The NHL’s Centennial season has been a marvelous addition to the league’s history. A number of milestones have been reached in 2016-17, including “Jumbo” Joe Thornton of the San Jose Sharks becoming only the 13th player in history to record 1,000 assists. Hockey fans were also treated to a handful of teams going on major win streaks. The fun is far from over! As the season winds down, wild card spots are still up for the taking and division leads are likely to change hands. Here’s what to watch for in the last month of the regular season. 
 
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The Calgary Flames: Heating Up, On Fire, and Other Hot Puns
The Calgary Flames are the hottest team in the league right now – and that’s a good thing to be in the month of March. The Flames bumped their winning streak up to ten games after beating the Penguins on March 13th and have gone 13-1-1 in their last 15 games. With just 13 games left on their regular season schedule, Calgary is playing at a high and consistent level, generating lots of offense and riding outstanding goaltending. Goalie Brian Elliott, acquired by Calgary during the 2016 NHL Draft, has proven to be a great pickup and has contributed heavily to the streak. A surging team and a goalie with a hot-hand are prime ingredients in the recipe for a playoff run. The Flames currently sit third in the Pacific Division and fifth in the Western Conference overall. 
 
Ice, Ice Baby: Top Teams Cooling Down
When some teams surge, other teams struggle. The two best teams in the league have been a little shaky as of late and are in jeopardy of losing their stronghold on the top seeds heading into the playoffs. The Minnesota Wild (first in the West) and the Washington Capitals (first in the East) have both gone 5-5-0 in their last 10 games. Minnesota has been inconsistent during that stretch, teetering back and forth between wins and losses. Washington, on the other hand, has taken a small nosedive as they have dropped the last four games straight. Minnesota is now only one point ahead of the division rival Chicago Blackhawks for the lead in the Central and in the conference. The San Jose Sharks are also circling in the water, since they're only three points behind the Wild and are playing well. The Caps are vulnerable to onslaughts from the Pittsburgh Penguins and Columbus Blue Jackets, two teams that have played outstanding hockey all year long. The Pens and Jackets are tied at 94 points, one point behind the Caps’ 95 in the Metropolitan Division.
 
Put Some Ice on It: Injuries Taking Their Toll
At this point in the season, it would be unusual if you didn’t see day-to-day injuries piling up. Unfortunately, a couple of longer-term injuries have hit key players on playoff contending teams in recent days. The always reliable Henrik Lundqvist is sidelined with a hip injury that will leave the New York Rangers without their starting goalie until the end of March at least. The Blue Jackets have lost defenseman Ryan Murray until mid to late April. Both teams hope to have these guys back by playoff time.
 
A Look Ahead: Games to Watch

• Wild v. Capitals, 3/14: The West’s and East’s best collide. Both have been struggling of late, but this should still be a clash of powerhouse teams.
• Avalanche v. Red Wings, 3/18: Truly the end of an era. This will be the last game the two teams play at the old Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. The Avs and Wings had the most bitter and bloody rivalry of the late 90's, one that could be considered of the best rivalries in the history of hockey.
• Senators v. Canadiens, 3/19: Clash of Canada’s best. Ottawa and Montreal have the top records among all Canadian teams this year. Neck and neck in the Atlantic Division, this game will factor into the race for first.
• Ducks v. Flames, 4/2 and 4/4: Sitting at second and third place in the Pacific Division, these two teams will likely faceoff in the first round of the playoffs. They will get plenty familiar right before that when they play each other twice in the last four games of the regular season.

 
A Look Back
Updates on the stories from February’s Slapshots.

• The Las Vegas Golden Knights signed their first player in franchise history! Vegas signed free-agent winger Reid Duke to a three-year entry level contract. The 21-year-old was originally drafted by the Minnesota Wild in 2014, but never played with the team.
• Red Wings Playoff Streak Tracker: The Wings are 26-30-11 overall. While not quite mathematically eliminated yet, the Red Wings will miss the playoffs barring a miracle stretch. By April’s edition of Slapshots, Detroit’s 25-year-long playoff streak should be officially ended.

Time flies when you’re having fun and this NBA season has flown by. With over three quarters of the regular season in the books, the intensity across the league is about to fire up. Playoff seeds and regular season awards are at stake. As teams and players jockey for position, here are a few things to keep an eye on in March.
 
