BACK TO BACK! Unbelievable that this is where the Penguins are at. After all those playoff disappointments following 2009 I thought maybe they never get it back. Now I witness the first ever back to back in my life for a Pittsburgh team

I totally get that sentiment, but I feel that the long view the the league has taken in expanding into non-tradition markets is starting to pay off more. TV ratings, attendance, and revenue are going up every year in the the U.S. and the league as a whole. Look at Nashville. They had a good, but not great regular season, but sold out every game this year, and did so the year before as well. They had some rough years sure, but this is a city that has realy gotten behind this team and the NHL. It would be nice to have 1 or 2 more Canadian teams though.  And yes, I'm aware that there are a handful of teams that aren't doing so well, like the Florida Panthers, or Phoenix Coyotes.

So, anyways, with the Stanley Cup Playoffs being done and over with, I guess the thread has reached the end of its purpose. I thank all of those who participated in this thread!! However, before it gets locked, I just want to make an auto-evaluation:

1. I should have made the OP a bit nicer and cleaner. I'm not very good at all with picture-editing software, but I should have tried to make a pic that would have customized the thread a little better.

2. Let's be honest here: interest for the playoffs here wasn't very high. However, I should have done a better job in encouraging participation here, as I didn't do it as well as I should have.

3. I also should have updated the thread more frequently, and gone into more detail regarding the outcome of the games, and having a little summary of each game.

Anyways, those are some of the more apparent things I can pinpoint. The mods can now lock this thread if they see this post.

I was wearing my penguins t-shirt at work the other day. Not knowing one of my co-workers was a Predators fan, she sneered at me and hasn't spoken to me since. It was that and or the jealousy of me going to a Journey concert.

OK, I may actually decide to turn this into a general NHL thread, but I think I need the approval of the mods before I can do that. In any case, if I do go through with it, I'll have to revamp the OP!

Okee.

So, the schedule for the 2017-18 season will be announced tomorrow!!

Ka-pi96 said: Nice, an official NHL thread! Go Vegas!

How big of an NHL fan are you, ka-pi?

The Vegas Golden Knights have chosen their 30 players for their team! Here is the roster taken from https://www.nhl.com/news/vegas-golden-knights-expansion-draft-roster/c-290043004?tid=289242400

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Colorado Avalanche: Calvin Pickard, G -- Pickard, 25, had 15 wins, two shutouts, a 2.98 goals-against average and .904 save percentage in 50 games (48 starts) this season.

Vancouver Canucks: Luca Sbisa, D -- Sbisa, 27, had 13 points in 82 games this season and has 88 points in 465 NHL games with the Philadelphia Flyers, Anaheim Ducks and Canucks.

Arizona Coyotes: Teemu Pulkkinen, F -- Pulkkinen, 25, had two goals in 13 games split between the Coyotes and Minnesota Wild this season, and has 13 goals and 22 points in 83 NHL games, including 70 games with the Detroit Red Wings.

New Jersey Devils: Jon Merrill, D -- Merrill, 25, had six points in 51 games this season and has 36 points in 216 NHL games with New Jersey.

Buffalo Sabres: William Carrier, F -- Carrier, 22, had eight points in 41 games this season, his first in the NHL.

Detroit Red Wings: Tomas Nosek, F -- Nosek, 24, has one goal in 17 games with the Red Wings the past two seasons and this season helped Grand Rapids win the Calder Cup as American Hockey League champion, scoring 22 points in 19 playoff games after scoring 41 points in 51 regular-season games.

Dallas Stars: Cody Eakin, F -- Eakin, a 26-year-old center who was drafted in 2009 by Vegas general manager George McPhee when he was the GM of the Washington Capitals, had 12 points in 60 games this season but averaged 17 goals, 36 points and 80 games played in each of the previous three seasons with Dallas.

Florida Panthers: Jonathan Marchessault, F -- Marchessault, 26, scored 30 goals for the first time this season, one of 26 NHL players who scored at least that many.

Los Angeles Kings: Brayden McNabb, D -- McNabb, 26, had four points in 49 games this season and has 50 points in 238 NHL games.

