2024-25 NHL THREAD.

[Cusefan95]

A really bad call here. Montreal gets 2 minutes, Philly gets nothing. That being said Xhekaj's bad rep (that he more than earned with preseason stupidity) probably influenced the ref.
- Couturier puts a borderline hit on Dach (no penalty, which is fine)
- Xhekaj confronts Couturier him but nothing overly physical (referee calls that an "unsportsmanlike")
- Couturier drops his gloves first, then Xhekaj drops the glove (no penalty for either apparently)
- Seeler drops his gloves and jumps into the skirmish (no penalty)

I’ve noticed a trend this year, where officials miss an obvious penalty but then call a penalty on the immediate reaction from the opposing team. I’ve been wondering if officials have gotten some guidance from the league to try to keep play going and call fewer penalties, and there’s some kind of attempt to “train” players not to go for immedate revenge…if so, this was officials taking that a little too literally.

Whatever is going on, the early season officiating has been horrific.

 

[Cusefan95]

My H0T Takes - I'll predict the Sabres are going to make the playoffs, and the Rangers will as well - just as a wildcard team.

Devils looked really good sweeping Florida this week - they are much better defensively than they were last year and are much more physical. I don't know that this is a Cup caliber team, but I'll be disappointed if they don't at least make the second round of the playoffs.

 

[STEVEHOLT]

My H0T Takes - I'll predict the Sabres are going to make the playoffs, and the Rangers will as well - just as a wildcard team.

Devils looked really good sweeping Florida this week - they are much better defensively than they were last year and are much more physical. I don't know that this is a Cup caliber team, but I'll be disappointed if they don't at least make the second round of the playoffs.

My 10 year old daughter somehow is a devils fan even though it’s all leafs all the time in this house . Her mom lives in Jersey . That might play a roll

 

[STEVEHOLT]

I’ve noticed a trend this year, where officials miss an obvious penalty but then call a penalty on the immediate reaction from the opposing team. I’ve been wondering if officials have gotten some guidance from the league to try to keep play going and call fewer penalties, and there’s some kind of attempt to “train” players not to go for immedate revenge…if so, this was officials taking that a little too literally.

Whatever is going on, the early season officiating has been horrific.

in the last minute of the leafs / oilers game last night (a barn burner btw) McJesus takes Tavares stick , which had fallen to the ice, and shoots it all the way to the blue line. As Johnny Toronto retrieves the stick , it’s 6 on 4 for a short spell and the oilers immediately score.

This is 100% a penalty. It’s not a judgment call. It would be like ignoring a shooting the puck over the glass penalty just cause the game was in crunch time. I absolutely hate NHL officiating.

Unlike other sports where refs suck cause they miss or can’t see things, nhl refs see things and decide to call or not call them defending on game flow (this team is down 3-0, so im not going to call that penalty on them).

Cross checks into the back are a prime example. Call em when you want and otherwise ignore them

 

[Cusefan95]

It’ll be interesting to see how many games Reaves gets for his hit on Nurse. I agree with people who said he probably expected Nurse to square up more as he came around the net, which would have led to a big hit but not an illegal one. Ultimately it’s his responsibility, a player not reacting the way you expected means you need to adjust (and not hit him directly in the head).

One thing I like about the Devils announcers (especially Ken Daneyko) is that regardless of who has a hit like that (Devils player or an opponent), he’ll say it’s an illegal hit and the guy is likely to miss more than one game. Done. It annoyed me when I watched the replay and heard the announcers hemming and hawing about it and pointing out he didn’t leave his feet, didn’t throw an elbow, they’ve seen worse…just call the game objectively and don’t be a total homer.

 

[jncuse]

I find Leafs fans on social media play the victim card too much.

That being said,... I'm not sure how this is not a penalty.
Whitecloud leaves his feet before contact is even made. Which is why there was so much contact with the head.

 

[Cusefan95]

Weird game between the Devils and Leafs last night. Devils dominated play, took almost three times as many shots as Toronto - and still lost 2-1 in OT. This is now 3 or 4 losses in the last month by the Devils where they outplayed their opponent and lost…I’m not sure what to make of that.

