Official NHL 2006-07 Regular Season Thread

[Triumph36]

Early in the season it's standard to have as few weekday games as possible. Until football season ends, you'll see less Tuesday and Wednesday night games - they tend to get awful attendance. Also the schedule tends to be less dense in October.

It's also standard that the Rangers have played 4-5 more games than New Jersey by mid-November.

[MarkSummers]

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How is he a good coach? He won a Jack Adams with the best goalie in the league - wow.

The Islanders actually aren't that bad on paper, but they will be bad on the ice - partly thanks to Nolan.

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This is a joke, right?

Those Sabres did have the best goalie in the league, but they also did not have much in front of him. Like others have said, Nolan did get those guys to work hard and probably got the most he could have out of that team. Who do you want to give the Jack Adams to? I guess the winner would have to be such a hockey genius that his team and his goalie were not very good.

As far as the Islanders being good on paper, these are essentially the same losers we had last year. But wait, now we have Sean Hill, Brendan Witt and Tom Poti on D and Chris Simon, Mike Sillinger and Richard Park up front. Oh I fogot Andy Hilbert too. Name another team in the East with a roster this bad? Washington, maybe. Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Florida, Tampa and Boston all have a little bit of a chance this year. The Islanders have no chance. I don't see what Nolan can do to make these guys worse than they already are.

[NhlNut]

Calder Trophy:
Forget Malkin, Anze Kopitar is going to take it. He's big and skilled. Plus, he will get a ton of ice time with the Kings being weak at center.

[Mvcode3]

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It's OK guys, you can give up now. The Sharks WILL win the cup this year.

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Im suprised that no one has mentioned the Sharks. Youngest, Heaviest, and 4 tallest team in the NHL. Has 2 superstars and 2 no 1 goalies. After watching them play the first three games they have clearly been the better team. Their speed is going to mean a lot of penalties, and Thorton is scary on the PP.

[Triumph36]

Unreal games here in the New York area tonight - the Rangers lose 6-5 with 1 second left when Sidney Crosby's cross-ice pass hits Aaron Ward and goes in. The Devils win 7-6 in the shootout after being down 3 goals at the start of the 3rd - Brian Gionta scores a natural hat trick to tie it.

[MarkSummers]

Wow that's 3 hat tricks in the last 2 days. Cheechoo already has one and the Sharks game isn't even over yet and Schneider had one last night for Detroit.

Edit to include that Cheechoo's was natural as well. I wonder if there have ever been 2 natural hat tricks in one night of hockey.

Edit #2: holy jesus, another natural hat trick. This time it's Ryan Smyth of Edmonton. This is in the same game that Cheechoo got his. This has got to be the first time there are 3 natural hat tricks in one night.

[THAY3R]

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This has got to be the first time there are 3 natural hat tricks in one night.

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I strongly doubt it.

[MinRaise]

Question for those who know the NHL.

I don't know all that much about hockey, but I have been a Blue Jackets fan since they joined the NHL a few years ago. I have been to some games in previous years, haven't had a chance this year yet. Anyways, they have looked good so far, but they have sucked in the past. Do they have a chance to make the playoffs this year? Seems like all of these high draft picks are starting to pan out, and they finally signed some FAs.

[Acehawk74]

Minraise,

You will absolutley love Fredrick Modin. As long as your young goaltender holds up well, and the team continues playing to thier potential, I think they can contend for a playoff spot. That said, with as talented as some teams in the West are, I think it is a stretch, but they certainly are improved imho.

[MarkSummers]

Considering more than half the teams in the conference make the playoffs, as long as you're not one of the two or three worst teams in the conference you got a chance. If Columbus made the playoffs this year, I would consider it a mild surprise. I would like their chances even more if they had a proven goalie. Leclaire only played in 33 games last year. Anyway, there's usually a few teams come from low expectations before the season to make the playoffs. Sometimes they do even better than a first round exit like Buffalo and Carolina last year.

As for the hat tricks, I'm still trying to find out if there have been two natural hat tricks in one game or three in one night of hockey. Smyth's impressive time of finishing the natural hat trick in 2 minutes 1 second is not a record. That belongs to Bill Mosienko who did in 21 seconds in 1952.