#and ended up winning 6 stanley cups

[iamidentical]

FRANK MAHOVLICH TRANSCENDS TORONTO

"Owena's Ode", @darkforestroads // "Viva Mahovlich!", Maclean's, 1961 // "It Should Have Been You", The Waterboys // Toronto Daily Star, Nov. 3rd 1967

[hazybisou]

TOOTHLESS

blurb

reader x jack hughes

summary: y/n finds out through twitter that jack has lost a tooth and calls to see for herself.

a/n: IT MADE ME CACKLE HELLA HARD!! like imagine the lisp he’s gonna have 😭😭 it’s gonna be hella cute but wayyyy too fucking funny. also i js had to write this like cmon 🤣🤣

jack was away in Raleigh for the second game of round two of the stanley cup playoffs against the carolina hurricanes. you stayed home due to have finals but were still able to watch the first game.

you were finishing up homework while watching the second game, the score being 1-4, the canes winning. you finished typing up your essay when you got a text from your friend, jane.

janey boo 🙃

did you see?!!

you

see what?

janey boo 🙃

JACK LOST HIS TOOTH

you

WDYM HE LOST HIS TOOTH

janey boo 🙃

i was scrolling through tiktok and saw a picture of jack missing his front tooth to the sound bigger than the whole sky

you

BAHHHHHAHAHAHA

WAIT OMG THATS SO RUDE

poor jack

BUT LIKE IWHSHABXSJ

OMG IMA GO LOOK

janey boo 🙃

woody and mercer and jack are now the toothless trio

you

THEYRE TRIPLETS HOW CUTE

ANYWAYS BYE

you couldn’t help the little laughs and giggles that escaped. you open up twitter and search up ‘jack hughes’ and clicking on ‘latest’. you scroll down and can’t help but burst out laughing. you probably looked crazy right now but this news was too funny.

you look up and notice the game has ended, the canes winning 6-1. you decided to wait a couple minutes, knowing it would only be a matter of seconds until jack would text you, something along the lines of ‘i just got out of the arena’.

a couple of minutes later, you’re phone dinged and you saw it was jack who texted. it said ‘hey i just left and am headed back to the hotel’. you don’t respond as you immediately go and click on his contact before the phone started ringing.

“hello?”

“hey babe, just wanted to let you know that you played great tonight. m’ sorry about the loos,” you told him syntactically.

jack smiled on the other end, “thanks. i appreciate it. anyways, what were you doing?” you noticed he had a small lisp. it was cute. his words sounded like a little kindergartners.

you just smiled at the question, knowing jack would always ask about your day and how it went. “oh i was just finishing up some homework. nothing much. why?”

“just wanted to know,” jack responds. you look down at your phone and realize he’s facetiming. you slide the button and are met with the ceiling of his car. you hear the jingle of keys and rustling before he picks his phone up and his face comes in view. “hi.”

“hi.” you respond back. “whatcha doing?”

he smiled. “nothing. just gonna head to the hotel before getting to see you again.”

the smile on your face grew even bigger before you remembered why you called him so fast. “hey jack?” he perked up and hummed. “could you smile at me real quick?”

jack looked at you suspiciously before shrugging and showing you a toothy grin. you just giggled before small laughs started to come out and soon you were cackling.

jack looked confused.

by the time you were done laughing tears began to fall from how hard you were laughing. “oh jack..your tooth.” you finally told him.

he finally got it and just began to pout. “it’s not funny.” he remarked.

“just a little bit. it’s ok though.” you told him. “it’s cute. especially your lisp.”

jack’s cheeks turned pink at the comment. “stop, it’s not cute.” he still had the same pout on. you just started at him with loving eyes.

“jack, baby, it’s ok.” you cooed but he didn’t seem convinced. “you’re still the same jack it’s just you’ll be missing 2% of that smile i love so much.”

“i hate it though.” jack whined. “it makes me sound weird.”

you just stared at him. “it doesn’t matter jack, alright? i still love you and always will.”

“that helped a little.” you just laughed before continuing to talk.

“i have to go and study for that exam i have next week. just make sure you get back safely. call or text me when you’re at the hotel. i love you.”

“i love you too.” jack said back. you said your goodbyes before you hung up and went back to watching the tv. you kept laughing at the thought of jack coming home with a missing tooth.

idk if i hate or love this. but wtv. his tooth is now gone 😔😔 ALSO THE WAY LUKE COULDVE SAID MORE ABT JACKS TOOTH IF HE WANTED TO BUT KNEW JACK WOULD BEAT HIS ASS IF HE DID AND PROB TOLD HIM NOT TO SAY ANYTHING ABT IT IS JS SO FUNNY TO ME!! jack literally reminds me of a pirate with taht crusty ass heard 🏴‍☠️🏴‍☠️🏴‍☠️

[ohsunnyboy]

never again | yoon keeho ˚₊‧⁺˖

you don't know what's cuter. you're boyfriend, lee keeho, or the delusion that the leafs will win the cup in either of your lifetimes.

TAGS: established relationship, toronto leafs fan!keeho, boston bruins fan!reader, screaming and shouting at a tv screen, fluff, maple leafs hockey is its own tw, drinking games!! keeho is lowk ooc

A/N: based off this iconic video. game 6 changed my brain chemistry and gave me hope until... well iykyk... here's the match recap. this is so niche it's entirely self indulgent sorry in advance lmao

WORDS: ~1000

If you're going to be a hockey fan, you should know the number one rule: don't date within the division.

The notorious ad aside, it's pretty clear, once it gets to playoffs with you two, everything's off the table. Especially if you're throwing couch cushions across the room when you're team can't convert on a power play. Cough, the leafs, cough.

Which made it especially weird when you, a Boston Bruins fan ended up dating Yoon Keeho, a fucking Toronto Maple Leafs fan.

"Oh my god are the refs blind?! That's clearly a holding call!" he cries. Ah, it really doesn't get sweeter than this.

"Shut up, he just boarded Lohrei with that! Penalty for both of them," you snarl out, eyes fixated on the tv screen, watching the play-by-play slo-mo of the hit. Lohrei crumpling against the boards as Holmberg practically folds him. "Look! They're not even calling it. Did you see Carolina yesterday? they were calling everything that breathed wrong."

With a sigh, both you and Keeho take a shot. At this rate, you both could be professional alcoholics with how many missed penalty calls there've been this series. You can already feel the regret in the morning trying to sink in with this drinking game.

Keeho hums beside you, but he's been practically vibrating out his skin the entire game. "That's just Svechnikov no? He's massi—OH MY GOD WILLIAM NYLANDER YOU SWEDISH BEAUTY!"

The screen erupts as Nylander finally opens the scoring for the Leafs. A sea of horrific blue and white exploding into cheers. Idly, you think it's the most lively you've seen Scotiabank Arena in years.

"Ugh, really?" And you just have to flop back into the couch corner as Keeho takes his victory lap around the room. Dressed in, of course, his Nylander jersey.

"Oh yeah baby! I could marry that man," he laughs, before very comically and somehow very seriously turning back to you. "After you, babe. Of course after you, love of my life, angel of my univer-"

You hurl one of your last pillows at him. "Sit back down, idiot." The high flush on his face is pretty adorable, even if his alcohol breath stinks when he curls in next to you on the couch. Both of you are going to be crawling out of bed tomorrow for sure.

From above and below your small apartment you can hear the same screams. With the window propped open, you can even hear horns go off in the streets. Capital of Hockey and all that. Moving here to be with Keeho had been hard to do, but so much more worth it for the hockey. Especially when Boston comes rolling into town: being the only Bruins fan for rows on rows was intimidating but so much sweeter if they won.

"I'm your idiot, idiot," he croons into your neck. Peppering you with cute and sloppy kisses across your skin. You finger's curl idly into his hair as you watch the ads spin by on the tv, signalling the end of the second period. His cold fingertips curl around your waist, idly smoothing circles into it. Curled up like this, it's the cosiest you could ask for - and somehow you don't mind the lack of pillows. You both make up for it with your shared body heat.

Carefully, you extract your phone from under him like he's a jenga tower about to fall, but game-drunk like this, he could probably sleep through the Leafs Stanley cup parade if they did win for once.  

Twitter's the same as you left it: another TicTacTOmar clip of Lohrei and Holmberg, more Steve Dangle commentary and your Boston moots crowing about how the Leafs will lose it in the third period. Very, very secretly, you don't think they will. Swayman vs Woll as goalies are brilliant – and terribly good looking – but it must be the phase of the moon or something stupid, but Toronto might just win it this game.

Looking down at your sleeping beauty, Keeho is blissfully passed out on your chest. Face semi-flushed, mouth agape and drool leaking out. Yeah, this is going in the camera roll.

