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

[romdrums]

Wings are 2-0-0, get the parade planned out!

Seriously tho, with a ton of new additions, including Lalonde behind the bench so far it seems a lot of key players have taken the steps that they needed to in order to really make this year competitive. Still no realistic shot at a cup, but a good start nonetheless. And Kev, in case you missed it, Husso posted a shutout in the opening game.

I shall choose to pretend that didn't happen. 

Hey Kev, if it makes you feel any better, he let in 5 last night against the Kings.  Wings still got a point, though.

[KevShmev]

Wings are 2-0-0, get the parade planned out!

Seriously tho, with a ton of new additions, including Lalonde behind the bench so far it seems a lot of key players have taken the steps that they needed to in order to really make this year competitive. Still no realistic shot at a cup, but a good start nonetheless. And Kev, in case you missed it, Husso posted a shutout in the opening game.

I shall choose to pretend that didn't happen. 

Hey Kev, if it makes you feel any better, he let in 5 last night against the Kings.  Wings still got a point, though.

Ah, so the playoff version of Husso showed his face, eh?  Nice. 

[Anguyen92]

There was no reason for the Kings to win today against the Predators, even in a shootout.  Petersen let a soft one in to begin the game.  The team couldn't convert on the many many many PP they had.  Juuse Saros was incredibly tough to beat for much of this game.  Down 3-1.  It took two goals from the only "defensive" right defenseman on the team in the form of Matt Roy to tie it in the 3rd.  The Kings killed a late PP in OT.  Ended up winning the shootout with Petersen stopping all three attempts.

On another note, Gabe Vilardi is having a much better start, this season, than he did last season.  Playing with better confidence.  Things are clicking ok with him and Byfield and Iafallo (before Iafallo got injured yesterday).  Hope he keeps playing that way so that there's no reason to trade him or move him down to AHL at all.

[Anguyen92]

So the NHL has decided to launch another Reverse Retro jersey campaign to bring more revenue to the league.  How are you guys liking your teams' design?  The Kings opted to do a white color version of the purple and gold crown jersey.  Looks all right and people seem to like the design.  I do wish they bring the coat of arms logo from the early 00s designs, in some ways, rather than milk the crown and chevy logo to the ground.

[SchecterShredder]

Meh. Better than the original McFarlane design (creator of the Spawn comics), but still not great. The 'Oil Gear' jersey is among my least favorite of the Oiler's jerseys all-time.



Original on the right, new one on the left

[Hyperplex]

Was just checking out the Stars Leafs game on ESPN+ (SN coverage), and they were talking about Mason Marchment and referencing his late father. They showed a picture of Bryan Marchment but listed his name as Brad Marchment. *facepalm* pathetic

[Anguyen92]

So I discovered this site that sells hockey jerseys that has designs of rock and metal bands.  Some of these designs look pretty neat and some are pretty huge look-a-likes of NHL teams.  There's one on Anthrax that based on the Rangers (since Anthrax is New York based).  There's a Guns n Roses one that is based off of the Kings' early 00s design with the coat of arms logo (my favorite Kings jersey look in their history).  There's a Pantera design that's based on the Dallas Stars.  I may actually consider buying one of these since there's a Shinedown one of their debut album cover, Leave a Whisper, on the front and I kinda want that.  I'll mull it over.

https://puckhcky.com/

The funny thing is that since these jerseys are basing off of rock and metal band designs, most of them are going to be black-colored.

[TAC]

WOW! That's an awesome site!

[romdrums]

So the Wings were the last team without a regulation loss going into last night's game against the Devils, and then promptly lost 6-2.  Seemed like they were fighting the puck all night long, and the Devils managed to keep up sustained pressure and force the Wings to make mistakes all night.  First ugly loss of the season for them, but I'm still encouraged by how they've started so far.  Dominik Kubalik has been a revelation with 10 pts in 6 games, and it's nice to see noticeable improvement in their special teams play, which was abysmal last year.  PK finally gave up a goal last night.

[TAC]

So the Wings were the last team without a regulation loss going into last night's game against the Devils, and then promptly lost 6-2.  Seemed like they were fighting the puck all night long, and the Devils managed to keep up sustained pressure and force the Wings to make mistakes all night.  First ugly loss of the season for them, but I'm still encouraged by how they've started so far.  Dominik Kubalik has been a revelation with 10 pts in 6 games, and it's nice to see noticeable improvement in their special teams play, which was abysmal last year.  PK finally gave up a goal last night.

Wings/Bruins tomorrow night!

[crazy climber dude]

So far I am liking me some Georgiev. Seems as though the Rangers fans appreciated him too. Avs might have found a diamond here.....though my guess is that his play will seek its own level at some point during the season.

