**** Official 2023-24 NHL Thread ****
 

Time to reboot for the upcoming season.

Anyone interested in doing a fun (or even low cost $25) Fantasy NHL League?

What does fantasy hockey look like? Weekly changes, nightly changes? That would be my one thing... I'd probably forget about it for a few days and play injured guys, if you have to check up on it every night.

It's kind of weird to me that the Avs are still the favorite to win the Cup. My expectations are pretty moderate.

Im not sure there is an “on paper” clearly dominant team in the West this year. Colorado seems to be up there among the really good teams, along with Vegas and Edmonton. Got some fringe teams that could be good if everything goes right like Minnesota and Dallas. Everyone else is pretty meh.

Yeah, seems like they'll have the same issue as last year... lacking a 2nd line center and much room for injuries or playoff drunk debauchery.

I'd be in. :thumb:

I expect the Flyers to suck but not suck enough to get the #1 pick but here's to hoping

Devils were exciting last year but clearly lacked experience/maturity at times. Let's see if they can put it all together. Goaltending could still be a weak spot if Vanecek wears down like did last year.

Indeed. Luke Hughes and Nemec could be really good. It's all about the goalies and growth of the young defense.

Especially after what happened in vegas the other night... :evil:

Devils may win it all this year. Their top 9 is insane.

Wouldn't have guessed the Canes lead the way....

I'm already sick of Bedard hype train and the season hasn't even started. Plus the Blackhawks can get ****ed

And I'm still kind of skeptical on the Avs. Maybe they'll surprise me.

Yeah, those odds in general tell me it's pretty wide open. The Oilers and Leafs have been the Chargers of the NHL and I'm not sure the Avalanche should necessarily fall behind either of those teams, yet how many teams should really be ahead of them.

I have no idea who will win the Central this year, which is probably a decent indicator that the West doesn't exactly run through that division this year.

The Leafs, NYR and Habs always have inflated odds because they have the largest fan bases.

I’m really interested to see how this knee cartilage transplant surgery turns out for Landeskog. I’m bone on bone on 3 spots in my right knee, and there’s no way I’m getting a knee replacement because skiing fast and skiing the bumps are two of my favorite things on earth to do. Doing either of those things with a knee replacement is pretty much impossible.

If he comes back next season and can play anywhere near the level he played at during their championship run, then that opens up a whole new course of treatment for people with chronic knee problems who want to still be able to perform certain athletic activities at a high level.

I haven't paid any attention, but they're certainly all over him tonight on ESPN.

Even the head ref made a point of saying "Hi Connor, welcome to the NHL" right before the starting puck drop.

Avs with an epic win! Took until their 50th shot with less than 90 seconds left and their own net empty, but they finally got one by the Sharks goalie - who was standing on his freaking head all night. Avs killed a penalty in OT and then Mikko scored the only goal in the shootout!

Well, I guess I'll say the brokers oddsmakers may know what they're doing. The Avs have looked dominant these first few days. Georgiev is sitting at a .964 SV% at the moment, and the defense just held Bedard to zero shots after he's been averaging 6-7 per game. It's early, but there's no question this team looks far more complete than we did last year.

haven't had a chance to watch any hockey yet. Can anyone tell me that the Blues are going to be better this season? Like maybe make the playoffs? You can lie to me a little, if that helps.

Georgiev has been lights out, looking like a very early season Venzina leader in the clubhouse. He stole that Sharks game almost singlehandedly last week, they got outplayed fairly badly. But other than that game the rest of the team has looked great too. The PK has given up zero goals and scored a shorty. Doesn't get much better than that.

Arizona handed them their ass last night

Great. Just what I needed to hear :grr:

Looking for a new goalie jersey I landed on this site , can get Chiefs Hockey jerseys and decent looking movie themed ones , wasn’t sure where to put this lol

https://jerseyninja.com/kansas-city-...hockey-jersey/

Those are cool, and I saw a KC Scouts jersey. Amd at least they aren't Fanatics!

