yave1964

Not trying to kick the Yotes bot nearly three decades in Arizona their number one most hated rival was the fans.

If i missed anything, i would say PWHL coming alive. Probably shoulda made the top ten, wrestled with that one

My favorite top ten moments of 23-24 regular season 10. REMPE MAKES BIG SPLASH IN THE NHL Lets face it, he is a meh player but the grin is real, he is unafraid to mix it up with anyone, can score a bit and took the league by storm. five years from now he will be playing in Europe or the AHL but today, the kid brought fresh air into the league 9) FLEURY TAKES OVER AS SECOND ALL TIME WINNING GOALIE Nobody is gonna catch Brodeur, but Mark andre Fleury passed Patrick Roy for second all time in career wins. A bit of perspective, Bobrovsky is in 14th place all time, 2nd highest among all active goalies, Bob is 162 wins behind MAF. 8. MATTHEWS QUEST FOR 70 He came up just short with 69 goals which is a remakable stat, highest by a goal scorer in over 30 years and according to Stats inc. he banged 26 off a post. Simply a dominating season. 7. OVECHKIN CHASING GRETZKY He slowed down this year but managed to score 31 goals, leaving him with 853, 41 goals from catching the great one. he is one damn fine year from passing Wayne, inching closer this season. 6. SAROS LEADS LEAGUE IN GOALIE APPEARANCES FOR THREE CONSECUTIVE YEARS. Saros is the throwback goalie, three years in a row he has led all goalies in starts, minutes, twice in shots faced. He is firmly established as teh iron man among todays goalies. 5. BEDARD DEBUT The kid missed time to injury, played with an awful team and awful linemates, yet in spite of all that he led all rookies in most every category proving he is hyped but not overhyped. The kid can flat out play and was a toon of fun to watch. 4. MIKE BABCOCK DEBACLE. That was quick. Simply a disaster that cost a GM his job on the long run. Less said the better. 3. McDAVID HAS 100 ASSISTS Man he got hot late, pushed the puck to teammates left and right managing to have 100 assists highest total in 34 years. Only 3 players, Orr, Gretzky and Lemieux ever hit the century mark in assists. An amazing season. 2. HART, DUBE, FOOTE, FORMENTON AND MCLEOD ACCUSED. Five players who took the rest of the season off as Ontario was deciding what to do with them as far as charges go. Again like Babcock, the less said the better but this was massive, Hart was having a great year, the Flyers would have made the playoffs if this had not happened. 1. COYOTES FINALLY GIVE UP ON ARIZONA AND MOVED TO UTAH The move was inevitable, it was more a question of where instead of when. Houston, KC, Quebec, several others were in the running. Utah gets its first NHL team. These are my thoughts on top ten for 23-24 regular season, honorable mention to Rangers winning the Presidents trophy and the Eastern conference final playoff spot going down to the last minute of the last game, and Vegas adding Hanifin and Hertl . Anyone else?

