National Hockey League - Hockey facts & stats. 2012-2013

As a team, the Kings became the first ever to go up 30 in all four playoff series. This despite never having home-ice advantage. Of course, part and parcel with this record was a record 10 straight road wins. The best players played as the teams best players, and the role players performed with meticulous efficiency. Goalie Jonathan Quick was an easy choice for Conn Smythe Trophy honours, but if he hadnt been selected, there were several teammates just as worthy: defenceman Drew Doughty, who started the year with a concussion but was sensational in the postseason; captain Justin Brown, who was especially effective in shorthanded situations in the first two rounds; the former Philadelphia duo of Mike Richards and Jeff Carter; and the incredible Anze Kopitar, who came from a non-traditional hockey country, Slovenia, and developed into a world-class star. But this Cup win, 45 years in the making, was only one storyline in 201112.

The ongoing saga of the Phoenix Coyotes was surely another that captivated fans in Canada hoping Quebec City might once again have a team. The clubs financial distress continued, but a potential new owner came forward hoping to keep the team in Scottsdale, Arizona. Still, the prospects of this were dimmed by the discovery that he didnt have the cash needed to buy the teamand the saga continued. Of course, the greatest on-ice difficulty continued to be head shots. Crosby returned after a 10-month absence, but after only eight games he suffered another concussion and missed most of the rest of the season. Many of the games best players joined him on the sidelines for short periods of time, while at least one, Chris Pronger, may well have had his career ended by a head injury.

The games new players were particularly impressive this year, notably the top choice, Edmontons Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and the second choice, Colorados Gabriel Landeskog of Sweden, who came to Canada to develop in the Ontario Hockey League. Both players finished with 52 points, the most by rookies, but the Swede won the Calder Trophy. But, while one standout Swede arrived, another departed. Nicklas Lidstrom, arguably one of the greatest blueliners of all time, called it quits at age 41, leaving a sizeable gap in the Detroit defence in the process. As for the Leafs, the laughingstock of the league, they missed the playoffs for a franchise-worst seventh year in a row and were now the only team not to have appeared in even one playoff round since the end of the lockout in 2005. Other Canadian teams faced their own adversity as the Canucks were ousted from the playoffs early (by the Kings), while both Alberta teams also failed to qualify.

Montreal had a weak season, and while Ottawa performed above expectations, the Sens, too, failed to get past the first round of playoffs. And so the NHL heads into a 201213 season fraught with uncertainty as the collective bargaining agreement expired on September 15. Would there be an early resolution? Would there be another lockout? Could NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr work through a new CBA for the next generation of players? The league had created some momentum since the previous lockout in terms of revenues and U.S. TV audiences, and the outdoor game in Michigan between the Leafs and Red Wings promised to be record-settingbut would it, too, be undone by, as they say, labour unrest? The game was in many ways healthy, and in just as many ways unhealthy, but the new year, just like the previous one, promised to be, if nothing else, eventful. Andrew Podnieks August 2012