A quick snap and a venture into your settings is all it takes to set the glorious picture as your lock screen. And, if you squint, you can see Draisaitl's neon orange Skip ad in the background. Exactly why you're dating him in the first place.

"You really are my idiot, idiot," you murmur and you press a kiss to his hairline, a warm feeling roiling in your stomach.

Stashing your phone away, you ready yourself with a minute on the clock until the third starts. Saying that, you should really wake sleeping beauty up. "Hey... hey, get up. The Leafs lost in overtime again."

His eyes blink blearily as he processes your words. Slowly, then all at once, you can see the panic settle into his eyes as he sees your shit-eating grin. “No they didn't,” he whispers, but it borders on desperate.

You really can't help yourself. "Yup! There was even a line brawl," you sigh dramatically, bringing your hand to your forehead with a flair. "Swayman was even fighting Woll, a whole goalie scrap and you missed it."

"Nope! Not believing it." Keeho finally has the common sense to turn to look at the screen and realise the third's just begun. The stare of disappointment he gives you is cold enough to give Winnipeg a run for its money. "Never again."

You roll your eyes but just pat the space next to you for him to settle down properly on. "C'mon, whoever loses this has to get breakfast."

“You’re so on,” he huffs to agree, taking a bodily effort to sit back against the couch and on your cold feet. There’s a fire in his eyes that makes you regret this already. “I’m so making you drive to Timmy’s.”

Deep in your heart, if you had to choose Boston or Toronto to win the cup, you'd still choose Boston. But no matter how this series ends, you'd still love your boyfriend very, very much.

if this in any way endeared you to hockey come check my sideblog @wannadewar where i lament and fangirl! if you somehow enjoyed this, a like or reblog would be lovely :) ⭒ masterlist

[hockeyboysimagines]

I know it’s a few days late, but any chance we can get a tiny Matt and Hallie winning the cup blurb? I miss them.

This is way late, but yes. I will always accept any suggestions about writing Matthew and Hallie. They are my whole heart🤍I hope you love this.

Hallie had never been more uncomfortable in her life as she shifted her weight in the seat, easing her way back down. The pressure in her legs and feet was immense, and the “comfy” leggings she’d opted to wear weren’t comfy at all, but they sure beat sitting in jeans for 60 minutes after she’d given birth.

5:45

That was all that was left in game 7.

A wild rollercoaster this playoff series had been. With wins losses, and a brand new baby tkachuk born between games 6 and 7. Thomas and baby Lilly, who wasn’t the baby anymore were seated between Keith and Chantal, Taryn was holding the newest member of the family Joshua, who had come roaring into the world only 3 days prior, and Brady was sitting next to her. Hallie was exhausted, excited, nauseous, and she had to pee more than she’d ever had to in her life but nothing could pry her out of her seat at this moment. Watching Florida fall last summer in Vegas had been awful. The fallout from a hard fought series had been even worse, and the injury that Matthew had suffered has been a terrible start to the summer, and caused weeks of turmoil in their homes. The result at the end when the final buzzer went off would make it all worth it. She hoped.

She glanced at the clock.

1:00 left.

She felt someone bump her and she looked over the find Brady grinning. Wordlessly he reached for her hand, intertwining their fingers and gave it a squeeze.

“I’m so happy to have you here with us.” He said so that only she could hear.

If the result at the end of the game wasn’t going to bring her to tears, Brady definitely did. She felt like it was only a short bit ago that he’d wiped her tears, held her hand and promised to keep her secret about Lilly back in Calgary, every bit as loving as an uncle and brother in law could be, should be, and was. As the minutes ticked by, and the clock wound down she and Brady made their way to their feet, still holding hands.

5 4 3 2 1

Everyone in the suite started to scream including Thomas and Lilly, and Hallie felt hot tears streaming down her face as she watched sticks, helmets and gloves fly all over the ice and the benches clear.

He had done it. Her Matthew was a Stanley cup champion. Brady too was crying as they turned to eachother, fingers still entwined and each let out a strangled cry before they leaned in to hug.

“He did it!” Brady whisper yelled in her ear as he squeezed her tightly and they swayed on the spot. When he let her go he leaned down to accept Thomas’s high five “Up top buddy! Daddy won!”

“Does this mean you will win one next year?” Thomas asked with a big smile “Because if you don’t, daddy will make fun of you.”

The group around them laughed as Brady slapped the brim of Thomas’s hat, pushing it down over his eyes while he giggled and straightened himself out, turning to look up at Hallie. He reached forward and squeezed Hallie’s leg, big smile full of missing teeth. He looked so much like Matthew.

“Thomas look!” Keith called. Hallie glanced up to see them on the Jumbotron and Thomas started flapping his arms around and making a big fuss.

She accepted hugs from Keith and Chantal, the other wives and girlfriends, and finally Taryn who gave her one and handed Josh back, as he started to fuss.

Hallie pulled out a bottle and sat to feed him. Her legs and lower body were killing her and she desperately needed some sleep, but this was all worth it now. Her kids had gotten to see their dad win a Stanley cup. How cool was that? Well not Joshua because he slept through the whole thing, but when they talked about it years from now he would know he was there. She let out a breath and turned her eyes to the Jumbotron to watch the festivities down on the ice. Families weren’t allowed out there until the handshake line ended, and the cup was passed from player to player so she had time to get her thoughts together before then. Everything seemed blurry around her as she watched the cup get passed, waiting with baited breath as it got closer to Matthew. He’d done a lot of great things since she’d known him, but this accomplishment would take the cake. His achievements as a hockey player now matched his achievement of being a great father.

She felt a hand on her arm “Hey mama. They’re ready for us.” Chantal smoothed a piece of her hair and gave her shoulder a squeeze “Proud of you honey. You made this week even better by giving us another little angel.”

She smiled and closed her eyes with a nod, another tear running down her cheek. As Chantal helped her to her feet they began to gather their things and make their way out of the suite to the steps.

“Do you want me to take him back?” Taryn asked from behind her.

“No I got him but can you grab my bag please?” Taryn hitched it over he shoulder and fell instep behind her as they formed a line.

“Brady stand in front of her so she doesn’t fall. Be careful walking.” Keith commented motioning at the stairs as she made her way slowly down them, sliding against the wall to keep her balance while she couldn’t grab the railing. She could feel her phone buzzing in her jacket pocket and the texts from friends and probably Carly and Noah, who’d promised they’d be watching, but she would answer those later. Right now, she just needed to see Matthew.

People were everywhere on the ice as media, families and staff began to filter on to it. People were crying, yelling and celebrating. Kids ran to dads, girlfriends ran to boyfriends, parents congratulated their sons with proud tears in their eyes.

“Daddy!” Thomas exclaimed pointing.

Matthew turned and spotted them, smiling so wide Hallie thought his face might crack. Thomas hurried ahead of her, nearly falling as he reached him and she made her way gingerly across the ice with the rest of the family. He accepted hugs, congratulations, and pats on the back from all his family members until it was just her left after she passed Joshua to Chantal. He put a hand on either side of her face reached a thumb out to wipe a mascara streak away.

“Why are you crying?” He asked leaning down to look at her.

“I’m just so proud of you.”

“Be proud of you too. Without you, none of this would have happened. My life sucked before I met you, and look at us now.” He motioned over her shoulder and she turned “We have a beautiful house, three beautiful kids, 2 cats and a Stanley cup. And it’s all because you agreed to go out with me. We should put your name on this cup.”

She snorted out a laugh and wiped her nose “Well if you insist.” She reached forward and squeezed him as tightly as she could, eyes closing as she listened to the roar of the celebration behind them.

He ran a hand over her hair and was quiet a second before he said casually “So when do you want to have another baby?”

She whipped her head up and started laughing, wiping the wetness under her eyes “Funny guy. If I hadn’t just had one 4 days ago, I’d indulge you but tough luck.”

“Damn.”

“Maybe if you win one next season we can talk.”

He grinned and kissed the side of her head before turning to look at Brady “Your gonna be an uncle again bro.”

Brady looked Hallie up and down and frowned, confused “Wait-what? But you-what?”

“Nevermind. Come on, they wanna do pictures. Let’s get one without the cup first.”

The Tkachuk’s hustled in to crowd around Matthew as his teammates took turns taking pictures with the cup. To his right, Keith, Chantal, Thomas in front holding Matthew’s hand. To the left Brady, Taryn and Lilly. She held baby Joshua, and Matthew reached an arm around her and gave her a squeeze.

This was her family. A family she once didn’t even want to be a part of. Anyone who said good luck wasn’t real had never experienced it. She smiled softly as she turned back to the photographer.

