Around the NHL: Utah’s team files two more trademarks for their name, two playoff team has injuries, and more!

Photo credit:Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports

2 days ago

The National Hockey League playoffs are in full swing, but there’s still plenty of news around the league!

In this article, we’ll look at potential names for the former Arizona Coyotes, some injuries to playoff teams, and a coach complaining for no reason.

Let’s dig into the latest edition of Around the NHL!

Potential names for the Utah team

According to KSL.com’s Ryan Miller, the Utah team had trademarked a few potential names on Tuesday, including the Utah Mammoth and the Utah Ice. Below is the entire list of names.

The most interesting name is the Utah Hockey Club, as it is simplistic, classy, and is similar to how soccer teams overseas name their teams. While “Hockey Club” is often used in hockey overseas, it’d be the first time a North American men’s team has used a name like this, at least in this era of the sport.

If they go the more traditional route, Mammoth and Outlaws are pretty interesting names as well.

Sam Bennett out for “at least a week”

This isn’t great news for the Florida Panthers, as it appears that their forward, Sam Bennett, will be out for some time. Head coach Paul Maurice said “at least a week.”

The 27-year-old former Flame is a big part of the Panthers, as he scored 20 goals and 41 points in 69 games played this season, and picked up 100 penalty minutes. It’s below his career-high he set in 2021-22 when he scored 28 goals and 49 points, but he brings a physical presence to the team with a scoring touch.

In the 2023 playoffs, he scored five goals and 15 points in 20 games, helping the Panthers reach the Stanley Cup Finals as an eighth-seed. This postseason, he had a goal and two points in two games prior to the injury.

Thatcher Demko has a knee injury

Some more bad news for a playoff team, as it was reported that Vancouver Canucks netminder Thatcher Demko has a knee injury, the same knee that kept him out of the lineup for five weeks towards the end of the regular season. This is according to TSN’s Farhan Lalji.

The loss of Demko shouldn’t hurt the Canucks all that much in the first round, as the talent from their skaters far surpasses the Nashville Predators’ lineup. However, if both the Canucks and the Edmonton Oilers win their series, the Canucks could be in a world of hurt if Demko is not back, as backup netminder Casey DeSmith will likely have a hard time stopping Connor McDavid and company.

Prior to the first injury, Demko looked as if he could receive some Vezina Trophy votes, as he finished the 2023-24 season with a .918 save percentage and a 2.45 goals against average in 51 games, and would’ve played 60 or more games for the second time in his career if he remained healthy.

The team became quite a bit weaker with DeSmith between the pipes, as he finished the season with an .896 save percentage and a 2.85 goals-against average in 29 games, finishing the season with a 12-9-6 record.

With that being said, the series will shift to Nashville on Friday, a loud building that will certainly help the Predators play to a better standard.

Boston Bruins coach unhappy about spending an extra day in Toronto

In a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, Boston Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery was seemingly upset that there would be two days off between Wednesday and Saturday’s game, having this to say:

“I’d rather be here Thursday and Saturday, if I’m being honest. I think we’re spending more time in Toronto than Toronto is spending in Boston, and we’re the home team.”

Womp womp. Scheduling National Hockey League games is very difficult, especially with the ongoing National Basketball Association playoffs ongoing. The playoff schedule is going to get a bit weird starting Thursday, as they’re are just two games with both games featuring Eastern Conference teams.

This is likely due to the NHL needing to put the Nashville Predators/Vancouver Canucks game at 5:30 PM MT, as there is a two hour time difference between Nashville and Vancouver.

At the end of the day, this is just a weird complaint.

Thanks for reading! You can follow me on Twitter @Ryley_L_D.

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