Thoughts From My Couch

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...

For my money, the Central Division is the toughest division to call this season. There is one team (Chicago) destined to finish in last, and the rest could easily finish anywhere from #1 to #7. It's arguably the best division in the league. Of course, the preseason hype could turn into a runaway train for one team, while others fail to impress. Just ask the Nashville Predators what that is like.  As promised, here are my predictions for the division last season that turned out to be a "little" off. Honestly, I felt I did an okay job predicting the Central last season, but there were two big exceptions: Nashville makes the playoffs over Minnesota and St. Louis (the Predators finished 7th and were easily the most disappointing team, while the Wild and the Blues finished 4th and 5th, respectively) Winnipeg is a Wild Card team (the Jets won the President's Trophy) 8. Chicago Blackhawks This is the only prediction I'm fairly confident in for the division this season. F...

There has been a lot of news coming out of the Atlantic Division in the last few days, especially for the defending champions. The league has witnessed complete dominance by the Atlantic over the last eight years, more specifically, the state of Florida. The division has represented the Eastern Conference in the Stanley Cup Final in each of the last eight seasons, with the 2021 Final featuring both Tampa and Montreal because of the realignment. The Lightning and the Panthers have combined for six straight appearances, winning a pair each. Can they make it nine in a row over the Metropolitan Division, or is their run set to end? Keeping to my word, here are my predictions regarding the Atlantic Division from last season that aged very poorly once April and May rolled around. This one was a mess, if I'm being honest: Florida wins the division (they finished 3rd, but I doubt picking the defending champions to win the division was hardly a hot take) Ottawa and Montreal finishes 7th and...

Florida defeats Carolina, 4-1 Series Recap: What started as an interesting matchup and rematch from two seasons ago quickly turned into one team steamrolling its way to the Stanley Cup Final. The Panthers' experience was on display against a Hurricanes team that ran its way through two division rivals. They flexed their muscles by winning both games in Raleigh to take a 2-0 series lead back home. The Canes showed a lot of fight in Game 3, sitting tied after two periods before the floodgates opened and Florida took a commanding 3-0 advantage. The Hurricanes responded by shutting out the Cats on the road in Game 4, preventing a sweep behind a 20-save performance from Frederik Andersen. The Canes looked like they were in a good spot in Game 5, leading 2-0 after a pair of Sebastian Aho goals. Instead, Florida blitzed them for three goals in the second period and a late Carter Verhaeghe goal in the third to put the series away and claim their third straight Prince of Wales Trophy. The T...