“Alright Tkachuk’s. Smile!”

[cellythefloshie]

;; A Seasons End Chapter One of Cool for the Summer

Table of Contents Playlist «« 🤍 »» Chapter Two

Summary: The Carolina Hurricane's season comes to an unexpected end as the New York Rangers move on to the Eastern Conference Finals and when star forward Andrei Svechnikov cannot return home for the offseason he is left to determine where exactly he will be spending his summer. TW: Mentions of the international conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Word Count: 1k+

Game 7. It was the final game played in the series that would send the Carolina Hurricanes to the Eastern Conference Finals for the second time since Andrei Svechnikov was drafted in 2018. It was a game that the team should have laid it out on the line - his only contribution? A 2-minute penalty for tripping against Barclay Goodrow. And while the Hurricanes killed the penalty, the Rangers went on to win the series in a winner-takes-all game. The score was 2-6, a complete and utter blowout of a game in the series after 6 games with nothing more than a 3-goal differential. 

It left a sour taste in the back of his mouth as he walked back into the locker room with his head hanging low on his shoulders. Andrei didn’t look up, not once, as he stripped off his gear for the last time that season. He didn’t hear the last, tired speech given by Rob as he commended the team for their season. Nor did he hear the murmurs between his teammates as they shared brief sentiments on their way out the door. One by one, they left him until he was the only one to remain. 

Andrei sat in the silence, his head in his calloused palms as a heavy breath trembled through him. For the first time in months, he could feel the ach of his tired body, and it brewed with his disappointment that his season was over. There was nothing to look forward to now except 3 things: Exit interviews, training to be better come the next season and going home. 

It had taken the Hurricanes organization 6 days to close out their exit interviews. One by one, they face management and the media, all singing the same tune. This was not how they wanted their season to end. They wanted to be the ones to face the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference Final. They wanted to go on to play the champions of the West for the Stanley Cup, but they came up short. Every one of them expressed their own shortcomings and held themselves accountable, including Andrei. It was his fourth playoff appearance, but it had been the first time injuries hadn’t kept him from playing every game. Yet, he failed to bring his regular-season success into the postseason with him. So he did the only thing he could do, promise that he would come back next season and be better and with that, he was free to leave. 

With his bag packed, Andrei was ready to leave the city of Raleigh behind him. He couldn’t wait to return home, to see his family and to train with his brother, but the vibration of his phone in his pocket against his hip was insistent. It had been buzzing there all morning, through each of his interviews, and it had grown more frequent the more he ignored it. It must be important. 

Pausing out in the parking lot, Andrei eased two fingers into his pocket and pressed them firmly to his phone screen. With the pressure, he guided the phone from his pocket and into his grasp. It continued to vibrate with urgency even as he held it, and when he saw just who the messages were from, he was left sighing. It was his mother. 

There was no one Andrei loved more than his mother, but he didn’t like what she had to say. Ever since the end of game 7, she had been messaging him to tell him one thing: Do not go home, Andrei. It was the last thing he had wanted to hear, even if it was the reality of it all. With Russia’s military advancement in Ukraine, they had fallen under heavy scrutiny. Travel into the country was heavily restricted - even if he could book a flight to a nearby country with the intention of making the drive home there - there was no telling if he could return to America come the beginning of the next season. And so, he would heed his mother’s cautious warning. He would not go home to Russia, but where would he go?

The clamour of the door opening and closing shut behind him broke Andrei’s attention from his phone screen, and from his bag that he had dropped down to his feet. Behind him, rookie Seth Jarvis had ended his season by walking out the doors. However, one could argue it had ended the moment he had taken a bad hit from Trouba after playing nothing more than two minutes in what would be their final game of the season. The kid had been concussed so badly that he was still feeling the after-effects of the hit seven days later - and yet he was still wearing a smile as his dark eyes had come to find Andrei in the parking lot. 

“You got a ride coming?” Andrei spoke slowly, his hand raising up to block the sun from his eyes as he called out for his teammate. There was no way he was driving when his head was in such a state. 

“Taxi,” Seth answered simply, carefully struggling his shoulders as he tossed a single bag over it. 

“No, no, my car. Get in,” Andrei pointed back with his thumb back towards his sports car that was parked in the lot. It wasn’t the most practical of things when you were trying to lug your equipment around, but Andrei loved the exhilaration and sex appeal of a fast car. 

“You sure?” Seth perked up in place, but it didn’t take much more than a wave before the rookie was falling into stride. 

The hollow shut of the door had Andrei melting into his seat, his head leaning back against the leather seat as he let out a sigh. “Home?” “Airport,” Seth corrected, his tone jovial. 

Andrei’s heart panged with jealousy. The kid was getting to fly off, while he was still unsure of where his summer would take him. “Big vacation?”

Andrei did his best to keep the casual conversation as he began the drive and listened to Seth as he talked about going home to Winnipeg to spend the summer with his parents. But his envy was clearly written all across his features as his face fell into a frown he couldn’t contain, and Seth noticed. 

“You don’t get to go home, do you?” Seth spoke slowly, his tone a little more concerned than a guy would have liked to let on. But the whole world knew of the conflict and the strain it was putting on the players from those regions. 

“No,” Andrei spoke bluntly, his gaze cast out the driver’s side window. It was the last thing he wanted to talk about. 

“I’m sorry man-” Seth sighed out, but then he was jolting in his seat. An idea had struck him like a bolt of lightning. “Your brother, he plays in Winnipeg!” He was almost laughing, as if he had just come up with the most brilliant solution to Andrei’s problems. “Catch the flight with me, hell, you can stay with me, if you want, and spend the summer in Winnipeg with your family.”

Andrei eased his foot onto the brake as he came to a red light, his head turning to look at Jarvis as he was beaming from the passenger’s side. He was right. Evgeny played for Winnipeg - and while he was at the end of his contract, he and his girlfriend were more than likely stuck in a very similar situation as himself. 

As the light went green, Andrei’s foot remained on the brakes, causing a symphony of honking behind him, but he was in no rush. Not when his plans were so quickly changing. “In Winnipeg, I can train?” Andrei spoke slowly. 

“Train, travel, whatever you want. It’s a great city, really.”

But Andrei had already heard everything he needed to hear, his foot easing off the brake and turning toward his apartment. They would make one quick stop before the airport. He needed to pick up his bags. In the small Canadian city, he would have no distractions beyond those he would allow: Seth and his family. Then, she could focus on doing the one thing that had been on his mind since the final seconds of game 7 against the New York Rangers. He could train and become the player the team needed him to be, even if that meant having to spend the summer in Winnipeg. 

Taglist: @starshine-hockey-girl , @wingedwheelprxncess , @mp0625 , @misunderstoodwerewolf , @callsign-denmark , @puckmaidens , @xciciix , @cixrosie

[nikkeisimmer]

Warning: Non-Sims Hockey Post

As most people who follow me know, I'm a hockey fan (almost required to be Canadian) and I'm a Vancouver Canucks fan which means that for most other teams' followers, they hate my guts. 🤣

July 1st for me, most always includes Free Agent Frenzy Day as well as Canada Day. And this year was no different. As of July 6, 2024, Jim Rutherford (or as I like to call him "Trader Jim" (the original Trader Jim)) will have been at the directional helm (as President of Hockey Operations) for almost two and a half years (has it been that long? - it's gone by in the blink of an eye) and two years and almost 4 1/2 months since Patrik Allvin has been hired as General Manager of the Vancouver Canucks.

Considering the sad shape that the Canucks were in in December of 2021, I did not hold hope that there was going to be such a turn around and frankly 2022-2023 season did not disappoint in my books. In fact I will go on record as stating:

Even Scotty Bowman wouldn't be able to win the

Stanley Cup with these idiots...

I meant the efforts of the on-ice team in the fact that they had absolutely no direction and that they were losing more than they were winning. With Travis Green the Canucks were losing and he got fired in December of 2021 and outside of a sudden spurt of winning effort when Bruce Boudreau was hired in December of 2021 right after Green was fired. Under Bruce the Canucks at the end half of the that 2021-2022 season went 32-15-10 and nearly made the playoffs missing it by only 5 points. And we thought that was going to be our Pacific Street Miracle. But 2022-2023 season and our fortunes did a complete 180°. In fact, not only was the winning record in the pre-season illusory, but the Canucks were on their way to a league worst opening season. It was a pretty sad effort all around. The Canucks stumbled out of the gate losing to the Edmonton Oilers in a match-up that ended 3-2. Surprisingly they won the next game against the Philadelphia Flyers 5-4; which was surprising to me which for a long-time fan, having seen the Flyers come into GM Place (now Rogers Arena - and I'm sorry, I just can't call GM Place Rogers Arena - it's too ingrained in me - Sorry, Ted) and essentially ROFLstomping the Canucks on a regular basis - the Canucks getting these infrequent wins seemed like an effing miracle.

