THE BOX SEATS: Edition Six November 13th-19th
Weekly Hockey Games
THE BOX SEATS Edition Six, (Week of November 13th-19th, 2023)
We saw the first head coach firing of the year on Sunday morning, when the Edmonton Oilers, who have gotten off to a shocking and disappointing 3-9-1 start, relieved third-year boss Jay Woodcroft of his duties along with assistant coach Dave Manson.
The Oilers were in the 10/1 NHL odds range to win the Stanley Cup after another tough postseason exit last Spring, Edmonton has to wonder how long this window with superstars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl will last before they will have to start a rebuild for the second time in this century. We also saw last week the continued emergence of the Vancouver Canucks, as they now only trail Pacific Division foes and defending Stanley Cup Champion Vegas Golden Knights by two points in the overall NHL Standings as of press time.
The National Hockey League goes European this week as the league will hold four contests in Stockholm, Sweden from Thursday to Sunday as part of their “Global Series Sweden, Presented by Fastenal.” The Detroit Red Wings will play the Ottawa Senators on Thursday and the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday, followed by the Minnesota Wild taking on Ottawa on Saturday and closing with the Maple Leafs early on Sunday. The Wild/Senators game will start at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Standard time and the finale against Toronto will be at 8:00 a.m. ET, so make sure to set your alarms for both of those overseas starts. Now, let’s take a quick look at a couple of players to keep an eye on in this weekly hockey games action.
PLAYERS TO WATCH THIS WEEK
Connor Bedard – Forward, Chicago Blackhawks
The Number One overall draft pick from this Summer has finally started to emerge and deliver the much-anticipated hype that Chicago Blackhawks fans and the majority of National Hockey League fans have wanted to see from the Vancouver, British Columbia native.
On Thursday at Tampa Bay, he scored a pair of goals, which made him at 18 years, 115 days old, the youngest player in Chicago Blackhawks franchise history to have a multi-goal game. And for his encore on Sunday in a matinee contest against Florida, Bedard scored another two goals, bringing his totals to nine goals and four assists in just thirteen games played on the season.
With the back-to-back two-goal performances, Bedard is now the seventh player in NHL history to accomplish that feat as an 18-year-old. The sky is the limit for this young budding star as Chicago once again faces the Tampa Bay Lightning at home on Thursday, before heading to Nashville for a Saturday matinee with the Predators and then a home start on Sunday versus the Buffalo Sabres
Dustin Wolf – Goalie, Calgary Flames
This young 22-year-old phenom from Gilroy, California has finally been recalled by the Calgary Flames to hopefully stop the backdraft that has hit this club to start the season. With in-fighting going on around misaligned forward Jonathan Huberdeau and defenseman Nikita Zadorov asking for a trade, the Flames are hoping Wolf, a seventh-round pick in the 2019 Draft, can fill in for the ailing Jacob Markstrom and the struggling Dan Vladar and get this back on track as the Flames battle the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday evening and then head home to take on the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday and the New York Islanders on Saturday night.
Team Trends To Watch For
- There are three teams that have been hot when it comes to cashing First Period Overs thus far, starting with the Nashville Predators, who are on an 11-1 run to the over in the first period, followed by the New Jersey Devils and 10-1 and the Ottawa Senators and Arizona Coyotes, who each have cashed the first period over in eight of their last nine contests.
- The Montreal Canadiens continue to lead the National Hockey League in games going past regulation with two more overtime contests this week for a season total of seven. The Toronto Maple Leafs rank second with six games decided in either overtime or a shootout.
NATIONAL TELEVISION SCHEDULE FOR THE WEEK:
November 15th
Philadelphia at Carolina 
– 7:30p ET on TNT/MAX
It’s a Metropolitan Division clash as John Tortorella’s Flyers skate into Raleigh to tussle with the Hurricanes.
NY Islanders at Vancouver 
– 9:30p ET on TNT/MAX
This is a late-night affair to stay away from with this emerging Vancouver Canucks on showcase in a rare National U.S. appearance.
November 16th
Detroit vs. Ottawa 
– 2:00p ET on ESPN+
This is the first of four games held in Stockholm, Sweden as part of the NHL’s Global Series Sweden. Red Wings forward Alex DeBrincat faces off against his old club.
Tampa Bay at Chicago – 8:00p ET on ESPN+/Hulu
Rookie Connor Bedard and the Blackhawks look to defend their home turf on the West Side of Chicago against Nikita Kucherov and the Tampa Bay Lightning.
November 17th
Toronto vs. Detroit – 2:00p ET on ESPN+
This is the second of four games held in Stockholm, Sweden as part of the NHL’s Global Series Sweden as Detroit wraps up their final leg of the tour.
November 18th
Minnesota vs. Ottawa – 11:00 AM ET on ESPN+
This is the third of four games held in Stockholm, Sweden as part of the NHL’s Global Series Sweden as the Minnesota Wild take on the Ottawa Senators
Montreal at Boston 
– 7:00p ET on NHL Network
For the second straight Saturday, the Original Six rivalry between the Bruins and Habs will be renewed on “Hockey Night in Canada” as Montreal picked up the 3-2 overtime victory at home the previous weekend.
November 19th
Toronto vs. Minnesota – 8:00 AM ET on NHL Network
This is the fourth and final game held in Stockholm, Sweden as part of the NHL’s Global Series Sweden as Toronto takes on Minnesota at a very early start time in North America.
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 a fierce and hot classic in the Great Northwest
Blasty Calgary Flames Alternate
Back around the year 2000, we saw lots of National Hockey League teams incorporate the color Black into their revamped logos and uniforms to reflect the style of the time. One of those clubs was the Calgary Flames, who actually added black accenting to their Home and Road uniforms back in 1998, but now with an entirely different crest and logo, with the classic “Flaming C” off the crest in favor of a red and yellow fire-breathing horse, affectionately known as “Blasty”.
This became the main road jersey from 2000 to 2003 and would be rotated with a newer red home uniform in 2004 and 2006-07, where it would be retired until Blasty returned as part of Adidas’ Reverse Retro 1.0 run of alternate jerseys. In 2022, Calgary added black-on-black flames to the sleeves where it’s currently used as a Home Alternate. The club will wear them on Thursday and Saturday, along with eleven other times this season.
National Hockey League Trivia Question
Last Week: Which Philadelphia Flyers Goaltender helped the team win back-to-back Stanley Cups in 1974 and 1975?
Answer: Bernie Parent was the goaltender who led the Philadelphia Flyers to a pair of Stanley Cup victories in 1974 and 1975. He played 14 professional years, retiring after the 1978-79 season, winning 271 games with the Flyers. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1984.
Q: Which player was the first in National Hockey League history to win more than two individual awards in one season?
Hint: He actually won three trophies and captured the same ones in back-to-back seasons. Come
Back Next Week to find out The Answer!
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