f13.net

New NHL Fantasy Hockey League set up. In fact, it's just like last year's league, only it's this year!

http://hockey.fantasysports.yahoo.com/hockey/43070 (http://hockey.fantasysports.yahoo.com/hockey/43070)

League Name: Bat Country
Password: catass
League ID: 43070
Roster Positions:   C, LW, RW, F, F, D, D, D, G, G, BN, BN, BN, BN, IR, IR, IR
Stat Categories:   G, A, +/-, PIM, PPP, SHP, GWG, FW, W, L, GA, SV, SHO
Stat Modifiers:   G (5), A (3), +/- (1), PIM (.1), PPP (2), SHP (3), GWG (1), FW (.1), W (5), L (-2), GA (-1), SV (.275), SHO (5)

Start discussion of how to unfuck the stats....

...

Wait for it

...

NOW.

Haven't looked yet- how far do they deviate from the Yahoo vanilla league categories?

Oh, and please set max games as high as possible. Having to bench top players because they play the wrong position in the last week of the season is bullshit.

Max games are set at 100. It won't let me set them any higher.

I fucking hate that max game shit.

Anyway.

WHO LIKES TO WAGER??

If we did H2H, it would allow us to remove the max games stuff. But points and rotisserie both require it. Fuckers.

H2h licks bag, especially in a sport when one team can get more games in than its opponent during a given week due to the vagaries of the schedule. Even worse in baseball when your opponent gets to pitch his ace twice during the week.

In it for the threepeat!

Edit to add: Going to Penguins training camp in a few minutes!

Give Sid a kick in the sack for me.

How's Miro look on Crosby's line?

I was always afraid of him when he played the Penguins. He was a real Penguin killer.

Though, looking at his stats, he didn't really seem to show up against.... well, any other team.

And, uh... speaking of Islanders... Trent Hunter was always a Penguin killer too. So.

Honestly, I was actually pretty much disappointed in general by the Penguins signing in the offseason.

Losing Hossa, Malone, Roberts, Laraque, Ruutu and gaining Satan, Fedotenko, and Goddard?

Really though?

Yeah, I understand Malone wanted way too much. Roberts' career is over (he'll played half the season, if that, and be largely ineffective). Laraque and Ruutu unquestionably wanted more than they were worth. Hossa was a fag and jumped to our rival, so we had little control over that.

But son of a bitch... replace them with some quality. Fuck. Honestly. Miro is waning, he's on the downside of his career. If he had a RSH, maybe. Goddard is an UNDENIABLY MASSIVE step down from the heavyweight champ of the league. Fedotenko is a total question mark - I've liked him in the past, but I can see him doing absolutely jack shit, too. And he's no Ryan Malone, that's for damn sure.

Yeah, our core is intact. We kept Malkin and Fleury and we'll hopefully keep Staal. We even kept Orpik, which is good. I just sincerely doubt we see a Stanley Cup Final this year in the 'Burgh. We need a strong young hotshot winger, frankly.

Then we need a coach. Cough.


Edit: Would have been fucking nice to sign Kovalev coming out of the  lockout for 4.5m. Too much money, everyone said at the time. Fuck, I agreed. But does that contract ever look nice right about now. 4.5m for Kovalev.... playing with Crosby? Son of a bitch.

Satan had 1 or 2 goals in the scrimmage, including an extremely sweet redirect from Crosby.  They played pretty well together, and Fedotanko got a sweet goal during the shootout after the scrimmage.  Sykora also had some nice goals, including a slapshot from way out through a good screen.

Gonchar is injured already?

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/penguins/s_589358.html?source=rss&feed=8

Any chance we can set live draft back to at least 6:30pm EST, if not somewhat later? Please? :grin:

That's fine by me.

Hossa? Pens only rented him and he did have big post-season, but they could easily replace his presence with similar trade deadline deal in '09.

Malone? Overrated, correct decision to let him go, at least at the price he was asking. Someone else will have to step up, maybe they can swing trade for younger up and coming power forward that gels with squad.

Roberts, Laraque? No big loss… …I like Laraque but by season end he didn't have much of a role. Roberts was a good role player, but players rising to the challenge for those spots are a dime a dozen…

Ruutu? Addition by subtraction here. I can see where fans can be fond of him, but from my vantage point, he careless with puck possession, takes stupid penalties, really is just a clown on the ice that doesn't really intimidate or pester anybody, which is his MO.

Fedotenko? I like, but /agree is ?. We'll see… 

Satan? On the down arc of his career, but might be some magic left, especially as a linemate for Sid and/or Geno.

The point is that they did not upgrade. They downgraded.

They are not the team that rolled through the eastern conference in the playoffs.

Close to it? Maybe, depends. We'll have to wait and see.

But they're not as good. I don't think that's in question.

I question whether Fleury is the goalie to take them there. He did exceed my expectations in Cup run but he still let too many in that he should have stopped…

Done. The live draft is now tomorrow at 6:30 EST (5:30 CDT).

Any other changes in points?

Every one of you except for Azaroth is a cock for not showing up.

I picked multiple Canucks.

I am a cock.

I want to amend my previous statement to include Haemish who skidded in right at the buzzer to make his team somewhat decent.

I forgot all about it. The computer did a decent job for me, luckily.

Heh, same.  And I was online with WAP when I figured we both forgot. :awesome_for_real:

Sorry, it was a bad day at work and it totally slipped my mind.

DOH. Thanks to Mandrel, I figured out that you CAN remove the Max games restriction. It's just that the option for "No Maximum" is at the top of the dropdown instead of the bottom, where it logically should be. Fucking logic.

Anyway, I've removed the max game bullshit. HOORAY!

Sweet!

Nooooooooo, stop taking away things that helped me win!

"SO OUR PRESEASON IS WINDING DOWN!!!!"

This is what was exclaimed on the hockey show I'm watching right now.

FUCK NO SHIT.

It's been going on for a MONTH. Half of the teams have SERIOUS INJURIES.

I realize that the owners like the extra money without having to pay anyone... but holy fuck. At least make the games count toward the standings so that these players are getting injured for a BIT of a reason?

Markus Naslund - on pace for 83 goals.

I MIGHT consider a trade for Ovechkin or Crosby.

Dropped Whitney...whoops. :oh_i_see:

You're going to miss him a lot more than you think. Especially in the playoffs.  Satan looked pretty decent next to Crosby in pre-season.  Maybe he's in decline, but he can still shoot.

Pens overall though, did not improve their team.

I thought Miro looked like crap.

Son of a bitch. Has my lack of faith in The Dark Lord cost me fantasy points tonight?

Oh man. In the opening of the Calgary/Vancouver game, they had this nine year old kid skate out with a Flames jersey on as an honourary this or that.

Kid proceeded to trip over a huge fucking wire that was getting dragged around the ice by the camera crew. Fell right on his ass on national television.

Think you could clear a path for the kid? Poor fucker is scarred for life now.

Damn...Was there blood?
 :oh_i_see:

No, but there will be in this CGY/VAN game.

The Iginla/Mitchell fight was awesome.

Was at the Penguins game tonight.  Could have been better.

They look pretty average after losing all those free agents and whitney/gonchar.

Yes, there will be plenty of nights when Crosby or Malkin or both carry them to victory. But when that doesn't happen, well.

On the plus side, this Vancouver/Calgary game has been totally awesome. Especially for early season.

Edit: Spoke too soon. Vancouver wins with plenty of help from the mafia. Clearly they had the ref's children tied up somewhere.

The real Canucks showed up (or didn't) in Washington. Still, it was nice to start the season with 2 wins over Calgary.

Irregardless, I don't plan on missing another Vancouver/Calgary game all season.

Edit: Holy shit. I didn't know they only had 3 shots through the first two periods.

Calgary vs. Vancouver has become a bigger rivalry than Calgary vs. Edmonton imo.

The first game was   :uhrr: but that second game was a lot of fun to watch, even with the Flames losing both the game and the majority of the fights.

Rypien isn't very big, but he is fearless and has really fast hands. If he stays healthy he might score 10-15 goals and get the same amount of fighting majors. Canucks really beefed up in that department, which will at least make them a bit more entertaining. If you can't win, goon it up!

Apparently Rypien's dad was a golden gloves boxer, and he takes that side of things rather seriously.

You must have read the same Sun article that I did!

I was suitably impressed by the Canucks last night in Rock City. Even though the Wings didn't have Zetterberg, they still have more than enough firepower. The Canucks got a lot of shots on net and Luongo made some big stops when he needed them. I think Osgood has the save of the game though- the one where he reached back behind him with his glove hand and snatched the puck off the goal line.

6 points in 4 games is a damned good start, especially considering that 3 have been on the road.

Trades, fuckers. Trades.

I need LW and D.

Sent you an offer.  :oh_i_see:

Yeah. I saw that.

LOOKS GOOD.





Seriously, homos. Start accepting trades. WHEN YOU CLEARLY WIN IN POINTS IT MEANS IT'S A GOOD TRADE FOR YOU.

I don't think I've made one single trade offer to someone where I didn't have them coming out on top in total points. I'll usually even show you how.

Maybe they're just trying to block you from success.

That'd REALLY piss me off if there was money on this.

Sent you another one.


Homo.

I just wonder what the fuck I'm supposed to do with Vaclav "cuntface" Prospal.


(http://l.yimg.com/a/i/us/sp/v/nhl/players_l/20080319_2/1549.jpg?x=65&y=85&xc=1&yc=1&wc=164&hc=215&q=100&sig=liNesfG6EhwepA5vKIXVnA--)

Also, I wanted Shea Weber. Cocksucker.

Apparently, fuck him in the face.  :awesome_for_real: Would Marco Sturm make it any better?

Nope. Check my new trade.

Checked and re-offered.

Looking forward to Pens-Coyotes game next week, believe we have luxury box tickets… …though Pens, historically, when making trip to Arizona, are usually more focused on golf game than the on-ice affair… 

I was there the last time the Pens went to Phoenix and absolutely destroyed the Coyotes.  I seem to recall Crosby getting 4 points.

So far, Haemish has attempted to repeatedly unload Vaclav "cuntface" Prospal, Marco Sturm, and Daymond Langkow on me.

What's next? Jiri "The Wang" Tlusty?

Prospal, at least, might be a good pickup.  Sturm could turn it around too.

I did offer Kovalev at one point. Hell, all I've wanted is Cam Ward, and he's currently got less points than Giguere.

Calm down, I'm just kidding.

Homo.  :drillf:

Check the latest trade out.

I think it's pretty fair both ways.

Son of a bitch, I still want Shea Weber.

It would be if Malkin wasn't involved. That's my untouchable.

Well, I could make a big long post about how it's fair but I won't. Totally understood about Malkin.

I think he's the best player in the league.

So what WAS your obsession with Cam Ward?

Edit: Other than the fact that Anaheim is sucking donkey cock so far.

Anaheim is sucking donkey dick this year and you had 4 goalies, of which I figured you'd let Ward go. I may have jumped the gun on Giguere too early but... /meh. Neither he nor Ward are going to be my top goalie, I think.

Yeah. For me, that part of the trade is based on the belief that Anaheim will pick it up eventually.

Anyone else having the problem when you go to make a line-up change it asks for your password and after entering it sends you to a My Yahoo! page? It doesn't even save my changes so I have to navigate back to the league and team to make them again. Doesn't do this with football or baseball for me aside from asking for my password.

Seems to be working well for me.

I fucking want Malkin by the way. Pick through my lineup and make an offer.

I've got Thornton, Lecavalier, Savard, Havlat, Nash.. all kindsa niggers.

I think Malkin is up for the Hart this year. 130 points.

For reals.

My shrewd moves have gotten me ahead of the pack, as I expected.

Edit: Oh shit, nevermind. I'm not in last anymore.

How the FUCK are the Leafs actually winning games?

 :cthulu:

That's as logical explanation as any!

Jiri "The Wang" Tlusty?

Don't worry though - if you're a Leafs fan, you'll get a top 3 pick. Kaberle and Toskala will be traded by the trading deadline unless the organization is COMPLETELY inept.

Say you can turn Kaberle and Toskala into 3 first round picks and change if you play your cards right. Add your pick and you've got four first rounders.

Rebuilding GO.

Oh and just a by the way for Penguins fans and Crosby holders in various pools:

Crosby is fucked. Enjoy him being out for some time.

Rumour is that he's got a rib cartilage injury. I've also had one of those.

I bet he didn't get out of bed today. Just breathing is fucking painful. I specifically remember not being able to breathe in beyond tiny little gasps for weeks. There's no such thing as playing hockey at that point.

And PS: IT LASTS FOREVER.

I injured my ribs, then reinjured them a few weeks later about... a year and a half ago. They just stopped hurting when I moved certain ways a few months ago.

