Are our favorite teams still saddled with Problematic Players? You bet. Are we tired of these things keeping us from the game we love? One Hundred Percent! In this episode we work our way through and beyond the messiness and get back to the joy of the sport. We catch up on our teams, make a (very) small case for Torts being the right coach for Philly and how World Juniors hit a bit different in Canada this year. We give props to Boston for their “man, we really screwed up and we have a plan...

As a special treat for Incomparable membership month, Deb and Erika bring you a taste of the fun members get — by sharing their very first members-only special from 2017! Deb and Erika are joined by Lisa Schmeiser as they discuss “Goon”, the 2011 sports comedy about bros, fighting, and what it means to be part of a team. Loosely based on the life of enforcer Doug Smith, the Beginner’s Puck crew breaks down the hockey stereotypes, hockey truths, and how this bro-iest of bro movies is weirdly...

We’re back! Kinda? Sorta? It’s been a while because, honestly, this year has been ROUGH. What happens when the thing you love doesn’t love you back? Deb and Erika talk about the heartache of hockey, and we don’t mean the stuff that happens on the ice. But like any heartache, you grow and move on, a little tougher, a little wiser, and a whole lot sassier. We can’t wait to see you next season!...

It’s all happening now. Teams are shaking it up and shaking it down, skates are on ice, and we’re weeks away from the official start of the 2021-2022 season. Deb and Erika work through our varying degrees of excitement both at what’s happened over a very active summer and what we’re (sorta) looking forward to this season. Of course we’ll all be going in empty handed thanks to the new NHL bag policy but hey…it’s like they say: Hockey is for Everyone…Who Has Pockets. In this episode’s “What the...

Much like the Tampa Bay Lightning Deb and Erika are taking advantage of circumstances and letting it roll. In our case, dropping an unplanned and unscripted podcast to celebrate the official kick off of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Sorta. This ep is all about conflict: ours, Tom Wilson’s, John Tortorella’s…. But we also touch on good social media, anticipated battles, the upcoming expansion draft and our excitement of watching the Kraken in their new arena in 2022. We believe. New to Hockey? We...

Hockey, yay? Deb and Erika end their long hiatus to discuss the current state of the NHL including COVID COVID everywhere, trades that make you go “yoinks!”, outdoor games, and Crosby’s big 1000. There may also be a little bit of Tony D’Angelo schadenfreude. I mean, c’mon, we’re only human! In this ep’s “What the Puck?” we delve into the who, what and why’s of The Taxi Squad and, finally, Deb ties it all up in a neat hockey tidbit bow by remembering the 2008 Winter Classic New to Hockey? We...

So far, so good, right? The bubble appears to be holding, but but that doesn’t mean it’s all champagne and roses, especially if you’re a Bruins fan. Deb and Erika talk about today’s biggest story (Tukka Rask), last week’s biggest story (that 6+ hour game), and the final slotting of the draft lottery. (Remember that?) We also touch on the sassiness of the Jumbotron operators; the heroes and villains of the playoffs; and, of course, The Refs (See also: heroes and villains). In this episode’s...

So much has happened since we last chatted in May: there’s Kraken and bubbles and some shady Byng-ing going on. Deb and Erika reach waaaaay back and talks about the Draft Lottery, how the US couldn’t keep their #%@^ masks on and lost a hub, as well as the NHL awards that will be awarded who knows when. What even in time?! throws hands Erika gives us some perspective on what we can expect in a hub city given that she, you know, lives in one. We also talk about our conflict over how excited we...

The NHL has risen from the ashes and so has Beginner’s Puck! Join Deb and Erika as we decipher Garry Bettman’s presser, figure out who is going where and why and, more importantly, discuss whether they should. I mean, let’s face it, everyone out there is sporting masks and practising responsible social/physical distancing, right? Right?! We throw our segments out the window as work through our conflicting emotions of joy, trepidation, and despair at hockey culture’s “warrior” mentality. It’s...

It’s another special Beginner’s Puck/Hockey Feels crossover Carcast — this time with a special guest who is relatively new to hockey fandom, Chip Sudderth! When you attend a Doctor Who convention in Los Angeles, what better way to start the weekend than by braving rush-hour traffic and trekking to Anaheim to check out the Flames vs the Ducks at the Honda Center? (Turns out there may be lots of better ways…)...

The countdown to opening day continues. Deb and Erika discuss the real v. emotional toll of preseason, debate the merits of the NHL opening the season with European games (gotta grow that game! In Switzerland!). And touch on the those pesky RFA’s and who got that bread. Or that bridge. There’s a lot of b’s in the preseason. Of course we talk about Matthews. Both the ugly and the plain stupid, but pull ourselves out of spiral and end on a Cammi Granato note. In this eps “What the Puck?” we...

Hey kids, hockey is (almost) back! Join us as we kick off Beginner’s Puck Season 3 and talk training camps, the shakedown of our home team rosters and take the Wayback Machine to the Stanley Cup finals and summer trades. We also discuss the chaos surrounding the current batch of unsigned RFA’s and what to do when your fave team opens its doors to a player you absolutely, positively cannot STAND OMG. We also play the hockey version of Tinder and tell you who’s getting our swipe right for the...

We’re back with a pre-Stanley Cup episode because even when your heart is broken, it’s still hockey, amirite? Erika and Deb talk about the chaotic end of the 2018-2019 season, how to find the fannish fire when every single #&@^#% team you love is currently playing golf, what’s coming next in hockeylandia and how we just know one team is going to break our hearts next year and sign #&@^#% Voynov. In our #WhatThePuck segment we explain the flurry of signings of NCAA players and how it...

Hockey Voicemail!

Hockey Voicemail!

Deb and Erika are back and have a lot to say about Erika’s new-found passion for the Florida Panthers (you do you, girlfriend), recent games they’ve attended, the post-deadline trade fall-out (RIP Zuccarello), the REAL March Madness of playoff runs, Deb’s Duchene issues and the fan reaction to the (disproved) homophobic slur uttered at the TORvTBL game this week. In a new “What the Puck?” Deb dives into the creation and mission of “You Can Play” and how it differs from the NHL’s “Hockey is...

Analytics

Thank all that is holy, hockey is back. Sure, the ASG break is fun for SOME of us (I’m looking at you, people in Canada, who had the GOOD All-Star Weekend broadcast) but the rest of us had to suffer through the not-fun bits to see our old faves and new faves including Kendall Coyne and Brianna Decker who Tore. It. Up. Deb & Erika break down the highlights and lowlights of All-Star Weekend and the resource disparity between men and women’s pro hockey, starting from development. We also...

Rush, Odd Man and Offensive

Today our cities may be at war, but for this episode Deb and Erika cozy up and discuss the changes in management and coaching brought to our fair cities, and if they’ve made any differences. (The Philadelphia Flyer fan half of this team threw hands AND snorted.) We also discuss the NHL’s 32nd team, the upcoming World Juniors Championship, and the age old dilemma of how to deal when a player you like is traded to a team you very much do NOT like. (ANGST) And now the the Willy Nylander deal is...

Alberta Canada Carcast

Goalie equipment and NHL's sexual assault policy

How teams narrow down their rosters

Summer is over, let's do that hockey