NHL Discussion 2015-2016

Merry Christmas, Calgary. Jesus Tittyfucking Christ. That last bit of the 3rd period and overtime was disastrous. Shit went downhill more rapidly than William Henry Harrison's presidential tenure. In conclusion, fuck.
 
Damn, 54 shots against Varly tonight and he still got a 2-0 shutout against Chicago.  They really need to stop that shit of giving up so many shots.

 
DarkTower80 said:
Damn, 54 shots against Varly tonight and he still got a 2-0 shutout against Chicago. They really need to stop that shit of giving up so many shots.
Click to expand...
That's what has haunted us (and will continue to do so) all season. We need to beef up our defense if we want to make a run for the playoffs...

Still, those two quick goals by Mac and Talbot is exactly what we need to see more of.

 
Nashville has been plugging along winning some close games (and some games that shouldn't have been close) and is 7-1-2 in their last 10 games. They stand alone with Anaheim as the only remaining teams with single digit regulation losses (whom they trail by 2 points for best in the NHL...even though the Ducks have played 2 more games).

They're also sitting in 1st place in the Central, 2 points ahead of Chicago despite having played one less game.

And also, Filip Forsberg has already broken the Predators rookie points record notching his 38th point in 39 games last night. Previous record holder was Alexander "Party Boy" Radulov who had 37...but it took him 64 games. Again, thanks Caps! :lol:

 
And just like that, with tonight's win, the Predators are tied with the Ducks for most points in the NHL...but Anaheim has played 42 games and the Preds have played 40. The team is in a nice groove right now. Still only half way through the season, but it's nice to see them playing so well.

They're also now the only team in the NHL with single digit regulations losses, since the Rangers put it to the Ducks the other night. The sad thing is, I still see more Titans merchandise in stores around here than I do Predators stuff. 2nd worst team in the NFL being supported more than one of the best teams in the NHL. Makes sense...Murica.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Well, the first game after Rinne's injury was a scary one. Preds had a 2-0 lead, then gave up 3 straight goals before finally tying it back up with less than 5 minutea to go in the game.

Then this happened.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRu1U4KERSk

I'll take the win, and the Capitals are a pretty good team. This Nashville team gets scoring from everywhere, man. In addition to James Neal's two goals, the other two were from defensemen Seth Jones and Mattias Ekholm.

 
Rangers have won 13 of their last 16 heading into the break. Moving them into second in the Metropolitan behind the....
Islanders! Grrrr

And that just happens to be who they're playing the first game after the break.
 
Flacksguy said:
Rangers have won 13 of their last 16 heading into the break. Moving them into second in the Metropolitan behind the....
Islanders! Grrrr

And that just happens to be who they're playing the first game after the break.
Click to expand...
16 out of 19 and they're third, 1 point behind the Penguins.
 
That's one of the 2 stadium series games. The Classic is Boston and Canadians. Other stadium is Chicago and Minnesota in Minnesota.

 
The one on January 1st or depending on the year 2nd is the Winter Classic.  The rest are the Stadium Series and the one that's just Canadian teams is the Heritage Classic.

 
Love the Breakaway Challenge. Some really funny stuff tonight.

Wow, and Filip Forsberg actually did better than Patrick Kane at stickhandling through the pucks. That's nice to see.

Now, I really, really want to see Shea Weber break Chara's hardest shot record of 108.8. Some of the guys were predicting Weber could hit 110. That would be freaking insane.

Damn...Weber missed the net on his first shot, so it didn't count. But his second shot was 108.5. Good God that's terrifying, lol. The only other guy to break 100 was Ovechkin at 101.4.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
It's been hard times for my Los Angeles Kings lately, but tonight saw the team earn a much-needed victory over the Blackhawks. And in an added bonus for me, tomorrow is the day the official announcement will be made that the Manchester Monarchs are relocating to Ontario, California!

The Ontario Reign have been the Kings' ECHL affiliate since the team relocated here from Texas prior to the 2008-09 season. Meanwhile, the AHL's Monarchs play all the way in New Hampshire. The 2 teams are set to swap cities/arenas for the start of he 2015-16 season. Very exciting.
 
Matt Young said:
It's been hard times for my Los Angeles Kings lately, but tonight saw the team earn a much-needed victory over the Blackhawks. And in an added bonus for me, tomorrow is the day the official announcement will be made that the Manchester Monarchs are relocating to Ontario, California!

