NHL 2022-2023: FA July 13th - LET IT BEGIN

[SchecterShredder]

Super excited for you to be experiencing this jammindude     I'm pulling for the Kraken.....I detest DeBoer. He's a douch bag schmuck....hated him in San Jose and hate him now. His smug little smile after the 'hand pass' game against St. Louis and the way he whined and cried as the Blues literally beat the shit out of his team that whole series was like a spoiled little brat who wasn't getting what he wanted. I hope the Kraken knock he and his team out so we can see him sulk some more. Good Luck!!

100%.

If edmonton gets bounced, I'll be rooting for Seattle. And I'll gladly cheer for whomever represents the West. I don't care for Tkachuk so can't responsibly cheer for FLA. And no self-respecting Oilers fan can cheer for CAR. None. Full stop.

[Anguyen92]

I can't root for any of the three remaining Pacific division teams so I'm reluctantly rooting for the Stars. 

For the East, I may get on the Panthers bandwagon.  I had them written off back in 2022 after, as the leading President's trophy winner, they couldn't clobber an injured-ridden Kings team the way the Avs would that season so that game was the main sign for me where I question if they had what it takes to go far.  Then that suspicion was confirmed after they got swept by the Bolts in round 2.  This season, after making major big moves when it comes to changing head coach and making a big trade, after battling injuries, being up and down throughout the season, after Matthew Tkachuk gave them a Hart-nominated season, this Panthers team got a lot of fight in them.  They also beaten the Bruins and Leafs, so it's hard to root against a team for doing that.

That being said, I got nothing against the Hurricanes.  Rod Brind'amour has been a great coach for them and despite the team not making huge trade deadline decisions, turns out they were right to bank on this group and not need to make major adjustments to the roster and here they are.  Same goes for the Panthers.  They couldn't do anything at the deadline due to minor injuries that they couldn't get LTIR space for, no cap space, and no good draft capital to trade.  Just them clicking at the right time despite teams like the Senators and Sabres coming up the rear.

Maybe the most popular narratives that making big bold moves at the trade deadline that people really really want to latch onto doesn't actually equal post-season success.  Some cases can be true, but that's not the case this season in various examples.

[jammindude]

I cannot figure out the penalties in playoff hockey. They seem so arbitrary. The penalty that just got called on the Vegas Knights was definitely a penalty, but I've seen a dozen more blatant things go by without a blink.

[gmillerdrake]

I really thought the Oilers would be playing with more urgency. I don't think that game
Is over yet.....they can get a couple goals but they're just floating around right now.

[jammindude]

Also, my wife pointed out that Mark Messier looks a lot like Yondu without the blue make up. 

[gmillerdrake]

Pretty poor effort from a team facing elimination. Kind of rolled over a bit.

[TAC]

Who is Yondu??

[jammindude]

Who is Yondu??

Dammit Tim!! 



One of the main characters from The Guardians of the Galaxy played by Michael Rooker.

[jammindude]

[romdrums]

I love the chaos of this year's playoff.  My bracket is completely busted, but Seattle and Florida have been so worth it.  Watching many of the favorites get bounced in the first round was a welcome surprise.  A Seattle-Florida Cup Final would be cool, simply for the insane amount of mileage that will be racked up in travel.  I think that's the matchup I'm pulling for!

[pg1067]

It's gonna be tough finding a team to root for here on out.  Super happy the Oilers are gone and BUMMED that the Leafs are gone.  I don't want to root for Carolina because of Brent Burns.  No way I'm pulling for Seattle (sorry, Ben).  Nothing against Florida other than my general disdain for the state.  I'm torn with Vegas.  I love Quickie and A-Mart (and McNabb and Amodio to a much lesser extent), but I can't say I want to see either win a Cup with Vegas.  I guess that leaves Dallas.  Former division rival, but no recent negative history, and it'd be a nice story for Pavelski to get a Cup finally.

Who is Yondu??

The question has already been answered, but same (I've also never heard of Michael Rooker before).

[SchecterShredder]

I'd rather Seattle or Dallas over Vegas, but still prefer Vegas over the eastern teams. Honestly, with Edmonton eliminated I'll be mostly ignoring the NHL in favor of MLB.

[TheCountOfNYC]

You know the league wants a Seattle/Vegas WCF so they can pat themselves on the back over the success of their most recent expansion teams while continuing to ignore all of the other issues the league has. And this isn't any shade on Seattle who I want to see win the West (full shade on Vegas and Dallas though), but you all know Gary Bettman will use the quick success of the Golden Knights and the Kraken to mask the problems the league has had with officiating, poor television viewing experience, and the controversy around this year's draft lottery.

[TAC]

I'd rather Seattle or Dallas over Vegas, but still prefer Vegas over the eastern teams. Honestly, with Edmonton eliminated I'll be mostly ignoring the NHL in favor of MLB.

Who do you follow in baseball?

[SchecterShredder]

I'd rather Seattle or Dallas over Vegas, but still prefer Vegas over the eastern teams. Honestly, with Edmonton eliminated I'll be mostly ignoring the NHL in favor of MLB.

Who do you follow in baseball?

Jays, of course. Have to cheer for the only Canadian team  . And I have fond memories of the back-to-back WS titles in the 90's. I did do a stint as a Mariner's fan, as well, back in the day. As a pitcher myself, I basically idolized Randy Johnson when I was a kid.

[DragonAttack]

On a non-NHL note, a guy at work told me about this Netflix documentary relating to the former minor league Danbury Trashers.  Absolutely bat shit crazy stuff.  Check it out if you haven't seen it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Untold%3A_Crimes_%26_Penalties

This was both disturbing and fascinating!   Even a few mentions of my old hometown Kalamazoo Wings.

