NFT: 2021 NHL Seasons Begins Tonight

I think that they can give Tampa a good run for the division.

This feels like 2005 right after the lockout for fans of teams that didn't make the bubble. Finished my last fantasy hockey draft last night all set and ready to go!

Full year with new goalie.

Future can be very bright!!!

In comment 15121150 Scott in Montreal said:

Quote:

I think that they can give Tampa a good run for the division.

Need a goalie upgrade IMO, have a great team though.

I think that Reimer will eventually get the bulk of the playing time over Mrazek. I am OK with that. I like his stand up style to the butterfly flopping around of Mzarek.

Reimer will steal the Canes a few games.

In comment 15121150 Scott in Montreal said:

Quote:

I think that they can give Tampa a good run for the division.

Canes are a good model for the Devs. All that young talent- Svesh, Aho etc...is really coming together. You draft right you don't have to spend the money in UFA

with playing 2 games in a row in one city. Also surprisingly very few back to backs. That should help the Devs with their 2nd goalie situation being a disaster thanks to crawford.

Has their best depth since at least 2014 when they made the final four. Go Habs Go.

In comment 15121218 Stu11 said:

Quote:

with playing 2 games in a row in one city. Also surprisingly very few back to backs. That should help the Devs with their 2nd goalie situation being a disaster thanks to crawford.

I think there is a lot of back to backs, not sure what this number is usually, but for the teams at the top of the list, it seems like a lot.

Via Sportsnet Stats, here is the full breakdown of back-to-backs:

San Jose: 12
Ottawa: 11
Edmonton: 11
Montreal: 10
Toronto: 10
Calgary: 10
Nashville: 10
Carolina: 10
St. Louis: 10
Los Angeles: 10
Winnipeg: 9
Minnesota: 9
Arizona: 9
Anaheim: 9
Columbus: 8
Detroit: 8
Boston: 8
Buffalo: 8
NY Islanders: 8
Philadelphia: 8
Vegas: 8
Washington: 8
Vancouver: 7
Florida: 7
Chicago: 7
Dallas: 7
New Jersey: 7
Colorado: 7
Tampa Bay: 6
NY Rangers: 6
Pittsburgh: 6

Will come on consecutive two or three game sets against the same opponent, so there will be a bit less travel involved on the second game of those.

And they only have 1 per month into April.

In comment 15121184 Stu11 said:

Quote:

In comment 15121150 Scott in Montreal said: Quote: I think that they can give Tampa a good run for the division. Canes are a good model for the Devs. All that young talent- Svesh, Aho etc...is really coming together. You draft right you don't have to spend the money in UFA

That's a good comparison, I just wish the Devils had the Canes D prospects.

I am excited for the season but it sucks that Hischier is out due to injury along with Bratt and Vatanen who aren't cleared to play yet.

I don't know if you saw the roster but as of now Yegor Sharangovich made the team. He was outstanding in the KHL as one of the league leaders in goals scored so I am excited to see how he does in the NHL. Hopefully he can carry that play over.

The Devils had a slim chance with Corey Crawford but now their playoff hopes are bleak. I hope that the Devils address the backup spot soon or else Blackwood is going to receive little time off.

This season will be exciting because it will be about developing the youth. The Devils will feature a lot of young players that could be long term core players.

I am excited to see where Ty Smith plays. In the OHL he spent the majority of his time playing the right side so it wouldn't surprise me to see him playing with Kulikov who is a stay at home type. The first line will be Ryan Murray and Damon Severson but the second pairing LD is wide open. I hope that Smith gets that spot next to Subban. Let's hope that Subban plays significantly better than he did last season.

For Smith to grab. Ruff is tough but fair. If Smith earns it he's gonna keep it. I disagree in that for the first time in awhile we have some nice D prospects in the chain in Bahl, Smith and Reilly Walsh not to mention the intriguing 18 yo Russian Mukhamadullin who had an up and down WJC but has taken huge strides the past year on the KHL. Interesting that it appears Butcher may very well sit tomorrow. His star has really fallen since his breakout rookie season. As for now Foote seems to be on the taxi squad probably waiting for the Ahl season to start up. Hopefully though we get to see him a bit.

Avs and B's look like Stanley Cup Favorites.

Quote:

dom luszczyszyn @domluszczyszyn NHL 2020-21 projected standings and playoff chances Updated daily at @TheAthleticNHL : https://theathletic.com/2318775/2021/0

Hey pjcas...drop the puck, will ya!

