David Strehle

St. Louis struggled out of the gate last year under the hand of Davis Payne, but that all changed when Ken Hitchcock was given the reigns. Could this be the year they finally break through?

With lip service portraying a good faith effort in trying to reach an agreement with the NHLPA on a new CBA, it cannot bode well that owners seem much more intent on spending money on selling their negotiating stance instead of actually negotiating

As the NHL lockout nears one full month there are growing concerns regarding a NHLPA special weapon, as well as whether some Russian players will return to the NHL once a CBA agreement is finally reached.

Originally thought to not be an option for locked out NHL players, the Swedish Competition Authority's anti-trust ruling may have opened the floodgates to Elitserien, the Swedish Elite League.

SB Nation's Dominik Jansky and Dave Strehle go point-counterpoint on the issues surrounding the 2012 NHL lockout. Who's to blame?

After accepting a hard salary cap, a 24 percent salary rollback and being told they were in a partnership with owners following a lost season eight years ago, NHL players are being told once again it's time to give back.

With CBA negotiations never reaching the level of anything meaningful, NHL owners and players are preparing their respective game plans for a lockout, scheduled to take affect Saturday. Hockey fans are similarly ready to mobilize troops.

Following an off-season in which the Flyers needed to revamp their defensive corps and didn't, will the failure to do so come back to haunt them? It could be a year in which Philly scorers need to put up offensive career-highs.

The Devils proved many experts wrong last year by not only making the postseason, but coming within two wins of claiming the Stanley Cup. Can they bring about a repeat performance?

Though there have been rumors that maybe one of the bigger names in Chicago could be on the move, the squad stayed put during the summer. Will things stay that way?