To all who visit here, please feel free to add any news, or, opinions whenever you wish. We’re still in limbo as far as KK goes. There is absolutely no way to replace what Paul did. Thank you to everyone.

Paul Kukla's Obituary

This is where we can find recent news until I’m able to use the main page or create one. Red Wings news will be at A2Y.

As I said in the comments at A2Y, I truly don't have the words right now.  I don't have the words that could convey how many are feeling over the loss of our friend. 

I wanted to post this again for all of us here. 

Death Is Nothing At All

Death is nothing at all.
I have only slipped away to the next room.
I am I and you are you.
Whatever we were to each other, 
That, we still are.

Call me by my old familiar name.
Speak to me in the easy way
which you always used.
Put no difference into your tone.
Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow.

Laugh as we always laughed
at the little jokes we enjoyed together.
Play, smile, think of me. Pray for me.
Let my name be ever the household word 
that it always was.
Let it be spoken without effect.
Without the trace of a shadow on it.

Life means all that it ever meant.
It is the same that it ever was.
There is absolute unbroken continuity.
Why should I be out of mind
because I am out of sight? 

I am but waiting for you.
For an interval.
Somewhere. Very near.
Just around the corner.

All is well.

Rest in Peace dearest Paul. My deepest condolences to Paul’s family.

Kate

I’m at a loss for words right now. Paul Kukla was a true legend for any Red Wings fan, as well as all hockey fans all around the globe. I don’t know what to say at a time like this. My heartfelt condolences and prayers to Paul’s family and friends, and, to everyone who has been here for the long run. May God Bless.

Most Sincerely,

Kate

via the NHL PR department.

1. The Hurricanes Clinched Cup with Historic Surge: The Hurricanes surged through the first three rounds with the best record by a team entering a Final under the best-of-seven format and stormed back in a championship series for the ages to win the Stanley Cup for the second time in franchise history, five days short of the 20-year anniversary of the club’s first title.

from Kevin Allen of Detroit Hockey Now,

Only eight NHL defensemen scored more goals than Faulk’s 16 last season and there’s no reason to believe he can’t score at that frequency next season.

The Minnesota native has scored 11 or more goals in seven of his 15 NHL seasons and scored 15 or more five times. The Red Wings are looking to improve their forward group (even though they are trying to trade Dylan Larkin). But they see a full season of Faulk’s offensive work helping improve their team scoring numbers.

“He does have a tremendous hot — he’s got some offensive instincts,” coach Todd McLellan said.

After the NHL season was over, Faulk was captain of the U.S. National team at the World Championships. He added three more goals and five points in eight games.

“That’s what we thought we would be getting (with the trade),” McLellan said.

Unless this is the season Faulk’s wheels began falling off his cart, it seems likely the Red Wings will talk to Faulk about extending his contract. We would guess the Red Wings will start talking to him next fall.

It likely will come down to term. Faulk’s at the age when players want to squeeze a third year out of the club. The Red Wings, meanwhile, will have to start thinking about making a spot available for Anton Johansson. How well Johansson is playing in Grand Rapids might have some influence what Yzerman does with Faulk,

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* In their eighth straight postseason appearance and five days short of the 20-year anniversary of the franchise’s first championship, Jordan Staal and the Hurricanes capped an historic Stanley Cup Final against the Golden Knights by becoming champions once again – ending a series of long waits for a title and capping one of the most dominant playoff runs in League history.

* Staal was voted as the 2026 Conn Smythe Trophy winner after his record-setting Final, becoming the oldest to win the award and claiming the first individual honor of his 20-season NHL career. One of the benefits of waiting that long is that you can be flanked at the post-game presser by your kids, the Conn Smythe Trophy and Stanley Cup.

* Teams with a chance to clinch the Stanley Cup in Las Vegas improved to a perfect 3-0, something a packed arena 2,300 miles away in Raleigh were ecstatic about as their club surged to a second championship.

via the NHL PR department,

The Carolina Hurricanes surged through the first three rounds with the best record by a team entering a Final under the best-of-seven format and stormed back in a championship series for the ages to win the Stanley Cup for the second time in franchise history, five days short of the 20-year anniversary of the club’s first title (June 19, 2006).

from Kevin Allen of Detroit Hockey Now,

As much as Red Wings management appreciates Sandin Pellikka’s offensive potential, he will not come to training camp with a guaranteed place on the roster.

Circumstances dictate that the young Swede will have to battle to make the Red Wings.

The Red Wings could end up with 10 defensemen competing for seven or eight spots on the roster. Moritz Seider, Simon Edvinsson, Ben Chiarot and Justin Faulk are the incumbent top four. Albert Johansson should be a lock at No. 5. The re-signing of Jacob Bernard-Docker says he’s in the plans. That leaves Sandin-Pellikka, William Wallinder (32nd, 2020), Anton Johansson (105th, 2022) and maybe 6-foot-5 Antti Tuomisto (35th, 2019) competing for the last one or two spots.