The kid is piling up those lingering injuries. Next he just needs a major concussion and a knee injury and he'll be set.

Watched the whole game yesterday, didn't even see Crosby take a hit.  All we knew was suddenly he was headed back to the locker room.  And they played awfully most of the night as a team.

Uh, they suck. That's why.

Edit: And also, Crosby blows this year. That's why I didn't notice he was gone until Darren Pang announced it like ten fucking minutes after the fact. He's like the tenth best player in the league, and has been since early last year when he stopped battling as hard as he was.

If Crosby was Hart Trophy Crosby, and Malkin didn't get the flu, the finals would have been much, much closer.

Sucks for PIT, great for everyone else from the standpoint of playing a Crosby-less Penguins.

Well, we'll see.

Malkin is a badass. And he seems like he has far more motivation for badassery when Crosby is out.

Was in attendance at jobing.com arena Thursday evening.

Did not even notice Crosby on the ice much, then in 2nd period he skated like a madman for several shifts. Then near end of period, he mysteriously disappeared and did not return.

Both squads looked asleep in the 1st period. Penguins dominated much of 2nd period, but woeful PK play doomed them.

In the third period, #13 (cannot remember name, he not familiar to me) got used like a pylon. Game over.

Jordan Staal got tons of ice time, love to see him skate, but weird for such a young player, how "old" is skills are — he seems to be much more talented on 'D' side, though he's quite capable of putting the puck in the net.

Pens really hurting on 'D'. Without Gonchar and Whitney, really only leaves Letang as puck toting D man. Though it looked like Malkin was performing lots of D man puck carrying duties… …and #5-#6 D pair are atrocious. I question whether Scuderi should even be on a NHL roster. On O, need somebody else to pick it up — Sykora, Zigomanis, Talbot (whom I been a big fan of in past seasons), etc.… somebody needs to get an O game going…

Well, they're saying it's a hip with Crosby now. He's playing tonight.

Again, Leafs, WAT?


 :cthulu:

I don't really know what to say about that. It defies logic, frankly.

In case people are wondering wtf I'm talking about.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=254491&lid=headline&lpos=secStory_main


TLDR Version:

Leafs losing 2-0 in the third, half the period already gone, you get up to take a piss and come back to the leafs winning 5-2.  :headscratch:



This team keeps WINNING, somehow, someway, usually spectacularly.

Wow...Sundin is gone, and the Leafs seem to be better for it.

The SCARY thing, is 3 of the leaf losses so far have been Shoot out losses. So if they actually didn't suck at shoot outs and won those... they'd be at like 8-3.

Your supposed to be losing Leafs!  :ye_gods:

Don't worry, it's still early in the season.  Plenty of time for them to turn it around!

Pretty much. The thing is that most Leafs fans are too stupid to realize that this is a BAD thing.

Unless you wanna pray for winning seasons with top lines consisting of Ponikarovsky, Steen, and John Mitchell every year.

5-4 Loss, phew!

Reality is restored!  :oh_i_see:

I wonder what kind of odds you could get on Toronto to win the cup.

Couldn't possibly be as good as the 70-1 Vegas odds on Pittsburgh on the 06-07 season, though.

Yeah, first round exit in a sweep. But 70-1 was damn good value for the team they had.

I suppose one would hope that Toronto was about 200-1.

Another 5-4 loss, but in OT after yet ANOTHER massive comeback.



Man, what is in the water they drink during the 1st intermission?

The real question is why do you watch so many Leafs games?

Heh. I really wish HNIC wasn't Leaf TV. Nothing irritates me more than wasting Jim Hughson on a crappy Toronto game. The guy lives in Western Canada- let him do the late games! He knows the teams and cities very well. And please find a hole to drop Marc Crawford in. The tongue baths he gives his former players are nauseating.

And don't get me started on the new theme song. What a clusterfuck.

Probably for the same reason most people go to church  :oh_i_see:

You pray to the god of exceptionally poor hockey team management?

Blind illogical faith!

That's okay. Pittsburgh is currently in the process of blowing a 5 goal lead against Edmonton as we speak.

Don't feel too bad.

How are the fucking players I traded away working out for you douchebags?

Son of a bitch.

I was going to talk some smack on the Pens, but Petr Sykora's 2nd goal got me a free Big Mac so I'll keep my mouth shut.  Some really gorgeous goals and extremely dirty playing, was a fun game to watch except for when I was convinced they would blow the lead at the end.

Ward's been better than Gigure was, Satan is doing ok now that fucking Gaborik is sidelines.

And yet I'm still in last place.

Wow. I liked Downie, but never so much to think he was untouchable. I was never really onboard with Eminger, and his play has been lackluster at best this season.

Carle is the guy TB got for trading away Dan Boyle, so this should hopefully work out for my Flyers.

Hopefully.

Luongo is having a nice streak there, eh?

Need about 60 more to be safe  :grin:

Okay. That Detroit/Pittsburgh game was fucking awesome.

It sucked for most of the first and some of the second, because when Detroit is on their game they give absolutely no time and space to any of the opposition. Leading to some stifling, boring ass hockey.

But they apparently think highly of themselves and are prone to getting overconfident as well. Once they were up 5-2, the game started going back and forth. Pens won 7-6.

Pure awesome.

This season has been full of games like that.


I don't think anything changed significantly rule wise to cause it to stir up. But damn!  :drill:

No TV timeouts if the puck is iced.  Now I won't say it would turn 3-2 game into a 7-6 game; but it is having an effect.  No line changes after icing wasn't harsh enough since defenses new they could get 3 rest breaks each period and knew when they were available.  As long as the linesman actually uphold the fast faceoffs it keeps more sustained pressure.  All faceoffs after penalties being in the offensive zone doesn't hurt either.

Well, I finally get fed up and drop Pominville and he has a 3 point night.  Fucker.

Yeah, I am Loving the whole penalty = face-off in your zone rule thing. Really sticks it to the team who is dumb enough to commit offensive zone infractions.

Seeing as this is our only hockey thread....

Anyone hear about some tard up in Montreal that wants to outlaw flat-out shot blocking? Going down and sprawling to block a shot would be a penalty.

Am I the only one who thinks this would be fucking stupid?

Bob Gainey. One of the best defensive players in league history, General Manager of the Montreal Canadiens.

I'd say he has a point. Shot blocking has become a MANDATORY action for players. Not only is it incredibly dangerous for them (and not just broken feet, broken legs, broken ribs.. I've seen players get hit in the throat and almost die), but it downright stifles offense.

Do you know how many shots are blocked during a game?

Now, I don't know where to find those stats at the moment. But a quick google shows a quote from a Pittsburgh Gazette article dated Oct. 29th 2008:

Now, how many games had been played by the end of October?

Most teams are around 20 games played right now. So, what - 10?

That's a LOT OF FUCKING BLOCKED SHOTS through ten games.

Had the majority of those gotten through, how many goals would have resulted?

Possibly more than that - Sidney Crosby broke his foot two seasons ago blocking a shot. Shot blocking is a main reason to keep superstars off of a penalty kill. Eliminate that danger and you not only increase goals one way, but also the other on penalty kills because stars will be out there more, thinking offensively.

Also, about the entire hockey world agrees with you, Strazos. I'm just presenting my viewpoint, and probably Bob Gainey's too.

I think shot blocking, and the possibility of injury from it, is an integral part of the game. Not every player is going to throw themselves in front of a rubber-spewing cannon like Markov or something. And it takes skill on the part of the shooter to either shoot around the blocker, or be patient and let the block put themselves out of position.

Also, I don't buy superstars not being on the PK because of shot blocking - Carter, Richards, and Gagne all kill penalties. Some stars are not out there because they are not all that great defensively, or they are given a chance to rest.

And the whole "going down on one knee to block" idea? putting the majority of your body right in front of a shot? I see that causing more injuries, not less. Sticking those shins out there is probably the safest way to block a shot.

I really dislike the recent movement to take grit out of the game. Making diving blocks illegal will kill the game of a lot of good defensive players.

Like I said, throwing yourself infront of a vulcanized rubber puck moving 90mph isn't something only 'great defensive players' do now. Very few players won't do it. It's basically become mandatory. People watching the game in 80% of these markets don't understand shot blocking, either. They just understand that a whole lot of nothing just happened.

Fact remains:

Shot blocking becomes more controlled by the rules = More offense both ways, less injuries.

There's a difference between doing it, and doing it well.

Besides, I see many more shots simply get blocked in traffic. Being called for a penalty for being down on the ice seems ludicrous.

And what about pass blocking? Are players no longer allowed to lay out on 2 on 1's to block a passing lane?


I'm sure Gainey means well, but his efforts are not altogether selfless - Montreal is a pass-happy team, and a rule like this would remove huge obstacles for them.

I am with Straz on this one (get your ass on NHL09 and play some games with us, btw!). If they want to increase scoring, make the goalie pads smaller. Watching a game from the 70s or 80s makes today's game look like a different sport with the size of the pads.

Speaking of goalies, I am on suicide watch (http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/sports/canucks/story.html?id=90fdccb8-42bb-4447-bd00-9ad0a1ae3959). The Canucks are utterly fucked without him.

I'm SORRY!

There's been a lot of stuff on my 360 plate lately, and I've been reading, and when I was going on, no one else was on to play with. :|

Agreed that pads need to be smaller. Specifically upper body pads.

Ever since they regulated the size of the goalie's pads, they look comical with the (seemingly) tiny pads and huge chest padding.

Regulate it ALL.

Watch all of those Gretzky goals, dude. No, the goalies didn't have as much skill back then and that much is clear when you watch the clips -- but look at the size of their freaking pads. Half of the goals back then would never go in today solely due to michelin man factor.

Ken Dryden - 6'4"  207lbs.
(http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s13/specialj99/dryden-1.jpg)

J.S. Giguere - 6'1" 201bs.
(http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s13/specialj99/giguere-1.jpg)

I'm surprised they haven't just started using pizza shovel instead of a stick.

Edit: Electric Batman cape too.

Leg pads are Thicker, but not That much wider than the old ones. The biggest difference is the shoulder/chest protector. And durr, helmet.

I'm reticent to tinker too much with the upper body stuff. How much smaller can you make them before you sacrifice bodily protection and safety?

Sticks have not changed.

What I meant was that I'm surprised they haven't just gone all the way and started using huge sticks.

My two biggest WTFs of the Eastern Conference:

1. Ottawa. WTF? 1 point out of last place.

2. Tampa Bay. They weren't good last year, but still. Like Ottawa, this team was GOOD not too long ago. Plus they added a bunch of pretty (if overrated) things. Last place again? Wtf.

BTW, even though Toronto is "massively overachieving", they're in tenth place in the East. Three points out of dead last.

When Burkie does the obvious and ditches Toskala, Kaberle, Antropov, Kubina, etc for picks and prospects... you Toronto guys will be enjoying your top 3 pick. And probably about four other first rounders.

See, I personally find that exciting. I went through it with Pittsburgh, and it's fun to play mental trading card fantasy games when you're watching your team lose. You'll be surprised how few guys that go in the mid-late first round pan out, though. So beware. Getting a first round pick from Detroit means a fuck of a lot less than a pick from Atlanta.

I only say this because Leafs fans tend to massively overestimate the worth of their own prospects. Probably because they haven't had any real prospects in many years, so Jiri "The Wang" Tlusty seems pretty exciting.

Ain't that the fucking truth. For the last like, 5 years, the leafs have been a 2nd or worse line team. So has Burke actually signed on? I've been living in a Cave called Wrath of the Lich King for the past couple weeks  :oh_i_see:



As to the previous discussion, one thing you can't discount is the fact Goalies are just better as a whole compared to the old days.

Most goalies play a positional game made possibly almost entirely by the size of the equipment these days.

Burke has signed on. The Burke shit is totally overrated.

What'd he do in Vancouver?

Right..

What'd he do in Anaheim?

"WON A CUP!"

Sure. That team was 95% put together already. He traded for Pronger.

These things does not a genius make.

Sorry Leafers. They key to your future lies in your SCOUTS. If Burke can fleece some people out of higher-than-necessary picks being sent the Leafs way over the next few years, that's good too.

1.  Well I'm a Sens fan so I've watched them pretty close.  While I certainly didn't expect them to be this bad, there are big holes in that lineup:  Gerber now on year 3 and he's still awful though Auld has been a surprise.  The defense, while stronger in their own end has lost everyone with any offensive touch or that can deliver that outlet pass that can send their big guns up the ice.  Lack of scoring depth is an old story but still true.

2.  Tampa Bay is a disorganized mess from ownership on down.  The owner dump a successful GM for one of their agent buddies.  He drastically changes their lineup while not addressing their woeful defense and signing dubious free agents.  Then they bring in a washed up coach who the players revolt against.