I think Colorado just looking for decent goaltending, and he seems to be providing at least that!

[Dittomist]

So the Wings were the last team without a regulation loss going into last night's game against the Devils, and then promptly lost 6-2.  Seemed like they were fighting the puck all night long, and the Devils managed to keep up sustained pressure and force the Wings to make mistakes all night.  First ugly loss of the season for them, but I'm still encouraged by how they've started so far.  Dominik Kubalik has been a revelation with 10 pts in 6 games, and it's nice to see noticeable improvement in their special teams play, which was abysmal last year.  PK finally gave up a goal last night.

Yeah, I figured the Red Wings were going to have a good season. They might as well be called the Detroit Blues now considering how many players they took from St. Louis.

It's been a few weeks but I don't think the mascot Buoy is ever going to grow on me. I simply don't like looking at him. How Seattle found a lame mascot for a team called the Kraken is beyond me, especially since they had years of planning!

[KevShmev]

So the Wings were the last team without a regulation loss going into last night's game against the Devils, and then promptly lost 6-2.  Seemed like they were fighting the puck all night long, and the Devils managed to keep up sustained pressure and force the Wings to make mistakes all night.  First ugly loss of the season for them, but I'm still encouraged by how they've started so far.  Dominik Kubalik has been a revelation with 10 pts in 6 games, and it's nice to see noticeable improvement in their special teams play, which was abysmal last year.  PK finally gave up a goal last night.

Yeah, I figured the Red Wings were going to have a good season. They might as well be called the Detroit Blues now considering how many players they took from St. Louis.

It's been a few weeks but I don't think the mascot Buoy is ever going to grow on me. I simply don't like looking at him. How Seattle found a lame mascot for a team called the Kraken is beyond me, especially since they had years of planning!

If you were trying to to make me throw up, congrats on a job well done. 

[Nick]

So the Wings were the last team without a regulation loss going into last night's game against the Devils, and then promptly lost 6-2.  Seemed like they were fighting the puck all night long, and the Devils managed to keep up sustained pressure and force the Wings to make mistakes all night.  First ugly loss of the season for them, but I'm still encouraged by how they've started so far.  Dominik Kubalik has been a revelation with 10 pts in 6 games, and it's nice to see noticeable improvement in their special teams play, which was abysmal last year.  PK finally gave up a goal last night.

That game was so ugly to watch. Every time they tried a routine pass it was off the mark bouncing off of something is shouldn't have. Some things look good, but I think tonight's game against the Bruins are going to give them a wakeup call. There's still plenty of work to do and I think the Bruins will expose that a bit, definitely moreso than other teams on the schedule thus far.

[romdrums]

So the Wings were the last team without a regulation loss going into last night's game against the Devils, and then promptly lost 6-2.  Seemed like they were fighting the puck all night long, and the Devils managed to keep up sustained pressure and force the Wings to make mistakes all night.  First ugly loss of the season for them, but I'm still encouraged by how they've started so far.  Dominik Kubalik has been a revelation with 10 pts in 6 games, and it's nice to see noticeable improvement in their special teams play, which was abysmal last year.  PK finally gave up a goal last night.

That game was so ugly to watch. Every time they tried a routine pass it was off the mark bouncing off of something is shouldn't have. Some things look good, but I think tonight's game against the Bruins are going to give them a wakeup call. There's still plenty of work to do and I think the Bruins will expose that a bit, definitely moreso than other teams on the schedule thus far.

They've played the Bruins somewhat well in recent years, especially after the Bruins dominated them when the Wings first moved to the Eastern Conference.  Should be an interesting game, especially with Marchand back in the lineup tonight.  He's going to look like a sapling against Detroit's Redwood Line!

[TAC]

The Bruins always seem to play down to the Red Wings. With the Wings off to a good start, the B's are going to need to show up. The B's aren't really as good as their record shows.

[KevShmev]

After a 3-0 start, I joked to a co-worker Monday morning that the Blues were going undefeated.

They are 0-3 since.

Looks like I jinxed them. 

[gmillerdrake]

After a 3-0 start, I joked to a co-worker Monday morning that the Blues were going undefeated.

They are 0-3 since.

Looks like I jinxed them. 

Gonna be a rough year for them. Our back up is pretty bad. The Blues have been accustomed to having a 1A and 1B tandem for years now....two extremely competent goaltenders. We don't have that now. It's a 1A/2B deal. And, 'we' just don't have the level of talent to be able to go out and just win games accidentally. This team has to show up every night and grind and go to work. They look great when they do that but when you have players and/or lines taking the night off it's pretty obvious.

