NHL.com writers share favorite moments of 2024

There were so many great moments in the hockey world in 2024, beginning with the 2024 NHL Winter Classic between the Seattle Kraken and the Vegas Golden Knights on Jan. 1 and continuing almost non-stop throughout the year.

There were great goals and great saves. Epic playoff races. Two outdoor games at MetLife Stadium that served as a weekend party for hockey fans throughout the tri-state New York metropolitan area.

Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning had a League-leading 144 points, including 100 assists. Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers matched Kucherov's 100 assists and overcame a slow start to the season to finish with 132 points.

Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar were a two-man wrecking crew for the Colorado Avalanche.

The 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs served a daily dose of drama for two months, capped by an unbelievable Game 7 between the Florida Panthers and the Oilers, who had erased a 3-0 deficit in the series.

Florida won Game 7 on home ice, 2-1, to deliver the franchise its first title. Aleksander Barkov became the first Finland-born captain to raise the Stanley Cup.

During the first half of the 2024-25 season, Kirill Kaprizov of the Minnesota Wild and Martin Necas of the Carolina Hurricanes have become household names with their strong starts.

Speaking of strong starts, what about the Winnipeg Jets? They won their first eight games of the season and 15 of their first 16 (15-1-0).

Or what about Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals? He had 10 goals in nine games in November before sustaining a fractured left fibula against the Utah Hockey Club on Nov. 18. He has 15 goals in 18 games this season, bringing his chase of Wayne Gretzky for the goal-scoring record into sharper focus. Ovechkin has 868 and only needs 26 to catch Gretzky (894).

Everyone has a favorite moment, and here are the ones from the NHL.com staff, presented in chronological order.

A return to normalcy

The Columbus Blue Jackets' 3-2 shootout win against the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center on Jan. 4 wasn't an especially memorable game. The Blue Jackets scored two in the third to tie it, and Johnny Gaudreau had the only goal in the shootout. But it was big for me because it was my first time back in a rink since my mom had died Christmas Day. Being around the game and the rink felt like I was back in a safe place. Seeing the writers, the broadcasters and the Flyers staffers -- some of whom I’ve known for more than two decades -- provided a sense of normalcy and a much-needed escape from my own thoughts for a few hours. The game is great and the people around it are what makes it special. They might not have realized it that night, or on a lot of nights that have followed, but their friendship has helped me get through some difficult moments in the past year. -- Adam Kimelman, deputy managing editor

Doubleheader in Jersey

What’s better than one outdoor NHL game? Well, two of course. And that’s what happened in February at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, with the New Jersey Devils and Philadelphia Flyers playing on a frigid Saturday night, and the New York Rangers and New York Islanders following with a classic game on a chilly Sunday afternoon. The games were great, the crowds were great, and the shows were great as well. Of course, the Jonas Brothers playing a concert before the Devils-Flyers game was the main event from a non-hockey standpoint, but the greatest touch was having The Gaslight Anthem play the Devils’ goal song, “Howl,” live after each goal. And there were plenty. First, Devils captain Nico Hischier scored 32 seconds into the game to get the band and the crowd out of their seats, and at one point in the second period the Devils scored two goals 72 seconds apart. And then came Sunday, when the Rangers scored twice in the final 4:08 of regulation before winning in overtime. It was an amazing weekend of hockey, and I can’t wait to see what the outdoor games this year, the Winter Classic at Wrigley Field on Dec. 31 and the Stadium Series at Ohio Stadium on March 1, have in store for the fans. -- Bill Price, Editor-in-Chief

