NHL Thread - 2009-10

[Mr. TM]

Official NHL Thread







0.00000023% of Patrick Kane's contract. 20 cents is what he, and his cousin beat a cab driver over.

Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane, the top pick in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, has pleaded not guilty to a charge of felony robbery after he and a cousin were arrested in the early hours Sunday morning for allegedly attacking a cab driver who couldn't make proper change for their fare.

The 20-year-old Kane and cousin James Kane, 21, had apparently taken a cab from the downtown nightclub district in Buffalo, N.Y., Patrick Kane's hometown, around 4 a.m., according to local police. When the cab driver came up 20 cents short of the change owed on the fare, the Kanes allegedly took their money back and attacked the driver. The attack caused cuts to the driver's face and damaged his glasses, police spokesman Michael DeGeorge said.

Patrick Kane and his cousin were each charged with felony robbery in addition to misdemeanor counts of theft of services and criminal mischief. WIVB-TV in Buffalo reported Kane pleaded not guilty to those charges in local court later Sunday.

So Patrick Kane may have just put his own career at risk in one of the stupidest acts I have ever heard of. Patrick Kane, being an American, may face legal sentences, including facing prison time, and suspension from the NHL. Worse off, with a criminal record, there is a chance he might never get to travel between countries. Kind of hard to do in a league that plays in two countries. Also, I can see this getting him cut from playing for Team USA in the Olympics this year. So what do you think of this entire ordeal?

 

[simpsons_fanatic742]

This is ridiculous. 20 cents? Dude, your contract expires this season and you will be getting a big payday. He must have been drunk out of his mind to assault the cab driver for 20 fucking cents. EA Sports is probably pissed off too since he's on the cover of NHL 10. Let's see how he gets himself out of this one.

 

[Baller]

Crazy. I mean i dont no how much is contract is but i know he is a big star and its the end of his contract so whats more important 20 cents or 20 million dollars. I guess 20 cents otherwise he would've been smart and not have attacked a cab driver, and now could ruin his career.

 

[48.7 is Approximately 49 Times Better Than You]

I just saw this story on Jim Rome is Burning. No one can make someone look more stupid than Mr. Rome, and boy did he do just that. Seriously, he just ruined his entire career, and his life, for one fifth of a dollar bill. I don't have a dollar to my name, but even I would let $.20 slide. How drunk would you have to be to assault someone over such a small amount of money? Good job, Mr. Kane. Enjoy your prison sentence, and hopefully you can figure it out while you're locked up.

 

[simpsons_fanatic742]

Update on this story: The lawyer for the cab driver said that the story has been blown out of proportion and that it wasn't really a robbery. He believes a deal will be worked out between the two parties. He also said that it won't end up as a felony.

Well it seems like Kane may have escaped this bad situation. It all depends now on whether or not the NHL will punish him.

 

[Mr. TM]

Update on this story: The lawyer for the cab driver said that the story has been blown out of proportion and that it wasn't really a robbery. He believes a deal will be worked out between the two parties. He also said that it won't end up as a felony.

Well it seems like Kane may have escaped this bad situation. It all depends now on whether or not the NHL will punish him.

The obvious reason why... Cab driver found out who he was. Why would the lawyer want him to go to prison, when a nice cash settlement would be much more appealing

Law system might suck, cab driver gets rich over this, not the worst thing, Kane, is just less one ferrari.

But I hope the NHL gives him 20 games or so suspension.

 

[Baller]

Kane still needs to face the punishment, that move is still a disgrace to the NHL who is trying to clean up their fighting image. 15 games would be suitable for me.

 

[NSL]

Definitely not a good thing for Kane, or his team. Chicago lives and dies by him, and if he faces any suspension (and I'm sure he will), they'll have a big deficit to overcome by the time he returns. I'm sure he'll appeal, and get it lowered, but 10-15 games is still a lot to overcome in the NHL.

I don't see why he didn't just pay though. I can only assume, like everyone else, that he was drunk, but that's never an excuse. It hasn't worked for any other athlete in legal trouble, and it won't work now. Let's hope it doesn't kill his career, since he is one of the best players in the game.

 

[Mr. TM]

After the Pittsburgh Penguins won the Stanley Cup at the end of the 2009 series, defeating the Detroit Red Wings one year after Detroit did the same to the Penguins, the league will start up again. 2010 will also mark a Winter Olympics year as the NHL players will represent their country, perhaps for the last time in the distant future. There will be the mid season break of course, but some players will have to choose representing their country or resting up for the second half of the season. Some Free Agents still exist out there, some trades might be made to build the next Stanley Cup Champion. The NHL draft came and went with Jonathon Taveres joining the New York Islanders.

Other issues arise this year. Phoenix Coyotes still remain in trouble, the NHL still lacks a good US Television deal, and the KHL will continue to put pressure on NHL players, especially Europeans. Some good news is the return of the Winter classic, this time taking place at Fenway Park in Boston.

My NHL team for those that want to know is the Vancouver Canucks. A summer with some highs and lows which is to be expected. We did well ni the draft picking up Jordan Schroeder late in the draft. However, we also lost long standing guard of the blue line Mattias Ohlund, as the Swedish kick the Canucks took part of in this decade is dying, except for on two fronts. The Sedin's showed that they are invested in the team taking less money than they could have gotten elsewhere by staying with the Canucks.

The biggest news is perhaps the resigning of their captain Roberto Luongo to a 12 year, $64,000,000 deal that will probably keep him as an Orca for his career. Canucks also did extremely well with the signing of Andrew Raycroft, former steller goalie to back up Luongo, for half a million dollars, a steal. This however, could possibly be the end of Cory Schneider as a potential Canuck superstar, as he would be best served elsewhere and would fetch top dollar.

Defense of course took the hit as Ohlund left to Tampa Bay. However, in another tremendous deal, worked out with San Jose, the Canucks received Christian Ehrhoff and Brad Lukowich in a cash dump. Also, to help with their blue line, Canucks did well signing Mathieu Schneider.

Up front, now with the Sedins locked into place, Canucks signed Mikael Samuelsson for three years putting together a potential hot Swede line. Canucks however, lack a definitive second line in my books. They are backed up well with grit. They will have to do something to get a second line, who can work the power play.

This will be the NHL's 92 Season so I hope for a good one. Canucks will be a legitimate threat this year, and will in my books be the best North West team with only challenges by Calgary.

 

[IrishCanadian25]

The DAY my vacation in North Carolina ends, I chomp and the proverbial bit for hockey. It's my favorite sport, and the NJ Devils are the one team I couldn't live without.

The youth movement is still alive and well in the NHL, especially in the East, where Ovechkin, Crosby, Malkin, Parise, and very shortly Stamkos will make waves on a nightly basis. There's no reason to expect a huge shake up in the NHL, as no team got SO much better or SO much worse in the offseason. The Senators got rid (according to rumor) of a malcontent in Heatley, shipping him to San Jose and getting Frolov. Not bad, but not enough to make them a contender.

My Devils has an abysmal off season, losing popular and consistent role players and a high level scorer in Gionta. Every year, ESPN.com predicts the demise of the Devils, and every year they are wrong. THIS year, however, I am legitimately concerned.

 

[Mr. TM]

A question that both IC and I will be interested in this year is who will win the Vezina. After Tim Thomas had an impressive year last year, breaking Brodeur's little run he has been putting together, it can go any way. With Raycroft pushing Luongo, I can see him putting up incredible numbers if he stays healthy.

 

[CH David]

An Official NHL Thread? Epic.

Well, I must say that this offseason has been quite crazy around the Blackhawk's camp. First they make a huge splash signing Marian Hossa instead of resigning Martin Havlat, and also I think flying under that radar is the signing of Tomas Kopecky. But it was like 3 or 4 weeks after signing Hossa that he had to undergo surgery on his shoulder, which the team had known about but thought his rehab treatment would work. So he is out until November or December.

Then there was a debacle with the restricted free agents, that probably gave the team an excuse to get rid of Dale Tallon as GM, (though keeping him in some fashion with the team) and insert little Bowman into the GM role. So it is possible to have made spending money next season a little tighter. But hopefully during the season, the Blackhawks can resign Duncan Keith or Jonathan Toews to long term contracts, because they need to stay with the team for the sake of Chicago Blackhawks Hockey. Both of them are needed more than Patrick Kane, although he is important to the team as well.

The offseason has been a crazy one for the team on the West Side of Chicago. If they can beat Detroit in the division, and be one of the top 3 teams in the conference, they could be on their way to the Cup, they have the talent, and Joel Quenneville can get anything out of his players. He knows how to show is players if they screw up they sit, and he isn't afraid to do it. The first few months will be extremely important for the Blackhawks, they need to jump to a fast start and ride it through the season.

 

[gd]

I don't see any reason why the Pens aren't going to repeat this year. That still have their core of players with Crosby, Malkin, Stall, Gonchar, and Fleury. We didn't really lose anyone major and we were able to keep around a few role player guys like Guerin.