The Ontario Reign have been the Kings' ECHL affiliate since the team relocated here from Texas prior to the 2008-09 season. Meanwhile, the AHL's Monarchs play all the way in New Hampshire. The 2 teams are set to swap cities/arenas for the start of he 2015-16 season. Very exciting.
Click to expand...
Actually, Lots of AHL teams will be moving West for next year as the AHL wants to get better East and West divisons and also get some teams closer to NHL teams to bring down travel costs for teams. They will then only play inter division during regular season and only the calder trophy will be East vs West.

For instance, the Lake Erie monsters For the Colorado Avalanche may move West, or become an affiliate with another team. Our current CHL team didn't have a season because they are trying to become the AHL team and be here in Denver.

 
So, Carter Hutton made this save last night to preserve a win for Nashville.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syqTOvoVHDw[/youtube]

And Pekka Rinne will be back in net tomorrow against Anaheim. I hope he's 100% and they're not rushing him back. The team has played strong behind Hutton and has gone 4-2-2 without Rinne. I think they could easily give him another week if he needs it. Keeping my fingers crossed on this one.

 
Upon moving to the AHL next season, my Ontario Reign will switch from an orange/blue color scheme to what is basically the Gretzky-era Kings logo.

http://ontarioreign.com/news/teamnews/?article_id=2474

2015-16%20Ontario%20Reign%20Logo.jpg
 
Wow...Nashville is really going all in this season, as they traded for Cody Franson and Mike Santorelli today (who both, coincidentally...were originally drafted by Nashville). The Preds sent Olli Jokinen, Brendan Leipsic, and a 2015 1st round pick to Toronto. Jokinen is old, but Leipsic is a pretty decent prospect. He's only 20 and has 35 points in 47 games in the AHL this season.

It's weird to see Nashville trade away scoring for defense (considering that's always where the team struggled), but they must feel really good about this year's group...and bringing in a couple of established guys definitely primes them for a serious run this year. The team is rolling right now though. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that maybe this will be the year they get over the hump and make some serious noise in the playoffs.

And there should be no question at this point that Peter Laviolette is a ridiculously great coach. I remember reading an article on him before the season started talking about how immediate of an impact he had with his previous teams and how the Islanders, Hurricanes, and Flyers all did complete 180s after he took the helm. It's crazy actually seeing it firsthand though.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Yeah, I just saw the details of that trade. Tremendous deal for Nashville.
Just watched Toronto/Montreal last night, and they both had very good games.
 
Nashville is doing really well on and off the ice.  I really think they have what it takes this season to win the cup.  I'm expecting to see Nashville and Anaheim or Nashville and Vancouver for the west this year.  As for my Blues I have heard that the pressure is on.  Could see some big changes if they don't make a deep run in the playoffs this year.  At least that's the rumor I was told over the weekend. 

 
By the way n8, we are freakin' LOVING Kevin Klein!!!
9 goals, 4 of them game winners, including tonights gwg against the Islanders, in one of the best regular season games I've seen this year.
The guy is a rock in his own end too.
I was sorry to see Del Zotto go, and its too bad it didn't work out in Nashville but Klein has made everyone forget him real quick.
 
Flacksguy said:
By the way n8, we are freakin' LOVING Kevin Klein!!!
9 goals, 4 of them game winners, including tonights gwg against the Islanders, in one of the best regular season games I've seen this year.
The guy is a rock in his own end too.
I was sorry to see Del Zotto go, and its too bad it didn't work out in Nashville but Klein has made everyone forget him real quick.
Click to expand...
Yeah, Klein was a pretty good player. He was just in Nashville during a time when the team had decent defense, but no scoring. And even when they acquired Del Zotto, they were kind of grasping at straws. They just needed a new direction and even changing the only coach the team has ever known. The unit they have now is much more well rounded and complete.

 
Kings won their 5th straight last night, beating the Lightning for the second time in a week and a half. Colorado is LA's next opponent, followed by Saturday's game against San Jose at Levi's Stadium.

They're still out of the playoffs at this moment, but it's tight. I could see them moving up to 2nd place in their division by season's end. Though all they really need to do is make the playoffs and they'll have a shot. It is the NHL after all.
 
and Coloado has won two in a row by a combined score of 9-3... heck they benched their starting goalie last night in the third because they allowed 0 shots in the second period...

 
Annnd Nashville put a beating on San Jose tonight, 5-1. The Preds have won six straight, including a 4-0 homestand. Just gotta stay healthy. This team is damn good.

 
Whoa,
How about Toronto getting rid of David Clarkson today.
They're jumping for joy on the Leafs message boards. Even if Nathan Horton never plays for them, thats 5 million in cap space that is wiped out.
 
