2017-2018 NHL Season

[Shadowlight]

The NHL season got underway last night as defending champion Penguins lost at home. Sid the Kid scored a goal. Also last night Connor McDavid had a hat trick in the Oilers win over the Flames. McDavid is probably the greatest and most exciting young athlete in the entire world today but that is something outlets like ESPN have yet to recognize.
I urge fans to pick up the Hockey News Yearbook. They do a solid job. Over the past several years Sports Illustrated ( I am a long time subscriber) has reduced their coverage of hockey and their "season previews" are somewhat lacking which is why I buy the Hockey News Yearbook.
And of course the NHL welcomes in a new team this season the Vegas Golden Knights. They play their first ever game Friday night at Dallas. Their home opener is Tuesday and I believe it is being televised on the NHL network at 10:00 EST. After a disciple of the devil mowed down countless innocent people in one of the worst horror events in American history expect the arena to be loaded with emotion. And rest assured nobody will be taking a cowardly knee.

 

[Shadowlight]

Correction on the Vegas opener. It will be televised on NBCSN but my guess is most media outlets will show at least parts of the pregame ceremony. SI's NHL preview issue was beyond a joke. Apart from the feature story on budding young superstar Auston Matthews the so called season preview resembled a long blurb. Why bother? And of course the article made a fuss over Matthew's Mexican heritage (his mom is Mexican).
Still the Ray McDavid SI cover watch is on. Will SI pull the trigger on one this season? Below is the SI cover of Sidney Crosby after the Penguins ( who got clobbered last night 10-1) won a second straight title last season. Crosby is easily one of the world's greatest athletes the past decade.
https://i.redd.it/oei0d0oi3h3z.jpg

 

[Don Wassall]

10-1 loss to the Blackhawks, guess the Penguins have a big-time Stanley Cup hangover to start the season, that was quite a humiliating beatdown. And they lost their home opener to St. Louis the night before right after raising the Cup championship banner to the rafters and skating the actual Cup around the ice (they've won all five of their championships on the road). Tomorrow it's a rematch of the Cup final against Nashville at home followed by a game with arch-rival Washington, so if they don't snap out of it pretty quickly they're going to be off to a very poor start.

 

[Don Wassall]

The Penguins decided to start their regular season tonight, defeating Nashville at home 4-0. Nick Bonino, now a Predator, was paid tribute to midway through the first period with a video salute and received a standing ovation, and P.K. Subban was booed all game.

When this team loses its resilience, I'll start to worry. It was a physical game as Nashville also came to play. Ryan Reaves was in several fights, and kicked ass. I don't care if he's black, white, brown, yellow, or other, Crosby and Malkin and the rest of the team need a physical presence and Reaves may be the best fighter in the NHL.

 

[Don Wassall]

Alex Ovechkin records a hat trick in both of Washington's first two games, the first player to do that since the 1917-'18 season.

 

[Jack Lambert]

I watched most of the Pittsburgh/Washington game tonight. The Penguins looked very good tonight, grinding out three power play goals against the Capitals and they held on to win 3-2. Patric Hornqvist returned tonight for Pittsburgh, and he scored the Penguins second goal in front of the net. Letang also got his first goal of the new season. All three of the Penguins goals were grind-it-out type goals, with all three of them coming right in front of Holtby. Murray was stellar in goal, as was Braden Holtby. The last 10 minutes of the game felt like a playoff game.

 

[foreverfree]

Why hasn't this been mentioned on CF?

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entr...st-anthem-protest_us_59da1bf2e4b072637c44a114

Tampa Bay Lightning forward J.T. Brown raised his right fist during the national anthem before a game against the Florida Panthers on Saturday night, becoming the first NHL player this regular season to join the silent protests that have been sweeping the NFL and other U.S. sportingleagues.

...

He had protested similarly in at least one preseason game.

