It was tough to put the Lokomotiv crash over the Bruins winning the Cup (and I’m thrilled out of my mind for Thomas) because those are guys who are never going to be around anymore.  But the Bruins winning the Cup means despite all that (and they are truly important issues), we move on.

Posted by SYF from the bottom of my, what, 11teenth pint of Guinness? on 12/20/11 at 03:08 PM ET

Dany Heatley will score 70 goals this year.

Posted by Chris in Hockey Hell from Ann Arbor, MI but LIVING in Columbia, TN on 12/20/11 at 03:11 PM ET

I was thinking the same thing Paul - that the Bruins winning the cup would be top. But maybe the fact it’s a Canadian website maybe their readers aren’t as interesting the winners of the cup if it’s an American team? Or maybe that’s it just not a “story” as opposed to a news item.

How they count 3 different stories as one regarding Boogard, Rypien and Belak when the incidents didn’t happen at the same time. What about Probert?

What about the ongoing “story” of the Phoenix Coyotes?

Is it the stories that got them the most hits on their site or just what they perceive as being top?

Posted by TheFreak on 12/20/11 at 03:15 PM ET

Lokomotiv was the top story for me.  Not even close for anything else.

It would have been bad enough had it been just a random Euro team, but it was one with *very* notable ex-NHLers, and a very notable N. American head coach.

Posted by Primis on 12/20/11 at 03:25 PM ET

Hey TheFreak, that was a CBC story. CBC hosts hockey night in canada and for many Canadians was the only channel they had to watch hockey on, until everyone started getting cable television. What I’m trying to say is that for Canadians CBC is a pretty big deal in terms of hockey.

Bob Probert died in 2010, and although the three deaths this year happened at different times, it was still the death of three players in one summer.

Also, I think you will find that an extremely large number of Canadians were cheering for the Bruins to win the cup over the Canucks. This article looking for the top ten stories in hockey I think was taking it for granted that someone wins the cup every year, and was trying to target the other kind of stories in hockey.

Posted by Lisa McRitchie on 12/20/11 at 03:58 PM ET

Someone wins the cup every year.  I do not count that as a top story unless the year was extremely uneventful otherwise.

It’s not every year that a professional sports team gets wiped out by a tragedy.  Lokomotiv is definitely #1 in my book, then the deaths of Boogaard, Rypien, and Belak would be #2, with Winnipeg at #3.  I would replace the mention of Sidney Crosby with just any concussion issues (though I know he’s the highest-profile player with these issues…).

Posted by BuzzFledderjohn on 12/20/11 at 04:12 PM ET

Definitely The Crash for me..

Posted by HockeytownOverhaul on 12/20/11 at 04:19 PM ET

An entire hockey team dies in a plane crash and that is not the number one story?  Are you kidding me?  Cindy’s head and the return of the Jets are the number one and two stories respectively?  Good job Tim Wharnsby, you should probably leave your little cocoon of an office more than once a year and get some perspective.  The families of all of those men have been altered forever.  The children will grow up without their fathers; but Crosby might not play because of a concussion and all of Canada is on the edge of their seats waiting.  Disgusting.

Posted by 11B3PF7 in MN on 12/20/11 at 04:56 PM ET

How they count 3 different stories as one regarding Boogard, Rypien and Belak when the incidents didn’t happen at the same time.

Because any one of the deaths alone is (sadly) not a big story.  The big story is the implication that there deaths were related, in that they were fighters who may have had psychological issues connected to the fact they they all took punches in the face in order to make a living.

I agree with Buzz, the Bruins winning the Stanley Cup isn’t a big story.  Maybe if they were a 7th or 8th seed, but they weren’t.  They were a 3rd seed and played in front of unequivocally the best goalie in the league (as opposed to Vancouver, who play in front of the most overrate goalie in the league).

Locamotiv is the biggest story for me, and I didn’t even have to think for a second about the decision.

Posted by Garth on 12/20/11 at 05:20 PM ET

Posted by 11B3PF7 in MN on 12/20/11 at 03:56 PM ET

+19

What a joke of an article.

Posted by WingsFanInBeanLand from Lidstrom's head telling him 1 more year on 12/20/11 at 05:24 PM ET

To me the Lokomotiv crash would have to be #1.  That seemed to affect pretty much everyone in the hockey world.  Boston winning the Cup would be my #2.

Posted by HockeyFanOhio from Central Ohio on 12/20/11 at 08:46 PM ET