Another interesting week or so in the NHL brings us new stories.
‘Hero’ Canucks fan saves staffers life
A medical student-to-be noticed a spot on the back of assistant equipment manager Brian Hamilton’s neck.
Instead of focusing on the action between the Canucks and the Seattle Kraken, Nadia Popovici was looking at Hamilton’s neck.
A red spot grabbed her attention and from her time working as a volunteer in hospitals she knew something wasn’t right.
She made a note on her phone and highlighted the words ‘cancer’ and ‘doctor’ and banged on the glass to get his attention.
It immediately caught Hamilton’s attention he said: “If she went this far — I don’t know her. I don’t know what she knows. I don’t know anything about her — I need to get this checked”.
There’s a happy ending to this tale as Hamilton had the mole removed which turned out to be Type 2 Melanoma.
Popovici was awarded a $10,000 scholarship for her actions that day and Hamilton is eternally grateful to her.
More cancellations due to Covid-19 restrictions
The NHL have announced more fixtures are being cancelled due to Covid-19 restrictions in Canada.
This makes the total of cancelled games this season up to nearly 90, making for high inconsistency for players and fans.
The New York Islanders are most heavily affected, currently missing three games over the course of the next week.
Players and fans alike will hope that this can soon come to end to provide a bit more normalcy.
Terry scores first hat-trick in Ducks triumph
Troy Terry netted his first ever NHL hat-trick at the Honda Centre against the Philadelphia Flyers.
It takes the 24-year-old’s tally of goals up to 21 this season, an impressive showing in his second term.
His hattrick goal game with 66 seconds left to play and rounded off an important 4-1 win for his side to end a four-game losing streak.
They now sit second in the Pacific Division with 43 points from 36 games.
Transfers and injuries
In transfer news:
- Forward Tyler Boucher signs a three-year deal with the Ottawa Senators.
- Netminder Dylan Garand signs a three-year deal with New York Rangers.
- Defenseman Ashton Saunter signs a one-year two-way deal with Vancouver Canucks.
- Forward Robby Fabbri signed a three-year contract extension worth $12 million dollars with Detroit Red Wings.
Some of the injuries the top teams are suffering from:
- Mason Marchant and Sam Reinhart from Florida Panthers are both out with Covid.
- Dante Fabbro from the Nashville Predators out with Covid.
- Derek Grant, Nicolas Deslauriers and Ryan Getzlaf from Anaheim Ducks all out with Covid.
A lot of players are out with Covid, with 18 players ruled out since December 30. This doesn’t take into account players out through health and safety procedures which also includes Covid.
