The Toronto Maple Leafs made Penn State winger Gavin McKenna the first pick in the NHL draft on Friday.

Hate to see a young Pavel Dorofeyev leave to go to the Rangers. Sure, his goals often came on the Power Play, but we seemed to play better with him in the lineup.

On the bright side...most players with no-trade clauses still list Vegas as one of the few teams they'd be willing to waive the clause for. We're getting older, but still have another year or two to contend.

....somehow don't think Anaheim will be quite the long-term threat in the Pacific like they might have been after the Carlsson debacle. Nice shot, Daniel Briere. Way to screw up your team's future, Pat Verbeek.

https://x.com/WaltRuff/status/2077395040905711811?s=20

How the eff are you putting the season/home opener of THE DEFENDING STANLEY CUP CHAMPION on at 5pm but giving prime time to NYR and Boston? Not only that, the Canes and Panthers are the last two year's champs.... That makes no sense. Even the 11pm game that day is kind of garbage.

(07-15-2026 08:00 PM)PirateTreasureNC Wrote:  https://x.com/WaltRuff/status/2077395040905711811?s=20

How the eff are you putting the season/home opener of THE DEFENDING STANLEY CUP CHAMPION on at 5pm but giving prime time to NYR and Boston? Not only that, the Canes and Panthers are the last two year's champs.... That makes no sense. Even the 11pm game that day is kind of garbage.

I agree....alol I can think of is...markets???


Oh, Yzerman steps back from GM in Detroit....

Wow! Jets star goalie Connor Hellebuyck confirms trade request

Would love to see him in a Golden Knights sweater, but, well...maybe there's a way?

Saturday Pre-season Starts!!!! I'll be watching!

Pre-season today! Knights playing LA. Weird to see Jets without both Hellebuck (suspended) and Scheifele (injured).

Well...if you're a sports fan in general, now would be a 'Golden Age' in hockey. So many great and elite players and more parity than in the past. With the advent of the legal stretch pass and emphasis on speed and skill, it's a tremendous rush to watch and almost constant action versus the constant stopping/starting in other sports.

Big intrigues with Hellebuck being suspended after demanding a trade from the jets and not showing up for camp yet. McDavid has the Oilers on the clock with his last two years counting down to a potential free agent bonanza for him.

Hurricanes won Cup in an exciting finish to last season, with the Golden Knights surprising everyone by coming within 2 games of their second Cup in their very short, but extremely successful existence.

Expansion is coming, with Austin/Houston on tap as the next city to get a team, and Phoenix and Atlanta perhaps to follow. Fan interest is way up, as is revenue and the Salary Cap.

With expanded eligibility for major junior players in Canada to come down and play at US universities, the sport is poised to grow even more. Southern colleges are more involved, with teams in AZ expanding and doing well.

Outdoor games in Florida (2 of 'em ) last year showed more southern US interest in the sport.

Inline roller leagues growing as more people discover that skating wearing pads creates less injuries than flat-footed sports, especially for older players.

San Jose is building what should be a Cup-worthy core for many years. Celebrini is an unconsciously good player, and will give McDavid a run for Hart every year going forward. Makar and the 'lanche are ridiculous, and MacKinnon will have a few more runs before it's all said and done in Denver. Don't sleep on the Deutchland wonder, Draisaitl. Poor Dallas, their window may be closing faster than they thought. Never thought that much of Robinson, but he's there another year.

Want to see how Dorofeyev fares in NY (hated losing him, but cap issues every year). For me, my Knights have undergone several changes while retaining their still elite core. New Head Coach developed internally in their system means players will be leading and hopefully rolling to another Cup run. Some young players to integrate, and still wondering about our goalie situation...wish we'd signed Thompson and let Hill walk instead of the reverse. But Hill did win the Cup so there's that.

