Official 2024-25 Utah HC Season Discussion.

[Vinny Boombatz]

love it when players have self reflection and own up to the problem

 

[Mangosteen]

That’s a bunch of crap from BA. A team can do nothing and win a cup in 16 to 30 years. He’s on thin Ice.. calling Smith right now

This is just from google Among the first overalls to win the Cup, it has taken on average eight years for them to win the Stanley Cup. The shortest time a first overall pick had to wait to win the Cup is two years; Guy Lafleur won his first Cup with the Montreal Canadiens just two years after he was drafted.

Also we have Keller, Scmaltz, Cooley, Gunner and Serg who will be all Hall of famers already. And we had Hill who we traded for a 3rd pick and a bag of Dorito's

 

[Jormungandr]

That’s a bunch of crap from BA. A team can do nothing and win a cup in 16 to 30 years. He’s on thin Ice.. calling Smith right now

This is just from google Among the first overalls to win the Cup, it has taken on average eight years for them to win the Stanley Cup. The shortest time a first overall pick had to wait to win the Cup is two years; Guy Lafleur won his first Cup with the Montreal Canadiens just two years after he was drafted.

Also we have Keller, Scmaltz, Cooley, Gunner and Serg who will be all Hall of famers already. And we had Hill who we traded for a 3rd pick and a bag of Dorito's

I really hope this entire post is satire.

 

[Mangosteen]

Sadly no. First Merry Christmas BA has done a great job of scorched earthing our team. hopefully drafted well but we need urgency on the rebuild. Not stupid over reactions but he should have faith in the team he has built and work on filling the holes now. We do want a stench of a losing culture Buffalo, Detroit ect. We tanked got assets, hopefully future talented players and tonnes of trade capital. We now need to build a winning culture and team. Playoffs this year is the only measurement of success. If not BA better have a strong exit interview not rebuilds take 18 years. hold us accountable then.

He should be on the phone with Rangers, Buffalo, Blue Jackets and Red Wings.

 

[Arizonatah Coyetis]

Merry Christmas! I hope you and your family have a great holiday season and new year.

This is just from google Among the first overalls to win the Cup, it has taken on average eight years for them to win the Stanley Cup.

Times Arizona/Utah has drafted first overall = 0

Number of teams that have picked first overall in the last 24 years that have gone on to win a cup = 8 (8 out of 24 which is only 33%). Notice that some of these teams had also picked first overall multiple times on their way to the cup. Sone legit generational talents and HoF players in there too.

You can't cherry pick the 33.33% that did go on to win the cup and say that it only averaged 8 years because it ignores the other 66.66% that have yet to win a cup. It just doesn't tell the whole story.

The shortest time a first overall pick had to wait to win the Cup is two years; Guy Lafleur won his first Cup with the Montreal.

There were also only 16 teams in the NHL then. Half the competition on the way to a championship.

Also we have Keller, Scmaltz, Cooley, Gunner and Serg who will be all Hall of famers already.

These guys aren't even close to being HoF material. We already know Keller and Schmaltz definitely aren't. Serg maybe someday. Cooley and Gunner way too early for such a bold claim - would be awesome though!

 

[Mangosteen]

Merry Christmas! I hope you and your family have a great holiday season and new year

These guys aren't even close to being HoF material. We already know Keller and Schmaltz definitely aren't. Serg maybe someday. Cooley and Gunner way too early for such a bold claim - would be awesome though!

Only Smalz may not make HOF. The other 4 will make it. Even would wager a beer on it. Only take 14 years to claim

 

[Arizonatah Coyetis]

Only Smalz may not make HOF. The other 4 will make it. Even would wager a beer on it. Only take 14 years to claim

 

[Jamieh]

Only Smalz may not make HOF. The other 4 will make it. Even would wager a beer on it. Only take 14 years to claim

I think the odds would be closer to none making HOF than all making it?

 

[Jormungandr]

Gotta be satire.

 

[rt]

I really hope this entire post is satire.

He’s got to be doing bits.

Gotta be satire.

Yeah.

 

[Canis Latrans]

This is just from google Among the first overalls to win the Cup, it has taken on average eight years for them to win the Stanley Cup. The shortest time a first overall pick had to wait to win the Cup is two years; Guy Lafleur won his first Cup with the Montreal Canadiens just two years after he was drafted.

The Canadiens won the Cup just prior to draft him first overall, plus had won 4 out the prior 6 Cups. What is Armstrong thinking not winning a few Cups before kickstarting a rebuild with first overall?

