Around The NHL Discussion 2021-22 Part II

[rumrokh]

It was nice that they came back and tied the game, but did the Seattle team look 'scared' to anyone else? Maybe that's not the best word, but they didn't look confident to me. (Not that they should be terribly confident, but going into the first game of the year you expect a little more pop and energy.) I think they're going to be in for a long season.

One game. Tampa Bay looked worse and they're going to be fine.

Edit: that said, I don't think Seattle is going to be very good. Not absolute trash, but not as good as Vegas was out of the gate.

 

[Brian39]

It was nice that they came back and tied the game, but did the Seattle team look 'scared' to anyone else? Maybe that's not the best word, but they didn't look confident to me. (Not that they should be terribly confident, but going into the first game of the year you expect a little more pop and energy.) I think they're going to be in for a long season.

I didn't come away with that impression. They were humming off the opening faceoff and almost scored early. Then Grubauer put them in a hole and Vegas got some momentum and dominated for a bit. Vegas is a good team and does that to most teams in the league. Seattle could have laid down, but did a decent job scrapping back in (with some help from Lehner). I thought that they looked a little unconfident in Grubauer, but there was pretty good reason for that. He looked pretty rough. He caught an edge moving side to side on goal #1 which led to him overpushing and ending up off his angle for the shot. Dunn had a brutal giveaway a few minutes later and suddenly it was 2-0 early in the game. Grubauer kept getting beaten clean on unscreened shots from distance but was bailed out by the posts a few times. He also badly misread the pass on the GWG, which led to him not pushing over and instead just waving his stick at the puck. All in all, Grubauer had one of those nights where it felt like everything was going to go in and Seattle looked to me to be scrambling to prevent shots at the expense of opening up passing lanes. It's going to be a long season for them if that is the level of goaltending they get, but I think Grubauer will be fine and if he implodes they have a capable 1B.

I don't think they are a great team, but last night didn't give me "these guys are in for it" vibes.

 

[BadgersandBlues]

I watched the game last night and thought the Kraken played well overall - the one thing that's going to be tough for them (And frankly, this is pretty standard for most expansion teams that aren't gifted an entire second line from a single team, which Florida did for Vegas) is scoring. The only line that looked dangerous was the Schwartz/McCann/Eberle line. I thought that kid Geekie or however you spell it looked solid too, but first games with tons of adrenaline aren't the best predictor for future success. I don't think Gourde was in the lineup either, not sure why, but he would help a lot to balance the scoring. Overall, the Kraken play in a pretty weak division. I think they'll beat up on the crappy teams in the league and lose to the better teams in the league, which is way better then what prior (pre-Vegas) expansion teams could hope for. I am a little surprised that they have so little cap room and so few future assets though.

 

[Thallis]

I watched the game last night and thought the Kraken played well overall - the one thing that's going to be tough for them (And frankly, this is pretty standard for most expansion teams that aren't gifted an entire second line from a single team, which Florida did for Vegas) is scoring. The only line that looked dangerous was the Schwartz/McCann/Eberle line. I thought that kid Geekie or however you spell it looked solid too, but first games with tons of adrenaline aren't the best predictor for future success. I don't think Gourde was in the lineup either, not sure why, but he would help a lot to balance the scoring. Overall, the Kraken play in a pretty weak division. I think they'll beat up on the crappy teams in the league and lose to the better teams in the league, which is way better then what prior (pre-Vegas) expansion teams could hope for. I am a little surprised that they have so little cap room and so few future assets though.

Gourde is recovering from a non serious injury and should be back soon, and Jarnkrok and Johansson were out from covid protocol. That's probably enough in the pacific this season. I was very impressed with Geekie, especially that saucer to spring Tanev in the 3rd.

 

[stlbluz]

How did Dunn look?

 

[izzy]

Geekie is going to be lighting it up for the Kraken

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

How did Dunn look?

He was terrible. One turnover led directly to a goal. Another egregious one probably should have. So basically same as always.

 

[rumrokh]

He was terrible. One turnover led directly to a goal. Another egregious one probably should have. So basically same as always.

Actually looked worse than I expected. Saw him standing around a few times, trying to figure out where to be. Could be a case of a guy who catches fire once he's used to the system and teammates, but, well, we'll have to see about that.

 

[Bobby Orrtuzzo]

Blais already with a hard hit and a scrum in his first shift lol

 

[TheDizee]

refitals

 

[Stealth JD]

lol....why are they having Gretzky talk over the play? that's two goals he's been rambling through...

 

[BadgersandBlues]

The TNT coverage has been pretty brutal. I can't stand Liam McHue (sp) and he was ham-fisting so many clips into the opener, it was brutal. They basically took all the crappy parts of NBC Sports and ported it over, then added Gretzky and Biz. They just need to let Biz and the other Chicklets bois do the pre-game. Maybe add like one other good former player like Gretz to tell stories.

