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

[Nick]

You can't claim to want head hits out of the game and then allow a hit with the principle point of contact to the head just go unpunished.

In many senses of the word, this was a clean hit, I get it. But it was also a extremely dangerous hit. Sort of like when a guy turns at the last second leading to a boarding call, as shitty as it is, you gotta recognize and not follow through with everything you wanted to do to a player there. Reaves has to find a way to not fucking plow a guy primarily through the head.

The principal point of contact was NOT the head.  Was it a dangerous hit?  Yeah, it was.  Hockey's a bit of a dangerous sport.  I quoted the rule.  If the puck carrier is going to act in a manner that is inconsistent with a concern for his own safety, the opponent, who makes a legal hit, shouldn't be penalized or disciplined.

Stated differently, what Chad said.


Oh...and also....kudos to the Kings for finally pulling their collective head out of their ass and getting a big win on the last game of a long road trip!

I guess I'm watching a different video then. He literally makes contact first and follows right through at the head. Everything else is secondary to that.

[jingle.boy]

Take off your homer glasses.   

[jingle.boy]

The Bruins can keep blowin their wad all regular season long.  The easier the season is for them, the harder the playoffs will be.  Just ask the last sevem President's Trophy winners.

[jingle.boy]

Meant to post this earlier, but that win last night over Tampa was sweet.  Total domination of them - at one point the shots were 25-5; 8 shots by Tampa thru 2 periods was the lowest total of any team all season.  And despite 2 x EN goals, 4-1 was indicative of how much Toronto out-played them.  The Bolts had a strong 3rd period, but the Leafs looked solid to fend them off.

Next Gen game tomorrow, which is always fun as hell to watch - I had to go back and watch the highlights of the 2019 game against the 'Canes earlier.  That was such a roller coaster of a game.

[Nick]

I agree, the win over Tampa last night was indeed sweet.

[King Postwhore]

The Bruins can keep blowin their wad all regular season long.  The easier the season is for them, the harder the playoffs will be.  Just ask the last sevem President's Trophy winners.

You face will be covered then. Oh, and I like that this team wins front running, Coming from behind (Giggity), winning with 7 goals and winning with 3 goals.  They seem to win in multiple ways which bodes well in the playoffs.

[Anguyen92]

Well, Ovi did it.  He tied Gordie Howe's goals at 801 and then broke it for 802 on an empty netter.  He didn't initially wanted to take the shot.

801

802

[axeman90210]

Well, I enjoyed the first and third period of that Devils - Bruins game last night . Definitely back down to earth after that ridiculous hot streak, but still liking the underlying play a lot of the time.

[KevShmev]

Well, Ovi did it.  He tied Gordie Howe's goals at 801 and then broke it for 802 on an empty netter.  He didn't initially wanted to take the shot.

801

802

What's interesting to me is that it seemed like 6-7 years ago, it seemed like Crosby would go down as the best player on his generation all-time over Ovechkin, but I don't think that will be the case now.  Crosby will have more championships won, but Ovechkin got his Cup and now will end up as either the number 1 or 2 goal scorer of all time, so I think he has passed Crosby now without a doubt.  One would really have to work hard to make the case otherwise now.

[Nick]

Well, Ovi did it.  He tied Gordie Howe's goals at 801 and then broke it for 802 on an empty netter.  He didn't initially wanted to take the shot.

801

802

What's interesting to me is that it seemed like 6-7 years ago, it seemed like Crosby would go down as the best player on his generation all-time over Ovechkin, but I don't think that will be the case now.  Crosby will have more championships won, but Ovechkin got his Cup and now will end up as either the number 1 or 2 goal scorer of all time, so I think he has passed Crosby now without a doubt.  One would really have to work hard to make the case otherwise now.

One thing that stood out to me was a graphic put up during the recent Red Wings / Capitals game. It showed the four highest goal scorers since Ovi's draft, and how many hits they have. Now of course all those guys make their impact in plenty of ways, but the gap was huge. 2, 3, and 4 (which included Crosby) were hanging around 500 hits, while Ovi was over 3,000.

