On February 10 2013 23:49 JimmyJRaynor wrote: I was hoping they'd end up in 15th so they could get a decent player.
Don't get too excited. They'd probably trade that pick and 12 others for the right to sign Bill Guerin out of retirement or something. No idea how that works, exactly, but they'll find a way. A.K.A - the Toronto method.
Brendan Morrow is trade bait. Big, truculent, had good hands once like five years ago!
Rangers looking a lot better lately, so yay. It was just a matter of time. Too much talent there. They did split up the nash-richards-gabby line and it seemed to give a bit more balance. Helps that the secondary guys have been showing up lately. If they get consistent production out of the 2nd and 3rd liners, they're gonna be nasty.
Devs got a big win but Pitt still looks pretty solid. I would imagine Philly gets it back into gear again soon too. Atlantic probably sends four again. I imagine Ottawa slides a bit without Spezza for a bit, and mediocre teams like TB and Toronto start falling back to earth.
Montreal has been interesting though. They've got a few good young kids, and they have a pretty solid D and Price is a stud. If they can get consistent scoring, they could definitely sneak in as a lower seed and defensive teams are usually dangerous in the playoffs.
I wonder is Ruff's dumb ass finally gets fired if the team misses again. They've been consistently disappointing since that monster team from right after the lockout got blown up. Fuck that Buffalo team was really scary. Thankfully they shit the bed. Briere's dumb face having a ring would have upset me. That team is really weird now though. Vanek has been a fucking stud this year, and Hodgson really looks to be a great trade now, but all of their secondary scoring and defense has been non existent. What the fuck happened to Tyler Myers???
On February 12 2013 01:14 QuanticHawk wrote: Brendan Morrow is trade bait. Big, truculent, had good hands once like five years ago!
Rangers looking a lot better lately, so yay. It was just a matter of time. Too much talent there. They did split up the nash-richards-gabby line and it seemed to give a bit more balance. Helps that the secondary guys have been showing up lately. If they get consistent production out of the 2nd and 3rd liners, they're gonna be nasty.
Devs got a big win but Pitt still looks pretty solid. I would imagine Philly gets it back into gear again soon too. Atlantic probably sends four again. I imagine Ottawa slides a bit without Spezza for a bit, and mediocre teams like TB and Toronto start falling back to earth.
Montreal has been interesting though. They've got a few good young kids, and they have a pretty solid D and Price is a stud. If they can get consistent scoring, they could definitely sneak in as a lower seed and defensive teams are usually dangerous in the playoffs.
I wonder is Ruff's dumb ass finally gets fired if the team misses again. They've been consistently disappointing since that monster team from right after the lockout got blown up. Fuck that Buffalo team was really scary. Thankfully they shit the bed. Briere's dumb face having a ring would have upset me. That team is really weird now though. Vanek has been a fucking stud this year, and Hodgson really looks to be a great trade now, but all of their secondary scoring and defense has been non existent. What the fuck happened to Tyler Myers???
LOL. Staal is killing me HAHA. Torts was none too pleased at this spectacle I assume.
I wouldn't be surprised if Philly has a strong game against Toronto tonight, and really turns it on from there. They always dominate at the ACC (was actually at the waffle-throwing game lol). Will be watching with some diehard Leafs fans and a Flyers fan, so it should be fun either way.
In other events, I love David Clarkson. Don't care what he asks for after the season, Lou better pay the man.
I doubt he keeps up his current pace, but yeah he's really turned into a solid player for them. Not particularly great at anything but really can play anywhere in the line up because of his skillset and is really good in front of the net. I am trying to find a goal highlight reel because in m ymind like 90% of his are tip ins and garbage goals. Dude isn't afraid up front
I miss him and Avery being dicks to one another
This was also pretty rad. I hate Marty but man is he ever good with passing
On February 12 2013 07:41 QuanticHawk wrote: I doubt he keeps up his current pace, but yeah he's really turned into a solid player for them. Not particularly great at anything but really can play anywhere in the line up because of his skillset and is really good in front of the net. I am trying to find a goal highlight reel because in m ymind like 90% of his are tip ins and garbage goals. Dude isn't afraid up front
It depends on what you consider highlight reel, but he's got a pretty decent wrister. His release isn't the quickest, but it's usually pretty heavy/accurate. Also vs Boston: (RIP dat Parise hustle) From last night:
edit: Yeah, we're screwed without Marty's stickhandling tbh. He's probably ~average starting goaltender these days but still an elite puckhandler. So much of the defensive game and break out involves him.