It’s most likely two spots because coaches generally prefer having eight defensemen. Influencing what happens is the fact that Wallinder is no longer waiver exempt. He would have to clear waivers to be sent to Grand Rapids again. He’s 6-foot-4, skates well and is a quality defender. Wallinder probably wouldn’t clear waivers.

Tuomisto is also no longer waiver exempt, but his bigger issue is that he has Group 6 UFA status because he had three years under an NHL contract without playing 80 NHL games. He may choose to sign with another NHL team.

Meanwhile, Sandin-Pellikka (and Anton Johansson) are waiver-exempt. They can be sent to Grand Rapids without waivers. That’s why Sandin-Pellikka needs to have a good summer of working out, growing a bit bigger and stronger to have his best chance of making the team.

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from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun,

- Pavel Datsyuk played the best hockey of his life for Mike Babcock. By the end of his career, he wanted nothing to do with the coach of the Detroit Red Wings.

Nick Lidstrom won four Norris Trophies while being coached by Babcock and walked away from the Wings because he couldn’t stand playing for the man anymore.

Chris Osgood had two brilliant playoff runs late in his goaltending career in Detroit. The coach was Babcock, who Osgood has next to nothing good to say about anymore.

This is the challenge for the NHL and for the Edmonton Oilers. Is there still a reason to want Babcock to coach? Can he still succeed? Or are his methods so much about yesterday that they may be irrelevant today?...

- In his first season with the Hurricanes, Nik Ehlers has 17 playoff points with Carolina, six in the past two games. In the last seven seasons in Winnipeg, he had 14 playoff points, total.

- If an NHL player has a no-trade contract and asks to be traded — the way Dylan Larkin has asked the Red Wings to deal him — should that inquiry not void the spirit of the agreement and give the player no choice as to where he’s dealt. Either you want out or you don’t. You shouldn’t be able to protect yourself with a no-trade agreement and still be able to dictate where you’re traded to … By my unscientific calculations, Larkin would be the No. 1 centre on 20 NHL teams. The No. 2 centre on 10 teams.

- Darnell Nurse didn’t ask to be traded, per se, but instead told the Oilers he is willing to waive his no-trade arrangement to be dealt anywhere. That’s more up front than what Larkin has done with his general manager, Steve Yzerman.

- Apparently, there is a five-year, $30-million contract awaiting pending free agent Darren Raddysh in Tampa in a non-tax state if he chooses to remain with the Lightning. But odds are, Raddysh will be paid in the neighbourhood of $64 million over eight years to play somewhere else.

more on the first topic plus other notes on hockey....

* It’s a simple recipe for both teams in Game 6 of the 2026 Stanley Cup Final. A win for Carolina will give them their second championship and first in 20 years. For Vegas, win to keep their shot at a second Stanley Cup alive.

* After five historic contests to begin the Final, Game 6 will be played on the 20th anniversary of Carolina's first-ever potential Cup-clinching game – with the Hurricanes hoping for a different fate.

* A long list of records are within reach before the Stanley Cup is presented, either today in Las Vegas or Wednesday in Raleigh, with JordanStaal, LoganStankoven, MitchMarner and JackEichel among those in pursuit of a new benchmark to go along with hockey's most sought-after prize.

* Game 6 will air at 8 p.m. ET on ABC, Sportsnet, TVA Sports and CBC, as well as on NHL in ASL (U.S.: ESPN App for ESPN Unlimited plan subscribers; Canada: Sportsnet+). Click here for highlights from the NHL in ASL coverage of the Final so far.

from Kevin Allen of Detroit Hockey Now,

If Vincent Trocheck wants to know if, or when, the New York Rangers might trade him this summer, then he should probably give Dylan Larkin a call.

It seems likely the Rangers will wait a bit to make a Trocheck move to see if Larkin will move quickly. The Rangers won’t wait if the Larkin decision drags out.

It’s in the Rangers’ best interest to wait as long as they can. The Red Wings are interested in Trocheck, and their Trocheck desire will be more intense if they don’t receive a center back in the Larkin trade. Plus, the Red Wings will have other assets that can be moved if Trocheck is available after the Larkin deal is done.

More important, several teams are looking for a proven center and Larkin is their No. 1 choice. Once his destination is settled, they all turn their attention to Trocheck.

Trocheck, 32, has a modified no-trade clause, allowing him to provide a list of 12 teams that he won’t accept as trade destinations. (It goes to 10 teams after July 1). Trocheck has said he won’t go to a west coast city. The lure of Trocheck is he is a strong, two-way center with three seasons remaining on his contract paying a reasonable $5.65 million per season.

continue for more hockey topics...

* The first potential Stanley Cup-clinching game of 2026 will go tomorrow in Las Vegas, with Pavel Dorofeyev and the host Golden Knights hoping it’s not the last as they face elimination for the first time this year. A Vegas win would set up the 19th Game 7 in Stanley Cup Final history and third in the past eight seasons.

* Andrei Svechnikov and the visiting Hurricanes will look to build on a pair of perfect records in potential clinchers – they are 3-0 in 2026 and teams with a chance to secure a Cup in Las Vegas are 2-0.

