Author Archives: Joe Bartnick

Bartnick: Same old, same old in Atlantic for 2025-26

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LOS ANGELES – The Atlantic Division once again hosts a two-time defending Stanley Cup Champion. It is once again a Florida franchise, the Florida Panthers. For years the Atlantic division was divided between the top 4 and the bottom 4. The top teams Florida, Tampa Bay,Toronto and Boston were the top teams. Detroit, Buffalo, Montreal and Ottawa were at the bottom. Every year we waited to see a bottom team to rise up and a top team to drop.

Last year was the year. Montreal and Ottawa rose and Boston fell.

This season the Atlantic is divided into 3 classes. The Stanley Cup contenders Florida, Tampa Bay and Toronto. The Middle class consists of Montreal ,Ottawa, Detroit and the Gavin McKenna lottery hopefuls Boston and Buffalo.

1. Florida Panthers – The 2 time defending Stanley Cup Champions Florida Panthers are returning almost the exact same team. Only replacing sixth defenseman Nate Schmidt with Petry and backup goalie Vitek Vanecek with Daniil Tarasov. They still have the best top 9 in the NHL led by their top center, captain and Selke winner Aleksander Barkov. Sam Reinhart, Carter Verhaeghe and Eeto Luostarian are lethal wingers. Centers Sam Bennett and Anton Lundell give the Big Cats the best center depth in the league. Florida’s heart and soul Matthew Tkachuk is out until 2026 but The Rat Brad Marchand will be there all year. The defense will have Seth Jones all year. The top pair of Gustav Forsling and Aaron Ekblad are second only to Cale Makar and Devon Toews in Colorado. Hall of Famer Sergei Bobrovsky is in net. Many say Florida knows they will make the playoffs and won’t try to win the division. Paul Maurice’s team is just too good not to win the division. Tampa and Toronto have holes. Florida has none.

2. Tampa Bay Lightning – The Tampa Bay Lightning have an incredible top line. Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point and Jake Guentzel may all be in the Hall of Fame one day. Tampa doesn’t have the depth in lines 2-4 they did in their Championship years despite Brandon Hagel, Anthony Cirelli and Nick Paul still being there. Yanni Gourde returning and Pontus Holmberg coming down from Toronto help but GM Patrice Brisebois will need to add at the deadline. Victor Hedman is playing at near peak Victor Hedman on the blueline. Ryan McDonagh and Erik Cernak have lost a step. Never count team with Andrei Vasilevskiy in net, Jon Copper behind the bench and a lethal power play out of Stanley Cup contention. The Bolts take too many nights off as a team to win a division.

3. Toronto Maple Leafs – The Toronto Maple finally broke up the Big 4. Auston Matthews, William Nylander and John Tavares remain. The Leafs will miss Mitch Marner’s 100 plus point in the regular season but not his disappearing act in the playoffs. Matthew Knies is ready tto be a star power forward. The rest of the forwards will play the rough Craig Berube style hockey but will they score enough? The defense is also built to play the way the head coach wants but the Leafs still do not have a  number one defenseman. The Dynamic duo in net Anthony Stolarz and Joseph Woll will be missing Woll to begin the season as he deals with a personal matter.

4. Montreal Canadiens – The Montreal Canadiens made the playoffs last seasonbecause the franchise never misses the playoffs 4 years in a row. The Habs have high expectations. Their top line of Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkofsky is talented enough to meet them. Russian scoring phenom Ivan Demidov will be with them all season. Hopefully former Swedish scoring phenom Partik Laine can stay healthy and be productive all season. Josh Anderson and Brendan Gallagher provide veteran grit. Calder trophy winning defenseman Lane Hutson will be joined by newly acquired  Noah Dobson. The pair gives Montreal a 1-2 on the right side of the blueline. Underrated Sam Montembeault is backed by the solid Kaapo Kakhonen in net. Head coach Martin St Louis will not let the Canadiens rest on last season’s accomplishments.