Yeah...Barry Melrose...Really?

lol

Well, you could explain everything away if a team was bad. On the flipside, if the Lightning and Senators were mowing everyone down right now, it'd be "HEATLEY! ALFREDSSON! SPEZZA!!! HOW CAN YOU GO WRONG! OMG FISHER AND VERMETTE PROVIDING SECONDARY SCORING WHAT A TEAM!!!". Lightning would be Lecavalier! St. Louis! New coach is great! Stamkos! Malone! Smith is awesome!

Well, yeah. It's easy to talk something up when they're doing well, and to pick it apart when they're not. But the surprise is, to me, just HOW VERY BAD these teams are.

I mean.. the Sens went from SC finalists to a legendary start the next season to, like, the worst team of all time.

Starting to really get into hockey season, have caught all but one of the Pens past 4 or 5 games and most of the Coyotes too, along with a smattering of other teams (Center Ice Package).

1. Pens look like a machine some games, like they're on the power play when really not, even if it's not manifested into big goal scoring eruptions. And they're getting production from others besides Malkin, Crosby and Staal. Kennedy, Satan and others have pitched in and while I bashed #13 Gogoloski in an earlier post, him and Letang have really stepped up their game. Kind of disappointed in Gil, but he still does yeoman PK duty. Orpik keeps shedding my doubts about him and well Scuderi hasn't been too bad even…

2. Coyotes are struggling but could get it together — at best, they're a second tier playoff qualifier. Too much reliance on Jokinen (who is out now) and Doan. And if Bryzgalov loses his groove, it might be a long season.

3. Really don't know what his happening in Tampa, I thought Tortorella did excellent job there, but he lost confidence and from the sounds of it, Melrose, despite sitting in a TV analyst chair for ~15 years, came back into coaching with an "original 6" mindset on conducting practice and formulating team play tactics. Might be further meltdown, and who knows, maybe St. Louis and Lecavielier end up with cup contenders come trading deadline. And they overpaid for Ryan Malone.

4. Rangers sans Jagr look really good. Good goaltending from Lundqvist and solid squad though Paul Mara is still a stiff. He looks like a great hockey player and has all the tools, but it hasn't translated into stellar play for him.

5. Sens might be struggling but come end of season, they will be in playoffs and a threat to go all the way.

Malone is a perennial 20 goal scorer with some good grit, and he can fight a little.

They decided to go ahead and pay him 4.5m for five years.

Not only does this piss me off because it's stupid - not only does it piss me off because things like this have a ripple effect on salaries. But it pisses me off because people are taking pieces from the Penguins that would have otherwise existed very comfortable in their natural environment, getting a reasonable salary and making up a very, very good team (which is now just a good team).

If Staal doesn't sign soon, I can't even fucking imagine what some asshole will pay him.

Sure, but you could say that about nearly any team, life is always good when your winning.  But they've been painful to watch since January so I take a hard look them figure out what's wrong.  Anyways, yes, the collapse from the Finals to now has been epic.

I should say, I don't think they're as bad as their record shows right now, but they're not great either.  I still think they get in, but I need to see some shortcomings addressed before I start getting my hopes up about a deep playoff run.

And Tampa didn't surprise me at all. I mean, did anyone not named Brian Lawton actually think hiring Barry Melrose was a good idea?

About every television commentator in the world, until he got fired.

He's one of them.  They never say anything bad about one another.

Barry had one successful season in the NHL.  Where he rode Wayne Gretzky to the finals.  Wayne probably had more say in his linemates than he did.  Then he puts up two terrible seasons and never coaches until now.  No time in the minors, nothing in junior. 

Every television commentator in the world needs their head checked, or they were being nice to their buddy.  Sure you can find a diamond in the rough sometimes, but there is nothing here that says "What a great hire!".

I bet you Rick Tocchet will be more successful.  :grin:

Yeah, more money would be made betting FOR the Lightning at this point. He has incentive to do well.

So will Janet Gretzky!

Melrose has always seemed like a mostly harmless dope to me. I was amazed to see him in the NHL so soon after coaching the Seattle WHL team- that was quite a step up.

In other hockey news, Curtis Sanford is making me long for the Dan Cloutier days. God he was dreadful last night. Schneider, OTOH, looks like he is about ready to be a full time NHLer, at least as a backup for now. Kid has some chops.

I know I'm necroposting like an asshat, but I for one was someone who thought hiring Melrose was a fucking moronic idea.  Also, I'm not sure how much ya'll watch TB games, but they're only missing by a little -- this is not the same team from last year.  They have good goaltending and their third line is coming around.  The return of Halpern helped us a lot, and Smaby is contributing on defense (and will probably stay called up).

I know the team's stats in the win column are terrible, but they're playing good hockey.  I honestly wouldn't be surprised if you see them make the playoffs this year.

Also, Malone is on pace for a better than 20 goal year.  Sounds like sour grapes we have him and PIT doesn't.

Sure, PIT would like him...but your team massively overpayed for him....$7m in the first two seasons of his 31m/7 year contract? lol

Malone is a fine player. But nobody said otherwise, really.

But in a salary cap world, he is in no way, shape, or form worth what you guys paid him.

Speaking of players who aren't work the contracts they'll get:

Gaborik.

WTF.

6 games this season? Really?

Hey, when Gaborik plays, he's fantastic. The problem is he'll probably never fucking play a full season again, at least not in the NHL. As much as I wish my team would resign him, if they choose not to pay top dollar for him I will completely understand. For a team that just doesn't pay big dollars, he's going to ask too much for a player as fragile as he is.

The dude is Mario Lemieux during his comeback, just not as good.

I always remember, year after year.. I was totally looking forward to watching Lemieux play. Ten or fifteen games in, he was done for the season.

The year he first came back was awesome, though. 76 points in 43 games wut?!?


Oh, and also speaking of talented, injury prone hockey players:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6DjNKAAmPA

pure lolz

Haha yeah, I still laugh watching it. Listening to the announcers totally unable to control their laughter is hilarious too.

I still chuckle just reading his name.  I'm 12.

Holy fuck. He needs to start wearing pigtails after a performance like that.

OMFG that was awesome. I hadn't seen that before.

He looks like someone's three year old brother who snaps from being tormented by the older sibling.

Changing leagues for a moment:
(http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s13/specialj99/Team_82456.jpg)
5 straight gold at the World Juniors.  Oh yeah.

Was at the Canada/US game New Years Eve.  Just awesome.  Wasn't sure they could beat the U.S. a second time until they got knocked out in a fluke.

If you're a hockey fan, you need to be watching this tournament.  The NHL is dead to me while this is going on.  Now it's back to seeing the Senators lay a few more stinkers.

Caught some of the early round games and the bronze medal game between Slovakia-Russia and the disappointing U.S. loss to Slovakia previous to that…

I agree intensely. I have NO desire to tune into NHL games while this tournament is on.

Good luck finding it on TV in the US. :|

Also, heard VanRiemsdike (spelling?) was a monster in the tourney.

He was pretty good. I wouldn't say he was top 5 or anything.

I saw a few games on NHL network.

See: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=n5mDd62aS20 (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=n5mDd62aS20).

Uh, NHL Channel carried all (or most of the games, all of the Canada / US matchups plus others)…

Any rabid hockey fan has DirecTV Center Ice package… …HD games, NHL channel…

I can't get DirectTV (satellite technology is still baffled by trees)....no HD for me with Comcast's package  :heartbreak:

Upgrading my package to even basic digital would be $100/month, before counting the cost of a NHL package, which I would get almost zero use out of.

I just have trouble watching a game where I don't care too much about either team.

Well you probably get plenty of games on local tv in your area, don't you? I would imagine that you are inundated with Flyers/Devils/Pens/Rangers/Islanders games. I don't have a choice about Center Ice- I don't get any games on local tv. At least I didn't until this year- Comcast recently started a regional sports channel that is playing Blazers games and some Western Conference NHL games (including Canucks). I think they are trying to cash in on the gaping hole the Sonics left in the winter sports calendar up here. Hell, Fox Sports Network is even broadcasting 6 WHL games this winter! I was sorry to see the Sonics go, but if it means more hockey on local TV, it is a fair trade  :grin:

I had no idea the Sonics had left Seattle.

This is how much I care about the NBA.

If the Raptors can field a halfway decent team (rare), I'll watch. Oh, and I liked watching the Lakers in the late 90s there or whatnot. Hell, watching Shaq take socially akward jabs at reporters was amusing. Garnett screaming "ANYTHING'S POSSIBLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE" like he just took Germany with a ragtag band of malnourished jewish grandmothers was stupid. You won the NBA championship with the most stacked team in the league. Odds were 2:1 going into the playoffs. Calm down, bro.

But honestly, you can't possibly interest me less with a fucking Trailblazers/Bucks game or something. Just no.

We get Flyers coverage. That is all. You have to get the Center Ice package to get anything else with regularity. I sometimes catch a glance of some random western conference games, but that's it. Comcast RARELY shows a Phantoms' game, but that's all.

This area is actually really shitty if you're looking for broadcasts of non-local games. It use to be better years ago with the ESPN contract, but with Versus...god damn, they are terrible.

Ah, living in Canada.

CBC, TSN, Sportsnet. In fact, my cable package includes all four Sportsnet channels, which, before all this blackout bullshit started, would have entitled me to four different magical regions of hockey coverage.

But I have Centre Ice anyway.

Total aside - Anyone want Randy Jones? FFS, can someone please take him from this Flyers squad please? 2nd or 3rd round pick. I cannot stand watching him anymore.



Also...Jagr...total bullshit if he comes back, and plays for League Fucking Minimum. Way to try to stack a team, spoiled jerks.  I hope he comes back, gets hurt, and PIT still misses the playoffs.

This bullshit with players not deciding what to do until after Christmas has got to fucking stop...fucking stupid drama.

Go to hell faggot.

Come back, Jaromir!

Jagr/Crosby/Malkin as a forward line thx. Welcome to GOALTOWN.



Population GOALS.


Edit: I also welcome our new coach, Pat Quinn.

I really don't see Jagr happening.  Anything I read didn't look like he was about to walk out on his deal with Omsk.

Quinn? Very much so.  He'd be good for them.

Nah, but pending the KHL folds or starts forcing paycuts on players, there's the possibility.

Quinn would be great, I agree. People think he's going to end up in Ottawa, but I call shit. I think they're going to sell, tank, and go for a high pick.

Well they're already in lottery territory so you don't need to change much.  :uhrr:

Yeah there's been some Quinn to Ottawa talk, but if I'm him, I'd rather go to the Pens.

Unless the Sens are willing to attempt an improvement over the second half and bite the bullet with a #19 pick and a failure of a season, it'd be ridiculous for Quinn to go there.

The Penguins, on the other hand, simply need a fresh voice and a new perspective. They don't need to actually go 30-7-3 over the second half to make the playoffs. They're just a good team who has a coach that's lost the locker room.

And, IMO, it's time for another Mario comeback.

K, Mario?

GOGOGO!

PS:

Trade for a winger (I dunno, something reasonable... like Tkachuck)

Lemieux/Crosby/Tkachuck
Sykora/Malkin/Jagr


Seriously. Fucking gogogo. Bring cups.

Lemieux, start working out. Shoot some steroids if need be.

Lemieux at 43 playing beside Crosby could still net 90 points I bet.

Jesus fucking tapdancing Christ, the Canucks are going to be the death of me. I expected them to be terrible, so when they started out non-terrible my expectations rose. Now they are just overtly trying to lose games it seems. 2 goals last directly from the goddamned goalie trying to dick around behind the net instead of STAYING IN HIS FUCKING CREASE WHERE HE BELONGS. If I was coaching the next goalie who did that would be on a fucking bus to Manitoba with no return ticket. Just handed the Devils an easy win last night.

Pittsburgh/Washington tonight is gonna be the shit.

Ovechkin hits Malkin viciously from behind, guaranteed.

I mean, not just because Ovechkin ALWAYS hits people from behind.

Welp.

Well, son of a bitch.

Irregardless of HOW long Crosby is out, that's the season.

People cry about how Crosby/Malkin get benefit of official calls, but Good Gates, Ovechkin really takes the prize here. Ovechkin drew a penalty by hitting and taunting Matt Cooke, where Cooke backed down and still drew a penalty. Ridiculous. Then there was a call in the game where Hal Gill got called for slashing when all he slashed was stick, yet the Capital player sticked him in the face in return. No call for the Capitals skater. Penguins had another goal waved off because clueless official lost sight of the puck. Still, they were peppered with shots and Fleury just wasn't up to the task last night (as he has been mediocre at best all season, as his ~ .900 save %).

Pens looked like world beaters early on, but they really look like bottom tier team of late, even with Crosby.

* Their 3rd / 4th lines are AHL caliber.