* Seven players who skated in the Olympic gold medal game four months ago will skate with a championship on the line for the second time this year as players born in seven countries continue their pursuit of being crowned 2026 Stanley Cup champions.

NEW YORK (June 12, 2026) – A quartet of 2025-26 NHL trophy winners – Tampa Bay Lightning right wing Nikita Kucherov (Hart), Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid (Lindsay), Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy (Vezina) and Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski (Norris) are among the six players voted to this season’s NHL First All-Star Team. They are joined by Norris finalist Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche and left wing Jason Robertson of the Dallas Stars.

NEW YORK (June 12, 2026) – The National Hockey League announced today the 2025-26 NHL All-Rookie Team, including the three players voted as finalists for the Calder Memorial Trophy: defenseman Matthew Schaefer of the New York Islanders as well as forwards Ivan Demidov of the Montreal Canadiens and Beckett Sennecke of the Anaheim Ducks.

from Eric Francis of Sportsnet,

Tearing a page out of Mark Messier’s playbook, John Tortorella made a bold proclamation after a Game 5 loss Thursday put his team on the brink of Stanley Cup elimination.

“We'll be back here,” said the Golden Knights coach, essentially guaranteeing his team will win Game 6 Sunday in Vegas (Sportsnet, Sportsnet+ at 8 p.m. ET).

“We're just going to do it in a different order.

“I'm gonna leave my clothes here, that's for sure. They'll be in the hotel.”

The bravado was admirable.

Necessary, even.

Because after watching his team cough up a pivotal 4-2 setback in Raleigh, Tortorella had little choice but to project confidence.

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Below, watch Tortortella post game.

* The trend of making history in every game of the 2026 Stanley Cup Final continued into Game 5 as Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal extended his goal streak to five games to tie an NHL record and set a new franchise benchmark for goals in any playoff series, igniting the club’s offense that also included goals from its two all-time playoff scoring leaders, Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov.

* Now a win away from their second Stanley Cup championship, Carolina will look to become the sixth team in NHL history – and first in more than a decade – to fall behind 2-1 in a best-of-seven Final and win three straight games to claim the Cup.

* The Stanley Cup will be in the building Sunday night in Las Vegas, where it has been won twice in eight completed seasons since the Golden Knights entered the League – Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals claimed a Game 5 victory there in 2018 and Mark Stone’s hat trick in Game 5 of the 2023 series gave Vegas its first title.

NEW YORK (June 11, 2026) – Right wing Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning is the 2025-26 recipient of the Hart Memorial Trophy, presented “to the player adjudged to be the most valuable to his team,” as selected by the Professional Hockey Writers Association.

A journey that involved planes, automobiles and jet skis, Kucherov was surprised with the trophy by Phil Pritchard, the Keeper of the Cup.

via Elliotte Friedman and Mark Spector of Sportsnet,

As the Edmonton Oilers navigate hiring Mike Babcock as head coach, they continue on another path: finding a new home for one of their longest-tenured players, alternate captain Darnell Nurse.

Last week, Sportsnet’s Mark Spector reported the Oilers would like to trade Nurse, and, according to multiple sources, the defenceman recently went to the organization and said he would like to be traded. He now feels it is time for him to move on.

This is critical, because Nurse has a full no-trade clause until July 1, 2027 — so nothing could happen until then without his approval.

Those same sources indicated Nurse has given a list of 3-5 teams he would consider. He has the right to limit the number of legit destinations, so we’ve got some work to do to figure it out.

But Nurse, seventh in franchise history in games played, has now agreed that a fresh start is the right outcome.

from Ed Graney of The Las Vegas Review Journal,

If you’re not watching, you’re missing out.

If you haven’t kept up with this Stanley Cup Final series, ditto.

That’s how entertaining the Vegas Golden Knights and Carolina Hurricanes have made things, how exciting the back-and-forth action has been, how dramatic the results have proven.

The series is tied at two games apiece as Game 5 is set to take place at Lenovo Center on Thursday night.

It will be rocking. Carolina has some of the loudest fans in the NHL, something the Knights learned in gaining a split over the opening two games.

There have been mistakes by both sides. Costly turnovers.

Shots that should have been saved.

But you can’t beat how things have played out, the shifts of scoring, the blown leads, the comebacks, the overtimes.

The first three games were decided by a goal and the fourth by two scores, although Carolina’s final tally in the latter came via an empty net.

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from Bob Duff of Detroit Hockey Now,

“The analogy is he’s playing a poker tournament,” McCarty said of Larkin while speaking during his show on the Woodward Sports Network. “And he just moved 10 big blinds all in against a guy who’s got 100 big blinds.

“Yeah, you can win. But you’re getting called, and you’ve got to face it. Now the power is not in your hands.”

McCarty is critical of Red Wings’ Larkin
While admitting he’s not privy to the exact details of the problematic relationship between Yzerman and Larkin, McCarty still found it unsettling that the Detroit captain is abandoning the ship.

“I thought when he signed the long-term deal [eight years in 2024] that meant I’m locked in, no matter good, bad, right, wrong, and indifferent,” McCarty said. “To pretty much come out and slap the fans in the face by saying, well, here’s my three trade teams.”

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