vegas to an ownership group led by Bill Foley, whose identity was revealed as the Vegas Golden Knights on November 22. The team plays in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference.
Olympics abstention and ban
On April 3, 2017, the NHL announced that, after five Olympic tournaments in which the NHL allowed its players to participate in the event, it would not do so for the men's hockey tournament at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Furthermore, the league did not include a break for the Olympics in its schedule, and scheduled its All-Star Game as usual for late-January shortly prior to the Olympics (historically, the All-Star Game was not played during Olympic years). Each team's mandatory bye week, stipulated in the league's CBA, was also scattered throughout the month of January.
The restriction will apply to any player under NHL contract, including those in its affiliated minor leagues, but not to players signed to one-way contracts directly with the teams in those minor leagues nor players signed to entry-level contracts who are playing junior ice hockey. Several players have vowed to participate anyway, most notably Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin. The league had initially stated that minor league prospects would not be subject to the ban. As the league had little legal room to enforce a ban itself without running afoul of the National Hockey League Players Association, the league instead colluded with the International Ice Hockey Federation, who agreed to establish a blacklist forbidding the national teams from offering invitations to players under NHL contracts.
Players with Olympic aspirations who were free agents, especially those whose NHL prospects were marginal, were advised not to sign NHL contracts and, if they wished to play professionally, sign directly with minor league clubs to maintain Olympic eligibility. Former Buffalo Sabres captain Brian Gionta and former Olympian Jarome Iginla were among those who opted not to sign NHL contracts for the season prior to the Olympics.
Salary cap
On June 18, 2017, the National Hockey League Players' Association announced that the salary cap would be set at $75 million for the 2017-18 season.
Rule changes
The NHL Board of Governors passed some new rules that take effect this season, including:
- coach's challenge of offside - the original rule was put in place after a series of highly blatant off-side calls had been missed. The rule soon became a huge time waster, often requested by coaches whose team had allowed a goal wanting a review of the exact millimeter that a skate and the puck pass the blue line. To reduce the number of coach's challenges, there is now a two-minute penalty for delay of game if the review does not result in an offside being overturned.
- no timeouts after icing - as a team that causes an icing is not allowed to change the players on the ice, coaches took to calling their 30-second timeout to allow their players to rest, getting around the intent of the "no-changes" rule. This rule change eliminates that practice.
- touching high-sticked puck by power play team - previously, if a team on the man advantage played a puck after it was high-sticked, no matter where on the ice this happened, the play was stopped and the faceoff come all the way back to their own zone. This has been adjusted slightly so that, if the infraction happens in the short handed team's zone, the faceoff would only be moved back to the neutral zone just outside the short handed team's zone.
The Board of Governors has also stated that existing rules be fully enforced in certain situations that had become "unofficially" ignored:
- enforcement of slashing rules - not a rule change as such, referees are now expected to enforce the existing two-minute penalty for slashing when players chop at the wrists and hands of a puck carrier. This follows a series of injuries - including a partially chopped-off finger - for this common practice that was rarely being penalized.
- faceoff infractions - not a rule change as such, referees are now expected to enforce the existing two-minute penalty for improper stance by a player taking a faceoff. This follows an extensive period where players have not been standing with their feet properly placed within the limits of the markings by the dot, with their bodies square to the end boards.
Media rights
This is the seventh season under the NHL's ten-year U.S. rights deal with NBC Sports, and the fourth season of its twelve-year Canadian rights deals with Sportsnet and TVA Sports.
AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain (which, along with AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh, the regional broadcaster of the Pittsburgh Penguins, re-branded from Root Sports over the off-season) hold the regional television rights for the new Vegas Golden Knights expansion team. TSN has re-gained regional English-language rights to the Montreal Canadiens, and extended its radio contract with co-owned CKGM. Rogers Media has acquired the radio rights for the Vancouver Canucks for newly acquired 650 CISL.
Centennial celebration
The NHL's centennial commemorations continued into the 2017-18 season, as its 100th season of play. On March 17, 2017, the NHL announced that it would hold an outdoor game at TD Place Stadium between the Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens on December 16, 2017, to formally mark the 100th anniversary of their first NHL game. The Toronto Maple Leafs will mark the centennial of the NHL's first game (which involved their predecessor, the Toronto Arenas) during their December 19, 2017, game against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Preseason games in China
On March 30, 2017, it was announced that the Los Angeles Kings and Vancouver Canucks would play two pre-season games in China on September 21 and 23. These were the first NHL games ever played in China.
