NHL 2006 Off-Season...

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

I'm not saying he won't be able to help you at all. But frankly you need another person who can score besides Iginla. And yes, Tanguay does score, but you more need a secondary pure scorer to help you out. Yes, he'll help out Iginla, but you need someone who can score and take the pressure off of Iginla, which you don't have.

 

Like I said, we already have other players who can score... We had 4 players if 20 goal seasons, for christ sakes. Tanguay had a 29 goal season which is good for someone who is going to be a 2nd goal scorer. You fail to understand that.

 

Its like how Edmonton currently needs some defensive help. Sure we'll win games and be in the hunt, but without another Pronger like precense on defense, we aren't gonna go far. I'm not suggesting someone needs to be like Pronger, but we need someone to step up and play that extra defense.

 

Judging by that post, your an Oilers fan, which explains everything.

 

Edmonton's defensive problems are much worse then Calgary's, as we already filled our void that was needed for a 2nd scorer in Tanguay, while you have yet to fill void left with Pronger.

 

I was off by a goal, and you needed to correct that? Geezus... ;; Still, pretty terrible I botched that. Concerning hockey stats, I usually rarely screw up.

 

Anyways, yes, I know the Flames have guys who had scored twenty. That Phaneuf (who is gonna be awesome), Langkow (who plays with Iginla), Huselius, and Kobasew. What I was talking about was more of is one of these guys either needs to step up on line 2 to make it a threat or you need to find someone who can. And frankly looking at the potentials for your second line, doesn't do anything to make me think Iginla will be relieved of any pressure. By relieving pressure, I'm talking about stepping it up and score 25+ goals. I don't think Kobasew or Huselius will be able to do so. Phaneuf, sure he'll repeat, but he'll also be playing mostly with line one if I'm not mistaken so again, the drop in talent from line one to line two is gonna be huge.

 

Huselius can certainly score 25+ goals with Calgary. He came to Calgary, 24 games through the season, and once he got use to the Calgary system he started to play really well. Don't sleep on this kid, he's going to come under the radar. Jamie Lundmark could suprise people as well, when Calgary picked him up at the deadline, he was playing pretty good. He got 4 goals in 12 games. I expect Lombardi to have a better season then he did last year. He's a good player with potential, but I'm not sold on him. This will be his make or break year IMO.

 

No he's not. A person who's paid that much money should be able to do better than what he has to be paid that. But that's more my own symantics against the overpaying of players. It wasn't meant as a slap to the Flames, just personal preference.

 

And did I ever question his loyalty? No. So please don't bring it up like I am. As I said, I don't like overpaying a player and Iginla doesn't strike me as a seven million dollar a season type of player. Especially when my own team has players who put up nearly as much for cheaper.

 

I'm sure any team would gladly take Iginla off us, even for 7 million a season.

 

Iginla didn't have the greatest season last year(still had a pretty good season, but that was because he truly missed playing with Craig Conroy who really helped him out in making good passes to him so he can get his goals. Without that he still put the puck in the net, but he didn't have a Maurice Richard trophy season like we are use to seeing from Iggy.

 

And with a player like Iggy he's more then just stats. He's a emotional leader and a great one at that. He was the main reason(along with Kipper) why he had our cup run in 04, because of his great leadership. When the team isn't feeling confident, he will go and do somthing(lay a big body check or pick a fight with a tough fighter on their team) to restore that confidence. He's a tough hard nose player, which is rare for an franchise star player. He can score a bunch of goals, aswell. He deverse the money he gets IMO, because he could've signed with any other team a few years ago that were contenders or that were offering much more money then Calgary, but he stuck with the team and he got his reward for that.

 

Look, I only seriously got into NFL about 3-4 years ago, so I don't know all that much concerning cap problems and the financial aspects concerning teams, so I didn't realize it was financially impossible. Still doesn't mean it isn't a bad idea in terms of putting actual talent in front of all those rookies and give Vick a target that has some experience.

 

...but that's not here or now, and frankly if you want to continue digging this up, put it back where it belongs to be discussed, which is in the NFL thread. This is about the NHL.

 

Yeah I just brought it up because atleast IMO you made some pretty outragous statements, I won't discuss that topic here.

 

I use Lupul as an example of a pure scorer who was cheap so that you could still go out and while not picking up the contract baggage of Tanguay, still getting a good playmaker for Iginla.

 

Also Lupul played on the third line of Anaheim all of last season putting up those numbers and his numbers grew from the year before. I would take someone like that over Tanguay who's peaked.

 

Your missing the point, we were not looking for a pure goal scorer. We were looking for a set up man for Iginla, and Lupul would not be as good as Tanguay for setting up Iggy.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

So, how long before one of you says " Bring it!" and the other says "OH NO YOU DIDN"T!" Not trying to ruffle feathers, but ten minutes to read a reply is too long for a prediction-based discussion.

