The 2023 NHL Thread

[Ruki]

While the Leafs suck, I do take joy from the Oilers being knocked out (winning only one more game)... because fuck their fans. 

[The Buscher]

Not NHL but just some thoughts as I saw my hometown minor league team, the Danbury Hat Tricks, won the Commissioners Cup last night.  They started off 0-2 dropping both games in Carolina before coming home, where they rallied back to win the final 3.

Somewhat controversial as in Game 4, with about 5 seconds to go, the clock operator forgot to start the clock after a face-off.  Carolina subsequently scored with what the board showed 2 seconds on the lock and the officials waved it off, declaring the game would've been over had the clock operator started it on time. Truthfully they probably should've just replayed the 5 seconds.

Props to Carolina's fans, they had an entire bus full of fans at this entire weekend series.  Taking a 10 hour bus ride for minor league hockey is serious dedication.

Anyway, the Hat Tricks are like the 5th or 6th minor league team we've had in Danbury since the Trashers (of Netflix documentary fame) started when I was in high school.  I saw a title a decade ago when the Danbury Whalers won it.  The crowds at the Danbury Ice Arena are always hot and they generally always lead the league in attendance.  Genuinely believe an ECHL team would draw here, but it's never going to happen as they're not building a new arena and there's zero way to feasibly expand the current one to reach attendance requirements.

[gunnar hendershow]

12 hours ago, Ruki said:

While the Leafs suck, I do take joy from the Oilers being knocked out (winning only one more game)... because fuck their fans. 

Hope the Kraken win tonight so we can get the Knights-Kraken conference final we all want.

[Ruki]

10 minutes ago, damhausen said:

Hope the Kraken win tonight so we can get the Knights-Kraken conference final we all want.

I want a Kraken-Carolina final something fierce. 

[Gabriel]

The Coyotes have got to move out of Arizona. Bettman's vanity project has been failing for quite some time, but with the public vote going against the new building and teams operating under a salary cap that is crunching more teams than ever due to lost revenue because of the pandemic... it's really hard to justify holding onto a team that doesn't contribute to that revenue pie. Especially when they're aiming to play in a non-standard hockey rink for the foreseeable future.

I don't care where they get sent. Just put them somewhere that can hold over 10,000 fans per game and it's an automatic improvement.

I just can't imagine it's easy for Bettman or the NHL to sit across from other team owners and tell them that the salary cap won't be rising much because of revenue-related reasons, when there's a team there that's quite literally a financial sinkhole.

If they keep the Coyotes in Arizona, the NHL better make good with the rest of the league by raising the salary cap further than anticipated.

[gunnar hendershow]

In the NFL, the owners turned a blind eye to everything Dan Snyder was doing whilst owning the Commanders. But as soon as all 3 possible stadium deals (in 2 states and DC!) fell through you started hearing chatter he'd sell. Messing with their money is a bridge too far and if they can get a team in a gigantic market like Houston, which seems highly doable and requires no effort to have them there to start next season, they'll jump at that money.

I do think the Coyotes are officially done, no path forward to keep them there.

[Toe]

Leafs and GM Kyle Dubas part ways

[Ruki]

23 minutes ago, Toe said:

Leafs and GM Kyle Dubas part ways

I hate this

[gunnar hendershow]

Couldn't begin to tell you where that franchise goes now. Every path seems to lead to something that their fans will hate.

[KJE]

Rumours are floating that the Coyotes are still looking in the Valley for arena deals. As a Coyotes fan from Canada, I hope it works out. There are fans there, but they have been given a bad deal ever since they moved to Glendale.

I can believe voters voted against the bill that was basically entirely privately funded and was supported by nearly every forget mayor and council member.

Truth be told, the Coyotes were poorly guided (it's been said whoever told them to send it to an early vote gave them bad judgment) and ran a terrible campaign (rumours are they only spent $250,000 while the no campaign spent $2,000,000). The no campaign was well funded by out-of-state unions who were upset they weren't guaranteed the work on the project.

