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NHL 2024- 2025 Out of Town III:

BruinDust said:
They are a wagon now. Getting Nichushkin back was big for them. Plus all the moves.

For my money Florida/Tampa/Colorado/Dallas are the 4 best teams in hockey and two of the four might be gone after Round 1. I'm not sold on the Caps or Jets.
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This is why the league should go back to the 1 vs 8 conference playoff format
 
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James Mirtle
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March 17, 2025Updated 12:21 pm EDT

Editor’s note: This article is part of our Rankings & Tiers series, an evaluation across sport about the key players, front offices, teams, franchises and much more.

They’re not always talked about as much as star players, head coaches and general managers. And, in many cases, they’re not in the limelight.

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But one thing I’ve seen repeatedly covering the NHL the past 20 years is the value of a good owner to an organization — and the disruption that can come from having a bad one.

Owners set the tone for their franchises. They, ultimately, pick who is in charge of their most important hockey decisions, as well as the organization’s key business decisions. They help build arenas. They build fan bases. And they can also help build communities through charitable endeavors and redevelopment projects.

Several months ago, we put out a call to our NHL readers to evaluate their owners. Nearly 4,000 of you — including representatives from all 32 NHL fan bases — filled out our detailed owner survey, and the results are fascinating.

We’ve compiled your answers in four key ownership categories — willingness to spend, organizational stability, treatment of the fan base and franchise vision — into a “Fan Score” and combined that with our own ranking that factors in objective things such as team performance in the regular season and playoffs (over the past decade) as well as ownership’s general reputation and influence, according to our reporting.

The end result is our first-ever NHL ownership rankings. Keep in mind that this ranking is an amalgam of 50 percent fan perception of their teams’ owners and 50 percent of our own accounting for owner performance, and in some cases, those factors don’t align with one another. (In some markets, fans don’t love their owner even though the franchise is successful on the ice, for example.)

Note: Survey responses have been edited for clarity and length.



Vinik has become the gold standard for an owner, not just in the NHL but also in pro sports. He took the Lightning from a bottomed-out laughingstock to a powerhouse, a team that has won more games than anyone over the past decade and somehow remains a contender, year after year.

Vinik also transformed downtown Tampa through massive redevelopment of the area and has donated millions to charity through community initiatives every home game.

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Lightning fans voted Vinik the NHL’s top owner in treatment of the fan base and organizational stability, but he scored highly in every category to the point he ran away with the top spot. He is the only owner in the league to receive an A+ rating.

The only negative note? Vinik has sold most of his stake in the franchise and will step aside for a new majority owner in 2027.



Those are very big shoes to fill.
 
Chevalier du Clavier said:
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I think if the fans had their way, it would be Outlaws, but deep down I think the ownership really didn't like Outlaws, didn't want to keep HC, so Mammoth it is.

Personally I think it's a bad team name. "Let's go Mammoth" doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. No real way to shorten it either.

www.deseret.com

Utah Hockey Club has yet to reveal a permanent name. What do Utahns think it should be?

A new Deseret News/Hinckley Institute poll reveals the name Utahns favor for NHL team.
www.deseret.com www.deseret.com
 
It is more fun watching other games now . My Bruins season is over but still a lot of hockey to watch. I wonder how Don Sweeney would feel watching Ullmark take Ottawa on a deep playoff run. Keeping Swayman seemed to be the logical choice but right now Linus is so much better.
 
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Little way to go yet, but Monty's marching the red-hot Blues into the playoffs I reckon, where they'll get essentially a free hit at a Jets team that will have all the pressure and be desperate to atone for past playoff failures. There's no doubt the guy is a good coach, at least in the regular season. Going to be interesting to see how he handles a postseason series away from the bright lights of Boston, if St Louis do end up making it.
 
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I don’t think Ottawa could beat Florida if they played them, or Washington. But if they played the Leafs they would give them all they could handle. I thought Saturday night when they beat 4-2 they showed more grit than Ottawa teams have had in a long time and I think Ullmark wants to show he can win in the playoffs.
 