* Satan has been a bust. Fedotenko been OK.

* Whitney has been awful since returning, and he's really hurting the team, plus sucking up ice time of Letang and Gogoloski, who've been surprisingly decent. Philipe Boucher sucks, Mark Eaton — a mystery why he's on an NHL roster. Scuderi hasn't been bad, but Orpik game is not what it was during their Cup runner-up campaign last season.

* While I agree that they should not have signed Malone, they need to fill that spot, as not only are they lacking there, they just lack toughness in general. They miss Laraque — while he did not play/perform much in post-season, he was big part of their regular season success last season.

* 1st thing I would do if I were Penguin GM would be to dump Fleury. That would free up money so they could nab a Malone replacement. Trade some draft picks for young goalie prospects and let them compete for 1 (or 1a and 1b).

* The third and fourth lines were strong last season. They cycled down low and chipped in goals. They are AHL players this season, accomplishing nothing when they're on the ice.

* Miro has a nose for the net and can pot a goal here and there. That's all, though. He's softer than tissue paper, has no speed, etc. Fedotenko has been okay, but he's not Ryan Malone.

* Whitney is awful. But none of our defense are what they were in the playoffs. They ARE what they were during the season, though. Remember - people always said our achilles heal was our AWFUL defense. Then they all got hyped up and big contracts after a good playoff run.

* The biggest thing Laraque did was provide two things: Swagger, and the ability to not get knocked off the puck cycling down low. Goddard fights more, and not always just phony pre-arranged shit. But he doesn't provide the "He's the best, lawl" swagger.

* If you dump Fleury, you need a goalie. Sabourin doesn't cut it bros. Are you gonna get something at Fleury's price with his potential? Remember that he's 23.

I don't disagree that he looks like SHIT most of the time. But in the playoffs last year, he was one of the best.. and he nearly started the All-Star game based solely on that run of good play.

Well, Vancouver just paid a lot of money to miss the playoffs.

QFFT

Sundin = Serious Welps. He is going to be busto of Messier-in-Vancouver proportions. $10M for half a season is fucking bullshit. Fuck you very much baldy, I hope you contract anal herpes. Hopefully Luongo gets back into playing shape soon, or this season is doomed.

I thought they couldn't pay a player more than what $8 million a year.

Well, they originally offered him $20 over 2 years. So, it's gotta be close to 10M. The Rangers offered him $5M IIRC.

I'm not sure about the $8M cap...

Dany Heatley, LW Ottawa $10 million
Sidney Crosby, C Pittsburgh $9 million
Alexander Ovechkin, LW Washington $9 million
Miikka Kiprusoff, G Calgary $8.5 million

What's up with Sundin? I haven't seen any news.

He's almost 40, he missed training camp AND half the season, he's out of shape and he's been terrible since coming back.

Surprise!

Oh, I thought he finally got hurt or something.

He's unattractive as well.

The maximum is 20% of the current cap.  So if he signs for $10 mil, prorated he collects $5 mil.  Cap is around $56 mil so it works out.

No, it doesn't.

I don't get it. Or are you just saying it was a dumbass signing?

Maybe it's a complete failure but Vancouver's position is they have some cap space to burn and they can make the equivalent of a deadline aquisition without any cost in players or draft picks.  And they still have some room left.  Outside of some dollars there's really no risk to the Canucks.

Sure I'd be worried about a 37 year old missing half the season, but if he gets back into form he's a great player.

Edit: typing is HARD.

If he gets back into form before he gets hurt by being old and totally out of shape. Mats will generally get hurt at some point during the season with a more favourable combination of those two factors than he has going for himself right now.

Had Mats been playing the entire season, and playing well, picking him up would be great. This is a much less effective thing to do for your hockey team, considering there are other ways you could have used that cap space this season, than making a big splash before the deadline for instance.

The big complaint is that trades CAN'T be made because nobody has cap space. Vancouver could have been one of the FEW (very, very few) clubs in the position to make a big splash before the deadline. Instead, Sundin is currently doing shack jit.

However, if Sundin gets himself into shape and starts playing like Sundin without getting hurt the rest of the season, it should work out very well for Vancouver. I'm certainly not saying otherwise.

Sundin had a sweet goal last night, then crapped the bed in the shootout by shooting 2 feet high (HIT THE FUCKING NET KTHX). He isn't the problem though- the major issue is that the entire defensive corps of the Canucks seems to have forgotten anything they ever knew about how to play defense. Countless turnovers, guys getting left all alone 5 feet from the net, etc. It is just horrifying.

I thought he looked like he had hands of stone on that goal.

The forehand deke and then backhand roof goal? Maybe I am just numb from watching Canucks who can't even get a fucking shot on the net, but it looked like a nice piece of skill to me.

Well, I saw it a few times, but I wasn't watching all that closely. I may be wrong.

Edit: Yeah, I just went and watched a clear video. I was being too harsh, it was decent. I thought he juggled the puck like a fighter and stiffly went to his backhand. It was actually a decent fake.

He utterly mangled a pull back and shoot attempt from the doorstep earlier in the game, so his hands are definitely still suspect  :grin:

Well, I'll give him another week or two before bitching that the Canucks wasted money again.

If you got rid of the overtime point, I'm pretty sure the leafs would be dead last or near enough to it. God damn overtime losses, keep giving those deluded schmucks hope.  :awesome_for_real:

Believe me, no one in Leaf land thinks they have a hope.  They've now resorted to cheering on the teams below them.  Take away the single point and they're pretty well in the same spot, give or take a rank.  They're pretty bad, but they are more watchable than the two previous non-playoff offerings.

Flames go into the break 9 points up in the division. Pretty darn pleased with that.

Amount of stars missing from All-Star game is kind of staggering.

Well, you get that when one team's fans cheat in the voting.

http://www.faniq.com/blog/NHL-To-Investigate-All-Star-Voting-Fraud-Montreal-Canadiens-Fans-Are-Cheating-Blog-14233 (http://www.faniq.com/blog/NHL-To-Investigate-All-Star-Voting-Fraud-Montreal-Canadiens-Fans-Are-Cheating-Blog-14233)

You get that when the league cares more about press releases with AmAzInG NumBerS than, you know, putting in ANY check against multiple voting.

A million votes just isn't impressive whatsoever when you consider that there were people who set up macros to vote fifty thousand times.

Yeah, becuase there was no ballot box stuffing or vote rigging before Montreal.  While they're at it they can look the amazing surge of votes for Crosby and Malkin (I think Gary Bettman voted 500,000 times himself).  It's nothing new.  If anything it shone a light on how broken the voting is. 

How about the fact there were no Sharks or Bruins voted in?  Or no Red Wings will actually play? Or that Tim Thomas wasn't even on the ballot?  :ye_gods:

Anyways, it's the All Star game, big deal.  I take a little vacation from hockey for a while.

It's true, nobody cares. It's for the kids and the kids in suits.

I usually watch the skills competition, but that's about it.

In theory, the skills competition would seem to be interesting. That's why I watch it.

In practice, it never really is.

Are they doing the 'shoot out' competition again? That was pretty  :awesome_for_real: last year.

Yes.  Doan won, and it was pretty entertaining.  I wish St. Louis would've tried the reverse shot again for shits and giggles.

The actual trick shot competition was embarassing.

Of course, Ovechkin won after being the worst out of the entire group.

That was horrifying. If I was a casual fan and tuned in to see that fucking debacle,  I would never watch hockey again. I was embarrassed to be a hockey fan.

The game itself was even worse - Tim Thomas was the only part of the game that stood out in my mind.

Sec though.

Did Gerald Green play in the NBA All-Star game?

Like, why aren't people invited purely based on the event?

Most of the guys who go to the All-Star game aren't likely to work on moves throughout the season. The ones who did (Ovechkin) were just fucking awful.

There are young kids out there in the NHL that could never make the actual NHL All-Star game roster that'd probably be very happy to show up for the trick shot competition and would work on some moves.

And why the FUCK was it turned into a fucking relay?

To try more shit?

Better question: what happened to the actual relay event?

No, the event should be put to death unless it can be good.

For that reason, you announce that, during each team's skills competition (they all hold one a while before the allstar weekend), the best of each team will be considered for the main event at the real AS weekend.

For example: Cogliano won the fastest skater - but Eric Cole beat him at the Oilers skills competition.

This way, if there's a slew of amazing moves at the team events, you put very best on show.

If there aren't, you quietly snuff the trick shot event and don't say anything about it before or after.

It would be, if it was an actual "skills competition", instead of a fscking beauty pageant, as it has become…

And, yes, NHL should pony up and have the best at each skill compete, not just all-stars… …like Azaroth proposes and how, unless I am just recalling this in error, or have AHL on the brain, the NHL did it when they started this "skills competition" stuff…

And Good Gates, can ESPN or another network rescue these games from Vs. (for us unfortunate U.S. viewers)… …their coverage, in what is now, 3 years? is hopelessly atrocious. No excuse whatsoever for the amateur hijinks… …had no interest in the actual all-star game itself, but watching the youngsters game, got incensed over Vs. switching off of action (like when there was a 2 on 1) to an interview they could run anytime before/between/after the action…

Speaking of AHL, Planet USA beat Team Canada (or whatever they were calling themselves) 14-11 in the AHL all-star game tonight. 12 goals came in the 3rd period, 9 for the U.S., which was like a goal every 1:40… …former Coyote prospect and Pens farmhand Jeff Taffe had a hattrick as well as Corey Locke, but MVP went to Jared Ross (of Philadelphia Phantoms) who had 7 points (1 goal)…

…not that anyone cares about AHL. I actually thought farmhands would play a little harder (I think I had Senior Bowl on the mind) but it looked looser than open hockey night at the local rink, with skaters striding at half-speed…

Bolts are only 7 points out of the playoff hunt and 6 of their last 8!   :awesome_for_real: :awesome_for_real:

So, Vancouver.

So Sundin IS too old?

"If it's broke, don't try to fix it with overpriced, worn out parts".

Before the season, everyone expected Vancouver to be fairly bad. People don't really remember that because expectations changed when they got relatively hot early in the season.

Their saving grace was always said to be their defense. Vancouver fans figured that their awful offense would be supported by their strong defense. Everyone else strongly doubted that possibility.

Problem is that they added two Maple Leafs as upgrades to their offense, their defense is failing, and Luongo is playing like shit.

They have been better the past couple of games, but they are still a total psychological wreck. Anything bad that can happen, will, which is why their penalty kill is so bad. Luongo hasn't been terrible, but he can definitely play better. In fact, I think that is what will snap this losing streak- he will play out of his mind one night, the Canucks will win 1-0, and everyone will take a deep breath and unclench their balloon knots just a bit.

Sundin is a fucking joke. He looks like he has cement around his skates, and his lazy penalties are KILLING the Canucks. The Sedins are also guilty of horrible penalties in the offensive end, but at least they started shooting the goddamned puck Saturday night. Like to see a lot more of that. Burrows and Kesler played their balls off, but you can't depend on them for scoring every night, and they are the only ones bringing it right now.

That's a shame. I was really hoping he would still have some of his old magic left in him. He really did do incredible things in Toronto, I swear!

At least they don't look as bad as the Penguins…

The Penguins are the worst team in the NHL.

Yet somehow have the two top scorers in the league.

If their organization was a robot, it'd explode.

Sundin had a good game the other night. He still looks like he is skating underwater most of the time, but his hands are coming back- 1g 1a, 16/19 faceoffs. Considering how the Canucks have been in the faceoff circle for the past few years, that is really valuable. Not 10m/season, but valuable.

Luongo was still hot and cold. Made some great saves, and then let a TERRIBLE goal get through his 5 hole. Good news is they won, and then get 3 full days to practice/get healthy/regain confidence, so there is still a glimmer of hope. I don't why I let myself believe- I am starting to feel like Charlie Brown.

Woohoo! Sens lose 1-0 to the Kings.  Lottery, here we come!  While we're at it, fire Hartsburg!

Surprised Therien hasn't been sent on his way from the Pens yet.

Hey, look at that. From bottom to #2 in the fantasy league. I must be doing something right, though I'll be damned if I know what.

I need to dedicate the time to sit down and actually put guys in playing positions for the next month or so. It's just tedious and I can never find the time.

Now, if there were money on the pool....

For Vancouver fans:

Sedins are demanding between 6-7 each for long term. (Protip: DON'T sign the Sedins for 6-7 each long term...)

Ohlund is flat out leaving and his agent has done everything but say it. He also won't waive his no-trade.

Here's hoping you fuckers get hot and make a good playoff run, because I smell a rebuild. Or, with bad management, a lot of medicore Leafs style seasons.

