NHL 2023/24

[Lkristians]

I'm very much looking forward to the NHL Winter Classic in Seattle on 1/1. Happy Hockey Holidays everyone!!!

[DanR]

I was at the Red Wings/Flyers game last night. The Wings started out with a 5 - 1 first period lead. They eventually blew it and the Flyers took a 6 - 5 lead in the third period. The Wings ultimately tied the game in the third period. After a non scoring overtime, the Wings eventually prevailed in the shoot out.

I never saw a shoot out in person. It turned out great.

What a game! Go Wings!

[Dru Edwards]

Originally Posted by Lkristians

I'm very much looking forward to the NHL Winter Classic in Seattle on 1/1. Happy Hockey Holidays everyone!!!

Hey Larry, it'll be the battle of the expansion teams. Do you remember when expansion teams used to be the worst teams in the league? I wonder how the temperature will be in Seattle and how the ice will be.

Originally Posted by DanR

I was at the Red Wings/Flyers game last night. The Wings started out with a 5 - 1 first period lead. They eventually blew it and the Flyers took a 6 - 5 lead in the third period. The Wings ultimately tied the game in the third period. After a non scoring overtime, the Wings eventually prevailed in the shoot out.

I never saw a shoot out in person. It turned out great.

What a game! Go Wings!

Patrick Kane finally started scoring/assisting in his past few games after a slow start. I wonder if he can finish the season at a near point per game average.

[Lkristians]

Hey Dru! As an Islander fan from the 70's I sure do remember how bad they were! The ice in Seattle? Great point, It will be interesting!

[catdaddy]

The Pens have had a rough go of it this season, but last night's game against the Islanders was the best Christmas present to all of us fans of the team that we could hope for. First, there was the 7-0 win at the Isle's arena, but that doesn't begin to explain the joy in Penguin land. The big present was the historical significance of Kris Letang's night on the ice:

His 6 assists in a game tied him with only 6 other defensemen in NHL history to accomplish that feat.

His 5 assists in a single period are an NHL record for forwards and defensemen.

His 6 assists came in a span of 19:33 breaking the previous record held by Wayne Gretzky by more than 10 minutes.

What a thing of beauty it was to behold such a performance!!!

And, while Kris Letang had himself a night to remember, so did his teammate Evgeni Malkin. By scoring 2 goals (#483 & #484 for his career), Malkin passed Sergei Federov to move into second place all-time in goals scored for a Russian born NHL player, behind only Alex Ovechkin.

Yes, these guys are both past the mid-point of their 30s, but they're clearly not finished. It was a great night to be a Pens fan!!!!!!!

[Dru Edwards]

Hey Cat,

What a great game by Letang! I didn't know that Malkin moved into 2nd career Russian goal scoring. He's always been a classy and quiet guy. I hope they can pull it all together this year and make the playoffs.

Originally Posted by catdaddy

The Pens have had a rough go of it this season, but last night's game against the Islanders was the best Christmas present to all of us fans of the team that we could hope for. First, there was the 7-0 win at the Isle's arena, but that doesn't begin to explain the joy in Penguin land. The big present was the historical significance of Kris Letang's night on the ice:

His 6 assists in a game tied him with only 6 other defensemen in NHL history to accomplish that feat.

His 5 assists in a single period are an NHL record for forwards and defensemen.

His 6 assists came in a span of 19:33 breaking the previous record held by Wayne Gretzky by more than 10 minutes.

What a thing of beauty it was to behold such a performance!!!

And, while Kris Letang had himself a night to remember, so did his teammate Evgeni Malkin. By scoring 2 goals (#483 & #484 for his career), Malkin passed Sergei Federov to move into second place all-time in goals scored for a Russian born NHL player, behind only Alex Ovechkin.

Yes, these guys are both past the mid-point of their 30s, but they're clearly not finished. It was a great night to be a Pens fan!!!!!!!

