NHL Thread - 2009-10

[Mr. TM]

There goes your argument, right around the time you said the Oilers are semi good. Since this will turn into a Canucks are better/ no, Chicago is worse sort of argument, would you like to discuss the horrendous Edmonton Oilers? In a division where there is also the craptacular (who didn't see this coming after trading their two best players away in two years), they are still having a hard time winning. And this is a team that not to long ago went to the Stanley Cup playoffs.

 

[CH David]

There goes your argument, right around the time you said the Oilers are semi good. Since this will turn into a Canucks are better/ no, Chicago is worse sort of argument, would you like to discuss the horrendous Edmonton Oilers? In a division where there is also the craptacular (who didn't see this coming after trading their two best players away in two years), they are still having a hard time winning. And this is a team that not to long ago went to the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Haha, yeah this would probably turn into a homer argument. So we will let our teams duke it out tomorrow night for our own pride lol.

Yeah the Oilers are bad. I only called them semi-decent because they scored two goals against the Hawks when the Flames could only muster one lol. That was just being generous. The Oilers looked horrible tonight in what I could see of the first period. (I left for work after the first) Dustin Penner and Ethan Moreau (sp) are good players, but the rest of the team is pretty much shit. Oh, and maybe Souray, but I don't know about him for sure. They have work to do, but who knows how they will progress down the line. Hopefully they can improve, for the sake of Edmonton and hockey right?

 

[Mr. TM]

Smallest market in all of hockey, the Edmonton Oilers HAVE to improve, or they risk losing fans. Ales Hemsky seems to be shit right now, and that is someone the Oilers need to score. Penner has been fantastic, and I bet he regrets his team not making a bigger offer for him to stay in Anaheim, and by the looks of their team, Penner is missed as well.

Pat Quinn can be a good coach, and for a while, I thought he was going to be back in Vancouver, but am glad that didn't happen. He can make a team a winner, but that team needs veterans, and the Oilers do not have enough positive veterans on the team.

 

[CH David]

Edmonton is the smallest market in hockey? I would have figured that was Phoenix. But yeah, either way they need to improve for the sake of the fans and the city. They were a team of legend with Gretzky, and now they are barely anything? Simply tragic.

Hell, tonight Khabibulin was supposed to start in net, but tweaked his back either last game or earlier today. So they had the back up start in net today, and had to sign Joe Blow to an amateur contract so they had a back up for the back up because they couldn't get their AHL goalie up in time for the game.

I would argue Penner is the best player on the team right now, although it isn't saying much. But you are right, they do need veterans who can help the young guys play well and improve at the same time. Without that, Edmonton is going to go down fast to the point where they hit rock bottom and the only place to go is up.

 

[Mr. TM]

Yeah, Oilers are the smallest, as Northern Alberta has little population outside of the capital. Phoenix is quite large, but have lower interests in hockey (Think Buffalo is the smallest American Market).

Unfortunate for Habby to go down with an injury, but I have like Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers in his games I have seen him play. Saw him get his first win actually, and he just clicked, though a name change should be mandatory. I think the Oilers will start getting rid of some players, such as Hemsky, but also think that Souray if healthy will catch a lot of draft picks as teams push into the playoffs. Neither are a leader on the team, and could easily go.

 

[CH David]

Yeah, Oilers are the smallest, as Northern Alberta has little population outside of the capital. Phoenix is quite large, but have lower interests in hockey (Think Buffalo is the smallest American Market).

Unfortunate for Habby to go down with an injury, but I have like Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers in his games I have seen him play. Saw him get his first win actually, and he just clicked, though a name change should be mandatory. I think the Oilers will start getting rid of some players, such as Hemsky, but also think that Souray if healthy will catch a lot of draft picks as teams push into the playoffs. Neither are a leader on the team, and could easily go.

Ahh okay, I didn't look at it like that.

It was unfortunate for Habby to go down. I thought another game against him could have been a good one. Him coming to Chicago was fun, I wanted to see what he could do in his current home. But wasn't to be.

JDD, that is what I'll call him for now, really should either get a name change, or just shorten it to JDD. Does he have ADD? Play on spelling? Rambling off topic. He just didn't look good tonight, and I don't see much of him. I don't get my usual sports highlights that often, and if I ever try ESPN, well they have a hockey bias so they barely ever have it on.

