NHL 2013

[Jordan]

It took 'me a while to get started, but we're in the thick of the NHL season, nearing the halfway point of the abbreviated 48-game schedule.

The biggest story so far by miles comes from Chicago, where the Blackhawks are on a historic run. They rallied to beat Colorado in the last minute last night, stretching their winning streak to 11 and have not lost any of their 24 games this season in regulation time. I knew the Hawks were good (despite question marks in goal), but this is mind-blowing.

Also out in the West, ageless wonder Teemu Selänne and the Anaheim Ducks are also having their own spectacular first half.

In the East, while the Penguins have been, well, the Penguins, Canadians are getting excited by Montréal's speedy team, and the erstwhile-powerhouse Toronto Maple Leafs possibly making the playoffs again after a long absence.

The NY Rangers' and Flyers' early struggles have been puzzling, but it looks like the Blueshirts--led by Rick Nash--have turned the corner. That said, Marc Staal, who has been their best defenseman, is out indefinitely after taking a deflected slap shot to his right eye on Tuesday night--a horrific moment. As several high-profile players (Manny Malhotra, Chris Pronger, and Bryan Berard) have suffered eye injuries in recent seasons that have derailed and nearly ruined their careers, the debate on whether visors on helmets should be made mandatory is now back in the forefront.

Tonight is Rangers vs Islanders, IMO not only one of the fiercest rivalries not just in the NHL, but in American sports. The Islanders, like the Edmonton Oilers, are full of exciting young forwards that score for fun, but need to mature and strengthen defensively before their full potential is realized.

[KFS]

Really want to get into this, great sport to watch and I love skating. The Flyers would be my preference only because I took a fancy to them through the NHL game. It's hard following it in the UK, I don't know where to look!

[Uncle Phil]

After a barnstorming start to the season, the Devils have go on to lose 8 of the last 10. Bad times, hopefully the win last night is them turning things around again.

[goose2010]

Really want to get into this, great sport to watch and I love skating. The Flyers would be my preference only because I took a fancy to them through the NHL game. It's hard following it in the UK, I don't know where to look!

do you have an iphone or an ipad? there is an app where you can watch all the games live for free.

[Uncle Phil]

do you have an iphone or an ipad? there is an app where you can watch all the games live for free.

There are some great quality streams on the internet aswell. vipbox.net

[KFS]

do you have an iphone or an ipad? there is an app where you can watch all the games live for free.

Sweet, ill be using that. Cheers!

[Jordan]

do you have an iphone or an ipad? there is an app where you can watch all the games live for free.

Free?! You're not talking about NHL GameCenter, are you? I know the app is free, but we have to pay a subscription to watch live out-of-market games here. I'd be all over that if I didn't have to pay, but then again, I have plenty of hockey on TV (all Rangers, Islanders, and Devils games are live in NY, nationally televised games are on NBC Sports, I have NHL Network, and I also spend a night or two at a place that has a Canadian dish).

It took the Rangers a long time to finally break through the Islanders (normally are a poor defensive team, but rock-solid last night). However Nash tipped in the tying goal in the dying minutes after Stepan made a great move off the puck, then Gaborik won it in OT when he blasted a slap shot in on a power play. That's now 4 wins in a row for the Rangers, and I'm glad they go right back on the ice vs Ottawa tonight so I don't have to wait long for the next game.

As for the Devils, yeah, they really, really needed those two points last night to stop the bleeding. The Sabres have been hot since they fired Lindy Ruff, who was the longest-tenured coach in the league, but they still have a long way to go if they want to make the playoffs.

[MC Prussian]

It took me a while to get over the fact that they're playing a shortened season.

Also, it's good to know offensive, high-scoring hockey isn't dead yet. I'm so fed up with 2-1 Devils scores.

But as long as the Pens are doing alright, you can count me in. Crosby has piled up on points lately and is already No.1 in that category.

Glad to see Malkin back after an injury.

Hopefully, they and the rest of the team can lead Pittsburgh to another Stanley Cup win - even though it wouldn't feel like a proper one, with all that pre-season shenanigans et al.

[Kilworthfox]

Sadly the 24 game streak is over for my Blackhawks

http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2012020353&cmpid=nhl-fb

[KFS]

Watched the Flyers game this evening, wasn't too great. Love the sport though and i'll stick with them

[MC Prussian]

Pittsburgh have now equalled the Blackhawks' winning streak this season with eleven straight wins.

They now have the third-best overall record in the NHL, only Chicago and Anaheim have been playing better so far.

Six to go and the Pens will equal their own record winning streak from 1992/93.

And Crosby's already more than ten points ahead of second place, greeting as the league leader in total points.

Hopefully, he can finish this season as number one, as well. After all these injury woes, he deserves it.