[Draevyn]

2 hours ago, Ruki said:

I hate this

I hear there's a nice spot for rent in Pittsburgh  

[OctoberRaven]

That is all.

[Gabriel]

The Flames are set to announce Craig Conroy as the next GM of the team tomorrow. It seemed to be pretty standard across the board, among a lot of experts and the more coherent fan communities.

Seeing people reacting to that elsewhere really reminded me how lucky we are to have EWB. I can't imagine trying to find a new community to talk about my core interests at this point. Everywhere else makes it feel like EWB is full of scholars and experts, instead of just fans.

People are ripping the news apart, pointing out that he's been there for awhile already and the team hasn't done anything... (he's been in advisory roles, and this will be his chance to run the ship. Plus, that means he's familiar with the organization and what needs it has, and the personalities of the players and staff.) I'm seeing so many comments about how the team must be trying to tank if they're hiring a GM with no experience. (How do you get experience if no one hires you?)

Beyond that, the clear issue driving the insanity that was the 2022-23 season for Calgary was Darryl Sutter being at odds with the new leadership group on the team.

When you need to replace a leader in any job, and your team underneath them is mostly set in stone, then you need to find a leader FOR that group of people. Conroy is most definitely that man for the GM job.

When it comes to the head coaching gig, it's gotta be Mitch Love or Andrew Brunette. Love has shown that he can get the most out of the new generation of players. Brunette employed a style that will work for the build of the roster and got the absolute best out of Huberdeau, who suffered under Sutter.

The new generation of players don't react the same way to the hard-nosed coaching style anymore. They want to be creative, have fun and win. That doesn't mean that hard work is out the window, it just means you've gotta have a voice on the bench who can drive those players to be better, while giving them the environment and freedom to play their game.

[Toe]

From 32 Thoughts...

Quote

Brad Treliving is expected to be in Toronto this week to meet with the Maple Leafs. Obviously, he won’t be the only interviewee. There’s a ton of interest in this job, but as the organization began to consider alternatives to Dubas, Treliving was very high on the list. 

 

 

 

 

Please. No.

[Draevyn]

27 minutes ago, Toe said:

From 32 Thoughts...

 

 

 

 

Please. No.

What do you mean? It certainly worked out for him in Calgary  

Also my team is talking to Dubas so you can't have him back now. 😛 

[Gabriel]

Tree gets a lot of misplaced hate. I think he did an admirable job in Calgary, given the restrictions that were placed upon him and the unfortunate situations he found himself in. Not many GM's would have been able to weather the storm that was last year's off-season in Calgary. I think he did great in assembling the pieces, but the disconnect between management and the coaching completely de-railed everything. I still believe that with the right kind of coach, this Calgary Flames team is one to be watched.

That said, with the situation in Toronto, I don't believe he's the guy to handle that. I guess, the right GM choice for Toronto really comes down to what Shanahan sees as the plan moving forward. Are they looking for someone who can re-tool on the fly and keep the core together? Are they looking at a longer game and hoping to move out some existing contracts?

Whoever gets the gig isn't going to have an easy few months. There are a lot of questions about what direction this team is heading and the ownership group and Shanahan need to decide what path they want to take and get the right person for that job.

[Draevyn]

Told you guys we'd take him

https://www.nhl.com/penguins/news/penguins-name-kyle-dubas-president-of-hockey-operations/c-344675402?partnerId=pit-fb-penguins&fbclid=IwAR2sFHqFy4jL0RELsZnTBXv_P3rq-AaQBvL5ZVymNtKo6wDTtnq4S9NE2ig

[gunnar hendershow]

The MetLife doubleheader next season is fun. I'm surprised it hasn't been done before with 4 teams in such close proximity.

[gunnar hendershow]

Vegas isn't as plucky as they were during their expansion year, but still a good blend of misfits with guys who were victims of a poorly managed team (well this is basically just Mark Stone). Adin Hill is a great hockey story. Overall, I'm quite happy.

[Maxx]

It’s cool that Vegas’ only organic team won a title.  That city embraced the hell out of the Knights, so it’s nice to see them win it all.