Canada placed 2 teams in the Stanley Cup playoffs last spring: the Winnipeg Jets made the final four.
Then again, Montréal, Ottawa, and Vancouver may have already been eliminated from the 2018-2019 Stanley Cup playoffs.
In case you were getting sunshine this summer, here are some of the highlights from the offseason.
Having Hockey Day in Canada in Swift Current, Saskatchewan on February 9 feels appropriate given all the province has gone through (Humboldt Broncos) from a hockey standpoint.
The building is the same but the name will change: Scotiabank Arena replaces Air Canada Centre as the home for the NHL Maple Leafs and NBA Raptors. That may be difficult to remember for awhile.
Alexandre Burrows retired from the Ottawa Senators and is now an assistant coach for the Laval Rocket, Montréal's AHL farm team. Jarome Iginla hung up the skates. The long-time Calgary Flames standout announced his retirement in Calgary, playing 20 NHL seasons, 16 with Calgary.
Trevor Linden didn't retire but is no longer the Vancouver Canucks president after 4 years in charge. General Manager Jim Benning will take over hockey operations.
If you missed Montréal Canadiens D Shea Weber and were excited to finally see him on the ice, you will have to wait a bit longer. Weber underwent knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus and he won't return before mid-December. Habs fans are hoping against hope that the team will be in contention at that point in the season.
2018 NHL preseason schedule
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Ray Emery had gone through a lot in his 35 years on the planet. Emery's accidental drowning death in in Lake Ontario in July felt really tragic. Emery is best remembered for leading the Ottawa Senators in goal during the run to the Stanley Cup final.
Despite 5 of the 7 Canadian teams not making the playoffs, only Calgary made a coaching change. The Flames fired Glen Gulutzan after 2 seasons with a playoff appearance in 2017 and 0 playoff wins. Bill Peters, who left Carolina, was grabbed before there was a proper search.
John Tavares signed with Toronto in the off-season. That is a huge deal for Maple Leafs fans. The other Canadian teams either pulled off seemingly horrible deals or made no major deals.
The Canadiens were likely to deal Alex Galchenyuk but ideally would have acquired a centre. The Habs only got back Max Domi from Arizona. Domi is a nice player but without the talent of Galchenyuk and less likely to score. Domi's preseason suspension was about as bad a start as you can have without an official game. This is literally not the worst deal ever from Marc Bergevin (P.K. Subban) but this continues a pattern of wishing you rooted for the other team in the deal.
The Habs might eventually get something of note in dealing captain Max Pacioretty to the new desert team for Tomas Tatar, prospect Nick Suzuki, and a 2019 2nd round pick via Columbus. Pacioretty was due to be a free agent at the end of the season. Tatar is a winger; only Suzuki gives hope at centre but is only 19 years old.
The worst off-season deal was Ottawa trading forward Mike Hoffman, who was traded with prospect Cody Donaghey and a 5th-round pick in 2020 to San Jose for forward Mikkel Boedker, prospect Julius Bergman, and a 6th-round pick in 2020. San Jose turned out and dealt Hoffman to Florida. Hoffman had to go after the harassment allegations against his fiancée but the Sens were robbed from a talent perspective. The team actually fell in the 2020 draft and had to give up a prospect.
In a battle of horrible off-season trades, the Erik Karlsson deal to San Jose would be high up there in that the amount of talent going out of Ottawa is way higher than the talent coming back. There might be a decent to good player in the multi-player mix but that might happen after the next prime minister race in 2023.
The #OttawaRising video from Senators owner Eugene Melnyk was worse than nothing at all. The team is now engaging in an excessive rebuild Edmonton Oilers style circa 2007-2016 despite coming close to advancing to the Stanley Cup in the spring of 2017.
By comparison, the horrible Calgary deal isn't that bad. Defenseman Dougie Hamilton, forward Micheal Ferland, and the rights to defenseman Adam Fox went to Carolina for forward Elias Lindholm and defenseman Noah Hanifin. The Flames lost talent and toughness in 2 young players for a lot of maybes and hopes. Calgary's new coach Bill Peters came from Carolina. Flames fans are hoping Peters sees something in this deal that isn't as obvious.
James Neal by default is the second most impressive free agent signing by a Canadian team. The Calgary Flames hope Neal's recent winning ways will rub off on a very young team.
Edmonton opens its season on October 6 against New Jersey at the Scandinavium in Gothenburg, Sweden as part of the NHL Global Series. Winnipeg plays a home-and-home with Florida at the Hartwall Arena in Helsinki, Finland on November 1-2.
photo credit: NHL/CBC
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