2015 - 2016 NHL Season Discussion (1 Viewer)

[DavidJ]

My former hometown team (Plymouth Whalers) which relocated to Flint this season is making national headlines after the entire team quit after the coaching staff was fired, reportedly because the new owner was upset with the amount of playing time his son was getting. FYI, the son is at best a 5-6 defenseman, not a top talent. The story has hit ABC, ESPN, and TSN.


What a messed up situation. Even if the coaches are re-hired, who would want to work or play for such an owner? I am now glad this owner did not decide to buy our local arena and keep the team here. We have a much more stable situation with USA Hockey owning the arena to house the National Team Development Program.

I saw this over the weekend. Absolutely crazy situation.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Well, the coaches have been re-hired and given three year contracts. I'm not sure I would still want to work for that owner, but they would be in limbo for the rest of the season otherwise. Gruden, the head coach, left a prominent job with USA Hockey coaching the U17 USNTDP for the Flint job -- I bet he's regretting that decision right now.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

For those who get the NHL Network, I recommend tuning in tomorrow at either 7am EST or 1pm EST (replay) for the U20 World Junior tournament quarter finals game between Team USA and Team Czech Republic. Bruins fans can watch their first round pick David Pastrnak play for the Czechs and Team USA is loaded with talent. The U.S. squad includes three players that have called my hometown arena home -- starting goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic (formerly of the Plymouth Whalers, now with the Niagara Ice Dogs, of the OHL), forward Sonny Milano (formerly of the Whalers, and a 1st round pick of Columbus), and defenseman Chad Krys from this year's U18 National Team Development Program (NTDP), which now plays in our arena. Krys is the youngest player on Team USA, and the only one from the NTDP that made this year's team - Clayton Keller and Kieffer Bellows from the NTDP were the final cuts. BTW, Kieffer Bellows is the son of former NHL player Brian Bellows. Both Bellows and Keller are projected as 1st round picks in this summer's NHL Draft.


Team USA also features Auston Matthews, who played for the NTDP last season, is projected to be the #1 overall pick in next summer's NHL Draft, and is leading the tournament in goals right now. The World Junior Championship is always a very entertaining tournament and some of the best hockey you'll see outside of the NHL.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Looks like I misheard the time of the USA game -- it was on live at 1pm. Team USA blew out the Czechs 7-0, with next year's #1 overall draft pick Auston Matthews getting a hat trick and local favorite Alex Nedeljkovic getting the shutout. Meanwhile, the Russia - Denmark and Canada - Finland games were quite wild and very entertaining. Team Russia barely survived a huge upset, scoring in the last minute to tie the score and then winning in OT. Hockey fans north of the border will not be happy, as Team Canada failed to make the semi-finals for the first time in 17 years by losing to host Team Finland.


The semi-finals are on Monday, with USA facing Russia and Sweden playing Finland.


BTW, for the Bruins fans out there. Montreal's 5-1 win over Boston in the New Year's Day Winter Classic was the biggest margin of victory in the event's history.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

If only Pastrnak had been available!

At least the B's won the old-timers game the day before. In front of 40,000 people!!! That was fun.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

If only Pastrnak had been available!

If only Carey Price had been available. It was nice to get Brendan Gallagher back, though. The Habs have really missed his presence the past month. Hopefully Price will be back in the net in 2-3 weeks.They need him healthy if they are going to make a run in the playoffs.


Pastrnak looked good for the Czechs -- although most of the rest of the team failed to show up against Team USA. Auston Matthews looks like the real deal. We missed seeing him play for the NTDP by one season, as he played for the team last season while the program was still based in Ann Arbor. The NTDP relocated to my hometown of Plymouth this season.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Detroit Red WIngs rookie All-Star Dylan Larkin was at tonight's U.S. National Team Development Program (NTDP) game, and was signing autographs for the season ticket holders before the game. I am not much for autographs, but a friend of mine is a big Wings fan and autograph collector so I had a puck signed for him. Larkin seems like a nice young man -- he played on the NTDP from 2012-2014.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

What the heck is going on with the Canadiens lately? And why the heck did their ONE good game over the past month have to be the Winter Classic???

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Personally, I think it's awesome that an Eastern Conference minor leaguer is going to be the captain of the Western Conference All-Star team. Of course, I was sad when the Mighty Ducks dropped the "Mighty." Pro sports need more fun!

 

[Scott Merryfield]

What the heck is going on with the Canadiens lately? And why the heck did their ONE good game over the past month have to be the Winter Classic???

They have been playing like crap ever since Carey Price went out of the lineup for the 2nd time. It has been a combination of things -- inability to score, defensive giveaways, and a moron coach who has no idea how to manage lines and runs that horrible "dump and chase" system. Price's great goaltending covered up these issues in the past, but his absence has shown where the team's weaknesses are. I am hoping the one good thing that will come out of this will be the firing of Therien as coach. I did not like the hire in the first place.


As for John Scott in the All Star game, the league should be embarrassed by the entire incident, from their dumb fan voting setup to the "trade" of Scott to the Canadiens. I am embarrassed that my team was even involved in this. At least it is only the All Star game, which is completely unwatchable anyway. I would rather watch paint dry than this game.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

We are getting a taste of international hockey this week in my hometown with USA Hockey Arena hosting the Five Nations tournament, which pits the U17 national teams from the USA, Russia, Sweden, Finland and Czech Republic in a round robin tournament. The U18 version of the tournament is being played in Russia. Hopefully we will be able to host that tournament or the U18 World Junior Championships at our arena in the future.