Great day for former Blackhawks

Oh, Feb. 25 was a crazy and fabulous day with Chris Chelios and Patrick Kane at United Center. It started with former defenseman Chelios’ No. 7 retirement ceremony, an entertaining event that included Chelios and his mom, Susan, being driven onto the ice in a 1962 Cadillac convertible and a star-studded guest list that included Eddie Vedder and Cindy Crawford, who succeeded at Shoot the Puck in the second intermission. Not to be outdone, Kane, playing his first game in Chicago since the Blackhawks traded him to the New York Rangers in February 2023, scored in overtime for the Detroit Red Wings. Kane, who had won the Stanley Cup with the Blackhawks in 2010, 2013 and 2015, was at his “Showtime” best. A few weeks prior, Chelios jokingly said he hoped Kane wouldn’t steal his thunder. If nothing else, Kane’s goal was the icing on the cake that day. -- Tracey Myers, staff writer

A love affair with Quebec

I’ve covered the NHL for 30 years and always have wanted to go to Quebec City for the Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament in late February. Why? Because this is where the dream begins for so many players who find their way to the NHL. The stories are legendary. Wayne Gretzky was so dominant in his year there, he played defense for part of the tournament. Maurice Richard played. So many legends. And so many current NHL players regard this legendary tournament as a career highlight. So, finally, I drove to Quebec City, spent four days basking in the people and the traditions, revisiting history and seeing some of the best pee-wee players on the planet strut their stuff. The man in charge of it all, Patrick Dom, told me, “We put the kids out on the ice and it’s red against white and nobody knows who these kids are, but they go out and they make it into theater.” And theater it was. Talk to me in six years and we can talk about the future NHL players that strutted their stuff in this tournament. -- Shawn P. Roarke, senior director of editorial

A new home in Utah

The guys didn’t know what they were getting into. They had just finished the season as members of the Arizona Coyotes, and now they were part of the Utah Hockey Club, touring their new home in Salt Lake City for the first time. When they stepped off the plane April 24, they were greeted by hundreds of youth hockey players holding homemade signs. After visiting Delta Center and the Utah Jazz practice facility, they returned to the arena for a welcome event. The place was packed. Lights low, spotlights shining, music pumping, crowd buzzing, they walked onto the ice in suits feeling like rock stars. If you looked closely, you could see them failing to hide their smiles. “This,” forward Alex Kerfoot told the crowd, “is honestly one of the coolest experiences we’ve all had as hockey players.” -- Nicholas J. Cotsonika, columnist

Maurice finally gets to lift the Stanley Cup

Spencer Knight, Florida’s third goalie last season, was the last Panthers player to lift the Stanley Cup after they won Game 7 against the Edmonton Oilers. Knight then had the honor of handing the trophy to coach Paul Maurice, the 57-year-old who had been to the Stanley Cup Final twice before but came up short each time. Maurice started chasing it as a coach for the Hartford Whalers at 28 years old. He had coached in 1,985 NHL games -- 1,848 in the regular season and 137 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. That’s the most by any coach before winning the Cup. Knight handed the Cup to Maurice. He held it low, bent down and said a few words. “I had a little conversation with it before I lifted it because I’ve been chasing it for a while, and I didn’t think it was very kind of it to run so hard,” Maurice said. “And then I just wanted to feel it.” He slowly raised it up above his head and closed his eyes. He kept them closed as his head tilted down. He opened them when he looked up and saw the silver trophy above him. Maurice kissed the Cup and screamed, “all profanity,” he said. He then handed it to assistant and longtime friend Jamie Kompon. What a moment. -- Dan Rosen, senior writer

Stanley spaghetti

The joy was pure. The pasta was steaming. After never getting a chance to hoist the Stanley Cup during his 19-season Hall of Fame career, former goalie Roberto Luongo got up close and personal with the Cup on June 26, two days after the Florida Panthers clinched the championship. With pasta and sauce piled high in the Cup, a server grated parmesan cheese onto it before Luongo dug in, taking a heaping bite. As “Let’s go Panthers” chants broke out, Luongo added his own assessment: “Pretty good,” he said. It was a turnabout for Luongo. He had gotten so close, so very close, to a Cup moment 13 years earlier, when his Vancouver Canucks lost in Game 7 in 2011 to the Boston Bruins. He would never get that close again -- until this season. As special advisor to general manager Bill Zito, Luongo finally had captured the Cup, a relief and a weight lifted off his shoulders. I’d imagine it all tasted pretty sweet. -- Amalie Benjamin, senior writer

