Merry Christmas, everyone and Happy Chanukah! On Christmas Day, I figured I’d put up something for the holiday season.

The 2024-25 season is almost approaching the halfway point. A couple of teams have already played 37 games. That would be the first place New Jersey Devils and rebuilding San Jose Sharks. With the exception of the Tampa Bay Lightning, every other team has played at least 33 games. If you want to be specific, the Dallas Stars and Anaheim Ducks are at 33. Aside from them and the Lightning, everyone else has played at least 34.

With the holiday break, it’s a time to enjoy stuff. Even if you root for the Buffalo Sabres or Detroit Red Wings. Believe it or not, there are fans who support teams in worse situations than the New York Rangers. As poorly as they’ve played for a month, the reality is that they still have 16 wins all in regulation. If they can recollect themselves after some much needed time off, there’s plenty of games left to turn it around. That’ll require having short memories. They must move on from all the chaos that’s threatening to ruin their season. Maybe a reset can help them refocus.

There are two ways to look at things. Glass half full. Glass half empty. Despite going 4-13 over their last 17 games, the Rangers trail the Ottawa Senators by five points for the second wildcard. As well as they’ve played, the Senators still only have 13 wins in regulation. The number one tiebreaker will be a factor down the stretch. That’s why you can’t take teams such as the Pittsburgh Penguins, Columbus Blue Jackets, and Philadelphia Flyers seriously. They fall short in regulation wins. Like many mediocre teams in the league, they are flawed. At least the Pens are led by one of the game’s all-time greats. Sidney Crosby can’t help Tristan Jarry in net. Pittsburgh remains sketchy defensively with inconsistent goaltending.

Artemi Panarin had a great quote following the Rangers’ 5-0 humiliation to the Devils. “It’s too many things (to explain). But we have extra weight on us. Everyone’s trying too hard, maybe. I don’t know. We’re just not relaxed enough or something, because I can promise, everyone on the team wants to win. Everyone works hard, but sometimes, if you don’t have confidence, you’re not in right place mentally. You just feel like everything is harder than it is. That’s what it looks like.”

Panarin is trying to take more of a leadership role. If he wants to help lead the team out of the funk they’re currently in, he must step it up. Even the Rangers’ leading scorer has seen his offense slip, with only five goals over the last 14 games. Since tallying twice in a 4-2 win over the Penguins on Dec. 6, Panarin has gone seven straight games without a goal. He still has picked up five assists but his play hasn’t been as consistent. That includes in the defensive end. When Timo Meier got away with a cross-check on Panarin, he immediately responded by going back at Meier. Panarin has shown that he’s willing to battle opponents when they take liberties. What’s problematic is that nobody came in to defend him. That wouldn’t have happened last season.

Vincent Trocheck had some strong words for their performance on Monday. “We’ve got to show more heart,” he told reporters. “We should be embarrassed.”

“It sucks,” Trocheck added of all the losing. “It’s not fun. The worst part is we know − I mean, I know what we’re capable of. You guys know what we’re capable. You saw it last year. It’s just not there.”

When asked about the fight he had with Paul Cotter, who’s been a good addition to a grittier Devils team that’s in first place in the Metropolitan Division, Trocheck said it’s not something he pre-planned. Of all the Rangers’ skaters, he’s been front and center following losses. During games, he’s one of the few players who’s been putting forth an honest effort. It hasn’t been easy on anyone. The Rangers bid adieu to former captain Jacob Trouba and then said goodbye to Kaapo Kakko. Scratching Chris Kreider didn’t have the dramatic effect Peter Laviolette wanted. Instead, they played worse without one of their best players.

When they return for an important two-game Florida trip against the Lightning and Panthers to conclude 2024, it’ll be interesting to see if anything changes. Can the Rangers find it or is it a lost cause? We’ll have our answer soon.

