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.
Leafs win 6-3 over the Penguins … move to within 4 of the last WC slot pending other results. Berube lives to coach another day, with Ottawa there on Saturday, and quietens the Nervous Nellies … for now.
Thanks for all your hard work Lyle. Love the site and the spirited commentary from those of us who read every day!
Merry Christmas everyone! Hope you have a great holiday!
For anyone looking for some interesting tidbits pending Lyle’s return, here’s a link to ESPN’s list of the top points producer for every one of the 32 franchises
https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/47391265/every-nhl-franchise-all-points-leader
Merry Christmas Lyle! And Merry Christmas to all the posters on here . Nice to see so many different ways we all see the game . I enjoy reading all the posts even some that make me laugh.
Hopefully everyone has an amazing Christmas and a Happy New Year and look forward to more hockey chat from this site . By far the best.
The Christmas break ends tonight, with 26 teams in action tomorrow, Dec 27. Back on the U.S. Thanksgiving in mid-Nov I listed the standings East and West, and stated my thought that, by this break, gaps would start to appear in the standings. While appreciable gaps may not have yet happened in the East, positions have certainly changed, while out West, where 5 teams have yet to crack the 100 goal mark, the standings haven’t changed all that much, with Nashville posting the biggest gain and Chicago the biggest drop, perhaps indicating just how valuable Bedard is to that team!
The Thanksgiving Standings are in the left column and current in the right, showing GP Pts GF GA Differential
Eastern Conference
1. NJ 23 31 72 69 +3 1. Car 36 47 121 106 +15
2. TB 23 30 74 61 +13 2. Det 38 47 120 122 -2
3. Car 23 30 80 69 +11 3. Pha 36 45 111 102 +9
4. Ott 23 28 75 74 +1 4. Mtl 37 45 123 124 -2
5. Was 24 28 80 66 +14 5. NyI 37 44 107 104 +3
6. NyI 24 28 72 69 +3 6. TB 36 43 117 95 +22
7. Bos 25 28 78 78 0 7. Was 37 43 117 103 +14
8. Pitt 22 27 68 60 +8 8. Fla 36 42 117 114 +3
9. Mtl 22 27 76 79 -3 9. NyR 39 42 104 105 -1
10. Pha 22 27 64 61 +3 10. Ott 36 41 119 113 +6
11. Det 24 27 72 80 -8 11. NJ 37 41 103 110 -7
12. Clb 24 26 70 78 -8 12. Bos 38 41 122 126 -4
13. NyR 25 26 65 65 0 13. Buf 36 40 112 117 -5
14. Fla 23 25 72 72 0 14. Pitt 36 39 110 119 -9
15. Tor 23 23 76 83 -7 15. Tor 36 37 115 121 -6
16. Buf 23 22 73 79 -6 16. Clb 36 36 108 125 -17
Western Conference
1. Col 23 39 94 50 +44 1. Col 36 61 142 80 +62
2. Dal 24 34 83 67 +16 2. Dal 38 56 136 101 +35
3. Min 24 30 72 67 +5 3. Min 38 50 117 99 +18
4. Ana 23 29 84 74 +10 4. Veg 35 44 110 104 +6
5. Veg 23 28 71 69 +2 5. Ana 37 44 129 126 +3
6. Sea 23 28 59 62 -3 6. Ed 38 44 130 128 +2
7. L.A. 23 28 62 64 -2 7. L.A. 36 39 91 96 -5
8. Uta 24 27 74 72 +2 8. Uta 39 39 116 112 +4
9. Chi 23 25 72 66 +6 9. S.J. 37 37 109 129 -20
10. S.J. 24 25 68 78 -10 10. Sea 35 36 89 107 -18
11. Ed 25 25 77 95 -18 11. Nas 36 36 103 121 -18
12. Wpg 22 24 70 63 +7 12. StL 38 36 95 131 -36
13. Van 24 22 76 90 -14 13. Cgy 37 34 98 113 -15
14. StL 24 21 63 88 -25 14. Wpg 35 33 103 107 -4
15. Cgy 25 19 60 78 -18 15. Van 36 33 103 122 -19
16. Nas 23 18 58 84 -26 16. Chi 36 32 99 114 -15