[Uncle Phil]

2 wins in a row for the Devils now since Brodeur came back, although Kovalchuk is now injured. Big miss as he makes our offense tick.

Yeah, the pens are on a storming run! The Devils have a next 4 of the Senators, Lighting, Panthers and Islanders which will take them half way to matching your current run. As long as that doesn't jinx it of course.

[Jordan]

The Penguins just traded two draft picks to San Jose for big Swedish defenseman Douglas Murray, whom I went to high school with for two years and played with on our school's varsity hockey team.

He's a tough defenseman, but in high school, he was a monster. He forgot his shoulder pads in our first game, but still played anyway and destroyed everyone with the puck that came anywhere close to him.

He has perhaps lost a step--he gives out and takes a lot of punishment on the ice--but he's still one of the hardest-hitting D-men in the league. I can't stand the Penguins, but if they do continue their good form and go on to win it all (they're a good bet for it), Murray would be the first alumnus from my school to win the Cup, and that would be a big thrill for everyone involved with our hockey program.

Edit: Pens also picked up Brenden Morrow yesterday. Penguins are doing a great job deepening their team with solid veteran players--exactly the types of moves that good teams make when they're focused on making a run for the Cup.

[MC Prussian]

In breaking news, the Pens have now acquired Jarome Iginla from the Calgary Flames. Yes, Iginla. The Alberta icon, the guy who spent his entire career with one club only.

That was until yesterday.

It's a bold statement by Pittsburgh and Iginla will undoubtedly add a tremendous amount of depth to the already impressive roster.

Calgary will get Pittsburgh's 2013 first-round draft pick, as well as two additional previous draft choices in return.

Penguins for the title? Well, it all starts here.

[Jordan]

Ridiculous trade.

Iginla was all but a Boston Bruin when everyone went to bed last night, so this was a bit of a shock when I woke up.

The Pens have an insane amount of firepower--the rest of the league's only hope is that it all blows up on them, somehow...

[MC Prussian]

Yeah, another Flames player was quoted as saying "If we hadn't been playing so badly over the course of this and the past four seasons, this trade would've never happened".

It's just mesmerizing what team the Penguins are building for what can only be described as a very serious attempt at getting their hands on another Stanley Cup.

The depth in squad is stunning and they're aiming for a great mix of players. Obviously a couple of really skillful skaters like Crosby and Malkin getting protection from the back from the new rough boys.

And Iginla will add so much more crunch-time experience.

Also, I didn't know they had Vokoun as goalie No.2. Wowzer - talking about quality!

And the P-Train is still rolling strong - 14th consecutive win in the bag with a 4-0 against Winnipeg.

Speaking of Winnipeg, I do miss their old logo and colours (especially the purple/red combo). Can't stand the new crest. It's so generic.

[Jordan]

And Crosby's already more than ten points ahead of second place, greeting as the league leader in total points.

Hopefully, he can finish this season as number one, as well. After all these injury woes, he deserves it.

And just yesterday, Crosby gets another turn of bad luck as he became the latest player to take a deflected slapper to the face. He went in for emergency surgery immediately and is out indefinitely with a broken jaw. Ouch.

Yeah, another Flames player was quoted as saying "If we hadn't been playing so badly over the course of this and the past four seasons, this trade would've never happened".

It's just mesmerizing what team the Penguins are building for what can only be described as a very serious attempt at getting their hands on another Stanley Cup.

The depth in squad is stunning and they're aiming for a great mix of players. Obviously a couple of really skillful skaters like Crosby and Malkin getting protection from the back from the new rough boys.

And Iginla will add so much more crunch-time experience.

Also, I didn't know they had Vokoun as goalie No.2. Wowzer - talking about quality!

Ray Shero has pulled all the right strings and managed the salary cap so well. And Vokoun has been a stud for them when he has played (I think he has 3 shutouts). The Penguins made it a point to improve their goaltending this offseason after the way they were lit up by the Flyers in the playoffs, and getting Vokoun--who has pushed Fleury to step up his own game--was a masterful move.

And the P-Train is still rolling strong - 14th consecutive win in the bag with a 4-0 against Winnipeg.

15 now after they did my struggling and impotent Rangers a huge favor by beating the Islanders yesterday. The scary thing about Pittsburgh is that, because of their depth, they are still an outstanding team even without Sid. I do wonder, though, how Chris Kunitz will fare without Sid at center. Crosby has turned Kunitz into an All-Star left winger, and the two connect so well on the ice.

Speaking of Winnipeg, I do miss their old logo and colours (especially the purple/red combo). Can't stand the new crest. It's so generic.

I said a few days ago that I think either Carolina or Washigton will catch the Jets and that they will miss the playoffs. I just can't see them holding on to the SE, although that's a division any team can win.