5. Ottawa Senators – The Ottawa Senators finally made the playoffs. The Canadien media has been waiting or begging for that to happen for years. Tim Stutzle is now a bona fide number 1 center. Brady Tkachuk is worthy of his last name. Drake Batherson, Fabian Zetterlund and Dylen Cozens give the Senators championship caliber top tier talent. The Senators depth unfortunately is not championship caliber. Chippy  doesn’t win playoff series. Jake Sanderson is outstanding. The rest of the blueline is adequate. Linus Ullmark is a good goaltender who needs consistency to be great.

6. Detroit Red Wings – The Detroit Red Wings have been waiting a long time to make a return to the playoffs. Unfortunately they will have to wait another year. Dylan Larkin, Lucas Raymond and Alex DeBrincat give the Red Wings formidable top tier scoring. Young Marco Kasper showed signs of becoming a top tier scorer. There is still gas in Hall of Famer Patrick Kane’s tank but not newly acquired James van Riemsdyck’s tank. The bottom 6 is the grittiest Detroit has had in a decade. Moe Seider a true number 1 defenseman. Simon Edvinsson has the makings of a top pair blueliner. The rest of the Wings backend is old and past their prime. Veteran John Gibson should stop Detroit’s disappointing carousel in net. There is a world in which Detroit makes the playoffs. Overly patient GM Steve Yzerman needs to make a couple bold moves as the Motor City residents are growing very impatient.

7. Boston Bruins – The Boston Bruins always made the playoffs because they played Bruins hockey. They always found a way to win. The players who perfected Bruins hockey Zdeno Chara, Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci, Brad Marchand are all gone. David Pastrnak remains. Pasta is still in the handful of top wingers in the league. The rest of the forwards are 2nd liners at best on a playoff team. Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm are a great top defense pairt. Disappointing Nikita Zadorov needs a bounceback season. So does netminder Jeremy Swayman. Swayman never found his game after missing training camp due to a contract holdout. New head coach Marco Sturm has his work cut out for him.8. Buffalo Sabres – The Buffalo Sabres are the worst team in the Atlantic. Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch may put up good fantasy numbers but they will not be able to lead this group of forwards to relevance past Valentine’s Day. Rasmus Dahlin is an excellent defenseman. The rest of the blueline is overpaid and or on the trade block. Sabres goaltenders Ukko- Pekka Luukkkonen and Alex Lyon show flashes but are usually
siege. You gotta feel for head coach Lindy Ruff.

