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5bi5 · 11 months ago

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Basic Guide to Hockey 🏒

Part One: The Game

Obviously there's a lot to this subject and there's no way I could cover all of it but this is just a quick overview of the rules for people who haven't watched/played hockey before and want to understand it for writing or viewing purposes. Questions or feedback would be appreciated!

Let's get some boring stuff out of the way first.

The Rink

A hockey rink looks like this:

The markings on the ice are:

The trapezoid, the diagonal red lines at each end of the rink and the part of the goal line that extends between them.

The goal line, the thin vertical red line toward either end of the rink.

The crease, the blue paint (outlined in red) that connects to the goal line

The circles, the five large red or blue circles. At the center of each circle is a faceoff dot (here there are four additional faceoff dots without circles); the short lines extending from the sides of the red circles are the hashmarks.

The blue line, the vertical blue lines.

The red line or center line, the thicker vertical red line down the middle of the ice

Exact markings such as the number of circles vs just faceoff dots, and the presence or absence of the trapezoid lines and the ringette line across the inside of the circles may vary from rink to rink.

During a game setup, each team will have a net (also called a goal) placed on the outside of the goal line, lined up with the crease. On the diagram above, the nets are denoted in red. The metal frame of the net is made up of the posts (the vertical parts on either side), the crossbar (the horizontal part across the top) and the backbar (the vertical part down the back).

The ice surface is surrounded by the boards, above which is the glass. Each team has a bench and a penalty box on the side of the rink, with a gate in the boards to allow them access.

The Objective

A player scores a goal when they put the puck across the goal line and into the net. This is worth one point.

[Image description: Hockey player Sarah Nurse slides the puck past goaltender Igor Shesterkin and into the net for a goal]

The objective of the game is to outscore your opponent, with some players aiming to score and others aiming to prevent the other team from scoring. Preventing your opponent from scoring entirely is called a shutout. The last two players on a scorer's team to touch the puck before the scorer receive an assist if no members of the other team play the puck in between. Both a goal and an assist count as one point in a player's individual stats.

The Players

Typically (although not always), each team has six players out on the ice at once. Each player does one of the following positions:

Goaltender (often called the goalie or tendy; sometimes netminder). The goalie's job is to keep pucks from going in the net. They wear special equipment (a mask, glove or catcher, blocker, and pads) and use a wide stick (called a goalstick) to allow them to stop shots. The goalie makes a save by preventing the puck from entering the net. Unlike other players, goalies are allowed to freeze the puck by covering it or holding it in their glove. Each team can only have one goalie on the ice at once, although they usually dress a backup goalie in case something happens to their starter.

[Image description: Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury rolls across the crease to reach an incoming shot. He catches the puck, but drops his goalstick in the process.]

Defenseman (also defense, D, D-man, or blueliner). The defensemen's job is to prevent the other team from shooting, or failing that, to block shots similarly to the goalie. Usually each team has two defensemen, called a D pairing, on the ice at once. Defense can and do score goals, but it isn't their main focus.

[Image description: Defenseman Roman Josi slides across the crease behind goaltender Juuse Saros, who has lost his goalstick. Josi catches an incoming puck which was out of Saros' reach.]

Winger (also called wing; one of two types of forward or offense). The wingers' job, along with the center, is to score goals or set up each other to score goals. Typically each team has two wingers on the ice at once. The wingers and center together are called a line.

Centerman (also called center or C; the other type of forward). The center works in tandem with the wingers to score, but must also play defensively. Unlike the wingers and defense, the center is not assigned to the left or right side of the ice. Each team typically has one center on the ice at once. The center is also responsible for taking faceoffs at the start of each period, and after each stop in play.

Gameplay

The game is divided into three periods, each twenty minutes long not including stoppages. At the start of each period, the teams take a faceoff (also called a draw) at center ice. Each team lines up on their respective side of the ice: goalie in the crease, defensemen inside the blue line, wingers on the red line at the outer edge of the circle, and centers at the faceoff dot. The ref drops the puck on the dot, and the centers attempt to hit the puck to their own team.

[Image description: Two teams, the Boston Pride and Toronto Six, line up for a faceoff. The Pride wear yellow jerseys, and the Six wear black jerseys. The referee drops the puck, and the Pride centerman hits it back toward her own end. One of the Pride's wingers then skates to the puck. Multiple players from the Six skate toward her.]