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Aussie Bruin said:
Little way to go yet, but Monty's marching the red-hot Blues into the playoffs I reckon, where they'll get essentially a free hit at a Jets team that will have all the pressure and be desperate to atone for past playoff failures. There's no doubt the guy is a good coach, at least in the regular season. Going to be interesting to see how he handles a postseason series away from the bright lights of Boston, if St Louis do end up making it.
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Blues are on a decent run but they are benefitting from a clear separation between the Top 7 teams in that conference and the rest. 7th place Minnesota are 38-30 (8 games over .500). Meanwhile, 8th placed Vancouver are 31-36 (5 games under). Blues 33-35 (2 games under), Calgary 30-36 (6 games) and Utah are 30-37 (7 games under). Outside of this latest run Blues are basically in the same position as the rest of their mediocre brethren.

If Hellebuyck loses to the Blues in Round 1 he should just give up and retire.
 
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BruinDust said:
Blues are on a decent run but they are benefitting from a clear separation between the Top 7 teams in that conference and the rest. 7th place Minnesota are 38-30 (8 games over .500). Meanwhile, 8th placed Vancouver are 31-36 (5 games under). Blues 33-35 (2 games under), Calgary 30-36 (6 games) and Utah are 30-37 (7 games under). Outside of this latest run Blues are basically in the same position as the rest of their mediocre brethren.

If Hellebuyck loses to the Blues in Round 1 he should just give up and retire.
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They are, but they are in form at the right time and their run home includes two games against the Preds, plus they play the lowly Hawks, Pens and Kraken. Only four games against genuine top teams - Avs twice, Jets and the stuttering Oilers. Huge, essentially 4-point game against the Nucks on Thursday. So yeah, no guarantees, but amongst those so-so teams battling for the last WC spot, I like their chances and I reckon Monty will deliver, if for no other reason than it would be typical Bruins trolling for him to do so.

As for the playoffs, 100% the Jets should wipe the floor with them. But this is the NHL - stranger things have happened!
 
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Aussie Bruin said:
They are, but they are in form at the right time and their run home includes two games against the Preds, plus they play the lowly Hawks, Pens and Kraken. Only four games against genuine top teams - Avs twice, Jets and the stuttering Oilers. Huge, essentially 4-point game against the Nucks on Thursday. So yeah, no guarantees, but amongst those so-so teams battling for the last WC spot, I like their chances and I reckon Monty will deliver, if for no other reason than it would be typical Bruins trolling for him to do so.

As for the playoffs, 100% the Jets should wipe the floor with them. But this is the NHL - stranger things have happened!
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Doesn't feel like Vancouver or Calgary are grabbing their opportunity by the throat. Vancouver in particular they really need Hughes back healthy and in form. Same with Demko. Boeser is in a slump. Petterson is starting to produce though. I do think the Blues have a strong chance to slip into that 8th seed.
 
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TP70BruinsCup said:
I don’t think Ottawa could beat Florida if they played them, or Washington. But if they played the Leafs they would give them all they could handle. I thought Saturday night when they beat 4-2 they showed more grit than Ottawa teams have had in a long time and I think Ullmark wants to show he can win in the playoffs.
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Sens-Habs has been an interesting watch. Two decent, talented teams on the rise but still with visible flaws. Montreal gets the better of this one. Both goalies were a bit fumbly tonight. Ullmark was decent but failing to cover on that go-ahead goal hurt.

Ottawa are still the more rounded of the two I'd say, and the one more likely to do some damage in the playoffs, especially against the Leafs as you said if it worked out that way. But the Habs are riding a bit of a wave, for sure. Every chance of sneaking a WC spot.
 
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Aussie Bruin said:
Sens-Habs has been an interesting watch. Two decent, talented teams on the rise but still with visible flaws. Montreal gets the better of this one. Both goalies were a bit fumbly tonight. Ullmark was decent but failing to cover on that go-ahead goal hurt.

Ottawa are still the more rounded of the two I'd say, and the one more likely to do some damage in the playoffs, especially against the Leafs as you said if it worked out that way. But the Habs are riding a bit of a wave, for sure. Every chance of sneaking a WC spot.
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Twice in a row habs beat them.I said it before say it again.Certain team's give certain teams troubles and this is definitely one of those situations.Habs will not handle Capitals though
 
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