I, too, dislike the new Jets' look and logo. I would imagine that part of the new look has to do with copyright issues, because the original Jets are now the Phoenix Coyotes, but I'm sure the Jets would have updated their logo and uniforms had they stayed in the Peg this whole time. The logo looks like either an exploding plane or a curling house (which I suppose would be awesome if it were a subtle nod to the city's rich tradition as a curling hotbed, but I doubt that is the case!). I prefer their previous looks.

Speaking of old Jets logos and uniforms, when John Ferguson was the Rangers' GM in the late '70s, he re-designed the Blueshirts' jerseys, changing the sleeves and replacing the famous RANGERS wordmark on the front of the jerseys with the team's shield logo. It was a hideous new look that was hugely unpopular with the fans, lasting only two seasons before Fergy was fired. Ferguson then took the GM job in Winnipeg, where the Jets were one of the WHA teams that was absorbed into the NHL that summer, and have the Jets the same jersey design that was so unpopular in New York (but looked so much better on the Jets, for some reason). The Rangers management, led by Fred Shero (father of the Penguins' current GM, immediately reverted to the team's classic style and went to the Stanley Cup final that season.

Edit to add that the reception by the fans to the NHL's return to Winnipeg has been superb. Their support has been fantastic, and the MTS Centre, despite being the smallest arena in the league by capacity, is easily one of the loudest. If the Jets hold on to a playoff spot, that building will rock.

The response to Jets v2.0 has been so good in Winnipeg (and Canada) that a lot of Canadians--particularly in Québec City, Hamilton, and perhaps even the Toronto suburbs (particularly Markham)--are hopeful that they will get either a relocated team or an expansion team despite not being in large TV markets and Gary Bettman's clear preference for teams in American cities. The NHL has said that expansion is not in its immediate plans, but the Phoenix Coyotes are prime candidates for relocation. Ironically, the Jets fled Winnipeg, its small population, out-of-the-way location, and then-struggling Canadian dollar for Phoenix, and now the Coyotes are run by the league and subsidized by Glendale, Arizona after going bankrupt.

And furthermore, speaking of relocation/expansion, the league's new realignment for next season (although with its own flaws) will at least make things easier in case of relocation/expansion so we don't have quirks like Winnipeg playing in the Southeast Division. The ol' Patrick Divison gang is getting back together, with Carolina and Columbus joining the current and erstwhile division rivals Rangers, Islanders, Devils, Flyers, Penguins, and Capitals.

[Jordan]

Sorry for the double post, but MCP might be interested to know that, sharp-passing Swiss defenseman Mark Streit is one of the names being churned on the rumor mill as tomorrow's trade deadline approaches.

Streit is an unrestricted free agent after this season, but contract negotiations between he and the Islanders have broken down, and it appears likely that he will leave Long Island this summer.

It will be interesting to see what happens here, for several reasons. The Islanders' MO over the last several years has been to keep their payroll as low as possible, often using waiver-wire shenanigans to keep above the salary cap floor. If you're the Islanders, do you

-keep Streit to help out in a close playoff race, knowing he'll walk?

-take advantage of a seller's market to try to get a team to offer a lot just to rent Streit for the rest of the season, perhaps trying to get a stay-at-home defenseman to help stop the team from leaking goals?

-trade Streit for prospects/draft picks, not caring so much about the playoffs as the team is still improving, considering longer-term goals?

Streit would be a really good fit for the Rangers, but the Rangers don't have much they could offer the Islanders, and have their own salary cap issues to work out. And besides, those two rivals never do business together, only making one trade (of minor league players) with each other in 40 years. It would be even more unlikely that they would help each other out when they're locked in a tight battle for the final playoff spot.

[MC Prussian]

Pittsburgh won again last night, beating Montréal 6-4. They look like cruising to the Eastern Conference title, the whole team has stepped up to compensate for Croby's absence and Iginla's just finding his form for his new team.

Playoffs, here we come.

[Jordan]

The playoff race in the East is a little more tense than I'd have liked, but the much-maligned Rangers offense seems to have healed itself just at the right time; they've just scored 14 goals over the past two nights.

[Uncle Phil]

The playoff race in the East is a little more tense than I'd have liked, but the much-maligned Rangers offense seems to have healed itself just at the right time; they've just scored 14 goals over the past two nights.

Sounded like a crazy first two periods last night, with the second period being 4-3? Who do they play next? Is it nice having the Islanders above you

[Jordan]

Sounded like a crazy first two periods last night, with the second period being 4-3? Who do they play next? Is it nice having the Islanders above you

I'm more concerned that there are 7 teams ahead of the Rangers and 1 just two points behind with 4 games remaining--this was not how anybody expected this season to go. But once you get in the playoffs, anything can happen--just ask the LA Kings--and the Rangers are still good enough to beat anyone if they play their game. How are the Devils doing, btw?