Maybe Sundin brought the Leaf virus to Vancouver.  :why_so_serious:

 :heartbreak:

I like Ohlund. However, he is on the wrong side of 30, so it is better to miss a year of production than be stuck with him during a long contract of decaying skill. I don't think anyone is paying the Sedins $14m/year for the pair of them, although GMs always manage to surprise me.

Time for Thirrien to get the boot…

…and take Fleury with him. I know, he's heralded as a great talent, I just don't see it… …he makes some outstanding saves but lets way too many soft goals in, gives up rebounds galore and is terrible at handling the puck.

Letang out on PK? WTF? Um, save his legs for after PK, especially when there is only like 5 min left in the game…

How does Whitney get 25 minutes of ice time a game. -12 and probably headed for -37 Dave Manson range soon enough. And a promising young D man (Goligoski, who scores at same rate, at +5, with 1/3 less ice time) sent down…

Talbot (who I've loved in past seasons) and Dupuis are killing the team too… …Orpik, valuable as one of the few hitters on the team has been subpar and definitely not worthy of a big contract… …Satan scoring at the rate of a journeyman discount forward, not a prized sniper like Hossa who eagerly departed…

No toughness whatsoever, sorry Godard is a joke, can't justify carrying someone like him in 2009…

Only plusses have been Mark Eaton has surprised me with some decent D play, Gill has been steady (though he's best relegated to PK duty or matched up with nimbler partner) and Scuderi has surprised me. Whitney and Orpik have been atrocious and team's nosedive has coincided with Whitney's return. Boucher does not belong on an NHL roster. I don't know that return of Gonchar going to right the ship…

Sure they will be looking at trades but they gave up so much last season to get Hossa (and that deal got them to the finals, no doubt), but now, the conclusion of which has cost them 5 skaters…

And to the knuckleheads that waft on bemoaning Jordan Staal, I have to ask, are you watching the games? Do you see the immense gifted, skilled, talented all-around 2-way forward he is? Numbers are low (he set a high bar with a 29 goal mark in rookie season) but he's usually not skating on top line, draws D duty and especially this seasons…

----

Re: Canucks, they put a pasting on Blackhawks for HNIC broadcast (and Make-Beliefs obliterated Habs in 1st part which surprised since Canadians have looked pretty good when  I have tuned in to their games…)… …Sedins are softer than Charmin, but they can bury the puck, I think Hawks were more interested in the Vancouver night life… …watching Don Cherry is a hoot, like talking to my crazy uncle…

Other NHL observations culled from my DirecTV subscription:

* …am puzzled by success of Boston, still don't believe they're cup worthy… …big game v. San Jose on Tuesday night on Vs. for you non-DirecTV fans…
* …Flyers seemed unfairly stacked with scoring hands and gritty toughness, but goaltending is questionable but hey, I can cast doubt on Biron but Niitymaki sure has seemed to catch lightning in a bottle this season… …until he nabs #1 and then slumps ;)
* …still looks like Wings to lose, but who knows, one hot goalie could derail their cup procession…
* …coyotes go from 5 to 13 in what seemed like a couple of days… …after all, they only 6 points out of 5th place, good gates, last place St. Louis is only 6 points out of a playoff spot… …what a scramble it will be, though it hard to jump that many teams especially with all the OL/SL that still garner a losing team a point…

A lot of things clearly need to be done, and those things should be obvious to the GM.

But apparently they aren't.

Problem is that if they aren't, he should go find out what's going on. Has he done that? Seems to me like he hasn't.

Unless Crosby is one of the big problems and half the team hates him for some fairly valid reasons. That'd put you in a bind.

But if it's anything else... get off your ass.

Therrien should have gone in the offseason. He was so very clearly and extraordinarily outcoached in that final that they really should have went and found an upgrade.

Fleury... heh. Yeah. Pretty awful most of the time.

Whitey... heh. Yeah. God damn down right awful ALL of the time.

But what's any of it matter? Crosby has Dupuis and Tyler Kennedy as wingers. I mean, at least Malkin has Sykora on his regular line... he can kinda put the puck in the net by times, even though he completely lacks NHL speed of any kind.

You have the two best centers in the game. HOW ABOUT SOME WINGERS, FUCKER.

29 teams would go out and get some fucking wingers IMMEDIATELY if Crosby and Malkin offered to sign there as long as they got them some wingers. How come the Penguins keep trying to stick them with fourth liners?

Ovechkin gets to play with Backstrom and Semin... I mean, come on.

Stop forcing us to be a one line team by putting Crosby and Malkin together and get at least one motherfucking quality winger. Like, ideally two or three. You've got more than enough overvalued shit to trade.

One thing that really bothered me watching game and reading Pens player comments on Hossa (how they love him and bear no grudge) — I realize NHL is a business and players got to do what is right for them and all but consider — Pens trade 4 players for Hossa (and I not criticizing the deal, it did power them, especially  in playoffs to Cup finals). In off-season, after Pens structure other deals in chance to keep him, he jumps for less money to go to Detroit. Now, if it's my squad, I take that as a personal affront to our guys. Especially if wear the 'C' (or 'A' even)… …now I don't know what goes on inside the locker room, relationally between players, but I certainly wouldn't let him waltz all over the O zone and a backhand a goal in (which Fleury should have had, contrary to announcers, he was not screened…)… …they should have been lining him up all game and smearing him across the ice and/or boards no matter the score… …maybe that the big bruising D that I played that is speaking but I find Penguin behavior unconscionable and would have been loudly booing had I been in attendance…

On the forward composition, you nailed it, too many centers and not enough winger power… …but that could be mitigated… …on the NBC broadcast, Pierre ? mentioned that Pens should be stacking Crosby, Malkin, Staal. Reasoning being that both Crosby and Malkin are going to be marked and without quality linemates, it just it makes it so much easier for defenders…

But I would set the lines differently — and would move Crosby down to 2nd line…

Sykora Malkin Satan/Fedotenko
Crosby Staal Kennedy/Cooke/Dupuis

On D, #1 pairing of Whitney + Orpik as currently construed is a travesty. Don't know when and how soon it will take Gonchar to get back into groove, but Gonchar + Eaton (I shudder to say this, but he been best Pen D-man of recent games) would be a small upgrade… …on 2nd thought, it sure looks like a lost season, which is mind bending, considering you have the top 2 scorers in the league…

Apologies for Pens focus to fans of the other 29 teams…

Flyers, how about giving us Jeff Carter and Scott Hartnell for Theo^H^H^H^HMA Fleury…?

Whatever they gave up for Dupuis, it was too much. He had one really good season, when Gaborik was at his best during the Wild's playoff run that almost made the Cup. After that, the unibrow just didn't have anything left.

Actually, he was part of the Hossa trade last season…

…Pens gave up Colby Armstrong, Erik Christensen, 2007 1st round pick Angelo Esposito and another 1st round pick (which Thrashers used to pick this guy (http://hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=113817)) for Hossa + Dupuis…

Esposito still playing in juinors, Armstrong was Syd's friend and a good role player w/toughness… …Christensen has sniper skills but performed best actually as shootout specialist (may not mean much for playoffs but those extra points can come in handy…)…

Dupuis signed for 1.4M, which to me seems extravagant, but hey, Orpik and Whitney are pulling 4M…

In all seriousness, Whitney must go.

Interesting analysis here (http://www.hockeyanalysis.com/?p=841):


Still this made me /chuckle…

I don't buy the whole "big paycheck men can't win a cup."  Pittsburgh won two cups (two big name players -- you better fucking know who they are), went to the finals recently, and Tampa won a cup.  I have a hard time buying it. 

The big problem for Tampa has been injuries this year, especially on defense where we've been pretty weak for a few years.  Also, when the guy says "mostly offensive oriented forwards," St. Louis is great on D, and Lecavalier is above average.  I agree with him about Richards though, because I really thought Richards was overrated, and was glad when we traded him.

Not that I buy into that analysis 100% but Pittsburgh cup captures in early 90's was pre-salary cap and also broke the owner to the point where the team almost collapsed (that was the 2nd of 3 occasions where it looked like it might be curtains for hockey in Pittsburgh, 1st was when the DeBartolos had the team, after Baldwin, then most recently during Lemieux's "ownership")…

And correct me if I am mistaken, but Lightning faced some tough cap decisions post-Cup and it cost them their cup winning goalie as well as a few other skaters…

Ottawa, on the surface, looks like they fit the author's argument, but they've had a nice run the last few years, but it unfortunately, it didn't translate into any cups taken… …their window now has seemingly shut, but their goaltending is a mess, your forward depth is worse than the Pens and when your top D-man is Filip Kuba, you're charting a course into Islander country…

In other NHL happenings, Rangers look worse than the Pens and I wonder how long before Renney gets the axe. Although Vs. reporting that Avery might be coming back to NY…

lulz, no.  :awesome_for_real: I'm sure Holmgren is laughing all the way to the bank for not trading Carter away for fucking Sundin, and for holding onto Hartnell when he looked somewhat questionable.

I still say they need to trade Jones away if/when Briere comes off the IR, and recall Sbisa from the WHL. Sure, Jones will put up points...right before a weakass clear along the boards, or a dumbfuck clear attempt straight up the middle, or a lazy cross ice pass in his own zone with forecheckers pressing him.

My whole thing is that it really hasn't been a cap issue with the Lightning.  They've paid people to come in and try to play goal, such as Marc Denis (lulz, man was he bad) in the past few years and they just haven't panned out.  Mike Smith this year has been a godsend, and one of the reasons they're even close to the playoff hunt.  The true problem for TB has been defense -- they were copetitive when they had Kubina, Sarich, (Sarich's partner, I forget his name), and Sydor.  All of those players are gone, and they're still feeling the pains.

All that being said, I think TB has some good prospects in Downie, Stamkos, and Smaby.

Amazing what a line juggle will do for a player. Canucks put Sundin, Demetra, Kessler together 3 games ago, and the team's scored 17 goals in three games.

We beat the fucking Blues! I don't think the Canucks have beat the Blues since Mike Liut was in goal...

So Sundin is NOT too old?

He's younger than Claude Lemieux!

That's a cap issue.  There's nothing left to pay your blueline after the big forwards collected after the Cup win.

It irrelevant really because this team is going nowhere with the current ownership and GM.

Seriously! The Blues have owned the Canucks the past few years. Hopefully they can get by Wayne's boys tonight.

Hey, anyone want to trade for Carey Price?

I hear the Canadiens are really going places this year and people are holding up signs with "Jesus" Price on them etc. He's supposed to be the next Patrick Roy?

Anyone?

lol, his glove hand is suspect.

Therrien canned, Blysma in as interim coach for Pens… …after absolutely disgraceful HNIC performance Saturday night where they thought the game was over after going up 2-0 and ended up losing 6-2 or 7-2 or 8-2, I lost count, pucks were flying in their net at such a rapid rate… …can't even dog Fleury for it because he did look sharp early, made some nice saves, but when your netminder faces a barrage of 40+ shots, kind of hard to find total fault there…

Talking heads on NHL network were all lambasting the move, saying it not Therrien fault and focusing on missing Hossa and Malone from last season. But from watching all the Pens games over past couple months, they're really not biggest problem — the defensemen play has been pitiful. While Orpik is one of the few tough guys throwing out body checks, he really is no 1-2 D-man. Gill is probably only suited for PK duty. Eaton has probably been their best D-man, but on any other team would be 3-4 at best, probably 5-6 guy. Letang has good puck movement skills but he cannot handle opposing forwards and really should be relegated to PP play. Scuderi has been OK, but that means he is steady 5-6 guy…

While I don't know how much ice time decisions were the machinations of Therrien, or barked down from above from Shero, I'd say Therrien should be canned just on the basis of (a) assigning Letang to PK duty, (b) giving Whitney, who's been dreadful on D so much ice time, and (c) not getting Jordan Staal more cracks on a line w/Crosby/Malkin…

Does anyone know where the Devils came from this year? No huge stand-outs that I can think of, no Brodeur, and they're running away with the Atlantic. Really frustrating.

Quality (though Parise and Elias carry the scoring load) spread on multiple forward lines. Very capable, if unheralded defensemen corp - White, Oduya, Martin all having stellar season thus far… …and Clemmenson (sp?) has looked sharper than Brodeur at times this season…

The Therrien move was stupid, and made by awful management. Shero should be canned for more reasons than I can count. Holding off on signing our core until AFTER they made a run and then being forced to overpay comes to mind. Now we have a serious cap situation because we have a core of guys all being overpaid by about 1.5m each.

But so does this. Give me a motherfucking break.

This move needed to be executed two months ago, or not at all. And.. Bylsma?

Fucking really?

He's new to being an AHL HEAD COACH. I don't CARE how his team is doing. You don't know if he's any good. This is his first season as coach of an AHL team, as far as I've read.

