Puck Wire: Top Hockey News Of The Day: January 17th

The final weekend before the annual All-Star break is now straight ahead for hockey fans. The playoff races are heating up, and teams like the Anaheim Ducks are starting to shuffle their roster for the upcoming race. This is where things get interesting for us.

Last night we saw some big games in the playoff race, with Edmonton edging Vancouver and Colorado suffering yet another regulation loss, this time at the hands of the Ottawa Senators. The Flyers stormed back to beat the Bruins, while Buffalo scored on all three shots they took in the third period and overtime to upset the Flames.

Today’s spin around the hockey world looks at the latest World Cup news, trade news, rumors and much more.

• The NHL and NHLPA announced on Wednesday that there will not be a World Cup in 2020. The hope was to host the event every four years, but with labor talks already starting up the two sides have decided to call it off. Bad news for labor talks? Good news for the Olympics? We shall see.
• The Anaheim Ducks sent defender Luke Schenn and a seventh round pick to the Vancouver Canucks last night for veteran defender Michael Del Zotto. Schenn will report to Vancouver’s AHL affiliate in Utica, while Del Zotto joins the Ducks.
• Speaking of Ducks’ trades, the team also sent Pontus Aberg to Minnesota last night and acquired Derek Grant in the wee hours of this morning from Pittsburgh.
• Connor McDavid is in a dogfight with his Oilers to make the playoffs this spring. It is a disappointing reality for the game’s best in his fourth season, but he’s not the first great of the game to go through early team struggles.
• Montreal’s Paul Byron will sit three games for his hit on Florida’s MacKenzie Weegar on Tuesday night.
• Elias Pettersson missed last night’s 3-2 shootout defeat to the Oilers, but the Canucks’ rookie star could be back in action as early as Friday night against Buffalo.
• Craig Button doesn’t believe Edmonton’s Evan Bouchard, drafted tenth overall this summer and who started this season in the NHL, is close NHL-ready and isn’t a top 50 prospect. Alright then I guess.

Photo Credit: Santeri Viinamäki [CC BY-SA 4.0], from Wikimedia Commons