Official Hockey discussion thread

The Hawks have another 2 years in cap hell that will prevent them from doing much, but if they take a long view, they can accelerate a rebuild at the trade deadline. They have a few players of value on expiring contracts( Crawford and Gustaffson), I think they should also consider trading Saad (and maybe Keith if he waives his no movement)if the price is right, and they have cap space for the rest of this season (due to LTIR) that they should try to take advantage of and take on bad expiring contracts to free up trades for other teams with assets attached to those contracts (players or picks). They have some younger guys in the NHL too soon, but they are holding their own and getting some good experience.

It is a shame to waste some great play by Kane this year (and probably next), but they really need to be targeting the 2022-23 season at which point hopefully the younger players will be a good new core and they have cap room to fill in around them.
 
It is insane to me just how good Kane has gotten in recent seasons. He's doing better than during their cup years. I wonder if it has to do with the lack of support. I mean you look at Sakic, Yzerman, Modano, etc. and they've mentioned in countless interviews how they went from chasing the goals and points when they were younger and had to learn a team oriented 200 foot game to finally win it all. And here is Kane putting up 100 point seasons when the rest of his team is just... a mess.

I'm more curious as to what the Canadian teams are going to do. Is EDM going to get a top 6 forward or a defenseman? Is Toronto set or are they going to go for a back up goalie? What the hell is going on in MTL and how much is Carey Price's contract holding them back? Also, what will Buffalo do? New Jersey? They already fired their coach and just yesterday fired their GM. Not gonna lie, Shero's firing made me laugh, because it seems like only yesterday he got canned from Pittsburgh.

I'm still nervous about Boston. They're getting more contributions outside of Pastrnak, Marchand and Bergeron, but I still don't think it's enough for another deep run. Especially with how other teams in the East are performing. Pittsburgh scares me. This is a team that should have died earlier in the season from their injuries alone, but their depth has proven beyond serviceable. It is going to be an interesting run to the end of the season.
 
So there's going to be a new professional hockey league in North America. It's called 3ICE. From what I read it doesn't seem to want to compete directly with the NHL, because it is comprised of a 3 on 3 format, and of 2 halves of 8 minutes each. No penalties, just penalty shots, no video review or stoppage of play. The commissioner is NHL hall of famer Craig Patrick. He was assistant coach to the miracle on ice US team and GM to the penguins from like the late 80s to the early 2000s.
 
Trying to kinda carve out a rugby sevens niche, I guess. I'm more interested in a WNHL or something similar being made.
 
LooseCannon said:
Trying to kinda carve out a rugby sevens niche, I guess. I'm more interested in a WNHL or something similar being made.
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Basketball has a similar league that does nowhere near compete with the NBA, but has developed a decent following...they are helped by having former players, including some decent names involved.
 
LooseCannon said:
Bruins trade for Jumbo Joe Thornton at the deadline and win the Cup. You heard it here first.
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Well, there's still a long way to go, but this prediction/rumour has definitely surfaced recently... :p

Then again, both Marleau and Thornton have stated very recently that they focus and believe in Sharks' ability to still make it to playoffs, but then again, they can't really say anything else to major medias anyway.
 
Randalf said:
Well, there's still a long way to go, but this prediction/rumour has definitely surfaced recently... :p

Then again, both Marleau and Thornton have stated very recently that they focus and believe in Sharks' ability to still make it to playoffs, but then again, they can't really say anything else to major medias anyway.
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Making the playoffs and REALISTICALLY winning the cup are two different things. They might still jump ship to a stronger team.
 
Ovi takes sole possession of 8th place on all-time scoring list. What's amazing is he's done in 15 years and like 12000 games, what it took these other guys 20 years and like 15000 to 17000 games. Impressive, most impressive.
 
Onhell said:
Ovi takes sole possession of 8th place on all-time scoring list. What's amazing is he's done in 15 years and like 12000 games, what it took these other guys 20 years and like 15000 to 17000 games. Impressive, most impressive.
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I'm pretty sure that you have a couple of extra zeros there. :)
 
Randalf said:
Then again, both Marleau and Thornton have stated very recently that they focus and believe in Sharks' ability to still make it to playoffs, but then again, they can't really say anything else to major medias anyway.
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Then they are insane. Last year 98 points was needed for the playoffs. The Sharks have 30 games left at 48 points. They would need to win 20 of 30 games.
 
LooseCannon said:
Then they are insane. Last year 98 points was needed for the playoffs. The Sharks have 30 games left at 48 points. They would need to win 20 of 30 games.
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True, but then again I guess it's just what they kinda must say. Wouldn't sound excatly right if Jumbo admits that he'd love to be traded to a serious contender and does not believe Sharks stand any chance at the moment. Granted, many fans would appreciate that honesty too, though.

Jumbo to NHL.com, Jan. 28:

"I'm just trying to win games here and see how it goes. I'm still optimistic we can still make a run at it, I really am. We'll have to see how these next couple weeks play out and then we'll go from there."

After those couple of weeks the situation might (and probably will) be very different and more open comments around the trade possibility suddenly became much more "appropriate."
 
It happens, Bourque asked for a trade and people didn't care, quite the opposite. It's how you say it and the surrounding circumstances. Druin was a bitch about it, but most people don't remember or care at this point.
 
How 'bout that Battle of Alberta!? Holy chicklets! 11 goals! Line brawl! Goalie fight! Heck yeah! And somehow McDavid "only" managed 2 goals. Draisitl, though... whew.

Role players coming through in these games, first for EDM and for the Pens and Caps as well.
 
Holy shitcakes! So... the world blinked and Ovi once again is leading the league in scoring, once again he scores at least 40 goals and he is 2... TWO goals away from 700!!
 
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