f13.net

Come on, I know I'm not the only person looking forward to a full season of hockey...right? 

While I suppose it's too late to organize a fantasy league, we should at least have our yearly thread.

I know I'm excited - the first thing I'm doing after I touch down in the US after finishing my tour in Benin is going to a Flyers/Pens game.  :drill:

This sums up my feelings about last season: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0qLaO7Ib2U

Only reason to look forward to winter. Excited about the B's revamped lineup.

Game on.

I'm looking forward to the season, as always.

Also looking forward to a lot of teams in the East getting a cold dose of reality due to the new divisions, realignment and having to face the West again.

And, you know, the plane the Canucks fly on crashing into a volcano.

I may or may not be kidding on that last one.

Is there a Volcano on any of their Travel routes?

Don't ruin my dreams.

On a more serious note; it'll be interesting to see if the hybrid icing goes through. I'm hoping it does as I really don't see any down-side and I got tired of seeing guys get hurt on absolute nothing plays because the forwards were so damn reckless.

I'll get this over with at the start of the year and agree with Ceryse on something now - the hybrid icing seemed to work just fine in the preseason, so I hope they implement it. Not only do we not need the stupid injuries, I get tired of defensemen heading back and touching a puck casually when they think they are getting an icing call, only to have it called off arbitrarily - leading to a clusterfuck of a play.

Don't worry- the Canucks have done enough to themselves that they won't be good enough to bother rooting against.  :heartbreak:

Oh, its not that they're "good" so much as a dirty team and I can only hope that chicken comes home to roost soon.  I could rant for days about that team and the culture they've fostered there.

Montreal West?  :grin:

Go Blackhawks!  :heart:

There are several volcanoes located in and around the Vancouver region!

Hybrid icing gets the go-ahead from the players.

Nice to see.

Now if only they'd fix equipment and seasonal penalties...

What is this I am hearing about not allowing jerseys to be tucked?  :uhrr:

Some GM's pet peeve or the first step to putting sponsorships/advertisements on the bottom of the jerseys, depending on who you talk to. Or the anti-Ovie rule, as some have put it.

Also one of the dumbest rules the league has ever put forward. It makes no sense especially given how the jersey often ends up tucked during regular play.

They never would have dared to do this in Gretzky's era (for those who don't know, Gretzky was the original player to tuck his jersey, at least the first player of import).

Where are they nationally broadcasting games in the states this year? What networks get national coverage on what days?

I have no idea how it works in the U.S. (you guys seem to have it split across a ton of channels, unlike in Canada which are spread across three broadcasters, four if you count RDS -- no one does), but http://www.nhl.com/ice/schedulebyweek.htm seems to list the schedule with who will air the game.

Should be NBC sports no?

Ah cool, thanks for the link. I'm actually playing some FanDuel this year, so I'll probably be keeping up with the NHL while pulling my hair out over why my players that day didn't score more points!

Really looking forward to this year even though I suspect the Leafs were playing way over their heads last year and if it had been an 82 game schedule, would have missed the playoffs. Calgary is in full on rebuild mode and anything other than a top 3 draft pick next year will be a disapointment. I kept my season tickets to watch the new blood play this year though, and it would be nice to optimistic about the future for a change here.

RDS is great if you are a Habs fan... No complaints there.

I think Vancouver is gonna do well this season. The team is just OK but Luongo will carry them with a regular season at least.

Out here in Alberta, RDS is basically a joke that's hard to explain. Its not a knock on its quality, more of its irrelevance due to being in French in a bilingual country that stops being bilingual as soon as you get West of Manitoba (literally, here in Edmonton the last time I heard French spoken was in the mandatory French classes in Grade 2 20+ years ago -- and I have several frogs as neighbours).

As for this year.. I think there's going to be more surprises than expected. Mainstream media here will be shocked when Toronto struggles, Columbus surprises, Minnesota continues to struggle and be boring and Anaheim falls off a cliff (Anaheim was in the same boat as Toronto last year, but even worse -- completely untenable percentages). Vancouver will either regain its form or see a massive drop-off (but still make the playoffs to get kicked out quick first round). Oilers will be in the playoffs and then lose half their team to the plague or some-such (Canucks) and finish 10th.

I'd rather listen in french than listen to that geriatric Bob Cole who would have been gone from any network by now but a government run one. The guy doesn't even know what's going on anymore it's very painful to hear him.

Not sure how the Oilers get in playoffs. Andrew Ference?

I am sure they have some inside sources for tickets that aren't available to the public.

Bob Cole is horrendous (and insane). I'm not saying English broadcasters are good (CBC, Sportsnet are riddled with guys who have no business analyzing or calling a game).

As for the Oilers? Better defense is a big part of it (Whitney, who was our worst defensemen, replaced with Ference. Fistric, who was a decent, but exceedingly limited defensemen is replaced by Belov who can actually play and handle the puck. Nick Schultz no longer getting 1st/2nd pairing minutes and now getting 3rd pairing minutes. Bounce back year from Smid/Petry who are among the most under-rated defensemen when it comes to shutting down top lines). Part of it is also a coach who isn't bat-shit crazy with his defensive zone systems. I liked Krueger and he had  a lot of good things about him, but his defensive zone systems were the worst I've ever seen employed in hockey, let alone at an NHL level.

Throw in graduation of skill from Hall (already one of the best left wings in the game, albeit now at center), Eberle (return to form as he's now healthy and not dealing with a wrist issue from repeated slashes), and Yakupov actually playing most of the year on his proper wing instead of forced onto the left wing. Hemsky should be better this year; he was good last year until he broke his foot blocking a shot and then continuing to play on it because the team was still in the playoff hunt. No more Belanger (he was called the Belanger triangle here, because anyone who played with him had their play disappear into a vacuum of sucktitude), no more Petrell (decent penalty killer who couldn't play at even strength at all), no more Jones (who constantly cheated for offense despite no longer being any good at it post-eye injury) and swapping Paajarvi (great player with potential in the future) for Perron (great second line left wing now).

Oilers still have some massive issues (WTB NHL centers! and a fourth line of sheer.. horror), but Arcobello has shown he can play with skill, and if they can get his line softer minutes he won't be exploited too much (and really, this should be possible considering who else the opposition has to check; Hall, Yakupov, Hemsky). Joenssu actually looks to be able to play the game far better than Hartikainen, and is bigger. Oilers also have one of the more under-rated starters in Dubnyk (11th best save % last year, on a team with poor defense and the worst defensive zone systems).

So, there's actually potential there for the Oilers to make the playoffs after finishing 12th in the conference last year. It will require at least one team that was ahead of them last year to falter (Anaheim and Phoenix will, I'm wagering). Combine that with Columbus and Detroit gone, and being replaced by Winnipeg, which is going to get a rude awakening in the tougher conference.

Still a longshot, of course. But I can hope.

I get you gotta be optimistic as a fan and I don't want to dump all over you, because it really is painful being bad for so long, but it really is a longshot. Oilers were on a 77 point pace for an 82 game schedule and you need about 92-96 pts to make playoffs. That would just be a MASSIVE single year improvement and it's not like it's just a single one off bad season that teams like Montreal or Philly go through, it's over 5 years of the basement.

Dubnyk is good I agree although I think you are putting too much weight on the bad, cuz on the other hand his save % got a nice boost from the Oilers strong PK numbers.

I still think the D could use a blue chip young guy, and they have too many small/talented forwards. I wonder who they could get if they traded RNH or Eberle?

Oh, I know its unlikely the Oilers make the playoffs. I think they'd actually make the playoffs this year if realignment hadn't occurred, but with realignment they're now in a division with only one bottom feeding team; Calgary. Throw in teams like the Sharks and Kings are built to dominate a team like the Oilers and it could get ugly.

However, its not out of the realm of possibility. There were a lot of issues last year; RNH was hurt even before he pulled out. The Horcoff injury at the worst possible time. Eberle was hurt the entire season. Hemsky had a broken foot. J. Schultz was playing almost three times the number of games he'd ever played in a single year before. Krueger. Ryan bloody Smyth was playing center. Yakupov forced out of position. Smid nursing an injury since game two. Petry losing his jock-strap against Detroit and unable to find it again afterwards. A number of players (such as Belanger and Whitney) who are not NHL players put into important roles (Belanger played 3C for a long time, Whitney played all too often in the top 4, and so on). Additionally, the number of one goal games lost after holding the lead in the third is actually a 14 point swing all on its own.

The size issue is one that baffles me, honestly. Size is always good, but skill always trumps size. Always.

I'm hoping for the playoffs but expecting the Oilers to finish 9th-10th.

Oh, and RNH will never be traded. The guy has the potential to be a better player than Hall (if you look at his rookie numbers on a per game basis, he was in that group just behind the generational talents) and is a center. Eberle, of all the young core, is the most likely to be traded outside of Gagner (who's numbers last year largely came from cheating for offense). Hall drives the show in Edmonton, against any and all opposition. RNH could be better than him. Yakupov has the potential to be better than RNH if the Oilers and league don't beat the attitude out of him like they did Ovie.

As for young bluechips on D? We have them. A number of them (Marincin, Klefbom, Nurse, Fedun). They just aren't ready yet. Marincin and Fedum are projecting as solid second pairing skill, puck moving D with good defensive games, and Marincin with more than just a little viciousness. Nurse is looking like a top pairing guy once he fills his frame out in a year or two and get some experience in the NHL on easier pairings. Klefbom would be a second pairing guy now if he could stay healthy, but everytime he gets things back on track he gets hurt again (and usually through dumb luck or a dirty play).

Really? I would say the alignment helps Edmonton. 2 better teams left and just one marginally better team joined. Basically opened a another playoff spot for the Oilers to chase.

For each individual, size doesn't matter, but when your team is collectively small it leads to issues in playoff series. Edmonton would really get pushed around in a 7 game series against a team like the LA Kings or the Ducks.

D Prospects don't help you now if you want to make playoffs in next 1-4 years. Which is why I would try to trade a guy like Eberle for an equally good/young Dman who can actually play 25  high quality minutes in the NHL right now.

Size matters less than the ability to play big. There are a number of examples around the league of players who, while not that large, push back against the bigger teams with no issues at all. That's what you need, not actual size. Oilers have a few of those, but unfortunately, have a lot who simply take it. If you look at actual size.. the Oilers aren't that far behind other teams. They just play small, sadly.

Edit: Just for some clarification; Mirtle just released an article that shows all the teams in size and weight; Oilers are close to average height and weight in the NHL, and only 2 inches and 10.5 pounds separates the largest, heaviest team from the smallest, lightest team. Within the top six you wouldn't see much of a difference in rankings, either. Oilers just play too small rather than being too small.

The d-prospects don't help this year, no. Next year they will, however. We have 2-3 of them that will most likely be ready for second and third pairings next year. Some of them are among the best NHL prospects in the league, let alone defensive prospects. Our D itself isn't that bad this year, actually, either. Last night, for example, most D issues were clearly from lack of familiarity with the new swarm system than lack of skill. Pity Hall and Dubnyk cost us a very winnable game where the Oilers outplayed the Jets.

As for better shot at the playoffs.. not really. We went from one of the weaker divisions to one of the toughest. Colorado is a team we did well against. Minnesota was a team we'd finally broken through against. Vancouver is a team we can split a season series with now. As for Columbus and Detroit.. the Oilers had decent records against them. Jets coming in should be a good thing in the long run. Its having to play San Jose, L.A., Anaheim and Phoenix more than cause us trouble; all of them are teams built to dominate the type of team the Oilers are, which will make it harder to make the playoffs given the number of times we play them and the fact L.A., San Jose and possibly Vancouver will out-right lock up the three guaranteed spots with Anaheim and Phoenix fighting for 4th and 4th to get the wild card slot. Its one of the toughest divisions that way.

Oilers would be far better off in the central division because only Chicago and St. Louis are likely to have the guaranteed slots locked down; and the Oilers actually tend to dominate the Blackhawks and do decently to good against the rest of the teams in that division.

It's going to be a tough division to slog through this year. Many of the local "experts" are expecting Vancouver to limp in around the eight seed.

So many factors play in to it. Maybe the NHL will go back to actually calling obstruction penalties? (they were in the Toronto game last night). That would swing things heavily back in the favour of teams like Edmonton and Vancouver. Or they put the rule book away again and just let the LA's and Bostons goon their way to glory.

That's a good point, Bunk. Just in the game last night there were two head shots to Edmonton that didn't get called (one of which was blatant, and both were on the same sequence of play), amongst other things. A few Oiler penalties were missed, but fewer.

The NHL needs to get some consistency into what penalties are called and stop with the cherry picking penalties based on the score, time of game and when the game is occurring (start of season, mid-season, end of season, playoffs). If its a penalty it should be called all the time. One of the biggest reasons the NHL is a mickey mouse league.

Lack of penalties actually being called is one of the main reasons you see teams beefing up with enforcers and dirty players; because its worth it due to lack of enforcement of the rules. It punishes skill teams for focusing on skill instead of players like Kassian, Weiss, Torres, Scott, Orr, McIntyre and so on.

 :roll:  Take some time to actually watch how the Bruins play defense would you.

(http://www.pensfanatics.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/crosby-punched.gif)

To be fair, the prime example of dirty play getting results over skill in the playoffs was the Boston - Vancouver series and that the refs putting the whistles away helped the Bruins over the Canucks tremendously. Partially true. What gets lost in this, however, is the Canucks averaged 4.8 powerplays in that series, more than enough for their skill to have won them the games -- except their powerplay was horrendous, coming in at something like 6% that series. They were just the worse team ad often let the Bruins get away with things instead of battling back or making them pay on the powerplay.

But the seasonal/situational calling of penalties is, pure and simple, a joke. NHL refs and regulators are the worst of any pro sport, full stop.

I just refs would be consistent. Even last night in the Montreal-Toronto game they called a lot of ticky tacky stuff in the first half of the game then put the whistles away in the 3rd.

A gif of that punk cry baby Crosby getting what he deserves is an argument? Again watch the game.

Its always been in the rulebook, even when Gretzky played, its just never been enforced.  Until now.

Point stands, though. Dumb rule that serves no purpose at all unless they're trending towards sponsorships and advertisements. Jersey tucks have been good for the game as its one of the few ways for players to express individuality. Jersey tucks, visor tints, skate colours and such are the only real things players had control over. I understand things like enforcing the rule on splitting the pant legs because that could lead to safety issues whenever you're out-right altering equipment. Enforcing jersey tucks? Pointless, stupid and the perfect example of what is actually important to the idiots running the NHL.

I called Comcast yesterday afternoon to make sure Center Ice was up and running before the Canucks game. I completely forgot about the free preview they have every year. After watching the utterly depressing Canucks game, there is a distinct chance I would have skipped CI this year if I hadn't already ordered it. It is the exact same team that got raped out of the playoffs last year. Old, slow, with a shaky goaltender. In other words, absolutely NOT worth $160 to watch all year.

I haven't been this depressed after an opening night for a long time. I have been a GMMG supporter, but he has to go if this roster is the best he can do. If he had traded Luongo LAST FUCKING SUMMER this team might have some hope. Instead he wastes another year or two of the rapidly closing Sedin/Kesler/Burrows window by trading Schneids for someone who is still in junior.

Gonna be a long year. Sure hope I am wrong :oh_i_see:

Bruins score their first goal of the season on a penalty shot (nice fake by Kelly). First time in NHL history a team's first goal of the season was a penalty shot.
Tampa fails to convert on two 5-3 pp and gives up two shorties....I think they might have a power play problem...

I have no idea why people support Center Ice and other such crap, personally, unless you don't want to watch games on your computer (or don't want your computer hooked up to your tv). There are cheaper alternatives that let you watch more hockey with no blackouts; personally I use hockeystreams.com as it lets me watch all the hockey I want with zero restrictions for about $100 a year.

I didn't catch the Tampa game, but them having an issue on the powerplay just seems weird. They should have at least one unit that kills it.

It is, however, nice to see Grabovski and Ovechkin off to nice start. Should piss off a number of the people in the mainstream media, especially Sportsnet (some of their guys were the ones who said Ovie was done, would never be a 30+ goal guy again, and that Grabovski wouldn't get an NHL job after his time with the Leafs because he wasn't good enough for the NHL -- which I found absolutely hilarious).

