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The NHL schedule is ridiculous.

I know this question has been done to death but I still wanna know who y’alls favourite players are…

Personally I’d have to go with Daniel Alfredsson. As a lifelong Sens fan, this was a no brainer, but not just because he was our captain and arguably best player for over 12 years.

It was his drive, his tenacity. Every play, every shift, he left it ALL on the ice and gave it his all. He had this ability to energize an entire city’s worth of fans just by skating out onto the ice.

Having met the man years and years ago when I was about 8 or 9, he couldn’t have been more kind. Took the time to not only listen to me gush about him and the team, but also gave me pointers for next time I was on the ice back in my Pee-Wee/Atom days.

He was just this symbol of what not only players should aspire to be, but what PEOPLE should aspire to be.

There was a math error with the previous one, sorry! 😅

Yall have a lovely day!

So I’m going to take over for NHL commissioner Gary Bettman next offseason and I’ve decided to unilaterally relocate all the league’s teams on a proportional basis, to the cities where people apparently care the most about hockey.
Here’s how I’m going to do it.
I’ll reallocate the NHL’s 32 teams using proportional representation, on the basis of:

1. Interest in hockey (using participation as a proxy)
2. Population
3. Arena availability

I’ll try to keep as many existing NHL franchises in place as I can, but no promises you guys. Let’s begin.

Participants: 548,800 (Canada | by region) + 556,929 (USA | by state) = 1,105,729
Teams: 32
Quota: 33,507

REGION BY REGION
Ontario 6
Quebec 3
Alberta 2
Minnesota 2
Massachusetts 1
New York 1
British Columbia 1
Michigan 1
California 1
Saskatchewan 1
Pennsylvania 1
Illinois 1
Manitoba 1
Wisconsin 1
Florida 1
Ohio 1
New Jersey 1
Colorado 1
Texas 1
Nova Scotia 1
Washington 1
Connecticut 1
District of Columbia 1

All quotas were rounded to the nearest whole number. I then allocated the final three teams to Washington, Connecticut and the District of Columbia on the basis of population and arena availability, edging out a second Massachusetts team and New Brunswick.

Going one level deeper, then, which cities should get an NHL franchise?

ONTARIO 6
Population: 16,124,116
Quota: 2,303,445

• Toronto 3*
• Ottawa 1
• Hamilton 1
• London 1

I’ve awarded the last Ontario franchise to London on the basis of population and arena size, outbidding Kitchener, St Catharines, Windsor and Oshawa. However, there’s a shortage of arenas in Toronto so, after much chin-rubbing, I’ve decided to place a team in the nearest decent venue … Buffalo, NY. Count yourselves lucky, Sabres fans.

QUEBEC 3
Population: 9,056,044
Quota: 2,264,011

• Montreal 2
• Quebec City 1

ALBERTA 2
Population: 4,888,723
Quota: 1,629,574

• Calgary 1
• Edmonton 1

MINNESOTA 2
Population: 5,737,915
Quota: 1,912,638

• Minneapolis-St Paul 2

REST OF THE UNITED STATES 12

• New York 1
• Detroit 1
• Los Angeles 1
• Philadelphia 1
• Chicago 1
• Milwaukee 1
• Miami 1
• Columbus 1
• Newark 1
• Denver 1
• Dallas 1
• Seattle 1

I’m keeping a team in Columbus rather than relocating it to Cincinnati, which has a bigger population.

REST OF CANADA 3

• Saskatoon 1
• Winnipeg 1
• Halifax 1

A total of 22 NHL franchises will remain in place. The 10 teams to be relocated are the Anaheim Ducks, Carolina Hurricanes, Nashville Predators, New York Islanders (sorry guys, but you’re number two), Pittsburgh Penguins, San Jose Sharks, St Louis Blues, Tampa Bay Lightning, Utah and Vegas Golden Knights.

Now, what do we call the new teams?
For inspiration, I’ve looked at major, minor and junior teams past and present, and occasionally city or regional emblems. There weren’t any obvious names in a few cities, so I’ve made a few more unilateral decisions. Thankfully the NHL board of governors and the world’s best copyright lawyers are on board.
Welcome to the proportional NHL.

https://preview.redd.it/a5egwfp4nvzd1.png?width=1496&format=png&auto=webp&s=9383f24a916fded3161b5d45095b6f612102041f

https://preview.redd.it/hofej0n5nvzd1.png?width=656&format=png&auto=webp&s=7837b38f5cb12ef2b8d675b0fe61a5983a5c6bfa

Thanks for noticing that I’ve pointedly moved a Florida team to Quebec, St Louis to Saskatoon and Nashville to Hamilton; turned the Hurricanes back into the Whalers; and will allow Sidney Crosby to finish his career in Nova Scotia. I’m a prick like that. Obviously the playoff format will be Canada v United States. Seattle and Detroit will have to fight for the right to stay in the US during the playoffs. Buffalo, you’re in Canada now, too bad.

Finally, before you ask about expansion to 36 teams, I’m already receiving reports that we’ve got strong bids from Worcester, MA; Moncton, NB; New York, NY; and Phoenix, AZ.

As title says, my friend is OBSESSED with Connor Bedard and would love to see him practice, we live in Calgary and are planning to go to the December 21st game in Calgary, so my question is this:

Is there a place to watch the away team practice? I know Father David Bauer arena, Wintersport or Max Bell Center are probably my best bets, but since going to the game is a birthday gift for her, I’m trying to make it as special as possible.

If anyone can give me any tips or suggestions I’d really love that! Thanks.

They are simply so far down the rabbit hole that something needs to change like, idk, right now lol. After the bad start i figured it was just some minor chemistry issues or some rusty parts but HOOOOOLAY they are just hard to watch man. My local house league team could strip the puck from them (joke jesus don't ream me). Bad hockey, great players, bad chem, bad everything. Would hate to be a fan. Such high expectations after such monstrous pickups and somehow they are getting worse and worse. I hope this bites me in the ass, i really do, it's so upsetting. I gave it time, they suck. If they make the playoffs, i will be super shocked.

Thoughts Rangers fans? You look so drained of energy. Shesterkin cannot be pulled many times in a season right?

16. Anton Forsberg OTT. A surprise but already 2 So's on the season and a 3-2 record paired with a .910% it's early he'll probably won't last in the power rankings for long, but I'm sticking Forsberg here for now.

17. Juuse Saros NSH. I know I felt weird for putting him on this list, but despite his record of 3-7-1 and Nashville's terrible start Saros is still is posting a .904% and 2.85 GAA on a team with a below .400 winning percentage. I'm putting him here for now because his numbers would be a lot better if he was on a hotter team.

18. Dustin Wolf CGY. It's early but Wolf has a 4-2 record and a .908% on a flames team who was and is still expected to be at the bottom.

19. Andrei Vasilevskiy TB. It feels strange to not see Vasilevskiy in the top tier of goaltenders in the last couple of years. He is showing flashes of his former self prior to his back surgery last season posting a 6-5 record and .903% so far. I think he will climb this list down the season.

20. Jacob Markstrom NJ. Markstrom is starting to find himself in Jersey. Starting out in Czechia this season, he has a 5-4-1 record and .907%, not out this world numbers but I think he can heat up at any time.

21. Joey Daccord SEA. Daccord has gone from a 7th rounder to the goalie for the Kraken. Being taken from the senators in the Kraken expansion draft DAccord has found his place in Seattle. This season he has a 4-3-1 record and .915% on a Kraken team that does not seem to be a playoff contender.

22. Logan Thompson WSH. Thompson does not have the prettiest numbers with a .903% and 2.81 GAA, however, he has yet to lose a game in Washington posting a perfect 6-0 record in his first season in DC.

23. Ilya Sorokin NYI. Sorokin looks to be back in full form for the Isles this year. With a .921% and 2.36 GAA which is a big improvement from his statistical dip from last season. He is definitely giving New York a shot to get hot with his performances.

24. Jake Oettinger DAL. Another strong year for Oettinger, nothing much else to say other than that he is posting strong numbers across the board with a 5-2 record and .917% on a Stars team with it's eyes locked in on nothing else except winning Lord Stanley's mug.

