NHL 2012 - 2013

[Azaroth]

HFBoards genuinely makes me ashamed to be a sports fan of any kind.

[Azaroth]

Well, it's official. The Penguins may absolutely not have both Malkin and Crosby. Ever. The Hockey Gods have spoken. Trade one before locusts.

[Speedy Cerviche]

yeah hfboards is pretty bad but it can still be a decent information aggregator where there's people posting about whatever happens instantly and with a highlight, decent statistical discussions plus for every 20 idiots there is usually a guy or two who does really know what he's talking about.

[Shannow]

'Hawks off to the best start in NHL history.

Bruins off to their best start in 36 years.


Original 6 matchup for the Cup? That would be sweet.

[Shannow]

Also proposed division realignment for 2013-14 (sorry this is video not an article, 1:00 minute mark is where it lists new conferences)

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockeynightincanada/hotstove/video/#id=2338204443

[Strazos]

'Hawks off to the best start in NHL history.

Bruins off to their best start in 36 years.


Original 6 matchup for the Cup? That would be sweet.

Last I checked, Boston is also the most-rested team in hockey. I don't think that's a coincidence.

[Shannow]

Not quite sure how we are 4-5 games behind others in our conference. We missed one game because of the snowstorm a couple of weeks back but to be behind 3-4 games in a compressed year is a bit wierd. Probably gonna bite us in the butt in a few weeks.

[Speedy Cerviche]

Oh yeah, Montreal did 5 games in 7 nights it was brutal by the second back to back they could barely skate and only managed 17 sog against the rangers, brutal game (still won, cuz..the rangers).

Not a fan of that realignment I prefer playing division more, better rivalries when you plan same team 6-8 times.

[Fordel]

Just a general observation, but can we just DROP THE FUCKING PUCK PLEASE. God damn it takes 4 years to have a face off these days.

[Speedy Cerviche]

watching leafs vs flyers I assume. Linesmen must've been watching oscars last night.

[Fordel]

Yea it's just getting silly. SILLY!

[Ceryse]

Well, my team just used the Oakland Seal method of playing hockey (be so bad that you drag the other team down to your level) to snatch a point out of Chicago. Only the one point, mind you; I think Petry is still trying to find his brain and his jock.

[Shannow]

Oh yeah, Montreal did 5 games in 7 nights it was brutal by the second back to back they could barely skate and only managed 17 sog against the rangers, brutal game (still won, cuz..the rangers).

Not a fan of that realignment I prefer playing division more, better rivalries when you plan same team 6-8 times.

The four conferences basically become 4 big divisions, I'd be up for having Detroit in the same division as the Bruins, that'd be fun.

Something has to be done because of teams like Winnipeg and Detroit having to fly thousands of more miles than any other team each season.

[Ceryse]

Something has to be done because of teams like Winnipeg and Detroit having to fly thousands of more miles than any other team each season.

The simple solution would be to have intelligent road trips designed around maximizing the efficiency of said road trips, and two games against other-conference teams. Hell, you could do a home-stand against the same team two nights in a row, or in three nights, and basically swap which team has the home games every year.

But the NHL has no idea how to properly schedule its season -- although, to be fair, a big part of that is how various teams act as second, or third fiddle in their buildings, and thus have a tougher time getting the dates for a good schedule.

But the number of 2-5 days off in the regular season (and the playoffs mid-series) shows just how inefficient the schedules are. Solve that problem, increase the number of teams you play out of conference and you'll even out the travel involved for teams.

And I say this as a fan of a team that generally sees more travel than most (Edmonton, although for us its mainly because we're far away from everyone but Calgary).

[Shannow]

Something has to be done because of teams like Winnipeg and Detroit having to fly thousands of more miles than any other team each season.

But the NHL has no idea how to properly schedule its season -- although, to be fair, a big part of that is how various teams act as second, or third fiddle in their buildings, and thus have a tougher time getting the dates for a good schedule.

Amusing because the Bruins are on their annual 'Disney on Ice is in Boston' Roadtrip.

[Ceryse]

Which kicked Chicago out of their building earlier.