Hemsky would probably be a good pick up for some team. I'm curious what the Oilers would be asking for him. Same for Souray. He can probably be good, most likely a 2nd or 3rd line player, and fill that role nicely.

 

[a7xoff]

While you guys have your fun little feuds about teams in the West I'll update ya on the East. Last night the Devils lost their third in a row. They were down 3-1, came back to tie it, but then lost to the Dallas Stars by a score of 3-5. For the better part of the game the Devils looked more like a team that well they should look like. An injury battered and beaten team. The Devils have been doing magnificent since loosing so many guys to injury, but it seems that the latest to Zubrus may have been just one to many. Since he went down we simply don't have the size to fight as hard as we can with him. I think the Devils will continue to play pretty decently considering the situation we're in and will rally again once we get some of these injured guys back. In general though great job so far for all the young guys on that team.

Elsewhere in the east Tampa Bay continues to look better and better. I really think that this team can make the playoffs. I really don't think they'll go far, but I do think they can make the big show. The thing that's hurting Tampa the most I think is their goal scoring. They have some pretty good players, but they're just not scoring enough to offset the relatively poor goaltending that the Lightning have. They need the bigger scorers to step up a little more and Tampa Bay should be playoff contenders.

 

[CH David]

Well TM, like I told you, it was a very good game. I was only able to catch most of the first on television, but caught the rest on the radio. Both Niemi and Luongo played tremendously, with Luongo letting up the lone goal. Looking at the clip, it doesn't look like there was much Luongo could do to stop it, as the puck found its way to the stick of Bickell for the goal in a wide open net for him. It was definitely a hard fought game, and a defensive struggle. The ending I heard was ridiculous, with the Canucks getting a lot of chances, Niemi just stopped them. But it was a great game TM, no doubt.

 

[Mr. TM]

INFRACTION​

Well it was a big sports day, and if the other sports news is brought up, they will be bant. Canucks just needed to get it going tonight, and put the puck in the net. Daniel was on the roster, and was held pointless, obviously, so that is a disappointment. One problem, as I have mentioned was our lack of consistency in the schedule. Too many breaks make it hard for a team to stay with it. But enough excuses. Canucks did alright tonight, with only 1 goal allowed. Hopefully the rest of the homestand goes better.

 

[a7xoff]

I wanted to watch the game last night, but a 10:00pm start time here is just way to late when I have an 8:00am class. Looks like I did miss a pretty good game. 1-0 as a final just proves that theory. From what I saw on highlights and what not, Chicago and Vancouver played good, but Chicago played just a little better and wound up with the lone (crazy) goal. No chance for Luongo on that one I think. TM I wouldn't be to dissapointed with this game. Yes it was to Chicago and Vancouver was held pointless, but they did only allow one goal and looked pretty solid minus a few breaks that probably cost them the game. The NHL schedule is all out of wack this year due to the olympics and it's not just Vancouver who's schedule is inconsistent. The Devils are having their share of it as well. Already this season we've gone nearly a week without a game only to have back to back games then not another for like 4-5 days. It's so stupid and probably breaks a lot of momentum as well.

 

[CH David]

Yeah, the schedule is crazy with breaks, but also, I just noticed that the Hawks have an NHL high 19 back to back games to be played this season. But a7 is right, it is all out of whack due to the Olympics this season.

In Blackhawks news, Bryan Bickell, the man responsible for the lone goal against the Canucks in a fantastic game, sorry TM, has been reassigned to Rockford. This move simply means one thing, Hossa is on his way back. Now whether it is Wednesday in San Jose, or it is in LA or Anaheim, Hossa appears to be coming back on this road trip. It is a bittersweet move as Bickell has played well on the top line with Toews and Kane, but, it is Hossa. I look forward to him being able to be out on the ice in game situations. I don't think he will be 100% season ready, how can he after being out the past 5-6 months, but I give him at least 5 games before he is back skating and playing the way he is known for in his career.

