NHL Thread - December

[bob_barron 0]

Tyler, why do you no longer use the shift key? Your posts are unreadable.

 

I saw at ESPN that Paul Maurice is going to be back in Carolina.

[cd213 0]

I agree that he was suspended because Sean Avery said it. It was reputation. If Crosby, or another "chosen one " made that comment, Bettman would have been laughing as well.

[Dr. Tyler; Captain America 0]

if my posts are unreadable, i question your ability to read.

[Red Baron 0]

I can't believe any of you guys are actually defending Avery.

[Dr. Tyler; Captain America 0]

avery's a douche, obviously. but claiming that he was suspended for his own good or some shit (which is an argument i've read in several places, not just here) is just asinine. he probably says muuuuch worse crap on the ice and clearly has not been bertuzzi'd to this point. of all the averyisms, this is the mildest -- and actually, one i admire, to an extent.

 

avery does try to make it all about him wherever he goes, which is annoying. but, he does his job if phaneuf even takes one jackassed penalty because of the sloppy seconds comment. the refs aren't gonna even up the penalties if phaneuf headhunts him just because avery said something before the game.

[CanadianChris 0]

I can't believe any of you guys are actually defending Avery.

Don't get me wrong, he's a complete idiot. But suspending him for this? Seems more like a lifetime achievement sort of suspension than anything else.

[cd213 0]

Everyone in the league knows what Avery brings to the table. He's hired to get under the skin of the opposing team, no matter what. When the Rangers were winning, it was okay for him to do the things he did (as a side, what he did to Marty in the playoffs wasn't bad and in fact was legal, up until people bitched about it and they made a rule against it). Now that Dallas is losing, everyone is saying that his actions won't be tolerated. Sorry, but you can't have it both ways. You hire him to get under opponents skin, and when he does something to do that (that's all this was), you are against it. He's been one of my favorite players for years, and I'm not going to jump off just because he says something that was damn funny, and people in the NHL can't take.

[garfieldsnose 0]

For the record, I still think Bettman's a douche and Avery shouldn't have been suspended. But it had nothing to do with the game, or the team he's playing against. But thinking he should be untouchable because he's Sean Avery and that's the way he is is an equally retarded statement.

[Red Baron 0]

The NHL had to suspend him. If not then you have women rights groups going after the NHL making giving the league another black eye that they don't need. The real debate now is how long they suspend him.

 

Personally he should be banned from the league, but I've been tooting this horn for a while now.

[Psycho Penguin 0]

Can someone explain why Carolina fired their Cup-winning coach for someone they fired and replaced with him to begin with?

[Red Baron 0]

Cup winning? C'mon coaches have a short shelf life as is, and Laviollette was doing a mediocre job since the cup win in 06. It's much easier to fire a coach than rebuild a team.

 

As for coaches, there isn't many on the market. Paul Maurice was probably the best choice with John Tortorella right behind him. Other than that, there are some slim pickings out there.

[bob_barron 0]

The NHL had to suspend him. If not then you have women rights groups going after the NHL making giving the league another black eye that they don't need. The real debate now is how long they suspend him.

 

Personally he should be banned from the league, but I've been tooting this horn for a while now.

 

No they didn't. No one would care after a day, especially with a football player shooting himself that same week. He shouldn't have been suspended at all- he was just trying to stir shit up and create some interest.

 

Banned from the league? Get off your high horse.

 

I don't agree with the Carolina firing. The team has been beset with injuries, and still had the 8th seed in the conference. And Maurice is a failure.

[Red Baron 0]

There are other ways to get under the skin of your opposition. Being an asshole like he is, and with a sexist comment like that, then NHL had to take a stand.

[DerangedHermit 0]

Can someone explain why Carolina fired their Cup-winning coach for someone they fired and replaced with him to begin with?

 

They want to get their own sloppy seconds.

 

*suspended indefinitely*

[Red Baron 0]

Can someone explain why Carolina fired their Cup-winning coach for someone they fired and replaced with him to begin with?

 

They want to get their own sloppy seconds.

 

*suspended indefinitely*

 

 

HA!

 

Maybe they'll bring back Erik Cole and Artus Irbe

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

Working nights this week has fucked my sleep up, so I'm two days late to the party. "Sloppy seconds" really isn't that bad. CC essentially said everything I would have.

 

Impressive win for the Sens last night. For the talk of lack of offence, specifically from the Big 3, Heatley's quietly on pace for 50.

