2025-2026 NHL Offseason

1ThoughtKnown

bluetuned said:

Vitalogensia said:

bluetuned said:

I'd be on board 100% for Seattle winning before Vegas after Vegas sold their soul to try and win immediately.

How ya figure Vegas sold their soul?

It might be a personal problem, haha, but I just feel like they really spoiled the goodwill that they had when they entered the league. That first season was such a great story of castoffs who took the team to the Final. Ever since then the ownership has been clearly hellbent on getting back no matter the cost.

-Unceremoniously dumped Gerard Gallant a year and a half after he coached them to the Final (and then did the same to Pete DeBoer later).
-Brought in Robin Lehner as competition for Marc-Andre Fleury mid-season, and then dumped Fleury a year later for cap space even after he won the Vezina.
-Acquired every shiny new toy they could find on the market (Pacioretty, Pietrangelo, Stone, Eichel, Lehner) even if it meant getting rid of a bunch of the guys that they had success with originally (Tuch, Schmidt, Haula) or even guys they only recently picked up (Stastny, Tatar, Pacioretty again).
-Stashing players on LTIR to circumvent the salary cap like they did this year with Stone, who is miraculously healthy right in time for the playoffs when the cap is no longer an issue.

It all just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. They were fun to root for at first but now they barely have anyone left from that group. it just seems like they're trying to buy a Cup, as much as you can do that in the NHL anyway.

Agreed.  It’s like the ‘94 New York Oilers, only they can’t completely pilfer the Lightning because they find creative ways to circumvent the cap (something Vegas took notes on with less successful results). 

1ThoughtKnown

Double post

tempo_n_groove

josevolution said:

Yeah I’m rooting for Seattle love seeing a team that has never won it lift the cup! 

The team is brans spanking new, of course they haven't won, lol.

a5pj

Canes looked great last night! Played the system right, play fast and never give up, totally hemmed the devil in their own zone most of the night.

Thanks for the recap about Seattle, had no idea they've moved on so many good players. But they're playing within the "rules"  but with such turnover I'd think it'd be pretty easy to get bad real quick. Building a system with depth seems to keep teams in the hunt for many years at a time. I'm thinking of the Red Wings before Blashill and Holland's terrible decisions a few years ago.

1ThoughtKnown

a5pj said:

Canes looked great last night! Played the system right, play fast and never give up, totally hemmed the devil in their own zone most of the night.

Thanks for the recap about Seattle, had no idea they've moved on so many good players. But they're playing within the "rules"  but with such turnover I'd think it'd be pretty easy to get bad real quick. Building a system with depth seems to keep teams in the hunt for many years at a time. I'm thinking of the Red Wings before Blashill and Holland's terrible decisions a few years ago.

Detroit was in the same position that Pittsburgh and Washington is in now. You have a core of aging star players and you do whatever you can to hold it together as long as you can. Trading high draft picks for plug and play role players for a few last chances at glory.  As Detroit has shown, full rebuilds don’t always go as planned, but Stevie Y will get that program back on track. 

Can’t blame Blashill for that really. As for the Holland, the GM is in a tough spot there as I’m sure the Illitch family had some say in the direction of the team. Owners want to win and sell tickets, and star players do that for them. 

a5pj

1ThoughtKnown said:

a5pj said:

Canes looked great last night! Played the system right, play fast and never give up, totally hemmed the devil in their own zone most of the night.

Thanks for the recap about Seattle, had no idea they've moved on so many good players. But they're playing within the "rules"  but with such turnover I'd think it'd be pretty easy to get bad real quick. Building a system with depth seems to keep teams in the hunt for many years at a time. I'm thinking of the Red Wings before Blashill and Holland's terrible decisions a few years ago.

Detroit was in the same position that Pittsburgh and Washington is in now. You have a core of aging star players and you do whatever you can to hold it together as long as you can. Trading high draft picks for plug and play role players for a few last chances at glory.  As Detroit has shown, full rebuilds don’t always go as planned, but Stevie Y will get that program back on track. 

Can’t blame Blashill for that really. As for the Holland, the GM is in a tough spot there as I’m sure the Illitch family had some say in the direction of the team. Owners want to win and sell tickets, and star players do that for them. 

Yeah there's a lot more to it than a quick recap by just a lowly fan like me lol. We forget they're people too and want to live / play / have careers / family in different places.

nicknyr15

Wobbie

nicknyr15 said:

ESPN sucks at hockey. "my" VGK hometown announcers are MUCH better than the ESPN crews.

eeriepadave

tempo_n_groove said:

josevolution said:

Yeah I’m rooting for Seattle love seeing a team that has never won it lift the cup! 

The team is brans spanking new, of course they haven't won, lol.

Vegas has never won. I think The Panthers have never won either. Have the Hurricanes ever won it?

bluetuned

eeriepadave said:

tempo_n_groove said:

josevolution said:

Yeah I’m rooting for Seattle love seeing a team that has never won it lift the cup! 

The team is brans spanking new, of course they haven't won, lol.

Vegas has never won. I think The Panthers have never won either. Have the Hurricanes ever won it?

Canes won in 2006.

Vegas, Seattle, and Florida haven't won.

Toronto last won in the '60s, Edmonton in 1990, Dallas in 1999, and NJ in 2003.

1ThoughtKnown

RIP Petr Klima. 

Never forget that OT goal against Boston in the finals after he road the bench for three periods. Legendary 

Merkin Baller

Wobbie said:

nicknyr15 said:

ESPN sucks at hockey. "my" VGK hometown announcers are MUCH better than the ESPN crews.

Dave Goucher?

nautical_disaster

1ThoughtKnown said:

RIP Petr Klima. 

Never forget that OT goal against Boston in the finals after he road the bench for three periods. Legendary 

If my memory serves correctly, the coach had benched him, and that was like his third shift in that triple ot session lol. I'll always remember Bob Cole's call "Petrrrrrrrr Klimaaaaa!" RIP to the Boston Bruins killer. 

1ThoughtKnown

nautical_disaster said:

1ThoughtKnown said:

RIP Petr Klima. 

Never forget that OT goal against Boston in the finals after he road the bench for three periods. Legendary 

If my memory serves correctly, the coach had benched him, and that was like his third shift in that triple ot session lol. I'll always remember Bob Cole's call "Petrrrrrrrr Klimaaaaa!" RIP to the Boston Bruins killer. 

You bet! I think John Muckler was the Oilers coach. Imagine sitting there watching an entire game from the bench and then scoring a triple OT winning goal. Petr was an enigma… lots of talent. I copied his striped stick tape, which pissed my coach off to no end lol. Not really sure why, hockey people were generally just too conservative for my liking. It’s a game for fuck sakes. 

Poncier

The thing still burned in my brain from that Klima game came in the first OT:

https://youtu.be/LbXq_Zn5QFg

nautical_disaster

Oh man i remember that stick tape job haha!

1ThoughtKnown

Poncier said:

The thing still burned in my brain from that Klima game came in the first OT:

https://youtu.be/LbXq_Zn5QFg

That’s a tough one, but every hockey player has missed a wide open net. You never really forget them either lol. 

Poncier

But missing that wide open net in OT of game 1 of the cup finals makes it a bit harder to forget.

nautical_disaster

I still can't believe he missed the net

Wobbie

Merkin Baller said:

Wobbie said:

nicknyr15 said:

ESPN sucks at hockey. "my" VGK hometown announcers are MUCH better than the ESPN crews.

Dave Goucher?

he’s one of them. I’ll take him over steve levy.

edmonton PP is scary. VGK, better 5 on 5.