25. Filip Gustavsson MIN. Like Sorokin, Gustavsson is returning to his form from his breakout debut season with the Wild from the 2022-23 season. As of now, Gus has a 6-2-1 record, a .917% and a 2.33 GAA. And I forgot to mention he has more goals then fellow teammate Jonas Brodin and Torono's Max Domi combined.

26. Cam Talbot DET. Talbot is shocking us yet again like he did last year with the Kings. Despite only playing in 5 games, Talbot has a 4-1 record and an outstanding .929% on a Red Wings team looking to make some noise.

27. Kevin Lankinen VAN. Another great surprise this season so far. Lankinen has helped bolster Vancouver's net with the absence of Thatcher Demko and the early struggles of last spring's surprise star Arturs Silovs. Lankinen is yet to lose in regulation with a stellar 6-0-2 record, .923%, and is currently the leader in GAA for goalies who have at least played in 5 games with a GAA of 2.09.

28. Anthony Stolarz TOR. From one surprise to another. Stolarz has been outstanding this year handling the pressures of Toronto... at least so far. Coming off a championship as the backup for Bobrovsky, Stolarz is proving he can more than handle the net in the early stages of the season with a 5-2-2 record, .928%, and a GAA of 2.12. It was tough choosing between Stolarz and Lankinen but dedcided this ranking due the sligth difference in save percentage.

29. Lukas Dostal ANA. Like we needed another shock on the list. Dostal has put up absurd numbers despite playing for a team that was and still is projected to be roughly bottom 5. We'll see how long he can keep it up but for now Dostal has managed to backstop the Ducks to a 4-4-2 record which isn't eye opening but his .930% and 2.50 GAA is.

30. Igor Shesterkin NYR. Finally back to some familiar ground. Igor Shesterkin and the New York Ranger are not falling short of any big expectations they had coming into this season. The goaltender of last year's President's Trophy team has picked up his former MVP nomination pace holding the fort down with a 6-2 record and a more than solid .933%.

1.Connor Hellebuyck WPG. Last year's Vezina winner and his team seem to be essentially unstoppable this year. Hellebuyck is 9-1 this season with 2 shutouts a .923% and a 2.10 GAA. There is nothing much more to be said about Hellebuyck's dominance, this perennial All-Star goalie is well on his way for competing for his 2nd straight and 3rd overall Vezina.

Let me know what you guys think. My honourable mentions: Jake Allen, Pyotr Kochetkov, Darcy Kuemper.

Ever since Shesterkin turned down the $88 mil deal from the Rangers I starting thinking about what would happen if the rangers and Igor can’t end up coming with a contract that satisfies both parties and Igor ends up signing to a different team. Where would he probably go? And who would we sign since Quick is getting old and as good of a goalie he is for a backup, we would probably need someone younger? Or am I just paranoid and they’ll most likely come up with some contract soon. Either way if we lose our goalie I’ll be devastated

Gdafo adjusts regular gf/ga for the strength of the opponent a team is playing to determine offensive and defensive strength(ex:allowing only 2 goals vs winnipegs league leading offense would be far more impressive in adjusted goals against, vs allowing 2 goals to the ducks league worst offense.)

Rn the bruins have the leagues second worst gfafo(goals for adjusted for opponent) to the ducks and sixth worst gaafo(goals against adjusted for opponent) ahead of the canadiens.

They however are alone at an under -.4 deviated gdafo(for reference winnipeg is currently alone at almost +.6, followed by the rangers back at a bit over +.4) while the sharks are second worst at just over -.4.(over meaning greater than so in the -.30s)

I haven't tracked gdafo previously and am surprised no site like moneypuck ever has, but I'm pretty certain the bruins who were 2nd in gf in 2022-23 and had a massive league leading 1st ranked ga defense, would be first in it. The shocking thing is even after losing bergeron+krejci, decent depth play +the tendies, marchand, pastrnak, and a good d group took them to 2nd in the atlantic and a 6 game 2nd round exit a year ago.

To see a team like that decline so fast, especially one as historically well managed as Boston, is shocking.