Well, it’s that time of year again. As the clock struck midnight on January 1, we have now passed the reminiscing phase of the holiday season, and are in the looking forward part of it. People will make new year’s resolutions (that they will 100% stick with) and make predictions on what will come to pass.
While some may make mundane and safe predictions, it is always more fun to go with some more outlandish and ridiculous ones. After all, if they don’t pan out, we can point to how they were so ridiculous in the first place that of course we didn’t mean them seriously. If they do, then we can call ourselves modern day Nostradamuses. Nostradami?
So here are some of my bold predictions for the year, that range from possible to outright fantasy.
Having the draft at the Vegas Sphere will create huge buzz that the NHL will still somehow screw up trying to capitalize on
The NHL announced that the 2024 entry draft will be held at the new Sphere in Las Vegas, becoming the first sports entity to host an event there. The NHL has stated they expect it to be “dramatic and compelling.”
The Sphere has been prominent in other events hosted in Las Vegas, such as the F1 Grand Prix, so this definitely seems like a marketing gold mine for the NHL.
But, whenever “marketing” and “NHL” are in the same sentence, it usually isn’t a positive sentence. Just this year, the NHL, after some players refused to wear Pride jerseys, outright banned ALL cause-based jerseys, then banned individual players from using Pride tape. The result of the wording of these bans (which definitely are not homophobic in any way, whatsoever) was that the NHL then had to threaten to fine Marc-Andre Fleury for wearing a mask honouring the Native American Heritage of his wife and kids, and also told Logan Thompson he was not allowed to paint a pink ribbon on his mask to support the fight against cancer. That’s right, the NHL became pro-cancer.
So, I think we can be pretty confident the NHL is going to mess this one up too. The question that remains is how will they do it? My guesses:
- They aren’t going to actually use the Sphere to its full capabilities, and just do something boring like have the NHL Draft logo displayed on it, maybe bouncing around like a screensaver hoping it will draw people’s attention to watch for it to hit the corner square like the DVD menu from days of yore. Which could be a pretty decent viral marketing strategy, until you remember that spheres don’t have any corners.
- Since it’s not at an NHL arena, everyone forgets that they actually have to go pick up the keys from the owner and the draft ends up being delayed for a few hours while the NHL brass try to save face and their pride by not picking up the key and instead proclaiming that the intention was to always have the draft held in the parking lot.
- The NHL goes the NBA and NFL route of having Gary Bettman announce the picks and be the only person to greet them on stage, which results in every draft pick’s day being ruined by having their draft moment being sprinkled with boos.
- In order to prevent the above, the NHL bans any fans from attending the draft, which results in a majority of the 18,000 seats being empty, embarrassing the league with such an eye on their event.
- Instead of a draft lottery, each team has to bet x amount of their picks at the start of the draft on a number on a roulette wheel, with the sphere becoming said roulette wheel and the winner getting the first overall pick (Ok actually, this would be a great idea and would solve all the “tanking” issues everyone keeps yammering on about).
Or maybe, the marketing will be “ruined” just by it being a regular draft that happens to be held in a different, unique venue, but nothing all that dramatic or compelling happens because, well, its the draft.
A new arena deal is reached in Arizona…after the Coyotes announce they are relocating to Salt Lake City
The Arizona Coyotes and arena drama, name a more iconic duo.
After getting kicked out of Gila River Arena over not paying their rent, the Coyotes moved to the Arizona State University’s new, top notch Mullett Arena. The only issue? It only seats 5,000 people and needed a whole new annex to be built in order to meet NHL standards for player dressing rooms.
But it wasn’t considered that big of a deal, as a new arena was almost assuredly going to be built in Tempe and secure the Coyotes future in Arizona.
Until it wasn’t. That sparked many a rumour regarding the future of the club, mostly discussing relocation.
At the end of November, it came out that the Coyotes were looking for a new site and that such an announcement would be coming in the near future.
Don’t get me wrong here, I don’t wish for the Coyotes to move. In fact, I definitely want to go check out a game at Mullett, as the atmosphere looks awesome.
But, without a suitable arena on the horizon, there is no way the Coyotes can continue to play in a college rink.
One of the cities that has been floated as a potential landing spot is Salt Lake City. This is because the Ryan Smith, the owner of the NBA’s Utah Jazz, apparently met with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman last year to discuss the potential of an NHL team in Salt Lake City.
Having an owner who is interested in having a team is a great first step towards relocation. The Jazz arena may not be perfectly suited for hockey, however, and does the NHL really want to go from one arena headache to another?
Well, it turns out that Smith has been contemplating building a new arena already, and since Salt Lake City was the only bid for the 2034 Winter Olympics, it would seem that a new arena is almost a certainty in the near future in any event.
In that case, it is more than conceivable the NHL would approve a move when an arena is approved to be constructed.
But why do I say that an arena deal would still happen in Arizona?
Well, like I said, some of these predictions are a bit preposterous.
The potential new new Arizona arena deal is that the team owner, Alex Meruelo, will buy a parcel of land in Mesa to build a privately funded sports and entertainment district.
If it is in fact privately funded, and is to be a whole district rather than just an arena, it is still possible that the development could go forward without the Coyotes as an anchor tenant. After all, a hockey team only fills up 41 dates a year for regular season games, along with a maximum of four preseason and 16 post season games.
We have also seen arena’s that have been built without an anchor tenant, such as Kansas City’s T-Mobile Center.
So, while unlikely, it is still kind of possible?
Connor Bedard does NOT win the Calder Trophy
It is almost a lock that Connor Bedard will win the Calder. He was basically anointed the winner since he was drafted, and he’s lived up to those expectations by scoring 32 points in 34 games, including 15 goals. That paces him for 36 goals and 77 points, which would be the best rookie season since Matthew Barzal’s 85 points as a rookie in 2017–18 (although Kirill Kaprizov scored 27 goals in 55 games during the shortened 2020–21 season, which would equal out to 40 goals over 82 games).
But, it seems that Bedard’s Chicago Blackhawks are, predictably, headed for another basement dwelling season. Which, for the Calder should not be an issue whatsoever.
A recent movement has started for Minnesota Wild defenceman Brock Faber to win the Calder instead, with a tweet regarding the difference between the standings of the two teams sparking some controversy on that front (although the Wild are just one spot ahead of Chicago in the Central division, albeit by 13 points).
Is Faber a serious candidate to unseat Bedard for the Calder? After all, he isn’t even the highest scoring rookie defenceman.
But he does lead his team in overall icetime and is running along at just shy of 0.5 ppg, which is pretty good for a defenceman.
It isn’t unprecedented for a defenceman to win the Calder over a forward with an impressive points performance. In 2021–22, Moritz Seider took home the Calder, even though two forwards scored more than 60 points and another came close with 57. Seider put up 50 points in 82 games and led his team in icetime, both of which are looking realistic for Faber. The difference is that Seider was second on his team in scoring, which does not look like it would be the case for Faber. Another interesting parallel between Faber and Seider is that they both have a fellow rookie forward near the top of the scoring race—Marco Rossi for Faber and Lukas Raymond for Seider.
Aaron Ekblad won in 2014–15, even though he wasn’t the highest scoring defenceman (John Klingberg beat him by one point in 16 less games), wasn’t the leader in ice time for either his team or among all rookies (a young, uninjured Oscar Klefbom took home that honour *wipes away tears*), and his team didn’t make the playoffs. Plus, the three leading scorers all scored over 60 points, all made the playoffs, and were in the top two in scoring for their teams (and one led their team).
So I guess what I’m trying to say is, the Calder is weird and it’s definitely possible that if Bedard doesn’t get over a point per game he may actually lose out.
Which would actually be quite fitting for a generational talent, as neither of Connor McDavid or Sidney Crosby won the Calder either.
Zach Hyman will win the Rocket
I told you these would be bold.
Yes, Auston Matthews is the odds on favourite, which is understandable given that he has 28 goals in only 31 games, which would work out to a pretty good 74 goals if he keeps the pace for the rest of the season. In second place right now is Nikita Kucherov with 24 goals in 35 games, which works out to a measly 56 goals over 82 games.
Hyman is currently sixth in goals, with 20 in 31 games which is really good as it works out to 53 goals over the season, but it’s still pretty far back at this stage of the season.
So even if I’m trying to be bold, why Hyman over other noted goal scorers ahead of him like Nikita Kucherov or David Pastrnak?
Well Hyman has been quite consistent. He has scored a goal in 14 of his 31 games, with his longest goalless streak being three games, which has happened twice.
Matthews has scored in 15 of his 31 games, and has had two stretches of four games without a goal and another two stretches of three games. Kucherov has scored in 16 of his 35 games, with two stretches of four games without a goal and another stretch of three games.
The other players ahead of him are Brock Boeser (scored in 15 of his 36 games) and Sam Reinhart (16 in 34 games), who have also had longer goalless stretches than Hyman.
Pastrnak is the the most consistent goal scorer, as he has scored in 16 of his 33 games and hasn’t gone longer than two games without a goal.
So again, why Hyman?
Hyman plays with McDavid pretty consistently, both at even strength and on the power play. On that power play, he also has a further two amazing playmakers and passers in Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Finally, there is the Bouch-bomb on the point, which for Hyman’s role as the man in front of the net can pay dividends by deflections or rebounds.
It’s not likely, for sure, but it’s not like we haven’t seen secondary players who benefit off of their otherworldly linemates win the Rocket (*cough* Jonathan Cheechoo).
You also have to remember that Hyman had approximately seven goals called back last year (honestly, it could be more, I think we all lost count) which would have upped his total to 43 goals.
So yeah, this isn’t as crazy as it might seem. Still crazy but not as crazy.
Gritty will try to recreate the magic of the Pop Tarts “edible” mascot
If your timeline was anything like mine on December 28, all you could see was stuff about the Pop Tarts edible mascot for the Pop Tarts Bowl game.
Of course, the mascot itself wasn’t actually edible, but rather was switched out with an actual large Pop Tart.
Still, it was hilarious and suspending disbelief is always a part of good entertainment.
There are two NHL teams that could conceivably do this in the Anaheim Ducks and Detroit Red Wings, and possibly the Seattle Kraken if you decide a squid is the same thing. Sure, technically the Coyotes, Boston Bruins, Florida Panthers, Pittsburgh Penguins, and San Jose Sharks could as well, but that likely draws the ire and wrath of almost every animal rights group around. And I think if it’s the Los Angeles Kings, Montreal Canadiens, Vancouver Canucks, or Ottawa Senators that would constitute actual murder charges.
I could see an attempt to recreate it ending up not going well though. Perhaps they don’t read the fine print that the mascot was just a costume, and try to make the mascot legitimately edible. While it would be quite the sight to see the mascot perhaps rip off wings or what have you off its body and throw to the crowd, the health code citations would be enough to bankrupt the team.
But I do honestly believe that in some way, somehow, Gritty is going to replicate this.
Gritty has shown that he keeps up with the trends, from his recreations of Kim Kardashian’s #breaktheinternet photo and Miley Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball”, while also showing he gives zero cares about laws with his streaking during the Stadium Series or violence, like when he threatened the Pittsburgh Penguins or was legitimately investigated by the police for punching a kid.
So yeah, anything is possible when it comes to Gritty.
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