 

 

Gagne won't report to camp without a contract, says tsn.ca Let the stand-off continue.

[Lightning Flik 0]

Like I said, we already have other players who can score... We had 4 players if 20 goal seasons, for christ sakes. Tanguay had a 29 goal season which is good for someone who is going to be a 2nd goal scorer. You fail to understand that.

 

I don't fail to understand that. I'm saying if you are pairing up Tanguay onto line one, you'll have no secondary scoring threat on line two.

 

Edmonton's defensive problems are much worse then Calgary's, as we already filled our void that was needed for a 2nd scorer in Tanguay, while you have yet to fill void left with Pronger.

 

Pronger isn't the be all end all of our defense, it'll do its job just nicely. Sure, he won't be there to absolutely stop one player like Thorton all by himself, but we've got a good enough core that's still there that can do the job. Last year it was the three headed monster in net that killed out season, not Pronger. Pronger though was what helped us make it to the finals, so we're a great seasonal team, just not a playoff great team.

 

Huselius can certainly score 25+ goals with Calgary. He came to Calgary, 24 games through the season, and once he got use to the Calgary system he started to play really well. Don't sleep on this kid, he's going to come under the radar. Jamie Lundmark could suprise people as well, when Calgary picked him up at the deadline, he was playing pretty good. He got 4 goals in 12 games. I expect Lombardi to have a better season then he did last year. He's a good player with potential, but I'm not sold on him. This will be his make or break year IMO.

 

If Huselius's goal scoring was improving or showing improvement from season to season, I'd concede to you that he could. But since he's not (20 goals in nearly all seasons), that's probably why you see me sleeping on him. This is also why I say you need a secondary scorer. If the current gameplan is just Tanguay and Iginla on line one, this is more or less why I'm saying you need a secondary scorer, because I don't think you got one. Well, unless Huselius proves me wrong.

 

As for Lundmark, I haven't seen anything to surprise me at all. And 4 goals in 12 games makes me scream SSS, but maybe I'm wrong. But he certainly hasn't shown anything over the year's to surprise me.

 

And I will admit that I like Lombardi, but just like you, I think he's getting to the point where you can't wait on him any more to show up.

 

I'm sure any team would gladly take Iginla off us, even for 7 million a season.

 

I'm cutting out the rest because you think I mean no team would do so. On the contrary, probably every team would. Just, me myself. I wouldn't.

 

And I more meant I'd take someone who's still improving over someone who's peaked, hence the Lupul comment. Although, he's a scorer and not a passer, so that comment was a little bit unfounded there. More was going with someone with upside to him, rather than peaking. Sorry for the bad comparison there.

[nl5xsk1 0]

You know, for all the people that bitch & moan that the NHL was dumb for abandoning ESPN for OLN ... I was watching Survivor re-runs on OLN the other night, and they showed commercials for the NHL: "Coming in October".

 

Giving a month's notice. Giving a month's worth of hype. Actually giving a crap to promote the league & it's coverage.

 

Three things that ESPN never did. While it's a much smaller network, without the panache of the ESPN name, I'd much prefer the sport that I love be covered on a station that cares to promote it than be on the self-proclaimed "worldwide leader in sports".

[JustJoe2k5 0]

You know, for all the people that bitch & moan that the NHL was dumb for abandoning ESPN for OLN ... I was watching Survivor re-runs on OLN the other night, and they showed commercials for the NHL: "Coming in October".

 

Giving a month's notice. Giving a month's worth of hype. Actually giving a crap to promote the league & it's coverage.

 

Three things that ESPN never did. While it's a much smaller network, without the panache of the ESPN name, I'd much prefer the sport that I love be covered on a station that cares to promote it than be on the self-proclaimed "worldwide leader in sports".

 

I do wish they would actually show some hockey content throughout the offseason. We couldn't have season retrospectives for each team like the NFL does? A weekly show that highlights offseason moves and training camp? Classic hockey games? I would like to see OLN actually live up to the "Hockey Central" nickname they gave themselves.

[Red Baron 0]

Classic Hockey would be the best.

[JustJoe2k5 0]

Classic Hockey would be the best.

 

Yeah, I thought that was the best part of their playoff coverage. When there weren't any playoff games on a given night, they would usually show two classic games back-to-back. Alot of great hockey.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

Classic Hockey would be the best.

 

Yeah, I thought that was the best part of their playoff coverage. When there weren't any playoff games on a given night, they would usually show two classic games back-to-back. Alot of great hockey.

 

It sounds good on paper, but I'm still not entirely sold on classic games in full. If anyone's seen what the Leaf Network does, compressing a game commercial free into an hour, I think that'd be the way to go. Enough time to get the full aura surrounding some bigger moments, I say.

[JustJoe2k5 0]

That would be cool as well, I would just like to be able to turn to OLN once in a while and see some hockey. Do they really need to show Survivor THAT often?

[KGB 0]

I had to laugh at this quote from Hal Gill, from an article in today's National Post:

 

"Mobility is the big thing. I won't lie to you: I hooked and I held. That's why Mario retired, because of guys like me."

 

Apparently, he has been working on his mobility and looks to cut down on obstruction infractions.

[the max 0]

I had to laugh at this quote from Hal Gill, from an article in today's National Post:

 

"Mobility is the big thing. I won't lie to you: I hooked and I held. That's why Mario retired, because of guys like me."

 

Apparently, he has been working on his mobility and looks to cut down on obstruction infractions.

 

Nice of him to try now. Didn't stop him from being a fucking pylon last season. I hope he tries to start shit with Chara again.

[nl5xsk1 0]

The best thing about the Hal Gill era here in Boston was the fact that Jagr once said that the Bourque/Gill pairing was one of the toughest to play against.

 

And then the idiotic announcers kept saying how tough it was for Jagr to play against Gill, even long after Bourque retired. Ummm, I don't know how to say this, but the reason the Bourque/Gill pairing was tough to play against was NOT because of My Pal Hal.

[the max 0]

The best thing about the Hal Gill era here in Boston was the fact that Jagr once said that the Bourque/Gill pairing was one of the toughest to play against.

 

And then the idiotic announcers kept saying how tough it was for Jagr to play against Gill, even long after Bourque retired. Ummm, I don't know how to say this, but the reason the Bourque/Gill pairing was tough to play against was NOT because of My Pal Hal.

 

The hardest thing was trying to watch Gill try to cover Jagr.

 

 

 

http://tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=176820&hubname=

 

Ryan Miller signs a three-year deal with Buffalo.

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

I think Buffalo did a pretty decent job keeping the team together.

 

They made a lot of mistakes in the past signing guys to one year deals...and when everything finally clicked last year...everyone had to get big raises.

 

They lost Grier, McKee and Dumont...which were key parts.

 

But I thought it was going to be a lot worse. The fact that they signed their top defensive pair (Tallinder and Lydman) for the next 4 years makes me happy.

[Lightning Flik 0]

The fact they signed most of their team for 3-5 years makes them a legitimate contender for awhile. Heck, they may even get to raise a Stanley Cup.

[Guest]

I am very wary of calling all 4 conference finalists "contenders". Last year was an adjustment season for many of the teams.

[Lightning Flik 0]

When I say contenders, I don't mean are one of the teams making the finals. I say that to mean a playoff hopeful. But you are right, no way you can say any team is a finalist.

[CanadianChris 0]

I'm having a hard enough time trying to narrow it down to eight teams in each conference.

[Lightning Flik 0]

To be honest, the first 4 on each side aren't hard. You just take 3 of the usual suspects, and one that should be on the cusp.

 

The other 4 on both sides is really a crap shoot.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

Vokoun has re-upped. Four years.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

Also just announced: Gagne has re-signed for 5.25 a year for five years.

[CanadianChris 0]

The Islanders are set to re-sign Rick DiPietro for another FIFTEEN YEARS.

 

No truth to the rumour that he'll also become the Islanders GM upon his retirement.

[Lightning Flik 0]

Surely you jest on the 15 year signing thing, right?

[LaParkaMarka 0]

The Islanders are set to re-sign Rick DiPietro for another FIFTEEN YEARS.

 

No truth to the rumour that he'll also become the Islanders GM upon his retirement.

 

The Islanders are so awesome. Garth Snow should try and put together a team that's entirely goalies.

[Guest Felonies!]

That would put him with Isiah and Minaya in the "New York GMs who only sign ______" group. Point guards, Hispanics, goalies. Whatever.

[Lightning Flik 0]

That's unreal. How in the hell do you justify that contract? I mean DiPietro is good, but for 15 years?! I never thought I'd see anyone want to sign on that long with one team.

[CanadianChris 0]

I can't think of a single goalie in the league I'd give a 15-year deal to. If there was one goalie I HAD to give a 15-year deal to, though, it sure wouldn't be one with a career 2.86 GAA and .900 save %.

 

It's going to be fun watching the Garth Snow Era on the Island.

[treble 0]

This is awesome.

[Lightning Flik 0]

Well, DiPietro is now an Islander for life, because there is no way they can trade him at all.

[Red Baron 0]

You know what would be funny.

 

If the Islanders become another dynasty team with DiPietro in net.