Ice Hockey Fans in the Playground!! [Archive] - Giant in the Playground Forums

Chunklets

2010-10-07, 06:15 PM

Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll

2010-10-07, 06:46 PM

So, they closed down major streets in Toronto for the Leafs game! Leafs are totally going to win the cup today! :smallamused:

Yeah.

No.

God, I don't understand Leafs games, and I LIVE in Toronto! (Everyone knows the Habs are the way to go)

Chunklets

2010-10-07, 06:57 PM

God, I don't understand Leafs games, and I LIVE in Toronto! (Everyone knows the Habs are the way to go)

The Habbies have always been my second team, but I'm not foreseeing great things for them this season. I worry about Carey Price's mental state... Hopefully they can prove me wrong!

Walrus

2010-10-07, 08:51 PM

I think the Leafs are going to surprise some people this season. With solidified goaltending and a bit more scoring punch in the forwards, I wouldn't be surprised if they pushed for a playoff spot. Unless they get an injury, then they're in trouble.

I don't have a lot of confidence in the Habs this season. The treatment that Carey Price is getting from the fans is probably going to crush his confidence and ensure that Pierre Gauthier looks like an idiot by the end of the season (especially since he moved the Habs' best goalie prospect in the AHL, Cedric Desjardins, to Tampa).

I have a mostly unfounded optimism that the Oilers might be able to pull something like the Avalanche did last year and sneak into the playoffs, but realistically I think they'll probably be in the chase for the 8th place spot until the last couple of weeks. I also don't expect Hall to be the best of the rookies. Long-term? Maybe. But this season? I think Paajarvi and Eberle's experience is going to result in them being able to adapt to the NHL more easily.

CynicalAvocado

2010-10-07, 08:57 PM

i was a block away from the riots when the avalanches won the stanley cup a few years back

Ravens_cry

2010-10-07, 09:06 PM

Still a Canucks hoper. We may not win, we may have never won, but someday, it's bound to happen, right? Right?!
Go play Hockey like it's 1994, again! Only better!

CynicalAvocado

2010-10-07, 09:11 PM

i'm divided between the CO avalanche and the NJ devils

Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll

2010-10-07, 09:20 PM

Canucks, Leafs, Oilers, Habs, I don't care, as long as whoever wins is Canadian! (Unless they're the Sen's. I have a completely irrational hate-on for the Sen's)

CynicalAvocado

2010-10-07, 09:31 PM

speaking of canadia, who else won money off the Canada/America game in the olympics?

snoopy13a

2010-10-07, 09:35 PM

Still a Canucks hoper. We may not win, we may have never won, but someday, it's bound to happen, right? Right?!
Go play Hockey like it's 1994, again! Only better!

I'm a Rangers fan. We did play better :smallbiggrin:

Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll

2010-10-07, 09:35 PM

speaking of canadia, who else won money off the Canada/America game in the olympics?

Yup. The one American girl wouldn't talk to us for weeks, because she was expecting us to be gloating, and we were merely condescending. :smallbiggrin:
That was one helluva game.

CynicalAvocado

2010-10-07, 09:43 PM

Yup. The one American girl wouldn't talk to us for weeks, because she was expecting us to be gloating, and we were merely condescending. :smallbiggrin:
That was one helluva game.

hell, my classmates hated me because i put money on a country that wasn't mine... actually..... the hate may have been justified.... oh well ben franklin and his 3 twins dont mind.

Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll

2010-10-07, 09:48 PM

hell, my classmates hated me because i put money on a country that wasn't mine... actually..... the hate may have been justified.... oh well ben franklin and his 3 twins dont mind.

... which bill has Franklin on it?

Oh, and I was overexaggerating a touch. She was just a touch bitter for a day or two. It was a real nice touch that it was Crosby who finished though.

Also: My best friend and I got that NHL video game, and played a Canada Olympics team vs the Habs Centenial team, a team which had every best player the Habs ever got on it. We just spent the entire game trying to get Crosby to fight le Rochet. We never did manage it.

CynicalAvocado

2010-10-07, 09:52 PM

... which bill has Franklin on it?

Oh, and I was overexaggerating a touch. She was just a touch bitter for a day or two. It was a real nice touch that it was Crosby who finished though.

Also: My best friend and I got that NHL video game, and played a Canada Olympics team vs the Habs Centenial team, a team which had every best player the Habs ever got on it. We just spent the entire game trying to get Crosby to fight le Rochet. We never did manage it.

the 100 dollar one

Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll

2010-10-07, 09:55 PM

the 100 dollar one

You won $400 dollars? Man, I only won 10, but that's cause only the one girl would bet against Canada.

CynicalAvocado

2010-10-07, 09:57 PM

You won $400 dollars? Man, I only won 10, but that's cause only the one girl would bet against Canada.

you underestimate the stupidity of my classmates. hell, there was one guy who said america would win because we were americans...(i'll let you figure that one out)

Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll

2010-10-07, 09:58 PM

you underestimate the stupidity of my classmates. hell, there was one guy who said america would win because we were americans...(i'll let you figure that one out)

That is very special. That is quite special. Do they think that America will win the Stanley as well? That'll show the Russian team, eh? :smallsigh:

CynicalAvocado

2010-10-07, 10:01 PM

That is very special. That is quite special. Do they think that America will win the Stanley as well? That'll show the Russian team, eh? :smallsigh:

gotta love rednecks.:smallbiggrin: honestly though, i think the devils might do it this year

KerfuffleMach2

2010-10-07, 10:04 PM

I'm not a big fan of hockey, but I'll watch the odd game. And, I support my home team, the Red Wings. And, I'm going to make the prediction that they'll make it to the playoffs again. As they have for the past 19 years.

speaking of canadia, who else won money off the Canada/America game in the olympics?

I find it funny that two of the coaching staff for Canada in that game were connected to the Red Wings. As were a couple players.

kyoryu

2010-10-08, 12:32 PM

i'm divided between the CO avalanche and the NJ devils

Goalie fan, by any chance?

Still a Canucks hoper. We may not win, we may have never won, but someday, it's bound to happen, right? Right?!
Go play Hockey like it's 1994, again! Only better!

You got rid of Crawford and Bertuzzi, so sure, fine :)

Ravens_cry

2010-10-08, 12:45 PM

I'm a Rangers fan. We did play better :smallbiggrin:
Still was an awesome series for us Canuckleheads, and was in fact the one that got me interested in Hockey to begin with.
Ooh, the tension when your a kid and watching the series on a fuzzy rabbit ears set tuned to the CBC.

you underestimate the stupidity of my classmates. hell, there was one guy who said america would win because we were americans...(i'll let you figure that one out)
Oh, wow. Takes all kinds, eh?

Don Julio Anejo

2010-10-08, 01:38 PM

Still a Canucks hoper. We may not win, we may have never won, but someday, it's bound to happen, right? Right?!
Go play Hockey like it's 1994, again! Only better!
Dude, word choice! "Still" ?? This is pretty much the year to be a Canucks hoper, very much NOT a season to barely hold on to hope :tongue:

Anyway... I'm half more excited about the players than the team itself this year. Not much else to say for now since I'm running off to school, although Hamhuis looked damn good in the preseason, it sucks we didn't sayng B-Mo (that's Brendan Morrison for you), even if it's true we didn't have a place to fit him, other than as a temp winger on the 2nd/3rd lines until Burrows comes back.

Oh, and the LA team looks like a beast. I was jumping with joy when they *didn't* sign Kovalchuk!

Joran

2010-10-08, 04:50 PM

Dude, word choice! "Still" ?? This is pretty much the year to be a Canucks hoper, very much NOT a season to barely hold on to hope :tongue:

Anyway... I'm half more excited about the players than the team itself this year. Not much else to say for now since I'm running off to school, although Hamhuis looked damn good in the preseason, it sucks we didn't sayng B-Mo (that's Brendan Morrison for you), even if it's true we didn't have a place to fit him, other than as a temp winger on the 2nd/3rd lines until Burrows comes back.

Oh, and the LA team looks like a beast. I was jumping with joy when they *didn't* sign Kovalchuk!

As a Capitals fan, we weren't impressed with B-Mo. He started out very strong, then faded a ton after the Olympic break. Our 2nd and 3rd centers are currently a converted winger (who was a converted center) who's Charmin soft and terrible at faceoffs and a rookie.

For Capitals fans, there really isn't much point to the regular season now. We're waiting until the trading deadline, to see who we pick up, and the start of the postseason to see if we can FINALLY get to the Finals.

Chunklets

2010-10-09, 04:15 PM

For Capitals fans, there really isn't much point to the regular season now. We're waiting until the trading deadline, to see who we pick up, and the start of the postseason to see if we can FINALLY get to the Finals.

Simply put, the Capitals are a goalie away from contending. Come the deadline, I'd expect them to be sniffing around veteran guys on non-playoff teams (does Dwayne Roloson have another good playoff run in him, or maybe Giguere if Toronto is out of contention?). I think that everything else is in place, though!

And may I just say that Thursday night was very tasty indeed (http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/2010/10/08/oilers_beat_flames/?source=topstories)! I could quite easily get used to this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCmc33bqPUg&feature=related)!

Don Julio Anejo

2010-10-09, 08:32 PM

Walrus

2010-10-09, 08:59 PM

I think any playoff team looking for a goalie at the deadline should take a long hard look at Dwayne Roloson. Can he replicate his '06 performance with the Oilers? Maybe, maybe not. But a team like the Capitals has so much talent that they really just need their goalie not to lose them games. Maybe steal one or two.

Also, any guesses on how long it'll take for Roloson to be the undisputed #1 in Long Island because Rick DiPietro gets hurt again? I figure mid-November. Maybe December if there's some sort of rotation system.

I could see the Oilers dealing Khabibulin to a contender at the deadline if we're out of the playoff picture by then. Khabibulin's getting old and his contract isn't ideal, and they can call Gerber up from Oklahoma City to finish out the season (or whichever youngster gets sent back down, if they don't get plucked on waivers).

Chunklets

2010-10-11, 05:05 PM

J.S. Giguere, I'm not sure they could pull off with the cap space and without trading away their future. Roloson (or maybe Khabibulin if they get lucky and Edmonton gets stupid) they can do. But honestly, Varlamov seems better and better so I'd stick with him for now. Although I don't watch very many caps games so I haven't seen him play much.

You've got a point there about Giguere - he's on a cap hit of $6,000,000 this year. That said, Washington has about 3.3 million in cap space right now, so if they waited until the trade deadline they could afford him, and his contract ends after this year, so the Caps wouldn't have to worry about the $6 million next year.

On the other hand, the way Leafs have started, it's all moot anyway - they could quite easily still be in the playoff picture come the deadline! I've seen both their games so far, and am really surprised at how fast they are.

And may I just say that CapGeek (http://www.capgeek.com/) is an awesome site! :smallwink:

I could see the Oilers dealing Khabibulin to a contender at the deadline if we're out of the playoff picture by then. Khabibulin's getting old and his contract isn't ideal, and they can call Gerber up from Oklahoma City to finish out the season (or whichever youngster gets sent back down, if they don't get plucked on waivers).

I think that Khabi's contract will make it difficult to trade him without taking taking a bad contrac back. The cap hit's not bad (3.75 million), especially for a late-season deal, but he's two more seasons to go on that thing after this one. That may make some teams back off. That, and the way he's started this season, I'm not sure I want the Oil to trade him! :smallbiggrin: I mean, as fun as Thursday was, last night was a humbling return to reality. The Oilers had no business winning that game.

I think you're dead right on Gerber - I won't be surprised at all to see him in Edmonton at some point this season.

PS: forgot to say. Daym, Oilers are looking good :smallwink:

Well, we're 2-0, and let's just leave it at that without going into too much detail about recent games against the Panthers... :smallsmile:

I enjoyed the Canucks' "Captaincy Ceremony" on Saturday night - very classy, I thought!

Walrus

2010-10-11, 08:42 PM

That game against the Panthers will hopefully turn into a good teaching moment, since the systems play fell apart in the face of what was, to be fair, a superb Florida forecheck.

Also a good lesson that garbage goals are how you win tough games. Apparently the Oilers are finally doing that "bodies in front of the net" thing that they kept saying they needed to do last year.

Has there been any information released on what exactly happened to Ondrej Pavelec in that Thrashers/Caps game? I saw a clip of it and it was pretty bizarre. And must have been terrifying for everybody involved.

Don Julio Anejo

2010-10-12, 12:23 AM

And may I just say that CapGeek (http://www.capgeek.com/) is an awesome site! :smallwink:
Yes. Yes it is :smile:

I think that Khabi's contract will make it difficult to trade him without taking taking a bad contrac back. The cap hit's not bad (3.75 million), especially for a late-season deal, but he's two more seasons to go on that thing after this one. That may make some teams back off.

Eh, most teams will be quite happy if they can pull off a Chicago and then be stuck with too much salary cap the next season.

I enjoyed the Canucks' "Captaincy Ceremony" on Saturday night - very classy, I thought!
Me personally? When I saw that, I wanted Kurtenbach to invite both Henrik and Kesler, then go eeny-meeny-miny-moe and finally hand it to Henrik :tongue: The way they did it was kinda... bland. Although agreed that it's quite classy, especially with the 40th anniversary ceremony and our first ever captain handing him the jersey.

PS: Panthers is one team I don't understand. They constantly trade away their best players for money, yet each year they come back better than ever. Unfortunately this "better than never" isn't good enough to make the playoffs, but given what they have to work with.. Heck, they peppered Luongo with 42 shots tonight and that forecheck could have made it 3-1 easy at a few points in the game.

But I am very, very happy to see Luongo back to his old 06-07 form :smile:

Indurain

2010-10-12, 12:53 AM

I'm a lifelong Leafer, and have to say that things are looking better this year...but what else is new. I think I'll save my optimism until we're out of October at least.

Here's my thoughts on some of the other teams we've been discussing:

Oilers: Yeah, the kids are looking good, but probably won't be in playoff contention. But I doubt they'll be in the basement this year.

Canucks: I think I've been saying they'll win (or at least play for) the cup, for the last 4-5 years. This year, I'm not going to, just because I'm sick of being wrong. They have the talent, but there's something about the Playoffs that make the Canucks crumble.

