The NHL Regular Series was full of diamonds in terms of entertainment value and in Finnish terms the season was also really successful. Sport’s NHL journalist Tommi Seppälä listed the successes and failures of the regular season as well as the hot topics.
The best in the regular season
Arguably the best team in the NHL regular season was Alexander Barkovin skippered by the Florida Panthers. The legendary herd of panthers playing high-octane skill hockey won 58 games in the regular season and won the presidential trophy for the first time in the club’s history.
In Florida, the most impressive addition to the game speed was the depth of the player base. The group operated convincingly throughout the season with four truly-functioning cylinders, three of which hit the table with a tough class result. Even the goalkeeper game was now better than a year earlier. Overall, the whole thing was brilliantly balanced.
There were other successes in the regular season, of course.
Colorado was as strong as expected, although it suffered injuries from key players during the season: 56 wins in the regular season were enough to finish first in the Western Conference. Carolina and Toronto won 54 matches and were also the absolute best in the long series marathon.
Other big winners from the West were the Minnesota Wild and the Calgary Flames. To the surprise of many, Wild rose to 53 as the fifth best team in the regular season. The latter Flames, on the other hand, made an impressive change of direction with the head coach Darryl Sutterin in the lead: last year’s 49 percent rose to 67.
The collapses of the season
Two even very exceptional collapses were seen in the finished regular season. Rarely, if ever in modern NHL times, has a ship of two notable champions favored the bottom in a way like this season. Both the Vegas and New York Islanders were even counted as championship players during the season, but neither ended up even reaching the playoffs.
The Vegas season was mixed with injuries and also contributed to the squabbling of the club leadership. The Golden Knights began to giggle with the payroll in a way that led to confusing twists. Players were transferred to the long-term patient and back at any time on any grounds to allow the ice-operating team to fit under the payroll. Vegas, with all its contracts, was over a dozen million over the payroll. The group still had their chances in the final rounds, but the package was simply not piled up in a way that would have allowed Kirin.
The Islanders package spread as early as the fall, when it had to play its first thirteen matches on away ice. Had to because its new home hall was not ready. While the culture and game discipline of the company are still in place, the breakdown of everyday life and the difficulties of the key players confused the pasmas right from the start and the team never recovered from it. The team’s playoff dreams were practically frozen as early as February.
Number of goals
An incredible number of goals were scored in the regular season in the NHL. The teams scored as many as 3.14 goals per match in the finished series. The last reading in the full season was last 28 years ago.
Florida, which dropped an incomprehensible average of 4.14 goals per match on the board, set an example in this section as well.
The same period was last reached in Pittsburgh in 1995-1996.
The NHL League has been a great success in this regard, as ultimately the hockey entertainment industry is about entertainment value and goals are at the heart of it all. The ever-evolving skating and individual skills are reflected in the speed of the game and the finer individual performance of each other – collectively, the finishing skill is higher than ever before.
Last season, for example, only 2.94 goals were scored per match.
Individual splendor
It is clear that increased goal scores were also reflected in individual statistics. Toronto Auston Matthews scored as many as 60 goals as the third player in the 21st century. Four players eventually reached at least 50 goals. There were 17 goals for 40 goals and as many as 51 goals for 30 goals!
Eight players crossed the magical hundred-point mark. No such fireworks have been seen in the NHL in male memory.
In Finnish terms, the goal nets were also at a tense pace: for the first time ever, four Finns hit at least 35 hits – Aleksander Barkov, Mikko Rantanen, Sebastian Aho and Roope Hintz. Six of the Finnish players broke the 60-point limit, compared to four in the previous full season (2018–2019).
Finns – tops and flops
The expected names rose from the Finns to the front row in the regular season. Aleksander Barkov of Florida led his troops just as holistically as one might expect. In addition to this, he beat goals more often than ever before in his career. It is not at all exaggerated to talk about Barkov even as the best individual in the NHL, that is, in the world.
Mikko Rantanen also hit hard on the counter. New own records were set in both the goal and score columns. Rantanen also shone in almost every aspect of the game, from time to time the Turku player even played on the central striker’s plot – and at the very top level. Alongside Rantanen, Carolina’s Sebastian Aho was the absolute best of his team, or really the best and most reliable striker.
The list could go on and on: Hintz, Mikael Granlund, Hair Saros, Ville Husso, Jesse Puljujärvi, Miro Heiskanenfor the rest of the season Erik Haula and so on. Many Finns hit the table from night to night for a reliable performance.
A special mention belongs to the Florida alien striker Anton Lundellillewho played an incredible season of income. Incredibly specifically holistic at both ends of the field. Finnish hockey history does not recognize many equally impressive two-way newcomer performances at the NHL level. Lundell played in the Panthers triple chain really well and scored 18 goals with 44 points on top of everything else to do! Hardly receiving the Newcomer of the Year award, but was the best newcomer to the regular season.
Of course, there were also Finns whose season was missed for one reason or another.
Pittsburgh Kasperi Kapanen has lost his self-confidence in addition to his game and is currently a 10-11 minute player on the team. Kapanen’s Regular Series was weak compared to expectations. Jonah Donskoi and Korpisalo mixed Joel Armia are, moreover, players whose season – for whatever reason – did not go as expected.