PRESEASON OUTLOOK Lots and lots of people simply fell in love with the Sabres before the season began. Devon Levi was looked at like a young Carey Price, Tage Thompson came of a fantastic season and they had come on strong the year before, missing the playoffs by a single point in 2023. Many fans simply felt the Sabres were due to finally return to the postseason. FINAL RECORD 39-37-6 84 points, 6th in Division 7 points out of a playoff spot STRANGE STAT OF THE YEAR alex Tuch was a fan favorite away from Buffalo, his road stats were so much better than at home. Road he led the team with 15 goals and 34 points and was a plus 10, at home he was very ordinary, 7 goals, 7th on the team in scoring and was a minus 1. HIGH POINT OF THE YEAR you want the truth? None really. They slogged out to start the year, winning a couiple losing a couple in return and that is what they did all year. They were never worse than 3 games below .500 or better than 2 games above. They just kind of hovered around mediocrity all year long. LOW POINT OF THE YEAR Trading Casey Mittlestadt for Bowen Byram was a sign that they threw in the towel and IMHO a terrible trade at the deadline. Again, nothing as far as a super low, they just went along as if in a mediocre fog all year. WHAT WENT RIGHT Dahlin is a superstar, point blank, just an amazing player, just fun to watch. Luukonen was fantastic, he carried the load in net and was rock steady most nights. Four forwards, Tuch, Thompson, Skinner and Peterka all scored 20 plus goals. Owen Power was very steady. Dylan Cozens, Jack quinn and Zach Benson were tremendous as kids establishing themselves as the future. Jordan Greenway was a snarling winger who could score a bit. WHAT WENT WRONG Nobody in the NHL failed more miserably than Levi, period, full stop. He was awful for much of the year, spent time in Rochester, got hurt and lost his job to another young goalie. He personally cost the team a shot at running for the playoffs. Tage Thompson had a good season but after the great one the year before crashed hard overall. Olofsson was the softest player i have seen in years and was a complete bust. Some kids worked out while others namely Peyton Krebs did not. Tyson Jost had an awful season. Samuelsson was supposed to steady the blueline could not stay healthy and reallly when on the ice was not that good. Don Granato lost the team, he never developed a rotation among the blueliners, killing Dahlin and Power played waaaay to much and the third pair guys player 13, 14 minutes a night which might work in the postseason but doesnt come close in the long regular season. FREE AGENTS Olofsson and Jost wont be invited back and will be replaced by talented young kids. Nobody of significance will be lost. Luukonen is a RFA and wants paid. Krebs and Jokiharju will want multiple years and the team must decide whether or not to extend them. TOP PROSPECTS Matthew Savoie will fight for a top six forward role and brings energy and skill. Levi is still a prospect, he has to shut last years hype away and build a career which he is certainly capable of doing. Isak Rosen and Noah Ostlund are skilled forwards fighting for a job as well. OFFSEASON QUESTION MARKS This team is set roster wise, maybe one defensive position is available, about 13, 14 forwards fighting for 12 spots, all deserving of a regular shift in the NHL, two young goalies, cap space is ok, not good or bad. Ruff back as the coach which you have to admit knows how to set a lineup and squeeze the other team like anyone. The question, IMHO is can this team win with what they have? Lots of kids, vets tied up long term, they are who they are with minor tinkering but can Ruff identify a lineup that can compete out of these players? If Thompson is a 55 point a year player that is devastating but they have kids who need to step up and more in the pipeline. Can they step up and push for the playoffs after missing for 13 years in a row?