[Anguyen92]

Well, this is a fun thing to watch.  Watching the World Juniors and saw Canada lose to the Czechs, 5-2, in the prelims.  A bit bummed though that Brandt Clarke got a goal waived off due to offsides.  He's pretty much the only reason I have some form of "investment" in watching this, since he's a Kings top D prospect.  Ever since that goal got waived off, things went really south for Canada.

[jingle.boy]

Well, this is a fun thing to witness.  Watching the World Juniors and saw Canada lose to the Czechs, 5-2, in the prelims.  A bit bummed though that Brandt Clarke got a goal waived off due to offsides.  He's pretty the only reason I have some form of "investment" in watching this, since he's a Kings top D prospect.  Ever since that goal got waived off, things went really south for Canada.

Yeah, that was NOT a good effort by the Canucks.

[Nick]

FUCK YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH

May not be a Flyers fan anymore, but a 5-4 win after a 0-4 start against the Penguins still naturally feels extra amazing.

[King Postwhore]

B's win against a very good team again. They win in so many ways.  It's impressive. Never expected this.

[TAC]

B's win against a very good team again. They win in so many ways.  It's impressive. Never expected this.

That game had zero flow.

[King Postwhore]

Again, they win in many ways.

[pg1067]

A couple days late, but the Kings win over Vegas on Tuesday was HUGE.  The Kings have been hanging out in 2nd place in Pacific division, but that's been primarily because the Kings have played more games than almost any other team (as of the time I type this, only Vegas has played the same number of games (38), and only Calgary has played 37).  Kind of an obvious statement, but the Kings need to win as many games as possible - especially against division opponents - to stockpile points before early February when they'll have ten full days off, during which time other teams will be accumulating points.  They seem to have settled down with some of their earlier defensive idiocy, and the game against Vegas was won of the most well-played games (by both teams) I've seen in quite a long time.

[SchecterShredder]

I'm very much surprised by both the Kings and Kraken this season.  I figured LA would be competing for a WC, and Seattle wouldn't even be in the picture. Seattle has cooled off a little,  but they'll absolutely be competing down the stretch. Should be exciting for their fans.

[Anguyen92]

I'm just frothing man.  I don't care if the Avs has key players injured.  Coming all the way back from a 4-2 deficit going into the 3rd and winning it at the shootout is a great pep in the Kings' step.

I will give massive props to Cale Makar.  That guy was wrecking havoc in the 2nd. Doing things that peak Drew Doughty used to do, and looking dangerous doing it.

Edit: Looking at the other scoreboards.  WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE LEAFS LOST AT THE MULLET AGAINST THE YOTES 6-3???  The Coyotes with three straight wins in that small building against the Kings, Avs, and Leafs in the last week.  Wow.

[pg1067]

I watched the Kings game on delay, so I just finished it.  HUGE 2 points!  And Byfield with time on the #1 line.  Love to see this guy positioning himself as a future #1 center candidate.  Hope he keeps it up!

[jammindude]

I'm very much surprised by both the Kings and Kraken this season.  I figured LA would be competing for a WC, and Seattle wouldn't even be in the picture. Seattle has cooled off a little,  but they'll absolutely be competing down the stretch. Should be exciting for their fans.

Ironically, I followed the Kraken closer last season than I have this year. But I've just had a lot going on.

I am following the standings and it makes me excited that I think the playoffs are a sure thing. I mean...it's a sure thing for 2/3rds of the entire league, but still it's nice to be in them for the first time.

[jingle.boy]

Jesus fucking Christ.  The Coyotes are like Kryptonite for the Leafs.  I heard a stat during the brodcast that the Coyotes are 17-4-1 (make that 18 now) vs the Leafs.  What the actual fuq?

Also, that arena is awful to watch a game.  The lighting is simply atrocious - dull color, shadows, glare off the ice.

