Players traded to new division face ‘refreshing’ opponents
Fresh off his trade to the Penguins, Jeff Carter reminisced with Sidney Crosby about their classic battles in rivalry games back when he broke into the NHL with Philadelphia.
Now, Carter can’t wait to play against the Flyers, but not because he harbours some ill will a decade after they traded him. They’re just something different.
“The schedule’s been crazy, right?” Carter said. “I feel like I’ve played Anaheim and Vegas the whole year, so it’ll be nice. Kind of refreshing.”
Beats the same old, same old for 56 games. This unique NHL season with all divisional play gives a vast majority of players traded at the deadline an added perk: A new set of opponents for the remainder of the season.
After months of worrying only about the six other Canadian teams and not caring much about the rest of the league, Sam Bennett will get to play against six Central Division opponents after Calgary dealt him to Florida. Carter can refamiliarize himself with the East Coast. And Anthony Mantha gets to bang bodies with the Islanders, Penguins and Bruins he hasn’t seen in more than a year after joining the Washington
Capitals.
“In the years prior I played against all those guys: Pittsburgh
or New York or Boston,” Mantha said before making his Capitals debut Tuesday night against Philadelphia.
“It’s going to be exciting, obviously, seeing new faces out there. A lot of trades that happened in the last couple days, so you see new bodies in new places and it’s going to be all fun from here.”
Pittsburgh also has another difference Carter is looking forward to after playing in an empty Staples Center in Los Angeles: some people in the seats cheering for the home team.
“It’ll be nice to have some fans in the stands,” he said. “We haven’t had any in L.A., so that’ll be nice to get some fans behind you.”