If any player on the ice moves to the wrong side of the faceoff dot, if the non-centers move into the circle before the puck is dropped, or if the centers hit or touch each other before the puck is dropped, the center is waved out and another player on their team must take the faceoff. Any player except the goalie can take the faceoff, but usually a winger replaces the center.

[Image description: Center Patrice Bergeron is waved out of a faceoff. The referee has an arm extended forward to indicate that Bergeron is waved out. Bergeron skates away from the faceoff dot, while winger Brad Marchand skates toward the dot to take his place.]

Once the faceoff is complete, the period begins, and the twenty minute timer begins counting down. The time when the timer is running is called play, and continues until an official (the referee or linesman) blows their whistle, or until the time runs out. The end of each period is indicated by a buzzer.

There are several things that might cause a stoppage in play:

A goal

The goalie freezing the puck or the officials losing sight of the puck for any other reason (such as it getting stuck in a player's gear)

The puck goes over the boards/glass

A penalty (further described later on), in which a player or multiple players break the rules

An offside, where a player who does not have control of the puck fully crosses the blue line closest to the opposing team's net (called entering the zone) before the puck does. If the team enters onside but the puck crosses back over the blue line, every player on the team must return to their side of the blue line (called tagging up) before any of them can reenter. If the puck comes back into the zone and a player tries to play it without tagging up, the ref will blow the whistle. This is called a delayed offside. If a team scores while offside, the goal does not count.

[Image description: Center Brady Tkachuk extends his leg behind him while skating over the blue line in order to avoid fully crossing the line before the puck. Winger Erik Brannstrom, who has the puck, is also skating across the blue line. He is further back than Tkachuk, but the puck is in front of Brannstrom, almost level with Tkachuk's skate. Despite this, Tkachuk crosses the line before the puck does. The puck is circled, and Tkachuk and Brannstrom are labelled.]

An icing, where a player shoots the puck from their side of the red line (their side being the side closest to their own net) across the other team's goal line. It is not an icing if a player from either team touches the puck after it crosses the red line but before it crosses the goal line, if a player on the opposing team could play the puck but makes no attempt to, if the opposing team's goalie makes any attempt to play the puck, or if a player on the team that iced the puck reaches the faceoff dot closest to the goal line before any player on the opposing team.

[Image description: Two players, one in a red jersey and the other in a white jersey, skate through the circle closest to the goal line. The goalie is wearing a white jersey, indicating that this is the white team's defensive zone. The player in red skates past the faceoff dot before the player in white. The puck crosses the goal line without being touched by either player. However, the referee holds his arms straight out to either side to indicate no icing.]

A hand pass, where a player touches the puck with their hand, and another player on their team is the next person to touch the puck. It is not a hand pass if someone on the other team touches the puck next, or if the player plays the puck themselves. It is also not a hand pass if the player is in their own defensive end (between their blue line and their own net, or behind the net).

[Image description: Several players crowd around an empty net. At first, the puck is not visible. Forward Brendan Gallagher, who is bent over, swats something on the ice beneath him with his hand. The puck then slides out from beneath him and onto the stick of his teammate. Although not totally clear, it appears that he has hit the puck to his teammate with his hand.]

After a stoppage in play, the referee will retrieve the puck, and players will line up for a faceoff. Teams may choose to switch which players are on the ice at this point (changes can also be made during the play, but during a stoppage is the safest time to change). However, in the event of an icing, the team which iced the puck may not switch players. Which faceoff dot the faceoff takes place at will depend on what caused the stoppage:

After a goal or at the beginning of a period, the faceoff is held at center ice. If the referee makes a mistake in stopping the play, they may also choose to hold the faceoff at center ice.

When a goalie freezes the puck, the faceoff is held at the dot closest to the net.

When an offside is called, the faceoff is held at the dot between the blue line and the red line. In this case, the blue line is the one further from the net of the team which was offside.

When an icing is called, the faceoff is held at the dot closest to the net of the team which iced the puck.

When a hand pass is called, the faceoff is held at the closest faceoff dot to where the hand pass happened.

When a penalty is called, the faceoff is usually held at the dot closest to the net of the team being penalized.

After three periods, the game ends and the team with more goals wins. If the teams have an equal number of goals, they play an additional period. This is called overtime. In the regular season, an overtime period is five minutes, and each team plays with four players including their goalie. When a player scores, play is stopped immediately and that team wins the game.