My fear is it’s hinting at a lack of maturity - when shots aren’t going in the Devils players lose focus on positioning and create opportunities for the other team.

 

[OburgOrange]

Weird game between the Devils and Leafs last night. Devils dominated play, took almost three times as many shots as Toronto - and still lost 2-1 in OT. This is now 3 or 4 losses in the last month by the Devils where they outplayed their opponent and lost…I’m not sure what to make of that.

My fear is it’s hinting at a lack of maturity - when shots aren’t going in the Devils players lose focus on positioning and create opportunities for the other team.

I watched that game. I’m a Leaf fan. No way they deserved to win. TO got lucky with the shorthanded goal. Jersey has a solid team

 

[STEVEHOLT]

I watched that game. I’m a Leaf fan. No way they deserved to win. TO got lucky with the shorthanded goal. Jersey has a solid team

Typical Sheldon Keefe loss. Dominate play . Get out goalied.. your star gets trucked … no response . So glad he and lover of 5-10 180lb defensemen Doubas are GONE

 

[STEVEHOLT]

I find Leafs fans on social media play the victim card too much.

That being said,... I'm not sure how this is not a penalty.
Whitecloud leaves his feet before contact is even made. Which is why there was so much contact with the head.

Because there is a Leafs Tax when it comes to supplemental discipline. Courtesy George Parros

 

[Cusefan95]

Typical Sheldon Keefe loss. Dominate play . Get out goalied.. your star gets trucked … no response . So glad he and lover of 5-10 180lb defensemen Doubas are GONE

This concerns me as the season wears on, since it was an issue with the Devils last year pre-Keefe as well. The Devils added MacDermid to the line-up for the Kings game, I figured that was to add some physicality if the Mings started to abuse Devils players. Twice there were really marginal hits on Cotter and Hughes that didn’t draw penalties…and there was no real response by the Devils. I expect MacDermid to a least hit a guy - but nothing.

If MacDermid isn’t you g to play the role of “enforcer” (to the degree that still exists) - what exactly does he add to the team?

The argument it was a 1-1 game and they didn’t want to put the team at a disadvantage doesn’t work; they had to kill a 5 minute major against Nashville after Meier got retribution for some dirty play and gave up zero shots.

 

[STEVEHOLT]

This concerns me as the season wears on, since it was an issue with the Devils last year pre-Keefe as well. The Devils added MacDermid to the line-up for the Kings game, I figured that was to add some physicality if the Mings started to abuse Devils players. Twice there were really marginal hits on Cotter and Hughes that didn’t draw penalties…and there was no real response by the Devils. I expect MacDermid to a least hit a guy - but nothing.

If MacDermid isn’t you g to play the role of “enforcer” (to the degree that still exists) - what exactly does he add to the team?

The argument it was a 1-1 game and they didn’t want to put the team at a disadvantage doesn’t work; they had to kill a 5 minute major against Nashville after Meier got retribution for some dirty play and gave up zero shots.

You just needed to grab him with a stern look on your face .. act as if. 2:00.. not 5:00

 

[Cusefan95]

Predators' L'Heureux to have hearing for slew-foot on Wild's Spurgeon

Nashville Predators forward Zachary L'Heureux will have a hearing for tripping/slew-footing Minnesota’s Jared Spurgeon on Tuesday, the NHL Department of Player Safety announced Wednesday.

www.sportsnet.ca

There’s a batch of talentless goons that teams are starting to call up, like Rempe and L’Heureax. I think the NHl suspensions aren’t nearly long enough; the league is going to revert to every team having a talentless goon very quickly if they don’t significantly increase suspensions for dirty play. Minnesota can’t lose a player to a worthless goon like L’Heureax and then have the league give less than a five game suspension (which the phone hearing means, he cannot get more than five games). They need somebody to go out and cheap shot Stamkos or some other Pred the next time they play.

Being the clownshow, reactionary league that it is, I fully expect the NHL will be in a full-blown crisis before they act on this budding issue.