 

[Dead Coyote]

That’s a bunch of crap from BA. A team can do nothing and win a cup in 16 to 30 years. He’s on thin Ice.. calling Smith right now

This is just from google Among the first overalls to win the Cup, it has taken on average eight years for them to win the Stanley Cup. The shortest time a first overall pick had to wait to win the Cup is two years; Guy Lafleur won his first Cup with the Montreal Canadiens just two years after he was drafted.

Also we have Keller, Scmaltz, Cooley, Gunner and Serg who will be all Hall of famers already. And we had Hill who we traded for a 3rd pick and a bag of Dorito's

I might be the biggest Hill fan on this website but you didn't just call him a HoFer did you?

 

[Mangosteen]

Ok ok it was a little too much egg nog but Keller, Serg, Cooley and Gunner will be HHOF. If the Sabres are stupidly trying to trade one of there Dmen we should be all over it.. Even the Jackets use a surplus wisely to rock this season and add to our core.

 

[cobra427]

This was...interesting

"Armstrong laughed when asked what he considers the timeline for Utah’s rebuild.

“I was in Montreal last year and I pointed to the banner when somebody asked me the same question,” Armstrong said. “I pointed to their last Cup banner and I go, ‘Thirty years ago you won a Stanley Cup.’ There’s a patience aspect that has to go into this where you have to look at the numbers and you’ve got to do the research. The research is that the quickest team ever to come out of the rebuild was the Penguins and they did it with Sidney Crosby, Marc-Andre Fleury, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang and they did it within a five-year period. Most rebuilds are somewhere between five to 16 years sometimes to get it done."

Before BA figures out how long it will take us to win a cup, we need to make the playoffs first. We aren't anywhere close to a cup team, and might never be. We don't have a 1C or a 1D or anyone close to being one, Cooley maybe, but you need both to win a cup. At this point, its not how long it takes to win the cup, its showing progress along the way. 5th year as GM and maybe no playoffs this year, seems like a long time to not show decent progress. 1/2 the teams make it, not a big ask. Making the playoffs this year is a minimum requirement to show some progress by year 5 for BA. When he says 8-10 years, to what, make the playoffs, win a cup, be a cup contender, and this is only year 4, he isn't being held accountable to reasonable standards if the owner buys into it.

 

[Jakey53]

Before BA figures out how long it will take us to win a cup, we need to make the playoffs first. We aren't anywhere close to a cup team, and might never be. We don't have a 1C or a 1D or anyone close to being one, Cooley maybe, but you need both to win a cup. At this point, its not how long it takes to win the cup, its showing progress along the way. 5th year as GM and maybe no playoffs this year, seems like a long time to not show decent progress. 1/2 the teams make it, not a big ask. Making the playoffs this year is a minimum requirement to show some progress by year 5 for BA. When he says 8-10 years, to what, make the playoffs, win a cup, be a cup contender, and this is only year 4, he isn't being held accountable to reasonable standards if the owner buys into it.

If the season ended today, we would be two points out of a wild card position, and in my opinion that is progress. The easy part for BA and Bear are over. Next year I would think ownership and fans will expect Utah to be in the playoffs. I think BA is telling the fans and media something different than what he is telling the team, but bottom line is "winning" is all that matters. If this team can make the playoffs in year four or five is fine by me. Once in the playoffs it can take a few more years to be considered a SC contender. BA has stated it takes 8-10 yrs. to be considered a SC contender. Having said all this, if the wheels fall of this year like last year I'm not sure what will happen with BA or Bear.

 

[cobra427]

If the season ended today, we would be two points out of a wild card position, and in my opinion that is progress. The easy part for BA and Bear are over. Next year I would think ownership and fans will expect Utah to be in the playoffs. I think BA is telling the fans and media something different than what he is telling the team, but bottom line is "winning" is all that matters. If this team can make the playoffs in year four or five is fine by me. Once in the playoffs it can take a few more years to be considered a SC contender. BA has stated it takes 8-10 yrs. to be considered a SC contender. Having said all this, if the wheels fall of this year like last year I'm not sure what will happen with BA or Bear.

If we miss the playoffs by 2 points, we would have roughly 94 points, that is a 16 point improvement, which is success based on last year. Its still year 5 for BA, missing the playoffs 5 years in a row couldn't have been the goal in BAs master plan. 94 is close to meeting expectations, still not in the playoffs, its not exceeding the 5th year expectation for any GM. The team has never over achieved under Bear/BA, in fact they have been under the Vegas odds in points per year mostly.

