Its' Here! NHL 2007-2008 Regular Season Thread

[Maple Leafs]

Tlusty is the first Leaf to score a pair of goals in his first game since Nikolai Borschevsky. So if he continues to follow this career path, he'll get 30+ goals as a rookie, play on the first line of two conference finalists, Mike Myers will name his dog after him and confuse David Letterman with the story, and then his spleen will explode and he'll almost die.

I'd take it.

[bbor]

Tlusty is the first Leaf to score a pair of goals in his first game since Nikolai Borschevsky. So if he continues to follow this career path, he'll get 30+ goals as a rookie, play on the first line of two conference finalists, Mike Myers will name his dog after him and confuse David Letterman with the story, and then his spleen will explode and he'll almost die.

I'd take it.

and now he coaches rep hockey in Toronto and runs a hockey school.

[bbor]

If i could find Nikolais goal vs Detroit in Game 7...i'd post it right now:)

[Pumpy Tudors]

Toronto radio did a call in for peoples favorite Toronto athlete of all time.....guess who got the first vote.I hate Leaf fans.
HOW THE FUCK DID THIS CLOWN GET VOTED ABOVE PINBALL CLEMONS

[bbor]

HOW THE FUCK DID THIS CLOWN GET VOTED ABOVE PINBALL CLEMONS

He did'nt end up 1st over all...but the 1st jack ass that called in voted for him.

[Maple Leafs]

If i could find Nikolais goal vs Detroit in Game 7...i'd post it right now:)

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The Red Wings were never the same.

Wait, what?

[bbor]

Man...that goal STILL makes my hair stand on end...just as much as it probably makes HBs' hair fall out :D

[Honolulu_Blue]

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The Red Wings were never the same.

Wait, what?

Thanks for that. Why don't you give me a paper cut and pour lemon juice on it while you're at it? Or kick my dog. He's really cute and innocent. He'll never see it coming.

Between this Nikolai Borchevsky nonsense and that Jamie Baker goal, I suffered. Oh yes, I suffered...

And if Tlusty is the second-coming of Borchevsky and some how, some way, the Wings ended up facing the Leafs in the Finals, I'd take him out my own damned self. Shane Stant style.

How do you say "Why!?" in Russian?

[DeToxRox]

So Chara killed Kochi last night

http://youtube.com/watch?v=q3_ghTTQefI

[sterlingice]

Not much new on the Wings' front. The team continues to roll pretty as it has the 15 years or so (outside of being unable to beat Robert Lang and the Blackhawks).

(woo :) )

SI

[Draft Dodger]

22 games.

That's how many games Jordan Leopold has played since the Avs traded Tanguay for him 15 months ago. Since then, he's suffered 5 different injuries (hernia, groin, wrist, hip and now wrist again) and hasn't played more than 10 straight games without getting hurt. He's out 2 months now after his latest injury.

sadly, he's been playing so poorly, the team will probably be better without him.

[Wolfpack]

Oy. So ends the win streak and the point streak as the Habs make Cam Ward look awful in giving up five goals in 15 shots and eventually win, 7-4. Ward was pulled after the first period. First really bad game Cam has had all year. Time to see whether his mental abilities have improved along with his physical ones. He's probably going to get the call tomorrow night against the Islanders in New York since Graehme had to pick up the pieces the last two periods tonight.

[Draft Dodger]

For the 2nd time in a week, the Avs won a game against the Flames that they had no business winning. Calgary outshot Colorado 41-22 and led for most of the game. Calgary had 2 5 on 3 chances (including one over a minute in the 3rd) but couldn't convert (well, actually they did convert, but Mick McGeough hadn't had a camera pointed at him in a while, so blew a whistle too early on a certain Calgary goal).

Anywho, the Avs tie it late in the 3rd and score just seconds into OT. Phaneuf wisely decided to pinch in deep into the Avs corner, leaving just one guy back. Of course, the puck gets out, Sakic and Smyth break out 2 on 1 and Smyth buries it for the big win.

Gratifying to see Phaneuf's bonehead play cost them a point. Also nice because the Sportsnet announcers were railing on Smyth earlier. Not that they were homers or anything.

[Honolulu_Blue]

So ends the Igor Grigorenko Era. He is returning to Russia to make phat Russian loots...

In more positive news, the Wings destroyed the Sharks last night 5-1. The Wings rolled over them and the Sharks looked very flustered, undisciplined and out of synch all night. Joe Thorton was in a very testy mood it seemed.

[Maple Leafs]

"He shoot to my ass and I a little bit feel it, but I don't say nothing."
- Jiri "The Chosen One" Tlusty describes his first NHL goal.

[Karim]

Also nice because the Sportsnet announcers were railing on Smyth earlier. Not that they were homers or anything.

You get Sportsnet? Did Altitude just pick up the feed? I didn't know the network extended beyond our border.

[Simms]

You get Sportsnet? Did Altitude just pick up the feed? I didn't know the network extended beyond our border.
Center Ice picked up the Sportsnet feed.

[Draft Dodger]

Center Ice picked up the Sportsnet feed.

yep.
speaking of, DirecTV seems to be starting a new thing where they are showing both the home and away feeds on different channels. I really like having the option (no more Terry "The Lisp" Crisp when we play the Preds) so I hope they keep it up. Now, if they would just indicated which feed is on which channel I'll be happy.

[RendeR]

Sabres, while not looking great, at least looked like they wanted to win and pulled a second win out of this florida trip. 4-3 win over the Lightning in OT.

[BishopMVP]

Considering I have two posts in this thread, and both of them are excorciating Flyers players for being dirty, some may soon think I have an agenda. ;)

Patrice Bergeron taken out by #6 Jones? from Philly tonight into the boards. The announcers were freaking out as if Patrice was paralyzed for 30+ minutes even though Bergeron had already moved his legs.... either way, not what you want to see and Jones will pay regardless of "intent".

[RendeR]

That was a really hard play and he deserved the boarding penalty, but I don't think it really deserves more than that. They were flying for the puck, the timing was bad and he got penalized. I feel for Patrice, it was prety ugly and it busted his face up(broken nose and lacerations) but was it intentional? I don't think so, but maybe I'm an optimist.

[BishopMVP]

That was a really hard play and he deserved the boarding penalty, but I don't think it really deserves more than that. They were flying for the puck, the timing was bad and he got penalized. I feel for Patrice, it was prety ugly and it busted his face up(broken nose and lacerations) but was it intentional? I don't think so, but maybe I'm an optimist.I don't know if it was intentional, and it defini,tely wasn't as bad as Claude Lemieux on Kris Draper, but he'll be suspended. It wasn't like Bergeron ducked at the last minute - Jones had his head lined up with his elbow and drove it into the boards. Now that Bergeron is ok, it is kind of funny to watch the fight going on while Bergeron lies motionless and unattended to 10 feet away.

[duff88]

Tons of fun pictures on HFBoards after Markov's shootout winner celebration yesterday. Some are brillant:

Original celebration
http://images.tsn.ca/images/stories/20071027/markov_80076.jpg

HFBoards photoshops
http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t141/habs425/MARKOV.jpg
http://img292.imageshack.us/img292/5523/skieruj5.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v96/Renholder/gainey.jpg
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e272/vedgeman71/800px-BumperCar.jpg
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e272/vedgeman71/markovracinghorse.jpg
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd205/armand100/markov_steroids.gif
http://hfboards.com/imagehosting/2824047249cfb3cc64.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b368/TDG_666/TheRussianRocketcopy.jpg
http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/8171/markovcornsu2.jpg
http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t21/izuma03/Untitled-2.jpg
http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/2905/markovetgi9.jpg
http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/6289/markovpotteriu1.jpg
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e272/vedgeman71/spider-pig1.jpg
http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/9016/markovpervij7.jpg
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd205/armand100/markov_danse.gif
http://i227.photobucket.com/albums/dd14/zine15/islandlife30_b.jpg
http://img264.imageshack.us/img264/9559/christmasvl6.png
http://hfboards.com/imagehosting/3487647252c26738cb.jpg

Hopefully nobody will mind a post with so many pictures, but I thought it was pretty funny.

[Chief Rum]

It's unbelievable to me that the Ducks can be so consistently awful in every single shootout they are in. They must absolutely be the, hands down, worst shootout team--ever. And, no, this isn't just this year, this goes back to last year and 2005. They need to stop having regular practices until they win a shootout. Just keep having shootout practices until they figure it out. Honest to God, it's just stupid now.

Galling, also, that this was against the bleeping Oiler, and we let them tie it up--shorthanded!--with under two minutes to play. I swear this team must be on the take right now.

[bhlloy]

Big surprise I see Perry missed. I swear to God I have seen him take at least 5 penalty shots without actually shooting the puck once. Getzlaf is just as bad. I don't know who is a better option but it would be nice to make the goalie make a save once in a while.

Ducks are a below average team without Niedermayer and Selanne. I can see them missing the playoffs quite easily right now if neither comes back. Bertuzzi is pretty close to washed up and I don't know how much of a difference Schneider makes. Not enough I fear.

[Wolfpack]

It's unbelievable to me that the Ducks can be so consistently awful in every single shootout they are in. They must absolutely be the, hands down, worst shootout team--ever. And, no, this isn't just this year, this goes back to last year and 2005. They need to stop having regular practices until they win a shootout. Just keep having shootout practices until they figure it out. Honest to God, it's just stupid now.

Galling, also, that this was against the bleeping Oiler, and we let them tie it up--shorthanded!--with under two minutes to play. I swear this team must be on the take right now.

So, since you got to experience what I felt two years ago when Carolina won, you are now getting to experience what I felt last year (I think we lost every shootout we were involved in last year and were just beyond wretched percentage-wise).

[DeToxRox]

Just to chime in again .. Datsyuk/Zetterberg/Holmstrom are the best line in hockey, and Z continues his point streak.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Just to chime in again .. Datsyuk/Zetterberg/Holmstrom are the best line in hockey, and Z continues his point streak.

They were the best line last year too for a decent stretch last year until Zetterberg got hurt. Pretty amazing that Datsyuk, Zetterberg, and Holmstrom were drafted 171, 210, and 257 overall, respectively.

It looks like those around the league are finally taking notice of Zetterberg's start.

http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20071029.wsptduha29/GSStory/GlobeSportsHockey/home

"But there could be an argument made that right now, as October draws to a close that the league's best player could be one that wasn't chosen until the 210th overall pick of the 1999 entry draft; who stands a modest 5-foot-11; who just turned 27 earlier this month and has quietly averaged more than a point-a-game in the two-plus seasons of the post-lockout NHL ... That would be the Detroit Red Wings' Henrik Zetterberg"

From EJ Hradek (October 29, ESPN (http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?name=hradek_ej&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fespn%2fblog%2findex%3fname%3dhradek_ej))

"Zetterberg continued his strong start with another dynamic effort in Vancouver on Sunday night. The Swedish sniper, who was named the first star in the 3-2 win over the Canucks, added an assist to his league-leading point total (21 points). He has registered at least one point in each of the club's first 12 games. Going back to last season, he has scored in 19 straight games. The 27-year-old forward is absolutely challenging Sidney Crosby for the unofficial title of league's best player."

[Karim]

Sutter works his magic again. Kipper signs a 6 year extension averaging $5.8/yr.

[Draft Dodger]

Sutter works his magic again. Kipper signs a 6 year extension averaging $5.8/yr.

and thank your lucky stars that Keenan doesn't have the power to trade him.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Sutter works his magic again. Kipper signs a 6 year extension averaging $5.8/yr.

A great deal for the Flames.

[DeToxRox]

Wings up 1-0 in Edmonton. Zetterberg scores his 10th, tying him for the lead league in goals, and giving him a league leading 22 points. He's had a point in every game this year, totally amazing.

Scary news for Oilers fans as Matt Greene goes down awkwardly. Probably a sprain, could be torn ligaments. That team is totally beaten up.

[Travis]

If I had to guess, I'd say Greene's knee is done for quite some time. I'm hoping that the fall just looked more awkward because of being on skates rather than how it'd look if he were wearing cleats, but the way his knee went I'd be very surprised to see him back anytime soon.

Oilers played a very spirited game but weren't able to get enough shots on net to knock off the Wings. Much more encouraging effort than the last time they played (albeit on home ice this time, though missing Souray, Pitkanen and Greene). Hurts losing that late in the final frame and not getting at least one point, but at least their legs were going for most of the night.

[chrisj]

Sutter works his magic again. Kipper signs a 6 year extension averaging $5.8/yr.

If I understand correctly - the deal is more heavily weighted to the first 5 years. The rumor is that Kipper plans to retire after 5 years. If he did - does the contract still count against the cap?

[Chief Rum]

So, since you got to experience what I felt two years ago when Carolina won, you are now getting to experience what I felt last year (I think we lost every shootout we were involved in last year and were just beyond wretched percentage-wise).

No, not quite. You see, we weren't some amazing shootout team and became awful this year. We have been consistently awful from Game One, Year One of the shootout era. Even when we were rolling to strong performances in the playoffs, we consistently blew chunks in the shootout. It's amazinf really. Pure luck alone should have gotten us a higher success rate with it by now (much less practice).

[Maple Leafs]

If I understand correctly - the deal is more heavily weighted to the first 5 years. The rumor is that Kipper plans to retire after 5 years. If he did - does the contract still count against the cap?
I'd assume so. Especially if he's over 35 at that point, since there are provisions that you do get a cap hit if you sign a guy older than that to a long-term deal.

[johnnyshaka]

Scary news for Oilers fans as Matt Greene goes down awkwardly. Probably a sprain, could be torn ligaments. That team is totally beaten up.

Here we go again.

When do the open tryouts for D-Men begin?

[Wolfpack]

No, not quite. You see, we weren't some amazing shootout team and became awful this year. We have been consistently awful from Game One, Year One of the shootout era. Even when we were rolling to strong performances in the playoffs, we consistently blew chunks in the shootout. It's amazinf really. Pure luck alone should have gotten us a higher success rate with it by now (much less practice).

Even so, it does seem that the Ducks have straggled out of the gate (4-7-2), much as Carolina did last year. The Cup is a wonderful thing, but it is absolute hell on the team because of the short layoff (and it was even shorter for Carolina because of the Olympic break in '06). You keep thinking that they'll get it together eventually, but for Carolina at least, it never really happened last year.

Will the early struggles increase or decrease the likelihood that Niedermayer and Selanne come back? If they're in trouble by January, what incentive is there to come back then?

[DeToxRox]

I realize this is getting annoying by Zetterberg has scored his 11th goal tonight, giving him 23 points in 14 games, and a 14 game scoring streak to start the season. Absolutely the best player in the NHL right now.

[bhlloy]

Hey CR - was at the game tonight and we won a fricking shootout! Admittedly it was a terrible shot by Schneider that trickled through the goalies legs, but I'll take it.

Other than that, same old same old where we dominated the play but couldn't even hit the net for most of the game and then Giggy gave up a real soft goal on a horrible rebound.

Fun game though with 3 good fights and almost a line brawl.

[Pyser]

schneider takes your shoot out shots? did it go to 10 rounds or something??

[bhlloy]

No, that's just how bad this team is at shootouts.

[Pyser]

spezza signs a 7 yr, $49m contract.

you know what was a bad trade?

Yashin for Chara, Muckalt, and the #2 pick, which became Spezza.

[Chief Rum]

Hey CR - was at the game tonight and we won a fricking shootout! Admittedly it was a terrible shot by Schneider that trickled through the goalies legs, but I'll take it.

Other than that, same old same old where we dominated the play but couldn't even hit the net for most of the game and then Giggy gave up a real soft goal on a horrible rebound.

Fun game though with 3 good fights and almost a line brawl.

Yeah, I saw a good portion of the third and OT last night.

One of these days, dominating play will become solid victories. I guess we'll just have to wait until we get healthy and gut through it until then. I don't question the talent; it's the execution and trying to move past not having Penner and Teemu to help score goals. And the usual Cup hangover, of course.

I hate soft goals.

[Pyser]

heres how weird a season it is for the devils so far:

the decade old checking line players madden and pandolfo lead the team, with 6 goals each.

[Draft Dodger]

spezza signs a 7 yr, $49m contract.

you know what was a bad trade?

Yashin for Chara, Muckalt, and the #2 pick, which became Spezza.

I miss Mike Milbury

[Suburban Rhythm]

Who first coined the phrase/idea that a goal lead is the worst lead to have? Because the Penguins are making that guy look like a genius. :rolleyes:

A lot of Pens "fans" will pin this on Fleury, but the 3 goals given up:

Crosby attempts to reverse the play behind the net...and the puck kicks out of the boards [side note, this happened about 3-4 times to each team!] right onto Trent Hunter's stick. Is it possible Nassau Coliseum is actually shittier than Mellon Arena?

On a blocked shot, Joe Vasicek receives a lead pass, both Sydor and Nasreddine skated towards him...forgetting there are 4 other Isles on the ice, one of which, Miro Satan, is trailing the play and walks in alone.

Goal 3 Satan shoots the puck over the net, rebound out to the point. MA Bergeron gets the puck on net, Fleury gives us a rebound (No, Fleury wasn't perfect) and Rockin' Rob Scuderi watches from the front of the net as Satan knocks in the rebound.

I think they just wanted Al Arbour to go home happy.

[Dr. Sak]

I think the Pens still have the same trouble defensively that Ottawa took advantage of in the first round of the playoffs last season.

[Suburban Rhythm]

I think the Pens still have the same trouble defensively that Ottawa took advantage of in the first round of the playoffs last season.

You mean that they suck defensively? :mad:

In an ideal world, Mark Eaton is on your 2nd, probably 3rd pairing, and Rob Scuderi is your #7. Both those guys are playing over, or close to, 20 mins a night.

[Chief Rum]

It's just two strong games, so not much to make of it right now, but the Ducks have played much closer to the championship level of last year in those two games than previously. And shock of all shocks, they are for the first time relatively healthy. Hopefully we hve turned an early corner.

Incidentally, for those teams looking for goaltending help, Burke has been actively shopping Bryzgalov for forward help. He's a very good netminder who could be a strong #1 for someone, but teams are hesitant right now witht he salary cap (or at least that's what TSN is saying). They think Bryz could be dealt by the winter freeze period, though, around Christmas.

[TurnerONU22]

Don't look now, but the Columbus Blue Jackets are 8-3-1 with a 3-0 win tonight over St. Louis. Pascal LeClaire records his 5th (!!!) shutout of the season, already matching a franchise record for shutouts in 1 season.

I have to say, I expected this team to come out and compete hard every night, but I didn't expect them to win this quickly. I know they won't keep up this pace (5-0-1 in their last 6 games), but its nice to see winning hockey in Columbus. Rick Nash is playing like one of the best 2-way forwards in the game (its like looking at what Hitchcock did for Mike Modano), scoring 10 goals, and probably our best PK'er right now (sans Pascal). I don't know what Hitch did to Nik Zherdev, but the kid is finally playing the game the right way, backchecking, working hard, and is getting rewarded for it, both on the stat sheet and in the TOI department.

Its just nice to see a TEAM game, where the entire roster works hard every shift, right down the lineup. The Jackets have the top PK % in the league (something around 94), and they're not just playing the trap either. They're playing smart, limiting second chances, hitting people, and getting great goaltending.

I'm hoping they can keep this up as they enter the stretch of divisional play, and can just keep getting points. Their upcoming game @ Detroit will be a big test to see where they stand against the Wings.

[Chief Rum]

Seen the Jackets twice now, once when they smacked us hard on our early road trip after the London games, and last week, when we finally got a shootout win. They have a lot going for them, I think, and I thought it was a good sign that we were able to come out and play with them last week after how poorly we have played this year.

[Draft Dodger]

The Avs have now won 7 in a row against the Flames.

in other news, Theo Fleury was the guest analyst on the lousy Flames PPV broadcast I got stuck watching last night. To put it kindly, he was fucking dreadful.

[Honolulu_Blue]

The Avs have now won 7 in a row against the Flames.

in other news, Theo Fleury was the guest analyst on the lousy Flames PPV broadcast I got stuck watching last night. To put it kindly, he was fucking dreadful.

Poor Theo Fleury...

[Draft Dodger]

Poor Theo Fleury...

poor Theo Fleury? how about poor DD for having to listen to the schmuck.

[JonInMiddleGA]

With last night's 2-1 overtime win over Washington, Atlanta has now moved into 3rd place in the Southeast, and is the same as New Jersey, 1 point better than the Caps and 2 points better than the Oilers through the same 15 games.

Of course after scoring his NHL-leading 13th goal, Ilya Kovalchuk left with an injury midway through the second period and did not return. An MRI is scheduled for later today.

[Honolulu_Blue]

poor Theo Fleury? how about poor DD for having to listen to the schmuck.

I have listened to both Colorado's radio and televsion guys. You should be used to listening to schmucks by now. ;)

[Dr. Sak]

I am off to the Pens/Flyers game tonight. I am hoping the Flyers can stop the 9 game winning streak that the Pens have against them. I am not too confident about it after seeing the 22 shots they gave up against the Rangers in the first period. For the past 3 or 4 games, they like to wait until the middle of the 2nd period to start playing. You can't do that against a team like the Pens that has a lot of offensive firepower.

[Draft Dodger]

I have listened to both Colorado's radio and televsion guys. You should be used to listening to schmucks by now. ;)

two words: Mickey Redmond

[Chief Rum]

The Ducks just won a shootout with the Sharks tonight, ending with this thrilling announcement by Hayward: "And the Ducks win the shootout and take over first place in the Pacific Division."

All I have to say is, damn, does the Pacific Division suck right now.

[BishopMVP]

The Ducks just won a shootout with the Sharks tonight, ending with this thrilling announcement by Hayward: "And the Ducks win the shootout and take over first place in the Pacific Division."

All I have to say is, damn, does the Pacific Division suck right now.It's no NFC West, that's for sure!

[JeffNights]

two words: Mickey Redmond

What? Mickey Redmond is one of the best out there.

[Maple Leafs]

Well, apparently whatever the problem is in Buffalo, it's worse than they ever imagined. How do you get shutout at home by the Leafs?

(Well, I guess "home" is a relative term here, since the Sabres fans everyone says are so passionate have no problem letting Leaf fans take over their building four times a year.)

[Honolulu_Blue]

two words: Mickey Redmond

Come on! Mickey is like your old, friendly drunken uncle.

[watravaler]

Well, for the first time since the 2001-2002 Regular Season NHL thread, I can say the Blackhawks do not suck! It's amazing what a salary cap and a couple of phenoms can do...

[sterlingice]

3 cheers for mediocrity! Oh, and the ability to beat the Red Wings, a skill which no one else has mastered to this point ;)

SI

[DeToxRox]

Red Wings with a 9 game win streak, tying a franchise record. Zetterberg scores late to keep his point streak alive and the Wings just keep flying.