In comment 15121470 mfsd said:

Quote:

Hey pjcas...drop the puck, will ya!

lol, I reffed one game in my life, I was 14 years old doing a squirts game and I forgot I was reffing and got caught watching a scrum around the net where the team trying to score was poking and digging at the goalie for a good 10 seconds and eventually pushed the puck free and scored.

the opposing coach wanted to fight me after the game. no puck dropping for me.

agree on Athletic, hockey coverage alone is worth the price.

won't be too surprised if Ottawa doesn't outperform projections second half of the year

pj, officiating is fun, you can count on any of i) players, ii) coach(es), iii) parents, iv) other spectators or v) all of the above out for blood--and that's if you called a good game

as a player, coach, and one-time ref, I don't envy the job. And they are in such short supply the quality goes down rapidly the further away from the top you get. So my kids peewee games get the bottom of the barrel.

It's good money though, especially for teens/twenty-somnethings and the rinks around here always have games.

Ottawa has a top 5 prospect pool IMO.

Stuetzle, Brannstrom, Sanderson, Norris, Formenton, and that doesn't even count players like Greig, Chabot, Tkachuk, White, etc. who are under 24.

I think 2021 will be rough for them, but they can get better quickly.

with the PP goal.

Pens vs Flyers now tied at 2, almost halfway through

Nolan Patrick back on the ice after his scary bout of migraines.

Not sure if they ever figured out the cause or not.

Flyers ahead 4-3

Lol. Nice. Hockey all night.

Flyers pouring it on. Kevin Hayes. 6-3.

Farabee hit the score sheet.

PIT could be in for a long season IMO.

I wonder if they'd ever trade Crosby.

Habs up 3 - 1. Two PP goals, Suzuki and Tatar (the latter off a beautiful pass from rookie Alex Romanov) and Anderson (Domi trade) off a face off. TOR goal was a long shot by Nylander through a screen.

Of the 4 goals in the game so far, 3 off face offs. Can't stress enough, face offs are the key to so many plays in the NHL.

the most of the period.

Leafs with 2 PP goals to tie it. 3 - 3.

looks like they did in the finals as does CHI, TBL up 3-0 after 1.

Jimmy Vesey gets a puck in front of the net off the ref and buries it to tie it in TOR - 4 - 4.

in Toronto

regulation ended at 4 - 4

lights the lamp, TBL up 4 - 0, early 2nd.

win in OT

Tough loss. Deserved better, as they had the edge 5-5 for the most part. We haven't had a power forward like Anderson in a long long time. Only one game, but they look solid.

In comment 15122227 fattyT said:

Quote:

Tough loss. Deserved better, as they had the edge 5-5 for the most part. We haven't had a power forward like Anderson in a long long time. Only one game, but they look solid.

yeah, a lot good in that game, and some fluky goals.

I don't tend to get too high or low game by game

I thought Suzuki was the best player on the ice for either team.

Romanov with a nice debut.

Kotkaniemi and Anderson good. So the young guys did well.

I'm not a fan of Byron, and Danault if he can't score is going to lose some of his usefulness as a defense only center.

I know a lot of the purists hate 3 on 3 but I'm 52 and I love it. That one was great because there was virtually no circling at all. Risky passes and the players were really going for it. Obviously 60 minutes of 3 on 3 would be crazy, but 5 minutes of it definately works for me.

change to NHL in this era IMO.

I love it.

I wish they made it sudden death (until a winner) with no shootout.

In comment 15122298 pjcas18 said:

Quote:

change to NHL in this era IMO. I love it. I wish they made it sudden death (until a winner) with no shootout.

Totally agree. Would make coaches use more of their bench in the OT too. Though I do prefer a shootout over a tie. Growing up ties were my least favorite thing about hockey.

but regulation wins should be worth 3 points or the loser point should be removed. Teams winning in regulation should be rewarded.

I like shootouts more than ties.

I would use the international tournament point system (sans shootout) - like you alluded to.

Get rid of shootout and play 3v3 OT until there is a winner.

3pts for regulation win
2 pts for OT win
1 pt for OT loss

Nick Kypreos
@RealKyper

Pierre-Luc Dubois first destination choice is
@CanadiensMTL
The
@BlueJacketsNHL
ask is now focused around Nick Suzuki / plus. Romanov has been deemed untouchable. Would you do it if your Marc Bergevin?
@Line_Movement

Do it.

is awesome, but I don't think MTL matches up.

1, after so long, C is NOT the teams biggest need.

they have Suzuki, Kotkaniemi, Danault, Poehling, Evans, etc.

2, I like Suzuki and seeing how he thinks the game and not even his slick offense last night, but his D, makes me think of Patrice Bergeron.

So, if I didn't have to trade Suzuki I might consider it, but I also wouldn't want to trade Kotkaniemi.

If they'd so something like Danault, Caufield and a 1st, sign me up.

but I doubt that gets it done.

