NHL Thread - November 2007

[AntiLeaf33 0]

Spezza and Heatley need each other, or a player of the similar style, to be the most effective. Heatley needs a guy who can find him when he is open to get his scoring chances, and Spezza needs a guy with some finish so that he can rack up the assists. Alfredsson is great with these guys as he is a bit of a playmaker, but he can still pot a few goals as well. Essentially, they are the ideal top line.

[Guest Pizza Hut's Game Face]

relevant baseball and NHL news:

 

The Blackhawks are expected to name John McDonough their new president, stealing him away from the Chicago Cubs, where he was president in 2007, and head of marketing for 24 years prior. In a nutshell, McDonough marketed the mystique of the Cubs to make them the cash cow they've been under Tribune ownership. This guy is the best marketing mind in the city, possibly one of the best in North America, and if he does half of what he did to make the Cubs a big deal, in concert with the excellent play we're expecting, then the sky is the limit for this team. Once again, another huge step for the Hawks just months after the death. However, the West Side's gain is the North Side's loss, as this had to come out of nowhere for the Cubs. We should've known sooner than today.

 

EDIT: McDonough to fans: "It's time to come back!"

[CanadianChris 0]

This week's sign of the apocalypse: If the season ended today, four of the five Central Division teams would qualify for the playoffs, while the fifth (Columbus) would be eliminated by tiebreaker.

[the max 0]

All signs point to Bruins Franchise Goaltender™ Tuukka Rask (RASK, TOO-ka) making his first career NHL start tonight against the team who traded him for Andrew Raycroft. Rask loves lots of shots, so he should be very comfortable behind this Bruins defense.

 

Yesssss.

[the max 0]

Yesssss indeed.

 

Bruins with a come-from-behind win for the first time this season. Rask looked very, very sharp and got big saves when needed. Looked like a pro tonight. 4-2 final. Huzzah.

[KGB 0]

Jason Blake is a worthless hockey player right now. There I said it, I'm sorry he has cancer and all but it's the truth. Maybe he should take time off, all I know is I'm sick of him taking 100 weak ineffective shots at the net per game and creating nothing offensively. It's hard to believe he scored 40 goals last season.

 

Tuukka Rask, the TO media will have a field day with this tomorrow, as well as they should. It was a stupid trade then and although it's just one game, it looks even stupider now. Rask showed tonight that he can play at the NHL level. The Toskala trade doesn't look that good right now either, since Toskala seems to have to stand on his head almost every time he plays or else the Leafs lose and as good as he is, he isn't on Cujo/Eddie level. The throw-in, Mark Bell is a noncontributor. Meanwhile, Mikael Tellqvist has put up some decent numbers in Phoenix which is no small feat for a goalie there, too bad for him he is the backup down there now. It bugs me that the Leafs wouldn't just go for a rebuild after an atrocious 2005-06 season instead of trading for and signing lame duck players (throwing away precious draft picks and prospects in the process) just to contend for a playoff spot and miss out, which they'll do again this season.

[Prophet of Mike Zagurski 0]

Well CuJo isn't dong anything right now, so maybe Toronto should take him back.

[CanadianChris 0]

I cannot say how much I loathe the concept of PPV hockey. The Sens are playing Pittsburgh, and I can't watch it because a) I can't find the damn channel it's on, and b) I'm way too cheap to pay $11 plus tax for a game I'm only going to be putting in a clicker rotation with USC/Arizona and Indy/Atlanta.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

I cannot say how much I loathe the concept of PPV hockey. The Sens are playing Pittsburgh, and I can't watch it because a) I can't find the damn channel it's on, and b) I'm way too cheap to pay $11 plus tax for a game I'm only going to be putting in a clicker rotation with USC/Arizona and Indy/Atlanta.

 

 

$11 a game? That's horrendous. I empathize with my dad, who won't pay the $2.50 a month for Leafs TV, and there's what works out to 3 games a month on there.

 

I caved for it, and I'm not a Leafs fan. Fuckin HD.

