2019-2020 NHL Thread (c'mon, it's almost December)

[MizzouRah]

Congrats to the Stars! Now lets go Tampa Bay!!

[miami_fan]

So I guess Florida Man won the Cup?

At least that what I gather from the noise outside.

[MizzouRah]

BIG RIG gets 2nd cup in a row!!!

[JonInMiddleGA]

Good shit right here. Sharks use sign language to announce their 1st round pick, a 17 year old winger whose mother is deaf and uses ASL to communicate.

Just a thoughtful gesture afaic. Good on the Sharks.

Sharks announced their first round pick in ASL for Ozzy Wiesblatt's mother - Article - Bardown

[JonInMiddleGA]

Emrick retiring from hockey broadcasting after 47 years | NHL.com

[sterlingice]

NHL sells naming rights to four new divisions

Seriously?

The NHL has sold the naming rights to its four divisions for the first time in its history. The league announced Tuesday that its teams will play in the Scotia NHL North Division, Honda NHL West Division, Discover NHL Central Division and the MassMutual NHL East Division during the 2020-21 season, which runs 56 games and begins on Jan. 13.

SI

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

NHL sells naming rights to four new divisions

Seriously?



SI

From what I have seen so far, the names/logos of these companies just show up on screen when the names of the divisions are listed. I don’t think they’re verbally referred to. If that’s the case, that’s fine with me. I feel the same way about ads on helmets. No big deal. They need to be creative in ways to generate revenue during the pandemic.

[Carman Bulldog]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

They need to be creative in ways to generate revenue during the pandemic.

I don't have an issue with creativity in times of the pandemic. My concern is that once these revenue streams are created, there's no going back.

[thesloppy]

Yeah it feels pretty easy to argue that "How about corporate sponsorship??" is the definition of NOT getting creative when it comes to fundraising in sports.

[Fidatelo]

The owners have been angling for this for years but were too uncertain of the blow-back to go through with it. This situation gives them the perfect cover to get the ads-on-uniforms foot in the door. These helmet logos will never go away now, and I fully expect something on the jerseys by the end of the decade.

[thesloppy]

Originally Posted by Fidatelo

The owners have been angling for this for years but were too uncertain of the blow-back to go through with it. This situation gives them the perfect cover to get the ads-on-uniforms foot in the door. These helmet logos will never go away now, and I fully expect something on the jerseys by the end of the decade.

I feel like there is some basic truth/parable about modern capitalism and sports-as-big-business in here. Like eventually ALL modern sports are practically destined to have ads on the jerseys because as long as the bottom line is the primary/only motivating factor, a handful of rotating forces in the back of every single organization will be continually pushing for it, simply because it's a remarkably easy and entirely obvious source of revenue.

[Honolulu_Blue]

With Don Cherry long gone from Hockey Night in Canada and both Roenick and Mike Milbury no longer on NBC, will there be any loud mouth doofuses left?

[sterlingice]

I am confident the world will never run out of loud mouth doofuses, especially in positions of visibility and leadership

SI

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

With Don Cherry long gone from Hockey Night in Canada and both Roenick and Mike Milbury no longer on NBC, will there be any loud mouth doofuses left?

Umm, I hear there is a guy who will unemployed in nine days that might fit the description. He has experience working with NBC as well.

[Fidatelo]

So, uh, how 'bout that Laine for Dubois trade?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Fidatelo

So, uh, how 'bout that Laine for Dubois trade?

My guess? It'll eventually be the undoing of Cheveldayoff.

[Fidatelo]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

My guess? It'll eventually be the undoing of Cheveldayoff.

It's definitely got that potential. He clearly 'lost' the trade in the sense that we gave up the best player, sent out another NHL player while getting a 3rd round pick back, AND ate salary.


On the other hand, a center is more important to a team than a winger overall, and also we have other excellent scoring wingers to compensate somewhat for the loss of Laine. And Roslovic was dead to us, so really it's not much of a loss even if he is technically worth more than a 3rd.


After having some time to calm down I am far less upset about the trade itself than I am in the fact that it ever came to this with Laine. 5 years ago we drafted a weird dude from Finland that just wanted to score goals and play video games with his best buddy Ehlers. Somehow in attempting to mold him into a more complete franchise player the Jets screwed that up to the point of him wanting out. I don't know if it was fights with teammates, disagreements with the coach, or contract negotiations, or maybe all of it. But ultimately Chevy didn't do enough to smooth out whatever was bothering Laine, and that to me is a major failing.

[JonInMiddleGA]

The kid got to see FLA vs NAS in person tonight.

Despite the 2-1 loss for his Preds, it was the first fun thing he's gotten to do in Miami (okay, Ft. Lauderdale really but whatever) since arriving back in August.