[Draft Dodger]

(Well, I guess "home" is a relative term here, since the Sabres fans everyone says are so passionate have no problem letting Leaf fans take over their building four times a year.)

I saw a game in Buffalo a few years ago. The place was filled with Leaf fans...and the Leafs weren't even playing.

[DeToxRox]

I saw a game in Buffalo a few years ago. The place was filled with Leaf fans...and the Leafs weren't even playing.

In the Sabres defense, a lot of Buffalo hotties make the trip to the stadium.

[Maple Leafs]

I saw a game in Buffalo a few years ago. The place was filled with Leaf fans...and the Leafs weren't even playing.
That reminds me of a funny comment from Tuesday's Sens/Leafs game. They had Ottawa's Luke Richardson do one of those quick interviews during a commercial break right after the Sens had made it 2-0 early on. They asked him about the lead, and he said something along the lines of "That's really key for us, we needed to get on the board early and take the crowd out of the game".

The game was in Ottawa.

[Draft Dodger]

and, IIRC, Luke Richardson is FROM Ottawa.

[Draft Dodger]

The Avs now have a 3 point lead in the NW. Me so happy.

[NoSkillz]

Well, apparently whatever the problem is in Buffalo, it's worse than they ever imagined. How do you get shutout at home by the Leafs?

(Well, I guess "home" is a relative term here, since the Sabres fans everyone says are so passionate have no problem letting Leaf fans take over their building four times a year.)

*Yawn*

Actually, as a Sabres season ticket holder, I want to thank Leafs fans and their bottomless wallets for almost singlehandedly paying for my entire year's worth of tickets just by purchasing these four games from me at prices about five times their worth.

Passion? It's just called good business. I wouldn't DREAM of letting my Leaf fan buddies down by withholding my ducats! ;)

[NoSkillz]

Dola -

It would have been a lot tougher a decision had Buffalo even remotely resembled an NHL team through the first 15 games.

But their ineptitude, combined with border traffic on a weekend and the fact that I could sit comfortably on my couch and watch the game in beautiful HD on TSN, well...the decision was an easy one.

[Dr. Sak]

Flyers beat the Islanders to go 6-0-0 at home. They are the last team in the league to be undefeated at home. Last year they did not get their 5th win at home until Feb.

[Wolfpack]

Canes win their second straight on their divisional road swing in FLA tonight, but Erik Cole gets taken off on a stretcher after suffering a head/neck injury getting knocked down from behind charging in on net and colliding with Vokoun. When the good news is that he's "moving his extremities", that doesn't bode well for a quick return to the ice. Given he had a similar severe injury two years ago, it does become concerning whether he should even come back and risk further injury to his neck that could be irreversible next time.

On a more positive note, congratulations to Canes assistant GM Ron Francis on making the Hall of Fame tonight. Well deserved for one of the class acts in the NHL and the man who was the face of the franchise in the years after they moved to North Carolina. My favorite memory of him is that OT goal he scored in game one of the '02 Final in Detroit which just left the entire crowd in Joe Louis stunned.

[Maple Leafs]

For those that missed it, there was an incident before the Rangers/Leafs game on Saturday night. New York's Sean Avery said something to the Leafs' Jason Blake during the pre-game warmup. Darcy Tucker overheard it and almost squared off with Avery -- there was lots of jawing and some stick swinging before teammates stepped in and separated them.

During the game Tucker challenged Avery who backed down, leading to minor penalties. As soon as they came out of the box Tucker went after him again and finally got him to drop the gloves. After the game, Wade Belak (who didn't play) predicted that Avery was going to get "killed" some day for what he says on this ice.

After the game Avery didn't speak to the press and nobody on the Leafs would comment on what specifically may have been said. The league has now apparently called Avery onto the carpet for an explanation.

Well, it seems like what everyone suspected is now being reported, although not outright confirmed by anyone. Apparently a source in the Rangers dressing room has confirmed that Avery was making fun of Blake's cancer diagnonis.

[johnnyshaka]

Well, it seems like what everyone suspected is now being reported, although not outright confirmed by anyone. Apparently a source in the Rangers dressing room has confirmed that Avery was making fun of Blake's cancer diagnonis.

Should anybody be surprised? No.

Avery's an asshat and has always been one. Unfortunately, too many guys give in to his silliness and that's how he becomes effective. Then the media hypes things up even more and voila, Avery's done his job. Teams continue to fall over themselves to take stupid penalties and the rest of Rangers get the week off from dealing with the press because everybody wants to hear what Avery's going to say next.

Let him chirp all he wants...if he has the puck, hit him...if he hits one of your best players...hit him harder...if he gets up...repeat. He'll eventually fade away as he's nothing more than a 3rd liner but gets paid big bucks because he's willing to take a lot of crap to get his team a power play or two a game and nowadays, that's HUGE.

[johnnyshaka]

and, IIRC, Luke Richardson is FROM Ottawa.

Correct.

[Pyser]

avery also almost got into a fight before the game against the devils last week. he was jawing at david clarkson.

[Pumpy Tudors]

For Devils fans, tonight's a big night. Scott Gomez is playing his first game in New Jersey as a damn New York Ranger. I know most Devils fans (including myself) hate Scott Gomez now, and I'm sure that many of the people at Prudential Center will have a less-than-welcoming treatment for Gomez tonight. I'll be booing him from my house, and I hope Devils fans around the country are booing him, too!

[MizzouRah]

Blues beat Detroit!!!! Oh Baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[MikeVic]

McCabe is a pretty good D, eh?

[Maple Leafs]

McCabe is a pretty good D, eh?
He's Mr. Overtime.

[Dr. Sak]

For Devils fans, tonight's a big night. Scott Gomez is playing his first game in New Jersey as a damn New York Ranger. I know most Devils fans (including myself) hate Scott Gomez now, and I'm sure that many of the people at Prudential Center will have a less-than-welcoming treatment for Gomez tonight. I'll be booing him from my house, and I hope Devils fans around the country are booing him, too!

I'll be rooting for the earth to open up and swallow the Prudential Center.

[Pumpy Tudors]

I'll be rooting for the earth to open up and swallow the Prudential Center.
:p

[Pyser]

im going to the rock on friday night.

tonight ill be loudly hating gomez from my couch.

[Pumpy Tudors]

I don't have any idea how Scott Gomez's old teammates feel about his move to the Rangers (it's not like he's the first guy to leave New Jersey for New York, so it's probably not a big deal to them), but I think it would be great for the Devils to try to goad Gomez into a fight just to get the crowd into the game. Then, in retaliation, Sean Avery will do something really stupid and get himself a misconduct. It'll be hilarious.

[TurnerONU22]

"He shoot to my ass and I a little bit feel it, but I don't say nothing."
- Jiri "The Exposed One" Tlusty describes his first NHL goal.

Fixed.

After the recent developments, this quote seems much funnier

(For those who don't know, Tlusty took some nude pics of himself on a camera phone and sent them to some girl online apparently and the Toronto media got ahold of them and posted them online.)

[TazFTW]

For Devils fans, tonight's a big night. Scott Gomez is playing his first game in New Jersey as a damn New York Ranger. I know most Devils fans (including myself) hate Scott Gomez now, and I'm sure that many of the people at Prudential Center will have a less-than-welcoming treatment for Gomez tonight. I'll be booing him from my house, and I hope Devils fans around the country are booing him, too!

Boooooooo


Heh. :cool:

[Pyser]

henrik is good. ill give him that

but the devils just dont play a consistent game. they only seem to try 25 minutes a night.

[Pumpy Tudors]

henrik is good. ill give him that

but the devils just dont play a consistent game. they only seem to try 25 minutes a night.
To add to this, I'm being facetious here, but it seems like Brodeur is only trying 25 minutes a night, too.

During one of the intermissions last night, Stan Fischler brought up a good point. Brodeur isn't stickhandling the way that he used to. Now, that's not going to have a great effect on GAA over the course of a season, but in a single game, it can change things. Brodeur isn't making long passes to his teammates, and he isn't coming out of his crease to play the puck before it gets to the red line. He's not bring a third defenseman anymore, and that's something that's made the Devils successful on defense over the past several years.

Is it because of Brodeur's age and/or the physical toll of playing so many games each year, or is this Sutter's doing? Martin Brodeur has never been the kind of guy who only leaves his crease to stop rolling pucks behind the net, but that's what he's become. It's scary. :(

[MikeVic]

Don't blame Brodeur. He's untouchable.

[Honolulu_Blue]

TSN is reporting that the Ducks are placing Ilya Bryzgalov on waivers. I find this to be an odd move. Is there some other back-up in Anaheim now?

[Maple Leafs]

TSN is reporting that the Ducks are placing Ilya Bryzgalov on waivers. I find this to be an odd move. Is there some other back-up in Anaheim now?
Well, sure he's had some good stretches, but the guy has never been a full-time starter, he's not exactly young, and he's going to need a big contract extension. You can't expect that some team is just going to trade you half their draft for the guy. That would be stupid.

(Hangs self.)

[Pumpy Tudors]

Hey, man, when you're done hanging, can I have Mrs. Leafs?

[Draft Dodger]

TSN is reporting that the Ducks are placing Ilya Bryzgalov on waivers. I find this to be an odd move. Is there some other back-up in Anaheim now?

very curious.

[MikeVic]

very curious.

I heard he slept with Pronger's wife.

[Dr. Sak]

Is she getting back at him Anna Benson style?

[MikeVic]

That's the word on the street.

[johnnyshaka]

I heard he slept with Pronger's wife.

Boy, the Prongers sure do get around.

[Chief Rum]

TSN is reporting that the Ducks are placing Ilya Bryzgalov on waivers. I find this to be an odd move. Is there some other back-up in Anaheim now?

I find that odd, too, but only because we really should have been able to get something for him. We have Jonas Hiller down in AHL, who was considered one of the best GKs in Europe the past couple years, and we have been trying to move Bryz so we could bring him up to back up Jiggy.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Hey, man, when you're done hanging, can I have Mrs. Leafs?
This was a serious question, by the way.

[bhlloy]

I find that odd, too, but only because we really should have been able to get something for him. We have Jonas Hiller down in AHL, who was considered one of the best GKs in Europe the past couple years, and we have been trying to move Bryz so we could bring him up to back up Jiggy.


I don't get this either. Bryzgalov is a very good backup, something that should at least get a late round pick. Are there revocable waivers in the NHL?

[Chief Rum]

Not that I am aware of. I don't think hockey works that way. Or I wouldn't hear about players being lot inw aivers in hockey more than other sports.

[Dr. Sak]

I heard that Phoenix got Bryzgalov. (e5) :)

[bhlloy]

I have no idea what the hell Burke is thinking. We just gave a division rival a starting goaltender for nothing - he's better than Auld and Tjellqvist easily. Hell, I'd have given him to an Eastern Conference team for a bag of pucks. If he's allowed to get into a rhythm, Bryzgalov is a pretty good goalie. Inexcusable stuff.

Hiller is going to be good, but you just don't throw a player like Bryzgalov out there for nothing and let him land wherever he may.

[Coder]

Could it be to make room for Niedermayer.. with Bryz on the roster, the Ducks would have been about 500k over the cap if Niedermayer came back

[bhlloy]

That would be great news, but still you don't give a team in your division a chance to get better for nothing. Burke has bought himself a lot of leeway with some of the moves he has made over the years, but I don't get this one.

[Chief Rum]

That would be great news, but still you don't give a team in your division a chance to get better for nothing. Burke has bought himself a lot of leeway with some of the moves he has made over the years, but I don't get this one.

+1

[Draft Dodger]

I'm still amazed that Burke couldn't get anything for him.

but if you guys are worried about making the Coyotes better, you are in more trouble than I thought.

[NoSkillz]

I heard an interview with Burke and he said that while there was interest around the league in Bryzgalov, pretty much every team wanted the Ducks to assume part of his salary in the move, something the club wasn't prepared to do.

[Draft Dodger]

I heard an interview with Burke and he said that while there was interest around the league in Bryzgalov, pretty much every team wanted the Ducks to assume part of his salary in the move, something the club wasn't prepared to do.

you mean take a salaried player in return? you can't assume salary in a trade - one of aspects of the CBA Burke has been lobbying to change

[Chief Rum]

You know what? No, I'm not giving Burke a pass on this one. I don't care how many good things he has done. This has to be one of the stupidest things I have seen a GM do--in any sport--in the past several years.

Bryzgalov is a player everyone pretty much agreed was a #1 netminder serving as a backup. He's even had playoff success, in both of the past two seasons. His numbers are comparable to Jiggy's in many ways. The team never missed a beat when they switched goalies.

Tonight, on Duck Calls (the post game show on the local radio), the announcer said Burke claimed he did this because he couldn't get a deal he liked. Well, Burke, then you sit on the guy and you don't do a damn thing until you get that deal. Or you lower your expectation of what you will receive and move him that way. Point is, you move him for "something" not freakin' "NOTHING"!

And, this is most important. YOU DON'T LET HIM MOVE TO A FREAKIN' DIVISION RIVAL!!! I don't care if you only get a bag of flippin' pucks for him, you do not move him to a Pacific Division team, even the Yotes. You send him East, where with the NHL's freaky schedule you never have to play the guy. Or if you do keep him West or even Pacific, you damn well better get the best deal ever for him.

There is absolutely no excuse for this move. Even the salcap reason for Niedermayer doesn't fit, because, as mentioned, you can't assume salary, and trading him removes the salary anyway. And the way NHL waivers works, the Ducks have to pick up some of his salary anyway doing it this way.

This is so pheonomenally dumb on so many levels, I don't know what else to say. Fit Burke for a dunce cap right now.

[Dr. Sak]

Isn't Toronto looking for another goalie?

[NoSkillz]

you mean take a salaried player in return? you can't assume salary in a trade - one of aspects of the CBA Burke has been lobbying to change

Hmmm...that must have been it...he must have been looking for a pick for him but the other teams wanted to dish someone else off in the deal and he wasn't willing to add salary when there's still a chance of Niedermayer coming back.

[Logan]

That was interesting. The Islanders just iced the puck 6 times in the first 3 minutes against the Rangers.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Down by 2 with 6 minutes to play, Atlanta rallies to beat Tampa 4-3 in OT.
That brings the once 0-6 Thrashers to .500 for the year.

Wild game to watch, as Brad Richards looked like a pro playing with pee wees for a lot of the 2nd period, and Hossa took on the same sort of look for the end of the 3rd.

[Wolfpack]

Down by 2 with 6 minutes to play, Atlanta rallies to beat Tampa 4-3 in OT.
That brings the once 0-6 Thrashers to .500 for the year.

Wild game to watch, as Brad Richards looked like a pro playing with pee wees for a lot of the 2nd period, and Hossa took on the same sort of look for the end of the 3rd.

Thanks for that. Keeps Carolina five clear in the division right now. Tampa's beaten the hell out of us each time we've played so I'm more concerned about them than I am about the Thrashers. ;)

Seriously, good job by Atlanta getting that mess straightened out. Do you think they'll be able to keep it up or are they just going way over their heads right now?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Seriously, good job by Atlanta getting that mess straightened out. Do you think they'll be able to keep it up or are they just going way over their heads right now?

Eh, in Atlanta, we always kind of expect reality to set in sooner or rather ;)

I think some of the kids will hit the wall before the year is through, and we're just one injury to Hoss or Kovy away from disaster (or one healed LetOneIn).

But they're playing well right now, fun to watch.

[Suburban Rhythm]

First Pens play their best...OK not best, but most entertaining...game of the year at Ottawa last night, and now this news!

http://www.wheelingnailers.com/Pages/articles/20071121.asp

WHEELING, WV – The Wheeling Nailers, the “AA” affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Philadelphia Flyers, have announced that they have come to terms with former Penguin enforcer Francois Leroux.

[johnnyshaka]

Awesome...Tarnstrom got his eggs scrambled and has left the game. Get one D-Man back only to lose another one.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Awesome...Tarnstrom got his eggs scrambled and has left the game. Get one D-Man back only to lose another one.

Shouldn't the team improve defensively with Dickie T out?
:confused:

[johnnyshaka]

Shouldn't the team improve defensively with Dickie T out?
:confused:

You would think so but I guess that's why we're in friggin' last place!!!

[chrisj]

Shouldn't the team improve defensively with Dickie T out?
:confused:

When he's being replaced by a d-man who is something like 11th on the team depth chart (being Allan Rourke), then no, the team doesn't improve defensively with him out.

[Maple Leafs]

It sounds like things are finally, mercifully ready to blow up in Toronto.

The media is now openly speculating about who the next GM will be -- virtually nobody thinks JFJ can survive the week, let alone the whole season. There are reports today that Ferguson tried to fire Maurice last week but was shot down by the board, which is as good a sign as any that he's on the way out soon. It sounds like they're just waiting to have a replacement ready to go before they drop the axe.

Names that have been mentioned: Colin Campbell, Glenn Healy, Mark Messier, Steve Yzerman, Doug Gilmour, Ron Francis. Other than Campbell, none of those guys have significant front office experience although some are viewed as good hockey minds. You could see a situation where a veteran executive comes in, with a big-name former player as assistant GM with a plan to take over in a year or two.

So does JFJ survive until tomorrow night's game against the Habs? If so, do the fans burn the ACC to the ground if the Leafs lay another egg?

[Draft Dodger]

take Pierre McGuire. Please.

[johnnyshaka]

take Pierre McGuire. Please.

Yeah...take him out back and shoot him!!!

[Maple Leafs]

take Pierre McGuire. Please.
Do you often go to the pound, find small puppies with severe wounds, and squeeze lemon juice on them?

[Travis]

When he's being replaced by a d-man who is something like 11th on the team depth chart (being Allan Rourke), then no, the team doesn't improve defensively with him out.

I think at this point I'd take Rourke over Tarnstrom or Grebeshkov until Greene gets back. Both of those guys (Tarnstrom/Grebeshkov) seem to have their biggest value being on the PP and we have plenty of guys that can handle those minutes. Certainly not wishing an injury or anything like that, but I just don't see Tarnstrom not being on the ice being that huge of a blow, especially in our own end.

[Simms]

Generally speaking, I try and teach my kids not to be fatalists ... I'm a pretty optimistic person, but I recognize the need to balance reality with optimism. So we end up having conversations about not assuming the worst is going to happen in different situations, etc.

Saturday night, the whole family went out to see Enchanted, but my seven-year old son didn't want to go. We talked for a bit, and he finally relented, but as we got in the car, I said "We'll go to the movie, have some popcorn, and then when we get home, we'll sit down and watch the Leafs lose, ok?"

"Dad, you don't *know* that they're going to lose!"
"Yes I do."
"No you don't ... they could win."

I dropped it at that point. Walked out of the theatre a couple hours later and checked my cellphone -- 5-1 (end 2nd).

I didn't mention it. :)

[Honolulu_Blue]

Generally speaking, I try and teach my kids not to be fatalists ... I'm a pretty optimistic person, but I recognize the need to balance reality with optimism. So we end up having conversations about not assuming the worst is going to happen in different situations, etc.

Saturday night, the whole family went out to see Enchanted, but my seven-year old son didn't want to go. We talked for a bit, and he finally relented, but as we got in the car, I said "We'll go to the movie, have some popcorn, and then when we get home, we'll sit down and watch the Leafs lose, ok?"

"Dad, you don't *know* that they're going to lose!"
"Yes I do."
"No you don't ... they could win."

I dropped it at that point. Walked out of the theatre a couple hours later and checked my cellphone -- 5-1 (end 2nd).

I didn't mention it. :)

Poor kid. Did he at least like the movie?

[Honolulu_Blue]

Do you often go to the pound, find small puppies with severe wounds, and squeeze lemon juice on them?


Aw, come on... That'd be a MONSTER front office move!

[Simms]

Poor kid. Did he at least like the movie?
Yeah, the movie was great. :)

[Dr. Sak]

Vote For Mike Richards

<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Ok3rkS21WKY&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Ok3rkS21WKY&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>

[Honolulu_Blue]

I don't know who Ryan Dixon is, but his take on Lilja's decision to fight Phanuef after Phanuef cleaned little Jiri Hulder's clock is ridiculous...

http://www.thehockeynews.com/articles/11434-THNcom-Blog-Five-for-a-clean-hit.html

Hockey has so many great traditions, but one of my least-favorite customs was on display last night in Detroit.

Calgary crusher Dion Phaneuf laid out little Jiri Hudler with one of his patented, bone-crushing hits at center ice. Even Hudler’s mother would tell you it was a perfectly clean play. But that didn’t stop Detroit defenseman Andreas Lilja from extracting revenge on Phaneuf in the form of a fight.

I admire Lilja’s spirit; teammates have to stick up for each other. And had it been a dirty hit, I could live with retribution by donnybrook.

But the consequence for delivering a clean hit should not be a forced five minutes in the box. Phaneuf had no choice but to partake in the bout once Lilja came after him.

Why should he (and his team) be punished for making what amounts to a great defensive play? Should Phaneuf have to sit on the bench and weigh his options before a shift?

Would the thinking go: “Well, I could give my team a lift by laying somebody out, but is that worth our worst defenseman getting more ice time while I sit in the box for five minutes?”

And don’t try telling me Phaneuf shouldn’t be clipping Hudler’s wings just because he’s a little guy. If Hudler can’t take the hits, he shouldn’t be in the league. If small players didn’t have to endure hard checks there’d be nothing remarkable about them playing with the big boys.

The proper course of action when a teammate gets smacked with a hard, but legal, hit should go something like this; pat him on the back, tell him his still-attached head has to be up at all times and, of course, get the number of the delivery truck and some time when he’s not suspecting it, two months down the road, crunch him with a clean check of your own.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Maple Leafs, please skip this post. For your own good, please ingore this...

Where are they now?


ALEX SHPRINTSEN
From Saturday's Globe and Mail
November 30, 2007 at 9:46 PM EST



Forget Paul Maurice.


Forget the board of directors of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment.


Forget the debate over whether Mats Sundin can lead a team to a Stanley Cup title.


If one really wants a portrait of why the Leafs have been so mediocre for the past 40 years, remember those famous words from the franchise's most successful general manager over those four decades.


"Draft shmaft."

That was Cliff Fletcher's response on trade deadline day in March, 1997, when the then-GM confirmed the Leafs had turned down the offer of a first-round pick for Wendel Clark. Alas, Fletcher couldn't deliver a Cup, and looking at the cold, hard facts, performance at the draft has played a major role.


The truly abominable drafting era for the Leafs began 20 years ago, and has continued unabated to this very day. The 1987 entry draft is a good point of departure because the previous year was the last time the Leafs used their first-round draft pick to choose a future star: Vincent Damphousse. Toronto's drafting performance since then has been truly inept.
And it is unquestionably the main reason for the general futility of their 40-year quest for the Stanley Cup.

