The Hockey Thread

[Toe]

That was a loooooong ceremony in Montreal. Good thing they won tonight.

[SeanDMan]

I don't know who Paradis is, but I do know that Tlusty just never looked the same in the NHL as he did in the AHL.

Kind of like Anton Stralman?

[The Sultan of Swank]

It was loooooooong, but it was awesome Toe. I was at the game. I can die happy tonight.

[Toe]

I don't know who Paradis is, but I do know that Tlusty just never looked the same in the NHL as he did in the AHL.

Kind of like Anton Stralman?

Stralman, I think, had to pass through waivers.

[Ruki]

.....yay leafs....

[Plubby]

WAR BUDAJ~!

[Toe]

I stopped watching half-way through the second period. This team is inconsistent, but they also ran into one of the better teams in the East and they were pissed off after losing badly to Montreal. Of course, we ran into a former Leaf prospect in Tuuka Rask, who played very well for the Bruins.

[The Sultan of Swank]

I never did agree with Toronto trading away Rask.

Although if we could swing Halak + for Osgood and a centre we'd be in business.

[Clawson]

Bestest.shirt.ever.

I hope I get a chance to wear it during our first game against the Bruins this season on Thursday.

[Toe]

Bestest.shirt.ever.

I hope I get a chance to wear it during our first game against the Bruins this season on Thursday.

I saw that on PPP and thought it looked cool. I am going to the game tomorrow against Atlanta.

[The Sultan of Swank]

I got a plesant surprise last night when a buddy called me up to let me know he got tickets to the Habs/Flyers game and invited me. 2 games in a row... I feel special.

Boring game really. 28 shots total between the two teams (that's an all-time low for the Canadiens) but we still get the 3-1 win. Lapierre's feed to Cammy. Unbelievable. 16 for Cammy, yay! Now if we could get some secondary scoring plzkthx.

[Ruki]

Witt is unbreakable.

[Plubby]

Witt has two goals, one assist and 35 penalty minutes in 26 games for the Isles this season, and has no plans to star in any action films in the immediate future.

[The Sultan of Swank]

Third win in a row for the Habs. Since their debacle with Toronto and Buffalo, this team has really started to show up and buy into Martin's system. Montreal has the same number of wins as Buffalo, unfortunately we didn't force enough games to OT. Tomas Pleks needs to be signed right now. What an amazing player. 3 more assists tonight, 7 in his last 3 or 4 games, he's tied for 5th in the league, he's getting all these assists because he's been feeding Mike Cammalleri who has 17 goals now and 5 goals in his last 3 games. His 17 is also good enough for 6th in the league. As many as Stamkos and Iginla... Iginla being the player everyone said Cammy couldn't score without.

The PK tonight was unbelievable. We need to get more disciplined but 7 for 7 and then we scored twice on the powerplay. Our PK has given up only 1 goal in the last 25 opportunities, you have to go back 6 games to find a PPG against which is nice...

It must suck to be a Sens fan. The Habs come to town and it's legitamately the Bell Centre. They loudly booed Kovalev, they Ole'd there was more cheering with the Habs scored and they couldn't even drown out the Go Habs Go chants... I guess that's the issue with putting an expansion team 45 minutes from Montreal.

[Clawson]

Third win in a row for the Habs. Since their debacle with Toronto and Buffalo, this team has really started to show up and buy into Martin's system. Montreal has the same number of wins as Buffalo, unfortunately we didn't force enough games to OT. Tomas Pleks needs to be signed right now. What an amazing player. 3 more assists tonight, 7 in his last 3 or 4 games, he's tied for 5th in the league, he's getting all these assists because he's been feeding Mike Cammalleri who has 17 goals now and 5 goals in his last 3 games. His 17 is also good enough for 6th in the league. As many as Stamkos and Iginla... Iginla being the player everyone said Cammy couldn't score without.

Uhhhh....yeah, you might want to double-check that one way.

[The Sultan of Swank]

My bad, we didn't force enough losses to OT first.

I know we have to live with the bitch point, but it's ridiculous. I just can't get over the fact that a team like Tampa who have only 11 wins are only 2 points back of 8th, despite have 4 fewer wins.... To me, it's the biggest issue with the league, rewarding failure.

[Pizza]

Buffalo has the same number of overtime losses as Montreal. Buffalo has had a total of 5 games go to OT and SO, Montreal has had 10. So I'm not sure what point you're trying to make. Montreal has needed OT to win over half their games. If games went to a 1 point each tie instead of OT Buffalo would have 29 points to Montreal's 24, with 4 fewer games played for Buffalo. If we used a 3 point regulation win, 2 point OT win, 1 point OT loss, 0 points reg loss, which I think we should, Buffalo would have 47 points, compared to Montreal's 37, with four fewer games played. If you have issues with the bitch point system fine, but Buffalo is far ahead of Montreal in any system other than the current one, so don't blame it.

Edited December 10, 2009 by pizzamonkey

[Clawson]

Leafs would also only be one point behind Montreal in the 3 point system. Montreal has been the biggest benefactor of the current point system.

Edited December 10, 2009 by Clawson

[The Sultan of Swank]

Pizza Monkey, Rewarding a team for losing in Overtime (Tampa has lost 8 in OT, NYI and Toronto have 7) is ridiculous. Tampa's losing 8 in OT means they've won 4 games. So Tampa gets closer to the Playoffs despite having at least 4 wins less than teams in the playoffs. That's the point I'm making... I don't want a 3 point system, I think that's equally stupid. I think that a team that wins deserves 2 points and a team that loses deserves none. I know it sucks to lose in OT or Shootout, but you still lost so you don't deserve any points. Under the way I feel it should be the East would look as such.

Team - Record - PTS (compared to...)

NJ - 21-8 - 42 (43)

WSH - 19-12 - 38 (44)

BUF - 17-11 - 34 (36)

PIT - 20-11 - 40 (41)

ATL - 15-12 - 30 (33)

BOS - 15-14 - 30 (35)

MTL - 15-16 - 30 (32)

PHI - 14-14 - 28 (29)

OTT - 14-15 - 28 (32)

NYR - 14-15 - 28 (29)

NYI - 11-20 - 22 (29)

FLO - 11-20 - 22 (28)

TOR - 10-20 - 20 (27)

CAR - 7-23 - 14 (19)

I feel that standing should be based more on wins than how many times you managed to come back or blow a 3rd period lead. At the top of the East it's not too much an issue, but teams like Boston, New York Islanders, Florida and Toronto have infated point totals like this. All those teams are going to be around 6-10 come March or April and it's kinda shitty when a team with a losing record gets in ahead of a team with more wins.

Edited December 10, 2009 by The Sultan of Swank

[Pizza]

Then why did you compare Montreal to Buffalo, when they've lost the same amount of OT games, and Buffalo has put away far more opponents in regulation than Montreal. You think a team shouldn't be rewarded for losing in overtime, and that's a fair point. But I don't think a team who needs an extra period to win their games should be treated the same as a team who puts their opponent in regulation. But regardless of whether you prefer the current system (which I don't), a system with tie games, a 3-2-1 system, or a system based simply on winning pct, arguing that it's the bitch points fault that the 15-16 Canadiens are behind the 16-11 Sabres is ridiculous.