[pg1067]

So I discovered this site that sells hockey jerseys that has designs of rock and metal bands.  Some of these designs look pretty neat and some are pretty huge look-a-likes of NHL teams.  There's one on Anthrax that based on the Rangers (since Anthrax is New York based).  There's a Guns n Roses one that is based off of the Kings' early 00s design with the coat of arms logo (my favorite Kings jersey look in their history).  There's a Pantera design that's based on the Dallas Stars.  I may actually consider buying one of these since there's a Shinedown one of their debut album cover, Leave a Whisper, on the front and I kinda want that.  I'll mull it over.

https://puckhcky.com/

The funny thing is that since these jerseys are basing off of rock and metal band designs, most of them are going to be black-colored.

I'm compelled to point out that, while I obviously get what they're doing, it's kind of dumb for the Anthrax/Rangers jersey to invoke the name of another team.


Also, as well as the Kings played in beating the Lightning on Tuesday, they looked like complete ass in the last 40 minutes last night against Winnipeg.

[Anguyen92]

^^ The Pantera one that looks like the Stars jersey is more blatant, but I think that can be tolerable since they did do the goal song for the Stars eons ago.  Also, System of a Down collaborated with Puckhcky to do a jersey and you know what team this is based off of.



The guitarist is a fan of the Oilers so that was their inspiration when they did the collab.

Also, yep, the Kings played like garbage after letting that short-handed goal in that made it 3-2 them.  I was hoping the Leafs win yesterday so that the Kings could catch them off guard, while the Leafs are on hopium, on Saturday, but now both teams are going into this either pissed or demoralized and I want the Kings to be on the right side of the coin.

[axeman90210]

I'll be curious to see how the Devils look against the Avs tonight. Through their first 7 games they've been on an absolute tear at 5 on 5 (at least 37 shots on goal every game, yet to surrender more than 25), and if not for some very lackluster goaltending would be better than 4-3. That said, their overall strength of schedule has been fairly soft.

[KevShmev]

After a 3-0 start, I joked to a co-worker Monday morning that the Blues were going undefeated.

They are 0-3 since.

Looks like I jinxed them. 

Gonna be a rough year for them. Our back up is pretty bad. The Blues have been accustomed to having a 1A and 1B tandem for years now....two extremely competent goaltenders. We don't have that now. It's a 1A/2B deal. And, 'we' just don't have the level of talent to be able to go out and just win games accidentally. This team has to show up every night and grind and go to work. They look great when they do that but when you have players and/or lines taking the night off it's pretty obvious.

They stink right now. That game went from 3-1 to 3-6 seemingly in the blink of an eye last night.  My fear is that this continues and that Berube takes the hit for it, which would be a disaster.

[axeman90210]

I'll be curious to see how the Devils look against the Avs tonight. Through their first 7 games they've been on an absolute tear at 5 on 5 (at least 37 shots on goal every game, yet to surrender more than 25), and if not for some very lackluster goaltending would be better than 4-3. That said, their overall strength of schedule has been fairly soft.

Safe to say a successful weekend. Friday night was a great hockey game, back and forth and we managed the 1-0 win, and then an absolute blowout of Columbus on Sunday. I did also enjoy the little bit of pettiness from the team's twitter account, captioning defensemen John Marino's goal with "Johnny Hockey"

[TAC]

Columbus blows. At least their goalie does. The Bruins scored a number of soft goals on him.

[KevShmev]

I am now resigned to the fact that Berube is probably gonna fired here soon given how ugly the team looks right now, and it would appear as if the team as a whole doesn't give a crap.

[Anguyen92]

Like, what's going on with the Blues so far?  I went this game thinking, "If the Kings don't lose a defenseman to injury in this game or the next game against Dallas, it should be ok."  I didn't expect a 5-1 thumping that the Kings delivered.  What's going to happen regarding Tarasenko or ROR?  The team going to give them an extension or move on from them?

[jingle.boy]

Went to the Sabres/Wings game last night.  Sabres look solid, everywhere except in net.  Tage Thompson (6 points with a hatty) is the real fuckin deal.  Exciting team - I had a lot more fun watching that game, as opposed to the Leafs/Ducks game the night before.

As Babs told the team/fanbase 3 years ago just before the shit-canned him "Will beats skill".

[gmillerdrake]

What's going to happen regarding Tarasenko or ROR?  The team going to give them an extension or move on from them?

Tarasenko will be gone....either via trade this year or just walking next. Armstrong has a history of sticking to his guns when not overpaying for an aging veteran....so, the O'Reily scenario is interesting. IMO you CAN'T lose him....but, he's 31 right now (32 in Feb) so I don't think you're signing him long term. He's making $7.5 mil now....no way you can do that again. I'd think $5.5 for 5 would get him resigned. Take the hit on term but save the Cap space.

Tage Thompson (6 points with a hatty) is the real fuckin deal. 