Habs: Carey Price just isn't that good. And until they learn that, they just won't win the cup.

Capitals: Will pick up Carey Price at the trade deadline, and still get eliminated in the second round.

Devils: I hate to say it, but Brodeur is on the downhill, and until they get over him, they just won't be cup contenders again. That said, he's still my favourite goalie in the NHL.

Just a few thoughts, but I'm excited for this season. I think we'll see a few suprises this year. Cup prediction: Pittsburgh defeats Chicago.

SensFan

2010-10-12, 06:38 AM

Personally, I don't think the Caps are even close to competing. The team hasn't been built with the goal of winning in the play-offs, it's geared towards being dominant in the regular season, and selling tickets. Frankly, I'm not sure Ovechkin is capable of winning it all at any level, whether it be the Cup or Olympic Gold. He's one of the most exciting players to watch, unless he's up against good opposition, in which case he disappears.

The East in general looks completely wide open this year. There's a couple teams that will be quite good (Jersey, Pitt), a handful of teams that will be soild (Buff, Tampa, etc...), and then a few teams that will look to crack into the playoffs (Leafs, Habs, etc...). And then there's Ottawa, who will either be great - if the goaltending holds up and the offense-focussed changes work - or awful - if one or both don't. So far, it's not looking so good... :smallsigh:

The West I feel is more divided. There's the top teams and the bottom teams. Vancouver, LA, San Jose, etc... will be the class of the West, with the rest of the conference fighting to make the playoffs and hopefully go on a run similar to that of the '09 Habs (though with probably less everyone-but-the-goalie-sucks syndrome).

Cup prediction would be Vancouver over Jersey. Two of the best goalies in the game, but Luongo will be much more rested this year than last, and Brodeur isn't as young as he used to be and won't have another Cup in him.

Don Julio Anejo

2010-10-12, 02:02 PM

Cup prediction would be Vancouver over Jersey. Two of the best goalies in the game, but Luongo will be much more rested this year than last, and Brodeur isn't as young as he used to be and won't have another Cup in him.
Eh, I wouldn't count on it. Half-way through the year they'll decide a 2.8 GAA or somesuch is bad for a rookie goalie with 5 games of NHL experience and decide to play Luongo for his normal 70 games a season. Hilarity will ensue as we lose to Chicago Blackhawks in the second round third year straight.

On Washington: they've got a good offence, that's a plus. As for defence... Well, they've got a good offense :tongue: The problem is, in the regular season teams realize Caps are good but don't do much about it, it's just another 4-6 games they have to play and they'll probably win 1-2 anyway. In the playoffs, on the other hand, the entire team is committed to shutting down Ovie/Semin/Backstrom/Green/Knuble/etc. Most teams can successfully do it since Caps usually ice one good line and the rest are only mediocre.

And now... Washington has absolutely no-one to stop the pucks from going into their OWN net. Yep, absolutely no-one :smallwink:

SensFan

2010-10-12, 02:09 PM

Eh, I wouldn't count on it. Half-way through the year they'll decide a 2.8 GAA or somesuch is bad for a rookie goalie with 5 games of NHL experience and decide to play Luongo for his normal 70 games a season. Hilarity will ensue as we lose to Chicago Blackhawks in the second round third year straight.
If nothing else, there's 7ish(?) less Olympic games to play

On Washington: they've got a good offence, that's a plus. As for defence... Well, they've got a good offense :tongue: The problem is, in the regular season teams realize Caps are good but don't do much about it, it's just another 4-6 games they have to play and they'll probably win 1-2 anyway. In the playoffs, on the other hand, the entire team is committed to shutting down Ovie/Semin/Backstrom/Green/Knuble/etc. Most teams can successfully do it since Caps usually ice one good line and the rest are only mediocre.

And now... Washington has absolutely no-one to stop the pucks from going into their OWN net. Yep, absolutely no-one :smallwink:
To be fair, Washington was a tiny market before Ovechkin was drafted. It's quite understandable that the management and/or ownership would rather fill seats for 41 games, not to mention create a huge buzz around the team, than get a small chance of winning 4 best-of-seven series.

Joran

2010-10-12, 02:58 PM

I was actually very surprised when Caps didn't sign Antti Niemi (although he did go to San Jose who would have been in severe goalie trouble if they didn't sign him, now at least one of the Anti's is likely to carry them).

J.S. Giguere, I'm not sure they could pull off with the cap space and without trading away their future. Roloson (or maybe Khabibulin if they get lucky and Edmonton gets stupid) they can do. But honestly, Varlamov seems better and better so I'd stick with him for now. Although I don't watch very many caps games so I haven't seen him play much.

There's nothing to say that Michal Neuvirth or Semyon Varlamov cannot be this year's Niemi. Judging by how tepid the off-season goalie market was and how playoff heroes, Halak and Niemi came from nowhere, goalie seems like one of those positions where it's possible for anyone to catch lightning in a bottle.

I'm comfortable with Michal Neuvirth (two time Calder Cup champion) and Semyon Varlamov (very good as long as he's healthy, which is starting to become an issue) in goal. The needs for the Caps are a 3rd or 4th defenseman and a 2nd or 3rd line center. The defenseman to take pressure off our two rookie defensemen and to relegate Erskine/Sloan to healthy scratch-dom. The center is needed for some defensive awareness on the second line and to create opportunities for Semin/Laich. Fleischmann has the tendency to be paper soft in the corners and fails in his own zone.

Oddly enough, when you look at the Montreal series, it's not the defense or goaltending that let down the Caps, it was the offense. The Caps were an absolutely putrid 1 of 33 on the Power Play after having the best power play in the league. If they were even close to the 20% they had in the regular season, the series would have been a sweep. The problem is that the Caps did not do a good job of adjusting to how the Canadiens were playing them.

Personally, I don't think the Caps are even close to competing. The team hasn't been built with the goal of winning in the play-offs, it's geared towards being dominant in the regular season, and selling tickets. Frankly, I'm not sure Ovechkin is capable of winning it all at any level, whether it be the Cup or Olympic Gold. He's one of the most exciting players to watch, unless he's up against good opposition, in which case he disappears.

Let's look up Ovechkin's playoff stats.

In 3 playoff series appearances, he's played 28 games with 20 goals, 20 assists, and a +/- of +14. He scores 1.4 points per game. Uh... shrinking in the playoffs, this is not. Hockey is a team game. Ovechkin plays, what, 20-25 minutes a game? He can't be on the ice all the time and he needs some help. Too bad Alexander Semin and Tomas Fleischmann didn't show up at all last playoffs.

Keld Denar

2010-10-12, 03:14 PM

So, I talked to my parents yesterday, and they are mailing my gear out to Seattle. I'll be playing in a VERY low contact old man's league this year. Its gonna be tough on me to be a defenseman who DOESN'T rely on beating the crap out of people. The cool thing is, my buddy who'll be playing with me is a lefty. With me on left D and him on right D, we'll be able to set up some killer 1-timers. I wonder if I can even shoot still...its been like, 8 or 9 years since I last played! lol!

Chunklets

2010-10-12, 04:25 PM

That game against the Panthers will hopefully turn into a good teaching moment, since the systems play fell apart in the face of what was, to be fair, a superb Florida forecheck.

I agree fully, and one of the things that's had me happy with Renney so far this year has been the overt focus on teaching. I'd imagine that practise this week has seen a fair amount of time with the whiteboard!

Has there been any information released on what exactly happened to Ondrej Pavelec in that Thrashers/Caps game? I saw a clip of it and it was pretty bizarre. And must have been terrifying for everybody involved.

Apparently, it was a fainting spell (http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=337059), perhaps brought on by prolonged standing combined with stress (been there). As you said, terrifying, and I'm glad it wasn't anything more serious. I feel for the guy that he got a concussion when he fell, though.

I'm a lifelong Leafer, and have to say that things are looking better this year...but what else is new. I think I'll save my optimism until we're out of October at least.

This is probably wise, for Leafs and Oilers fans alike! :smallwink: Nonetheless, I've been very impressed with the Leafs, and am looking forward to what they can do tomorrow against the Pens. Thoughts on the waiving of Jeff Finger (http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=337178)?

Oilers: Yeah, the kids are looking good, but probably won't be in playoff contention. But I doubt they'll be in the basement this year.

I think that's pretty much the consensus around here as well. The only way the Oilers make the playoffs is if Khabibulin stays healthy and good, and the kids climb that learning curve very quickly. I've noticed on my trips around the Oilogosphere that people are generally fairly laid-back and cheerful - nobody's expecting too much this season.

There's nothing to say that Michal Neuvirth or Semyon Varlamov cannot be this year's Niemi. Judging by how tepid the off-season goalie market was and how playoff heroes, Halak and Niemi came from nowhere, goalie seems like one of those positions where it's possible for anyone to catch lightning in a bottle.

Fair enough, and I actually looked up Neuvirth's stats - they're better, at both the AHL and NHL level, than I'd expected. I wouldn't put too much stake in his Calder Cup victories, though; Hershey have had an awesome team overall for that league the last couple of years (they're likely to be that way this year as well, particularly if they have a healthy Souray for the entire season). How bad are Varlamov's injury concerns? I still think, if I were Washington, that I'd want veteran cover somewhere in the system.

So, I talked to my parents yesterday, and they are mailing my gear out to Seattle. I'll be playing in a VERY low contact old man's league this year. Its gonna be tough on me to be a defenseman who DOESN'T rely on beating the crap out of people. The cool thing is, my buddy who'll be playing with me is a lefty. With me on left D and him on right D, we'll be able to set up some killer 1-timers. I wonder if I can even shoot still...its been like, 8 or 9 years since I last played! lol!

Well, good luck with your return to the ice! We shall expect, nay demand, regular updates! :smallbiggrin:

Don Julio Anejo

2010-10-12, 04:25 PM

Oddly enough, when you look at the Montreal series, it's not the defense or goaltending that let down the Caps, it was the offense. The Caps were an absolutely putrid 1 of 33 on the Power Play after having the best power play in the league. If they were even close to the 20% they had in the regular season, the series would have been a sweep. The problem is that the Caps did not do a good job of adjusting to how the Canadiens were playing them.

Exactly my point. An offence that relies on only a few players can be shut down. You need either depth or a goalie that saves better than Jesus to make up for it. It failed Washington last playoffs, it failed San Jose every playoffs (to be fair they have depth, it's the entire team that just kinda seems to choke, starting at the top with Jumbo Joe) and it failed Ottawa in the cup finals in '07.

PS: I realized that in recent history more playoff successes came from hot no-name goalies. Look at big names who did pretty well: Giguere, Osgood, Hasek, Fleury, Brodeur (before the lockout). That's about it. No-names: counting cup rings alone gets you Niemi and Ward, then there's guys who went to finals: Roloson, Boucher, Giguere when he was a no-name (before the lockout though). And there's Halak, who came pretty damn close to the finals.

On the other hand look at all the big name goalies that choked: Luongo, Brodeur (post-lockout), Nabokov (numerous times), Lundqvist, Miller, Thomas, Theodore, Kipper (to be fair he's not to blame, his team is)... the list goes on. Sure, teams carry some of the blame, but when your team scores 5 goals in an elimination game and you can't win because your all-star goalie let in 7, makes you rethink.

Joran

2010-10-12, 05:07 PM

Apparently, it was a fainting spell (http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=337059), perhaps brought on by prolonged standing combined with stress (been there). As you said, terrifying, and I'm glad it wasn't anything more serious. I feel for the guy that he got a concussion when he fell, though.

That was very frightening. I was watching live on TV and immediately thought stroke or heart attack.

Fair enough, and I actually looked up Neuvirth's stats - they're better, at both the AHL and NHL level, than I'd expected. I wouldn't put too much stake in his Calder Cup victories, though; Hershey have had an awesome team overall for that league the last couple of years (they're likely to be that way this year as well, particularly if they have a healthy Souray for the entire season). How bad are Varlamov's injury concerns? I still think, if I were Washington, that I'd want veteran cover somewhere in the system.

Well, the Varlamov durability concerns are starting to get legitimate. He missed a couple of months last year due to a groin injury and now he's out again with a groin injury. He seems to be susceptible to these kinds of injuries with his goaltending style, so there's some question whether or not he can stay healthy.

Exactly my point. An offence that relies on only a few players can be shut down. You need either depth or a goalie that saves better than Jesus to make up for it. It failed Washington last playoffs, it failed San Jose every playoffs (to be fair they have depth, it's the entire team that just kinda seems to choke, starting at the top with Jumbo Joe) and it failed Ottawa in the cup finals in '07.

Depthwise, the Caps had 7 players with 20+ goals, with Mike Green just a little behind at 19. A lot of those goals came on the power play, so it inflates the stats of players like Brooks Laich (12 PP), Tomas Fleischmann (7 PP), and Mike Green (10 PP). I do agree with you that the Capitals need a little bit of secondary scoring. The solution is to get a veteran 2nd center to set up Brooks Laich and Alexander Semin, so we don't need to rely on the first line offense or the PP to generate scoring.

Indurain

2010-10-12, 06:39 PM

This is probably wise, for Leafs and Oilers fans alike! :smallwink: Nonetheless, I've been very impressed with the Leafs, and am looking forward to what they can do tomorrow against the Pens. Thoughts on the waiving of Jeff Finger (http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=337178)?

Well, the one thing the Leafs aren't short of is talented defencemen. Finger just wasn't fitting into the plan. However, if Burke can move Kaberle, I'd expect to see Finger back in the Blue and White.

(But that's a big if. I don't think the rest of the league feels Kaberle is as valuable as Burke does. Which I always find suprising, because I still think he's one of the best puck-moving D-men in the league.)

Chunklets

2010-10-14, 04:57 PM

Well, the one thing the Leafs aren't short of is talented defencemen. Finger just wasn't fitting into the plan. However, if Burke can move Kaberle, I'd expect to see Finger back in the Blue and White.

(But that's a big if. I don't think the rest of the league feels Kaberle is as valuable as Burke does. Which I always find suprising, because I still think he's one of the best puck-moving D-men in the league.)

Yeah, I'm a little bit puzzled as to why the Leafs were trying to off-load Kaberle in the first place, unless Burke is committing to a full-scale tear-down and rebuild, no ifs ands or buts. I think Kaberle is a very useful player.

The Leafs were pretty impressive again last night, as well... Gustaffson looked a bit insecure at times, but he did enough, and made some really nice saves as well.

Well, the Varlamov durability concerns are starting to get legitimate. He missed a couple of months last year due to a groin injury and now he's out again with a groin injury. He seems to be susceptible to these kinds of injuries with his goaltending style, so there's some question whether or not he can stay healthy.

Yup, groin injuries are the sort of thing that recur, especially for butterfly goalies. Hopefully he gets to have a decent career. How's the Caps' goalie depth behind Varlamov and Neuvirth?

On the other hand look at all the big name goalies that choked: Luongo, Brodeur (post-lockout), Nabokov (numerous times), Lundqvist, Miller, Thomas, Theodore, Kipper (to be fair he's not to blame, his team is)... the list goes on. Sure, teams carry some of the blame, but when your team scores 5 goals in an elimination game and you can't win because your all-star goalie let in 7, makes you rethink.

I'll be very interested to see how the Canucks use Luongo this year - it wouldn't surprise me at all to see him get a lot less work than he's used to, in the hopes that he'll be fresher for the playoffs (no Olympics will help). Actually, I think most if not all of the goalies you mentioned there have been the victims of regular-season overwork, which may explain their playoff struggles.

Walrus

2010-10-14, 10:01 PM

Chunklets

2010-10-15, 11:00 AM

I doubt Luongo will play much less this season. I mean, how many times has Vancouver had a perfectly servicecable backup and claimed that this would be the year that Luongo only played 60-65 games? Are Canucks management really that much more confident in Cory Schneider than they were with Raycroft or LaBarbera? I expect Luongo to play about 70 games, maybe more if Schneider has a couple of bad games in relief. It's a similar case with most of the big-money goalies. When you have a Henrik Lundqvist or a Miikka Kiprusoff, do you really dare to take them out of the net and trust your back-up to get you the two points? Especially when a lot of teams with a big-name goalie don't have a lot of depth at that position.

I don't entirely disagree, but I do think teams would be better off to bite the bullet and run with the backup more often, as I think that would pay dividends in the playoffs. Of course, if the team is in fight just to make the playoffs in the first place, that's not going to be possible, but I don't think Vancouver (for example) really needs to worry about that. Calgary and the Rangers, on the other hand... I agree with you that they're likely going to have to run the wheels off Kipper and Lundqvist.

I honestly don't know, though, what is the ideal number of regular season starts for a number one goalie. 55, maybe? I suppose it depends a certain amount on the particular goalie involved.

In a bit of a new topic, I've developed an ever-increasing dislike for the Edmonton Journal's "crack" staff of hockey writers. Today's top story? Magnus Paajarvi has played 2 NHL games and doesn't have a point yet. That's right. He played two games and doesn't have a point. CLEARLY THE SEASON IS GOING TO BE A DISASTER. Also, it took all of one paragraph for grievous factual errors to arise (Paajarvi got a hat trick against Dan Ellis of Tampa, and has in fact never played against the Vancouver Canucks. Hall of Fame writer my butt).

Amen to that. I saw that article and rolled my eyes. Paajarvi's been doing just fine - he backchecks like a demon, which is refreshing in a kid his age, and has arguably been the best guy on his line. The points will come, particularly if Renney gives him a game or two with Penner or Hemsky.

And I must say that there was an air of inevitability about last night's loss. 14 in a row now, in Minnesota -eek! I'd imagine the boys will be spending some practise time working on the PK in the near future...

Joran

2010-10-15, 11:16 AM

Yup, groin injuries are the sort of thing that recur, especially for butterfly goalies. Hopefully he gets to have a decent career. How's the Caps' goalie depth behind Varlamov and Neuvirth?

The Caps have another well-regarded minor league goalie prospect in Braden Holtby. He hasn't quite gotten enough seasoning in the AHL for me to feel comfortable with him except for an emergency call-up.

We also signed Dany Sabourin for depth. He has more NHL experience than Varlamov and Neuvirth combined, but he spent all of last year in the AHL.

Defensive depth is still a primary concern. If Sloan or Erskine (or worse Sloskine) is out there for any period of time, the Caps fans start getting heartburn...

Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll

2010-10-15, 09:23 PM

The Leafs are 4-0-0. I predict one more win, at most, before they fail utterly for the rest of the season.

Walrus

2010-10-15, 10:13 PM

I don't entirely disagree, but I do think teams would be better off to bite the bullet and run with the backup more often, as I think that would pay dividends in the playoffs. Of course, if the team is in fight just to make the playoffs in the first place, that's not going to be possible, but I don't think Vancouver (for example) really needs to worry about that. Calgary and the Rangers, on the other hand... I agree with you that they're likely going to have to run the wheels off Kipper and Lundqvist.

I honestly don't know, though, what is the ideal number of regular season starts for a number one goalie. 55, maybe? I suppose it depends a certain amount on the particular goalie involved.

I honestly have no idea how Glen Sather still has a job with the Rangers. The guy has an all-world goalie, but the Blueshirts can't contend because he throws money at bit players like it's 1994. Derek Boogaard makes nearly 2 million dollars a year. He will score ZERO goals and I doubt he even plays 42 games.

Calgary is probably going to have to run Kipper into the ground to get anywhere near a playoff spot. Their big guns don't appear to be doing all that much and most of their support players are on the shelf. Hopefully the Oilers can capitalize on that on Saturday.

Amen to that. I saw that article and rolled my eyes. Paajarvi's been doing just fine - he backchecks like a demon, which is refreshing in a kid his age, and has arguably been the best guy on his line. The points will come, particularly if Renney gives him a game or two with Penner or Hemsky.

And I must say that there was an air of inevitability about last night's loss. 14 in a row now, in Minnesota -eek! I'd imagine the boys will be spending some practise time working on the PK in the near future...

Paajarvi's offensive zone entry has also drawn about 8 penalties in three games. I heard Renney mention that maybe he needs more minutes if he's going to start producing, so maybe they'll give him some power play time or something.

That Minnesota curse is dumb-founding. That was a completely winnable game until they got those back-to-back PP goals, then the Oilers just stopped trying until the last push with Khabibulin pulled. It's even more bizarre because Backstrom is typically pretty bad in Edmonton (I sat right behind him one game at Rexall and watched an all-star goalie look like he was fresh out of junior).

Chunklets

2010-10-16, 05:04 PM

Calgary is probably going to have to run Kipper into the ground to get anywhere near a playoff spot. Their big guns don't appear to be doing all that much and most of their support players are on the shelf. Hopefully the Oilers can capitalize on that on Saturday.

And we can add to that that the Flames apparently hate their coach. That said, they're likely to appear in a very snarly mood this evening. This game has the potential to be ugly in a number of ways.

On the other hand, the Oilers are faster, younger, and, dare I say it, more skilled than Calgary. If the Oil can establish themselves in the Flames' zone the way they did in the first and third periods of game 1, they might just pull this on off!

The Leafs are 4-0-0. I predict one more win, at most, before they fail utterly for the rest of the season.

I'd be surprised - I haven't seen any sign that the Leafs are doing this with smoke and mirrors. The look to me like a genuinely good team right now. Although Clark MacArthur probably isn't going to keep scoring at a goal-a-game pace... :smallbiggrin:

Don Julio Anejo

2010-10-16, 06:25 PM

Oh god even I'm jumping on the "trade Kevin Bieksa" bandwagon now. He's a defenseman. He makes 3.75 million. His main upside: he creates offense. His main downside: for the other team.

Chunklets

2010-10-17, 05:38 PM

Oh god even I'm jumping on the "trade Kevin Bieksa" bandwagon now. He's a defenseman. He makes 3.75 million. His main upside: he creates offense. His main downside: for the other team.

Bieksa hasn't done much of anything so far this year (4 gp, 0-0-0, -1), but he may just have received a stay of execution (or trading, or demotion, or what-have-you) in Vancouver. Apparently, Keith Ballard has a concussion (http://www.sportingnews.com/nhl/story/2010-10-17/concussion-will-sideline-keith-ballard-of-the-vancouver-canucks), and may be out for awhile. That's a big empty space on that blueline.

Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll

2010-10-17, 06:18 PM

I'd be surprised - I haven't seen any sign that the Leafs are doing this with smoke and mirrors. The look to me like a genuinely good team right now. Although Clark MacArthur probably isn't going to keep scoring at a goal-a-game pace... :smallbiggrin:

I'm just sayin' that cause I'm so used to all of Toronto's teams sucking. :smallannoyed:

prufock

2010-10-17, 06:49 PM

Leafs are undefeated, top in their division, top in the East Conference if they win their next one. Curious to see how long it will last.

I wouldn't call myself a hockey fan, really, but I do enjoy the game (though I mostly watch the playoffs and an occasional game in the regular season).

shiram

2010-10-18, 10:32 AM

Leafs are starting up great this year, good for em, i guess.

Bu I am an Habs fab, and even though the Leafs are ahead right now, I do like what I am seeing. For the Price nay-sayers, he has been playing great since the start, and thats one less worry for me, the kid seems to have gained a ton of maturity, and I am glad he is stepping up to the role of first goalie.

The rest of the team is playing good as well, mostly, and if we can keep injury free, it will be an interesting season. When we get Markov back that will be a huge improvement as well.

Anyways, to all i wish a great hockey season,!

Walrus

2010-10-18, 10:41 PM

I'm glad Carey Price has played well so far, because if he hits a rough patch... man, those Bell Centre fans will eat him alive. I mean, they booed the cat in his first game in the preseason. Lars Eller might end up taking a lot of heat, too, if he's mediocre and Halak turns out to be as good for St. Louis as he was in the playoffs last year for the Habs.

shiram

2010-10-19, 09:05 AM

Yep, thats the most annoying thing about being a Habs fan right now, those boo-birds...
I think Price can handle a rough patch though, its part of being a pro hockey player.

About Halak, well he hasnt played all too many games in the nhl yet, but i wish him all the best.
The truth of it is though, they couldnt keep Halak and Plekanec, so they went with Price. The turtle-neck is worth it, if you ask me!

Walrus

2010-10-20, 01:09 AM

Chunklets

2010-10-20, 07:35 PM

So Vancouver Canucks enforcer Rick Rypien is an idiot. I just heard about this, but apparently tonight in Minnesota he attacked a fan who, based on pretty good video evidence, says something to him but makes no attempt to engage him in any fashion other than verbally.

Article about the incident, with video. (http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Video-Canucks-Rick-Rypien-attacks-Minnesota-fa?urn=nhl-278356&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter)

I suspect that in the next day or so they'll announce his lengthy suspension.

Yeah, Rypien was totally out of control there - you know there's a problem when your own coach and team-mates have to physically restrain you.

Anyway, he sucker-punched an opponent who was being restrained, shoved an official, and got into it with a fan who, as you say, had done little or nothing in the way of physical provocation. My money's on 15 games. And I wouldn't be too surprised if an assault charge came out of it, although I haven't read anything yet about police involvement.

shiram

2010-10-21, 09:04 AM

I heard on the radio this morning that the fan he grabbed was a lawyer as well.
And you know the guy is gonna get it hard, as he is not a star player, and the league will want to make him an example.

Joran

2010-10-21, 10:44 AM

I heard on the radio this morning that the fan he grabbed was a lawyer as well.
And you know the guy is gonna get it hard, as he is not a star player, and the league will want to make him an example.

Super Secret Suspension Flowchart:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2775/4093950458_03e4645497_o.gif

Judging by the flowchart, 5+ games. I'd say around 15-20 games.

I'm happy though that most goons/enforcers that don't at least have a modicum of skill aren't in the league anymore.

Azure Sorcerer

2010-10-21, 12:36 PM

Joran

2010-10-21, 01:03 PM

I used to be a big hockey fan when I was a kid but then I stopped being able to watch games and my interest faded. Now I'm starting to get back into and learn about player and team histories so if anyone can suggest some sites to help me with this I'd appreciate it. Oh yeah, and I'm a Red Wings fan.

I follow the SB Nation blog for the Capitals: Japer's Rink. The articles are great and unlike any other website on the face of the Internet, the comments are awesome. The people on the blog have a good grasp of the advanced metrics and are willing to back up any disagreements with evidence. Very few trolls and they're mostly shouted down.

The Red Wings SB Nation blog is Winging It In Motown (http://www.wingingitinmotown.com/). The Washington Post, our local newspaper, and CSN Washington, the local cable distributor, both have blogs, so I'd check if there's anything there.

Finally, Twitter is probably the best place to go for complete up to the date news right when it breaks. Follow the beat reporters and the blog authors for interesting conversations.

Chunklets

2010-10-21, 03:46 PM

Super Secret Suspension Flowchart:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2775/4093950458_03e4645497_o.gif

Judging by the flowchart, 5+ games. I'd say around 15-20 games.

I'm happy though that most goons/enforcers that don't at least have a modicum of skill aren't in the league anymore.

That flowchart is brilliant - "dammit, Pronger!" And if you're not familiar with Down Goes Brown (http://www.downgoesbrown.com/), the blog from which it came, you should be! DGB is hands-down the funniest hockey-related stuff you will ever read. The guys who write it are Leafs fans, but they're scathingly hard on their own team as well as all the others.

I used to be a big hockey fan when I was a kid but then I stopped being able to watch games and my interest faded. Now I'm starting to get back into and learn about player and team histories so if anyone can suggest some sites to help me with this I'd appreciate it. Oh yeah, and I'm a Red Wings fan.

And, while we're on the subject of blogs, um, pretty much what Joran said! :smallbiggrin: The SBnation blogs are pretty good in general. Winging it in Motown also has a good sidebar with a lot of other Red Wings blogs.

Other useful sites include Hockey Reference (http://www.hockey-reference.com/), which is awesome for just looking things up, and CapGeek (http://www.capgeek.com/), which helps make sense of the whole salary cap issue.

I heard on the radio this morning that the fan he grabbed was a lawyer as well.
And you know the guy is gonna get it hard, as he is not a star player, and the league will want to make him an example.

Yup, this is not going to end well for Mr. Rypien. Somebody pointed out that he actually shoved Henrik Sedin out of the way to get at the fan, and pushing one's own captain around is not probably the way to go.

Don Julio, or other Canucks' fans in here, do you have any thoughts on the matter from a Canuck-supporting perspective?

Don Julio Anejo

2010-10-22, 12:39 PM

Chunklets

2010-10-23, 05:10 PM

I don't, Rypien has shown himself as a complete douchebag. Granted I doubt he did it without provocation (the fact that the guy is a lawyer is a big tip-off there), he still deserves to be suspended the hell out of. Too bad we have no 4th line center though :frown: Stupid idiots who didn't sign B-Mo.

That last one did surprise me a certain amount, and I certainly wouldn't have shed any tears if he'd ended up in Edmonton. I just checked, and he seems to be doing fine in Calgary (7 gp, 1-5-6, +2). I can only imagine that it was cap issues that kept him from re-upping with the Canucks.

Oilers vs. San Jose this evening, and this could be long night for Oil fans. Frankly, if the Sharks don't get 50 shots, I'll be a bit surprised. That said, San Jose's defence isn't any great wheeze either, so it might be quite an entertaining game to watch!

Walrus

2010-10-23, 09:30 PM

Chunklets

2010-10-25, 06:52 PM

Seems like the latter will be the case, since Jordan Eberle appears to prefer to do his scoring when we have a penalty. It helps that Patrick Marleau's back check was really lazy. EDIT: Never mind, that was easily the worst Oilers performance all year. If my team's going to lose, fine, it happens. But to cave in and just stop working is completely unacceptable. It's going to be a long, long year unless Tom Renney is some kind of wizard.

Yeah, if I'd called it a night after the first five minutes, I'd have gone to bed a happier man! :smallsigh: That said, I'm inclined to put it down to "part of the learning process" and not worry about it too much... yet.

On Eberle - I can't remember every hearing of anyone having his first 2 NHL goals both be shorthanded. Usually the young guys don't see the ice on the PK at all; they're confused enough when it's 5-on-5. On the other hand, Eberle's obviously got some learning to do about the defensive side of killing penalties; San Jose had 3 powerplay goals on Saturday, and he was on for all of them (not that I'm blaming him alone here; the pk has been dreadful since about game 3, and he is very young).

Walrus

2010-10-25, 10:04 PM

According to the Journal (not that I particularly respect their ability to do accurate research), Jordan Staal's first three goals were short-handed, the first person to do so since some guy in the '60s whose name I can't remember right now. Still, pretty impressive start for him.

I honestly don't know what's been wrong with the Oilers' penalty killing over the last few years (well, I mean, I know what they suck at, I just don't get why they don't seem to be able to fix it). As someone who didn't have a single complaint about the trapping Oilers in the '06 playoffs, I miss reacting to Oiler penalties with glee, knowing they would more-than-likely be killed off and lead to a momentum boost.

Thes Hunter

2010-10-26, 12:48 PM

LET'S GO RED WINGS!!!

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_aAVPVrtRYtM/TMcUJEGLvyI/AAAAAAAAAB8/BRtabCJ0oOo/IMG_0184.jpg

shiram

2010-10-28, 08:49 AM

Pretty awesome Habs game last night.
8 goals, one shorted handed, penalty shot, a fight... lotsa turnovers!

Its gonna be interesting to see what goes on friday, and the Isles with their "no Habs no" thing as well. I figure the Habs fans will be louder than the Isles fan there!

Chunklets

2010-10-30, 04:15 PM

LET'S GO RED WINGS!!!

That picture looks likes it's taken at a game - do you get to go see the Wings often?

Its gonna be interesting to see what goes on friday, and the Isles with their "no Habs no" thing as well. I figure the Habs fans will be louder than the Isles fan there!

It seems to have gone pretty well for the Habs! They're on quite the roll right now.

As for the Oilers, well, we knew going into the season that with a team that young there were going to be nights when they struggled, and looked their age, and were generally just hard to watch. Last night was not one of those nights. :smallbiggrin: Yeah, it was a sloppy game in some ways by both teams, and Chicago's goaltending in particular was aiding and abetting the Oilers' cause, but there were more than a "holy cow!" moments (in a good way) from the Oil.

I honestly don't know what's been wrong with the Oilers' penalty killing over the last few years (well, I mean, I know what they suck at, I just don't get why they don't seem to be able to fix it). As someone who didn't have a single complaint about the trapping Oilers in the '06 playoffs, I miss reacting to Oiler penalties with glee, knowing they would more-than-likely be killed off and lead to a momentum boost.

I don't know what the answer is there either. Practice, practice, and more practice may be the long-term answer, although that doesn't seem to have worked in previous years. That said, that was a huge kill they pulled off down two men during the second period last night, so maybe there's hope! And at least this year they've shown that they can be a bit of a threat to go the other way on the PK - the Oilers didn't get a shorthanded goal last season until what, February?

Walrus

2010-10-30, 10:10 PM

That game in Chi-town definitely caught me off guard. If you'd told me before the game that the Oilers would win it 7-4 and never trail, I'd have said you were nuts. I definitely agree that the Blackhawks' goaltending really didn't do them any favours. Marty Turco's performance, especially, was shockingly poor. I mean, on one goal he was lying on his back flailing his legs like a poor man's Tim Thomas, and for the life of me I couldn't figure out why he didn't just drop into a butterfly and casually kick aside the shot. It's almost like he was hallucinating moves that the shooters weren't even thinking about making. I'm certainly not going to complain, though, it's fun to watch a high-scoring game that goes in my team's favour once in a while.

The penalty killing seems to be have made a marked improvement over the last couple of games, too. Two PP goals allowed in the last 15 isn't too shabby, and they don't look as lost as they have at times this season. The Toews goal was more Khabibulin getting fooled one-on-one than a PK error.

I'm watching the Caps/Flames game right now, and am left to wonder why Jay Bouwmeester was such a big deal a couple of years ago when he was set to be a UFA. I mean, yeah, he's obviously a top 4 defenceman on pretty much any team in the league, but he's been pretty unspectacular in Calgary.

Also, the segment on goalies standing up for themselves on HNIC reminded me how much I love Dwayne Roloson. It's hard not to respect a goalie who takes treats crease-crashers as his personal punching bags.

Joran

2010-11-02, 05:18 AM

I'm watching the Caps/Flames game right now, and am left to wonder why Jay Bouwmeester was such a big deal a couple of years ago when he was set to be a UFA. I mean, yeah, he's obviously a top 4 defenceman on pretty much any team in the league, but he's been pretty unspectacular in Calgary.

Would this be the Caps/Flames game where the Caps were down 0-2 and then suddenly scored 7 unanswered goals? Good times. It was fun to read the comments on Japer's Rink during the first period. People were just about ready to jump off a bridge before a well-timed 5 on 3 powerplay (off an idiotic 6 men on the ice penalty and a tripping call near the opposing goal) and two absolute rockets from Ovechkin opened the flood gates.

I don't know what the answer is there either. Practice, practice, and more practice may be the long-term answer, although that doesn't seem to have worked in previous years.

What kind of PK scheme do the Oilers run? The Caps were in the bottom of the PK last year (25th), but this year, we're near the top (4th). The reason we're having a lot more success this year is because we're running a more aggressive scheme. Last year, we sat back and let the opponents set up in our zone, while we tried to position ourselves to block shots and disrupt passing lanes, without much pressure on the points or along the wall. The problem was that this allowed the opposing team to basically bomb away from the points and bang home a.

This year, the coaching staff realized we had a bunch of young, quick talent, which is better for a high-pressure type PK. We're pressuring the puck carrier even in the opposing zone, we're pressuring the points which generates turnovers and clears, just generally getting into the opponent's faces. We're also putting more of our top line talent on the PK like Backstrom, Semin, Green, and Schultz and keeping the shifts on the PK nice and short.

Walrus

2010-11-02, 06:10 PM

Would this be the Caps/Flames game where the Caps were down 0-2 and then suddenly scored 7 unanswered goals? Good times. It was fun to read the comments on Japer's Rink during the first period. People were just about ready to jump off a bridge before a well-timed 5 on 3 powerplay (off an idiotic 6 men on the ice penalty and a tripping call near the opposing goal) and two absolute rockets from Ovechkin opened the flood gates.

Yep, that's the one. As an Edmontonian who loathes the Flames, it was a wonderful time. And believe it or not, the Flames actually had SEVEN GUYS on the ice for that penalty. I have no idea how it's even possible to screw up a line change that badly at the NHL level. Apparently Ovechkin's goals also came the closest anyone ever has to breaking the record for fastest hat-trick (current record is 21 seconds, by a guy whose name I forgot). Ovechkin had 2 in 12 seconds, but then went off.

What kind of PK scheme do the Oilers run? The Caps were in the bottom of the PK last year (25th), but this year, we're near the top (4th). The reason we're having a lot more success this year is because we're running a more aggressive scheme. Last year, we sat back and let the opponents set up in our zone, while we tried to position ourselves to block shots and disrupt passing lanes, without much pressure on the points or along the wall. The problem was that this allowed the opposing team to basically bomb away from the points and bang home a.

This year, the coaching staff realized we had a bunch of young, quick talent, which is better for a high-pressure type PK. We're pressuring the puck carrier even in the opposing zone, we're pressuring the points which generates turnovers and clears, just generally getting into the opponent's faces. We're also putting more of our top line talent on the PK like Backstrom, Semin, Green, and Schultz and keeping the shifts on the PK nice and short.

Last year the Oilers basically just sat there and let the other team shell our rookie goalies from the point, as you describe in the first set-up. For the first couple of games this season, and the most recent few games where the PK has been decent, they've switched to the latter method. In between the seemed to relapse to the former. Pretty much all of the big-time forwards are on the PK now, though, which seems to be helping. Hemsky and Penner have been one of our best PK pairs so far, and Cogliano has been doing well in that role.

Chunklets

2010-11-06, 05:11 PM

On of my very favourite Pat Quinn rants from last season dealt with moral victories and their ultimate uselessness in re: the standings. For some reason I've remembered that rant a few times this week... :smallsigh: The Oil played well, came close, and ultimately came away with nothing against Don Julio's Canucks and Thes Hunter's Red Wings. I do need to remind myself occasionally that this is a rebuild. :smallsmile:

On the other hand, I did get to watch pretty much all of the Toronto-Washington game from a few nights ago, and that was an excellent bit of hockey!

Did anybody catch the brief spurt of weirdness in the past couple of days regarding Taylor Hall's number (yes, I realize this is probably of interest only to Oilers fans)? The CBC ran a brief article by an independent scout claiming that Hall and his family basically pressured Kevin Lowe into giving up the hallowed number 4, and that Lowe's apparent willingness to give Hall the number was feigned. Indignant denials followed, the CBC has now pulled the story, and the writer himself actually says it probably didn't happen that way. Anyway, it was a bit odd. I suppose the silver lining is that it will give the young man some early practise at handling being blindsided by the press. Details here (http://oilersnation.com/2010/11/4/hall-power-play-for-no-4-lowe-says-no) and here (http://oilersnation.com/2010/11/5/fourplay-hall-laughs-off-bogus-non-story).

Joran

2010-11-07, 07:19 AM

On the other hand, I did get to watch pretty much all of the Toronto-Washington game from a few nights ago, and that was an excellent bit of hockey!

The Caps revert to their old ways of building a lead, then managing to blow it due to a lapse in concentration or hard work. The next game, Caps vs. Bruins was hilarious because the player of the month (Tim Thomas) and rookie of the month (Michal Neuvirth) were both pulled in the same game and Caps Rookie Braden Holtby got his first win after being shoved in with 10 minutes to go in the game... Absolutely bizarre.

Caps fans are somewhat bitter at the moment because many of them feel we have yet to play an entire 60 minutes and dominate an opponent, but it's hard to complain when the team is 9-4 and near the top of the conference. The record is a little deceiving since the Caps are 3-0 in OT and 1-0, but I'm generally happy.

SensFan

2010-11-07, 10:01 AM

How bout them Sens? :smallbiggrin: Terrible start to the season, and very good since.

Don Julio Anejo

2010-11-07, 05:44 PM

Me personally? I have nothing to complain about and I'm very happy about that :smile:

shiram

2010-11-08, 10:33 AM

My Habs are still plugging along, and the return of Markov was not the shot in the arm expected. With key players not pulling their weight, its a relief to still high in the rankings, but some magic needs to happen soon, or the rest of the season will be tough.

Chunklets

2010-11-08, 11:02 AM

Caps fans are somewhat bitter at the moment because many of them feel we have yet to play an entire 60 minutes and dominate an opponent, but it's hard to complain when the team is 9-4 and near the top of the conference. The record is a little deceiving since the Caps are 3-0 in OT and 1-0, but I'm generally happy.

How bout them Sens? Terrible start to the season, and very good since.

Me personally? I have nothing to complain about and I'm very happy about that :smile:

Yup, if I've done the arithmetic properly, your three teams combined have now won 13 straight games. Not bad work! :smallbiggrin: The Canucks and Capitals were expected to be strong, and pretty much have been living up to that, but the Senators are a bit of a surprise to me. I rather suspect that a healthy and happy Spezza has a lot to do with their success the last few games.

As for the Canucks - hats off to the GM at this point. The below-the-radar acquisitions of Malhotra and Torres seem to paying off quite nicely!

I wouldn't worry about the Caps OT record too much - it's probably an accurate reflection of their strengths (speed and attacking ability are lethal 4-on-4). The only problem, of course, is that it means that teams are getting to OT (and getting that bonus point) against the Caps, which might or might not come back to bite them later on.

My Habs are still plugging along, and the return of Markov was not the shot in the arm expected. With key players not pulling their weight, its a relief to still high in the rankings, but some magic needs to happen soon, or the rest of the season will be tough.

I wonder a bit if this wasn't a case of some of the team saying "Ok, Markov's back, he'll look after things, we don't need to play as hard as we have been." I have seen that phenomenon before, from various teams. I agree with you about the weight-pulling, especially in the cases of Gionta and Gomez.