 

[STEVEHOLT]

That’s two in a row for the US
Looks like the torch may be passing

TikTok - Make Your Day

 

[jncuse]

That’s two in a row for the US
Looks like the torch may be passing

TikTok - Make Your Day

I don't see it as a torch being passed. But more like Canada does not hold the torch anymore, and its just balanced, where tournaments like this are determined by coaching, selection, chemistry, execution, discipline etc.

The US team has a good mix and chemistry right now. Not sure if part of that is familiarity through their development program. This current Canadian batch is lacking something even though their draft status is higher than the US.

Canada has more talent in terms of players under-20. (in fact the gap in numbers in first rounders was closer at times in 2010's where the US didn't do that well)
- Canada had 23 first round picks age eligible for this tournament. The USA had 8. That gap was actually larger than it has been in past years. Yet the teams that were iced by the US showed more skill in my view. Part of it is player type, but I think a bigger issue is I have no clue what the Team Canada selection committee was doing. They were too cute in overlooking skill. By passed the leading scorer in the OHL (Misa), the best scorer in the WHL (Cristall) the top 2 D picked in the last draft from North America who are highly skilled.
- If it was a pure under-20 tournament, truly best on best, I think Canada would have likely won. Add Bedard, Celebrini, and Zach Benson to Canada. Add Will Smith to the US. Adding the clearly two best players in the world under 20 to Canada probably would have made up for the lack of competency Canada showed in many areas. On to the next point ...
- - That being said It just goes to show that if Canada has poor team selection, poor coaching, bad discipline / poor system execution, it has very little chance to win In the past it could pull it off because the talent gap was even larger. There was always the false narrative in Canada that we won because "we had more heart". We had clearly the most talent back then, its not more heart.
- Things are fairly closely balanced right now, that even if Canada has good coaching, player execution, it can still lose to a country like the US. Its not going to get away with it when they do a mixed job.

There was actually years in the 2010's where the US had more first round picks eligible for the tournament than now and they struggled. Chemistry matters, coaching matters, when the balance is not too far off between teams.

 

[Cusefan95]

I don't see it as a torch being passed. But more like Canada does not hold the torch anymore, and its just balanced, where tournaments like this are determined by coaching, selection, chemistry, execution, discipline etc.

The US team has a good mix and chemistry right now. Not sure if part of that is familiarity through their development program. This current Canadian batch is lacking something even though their draft status is higher than the US.

Canada has more talent in terms of players under-20. (in fact the gap in numbers in first rounders was closer at times in 2010's where the US didn't do that well)
- Canada had 23 first round picks age eligible for this tournament. The USA had 8. That gap was actually larger than it has been in past years. Yet the teams that were iced by the US showed more skill in my view. Part of it is player type, but I think a bigger issue is I have no clue what the Team Canada selection committee was doing. They were too cute in overlooking skill. By passed the leading scorer in the OHL (Misa), the best scorer in the WHL (Cristall) the top 2 D picked in the last draft from North America who are highly skilled.
- If it was a pure under-20 tournament, truly best on best, I think Canada would have likely won. Add Bedard, Celebrini, and Zach Benson to Canada. Add Will Smith to the US. Adding the clearly two best players in the world under 20 to Canada probably would have made up for the lack of competency Canada showed in many areas. On to the next point ...
- - That being said It just goes to show that if Canada has poor team selection, poor coaching, bad discipline / poor system execution, it has very little chance to win In the past it could pull it off because the talent gap was even larger. There was always the false narrative in Canada that we won because "we had more heart". We had clearly the most talent back then, its not more heart.
- Things are fairly closely balanced right now, that even if Canada has good coaching, player execution, it can still lose to a country like the US. Its not going to get away with it when they do a mixed job.

There was actually years in the 2010's where the US had more first round picks eligible for the tournament than now and they struggled. Chemistry matters, coaching matters, when the balance is not too far off between teams.

I saw a video a few months ago talking about challenges Canada is having developing defensemen, and that US colleges may be better for that now. I’m not remotely informed enough to know if that’s a legitimate view, although Makar’s development at UMass was a key data point they focused on. I do think the gap between Canada and the US is greater for forwards than blue liners - and my opinion is good defense translates pretty easily into better chemistry and gives coaches more flexibility.