Bartnick opines on the Male Leafs exit, and prognosticates on the final four

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We are now down to four.
Well over a decade ago I started making playoff predictions.  I was right most of the time.I don’t know whether it’s gotten more difficult or I got dumber. I will blame parity and an explosion of talent. There are just so many good hockey players and almost all of them would throw their grandmother from a moving train for the Stanley Cup. I will make more predictions at the end of this column.
Now for some thoughts.
The most pathetic aspect to the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-1 loss to the Florida Panthers in Game 7 was their lack of fight. They didn’t push back at all. They accepted their fate. Max Domi was the only Leaf who had vinegar. It must be in his genes. His Game 5 crosscheck and Game 7 goal were the only times Toronto had a pulse in those games.
Hard to believe the Leafs were up 2-0 in the series and 3-0 in Game 3.
Mitch Marner lost tens of millions of dollars last week. Who cares what he does in the regular season.
Leafs Captain Auston Matthews said there were too many passengers. They were all passengers. There were no drivers. The Leafs were a driver-less car going over a cliff.
Florida Panther GM Bill Zito got the two best players at the deadline after Mikko Rantanen. Brad Marchand and Seth Jones were the best skaters on the ice in Game 7.
Sergei Bobrovsky showed once again why he’s lock for the Hall Of Fame.
Why did Craig Berube never split up Matthews and Marner?
The Washington Capitals and Alex Ovechkin looked worn out vs the Carolina Hurricanes. The All Time Goal record chase took its toll on the team. The Montreal Canadians also gave Washinghton more trouble than an 8th seed should to dispatch them.
I hope Rod Brind’Amour will accept getting beat this year by Florida. Remember 2 years ago when he lost the series in 4 but claimed it wasn’t a sweep.
Miro Heiskanen returning to Dallas gives the Stars another dimension. He can pair with Thomas Harley and give Dallas a  sublime top pair.Heiskanen and Harley can also be split up and one of them will be on the ice for ¾ of the game.
I’m usually not a fan of 11 forwards and 7 defensemen but double shifting Mikko Rantanen with either Wyatt Johnston and Jason Robertson or Roope Hintz and Mikhail Granlund gives Dallas two number one lines.
It’s Mikko Rantanen’s Conn Smythe to lose. Its been 25 years since we’ve seen one man put a franchise on his back like Rantanen did. In 1999 Jaromir Jagr’s Pittsburgh Penguins beat the New Jersey Devils. The Penguins franchise needed the next series home gates. Jagr literally saved the franchise.
Sergei Bobrovsky is in 2nd place.
Jake Oettinger should be the starting goalie for the USA in the Olympics. Matthew Tkachuk should be the Captain.
Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch is underrated. Outcoaching Jim Hiller of the Kings is easy but out coaching Vegas Knight coach Bruce Cassidy is impressive.
Connor McJesus received a lot of help from his apostles vs the Golden Knights. Who thought Evander Kane could pull a Nikita Kucherov. He missed the entire regular season and has played great in the playoffs.
I don’t think anyone on the Leafs roster has the mental toughness of Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner
Joel Quennville is in the perfect spot in Anaheim. It’s a great place to live and it’s out of the media spotlight. Anaheim has a talented young roster that needs guidance .
As a Penguin fan watching Mike Sullivan coach the long standing division  rival New York Rangers will be difficult. It’s like your girlfriend moved in across the street with a new guy who is better looking and makes more money than you.
Watching Sullivan coach the Rangers is difficult. Watching Rick Tocchet coach the Philadelphia Flyers is gut wrenching awful. The Flyers are the Penguins most hated rival and whoever is second is not even close. Tocchet won 3 Stanley Cups as a Penguin. One as a player and two as a coach. Tocchet became a Pittsburgher. . Tocchet returned home to Philly as one of the only two people loved in both cities. The other being the man who was traded to get him. The Wrecking Ball Hall of Famer Mark Recchi.

Whoever Kyle Dubas hires to replace Mike Sullivan needs to be from the NHL or AHL. A man who is used to coaching paid professionals. Not a college coach or even worse from juniors. College coaches rarely make a successful jump to the pros in any sport. Yelling at homesick teeneager in junior is not a skill set an NHL coach needs.

Use CodePHN15. OK, how much longer are you going to procrastinate? Father’s Day is coming up. WHy not get a chair with Joe Bartnick’s PHN logo on the seat back? Sure, it’s gonna scare some people, but Joe will always be close.

Final 4 Predictions.
Florida > Carolina
The Big Cats have 9 forwards that can score. Carolina has 4. Carolina goalie Freddie Anderson will be hurt sooner than later.
Dallas> Edmonton
It’s not wise to pick against Jesus and Leon but Dallas Head Coach Pete DeBoer does not lose Game 7s

Bartnick’s Crystal Ball Predictions

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The 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs have arrived. The 2024-25 NHL season was filled with astounding highs and devastating lows. The NHL’s All Time Goals record was broken by Alex Ovechkin and a young superstar Johnny Gaudreau tragically lost his life. Perennial powerhouses Rangers, Bruins, and Penguins all failed to make the playoffs.

Pre- season darling Nashville was dismal. Ottawa and Montreal returned to the playoffs. Canadiens are ecstatic that 5 teams from north of the border qualified for the post-season.

It’s high unlikely the NHL league office, ESPN and TNT are thrilled that New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chicago and Detroit don’t have a team in the tournament.

Fearless Round 1 Predictions 

Eastern Conference –

Washington/ Montreal –

After the 4 Nations Tournament Montreal had a 2% chance of making the playoffs. The Hockey Gods knew Montreal never missed the playoffs 4 years in a row and intervened.

The Habs young talent upfront hit a groove and rookie defenseman Lane Hutson has been outstanding on the blueline.The Capitals don’t come into the playoffs on a roll but Alex Ovechkin is having too much fun to end his season now. Capitals in 6.  