So what, if he fails, you bring in ANOTHER coach? You're banking this season first on Therrien turning it around, and now on an unproven AHL coach to turn it around?

On top of all this, the powerplay is one of the biggest fucking problems we have. We can basically throw out a line of All-Stars on the powerplay, and we can't score. Here's a good idea - LET'S KEEP THE POWERPLAY COACH AROUND. So Yeo stays.

But fuck it. As sloppily executed as this move was, and as many wrong turns as I think Shero has made with this and everything else he's ever done with the Penguins, Therrien had to go. The guy got soundly outcoached in the finals last year, and that's enough for me.

But you attempt to improve and get the locker room listening again by bringing in a veteran coach that the guys can respect. You don't bring in 38 year old first-term head coach Dan cocksucking Bylsma, and you don't do it at 7pm on a Sunday night when the team has a game at 2pm the following afternoon on the road.

This has been the mark of the Devils for years.  Play the trap, have solid d-men, and score a few goals in front of quality goalies.  Always really frustrating when I watch them -- makes for boring games (unless you're a NJ fan, I guess)!

Opinions on Whitney for Kunitz/Tangradi.

I'll wait to tell you the real answer after you're done.

Don't know enough about Tangradi to assess.

Kunitz — hearty Saskatchewan lad, proven 20+ goal scorer, 29 years old, (another!) left hand shot… …Pens already have 20+ goal scorers that are not producing… …who knows, they need wingers (when Fedotenko is your #1 LW, it is telling…)… …maybe he'll light it up skating w/Geno|Sid|Staal…

Still, addition by subtraction as the Pens can bring Gogoloski back up or give Letang a chance at 1-2 slot (which I am not sure he is capable of)… …and I was becoming incensed watching Whitney on the ice…

Whitney already laced 'em up in game w/Ducks last night, a 6-0 blanking where he tallied NOT (obviously) on the scoring sheet, but did post an Even +/- in 20+ minutes of ice time, which is a tremendous improvement over his recent Penguin travails…

Pens v. Blackhawks tonight

Kunitz is a 20 goal scorer.

On a good line, on a good team.

These types of players are not very hard to come by.

Addition by subtraction ain't good when you can get more.

In this case, Whitney was sold low and Kunitz was bought high. Since when in the flying chilibean fuck does a 20 goal scorer get 3.75 million dollars?  I mean, excluding Jordan Staal.

Problem is that Jordan is 20, and has potential to be more than what he is (and he's getting paid for that potential). Kunitz is being paid to keep a Stanley Cup winner together, which didn't exactly fucking pan out now did it.


The Ducks were DYING to get this guy off their roster at that price.

The picked up an 06-07 60 point Defenseman with a brilliant offensive upside. Top 4 offensive defenseman are one of the most sought after things you can have to trade this season, and Shero should have fucking waited.

Kunitz is a glorified third line winger. He's not even a right handed shot for fuck sakes.

Tangradi, if you're wondering, is second in OHL scoring. So everyone is creaming their pants over him.

Problem is that he's twenty fucking years old. Racking up points in the OHL is cool if you're 17.


His upside is a second line winger. But he's slow and his skating is poor. He's a decent prospect and nothing more. He'll pan out to be a third liner in 3-4 years.

So congrats. You sold Whitney for a 29 year old glorified third liner, and another third line winger four years from now (maybe).

As lazy and unmotivated as he can be sometimes, you honestly don't think you could have packaged him for more?

No, you hit it right on the head.

Well, everyone in the media is talking about how great Kunitz is and how great a trade it is for the Penguins.

Why? Well, because Whitney missed a lot of time this season and hasn't been playing very well.

Sports media people have memories like goldfish.

Case in point, the Ovechkin/Crosby debate. It changes every year. Each year, one or the other is "HANDS DOWN THE BETTER PLAYER".

I couldn't stand watching the Versus broadcast of the WSH/PIT game a week ago. I've never, ever, EVER seen two guys lap at the balls of a player so hard and so long as Milbury and McGuire did with Ovechkin. I've seen a lot of things, especially watching broadcasts with Crosby in them, but this was fucking sickening.

Of course, Ovechkin had two guys ahead of him in points at the time - and they were both playing in that game. But never for a second did they shut their mouths about Ovechkin, creaming their pants over every move he made for ten minutes while other great things were happening all over the ice.

But the media is on #8 this season (And I mean ALL of the media - as though it were a planned move) - and Crosby has been turned into the villain.

Every sports talk show. Every hockey broadcast. He's on hockey magazines pulling his shirt open like Superman, even BEFORE the season. Hell, ESPN runs polls about "whiners".

I mean, Crosby used to dive. But now he whines. More or less than any other captain? Well, not really. Any number of guys yap at Refs as much or more than he does (See: Mike Richards).

But he stopped diving. So if he stops whining, I'm sure he'll smell funny. Or have his greasy playoff beard made fun of.

Ovechkin may showboat, run people, take cheapshots and headshots constantly and never get suspended, and he may be the most selfish player in league history with more shots than Malkin and Crosby COMBINED - but he'll go "SWARETAHGAHD!!!!" on camera and he has a stupid little lisp. Everyone hates our marketing of Crosby, so we'd better jump on this shit.

And yes, they'll eat it up with a spoon.

I guess I find it funny that people complain they hate Crosby because of overhyping by the media.

The fuck has been going on with Ovechkin lately.

Look. You were told to love Crosby. Then, you were told to hate Crosby and love Ovechkin. Let's just admit that your opinions are based on what you're told by the sports media and be done with it. Do you really watch 25% of the games both of them play and have enough experience with everything they do to be able to form a definitive opinion on either of them? Probably why you haven't seen the three separate incidents that should have had Ovechkin suspended for five to ten games this season.

But that's because he's a complete player. He hits AND scores. He hits AND scores. Complete player.

Now, don't get me wrong. Ovechkin is great. So is Crosby, and so is Malkin (who gets NO credit).

But I get fucking pissed with all sports fans being fickle mushheads who regurgitate all of the bullshit they see in the media.

Form your own opinions or shut the fuck up. Nobody needs another parrot adding background noise to conversations people are trying to have about shit.

It's ok, Gary Bettmen still has a boner for Crosby.  :why_so_serious:

Based on what.

And everyone hates Bettman. Even if that were true, wouldn't that just help in making him the villain?

Eh, maybe you right, but sometimes these trades are not as clear cut as you imagine. Funny, I was watching a "replay" on the Fox Sports Pittsburgh network where they interviewed Craig Patrick, reviewing his trades (more on that in a second…), and the deal that brought Francis (best 2 way center in the history of 2 NHL squads…) and Ulfie Samuellson for Zalapski and Cullen was widely panned at the time (they flashed newspaper sports front pages, that panned the Pens for it, and in Hartford, they were triumphant over it…). Now, immediately I loved it because it was exactly what Pens needed at time — plus Zalapski never really blossomed into the star he was projected to be.

AFA Kunitz goes, I watched him skate tonight (and now remember from Anaheim games too…), it might be just as you write ("glorified 3rd liner"), but OTOH he might just shine given a chance to skate with Sid | Jordan | Geno… …my initial impressions are he might be a missing piece, but they got holes bigger than that to plug… …the most obvious is a decrepit D-man corp. Individually, they all possess one piece of a solid game, but all of them are sorely deficient on basic D play. I thought maybe new coach, new scheme would result in improved performance, but they've been just as awful, if not more hideous, yet are nabbing wins because unlike Therrien's last month, they're scoring goals… …and it looks like they're putting Letang into bigger role (though on road game they have more D-minded pair as #1-#2), which he may be not be cut out for, but hey, he'll get a shot… …Good Gates, they took 3 "delay of game" penalties from D-men clearing the puck over the glass, and Fleury faced 45+ shots against the Hawks tonight…

Whitney? I hate to repeat it but I just don't see a great or even fairly solid D-man — granted, he is a superb passer and can be uncanny how he advances the puck halfway up the rink… …but he skates like he's got concrete in his boots, seems to be always out of position, commits far too many turnovers, doesn't seem to understand the concept of basic DEFENSEMAN play and really is a huge defensive liability… …I acknowledge they "sold low" but after this season, that price may dip even lower…

Reckon, Pens figure if one or the other pans out — Kunitz or Trangradi, deal works out… …we will see, but I don't think you can call it now…

Back to Patrick, and a stroll back through Pens history…

* As I stated, loved the Francis/Ulfie deal, it made the Pens a cup champ. It was his moment of Zen that he based his entire GM career on, yet afterwards, it was rare he made a deal that even figured near even for Pens…

* Next season, he made the trade that killed the dynasty before it had a chance to really get rolling… …giving up Recchi for Tocchet and Kjell Samuellson (they wanted to goon it up)

* Markus Naslund for Alek Stojanov WTF

* Sergei Zubov for Kevin Hatcher WTF (though rumor has it Mario did not like Zubov and this trade was at his bequest)

* Other questionable deals, only one (dealing Ulfie and Lucky Luc to Rangers for Nedved, Zubov) decent, all the others best slightly straightup until…

Post 2001 season where he just gave away the storehouse for bags of pucks… …Jagr for stiffs (though the Pens I think have acquired/traded Beech at least 3 or 4 times since  that trade to the Caps…), Kovalev for a bundle of skate-nothings (anyone remember Rico Fata?), after the stars were all traded away, he traded away any player that showed promise - Tarnstrom, Jackman, etc.… (not top tier players but any ray of light was blackened out in interest of keeping salaries down). Which Patrick (though at time, did not admit) confessed that he was simply dumping salaries with little regard for any return value — I was actually kind of shocked to hear him casually own up to it, yeah we all knew but teams never proclaim "WE'RE DUMPING SALARIES AND PURPOSEFULLY REPLACING THEM WITH SCRUBS THAT MAKE THE LEAGUE MINIMUM".

Good Gates, I pity you all whose only NHL coverage is thanks to Vs. (and now NBC game of the week). I simply cannot tolerate their broadcasts, or if I must, the volume is turned down. You'd think that the coverage teams would treat their coverage like a local crew would study their own club they carry, and actually be informed on the players on said teams. That is why they crow over the few stars (though yes they think they are "pimping" the NHL experience to the unwashed, by the gratuitous star adulation…). Compared to CBC/TSN/much of the local announcers (though a few of them grate on me too, particularly the Buffalo announcers,  and the Caps announcers too…) are so much more pleasant to endure…

Re: Ovechkin, come on, give him his due, he's a friggin MONSTER.

Not at all. Basically my opinion is the exact opposite of everything I've seen from the talking heads, and everyone in Pittsburgh seems extremely happy.

If Whitney starts hitting 50 and 60 points again, we got the Hartford end of this deal.

Most especially if Tangradi doesn't pan out to be fucking Bertuzzi Prime +++ like all of the Penguins fans are sexually mewling about. The big hint is that it's not gonna fucking happen like that. Third line, mark it down.

Guess what's more likely:

A) Whitney doing something again that he did before last season, when he had a foot problem that needed surgery.

B) Kunitz, 29, ~50 points in his prime on a stacked Ducks top 6, having his best days ahead of him on a first line and somehow being worth a cap hit of 3.75m, which we could have put toward a real star.

C) Tangradi, a 20 year old in the OHL that wasn't even considered the Duck's best prospect (FYI, it's Jake Gardiner. Don't recognize the name? Yeah me either. He's currently playing at the University of Wisconsin and scoring at about a 0.5 point per game pace). By the way, the Ducks organization is rated, with Tangradi, has having the 22nd best prospect pool in the NHL. Tangradi is listed as prospect level 7.5C at hockeysfuture.com -- for reference (and for Penguins fans who know anything about their team), Luca Caputi is rated as 7.0C. Yeah, Tangradi is really something to call home about guys. He's mildly better than fucking Luca Caputi.

D) THE FUCKING ANSWER IS A.

SO what is stopping Mario from going out and hiring people who know wtf they are doing in the front office? I mean, the Flyers suffered under Clarke for YEARS, but they were still in the playoffs every year.

Everyone thinks this is a good trade. Pittsburgh people are happy.

Cuz, you know. Gritty 20 goal scorers are rare snowflakes.

Bylsma is a money saving hire. They're waiting to hire SJ's assistant in the offseason, and Bylsma will either go back to WBS or become an assitant with the Pens.

Shero and Mario disagree currently about a winger for Sid. The prices for Hossa-type guys out there right now are STEEP. Shero doesn't want to pay the premium, Mario does.

Count on it happening. When Mario AND Sid want something done? Yeah. Expect a winger for Sid at the deadline.

It won't be Kunitz. I honestly can't guess who it'll be, though.

Over in PHL...Briere is coming off the IR, so they had to make just a TAD more room.

So they send Kukonen (which is fine) and Giroux (WTF!?) down to the Phantoms, and recall Guenin while they are at it.