Yeah he's weird in that he doesn't seem to have any particularly great hands or anything, but he's just got a real solid sense of where to go, how to play in front of the net, and how to use his body to his advantage. He's like some kind of hybrid of a power forward and a grinder.
I wonder what kind of deal he gets this year. If he puts up at least .5, .6ppg this year, I figure he gets at least $3.5-4m
So San Jose got destroyed by Columbus (of all teams), dropping their 5th (?) straight. Kind of reminded me of the Wild last season, where they started off really hot by winning a lot of games in a really scrappy, low-scoring way, then got demolished for the rest of the season.
Tampa has lost 4 straight, although I didn't seriously expect them to stay so hot.
St. Louis has dropped to 6-5-1 with a -1 differential after starting really hot.
The Kings are sucking it up. Still. 10 points with the 3rd lowest goals for in the league. I haven't watched any of their games, so I don't know what's going wrong, but it's looking pretty bad for the defending champs.
Northwest looks to be pretty tight. Vancouver has the advantage, but Edmonton is staying in there and my Wild are crawling back. They still have a lot of offensive problems (very low goals/game, poor puck handling and finishing), but their defense and goaltending are both quality, so they could make that division a good one, as long as they don't return to the god-awful play that we saw from them in the past two weeks. I don't see them contending for anything until they improve the offense, though.
Actually, all of the divisions (except for the Southeast) look to have at least 3 teams that could fight for a playoff spot throughout the season. Pretty nice for fans, although I Feel bad for the Southeast...
SJ isn't nearly as good as they were 3-4 years ago, but they and the Blues are way too talented to continue to be shit. While it is a short season and games count a hell of a lot more, it's still only game 10-12 for most teams. The Leafs are always still in the playoff race 10 games in. It's still way to early to count out good teams starting shitty, or mediocre teams playing hot.
I'll take a look but I saw something about the Kings how they're still dominating possession at an elite level (like 2nd in the league or something) but they're just getting some shitty bounces and people like Dougherty aren't playing like themselves. Even though I think 10 games is still too early to give a real look at a team, it really is odd to see the Blues and Kings do as bad as they are doing. Esp the blues being near the bottom for GA when they're coached by Hitchcock.
Is the defense actually any good for Minny? I mean like talent wise, not the team strategy. I thought that was a definite weak point for them. Backstrom/Harding is probably one of the better tandems in the league though. Both could probably start for a number of teams.
I do agree that right now most divisions look like they could send three expect for the southeast. I think it would be quite a stretch to see three in the northwest though. A lot of other teams would have to shit the bed for that to happen. The Central could very easily send 4 when everyone gets up to speed.
it's pretty interesting looking at the stats seeing how sometimes are great in certain areas but awful in others. Buf is tied for third in GF, but dead last in GA. Nas has 6th best GA; 2nd worst gf.
The Oilers are still pretty bad at hockey. Some most of their games are just gross. Luckily, I have such thick calluses on my nuts from cheering for a team that has been garbage for ~15 years that I no longer feel the kicks. Now I kind of get an awkward boner and am grateful that at least someone is touching my dick.
On February 13 2013 04:12 QuanticHawk wrote: SJ isn't nearly as good as they were 3-4 years ago, but they and the Blues are way too talented to continue to be shit. While it is a short season and games count a hell of a lot more, it's still only game 10-12 for most teams. The Leafs are always still in the playoff race 10 games in. It's still way to early to count out good teams starting shitty, or mediocre teams playing hot.
I'll take a look but I saw something about the Kings how they're still dominating possession at an elite level (like 2nd in the league or something) but they're just getting some shitty bounces and people like Dougherty aren't playing like themselves. Even though I think 10 games is still too early to give a real look at a team, it really is odd to see the Blues and Kings do as bad as they are doing. Esp the blues being near the bottom for GA when they're coached by Hitchcock.
Is the defense actually any good for Minny? I mean like talent wise, not the team strategy. I thought that was a definite weak point for them. Backstrom/Harding is probably one of the better tandems in the league though. Both could probably start for a number of teams.
I do agree that right now most divisions look like they could send three expect for the southeast. I think it would be quite a stretch to see three in the northwest though. A lot of other teams would have to shit the bed for that to happen. The Central could very easily send 4 when everyone gets up to speed.
it's pretty interesting looking at the stats seeing how sometimes are great in certain areas but awful in others. Buf is tied for third in GF, but dead last in GA. Nas has 6th best GA; 2nd worst gf.