 Hurricanes/ Devils 

Regular Season Rod Brind’Amour Canes are as bland as ever. The Devils are missing Jack Hughes but Nico Hischier and Jesper Bratt are having career years. Dougie Hamilton’s return boosts Jersey’s blueline. The Devil’s netminder Jacob Markstrom is the difference in this series. Devils in 6.

 Maple Leafs/ Senators –

If the Toronto Maple Leafs don’t make a run this post season they really are cursed. Everything has lined up for the Atlantic Division winners. The Leafs added size and depth to help the Big 4 upfront. The defense and goaltending is the best it’s been in the Matthews / Marner era. Brady Tkachuk and company will try to intimidate the Leafs but ultimately little brother won’t scare big brother. Maple Leafs in 5. 

 Lightning/ Panthers –

The Battle Of The Sunshine State will be a 14 day war.

It is incredibly hard if not impossible to make it to the Finals 3 years in a row. That is exactly what the Big Cats are trying to do. The Champions are getting their heart and soul Matthew Tkachuk back. They added Brad Marchand and Seth Jones mid-season. Problem is the Panthers are facing their rival Tampa Bay Lightning. Tampa appears poised to regain the status as the state’s top team. They retooled in the offseason acquiring Jake Guentzal and losing Steven Stamkos. The Bolts real strength is defenseman Victor Hedman and goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy regaining championship form. Never count out the heart of a champion but the champs legs might be tired.  Lightning in 7.

 Western Conference –

 Jets/Blues

The Jets had a wonderful regular season. They won the President’s Trophy for most wins. Connor Hellebuyck was the NHL’s best goalie. Have you heard this story before? I have.The Blues have been playing playoff hockey since the mod season hiring of Head Coach Jim Montgomery. Blues goalie Jordan Binnington wins games when the lights are the brightest. The Jets Hellebuyck doesn’t.  Blues in 7.

 Stars/ Avalanche

This is the series everyone can’t wait to see. Arguably the 2 best teams in the NHL are playing the Mikko Rantanen Bowl in the 1st round. The series would be even better if both teams were healthy. The Avs are healthy and are even getting their Captain Gabriel Landeskog back from a 3 year long injury odyssey. The Stars will be missing the All- World defenseman Miro Heiskanen and All- Star forward Jason Robertson. Veteran Tyler Seguin is back for Big D. The Stars have the best roster 1-20 in the NHL though the Avs did close the depth gap at the deadline. Dallas has Stars that shine bright but none shine as bright as the Avs Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar. Avs in 7.

 Knights/ Wild –

The Wild are happy to make the playoffs. The Knights view the playoffs as their birthright. Knights in 5.

 Kings/ Oilers –

The 4th time’s the charm for Los Angeles. It’s their year to finally beat the Edmonton Oilers. This is the best Kings team in the Kopitar/Doughty era part 2. The Kings have scoring depth and more than 6 legitimate NHL defensemen. More importantly is the Oilers are a much weaker team than in the past. McJesus and Draisaitl will still perform miracles but the Kings Quinton Byfield is the center to watch in this series.  Kings in 7.

 

Bartnick has tons of thoughts

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Tons of Thoughts, I have a lot to say and type.The Mikko Rantanen Saga – I’m happy with my Dallas Stars winning the West
pre-season pick, eight years x 12 million is a great deal for Dallas. Rantanen is worth more and the cap is going up. In the long run Carolina getting 2 number 1s and Logan Stankhoven for Martin Necas and Jack Drury is a good deal. Stankoven is not as mercurial as Necas. Regular Season Rod Brind’Amour needs to stick to military presses and keep his mouth shut. Rantanen did Carolina a favor by telling them he wasn’t staying. Carolina’s management team was stupid to trade for Rantanen without agreeing to a contract first.
The big lesson in this is don’t play hard ball with HOFer and Cup winner Joe Sakic
The villain in all of this is Rantanen’s agent. The Avs are stronger now then they were at the beginning of the season.

