NHL: 2018-2019 Season

[JohnBM01]

There are nine games on tonight. If you're looking for a game to watch on TV tonight, NBCSN will have the Edmonton Oilers at the Tampa Bay Lightning. Vancouver will leave Canada to go to Hockeytown tonight to meet the Detroit Red Wings. The San José Sharks will host the Minnesota Wild. Madison Square Garden will play host to an Original Six match, as the Montreal Canadiens will pay a visit to the New York Rangers.

Enjoy tonight's action!

 

[JohnBM01]

You may or may not have any special plans for tonight. But if you don't mind, the NHL wants to make your Wednesday night a bit better. How? Simple- by offering you this lineup tonight:

* PIT Penguins at WAS Capitals (NBCSN Wednesday Night Hockey)
* NSH Predators at COL Avalanche (NBCSN Wednesday Night Hockey)
* CGY Flames at ANA Ducks

NBCSN has you covered for two of tonight's three games. So go enjoy some hockey tonight!

 

[dylpro]

Don’t look now but Detroit has won five of their last six

Okay but seriously, this team is still bottom five at the end of the year. It was an ugly start the season so it’s been nice seeing the kids get some numbers in the W column.

The bad spots have been really bad but the good spots lend me some hope for the future. Dennis Cholowski is a sneaky Calder runner-up (no ones catching Petterson if he keeps it up), Dylan Larkin has really stepped up to fill the gap left by Zetterberg, and Athanasiou is having a wicked start to the season. Michael Rasmussen also seems to be getting his footing now.

The hype around Zadina has been tempered a bit, but give the kid some time to adjust in the AHL and next year he could be what Petterson is this year:idea:

Lastly,
Daley sucks
Abdelkader sucks
Green sucks
Ericsson sucks.

 

[JohnBM01]

If you are looking for a game to see on TV tonight, NBCSN will show the Tampa Bay Lightning at the Buffalo Sabres. This is one of nine games to be played this Tuesday night.

Looking at the standings heading into tonight...

* I see Detroit is next-to-last now in the Atlantic Division (FLA is last). Tampa Bay leads the Atlantic Division.

* Columbus leads the Metropolitan Division.

* It is Nashville (Smashville) leading the Central over the Minnesota Wild. Dallas is 4th in the Central. What happened to the Blues? St. Louis is dead last in the Central. Wow!

* Vancouver is the only Canadian team leading a division at present, leading the Pacific Division. They lead over fellow Canadian team, the Calgary Flames. The highest-ranked American team in the Pacific is the San José Sharks.


That's all. Go enjoy some NHL hockey.

 

[JohnBM01]

Another Wednesday night, more hockey! If you want some hockey action this "Hump Day," you will be treated to these matches tonight:

* STL Blues at CHI Blackhawks (NBCSN Wednesday Night Hockey)
* WAS Capitals at WPG Jets
* BOS Bruins at COL Avalanche
* ANA Ducks at VGK Golden Knights (NBCSN Wednesday Night Hockey)

Have a great day/night!

 

[dylpro]

I was optimistic for my local team this year, but man the Blues have disappointed. Haven’t watched too many of their games but they can’t keep being this bad with that much talent right? The Central is a stacked division, it’ll be tough for them to climb out of this early hole.

I did get to watch that beat down my Red Wings put on Arizona last night though! I hate that I love reading Facebook comments after a win/loss to see both extremes of fandom. When you win 7 of your last 8 it brings out all the “Don’t Stop Believin’” fans in Hockeytown.

I was never optimistic about the Wings this year but I’m not one to advocate for tanking. The Wings are winning games against bad teams, but it’s the young players that are winning these games.

Andreas “Greek Lightning” Athanasiou had a BEAUTIFUL breakaway goal last night, Michael Rasmussen is starting to have that power forward-net front presence he is expected to be, and Dylan Larkin is a PPG player right now. Plus Cholowski?!