Here's the wiki on James Galante  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Galante

And the upcoming movie, with David Harbour of 'Stranger Things' as the lead actor   https://movieweb.com/david-harbour-cooper-raiff-the-trashers-jimmy-galante/

Here's the list of the 'Untold' episodes:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Untold_(Netflix)  We watched the two parter about Manti Te'o's 'girlfriend'.  These documentaries are well done,.......except......THE DAMN BACKGROUND MUSIC IS AS LOUD OR LOUDER than most of the dialogue   to the point of giving us headaches.

[gmillerdrake]

It would be great to get a Kraken win tonight. If it's not a win......then please let it be a one goal close, well played game.

[jammindude]

It would be great to get a Kraken win tonight. If it's not a win......then please let it be a one goal close, well played game.

I would take that. At this point, it just feels like whoever is lining up to get slaughtered by the Knights.

[gmillerdrake]

It would be great to get a Kraken win tonight. If it's not a win......then please let it be a one goal close, well played game.

I would take that. At this point, it just feels like whoever is lining up to get slaughtered by the Knights.

Nah. Knights got lucky the Oilers refused to play a team game and the Oil forwards were sissies. Either one of these teams can hang with the Kinights and/or win the series.

[jammindude]

I've been telling myself since the middle of the first period that if they keep letting them camp out in our zone for as long as they do something bad was going to happen...

And OH LOOK IT DID!!!

[jammindude]

We looked absolutely terrible from most of that second period. The only bright spot at this point is that it's only one goal. But if we don't seriously turn things around in the third, we may as well just hand in the game right now.

[jammindude]

The way that we are playing right now is downright depressing. If it wasn't a one goal game, I would be tempted to walk away.

We look slow, lethargic, and we can't even keep it in the attacking zone when the pressure is on. And we've had one or two decent shots but I haven't seen us put together a decent attack cycle for half this game.

[jammindude]

Well, it was fun while it lasted. We'll get 'em next year. 

[gmillerdrake]

That was a soft goal. That one had no business going in. But, to be fair......Groubauer is the only Kraken player playing to win tonight   

[jammindude]

That was a soft goal. That one had no business going in. But, to be fair......Groubauer is the only Kraken player playing to win tonight

Well, the first goal happened because of a freakish bounce. So everything just seems to be going Dallas' way tonight.

But really, the way that we've played tonight, they deserve it. We could not keep the puck in the attacking zone to save our lives.

[gmillerdrake]

F DeBoer

Hope the Knights destroy them.

[pg1067]

Fun fact!

This is probably obvious, but this is the southernmost final 4 in NHL history.  Vegas is the northernmost team remaining at 36° 10' 30" north latitude.  The average latitude of the four remaining cities is 32° 43' 22", which basically runs through south Dallas.  Next closest was 2020, with the same two teams in the west but Tampa being about a degree and a half north of Sunrise and Brooklyn/Uniondale being significantly further north than Raleigh.

[Nick]

Vote in Tempe came back "no", hockey in Arizona most likely coming to an end.

[Anguyen92]

Apparently, the campaign to vote No to build the new building costed $2M, while the campaign to vote Yes cost $250k.  I think the NHL and the Coyotes was so sure that it was going to be Yes all the way that they didn't want to be too aggressive on their campaign and they didn't expect those that oppose it to be really aggressive in not wanting this to happen.

It's hard to feel sorry for the ownership given the history of the Coyotes from an ownership perspective has been half-baked measures and hopes it works out.  I do feel sorry for the fans, the players, and the hockey programs in Arizona that this will affect.

[billboy73]

Bye Coyotes, bring back the Nordiques!

[Anguyen92]

The team isn't going to move to the East if that happens.  Teams like Red Wings and Blue Jackets have no intentions of wanting to go back to the Central since both teams are on EST.  The team may move to somewhere like Houston, or Salt Lake City, etc. and keep the team in the West due to conference alignments.

[SchecterShredder]

The team isn't going to move to the East if that happens.  Teams like Red Wings and Blue Jackets have no intentions of wanting to go back to the Central since both teams are on EST.  The team may move to somewhere like Houston, or Salt Lake City, etc. and keep the team in the West due to conference alignments.

I'm not so sure about that. I think the league would consider stable ownership and a viable market ahead of conference alignment. Houston could make sense if the fans show up, but I can't see Salt Lake City getting a team. Nothing about Utah suggests there's an interest in hockey.

[Anguyen92]

All right, that's fine with me.  I have no gripes if the Coyotes move East and there's only 15 teams in the West and 17 in the East.

Salt Lake City have hosted some pre-season games that the Kings are a part of (kinda like the Frozen Fury pre-season series in Vegas before Vegas got a team).  Don't know if attendance for those are really that mind-blowing, but that's something the league can further look into and consider.

[Nick]

I would absolutely riot if they somehow did a 15/17 alignment, that's ridiculous. IF the team moves East they would either stay in the Central division or somebody is getting pushed into the Central.

And I have to quickly issue an apology to some folks.

After reviewing the teams going to the conference finals, I have come to the conclusion that it's not just the draft lottery, but the entire NHL that is indeed rigged. How else could we end up with this clash of classic hockey markets at the end of the season.

[SchecterShredder]

And I have to quickly issue an apology to some folks.

After reviewing the teams going to the conference finals, I have come to the conclusion that it's not just the draft lottery, but the entire NHL that is indeed rigged. How else could we end up with this clash of classic hockey markets at the end of the season.

DTF desperately needs a troll emoji. Desperately