But by the time the first ten games of the regular season were over, the Canucks had compiled a 2-6-2 record and were pretty much enroute to shitting the bed and making certain that their coach Bruce Boudreau was going to end up getting sacked. The question was when not if. In fact it looked as though the entire Jim Rutherford/Patrik Allvin experiment wasn't going to go the way that everyone had hoped and that this was all a mistake that they should rectify in a hurry. As usual our reactive fanbase was calling for their heads. It also meant that something had to be done. But it dragged on and on for the entirety of half a season while poor Bruce was trying to do everything in his power to get a team going that just wouldn't listen to him. It appeared that the team had tuned him out. In fact, I was not happy with the guys on the ice more than I was unhappy with Bruce. I kept saying to my wife that "God help the players on that team, because if I were the general manager on this team, I'd be having a fire-sale on players and try to bring in some players with a will-to-win." I'd be firing these players out the door like the slingshotted Bombbird on Angry Birds. God knows that Boudreau was trying his damndest to get something out of a team that just wasn't doing the right things to win. And of course the management was dumping all over Bruce every chance they got when they should have been questioning the work-ethic of their players. Anybody who was in Vancouver at the time knew the coaching drama that was going on in Rogers Arena. It was practically front-page news and the topic of damned near every sportsfan in Vancouver. So I wonder just how long Bruce Boudreau has, because he looks like he's a marked man.

Yeah, well, that pain lasted till January 22nd, 2023 - while the Canucks compiled a 18-25-3 record that was a hole that was seriously going to be difficult to climb out of. And fans were getting on the Tank for Bedard train. Yeah, I hate to admit it, I was one who was hoping that every loss would bring us closer to getting the coveted #1 draft pick. But I knew the NHL. They would do everything to make sure that we didn't get the number one. As a long-time Canucks fan from the very beginning (with Captain Orland Kurtenbach) I knew damned well the hockey gods would conspire to make sure we didn't or we would have had Gilbert Perrault. Instead we got Dale Tallon at #2.

Luke Schenn, one of the players that I think was actually trying on the ice, said it best "Obviously, we feel like we let him down in the room. He deserves better. I think that's on us as players," Yeah, no shit. This was entirely on the heads of the players and their "will-to-win". They were playing to get their coach fired. And that was the bottom line.

Rick Tocchet became the new Canucks Coach and a lot of fans were unhappy the way that it was presented to them. I know I wasn't too happy either, but I was one of the ones willing to give Coach Tocchet a chance. Besides...he wasn't the one that was responsible for Coach Boudreau's ignonimous departure. Frankly that was 100% to blame on the front office and the shitty way they handled things. The second Coach Tocchet took over the bench, it seemed like fortunes had turned around. The Canucks seemed to listen to Coach Rick Tocchet in a way they hadn't for Coach Boudreau. There was a new work ethic being instituted in the locker room. Coach Tocchet demanded hard work without being overbearing. We learned that he was a player's coach as he had been a players' player; that he had two ears and one mouth and used them in proportion.

He was bloody tough to play against as a player as most of the 80s and 90s players will tell you. He was a hard-nosed player who went into the corners, was gritty and tough-as-nails, was capable of throwing down the gloves and chucking knuckles and I hated him when he used to come into the Pacific Colisseum and take on my 'Nucks. But now...

Seeing him in Canucks colors on the ice helping players become the best versions of themselves they can be - I'm just glad that we have him.

Less than ten days after that, one of the main issues in the dressing room (the contention between Horvat and Miller) was addressed. I'm certain that there was friction between the two. The Canucks gambled on an older Miller and fired Horvat out the door trading him to the New York Islanders for Anthony Beauvillier (was later traded to Chicago for a fifth round pick in for in the now complete 2024 draft), Aatu Raty (now a stalwart in Abby) and a protected 2023 first-round draft pick (ended up going to the Islanders for Filip Hronek) and extending J.T. Miller instead. In retrospect, that was definitely the right decision to do, however it sure pissed off a lot of fans even more than they were already about the Boudreau firing.

Over the off-season we were thirsting for news about the Canucks. Jim Rutherford and Patrik Allvin had instituted a practical information lockdown and we could only speculate what was being done during the off-season to change the on-ice dynamics and work-ethic of the team and whether or not the Canucks players were buying in. The Canucks front office would toss us out crumbs from the draft table at the 2023 NHL Entry Draft.

Canucks drafted Jonathan Lekkerimäki at 15th overall in the 2023 draft. And Allvin did some major fine-tuning during the off-season picking up Hronek,

And then 2023-2024. HOLY SHIT!!! It's like we'd somehow acquired a whole different team with the faces of the players we'd had before. If I hadn't known better, I would have thought that humankind had perfected cloning because we now had players with familiar names that had "work-ethic" coming into games. None of this holiday resort type atmosphere, it was what we knew now as "lunch-bucket" hockey, crack-your-knuckles" and get to work.

We were seeing a lot more of these kinds of celebrations on the ice. It was a far cry from the dejection. It was fun to be a hockey fan again (not that I ever left, but those losses hurt). And the loss to the Edmonton Oilers in the 2nd round of the NHL playoffs hurt like hell, but we know that playoff hockey is back in Vancouver and that there will be more playoffs to come.

Yes, there were losses throughout the season, but somehow we knew the Canucks would dig themselves out. This was a whole different team and the man responsible, the man behind the bench.

The fact that we have Adam Foote as an Assistant Coach is incredible.

Again as a long-time Canucks fan whose young adulthood coincided with Tocchet's and Foote's time on the ice as players. Footey was an Avalanche player, again tough to play against and he was one of those players that got under your skin because he was so damned good at what he did.

This is how I remember Adam Foote - tough, gritty and basically would clear players from in front of his net and this was the skillset that he was now teaching to our Canucks players as Canucks assistant coach. These were guys with Cup winning pedigrees.

We can't miss out Sergei Gonchar who was with Crosby when they won the first of two Stanley Cups in Pittsburgh in 2009.

Sergei Gonchar is now our Defensive Development Coach and he goes into the intricacies of what constitutes how to play good defense. It's great to see him on the ice teaching our young Canucks.

And the best damned thing about these three is that THEY WANT THAT for our Canucks - in fact the coaching staff may not have been former Canucks players, but they are Canucks in the fact that they are our players' guiding lights. They're not going to be satisfied until Lord Stanley's Cup is raised in Rogers Arena and neither are Jim Rutherford and Patrik Allvin.

The 2024 offseason so far, as short a period as it's been has been tumultuous. Both Lindholm and Zadorov (is still loved in Vancouver - and he deserves his new contract, but it's a bit too pricey for us) are now Boston Bruins and we just inherited a shit-ton of new Canucks (ex-Bruins in return) that we signed in free agency.

According to Quinn Hughes. Kiefer Sherwood had pissed off the entire team while playing for Nashville

New Canucks team-mate Sherwood harassing ex-Canuck, now Bruin Elias Lindholm. "Welcome to Vancouver" Kiefer.

The Bruins stole two of our players (yeah, I know they were free agents and they wanted too much for the Canucks to pay them what they wanted but they were our players, dammit!) so Allvin returned the favour and signed Jake DeBrusk. Big Z no matter what team he plays for made an impact in Vancouver and will be a loved player here just as much as Kuzmenko was.

They will be missed.

Lindholm, well, he was just a rental.

Well, good luck in Boston, Elias.

Danton Heinen came home (He's a Langley boy) after playing with the Bruins for the past year after playing with the Penguins for the prior two years to that.

And he's so looking forward to playing for his hometown team. He gave the hometeam discount in order to come play for them. He wants to help the Canucks win and well, he remembers the 2011 playoffs too well and wants to change that outcome.

He's also an ex-Penguin so he knows the regime over here having played with them for two years recently. Heinen returned to the Bruins after being drafted by them back in 2014 becoming a regular in the lineup in the 2016-2017 season.

Derek Forbort is a monster. He may not be the most fleet of foot, but he's effective where he places himself. And evidently he can hit like a Mack truck and clear the area around the net which is what Tocchet will want him to do. 6'4" of pure unbridled aggression and "get out of my team's net".

Hopefully Tocchet will be able to help Jake DeBrusk find some consistency and the fact that Jake acknowledges that he has some work to do is nice to hear. But he's one of the most promising of the signings next to Kiefer Sherwood. He's also the "power forward" that Tocchet wanted lining up with Elias Pettersson hopefully to get him going during the playoffs. DeBrusk is a gritty player, a good two way player and able to make defensive plays as well as generate offense. And hopefully Tocc will be able to take him to the next level.

