NHL 2020-2021 season

[Weirfan]

Helluva goal by Ryder...I mean Toffoli last night. Dangle bankhand shelf!

The additions of Toffoli and Anderson are making Bergeron look good.

everyone talks about how offensively powerful Toronto and Edmonton are, well Montreal leads the league offensively with 44 goals in 10 games, the 40 million dollar for 4 player Leafs only have 33g in 10 and Edmonton 42 in 12 games. I think Montreal was shut out one game too.

[Marty Canuck]

Helluva goal by Ryder...I mean Toffoli last night. Dangle bankhand shelf!

Oh that one was a beauty for sure!

[synergy]

Helluva goal by Ryder...I mean Toffoli last night. Dangle bankhand shelf!

Oh man, just saw the highlight reel on that.

[WhiteWalker]

I was wondering about this last night. Was Ryder the last player to wear 73?

Brendan Gallagher wore it his rookie year.

[Chambokl]

Brendan Gallagher wore it his rookie year.

I would have never guess . . . I would ask my son . . .

[Chambokl]

So Manny, he told me with no hesitation. Ryder was the last guy. Gallagher wore it in his rookie year but gave it to Ryder when he was traded back to the Habs . . . Et voilà!!

[gatsby]

So what do you gents think of the season to date. Nice to see hockey A different sense when one team plays another 6plus times. Fairly small price to pay. American teams, looming ahead, will sort out contenders from pretenders. But for now, hockey night in Canada eh?

[4wedges]

So what do you gents think of the season to date. Nice to see hockey A different sense when one team plays another 6plus times. Fairly small price to pay. American teams, looming ahead, will sort out contenders from pretenders. But for now, hockey night in Canada eh?

I find that while occasionally it seems repetitive playing the same teams, for the most part the hockey has been great, especially in the Canad..err North Division. With 6 teams fairly close in the standings, the games are important and close. I am enjoying it. I will be glad to watch the Leafs tonight, it feels like it's been 2 weeks since they last played.

[WhiteWalker]

So Manny, he told me with no hesitation. Ryder was the last guy. Gallagher wore it in his rookie year but gave it to Ryder when he was traded back to the Habs . . . Et voilà!!

Whitewalker stands corrected. Gallagher gave Ryder his number back when Ryder was traded back to Mtl from Dallas.

[Jeffc]

So what do you gents think of the season to date. Nice to see hockey A different sense when one team plays another 6plus times. Fairly small price to pay. American teams, looming ahead, will sort out contenders from pretenders. But for now, hockey night in Canada eh?

I think it's ok for this year but can get a bit repetitive. It's a very competitive division so the games are good for the most part (except when Ottawa is playing LOL). Hopefully things are back to normal next year. Between Cal, Edm, Van likely 2 if not all would make the playoffs under the old setup with the Pacific having a bunch of weak teams.

[Marty Canuck]

So what do you gents think of the season to date. Nice to see hockey A different sense when one team plays another 6plus times. Fairly small price to pay. American teams, looming ahead, will sort out contenders from pretenders. But for now, hockey night in Canada eh?

I’m glad for hockey. One downside though is the higher (relative) number of games played in the West make for some late nights but that’s a minor beef.

I miss not seeing the other teams play vs. Leafs. I do have NHL Center Ice so I can watch any game but out of respect for my wife I try not to watch US team only games all the time when the Leafs or Sens aren’t playing. Later in the season I can see myself watching more US divisional games as the playoff picture starts to firm up and intensity is on the rise.

[Arthur Dailey]

For those lamenting the lack of 'physicality' in the current NHL, Sean McIndoe (Down Goes Brown) who is my all-time favourite NHL writer, has an article published today in The Athletic which lists the game with the single most PIM's for each franchise. There are also lots of embedded links in the article to videos of these games.

In the article Sean writes:

That approach to the game has been shifting in recent years, as the game moves away from glorifying violence in service of The Code. In fact, it’s really hard to overstate just how much the NHL has changed in the last decade or two. To a fan who only started watching recently, the penalty-filled contests from the past must seem like a different sport.

Back in the 1990s, guys like Craig Ludwig could take brutal runs at guys like Teemu Selanne for the simple crime of being too good. And when they did, it wasn’t hard to see how the rest of the game might go.

[Chambokl]

For those lamenting the lack of 'physicality' in the current NHL, Sean McIndoe (Down Goes Brown) who is my all-time favourite NHL writer, has an article published today in The Athletic which lists the game with the single most PIM's for each franchise. There are also lots of embedded links in the article to videos of these games.

I think Mario is the one behind that movement. He got crosscheck in the back so much he got tired and missed a lot of games. He was the one for me that spoke out first and kept talking about it. It was absolutely brutal what some of these guys went through.

[Arthur Dailey]

I think Mario is the one behind that movement. He got crosscheck in the back so much he got tired and missed a lot of games. He was the one for me that spoke out first and kept talking about it. It was absolutely brutal what some of these guys went through.

I used to watch Pittsburgh games from the end blues at the Gardens. Just saw that I could see how Mario would 'set-up'. Did the same whenever Gretzky was playing there.

And in my lifetime never saw a player put up with as much abuse behind/after the play as Mario Lemieux. It was just awful to watch.

In 1987, about 10 days before Mario scored 'the goal' to win the Canada Cup, we were in Don Cherry's original restaurant (where he used to film his TV show) having some post game refreshments with about half the members of Team Canada and Don.

At that time Grapes was still quite dismissive of Mario. You know 'whiner', 'face mask', 'soft', etc. No Mario was not in the group that was there.

When the players left, I mentioned to Grapes that by the time he retired that Mario would probably be favourably compared with Gretzky. Well if my friend (6' 3" and 265lbs) had not diffused the situation, then it would have been messy as Grapes escalated into full on rant mode almost immediately. I unfortunately responded in kind.

We did eventually make up when MLG became a client and I would spend time with him in the Hot Stove or after hours as he tended to stay very late at The Gardens in order to avoid audience seekers after the games.

The room where they filmed Coaches Corner at MLG was basically an old janitorial/storage room with a very low ceiling. Quite claustrophobic, which is probably why Grapes would sometimes get angry if a production crew member moved or made a noise.

[Arthur Dailey]

I was wondering about this last night. Was Ryder the last player to wear 73?

In their Peewee season Toffoli and Gallagher were on opposite teams during the championship game of a 'prestigious' tournament.

The game was called in the final minute when Toffoli's team, most likely at the direction of their coach. all dropped their gloves at the drop of the puck and engaged in a line brawl.

There were about 8 players on those teams who eventually played in the NHL. Although the tournament MVP (from Gallagher's team) did not but ended up playing in a 2nd tier league in Europe.

More than 2 dozen players from that tournament eventually made it to the NHL. Would have to check because I believe that Justin Holl may have also been there. Justin's tournament teams were never top ranked and he was often not even on the top pairing on those teams.

But the American minor hockey system is much better for long term development than ours. Which is probably why there are now more Americans in the NHL than players from all the Canadian provinces and territories combined, once you remove Ontario.