[gmillerdrake]

Jesus fucking Christ.  The Coyotes are like Kryptonite for the Leafs.  I heard a stat during the brodcast that the Coyotes are 17-4-1 (make that 18 now) vs the Leafs.  What the actual fuq?

Also, that arena is awful to watch a game.  The lighting is simply atrocious - dull color, shadows, glare off the ice.

That is freaking weird......

[King Postwhore]

Chad, that almost seems impossible.  Crazy.  Those numbers are mindblowing.

[jingle.boy]

First time this year the Leafs blew a 3rd period lead to lose in regular time.  TO THE FUCKING COYOTES!

Arizona is 7-3-2 at Mullett Arena, including 6-1-1 in December.  I do think that the lighting in the fucking place is going to give them some home ice advantage.  Seriously, if you haven't seen it, it's fucking horrible.  Scroll thru the images at https://www.nhl.com/news/toronto-maple-leafs-arizona-coyotes-game-recap/c-339191216.  That's how the fucking arena looks - at least, that's how the broadcast looked.

[gmillerdrake]

Seriously, if you haven't seen it, it's fucking horrible.  Scroll thru the images

Eww...haven't seen it yet and yes.....that's definitely shouts 'amateur' arena. Very well could be a home ice advantage type thing like having to skate against the AV's on their home ice with the altitude deal. 


Our club rink that my son plays on has a 'quirk' in the corner where the doors are for the zamboni. If you ring the puck along the ice around the boards from the opposite point....it will hit a weird little spot where the ice meets the far right door and it'll pop out off the boards towards the middle of the ice. When your attacking that end it makes for an 'interesting' pass that we certainly practice and know about. And when you're defending....same thing....

[jingle.boy]

The ice must be shit as well.  I saw players (both teams) just randomly fall for no reason at all at least 1/2 a dozen times.

[King Postwhore]

The B's lost to them there too.

[King Postwhore]

[pg1067]

The ice must be shit as well.  I saw players (both teams) just randomly fall for no reason at all at least 1/2 a dozen times.

When the Kings played there before Christmas, the announcers said that a bunch of players had talked about the ice being really fast.

[axeman90210]

B's win against a very good team again. They win in so many ways.  It's impressive. Never expected this.

A frustrating set of games for me. I think I saw that we controlled 61% of the shot attempts across the two games, which is the best anyone's done against Boston this year, but a couple of rough bounces and a couple of big saves by Ullmark and we came away with zero points.

Kind of an odd game against then Penguins last night, somebody must have shit in the ref's cereal as there were 15 total penalties called. Pittsburgh ended up 0-9 on the power play while also conceding a shorthanded goal and we ended the year with a much-needed win.

[jingle.boy]

Frustrating that a team can look so deflated against an opponent like AZ, but then look so in control against a team like the Avs.

Jeckyl and fucking Hyde sometimes. 

Washington and Carolina on a fucking tear.
Boston ... would you fucking lose for once at home!  holy shit... Half the fucking home games done, and they've yet to lose in regular time.  Remarkable.
Buffalo has a 6 game winning streak.  If they could just keep the puck out of their net, they'd be a VERY serious threat.  Whoulda thunk they would be the top offensive team in the league to this point?!?!?

[Anguyen92]

So it's been announced that next year's Winter Classic will be in Seattle.  Kraken vs Golden Knights.  All right.  I think it will be a good matchup by then.

[jingle.boy]

So it's been announced that next year's Winter Classic will be in Seattle.  Kraken vs Golden Knights.  All right.  I think it will be a good matchup by then.

It's a decent matchup right now!

[SchecterShredder]

So it's been announced that next year's Winter Classic will be in Seattle.  Kraken vs Golden Knights.  All right.  I think it will be a good matchup by then.

It's a decent matchup right now!

Yup. Vegas is still,  sadly, the team to beat in the Pacific; but the Kraken can absolutely compete with them.