The NHL returned to ESPN two years ago, and it’s done a much better job of promoting the league with such things as in-game promos during NFL games. It still doesn’t cover it during its numerous talk shows. Since that’s all ESPN has during the day, it would behoove it to feature it more. Stephen A. Smith talking about hockey incessantly would do wonders for the NHL. At least Pat McAfee discusses it. I never would have guessed a punter would become a huge TV personality.
On Tuesday, ESPN aired NHL Frozen Frenzy, a RedZone-style coverage of hockey where they whipped around 16 games, featuring every NHL team in action to showcase all the highlights and goals. I did like that they staggered the start times of games. There’s nothing dumber than having, say, all six early games of a typical night being at intermission at the same time. However, this didn’t interest me at all.
I watch RedZone every week, but that’s because it works for the NFL. It’s the best way to watch NFL games. Except for the three weekly prime times games, all the games are on simultaneously. It’s impossible to watch seven or eight games at once. Even if I had that many TVs, I’m not doing that. I don’t even like watching two games at once, something I have done a few times with various sports. The only way to watch them all and not miss anything important is with RedZone. And anything important is key. Despite an NFL game being three hours long with an hour on the clock, there are only about 15 minutes of actual action. This means watching most of the game is pointless because you aren’t actually watching a game. That’s why RedZone works because you cut out all the non-important stuff. Occasionally, I wish I had more context, but it’s rare. This doesn’t work for hockey.
It’s pointless to force all NHL teams to play on one day because they usually play every other day. And if you miss them playing one night, you can watch one of the other 81 games they’re playing. There are plenty of games to watch, and only a few nights a week would you maybe want to watch other games simultaneously. More importantly, all 60 minutes of a game is entertaining. There aren’t any lull spots where the clock is running, and we’re watching shots of the coach. That’s what separates hockey from all other sports. The only other nonstop sport is tennis. Soccer keeps going, but the field is so large there’s a lot of boring action sometimes. You can make a case for basketball, but a third of the game, they’re not doing much.
It seemed to be a ratings success, so it’ll probably be back. Good for them, and I’m glad they’re getting creative. But I’m still not interested.
Things I like
- The Colorado Avalanche, Vegas Golden Knights, and Boston Bruins all had their first losses within 24 hours of each other. However, the Bruins and Golden Knights lost in overtime. The Bruins took a two-goal lead into the third period against the Anaheim Ducks. But the plucky Ducks scored with about two minutes left and then again with 15 seconds left. They then won in overtime, of course. I’m sure the Bruins had flashbacks to Game 7 against the Florida Panthers. If the Bruins expect to do anything in the playoffs, they must learn to close out games. While the Ducks are improving, they probably won’t make the playoffs. This was not good for the Bruins. It does make an excellent case for why you need to watch games to the end. Anything can happen.
The Avalanche lost 4-0 to the Penguins because they were 0-5 on the power play. Yikes. Oddly, the Penguins’ only win in their last five games was against an undefeated team. The Golden Knights lost to the Blackhawks when they scored a power-play goal in overtime. The penalty was drawn by Connor Bedard, who also scored a goal.
- The Vancouver Canucks are finally playing like a real team. Hooray! The young talent is there with Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser, Quinn Hughes, and Andrei Kuzmenko. Somehow, J.T. Miller keeps getting better as he ages. But they’ve been in every game they’ve played, and if it weren’t for a tough loss against the Rangers (more on this below), they’d have only one. I guess Rick Tocchet was the guy for the job.
Things I don’t
- To say the Edmonton Oilers have not played well so far would be an understatement. Maybe they foresaw this when they made Connor McDavid’s agent the CEO of hockey operations. I can’t think of any team in any sport that has ever done that. It reeks of desperation as they do not want McDavid to leave. Before the Heritage Classic game against the Calgary Flames, the Oilers were outscored 30 to 17. I’m surprised the Oilers are platooning goalies. I thought Stuart Skinner had won the starting job last season.
The Oilers wanted to win the Heritage Classic, and they started with an 8-0 shot advantage jumped out to a 2-0 lead and only gave up a goal on two two-man advantages for the Flames. The Flames came within one, but the Oilers scored two in the third, including an empty netter. Stuart Skinner was in goal, and I hope he stays the top goalie moving forward. This was an important win for the Oilers. Their defense has never been great, but it’s always improving. Their biggest problem this season is the lack of third-period scoring, which is usually their specialty. Hopefully, this game will turn it around.
Fights of the Week
Special thanks to hockeyfights.com for making this section a little easier to do.
Ross Johnston vs Nicolas Deslauriers
Slow and methodical.
