The Goal Line

By Aaron Propson Photo via Bob Frid- USA Today Sports The Seattle Kraken are dominating NHL discourse this week and for all the wrong reasons. The franchise's inaugural season has been tumultuous at best. With just 10 wins through 33 games this season, the Kraken is comfortably basement dwellers in the Pacific Division. The question for analysts and reporters alike is, What went wrong for the Kraken? EP Rinkside writer and one of the most prominent analytics voices in the sport, JFresh, investigated it . As did ESPN's Greg Wyshynski , who sat down with Kraken GM Ron Francis to get his thoughts on his team's underachieving start. The answer to the question is that: Pretty much everything that could go wrong has gone wrong.  Let's start even before the NHL expansion draft in July, where the Kraken could steal at least one semi-valuable player from 30 other NHL teams. It should be said that comparisons to the Vegas Golden Knights and their succ

It has been a chaotic few weeks in the NHL. COVID-19 reared its ugly head and forced league-wide postponements, resulting in a suspension of play until after the holiday break.   On Tuesday, it was reported that NHL players will not attend the Olympics this coming February in Beijing. This is a massive disappointment, but it had to happen for many reasons.  We are all sick of COVID discussion by now, and it will not be going away anytime soon. Nonetheless, we will lighten the mood and take a look at what each NHL franchise is asking for this holiday season.  Anaheim Ducks: John Gibson to return to his old ways Arguably the most compelling story of this young season, Anaheim sits atop the Pacific Division at Christmas. Who had that on their bingo card? Keep in mind this is a team that won just 17 of 56 games last season. Troy Terry is having a fantastic breakout year, Trevor Zegras is a legit superstar, and veterans like Kevin Shattenkirk and Ryan Getzlaf have been reliable presences. T

As if we needed more reasons to love college football, folks. Rivalry week did not disappoint, far from it. From "The Game" to Bedlam, chaos reigned supreme in the final week of the 2021 regular season. The College Football Playoff picture is far from set in stone, and with a season like this one, anything is possible heading into conference championship week. Let's recap a weekend for the record books and look ahead to an ever-so-important championship weekend.  ACC Championship We'll start in the ACC, where there will be a championship game that doesn't feature Clemson or Florida State for the first time since 2008. Pitt clinched the Coastal Division en route to a 10-2 regular season, Pat Narduzzi's best season with the Panthers. It'll be Pitt's second-ever ACC championship game and their first since 2018 when they got blown out by Clemson.  The Coastal Division had their champion, but the Atlantic Div

Hard to believe the Olympics are only a few months out. While nothing is guaranteed, the NHL and IIHF reached an agreement to allow NHLers to play in the 2022 Olympics after skipping the PyeongChang Olympics in 2018. The NHL has valid concerns about not wanting to risk its players, especially during a pandemic. But this is something that the NHLPA reportedly pushed for. It's a massive win for hockey fans. International hockey between the best players in the world, what's not to love? USA Hockey is still searching for its first gold medal since Lake Placid in 1980. They won silver in 2002 and 2010, but no team has reached the pinnacle since Herb Brooks' "Miracle on Ice" team did it almost 42 years ago. I get chills every single time I watch  Miracle,  and I'll be watching it before the puck drops in Beijing this coming February.  Minnesota Wild GM Bill Guerin is tasked with assembling what is essentially an NHL All-Star team. The USNTDP (and NCAA) has been chur