Like/Dislike: NHL teams

[schneefink]

I woke up at 5am last night because the thermostat was buzzing -.- Not a very good day, next chance tomorrow.

Almost two years ago I made a list of which NHL teams I liked and which I didn't, with the goal to repeat the process later to see what changed. I forgot in January, but I made another list now. Quite a lot changed, I even had to make some new categories.

My team (1)
Pittsburgh Penguins. Current Stanley Cup Champions, fuck yeah!

Other teams I like (0)
"like" felt a bit too strong, so I'm leaving this free and created a new category:

Teams I feel positive about (2)
Washington Capitals. I want Ovi and Backstrom to get a Cup eventually.
San Jose Sharks. My third choice to win the Cup, if I could pick.

Teams I feel vaguely positive about (4)
Calgary Flames. Johnny Gaudreau is adorable.
New Jersey Devils. Idk, I just think it'd be fun if they got better.
Florida Panthers. Jagr and the young 'uns and their fun goalies
Carolina Hurricanes. Idk, why not. Very vaguely though.

I feel conflicted. (2)
Boston Bruins. I like Bergeron and Marchand, Chara seems okay, I don't really care about the rest of their roster, but I still can't forget the 2013 playoffs, sue me.
Arizona Coyotes. I want to like them, esp. Domi and Duclair, but they still have Shane Doan.

Mostly pity (7)
Vancouver Canucks. Sorry Vancouver.
Buffalo Sabres
Edmonton Oilers. Yes, despite McDavid, mostly because I don't trust McLellan.
Dallas Stars. Not in general, just this season, because holy shit do they have a ton of injuries.
Ottawa Senators. Best defenseman in the world is surrounded by that mediocre a team.
Anaheim Ducks. They got Carlyle again. (Despres -.- )
Detroit Red Wings

Don't particularly care (8)
Toronto Maple Leafs
St. Louis Blues
Nashville Predators
Minnesota Wild
New York Islanders
Tampa Bay Lightning, except as difficult playoff opponents
Winnipeg Jets
Colorado Avalanche

Dislike (4)
New York Rangers. Three playoff series in a row, Lundqvist whining, and Marc Staal being a dick.
Montréal Canadiens. Can they please trade Galchenyuk (and maybe Price) to another team.
Philadelphia Flyers. I like them better than I did last year. I can't quite believe it either.
Columbus Blue Jackets. Extra hate for Brandon Dubinsky. They still don't qualify as rivals though.

Fuck off. (2)
Los Angeles Kings
Chicago Blackhawks

Very broadly, currently 7 teams are more on the positive side, 17 neutral, 6 negative. Last time it was 15 positive, 11 neutral, 5 negative. Last time I pitied 2 teams, now 7, probably because I know more about more teams.
Sidenote, I still didn't manage to list all 30 teams without looking them up. (I forgot Colorado and Detroit, again.) One day.

Comments

[jae]

You should move the Oilers up a couple of notches because you've got a friend who lives a block and a half from their spiffy new arena, and because it would be awesome for her city if the team continued to do well. I'm just saying. ;)

-J

[schneefink]

Fingers crossed then *g*
Hm, I don't know much about the current Oilers players apart from their names, especially now that Schultz, Hall, and Yakupov are gone. (My guess is that their roster turn-over is among the highest in the last few years.)
I'm sort of fascinated by the Oilers (as well as the Leafs) in the sense of "how will they manage, against all odds, to screw up this time?" (They traded Taylor Hall for Adam Larsson. I don't care if Larsson is better than people think he is, Hall is a better winger than Larsson is a defenseman.) (Also I'm occasionally annoyed because I'm a big Sidney Crosby fan and I roll my eyes when people claim that Connor McDavid is the best player in the world already ;) )But McDavid is an amazing player, and they still have some other very good young players, and they have to get better eventually (right?), and if they can stay clear of injuries maybe this season really is the season they finally make it to the playoffs again. Who knows! It would certainly make the Western Conference even more exciting :)

[jae]

Your information might be out of date? I mean, I am not a real hockey fan, but I read regular commentary from several real hockey fans, and the general opinion over the past couple of weeks has been "okay, I was wrong for thinking the Hall-Larsson trade was a bad idea". Apparently the last two games went somewhat less well, but they had an incredible streak in there. Check it out. :)

-J

[schneefink]

They only played nine games so far, too few by far to judge a player/trade.
Also even if trading Hall for Larsson improved the team - which it might have, I don't know the team well enough so I defer to experts - the point is that Hall is so good that they could almost certainly have gotten someone much better in return. (After the trade some journalists said other GMs told them directly that they would have offered more/better.) Larsson might be good for them, but I still think it was far from ideal asset management. It would be different if they had traded, say, Eberle, but Hall is an elite player and Larsson "only" very(?) good.

[jae]

Fair enough, you know waaaaaay more about this than I do! But I still think you should move the Oilers up a few steps because it would be good for my city if they keep doing well. :)

-J

[schneefink]

I'll put them in "no strong personal feelings but cheering for them to win because it'll make jae happy" :)

[jae]

<333

-J

[jae]

*koff*

[schneefink]

xDD
(I still don't think the trade was good asset management *g* You can get away with a lot if you have Connor McDavid, and Leon Draisaitl is also pretty good.) But they're doing well, good for them! First playoff appearance in years, the city must be happy :)

[jae]

It's not just McDavid and Draisaitl, though! The goalie, Cam Talbot, is also having an amazing year (he just hit 40 wins last night), and there have been a number of other players who have come out of their shells and really bloomed, most of all Patrick Maroon. (There are others who are not pulling their weight, though, and it'll be interesting to see what the team does about them going forward.)

-J

[schneefink]

Ah yes, I forgot about Talbot, I've also seen him mentioned in discussions about the Vezina. A good goalie can steal a series, so that's promising :) It looks like they'll play the Sharks in the first round, not exactly an easy match-up, although if Thornton is playing injured it'll be easier. It'll most likely be great hockey to watch :)

Personally my hopes and expectations for this post-season have sunk drastically with the announcement that Letang will be out for half a year, so every win after the first one is bonus. Silver lining, the lack of expectations will probably be relaxing, but still *shakes fist at injury curse*

[monksandbones]

Canucks...

[schneefink]

*hugs* Sports is terrible.
At least the Sedins still play beautiful hockey! You have some decent prospects, and, uh, you might soon draft several more?

[muccamukk]

Please root against Vancouver for me. Every time they get the play offs, their fans set downtown on fire, and I'm tired of it.

Actually... you don't really have to root against them this year. They seem to be doing that on their own.

[schneefink]

The beginning of the season is always very strange: the Canucks are currently in a playoff position... Let's see how many more days it lasts, I wouldn't bet on many.
(Also I thought the riots were only once, when they lost in the Final? Did it happen regularly? whoa.)

[muccamukk]

Happened the time before that when they lost game seven of the final. About 7-10 years before the most recent riots. As Cameron Mitchell would say, "Twice is not always," but it's often enough for me.