Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays
I’m taking my annual Christmas break from Tuesday, December 23, to Saturday, December 27. The next update to this site will be Sunday, December 28—my thanks to all of you who follow and support this site. I wish you all a safe and Merry Christmas, and best wishes for a Happy Holiday season.
I hope, Lyle, you are able to read my best wishes to you for the Christmas season and thanks for keeping this quality site going. Quite an accomplishment, particularly as you are a one man band.
And best wishes of the season to all who contribute with comments and exchanges here.
Many thanks, Lyle, for the absolute best distraction I could have from my daily worries, and apologies for the times I’ve been part of a jump off the hockey rails 🙂
Hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas and Holiday Season.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaAdg_l38Cc
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Lyle. Thanks for keeping the site going.
Well… everyone… buy Sam a drink and get his dog one too!
Merry Christmas!
Heh. Perfect place to insert a “Langeism.”
😁.
Lyle,your story is my first read of the day. Happy Holidays to you and your loved ones!
Lyle,
Thank you very much for all the work you do keeping this site going. It’s without a doubt the best hockey site there is.
Wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Here’s to more great hockey in 2026.
Merry Christmas to all! Special wishes go out to Marc Savard who gets fired right before Christmas. The one guy that showed any emotion from the bench. Shame on all the players. A big shame to the organization, for the timing of this.
Hello Lyle,
As always, many thanks! And to you, your family and all those on this site:
Wishing you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a Bud Light👍🎄
Merry Christmas to you and yours Lyle!
Nice tree!
Thank you Lyle for putting this all together and maintaining such an informative site.
Wishing you and family a merry Christmas.
Wishing health, happiness and enjoyable holidays to all of the “Spectors Hockey family” that logs in and supports with commentary or just read in the background helping the lively exchanges.
Merry Christmas Lyle, and to everyone in this this vibrant cyber community. I don’t comment much but I read the news and rumours sections every day and I really appreciate the work that goes into this site. Thanks for providing one of the best parts of my day!
Four games last night, including a 3-1 win by Columbus over L.A. which brought them back to .500 gives the entire Eastern Conference 16 teams at .500 or above. Tonight 13 game results will be factored in (with Philadelphia (5-2 over Vancouver), Seattle (3-1 over Anaheim) and L.A. (losing 3-1 to Columbus) having also been in action last night).
Carolina is in 1st in the East with 47 pts after 35 gp, with Detroit 2 pts back at 45 in 37gp. Just 2 points behind Detroit are 4 teams with 43 pts each (Philadelphia with 2 games in hand, and Washington, Tampa and Montreal, each with a game in hand on Detroit). The Islanders clock in at 42 pts and a game in hand on Detroit, then New Jersey and Boston at 41 pts (NJ with a game in hand), and 3 teams at 40 pts each (Florida and Ottawa – both with 2 games in hand – and NYR (38 gp). Bringing up the rear are Pittsburgh (39 pts & 2 in hand), Buffalo (38 pts & 2 in hand), Columbus (36 pts and 1 in hand), and Toronto (35 pts and 2 in hand on Detroit and 12 back of 1st-place Carolina). The Leafs are also just 6 pts out of the last WC slot, held by NJ with 41 pts and Toronto holding a game in hand on them.
Out West, with Seattle reaching .500 with their win last night, there are now 6 teams sub-.500 (St. Louis, Nashville, Calgary, Winnipeg, Vancover, Chicago), with a whopping 27 points between 1st place Colorado (59 pts) and last-place Chicago (32 pts). In terms of a WC spot, however, Chicago is just 7 back of 8th place Utah and with 3 games in hand, Vancouver and Winnipeg 6 back with the Canucks and Jets holding 2 and 3 in hand respectively. Calgary, Nashville and Seattle sit 5 back of Utah, the Flames with 2 in hand, the Predators 3 and the Kraken 4 in h and. St. Louis, 3 back, have played the same number of games as Utah (38), while San Jose, 2 back, hold 2 in hand.
Another 13 games will be in the books Saturday night when Lyle returns on Sunday, so the playoff landscape following the 30 games in total will not only look drastically different, but Lyle’s opening Headlines blurb will be a lengthy one, adding in other details such as the inevitable injuries an d roster changes.