2024-25 Season in Review: My Rookie Year
Looking back at some of my favorite moments of the past season.
When this past NHL season began, I did not expect to be finishing it as a (kind of) bona fide hockey writer. What started as a fun distraction on Sammi’s urging to “DO IT” when I mentioned being a hockey writer was a sort of “dream job” has ballooned into a freelance gig for her on The Hockey News- DC and my own site here.
For my many tens of supporters so far, thank you for reading. I hope I give you something interesting to peruse whilst on the crapper.
This first season has been awesome to cover. As many know, the Washington Capitals had themselves one heck of a season, capped off with a record-breaking moment by Alex Ovechkin. While Caps fans didn’t get the playoff run they had hoped for, it was still an exciting turnaround by a team that limped into the playoffs just 12 months prior.
So, as we get ready to enter training camps and put the 2024-25 season firmly into the past, I wanted to take some time to send off my rookie year as a writer with some of my favorite moments.
Jan. 5th - My First Trip to a Press Box
I’m going to start off my list with what was my favorite moment of the whole season- my first time in a press box.
By virtue of covering the Capitals, I also got to closely follow their AHL affiliate, the storied Hershey Bears. The Bears, entering a season as back-to-back Calder Cup winners, were having another excellent regular season run, and Jan. 5th happened to be the night of their famous Teddy Bear Toss charity event.
For the uninitiated, the Teddy Bear Toss is a toy drive that Hershey conducts every season, where fans bring teddy bears and other stuffed animals to toss onto the ice. While this has been done now by countless other teams in various leagues (usually around the holiday season), no one does it like Hershey.
And when Mike Sgarbossa scored the first goal for the Bears in the first period, the fans at the Giant Center did their part in unleashing “sweet, cuddly mayhem” onto the ice.
After it was all said and done, Hershey went on to earn a 5-1 win against the Providence Bruins, and set a new record of over 102,000 stuffed animals collected for charity.
Witnessing the moment from the press box as the stuffed animals rained down onto the players on the ice, talking to some of the players at ice level (including some like Sgarbossa, who brought their own kids out to enjoy the moment), and jumping into a massive pile of stuffed animals myself will be burned into my head for a long time. This was worth every second of the drive to Hershey, and only made my hunger for hockey writing grow.
Ovechkin Scores 895
League-wide, this is probably what most would have as the top moment from this past season. Had I not been doing work for Sammi on THN, I still would’ve made a point to watch this happen, because it’s a seminal moment in league history. One that will likely not be topped anytime soon, if ever again.
With Ovechkin’s monumental goal, history was made on April 6th, taking over a record that was held by Wayne Gretzky since March 23, 1994, when the Great One scored his 802nd goal to take the record from Gordie Howe.
Covering the Capitals, it was easy to see how much the record meant to not only Ovechkin himself, but his family and his teammates. Ovechkin’s wife Anastasia Shubskaya mentioned the immense pressure her husband had been feeling about breaking the record. But as that pressure came off his shoulders with his celebratory slide across center ice, he and the rest of the team, accompanied by Anastasia and their sons, Alex’s mother Tatyana Ovechkina, and Wayne and Janet Gretzky celebrated Ovi’s historical achievement at center ice.
Perhaps the only disappointment about this was that it didn’t happen in Washington, but kudos to Islanders fans (and the many Caps fans who made the trip to UBS Arena) for celebrating the accomplishment.
The Four Nations Faceoff Success
It’s hard to top that moment, but the Four Nations Faceoff is a worthy follow-up.
I went on the record back in February to note how wrong I was about the Four Nations Faceoff. Prior to the tournament, I was less than lukewarm on the idea of it. Considering there were so many star players omitted simply by virtue of not being from the U.S., Canada, Finland, or Sweden, it felt like a half-assed attempt to breathe life into the mid-season after several years of attempting to reinvent the all-star format. The marketing for the Four Nations tournament wasn’t great, and it didn’t help that the league failed to do simple things like make gear and apparel for the tournament available well ahead of the puck drop. I noted my dislike for the tournament here.
It’s interesting to go back, though, and see how wrong I was. It certainly helped the tournament’s dramatic appeal that there was (and still is) strong political tension between the U.S. and Canada, so it made this tournament even more interesting to watch. But credit where it’s due: the NHL did an outstanding job with this whole thing. The games were well done, players played with a lot more excitement than they did in the All-Star games, and the effort all around really showed. I was certainly happy to be wrong about this in the end.