Some are saying the Canucks will sneak in the playoffs at 7 or 8.  I have my doubts they'll end up that high.  I'm predicting a high lottery pick year.

WOW, we're awful. (leafs)

If we actually pull this out of ass in OT, we don't deserve it.

I think Luongo is going to have a great season, Vezina calibre. He'll haul the Canucks into playoffs. Though I doubt they'll get out of 1st round.

Thomas Hertl goal is absurd:

http://www.cbssports.com/nhl/eye-on-hockey/24052329/video-tomas-hertl-scores-fourth-goal-of-game-with-betweenlegs-finish

Plus that was his 4th! of the night.

GIF-ified:

(http://sports.cbsimg.net/images/nhl/blog/1e7yF56.gif)

I think I've seen that done in shoot outs before (even back-handed) but not during live play, pretty audacious.

You can always tell how good a move is, butby how stupid it makes the goalie look.

That poor bastard is counting to potato during that sequence.



-edit- my typing counted to potato too.

One of the best parts for me is the defenseman at the end sort of making this half assed swipe at air with his stick when he sees how wrong it's about to get.

Hertl was the biggest surprise of that draft for me. His NHLE was the same as Yakupov's for crying out loud. He lacks certain other things to get him into the same territory as a player like Yakupov but the scoring? The indication was always there that he was able to score and score well. He should have been a top seven pick.

Also, the goaltending this year has been hilarious (well, it would be if my team's goalie wasn't one of the one's struggling) due to the changes in pad sizes and stick lengths (got some tall goalies using the same stick length as guys 6-7 inches shorter now). How goalies end up after this season and next will be real telling as to how good some of them are compared to others without being able to rely on equipment cheating as much.

This is fucking rich, I doubt Edmonton fans were complaining when Smyth was winning them playoff games by fouling opposing goalies 20 times a game. The idea that Vancouver or Edmonton are noble franchises that play a more pure form of the game is pretty pathetic. Makes me less annoyed that the shithead Bruins have been winning and I despise New England fans.

 I will let you all find the glory that lurks in this particular story  (http://blogs.theprovince.com/2013/10/10/canucks-vs-hertl-gameday-what-we-learned/)

Can they actually print that?  :why_so_serious:

They just did!  Maybe we'd find out why they REALLY call him "Jumbo Joe". :awesome_for_real:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7gMkiOPSeA

Probably an article to avoid if you are a Leafs fan. (http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9799967/toronto-maple-leafs-advanced-stats)

This isn't really news to anyone that isn't a blind zealot honestly. There wasn't enough time for us to tank it all down the drain last season. We still managed to pull it off in the playoffs though!  :why_so_serious:


-edit-

Our management being retarded, also not news!  :why_so_serious:

Well the leafs looked pretty sloppy on their 6-5 ot win tonight over the oil. Got another. 2 pts, but that was nothing close to playoff calibre hockey.

Oilers out-played the Leafs by almost every single metric there is. Granted, that's largely because the Leafs were even worse defensively than the Oilers and the Oilers were better in the offensive zone than the Leafs were.

Alas Dubnyk has devolved into an ECHL goaltender, apparently. Three bad goals; three bad goals after already having two games where he let in two bad goals each. Horrendous goaltending and a poor coaching decision to leave him in after giving up the second bad goal. Oilers deserved the win (in regulation), but handed it to the Leafs (who have the luck of the Irish; a shitty team that gets every single break possible, it seems).

 Not so confident in Dubnyk anymore?  :)

Not if he can't find his mojo. Don't know what it is exactly, but his confidence is in the shitter and he's making all sorts of bone-head decisions (on top of struggling with the new equipment). Kind of sad.. with league average goaltending the Oilers are 3-2. instead they're 1-3-1 because of one guy. Ah well. I'm an Oiler fan. I'm used to the feelings of disappointment. We did get 5 cups out of the deal with the devil, though, so there's that.

haha here's another corsi guy making his case against the leafs:
http://blog.philbirnbaum.com/2013/10/corsi-shot-quality-and-toronto-maple.html

further discussion:
http://hfboards.hockeysfuture.com/showthread.php?p=72650457#post72650457

Even though I consider myself very knowledgeable of ice hockey (play and watch at least 150 games a year) it's actually the last sport I'd attempt to quantify (and gamble on). There is so much more aspects of grit, chemistry and bounces than other major sports that just cannot be easily measured. I guess these corsi guys are beginning to get a better handle on it by reviewing every single second of a game and raring each chance/shot quality vs. quality of competition on ice at that time to rate teams' performance better than highly relative older stats like +/-, save%, sog, etc, but I still wouldn't rely on it to gamble.

That said, it should be a wild roller coaster ride for Leafs' fans this season. No doubt there's a low coming after this current high, especially when the Leafs just have a weird history of hot starts followed by mid season declines. I guess something to do with the pressure and hype that generates a high performance start just not being physically sustainable over a 6 month, 82 game schedule.

That guy is making his case FOR the Leafs, not against them.

It was pretty boring I only read the first 2 pages of his 10 page essay.

The Canadians lose to a Junior team.  :grin:

Lars I love you but why would you say that BEFORE the game??? Say it after you win, when you don't have to see them for the rest of the year.

The amusing part is, aside from the junior team comment, he's utterly correct in what he said -- hell, the game itself showed that. The Oilers are everywhere and their systems play can be.. very suspect. They can be the worst team in the league.. they can also decide to show up and play with anyone. There were several segments where it looked like the Oilers were utterly outclassed. Then there was a couple stretches where the Canadians couldn't play at the level the Oilers did.

Its why being an Oiler fan is so damn frustrating. If they could play 55-60 minutes a game.. they'd be a playoff team. Alas, we're lucky if they show up for a period. Oilers need to play with the same intensity the Flames do. If they did that, in combination of having much better players, they'd be a very good team. Won't happen, though.

The Habs D can be just as suspect. It's looked really weak beyond Subban-Markov pairing. Hopefully Emelin returning later can steady it with his toughness. I wouldn't mind seeing another replay of that 2on1 goal when it was 4v4. I saw Gorges off pinching on the Oil blueline, but can't say for sure whether it was his fault for a bad pinch, or a good pinch where the forwards completely botched their job to cover him. Either way it was a huge defensive breakdown and a killer goal to give up in a 3rd period tie game.

My God, the Oilers are bad.  Do they even give a shit?  The Flames are bad, too, but at least they've put an honest effort out each game.  Almost all their games have been competitive and mostly fun to watch.

The Oilers aren't bad. More accurately, they shouldn't be bad. The actual team is actually pretty decent. However, a mix of systems issues and an utter lack of work ethic have gotten them where they are. The only real "excuse" for this team is injuries, which over the course of this season have already included; Nugent-Hopkins (#1 center, now healthy), Sam Gagner (#2 center, now finally healthy-ish), Taylor Hall (#1 LW), David Perron (#2 LW), Jesse Joenssu (#3 LW), Ryan Smyth (#4 LW). I'd throw in the injuries to goaltending, but the only one that matters there is Bachman who got hurt last night. Dubnyk got hurt, but that didn't really matter consider how badly he's played. Back-up has been even worse. There's also been a number of injuries down on the AHL team which has affected call-ups and four of our top six D are playing hurt or, in J. Schultz's case, actually out of the line-up. Number of the RWers have also been playing with injuries (Eberle, Hemsky).

All of that gives good context.. but doesn't explain the utter lack of effort which is what's killing the Oilers. Most of them just can't seem to put in even 40 minutes of effort and it is utterly baffling as a fan.

The team is where it deserves to be, now, even though a number of the early games they lost were ones they should have won. Now they deserve to lose, and lose badly.

Also, whomever is in charge of the Oiler's specialty teams deserves to get fired because I've never seen an Oiler team with a pk and pp as bad as this... and we've seen some mighty terrible ones in the 2007-10, and 92-95 stretches.

So in short; they suck, are dealing with reams of injuries to important players, coaching needs to improve, but mainly they suck because they really just don't give a shit, as you speculated. There's already discussions in the fan base to stop watching/attending games.

Its amazing when you think about it; after the 2006 play-off run the Oilers had almost 10,000 people on the waiting list for season tickets. The waiting list is now down to less than 25 people as of the last renewals before the season. And still Six Rings remains in charge.

One of the problems with the Oilers is that they have too many players that are the same.  Small, skilled forwards that don't and won't battle for pucks in the corners.  They need to seriously beef up and maybe get some guys that are less skilled but who can and will battle for pucks.

Disagree completely that the problem the Oilers have is that they have too many small, skilled players and need to beef up. Size wise the Oilers are average for the NHL. They do not need larger players. They don't even need tougher players. They need the players they got to actually give a shit. Additionally, most of their skill guys are actually different in terms of what they bring. Yakupov (when he's not sucking eggs) and Hall are more physical, speed-based players that can dominate along the boards. RNH is more like Datsyuk in that he's not going to battle physically like a lot of players, but battle intelligently. Eberle is similar, but less so. Hemsky is the skill guy who will take whatever abuse is thrown his way to make the play.

The problem is too many Oilers coast for too much of the games -- if not entire games. They need their players to put in the work for entire games and instead of shying away from contact or battles, to go in and play that game. Its not how big of a player you are so much as how big you play. This isn't to say size is irrelevent; obviously if you two guys with similar skill go against one another and one guy has twenty pounds and four inches on the other.. one guy is going to struggle more -- unless he puts more effort into it.

The Oilers have a long list of players who've come through with size and grit, and even effort.. and they fail horrifically because of sheer lack of skill. The team, as is, is actually pretty good (when they're all, or mostly, healthy) if they would just play like they've shown they can. Hell, in most games this year the Oilers have physically beaten the other teams in terms of hits and contact. But too many of them phone in efforts when it comes to puck battles, skating and positioning (the number of goals allowed this year because the center didn't take his man in the slot off a rush is around 14-16 already -- and its because they didn't take their man due to being lazy).

Not to say some personnel turn over wouldn't do the team good, but the key pieces (Hall, RNH, Yakupov, Eberle, Hemsky, Gordon, Perron) are fine and don't overly duplicate the skills of others. They just need to, well, suck less. Unfortunately, losing has become the culture here. And its accepted by management. A lot of the problem stems from Six Rings and Tambellini's time at the helm, shipping out solid bottom sixers left and right over the past 6-7 years. Often for no reason (i.e., Glencross who wanted to stay in Edmonton but was let go over $100,000 -- seriously).

Until Lowe is gone this team will never improve. But the owner, Katz, has found it more important to give his buddies, the Boys on the Bus, jobs so he can hang out with them again instead of trying to turn the franchise around.

HA HA HA FUCK YOU OILERS YOU SUCK. STILL.

The Flames are screwing up their own rebuild by playing .500 hockey. That really needs to stop or they won't get the top 5 pick they need to get this year. This is easily the most enjoyable Flames team to watch in a LOT of years and the future doesn't look to shabby with some of the guys they already have in the system. Johnny Gaudreau is going to be a stud.

You don't NEED top 5 picks to ice a good team. Plenty of the consistently better teams in the NHL today are there because they find solid players later on in the first round, or in later rounds. It's behind the scenes work in scouting that produces this result, and improvements in this area are not apparent for years .

The obvious problem with the Oilers is that Dr. Who is not a good hockey coach.  :why_so_serious:

Ceryse, I noticed when you listed the Oilers' core, you mentioned six Forwards. That's not a good sign. They can't play in their end of the ice. I just looked at the Oilers' roster. On the back end you've got the two Shultz's. Then you Smid and Ferrence, and some other guy's I've never heard of.

I got curious as to where these guys originated/were drafted, considering all of the Oilers' high draft picks over the last decade:

Belov - free agent from the KHL
Ferrence - 8th round
Larsen - 5th round
Petry - 2nd round
J Schultz - 2nd round
N Schultz - 2nd round
Smid - 1st round

Second round looks good, but with d men its pure hit and miss. Out of curiosity, I just looked through the Oilers' draft history to see the last time they used their first pick to draft a defenseman: 1988 Francois Leroux. They've spent an extra first round pick to take a defenseman a couple times since, the last being Matthieu Descoteaux, who played five NHL games.

The Oilers' apparently really don't like defensemen.

Flyers hate goalies, Oilers hate dmen, Predators hate forwards?

The drafting of the Oilers pre-2009ish was incredibly suspect. To the point that they actually did get around to firing a number of people and changing how they approached the draft. Even still, the Oilers have consistently wasted draft picks in the second and third round looking for Lucic. I'm dead serious in that being their reasoning. The organization has actually said this. Fortunately the Oilers have had a couple really good draft picks in the last few years that should pay dividends in time. Most notably could be Martin Marincin who is looking like a possible #2 or #3 defenseman who can move the puck, play defense, is big, and mean. Too bad non-elite d-men take years to develop.

Also, um... with you D-list? Petry is the only one that was drafted by the Oilers. Smid came via the Pronger trade and they brought him into the NHL too quickly (he's had to learn on the job the past 6-7 years). In terms of ability, Petry is the best Oilers d-man, but is prone to some major breakdowns at times. Smid is their best defensive d-man, and one of the few they have that is mean and will clear the net.

But yeah, for many, many years the Oilers either did not draft d-men or they drafted complete busts. This was further made worse by the Oilers rushing any and all good prospects into the NHL far too quickly. Couple that with them flushing decent middle-tier players year-to-year over minor cash differences or retardation meant that the OIlers had no depth to insulate the younger players. You can see that with the Oilers right now. They can't sit anyone after a bad game, or to spell them because.. the depth on the Oilers is either hurt.. or, well, suck.

So the Habs hosted the Blues last night, hadn't seen St Louis play in a while. They looked REALLY good. A lot of very fast and strong forwards. Played an interesting forecheck system too, not deep aggressive down low, but more smothered the breakout closer to defender blue line. Very good at stopping a rusher or transition pass. I am thinking the defenders should maybe lob it over that more , which you don't see much of in the NHL even though I find it to be pretty effective play personally.

I would say this could be the year the Blues finally go deep after 3  years of hype and then disappointment, although I am not sold on Halak's goalltending (and I say this as a Montreal fan who has spent many years watching him). It is too dependent on reflexes and razor sharp focus, to compensate for mediocre positioning and poor rebound control. Still, when he's hot, he's hot.

For all the scary teams in the west, the team I always fear the Canucks meeting in the playoffs the last few years is the Blues. Hitchcock doesn't produce the most fun to watch hockey, but he's a hell of an effective coach.

They are a fun rival for the Canucks too. Always very 'spirited' games.

I didn't see the Blues going far the past few years because I didn't feel their core group was seasoned enough. Now their younger guys are approaching primes and played a lot more crisply, and more confident so I think they will be extra dangerous (assuming the goaltending doesn't fall apart).

The Blues are a very good team. Every year the guys they've got get better and they either ship out those that are struggling or insulate them to let them improve. Can be somewhat boring to watch, but it is quite effect when their players stick to the systems. They're also one of those teams that will wear down opponents with a lot of small hits and rub-outs. Nothing major but few of their players shy away from a battle or finishing their check, regardless of size. Tends to force some players to move the puck faster than necessary against them, which opens up turn overs.

If their goaltending can stay good in the playoffs they have a lot of potential, I agree. Only problem they have is there are a number of other teams who can match their play-style or nearly so but also have more skill (Kings, Hawks). Those are the three teams, imo, that are truly dangerous in the playoffs. I just don't see the Canucks, Ducks or Sharks as possibles for winning the cup. Granted, I'm biased against the Sharks because they are the best playoff choke team in recent history (though the Canucks have been trying to take that title). I'm expecting a Chicago-St. Louis conference final this year.

Was rather shocked to see a graphic in last night's game - the Blues are scoring almost four goals a game right now. With a coach who's natural instinct is to get mad at his players for getting breakaways instead of peeling back to defend.

Canucks really needed to win that game last night the way they did. We'd lost nine straight to SJ. Especially impressive after giving up a goal on the first shot, in a way I've never seen happen in 35 years of watching hockey.