[Image description: Two teams, one wearing white and the other wearing blue, play in overtime. Each team has three skaters. One player, wearing blue, carries the puck while several other players skate toward or beside him.]

If nobody scores in overtime, the teams have a shootout. In a shootout, each team selects three players who must shoot on the goalie one at a time. If the teams still have an equal number of goals after the shootout, they keep selecting players one by one until a team wins.

In playoffs, an overtime period is a regular twenty minute period with six players per team (including goalies). Additional periods are played until a team wins.

Pulling the Goalie

At any time, a team may choose to take their goalie off the ice and put on another forward or defencemen instead (called "pulling the goalie"). There are two scenarios where this is likely to happen:

If there is a delayed penalty, in which a player commits an infraction, and the ref signals that they are going to call a penalty, but the other team still has the puck. In this case, play will continue until the team which is going to be penalized gets possession, at which point the ref blows the whistle and stops play. In this case, the non-penalized team can safely pull their goalie and put on a sixth skater (called the extra attacker) since the team to be penalized cannot score.

[Image description: A goalie climbs over the boards, while his teammates help pull him over. One teammates grabs his back, while the other grabs his leg.]

If a team is losing and there isn't very much time left, but the game is still fairly close (say one or two goals). Although the extra attacker gives the losing team a better chance of scoring, it also makes it easier for the winning team to score, which may put the game out of reach.

[Image description: Forward Henrik Sedin slides along the ice in a sitting position toward an empty net while the puck slides in front of him. He taps the puck into the net with his stick, then crashes in after it. Behind him, a player on the other team falls on the ice. The opposing player's stick is under Sedin's arm, suggesting he may have hooked Sedin to the ice.]

Penalties

Hockey is a contact sport, and some hitting and shoving is allowed and expected in the course of a game. However, players frequently do things which are against the rules and are penalized for doing so. The team being penalized is said to be shorthanded and on the penalty kill. The team not being penalized is said to be on the powerplay. Penalties vary in severity depending on how dangerous or unsportsmanlike the player's actions are. The levels of penalty include:

Minor penalty (two minutes). A minor penalty is for a common small infraction such as tripping another player. NHL games usually feature a few minor penalties for each team. The player being penalized (or, in the case of some penalties, a player representing the team) sits in the penalty box for two minutes or until the other team scores, whichever occurs first. The team being penalized must play with four players (not including goalie) while the non-penalized team continues playing with five. If two players on the same team are penalized at once, the team goes down to three players; if two players on opposite teams are penalized at once the teams typically play four-on-four. However, in some circumstances (such as a fight) the penalties offset and the teams play five-on-five. If several players on a team are penalized at once, they must all sit in the box, but the team does not need to continue removing skaters

[Image description: Five members of the Philadelphia Flyers sit or stand in the penalty box, with three sitting and two standing.]

Double minor (four minutes). A double minor is treated as two minor penalties served back to back. If the non-penalized team scores in the first two minutes of the double minor, the first half of the penalty is cleared, but the penalized player must stay in the box for two minutes or until the other team scores a second goal.

Major penalty (five minutes). In a major penalty, the penalized player must sit in the box for five minutes, even if the opposing team scores. Offsetting majors are commonly assessed for fighting, although there are various other major penalties.

Misconduct (ten minutes). In a misconduct, the penalized player is removed from the game for ten minutes regardless of if the other team scores. However, the penalized team continues to play with five skaters.

Game misconduct (remainder of game). In a game misconduct, the penalized player is removed from the game entirely. However, the penalized team continues to play with five skaters.

Match penalty (remainder of game + five minutes). In a match penalty, the penalized player is removed from the game entirely, and another player from the penalized team must serve a five minute major during which the penalized team will play shorthanded.

Rules on penalties differ outside of the NHL. For instance, in women's and some junior hockey, fighting is a game misconduct. Amateur leagues will typically penalize players much more harshly than pro leagues, with less contact allowed the lower level the hockey is. However, we'll focus on NHL rules here.

[Image description: Olympian Brianna Decker hits opponent Sarah Fillier out of frame.]

Minor penalties are the most common type of penalty. There are many specific penalties (tripping, hooking, slashing, cross-checking, boarding, roughing, elbowing, kneeing, holding, holding the stick, charging, head contact, delay of game, too many men, unsportsmanlike contact, highsticking), but minor penalties typically involve hitting or obstructing another player without intending to injure them. Exceptions include:

Unsportsmanlike conduct, which can include physical contact, but also includes rude or insulting behaviour that is beyond regular chirping, especially aimed at the ref.

