yave1964

PRESEASON OUTLOOK Cautiously optimistic. Korpisalo was brought in to bring a veteran in net, the Debrincat fiasco was over, the hope was that Stutzle and Tkachuk would carry a young hungry roster into playoff contention. Taresenko was brought in to replace Debrincat. FINAL RECORD 37-41-4 78 points, missed playoffs by 14 points. STRANGE STAT OF THE YEAR Young brilliant Tim Stutzle led the team among all forwards in power play time, yet he only managed 1 power play goal all year. He was 11th among all Senators, and 9th among all forwards in power play goals. Ugh. WHAT WENT RIGHT Tkachuk didnt live up to the solid brilliant numbers of the year before but still, he had a hell of a year. Stutzle scored quite nicely although many fans felt he was too inconsistent. Batherson managed 28 goals. Giroux had a solid season. Defesneman Chychrun and Sanderson were very solid. Joseph was a solid two way winger. Greig was a fun player, Pinto showed glimpses of a solid future. Jacob Bernard Docker and Artum Zub were very solid on the back end. WHAT WENT WRONG Look i am not gonna blame Stutzle but he took a massive step back and again, many Senator fans are screaming that he showed zero passion many nights. Hard to say a player scored 70 points had a bad year but every single stat from the year before went down in 2024. Chabot could not stay healthy and kind of lost his role to Sanderson on the first power play. Taresenko didnt do much and was dealt at the deadline. Korpisalo and forsberg both Bluejacket rejects were dreadful, positively rotten most nights. Josh Norris is a shadow of his former self and cannot stay in the lineup. Kubalik was possitely dreadful. HIGH POINT OF THE SEASON, Very early in the season, Ottawa won three in a row over Philly, Tampa and Washington to push their record to 3-1. They pummelled the goalies, scoring 16 goals in 3 games. Sadly, that was the high point of the season. LOW POINT OF THE SEASON They stumbled through October a game or so over .500 But beggining with a brutal loss to the Isles on November 24th they lost early and often. When they lost January 11th to the Sabres, they had lost 16 out of 22, with three months to go in the season essentially the year was done. FREE AGENTS Kubalik is a free agent and wont be brought back. Thats about it. Brannstrom, Parker Kelly and Pinto are RFA who all want paid. PROSPECTS a very ordinary bunch of forward and defense prospoects, most of the kids are already established in the NHL. They do have three good, B level goalie prospects in Sogaard, Mandolese and Merilainen and the hoipe is one or more of them will push Forsberg off the roster and steal the 1B role possibly this coming season. OFFSEASON QUESTION MARK This team has one of the biggest baddest toughest men in the game in tkachuk but as a whole wow were they soft. IMHO the number one question in who will sort this roster out and assign players to the proper roles. Lots of talent but they were soft and something was missing most of the year.

FPRESEASON OUTLOOK A lot of pundits thought this would be a very good year for the Coyotes, solid goaltending, lots of young prospects, vets such as Keller developing into a near star, many thought they would be a dark horse for a wild card FINAL RECORD 36-41-5 77 points, missed the playoffs. STRANGE STAT OF THE YEAR For the first time in NHL history, a team, the Coyotes, had not a single player win at least 50 percent of their faceoffs. None. Haytron came in first with 49.8 faceoff wins, and it was downhill from there. Serious, This was the most inept faceoff team in NHL history. WHAT WENT RIGHT Keller developed brilliantly into a dangerous point a game weapon. Schmaltz quietly had a fantastic season. Durzi came over from the Kings an potted 41 points on the back end. Macelli was a fantastic playmaker. Bjugstad and Kerfoot were solid vet players. Goalie Ingram was among the top five goalies in all of hockey for the first half of the season until he got banged up. Logan cooley started slow but caught fire late and showed so much promise. Guenther looks like the real deal. Crouse and Carcone had Cy Young 20 goal seasons. WHAT WENT WRONG Well Arizona voted them off the Island and now they are moving to Utah so there is that. Other than Durzi the defense had not a single puck mover and looked bad. Centers were hugely dissapointing, not a playmaker among them. Vejmelka had some damn fine games but long stretches where he was awful. HIGH POINT OF THE SEASON jANUARY 20TH the Coyotes bested the Penguins raising their record to 23-19-3 right in the thick of the final playoff spot. Ingram was injured but the hope was that Vejmelka and coompany could keep them in the mix and they would finish strong and attract fan interest. LOW POINT OF THE YEAR Everything fell apart right then and there. Vejmelka was awfulm, the kids did not hold it together and they managed to lose an insane 14 games in a row ending their season. During that 14 game stretch they were outscored 66-34. The season came to a sickening thud. Oh and they moved to Salt Lake City so there is that. FREE AGENTS Liam OBrien and his goonery will likely move on, nobody of any importance is a free agent this year. Durzi and Hsyton are both RFA who will expect to get longer deals at decent salaries. TOP PROSPECTS lots of kids are already in the NHL and proven with upside. In the minors Conor Geekie and Artu Raty are chomping at the bit for a middle six center position, Maveric Lamereaux may step into a top four defense position and is highly skilled and more or less ready. The Coyotes have 7 picks in the top three rounds this year and next. OUTLOOK FOR 2024-25 Who the Hell knows? At least they arent playing in a college facility named Mullet Arena. The new owner may step up to the plate and add to the roster with a splash. Or he may let them settle for a year or two, let the ton of good solid kids develop and build according to the old plan. Hard top say.

Caps built on defense, will make it a series but rangers will have their way in six

Snoozer series, Vancouver best a surprising Nashville club

Edmonton has a better goalie, defense and offense. I cannot imagine the Kings winning this one

My favorite first round series, cannot wait. Stars are deeper and will win in a fantastic seven game series

Been waiting for this series for decades, elite Panthers easily handle aging bolts

Colorado offense will push them to the second round

Carolina and incredibly overrated, but will push past a feisty and Isles club

Leafs in six. I believe that they are stronger this year and a long run begins here and now.

Brutal finish to a satisfying season. Lots went right. Lots went wrong. We lost because We played an ahl goalie and a washed up vrt in net Larkin got hurt, we lost seven in a row without him Yzerman did nothing to add at the deadline. Fabri and Copp did nothing down the stretch It was a solid season because Cat, Lark and Raymond were excellent Seider became the complete defenseman 200 blocks 200 hits and his second half was. Brilliant. Rasmussen, Sprong, compher all excellent role players Solid defense Hope for Resigning Kane Adding Edvinsson and Berggren as brilliant youth. Others in the Ahl are talented and ready. Hated missing the playoffs, but they were fun and worth watching which it has been a decade since I could say that

I absolutely understand life comes a million miles an hour and you have to decide on priorities. You have rocked it as the commish and my hat is off to you ..

Fantastic post. Man, as a fan I have to admit I struggled for years with post career. CTE. I admit I love the hits, love Fighting in the game. Probie, Kocur, Domi, just loved them. Hated concussions but felt, well, they are paid more in a solid year than I make in ten. I cared but wanted to win. My perspective changed when my oldest came home from Afghanistan for the third time. She had seen things and done things. Her best friend died twenty feet away. Without giving away personal facts, there are two days a year that she gets blind drunk. It's been eight years and PTSD is still here. So my perspective has changed quite a lot. I want to win now, but I do care about concussion issues much more than before. We have heard about a good dozen who CTE has claimed. There are dozens upon dozens who need help. I don't want to hear about the next player Dead at fifty. Safety absolutely has to come first, full stop.

Dude!!! I am a HUGE Wing fan from the seventies on, these two teams along with the Devils were long suffering from back in my day (God that sounds like I am old, lol). That game two is right up there as one of my all time favorites along with the Colorado rivalry. Tikkanen threw his arms up in despair, Washington owned the first half, Detroit pushed, draper winning it in OT. Just an incredibly ugly yet beautiful game. And Simon was everywhere, I even remember him playing a ton of minutes and shutting us down when on the ice. He almost willed the Caps along with an exhausted Kolzig, but my Wings were too deep and talented. Fantastic game for him.

Former long time enforcer Chris Simon died at 52. His family confirmed that he took his own life and stated that post career he has been suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Simon was not just a goon, he could score a lot, career high 29 goals with the Capitals. He won a cup with Colorado and played twelve years in the NHL. Life has been hard post career. A couple of wives, five kids, he giled bankruptcy in 2017 and stated then that he has no work because he was unable to work due to CTE. His family stressed that CTE is the absolute cause for ending his life.