2024-25 NHL Thread: 4 Nations Tournament [2/12 - CAN vs. SWE]

Doughty back for the Kings. Hopefully not too well-rested.

Sorry to see that Doughty wonā€™t be on the Canadian roster for the 4 Nations competition but she is creeping up on him. What a career!

Sidney Crosby will be the Canadian captain though, speaking of old-timers. Canā€™t call him Sid the Kid any more.

And now the Islanders are hot.

This Eastern Conference playoff race is on track to be insane. The Sabres are the only team really out of it, and the Penguins are pretty much done, but everyone elseā€¦

Washington and Carolina can stroll to the playoffs, everyone else is working through some stuff,

Out west itā€™s probably just the final playoff spot up for grabs, with Vancouver holding it but Calgary, Utah, and St. Louis being somewhat close. Hard to see LA, Colorado, or Minnesota fall apart. I doubt Calgary has it in them, my bet would be on Utah if Vancouver falters.

St. Louis isnā€™t close at all. I would not be shocked if they fell short of 82 points. Whatā€™s worse, thereā€™s nothing really to trade at the deadline and the roster as composed is a bunch of pieces that donā€™t fit together, and itā€™s not ā€œ1-2 trades and itā€™s all fixed.ā€

Itā€™s vogue to say ā€œwell, ____ is untouchableā€ but I think Robert Thomas and Colton Parayko are considered untouchable. I seriously doubt Broberg and Holloway are going anywhere, I think Neighbours is nearly untouchable, and I donā€™t think any of their 997 hot prospects are getting moved. Outside of Jordan Binnington, who there has value and especially who has value that another team would be yeah, Iā€™ll make a hockey trade for that guy like Armstrong always wants to do?

Vancouver seems to be over its tailspin whereas the Kings are still struggling. I think it will be a three way fight among Flames, Kings and Canucks for two WC spots.

Totally agree.

My only wish is that the Leafs donā€™t meet the Bruins in the first round.

Coming into today, in the east 3rd and 15th were swparated by 14 points. In the west 15 points separated 5th and 10th.

I really would love to see a 10 team race for 4 spots or somthing right into the final week of the season in the east. I know its not likely with trades and all but if ever there was a season this is it.

Oh yeah. The salary cap is going way up! Thats huge! Big money for free agents

1 Like

Canā€™t wait to see the fan reception for the US teamā€™s games in Canada at the 4 Nation competition :grinning:

2 Likes

Ryan Hartman gets the in-person disciplinary offer after ā€œaccidentally fallingā€ on top of Tim Stutzle. The play followed Hartman trying to draw a couple Senators into a fight, then Hartman mixing it up with Stutzle who slashed Hartman, who fell to the ice like heā€™d been shot like a sniper.

Donā€™t get me wrong, it was an asinine play by Hartman, but this is more about his recent disciplinary history than this specific play. While all of these may not factor in, heā€™s been

  • Suspended for a playoff game in April 2018 for an illegal hit to Carl Soderberg
  • Fined in April 2022 for giving Evander Kane the middle finger after a fight, while still on the ice
  • Suspended for the final regular season game in April 2023 for interference against Nikolaj Ehlers
  • Suspended 2 games in November 2023 for slew-footing Alex Debrincat
  • Merely fined in December 2023, despite being a 2-time repeat offender at the time, for intentionally high-sticking Cole Perfetti off a faceoff
  • Suspended for 3 games in April 2024 for throwing a stick at the referees while standing on the bench
  • 5 other fines through his NHL career

While I think this will end up being ~6 games, given his history Iā€™d hit him with at least 10 and a warning that the next one will be 20+. Heā€™s getting toward Matt Cooke, Chris Simon territory and that kind of an act from him in the future would not be a surprise.

1 Like

KARMA

Hartman gets 10 games. Legit shocked the Department of ā€œPlayer Safetyā€ did it, I figured at most someone would have beaten him furiously with the cloth purse.

4 Nations starts tomorrow night, for those following. Iā€™ve got the U.S. to win it all over Canada, because ā€¦ look, I know Canada is going to be a favorite, but they only have 20 of the 60 best players in the world instead of 20 of the best 30-35 like in years past, and I donā€™t think they have the best 20 on that roster.

No 3rd place game, so Iā€™ll take Sweden over Finland in the standings.

All the games are on my calendar. Excellent profiles on all the teams in The Athletic today.

I also expect the US to win but Canada needs the win more! If the US is in the final it will have the advantage of playing in front of a US crowd in Boston.

I really want Finland to win, because itā€™s Finland. Why I donā€™t want the other teams to win:

U.S. - well, obvious reasons in Washington DC.
Canada - to maybe take a bit of the luster off the super genius GM ā€¦ but, his followers will just find excuses [again] for why itā€™s not his fault.
Sweden - because itā€™s not Finland. But Iā€™d be OK if Sweden won.

I would be ok if Finland won because it matters to the Finns. Most Americans donā€™t care about hockey.