Breaking the trapezoid rule, which states that a goalie cannot play the puck behind the goal line but outside of the trapezoid.

[Image description: A goalie hovers inside the trapezoid, moving toward the line. The puck is outside the trapezoid, but rolling toward it. The puck stops outside the trapezoid, and the goalie backs away without touching it.]

Too many men, where a team has more than six players (including goalie) on the ice at once.

Playing with a broken stick, where a player picks up or fails to drop a stick after breaking it. A player who breaks their stick can stay on the ice and play without a stick, use a teammate's stick, or get a new stick from the bench. Holding multiple sticks, using an opponent's stick or a goalstick, or throwing a stick from the bench to the ice are also penalties.

Delay of game, where a player intentionally does something to delay the play. Delay of game penalties are given when a player in their own end puts the puck directly over the glass, even if it is seemingly unintentional. A player who isn't a goalie might also take a delay of game penalty if they intentionally cover the puck.

[Image description: Player Ryan Kesler sits on the puck. Players from both teams skate towards him, and one of his teammates attempts to dig the puck out from under his legs with the toe of his stick.]

A minor penalty might be upgraded to a double minor or a major based on severity or intent to injure. Highsticking penalties, where a player hits an opposing player in the face with their stick, are upgraded to double minors if they draw blood.

Fighting is common in the NHL, with some players being specialized fighters. Fighting typically happens in response to some perceived misbehaviour, such as a dirty hit, or to try and motivate a team. Once two players agree to fight, they'll drop their gloves and sticks. When the fight is over, both players are given five minute majors plus any additional penalties. If two players are fighting, the other players on the ice may pair off in order to avoid an unfair fight; if several players fight, it's called a brawl.

[Image description: Nine players, five wearing white and four wearing blue, stand on the ice. One blue player is being pushed out of frame by the ref while a white player skates after him. Of the remaining players, one white player is standing off to the side, while the other six move to stand in pairs of one white and one blue player.]

In some cases, players receive suspensions or fines from the league due to dangerous behaviour. These are different from penalties in that they are not assessed in-game by the officials. A suspended player must miss some designated number of games, while a fined player must give some designated amount of money to the Players' Emergency Assistance Fund.

Conclusion

Thanks for reading this far! Hopefully this overview is useful and not super dry. I'm interested in making more focused explainers for some of the more interesting aspects of hockey like the league, history, slang and terminology, culture, specific positions, etc., but I think this more basic stuff is important to understand first if you're going to watch or write about nhl hockey. If anyone has questions or corrections let me know and I will try to update this accordingly.

[Image description: Goaltender Martin Brodeur turns to look behind him, where the puck is sliding along the goal line. As he turns, he appears to lose his balance and pitches forward as he steps from one foot to the other.]

#hockey #nhl #nhl hockey

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freddieandersen · 7 years ago

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vegas golden knights: this is our goalie marc-andre fleury. you know him, you love him, we love him, he’s the bes-- wait hang on one second

vegas golden knights: this is our goalie malcolm subban. you might have seen him with the bruins. you don’t know him, but he’s played in the nhl before, we love him, he’s the b-- wait no

vegas golden knights: this is our goalie oscar dansk? he’s an nhl rookie but played in the swedish pro leagues, we love him, he’s th-- SHIT

vegas golden knights: this is our goalie? maxime lagace? he’s a rookie? but we love him and we’re very proud of him?

(officials voice) you need to have a backup too

vegas golden knights: fuCK THIS IS OUR BACKUP DYLAN FERGUSON HE’S NINETEEN AND WE DRAFTED HIM THIS SUMMER HE’S THE ONLY ONE WE HAVE LEFT UNDER NHL CONTRACT PLEASE STOP DOING THIS

#is there a hockey equivalent to saying macbeth in a theater because vgk has a curse on their goalies #vegas: we love our starting goalie marc-andre fleury i mean malcolm subban i mean oscar dance?#i mean mumble legroom?#and our backup uh d- uhhhhh dolphin? firetruck??????#vgk

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idontlikeem · 3 years ago

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is there a reason (other than the DA accusations) that desmith is so disliked? not asking bc I like him! lol - but i was wondering if him being a flail-er (he seems to not be in front of the net half the time and needs to scramble back) is part of it? or are there other reasons he's a disappointing goaltender? thanks!!

