The Official 2018-19 NHL hockey thread

[Doc Holliday]

TOR 2 ANA 1.....after winning over Sharks and Kings.....they complete California sweep....:yo:

After that game the Leafs were #1 in the overall NHL standings!!! And this without their best player Auston Matthews over the past 9 games & without William Nylander since the start of the season!!!

The Leafs hadn't swept the three west coast teams during a road trip in 23 years!!!! The Leafs only allowed 5 goals during that entire road trip!!!

In other news there's barely two weeks left for the Leafs to re-sign or trade William Nylander or else he'll miss the entire NHL season. Word is that the Leafs are willing to sit him out since they haven't missed him at all this season. He is rumoured to be asking for a multi-year contract in the range of $8 million per season. The Leafs (and many other teams) do not believe he's currently worth that kind of money. The Leafs also need to address re-signing Auston Matthews & Mitch Marner. Jake Gardiner will also be UFA at the end of the season and the Leafs are not expected to re-sign him since he'll be fielding offers around the league in the $7 million+ range. They very well may trade him sometimes this season if they find the right trade partner. But since he's one of their top 2 defensemen they may simply decide to keep him for the entire season and watch him walk away once the season ends, like they did with JVR during the offseason.

Leafs' next game is against red-hot Columbus.

 

[EagerBeaver]

Actually, Tampa Bay Lightning and Nashville Predators are tied for the most points in the NHL with 29. The Toronto Maple Leafs have 28 points:

http://www.espn.com/nhl/standings

Hard to believe that the Pittsburgh Penguins have sunk to a tie with the Panthers for last place in the Eastern Conference. They have really sucked of late. In 2 years they have gone from Stanley Cup Champions to chumps of the East. Only the hapless LA Kings have less points in the entire NHL.

 

[gaby]

Battle of Alberta...Flames rally past Oilers 4-2 in third period.....and what a battle it was...good old time......soldiers were ready....more more more..

SJS 4 STL 0....great win.....Karlsson and Pavelsky back on track.....Sharks need those 2 at their top....

BERGERON is out with upper body injury.....not a good news for the Bruins.......et la liste des blessés s'allonge.

 

[gaby]

Another bad evening for Oilers....after leading 2-1 they lost 6-3......and Talbot again was miserable.....they are 1-6 in their last 7 games.....are Chiarelli and McLellan on hot seats?????

COL 4 ANA 3.....another 8 pts evening for RANTANEN--MacKINNON--LANDESKOG...wow.

 

[gaby]

So after 20 games or so what are your surprises and deceptions,,,,FOR ME

EASTERN.....surprises......MONTREAL--BUFFALO---ISLANDERS

..................deception....a big one ...PITTSBURG

WESTERN...surprises...VANCOUVER--CALGARY--COLORADO

................deceptions....CHICAGO---LOS ANGELES--ST-LOUIS--EDMONTON...would add also VEGAS .

 

[Doc Holliday]

Hard to believe that the Pittsburgh Penguins have sunk to a tie with the Panthers for last place in the Eastern Conference. They have really sucked of late. In 2 years they have gone from Stanley Cup Champions to chumps of the East. Only the hapless LA Kings have less points in the entire NHL.

That's what happens when the majority of your cap money is distributed to 3-4 players. You end up having to pay the rest of the team with the scraps remaining which means the best talent available plays elsewhere where they are paid their worth.

 

[EagerBeaver]

The NHL seems to have gotten a lot younger as teams operating under cap pressure increasingly seek to find younger, cheaper talent that can be developed and not paid for a while. Some teams seem to be doing better at this strategy than others. Locking up aging NHL veterans to longer contracts is very, very dangerous now. Even the Leafs are learning a lesson with Patrick Marleau, I mean you can’t pay a guy good money at age 38 just for being a good guy. It’s certainly scarier in the NHL than in MLB where teams can get away with overpaying an aging veteran or two, although the Yankees actually managed to sign aging veterans CC Sabathia and Brett Gardner to one year contracts at substantial pay cuts, reflecting their current values as 5th starter and 4th outfielder, respectively. NHL teams need to learn to do the same, sit down with players and confront them with their stats, their clubhouse value etc. and pay them for what they are, not what they once were.