Hated losing him....utterly hated it. Always knew he'd be a stud once he 'grew' into his body and game. Yeah....that trade essentially Won us a Cup but if you take a look now it's going to hurt more long term. Really good player that kid is.

I am now resigned to the fact that Berube is probably gonna fired here soon given how ugly the team looks right now, and it would appear as if the team as a whole doesn't give a crap.

IMO this isn't Berube's mess....it's Armstrong's. He's had a good run of getting away with some questionable trades/non signings and signings that "shouldn't" have been as successful but were. I think now we're seeing some questionable off season decisions like not re-signing Perron and signing a washed up back up bite him in the ass. Perron was an 'identity' player and locker room glue type teammate. You can't put a price tag on that and Armstrong out though himself on that one.

It's going to be interesting to see if the team get's their head out of their butts or if they just saunter off into mid tier hell.

[romdrums]

Went to the Sabres/Wings game last night.  Sabres look solid, everywhere except in net.  Tage Thompson (6 points with a hatty) is the real fuckin deal.  Exciting team - I had a lot more fun watching that game, as opposed to the Leafs/Ducks game the night before.

As Babs told the team/fanbase 3 years ago just before the shit-canned him "Will beats skill".

Sabres blew the doors off in the 3rd period.  Nedjelkovic can't stop a beach ball in goal right now.

[Nick]

Went to the Sabres/Wings game last night.  Sabres look solid, everywhere except in net.  Tage Thompson (6 points with a hatty) is the real fuckin deal.  Exciting team - I had a lot more fun watching that game, as opposed to the Leafs/Ducks game the night before.

As Babs told the team/fanbase 3 years ago just before the shit-canned him "Will beats skill".

Sabres blew the doors off in the 3rd period.  Nedjelkovic can't stop a beach ball in goal right now.

Yeah, he's been questionable, Wings have shown fight in that game and spots of some other losses, but are looking overall much more like expected as opposed to their hot start. Still, there has been some things to get excited about. Given some names come back from the injured list AND they get a week or two of at least reasonably solid goaltending from both halves of the tandem they really could surprise some people and string some good stuff together.

[KevShmev]

IMO this isn't Berube's mess....it's Armstrong's. He's had a good run of getting away with some questionable trades/non signings and signings that "shouldn't" have been as successful but were. I think now we're seeing some questionable off season decisions like not re-signing Perron and signing a washed up back up bite him in the ass. Perron was an 'identity' player and locker room glue type teammate. You can't put a price tag on that and Armstrong out though himself on that one.

It's going to be interesting to see if the team get's their head out of their butts or if they just saunter off into mid tier hell.

I agree, and Armstrong did come out today and say that this mess is on the players, not the coach, but not sure if that is the dreaded vote of confidence that goes out the window after another loss or two. 

I totally agree about Perron. Even though he is getting up there, he is one of those characters you need.  Same goes with Pat Maroon. Considering he would have come back following the Cup win for almost nothing, to show zero interest in bringing him back is something I will never understand.

[Anguyen92]

So that solid performance that the Kings had against the Blues, yesterday?  It wasn't there today against the Stars.  It was like the game against the Blues.  Things were going smoothly and all of a sudden, Kings was popping goals left and right.  Today, that happened the other way where the Stars was popping goals in a short period of time to where the game was out of reach for the Kings.  So we've reach this part of the season where the team can be frustratingly inconsistent.  I know this group can pull it together to score with at least three good lines and can play good defense and goaltending, but the D and goaltending hasn't been quite at the level I know this team is capable of. 

[King Postwhore]

What a crazy game between the B's and the Penguins.  Down 5-2, the B's come back to tie it outline their goalie and winning in OT. 9-1 so far this season. 

Just crazy.

[TAC]

What a crazy game between the B's and the Penguins.  Down 5-2, the B's come back to tie it outline their goalie and winning in OT. 9-1 so far this season. 

Just crazy.

Goalie gets pulled and still gets the win!

[pg1067]

So that solid performance that the Kings had against the Blues, yesterday?  It wasn't there today against the Stars.  It was like the game against the Blues.  Things were going smoothly and all of a sudden, Kings was popping goals left and right.  Today, that happened the other way where the Stars was popping goals in a short period of time to where the game was out of reach for the Kings.  So we've reach this part of the season where the team can be frustratingly inconsistent.  I know this group can pull it together to score with at least three good lines and can play good defense and goaltending, but the D and goaltending hasn't been quite at the level I know this team is capable of.

Such a Jekyll and Hyde team, it seems.  I was paying a lot more attention to the World Series, and my inclination was to blame Petersen, but the one goal I saw in real time definitely wasn't his fault.  If they can consistently played like they did against STL, this will be a team to be reckoned with come April.  If not....