Hi there!

Before we get into this: this ask and my answer are about DeSmith’s HOCKEY. That’s all. Before anyone comes at me, lol.

Casey is a very, very streaky goaltender. He’ll get a shutout, and then the next game he’ll get lit up for 6 goals against, and it seems to have no rhyme or reason.

I’m not gonna say he’s bad. He’s definitely had bad games—very, very bad games, particularly this season and particularly at important moments—but his save % on the season coming into tonight was .903, with a record of 6-3-2. Just for context, Jarry’s SV% on the season is .921, record of 27-11-6. That puts him at around 58 out of 100 goalies this season. Not good, but hovering around average. And average is just fine for your backup goalie!

The problem is how he’s gotten to average. If he were consistently letting in 3 goals a night when he started but made saves to keep the team in it, and they didn’t have to fight against him to win, that would be one thing. That’s not what happens though—he’ll have a shutout, then three horrible games, then a shutout, then two horrible games…and on and on. You can check out his game logs here, it’s hair-raising!

The most important trait in a backup goalie is consistency. You need to be able to rely on him to come in and do a serviceable job when he’s called on—your starter has a bad night, or needs a rest, or whatever. It doesn’t need to be flashy and showstopping, it just needs to be reliably league average.

Casey seems to be a guy who gets rattled easily. Now, I’ve seen big improvements over his last couple starts—time was he’d let in a goal and would immediately turn into a doily—but since he’s such a streaky player, I don’t know if I trust it yet. And the problem with that is you can tell when he’s lost his confidence, and if we can tell, so can the other teams.

When Casey’s on his back foot, he plays very deep in the crease (he and Tristan both do this actually, when they’re way back in their net they’re feeling rattled), and he plays small. He’s not a big dude to start with, but when he’s having a mentally tough game, he doesn’t make himself big in the net, and he doesn’t challenge on saves. You’ll see stuff like that with all goalies to some extent, but with him it’s so markedly different, and the minute he gets thrown off his game the other team can spot it and they capitalize.

That’s also when you’ll see the flailing you mentioned! When a goalie is too deep in the crease, they have to lunge out a lot further to make saves, which puts them further out of position. If you’re closer to the top of the crease, you can knock stuff away sooner and with more control, and you’re protecting more of the net with less movement (plus you have the ability to move back if a rebound comes your way or bounces get goofy). And of course, when you’re out of position you have to flail and swim your way back to get where you need to be!

It’s actually funny, because a lot of very, very flashy goalie saves come because the tender was out of position and had to move heaven and earth to stretch back across and stop the puck marc-andre fleury; if they’d been playing smarter, the save would have been less dazzling, yes, but it also wouldn’t have been as desperate.

This is probably significantly more than you wanted, sorry! I’ve been thinking a lot about goalies this season and this is what happens 😆 hope this helps!

#asks #casey desmith #for filtering purposes #please don’t cancel me lol I just really like breaking down hockey stuff

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himbeaux-on-ice · 3 years ago

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Its funny that Vegas saw the criticism that they were weak down the middle and went after the most expensive available center and he is going to be the number one center I believe. But for the cap hit I feel like that is going to be a problem later in the season since Jack is going to be on LTIR for months due to injury (also tbh it is probably why the traded MAF, get rid of one 9 million dollar player and replace him with a 10 million dollar one lol)

See, see this is why this move today drives me insane, bc that’s NOT WHAT THEY TRADED MAF FOR.

The whole idea in the off-season was, need to reallocate some of the money being used to pay two equal starting goalies (instead of just one starter and a backup) into more depth forwards who can score, because we keep running into a scoring problem late in the playoffs when tight-checking defensive teams are able to shut down our top 6 (the “big line” and the Misfits line), and then there isn’t enough offence in the bottom two lines (aside from Nic Roy and *checks notes* OH YEAH, ALEX TUCH) to pick up the slack or draw attention of opposing defenders enough to create opportunities for the top two lines.

And they went okay, well then to solve this therefore we will essentially liquidate Marc-Andre Fleury (because he is the older and more expensive goalie of the two goalies) to turn his $7 million (not 9) in cap space into free space which we will then spend on: 1) guys like Patrick, Dadonov, Howden to reshape the 3rd and 4th line to be more offence-focused, 2) a cheaper backup goalie, and 3) re-signing Alec Martinez because he’s awesome for us. And then they even said no, we don’t think we need to chase a “true 1C”, because we believe Chandler Stephenson is that player, and has shown us he can be — what we need is more depth.