And so the Oilers now have as many wins in Chicago this season as they do in Edmonton... :smallconfused: It wasn't the world's most entertaining game ever, but that Taylor Hall kid can do some things. He set up Gagner for one that should have been a tap-in, and Gagner completely missed it, obviously totally unprepared for the possibility that Hall would be able to make the move he did and get the puck across. Young Master Samwise did redeem himself later on, though, potting the winner. It was actually a very good night for the Oilers - while the big club was busy beating Chicago, down on the farm Linus Omark scored five goals against the Marlies, and added one in the shootout for good measure. That boy will play in the NHL, and probably this season.

shiram

2010-11-10, 09:34 AM

Whats better than getting a shutout against a tough team like Vancouver?
Getting a shutout on a night where the Leafs got blanked!!!

Eldpollard

2010-11-10, 09:46 AM

See, I'm a fan of ice hockey in the sense I think the idea of it is cool. Problem is that I live in the UK and it isn't shown on TV here at all. I'm also having a huge problem finding sites to watch it on.

SensFan

2010-11-10, 09:47 AM

Whats better than getting a shutout against a tough team like Vancouver?
Getting a shutout on a night where the Leafs got blanked!!!
Poor Leaf fans...

I remember one time last year I had a late class. My 3 roommates were all Leaf fans, so when I got in from class at 9ish the Leafs game was on. I glanced up, thinking 'Huh. Leafs are up 3-2 with 10 minutes to go. Wierd.' I went to make a sandwich and grab a coke and came back into the living room. Leafs were down 4-3 with 5 to go. 'Now there's the Leafs I know!' :smallbiggrin:

shiram

2010-11-10, 10:27 AM

The worst of it though is that if they fail as bad as they did last year its only going to make the Bruins better with a top 5 five in the draft...

Eldpollard : wish i could help you, but apart from paying on nhl.com i dont know where to watch games online.

Don Julio Anejo

2010-11-10, 10:42 AM

Whats better than getting a shutout against a tough team like Vancouver?
Getting a shutout on a night where the Leafs got blanked!!!
That's what AV gets for sitting out Keith Ballard because apparently our #8 depth defence plug Aaron Rome is playing almost as well...

P.S., I believe the team's proper name is Toronto Maple Laffs.

EDIT: try the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) website for watching games. They always stream games whenever HNiC (Hockey Night in Canada) games are on, which is usually 2 games every Saturday. The downside is, the games are live and usually begin at something like 7PM EST (2AM GMT) and go up to about 10PM PST (8 AM GMT).

shiram

2010-11-10, 03:24 PM

Heh i usually call them the Loafs..

Joran

2010-11-11, 12:32 AM

shiram

2010-11-11, 10:18 AM

Joran

2010-11-11, 11:15 AM

Interesting time last night...
Kovalchuck on the shootout, i was laughing out loud at that, look it up if you havent seen it, totally worth it.

Halak pulled, so he is human heh? one bad night, let's see how it affects him!

And the Loafs barely able to not get shutout twice in 2 games.
fun times

Here's the Kovalchuck video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6NuT41Wu7A

New Jersey is not looking good at all. -24 goal differential? Wow.

Thes Hunter

2010-11-11, 04:16 PM

Chucklets, I live walking distance to the ice, so I try to go as often as I can.

I have been very busy with school, and dating a Non-fan so I haven't been yet this season.

But I went like 12 times last year. Which isn't great compared to uber fans, but for the casual fan that I am, that is HUGE!

I think I need to go again... I got a lot of current frustration (At student loan companies) that I need to work out somehow!

If I wasn't so behind on work, I'd go pick up a student ticket for tonight! ;-)

Go Wings!!!!

Joran

2010-11-12, 02:15 PM

New NHL All-Star Format:

Fans pick the top 12 All-Stars (3 forwards, 2 defensemen, 1 goalie) from each conference. The rest of the team is picked by the league as are 12 rookies.

To form the teams, the All-Stars vote four captains (2 for each team) and the captains draft their team from the pool of All-Stars.

I think this is absolutely brilliant, because it adds a nice dimension to the All-Star game and injects some needed personality. Also, I'm not sure that Ovechkin and Crosby will be the captains. I have a distinct feeling that elder statesmen, like Pavel Datsyuk will probably be the captains.

Also, it'd be hilarious if Ovechkin or Crosby are picked last.

SensFan

2010-11-12, 02:18 PM

Joran

2010-11-12, 04:23 PM

My understanding is fans are only picking the top 6 overall (not per conference), to ensure that all the fan picks are starters, regardless of which team they end up on. I could be wrong.

Correct. My bad. Full rules here:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/NHL-NHLPA-release-official-format-for-All-Star-g?urn=nhl-284177

I wonder how many of the 6 will be Leafs =P

SensFan

2010-11-12, 04:25 PM

Correct. My bad. Full rules here:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/NHL-NHLPA-release-official-format-for-All-Star-g?urn=nhl-284177

I wonder how many of the 6 will be Leafs =P
I'm thinking they should use as many Leafs as possible in the All-Star game! They said they wanted lower scoring, right?

Joran

2010-11-12, 05:58 PM

I'm thinking they should use as many Leafs as possible in the All-Star game! They said they wanted lower scoring, right?

NHL Fan All-Star Ballot is out. (http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=543181)

I'm absolutely shocked that Alexander Semin is not on the ballot. The usual suspects of Backstrom, Ovechkin, and Green are there, but Semin has been the best Caps player so far outside of maybe Michal Neuvirth.

I'm somewhat surprised that Brodeur and Kovalchuk are on there, but am absolutely shocked that Marc-Andre Fleury is on there, considering he got benched in favor of Brent Johnson.

It's like they wrote the ballot at the beginning of the year and just grabbed all the famous players.

shiram

2010-11-15, 09:59 AM

Carey Price could have taken Fleury's spot, and no love for Thomas Plekanec?
Bah humbug to you all-star game! I'll probably only watch the skills competition anyways.

SensFan

2010-11-15, 12:30 PM

Should be noted that that's only the list for possibilities to fill half the starting slots. And frankly, they can't put Plekanec, or to a lesser extent Price, on there, because they know that they'd be voted in even if they got sent to AAA next week, because of the Montreal fan base.

shiram

2010-11-15, 12:43 PM

Hehehe well i will not disagree on that. And Price has just been named the first star of last week as well.

Joran

2010-11-15, 01:20 PM

So, remember when I referred to Colin Campbell's disciplinary process as "The Wheel of Justice" after it's consistent inconsistency?

Some of Colin Campbell's emails have appeared in a lawsuit. Colin Campbell also happens to be the father of Gregory Campbell, a player in the NHL.

The emails quoted have him whining about calls against his son to the director of officiating and calling Marc Savard "that little fake artist".

Yes... that Marc Savard that got absolutely blindsided by Matt Cooke and yet Cooke received no supplemental discipline.

At best, this is a huge conflict of interest. At worst, Colin Campbell is letting his personal biases influence his judgment. Hopefully this will get his butt fired.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Have-Savard-emails-exposed-NHL-s-Colin-Campbell-?urn=nhl-285531

shiram

2010-11-15, 01:30 PM

Yup read that this morning, and its very unsettling. Hopefully some swift justice will be handed out soon.

Walrus

2010-11-15, 11:32 PM

I hadn't heard about that until just now, but it makes me sad that my favourite sport's biggest league is run by a gang of incompetents who seem determined to make the NHL's growth as non-existant as possible.

Well, I mean, that was kind of apparent before, but still. Sad.

We also got some more "Sean Avery is slimy waste of several million dollars" action over the weekend (and the ensuing line brawl). So far I haven't heard about any disciplinary action coming out of it, though.

Has anybody voted for the All Star starting line-up? I was going to, but then it asked me to register and I lost interest.

I was going to vote for Steven Stamkos, Ryan Smyth, and Ales Hemsky for the forwards. Stamkos because I think he deserves it but might not have the fan-following down in Tampa to get him there, Smyth and Hemsky because I am a shameless homer (Smyth on the "once and Oiler, always an Oiler" train of logic). I pretty much glossed over the defencemen, then strongly considered putting in an ironic vote for Nikolai Khabibulin in the goaltender category. And on the bright side, if he actually ended up in the All Star game, we'd probably get to see the "most goals by a team in one period" record broken.

SensFan

2010-11-16, 01:15 AM

Toronto's Forwards starting for one team, while Khabibulin starts for the other team. It would finally present scientists with the chance to test in practise what happens when a stoppable force meets a moveable wall!

I was also going to vote until they told me I had to register, and it probably would have been for the usual suspects: Ovechkin, Crosby, Luongo, etc. The way I see it, they're going to make it to the game anyways, so may as well let the actual informed decisions (I have almost no faith in fans' ability to select All Stars) get to pick from the players who aren't auto-includes.

shiram

2010-11-17, 09:28 AM

Joran

2010-11-17, 12:54 PM

Another great game last night, i admit i was nervous, the Flyers being an awesome team, with great players and the second best offence in the league, but the Habs came up on top, and they made the flyers look like a bunch of sulking bullies.
I despise the flyers thuggish style of play, and they really showed a lack of class last night, in the third period. The next game in Philly should see alot of sparks flying.
That being said, it would not have been the same game without Carey Price, tied for second in shutouts, tied for first in wins and his gaa and save% are nothing to sneer at either! The kid is cementing our team identity, and the skaters definately feel a sense of security playing in front of him.

Also it was great to see our special team pull out a great night, even with the absence of our star quaterback Markov.

Reading some quotes about the game, the Flyers are really pissed about P.K. Subban.

Mike Richards about P.K. Subban:

"He's a guy that's come in the League and hasn't earned respect. It's just frustrating to see a young guy like that come in here and so much as think that he's better than a lot of people. You have to earn respect in this League. It takes a lot. You can't just come in here as a rookie and play like that. It's not the way to get respect from other players around the League.

"Hopefully someone on their team addresses it, because, uh, I'm not saying I'm going to do it but something might happen to him of he continues to be that cocky."

Uh... Next game in Philly should be interesting.

SensFan

2010-11-17, 01:28 PM

I didn't heard anything about that game; what did Subban (allegedly?) do to piss off the Flyers?

shiram

2010-11-17, 01:31 PM

Mike Richards is a bane on hockey, and that he would say such thing is ridiculous.
He should look at what his own team does before spouting nonsense like that... the 2 dirty hits from Powe, they sent out Jody Shelley on the powerplay and Pronger keeps trying to steal the puck.

edit : for Sensfan as far as i know it was only talk, but he did stick up for Andrei Kostitsyn when he received 2 cross-checks from some Flyers player i cant recall right now. Gloves we're thrown put the zebras we're on it before anything happened.

Joran

2010-11-17, 01:50 PM

I didn't heard anything about that game; what did Subban (allegedly?) do to piss off the Flyers?

From the Flyers' perspective:

Andrei Kostitsyn took a cheap stick shot to Mike Richards' kidney at one point in the third. When Richards turned around to do something about it, Kostitsyn ducked behind a linesman before P.K. Subban stepped in to protect him. Very typical.

For the Habs' perspective:

Many of those battles centered around P.K. Subban, who was chirping the Flyers practically all night. Subban also stepped in to challenge Flyers captain Mike Richards, who had a beef with Andrei Kostitsyn over a stick to the ribs.

Subban's chatter can be effective, but he still has to learn where to draw the line. His six minutes in penalties do not help the team with Andrei Markov on the shelf indefinitely. The Canadiens need Subban out there to carry the extra minutes in Markov's absence.

So, basically Mike Richards is angry at Subban for stepping in, chirping both on the ice and in the penalty box, and not backing it up by fighting.

SensFan

2010-11-17, 01:52 PM

From the Flyers' perspective:

For the Habs' perspective:

So, basically Mike Richards is angry at Subban for stepping in, chirping both on the ice and in the penalty box, and not backing it up by fighting.
Eh. Quite frankly, I don't have a problem with any of that. The penalties are hurting the Habs, but I don't see what the heck the Flyers have anything to complain about.

Joran

2010-11-17, 01:58 PM

Eh. Quite frankly, I don't have a problem with any of that. The penalties are hurting the Habs, but I don't see what the heck the Flyers have anything to complain about.

I think it's a lot of "Rookie, know your place" kind of talk. I find all the talk of "codes" and "unwritten rules" annoying; just play the game.

shiram

2010-11-17, 02:54 PM

Game on as they say! Kostitsyn against Kostitsyn tomorrow, and Halpern and Gorges are said to be in the line-up for tomorrow too, so thats great news.

SensFan

2010-11-17, 03:10 PM

Gotta love good ol' fashioned revenge games. I remember back in '07, the Sabres were complaining that Neil took a cheap shot at Drury, and so they had Andrews jump Alfie, which eventually led to the infamous Emery-Biron fight. The Sens had a rematch with the Sabres later that week, and the Ottawa Sun suggested that Ottawa should start McGrattan at LW, Neil at RW and Emery at C, and just jump the Sabres to start the game. Then Emery can spend the next 5 minutes getting his goalie gear on :smallbiggrin:

Chunklets

2010-11-18, 04:21 PM

We also got some more "Sean Avery is slimy waste of several million dollars" action over the weekend (and the ensuing line brawl). So far I haven't heard about any disciplinary action coming out of it, though.

Dubinsky, I think, got fined for punching Foster from the bench, but that was it for supplemental wrist-slapping after that one. There's a part of me (it's not the good part) that wishes that MacIntyre had come out of the penalty box, said "I'll take the 25 games," and explained matters to Avery (either that, or that Peckham had been able to get into the tunnel when Avery was being led away. :smallamused:

Anyway, the last few games for the Oil have been, well, educational (sample lesson: don't turn your back on Sean Avery, I'm looking at you Ladislav Smid). However, it wasn't like we didn't know this rebuild was going to feature some very long nights. On the bright(?) side, the Marty Gerber era in Edmonton has begun (http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=341785)! Actually, it's probably going to be the Devan Dubnyk era, which would be fine.

And Price has just been named the first star of last week as well.

Deservedly so, too. To be honest, I didn't know if Price had it in him to recover from being a target for the ire of Montreal's fans, but he's done just that. Well done, young man!

shiram

2010-11-18, 04:36 PM

Its funny reading the first posts in this thread, everyone doubted him, myslef included.

Chunklets

2010-11-18, 06:14 PM

Its funny reading the first posts in this thread, everyone doubted him, myslef included.

Indeed. Here's me, from a month and a half ago:

The Habbies have always been my second team, but I'm not foreseeing great things for them this season. I worry about Carey Price's mental state... Hopefully they can prove me wrong!

