TORONTO –

Pierre-Luc Dubois was still trying to figure out NHL life.

Helmet firmly fastened under his chin, the Columbus Blue Jackets rookie stepped on the ice for warm-ups ahead of his eighth professional hockey game in October 2017.

The Los Angeles Kings — a roster full packed with Stanley Cup winners — were at the rink’s opposite end, many with slicked back hair as they emerged from the tunnel.

“Like 14 guys without a helmet,” recalled Dubois, now a centre with the Washington Capitals. “I was like, ‘This is so intimidating.’ I’m 19 years old and they’ve won (titles), they’re huge, they have no helmets, no teeth, so scary.

“I remember thinking, ‘Wow, that’d be really cool to do one day.’”

Helmets — or buckets — off in warm-ups remains a unique part daily life for many NHLers despite the league instituting a rule that states anyone not in the league before the 2019-20 season must don the protective gear pre-game.

Players making their debuts are still allowed to take them off for the “rookie lap” initiation before putting the equipment back on, but there remains plenty of athletes leaving helmets in the locker room.

“There’s a few hidden gems in the NHL,” San Jose Sharks winger Tyler Toffoli said. “No helmet in warm-up is in the top-3.”

Tampa Bay Lightning forward Corey Perry has played 21 seasons, mostly without a helmet in warm-up. There have been close calls and scary moments — including off his own stick — as pucks rattle glass and chime posts.

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“I hit myself,” he said. “Off the crossbar and cut my eyebrow open.”

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The NHL issued a memo earlier this season after a few teams had ineligible players go without helmets pre-game.

Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Morgan Rielly used to be mesmerized by the ritual going to Vancouver Canucks games as a kid.

“I remember seeing Markus Naslund out there with no helmet,” he said. “I thought that was the coolest thing.”

Toronto, like Columbus when Dubois entered the league, had an internal team policy that forced players to wear helmets in warm-ups under past management regimes.

The directive now loosened, Rielly, William Nylander, Max Domi and Jake McCabe are among the players sans head garb when the Maple Leafs hit the ice about 30 minutes before puck drop.

“In a tough stretch everyone’s talking about confidence this, confidence that,” Rielly said. “So we said, ‘Screw it, let’s start.’”

But just because a player entered the league back when helmets could be removed didn’t mean it was allowed.

Toffoli got to take his off when he hit 100 games with the Kings after veterans let him know it was time.

“One of the first things I wanted to do was warm-ups with no helmet,” he recalled. “(Former teammate) Jarret Stoll gave me some Dippity Do gel to throw in my hair.”

Added Perry: “Back in the day if you took your helmet off, you knew you’d done something right.”

Anaheim Ducks rookie Beckett Sennecke got to take his off just once.

“Pretty cool feeling,” the forward said of that initial lap. “Wish that was still a rule.”

Los Angeles defenceman Drew Doughty said his group wasn’t allowed to remove them in warm-ups until after capturing their first Cup in 2012.

“We started winning and basically our entire team was no buckets,” he said. “Maybe we should go to buckets on until we win again … but you seem cool if you have no bucket.”

Maple Leafs centre John Tavares, who did warm-ups without a helmet earlier in his career, said there’s a tradition element.

“The league has been around for over 100 years,” he said. “A little bit of getting to play in the NHL, the uniqueness of that.”

There have also been serious injuries, including Taylor Hall falling and getting stepped on when he was with the Edmonton Oilers, resulting in a nasty row of stitches across his forehead in 2012.

Self-preservation without a helmet is key.

“You have to think of warm-ups different,” Tampa Bay Lightning centre Nick Paul said. “You’re always watching, listening for shots off posts and crossbars. I’ve ducked a couple. You never go below the goal line. And when you’re shooting, you see a guy with no helmet, you know not to rip it.”

The risk, however, remains worth it.

“I feel alive and awake,” said Dubois, who doesn’t have a set helmet routine. “You always have to be on the lookout, but it’s scary at times.

“And my parents would like for me not to do it.”

DOWN THE STRETCH

The race for the final Eastern Conference wild-card berth looks set to go down to the wire.

Columbus currently occupies the spot with 88 points and seven games left. Ottawa, Detroit and Philadelphia all sit with 86 points and eight contests remaining. Washington, meanwhile, is still in the mix with 85 points and seven dates still on the schedule.

