2024 NHL Thread
 

Season technically has begun already. But it goes into gear in N.America today. That includes Utah making its debut tonight.

I think the Rangers will beat the Stars for the Cup.

My team, the Canes, went thru a mountain of changes. After being right up there w/the contenders, they will be among a cluster of teams in the east trying to make the playoffs. Long time members like Teravainen & Pesce, talents like Guentzel & Noesen, goalie Raanta along w/about 3-4 other skaters in the rotation are now elsewhere.

The Canes were smart to lock up a young nucleus of Aho, Jarvis, Svechnikov & Chatfield so they can be there to lead the team through this transition period. Canes need Kochetkov to be the clear #1 in the net. Cause the fan base has tired of Andersen being dominated by the opposing goalie in the playoffs. They also need both goalies to stay healthy. That really goes for the whole roster because the depth they once had is no longer there. The Canes have had a good farm system. Now is the time for Jackson Blake & Bryce Montgomery to show what they can do @ this level.

My prediction for the Canes is to finish in the 6-8 range in the conference standings. A rash of injuries or chemistry problems due to all of the new pieces could keep them out. But if Brind A'mour can work some magic & the youngsters fill out their promise & Kochetkov takes the next leap, the Canes could surprise by the time they start skating for Lord Stanley.

Seeing a listing for "Blackhawks at Hockey Club" still looks so lame.

Unique circumstances. If it is the same next year, then I'll give it a frown.

Kings don't start their 40 days in the desert until Thursday. (At Buffalo-Boston-Atlantic Canada-Ducks-Vegas.) We have another lovely trip in December, visiting the entire old Patrick Division and Nashville, too.

If we can survive them, maybe we'll pick up some momentum at home waiting for Doughty to heal. Theoretically, we shouldn't be that much worse than last year's 99 points (Foegele and Jeannot both prospered in the exhibitions, and LaFerriere and Byfield should continue to develop), but the backline could spring a hole at any second, and who knows if Kuemper-Rittich-Copley will be able to cover for them.

I'd like to think we're still better than the Ducks and Sharks and perhaps the Kraken, but as far as the division's big boys go, who knows?

Go Sharks!

Love the start of the NHL season. Fun watching Utah play well for the fans on opening night, though it got a little close for a while there in the 3rd period. As a Utahan now living out of state, it was fun to see hockey being played and sure wish I could have been there.

Canes Cap space. Lol!

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GZZQSVrX...pg&name=medium

Are the Bluejackets and Ducks getting interest on that?

Is Columbus' # due to Gaudreau's untimely death?

Oh, crap. Didn't think of that. RIP, Jawney.

Dominating performance by the Rangers last night; they thumped the Penguins.

https://www.nhl.com/news/new-york-ra...ecap-october-9

Yes, and the NHL gave them a time extension to get to the Cap Floor. Not a solid date, just said they had a reasonable amount of time. So they will be spending more $$ soon, either through a signing or trade that includes taking on a big salary.

Good on the League for doing it anyway.

Carolina's skate vs Tampa Saturday is postponed due to hurricane & lightning.

https://66.media.tumblr.com/8801eef9...fhi2o1_400.gif

(Lol. Better than what could have postponed a Colorado-Seattle game, I suppose.)

Kings were supposed to have Alex Turcotte and Akil Thomas on the 4th line with Lewis, but Thomas is scratched tonight (don't know if it's numbers or an injury) and replaced by 2019 7th-rounder Andre Lee.

Lee is Afro-Swedish, so if he ever ends up on a line with Thomas and Byfield, I believe that would be the first "all-black" line in NHL history. Which means exactly nothing, but if somebody has to have that distinction, it might as well be us.

(I'm cheap; I'll take any history I can claim.)

Er, why are they singing "O, Canada!" before the Kings-Sabres game? Did Buffalo secede or something?

(This is reciprocal; I have no interest in hearing "The Star-Spangled Banner" before The Battle of Ontario, or whatever.)

The Buffalo organist briefly plays a bit of "Since You Been Gone" by Russ Ballard (famously covered by Rainbow, Head East, and I think Santana).

As I can't think of any ex-Sabres on the Kings roster, I suppose this is the organist's way of welcoming back Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff for another go on the Sabre bench. Cute.

(The version in Guardians of the Galaxy, vol. 3 is the Rainbow cover, but they've remixed it so the drums are wayyyy too loud, of which I can't say I approve.)

Utah picks up the road win against the Islanders to move to 2-0 on the season. Dylan Guenther now has 4 goals on 8 shots.

https://www.nhl.com/news/topic/nhl-e...ubs-fast-start

Kings did better in Buffalo than the previous two seasons, but hardly a strong start. Through the first 40 minutes, the Kings had been, as Daryl Evans said, "outplayed in pretty much every facet of the game" and only strong work by Kuemper had kept them in the game.

Kuemper stopped a penalty shot in the 1st period, and when Buffalo scored in the final seconds of the period, it got waved off because the clock hit 0.0 just before the puck hit the line. In the 2nd period he benefited from a shot off the post.

Meanwhile, the Kings' decision to trade their defensive 1-3-1 for a theoretically more active 1-2-2 hadn't produced any good looks (Danault had a shot at a half-open net, but couldn't put the shot on goal). Late in the 2nd, the Kings had a power play, but Quinton Byfield botched the attempted entry to the offensive zone, and Buffalo had a short-handed breakaway. Kuemper stopped Alex Tuch, but couldn't control the rebound and Tuch put it in for the lead.

And then the Kings couldn't do anything with the rest of the power play, and then took a stupid penalty of their own, and had to be on the PK for the rest of the period. Fortunately, early in the 3rd, Alex LaFerriere made a good steal in the Buffalo end, fed Kopitar in the slot, and we had a goal of our own. (Not quite a shorty, as the penalty expired, but close enough.)

And then there was yet another period of choppy, mediocre and frankly BORING hockey, with lots of penalties and yet no real chances. As the clock wound down, the Kings were trying to convert combined penalty #9 without much luck, when the Sabres were called for a (not-terribly-convincing) penalty #10, and even the Kings could handle a two-man advantage, with a nice high-low-high play feeding an unguarded Kopitar in the right circle and Anze put it home to give us our first lead of the season.

Buffalo pulled the goalie and entered the Kings zone, but couldn't get the puck in the middle and circling it around the boards let Joel Edmundsson show off one of his limited skills. He stapled a Sabre to boards, the puck went behind the net, Gavrikov got it, Kempe called to him, Gav made a nice blind pass out in front, Kempe lofted it down to the other end, Byfield got there in time to avoid the icing, the Sabres converged on him, he found Kopitar in the slot and that was that.

So a 3-1 win, and a natural hat trick for Kopi. It's nice to have a Hall of Famer, I admit. :D

But when the highlight of your game is the empty-net goal, you really weren't doing so well. Hope we can raise our game in Boston, tomorrow.

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Oddly enough, this was only the 7th hat trick of Kopitar's career, even though he has over 400 career goals.

Even odder, this is the 2nd time he's had a hat trick on Opening Night. Give it up for adrenaline, I suppose. (Way back when, Kopi had two goals in his NHL debut. Same thing, I guess.)
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Both tomorrow's game and Monday in Ottawa are afternoon tilts. (Monday is Canadian Thanksgiving.) I hope the Kings have adjusted to Eastern Time; "morning games" are fairly tough for West Coast teams, especially back-to-back.

Utah moves to 3-0 on the season after an overtime win against the Rangers. Utah’s offense is active with 16 goals in 3 games.

Carolina ($3): Funny to see a figure like that in modern professional sports.