****Official 2019-2020 NHL Season Thread****
 

Season begins a week from tomorrow, and the defending champs just traded Joel Edmundson and a prospect for Justin Faulk.

Who's up for back-to-back Cups?

http://media.giphy.com/media/QWjWZZJ...crEp/giphy.gif

Don’t really get the trade from the Blues perspective honestly. they’re gonna have 3 highly paid players on the right side of the defense? Are they gonna re-sign Pietrangelo?

My thought is that Faulk is not only an upgrade, but helps the PP immensely, and is also insurance in the event Petro doesn't get re-signed.

Eddie is a FA in 2020, and has really regressed in the past year. Who knows what Bokk turns into. Solid move for the present and the future, IMO.

Grats on last year Blues fans! Let's go Pens!

I thought I read that they were going to re-sign Pietrangelo. I'd really miss him if he left.

I know the odds of the Blues repeating are really slim, but I'm hoping they find a way back into the Finals. It would be epic.

Go Blues!

Anyone else getting "sponsored posts" on their Facebook stream of classic hockey fight videos as a lead in to the '19-20 season? I've been getting them for like a month now. I'm assuming I got one, watched it. Got another, and watched it. Now their algorithm just keeps sending them...it's been great.

Been getting as well. Great stuff.

I can't believe the season starts in less than two weeks.

Odds to win Stanley Cup 2019-20

Tampa Bay Lightning +750
Toronto Maple Leafs +900
Vegas Golden Knights +1000
Boston Bruins +1100
Colorado Avalanche +1300
St. Louis Blues +1500
Florida Panthers +1700
Dallas Stars +1700
Nashville Predators +1800
San Jose Sharks +1800
Washington Capitals +2000
Calgary Flames +2000
Winnipeg Jets +2200
Pittsburgh Penguins +2400
New Jersey Devils +2500
New York Islanders +3000
Carolina Hurricanes +3300
Philadelphia Flyers +3300
Chicago Blackhawks +3300
Edmonton Oilers +3500
Montreal Canadiens +3500
New York Rangers +3500
Arizona Coyotes +4000
Vancouver Canucks +4000
Columbus Blue Jackets +5000
Minnesota Wild +5500
Buffalo Sabres +6600
Anaheim Ducks +8000
Los Angeles Kings +8000
Detroit Red Wings +8000
Ottawa Senators +20000

**** the Lanche!

I actually would like to see the Bruins back in the Finals with the Blues. Just so after the Blues won again I could hear all my friends that are Bruins fans complain again about all the goons on our team and how they're a bunch of cheapshot artists, etc.

I tell you it was the purest music to my ears . . .

About damn time.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Rantanen and Avs agree on a six-year deal worth $9.25M AAV. $55.5M in total. The international nightmare is over.<br><br>Patrik Laine got to Canada in no time. We&#39;ll see how immigration from Finland to Colorado goes but Rantanen could be a contender to play opening night.</p>&mdash; AJ Haefele (@AJHaefele) <a href="https://twitter.com/AJHaefele/status/1178070546807803905?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 28, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

PBJ

LET'S GO KNIGHTS...LET'S STICK TWO FINGERS UP AT THE LEAGUE AFTER WHAT HAPPENED IN THE PLAYOFFS LAST YEAR.

Go Blues. I wouldn’t mind a Canadian team winning the cup if the Blues can’t repeat.

That'll be the Leafs.

Hockey!

Caps blues has been a good game so far

Holey crap!! Didn't know they were going to be on TV out here. Thx!!!

For all intents and purposes, the Blues are practically a Canadian team as their roster has among the most Canadian players in the league.

Blues scaring me...

Well poop..

Darn. Well, it's just the first game. 81 to go.

Las Vegas Golden Knights look good again. For an expansion team filled with cast-off players, they're pretty good.

And they're off!!!!

A lot of wide open hockey so far.

