Gather 'round hockey nerdz, the NHL season has started
Last year, the Blues made one of the most improbably runs in any sport, going from the cellar in January to winning the Cup, primarily on the back of the greasy ass, 200-foot-playin', fueled by chaw and cheap beer man rocket on the right of this photo
The only thing more Canadian than this image would be drunkenly crashing your pick up truck through a Timmy Horton's
The new season is shaping up to be one of the more interesting ones yet, with lots of interesting plot lines.
* The Blues quest to repeat was majorly boosted by the acquisition and then long term extension of The Good Justin Faulk, who is one of the better offensive defensemen in the league. Even though the Canes seem to be on the upswing, they just weren't going to resign him.
* The Rangers and Devils went from likely lotto teams to up and coming playoff hopefuls over the course of an offseason due to lady luck going their way in the draft, and some smart moves in FA and trades. As a result, the Metro is once again looking like a blood bath (except for the Jackets, rip) Your fearless idiot is personally thrilled to have this rivalry be meaningful once again.
* The Jets and Jackets had two of the absolute worst offseasons, managing to lose all of their good talent either via free agency, getting fleeced by the Rangers, or because they decided to drunken boating and eating hot dogs was better than perennial disappointment.
* The Minnesota Wild actually did a smart thing by cutting their idiot GM after one year, after he managed to get fleeced in every single possibly trade or free agency signing. Their savior is Bill Guerin, who has no NHL GM experience, and apparently got his bloated, greasy ass stuck in a tanning bed just before his first meeting with the media
* RFA madness is finally over, after the Mitch Marner domino fell, and everyone behind him got considerably less than what everyone expected. Everyone eagerly awaits the point where the Leafs can only afford their big name players and has a bunch of AHLers in their bottom six and blueline.
* While the rest of the league got better, Ken Holland's big splash was exchanging one lump of shit for another, so that McJesus gets to spend his peak years dragging around the corpse of James Neal rather than Milan Lucic. Granted, it would be hard to make a decent trade when there is so little that other teams want, but Holland has proven to be a shit GM when not given an unlimited budget and several HOFers. A separate thread will be created for a gofundme for Flaccid's liver.
I really think Z is gonna have 90ish points this year. He was really good last year on an ass team, and can really play in any scenario well. He's now got a legit top flight winger to play with and their other options (Kreider, Buch, Kakko) are all pretty good too.
I had to throw away my underwear after these beauts
The Rangers D is going to be horrible until they get rid of Staal and Smith and shore up those bottom pairs, but they've got a bunch of good young guys coming up. And I think that offense is pretty legit (they really need a 2C, because Strome is not it) and Hank is still good enough to make up for deficiencies on most nights. I really wouldn't be surprised if they snuck in as a 6-8th seed.
I know he hasn't scored yet, but fuckin hell, Kakko's puck control reminds me so much of Jagr. It's glued to his stick and he's just excellent at using his body to create separation. I would think he hits 50-60 points this year. He looks top 6 NHL ready now
On October 13 2019 04:59 Flaccid wrote: I hate that my team has left me so terrified of optimism that I can't even be an obnoxious dick about the 5-0 start.
Granted that game was the only Edmonton game I've seen this season, but given they've done little to change the team i would think they're just hitting some good luck in addition to being carried by the usual suspects.
I wouldn't be surprised if Neal ends up hitting 25+g again on McJesus' wing. He has slowed down but he's still a scorer and now he's shotgunning the best offensive player in the league. I just don't see how they compete with the bottom half of their roster.
Well they have had some lucky bounces here and there and that helps. But maybe these lucky bounces will give them the confidence and the margin to get in latter in the year.
I no longer have the nhl tv this year so I am unable o watch TBL games. The only one I saw was the Toronto game and it seemed like the old Tampa team but with a not so amazing Vasy. How were the other games? Anyone watched them to give some feedback on whats going on?
Im hoping that a slower than usual start will allow them to have the legs when the playoffs come.
I'm starting to feel that Hall won't sign extension with NJD. Wasn't that team supposed to be playoff team according to some hockey writes 'cos they got Hughes, Subban, Gusev and Simmonds.
first - i love you QH for making this thread. Delivered as expected! second - lol Devils, this is actually hilarious how awful they are right now. Are they the new Oilers? third - MacKinnon is probably as OP as McJesus. The speed of his hands is too much for current technology. Lastly - TBL do not look as great as they did last season, but i don't mind as long as they keep improving and getting back that mojo that lasted just enough to close the season with a league record only to get swept in round 1.
On October 13 2019 04:59 Flaccid wrote: I hate that my team has left me so terrified of optimism that I can't even be an obnoxious dick about the 5-0 start.
Granted that game was the only Edmonton game I've seen this season, but given they've done little to change the team i would think they're just hitting some good luck in addition to being carried by the usual suspects.
I wouldn't be surprised if Neal ends up hitting 25+g again on McJesus' wing. He has slowed down but he's still a scorer and now he's shotgunning the best offensive player in the league. I just don't see how they compete with the bottom half of their roster.
Well, they looked brutal in that CHI game, so I guess they're back on track.
I know it's only 10 games in, but I thought Rangers would be doing really well this season. Now that Zibanejad is out (hopefully not long) and Kakko is off to a very sluggish start, I'm not so sure..
He's been saying shit like that for decades. Thing is now he's talking shit about their viewers so they had to can him. Good riddance. Also helps he's 85 and Coach's Corner doesn't get the views it used to.
The amount of public money this guy got talk shit about euros/russians/french canadians/guys wearing visors is disgusting. But he is supporting the troops so it's cool I guess.
not a huge fan but he had his moments. The amount of poppies we could've bought with the millions in public money he made :D
"you said you didn't give a fuck about hockey &I never saw someone say that before you held my hand and we walked home the long way you were loosenin' my grip on Bobby Orr"
EPT![[image loading]](https://cdn.newsday.com/polopoly_fs/1.34237979.1564011945!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_768/image.jpg)
![[image loading]](https://cdn.hockeycircles.com/u/1-123456/84c79be54ee73c4cf8550c00589d4b15-kxyoosbtnzw6shflh6n0dy7v8ndu0hqjrta1enwzbyo.png)
![[image loading]](https://nhl.bamcontent.com/images/photos/308591466/1136x640/cut.jpg)
