NHL Highlights Box Seats: Edition Thirteen
NHL Matchups Review for the Week of January 2nd-8th
THE BOX SEATS
Edition Thirteen, Week of January 2nd-8th, 2024.
Hello, and welcome to “The Box Seats”, a column designed to keep Pro Hockey fans informed, educated and entertained with the news and notes from around the National Hockey League. So kick back, and read along every week during the National Hockey League season.
The National Hockey League ushered in the New Year of 2024 with the Winter Classic game on New Year’s Day in Seattle, as the Kraken picked up a 3-0 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights, giving the three-year franchise it’s first ever win in an outdoor contest, held at T-Mobile Park, home of the MLB’s Seattle Mariners, and for goaltender Joey Daccord, the first ever shutout performance in the Winter Classic.
We’ll talk more about him in a moment. The League gets back to their regular schedule of heavy action on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday night, as teams are starting to round into form of whether or not they will be playoff contenders looking too add pieces before the Trade Deadline, or if their club is looking to retool for next NHL season or rebuild for the future.
The NHL games are getting much tighter and we’ve seen some lower-scoring contests over the last couple of weeks compared to the beginning of the season. First off, let’s open this NHL Matchups Review preview with a player to watch for this week.
PLAYER TO WATCH THIS WEEK
Joey Daccord – Goalie, Seattle Kraken
The 27-year old Boston native had a great start to open 2024 as the Seattle Kraken starting goalie, with Philipp Grubauer currently on Injured Reserve. Daccord stopped all 35 shots faced against the defending Stanley Cup champions, Vegas Golden Knights, for his second career shutout and the first shutout in Winter Classic history.
Seattle has been on a hot run of late, winning seven of their last nine games and now trail the Arizona Coyotes by a point for the final Wild Card spot in the Western Conference, with the Yotes having played three less games.
The Kraken take on the Ottawa Senators back at Climate Pledge Arena on Thursday, and we would expect to see Daccord in net against the club that drafted him 199th overall back in 2015.
Team Trends To Watch For
- The Dallas Stars continue their scorching-hot run with the First Period Over with a 13-2 mark in their last fifteen games and a record of 24-8 overall.
- There are now five teams in the National Hockey League that have played 13 or more games past regulation this season. The Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Islanders are tied with 14 games, while the Washington Capitals, Montreal Canadiens and Seattle Kraken have 13. These are teams to circle when looking to bet on the Draw, which becomes even more common league-wide once we enter this second half stretch of the regular season.
NATIONAL TELEVISION SCHEDULE FOR THE WEEK:
January 2nd
Washington at Pittsburgh 
– 7:30p ET on ESPN+/Hulu
The “Ovechkin vs. Crosby” rivalry has cooled over the years, but these two division foes still have bad blood in what should be a solid contest
Toronto at Los Angeles 
– 10:30p ET on ESPN+/Hulu
Auston Matthews and the Toronto Maple Leafs head out west with a visit to Hollywood to take on the Kings, who have been playing lights out thanks to goaltender Cam Talbot.
January 3rd
New Jersey at Washington – 7:00p ET on TNT/MAX
The Caps head home to D.C for their second of back-to-back contests, this time going up against a New Jersey club that is currently dealing with major goaltending issues.
January 6th
Calgary at Philadelphia 
– 1:00p ET on NHL Network
After playing a week ago in Calgary, with the Flames picking up a 4-3 win, these two clubs run it back in the City of Brotherly Love for a Saturday Matinee affair.
NY Rangers at Montreal 
– 7:00p ET on NHL Network
It’s an Original Six battle on Hockey Night in Canada as the hot New York Rangers travel to La Belle Province to skate with the Canadiens. The Blueshirts have won five of their last seven meetings with the Habs.
January 7th
Los Angeles at Washington – 7:00p ET on NHL Network
A Hat Trick for the Capitals on National TV as they wrap up the week with a home afternoon contest against the Los Angeles Kings.
Frozen Fashion: The Hockey Jersey of The Week
Each Week, we wrap up the NHL Matchups Review and we select one NHL team jersey to highlight the design and the history of that specific sweater. This week, we look at a jersey that garnered some national attention this week, and not for all of the best reasons.
Seattle Kraken 2024 Winter Classic Jersey
While this is just the third season of existence for the Seattle Kraken, the roots of hockey in the Emerald City goes back well over a century, and elements from several clubs over the years play a role in their Winter Classic jerseys worn earlier this week.
An eye catching “Barber Pole” style striping design utilizing the two shades of blue and the red accent color draws inspiration from many of the teams that played in the state and the Northwest Area going back to the turn of the 20th Century.
The “S” logo crest also includes the Kraken name, and the felt elements and inside collar designs are tributes to the 1917 Seattle Metropolitans, the first American team to win Lord Stanley’s Cup, two years before the National Hockey League was formed.
The trademarks from that long-defunct club are owned by Seattle-area businessman Paul Kim, who has now filed a lawsuit against the club citing trademark violations, in regards to the design elements from the Metropolitans jerseys that Kim sells on a website, despite using colors that were originally used by the club, with a base of green along with red and white striping.
National Hockey League Trivia Question
Last Week: What year did the National Hockey League introduce the Winter Classic?
Answer: The first Winter Classic was held in 2008 at Ralph Wilson Stadium (now Highmark Stadium) in Orchard Park, New York, between the Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins. The Pens picked up a 2-1 victory in a shootout, with the winning goal scored by Sidney Crosby.
Q: Which Five Teams became the first NHL clubs to release Alternate Jerseys when the league unveiled the “Third Jersey Program” in the 1995-96 Regular Season.
Come Back Next Week to find out The Answer!
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