Ugh. Pretty sure Homer should have sent Cote down instead; Asham is just as good a fighter, and has some actual hockey skills.


Still would have liked to have seen Jones traded. Instead they lost Metropolit and Vananen to waivers, and had to shuffle people down to the minors.

Asham is awful and Cote is by far the better fighter.

Not all the sports beat writers. (http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09058/952038-61.stm)


Shero will be the odd man out if that is true. And, thus far, Shero really has not really distinguished himself as standout GM.

I liked the Hossa trade, it got them a chance to play for the cup. But all other moves have been dubious…

* Gave up Dominic Moore who I liked yeah, he got lost in the shuffle of forwards last season, but they could really use him this season and they didn't get squat for him (3rd round pick I believe…)

* Carcillo for LaRaque. If they gave up Carcillo, they should have tried to keep Big Georges — the guy that replaced him, Godard, is a stiff (he may be the better fighter, but in 2009 NHL even your enforcer should have decent hands)…

They don't need a FLASHY winger, just need to replace/upgrade Ryan Malone. They need a Kevin Stevens/Rich Tocchet, or even a Thomas Holmstrom or somebody that can crash the net and screen the goalie and bang up the opposing D-men. I cannot tell you how many times I've screamed at the TV as I've watched Sid or Geno look to dish the puck to in the goal mouth, and no forward is anywhere in the vicinity…

Even if Blysma is a money saving move, that doesn't mean he doesn't have the goods to be a successful NHL coach. By all indications, he was succeeding at AHL level, and according to the players he's coached, is an extraordinary study of the game… …I like the way they're skating post-Thierrien, Thirrien handcuffed the O trying to allot for their defensive deficiencies. And I'd rather see them lose 5-4 or 6-5 than 2-1/1-0. It was an exciting game v. Hawks as Hawks played even more aggressive, thrusting a D-man deep on every rush it seemed (though their D seem a lot nimbler in getting back…)…

Worst move so far is the Whitney trade.

The trade itself is bad, but I'll make it worse for you.

In the offseason, Malone signed with Tampa Bay for 4.5m. "Not worth it", people said. They were right.

What kind of player is Malone?

He grinds, he sticks up for team mates, he has pretty good offense. He's in his late 20s. He's a home town guy with a lot of heart.

Now, we didn't want him for 4.5. But I'm sure we could have had him at 4. And if Shero had a brain rattling around in his noggin, we'd have had him at 3 earlier in the season. But he waited to sign everyone until AFTER a cup run. Great idea.

So now, we trade Whitney for Kunitz.

What type of player is Kunitz?

He grinds, he sticks up for his teammates, he has pretty good offense - but not as good as Malone. He's in his late 20s. He has a lot of heart, but he's not a home town guy with passion for Pittsburgh that'll cry in the locker room after a SCF loss because he knows he won't be back.

He's making 3.75.

So, basically we just accomplished acquiring Malone with less passion and less offense. And we had to give up Whitney.

Or we could have signed Malone at 4m and NOT given up Whitney.

Great work so far, Shero.

Please don't make any more idiotic moves.

But he will. He'll trade Staal for some garbage. Even though Staal has as many goals as Kunitz and is only 20 years old, and extremely good defensively.

Yeah, Malone being a hometown boy… …tough to see them let him go, but they were penciling that money for Hossa, who spurned them to take less money with Red Wings!

And Malone does have a lot of heart, saw him go at it tonight w/Regehr after Regehr sticked Lecavialier's face, but he got taken down easily…


Well, again, that stems from them not getting Hossa back — can't look at it as Kunitz v. Malone, Pens figured Hossa > Malone (and let's not debate that…) and offered that bank to Hossa…

But you're missing the point that with the D-man composition they have, really Whitney is expendable — with Letang stepping his game up, and not any more a defensive liability than Whitney, they needed to address the winger hole.


Rumors floating that indeed this might be the case. I sure hope not, as only an imbecile would trade a talent like Staal away — they need a solid #1 stay at home defenseman and I don't see any team in the league looking to give up (at least someone in their young 20s with the immense upside Staal has) one… …they paid him like a star, but it's like they protecting him and not giving him the full star detail — on a squad that lacks depth, you'd think he'd get some double shift action like Geno & Sid. Or at least some cracks to skate with top scoring lines.

If they have to trade one of the three (Sid, Jordan, Geno), this might sound like sacrilege, I'd part with Sid. I've always thought Malkin > Crosby, and last 2 seasons have confirmed it for me. Not that Sid isn't worthy of all the hoopla, just I'd rather have Malkin. And I'd rather have Staal than Crosby, even if he's never going to be as gifted a scorer as Sid, he's the better 2-way player…

Not really missing any point. Just because we have a wealth of offensive defenseman doesn't mean that trading Whitney for a handjob from a crackwhore is something to be happy about just because he was expendable.

More could have been had. If we kept Malone, the $4m cap space wouldn't need to go toward a player attempting to fill Malone's shoes that we also had to give up Whitney for.

Also, if you'd rather have Staal then Sid you're a nutbar.

But Hossa was a huge part of the problem as well. Or, shall I say, Shero's failure to have a plan B.

Now we need to trade assets to replace Malone, and we need to trade even more to replace Hossa. In the end, we end up a much worse team than when we started.

And why?

Because Mr. Shero failed spectacularly at his job.

Oh, by the way?

This mysterious Guerin deal?

If it's Shero trading Staal for Guerin I'll shit my motherfucking drawers.

What if the Flyers traded you Jones for Staal?  :why_so_serious:

I don't want to say I told you so, but. Oh, wait a minute, actually I do. :oh_i_see:

If Shero needed another forward that badly, I would have taken a look at Nik Antropov.

As far as shipping off Whitney, you'll have to wait and see what Eric Tangradi does, but there's reason to be optimistic.  No help right now obviously.

He should be lynched or at least given a Rodney King style beating for even pondering that…

The reasoning on keeping Staal over Sid is not that Staal > Sid, but that given salary cap considerations, only room for one huge star salary on the team and presently, I'd have to go with Geno over Sid…

Reading the comments section for any online article from a local site on the Flyers is....painful.

Trade Gagne? Really? REALLY? Sure, trade away one of the best players on the team, one of the best 2-way players in the game...For who? People say he is trade bait, but for who? Fucking Bouwmester? Sure, he puts up points on a dreadful FLA team, but so what? Don't see him as a shut-down dman, which the Flyers could use. And I just KNOW Gagne would be a Flyer-killer on any other team.

Or Briere? Yeah, good luck getting ANYTHING of value for a guy who has only played 10 games this year....and getting him to waive that no-trade clause. All that fucking hype getting him here, at least let the guy TRY to earn his worth. Sure, his injuries sucked this year, but most players go through injuries throughout their career. When he's healthy, Danny is a huge weapon - don't fucking jump the gun and give him away.

And people crying about Holmgren's "poor cap management"....it's fucking simple math you newbs. Sure, I wish he could keep Giroux up too, but  since Kimmo can't go on LIR, you need space to call up a dman because your 7th guy got swiped on waivers. Fucking newbs.

I really want to see the Flyers go after a goalie in the draft, if possible. Sure, there MIGHT be someone on the block in FA this summer...Khabie...But, I dunno, not seeing anyone on the block who blows me away. At this point, unless something crazy happens, I'd be ok with them sticking with the two that they have, though I know they will not (both UFA this summer).

Flyers are stacked with forwards and really strong at C, especially w/Briere returning. And between Nittymaki and Biron, one of them will standout as #1, though I think Nittymaki the better, but Biron the more XP (and neither has performed well in post-season)…

Rumors swirling… …Andropov, Gaborik, St. Louis, Ryan Smyth, Recchi, Kaberle, Scott Niedermayer, Jokkinen, Chris Neil all on the block. Yahoo sports "puck daddy" says St. Louis nixed a deal to Pens earlier in season.

In relation to the topic of this thread, it appears my fantasy season has gone down in flames along with two of my goalies.  Welp.

Don't feel too bad. I had Martin Brodeur. And Brendan Morrow.  My season ended months ago.



You may as well give him time.  You would be hard pressed to move Dan Briere with that contract when he's healthy unless he starts putting up some consistent numbers.

I guess Gagne's name comes because you know the Flyers could easily trade him for a good return.  But that doesn't mean they should.

You can draft a goalie, that's fine, but you'll be waiting 3-4 years (or more) for him.

Hockey's crazy uncle rips Ovechkin…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5ZPa_wmkyI

I love that crazy old man.

He's not entirely wrong, though I think his comparisons to soccer are a bit off.

Also, to a degree I say so what to his celebrations; at least he's not directly insulting the other team when he does it, though sometimes he's a bit over the top.


As much as I love watching the kid, I'd also like to see someone maul him, at least once.

Actually, he waved goodbye to the Penguins bench last game they played after celebrating a goal.

Guy is a showboater, plain and simple.

But he can do no wrong at the moment, so whatever.

He's also have the Hart handed to him this year, despite being on a VERY good team and getting owned by Malkin in points.

Well that's over the line then, and probably deserves a 2 minute minor for misconduct or something.

Someone just needs to line him up and deliver a crushing blow. Again. And again.

But he's a monster, and not many are gifted enough to (a) be able to skate with him and (b) have enough physical prowess to connect a check once they do get him in their crosshairs…

I know when I played I relished going after hotdogs, and didn't have to embark upon a special mission (and which I always instructed my guys as captain to never retaliate but wait for the spots which would come), just there'd be opportunity where he's fumbling with the puck in the corner, or striding across neutral zone with head peering in exact opposite direction. Boom.

His act wears very thin when he's pumping his fist and flailing his arms on a 5-0 goal.

Oh yeah...Happy 2nd Christmas everyone!  :awesome_for_real:

Ugh, Flyers trade Upshall away in a purely cap-motivated move.

I don't like it, but at least I can understand it, as the Flyers were practically on top of the cap number. The move gives them perhaps JUST enough room to call up a minor leaguer if someone goes out with someone minor enough to keep them off IR.

Jokinen!

I got a dented goaltender!  :awesome_for_real:

Actually I'm happy with it.  Pascale Leclaire is probably the best goalie available between now and October.

Yeah, not so excited about that. Although the division race was decided when the Canucks forgot how to play hockey during the entire month of January.

Maybe a change of scenery will reignite his scoring prowess but he was a dud in Phoenix.

They still strengthened themselves, IMO, with getting Leopold back, who I've always liked and addressed a hole in their blueliner composition, from the games I've watched the Flames…

Good move by Bruins to pick up Recchi, Pens should have nabbed him…

Speaking of Pens, don't get why they went after Guerin — is he an upgrade from Satan who they waived? It would have been a great deal in 1999… …their other move, picking up Craig Adams off waivers, /yawn…

Because it cost them a conditional draft pick.

I'm going to guess Gaborik and Boumeester didn't move because their GMs were asking for the stars and the moon. Which is ridiculous because neither one of them is resigning.

Rumor was that they were asking for Raymond, Bieksa and a first for Boumeester. No chance I make that deal if I am Gillis unless I get Boumeester to agree to an extension before the trade is finalized, and maybe not even then. First rounders are precious, and the old Canuck GMs pissed them away like a sailor on shore leave. 

Florida couldn't move Bouwmeester. They're trying to make the playoffs.  Unless a deal actually improves those chances they have to stick with him.  Unless they'd like their building to be even emptier from bailing while sitting in 6th.  They may as well pack it in if they sent him off for a couple prospects.

Gaborik has played six games all year and the Wild need goals so it was combination of them them needing his offense and I'm betting crappy offers.

Top 10 first rounders are precious.

Go take a look at the rate of picks 20-30 turning into NHL players. It's pretty awful.

Do you think a short playoff run is going to be the cure to the attendance woes in Florida?

But yes, the offers for Gaborik were very likely quite lame.

But you take the best one.

It's known very well that Gaborik ain't resigning.

He was also quoted recently as saying he hasn't watched a single Wild game since being injured.

Guess how much he cares, and guess how much use he'll be IF he comes back. If because, well, frankly - he doesn't give a shit about coming back. Expect a late return, if he returns at all.

I'm willing to bet someone offered at LEAST a second round pick. At LEAST. Hell, I'd be surprised if someone didn't offer a first.

YOU TAKE THAT SHIT.

No it won't cure anything. Trade him for a sack of magic beans though and you'll be an also-ran forever.  You have a responsibility to the people that actually do pay. 

If you take that mentality then they should just take the bottom 20 teams' UFAs and let the top 10 draft them, with the order set by who puts up the most picks.  Edmonton, Columbus, Dallas, NY Rangers, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Carolina, Montreal were all buyers.  They're can't all go deep so why didn't they throw up all their UFAs?  They're all in the same position or worse.