Laine Gets a Rude Welcome Back

In his return to Columbus to face the Blue Jackets, Patrik Laine received a rude welcome back on Monday, Dec. 23. After spending parts of three seasons there, he asked for a trade in the off-season. The Blue Jackets dealt him and a 2026 second round pick to the Montreal Canadiens for Jordan Harris on Aug. 19.

After finally recovering from a leg injury, he’d played pretty well for the Canadiens by scoring eight goals in his first nine games. All eight came on the power play to set a record. Leading up to the game against his former team, Laine thought it would be a good idea to criticize them. “I feel like we were just doing the same thing year after year. I was tired of losing and just giving up.”

That didn’t sit well with former teammates. During the game, they made sure to let Laine know about it by finishing checks on him. Eventually, he left the game with an upper-body injury. After taking six shifts (6:15) in the first period, he didn’t return. Following the Habs’ 5-4 overtime loss to the Blue Jackets, Zach Werenski had some choice words for Laine.

Werenski was probably referring to Laine checking himself into the NHL Player Assistance Program last season. He only played in 18 games in 2023-24 – posting six goals and three assists for nine points and a minus-10 rating. From the looks of it, it feels like Laine quit on the Blue Jackets. No wonder they were upset with what he told the media before the game.

It came off as soft. For as talented a player as he is, Laine leaves fans wanting more. Selected second by the Winnipeg Jets in 2016, he never has been able to match the first two seasons when he put up 36 goals his rookie year and 44 in his second year. In fact, he’s only scored 30 once since then. Injuries have plagued his career. Laine hasn’t come close to playing in 82 games since he was 20. At some point, he has to change that narrative. The Canadiens play in one of the biggest media markets. The pressure and expectations are immense.

Christmas Stockings

Christmas stockings are all part of the holiday fun every year. Let’s see who’s been naughty or nice.

NAUGHTY LIST

Mika Zibanejad NYR 6 goals and -19 in 34 games. No 5-on-5 goals over last 17 games.

Jeremy Swayman BOS 12-10-3 3.05 GAA .887 Save Pct.

Dylan Cozens BUF 7 goals 41 PIM -7 in 35 games.

Wyatt Johnston DAL 6 goals in 33 games.

Patrick Kane and Vladimir Tarasenko DET 9 combined goals and a -16.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins EDM 6 goals and 12 assists in 33 games.

Steven Stamkos NSH 10 goals and 10 assists -10 in 35 games.

Brady Skjei NSH 3 goals and 8 assists in 35 games.

Alexis Lafreniere NYR 9 goals and a -15 in 34 games. 1 goal in last 16 games.

Juraj Slafkovsky MTL 4 goals and -11 in 31 games.

Quenton Byfield LAK 6 goals and 9 assists in 34 games.

Carter Verhaeghe FLA 9 goals and -19 in 36 games.

MacKenzie Weegar CGY 4 goals in 34 games.

Taylor Hall CHI 7 goals and 11 assists in 34 games.

Kris Letang PIT 7-9-16 and a -16 in 33 games.

NICE LIST

Kirill Kaprizov MIN 23 goals and 27 assists and +21 in 34 games.

Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen COL 33 combined goals and 109 points.

Leon Draisaitl EDM League-leading 24 goals, 52 points and league best 8 GWG in 34 games.

Martin Necas CAR 14 goals and 30 assists for 44 points in 34 games.

Jesper Bratt and Jack Hughes NJD 29 goals and 61 assists for a combined 90 points.

Nico Hischier NJD 17 goals and 16 assists and +14 in 37 games.

Jack Eichel VGK 9 goals and 36 assists and +17 in 34 games.

Quinn Hughes VAN 8 goals and 34 assists and +14 in 34 games.

Zach Werenski CBJ 11 goals and 24 assists in 35 games.

Cale Makar COL 11 goals and 34 assists in 36 games.

Josh Morrissey WPG 3 goals and 30 assists and +10 in 36 games.

Shea Theodore VGK 4 goals and 24 assists in 33 games.

Connor McDavid EDM 15 goals and 34 assists in 31 games.