Which was like okay, cool! Great! Controversial, in many quarters, due to the whole goalie liquidation thing, but sure, as far as offseason plans go it at least has a coherent philosophy and goal that is being worked towards! You were essentially taking the cap space that was one (1) goalie and turning it into several less expensive but hopefully offensively productive forwards, gambling that you really only need one starter anyway. That would honestly be a pretty smart strategy as far as the copycat league goes, given that you’ve watched Tampa’s ability to roll four offensively potent and extremely deep lines LITERALLY beat the EXACT teams that eliminated you for Cups TWICE in the last two years.

So WHY in the name of FUCK have you now decided to UNDO some of that by re-concentrating $10 mil of cap into ONE guy, ostensibly to play in your top 6, thus making them even more top-heavy??? WHAT was the point of all that!! I hope to god Buffalo was on Fleury’s MNTC list, because that’s the only reason I can truly accept not just TRADING HIM FOR THAT INSTEAD OF FOR NOTHING. [muffled screaming into hands] I’ve heard some say that if he gets the surgery he wants and it works, Eichel could be skating in as little as 3 weeks and rehabbed up to game conditioning by the new year, possibly even back in the lineup sooner than Tuch would have been. So like, they’re GONNA need to figure it out.

Anyway with regards to the 1C thing, I’m really only half joking when I say they should either play Eichel at 3C, or move the Misfits (who I really think work better with each other than any other linemates, but Pete may fight me on this) down to 3rd line and play him as 2C with *hand wavy motion in the direction of some wingers*. Fuck it! Roll 4 lines with relatively equal minutes and let the opposing coaches struggle to decide how the fuck they’re gonna deploy against THAT (who do you glue your Phillip Danault-esque shutdown player/line to now, as an opponent? Stone Pacioretty and good ol speedy Stevie? Marchessault Karlsson and Smith? Jack fucking Eichel? The surprisingly effective Kolesar-Patrick-Dadonov 4th line? you can’t cover ALL of them and SOMEBODY is gonna score on you). I think it would be very VERY funny and just might even work. But Chandler Stephenson has earned the 1C job on this team and is incredibly effective with his linemates (just look at the one game we had this season before everybody DIED for an example), he deserves to keep it regardless of his cap hit. You don’t build lines based on price tag.

The Pens have had plenty of success out of being like “here’s our 2C, fuck you it’s Evgeni Malkin, die” for a long time. I legit double-dog-dare the Knights to try the same.

#more realistically they’re probably just gonna trade somebody else to piss me off and we’re definitely not re-signing Smith now #I could go on at length about why you don’t need him at 1C but that’s a different rant #sigh #asks #vegas golden knights #vgk #anon #long post

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starrynight0612 · 4 years ago

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This is why it pays to be a good person. Even with all the backlash this year after the twitter fiasco and being demoted to backup goalie the NHL fans prove we love Marc-Andre Fleury.

We love you Flower 💓💓

#marc andre fleury #vegas golden knights #pittsburgh penguins #goalie love

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krakenbait · 4 years ago

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kraken bait 1.5

now that the season is off and running and contracting covid, it’s time for another installment of my odd inferences on who is going to be on the seattle kraken. if you want to see the first installment of this list, it’s here.

so, say it with me... KRAKEN BAIT! KRAKEN BAIT!

Phil Kessel: this is another one i can’t take the credit for. “phil kessel, kraken bait” is the brainchild of corwin (@chaos-hockey), who proposed this to me one day and i said “y’know what, i can see it.” i don’t follow the arizona coyotes at all, but i know they are not very good and have had terrible GMs, so i don’t think it’s out of the question that kessel could be exposed for the expansion draft, especially if the yotes’ brass don’t think he’s performing to expectations. whether the kraken would opt to take him over someone else is questionable, but you don’t necessarily need to be a good grab to be kraken bait. i will admit i’m not completely sold on kessel as kraken bait, so if you’ve got a strong argument for why he is or isn’t, i want to hear it.