A first rounder for Gaborik and you don't even know if he can skate?  Wild should have traded him right when he turned down $80 miliion bucks.

No, they're in different positions. They're in markets that give a fuck.

Until Florida relocates, short playoff runs at the expense of crippling your immediate future isn't going to help.

So next season they have the same team minus their best defenseman - and they got nothing for him.

Boumeester was THE premier player on the market yesterday. They could have gotten multiple picks, a prospect, and a roster player. Instead they get jack shit, and they miss the playoffs next year because they're barely going to make them (if they do) this year.

They've been in that cycle of mediocrity for years.  It's just a continuation. 

It's a shit market, I agree, but if you're going to stay there you have to make a go of it some time.

The bottom line is that you have to move.

At some point you have to make a go of it, fucking up seasons to come. Or you can trade your UFAs and keep rolling for the future, hoping for a team that can actually be consistently good.

Either way, nobody in Florida gives a fuck.

Since you HAVE to move, it's better to build a good team up. Nobody in Hamilton gives a fuck about Florida having five games in the playoffs this year, and neither does anyone in Florida.

This is an entirely different situation if we're talking about New York or Chicago or Philadelphia or whatever. At that point, we can consider holding onto Boumeester for a playoff run - which is essentially renting your own player. But not in Florida.

Yes, please, go ahead and trade the Wild something for Gaborik. He was my favorite player, now I can't wait for him to get out of Minnesota. Motherfucker has a glass vagina. He's got fantastic talent and a body that will not last through an NHL season. I am so glad Minnesota failed to extend his contract, and right now, I'd take a 3rd liner or a 2nd or 3rd round draft pick just to get him off the Wild's books. He can go sit on IR on some other fucking team.

People can speculate whether or not he'll play full seasons and be great now that he's had his surgery, etc. I can tell you he won't.

Which is too bad. He's got incredible talent and speed.

He's just doesn't give a fuck.

Daigle Redux?

Oh no, not at all. I honestly think he'll go somewhere and be a GOOD player. Not great, but good.

But he'll continue to tweak his vagina and be out two months, etc.

Wow.

Ironically, I'm watching the Panthers play the Penguins at the moment. It would seem that at least the lower bowl is mostly filled up because the Penguins are in town.

But the announcers. Wow.

I've honestly never seen some shit like this. Crosby has the puck alone infront of the net. Campbell comes in, slashes his stick with a vicious two handed overhand chop, the stick lays in two pieces and the refs call a slashing penalty.

The Panthers announces:

"WHAT? How is that even a penalty! That's not a slash! These refs are awful."

Replay rolls.

"SO WHAT. So the stick broke. That's not a penalty. These refs are awful. Why, I've seen a stick break just from taking a shot!"

Yeah, dickhead. That wouldn't be a penalty. Sort of a different situation.

Fast forward. Letang picks up the puck in the defensive zone. Weiss comes charging in from the blueline and labels him as hard as he can directly from behind.

"WHAT? How is that a penalty??! That's about the LIGHTEST check I've ever seen! He hardly touched him! Are you not allowed to hit in the NHL??? HE HAD THE PUCK!!!"

Funny,  I watched the game listening to Pens announcer team. And Steiggerwald (play-by-play) guy is starting to grate on me… …I wish Mike Lange was calling the game (think he still does the radio broadcast), and Steiggerwald wasn't bad as color commentary, but that spot now is the obligatory ex-player. And Bob Errey isn't bad at it.

Yeah, noted lots of Penguins fans there, it seemed to be more black and gold than Panther red… …I remember from my stint in Miami (I worked a contract at University of Miami) being told how most Miami folks shunned the Panthers after they headed north to Sunrise (honestly, didn't know they got much support when they played in Miami Arena)…

Dude, everyone in Pittsburgh hates Steigerwald.

While I totally understand you and would agree, I think the stick penalties are a bit excessive at times. I really think you should be able to attack the stick without penalties. A bit of stick-on-stick slashes should be fine, as should holding the stick away from the ice/puck with your own stick, but that's apparently hooking now.

Yeah, officials have been a bit overzealous in those calls this season. But indiscriminate, wild swipes at the stick should be whistled, still. And it's in the rules now.

Yeah, that kind of stuff breaks a guys wrist. But the kind where you basically just put your stick down, with force, on another guy's stick so he can't move it much unless he overpowers you or moves? And the stick happens to break when you come down on it from waist height? That's not a penalty, or shouldn't be.

Composite sticks present a problem.  If they get weakened enough then anything will shatter them.  It's not even that unusual to seen one disintegrate just from making a pass.  So now the refs are left with a judgement call: did it get chopped in two or did it fall apart from a regular stick on stick play.

What sucks is that they call it pretty much every time; can you remember the last time a guy slapped another player's stick, the stick broke, and a penalty was NOT called?

I wouldn't be surprised if when a team desperately needs a PP, a guy will switch to a stick that's ready to break.

Zdeno Chara.

Ding. Ding.

Also, the dumbest penalty calls this year have been the phantom holds.  A guy touches another guy at any time with both hands and its an instant penalty.

The thing is that Ovechkin has shown he's prone to break down when you attack him physically (See World Juniors 2005).

Thing is that I don't think I've seen ANYONE seriously engage him physically. Malkin would try a bit when OV started to run him constantly, but Malkin isn't really a rough and tumble type of dude.

We'll see, depending on what team he draws in the playoffs. I'd like to see what the consequences for him in a WSH/BOS second or third round matchup were if Washington went up 5-0 or 6-0 in the first game and he started whooping it up and jumping around, etc.

But honestly, I think the fan backlash on any player that hurt him at this point would be so severe that people take it into consideration and wouldn't do anything too dirty to him. Although when Crosby was the popular one he was getting sticked and speared and crosschecked and slashed and punched in the mouth constantly, so who knows. One just wonders why Ovechkin doesn't seem to get much of that. Because I think it's been established that the antics aren't really appreciated when your team is up by five goals and he's jumping over the boards, etc. I'm honestly surprised nobody has run him or sticked him up nice.

Didn't Richards push him around and make him sorta cry in World Juniors or something once?

The entirety of Team Canada basically ran him every time he touched the puck.

I don't think he came out for the second period.

Sorry to derail your discussion but I'm interested in participating in this fantasy hockey league thing, but I noticed F13 league to be full.
Are you guys still active and if so any chance for a spot opening or I better go public league?

Well it's pretty far into the season, so I don't know if any leagues are still open at this point.  You might be able to find people who do fantasy playoffs or something like that, but for our league you'll probably have to wait until next year.

okay, thank you then I'll wait

Yeah, it's way too late to open the thing back up. Sorry.

PIT/PHI noon:30 game for home ice advantage. First round preview.

Tip of the hat to the Philly guys around here.


....



Try not to goon it up when we start putting pucks in the net.   :oh_i_see:

These refs fucking stink.

Yeah, they missed calls all over the place, including a few high sticks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FLl0DzlfM8

 :heart: :heart: :heart: :heart:

Been praying for someone to do this for a LONG time. If a goalie leaves his crease he should be treated like any other skater.

Definitely if he's north of the goal line.

That is fantastic!

I watched Pratt drone on about how fantastic this was.

I wonder how he'd have liked it if it was Luongo getting hit by a goon.

Well, actually I don't wonder.


Also - Did anyone else watch that Pens/Flames game on TSN?

Wow. Awesome.

And Matt Cooke sucks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BR10dXgy5AY

I have loathed Matt Cooke forever, especially when he was on the Canucks. Good to see him embarrass himself on a bigger stage now.


I would almost welcome it. Anything to convince Luongo to stay in his fucking crease would do wonders for his GAA. He is a TERRIBLE puck handler, and his diving poke check attempts have cost him at least 2 goals this week alone.

Yeah well Pratt would be calling for a mandatory jail sentence of 20 years.

Wild third period in the Canucks/Blackhawks game. If they end up playing each other in the first round it is going to be interesting as hell.

To wit-


Chicago had 6 guys in the box at one point. Even Kyle Wellwood got a penalty, which is seriously rare. And one of the Sedin sisters roughed someone!

As to the goalie bit, it is a moot point as Luongo has never made it all the way to the side boards to play a puck. I'm all for being able to contact a goalie that is playing the puck that far out of the crease, though I do agree with Hortichuck getting a penalty in this case, as it was basically a charge.

The end of that Chicago game was beautiful - been a while since I've seen a four minute 5 on 3.

Wellwood got a penalty? I have more penalty minutes then Wellwood.

He had one earlier in the season (high sticking)- his first in nearly three years. That was a good call. This one was the work of a referee trying to even things up a bit. It was a phantom. I was watching the Chicago broadcast and both of their announcers agreed that it was a terrible call.

Wow, there's a clip going around of the Boston broadcast of the Bruins/Flyers game. Specifically, its of Lucic boarding Randy Jones, and the Bruins announcer LAUGHING at the fans for howling for a boarding call.

Apparently, they're still pretty sore about Jones' ACCIDENTAL hit on Beregeron.

Last Season.


Trust me, I'm not fan of Randy Jones. At all; I wish we could have traded him away. BUT, he's a clean, stand-up guy. An announcer LAUGHING at a potentially dangerous hit is just disgusting. There's no way a guy like the Flyers' play-by-play guy Jim Jackson would EVER react like that. Hell, even fans at a PHL game show actual concern for a guy if he doesn't get up after cheering for a big hit.

I don't know.

I love hockey, but more and more you just sort of realize what a joke the NHL is.

From the referees to the broadcasts, the clownshoes way that so many organizations are run.. even the league itself. Versus, really?

They're lucky I like the actual GAME so much. Because everything else they do is incredibly fucking stupid.

The best thing the league could do for broadcasts would be to severely limit the number of Americans on the broadcast team. There are some terrible Canadians too (Terry Crisp and Bernie Federko leap instantly to mind), but I would wager that the ratio of good to bad favors Canadians in a big way.

Uh, there's some awful Canadian broadcasters — here in Phoenix, while I like Darren Pang, he's beyond annoying on the broadcasts — if I hear "Holy Jumpin'" one more time, why I'm gonna…  …though many like Dave Strader (U.S.) while others have not forgiven the Coyotes for unceremoniously dumping longtime Jets/Coyotes voice Curt Keilback — Keilback might have last laugh when Coyotes return to Manitoba next season. Though Bettman was in town last week to assure the Valley masses that all will be OK for hockey in the desert…

Last place finish in fantasy league for me, too many guys injured and lack of motivation on my part without money stakes (like all the other fantasy/roto leagues I participate in…)…

And I hate this part of the season — my internal "hockey clock" says playoffs should begin April 1… …season is way too long… …though I'll perk up once Stanley Cup playoffs begin — first two rounds are the best hockey, even better than the subsequent conference championship series and finals where the teams then just emerge from the marathon (to me, equivalent is pro football teams playing 50+ games in a season…)… …it's ridiculous…

Thought this was a great pic-

(http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t11/wayabvpar/vanchibrawl.jpg)

Truth. PHL, IMHO, actually has one of the better play-by-play guys, though it's really fucking annoying that after every goal he has to throw in "scores for a case of Tastey Kakes!" to plug for that company making a donation to charity whenever the Flyers score. I believe he is, at the very least, fair.

I'll say this in defense of the NHL's refs:  There is not one league in any sport in the world where people say "Hey, our officials are really top notch.  They never miss calls and they always get it right."  Everywhere you go, there are essays being written over 'the sad state of officiating'. 

In hockey, for all their faults, I will take an NHL ref over any other.  In the course of 82 games, it evens out.


Announcers? Well the local broadcasts are a real mixed bag.  They're all homers to some degree and there's nothing wrong with that, you are preaching to the choir after all; but yeah there are some really embarrassing ones.

I'll nominate Dave Mishkin out of Tampa Bay for 'Most Embarassing':

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Z45n6Ttvog

To be fair, Mishkin is the radio guy, not their color guy.

Rick Peckem is great.  I think any team in the league would love to have him announcing.

Terrible.

Wow.

I've honestly never heard that before.



No, but the league says that about the refs.

Quick, interest in a playoff pool?

By the way, the worst TV guy in hockey was the original Thrashers guy. His name escapes me at the moment, but I JUST listened to an interview with him from several years ago. The guy... man, honestly. An absolute joke of a human being for starters. Talking about what a bunch of FAGS everyone that fired him was, about drinking all night and drinking in the booth, having puke in his hair on the team bus.. etc. But the funniest part of the whole thing was when they played a clip of him announcing a game, and his reaction was "Yeah, that was pretty fuckin good. I was good. But that was like in the preseason or something. By the end of the season I had really picked up on it. Power plays and all of the ... play in the corners and... being shorthanded and shit. I was really catching on."

I was like

................ lolthrashers.

new thread or in here?