Maps 2017-18 NHL season
Coaching changes
Arena changes
- The Detroit Red Wings moved to Little Caesars Arena, replacing their longtime home, the Joe Louis Arena.
- The Vegas Golden Knights will play their inaugural season at T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada.
- The Washington Capitals' home arena was renamed from Verizon Center to Capital One Arena.
- The Winnipeg Jets' home arena was renamed from MTS Centre to Bell MTS Place in observance of the BCE Inc. acquisition of Manitoba Telecom Services (MTS) earlier in the year.
Regular season
The regular season began on October 4, 2017, and will end on April 7, 2018. Each team will receive a five-day "bye week", and all of them will take place in mid-January.
International games
Two regular season games between the Colorado Avalanche and the Ottawa Senators were scheduled at Ericsson Globe in Stockholm, Sweden for November 10 and 11, 2017, branded as the SAP NHL Global Series.
Outdoor games
- The 100 Classic will be held on December 16, 2017 at TD Place Stadium in Lansdowne Park, Ottawa, featuring the Montreal Canadiens against the Ottawa Senators.
- The Winter Classic will be held on January 1, 2018 at Citi Field in Flushing, New York, with the New York Rangers playing the Buffalo Sabres.
- The Stadium Series will be held on March 3, 2018 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland, featuring two of last seasons playoff teams, the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Washington Capitals.
All-Star Game
The 63rd National Hockey League All-Star Game will be held in Tampa, Florida at Amalie Arena, home of the Tampa Bay Lightning, on January 28, 2018. The format will not change and will follow the format used in two previous All-Star games.
Standings
Statistics
Scoring leaders
The following players led the league in regular season points at the conclusion of games played on November 24, 2017.
Leading goaltenders
The following goaltenders led the league in regular season goals against average at the conclusion of games played on November 24, 2017, while playing at least 480 minutes.
Milestones
First games
The following is a list of notable players who played their first NHL game during the 2017-18 season, listed with their first team.
Last games
The following is a list of players of note who played their last NHL game in 2017-18, listed with their team:
Major milestones reached
- On October 4, 2017, Philadelphia Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds scored his 400th point.
- On October 4, 2017, San Jose Sharks defenseman Brent Burns scored his 500th point.
- On October 5, 2017, Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Sharp scored his 600th point.
- On October 7, 2017, Anaheim Ducks forward Antoine Vermette scored his 500th point.
- On October 15, 2017, New York Islanders forward Andrew Ladd scored his 500th point.
- On October 17, 2017, Vancouver Canucks forward Thomas Vanek scored his 700th point.
- On October 18, 2017, Toronto Maple Leafs forward Patrick Marleau played his 1,500th NHL game, becoming the 18th player to do so.
- On October 19, 2017, St. Louis Blues forward Paul Stastny scored his 600th point.
- On October 20, 2017, Winnipeg Jets forward Blake Wheeler scored his 200th goal.
- On October 20, 2017, Winnipeg Jets head coach Paul Maurice won his 600th game, becoming the 17th coach to reach the mark.
- On October 21, 2017, Tampa Bay Lightning forward Steven Stamkos scored his 600th point.
- On October 24, 2017, Philadelphia Flyers forward Jakub Voracek scored his 500th point.
- On October 26, 2017, New York Rangers forward Rick Nash played his 1,000th game.
- On October 26, 2017, Pittsburgh Penguins forward Phil Kessel scored his 300th goal.
- On November 2, 2017, San Jose Sharks forward Joe Thornton scored his 1,400th career point, becoming the 20th player in league history to reach this milestone.
- On November 4, 2017, Anaheim Ducks forward Andrew Cogliano played his 800th consecutive game, becoming the 4th player in league history to reach this milestone.
- On November 10, 2017, Washington Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby reached his 200th NHL win, becoming the second-fastest goaltender to reach this mark.
Uniforms
- Adidas is the official uniform and apparel provider of the NHL beginning with the 2017-18 season. As part of the transition from Reebok to Adidas, no third jerseys will be worn this season. New or updated uniforms for all teams were unveiled on June 20, 2017.
- The Ottawa Senators are wearing stickers on their helmets honouring former general manager Bryan Murray, who died in August 2017.
- All jerseys will continue to have patches of the NHL's centennial emblem, located above or below the numbers on their right sleeves, for at least up to the playing of the NHL 100 Classic on December 16.
See also
- 2017-18 NHL transactions
- 2017-18 NHL suspensions and fines
- List of 2017-18 NHL Three Star Awards
- 2017 in sports
- 2018 in sports
References
External links
- 2017-18 NHL season schedule
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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