Tidd Talk

Eastern Conference Playoff Race

The playoff race in the east is slowly winding down. While it is not quite set in stone, it looks like the Montreal Canadiens will lock up the last wildcard spot in the east. The only confirmed matchup so far is between the Carolina Hurricanes and the New Jersey Devils. This series on paper looks like it will be dominated by the Hurricanes. But the Hurricanes have not been playing their best hockey recently as they have lost their last 4 all on the road to teams they could have beaten except for maybe Washington. We have to wonder where this Hurricanes team would be had they never made the first Rantanen trade and kept Martin Necas. Production for Necas has been slightly lower with Colorado than it was before the trade, but 26 points in 28 games would have made more of a difference than Rantanen and Stankoven’s combined 13 points in 28 and it would have saved GM Eric Tulsky a lot of time and stress. The Hurricanes have solidified themselves as one of the best teams in the east despite practically losing a point per game player, behind Toronto and the ever-so-hot Capitals

The Devils on the other hand are in a different boat. With Jack Hughes being out for the rest of the season and the playoffs and the loss of Dougie Hamilton for the regular season, the Devils have to be hoping they make it out unscathed through the rest of the season. They have really only done just enough to be where they are right now. They have not been hot but they have not been cold either. This match-up could be closer than anticipated however when Dougie Hamilton returns. Right now, I see two teams who have had an interesting year with trades and injuries that have to play each other and somebody has to win. I could see this matchup going 6 or 7 games but I do not see a world where the Devils win and I do not see a world where the Hurricanes make a run out of the first round. When we know the rest of the playoff picture I will give my full predictions.

The Senators are back in the playoffs for the first time since 2017 and I am stoked for it. The Senators of the mid 2010s were fun to watch and this team is giving me a similar vibe. I love Brady Tkachuk and believe having him on your team alone can push a team to making a run. The Tkachuk’s play with an edge and that is how hockey should be played. Tough and skilled. Besides who wouldn’t want to possibly see the Tkachuk boys in a best of 7 series. Even a Leafs Sens first round match up gets me excited. Either the Leafs make it out of the first round or the Sens give us a glimpse of the Sens of old. To top it off, the Sens have been good recently beating teams like the Panthers and the Lightning and having a big matchup against the Montreal Canadiens tonight. Their schedule is a nice balance to close out the year as well as they play two teams they should beat handedly and two teams who should pose a challenge. They have a good four games to tune up and get some more momentum going into their first round matchup.

The Montreal Canadiens have pretty well ran away with the last wildcard spot. This team has been a fun one to watch. The Habs fanbase always makes the playoffs fun and this season will be no different. Marty St. Louis is one of my favorite players of all time and he is a players coach. He wants to be in the battle with his guys and that is exactly what has this team rolling. They are a good young team and still have a bright future on the horizon with guys like Ivan Demidov who is poised to explode in the playoffs. I believe this team can sneak a few games on the Capitals if not take the series. The Capitals could plateau after the high of Ovechkin’s record breaking goal which could be dangerous. This team and the Sens are two of the first new era NHL teams that we will see moving forward. The leagues is finally shifting again and the Canadiens and Senators lead the way with the Blue Jackets and the Buffalo Sabres in the

10 Games?

In a game between the Bridgeport Islanders and the Charlotte Checkers, Islanders winger Adam Beckman found himself in a tricky situation after a referee crossed his path on a rush. Beckman looks to extend his arms in a shoving motion which sent the referee flying in to the boards. The AHL reviewed this and gave Beckman a 10 game suspension for “physical abuse of an official.”

Now, to me it does not looks like Beckman intentionally shoves the ref as hard as it looks. It looks like he was trying to move him out of the way and the ref lost footing. It is also evident that Beckman felt remorse immediately as if he did not mean to send the ref into oblivion. I do not agree with the 10 game suspension as I think it was just a freak accident that looks a lot worse that what it actually was. While I think it is right to suspend him, I do think 10 games is extreme. I am not sure if he had a hearing or if the hammer came straight down. All I know is this is a 5 game suspension max and this should not have been made as big of a deal as it was. Unfortunately, the AHL saw their chance to lay the hammer and took it.

The Gr8 One

It is official, Alexander Ovechkin sits alone a top the list of all time goal scorers. What a moment it was. Ovechkin steps on the ice for the powerplay and it was like everyone knew it was coming. The whole arena began to chant “Ovi.” What is even crazier is it was an away game for the Capitals. Tom Wilson gets the puck to Ovi and Ovie rips a beautiful shot shortside on the one of the better goalies in the game today in Ilya Sorokin. The dive celebration was perfect. It made the entire moment and then the team crowding Ovi. It is clear what this guy means to the league and his team and what he has meant to the community. He is one of my favorites of all time and I could not be any happier with how everything played out.

            The ceremony was beautiful. The way he talked to his team like he was a teacher at an assembly was perfect. The congratulations from Gretzky, it was all perfect. I like that this was the only goal scored by the Capitals even if they lost. It was a big. For him to stand alone on the stat sheet in this game is perfect. He also was named the only star of the game. While I wish I saw it in person I was very pleased with how everything went. It is crucial that records get broken and this was for many years THE unbreakable record. What I want to know is if Gretzky is truly handling this as well as he seems. He claimed he wanted Ovi to break it but these guys are competitors and it has to be a kick in the ass to see one of your unbreakable records broken.

            Ovechkin has meant so much to not only me but the game as a whole. Some of my favorite hockey memories are watching Ovi score live. I personally have seen him score in every game I have watched him play in and I have had some of the best seats in these games as well. My favorite goals of his are the goal he scored in 2018 against Columbus in game 4 of the first round and his goal in 2021 to pass Brett Hull for 4^th on the all time list. Both of these goals I saw live. Ovechkin is still a kid at heart. He is a rockstar and a guys guy. He is the guy you would want to have a beer with, I mean he shows up to games with Subway and a bag of chips. Who wouldn’t want to hang with that guy. All I have to say to Ovi is thank you. While his career is not over, the journey he has taken us on can not be taken for granted. Every generation deserves a player like this and we are lucky to have gotten him.

            That is all I have today. I apologize for missing two posts as I got busy with school and my own hockey journey, but I should be back on schedule now. Still trying to figure out the best format for these but as of right now I think 3 shorter stories work after all I’m not here to take up your entire afternoon. Once again, thanks for joining me for Tidd Talk, I look forward to seeing you same time next week.