Rangers make a couple of nice deals today getting Keith Yandle and James Sheppard, and signing Mats Zuccarello longterm.
Love their D heading into the playoffs, McDonagh, Girardi, Staal, Yandle, Boyle & Klein, and Lundqvist coming back in a couple weeks.
 
Trade deadline and Blues show they don't want the Cup this year.  This team will be in a rebuild before they even make it to the conference final.  

 
I know the Preds made their moves early, but as they are losing tonight and on the verge of a 3 game losing streak (after having not even gone 2 straight games without earning a point the whole season before that), it's definitely making me nervous. The offense has just looked flat lately. Probably time for Laviolette to shake up the lines again.

 
Bad thing about making a large number of trades is that the players all have to get used to each other and their new lines.  Also for one of the 3 games that the Preds lost didn't 2 of the players have visa issues when coming from the other team? I read that 2 players did, just not sure if it was ones the Preds picked up or not.  

 
Well...if there's any positive to take from a four game losing streak, it's probably that the Preds haven't faced a whole lot of adversity this season (Rinne's 3 week injury during the All-Star break being the only real one). And this would probably be "the right time" to face it, get through it, and grow stronger because of it. I'm just going to hope that's what's happening right now. Better now than in the 1st round of the playoffs.

 
Sup everyone. I'm still alive... Looking forward to seeing the new Red Wings acquisitions tonight

EDIT: And Zidlicky scores the OT winner. Nice.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Hoping the Hawks can hold it together and get on a strong winning streak...

It will definitely be a rough series if it's Hawks/Blues again in the playoffs.  Not sure the Hawks will be able to overcome them again this season.

 
Sadly I think it will all depend on if the Hawks have Kane back, how healthy the Blues are and if they decide to show up.  Last year I think the Blues would have had the Hawks had it not been for Backes being injured and Miller.  Blues seem to fall apart if a player is injured, depending on the player.  Just look at the past when Pietrangelo, Schwartz and currently Shattenkirk.  Miller was a big disappointment for the Blues last year.  He did well after first being acquired, but quickly spiraled down hill after an overtime loss to Dallas.  He was 10-8-1 however 5 out of the 8  and the one OT loss were in a row at the end of the season. Then went 2-4 in the playoffs.  Hitchcock worries me when it comes to the playoffs as he seems to get out coached.  He also likes to keep running the same goaltender for a full series unless they get injured and doesn't look at the series he's in, but the one after that.  In 2012 when the Blues were 0-3 against LA he was talking about the next round.  In the 2013 playoffs Halak was back and healthy in the first round.  Elliott was doing well end of season and Hitchcock played him in the first against LA.  The Blues were up 2 games to none then dropped the next 3.  It was obvious to everyone but Hitchcock and Armstrong that Halak should be in game 6. He wasn't.  Fast forward to the 2014 playoffs and the same thing happened only with Miller.  Game 6 should have been Elliott only due to just getting Miller and the price they were going to make him play.  In the end I think due to a lot of things off the ice the team just said the hell with it and Backes only came back to make the fans happy.  

I don't see Kane back for the first round so that's good for the Blues however the Blues have an issue playing a full game.  They also have 2 players currently out due to injuries and from what it sounds like others playing injured.  The sad thing is this might be the best chance they have at winning the cup.  They may have one more season before that contract they gave Stastny for 7 million a year bites them in the ass.  If they don't have an issue with the cap next season like Chicago will then St. Louis most likely will the next.  Blues and Hawks will be a good series, but it's one I don't want.  I'd rather St. Louis take the top spot from Nashville and play a wildcard team as long as it's not LA.  The way it looks LA will be out or in that 3rd spot for the Pacific and not a wildcard this season.  Hopefully that stays true and the Blues can get a round against a wildcard and Nashville and Chicago can beat the hell out of each other first round.

 
This was the five game stretch that was supposed to sink the Rangers:
Predators at home, then Red Wings, Blackhawks, Islanders & Capitals on the road.
Rangers ended up with 9 out of 10 points and are now tops in the league based on win %.
Cam Talbot is 12-2-3 since Lundqvist went down, and the team is 31-7-3 since Dec.
 
Yeah, Nashville lost 6 straight...and somehow is still hanging around the top. Just the highs and lows of an 82 game season. At this point, it's really just about getting to the playoffs healthy and getting hot at the right time. There are a lot of good teams and I really don't think there's a clear unbeatable frontrunner. Anybody can beat anybody. It'll be interesting to see who has the timing and good fortune to come out on top.

 
Wow, last night was great fun for scoreboard watching.
Rangers clinch Presidents Trophy at New Jersey
Islanders blow it in Philadelphia
Ottawa stays alive vs Pittsburgh
Winnipeg and Calgary keep aheadof LA
...and then LA loses to Edmonton of all teams

So many seedings yet to be determined with only a couple of games left.
Great finish to the season.
 
