Around the NHL 2024 25

Not with a Sherwood, Christian or Koho. No whip, he'd probably miss the net regularly, like all good shooters did back then. I can't even think of a good one timer player, historically, until Brett Hull, with the sticks starting to change.
Mike Bossy
 
Blues might have the best chance to get to the cup by staying in W1 position and avoiding all the top team in the central division The W1 will play in the pacific teams in rounds 1and 2 and if they win both of those rounds will play the winner of Wpg/Dallas/Colorado/W2 in western CF
Playoff seeding is beyond f***ed in the league.

You don't have to create imaginary rivalries, make the standings mean something. Just do 1-8 2-7 etc. and then reseed each round.

Playing in a strong division shouldn't be punitive. It's bad enough you play your division opponents more in the regular season.

The NHL should want their best teams lasting longer in the playoffs, and it would make the regular season even more important.
 
Playoff seeding is beyond f***ed in the league.

You don't have to create imaginary rivalries, make the standings mean something. Just do 1-8 2-7 etc. and then reseed each round.

Playing in a strong division shouldn't be punitive. It's bad enough you play your division opponents more in the regular season.

The NHL should want their best teams lasting longer in the playoffs, and it would make the regular season even more important.
I agree. Divisions for me is only for time zone purposes and maximizing tv viewership. Playoffs should be seeded 1-8 in conference.
 
Mike Bossy
Interesting. I never thought of Bossy as a one timer guy. More of a slot shooter.

You look at the big scorers in the 80s, like Gretz and Stastny and they controlled the puck on the goal line or behind the net.

You have Dave Andreychuk with more than 600 goals and they mostly came from the same place in his career. Like Tim Kerr.

The best shooters manned the points, like Bobby Hull, Guy Lafleur, but they weren't one timer guys. Same with Al MacInnis.

I'm convinced that for all the flak Gretzky gets for playing against substandard goalies with undersized equipment, and heavy pads, that Ovechkin would not have dominated that era, simply because the sticks of that time couldn't handle the torque on a one timer. Would have snapped in half.
 
I wouldn't. Also place Ovi in that time and he's going to score 20 goals a game. No comparison at all.

Comparing between era’s in any sport is tough. During Gretz’s era the average goals scored per game in the NHL was about 3.7 so although the goaltenders looked hapless in replays it didn’t really look like that game in game out, nor did the numbers bare that out. Ovi has put up his numbers in a slightly harder era to score in, the last 4 seasons in the NHL goals scored have been around 3.1 goals per game.

Alex’s accomplishment is obviously great, he is the top goal scorer of all time driven by two primary factors. He shoots the puck allot (volume) and he has been remarkably healthy for 20 seasons. His career shooting % of 13.1 is good but slightly modest. When you shoot as much as Alex for as many years it really adds up. Late in his career he is still putting up 40 goals a season. His record will be tough to break because it’s hard to stay healthy and productive in such a violent sport.

I am skiing in Big White with the family and we put the game on last night, it was great to watch the milestone happen in real time.
 
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Interesting. I never thought of Bossy as a one timer guy. More of a slot shooter.

You look at the big scorers in the 80s, like Gretz and Stastny and they controlled the puck on the goal line or behind the net.

You have Dave Andreychuk with more than 600 goals and they mostly came from the same place in his career. Like Tim Kerr.

The best shooters manned the points, like Bobby Hull, Guy Lafleur, but they weren't one timer guys. Same with Al MacInnis.

I'm convinced that for all the flak Gretzky gets for playing against substandard goalies with undersized equipment, and heavy pads, that Ovechkin would not have dominated that era, simply because the sticks of that time couldn't handle the torque on a one timer. Would have snapped in half.
Never mind that Ovi probably has the diet of contemporary players of that time, but he would not have necessarily had a modern training regiment to compensate 😂
 
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Comparing between era’s in any sport is tough. During Gretz’s era the average goals scored per game in the NHL was about 3.7 so although the goaltenders looked hapless in replays it didn’t really look like that game in game out, nor did the numbers bare that out. Ovi has put up his numbers in a slightly harder era to score in, the last 4 seasons in the NHL goals scored have been around 3.1 goals per game.

Alex’s accomplishment is obviously great, he is the top goal scorer of all time driven by two primary factors. He shoots the puck allot (volume) and he has been remarkably healthy for 20 seasons. His career shooting % of 13.1 is good but slightly modest. When you shoot as much as Alex for as many years it really adds up. Late in his career he is still putting up 40 goals a season. His record will be tough to break because it’s hard to stay healthy and productive in such a violent sport.

I am skiing in Big White with the family and we put the game on last night, it was great to watch the milestone happen in real time.
A 13% sh% on his volume in the era he played in is more than just modest.
 
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Never mind that Ovi probably has the diet of contemporary players of that time, but he would not have necessarily had a modern training regiment to compensate 😂
Yep without a doubt these guys are the best conditioned athletes. Imagine getting the crate of Molson's dropped off at your residence to begin the offseason. And smoking like a chimney. It's really two different eras.
 
