The Swamp

Season starts tomorrow! Anyone got high expectations?

Flames signed Versteeg today, not sure if he's got much left. Could be a steal if he can find any sort of touch.

and of course the obligatory

I'm excited about this season. The Sharks look like they're ready to do well. My pick for the team to underachieve is the Kings and maybe the Ducks. Well, I hope so, anyway. I say this based on a much worse lineup in LA, and a much worse coach in Anaheim.

It looks like a really strong rookie class across the league, and Toronto in particular will be a fun team to watch, with all their kids, but ultimately they'll miss the playoffs. The only Canadian teams I think will make the playoffs are Montreal and maybe Calgary. And that is contingent on Carey Price's health, and Brian Elliott's effectiveness under assault.

Hope Sid doesn't have any lingering effects from the recent head injury. Hope Tampa finds a way to sign Kucherov (eta: they just did). Hope Columbus fires Tortorella by Thanksgiving. Hope P.K. Subban is a star in Nashville. Hope a few people attend games in Miami and Phoenix. Hope Connor McDavid stays injury-free. Hope the Sharks do as well as I think they can.

Predictions:
Eastern Playoff teams:
Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay, Washington, Rangers, Montreal, Detroit, Philadelphia, New Jersey
Misses:
Columbus, Carolina, Florida, Boston, Toronto, Islanders, Ottawa, Buffalo
Western Playoff teams:
San Jose, Chicago, St. Louis, Nashville, Calgary, Arizona, Dallas, Anaheim
Misses:
Los Angeles, Colorado, Winnipeg, Vancouver, Edmonton, Minnesota
Finals
Pittsburgh over San Jose (again) (sigh).

Is that's the most Leafs loss ever? 4 from the league's newest star, lose 5-4 in OT.

BSF21 wrote:Is that's the most Leafs loss ever? 4 from the league's newest star, lose 5-4 in OT.

Yikes! Matthews scores 4, but Toronto can't stop Ottawa from scoring 5? Another long, disappointing year ahead for the Leafs.

I dunno. If you're going to extrapolate an entire season out of one game I think they'd be pretty happy with 82 points and Matthews scoring 324 goals this season.

Thought the Leafs outdoor game was against Detroit in the Centennial Classic. Do they have two?

brian wrote:Thought the Leafs outdoor game was against Detroit in the Centennial Classic. Do they have two?

Or the Oilers have zero?

Ryan wrote:

brian wrote:Thought the Leafs outdoor game was against Detroit in the Centennial Classic. Do they have two?

Or the Oilers have zero?

Yeah, I read that wrong. I read it as "against each other".

Though I seldom understand why people bitch about an American TV network not showing Canadian teams enough, especially games with two Canadian teams.

brian wrote:

Ryan wrote:

brian wrote:Thought the Leafs outdoor game was against Detroit in the Centennial Classic. Do they have two?

Or the Oilers have zero?

Yeah, I read that wrong. I read it as "against each other".

Though I seldom understand why people bitch about an American TV network not showing Canadian teams enough, especially games with two Canadian teams.

Not two Canadian teams playing each other but they could show McDavid and/or Matthews when they play the Rangers or Blackhawks. Are they not going to market these two stars?

I'm pretty sure the NHL's idea of marketing a star is just hoping he goes to an original 6. But not one of the Canadian ones. And not Boston. And Chicago and Detroit are too central. It would be nice if the stars all went to the Rangers. That would make things easy.

NBC and NBCSN have little interest in running too many games with Canadian teams seeing as how their networks aren't....you know....available in Canada.

They're not running a charity. They have to be able to sell ads and have people watch the games to sell ads, etc.

My beef with them is they don't show enough games of some of the less-popular American teams, so until they get that worked out I'm a little unsympathetic that they don't show enough Calgary or Edmonton games. Serious NHL fans usually have the season ticket package anyway and can watch whatever games they want.

brian wrote:NBC and NBCSN have little interest in running too many games with Canadian teams seeing as how their networks aren't....you know....available in Canada.

They're not running a charity. They have to be able to sell ads and have people watch the games to sell ads, etc.

My beef with them is they don't show enough games of some of the less-popular American teams, so until they get that worked out I'm a little unsympathetic that they don't show enough Calgary or Edmonton games. Serious NHL fans usually have the season ticket package anyway and can watch whatever games they want.

Why this Canada/US divide? For a person living in Detroit why does it make a difference whether it's Edmonton or Dallas playing against them? I don't want to see Vancouver ever, I'd rather watch Florida. McDavid is the next one. Matthews and Gaudreau are future American stars.

You're American, list the top 10 teams you want to watch this year.

Re-read brian's first sentence.

Sure, I'd like to see some of those young guys play a little more, but I get to see them when they play Anaheim and LA if I really want to. Or go to Tuesday Night Hockey at the local sports bar where they play all of the games. And I'll get to see their games next year against LV. The point is I can see them if I really want. Complaining about an American network showing American teams seems pretty dumb. Do Canadians complain that they don't show American teams enough on Hockey Night in Canada?

rass wrote:Re-read brian's first sentence.

I understand. But the national network should be trying to reach more than two markets at a time.

Canadians watch hockey like Americans watch football. We'll watch anyone. They don't show US team vs US team on Saturday night but do the rest of the week.

brian wrote:The point is I can see them if I really want.

But isn't marketing getting players/teams out there for the 97% who aren't going to actively seek out hockey? People would have flicked over to see Matthews last night, if not to start then definitely in progress, had it been on NHL Network or NBCSN.