I’m not drinking the kool-aid, this is still a rebuilding team likely to finish near the bottom, but I’m more optimistic for the future than I was at the end of last year. Especially when you consider the possible personnel changes that could come about in the upcoming Summer.

Yzerman is coming to Detroit.

 

[JohnBM01]

At least among GTPlanet regulars that chat here, seems like we have a lot of Red Wings fans. Well, the boys from Hockeytown did good today. They won 3-2 in Overtime at the New Jersey Devils. Kind of a curious case... instead of the New Jersey Devils logo, Yahoo! Sports gave the Devils the logo of the Duke Blue Devils. Weird.

Another game that needed Overtime that was completed was Tampa Bay at Philadelphia. I read that the Philadelphia Flyers scored four goals in the 3rd Period to force Overtime. However, it was the boys the Sunshine State that grounded the Flyers in Overtime.


There are nine other games that haven't yet been played. Remaining games tonight:

* STL Blues at SJ Sharks
* BUF Sabres at MIN Wild
* FLA Panthers at NYR Rangers
* BOS Bruins at ARI Coyotes
* LA Kings at NSH Predators
* EDM Oilers at CGY Flames
* MON Canadiens at VAN Canucks
* PIT Penguins at OTT Senators
* CBJ Blue Jackets at CAR Hurricanes


Congratulations to all other winners from today's/tonight's games.

 

[JohnBM01]

Recently, Ken Hitchcock became head coach of the Edmonton Oilers. Maybe his coaching insight can help out the Oilers.

Looking for a game tonight? Why look for one game... when we got 14 tonight?! Here are some of the many matches coming up for tonight:

* TOR Maple Leafs at CAR Hurricanes
* NYI Islanders at NYR Rangers
* DAL Stars at PIT Penguins
* CHI Blackhawks at WAS Capitals
* PHI Flyers at BUF Sabres
* BOS Bruins at DET Red Wings <<< only Original Six match tonight
* FLA Panthers at TB Lightning
* STL Blues at NSH Predators
* OTT Senators at MIN Wild
* VGK Golden Knights at ARI Coyotes
* VAN Canucks at ANA Ducks

Don't forget to check in on Black Friday. This Friday, there will be the Thanksgiving Showdown to be shown on NBC between the New York Rangers at the Philadelphia Flyers.


Have a happy Thanksgiving and enjoy some hockey while you're at it!

 

[samurai8juice]

Buffalo is finally heating up...eight straight wins going into Detroit tonight, including three or four come from behind wins.

They NEED to keep Skinner. Absolutely have to.

 

[JohnBM01]

Yeah, I was going to mention the Buffalo Sabres of late. Buffalo has kind of been the floundering team the past few years, but not many are laughing at the Sabres now. Hey- keep the good times rolling! 👍

 

[JohnBM01]

Is NHL hockey your thing? If so, get ready for ten games tonight. NBCSN will show the Vegas Golden Knights at the Chicago Blackhawks. Here are a few other games slated for tonight:

* SJ Sharks at BUF Sabres
* COL Avalanche at NSH Predators
* ANA Ducks at TB Lightning
* ARI Coyotes at MIN Wild
* DAL Stars at EDM Oilers
* LA Kings at VAN Canucks
* PIT Penguins at WPG Jets

Go enjoy some hockey on this Tuesday night.

 

[JohnBM01]

So it's "Hump Day." The final "Hump Day" of November 2018 has this set of games for tonight. Games to be aired on NBCSN as part of Wednesday Night Hockey will be noted:

* STL Blues at DET Red Wings (NBCSN Wednesday Night Hockey)
* ANA Ducks at FLA Panthers
* SJ Sharks at TOR Maple Leafs
* DAL Stars at CGY Flames
* PIT Penguins at COL Avalanche (NBCSN Wednesday Night Hockey)

By the way... can you believe Buffalo has now won ten straight games? Sabres ballin'!


If you get a chance to watch some hockey tonight, do enjoy the action. Have a great night, everyone!