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Interesting. I never thought of Bossy as a one timer guy. More of a slot shooter.

You look at the big scorers in the 80s, like Gretz and Stastny and they controlled the puck on the goal line or behind the net.

You have Dave Andreychuk with more than 600 goals and they mostly came from the same place in his career. Like Tim Kerr.

The best shooters manned the points, like Bobby Hull, Guy Lafleur, but they weren't one timer guys. Same with Al MacInnis.

I'm convinced that for all the flak Gretzky gets for playing against substandard goalies with undersized equipment, and heavy pads, that Ovechkin would not have dominated that era, simply because the sticks of that time couldn't handle the torque on a one timer. Would have snapped in half.

Bossy was probably my favorite goal scorer, certainly the purest shooter I have seen. Brett Hull had a hell of a shot too but boy was he a lazy hockey player :laugh:
 
Absolutely.

One guy is in the past, and one team is a clear and present danger.

Dallas makes up their game in hand this weekend with a back to back against Pens at home, and Wild on the road. Any combination of Dallas loss and Jets win still keeps a 4 point barrier, with the chance to all but eliminate the Stars in Dallas.
would be great if we could eliminate them in Dallas next week lmao. I'll settle for beat senseless though
 
Interesting. I never thought of Bossy as a one timer guy. More of a slot shooter.

You look at the big scorers in the 80s, like Gretz and Stastny and they controlled the puck on the goal line or behind the net.

You have Dave Andreychuk with more than 600 goals and they mostly came from the same place in his career. Like Tim Kerr.

The best shooters manned the points, like Bobby Hull, Guy Lafleur, but they weren't one timer guys. Same with Al MacInnis.

I'm convinced that for all the flak Gretzky gets for playing against substandard goalies with undersized equipment, and heavy pads, that Ovechkin would not have dominated that era, simply because the sticks of that time couldn't handle the torque on a one timer. Would have snapped in half.
Lafleur could score from anywhere. More moves than a pail of worms. KC reminds me of him.
 
Playoff seeding is beyond f***ed in the league.

You don't have to create imaginary rivalries, make the standings mean something. Just do 1-8 2-7 etc. and then reseed each round.

Playing in a strong division shouldn't be punitive. It's bad enough you play your division opponents more in the regular season.

The NHL should want their best teams lasting longer in the playoffs, and it would make the regular season even more important.

It won't change because the owners like it. It has improved ratings in the early rounds and the league exists for one thing only and that is to make money. I'd be all for just removing divisions and only having conferences. Then change the schedule to maybe do double headers against each team to save on travel costs.
 
Interesting. I never thought of Bossy as a one timer guy. More of a slot shooter.

You look at the big scorers in the 80s, like Gretz and Stastny and they controlled the puck on the goal line or behind the net.

You have Dave Andreychuk with more than 600 goals and they mostly came from the same place in his career. Like Tim Kerr.

The best shooters manned the points, like Bobby Hull, Guy Lafleur, but they weren't one timer guys. Same with Al MacInnis.

I'm convinced that for all the flak Gretzky gets for playing against substandard goalies with undersized equipment, and heavy pads, that Ovechkin would not have dominated that era, simply because the sticks of that time couldn't handle the torque on a one timer. Would have snapped in half.

Ovechkin has really morphed a few times as a player which has helped.

Early on he was an electric player who was clocked as one of, if not the fastest skater in the league in his early days. He scored a tonne off the rush and was an absolute beast reminded me a bit of Bure early on. Then his skating started to take a dip and his speed started to falter and he started morphing into a more positional scorer, finding the soft areas of the ice and really started leaning on his one timer. As he aged he has developed a nose for the front of the net as well and scores a lot of goals in tight still.

The dude can score in a variety of ways, not just one timers. He's a complete package shooter who has monster longevity and has remained one of the best scorers from the day he entered the league until now at 39 years old. It's going to take someone likely just like him to be able to break the record he is likely to set, baring some changes in the scoring environment. I don't think Ovi would have any trouble scoring in any era.
 
Comparing between era’s in any sport is tough. During Gretz’s era the average goals scored per game in the NHL was about 3.7 so although the goaltenders looked hapless in replays it didn’t really look like that game in game out, nor did the numbers bare that out. Ovi has put up his numbers in a slightly harder era to score in, the last 4 seasons in the NHL goals scored have been around 3.1 goals per game.

Alex’s accomplishment is obviously great, he is the top goal scorer of all time driven by two primary factors. He shoots the puck allot (volume) and he has been remarkably healthy for 20 seasons. His career shooting % of 13.1 is good but slightly modest. When you shoot as much as Alex for as many years it really adds up. Late in his career he is still putting up 40 goals a season. His record will be tough to break because it’s hard to stay healthy and productive in such a violent sport.

I am skiing in Big White with the family and we put the game on last night, it was great to watch the milestone happen in real time.
I thought the snow was bad now. One of my coworkers called it vecro snow!
 

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