The Hateful 8th
Gold Nuggets. Trail Blazers. Mavericks. Timberwolves. The contentious hunt for the 8th seed in the wild, wild Western Conference feels like it could have come straight from a Western flick. The West’s final playoff spot is up for grabs. As it stands now, the Denver Nuggets currently hold the spot with a 29-34 record. The Portland Trail Blazers are just 1.5 games behind them, though, with the Dallas Mavericks (2.5 games behind) and the Minnesota Timberwolves (3.5 GB) hot on the trail. Heck, even the current 12th and 13th seeds are still in it, as the Sacramento Kings (4 GB) and the New Orleans Pelicans (4.5 GB) can still make a play. All of these teams have losing records and none of them have necessarily been outstanding. With only about 20 games to go, it’s easily still anyone’s race. Each of these teams is eager to make its return to the postseason. All it takes is a foot in the door.
 
The Injury Bug Bites
It’s about that time of the year when NBA rosters look like MASH units. A few big names have been lost around the league, including a couple players on top contending teams. The Golden State Warriors just lost Kevin Durant for a month after he suffered a severe MCL sprain. The Warriors should get him back in time to push for the title, as they hope that the splashy free agent signing wasn’t all for naught. On the NBA’s other top squad, the Cleveland Cavaliers lost Andrew Bogut after just over 50 seconds of playing time. The Cavs signed Bogut on March 2nd to try and fill in for Kevin Love, who is out with a knee injury and some back problems. Then, just four days later, Bogut fractured his tibia a minute into his debut. Both of these teams will look to make adjustments to fight off the injury bug.
 
More Hardware than Home Depot
With fewer than 20 games remaining in the NBA regular season, the award races are getting clearer! Or…at least they should be. More confusion than clarity has settled upon debates over who will take home hardware at the end of the season. The MVP race is a hot mess as it has been all year and the Rookie of the Year (ROY) race is suddenly just as jumbled. For MVP, James Harden looks to be the frontrunner among some voters, despite the fact that Russell Westbrook is still averaging a triple-double. Kawhi Leonard has appeared as a formidable dark horse candidate, while LeBron is always in the mix. Essentially, the waters have only grown muddier, causing some debate in basketball circles as to what an MVP should be. Should the award go to, as the name states, a player that is the most valuable to his team? Should it still go to a player who means a lot to his team if his team isn’t any good? Or does the team have to be a playoff contender? Should it just go to the player with the best stats? The “right answer” varies from voter to voter. As for ROY, what was once an easy decision is now up for grabs thanks to the injury to Joel Embiid. Embiid won the Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month award in November, December, and January. After his season-ending injury in February, however, ROY is not guaranteed. Some argue that he should still get ROY because he was so dominant in the three months he played. Others argue that only playing half the year is not enough of a body of work to merit a ROY award. We’ll see where voters stand on both of these complicated issues in just a few short months.
 
Rebounds: A Look Back
Updates on the storylines from February’s Hoop Talk

• Welp… after my glowing review last month of the progress Joel Embiid has made this season, the unfortunate happened. As mentioned earlier, Embiid was recently injured. He tore the meniscus in his left knee and an MRI revealed the injury to be extremely serious, sidelining him for the remainder of the season. Best wishes to “The Process” on a speedy recovery and an amazing season next year!
• The Chicago Bulls are continuing to play perfectly average basketball, going 8-8 in their last 16 games. They’re hanging on to the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference, so the raucous club might end up in the postseason in spite of its locker room tensions.
• This year’s All-Star Weekend was… kind of a flop. The highlight was the Three-Point Contest, but even that was followed by Steph Curry attempting to make a half-court shot to raise money for the late Craig Sager’s charity… and bricking all 10 attempts. The Dunk Contest was painful, with too many failed attempts and bad gimmicks (I’m looking at you, drone dropping a basketball). The game itself was no better. In recent years, it has turned into a low-intensity, joke of an exhibition with no defense played. This year, that trend hit its lowest point in a 192-182 Western Conference win. It was all so bad that commish Adam Silver announced that the game needs a reset. The format will change in 2018. 