BENCH TURNOVER

The Vegas Golden Knights’ decision to fire head coach Bruce Cassidy and replace him with John Tortorella this week once again demonstrated that career path’s volatility.

Just eight NHL teams have the same coach as at the start of 2023-24 — Ryan Huska (Calgary), Rod Brind’Amour (Carolina), Jared Bednar (Colorado), Paul Maurice (Florida), Martin St. Louis (Montreal), Andrew Brunette (Nashville), Jon Cooper (Tampa Bay) and Spencer Carbery (Washington).

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 1, 2026.

TORONTO – The Toronto Maple Leafs will be looking to hire a “data-centric” visionary as they move on from a disappointing NHL season that led to the firing of general manager Brad Treliving.

Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment president and chief executive officer Keith Pelley faced the media Tuesday to answer for a season gone wrong and give an idea of how the Leafs will move on in an increasingly competitive Atlantic Division.

“They have to be data-centric,” Pelley said of whoever will replace Treliving as the head of Toronto’s hockey operations. “They have to really understand the importance of data and where data is moving.”

“Every single decision we make will be evidence based,” he added. “Evidence-based decisions are never wrong.

“That’s not to say there’s not room for the heart, that doesn’t mean there’s not room to check culture, but it’s evidence based.”

Pelley said the misfortunes of the Maple Leafs, who entered the day in third-last place in the Eastern Conference standings, could not be placed solely on Treliving’s shoulders.

But after firing him Monday following three seasons on the job, Pelley said the team must “chart a new course” under different leadership, calling Treliving a “good man” and an “excellent hockey executive.”

“The team is blessed with the best resources in hockey,” Pelley said. “I can emphatically tell you, with the greatest of confidence, that there are many teams competing next month in the Stanley Cup playoffs that their expenditures on hockey operations pales in in comparison to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

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“But without the right structure, without the right processes in place, without the right culture, without the alignment and accountability among everyone inside the operation, we will not be successful.”

Pelley said the search for the Maple Leafs’ new head of hockey operations will begin immediately, but assistant general managers Brandon Pridham and Ryan Hardy will share the duties on an interim basis for the rest of the season.

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Pelley did not say whether the Leafs’ hockey operations would be led by a president, a general manager or a combination of the roles.

“There’s no right or wrong way to actually run it,” he said.

But perhaps Pelley can find clues from division rivals Montreal and Buffalo, two teams he lauded for making big leads this season.

“We definitely didn’t see the train coming, which was the Buffalo Sabres and the Montreal Canadiens,” Pelley said, adding they are young and energetic teams that are “going to be here for a long time.”

Buffalo entered Tuesday in second place in the Atlantic Division, tied on points with Tampa Bay, while the Canadiens were third while riding a five-game winning streak.

Treliving was hired by former Toronto president of hockey operations Brendan Shanahan after he handed Kyle Dubas his walking papers as GM in May 2023.

Treliving took over a top-heavy, high-priced roster led by Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander and John Tavares originally pieced together by Shanahan, Dubas and former GM Lou Lamoriello that was never able to get over the playoff hump. Dating back to 2017, Toronto is 2-14 with a chance to eliminate an opponent and 0-7 in winner-take-all contests, including 0-6 in Games 7s.

Pelley, who took over as president of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment in April 2024, declined to renew Shanahan’s contract after last season’s second-round playoff exit that was accented by consecutive 6-1 losses to the Florida Panthers on home ice in Games 5 and 7. Shanahan’s position in the hockey brain trust wasn’t subsequently filled.

Treliving’s tenure, meanwhile, will be marked by the loss of Marner — there was a window where the organization could have traded the hometown forward before his contract’s no-movement clause kicked in — and the high price paid for defenceman Brandon Carlo and centre Scott Laughton ahead of last season’s NHL trade deadline.

The Maple Leafs shipped prized forward prospect Fraser Minten, a top-5 protected first-round pick this June and a fourth-rounder last year for Carlo, a veteran blueliner yet to meet expectations. Minten is 21 years old and centring Boston’s top line in the middle of a playoff race.

A pending unrestricted free agent, Laughton was dealt to the Los Angeles Kings for a 2026 conditional third-round pick — much less than what Toronto paid 12 months earlier — at this season’s deadline.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 31, 2026.

