NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said Thursday that teams will no longer wear specialty sweaters during warmups because "it's become a distraction."

"I've suggested that it would be appropriate for clubs not to change their jerseys in warmups because it's become a distraction."

Brothers Eric and Marc Staal, who both play for the Florida Panthers, sat out of warmups when the team held its 'pride' Night. The Staal brothers issued a statement that said that wearing a Pride sweater "goes against our Christian beliefs."

In January then-Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov opted not to wear a 'pride' Night warmup sweater. Provorov, who was later traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets, cited his religious beliefs, saying he wanted "to stay true to myself and my religion."

In March, the Chicago Blackhawks reportedly did not wear their 'pride'-themed warmup sweaters at all.

March also saw San Jose Sharks goaltender James Reimer sit out of warmups when the team held its 'pride' Night, also citing his religious beliefs.

The Minnesota Wild and New York Rangers were among the teams that said they would wear special sweaters and then decided to not alienate their fans directly and skipped the disruptive garb.

Well, sports might do better to stick to promoting their sport and not alienating the majority of their fan bases. Here's hoping upcoming seasons will focus more on the great game of Hockey and the players and a lot less on outside stuff.

Netminders Henrik Lundqvist, Tom Barrasso and Mike Vernon have all been selected for the Hockey Hall of Fame, as announced Wednesday. They join former NHL center Pierre Turgeon and Canadian women's hockey star Caroline Ouellette, as well as coach Ken Hitchcock and the late Pierre Lacroix, who built two Stanley Cup champions with the Colorado Avalanche.

Lundqvist was a first-year-eligible Hall candidate. He's sixth in NHL career wins (459), ninth in games played (887) and 11th in career save percentage (.918). Lundqvist won the Vezina Trophy as the NHL's top goaltender in 2011-12 and was a finalist for the award a total of five times. He was also a finalist for the Hart Trophy as league MVP in 2011-12.

The 2023 NHL Draft is now only three days away!

If as per the reports, the Hurricanes bring back Anthony DeAngelo, Carolina would strengthen their blue line for next year but then have four defensemen set to hit unrestricted free agency after next season is over. So win now, Hurricanes?

Well, the West, and particularly the Pacific, is going to be even tougher this coming season:

Pierre-Luc Dubois is supposedly near a maximum-term contract extension and a multi-player trade from Winnipeg, where he says he wants out. I know they just moved Sean Durzi to the Coyotes, but wow! They are going to be right there all year. Sorry, Montreal!

And, supposedly, the Stanley Cup Champion Vegas Golden Knights are getting close to extending Adin Hill in goal. When you think back to how last season started, with robin Lehner on the year-long IL and rookie Logan Thompson their No.1, with Hill an afterthought trade acquisition from the Sharks, to how it all played out, man!

Hill is six-foot-four, 27-years-old and played well in 27 games, posting a 16-7-1 record and a .915 save percentage (.932 save percentage in his 16 playoff games after replacing the injured Brossoit), but he'll have to share more of the load and stay healthy if the rumored AAV of $4.9M for each of the next two years plays out. Jonathan Quick is a free agent, and Laurent Brossoit is hurt but looks also like an odd-man out. Robin Lehner and his $5MM cap hit are likely to be moved if he's not placed on LTIR to start the season (remember also he bought an exotic snake farm and that he’s filing for bankruptcy even with his long-term contract, so he's just got too much drama, even for Vegas!)

As for Logan Thompson, he's only 26 and though his rooki season went well before getting hurt, he will only cost Vthe Golden Knights just $766k against the cap for the duration of this Hill contract extension. So assuming Vegas runs a Hill-Thompson tandem, they’ll be paying their netminders under $6MM combined, a totally affordable number.

And do you know Vegas has yet another potentially great goaltender playing down in Henderson, NV (a Vegas suburb) who played his socks off in Savanna, GA early last year. Can they do it back-to back? It's tough, but here's hoping for one more encore!

NHL open to another expansion franchise in Atlanta

Yeah, I think if they locate a team in the northern suburbs it will do better. Fan support wasn't the problem as much as ownership issues both times past. Braves showed that the downtown stadium location in whocaresville was a big part of their problem. Almost no one goes downtown Atlanta anymore.

Bring the Thrashers name back, since we can't have the Flames again (which I'd prefer).

Still rooting for Vegas, though.

Training camps open this weekend!

Sad to see Reilly Smith go, but then again, Pittsburgh will be interesting to watch this season with Crosby looking to make some noise once more and maybe a last hurrah? Eric Karlsson will certainly help. I think the Atlantic is going to be a real dog-fight as no one will let Boston sneak away like last year. Many teams have improved. Colorado may even get Landeskog back before season's end?

Meanwhile, the window is wide open for Vegas right now, but with a lot of quality competition, won't be for long. Watch out for Seattle to take another big step, and will be interested to see if Vancouver improves. can't wait for the puck to drop on Oct 10th, but there's baseball playoffs to hold us over from sports boredom until then! You got Puck?

Interesting watching team's pages for streams of preseason games.

tape-delay watched Vegas come from 0-3 down to a roaringly goos looking Avalanche and acKinnon, to defeat them 4-3 in a very entertaining pre-season victory. Can't wait for the start of the season this coming week! Hey, Connor is on TNT Wed night in Bahstahn!

Heeeeeeeeeeeeeere's HOCKEY!

really sad news from ESPN with Barry Melrose retiring after being diagnosed with Parkinson's.

Melrose definitely on the ESPN Mt Rushmore of analysts.

The Carolina Hurricanes begin the NHL season as the consensus betting favorites to win the Stanley Cup at sportsbooks. The Hurricanes are the Cup favorites at 15-2 at Caesars Sportsbook, followed by the Colorado Avalanche (8-1), Edmonton Oilers (8-1) and Toronto Maple Leafs (9-1). The New Jersey Devils are 10-1, and the defending-champion Vegas Golden Knights are 12-1.

Quote:Pregame jitters?

Connor Bedard almost forgot his stick before taking the ice for the season opener
{VIDEO}

8:12 PM · Oct 10, 2023

For Last year:



This Year:

Oh, man Brock Boeser. OUCH, Edmonton! Skinner can do better.

Congrats to Bedard getting his first NHL goal. Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito were in the building to see it. Had a nifty backof stick pass just before. Kid looks real good. Chicago fans gonna have plenty to root for after some growing pains.

(10-12-2023 09:25 AM)GoodOwl Wrote:  

Oh, man Brock Boeser. OUCH, Edmonton! Skinner can do better.

Congrats to Bedard getting his first NHL goal. Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito were in the building to see it. Had a nifty backof stick pass just before. Kid looks real good. Chicago fans gonna have plenty to root for after some growing pains.

loved the graphic that Turner had last night
NHL Goals
Gretzky 894
Bedard 1

Matthews the fastest American to 300 goals

Nice 5-3 win over the Sens on opening night in Raleigh. @ Kings Saturday.

******

I got this in the last week on a good sale...

Also noticed that those Adidas blue Whalers replicas went OOS on Fanatics, Lids, and NHL Shop.... didn't really bother me.... but I was hoping to score one on clrx.... Found out Dicks had them and got one of those on a pretty good sale too.

Conner Bedard scores his first NHL Home Goal against Adin Hill of the VGK. Tied 2-2 as we near the end of the 2nd Period. Home fans happy in the Windy City right now.

edit: here's the goal:

Nicolas Roy!!! Keep it going! 16:00 left!