Hate The League

Hey all! NHL Free Agent Frenzy day has come and passed once again! So, join @baltimorespatrickmartin and @metalcapsfan and re-live all the signings, trades, and other moves as they happened! Pat and I started just before noon and, utilizing all the various Twitter feeds and other news sources which announced the deals and specifics, we lent our insights, outrage, disbelief, and utter jubilation re: all that happened on this sacred day for hockey fans! @antxvx also made his thoughts known via text, so please join us for Part 1 of this special two part episode! Cheers!

Welcome back to the “Hate The League” hockey podcast! In this pre-Free Agent Frenzy episode, @antxvx , @baltimorespatrickmartin, and @metalcapsfan get into: congrats to the Stanley Cup winning St. Louis Blues, complaints against local blackout rules for sports broadcasts, the Jack Adams (best coach) award, love for Blues’ goalie Binnington, 2019 entry draft incl. trades that occurred in that time frame such as PK Subban to NJ Devils, Ant spurs an animated discussion re: the Penguins (w/ a bit of Caps talk thrown in), Leafs/Dubas/Marner and the market for other RFAs incl. Canucks possible moves, goalies who might be on the move, the Lucic albatross contract w/ the Oilers + popular contract buy-outs per www.CapFriendly.com , other random UFAs/RFAs and their possible destinations, WPG roster decisions after the Trouba trade, all things “Offer Sheet” related, changes we’d make if we were the Commissioner, goalie great Roberto Luongo retires as we are recording (congrats Bobby Lou on a fantastic career!), the new rule changes + player tracking technology both coming next season, and the ECHL Kelly Cup gets mangled during the Newfoundland Growlers celebration! We’ll be recording live on Mon July 1st as Free Agent Frenzy officially begins and will post that episode later in the day, so stay tuned! Cheers!...

Greetings and salutations! In this episode, Ant, Sparky, and Pat discuss recent changes in the coaching landscape of the NHL including the hiring of Coach Q by the Florida Panthers. Then, we get into the match-ups for this season's Stanley Cup playoffs with thoughts on each series. In order, we discuss Lightning/Blue Jackets, Bruins/Maple Leafs, Capitals/Hurricanes, Islanders/Penguins, Flames/Avalanche, Sharks/Golden Knights, Predators/Stars, and Jets/Blues. We also look at possible repercussions for some of the coaches of the potential losing teams (lookin' at you Babcock!), as well as our picks for each round through the Stanley Cup Final. And, we talk about the upcoming draft lottery and who some of the first few picks may be. Lastly, we riff on NBC's coverage of the NHL. Cheers!

***Special tap of of the stick to Bob Cole who is retiring after calling hockey games for Canadian TV for 50 years. His call of the last few seconds of the Carolina Hurricanes' 2006 Stanley Cup winning Game 7 over the Edmonton Oilers is featured as the intermission to our podcast.

In this episode, Ant and Sparky welcome B’more’s Pat Martin to the podcast wherein we discuss who will make the playoffs among the Wild Card contenders in the East, and the likely consequences for whomever doesn’t get in or get past the 1st round (can Torts/Babcock survive?), discussion of Leafs/Bruins, further commentary on Isles fans and their pre-occupation w/ Tavares, reminiscing about past battles betweens the Penguins/Isles and their epic brawl from 2011 (check out the YouTube video), pro and con of the Habs’ Paul Byron responding to “The Code” and general discussion of the continued role of retribution in hockey and whether suspensions are the cure for stupid/dangerous plays, a Tom Wilson dangerous hits redux, Drew Doughty vs Matthew Tkachuk and Brett Burns (w/ side commentary about the disaster that is the LA Kings this year (Kovalchuk takes his family for ice cream) and a tribute to Caps’ banger Enrico Ciccone), Norris trophy possibilities, more negative commentary on the continuing disaster, on and off the ice, that IS the Edmonton Oilers, who can knock Tampa outta the playoffs, who will make it out of the West including discussion of the Jets and Stars + who has the best goaltending + who gets in among the Wild Card contenders, possible 1st round playoff upsets, Bryce Harper/Manny Machado talk, Flyers’ Lehtera gets charged for some nose candy, and a follow-up on the story of a band not fully appreciating when someone opens their door to you while on tour with Ant’s personal experience attending said band’s show, with tips and suggestions for how to save money on the road. Cheers!

Anthony and Sparky are back again talking post trade deadline.

We discuss trades as they're happening before the deadline. Pittsburgh makes some questionable moves, Anthony has a meltdown. We'll be back this week for a actual full episode with insight on the deadline.

The recent Pens vs Caps game/Oleksiak vs Wilson fightA mid-season league-wide report card covering a bunch of teams Bruins announcer Jack Edwards vs the Hurricanes + a Whalers discussionWe riff on how to make outdoor games betterPacific Division run downCentral Division run downBlues + Sabres + Patrik Berglund contract termination discussionAre the Leafs built for playoffs? Wayne Simmonds to Toronto?Burakovsky possibly on the way out of DC?Plus, some talk about the World Junior tournament/IIHF rules changesAnd, hockey related seasonal gifts! Cheers!