However, at about the same time I also trotted out this bold prediction (I replay it here to prove that I am not, in fact, always wrong! :smallbiggrin:):

I think you're dead right on Gerber - I won't be surprised at all to see him in Edmonton at some point this season.

Walrus

2010-11-18, 10:33 PM

Dubinsky, I think, got fined for punching Foster from the bench, but that was it for supplemental wrist-slapping after that one. There's a part of me (it's not the good part) that wishes that MacIntyre had come out of the penalty box, said "I'll take the 25 games," and explained matters to Avery (either that, or that Peckham had been able to get into the tunnel when Avery was being led away. :smallamused:

That incident was the kind of case that illustrates that the NHL's disciplinary actions are pretty impotent and that the shift away from tough-guy sluggers to "agitators" isn't one that's actually reducing violence in the game. Even as recently as the '90s, if somebody was out of line, they were going to have a run-in with a large, angry man with large, angry fists. Sure, you could still play dirty and act like a (expletive deleted), but you had to be ready to stand up to the other team's muscle, because he was coming after you. Or Wendel Clark was coming after you, which was probably worse for your long-term health.

Nowadays, with the nigh-useless instigator rule and other rules designed to curb fistic revenge, players like Sean Avery, Alexandre Burrows, and Matt Cooke never really have to worry about guys like Steve MacIntyre, because never in a million years will they ever agree to fight, and if Mac decides to make one of their skulls into a souvenir, he's getting a 2, 5, and 10, MINIMUM. I would honestly have loved to have seen Theo Peckham as an NHL defender fifteen or twenty years ago. The trail of mangled corpses along the boards and in the slot would be Pronger-esque.

Anyway, the last few games for the Oil have been, well, educational (sample lesson: don't turn your back on Sean Avery, I'm looking at you Ladislav Smid). However, it wasn't like we didn't know this rebuild was going to feature some very long nights. On the bright(?) side, the Marty Gerber era in Edmonton has begun (http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=341785)! Actually, it's probably going to be the Devan Dubnyk era, which would be fine.

The problem I'm having with the Oilers current play (aside from that it's terrible) is that the experienced players have been significantly worse than the kids, with a few exceptions. Tom Gilbert and Jim Vandermeer are leaking goals-against at an alarming rate, and even being paired with Ryan Whitney isn't making Gilbert better; it's just making Whitney worse. Hall and co. aren't going to be able to grow as players if every mistake they make goes into the back of the net because we only have four adequate defencemen.

I agree with you that it'll probably be Dubnyk that takes the reigns, which I'm also fine with. He's played well in his few appearances so far, and would have gotten the W in NJ if the rest of the team hadn't let him down. His save percentage is way up from last year, and with Marty Gerber backing him up there won't be any worries in goal. Now if only they could do something about all the worries in front of it...

SensFan

2010-11-18, 10:47 PM

Darth Gerber, serving as a back-up for a Canadian team once again.

shiram

2010-11-19, 10:40 AM

Anyone wants Scott Gomez? I dont...

Joran

2010-11-19, 11:50 AM

That incident was the kind of case that illustrates that the NHL's disciplinary actions are pretty impotent and that the shift away from tough-guy sluggers to "agitators" isn't one that's actually reducing violence in the game. Even as recently as the '90s, if somebody was out of line, they were going to have a run-in with a large, angry man with large, angry fists. Sure, you could still play dirty and act like a (expletive deleted), but you had to be ready to stand up to the other team's muscle, because he was coming after you. Or Wendel Clark was coming after you, which was probably worse for your long-term health.

Matt Cooke did get his clock cleaned (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLqpw_uKyds)

Anyway, the reason why the big, hulking enforcers are no longer around is because the game has changed. Various rule changes, like enforced obstruction, removing the two line passes, and the salary cap all have made people who have no talent other than dropping gloves a luxury most teams can't afford.

The Caps have D.J. King, an enforcer, and he's a waste of a roster spot. Most of the times, he's a healthy scratch, but when he does play, he gets maybe 4-5 shifts, gets into a fight with the opposing team's enforcer, and then is stapled to the bench.

I think general team toughness is needed more than enforcers. The Caps have Matt Hendricks, Jon Erskine (who has a history of concussions so I'm nervous whenever he throws down), Matt Bradley, and Jason Chimera. They all have good skill, aren't liabilities on the ice, and are willing to fight to support and defend teammates.

The other deterrence is having a good powerplay. Don't foul our players, or it's very likely the puck will end up in the back of the net.

Walrus

2010-11-19, 10:59 PM

Your point about enforcers fighting each other is kind of my point: if they enforcers only fight each other, they're job is pointless. Back in the '80s and '90s, the enforcer's job was to make sure nobody was taking liberties with his teammates. If anybody so much as looked at Gretzky wrong, Dave Semenko would punch them so hard they'd crap out their spine. But the thing with goons in the old days that separates them from the Macintyres and Boogaards of today is that the old goons could play. Sure, most of them didn't have 30 goal seasons like Bob Probert, but Dave Semenko's stats in any given year of his NHL career dwarf Boogaard and Macintyre's career totals.

The thing is, dirty plays haven't been curbed with the rule changes, they've just reduced the ability of the players on the ice to police each other. If I'm an NHLer, I'm FAR more afraid of the possibility of Steve Macintyre being allowed to punch me whether I agree to fight him or not than I am of being fined $2500.

Chunklets

2010-11-23, 04:58 PM

Nowadays, with the nigh-useless instigator rule and other rules designed to curb fistic revenge, players like Sean Avery, Alexandre Burrows, and Matt Cooke never really have to worry about guys like Steve MacIntyre, because never in a million years will they ever agree to fight, and if Mac decides to make one of their skulls into a souvenir, he's getting a 2, 5, and 10, MINIMUM. I would honestly have loved to have seen Theo Peckham as an NHL defender fifteen or twenty years ago. The trail of mangled corpses along the boards and in the slot would be Pronger-esque.

Absolutely. In fact, the instigator rule as it is enforced now is arguably an incitement for dirty play: "hey, if I give this guya bit of lumber behind the play, one of his team-mates might start something and we'll get a man advantage!" I agree on Peckham as well - I think the NHL penny may have dropped with him, as he's been very effective lately.

The other deterrence is having a good powerplay. Don't foul our players, or it's very likely the puck will end up in the back of the net.

Also a very good point. Even leaving aside the issue of thuggery, having a good powerplay forces the opposing defense to play a bit soft at even strength.

I agree with you that it'll probably be Dubnyk that takes the reigns, which I'm also fine with. He's played well in his few appearances so far, and would have gotten the W in NJ if the rest of the team hadn't let him down. His save percentage is way up from last year, and with Marty Gerber backing him up there won't be any worries in goal. Now if only they could do something about all the worries in front of it...

I wonder if the change in goaltending will have a positive effect on the defense as well. Khabi was dreadful the last few games before he got hurt, and I really think that contributed to the panicky defense in front of him. I thought that the D looked somewhat better on Sunday - the simple plays were being made, and most of the time there was general of calm about the whole thing. We'll see, starting tonight, if that continues. The big question is what they'll do whan Khabibulin is better; he's arguably the third-best goalie in the Oilers system right now.

Darth Gerber, serving as a back-up for a Canadian team once again.

I do hope he brought his mask (http://tenderslounge.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/martin_gerber_darth_vader_mask.jpg)with him... :smallbiggrin:

Anyone wants Scott Gomez? I dont...

No, no, that's fine, thank you for the kind offer! :smallbiggrin: Seriously, though, any idea what's wrong with him this year?

But the thing with goons in the old days that separates them from the Macintyres and Boogaards of today is that the old goons could play. Sure, most of them didn't have 30 goal seasons like Bob Probert, but Dave Semenko's stats in any given year of his NHL career dwarf Boogaard and Macintyre's career totals.

True, although to be honest quite a lot of Semenko's offensive production came when he was actually playing on Gretzky's wing. Heck, Glen Sather used to run Gretzky out between Semenko and Dave Lumley, and it didn't slow the kid down.

An Enemy Spy

2010-11-23, 05:01 PM

The Canadiens. I alwyas thought it was spelled Canadians. Is this a regional thing? Also, shouldn't the Leafs be the Leaves?

SensFan

2010-11-23, 05:18 PM

The Canadiens. I alwyas thought it was spelled Canadians. Is this a regional thing? Also, shouldn't the Leafs be the Leaves?
Canadiens is the french spelling. Leafs is...yeah, I think making jokes about the Leafs is too easy at this point :smallbiggrin:

Also, that (http://tenderslounge.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/martin_gerber_darth_vader_mask.jpg) isn't the Darth Gerber mask; THIS (http://ingoal.ingoalmagazine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/gerber.jpg) is.

Chunklets

2010-11-23, 05:54 PM

Also, that (http://tenderslounge.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/martin_gerber_darth_vader_mask.jpg) isn't the Darth Gerber mask; THIS (http://ingoal.ingoalmagazine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/gerber.jpg) is.

Yes, the all-black mask was the inspiration for the nickname, but he did have the "vader-painted" mask and used it a few times with the Sens. Actually, from what I've seen so far of him here and and in Oklahoma city, he seems to be going with an all-white mask (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_2DP8F7mc7Ws/TLnA3SwFegI/AAAAAAAAAbg/xFOIKAu-u4Y/s1600/P1012586.JPG)this time around.

The Canadiens. I alwyas thought it was spelled Canadians. Is this a regional thing? Also, shouldn't the Leafs be the Leaves?

What SensFan said about "Canadiens" - I think one of their early official names was "Le Club de Hockey Candien de Montreal."

As for the unusual pluralization of "Leaf" to "Leafs," I've extracted from their Wikipedia page the following plausible explanation:

"After taking control on Valentine's Day 1927, Smythe immediately renamed the team the Maple Leafs (the Toronto Maple Leafs baseball team had won the International League championship a few months earlier and had been using that name for 30 years). The Maple Leafs say that the name was chosen in honour of the Maple Leaf Regiment from World War I. As the regiment is a proper noun, its plural is formed by adding a simple 's' creating Maple Leafs (not *Maple Leaves)." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toronto_Maple_Leafs#Conn_Smythe_era)

An Enemy Spy

2010-11-23, 05:58 PM

I really like the San Jose Sharks purely because sharks are my favorite animal.
Interesting about the Leafs. Actually makes their name respectable.

Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll

2010-11-23, 10:52 PM

The Canadiens are the Canadiens cause it's French. Pronounced "Can-ah-dyeh", with just a hint of starting to pronounce an 'enn' sound at the end, but never getting past the nasal bit.

shiram

2010-11-24, 09:23 AM

No idea whats wrong with Gomez, but it's really a pain to see him, and whats worst is Jacques Martin trying every winger with him, and then having those wingers production drop or stop completely.
People on Habs boards are clamoring to put Gomez on waivers and send him to the AHL, or move him down to the fourth line.
Just imagine if the Habs had a working top line center instead of him...

And yes Canadiens is the french spelling, but the Habs will do as well! :smallbiggrin:

Dallas-Dakota

2010-11-24, 09:23 AM

Chunklets

2010-11-25, 03:56 PM

Well filming the first third of the game between the Dordrecht Lions* and the Zoetermeer Badgers* and doing registry/thingy the third part, both live.

I gotta say, respect to the people out there who film/register icehockey. Filming and registry a ice hockey game live is damn hard. Fun though.

*Two professional dutch teams.

What fun! Do you get to work a lot of games?

And the Dordrecht Lions you mention - would they be these Dordrecht Lions?

(Oversize image in Spoiler)
http://www.fotothing.com/photos/604/6047a5645717c63810c52073e49d38e0.jpg

I honestly don't know much at all about Dutch ice hockey, although I gather that the team in yellow in the photo above are the Heerenveen Flyers. Is there a lot of support for the game in the Netherlands?

Don Julio Anejo

2010-11-26, 06:07 PM

Chunklets

2010-11-27, 07:06 PM

Anyone know the deal with the Devils? They're one of the most stacked teams this year, and yet they're behind such powerhouse teams as Edmonton and Florida.

PS: don't listen to fans on any teams boards. Nucks fans on CDC (canucks.com) are clamoring to waive Luongo. Yes, him.

Waiving Luongo? Really? I know that Luongo has struggled a bit this year (At this moment NHL.com has him tied for 23rd out of 44 qualified goalies in Sv% (http://www.nhl.com/ice/app?service=page&page=playerstats&fetchKey=20112ALLGAGAll&viewName=savePercentageLeaders&sort=savePercentage&pg=1)), and I do think that the Canucks would be better served by giving him a few more nights off, since Schneider's been doing fine, but getting rid of the guy seems more than a bit extreme...

I also kind of wonder if anybody would take Luongo, should the Canucks do the unthinkable and waive him. There can't be that many teams out there with the cap space AND the money to pay him AND a pressing need to improve their goaltending AND (the big one) the willingness to take on a contract that runs out in 2022. That's not a knock on Bobby Lu, particularly - I just don't see where he's a fit outside Vancouver.

As I said above, I think the best thing the Canucks can do with Luongo is get him a bit more rest, and hope that that returns him to elite form. At least this year he won't have the added workload of the Olympics.

And I'm as puzzled as you are about the Devils, although I will say that losing Parise hasn't helped. At some point, sheer talent has to tell, doesn't it?

SensFan

2010-11-27, 10:58 PM

Just got back from a fantastic Sens/Leafs game!

With all due respect to the various Leaf fans on the Playground, who are fine intelligent folk, what in the hell is up with the arrogance of the Leafs fans who paint their faces Blue and White to go to Sens games? When I saw them coming to sit down next to me, I was kinda looking forward to some friendly banter with them throughout the game, especially never having been to see the Leafs play. What I got was instead constant ragging about how Sens fans supposedly only cheer when we win, while they cheer even in losses (I would hope so; they wouldn't cheer to much otherwise), asking me how long its been since we won a Cup (18 years in the league without one; they're at 43), and finally pointing out they've never lost to us in the playoffs (Fun fact: They Leafs haven't lost a playoff game in 6 years).

