The Off The Ice crew (It’s me. I’m the crew) took a little break last week due to the lack of anything interesting going on in the league. But here we are again. From hot takes and controversial opinions to Gary Bettman forgetting about the sun to Artemi Panarin and whatever’s going on there, I’m here to tell you what’s going on and maybe irk you in the process.
This is going to make someone mad
I don’t like Auston Matthews. If you don’t know that by now, well, I really don’t know how to help you.
I think if he played with any other team, he would not get the same hype he gets in Toronto. I’m not arguing that he’s not good at what he does. He was selected No. 1 overall in 2016 and played professionally in Germany. I don’t think he’s better than McDavid or Draisitl. I don’t think he’s better than Sidney Crosby was in his peak. And I definitely don’t think he’s better than Nathan Mackinnon. The goaltending in the North Division is straight butt cheeks this season and that’s why he’s getting so many points.
And not to mention he has the personality of a stale saltine cracker and he gives me the fucking heebeejeebeeies.
Leave it to Garry
This weekend was the NHL Outdoors Series played at Lake Tahoe. On Saturday, the Colorado Avalanche played the Vegas Golden Knights. Who decided a 1:00 game start, outside, in Nevada was a good idea? I definitely feel like, with an extra 30 seconds of thinking, the 8 hour intermission could have been avoided. Leave it to G. Betts to forget about the sun.
Rapid Fire
Trevor Zegras made his NHL debut on Monday with the Ducks. He had around 9 minutes of ice time and Ducks fans would have liked to see more. Henrik Lundqvist is skating for the first time since his surgery. Nico Hischier was named captain of the New Jersey Devils making him the youngest active captain in the NHL. Monday was the one-year anniversary of the Leafs losing to their own Zamboni driver. They also gave up a 5-1 lead to the Ottowa Senators last Monday. Artemi Panarin went back to Russia for a second to make sure his family is safe, don’t worry it’s just Russia I’m sure everything is fine (that’s funny because it’s Russia and it most definitely is not fine) The Bruins showed up to their Tahoe game in full 90s retro outfits and it was fantastic. And lastly but not least, David Pasternak is a big fan of the “Barbie Girl” song. He is a national treasure.