My team is on a long road trip (9 games, 18 days, including 2 back-to-backs) because of the Brier (major curling tournament).

Long road trips are fine, but if you look at the Oiler road trip.. its nonsensical where they are going and when. A lot of added travel going back and forth instead of a logical progression in cities. For example, they play Chicago twice on the road trip; seven games apart instead of one after the other.

[murdoc]

Aaaaaand Ryan O'Reilly signs offer sheet from Calgary

If Colorado doesn't match, they get Calgary's first and third round picks this year, with that first rounder potentially being very high. If that's the way this goes, The Avalanche could legitimately have two shots at the #1 pick.

Also, they play each other tonight.

[WayAbvPar]

Aaaaaand Ryan O'Reilly signs offer sheet from Calgary

If Colorado doesn't match, they get Calgary's first and third round picks this year, with that first rounder potentially being very high. If that's the way this goes, The Avalanche could legitimately have two shots at the #1 pick.

Also, they play each other tonight.

Finally, a use for my Center Ice package beyond the Canucks making me cry! God I hope the GMs run into each other somewhere in front of the cameras.

[Shannow]

Not all that familar with O'reilly, but does it seem that he was given too much money and Calgary paid way to much in terms of draft picks? Kids only played 2 NHL seasons.

[01101010]

I doubt flopping/diving/douchebaggin' will float in this league. He spent too much time in the lock out watching soccer.

[Paelos]

Diving doesn't float in hockey because people will actively beat the shit out of you legally.

[Fordel]

They also call it a penalty a good chunk of the time.

The one dude gets 2 mins for high sticking or whatever, and the diver gets 2 mins for unsportsmanlike conduct or whatever.

[murdoc]

Not all that familar with O'reilly, but does it seem that he was given too much money and Calgary paid way to much in terms of draft picks? Kids only played 2 NHL seasons.

Well, it was an interesting 4 hours anyways. Flames would overpay for O'Reilly because they don't have a center and haven't had a good one in over a decade. I do like all the talking heads today in Calgary that were all "those draft picks are totally worth O'Reilly" yesterday and are now "oh, that was a steep cost and probably worked out for the best" today.

[Shannow]

Well I guess the kid made out.

Btw I note in the eastern conference standings that Winnipeg is in 8th position above the Flyers and Rangers...*Chortle*. Also good to see all 4 Canadian teams in the top 8, hope it lasts.

[Ceryse]

5 mil a year is an overpay for O'reilly. He's basically a second line center who's a third line center in Colorado due to their line-up; Duchene on the top line who can face tougher opposition, Stasny on the second line who has to face softer opposition, and O'reilly on the third who can play tougher opposition. However, due to the injury to Duchene last season O'reilly was on the top line (again, because Stasny gets killed if he plays power verse power) and did well, but a lot of that was due to Landeskog carrying the line. This is the main reason you had a contract dispute. It wasn't entirely about the money; O'reilly wanted to get paid (and played) like the top line or two center he is, or thinks he is. He didn't really want to stay in Colorado due to the fact he'll be on the third line.

So, by Colorado matching.. he gets more cash than he deserves (he should cap out at around 4.0-4.5 million a year) but is stuck playing on a team where there's some animosity between him and the organization and he's playing down the line up. 5 million is a lot for a third line center (which is slightly ironic coming from an Oiler fan with the horrible Horcoff contract). Could be a bit of an issue for next year with the cap coming down, but I haven't looked at the Av's cap situation for the next few years.

As for diving; falling like that on a high stick is actually quite common (and its uncommon to see diving called, especially on that kind of situation), as its how players try to guarantee the refs actually see it given how many high sticks they miss. Not a fan of it; I'd love to see diving called a lot more, but if diving and the other penalty I want to see called more often (offensive zone interference) certain teams (like the Canucks) would never see even strength play again.

[Shannow]

Yeah they were talking about it a cpl of days ago on sports radio here in Boston and taking a shot at O'reilly. My thought was why the fuck would they sign a guy who projects to be 'maybe' Patrice Bergeron and then proceed to give him more money than what Bergeron is making. Av's should've taken the draft picks.

