NHL General Discussion

[Eli26]

I want the Minnesota Wild to do well. I mean it! Darcy Kuemper is in my money keeper and I could be the beneficiary of 600 dollars if we win our pool this year. Oh alright, it's more-so 120 bones on my end.. because my buddy said I get 20 percent of the earnings if I pick the team. He put the 100 dollar yearly annual payment in. I should seriously renegotiate the percentage I get. Sure I didn't put in any money towards it, but I spent a lot of time constructing a foil proof list that should see us in the green for many many years. You wouldn't believe which round we took Kuemper. Loving it so far and surprisingly, even though he's the fourth starter we took, yup, we took 4 with the potential of having six... (that league relies heavily on goaltending and we have some great G's)... we have the surplus of what is so badly needed which puts us in a great place. Supply vs. demand. Fewer starters than quality top six forwards and top 4 blueliners. We took so many goalies, even without compromising other positions. Well, maybe solidifying our D spot. But they get the fewest points between the three positions. It usually goes G, then F, then D. After interrupting myself, our fourth and late pick goalie has done better than our other previous chosen three... Seymon Varlamov, Sergei Bobrovsky, and Cory Schneider. We have Connor Hellebuyck and Joni Ortio sitting in the farm. Hellebuyck captured AHL Player of the Week honours last week after posting a 4-0-0 record and a .74 GAA. He was the best goalie in College Hockey, taking home the Mike Richter Award and has the College Hockey record for best save percentage by a NCAA goaltender in their career. So I am loving our picks. And yes, I can go off on tangents. But I love me some hockey talk! Even if I come off sounding like a monologue.

 

[Eli26]

Seriously, that was too much. Like anyone cares about my keeper picks. lol

Anyway, on topic, we should really do a playoff hockey pool this Spring.

 

[SixMillionDollarMan Guy]

^ I'm in on that hockey pool.

By the way, I see Thomas Vanek had a 3 point night including his second goal this season.....SECOND. He does have 12 assists. Still though, he was brought in to be the sniper that this team sorely needs. He better not turn in to the next Dany Heatley, sucking salary cap space for 3-years.

How about that trade....Nino Niederreiter for Cal Clutterbuck? Nino has 11 goals now. Yet another brilliant move by Islanders GM Garth Snow.

 

[Eli26]

^ I'm in on that hockey pool.

By the way, I see Thomas Vanek had a 3 point night including his second goal this season.....SECOND. He does have 12 assists. Still though, he was brought in to be the sniper that this team sorely needs. He better not turn in to the next Dany Heatley, sucking salary cap space for 3-years.

How about that trade....Nino Niederreiter for Cal Clutterbuck? Nino has 11 goals now. Yet another brilliant move by Islanders GM Garth Snow.

Talk about the second coming of Joe Thornton. Or one would hope he develops into half of Joe in his best years. Okay, the lone comparable being that they were former top prospects which came with seemingly bust-like rookie campaigns.. 55-1-0-1 for Nino, and a big fat minus which would scare most, but yeah like Joe did, he sure turned it around these past two seasons. And yeah, getting a potential stud who is prorated (love using that word!) to get 40 goals, for a energy 3rd/4th liner who's more known for hitting than scoring, I would say so far, it's been a great move. Not that the Islanders are missing Nino.

And yes, Dany Heatley at his 7 million USD last season was just as ugly as Scott Gomez's 7.5 mill when he was stinking it up. Call it being out of shape or lack of confidence... or a lot from column A and a lot from column B, but he's definitely done. I don't know why Anaheim keeps taking on studs from yesteryear, but duds today.... in guys like Heatley, and now Rene Bourque. It baffles me.

 

[filip629]

Hawks wrap up their circus trip with a win over the Kings. Hawks are 5-1 on their road trip and are rounding into form nicely. Crawford is looking great between the pipes, PK is stellar, D is strong, and the puck is finding the back of the net lately.

 

[Deeznutz6]

Hawks wrap up their circus trip with a win over the Kings. Hawks are 5-1 on their road trip and are rounding into form nicely. Crawford is looking great between the pipes, PK is stellar, D is strong, and the puck is finding the back of the net lately.

All w/o Sharp......

 

[Eli26]

I would laugh if the Hawks win the Cup in 2015 and LA took it in 2016. lol

 

[filip629]

All w/o Sharp......

Yup. Hopefully, Sharp has a better postseason this year. He was practically invisible last year during the playoffs.

I would laugh if the Hawks win the Cup in 2015 and LA took it in 2016. lol

LOL! It sure seems to be looking like a pattern could be developing.

 

[Grenouille]

The pattern is already messed up. The Bruins should have won the Cup last year.

I'm not looking forward to this week. So much hate for the west coast start times. I see lots of coffee consumption coming this week.

 

[filip629]

The pattern is already messed up. The Bruins should have won the Cup last year.

I'm not looking forward to this week. So much hate for the west coast start times. I see lots of coffee consumption coming this week.

Yeah, I just went through some long nights with the Hawks west coast games. Those start times are brutal if you have to get up early in the morning.

 

[Eli26]

So I took Nyquist in my league... thinking he'll go supernova this season. Yeah, not-so-much.... 24-11-4-15... but what I do like seeing is the 7 PPGs which tie him for first place. Too bad most pools don't cover power play goals for extra points. lol

Detroit is one of the best drafting teams around. Probably the best scouting staff in the past 30 years. The team with the best scouts is usually the team that has the upper advantage to most. I don't care how many superstars a team possesses... the coaching staff.. or how much money a team has. Scouting is the primary strength to a team's needs.

 

[Deeznutz6]

Will someone please fire Dallas Eakins?

 

[Eli26]

Dallas Eakins isn't THE problem, but he's one of many problems. It's the team as a whole. From Management all the way down to the players. ... but yes, the coach and some of the player's core needs to be moved to make for positive change to happen. Right now they are (love using this analogy), a hamster running on its wheel. Remember, this core (or most parts of it) have played under four coaches in the past handful of years. Like Doug MacLean explained, at one point you look at all the coaches and think, if they can't get things going with that group, sometimes you have to address the problem from within, like player personal. It's just easier to put the fault on one man (Dallas Eakins) vs. a roster of 26 guys signed to multi-million dollar contracts. Thus why coaches get fired, when at times they aren't the problem at all. In some cases it's about having patience (because Rome wasn't built in one day), which clearly management doesn't have in Edmonton. Ralph Krueger being fired is a fine example of that. He was taking the Oilers into the right direction towards the end, he was getting to the players, and even had team moral at its highest... In return, Kevin Lowe and Craig MacTavish thanked his efforts by replacing him with Dallas Eakins, a then hot-shot AHL coach that many teams wanted. Now they feel in-complacent to fire him, because it would ultimately show they screwed up royally, which on most other teams, would mean their jobs are on the line. Thankfully they have an owner who isn't huffing and puffing down their backside, pushing them to make change. I wouldn't be surprised if they wait it until the end of the season. Like many others have suggested, it feels as though Edmonton is making another run at a lottery pick. The lack of movement in trades, benching of players more often, and removal of Eakins, despite the appropriate time to move him was yesterday, gives that impression.

 

[Grenouille]

RIP Monsieur Béliveau. His name appears 17 times on the Cup. I doubt there will be another. If you like hockey books I can't recommend his biography enough.

 

[Eli26]

I met the big classy man in Toronto at the Hockey Hall of Fame. True story, it was in 1999. I snuck past security and in the room they do the honors for the HHOF taping. They were doing a test run, and had lots of big names there. I even got photos with guys like John Davidson, Mike Gartner, Ron MacLean, Mats Sundin, Kris King, and Dmitri Yushkevich. It was a blast! It was for Wayne Gretzy's induction into the Hall of Fame. The CN Tower even had a banner that read "Thank You Wayne." I even saw the spot lights the very next day flashing at the HHOF from the observation deck of the tower. Even went to the New York Rangers vs. the Toronto Maple Leafs game where they had the first ever HHOF ceremony game. I am not sure if they still do those. Wayne and many other celebrities were in attendance. Tia Carrere was sitting just rows from my mother and myself. Was a very beautifully timed and eventful week, meeting lots of celebrities and had an abundance of exciting night life. One of my favourite trips! Even went to a LA Clippers vs. Raptors game.

Sorry, was so excited to explain that trip. It meant a lot to me as a kid growing up. I soaked up every minute. I was so thankful to meet the man and get his autograph. Still have my Jean Beliveau Johnny Handcock somewhere.

 

[filip629]

Damn, Crawford hurts his foot at a concert and may miss 3 weeks. This is the strongest I have ever seen him in goal and he goes and gets hammered at concert and can't walk on some stairs. At least it didn't stop the Hawks from taking care of business against the Blues yesterday. Man, that 2nd line is scorching hot right now. They are so much fun to watch.

 

[Eli26]

This is my Facebook status today:

Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford will miss the next couple weeks because of a foot injury suffered at a concert. Or how about this beauty, Dan Boyle taking himself out of a season, by having a tantrum and throwing his hockey mitt into his locker, only to have the skate fall on his wrist, severing tendons.

Whatever happened to good ol' injuries from the opposing team players in an actual sporting contest?

 

[Eli26]

O M G! That was one helluva game! 6-2! WOW! We destroyed the Avs. 37 to 21 were the shots. We beat them in hits, fights... Love when the home team takes on an exhausted Patrick Roy coached team.

 

[filip629]

Hawks are on a tear right now. It doesn't seem to matter who's in goal, the boys are just taking care of business. Big win against the Preds puts them at 1st in the division. Man, the Western Conference race is going to be tight all year long. So many good teams.

 

[Eli26]

So the Penguins have the best winning percentage in the league, and the lowly Rangers are not even in a playoff position. Beautiful.

And apparently Kopitar: 24-5-7-12, +2 is better than Crosby: 26-9-25-34, +8 and Malkin: 26-14-18-32, despite the fact that Malkin and Crosby wingers are the suck, especially with Hornqvist out now. Okay Kunitz is decent, but all the other guys are the product of the two best hockey players in the world, and yes, even guys like Kunitz, Dupuis, Neal of yesteryear, and Hornqvist of today have had their games elevated playing with those two.

btw Fleury rocks. Can I hear it? Mmmmhmmm...

Anyway, my boy Gaudreau has 21 points in his last 21 games. I love this kid!

Oh and Go Jets Go!!! Hey Deez, I hope you attended Beliveau's funeral. I know you're not a Habs fan, but the guy is a gentle giant and a hockey legend. If I was there, I would have went. Maybe... depends if I had the patience... 50,000 people are thought to visit him today. Wow.