2007/2008 Hockey Thread

[Toe]

I'm surprised that Toronto won last night. I'm not sure which was the lesser of two evils in that Game. Toronto for obvious reasons I wouldn't want to win, but since we have 2 game at hand and 4? points up on them I sort of wanted Ottawa to slow down, give the other teams a chance to even pretend they can contend with the Sens.

That said, what the hell happened to Montreal last night? 52? They took 52 fucking shots on net. The entire game was just trading end to end rushes. Montreal had 7 different goal scorers, they were throwing around the body. Nobody was taking any shit in the third period, I mean Kostitsyn who had a crazy game and showed off all sorts of skill wouldn't back down from Alberts. Latendresse mixed it up with Chara after Chara threw an elbow at Kovalev... then again, Begin and Chara were just hardcore slashing each other infront of the Montreal net for a good 20 seconds after one play ended with Begin not backing down from someone several times larger than him. Kostopolous threw down in 2 fights. It was a pretty complete effort.

[Clawson]

So how long until Montreal runs out of numbers to issue to players? I'll give them 10 years until we see the first player with triple digits on his jersey.

[lari]

Damn, forgot this whole thread existed.

Here's a summary of the Hawks early season:

- Toews and Kane are difference-makers and if all goes well, should both be on Calder voting at season's end. Especially Kane has surprised me positively, being so ready to play right after being drafted. Toews I knew was awesome having watched him dominate at the World Juniors. Ruutu - Toews - Kane has been the best line so far.

- Havlat has some serious bad luck going against him. Luckily the Hawks ain't as dependant on him as they were last season. But when he comes back, the Hawks can ice three good lines.

- Robert Lang is a lazy fuck, but he most definitely has the skills. Or maybe he is just so sneaky he only looks like he doesn't care. But damn, he scores lots. And it's all been without Havlat - imagine when you pair the two up.

- Sergei Samsonov has certainly lost it. "It" being whatever people saw in him when he first broke out with the Bruins. At least he is trying though. He puts in an effort every night, but just doesn't get any results. Any chance someone will pick him up on waiver/re-entry?

- Patrick Sharp and Rene Bourque are the most explosive PK duo in the league. Certainly made a difference Saturday night against the Wings. But not only then - Sharp has been extremely effective shorthanded all season. And Bourque has pretty much developed into a specialist by now.

- The Hawks own the Wings.

- Khabibulin has actually played well consistently. Can't even express how happy that makes me.

- Hawks defense doesn't look like much on paper, but damn, James Wisniewski and Brent Sopel have both played very well. Sopel has been solid defensively, exceeding all expectations. Wizzy might be the best d-man in the team at the moment. Brent Seabrook hasn't really developed much from last year and neither has Duncan Keith. Zyuzin and Johansson have been total failures. But still better than Aucoin and Cullimore last year.

- Adam Burish has stone hands.

- I love David Koci.

- I LOVE Rocky Wirtz. Or at least the fact that he is the owner and not his late father. Finally some actual promotion, finally some fresh air, finally no Bob Pulford and finally the fans don't have to feel sick to their stomachs knowing where the money they spend on the team goes.

[Toe]

Damn, forgot this whole thread existed.

Here's a summary of the Hawks early season:

- Toews and Kane are difference-makers and if all goes well, should both be on Calder voting at season's end. Especially Kane has surprised me positively, being so ready to play right after being drafted. Toews I knew was awesome having watched him dominate at the World Juniors. Ruutu - Toews - Kane has been the best line so far.

- Havlat has some serious bad luck going against him. Luckily the Hawks ain't as dependant on him as they were last season. But when he comes back, the Hawks can ice three good lines.

- Robert Lang is a lazy fuck, but he most definitely has the skills. Or maybe he is just so sneaky he only looks like he doesn't care. But damn, he scores lots. And it's all been without Havlat - imagine when you pair the two up.

- Sergei Samsonov has certainly lost it. "It" being whatever people saw in him when he first broke out with the Bruins. At least he is trying though. He puts in an effort every night, but just doesn't get any results. Any chance someone will pick him up on waiver/re-entry?

- Patrick Sharp and Rene Bourque are the most explosive PK duo in the league. Certainly made a difference Saturday night against the Wings. But not only then - Sharp has been extremely effective shorthanded all season. And Bourque has pretty much developed into a specialist by now.

- The Hawks own the Wings.

- Khabibulin has actually played well consistently. Can't even express how happy that makes me.

- Hawks defense doesn't look like much on paper, but damn, James Wisniewski and Brent Sopel have both played very well. Sopel has been solid defensively, exceeding all expectations. Wizzy might be the best d-man in the team at the moment. Brent Seabrook hasn't really developed much from last year and neither has Duncan Keith. Zyuzin and Johansson have been total failures. But still better than Aucoin and Cullimore last year.

- Adam Burish has stone hands.

- I love David Koci.

- I LOVE Rocky Wirtz. Or at least the fact that he is the owner and not his late father. Finally some actual promotion, finally some fresh air, finally no Bob Pulford and finally the fans don't have to feel sick to their stomachs knowing where the money they spend on the team goes.

