I really hope they don’t delay the start of the Winter Classic this year. The weather in Boston looks perfect, so hopefully it won’t be “too much sunlight” as an excuse.
Predictions for next year’s Winter Classic? The game will have to feature at least one of the big NBC favorite teams. I predict the New York Rangers will host the Los Angeles Kings at Yankee Stadium on January 1, 2017. This will get a warm weather team into the classic for the first time, two good teams, two big markets, and two teams with extensive recent playoff runs.
So the Ryan Johansen for Seth Jones trade paid off early for the Preds as Johansen scores the first time he touches the puck in a Preds uniform. Meanwhile, the Jackets get blown out the roof by the hapless Canes last night. I know it takes a while for defensemen to learn to work together, so I’ll be keeping a close eye on Jones the next few games.
I do love back to back series, the Hawks/Pens games were both fun this week and I’ll see if the Jackets come out fired up tonight to revenge against the Canes. There’s not much else to look forward for the rest of the Blue Jackets season except for the inevitable Torts meltdown.
Not to bemoan my fate as a fan too much, but the Stars seem to have shown what I feared. They’re not far enough divorced from last year’s team defensively. Great goal scoring covered up our defensive failings for most of the season, but our recent losses can pretty much all be traced to a lack of defensive discipline: lots of soft giveaways, lots of bad penalties (deserved calls and not), and a long string of people being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
I hope Hitchcock can shore them up, but that’s a mental/concentration issue.
I am so sick and tired of hearing about stupid John Scott and the meaningless all star game. I won’t be watching. Take the all star game out back and shoot it, the gimmicks are getting old
Agreed. They should’ve just let it happen. The skilled players would do some goofy stuff and try to set Scott up for the finish. The opposing line would all “attempt” to check Scott at the same time and knock him down, etc. It would’ve been lighthearted and harmless. Nobody would’ve really cared, and it would’ve been good for some laughs. I also don’t understand why it became such a big deal. Are the bookies in Vegas having a hard time setting the line with that wildcard John Scott in the game?
The Habs have now fallen out of playoff position. Hell of a difference from Oct-Nov to Dec-Jan. It seems that having the best goalie(Player IMO) actually playing makes a difference.
The Habs’ issues lie beyond just getting Price back. They currently rank 29th in the league in shooting percentage. Even with one of the world’s best goalies in the crease, if you can’t score yourselves, you’re going to have problems.
There’s a chance Patrick Roy might have to serve as backup goaltender tonight for the Avalanche. Calvin Pickard is sick with the flu, Varlamov didn’t make the trip, and Roman Will is the starter.
I imagine they’ll make Pickard the backup unless he’s throwing up a lung.
Just curious, if the Avalanche start Will and they’re behind or ahead 7-0 and Will gets hurt in the 3rd period, could the Avalanche throw a skater into the net rather than bringing on the backup?
Blue Jackets take back to back games over the Habs in duplicate 5-2 victories. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a coaching change alert pop up on my phone tomorrow morning.
If the season ended right now no Canadian based team wold make the playoffs. The Habs, Sens, and the Leafs are 4, 5, and 8 in Atlantic. There are none in Metro. The Jets are last in the Central, and Canucks, Flames, and Oilers are 5-7 in the Pacific. I recall this happening once back in 1970 when Toronto and Montreal were 5 and 6 in the East. The Rangers edged out Montreal with an identical record on the basis of total goals scored.