Blake Coleman: the devils fan gets another excuse to talk about former devils who may and hopefully will end up in seattle! i miss having pickles in nj, he was such an asset to the devils, but he’s been doing good in tampa bay and is a large part of why i’ve become somewhat attached to the lightning. but more importantly, pickles is near-perfect kraken bait. he’s a bottom-six depth forward on an incredibly stacked team that’s already in cap hell, and his contract expires at the end of this season, so there is no doubt tampa bay will leave him exposed for the expansion draft. i don’t really know the bolts well enough to make a prediction about who else they might leave on the table for seattle, but i think pickles could be a great pickup for the kraken based on his performance with the devils and the lighting. if that is the case, much like tyson barrie, i’ll be very happy to have him back on one of my teams. it’ll be a tough decision if i want “barrie” or “coleman” on the kraken away jersey i will inevitably buy.

Joonas Korpisalo or Elvis Merzlikins: solid goalie tandems are pretty hard to come by these days, but the columbus blue jackets have one. both korpisalo and merzlikins are consistently good, unlike other teams, which wind up having one good goalie and his pretty old or pretty young or pretty bad backup. as part of the expansion draft rules, all teams need to expose one of their goalies, so seattle will have their work cut out for them sifting through a whole bunch of backups and 1B goalies for their one (or two) good guy(s). i absolutely think one of the goalies the kraken takes will be from the blue jackets. it’s hard to say who columbus will leave exposed out of korpisalo and merzlikins, and i think you could make a case for either. neither of them are necessarily stars, like marc-andre fleury was for vegas, but i think either of them would be a strong presence in the crease for the kraken. however, i do think the possibilities of goalies for seattle are pretty varied, so if you’ve got another goalie you think could be kraken bait, let me know.

that’s it for part 2 of the kraken bait list! agree? disagree? got someone else you think is kraken bait? let me know!

#seattle kraken #kraken bait #phil kessel #blake coleman #joonas korpisalo #elvis merzlikins

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pensfan4lfe2 · 2 years ago

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2021-22 NHL Backup Goalies per Team

(Based on ice time played/games started)

Thomas Greiss, Mike Smith, Spencer Knight, Cal Petersen, Marc-Andre Fleury, Sam Montembeault, David Ritich, Nico Daws, Semyon Varlamov, Alexandar Georgiev, & Matt Murray

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shinymooncolor · 4 years ago

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hey! you don’t have to answer this, but i know close to nothing about hockey and my family and i have never really watched it and i’m starting to get very interested, but i have no idea where to start 😅 what do you think i should focus on first, as a newbie? what should i absolutely know as a fan? what teams are pretty good in your opinion? again, thanks for your help if ever you see this p.s: i really love your posts and they bring a smile to me face, so thank you for your hard work! <3

Hi!

Ohhh well. First of all. Welcome to the nerve wracking, nail biting, jaw clenching, gut wrenching, heartbreaking and utterly incredible world of (ice) hockey. Angry muscle machines on skates chasing a tiny rubber puck in the nhl and their goddess equivalents in wnhl - what’s not to love?

You’ve decided on a hell of a year to join. Due to Covid, the normal system was paused and a recent bubble playoffs series played and later won by Tampa Bay Lightning a few weeks ago. The new season would’ve begun last week but is currently expected to start around December.

I’d say the best starting point would be to watch some games - YouTube has a lot of highlights, game compilations etc. and browse hockey tumblr. Hockey tumblr is a great combination of hockey gossip, game reviews, fans sharing their love, passion and (hateful) opinions about players, clubs and the sport in general.

My personal team faves are a handful - you see, the league is “split” into two conferences - east and west and within here a few other divisions dictating who the teams will play on a more recent basis. The clubs in the nhl being split over North America and Canada means a lot of ground to cover and therefore it’s split like this - time zones, distance and whatever. So maybe decide on a conference first? East or west.

I’m an eastern conference gal meself, but the west sure has its merits too.