Sam Reinhart FLA 22 goals and 23 assists with league-leading 4 shorthanded goals in 34 games.

Aleksander Barkov FLA 10 goals and 23 assists in 26 games.

Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor WPG 42 goals and 88 points combined.

Anze Kopitar LAK 10 goals and 27 assists and +15 in 34 games.

William Nylander TOR 23 goals and 17 assists in 35 games.

Mitch Marner TOR 10 goals and 36 assists in 35 games.

John Tavares TOR 17 goals and 17 assists in 34 games.

Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point TBL 36 goals and 52 assists combined.

Brandon Hagel TBL 16 goals and 23 assists and 2 shorthanded goals in 32 games.

Anthony Cirelli TBL 13 goals and 17 assists and +18 in 31 games.

Tim Stutzle OTT 11 goals and 28 assists in 34 games.

Drake Batherson and Brady Tkachuk OTT 29 goals and 38 assists combined.

Dylan Strome WSH 11 goals and 27 assists in 34 games.

Connor McMichael and Aliaksei Protas WSH 30 goals and 28 assists and +27 combined.

Sidney Crosby PIT 10 goals and 29 assists in 36 games.

Travis Konecny PHI 16 goals and 25 assists in 35 games.

Dylan Guenther UTA 16 goals and 16 assists and 7 power play goals in 34 games.

Logan Cooley UTA 8 goals and 22 assists and +14 in 34 games.

Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield MTL 28 goals and 39 assists combined.

Mikael Granlund SJS 11 goals and 22 assists in 35 games.

Connor Bedard CHI 9 goals and 21 assists in 35 games.

Connor Hellebuyck WPG 22 wins in 28 starts 2.07 GAA .927 save percentage and 4 shutouts.

Filip Gustavsson MIN 15 wins 2.28 GAA .921 save percentage and 2 shutouts in 23 games.

Jacob Markstrom NJD 18 wins 2.12 GAA .912 save percentage and 3 shutouts in 26 games.

Linus Ullmark OTT 12 wins 2.38 GAA .915 save percentage and 3 shutouts in 23 games.

Logan Thompson WSH 13 wins in 17 starts 2.40 GAA .914 save percentage.

Kevin Lankinen VAN 14 wins 2.61 GAA .907 save percentage and 3 shutouts.

Matvei Michkov PHI 11 goals and 16 assists in 33 games.

Lane Hutson MTL 2 goals and 24 assists in 34 games.

Macklin Celebrini SJS 11 goals and 14 assists in 25 games.

Maxim Tsyplakov NYI 7 goals and 12 assists and a +11 in 35 games.

Dustin Wolf CGY 10 wins 2.80 GAA .910 save percentage 2 shutouts in 17 games.

World Juniors Starts

On Boxing Day in Canada, the World Juniors starts up in Ottawa. Ten countries are participating. Group A features Canada, Finland, Germany, Latvia, and USA. Group B features Czechia, Kazakhstan, Slovakia, Sweden, and Switzerland.

Day 1 includes four games in the round robin tournament. Here is the schedule:

Slovakia vs. Sweden 12 PM

USA vs Germany 2:30 PM

Czechia vs. Switzerland 5 PM

Finland vs. Canada 7:30 PM

Games can be seen on NHL Network. Team USA look to defend their gold medal. Returning players include Trey Augustine, Zeev Buium, Drew Fortescue, Sam Hillebrandt, Ryan Leonard, Oliver Moore, Aram Minnetian, Danny Nelson, Gabe Perreault and Carey Terrance. The Boston College connection of Leonard and Perreault were key factors to last year’s gold medal win over Sweden.

BC freshman James Hagens joins them on the roster. A top prospect, the center is expected to be selected in the top four at next year’s NHL Draft. So far, he has five goals and 15 assists in 16 games. He ranks second in team scoring behind Perreault, who leads Boston College with 23 points. Leonard paces them in goals with 12. It’s a good bet that Hagens will center Leonard and Perreault on Team USA.