Well.. Oilers just traded Smid and disappointing goalie prospect Olivier Roy to the Flames for Roman Horak and made-expendable goalie prospect Brossiot. Horrific trade for the Oilers, given Smid's good contract, presence in the room and the fact that despite him struggling this year, the Oilers cannot replace him from within the organization; we just don't have anyone who mixes his defensive capabilities, shot blocking and attitude.

And the other shoe that may have instigated this? Oilers might be trying to get Bryzgalov!

Such a bad night for Oiler fans.

Congrats on signing Bryzgalov!!! :awesome_for_real:
http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Hockey/NHL/Edmonton/2013/11/08/21255346.html

And yeah, that was a nice deal for Calgary.  Smid is only 27 with almost 500 games under his belt and is signed for the next 4 years at $3.5 million.  Horak is a 3rd liner at best and Brossoit only turned pro this year, so who knows what he'll ever do.  Also, I believe this is only the 2nd trade ever between Edmonton and Calgary.

Yeah, saw they signed Bryzgalov only a bit after my post. Just couldn't muster up enough will power to publicly acknowledge the fact so soon after we got hosed. In one of the most high pressure hockey markets on the planet (because, really, everything gets compared to the '80s team and we've got fuck all else to do here in Edmonton) we sign the goaltender most notorious for melting down in high pressure situations.

Smid trade is just utter and complete nonsense. Entire ordeal is pure panic mode from the Oilers. Couple that with the high likelihood of Hemsky getting traded shortly and the cumulative affects of having been an Oiler fan since '86 (I was three) and I'm surprisingly close to calling it quits on this Mickey Mouse organization. I know a lot of fans around here in the same boat. Sad thing is probably just how long it took.

How's the quality of the top 5 draft prospects looking this year?

There are some really good ones. However, its next year you want the #1 pick; likely generational talent up for grabs that year who could very well be at Crosby's level.

Yeah, I feel bad for the Oilers.  They've been mismanaged for years.  Flames were in the same boat but it looks like they might be going in the right direction.  Calgary only has 2 more wins than the Oilers yet if you ask anyone with any hockey knowledge which has been the better the team and more difficult to play against, I don't think anyone in their right mind would say Edmonton.  Calgary has been competitive in almost every game this year, which bodes well for the future.

Problem with the Oilers is fairly simple; Katz (the owner) wanted to recreate Boys on the Bus, and as such has given and guaranteed the jobs of the old former Oilers, such as Lowe, Smith, Buchberger and so on. Who he gets to hang out with has been more important than turning the franchise around.

This is a team that should have started the rebuild right after the '06 run (given that we lost 3 of our top 6 defenders after that should, and those were the best 3 defensemen on the team, explain why), or after '07 at the latest. Instead they waited until after the '09 season. The plan was for a 5 year rebuild.. so we're not even there yet. Rebuild is technically over after this season, by the Grand Plan. I could write a lot on why the Oilers have screwed this rebuild up, but there's really no point in it anymore.

I mean, when your franchise is at the point of bringing in Bryzgalov and trading a useful, but struggling, defender with a good contract to your primary rival instead of getting full value out of him? You know you're screwed.

So, Rogers Communications has acquired the rights to broadcast all NHL games starting next year for $5.2 billion over the next 12 years.  Can't say I support having all NHL content being provided by one company, esp. since Sportsnet has a far inferior hockey program compared to TSN and CBC.  Speaking of TSN, I think they're pretty much screwed now.  I don't think this is going to work out well for fans having to go through Rogers to get their hockey.  Oh well.  I guess we'll be force fed even more Leaf coverage than ever before. :ye_gods:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/rogers-scores-national-nhl-tv-rights-for-5-2b-1.2440645

As if I needed more reasons to hate Rogers. They couldn't make sportsnet worth a damn, so they are just going to force the issue I guess. You watched TSN for actual trade/draft/game info, you watched CBC for nostalgia/Don Cherry's crazy of the week and you watched Sportsnet when you had no other option.

Now we always have no other option it seems.   :oh_i_see:

The deal is fantastic for the hockey teams (big increase in revenue as they're going from ~$100 million per year from all three networks to ~430 million per year) and absolutely fucking horrific for hockey fans. TSN was the far superior service in both analysing games and the actual game commentary. CBC, even with Don Cherry (the embodiment of racism in hockey) was second -- largely due to Elliot Friedman. Sportsnet was an awful experience; commentators who never had a clue (several of their big name guys get laughed at when they apply for jobs within the NHL, like GM jobs, coaching jobs.. assistant coaching jobs -- because they were some of the worst at their jobs before they had to settle for doing TV) and openly mock various parts of their audience (the advanced stat crowd) and generally only pay attention to maybe three of the seven Canadian teams (generally Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver; the sheer number of factual errors Sportsnet and its people have put forward about the Oilers, Jets, Flames and Senators is astounding).

Sportsnet was getting clobbered in coverage and did the only thing it could; it bought exclusivity to prevent itself from being rendered obsolete in a few years when TSN was rumoured to have more channels ready to take on a bigger portion of the NHL schedule. Smart play by them in that regard but I doubt it will pay off for them considering they are stuck in the '90s in terms of personnel, production values and how they approach things. Unless they are willing to spend the money and poach the best from CBC and TSN this will not work out. When Maclean and Kypreos are your big guys you're screwed long term. If they can get Friedman, LeBrun and Ferraro it might change, but I find it hard to believe they'll spend even more money to make a better product now that they have the rights on lockdown for twelve years.

Thankfully I already use hockeystreams.com and generally use the American feeds when possible, unless its a TSN game or I have no choice (CBC/Sportsnet only coverage due to it being an all-Canadian game). Which is kind of sad. Cheaper, though, as it meant I was able to completely drop cable/satellite/etc. and now I just download my tv shows and use a cheaper source for all my hockey needs [that already had zero blackouts, full DVR integration on their end, and provide access to pretty much all hockey and not just the NHL).

Does this mean no more HNIC? Because I will cut a motherfucker.

Short term, maybe, long term, probably.


HNIC will still exist for at least 4 years, but Rogers will have all creative/producer controller or whatever its called. I'm guessing they won't just destroy it all right away, but pick away at it slowly instead. After that they won't have an obligation to keep HNIC around, so it'll be gone if Rogers is as stupid and greedy as we think they are (spoilers: they are).

Well at least I can get Direct TV instead after that. One of the main reasons I keep Comcast is because we are close enough to the border for them to include CBC (CBUT) in the channel selections. Love me some HNIC.

The Leafs are cans of garbage. This is just like, little league shit.

My Habs are doing great. No injuries, all star goaltending, 3 scoring lines rolling, 2 all star dmen and 3 solid supporters, #6 dman is weak, Douglas Murray or Francis Bouillon, neither really belong in NHL anymore, could use a rental upgrade there.

I'm about to cut my cable so I don't really give a shit about this Rogers/TVA deal. I'll  probably get gamecenter since it seems to have better reviews for quality than hockeystreams. I'll get a VPN spoof service to get around blackouts, and for other stuff (US netflix, hulu, etc.). Don't mind paying a bit more when I'm saving 80$ a month on cable tv.

I vastly prefer hocketstreams to gamecenter. Some people have some issues with hockeystreams, but personally I think I have issues maybe one game in twelve? Throw in the utter lack of blackouts and the ability to watch games from the AHL and various Junior leagues, the KHL, World Jrs. and so on.. and being cheaper, I can't see myself ever switching from it.

That said, the guys who run hockeystreams don't actually know much about hockey. I've had to try and explain basic rules to them (like how high sticking works) and it never goes over well. Ah well. They are Wings fans, so that figures.  :why_so_serious:

Thursday night baby! Let's see how great they are doing..:D

A perfect ambush game for the Bruins... Habs play on road night before while Boston sitting around waiting for 4 days.

I don't get why Montreal/Jersey home & home wasn't Monday/Tuesday instead of Monday Wednesday? It's not liike NJ plays Thursday, and didn't play Sunday either. Really annoys me stupid scheduling like this.

Yeah Bruins have a 5 day break, seems kinda silly.

I'm not making excuses, cuz it really could hurt either team. Montreal could show up with game legs while the Bruins start slow from the time off. Or Montreal just plays gassed all night, while Boston buzzes with energy. I've seen it go both ways.

Just maddening to see a poor display of hockey from either side due to schedule, not cool when you're asking 300-500$ for top tickets.

Loved that habs vs b's game. best of year so far. playoff intensity.

and of course I didnt get to watch it. mothersuck.

If Calgary ever learns how to finish a game, they might be dangerous.  They almost blew ANOTHER one in the final few seconds last night but managed to win in OT.  They've lost 9 games by 1 goal and 4 by 2 goals.  Thats 13 of their 18 losses by 1 or 2 goals.  If they had won even half of those one goal games (esp. the ones they where they blew the lead late) they'd be in playoff contention with arguably the least talented team in the NHL. It just goes to show that talent only gets you so far and working hard is probably more important (looking at you Oilers).

Has Calgary not managed to draft anyone decent in the past 4 years of missing playoffs? I don't know much about their prospects/rookies. They have always seemed to have a culture of hard work ethic though.

Its only been within the past few years that they've done well with the draft.  Before that, they drafted worse than almost any other team.  They picked too many Western Hockey League guys and guys that fit into Darryl Sutter's way of building a team instead of picking for talent.  They've also made a few bad trades, highlighted by the one where they got fleeced (again...Doug Gilmour for Gary Leeman anyone?) by Toronto for Dion Phaneuf.  They seemed to have turned things around with Jay Feester as GM and actually have a plan to rebuild rather than just slap pieces together and hope to make the playoffs.

Phaneuf is hardly comparable to Gilmour. Getting Gilmour was clearly robbery, Phaneuf was more the two teams exchanging different kinds of trash.  :why_so_serious:

Calgary has some real potential playing in the NCAA this year and their AHL team is first overall I believe. There's some real confidence in their up and coming players for the first time... ever? Their compete level has impressed me and they have been suprisingly competitive for a team with (like was said earlier) arguably the least talented NHL team this year.

They were 2 years late on starting this rebuild and it's still going to be 3-4 years minimum before anyone sees any real playoff results, but early indications are that at the very least, they will put a competitive team on the ice that will be a pain to play against.

Gilmour was obviously a much better player than Phaneuf but the most recent trade has basically come down to trading Phaneuf for Stajan seeing as how all the other players Calgary got were gone withing a year or two of the trade.

No one is ever going to win with Phaneuf. He makes too many mistakes, leads to bad goals which kills you in playoffs.

He is an albatross, and Toronto will sign him to some ridiculous 8m x 8 year contract because they are too scared to let him walk away from him as UFA.

They're still trying to convince us Kessel is a superstar.

He's the 40 goal scorer who has never scored 40 goals.

Sorry Ceryse but...LOL

Also  funny from last night::heart: Gallagher

Dubnyk is done, at least in Edmonton. Only reason he's playing (or Barbs is the backup, for that matter) is we have two goalies on the IR; Bryzgalov (who's been decent or better and has generally kept his mouth shut) and Bachman, who would be a better 1-2, at least this year.

Dubnyk may land on his feet elsewhere, as he is a decent goalie and it can take goalies awhile to adjust to any kind of change, but Dubnyk's goalie type means that he'll have to seriously improve to stay in the NHL because he's a victim of the Canadian goaltending school; learn the butterfly, be big, anticipate where shots will go and let them hit you. Literally, that is how they trained goalies for over a decade now in Canada. Its why there is a dearth of really good goaltenders in the Canadian system these days, because athleticism was not a requirement.

But yeah; between the trifecta of goaltending, our powerplay, and our lackluster defense the Oilers suck pretty bad this year. Doesn't help that our coaching staff isn't punishing players for mistakes unless they're guys he doesn't overly like anyways. Gagner, our worst forward in the top nine this year, gets more and more ice time and first unit powerplay time. Frustrating. I could rant on what the Oilers are doing wrong all day. Powerplay especially, as its so easily fixed, but.. you know. Oilers.

A team built to be mocked. Starting to see empty seats in Rexall, finally, though.

Probably should've traded Gagner during the off-season instead of giving him that big contract.


I dunno, the Habs opened their wallet and signed Stephane Waite from the Hawks. He's done wonders for Price who was previously in stuck in that bad habit and gotten him moving more so maybe there's hope for him under the right coach.

There's nothing wrong with Gagner's contract, honestly. If he was a winger. Most of his problems stem from horrendous d-zone coverage because he seems utterly incapable of covering the man in the slot. He also tends to cheat for offense (its how he inflated his numbers last season). If he were moved to wing a lot of problems for the Oilers (up front) would be solved. Alas, he is the golden boy. Also, he is still very tradeable right now, as he has high stock around the league for varying reasons -- but he won't be, as MacT gave him a verbal no-trade for this season (as he couldn't contractually give him one this season; only for next season an on). Gagner wanted the no trade because his fiance is starting up as a family doctor here in the city, and those kinds of practices aren't easy to move (and considering the family doctor situation in Edmonton, would be financially dumb to move).

Still, they could trade him. Should, even. Arcobello has shown to be better than he is (similar scoring levels, better defensively, better at face-offs and despite being smaller is more physical and has more effort level to his game) and Gagner as a winger is redundant in Edmonton with Hall and Perron available as top six LWers (its even more of a log-jam on the RW). Oilers should trade him now, especially given his stock around the league, and with some added parts thrown in could actually get a top pairing D-man back (would have to throw in some of our good D prospects, like Marincin, and possibly even this year's first rounder).

As for Dubnyk; yes, he could recover. But it won't be in Edmonton. The GM never saw him as part of the solution (and then he went and has proven to be part of the problem!) and the fans have turned on him. Still, until this season he had three straight seasons of .920+ save percentage on one of the worst defensive teams in the league.

Would have loved to see Mason pound that little shit Gionta.

Good lord, the east is horrible. :ye_gods:  Calgary would only be 3 points out of a playoff spot if they were in the east.  Reminds me of the Jays being stuck in the AL east with Boston and New York.  Put them in another division and they might have actually made the playoffs once or twice in the past 20 years.

Not a big surprise, honestly. West gets to feast on the East again, so its only natural. It was a bit hilarious earlier on when the top team in the East would have placed 9th in the West. The NHL should go back to the top 16 making the playoffs, not guaranteeing playoff spots if you happen to be lucky and in a weaker division/conference. The best teams should always advance to the playoffs, but alas.. markets and politics.

What makes this all the more amusing was the number of players/coaches/GMs who, after re-alignment, bitched about how teams in the West would find it easier to make the playoffs due to only having 14 teams opposed to 16 in the East. Baffled me when they said it because the West has been the tougher conference for well over a decade (and is generally regarded as the 'real' conference in the West by fans, media and announcers alike). If anything, it is, and has been easier to make the playoffs in the East for a long time, largely due to the sheer number of below average franchises and the fact they don't have to play Western teams that often (Western conference tends to win more than 60-65% of the games against the Eastern conference, sometimes even higher).

The fact most of the 'major NHL stars' are out in the East (Crosby, Malkin, Stamkos, Ovie, etc.) just makes most in the West smirk.

Honestly, if you just moved the Oilers into the East, they'd probably be a playoff team, or a near-playoff team. And the Oilers are crap. Of course, the team would probably die of the bubonic plague or something, as the Oilers can't possibly successfully do anything, so probably best the languish as the bottom feeder in the West.

I don't really care which conference is better, I just would rather there were less or no inter-conference games. Western teams are mostly boring, and I don't care about them. I would rather the Hbas played atlantic  division 8 times, and metro division 4 times.

And cmon, the oilers in the east playoffs? That is a bit ridiculous they are still like 10 games below .500 which is pretty awful in any conference.

Nine games below .500... and yet only eight points back of 8th in the East! Give them a bunch of games against teams like Buffalo and that would make a difference!

The point is the East is that bad.

Also, personally, I generally find most games between Eastern teams boring, with only a few exceptions. I'd like to see a top 16, regardless. Make those teams in the East actually work for their playoff spot!  :awesome_for_real:

I think the best thing about the West outperforming the East, is no one is quite certain WHY this happens. Like all the game history shows the west clearly winning more then they lose when playing the east, but no one can quite pin point why the western teams are pulling ahead. I've seen a few articles that all basically end up with the conclusion of "buuuuuuuh? :headscratch: "

Calgary, and the Oilers, are horrible.  However, if they were in the east, both of them would be in the playoff hunt, esp. since they would be playing teams like Buffalo and Carolina more often rather than Chicago, Anaheim or LA.