First-round woes
Contrary to what has often been said and written, the Leafs have not given away most, or even many, of their first-round picks. In fact, in those 21 drafts, they have had 19 picks — which is pretty close to the NHL average.
Here are those 19 players in chronological order: Luke Richardson, Scott Pearson, Scott Thornton, Rob Pearson, Steve Bancroft, Drake Berehowsky, Brandon Convery, Grant Marshall, Kenny Jonsson, Landon Wilson, Eric Fichaud, Jeff Ware, Nik Antropov, Luca Cereda, Brad Boyes, Carlo Colaiacovo, Alex Steen, Tuukka Rask and Jiri Tlusty.


What is remarkable about this group is how unremarkable they are. The highest career scorer among them is Thornton with 278 points over 18 NHL seasons with six different teams. The highest individual accomplishment in one season was the 26 goals and 43 assists by Brad Boyes in 2005-06 with the Boston Bruins.


What's most incredible is that the highest number of goals in a season by one of these picks in a Leafs uniform came from Rob Pearson (23) in 1992-93. No one else has ever scored as many as 20 goals. Of the 20 teams that have been in existence since 1987, the team with the second-lowest career scorer drafted in the first round is the New York Islanders, whose highest point-getter has been Todd Bertuzzi with 546 points.


The league average over the same period is more than 900 points.
Averaging out the stats for all the NHL players who were picked in the first round during this 20-year period, if we were to prorate them over 82 games, those 19 Leaf picks would average 10 goals and 16 assists a season.


The rest of the NHL has been almost in a different league. The best franchise — Quebec Nordiques/Colorado Avalanche — has its first-round roster averaging 24 goals and 37 assists for 61 points a season. The NHL average is 42 points a season, more than 60 per cent better than the Leafs.

The competition
Of the four teams that have won more than one Stanley Cup since 1990, Colorado/Quebec, the Pittsburgh Penguins and New Jersey Devils have been the three most effective drafters in the first round.


The Penguins have been very good at giving themselves a high draft position by being awful for many consecutive years — that's how they got Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr, and after many years in the wilderness, they may now again be on the verge of another young, Cup-contending team. Still, the Devils (Martin Brodeur, Petr Sykora, Jason Smith and Scott Gomez) and the Avalanche (Joe Sakic, Alex Tanguay, Adam Deadmarsh) prove that you can pick very good players with low picks in the first round, disproving some of the excuses provided by and for the Leafs over the years.

The Leafs all-stars
For a better idea of the players the Leafs have drafted since 1987, here's a look at the all-Leafs team composed of 20 players:


Goalies: Felix Potvin and Damian Rhodes


Defence: Tomas Kaberle, Dmitri Mironov, Danny Markov, Ian White, Nathan Dempsey and Yannick Tremblay


Forwards: Daniel Marois, Tie Domi, Yanic Perreault, Grant Marshall, Nikolai Borschevsky, Fred Modin, Sergei Berezin, Alex Ponikarovsky, Kyle Wellwood, Mike Eastwood, Matt Stajan and Darby Hendrickson


There would only be one star on this team: Tomas Kaberle. In 20 years of drafting by the Leafs, only one player has developed into a borderline star. And so this "fantasy" team of Leaf draft picks would certainly not strike fear into anyone, especially when you look at some of the others, particularly the Detroit Red Wings.


Over this period, the Red Wings have not drafted particularly well in the first round, partly because they had traded away many of their picks (only 14 first-round picks since 1986) and when they did have one, it was often very low because they have been such a consistently good team.


Detroit, however, has been a consistently good team because they have more than made up for first-round failures by drafting well in subsequent rounds. The 1989 draft is an excellent point of comparison with the Leafs, who happened to have three first-round picks. They selected Scott Thornton (third overall), Rob Pearson (12th) and Steve Bancroft (21st), who in a bizarre twist all came from the Ontario Hockey League's Belleville Bulls.


In the very same draft, the Red Wings used later picks to select Nicklas Lidstrom (53rd), Sergei Fedorov (74th) and Vladimir Konstantinov (221st).
Detroit's post-first-round team of the last 20 years:


Goalies: Chris Osgood, Norm Maracle


Defence: Nicklas Lidstrom, Dan McGillis, Vlad Konstantinov, Jason York, Anders Eriksson, Mathieu Dandenault


Forwards: Sergei Fedorov, Slava Kozlov, Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, Mike Knuble, Thomas Holmstrom, Jiri Hudler, Dallas Drake, Darren McCarty, Johan Franzen and Valtteri Filppula

A new frontier
The striking comparison makes one wonder how the Leafs have avoided the depths of the cellar all these years.


There is a rather simple explanation — trades and free agency — which today make for a particularly bleak future. Two of the most lopsided trades in the NHL history were carried out by Fletcher. One brought Doug Gilmour to the Leafs, the other Mats Sundin. In both instances, Fletcher used previously successful Leaf draft picks — Gary Leeman and Wendel Clark — to pry those superstars.


During the Ken Dryden/Mike Smith/Pat Quinn era, successful free-agent signings, like those of Curtis Joseph, Ed Belfour, Gary Roberts and Alex Mogilny, allowed the Leafs to ice a respectable team.


It's a strategy that is no longer possible because of the salary-cap system, and the Leafs' postlockout signings of Eric Lindros, Jason Allison and Pavel Kubina show how difficult it is to improve your team via that route. It is only possible when a team has several great young players who don't earn a lot of money in their first few years, leaving them with sufficient cap room to sign stars.


Most of the Leafs' budget is tied up with veterans such as Sundin, Kubina, Bryan McCabe, Jason Blake and Darcy Tucker, making it all but impossible to improve by simply buying players.


Similarly, with regard to trades, the new cap system has made it very difficult to do anything more than patch minor holes in time for the playoffs.



The bottom line in the NHL is that contenders cannot be built through trades and signings.

A spendthrift solution
On the other hand, there is no salary cap on management and this is where Toronto must now spend its money.


It is patently obvious the Leafs have had an utterly incompetent collection of scouts during the past 20 years. That must change and quickly, but it's not that difficult to do. For the $5-million a year the Leafs are paying Kubina, they could hire the best general manager in the business and complement him with the combined scouting staff of the Red Wings, Devils and Avalanche.


This could happen quickly or slowly. Quickly, if the Leafs management were to decide to blow up the current team, getting rid of everyone they could and securing draft picks along with cap space, rebuilding the Penguins' way by getting high first-round picks for several years. The other — the slow or the very slow — way is to rebuild the team through attrition and gradual smart drafting.


Either way, ultimately, the Leafs' simplest direct solution is to spend their money to raid the scouting staffs of the most successful teams.

[Dr. Sak]

The Pens put Mark Recchi on waivers...one day after Mark Recchi bobblehead doll night at the Igloo.

[Draft Dodger]

harsh

[Travis]

Oilers win 3 in a row for the first time this season pulling to within a game of .500 with Souray, Greene, Roy, Tarnstrom and Moreau still on the shelf (and Pisani having played just his 3rd game of the season). A nice back to back set with the Ducks where the Oil outscored them 9-1 followed by their 7th shootout victory of the season (with Hemsky missing the last two games).

I'm at the point now where I'd very much like to see Roli and Garon split the rest of the season in net, and if they can be around .500 once they get the rest of the troops back (assuming they don't lose as many as they're getting back) I'm fully assuming that Lowe will look to make a 3 or 4 for 1 deal (including prospects) to bring in a rental scorer to see what kind of push they can make.

And on that note, I'd fully expect some of Torres, Schremp, Pouliot, Syvret, Tarnstrom, Jacques to be dealt. But the fact we're now ahead of Calgary and only a point back of the Ducks has to give the guys in that locker room a lot of confidence considering the injuries and the fact that they have yet to really put together a long winning streak. Here's hoping they don't let it go to their heads too quickly.

[Draft Dodger]

I wanted the Avs to sign Garon this summer. That was a good move for the Oil.

[Maple Leafs]

The Pens put Mark Recchi on waivers...one day after Mark Recchi bobblehead doll night at the Igloo.
I thought it was kind of cold that his bobblehead was wearing street clothes.

[Johnny93g]

Wade Belak scores his 1st goal................


















IN 4 YEARS!!!!!

[Pyser]

i randomly turned on the sens game yesterday with 5 mins left...they were down 3-1, and scored 2 goals in the last 90 seconds or so to tie it. still lost in a shootout though.

they can keep on losing, as far as im concerned. they are one dangerous team.

[Suburban Rhythm]

The Pens put Mark Recchi on waivers...one day after Mark Recchi bobblehead doll night at the Igloo.
And he's cleared...I doubt he is actually sent to WBS in the AHL. He'll be recalled soon, with hopes someone grabs him on re-entry waivers.

I can't imagine who would. He's due $1.75M this year...so whatever the prorated portion of that is now...

He was great early last season...then scored once in his last 29 games, including playoffs. Bringing him back with the idea he'd play on the top 2 lines was a mistake. He could be servicable on the 3rd line, but the Pens have no room there.

His wife is from Pittsburgh, and even while in Philly and Montreal (and that 2 month stint in Carolina) lived here in the offseason. He should retire, and Mario will give him a job in the front office.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Dola...meant to post this last week.

Max Talbot is hilarious

http://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/281672

[Chief Rum]

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news;_ylt=AmhJ1pw02CKv1KxEw9fbC557vLYF?slug=ap-ducks-niedermayer&prov=ap&type=lgns

Woot! Boy do we need him, too.

[Chief Rum]

And he's playing tonight, Sabres fans!!!
























































Okay, I'm fibbing...

[bhlloy]

This team needed that so frickin badly. Now at least I feel like we have a shot at defending the cup. Selanne meh, if he can still play we need the goals but he faded badly in the playoffs.

Huskins to be traded soon? With Schneider and Niedermayer, seems like we have all the puckhandling defensemen we need.

[Chief Rum]

This team needed that so frickin badly. Now at least I feel like we have a shot at defending the cup. Selanne meh, if he can still play we need the goals but he faded badly in the playoffs.

Huskins to be traded soon? With Schneider and Niedermayer, seems like we have all the puckhandling defensemen we need.

Someone has to go. With Niedermayer, we're about 1.5-2 mil over next year's sal cap (which, by the new CBA, teams must also abide by). Not sure how much Huskins makes, but didn't think it was that much. I was hearing more about Marchant being moved.

As for Teemu, I would bet he doesn't fade so much coming back now. After all, play until early June (the ideal, of course), it's still just six months of hockey--two less months and no training camp grind.

[Pyser]

zach parise is a fucking star.

a fucking star.

[MikeVic]

Sorry Oiler fans, I started watching this game a few minutes ago.

[bhlloy]

Well, it looks like Niedermayer coming back fired up the Ducks tonight. Won the battle on the scoreboard and did a great job of sticking up for each other. Best performance of the year IMO.

[Honolulu_Blue]

I was just looking at Mark Recchi's career after it was announced he was placed on re-entry waivers. A few things struck me:

1. I have absolutely no recollection of Mark Recchi ever playing for Montreal. None. But apparently he was there for parts of 5 years.

2. In 1992-93, while with the Flyers, Recchi scored 53 goals and had 70 assists for 123 points. He was a +1. In 90-91, he had 113 points and had an even +/-, he had 97 points in 91-92 and was a -21, and in 93/-94 he had 107 points and was a -2. That's a a lot of power-play points.

[johnnyshaka]

Sorry Oiler fans, I started watching this game a few minutes ago.

Tell me about it...I was there watching it unfold right in front of me. In all honesty, we didn't deserve to be up 2-0 after two but to lose in that way after everything had gone "right" up until about the 10 minute mark of the third period really felt cruel. Oh well.