 

[JohnBM01]

It's still pretty early, but here is how the NHL looks so far. Find your favorite teams:

LEGEND: (team) (wins - losses - overtime losses; xx pts.)

--- EASTERN CONFERENCE ---
* ATLANTIC: Tampa Bay (19-7-1; 39 pts.) TOR (19-8; 38 pts.), BUF (17-7-3; 37 pts.), BOS (14-8-4; 32 pts.), MON (12-10-5; 29 pts.), OTT and DET (12-12-3; 27 pts. each), FLA (10-10-5; 25 pts.)
* METROPOLITAN: Washington (15-8-3; 33 pts.), CBJ (15-9-2; 15-9-2; 32 pts.), NYI (13-9-3; 29 pts.), NYR (13-12-3; 29 pts.), CAR (12-10-4; 28 pts.), PIT (10-10-5; 25 pts.), PHI (11-12-2; 24 pts.), NJ (9-11-5; 23 pts.)
* CURRENT EAST WILD CARD: Boston and Montreal

--- WESTERN CONFERENCE ---
* CENTRAL: Nashville (18-8-1; 37 pts.), COL (16-6-5; 37 pts.), WPG (16-8-2; 34 pts.), DAL (14-10-3; 31 pts.), MIN (14-10-2; 30 pts.), CHI (9-14-5; 23 pts.), STL (9-13-3; 21 pts.)
* PACIFIC: Calgary (16-9-2; 34 pts.), ANA (14-10-5; 33 pts.), SJ (13-10-5; 31 pts.), VGK (14-13-1; 29 pts.), EDM (13-11-2; 28 pts.), ARI (12-11-2; 26 pts.), VAN (11-15-3; 25 pts.), LA (10-16-1; 21 pts.)
* CURRENT WEST WILD CARD: Dallas and Minnesota


Again- it's early. So make sure to keep up the good work if doing well; show some improvement if not doing well.

 

[Joey D]

So apparently hockey is coming to Seattle, which is cool I guess: http://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/25451216/nhl-votes-give-expansion-franchise-seattle

I'm kind of surprised a Canadian city didn't get the nod for an expansion. Although, I'm not sure how many Western Canadian cities there are that are large enough to support an NHL team and already don't have one. There are a few out east like Quebec City, but that's about it. Seems like Canada could support a franchise better than some other areas in the US.

 

[Saur]

Is this new Seattle team going to go in the Pacific division? If so, it will even out the number of teams in each conference at 16 each, but it also means that there will be 9 Pacific division teams and 7 Central division teams. That means (theoretically at least) it’s going to be harder to qualify for the playoffs through your division for Pacific teams compared to Central teams, since they’ll have more teams to compete against. Seems a little unfair, no?

Edit: I see now, Arizona is being moved to the Central division to make way. That makes a lot more sense. 👍

 

[JohnBM01]

So Seattle returns to hockey. And from our Saur, I see Arizona will go to the Central Division. I do agree some more eastern teams would even things out nicely. Heck, I still want to see the NBA return to Seattle, but I am pleased seeing this new Seattle team join the NHL.

 

[samurai8juice]

I was really hoping they would expand to Quebec City so they could finally put Detroit back in the West where they belong.

But, they didn't.

Now it looks like Detroit will be stuck in the East for another couple decades at least. Unless the NHL decides to expand to 34.

 

[Joey D]

I was really hoping they would expand to Quebec City so they could finally put Detroit back in the West where they belong.

But, they didn't.

Now it looks like Detroit will be stuck in the East for another couple decades at least. Unless the NHL decides to expand to 34.

When I lived in Detroit I hated the Wings being in the West. Having to stay up until 10:30 pm to even start to watch playoff games were rough. I'm guessing this played into which division they fell into during the restructuring. If I remember correctly, they were the only Western Conference team that was still in the Eastern Time Zone.

