NHL 2014-15

[Jeff]

Well, we did our games draft last weekend and training camp is right around the corner so I thought it was time for a new thread...

After all the drafting, ticket-swapping, and game-sharing was agreed to, it looks like I'm set for 12 games this year for my 1/4 share:

Thu, Oct 23 • Phoenix
Sun, Nov 16 • Winnipeg
Sat, Nov 29 • St. Louis
Wed, Dec 17 • Boston
Fri, Jan 2 • Toronto
Thu, Jan 8 • Chicago
Mon, Jan 19 • Columbus
Mon, Feb 9 • Vancouver
Tue, Feb 24 • Edmonton
Sun, Mar 8 • Colorado
Sat, Mar 28 • Los Angeles
Sat, Apr 4 • Detroit

A nice mix.  Four from the Central (WIN, STL, CHI, COL), four from the Pacific (PHX, LA, VAN, EDM), and four from the Eastern Conference (TOR, DET, BOS, CBJ). 

[Jeff]

Oh man, Jesse - those new thirds the Pens showed off today bring back a lot of bad memories #1991cupfinals

[Jesse James]

  I like 'em! 

[Morgbug]

Title change time.

Goodness me, but does my team ever suck.  Given our division, we may actually be in the hunt for McDavid. 

I'm not sure if I should cry or smile. 

[JesseVader08]

Jeff, your Wild are looking pretty dangerous this year.  Congrats on the comeback against my Bruins.

[Jeff]

After the way they coughed up a 3-0 lead in NYC last night, it was nice to see them come back and steal that one in Boston tonight.

The Wild aren't perfect by any stretch (the goalkeeping, the horrid power play), but 5-on-5 they are a hell of a team this year - so fast, so skilled...  but man are they taking a beating by the bigger teams, which just makes the horrible power play even worse.  If you're built on speed and hoping to make teams pay for hitting you, NOT scoring any power play goals kinda defeats the purpose.

Scariest part is that as fantastic as the Wild have looked this year, they are still not even a top five team in the West yet.

[I Am Sith]

Goodness me, but does my team ever suck.

They were obviously good enough to beat my team, the likes of whom have had their own suck-fest going on for long enough.  They need to get back on track here soon.

[Morgbug]

 




 

[Jeff]

Four losses in a row...  7-7-0 now.  Let's hope we can get things back on track against the lowly Sabres tonight.   


In other weirdness, Wild D-men Brodin and Scandella now have the mumps virus that's going around the NHL and will miss the game tonight (and probably more).  D-men Ballard and Folin had it earlier in the year and each missed 5-7 games.  Strange to see a virus like that pop up all over NHL teams (ANA, STL, ?) and even some linesmen/refs have had to sit out with it. 

Hope they figure out how to stop spreading it because with Parise/Cooke out with injuries and Brodin/Scandella out with the mumps, not sure how much more my squad can handle before they end up digging too big a hole for a playoff spot...

[Jeff]

Let's hope we can get things back on track against the lowly Sabres tonight.   

Whew - thank you, Sabres, for sucking so bad!   

[I Am Sith]

Blackhawks are playing with so many people from their farm team (Ice Hogs) that I think I'm going to refer to them as either the Blackhogs or the Icehawks until their starting line-ups are back.  Thankfully they squeaked out a fin llast night in Calgary.  Still can't believe they went to the box that many times and won...  Couple back to back games coming up in the next two weeks.  I'm just hopeful they can go at least 0.500 during the circus trip.  Fingers crossed!

[DSJ™]

Craig MacTavish speaks this morning about the 11 game loosing streak. The Edmonton Oilers have announced a new head coach!   

[Jeff]

Thought this was a pretty good breakdown of the legendary Bruins Vs Wild rivalry that NBC is showcasing for this week's Rivaly Night game on NBCSN...

http://www.stanleycupofchowder.com/2014/12/17/7408467/the-bruins-wild-rivalry-explained

[Jeff]

The Wild aren't perfect by any stretch (the goalkeeping, the horrid power play)

*sigh*

Well, it looks like the goaltending is doing everything it can to torpedo my favorite team. 

With Suter's dad passing away; Parise's dad dying from cancer; the flare-ups with Harding's MS after finally getting back on track from a broken foot; the horrible inconsistency of Darcy Kuemper; the aging midsection of Backstrom; all of our top seven defensemen missing serious time with the mumps; Granlund breaking his wrist (out 3-4 weeks); the norovirus taking out some of our forwards for a few games; and Vanek not managing to find the back of the net?

I'm starting to get the sense that things are just not coming together for the Wild this year.

Wondering how much worse it will get before they get back on track...  at this point, we may have already dug ourselves a hole so big that we won't be able to get out.  And we won't even be bad enough for McDavid. 

[Morgbug]

Huh.  Weird.