WE BACK, BAYBEEEEEE

Another season of NHL action kicks off TONIGHT!

It's a shortened season with weird divisions and helmet sponsorships, but it's hockey and it's awesome and oh? What's this? Everyone on Dallas has COVID? And 8 other teams have positive cases already?

....

SPORTS!


Alright so while we discuss how the Leafs will fuck up a guaranteed spot in the Conference Finals, who ya got moving on in each division? The top 4 teams from each go to the playoffs and the 4 teams left standing from each divisional playoff do battle in the conference finals.

NORTH DIVISION
Calgary Flames
Edmonton Oilers
Montreal Canadiens
Ottawa Senators
Toronto Maple Leafs
Vancouver Canucks
Winnipeg Jets

WEST DIVISION
Anaheim Ducks
Arizona Coyotes
Colorado Avalanche
Los Angeles Kings
Minnesota Wild
San Jose Sharks
St Louis Blues
Vegas Golden Knights

CENTRAL DIVISION
Carolina Hurricanes
Chicago Blackhawks
Columbus Blue Jackets
Dallas Stars
Detroit Red Wings
Florida Panthers
Nashville Predators
Tampa Bay Lightning

EAST DIVISION
Boston Bruins
Buffalo Sabres
New Jersey Devils
New York Islanders
New York Rangers
Philadelphia Flyers
Pittsburgh Penguins
Washington Capitals

RT's very correct and unbiased picks:

NORTH DIVISION
Edmonton Oilers
Montreal Canadiens
Toronto Maple Leafs
Winnipeg Jets

WEST DIVISION
Colorado Avalanche
Los Angeles Kings
St Louis Blues
Vegas Golden Knights

CENTRAL DIVISION
Columbus Blue Jackets
Dallas Stars
Nashville Predators
Tampa Bay Lightning

EAST DIVISION
Boston Bruins
New York Rangers
Pittsburgh Penguins
Washington Capitals

WEST CONFERENCE FINALS
Vegas def. Tampa Bay in 7

EAST CONFERENCE FINALS
Toronto def. Boston in 7

STANLEY CUP FINALS
Toronto def. Vegas in 6

Captain Jonathan Tavares hands Joe Thornton his first Cup win, who passes it to Jason Spezza, who passes it to LEAGUE AND FINALS MVP Auston Matthews, who passes it to Wayne Simmonds.

RT, did you really just predict The Leafs to win the Cup? Tell me you didn't just say that.

Why isn't the 'north' division called "Canada"?

Jan 13, 2021 18:14:15 GMT nazzer said:

RT, did you really just predict The Leafs to win the Cup? Tell me you didn't just say that.

Why isn't the 'north' division called "Canada"?

I don't know why you're surprised. Not only am I a massive homer, they SHOULD be the best team in their division.

Predictions:

North
1. Montreal
2. Edmonton
3. Toronto
4. Winnipeg

West
1. Colorado
2. Vegas
3. St. Louis
4. Arizona

Central
1. Columbus
2. Dallas
3. Tampa Bay
4. Nashville

East
1. Boston
2. Washington
3. N.Y. Islanders
4. Pittsburgh

Because they will never win the cup again, I mean it's Toronto, they are historically comically bad and I am entirely perplexed at the nations love affair with such a historically terrible franchise. My reaction is not based on any amount of relevant current data, just pure visceral reaction based on it being The Leafs

I'm thinking about dipping my toe in the (frozen) pool this season! I need a sport to fill the void of the NFL, and I've surprisingly really lost a lot of interest in football since the pandemic started. Thinking I'll give hockey a go until at least cycling starts in March.

Avalanche/Blues tonight and tomorrow's NY derby are on TV here - so if anyone feels like joining me for a chat that would be fun. My hockey knowledge currently extends to excessive hours playing NHL 99 as a kid and attending one high school game when I was in Detroit a few years ago.

So can the Canucks win the cup this year? If not, I'll settle for the Jets taking it all.

Hey this is fun! I was sold the moment I first saw the absolute spice that hosts the Colorado home coverage. Unfortunately they flicked over to the NBC coverage during the first quarter - but I've followed Lauren Jbara on the socials. Hnng.

First period Colorado looked pretty rusty for a championship favourite. They opened the scoring against the run of play, but St Louis were clearly winning the physical battle, and they took advantage scoring twice after Toews had to go to the locker room following a hit to the head. The commentators were talking a bunch about MacKinnon and while even my uneducated eye can see that he's a very elegant skater, he appeared to be trying to do a bit too much most times he touched the puck.