We have a bunch of young talent and a group of guys that have been there before and won it. Talbot will likely be out for the first few months of the season with a shoulder injury, but we should be fine. I'm thinking the Pens will have another deep playoff run this year.

 

[Mr. TM]

If I know anything, and I claim to, and if I was a superstitious, which my shirt says I am, then it will probably be Pittsburgh (GD) vs Chicago (CHD) in the final this year. And Pittsburgh repeats due to not having Hossa on their team... If I was smart, and superstitious.

 

[Cone Stold Steve Austin]

In the East, it has to be PIT cuz of how deep their roster is (crosby & malkin may have something to do with it), PIT will beat WAS in the east finals in another 7 gm series because not sure who WAS goalie will be but Ovie will lead em at least that far

i really dont see anyone in the East challenging PIT or WAS, maybe BOS but i think theyll regress from last year, NYR might scare one of those 2 teams but they cant beat WAS or PIT in a 7 gm series, same goes with PHI, & NJ is getting up there in age (yea so no sleeper teams from the east to go to the stanley cup finals)

In the West, i really dont give a shit as long as the red wings or ducks dont win the West because im really getting sick of watching those 2 teams make deep playoff runs (DET for obvious reasons since their the LA Lakers of the NHL & ANA because well im a Dallas Stars fan lol) but if i had to make a prediction on the West Finals, it would be SJ (yes i know SJ is in the same division as DAL) over VAN

SJ- because theyve been too damn close for too long (theyve had great regular seasons but have come short each time) but if the rumors are true about SJ acquiring heatley then he might help SJ get over the hump and into the stanley cup finals

VAN- they have the sedins back & they have arguably the best goalie in the NHL in luongo (although he played like shit against the blackhawks in the semis) but hopefully luongo has learned from it & can use this as motivation

sleeper team from the west to get into the stanley cup i would say is probably Calgary- dont understand how the flames have lost in the 1st rd for 4 yrs straight with players like iginla, kiprusoff, & phaneuf but these 3 players were on the stanley cup team in 04 & if they get over the hump and get out of the 1st rd then everyone else better watch out (would be exciting to see crosby vs iginla in the stanley cup finals)

 

[simpsons_fanatic742]

If you follow the NHL regularly then you probably know about the fiasco that is the Heatley/Senators war. In the off-season Heatley requested a trade from the Senators because of a diminished role and a falling out with head coach Cory Clouston. The organization and fans everywhere were upset because of how the trade request was presented, publicly. Since all of the teams knew that Heatley wanted out, the Senators hands were tied. Around draft time, the Senators found a trade for Heatley with the Edmonton Oilers. This is where the story takes a bad turn. Heatley has a no trade clause and rejected the trade. Many people wondered why a player who wanted a trade would reject one and he was looked at as selfish and this has tarnished his image in many people's eyes. So now the Senators are in a stand still. They liked the trade from the Oilers, but Heatley doesn't so they are stuck. The sideshow followed the team for the whole off-season and Bryan Murray had had enough. On the first day of training camp (today) Heatley was shipped off to the San Jose Sharks, the teams he secretly wanted to go to all along. In return the Senators received Milan Michalek, Johnathan Cheechoo, and second round pick. Now the jury is out on who won this trade, but the biggest matter is that Heatley is gone and the Senators have ridden themselves from a locker-room distraction.

What are your thoughts on the saga and who do you think won the Heatley trade?

 

[Mr. TM]

Heatley is finally gone. He pissed off fans in Ottawa, he pissed off fans in Edmonton, and if he doesn't play well and pay off for San Jose, he'll piss them off as well. He is on a team now that needs to win big. They won the Presidents trophy last year, yet fell with ease. but Heatley is not that big time winner that they needed.

Sure Cheechoo was really just a flash in the pan, but he was the top scorer, so Ottawa did not lose too much. If Cheechoo does well, then the team will move on just fine.

 

[Mr. TM]

So Theo Fleury wants to come back to the NHL. He was reinstated on Thursday for violating their NHL wellness program, and has battle alcoholism for years. But a few weeks ago, I saw him practicing, and he looked good. He is a guy that can probably put up a point every couple of games, and was invited to Calgary for a tryout, his former team, where he won a cup. I would love to see him back.

After leaving the NHL, he has had quite a story. He played in Ireland for a season, and even played on an Indian Reserve, half an hour from my old house, in Horse Lake, Alberta. That was neat, a Reserve of a thousand having an NHL caliber player. Let us just say, they did well.

But if he makes it back into the NHL, I would be glad on him, shows that age and time away mean little if you work hard to get back into shape. I know my roommate will love it, his hero, back on his team.

 

[Athena]

San Jose wanted to shake things up, and they did. Heatley, however, has a track record for being a whiny child. He wanted out of Ottawa, didn't want to play in Edmonton, and now he ends up in San Jose.

Let's just hope he can produce like his attitudes suggests

 

[NSL]

I personally think Ottawa came out big winners here. They got a much better team player in Cheechoo, as well as some other guys to help out, and only lost Heatley.

Sure, he's a good player, but a horrible teammate. He may be able to do some things on his own on the ice, but he'd be better off checking his pride at the door, and helping the team win a bigger trophy than the President's Trophy.

Ottawa will be just fine without Heatley, but San Jose may take a step back, maybe not winning their division, but still making the playoffs...

 

[a7xoff]

Ah another season is upon us and the preseason for the Devils anyway starts up on Wednesday. So what do I expect from the Devils this season? Honestly I don't know. We had what seemed like a pretty down off season in loosing the likes of Madden, Rupp, and Gionta. However Lou seems fairly confident in the youth of that orginization as he's even called a few players replacements whom will be able to take the same role that both Gio and Madden had. Do I think we'll finish first in the East? No I don't think we will, I'm expecting a middle of the road 4th place finish to the season. Two teams that I think are going to be straight out Dangerous this season outside of the usual Detroit and Pittsburgh will be...

Montreal Canadians: Yes they basically imploded last year and they lost a few people during the post season, but at the same time they've picked up some real solid players. Add on top of that 3/4 of one of the Devils offensive trios in recent memory with the likes of Gomez and Gionta and you've got yourself a team that can score.

Chicago Blackhawks: Had a great year last year, and from what I've seen they've only improved this off season. Madden makes a great veteran addition to that team. If he plays as he did in the playoffs last year look to see him influence some of the younger guys to be flat out aggressive.

 

[a7xoff]

I know it's preseason and all, but I saw some things that I liked from the Devils tonight as they played the Rangers. Did not like the fact we blew yet another 2 goal lead, but we did win the game. Our style has not seemed to change much based on what I saw tonight, and we looked pretty aggressive on the D as well. The main reason I'm posting though is that I have read that Patrick Elias will be out from anywhere from 3-6 weeks. That my friends is not really good news to a team that was beaten into the ground with injuries last year. Here we are, the season has not even started and one of our top guys is out.

 

[simpsons_fanatic742]

The NHL season is almost upon us!!!

I just came back from the Leafs first pre-season game where they faced the Boston Bruins. They looked really good tonight with their young guns and new faces. Fast and physical. They didn't win, but that's not the real point of pre-season anyway. Bozak and Kadri are going to be really something special when they come up in the NHL. Their defence and goalies look very solid this year also. The additions of Komasarik and Beauchemin are key for the defence as now we have a great top 4 of Kaberle, Komasarik, Schenn, and Beauchemin. The Leafs are also very hot on Kessel's trail and are talking to Boston about acquiring him. He will add a much-needed scoring presence and a top 6 forward that this team needs. The playoffs are not an afterthought this year and they could very well claim a spot, especially if they solidify their offence.

I love hockey, my favourite sport, and I love this time of year. I'm a die-hard Leafs fan and a die-hard hockey fan in general so if I have time, I will definitely make my home in this thread.

 

[a7xoff]

As far as the Leafs go I think they are going to be much better than they were last year, but I still think that they are young and have a little bit more rebuilding to do before they become a real playoff threat again. Much like the LA Kings I'm thinking that they will be good, but if they do make the playoffs I don't think they can go far. Boston could have a repeat season of last year, but they are going to be real hard pressed to accomplish it. San Jose has gotten Heatly which will undoubtedly help that team, but at the same time he will not be enough to make that team win the cup. The Sharks could have won the cup without Heatly, but of course we all know how that went. The Sharks though along with the Wings should continue to dominate the West.

It's nice to be back home in this thread as hockey is my addiction and I'll be here a whole hell of a lot more now then I was all summer long.

 

[Mr. TM]

Canucks are looking impressive this preseason, winning again, this time in a thriller. with milliseconds left, after a call back on a goal, Daniel Sedin got the tying goal against Theo Fleury's Flames, and then scored the shootout winner for the Orcas. Vancouver did blow a lead, but so far this preseason, they have really made their voice call out loud.

In other news, Kessel was traded to Toronto. He wanted out of Boston, and for some reason went to Toronto. Not sure why anyone would, but ask him.