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Edmonton probably has the best chance in the west, but Vegas, LA, Dallas and Colorado won’t make it easy. Still, I think it will be very entertaining.
 
IanO said:
A good analysis, but I would say getting to the conference finals is a MUST, but anything after that is incredibly tough with far too many variables than '97/29' can influence.
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Yup. Realistically in the salary cap era, you basically build a team that can win their division but after that it's basically whoever has the hottest goalie and least key injuries.

Not that a team should ever take their foot of the gas, but I am wondering if we'll begin to see the NBA's strategy of load management starting to make an appearance in the NHL, especially in the last ~10 games on teams where their positioning is more/less finalized. IMO, without it being a 1-8 seeding ranking, who you play within your division/WC is a big tossup regardless, so it's really just battling for home ice adv. Don't know if that makes a bigger difference than rested stars/key players.
 
I feel like teams have been doing "load management" with some of the ltir cap circumvention that has become so commonplace in the NHL. Not necessarily the same because teams are claiming they are actually injured (the extent to which they truly are being unclear), and not teams out and out saying that they are sitting their players to keep them fresh. For example, I'm sure Kucherov was healthy when the Lightning sat him and went on to win the cup. Taking advantage of both the added cap space and resting their players. I don't think Connor and Leon would ever be okay with this though, especially Connor. They seem like the type of players that want to be out competing as often as they can even if it may be against the best interest of the team from a cap / rest perspective. Expect to see Vegas do this with Stone though.
 
Obviously injuries and other factors throughout the year may change this, but looking at our roster right now I think this season will be our best chance to win a cup.

Thats not to say it's the only chance, we had a good shot at it last year and will continue to be a good team for years to come. But looking at the ages of our core, the contracts we have, and the fact that they've now had two playoff runs together, this year and next year especially is our best opportunity to get it done.

McDavid is 26, he is at the peak of his powers, he is no longer the youngest phenom in the NHL, that mantle has been passed on to Connor Bedard. Just like Crosby won the Cup in McDavids rookie year I think he does the same in Bedard's.

I said before the start of last season to watch out for Vegas as they got healthier and hired Bruce Cassidy, this year I'm going to say to watch out for Edmonton.
 
Maybe 3.

Absolutely awful play overall. I've never seen such careless hockey in a home opener that was meant to set 'the tone'.

Good on Van for showing the world that they are far better than people give them credit for, but holy Christ this highlighted the balsa wood team play of the Oil.

It's only game one and maybe the best thing for our team, but one of the worst games I've watched in some time.

Looking forward to the rematch.
 
What a disaster bro
 
Games like that are exactly why I stopped going to Rogers. The price of a game is too high to risk having an evening like that. Costs me nothing to just turn off the TV and go find something better to do.

Hope Saturday is better!
 
the journal’s headline writers got it right this morning:
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maybe they can tape one of these in every stall?

hopefully it will be a wake call and they’ll respond in kind saturday.
 
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