NHL Thread: November Edition

[CanadianChris 0]

I heard that on the radio this morning. We've got no shot tonight against Atlanta with a struggling Gerber in net. They might put 6 or 7 past him.

[nl5xsk1 0]

The best rivalries were formed when the same teams played each other every year in the postseason, back when there were only 4 divisions. Watching the B's play Buffalo, and then Montreal, every year in the playoffs made me really grow to hate those teams. Especially the Habs when they eliminated the B's like 23 times in a row.

 

Now that the league's over-expanded and teams rarely match up in too many consecutive postseasons, the rivalries don't mean as much. Playing the Habs 3 or 4 years in a row - in the playoffs - would do more to inspire hatred than playing them 8 times in the regular season, where they games don't mean as much.

 

I'd prefer they go back to the "4 divisions, top 4 teams in each division make the playoffs and play in a 1v4, 2v3, winner of each foursome plays each other in the conference finals" format. Off the top of my head:

 

Smythe: Calgary, Vancouver, Edmonton, SJ, LA, Anaheim, Phoenix

Norris: Colorado, Minnesota, Detroit, Chicago, STL, Columbus, Dallas, Toronto

Adams: Washington, ATL, Carolina, Tampa, Florida, Nashville, Pittsburgh

Patrick: Boston, Buffalo, Montreal, Philly, NYR, NYI, NJ, Ottawa

 

/yes, I know the divisions are terribly unequal ... it's a world of parity, though, today's strong teams might be weak tomorrow and vice versa

//and don't ask me how to work the schedule to make that re-alignment fit ... they can pay someone big money to work that out

[KGB 0]

Very shitty news for the Leafs, as Mats Sundin has a slight ligament tear in his elbow and will need 3-4 weeks to recover. Just when they were about to get Kubina back, too.

 

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=183399&hubname=nhl

[CanadianChris 0]

Fun fact: If the playoffs started today, there would be six new teams from last year (Atlanta, Toronto, Washington and Pittsburgh in the East, and Minnesota and Vancouver in the West).

 

Also, only 3 Canadian teams would qualify for the playoffs right now.

[Red Baron 0]

Thats gotta hurt, but this will determine how good the Leafs are without their captain for a month.

[Guest Felonies!]

You can't change any of the divisions around. All of them fit with each other so well, it'll ruin any real rivalries.

Oh God yes, Chicago, Nashville and Columbus were born to duke it out!

 

Go back to Chicago/Minnesota/Detroit/Toronto/St. Louis.

[Red Baron 0]

Okay with the exception of one and possibly two because the Southeast is completly mish-mashed.

 

I mean I missed the days of playing against Hartford and Quebec Nordiques.

[Guest Princess Leena]

Toronto must remain in a division with Montreal and Buffalo. That is all.

[nl5xsk1 0]

The problem with that logic is that Toronto really should be in a division with Detroit, too. And Ottawa, for that matter, for the provincial rivalry.

 

And Montreal and Buffalo would still need to be with Boston.

 

So you're already starting with a division of those 5 teams. And that's not incluind the other "need to"-s like Chicago & St Louis with Detroit.

[Red Baron 0]

Montreal should be in with Boston, Buffalo and Ottawa, but not Toronto, because eight...even six games was way too much on a riveraly and it really boring. Keep it to two games a year. Much more bragging rights between the two.

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

Buffalo has to stay with Toronto, Boston and Montreal as everyone has stated...

 

And I would KILL to get Philly into Buffalo's division.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

Suddenly my baseball-like idea seems a little more sensible. As much as I love seeing all-Canadian games, I get more stoked over Montreal playing Buffalo or Philly than I do Vancouver or Calgary.

 

So, without ruling interleague play...let's say 15 teams per conference:

 

-Two road games against all other in-conference teams(28)

-Two home games against all other in-conference teams(28)

-Then either one or two against teams on the other side of the Mississippi. (26)

 

Maaaaaaaaaaaybe tweak the schedule to see a fifth game a year between more traditional rivals, say five Boston-Buffalo and one Boston-Tampa. Detroit is kind of a stalemate though....They could get Chicago and Colorado, but they do lose out on four of the other Original Six teams. Ultimately, I think that's the best solution.

 

Vancouver and Dallas get to see Crosby and Ovechkin. Florida gets to see Luongo again. Ottawa and Toronto play each other twice in each city, which keeps a rivalry fresh without overdoing it.

 

If you think about it, there's enough history one way or another between almost every team in the league, especially in the playoffs. That's plenty to build on.

[Red Baron 0]

Detroit really has no rivalery against Montreal, Boston or New York Rangers.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

Thats gotta hurt, but this will determine how good the Leafs are without their captain for a month.

 

Kubina's back tomorrow, so that means Belak can move to forward as they've experimented with a few times. I don't forsee a train wreck, although they certainly won't be this hot much longer. 500 hockey until about Christmas seems reasonable.

[CanadianChris 0]

The Sens lost a one goal game! They blew two two-goal leads! They gave up a shorthanded goal! Stop me if any of this sounds familiar!

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

I didnt think I'd be the guy to break that news. The Sens haven't lost five straight since Daig and Yashin were playing in the nation's capital.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

Just because I don't fathom seeing it happen in real life, I thought I'd share that in my dynasty in NHL '07, Wade Dubleiciewicz is starting in net in Game 4 of the East Quarterfinals for the Islanders.

[Red Baron 0]

Jason Williams was just taken off the stretcher from a hit by Raffi Torres. Williams remained conscious and was moving his feet when he was taken off on the stretcher.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

Worth noting:

 

-Canada moves to 2-0 in the Four Nations Cup

 

- Patrick Roy has told the media that Habs forward Guilliame Latendresse wouldnt even be on the Habs were he not a Francophone.

[CanadianChris 0]

I didnt think I'd be the guy to break that news. The Sens haven't lost five straight since Daig and Yashin were playing in the nation's capital.

More to the point, it's the first time they've done it since the last time they missed the playoffs.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

So where do they go from here?

 

I mean, there's still 70 games to play, so the sky isn't quite falling, but five straight losses is more than just bad luck. The rumours that Alfredson might be traded seem to get routinely shot down, apart from Emery and Redden (who's back now, isnt he?), injuries don't seem to be the problem. Powerplay needs to improve, no doubt, but that can't be blamed for the poor defence and third period play.

 

Is it too early to start swining the axe on the front office?

[CanadianChris 0]

Their biggest mistake was signing Martin Gerber. I said that for the entire offseason. He had one good regular season and got a big money deal, and now he's letting pucks in all over the place. The two goals the Thrashers scored in the third last night were both soft. And Muckler signed him on Murray's recommendation.

 

The poor defense could be a factor in that. It happened last year, when Emery let in seven goals in the first game against Buffalo, and the D tightened up, perhaps because they lost confidence in Emery, and started making mental mistakes. It's not a coincidence that the Sens are last in the league in SH goals against.

 

Maybe the team is just soft mentally. It's possible. You can talk about caring about winning all you want, but it doesn't matter if you're not mentally sharp and tough. This team has beaten itself so often that maybe they just don't have that mental toughness that great teams need.

 

I think Muckler and Murray are both gone after this year, barring a big turnaround. Even if they make the playoffs, Ottawa's looking like a first-round exit waiting to happen.

[Red Baron 0]

Same situation is going on in Edmonton as well. No one on the team is playing up to par, and MacTavish has basically lost it.

[Lightning Flik 0]

To be honest, I'm more blaming the players on the fallout this time than MacT. But still, I'm beginning to think we trade away some players or something because something besides firing MacT (which will likely happen at the rate we're going at) needs to be done to get these players to understand that they can't play shinny hockey.

[Red Baron 0]

Here's something mind boggling.

 

TSN reported that the Finland wants Mike Keenan to coach their national hockey team.

[CanadianChris 0]

Hm, interesting. Isn't it usually developing hockey nations that go outside the country to hire a head coach?

[Red Baron 0]

Who coach for them in 06? Esa Tikkanen?

[CanadianChris 0]

According to Wikipedia, Erkka Westerlund has been the coach since '04.

[Red Baron 0]

Maybe Tikkanen was coaching the Juniors then.

 

Speaking of Juniors, just one more month until then, probably my favourite time of hockey before the playoffs start.

[KingPK 0]

Hal Gill and Andrew Raycroft return to Boston tonight. As a result, the Bruins are so getting shut out with Gill playing crisp D and Raycroft stopping like 40 shots.