The talent is so-so on the MN defensive line; we picked up Suter, which adds a lot, but our remaining mentionables (Gilbert, Brodin, and Falk) are either young or just placeholders. The defense has the potential to be good (Brodin is only 19, and could shape up to be a solid player) and the system/coaching there is quite good. That, combined with Backstrom (one of the better goalies in the league) and Harding (a very, very good back-up), means that the defense is more than adequate. The problem with MN is that our offense is horrific, and when our offense (goal scoring, passing, puck control) is bad, this puts excess pressure on the defense because the opponent doesn't have to worry or play conservative, and they also get a lot more opportunities.
I definitely think that we'll see 3 challengers from every division (except the Southeast). I honestly don't expect either the Oilers or Wild to make the playoffs, but they'll nip at the heels of other teams until the end of the season, so it'll be exciting.
Oh well. Wild fans can dream for the day that the state of hockey turns out a respectable professional team, right?
On February 13 2013 12:06 QuanticHawk wrote: They've deffinitely got parts in place. I think they're still a year or two away from serious competition at least.
Holy fuck rangers just blew a 3-1 lead with under 2 in the 3rd. fuck fuck fuck
There are actually several parts in place. The problem is getting this team to actually make them work. They've been really underachieving for a while now.
And these are the parts that are missing. Only able to score one goal on Calgary last night (sorry Calgary) and went over 10 minutes without a SOG today vs. Vancouver (did that twice yesterday vs. Calgary). This offense is absolutely atrocious. Hell, at this rate, we'll be under 2 goals/game after tonight (worse than last year), and we're currently at 26.5 shots/game (same as last year). Currently 20th on PP (27th last year). You would think that, with the signing of Parise, our offense would improve, but no; it just gets worse (and yes, this is enough games to be talking about this).
In other news, San Jose is just collapsing. Not able to score a goal against Nashville.
In other other news, where the hell did Anaheim come from? Contending for best in the west, and it seems like they came out of nowhere.
Six in a row now for Vancouver. Luongo has been a beast. I just hope that Kesler really takes the time off needed to truly be at 100% before coming back.
Lol. A few years ago in a Colorado Vancouver game Vancouver was up by one with less than a minute left so Colorado pulled their goalie. However, they ended up having seven skaters on the ice and played like that for a good 20 seconds. Refs didn't notice a thing and they didn't score either.
On February 13 2013 12:06 QuanticHawk wrote: They've deffinitely got parts in place. I think they're still a year or two away from serious competition at least.
Holy fuck rangers just blew a 3-1 lead with under 2 in the 3rd. fuck fuck fuck
There are actually several parts in place. The problem is getting this team to actually make them work. They've been really underachieving for a while now.
And these are the parts that are missing. Only able to score one goal on Calgary last night (sorry Calgary) and went over 10 minutes without a SOG today vs. Vancouver (did that twice yesterday vs. Calgary). This offense is absolutely atrocious. Hell, at this rate, we'll be under 2 goals/game after tonight (worse than last year), and we're currently at 26.5 shots/game (same as last year). Currently 20th on PP (27th last year). You would think that, with the signing of Parise, our offense would improve, but no; it just gets worse (and yes, this is enough games to be talking about this).
In other news, San Jose is just collapsing. Not able to score a goal against Nashville.
In other other news, where the hell did Anaheim come from? Contending for best in the west, and it seems like they came out of nowhere.
Prior to this year idk about underachieving. They were always crappy offensively, and had little depth. With their offseason acquisitions and the mediocre play i'd agree now they're kind of underachieving. I say kind of because I really didn't view that as more than a 7-8 seed at best. I wonder how much of the issue is Yeo. Pittsburgh fans wil ltell you they absolutely hated his power play and tha was when he had two of the best players in the world on it.
about the Ducks, I havne't caught them this season yet but from what I understand they're killing it because their depth guys are on fire right now in addition to their big 4. Koivu's at a ppg or so, and no namers like Bonino and Winnik are racking up points. When your third liners are scoring in addition to studs like Selanne, Getzlaf, Perry and Ryan you're gonna win a lot of games. Apparently their goalie Fasth who has been filling in for Hiller has been lights out too.
Vancouver playing well and Lu being hot is just gonna make that inevitable shitty playoff choke that much more hilarious. More than likely it will probably be something like Lu starts, team plays like ass and he gets scapegoated by media, gets yanked and Schneider throws a dud and windows get smashed or something.
Vancouver is kind of like Cleveland in all sports. They are just destined to never, ever win.
hahahahahaha wow. Some goalie who got demoted in Minny hs hockey decided to take revenge by scoring on his own net, flipping off his coaches and saluting the crowd
hahahahahaha wow. Some goalie who got demoted in Minny hs hockey decided to take revenge by scoring on his own net, flipping off his coaches and saluting the crowd