Avalanche/Flames has practically been one long powerplay.

Penguins defense still looks like a wet dog turd.
I fully expect them to finally miss the postseason this year.

Yeah, there was just no flow at all in the first. Seemed to settle in a bit by the 3rd, though. I decided to grab a last minute ticket and go. :) https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...4dd15f17ed.jpg

Orange and Black
 

Let's Go Flyers!

Carter Hart is the future.

Nice... it was a fun game, and the newcomers made a good first impression. Donskoi works hard and is on pace for 164 goals. :D

The Avalanche benefited from a couple of calls... a trip that was just losing an edge, and a crosscheck call that looked like a love tap. OTOH, the Flames were so undisciplined, it's hard to blame the refs for thinking there's a penalty every time an Avalanche player fell down.

Not just "good", we look damn scary out there!!...how we only scored four is anyone's guess because imo it really should have been 10-1 In the end with the amount of clear cut chances we had :evil: .

Just in general, the refs were WAY too aggressive for my taste. The interference calls were weak. I have no idea how Lucic gets tossed. I have no idea how Z gets a major for standing there and getting punched in the face. It was all just weird.

Hopefully it's just the refs trying to make a statement early. :shrug:

Guess I didn't catch the instigator penalty... the TV said they both got a 2 minute and 5 for fighting. Getting tossed is a bit much for stopping play, but at the same time, I don't mind them doing something about it. On the hit, the guy turned into the boards at the last second.... I can still see why Lucic was pissed, but take it up after the whistle, at least.

And as you said, Zadorov was just standing there until Lucic punched him in the face with his gloves on, then bear-hugged Lucic so he'd quit punching him in the face.... no clue how that's considered fighting. :shrug:

http://www.nhl.com/ice/page.htm?id=25010

Arizona's playing Boston tonight. Is it my imagination or are the Coyotes trying to play like the Blues tonight?

Not as physical, but trying to run an offense that looks familiar.

From what I understand, the Coyotes were able to keep it out of the net last year but couldn't score. Kessel should help with that, but the bum didn't do shit against the Bruins tonight.
Thanks again Kessel - from a Leafs fan.

Rangers finally have elite talent

Boutta be a nice few years coming up between the Rangers and Chiefs

Beat the Yotes and the Avalanche will be 4-0 and headed on a brutal road trip.

Great game tonight, Grubauer kinda saved their asses.

Got a little fortunate on the reviews, too. But hey, nice to see we really can hang with them. It's gonna be a fun year.

I'll be at Coyotes/Preditors next Thursday. We hang out in the Chill Zone.

Sweet... it's a good time. I like the area, with Yard House nearby for good beer.

Say hi to Duchene for us Avalanche fans... seeing him and Filip Forsberg live will be fun.

Another comeback W for the Blues last night.

I like what Faulk brings offensively but for the responsibility the Blues will put on him, he's gotta be more sound on D. He had two pretty bad plays last night that led directly to goals; muffed a play at the boards that led to a shorty and then got his stick lifted on a half-assed effort behind the net to lead directly to another goal.

He got bailed out, but he's gotta tighten that up.

Impressive win in Tampa on back to back nights... didn't expect that. And Jost with a hat trick.

Much like the Chiefs defense's sack rate, Jost's shot percentage went from awful to pretty decent in the course of one game. ROFL

My son's goalie coach just sent me this and told me that our fist games are this weekend!

https://i.pinimg.com/736x/8e/5c/a7/8...ckey-memes.jpg

Well, ****. This could be an ACL.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="no" dir="ltr">Brutal looking leg injury for Mikko Rantanen <a href="https://t.co/fVB24NGGJn">pic.twitter.com/fVB24NGGJn</a></p>&mdash; Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) <a href="https://twitter.com/BradyTrett/status/1186451512819511296?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 22, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Hate seeing elite players get hurt. Hopefully that isn’t as bad as it looks. Rantanen is one of my favorites.

