NHL 25/26 Thread

[Cobra Mgr]

Rantanen gets one game suspension for 2nd game misconduct in 3 days.

For boarding again. What has gotten into this guy?

[Cobra Mgr]

When are the Canes going to be able to move on from Andersen? Sv% of .845. Last 5 he is now 1-3-2. Carolina is out shooting teams 2-1, keeping the puck out of the def zone, and can't win cause Andersen has as many holes as the net behind him.

[Cobra Mgr]

Thompson settles score w/Noesen

[Cobra Mgr]

Canes in Andersen starts: 5-6-2 .878 sv%
Canes in Bussi/Kochetkov starts: 10-1 .909 sv%

[monkeyman576]

Rough blow for the Kraken as Jaden Schwartz is out 4-6 weeks with an injury, just after getting back Jared McCann who was out for a significant time. However, as a bright spot the Kraken actually did well and are sitting in second place in the division with McCann out, so perhaps they can do so with Schwartz out, although one would think that sample size is not on their side.

[Bluenoser]

Have to say I'm somewhat surprised at our 3 game winning streak given the key players we have out with injury. Nice win in Utah, and a real nice win today in Vegas. Especially pleased to see Monty have a solid game in nets, hopefully he's finding his form again. We need you Monty, Dobes is good but he can't keep carrying us.

In tough tomorrow as we have a matinee in Colorado, but hey, 2 out of 3 on this road trip given the top competition we are facing is fine with me. Who knows, maybe we're the ones to hand the Av's their 2nd regulation loss of the season. Anything's possible

GHG

[Cobra Mgr]

Barring injury, is anyone going to stop the Avs from winning the Cup? A 17-1-6 start, a 136pt pace

[Cobra Mgr]

Leaving the ice for the season w/an assist.

Torn ACL no obstacle

[Bluenoser]

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

Barring injury, is anyone going to stop the Avs from winning the Cup? A 17-1-6 start, a 136pt pace

From 05/06 (after the cancelled season) only twice has the team with the best regular season record gone on to win the cup.

07/08 Red Wings 115 Pts - won cup

12/13 Black Hawks 77 Pts (Strike shortened season) won cup

A few examples of teams that had the best regular season record and didn't win:

05/06 - Detroit 124 Pts - out in 1st round

09/10 - Washington 121 Pts - out in 1st round

13/14 - Boston 116 Pts, Anaheim 115 - both out in 2nd round

15/16 - Washington 120 Pts - out in 2nd round

16/17 - Washington 118 Pts - out in 2nd round

17/18 - Nashville 117 Pts - out in 2nd round

18/19 - Tampa Bay 128 Pts - out in 1st round

22/23 - Boston 135 Pts - out in 1st round

Definitely not a blessing of things to come when you dominate the regular season.

[Bluenoser]

Speaking of Colorado, I didn't think we'd win in their barn, that was a good old fashioned beat down we took today.

Still happy with the road trip. Home now for our next 2 vs Ottawa and Winnipeg.

GHG

[Cobra Mgr]

Originally Posted by Bluenoser

From 05/06 (after the cancelled season) only twice has the team with the best regular season record gone on to win the cup.

07/08 Red Wings 115 Pts - won cup

12/13 Black Hawks 77 Pts (Strike shortened season) won cup

I was aware, but thanks for the breakdown anyway. The fact that none of the playoff rounds is a forgone conclusion is one of the reasons why I say the Cup is the most exciting playoff.

Its just the Avs dominance is other worldly. They have a pt diff of +48. The rest of the West who have positive pt diffs (6 teams) are a combined +43. They are already above 100 goals. No one else has 90. They have given up 55. Next lowest is the Pens 63.

Nobody is close right now.

[Amazin69]

Steve Dangle basically says Canes fans are being babies being so down on Freddie, since Carolina is doing just fine.

Hey, he said it, not me. I'm too busy dealing with the Kings slowly killing me with the constant 2-1 losses. We're not even waiting for overtime and getting our Pity Points out of the deal. Feh.

[Cobra Mgr]

Originally Posted by Amazin69

Steve Dangle basically says Canes fans are being babies being so down on Freddie, since Carolina is doing just fine.

Really?

Seven of 8 losses now w/Freddie in goal.

[Cobra Mgr]

Hawaii????Why does New Mexico like the Lightning? Alaska and the Blackhawks? Louisiana loves the Avs?

[Cobra Mgr]

Bussi has apparently taken over the #1GT role. He started last night, his 2nd in a row. And this was for 1st place in the Metro vs arch rival Washington. That shows he has earned the trust from Rod while Andersen continues to struggle. And "the Bus" delivered. He stopped 23 of 25, then all 3 Cap attempts in the shootout for a 3-2 win.

The seasons is now more than a third over. Carolina's record is about where everyone expected. But how they have gotten there wasn't. Bussi was a pickup expected to be insurance. He wasn't expected to be their best in the net. The Canes best defenseman, Jaccob Slavin, has only played one full game. Rookie Nikishin has been the only D to not go in and out of the lineup w/injuries. And now the offense has been rather anemic.

But it has given Carolina a chance to show the depth of their roster even down in Chicago w/the Wolves. The Canes have the best record in the East and not one player in the top 55 in scoring. So they have plenty of pieces that can be used in a trade for a big shot scorer @ the deadline w/o disrupting the roster too much. And Bussi's emergence allows the front office to zero in on just that instead of a goalie if they so choose.

[Cobra Mgr]

Vancouver sends Quinn Hughes to the Wild for 3 players & 2026 1st rounder

[Cobra Mgr]

Canes sweep the weekend series w/the Flyers. Both wins came in a 1-0 shootout win, netting them the extra point each time. What is interesting is Kochetkov got the start Saturday, while Bussi was in net tonight. It's now been 10 days since Andersen has seen any action on ice. Pytor wasn't great Saturday, so the Canes may not be ready to send Freddie away. But it does seem like Bussi is the #1 right now until further notice.

Bigger news than the win was the fact Jaccob Slavin was back in the lineup for the 1st time since game 2. The team is now "whole" for the 1st time this season. Considering they lead the East & have the league's 3rd best record, that is indeed reason for optimism moving forward. Canes have reached this point w/o the full lineup, a number of their stars not putting up star #'s, the PK not being what it once was, & the PP being atrocious (if I am to be kind). Let's hope these problems are about to correct themselves.

BTW, seems like the Canes have the Flyers number. Their win streak vs Philly is now 8. And the win Saturday night tied them for the longest win streak as an opponent in Philly.

Bussi's win gives him 10 in a row and also makes him the fastest to 11 W's in NHL history.

[Cobra Mgr]

Penguins being sold for $1.7B+

[Cobra Mgr]

Trade rumors surrounding Frederik Andersen have started to stir.

Frederik Andersen 5-7-2 .875 sv%
Brandon Bussi 11-1 .911 sv%
Pytor Kocehtkov 6-1 .913 sv%

I'm for keeping him up to the deadline. Cause Kochetkov is just as injury prone Andersen. And we are more or less riding the "Bus" to see if he has a tank for the long haul right now. But Andersen hasn't seen any action in 2 weeks. It is obvious he is relegated to #3. But I'd still give him a spot here & there. Hopefully he can regain his form, or at least fool us so some goalie desperate team will fork over some assets. It'd be great to get a D that can QB the PP. The fact the Canes are this far in 1st place in the East is amazing seeing how bad they have been w/the man advantage.

[Cobra Mgr]

GEEZ! The Panthers are our Daddy!