Even the loss doesn't seem so bad after six months of desolation.

[Carman Bulldog]

Originally Posted by Fidatelo

It's definitely got that potential. He clearly 'lost' the trade in the sense that we gave up the best player, sent out another NHL player while getting a 3rd round pick back, AND ate salary.

On the other hand, a center is more important to a team than a winger overall, and also we have other excellent scoring wingers to compensate somewhat for the loss of Laine. And Roslovic was dead to us, so really it's not much of a loss even if he is technically worth more than a 3rd.

After having some time to calm down I am far less upset about the trade itself than I am in the fact that it ever came to this with Laine. 5 years ago we drafted a weird dude from Finland that just wanted to score goals and play video games with his best buddy Ehlers. Somehow in attempting to mold him into a more complete franchise player the Jets screwed that up to the point of him wanting out. I don't know if it was fights with teammates, disagreements with the coach, or contract negotiations, or maybe all of it. But ultimately Chevy didn't do enough to smooth out whatever was bothering Laine, and that to me is a major failing.

I'm not convinced that Laine is, or turns out to be, the best player in the trade, with the caveat that I include the ability to play centre as part of the assessment.

Laine is certainly the better goal scorer and unquestionably has more star power. He sells tickets and jerseys and that also counts for something. But he is atrocious defensively and doesn't generate scoring chances. Sure, he could score 55-60 playing with a guy like Nathan McKinnon but absent that, I really think he's closer to a consistent 30-35 goal scorer. Which is great, if you bring something else to the table.

I'm assuming he wanted to be paid like the guy who scored 80 goals his first two seasons and not 58 goals the past two. This would have been a foolish mistake.

And ultimately, if the goal was to make the Jets a better team both this year and going forward, I think the trade accomplished this.

At 5-on-5, a top four over the next few years that involves some pairing of Connor-Scheifele and Dubois-Ehlers is far, far better than Connor-Scheifele and Ehlers-Laine.

None of this even includes the fact that Dubois has an extra year of team controlled salary.

Roslovic doesn't bother me at all. He was likely going to be lost to Seattle anyway (Jets can only protect Wheeler, Connor, Scheifele, Ehlers, Laine/Dubois, Lowry, Copp), so a 3rd rounder back is a good return if that's what it took to make the trade happen.

[albionmoonlight]

Maybe if you're a mic'd up ref, you shouldn't express how you wanted to call a penalty against a team earlier in the game, changing how you ref the rest of the game.

"It wasn't much but I wanted to get a fuckin' penalty against Nashville early in the..."#Preds #LGRW pic.twitter.com/6fZImkdqLr

— Matt Best (@bestofmatt) March 24, 2021

[bhlloy]

Peel is probably my least favorite official in all sports. Nice to see he’s finally run himself out of the league although it’s about 5 or 6 years too late.

[Bobble]

I've heard from refs that this isn't as damning as it might sound on the surface. If one team keeps pushing it, a ref might want to call a penalty early to make sure they know where the boundaries are before the game gets out of hand.

[Fidatelo]

Originally Posted by Bobble

I've heard from refs that this isn't as damning as it might sound on the surface. If one team keeps pushing it, a ref might want to call a penalty early to make sure they know where the boundaries are before the game gets out of hand.

Yeah that was my first thought as well. I think it's a little frustrating that the league just canned him (which is kind of the easy road especially given he was set to retire next month anyways). I'd like to hear an explanation from him or the league on perhaps why he said what he said (did Nashville get out of hand in the last game he officiated and he wanted to set an early tone?), how the other ref responded, how common this sort of thing is (or supposedly isn't), why or when it is or isn't ok, etc. And I'd also like to hear thoughts from ex-refs on the situation.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Fidatelo

I'd like to hear an explanation from him or the league on perhaps why he said what he said (did Nashville get out of hand in the last game he officiated and he wanted to set an early tone?)

The consensus seems to be that it was a makeup call for an earlier powerplay opportunity rather than a tone thing or a gotcha deal.

[sterlingice]

Which, we all know that happens all the time, too

SI

[Carman Bulldog]

It looks like it was in fact a makeup call for a first period penalty against the Wings during which the Predators scored. I haven't seen that penalty, so I'm not sure if that call was ticky-tacky or not.

And as everyone has pointed out, this happens all the time. Rather than addressing the actual issue, the NHL seems like they want to pretend it doesn't and has simply chosen to discipline Peel.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Carman Bulldog

And as everyone has pointed out, this happens all the time. Rather than addressing the actual issue, the NHL seems like they want to pretend it doesn't and has simply chosen to discipline Peel.

Pretty much.

They ain't mad cause it happened, they mad cause it got blatantly exposed.

[JPhillips]

They gave him his retirement three weeks early. They were embarrassed, but the official didn't really get punished.