Here.

Great hockey night in our house, we just tuned-up my son's new leg pads... Ready for practice after school tomorrow. WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!!!

After the "NO", the obligatory "oops, sorry 'bout that" would help avoid a penalty.

Looks like a knee sprain to me. Hopefully no worse than that.

You may be right. Sounds like they're thinking 4-6 weeks or less. PBJ

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Doesn’t feel like Rantanen will be a 4-6 week injury.... he’ll be back sooner than that and will re-evaluates as he responds to treatment. Says it feels like best case scenario. <a href="https://t.co/LFfcirZiTd">pic.twitter.com/LFfcirZiTd</a></p>&mdash; Marc Moser TV (@RadioMoser) <a href="https://twitter.com/RadioMoser/status/1187072308055302144?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 23, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

In all my years of Football and Rugby, the only time I was ever sidelined with an injury was when I got a knee sprain in Rugby. The goddamned thing swelled up to the size of a basketball and it hurt like a bitch.
It was in practice, we were doing tackling drills and some little douche couldn't get me down so he did a "gator death roll " at my calf. (I think his name was Paul Rudd).
BTW - The 7, or so, times I got my "bell rung" in football don't count as injuries since I was always back in the game a few plays later.:drool:

Like you I'm glad I grew up before concussions were invented.


LMAO

Me, pretty much every time I watch the Golden Knights:

<IMG SRC="http://giphygifs.s3.amazonaws.com/media/103LONDHxdva3C/giphy.gif">

All we ever get here is the Coyotes, and they suck again this year.

I pay for NHL Center Ice... so, while no one in Denver can actually watch Avalanche or Nuggets games because of contract disputes with Dish, DirecTV, and Comcast... you can watch them in Arizona for $165.

And on top of that, I have Dish and can't watch the Yotes because of their dispute with all of the FSNs. LMAO :facepalm:

I've heard this should all be resolved within the next year or three.

Bad news for the Blues...

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Tough news for the defending <a href="https://twitter.com/StanleyCup?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@StanleyCup</a> Champs as <a href="https://twitter.com/tara9191?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@tara9191</a> will be re- evaluated in 5 months. A bad wing. Holy Jumpin. Not good. <a href="https://twitter.com/StLouisBlues?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@StLouisBlues</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/FSMidwest?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FSMidwest</a></p>&mdash; Darren R Pang (@Panger40) <a href="https://twitter.com/Panger40/status/1188849720627777543?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 28, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Has to be Klim Kostin time

Damn, that sucks. I suppose that still leaves a theoretical possibility he could make it back for a playoff run, but that's gonna be a tough loss.

I think Zadorov just killed a man.

<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe src="https://streamable.com/s/unrit/ienaoi" frameborder="0" width="100%" height="100%" allowfullscreen style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;"></iframe></div>

Just saw Cherry got fired. It's never a good idea to continue a sentence that starts with "you people"...


<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2vsDjOmOsMc" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Didn't see Don going out this way... 85 years old, fired on Remembrance Day.

I didn't think it was such a terrible thing to rant about (granted, he should just stick to hockey)... I mean, if he left out the "you people" and basically told Canada they should do more to support their vets, most people who are outraged might just agree.

My assumption after reading a couple of articles is if he would have apologized, he'd still have a job... but, he totally seems like the type of guy who would stand by what he said to the point of being fired over it.

And that whole thing is so odd. People are crying 'racist!!!' but they also neglect to talk about who an 'immigrant' in Canada often is. Their immigrant population has a lot of Chinese and European imports.

So even if you give his rant it's most negative interpretation, you still have to make yet ANOTHER leap to assume he's just blasting away at non-white immigrants. And to get there you just have to...state it. There was nothing else in there referring to any kind of line of demarcation between 'brown people' and any other immigrants.

