Glad to see hockey is back, but I don’t think this one is going to be pretty for the home team.
It’s been a long lay-off, essentially an entire offseason type of lay-off and the players are going to step into playoff hockey from the getgo. What do we usually see at the start of every season? Lots of sloppy play, bad/inconsistent goaltending and defense, and goals. While some might think this favors the jackets, I don’t think it does. Our best chance to beat anyone comes from structured play, where we tactically slow down teams with more talent than us. I don’t know if that’ll be possible to do from the start with such a small camp and with such high stakes from the very start of play.
I think we’ll win one game but I wouldn’t be surprised if we got swept. They have an overwhelming advantage as far as forwards go, and the ability to score goals. We have a better defense (and it’s not close) and coach, but I think the start of the playoffs will really favor run and gun teams. Plus, added factor is we have two unproven goalies, and whoever gets the start is going to be on a tight leash. It’s going to be interesting to see who the coaches pick, although I think it’ll be elvis.
I’m excited to see hockey return even though I fear for another league shut down. Hopefully the players, coaches, staffs, and everyone else involved get through it with limited injury and illness.