Brock Nelson replacing Casey Middlestadt at number two center – Charlie Coyle is the perfect number 3 center miscast as top 6 in Boston. Can’t wait for Avs vs Stars round 1. Stars GM Jim Nill should be tried for larceny after signing Wyatt Johnston for 5 years 8.4 million

The Toronto Maple Leafs did not do nearly enough at the deadline compared to their Atlantic rivals in the Sunshine State Florida and Tampa Bay. Scott Laughton was
everyone’s 4th choice for centers. Brandon Carlo is fine but they need 3 more defensemen. It’s like Brad Treliving gave up when he couldn’t get Brayden Schenn and Colton Parayko from St Louis.

Boston gave the Captain, the legendary Brad Marchand to Florida for a measly 2nd round pick. The Rat and Matthew Tkachuk together is going to be chaos this spring.

The Tampa Bay Lightning bolstered their lineup with Yanni Gourde and Oliver Bjorkstrand. They have insane top end talent but needed depth. Seattle GM Ron Francis did a great job getting Michael Eyssimont and 2 1st rounders for Gourde and Bjorkstrand. I love Bolts GM Patrice Brisebios win now attitude.

I like how the Rangers acquired two defensemen this year, who actually play defense Carson Soucy and Will Borgen.

McJesus and Leon should be pissed. The Oilers did not do nearly enough. I’m a big Trent Frederic fan and Jake Walman is fine but they needed Seth Jones, Rickard
Rackell and those guys.

This may be the year the Kings finally beat the Oilers but only trading for Andrei Kuzmenko means they won’t win two rounds.

When is Detroit GM/Legend Steve Yzerman going to go for. The Motor City natives are restless. A Petr Mrazek encore and Craig Smith ?? I’d rather have Joe Veleno.

Another Buffalo Sabre mistake – Dylan Cozens for Josh Norris. Cozens isn’t Jack Eichel or Sam Reinhart but he’s not Jason Zucker either. BTW they signed Zucker for two more years.

Canadian Media trash Kyle Dubas all you want but this season he’s done a very good job in Pittsburgh. Why would he trade Rickard Rackell. He’s a 30-goal scorer making 5 million a year for the next two years. As soon as you trade Rackell you’re looking for a player like him. Rackell already has chemistry with Sid and Geno. Dubas turned Micheal Bunting, who’s never been a winning player into Tommy Novak.

He fleeced his old team Toronto. Connor Dewars and Conor Timmins stepped right into the Penguins line up. He gave Toronto a measly 5th round pick. He pulled Vlad Kolyachonok off waivers from Utah and

Vlad is now paired with Kris Letang. Dubas followed the worst GM in Penguins history Ron1 Hextall. The post Sid /Geno era Penguins are headed in the right direction. Franchises that tear it all down take generations to recover. You must keep a few pillars up.I can’t get enough of Alexander Ovechkin. The NHL needs to capitalize on this amazing man and achievement.

Macklin Celebrini is the real deal.

The 4 Nations was exhilarating hockey but the NHL should
not take 2 weeks off. Take one week off and have the US vs Canada best of three.
Tuesday- Sky Dome Toronto
Thursday- Jerry’s World Dallas
Saturday ( if needed) US Bank Stadium Minneapolis.
Finland vs Sweden and Russia vs whatever they call
Jagrland now can play in Europe on Wednesday.

They BETTER let Russia play in the Olympics.

Bartnick’s Christmas Wished for the NHL

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Here’s a list of what every NHL team needs under their tree.

Penguins- A trading partner (fool) to take Ryan Graves off their hands and a complete reconciliation with their deity Mario Lemieux

Philly – Coal, their always on Santa’s naughty list Rangers- A Captain

Islanders- A gold watch to give to Lou Lamoriello for his retirement

Devils- Tin Foil Hats for all the UFO/Drone conspiracy theories in NJ

Capitals – More TV cameras to follow Ovechkin 24/7 during his journey to break goal scoring record

Hurricanes- Protein powder for Rod Brind’Amour workouts Blue Jackets- Home Depot Gift Certificate so they can do repairs on their building

Panthers- Adderall, so they have the energy to go to the Final three years in a row

Lightning- The draft picks they gave away to get Tanner Jeannot

Canadiens – Wire Cutters to cut the chords on Patrik Laine’s XBOX and Playstation

Red Wings- Sergei Fedorov jersey to hang in the rafter Maple Leafs- Bubble wrap for their goalies and a Concord jet to fly Auston Matthews back and forth to Europe

Senators- Cold water to dampen unrealistic expectations from some fans and media

Bruins – Mute button for GM Cam Neely

Sabres- A freakin WIN !!!!!

