The NHL Thread

[CanadianChris 0]

McCabe has a shot. It'll probably come down to him, Sheldon Souray and Chris Phillips for the last D spot.

 

My other 6 defensemen so far: Redden, Niedermayer, Blake, Jovanovski, Pronger, Foote. Remember that the more experienced guys are going to get the benefit of the doubt a lot more than others would. Lemieux will be on the team for this reason as well. Yzerman I'm not so sure about.

 

The rest of my team:

 

LW - Kariya, Smyth, Gagne, Shanahan

RW - Iginla, Sullivan, St. Louis, Heatley

C - Lemieux, Crosby, Sakic, Spezza, Richards

G - Luongo, Brodeur, Belfour

 

Alex Tanguay would probably be my first replacement forward.

 

Does anyone else think Canada should be able to field two teams, like they can in bobsledding?

[Guest]

I'd probably take Turco over Belfour, but to each their own.

[CanadianChris 0]

I'd probably take Turco over Belfour, but to each their own.

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I picked Belfour for the same reason he was picked in 2002 -- he knows he's the third goalie, and he's perfectly OK with it. Someone like Turco or Theodore might not have as easy a time knowing they'll never get into a game unless someone gets hurt.

[Guest]

True. Even if one goalie is better, they should take the guy with more experience as their 3rd because it's probably going to be his last Olympics.

[Guest]

Unfortunately, I think the US won't even sniff a medal this year. Team Canada, the Czech Republic and Sweden are all better. That's if Sweden figures out their goalie situation.

[Danville_Wrestling 0]

Unfortunately, I think the US won't even sniff a medal this year.  Team Canada, the Czech Republic and Sweden are all better.  That's if Sweden figures out their goalie situation.

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Yea, I definitely agree and Sweden has to try not to choke like they did against Belarus like the last go around.

[the max 0]

What about Finland? They had a pretty good showing at the World Cup last year, didn't they? Made it to the finals where they got housed by Canada...

[Guest]

That was my 4th team, then Team USA is 5th.

[Justice 0]

Two things that were in 'The Puck' (The Detroit Free Press' exclusive Wing's section) that really speak LOADS about how much better the Ottawa Senators are than anyone else right now:

 

(My Italics)

 

QUOTE(Detroit Free Press @ Nov 16 2005[

[b)

By the Numbers[/b]

4: Four-goal games in the NHL season, most recently by Atlanta's Ilya Kovalchuk. The others were Ottawa's Daniel Alfredsson, Martin Havlat, and Dany Heatley.

 

410: Goals the Senators will score if the maintain their pace of five a game. Only the Edmonton Oilers have topped the 400-goal mark: They did it five times, including a record 446 in 1983-1984.

 

The fact that Ottawa has 3 of the 4 players who have had 4 goal games on ONE LINE, plus the fact that they are on par in goal scoring with the legendary Edmonton Oilers of old just freaks me the hell out. Especially when you think that they have Hasek in goal.

 

I honestly, even as a die-hard Wings fan, can see no one beating them unless they loose their entire first two lines and their top goalie in a freak bus accident.

[Guest]

Hasek could burn out. That's the only thing outside of death keeping them out of the finals.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

Hasek could burn out.  That's the only thing outside of death keeping them out of the finals.

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Doesn't matter.

 

I'm still calling for Hasek to crumble(I know, it's borderline blasphemy)....

 

Even if, a team that averages 5 goals a game, even with Ray Emery in net, will not be stopped.

 

They're still a fairly green playoff team, but it doesnt matter.

[Dogbert 0]

McCabe has a shot.  It'll probably come down to him, Sheldon Souray and Chris Phillips for the last D spot.

 

My other 6 defensemen so far:  Redden, Niedermayer, Blake, Jovanovski, Pronger, Foote.  Remember that the more experienced guys are going to get the benefit of the doubt a lot more than others would.  Lemieux will be on the team for this reason as well.  Yzerman I'm not so sure about.

 

The rest of my team:

 

LW - Kariya, Smyth, Gagne, Shanahan

RW - Iginla, Sullivan, St. Louis, Heatley

C - Lemieux, Crosby, Sakic, Spezza, Richards

G - Luongo, Brodeur, Belfour

 

Alex Tanguay would probably be my first replacement forward.

 

Does anyone else think Canada should be able to field two teams, like they can in bobsledding?

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Robyn Regehr.

 

Anyways, another great game from Calgary tonight, as they take the Red Wings 3-1.

[Zetterberg is God 0]

Anyways, another great game from Calgary tonight, as they take the Red Wings 3-1.

I went to the game in support of the Wings (my favorite team) and they got their asses kicked tonight. Good game overall despite the end result. Leagace played great but got no offensive support.

[JustJoe2k5 0]

The fact that Ottawa has 3 of the 4 players who have had 4 goal games on ONE LINE, plus the fact that they are on par in goal scoring with the legendary Edmonton Oilers of old just freaks me the hell out. Especially when you think that they have Hasek in goal.