 

[Sol Tee Nutz]

The GEO suck, Talbot should be sent to the minors, their $2.5 mil backup is a mistake. Thats all for today.

 

[EagerBeaver]

McLellan, Yeo Fired

The axe has fallen twice in the last 12 hours with Mike Yeo and Todd McLellan joining the ranks of the unemployed:

Oilers fire McLellan, name Hitchcock coach https://es.pn/2A87x83

4 NHL coaches have been fired since the start of the season. Who is next?

 

[EagerBeaver]

Hitchcock had his choice of jobs yet he chose the Oilers. He wants to overtake Quenneville BADLY for #2 behind Scotty Bowman in NHL wins. Will Quenneville take the St. Louis job or wait?????

Yeo was fired because St. Loo was shut out in 3 of their last 4 including by the LA Kings. This was too much to take.

 

[gaby]

Surprisingly.....the next....could that be Sullivan with the Pens.......and Quenneville the new one??????

 

[EagerBeaver]

Quenneville is going to jump at the next job because Hitchcock is on his ass for wins and Hitchcock could win a lot of games with Edmonton. Quenneville has to keep pace or be overtaken by Hitchcock on the wins list. Q must decide what is more important: the wins or the money. If Sully is fired and Q takes that job, you have your answer. I do agree Sullivan could
be next.

 

[EagerBeaver]

NHL Coaches Dropping Like Flies!!!!!

https://www.google.com/amp/s/nation...es-as-struggling-teams-search-for-answers/amp

 

[gaby]

Good start for Hitchcock....4-3 in OT vs SJS.....another good night for McDavid 1g 2a.....

 

[gaby]

COL 5 ARI 1...another 6 points for RANTANEN--MacKINNON--LANDESKOG.....amazing.

SJS 4 VAN 0.......KARLSSON is well alive...2g 1a.......l'adaptation semble faite à sa nouvelle équipe et style de jeu......pas évident de changer d'environnement surtout quand on était roi et maître avec les Sens.......s'installe tranquillement dans son nouveau rôle....ce qui devrait bien servir les Sharks.

 

[EagerBeaver]

Gabby,

You did not mention the man biting Shark episode from that game:

Man bites Shark: Canucks' Roussel fined $5K https://es.pn/2R66ooU

Here is the video- although it’s a case of man biting Shark (or pickle- Vlasic is a top brand of American pickle), it looks like Vlasic almost shoved the arm in front of Roussel’s snout and asked to be bitten:

https://www.nbcsports.com/bayarea/v...sel-bites-sharks-marc-edouard-vlasic-end-game

I would have fined Vlasic $2,500 for bite provocation. It didn’t look like Roussel’s arms were free so he should be able to defend himself from having an arm stuffed in his face.

 

[EagerBeaver]

Laine Drops 5 Goals on Blues

http://www.espn.com/nhl/recap?gameId=401044673

All it took was a 5 goal game for Patrik Laine to seize the NHL lead in goals scored and revive debate over who really got the best player in the 2016 Draft. Meanwhile St. Louis is still singing the blues despite the coaching change.

BTW, that article says that Maurice Richard is the coach of the Winnipeg Jets. Isn't he dead?

 

[gaby]

Big evening in NHL,

Yep Laine with 5 goals.....in the last 20 years only Franzen 2011 and Gaborik 2007 did the same .....Laine yes now leads NHL with 19 goals :yo:

GUENTZEL hat trick and Johnsson....yes Johnsson -Leafs hat trick in 7min35 first period....:yo:

SABRES ..wow....extend streak to nine and lead NHL with 34 pts.....:yo:

and btw Maurice Richard died in Montreal le 27 Mai 2000.

 

[EagerBeaver]

Did someone resurrect Maurice Richard? Because that article says he is coaching the Jets and was not surprised by Patrik Laine’s 5 goal game. Does anyone know if Richard ever had a 5 goal game?

 

[gaby]

YEP YEP YEP.....DECEMBER 28--1944....The Rocket scored 5 goals 3 assists vs Detroit......:yo::yo::yo: