The Official National Hockey League Appreciation Thread

[KarateKen]

Looks like the Golden Knights and Avalanche are off to good starts. Bruins are also undefeated. Vegas at 6-0-0 is the best six game start in NHL history for a team that won the cup the previous year.

On the other side the Oilers have started slow. I don't read much into that though.

[Patrick]

I did fantasy hockey for the first time this year. I found that playing fantasy baseball for the first time in a long time helped me to get a better sense on current players, and this would help me do the same with the NHL, a league I know even less about.

[sensei8]

Defending Champions Golden Knights are now at 7-0-0. Last night's game was a very hard-fought win against the Flyers, but a win, nonetheless. Great start for the season and the Knights looks strong on both sides of the puck. Even though there's still 75 games remaining in the regular season, I'm quite optimistic for a back-to-back Stanley Cup.

GO KNIGHTS!!

[aurik]

Defending Champions Golden Knights are now at 7-0-0. Last night's game was a very hard-fought win against the Flyers, but a win, nonetheless. Great start for the season and the Knights looks strong on both sides of the puck. Even though there's still 75 games remaining in the regular season, I'm quite optimistic for a back-to-back Stanley Cup.

GO KNIGHTS!!

Back to back Stanley Cups are hard. VERY hard. Part of the reason is that when you win the Cup, you by necessity have a shorter offseason than everyone else, and therefore less time to rest and recover from those nagging injuries that you played through in the playoffs. Not to mention that there is the luck of the Hockey Gods at play -- which playoff team can stay the healthiest and not lose man-games due to injury is a big factor.

[sensei8]

Defending Champions Golden Knights are now at 7-0-0. Last night's game was a very hard-fought win against the Flyers, but a win, nonetheless. Great start for the season and the Knights looks strong on both sides of the puck. Even though there's still 75 games remaining in the regular season, I'm quite optimistic for a back-to-back Stanley Cup.

GO KNIGHTS!!

Back to back Stanley Cups are hard. VERY hard. Part of the reason is that when you win the Cup, you by necessity have a shorter offseason than everyone else, and therefore less time to rest and recover from those nagging injuries that you played through in the playoffs. Not to mention that there is the luck of the Hockey Gods at play -- which playoff team can stay the healthiest and not lose man-games due to injury is a big factor.

I agree. I mean, back-to-back in anything can be quite difficult. Of course, as someone who lives in Las Vegas, I have the hopes and dreams to see that. We've seen the WNBA Aces who've just won their back-to-back Championship and no matter how the Knights season ends, I have crossed my fingers for the difficult, which is great because back-to-back is supposed to be difficult.

GO KNIGHTS!!

[KarateKen]

At 7-0-0 Vegas is now the only unbeaten team left. I believe the record for most wins to start a season before a loss is 10. Vegas has the next three games at home against Chicago, Montreal, and Winnipeg, which would tie that record if they won them all. Last year Vegas started out winning thirteen of the first fifteen, that is the best record through the first fifteen games of the season in NHL history. They have played half as many and still have not lost, so there is a chance they could match or break their own record from a year ago.

On the other end is San Jose who is stinking up the joint at 0-6-1, the only team without a win. It's going to be a long year of rebuilding for the Sharks.

Once again Minnesota is middle of the pack. Minnesota sports - masters of mediocre.

[aurik]

It's a LONG season -- 82 games. A 7-0 start is just that, a good start. Anything can happen over the course of a hockey season. There will be trials and turbulations, and the teams that can weather those without imploding are the ones that end up winning the Cup.

I remember in the 2018-2019 season, the Blues were complete stinkers at the outset. On January 1st, they had the absolutely worst record in the NHL. They fired their coach, brought in a new goaltender (who started the year in the AHL), and went on a complete tear. They ended up getting better and better throughout the year, qualified for the playoffs and ended up winning their first ever Stanley Cup.

When the 2019-2020 season began, they were again one of the best teams in the league, playing near the top of their division throughout the year -- until the entire NHL paused for COVID. When they came back to play in the "bubble cities", they did not win a single playoff game.

So... yeah, anything can happen in the NHL.

[KarateKen]

It's a LONG season -- 82 games. A 7-0 start is just that, a good start. Anything can happen over the course of a hockey season. There will be trials and turbulations, and the teams that can weather those without imploding are the ones that end up winning the Cup.

I remember in the 2018-2019 season, the Blues were complete stinkers at the outset. On January 1st, they had the absolutely worst record in the NHL. They fired their coach, brought in a new goaltender (who started the year in the AHL), and went on a complete tear. They ended up getting better and better throughout the year, qualified for the playoffs and ended up winning their first ever Stanley Cup.

When the 2019-2020 season began, they were again one of the best teams in the league, playing near the top of their division throughout the year -- until the entire NHL paused for COVID. When they came back to play in the "bubble cities", they did not win a single playoff game.

So... yeah, anything can happen in the NHL.

Hockey is tough to predict but I am confident that that Sharks are going to be abysmal this year.

[KarateKen]

I'm sad to report this tragic story.

Former NHL player Adam Johnson died after taking a stake to the neck during a hockey game on October 28, in England. I did not watch the video but from what I read it was a collision and a fluke accident. Johnson had previously played for the Pittsburgh Penguins. He was 29 years old.

[aurik]

I'm sad to report this tragic story.

Former NHL player Adam Johnson died after taking a stake to the neck during a hockey game on October 28, in England. I did not watch the video but from what I read it was a collision and a fluke accident. Johnson had previously played for the Pittsburgh Penguins. He was 29 years old.

Apparently he got cut in the neck by a skate blade. I assume it sliced his carotid artery. This has happened at the NHL level, and it was only by the quick intervention of the medical staff that the player survived. That's the reason that goalies are now required to wear neck protection. I'm pretty sure they're going to require players to wear neck/throat protection going forward.