NHL - January 2009

[CanadianChris 0]

His confidence looks to be completely shot. I can't imagine being a healthy scratch the last few games would help things any.

[Red Baron 0]

Gerber is that bad.

[BifEverchad 0]

Fuck it - trade up Vesa for a solid top 6 forward from some desperate team, like a NYI or LA. Might not get a ton of value from Vesa at this point, so I don't even wanna speculate what T.O would get in return. That way you have another piece up front, which they need big time, and it also gives them a chance to give Pogge the ball for the rest of the season, while having Joesph play mentor to the young lad. That way, you can see if he can roll for next year or if you have to make alternate arrangements.

[bob_barron 0]

Have you seen Vesa play? I don't know if a team is THAT desperate

[Guest]

We don't need a goalie anyway. We certainly can't afford to trade any players that people would call legitimate top-six forwards.

[BifEverchad 0]

Riiiight..

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

Have you seen Vesa play? I don't know if a team is THAT desperate

 

I agree. He probably could have garnered a first-round pick last season (he's been the Leafs best player, save Sundin, since Belfour left), but his stock has dropped considerably. He looks panicky, fighting the puck, every single time I've seen him this season.

[Red Baron 0]

Have you seen Vesa play? I don't know if a team is THAT desperate

 

Ottawa, Atlanta?

[bob_barron 0]

Have you seen Vesa play? I don't know if a team is THAT desperate

 

I agree. He probably could have garnered a first-round pick last season (he's been the Leafs best player, save Sundin, since Belfour left), but his stock has dropped considerably. He looks panicky, fighting the puck, every single time I've seen him this season.

 

He's also been yanked 5 times this season. The guy will have one to two good periods and it's like: Hmmm maybe Vesa's turning the corner, and then he has that one period where he just shits the bed and lets in dinky goals

[Red Baron 0]

Well I guess you have to have a good excuse to miss the All-Star game (like an actual injury or family stuff) or expect to be suspended for one game if you no-show.

[Prophet of Mike Zagurski 0]

So no one watched the first part of the All-Star Game?

 

Ovechekin rules and whoever was directing the Young Stars games needs to be fired.

[Zetterberg is God 0]

ASHLAND, Wis. (AP) — Northland goalie Daniel McIntosh made an NCAA Division III record 95 saves to prevent Adrian from turning Friday's game into a blowout. Adrian won 4-0 in the Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association game after peppering Northland with 99 shots on goal. McIntosh beat the previous record of 77 saves by John Herud of Nichols against Maine in 1973.

[Prophet of Mike Zagurski 0]

Well in Northland's defense, they were playing short handed the entire time and ... Where the hell was the defense and why can't I play on a team that shoots accurately?

[Smartly Pretty 0]

If I had the very last pick in the NHL draft, I'd take a guy that made 95 saves in a division III game. Not because he's probably talented, but because he deserves some sort of extravagant compensation. And what the hell, it's your very last draft pick.

[BifEverchad 0]

The NHL needs to do a complete overhaul of their Skills Competition. Last year I found it to be very boring and disappointing. This year I watched again, hoping they've improved some elements, but to no avail. It seems very unorganized and nobody seems to really care. Did anyone see the much anticipated breakaway challenge? Buh. You had guys like St. Louis and Getzlaf trying some cool stuff, but everyone else was very slow and very uninterested. You'd think these guys would be honored to do this and would at least come up with a few trick shots to excite the crowd. Ovechkin did his costume gimmick, but even that was a little weak on the grand scale. Fuck you NHL, the NBA Slam Dunk competition it ain't.

[Prophet of Mike Zagurski 0]

So the Ducks would like Gerber back because I think Giguere just lost most of his confidence with that breakaway goal.

[Zetterberg is God 0]

The NHL will indeed be taking their annual awards ceremony from downtown Toronto to the Las Vegas Strip.

 

A league source tells ESPN.com that plans are now coming into focus for the awards show to make its first visit to Las Vegas on June 18, shortly after the end of the Stanley Cup playoffs and before the NHL draft in Montreal.

[Red Baron 0]

Guh.

 

Just get rid of Bettman.

 

I also found how the Skills competition doesn't have something in for the goalies.

[the max 0]

What kinds of skills competition should they have for goalies? You know, besides the breakaway challenge?

[BifEverchad 0]

This thread further proves, nobody (even hockey fans) cares bout the All-Star game.

[Nightwing 0]

When most of the starting lineups shouldn't be there, damn straight I won't care about it.

[the max 0]

Why should anyone care about an exhibition game? There's no defensive play, it's just guys out there fucking around. It's a scrimmage game that they keep score for.

[Red Baron 0]

What kinds of skills competition should they have for goalies? You know, besides the breakaway challenge?

 

Something like a three point shooting contest where you have three different shooters trying to score on you. The goalie that makes the most saves wins the event.

[Smartly Pretty 0]

That just sounds like a half moon drill. I'm sure Nabakov and Kipprusoff are looking forward to flying across the continent so they can participate in a drill.

[BifEverchad 0]

That just sounds like a half moon drill. I'm sure Nabakov and Kipprusoff are looking forward to flying across the continent so they can participate in a drill.

What a way to put it..

 

That can be said about any of the Skills Competition.

People are just throwing out ideas to try and spice up the NHL's showcase of talent because right now it seems sort of mundane.

 

[the max 0]

It's mundane because the players want nothing to do with it. They'd rather have the time off than spend it flying across the continent to half-ass their way through some puck relay drills or something.

 

They used to do that half moon drill. And the goalies rarely, if ever, stopped one. They did it two or three years in a row I remember. The problem isn't that the skill drills are mundane, it's that the entire weekend is. The young stars game was a colossal waste of time. The skill competition was only made interesting when Chara put money on it. And the All-Star game was what it's become. A fast-paced scrimmage. It doesn't need fixing, it just needs to stop.

 

Make the showcase the outdoor game and be done with it. That way the game actually means something.

[Smartly Pretty 0]

I'm with Max, the Winter Classic is the marquee mid-season event. I bet you could make that a whole weekend too, if they wanted. I wouldn't mind seeing some outdoor event that Saturday (maybe a college game?) and then Sunday is the Winter Classic. That way players still get their mid-season weekend off and nobody has to put up with a asinine "hit styrofoam McDonalds targets" games.

[Zetterberg is God 0]

Tough loss, especially with Hank going out with back spasms. It's rumored they're announcing his new contract tomorrow.

[the max 0]

Highly entertaining Caps v. Broons tonight. Bergeron, Lucic and Ference were back and they looked good. With those guys in the lineup, it's a completely different team. Bitz held his own against Brashear too.

[TheOriginalOrangeGoblin 0]

Tough loss, especially with Hank going out with back spasms. It's rumored they're announcing his new contract tomorrow.

12 years/72 million. 6 mil/year is not a bad cap hit for a player of Zetterberg's quality.