The Official 2024-25 Season Talk Thread

[Psyblast]

Re: The Official 2024-25 Season Talk Thread

Is Yzerman's job so safe that he could get away with canning 3 coaches in 3-4 seasons?
Especially since McLellan has a track record of taking moderately skilled rosters to the playoffs?

This is the topic that dominates sports talk radio in Detroit basically every day now.

Yzerman has drafted exceptionally well, especially for a team that's been really bad but never landed a #1 overall franchise-level superstar.

But his free agent signings have been an abject disaster. Just absolutely putrid. The pro scouting department in the organization needs to be completely cleared out, because those guys very clearly don't know what the hell they're doing.

I would be extremely surprised if they pull the plug on McLellan, especially for Tortorella. I don't think Torts is the kind of coach you bring in with a roster still full of young guys finding their footing in the NHL (nor do I think he would be interested in such an endeavor).

[l3ulvl]

Re: The Official 2024-25 Season Talk Thread

He'll probly get enough time to see what happens with Cossa, he loves him a tall tender, but man, it's getting annoying

[Majingir]

Re: The Official 2024-25 Season Talk Thread

Scary moment during Oilers/Flames.

A fan collapsed on (or down?) the stairs during a break in play and was taken away in an ambulance.

Play is paused as they need to wait for a replacement ambulance (league rule that an ambulance must be on site at all times and if one is being used, a replacement must be brought in).

[DrJones]

Re: The Official 2024-25 Season Talk Thread

When asked why pending UFA Brock Boeser and Pius Suter weren't dealt at the deadline, Canucks GM Patrick Allvin denied these were "own rentals" in an attempt to scrape into the playoffs; no, he insisted that due to Boeser's substandard play, nobody wanted him, despite it being an all-time seller's market. Nobody in the "toxic, unfair" Vancouver media even followed up about why Suter (a cheap, ideal 3C for a contender) and salary retention for Boeser was off the table.

Since the Mar 7 deadline:

Pius Suter: 6G 8A +4 (no offers, he sucks!)
Mikko Rantanen: 4G 7A +4 (2 1sts, 2 3rds, Logan Stankoven)
Brock Boeser: 6G 3A -4 (no offers, he sucks!)
Brock Nelson: 3G 4A +6 (1st, 3rd, top prospect)
Yanni Gourde: 0G 7A +4 (1st)
Anthony Beauvillier: 2G 3A +2 (2nd)
Oliver Bjorkstrand: 2G 2A +3 (1st, 2nd)
Brandon Tanev: 1G 3A +3 (2nd)
Scott Laughton: 0G 1A -5 (1st, top prospect)

Suter is outscoring MacKinnon and Marner FFS! So the Canucks once again have refused to either sign or trade pending UFA for assets while missing the playoffs anyway, and said assets have increased their leverage going into an offseason that will see virtually all teams with a ton of cap space. F*** Aquaman and this sh**ty franchise that I've wasted 45 years on.

[Majingir]

Re: The Official 2024-25 Season Talk Thread

Rogers and the NHL agree to a new 12 year deal which is double the amount of money their prior NHL deal went for.

This new deal sounds like Rogers is also allowed to sell off games to anyone they want.

So get ready for more Prime games and probably random Apple TV and YouTube games or something too?

They better be able to get rid of blackouts, and make HNIC the way it used to be. It's just turned into Rogers Saturday Night Hockey, sponsored by Bet365.

Saturday night hockey used to feel special being on CBC with broadcasts that weren't "the other guys".


I wouldn't be opposed to multi platform games. Like air it on Sportsnet, but also give people the option to watch the same feed on Netflix or Prime. But what the Prime games have proven is how Canadian TV video and audio quality isn't as good as it should be.

[Majingir]

Re: The Official 2024-25 Season Talk Thread

Ovechkin now 2 goals away from Gretzky's record!

[Kobalt]

Re: The Official 2024-25 Season Talk Thread

I think the Stars pass the Jets in the standings and it'll be Jets/Avs in the 1st round again.

