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[Poolio]

I think, like everywhere else, there are players who really don't care whether they hurt somebody bad enough that they are out of the game. But, I honestly don't think the unevenness of the suspensions/fines/etc... is any different this year than in past years. The difference is that the league is making verbal attempts to minimize the dirty and injury-causing plays but without consistent penalties they're just spitting in the wind.

thank god the flyers took the pens out.

I have an irrational hatred of the flyers so I take the opposite view of that series. 

[Zafer Kaya]

I do not understand white-out pads.  The crease is light blue.  Why are you wearing white?  If you want to blend in, wear light blue pads.   And paint some lines on it so people get all confused as to where the crease and goal is.  Like is poorly painted camouflage really the right strategy?  Why not some attention-getting or discombobulating action where instead disguising your pads you highlight them instead?  Like-- here are my pads, please shoot directly at them.

And if technology has advance to the point where we can have batteries and electronics and shizz to power cameras, why not take advantage of it?  Like I want a mask with a huge LED so it will blind whoever is shooting.  Or maybe some kind of plastic color shifting material that takes the data from the camera and warps your mask/pad coloring  accordingly for maximum impact.  If nothing else, it could make some kind of hypnotizing swirly pattern.  Moving things are always more distracting. Maybe something that shoots dry ice smog when activated.

I mean seriously-- it's 2012 and air-brushed Led Zeppelin ZOSO masks are the best we can do?  Really?

I'm just saying.  They have like crazy laser shows and bikini clad ice sweepers going on at hockey games.  The arena managers know how to distract attention.  Take advantage of it.  I mean, it's kind of stupid and childish and they will undoubtedly pass some rules against stuff like that but why not push the envelope/

[MaxieWOXY]

I do not understand white-out pads.  The crease is light blue.  Why are you wearing white?  If you want to blend in, wear light blue pads.   And paint some lines on it so people get all confused as to where the crease and goal is.  Like is poorly painted camouflage really the right strategy?  Why not some attention-getting or discombobulating action where instead disguising your pads you highlight them instead?  Like-- here are my pads, please shoot directly at them.

Because the boards, and the ice behind and around the net, are generally white.

[Kenneth Toilethole]

So, if Phoenix wins the cup, does Bettman congratulate himself at the trophy presentation? Does each owner pass it back and forth to each other?

And while I'm suggesting stupid stuff, how about one game of the Phoenix and Nashville game be played in Pittsburgh and make the Jim Bassille series complete.

[cyclone]

The Blue Jackets are going to be so bad.

[jcarwash31]

I'm a pretty casual hockey fan, but it's hard not to get excited about Parise and Suter.  I hope the Wild can get things clicking before this abbreviated season gets too far along.

[Homsar]

The Blue Jackets are going to be so bad.

Too bad about the Blue Jackets.  I went up to a game every now and then a couple years ago.  Vyborny was my favorite.

[cyclone]

It's the beginning of the post-Rick Nash era, it was inevitable a long time ago that whenever that day came it would be a "lost year" so to speak.  It's just a shame that due to the division they play in (I can hear arguments for the Atlantic, but I still say the Central is the league's toughest division) what was already an uphill battle had to be that much steeper.  Best case scenario for CBJ, at least two of the young players acquired in the Nash trade take an objectively significant step forward (and I kind of feel like Anisimov and Dubinsky will) for building a foundation for the future.  I like the addition of Faligno too, and I do believe that Atkinson could put up big numbers if they get him on the right line. The team obviously isn't going to score many goals, but I do think their defense matches up against anyone in the division or even league for that matter.  And so the big question mark for whether or not it'll be a complete disaster will be goaltending.  I never really saw enough of Bobrovsky with the Flyers to comment.  I've been keeping an eye on training camp and I'm still not really clear about the Bobrovsky/Mason competition ... I'd be pretty disappointed if Bobrovsky didn't start the season as the no. 1 or at the very least not in a tandem. 

[cyclone]

I also think it's amazing that David Desharnais will start the season with the Habs, potentially even centering their top line.  Desharnais was a Cyclone in 07/08, and he absolutely dominated the ECHL as they won the Kelly Cup, putting up 106 points.  Heard a lot of chatter that he wouldn't make it in the NHL due to his size (5'7).

[MaxieWOXY]

The Blue Jackets are going to be so bad.

Odds are you are right, but I wouldn't say it is as much of a given as most people think it is.

Over the last couple years, each and every time the Jackets called up a lot of players and went with a younger line-up, they played much better. Can it be sustained? That's the question.

I strongly feel that established players are a big part of the problem with the losing culture in Columbus. In my opinion, those players see easy money here without the pressure they would face in a "real" hockey city. They aren't under a microscope in this college town like they would be elsewhere. It's almost like they come here to kick back and lay low a bit because the expectations are not the same. The only way I see it ever changing is a serious youth movement that creates a winning product.

Still, you have to wonder where in the heck the goals are going to come from this year.  

[cyclone]

Odds are you are right, but I wouldn't say it is as much of a given as most people think it is.

Like I touched on, I think a lot of it is the division ... makes it a lot more difficult to stay optimistic.  I don't think we'll see a repeat of the Central sending four teams to the playoffs again, but I do think there are still three potential Cup candidates in the division (with the Blackhawks being my choice if I had to pick one today).  Despite my comment about them being bad I think my post took a rather optimistic assessment of the season, honestly ... as you said with your last point, there's no ignoring that offensively there is just a severe lack of talent.  However, there is hope in not letting as many goals in, I just see it more as a hypothetical.  As I said before, I think the defense will be fine and perhaps even realistically solid.  But they will need great goaltending, and hopefully Bobrovsky will at the very least give them better results than Mason has after his rookie season. But even if he has a stellar season, it's going to be hard to make up for the lack of firepower.  It's a developmental season.

I get what you're saying regarding the whole veterans thing, though.  I think it's safe to say that they have fully embraced the youth movement this year though (even if they did so out of necessity).  It feels very similar to a baseball rebuilding stage the season after a firing sale with finally trading Nash.  Off the top of my head there can't be too many players over 30, though they did bring Adrian Aucoin in to be a "mentor" to the younger defensemen.  It is definitely troublesome to realize that Vinny Prospal was one of your best offensive players a year ago.

[cyclone]

Dang, 10,475 at Nationwide tonight.

You're going to want to see the highlight reel save from Dallas's Kari Lehtonen.

[Poolio]

Dang, 10,475 at Nationwide tonight.

Well, at least the beer lines won't be long when I go on Saturday night...

[cyclone]

Well, at least the beer lines won't be long when I go on Saturday night...

To be fair, it was a Monday night game (and the shortened season, etc).  Not that 10K isn't really, really bad for an NHL game, but still. I would expect weekend games to still be decent for a while, and for Saturday, Detroit always brings in a ton of fans.

[cyclone]

I strongly feel that established players are a big part of the problem with the losing culture in Columbus. In my opinion, those players see easy money here without the pressure they would face in a "real" hockey city. They aren't under a microscope in this college town like they would be elsewhere. It's almost like they come here to kick back and lay low a bit because the expectations are not the same.

Never has this sentiment rang truer than the start of this season by RJ Umberger.