NHL February 2008

[CanadianChris 0]

So Montreal is tied with Ottawa on tops of the Eastern Conference. I watched the highlights and it seems like Philly doesn't like it when the opposition plays a little dirty like they do.

Having watched Ottawa play this week, I'm almost at the point where I'm ready to say that this just isn't the Senators' year, despite having the third-best record in the league to this point. Nothing is really coming together, and if anything, the defence is regressing. Of course, anything can happen in the playoffs, but I'm just not feeling it right now.

[Red Baron 0]

So Montreal is tied with Ottawa on tops of the Eastern Conference. I watched the highlights and it seems like Philly doesn't like it when the opposition plays a little dirty like they do.

Having watched Ottawa play this week, I'm almost at the point where I'm ready to say that this just isn't the Senators' year, despite having the third-best record in the league to this point. Nothing is really coming together, and if anything, the defence is regressing. Of course, anything can happen in the playoffs, but I'm just not feeling it right now.

 

Exactly. Maybe Gerber might play well in the playoffs and the feared threesome becomes invisible.

[Zetterberg is God 0]

Excellent game by Detroit tonight to snap their losing streak. It may have come at a price though as Lidstrom went down with a knee injury which I hope to God is not too serious.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

I'm still horrified of the thought of playing the Sens in the playoffs given our regular season tilts the last two years, and I'm sure I'm preaching to the CChoir on this; Is Gerber a playoff goalie?

 

Hey, 2006! Maybe I'm not as reserved about a Habs-Sens matchup after all.

[Red Baron 0]

Excellent game by Detroit tonight to snap their losing streak. It may have come at a price though as Lidstrom went down with a knee injury which I hope to God is not too serious.

 

 

If its a serious injury, I'll write off Detroit to win the cup right now.

[Red Baron 0]

I'll post this because I like the idea of a one minute penalty in OT. Here's the whole article from TSN.ca

 

NHL considering one-minute OT penalties

 

The Canadian Press

 

2/18/2008 6:09:03 PM

 

NAPLES, Fla. - One-minute penalties for overtime during the regular season?

 

That was one of the many issues discussed Monday as the NHL's 30 GMs broke out into four different groups to tackle a number of subjects.

 

Anaheim Ducks GM Brian Burke is keen on the idea of one-minute penalties in overtime instead of two. The thinking is that 4-on-3 power plays in overtime take up 40 per cent of the entire five-minute period and more than often end the game.

 

"One-minute penalties in overtime just makes so much sense," Burke said Monday after the first day of meetings.

 

Any idea that has enough support from the GMs at the conclusion of the meetings Wednesday must then be approved by the board of governors.

 

 

 

 

 

Burke's group Monday also included Jay Feaster of the Tampa Bay Lightning, David Poile of the Nashville Predators, Larry Pleau of the St. Louis Blues, Jim Rutherford of the Carolina Hurricanes, Glen Sather of the New York Rangers, Garth Snow of the New York Islanders and Don Waddell of the Atlanta Thrashers.

 

That group also tackled, among other things: carry-over suspensions from prior seasons; high-sticking penalties and whether it should remain an automatic four-minute penalty for drawing blood; and the instigator rule.

 

Burke was not in the GM group that tackled another issue he tabled: retaining salary in trades. He has been pushing this idea for two years and has support from many of his peers but the league sees it as a loosening of the salary cap.

 

The idea is to allow teams to pay part of a player's salary in trades, which would likely facilitate deals, especially earlier in the season. The group discussing it Monday was Peter Chiarelli of the Boston Bruins, Paul Holmgren of the Philadelphia Flyers, Scott Howson of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Lou Lamoriello of the New Jersey Devils, Dean Lombardi of the Los Angeles Kings, George McPhee of the Washington Capitals and Ray Shero of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

 

That group, which also had the presence of NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly, also discussed: The growing trend of NCAA players leaving school early to sign with NHL teams; the status of the IIHF-NHL player transfer agreement; examining the NHL Players' Association's idea of an 84-game schedule; moving the start of free agency to July 6 or July 7 instead of July 1 when it's a national holiday in Canada; and the idea that players who are traded near the trade deadline cannot re-join his old team for a minimum of one year.