This Blues roster has become pure shit. It sickened me hearing radio homer goons pretend that a turd like Neighbors getting top line minutes early on was a good thing. There's literally zero star power on this team or quality depth anymore. Having a bunch of average dudes and calling it "depth" and "balanced" is just criminal homerism

Reviews seem good as well sewn on numbers /name plate etc..they seem more gear to be worn off ice , i might there to add a Glatt/Shore/Rhea/Dunlop to my collection on top of the Kelce one.

Get a 69 Shoresey

I really want to see a Coyotes game while they're playing at ASU. I was looking at tickets for the Blackhawks game on Monday and they never got below $100 all the way to game time so was an easy pass to what turned out to be a blowout anyway. I may have to find a game against a smaller market competitor

I turned the game on TV and thought I was watching the Saudi Arabia Olympic team with these Coyote jerseys. It took me a minute to get the Native American desert theme and not the Middle East

https://www.azcentral.com/story/spor...y/69823669007/

It’s on the list for sure , love that show having played most of my hockey vs Sudbury/North Bay /Soo and Timmins and them talking about local bars like the Coulson and other things from the area and having a bunch of local kids as extra is fun , might sign up my kid as an extra need to be junior level for on ice scenes AAA for dressing room etc..

Yeah, it's ****ing pricey. I've been looking at ASU games and might go to the Desert Classic (if they ever release ticket info)... I think they have a pretty decent program and college hockey is highly underrated and often pretty cheap (I paid $27 to be on the glass at a game a couple weeks ago in NE).

I'd like to see a Yotes game there, too, as I'm sure the worst seats are still pretty damn nice.

<blockquote class="reddit-embed-bq" style="height:500px" data-embed-height="721"><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/hockeymemes/comments/17kdx8r/arizona_coyotes_domin��ed/">[Arizona Coyotes] Domin��ed</a><br> by<a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/ThatSpecialAgent/">u/ThatSpecialAgent</a> in<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/hockeymemes/">hockeymemes</a></blockquote><script async="" src="https://embed.reddit.com/widgets.js" charset="UTF-8"></script>

Haha thats amazing

Question for the hockey fans, because my buddies have surprised me here.

I trust everyone read about the Adam Johnson death. And I suspect many have seen the video. They're investigating the guy who cut him for possible intent.

I saw that and the twitter uproar, watched the video and immediately said "Oh, this will be a split between non-hockey fans and hockey fans; the hockey fans will understand that wasn't intentional..."

Then all 3 of my more extreme hockey fan buddies say "Man, that guy should go to jail for murder..."

What the hell am I missing here? Look - the guy's a bad player. He's always been a bad player. He's simply not skilled and that's going to make him clumsy. He's leaning forward for the check, half misses and half gets hit, spins down and the inertia brings his leg up. Because again, he's a big dumb oaf.

"Well he has a history of dirty play!" - fellas, stick and elbow work ain't the same as slashing people with your skate blade. Finishing harder into a corner than is strictly necessary isn't the same as trying to maim someone. I don't think anything in his past is relevant here APART from his skill level.

Think of it this way - a professional skiier can be flying down a mountain at 100 mph and lose an edge...and not really get hurt. They know how to fall. Meanwhile some fat ass on the bunny slop can break his ribs trying to get on the rope lift.

This, to me, is an obvious example of a big dumb goon who isn't skilled/agile enough to control his arms/legs as he went down. We see sticks get up from shitty players all the time (or even good players when they get spun around) and I'm surprised that my buddies who are also hockey fans are seeing this as something else than that.

Am I the asshole?

Just saw it and I have know idea what that guy was trying to do , almost looks like he was just trying to interfere with F2 lost his balance then try to react to puck carrier and while off balance tried to takeout puck carrier last second and flailed ( not sure why his leg got that high , could have been trying to stick the leg out to impede ) weird play comes across to me as dumb move by a bad player now whether or not you believe people a be charged for their stupidity is up to you.

