The Box Seats: Edition Nineteen
NHL Preview for the Week of February 12th-18th, 2024
THE BOX SEATS (Edition Nineteen, February 12th-18th, 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 will get a little boost in viewers now that Super Bowl LVIII has come and gone to conclude the Football season. Bettors in recent years have flocked to the “Fastest Game on Ice” during the second half run of the season, which can be reflected in the lines a bit more than during the first half of the year.
We’ve now seen all but one NHL team return to the ice after the All-Star Break and extra days off with clubs having their five-day break mandated by the league’s Collective Bargaining Agreement, with San Jose being the only club to still have time off.
The Sharks will hit the ice again on Wednesday, while other clubs have a stacked week ahead of them. Let’s take a glance at a player to watch for in this week’s NHL Hockey Action Games 2024.
PLAYER TO WATCH THIS WEEK
Chris Kreider – Forward, New York Rangers
The Rangers are looking to get things back on track after a shaky stretch heading into the All-Star Break. One of the key players for the Blueshirts, as they head into the Metropolitan Division race, will be veteran forward, Chris Kreider.
Known as one of the best net-front presence players in the NHL, the 32-year old Kreider has 24 goals and 48 points, ranked second in both categories behind linemate Artemi Panarin.
The New York Rangers host the Calgary Flames on Monday, the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday and then head outside to MetLife Stadium on Sunday afternoon to take on their rival, the New York Islanders, in the NHL Stadium Series at the Meadowlands.
Team Trends To Watch For (Stats as of 2/11/24)
Edmonton Oilers: The Oilers finally lost their first hockey game back from the All-Star Break in Vegas against the Golden Knights to snap their 17-game winning streak. Even with two losses last week, Edmonton is on a current run of 24-6 in their last 30 games overall.
Top Five Teams Games Past Regulation:
1. 
New York Islanders: 19 Games (37.2%)
2. 
Toronto Maple Leafs: 17 Games (34.6%)
3. 
Montreal Canadiens: 17 Games (34%)
4. 
Columbus Blue Jackets: 15 Games (30%)
5t. 
Dallas Stars: 15 Games (30.6%)
5t. 
Boston Bruins: 15 Games (30.6%)
Top Five Teams to First Period Over 1.5 Goals/Game
1. Ottawa Senators: (32/47 = 68.09%)
2. Vancouver Canucks: (35/52 = 67.30%)
3. Calgary Flames: (33/51 = 63.27%)
4. St. Louis Blues: (31/49 = 63.27%)
5. Detroit Red Wings: (31/50 = 62%)
Top Five Teams with a Goal in First 10 Minutes
1. 
Ottawa Senators: (33/47 = 70.21%)
2. 
Tampa Bay Lightning: (36/52 = 69.23%)
3. 
Minnesota Wild: (34/50 = 68%)
4. 
Vancouver Canucks: (35/52 = 67.30%)
5t. 
Seattle Kraken: (33/50 = 66%)
5t. 
Detroit Red Wings: (33/50 = 66%)
NHL FULL SCHEDULE FOR THE WEEK
February 14th
Florida at Pittsburgh 
– 7:30p ET on TNT/MAX
A pair of Eastern Conference powers clash in the Steel City on Valentine’s Day as the Pens and Panthers look to do battle in a pivotal game for both clubs.
February 15th
Dallas at Nashville 
– 8:00p ET on ESPN+/Hulu
Two bitter Central Division rivals clash in the Music City as Matt Duchene and the Stars take on the Predators, who are fighting to keep pace in the Wild Card race in the Western Conference.
February 16th
Carolina at Arizona 
– 9:00pm ET on NHL Network
The standalone game on Friday night sees the Hurricanes heading west to take on the Arizona Coyotes at Mullett Arena.
February 17th
Los Angeles at Boston – 12:30p ET on ABC/ESPN+
The struggling Los Angeles Kings head out to Beantown for a Saturday matinee against the Bruins, who are looking to heat back up after a couple of bad games out of the break.
Edmonton at Dallas – 3:00p ET on ABC/ESPN+
The scorching hot Edmonton Oilers head down to Dallas to take on the Stars. Edmonton has won three of their last five meetings against the Stars, but Dallas picked up a 4-3 win in Edmonton back on November 2nd.
Philadelphia at New Jersey 
– 8:00p ET on ABC/ESPN
The National Hockey League heads back outdoors this weekend with the Stadium Series at the Meadowlands in New Jersey, playing at MetLife Stadium, home of the National Football League’s New York Giants and New York Jets. Game one of this two-day set pits the Philly Flyers against a struggling Devils club close to home.
February 18th
NY Rangers at NY Islanders – 3:00p ET on ABC/ESPN+
Day two of the Stadium Series at the Meadowlands is a matinee showdown of one of the best rivalries in National Hockey League history as Patrick Roy and the Islanders battle with the Rangers to wrap up the Weekly NHL Preview
Frozen Fashion: The Hockey Jersey of The Week
Each Week, we will select one NHL team jersey to highlight the design and the history of that specific sweater. This week, we look at one of the four new jerseys to be rolled out this weekend, fittingly in the state of New Jersey.
New Jersey Devils 2024 Stadium Series Red Jersey
When the New Jersey Devils started play in 1982, the club wore Red, White and Green with their iconic “NJ” devil horn and tail logo as the crest, something that has gone virtually unchanged for most of the franchise’s history, In 1992, they swapped out green for black, which fit better with the club’s physical, hard-hitting, defensive style that saw them capture Stanley Cup titles in 1995, 2000 and 2003.
Fast Forward to 2024, and the Devils are heading outside for the Stadium Series at the Meadowlands with a dramatic Red and Black look that eliminates all white from the uniform. These will look sharp under the MetLife Stadium lights on Saturday night against the Philadelphia Flyers.
With February being Black History Month, The Box Seats will depart from NHL Trivia for the next four editions to give you a moment of Hockey History from a Black Perspective:
GREAT MOMENTS IN BLACK HOCKEY HISTORY
June 2002: Jarome Iginla wins the Art Ross Trophy
Calgary Flames forward Jarome Iginla became the first black hockey player to win both the Rocket Richard Trophy for most goals in the regular season, and the Art Ross trophy for most points in the season with 52 goals and 96 points, respectively,
Making his National Hockey League debut during the 1996 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Iginla became an overnight star in Calgary, scoring 20 or more goals in twelve of his thirteen NHL seasons with the club, crossing the 50+ plateau in 2002 and again in the 2007-2008 season. Iginla would play five more seasons with Pittsburgh, Boston, Colorado and Los Angeles before retiring at the end of the 2016-17 season.
Iginla played 1,554 games and scored 625 goals and exactly 1,300 points. He’s a six-time All-Star, was given the Lester B. Pearson Award as Most Outstanding Player, as voted by other league players, in this year of 2002, and in 2020, he became the fourth black player to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Jarome has three children, who are all playing high levels of hockey. His oldest son, Tij Iginla (pronounced Teej) plays with the Kelowna Rockets in the Western Hockey League and currently projects as a low-First Round/high-Second Round pick in this summer’s 2024 NHL Entry Draft.
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