Bright lights at the NHL Draft

What better place to shine a spotlight on the next generation of NHL talent than a venue so bright that it can be seen from space? The 2024 NHL Draft at Sphere in Las Vegas was an electric -- and historic -- moment for the League and the players selected in the two-day, seven-round draft. It was the first live televised event inside the $2.3 billion immersive entertainment venue, the world’s largest spherical building. It was a spectacular light show with the world’s largest LED screen. Inside was like being on the inside of a high-definition kaleidoscope with the world’s highest resolution LED screen leaving 14,220 attendees awash in team colors and content about a talented and diverse draft class that included No. 1 pick Macklin Celebrini (San Jose Sharks), Cayden Lindstrom (No. 4, Columbus Blue Jackets), Tij Iginla (No. 6, Utah Hockey Club) and Zayne Parekh (No. 9, Calgary Flames). Sphere’s atmosphere made a marquee event for the NHL an even more dazzling moment. -- William Douglas, staff writer

What did he say?

Who will ever forget the expression on the face of forward Beckett Sennecke when he heard his name announced as the No. 3 pick by the Anaheim Ducks in the 2024 NHL Draft on June 28? The right wing with Oshawa of the Ontario Hockey League had a strong second half to his season, including 22 points (10 goals, 12 assists) in 16 OHL playoff games and finished with 68 points (27 goals, 41 assists) in 63 regular-season games, but no one could have predicted this. "It's kind of an out-of-body experience almost and don't ask me any details, because I don't really remember much about it," Sennecke said. "I never thought that this was kind of a possibility and then kind of hearing, ‘from Oshawa ...’ before my name, it was like instant electricity almost put through my body." These are the moments that make the NHL Draft such a memorable and special event. -- Mike G. Morreale, senior draft writer

Barkov’s homecoming

The Florida Panthers playing in the 2024 NHL Global Series Finland gave Aleksander Barkov a chance to play NHL games in his hometown of Tampere for the first time. Barkov made the most of it by getting four points (one goal, three assists) in the Panthers’ 6-4 victory against the Dallas Stars in the first game on Nov. 1 and followed with an assist in a 4-2 win in the second game against the Stars the next night. Barkov soaked in everything with his three Finnish teammates: Anton Lundell, Eetu Luostarinen and Niko Mikkola and Panthers assistant Tuomo Ruutu, who also is from Finland. After the second game, they presented the president of Finland, Alexander Stubb, with a customized Panthers jersey with his name on the back. -- Tom Gulitti, senior writer

Timeless presentation in Boston

I was preparing to head to Boston to cover the Bruins’ Centennial weekend at the end of November when I saw it in a Montreal collectibles store: Phil Esposito’s 1995 Hasbro/Kenner Starting Lineup Timeless Legends action figure. Price: $4.99. From the store, I called Phil and told him I was going to buy it, bring it to Boston and present it to him personally. Espo muttered that this really wouldn't be necessary, you're too kind, you wouldn’t dare, please don’t, etc. Walking together into our Boston hotel following the Nov. 30 unveiling of the Bruins Centennial Legacy monument, a colossal bronze bear beside TD Garden, I told Phil the presentation was at hand. And into the lobby at that instant strolled Bobby Orr, Phil’s legendary Bruins teammate. "Do you know what would be better than me presenting you with this, Phil?" I said to him. "Bobby presenting it to you." Orr obliged, shaking hands with his friend and former teammate, offering a solemn presentation address before he burst out laughing: "Phil, on behalf of the Bruins organization, thank you for your years of service." It did make for a heck of a photo. -- Dave Stubbs, columnist