The main question posed to coach Joel Quenneville is where he will insert Hossa in the lineup. Personally I see two lines maybe being the best choice, with the first being the Toews and Kane line. Just insert Hossa into that top line and that is one of the most dangerous lines in the game. That would be a fun line to watch. I thought about him possibly being used on the Kopecky line, as they were former mates up in Detroit, but that line is doing awesome right now as it is, so I'm going to say the Versteeg and Sharp line. Just like the Toews and Kane line, that is already a dangerous line, and adding Hossa makes it even better.

 

[a7xoff]

I don't know if any of you guys got to see any of the Islanders/Maple Leafs game last night, but from watching the highlights and reading about the game....... What a fine piece of goaltending by the Islanders goalie Dwayne Roloson. The Islanders goal keeper stopped an incredible 58 shots and allowed 3 in a 4-3 OT win for the Islanders. The Maple Leafs had plenty of shots by the time the first period was over... 20 shots in the first period to the Islanders 9. The score though was 0-0 by the end of the first. Toronto came out and dominated every aspect in the first minus scoring. Big problems came for Toronto though in the 2nd where they outshot the Isles again 15-9, but gave up 3 goals leading to a 3-1 Islanders lead. The Leafs wouldn't go away and fired the puck 23 times at the Islanders goalie and scored 2 more times. The Islanders though were held to just 4 shots the entire period. The Isles would win the game in OT on thier first shot of the period. I wish I saw this game in full because the amount of good goalkeeping that must have gone on had to have been just crazy. With this game I have a little change in opinion on Toronto. It no longer to me seems that they have problems getting the puck to the net as they managed to get 58 shots against the Isles, but their goaltending, much like Tampa Bay is a sore spot. Fix that up and play like last night and Toronto would be a pretty solid team now instead of the future.

 

[Mr. TM]

I read about it last night and was shocked. Toronto actually dominated in a game. Yet once again, they leave with only one point. That is the story of the team, they bring it to OT, and they lose it there. 61 shots in a game? That is incredible. Being scored against 4 times in 20 times? That is horrendous. Either Rolston had a great night, or Toronto was taking worthless shots all night, losing once again.

 

[Mr. TM]

Two day holiday for Daniel Briere. He was suspended for hitting Scott Hannah after he had scored. I really don't get it. The hit wasn't that bad, and probably should have resulted in a 5 minute major and that was it. Daniel Briere is a respected player and just either a.) let his temper get the best of him, or b.) was trying to get his team back into the game. No reason to suspend him for 2 games.

 

[CH David]

So last night the Blackhawks pretty much dominated the scoring on the 1st place San Jose Sharks. In a meeting of the top two teams not only in the West, but arguably the best two teams in the NHL, the Blackhawks took it to the Sharks in the Shark Tank. The first period was well played, and the scoring started on with a shorty by Troy Brouwer with about 3 minutes left in the period. The Hawks got three short handed goals in the game, with each being the first three goals of the game.

Marian Hossa was making his long awaited debut for the Blackhawks, and he came as advertised in his first game. He played well on the penalty kill, even getting a breakaway short handed goal, and later on scored on a sweet pass from Brent Sopel into a wide open net. That front line of Toews, Kane, and Hossa is looking to be very dangerous. It has been a good trip for the Hawks so far, lets see if they can get these last two to sweep the road trip.

 

[the troop]

Adding on to what David said, the Hawks made the best team in the NHL look like the worst AHL team. When you're getting 3 shorthanded goals in a game and 2 within the same pp, you know you are doing good. I found it pretty funny when the PA announcer said the sharks had another pp, the fans started booing. Always great to hear when cheering for the opposition.

Of course last night was the long awaited return/team debut of one Marion Hossa. With all this hype, I guess you can say he followed through. Two goals in your first game? Not bad. Not bad at all. I may have read this wrong but Comcast had a poll asking how many goals Hossa would score this year and I think about 25% said less than 10. Well, he's already 1/5 of the way there.

Once again Huet had a very strong game between the pipes. He has become one of the better goalies in the league after a rocky start. I think it is about time we got a nickname for him. The Cristobal wall?.....maybe not. Also, it is great to think that we have a solid safety net in Ante Niemi if things take a turn for the worst.