John

 

[Jack Lambert]

In a move that was speculated for a while over the summer, the Penguins acquire Riley Sheahan from the Red Wings in exchange for Scott Wilson and a 3rd round draft pick. https://www.nhl.com/penguins/news/penguins-acquire-sheahan/c-292157828

The Penguins needed a center, and Sheahan is only 25 years old. I'm hoping all he needed was a change of scenery from Detroit. He's shown some potential, but hasn't done much this year so far. I think he'll be the 4th center to start with, and may move up to the 3rd line depending on how he plays.

A few early season observations.

Edmonton is really struggling so far this year, only getting four points through their first seven games. I've not seen them yet this year, but it has to be disappointing for them.

The New Jersey Devils are a surprise team as well, sitting in first place in the always tough Metropolitan Division thus far.

Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh play tonight in a matchup of two of the league's better teams. Hopefully the Penguins actually show up tonight; they've been winning games despite some less than impressive performances.

 

[Don Wassall]

I'm just checking out the trade now, the Penguins certainly didn't give up much for Sheahan, Scott Wilson and a swap of draft choices with the Red Wings getting the higher one (3rd vs. 5th rounder). If Sheahan can't get out of his funk there's still plenty of time to find another third line center.

As far as the way the Pens are playing, yes it's annoying to watch, as they're only playing hard in fits and starts but still managing to win most of their games. Plus you know every team is psyched to play them. All they care about at this point is staying as healthy as possible and peaking as the playoffs get closer. I'd love to see them bring their A game every night but understand why they're aren't. If in say January or February they're struggling to win games and aren't a cinch to make the playoffs, then you know something's seriously wrong.

 

[Don Wassall]

Polls show that Vladimir Putin consistently has the support of over 80% of Russians, and is in fact the most popular leader in the world, far more popular than any U.S. President has been in recent years. But given how the childish American fake news media thinks Putin has cooties, this story seems to have been published to put Ovechkin in a bad light. Keep scoring, Alex!

Capitals' Alex Ovechkin voices support for Vladimir Putin

http://triblive.com/usworld/world/1...ex-ovechkin-voices-support-for-vladimir-putin

 

[Don Wassall]

Ottawa and Colorado are playing back to back games in Sweden. It's a first as far as I know, didn't even know about it until channel surfing upon it just now.

The NHL is the best suited of the four big pro leagues in North America to integrate into Europe and Russia. Would be cool to have like 16 Euro teams and maybe a half dozen Russian ones. The North American teams and Euro teams would mainly play each other for long stretches before competing against the teams from the rival continent to save travel and wear and tear on the players. Those games would be intensely popular. Just a pipedream I know, as the less-than-visionary NHL won't even let their players compete in the upcoming Winter Olympics next year.

 

[Don Wassall]

Penguins DWFs were happy when the team traded a first round draft pick to get Ryan Reaves, but not anymore. He's a very good fighter, but fights are becoming close to extinct in the NHL, as are goons in general. Reaves as a hockey player is garbage, no talent whatsover, but he is still getting minutes each game on the Penguins' crap fourth line. It was ridiculous to trade a first rounder for him. Wouldn't surprise me if he's traded or sent to the AHL at some point, but that might be admitting they made a huge mistake in obtaining him in the first place.

The Penguins in general are a big disappointment so far with the regular season nearly half over. Their third and fourth lines have AHL level scoring ability if that, and the team seems incapable of putting together more than 20 or 30 minutes of focused hockey in a game. I wasn't worried about it in the beginning of the season as it seemed like it could be excused as a slow start after winning the Cup back to back, but now it's getting close to the point of worrying about whether they'll even make the playoffs this season.

 

[white is right]

Interesting note on Reaves he is the son of a CFL near legend in Willard Reaves who would have probably been a hall of fame player if he didn't try and to establish himself in the NFL. I'm also assuming Reaves like most Canadian Black players is half White as his father was very dark and African looking.

 

[Jack Lambert]

Penguins DWFs were happy when the team traded a first round draft pick to get Ryan Reaves, but not anymore. He's a very good fighter, but fights are becoming close to extinct in the NHL, as are goons in general. Reaves as a hockey player is garbage, no talent whatsover, but he is still getting minutes each game on the Penguins' crap fourth line. It was ridiculous to trade a first rounder for him. Wouldn't surprise me if he's traded or sent to the AHL at some point, but that might be admitting they made a huge mistake in obtaining him in the first place.