Ducks- Heated seats for the coldest arena in the NHL and 8pm starts

Kings – Italian Heritage Night

Flames- Workers to build the new building faster

Oilers- Cash, to pay McDavid

Canucks- Peace treaty between Elias Pettersson and JT Miller

Kraken- Kaapo Kakko playing up to his #2 overall pick potential

Sharks- BART passes to take the train to San Francisco their eventual new home

Golden Knights- Fake Mark Stone injury so they can put him on LTIR and load up at the deadline

Predators- Tickets for the Sphere

Jets- Playoff series win

Blues- More hangers so they can retire more numbers BlackHawks- A power forward to play with Connor Bedard Avalanche- A bag of clean pee for Val Nichushkin

Stars- Lifts for Casey DeSmith

Use CodePHN15 We’re getting Bartnick a Rangers chair as he didn’t get anything for them ijn his wish list.

Wild- Ring cameras to see all of Marc- Andre Fleury’s practical jokes

Utah- Odoul’s beer tap pull handles they can put on real beer kegs and fool the Mormons

Bartnick’s musings on the first weeks of the NHL season

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It’s Daylight Savings Time. Halloween is over. Darkness is upon us. The light you see is from my television watching. I’m watching a ton of hockey, as usual. ESPN Multicast is amazing. It saves wear n tear on the remote. Here are some things I’ve noticed between nauseating election ads.

Pittsburgh is near the bottom of the Eastern Conference because of their awful defense. The two headed monster of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin and the rest forwards have by and large have played better than expected with a few exceptions. Goaltenders Alex Nedeljkovic and Joel Blomqvist have been adequate under siege. Goalie Tristan Jarry before his demotion was even worse than the defense.

After a slow start Alexander Ovechkin is red hot. He may catch Wayne Gretzky this season after all.

Alexis Lafreniere may not be Crosby, Ovechkin or Connor McDavid but he has become a first line winger on a Stanley Cup contender.

I have defended Jacob Trouba over the years but his hit on Justin Barron was inexcusable. It was a predatory head shot on a kid in a game that was decided.

Is there anything more John Totorella than healthy scratching Matvei Michkov after he’s named Rookie of the Month.

Martin Necas is playing like the best version of Martin Necas more consistently this year.

Jake Guentzal has fit in nicely on Tampa’s top line. The Snake has always been able to think the game with the best of them.

If any team looked like they were going to have Stanley Cup hangover it was the Florida Panthers.It did not happen. The Big Cats have been a dominant force this season. They’ve overcome off-season departures and early injuries to Sasha Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk.

Boston is a hard to figure out but at least they’re easier to watch since announcer Jack Edwards retired.

GM Barry Trotz did acquired a lot of pieces this summer in Nashville but he never got a top six center.

Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde called out Captain Dylan Larkin. Larkin responded with two goals. Good on Larkin. He’s Detroit’s leader and needs to contribute more offensively.

Winnipeg’s Kyle Connor is the Hart Trophy ( MVP)  winner as of November 4th.

Minnesota’s Kirill Kaprizov comes in second.

Why is Ross Colton blocking shots? Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar are incredible but can only do so much. Colton was on a heater and now he’s in the press box.

The Dallas Stars got swept in Finland by the Florida Panthers. Did Roope Hintz make the trip? I didn’t notice him.

Vegas is once again unbeatable at home. Did they lower the minimums at the blackjack tables?

Leon Draisaitl pulls a Evgeni Malkin when Connor McDavid is out.

Whether Quinton Byfield plays center or wing he should have scored a goal by now.

Goaltender Lukas Dostal is making this the year for the Ducks to finally trade John Gibson.

What happened to Elias Pettersson. Maybe he should not have signed in Vancouver.  

San Jose won three games in a row recently. They aren’t as bad on the ice as they are on paper. It’s a tribute to veterans like Tyler Toffoli and Mikael Granlund and their professionalism.

The commercial with all of the NHL young stars and Sidney Crosby is magnificent.