OFFSEASON OUTLOOK Most people disliked the Ducks, thought they were going to be bad as usual, I really thought they would take a step up, lots and lots of good young kids especially on defense. Nobody took them serious as a playoff contender, it was just hoped that they would show progress. FINAL RECORD 27-50-5 59 points. Thanks to the Sharks, they didnt come in last. STRANGE STAT OF THE YEAR Leo Carlsson led the league as the worst faceoff man in the past five years among any center who had at least 500 attempts. His futile 34.8 percent faceoff win was awful. HIGH POINT OF THE YEAR tHEY LOST 4 OF the first 5, then caught fire. They won six straight, lost two and then beat San Jose and Nashville, bumping their record to 9-6. Most importantly, they scored 4 or more goals in 7 of the first 15 games showing signs that the offense was improving. LOW POINT OF THE YEAR, Well pretty much everything else. After the surprise 9-6 start, they lost 8 in a row, all in regulation. Then beating Colorado in a shootout, they lost five more in a row, going 1-13 during that stretch. During that 14 game stretch they only scored 4 goals in a game twice and the season was over before Christmas. After scoring 4 goals in a game in 15 games, nearly half, they only scored 4 goals in a game 7 times in the next 37. WHAT WENT RIGHT Frank Vatrano had a very satisfying season with 37 goals. Troy Terry came on strong after a slow start and had a good year. Mason MacRavish had a decent year and surprised with 86 penalty minutes showing a fire in his game. Leo Carlsson has a mixed bag but at 19 didnt embarrass himself. Pavel Mintyukov as a solid rookie on the back end did a solid job. Gudas was a solid player. Jackson Lacombe and Olen Zellweger were a couple of blue chip defenders who got their feet wet and held their own. Lukas Dostal was not great but was better than Gibson, granted that bar was pretty low. WHAT WENT RIGHT Lets start with Trevor Zegras. He has developed a rep among Ducks fans and coaching staff for lack of heart, he missed a lot of time with injury, did very little when playing and floated around a lot. John Gibson had yet another bad year, this one his worst ever. Killorn came over from Tampa, missed 19 games and looked like he was simply there for a last check and playing in California. Jakob Silferberg hit the wall, had nothing left and is gone to Europe literally one day at the end of the year. Vatrana had a fluky 37 goal season, nobody else on the team scored 20 except Terry who scored exactly that. The offense was offensive. FREE AGENTS Silferberg is gone, nobody else will be missed. No RFA will break the bank TOP PROSPECTS LOTS OF YOUNG KIDS have established themselves in the NHL already and should be fixtures, but they still have more. Jacob Perreault could be a 3rd line winger. If one of the kid blueliners slips, Tyson Hinds is highly thought of, as is Tristan Luneau. They have a power froward in Nathan Gaucher who looks like the real deal. Of course their prize possession who will almost certainly stick is Cutter Gautheir who came over from Philly. Lots of kids in the NHL, lots of kids still coming and may get lucky and get a top two or three pick. OFFSEASON QUESTION MARKS Gibson is down to two years at a highway robbery 6.4 million per, can tehy move him? Will they give up the picks prospects to do so? Do they give up on Zegras and move him now before his career completely derails and he loses all value? Most importantly, the team is being built around good, solid B and low A prospects who are already in the NHL or will be next year, the question is, do they go all out by signing one or even two real deal free agents? Look, i like what i see here, this is the deepest batch of young kids in the NHL today with more on the way, but the vets are a lot of guys just chasing their paycheck. I do not see anyone who i would consider a leader of the kids excepting Mactavish. I truly believe this team needs Guentzel, Stamkos, Reinhart, at least one of them sends a message down the roster that the club is buying in on their progress.I am very intrigued by this team.

PRESEASON OUTLOOK Cautionary hope that they might show signs of improvement. Gaudreau in his second year was bound to be better, the defense with Provorov, Werenski and Severson would help a defense that was overrun the year before and lots of talented kids among the forwards would help drive the forwards. Nobody felt they were expected to drive towards a playoff spots but the hope was they would show signs of improvement. FINAL RECORD 27-43-12 66 points, dead last in Division, 15 points behind the next worst team in the Metro Division STRANGE STAT OF THE YEAR As Boone Jenner went so went the Jackets. The CBJ went 11-5-2 in games in which Jenner scored a goal, in the games in which he appeared in that he did not score, the Jackets were a pathetic 8-26-6. WHAT WENT RIGHT The Russian forwards, Voronkov, Chinakov and Marchenko all showed signs of promise. Werenski had a damn fine season. Gaudreau led the team in scoring woith 60 points. Jenner (when healthy) had a fine season. Fanilli was a mixed bag but did not embarrass himself as a teenager playing against men. Alexander Nylander came back from the dead and scored a bit when he was dealt by Pittsburgh. David Jiricek showed he is ready to play as a middle four defenseman. Provorov was a minute munching top pair defender. Texier came back from homesickness and played good solid hockey. WHAT WENT WRONG. Kent Johnson is lookin like a first round bust. Patrik Laine could not stay healthy and signed up for rehab treatment. The goaltenders were a season long mess. The young kids, while none embarrassed themselves were really average. Severson was a mixed bag. Nobody was really awful expecting Laine, maybe Johnson, but the truth is the team did not play well in any area. HIGH POINT OF THE YEAR jACK Rosplovic scored an overtime winner against the Wild in a thrilling 5-4 victory, pushing their record to 3-2. Fantilli scored his first career goal, it was a fun, lively game. LOW POINT OF THE YEAR From an embarrassing loss to the pathetic Ducks on October 24th through being well beaten by the Flyers 5-2 on November 19th, they went 1-9-4 driving them into the basement from which they never returned. It was more or less all downhill from there. Of course the worst of the worst was the signing of Babcock for his final NHL tour. FREE AGENTS No real or significant free agents will be departing. Howere the Jackets are packed with RFA all of whom will demand a decent paycheck. Marchenko, Chinakov, Texier, Sillinger Jake Bean are all RFA. Bean may be released, Texier almost certainly will be dealt. TOP PROSPECTS Jiricek almost certainly will be at least in the top four on the blueline and has a ton of potential. Kent Johnson is running out of chances and if he wants a career it better happen soon. Denton Mateychuk is a solid blue line prospect and he will be pushing for a bottom pair spot this year with potential to move up. Gavin Brindley is a very solid B level prospect ready to step into a top nine role with higher upside among the forwards. OFFSEASON QUESTION MARKS Are the kids anything special or are they an entire team of 3rd line NHLers? Merzlikens has four years at 5.4 million per season, can they escape from the horrible contract and add a real goalie? Will they ever move beyond an insignificant playoff team to becoming a reall team that deserves to be taken seriously? Can Laine stay healthy and play like they wnated? Will Gaudreau make the Jackets signing look horrible or will he fix his career?