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TORONTO – J.T. Miller and the New York Rangers expected big things when they broke training camp back in the fall.

Coming off a playoff-less spring that resulted in forward Chris Kreider and defenceman K’Andre Miller getting shipped out of town, the club believed its remaining core — led by star goaltender Igor Shesterkin — along with the addition of decorated head coach Mike Sullivan and blueliner Vladislav Gavrikov would get the club back into the NHL’s spring dance.

The Original Six franchise is instead headed toward another long summer of big questions.

The Rangers (28-35-9) became the second team officially eliminated from post-season contention Wednesday when they fell 4-3 in Toronto.

New York, which tied a franchise record with just 10 shots on goal in Monday’s ugly 2-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators, directed 43 pucks on target against Maple Leafs netminder Joseph Woll, but were unable to avoid the axe finally falling.

“I don’t think anybody thought we’d be where we are,” said Miller, the team’s captain. “It sucks … it’s the worst. We don’t want that. But right now we’re just worried about playing good hockey games during the season and feeling good going into summer — feeling good about our game, at least, and trying to move in the right direction.

“We failed to reach our goal.”

The Rangers made the Eastern Conference final in both 2022 and 2024 to go along with a first-round exit in 2023.

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“Nobody’s thrilled with where we’re at,” said Sullivan, who won the Stanley Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2016 and 2017 before leading the United States to gold at the Milan Cortina Olympics. “We’re doing everything we can to try to instil a certain standard here that we can build on moving forward.”

General manager Chris Drury could be in line for some tough conversations once the Rangers, a group with plenty of veterans on big-money deals, play out the string and turn to 2026-27.

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“This is not what we wanted,” said centre Mika Zibanejad, who scored twice Wednesday to give him 32 goals on the campaign. “It’s tough, but it hasn’t come as a surprise in terms of (elimination) happening. It was just a matter of time if you look at the standings. You can do quick math, but it still hurts.”

“We get to evaluate more of it when we play all the rest of the games.”

Sullivan said if the Rangers put in more efforts like Wednesday’s down the meaningless stretch, they will be in better shape moving forward.

“If we play like that, with those intentions, that type of intensity, we’re gonna win games,” he said. “We deserved a better fate (in Toronto) … it didn’t happen, but I thought we played a pretty good game.”

GETTING CHIRPED

Maple Leafs defenceman Jake McCabe said his kids were giving him a hard time before puck drop for not scoring since Nov. 18.

The gritty blueliner, who leads the NHL with 173 shot blocks, promptly went out and buried the game’s first goal — and his fourth overall — with a nice finish off a scramble after pinching down from the point.

“They said, ‘Dad, you never score goals. When are you going to score a goal?’” McCabe recounted with a smile of the conversation back at home. “It’s nice to get one, especially in the first period when I know they’re still up watching. Looking forward to seeing them in the morning.”

GOOD VIBES

Toronto, which is on course to miss the playoffs for the first time since 2016, picked up a 4-2 triumph in Boston against the Bruins on Tuesday before bagging Wednesday’s result to sweep the team’s mentors trip.

The annual event sees players bring important people from their lives into the Maple Leafs’ circle.

“A fun couple games,” McCabe said. “It’s been tough sledding around here, so it’s nice to collect some points.”

BOYS OF SUMMER

Members of the Toronto Blue Jays, including George Springer, Ernie Clement and Davis Schneider, attended Wednesday’s game — and were in Maple Leafs’ locker room before and after the victory.

“A little different type of preparation, but cool having them,” said Toronto centre John Tavares, who scored the game-winning goal against New York. “Regardless of circumstances for us, I think it’s great, the support for each other, and certainly what they did for this city last year, and what they’re hoping to do this year.”

The reigning American League champions, who lost Game 7 of the World Series at home to the Los Angeles Dodgers, open the 2026 season Friday at Rogers Centre against the Athletics.

“It was unreal taking in their run,” Tavares continued of the Blue Jays. “I know the excitement and probably the determination for them to go back out, and do it again and finish the job.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 25, 2026.

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TORONTO – Joseph Woll made 40 saves and John Tavares scored the winner as the Toronto Maple Leafs topped the New York Rangers 4-3 on Wednesday night.

Jake McCabe, Nick Robertson and Dakota Joshua had the other goals for Toronto (31-29-13).

