In Siberia, hockey is a summer sport (IIHF, NHL, KHL, Europe, NCAAs)

Where in MIA?

 

Well, one is not far from the other. it's not like all these tiny towns in South Florida are clearly demarcated...

 

Markstrom let in 2 goals in the last 2:02 and Florida lose 4-3. The last 2:02 were quite exciting, actually.

Senators score with 2:02 to go (3:2), Panthers score with 0:47 to go (3:3), Senators score with 0:02 to go (4:3)

 

At least Kulikov had 2 helpers.

 

Jets beat the Flyers, 9-8! 9-freakin-8!

 

So I know Real Corona mentioned Burmistrov as a guy who has really impressed him so far this season, here are 3 players that have caught my eye from the western conference early this year:

Erik Johnson: I've watched parts of 4-5 Avs games, and he looks like the real deal. I knew he was the #1 overall pick a few years back and was solid defensively, but he looks great on the Avs' PP as well. Big, good skater, skilled with the puck, booming shot...my only complaint would be that he occasionally makes bad decisions with the puck.

Jamie Benn: Man, what an exciting young player this guy is turning out to be. He, Loui Eriksson and Steve Ott have essentially replaced Ribeiro and Morrow as Dallas' #1 line, and they're producing just about every night. Benn's incredibly fun to watch in open ice, he's not afraid to get to the dirty areas in front of the net, and he doesn't neglect his defensive duties. Even without Brad Richards, Dallas is fun to watch for me.

Jonathan Quick: This guy is off to a phenomenal start, and LA looks like a legitimate contender in the west for me assuming Doughty can stay healthy.

 

I wish Yakupov was already playing. At least the Juniors will be here in a few months so I could check him out there.

 

Do you ever watch the Hawks?

I think they are one of the funnest teams to watch, especially Hossa, Kane & Toews.

 

Barely watch them.

 

Do you watch any NHL then?

 

I watch Russian players if I can. but I don't have VS anymore so unless I stream it it's pretty much all Hawks games.

I still watch a god deal of international hockey though.

 

Not a good night for Russian goaltending between Bobrovskiy and Bryzgalov in that Flyers game and I think Nabokov got hurt because the Islanders used DiPietro in the shootout.

 

Yeah I'd agree that he's made some poor decisions in his own zone, but he is still very young as you said. I think he has a chance to be extremely special, but we'll have to wait a while to determine whether or not Colorado got the better of the Stewart and Shattenkirk trade...

And Real Corona, have you had the opportunity to watch Dallas and Jamie Benn at all this season? I think he could easily be a point per game guy this year, would you agree with that projection?

 

And haha, the Sharks go into Detroit and beat the Wings again. Having their number almost makes all our playoff exits tolerable.

 

^ Haha.

By the way, did you see any of the Hawks-Preds game last night on Center Ice? Chicago really looked explosive offensively, and Kane looks really comfortable playing as a center (except in the FO circle, lol).

But Nashville just gave up way too many qualify scoring chances, and Rinne actually made several good stops just to keep them in the game. I think the Preds lack depth defensively this year and may struggle just to reach the playoffs.

 

Detroit lost again tonight, they're just not clicking right now. Tons of stupid penalties, no rhythm established at even strength, they concede a late goal with a minute left, and then Setoguchi scores the winner in OT.