NHL 2014-15

[OTM Al]

Originally Posted by jdhanover

Yep...and that loss at COL was one where they had 40 shots.

Big if, but if they stay healthy (and Grabner not yet back), they are a very good team. Fast skaters and can be physical. All 4 lines produce. Top 6 D are solid (I like Pulock as the 7th D vs Strait - who sucks - or Donovan)...that is where my concern is (if a D gets hurt).

Halak has been solid, Johnson shaky but I think he'll come around.

Real 'scary thought..Tavares has not played well the past 10 games (until tonight), yet they are still winning. That hasn't been possible the past few years. JT gets on track and they become that much tougher.

Back to back over PIT and holding Sid to one harmless SOG in 2 games bodes well.

I really like what I have seen so far.....Let's Go Islanders!!!

After they won Friday night I bought a couple tickets for last night since we were going to be in the area anyway. Crowd was way into it and was very exciting to watch. Pittsburgh's puck handling is so smooth but Islanders never ended up paying for defensive mistakes they made. Defense is definitely the key that has made them competitive this year and it has really begun to gel. I think once Taveres finally gets it in his head that he doesn't need to be the offense anymore, he'll start scoring more as he seems to be still trying to be perfect. Four straight games against the two teams that were the division leaders and they took 3. Most exciting team in NY right now. Maybe they will finally start getting some respect.

[jdhanover]

The Coliseum is the loudest building in the NHL when it is buzzing....largely because it is so old (so the acoustics are all 'wrong') and the crowd does get fired up. Should be a fun ride this year. And the team is young with 5 bona fide top tier prospects in the farm system (their AHL team is doing very well too) and plenty of cap space.

[OTM Al]

Originally Posted by jdhanover

The Coliseum is the loudest building in the NHL when it is buzzing....largely because it is so old (so the acoustics are all 'wrong') and the crowd does get fired up. Should be a fun ride this year. And the team is young with 5 bona fide top tier prospects in the farm system (their AHL team is doing very well too) and plenty of cap space.

I think the liquor helps as well....thinking the crowd will be a little different next year in Brooklyn given what I've seen in the two pre-season games there. Most people are well behaved but there were a lot of young people drinking heavily there last night, and some looked a little too young. More of it than usual as I have sat near the cheering section before. Security was in that section several times. Won't mind at all when the driving aspect is taken out of the situation. Will be able to make it to weekday games then as well.

The team on the ice, as is, is very young, and that is great promise for the future already. Can only get better as long as they stay away from the foolish trades they have made in the past. The moves this off season were so much better than what they'd been doing, hopefully the front office has finally figured a few things out. They are in a situation right now like the Rays in baseball were in about 7 years ago. Packed full of talent and ready to roll.

[MutuelClerk]

R.I.P. Pat Quinn.

[MutuelClerk]

I hope Ovechkin gets what's coming to him. His cheap shot on Komarov was pre-meditated and he's still out of the lineup. Hard to believe at a dinner honoring Nelson Mandela Jonathon Bernier had no idea who he was. Pretty embarrassing. When asked about Mandela he referred to him being a former great athlete obviously a deer in headlight look on his face trying BS his way through the question. Oops.

[burnsy]

I'm sort of clueless on NHL hockey. But I love live hockey so I go to AHL hockey often and an occasional RPI or Union game. Hockey is big up here but I don't know the pro teams for anything. Glens Falls used to have the Phantoms which is a Flyers team, they moved, this year we have the Calgary Flames team. They seem to be a lot better the Phantoms usually sucked. Sometimes I thought they couldn't score on an empty net. I don't even know if Calgary is better than Philly but I've already seen this team win more at home than the other one (Phantoms) did last year.

[Greyfox]

The Calgary Flames have to be the biggest surprise of this season.
If it continues Bob Hartley will be a candidate for the Coach of the Year.
Calgary was predicted to do very poorly and a rebuild was in order.
But they are winning and if the season ended today they'd be in the playoffs.
The question is "Can they keep their current pace up? Or will they flounder?"
Time will tell.

[burnsy]

I thought the Phantoms had a great mascot but the team played poorly. The Flames (AHL) seem to have some good, young talent. Even the games they lose are usually close. I hope the NHL Flames do well and the team stays here for a while. There's nothing to do up here during the cold winter. I can't really ski anymore so I get out to see some hockey. I'm really hoping the Flames catch on here.

[jdhanover]

Originally Posted by Greyfox

The Calgary Flames have to be the biggest surprise of this season.
If it continues Bob Hartley will be a candidate for the Coach of the Year.
Calgary was predicted to do very poorly and a rebuild was in order.
But they are winning and if the season ended today they'd be in the playoffs.
The question is "Can they keep their current pace up? Or will they flounder?"
Time will tell.

Calgary, Nashville and my beloved NY Islanders are this year's surprises thus far. The stat geeks think Calgary will fade. I hope not. I'd like to see all 3 do well....new teams in the mix is a good thing in my book!

[woodtoo]

Originally Posted by jdhanover

Calgary, Nashville and my beloved NY Islanders are this year's surprises thus far. The stat geeks think Calgary will fade. I hope not. I'd like to see all 3 do well....new teams in the mix is a good thing in my book!

Wheres the love for my Jets, just beat the Hawks at home 5-1 and 1-zip earlier this year. Plus were down 4 starting D-men. Who else does that?

[spike77]

My bruins have to be the biggest let down so far

[OTM Al]

Originally Posted by jdhanover

Calgary, Nashville and my beloved NY Islanders are this year's surprises thus far. The stat geeks think Calgary will fade. I hope not. I'd like to see all 3 do well....new teams in the mix is a good thing in my book!

I was pretty sure the Islanders would improve this year but with the signings of Halak, Boychuk and Leddy the team got much better. I would be very disappointed if they didn't make the playoffs at this point as I think the first half of their schedule was the toughest. Look for them to string several wins together coming out of break. Got a couple more tickets for Christmas so have four more games to go to this regular season.

[Fastracehorse]

Originally Posted by MutuelClerk

R.I.P. Pat Quinn.

i have so many nice things to say about Pat Quinn and so many stories ( as a hockey fan watching him since the late 80's )

i'll just point out that Leaf hockey was never better than when he sailed the ship in Toronto - and the only time in my life i cared about the Leafs

fffastt

[MutuelClerk]

Team Canada has so many talented forwards. How are they going to explain losing this year?

[ldiatone]

i have the mumps