2011-12 NHL Regular Season Thread

[Wolfpack]

Carolina cuts their roster to 23 and the eyebrow-raiser is the fact that both Justin Faulk and Ryan Murphy are still on the list. This means the Canes are carrying nine defensemen to start the season. The most rational explanation is that they wanted to see what Faulk and Murphy can do at this point, both having impressed in their preseason action. Murphy is a freebie much like Skinner was last year as he can go back to juniors after nine games (the generally expected outcome for him, though some speculate he'd just be wasting time against inferior competition that might cause some regression). Faulk had high expectations coming in, but seems to have exceeded them as Jim Rutherford has tagged him as a top-4 defenseman, which may mean he's staying up rather than going back to Charlotte. With Kaberle, Gleason, and Pitkanen already taking spots, that leaves Faulk competing against McBain, Harrison, Allen, and Joslin for one of the three remaining spots and most of those guys are on one-way deals or must pass through waivers to reach Charlotte.

Going to be interesting to see how it sorts out.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by HiFiRevival

The only chance the Caps have to win this year is if the only man uglier than his own bobblehead chokes to death on 16 hot dogs at once.

So it's like 50-50 then? I mean, as often as he appears to tackle the 16 hot dog challenge, sooner or later the odds have to stack up.

[Suburban Rhythm]

When he is inevitably fired, this needs used at the press conference

[Sublime 2]

I'll be at the banner raising tonight sporting my new Boychuck jersey!

Really hoping to see some big strides from Seguin this year, and looking forward to see what Caron can bring to the table.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Originally Posted by HiFiRevival

That gif found it's way to many a Caps blog/message board last year.

One of the folks at Japers Rink, easily the top Caps blog, did a shift by shift study last year of Ovi-Backstrom-???. The guys who got significant time on that top line were Laich, Chimera, Fehr and Father Time. The combo with Knuble had the worst +/- and the worst point per shift total out of the various options. Chimera actually worked best with the other two as he's faster than both and was willing to chase the puck down in the corners and let Ovi/Backstrom set up on offense instead of always trying to do a 2-on-3 breakaway.

Chimera must be Washington's answer to Pascal Dupuis. Speed to spare, no hands. I shouldn't say no hands, he's always around 15-20. People hate him playing next to Crosby because he's not a 30+ goal scorer.

Just like you hate Knuble, there is probably a group out there that hates Chimera on the top line because of what he's not.

Every team has holes now because of the cap.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Originally Posted by HiFiRevival

Chimera is adored in DC because he's all hustle, he scores more than his hands/skill would suggest, he'll fight anyone, and he's relatively cheap (his extension is 2/3.5 for a decrease in annual salary). He actually took a pay cut to stay for 2 more years. He's not a 1st line winger, but he was/is a better 1st line option than Knuble at this point. Ovi-Johannson-Brouwer looked really good the last couple of games in preseason. There's no reason to go back to something that everyone knows doesn't work.

The only people in DC that seem to not understand how bad Knuble was last year are GMGM and Fat Boy Fat who have shown they have no idea how to put together a playoff team.

You have more faith in fans than I do.

In a perfect world, Dupuis is a great 3rd line winger. And would be loved if he remained there. As soon as he's on Crosby's line, people go nuts.
I just think while Chimera's game would be fine in short spurts, after he botches some tap-ins, people will rail against him the same way.

[TurnerONU22]

Originally Posted by Suburban Rhythm

You have more faith in fans than I do.

In a perfect world, Dupuis is a great 3rd line winger. And would be loved if he remained there. As soon as he's on Crosby's line, people go nuts.
I just think while Chimera's game would be fine in short spurts, after he botches 95% of tap-ins, people will rail against him the same way.

Fixed it for you. I loved having Chimmer on the CBJ, but saying that he had hands of stone would be an understatement. A few years back, Ken Hitchcock wanted the line of Chimera-Malhotra-Dan Fritsche to go practice shooting pucks into the ocean from the beach, because that was the only target large enough for them to hit.

Quick story about him that makes him one of my favorites is that he named his daugher Ryann, after Ryan Salmons, a teen who had terminal cancer and became almost a part of the team during their only playoff run in 2008.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Originally Posted by HiFiRevival

The thing is, Chimera really doesn't botch the tap in type of plays. He can't seem to pick up the puck on his own very well, and can simply whiff on easy passes right on the tape, but if it's sitting near the net, he'll knock it in one way or another. Knuble, on the other hand, made missing open nets an art form last year.

The ultimate issue here is that Knuble is 39, he's moving in slow motion these days, and every other player who got the RW spot on the 1st line last year increased the performance of the line over him. Ovi/Backstrom had more points on shifts with Semin than Knuble last year despite Knuble being on their line more than 3x as much as Semin.

Brouwer looked very good with Ovi/Johannson this preseason. He's the guy who will go win the puck in the corner and let Ovi, and whatever Center he has, set up and not have to wear themselves out playing 2-on-3. Instead, it looks like the Knuble failure will continue.

Of course, this is the coach who is putting Ovi back on the PP point again despite the PP being under 10% when Ovi is on the point and over 20% when he's either on the half board or in front of the net.

Chimera = Dupuis
Knuble = Guerin
Brouwer = Kunitz

Penguins and Caps are more alike than fans want to believe...can't we all just get along?

[bronconick]

Wonder if they let the new players on the Bruins stay in the locker room or something. Be awkward to be on the ice when you didn't win it and they're passing the Cup around.

[Galaxy]

Are they booing Jacobs? (I know why if they are.)

[Dr. Sak]

I swear Brad Marchand and Ryan Gosling are long lost twin brothers.

[Suburban Rhythm]

[MacroGuru]

And Sabres/Ducks in about 4 hours!

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by MacroGuru

And Sabres/Ducks in about 4 hours!

Yup! Looking forward to it.

[Chief Rum]

Well, I'm at work, but looking forward to it starting.

[Johnny93g]

Thank god hockey's back!!

[MacroGuru]

Working for a Unified Communications company has some benefits...streaming the game off of our server to our desktops with almost zero network interference.

3-1 Sabres so far!

[Chief Rum]

Glad to see that nothing has changed with the Ducks. Slow starts, every year.

[MacroGuru]

Great game by the Sabres....4-1 and solid play...

[Suburban Rhythm]

Stolen from HFboards

Apparently, even if NHL players don't play in Sochi in 2014, Mike Richards and Brandon Dubinsky are hopefuls to represent Canada in pairs figure skating.

[Wolfpack]

It's only one game, of course, but even before getting drubbed 5-1 by Tampa tonight, I felt Carolina was going to be an 80-point team and miss the playoffs by a decent margin this time around. Still sucks to have it confirmed so emphatically, though.

They played good and hard for the first period for once, but all the lousy crap problems they had last year returned for the final two period. O-fer on the power play, gave up two PPGs to Tampa going the other way, horrible positioning, especially on defense, couldn't get out of each other's way, whiffing on chances, etc. They even brought a problem from two years ago out of mothballs, that being back-to-back goals given up in rapid succession scenario. Had two scored on them ten seconds apart that effectively ended the game tonight.

*sigh*

Off to Washington tomorrow, then New Jersey on Monday. No points from those two games and the "Mo Must Go" chants will start to get a bit louder in short order.

[Galaxy]

Originally Posted by MacroGuru

Great game by the Sabres....4-1 and solid play...

Yep. They had no shots in the third though.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Originally Posted by Wolfpack

It's only one game, of course, but even before getting drubbed 5-1 by Tampa tonight, I felt Carolina was going to be an 80-point team and miss the playoffs by a decent margin this time around. Still sucks to have it confirmed so emphatically, though.

This post made me miss a simpler time, when 80 point teams were playoff teams, before standings needed 12 columns

Originally Posted by Wolfpack

Off to Washington tomorrow, then New Jersey on Monday. No points from those two games and the "Mo Must Go" chants will start to get a bit louder in short order.

This part I'm not so sure about. I think there is a clause written by the hockey Gods that says Peter Laviolette or Paul Maurice must coach the Hurricanes, and Lavi doesn't seem to be moving any time soon.

It's written in the same section that decrees any trade of Chris Pronger must involve Joffrey Lupul.

[Galaxy]

The Kings-Sabres game this afternoon should be interesting, since the Sabres didn't arrive in Berlin until 4:30 this morning (From WGR550, "The Sabres didn't get to Germany until 4:30 in the morning due to the NHL's charter company Air Berlin already having cargo in the plane's belly and there not being enough room for the Sabres bags. It took three hours at both ends to figure that out.") and the Kings I think got in very late as well.