Co-owner Bill Foley of the Vegas Golden Knights greets defenseman Brayden McNabb onstage during the 2017 NHL Awards & Expansion Draft at T-Mobile Arena on June 21, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada

Carolina Hurricanes: Connor Brickley, F -- Brickley, 25, a pending unrestricted free agent, had five points in 23 games with the Florida Panthers in 2015-16 but spent all of this season in the AHL with Charlotte, where he had 26 points in 69 games.

Winnipeg Jets: Chris Thorburn, F -- Thorburn, 34, who can become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, scored three goals in 64 games this season and has 127 points in 750 games in his NHL career, which dates to the 2005-06 season.

Philadelphia Flyers: Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, F -- Bellemare, 32, had eight points in 82 games this season and has 34 points in 237 games in three NHL seasons.

Tampa Bay Lightning: Jason Garrison, D -- Garrison, 32, who has one year remaining on his contract, had nine points in 70 games this season, his lowest total in his seven full NHL seasons.

New York Islanders: Jean-Francois Berube, G -- Berube, 25, has 13 wins, a 3.11 GAA and .900 save percentage in 21 NHL games, including 14 with the Islanders this season, when he won seven games and had a 3.42 GAA and .889 save percentage.

Nashville Predators: James Neal, F -- Neal, 29, who has one year remaining on his contract, scored 23 goals this season and six in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He has 238 goals and 451 points in 632 NHL regular-season games.

Calgary Flames: Deryk Engelland, D -- Engelland, 35, who could have become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, scored four goals and 16 points in 81 games this season.

Toronto Maple Leafs: Brendan Leipsic, F -- Leipsic, 23, played six games for the Maple Leafs last season and spent this season in the AHL with the Toronto Marlies, scoring 51 points in 49 games and five points in 11 playoff games.

Boston Bruins: Colin Miller, D -- Miller, 24, had 13 points in 61 games this season after scoring 16 points in 42 games last season when he was a rookie.

Ottawa Senators: Marc Methot, D -- Methot, 32, who has one year left on his contract, played on the Senators' top defense pair with Erik Karlsson this season and had 12 assists in 68 games before scoring four points, including two goals, in 18 playoff games.

San Jose Sharks: David Schlemko, D -- Schlemko, 30, who has three years left on his contract, had 18 points in 62 games this season and has 87 points in 360 NHL games.

St. Louis Blues: David Perron, F -- Perron, 29, who has one year left on his contract, had 18 goals and 46 points in 82 games this season and has 159 goals and 378 points in 652 NHL games.

New York Rangers: Oscar Lindberg, F -- Lindberg, 25, had 20 points in 65 games this season playing primarily as the Rangers' fourth-line center after he recovered from offseason hip surgery.

Edmonton Oilers: Griffin Reinhart, D -- Reinhart, 23, has two assists in 37 NHL games since being selected with the No. 4 pick in the 2012 NHL Draft. He spent this season in the AHL until May 7, when he played in Game 6 of the Western Conference Second Round against the Anaheim Ducks.

Montreal Canadiens: Alexei Emelin, D -- Emelin, 31, who has one year left on his contract, has 72 points in 380 NHL games, all with Montreal, after getting 10 in 76 games this season.

Anaheim Ducks: Clayton Stoner, D -- Stoner, 32, a stay-at-home defenseman who has one year left on his contract, played 14 games for the Ducks this season after appearing in 50 last season.

Minnesota Wild: Erik Haula, F -- Haula, a 26-year-old center, scored an NHL career-high 15 goals, part of his 26 points in 72 games this season.

Columbus Blue Jackets: William Karlsson, F -- Karlsson, 24, had NHL career highs in assists (19) and points (25) in 81 games this season after getting 20 points in 81 games last season.

Chicago Blackhawks: Trevor van Riemsdyk, D -- Van Riemsdyk, who turns 26 on July 24, had an NHL career-high 16 points and a plus-17 rating in 58 games this season and was a Stanley Cup champion with Chicago two years ago.

Pittsburgh Penguins: Marc-Andre Fleury, G -- Fleury, 32 and with two years left on his contract, is a three-time Stanley Cup champion with the Penguins and has 375 regular-season NHL wins and 62 in the playoffs.

Washington Capitals: Nate Schmidt, D -- Schmidt, 25, had an NHL career-high 17 points in 60 games this season and has 43 points in 200 games with Washington.
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So, Marc-Andre Fleury has finally left Pittsburgh I guess!!

Holy! They got Marc-Andre Fleury. Nice.