With another year in the books, NHL.com takes a look back at some of the most impressive goals, funniest stories and best-dressed players of 2023.
Here's our list for Top 10 Short Shifts Stories of the Year:
1. The Double "Michigan"
Before last weekend, there were only five "Michigan" or lacrosse-style goals scored in the entire history of the NHL.
Then we got two within a couple of hours of each other.
Chicago Blackhawks rookie Connor Bedard netted and incredible goal just ahead of Anaheim Ducks forward Trevor Zegras following suit.
For Zegras, it was the third such goal of his young career. And Bedard, well, he's come quite a long way from forgetting his stick in his first NHL game.
2. Jarry goalie goal
Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry dialed up long distance for the first-ever score from a netminder in franchise history.
It wasn't the first time Jarry had scored a goal in a professional game, just his first score in the NHL.
3. Hamblin scores one for mom
James Hamblin will never forget his first-ever NHL goal. Everyone else will never forget the celebration.
The Oilers forward dedicated the score to his late mother, who lost to cancer in 2017, in the middle of Hockey Fights Cancer Month in the League.
4. Stanley Cup visits fan's gravesite
After the Vegas Golden Knights won the Stanley Cup in 2023, season ticket holder Connie Bronowitz knew she had to at least ask if the team would bring the trophy to her late husband Michael's grave.
Golden Knights President Kerry Bubolz made it happen.
5. Winter Classic baseball uniforms
With the 2023 Discover NHL Winter Classic at historic Fenway Park, the Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins showed up in retro-style baseball uniforms.
Outdoor NHL hockey games have continued to be a stage for players to show up in some kinds of coordinated outfits like the Oilers and Flames did at the 2023 Heritage Classic and Hurricanes and Capitals did at the 2023 Stadium Series.
6. Man on the street knows his hockey
When a couple of content creators stopped a man on a Nashville street to talk about the 2023 NHL Draft, they unknowingly got Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson. Hilarity ensued.
7. Hurricanes Cameo troll
The best social media trolls require foresight and planning. During the 2023 NHL playoffs, the Carolina Hurricanes social team took it to the next level with, among other things, a Cameo video compilation of New Jersey-based celebrities after a win against the Devils.
8. Fan gets replacement for makeshift jersey
If the team shop doesn't have the jersey you want, just make your own. For one fan that amount of creativity led to a freebie from the team.
9. Fan creates portrait of Connor McDavid using Rubik's Cubes
Hockey-inspired art is often a passion project for fans, but it is almost never made out of Rubik's Cubes. Dylan Sadiq's amazing Connor McDavid portrait is a little bit different than the norm.
10. King George
Red Wings fans crowned new royalty in Detroit, a young fan named George. And he's everything you want him to be.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
- Legendary defenseman Zdeno Chara took to the streets of New York to complete the annual New York City Marathon, his second full marathon after completing the Boston Marathon earlier this year.
- Is there a better place to celebrate your team's Stanley Cup Playoff First Round victory than on the ice? The guys in this Florida adult league wouldn't want to be anywhere else.
- The hilarious Savannah Bananas baseball team got into the hockey mindset during one of their games this past season when one of their pitchers used a hockey stick to deliver his pitch.
- A Golden Knights fan got to bond with legendary goalie Henrik Lundqvist after the two discovered they went through similar heart surgeries.
- The NHL saw plenty of Halloween costumes this year, but the best-dressed award almost has to go to Brandon Montour's son.
- After Chris Snow's tragic passing from ALS, the hockey community saw an outpouring of love and support for his family.
- The Golden Knights starred in a couple of hilarious "This is SportsCenter" commercials on ESPN after winning the Stanley Cup.
