2013 NHL Thread

[CH David]

Hopefully IDR hasn't had a heart attack, fallen into depression, or died of heartbreak due to the loss to the Devils. I unfortunately did not catch a lot of this game. Checked my twitter and noticed they were going to OT, then a few minutes later saw that Henrique scores the game winner. Crazy stuff. Heartbreaker for the Rangers, no doubt. Put up a fight, but just couldn't finish it off.

Devils and Kings for the Cup? Well I guess it is close enough for the NHL to be happy. The Devils have one of my favorite players in Zach Parise. The Kings have two of my favorites in Jonathan Quick and Dustin Brown. I'm still backing the Kings regardless. I can see the Kings winning in 5 or 6. It would be cool to see the Cup at home, but with the way they've played on the road, I could see them pull off a five game series.

I'll let Devils fans talk about their side, as I'm not exactly an expert on them.

 

[JGlass]

Hopefully IDR hasn't had a heart attack, fallen into depression, or died of heartbreak due to the loss to the Devils. I unfortunately did not catch a lot of this game. Checked my twitter and noticed they were going to OT, then a few minutes later saw that Henrique scores the game winner. Crazy stuff. Heartbreaker for the Rangers, no doubt. Put up a fight, but just couldn't finish it off.

Devils and Kings for the Cup? Well I guess it is close enough for the NHL to be happy. The Devils have one of my favorite players in Zach Parise. The Kings have two of my favorites in Jonathan Quick and Dustin Brown. I'm still backing the Kings regardless. I can see the Kings winning in 5 or 6. It would be cool to see the Cup at home, but with the way they've played on the road, I could see them pull off a five game series.

I'll let Devils fans talk about their side, as I'm not exactly an expert on them.

Thanks for setting me up with a sweet introduction, David. <3

Anyways, as a fan, I'm not sleeping on the Kings. I haven't watched much of them throughout the playoffs, but considering the amount of resistance they faced to the Stanley Cup (which was minimal), it would be silly to dismiss them as an 8 seed making their way to slaughter.

But the Devils have a few advantages on their side. For one thing, they haven't been sitting around for a week. There's usually a bit of debate on whether a few days of rest is preferable to coming into a series hot out of another series, but I think the Devils proved with Philly that it's good to avoid long breaks. Now they had a few days off between the Philly series and the Rangers series, but they played much stronger against the Flyers than they did the Rangers. Now it's partially because the Rangers are a better team, but I also think it's because they were well conditioned after a hard fought series with the Kings.

Granted, I think the Kings have only had an extra 3 days off, but that could make all the difference in the world. Though it's possible that all the time between the Devil's win tonight over the Rangers and Game 1 of the Finals puts the teams at even footing.

The Devils also have perseverance on their side. They've had to fight for wins against the Panthers and the Rangers, while the Kings have had all their series come to them fairly easily. The Devils went to Game 7 with Florida and fought tooth and nail to beat the Rangers in just about all 4 of their wins. The Devils players have played many games this playoffs with a do or die attitude, and they're better prepared emotionally for those OT moments that separate the men from the boys.

Speaking of old guys...

Martin freakin' Brodeur- AKA the best goalie in the history of hockey and a guy that has more experience playing in Stanley Cups than anyone else on the ice, having been to four of them and winning three. On the other side of the ice is Jonathan Quick, who has played phenomenally, especially considering this is his first time in the playoffs. But can he handle the pressure of Stanley Cup hockey? Can he handle the overwhelming pressure the Devils create with their forecheck? I guess we'll see. If he can, we're looking at a future great. If he can't, that doesn't mean he's not a future great, just means he's still a kid.

Marty, on the other hand, is a man. The man even. He's been to this dance before and he can handle the pressure. I'll take experience over youth in this case.

And finally, the Devils are running high on emotion right now. They just defeated their hated rivals at home to win the conference. They're as fired up as you get, and I think they want to finish the job for the fans that came out in masses tonight to heap praise on them.

I'm picking Devils in... a hard fought 5, but I wouldn't be surprised to see this series go to 6 games either.

 

[JGlass]

Separate post for separate idea: I just want to give my thoughts on the series the Devils just won.

Probably some of the best hockey I've seen in years. Games 1 and 5 had my heart doing backflips, frontflips, cartwheels, and all sorts of acrobatics I myself am incapable of performing. The games were fast paced, high intensity, and for the most part very clean.

I came away with a higher appreciation of the Devils, and even a little appreciation of the Rangers. I'll start with what I liked about the Rangers.

First off, two players in particularly really impressed me: Callahan and Girardi. Shouldn't be too much of a surprise, they're both fantastic players, but I'd liken Callahan's defensive prowess to that of good ol' Johnny Madden, except better on the offensive end. Girardi, on the other hand, looks like a solid two way player with great puck awareness. Both of them are absolutely fearless as well. I would love to see either one of those guys in red and black, but I doubt the Rangers would want to part ways with either of them, especially Callahan.

I also have to give a lot of credit to John Torterella, as he seemed to know exactly what to do during the intermissions to get his team back into the game. In the last two games alone the Devils dominated the first half, but the Rangers took absolute control in the 2nd, and usually most of the 3rd.

But in the end, the Devils deserved to win, no doubt. They were able to find their way through the Ranger's previously deadly shot blocking ability, and they were able to find ways to make their forecheck work even after the Rangers had shut it down. The goalie play was even, but when it came time to make the big saves Marty made them. Each team had their mistakes, but the Devils seemed to recover better.


Still, I reckon it's the best hockey series I've ever seen, and I'm glad that it happened, even if my heart and stomach didn't enjoy the games as much as my eyes did.

 

[Lowdown]

Well it looks like my man IDR will be a temporary Kings fan. Which is cool by me cause I could use the support. This is gonna be a grueling series.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

It's really not, IMO. The Kings are a substantially more well-rounded and deeper team, and the Quick/Brodeur match-up is the only real saving grace for the Devils here, as despite his age, Marty is playing nothing like it (think last years' Dwayne Roloson).

The Kings have two things going for them here, however, that IMO is going to make this a shorter series than the Devils' trol&#8212;err, "fans" here are willing to admit:

1. They are road warriors (see what I did there?) that have made a habit in every round thus far of exploiting whatever "home ice advantage" their opponents thought they might have. If the Kings get up early in this series as they have in every one prior, this will be a short-lived match-up and I'd expect we'll be crowning a Stanley Cup Champion in So-Cal for the second time in 5 years.

2. The Mike Richards factor. Yeah, he's never won it all, but this guy is a fuckin' gamer from head to toe, and he's been here once before and lost. He's still the most dangerous penalty killer in the league, and one of the best, if not the best, two-way forwards who's repeatedly passed over in the Selke talks year-after-year.

I rarely do predictions, so I won't here either, but ultimately the Los Angeles Kings are going to be the 2012 Stanley Cup Champions, and the first ever 8th seeded team (first ever lower than the 5th seed) to do so.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

As for those of us with our teams out of it, I figured we can get this thread jumping again (since it's quite obvious the Devils/Kings match-up isn't exactly going to be a major conversation starter) with some off-season banter, starting with a quick theme I wanna get posted here to see how well some of you have been following your clubs:

Biggest Individual Surpises: Positives/Negatives

-- The idea is to post one player from both the positive and negative side of things from your respective club who you feel was the biggest surprise in a positive/negative way. Honorable mentions can be included as well.

I'll start:

Biggest Positive: Ryan McDonagh, and it isn't even close. The success of his year blows every other positive on this club out of the water. Clean out. This kid looks like a franchise defender. 7-25-32, team-leading +25, 24:44 TOI/G, all with just 0:37 of PP time per game? Now imagine what he could do with it!

Honorable Mentions: Marián Gáborík, Brad Richards, Ryan Callahan.

--

Biggest Negative: Brandon Dubinsky, and again, it's not even close. 10-24-34 in 77 games played, in the first year of a $16.8M extension with a $4.2M cap hit? I had it out with numerous users here and elsewhere over the last number of years over how overrated a player he is/was, but was told each year that this was gonna be the big breakout, yet he's failed to capitalize at every turn, and somehow managed to yoke the Rangers' brass into entrusting him with a contract indicative of his team-leading 54-point year despite the fact that many saw major concerns behind giving so much to a player with 6 empty-net goals, who's situational status that year were largely responsible for his point totals. 54 points in 77 games with 20:00 a game, yet he was somehow expected to produce that, or more in less ice-time this season? This was a logical blunder from the start.

(dis)Honorable mentions: Derek Stepan (total second half/playoffs collapse), Artem Anisimov (36 points in 79 games, down from 44 in 82 the prior year).

 

[timfly]

I'm going for the Kings. Great story and hope they can pull it off.

Very interested in what the Blackhawks are going to do this summer...

 

[It's Damn Real!]

First off, two players in particularly really impressed me: Callahan and Girardi. Shouldn't be too much of a surprise, they're both fantastic players, but I'd liken Callahan's defensive prowess to that of good ol' Johnny Madden, except better on the offensive end. Girardi, on the other hand, looks like a solid two way player with great puck awareness. Both of them are absolutely fearless as well. I would love to see either one of those guys in red and black, but I doubt the Rangers would want to part ways with either of them, especially Callahan.

They're both UFA's in 2014/15, so the Devils—if they ever have a chance at them—will have the opportunity (along with all 29 other NHL teams, including the Rangers) then. Though I wouldn't exactly bank on the idea either would even leave the Rangers, at this point, let alone for the teams' biggest rival. Girardi has shown a tremendous amount of loyalty to the club, Callahan a little less so, but both have nothing but high praise for the club, and with Callahan being team captain, the likelihood he leaves or is moved is slim enough — to a divisional rival makes the odds astronomically unlikely.

But in the end, the Devils deserved to win, no doubt. They were able to find their way through the Ranger's previously deadly shot blocking ability, and they were able to find ways to make their forecheck work even after the Rangers had shut it down. The goalie play was even, but when it came time to make the big saves Marty made them. Each team had their mistakes, but the Devils seemed to recover better.

This was Brodeur's last chance to win another cup. His teammates rallied around that and seized the moment. The Rangers didn't. What kills me as a fan is that you don't know if you'll ever get that close again, despite the make-up of your club. The Sharks and Canucks are good examples of solid teams for 4+ seasons that have never won anything. It's why I was so adamant about adding depth at the blue line, and why I was on board with both the Bobby Ryan trade earlier this year, as well as the Nash trade at the deadline.

 

[LoudClearVoice]

Nick Lidstrom has decided to call it a career, will announce his retirement after 20 seasons, at a press conference tomorrow: http://espn.go.com/nhl/story/_/id/7989274/detroit-red-wings-star-nicklas-lidstrom-retire-thursday

 

[It's Damn Real!]

I'll say it &#8212; Lidström was the greatest European born player of all-time, the second best NHL defenseman of all-time and one of the top-5 most influential and important players to ever lace up a pair of skates for the league.

Real shame he's calling it quits, but even non-physical players like him can only last so long, and 20 years is a long, long time. My guess is he'll step immediately into a front-office job with Detroit in some fashion, because he's just too great a hockey mind to send out to pasture, just like Yzerman.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

1. They are road warriors (see what I did there?) that have made a habit in every round thus far of exploiting whatever "home ice advantage" their opponents thought they might have. If the Kings get up early in this series as they have in every one prior, this will be a short-lived match-up and I'd expect we'll be crowning a Stanley Cup Champion in So-Cal for the second time in 5 years.

...and as I said, the road warriors of the 2012 playoffs AGAIN take the first game away from their opponents. This is no conventional "8th seed" team. In fact, they're the best 8th seeded team I've seen in the playoffs, ever, since the Oilers of 2005-06.

The thing I noticed most is that the Kings learned how to counter the Devils' two-men in forecheck by not getting stuck playing pucks behind their own goal line like the Rangers did, or chipping it up the walls to the pinching D or player in the high slot on the Devils' forecheck. They play it to the middle of the ice, which is smart, because its where the open play is.

Richards isn't a factor yet, but I still expect him to pick his game up as he's always done in spots like this. 16-34-50 in 63 is no joke!

GO KINGS GO!

 

[justinsayne]

When I first got interested in hockey the two players in the league that were the major reason form becoming a Red Wings fan were Yzerman, & Lidstrom. Now both are gone, I really hope Lidstrom gets some sort of front office job in Detroit, though I've heard rumors for years that when he finally did decide to call it a career, that he wanted to take his family & move back to Sweden. Supposedly he's always wanted his children to grow up there.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

That is true, about him wanting to move back, but that's not to say he won't work closely with Håkan Andersson, the Wings' Director of European Scouting, or with the NHL specifically as a European spokesman of sorts.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

...and there you have it:

@CraigCustance:

Plan is for Lidstrom family to move back to Sweden. He'd like to remain in organization in some form but nothing concrete yet.

My guess, as I noted earlier, is that he tags up with Håkan Anderson, the Wings' Director of European Scouting, or Christer Rockström, the teams' head scout in Sweden. Rockström previously worked with the Rangers as their Director of European Scouting before they let him go and promoted Anders Hedberg in his place.

 

[Lowdown]

...and as I said, the road warriors of the 2012 playoffs AGAIN take the first game away from their opponents. This is no conventional "8th seed" team. In fact, they're the best 8th seeded team I've seen in the playoffs, ever, since the Oilers of 2005-06.

The thing I noticed most is that the Kings learned how to counter the Devils' two-men in forecheck by not getting stuck playing pucks behind their own goal line like the Rangers did, or chipping it up the walls to the pinching D or player in the high slot on the Devils' forecheck. They play it to the middle of the ice, which is smart, because its where the open play is.

Richards isn't a factor yet, but I still expect him to pick his game up as he's always done in spots like this. 16-34-50 in 63 is no joke!

GO KINGS GO!

Richards will get his chance to shine. What I want to see in Game 2 is for Brown and the defensemen to get more physical. The Devils were laying in a lot more hits last night. I'm still keeping the faith though. Just 3 more wins.

 

[Davi323]

This is a very weird day. I am saddened by Lidstrom's retirement, after Steve Yzerman, no player has meant more to the Detroit Red Wings in my lifetime. Yet, at the same time, I feel blessed that I got to watch Lidstrom play for 20 years, and I know that not only is the hockey Hall of Fame in his future, but starting next season, he will join Gordie Howe, Terry Sawchuk, Sidney Abel, Ted Lindsay, Alex Delvecchio and Steve Yzerman. No Detroit Red Wing will ever wear the #5 again.

Welcome to the rafters, Nik. God bless.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

In other news, multiple sources/outlets are now reporting that Bob Hartley&#8212;ex-Avalanche and Thrashers head coach&#8212;has been named the new head coach of the Calgary Flames.

The Flames, it's been reported, were heavily interested in speaking with Rangers' assistant head coach Mike Sullivan once the season concluded, but obviously weren't willing to wait long enough to get the opportunity, or simply saw a better option in Hartley.

I've always felt Hartley got a bad wrap for his time in Atlanta, despite the fact that his coaching tenure in Colorado was wildly successful, with 4 Western Conference finals appearances and a Stanley Cup. In fact, he was fired in his fifth year despite a winning record.

Hartley had been coaching with the ZSC Lions, but the FLames were able to agree on some level of compensation to pull him out of his contract there. All in all I'm glad to see him back, and happier it's not costing the Rangers Mike Sullivan (yet).

 

[LoudClearVoice]

This is a very weird day. I am saddened by Lidstrom's retirement, after Steve Yzerman, no player has meant more to the Detroit Red Wings in my lifetime. Yet, at the same time, I feel blessed that I got to watch Lidstrom play for 20 years, and I know that not only is the hockey Hall of Fame in his future, but starting next season, he will join Gordie Howe, Terry Sawchuk, Sidney Abel, Ted Lindsay, Alex Delvecchio and Steve Yzerman. No Detroit Red Wing will ever wear the #5 again.

Welcome to the rafters, Nik. God bless.

Well said. I agree.

There's talk now that his number will be retired in a ceremony before the home opener this year.

Also, as some others were mentioning, I heard that he told some Swedish sources that he's interested in and has already talked to the Wings organization about being a scout in Sweden.

Nick is a GOD in Sweden and he will be given access to any player, anywhere, at any time, in Sweden. This will be huge for the Wings. If Nick Lidstrom calls and wants to watch a player, he gets a private workout, private access to the player, whatever he wants. He's that powerful over there.


The Wings could have as much as $20 million under the cap assuming Stuart leaves, Holmstrom retires, and Hudler leaves. Regarding Stuart, I heard he's not completely ruling out coming back to the Wings.

Anyway, on paper we could sign Parise, Suter, Semin, Jackman with all that money. Of course, that won't happen but it's a nice thought

 

[Davi323]

Parise or Suter is pretty much a guarantee. Getting both would a pretty good coup, but I don't think even the most homery Red Wing fan can rightfully expect to get all of them. However, it is clear that the lack of money tied up with contracts last year was specifically designed to give them as much money as possible this year, as if they knew they would have a unique opportunity due to a very large contract coming off of the books. I think the Red Wings have been preparing for this offseason knowing full well that Lidstrom would be leaving. Not that they knew for sure, but that they had a damn strong suspicion, and planned accordingly. This will definitely not be a boring offseason fo Detroit.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

...and the asshole parade continues in Boston.

http://espn.go.com/blog/nhl/post/_/i...-on-sabbatical

Tim Thomas might be playing elsewhere next season, or he might not be playing at all.

A source told ESPN.com on Thursday that the 38-year-old Boston Bruins netminder was contemplating taking next season off. Which doesn’t mean he will, but it’s something he’s apparently raised.

Thomas has one year left on his contract that pays him $3 million, although his cap hit is $5 million. His no-trade clause lifts July 1.

The Bruins have a No. 1 goalie in waiting in Tuukka Rask, so they’d be open to trade offers, especially after a controversy-filled season sparked by Thomas’ decision not to attend the Cup champions’ visit to the White House.

This guy is the biggest asshole to play the game in years. I haven't seen a player this selfish since I don't even know who.

Worst part? Even if they suspend him for the year for a failure to show up, the B's still get tagged with his $5M cap hit for a goalie who isn't even on the fuckin' roster.

Why any team would want to bring this selfish dick head in is beyond me. Guy needs to retire and go live in the fuckin' woods where he can be "Tim Thomas, Free Citizen" with no one to answer to.

 

[Lowdown]

Tim Thomas is an attention ****e. Look he doesn't have to like the President or his politics. I'm sure many athletes feel the same way, but if you can't put something like that aside for your team then fuck off. Now he wants to pull a Vince Carter and take some time off for whatever reason, maybe to do more credit card commercials. Screw him. Maybe he can join Ted Nugent in his rants. I'm far from a Boston fan in any sport, but in this case the Bruins should rid themselves of this jackass. They'd be better off without him.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/2012/5/...tv-ratings-game-1-hits-a-five-year-finals-low

May 31, 2012 - Game 1 of the 2012 Stanley Cup finals finished down from every Game 1 on broadcast television since 2009.

Wednesday night's overtime game drew just 2.9 million viewers on NBC, down 33 percent from Game 1 in 2011 (Boston Bruins vs. Vancouver Canucks: 4.53 million). It is the least-watched Stanley Cup finals broadcast on network television since 2007, when the Ducks' Game 5 clincher over the Senators drew the same number. That was a series high, which provides what is hopefully some good news that the NHL won't fall further to pre- and post-lockout ratings levels.

If the Kings-Devils series finds a way to grow on Saturday night, all is not lost. However, last year's finals dropped more than a million viewers (from 4.53 million to 3.37 million) from Game 1 to Game 2.

Recent Stanley Cup Finals Game 1 Numbers

Los Angeles vs. New Jersey, 2012: 2.9 million
Boston vs. Vancouver, 2011: 4.53 million
Philadelphia Flyers vs. Chicago Blackhawks, 2010: 4.34 million
Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Detroit Red Wings, 2009: 4.51 million

http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/2012/5/31/3054281/stanley-cup-finals-tv-ratings-devils-kings-game-1

NBC drew a 2.4/4 overnight for Game 1 between the Los Angeles Kings and New Jersey Devils, according to an NBC Sports spokesman. That was down 25 percent from last year's opening game between Boston and Vancouver, which drew a 3.2.

--

Like I said &#8212; no one cares about the LA Kings, and even fewer care about the New Jersey Devils.

The sheer drop-off proves exactly that, just as it has in every year that unpopular teams make the finals.

Regardless of what this article notes, I highly doubt this will change much, even if this series goes deep (also unlikely).

 

[Lowdown]

It is what it is. As long as the Kings end up with the Stanley Cup, I could give a mad fuck about NBC's ratings.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

Thing is, the Kings operate out of the second largest television market in the U.S., so a win would go a long way in raising the profile of hockey in L.A., but New Jersey have been perennial ratings killers for the last decade, plus.

 

[Lowdown]

So much for having close proximity to NY. Even though the Kings are the hottest team in the playoffs this year, they really have to win it in order to get more fans interested in them. They do have a loyal fanbase, but they weren't the team that the majority of hockey fans were hoping for.