 

I honestly, even as a die-hard Wings fan, can see no one beating them unless they loose their entire first two lines and their top goalie in a freak bus accident.

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Someone needs to let the Hurricanes know, because they've already defeated the Senators twice this year. It's a crime how many people in the media overlook the Hurricanes, they are off to a great start.

[Kismet 0]

I wish I could watch the Hurricanes and Senators, since the last time hockey was on my cable situation changed and now I don't get near as much hockey as I used to. Carolina took two from Ottawa? Cool. It's still a bit early to be handing the cup to anyone yet though.

I watched my Wings get beat tonight also. A bummer, but McCarty got a goal, so even if it was against the Wings it was cool. They seem to still be an upper-tier team with a few weaknesses, and those could be shored up by the playoffs.

[JustJoe2k5 0]

I wish I could watch the Hurricanes and Senators, since the last time hockey was on my cable situation changed and now I don't get near as much hockey as I used to. Carolina took two from Ottawa? Cool. It's still a bit early to be handing the cup to anyone yet though.

  I watched my Wings get beat tonight also. A bummer, but McCarty got a goal, so even if it was against the Wings it was cool. They seem to still be an upper-tier team with a few weaknesses, and those could be shored up by the playoffs.

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In my opinion, the Hurricanes are playing better hockey this year than they did the year of their Stanley Cup finals run. Hurricanes defeated the Senators 3-2 back in October and a few days ago defeated them 2-1 in Ottowa.

 

The saddest part is that they hardly get any attention in the local newspapers while the struggling Bobcats are front page news.

[Guest]

Hasek could burn out.  That's the only thing outside of death keeping them out of the finals.

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Doesn't matter.

 

I'm still calling for Hasek to crumble(I know, it's borderline blasphemy)....

 

Even if, a team that averages 5 goals a game, even with Ray Emery in net, will not be stopped.

 

They're still a fairly green playoff team, but it doesnt matter.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That's probably true, because they will wind up playing a team such as Philadelphia or Carolina in the Eastern Conference Finals and I think that both of those teams can be worn out with physical play.

[BHK 0]

The Penguins are 6-4-1 since starting 0-4-5, including wins against Philidelphia and Montreal.

 

They'll be making the playoffs. Count on it.

[Red Baron 0]

With what goaltending and defencemen?

[Red Baron 0]

I have no idea why you guys are even mentioning Souray as a candidate for the Olympics, because there are plenty of better defencemen that are out there. (Phaneuff anyone?)

[Guest]

Robyn Regehr.

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So he was born in Brazil, but is Canadian?

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

With what goaltending and defencemen?

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Marc Andre Fleury, and, um....yeah, good point.

[Guest]

Pretty good matchup out West tonight with the Kings facing Vancouver. Very interesting game.

[JustJoe2k5 0]

Hurricanes lead the Rangers 4-1 with eight minutes left in the game. Kevyn Adams has his first career hat trick and Eric Staal added yet another goal.

[Dr. Tyler; Captain America 0]

MAF will take over by midseason, I'm confident... and actually, the Pens have been playing moderately better D lately. Orpik has cut down on the dumb penalties a bit and RY-AN WHIT-NEY is going to be a friggin' superstar. Gonchar, when healthy, has also been playing better (although when he was playing on a hurt groin for the last few weeks, he was playing God awful -- flat footed and slow), and they've gotten some decent play from the revolving tandem of defensive defensemen known as Rob Scuderi, Lyle Odelein, Steve Poapst, and Joe Melichar. Tarnstrom is still hurt and Jackman still is a liability in the defensive end, but overall, it feels like Edzo has gotten to the older guys and the forwards are playing better D.

 

Crosby has always backchecked with passion, and Palffy has actually turned into quite the defensive forward recently (lot of good poke checking and positioning in the last few games to break up odd man breaks by Palffy, actually). They've got a solid bottom two lines with LeClair, Murley (who is a defensive demon), Fata (who is fast as all hell and plays solid D), Kotslov (who is also fast as hell and, despite playing on the checking line, creates an excessive amount of odd man breaks), and Talbot (another speed demon who checks hard). Overall, they've been looking much more solid over the last five or ten games, with the notable exceptions of a few games where they just looked like they didnt' care. If they can cut that out, they've got more than enough to take it to the playoffs.

[Dr. Tyler; Captain America 0]

.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

With what goaltending and defencemen?

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Marc Andre Fleury, and, um....yeah, good point.

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Never mind

[Dr. Tyler; Captain America 0]

Eh, that doesn't mean much. They've been shuffling him between Wilkes-Barre and the NHL for a while now. He actually comes up and goes back down at least sixteen times a week.

[LaParkaMarka 0]

Lyle Odelein is still in the league? He's been playing for like 50 billion years.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

Eh, that doesn't mean much. They've been shuffling him between Wilkes-Barre and the NHL for a while now. He actually comes up and goes back down at least sixteen times a week.

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Sure you're not thinking of Carlo Colaicovo?

 

Someone get Bettman a massage, I'm sure he's been patting himself on the back all nite over tonight's 8-5 game in the MCI Centre.