Looking at it again I think he was trying to lineup Johnson and knocked the other forward in front , but I can’t see him getting those legs there unless he was trying to once he saw he lost his balance just trying to get a piece of him.

Definitely could have been avoided , like knee on knee it’s reactionary trying to put a hit on a guy and then realize your going to miss , but still considered a penalty and a asshole play

I just watched it for the first time (and a few more times), and my initial thoughts...
...that's not at all what I expected. The main reason I hadn't watched it was I figured it was like most any skate cut that happens when players are down on the ice.
...and WTF was that?!

I can see why people think it was intentional... not in the sense of "gonna murder this guy now with my skate", but maybe trying to interfere with him and it just went very wrong. I guess from a technical standpoint, involuntary manslaughter as opposed to murder.

That said, I agree it looks like a bad, clumsy hockey player doing bad clumsy things... people tend to really want everything to have bad intentions these days, but he probably just really sucks at skating, even though I can see how it's hard to believe he could just throw his leg like that with no control or awareness.

English Pro hockey is pretty much a glorified recreational men’s league , going to be a skill gap and try hards with no skill are the most dangerous type of hockey players .

That's where I kept getting to.

We've played with guys like that in basketball or baseball (and if you haven't, you were that guy). I get playing with energy and intensity, I respect it. But to a point. You can't be the guy throwing 80 mph behind a girl that's strayed too far off 1b in co-ed rec league softball. You miss by a little bit and suddenly 'playing hard' leaves a girl in the neurology ward overnight because you didn't throw it where you meant to. Know the situation, know your talent level and don't get people hurt.

This is just a guy who was barely on the fringes of the bottom rung of hockey; essentially semi-pro shit. Who was out there mucking it up and being a goon when he really didn't have much else to offer.

If anyone is to 'blame' it's the guys that rostered a guy like him.

I tried to explain it along these lines "Okay, think of the worst player in the NHL - that guy's better than 90% of say the AHL and orders of magnitude better than the worst player in the AHL. Now think of the worst player in the AHL - THAT guy is better than 90% of the ECHL and orders of magnitude better than the worst player in the ECHL. Now think of the worst guy in the ECHL - if he can't make an ECHL team, he MIGHT end up in the Elite League. If he didn't get a call back from a a more lucrative european/russian league. That's the caliber of talent you're seeing in the EIHL here.

Put it this way - if you lived in a northern state, Matt Pegrave wouldn't be the best skater you know.

A more skilled player just doesn't do that, IMO.

Being one of the few guys in my oldtimers league who can carry the puck is getting pretty scary when you have 240 lbs guys flying around the ice that haven’t skated in 10 years really wanting to get the puck off me and not to mention the the other boneheads on my own team with zero ****ing clue where they are going , it’s like frogger on skates , retrieving a puck in a corner not knowing if the guy behind you will lose an edge or poke check my skates from under me is scary .

It’s why I wear a full cage and shoulder pads , we had two of these guys ram each other face first with no cage s on last week , after one guy got his stitches I think he got the point and quit

The try hard guys in basketball are just the worst. Especially in my younger days when I could dunk. They were always the bastards who screwed that by trying to take you out.

Hell, I've done flag football beer leagues and even that can be a bit dangerous when dude is living out their HS football dreams... much less guys on skates.

Granted, I did some light roller hockey years ago and hockey pads are amazing... I'd run into someone who outweighed me by like 60 pounds, plant myself to the ground, and get right up and keep going while they stood there and wondered if they had just murdered me. It was pretty much just ****ing around on skates though, nothing even a little competitive to worry about people taking it to seriously.

Did the Arizona Coyotes go back to their old logo?

Oh shit - you're canadian.

You probably ARE a better skater than Pegrave.

And yeah, there's no way in hell I'm playing rec-league hockey. I played a fair bit of roller hockey as a kid and the barrier to entry SHOULD be high but it really isn't. If you can stay upright, you can play. But you're a danger to yourself and others.