If you are a hard core Hockey fann you may have heard of Chris Terry. Maybe. Terry was drafted by Carolina in the fifth round in 2007, a decent goal scoring winger built like a fire hydrant, nice shot but not a lot of speed, defense is ok but not great enough to play a checking role. He caught his first break in the NHL at 24, scored his first goal the day before his birthday. He spent the next season in the AHL, his sixth straight and then in 2015 and 16 he spent two years on the bottom line with Carolina, averaging 10 goals a year. He left for Montreal as an UFA which turned out to be a mistake, the Habs were a mess and rotated people in and out of the lineup, Terry spent 14 games in Montreal in 2016-17 scoring two goals. They were his last 14 games in the NHL. From there Terry bounced between Grand rapids and Bridgeport, scoring at a point a game pace, at 35 he struggled to find an AHL contract but managed to sign with the Independent Chicago Wolves where he managed to score 21 goals and 50 points in 61 games, proving he can still score. Here is the Crash Davis thing comes from. Crash is a fictional character from the Legendary movie Bull Durham who stuck around in his quest to break an all time home run record, something that nobody seemed to know about as nobody pays much attention to Minor league records. Well.... Terry could score. He can still score. IMHO he could have had a ten year NHL career if the breaks had went right, those days are long gone but he plays for love of the game. This year he entered the season pushing against towards 300 goals, he finally got number 300 against the Griffins and Michael Hutchinson on December 29th. He played hard all year, finishing with 311 goals for his AHL career, good for 16th all time in league history. In the history of the league, only 3 players who appeared in the last quarter of a century have more goals in the league than he does. If he has another year in him that is about what last year was, he will crack the top ten goal scorers in AHL history. I followed him early in the year as he was chasing 300, his teammates in about any article about Terry simply gush on and on about what a fantastic teammate and person he is, just well loved by the league. Just a quick write up about a terrific goal reached by a 35 year old winger who deserves the recognition for an amazing career. Not that anyone noticed.

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.

I always check f Ovie scores. Rooting hard for him. So let's say he scores six more, 25 for the year and 847. That leaves him 48 short. If he scores 30 next year he is looking at mid)late in 25-26. If they manage a real dish setter in centre I believe he can still bounce back. Rooting for him.

Love the versatility. Henrique scores 45 points a year really can play any forward position middle six. Carrick extremely gifted 4th liner can score and hits.

Four teams in two years, disappointed everywhere. Wow he fell fell after the cup. I do like him middle six with Florida, wingers include Tkachuk, Verhaeghe and Reinhart would be the top three wingers, he should fill the top six. Low cost, should be a solid add.