Colorado were a lot better in the second period, completely flipping the territory advantage from the first. MacKinnon was a lot better here, using his speed towards the net rather than going away from it like he was before. He had two good shots but was saved both times.

If I had to guess I think the Blues will hold on to the lead in the final period. They seem pretty scrappy and resolute, whilst Colorado appear a little rusty.

Pretty good game between the Canucks/Oilers, with Van City picking up the win. Also, really like the Joey Moss tribute, very classy thing to do.

Not a fan of the extra advertising on the helmets, plexiglass, and ice. It is setting the precedent for the jerseys and ice to become Europe.

the helmet ads on the canucks and oilers were barely noticable. Maybe I was too distracted by the gross colours of the oilers uniform to notice

It may be barely noticeable, but not when the jerseys and ice are literally covered in ads.

I hope they fix the Leafs away kits. The Scotiabank logo on their white helmets is fucking RED. I hate it so much.

@admin glad you're enjoying it so far.

Have you picked a team to lay your allegiance to and thus be forever disappointed, or did you pick someone other than Toronto?

You definitely picked a good game to watch. Colorado is one of the best teams in the league, and Stanley Cup favourites. St Louis won it 2 years ago and aside from losing their best defenceman to Vegas, are pretty much the same team.

That division (West) should essentially be Colorado, St Louis and Vegas beating up everyone else. The rest are playing for 4th place.

The East Division is going to be crazy good. Lots of big rivalries in that division, and most of the teams are good. Pittsburgh is still Pittsburgh even though they're old, Philly has an insane goalie and a tough team, the Rangers are rebuilding but doing it well and Lafreniere is someone to watch, Washington is always solid, and of course Boston...fucking Boston.

The North (Canada) division will be fun too. Everyone hates everyone else. Calgary and Edmonton are going to murder one another. I'm making a point to watch as many Battles of Alberta as I can.

Jan 14, 2021 14:31:07 GMT nazzer said:

the helmet ads on the canucks and oilers were barely noticable. Maybe I was too distracted by the gross colours of the oilers uniform to notice

Could be worse.  You should see the jerseys for professional teams in Europe.

Jan 14, 2021 22:19:06 GMT RT said:

@admin glad you're enjoying it so far.

Have you picked a team to lay your allegiance to and thus be forever disappointed, or did you pick someone other than Toronto?

You definitely picked a good game to watch. Colorado is one of the best teams in the league, and Stanley Cup favourites. St Louis won it 2 years ago and aside from losing their best defenceman to Vegas, are pretty much the same team.

That division (West) should essentially be Colorado, St Louis and Vegas beating up everyone else. The rest are playing for 4th place.

The East Division is going to be crazy good. Lots of big rivalries in that division, and most of the teams are good. Pittsburgh is still Pittsburgh even though they're old, Philly has an insane goalie and a tough team, the Rangers are rebuilding but doing it well and Lafreniere is someone to watch, Washington is always solid, and of course Boston...fucking Boston.

The North (Canada) division will be fun too. Everyone hates everyone else. Calgary and Edmonton are going to murder one another. I'm making a point to watch as many Battles of Alberta as I can.

Yep absolutely! The pace of play really stood out to me as a real positive, obviously far far less stoppages and ad breaks compared to the NFL. 

I was thinking of possibly adopting whoever wins in the game today to keep the NY connection - but I'm not completely tied to them. I tried to work out what games get scheduled here (because obviously I'd like to be able to watch the team I pick reasonably regularly) but it seems quite arbitrary, last night was an NBC game, today it's NHLN, and tomorrow is Fox, so who knows.

The commentators on the COL/STL game were talking about the West division being "heavy" and I liked the physical competitiveness but I might wait and see what the reverse of that is? I'm guess faster skaters? Goal scoring is obviously fun.

If you search a teams schedule on nhl.com it will show what tv channel is show each game, maybe check that out.

I noticed that NHL Centre Ice is free for the first week (maybe two?) on my dish.

Any other Canadians know this?

Well I don't think I'll be picking the Rangers - they look terrible! Down 3-0 in the first period. This game is general is a noticeably lesser quality than yesterday's, many more mistakes and scoring chances created.

Jan 15, 2021 0:07:28 GMT nazzer said:

If you search a teams schedule on nhl.com it will show what tv channel is show each game, maybe check that out.

Thanks, I'm in Australia though. I thought I might be able to work out what TV packages (like with the NFL we always get the national games from FOX & CBS, never the smaller market ones) but there doesn't seem to be any consistency with hockey as far as I can see.