I dunno - maybe there's a history there. I mean he's an 85 year old curmudgeon so there's PROBABLY a history there. But on its face I didn't see anything fireable there. Just an old guy being pissy that 'kids these days' don't support their veterans the way previous generations did.

And man, axing the guy on Remembrance Day just seems brutally harsh. After 40+ years on the air, you couldn't have let the guy at least make a farewell broadcast?

I wonder if Bearcat's right and the 'debriefing' went really really poorly. If they brought him in a room and he said "hell yeah - !@#$ those sand jockeys...", I could see it ending this way. He almost had to have signed his own death warrant off the air.

The quote that led me to that thought was “To keep my job, I cannot be turned into a tamed robot". Also found an article on the history of his controversial statements -- https://www.ctvnews.ca/sports/don-ch...ents-1.4680505

As dumb as it is to give idiots on Twitter such power to get people fired, he should have just stuck to hockey and perhaps swallowed a bit of his pride.

I'll miss the suits and things like "bunch of jerks", crazy old guy.

Yeah, Cherry's history is foreign to me. He's always just been that grumpy old goat on Hockey Night that wears suits and shakes his fist at guys that wear visors. He's as crotchety as they come.

He's the walking embodiment of 'die a hero or live long enough to become a villain'. Guys like him rarely exit gracefully.

Who is "you people"?

Here's the full quote.

Presumably "you people that come here" is referring to immigrants to the country. Or at least he hasn't tried to clarify that assumption when he's been given numerous opportunities to do so.

Hell, he could be talking about tourists. Summer vacationers. Kinda vague really.

I blame the whole cancel culture sprung from social media. People have been calling for Cherry's head for years. He's a very polarizing character.
IMO - He represented the "old school" Canadian hockey mentality. Sure he'd call players "chicken Swedes", "bums" or "jerks", but he also did a ton for junior hockey, player safety, animal rights, etc...
He makes a poorly stated comment about supporting veterans, and because it could be construed as being anti-immigrant, he's fired.
I also think Sportsnet has been having some financial difficulties and this was an easy way to get rid of his contract. (They gotten rid of a bunch of older, more expensive, personalities over the past year).

All he had to do was say, "I didn't intend to single out immigrants. Sorry for the confusion." He refused to do so, so it kind of is what it is.

I kind of feel like he was just tired of it and didn't really care if he got canned.

Maybe be was tired of it, (I doubt it). Seems to me, he's one a stubborn old goat who refused to kowtow to a management group who were looking to get rid of his contract anyway.

Hey, I get to watch (most of) a Blues game tonight! First of the year! Gotta make some Ro-tel dip!

Watched the Yotes for the first time this season on TV last night! LMAO

I know it's only 17 games, but Makar leads all rookies in points by +6, is second in goals, and will at least be at 1.00 PPG after tonight.

Only a handful of rookies who played more than a few games since the turn of the century that have >=1.00 PPG.... Ovechkin, Crosby, Malkin, McDavid, and Barzal. And only a few more that played most of a season are >=0.90.

Pretty impressive start, 1/5th of the way through the season.

Hockey is the weirdest sport.

It's the only sport I know of where every team has one guy who's job is to give himself long term brain damage by bare-hand fighting 4 times a week.

IT's the only game that leaves in rules that put people in danger and then say "Yeah, but if someone DOES hit our start center legally and cleanly we have someone to beat the shit out of him for that."

Imagine if every NFL team had one guy who's job it was to enter the game and beat the shit out of anyone who sacks your QB.

I don't hate hockey or anything, but it's really bizarre when you think about it.

Is the NHL still denying a link between CTE and concussions?

Someone hasn't actually paid attention to hockey recently.

Absolutely true. Last time I paid attention the NHL was still endangering players and refusing to acknowledge a link between CTE and concussions.

If they've taken measures to protect their players over the past few years, good for them.

Regardless, it's STILL a unique aspect to this sport in the meta context.

Don't be so defensive.