NHL Hockey News

The Arizona Coyotes of the NHL made league history on May 5th by naming John Chayka as the club’s new general manager. The 26-year-old Chayka is the youngest ever GM in the NHL as well as the youngest in any of North America’s major professional sports leagues. The previous youngest manager in the NHL was 30-year-old Gord Stellick of the Toronto Maple Leafs back in the 1980s. Chayka is also a several weeks younger than Stan Kasten, who was 27 when hired by the Atlanta Hawks of the NBA in 1979. Kasten is currently the CEO and president of Major League Baseball’s Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Toronto Maple Leafs will have the first overall selection in the NHL Draft this summer for the first time since taking Wendel Clark back in 1985. The Leafs won the draft lottery on April 30th after finishing in 30th and last place in the league in the 2015/16 season. The Leafs entered the lottery with the best overall chance of winning it at 20 per cent. The Edmonton Oilers, who have picked first overall four times in the past six years, had the second-best odds of 13.5 per cent and dropped two spots to fourth. The Maple Leafs could sure use the help of a first-overall pick as they haven’t won the Stanley Cup since the 1966/67 campaign and have been one of the dregs of the league for the past few decades. The Leafs now have 12 selections in this year’s draft.

Head coach Bruce Boudreau was fired by the Anaheim Ducks on April 29th after the NHL team blew a 3-2 series lead against the Nashville Predators. The Ducks lost their opening playoff series at home in seven games two nights earlier after finishing as the top team in the Pacific Division this season. Bob Murray, the general manager of the Ducks, released a statement which thanked Boudreau for his services and dedication to the organization. He added that it was an extremely tough decision to make and the franchise wishes Boudreau the best of luck in his future endeavours.

The 61-yeaqr-old Boudreau joined the Ducks after he was let go by the Washington Capitals and spent four and a half years in Anaheim. During that time he led the team to a record of 208-104-40 in the regular season and they captured four consecutive Pacific Division championships. However, Boudreau’s squads only made it past the second round of the playoffs on one occasion. This was last season when they blew a 3-2 series lead against the eventual Stanley Cup winners the Chicago Blackhawks.

The American Hockey League (AHL) set a new attendance record in the just completed 2015/16 regular season. The 30-team league is based in Canada and the U.S. and is a developmental league for the NHL with each club being affiliated with an NHL franchise. There are just three Canadian-based clubs with the other 27 being spread out from coast to coast across America with five of the teams being located in the non-traditional ice hockey state of California.

The good news for the league of course is that it’s attracting fans across the continent at a record rate as the AHL announced that a grand total of 6,693,526 spectators attended games this season. This surpasses the league’s old attendance record which was previously set in the 2004/05 campaign. The average attendance for each of the AHL’s contests in 2015/16 was close to 6,000, which isn’t bad for minor league hockey, especially considering that seven AHL clubs relocated to new cities this season. The Hershey Bears, who are affiliated with the Washington Capitals and play at the Giant Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania, led the way with an average crowd of about 10,000 per game. The Bears have now led the league in attendance for 10 straight years.