Around Hockey and the NHL

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DFC

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For all the talk of Vegas regressing or whatever, they always pointed to skaters who overperformed.

My feeling was different. After seeing the last 14 years of his career, why would anyone expect Fleury to keep up that level of play when it is by far the outlier? A career .913 goaltender is not going to suddenly turn into a .930 goaltender.

I wonder if there was a bit of a "revenge" factor at play. Or like, 23 guys trying to prove their former teams wrong for letting them go, and building a ton of momentum. I think now, maybe, after some success, that chip is no longer on their shoulder. I watched two periods of the Buffalo game and it didn't look good for them.
 

Felonious Python

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I wonder if there was a bit of a "revenge" factor at play. Or like, 23 guys trying to prove their former teams wrong for letting them go, and building a ton of momentum. I think now, maybe, after some success, that chip is no longer on their shoulder. I watched two periods of the Buffalo game and it didn't look good for them.
They also had the motivation to play their hearts out for the city right away since the season started so shortly after the concert shooting.
 

DFC

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They also had the motivation to play their hearts out for the city right away since the season started so shortly after the concert shooting.

Not to mention playing teams often full of relatively new millionaires coming to Vegas the night before. Remember Tyler Johnson's "flu like symptoms" and the stories that circulated about Stamkos and Kucherov the previous night? Even if those stories about Stammer and Kuch weren't true (and I suspect they were), I'll bet it happened more than the NHL would like to admit. I think the Vegas hangover was real. Their home and road records were not remotely similar. I don't think that'll happen this time around.
 

Sky04

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Not to mention playing teams often full of relatively new millionaires coming to Vegas the night before. Remember Tyler Johnson's "flu like symptoms" and the stories that circulated about Stamkos and Kucherov the previous night? Even if those stories about Stammer and Kuch weren't true (and I suspect they were), I'll bet it happened more than the NHL would like to admit. I think the Vegas hangover was real. Their home and road records were not remotely similar. I don't think that'll happen this time around.

Right... and players did that in the playoffs too right? f*** the cup we're going to get drunk. They were good last year, credit where it's due - they're not off to a great start but plenty of time to turn it around.

Your argument makes no sense, teams generally play better at home anyways. Deriving that conclusion from a very normal home-away record is stretching things to fit your argument, Vegas's home-away record was not much different Washingtons, Tampas and Winnipegs, aka the other tops in the league and statistically one of the better ones too.

Did Vegas not look like a top team when they spanked Tampa 4-1 at Amelie last year? Where's the hangover excuse?
 
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JoVel

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He's looked solid.

Like a rookie, obviously, but he's been one of the Rangers better players. Seems to have the coaching staff's trust so far and they're slowly feeding him more and more. We'll see how it plays out.
How about Hajek? I always thought he's the guy we could really regret moving.
 

Edge

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How about Hajek? I always thought he's the guy we could really regret moving.

He had a good camp, but wasn't quite ready to make the jump. He's looked good in the AHL thus far.

Definitely the flashes of what he could someday become, but overall needs more time to cook.

I wouldn't be surprised if he's a mid-season call-up, but it's too soon to tell.

I think there's a bit of impatience with Hajek because the board is beyond ready to move on from the Marc Staal years. As a result, fans are clamoring for his promotion sooner rather than later.
 
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Stormbreaker

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Shattenkirk a healthy scratch tonight just 2 offseasons ago he was their big fish. It's going to be a loooooong season over there.
 

Felonious Python

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No NHL games on the schedule today, but at 5:30 pm, the Newfoundland Growlers will play their first game and it's against the Florida Everblades.

The Growlers are the Leafs affiliate, so the old Solar Bears partner. They've got Alex Gudbranson, Ryan Moore, and on IR Kristian Pospisil who have all played for Orlando in the past. Carter Struthers spent training camp this year with Orlando before being traded to NL.

They're coached by Ryan Clowe, and the assistant is former Bears assistant John Snowden.

watch for free on facebook
www.facebook.com/ECHLHockey/videos/549765868816851/?__tn__=-R
 
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Sky04

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McDavid with 100% goal participation through 3 game, that teams a mess.
 

DFC

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So when are Matthews and JT gonna cool off???

Matthews is scoring on like 2/3 of his shots right now, so he'll come back to earth. NHL defenses tend to tighten up as the season goes along. Toronto's run-and-gunning it right now. Their games are a lot of fun, but teams will clamp down, I think.

All that said, Matthews does look like a top-5 player, if not better. It's like Kopitar with Joe Sakic's shot.
 

Felonious Python

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Aug 20, 2004
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the new Jacksonville Icemen mascot is canonically neutered.



I really thought they were getting past that practice on mascots. The MLB was the first league to finally take a stand against it.
https://sports.theonion.com/mlb-bans-cruel-practice-of-castrating-mascots-1819579902

Pretty sure Jax did the right thing and got a sled dog. Exactly the right mascot for a team called the Icemen. (I don't know much about dog sleds other than the Iditarod was made into a big thing each year in my middle school for some reason)
 

Felonious Python

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Aug 20, 2004
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you can vote to give their mascot a name:
PollPro

Chilly Dog sounds like a name that will win. (Jax shouldn't even be eligible with Jaxson de Ville representing the Jags)

Musher should maybe be on there, but when you get into the realities of sled dogs...

"River" I'm assuming has to do with the St. John's River.

be sure to check out ballotpedia.org before you vote.
 

DFC

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Drouin with a penalty shot goal, Peca with a nice cross ice feed for an assist. Former Bolts helping the Canadiens find some offense.

ADD: Drouin with his second of the night.
 
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