[CanadianChris 0]

I will say that if I was going to play for a regular season game, it'd probably be this one. 5-5 with 4 minutes left. Sens have coughed up a pair of two-goal leads.

[LaParkaMarka 0]

Usually, in Vancouver garbage games get put on PPV. Stuff like Canucks vs Wild part 38032802940. In that respect, the PPV stuff isn't so bad.

 

Yikes, Pascal Leclaire put up another shutout. How bout them Blue Jackets, and their sinfully ugly savior?

 

[treble 0]

Ha, yeah. The World Jr. team had a nice rotation of horsefaced French goalies for a few years with him and Fleury.

 

And I don't know if it's because they play the games on Sens PPV at the movie theatre in town, but Cogeco didn't offer the games last year. And because it was technically on in the Sens region, you couldn't watch the game on Centre Ice, either. I don't know if that's still the case this year, though.

[CanadianChris 0]

And I don't know if it's because they play the games on Sens PPV at the movie theatre in town, but Cogeco didn't offer the games last year.

I doubt it, since they play it at theatres here in Ottawa too. On Rogers, it's at the very end of the Super Sports Pack section of channels.

[Zetterberg is God 0]

What gets me is that if you lived in the States, most markets get pretty much every game absolutely free. Obviously they know a good number of people up here would pay to see games so they do it. I have Center Ice so I get all the Red Wings games anyway, but even Center Ice has drawbacks, with that being the random games involving Canadian teams they black out.

[Zetterberg is God 0]

Here's what the All-Star jerseys are going to look like this year (apologies if they've been posted already):

 

East

 

West

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

So, since it's now the hot discussion, what do the Leafs need to do?

 

I don't think the sky is falling in Hogtown just yet, but come on....I posted in the fucking World Cup thread today and not here.

[AntiLeaf33 0]

So, since it's now the hot discussion, what do the Leafs need to do?

 

I don't think the sky is falling in Hogtown just yet, but come on....I posted in the fucking World Cup thread today and not here.

 

The Leafs have to decide if they want to be a legit contender, or if they want to try and rebuild for the future, because right now the team is a bad mix of both. I really don't blame Maurice here as the team he's coaching really shouldn't have all that different of a record at this point.

[CanadianChris 0]

The Leafs have to decide if they want to be a legit contender, or if they want to try and rebuild for the future, because right now the team is a bad mix of both.

They've been like that for the last five years. It's abundantly clear that JFJ needs to go.

[AntiLeaf33 0]

The Leafs have to decide if they want to be a legit contender, or if they want to try and rebuild for the future, because right now the team is a bad mix of both.

They've been like that for the last five years. It's abundantly clear that JFJ needs to go.

 

I'll agree with you there. JFJ is not a good fit for this team and organization. I don't know why Toronto is trading for these sub par, B goalies when they have a prime prospect in Pogge in the minors who should get a crack at the big club

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

JFJ is not the guy to build the team into a winner, either from the ground up, or from what he currently has. He's mortgaged away a fair amount of the future in draft picks as well, which doesn't bode well for him keeping his job, but think of it this way:

 

Let's say I manage a grocery store. My staff is, by and large, mediocre at their jobs, or indifferent, or being paid too much. Not only that, even loyal customers are unhappy with the staff and the product. But if each customer leaves with two bags of groceries, and we're turning a profit, aren't I doing a good job, at least in the owner's eyes?

 

I'm sure at least one member of MLSE or the Ontario Teacher's Pension Fund would see through my analogy; Regardless that seats will be full, television will always be knocking, and merchandise will sell, the fans want (and deserve) to see a winner. The point I'm stressing though, is that if 50 or 60 people own the team instead of one, the likelihood for indifference, as far as the on-ice product goes, would increase, especially if the team is still making money hand over fist.

 

 

That being said, from a purely hockey standpoint, JFJ needs to go. Only once under his reign have they gone deep into the playoffs(2002), and only once did they, in my opinion, really make an effort on Deadline Day to make a run (2003). Sundin has never had someone to play with, except for Roberts. Maurice is doing the best he can, but it seems to me he juggles the lines waaaaaaaay too often.