 

[STEVEHOLT]

I don't see it as a torch being passed. But more like Canada does not hold the torch anymore, and its just balanced, where tournaments like this are determined by coaching, selection, chemistry, execution, discipline etc.

The US team has a good mix and chemistry right now. Not sure if part of that is familiarity through their development program. This current Canadian batch is lacking something even though their draft status is higher than the US.

Canada has more talent in terms of players under-20. (in fact the gap in numbers in first rounders was closer at times in 2010's where the US didn't do that well)
- Canada had 23 first round picks age eligible for this tournament. The USA had 8. That gap was actually larger than it has been in past years. Yet the teams that were iced by the US showed more skill in my view. Part of it is player type, but I think a bigger issue is I have no clue what the Team Canada selection committee was doing. They were too cute in overlooking skill. By passed the leading scorer in the OHL (Misa), the best scorer in the WHL (Cristall) the top 2 D picked in the last draft from North America who are highly skilled.
- If it was a pure under-20 tournament, truly best on best, I think Canada would have likely won. Add Bedard, Celebrini, and Zach Benson to Canada. Add Will Smith to the US. Adding the clearly two best players in the world under 20 to Canada probably would have made up for the lack of competency Canada showed in many areas. On to the next point ...
- - That being said It just goes to show that if Canada has poor team selection, poor coaching, bad discipline / poor system execution, it has very little chance to win In the past it could pull it off because the talent gap was even larger. There was always the false narrative in Canada that we won because "we had more heart". We had clearly the most talent back then, its not more heart.
- Things are fairly closely balanced right now, that even if Canada has good coaching, player execution, it can still lose to a country like the US. Its not going to get away with it when they do a mixed job.

There was actually years in the 2010's where the US had more first round picks eligible for the tournament than now and they struggled. Chemistry matters, coaching matters, when the balance is not too far off between teams.

not buying the fact that a few lineup changes would have mattered. Canada lost to Latvia. They should have been able to beat Latvia with their C squad .

Canadian goal tending is quite weak compared to the top hockey nations and seems like Canada has a disproportionate issue with higher level youth hockey becoming less and less accessible to the masses.

 

[Cowtown]

I don't see it as a torch being passed. But more like Canada does not hold the torch anymore, and its just balanced, where tournaments like this are determined by coaching, selection, chemistry, execution, discipline etc.

The US team has a good mix and chemistry right now. Not sure if part of that is familiarity through their development program. This current Canadian batch is lacking something even though their draft status is higher than the US.

Canada has more talent in terms of players under-20. (in fact the gap in numbers in first rounders was closer at times in 2010's where the US didn't do that well)
- Canada had 23 first round picks age eligible for this tournament. The USA had 8. That gap was actually larger than it has been in past years. Yet the teams that were iced by the US showed more skill in my view. Part of it is player type, but I think a bigger issue is I have no clue what the Team Canada selection committee was doing. They were too cute in overlooking skill. By passed the leading scorer in the OHL (Misa), the best scorer in the WHL (Cristall) the top 2 D picked in the last draft from North America who are highly skilled.
- If it was a pure under-20 tournament, truly best on best, I think Canada would have likely won. Add Bedard, Celebrini, and Zach Benson to Canada. Add Will Smith to the US. Adding the clearly two best players in the world under 20 to Canada probably would have made up for the lack of competency Canada showed in many areas. On to the next point ...
- - That being said It just goes to show that if Canada has poor team selection, poor coaching, bad discipline / poor system execution, it has very little chance to win In the past it could pull it off because the talent gap was even larger. There was always the false narrative in Canada that we won because "we had more heart". We had clearly the most talent back then, its not more heart.
- Things are fairly closely balanced right now, that even if Canada has good coaching, player execution, it can still lose to a country like the US. Its not going to get away with it when they do a mixed job.

There was actually years in the 2010's where the US had more first round picks eligible for the tournament than now and they struggled. Chemistry matters, coaching matters, when the balance is not too far off between teams.