There are a lot of theories as to why the Western teams tend to beat (or dominate, in some cases) the Eastern teams more often than not. Its likely a combination of things, such as most Western teams being deeper (fewer teams with super stars at the forward position, but better forwards as a group from 1st line through 4th line, whereas Eastern teams tend to focus on having a really good pair of lines) than their Eastern counterparts across the varying positions, being more used to the rigors of travel and used to a more competitive level of play as the West has tended to have a higher level of parity (one or two teams excluded) across the conference. The East tends to have a massive drop off between its best teams, its middling teams, and its bottom feeders. West really only has the best teams, middling teams disparity with one or two shitty teams plugging along as an homage the Oakland Seals.

Also, it helps that a lot of the Western teams aren't really short on talent, just short on MSM acknowledged high end talent -- something that becomes painfully obvious at awards time. Of course, the MSM is notorious for being idiotic (i.e., not knowing what position Ovechkin plays!).

I'm going to go with the East teams being forced to play late games due to crazy timezones - 10pm (effective) starts are brutal.

That's a bit of a stretch.  That's only four games a season for an East team (at San Jose, LA, Anaheim, Vancouver).  If you throw in the mountain teams with 9 PM start times that's still only 8 games a year with 2h+ EST starts.  East teams easily have a far better travel schedule than West teams.

The simplest reason is that the West just has better teams right now.  In a few years, things may change.

The Metropolitan Division (worst name in pro sports IMO):

Pittsburgh
Washington
Philly
New Jersey
NY Rangers
NY Islanders
Carolina
Columbus

The only places that might be a bit of a trip would be Carolina and Columbus.  All the other cities are less than an hours flight from each other.  The Atlantic Division is about the same with the exceptions being the two Florida based teams.  Now look at the two Western divisions.  Theres a lot more travel involved for all of those teams.  LA to Edmonton is a much longer trip 4 times a season than Philly to Pittsburgh.  Couple that with the teams from the east only come west to play each team once a year (and vice versa for the west teams).  So, time zones or late games have very effect on eastern teams.  Its the western teams that are much more effected by that.

Hmm, Team USA's defence looks awfully young and shaky.  Paul Martin over Keith Yandle? :awesome_for_real:

Awesome story with a behind-the-scenes look at picking the US Olympic team.

http://espn.go.com/olympics/hockey/story/_/id/10195703/how-us-hockey-team-bound-sochi-olympics-was-named

Man, if I was Bobby Ryan and I read what the Team USA guys said about me I'd tell them to go fuck themselves.

I think Burke has a personal problem with him, but if USA comes up short a goal because a guy like Brown is on team over Ryan, this is gonna spin a lot of questions back at him. I think team USA needs to ditch this Burke clique though, he's a gin soaked jackass.

Bobby Ryan is a massive cunt- it could have been A LOT worse.

Exactly. What Burke said was kind. Anyone who is getting all bent out of shape about those comments is pretty naive about what is said in a NHL war room.

Mid-Season update:

Leafs are still complete ass and their record is starting to reflect it. Over/Under on coach/gm surviving this season?  :why_so_serious:

They might just shitcan him before the Olympic break. That would give any incoming coach a few extra days to try to salvage the season.

Watching the Leafs actually getting the results their underlying stats show they have deserved for the past 80-ish games or so has been pretty entertaining to watch, especially after the talk from Leaf coaches that stats aren't important (major paraphrasing there, but still). Now I'm just hoping the Canucks also fall out of the playoffs (and stay out). The tears would keep me fed for decades.

Nono, They never said the stats aren't important, they said they have their own metrics and systems and know things no one else as figured out and most of the team apparently bought into it and nodded along to this sage wisdom of their superior style of play.


I'm going to be so sad when we trade Reimer away for nothing, but I'll be happy for him when he instantly succeeds on his new team with the most fundamental understanding of how to play NHL hockey.

Is Dallas ever going to be good again? That's the only way I can see myself getting the NFL Center Ice thing since it's my prior home town love, and Winnipeg stole my team.

I feel like they have been garbage for a while.

They have a good young nucleus, and could be real trouble in a year or two with the right progressions and additions.

As a Canucks fan, I'd be surprised if they made the playoffs which is kind of frustrating when looking at the teams that will be in the playoffs in the east. :ye_gods:  Also, just like in Calgary where its always 1989, Edmonton seems stuck in the 80's because, apart from one fluke run to the Stanley Cup finals, they've been garbage for almost 25 years now and all they do is relive the glory days of Gretzky and Messier.  The way things are going now it doesn't look like its going to change anytime soon.  What year are we on the Oiler's rebuild?  6? 7?  For our US American friends, the Canuck hatred amongst Canadian fans is due mostly to the fact they've been the best of the Canadian teams for the last 20 years and their fans like to remind everyone of it.  Hockey jealousy to go along with jealousy for Vancouver's warm winter weather.  Its not saying much since none of the Canadian teams have done much of anything during that time but there it is. :raspberry:

^not sure what this guy is babbling about? Canadians jealous of rainy winters? Canucks havent won anything either.

The Stars are well managed but had some trouble because of Tom Hicks the owner going bankrupt on other adventures. Because of that they were running on a shoestring budget the past 4 years and had to make roster decisions factoring that, had talent but lacked depth down the stretch. Now they have a new owner and are spending again, should bounce back quickly.

Actually, the situation in Edmonton is a little more complicated. The management/owner (excepting MacT) are stuck in the '80s. The majority of the fan base is stuck in the late '90s, when the Oilers had a decent, but not great team that could hang around the playoff cut-off, get in, face Dallas and lose, but worked very hard.

And its technically year 5 of the rebuild (this is the year we were supposed to challenge for a playoff spot). Rebuild didn't start until '09-10 season. Before then the Oilers sucked, but were not rebuilding. Also, the '06 run wasn't so much a fluke as after the trade deadline (where the Oilers actually plugged their three big holes which had caused the team to struggle to that point of the season) the Oilers were one of the better teams in the league. Combined with good coaching in the playoffs (MacT coached his ass off in that playoff run, and got lauded for it by opposing coaches), players getting hot during the playoffs.. they did well until M. A. Bergeron took out his own goalie, then pushed a shittier team to game seven using two non-NHL goalies. And then the house of cards collapsed from Pronger wanting out, followed by several others wanting out because travel was a bitch (Spacek and a few others). Oilers went from one of the best D-corps in the league.. to one of the worst, but stubbornly refused to rebuild for another three years.

Oilers are unlikely to get better until the owner actually gets over his Boys on the Bus man-crush and lets the team fire Lowe, Buchberger and Smith.

Canuck hate is very simple and it exists for the following reasons; the team has generally been one of the dirtier teams in the league (and also filled with prolific divers), arrogant players/management, horrendous homers in the media and one of the most annoying fan bases -- the majority of whom were bandwagon fans who acted like the Canucks were better than the 80's Oilers because of regular season domination before accomplishing jack and shit in the playoffs (they're made the Stanley Cup Finals three times; 1982, 1994, 2011). In the last decade especially the fan base has been intolerable, despite the team being an utter failure in all but one year, where they merely failed.. and then proceeded to riot.

There's a reason they're generally the most hated, or one of the most hated teams by both fans and other players.

Oh, and they whine constantly, which never goes over well with anyone.

They were a good team (and at times a great team), but they accomplished nothing of note where it mattered, but acted like they were a dynasty -- hence the nickname; the Dys, which is what they're generally referred to in Alberta. And now they're getting old and things are starting to fall apart -- if the Canucks don't make the playoffs for two years it'll be hilarious to watch the fan base disintegrate as the majority of the current fan base gets off the wagon, leaving a smaller, dedicated (and less asshole-ish) core group of fans behind.

Speaking from California hockey-land I can confirm nobody likes the Canucks at all.


In addition it often feels like in Canucks versus American team series that they are getting all sorts of calls while playing dirtier WHILE their fans cry more and their players cry more about fucking everything. Fuck the Canucks.

No one east of Manitoba remembers the Canucks exist.

I love that in a league with Boston, Philadelphia and Anaheim, the Canucks are considered the dirtiest team.  :oh_i_see:

With no Pronger or Hatcher, the Flyers are not particularly dirty...though they do take a ton of dumb penalties.

Yeah, its like no one watched the Bruins goon their way to the Stanley Cup in 2011.

Its not so much that the Canucks are a dirty team (though they are), its that they're a dirty team reknowned for complaining and whining about others being dirty, refs shafting them, and much the fanbase and media surrounding the team merely echo these sentiments regardless of how hypocritical it is. It was similar to how laughable it was when the Penguins bitched about dirty players when they had Cooke (prior to him actually cleaning up his game -- for which the guy deserves credit; he went from one of the dirtiest players in the league who was a marginal player in terms of skill, to a much more effective player who is merely a pest/hitter). You just couldn't take them seriously and it made the team, management and fans look utterly stupid.

The Canucks are worse than that, however, and have been for years. Less substantiated to fans, however, there's also the surprising number of reported issues other players in the league have had with Canuck players. I remember back in around '09 (maybe '10?) when one of the polls came out noting the Canucks as the most hated team by the players in the league, that a number of the TSN and CBC analysts mentioned a large segment of the player population had run-ins with Canuck players of them stepping across traditional lines in regards to trash talk, diving, bitching to refs and pre-game issues.

As for other teams.. Philly isn't that dirty as a team, imo. They have a number of dirty players (Hartnell is one of the players in the league who deserves a crowbar to the head), but as a team? Not that dirty. Anaheim is less a dirty team than it is a team of divers, especially these days. Phoenix is a team that doesn't get the credit it deserves for dirty play, however. Its not uncommon for there to be more than a few questionable hits/issues with that team.

Boston is dirty. If possible, they're largely 'legal dirty' more often than not. Probably the best team in the league at walking the line. Sometimes they cross it, however (and when they do its usually big), but they play the game, by and large, within the confines of how refs want to call it. Which is bullshit, imo. If you actually count penalties that should be called, but don't, they usually number around 40-50 per team, every game. Tons of stick work, interference, picks, cross checks, slough-foots, goalie interference (and slash/roughing reprisals from the goalie), high sticks and face-off violations go un-called every game. Its one of the biggest issues in the sport, imo, as it means you never really know what the hell will be called and what they will decide to let go.. especially as you get closer to playoff time when the rules change and more shit gets allowed.

But the NHL is a Mickey Mouse league. Always has been. Likely always will be.

Wow, ok. Obviously I'm a homer yet I'm willing to accept much of that criticism. Yes, we as fans whine we we feel we aren't treated fairly. And no, we haven't won the cup. To say we've won nothing though? Based on that criteria, you'd have to say that about what, 25 other teams in the last decade?

Over the last ten seasons, Vancouver's been in the top ten of the league 8 times. They've had the best record in the league twice in that stretch.

As for the dirty/hated/etc stuff - you are basing a lot of that on a poll you vaguely remember from four years ago? I get that many people don't like Alex Burrows or Ryan Kessler. They both yap a lot and they have had reputations of diving in the past. As in, several years ago. The team has actually cleaned most of that up, but the reputation sticks. All the guys who are really notorious for being "dirty Canucks" haven't played for the team in years: Bertuzzi, Cooke, Torres, etc.  Oh, but I forgot, Burrows bit down on a finger that someone shoved in his mouth a couple years ago, so yup, Canucks are the dirtiest team in the league.

Seriously though, I think the number one reason the Canucks have a reputation of being whiners and complainers: The Sedin twins' faces. They just look that way. They can't help it.

Oh, and the band wagonning you accuse us of isn't as nearly bad as you think. Yes, we have people who are borderline hockey fans that jump on board during the playoffs, but in general - the Canucks are well loved and supported in this city. Bandwagon fans only show up to games when it matters or when they think they're about to win something. The Canucks have a sellout streak dating back to 2002. That's ninth all time among North American Sports teams. That's a pretty solid fan base.

Boston doesn't throw many dirty hits besides Chara who throws his forearm high, partially due to high height but he seems to enjoy doing it. Other than that they are just kind of 'bully' dirty, a lot of aggression in scrums, and stuff like one guy will hold someone and another will punch, sometimes in fights too, stupid crap like that. When they fight they pick their opponents carefully too. So they do stuff to create a veneer of intimidation, and I think it works to an extent against teams that don't know them well (the Canucks), but against teams that do know them well like Montreal it doesn't seem to factor much.

Talking about divers....

Oh man, there might be some serious fallout after this Calgary-Vancouver game. :awesome_for_real:

What ever do you mean?

No clue what you guys mean...

Yup. :awesome_for_real:

So, 15 day suspension for Torts, which equals 6 games.  A little excessive IMO but not unexpected.  Hartley is fined $25k for putting his good line out to start the game.

Meh, Torts got what he deserved. The shit in-between periods was a disgrace. The rest? I was fine with it, honestly. Hartley threw out fighters. Torts responded. Players decided they were fine with it and the brawl began. I see no problems whatsoever here. If a coach throws out his fourth line like Hartley did, Torts could have responded with a skill line -- he declined to do so, and as such has no room to be upset about Hartley's move. The players involved went along with it, so what's the issue? When all three groups are willing, why such a fuss?

Dumb, granted. Someone throws a fourth line out there like that you should respond with your skill line and make them look stupid for spotting you a goal (or a decent chance to get one).

Did you see the play? There was no time for 'let the skill players grab the puck and go'. Westgarth took the faceoff and didn't even move his stick- he just bearhugged Bieksa. If that was Henrik Sedin do you think it would have been any different? The Calgary players were sent out there for a specific task regardless of who lined up against them.

During the course of the game, obviously you try to get skilled players against the 4th line. But when that lineup is submitted to start the game, Torts knew goddamned good and well what was happening and he was mildly upset about it  :grin:

Perhaps he took the face-off and went straight to bear hug Bieksa because it was Bieksa. If it was Sedin, maybe he doesn't do that because of the double standard in hockey. Just look at earlier in the year at the out-rage generated when Scott went after a skill player. Nevermind possible chirping/conversing before the puck even gets dropped, which may have let him know Bieksa was willing or not (we won't ever know, but I doubt Bieksa was anything but willing when he lined up at center). After Hartley's douche-baggery of selecting players Torts had a chance to defuse the situation; he chose to go along with it. The Vancouver and Calgary players then had a chance to defuse it, but went along with it. In my opinion that makes everything that happened on the ice after the puck drop fair game. Torts trying to get into the Flames' dressing room? Clown-shoes and idiocy. He deserved the suspension he got. He acted like a child in a tantrum, instead of an adult who'd had more than enough time to settle down.

Outside of what Torts did, I see no reason for this entire escapade to be anything of note beyond; "well, that's minor league bullshit". Its one thing for a brawl like that to develop in the course of the game, but to kick it off? Meh.

Is anyone actually surprised by Torts behaviour?

There's been other games this season where the other coach tried to 'defuse' the situation and it just got his good players in a fight instead, or embarrassing themselves by trying to slash away peoples legs and shit.

Anyone heard anything about Ryan Miller?  The talk in STL is that a trade is likely possible that sends Halak, Stewart, Rattie, and our first round pick out for Miller and one other player.  That other players identity varies with some speculating Ott and others saying Grigorenko (sp).  That was pretty much all people in the stands around me were talking about during the Devils game.

Man.. to think an Edmonton Oiler goalie, in this season of all seasons, would set the NHL record for most saves in a shut-out. That game was one of the most hilarious, entertaining and embarrassing games I've ever watched. Complete domination by the Sharks against a tired (and bad) Oilers team.. and the Oilers win 3-0. Hilarious. Oilers needed NHL goal-tending the first 30 games and now the hockey gods seem to be evening things out now that the season is utterly lost.

As for Miller... there's a lot of talk about him moving. Regarding the Blues? That deal wouldn't overly surprise me given the issues surrounding Grigorenko. All I'm hoping for is that the Oilers are nowhere near Miller or Cam Ward.