 

As I said previously, I don't think the sky is falling just yet. But if they're not at .500, by New Year's Day, clean house. Maurice isn't the problem, but a shake-up should be in order. And, that includes Sundin, who would be a prime candidate on trade deadline day with a cheap, one-year contract. (Max, after the Thornton trade, has the first right of rebuttal on that statement).

 

 

And speaking of trades, Brian Burke has had the league approve a conference call, to take place sevvvvvvven minutes from now. The discussion will be allowing teams to pay part of the salary of a player being traded to help make the trade more lucrative.

 

I never got the thought process behind that, outside of the traded player being a bad locker-room guy.

[Guest Pizza Hut's Game Face]

Baseball does that all the time. The Cubs have to send cash with almost all of the shitty players they unload. I don't see why the NHL can't do it. Then again, there's that stupid-ass cap to worry about. Fuck the NHL salary cap, by the way. I don't even know how it works, but fuck it all the same.

[the max 0]

I don't think they should amend that portion of the cap because it doesn't stop a GM from thinking before giving out a big contract to an undeserving player. All it does is give them an easy out, to pay a portion of the contract and get rid of a guy instead of working around the mistake. That's what makes a good GM. Not some guy sending out cash with players to other teams to correct a mistake.

[Guest Pizza Hut's Game Face]

Max, I watched Fargo on Thanksgiving. Not gonna lie, it was a little awkward when Steve Buscemi was fucking that chick on a big-screen TV at our family gathering and then going through the whole spiel in your sig, but hey, my youngest cousin is a freshman in high school now, so there's no sense in sheltering anyone anymore. The worst it did was distract me from playing Ultimate Outburst.

 

So, hockey. Blackhawks took 6 points of a possible 12 on the circus trip, which kinda sucks, but 1) they all have the flu, and 2) at least they did better than their 1-5 United Center counterparts.

[LaParkaMarka 0]

Here's what the All-Star jerseys are going to look like this year (apologies if they've been posted already):

 

East

 

West

 

I understand why they wanted stars on the uniform, but Jesus. The EAST one looks like it's missing a rainbow underneath. Come on NHL, it shouldn't be this hard to get a decent uniform together.

[Guest Pizza Hut's Game Face]

What a fucking mess. That whole graphic package for the conferences/playoffs/Stanley Cup stuff is some of the ugliest shit I've ever seen in pro sports. It couldn't look more minor league if it included a cartoon beaver biting a hockey stick.

 

As for the uniforms, as well as the whole EDGE system, I think it might be going the way of the Cooperalls. The Rangers got rid of those stupid ducktails that make them look like untucked shirts, the Bruins are demanding new sweaters that don't tear when lightly pulled, and many players have pointed out what should've been realized at the development stage: if the fabric is water-resistant, the water, due to the Law of Conservation of Matter, has to go somewhere, and in this case, it pools in their gloves. If the whole aerodynamic thing is their concern, they can just go back to wearing traditional hockey sweaters that aren't as baggy, like most players did in the 1980s.

[AntiLeaf33 0]

Speaking of JFJ, according to TSN.ca he tried to get Maurice fired last week....he denies the claim of course

[treble 0]

Firing Maurice would be stupid.

 

Just fire JFJ now, since there's no way they'll bring him back next year, anyway, bring in a replacement and blow up this year.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

What did Hartnell do to Andrew Alberts?

[the max 0]

What did Hartnell do to Andrew Alberts?

 

Alberts made a stupid decision to kneel at the blueline to stop a soft dump-in. Hartnell was on his way to hit Alberts (as he should do) but didn't let up, slow down, yield, whatever you want to call it despite having more than enough time to do so. Alberts' head was caught perfectly in Hartnell's hip and slammed into the dasher/glass. Hartnell was given a major and shown the door.

 

That's four incidents this year alone. I don't care if Hartnell isn't a goon, Jones isn't a goon, whatever. This is not a coincidence.

[the max 0]

 

 

You can't really see the hit until around a minute and a half in, they show it from different angles. And don't mind Jack Edwards. He's just a hack.