[Majingir]

Re: The Official 2024-25 Season Talk Thread

Ovechkin ties Gretzky!

[Psyblast]

Re: The Official 2024-25 Season Talk Thread

Having grown up in the yawning, gaping chasm of the Dead Puck Era*, what a thing to see. Spectacular.

*As an aside: What Pavel Bure did in 2000 and 2001 should be examined by hockey scientists. The equivalent of Pedro Martinez's 1999 and 2000 seasons when everyone was juiced.

[Majingir]

Re: The Official 2024-25 Season Talk Thread

Having grown up in the yawning, gaping chasm of the Dead Puck Era*, what a thing to see. Spectacular.

*As an aside: What Pavel Bure did in 2000 and 2001 should be examined by hockey scientists. The equivalent of Pedro Martinez's 1999 and 2000 seasons when everyone was juiced.

Ovechkin breaking it is even more impressive given the era.

The "adjusted goals" stat shows how truly dominant Ovechkin is.

Doing what he's done while many of the seasons he was part of was during days in the NHL that didn't have the 6-5 scores that Gretzky's era did.

[DrJones]

Re: The Official 2024-25 Season Talk Thread

Never thought I'd ever see this record broken. Truly a stunning accomplishment.

I can take or leave adjusted goals/points, though (or at least how Hockey Reference calculates them). Not giving a lot of credence to any "advanced" stat that tells me Brad Marchand was a better sniper than Guy Lafleur.

[slickdtc]

Re: The Official 2024-25 Season Talk Thread

Dude has been on a mission this year. Say what you will about cherry picking or whatever, but ya still gotta deposit the puck into the back of the net and no one has had a nose for it like Ovie has over the past 20 years.

He was a total freight train early in his career. He had the puck, you could tell because he moved faster, he skated stronger, he had that sick tinted visor. McDavid and MacKinnon have made 150 pt seasons cool again but Ovie brought scoring back with over 60 early in his career. Glad he got his Cup a few years back so we don’t have to talk about junk.

It has been a pleasure and a hell of a thrill watching him chase down this record. A nice cap on the season.

[DrJones]

Re: The Official 2024-25 Season Talk Thread

It's kind of amazing that both Crosby and Ovechkin have (at least) lived up to their billing.

- Crosby is likely going to finish 4th/5th on the all-time scoring list; Ovechkin is going to break the most important record in hockey and finish 10th on the all-time scoring list

- Crosby has maintained a Howe-like level of sustained all-around excellence over 20 years despite losing 100 games of his offensive zenith to injury; Ovi has gradually adapted his game from unstoppable wrecking ball-slash-goal machine to rival Howe as the greatest "old man" scorer ever, while staying remarkably healthy given his playing style

- Crosby has had more team success on both the NHL and international level, and scored one of the most memorable goals in hockey history; Ovechkin has been perhaps the most exciting player in history (Ovi is 2nd on my biased ballot behind Pavel Bure) and authored the most compelling heartbreak-to-triumph Cup run ever

- While not quite on the Gretzky/Lemieux level of all-time greatness, Crosby/Ovechkin easily tops them all when it comes to superstar-a-superstar personal rivalry (I wasn't around to judge Howe vs Richard)

- Despite Sid's early bouts of whininess (although he was definitely less of a complainer than Gretzky or Mario before him) and Ovi's... questionable taste in Instagram friends, both have avoided personal scandal and remained pretty likable in general

- Both will finish their 20+ year careers with the teams that drafted them! Among the top-30 scorers in NHL history, only Yzerman, Mario, Sakic, and Stan Mikita can claim that*

*Malkin and (maybe) Kopitar will join this list in the next couple seasons

[DrJones]

Re: The Official 2024-25 Season Talk Thread

It'll be pretty funny if the Leafs finally clutch up and win their division but end up getting the Panthers (and a "suddenly healthy" Matthew Tkachuk) in the 1st round anyway.

[DrJones]

Re: The Official 2024-25 Season Talk Thread

Sid scoring a hat trick on the same weekend Ovi (presumably) passes Gretzky kinda underscores the point.
Also did the Jets a big solid in the process.