Looks like the Sabres finally traded Ryan Miller.  Miller goes to the Blues along with Ott for Halak, Stewart, prospect William Carrier 2015 1st round pick and 2016 3rd round pick.  Buffalo seems to have done alright for a guy everyone knew they had to trade and the Blues stabilized their goaltending while adding a bit more sand paper with Ott.
http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/sabres-trade-ryan-miller-ott-to-blues-for-jaroslav-halak-1.2555984

If the Blues resign Ott and Miller then I think this was a great deal for both sides.  If Miller walks its a calamity for STL IMHO.  I am wondering if either Stewart or Halak ever see a game as a Sabre.  People around STL seem to think that Stewart will be shipped to Ottawa and Jaro to either Minnesota or Washington.  Interestingly Ottawa was one club scouting Stewart.  Washington was rumored to have talked to Doug Armstrong about Halak's services.

Also a final note on this deal, if the Blues go to the finals or sign Miller then the Blues 2014 1st round draft pick also goes to Buffalo.  Oh and I just bought tickets to Miller's first homegame at Scott Trade Center.  Can't wait to hold up my "It's Miller time in StL!" sign! Too bad it will be against the Lightning that might just be without St.Louis

Looks like the Canucks traded Luongo to Florida.  Let the fire sale begin.  Up next, Kesler.

Got Jacob Markstrom, a goalie prospect, and Shawn Mathias back. More than I thought they'd get to honest, considering the contract.
At least it explains why they didn't play him in the stadium game.

I was a GMMG believer at first but his handling of Luongo has been appalling. Waited WAY too long and got a completely shit deal for him. At least he is off the books so the next GM can rebuild. What a fucking shitshow.

Well, the Canucks do retain 15% of his cap hit.

Oh, and his Luongo wants to supremely fuck the Canucks all he has to do is retire in the next couple years. New CBA rules would have the Canucks on the hook for the vast majority of his contract then, including the cap hit.

On the surface it looks like a pretty shitty deal for the canucks and it could very well end up that way. Especially when you factor in the Schnieder trade as well. 2 all star level goalies and we got Bo Horvat, Markstrom, and Mathias.  Does not sound good.

What many people are not factoring in is the nearly $5 mill in salary that the canucks have cleared up. if they were to sign upper tier FA for that money then its not so bad.

As for Markstrom though, he was very highly touted prospect. Now at 24 though and he has not been able to crack the Panthers nhl roster. When you look at what hes up against (Tim Thomas and Scott Clemmonson) thats pretty troubling.

Bottom line for the canucks is that if Horvat and the player/players they get for Lou's money pan out it will be ok. If bo doesnt make the team next year and they get off to a slow start Gillis should be gone.

Stolen from SA, but pretty much sums everything up-

(http://i.imgur.com/fIB6ajO.jpg)

I haven't watched a ton of hockey since that last lockout season but why would the Ducks give away Penner for a who cares round draft pick? Even if a) he's gone next year anyways b) he's not half the player he was. I don't see how the hell that makes sense.

Maybe they were trying to dump salary for other moves? Penner hasn't been consistent for about 5 years now, so he was expendable.

we got vanek for peanuts so everyone pretty happy here

Yeah, the few remaining Islander fans are unamused.

Penner was actually having a decent-ish season. Not fantastic point-wise, but he was working very well on that top line, was friends with both Getzlaf and Perry, popular on the team and is a proven playoff performer (even when his regular season efforts have been shit). The trade only makes sense if they were going after someone like Vanek (freeing a roster spot, some cap space and so forth) or even Cammalleri. The fact that they did absolutely nothing means they either weren't willing to pay the price asked or wanted to promote from within (Etem?). The former doesn't make sense as the price for the scoring forwards ended up fairly low (especially Vanek.. man, Snow fucked up good on that one) so it was likely that the price was too high and when the price finally lowered it was too late to get a bidding war going. Second option just doesn't make sense given Penner was doing well and was cheap.

All in all? Anaheim fucked up. One of the only playoff teams that got actively weaker.

Might have to try and get tickets to the Washington - Pittsburgh game on monday so I can see Penner and Halak in action.

And also Marcel Goc and Lee Stempniak, I suppose?

Poor Islander fans - I feel so bad for them. It's gotta be tough to stick with a junk team all this time.

I wonder if some jobs are in jeopardy in Vancouver after last nights debacle? :ye_gods:

How many more do we have to lose to get a better draft spot than the Alberta teams?

The whole Vancouver thing is, well, getting sad. Still hilarious, though, so there's that.

Sadly, all three of these teams (Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton) are getting double-fucked. Fucked because they suck (and for differing reasons!) and fucked because they're in the toughest division in hockey right now. Its unlikely Vancouver can catch Calgary in terms of draft position as Calgary seems to finally realized they actually need to be losing games. Ironically, Edmonton has been .500 since the end of December when goaltending started to get fixed (and is 5 games above .500 from when it was actually fixed) and is just paying the price for absolutely horrendous goaltending the first three months of the season (Oilers still suck, of course, they just suck a lot less now.. but that was a bar so low it was buried a hundred feet into the ground).

As an Oiler fan I am at least getting two of the three things I want to be pleased about from the NHL these days; Vancouver is imploding, Hemsky is doing very well in Ottawa (dumb trade for the Oilers, fantastic for Hemsky -- if only to get away from the Oiler shit-show of coaching and into the easier conference). Alas, the third thing isn't going well in that the Maple Leafs are continuing to be blessed by the Hockey Gods. That team does not deserve anything even close to their record and it will be fun to watch them get destroyed in the playoffs when puck luck is no longer enough, especially if they end up in the final and have to face one of the dominant Western teams.

I had a pretty good time yesterday going through all the current NHL lineups and playing "find that guy who used to be pretty good for the Oilers."

That's... a long list. Tambellini was the worst thing to happen to the Oilers. He did one thing right in his time as GM; fixing the minor system. Pity he bent the team over and screwed it good with indecision and trading NHL players for non-NHL players. Hell, he wanted to let Hemsky walk to UFA two years ago (and get nothing for him), until Lowe stepped in and forced him to re-sign Hemsky (one of the few good things Lowe has done since '06 trade dead line). If it weren't for the Islanders the Oilers would likely have the crown as the most mis-managed team in recent history.

Define recent.  :why_so_serious:

Epic collapse underway in leaf land.

The pile on to Reimer is gross though, he's just a young backup, he's not paid big bucks. The rest of the team is playing mediocre at best, kind of disturbing how all of tdot's rage is focused on this guy.

All I have to say is:
(https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRwyv-6WrH0oBhAi44gExsmNW7G5SF3pqzRDIzEBU1VgkMpvBUEDA)

We'll see if you're still cocky tomorrow morning !!


edit; just saw Budaj is starting, guess Price still having some lingering injuries, gonna be tougher now.

I've said this before, Reimer is going to get traded to an actual hockey team and be really successful and we're going to be really really sad.

The issues with the Leafs are hilarious, honestly. They finally stop getting goal-tending above the league average (and at times, well above) and the team basically collapses in on itself because its just not a very good team (as evidenced by the fact they are now the most out-shot team, 5-5, in a season since advanced stats was a thing in the NHL). I mean, let's be blunt here; if you have a worse shot differential than Edmonton and Buffalo? Maybe your personnel or coaching isn't up to snuff.

Toronto has been riding high shooting percentages, good goaltending and luck more than anything else and things have begun to break down. Personally, I dearly hope they miss the playoffs by just a point or something, so they continue the course.

Oh, and thanks for taking Clarkson. Oilers dodged a bullet there.. especially since we offered even more money for one of the most over-rated off-season acquisitions in years. Seriously, how anyone thought he was worth that kind of contract is insane (and remains one of the few truly worrying signs of MacT's year here).

Keep in mind it was above average goal tending with a substantially below average team defensively. Leafs will say shit like 'Oh our goal tending wasn't up to par tonight because he couldn't stop four consecutive 2 on 1 rushes' .  :why_so_serious:

The problem is that Reimer seems convinced he should be a #1.

(Not that I'm piling on to anyone. I don't care about the Leafs.)

Well they keep throwing him in that spot, then taking it away, then giving it back, then oh no he can't really be a #1, can he?


All the while he gets shit on like he was/is the #1 no matter what his actual position is.



He could be a number 1 and do very well, if he was on a team that understood how to play hockey. He's not on a team that knows how to play hockey though, so we'll probably ruin him like we've ruined half a dozen previous goalies in recent history.

Well I am not convinced he is one of the top 30 goalies in the league, but he could still have a fine career as a backup in the top 60, no shame in that. Leafs nation expects him to play like a top 10 goalie though.

It's funny to even contrast this with Montreal, where Price's post-olympic injury has really limited his starts and we have seen a lot of Budaj. His win last night against the Bruins has been his first really great game in that span (2 wins, 5 losses), but nobody was dumping all the blame on him like Toronto is doing with Reimer during Bernier's injury. People accepted this is a backup goalie with limits, forced outside of them. As the losses mounted people got more mad at the team/coach for not stepping up better in the face of that challenge of losing the normally stellar goaltending of Price.

Toronto's fan base is unquestionably broken, like on a religious-fundie/battered housewife level of broken. This is a team that should honestly have zero fans at this point and in any other city they probably wouldn't have any.

Yet they have one of the most loyal and blind fan bases in all of sports. God only knows why.

Tonight's game was a fantastic example, team allows like 50 shots on net and we have people blaming the goalie again. Not even Reimer in net this time!  :why_so_serious:

It really is amazing. They can abuse that fanbase as much as they please and it'll never go away. Ever.

Just make the playoffs once a decade and everything is cool, really.

Years ago, when we swapped Calgary our garbage for their garbage, I thought we got the better end of that rubbish exchange.

Phaneuf has clearly proven that incorrect, time and again. How much are we paying this chuckle fuck?

4th highest paid dman in the league, for a guy who probably wouldn't have even made a hypothetical team Canada #2 this past olympics. They are going to need a REALLY good shutdown Dman paired with him, just to babysit and attempt to cover his numerous game killing errors. So you're gonna end up spending a ridiculous 12$ million (probably most in league) on a disfunctional top pairing.

Add in 5 million for Clarkson, and then another big 8 million chunk on Kessel, and you're spending 35% of your salary on four flawed parts of your team. Now Kessel obviously is pretty good, but is not the kind of player cup winners are usually built around. So basically you're now trying to build a high quality team after a 25 million cap penalty, and compensating for having liability players on the ice for a significant part of every game.

These problems are now locked in for the next 6-8 years so even if you fire Nonis and get some super genius GM, he's still competing against 29 other GMs who are for the most part pretty smart, and aren't working with one hand tied by so many bad contracts. So basically there is no light at the end of this tunnel, it's going to be 5 more bad years at least for Leafs fans.

How much did you enjoy typing that sentence? Be honest now. :D

Heh I gotta admit, I get about as much pleasure seeing the Leafs lose as watching my Canadiens win although publicly I try and temper that reaction.

I think most of Canada feels the same, and it's not because people hate the city (I go there multiple times per year, nice place, although the food is mediocre), it's mostly due to the Canadian sports-media all being there and you get them 24/7 cheerleading the leafs, at times arrogantly when they are playing hot. I guess the best analogy is why so many MLB fans enjoy seeing the Yankees bellyflop.

The Leafs aren't the Yankee's, the Leafs are the Cubs.  :why_so_serious:

As someone who has been delighting in the Leaf collapse I'll just say this; the Flames can't do anything right. At least the Devils and Blue Jackets got points as well.

There's not really anything to delight in anymore. It's over.

True. Now I'm hoping teams like the Canucks, Leafs, Panthers and Flames win out the season to screw up their draft position.

Also; Gillis fired in Vancouver. Was a bit disappointed in that, as he'd lost the plot and I'd hoped they'd somehow retain both him and Torts for next year. Like-wise, I'm hoping Carlyle survives as coach for the Leafs because, well, it'd be awesome for every non-Leaf fan.

http://deadspin.com/the-maple-leafs-collapse-is-a-victory-for-rationality-1559848856

What kills me, is you don't need the new stats to see this was coming, anyone who watched a game could see they are playing like utter ass. They get out shot at like a 2:1 ratio.

Ah, old 9th place.

Or "True Last Place".

Glad to see Gillis go. His handling of the team the past couple of years (especially the goaltending) was not far short of criminally incompetent. I am sure Torts is next. I don't dislike him from what I have seen, but I really hate his current play style. Whether he overreacted to injuries or just thought he couldn't play uptempo with the roster full of 3rd liners that Gillis handed him I don't know. If he went back to his Tampa style rather than his Ranger style I would be ok with him hanging around, I think. I like his sarcasm and his fire. Guessing whoever takes over the team (pretty sure #16 will be involved some way or another) will want to hire their own coach. Hopefully a younger guy with some idea of how to play 'new' hockey.

Just glad this nightmare season is almost over. Hope they find a way to unfuck things before the Sedins are in wheelchairs. They are already starting to break down. 25 minutes a game from Torts probably didn't help. Also hope Kesler sticks around.

If you want up tempo, it's my guess that you'll not have to wait long to get your hands on Dan Bylsma.

I've quite enjoyed his recent pressers where he throws his arms up in the air and declares he doesn't know what's going on with the team.

Probably not the best thing for a well compensated pro coach to admit.

There all going to be gone, since they can't fire the players.  :why_so_serious:

Wait, what's that about Bylsma?

Part of me feels bad for Gillis, because he actually did some really good things for the team. He focused on the little things - travel, schedule, nutrition, psychology - organizational things that really needed changing with this team. They honestly are a much better run team than they were before he came. His problem was in the hockey moves. He made a few good moves in free agent signings, but most of his trades never worked out, and his drafting record was atrocious. Rumour is that he was never on board with the Torts hiring, that it was the owner's decision. If so, Aqualini will have no one to blame but himself when he's paying millions in buyouts to clean house.

The current rumour and big hope around town is that Bob Nicholson wants a new job. And... forget that, I just checked the news and they hired Trevor Linden to run the team. That was the other big rumour floating.

Interesting move - huge on the PR front because Linden is literally worshipped around here. He has no experience in this role, but this will definitely appease the fan base for a while - Linden's a guy we'll give a long rope to. 

Linden is the president, not the GM (unless those reports changed). He's there to bring some gravitas, and hockey cred to the org. They still need to hire someone else as GM to manage the roster, trades, scouting, etc.

Linden was brought in as President, not GM. Most likely he'll select a GM shortly after the playoffs are over who will, I'd wager, have to deal with Torts for at least one year, after which if its not working out for the GM or Torts still remains stuck in the older Eastern Conference line of playing hockey (which doesn't work out West at all, and least of all with the team he had -- imo, Sedins and Torts was a match that was never going to end well) he'll get relieved of his duties and they'll bring in a new coach. Given how Torts was likely brought in by the owners I doubt he'll be let go for this season which, even with the many things Torts fucked up, was not exactly a surprise to see him struggle with given the team he had.

I'm hoping the Feaster rumour is true (but I doubt it is) simply because he'll make Gillis look fairly good. That said, the Linden thing also has the potential for disaster. He's not proven in any regard at running a team. His hiring was, at least in part, for the sheer PR aspect of appeasing the fan base which had started to bail pretty quick after a single season of shit and ineptitude. To be honest, I've never understood why Linden was so beloved in Vancouver; he only had a couple good seasons and nothing spectacular (his best season there was 80 points -- good enough for 35th int he league -- with a still-great Mogilny on Vancouver). I mean, granted, I'm an Oiler fan so the production of a Linden is somewhat tame to even the B-listers we've seen in our time (such as Doug Weight), so I'm not surprised it baffles me. Anyone able to explain to me why Vancouver holds him in such regard? Community work?

Still, he may work out very well, but only time will tell (though his choice of a GM will be very telling as to whether things will go well).

Edit: And the talk of the MLSE CEO reaching out to Shanahan is very interesting as well. Could be the prelude to a ton of changes there.. which would be disappointing. As an Oiler fan I have to derive my entertainment from somewhere and the Canuck/Leaf trainwrecks have been a much needed source since I surely am not getting it from the Oilers.

