NHL's top 17 moments of 2017

OK, here was an easy assignment: Pick the 17 best moments of 2017, send it to my editors and grab some eggnog.
Except it wasn't easy. Only 17 moments? Because it was 2017?

That meant I had to leave out so much.
Like the Anaheim Ducks trailing 3-0, scoring three in the final 3:16 of the third period and
winning 4-3 in double o
against the Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference Second Round.
Or Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin with back-to-back hat tricks, and scoring seven goals in two games, to open the 2017-18 season.
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Or the Vegas Golden Knights
defeating the Colorado Avalanche 7-0
to start their inaugural season 8-1-0.
Or Golden Knights goaltender
Malcom Subban making 41 saves
and not allowing a goal in a six-round shootout to win 4-3 in his first game against Nashville Predators defenseman P.K. Subban, his big brother.
Or Golden Knights goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury
making 24 saves to win 2-1
in his first game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, his former team.
Or …
Man, we could do 17 on Vegas alone. Where's that eggnog?
Here are 17 moments, in chronological order, even better than those:

Matthews ends a Classic

Jan. 1, Exhibition Stadium, Toronto

The 2017 Scotiabank NHL Centennial Classic was meant to commemorate the past, the start of a yearlong celebration of the League's first century. The rink sat in the middle of a giant "100." The first 33 of the
100 Greatest NHL Players
presented by Molson Canadian were unveiled.
But who scored the overtime goal that gave the Toronto Maple Leafs a 5-4 victory over another Original Six team, the Detroit Red Wings? The future. A rookie born in California, raised in Arizona and taken with the No. 1 pick of the 2016 NHL Draft. Center Auston Matthews.

The stars align in L.A.

Jan. 29, Staples Center, Los Angeles

The rest of the 100 Greatest NHL Players were unveiled in "The NHL 100 presented by GEICO," a live TV show shot at the Microsoft Theater. More than 60 were honored on stage. Hall of Famers
Wayne Gretzky
,
Mario Lemieux
and
Bobby Orr
made a rare public appearance together in a press conference.
The next day, the legends lined up across from current stars before the 2017 NHL All-Star Game. It was perhaps the greatest collection of hockey talent in one place in NHL history.

Bickell goes out with a goal

April 9, Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia

When the Carolina Hurricanes' season finale went to a shootout, coach Bill Peters sent out forward Bryan Bickell to take the first shot. It would be Bickell's last in the NHL. He had announced his retirement because of multiple sclerosis.
Bickell fired the puck past Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Anthony Stolarz, the arena roared, Bickell got mobbed, the
Hurricanes won 4-3
and …
No, you're crying.

The Joe goes out with a party

April 9, Joe Louis Arena, Detroit

The last game at Joe Louis Arena, home to four Stanley Cup championship teams and many legends over its 37-plus years, didn't have a somber atmosphere. It had a playoff atmosphere, a party atmosphere.
Fans lined up outside to see the players enter on a red carpet. Thirty-five octopuses hit the ice during the game, so many the players could smell them toward the end. The fans counted down to the final horn of the
Detroit Red Wings' 4-1 win against the New Jersey Devils
as if it were New Year's Eve, and then stayed in their seats for a ceremony.

Pageau badgers the Rangers

April 29, Canadian Tire Centre, Ottawa

The Ottawa Senators were trailing the New York Rangers 5-3 in the third period of Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Second Round. Then came Jean-Gabriel Pageau, the 5-foot-10, 180-pound forward they call the "honey badger."
Pageau had tied the game 1-1 in the first period. Now he tied the game 5-5 by scoring twice late in the third, giving him his second NHL hat trick in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He wasn't done. His fourth goal, 2:54 into the second overtime, gave
the Senators a 5-4 win
.

Kunitz sends Penguins back to Final

May 25, PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh

The Penguins were tied with the Senators 2-2 in overtime of Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final, one shot from returning to the Stanley Cup Final or having their repeat hopes dashed.
Who came through 5:09 into the second OT and
gave the Penguins a 3-2 win
? Chris Kunitz, the veteran forward who had won the Cup twice before with the Penguins. He hadn't scored since Feb. 16, a span of 35 games, but the winner was his second goal of the night.

The Final comes to Music City

June 3, Bridgestone Arena, Nashville

Hockey and country music came together as never before when the Nashville Predators hosted a Stanley Cup Final game for the first time. Alan Jackson held a pregame concert on Broadway outside Bridgestone Arena, wearing boots, jeans, a cowboy hat and a Predators T-shirt.
Tens of thousands of fans flooded the area around him, from the street to the honkytonks. They watched on video screens to see
the Predators defeat the Penguins 5-1 in Game 3
, and they stayed to celebrate afterward, of course.

Penguins, Crosby go back to back

June 11, Bridgestone Arena, Nashville

With a 2-0 victory in Game 6
, the Penguins became the first to win the Stanley Cup back to back since the Detroit Red Wings did it in 1997 and '98, before the salary cap. Pittsburgh became the second to win it three times in the cap era, joining the Chicago Blackhawks (2010, 2013, 2015).
Center Sidney Crosby won the Conn Smythe Trophy as MVP of the Stanley Cup Playoffs back to back too, and won the MVP of the World Cup of Hockey 2016 with Team Canada and the Rocket Richard Trophy as the NHL's goal-scoring champion in between.

