2008/2009 Hockey Thread v2.0

[Clawson]

So prior to Ovechkin's hatty today, Jason Blake was tied with him for the league lead in goals in 2009. The mind boggles.

I figured the Avs fans here would appreciate this story:

Midway through his season with the Nordiques, Wendel Clark decided it wasn't fair to the rest of the league to use the full force of his wrist shot, and vowed to only use 95% from now on. He loaned the other 5% to a young fourth line scrub named Joe Sakic, who has yet to return it.

Edited February 16, 2009 by Clawson

[Toe]

Boston.

Also, holy crap the pens fired Therrien.

I don't know if it was the right move, but something had to give there. They should make the playoffs, but looking at this team on paper, they should be a lot higher in the standings.

[Gabriel]

Boston.

Also, holy crap the pens fired Therrien.

I don't know if it was the right move, but something had to give there. They should make the playoffs, but looking at this team on paper, they should be a lot higher in the standings.

Last year, the skilled guys on the team had a circle of grit and force in guys like Malone and Roberts, as well as others. Between trades and free agency, the team let the vast majority of those guys go. This season, Crosby and Malkin don't have the luxury of having a Colby Armstrong or Ryan Malone to take attention away from them... and it shows.

Therrien couldn't rally his troops, and a lot of the players didn't like him... but it's not entirely his fault. Ray Shero didn't keep a team together. He kept a couple of skilled players together, added a few guys who should be better than they are, and hoped no one would notice.

[Plubby]

BIG GEORGE~! Was on that team of grit, right?

[Gabriel]

BIG GEORGE~! Was on that team of grit, right?

I believe so. My memory is shit. Laraque, Ruutu, Christensen, Armstrong, Malone, Roberts... all guys with grit and underrated scoring ability... all gone.

The loss of Marian Hossa wasn't really such a big issue, as his presence there wasn't what made the team perform so well. The loss of toughness to surround the skill and finesse of these amazing young players? Well, it's easy to see.

Luke Schenn has had absolutely no problem dealing with Malkin and Crosby this year. Last year, Therrien could have put Laraque or Roberts on the Crosby line, and Schenn wouldn't have even been able to look at Sidney without eating it courtesy of one of those guys. This year, all he has to deal with is the push back from those star players, and while I applaud them for pushing as hard as they have, and becoming as gritty as they themselves have... they're no match physically for a Luke Schenn. It's no wonder they've had problems against bigger, more experienced defensemen.

Everyone spent the whole of last year complimenting Ray Shero on his abilities to manage the team, but really, he snagged a bunch of can't miss prospects and surrounded them with leadership, grit and determination... there's no way that could have failed.

Then he goes and makes this huge deal for Hossa, sending away a handful of guys who were essential to the team's core, and having Hossa jump ship after the season anyways.

Shero's best acquisition has been Pascal Dupuis... and that was a total fluke. It's not like the Hossa deal depended on Dupuis being there. He was a toss-in by Atlanta to free up space so they could further rape the Penguins. That said, he's been great for them.

They need to add some of that leadership and grit at the deadline. They can even afford to move Satan or Fedotenko...or both... to do that. If they do that, and give Crosby and Malkin the support they need, those two will light it up down the stretch and Pittsburgh should sneak into the playoffs.

[Guest Mr. Potato Head]

Michel Therrien, finally getting comeuppance for his run in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

[Enter Blue Guy]

Staal and Orpik, at least of those two won't be there after the deadline. If Shero wants to make an impact deal at least. They're the two most attractive, yet movable parts of Shero's "core".

EDIT: I don't know Orpik's contract actually, so I could be lying. It's not that ridiculous, is it?

Edited February 16, 2009 by Enter Blue Guy

[Clawson]

Luke Schenn has had absolutely no problem dealing with Malkin and Crosby this year. Last year, Therrien could have put Laraque or Roberts on the Crosby line, and Schenn wouldn't have even been able to look at Sidney without eating it courtesy of one of those guys. This year, all he has to deal with is the push back from those star players, and while I applaud them for pushing as hard as they have, and becoming as gritty as they themselves have... they're no match physically for a Luke Schenn. It's no wonder they've had problems against bigger, more experienced defensemen.

I'm pretty sure Laraque hit Schenn last game against Montreal and Luke barely budged. Of course in a fight, we all know what would happen.

And mentioning Gary should be illegal in this thread. Fucking JFJ.

[Enter Blue Guy]

He actually knocked Luke down pretty hard. Luke also didn't have the puck and Georges took a solid run at him. He got penalized for it, though. That was at the tail end of a game where Georges was trying his ass off to run Schenn all game with no luck at all. So yeah, Luke to the brunt of a lot of his checks and barely moved at all before that come to think of it.

Edited February 16, 2009 by Enter Blue Guy

[Clawson]

That was Grabovski that Laraque went for and got penalizied for, not Luke.

[Enter Blue Guy]

He railed Garbo, did a 180 and ran Luke. I remember it because I was super pissed. One of the announcers made the comment that the penalty could have easily been a double minor for both hits. It could have been missed because the hit on Grabovski was enough to distract eyes from the rest of the play and there was a whole mess of other crap going on at the time too.

Edited February 16, 2009 by Enter Blue Guy

[Gabriel]

The Montreal Canadiens have traded a 2nd and 3rd Round Pick to the Atlanta Thrashers for Mathieu Schneider.

Really, Bob? You think Schneider is the glue that will put Humpty Dumpty back together again? That's a pretty steep price to pay for Chris Chelios-lite.

[Clawson]

What is this? 1993, Bob?

I think he forgets that his team has no heart and no goaltending.

Edited February 16, 2009 by Clawson

[Guest Mr. Potato Head]

Better than trading Wendel for him.

[Reddaye]

At least Schneider won't be slew footing everyone in his path.

Did anyone catch the highlights and seen Andrei Kostitsyn slew foot Burrows right into Luongo during their game against the Canucks?

These guys are just terrible. When you're so lazy that you need to slew foot a player right into his goalie you might want to think about a career change. The Habs are TERRIBLE with all these cheap shots and slew foots. They're a joke.

Or maybe I'm just biased.

EDIT: It appears that Pogge has been called up again. Maybe a start next game against the Sabres?

Edited February 16, 2009 by Drifter_2000

[Enter Blue Guy]

Yeah, he is going to start apparently.

Hopefully he gets a nice, full effort from the rest of the team this time.

I can sleep easy knowing that the Habs will not be winning the Cup this year. When faced with adversity, the Habs resort to playing like shit and acting like assholes. They're shitty assholes.

Edited February 16, 2009 by Enter Blue Guy

[Clawson]

Better than trading Wendel for him.

Good thing he was traded with Wendel to the Leafs then eh.

[Guest Mr. Potato Head]

>_<

[Guest Mr. Potato Head]

You guys know who I forgot about until just now? Brian Bradley.

[Clawson]

You weren't reading Down Goes Brown by any chance were you?