Running NHL 2023-24 regular season thread

Not being suspended is a far cry from meaning it’s legal.

 

Bedard might play tonight.

 

I think the team just confirmed his return in a video. Finally a reason to watch again.

 

As soon as I started shoveling dirt on Ovi earlier in this thread, he's scored in six straight games.

 

Random thought that struck me today - are there many athletes comparable to Shane Wright in the sense of having their status drop so precipitously during COVID?

As a 16/17 year old he was a phenom, ordained as a “generational talent” in the current vernacular. Then rumours he wouldn’t go first OA followed by going fourth.

He’s played 11 NHL games and has 1G 1A.

I’m not sure how he’s tracking in the AHL, but it wasn’t supposed to be this hard for him.

 

I don’t know that it’s a COVID thing.

You and I live in two of the cities Wright probably gets talked about most. You’re in the city where the team famously passed on him; I’m in his hometown.

I’ve coached Burlington AAA teams on and off for eight years and for one year we had the 2003-born team he played on (he’s an ‘04 who always played a year up). However we were given the ‘03s the year after he left Burlington to go play for that Don Mills super team that ultimately produced three first-rounders (Wright, Brandt Clarke and Brennan Othmann). But I digress.

So while I’ve never coached or met Wright, I know many who have and I’ve been paying attention to him since he was nine or so. Basically the word on him is that he was a really big kid really young, dominated because of it, and probably never had to learn a lot of things you need to know to play in the NHL. And I know the group who coached him here; these are guys who would have gladly taken his four points a night and not worried about teaching him things like why it’s bad to turn pucks over at your own blue line, etc.

I’m guessing he got very little coaching all through minor hockey, even when he went to Don Mills. On sheer talent alone, that team won every important game they had for the three years he was there and as their top scorer I’m guessing Wright was never made to learn the little things on that team either.

The OHL team he played for (Kingston) is hardly known as a stud factory.

I’m pulling for Wright because he’s from here and we really just have Josh Anderson to hang our hat on right now. And the kid is scoring well in the AHL, especially considering he’s probably the only ‘04 in the league. Who knows, maybe Seattle would have kept him this year on the third or fourth line but preferred to let him develop as much as possible until he can be a factor in the top six.

But because of what I’ve said above, I do worry he won’t make it.

 

Jaromir Jagr Number Retirement | Pittsburgh Penguins

The Penguins retired Jaromir Jagr's #68 this weekend. Jagr practiced with the team ahead of today's ceremony, too. Hearing about that got me watching some old highlights on YouTube. I had almost forgotten just how much fun he was to watch. The Penguins sucked until I was 12 and they aren't very good right now, but we Penguin fans have been spoiled by some of the players we got to watch since 1984.

There was also this video, a mix of highlights and the story of him playing through a groin injury when he believed the team needed to win a playoff game to remain in Pittsburgh. I didn't know that part of the story, but I was in the arena for that game.

 

My old league going allegedly going all Reg Dunlop:

Sources: OHL investigating Sudbury Wolves after bounty accusations

 

I'm not sure exactly what Reaves said about "getting Gudas" before the Leafs-Ducks game last Saturday. But it kinda sounded bounty-ish. And it did seem like multiple Leafs were taking runs at Gudas during the game. Bertuzzi was involved. Carrick, too. Carrick just wanted to make sure Gudas had support.