I don't live in Vancouver or consume their local media often, but I follow the team fairly closely. Linden has always been a class act, and kept to the high road even when the team did shitty things like allow Mike Keenan to trade him away, hiring Gillis (who I believe he was at odds with when he was head of NHLPA in one of the lockouts), etc. He is very active in charity and community work, and even was a co-MC for the big charity drive for Canucks Place (I think it was) that the does annually and folds into the SportsNet broadcast.

Basically he is a Boy Scout who reminds long time fans of one of their glory runs and thus can do no wrong. If you are familiar with Seattle Mariners baseball, he is analogous to Edgar Martinez- loyal to the team, borderline HOF numbers (probably moreso for Edgar than Linden), and a upstanding citizen. I think his time in the NHLPA and as a business owner/operator since his retirement will help him, and he seems to be smart enough to surround himself with experts who can advise him. The fanbase will give him a LOT of rope, which is all Aquilini wanted at this point (he is trying to sell season tickets RIGHT NOW).

I am not overly optimistic, but it isn't the worst thing in the world. Unless he hires Jay fucking Feaster as the GM. Please god no.

Interesting, thanks. I just really never 'got' the attitude towards Linden from Vancouver. Made no sense to me given his on-ice contributions were never anything spectacular (good, and he did more than just get points). A lot of the Linden-love-fest is a joke around here in Alberta so I just never heard an explanation for it and thought there would be more to it than community work and being a class act.

If I were a Canuck fan.. I'd probably be optimistic about him being brought in if only because its a clear departure from the Gillis-type of operation. I do hope he brings in Feaster, though. Seriously.. Canucks would become the joke of the league if that happened and it would be glorious!

Your baseball analogy didn't help, though, sadly. I've watched maybe 16 or so games of MLB.. and most of those were back in the Blue Jays two pennants days when I watched the World Series just because I liked Joe Carter. Generally can't stand watching baseball (its like watching paint dry.. almost as bad as golf, although at least baseball is fun to play whereas golf is just, imo, dumb).

Basically the Mariners came out of no where in 1995 to win make the playoffs, then beat the Yankee team that would go one to win a bunch of World Series in subsequent seasons in the first round. Anyone even remotely involved in the 95 team is worshipped like a deity, just like anyone involved in the Canucks 1994 SCF run.

WAP has it right, its mostly his off ice persona that the city loves him for. The city has always loved players that put everything in to the game, and that was Linden in a nutshell. Rarely the most talented guy on the ice, but always the hardest working. Same reason the city loved Smyl back in the 80s.

We loved players like Bure for their sheer talent and excitement, but if you ask a long time Canuck fan who the most popular players have been, you'll get a list of guys like Smyl, Linden, Snepts, Odjick, Malhotra, and Bieksa.

So This is a thing : http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=448947

Shanahan save us?



 :|

This is still just kind of a glamour job. The real meat & potatoes is the GM position. You would want to hope Shanahan or Linden (or Aquilani) don't start jerking around the GM about draft picks, trades, etc.

To be fair, the "real meat & potatoes" position varies from team to team. On some teams it is the GM, on others its actually the President of Hockey Ops and the GM is little more than an assistant GM in reality. From team to team it differs whether its the President who conducts trades or deals with the more business side of the team. You can't simply just paint one of the two as the more important role.. because it varies from team to team. That said, I agree bringing in Shanny is largely a PR job similar to that of Linden in Vancouver (albeit a far less effective one) unless the teams are going to have a President who acts more like a senior GM.. in which case the impact they can have on a team is massive.

In other news... Ryan Smyth retiring. Ugh. Heart and soul guy who never phoned in a game and did whatever was asked of him. His time in Edmonton marred only by when he was let go over a "mere" $125k difference in salary. Not the most skilled player.. but he definitely got his points (he's a goal away from having the powerplay goals record for the Oilers.. and considering the talent we've seen.. that's nothing to sneeze at, even if it took him waaaaay more games than the others). Guy deserved a cup ('06 still haunts Edmonton) and will never get one.

Of course, in two or three years he'll be back as a coach or something, because, y'know, Oilers. Hell, I wouldn't be overly shocked if he was brought on as an assistant this off-season given that Buchberger and Steve Smith are likely to be let go (about time..). Wouldn't be an overly smart decision unless Smyth can surprise in an assistant coaching role, but this is the Oilers.

After seeing Mario Tremblay and Guy Carbonneau flame out here (also examples like Gretz), I am not a fan of seeing players brought in as coaches right at the NHL level. They should start at a lower level and show they are serious about it(neither of those two kept coaching after they got axed). Their names and playing pedigree will carry them up the ranks faster than other guys if they are good at it anyway, such as Kirk Muller or Patrick Roy.

If Smyth wants to coach he should start at in Major Junior or CIS.

So.. Smyth's retirement game was interesting. Was interesting to see the juxtaposition even within the Canucks team; some of them were very classy.. several others far, far less so. Though, the Canucks did their best to give Smytty the shot at the powerplay goals record for the Oilers.. it was not to be. Eberle's "fuck" comment after watching the replay that his shot didn't hit Smytty and go in was hilarious. Schultz was a dick, trying to score for himself instead of helping Smytty out (granted, Schultz had a 2 million dollar bonus on the line.. and didn't get it). His epic shift on the powerplay was a nice touch -- he looked like he was going to have a heart attack.

Was sad to see Smytty retire. Under-rated player, imo. Hell, if his Oiler career was with the Canucks he'd be the franchise leader in goals and a number of other categories. He won everything but a Cup.. very unfortunate -- he's unlikely to ever have his number retired in Edmonton, as he's not a good shot at the HHOF (despite the fact they let in a number of people who have no business being in there) due to never winning the Cup.

Also, was interesting to see Linden already not understand basic statistics (no difference in shot blocking between Torts' and Vignault? Really?).

Game cost the Oilers a draft position, but it was worth it to beat the Canucks. Wish I'd seen fewer grown men crying last night, though.. that was a bit annoying.

May be old, but here's 14 minutes of pissed off goalies. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8v9wZF-aQ9U)

Linden is kind of like the Ryan Smyth of Vancouver.  Decent skills, worked hard, loved playing for the team, fans loved him back.

I guess that kind of makes sense (although, Smyth was the better player between the two, imo, especially given when they played). Smyth was highly regarded here due to his blue collar work ethic, tendency to play through injury/pain, ability to play up and down the line up, and his sheer ability to drive goaltenders absolutely insane. Still, you just don't see the same degree of emotional attachment to the player as you see with Linden in Vancouver. There's a lot of respect and fondness for Smyth, but a number of Canuck fans almost seem to deify Linden (and to a slightly less extent a couple other players). Oiler fans don't even hold Gretzky, Messier, Kurri or others from the glory days in the same regard as Canuck fans do with Linden. Not even Lowe before he became Six Rings, and he was the longest serving Oiler, first ever draft pick, celebrated winner, blue collar-type play-style and everything.

Probably ties in with the Canucks never having clinched the deal with the Cup, I wager, and focusing on players like Linden who almost took them there.

In other news... the playoffs. Already looking retarded with the reffing and I'm thankful there are no real teams I 'enjoy' in the playoffs this year. Hopefully Colorado comes down to earth (most over-rated team, imo, similar to Toronto last year in a lot of ways, albeit a better team fundamentally, they are still relying on goaltending and unsustainable shooting percentages to overcome horrific underlying stats), Anaheim and San Jose are prickish teams I enjoy seeing lose, as well. Additionally, hoping the Penguins flame out (fuck Crosby.. may be the best player but I dislike him) along with Montreal. Would also enjoy seeing Marty St. Louis get his just desserts and sent packing. And finally, Boston can't win because I don't want to see Iginla win the Cup because, well, once a Flame Icon, always a Flame Icon.. and fuck the Flames.

So I'm more cheering against most teams than for anyone.

Lol you fucking Canadians have such horrible taste in damn near everything. Hating on St. Louis and Iginla? The Sharks and Ducks are prick teams? Fuck young exciting teams like Colorado I hate those guys too.   

I mean just what the fuck exactly.

Well, to break it down..

I can't cheer for Iginla because he was 'the' Flame, and I'm an Oiler fan in Edmonton. He's a great guy, good player.. but I just can't cheer for the guy who, objectively, really deserves a solid run at the Cup.

Martin St. Louis is the only reason I can't cheer for the Rangers (not that I would, as I just don't care one way or another about the Rangers) because he's a self important hypocrite. Tremendously talented and I usually love smaller players who prove what they can do in a league so over-come by the 'you must be big to succeed!' mentality. Used to be a fan of his, even. But, his attitude and various comments slagging on Oilers and others? Fuck him and the horse he rode in on.

Sharks aren't a huge prick team.. but they do a lot of borderline crap. Mainly I can't cheer for them because there's no point; they choke every god damn year and I get enough failure being an Oiler fan.

Ducks? Prick team. If they think they can get away with a minor (and sometimes not-so minor) dirty play, they will try it; Getzlaf and Perry especially. I respect their ability, but I can never cheer for those two, and they are hardly the only players on that team I dislike. Plus there's lingering animosity from the Burke-era when I had issue after issue with that team (some of it shit I had to deal with back when I worked security for a hotel visiting players almost always were booked into).

Colorado; Patrick Roy. I cannot and will not ever cheer for a team he is part of, in any capacity. The man is a Grade A asshole and a pretentious, self-indulgent prat who deserves any and all shit heaped upon him. I say this as someone who's met the man on several occasions. Throw in the minor rivalry that grew between the Oilers and Av's from sharing the same division.. and fuck 'em. Besides, they're similar to the Oilers in style (get out-worked, out-played) except they win.. and that just hurts.

Penguins are because of Crosby and because of how the team acted when they had Matt Cooke (before he changed his game). Which is unfortunate.. growing up they were my second favourite team.. even before Mario and Jagr arrived.

Others are even simpler; Minnesota I just can't cheer for as I still clearly recall how vividly that team did its best to absolutely drain the life from any game they were involved in. Sure, they aren't the same soul-sucking boring-as-shit team they were.. but god damn. I will never forget those games and for that.. I can never like them. Those games were boring enough to prompt suicidal thoughts in the most stable of individuals. Oh, and they have their share out out-right dirty players I dislike.

Montreal; just out-and-out tired of the team. Gets almost as much coverage as the Leafs.. gah. Don't actually mind the team much. Tend to dislike wailing masses that comprise their fan-base as self-important twats (why yes, I am aware the Canadians are the most winning team in NHL history... granted, most of those came from an era when there were only five other teams and from having your GM run and engineer the '67 expansion in such a way as to ensure your team made out like bandits...).

The rest of the teams I just.. don't care enough about to cheer for.

Longer than I'd have liked, but, basically; I can't stand teams associated with players I've personal issues with, tend to have dirty players, play(ed) a horrifyingly craptastic style of hockey, or pathetic contrived reasons to see a franchise or player fail.

Look all men are entitled to some hatred in every sport but half of your list there is so flimsy and weak. You and I both know Iginla is a hell of a guy and was the only guy on those Flames teams for years. They robbed him of his entire career and he knows it. He's just a merc looking for a run and like you admit he's a good stand up guy who has played hard and fair for years on shit teams with shit for help from his front office.

The Sharks, who happen to be my local team, you don't have a good reason at all. Borderline crap? Every team does borderline crap unless its your team. What does that even mean lol.

If you are going to hate the Ducks you can't ignore the fact that this is Selanne's last year. You didn't even mention him. One of the best things about hockey is the crazy old guys that keep playing at that level. And I'm pretty sure he's never even done any borderline crap.  :oh_i_see:

Hating on St. Louis because he isn't an angel is like hating on AI because he wasn't an angel. The man is playing a game his body gives him zero right to play. And playing it well. You can't hate on him as just a human who has ever tried to do a physical activity you just didn't have the gifts for. Its fucking amazing watching him play it just doesn't make sense he survives to the end of a single game of hockey.

Boo hoo I hate Patrick Roy. Patrick Roy and his years of success probably don't give a fuck. I'm very wary of people hating on athletes for things off the field. That said. Colorado is one of the better stories and things happening in the nhl in the last few years after being just lost in the wilderness as a franchise. But whatever you hate a guy who isn't even on the ice.

Fuck Crosby. Everyone agrees with that. From there on out it got a bit more reasonable sounding I guess.

I'm a fan of a sport. We're supposed to have utterly irrational opinions on why we like or don't like various teams. Its half the fun. I don't even disagree with most of your reply. I know my stance on Iginla is pure fan bullshit. I admitted he was a great guy (met him.. almost hated how bloody nice and grounded the guy was, albeit only because he was a Flame at the time) and a good player. Most of me not wanting him to win anything is due to the number of Flames fans I know who are cheering for him to win the cup this year and an Oiler fan cannot stand on the same ground as a Flames fan. Just isn't done!

Sharks.. meh. Any team that employs Raffi Torres deserves the dirty moniker. I haven't got a clue if he's cleaned his game up, but he's one of the dirtiest players in the league because he hits to injure. He did during his time in Edmonton and I loathed the player then and I've loathed him since as he's gone on to do it again and again. Coutoure also bugs me for some reason I've never been able to quantify. And yes, every team does borderline shit. Its an unfortunate part of the game that is almost impossible to remove, but the Sharks in the past have had a reputation for at times veering closer to that line than a number of other teams in the West. I honestly don't know if its true anymore, I stopped watching them (to be fair, I stopped watching a lot of hockey the past two years). But as I said, the main reason I can't cheer for them is because they always choke. They've been a good team for awhile... but the moment they hit the playoffs things start to go wrong for them and I have little to no attachment to the team (they were my favourite of the new expansion teams, but that died over the years).

Selanne is a phenomenal player and one I respect a ton, but he's not a favourite player of mine. I have no real emotional attachment to the guy as a fan and I don't really enjoy watching him play the game like other players around the league. I wish he was on a different team, but the presence of one player I respect, but don't hate isn't cause to cheer for a team. Maybe if he was on a team I didn't have any strong feelings about one way or another, but he's on the Ducks.

As for St. Louis, like I said; I used to be a fan of his. Its great whenever a smaller player rips it up like he has. But his personality and the double standard he lives by (one of my biggest pet peeves about the NHL is the double standard towards rookies/young players) made me stop being a fan. I'm sure that like Roy he gives zero shits about my opinion as a fan in a market he also gives no shits about and that's fine, just like its my right as a fan to take issue with a player who does or says things I dislike or find stupid (for one example; his reaction to the Omark shoot-out goal, as one example, about how it was a disgrace, has no place in hockey, etc., etc., and then not long after he also does a spin in a shoot-out and its suddenly fine? Like I said; fuck him and the horse he rode in on) and I never look that kindly on a guy who hand-cuffs his team with a trade request like he did to Tampa. Maybe its just butt-hurt from when Pronger bent the Oilers over, but even though its his right as a player, its rubs me the wrong way and, for me, detracts from the respect the guy has earned from being able to force his way into the NHL so spectacularly.

Yes, I hate Roy. Yes, I understand he's had tremendous success (and that he doesn't care about any of his detractors.. regardless of who they are). I can't stand him. Couldn't stand him when he played (for antics both on and off the ice), can't stand him as a coach (mainly for his antics on the bench), and I couldn't stand him in person. As for Colorado being one of the better stories.. meh. I'm not convinced they've found their way out of the wilderness just yet. Sure, they're having a fantastic season this year, but the underlying stats show that it very well could be just that, one fantastic season. Its like being thrilled the Leafs turned things around last year because they made the playoffs and pushed the Bruins to a seventh game before reality dragged them back to earth. Shit happens. Regardless; it's good for the fans, city and the NHL. Just not a fan of the franchise, Roy, several players on the team and not convinced they're as good as many are making them out to be.

And yes, many of my reasons are, or could be, utterly and completely bat-shit crazy. I'm fine with that. I mean, shit, I'm an Oiler fan. I'm clearly not mentally sound.

Someone is bitter about having to live in Edmonton. :awesome_for_real:

Wouldn't you be?

Seriously, though.. I actually like the city (well, enough that leaving would just be a pain in the ass). The Oilers, however, are an excellent example of how to drive your fanbase absolutely fucking mad.