Jan 15, 2021 0:43:10 GMT @admin said:

Well I don't think I'll be picking the Rangers - they look terrible! Down 3-0 in the first period. This game is general is a noticeably lesser quality than yesterday's, many more mistakes and scoring chances created.

Jan 15, 2021 0:07:28 GMT nazzer said:

If you search a teams schedule on nhl.com it will show what tv channel is show each game, maybe check that out.

Thanks, I'm in Australia though. I thought I might be able to work out what TV packages (like with the NFL we always get the national games from FOX & CBS, never the smaller market ones) but there doesn't seem to be any consistency with hockey as far as I can see.

shit my bad, I thought you were New York. 

Can you get a vpn and subscribe to sportsnet.ca they have the majority of briadcast rights in canada and show lots of non canadian games too


CM Punk'd , why would we need NHL centre ice if you can just watch online on sportsnet? - edit, I just tried to watch Calgary vs Winnipeg and it won't let me because it's region restricted. Ugh, quess I"m just watching the Nucks in an hour

Jan 15, 2021 1:04:20 GMT nazzer said:

Jan 15, 2021 0:43:10 GMT @admin said:

Well I don't think I'll be picking the Rangers - they look terrible! Down 3-0 in the first period. This game is general is a noticeably lesser quality than yesterday's, many more mistakes and scoring chances created.

Thanks, I'm in Australia though. I thought I might be able to work out what TV packages (like with the NFL we always get the national games from FOX & CBS, never the smaller market ones) but there doesn't seem to be any consistency with hockey as far as I can see.

shit my bad, I thought you were New York. 

Can you get a vpn and subscribe to sportsnet.ca they have the majority of briadcast rights in canada and show lots of non canadian games too


CM Punk'd , why would we need NHL centre ice if you can just watch online on sportsnet? - edit, I just tried to watch Calgary vs Winnipeg and it won't let me because it's region restricted. Ugh, quess I"m just watching the Nucks in an hour

Trust me buddy, there'll be some regional only Leaf games that I won't get due to blackout.  And I can't afford NHL Live, so that's out of the question.

I was checking out the Canucks schedule, and the schedule appears to be a series of back to back or three game series with teams. Like Montreal visits for three home games in a row, Canucks start the season with three games in Edmonton. I get why we're doing it like this for this season, we could see some hostility by the end of the third game in these series.

That navy and orange Oilers jersey has got to be one of the worst that I've ever seen. I've seen better practice jerseys than that.

Things didn't really get much better for the Rangers, they steadied the ship somewhat but never really looked like getting back into the game. I noticed they kept trying a tactic of carrying the puck to the goalline or behind and then playing a reverse pass to someone in front of the goal, which looked dangerous, but they were never really able to execute it well enough. I understand they are a young team and might take time to gel but they'll have to improve significantly based on this game.

I'm interested in the attributes of a good powerplay player as it seems like there's a bit more to it than just putting your best players out there? In this game the home commentators were really praising the Rangers penalty killing as they managed to not concede any shots numerous times, but the Islanders scored two powerplay goals, so they must have been doing something right...

@admin pick the Winnipeg Jets to cheer for. We're the smallest market, nobody wants to come here. Underdogs all season.

It's nice to watch hockey again. If you want a link to a streaming site that shows all the games with no popups, let me know.

Ugh, Connor McDavid with the hat trick.

The Canucks need to step it up and get back in the game.

Wow the pass by Draisaitl for McDavid's third goal was super slick. That's the best thing I've seen so far.

Jan 15, 2021 2:49:18 GMT Foos said:

@admin pick the Winnipeg Jets to cheer for. We're the smallest market, nobody wants to come here. Underdogs all season.

It's nice to watch hockey again. If you want a link to a streaming site that shows all the games with no popups, let me know.

I'll have to think about if can bring myself to support any variety of Jets! Yes please regarding streaming though.

Jan 15, 2021 3:37:01 GMT Lony said:

Ugh, Connor McDavid with the hat trick.

The Canucks need to step it up and get back in the game.

Uhh fuck mcdavid. I enjoyed yeaterdays game yeatersay when we kept him off the scoresheet

I thought the pregame ceremony in front of an empty arena was bad until I watched the Rangers play like shit.  Great start.

Jan 15, 2021 2:49:18 GMT Foos said:

@admin pick the Winnipeg Jets to cheer for. We're the smallest market, nobody wants to come here. Underdogs all season.

It's nice to watch hockey again. If you want a link to a streaming site that shows all the games with no popups, let me know.

Send it to me too please!