Ovechkin and myself are done partying, so it is time to move on to the 2018-19 season! Who will end up with Lord Stanley's Cup? Thought it was time to make this thread so we can talk hockey. Not sure anyone wants to talk football anymore after tonight......... Here are the Cup Odds: Tampa Bay Lightning 8/1 Toronto Maple Leafs 9/1 Winnipeg Jets 10/1 Nashville Predators 12/1 Pittsburgh Penguins 12/1 San Jose Sharks 12/1 Vegas Golden Knights 12/1 Boston Bruins 14/1 Washington Capitals 14/1
Sharks should make some noise in the West after trading for Karlsson. I don’t see Vegas having nearly the same success as last year
Have to go with champs till they are knocked out. Caps are bringing back same team, not sure if BT leaving will have an impact. Knights are still a strong team, I can see them representing West again. I’m pumped to see what Islanders are going to do with Trotz as HC. They are already playing a different defensive system and I’m loving it.
Yeah, the Sharks adding Karlsson and the Leafs adding Tavares has both thinking Cup or Bust for sure. Yeah, I am interested to see how the Isles do too. I expect the Caps to start out slow this year, but you never know. My Cup pick is 2 teams that thought they would win last year but blew tough Game 7's at home: Lightning-Predators.
Wilson suspended and fined for an unnecessary head shot during a preseason game. Will this guy ever learn?
2 hours until the Banner Ceremony! So excited. Then the 2018-19 season officially begins. Bring on the Bruins! Wilson won't be on the ice. Terrible. Yeah, when I saw that hit Sunday I assumed at least 5-10 games. 20 might be too much, but I mean he is a repeat offender. Not even a repeat offender, he is more of a CONSTANT Offender. He sounds smart off of the ice, but he does the stupidest stuff on it with hits like that. Will he ever learn? Doubtful but he needs to. He is a good player without those hard hits.
The league even said offensive player was eligible to be hit, Wilson could have put on the hit of the year if he had simply adjusted and hit his body. Something has to get his attention, a million dollar loss in wages is big for hockey players. Hopefully he will makes some adjustments to his game. Love it that hockey has started, I can put Jets on back burner now.
Great Opening Night! 7-0 Caps win. They were rolling from the opening puck drop. The place was electric too. Winning the Stanley Cup is one of the most difficult things to do in sports, but I think the Caps at least have a chance to do it again this year. The main thing that has held this group back was failure and fear of failure. That is gone now. Toronto had a nice OT win tonight and San Jose looked disappointing against the Ducks. Still early though. Hockey is back!
You can talk about the entire NHL in here, including the Rangers, Islanders and Devils. They have their own threads too though. Caps lost a tough one tonight, 7-6 to the Penguins in OT. To be fair to the Caps, it was a back to back on the road, against a well rested Pens team. I think the Caps played pretty well for the circumstances and got a point out of it. The Bruins bounced back after a 7-0 loss last night to defeat the Sabres 4-0. The Isles had a nice OT win, the Rangers had a tough loss, and the defending Western Conference Champion Golden Knights looked a little off in a 5-2 loss to the Flyers. Another fun night of NHL hockey!
Real excited for my Hurricanes. New owner, Brindamour as coach, great offseason moves and the #2 svechnikov looks like something special with a couple of goals already. I have been following them since 2002 and I can’t remember a time scoring 8 goals. 7 out of 8 points to start season when we always start slow is a big deal.
One of my absolute favorites from the 2006 cup teams. He is a huge fan favorite as well. It never sat well with me going with 3 A's after E. Staal left. Plus, he was on the team when Coach Rod wore the "C" and in my book he was the epitome of what a captain should be.
Long time islanders fan as you know, but as a hockey fan, I always admired Rod, he carried himself with a great deal of class and professionalism. I hope islanders can pick up a guy like him in the future. I hope he succeeds as a coach, not against my islanders but definitely against rest of the east... Hehe
The Metropolitan Division looks really good right now. Only 5 teams can make the playoffs, so it is going to be tough. I think they all have a legitimate chance to make it too. The Rangers have started out flat, but too quick to give up on them yet. Last night's Stanley Cup Final re-match was great. The Capitals defeated the Golden Knights 5-2, but it was much close and exciting than that score indicates. Could have easily been 5-2 Vegas, but Holtby made some great saves and the Caps struck quickly with goals after big saves.
I grew up an Isles fan going to my first game in 1977 and was a STH before I moved to N.C. At the time I moved the Isles were one of the worst run franchises, and Raleigh had the Canes were in a playoff run so I jumped on board. I kept my allegiance to Jets and Mets but decided to switch for hockey. I will always support Isles if they go further than Canes.
Rangers are done, they should have kept AV. He was not the problem for them. Predators are playing with some serious attitude. Toronto looks like they are going to be the highest scoring team in the league this year, adding JT has made them more dangerous than I expected. It’s like having Malkin and Crosby. The Devils are going to be in the mix as well, it’s early and all teams are playing with a lot of energy, give it 20 games we will see things settle down a bit.
I’d be lying if I said I haven’t been following the Leaf’s outcomes and they look like the recent Isles teams with Tavares — lots of scoring and no defense. The only team that hasn’t been able to score on them is a Red Wings team off to one of their worst starts in franchise history. I’m eager to see how they fare against the Caps tonight.