Nick Faris

Note: This story was published in October 2020 and is being republished with minor updates for Black History Month.Willie O'Ree's surname, the four letters that changed hockey for the better when they appeared on an NHL lineup card in 1958, derives from that of the American military officer who enslaved his great-great-grandfather. The officer was Peter Horry, pronounced unlike what you'd expect. He fought the British in the Revolutionary War, and in recognition of his service, he was given a Black man to own. The man was Paris O'Ree, as the name was later stylized, whose courage unlocked a future for his descendants.Willie O'Ree isn't sure how Paris secured his freedom, but archival records he's read relate the enormity of what the man accomplished. Along with some family and at tremendous risk, Paris is believed to have escaped South Carolina, where Horry lived, late in the 18th century, becoming a farmer and father upon settling north of the border. He came to own a couple hundred acres in New Brunswick, W

 

A budding champion engineered the greatest single-year turnaround in recent NHL memory. The Colorado Avalanche's goal differential improved from minus-112 in their unspeakable 2016-17 season to plus-20 in 2017-18. The Avs rose to respectability, followed by Stanley Cup contention.The stunning revival of the Washington Capitals began in a different place. They were a declining Cup winner that lost dozens of blowout games yet backed into last year's postseason with a goal differential of minus-37. Those Capitals were swept in the first round, and it seemed attempts to wring the juice out of Alex Ovechkin's glorious career would help him break a famous record but fail to generate more group success.Instead, his team got much better. The 2024-25 Capitals easily eclipsed 100 points and are coasting to first place in the Metropolitan Division and Eastern Conference. With seven games remaining, Washington's goal differential is plus-67, which translates to a year-over-year net increase of 104 goals. Only the 2018 Av

The Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings can't escape each other. Unless the Vegas Golden Knights tailspin out of first in the Pacific Division, these familiar foes will place second and third for a fourth consecutive year. They're on course to collide in yet another opening round of the postseason.These incessant brushes stem from the star-studded Oilers' surprising inability to win a division title. The franchise hasn’t done that since Wayne Gretzky menaced the Smythe Division in 1987. L.A. leapfrogged Edmonton in this year's standings to engineer a small shakeup, but it probably won't be enough to catch Vegas and overhaul the Pacific bracket.Kings-Oilers 4.0 is the logical result of a playoff format that stokes rivalries through repetition. The NHL ditched the 1-through-8 pathway through each conference to adopt the current divisional gauntlet in 2014. The change produced a blizzard of common matchups over the next decade.For legions of fatigued fans, the format is too predictable - and Kings-Oilers hel

In recent years, elite North American hockey players had access to half of the opportunities they craved. NHLers competed nightly in league play and chased the sport's ultimate prize, the Stanley Cup. But the NHL spurned the international spotlight, while stars of the women's game got to clash for patriotic bragging rights and gold medals.The sport found the right balance in 2025. The hostile, riveting 4 Nations Face-Off was best-on-best hockey in its ideal form. The women who bridged a border divide to create a league of their own - the PWHL - bolstered their abilities in front of sellout crowds. These advances signal a golden age for Canada's bitter rivalry with the United States as the 2026 Milan Olympics approach.First, the countries meet Sunday in Ceske Budejovice, Czechia, in the round robin of the 2025 IIHF Women's World Championship. Both squads are 2-0 at the tournament, and barring a giant upset, they'll reunite in the final on April 20 for the 23rd time. The Canadians, whose record in the title gam

The steep downfall of the Pittsburgh Penguins led to head coach Mike Sullivan's exit Monday. The two parties' agreement to part ways wasn't foreseeable or justified until Pittsburgh slumped to 13th in the Eastern Conference this season. But it was seven years in the making.The Penguins haven't won a playoff series since 2018, when the archrival Capitals bounced them ahead of Alex Ovechkin's Stanley Cup breakthrough. The Islanders swept them in 2019. Carey Price's brilliance doomed them to a meek showing against the 12th-seeded Canadiens in the 2020 bubbled qualifying round. Sullivan's team blew series leads to the Islanders and Rangers, then missed three straight postseasons by one, three, and 11 points.However, his peak in Pittsburgh was towering. Sullivan replaced Mike Johnston midway through the 2015-16 season when Sidney Crosby was seven years removed from his only taste of glory. The back-to-back championships that followed made Crosby's legacy unassailable, and the Penguins' competitive window seemed li