On another note, Milan Lucic should be suspended for at least one game for his cheap shot stick work on the Detroit player but I doubt it because that's "Bruin's hockey" and the league won't do anything to stop them.

http://www.habseyesontheprize.com/canadiens-playoffs-2014/2014/4/19/5630204/milan-lucic-spears-another-player-in-the-junk-bruins-media-loves-it

Edit: Just saw Joel Quenville got fined $25k for grabbing his junk after a call he didn't like.  So, in the NHL grabbing your own junk is a $25k fine while smashing your stick into another guy's junk gets you no punishment at all. :facepalm:

Add another 30 odd years of that then come back to me about driving a fan base insane.  :why_so_serious:

Im sure the rest of the country hates the Bruins by now but Chara laughing at Brendan Smith was awesome..

 Link for gif and stuff here (http://www.cbssports.com/nhl/eye-on-hockey/24534088/gif-zdeno-chara-is-terrifying-laughs-at-brendan-smith-in-skirmish)

I don't remember who it was, but Chara once tossed a Leaf player like a sack of potatoes.

Did you even try to look for it? :grin:

First result from searching Youtube for "Chara Throw":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7YS5zG_X38 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7YS5zG_X38)

Pertinent bit at about 1:20.

Honestly, no, no I did not.

That was MUCH longer ago then I remembered, jeez.

Three shutouts and a major come-from-behind by the Penguins.  Yesterday was pretty interesting!

That was a pathetic display by the Blue Jackets. I guess that's the difference between lots of playoff experience and none. Ability to recover from adversity vs. inability to hold together a complete 60 minutes.

Not having Backes hurts, too.

Also, I somehow maintained my distance enough that I never quite caught wind of Matt Cooke when I was a Penguin.  The more I read, the more glad I am that he's moved on.  Tyson barrie out 4-6 weeks. (http://deadspin.com/matt-cooke-and-the-myth-of-reform-1565986608)

e: Cooke, not Cookie.  He definitely does not get a cookie.

And Matt Cooke. Fuck him.

Yes, Matt Cooke is a little shit of a player.

It's kind of weird how much you tend to look at home team players differently. I was big fan of Matt Cooke as a Canuck, yea he went over the line on occasion but it never seemed too bad. Even after he left and was throwing dirty hits for other teams, I kind of rationalized it in my head as him not being really that sort of guy, or - he's trying to be better - that kind of stuff. Makes me wonder if Bruins fans manage to do that with shitweasel Marchand.

3 years later and he is still in Canucks fans heads :D His game has been toned down a fair bit in the last two seasons, and never approached Cooke's level of dealing out hits with the intent to injure.

I barely tolerated Cooke when he was a Canuck, and absolutely loathed him elsewhere. He is a dirty cunt and shouldn't be allowed to draw pay as long as people he injures are out. Fuck him.

People are flipping out over the supposed ref conspiracy in Montreal. Even this idiot piece of hair TV presenter Ron McLean, who is supposed to be a ref guy, says Frenchies shouldn't be allowed near Habs' games (basically calling every NHL ref unprofessionally biased).

That's not what he meant, I believe. From what I understand what he meant was along the lines of; the French ref shouldn't have been allowed to ref that game due to the issues arising from Game 3 (Cooper, the coach of the Lightning having commented on the bad call from the ref in question), and that no ref from a specific region should return as a ref the next game if there was any actual issues -- and that the French ref had been specifically assigned by the NHL to send a message to Cooper (something that isn't out of the realm of possibility). It wasn't meant as 'those Frenchies shouldn't be allowed to ref Montreal games!' as that 'refs from (insert region) shouldn't ref games involving teams (from same region) immediately after a possible issue with that ref'.

I didn't watch game 3 (or any game of that series, to be honest) so I have no idea if Cooper's complaint was justified (I wager it was simply because NHL refs are hilariously bad, and yes I believe a number of biases do show up in their calls of games) and I don't have any strong feelings about refs from certain areas reffing games involving teams from the same area.

Honestly, I don't get the entire controversy. Seems rather blown up by all parties to me.

And let's be honest here, if MacLean had come out and said something like; 'Refs from Quebec suck and shouldn't be allowed to ref in the NHL' it wouldn't even make the top ten of bat-shit crazy comments about Quebec players/refs/people from Don Cherry, much less what Cherry has said about Euros.

He's still trashing every ref, saying they can't be professional enough, despite being very well compensated (6 figures), to overcome hometown partisan bias. This same guy, when the euros were complaining about NA NHL refs doing Canada or USA games at the olympics, didn't have a problem with it because NHL refs so professional (except French ones I guess).

if NHL made a point about assigning a french ref to game 4, they were correct. If any NHL ref is biased like that, he should be fired, not re-assigned.

Also the TB complaints are a crock, the goal disallowed was rulebook incidental contact, the guy bullrushed the crease, tripped up and flew into Price, and was in the way when he was scrambling out and the goal was scored. Yeah it hurts at that point, but the NHL has been calling this stuff tight all year, and it was still 1-1 at that point. TB got a big ref break that game too, when a really soft scrum shove by Briere was penalized as a crosscheck and TB scored their first goal on that PP. Don't hear much about that, I guess it doesn't gel with the 'Montreal typical' conspiracy theory.

Ah, the complaint was about the no-goal call? Honestly, the part that caused the goal to be disallowed is somewhat dumb (Price was the one who initiated contact when the guy was trying to get out of the net) and I think it should be adjusted slightly, but it is the rule, and one I don't see them changing, and it was a very smart play by Price (who understands the rule book a lot better than most NHL goalies).

As for the Refs.. eh. There is some credence to the idea. A number of refs, post retirement, such as Magoo, admitted to having biases against certain teams/players while they were active they did impact how they called the game. Additionally its well known that various players, especially if they are veterans, get away with blatant calls purely based on reputation with the refs rather than what actually happened on the play. Similarly, certain players who beak a lot to the refs (usually for not making calls) will often struggle to get calls because of it instead of plays being weighted on their own merit.

NHL refs are not very professional. I'm sorry, they aren't. Sure, it's a shitty job in that they take all the flak (and sometimes/often undeservedly so) and are basically always pissing one fan-base off in every game, but it isn't uncommon for various refs to be justifiably loathed by fans of certain teams and players. Part of the problem is also likely purely on the NHL on how they mandate games called, but to say that refs aren't biased is bat-shit crazy. Bias is a long-time part of the NHL, as described above, and is often regarded in a positive light in those circumstances despite being absolutely retarded.

I will agree, however, that you will almost never see a ref intentionally fuck a team over from bias in the playoffs (unintentionally is another story, imo) simply due to the amount of money the ref would stand to lose from possibly not getting to ref games further along in the playoffs. But bias in various forms does exist and is well documented and accepted in the NHL by the media, fans and league.

oh god, fleury...

Fleury is a good goalie.. but he seems very weak mentally. If you can get him to give up a bad goal he just seems to lose it and it makes him a horrible playoff goalie. I just don't understand how the Penguins can continue to go into playoffs with him as their goalie.

Cooke.. dirty player. Has cleaned up his game a ton in the last couple years, but it is still there. My only issue is how is that the only kneeing that has drawn a suspension? Its about the sixth one in the playoffs already and two of them didn't even merit a penalty. As always.. the NHL is utterly retarded when it comes to discipline.

I'm just going to stop paying attention now.  Someone tell me when the Penguins are out and try not to say how embarrassing it was.

At least then they will HAVE to get rid of discoDan.

Oh...

Remember last year, and then the Bylsma extension in the summer?

Yeah... that organization is full of surprises.

First round exit to the Bluejackets? Nope... he will have to go. If they don't make it to the conf finals, I'll be shocked if he is not given the boot. This city is already soured on him from last year's stupidity, not to mention they were watching when he fucked the Olympic team. Nah, he'll go - there is too much public opinion on him now.

Yeah, the Olympics is basically the moment that everyone realized he's an awful coach.

It's genuinely amazing that he's hung around so long because of that '09 Cup. It's like the team hadn't been to the Finals the year before or something?

Hint: They were already a good team when they won that Cup. It's not like he brought about some kind of miraculous turnaround.

Oh San Jose, never change. :awesome_for_real:

So.. San Jose chokes. Again. Like always. They really are the best team that will never win fuck-all. For all the talk in the media about how you cannot win with Ovechkin.. where's teh talk about how you cannot win with guys like Thornton, Marleau? Rhetorical question, of course, as the answer is obvious why you don't see that. Still, the ability of the Sharks to collapse is hilarious.. and quite profitable. Betting on the Kings to win games 4-7 led to a very good return; that series alone paid for any and all bets I will make this playoffs (and undid the damage from the god damn Penguins winning).

Also; Colorado fucked up. Over-hyped team couldn't get it done in the playoffs... colour me surprised. I wouldn't be too surprised to see a decent drop-off for that team next season, barring some personnel changes. They just can't play the defensive side of the game all that well and tend to get horribly out-shot and rely on goal-tending and unsustainable shooting percentages.

Pity Dallas couldn't upset Anaheim (more for Horcoff's sake than anything.. that guy deserved to stay in the post season after enduring so many years on the second worst team in the league) and that the Penguins survived the Blue Jackets.. but other than that I quite like how the first round went. Not sure how much of the second round I'll watch, but I may grab parts of the Boston/Montreal series.

the tin man was traded out of Boston a decade ago when Harry Sinden saw him matched up and being outplayed by Saku Koivu (Koivu playing with cracked ribs), leading to two favoured Bruins teams getting upset in 1st round, and realized the Bruins would never win with this guy. I made my final conclusion he wss a loser when I saw the same thing I think 4-5 years ago when the Sharks came in as favourites and he was matched up against Getzlaf and was completely outplayed by him.

Colorado is an unblooded playoff rookie team, I never expect them to go far no matter how much talent they have. Playoff rookies just can't handle the pressure on their first dance. They could maybe use some changes on the back end though, their vets didn't cut it.

Rumors that Torts is out today. Wonder if Todd Mclellan will be available for interviews soon?  :grin:

Oh, Boston fans, never change. :oh_i_see:
http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/canadiens-p-k-subban-target-of-racist-tweets-1.2629997

God the media loves that narrative. 17000 tweets calling him a n******.  Um anyone actually have proof of that?  There Are probably 17k tweets of good meaning ppl saying how bad it is to call him a ****** which has made this a story that creates itself.   Ppl being racist fuckwits on the internet? Who'd have thought!?   
Any mention in the media of New York fans response when , I believe it was from Simmons , scored a gwg in the last series ?   No.  Why not?   Oh because calling Boston a hotbed of racism fits the narrative.

Saw it on Facebook today. Ppl posting about how shirts were selling outside the garden that said "subbans a bitch"   Were just produced in the last two days.  So racist.  First off , no they fucking weren't. Two they've been selling shirts like that about everyone for years...stop being so fucking stupid people.

Also would like to see proof that these ppl are even from Boston.

The internet sucks. Yes there are racists who use the internet in Boston.  However if you think this city , a fucking liberal loving city on the coast is a special hot bed of racism in 2014 you are a fucking idiot.

This is a really, really tired media invention.

Yeah, its not like Boston fans have done this before...oh wait. :awesome_for_real:
http://deadspin.com/5905356/heres-how-racists-on-twitter-reacted-to-joel-wards-series-winning-goal-against-boston

You really are a dumbass aren't you.

Not to drag this into politics, but Boston has been one of the most racist cities in the US for years and probably THE most racist city north of the Mason-Dixon line.
http://deadspin.com/5942197/the-five-most-racist-cities-in-america
http://gawker.com/5946312/the-most-racist-city-in-america-boston
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/46052395/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/t/arsonists-jailed-torching-black-church-only-hours-after-obamas-election-victory/

This is so fucking awesome because you. are. proving. my. point.

Actually read the Deadspin and Gawker articles and tell me how they prove, using statistics, data etc how Boston is more racist than any other city. They don't, but since the Red Sox were the last team to integrate and the busing crisis of 1974, it fits the NARRATIVE. Do you see whats happening?

The irony is Willy O'ree.

None of this quenches my hate of the Boston franchise.

Also, their local radio/TV teams are THE WORST. The absolute worst I have ever had to suffer through as an opposing fan.

That's perfectly fine. I feel the same way about Montreal.
Listen to Tampa Bays announcers sometimes if you truly want to hate.

The point is you were claiming that Boston couldn't possibly be a city that has more than its fair share of racists because its a Liberal city that votes Democrat.  Also, see the last link I posted where a black church was burned down after Obama won in '08 in Springfield, a Mass. city not far from Boston.  2008 wasn't that long ago.  Anyway, this is veering into politics so I'll stop.

Also, Boston fans, of any sport, generally trend towards being douche bags.  They whined and whined for years about The Curse and now that all their major teams have been winning championships the past 10-15 years, they've gotten to be unbearable.  The only thing worse than a sore loser is an arrogant winner.  Its like listening to Floyd Mayweather.

You guys are being dumb, cut it out.  The important thing is that we all hate the Flyers.

Still not as insufferable as the Pens - think they're hot shit now, after being horrendous for years and lucking out with top picks in amazing draft years.

I'd have a lot more respect for them if they had to actually build a team the hard way, like Detroit.

No one has been able to do what Detroit has done.

Lol at defending Boston as not very much more racist than it should be given population/voting habits/coastal location etc.

so the rags havent scored in the last 5 periods of hockey... making fleury look like hot shit. let's see if they can pull something out of their asses in the 3rd.

Um...St. Louis?

I almost said Chicago, but then I remembered that the one year the Flyers bottomed-out, the Hawks still somehow swiped the top pick and took Kane. :oh_i_see:

Detroit has been doing it for 25 years.  Call me when St. Louis has had 24 more years making the playoffs with a few Cups thrown in. :raspberry:

They're a more-recent example of building a team through careful development of prospects and maybe some trades - I don't recall them making any huge splashes in the UFA market to get to where they are.

I for one am SHOCKED that an Alain Vigneault team can't score in the playoffs.  :oh_i_see:

Meanwhile in the land of eternal sadness: MAPLE LEAFS EXTEND CARLYLE'S CONTRACT, FIRE ASSISTANTS (http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=451611)  :oh_i_see:


(http://nexuszero.net/Img/sadleaf.gif)

Hilarious. Thank god for teams like Toronto and the Islanders; they keep the Oilers from being the worst run team in the NHL.

In other news... Canada lost to France at the World Cup tournament. Sure, it's our D team.. but still. They should still do well given that they still have more NHLers there than most (all?) teams. Yet they lost to France for only the second time. Also hilarious.

Eh, anyone can get beat.

its just a vacation for these guys, to fuck around europe after a long season

This is just ridiculous. I feel for the fans, since I root for a baseball team that is run just as poorly (or worse).

Yeah, but that only holds up to a point - French professional hockey is NOT GOOD.

It's at LEAST a step or two below NCAA.

Neither is the team we sent to this thing.  :why_so_serious:

Like I said, we sent our D team (maybe E team, honestly, I mean we sent guys like Chimera), but they should still run circles around a team like France. They have one NHLer and another guy who's struggled to crack the NHL with Ottawa. France getting two goals was okay (especially since one could be described as a bad goal by Reimer).. but the lack of scoring from Canada (only 36 shots, opposed to 29 against) against France (not a great defensive team even on their best day.. and their goalie is not the reason, although he played well) was atrocious.

Sure, Canada's coaching is getting blame for the shoot-out (Turris, Monahan, Read and not, say... Mackinnon) but they went with the guys with the better shootout records in the NHL. Although, I would say Tippet is generally over-rated as a coach, especially when it comes to skilled forwards.

Reimer was playing goal? Well there's your problem right there!

NHL Fan Rule #1: Never, ever, pass up an opportunity to shit on the Leafs.

Habs looked great last night. Flying out there, forchecking aggressively, even hitting Boston pretty consistently. So far momentum carrying over hasn't been a huge factor in the series but I would have assume Boston is going into game 7 a bit rattled:

-They have not been able to gain much leverage with physical play. The hitting has been about equal, and the post-whistle scrum stuff isn't doing much. Montreal didn't seem worse for wear last night.
-Their confidence in Tuuka has to be shaken. Outplayed most of the series, bad game last night, while Price is a wall.
-Their defensive cornerstone, Chara, looked brutal last night too.