So. Teams. You’re about to start a rumble here 😂

I am a personal fan of the Pittsburgh Penguins 🐧 they play good hockey, in spite of their idiot general manager (I’ve got posts detailing why he’s an ass hat extraordinarie). They’re captained by Canada’s hockey savior, Sidney Crosby: hockey robot, yellow crocs enthusiast , triple gold member (youngest captain to get all three?) and the goodest boy in the league. He’s been heralded as the next great one yada yada since he was about 5? And shot pucks into a dryer back in Canada - with that came a lot of shit for the poor guy who, in his own words, just wants to play hockey. And he’s good. He’s got his team of French Canadian d-men (letang, dumo), a whole lot of goalie drama which seems to be a pattern and his Russian (husband) assistant captain Evgeni Malkin who’s got the cutest kid, a really cool wifey (seriously her insta is 10000 better than geno’s own) and a wicked sense of humor which he conviently hides behind his “English big bad today” excuse to avoid media on a daily basis (he’s played this card since his wild escape and temporary defection from Russia back in 2006) seriously google it. It’s wild. They’ve won three cups since 2009, they’re contenders in the playoffs most years and their pr department provides some hilarious videos of captain Canada and his Russian (husband) A. It’s a true love story. Sue me. We’ve got an intense rivalry with philly and the caps. Seriously. That orange flyers jersey is intense - even if philly’s mascot is the next president.

Funnily enough, my strange obsession with Russian hockey players have led to the most disturbing but developing club crush on the Washington capitals who are the penguins’ nemesis.

I mean, this club led by the one and only gr8 8 mr Alexander Ovechkin is a rollercoaster of emotion and hot daddies in skates armed with sticks and a murder Swede.

So. Washington caps used to be a joke in the league until they went and drafted mr ovechkin first overall, brought him to the capital and let him do his thing. He’s got a rep for being a hell of a lot of fun on the ice (if you’re on his team) and one of those players that people love to hate (even if they can’t take away how freakishly good he is at hockey) - look up his impossible goal(s)! He’s an exuberant, fun loving Russian with a heart of gold and a missing tooth. In 2007, the caps went shopping for a center just for ovi who needed a playmaker and a slap shot feeeder - they went and drafted the Swedish angel (maybe assassin) (Lars) Nicklas Backstrom - and the purest hockey marriage was forged. The actual words (we needed a center for ovi and ovi wanted backstrom) have been said. Yes, these two Are now famously the mama and papa of the caps and they have a roster of unruly (and handsome) hockey babies with the fighting menace Tom Wilson, bird impersonator and Russian cat Evgeni Kuznetzov and a whole army of other adorable (albeit hockey playing menaces) babies. Most recently they had the leagues daddiest daddy goalie Mr Holtbeast as the fun and handsome canadien cowboy uncle but he’s ventured to Vancouver to adopt a new group of hockey babies. To compensate, the caps went shopping in New York and brought the one and only king Henrik from the crease in msg to be the goalie mentor for baby Russian caps goalie and to keep the daddy energy flowing.

(Seriously why are Swedish players part time models? Their national team strategy is to be so handsome the other teams are distracted. It’s a thing. Look it up)

I also love a handful of other players on other teams (I really don’t dislike any team in particular - but you’ll meet some dedicated and strong minded fans here)

Erik Horse Johnson, Cale Makar and Nikita Zadorov (Colorado Avs - zad have recently been traded to the blackhawks (not sure how I feel about that). Phwucking fun team. Who needs teeth anyways.

Marc Andre Fleury (Vegas now but hell always be a penguin to me)

The Russian gang in Tampa - and giant Swede victor Hedman (seriously he’s massive)

The canes (Carolina) and their collective of Finnish and Russian babies (aho, svech) with chaotic Marty and former penguin Baby Staal as captain

And a whole lot of others too. It’s hard to choose.

The Dallas stars and the most precious bean of them all (Russian) dobby - Anton khudobin their backup goalie turned playoffs hero and fashion icon. The man said we’re not going home and threw the entire team on his back and dragged them to the final. And their homoerotically charged captain and his alt captain and their Hollywood epic soap worthy relationship. Stallions, people, Stallions...

Btw we like to project our brash queerness onto this league. You’ll learn why quickly. There’s only so much talks about hot hands, slick moves, eternal love for teammates and quite frankly obscene (sexy) amounts of kneeling, roughing (let’s face its it’s just aggressive cuddling) and teammates honorably defending teammates.

Anyways. I love hockey. He. Sorry.

Fun fact I’ve dragged @canesinthecrease kicking and screaming into the hellhole that is the caps and I’m working on convincing @dontpuckwithme about the incredibly sexy thing that is Russians and Canadians being secretly married in Pittsburgh.

Great, sexy, amazing, cool, smart and wonderful hockey ladies to follow for even more amazing content on more clubs (the hurricanes - also a team I’m starting to love). They’re my queer sherpas and emotional support network.

Hope you can use this dear (new) hockey friend and mutual 💖🐧

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