NHL Regular Season 2016-17

Since my last post the Habs fired their coach and the Caps went all in for Shattenkirk, so it’s their conference to lose. Ovechkin already has many playoff albatrosses circling his head, you figure he has to get a shot at the Cup at least once in his career. I think there are very few Hall of Famers who didn’t make at least one cameo in the Finals.

That said I’m perfectly happy having the Rangers finish as a Wild Card in this dopey playoff system that should be gutted. Would much rather play the flawed Atlantic clubs than the loaded Metropolitan ones.

Since no one else will mention it I will:

Edmonton Oilers have won eight of their last nine, and are riding some serious momentum with less than a week to go before playoffs begin, and are in a serious dogfight for first place in the Pacific Division.

Who called that one at the start of the season?

@StuckTojo:

Since no one else will mention it I will:

Edmonton Oilers have won eight of their last nine, and are riding some serious momentum with less than a week to go before playoffs begin, and are in a serious dogfight for first place in the Pacific Division.

Who called that one at the start of the season?

Connor McDavid did. As he wills, so it is.

Make it so, Connor.  :-)

@Young:

I heard that Connor McDavid beat the crap out of Chuck Norris over money at a cock fighting club in Mexico.

*with a CCM stick

@Young:

I heard that Connor McDavid beat the crap out of Chuck Norris over money at a cock fighting club in Mexico.

Apparently Chuck Norris was afraid to take off his visor.

McJesus didn’t need to use a stick. He bareknuckle Superman-punched Chuck right through his visor and took his money back.

@GeneralHandGrenade:

McJesus didn’t need to use a stick. He bareknuckle Superman-punched Chuck right through his visor and took his money back.

McJesus … that’s a new one. He looked like it last night against Anaheim.

That’s what they started calling him in Edmonton the day he was drafted. He was to be their saviour. I’ve seen thousands of hockey games in my lifetime and I’ve never seen anyone play with the skill he does at the speed that he does. Usually a player has one or the other but not both. He will never get as many points as Gretzky did because he plays in a different era and because nobody will ever come close to having the hockey sense and vision that Gretzky did, but he has already far surpassed him in speed and is not too far behind in skill level.

Unfortunately, come playoffs it will be the usual:  slash, grab, punch, hack, hold, and everything to prevent skilled players from utilizing their skill, while refs stand there with their whistles up their arseholes, saying “That’s playoff hockey…. duh.”

Playoff hockey has always been tighter and grittier than the more free-wheeling regular season. I don’t see anything wrong with that. The truly great players still shine through and make a difference. Crosby, Malkin, Coture, Burns, Towes, Kane, Kucherov, Backstrom, Getzlaf… all these guys are stars who routinely perform at a high level in the more physical and suffocating playoffs.

McDavid is going to be the exact same way. I don’t know how he will adjust to it this year. But it will only be his first time. He may be the best player in the world right now. Tighter play doesn’t keep a guy of his caliber down.

I’ll admit I have an East Coast bias, but does Connor McDavid have a Marty McSorley type of enforcer to stick up for him like Gretzky had?

The entire Oilers team will stick up for him en mass. The thing about McJesus is that nobody can catch him to contain him like any other skilled player. His first 2 strides separates him from the pack and then when he is full flight it is only a lucky stick check that keeps him from getting a scoring chance.

Zack Kassian, maybe?  The NHL is different now from the 80s and 90s. How many teams actually have enforcers anymore who’s job is to stick up for the stars? The Matt Cookes and Chris Neils of the world have mostly gone away. Teams can’t afford to give active roster spots to one dimensional players that lack offensive or defensive acumen, particularly when some teams are deep enough to be true scoring threats on all four lines. San Jose couldn’t have competed the way they did last playoffs with one or more John Scotts in the lineup.

While the classic enforcer has gone extinct I feel there’s still room for the irritant/cheap shot artist forward, with Claude Lemieux being the patron saint. He’s the guy who can repay a big check on a star player in kind or get under the skin of the opposing team to draw a penalty. Of course he also brought some skills to the table, justifying his presence.

@General:

While the classic enforcer has gone extinct I feel there’s still room for the irritant/cheap shot artist forward, with Claude Lemieux being the patron saint. He’s the guy who can repay a big check on a star player in kind or get under the skin of the opposing team to draw a penalty. Of course he also brought some skills to the table, justifying his presence.

Andrew Shaw is like that, though somewhat less talented. Wayne Simmonds is a tough guy, but he also scores 30 goals a season. Brad Marchand may be the ultimate version; a well known pest but also one of the most talented players in the league.

Alex Killorn has always struck me as being semi-dirty and pest-like but a capable player. He annoyed the crap out of me watching Detroit play Tampa the last couple playoff series.

Speaking of irritants, I wonder what kind of welcome Chris Kreider will get at the Bell Centre…

For the record he leads the league in goalie interference penalties this season.