Alex Tuch vs Brady Tkachuk
Tkachuk decks him, but it looks like he missed.
Goat of the Week
Jonas Siegenthaler and Erik Haula - New Jersey Devils
Lack of positioning and communication between Siegenthaler and Haula leaves Siegenthaler with nowhere to go, and the puck and he and the puck basically hit Haula. This was the opening goal. The Devils lost to the Washington Capitals by one if you remove the empty net goal.
https://www.nhl.com/video/wsh-njd-mantha-scores-goal-against-devils-6339870267112
Stat Line of the Week
10/24/23 Minnesota 7 vs. Edmonton 4
| Skater | TOI | G | A | +/- | SOG | Hits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R.Hartman | 17:28 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 1 |
Ryan Hartman hasn’t lived up to his first-round draft status, but he single-handedly beat the Edmonton Oilers with a hat trick and two assists. He helped lead the Wild to a five-goal third period as they came from behind to win. He’s only scored over 60 points in his career once, so I wouldn’t get too excited if you’re a Wild fan.
Numbers, Numbers
41 – Game suspension for Shane Pinto of the Ottawa Senators for gambling. Mostly because it was a proxy account.
0 – Wins for the San Jose Sharks, the only winless team. Yes, they are that bad.
6 – Non-even strength goals between the Rangers and Canucks before a non-tripping call led to a breakaway and an overtime goal for the Rangers
2 – Shutouts, back to back, for Jonas Johansson of the Tampa Bay Lightning
2 – Shutouts for Tristan Jarry to tie Johansson for the NHL lead, doing his best to justify his contract
Rankings
The rankings are based on how the teams are currently playing.
Top 5
- Vegas
- Colorado
- Boston
- Vancouver
- Detroit
Bottom 5
- San Jose
- Calgary
- Edmonton
- Seattle
- Washington
NFL Thoughts
After Brock Purdy’s first game, I said Trey Lance will never be the starter again, and that happened. Now I’m here to say the 49ers will be just fine. But the bashing of Purdy or any young quarterback is ridiculous. After the Vikings loss, Shannon Sharpe on First Take said he didn’t lose confidence in Purdy because he never had any. He’s a system quarterback. Barf. Ryan Clark was laughing, saying they’re all system quarterbacks. Even Kurt Warner has always said he’s a system quarterback. He would know since he’s a Hall of Fame quarterback. Perhaps that’s why he wasn’t great on the Giants. It makes sense to have a system your quarterback is comfortable in, highlights his strengths, and masks his weaknesses. It’s counterproductive to do the opposite. It’s mind-boggling that someone who played in the NFL doesn’t understand this.
After the Vikings game, Sharpe said no one on Twitter said I was wrong. Because normally, people say he’s wrong about Purdy. Well, he was still wrong in that case. I turned off the game, saying he would never throw those passes. Something must be wrong. Sure enough, two days later, we found out he had a concussion. Both interceptions came after the concussion. If Kyle Shannon knew how to use his downs correctly or the field goal kicker didn’t miss, the 49ers would have beaten the Browns. If Purdy had not gotten a concussion, they likely would have won that game, too. Against the Bengals, his first interception wasn’t great. But it’s a weird pass, and he probably wasn’t expecting a big man to jump like that. The second interception was just awful. I have no excuse for that. Even if we take away the concussion excuse, none of this matters. Because of his success, I think people forget he’s a rookie. He has now played in 17 regular season games. In those games, he’s only thrown nine interceptions. That’s damn good. His rookie season is now over.
Peyton Manning threw 28 picks in his rookie season. He was just fine. Drew Brees was only average in his first two seasons. He was just fine. Quarterbacks usually take a few years to develop. It’s not normal to throw 50 touchdowns in a rookie season like Patrick Mahomes. Quarterbacks have bad days. Tom Brady has had bad games. Even Mahomes had a bad game today and also threw two picks. Considering he was sick and the Chiefs didn’t look great when they beat the Broncos a few weeks ago, it wasn’t surprising the Broncos won. But it won’t change anything. The Chiefs are still making the playoffs. The Broncos aren’t. A few seasons ago, a bad Raiders team beat the Chiefs in Kansas City, and they celebrated like they won the Super Bowl. It didn’t change anything. The Chiefs made the playoffs and possibly the Super Bowl, and the Raiders didn’t.
Purdy is struggling, and the 49ers are also struggling. Let’s face it: that defense isn’t great. However, they did force a few turnovers today. But none of this will change anything. They have a much-needed bye, and if they can beat the Jaguars and Buccaneers, they’ll face the Seahawks in a battle for first place.