The Penguins in general are a big disappointment so far with the regular season nearly half over. Their third and fourth lines have AHL level scoring ability if that, and the team seems incapable of putting together more than 20 or 30 minutes of focused hockey in a game. I wasn't worried about it in the beginning of the season as it seemed like it could be excused as a slow start after winning the Cup back to back, but now it's getting close to the point of worrying about whether they'll even make the playoffs this season.

I agree. It's been ridiculous this year. Defense is still nowhere to be seen. A lot of the games this year have seen Pittsburgh giving up 4-5 goals. When they somehow don't, the offense goes down the drain. Pittsburgh is currently is out of the playoffs. They need to call up some of their AHL talent like Daniel Sprong. I haven't been watching as much this early in the year, but guys like Reaves and Kuhnackel need to be scratched at the least. It's clear that some changes in the lineup need to be made, or like Don said, Pittsburgh might not even make the playoffs. I'm seriously doubting whether they'll "flip the switch" and come on strong like they have in previous years.

 

[FootballDad]

The Penguins problem is that they have far too many overachieving lunchpail-carrying crackas. If they just went out and traded for Dustin Byfuglien, P.K. Subban, Justin Bailey, Devante Smith-Pelly, Trevor Daley, J.T. Brown, Joel Ward, etc. then they would be exciting, dynamic, electric, explosive (insert superlative here).
They can then change their logo/mascot to the almost all-black King (Kangz) Penguin:

 

[Don Wassall]

Pretty amazing that the expansion Vegas team currently has the best record in the NHL! The expansion draft rules were liberalized quite a bit for them and it was obvious they weren't going to be the usual hockey expansion team that starts out with a horrible record and takes a number of years to become competitive, but no one expected them to be this good. They also picked up a number of first round draft picks through trades at the expansion draft so they should be good for a while.

 

[Ambrose]

Pretty amazing that the expansion Vegas team currently has the best record in the NHL! The expansion draft rules were liberalized quite a bit for them and it was obvious they weren't going to be the usual hockey expansion team that starts out with a horrible record and takes a number of years to become competitive, but no one expected them to be this good. They also picked up a number of first round draft picks through trades at the expansion draft so they should be good for a while.

When a team can be formed by picking plumbs off the other teams it's not so surprising. And getting M. A. Fleury didn't hurt to much either. Everything starts in goal.

 

[Jack Lambert]

Pretty amazing that the expansion Vegas team currently has the best record in the NHL! The expansion draft rules were liberalized quite a bit for them and it was obvious they weren't going to be the usual hockey expansion team that starts out with a horrible record and takes a number of years to become competitive, but no one expected them to be this good. They also picked up a number of first round draft picks through trades at the expansion draft so they should be good for a while.

Don beat me to it!! I was watching some NHL highlights last night, and decided to check the standings. Noticing Vegas at the top, I was going to come on and mention them. Even with the new expansion rules, what Vegas is doing is still pretty amazing. They have like Don said, the best record in the NHL, and they have one of the best attendances in the league right now, currently ranking 4th in that department. I believe they had three 1st round picks, so they did a tremendous job in that department.

Pittsburgh, after sinking to 10th in the Eastern Conference at one point, has stabilized somewhat, and has gotten back to winning more hockey games. The team sits as the 8th seed right now, but with a win Thursday, could easily move up to the 5th spot in the East (2nd in the Metropolitan Division) and avoid Tampa Bay. Needless to say, the standings are VERY close in the East. The Penguins have gotten solid play from call up Dominik Simon recently, and recently acquired defenseman Jamie Oleksiak has been serviceable as well; better than fellow signee Matt Hunwick so far. Call up Casey DeSmith has been stellar in the net as of late for the Pens as Matt Murray continues to deal with the unfortunate passing of his father. Although they aren't a lock by any means, the Pens have been playing better as of late, and should be back in the postseason. They scratched Reaves last night as well, which gives me hope he won't be a regular in the playoffs. He hasn't "deterred" anybody from taking cheap hits on the Penguins players. The abuse is going to happen, so I hope he'll actually get scratched more to make way for faster guys with actual puck skills.