Columbus and Others Honor the Legacy of Johnny Gaudreau, Probably Overachieve as Well
Coming into last year’s off-season, I’m not sure anyone knew what to expect from the Columbus Blue Jackets, but any season expectations were quickly put aside at the tragic death of CBJ forward and beloved NHL star Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew.
Wins and losses meant nothing, as a team that had been besieged by tragedy in its recent past came together to collectively grieve the loss of a player who had signed there only a season prior with the hope of helping turn the franchise back around towards success. It brought not only the cities of Columbus and Calgary (where Johnny played eight seasons prior to his signing in Columbus), but the entirety of the NHL together to grieve and support the families of Johnny and Matthew. The tributes paid around the league to their wives, children, mothers, and fathers were equal parts touching and heart-wrenching. It quickly showed what kind of family the NHL, and the hockey community at large can be.
Johnny Gaudreau was one of my favorite players to watch. He was speedy and dynamic. While undersized, he made up for it with his hockey IQ and speed.
It’s tough to fathom what was going through the heads of the CBJ players (especially Sean Monahan, who had just signed with the Jackets to play with his friend Johnny). During every tribute they had to watch from around the league, you could see the pain on the faces of Monahan and others. I also could only imagine the pain Johnny’s wife, Meredith, and his parents had to go through, even with the league paying so much respect to the Gaudreau brothers.
Under the leadership of Head Coach Dean Evason, the team not only managed to claw its way to a 40-33-9 record, but also came within two points of a playoff spot, barely missing out to Montreal. They also played their first ever outdoor game (seriously NHL…Chicago has been in like 15 of them, but Columbus just got their first in 2025), an exciting 5-3 upset of the Red Wings. A game in which Elvis Merzlikins stood on his head.
Overall, this was a tragic start for Columbus and the league as a whole, but Columbus has no reason not to hold their heads high after the way they played through the adversity. I truly hope this is something they can build on going forward.
RIP #13. I’m going to miss watching you play.
Winnipeg Jets Playoff Comeback
This one isn’t going to take a lot of time to write about, but one of my favorite moments from this season was the massive game 7 comeback by the Winnipeg Jets against the St. Louis Blues. I love the Jets, and this was awesome to see:
Not much else to say here. The Jets had an amazing season and won the President’s Trophy, but that was meaningless as they floundered and fell out of the playoffs. I really…really hope they can actually do something meaningful soon, before this window runs out.
But we did get that moment, and that was fun as hell. Nothing gave me goosebumps more than this did.
Florida Panthers Repeat as Champs
I’d also be remiss if I didn’t again congratulate this dynasty in the making. Like them or not (I do, as much as I don’t want to), they are an incredible team and have earned both of these cups.
A Dynasty in the Making
With the clock striking zero on the third period last night, the 2024-25 NHL season came to a close, with the Florida Panthers defeating the Edmonton Oilers to hoist the Stanley Cup.
Goodbye to a Legend
I’d also…again…be remiss if I didn’t bid farewell to a goalie legend.
Marc-Andre Fleury called it a career at the end of this season after the Minnesota Wild were ousted by the Vegas Golden Knights. Fleury spent most of his career in Pittsburgh, where he was a thorn in my Flyers’ side for a long time. He is remembered for his insane save that saved a Stanley Cup in 2009 for the Penguins, along with countless others like it. He is also remembered for his fair share of blunders.
But mostly, he’ll be missed for being one hell of a professional and a true personality that is much needed in this league.
Good luck, Flower.
Looking ahead…
Looking ahead, there are some storylines already worth watching as we enter the next season. Some players (like Mitch Marner or Nikolaj Ehlers) who are finding new beginnings with new clubs, and the Panthers are looking to be the first team since the Islanders of the early 80s to threepeat.
I am hoping to see some changes. I’d like to see the league collaborate more with the PWHL (how about a Winter Classic double-header featuring both leagues??)
I’d also like to see the streaming improve. Too much streaming confusion, blackouts, issues with continuously rising prices in both the US and Canada, and frankly, ESPN’s broadcast quality (sound mixing in particular) is just trash.
But that aside, I am as excited now as ever for a new season of hockey. If, for no other reason, than to see where my writing journey takes me from here.
Thanks, as always, for reading.