[catdaddy]

Originally Posted by Dru Edwards

Hey Cat,

What a great game by Letang! I didn't know that Malkin moved into 2nd career Russian goal scoring. He's always been a classy and quiet guy. I hope they can pull it all together this year and make the playoffs.

I hope so too. It'll be difficult for them to make up for a poor start to the season, but I'll be rooting for them to make it. I'd love to have one more chance to see Crosby in the playoffs.

[Lkristians]

Originally Posted by catdaddy

I hope so too. It'll be difficult for them to make up for a poor start to the season, but I'll be rooting for them to make it. I'd love to have one more chance to see Crosby in the playoffs.

It's a loooong season, so you never know! And even though you beat up on my Islanders, I'll be rooting for Sid to make the playoffs as well!

[roberts]

Hate to be the contrarian but I think we can do without the Winter Classic. It was fun the first couple of years but has become a fairly passive event for marketing and new years day relevance. Literally no hitting, it's more like me a soccer "friendly". Was hoping the Kraken would at least come out in those classic Metropolitans jerseys.

[jnidoh]

Been a Ranger fan since the late 50's. Lived in upstate NY and listened to the games on the radio. Learned a long time ago not to get too loud about a winning season and not to cry too long when they stink since I'm not on the team and don't have any financial ties to them.

But am I enjoying this year? Darn right!!

Lucky enough to have MSG station and get to see almost every game. Even though we have a Penguins minor league team in Wilkes-Barre, there isn't that much NHL coverage in the local papers so don't hear too much about western conf teams. There's a lot of talent out there and I couldn't even begin to guess who might be playing for the cup this year.

The Rangers are playing well even though they are not overly physical or extremely fast on the ice. They have Shesterkin and Quick doing adequate jobs in goal and a team capable of scoring goals and providing a defensive wall for their goalies.

Their biggest problem seems to be against teams that, on paper, they should easily beat, but they get complacent, give up several easy goals, give the opposition confidence and then totally fall apart.

Still more then half the season to go but will enjoy reading everyones input on their local teams and how they are doing. Thanks for the thread.

john

[roberts]

I'm with you John. As a kid I'd catch the occasional Ranger game on radio with Les Keiter doing the call. Then on to Win Elliott and Jim Gordon before Marv took over. While we've been a fun watch the first half of the season, we don't play the heavy game that wears opponents down in the playoffs. And I've learned that the Rangers disappoint most when expectations are highest. Look for another early exit this year.

[Lkristians]

Do you Rangers fans remember the Big Whistle?

[Neil K Walk]

Originally Posted by catdaddy

I hope so too. It'll be difficult for them to make up for a poor start to the season, but I'll be rooting for them to make it. I'd love to have one more chance to see Crosby in the playoffs.

Hear hear!

The Caps really put a damper on those sentiments in 20 minutes though. The only bright side of it was that (for some stupid reason) the game was only available to watch on ESPN+/Hulu so my only exposure to the horror was akin to seeing the aftermath of a train wreck on the news.

From what I hear though, Sid still had a great game and the Pens at least responded with 3 goals, so it wasn't a 4-0 shutout. 2 points is 2 points though. That really hurt things.

[jnidoh]

Larry, always had a problem with names and it may be old age but don't remember the Big Whistle.

After watching Tuesday nights game against the 'Canes, there may be some truth to Roberts prediction of an early out of the playoffs for the Rangers.

Won't ever understand a team capable of playing like Cup winners one day and then looking like a half hearted college team against the pros the next. The talent doesn't disappear, but one might question the motivation. To my way of thinking, when most of the players are millionaires, and the minimum salary, I believe, is 750 thou, that's motivation enough.

john

[roberts]

https://www.tcdb.com/ViewCard.cfm/si...-Bill-Chadwick

Larry - Who could forget The Big Whistle. A native New Yorker, first USA - born ref, and could only see out of one eye!