General

2013-14 Season Schedule Released

With the announcement of NHL players being able to compete in the Winter Olympics in Sochi, the NHL released the schedule for the upcoming 2013-13 NHL season. This season will include the Winter Classic, which was cancelled last season due to the lockout, but will include the two teams that were meant to play in the Winter Classic, the Detroit Red Wings and the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Also included are five more outdoor games as well as the Winter Classic. Ottawa and Vancouver will contest the 2014 Tim Horton’s NHL Heritage Classic, and the Coors Light NHL Stadium Series will be four matchups, involving the Anaheim Ducks against the Los Angeles Kings at Dodger Stadium, New York Rangers versus New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers versus New York Islanders, both taking place in Yankee Stadium and Pittsburgh Penguins vs Chicago Blackhawks at Soldier Field.

There will be a break from Feb 9-25, to make way for the Winter Olympics, where the majority of NHL players will be taking part.

DATES OF IMPORTANCE

Training Camp Opens — Wednesday, Sept. 11 2013

Exhibition Games Begin — Friday, Sept. 13

Regular Season Opens — Tuesday, Oct. 1

Hall of Fame Game — Friday, Nov. 8

Christmas Break — Tuesday, Dec. 24 – Thursday, Dec. 26

2014 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic — Tuesday, Jan. 1 2014

Hockey Day In Canada — Saturday, Jan. 18

NHL Stadium Series — Ducks @ Kings — Saturday, Jan. 25

NHL Stadium Series — Rangers @ Devils — Sunday, Jan. 26

NHL Stadium Series — Rangers @ Islanders — Wednesday, Jan. 29

NHL Stadium Series — Penguins @ Blackhawks — Saturday, March 1

2014 Tim Horton’s NHL Heritage Classic — Senators @ Canucks — Sunday, March 2

Olympic Break — Sunday, Feb. 9 – Tuesday, Feb. 25

Last Day of Regular Season — Sunday, Apr. 13

Stanley Cup Playoffs Begin — Wednesday, Apr. 16

For full schedule details, including team by team schedules, visit NHL.com.

General

New Division Names!!

Six divisions have now become four, as the NHL released the names of the new divisions, which will be in place starting from the 2013-14 season.

The Atlantic Division will consist of: Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings, Florida Panthers, Montreal Canadiens, Ottawa Senators, Tampa Bay Lightning and Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Metropolitan Division will consist of: Carolina Hurricanes, Columbus Blue Jackets, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals.

The Central Division will consist of: Chicago Blackhawks, Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, Minnesota Wild, Nashville Predators, St. Louis Blues and Winnipeg Jets.

The Pacific Division will consist of: Anaheim Ducks, Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings, Phoenix Coyotes, San Jose Sharks and Vancouver Canucks.

The Atlantic and Metropolitan divisions will make up the Eastern Conference, whilst the Central and Pacific will be the Western Conference. Detroit and Columbus are moving to the East, and Winnipeg is moving West. The schedule makes sure that all 30 teams will play in all 30 arenas at least once in the regular season.

The Stanley Cup Playoffs will still be made up of 16 teams, but qualifying for the dance has been modified. The top three from each division will automatically qualify, and the final four spots will be made up of ‘wild card’ teams from both conferences, regardless of division, meaning it is possible for one division to send five teams, and the other only send three to the playoffs.

The playoff seedings will still be based on points earned in the regular season. The winner of the conference, who will be the division winner with the highest points,  will face the wild-card team with the fewest points. Second in the conference, and the other division winner, will face the wild-card team with the second fewest points.

The four winners will advance on to play for a berth in the conference championship series, with the winner of the conference advancing to the Stanley Cup.

General

2013 NHL Draft Lottery Results

April 29 saw the 2013 NHL Draft Lottery take place, which would decide the draft order from 1 to 14 in the upcoming draft, decided by the 14 teams that did not make the Stanley Cup playoffs.