 

Ditto on the underwhelm for the rehiring of Maurice. For all the talk of his success thanks to an underdog Cup run in '02, he did put some poor Canes teams on the ice. Furthermore, knowing the core of his team so well after his stint with the Marlies, he could have got one Leaf team into the playoffs. But that's a whole other can of worms.

[the max 0]

Blackhawks have some great All-Star stuff going on:

 

Toews v. Kane

 

 

 

Vote Kane. A name that sounds like it's spelled.

[HarleyQuinn 0]

I'm bored and so I wanted to see if the scoring level really has gone back up since the return from the lockout...

 

2002-2003: Top teams averaged 3.20, 3.28, and 3.22 GPG.

2003-2004: Top teams averaged 3.20, 3.11, and 2.99 GPG.

2005-2006: Top teams averaged 3.83, 3.72, and 3.59 GPG.

2006-2007: Top teams averaged 3.76, 3.51, and 3.38 GPG.

2007-2008: Top teams averaged 3.20, 3.18, and 3.13 GPG.

 

So far in the 2008 season, the top teams are averaging 3.88 (San Jose), 3.50 (Detroit), and 3.42 (Boston) GPG. It's disconcerting to see the sudden drop off last season and I'm curious if that drop will continue this year or if we'll return to a 2005 or 2006 season level. I know that there have been some changes to the game to "open" up scoring but if it only lasts two seasons, what happens next? Bigger nets? Smaller goalie equipment?

 

For comparison purposes...

1989-1990: Top teams averaged 4.35, 4.23, and 4.21 GPG.

1990-1991: Top teams averaged 4.30, 4.25, and 4.28 GPG.

1997-1998: Top teams averaged 3.12, 3.05, and 3.05 GPG.

1998-1999: Top teams averaged 3.27, 3.02, and 2.99 GPG.

[CanadianChris 0]

Bigger nets will never, ever happen. Smaller goalie equipment is a much more realistic solution.

[Dr. Tyler; Captain America 0]

more likely though, nothing will happen. a lot of the scoring drop can be attributed to the fact that defense has simply adapted to not being able to clutch and grab. now, they just interfere a lot (see: 2007 detroit red wings)

[Darthtiki 0]

As if anyone was surprised:

NEW YORK (AP)—Barry Melrose will return to ESPN as a hockey analyst on Jan. 1.

 

Melrose, who was fired as coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning last month, will appear on SportsCenter and ESPNEWS. He’ll often be paired with analyst Matthew Barnaby.

 

“I am very, very excited about coming back home to ESPN where I have had so many great years,” Melrose said. “I look forward to analyzing people being fired rather than being the guy fired.”

 

Melrose had worked full-time at ESPN since 1996 before leaving in June to accept the Lightning job. He was fired 16 games into the season.

 

Melrose, who also coached the Los Angeles Kings, was an ESPN studio analyst for the 1994 Stanley Cup playoffs and 1995 Stanley Cup playoffs.

 

 

[Zetterberg is God 0]

Blackhawks have some great All-Star stuff going on

 

These are awesome and exactly the kind of thing the NHL needs to do more often.

[RepoMan 0]

The NHL had to suspend him. If not then you have women rights groups going after the NHL making giving the league another black eye that they don't need.

 

Given the amount of domestic violence by profesional athletes, I doubt anyone would be picketing outside of Bettman's office over this. And I doubt most female hockey fans are going to care about the feelings of some cleberity rink rat. Everyone who isn't a talking head or has a grudge against Avery thought it was hilarious. Smack talk like this actually makes pepole interested in the game.

 

[bob_barron 0]

It's disconcerting to see the sudden drop off last season and I'm curious if that drop will continue this year or if we'll return to a 2005 or 2006 season level. I know that there have been some changes to the game to "open" up scoring but if it only lasts two seasons, what happens next? Bigger nets? Smaller goalie equipment?

 

It's not disconcerting at all. The NHL should not do anything to increase scoring.

[garfieldsnose 0]

<3 Marty Bironnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

[HarleyQuinn 0]

It's disconcerting to see the sudden drop off last season and I'm curious if that drop will continue this year or if we'll return to a 2005 or 2006 season level. I know that there have been some changes to the game to "open" up scoring but if it only lasts two seasons, what happens next? Bigger nets? Smaller goalie equipment?