Still, with them being in the East, it took away epic playoff matchups against the Blackhawks, Avs, and the Stars.

 

[JohnBM01]

This Wednesday night is special to me as it is my 15th Anniversary on GTPlanet. While this has nothing to do with the NHL, here is how your Wednesday night of hockey looks tonight:

* EDM Oilers at STL Blues (NBCSN Wednesday Night Hockey)
* CAR Hurricanes at SJ Sharks
* CHI Blackhawks at ANA Ducks (NBCSN Wednesday Night Hockey)

So this first Wednesday night of December 2018 has action in Missouri and California. Only Original Six team playing tonight is Chicago. Both the Blues and Blackhawks have losing records (nine wins each).


Now a few NHL musings.

* Last night on YouTube, I saw the Shootout between Tampa Bay at Detroit. Sadly, the Hockeytown boys lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning in that Shootout.

* There was apparently a sucker punch delivered by Detroit from the bench in a game between the Detroit Red Wings and the Colorado Avalanche. Tyler Bertuzzi threw the gloves-off punch to Colorado's Matt Calvert and got a two-game suspension. An initial story I saw on Yahoo! Sports was that Bertuzzi could have been banned.

* Also, I'd like to congratulate Roberto Luongo on his 77th career shutout as an NHL goalie. Him and his Florida Panthers blanked the visiting Boston Bruins 5-0 last night.

* The new Seattle team will debut in 2021. The last sort of major team to play hockey in Seattle was a team called the Seattle Totems. There was also a team called the Seattle Thunderbirds. Many others probably know best the Seattle Metropolitans. Since Seattle is the Emerald City, the new Seattle team will be rocking green and white. It will be obvious Seattle's biggest rivals will probably be the Vancouver Canucks. Actually, I am perfectly fine with 32 teams. I just probably wished there was one eastern city to go with one western city (Las Vegas). Like, remember when there were teams in cities like Quebec City, Hartford, and even Atlanta? I knew I heard a rumor once of a possible NHL team in Baltimore. Anyhow... welcome [back] to NHL hockey, Seattle!


I hope you can check out some hockey tonight. Enjoy the action should you be watching.

 

[samurai8juice]

Sabres now on a three four game losing streak (2 OTL).

They definitely aren't a top 5 team. And, 12 of their last 13 games have been decided by 1 goal, and the one that wasn't was a 4-2 win. So they're really grinding these games out.

They're still lacking another scorer. Skinner's good, but he's also shooting at 20% which is insane and probably won't continue for the whole season. And no one else they have can consistently score.

 

[kolio]

I'm all for Seattle getting a team. Even out the divisions. We all be happy.

As for the Blues this season, boy. Words cannot express. It's tough to watch.

@dylpro - I'm 30 minutes from Downtown St. Louis. (East of the Mississippi...). Also an Illinoisan. We suffer together my friend.

 

[AnthonyD1993]

I still don't understand how Detroit is so absolutely terrible in the third period. Granted, the Leafs are one of the best teams in the East, but still.

 

[dylpro]

Any win against the Leafs brings me infinite joy. It wasn’t pretty giving up a 4-1 lead in the third, but Larkin’s OT winner sure was!

As far as Seattle goes, Bettman wants to build hockey in the West as much as he can. Unfortunate for the more traditional hockey cities out East, but Seattle has been a lock since Vegas started forming. Quebec City was always going to be the odd one out.

I’m good with 32 teams as long as they don’t expand the playoffs. Arizona’s move to the central has a lot of people thinking they’ll be primed to move to Houston sooner rather than later.

Quebec City will be keeping a close eye on the Ottawa situation for their best chance to see a return of the Nordiques.

@kolio, Well if the Blues keep disappointing we at least have XFL to look forward to

 

[AnthonyD1993]

Niklas Kronwall is playing vintage Kronwall with some of the hits he's been laying out in the past few games.

