From My Mom's Basement

Basically going to go ahead and just rip Elliotte Friedman's amazing 31 Thoughts article and publish my own insane ramblings from around the league. Slightly different, each number will be a separate thought for each team.

1. Every team in the NHL is trying to keep up with the Golden Knights twitter account. Some do well like LA and Nashville, others like the Anaheim Ducks make such a horrific attempt, that it comes across as a deliberate attempt at offending.

Last week we got to see Ryan Kesler, strolling around an office setting completely naked. This was to celebrate the team's 'birthday'. The social media team clearly missed the obvious correlation between that concept and the countless accounts of women coming forward to finally speak out against work place sexual harassment and inappropriate advances.

This is coming from the team that has a known and vocal homophobe as their Captain though, so maybe it's par for the course.

2. The NHL is talking about expansion to Houston, a move that might actually prove pretty fruitful. It's a huge market, and there should be - based solely on population - enough people to fill an NHL rink for 41 games every season.

There's one problem though; and it's that the NHL is running out of options.

Arizona is a miserable excuse for a franchise, and one that needs to hit the road. But, where do they go. Vegas could've been a great option for relocation. Same conference, same division. Now that they have their own team, where does Arizona go?

Some say Seattle, but it's a mark that is more likely for expansion. Maybe Quebec City? Well, that could work, but the NHL has seemed unbelievably hesitant about taking advantage of existing hockey markets.

There is one thing for sure, and that is that the Arizona experiment is over.

3. The Bruins are getting old, but a lot of their young talent is really shining now that Chiarelli and Julien are out of their way.

4. One of the most overrated players in the NHL for the past 10 years has easily been Evander Kane. He only has one 30 goal season, which is fine, but he is making over 5 million per year to be mediocre. For someone who has made themselves a burden both on and off the ice, being a burden for the bank account is a bad bad thing.

This is a guy that could find himself in Europe sooner than anyone thinks.

5. The Hockey News' writer and overall creep Ken Campbell criticized former Women's Team Canada Captain Cassie Campbell-Pascall as an impartial broadcaster due to her marriage to Flames' AGM Brad Pascall.

For some reason, despite being a trailblazer for women in the sport, have all the credibility possible, and having a nuanced, interesting opinion, Cassie can not shake being a woman in hockey. For the old white men like Ken Campbell, being a woman in hockey isn't possible without carrying water for her husband.

Newsflash Ken, women's hockey is here to stay, and so are women in broadcasting the sport. You are an absolutely brutal writer, and you hold the sport back. Women can do more in this industry than cheer on their man from the sidelines and it's high time you take notice of that.

6. Another team that has just an unreal roster is Carolina. They are my sleeper pick for a long playoff run, if, they can get what they need out of Cam Ward and Scott Darling. If not, adding a goalie like Kristers Gudlevskis or someone similar might be a good option.

7. I saw a commercial on Hockey Night in Canada for a bank or cell phone or something, and the star of the show (again) was Patrick Kane.

What is going on? Why is it that everyone so easily forgets that this guy is a rapist? For what it's worth, if I see Patrick Kane advertising your product, you better believe I will not be a customer.

8. Man, I watched Nathan MacKinnon shove the shit out of those on.the.bench guys this morning. Fuckin' hilarious. Also, really solid shot at the nicest threads in the league.

9. What IS going on with the Columbus Blue Jackets?

10. It's been covered to death, but Hitchcock said some interesting things regarding how teams announce injuries. It seems like everyone is sick of upper/lower and ready to know what's actually going on with guys. The only people against seem to be missing the mark, I think. Their thought is that players want to know so they can target, but most of THOSE players have been run out of the league.

It's my opinion that people want to know, so that we can be assured guys aren't playing through injuries and ESPECIALLY through concussions. Gone are the days of the "suck it up" mentality, and letting people know what injuries exist is another step towards safety.

11. Detroit's head coach sounds exactly Mike Babcock.

12. Business as usual in Edmonton.

13. Reimer is having an absolutely horrible time in Florida right now, but then, so are the rest of the players. It turns out they still don't have a clue what their doing and if it weren't for their top 3 players (Huberdeau, Trochek and Barkov) we would be talking about relocation, and not just a front office change.

14. Doughty wants out. Clearly. I won't hear otherwise. No player makes statements like his without wanting out.

15. Why is it that players move to this Canada wannabe and somehow the pronunciation of their name changes. Zach Parise is French Canadian. Sorry Zach, but you are. And your last name is not ParEE-ZEE. God, it's like cheese, or a shopping channel offer.

16. I've said it before, but Montreal is doomed to at least 50 years of mediocrity. A couple of meddling wins won't last the massive shit show Marc Bergevin has turned the team in to.

Imagine trading PK Subban away because your Team Captain is a racist. Getting an old man with a horrific contract in return and then giving all the rest of your money to a goalie that can't stand to play 50 games in a season. Absolutely amazing he still has a job.

17. There's a good team with an old goalie.

18. Scoring Sami Vatanen was a big get for the Devs, and they are set up to be pretty decent. Now, they just need Hischier to be 2 years older and they could contend.

Speaking of which, what a great job that looks like now. Usually taking the #1 draft pick isn't a hard call (whatever, Edmonton), but they should be commended for passing on the very injury prone Patrick in favor of a hockey player that actually, you know, plays hockey.

19. Business as usual in New York

20. See above (old goalie, no depth)

21. Mark Stone really might be one of the best wingers in hockey. I never ever would have guessed that based on his junior caree....oh wait... 296 points in 232 games....

22. Some people are absolutely gonna get fired in Philly. Oh boy, are they ever.

23. Business as usual in Pittsburgh

24. This has got to be the last year for Jumbo Joe. He has had a great season so far according to his possession metrics, and it's coming at a sub 94 PDO. Coach is giving him primarily offensive zone starts (which he has seen before) and I wonder how much of that has to do with preserving the old guy for the playoffs.

First ballot hall of famer.

25. Really, the best trade so far has been the Blues picking up Brayden Schenn. Even looking into PDO, linemate regression, etc. He is so good, and the season should just get better for that team and that line.

26. I wrote about how valuable certain star players are, one of those being the injury prone Steven Stamkos. Well, this season puts that to bed (sort of). He and Kucherov are the best 1-2 punch in hockey right now, and it's not even close. If they can stay healthy, there's no reason they can't win the Cup.

27. I watched the Leafs bottom lines pretty closely the last couple games, trying to find some diamond in the rough. Two important notes:

1. When it's over, it's over, and for Roman Polak, it's over.

2. Matt Martin has a decent shot. He is no Ovechkin, obviously, but seeing a guy like him rip the puck on net really makes you remember that all these guys are playing in the NHL. Even the worst are pretty fuckin' good.

28. Travis Greene is an intense individual and his presence has definitely made the team better. It's likely they could regress, because their best players are their young players (Boeser, Horvat) and their old ass players (Sedins, Vanek) but good on him for making them as relevant as possible.

29. Business as usual in ....Vegas?

30. Pretty cool seeing Ovie snipe a hat trick for that cancer kid. Also, same first name. Nice!

31. I fuckin' hate the Winnipeg Jets, but they are playing out of their minds right now. However, with a PDO of only 102, and 5 players shooting above league avg, including 3 at +25%, they are relying too heavily on their top line and their goalie. None of it should be sustainable.