2013: The NHL season that almost wasn't

Blackhawks are pretty good. 12-0-3, and all three losses were in shootouts, so they've never been beaten in regulation or overtime.

Tuesday night they host the Canucks while going for tying the record for point streak to start the season.

 

And I hope they tie, then break it. Did Seabrook return from the blocked shot? Don't even wanna think about where it looked like he got hit.

Elsewhere, St. Louis takes Vancouver 4-3 via shootout to finish 3-0 on the road trip. 3-0 for the rook in net, too. Heck of a save in OT.

 

He did. I was worried it was a broken wrist or something. Then they showed the replay and I was thinking "Well, that's going to suck for him for about 30 minutes but he'll be fine."

 

Glad to hear it.

 

Still wavering between Pittsburgh and Boston as to who the best team in the east is.

 

Would like to see fighting penalties carry a game misconduct. Leave the fines and suspensions to the league office on a case by case basis.

But, hell, if you want to fight right off the opening faceoff, go sit in the room for the rest of the night. That might make some of these clowns think before acting.

 

Dave Schultz would disagree.

 

I enjoy a few fights and how they often change momentum.

Fights off the opening faceoff in the NHL are so rare I don't understand Mark's rationale/thinking.

 

Yeah, I know what you mean. Ed Hospodar was another one of my favorites.

 

Awesome! One of mine, too.

EDIT: Just came to mind. I've never met Hospodar but was told he was one of the most down-to-earth fellows you could meet. Very religious, too. Did not swear, etc.

 

St. Louis went 3-0 on its road trip, then had difficulty getting home.

The team was to leave Vancouver Monday morning but the charter broke down prior to departure. Long and short of it is the Blues didn't arrive in St. Louis until 6:30 a.m today and play San Jose tonight.

Needless to say, the morning skate was cancelled.

 

There are good fights and not-so-good ones. Guess I have had the luck of watching a lot of not-so-good ones this year.

I saw a Dallas-Vancouver game last week where there were three separate fights with two seconds (game clock) of one another. Dallas trailed 3-1 at the time and came back to win 4-3. Did the fights make a difference? Who knows? None of the fighters came back and later figured in the scorers; none were top line players.

Did an enterprise piece for a newspaper a couple of years ago about the whole issue of fights in junior hockey. I'm not in favor of trying to ban them, per se, but a game misconduct would perhaps make players think a little bit, especially early in a game.