Because it involves the Blackhawks, and no one wants to watch that shit
Is there that much overlap bewteen nhl and cfp?
LAK are playing right during the Rose Bowl.
Fortunately, yes - because the 3rd period should have just had a running clock so everyone could hurry to Penn State-Boise State.
Best hockey to watch today is the World Juniors match between Canada and the USA. These guys are fun to watch regardless of who wins.
Jackets win in a SO and enter 2025 16-16-6. I am pleasantly surprised. Kent Johnson is the real deal. With better defense this team could be a threat. I am happy for David Savard but damn do I miss him.
I watched a bit of it and it was clear that the americans had a higher skill level. Iām starting to question Hockey Canada scouting.
Canadians took a lot of stupid penalties but I think the Americans have a lot of good players both at the amateur and professional level. Maybe the best in the world right now.
I mean in theory we should have bedard and celibrini on the team, but stillā¦
My retrospective of the Winter Classic: bleh. You would be forgiven if you watched the game and thought the Blues were one of the 2-3 best teams in the league [theyāre not] playing a Blackhawks team that is an absolute train wreck [they are]. But beyond that, the coverage was very mediocre.
Yay, it was at Wrigley. Other than the 1st intermission video showing where the Blues have to walk down stairs to get to the dugout to walk to the ice [but completely ignoring the obvious question, but what is it like for the Blackhawks when they come out], there was nothing really compelling. Very fleeting comments about the rivalry between the two teams since the Blues came into the league. It could have been put at United Center or Enterprise Center and it would have looked and sounded like a subpar regular season broadcast ā¦ which, it was.
If this is all the better TNT can do for this game, find someone else to do it or ā¦ and this is going to be heresy, but closer to the truth than people want to admit ā¦ scrap it.
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At this moment the Columbus Blue Jackets are in the 2nd wildcard slot. It probably wonāt last the weekend but itās nice for now.
Now that weāre at about the halfway mark, has anything changed among the list of contenders/pretenders?
From the Thanksgiving mark:
The Atlantic sees Tampa and Florida flip-flop spots. The Metropolitan sees Carolina and Washington flip-flop spots. The Central is unchanged, the Pacific has notable changes as Los Angeles (was in the 2WC spot) and Edmonton (identified as a contender) in, which would mean Kings vs. Oilers for the 4th year in a row. [And, following the trend of the last 3 years, would end with an Oilers sweep.]
Eastern wild cards: NY Rangers and Buffalo both plummeted out. I expected the Sabres to go, I didnāt have the Rangers tagged to go into a tailspin. Right now, on point percentage, itās Columbus and Montreal but thereās a 6-team logjam there with Boston, Pittsburgh, Ottawa and Detroit all within .013 point percentage. If you look at goal differential as a measuring stick, the Blue Jackets (-3) and Senators (-4) would seem to have the advantage; if you look at record through regulation, itās Columbus (18-20-3) and Detroit (15-18-8).
Western wild cards: Colorado was previously there, they remain a solid lock to be in with a chance to tick into the top-3 in the Central. The 2nd wild card is currently between Calgary (.563 PT%) and Vancouver (.561 PT%), with Utah (.524) and St. Louis (.513) further back. I had the Flames potentially falling out, but so far theyāre hanging in there. Seattle was a loose candidate to contend for a playoff spot, but the Kraken have clearly fallen out; maybe GM Ron Francis et. al. should pour even more money into teh analytics seeing as how itās working great so far.
Clear sellers at the moment: Chicago (it may be a 5-year rebuild around Bedard), San Jose (between injuries and lack of depth, the Sharks arenāt doing anything), Nashville (but will they blow it up?), Anaheim (who probably takes steps back by selling John Gibson, but itās probably what they should do), Buffalo (for the 14th year in a row), Philadelphia (venturing dangerously close to being in perpetual mediocrity), NY Islanders (who probably wonāt sell), NY Rangers (firing Laviolette, who increasingly looks like a dead man walking, might be the first solution).
Vancouver is in free fall. The consensus here was that they would have an even better season than last year but have taken a giant step backwards instead.
That Pettersson contractā¦ I thought Vancouver would be really good this year, winning the division. They look flat, offense regressed since last year with Miller and Pettersson not playing up to their potential. Conor Garland really impressed me in the playoffs last year and heās playing great this year.
Rangers are back, didnāt you know?
I expect he is being shopped around and will be gone if they can get some good players for him. He is very talented but needs a change of scenery?
I saw that. Iām not surprised at all. He has a big contract and his value will continue to decline as long as heās not comfortable in Vancouver.
The East is getting weird. Florida, Tampa, New Jersey, Boston, and Ottawa are all struggling lately. You could say Carolina is too.
Columbus, Detroit, Montreal, and yes the Rangers have been playing great lately. What seemed like a done deal for the top 7 playoffs teams at Christmas now doesnāt seem so certain.
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