The Habs are just better at converting chances, while Boston has been poor. That killer instinct is very important. If the Canadiens can repeat their aggressive play from last night. Along with the forchecking, great aggressive D pinching in the 1st, they had trouble in the 2nd with the long change, but got back on pace in the 3rd, and Price continues to stop everything he sees, and even a lot of stuff he doesn't, I give them the edge. The Bruin's best hope is that Bergeron has a heroic game, and he has had PLENTY against the Habs so I would not bet against that either.

Tougher to call on the Rags vs Pens. Gotta go with the hot goalie instead of the waffle that is Fleury.

Ducks look pretty hot. Getzlaf is unbelievable. I have never seen him outmatched once in the playoffs, and the Ducks have a very good young crew filling out the roster.

Can't say I've watched the Wild vs Hawks much. Just can't stand the Wild, always free tickets for them floating around the office when they are in town here so I go, and it's always a boring game. I understand they are playing a much speedier game this season, but still kind of conservative, and there's just this ugly ghost of Jacques Lemaire haunting them in my mind.

The Wild play an unwatchable brand of garbage grind hockey. They are better now than in the past, but still dull as shit.

Eat a dick Boston! :grin:

^^

http://deadspin.com/milan-lucic-gets-heated-in-the-handshake-line-after-gam-1576694532/all

Lucic keeping it classy in the loss. Guess he's mad the Canadiens decided it was more important to score goals than get physical in game 7.

I was hoping Boston would win, but.. oh well. I figured if there was a team in the East that could bounce Boston from the playoffs it would be Montreal. Still, disappointed. Montreal stands a good chance of besting the Rangers, as well, depending on the kind of series Lundqvist has. Hoping the Kings manage to oust the Ducks after surviving tonight. Honestly, however, I really think its Chicago's Cup to lose, and the main cause for that would be phenomenal goal-tending.

On the positive side... the Penguins. Actually starting to see conversations in the main stream media about how while Crosby may be the best regular season player in the league.. he's got question marks around him come playoff time nowadays. Of course, most of these conversations slide into the standard rhetoric that there can't really be anything wrong with him because he's a good Canadian kid and that if any player takes the fall in Pittsburgh it'll be Malkin because, well, he's got the same problems as Crosby but is Russian and fuck them. Okay, so they aren't that blunt about it, but that's the tone.

It couldn't be issues with coaching, line-mates, goal-tending, and on defense. Then again.. this is the same media that believes Kunitz is the best Canadian LWer in the game (and some argue he's one of the better LWers period which is just Fox News level stupid).

Boston is a team full of whiny shit weasels, starting with Lucic and followed closely by Marchand. 

Iginla is a good guy, though.  Its a shame it looks like he won't ever win a cup.

The one silver lining is that 3 years later we still are all up in Vancouver fans heads.

Whine on Ginaz, whine on. :)

Nah, Iginla can just get traded to Chicago next year and hang out with Hossa.

The Jerome Iginla pre-retirement, cup-contender tour? Honestly though, he's a tough guy to hate, even by a Flames hating someone like me that is still bitter over Otto kicking the puck in in 1989.

As for Boston, and us Canuck fans not letting it go - yup, pretty much going to be in my head forever. Where were the refs in last night's game three years ago?

And MarSHAND is still a shitweasel.

Go Habs!

Fuck Boston. Classless top to bottom. Sorry it took the rest of the world so long to catch up to their bullshit.

America has known forever that Boston is classless.

We just didn't mind when they fucked up the Canucks because the Canucks are not at all beloved, play dirty (as in bending the rules or against the spirit of the rules, not thuggish ala Boston), whine as much as anyone, dive as much as anyone and just generally fuck them for good measure.

So yeah. Fuck both those organizations and double fuck Boston sports fans while I'm at it.

I'm just going to be sad when Montreal wins the cup AGAIN, just another layer of misery in sadness central.

At least I can say I'm not from Boston. :awesome_for_real: Beantown has been the city of whiny bitches since the Boston Tea Party.  And people think Vancouver (never lived there fyi) is full of crybabies. :oh_i_see:

Tell me, do you like apples? :grin:

Fuck Boston.  Go Habs!

I'd rather Montreal win the Stanley Cup from now until the end of time than see Toronto win it once.

This is silly, let's just give it to Phoenix.

Rangers and Habs built so similar it's strange, there's really no match up advantage.

Both have hot goalies who are stopping everything they see, and then some. Habs have slightly more talent, especially on D, the Rangers have more size, but we're talking marginal differences. Neither team puts much emphasis on physical intimidation.

Both like to collapse in their zone and try to contain the opposition on the perimeter. I think the Habs have an advantage here because they do really well if teams leave them be out there, Markov, Subban, Pacioretty feast if unchallenged in the offensive zone. If they get punished by this, the Rangers will have to adapt be more aggressive than they are used to which could also produce problems.

Again tho that all that is pretty marginal, but might produce a few critical goals. The series will really come to mental resiliency, focus and fortitude. The Rangers have some great leaders in Richards & St. Louis, but the Habs also have proven to hold up great against all the crap the Bruins tried to throw at them, this is not the same Habs team that fell apart against the Senators last year. The Habs have mostly played with leads though, obviously that's ideal for any team, butthey still remain untested having to face deficits so that might be something to watch.

Jesus, Milan Lucic is a dumb fuck.  He's complaining Weise broke the "hockey code" by telling people what was said in the handshake line "What's said on the ice stays on the ice, and unfortunately that code is broken,".  Hey, moron, you broke "the code" too by acting like a goon in the God damn handshake line.  You, know, the handshake line?  Where players on both sides are supposed to be professionals and display some honour and respect for their opponents?  A tradition that separates hockey from every other sport?  But hey, Lucic is just an emotional guy and wants to win, so that excuses it all. :oh_i_see:  You didn't see Iginla, Chara, Bergeron, Thornton or even that weasel Marchand do that, or for that matter, Subban from Montreal, either.  You'd never see Gretzky, Lemieux, Sakic, Howe or the best Bruins player ever, Bobby Orr, do something like that.  If he didn't want to shake hands and was "too emotional", maybe he should have done what Billy Smith did when the Islanders lost to the Oilers in the cup finals and skipped the handshakes altogether.  Lucic should be more angry with himself for playing like shit throughout the series than at any Habs player.  Go pound your chest some more after scoring an empty net goal.  Grow up, you fucking man child.  

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/milan-lucic-not-sorry-for-comments-in-handshake-line-1.2645770

Technically Weise did break the "code". It does exist.. and yes, he broke it. He'll also likely face some repercussions for it; mainly in the form of other players ribbing him and/or mocking/deriding him during games.

Lucic is, of course, an asshole regardless... and will face no on-ice repercussions.

Ah, hockey.

Also; Ducks fail; shocking. Glad to see them out, even if it means the biggest diver in the game advances. At this point all I can do is hope Chicago wins it all (and they should, barring hot goaltending) because all the other options suck (though Lundqvist deserves a Cup -- he's the main reason the Rangers haven't been a black-hole of suck for large chunks of his time there).

It looks like Alex Ovechkin might have a sustained serious leg injury during the World Hockey Championship.

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/alex-ovechkin-hospitalized-after-injury-at-hockey-worlds-1.2646977

Holy hell, what a collapse by the Blackhawks in the third period last night.  We flipped away during the intermission to watch something else with the score 2-1 Hawks and came back about halfway through the third with the score 6-2 LA.  WTF?

westr conf overrated. rags win cup

Only if the Kings fail to show up - I'll go with Kings in 5.

 :awesome_for_real:

Not shocking at all to see you completely wrong about something.

Basically, outside of Pittsburgh getting its shit together (and by firing Blysma.. they might be!) and Boston (and this could change with Chara showing his age) there aren't really any Eastern Conference teams that are likely to have a shot at winning the Cup barring the Western Conference team absolutely shitting the bed or suffering calamitous injuries. I just don't see any other Eastern team having a good enough team to do it. Comparatively, the West has a number of teams that either can, or are close (Chicago, L.A., St. Louis, San Jose, possibly Anaheim and Colorado).

Of course, this can always change in a cap world. L.A., for example, is likely going to be losing several players after they sweep the Rangers.

The Kings have been hella lucky, in every round. Montreal would look a lot better in the SCF though, too bad the  Rags assassinated Price game 1 of the ECF.

Eh, even the Habs admitted that was just an accident.

Have the Kings been lucky? Very. But luck is often manufactured, imo, and if not the Kings, then the Blackhawks would be there.. a team neither the Rags nor Canadians would have done well against.

This isn't like '06 where two teams got to the Final based on hot goalies and then one got taken out by how own team in a stupid move you're taught never to do, thus largely gifting the final to the worse team.

Yeah, I'm still bitter. Fucking useless defenseman Bergeron.

Actually I think both the Rags & Habs match up better against the Hawks. Their tight counter-attacking play is better against loose teams like the Hawks than big grinders like the Kings, but Montreal is better at dealing with grinders than the Rags, like how they served Boston.

Montreal had neither the depth nor defensive stability to have a real shot.

Montreal had depth, guys like Danny Briere on the 4th line, and a 2.29 GAA vs the Bruins which pretty solid defensively, before Price was taken out.

Well, better team won.

Gotta suck for Lundqvist though.

What he could do on an actual contender, though.. I shudder to think what he could do for a team like St. Louis.

Was a matter of time on that win. The Kings looked better all series, especially in OT.

knew it was over when nash shot at an open net but somehow managed to clip the shaft of voynov's stick

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BqGp-aSIgAEoBsQ.jpg)

Well, obviously. Although I was one of the ones that called a Rangers win. Of course that was a Rangers win, specifically in game four. So I've got that going for me. But the series was closer than people are probably giving it credit for.

When it was 3-0 and people kept talking about the overtimes, I just kept saying "a sweep is a sweep". Well, a five game series is a five game series. But I still think it goes to show that if Boston or Pittsburgh had've gotten through that the East could have lifted the Cup. The Rangers aren't a great team, let's all be honest.


No, there is a new god in Pittsburgh. Nepotism. That management team is about to become Carolina 2.0 ("now with more dudes fired because the Hurricanes sucked!"). I predict an epic death scene for this era's Penguins team over the next few seasons. There should be bad trades and bad drafting and a bad coach and a lot of trade demands resulting in more bad trades.

I hope I'm wrong. When you've got a team with the two best players in the world, a dynasty should ensue. And despite the haters, that'd be pretty cool. If you're going to have a dynasty wrecking the league, you want it like that. With the two best players in the world and a team running a high powered offense.

I always hit quote instead of modify for some reason.

Kesler to the Ducks for Bonino, Sbisa, and the 24th pick. Not sure what to think yet. We got younger?

We got guaranteed a view from the bottom of the Pacific division for 4 years or so. Garrison is gone now too. Going to dump salary space on Ryan Miller I bet.

We already had Dave Pratt on the morning talk shows cheering for the McDavid Sweepstakes. Doesn't want us to get Miller because he might accidentally steal us a few games.

It is going to suck to waste the last useful Sedin years, but overall it is probably for the best. Sounds like they flipped one of the Anaheim picks for Derek Dorsett, so they effectively got three NHLers for Kesler. Not too bad, but ugh. Why did it have to be Anaheim?

Because that's where Kesler wanted to go.  You don't have much of a choice when a star player with a no trade clause wants to leave.  You take what you can get, regardless if other teams offer more, as Calgary found out with Iginla.

Ekblad goes #1 to Florida.  I'm sure the Panthers would have preferred to trade the pick but you can't go wrong with taking Ekblad, either.  Win-Win either way IMO.

Well, the draft went pretty much as expected.  No real surprises except for maybe Anthony Deangelo going in the top 20.  Really poor character to say the least but he is 18 so maybe he has time to unfuck himself.

I'm ok with Vancouver's first pick but would have preferred Nick Ritchie.  Virtanen is a good physical player but his hockey IQ is average.

A lot of people are surprised the Habs got this Russian kid Nikita Scherbak ‎at 26. A lot of people had him in 10-15 range. I guess the Russian factor, but hey he's playing in the WHL now, and speaks solid English, doesn't seem like the moody Ruskie type.

Oh I know why. But WHY?? I fucking hate Anaheim, and him helping drub the Canucks for the next 3 or 4 years is going to blow.

Only if he stays healthy.  He's by far the best player in that deal but he's been a broken down wreck the past few years.  That's probably only going to get worse as he gets older.  If Kesler can average 65+ games a year for the Ducks, then they will win this trade handily.  If they only get 40 games out of him, then Vancouver wins.

 :heart: Anaheim, second favourite team

That is like saying  :heart: syphilis, 2nd worst STD.

Corey Perry is a hero, I'm pretty gay for him to be honest.

Corey Perry is a physically larger, more talented Brad Marchant.  Translation: he's a giant douche.

Well, free agency started today.  I like Vancouver signing Ryan Miller.  They had Lack and Markstrom coming into the season and neither one of those guys is a starter at this point.  Miller's cap hit is fairly reasonable at $6 million but even better is the length of the deal is only 3 years.  Calgary made a few nice deals, too, esp. with Hiller in goal.  When you're doing a rebuild like the Flames are, you need to make your young players believe they can win every night and having a veteran goalie like Hiller helps with that.

Miller is, imo, fairly over-rated. He's an average NHL starting goalie and that's all. That said, he was a good signing by Vancouver, but the dollars aren't justified.

Dallas just continues to improve. Nill is showing how to get it done.

Caps are bat-shit crazy.

I liked what the Oilers did, though I'd have liked the Pouliot deal to have fewer years.

Hiller in Calgary was good, but damn.. the money paid to Engelland is insane. I know the have cap space to spare and then some... but damn. The Oiler's face puncher can sorta pretend to play hockey and only got 800k.

A lot of guys got overpaid but the length of the deals are generally pretty team friendly.  I like what the Oilers have done, too.  They finally have some grit and sandpaper as they've been WAY too easy to play against the past few years.  As for Miller in Vancouver...he was the best option they had.  There's no way they go into next season with Lack and Markstrom as the #1 and #2 goalies.  Maybe starting the season on a team that isn't dog shit and not having to worry about being traded will do him good.  As for Calgary, some nice signings but Engelland was overpaid (short term deal though).  Apparently, Brian Burke has always had a minor hard on for this guy so that probably factors into it quite a bit.  As for the Caps...I get the Matt Niskanen deal.  He's the best free agent D man available and he's only 27.  If the Caps didn't pay him big money someone else was guaranteed to do it.  However...Brooks Orpik getting $5.5 million a year?  For 5 years?  WTF? :facepalm:  Who the hell pays a slow, 33 year old defensive defenseman $27.5 million over 5 years???  I guess the Washington Capitols do. :oh_i_see:

I have seen a lot of Miller in the NE division, he is pretty solid, I don't think he's overrated at all.

They may not be Buffalo bad, but the Canucks are fucking terrible. Like 20-25 wins terrible. Their division is fucking loaded, their best player fucked off to Anaheim, and the Sedins are a year older. Gonna be a long season.

I don't think the Canucks are going to make the playoffs, but they're not going to be as bad as Buffalo was.  Not having Torts as head coach might reinvigorate the players left from last year.  They actually got a pretty decent return for Kesler, with Bonino and Sbisa being solid players but esp. getting the first round draft pick as well.  Bo Horvat looks like he might be ready to make the team and possibly become a poor man's Kesler, being a good 2 way centre.  Its going to be rough in Vancouver this year but I already like the moves being made by the new management.  They've made some good trades, signed Miller and had a nice draft.

If you don't sign Miller, all you have are the Sedins. Why don't you trade them to a bad team for a first rounder+ and then tank.

When you know you're going to have to rebuild sooner rather than later (hell, it could be NEXT SUMMER), do it when there's a generational talent in the draft. Be Pittsburgh or Chicago, not Edmonton.

The Sedins are a package deal and they both have a no trade clause.  When they're both getting $6 miilion a year, what team has the cap space to take the Sedins AND would be a place they would waive their no trade to go to?

Only team would be a really crappy team completely starved of talent that basically needs to add a whole new line to their top 6.

You mean like the Canucks?  :oh_i_see:

I have no idea if we have the cap space, but Toronto certainly has the money.

Of course, we fail the whole 'and wants to play there' litmus test.  :why_so_serious: