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.