At some point, they will both be held accountable, and which year do they run out of, "we are still young, Chayka left a mess, we are broke" ? At some point they will turn from reasons to excuses. If we make the playoffs, Smith likely sticks with both of them. If we don't, Smith needs to take a hard look at both of them. I have said many times that i think the team is misconstructed, built wingers first, and BA took too long to start the rebuild, I hope I am wrong and we make the playoffs this year, and go further in them next year.

 

[Heldig]

WJHC is my favourite hockey of the year. Not the same without Russia in it but the USA-Canada rivalry is pretty awesome.

The player many of us expected GM BA was selecting in the 2023 NHL draft - Ryan Leonard - is expected to be one of the players of the tournament (currently one of the best players in NCAA).

Somewhat surprisingly, UHC prospect Cole Beaudoin made Team Canada.

All UHC prospects playing here:

Utah Hockey Club
Vojtech Hradec, D (Czech)
Cole Beaudoin, C (Canada)
Veeti Vaisanen, D (Finland)
Michael Hrabal, G (Czechia)
Melker Thelin, G (Sweden)

 

[Kevin27NYI]

Do you guys think your team is gonna buy?

 

[Mangosteen]

Do you guys think your team is gonna buy?

Hopefully and soon.

 

[Arizonatah Coyetis]

Do you guys think your team is gonna buy?

Hopefully and soon.

I think they're much more likely to just hold tight and see what Durzi (D), Lamoureaux(D), Marino(D), Bortuzzo(D) and Ingram(G) bring to the team when they finally come off the IR. As far as I know most of them will be back soon with the exceptions of Durzi and Marino being sometime if February (as far as I've heard.) If that holds true, then all of these guys will be back before the TDL and be a huge influx of talent and depth. D is our biggest weakness right now, but a lot of help is already on the way.

Unless maybe they move someone on our third line like Crouse or Maccelli. But I doubt it. BA wouldn't sell low on them IMO. Not this soon.

 

[Jakey53]

If we miss the playoffs by 2 points, we would have roughly 94 points, that is a 16 point improvement, which is success based on last year. Its still year 5 for BA, missing the playoffs 5 years in a row couldn't have been the goal in BAs master plan. 94 is close to meeting expectations, still not in the playoffs, its not exceeding the 5th year expectation for any GM. The team has never over achieved under Bear/BA, in fact they have been under the Vegas odds in points per year mostly.

At some point, they will both be held accountable, and which year do they run out of, "we are still young, Chayka left a mess, we are broke" ? At some point they will turn from reasons to excuses. If we make the playoffs, Smith likely sticks with both of them. If we don't, Smith needs to take a hard look at both of them. I have said many times that i think the team is misconstructed, built wingers first, and BA took too long to start the rebuild, I hope I am wrong and we make the playoffs this year, and go further in them next year.

I think it all depends on how the team finishes up this year.

Do you guys think your team is gonna buy?

I don't think so.

 

[Mangosteen]

Would be great to get an update on our guys dmen specifically.Heard anywhere from February till next season.

Any of you still have contacts with beat writers

 

[Jamieh]

Do you guys think your team is gonna buy?

I said it last summer when assets were spent on Sergashev and I'll say it again, the team has a real Owner and a fanbase to excite so imo there is no way they stand pat and wait years for assets to develop. I expect more draft picks and possible prospects to be spent to get some real help right now. I think it's the logical move.

 

[Kevin27NYI]

I said it last summer when assets were spent on Sergashev and I'll say it again, the team has a real Owner and a fanbase to excite so imo there is no way they stand pat and wait years for assets to develop. I expect more draft picks and possible prospects to be spent to get some real help right now. I think it's the logical move.

That was my opinion as well, coupled with, there's only so many people you can draft and develop. I feel like there might be a logjam and you can shed prospects without feeling it.

 

[Arizonatah Coyetis]

Yeah. They can only fill so much of the roster with home-grown talent. They'll have to bring in help to strengthen the roster via trade or FA anyways at some point as the final stage of the rebuild. So long as they're not wasting assets on a rental or a short term fix I'm all for it.

I just won't be surprised if this TDL ends up being uneventful for us. Especially with all those players coming off of IR. I'm hoping for another interesting off-season so either way.

Opportunities to trade for young, in their prime defenseman like Sergachev don't happen often. If something like that comes up I'm sure BA will take a look whether it's pre TDL or during the off-season though. So anything is possible.