 

[JohnBM01]

A 10-game schedule is tonight in the NHL. If you are looking for a game on this Tuesday night, NBCSN will show the Detroit Red Wings at the defending champion Washington Capitals. Toronto will pay a visit to the Carolina Hurricanes. The St. Louis Blues will host the Florida Panthers. In "Smashville," it's the Nashville Predators hosting the Ottawa Senators. The Minnesota Wild will host the Montreal Canadiens. Whatever you're into tonight, enjoy tonight's games.

 

[dylpro]

I’m dumbfounded at how the Red Wings are hanging around right now, but all you’ve got to do is look at Jimmy Howard. Dude is playing out of his mind right now. 42 saves last night. He stopped twice as many shots as the Red Wings has all game

Since there does seem to be a good amount of Wings fans on GTP, I suggest you guys check out the Winged Wheel Podcast if you want to keep up to date on all things Detroit hockey. It’s semi-professional but I find it a pretty enjoyable podcast for Wings fans and hockey fans in general.

 

[JohnBM01]

I noted an interesting story on ESPN's "Pardon the Interruption" earlier today. Word has it that Tillman Fertitta (NBA's Houston Rockets owner) reached out to the Arizona Coyotes if in case Arizona were to relocate. So it would be possible that Houston could have an NHL team if this deal actually materializes. The last major hockey team Houston had was the Houston Aeros of the AHL, before they relocated and became the Iowa Wild. Houston would then have a sports team in every major American sport (NFL, NBA, Major League Baseball, and the NHL) if Houston gets an NHL team in the future.

 

[JohnBM01]

It is time to welcome another Wednesday night of NHL hockey. So if you're wanting to see some NHL action tonight, get ready for these games:

* VGK Golden Knights at NYI Islanders
* PIT Penguins at CHI Blackhawks (NBCSN Wednesday Night Hockey)
* PHI Flyers at CGY Flames
* DAL Stars at ANA Ducks

Go enjoy some hockey tonight.

 

[samurai8juice]

the Houston "Ice Men Hockey Oil People from Texas"

I think that will be the name of the team if they move

 

[JohnBM01]

Well, they can't be Oilers for two obvious reasons- Edmonton Oilers and that NFL team formerly known as the Houston Oilers (now the Tennessee Titans). Houston is sometimes called "The Wildcat City." When the new Houston NFL team was eventually called the Houston Texans, one of the suggested names was the "Wildcatters." Wildcatters would not be a very hot name for a Houston sports team (or maybe any other). Most sports markets have a lot of related nicknames for teams and mostly towards such cities. A Houston hockey team may have to have something related to these themes- space, energy, oil, and even the West. I even imagined if the Houston Aeros namesake returned, but it would be a good bit awkward. The would-be Houston team may even just have something completely non-related, like our Major League Rugby team- the Houston Sabercats. I've lived in Houston all of my life. And I'm sure in my 35 years of existence, I've never known Houston for having coyotes. So I can't imagine the "Houston Coyotes."

All due respect, neither Phoenix nor Houston are considered Winter Wonderlands or proper hockey cities. Houston does make more sense as far as geography is concerned. The realignment of the conferences will mean Arizona will be in the Central Division while the Seattle (SEA team nickname) will join the Pacific Division. If the Arizona Coyotes relocate to Houston, they will surely be in the Central geographic wise. I read even the Dallas Stars love the idea of Houston in the NHL to have another Houston-Dallas rivalry. So there are supporters for sure about Houston in the NHL. It isn't like people hate the idea of an NHL team in Houston. We did just fine with the Aeros in the AHL before they relocated and became the Iowa Wild.

I think the chances of Houston actually landing an NHL team within the next few years is maybe... I want to say 60% chance considering all the variables and scenarios. It just sounds a lot like the Arizona Coyotes want to turn the page and start a new chapter elsewhere. Or maybe some last moment deals happen to where the Coyotes stay in the greater Phoenix area. But to me, I think (but not strongly) the Coyotes could possibly seek relocation.