So far, it has been very entertaining hockey. There are some differences from our normal North American hockey, though. No national anthem is played before the start of a game -- instead, the anthem of the winning team is played after the match. Also, Team USA has been listed as the visiting team on the scoreboard so far at two of their games, which is weird for us after watching hockey in this arena for so many years with the OHL's Plymouth Whalers and now the U.S. NTDP. Tonight's game with the U.S. facing Russia will determine the tourney winner. It has been nice to see the U17 NTDP strutting their stuff against players their own age for once (albeit against the best U17 players from those countries), as they are usually facing players up to 21 years old when playing in the USHL.

It's pretty cool to have these visiting international players, coaches and fans in our hometown, all enjoying an arena that is just a couple of miles from our house. The other night the Russian players were walking past the arena bar we hang out at between periods, and they stopped and began considering how they could coax a drink out of the bartender. It was pretty humorous.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I watched Mario Lemeiux's son Austin play this afternoon. He plays for the Omaha Lancers of the United States Hockey League, who were in town playing the U.S. NTDP U17 team in our hometown USA Hockey Arena. There was no Mario sighting, though, unlike earlier this year when Teemu Selanne was sitting in our row watching his son play for another visiting team.

Last Thursday Keith Tkachuk was in the arena watching his son Brady, who plays for the NTDP U17 squad. I have yet to spot Brian Bellows, whose son Keifer plays for the NTDP U18 team.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

4-on-4 and then 3-on-3 OT sounded kind of odd at first, but the Bruins-Panthers OT last night could be the greatest four minutes of hockey that I've ever seen in my life. Maybe they should play the entire game that way!

 

[Scott Merryfield]

4-on-4 and then 3-on-3 OT sounded kind of odd at first, but the Bruins-Panthers OT last night could be the greatest four minutes of hockey that I've ever seen in my life. Maybe they should play the entire game that way!

Aaron, we've been watching a 4-on-4 then 3-on-3 format all season with the US NTDP. When they play USHL games, the overtime format is 4-on-4 until the first whistle after four minutes, then 3-on-3 for the remainder of the 7 minute OT. We have yet to see a game get to a shootout, although we have only witnessed 2 or 3 overtime games.

The really odd contest was a game against NCAA opponent Notre Dame. Regulation ended 2-2, and that was the end of the game! It's been a long time since I've watched a hockey game end in a tie like that.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

A few rambling thoughts:

1. For the first time since 1970, there will be no Canadian-based team in the NHL playoffs. That was unthinkable a few months ago, but injuries ravaged Montreal.

2. I do not really watch the Red Wings much, but saw them twice in the past few days when they played the Canadiens (I went to the game in Detroit). While the Wings may sneak into the playoffs to keep their streak alive, they are not a good team. They went 1-1 against basically an AHL team, and didn't look good at all.

3. It is fun attending Habs games at Joe Louis Arena. There are always lots of fellow Canadiens fans, and in the 3rd period when Montreal was mounting a comeback the Habs fans were just as loud as the Wings fans. The only other visiting crowd that compares are Leafs fans.

4. If Braden Holtby doesn't win the Vezina Trophy this year it will be a farce. He is playing as well this season as Carey Price played last year. I watched the first two period of the Capitals game against Philly last night, and he was a brick wall in net.

5. Not an NHL item, but I am still pissed that the Big Ten has admitted Notre Dame into the conference for hockey only -- it was announced last week. I know the conference is trying to expand beyond their existing 6 teams for ice hockey, but Notre Dame has turned down the conference for full membership multiple times. I would have rather seen the Big Ten go in another direction.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Mon dieu!!!

Thanks for beating Detroit, BTW. Hopefully the Bruins will remember where the net is by the time the playoffs start. . .

 

[Scott Merryfield]

The first round of the playoffs are completed, and the West is now a free for all as Chicago, LA and Anaheim are all out. Between the Hawks and Kings, that is 5 of the last 6 Cup winners. Could this finally be the year that San Jose gets to the Finals? The Blues have trouble scoring and the Stars have a weak defense and goaltending. I do not know a lot about Nashville, except they have a terrific goalie, a couple of solid defensemen, and former Plymouth Whaler James Neal is on the team.

The Washington - Pittsburgh series winner should be the heavy favorite to come out of the East. I'm pulling for the Capitals, since one of my favorite former Plymouth Whalers is on the team -- Tom Wilson. Plus I'm not a Cindy Crosby fan. I think the Islanders can beat the Lightning, as Tampa is missing Stamkos and one of their best defensemen (Stralman).

 

[Scott Merryfield]

After numerous playoff disappointments, the San Jose Sharks have finally made it to a Stanley Cup Finals!

 

[Aaron Silverman]

This might be their big chance to win over some Warriors fans who until now have been too busy to pay attention!

 

[Scott Merryfield]

While I'm not in the Bay area, I will be pulling for the Sharks in the Finals now that Tampa is gone -- there was a possibility of being invited to a Cup party if the Lightning had won. My reasons for pulling for San Jose:

1. The team has suffered through so many post season disappointments -- it's like watching Charlie Brown try to kick that football.
2. Head coach Peter DeBoer is a former head coach of my old hometown Plymouth Whalers team from the OHL.
3. I cannot root for Cindy Crosby.