As the end of the NHL 2024-25 season reaches its final stages there are still plenty of questions to be answered.
Naturally, many of these concern which teams will be making it through to the Stanley Cup playoffs, set to start on April 19th. For the Eastern Conference it looks like the Toronto Maple Leafs are reasonably secure along with the Ottawa Senators while the out and out favourites in the betting are the Washington Cardinals with last year’s winners, the Florida Panthers not far behind.
For the Western Conference the Maple Leafs lead the way and, while the 2023 winners the Vegas Golden Knights might be the world’s only hockey team to play in a desert, they are sure to make the line-up too.
There’s also the question of who will carry off the Hart Trophy for MVP. Three clear leaders are emerging, Nathan MacKinnon of Colorado Avalanche, Leon Draisaitil of the Edmonton Oilers and Tampa bay Lightning’s Nikita Kucherov.
In the goalie stakes it looks like Connor Hellbuyck of the Jets will be leaving all others in his wake to make it his third Vezina Trophy and his second consecutive title.
However the season plays out there have also been some major highlights that have taken place on and off the ice, and here are just five of them.
Alex Ovechkin and the GR8 Chase
From the start of the season many were speculating that this could be the one in which Wayne Gretzky’s career goal record of 894 could finally be beaten. As of April 2nd the great Alex Ovechkin was a mere four goals short. What makes it all the more remarkable is that this has been an injury-affected season for the Washington Capitals’ captain.
In all he missed a total of 16 games with a fractured left leg following a brutal collision with the Utah forward Jack McBain. The record has been in place since March 1994 when Gordie Howe’s previous record of 804 goals was overhauled.
What would make claiming the record even more special for Ovechkin will be if he can also achieve it in fewer games than Gretzky’s 1,487, just three more than Ovechkin has played scoring 891 goals.
4 Nations Face Off
In 2024 it was announced by the NHL that the traditional All-Star game was to be replaced in 2025 by the 4 Nations Face Off. The news was generally well-received coming, as it did, with the news that NHL players would also be permitted to compete in the 2026 and 2030 Winter Olympic Games.
The Tournament was held between February 12th and 20th and featured Canada, the USA, Sweden and Finland.
The format was a round robin with each team play each other once with the two most successful going on to compete in the final. Matches were played at Montreal’s Bell Centre and Boston’s TD Garden.
The final was between Canada and the USA which the former won 3-2 after overtime.
The tournament’s popularity was underlined by the impressive viewership figures with the final attracting 9.3 million fans, making it the fourth highest-rated broadcast in NHL history.
The Next Golden Era Is Now
The season kicked off with a splash thanks to the latest TV ad in the NHL’s “The Next Golden Era Is Now” campaign. Aimed squarely at people who believe it the sport’s biggest heroes are in the past, it celebrated the Gen Z stars of today. For anyone who never saw the ad, it opened with a newscaster asking whether Gen Z is the laziest generation ever. Then we see players like Connor Bedard, Jack Hughes, Nick Suzuki and Auston Matthews gently mocking the many stereotypes attached to their age-group.
Instead, they let their game speak for itself and the final punchline in the ad is “old man” Sidney Crosby proclaiming “Kids these days!”.
The Winnipeg Jets’ winning all the way
The Winnipeg Jets saw their season get off to a flying start unlike any other in their history.
That became the fastest team ever to achieve 15 wins in a season. They achieved this with eight games at home and seven on the road. This also matched the second longest winning streak in NHL history. Another notable achievement by the team and its players was leading the league with a +34 goal difference through 19 games.
NHL in ASL
Last, but not least, the NHL showed its commitment to inclusivity by broadcasting its first ever game with live commentary in American Sign Language for the deaf community. The game was on March 1st between the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Detroit Red Wings. It’s believed that more ASL matches are planned for next the future.
But the 2025-26 season seems a long way ahead of us – and we all eagerly anticipate what this one still has in store for us.