Gives me hope that if Calgary is that dumb we can pick up Iginla for a steal..:D

Correction: Same money as Bergeron, only slightly less than Krecji (5.25)

Ok I can't think I can emphasise it enough, 5 mil is RIDICOLOUS for this kid.

[Strazos]

Ovechkin's been doing this crap for years...less often than sissyboy Crosby, but more dramatic.

[murdoc]

I was actually surprised that Colorado matched the offer.

[Ceryse]

I actually just looked at the O'reilly offer sheet in detail.. and its even worse than I thought.

The second year is at 6.5 million. Which means his qualifying offer is going to be 6.5 million when the contract is offer and he goes back to being an RFA in two years. Based on qualifying offer rules... it could be quite possible that O'reilly could be make an average salary of over 6.5 million dollars on his next contract, which is just insane for a guy with two seasons of less than 30 points and one season of 56 points (or was it 58?). Massive, massive over-pay.

Honestly, this is a good move by Calgary; they either got O'reilly and an actual center who's young and with some upside (and good defensively) for two years to work with Iginla and extend their window (and after that two years it doesn't matter what they pay O'reilly because Iginla and Kipper will be gone and they'll have a ton of cap room) or.. they absolutely screw Colorado's cap management (which is the result with Colorado matching). With this result Colorado could be forced into making a bad trade next season for cap reasons.

Additionally, O'reilly isn't happy, because according to his father the hold-out on the contract signing was more about his role with the team than money and some issues with the coach; so O'reilly won't be really happy to stay which could lead to locker room issues.

Entire situation is hilarious, as an Oiler fan. And it all happened on the day Colorado and Calgary played each other, hah.

[Ceryse]

I was actually surprised that Colorado matched the offer.

If you look at the salary structure of the offer sheet it actually looks like it was designed to get O'reilly out of Colorado (some rumours floating about that the contract was designed by O'reilly's agent for that affect) with that second year at 6.5 million.

Screws Colorado either way. Either they match and suffer cap-wise for a third line center and possible qualifying offer issues after this contract ends while having a player who isn't happy with the situation staying, or they see a divisional rival get a key piece that could push them up the standings and devalue the picks they'd get in return (a 1st and a 3rd -- which would of left Calgary with no picks in the first three rounds of a very strong draft year!).

On the downside for Calgary.. they've got two possible players who could see offer sheets coming up (Backlund and Baartschi) that could lead to some pain for the Flames, especially with the question mark on the cap in the next few years.

[murdoc]

No one is going to go after Backlund, but Baertschi is a real possibility.

I love how butthurt GMs get when someone tenders an offer sheet. My favourite will always be Burkie challenging Kevin Lowe to a fight in a barn.

[WayAbvPar]

ROR would have had to clear waivers to join the Flames.

 

Any wonder why the Flames have missed the playoffs so often recently? The front office is a landfill fire.

[murdoc]

Yeah, except it doesn't look like that story is true.

http://cdn.agilitycms.com/nhlpacom/PDF/Summary-of-Terms-1-10-13.pdf

All Players on a Club’s Reserve List and Restricted Free Agent List will be exempt from the
application of CBA 13.23 Waivers in the case of a mid-season signing.
For further clarity, if Club A trades such a Player to Club B and Club B signs the Player to an SPC,
such Player will be exempt from the application of CBA 13.23

Now, the debate is whether or not just being on a RFA list exempts that player when he signs, no matter the team.

Any wonder why the Flames have missed the playoffs so often recently? The front office is a landfill fire.

Also - no matter what would have happened, this is completely correct.

[Ceryse]

Holy... yeah, he would have had to go through waivers. Not because he was RFA, but because he played in the KHL (two games, Jan 21st and 23rd) after the start of the NHL season -- same situation as Nabakov in 2011.

That would of been hilarious.

[murdoc]

Yeah, it's starting to be confirmed by more people. The Flames would have had to sit him the rest of the year, or he would have gone onto waivers.

I... I don't even...

Go Leafs go?


Edit: Sitting him wouldn't even have been an option - he would have immediately hit waivers. Good Lord.