[Wolfpack]

Originally Posted by Suburban Rhythm

This part I'm not so sure about. I think there is a clause written by the hockey Gods that says Peter Laviolette or Paul Maurice must coach the Hurricanes, and Lavi doesn't seem to be moving any time soon.

It's written in the same section that decrees any trade of Chris Pronger must involve Joffrey Lupul.

The chants will happen, but you're right. There's nothing that says management has to listen. Frankly, at this point it'd be almost alien for someone besides Maurice to be coaching here since aside from Lavi, no else ever has. We did hire Dave Lewis to take over the defense this offseason, however.... (if Maurice did get canned, I guess it would either be him or Jeff Daniels getting the job)

[kingfc22]

Opening night for the Sharks!

Can't wait to see what Couture is going to do this year. I'm thinking huge numbers

[Doug5984]

Luke Adam is off to a hot start in BUF.

Surprised to see Neuvy getting the early start, but good for him- I enjoyed watching him and Holtby last year.

[RomaGoth]

Funny how the Wings always seem to find the right players for their system, whether it is in the 6th round of the draft or some cast off from another team.

Detroit Red Wings - NHL | Red Wings' young duo comes out flying | The Detroit News

Emmerton was all but forgotten after having a mediocre/average training camp. H clearly won't be breaking any of Gretzky's records or challenging for a scoring title, but a goal and assist in his first NHL game is incredible all the same.

Here's to another great NHL season!

[MacroGuru]

Originally Posted by Doug5984

Luke Adam is off to a hot start in BUF.

Surprised to see Neuvy getting the early start, but good for him- I enjoyed watching him and Holtby last year.

Great start for Luke.....Some great games by the Sabres....It's good to have the season going..

[Galaxy]

Originally Posted by MacroGuru

Great start for Luke.....Some great games by the Sabres....It's good to have the season going..

The last 3 teams that won the Cup also started their Cup-winning seasons in Europe.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Originally Posted by Galaxy

The last 3 teams that won the Cup also started their Cup-winning seasons in Europe.

But the Cup winner also played in the prior season's Winter Classic

Something's got to give this year.

[MizzouRah]

Blues - Preds

Time for hockey!!!

[Galaxy]

Originally Posted by Suburban Rhythm

But the Cup winner also played in the prior season's Winter Classic

Something's got to give this year.

I also like that the Sabres' broadcasting team called the game from the Sabres' arena during these last two games, watching it on a large screen television.

[EagleFan]

Liking this new look roster.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Originally Posted by Galaxy

I also like that the Sabres' broadcasting team called the game from the Sabres' arena during these last two games, watching it on a large screen television.

Sabres were the first team (I believe) to use video rather than scouts in drafting...now too cheap to send their broadcasters overseas to the games

[DeToxRox]

Nice start for the Wings with the 3-0 win tonight. Granted, we beat two teams who likely won't make the playoffs, but it looks good.

[Galaxy]

Originally Posted by Suburban Rhythm

Sabres were the first team (I believe) to use video rather than scouts in drafting...now too cheap to send their broadcasters overseas to the games

Actually, the current announcing team of RJ and Harry Neale have cut back their travel schedules to the home games and to just 10-15 regular season road games. I think this was a way to get them to announce the games.

Trust me, the new owner Terry Pegula is throwing money around like a horny guy in a strip club. He's spent around, last reports, around $10 million to tear down the locker rooms and renovate them (the Sabres' room even one of those fancy fireplaces that you would find in a nice hotel lobby; http://www.facebook.com/BufSabres?sk...442953&type=1), is spending millions to upgrade the arena, buying up the Rochester Americans, hiring new coaches and scouts, all in addition to the large dollars (signing bonuses that Ehrhoff and Myers are getting) that is being spent on players.

[DeToxRox]

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scores in his debut today. Really like this kids game. Oilers will be a ton of fun to watch.

[Young Drachma]

Welcome back, Jets.

[Fidatelo]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

Welcome back, Jets.

Not quite the ending everyone was hoping for (well, except Habs fans, I suppose), but overall the city is still super excited. I hope it came off well for everyone watching out of province.

As for me, unfortunately I didn't get to see much of the game. It was both Thanksgiving dinner as well as my son's 1st birthday, so the distractions were plentiful. I've got it on the PVR, though, so hopefully I can catch up over the next couple days. Hopefully there are some positive Oduya moments to help offset the couple of major gaffs that cost the early goals.

[DeToxRox]

The pre game festivities were awesome, including a great video for Rypien. With that said, the Jets are a long ways away. Lots of good, young pieces though.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Originally Posted by HiFiRevival

That gif found it's way to many a Caps blog/message board last year.

One of the folks at Japers Rink, easily the top Caps blog, did a shift by shift study last year of Ovi-Backstrom-???. The guys who got significant time on that top line were Laich, Chimera, Fehr and Father Time. The combo with Knuble had the worst +/- and the worst point per shift total out of the various options. Chimera actually worked best with the other two as he's faster than both and was willing to chase the puck down in the corners and let Ovi/Backstrom set up on offense instead of always trying to do a 2-on-3 breakaway.

Originally Posted by Suburban Rhythm

Chimera must be Washington's answer to Pascal Dupuis. Speed to spare, no hands. I shouldn't say no hands, he's always around 15-20. People hate him playing next to Crosby because he's not a 30+ goal scorer.

Just like you hate Knuble, there is probably a group out there that hates Chimera on the top line because of what he's not.

Every team has holes now because of the cap.

Originally Posted by HiFiRevival

Chimera is adored in DC because he's all hustle, he scores more than his hands/skill would suggest, he'll fight anyone, and he's relatively cheap (his extension is 2/3.5 for a decrease in annual salary). He actually took a pay cut to stay for 2 more years. He's not a 1st line winger, but he was/is a better 1st line option than Knuble at this point. Ovi-Johannson-Brouwer looked really good the last couple of games in preseason. There's no reason to go back to something that everyone knows doesn't work.

The only people in DC that seem to not understand how bad Knuble was last year are GMGM and Fat Boy Fat who have shown they have no idea how to put together a playoff team.

Originally Posted by Suburban Rhythm

You have more faith in fans than I do.

In a perfect world, Dupuis is a great 3rd line winger. And would be loved if he remained there. As soon as he's on Crosby's line, people go nuts.
I just think while Chimera's game would be fine in short spurts, after he botches some tap-ins, people will rail against him the same way.

Originally Posted by TurnerONU22

Fixed it for you. I loved having Chimmer on the CBJ, but saying that he had hands of stone would be an understatement. A few years back, Ken Hitchcock wanted the line of Chimera-Malhotra-Dan Fritsche to go practice shooting pucks into the ocean from the beach, because that was the only target large enough for them to hit.

Quick story about him that makes him one of my favorites is that he named his daugher Ryann, after Ryan Salmons, a teen who had terminal cancer and became almost a part of the team during their only playoff run in 2008.

Originally Posted by HiFiRevival

The thing is, Chimera really doesn't botch the tap in type of plays. He can't seem to pick up the puck on his own very well, and can simply whiff on easy passes right on the tape, but if it's sitting near the net, he'll knock it in one way or another. Knuble, on the other hand, made missing open nets an art form last year.

The ultimate issue here is that Knuble is 39, he's moving in slow motion these days, and every other player who got the RW spot on the 1st line last year increased the performance of the line over him. Ovi/Backstrom had more points on shifts with Semin than Knuble last year despite Knuble being on their line more than 3x as much as Semin.

Brouwer looked very good with Ovi/Johannson this preseason. He's the guy who will go win the puck in the corner and let Ovi, and whatever Center he has, set up and not have to wear themselves out playing 2-on-3. Instead, it looks like the Knuble failure will continue.

Of course, this is the coach who is putting Ovi back on the PP point again despite the PP being under 10% when Ovi is on the point and over 20% when he's either on the half board or in front of the net.

Originally Posted by Suburban Rhythm

Chimera = Dupuis
Knuble = Guerin
Brouwer = Kunitz

Penguins and Caps are more alike than fans want to believe...can't we all just get along?

Chimera > Cooke > Ovechkin

[DeToxRox]

Well this is certainly interesting:

@TSNBobMcKenzie Bob McKenzie
More and more NHL governors convinced DET will be moving to SE Div in Eastern Conference when realignment done in early December.