NHL 2022-23

[AuzGrams]

The season has started again, I have not been at a game live since 2019 for a Colorado Avalanche home game at Ball Arena.

The NHL has a much better streaming deal with Hulu & ESPN+ compared to the NBA. The new TV deal with ABC/ESPN/ESPN2 & TNT proved to pay dividends.

Will it be another Tampa Bay Lightning / Colorado Avalanche year in the NHL?

 

[antman12]

My way to early SC prediction. Canes vs Flames

 

[West]

I foresee the Canucks and the Krack heads from Seattle fighting for last place this season. Vancouver currently has the upper hand with NO wins and already down 2 goals in today's game

 

[kkfan91]

No idea how my Flyers are off to a 4-1 start I had no expectations going into the year

 

[AuzGrams]

5,000 seats is better than 0 I guess, haha

 

[AuzGrams]

Vegas Golden Knights vs Colorado Avalanche has turned into a rivalry. Why do those geniuses in Vegas start at 7 PM Vegas time and not 7:30??

 

[AuzGrams]

YES!!! 3-1 over Vegas! Headed to a much needed win most likely barring unforeseen circumstances.

 

[AuzGrams]

Spoke too soon.

 

[Brentford]

I don't have a favorable work schedule for the NHL. I work nights five days a week, so I haven't found a need to subscribe to ESPN+ to watch games just two nights a week. The Red Wings appear to be decent, but they started off last season fairly well as well. Hopefully they can keep it up this year though. I miss seeing them in the playoffs.

 

[AuzGrams]

I don't have a favorable work schedule for the NHL. I work nights five days a week, so I haven't found a need to subscribe to ESPN+ to watch games just two nights a week. The Red Wings appear to be decent, but they started off last season fairly well as well. Hopefully they can keep it up this year though. I miss seeing them in the playoffs.

Better off being a Red Wings & Pistons fan than a Lions fan.

 

[Tony_K]

The Penguins choked last night. I remember the same thing last year when they blew leads they had and ended up losing games they shouldn't.

 

[2 Sweet]

I'll be at the Jackets game tonight. Laine will be back in the lineup

 

[AuzGrams]

Colorado is just simply lethal.

 

[AuzGrams]

As much as everyone clowns on the Arizona Coyotes and their arena situations.

A 5,000 seat college arena is kinda cool?

 

[Tony_K]

Wish I wasn't a Penguins fan. They just keep throwing away possible wins.

 

[davidgillilandfan38]

Pretty excited for the tank in Chicago. When Kane and Toews finally check out at the deadline it will be the first time in a few years I haven't been slightly ashamed to wear my Hawks stuff.

 

[FLRacingFan]

Anyone hoping they realign again or change up the playoff format to be less division-oriented again soon? It doesn’t help Boston is so good this season but it’s halfway and it feels like it’d take something crazy for the first round not to be Toronto/TB.

Atlantic doesn’t even make much sense for a division with as many Great Lakes teams anyways.

 

[kkfan91]

Anyone hoping they realign again or change up the playoff format to be less division-oriented again soon? It doesn’t help Boston is so good this season but it’s halfway and it feels like it’d take something crazy for the first round not to be Toronto/TB.

Atlantic doesn’t even make much sense for a division with as many Great Lakes teams anyways.

Idk the Flyers are so bad it doesn't matter to me. I might work on a realignment later today if I have a chance.

 

[kkfan91]

Anyone hoping they realign again or change up the playoff format to be less division-oriented again soon? It doesn’t help Boston is so good this season but it’s halfway and it feels like it’d take something crazy for the first round not to be Toronto/TB.

Atlantic doesn’t even make much sense for a division with as many Great Lakes teams anyways.

Ok I did one. I'm not sure if I made it less division oriented or more. Basically I followed the NFL model as it and the NHL are the 2 leagues with 32 teams right now. To do this I made 2 conferences that are not based on geography, I called them the Gretzky Conference and the Howe Conference. Each conference like the NFL is divided into 4 divisions of 4 teams each. In my mind you could still do 8 playoff teams per conference, the 4 division winners and then the next 4 highest ranked teams as wildcards. So I tended to split teams near each other into different conferences, like how in the NFL the Giants and the Jets are in different ones. So for example Rangers and Islanders, Sharks and Ducks are in opposite conferences. No real rhyme or reason to how I decided who went where which I know destroys rivalries, but I'm sure the schedule could make it work. By chance Gretzky teams tend to be further west in the geographic region, and slightly on purpose teams he played on mostly ended up there. So heres how I have it

Gretzky Conference

East
New York Rangers
Boston Bruins
Philadelphia Flyers
Montreal Canadians

South
Tampa Bay Lightning
Dallas Stars
Nashville Predators
St. Louis Blues

North
Colorado Avalanche
Edmonton Oilers
Winnipeg Jets
Minnesota Wild

West
Los Angeles Kings
San Jose Sharks
Seattle Kraken
Vancouver Canucks

Howe Conference

East
New York Islanders
New Jersey Devils
Ottawa Senators
Toronto Maple Leafs

South
Florida Panthers
Carolina Hurricanes
Washington Capitals
Columbus Blue Jackets

North
Chicago Blackhawks
Detroit Red Wings
Pittsburgh Penguins
Buffalo Sabres

West
Anaheim Ducks
Vegas Golden Knights
Arizona Coyotes
Calgary Flames

So if we look at current NHL Standings as of when I post this the playoff teams be.

Gretzky Howe
1) Bruins 1)Maple Leafs
2) Stars 2)Hurricanes
3) Kings 3)Golden Knights
4) Jets 4)Penguins
5) Rangers 5)Devils
6) Kraken 6)Capitals
7) Lightning 7)Islanders
8) Wild 8)Flames


Interestingly making these changes there is only 1 difference in playoff teams. Mine adds in the Islanders in place of the Oilers. In reality the Islanders have 2 more points then the Oilers but are the first team outside of the Eastern wild card while Oilers are last currently in the West wild card.

So we get basically the same playoffs but more variety NFL style in potential matchups.

 

[Brentford]

It looks like I'm late to the party, but I sure hope the Arizona Coyotes have a sell out every single game. Otherwise, I'd feel quite bad for them to not be able to sell 4,600 tickets.