[Ruki]

I bet they regret trading Rask now

[Cactus Drags]

I know nothing of Toews other than he has a weirdass surname that isn't pronounced how it's spelt and that he scored possibly the greatest goal I've ever seen (shame it was against the Avs).

[Slogger]

So how long until Montreal runs out of numbers to issue to players? I'll give them 10 years until we see the first player with triple digits on his jersey.

Say What?

[lari]

I know nothing of Toews other than he has a weirdass surname that isn't pronounced how it's spelt and that he scored possibly the greatest goal I've ever seen (shame it was against the Avs).

[Gabriel]

Toews led the Canadian Junior team to a gold medal in December, and then played very well with the Canadian mens team at the World Championships in May. He's the best player to come out of Canada since Sidney Crosby, and the argument could be made that he may in fact be a more complete player than Sid the Kid.

[Cactus Drags]

Definitely one to watch out for, then.

Does anyone want to join my online petition asking the NHL to let Colorado play all 82 games at the Pepsi Center? Or my petition to have Theodore removed from the squad?

[Gabriel]

No way... I think Theodore should play every game against Northwest Division rivals... ...and Budaj can play all the other games.

[NobBe Nobbs]

Alternatively, we could support a petition that has a shot of working by voting Mike Richards into the All-Star Game as a write-in. It'd be like the Rory Fitzgerald campaign last year except for a player who actually deserves to get in.

[Plubby]

You can have your petition with 12-year-old bandwagon avs fans, dragsy.

Have some damn faith. It didn't take long for you to be all over him like that. Where's your anti-Budaj petition? A little consistency, PLEASE.

EDIT: Actually Theo, that goes for you too.

Edited November 22, 2007 by Plubby

[Toe]

I'd rather see the top players get into the All-Star game. The Rory Fitzpatrick thing was retarded last year.

[Clawson]

I heard rumors of them doing a Wade Belak one. Now that was be classy.

[Cactus Drags]

You can have your petition with 12-year-old bandwagon avs fans, dragsy.

Have some damn faith. It didn't take long for you to be all over him like that. Where's your anti-Budaj petition? A little consistency, PLEASE.

EDIT: Actually Theo, that goes for you too.

[Toe]

Two years of not making the playoffs, and we get this team out of it. No, we can't keep our draft picks and pick Angelo Esposito or Cherapanov. No, we can't do something like that. Let's go out and get another goaltender who hasn't been a starter in the NHL, and throw him in behind a crappy, overpayed defence and a group of slow forwards.

We lost 5 to 1 to the Coyotes. Glen Hanlon lost his job for a poor performance at this point of the season. Can we please get a new GM with some new ideas to come in? The sooner we make the moves, the more time he will have to change the roster and maybe even salvage the season. Toronto doesn't really have a budget, so if you just want Kubina or someone else off the cap, then just put him on waivers and park them in the minors if no one will bite for a trade. Seriously, this is fucking shit. Kaberle is the only guy on the blueline that is untouchable, and if we go into rebuilding mode, he might be the best thing we have to get a bunch of young prospects or picks to come our way. Guys like Tucker and Blake have no value right now as they are just treading water, Sundin will probably not waive his no trade clause (although I don't want him to go), and McCabe has the lame no movement thing. If McCabe was the only bad contract we had, it wouldn't be that bad, though.

The McCabe deal, Kubina's contract, signing Jason Blake, the trade for Raycroft and the trade for Toskala are just some of the bad deals that Ferguson has made. This is his team now, there is no shadow of Quinn left to deal with. Ferguson has failed, taking a team that missed the playoffs by one point and not improving them. We are only a quarter way through the season, but Ferguson has not made any good deals that I can think of since the lockout, and I think it's time to move one. Maybe we can salvage the season that way, but more importantly maybe we can save next season, and the one after that.

Toskala has been good when the defence has been there. If I was GM, my goal right away would be to move Kubina for anything, then bring in some good, defensively aware players to come in and help out. It will be hard for anyone to fix this team quickly due to all the no-trade clauses and large dollar and long term deals, but it is possible.

[NobBe Nobbs]

Whoa, whoa, whoa, toey come on, hold on a minute.

You forgot that in order to make that shitty, pointless trade for a goaltender who could only play when supported by a genuine #1 goalie, we had to agree to take a shitty forward who's going to jail at the end of this season AS WELL AS our draft picks.

Edited November 26, 2007 by De

[Toe]

Whoa, whoa, whoa, toey come on, hold on a minute.

You forgot that in order to make that shitty, pointless trade for a goaltender who could only play when supported by a genuine #1 goalie, we had to agree to take a shitty forward who's going to jail at the end of this season AS WELL AS our draft picks.

[NobBe Nobbs]

Whoa, whoa, whoa, toey come on, hold on a minute.

You forgot that in order to make that shitty, pointless trade for a goaltender who could only play when supported by a genuine #1 goalie, we had to agree to take a shitty forward who's going to jail at the end of this season AS WELL AS our draft picks.

Mark Bell hasn't shown up on the scoresheet, but he has been a shit distruber and layed out some good hits.