 

[TheDizee]

rick tocchet just said the avs are better off with kuemper as their goalie

LMFAO

 

[BlueDream]

Terrible debut for the Rangers. No response to Wilson and got blown out in the process.

It’s one game but not a good look.

 

[TheDizee]

ROFL hawks let jack johnson score on a breakaway

totally a playoff team tho

 

[Thallis]

The TNT coverage has been pretty brutal. I can't stand Liam McHue (sp) and he was ham-fisting so many clips into the opener, it was brutal. They basically took all the crappy parts of NBC Sports and ported it over, then added Gretzky and Biz. They just need to let Biz and the other Chicklets bois do the pre-game. Maybe add like one other good former player like Gretz to tell stories.

Gretz is a legend but he has the charisma of a wetnap. Definitely a weak link on a coverage team.

 

[Xerloris]

I feel bad for Fluery.

 

[Brockon]

Guy is not a legit #1 on a cup team, he showed that again tonight letting a expansion team get back into the game and tie it when up 3-0. that 3rd goal was a jake allen special

Neither Colorado or Vegas will win the West with their current goaltending situation.

You say that like it's a bad thing... I expect any deep run involves going through one, the other or both of the Avs/Knights.

I'd love to see both teams continue to be media darlings and fall short.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

Jack Johnson backhand breakaway goal..... What backwards reality did the Blues winning the cup spiral us into.

 

[Brockon]

I watched the game last night and thought the Kraken played well overall - the one thing that's going to be tough for them (And frankly, this is pretty standard for most expansion teams that aren't gifted an entire second line from a single team, which Florida did for Vegas) is scoring. The only line that looked dangerous was the Schwartz/McCann/Eberle line. I thought that kid Geekie or however you spell it looked solid too, but first games with tons of adrenaline aren't the best predictor for future success. I don't think Gourde was in the lineup either, not sure why, but he would help a lot to balance the scoring. Overall, the Kraken play in a pretty weak division. I think they'll beat up on the crappy teams in the league and lose to the better teams in the league, which is way better then what prior (pre-Vegas) expansion teams could hope for. I am a little surprised that they have so little cap room and so few future assets though.

Geekie had some really good AHL numbers, and played 36 NHL games in Carolina last season (3-6-9). Far less impressive than his first NHL stint in 2020-21 (3-1-4 in 2GP).

At 23, 6'2 and 168lbs Geekie is definitely an intriguing player. I'd love it if he took off in Seattle - I drafted him in my dynasty league. He's starting to run out of time to cement himself as a offensive NHL player.

 

[TheDizee]

Refalanche are the new Sharks, worthless franchises that wont sniff a cup aslong as they rely on the refs

 

[mk80]

If only Bally's Sports could go back to a scoreboard in the upper left of the screen for hockey

 

[TheDizee]

landeskog should be suspended for game vs stl

 

[Zachary Hines]

That hit was terrible. Chicago was a mess fluery got hung out to dry in this game and will be a common theme this year.

 

[Brian39]

We've seen a double header on each of ESPN and TNT so I feel like we can start comparing coverage. I think that ESPN's coverage was miles better than TNT's.

While they didn't all work, I liked that ESPN is trying out some new camera angles. I'm not a fan of having a camera move to follow live play, but I really like the wide angle of the moving side camera they have. Being able to see the neutral zone even when a puck is below the goal line is fantastic. They aren't all going to stick, but I like that their attempts at innovation are related to how we see the ice rather than TNT using the standard angle but adding digital graphics that provide info.

I also preferred the studio/intermission elements of ESPN more than TNT's. TNT felt like NBC 2.0 with a cast that didn't really have any chemistry. Gretzky shouldn't be on a panel. Players respect him and it is clear when he interviews guys. He should be doing pre-recorded (and some live) interviews and his other contribution should be them cutting to him for brief analysis segments. Call it "Gretzky's Office" and have it be a set piece in the studio separate from the panel that looks like an office set up behind a goal. Have him break down highlights of goals and offensive creativity and then do video interviews with the players featured. He isn't a super charismatic guy and there is no reason to believe that he'll have any chemistry with Biz. I want to see the panel mimic the NBA panel's goofy/loose vibe and Gretzky isn't going to fit in with that. Having him involved is a great draw for the casual fan and I'm 100% on board with having him be the 'straight man' for a few minutes every intermission. But it needs to be separate from the panel.

ESPN was relying a ton on my nostalgia from the 90s/2000s and it will be interesting to see how their coverage looks once the novelty of hearing those voices and music wears off a tad.

I stream through a Roku and there was a noticeable quality difference between the two. The puck and camera pans in the ESPN games were much less juttery than TNT's. Not sure if that is a result of the apps or whether ESPN is filming/sending a stream with a higher refresh rate. Either way, ESPN's broadcast was easier on my eyes.

All in all, neither was a disaster and there is potential for both to be excellent. I hope that they keep trying new things.