Matias Maccelli added two assists. Woll picked up the second assist on Joshua’s goal for his first NHL point.

Mika Zibanejad, with two goals, and Alexis Lafrenière, with a goal and two assists, replied for New York (29-35-9), which was eliminated from playoff contention with the loss. Igor Shesterkin stopped 14 shots. Adam Fox chipped in two assists.

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The disappointing Maple Leafs picked up just their second victory (2-7-3) at Scotiabank Arena since mid-January.

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New York, which will finish below the post-season cutline for a second straight spring, sits second-last in the overall standings. Toronto ranks 21st and is on the way to missing the playoffs for the first time since 2016.

TAKEAWAYS

Rangers: Adam Sykora made his NHL debut after being called up from the Hartford Wolf Pack. The 21-year-old winger, selected 63rd overall at the 2022 draft, put up 12 goals and 17 assists for 29 points across 62 games in the American Hockey League in 2025-26.

Maple Leafs: William Nylander is one point away from passing his father, Michael, for family bragging rights. The winger has 679 points in 741 regular-season games. The elder Nylander registered 679 points in 920 contests.

KEY MOMENT

Tavares scored his 26th goal of the season at 11:57 of the third period to make it 4-2 when he ripped a shot past Shesterkin after Toronto had built a 3-0 lead in the second.

KEY STAT

New York, which tied a dubious franchise record with just 10 shots in Monday’s 2-1 home loss to the Ottawa Senators, directed 14 attempts on target in Wednesday’s opening period. The visitors also pumped 17 more pucks on Woll in the second.

UP NEXT

Rangers: Host the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday

Maple Leafs: Visit the St. Louis Blues on Saturday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 25, 2026.

&copy 2026 The Canadian Press

TORONTO – Macklin Celebrini is often looking down on the bench.

The San Jose Sharks star centre isn’t in pain or checking his laces. He’s usually going over what just transpired — on an iPad.

“If a play didn’t work out how I wanted,” Celebrini explained. “Or if one of my teammates was talking to me about something and I didn’t see it, I think it’s good just to be able to go back and look.”

Technology and sports have countless intersections. One trend in the NHL over the better part of the last decade has been the use of digital tablets in-game that can provide coaches and players with near-instant replays.

Montreal Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki is a big fan.

“Love the iPad,” he said. “We have a rule on our team where you only get to watch it during TV timeouts … you don’t want to be on the iPad when you’re trying to make a change.”

That’s where the bench balancing act comes into play.

“Sometimes we feel as coaches we’re working at the Apple Store when the guys are asking for iPads, but I get it, in a sense,” Sharks bench boss Ryan Warsofsky said. “I don’t really appreciate it when they look to see how much they missed the net by.”

Seattle Kraken captain Jordan Eberle said there’s no such thing as too much information, but tablets can become a distraction.

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“The game is so fast, mistakes are going to be made,” he said. “If you’re looking on the iPad to see the mistake, it should already be forgotten and move on to the next shift.”

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New Jersey Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe said while there are plenty of benefits when it comes to parsing technique or structure, the tech can be overused.

“A goalie that made a big save or you flubbed on a pass — don’t waste your time on that,” he said. “Let’s stay in the moment and then move quickly on.”

Keefe, however, added the league’s younger generation grew up with screens and expects immediate intel from the video coaches splicing tape.

“They’ve come up in an era where they’re used to having things at their fingertips,” he said. “They want the information.”

Minnesota Wild forward Matt Boldy will only really look at the iPad, which officials also use at the timekeeper’s bench on coach’s challenge and other replays, after specific sequences.

“I’m not a huge believer in nitpicking every shift and saying, ‘Why didn’t you pass it to me right here?’” he said. “I’m sure they have plenty of clips of me not passing to them, too.”

Celebrini’s screen time last season as a rookie got some attention.

“It was pretty public that I used the iPads quite a bit,” he said. “I think I got caught (on camera) every time I used it, so it looked like I was on it more than I was.”

Anaheim Ducks head coach Joel Quenneville, who played more than 800 NHL games and owns over 1,000 victories behind the bench, has had a front-row seat to plenty of change in hockey.

“Not a fan (of iPads),” said the three-time Stanley Cup winner, who mostly searches out replays for calls by on-ice officials. “I’m not gonna discourage it, but I don’t promote it.”

Devils centre Jack Hughes said screen use can negatively impact players in the moment.