I guess if the NHL could guarantee that a kid with a cute mom is going to score four goal every time NBCSN shows a game with a Canadian team...

NHL Network should definitely be showing more stuff like that, I agree. Live look-ins and showing games with a lot of the great younger players on horrible teams. Seems like it's pretty much the network's reason for existing.

NBC, for better or worse, has to take a more short-sighted view to draw ratings to justify the money they paying for the rights.

It's not apples to apples, but it's akin to the argument when the Lions had Barry Sanders. If the Lions suck, but Barry's awesome and worth seeing should the Lions be on Monday Night Football. And the answer inevitably was almost always no.

rass wrote:I guess if the NHL could guarantee that a kid with a cute mom is going to score four goal every time NBCSN shows a game with a Canadian team...

But the serious answer is the only guarantee they should have needed was "Auston Matthews, American #1 overall pick, makes his debut". That has to be televised.

Do the Penguins get their own thread again this year or do I have to spend 8 months reading about all your shitty teams, too?

Jerloma wrote:Do the Penguins get their own thread again this year or do I have to spend 8 months reading about all your shitty teams, too?

I just liked the idea that someone tried to do a weekly NHL thread last year.

Also, the Hawks are going to need some time to gel. That was a really poor second period of hockey they played last night.

BSF21 wrote:

Jerloma wrote:Do the Penguins get their own thread again this year or do I have to spend 8 months reading about all your shitty teams, too?

I just liked the idea that someone tried to do a weekly NHL thread last year.

Also, the Hawks are going to need some time to gel. That was a really poor second period of hockey they played last night.

It doesn't help when they were assessed 5 penalties in a row.

mister d wrote:

rass wrote:I guess if the NHL could guarantee that a kid with a cute mom is going to score four goal every time NBCSN shows a game with a Canadian team...

But the serious answer is the only guarantee they should have needed was "Auston Matthews, American #1 overall pick, makes his debut". That has to be televised.

Well, who booked him against the Jags of the NHL on opening night?

Wojtek Wolski might have just paralyzed himself in a KHL game. Video looks real, real bad. Always liked that dude way more than I should have.

Didn't realize Quick got hurt last night until right now. That would be one of those blessing-in-disguise type deals if they still had a decent backup.

mister d wrote:Didn't realize Quick got hurt last night until right now. That would be one of those blessing-in-disguise type deals if they still had a decent backup.

My fantasy keeper. Neat!

More Matthews hype: NBC Sports just announced that they're going to broadcast Saturday's Leafs/Bruins game. So, that's noteworthy. They usually don't make last-minute schedule changes like this.

Prediction: For as much as I looooooove Brassard, the Zibanejad trade is going to go down as a massive, massive steal.

Two points, drew three penalties. Swoon.

bapo! wrote:More Matthews hype: NBC Sports just announced that they're going to broadcast Saturday's Leafs/Bruins game. So, that's noteworthy. They usually don't make last-minute schedule changes like this.

Nice!

Watched the end of the Carolina at Winnipeg game last night, on the free week of Center ice. Winnipeg had already scored twice in the third to get within a goal of Carolina. Then with the goalie pulled, Carolina had the puck and a chance to ice the game, but the guy kicked it around in his skates and lost control. The Jets regained possession and scored again to tie it up. Then, the Jets won in OT. Pretty exciting for a game I really didn't care about.

sancarlos wrote:Watched the end of the Carolina at Winnipeg game last night, on the free week of Center ice. Winnipeg had already scored twice in the third to get within a goal of Carolina. Then with the goalie pulled, Carolina had the puck and a chance to ice the game, but the guy kicked it around in his skates and lost control. The Jets regained possession and scored again to tie it up. Then, the Jets won in OT. Pretty exciting for a game I really didn't care about.

There have been a lot of goals the first two nights. Unfortunately the coaches will soon figure this out.

I've been curious about how the Coyotes would use Dylan Strome this year. First-round pick in 2015, sent back to Erie and led the OHL in scoring. Figured that he would make the team this year, but there are still some questions about his defense.

Apparently, Christian Dvorak, a 20-year-old rookie, is simply better right now, and it would be hard to start two rookie centers. And it looks like Strome is going to be a healthy scratch for tonight's season opener. (As I type this, I read that Laurent Dauphin, a 21-year-old rookie, will be one of the other starting centers. That blows my 'can't start two rookie centers' theory.)

So, this is disappointing, but certainly not unusual. Arizona will have to figure out if Strome would develop better playing occasionally in the NHL or going back to the OHL.



Also, why can't there be an afternoon game today? I have free Center Ice this week, and it would be nice to be able to use it.

Rangers seriously scouting Anaheim could range from horrific to outstanding. Scary times.

mister d wrote:Rangers seriously scouting Anaheim could range from horrific to outstanding. Scary times.

Lindholm would be a welcome addition on any team, and especially the Rangers. However, the only scouting of him that would be done right now is how well he can salt and butter the popcorn.

Good: Vatanen

Bad: Fowler

Brent Burns took a high stick under his eye on Saturday, and now sports this terrific looking shiner.

Really dirty play by the Canucks' Jake Virtanen last night. Shoves the head of a prone Carolina player into the boards. (And the broadcasters shrug it off). Virtanen did a dirty hit on Roman Polak last spring, too. He is quickly joining the ranks of Ott, Cooke, Lapierre, etc.