This was the order of placing, and their odds going into the lottery.

Rank Team % of Winning Points
1 Florida Panthers 25.0 36
2 Colorado Avalanche 18.8 39
3 Tampa Bay Lightning 14.2 40
4 Nashville Predators 10.7 41
5 Carolina Hurricanes 8.1 42
6 Calgary Flames 6.2 42
7 Edmonton Oilers 4.7 45
8 Buffalo Sabres 3.6 48
9 New Jersey Devils 2.7 48
10 Dallas Stars 2.1 48
11 Philadelphia Flyers 1.5 49
12 Phoenix Coyotes 1.1 51
13 Winnipeg Jets 0.8 51
14 Columbus Blue Jackets 0.5 55

The lottery results however, showed a slightly different story. They showed that being the worst team in the NHL, doesn’t necessarily grant you the First Overall Pick, as the Colorado Avalanche move up from 2 to 1, at the expense of the Florida Panthers, who take the 2 spot. Otherwise, there was a status quo with all other positions, meaning the draft order for the first 14 picks in the draft at the moment, are as follows:

Rank Team
1 Colorado Avalanche
2 Florida Panthers
3 Tampa Bay Lightning
4 Nashville Predators
5 Carolina Hurricanes
6 Calgary Flames
7 Edmonton Oilers
8 Buffalo Sabres
9 New Jersey Devils
10 Dallas Stars
11 Philadelphia Flyers
12 Phoenix Coyotes
13 Winnipeg Jets
14 Columbus Blue Jackets

The 2013 NHL Draft will be held Sunday June 30.

BHF Fantasy, General

Bored Hockey Fan Fantasy League – Fantasy Stanley Cup Playoffs

Quebec Nordiques. DarkSideOfTheMoen. One week to decide just who will skate away with the Stanley Cup.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aONkVwsdQmw[/youtube]

This is the final week of the Bored Hockey Fan Fantasy League, only one team can walk away with the Cup. Let’s see how both teams got to this point.

Quebec Nordiques decimated their opponents as the third seed going in. They easily accounted for the sixth seeded GreatNessPerSonified 10-1-2, then steamrolled the second seeded It’s The Flying V! 9-3-1 in the semi finals, and went into the final week, as not only the highest seed left, but as favourites,

DarkSideOfTheMoen however struggled, pulling out all the moves to beat arch-rival @GoftheInternet 7-6 in the first round, before beating surprise packet FistCity CaPs 6-5-2 in the semis, after the CaPs upset the #1 seeded Legs in the first round.

So there it is, the third seeded Quebec Nordiques, against the four seed, DarkSideOfTheMoen. It was 3 vs. 4 in the finals last season, with the four seed winning out. Will the four seed take it again this season? Let’s find out if lightning strikes twice for the 4 seed.
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Flashback Friday, PUCK YOU!

PUCK YOU! Season 3, Episode 4: The Post Season (repost)

Logo

While the 2012 NHL Lockout is underway, every Friday will be known as “Flashback Friday.” On this day of the week, a classic installment of PUCK YOU! will be released for your enjoyment.

This was originally published on Apr 17, 2012

Hello hockey fans! PUCK YOU! has to address the start of the NHL’s second season! The Stanley Cup Playoffs! And while this is slightly rushed, it will continue the always honest, and always awesome theme of this series…. hockey fans talking hockey. Let’s get to it, shall we?
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Flashback Friday, PUCK YOU!

PUCK YOU! Conference Finals and Tragedy (repost)

While the 2012 NHL Lockout is underway, every Friday will be known as “Flashback Friday.” On this day of the week, a classic installment of PUCK YOU! will be released for your enjoyment.

This was original published on 2011/05/14

As we sit awaiting the puck to drop commencing the start of the third round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Conference Finals, some sad stuff has been broken by news media. While normally the PUCK YOU! series is one of conversation, and not an editorial, I felt I would break away from tradition to briefly discuss some of these topics.
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