The NHL in 2024 | Goals, a triumph, the end of a saga and a tragedy

The year 2024 in the NHL was punctuated by significant events, from the conquest of the Stanley Cup by the Florida Panthers, to the end of the saga of the Arizona Coyotes, including the tragic death of Johnny Gaudreau. Here is a retrospective of the last year in the world of the NHL.

To a miracle victory

On the ice, the NHL continues its recent offensive resurgence, while players multiply their exploits.

Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs becomes the first player since Mario Lemieux during the 1995-96 season to score at least 69 goals in a campaign.

Thanks to a productive end to the season and a great start this fall, before getting injured late in November, Alex Ovechkin is 26 goals closer to Wayne Gretzky’s record of 894 career goals.

For their part, the Edmonton Oilers overcome a 3-0 deficit in the Stanley Cup final, but are unable to crown their comeback with a victory in the final game to bring the precious trophy back to Canada for the first time since 1993 The Panthers won game 7 in front of their fans by a score of 2-1 and won major honors for the first time in their history.

The end of the adventure in the Arizona desert

After nearly 30 years of persistence, Commissioner Gary Bettman and the NHL finally acknowledged their failure in their attempt to establish a hockey team in the Phoenix, Arizona area.

Since their debut in 1996, the Coyotes have spent several years in limbo, even going under NHL control from 2009 to 2013 following the bankruptcy of owner Jerry Moyes. The straw that broke the camel’s back will probably have been the last two seasons played at Mullett Arena, with a maximum capacity of less than 5,000 spectators.

With the ownership group unable to find a long-term solution in the region, the NHL arranged the sale of hockey-related assets to American billionaire Ryan Smith in order to move the team to Salt Lake City, Utah.

Alex Meruelo’s group retained the rights to the Coyotes during the sale, with the ambition of obtaining an expansion team in 2029. The project quickly fell through, however, when Meruelo was unable to buy the land he was targeting to build a new arena. This failure marked the true end of the long Coyotes saga.

A tragedy for the NHL family

The unexpected deaths of athletes in accidents are those that mark generations of fans. In recent decades, there have been those of golfer Payne Stewart, baseball pitcher Roy Halladay and basketball player Kobe Bryant. The world of hockey in turn experienced tragedy on August 29, 2024, when Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew died after being hit by a car during a bike ride.

The tragedy was all the more shocking because the two brothers had gone to a small village in New Jersey for the wedding of their sister Katie, scheduled for the next day. In addition, Johnny Gaudreau’s partner, Meredith, revealed a few days later that she was pregnant with the couple’s third child.

The driver, Sean M. Higgins, failed a sobriety test and was taken into custody on September 13. He was officially charged on December 11 and will be brought to court on January 7. He could receive a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.

The hockey world mourned the death of the Gaudreau brothers. The Columbus Blue Jackets and Calgary Flames, the two teams Johnny played for in the NHL, were particularly affected. Both teams held vigils and many fans gathered for these events.

Teams in difficulty

As the NHL prepares for a first international tournament bringing together its best players under the banners of Canada, the United States, Sweden and Finland for the 4 Nations Showdown in February in Montreal and Boston, teams will want to raise the bar during the winter of 2025 in order to get back into the race for the series.

Four coaches have lost their jobs so far this season. Jim Montgomery was shown the exit with the Boston Bruins, before replacing Drew Bannister behind the bench of the St. Louis Blues five days later. Luke Richardson also lost his job with the Chicago Blackhawks early in December, then Derek Lalonde suffered the same fate with the Detroit Red Wings the day after Christmas.

Other teams, however, experienced problems this fall. The Nashville Predators are still mired in the bottom of the Western Conference after signing Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault to lucrative contracts during the off-season.

The New York Rangers are also adrift after two Eastern final appearances in the last three campaigns. And in upper New York, the Buffalo Sabers are having other times of misery. They finally ended a 13-game losing streak by beating the New York Islanders 7-1 before the Christmas break, but they are headed for a playoff exit in a 14^e season in a row, a peak across major North American professional sports.