2018-19 NHL thread

Most teams have 15 or 16 games left. My picks on how the standings will shake out ...

Atlantic - Tampa (duh), Toronto, Boston
Bruins' schedule down the stretch is really rough. Tampa twice, Columbus three times; Pittsburgh, Winnipeg and the Isles on the road. Leafs' sked looks a little easier, especially with two against Ottawa. I think Toronto nudges out the Bruins by a point or two for home ice.

Metro - Washington, Pittsburgh, Islanders
I want to believe Carolina can hold on to third, but the Penguins seem to find a way to crank it up every year, and the Isles have shown a few signs of leakage lately. Caps' mettle will be tested at the end of March when they play Tampa three times and Carolina twice, with games against Jersey and Minnesota thrown in.

East wild cards -- Carolina, Montreal. Hurricanes have a nasty little stretch coming up -- Peg at home, roadie to Nashville/Colorado/Columbus. Then in a stretch of five of six games, they get Pittsburgh, Tampa, Montreal and Washington (twice). We'll know if they're really for real pretty quickly. Columbus the odd team out.

Central -- Winnipeg, Nashville, St. Louis.
Winnipeg just one point back of the Predators with three games in hand. I like the Blues to hold off Dallas and Minnesota for that third spot in the division.

Pacific -- San Jose, Calgary, Vegas

West wild cards -- Dallas, Arizona (!). This is probably wishful thinking. Minnesota or Colorado probably more likely to snag the last spot, but I'd love to see the Yotes back in the playoffs. Speaking of Minny and the Avalanche, I'll be at that game in St. Paul on March 18. Can't wait.

 

Went to Caps-Jets last night at Capital One. Great crowd. Felt like a playoff atmosphere. Game winner came on a Nic Dowd tasty flip pass to a streaking Carl Hagelin, who had just come out of the box. Hagelin beat Hellebyuck five hole. One of the prettier plays I've seen in person. Big week for the Caps -- roadies at Pittsburgh, Philly and (FINALLY) Tampa. Can't believe the Caps and Lightning haven't played since Game 7 last May.

 

A nice story about the TSN hockey panel and camera man letting an aspiring young reporter spend the day with them.

An aspiring sports reporter stumbles into the NHL GM meetings

@Elliotte Friedman makes an appearance as well.

 

The Lightning clinched the President's Trophy on March 18.

 

Which might make a Lightning fan nervous. I just did a quick check, so I may be off, but I think only seven of the last 30 PT winners went on to win the Cup.

 

In a full 82-game season, yes (Detroit was the last in 2007-08). Chicago won both in the shortened 2012-13 season.

 

Also, for prospect nerds out there:

The Don Mills Flyers of the Greater Toronto Hockey League won the OHL Cup last night. That’s a huge invite-only tournament for 2003-born players, held a few weeks before the OHL draft. The Flyers have been a powerhouse for years, and by my count have lost one game since February 2018.

The team is led by Shane Wright (born in 2004) who was recently granted exceptional status by Hockey Canada, allowing him to enter this year’s OHL draft even though he’s a 2004. Just for reference, the first three players given the same privilege were John Tavares, Aaron Ekblad and Connor McDavid. Not saying Wright’s as good as any of them but it’s worth keeping his name in the back of your mind.

 

I watched the last part of that game last night. Huge comeback by the Flyers, down 4-1, Wright with a great pass to set up the OT winner. A scout I know told me this kid isn't in the same league as Tavares or McDavid at the same age but he said he is a tremendous player. Remains to be seen if he can do for the dismal Kingston Frontenacs what Tavares did for the Oshawa Generals and McDavid for the Erie Otters. Wright won't have much to play with in Kingston next season.

 

Last year I helped coach the 2003 Burlington Eagles, the team he played for until he went to the Flyers for the 16-17 season. People in this town have been talking about him since Minor Atom. Not surprised he left, he’d have been bored in our league.

 

I'm so wrapped in the Caps that I don't watch a ton of other games, and last Saturday was the first Caps-Lightning meeting, so it was the first time I watched a whole Tampa game all year. The speed is breathtaking and their ability to create chances out of the tiniest mistake scares the hell out of me. They seem different than a lot of recent President's Trophy winners, because they're SO far ahead of the field. Will get another chance to see them tomorrow.

As for tonight, about to head over to Saint Paul for Wild-Avalanche. Close to an elimination game for Colorado. Minnesota desperately needs it to. I'll be the dork at Xcel wearing a Kuznetsov sweater.

 

So where's Boudreau coaching next year? Yeesh. Dreadful showing in a near must-win for the Wild at home.

EDIT to add, holy hell, this schedule down the stretch for Minnesota is brutal:

at Washington
at Carolina
vs. Nashville
at Vegas
at Arizona
vs. Winnipeg
vs. Boston
at Dallas

 

Caps-Bolts was as exciting of a regular-season game that I can remember in a long time. That was some insane hockey.