Not much is known here about Nate Smith (Nathan Smith) other than the fact that he spent most of his past two seasons in the minors and that he had a promising season back in 2021-2022. But in 4 games in 2022-2023, he had 0 points.

Hopefully he becomes a good pickup for Abby or that maybe Tocchet will be able to spark something in him during camp.

Last of the pick-ups on opening day of Free Agent Frenzy was Vincent Desharnais from the Oil who will now be plying his trade making sure that Petey is protected rather than plowing into him as seen here.

At 6'7" he's a replacement for 6'6" Big Z. And can clear the net as well as his new team-mate Derek Forbort.

Abby needs a new goalie and well, it's going to be a two-way race with Jiri Patera (Vegas Golden Knights) now possibly contending for backup position to Thatcher Demko against Arturs Silovs who played phenomenally against the Edmonton Oilers and drew them to a seven game series after Demko went down in Game 1 versus Nashville. Demko did not return for the duration of the playoffs and it was Casey DeSmith and Arturs Silovs for the rest of that series. Then it was all Silovs against the Edmonton Oilers.

My gut says that Silovs will ultimately get the nod to become the permanent back-up to Thatcher Demko and Patera will become the lead goaltender for the Abbotsford Canucks.

So in a nutshell, that's Vancouver's offseason acquisitions for you. As far as I can tell, the Canucks made some solid acquisitions early in the Free Agency Frenzy on July 1st, because it was clear that they weren't going to land the big names being floated around.

Frankly they would have shot themselves in the foot if they had gone after Jake Guentzel and we've seen that kind of thing happen before. (Hello, Mark Messier...and Oliver Ekman-Larsson).

“Other than some inexperience in Vancouver, which is probably the thing that they're lacking the most right now, you've got to look at their team as being really positioned well to play well in the playoffs.” ~Mark Messier

Yeah, Mark, thanks, do us a favour next time...and keep it to yourself.

Mark Messier with the "invisible Cup" that he was going to win for us. 🤮

[c4tth3w]

matthew Q&A for GQ <3

Here’s a recap of everything that’s happened to Matthew Tkachuk over the last five weeks. First, he and the Florida Panthers took down the Boston Bruins in one of the biggest upsets the NHL has ever seen: Florida came back from a 3-1 deficit in their first-round series to oust the team with the best regular-season record in league history. Both Games 5 and 7—elimination games for the Panthers—went to overtime, and Tkachuk was heavily involved. He netted the game winner in the fifth game and assisted on the Game 7 knockout punch that sent Florida to the next round.      

The Panthers completed a gentleman's sweep of the Toronto Maple Leafs in the second round, and shortly after that, Tkachuk was named a finalist for the Hart Trophy, given to the NHL’s Most Valuable Player. The Eastern Conference Finals pitted Florida against the Carolina Hurricanes, a juggernaut that would have had the league’s best record if not for the Bruins going supernova. The Panthers only needed four games for them. The final fixture of that series provided the biggest moment of Tkachuk’s career. With just 4.3 seconds left in regulation, Tkachuk buried the goal (his fourth game-winner of the playoffs) that clinched Florida’s first trip to the Stanley Cup Final since 1996.

The Panthers have one more challenge standing between them and Lord Stanley. The Vegas Golden Knights, owners of the best record in the Western Conference, are no slouch. Bringing down a fourth 100-point team would be a fairytale ending to the Panthers’ postseason march—and very much in line with the fairytale that the 25-year-old Tkachuk has been living. (He uses the word “unreal” frequently.) As his Panthers have climbed the postseason ladder, Jimmy Butler has worn Tkachuk’s jersey, strengthening the bond between two South Florida underdogs gunning for improbable championships. Tkachuk has also appeared on Inside the NBA, and by sweeping Carolina, he’s had some leisure time to soak up the sun before starting the Stanley Cup Final. In his first year in Florida after six with the Calgary Flames, Tkachuk has adjusted accordingly to the tropical lifestyle. As he told GQ in a recent interview, there are far worse places to be.  

You’ve had a lot of time to chill. What the hell have you been up to?

I’ve been hanging out and going to the beach a lot. I’ve taken a few quick trips. One of the perks of living in Florida is you have the ocean right there. It’s super good for your body and mind to go in there—it’s pretty peaceful in there. I’ve gone out a couple times for dinner. But mostly I’m just staying quiet at the house. I don’t know, I’m really trying to put everything into the Stanley Cup Final. I’m at the rink every single day, some days to skate and some days to recover. Obviously, I’m using everything in the basket to try and win it all here. 

Oh, I went to the Heat game the other night! I got to see Game 6 and sat with Charles [Barkley] and Shaq for a little bit.  

How fun was it to guest on Inside the NBA and witness that legendary Charles and Shaq energy up close?

It was awesome! It all happened last minute—literally that morning I was asked if I wanted to come to the game and talk with Charles and Shaq. Hell yeah! Let’s do it. But what was really cool was talking to those guys off camera. That’s when we were really talking. Hockey, sports, golf, just talking about everything, getting to pick their brains, and learn about stuff I don’t really know about was super entertaining. 

Are you more of a Charles or a Shaq?

That is tough. It was crazy that I got to meet them. I think that [dynamic] would be a great comparison for how me and my brother [Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk] are. We bicker a lot. But we’re really tight and actually best friends. Always there to chirp each other and have fun. They were both unreal players too. I watched more of Shaq, because he was closer to my generation, but I just watched Charles in the Dream Team documentary. I don’t know who I would be.

You’re in South Florida now, but I just learned that you went to high school in St. Louis with Jayson Tatum. So who were you rooting for in that Heat-Celtics series?

I honestly just loved going to watch Jayson and Jimmy Butler. I didn’t care about the final score. I know all the people in St. Louis would be pissed at me if I was rooting against Jayson and all the people here probably wouldn’t be happy if I was rooting against the Heat. I thought it’d just be easier to root for a couple players. Now that the Heat are in the Finals and I have zero allegiance to the Denver Nuggets at all—if the Heat can pull off the upset it’d be unreal for all of South Florida. 

The idea of playing hockey in Florida always has this kind of funny connotation. It’s a relatively new franchise, you’re playing in warm weather in the south, it’s a very opposite idea of what most people have in their head when they think of the NHL. But you’re making it all sound pretty great.

It’s the top destination in the NHL. When you look at it—this is my opinion, and I would say most people’s opinion—the top two destinations in the league right now are the Florida teams. Third would probably be Vegas. It’s funny how that’s who we’re playing in the Final. People probably don’t look at Florida as the biggest hockey market, but Tampa’s won all these Cups recently and been to a bunch of Finals, the Panthers had some good runs before I got here, and when you go out West, Vegas has been right there at the top. Dallas has been right there too. These warmer climate markets aren’t the same as Toronto or Montreal, but the success that everyone’s had down here is no secret.  

When I chose to come here, the number one reason was to be on a competitive team, compete for championships year over year, right behind that was the way of life. But you’re not just coming here to live the Florida life, you’re coming here to win. It’s just a perk that you get to live in Florida on top of all that. My life has changed so much since coming [to Florida]. The lifestyle has been unbelievable. The way I’m able to live down here is insane. It doesn’t get better, anywhere. Playing in the U.S., having these opportunities with people like Jimmy Butler and Charles Barkley, having way more nationally-televised games, competing for the Stanley Cup, that’s made not only myself but everyone on the team more of a name than we were before. 

Have you become a boat guy since moving to Florida?

I have not. I’ve gotten as far as a few jet skis. I’m not a boat guy. I like to go on boats, but I don’t want to drive a boat. No chance I could park it. 

How many texts did you get after scoring the game-winning goal to go to the Final? Was your phone just unusable?

I don’t know, probably close to 400 or 500. This run has been unreal. 

After scoring that goal, when did reality set in?

I don’t think it felt real until the next day. With that goal, I knew there wasn’t much time left. When Ryno [Sam Reinhart] shot it off the post, I figured we had about ten seconds, maybe a little bit less. The next few chances, whether it was one or multiple, had to be on the net quick. I sort of just walked out from behind the net. I knew I had a little bit of time to make a move, but not much. Once I saw it go in I was the happiest person ever. First thing I did was look up to see if I got it in on time, and saw there was four seconds left or whatever. I don’t know what I was thinking after that! I did the slide [celebration] and it felt like the roof was going to come off because it was so loud. Then I got a little nervous because [the Hurricanes] challenged it [for goaltender interference], and you never know with challenges. But, it was obviously a good goal, and that was the moment where I was like, “Holy shit. That just happened.”

When I got back home I hung out with some family and friends and talked about how crazy of a night that was. I woke up the next day, which thankfully was an off day, and just thought, “Wow, Stanley Cup Final, here we come.” I’ve seen enough highlights of the goal just from being in places where it’s on TV—and trust me, I love seeing it—but I don’t want that goal to define the season. 

When the puck drops on Game 1, it’ll be your first game since May 24. Is the concept of rust mostly a myth, or is that something that you guys are actually talking about and acknowledging?

You know what? We had a week off before the third round and maybe there was a little bit of rust in the first period. That’s something that we’re going to learn from. In the playoffs, with days off—even if there’s ten of them—it’s great for players that have some bumps and bruises.

You’ve gotta be pretty beat up at this point of the year. Does everything hurt when you wake up? 

When you win it doesn’t hurt that much.

From your perspective, why is a lower seed making it all the way to the Final much more common in hockey than it is in other sports?

Well, it’s happening right now in basketball, too! But it’s really just, once you get in, everything resets back to zero. We got into the playoffs by one point. When it came down to that—then we realized, holy shit we’re playing the Boston Bruins, the best regular season team in NHL history. [But] none of that really mattered anymore! It was 0-0. Let’s go. It gave us confidence. We do a great job of keeping our focus solely on each game. That’s what’s made us have a lot of success.  

It’s gotta be that plus whatever they’ve put in the water down there that’s given you and the Heat superpowers.

[chuckles] We’re feeding off each other.

I know that hockey players are famously superstitious, but I’m wondering if you’ve allowed yourself to think about what you would do with the Stanley Cup if you get your day with it. 

It’s natural to think about that stuff. But every time I go down that road I pinch myself and try not to. The one thing you do think about constantly is that feeling you’d have from lifting the Stanley Cup for the first time. That’s gotta be the most amazing thing in your whole life. One team is going to do it—hopefully it’s us.   

What’s up with Brooks Koepka? He seems to be the Panthers’ fan ambassador right now, and he’s intense! It’s clear that it’s not an act at all—he really cares! 

I actually just met him right after Game 4. He wanted to come down and meet me. I got a picture with him and got to chit chat for a little bit. He’s really excited. It’s great to see support from other athletes. Success in a tight community makes everyone pull for each other. Him and the rest of the fan base has been unreal. This building is so loud. We were talking about in the offseason—which is hopefully a few weeks from now after winning the Stanley Cup—maybe we can link up and golf somewhere. 

[seedlessmuffins]

hello party people! the stanley cup playoffs start right now, so in an attempt to tempt y’all to watch, i have compiled a list of playoff moments that altered my brain chemistry (as someone who has watched the playoffs every year since 2010)! even if you don’t want to watch hockey, the sport is pretty ridiculous so here is just a small sample of the extent of the craziness!

washington capitals vs. pittsburgh penguins 2009 (round 2 game 2): hockey’s messi and ronaldo, sidney crosby and alex ovechkin put on a show for the washington crowd as they each score hattys in the same game. the capitals would go on to win the game, but the penguins would win the series (and later the cup), but this game has some of the best highlights as the two best players in hockey at their peaks showed off their skills for sexy, sexy hockey! 

chicago blackhawks vs. philadelphia flyers 2010 (round 4 game 6): in overtime of game 6 of the stanley cup finals, a chicago player scored the game winner to win the hawks the cup. the weird part? nobody saw it go in except the player and his teammates. the crowd, flyers, and broadcasters didn’t see it go in. known as the “phantom goal” this goal won the hawks their first cup in almost 50 years.

 vancouver canucks vs. chicago blackhawks 2011 (round 1 game 7): this is the game that made me fall in love with hockey. little 7-year-old me was glued to my television screen all night watching this game. the blackhawks and canucks had matched up in the playoffs for three years in a row, and the blackhawks (at the time the reigning cup champions) had beat the canucks every time. this series had gone the full 7 games, with the canucks winning the first 3 and the blackhawks coming from behind to win the next 3. earlier in game 7, hero alex burrows had opened the scoring then missed a penalty shot. with the game tied at 1, just over 5 minutes into overtime, burrows gets the puck and scores, defeating the blackhawks to send the canucks to the next round. they would go on to lose the cup in the final, but this was the golden generation of canucks games and the vibe in vancouver? unmatched. it gave birth to two of the most iconic radio calls: “they slayed the dragon” by john shorthouse, and “its a wonderful day for an exorcism” from jim hughston. this defined my childhood fr

boston bruins vs. toronto maple leafs 2013 (round 1 game 7): mere weeks after the tragedy at the boston marathon, the bruins were down 4-1 with just over 14 minutes to play in the 3rd period. they were down 4-2 with 9 minutes left. with two goals in 30 seconds, with less than 90 seconds remaining, the bruins tied the game and patrice bergeron won the game for the bruins in overtime. the maple leafs, having blown a 3 goal lead, ended their season. as of right now, they have not won a round of the playoffs since 2004.

tampa bay lightning vs. boston bruins 2018 (round 2 game 4): the playoffs can get quite scrappy! in order to get an advantage over his opponent after a little scrum, noted league rat brad marchand licked a man. yes fully licked. previously in the playoffs he had kissed and licked another man, and this caused the league to outlaw licking. the bruins would go on to lose the series, even though marchand continued his ridiculous antics

vegas golden knights vs. vancouver canucks 2020 (round 2 games 5-7): in 2020, the playoffs were played in a bubble at one arena with no spectators. after game 4, that the knights won, it was discovered that the canucks goalie jacob markstrom had an injury. with the knights leading the series 3-1, the canucks needed to win 3 games in a row to move on to the next round. enter thatcher demko, a rookie goalie who had never played a playoff game before. over games 5, 6 and 7, demko made 123 saves, including a 48 save shutout in game 6, to keep the canucks in until game 7. he stood on his head, he was incredible, and he went over 100 minutes without the knights scoring a goal. unfortunately, with a knights shutout in game 7, the canucks wouldn’t move on, but “bubble demko” would live in infamy as thatcher demko’s intro to playoff hockey. hes my favourite goalie 

pittsburgh penguins vs. new york rangers 2022 (round 1 game 1): as both teams were ready to fight it out in the playoffs, this game was tied at the end of three periods. in the playoffs, overtime lasts 20 minutes with 15 minute breaks between them. in the 3rd period of overtime, and the 6th period of hockey evgeni malkin scored for the penguins after over 90 minutes of hockey. it was midnight at madison square garden. the rangers goalie, igor shesterkin, made 79 saves in the loss, and the penguins goalie louis domingue, who came on in the second overtime to replace an injured casey desmith, went viral for reports that he ate spicy pork and broccoli between periods to keep up his energy. this is one of the longest games in nhl history, and the rangers would go on to win the series in 7 games. 

edmonton oilers vs. calgary flames 2022 (round 2 game 1): the battle of alberta is one of the classic rivalries of the nhl, and the first game of last year’s round 2 delivered. the goalies seemed to be unable to keep the puck out of the net, and flames and oilers fans both watched as the two teams combined for 15 goals, with the flames winning 9-6. the oilers would go on to win the series, but the sloppy, goal-heavy hockey has stuck in my mind ever since last may

these are some of my highlights! i hope you all enjoy the playoffs (because i know i will), and all the beard-growing and towel-twirling that comes along with them. happy stanley cup season everyone!

[strawberryblondebutch]

i almost have to laugh bc every time i see you talking about the flyers i remember when the blackhawks beat them for the 2010 stanley cup and that’s when i really got into hockey bc i was all baseball all the time (being a softball player) and then boom all of a sudden the whole city was talking about the hawks, everyone was watching the games, and they ended up winning. which was the beginning of their legendary run. but look at us now 😞 karma if there ever was it

If I think too hard about Game 6 of the 2010 Cup Finals and the Stuck Puck I start seeing red at the corners of my vision and foaming at the mouth but I'm glad you got something out of it

[thenhlteaissuperhot]

the college hockey lore is like very easy to understand but also difficult.

there’s the big league, NCAA - national collegiate athletic association, which you could compare to the NHL. there’s standing for all the teams combined. there’s D1 and D3, those team dont play against each other, D3 is sorta like the AHL.

then there’s the conference like BIG 10, BIG 12, ivy leagues known as ECAC, hockey east and many more. each team plays two series of two games again each team in their conference, one home and one away.

but they always play non conference series, for example this weekend Michigan (big 10) is playing st. cloud (NCHC). these non conference series switch every year.

now for the standings, there’s one big standing for the whole NCA, those are gonna be the small number’s next to a team’s name on the scoreboard on your screen. ans theres also conference standings. those standing only take the games you play against your own conference, while the NCAA ones take in count all the games you’ve played in the season.

each conference needs a winner, some have tournament some just give the trophy to whoever is in the first place when the season ends.

when all of that is done then there’s the nation championship. four quadrants in the bracket, four teams in each quadrant so a total of 16 teams. there’s a number 1 seed in each quadrant, whom is the better team of the 4 in the rankings. the first two rounds are called regionals and they take place near the end of march over a span of 5-6 days. when that’s over there’s a winner for each quadrant, and there’s going to the frozen four.

the frozen four takes place a little before the middle if april in a NHL arena, last year it was in Tampa, this year its going to be at St. Paul, home of the Wild. there’s the semis and then the finals. all of these games are a one and done deal, if you lose your out, if you win you keep going. even for the championship game, which is the college version (ish ish) of winning the stanley cup.

i never meant for this to get so long omg, but yeah that about sums up the whole college hockey lore. i really hope you meant it in the way “explain what it is” way and not the “why is every obsessed with it” way 😭😭

[allylikethecat]

NHL ao3 newbie from ages ago popping in to say I literally just got into mattdrai, to see they're playing against each other in the Stanley cup!!! Omg all the feels

YESSS Mattdrai is honestly so elite!

Even though I had taken a little bit of a break from writing them, they were still always one of my absolute favorite pairings to read! The enemies to lovers is just... too good PLUS the whole "I'd probably get off the ice" thing?! I can't it's all too good! The sounds I made when I realized that they were going to be playing against each other in the Stanley Cup final?! I will admit that I really want the Panthers to win though, at the end of the day I like Tkachuk more than Draisaitl and if they're going to beat my Bruins they better win it all 😂 I'm hoping to finish another chapter of my Mattdrai fic today- I know I keep abandoning it for months / years and then picking it up again but I did always say I would finish it eventually 🤣 Thank you so much for sending me this message! I smiled so much when I saw it! I hope you are having a lovely Wednesday and a fantastic rest of your week! (Even if we're being pushed to a game 6 RIP)

❤️Ally

[idontlikeem]

I’ve seen a lot of people talk about wanting to change the playoff format to 1v8 but haven’t had much luck figuring out what the playoff format is now?

If the pens get the first wildcard spot they play Carolina and the second they play Boston, is that right? Would it would be better to stay in second, then? It seems like they’ve come close with Boston a couple times but get hammered by Carolina every time. 😂

hi anon! sorry it took me so long to get back to you on this. thanks for the question, i like this because there isn't really a right answer, it's a matter of opinion and priorities—of course i happen to think my opinion is the correct one (and sid agrees with me!) :D :D

so the current playoff format is as follows:

each conference has two divisions. the top three teams in each division automatically make the playoffs, followed by the two teams with the next-most points regardless of which division they're in (these are the wildcard teams). what this means is you could have five teams from one division and three from another, and the three teams from one division could all be significantly worse than the teams in the other division, but they're getting in by default because of the setup.

in the first round of the playoffs, the top team in the conference (winner of one of the divisions) plays the second wildcard team (the worse of the two wildcards). the winner of the other division plays the first wildcard team. the second and third team in each division plays each other. the second round is divisional, so for example whoever comes out of the winner of the metro vs their wildcard opponent will play whoever comes out of metro spot 2 and metro spot 3. the third round is the conference finals, and then the stanley cup is the winner of the east vs the winner of the west.

what a lot of people want, and what it actually used to be, is 1v8 format. so instead of each division getting three teams + two more teams, it's just the 1-8 top teams in a conference, with the top-ranked team playing the eighth-ranked team, the second-ranked team playing the seventh-ranked team, and so on.

how does that play out? let's use last year's western conference as an example so we can see the differences:

last spring, the avs won the western conference after the regular season, which means in round one they played wildcard 2 (nashville), and the flames won the pacific division, which means they played wildcard 1 (dallas). minnesota and st louis were 2 and 3 in the central and played each other, and edmonton and los angeles were 2 and 3 in the pacific.

so here were the matchups:

colorado v nashville

calgary v dallas

minnesota v st louis

edmonton v los angeles

in theory, the purpose is to promote divisional rivalries. however, what ends up happening is two very good teams that might have otherwise both gone far and met up in a later round, leading for higher stakes and MORE of a rivalry, end up playing in the first round, and one of them gets knocked out earlier than they maybe should have.

in 1v8, here's what the matchups would have been:

colorado v nashville (1 v 8)

minnesota v dallas (2 v 7)

calgary v los angeles (3 v 6)

st louis v edmonton (4 v 5)

the purpose of 1-8 is to reward teams that achieve in the regular season—matching them up against lower-seeded teams gives them more of a chance to move on, which they've earned for exceptional performance throughout the regular season. it makes the regular season victories mean more because you're fighting for a more favorable opponent in the postseason, and it means two quite good teams have a chance to meet later in the tournament, not right away (i like to use the wild vs the blues last season as an example of this).

i understand why the league tried out this wildcard divisional setup. but, it leaches meaning from the regular season. it doesn't reward elite teams with more favorable matchups unless they literally win their conference. and forcing three minimum from each division can sometimes means teams that are not in the top 8 of their conference make it into the playoffs. some divisions are more competitive than others. that also harms the final product, because it means there are good teams that aren't getting in and not-so-good teams getting in on technicalities.

i wrote this very quickly so i hope it makes sense! if it doesn't please let me know i and i will try to clear up whatever i wrote poorly for you! :)

[seedlessmuffins]

there’s something so important, about that win yesterday. not only did we beat a team that has stanley cup aspirations, which has two of the best players in the world on their team (which we shut down), overall it was a stunning performance from every single player on the ice. from jt miller’s five points, to boeser’s four goals, to demko’s .955 save percentage with the flu to the introduction of hughes as the captain in a stunning fashion, across the board it was a great night not only for the team, but for the fans 

(full tactico thoughts below the cut)

what we saw last night was a full team effort, not just the top 6 forwards and top 2 defensive pairings clicking. everyone across the line up was pulling their weight and clicking into place last night. because of injuries, illness, and our salary cap situation, we ended up playing with a player less, and with 11 forwards and 6 defensemen. this meant that the bottom 3 wingers especially needed to play more then they usually would, against the tough opponent of the most complete oilers team they have ever iced since they drafted mcdavid. and the bottom five did exceptionally well in the positions they put themselves in!! 

lafferty, for being a new acquisition, knew exactly what he was doing. he positioned himself well, especially during the pk, right near the goal and was always in a good place to either pass or get the puck within shooting range of the net. he is such a smart player, drawing that penalty in the third is absolute genius and he just knows where to move within his line and how to create a good pass. i think hoglander worked well with him, as he made some nice little plays especially behind the edmonton net during one of the power plays (i think in the third period?) to keep possession of the puck. i was glad to see him make the roster, i think he’s a smart player and a solid person to have on the 4th line. 

i adored joshua’s game, honestly he was one of the standouts of the night for me. he was willing to use his body, not only to block shots on the pk but also to drop the gloves less than 5 minutes into the game, but he was also able to position himself well to be in scoring positions and it paid off as he scored the 8th and final goal for the canucks. joshua is one of my favourite players, and i hope he continues doing well this season both with his physicality and his scoring, he is nothing but an asset and really is a necessary staple of our third line at this point. 

the hirose/juulsen pairing did well when they were on the ice, nothing notable, however the cole/meyers pairing was incredible. very physical, both in hits and blocking shots, able to get back quickly and had some nice puck distributions, and other then meyer’s stupid penalty in the first period, they were great. ian cole is an amazing addition to the team and i can’t wait to see what more he will do, especially on the pk, he was excellent and i can’t wait to see more. 

the “pbj” line of di guiseppe, boeser, and miller was incredible and so productive. near the net all night, lighting the lamp, excellent puck possession and was able to fight the hard battles in the corners. of course boeser’s 4 goals deserve to be celebrated, they were incredible (especially the first goal? sexy, sexy hockey), but di guiseppe and miller’s passes made it possible for boeser to finish the passes with incredible accuracy. these guys also did great work on the pp, they made up an excellent second unit to keep the pressure in the edmonton zone without the stars on the ice, and i think boeser got his groove back. lets see 30+ goals this season.

tocchet really loaded up the top line and the top d pairing, with hughes/hronek and garland/pettersson/kuzmenko as the top lines. i thought both lines did an excellent job not only creating chances, but also shutting down the mcdrai line when they were both out at the same time. petey had some stunning, sexy passes (i’m still thinking about his first pass to garland for the first goal,,,, holy shit that was sexy) and garland was able to hold his weight and finish the chances he was given practically on a platter. kuzya had a quiet night, but he made some productive moves to keep possession and he was able to keep the puck in the offensive zone during pp time so i’m not mad at how he played, i know he will only improve from here. hughes/hronek were exceptionally productive, both in passing and in blocking shots, and they had mcdavid shut down all night. the oilers not registering a single high danger scoring chance AT ALL at 5v5 with petey on the ice?? yeah that’s my selke candidate right there

and demko, how can i forget about thatcher demko? he made save after save, and the dmen gave him space to do so every time. he had a clear line of vision, and he used it. he made some incredible saves and came away with a save percentage that reflected that, all while having the flu! shoutout to desmith, though he only was in for 10 minutes he made some strong saves and didn’t look as nervous between the pipes as he did during the preseason. i’m glad he settled in nicely.

overall, we worked very well as a team. special teams were cooking, goalies were cooking, everything looked cohesive. there were some big hits, from joshua, meyers, and petey notably, and some good blocks. other then the first 5 minutes of the first period, and some sloppy passing in the middle, it was a strong, dominant game. we choked the life out of the oilers, even getting noted most boring man in the nhl to make salty comments about our decisions. i'm most proud of how we handled ourselves in the third, as edmonton were losing their heads with sloppy hits and stupid penalties, we kept ourselves together.

we fucking won. it was a great game. i'm so excited for this season. see you on saturday in edmonton.

[tuesday7econlive]

Sonny Angels Galore!

Lily Nguyen (ID: 95646382)

As children, everyone wanted whatever was in at the time. Whether it was silly bandz or slime, we wanted them, not because they were fun, but because everyone else had them. Nowadays, the silly bandz are now Stanley Cups and toys are a thing of the past for us, or are they? With the rise of social media, came the greater prevalence of trends. On TikTok, trends are always coming and going, but their effects last for quite some time. There are trends within trends, or even trends to avoid trends! One trend that has been popular for some time is collecting Sonny Angels. What is a Sonny Angel? They’re little collectibles of angels with different hats that “may bring you happiness.” The main appeal is that each Sonny Angel is a blind box, which means the buyer does not know what they are going to get. Essentially, it’s gambling, but at least you will win every time!

These babies are $11.50 on their website, but nowhere are they listed for this price. Typically, stores sell them for $20, and yet, they are always sold out, usually within the same day they are stocked. How ridiculous is that? I say while I buy another one. They might just be little toys, but people go crazy for them, including me. How does a little plastic baby get to that price anyway?

The Sonny Angel Market is a standard market with a downward-sloping demand curve and an upward-sloping supply curve. Before Sonny Angels were trending, the equilibrium price was at $11.50 while the equilibrium quantity was at 12 Sonnys (how many are in a case). This can be seen at point E1 on the graph. When an item becomes preferred, an individual’s willingness to pay for a good increases. Since people are willing to purchase more Sonnys at each price, the Sonny Angel trend causes the demand curve to shift to the right. Short-term supply will remain constant as factories will take a while to change the amount they produce, and it will take a long time for them to ship from Japan. As a result, the equilibrium price shifts up to $20.00. Suppliers see that people are willing to buy at higher prices, so they buy an additional case, bringing the equilibrium quantity to 24 Sonnys. In the end, both consumers and suppliers are happy because people who want Sonny's Angels the most can buy them, and shops do not end up with extra stock.

However, Sonny Angel collectors can only take so much price gouging. The Sonny Angel teddy bear was a hot item, but it was a Japan exclusive for a long time. When it was finally released in America, the bear was listed for $70 on the official website. $70 for a teddy bear is a hefty price, yet it sold out almost immediately. So, the equilibrium price is at $70, while the equilibrium quantity will be at 5 bears. However, suppliers realized that consumers are willing to pay high prices for collectibles, so they will put a price floor at $100 and supply more bears. I loved the idea of the Sonny Angel bear, but my willingness to pay is way below $100, which is the same sentiment that other collectors have. This is evident as a local store listing the bears at $100 still has many bears in stock, which is uncommon for a Sonny Angel item. This causes a surplus of 6 bears as consumers are only willing to buy 2 bears, while suppliers will supply 8 bears. Unlike the market before, consumers and suppliers are not happy! Consumers do not get what they want, while suppliers are left with extra stock. Suppliers should price the bears at $70 to reach the socially optimal levels or the equilibrium in a competitive market.

In conclusion, trends have a great impact on price and quantity. Happy collecting!

[stories-from-peter]

My First Time

My Buddy Ted introduced me to a couple of his friends, Rick Slamon and Bob Phillipps. One weekend somebody suggested we play some golf. My family was quite poor and golf is a game for the rich. I was told that we would go to Stanley Park and try the pitch and putt course which cost very little. I will try anything so I quickly agreed and off we went.

I got my 7 iron, putter and a white ball plus a quick lesson on how to hold the club. Since it was my first time I held the club like a baseball bat but I was quickly corrected. It was decided that this should be a competition. Bob was easily the best golfer so the teams naturally ended up with me and Bob as one team and Rick and Ted as the other.

Pitch and putt courses usually have a mercy rule that limits your score on each hole to a maximum of 6. Most, if not all the holes, are par 3 so even a poor golfer won’t have an outrageously bad score.

The game progressed much as expected with Bob getting par or better on most holes and me getting the maximum 6 on most of them. As we played I did improve a bit and scored 5 a couple of times. Rick and Ted were keeping pace with us so the total for each team was close.

The score was close enough that Bob figured we could win the match when we got to the 18th and final hole. Bob gave me an incentive at the 18th tee. He said “White, if you get less than 6 on this hole I’ll buy you lunch.” The 18th was the longest hole on the course and the distance from the tee to the cup was about 180 yards. The other holes varied from 60 yards to about 130 or so. This hole was a challenge.

Everyone hit reasonably good tee shots and then it was my turn. I was just trying not to embarrass myself by making a really bad shot. I swung my club and felt it make good contact with the ball. My shot went straight down the middle of the fairway and rolled onto the green. It wasn’t until we reached the green that we could see my ball resting less than 2 feet from the cup.

I thought Bob would be excited but his demeanor was less than pleasant. I’m not sure if he ever forgave me for that.

[ledenews]

Wheeling Nailers Win Streak Reaches Double Digits in Morning Triumph

The time of day may have been different, but the end result was the same for the Wheeling Nailers, as they earned their tenth consecutive victory with a 3-1 result on Tuesday morning against the Reading Royals at Santander Arena. Jordan Martel broke a 1-1 deadlock with two goals in the third period, which gives him seven tallies in four head-to-head match-ups. Jaxon Castor made 25 saves for his sixth win in a row. Wheeling's ten-game winning streak is one shy of the second longest in team history, and the seven straight road wins are one shy of the team record, which has been achieved twice. The first period nearly went by without a goal, but that changed with just over five seconds left on the clock, as the Royals capitalized on a neutral zone turnover by Wheeling. Jake Bricknell led the charge on a 2-on-1 break into the offensive zone, then dished a pass over to Tyson Fawcett, who wired in a one-timer from the left circle. The Nailers battled back to even the score with 3:35 to go in the middle frame. David Drake gathered in a Reading dump-in, then launched a stretch pass to the opposite blueline, where Dillon Hamaliuk picked up the feed in stride. Hamaliuk skated into the left circle, where he drove a shot into the top-left corner of the cage. Wheeling carried the momentum of the tying marker into the third period, and proceeded to outshoot the Royals, 14-6. With that came two goals. The go-ahead strike came at the 6:13 mark. Drake delivered a perfect pass from the left point to the top-right corner of the crease, where Jordan Martel put his stick down, and tipped the puck into the goal. Martel turned on the red light again with 8:50 remaining, when he outwaited goaltender Nolan Maier and dribbled a shot in over the line with Dillon Hamaliuk crashing the net. The Nailers killed a late penalty to preserve the 3-1 final score. Jaxon Castor earned his sixth straight win for Wheeling, as he denied 25 of the 26 shots he faced. Nolan Maier took the loss for Reading, as he made 27 saves on 30 shots. The Nailers and Royals will travel to Wheeling for two games this weekend on Friday and Saturday, with both contests starting at 7:10. Friday's game is a Frosty Friday featuring $2 beers. Saturday is the next Big Six Promotional Game - Pittsburgh Penguins Night. Fans will have the opportunity to meet two-time Stanley Cup Champion Trevor Daley, there will be a full team post game autograph session, mascots Iceburgh and Tux will be on hand, there will be a commemorative puck giveaway, and the team will be wearing specialty jerseys. The Wheeling Nailers, considered one of the top things to do in Wheeling, West Virginia, provide affordable family entertainment for fans throughout the Ohio Valley. Read the full article