[sovereignstar v2]

North Dakota and UMD are going to a fourth 20 minute OT in the Midwest Regional Final....

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by sovereignstar v2

North Dakota and UMD are going to a fourth 20 minute OT in the Midwest Regional Final....

You gotta add that UND was down 2-0 with less than 2 min to play and got 2 empty net goals to tie it up. That's about where I joined the action.

[sovereignstar v2]

There will be a 5th OT. Longest game in tourney history. Likely will be at least the 3rd longest game ever, which is around 141 minutes. Record is 151 something.

Refs probably regret overturning UMD's winner in the first overtime.

[cuervo72]

Seeing too many obnoxious Canadiens memes, must root against.

[Vegas Vic]

It's too early to tell, but if this trend continues for the Vegas Golden Knights, I fear they're going to become the NHL's version of the 90's Buffalo Bills. Team owner Bill Foley fired former head coach Gerard Gallant (who had a 3-year winning percentage of .611) because he couldn't get them over the hump. I wonder if the same fate awaits current coach Peter DeBoer?

[sovereignstar v2]

You've got to feel for the Golden Knights fans. It's been a long four years of existence since the NHL rolled out the red carpet for them.

[bhlloy]

Originally Posted by sovereignstar v2

You've got to feel for the Golden Knights fans. It's been a long four years of existence since the NHL rolled out the red carpet for them.

Truth. My heart bleeds for their long suffering fans.

In other NHL news, the stuff coming out about the Blackhawks not reporting sexual misconduct to the police or the league allowing the offender to then get a job at a college and volunteer at a youth program (multiple times) is absolutely fucking disgusting, and I hope the league throws the book at them - but I imagine there's zero chance of that ever happening and it will get swept under the rug.

[miami_fan]

Columbus Blue Jackets goalie Matiss Kivlenieks, 24, dies after being struck by fireworks

I’m not familiar with the different types of fireworks so all I have as a frame of reference are mortars used in combat and man… this sounds horrible.

[bhlloy]

Yeah, fuckkkkk... not that slipping and hitting your head on concrete is a good way to go, but at least you probably don't know too much about that. Actually getting hit in the chest with a firework mortar, christ.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

Columbus Blue Jackets goalie Matiss Kivlenieks, 24, dies after being struck by fireworks

I’m not familiar with the different types of fireworks so all I have as a frame of reference are mortars used in combat and man… this sounds horrible.

Same principle, less destructive due to the difference in the shell.

Basically a mortar simply refers to the tube that a round is fired from.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Same principle, less destructive due to the difference in the shell.

Basically a mortar simply refers to the tube that a round is fired from.

Thanks. I did google "mortar fireworks". Unfortunately, Mr. Kivlenieks is not the only person to meet their demise as a result of these devices.

[miami_fan]

Different sport, maybe a different gender, same issues.

Chicago Blackhawks report out; president Stan Bowman resigns

[weegeebored]

I hope that more people receive consequences for their part in the cover-up, or lack of action if you prefer.

On a hockey note, Bowman gets way too much credit for championships that were essentially personnel decisions by Dale Tallon. Fans gloss over his mistakes because of the Cups, but look at how he has destroyed this team. Jeremy Colliton over Quenneville? Panarin for Saad? Signing a old Seabrook to a terrible long-term deal when even a casual fan could see his skills were gone? The list of terrible decisions is long.

[bhlloy]

Quenneville does the decent thing and resigns and doesn’t make excuses in his statement, which doesn’t sound like much but is significantly above the bar for this particular incident. Toews and Keith could learn something from that among others.

[miami_fan]

The feeling is not exclusive to Quenneville's statement but damn I hate that the bar is set so low for statements like this.

[JonInMiddleGA]

McDavid doing things that are probably illegal in several states

NHL on Twitter: "CONNOR MCDAVID (@cmcdavid97) IS NOT A HUMAN BEING.… "

[sterlingice]

The puck handling, dear lord

SI

[JonInMiddleGA]

Just ... damn
Rest in peace

Bryan Marchment death Winnipeg Jets Toronto Maple Leafs San Jose Sharks Edmonton Oilers - TSN.ca

[sovereignstar v2]

Just awesome....

https://theathletic.com/3404266/2022...russia-flight/

[sterlingice]

Which franchise just announced a Law Enforcement Appreciation Night and Thin Blue Line shirt? Naturally, it's the Minnesota Wild, who play about 15 minutes away from the site of George Floyd's death.

NHL world reacts to Minnesota Wild's controversial promotion

SI

[Ksyrup]

Apparently this is the latest NHL thread?

Well, I came here to say... Even the 2001 Mariners won a damn series.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Also, congrats, Maple Leafs!!

19 years is a long, long time to wait. Enjoy it, brother!