Thoughts from the Days 1 & 2

So this is probably how this is gonna work. I’ll be too busy with school to get to this every day, so every once and a while I'll post my thoughts.

The Hawks celebrated their Stanley Cup banner raising game with a 6-4 win over the Capitals, who got a hat trick from Mikhail Grabovski. While Grabovski had a good game, how about Mike Green? He looked phenomenal, much more like the playmaking defenseman who had back-to-back 70 point seasons than the one whose battled injuries for the past three seasons. With sketchy depth on the back-end, there’s no way John Erskine is a top-4 defenseman on any other top team, the Caps need Green to be a difference maker, especially since they can’t beat up on the Southeast Division anymore. Their power play was the league’s best last year, and it sure got off to that start again, going 3 for 6.

However, the Hawks did what they needed to do. They killed a 5 on 3 late. Three times after the Caps scored, the Hawks scored in a short period of time later. They got depth scoring and the power play even got a goal. They picked up where they left last year, finding ways to win games. And that banner raising ceremony was pretty exciting. Bettman got booed. And despite how entertaining that game was, Bettman fell asleep. And imagine how big of a thrill that was for the kids carrying the banner on the ice. I guarantee you, even though they looked pretty young, they’re gonna remember that and be telling that story for a long time. In case you missed it, here’s the whole ceremony.

The Hawks allowed 3 power play goals to the Caps. One of their key penalty killers to last season’s 3^rd ranked penalty killer was Michael Frolik. Frolik was traded to the Jets in the offseason, and made his presence felt immediately. Yeah, the Hawks could’ve used him on the penalty kill, but Frolik also scored two goals, including the winner on a great passfrom Eric Tangradi.

The Jets beat the Oilers 5-4. Both teams were kinda sloppy throughout the game, with each team taking charge at different points in the game. Many people think the Oilers will finally break through to the playoffs this year, but they’ll have to get a lot more consistent. Devan Dubnyk, especially, will have to be better, as a couple of the goals he allowed were rather soft.

On night two, the Red Wings and Sabres both proved me right in my ranking one team as one that’ll kick ass and the other as one that’ll get their ass kicked. Pavel Datsyuk scored a beautiful goal (no surprise), as the Wings won 2-1. Throughout most of the game their dominated play and outshot the

Sabres 34-20. Ryan Miller was fantastic, keeping the Sabres in the game despite being outplayed for most of it. It was only in spurts late in the second and third that the Sabres could get their game going, which resulted in Zemgus Girgensons scoring his first NHL goal in his first game. Girgensons is the highest-ever drafted Latvian, at 14 overall in 2012, played a decent game in 15 minutes of ice time, skating with Brian Flynn and Mikhail Grigorenko. With the Sabres in rebuild mode, the fact that these three had a solid game to start the season bodes well for the future. Still, if Miller gets traded this season, like many expect, it could be a long one. Without Miller, this game would’ve been a blowout.

What was a blowout was Patrick Roy’s debut as a coach against the Ducks. The Avs won 6-1, with the Ducks goal coming with 7 second left in the game. I fell victim to that East Coast curse, as I didn’t stay awake to watch the game. Last time I make that mistake. Yeah, the Avs won, but the talk of the game was Patrick Roy going crazy, almost pushing down the class that separates the two benches. He was always an entertaining character, so I guess it's no surprise he's up to something like this. Can't wait to see what else the year has in store. Enjoy:

Other news. Dennis Seindenberg signed a 4 year extension with the Bruins, with a cap hit of $4 million a year. Seindenberg plays with Zdeno Chara in as the shutdown pair during the playoffs, and has made quite a home for himself with the Bruins after bouncing around for a couple years beforehand. It’s a great cap hit for such a vital part of the Bruins defense, as he surely would’ve made more had he reached free agency this offseason.

Also resigning with his current club was Jason Pominville with the Wild. He got a 5 year extension with a $5.6 cap hit. He compliments Zach Parise and Mikko Koivu on the top line in Minnesota. While Parise is a top sniper and Koivu is the playmaker, Pominville is equally adept playing both roles. The former Sabres captain can provide leadership on a young Wild team and can also play the point on the power play. He’s also good friends with Thomas Vanek, who played college hockey in Minnesota, and who will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. Vanek likely won’t finish the year in Buffalo, but will the Sabres and Wild make another deadline deal involving Buffalo’s captain? Everyone assumes Vanek will sign with Minnesota in the offseason, and Pominville signing an extension will add more fuel to that fire.

As for tonight, I've been enjoying the Kings-Wild game and will likely be one of the few on the East Coast staying awake for watch the Canucks-Sharks game later tonight. The Canucks were swept by the Sharks in the first round of the playoffs last year, which resulted in major changes in Vancouver. John Tortorella makes his debut behind the Vancouver bench. I'm sure he saw what Roy did, so lets see how Torts follows up. I'm expecting a good press conference.