2nd period was crazy, but everything started going wild on the first. There were less than 90 seconds remaining in the 1st with the score 0-0, then the Rangers scored two quick goals on passes that caromed off of Sabres' defensemen's skates.

With just seconds remaining in the period, the Rangers sent in a harmless dump-in on goal, and when Ryan Miller stopped it with his stick, the Sabres fans gave him a sarcastic cheer (ridiculous because he could do little about the first two goals, and because he's the last person on that team the fans should be getting on)... Only for Miller to misplay his pass and leave the puck wide open in front of the net for Ryan Clowe to tap in from 5 feet away

More goals started flying in when the game was dead and buried after the Rangers scored the fastest set of five goals in club history. While the scoreboard does reflect who was the much better team, some of the goals were really soft. For example, Brad Richards scored his first career hat trick last night after playing nearly 1,000 games--but the first one was a pass that went in off a Sabre's skate, the second was an easy tap in after a scramble in front of goal on a poorly-defended rebound left the open next to the far lost, and the 3rd was a simple wrist-shot from 45 feet out that Jhonas Enroth misplayed terribly! They all count, though...

BTW there will be six outdoor games in the NHL next season, including Devils vs Rangers and Islanders vs Rangers at Yankee Stadium. MUST. GET. TICKETS.

[Uncle Phil]

I'm more concerned that there are 7 teams ahead of the Rangers and 1 just two points behind with 4 games remaining--this was not how anybody expected this season to go. But once you get in the playoffs, anything can happen--just ask the LA Kings--and the Rangers are still good enough to beat anyone if they play their game. How are the Devils doing, btw?

2nd period was crazy, but everything started going wild on the first. There were less than 90 seconds remaining in the 1st with the score 0-0, then the Rangers scored two quick goals on passes that caromed off of Sabres' defensemen's skates.

With just seconds remaining in the period, the Rangers sent in a harmless dump-in on goal, and when Ryan Miller stopped it with his stick, the Sabres fans gave him a sarcastic cheer (ridiculous because he could do little about the first two goals, and because he's the last person on that team the fans should be getting on)... Only for Miller to misplay his pass and leave the puck wide open in front of the net for Ryan Clowe to tap in from 5 feet away

More goals started flying in when the game was dead and buried after the Rangers scored the fastest set of five goals in club history. While the scoreboard does reflect who was the much better team, some of the goals were really soft. For example, Brad Richards scored his first career hat trick last night after playing nearly 1,000 games--but the first one was a pass that went in off a Sabre's skate, the second was an easy tap in after a scramble in front of goal on a poorly-defended rebound left the open next to the far lost, and the 3rd was a simple wrist-shot from 45 feet out that Jhonas Enroth misplayed terribly! They all count, though...

BTW there will be six outdoor games in the NHL next season, including Devils vs Rangers and Islanders vs Rangers at Yankee Stadium. MUST. GET. TICKETS.

Following the Devils is somewhat like being a Leicester fan... A much needed win and shut out in the last match. We have the Panthers tonight need a result.

Yeah you've got to get tickets for the Yankee Stadium games, sounds awesome. I work with a Rangers fan, it seems like every conversation has a hockey dig in it atm. Good job I made the most of it at the start of the season.

[MC Prussian]

Although losing to the Sabres (again), Pittsburgh were able to welcome back Malkin, Letang and Fleury to the starting line-up. Big boost to team morale, that is.

Crosby's status is still unclear - he hasn't played in nine games and still leads the race for the scoring title, but with only one point ahead of Tampa's Martin St. Louis and with a few more games to go before the end of the regular season, he won't be able to hold onto it for much longer.

It looks like Chicago are going to win the Presidents' Trophy this year. Can't see the Penguins working their way back from a three-point deficit.

[Jordan]

Rangers missed a chance to wrap up their spot in the playoffs on Tuesday with a disappointing loss at Florida. Still, I think they will clinch tonight at Carolina.

It would be nice if the Rangers could move up a spot or two and avoid the 1 vs 8 matchup with the Penguins in the 1st round, but that is unlikely and frankly, I cannot say they deserve anything better than the 8th seed. I suppose any team that finishes 8th in its conference can take solace in what the Kings did last year...

Out West, depending on what happens in the Columbus vs Dallas and Detroit vs Nashville games, we could be set up for a grandstand finish for the final two playoff spots. Chicago, Anaheim, and Vancouver are locked into the 1, 2, and 3 seeds respectively. If the Kings or Blues finish 6th, I have a funny feeling Vancouver could be info trouble in the 1st round.