Utah is coming on, as are several other squads. With the US Gold medal showcasing exciting home-grown players here, and all-everything Austen Matthews getting a lucky pingpong ball bounce and some help up in Toronto with McKenna drafted #1 (and Bobrovfsky moving up there from Florida) plus Brady joining his brother Matthew down south, and Quinn making the Wild a threat while waiting out his contract to line up with his two pro brothers in NJ, it's a fabulous time to be a hockey fan!

you gotta love this, even if you hate the team (beacuse they're good, after all)

Quote:The line coach Paul Maurice had when asked if Brady and Matthew Tkachuk might flank center Sam Bennett on what would be the NHL's most bludgeoning trio: "I don't want to give everybody what they want with the two Tkachuk brothers together with Sam Bennett in the middle. They'll be in jail before the puck drops." Great stuff.

(09-23-2026 09:08 PM)GoodOwl Wrote:  you gotta love this, even if you hate the team (beacuse they're good, after all)

Quote:The line coach Paul Maurice had when asked if Brady and Matthew Tkachuk might flank center Sam Bennett on what would be the NHL's most bludgeoning trio: "I don't want to give everybody what they want with the two Tkachuk brothers together with Sam Bennett in the middle. They'll be in jail before the puck drops." Great stuff.

I found that funny too.

****************

Canes having an interesting preseason.

Nikishin trying to get his chedda from someone else after not really proving much over 1.5 seasons in the NHL.

Hoping we get picked up for local broadcasts and I don't have to do the Amazon Prime to get the HHN for $20/mo to watch them.

Tough L to take on Banner night. 1-0 (OT) Panthers. But I swear, the narrative we are frauds because we didn't beat Florida in the playoffs last year is laughable.

Going to the Caps @ Canes game tomorrow night.

Hellebuyck we needs ya! I mean what the heck, down 0-4 at home in game 2 to the Ducks? I mean, I know, last years' playoffs and all, but c'mon! I mean, sure we scored 3 in the 3rd to make it respectable, but oh boy is it gonna be a loooong season until we do something about the G position....

Survived Vancouver. The west seems stacked this season. Edmonton has no Defense, apparently. Seattle can also score. Will be nice checking in on our ol' buddy Chandler Tues night.

Poor Brad Marchand, gets viciously injured while taking a high-stick after just returning to the ice from injury.

That was quite the smackdown Tampa gave the Knights after the first period. On the road in Vegas, to boot! Meanwhile...Kings finally got a regular win...ha!

Quote:The New Jersey Devils have acquired goaltender Connor Hellebuyck from the Winnipeg Jets, the teams announced Friday.

In return, the Jets receive three forwards -- Dawson Mercer, Nick Bjugstad and Alexander Command -- as well as goalie Nico Daws, a seventh-round draft pick in 2027 and a second-round selection in 2029.

Also, Hellebuyck has forfeited nearly $928,000 in salary after sitting out the beginning of the season with the Jets, sources told ESPN.

https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/5025...buyck-jets

GO, muh Blues had a bit o' honey with your Knights last night ... we may make a li'l noise this year with this offense ... if only Binnington could wake up from his Stanley Cup Rip Van Winkle slumber (2 losses in 3 starts - 4.68 GA with Hofer being the #1 - 4 wins in 6 starts - 2.17 GA) ... that poor guy can't shake the voodoo...

(10-23-2026 05:37 PM)stinkfist Wrote:  GO, muh Blues had a bit o' honey with your Knights last night ... we may make a li'l noise this year with this offense ... if only Binnington could wake up from his Stanley Cup Rip Van Winkle slumber (2 losses in 3 starts - 4.68 GA with Hofer being the #1 - 4 wins in 6 starts - 2.17 GA) ... that poor guy can't shake the voodoo...

Yeah, y'all have a good young goalie there in Joel Hofer to go along with Binnington. Hey, it was a road game...you can't win 'em all...we forgot to clip our toenails prior...we missed the bus and it was late...nah, ya'll were pretty good and we have a real goalie problem with two mediocre ones trying to limp along. Good luck to the Blues the rest of the season!

So far it's working in Edmonton. Got the boys playing sharp up there. Meanwhile, I don't know how we're gonna survive with Hart(attack) and (too big a)Hill(to climb). Maybe if Kucherov gets traded, then Vasilevsky is available? Me can dream!


BTW, I think Trevor Connelly is going to work out for Vegas. Glad other teams were dumb enough not to pick this very talented kid and he fell to us!