Combine that with people who are skilled/mature enough to be genuinely heavy - naaaaah.

A girl I know registered her husband for our league , he played mostly ball hockey his whole life never ice , she assumed he would just get better over time , I told her that her husband was going to experience probably one of the most painful and difficult things to learn to do as a non Athletic 225 lbs adult . After two year he was probably improved to the point of competing with average 5-6 year old canadien kids.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xhvw9mZtW9E?si=f-GKqGLIKepBBM3Y" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Ya it’s hard to explain even to hockey dads the gap that exists at each level , we got the dads together to play my sons u18 rep team which consisted of about 10 kids that had played at AAA at some point , dads team consisted of 45-50 years most who had not played in years but it included 3 OHL draftee , 10 that had played some level of junior and few that could have , they kids never touched the puck lol , those same dads playing against retired NHL players would suffer the same fate.

My friend was 7 round LA kings draft pick , 1 round OHL , only played 1 year of professional hockey in Waco , hey at least he centred a line at kings training camp between Gretzky and Kuri .

Blues are going to be an average mediocre team this year.

Weird stat, at least as of the time of this post.

11 games into the season and the Avs are undefeated in games in which they've scored at least 1 goal. But they have 3 losses. They've been shutout in every loss. Didn't score in the 1st period tonight.

Yeah, and they're scoring like 3.5-4 goals per game in their wins.

On another note, had the Lightning on for a bit earlier and damn they looked terrible tonight... several bad turnovers, just weren't into it at all.

Man this (Avs/Kraken) is one of the more intense early-season NHL games I've ever seen. 3rd period has been like the playoffs. Crazy physical. 3-3 with 5:00 left if anyone streams and is still up. It's on ESPN+ and Streameast.

JFC

<blockquote class="reddit-embed-bq" style="height:500px" data-embed-height="458"><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/hockey/comments/17rvd4q/artturi_lehkonen_went_to_the_locker_room_after/">Artturi Lehkonen went to the locker room after this hit with Oleksiak</a><br> by<a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/BCLetsRide69/">u/BCLetsRide69</a> in<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/hockey/">hockey</a></blockquote><script async="" src="https://embed.reddit.com/widgets.js" charset="UTF-8"></script>

I'm an awful, awful, AWFUL person for laughing at that.

But c'mon - dude's head is jammed into his shoulder pads and he looks like a cartoon turtle. How am I supposed to NOT laugh about it? Especially since I didn't get an update on my phone last night saying some Godless heathen (i.e. Avalanche player) died on the ice last night.

Yup, definitely looking that way.

They're pretty much gonna be dead-ass middle of their bell curve of possible outcomes.

The defense has improved enough to take the bottom 5 out of the equation. The forwards haven't progressed enough to really make playoffs a realistic outcome (though I suppose stranger things have happened).

They'll be predictably mediocre. I suppose if the power play could un-**** itself, they could be a little ornery. But that seems pretty unlikely at this point because of just HOW bad it's been. This isn't a PP that is inconsistent - it's a power play where I'd just as soon decline the penalty and just run the clock or something.

I hope you stub your toe!

Blues putting on an ass whipping in Denver tonight

That hot start to the season by the Avalanche and Georgiev seems like years ago.

Schenn and Buchnevich have hat tricks tonight

Their ability to not show up some games this year is gonna be a problem.

Oddly stated article... we can't tell you who they arrested, but there's only one person who they would have arrested... :shrug:

Man arrested on suspicion of manslaughter in Adam Johnson's death

It was Petgrave. Not sure how I feel about it. It's hard based on the grainy videos I've seen to unequivocally establish intent. Maybe there are clearer videos I haven't seen.

I've heard Petgrave has a history of being a dirtball, but I have no direct knowledge of this.

I've heard the same.
The hockey media here seems to always dismiss that there was any intent to injure when it comes to any type of severe incident/injury. Instead they tend to lean on the side that "it was a clean hit" or "it was a freak accident".
South Yorkshire Police haven't got the notice I guess. I'm glad they're looking into it.

