2021-22

• With the goal of ending plastic waste, all 32 NHL teams will wear Adidas' new Primegreen jerseys, which are made of at least 50% recycled materials. All jerseys will have a small tag at the rear base, advertising the joint initiative.

• Prior to the start of training camp, the City of Glendale, Arizona, announced that it will be kicking the Coyotes out of Gila River Arena at the end of the season. Barring a change of heart or some serious wheeling and dealing, the Coyotes will be homeless following the season.

• In one of the NHL's darkest moments, a report released on October 26 stated that the Blackhawks knew of the sexual assault of player Kyle Beach by video coach Brad Aldrich during the team's run to the 2010 Stanley Cup and did nothing to address it. In the wake of the report, Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman and Panthers head coach Joel Quenneville (who was coaching the Blackhawks at the time) resigned their jobs.

• NHL players had been slated to make their return to the Olympics in February. However, amid a new surge in COVID-19 cases, the Olympic break was instead used to make up the games that had been postponed. As such, the NHL Board of Governors and the Players Association mutually agreed that the NHL would not participate in the Olympics (teams were stocked using non-NHL players).

• The Buffalo Sabres missed the playoffs for an 11th consecutive season, breaking the NHL record.

• It was an especially difficult season for the Montreal Canadiens and the New York Islanders. One season after an improbable run to the Stanley Cup Final, the Canadiens nosedive all the way to the bottom of the league. And in the waning weeks of the season, one of the greatest players in franchise and league history, Guy Lafleur, died of cancer at the age of 70. Coming off two consecutive trips to the third round of the playoffs, the Islanders got off to a slow start, thanks to their marathon road trip as UBS Arena was being completed, and they never fully recovered. On top of that, two core players from their dynasty years, Clark Gillies and Mike Bossy, passed away.

• The Colorado Avalanche made their first Stanley Cup Final appearance in 21 years a successful one, dethroning the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games. Notable for the Avalanche in their playoff run is that they came from behind in all four series clinching games. As for the Lightning, they became the first team in NHL history to face 50-win teams in all four rounds of the playoffs. And for Corey Perry (who has a Stanley Cup title in his days with Anaheim), he became the first player to lose three straight Stanley Cup Finals with three different teams.