Yeah...Nashville is limping to the finish, but forunately, St. Louis and Chicago seem to be too. I'll be disappointed if Nashville somehow slips to 3rd in the Central. But at the same time, anybody can beat anybody in the playoffs. It hasn't been a great second half of the season, but who knows what to expect.

I could see Nashville going all the way...or getting bounced in the first round. This is when coaching and leadership make the difference. Just hoping the Preds have enough of both.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
n8rockerasu said:
Yeah...Nashville is limping to the finish, but forunately, St. Louis and Chicago seem to be too. I'll be disappointed if Nashville somehow slips to 3rd in the Central. But at the same time, anybody can beat anybody in the playoffs. It hasn't been a great second half of the season, but who knows what to expect.
Click to expand...
Blues definitely have not been playing their best hockey as of late. Doesn't help they have been missing Tarasenko and Steen the past several games, so hopefully when they come back it will help out. Doesn't really matter where they end up being seeded, I wouldn't be really comfortable playing anyone at this point. That includes the possible wild card teams...i.e. the Wild and Jets who just beat the Blues.

There should be some great match ups, can't wait.
 
AngryDragon888 said:
Blues definitely have not been playing their best hockey as of late. Doesn't help they have been missing Tarasenko and Steen the past several games, so hopefully when they come back it will help out. Doesn't really matter where they end up being seeded, I wouldn't be really comfortable playing anyone at this point. That includes the possible wild card teams...i.e. the Wild and Jets who just beat the Blues.

There should be some great match ups, can't wait.
Click to expand...
Haha, I feel the same way. After beating Montreal, Tampa Bay, and Washington, the Preds went on to lose to Calgary, Dallas, and Colorado. There's no consistency right now. They could steamroll through the playoffs or they could get swept in round one. I don't feel like either is far-fetched.

It's been a great season, but you really start to see how beat up and tired teams are this time of year. Going to take a lot of luck and timing to make it through the playoffs.

 
It's honestly why i love the NHL... any team can win the cup once the playoffs start.  Whoever is getting healthy a hot come playoff time will do the best.  Seeding means nothing really, especially since it's a 7 game series.  I mean home ice is nice, but with 8th seeds doing so well recently it doesn't matter.  The team should clinch a playoff spot, and rest players.  Surprised no one does this.

 
bestkeeper14 said:
It's honestly why i love the NHL... any team can win the cup once the playoffs start. Whoever is getting healthy a hot come playoff time will do the best. Seeding means nothing really, especially since it's a 7 game series. I mean home ice is nice, but with 8th seeds doing so well recently it doesn't matter. The team should clinch a playoff spot, and rest players. Surprised no one does this.
Click to expand...
I kind of agree...but at the same time, you don't want players getting rusty and being out of sync. There should be some kind of middle ground where you don't keep the same intensity though and maybe ease up in practice. Who knows, maybe that's why the Preds have been losing, lol. Or at least that's what I'll tell myself. :lol:

 
Rangers scratched a couple of guys for tonights game against Ottawa to give them a bit of rest.
Which is funny because a Ranger win would help out the Islanders.
Heh heh. Let them get into the playoffs on their own.

Pretty awesome, teams only have 2 games left and I don't think anyone knows for sure who they'll be playing in the first round.
 
Preds give up 4 straight goals tonight, coughing up a 2-0 lead, and in the process coughing up the Central division title by losing 5 straight games. They better get their shit together for the playoffs. If they get swept or lose in 5, everybody is going to point to that trade with Toronto as the thing that screwed up the season. Should have known better than to bring Leafs players into the fold. Could there be a bigger jinx? lol

 
n8rockerasu said:
Preds give up 4 straight goals tonight, coughing up a 2-0 lead, and in the process coughing up the Central division title by losing 5 straight games. They better get their shit together for the playoffs. If they get swept or lose in 5, everybody is going to point to that trade with Toronto as the thing that screwed up the season. Should have known better than to bring Leafs players into the fold. Could there be a bigger jinx? lol
Click to expand...
Buffalo players? I'm sort of glad St. Louis took the division, but I also wish they didn't have home ice. It would be cheaper for me and they don't tend to do well in the playoffs with home ice. I'd also rather get Chicago out of the way first round than see if it's Nashville or Chicago in round 2, hoping they make it that far. Now it's one of 3 teams, Chicago still being one, Minnesota and Winnipeg. Not sure who I'd rather the Blues face.

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
bread's done
Back
Top