That was my first time seeing Crosby in person and boy, that kid is fast. Guys liken him to Gretzky but Gretz didn't have anywhere near the speed that Sid has. Also, when Malkin hits puberty he is going to be absolutely huge. We were sitting right at the glass behind the Pens' net (1st and 3rd periods) and I think Whitney on defense and Laraque were the only guys bigger than him on the ice...and that is saying something for a kid his age with the skill set he has. Boy, if they can keep those kids together in Pittsburgh they are going to be scary good!!!

One other note...Fleury just missed scoring a goal at the end of the game...puck came to him at the side of the net and he reared back and just couldn't quite get it over the last Oiler at their own blue line as he got enough of it to slow it down. All of this after Fleury "tripped" on the blue line coming out onto the ice after the second intermission...fans were on him about that and I'm sure he would've liked to score that one to shut them up.

[DeToxRox]

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Hasek brings the pain

[Maple Leafs]

Holy crap.

It's like he instinctively puts his hands out to break his fall, but he's too high up and just keeps going.

[Maple Leafs]

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[JonInMiddleGA]

[QUOTE=Suburban Rhythm;1608554]And he's cleared...I doubt he is actually sent to WBS in the AHL. He'll be recalled soon, with hopes someone grabs him on re-entry waivers. I can't imagine who would. He's due $1.75M this year...so whatever the prorated portion of that is now... [quote]

Clearly your imagination has underestimated Don Waddell's penchant for overpaying guys who are well past their prime.

The Atlanta Thrashers claimed right winger Mark Recchi off re-entry waivers from the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday. The former all-star veteran had signed a one-year deal with the Penguins but received little ice time on a team dominated by younger players. He is scheduled to report to the Thrashers on Sunday. The Thrashers do not need to make a roster move, but are expected to do so in a few days.

[sterlingice]

Chicago lost its 4th straight by 2 or less :(

SI

[DeToxRox]

Chicago lost its 4th straight by 2 or less :(

SI

A trip to Detroit would cure what ails them

[Chief Rum]

Chicago lost its 4th straight by 2 or less :(

SI

Not trying to belittle your pain, but you realize by far most NHL games are won or lost by 2 or less.

I enjoyed watching Friday night's game. It was a fun up and down, high-scoring game.

[Draft Dodger]

the Avs beat St Louis 9-5 tonight.
They have one line - Stastny, Hejduk and Smyth - and that's it. The trio combined for 14 points this evening (Hejduk led the way with 6 points).

It was 6-2 after two periods, and Andy Murray pulled Toivonen and put in some guy up from Peoria (Marek Schwarz). The Blues score two goals in the first minute or so and suddenly it's a 2-goal game. So Murray puts Toivonen back in...Colorado scored 3 more to put the game away. Toivonen got pulled again after the Avs made it 8-4. And really, very few of the goals were really on him - the Blues looked awful on defense.

[DeToxRox]

Chris Osgood is 14-1-1. Unreal.

[Dr. Sak]

In tonight's 8-2 Flyer victory over the Pens...The Flyers had 58 minutes of penalties and the Pens had 98.

[Suburban Rhythm]

In tonight's 8-2 Flyer victory over the Pens...The Flyers had 58 minutes of penalties and the Pens had 98.

Playoff series with those 2 would be fantastic...there'd be nobody left by game 4.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07346/840983-61.stm

First, Philadelphia coach John Stevens accused the Penguins of being totally undisciplined after they received 81 penalty minutes in the third period of the Flyers' 8-2 victory at the Wachovia Center last night.

When his Penguins counterpart, Michel Therrien, was informed of Stevens' charge, he launched a caustic retort, pointing out that the Flyers had dispatched their No. 1 power play while holding a five-goal lead in the third period.

And when Therrien's postgame session with reporters ended, Flyers knuckle-dragger Ben Eager (0 points, 60 penalty minutes), whom Therrien passed in a corridor outside the Penguins' locker room, said to him, "You're a joke."

Therrien offered a two-word comeback, only the second half of which -- "you" -- is suitable for public consumption.

Consider the rivalry re-ignited. Not that it had been particularly dormant before last evening.

"Everyone knows there's one here," Penguins center Sidney Crosby said. "But it seems like it's escalated each game."

The antics during and after the game largely overshadowed hat tricks by Flyers forwards R.J. Umberger and Joffrey Lupul, the first time two Philadelphia players scored three goals each in a game since 1985...


The Flyers scored on three of 13 power-play chances, and spent much of the final period with the extra man. That led to Stevens' comments and the broadside Therrien fired back.

"Are we talking about the same team that has had five guys suspended this year?" Therrien said. "Is that the same team? It's a lack of respect, what [Stevens] did tonight.



Highlight of the game is Gary Roberts pummeling Ben Eager, who wouldn't go with Big Georges.

[Dr. Sak]

Eager is a joke. But what is a real joke is that Laraque is not going to get suspended for what he did to Biron. If a Flyer would have done that, everyone would be all over them.

Suburban...did you read Starkey's article on Recchi today in the Trib? All I can say is wow. I also heard an Edzo interview on XM radio. Edzo asked where he thought Recchi would go after being waived. Edzo said "I dont care about Mark Recchi...he is of no concern of me...I'll leave it at that." Recchi must be a real cancer in the locker room.

It was nice to see Pittsburgh native RJ Umberger get a hat trick. I really like him, but he didn't even get a star of the game.

1. Lupul...2. Richards...and 3. Crosby. Crosby had an assist and a -3 and he was a star. Give me a break.

I'm going to the game tomorrow against Ottawa in my company's box. Wonder how much stuff I would get thrown at me if I showed up with my Flyer hat on :)

[Suburban Rhythm]

Eager is a joke. But what is a real joke is that Laraque is not going to get suspended for what he did to Biron. If a Flyer would have done that, everyone would be all over them.

Suburban...did you read Starkey's article on Recchi today in the Trib? All I can say is wow. I also heard an Edzo interview on XM radio. Edzo asked where he thought Recchi would go after being waived. Edzo said "I dont care about Mark Recchi...he is of no concern of me...I'll leave it at that." Recchi must be a real cancer in the locker room.

It was nice to see Pittsburgh native RJ Umberger get a hat trick. I really like him, but he didn't even get a star of the game.

1. Lupul...2. Richards...and 3. Crosby. Crosby had an assist and a -3 and he was a star. Give me a break.

I'm going to the game tomorrow against Ottawa in my company's box. Wonder how much stuff I would get thrown at me if I showed up with my Flyer hat on :)

How fast can you get an Eager jersey made? That would be classic.

I haven't read the Starkey article...but now I'll have to check it out.

And agree, Laraque was stupid. But, had the refs not lost control of that game, none of that happens.

They take Eager off the ice for the elbow...that I admit was not THAT bad, but the intent was there...and while it would be chippy, it wouldn't have turned into what it did. Instead, they sit Georges for 4 mins, and leave Eager out there. I guess we can thank them for the entertainment that was Roberts-Eager.

I do have to ask...as a Flyers fan, do you think Biron was trying to teach Crosby (diver-extraordinaire according to Hitchcock) the proper way to execute a dive? ;)

Roberts deserved to be the 3rd star...after Lupul and Umberger, Roberts put on the best show of the night.

[Dr. Sak]

Oh Biron dove, big time. But he can't do it as good as Sid. Sid throws his head back like an old pro. Eager should've sat too. I agree it wasn't that bad...but the officials needed to restore order.

Did you see Biron call out Laraque after he slide tackled him? Biron is about 165lbs soaking wet. But if it was Ron Hextall he would've went after Laraque with his stick.

The best hit of the night is when Colby face planted into the boards when he missed a check. He was all bloodied up...then proceeded to get into a fight in the 3rd. He is by far my favorite Penguin.

This has to be one of the best rivalries in hockey right now. Too bad they don't play again till Mid-January.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Oh Biron dove, big time. But he can't do it as good as Sid. Sid throws his head back like an old pro. Eager should've sat too. I agree it wasn't that bad...but the officials needed to restore order.

Did you see Biron call out Laraque after he slide tackled him? Biron is about 165lbs soaking wet. But if it was Ron Hextall he would've went after Laraque with his stick.

The best hit of the night is when Colby face planted into the boards when he missed a check. He was all bloodied up...then proceeded to get into a fight in the 3rd. He is by far my favorite Penguin.

This has to be one of the best rivalries in hockey right now. Too bad they don't play again till Mid-January.

You mean like Hartnell (I believe) crumpling to the ice from the brush burn he got from Roberts stick? ;)

Yeah..Biron was killing me...yelling, from behind his mask, and 2 refs!
We need someone out there doing the Rob Brown fist pump, and then have Biron attack.

Do you think anything will come out of this, with Bettman putting the Flyers 'on watch' last week? The Pens initiated all the battles, and deserved all the penalties they got from the 10 minute point of the 3rd on...but I still contend it all stems from Eager's elbow.

[Dr. Sak]

You mean like Hartnell (I believe) crumpling to the ice from the brush burn he got from Roberts stick? ;)

Yeah I noticed that too but Hartnell was bleeding (a little) from the stick. I am all for the refs calling diving penalties. And none of this crap where a guy gets 2 mins for hooking and the other gets 2 mins for diving. Just call the diver.

I think if the Flyers do anything dirty, whoever does it will get a extended vacation plus the team will get fined heavily. They showed the hits last night and there is no place in hockey for what Bolerice or Downie did.

The other ones, I don't think the intent to injure was there but just like with high sticking, you should have your body under control enough to avoid hits like that. Honestly, I'd love for the Flyers to get rid of Eager. He takes stupid penalties and is a liability on the ice in both zones. And you're right...that elbow started it all. Right then and there both of them should've been thrown out, or at least been given matching penalties. The refs needed to send a message.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Yeah I noticed that too but Hartnell was bleeding (a little) from the stick. I am all for the refs calling diving penalties. And none of this crap where a guy gets 2 mins for hooking and the other gets 2 mins for diving. Just call the diver.

I think if the Flyers do anything dirty, whoever does it will get a extended vacation plus the team will get fined heavily. They showed the hits last night and there is no place in hockey for what Bolerice or Downie did.

The other ones, I don't think the intent to injure was there but just like with high sticking, you should have your body under control enough to avoid hits like that. Honestly, I'd love for the Flyers to get rid of Eager. He takes stupid penalties and is a liability on the ice in both zones. And you're right...that elbow started it all. Right then and there both of them should've been thrown out, or at least been given matching penalties. The refs needed to send a message.

Agree, both go off the ice right then, about 90% of what happens afterwards never occurs.

I saw Hartnell bleeding, and 100% agree it was a correct call, Roberts wasn't in control of his stick. But, same play, and that's Crosby, people would be all over him.

Sadly, Crosby has to do that to get some calls, and players like Hartnell are going to embellish, too, to get the call. I don't think there is anything wrong with that. Just that if players knew the refs arm would go up as soon as it happens, no need to try and draw a call.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Damn. Sounds like I picked a poor night to skip TV/hockey and catch up on some reading.

I'm glad to see the rivalry get some life. Hockey is always at its best when it has strong rivalries.

I have to say, however, there is far too much agreeing going on between Bsak and Suburban Rhythm. Come on, fellas. Get in the spirit of things!

[Dr. Sak]

One last interesting tid bit from the game. For the rest of the season neither team (Pens or Flyers) have to leave the Eastern Time Zone to play a game.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Damn. Sounds like I picked a poor night to skip TV/hockey and catch up on some reading.