Whether or not they were spurred by the looming Expansion Draft, teams engaged in a flurry of activity approaching the March 1st trade deadline. In the weeks leading up to and including deadline day, nearly 40 trades were executed. A few Cup contenders bulked up and added strong pieces for the playoff push, while “seller” teams and teams looking to unload expiring contracts dumped some of their talent. Here are the trades that mattered most, as well as some trades that didn’t happen.
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Cup Hunting? Buyers

• The Washington Capitals emerged on March 2nd dedicated to hoisting their first Stanley Cup. The already odds-on favorites to win it all added prized defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk to their blue-line corps. While Washington’s defense was already elite, Shattenkirk should add some firepower and scoring that will help with the Caps’ playoff push.
• Currently in second place in the Metropolitan Division behind the Capitals, the Columbus Blue Jackets geared up for the Eastern Conference’s excruciating playoff gauntlet.  The team added depth and experience by acquiring Kyle Quincey (D) and Lauri Korpikoski (LW). Columbus did not add a backup goalie, so they will rely on the hot hand of Sergei Bobrovsky down the stretch.
• The defending champs are looking to repeat. The Pittsburgh Penguins have lost some defensemen to injuries, so they traded for blue-line help in the form of veterans Ron Hainsey and Mark Streit.
• In the West, the Minnesota Wild are all-in. The Wild paid a high price – 2017 1st round pick, 2018 2nd round pick, and a 2019 conditional pick/either 2nd or 3rd round – to acquire Martin Hanzal (C). Minnesota is now stacked at center, with Mikko Koivu on the first line, Eric Staal on the second, and Hanzal likely to play on the third.

 
Better Luck Next Year? Sellers

• In past months of Slapshots, I’ve been tracking the potential demise of the Detroit Red Wings’ 25-year playoff streak. The Wings have lost ground in the standings, and are now last in their division and the Eastern Conference. With their trades on deadline day, it looks like the Wings are throwing in the towel on making the playoffs. Detroit traded away Tomas Jurco (RW), Brendan Smith (D), Steve Ott (C), and Thomas Vanek (LW) in exchange for a slew of picks, mostly third-rounders. All four were set to be unrestricted free agents, so Detroit got some return on a lost season.
• At the bye week, Dallas Stars higher-ups were deciding whether to be buyers or sellers based on where the team was at. They ultimately decided on the latter. The Stars dealt Patrick Eaves (RW), Jordie Benn (D), Johnny Oduya (D), and Lauri Korpikoski (LW) to playoff contending teams.
• The Carolina Hurricanes, last in their division, were active at the deadline and unloaded talent. The ‘Canes gave up Keegan Lowe (D), Ron Hainsey (D), and Viktor Stalberg (LW), 

As Expected

• In a move that was one of the most likely to happen, legendary veteran Jarome Iginla was moved by the Colorado Avalanche to allow him to make a run at the Stanley Cup in the twilight of his career. More surprisingly, however, he ended up with the Los Angeles Kings, a team still not secure in its playoff destiny. The Kings are one point behind St. Louis for the final wild card spot in the Western Conference and they will have to make a push to give Iggy his shot.
• The Tampa Bay Lightning sent soon-to-be unrestricted free agent goalie Ben Bishop to the Kings.

• Also very expected, the St. Louis Blues moved soon-to-be free agent defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk.

 
Surprise, Surprise

• Despite being at the center of trade rumors for essentially the whole season, the Colorado Avalanche remained fairly still at the deadline. The Avs did not trade any big pieces like Matt Duchene or Gabriel Landeskog as many expected. The Avs were asking a lot for both players and the asking price apparently wasn’t met. Colorado may not be done though…since Colorado has some serious rebuilding to do and may look to trade Dutchy or Landy during the summer, when teams are willing to give a little more in return.  

• The Buffalo Sabres were listening to offers, but could not find a new home for Dmitry Kulikov (D). Kulikov, whose contract expires at the end of the season, is having an injury-plagued and less than stellar year, and is unlikely to be resigned by Buffalo.  
• The Arizona Coyotes made some moves, but not ones that people thought they would. Radim Vrbata (RW) and Shane Doan (RW) stayed put in the desert.