Though I did find it amusing that the announcer said "Thank you Sens Army for selling out the building", given it was at least 60% Leaf fans... :smallsigh:

shiram

2010-11-29, 12:13 PM

Walrus

2010-11-29, 10:13 PM

The Devils being awful is a bit baffling, but I attribute it to Ilya Kovalchuk having a clause in his contract that he'll only play for terrible teams so that he doesn't have to play past April. Okay, that's not a real thing, but the fact that every team he's played on, except for some ridiculously stacked Russian World Championship teams, has been can't be a coincidence.

The Leaf fans talking about Stanley Cups has a basis in fact, but it's not a particularly good argument. The Ottawa Senators won a few Stanley Cups in the '20s, prior to the NHL's "original six" era, and the Ottawa Hockey Club won like a bajillion cups prior to that, so technically the 1967 Cup means that the Leafs have won a Stanley Cup more recently than the Sens. But they've also had something like 60 years of extra chances (the Sens came back around 1990, didn't they?), so that's not really saying much.

It sounds like they're just fans of a terrible franchise trying to remember the good times, like every Oiler fan who was alive for one of the Cup wins in the '80s and 1990. Seriously, any conversation with an Oilers fan over 30 turns into a wistful yearning for the "good old days".

SensFan

2010-11-29, 10:19 PM

It sounds like they're just fans of a terrible franchise trying to remember the good times, like every Oiler fan who was alive for one of the Cup wins in the '80s and 1990. Seriously, any conversation with an Oilers fan over 30 turns into a wistful yearning for the "good old days".
How many Habs fans does it take to change a lightbulb?
10; 1 to change the bulb, and 9 to talk about how good it used to be.

Also, damn Gerber coming back to beat us in our home.

shiram

2010-11-30, 09:40 AM

Bah you are jealous of the Habs legacy!

Chunklets

2010-11-30, 06:03 PM

Also, damn Gerber coming back to beat us in our home.

Gerber did play a gem last night. In fact, he's been great in both the games he's played since being called up. It's actually a bit of a feel-good story; for those of you who don't know, Gerber broke his neck last year playing in Russia. For him to be playing this season at all, let alone successfully in the NHL, is an impressive feat. Gerber was probably the Oilers' best goalie in training camp, but lost out to the numbers game. He'll presumably end up back in Oklahoma City as soon as Khabibulin is healthy, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him called up again later on.

The Leaf fans talking about Stanley Cups has a basis in fact, but it's not a particularly good argument. The Ottawa Senators won a few Stanley Cups in the '20s, prior to the NHL's "original six" era, and the Ottawa Hockey Club won like a bajillion cups prior to that, so technically the 1967 Cup means that the Leafs have won a Stanley Cup more recently than the Sens. But they've also had something like 60 years of extra chances (the Sens came back around 1990, didn't they?), so that's not really saying much.

Fun Fact! The second-last time the Senators won the Stanley Cup, in 1923, they defeated the Edmonton Eskimos in the final. I don't know if that makes SensFan feel any better about last night's game, but there it is... :smallwink: Anyway, here's a shot of the 1905 Ottawa Hockey Club, aka "The Silver Seven", with the Cup. The man standing in the top right of the photo is "One-Eye" Frank McGee, probably ice hockey's first real superstar (he once scored 14 goals in a Cup finals game against Dawson City).

(Image spoilered due to width)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d9/Silver7.jpg

As for the Devils, well they had alot of injuries at the start of the season, they we're playing games with what 17, 18 skaters, that can't be good for the morale... do they blame Ilya??
Brodeur's been off his game too.

Good point about Brodeur. I just looked, and his Sv% so far this year is .901 (http://www.nhl.com/ice/app?service=page&page=playerstats&fetchKey=20112ALLGAGAll&viewName=savePercentageLeaders&sort=savePercentage&pg=2) - good for 31st out of 40 qualified goaltenders. He's also been injured a bit, I think, and one starts to wonder if maybe he isn't coming to the end of the road, playing-wise.

The Devils being awful is a bit baffling, but I attribute it to Ilya Kovalchuk having a clause in his contract that he'll only play for terrible teams so that he doesn't have to play past April. Okay, that's not a real thing, but the fact that every team he's played on, except for some ridiculously stacked Russian World Championship teams, has been can't be a coincidence.

You may well be on to something - I kind of suspect the ol' "dressing-room cancer" phenomenon. It's interesting to see that Atlanta are actually having a decent season right now. They're 7th in the East right now, in there battling for a playoff position. Meanwhile, we all know where New Jersey is in the standings, and as Kovie's contribution... Well, I'll put it to you this way. Right now, he'd be 8th in points, and tied for 6th in goals, on the Edmonton Oilers. Lou Lamoriello must have completely lost his mind. I do feel for Devils fans this season!

SensFan

2010-11-30, 06:29 PM

You may well be on to something - I kind of suspect the ol' "dressing-room cancer" phenomenon. It's interesting to see that Atlanta are actually having a decent season right now. They're 7th in the East right now, in there battling for a playoff position. Meanwhile, we all know where New Jersey is in the standings, and as Kovie's contribution... Well, I'll put it to you this way. Right now, he'd be 8th in points, and tied for 6th in goals, on the Edmonton Oilers. Lou Lamoriello must have completely lost his mind. I do feel for Devils fans this season!
I don't feel nearly as bad for them this season as I will in 12 years :smallamused:

Walrus

2010-11-30, 11:48 PM

Seeing Kovalchuk's stats at the 20-whatever game mark blew my mind a little bit. I mean, Ilya Kovalchuk has been one of the most dangerous scorers of the post-lockout era, and he has 10 points. 18 year old Taylor Hall has 12, and there's been a lot of talk about his start being slow. Kovy's 4 goals are matched by Ryan Jones... who splits time between the third and fourth line and averages probably 10 minutes a game. Even though the teams he's on typically suck, at least he usually puts up big numbers in spite of it. And you can't even really blame the loss of Zach Parise on Kovalchuk's poor production, since in all of his seasons in Atlanta he never had anybody worth Parise's left arm to play with.

I kind of wish there was a feasible way for the Oilers to keep Martin Gerber around as the number one goalie. Not only has he played well, but the team has played much better in front of him than they have in front of Khabibulin or Dubnyk.

shiram

2010-12-01, 09:43 AM

Ilya's deal was covered in controversy and greed. And as team-mate, that cant be too great a feeling. They cant make any moves, as they have no cap space either. The team is stuck where it's at, and there is always the impression that when a player gets his big deal, its quite possible they will kinda sit on their contracts.
But time will tell on the Kovychuck deal, for now it does not look good!

Joran

2010-12-02, 02:13 AM

Anyone know anything about Scott Hannan?

The Caps just traded for him and I've been hearing good things about his defensive prowess. I'm pretty comfortable with our defensive corps now, assuming good health, so our only holes are 2nd and 3rd center.

P.S. Felt good to Out-Halak Halak. St. Louis out-chanced and out-shot the Caps but sterling PK work, a goaltender standing on his head, and a couple lucky bounces and the Caps win 4-1.

Chunklets

2010-12-03, 07:16 PM

Anyone know anything about Scott Hannan?

The Caps just traded for him and I've been hearing good things about his defensive prowess. I'm pretty comfortable with our defensive corps now, assuming good health, so our only holes are 2nd and 3rd center.

Well, I don't know much about Hannan, but here in Oilerdom there was some rejoicing at the fact that he'd been traded out of our division (and conference), so he must have some things going for him. I believe that he's your basic defensive defenseman, and fairly good at it. Good trade for the Caps, I think.

In other news, this Taylor Hall kid is pretty good. I think the Oilers should keep him. :smallwink: Not to mention Eberle, and Paajarvi's been coming on as well lately. Good times, and we shall enjoy them while they last!

Don Julio Anejo

2010-12-03, 11:23 PM

Ahh, sweet revenge :smile:
Blanked Chicago 3-0. Turco is a lolburger with his "I'mma gonna go down to center ice for a nice dance with Kesler and the puck"

Chunklets

2010-12-04, 05:50 PM

Ahh, sweet revenge :smile:
Blanked Chicago 3-0. Turco is a lolburger with his "I'mma gonna go down to center ice for a nice dance with Kesler and the puck"

I actually watched that game (flipping back and forth between it and the Calgary-Minny game), and I thought it was a very good show by the Canucks - they weathered an early spate of pressure from the 'Hawks, got great goaltending, and generally did what needed doing. I did feel a bit sorry for that kid who accidentally smacked Luongo in the face (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcOruGgOEUg)when the Canucks were taking the ice though. Kid had his "Bobby Lou" shirt on and everything, and he must have felt absolutely mortified, poor guy.

Oilers-Blues tonight, and it's a game I'm looking forward to, since I know next to nothing about this year's edition of the Blues. I think they went on a bit of a run early, but have been slumping lately. I'll be very interested to see what sort of team they are! And also, of course, to see what sorts of things the kids get up to tonight... :smallsmile:

shiram

2010-12-13, 10:41 AM

The Red Wings, a great team, but the officiating seemed a bit off, especially the first period. Still they won it fair and square.
Now Toronto, The Habs played with no energy and no conviction.
The loss of Gomez, shows that even being overpaid as he is, he can pilot the second line, and contribute on the powerplay.
And now with Spacek gone for who knows how long we will test our D's depth.
Good thing that Weber and Picard are picking it up, while Subban stuggles with his comeback after 3 games on the bench.

Very interested in seeing Max Paccioretty on the top 6 forwards, he can be a solution to our missing forward on the second line.

The road ahead is a difficult one though.

Chunklets

2010-12-13, 08:11 PM

And now with Spacek gone for who knows how long we will test our D's depth.

Good thing that Weber and Picard are picking it up, while Subban stuggles with his comeback after 3 games on the bench.

Very interested in seeing Max Paccioretty on the top 6 forwards, he can be a solution to our missing forward on the second line.

Any update on how specifically how long they'll be missing Spacek? If the answer is longer than "not very long at all, actually," then it's going to be tough sledding for the Habs' D. Spacek wasn't an Oiler very long, but I still miss him. I agree that Pacioretty is one to keep an eye on, though.

Any opinions in the Playground on the Linus Omark shootout goal (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnsngTNeGTg), and subsequent accusations of disrespect and youthful over-brashness? For my part, I thought it was an awesome goal, but, then again, I am somewhat biased... :smallbiggrin:

Walrus

2010-12-13, 11:10 PM

Oh man do I miss the Spacek/Pronger pairing on the Oilers back end. For the one year we had them.

Tampa's reaction to Omark's goal was pretty much sour grapes, I think. It didn't take long for somebody to point out that Marty St. Louis skated in BACKWARDS on a shootout attempt against Marc-Andre Fleury. It was, however, excellent fodder for the hockey humour blog I started up a while ago, Fuhr and Loathing (http://fuhrandloathing.rentathugcomics.com/). </shameless plug>

The 12 shot performance against Vancouver, on the other hand... man, way to throw away a winnable game, guys. I'm pretty sure Eberle only scored because Luongo thought the game was over already.

shiram

2010-12-14, 09:35 AM

No news on duration of injury for Spacek or Gomez, though i have a feeling Gomez will be back in the lineup tomorow night.
The arrival of MaxPac, if he is paired with say Gomez and Gionta could maybe revive Gomez, at least one can hope.

Spacek is a tough piece to replace, he is always sent out agaisnt the opposition's top line with Hamrlik, and its hard to replace all the experience, not only that be Josh Gorges has been getting therapy days for over a month now...

Plus we're facing The Flyers and Bruins this week, before embarking on the long holiday trek, 7 games on the road.

edit : Gomez, Gorges and Spacek we're all at practice, so thats good news.
And that Linus Omark goal was all kinds of awesome, the shootout is mostly a joke anyways, and the point system for it makes little sense. So glad the kid showed some flare, and he scored too.

Joran

2010-12-14, 03:02 PM

Well, I don't know much about Hannan, but here in Oilerdom there was some rejoicing at the fact that he'd been traded out of our division (and conference), so he must have some things going for him. I believe that he's your basic defensive defenseman, and fairly good at it. Good trade for the Caps, I think.

Yup, good trade for us. We ended up going on a six game losing streak shortly after acquiring him. Man, that Montreal loss is going to haunt the fanbase for awhile; some Caps fans are already advocating to fire the coach.

I'm not worried though because this roster isn't the roster going into the playoffs and IT'S FREAKIN' DECEMBER. If the Caps don't get a second center by the trade deadline, then I'll start panicking.

Any opinions in the Playground on the Linus Omark shootout goal (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnsngTNeGTg), and subsequent accusations of disrespect and youthful over-brashness? For my part, I thought it was an awesome goal, but, then again, I am somewhat biased... :smallbiggrin:

Disrespect? No. Youthful over-brashness? Yes. Was it awesome? Very much so. If he didn't score there, then he'd look like a fool. He DID score, so props to him. If you don't like the showboating, then STOP HIM.

So, did Don Cherry threaten bodily harm to him yet?

Chunklets

2010-12-14, 08:09 PM

Spacek is a tough piece to replace, he is always sent out agaisnt the opposition's top line with Hamrlik, and its hard to replace all the experience, not only that be Josh Gorges has been getting therapy days for over a month now...

Didn't know that about Gorges. What's the injury with him? Hopefully for the Habs Subban can recover his form fairly soon (I saw your note about Spacek being at practise, and that's a good thing too.

Yup, good trade for us. We ended up going on a six game losing streak shortly after acquiring him. Man, that Montreal loss is going to haunt the fanbase for awhile; some Caps fans are already advocating to fire the coach. I'm not worried though because this roster isn't the roster going into the playoffs and IT'S FREAKIN' DECEMBER. If the Caps don't get a second center by the trade deadline, then I'll start panicking.

The weird thing about it is that Hannan's +/- each game with the Caps during this streak has been 0,-1,0,-1,-2,-3, so he appears to be getting worse. Who's he been playing with on D?

I'm not too worried about the Caps though either. Only two of the losses on this streak have been what you'd call "bad" (FLA and NYR), and they still have the third most points in the Eastern Conference. I do hear you on the subject of centremen - it looks to me like they're using Matt Hendricks as the #2C (is this correct?), and I suspect that's a bit above his ceiling, at least right now. I also wonder, and have wondered before in this very thread, whether Washington maybe needs a veteran netminder, since Neuvirth, Varlamov, and Holtby have a combined 85 games of experience among them. I doubt that Nabokov will end up as a Cap, since he needs to clear waivers to come back to the NHL, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Roloson make the move from Long Island. The Caps' young goalies have done pretty well far, but a little insurance can't hurt.