“You miss a big chance, and you’re upset about it,” he said. “You go back and look at look at it, but then you just get more frustrated. Every guy’s different, but think it’s very useful for some parts of the game.”

“Anything’s good in moderation, right?” New York Rangers winger Will Cuylle added. “But you don’t want to be like a little kid out there on his iPad.”

Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube, another former NHLer from a different era, noted players are sometimes only interested in tablet-based replays when it makes them look good.

“I love the iPads,” he said in a muted, sarcastic tone. “They want the iPads after a shift when they have a scoring opportunity, but they don’t want the iPad when they screwed up defensively.

“That’s when the assistant coach goes down and shows them.”

TIME CRUNCH

The NHL’s return to the Olympics offered fans a riveting mid-season tournament. That 2 1/2-week break has also left coaches with even less time for on-ice preparations throughout 2025-26 due to a compressed schedule that offers little wiggle room.

“Our morning skate is, a lot of times, our practice,” Quenneville said. “We just go 15, 20 minutes.”

He added that making sure players are ready for important games down the stretch is paramount.

“The other team’s in the same boat,” Quenneville said. “Rest, I think, is probably not a bad idea … we’ve been trying to be aware of that.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 25, 2026.

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OTTAWA – The only thing the Ottawa Senators are worried about right now is themselves.

With 13 games remaining in their regular season, the Senators are desperately fighting to secure a playoff spot. And while they could use a little help from other teams to improve their odds, they’re making sure to hold themselves accountable above all.

Following a 5-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday, the Senators (36-24-9) sit three points back of the Detroit Red Wings for the final wild-card berth in the Eastern Conference.

The Leafs, who’s playoff hopes were dashed a while back, struggled to hold their own against their provincial rivals.

“Obviously, they stuck to their game and what they did well,” said Toronto’s John Tavares. “They executed and made it hard on us and then we still got back in the game, but we just couldn’t seem to make the push we needed.”

Ottawa has been playing some of its best hockey of late going 7-2-1 through its last 10, but more importantly are getting contributions throughout the lineup.

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Playing without Jake Sanderson, who suffered an upper-body injury March 7, and Nick Jensen, who suffered a torn meniscus March 11, the Senators depth at defence has been tested.

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Nicolas Matinpalo and Dennis Gilbert have proven to be a reliable third pairing. Gilbert’s future could be questionable. He left the game late in the third after taking a hard hit from Toronto’s Oliver Ekman-Larsson.

The Senators are benefiting from the pairing of Jordan Spence and Tyler Kleven. Spence has been able to show some offensive capabilities and Kleven is a steady presence.

“It’s nice to see,” said Senators coach Travis Green. “They’re getting more minutes now, obviously, with our injuries, and you hope you have confidence in everyone on your team, that when that happens they step up and they have. They haven’t missed a beat. They’re playing as good as they were, or even better, with less minutes.”

While much attention has been paid to Ottawa’s back end there’s no denying the contributions from its forwards.

“Our depth has been awesome,” said Tim Stutzle. “It’s been a lot of fun right now to come to the rink everyday and just working together as a group and trying to get better everyday.”

The Senators third line of Michael Amadio, Shane Pinto and Nick Cousins is a threat at both ends of the ice.

Amadio has already set a career high in points (12G, 18A) and is well appreciated by his teammates.

Amadio was traded to Ottawa in March 2021 and he played five games. He wasn’t re-signed by the organization and Tim Stutzle was quick to point out how he had enjoyed playing with Amadio during his first stint and was thrilled when he returned.

“He’s really underrated in my opinion,” Stutzle said. “He has one of the best sticks in the league, out killing penalties and plays in every situation. And just the space he creates for his linemates. It’s been awesome to see, and I think that line has been going really well.”

Ottawa’s fourth line has also found some chemistry. Lars Eller is playing between Warren Foegele, acquired at the trade deadline, and Fabian Zetterlund.

Foegele, who has goals in his last two games, has been a solid addition.

“We have a lot of confidence in the way we play and the players that we have in this locker room,” said Claude Giroux. “So, when you have that confidence, you know you don’t have to be the hero, you don’t have to do the extra play, you just gotta trust your game is going to make you successful.”

The Senators visit the Red Wings on Tuesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 22, 2026.

&copy 2026 The Canadian Press