 

It's not disconcerting at all. The NHL should not do anything to increase scoring.

 

Oh, please... last year only 2 players topped 100 points! Here's a comparison of the GAA numbers from 1990 and 2007.

 

Goalie Comparison

1990-1991

- Ed Belfour - 2.47 GAA and faced 25.4 SPG

- Don Beuapre - 2.64 GAA and faced 24.3 SPG

- Patrick Roy - 2.71 GAA and faced 28.4 SPG

- Andy Moog - 2.87 GAA and faced 25.6 SPG

 

2007-2008 (5 Goalies played 40+ games and had a GAA under 2.20)

- Jonas Hiller - 2.06 GAA and faced 25.1 SPG

- Chris Osgood - 2.09 GAA and faced 22.7 SPG

- JS Giguere - 2.12 GAA and faced 26.0 SPG

- Dominik Hasek - 2.14 GAA and faced 20.9 SPG

 

You're telling me that the above GAA are perfectly fine and have had no benefit from the increase in goalie equipment size? Martin Brodeur's been complaining about implementing an "individual" based equipment size since around 2003. You're basically going from one extreme, mid to late 80's scoring, to the goalie extreme where they're putting up insane GAA partly due to equipment size. I'll definitely grant that they are possibly much more talented nowadays through training, etc. but do they really need to be wearing 37 and 38 inch pads if they're 5'11" or 6'0"?

 

Patrick Roy was putting up insane GAA during the "high" scoring era (2.40-2.60 range) and at ages 35, 36, and 37 he put up GAA of 2.21, 1.94, and 2.18. Part of the reason behind the entire lockout of 2004 was the insanely low GAA and decreased scoring in the NHL.

[KingPK 0]

What a move by Krejci on the winning goal tonight. Something I've noticed is that this team is fast this year; they never keep the puck in one spot for too long make the opponent chase them around.

[bob_barron 0]

Oh, please... last year only 2 players topped 100 points!

 

So? It happens.

 

Stuff and stats

 

No, what I'm saying is that I like low scoring games, and I don't want the NHL to constantly change the rules so people can go 6-4 game? Awesome!

 

Part of the reason behind the entire lockout of 2004 was the insanely low GAA and decreased scoring in the NHL.

 

No.

[HarleyQuinn 0]

Stuff and stats

 

No, what I'm saying is that I like low scoring games, and I don't want the NHL to constantly change the rules so people can go 6-4 game? Awesome!

 

Part of the reason behind the entire lockout of 2004 was the insanely low GAA and decreased scoring in the NHL.

 

No.

 

1: Fair enough and I'm not arguing every game should be an 8-6 slug fest either but one has to wonder how far into the 3-0, 2-1, 3-2 scores does it have to go (See the dead puck era of the mid to late 90's) before it just gets boring to watch? I love seeing low scoring games but I get just as much enjoyment seeing those 6-5 and 5-4 games. If you look at the 1990-1991 game results, many of those scores were in the 4-3, 3-2 range while still having a much higher goal per game for all teams involved. It's great to have that 2-1 defensive battle but it's not so great when it becomes every game not due to great goaltending but due to clutching/grabbing defense and really bad shooting.

 

In terms of attendance (After all, that's what drives the NHL) here are the numbers... Credit ESPN

2001: Top team averaged 18,492 (Detroit) - Bottom was 14,026 (NY Islanders)

2002: Top team averaged 19,124 (Detroit) - Bottom was 14,523 (Anaheim)

2003: Top team averaged 19,083 (Detroit) - Bottom was 14,698 (Nashville)

2004: Top team averaged 19,018 (Montreal) - Bottom was 14,237 (Carolina)

2006: Top team averaged 19,352 (Montreal) - Bottom was 14,633 (NY Islanders)

2007: Top team averaged 19,107 (Montreal) - Bottom was 14,632 (St. Louis)

2008: Top team averaged 19,411 (Montreal) - Bottom was 15,643 (NY Islanders)

 

As you can see, the success has helped the NHL quite a bit through the increased scoring and it's telling that last year was the first year where the lowest attended team broke the 15,500 mark. There's already 3 teams averaging over 19,000 this season with Columbus the worst but still over 15,000.

 

2: You're right, it was focused on the salary cap.

[Red Baron 0]

I'm not being a homer or anything, but those Habs jerseys tonight were awesome and Price sporting the retro style equipment was awesome.