Tampa's reaction to Omark's goal was pretty much sour grapes, I think. It didn't take long for somebody to point out that Marty St. Louis skated in BACKWARDS on a shootout attempt against Marc-Andre Fleury. It was, however, excellent fodder for the hockey humour blog I started up a while ago, Fuhr and Loathing (http://fuhrandloathing.rentathugcomics.com/). </shameless plug>

Thanks for the link! That's great stuff - I particularly liked Marty Gerber's guide to the Edmonton Oilers. I look forward to more!

The 12 shot performance against Vancouver, on the other hand... man, way to throw away a winnable game, guys. I'm pretty sure Eberle only scored because Luongo thought the game was over already.

Yeah, that one was a learning experience. Tonight's game should be fun, with two fairly bad teams trying to run each other over. The Leafs will want some revenge for last time (and maybe for Taylor Hall's comments today (http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=345461)), and have dressed Colton Orr. The Oilers will want to get over Sunday, and have dressed Steve MacIntyre and Zach Stortini. Should be some bad feelings all 'round in this one. Old time hockey!

So, did Don Cherry threaten bodily harm to him yet?

I'm not sure - I unfortunately missed the "Coach's Corner" segment on HNIC the next night, so I have no idea what, if anything, Cherry had say about Mr. Omark's shenanigans. I did read somewhere that Marcel Dionne thought it was pretty cool, though, and that's high praise coming from that guy.

Joran

2010-12-14, 10:22 PM

The weird thing about it is that Hannan's +/- each game with the Caps during this streak has been 0,-1,0,-1,-2,-3, so he appears to be getting worse. Who's he been playing with on D?

A revolving door (mad props to www.timeonice.com for shift charts):

First game: Jon Erskine.
Second game: Tyler Sloan.
Third game: Tom Poti
Fourth game: Mike Green
Fifth/Sixth Game: Tom Poti

Jeff Schultz, our top pairing guy with Mike Green, is out for 4-6 weeks with a broken thumb. Mike Green was out the last two games with injury/flu and Tyler Sloan is on IR, hence the jumbling of the lines.

I'd expect Hannan to play with Mike Green again on Wednesday and until Schultz comes back and then either Poti or Alzner afterward.

I'm not too worried about the Caps though either. Only two of the losses on this streak have been what you'd call "bad" (FLA and NYR), and they still have the third most points in the Eastern Conference. I do hear you on the subject of centremen - it looks to me like they're using Matt Hendricks as the #2C (is this correct?), and I suspect that's a bit above his ceiling, at least right now. I also wonder, and have wondered before in this very thread, whether Washington maybe needs a veteran netminder, since Neuvirth, Varlamov, and Holtby have a combined 85 games of experience among them. I doubt that Nabokov will end up as a Cap, since he needs to clear waivers to come back to the NHL, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Roloson make the move from Long Island. The Caps' young goalies have done pretty well far, but a little insurance can't hurt.

You missed the choke against Toronto Maple Leafs. We were up 4-1 in the third, when we let in 3 straight goals and lost in OT.

2nd Center has been a revolving door also. We tried Tomas Fleischmann there and when he failed (he's a true winger), we traded him. We have Marcus Johansson and Mathieu Perreault, who are both rookies, one from the SEL, the other from the AHL, and aren't quite ready for prime time. We occasionally try Matt Hendricks (why the heck did the Avalanche let him go?!) and Boyd Gordon, but for the most part it's Johansson and Perreault. One of them plays 2nd center, the other plays 3rd.

Ideally, we'd grab a Brad Richards or another veteran type center; we already got the depth defender in Hannan that I was hoping for. I think the Caps are confident in their stable of goaltenders of Neuvirth and Varlamov, either of which proved that they can get hot and play well at the NHL level. That may change if either is hurt and Holtby has to step in. Holtby needs more seasoning in the AHL.

Joran

2010-12-15, 02:22 AM

Oh man do I miss the Spacek/Pronger pairing on the Oilers back end. For the one year we had them.

Tampa's reaction to Omark's goal was pretty much sour grapes, I think. It didn't take long for somebody to point out that Marty St. Louis skated in BACKWARDS on a shootout attempt against Marc-Andre Fleury. It was, however, excellent fodder for the hockey humour blog I started up a while ago, Fuhr and Loathing (http://fuhrandloathing.rentathugcomics.com/). </shameless plug>

Ha, nicely done, I enjoyed it, even though the Semin line hurt.

Your next post basically writes itself: Oilers add cheerleaders

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Meet-lovely-ladies-of-Oilers-Octane-Canada-s-1s?urn=nhl-296037

shiram

2010-12-15, 09:21 AM

There is no word on wether Gorges is injured, but he is been getting alot of therapy days.
Spacek looks to be back tonight though, so thats good as the Flyers are a tough team, and we'll need our best D on their best offence.
Subban has been hitting a rough patch ever since he came back form the bench, but thats part of being a rookie, and hopefully it will be a learning experience.
Still psyched to see what happens with MaxPac, and if Gomez will play and pick up his game with this new winger.

Anyone wanna pick up Brian Rolston on waivers?? Or Dustyn Boyd for that matter..

SensFan

2010-12-15, 09:37 PM

Atlanta will apparently do anything to sell tickets... (http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news?slug=capress-hkn_thrashers_mascot_stunt-5421985)

shiram

2010-12-16, 09:06 AM

I say just move em to somewhere in Canada.

shiram

2010-12-17, 01:45 PM

I dont like to reply to myself, but...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_BStkVC_zQ

What a hit!
It's also amusing that the media is picking on the Habs, with the Boston Herald spewing hatred in a rant about last night's game. I'll quote :

MONTREAL — The Canadiens are a despicable and dirty little hockey team that loves to dish out nasty cheap shots, often from behind, often after the whistle — and shows not the slightest willingness to back up the stick-work by dropping the gloves.

and here is the link :http://bostonherald.com/sports/hockey/bruins/view/20101217enraged_david_krejci_takes_fight_to_habs/

Anyways I am probably biased in the matter, and wondered the rest of you guys might think. Also note that Cammelleri dropped the gloves for the first time in his carreer, and scored on his first penalty shot at the nhl level.

Chunklets

2010-12-19, 05:57 PM

Anyways I am probably biased in the matter, and wondered the rest of you guys might think. Also note that Cammelleri dropped the gloves for the first time in his carreer, and scored on his first penalty shot at the nhl level.

I don't know - I've don't think I've particularly heard that the Canadiens are considered a dirty team in general (nor, to be fair, have I heard that about the Bruins, at least not lately). That said, I'm sure there's some extra stuff that goes on during Montreal-Boston games, and I'm sure it goes both ways. I think the writer of that article is probably indulging in a bit of hometown bias. One thing he is correct about though - the Canadiens are not a very "fighty" team. They've only taken 9 fighting majors this season (http://www.hockey-fights.com/fightlog/schedule.php)(the Bruins have 28). Of course, that doesn't mean that they're a dirty team.

shiram

2010-12-20, 09:55 AM

Well the Habs are sometimes accused of not backing it up, and dropping the gloves, but really we have no fighters or enforcers really.
Max Lapierre used to do it, but he seems to have reeled it in this season, even though he got boxing lesson this summer.

Joran

2010-12-20, 01:39 PM

I dont like to reply to myself, but...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_BStkVC_zQ

Absolutely clean. And in fact, P.K. Subban held up. If he led with his shoulder, the other player would be in the hospital.

I absolutely detest how after clean, good hits, the enforcer or some other player decides that they should fight the hitter. It's what the instigator is for, but it's never used. I can understand the need to send a message after a dirty hit, but a clean hit should never require a fight.

Don Julio Anejo

2010-12-22, 09:26 PM

Okay, Vancouver vs. Detroit... If we win this, we get to overtake 1st in the West on a tiebreaker. 3-2 Vancouver (Daniel, Henrik, Samuelsson vs. Cleary and Flippula (sp?)).

I'll let you know how it turns out :smile:

EDIT: turned out badly. Luongo should be ashamed. First, he let in a 5-hole shot from BEHIND THE GOAL LINE. And then he let in a weak one timer. Weak like short side snipe when you're covering the entire damn net. Zetterberg must be happy though, 2 goals on shots he probably only shot to trigger line changes...

Walrus

2010-12-23, 05:47 PM

Wait, did you say five-hole from BEHIND the goal line? Is that even physically possible!?

Don Julio Anejo

2010-12-24, 04:25 AM

Prooflink (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3X9RJdj4yGY). Couldn't find a separate video for the goal so start at 1:29ish. Oh so very embarrassing for Louie. The OT winner is almost as bad.

shiram

2010-12-24, 12:27 PM

I thought it might just be a flukey goal or something before watching the video, but yea, Bobby Lou looked weak on that one. But then all goalies let in a soft one once in a while.

SensFan

2010-12-24, 03:42 PM

Kovalev scored in the same game that Gonchar ended up with a non-negative +/-. It's a Christmas miracle in Ottawa!

shiram

2010-12-29, 09:28 AM

The Habs are really sinking right now, down to the 8th position, and playing really weak hockey ever since they went on their long holiday trek.

Our D is horrendous, with Spacek and Hamrlik not being able to play against the oppostion top line and playing upwards of 20 mins. Gill is just so slow, his height advantage cannot compensate. Gorges playing with a hurt knee, at least he is finally getting some rest. Subban, Picard and Weber all make rookie mistales, and out of them only Subban seems to have th potential to be anything else than a 6th or 7th D.

The addition of James Wisniewski, traded for a second round pick, should definately help, he seems like a decent puck moving defenceman, but I think his style might just clash with Jacques Martin.
Still a great trade, even if just a rental. Also there is definately a place for him come next season.

Beyond all that, our offence is sputtering as well, Price is playing like he is human again, and Subban is getting into altercations with the vets on the team.

We need to win, and win soon, for the morale of the team, and to remain contenders for a playoff spot!

Joran

2010-12-30, 01:40 PM

SensFan

2011-01-01, 11:45 PM

Just got back from the game. Sigh. :smallsigh:

Joran

2011-01-03, 01:47 PM

Winter Classic... Awesome, mostly because the Caps won. The conditions were very messy, especially with the rain and warm weather.

I'm very optimistic now about the Caps chances. The 8 game losing streak was a nice wake-up call and the Caps are playing with better defensive presence. The PK is much improved from last year, the Caps are top 10 in Goals Against, Goals, and PK. Just need to get that Powerplay started... Also, Backstrom, Ovechkin, and Semin are all slumping, yet the Caps are winning. Very optimistic.

Walrus

2011-01-03, 11:09 PM

I watched bits of the Winter Classic, but it was actually a little bit hard to find on TV. CBC was showing it during intermissions in the Leafs/Senators game (which nobody outside of Ontario gave a crap about), and I ended up finding it by accident on some NBC affiliate from Detroit or somewhere. It was... eh. That was a lot of hype for neither superstar to actually, y'know, do anything. I enjoyed the last few Winter Classics more, although it probably helped that their ice was actually solid as opposed to 60% slurpee.

Lately I've been more interested in the World Juniors than the NHL, since the Oilers are painfully bad. Looks like it's going to be Canada vs. Russia for the gold, which is a match-up that I like a lot, since we've beaten Russia already and lost to Sweden in the prelims. I'm surprised Canada thumped the US so bad, since they were the favourite to win the whole thing.

SensFan

2011-01-04, 12:20 AM

Joran

2011-01-04, 12:32 PM

I watched bits of the Winter Classic, but it was actually a little bit hard to find on TV. CBC was showing it during intermissions in the Leafs/Senators game (which nobody outside of Ontario gave a crap about), and I ended up finding it by accident on some NBC affiliate from Detroit or somewhere. It was... eh. That was a lot of hype for neither superstar to actually, y'know, do anything. I enjoyed the last few Winter Classics more, although it probably helped that their ice was actually solid as opposed to 60% slurpee.

The Capitals adjusted and played their grinders more than the stars. Even with the crappy ice, Ovechkin had a breakaway (save by Fleury) and a goal (washed out because of incidental contact). Malkin also had a breakaway that he managed to convert.

But yes, the conditions really did affect the game and the camera angles that NBC chose were horrific, but it's really more about the spectacle rather than watching two teams play.

shiram

2011-01-04, 03:41 PM

Winter Classic : Too bad both of them couldnt lose!

Skatee

2017-11-13, 01:22 AM

Hooray - it is that time again, and none too soon!

You may consider this your thread to discuss all elements of sport of ice hockey! And I'll start things out here with a bold Stanley Cup prediction; you may now write down and take to the bank that Pittsburgh will win the Cup, defeating Vancouver in the final. So now you know!

Anyway, I don't mean for this to be merely an NHL thread - feel free to discuss minor pros, European leagues, college and junior hockey, and so on!

As you may gather from the avatar, or remember from previous years' IHFitP threads, I'm an Oilers fan. My hopes for this season are that it will be better than last season. This should not be hard. Seriously, though, I think it's going to be a long season for the Oil and their fans, although we will have the undisputed pleasure of watching Mssrs Hall, Paajarvi, and Eberle learn the game. This year it's all about looking to future, and having some small hope that good things will be there!

I'd also like to take this opportunity to say "yo" to any Playgrounding hockey fans in Oklahoma. I'm actually quite excited to see how the Barons get along this season! Just remember that you have to give Linus Omark back at some point... :smallbiggrin:

Anyway, I'm looking forward to hearing from fellow hockey fans!

I had the chance to watch the Winter Classic,CBC was airing it.It was...I'm lost of words.There was a lot of hype for neither superstar to do anything.I was however more thrilled by the last few winter classics.Something notable is that some of the players didn't have quality skates, so disappointing, right? That was visible from the players' movements during the play. However,it doesn't have to be that way,http: //bestskatereviews.com/review-2017-bauer-vapor-1x-ice-hockey-skates/ skates will definitely make a difference.Anyone wanna pick up Brian Rolston on waivers?? Well,of late I've started developing lots of interest in the World Juniors than the NHL.It surprised me to see Canada beat the US that mercilessly,honestly, they were not my favorites for the trophy.