I'm glad to see the rivalry get some life. Hockey is always at its best when it has strong rivalries.

I have to say, however, there is far too much agreeing going on between Bsak and Suburban Rhythm. Come on, fellas. Get in the spirit of things!

I figure he knows the Cryers are trash...do I really need to repeat that to him? ;)

[Dr. Sak]

I figure he knows the Cryers are trash...do I really need to repeat that to him? ;)

They should've moved your team to KC. :p

[JonInMiddleGA]

Just FWIW, Mark Recchi scored two goals in a 61 second span tonight in his Atlanta debut.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Just FWIW, Mark Recchi scored two goals in a 61 second span tonight in his Atlanta debut.

Just about matching his prior 52 game span.

[Honolulu_Blue]

So the Flyers sign Mike Richards to a Rick DiPietroesque 12 year, $69 million contact, which averages $5.75 a year against the cap.

If Richards continues to play like he has thus far this year, he'll end up being one hell of a bargain for the Flyers over the next decade or so.

[Blade6119]

I dont like it at all, takes away their motivation...

[RomaGoth]

So the Flyers sign Mike Richards to a Rick DiPietroesque 12 year, $69 million contact, which averages $5.75 a year against the cap.

If Richards continues to play like he has thus far this year, he'll end up being one hell of a bargain for the Flyers over the next decade or so.


Damn, 12 years eh? I dread the idea of that length of a contract becoming the "norm" in the NHL. The league is just not solvent enough anymore to handle too many of those, especially if they are guaranteed contracts. I know the NFL does not have guaranteed (except the bonus), and the idiotic NBA does have guaranteed contracts. I believe baseball is guaranteed contracts as well, right? Not sure about the NHL though. Can anyone enlighten me?

:p

[MikeVic]

Just about matching his prior 52 game span.

HAHA!

[Draft Dodger]

what happens with all these deals when the cap goes down?

[Travis]

what happens with all these deals when the cap goes down?

I can't quote the specifics, but from my understanding, if the cap ever goes down, there is language in the agreement where all player contracts roll back (assuming by a similar percentage to that of the cap reduction) to keep everything in sync.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Damn, 12 years eh? I dread the idea of that length of a contract becoming the "norm" in the NHL. The league is just not solvent enough anymore to handle too many of those, especially if they are guaranteed contracts. I know the NFL does not have guaranteed (except the bonus), and the idiotic NBA does have guaranteed contracts. I believe baseball is guaranteed contracts as well, right? Not sure about the NHL though. Can anyone enlighten me?

:p

They are guaranteed.

[Logan]

Yeah, the Isles got a little nervous when DiPietro was having problems with concussions. Stupid to be going to this length for deals.

[sterlingice]

Amen. These deals are ridiculous. What's driving this weird trend?

SI

[Dr. Sak]

Well if they have a career ending injury (ie Rajthe)...they can be put on a list (sort like PUP in the NFL) where they don't count against the cap. But they still get paid.

[johnnyshaka]

Oilers beat the Wings in yet another shootout...I believe that's the Oilers' 9th win via the shootout. Despite Roloson's great game...the first goal and the last goal were both TERRIBLE.

[Pyser]

some interestin stuff from cnnsi about the ducks:




Maybe that "do the right thing" speech that Anaheim GM Brian Burke gave about putting goalie llya Bryzgalov on waivers had more than just a good-heart motivation.

Shortly after Burke said he had no takers in a trade (what, was Tampa Bay sleeping?) and needed to let the Ducks' No. 2 goalie go because Bryzgalov had been a "good man" who deserved a "chance to play" and all that, All-Star defenseman Scott Niedermayer announced that he was returning to the Ducks. And there lies the rub:

Though numerous media outlets reported that the Ducks would have to free up some $3 million in cap space for Niedermayer, it's not exactly true. The NHL has a complicated subplot in the 600-plus page Collective Bargaining Agreement called "tagging" -- a method by which clubs can act like corporations that sell off their surplus pollution credits or get tax deductions for unused debt.

In this case, it has to do with "tagging" expiring contracts and contracts that are moved (like Bryzgalov's). It's far too complicated to explain here, but the Ducks, who have a full-time "capologist" in Dave McNab (who also happens to be an outstanding hockey man), apparently have done the math and the tagging and need only to eliminate some $880,000 from this year's budget to get Niedermayer on the ice.

There's nothing illegal or even immoral in what the Ducks did, but if Burke knew that Niedermayer was coming back before it was announced (and that's a logical conclusion), the mysterious goalie waiver makes a whole lot more sense than just giving Bryzgalov a chance to play. But Burke may have a problem when he tries to re-sign some of the players whose contracts expire at the end of this season. For now, it appears he can accommodate an All-Star defenseman with just a little bit of cost cutting.

In financial circles and hockey arenas, that's called exploiting an opportunity, otherwise known as a job well done.

[Suburban Rhythm]

St Louis - Anaheim:

Ducks get Doug Weight, prospect and pick

Blues get Andy MacDonald

BUT...Weight is a UFA at the end of the year, MacDonald had another year at $3.3M. So as Pyser describes above, they've opened cap space for next season, allowing them to bring back Niedermeyer this year. And I guess negotiate with Corey Perry.

Weight for MacDonald, terrible trade for Anaheim.
Weight and Nieds for MacDonald, good trade. All depends on how you look at it.

[bhlloy]

McDonald has been terrible this year. I would have rather moved a package of Marchant and O'Donnell, but no GM in the league is going to take on salary to pick up those two.

If McDonald gets a couple of good linemates in St. Louis he could turn out really well for them, but at this point honestly it looks like Selanne and Kunitz made McDonald look good and not the other way around.

Getting Weight back is a bonus IMO. He's not great anymore, but I'd have expected to get nothing in return. Birner might be a decent player at some point as well. Ultimately, I'm pretty happy with the deal.

[bbor]

Macdonald has been far from great this season.....i know this because i have him on my fantasy team :(

[bbor]

Dola.....Break up the Leafs!!

[chrisj]

In this case, it has to do with "tagging" expiring contracts and contracts that are moved (like Bryzgalov's). It's far too complicated to explain here, but the Ducks, who have a full-time "capologist" in Dave McNab (who also happens to be an outstanding hockey man), apparently have done the math and the tagging and need only to eliminate some $880,000 from this year's budget to get Niedermayer on the ice.

There really isn't anything tricky or tough to understand about this.

You have 'x' number of players on your 23 man roster. They count towards your cap. If you move out of them, his remaining salary is removed from the cap.

The more tricky part is playing with future seasons - the Ducks can't have more salary signed than what the cap is for next season (i.e. if the cap is $50 million, they can't have $55 million of salary on the books for next season right now).

That's why the Ducks moved MacDonald. He's signed for next season, while Doug Weight isn't. Since Niedermayer is still under contract for next season, adding his salary would have put the Ducks over the cap for next season, so they had to remove him.

This could make the Duck's off season even more tricky - Niedermayer will have to retire (assuming he does) just about as soon as the season is over, otherwise the Ducks risk losing Perry to free agency.

[bhlloy]

I understand the MacDonald deal gives the Ducks easily enough room to renegotiate with Perry, which was another big reason why it was MacDonald and his 2008 contract that had to go.

[Suburban Rhythm]

For us here on the other coast-What's Selanne's status? Is he without a contract at all? Then they'd only need enough room for this season, depending on his demands. And is he even considering coming back?

[Tekneek]

I dont like it at all, takes away their motivation...

Unless you're the type who doesn't have to be in a contract year to be motivated to do your job.

[Tekneek]

Yeah, the Isles got a little nervous when DiPietro was having problems with concussions. Stupid to be going to this length for deals.

Very little risk, as long as you have the money to cover the deal if they stay healthy but start to suck. Bury them in the minors and they get paid while being off the cap sheet. If they don't show up, they don't get paid. If they get a long term injury, or a career ending injury, insurance probably picks up the rest of the salary or some substantial portion of it. These deals are nowhere near as risky as they might seem.

[bhlloy]

For us here on the other coast-What's Selanne's status? Is he without a contract at all? Then they'd only need enough room for this season, depending on his demands. And is he even considering coming back?

He is considering coming back in the new year. He's a UFA as well, so in theory could sign for the league minimum and they would only have to deal a Huskins or Miller to fit him in. I have no idea whether that is realistic or whether he will want to get paid what he is worth.

Trading McDonald and moving Kunitz full time to the Perry/Getzlaf line makes me lean towards he isn't coming back, but we will see.

[Suburban Rhythm]

About 6 mins remaining in the Pens - Isles game tonight, play stopped along the boards, in front of the benches. Jarkko Ruutu on the ice-literally-and starts rolling around grabbing his leg. You can't really tell anything, camera angle too close.

After commercial, they show the replay from a different camera.

Before heading to the bench, Chris Simon trips Ruutu...no big deal. But then STOMPS on Ruutu's ankle with his skate! He got a match penalty, Pens hade a 5 min PP, and hold on to win 3-2. But can we get this trash out of the league? I thought last year with the Holleweg offense, he was 'dazed' but the prior hit, what will the excuse be this time?

[Wolfpack]

Canes finally break their losing streak with a win the hard (and somewhat strange) way in Philly. Blew a 3-1 lead in the second period, kept getting all manner of bad breaks on Philly goals (heroic efforts by skaters bailing out Graehme who had to make some kind of sprawling save, only to have the puck just break the goal line or other such event), went oh-fer on the power play, but ultimately won the shootout 3-2. The somwhat strange part is that Brind'Amour was last skater in the shootout and ripped a shot at Biron that Biron deflected straight up into the air. Naturally, the arena goes nuts as everyone thinks Biron stopped the shot. However, Biron has lost the puck in the air, so while he's trying to locate it, he's drifting ever so slowly back into his goal. The puck comes straight down onto his back and he reacts by batting it with the back of his arm into the goal. Absolute fluke, but after the recent skid, I'm taking anything I can get.

[Blade6119]

Unless you're the type who doesn't have to be in a contract year to be motivated to do your job.
Quite true, but their taking a damn big risk that this guy is one such player. Dipietro at least still has the starting US goalie spot to motivate him, im not sure what the motivation here will be if he is a player who is not easily motivated.

[Honolulu_Blue]

About 6 mins remaining in the Pens - Isles game tonight, play stopped along the boards, in front of the benches. Jarkko Ruutu on the ice-literally-and starts rolling around grabbing his leg. You can't really tell anything, camera angle too close.

After commercial, they show the replay from a different camera.

Before heading to the bench, Chris Simon trips Ruutu...no big deal. But then STOMPS on Ruutu's ankle with his skate! He got a match penalty, Pens hade a 5 min PP, and hold on to win 3-2. But can we get this trash out of the league? I thought last year with the Holleweg offense, he was 'dazed' but the prior hit, what will the excuse be this time?

I just read about this. Un-fucking-real. He needs to be out. Banned. Gone. Playing in the league is a privilege. His NHL privileges should be revoked.

[RPI-Fan]

About 6 mins remaining in the Pens - Isles game tonight, play stopped along the boards, in front of the benches. Jarkko Ruutu on the ice-literally-and starts rolling around grabbing his leg. You can't really tell anything, camera angle too close.

After commercial, they show the replay from a different camera.

Before heading to the bench, Chris Simon trips Ruutu...no big deal. But then STOMPS on Ruutu's ankle with his skate! He got a match penalty, Pens hade a 5 min PP, and hold on to win 3-2. But can we get this trash out of the league? I thought last year with the Holleweg offense, he was 'dazed' but the prior hit, what will the excuse be this time?

