Where Goon meets Glitz, from the Ice to the Armchair, balanced and objective hockey analysis and reporting.
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Nashville Predators: Ascending the Division of Doom
The 2023-24 season was supposed to be a transitional year at the start of the Barry Trotz rebuild in Nashville. New coach Andrew Brunette and the roster misunderstood the assignment to the joy and delight of the Smashville faithful. The new-look Preds, led by 2023 free agent acquisition Ryan O’Reilly, finished the regular season… Read more
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Montreal Canadiens: The Mark Bellhorn of NHL rebuilds
Remember Mark Bellhorn’s short stint with the Boston Red Sox? He would drive the Fenway Faithful mad with his tendency to take an exorbitant number of pitches due to embodying, to an almost monk-like extent, patience at the plate. Sometimes, it would come back to bite him. Quite often, in fact. He led the AL… Read more
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Minnesota Wild: Building a Blue Chip Blue Line
The Minnesota Wild had the season that I expected for them in 2023-24. The expectation was that they would be a competitive unit, and anytime you win 39 games in a season, I would say mission accomplished despite not qualifying for the playoffs. Bill Guerin will once again be facing an uphill battle with… Read more
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Florida Panthers: About as good as you can ask for
In a manner somewhat akin to the Vegas Golden Knights in 2023 (their adversaries who defeated them in the finals that year, which truly made it a matchup of kin souls), the strong Atlantic Division’s best squad the Florida Panthers won their first ever Stanley Cup in 2024, defeating the Edmonton Oilers in one of… Read more
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Detroit Red Wings: No, come on, what?!
The 2023–24 Detroit Red Wings season saw their playoff drought elongated yet again, as they were in the mix until the very end wherein they were eliminated from postseason contention on a tiebreaker via the Capitals’ victory over the Flyers that many likely still remember. It is arguable that they took proper steps forward last… Read more
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Los Angeles Kings: A Masterclass in Self Destruction
Based on my closing takes in last year’s article, the Los Angeles Kings failed to accomplish any of their goals in 2023-24 and promptly went back to the drawing board as their gambles failed to pay off. Following the big swings in acquiring Pierre-Luc Dubois and Vladislav Gavrikov, Rob Blake fancied his roster a… Read more