This was obviously a pivotal stretch of games for the Blackhawks, being the circus road trip. They have already accomplished what they wanted to do this road trip in going above .500. If they can sweep this trip, that would be absolutely huge and it would solidify themselves as one of the best teams in the NHL, if they weren't already.

 

[a7xoff]

Devils have won three in a row again. Now we're doing it without David Clarkson on top of the seemingly endless list of injuries that is literally plaguing this team for a second year in a row. For a second year in a row, all these guys coming up from the minors are getting the job done. The next couple games we have a few big tests. One will test our scoring ability and the other will test well... Nearly everything. I'm talking about Vancouver and Detroit. Sandwitched in there is a date with the Lightning as well. Vancouver as I've been reading here has started to get their acts together in the tight race in the West. They've got good scoring and of course one of the best guys in the pipes as well. That's going to test our scoring as we're going to need to score a bit against Vancouver if we hope to win. Then we have our date with the Lightning. Then it's time for a showdown with Detroit. I'll be at the game as the Devils celebrate the 1995 cup. I'm expecting a good game as both teams are pretty injury bitten, moreso the Devils I think, but still should be a good game. If the Devils D can keep up with Detroit's goal scorers I think we'll be allright.

 

[Mr. TM]

Canucks need consistency. Five game homestand where we went 3-2. But we should have done better. We scored 7 against the oilers, but in our two losses we only had two goals in those two games.

With Daniel back, we can hope for consistant scoring. But the Forsberg/Naslund talks still interest the North Pacific team. They said not right now, but come spring it might change.

 

[Turd Ferguson]

Props to the Bruins for finally getting it right.

They signed Marc Savard to a 7 year extension at $4.2 million a year. Savard's been one of the best players for the Bruins, and has been one of the best players in the league. He also took less money to sign with the Bruins too... he definitely could have gotten more elsewhere. Savard must realize that the Bruins are definitely knocking on the door of a Stanley Cup, and even multiple Cups over the next seven years. He wants to stay here and win, and also help give the Bruins some payroll flexibility in order to get some of the pieces that are necessary to win a cup. He's taking an $800,000 hit.

By the way, this shows yet again how much of a douche Phil Kessel is. Savard is a PROVEN NHL player who has been among the top in league scoring. And he's taking a little over $4 million, and pretty much taking a major hometown discount. Even at the end of the deal, when he won't be as good, but still productive, it's a good deal.

 

[CH David]

I apologize for my brief absence. The losses on Friday and Saturday were depressing. But I figured it would happen with the Ducks. They are one of the lower ranked teams in the conference, and after that statement game in San Jose, there was a drop off. It happens. They beat the Hawks, simple as that. As for the Kings, they also did a good job, taking it in a shootout.

However, last night was the first game home for the Blackhawks after their Circus Trip. It was a tough game against the young Columbus Blue Jackets. Versteeg had one of the prettiest opening and short handed goals I have ever seen, with a double toe drag, with which he beat two defenders, and was able to get it past Steve Mason for the goal. Definitely highlight reel stuff. The rest of the game was definitely a scrap, with none of the goals being truly pretty. Just hard nosed hockey and scrappy defense. It went into a shootout, and Huet was on his game, as was Mason. Both allowed only one goal through 10 rounds, Huet made it 11, but Mason got beat by Brent Seabrook for the winner.

Afterwards Mason was visibly upset, seen banging his stick against the boards in frustration. I don't think this would be a big cause for concern, but the team or league could possibly fine him for misconduct? It is possible but I'm not in the league so I wouldn't know right now.

 

[Mr. TM]

In a matchup that might have pitted the two potential starting goalies for Team Canada against eachother as well as two of the, if not, best goalies in hockey. Luongo came out on top as the Canucks took it to the Devils tonight, by a score of 5-2. Vancouver has done historically well against the tri city teams, and I hope thatthis is a Stanley cup matchup as Vancouverfaces the last of the New York trinity for the cup.

 

[CH David]

CHICAGO – It was only a matter of time.

Today’s official announcement of extensions for Chicago Blackhawks Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, and Duncan Keith will bring an end to the story CSNChicago.com first broke in Chicago back on November 14.