In comment 15121475 pjcas18 said:

Quote:

In comment 15121470 mfsd said: Quote: Hey pjcas...drop the puck, will ya! lol, I reffed one game in my life, I was 14 years old doing a squirts game and I forgot I was reffing and got caught watching a scrum around the net where the team trying to score was poking and digging at the goalie for a good 10 seconds and eventually pushed the puck free and scored. the opposing coach wanted to fight me after the game. no puck dropping for me. agree on Athletic, hockey coverage alone is worth the price.

I used to ref as a teenager and into my 20's. It was good money. Got thrown into a game my brother was playing and my dad was coaching. No refs showed and I was the only one there with experience. Threw both my brother and dad out of the game. Good thing I was driving by then and had my own car.

I just ask refs to ref the game according to the rules. I don't care about the score of the game or the situation, just call the game correctly.

At the younger ages the refs tend to not want to blow the whistle so they often ignore icing, some minor penalties, some off sides.

and the kids come to the bench and ask "why wasn't that icing" and I'd like to have a better answer for them than "the refs didn't think it was icing" when in truth it's the refs didn't feel like blowing the whistle because they want to get their $50 and go home.

But for the most part I have a huge respect for refs because it's not hard to get coaches, but it's very hard to get refs. Thankless job.

In comment 15122677 pjcas18 said:

Quote:

I just ask refs to ref the game according to the rules. I don't care about the score of the game or the situation, just call the game correctly. At the younger ages the refs tend to not want to blow the whistle so they often ignore icing, some minor penalties, some off sides. and the kids come to the bench and ask "why wasn't that icing" and I'd like to have a better answer for them than "the refs didn't think it was icing" when in truth it's the refs didn't feel like blowing the whistle because they want to get their $50 and go home. But for the most part I have a huge respect for refs because it's not hard to get coaches, but it's very hard to get refs. Thankless job.

Totally get it. The burnout is tremendous at the lower levels. Football in particular the parents and coaches are too over the top with some of these officials who are just trying to earn a little extra spending money. I officiated youth sports when I was younger (not hockey as you don't want to see my uncoordinated self on skates) as it was great money. Ejected a parent exactly one time and it required multiple adults to get that person off of the sidelines. Fortunately had a good reputation with some of the right people so that meant extra $$$ because make-up games during the week were not required to go through the central pool of officials so league coordinators would choose their favorites and give them all of the make-up games.

I believe get $50 per game (each) in Massachusetts. Might be $30 each at the lowest levels, but I think it's $50 for squirts and above.

And the facility that is our home rink has 8 full sheets of ice, and pre-COVID there are games on that ice from 7am until 11pm. Some have figure skating, so figure 75% hockey all weekend 8 sheets of ice.

they talk about that facility in our coaching clinics as a "referees ATM". Some refs do 8 or 9 games in a weekend day, and 3 or 4 on weeknights.

If I was 16 again I'd definitely look into it.

I love the 3x3 OT hockey. Very entertaining. After 60 minutes, let the skaters skate.

Pj, I think Habs would be crazy to trade Suzuki...that kid is very special....I agree, best one out there last night.

In comment 15122730 5BowlsSoon said:

Quote:

I love the 3x3 OT hockey. Very entertaining. After 60 minutes, let the skaters skate. Pj, I think Habs would be crazy to trade Suzuki...that kid is very special....I agree, best one out there last night.

so tempting because Pierre Luc-Dubois is a tremendously talented player too. But I'd stick with Suzuki at this point unless it was an offer I can't refuse.

Like the one I mentioned, Danault, Caufield, and 2021 1st. Something like that.

I'd do that one, it give the habs Suzuki, Kotkamiemi and PLD as top 3 C's for the foreseeable future, they're all under 23 and all solid two-way (Kotkaniemi still developing but I love the toughness he's been showing)

In comment 15122739 pjcas18 said:

Quote:

In comment 15122730 5BowlsSoon said: Quote: I love the 3x3 OT hockey. Very entertaining. After 60 minutes, let the skaters skate. Pj, I think Habs would be crazy to trade Suzuki...that kid is very special....I agree, best one out there last night. so tempting because Pierre Luc-Dubois is a tremendously talented player too. But I'd stick with Suzuki at this point unless it was an offer I can't refuse. Like the one I mentioned, Danault, Caufield, and 2021 1st. Something like that. I'd do that one, it give the habs Suzuki, Kotkamiemi and PLD as top 3 C's for the foreseeable future, they're all under 23 and all solid two-way (Kotkaniemi still developing but I love the toughness he's been showing)

Don’t you think Suzuki would look good in Leafs Blue? Man, if you guys are interested in trading him, I hope my boys are making offers. That kid has “it” and he sees things, not to mention his ability to score when you think he can’t from there (last night),