Not sure what's going on with Chicago; they currently sit in 12th place out West. I guess all of those massive contracts they've doled out and pieces they've had to let go because of those deals, combined with Corey Crawford's injury, has caught up with them.

 

[Jack Lambert]

With the NHL all-star break here, there are some teams that are a bit surprising this season. We've already discussed Vegas being first out West. But what about Chicago and Edmonton?? As of right now, both of them are out of the playoffs, with the Blackhawks in 12th and the Oilers in 13th. Not sure why they're struggling so bad. With McDavid and some of their offensive players, they must be having goalie and defensive problems. The Bruins and Jets are currently doing great, with Boston having the 2nd best record in the East, and the Jets, surprisingly are in 2nd out West. Tampa Bay is currently leading the President's Cup race; they're first in the East with 71 points. I admittedly haven't watched much NHL yet, but just figured I'd give an update.

 

[Don Wassall]

Another team inexplicably struggling is Ottawa, which has gone from the conference final last season to bottom feeding status this season.

The Penguins have played much better this month, but still aren't firing on all cylinders yet, and may not be able to fire on all cylinders without a competent third line center and a few other parts. But they're fun to watch now after a depressing first half of the season. They're starting to play very fast again, similar to the Cup winning team from two years ago, and when they combine that with Crosby, Malkin and Kessel playing well, they will be a handful for any team to knock out of the playoffs.

 

[Don Wassall]

Looks like it's the end of the line in the NHL for Jaromir Jagr, having cleared league-wide waivers after being released by Calgary. For now Jagr will be playing for a Czech team he owns. He's the NHL's second leading scorer of all-time, behind only Wayne Gretzky. Jagr is almost 46 years old and has to be one of the most remarkable athletes ever in any sport considering he played professional hockey with all its physical demands at a high level for nearly 30 years! Amazing. I'll always remember him as an always smiling teenager, loving life in the U.S. and helping the Penguins win back to back Stanley Cups in '91 and '92.

 

[white is right]

Barring injuries the three seasons he spent in the KHL probably cost him the all time goals leader in NHL history. He was a physical marvel, aside from a team picking him up for a playoff run his NHL career is over. He could play for years in the low pro leagues as I recall Borje Salming playing in Sweden until he was close to 50.

 

[Fortitude]

Devante Smith-Pelly had fans horrifically attack him.

Oh wait they chanted "basketball," at him.

Barr Trotz of course is latching on to this to distract from the fact he should be fired.

 

[Don Wassall]

Devante Smith-Pelly had fans horrifically attack him.

Oh wait they chanted "basketball," at him.

Barr Trotz of course is latching on to this to distract from the fact he should be fired.

All four of them, but of course it's a big story. Smith-Pelly has played in front of literally millions of White fans, and four of them chanted "basketball, basketball, basketball." Boo hoo hoo, get some thicker skin. If black fans chanted "hockey, hockey, hockey" at a White basketball player it would be considered funny. And congratulations Mr. Smith-Pelly, you've now been subjected to 1/100,000 of the abuse that's been directed Grayson Allen's way.

http://triblive.com/sports/nhl/13320471-74/capitals-forward-calls-fans-racial-taunts-disgusting

 

[CrazyFinn]

I tuned into NBCSN to watch some hockey, then comes the intermission show, and one of the 3 analysts is black. In a sport that is 1-2% black, they had to find a black analyst to fulfill their cultural Marxist quotas. I've seen this in other sports with minimal-to-zero black participation, such as tennis, golf, certain Olympic sports in which the presence of a negro "expert" seems to be a requirement.

The only sport in which I've yet to see diversity in a studio show is NASCAR. But I understand they finally got a black driver in the series, so I'm guessing a desperate search must be underway to enrich the racing analyst ranks.