Multiple league sources are reporting the deals to be $6.3 million per year for five seasons for both Toews and Kane, and $5.5 million per year over 13 seasons for Keith. That’s a total outlay of $72 million for Keith, $31.5 million apiece for both Toews and Kane.

The reported deals are more than experts around the league were estimating for the three players, as the thumbnail figures being bandied about over the past two weeks on Toews and Kane hovered around $6 million per year, Keith $5 million.

The rest of the article for those who care is here http://www.csnchicago.com/12/02/09/...to-Deal/landing.html?blockID=98120&feedID=661

It has finally happened. Three of the cornerstone players for the Blackhawks have been re-signed. I am ecstatic about each of the young guns coming back, and what Blackhawks fan wouldn't be? I'll start off with Duncan Keith.

Keith is one of the top two defensemen on the team, both on offense, he leads the team in assists with 18, and is second in points, and on defense as well, logging an average of 26:44 minutes played, and on the top line usually playing against the opponents top line. He is a tremendous skater, and has a great eye for the breakaway passes.

Kane is the one youngin that has really stepped it up this season, learning to play a pretty good defense as well. But he is still known as an offensive playmaker. He leads the team with 9 goals, and is second in assists behind Keith. He really wants the US Olympic Hockey Team nod as well. Very glad he will be back.

Now onto the Captain. For me, Tazer and Keith were the necessary signings needed. Yes Kane was important but these two moreso. Toews is the Captain of a young team, and he is a natural leader. We saw it in his rookie year, and hell, look at how the team struggled when he had his knee injury that year. He is one of the most important pieces to the team, and him coming back is great for the team. Hopefully he is able to stay his whole career, and go down as one of the best Hawks players to come around. Just my vision. I'm a Toews mark lol.

 

[the troop]

So tonight, The Hawks gained a rough, hard fought win over the Penguins in the Igloo tonight in overtime, maybe one of their hardest victories of the year. While the lines did play hard, they probably wouldn't have been able to gain these two points if it werent for one Ante Niemi.

Netminder Ante Niemi played the best game of his career against the pens, and one of the best performances between the two Hawks goalies this year. He made 32 saves with only one passing through, while making several absolutely spectacular ones. When your backup goalie is nearly shutting out the second best team in the eastern conference, you know your in good shape.

The hawks have a few days off until the Rangers come to town. The original six games are always fun to watch, so pretty excited for that.

 

[a7xoff]

Been pretty busy with school as of late so I haven't been able to get on, but anyway.... Since a pretty much terrible game against Vancouver, the Devils bounced back with a win over the Lightning and a very exciting game over the Red Wings. The Wings right now are sitting out of the playoffs which is actually shocking to me as I thought they would be fighting with Chicago and San Jose for control of the West. Still a lot of hockey to go though. Devils are getting healthier as well. Rob Niedermier, Jay Pandolfo, and Johny Odyua have all come back from injury. On the flip of good there is bad for me though...

The Ducks continue to struggle this season and are dead last in the West. Much like the Hurricanes in the east I have no idea how or why this team is doing so terrible so far this year. I'm thinking we'll see some trades from them.... Scotty to the Devils I hope...

 

[the troop]

So for the second game in a row, the Hawks narrowly escape with the two points, this time against fellow original six team New York Rangers, who they haven't beaten since 2005 if I heard the stat correctly.

Despite being outshot 41 to 18, the Rangers managed to keep the lead for the majority of the game. Mostly due to the outstanding goaltending of Henrik Lundqvist. Despite many attacks from the likes of Toews and Hossa, and the first four power play opportunities, Lundqvist managed to keep the Hawks scoreless until the latter half of the third period. It took about a six man scrimish in front of the net to finally get one passed the Sweden native.

But in the end, the magnificent goaltending wasn't enough to stop the mighty Blackhawks with the winning goal coming from Dustin Byfuglien in overtime, who was basically shot of a cannon. You dont see too many players of his stature with that kind of breakaway speed.

Anyways, imo, it is only a matter of time until they jump the sharks( get it?) in the western conference and eventually catch the Capitals for the spot of top dog in the league. With 2 games at hand and only 3 points away, I think it is a definite possibility, maybe by the all-star break.