Golden Knights start to become reality

June 21, T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas

The NHL's 31st team began to take shape when the Golden Knights revealed their picks in the NHL Expansion Draft during the NHL Awards. A few of their picks came to their new home arena to meet the fans at a roundtable afterward, including Fleury and defenseman Deryk Engelland, a Las Vegas resident.
General manager George McPhee drew cheers when he listed the great experiences of his hockey career and said, "The Stanley Cup is going to be up there."
Yeah, he said it.

NHL explores new frontiers

Sept. 21, Mercedes-Benz Arena, Shanghai; Sept. 23, Wukesong Arena, Beijing

The NHL made its first foray into China when the Los Angeles Kings and Vancouver Canucks played two preseason games in the 2017 NHL China Games presented by O.R.G. Packaging.
With the teams exploring places like the Bund in Shanghai and the Great Wall in Beijing, they exposed the game to a new audience in a country of 1.3 billion people gearing up for the 2022 Beijing Olympics. It was a baby step the NHL hopes will be the first of many.

Golden Knights stand behind their city

Oct. 10, T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas

The Golden Knights' home opener was the first for a major league team in Las Vegas, but also a memorial and rallying point for the city after a mass shooting on The Strip nine days earlier.
The Arizona Coyotes stood behind the Golden Knights, who stood behind first responders, who stood on the blue line after being introduced. A moment of silence lasted 58 seconds, one for each of those killed, their names projected onto the ice. Engelland took the microphone and addressed the crowd.
"We are Vegas strong," he said before
the Golden Knights' 5-2 victory
.

Eddie O receives standing O

Oct. 18, Scottrade Center, St. Louis

It was the Blackhawks vs. the St. Louis Blues, Wednesday Night Rivalry on NBCSN. But it was Eddie Olczyk's return to the broadcast booth for the first time since receiving a colon cancer diagnosis Aug. 8, and it didn't matter that he was born in Chicago, played for the Blackhawks and was a color commentator on Blackhawks broadcasts.
The fans rose to their feet, saluted him and supported him before
the Blues' 5-2 win
.
No, you're crying.

Boyle scores first during fight with leukemia

Nov. 9, Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey

In his fifth game after treatment for chronic myeloid leukemia, during Hockey Fights Cancer Awareness Month, center Brian Boyle scored his first goal as a member of the Devils. He chipped in a rebound, pumped his fist, let out a primal scream and got mobbed.
No, he was crying.
"I've never cried after a goal before," he said following
the Devils' 3-2 overtime loss
against the Edmonton Oilers.

Senators sweep Avalanche in Sweden

Nov. 10-11, Ericsson Globe, Stockholm

When the NHL returned to Stockholm for the first time since 2011, fans were pumped to see Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson and Colorado Avalanche forward Gabriel Landeskog, each born in Sweden. Sellout crowds of 13,396 watched
Ottawa defeat Colorado by 4-3
scores on
back-to-back days
.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly noticed a difference in playing games overseas a month into the season rather than at the start. Daly said the response was "off the charts."

Kariya resurfaces as a Hall of Famer

Nov. 12, Air Canada Centre, Toronto

After his last NHL game for the Blues against the Predators on April 10, 2010, forward Paul Kariya surfed, skied and snowboarded, but didn't skate. He watched hockey and talked hockey, but attended one NHL game, sneaking into one of former teammate
Teemu Selanne's
last games in 2014.
But the day before Kariya and Selanne were inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, they played together again in the Haggar Hall of Fame Legends Classic. Wearing a mishmash of equipment, Kariya took a between-the-legs drop pass from Selanne, stick-handled into the slot and fired a wrist shot five hole.
Goal, Kariya. Assist, Selanne. Like old times.

Sedin brothers reach twin peaks

Nov. 30, Bridgestone Arena, Nashville

When Canucks forward Daniel Sedin reached 1,000 points
in a 5-3 win at the Predators
, he followed Vancouver center Henrik Sedin, who did it against the Florida Panthers at Rogers Arena on Jan. 20. Never before had two brothers reached 1,000 points each in the NHL, let alone two on the same team at the same time, let alone identical twins on the same line most of the time.

The closest comparison is Maurice and Henri Richard, the only other pair of brothers with 900 points each. Each spent his entire career with the Montreal Canadiens, but they overlapped by five seasons. Maurice had 966 points from 1942-60. Henri had 1,046 from 1955-75.

Mario enjoys another great moment

Dec. 16, Lansdowne Park, Ottawa

The NHL's Centennial celebration concluded with the 2017 Scotiabank NHL100 Classic,
a 3-0 Senators win
against the Canadiens. The Greatest NHL Moment presented by Coors Light and Pepsi Zero Sugar was announced during the second period.
By fan vote, it went to Lemieux for scoring five goals five ways -- even strength, power play, shorthanded, penalty shot, empty net -- for the Penguins against the Devils on Dec. 31, 1988. Lemieux is the only NHL player to do it. He also had three assists in an 8-6 win.
Lemieux flew to Ottawa for the occasion. On a red carpet before 33,959 fans, Lemieux was presented with a commemorative portrait by artist Tony Harris. The person who presented it? Lemieux's idol, another member of the 100 Greatest NHL players, Guy Lafleur.