 

The Buffalo Sabres last November at the board of governors meeting proposed that the NHL establish a research and development arm and that was on the agenda for another GMs group Monday. Sabres GM Darcy Regier was of course in the group, as was Cliff Fletcher of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Kevin Lowe of the Edmonton Oilers, Don Maloney of the Phoenix Coyotes, Jacques Martin of the Florida Panthers, Dave Nonis of the Vancouver Canucks, Darryl Sutter of the Calgary Flames and Doug Wilson of the San Jose Sharks.

 

That group also discussed: whether hand passes should be disallowed in the defensive zone; whether breaking a stick on a player should be an automatic slashing penalty; and ice conditions around the league.

 

The size of goalie equipment and bigger nets - two issues that have gone hand in hand in recent years - were the headliners in the final group which consisted of Bob Gainey of the Montreal Canadiens, Francois Giguere of the Colorado Avalanche, Ken Holland of the Detroit Red Wings, Brett Hull of the Dallas Stars, Bryan Murray of the Ottawa Senators, Doug Risebrough of the Minnesota Wild and Dale Tallon of the Chicago Blackhawks.

 

That group also re-examined the shootout and pondered whether to go to a five shooters instead of three and whether a player that was still in the penalty box at the end of overtime should be ineligible for the shootout.

 

The four GM groups were to bring their ideas and recommendations to the full group Tuesday for further debate.

 

What wasn't on discussed whatsoever Monday was the front-page story in Sunday's Toronto Star that suggested NHL players put advertising on their uniforms.

 

"It's not something that I've ever had any reason to believe that the Players' Association or the players would ever agree to," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman told The Canadian Press on Monday. "So it's not something that we've given any thought to."

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

Excellent game by Detroit tonight to snap their losing streak. It may have come at a price though as Lidstrom went down with a knee injury which I hope to God is not too serious.

 

 

If its a serious injury, I'll write off Detroit to win the cup right now.

 

Yes; If it's not, I'll still bet the farm on them.

[Prophet of Mike Zagurski 0]

Burke only wants one minute PP during the OT because the Ducks take the most penalties in league.

[Red Baron 0]

Exactly, but usually what Burke says, Burke gets.

[Guest Michael Myers Resplendent]

Anaheim Ducks GM Brian Burke is keen on the idea of one-minute penalties in overtime instead of two.

Well, sure the guy running the goddamn Anaheim Ducks who can't take a shift without cheapshotting someone would want one-minute penalties.

 

EDIT: beaten to it but hey whatevs. Still, how obvious can he be? That'd be like Ken Holland saying that goals from Swedes should count double.

[Red Baron 0]

Or getting a point for losing in a shootout and OT.

[BifEverchad 0]

Excellent game by Detroit tonight to snap their losing streak. It may have come at a price though as Lidstrom went down with a knee injury which I hope to God is not too serious.

 

 

If its a serious injury, I'll write off Detroit to win the cup right now.

Write off my fantasy team as well..

 

Hope he's not seriously hurt!

I already have Nikolas Kronwall, Rob Blake, Marc-Andre Fleury (has been for the last 3 months), Rod Brind'Amour and Justin Williams all out for the year.

 

EDIT: Found this on yahoo..

 

The league-leading Red Wings were steaming over a hit that left one of their stars, Nicklas Lidstrom, with a knee injury after a 4-0 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Monday night.

 

Lidstrom was checked into the boards by Ian Laperriere in the first period. He hobbled off the ice -- with the assistance of a referee -- and didn't return.

 

"I think it was a little lack of respect by him," said Henrik Zetterberg, who scored two goals in the second period. "I don't think it should have happened." Aaron Downey went after Laperriere later in the period. The two exchanged blows before being separated, both drawing penalties for fighting. Downey and Laperriere squared off again in front of Detroit's bench early in the third period. They then argued through the glass in the penalty box as they served 10-minute majors.

 

"We can't be running the superstars out of our game," Downey said. "If you want to have a good, clean hit, go out there and have a good, clean hit. I have no problem with that. But when the elbows are up, when you hit probably one of the best defensemen to play the game, it's a joke in my mind. So the message is similar: The next time anyone runs one of our guys the way it shouldn't be done, then the message will be sent. Fair justice is fair justice."

 

Laperriere didn't understand all the commotion. He thought the hit was fair. "The referee said it wasn't illegal," he said. "I play hard. Hopefully, he's going to be OK. I respect him a lot."

 

The Red Wings didn't know the extent of the injury to Lidstrom, who came in leading NHL defenseman with 57 points. Detroit coach Mike Babcock didn't think it was too serious. "He'll probably end up with a few days off," Babcock said. "I don't know if he's going to be out a week or 10 days." Babcock wasn't a big fan of the hit on his five-time Norris Trophy winner.

 

"I wasn't very impressed with what happened," Babcock said. "I watched the replay a number of times and I didn't like the play."

[CanadianChris 0]

I'm still horrified of the thought of playing the Sens in the playoffs given our regular season tilts the last two years, and I'm sure I'm preaching to the CChoir on this; Is Gerber a playoff goalie?

No. He is not. Uh-uh. Negative. Nyet. Goalie in playoffs he not.

 

God, we are so fucked.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

I'm still horrified of the thought of playing the Sens in the playoffs given our regular season tilts the last two years, and I'm sure I'm preaching to the CChoir on this; Is Gerber a playoff goalie?

No. He is not. Uh-uh. Negative. Nyet. Goalie in playoffs he not.

 

God, we are so fucked.

I could have phrased that better; My fear of the Sens Big Three is negated by the thought of Gerber in net; the only two playoff games we won in 2006 were against, well, you know, Gerber.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

Clinging to seventh place and on a seven-game losing streak? Better go shopping!

 

The Flyers picked up Jaroslav Modry from the Kings for a third-round pick.

[the pinjockey 0]

Things could get interesting if they put Gagne on LTI. That would open up a nice chunk of cap room.

[garfieldsnose 0]

Like how the Red Wings are crying about a clean hit. I've watched this on YouTube about 10 times, and I don't think it is dirty at all. God forbid someone hit Niklas Lidstrom, because he is so respected!

 

Fuck, do the Red Wings think they're above the entire league? Not meaning literally, but figuratively.

[Smartly Pretty 0]

The Rangers at one point in the second period had a 5 goal lead. That's down to 5-4, and the Marek Malik just took a penalty against the best power play in the league with 5 minutes to play. This is ridiculous.

[Smartly Pretty 0]

You've gotta be fucking kidding me.

[Smartly Pretty 0]

Fuck this sport.

[garfieldsnose 0]

Fuckin' Flyers can't ever win a shootout. So pissed.

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

So, you're John Stevens. Your Flyers team is free-falling, but you've tied the Sens in the 3rd, held on during an exciting OT period, and are now going to the shoot out. Do you:

a) put your best 3 scorers in the shoot out, or

b) use a rookie playing his 1st NHL game and a defenseman (Timmonen did score, though) as 2 of your 3 shooters?

[garfieldsnose 0]

It doesn't matter. No matter what combination Stevens has used the past two years have worked efficiently. He needed to shake things up.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

If it's of comfort, PJ, the Habs had never erased a five-goal deficit in any game ever.

[TheOriginalOrangeGoblin 0]

I'm curious, am I the only one who thinks Kovalev should get some consideration for the Hart trophy? And I'm a Sens fan saying this.

[treble 0]

I was at that Sens/Flyers game. Highlights were the Flyers fan in front of me who looked like Jim Cramer and some fan yelling 'Get your eyes out of your mustache, you retard!' at Bill McCreary.

[Red Baron 0]

I'm curious, am I the only one who thinks Kovalev should get some consideration for the Hart trophy? And I'm a Sens fan saying this.

 

 

As much as I want to say yes, there are better players out there this year that deserves it. (See Ovechkin, Alex)

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

I'm leaning towards Malkin at this point; If Washington gets into the playoffs yet, but the Penguins are playing well without their best player....playing even better than with him.

 

This won't be taken into consideration by the writers, but my Washington clause only counts if the Capitals actually earn more than 8th place team and not stumble in via the Division Leader rule.

 

Oh yeah, Iginla > Malkin if that's what it comes to.

[Red Baron 0]

Ovechkin has 30% of the teams goals.

[Red Baron 0]

Looked like Ray Emery had some trouble on Daniel Briere "shot" in the shootout.