The All About the Jersey Open Post for the NHL Qualifying Round Games

For the first time since March 12, 2020, there will be meaningful hockey games in the National Hockey League played today. They unfortunately do not involve the New Jersey Devils. However, the Devils fans should pay attention to the results of some of the series for the purposes of conditional draft picks and potential free agents. Besides, it’s meaningful hockey. It will be on throughout the day for this weekend at a minimum. This is a space where you, the People Who Matter, can talk about it as it happens.

The Dates: August 1 through August 9

The Times: Throughout the afternoons and evening (ET)

The Broadcast Information with Dates and Times: NHL.com has the full list here, which will be updated as the games progress. If you are in the local market for any of these games, then you may need to check out the local broadcasts in lieu of something like the NHL Network.

The Series Previewed: I put together a Devils-centric view of all eight Qualifying Round series over the last eight work days. You can check them out in full here.

The Eastern Conference Series

• #5 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. #12 Montreal Canadiens
• #6 Carolina Hurricanes vs. #11 Our Hated Rivals
• #7 New York Islanders vs. #10 Florida
• #8 Toronto Maple Leafs vs. #9 Columbus Blue Jackets

The Western Conference Series

• #5 Edmonton Oilers vs. #12 Chicago Blackhawks
• #6 Nashville Predators vs. #11 Arizona Coyotes
• #7 Vancouver Canucks vs. #10 Minnesota Wild
• #8 Calgary Flames vs. #9 Winnipeg Jets

The Round Robin Series: The top four seeds from each conference will be playing a round robin series to establish seeding. In the East, that is Tampa Bay, Washington, Boston, and Philadelphia. In the West, that is St. Louis, Colorado, Las Vegas, and Dallas. You can discuss those games here too.

The Song for the Games: this is effectively a Gamethread, so why not? Anyway, it is the Summer in New Jersey. Some prefer to get down to a dance tune they can pump their fists too. Others prefer to throw down in a pit with windmills and spinkicks. Why not have a song that can let you do both? With a songtitle that almost sounds like hype, which is what you should be for having literally a weekend-plus full of hockey games. The band is Eskimo Callboy and the song is “Hypa Hypa.” Note: We are not responsible for any damage caused after 2:24.

The Rules: The rules remain the rules regardless of the fact that there is meaningful NHL hockey in August which does not involve the Devils. Please keep your comments clean, legal (read: no streams, no links to streams, no asking for streams, no streams), and all about the games itself. More importantly, let’s respect each other. There’s no need for drama or being unwelcoming to your fellow Devils fan. This is a gamethread, let’s focus on the games. Thank you for reading.