What We’re Thankful For in Hockey 2016: Puck Daddy edition

(Ed. Note: It’s Thanksgiving in the U.S., a.k.a. “Real Thanksgiving”, which means it’s once again time to reflect on what we’re thankful for in the world of hockey. Here are the editors and writers from Puck Daddy and Yahoo Sports, offering their picks for this year. As always, we give thanks to you, the reader, for supporting this blog. Happy Turkey Day!)

Greg Wyshynski, Puck Daddy Editor

Player Debates

I love the fact that we have Sid vs. McDavid and McDavid vs. Matthews and Matthews vs. Laine and Eichel vs. McDavid and Ovechkin vs. Sid and Toews vs. everyone and maybe Carey Price is actually the best player in the world? What a time to be alive, with this star power. Too bad the NHL only pushes 12 teams.

Jon Cooper

A hell of a hockey coach, but also a guy that isn’t from the same template that produces the small army of ex-NHL jocks that populate the coaching ranks. Which is why the Tampa Bay Lightning coach remains of the most insightful, reflective quotes in the League.

Team North America

I still rock my hat, still rock my jersey, and increasingly it’s starting to feel like someone who loves a cult TV series that only lasted a season. (“OMG, is that a CLONE HIGH shirt?!”)

Shared Experiences

It didn’t occur to me until the following morning that the Vegas Golden Knights’ logo and name reveal was the first NHL expansion team reveal of the social media age. And this made me very happy, because that shared experience managed to capture the train-wreck of the ceremony, the debate over the name and logo, and then finally the Photoshop glory that followed. And this happens EVERY NIGHT in the NHL, no matter who is playing. The second-screen experience has become the essential experience.

Joe Thornton

Living the dream, and doing it on his terms, and it’s never going to stop being glorious until he shaves.

Sean Leahy, Puck Daddy Editor

Patrik Laine’s personality

Something we need more of in this sport

Jaromir Jagr’s love of the game

It comes through every time you hear him talk about hockey

Connor McDavid’s rocket skates

Blink and he’s already up ice creating a scoring chance

Henrik Lundqvist’s good looks

Because we’re all jealous

Phil Kessel

Nice guy. Tries hard. Loves the game

Josh Cooper, Puck Daddy Editor

Besides Wysh, Jen and Sean …

Connor McDavid’s offense

McDavid at top speed zipping around his opponent is hockey’s greatest highlight. The 19-year-old is more than worth the price of admission.

Auston Matthews

Matthews is an American who grew up in Scottsdale, Arizona and became the No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 NHL Draft for a hockey team in Canada. Would something like this have been possible 30 years ago? Probably not. Hopefully Matthews inspires other people from around the United States in non-traditional markets to strive for the ultimate of making the NHL.

Respect for Shea Weber

When the Montreal Canadiens traded P.K. Subban to the Nashville Predators for Shea Weber, the deal was immediately seen as a bust for the Habs. It didn’t matter that Weber had scored 20-or-more goals twice in the last three years and was considered one of the steadiest defensemen of his generation. Subban was still seen as a superior player. Since then, Weber has blasted his way to a strong start and endeared Canadiens fans to his strong, stoic style. It’s going to take a number of years to declare a clear ‘winner’ in the trade, but Weber has at least shown that he still deserves respect as an elite defenseman in the NHL.

Wayne Gretzky back with the NHL

He’s a huge hockey fan who happens to be the game’s greatest player. No player – past or present – can speak about the history of the game like the Gretzky, and it’s awesome to see him front-and-center of the league’s centennial celebration.

The San Jose Sharks’ 2016 Stanley Cup Final run

They didn’t win it all, but it was great seeing Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau finally get over the hump and make it to the Cup Final. That group had some fun personalities and created a lot of enjoyable memories for their fanbase. Even though they lost in six games to the Pittsburgh Penguins, it felt like they gained a ton of respect around the hockey world.

Ryan Lambert, Puck Daddy Columnist

I say it every year, but I am most thankful for college hockey. To me it’s hockey in its purest form, and the ability to go to two or three games a week specifically because of this job is something I never take for granted. I legitimately love the experience.

I’m also thankful for all the mega-talented young players in the league today. I loved Team North America at the World Cup just because of how much it did to showcase the talent level some people weirdly don’t think these kinds of young players can bring to the table. From Gaudreau and McDavid in Alberta to Eichel and Matthews in the Eastern Conference, there’s a lot of reason to be excited about the future of the sport. What a time to be alive.

Finally, I am forever thankful for the Vancouver Canucks and some of their fans, who constantly remind us that no matter how bad you are at your job, there’s always someone who will defend you to the ends of the earth.

Jen Neale, Puck Daddy Editor

The Anaheim Ikea

It took some time for Bob Murray to finish his shopping list at the Anaheim Ikea. When he was done he had a brand new Rickard Rakell and Hampus Lindholm to add back into the Ducks mix. The two Swedes emerged last season as the future of the franchise and are worth every dollar paid to them.

They’re also adorkable. Rakell and Lindholm were roommates last season and seemingly inseparable. Here’s Ryan Kesler interviewing the two of them on ‘Between Two Zambonis.’

Hockey players and kids

If you ever met your hockey idols as a kid, you can remember the unadulterated joy (and huge butterflies) that went along with it. I met Paul Kariya at a charity event when I was 13 and called him ‘Mr. Kariya.’ He couldn’t have been nicer.

This isn’t true of all athletes but it seems to be par for the course when it comes to most hockey players. They go out of their way to put a smile on a kids face.

Here are a couple of my favorite kids with players pictures from the year:

Creativity of hockey fans

Lord knows it’s been one hell of a year in the United States. I know I can always turn to hockey fans to give me something to laugh about. The creativity of our fan base is unparalleled. We might be the red headed step child of the professional sports world, but we own it.

Here are just a few of my favorite from this past year:

Steve Laidlaw, Fantasy Columnist

Connor McDavid

For making the Oilers relevant again. He is the best player in the game, a zone entry cheat code, who plays the game the way you play EA’s NHL 17.

The great 2016-17 rookie class

For helping to push the NHL towards a faster, more skillful product.

The analytics movement

Love it or hate it, there’s no question that analytics is helping to drive the youth movement in the NHL. And there’s also the fun side effect that every couple of weeks some senior citizen still involved in the hockey world tells us all to get off his proverbial lawn. If that doesn’t make you smile, I don’t know what will.

The readers

Without you all, I’d just be ranting into the ether.

Sam McCaig, NHL Editor

Canadian Thanksgiving

First of all, being a Canadian who works out of the Yahoo office in Toronto, I should point out that Thanksgiving was actually a month ago and it coincided with the start of the 2016-17 NHL regular season. So we ate some turkey, drank some gravy, and got ready to watch some puck. Then we ate some more turkey because, hey, free turkey.

That 23-minute span on June 29

Montreal trades PK Subban to Nashville for Shea Weber. Edmonton trades Taylor Hall to New Jersey for Adam Larsson. Tampa Bay re-signs Steven Stamkos after two years of Stammer-to-the-Leafs free agency speculation. It was five months ago and it all went down in a matter of minutes, but we’ll be looking back on this hat trick of moves for years to come.

Patrik Laine

There’s nothing quite like the promise of a pure rookie scorer.
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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

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