There was a lot of moaning and gnashing of teeth among the talking heads. One point that stood out to me is related to your comment about selection. As in, they picked 18 of the same type of player. They all looked like they had never played together before (and I think mostly they hadn't?). They had no offensive creativity or imagination, or sense of timing. They just flew around the ice as fast as they could. The ratio of expended energy to developed momentum was considerably less than proportional.

Another problem loudly decried that I saw was they didn't practice between games. Yikes. So what did they do? Played video games and read all the shtt-talk about them on social media. Then they showed up for the next game pretty much unprepared, especially after a poor game the last time out.

Yes, the other teams are closing the gap. From my own observation, take Latvia: they had C+ talent but A level team play. And they were very well organized in their own end and Canada had no plan to attack their goal. And their effort was tremendous. Although Canada was not short on effort, they were running around like the proverbial "Chinese fire drill." They appeared baffled when they couldn't out-effort the other side. They passed when they should have driven to the net, they threw passes to guys who were covered, routinely threw passes into their target's skates. When they weren't doing all that, they hung on to the puck too long.

I think you're right on the money with your observation about the US national development program.

I feel bad for the Canadian kids. As I said, no problem with their effort. But the system that got them there seems to have let them down. It's almost like Hockey Canada had bigger problems elsewhere.

 

[tbonezone]

Jan. 17, 2025,
During the final minutes of the Penguins’ game against the Sabres on Friday, goalie Alex Nedeljkovic sniped a goal from the other side of the ice, becoming the first goalie in history to record a goal and an assist in the same NHL game.

 

[STEVEHOLT]

This is hilarious to me. Something about that picture

Caps goalie miffed by nachos on ice during goal

Capitals goalie Logan Thompson said he was distracted by a tray of cheese-covered nachos thrown on the ice while Oilers winger Corey Perry scored on him in Edmonton on Tuesday night.

www.espn.com

 

[jncuse]

Major trade in the NHL just completed. Details not fully disclosed, but what we do know is that Mikko Rantanen is going to Carolina.

Carolina was already viewed as one of the favourites in the East.
Wondering what Colorado gets... did they punt their season (which is not bad) to try to get some pieces for future years?

 

[Cusefan95]

Major trade in the NHL just completed. Details not fully disclosed, but what we do know is that Mikko Rantanen is going to Carolina.

Carolina was already viewed as one of the favourites in the East.
Wondering what Colorado gets... did they punt their season (which is not bad) to try to get some pieces for future years?

Rantanen wasn’t going to resign in Colorado, so they decided to get something for him before left next summer. They got Necas back from Carolina… this was a weird trade.

 

[upperdeck]

East is gonna a slog all year., 4 teams trying to get that 3rd slot and then about 6 trying to get those 2 WC slots.

Montreal with 2 goalies playing well
Ottawa playing well

Bruins somehow still in it

 

[kirbivore]

Rangers with a 7-0-3 stretch to climb back into the race.

 

[jncuse]

Rantanen wasn’t going to resign in Colorado, so they decided to get something for him before left next summer. They got Necas back from Carolina… this was a weird trade.

Seeing the pieces that were moved, I like the thought process for both teams.
Was certainly aware of Rantanen's pending UFA status.

From a pure basic perspective, going into this deal Colorado might have the worst forwards from #6-#12 of any team that has made the playoffs in a while.

It certainly fits the MO of Carolina - they are not afraid of taking on rentals as they showed last year with Guentzel. And they got the clear best player in the trade.

For Colorado, they get a key asset for next year at a reasonable cost in Necas at $6.5. So they extend their window into next year. The question is this year. Did they take too big a hit? I don't think so - they are going to turn this deal into 3 forwards that can help this team. Necas, Drury, and know they cap space + 2nd +4th that come out of this deal to add another second line forward.

Typically downgrading the top 6 or trading the best player in the deal is not a good formula at all for a contender. But forwards #6-#12 on Colorado are so bad, that upgrades there add more upgrade value to your team more than a normal team.