Just as we call them out for this - they have won 3 straight and lead the NHL in goals scored since November 3.

Not sure I've seen this before...

<blockquote class="reddit-embed-bq" style="height:500px" data-embed-height="545"><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/nhl/comments/18vmhxc/tampa_bay_stops_playing_mid_game/">Tampa Bay stops playing mid game</a><br> by<a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Instant-Highlights/">u/Instant-Highlights</a> in<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/nhl/">nhl</a></blockquote><script async="" src="https://embed.reddit.com/widgets.js" charset="UTF-8"></script>

Bizarre. Wasn't there one kind of like that last year but on the other end? I want to say a team thought it was covered and stopped defending while the puck just sat there and eventually got whacked in.

That's ridiculous. Everyone obviously thought the play was over and Montreal only attempted to score when they saw the ice vacated. No way that should have stood. He was covering the puck for seconds.

Anyone watching this Avs/Stars game? Insane! Avs pulled their goalie and just tied it 4-4 with a minute left. Wild 3rd period!

About to go to O/T

I'm already behind on watching the Islanders craziness when I get the chance, and missed this one, too.

Unbelievable 3rd period and overtime, playoff intensity! MacKinnon is a sniper! Two games in a row he's won in O/T!

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/02mhqOF0oi8?si=p6XYlm44IqtSESVI" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="qme" dir="ltr">������ <a href="https://t.co/kDL2bkL43z">pic.twitter.com/kDL2bkL43z</a></p>&mdash; St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) <a href="https://twitter.com/StLouisBlues/status/1745642184290816188?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 12, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Just noticed on top of the Chiefs on Peacock, Avalanche/Leafs tonight is on NHLN... LMAO :facepalm:

Nathan MacKinnon is en fuego right now. 4 goals last night, another one in the 1st tonight.

Hearing some rumors that the Avs are about to sign Zach Parise. A little long in the tooth at 39, but still had 21 goals for the Islanders last season. Used to be a thorn in the Avs side when he was with the Wild. Might as well kick the tires on him, nothing to lose. If he can play like he did last season and they get Landeskog back for the playoffs, on paper they've got a better lineup than their Cup team.

And he's had a point in every home game this season. I haven't caught them as much as I'd like so far this season (watching the game now in the 1st period after watching The Franchise).

Looks like the rumor I heard last night was true. Didn't realize that it was official.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">We have signed Zach Parise to a one-year contract.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GoAvsGo?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GoAvsGo</a> <a href="https://t.co/tDaeKfaFcy">pic.twitter.com/tDaeKfaFcy</a></p>&mdash; Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) <a href="https://twitter.com/Avalanche/status/1751039653895962776?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 27, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

He's been amazing all year. Should be the leader for the Hart right now. Sucks about Nichushkin, he was having a great season. But if he gets his booze issues worked out during this hiatus, maybe he comes back even better. At least we got Lecky and Byrum back. Pretty healthy other than the issue with Nuke. Need to pick up a solid backup goalie before the playoffs, Georgiev is logging too many games.

Avs are playing out of their minds at the moment. Wow.

That MacKinnon kid may be really good some day.

whoa man, easy with the wild predictions :eek:

He's already got another one tonight. End to end with a sick move at the blue line.

In his 1st period with the Avs, my assessment of Parise is that he sure doesn't play like a 39 year old. Looks almost as fast as ever, and still physical. Pretty sure that's going to end up being a really solid pickup for the Avs. Even if he plays 3rd line, he'll make that line better and also contribute on the pp.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">&quot;You&#39;re not gonna like it but the call on the ice was correct, no goal&quot; 😭<br><br>WHAT A CALL FROM REFEREE GARRETT RANK 🔊 <a href="https://t.co/btv8W3EElG">pic.twitter.com/btv8W3EElG</a></p>&mdash; B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) <a href="https://twitter.com/BR_OpenIce/status/1760866748977250332?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 23, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>