Thoughts From My Couch

For the final time for two weeks, the Carolina Hurricanes took the ice in Raleigh to face the Philadelphia Flyers. After the roaring success of Opening Night, a 6-3 win over the Devils, the Canes sought a similar result against another division opponent. The Flyers, who finished 8th in the division a season ago, dropped their season opener to the Panthers on Thursday. They tried to play spoiler on the road against the second team in the Eastern Conference Finals.  Scoring Summary 1st Period PHI (19:38-PP)- Owen Tippett (1) (Travis Konecny (1) & Trevor Zegras (1)) 2nd Period CAR (3:46)- Logan Stankoven (1) (Jackson Blake (2) & Alexander Nikishin (2)) PHI (6:18)- Bobby Brink (1) (Noah Cates (1) & Nikita Grebenkin (1)) CAR (9:07)- Taylor Hall (2) (Eric Robinson (1)) CAR (18:30)- Jordan Staal (1) (Jordan Martinook (2)) 3rd Period PHI (16:00)- Travis Sanheim (1) (Bobby Brink (1) & Tyson Foerster (2)) Overtime CAR (4:43)- Seth Jarvis (3) (Sebastian Aho (3) & Shayne Go...

Last Game: The Carolina Hurricanes began their 2025-26 season with a 6-3 victory over the New Jerseu Devils on Thursday night. Taylor Hall got the party started, redirecting Shayne Gostisbehere's point shot through Jacob Markstrom's pads to score the first goal of the season and earn Alexander Nikishin his first (official) NHL point. The Devils leveled the score in the second on Dougie Hamilton's backhand, but the Canes quickly snatched the lead back on K'Andre Miller's bouncer. Cody Glass took advantage of a turnover, scoring on a 2-on-1 to knot the game at two after 40 minutes. The Canes, once again, took the lead on Miller's second of the night, a clapper walking down from the point that Markstrom got more than a piece of. This time, it was the Devils with the quick response, as Jesper Bratt charged to the net and finished a pass from Brett Pesce. Seth Jarvis, who hit the post twice prior, gave the Canes their fourth lead of the night with 2:43 left, and they...

There are few days I look forward to on the hockey schedule more than Opening Night. Only the trade deadline and July 1st surpass it, in my mind, even if the first day of free agency was a bummer this summer. The Canes return to the ice with massive expectations after another conference finals loss. They snapped their losing streak in the 3rd round, but they still provided little resistance to the defending champions. The first test for this new season is the New Jersey Devils, one of the two teams the Canes defeated in the postseason last season. With their health in a much better spot than it was in April, it promised to be an exciting start to the new campaign.  Scoring Summary 1st Period CAR (4:06)- Taylor Hall (1) (Shayne Gostisbehere (1) & Alexander Nikishin (1)) 2nd Period NJD (8:15)- Dougie Hamilton (1) (Jesper Bratt (1) & Jack Hughes (1)) CAR (9:23)- K'Andre Miller (1) (William Carrier (1)) NJD (13:54)- Cody Glass (1) (Luke Hughes (1)) 3rd Period CAR (10:21-PP)- K...

The time has come for the 2025-26 season to begin, bringing with it a ton of expectations after the Carolina Hurricanes suffered their second Eastern Conference Finals loss in three years to the Florida Panthers. While they snapped an 11-game losing streak in the conference finals, the series never felt close, as the Panthers went on to win their second straight Stanley Cup. With a ton of roster carryover and a few new faces sprinkled in, the expectations remain sky high for the Hurricanes. One game won't dictate how the rest of the season will go, but no one wants to see a slow start for the home team. Injury Report Jesperi Kotkaniemi: All systems seem to be a go for Kotkaniemi after leaving a preseason game early a few weeks ago. He was a participant in practice on Wednesday, leading to suggestions that he'll be in the lineup tonight. Jaccob Slavin/ Jalen Chatfield: Rod Brind'Amour said on Wednesday that every defenseman should be good to go for the opener, meaning both S...

I'm finishing with the Metropolitan Division, namely because I'm a Hurricanes fan and want to talk about every other team before talking about mine, since I'm very excited about what this season could hold for them. The Metro had a rough season in 2024-25. They failed to secure a Wild Card spot and were the only division without multiple teams reaching 100 points, though the Hurricanes finished with 99. The division appears to be back on the upward path after a decent offseason for most parties involved.  The Rangers win the division (New York finished 5th in the division and missed the playoffs by 6 points) Washington finishes 7th in the division (the Capitals won the division by 12 points) Columbus finishes last (they finished 4th, missing the playoffs by 2 points) The Flyers finish 5th in the division (they finished last) 8. Pittsburgh Penguins While it has felt like the end of an era for the last three seasons, it really feels that way now. After a third straight season...

Hockey season is right around the corner, and I couldn't be more excited for it. I look forward to the start of October every year, though the agony the next several months bring will take years off my life. Instead of doing one big preview, I've broken it down by division to give each team the respect it deserves. Last season, the Vegas Golden Knights triumphed over their seven division rivals, but the Edmonton Oilers earned the last laugh. The defending Western Conference champions repeated, setting themselves up for a rematch with the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final, though they fell short once again, losing in six games.  I'll do this for all four previews, but this is your reminder that I'm not an expert. I'm just a fan, so some of my predictions will be very wrong. Here are some of the takes I had last season that proved incorrect about the Pacific Division: Edmonton wins the division (they finished 3rd, albeit by just 9 points) San Jose over Anaheim...