First Half of the 2015-2016 Season
After about 50 games or so, we have finally reached the halfway point of the NHL season, or another tipoff, the All-Star weekend just passed.
This season, as well as the off-season, has been quite the rollercoaster. Multiple coach rotations, mind-blowing trades, and a rape accusation, to name just a few of the seasons’ memorable moments.
Here a few of the highs and lows of the first half of the NHL season.
HIGH – Patrick Kane
If you’ve read a few of my previous articles, you’d know that I might have a little problem with the behavior of Mr. Patrick Kane. You also might have read that I have a major problem with a little accusation (with no charges, by the way) from this summer. But dang nabbit, this boy can play. In 53 games, he has scored 30 goals and 73 points. He’s way above the rest in the league. The next in line for most points is Dallas Stars’ Jamie Benn with 58 points. Kane is virtually unstoppable this season. He recently registered his first regular season hat trick, and went on a 26-game point streak. He is slowly paving his way to becoming one of America’s finest hockey players, who has trouble understanding the word “No” on and off the ice.
LOW – Winter Classic
I am biased on this one, however, this 2016 Winter Classic was boring. A little part of it may have to do with the fact that I’m a Bruins fan and we got our asses handed to us in this game. An eighth of it may be due to my hatred towards the Habs. Nevertheless, as a hockey fan I was not impressed. It was a blowout game, very one-sided on the ice. If I wasn’t a fan of either of these teams, I would have been bored senseless and turned it off. Still, the league and NBC made sure you would not turn off the tube with their corny, albeit somewhat controversial, entertainment. First, they kick out Bruins’ singing legend, Rene Rancourt, from singing the national anthem and replace him with this season’s winner of The Voice. Moreover, don’t even get me started on Simple Plan singing the Canadian national anthem. Have you no respect, NHL?
HIGH – Coach Q
You might hate the Chicago Blackhawks. You might despise Patrick Kane and Duncan Keith. Nevertheless, everyone should bow down to Blackhawks’ coach, Joel Quenneville, who recently became the second-winningest coach in NHL history with 784 wins. The future legend has been coaching for almost 20 years for St. Louis Blues, Colorado Avalanche, and Blackhawks, respectfully. He has become the face of present-day Chicago (Sorry Derrick Rose). He has brought 3 Stanley Cup championships to this city, something that hasn’t been done since Phil Jackson and Michael Jordan. Coach Q just knows how to win games. He, unfortunately, has a long road ahead of him to catch up to former coach Scotty Brown, who has 1244 wins under his belt. However, Q may be getting some tips from Brown since he works for the Blackhawks.
LOW – Raffi Torres
When will you learn Raffi Torres? You missed staying home, not getting paid so much, that you had to throw another illegal hit? Back in October, Torres hit Anaheim player Jakob Silfverberg. The hit was so against the books that the league handed down one of the longest suspensions in history, 41 games, or essentially half the season. Yet, this is nothing new for Torres. He received a 25-game suspension for his nasty hit against Marian Hossa during the 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs, not to mention the five other suspensions he’s received for aiming at his opponents’ heads. If you keep this up Torres, you’re going to end up like Matt Cooke, a free agent. Wait a minute! How is it that Matt Cooke is not playing and teams keep picking you up?
HIGH – Many Milestones
Hockey is one of the toughest sports to play. So when players reach a certain point in their career, us fans can do nothing but tip our hat. Recently, veteran San Jose Sharks forward Joe Thornton scored his 1,300th career point, making him the 33rd person to ever do this. Washington Capitals captain, Alexander Ovechkin, reached a huge milestone by scoring his 500th goal early this year, putting him way ahead of his competitor, Pittsburgh Penguins captain, Sidney Crosby, who only has 322 goals. Still, the milestone that touched everyone’s heart was Jarome Iginla scoring his 600th goal after 19 seasons. This is a monumental milestone for fans and the league since only 19 players have reached this achievement.
LOW – John Scott
This is not a low point against John Scott, not even slightly. This is towards the league and that smugbag, Gary Bettman, for how they treated John Scott. If you are unaware of this situation, let me brief you. NHL fans voted for Scott to represent the Pacific Division as their captain. To most average fans, he was not well known. And to the league, this was not good because he was not a superstar. In layman’s terms, he was not going to bring in money. So what do the league and Bettman do? They trade Scott to another team. He was originally on the Phoenix Coyotes. About two weeks after it was announced he was an All-Star, he gets traded to the Montreal Canadiens. What’s even worse, he is sent down to the minors. Now, since Scott is no longer a Coyote or even in the NHL, he cannot participate in the All-Star game. What a coincidence.
There was some speculation on whether or not the league and Bettman were behind this insanity. We finally got the truth straight from Scott himself when he penned an article claiming many from up top told him to walk away. His reaction, “I’m an All-Star. You cannot take that away from me. Or even my daughters.” I’m paraphrasing, of course. This controversy landed Scott with so much support that the league had to let him play. And the ironic twist is, Scott became the moneymaker this year. He received countless standing ovations over the weekend, his jersey sold out in a matter of days, he scored a goal, was named the MVP, and his helmet was sent to the Hockey Hall of Fame. Touché, NHL. Touché.
Now off to the rest of the season and the greatest playoff competition in the world of sports!
Do you agree or disagree with these choices? Were there some that are missing? Let us know!
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