No excuse. He's a thug. I was embarrassed when we re-signed him and am more embarrassed now.

[Chief Rum]

Still uncertain about the McDonald trade, but given what it's allowing, I can't be too unhappy about it. Tonight's game will be interesting, with Niedermayer, Weight and Bobby Ryan all playing.

[Fidatelo]

I saw the Simon replay last night, that is insane. I can often find plausible excuses for the stupid things players do, but not this time. I hope this clown is officially D-U-N done.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Pretty interesting game between Detroit and Florida last night. The Wings scored 7 goals in their win against the Panthers. The only downside being that Lidstrom's and Chelios' goals were each against Osgood.

The Wings had two penalty shots in about 5 minute span. Datsyuk missed his, but Val Filpula burried his second penalty shot in three games.

[RomaGoth]

I saw the Simon replay last night, that is insane. I can often find plausible excuses for the stupid things players do, but not this time. I hope this clown is officially D-U-N done.

Simon is a worthless pile of bile. His entire career is based upon cheap shots and thugism. BAN HIM!!!! :mad:

[RomaGoth]

Pretty interesting game between Detroit and Florida last night. The Wings scored 7 goals in their win against the Panthers. The only downside being that Lidstrom's and Chelios' goals were each against Osgood.

The Wings had two penalty shots in about 5 minute span. Datsyuk missed his, but Val Filpula burried his second penalty shot in three games.

I miss watching Wings games since I moved away 3 years ago.....:(

[MikeVic]

So, Simon should be banned from the league. Goon.

[DeToxRox]

Ha, good to see Crosby show a little grit by fighting Ference last night.

[bhlloy]

Watching the Kings-Sharks game tonight, and I think I realise why the Kings are such a shitty team. Nagy gets flattened by Matt Carle late along the boards and can barely stand, and his four "teammates" stand around with their fingers up their ass. Way to stand up for your teammate chumps.

heh... now Nagy just got cross-checked in the neck by Rivet, and again the rest of the team just looks down and skates away. LA has some pretty skillful players, but it ain't going to do much good if they are scared for their lives everytime they get on the ice.

[watravaler]

If half the friggin team wasn't injured, I'd say the Blackhawks have a good shot to make the playoffs, and sweep the Red Wings in the first round. Even if it doesn't happen, the future appears to be very bright. Jon Toews is pretty much 10x better than I expected him to be at this point in time. And where the hell did Dustin Byfuglien come from? it's funny watching him charge down the ice as all the defenders scurry away...

[NoSkillz]

If half the friggin team wasn't injured, I'd say the Blackhawks have a good shot to make the playoffs, and sweep the Red Wings in the first round.

:eek: What makes you think ANYONE can sweep the Wings the way they're playing this year?

[Draft Dodger]

:eek: What makes you think ANYONE can sweep the Wings the way they're playing this year?

yeah, it's really not likely that the Wings would dominate in the regular season and then fold in the postseason. right?

[Honolulu_Blue]

yeah, it's really not likely that the Wings would dominate in the regular season and then fold in the postseason. right?

Why do you hate freedom?

[watravaler]

:eek: What makes you think ANYONE can sweep the Wings the way they're playing this year?

Well, the Blackhawks are 4-0 against the Wings this year...this has to mean something, eh? :cool:

[Pumpy Tudors]

Watching the Kings-Sharks game tonight, and I think I realise why the Kings are such a shitty team. Nagy gets flattened by Matt Carle late along the boards and can barely stand, and his four "teammates" stand around with their fingers up their ass. Way to stand up for your teammate chumps.

heh... now Nagy just got cross-checked in the neck by Rivet, and again the rest of the team just looks down and skates away. LA has some pretty skillful players, but it ain't going to do much good if they are scared for their lives everytime they get on the ice.
I watched about 10 minutes of the game, but I didn't see the stuff you mentioned. Really, all I got out of the 10 minutes I watched was that the Kings are horrible. My goodness, I can't believe that people actually pay to get into the arena to watch them play.

[Chief Rum]

Watching the Kings-Sharks game tonight, and I think I realise why the Kings are such a shitty team. Nagy gets flattened by Matt Carle late along the boards and can barely stand, and his four "teammates" stand around with their fingers up their ass. Way to stand up for your teammate chumps.

heh... now Nagy just got cross-checked in the neck by Rivet, and again the rest of the team just looks down and skates away. LA has some pretty skillful players, but it ain't going to do much good if they are scared for their lives everytime they get on the ice.

You hit the nail on the head, bhlloy. I went to the Kings-Ducks game at Staples last month, the second of a home-and-home in which Pronger just went off on someone at the end of the first game (forgetting who, but it was his usual edgy, instigator style). My brother, a diehard Kings fan, was just waiting for the gloves to drop the second the puck dropped. Well, didn't happen. Kings just played their game, and the Ducks blew them away, 6-2, clearly outmuscling them the whole night. Which is sad really, because as much as they are our regional rivals and they hate us like Paris Hilton's eyes hate sunlight, I would love for them to be good again. I can't stand any of the other Pacific Division teams, and I just know a seven game playoff series between the Kings and Ducks would just go off in this town.

My brother is resigned to how bad they are, and that sucks.

[NoSkillz]

Well, the Blackhawks are 4-0 against the Wings this year...this has to mean something, eh? :cool:

Wow, there is a stat!

Chicago should sell their secrets to the rest of the league. That's pretty impressive.

[Draft Dodger]

Wow, there is a stat!

Chicago should sell their secrets to the rest of the league. That's pretty impressive.

indeed. Detroit is 22-1-1 against non-Central teams.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Well, the Blackhawks are 4-0 against the Wings this year...this has to mean something, eh? :cool:

Well, one of those losses was an overtime loss. The Wings are 28-3-1 against the rest of the league. It's just Robert Lang and the Blackhawks they can't seem to figure out.

[Honolulu_Blue]

indeed. Detroit is 22-1-1 against non-Central teams.

And what's their record against teams from Colorado this year? :)

[Chief Rum]

Very nice 2-1 road win for the Ducks tonight, and twice as nice that it was against the Oilers, after last summer's dealings, and the smackings they handed us in that home and home last month. This doesn't make up for that, but it helps.

The winning goal was scored by Weight off of an incredible pass by Bobby Ryan. Man, that kid's gonna be good when he's ready. I guess there was a reason the Ducks made him the first player not named Crosby in the Crosby draft.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Pens almost have to pick up some D now, or at the deadline. Mark Eaton out indefinitely with a torn ACL. He played 35 games last season before multiple injuries, and 36 to this point before his knee. I don't know the exact record anymore, but there is a pretty noticeable difference in Pittsburgh's record when he is in the lineup.

Problem is, they only have spare parts to move.

[Draft Dodger]

And what's their record against teams from Colorado this year? :)

heh. Detroit has a really good team. I was pleased that we were able to stay in the game (thanks Rafalski). We had chances to tie it, but fucking Hasek was great. Eyebrowski Filppula is pretty darn good.

From the Interesting Only To Me Category: After Cody McLeod scored his first NHL goal against Hasek, he skated to the bench and sat down next to Ben Guite. Last year, Guite scored his first NHL goal against...Dominik Hasek.

[sterlingice]

(I'm just happy people are talking a little bit about the Blackhawks and it's not about having the worst record in the league)

SI

[Booj]

Well, after Montreal not only swept both Florida teams, but scored 10 goals, had 5-0 and 4-0 leads and saw all four goaltenders, they are suddenly 4th in the East... How the Hell did this happen? I've watched every game this year, and they don't seem like a team that should have home-ice advantage in the first round...

...Then I realized that they are five points from missing the playoffs entirely. Makes more sense now.

[Dr. Sak]

Pens almost have to pick up some D now, or at the deadline. Mark Eaton out indefinitely with a torn ACL. He played 35 games last season before multiple injuries, and 36 to this point before his knee. I don't know the exact record anymore, but there is a pretty noticeable difference in Pittsburgh's record when he is in the lineup.

Problem is, they only have spare parts to move.

I think Eaton is going to try and play on it. I read that in the PPG yesterday.

[Young Drachma]

Looking forward to the Winter Classic tomorrow. I'm happy to have hockey on New Year's..even if it is on NBC.

[NoSkillz]

Looking forward to the Winter Classic tomorrow. I'm happy to have hockey on New Year's..even if it is on NBC.

Yes, yes...

I will be there tomorrow at the game and I'm pretty pumped. We're heading over the border a little after 8:30am and will be tailgating and the whole bit.

I'll bring my camera and try to get a couple pictures while I'm there.

[Draft Dodger]

NBC means Pierre McGuire and Mike Milbury, right?

gag

[Young Drachma]

Nah, apparently Bob Costas is hosting some sort of show. Dunno if he's doing the PbP tho.

[Suburban Rhythm]

I think Eaton is going to try and play on it. I read that in the PPG yesterday.

I hear Gary Roberts wants to break his other leg, fly to Chicago, and grant Ben Eager a re-match. ;)

That would be welcome news with Eaton!

[NoSkillz]

I hear Gary Roberts wants to break his other leg, fly to Chicago, and grant Ben Eager a re-match. ;)

That would be welcome news with Eaton!

The Penguins broadcasters on Saturday night against the Sabres said Eaton was going to undergo surgery for what it's worth...

[Young Drachma]

Man, what a spectacle. Too cool.

[Young Drachma]

I don't know that any other sport could pull something like this off convincingly. Among the major sports, anyway. I think it owes to the fact that hockey plays in relatively small arena, so the huge crowds are the big draw as much as the whole outdoor thing.

[Young Drachma]

The NHL apparently decided to replace the national anthem with God Bless America after singing the Canadian anthem. Hmm...interesting.

[Young Drachma]

I wish their sound was better, because it's difficult to really get the full brunt of the crowd with the way they're doing this now. But I guess they don't exactly have a lot of practice doing this.

[Logan]

I like the Pens' jerseys a lot. Are they new just for this game?

And seriously, is this rink regulation size? Probably just looks weird because of what's surrounding it, but it looks much narrower to me.

[Dr. Sak]

The Pens are just wearing these for this game. Those were their old jerseys and colors before they switched to the Black and Gold.

[Dr. Sak]

I am a little pissed I didn't go but this is my favorite day of the year for college football.

[Booj]

Exciting 1-0 game so far, which is good because the NHL needs this game to be successful for the sake of the game's future in the US. It isn't make or break, but every little bit helps!

[Pumpy Tudors]

Damn, I forgot that the game started at 1:00. I missed the first period. Oh, well. I'll watch most of the rest.

[Logan]

Exciting 1-0 game so far, which is good because the NHL needs this game to be successful for the sake of the game's future in the US. It isn't make or break, but every little bit helps!

I am a little pissed I didn't go but this is my favorite day of the year for college football.

Too much college football on today for this to mean anything to the game's future in the US. Maybe that says something.

[johnnyshaka]

Having been to the Heritage Classic...I don't know what's worse...sitting in -30 degrees Celsius or sitting in the rain.

The NHL surely did screw things up by scheduling this on Bowl Day if their intent was to try and strengthen the U.S. market. I even find myself watching the Michigan/Florida game more often than not.

[Young Drachma]

NBC hasn't necessarily impressed me with their presentation, to be honest. I don't know if ESPN would've been "better", though.

[Pumpy Tudors]

They could have Mike Emrick doing commentary on a constipated dog trying to lick himself, and I would watch it, and I would be riveted.

I love Mike Emrick.

[MizzouRah]

What a surprise to see this one after the Mizzou game. Too cool is right!