NHL - 2018/2019 Season
 

The 2018/19 NHL season kicks off tonight! Where are my AGF Hockey Friends?

Go Bruins. Go Penguins!

Go Kings! Go Maple Leafs!

Yippee! I’m watching the Leafs vs. Canadiens game right now. I’m a Sens fan...their opener is tomorrow evening against the Black Hawks. It’s going to seem weird without Karlsson.

Caps fan here. Was an awesome banner raising ceremony.

Bruins looking as if they've gone into hibernation. 5-0 Caps in the 2nd. Rask pulled. Ouch!!!

Great night, and they played like Champions!

Yes they did 81 more to go.

I was at the Caps' home opener last season against Montreal. Same kind of game as last night - big score and they chased Carey Price.


7-0 final. Ouch! Marchand will probably end up with another suspension. Stupid move on his part to force someone into a fight who doesn't want it.

Go Knights Go!
(In the interest of full disclosure, I must admit I can't afford tickets and I've never been to a game...) but, Go Knights Go! :D

Best,
PJ

Marchand, one of the NHL's elite players. The guy is his own worst enemy.:(

Anaheim beat San Jose 5-2. All I kept reading about was how good the Sharks' defense was going to be after getting Erik Karlsson. Easier said than done I guess.

Can hardly wait for Caps vs Pens puck drop tonight!!!!!

GO PENS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I watched the Ducks vs Sharks game last night, in part because I’m curious about Karlsson since he played for my favorite team, the Sens. It was actually Anaheim who played well defensively, in particular, goaltender Gibson who played great. I’m sure the Sharks defence still needs to gel, but their players are too good for that not to happen. With Thornton having shave his beard, and Karlsson sporting a longer goatee, I wonder if Eric will take over as the second bearded wonder?:eek:

Hey PJ - welcome to our little AGF NHL fan club. Did you become a new hockey fan when the Knights kicked it up last year?

Well the Caps have now scored 13 goals in their first two games this season. Wasn't enough to get them 2 wins though. Pens beat the Caps 7-6 in OT. Great back and forth battle between these two teams!

It must have been a crazy game. I had the score flashing on my laptop throughout the game and the score changed every few minutes.

Six teams are 2-0 and four of them are in the Central division. Looks like another battle for my Avs to make the playoffs.

Acousticado, I want to apologize in advance for rooting against your Sens all season long. They're off to a much better start than I'd hoped for.

It's going to be a long season for the Canucks. The good thing is the darkest days are behind them and the new Sedin-less era is here.

The Canucks have a plethora of good young talent and prospects. The best of them this year is Elias Petterson. Easterners will get to see him early as the team is on your side for a road trip. This kid has looked sharp in his first two games and might be the real deal.

With Quinn Hughes coming in on D next year things are looking up. Coach Green has them playing an aggressive uptempo style that is exciting o watch even if they are losing.
It's going to be a long year but should be the last year where we wont make the playoffs or at least seriously challenge.

I think the Sedins leaving are a good thing because it lets the team start rebuilding and freeing up some money. I don't mean that as a negative on the Sedin's talent and what they meant to the team for all those years.

Bergeron with a hat trick in Boston's win over Ottawa this afternoon. Bergeron - Marchand - Pasternak is a great line.

Bergeron-Marchand-Pasternak with 8 points in today's win. That line and the Bruins are hot!

Pens playing tonight in Montreal.

Any Nashville Predators fans? Though I am a Caps fan the Preds are my second team. Fans is Nashville are great and the city itself and the whole area around Bridgestone Arena support the team. Went to college in Nashville many years ago when hockey was not even thought about anywhere in the south. Got to walk around Bridgestone Arena when I visited the Ryman a couple years ago. Bridgestone Arena is a great venue.

Big Leafs fan here, they’re off to a good start this year. ‘67 was a long time ago.

Hey Rev, it was great to see the Predators make it to the Cup Finals and give the team and the fans some exposure across the NHL. PK Subban has made Nashville a more visible team for sure.

Gotta be one of the best Leafs starts in many years. Matthews and Tavares are hot. I think Toronto is the next Canadian team to win the Stanley Cup - within the next 3 years if not sooner.

How's Crosby playing? I haven't watched any games but he doesn't have a goal yet.

He's had some chances, but has either missed the target or been the victim of some good goaltending. Made an egregiously ill-timed shift change in OT last night against the Canucks which contributed to Vancouver scoring moments later. In general his play has looked uninspiring.

On the other hand he looked great playing with the Kenyan hockey team.

I had heard he had played with the Kenyan team. How cool. Hopefully Sid picks things up with the Pens.

How about those high flying Leafs!

The way the Pens have played so far (lackadaisically poor defensively) I wouldn't be surprised to see Toronto fill the net against them on Thursday, and HC Mike Sullivan have a stroke on the bench.

Well the real Pens showed up tonight in Toronto. Beat the Leafs 3-0, and dominated play for most of the game. Pittsburgh's team defense was, as the score would suggest, very good.

Quite the accomplishment given how well the Maple Leafs have played.

Nashville won again last night (10/19) Makes them 6 and 1. Pretty good record though it is so early in the season. Caps lost in a shoot out - they should have 2 more wins than they do. Have no idea what's going on with Detroit. Since I am a Caps fan I still vividly remember Detroit sweeping us in the 1998 Cup.

Oh ye of little faith. Talk in Pittsburgh was that there was a sense of the passing of the torch leading up to the game. I'm afraid that the Pens are not ready to fade just yet. Here's the way I see it:

1: Crosby is still the best player in hockey and has experience to back up skills, even if his athletic ability is not at the level of the up and comers. He seems to be acting more like a coach on the ice than the go-getter/goal scorer that fans expect of him. You have to grant that when he's on the ice he makes others look good. He's not like an Ovechkin or a Kessel; he's more likely to get in on an assist that take the shot himself.

2: Murray is a clutch goalie but not the sensation that Marc Andre Fleury was. I miss the option of having Flower in net; he was able to carry the team on his back during scoring droughts. Granted, he still took crazy risks and had concussions but I think that he understood that he had to be athletic in order to not get concussed when the crease got too crowded or the net got knocked off the moorings. It really concerns me that Murray continues to get concussed in practices of all places.

3: the defense is in constant flux. With Schultz being out, Maatta being shuffled around, Le Tang not being the same as he once was and Sully continually changing assignments (outside of the second line) I've resigned myself to the fact that there are going to be breakaways by opposing teams.

That being said, I'm keeping an eye on Toronto. I think hockey is overdue for having the Cup reside north of the border during the offseason.

I'm surprised to hear about the "passing of the torch' talk in Pittsburgh. I certainly don't have that sense at all about this Penguins team. Sure, the loss of Schultz has caused some bumps on defense, and the team seems to only put in a good effort against stronger opponents (3-0 against the Caps, Golden Knights and Leafs; 0-1-2 against the Habs and Canucks), but Letang has been great (Pens get 66% of the shots and dangerous scoring chances when he's on the ice), Kessel and Malkin are putting up lots of points, and their special teams have been outstanding, especially the PK at over 90%. Sid is off to one of his typical slow starts, but I love what Leafs coach Mike Babcock had to say about Sid "passing the torch" of best player in the world to Connor McDavid: