# NHL 2011-2012 Thread



## technomancer

Well, the awards and the draft are over and the prospect camps have started, time to move from the 2010-2011 to 2011-2012 thread


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## Vostre Roy

July 18th

The season seems so far away right now 
I'm sick of seeing Baseball, Golf and Tennis all over the sport channel here lol


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## troyguitar

Chris Osgood retires

Osgood retires - Detroit Red Wings - Press Release

I'm thinking he'll be in the hall of fame before too long, though he rarely got a lot of credit for the job he did.


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## technomancer

^ no arguments with that statement... he won three cups, that's got to count for something 

Also the Lightning inked Stamkos finally... I'm sort of surprised nobody made him a high-value offer just to screw with the Lightning's cap space 

Lightning ink Stamkos to five-year deal - NHL Free Agency 2011

And I'll be curious to see if he does and better with the Devils than he did in Florida

DeBoer introduced as new coach of Devils - 2011 Offseason News


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## Dwellingers

Shit I read like a retard.


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## Vostre Roy

Kovalev is going back to Russia. Talented guy, overrated player, he was fun to watch when he wanted to play with the others in the team


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## technomancer

Vostre Roy said:


> Kovalev is going back to Russia. Talented guy, overrated player, he was fun to watch when he wanted to play with the others in the team



Looks that way

Report: Kovalev heading to KHL - 2011 Offseason News

It was a shame as he had a shot in Pittsburgh, but he really didn't do much to take advantage of it. You can't consistently take stupid penalties and fail to put the puck in the net and expect to get resigned  It was pretty clear he wasn't going to be here at the end of game 7 when he wasn't on the ice for the 6 on 5 when he hadn't had a shift for a LONG time


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## matt397

technomancer said:


> Looks that way
> 
> Report: Kovalev heading to KHL - 2011 Offseason News
> 
> It was a shame as he had a shot in Pittsburgh, but he really didn't do much to take advantage of it. You can't consistently take stupid penalties and fail to put the puck in the net and expect to get resigned  It was pretty clear he wasn't going to be here at the end of game 7 when he wasn't on the ice for the 6 on 5 when he hadn't had a shift for a LONG time




Honestly to me he always, _always_, seemed to appear to have this attitude of " I'm too good to be playing with this team so I'll just fill the slot until someone decent picks me up "

His career took a significant nosedive after Pittsburg traded him in '03, his performance with Ottawa was a waste of $5 million and when Pittsburgh picked him up for the playoffs last year they would of been better off putting a pilon out in the middle of the ice.

Good riddance I say.


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## technomancer

I can't hate on Kovalev as he was fantastic when he was in Pittsburgh on the line with Straka and Lang. 

His second stint the main problem was that his back checking just wasn't strong enough so he took a lot of stupid, lazy penalties  That and he never really adapted to the system the Pens play, which is obviously not going to work


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## JeffFromMtl

Eh, it's Kovalev 

I'm pretty sure that he put up the worst 84-point season of all time in Montreal. The team finished first and it seemed like everyone on the team was playing over their heads, as they had, I believe, 7 players to score over 20 goals and 50 pts (hell, even Chris Higgins scored 27 goals that season ), with Kovalev leading the way, and still, he was arguably the laziest, most laissez-faire player in the league, let alone on the team. Except for maybe that game against Toronto where he deked the entire team out of their pants, and then while still controlling the puck, absolutely leveled Darcy Tucker. Classic.


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## technomancer

Holy shit Weber got $7.5 million in arbitration 

Shea Weber, David Poile happy to have an agreement done for 2011-12 - NHL Free Agency 2011


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## Vostre Roy

Sean Avery is in some legal hot water:

Avery arrested and jailed for battery on a police officer

This guy shouldn't be allowed to play hockey anymore IMO, asshole with no control over himself.

But I like action hockey, Subban's hit on Brad Marchand is probably one of the best (I'd say the best, but I'm biased lol) hit this year:

P.K. Su-BANG Video - NHL VideoCenter


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## Powermetalbass

So I'm a leafs fan (I'm sure I'll get alot of slack for that) Anyway, based on the moves made and the up and coming potential from the team anybody wanna make a prediction for how the leafs will fair in the coming season?

I see improvment and if Reimer performs the way he did last year I see a playoff spot!


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## mattofvengeance

Awesome. I feel like it's gonna be another season wading in the 8-11 area of the Western Conference. Still not excited about this defense, and despite gaining some forward depth, Brad Richards is still gone. I hate Tom Hicks so much.


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## technomancer

mattofvengeance said:


> Awesome. I feel like it's gonna be another season wading in the 8-11 area of the Western Conference. Still not excited about this defense, and despite gaining some forward depth, Brad Richards is still gone. I hate Tom Hicks so much.



I'll be curious to see how the Stars do this year... they seem to be moving players like they're rebuilding... without actually rebuilding 

The Pens are looking... interesting... for this season. I'm not sure what they're up to since they currently have 8 defensemen signed... I just hope they don't make the third pairing Lovejoy and Niskanen as they both have identical problems on the ice and DO NOT make an effective pairing.

That and I'm not holding my breath for Crosby to be back anytime soon if he's still having symptoms occasionally while working out.

I think for the Pens this season it's going to boil down to staying healthy, so we'll see what happens...


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## Unclemonkel

Mason pumped about Winnipeg, new Jets Mask with Iron Maiden Mascot | Masks | Goalie News, photos, info, tips, techniques by Goaltenders for Goaltenders

Eddie is on the new Winnipeg Jets helmet


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## technomancer

Unclemonkel said:


> Mason pumped about Winnipeg, new Jets Mask with Iron Maiden Mascot | Masks | Goalie News, photos, info, tips, techniques by Goaltenders for Goaltenders
> 
> Eddie is on the new Winnipeg Jets helmet



That is pretty freaking cool


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## Vostre Roy

It has been announced today that Quebecor Media and the city of Quebec have came to an agreement about the built of a multifonctional arena. This could mean that the return of the Nordiques would happens pretty soon.

What are your thoughts on that? I don't live near that town (or even near Montreal), so that means that the money I gave to the government will be used for something I will probably never use (well, if the Nords come back, I might go check a couple of game though), but on the other hand, a lot of the tax-payers money is going to random shit stuff, so I'm not really bothered and I now hope to see them Nords back, as they were my favorite team


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## technomancer

^ Very cool. I do have to say I REALLY hope that if the NHL starts adding more teams they go to scheduling more like the NFL has so that more teams don't add more games. 82 games in a season is more than enough, and I think we're seeing more injuries by/during playoff time as a result of the long season


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## Vostre Roy

technomancer said:


> ^ Very cool. I do have to say I REALLY hope that if the NHL starts adding more teams they go to scheduling more like the NFL has so that more teams don't add more games. 82 games in a season is more than enough, and I think we're seeing more injuries by/during playoff time as a result of the long season


 
I agree with you, 82 games of this intense sport in a year is more than enough to destroy someone's body. I believe that if the Nords comeback one day, it will be because one of the economically endengered (correct my spelling if im wrong there lol) american teams will be moved before a new team would be created, although 32 teams could also be fun, and their should be a way to keep it at 82games/year with two extra teams.

Either way, I want my Nords!


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## TheDivineWing22

Crosby is to address the media today at 12:30. I'm guessing this is mostly just to clear up a lot of the rumors going around and not bad news...like retirement...hopefully


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## Vostre Roy

Not from the NHL, but a really sad news from the KHL:

Russian Plane Crash: Jet Carrying Lokomotiv Hockey Team Crashes, Dozens Dead

The plane that was carrying the Lokomotiv team crashed and killed all but one occupant, RDS.ca reported 36 deads. Pavol Demitra, Ruslan Salei, Josef Vasicek and Karlis Skrastins were along the victims, to name the one that played in the NHL.


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## technomancer

TheDivineWing22 said:


> Crosby is to address the media today at 12:30. I'm guessing this is mostly just to clear up a lot of the rumors going around and not bad news...like retirement...hopefully



Given the recent statements let's hope it's just him making an announcement that he's not playing at the beginning of the season 



Vostre Roy said:


> Not from the NHL, but a really sad news from the KHL:
> 
> Russian Plane Crash: Jet Carrying Lokomotiv Hockey Team Crashes, Dozens Dead
> 
> The plane that was carrying the Lokomotiv team crashed and killed all but one occupant, RDS.ca reported 36 deads. Pavol Demitra, Ruslan Salei, Josef Vasicek and Karlis Skrastins were along the victims, to name the one that played in the NHL.



That's terrible news... My heart goes out to the families of those killed in the crash


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## technomancer

Crosby press conference summary: he is improving but there is no timetable for his return, and from what's being said I'd say he won't be back any time soon.

Also good for Sid for again saying head shots should be removed from the game, period.


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## Vostre Roy

Missed the first pre-season game yesterday, will be in front of my tv tonight!


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## mattofvengeance

Dallas Stars icon Mike Modano announces retirement - ESPN Dallas

Though I wish this would have happened last year, I will truly miss Mike and everything he has done for this organization and hockey in general. Without question in my mind, albeit a little biased, he's the greatest American born player in NHL history. 

I was in the building for this


Another of his best moments


Another game I was incredibly proud to have attended. This one was filled with moments like this.


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## technomancer

Modano retiring isn't a huge surprise, but he did have on hell of a career


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## mattofvengeance

technomancer said:


> Modano retiring isn't a huge surprise, but he did have on hell of a career



Definitely not a surprise with that injury riddled season with Detroit. I still wish he hadn't done that


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## technomancer

Damn the defenseman the Pens signed in the draft is UNREAL. The kid is 18 and is playing paired with Letang (all star defenseman) and is fitting in PERFECTLY and has 3 point (1G 2A) in two games. He is going to be UNREAL once he matures a bit


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## Vostre Roy

I'm I the only one that is actually enjoying Shanahan's work? Seems like the sanction and bans begins to make sense, and he even send a video explaining his decision. The total opposite of last year, I hope that it will bring back some respect between the players, I like what I'm seeing so far.


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## technomancer

I think Shanahan is doing a FANTASTIC job and taking the time to explain WHY things were done is excellent. Should make things much more clear for the players and help eliminate the uncertainty.

Also very curious to see what the Pens roster looks like come Friday, as it's cutting time and there is a LOT of competition for roster spots this year.


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## Psyy

I agree with the above. Shanahan's really doing now what should have been done last year. These videos explaining the logic behind the decisions made on each incident really help clear up what the NHL's thinking when it chooses to suspend or pardon players. 

For some reason it always catches me off-guard when a player shows they're as capable in a business management situation as they were on the ice.


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## MFB

Let's go Bruins!


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## technomancer

DAMN IT Malkin is out with a lower body injury tonight 

On the bright side, Niskanen is looking really good this year. He seems to have massively improved since last year's post-season.



MFB said:


> Let's go Bruins!



I saw the first two Bruins games... they looked horrible in the first against Philly but great against Tampa. I'm gonna' say they should have a great season.


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## troyguitar

I made it out to the home opener on Friday against Ottawa... the Wings are looking pretty OK this year. Not bad but not great either. Probably not cup material, but it's a long season.


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## jstarkey

*mod edit: we don't tolerate sexual slurs here*

i heard the stan bowman just signed an axe fx II so it looks like the hawks are taking home lord stanley this year


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## TheDivineWing22

Matt Cooke on pace for 61 goals this season.  In all seriousness, I like that the Pens are scoring without Malkin and Crosby, but they look sloppy at times. I think with a few more games they'll be better.

Can't wait to go to the Pens vs Caps game Thursday!


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## technomancer

TheDivineWing22 said:


> Matt Cooke on pace for 61 goals this season.  In all seriousness, I like that the Pens are scoring without Malkin and Crosby, but they look sloppy at times. I think with a few more games they'll be better.
> 
> Can't wait to go to the Pens vs Caps game Thursday!



Cooke was one goal away from leading the league last night... and Letang is leading the league in points. If it wasn't only four games in this would be unreal 

I agree on the looking sloppy... the Oilers game I didn't mind so much since it was the third game in four days and the second game of a back to back (what a way to start the season) but last night against the Panthers there were times when they just looked lost 

Hopefully Malkin is back for Thursday and they get it together as we're going to be at that one  I'm not holding my breath though, the Caps always seem to beat the Pens in the regular season


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## troyguitar

Every game I've watched so far this year has every team looking sloppy, that's just how things are at the beginning of the season I guess. I seem to notice it more and more recently, maybe just because I've learned more about the sport. (I finally started playing a bit myself after wanting to for years, most exhausting thing ever )


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## MFB

Welp, Bruins are currently 1-3 which is REALLY disappointing to say the least


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## TheDivineWing22

troyguitar said:


> Every game I've watched so far this year has every team looking sloppy, that's just how things are at the beginning of the season I guess. I seem to notice it more and more recently, maybe just because I've learned more about the sport. (I finally started playing a bit myself after wanting to for years, most exhausting thing ever )


 
That's awesome. I've always wanted to play, unfortunately, the only part of skating that I have mastered is falling. Just don't have the time to really learn.


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## technomancer

Crosby is cleared for contact 

Crosby Takes Next Step: Full Contact - Pittsburgh Penguins - Features

Now to deal with the press asking him daily if he's playing in the next game when everybody knows damn well it will be at least weeks before he plays 

Hopefully Geno is smart and sits tonight against the Caps if he's still injured... I'd much prefer him to take another game off then irritate an existing injury and be out for more games


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## technomancer

I absolutely can not believe Vokoun made 39 of 41 saves for the Caps and didn't get a star of the game tonight. He was the only reason the Caps won that game 

On the bright side the Pens now have at least a point in each their first five games 

EDIT: Loving Ovechkin complaining about Asham fighting Beagle... perhaps if Beagle isn't a fighter he shouldn't have punched Letang in the face after a clean hip check... that was the reason Asham went after him


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## TheDivineWing22

Yeah, shouldn't start shit if you can't finish it. It still seems like the Caps have our number in the regular season though.


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## JeffFromMtl

My fantasy team is being complete garbage! I blame the fact that both of my goalies, Lundqvist and Hiller have only played 2 games, one being against each other. Add to that, two of my centers, Ryan Getzlaf and Logan Couture have only played 2 and 1 games respectively, and Havlat still hasn't been cleared to play and I'm last place in my league. Thank god for Phil Kessel


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## technomancer

Yeah the scheduling is just bizarre... the Pens have played 5 games already but most of the rest of the league has only played 2 or 3


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## TheDivineWing22

Brooks Laich tired of concussion talk. This just kind of irked me, especially seeing as his team part of the reason that Crosby is not playing right now. I'm not saying that the hit at the Winter Classic was intentional, because it wasn't, but to say you're "tired" of hearing about concussion talk . Well I'm tired of there being concussions so why not try and protect players and make sure they are ok to play after suffering nasty hits?


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## technomancer

Laich is apparently a moron... he's "tired" of common sense medical procedures? Beagle was literally knocked out and bleeding and couldn't get up and make it to the bench on his own. He's totally right, evaluating him for a concussion was a TERRIBLE idea


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## technomancer

And the Pens get their first regulation loss this season... Buffalo looks GREAT defensively, they were really all over the place block shots and lifting sticks.


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## troyguitar

Wings just played their 4th game tonight and don't play again until Friday - how do you guys have so many games in already?


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## technomancer

troyguitar said:


> Wings just played their 4th game tonight and don't play again until Friday - how do you guys have so many games in already?



The schedulers hate the Pens? Seriously the Pens play every other day more or less until the second week of November then they have 4 days off 

The second set of back-to-back games are Monday/Tuesday this week...


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## JeffFromMtl

technomancer said:


> And the Pens get their first regulation loss this season... Buffalo looks GREAT defensively, they were really all over the place block shots and lifting sticks.



I fully expect Buffalo to challenge for top spot in the NE division this year. Their defense is just way too strong with the additions of Ehrhoff and Regehr, especially playing in front of one of the best goaltenders in the league. If Vanek can stay hot and Ennis and Adam can continue to improve this year, they're going to be tough to beat.


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## technomancer

JeffFromMtl said:


> I fully expect Buffalo to challenge for top spot in the NE division this year. Their defense is just way too strong with the additions of Ehrhoff and Regehr, especially playing in front of one of the best goaltenders in the league. If Vanek can stay hot and Ennis and Adam can continue to improve this year, they're going to be tough to beat.



Couldn't have said it better myself 

Looks to be another wonderful night for the Pens... they're down 0-1 8 seconds into the game against the Jets 

EDIT: aaaand the Pens manage to lose to the current worst team in the NHL by only scoring one goal on a goaltender with a 4 GAA


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## TheDivineWing22

And it gets worse for the Pens...Letang suspended 2 games for boarding. 

Its starting to look like last year again.


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## technomancer

You've got to be fucking kidding me


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## TheDivineWing22

Well, Brian Strait wasn't in the lineup very long.  Atleast James Neal is stepping up! But still, there are a lot of times that the defense looks confused. I would like to see the defense from last year come back.


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## technomancer

^  You have to keep in mind though that Bylsma keeps juggling the defensive pairings and as of last night you've got Orpik and Letang both out of the lineup. I do wonder if Martin is sick or injured though, as he hasn't looked like himself for the last few games.

In unrelated news, holy crap the Rangers beat the Canucks 4-0


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## technomancer

Good: Orpik is back in tonight

Bad: Kennedy has a concussion so he'll be out for quite a while and Strait hyper-extened his elbow and is out for at least weeks (more bad news for the baby Pens though as Orpik is back and Letang is back form suspension after tonight)


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## Vostre Roy

It now time for me to bash on the only team that I can follow on television: The Montreal Canadiens.

After 6 games, they are 1-4-1. It wouldn't really bothers me normally at this point of the season, but yesterday's game agains't the Pens was totally shameful... Absolutely no control of the puck whatsoever, it was always really hard to get out of their zone, almost no good chances of scoring... it was plainly a boring game to watch. The defensive is allowing easy play to go in the defensive zone and have a lot of trouble containing breakaways. The attack is boring to a level unacceptable in the NHL. Right now, its totally going the same way it did last year, I mean a pretty boring season with a last chance spot to the playoffs. I usually put the blame on the players, for not putting enough heart in their playing, but right now it seems that the trouble is behind the players every games. 

Yes, I'll bash the coach. This guy is as boring as his team. He have an handful of good players (Gionta, Cammaleri, Cole, Subban, Paccioretty, Price, ect), but they don't seems to be able to adapt their play to Martin's game. They score on fantasy play once in a while, but rarely do so when using Martin's strategy. 2 goals in power play, one on a 5-on-3, one on a 4-on-3, out of 6 games. How do you call that? Totally useless, yes.

So, I have enough with that team as long as they will be that boring to watch. Problem is that the only other team that are shown on RDS on a somehow regular basis are the Sens... I'm doomed, bring me back my Nords godammit!


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## technomancer

Keep in mind Montreal also has 3 of 6 starting defensemen out of the lineup and were playing a Pens team that's looking really good despite some serious injuries.

Also, as a Pens fan I thought the game was a blast


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## TheDivineWing22

James Neal is on fire right now! Can you imagine him on a line with Crosby?


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## Vostre Roy

technomancer said:


> Keep in mind Montreal also has 3 of 6 starting defensemen out of the lineup and were playing a Pens team that's looking really good despite some serious injuries.



Thats exactly the reason why I don't blame it on the injuries, if the Pens can play that well without their two best forward, the the Habs should be able to do the same, or at least don't play that bad lol. If Martin can't get the vets to play along his game, I don't mean 1 vet, all of them seems to have trouble with Martin... Then again, thats my fan opinion, I don't know everything, but thats what it seems to me


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## troyguitar

um, go caps?


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## TheDivineWing22

troyguitar said:


> um, go caps?



Booooooo!!!


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## technomancer

troyguitar said:


> um, go caps?





TheDivineWing22 said:


> Booooooo!!!


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## TheDivineWing22

The injury front gets worse for the Pens. Michalek out 4-6 weeks with a broken finger.


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## technomancer

TheDivineWing22 said:


> The injury front gets worse for the Pens. Michalek out 4-6 weeks with a broken finger.



Crap I was afraid of that when I saw the initial word that he wasn't at practice


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## TheDivineWing22

I guess if you want to look at the bright side, defense is where we can spare players right now. I 'm just getting sick of this continuous train of injuries.


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## technomancer

TheDivineWing22 said:


> I guess if you want to look at the bright side, defense is where we can spare players right now. I 'm just getting sick of this continuous train of injuries.



Eh I don't know that the Pens can afford to swap Michalek for Lovejoy in the top 6


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## technomancer

Vostre Roy said:


> Thats exactly the reason why I don't blame it on the injuries, if the Pens can play that well without their two best forward, the the Habs should be able to do the same, or at least don't play that bad lol. If Martin can't get the vets to play along his game, I don't mean 1 vet, all of them seems to have trouble with Martin... Then again, thats my fan opinion, I don't know everything, but thats what it seems to me



Hope you watched that Montreal game tonight, they smoked Philly 5-1


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## Vostre Roy

technomancer said:


> Hope you watched that Montreal game tonight, they smoked Philly 5-1



Of course I was! Probably the only game where I felt that the Habs has some control of the puck since the Jets game  (note that both Habs victories this years has been by 5-1 lol). Bruins tonight, should be a tough game, I believe that the Phillies felt in the "worst team of the east" trap, saw it as an easy game and didn't played at full force, but whatever, that was a good game (finally)


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## technomancer

^ 

Also man what is up with the Canucks so far this year? 4-5-1? Seriously? Boston doing poorly I expected as they played so far above-level in the playoffs last year and were so over-hyped coming into this year it wasn't funny, but the Canucks surprise me.


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## Vostre Roy

The Canucks had an even slower start last year, at some point the fans wanted the head of Luongo and Vigneault lol. Its mostly because of Luongo having trouble to get back to his game at the beginning of the season.


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## JeffFromMtl

Pacioretty is a beast! He played through torn ligaments in his wrist last night and potted two goals and an assist! We saw shades of it last season before the injury, but this kid is shaping up to be the goal-scoring power forward the habs have been lacking for years! Even though Martin's been juggling lines a ton all season, Pacioretty's been lighting it up no matter who he's playing with, and he seems to get his linemates going, no matter who they are. Definitely the most promising young player aside from Subban and Price to come up through the Draft and minor league system for the Habs.


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## Vostre Roy

JeffFromMtl said:


> Pacioretty is a beast! He played through torn ligaments in his wrist last night and potted two goals and an assist! We saw shades of it last season before the injury, but this kid is shaping up to be the goal-scoring power forward the habs have been lacking for years! Even though Martin's been juggling lines a ton all season, Pacioretty's been lighting it up no matter who he's playing with, and he seems to get his linemates going, no matter who they are. Definitely the most promising young player aside from Subban and Price to come up through the Draft and minor league system for the Habs.


 
+1010238340254856346³

This guy is impressing! I really liked when he was paired with Eller (another big surprise this year!), but he seems to be able to play with anyone. He's not only a good power forward, he also have some incredible hands. Like you said, probably the best forward that this team has produced on his own since Plekanec.


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## technomancer

Jets are beating Flyers 8-7 right now 

Did the goalies even show up for that game? 

Also glad to see Montreal is up after scoring Boston's only goal for them


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## Unknown Doodl3.2

^ yeah that was an awesome two goal night for Plekanec 

17 goals in one game... Flyers fans got their money's worth tonight!


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## TheDivineWing22

What a wild night in the NHL last night. A 17 goal game, oilers hand the caps their first loss of the season. Just glad the pens kept the streak going. James Neal!


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## technomancer

TheDivineWing22 said:


> What a wild night in the NHL last night. A 17 goal game, oilers hand the caps their first loss of the season. Just glad the pens kept the streak going. James Neal!



 I do think the oilers are going to be impressive over the next couple seasons if their management is smart. They need to strengthen their D core a little bit now and they should be set.

The Toronto game on Saturday is going to be tough for the Pens, they've been playing really well


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## Unknown Doodl3.2

^ I've watched almost every single Leafs game this year so far. They're playing very well, although I'd like to see them get nailed a little more by the refs; They're hitting very high and quickly turning into Flyers 2.0. (Duh... Brian Burke) I wouldn't be surprised if Pittsburgh won by a landslide to be honest, regardless of how well they're playing.

Could be wishful thinking though 

I have to admit though I like the Flyers much better after their summer deals.


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## Vostre Roy

technomancer said:


> The Toronto game on Saturday is going to be tough for the Pens, they've been playing really well


 
This is probably one of the biggest surprise so far this season. But it has been what, 18 seasons in the abyss of the league? We can say that it was about time lol

And yeah, great hockey games yesterday, I watched the Habs/Bs one (obviously lol), was a very enjoying game to watch. Price's brain fart in the first was frightening a bit, but he goaled like he knows how to, that didn't seems to have affected his concentration, and thats a good signe. Props for Subban, who wasn't affraid at all to fight with Marchand (hopefully, since Subban is fucking big), it was a good one, those two guys will bring some fire during the season, it'll be fun to watch. Got to add that the referees were total joke. Lots of uncalled penalties (on both sides), some were really dangerous. Thornton was looking for someone to fight at the end, as no one was replying to his offer, he tried to injure (not hit, injure, and I'm serious) two players on a single shift. To answer the question the tv announcer said: "When is it too much? When someone gets hurt". I like how the league took its place for the head hits, but it seems that the referees are "untouchable", all their mistakes are okay since its a fast played sport. I think that there should be an adjustement there, but thats my opinion

And I wish I could have seen the Flyers/Jets game, damn, a 17 goals game, thats fun to watch!


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## technomancer

There have been some epic screwups by referees this year... for example the Pens / Devils game where Elias was called for a double minor, Elias was announced for the penalty, and they put Sykora in the box for it and Elias scored shorthanded. What was even better: they went back and changed the records AFTER THE GAME to cover the screwup. Granted it didn't effect the outcome of the game (fortunately) but still it was just ridiculous.

Hopefully the Pens show up tonight and bring home number 6.


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## TheDivineWing22

No Jordan Staal tonight against Toronto. Day to day with a lower body injury


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## technomancer

Crap I was afraid if that after he had to go to the locker room on Thursday night... though I figured he was fine when he came back and played the rest of the game. Guess not.

On the bright side they don't play again after tonight until Thursday, so maybe the issue will have cleared up by then.

Nothing like having three of the best centers in the league and no more than two and usually only one of them healthy at a time for the last year though


----------



## technomancer

I also can't say I understand starting the backup goalie against a division-leading opponent when you've got four days off before the next game... Nothing against Johnson, but Fleury should be starting tonight's game for the Pens


----------



## Psyy

Ridiculous that Toronto is a division-leading opponent for anyone.


----------



## technomancer

Psyy said:


> Ridiculous that Toronto is a division-leading opponent for anyone.



You might want to keep an eye on them, they look REALLY good this year. 

I do have to say though that I think the Pens could beat them if healthy... last night the Pens were without Staal and Michalek which makes a HUGE difference, especially on the PK (2 of Toronto's 4 goals were on the PP)


----------



## JeffFromMtl

I hope Kessel can keep it up because I've got him in my hockey pool and he's tearing it up, but I hope the Leafs as a team shit the bed. As a Habs fan, nothing would make me happier than to see the Leafs and Bruins out of the playoffs.


----------



## technomancer

JeffFromMtl said:


> I hope Kessel can keep it up because I've got him in my hockey pool and he's tearing it up, but I hope the Leafs as a team shit the bed. As a Habs fan, nothing would make me happier than to see the Leafs and Bruins out of the playoffs.



It's early yet and it's a LONG season, so we'll see what happens. Personally I'm just hoping the Pens get healthy at some point this season... it seems like for every guy that gets healthy and comes back two more get hurt


----------



## TheDivineWing22

Most of the rumors are that Crosby will return to the line up on the 11th. I don't necessarily buy into them but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it happens and that he is READY to come back.


----------



## technomancer

TheDivineWing22 said:


> Most of the rumors are that Crosby will return to the line up on the 11th. I don't necessarily buy into them but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it happens and that he is READY to come back.



Yeah that's sort of been floating around for a while. There's been no indication from the organization, Sid, or his doctors that he's returning soon though. The whole thing has sort of been "deduced" by the press after they asked Bylsma if he'd rather have Sid's first game back be a home game. Bylsma said yes and everybody then assumed since they've got some time off over the next two weeks that he'd be coming back the 11th. I'll be surprised if it turns out to be true, but we'll see.


----------



## TheDivineWing22

And now Lovejoy is out with a broken wrist. I know its just Lovejoy, but still. The amount of injuries is just getting ridiculous.


----------



## technomancer

Yeah unfortunately I figured Lovejoy was gone as soon the trained checked his wrist and sent him to the locker room. The Pens do not need anymore injuries...


----------



## zappatton2

Currently, the standings have the Leafs on top in the east, and the Oilers on top in the west. What the hank is going on this year? Mind you, it's still early, and being a lifelong Leafs fan myself, there's still got lots of time to slip back into comfortable, routine dissappointment. At the moment though, I am very unsettled by all these Leaf's victories, not sure how to take it.


----------



## TheDivineWing22

I could see the Leaf's being a real possibility for playoffs. My decision is still out on the Oilers. We'll have to see how things play out. It's gonna be interesting.


----------



## technomancer

Yeah the Leafs look strong. The Oilers I think will taper off this year, they need to improve their D but they're going to be a very good team over the next few years.


----------



## JeffFromMtl

I've got to agree that the Oilers will slow down. I don't see the Nuge keeping it up at the pace he's going. I've certainly been impressed, but I think the young guys there are playing above their heads at the moment. I also think it's just a matter of time before Khabibulin slows down as well. He's definitely had his good seasons, but his better ones are behind him. He's had a couple of great games, but he'll go back to being a middle-of-the-road 40-or-so year-old keeper soon enough.


----------



## technomancer

Martin is a game time decision for the Pens tonight. If he's out that's three of the top six and both of our $11 million defensive pair 

EDIT: Nope, Niskanen is out... so 2 of the top 6 and the 7th defenseman are out for the Pens (Michalek, Niskanen, Lovejoy). On the bright side Staal is back in.


----------



## TheDivineWing22

Penguins acquire a 4th round draft pick from the Blue Jackets in exchange for Mark Letestu.


----------



## technomancer

TheDivineWing22 said:


> Penguins acquire a 4th round draft pick from the Blue Jackets in exchange for Mark Letestu.



Granted that he hasn't been amazing so far this season, but given the Pens massive injury history and the fact that they've played him everywhere between 1st and 4th line center and they just signed him to a contract over the summer while letting some good players go that seems like an INCREDIBLY stupid trade 

Than again I maybe they figure Park and Adams can both play center so they don't need Letestu...

It also leaves the Pens one center short when coupled with the other roster moves they made... wonder what that means


----------



## technomancer

Man Johnson looks like shit tonight... 5 goals on 25 shots 

Worse: 2 goals after the Pens came back from a 3-0 deficit in the 3rd to tie it up


----------



## MFB

Looks like Bruins beat Buffalo putting us at 8-7, and five wins in a row


----------



## metasequoia

MFB said:


> Looks like Bruins beat Buffalo putting us at 8-7, and five wins in a row



Glad to see Lucic didn't get suspended for that hit on Ryan Miller. If you want to come out of the crease, you are gonna have to deal with the consequences of a 220 lb monster speeding towards you!


----------



## matt397




----------



## zappatton2

Yeah, I was thinking the Leafs were sinking back into their old mediocre ways, but way to spank Washington. Mind you, does that speak to an improving Toronto, or a horribly slumping Washington? I am not quite prepared to take the glass as half full just yet.


----------



## matt397

zappatton2 said:


> Yeah, I was thinking the Leafs were sinking back into their old mediocre ways, but way to spank Washington. Mind you, does that speak to an improving Toronto, or a horribly slumping Washington? I am not quite prepared to take the glass as half full just yet.



If they can stay healthy an start seeing some consistency between Reimer and Gustavson I could definately see them making it into the playoffs. Are they strong enough to battle through injury as much as let's say for example, Pittsburgh ? Good god no. It'd be nice to see them make it in though this year.


----------



## technomancer

Crosby Returns to the Lineup Monday - Pittsburgh Penguins - Features


----------



## technomancer

Damn I would say Sid is back... 3 points and not even halfway through the game yet  (granted it's the Islanders and both of their starting goalies are injured, but still )

EDIT: 4 point night for Sid in his return, 2 goals 2 assists


----------



## Sofos

MFB said:


> Looks like Bruins beat Buffalo putting us at 8-7, and five wins in a row



9 in a row now  lets hope for a number 10 tonight! The night they won the cup was the night before my 18th birthday. We went out to dinner on my bday all wearing Bruins jerseys. Felt like a boss.


----------



## technomancer

Yeah the Bruins are on a great streak. Glad to see them get it together after that rocky start.

Personally I'm looking forward to seeing what the Pens can do now that they actually have a full lineup dressed for the first time since the end of the '09/'10 season


----------



## technomancer

Ooof and the Pens wait to show up against the Blues until the 3rd and lose in overtime


----------



## Unknown Doodl3.2

Crosby's in a league of his own. So good to have him back playing again, regardless of the team you cheer for. I hope he wins the scoring title, an wouldn't be surprised if he did either.


----------



## Stealthdjentstic

Looks like Vancouver is killing all of your shitty teams again


----------



## technomancer

Unknown Doodl3.2 said:


> Crosby's in a league of his own. So good to have him back playing again, regardless of the team you cheer for. I hope he wins the scoring title, an wouldn't be surprised if he did either.





Even though he didn't have a point in the game Wednesday he was in front of the goaltender on both of the Pens' goals


----------



## TheDivineWing22

The thing that I have taken from the last two games about Crosby is that he doesn't have that "awareness" that other players have when they come back from injuries like his. He's not trying to protect himself the whole time and is playing his style of hockey.


----------



## MFB

The Bruins lost to fucking Detroit?! DETROIT?!

God damn it.


----------



## technomancer

TheDivineWing22 said:


> The thing that I have taken from the last two games about Crosby is that he doesn't have that "awareness" that other players have when they come back from injuries like his. He's not trying to protect himself the whole time and is playing his style of hockey.



Definitely... I also think some of that is that nobody pushed him to come back before he was 100% ready to play 



MFB said:


> The Bruins lost to fucking Detroit?! DETROIT?!
> 
> God damn it.



Detroit is leading their division... not like the Pens who lost to the freaking Blues


----------



## MFB

I hadn't checked their stats yet, but I'm just baffled given Detroit's current reputation as well...a shithole


----------



## ridealot100

MAXIM LAPIERRE!


----------



## technomancer

Nice backhand


----------



## Sofos

MFB said:


> The Bruins lost to fucking Detroit?! DETROIT?!
> 
> God damn it.



Me and my dad are HUGE Bruins fans, and it was his birthday yesterday. Yea we are bummed but god damn it was a good, close game. I noticed that Rask needs to close his legs more. Both of the standard time goals were right between his legs, where Thomas wouldn't have even broken a sweat.


----------



## MFB

I also didn't realize the game ended in a shootout, which to me is the main reason we lost. For some reason we can never win a shootout, and I've seen it happen in person too; my guess is that it's because of the pressure, and this comes from a former hockey player.


----------



## Unknown Doodl3.2

Well, that was a bullshit finish in OT...

We shouldn't have blown that 3 - 1 lead anyway, but that's just a very sour end to an otherwise fun game.


----------



## technomancer

Unknown Doodl3.2 said:


> Well, that was a bullshit finish in OT...
> 
> We shouldn't have blown that 3 - 1 lead anyway, but that's just a very sour end to an otherwise fun game.



Normally I would agree that was a piss-poor finish and a MASSIVE referee screwup... except it followed on that blind-side hit to the head that broke Letang's nose without a call much less what should have been a 5 minute major and a game misconduct. After that I just gave up on that ref doing ANYTHING right 

Even the local broadcasters were saying they had no idea why the ref hadn't blown the whistle, and I agree with them


----------



## JeffFromMtl

I thought the hit was clean. Letang saw him before hand, but elected to put his head down and shoot. Pacioretty was not charging, nor did he leave his feet. It's just how it went down. It was extremely similar to the Malone-on-Campoli hit in the pre-season, in that he tried making the play instead of protecting himself. As such, there shouldnt be a suspension.



But yeah, garbage goal at the end.


----------



## Sofos

The Jets could have tied up the game last night against the Bruins but made a dumb mistake by pulling their goalie. They were all over Thomas and if they would have kept it up they might have got one more in, but as soon as they pulled, Marchand sealed the Bruins victory with an empty netter. GO BRUINS!!

also, anyone here from Seattle or Vancouver? my family will be moving up there in around a year and we are going to go to Vancouver whenever the Bruins are in town to watch them curb stomp the Canucks again


----------



## technomancer

JeffFromMtl said:


> I thought the hit was clean. Letang saw him before hand, but elected to put his head down and shoot. Pacioretty was not charging, nor did he leave his feet. It's just how it went down. It was extremely similar to the Malone-on-Campoli hit in the pre-season, in that he tried making the play instead of protecting himself. As such, there shouldnt be a suspension.
> 
> But yeah, garbage goal at the end.



Having watched the replay repeatedly (since they kept showing it over and over) I don't think Letang had any idea Paccioretty was coming. Letang didn't change position immediately prior to the hit (there was a good 3 or 4 count between his shot finishing and the hit happening) and Paccioretty didn't make any effort to NOT elbow him in the head, the only point of contact. I'll be interested to see what the ruling ends up being in the review, as it is definitely a judgement call that could go either way.

I think we can both agree that the ref at that end was freaking horrible though  Guy missed a lot of shit and called a few things both ways when there was nothing there...


----------



## Unknown Doodl3.2

Apparently Patches felt like complete shit and went straight to the Pens bench to apologize to Letang and ask how he was doing when he saw he was back at the beginning of OT. Doesn't change much but it does say something about him as a player/person.

I don't think it should be a suspendable hit, but given today's NHL I wouldn't complain or be surprised if he got 2 games.


----------



## technomancer

Kind of surprised to see this now, I was waiting for it after their poor playoff run last year...

Capitals fire Boudreau, hire Hunter - NHL.com - News


----------



## Vostre Roy

Hunter is the new headcoach of the Caps, and Muller is the new headcoach of the Canes. Been a dark day for the headcoaches lol. I remember when Boud cames with the Caps, he was told to be the coach fitting Ovy's playing, time changes it seems.

As for the Patch suspension (3 games), I believe that its really a hard decision considering that he didn't got suspended before and that it wasn't clear that he wanted to hit him hard, Letang did change his position (every players does when the shoot), I believe that he didn't thought that Letang would shoot and aimed him so he couldn't make a pass. Like it has been said, its very similar to the Malone/Campolli incident in the beginning of the season, so I ain't disapointed by the decision, but it seems bad when it comes to compare it with similar incident.

Long story short, I've saw several hit this season that looked way uglier than this one, so I don't understand all the logic behind this suspension.


----------



## technomancer

Crap Letang and Michalek are both out tonight against the Rangers 

EDIT: and Pens lose, mainly due to WAY too many penalties in the third... you can't take four penalties in a period when you're trying to come back from a deficit 

On the flip side the penalty kill was unreal given three of those stacked up and the Pens killed them including a long 3 on 5 without giving up a shot


----------



## Unknown Doodl3.2

^That was a fun game to watch!


----------



## technomancer

Yeah, given the amazing work on the PK would have been nice if the Pens had been able to tie it up though... Was a bit irked by the disallowed goal given that going by the rulebook it was valid since the Rangers put it in, but oh well 

The Pens just REALLY need to tighten up their D and goaltending... they're consistently giving up 3+ goals a game which is no way to win hockey games in the long run


----------



## technomancer

Letang and Mickalek are both out suffering headaches for tomorrow night's game. Mickalek has passed the concussion screen but is being reevaluated and Letang also has a virus so can't take the screen until the virus clears up. Basically 2 of the Pens top 4 are out again against Washington tomorrow night


----------



## technomancer

Well now, he was out of work for a long time 

Ducks fire Randy Carlyle, hire Bruce Boudreau - NHL.com - News


----------



## JeffFromMtl

Damn, I wish Habs management had the balls to make a brash decision like that. Jacques Martin's time here _should_ be up by now. But of course, it isn't and won't be for a while. They should have hired Guy Boucher instead... He was doing a great job in Hamilton. Instead, they let him out of the Canadiens pipeline, and he contends for coach of the year honours with Tampa


----------



## Vostre Roy

JeffFromMtl said:


> Damn, I wish Habs management had the balls to make a brash decision like that. Jacques Martin's time here _should_ be up by now. But of course, it isn't and won't be for a while. They should have hired Guy Boucher instead... He was doing a great job in Hamilton. Instead, they let him out of the Canadiens pipeline, and he contends for coach of the year honours with Tampa


 
Yeah, I'm pretty much disapointed in Martin since he came with the Habs... He got an handful of talented players, none of them seems to fit in his gameplan. And what about the powerplay? Damn... That loss agains't the Ducks was painful, I'm glad that I couldn't watch it (got to wake at 5am...). They need to do something BIG. Fire the coach, a major trade, whatever. The Habs are 12th in the eastern conference, maybe they'll not make the playoff, fire Martin and get a good draft this year... Because right now, it look pretty much like the beginning of the season, I don't believe that Markov will be enough to bring that team back on track (but it will not hurt IMO)


----------



## Unknown Doodl3.2

As much as I hate martin, the Habs have done 4 playoff rounds in the last 2 years alone, which isn't bad for a supposedly "small, undersized" team (not to say that we aren't, but still...). I'm on the fence about firing Jacques "dracula" Martin.


----------



## technomancer

The Pens didn't lose to the Caps in a regular season game


----------



## JeffFromMtl

This is why I was so happy the Habs finally signed Emelin. He clocked that dude


----------



## zappatton2

I would like to see the Leafs granted a permanent exemption from ever having to play the Bruins (ug, I'm dreading Saturday). Actually, while we're at it, extend the exemption to any Toronto team having to play any Boston team. Boston's really got our number.


----------



## technomancer

Crap and now 3 of the Pen's top 6 D are out and they play Boston tonight... and Letang isn't coming back anytime soon as they just placed him on IR


----------



## MFB

FFFFUUUU, that's right we play you guys tonight and not tomorrow. I was hoping I'd get to watch it but I'm working 4-10 so I'll have to get updates on my phone


----------



## technomancer

MFB said:


> FFFFUUUU, that's right we play you guys tonight and not tomorrow. I was hoping I'd get to watch it but I'm working 4-10 so I'll have to get updates on my phone



Given half the Pens defense is out and Boston has been on a terror I suspect it will be a fun game for you


----------



## Sofos

Damn good game. Seidenberg's save was one of the best I've ever seen. and 40+ saves by Thomas is crazy. Pens did a good job, but the Bruins are unstoppable right now.


----------



## technomancer

Yeah Bruins looked good... and Pens did not look particularly good defensively (which is not a surprise given the current state of the defensive core). Thomas looked amazing as expected  Was also absolutely pathetic that the Pens didn't manage to score on TWO three on fives... Boston did a good job of penalty killing and the Pens fell into their pass-instead-of-shoot mentality that has plagued the PP for ages


----------



## technomancer

Ok so am I the only one that finds the new NHL organization a bit retarded? So Washington and Carolina are in a conference along with all the teams from the Atlantic division... and the North East and South East divisions are now a conference? The two central and western conferences make some sense but the two eastern are just weird...


----------



## AK DRAGON

Anybody see this?
Realignment Plan


The makeup of the yet-to-be-named four conferences is as follows:

* New Jersey, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, New York Rangers, New York Islanders, Washington and Carolina

* Boston, Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Buffalo, Florida and Tampa Bay

* Detroit, Columbus, Nashville, St. Louis, Chicago, Minnesota, Dallas and Winnipeg

* Los Angeles, Anaheim, Phoenix, San Jose, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Colorado

This could make for an interesting season


----------



## Unknown Doodl3.2

From a personal standpoint, the only thing that would bother me is the fact that possible playoff opponents would be limited and could possibly get repetitive, and the fact that we would only get to see Crosby, or Ovy, or any other big star outside our division 2 twice during the year on TV, or just once at home ice.


----------



## technomancer

That amazing run, and the Bruins finally lose to the Jets 

Pens lost to them earlier this year as well, and they're better than their record shows, but that's just hilarious


----------



## technomancer

Crap Crosby is out for 2 games


----------



## TheDivineWing22

technomancer said:


> Crap Crosby is out for 2 games



Yep, can't wait to see what Flyers fans have to say about that.

Just when it looks like the Pens are going to be healthy.


----------



## technomancer

^ yeah I've pretty much given up... they had what, 2 games then 3 out of the top 6 defenseman were injured 

Also they'll be playing Philly for the division lead tonight, which means they'll inevitably lose


----------



## Vostre Roy

Will Markov be ever back... Yeah the Pens are pretty hurts, but its a similar situation here with Markov, Gionta, Gomez (ok I can live without him though lol), Campoli (about to come back) and I could even put Ian White in the equation. I'd like to see the Habs at full force to really put the team's bad performance on the coach's shoulders ahaha

That being said, I would never had thought that Spacek would ever been traded, even on his last contract's year. I don't have huge love for Kaberle, but he proven to be quite good offensively, but did some bad play in the defensive zone (still better than Spacek, who is not the offensive player that he was, and sucked in the defensive zone)


----------



## TheDivineWing22

Well, Crosby has concussion symptoms and didn't practice today

I don't like where this is going. I keep thinking Lindros 2.0. Hope I'm wrong.


----------



## technomancer

TheDivineWing22 said:


> Well, Crosby has concussion symptoms and didn't practice today
> 
> I don't like where this is going. I keep thinking Lindros 2.0. Hope I'm wrong.



The difference being Crosby is one of the best players the game has ever seen while Lindros never lived up to expectations 

But yeah read the announcement... not pleased at all


----------



## technomancer

Ooof Staal and Malkin are both game-time decisions tonight against Detroit... things are not looking good for the Pens


----------



## JeffFromMtl

It was also just announced that Claude Giroux will be out indefinitely with a concussion. Things are looking pretty bad for the league... Crosby, who still isn't 100% last year, and now Giroux. 2 years in a row, the leading scorer is out with a concussion.

Flyers' Giroux out indefinitely with concussion - NHL.com - News


----------



## TheDivineWing22

technomancer said:


> Ooof Staal and Malkin are both game-time decisions tonight against Detroit... things are not looking good for the Pens



Yeah, Bylsma said if they don't play, either Dupuis or Vitale will center the first line.  It's a shame to lose what was considered by many to be the best center core in the league.


----------



## technomancer

JeffFromMtl said:


> It was also just announced that Claude Giroux will be out indefinitely with a concussion. Things are looking pretty bad for the league... Crosby, who still isn't 100% last year, and now Giroux. 2 years in a row, the leading scorer is out with a concussion.
> 
> Flyers' Giroux out indefinitely with concussion - NHL.com - News



I figured that was coming when he was out... really a shame to see that 



TheDivineWing22 said:


> Yeah, Bylsma said if they don't play, either Dupuis or Vitale will center the first line.  It's a shame to lose what was considered by many to be the best center core in the league.


----------



## MFB

Looks like the Bruins beat the shit out of the Kings for the 3rd time, with this one only being a 3-0 unlike their last which was 6-2; and before that I believe it was 6-0!


----------



## TheDivineWing22

Finally, some good news for the Pens. Michalek is saying as long as he doesn't have any symptoms, he should be back in the lineup Friday. Unfortunately, Milan will be out for the Senators. Its a shame to see so many talented players out with concussions.


----------



## Unknown Doodl3.2

Vostre Roy said:


> That being said, I would never had thought that Spacek would ever been traded, even on his last contract's year. I don't have huge love for Kaberle, but he proven to be quite good offensively, but did some bad play in the defensive zone (still better than Spacek, who is not the offensive player that he was, and sucked in the defensive zone)



Spacek was HUGE for us defensively in the playoffs both last year and the year before and he was fine in the regular season. I don't understand the hate he got here in Quebec. I'm sure if his last name was Tremblay or Leduc it would have been a different story; then again that's usually the case around here. That said, I'm still pretty content with the Kaberle trade since he's the type of guy the Habs need right now; Subban is having an o-k at best sophomore year (good as a shut down pair with Gorges, but doesn't have that flair he usually has), Markov's return is delayed, and Weber isn't making the best decisions on the ice these days.

I'm with you on the J-M thing though, I've never been a huge fan of him. Though I do think the team can still win some games with him behind the bench.


----------



## technomancer

First let me take a moment to congratulate Johnson in his .5 save percentage in the second period last night... nothing like giving up 5 goals on 10 shots 

Then let me say wow the Habs fired Martin... firing the coach seems to be the trendy thing to do this season


----------



## TheDivineWing22

technomancer said:


> First let me take a moment to congratulate Johnson in his .5 save percentage in the second period last night... nothing like giving up 5 goals on 10 shots



Johnson has been playing pretty poorly this year, and last night was tough to watch. It's hard to win a game when you allow that many goals.

Hopefully Martin's injury isn't serious and Michalek and Staal are close to coming back. The Pens can't take many more injuries.


----------



## technomancer

Yeah even given one of the goals was put in by Orpik that was some TERRIBLE goaltending... Given how good he was last year I really wonder what's up.

And amen on players coming back... the Pens have had WAY too many injuries for WAY too long


----------



## JeffFromMtl

Finally the Habs balls'd up and got rid of Martin. The problem is, however, that I think they already missed the boat. The habs had two great, passionate coaches in the pipeline in Guy Boucher and Kirk Muller, and waited until they both left to fire the coach. As interim, Cunneyworth will be behind the bench. I know next to nothing about the guy, but I don't think he's half the coach Boucher is, and Muller will be.


----------



## technomancer

Crap and Martin is out tonight and they also called up Williams which means either another forward is hurt or they're scratching Tangredi.. but either way sounds like Staal isn't playing gain

I also love the headline on NHL.com "Penguins struggling without Crosby, others". Well no shit, without two all-stars, a selke candidate, and over half of the starting defensive core (including 3 of the top 4) the Pens are struggling


----------



## technomancer

Good to see Geno step it up a notch... hat trick and 2 assists for a 5 point night 

Thank you Buffalo for giving up some terrible goaltending to help the Pens out 8-3


----------



## TheDivineWing22

Yeah, hell of a game from Geno.

Bad news, Craig Adams left the game early, and on the post-game they said he will be day to day with a lower body injury.


----------



## technomancer

Yeah that's a HUGE blow for the Pens... he's a major part of the team that doesn't get a lot of credit for grinding and a major part of the penalty kill


----------



## technomancer

Crap and Crosby is now on injured reserve... not a surprise really but still not a good thing.


----------



## Unknown Doodl3.2

JeffFromMtl said:


> As interim, Cunneyworth will be behind the bench. I know next to nothing about the guy, but I don't think he's half the coach Boucher is, and Muller will be.



Actually, Cunneyworth has a pretty big rep as far as up and coming coaches are. He's bid his time more than Boucher for example (he's the 7th winningest coach in the AHL) but is similar in terms of communication and passion on the bench. 

I would like to hypothesize that the only reason we didn't hear about him much around here is because he only speaks English, but hmm...


----------



## TheDivineWing22

Engelland suspended three games for the hit on Tuesday. As if the Pens weren't short enough on defense.

I'm not defending this hit, but three games for a first time offender? Seems a little steep.


----------



## technomancer

Yeah especially given the shit Boston has gotten away with with no or very minor suspensions  So as seems to be typical, I have no problem with the suspension for the hit, but there needs to be more consistency.

Ah well...


----------



## MFB

8 and 0 against the Florida Panthers, with Marchand getting a hat trick. God. damn.


----------



## Sofos

MFB said:


> 8 and 0 against the Florida Panthers, with Marchand getting a hat trick. God. damn.



can't believe i missed that game. fucking christmas... had to watch christmas movies instead of game.


----------



## MFB

You poor thing, it was fantastic and only way it could've been better was in person


----------



## Sofos

Got this for my dad for xmas:


----------



## Xaios

Sharks fan attacks teenage Canucks supporter who had brain surgery

Not cool.


----------



## TheDivineWing22

Xaios said:


> Sharks fan attacks teenage Canucks supporter who had brain surgery
> 
> Not cool.



It's a shame that this is what things are like in sports sometimes. My girlfriend is going to conference in Philly in the spring and I already told her to be careful wearing Pens gear when she is out. I'm not saying something would happen, but better safe than sorry.

Just support your team. Heckling is one thing, but physical harassment over a sport is another.


----------



## technomancer

TheDivineWing22 said:


> It's a shame that this is what things are like in sports sometimes. My girlfriend is going to conference in Philly in the spring and I already told her to be careful wearing Pens gear when she is out. I'm not saying something would happen, but better safe than sorry.
> 
> Just support your team. Heckling is one thing, but physical harassment over a sport is another.


----------



## Vostre Roy

Well, its a bad year to be an Habs fan.... Right now I hope to see them near last by the end of the year so they can draft a good guy, but then again...

When the fuck are the Nords going to be back?


----------



## JeffFromMtl

IMO, it's time to blow up the team. The team is coming undone and there will be a new coach next season. For the first time in a while, there's an emerging young core built through the draft in guys like Pacioretty, Price, Subban, Leblanc (and we could include Eller, although he was drafter by the Blues and traded here as a prospect) and some highly-touted prospects coming up through the pipeline like Tinordi, Kristo, Bournival, Gallagher and Beaulieu. It's time to unload some veterans and draft as high as possible. In a draft year like this, a single lottery pick could be the catalyst for turning a team around. There hasn't been a draft class with sure-fire superstar potential like this since the years that Crosby, Ovechkin and Malkin were picked. Yakupov, Grigorenko, Forsberg and Galchenyuk are all blue-chip prospects that you can build an offense around, which is what the habs need, what with all of the talent in their prospect pool on D already.

I've never advocated blowing up a team in the name of a rebuild before, but given the immense talent at the top of this year's draft class and the team's evident lack of direction or compete level and leadership, this would be the year to do it.


----------



## Vostre Roy

JeffFromMtl said:


> IMO, it's time to blow up the team. The team is coming undone and there will be a new coach next season. For the first time in a while, there's an emerging young core built through the draft in guys like Pacioretty, Price, Subban, Leblanc (and we could include Eller, although he was drafter by the Blues and traded here as a prospect) and some highly-touted prospects coming up through the pipeline like Tinordi, Kristo, Bournival, Gallagher and Beaulieu. It's time to unload some veterans and draft as high as possible. In a draft year like this, a single lottery pick could be the catalyst for turning a team around. There hasn't been a draft class with sure-fire superstar potential like this since the years that Crosby, Ovechkin and Malkin were picked. Yakupov, Grigorenko, Forsberg and Galchenyuk are all blue-chip prospects that you can build an offense around, which is what the habs need, what with all of the talent in their prospect pool on D already.
> 
> I've never advocated blowing up a team in the name of a rebuild before, but given the immense talent at the top of this year's draft class and the team's evident lack of direction or compete level and leadership, this would be the year to do it.


 
 I got nothing to add


----------



## Vostre Roy

Lars fucking Eller! Holy shit, what a game he had ahahah. 4 goals 1 assist, the spinorama goal was a gem.


----------



## Sofos

Nine. Fucking. Zero. Bruins are fucking unstoppable.


----------



## technomancer

All I can say about this Pens Rangers game is 

EDIT: and as an added bonus after seeing the way Staal went down on that knee on knee hit I'd say his season is probably over


----------



## TheDivineWing22

technomancer said:


> All I can say about this Pens Rangers game is
> 
> EDIT: and as an added bonus after seeing the way Staal went down on that knee on knee hit I'd say his season is probably over



Yeah, If he's not out for the rest of the season I'll be surprised. Watching that game was rough last night (especially the giveaway by Fleury).

I hate seeing the Pens limit teams shots on goal, yet the opposing team gets three goals. Makes me wonder if Fleury is not seeing enough action.

As it stands, the Pens are only 2 points from being out of a playoff spot.


----------



## technomancer

Yeah dominating the shot count and still losing is becoming a Pens trademark... the problem is it seems like when they do give up a shot it's an epic defensive fail for a serious scoring opportunity


----------



## technomancer

Wow Marchand needs to shut up and get off the ice... he just clipped Salo in the knees and dislocated his shoulder by the looks of it and is standing bitching about getting a penalty. Fortunately it's Boston so he won't get suspended for it


----------



## Sofos

honestly, i know its the bruins fanboy in me, but the refs were playing for van that game. pissed me off.


----------



## Stealthdjentstic

Hell yea Vancouver! Boston fans chanting luongo when he wasnt in net =


----------



## technomancer

SoldiersOfFilth said:


> honestly, i know its the bruins fanboy in me, but the refs were playing for van that game. pissed me off.



Nah, Boston was just actually getting called for the penalties they were committing for a change 

Seriously though it's REALLY hard to say that when the number of calls were equal and the Bruins got a power play at the end of the game giving them an advantage when they were only down by 1  (I didn't add up penalty time because I'm lazy, but I counted and there were 15 calls on each team)


----------



## technomancer

Jeebus Staal is out 4-6 weeks and Neal is out with a broken foot  (though Staal is a lot better than I was expecting after seeing him go down when he was injured)


----------



## Xaios

I don't think either Vancouver or Boston have much to be proud of from last night's game. Vancouver's entire team jumping on Shawn Thornton wasn't cool, nor was Alex Burrows whacking him in the throat. I really can't blame Thornton for going after Burrows after that. Burrows deserved a penalty, and that's coming from a Vancouver homer. On the other hand, Marchand's clip on Salo was just plain brutal, and Boston played pretty undisciplined in general.

On the other hand, both times had amazing goaltending, Vancouver's special teams were ridiculous, and Boston's 5 on 5 was every bit as good. Alas, special teams wins hockey games, especially when Vancouver is involved.

Still, I'll take the 2 points. I was pretty worried after seeing Boston devour Calgary, but this turned out to be a far more even matchup.


----------



## technomancer

Oh I wasn't saying the Canucks weren't just as dirty in that game as the Bruins, I was just saying that to claim the officiating was biased is complete crap


----------



## C2Aye

technomancer said:


> Oh I wasn't saying the Canucks weren't just as dirty in that game as the Bruins, I was just saying that to claim the officiating was biased is complete crap



They did miss that icing call for the go-ahead goal for the Bruins in the 1st period. I wouldn't call it biased either really, they just got a few wrong. Canucks powerplay was good though, annoyed they didn't show up in the cup finals. 

And the commentator on NESN couldn't help saying 'Oh, there's one past Luongo today' after it was hit onto the Canucks bench 

Edit: Yes, I know, I live in Scotland and like ice hockey. It's not my fault, I live with a Canadian


----------



## TheDivineWing22

Here is and article about the Penguins current situation. Good to see Orpik calling the team out and not just blaming it on injuries.


----------



## Xaios

Bruins-Canucks and Red Wings-Blackhawks a contrast in styles

That article succinctly breaks down exactly what was wrong with both Vancouver and Boston in that game. It was pretty disgraceful all around.


----------



## Xaios

Well, 5 game suspension for Marchand.

There's one guy on the Boston section of HFboards spouting on about how this ruling "violates the rule of law," "completely changes the NHL," and that it's time to "Occupy Hockey."

I wanted to tell him to go grab his Guy Fawkes mask and camp outside NHL headquarters.


----------



## Psyy

I was a bit surprised at the length of the suspension, but I feel it's deserved. Marchand needs to back up; he's a perfectly skilled hockey player who doesn't need attitude to do well, like some do.


----------



## TheDivineWing22

According to the Pens report, both Neal and Adams said they are good to play tonight against Ottawa. 

I'm kind of confused on how it went from Bylsma saying Neal will be out for "weeks not days" to Neal practicing with Malkin and Kunitz for the game tonight.

I'm not complaining as long as he is really ready and doesn't end up screwing it up more than it is already. *cough* Big Ben *cough*


----------



## technomancer

Yeah I was amazed when I saw that... then again maybe it turned out to be a minor fracture the docs decided he could play with. The Pens aren't an organization that seems to let guys play hurt when it can injure them worse.

Also I was pleased to see they FINALLY dropped the hammer on a Boston player


----------



## JeffFromMtl

Cammalleri, a 5th rounder and Karri Ramo to Calgary for Rene Bourque, a 2nd rounder in 2013 and prospect Patrick Holland.

Mixed feelings on the deal. Cammalleri seems to have turned bitter in his time in Montreal, throwing the team under the bus for having a "losing mentality", while seemingly giving up on the game himself. He had a few incidents here in which I thought his actions were questionable, and I never really liked him _that_ much, but the guy's money in the playoffs and given a good set-up man can shoot the puck like only a handful of guys in the NHL. Rene Bourque brings size and grit, along with a solid guarantee for 20-30 goals per season but again, is a guy that has done some questionable things, and is currently serving a 5-game suspension. Cammalleri or Bourque? I'd take Cammy any day of the week, but it just wasn't working here, I guess.

Holland is doing a good job racking up points in the WHL right now, and is in the top 10 or 15 in pts, but also consider he's playing for the best team in the league, and is 3rd in pts on the team. His numbers are probably inflated due to the quality of his teammates. After all, he was a 7th-round pick. There have been a few guys taken that late to turn up the heat and play solid careers in the NHL, but I won't bank on it. The 2nd rounder in 2013 is also a bit of an odd move. If the pick were this year, it would have made more sense, as the Flames are near the bottom of the league, and could have been a 30-something overall pick, but who knows what might happen next year.

And lastly, what really gets under my skin about the trade is this tweet by Pierre LeBrun:



> Real_ESPNLeBrun
> One NHL GM when told of the trade, said he wished he knew Cammalleri was available. Would have made an offer.



If I were ownership, I would be irate right now. If you're shopping a player of that caliber, how do you not make it known around the league? I'm positive Gauthier could have gotten a better return on Cammalleri if he were doing his job properly. To me, it just seems that he took the first offer he got, to get Cammalleri and his bad attitude out of the locker room as soon as possible. It just reminds me of the whole Patrick Roy deal back in the day. How could Thibault have possibly been the best return they could get for a perennial all-star goaltender who would still go on to win some Stanley Cups and ultimately be in the hall-of-fame. The GM is the one with all the power, I don't know how they let players with bad attitudes get to them so much that they make such hasty and brash decisions.


----------



## Unknown Doodl3.2

^Don't you think you're pushing a bit with the Roy trade comparison? It's not like Rene Bourque is a broken stick and a skate blade 

As far as the tweet by Lebrun, my view is "so what". It's always easy to say something like that once a trade is actually done. Feaster and Gauthier had been working on this one since December, so at the very worst Cammalleri's media stunt accelerated something already brewing. There's also his salary to keep in mind; we just freed up almost 3,5 million in cap space while apparently replacing if not improving on Cammi's regular season output. What could we have gotten that was so much better than what we're getting now? Only one that comes to mind is Bobby Ryan, but we probably would have to give up something else... Maybe Ryan Clowe, but I don't know how untouchable or not he is in San Jose.

In the end, on paper Calgary definitely got the better deal, but within the context of either team, only time will tell but I'm relatively optimistic about Bourque.


----------



## TheDivineWing22

And the Penguins losing streak is over!!!


----------



## technomancer

TheDivineWing22 said:


> And the Penguins losing streak is over!!!



Was just about to post that  Was also glad to see them snap it against a division leader and not a bottom 8 team


----------



## TheDivineWing22

Mike Milbury and Keith Jones were comparing Malkin ducking Lecavalier's check yesterday to the Marchand/ Salo incident. 

I don't see how you can call what Malkin did a low bridge. The Lecavalier was just pissed that Malkin made him look silly.


----------



## Unknown Doodl3.2

Milbury's not known for his highly intelligent opinions/arguments >.>


----------



## technomancer

Milbury is a moron... there is no comparison between ducking a check against the boards and deliberately hip checking somebody in the knees.


----------



## TheDivineWing22

Huge win tonight for the Penguins! Nice to see this win streak after dropping six in a row.

And Kris Letang leading the team for time on ice on his first game back? Insane.


----------



## Sofos

good catch up by Bruins. ive never seen a team other than this (and last year's) Bruins play so well during the 3rd period.


----------



## Psyy

Not really a Malkin fan, but holy shit.


----------



## Vostre Roy

I was back from my bowling game (yup, bowling). Had a couple of beer down, came back to my appartement thinking "Oh well, lets see how the Wings demolished the Habs". The guy with who I share the appartement tell me to guess the score, with a huge smile in the face. Jokingly, I say "4-0 Habs?". He respond "Nope, 6-0 Habs". Check the score and realise this is true, and that the 2nd period is not even finished. Open a new can of beer and watched the third period. 7-2, holy shit, think that the Wings thought that it would be an easy one and the Habs catched the occasion. So few good victories this season, gotta enjoy that one


----------



## technomancer

Yeah unbelievable game by the Habs 

Also got a HUGE laugh out of Ovechkin not going to the All Stars because he's pissed he got suspended and being replace by Neal


----------



## troyguitar

Datsyuk = first pick in the all star draft despite no commentator even mentioning his name as a possibility. That made my night.


----------



## Unknown Doodl3.2

Datsyuk is a fucking beast. period.

If Kovalev could out-deke anyone in a phone booth, Datsyuk can probably do it while ironing his jersey.


----------



## Unknown Doodl3.2

Speaking of Kovalev


----------



## TheDivineWing22

Figured I'd comment on last nights Pens game. The Pens did not deserve to win last night, but on the flipside, maybe Toronto didn't either. Letting them score 3 goals to catch up was a little ridiculous. 

And despite letting up four goals, Fleury looked good. I don't know if I've ever seen such a good performance while letting up 4 goals.

Let's go for 9 tonight!


----------



## technomancer

^ That's a Fleury trademark 

Looking forward to tonight's game, would love to see them win one in regulation


----------



## TheDivineWing22

technomancer said:


> ^ That's a Fleury trademark
> 
> Looking forward to tonight's game, would love to see them win one in regulation



Yeah, that would be nice. I'm getting sick of the shootout...even if it is an instant win for them anymore.


----------



## Vostre Roy

The Habs are now 14th in the east. Woo-fucking-hoo!


----------



## JeffFromMtl

Vostre Roy said:


> The Habs are now 14th in the east. Woo-fucking-hoo!



One step closer to a lottery pick


----------



## Vostre Roy

JeffFromMtl said:


> One step closer to a lottery pick



Discussion with my mother's boyfriend this morning:

Me: 14th! At this point, they better finish last and get the first pick....
Mother's boyfriend: Actually, its a lottery between the last 5 that gets the firstpick
Me: Ah well then, shouldn't be a problem


----------



## Unknown Doodl3.2

^ the closer you are to last the more chances you have at winning the lottery though...


----------



## Psyy

I'm a bit jealous of all you Michigan folk who'll get to see the Winter Classic next year.


----------



## Vostre Roy

Suddenly, 4 wins in a row. Wtf Montreal lol (that being said, it was funny as hell to watch the Leafs getting ass kicked like that lol)


----------



## troyguitar

Psyy said:


> I'm a bit jealous of all you Michigan folk who'll get to see the Winter Classic next year.



I'm somewhat annoyed with their timing... I just moved to eastern PA this week. Looks like I'll be taking some vacation time around new year's.


----------



## TheDivineWing22

Wooo!!! 6 year contract extension to James Neal!!!


----------



## technomancer

TheDivineWing22 said:


> Wooo!!! 6 year contract extension to James Neal!!!


----------



## HOKENSTYFE

New York Rangers are in here! The best of six. The dynasty...begins!


----------



## technomancer

HOKENSTYFE said:


> New York Rangers are in here! The best of six. The dynasty...begins!



Bit premature since they haven't even clinched a playoff spot much less won the cup 

Granted they're looking great to win the division, but wow


----------



## ibanezlover

How bout them Sens!


----------



## technomancer

Pens shutout the Rangers 2-0


----------



## HOKENSTYFE

I think the Pens needed the win more. The Rangers are in a very good position. One of the Original Six that need to establish a dynasty! One of the biggest markets, one of the biggest payrolls, thee biggest historical disappointment! A new day is dawning in New York! 

The focus is on team, not superstars! The team's head is in the right place, a loss to a very good team, even without Crosby is nothing to be ashamed over. Nor does is exemplify the season as a whole. 

2012 Stanley Cup- New York Rangers! You heard it here first!


----------



## TheDivineWing22

technomancer said:


> Pens shutout the Rangers 2-0


 
Yeah, it was nice to see the Pen's D play to their actual potential last night. Maybe Orpik needs to sit out more often.


----------



## Xaios

Canucks are back on top, baby.


----------



## technomancer

I think Roloson learned it's not a good idea to get Malkin wound up 

Pens > Lightning 8-1, including a Malkin hat trick


----------



## TheDivineWing22

technomancer said:


> I think Roloson learned it's not a good idea to get Malkin wound up
> 
> Pens > Lightning 8-1, including a Malkin hat trick



That game was unreal today. And that second Malkin goal


----------



## technomancer

TheDivineWing22 said:


> That game was unreal today. And that second Malkin goal



Yeah seriously. It seems like the Pens are heating up at just the right time, let's hope they stay hot


----------



## HOKENSTYFE

As good as that Malkin goal was, Callahan's in overtime help push the lead in the east and was top play on ESPN!

Oh yeah! That's the New York Rangers! Thank you Lord Stanley, we will accept your cup now!


----------



## TheDivineWing22

HOKENSTYFE said:


> As good as that Malkin goal was, Callahan's in overtime help push the lead in the east and was top play on ESPN!
> 
> Oh yeah! That's the New York Rangers! Thank you Lord Stanley, we will accept your cup now!



Sorry bud, but I think Malkin's goal was better. Maybe it's home team bias, maybe it's the fact that he went through pretty much the whole team to get it.

Anyway, you don't get the cup in February


----------



## technomancer

HOKENSTYFE said:


> As good as that Malkin goal was, Callahan's in overtime help push the lead in the east and was top play on ESPN!
> 
> Oh yeah! That's the New York Rangers! Thank you Lord Stanley, we will accept your cup now!



Tell you what, since you're so confident, how about if the Rangers DON'T win the Cup I perma ban you?


----------



## Powermetalbass

I'm hoping the leafs pick things up and atleast make it to the playoffs. They've shown they can play well, now if only they could do that with some consistancy.


----------



## HOKENSTYFE

technomancer said:


> Tell you what, since you're so confident, how about if the Rangers DON'T win the Cup I perma ban you?



Sounds cool! I would take you up on that...I just don't know what you have to offer!?! What would an equivalent cost to the Technomancer be? Maybe for a whole year your site picture would be the 2012 Stanley Cup winner...The New York Rangers. Mmmmm I like that!

Edit: Oh yeah...you keep that your from Pennsylvania, no undercutting, no changing of any other site info! Simple site pic New York Rangers!


----------



## HOKENSTYFE

@TheDivineWing22, Hey, nothing against Malkin's goal, a spectacular display. Though the outcome was pretty much decided by that time. Now Callahan's goal was THEE definitive goal of the game. Not just a pretty goal, but the type of goal going into a Saturday night that leads to an awesome Sunday morning! 2 points!


----------



## technomancer

HOKENSTYFE said:


> Sounds cool! I would take you up on that...I just don't know what you have to offer!?! What would an equivalent cost to the Technomancer be? Maybe for a whole year your site picture would be the 2012 Stanley Cup winner...The New York Rangers. Mmmmm I like that!
> 
> Edit: Oh yeah...you keep that your from Pennsylvania, no undercutting, no changing of any other site info! Simple site pic New York Rangers!



But you see I'm not the one carrying on like a foo about winning the cup in February


----------



## HOKENSTYFE

That bird won't fly! I am extremely confident the the New York Rangers time is now! A life long New York Ranger fan, it feels good to be on top! Anywhere I can get some hockey talk in & pump the name New York Rangers, I will. This is the Official NHL thread & no one is talking about the leader of the eastern division is comical. Almost all year the New York Rangers have been on top. Unless I missed it, damn near every other team has been mentioned. Sorry...these are the brakes! New York Rangers 2012 Stanley Cup Winners! WoHHH!

Though I did just hijack the thread For the New York Rangers, if you have something to back up my FOO-lishness, I'll take that bet as a no go! Shame! To always read my post's that reference, The New York Rangers as 2012 Stanley Cup Winners, will in all honesty get annoying like fret buzz! 

By the way...just havin' a lil' fun with you! Season isn't over. A dude can dream can't he? Later


----------



## Psyy

Well, that trade deadline was a bit boring. Not sure what I think of the Kassian - Hodgson deal. Kassian has skill, but Hodgson was easily rounding into a 30 goal scorer.


----------



## Vostre Roy

On Montreal side, Kostitsyn is out for a second round pick and the conditionnal 5th round that was initially traded in the Gill's trade. My thoughts on that?

Seeing that the Habs now have at least 2 2nd round choice in 2012 and 3 in 2013, its pretty obvious that Kostitsyn was a dissapointment and that they didn't wanted to build the team around him (more likely, it will be around Pacman, Subban, Price and Georges). So, I get that the plan is to re-build the team in a near future. All I hope now is that they'll make the good drafting choices and that they'll find the problem with the player's building program, wich seems to have trouble to handle the young players.


----------



## Xaios

Psyy said:


> Well, that trade deadline was a bit boring. Not sure what I think of the Kassian - Hodgson deal. Kassian has skill, but Hodgson was easily rounding into a 30 goal scorer.



My reaction to this trade as a Canucks fan:



> *FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU...!!!*



I generally trust Mike Gillis, but this is all wrong. I can understand why they did it, but it shows an incredible lack of foresight. Two years ago when we go ousted by Chicago for the second time in a row, management knew we needed to add speed. So they did. After last year's finals loss to Boston, management knew they needed to add grit. And now they have again.

Here's the problem. We didn't sacrifice any other elements of our game to add speed two years ago. This time around, we're sacrificing overall skill by trading Hodgson away. Sure, we're in a better position to play against Boston this time around (if we even do), but now it's gonna be harder for the Canucks to get around Detroit, and that's a BIG freaking problem. Cody fit the current team's chemistry perfectly. Now we've traded him for a Bertuzzi type player who hasn't developed nearly as much. As much as I liked Bertuzzi when he was a Canuck, that type of player just doesn't mesh with the overall game plan anymore.


----------



## JeffFromMtl

I like both Kassian and Hodgson, but I can't help but feel that it's a bad move for the 'nucks. To me, hodgson projects as a solid no.1 centre, as in point-per-game production within the next couple of years. Kassian brings good scoring and the physical game for sure, but I just don't think they're the same caliber of player.


----------



## Xaios

Alright, so after some further examination, I guess I can take my head out of the oven.

While it's true that Hodgson individually has been putting up some great numbers this year, his linemates haven't been. The third line has proven to be pretty bad on defense thus far, which is why they've been playing sheltered minutes. This has had the effect of forcing the second line (Kesler & Co.) to take more of a shutdown role, thus sacrificing their offensive output. I'm guessing that the logic is that, while they'll lose some depth scoring on the third line, they'll more than make up for it by allowing their second line to play a true offensive game and then having a defensive shutdown third line.

Whether or not it will pan out is anyone's guess, but if we're going to make a cup run this year, we're going to need Kesler's offensive capabilities. Let someone else play shutdown. The fact that we've acquired a proven shutdown center in Sammy Pahlsson today further plays into that line of thinking. Kassian also apparently has a mean streak a mile wide, so people are going to think twice before messing with him.


----------



## troyguitar

3 defensemen injured and 1 traded, on top of Datsyuk still out. Wings will be lucky to make the playoffs at this point


----------



## Unknown Doodl3.2

Vostre Roy said:


> Seeing that the Habs now have at least 2 2nd round choice in 2012 and 3 in 2013, its pretty obvious that Kostitsyn was a dissapointment and that they didn't wanted to build the team around him (more likely, it will be around Pacman, Subban, Price and Georges). So, I get that the plan is to re-build the team in a near future. All I hope now is that they'll make the good drafting choices and that they'll find the problem with the player's building program, wich seems to have trouble to handle the young players.



They've always made good drafting choices with Timmins around, regardless of what the media like to say around here. It's our development program that's horrid if you ask me.


----------



## Xaios

Alright, so even though we lost to Phoenix in the shootout tonight, there are still plenty of positives to be taken from tonight for the Canucks. While I know gauging a new player to the team after only one game is a pretty foolish thing to do, I was DAMN impressed with what I saw in Kassian tonight.

First of all, he started the night on the fourth line, and had been upgraded to the second line by the end of the night. He even got some playing time with the Sedins which VERY nearly resulted in a goal. The fact of the matter is that he was a visible force every time he was on the ice. He played a grinder on the fourth line, a power forward on the second line and a cycling playmaker when he got thrown in the mix with the twins. And he looked damn good doing it, every time. Kid makes a pretty great first impression, I'll give him that.

Another positive is that Ryan Kesler looked a lot more like himself on the ice again tonight. Having Pahlsson anchoring the shutdown on the third line is going pay serious dividends for him, now that he won't have to play that role as often. Schneider also had a fantastic game, despite the loss.

Of course, it wasn't all sunshine. The Sedins got pretty well neutralized by the speed of the Coyotes. And Raymond, just... seriously? Honestly, he was obviously putting in a LOT of effort, but he looked like... well, a beached whale. He was falling all over himself the entire game.

Still though, there's reason to be optimistic again.


----------



## Vostre Roy

Unknown Doodl3.2 said:


> They've always made good drafting choices with Timmins around, regardless of what the media like to say around here. It's our development program that's horrid if you ask me.


 
In fact, I'm 100% agreeing with you here. Here is the draft from the past 15 years, at first glance it can look like they aren't good drafters, but seeing how many players played in the NHL (and somes are pretty good also), dunno how many team can say they drafted so many future NHL players. Lets say that if all of those players played with the Habs right now, it might be a totally different story:

1998 Draft: Probably one of the best drafting year in the past 15 years

#2: Mike Ribeiro
#3: François Beauchemin
#6: Andrei Markov
#8: Micheal Ryder

1999 Draft: Nothing really good, some players might have played some NHL games, but I recognise no name there

2000 Draft: Nothing again

2001 Draft: Not a big drafting year, but two well known players here

#1: Mike Komisarek & Alex Perezhogin
#3: Tomas Plekanec

2002 Draft: Little year again, Higgins had some good years

#1: Chris Higgins

2003 Draft: The one that everyone complain because we could have had Carter or some other way better players than Kostitsyn, but it was a good year nonetheless, Halak being chosen in 9th:

#1: Andrei Kostitsyn
#2: Maxim Lapierre & some other guy
#3: Ryan O'Byrne
#9: Jaroslav Halak

2004 Draft: Quite a good year, again they draft a guy in 9th round that will be a real good player, now capitain of his team:

#1: Kyle Chipchura
#3: Alexei Emelin
#5: Mikhail Grabowski
#9: Mark Streit

2005 Draft: The Price year. Can't really complain here, can we?

#1: Carey Price
#2: Guillaume Latendresse
#6: Matt D'Agostini
#7: Sergei Kostitsyn

2006 Draft: Probably the weakiest draft since the lockout. Can only point Maxwell out of the guys drafted

#2: Ben Maxwell

2007 Draft: Having two #1, #3 and #5 picks this year, the Habs recruited some of the best young players in the team actually, aswell as one Defensemen that is now doing good with the Rangers

#1: Ryan McDonagh
#1: Max Pacioretty
#2: PK Subban
#3: Yanick Weber

2008 Draft: The weakiest draft year. None of the players have played a single game in the NHL, I don't even remember seeing their name in the Bulldogs player list

2009 Draft: From this point, only the time will tell us if it was a good drafting year, look like an okay year so far, not bad, neither awesomely good

#1: Louis Leblanc
#4: Alexander Avtsin
#5: Gabriel Dumont

2010 Draft: Two good looking rookies, I believe it will be a good year once the players will be developped

#1: Jared Tinordi
#5: Brendan Gallagher

2011 Draft: Last year draft. I like what I saw from Beaulieu in the pre-season games. Archambault could also be a good player. Again, time will tell

#1: Nathan Beaulieu
#4: Olivier Archambault


----------



## JeffFromMtl

I will never let the 2003 draft go. One of the deepest 1st rounds in draft history and we get Andrei Kostitsyn 10th overall. He wasn't exactly a bust, but by comparison, definitely a poor choice. Carter, Richards, Getzlaf, Perry, Parise, Brown, Seabrook, Burns, Kesler and Eriksson were all picked after Kostitsyn in the top 40. True that the Habs aren't the only team that missed out on these guys, but you still have to shake your head when you read that list of names.


----------



## Vostre Roy

JeffFromMtl said:


> I will never let the 2003 draft go. One of the deepest 1st rounds in draft history and we get Andrei Kostitsyn 10th overall. He wasn't exactly a bust, but by comparison, definitely a poor choice. Carter, Richards, Getzlaf, Perry, Parise, Brown, Seabrook, Burns, Kesler and Eriksson were all picked after Kostitsyn in the top 40. True that the Habs aren't the only team that missed out on these guys, but you still have to shake your head when you read that list of names.


 
Put it that way. Imagine that Kostitsyn just wasn't suiting the Habs developpment program and maybe didn't played up to its potential. I'm not saying that he's a Carter, Richards, Getzlaf or Perry, but maybe he could had been a better player if he had a better developpment (hell, look at his brother, not a star player, but a good one in Nashville. I really fear that he'll become good in Nashville).

That being said, that first round pick was a brain fart from the Habs. I was saying that even with a ridiculous first round pick, some of the player drafted on the late did good, proving that the drafting team did some good move, despite doing a pretty bad 1st pick.


----------



## JeffFromMtl

Vostre Roy said:


> Put it that way. Imagine that Kostitsyn just wasn't suiting the Habs developpment program and maybe didn't played up to its potential. I'm not saying that he's a Carter, Richards, Getzlaf or Perry, but maybe he could had been a better player if he had a better developpment (hell, look at his brother, not a star player, but a good one in Nashville. I really fear that he'll become good in Nashville).
> 
> That being said, that first round pick was a brain fart from the Habs. I was saying that even with a ridiculous first round pick, some of the player drafted on the late did good, proving that the drafting team did some good move, despite doing a pretty bad 1st pick.



It's not just prospect management, either. You shouldn't have a guy like Kostitsyn playing on the third line and then criticize his production. He will get more minutes in Nashville and will see an increase in production. I could see both Kostitsyns being 60-point players, easily. I think Andrei has a pretty high ceiling, 30+ goals per season isn't out of the question given the right linemates and ice time.

The only players they managed properly through the draft recently have been Pacioretty and Subban. It looks like they're going to take their time with guys like Leblanc, Gallagher, Bournival, Tinordi and Beaulieu as well, which is encouraging. With these guys coming up the pipeline and if the habs can manage to snag Yakupov, Grigorenko, Galchenyuk or Forsberg at the draft, this team has the potential for a big turnaround within a couple of seasons. 

The draft is also incredibly deep on the blue line, but with Subban, Gorges, Emelin, Diaz, Beaulieu and Tinordi fighting for positions for the next few seasons and Markov eventually returning, it seems that the habs' major concern is scoring and size (Grigorenko at 6'3" projected as a Malkin-type 2nd overall, anyone?), although I still wish they hadn't given up on McDonagh so soon. He's doing a great job in NY these days


----------



## TheDivineWing22

Well, Kris Letang is showing concussion symptoms. 

While I don't think Nystrom meant for the head hit and Letang does put himself in a bad position, Nystrom doesn't make much effort to avoid the head and makes no effort to play the puck.


----------



## Xaios

I still love Cory Hodgson despite the fact that I've warmed up to Zack Kassian over the past couple days, but I thought this was hilarious:


----------



## technomancer

TheDivineWing22 said:


> Well, Kris Letang is showing concussion symptoms.
> 
> While I don't think Nystrom meant for the head hit and Letang does put himself in a bad position, Nystrom doesn't make much effort to avoid the head and makes no effort to play the puck.



Yeah sorry when Mike freaking Milbury is saying it's a dirty hit there's a problem with the hit 

NOT good that Tanger is out again


----------



## Xaios

Game 2 with Kassian as a Canuck, and he's still impressive as hell. The most surprising thing to come out of this trade has been that the kid has been the instant chemistry he's formed with everyone else on the team.

Watching him play on the fourth line with Maxim Lapierre was really amazing to watch. Kassian and Lapierre just seemed to feed off each other. Lapierre really seemed to benefit mentally from knowing he had a bull guarding his back and turned into a one-man wrecking crew. He got 10 hits in 11 minutes of ice time! Not only that, but they generated some legitimate scoring chances as well and were really solid offensively. Think about it, this is the _fourth line_. Not only did they totally shutter St. Louis' offense (no easy task these days), they pushed back and generated offense themselves. That is _extremely_ rare in a fourth line.

Hearing the buzz around the NHL, Kassian's most reported issue is that he apparently has consistency issues. While it's too early to really tell, I'm hoping that the chance to play with a legitimate Stanley Cup contender as well as being a part of Vancouver's system (which places a really high emphasis on both rigorous physical training and developing interpersonal relationships with teammates) will really benefit him, and he won't switch off after a few games.

Also, Luongo had a great game last night and earned the ever-elusive shutout. Always nice to see, as even though Vancouver's defense is one of the stingiest in the league, they can almost never seem to shut out their opponents entirely from getting on the scoreboard.


----------



## Unknown Doodl3.2

lol ron wilson


----------



## zappatton2

Well, once again, I'm done with hockey, can't be bothered to watch the Leafs pull out all the stops to throw away yet another season. Especially not watching tonight, there is literally nothing worse than watching the Leafs lose to the dreaded Habs. So, when does baseball start again? Go Jays Go!!!!


----------



## TheDivineWing22

zappatton2 said:


> Well, once again, I'm done with hockey, can't be bothered to watch the Leafs pull out all the stops to throw away yet another season. Especially not watching tonight, there is literally nothing worse than watching the Leafs lose to the dreaded Habs. So, when does baseball start again? Go Jays Go!!!!



Maybe you should have watched the games. 3-1 win for the Leafs

That's what you get for giving up on your team too early


----------



## Xaios

*Sigh*

Vancouver plays 55 minutes of awesome hockey. Unfortunately they torpedoed themselves from the very beginning by starting the game with 5 minutes of the worst hockey I've ever seen.

For the record, Luongo simply cannot be blamed for what happened. The defensive ability of the entire team took a 5 minute holiday, and it cost them the game, what with Ryan Miller being on a hot streak. Pulling Luongo was the correct thing to do, but not because he was bad, but because the first five minutes just mentally destroyed him. One of the toughest aspects of being a Canucks fan is that you can rarely rely on getting lucky. We get the occasional break, but if a puck is going to take a weird bounce, 90% of the time it will bounce in a way that helps the opposition. It's always been like that and it's just maddening. Tonight was a perfect example. The puck was bouncing around and hopping sticks every which direction tonight, and almost always to our detriment.

I guess that, if there's a something positive to be taken from that, it's that when the Canucks do win, they do it with skill and not luck. But still, it seems like they're constantly battling fate itself to get anything done.

Also, Kassian was awesome again tonight, finally getting his first points as a Canuck with a goal and an assist. David Booth also looked a lot better tonight than he has in a while, and Kesler is slowly regaining his stride as well. The first line with the Sedins and Burrows, though, really worries me. They've been really cold lately. I'm hoping it's because they simply don't want to wear themselves down too much before the playoffs, but if one or both of them is nursing an injury, it could be really bad for us come postseason.


----------



## technomancer

So Crosby is cleared for contact... the post-season is looking much more interesting for the Pens


----------



## TheDivineWing22

Pens call up Simon Depres. Martin not at the morning skate. Can't say I'm that upset I really like Depres, although Martin has been playing much better lately.

And Letang returned to skating this morning. Doesn't look like it will be as long of a wait as I had feared.


----------



## technomancer

Yeah it was good to see Letang was skating.

As far as Depres goes given how well he played the last time they called him up I'm surprised they didn't call him up to start with.


----------



## technomancer

Wow Pens hit 9 in a row... be awesome if they can make it 10 on Thursday against the Rangers


----------



## JCM800

Might be lame but NHL caught my eye...

Stars at the top of the Pacific!

I'm stoked!


----------



## TheDivineWing22

It's official, Crosby is playing on Thursday!!! 

There is also potential for Letang to be back as well!


----------



## technomancer

TheDivineWing22 said:


> It's official, Crosby is playing on Thursday!!!
> 
> There is also potential for Letang to be back as well!


----------



## Vostre Roy

Fuck yeah ref


----------



## TheDivineWing22

Vostre Roy said:


> Fuck yeah ref




Saw that this morning. Thought it was pretty awesome. The Ref did not look amused.


----------



## technomancer

BOOM Pens are 10-0 in their last 10 



TheDivineWing22 said:


> Saw that this morning. Thought it was pretty awesome. The Ref did not look amused.



Yeah the ref definitely was not amused


----------



## technomancer

Ok how screwed up is it that not only are 4 out of 5 teams in the Atlantic in the playoffs, but they have the top 4 point totals in the eastern conference  

So if not for the divisions leaders getting spots 1-3 they'd be the top 4 seeds in the east


----------



## TheDivineWing22

technomancer said:


> Ok how screwed up is it that not only are 4 out of 5 teams in the Atlantic in the playoffs, but they have the top 4 point totals in the eastern conference
> 
> So if not for the divisions leaders getting spots 1-3 they'd be the top 4 seeds in the east



The Atlantic is really impressive this year. I really hope the Pens can catch the rangers because I don't want to play Philly or NJ in the first round .


----------



## TheDivineWing22

11 in a row!!!

If it wasn't for Marty the game could have been 8-2.


----------



## technomancer

TheDivineWing22 said:


> 11 in a row!!!
> 
> If it wasn't for Marty the game could have been 8-2.





That was a great game, hopefully they can keep it going tomorrow against Philadelphia


----------



## technomancer

Damnit ALL of the playoff games are going to be NBC, which means no huge screen outside the arena for non-home games this year


----------



## technomancer




----------



## TheDivineWing22

technomancer said:


>



Agreed

But hey, 5 out of 6 points on the road is not too bad. Hopefully they get back to winning Tuesday.


----------



## technomancer

Oh yeah it was a great game, just blew my mind that with 2 guys on Brier NEITHER OF THEM STEPPED UP ON HIM


----------



## Hemi-Powered Drone

Anyone watch the Panthers v Flyers game tonight? What a game was, I'm surprised Philly didn't get a score with all the crowding of the box they did. Now Florida has five wins in a row and should make it six tomorrow against Carolina.


----------



## HOKENSTYFE

A little late with this. After beating the Devils back to hell, the New York Rangers clinched a playoff spot. Step One: Complete!


----------



## technomancer

Pens clinch by crushing the Predators 5-1


----------



## MFB

Does anyone know in NBC is also going to stream it online so anyone can watch it? It sucks balls being a B's fan out here in San Fran, especially without cable  And theres no way in HELL I'm paying for NHL's GameCenter BS


----------



## technomancer

You know, it would be nice if Thiessen would stop a single freaking one on one shot 

Also it's amazing how different the D looks without Niskanen...


----------



## TheDivineWing22

technomancer said:


> You know, it would be nice if Thiessen would stop a single freaking one on one shot
> 
> Also it's amazing how different the D looks without Niskanen...



4 goals should be enough to win a hockey game. I think they should have played Fleury last night Thiessen tonight. 

Hopefully they can get the win tonight.


----------



## technomancer

Yeah we'll see what happens... I'll be at the game tonight so hopefully they show up

I'm also not too upset as I have mixed feelings about going into the playoffs first in the conference


----------



## Hemi-Powered Drone

technomancer said:


> Yeah we'll see what happens... I'll be at the game tonight so hopefully they show up
> 
> I'm also not too upset as I have mixed feelings about going into the playoffs first in the conference



I believe we have the same worries, I'd hate if the Panthers, since it appears they probably will go to the playoffs, go up against some team that could destroy them, like most Atlantic teams. Doing at least semi-well at least early on in the playoffs not only would be fantastic for the fans but also may get hockey at least semi-popular down here, what with the Dolphins royally sucking. There was a bit of interest in the Panthers in the late 90s early 2000s but for the longest time there's been so much losing the more fickle down here have forgotten about them and many legitimate fans were driven away by piss poor management(I still think it was a moronic idea to trade Luongo in '06). 

Oh, I just rambled a bit, didn't I?


----------



## troyguitar

MFB said:


> Does anyone know in NBC is also going to stream it online so anyone can watch it? It sucks balls being a B's fan out here in San Fran, especially without cable  And theres no way in HELL I'm paying for NHL's GameCenter BS


 
You won't get any playoff games if you are on the GameCenter subscription. If games are being televised nationally (or even just in your region) then they don't let you watch them online. It fucking sucks. Whoever came up with those blackout rules really deserves to be kicked in the nuts repeatedly for the duration of every single blacked out game.

I don't even have a TV but was thinking about subscribing to the online thing to watch the rest of the season + playoffs until I saw that blackout shit.


----------



## MFB

I'm in the same boat - no cable but internet, but I don't want to deal with the outrageous subscription fees just for the rest of the season + playoffs. I don't understand why they wouldn't let you watch games online the same time they're on TV? If anything it should bring you MORE money since you're targeting another audience.


----------



## Hemi-Powered Drone

troyguitar said:


> You won't get any playoff games if you are on the GameCenter subscription. If games are being televised nationally (or even just in your region) then they don't let you watch them online. It fucking sucks. Whoever came up with those blackout rules really deserves to be kicked in the nuts repeatedly for the duration of every single blacked out game.
> 
> I don't even have a TV but was thinking about subscribing to the online thing to watch the rest of the season + playoffs until I saw that blackout shit.



They also won't broadcast it anywhere, TV or internet, if they determine a more important game is being televised, even if it isn't national. That happened last Wednesday with the Panthers/Hurricanes game, no one was able to see it anywhere.

----------------

God damn do the Panthers suck at shootouts. Two shootout losses in a row, now the Capitols are only three points away from us.


----------



## MFB

Don't worry, I think the B's are just as bad as shootouts which is why I pray we never end up in one


----------



## technomancer

I have NO idea how the Pens won that game last night... it was completely surreal. They were pretty much outplayed for 90% of the game and STILL won 5-2


----------



## Vostre Roy

The built of the Quebec's amphitheater (does this word exist in english? lol) is officially announced to start on September. Now will we have our Nords back? Hopes so, but with Bettman, you never know for sure...


----------



## technomancer

It would be awesome to see the Nordiques come back, my only hesitation with more teams coming in is that the season is already more than long enough and you know more expansion teams will end up adding more games to the schedule


----------



## Hemi-Powered Drone

I'm not sure if you're using the correct terminology for English, as in English amphitheatre usually means a semi-circular stage and seating, usually for concerts.

Like this - 






You mean something more like the English arena, right? An indoor sort of rectangular setting. I've never seen professional hockey played anywhere else.






Like that?

Either way, it'd be kind of cool for the Nords to come back.


----------



## JeffFromMtl

technomancer said:


> It would be awesome to see the Nordiques come back, my only hesitation with more teams coming in is that the season is already more than long enough and you know more expansion teams will end up adding more games to the schedule



I think it's more likely that if a team ends up in QC, it'll be relocation, rather than expansion. Phoenix is still on thin ice, and I remember hearing rumours about a possible relocation of one of the Florida teams last year before Atlanta moved to Winnipeg.


----------



## Hemi-Powered Drone

JeffFromMtl said:


> I think it's more likely that if a team ends up in QC, it'll be relocation, rather than expansion. Phoenix is still on thin ice, and I remember hearing rumours about a possible relocation of one of the Florida teams last year before Atlanta moved to Winnipeg.



Didn't Phoenix get bought out by the league or something? I think I've heard something about someone from Quebec being interested in buying them out. 

After Winnepeg gets put into another division I doubt the NHL will allow another team to be taken out of the Southeastern Division, so Florida loosing a team seems unlikely. As it is, next season we're looking at weird Southeast, the Capitals are already pushing it pretty far North, they're probably going to have to switch Winnepeg with a team from the Western Conference. Geographically the most logical option would be to take the Predators and put them in the Southeast and put the Jets in Central. The re-conferencing would be a bit weird, but I can't see a way to avoid it while keeping the team sort of close to each other.


----------



## technomancer

Crap looks like the Pens have 3 of the top 7 D out now: Letang, Niskanen, and Lovejoy are all out. It's a bummer as it was so nice for those couple games seeing what a healthy D core could do


----------



## Hemi-Powered Drone

Anyone else watching the Panthers v Canadians game? Is it me, or does the puck seem to be going airborne more than usual? Maybe they didn't freeze the puck before the game?


----------



## technomancer

Huge sigh of relief, Fleury was back at practice today for the Pens after leaving the game last night against the Isles with an apparent injury


----------



## Vostre Roy

Goodbye Pierre Gauthier, the Habs fans won't miss you


----------



## Hemi-Powered Drone

Oh god, what happened to the Panthers tonight! They lost to Columbus 1-4 and they had 0 for most of the game! 

Have to hand it to Columbus' defense, though, they were definitely playing strong.


----------



## Erazoender

Canucks seem to be winning a lot of OT lately..... god damn it kids.....


----------



## Hemi-Powered Drone

The Panthers really need to either get better at shoot outs or better at preventing them. All that's left are home games, and as long as they don't fail against the Jets or lose against the Capitals, they'll probably still get the division title.


----------



## HOKENSTYFE

Eastern Conference Point Champion & #1 Seed. Check!


----------



## C2Aye

Woah, didn't expect to see the Rangers lose their last game. Lets see if the Canucks can take the President's Trophy for the second year running. All they have to do is not lose to Edmonton in regulation, which may be tougher than it seems since they somehow managed to lose to Calgary ​


----------



## Hemi-Powered Drone

The Panthers have clinched the division for the first time ever! Wish I could have seen the game, family decided to go to the RenFest in Miami today, but 4-1 is just fantastic!


----------



## HighGain510

I don't post in this thread often, but as a huge Flyers fan and VERY happy about a great win tonight, this was just hilarious:








This has been a great series so far, I'm hoping the Flyers keep it up because it's tough to beat the Pens when they are "on".


----------



## technomancer

the end of that was painful to watch

I did however find it funny after listening to Laviolette run his mouth about the Pens whining to see a Flyer with a ref after EVERY FREAKING PLAY  (something they don't really show on the tv coverage but which was really obvious in the arena)

Also watching Simmonds trying to start something with Asham repeatedly and then swiftly getting the hell out of the area whenever Engelland came around gave me a chuckle

Unfortunately bottom line is so far the Flyers have played full 60 minute games and the Pens haven't


----------



## HighGain510

Oh yeah you were at the game last night, right? Yeah I hear ya, there's been instigation on both sides. I'd love to see a GOOD fight go down and see who would win but it's a playoff game so the chances of that are highly unlikely unless someone is severely lacking discipline.  Like I said, I am hoping the Flyers keep their energy where it is and the Pens don't because when the Pens are going full-speed ahead, they are hard to beat. If we go forward, I'm also hoping NY is slowing down a bit so we don't get crushed as they've been tearing up the Flyer's this season.


----------



## technomancer

HighGain510 said:


> Oh yeah you were at the game last night, right? Yeah I hear ya, there's been instigation on both sides. I'd love to see a GOOD fight go down and see who would win but it's a playoff game so the chances of that are highly unlikely unless someone is severely lacking discipline.  Like I said, I am hoping the Flyers keep their energy where it is and the Pens don't because when the Pens are going full-speed ahead, they are hard to beat. If we go forward, I'm also hoping NY is slowing down a bit so we don't get crushed as they've been tearing up the Flyer's this season.



Oh yeah definitely... I think the Pens got the worst and the Flyers got the best possible first round opponents. The Pens have torn up everybody in the conference EXCEPT the Flyers  

It's funny as I saw the same thing in both of the first two games: by the end of the game the Pens are more worried getting hits in than playing the puck.

I'm hoping the Pens get it together and actually make this a series.


----------



## technomancer

So, the two teams I tend to follow in the playoffs are the only two teams down 2-0


----------



## matt397

Phlyers and Pens today has turned out be quite the slugfest so far, and it's only 13:00 into the 1st. Thats my kind of hockey


----------



## Hemi-Powered Drone

Oh yeah, this game has been brutal, and because of the Penguins focusing so much on hits and such, it's ridiculous, the game is now 4-7 for the Flyers. 

And since I started typing this another group of fights started. 

-------ADDITION--------

Hopefully the Panthers v Devils game tonight will be at least half as good, I have club level tickets and haven't been able to focus all day. 

EDIT- 6:01 EST

Dammit, they just made the penalty decisions and another fight broke out. This isn't hockey, this is a slugfest. Now fighting is all well and good, but this has just gotten way too ridiculous. Are Flyers and/or Penguins games usually like this?


----------



## technomancer

The only thing I feel good about is know the Flyers don't match up this well with any other team in the East so they're likely to get knocked out in the second round 

On the bright side for Rangers fans their odds of getting to the finals go up drastically if the Pens get knocked out


----------



## matt397

dragonblade629 said:


> Oh yeah, this game has been brutal, and because of the Penguins focusing so much on hits and such, it's ridiculous, the game is now 4-7 for the Flyers.
> 
> And since I started typing this another group of fights started.
> 
> -------ADDITION--------
> 
> Hopefully the Panthers v Devils game tonight will be at least half as good, I have club level tickets and haven't been able to focus all day.
> 
> EDIT- 6:01 EST
> 
> Dammit, they just made the penalty decisions and another fight broke out. This isn't hockey, this is a slugfest. Now fighting is all well and good, but this has just gotten way too ridiculous. Are Flyers and/or Penguins games usually like this?



My kind of hockey


----------



## Unknown Doodl3.2

Anybody else think this is some of the coolest playoffs I've seen in a while? Atleast so far... though probably not if you're a pens fan  ouch (I'm rooting for them btw)

All were missing now is a western quadruple or quintiple overtime epic!


----------



## technomancer

Unknown Doodl3.2 said:


> Anybody else think this is some of the coolest playoffs I've seen in a while? Atleast so far... though probably not if you're a pens fan  ouch (I'm rooting for them btw)
> 
> All were missing now is a western quadruple or quintiple overtime epic!



I've already been at a quadruple overtime game, once was enough


----------



## zappatton2

Hey Dragonblade, congrats on the Panthers win last night, I've been pulling for them, particularly against the Devils, whom I've never liked. This year, I'm pulling for any team that has yet to win the cup, I've got soft spots for Florida, Nashville and LA. Mind you, I will join my wife in rooting for Ottawa against the Rangers, especially after that last game. Ah, the luxury of a Leafs fan, I get to be creative in who I root for when my team has taken a vow of playoff abstinence.


----------



## Hemi-Powered Drone

That game really was fantastic, I was sitting behind and to the right of the visitor goal, I could tell Brodeur was getting frustrated.  the Devils also seemed to be slipping a lot, maybe it had to do with it being a hot, humid day.


----------



## Xaios

Well, I'd long since accepted that Vancouver wasn't going to win the cup this year with the way they'd been playing over the past couple months, but this is downright embarassing.


----------



## troyguitar

I'm assuming that the Red Wings will be defeated in 5 or 6 games and we'll hear that Lidstrom is retiring shortly thereafter. I doubt it will happen but I'd like to see Vancouver win the cup.


----------



## Djent

After yesterday, I have lost all respect for the Pens. Especially Crosby and Asham (for that EXTREMELY dirty hit on Schenn).

The Broad Street Bullies are back. Bitch.


----------



## technomancer

^ I find that funny given that Asham hit would have been perfectly in character for the Broad Street Bullies 

That said I'm actually hoping Neal and Asham are both suspended. And I AM a Pens fan. The lack of discipline by both teams in the last two games has been nothing short of pathetic.


----------



## Hemi-Powered Drone

Want to know what's weird? At the game yesterday I kept hearing people wish the game would be more like the Pens/Flyers game earlier. They want to see gratuitous amounts of unnecessary violence, and this was coming from both Panthers and Devils fans(there's a significant number of people who've moved here from Jersey). Seeing one or two fights is awesome, but when the players are just being bad sports and starting things just for starting them it's sad.


----------



## technomancer

dragonblade629 said:


> Want to know what's weird? At the game yesterday I kept hearing people wish the game would be more like the Pens/Flyers game earlier. They want to see gratuitous amounts of unnecessary violence, and this was coming from both Panthers and Devils fans(there's a significant number of people who've moved here from Jersey). Seeing one or two fights is awesome, but when the players are just being bad sports and starting things just for starting them it's sad.



Meanwhile as a Pens fan I've been disgusted by the lack of discipline of both teams, especially in that last game.


----------



## Blake1970

I need to start watching playoff hockey. This is way more exciting than football, baseball and basketball.


----------



## Hemi-Powered Drone

technomancer said:


> Meanwhile as a Pens fan I've been disgusted by the lack of discipline of both teams, especially in that last game.



It goes against many stereotypes, but Florida and New Jersey are the two most sportsmanlike teams right now, with no major penalties. They'd be an example if everyone wasn't distracted by the fighting and other BS in the other games. But then we wouldn't need an example so bad so...


----------



## technomancer

Ok what the fuck Cooke just got 10 minute misconduct for getting crosschecked repeatedly. He literally didn't respond at all 

With that said score is 10-3, I'd say the PEns finally showed up for a game


----------



## C2Aye

Finally, both Vancouver and Pittsburgh show up for a game. Maybe 4 on the bounce is too much to ask but here's hoping.


----------



## matt397

technomancer said:


> Ok what the fuck Cooke just got 10 minute misconduct for getting crosschecked repeatedly. He literally didn't respond at all
> 
> With that said score is 10-3, I'd say the PEns finally showed up for a game




If the Pens weren't already kicking the living shit out of Philly I would of been pissed when I saw that. Of all people, Matt Cooke, keeping it cool while obviously being goated into a scrap an then gets ejected and that wasn't the only questionable call that night. I get the whole zero discipline thing after the previous game but I don't get how pulling penalties out of your ass solves anything. 

Also, just in case anyone missed it...


----------



## technomancer

Could someone explain to me HOW THE HELL Rinaldo isn't suspended?



Seriously, not one but two intentional head shots


----------



## Hemi-Powered Drone

Damn, Brodeur is back, back with a vengeance.


----------



## HighGain510

technomancer said:


> Could someone explain to me HOW THE HELL Rinaldo isn't suspended?
> 
> 
> 
> Seriously, not one but two intentional head shots




Yeah that shit was ridiculous, as a Flyers fan I was pretty embarrassed to see our team pulling shit like that.  

After that spanking we received last game, hopefully the Flyers we've seen in all the previous games in series 1 show up tonight!


----------



## technomancer

HighGain510 said:


> Yeah that shit was ridiculous, as a Flyers fan I was pretty embarrassed to see our team pulling shit like that.
> 
> After that spanking we received last game, hopefully the Flyers we've seen in all the previous games in series 1 show up tonight!



Flyers from previous games + Pens from last game would be fun to watch  (though not as much fun as a repeat of last game  )


----------



## Unknown Doodl3.2

So what's everyone's take on the Torres suspension.

Personally I don't think it's his suspension that's too long, I think it's the others that were too short.

I'm still mad about Carkner only getting one game.


----------



## technomancer

My only problem with the suspension is the complete and total lack of consistency. Seriously, it makes no sense to give other guys 2 or 3 games for the same kind of crap then suddenly give 25 games to Torres


----------



## ASoC

Just going to say that theres a reason that I hate the flyers. As far I've known, they've always been like this.

In other news, my team won their series against my best friends team. Let the ragging begin.


----------



## Hemi-Powered Drone

technomancer said:


> My only problem with the suspension is the complete and total lack of consistency. Seriously, it makes no sense to give other guys 2 or 3 games for the same kind of crap then suddenly give 25 games to Torres



Here's the thing, the thing with Torres was just an isolated incident, the Philadelphia/Pittsburgh combat is extremely consistent, so it will draw in money. In my opinion both should get a fairly hard beating with the ban hammer, that shit is uncalled for on so many levels.


----------



## technomancer

dragonblade629 said:


> Here's the thing, the thing with Torres was just an isolated incident, the Philadelphia/Pittsburgh combat is extremely consistent, so it will draw in money. In my opinion both should get a fairly hard beating with the ban hammer, that shit is uncalled for on so many levels.



I agree completely that there need to be more suspensions. I mean seriously, Rinaldo runs Mickalek and takes him out, deliberately elbows him in the back of the head while he's still down, then slams him in the forehead with both gloves when he gets to his knees and knocks him out and that's NO suspension or fine? Really? To me something like that after the whistle when a penalty has already been called is worse than something that happens during play.

I'm not defending the Pens either, they deserved the suspension handed out and Asham should have gotten longer than 4 games because a shot to the throat like that is just seriously dangerous and should not be tolerated.

Also wow Detroit and San Jose are both gone in the first round. Seems to be SOP for San Jose but a bit surprising for Detroit.


----------



## MrMcSick

Sigh. Good season Pens! Maybe next year.


----------



## Stealthdjentstic

HAhah thats right tech


----------



## technomancer

You can't not show up for 3 games in a playoff series and expect to win. It's pretty simple


----------



## Stealthdjentstic

Yeah, I the Canucks are doing the same though so hey...


----------



## 7 Strings of Hate

ahhhhhh. i dont have these problems


----------



## technomancer

7 Strings of Hate said:


> ahhhhhh. i dont have these problems



For the first time in ten years... then again I guess during those years the Blues weren't IN the playoffs so you didn't have them then either 

(It's ok though, I feel you as I was a Pens fan in the years they were finishing last in the league )


----------



## C2Aye

Oh well, there go the two teams I was rooting for 

As someone who only recently got into hockey (thank my Canadian flatmate for that last Stanley Cup Playoffs) looking at it from the outside in, I really am bemused by the disciplinary situation. To me, it would make MUCH more sense to me if it went like this:

- Why does there have to be in injury on the play for a more severe ban? If someone goes headhunting, regardless of an injury or not, they should be banned severely. You can't let people get away with intentionally trying to hurt people just because they happened not to at that time. There really should be a zero tolerance policy checks or elbows or any intentional contact to the head, or other play like a slash or something where you could very easily injure another player. And while there may be a debate on whether a player intended to hit the head or cause injury, I think it make sense to not just wait for concussions and other serious injuries to happen.

- First time offenders should be disciplined much more harshly. Yes, there should be longer bans for repeat offenders who don't learn their lessons but if your first suspension is an elbow to the head or a charge to the head where you tried to injure/seriously injured a player, then sorry, you're not coming back for a while. It would stop those players who would think they could get away with it in my opinion and repeat offenders would be canned for large chunks of a season anyway. Maybe even the more thuggish of offenders should do community service? 

- Finally, can we get rid of Brendan Shannahan for someone who is actually consistent with their decisions? And get rid of Don Cherry while you're at it; he's like the racist, bigotted grandfather at family gatherings that tells you things were better in the 'old days' and you have to listen to him because he's older than you and happens to be in your family.

- In terms of fighting, I'm kind of undecided about it. I can see why you would need enforcers on your team and why you need to protect your star players and goalie, but it seems so out of whack with all other sports on the issue of violent confrontation between players. I'll probably have to watch a few more seasons before I really make my mind up about it.

Anyway, like I said, I'm very new to the sport and I'm looking at it from the outside in at this point. Hoping to watch a few more seasons and become more familiar with all the ins and outs of the sport. It'll be interesting to watch these playoffs at least


----------



## technomancer

I know how you feel, I normally follow the Pens and the Canucks... Might watch the Preds and Blues now 

- No argument on suspensions
- It was hoped when Shannahan came in he was going to do a better job and for a while he was much more consistent... but it seems like things are back to being all over the place again
- Just ignore Don Cherry, every other sane person does 
- Personally I don't think fighting should be removed. For the most part things have been kept at a reasonable level and fighting really hasn't been a huge issue recently


----------



## Hemi-Powered Drone

So it's 2-2, Clemmers was off to a rough start but now I think he's going to be doing well. And finally the Panthers are on a power play!


----------



## potatohead

Such disappointing playoffs this year. I too was going for Pens/Canucks so I am totally bummed, lol. It seems like all the real defensive, boring trap style teams are going through, at least in the West anyway. 

I think the Canucks are going to look drastically different next year. It's obviousl unless they have all their big names firing on all cylinders, they're screwed. Daniel out for the first three games and Kesler struggling all year and they got smoked, even with excellent goaltending.


----------



## Stealthdjentstic

No canucks, no care.


----------



## Xaios

Wow. Luongo has actually agreed to waive the No Trade clause in his contract if the Canucks go with Schneider as their #1 guy.

Canucks' Luongo a class act as he faces possible trade

Despite how Luongo tends to crack in the playoffs, he's still a great goalie that most teams would be lucky to have. You can't help but feel bad for the guy. Obviously he has a hard time recovering when he gets rattled, but when he's good, he's great.

On the flipside, the prospect of having a guy with Schneider's potential in net is certainly exciting. The guy has such a bright future, and is *incredibly* consistent. The off-season is going to be very interesting to watch. He always seems to be hot and he never seems to get rattled when a goal slips by. Sure, he may have "won one, lost two" against the Kings, but it sure wasn't for lack of trying. The guy had a .960 save percentage and a 1.31 GAA in those three games. If the Canucks offense had bothered to show up, they would have dominated.

And yeah, obviously the group's chemistry needs to recover. The past few years, the Canucks have done so well because they can play like a team better than anyone else out there, but for some reason they just haven't been able to do it the past couple months. Both the offense and defense just seemed to disappear.

They'll recover though.


----------



## Hemi-Powered Drone

Luongo is fantastic. He's kind of the reason why most Panthers fans hate Keenan, as he decided to trade Luongo to the Canucks right before resigning and when, according to Roberto, him and the team were about to make a deal. 

Because his wife lives somewhere in Florida, I know he had a home in Ft. Lauderdale at some point while he was with the Canucks, he's probably going to try and sign to Florida or Tampa if he isn't traded, both of which I'm fine with. On Florida he'd be back on familiar ice, though the only player still on the team from when he was around is Weiss. I doubt we're going to part with Theodore, but Dineen could always do something weird so you never know. 

What's more likely is him going to Tampa and he'd be put to fantastic use since all they need is some good D, especially in goal tending, to become a serious contender for the cup. If they could get Luongo behind the net and keep Stamkos, St. Louis, and Purcell they'd be pretty unstoppable. I also have a feeling that he'd be more comfortable in a smaller, quiter market like Tampa compared to Vancouver.

Also, since so many people are saying he's going to go to the Leafs, that's not going to happen. Luongo said he would waive the no trade clause, not that he was going to be a moron.


----------



## Demiurge

Remember when overtime used to be special?

EDIT: Oh wow... I'm getting murdered in my pick 'em pool for these playoffs.


----------



## Psyy

^ I'm the same. I thought I took a few smart risks and played it safe with the rest, but I'm being thoroughly raped by this post-season.

I even put down the Caps beating the Bruins in 7 games before I decided to change it. 



C2Aye said:


> In terms of fighting, I'm kind of undecided about it. I can see why you would need enforcers on your team and why you need to protect your star players and goalie, but it seems so out of whack with all other sports on the issue of violent confrontation between players. I'll probably have to watch a few more seasons before I really make my mind up about it.



It's always interesting to hear the opinions of those who are new to the sport. I live in Canada, so I pretty much grew up watching the sport, and to me, fighting's as much of the sport as shooting the puck. It's taken a turn, in my opinion, for the worse as of late, but fighting still has its place. The most recent example of why I enjoy fighting was in the last game of the NYR/OTT series. Brandon Prust single-handedly sparked his team to victory by accepting a fight where he was outmatched and simply giving his all in it. He inspired his team to try that much harder, and they didn't want to lose and fail to honor the effort he put in to give them life. That's my favorite use of fighting. A single player stepping up to do what he can to get his team into the game. Unfortunately, it's often misused and generally appears barbaric to those outside the game, but in my opinion, it's still an integral part of the sport.


----------



## JeffFromMtl

Some people 

Chirpstory - Bruins Fans Calling Joel Ward The N-Word


----------



## synrgy

C-A-P-S - CAPS, CAPS, CAPS!! 

And now - as must happen whenever any DC team makes it this far - we will have to get crushed in the next round. 

*edit* holy shit @ Jeff's link ^...


----------



## Demiurge

JeffFromMtl said:


> Some people
> 
> Chirpstory - Bruins Fans Calling Joel Ward The N-Word



Shameful. Wish I could say this is isolated, but no. My wife is a Hans fan and invariably she gets engaged in some fun, light trash talk with the fans of the local team. Last week, she posted on Facebook about how B's fans rag on PK Suban for being a diver while Marchand has been doing the same recently. Some fucking chowderhead gave her a rant that would make David Duke blush. It's not everyone, but it's here.


----------



## HighGain510

Bitch please.


----------



## Unknown Doodl3.2

I'll grab any opportunity to look down on the Bruins, but a lot of these tweets are people trying ot make it look worse than it really is for them (i.e: lots of Flyers fans, anonymous African Americans etcetc...). Just because some minority are judgemental and backwards shouldn't paint the picture for the City of Boston and it's sports fans. It happens to us Habs fans all the time; one idiot or 3 say stupid shit and make the rest of us look bad.

Deplorable situation nonetheless.


----------



## Vostre Roy

Unknown Doodl3.2 said:


> I'll grab any opportunity to look down on the Bruins, but a lot of these tweets are people trying ot make it look worse than it really is for them (i.e: lots of Flyers fans, anonymous African Americans etcetc...). Just because some minority are judgemental and backwards shouldn't paint the picture for the City of Boston and it's sports fans. It happens to us Habs fans all the time; one idiot or 3 say stupid shit and make the rest of us look bad.
> 
> Deplorable situation nonetheless.


 
Thats true. It could be said to any group of people, most of the time, it only takes 1-2 people to make a 1000 people group look bad


----------



## Unknown Doodl3.2

Vostre Roy said:


> Thats true. It could be said to any group of people, most of the time, it only takes 1-2 people to make a 1000 people group look bad



Just look at the student strikes all over QC for proof of this notion


----------



## Vostre Roy

Unknown Doodl3.2 said:


> Just look at the student strikes all over QC for proof of this notion


 
Thats actually what I had in mind, but I didn't wanted to derail this thread with that 

Edit:

A side note, to stay on topic, about the Bruins fans racial comments. They should totally go to this page: Willie O'Ree - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

First black hockey player ever. Played for the Bruins.

They can all die for what I care, I'm a racist racist.


----------



## Hemi-Powered Drone

If you aren't watching the Panthers v Devils game, turn it on NOW. 2-2, with the Panthers scoring their two in the third, we're going into overtime and it will be fantastic.


----------



## Xaios

I've thought up a new nickname for Cory Schneider based on how most Canucks fans on the official forum and HFBoards seem to view him:


Ginger Jesus


----------



## C2Aye

Xaios said:


> I've thought up a new nickname for Cory Schneider based on how most Canucks fans on the official forum and HFBoards seem to view him:
> 
> 
> Ginger Jesus



From what I've seen and read of Canucks 'fans', if they got what they wanted they would have a team entirely comprised of Schneider in net and Cody Hodgson out on the ice


----------



## zappatton2

Wow, the two teams I was really pulling for last night lost in heartbreaking fashion 

Tried to calm my disappointment by turning to baseball, only to have my beloved Jays swept, SWEPT, by Baltimore of all teams. Man, what a crappy Thursday.

Well, I'm a Nashville fan now. Let's see how far they get :/


----------



## Unknown Doodl3.2

Lets have some fun with this:

Philly in 5
Rangers in 6
Nashville in 7
L.A in 6

wishful thinking on some of them most likely but it don't matter  Nashville and Phoenix is a toss up IMO


----------



## Hemi-Powered Drone

Partial double post


----------



## Hemi-Powered Drone

Though we lost, I am damn proud of our Florida Panthers. We got into double overtime in Game 7 against one of the strongest goaltenders in the game. We even got a shut out. I think that's pretty damn good for a team that hasn't entered the Playoffs in twelve years, with that last time being swept by the Devils. Next year is looking good for hockey in Florida, with the Panthers likely to have Theodore and Markstrom in the crease they'll just have to improve their fourth line and Tampa will kill if they can get at least an okay goalie because of their strong offense, which looks likely if Luongo ends up going to Tampa, which is very likely. Actually, seeing as how Clemmenson will probably be replaced with Markstrom, I could see a Luongo/Clemmenson net for Tampa. Maybe we could trade him for some forwards to strengthen our back end. 

For now, though, I just want Jersey to take the cup.


----------



## Vostre Roy

So, the Habs got their new DG, Marc Bergevin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Can,t say I really know him, so I can't tell weither I'm happy with the decision or not. Time will tell


----------



## HighGain510

My birthday presents came early and my fiancé let me have them a week in advance! 













BEST. FIANCÉ. EVAR.


----------



## technomancer

Normally I would give you shit since I really can't stand the Flyers, but Giroux is one hell of a hockey player


----------



## HighGain510

technomancer said:


> Normally I would give you shit since I really can't stand the Flyers, but Giroux is one hell of a hockey player



You can't deny the greatness!  Just as aside from the fact that I don't really like Crosby as a person, he IS one of the best in the league.


----------



## Pav

I have a lot of respect for Giroux, which is odd, since there are rarely Flyers I have respect for. Though I'm still greatly looking forward to Jersey shutting his shit down.


----------



## Unknown Doodl3.2

Giroux is so fun to watch it's awesome.


----------



## Pav

dragonblade629 said:


> Though we lost, I am damn proud of our Florida Panthers. We got into double overtime in Game 7 against one of the strongest goaltenders in the game. We even got a shut out. I think that's pretty damn good for a team that hasn't entered the Playoffs in twelve years, with that last time being swept by the Devils. Next year is looking good for hockey in Florida, with the Panthers likely to have Theodore and Markstrom in the crease they'll just have to improve their fourth line and Tampa will kill if they can get at least an okay goalie because of their strong offense, which looks likely if Luongo ends up going to Tampa, which is very likely. Actually, seeing as how Clemmenson will probably be replaced with Markstrom, I could see a Luongo/Clemmenson net for Tampa. Maybe we could trade him for some forwards to strengthen our back end.
> 
> For now, though, I just want Jersey to take the cup.


I was really pulling for the cats. What looked like Stage 1 of the world's most insane rebuild at the beginning of the season turned into a team pulling it all together and becoming truly dangerous. I wasn't expecting a playoff appearance at all, but 3 games into the series I thought they had Jersey on their heels. When Markstrom is finally ready to go, they'll be the annual Southeast champs the way Washington was a few years ago. That is, unless Tamps makes some huge turnarounds, but I'm doubtful even Luongo in net would be the answer to the Bolts' problems.

EDIT: And no, I don't think the Caps have found "the piece" yet in Braden Holtby.


----------



## technomancer

Ok I'm a bit bummed looks like only the USA games are being televised from the IIHF championship. I was looking forward to seeing Russia as Malkin and Datysuk playing on the same team is bound to be fun to watch.


----------



## Hemi-Powered Drone

Pav said:


> I was really pulling for the cats. What looked like Stage 1 of the world's most insane rebuild at the beginning of the season turned into a team pulling it all together and becoming truly dangerous. I wasn't expecting a playoff appearance at all, but 3 games into the series I thought they had Jersey on their heels. When Markstrom is finally ready to go, they'll be the annual Southeast champs the way Washington was a few years ago. That is, unless Tamps makes some huge turnarounds, but I'm doubtful even Luongo in net would be the answer to the Bolts' problems.
> 
> EDIT: And no, I don't think the Caps have found "the piece" yet in Braden Holtby.



The Southeast is definitely going to be a division to watch next season. The Panthers, Lightning, and Capitals have all been getting themselves together and actually pose a threat to the almighty Atlantic Conference in the East. I would not be surprised if for the next couple years we have at least one Southeast team make it to at least the Conference Finals.



technomancer said:


> Ok I'm a bit bummed looks like only the USA games are being televised from the IIHF championship. I was looking forward to seeing Russia as Malkin and Datysuk playing on the same team is bound to be fun to watch.



Seriously? Guess we better hope the Russian and other foreign streams will hold up.


----------



## Pav

dragonblade629 said:


> The Southeast is definitely going to be a division to watch next season. The Panthers, Lightning, and Capitals have all been getting themselves together and actually pose a threat to the almighty Atlantic Conference in the East. I would not be surprised if for the next couple years we have at least one Southeast team make it to at least the Conference Finals.



I'm still having intense trouble computing the dropoff of Alex Ovechkin. The dude just...stopped scoring the way he used to. He went from a guaranteed 50 goals per season to barely cracking 30 last year. The man who once appeared to be the most unstoppable goal-scorer in the world is as human as anyone.


----------



## Psyy

Congrats to the Coyotes on taking their Cinderella playoff run that much farther.

No offense to the Eastern Conference, but the WCF is shaping up to be a lot more entertaining than the ECF. At least in my opinion.


----------



## Pav

I agree completely, and I tend to pay way more attention to the East since it's my team's conference. LA and Phoenix is going to be a hell of a dogfight with some unreal goaltending.


----------



## Vostre Roy

And out goes the Flyers. Am I the only one who just can't figure what the heck happened in the easter conference? I gave the Eastern Final to the Pens vs the Rangers, then I went with the Flyers vs the Rangers, seems like it will be NJ vs Rangers, but they haven't eliminated the Caps yet, so I don't know lol...

Interesting playoff this year. King Vs Coyotes will be awesome to watch aswell


----------



## Pav

The Flyers and Pens in the first round threw the entire Eastern Conference for a loop. I had Pittsburgh winning the Cup this year, but NO ONE could have predicted Marc-Andre Fleury losing his cool the way he did. The man's been to the finals twice and won a Cup, there's just no explaining the 8 goals per game he was giving up. I know Giroux is good, but my god, no one in the current NHL is that good on a scoring basis. The way New Jersey shut him down clean and clear is perfect evidence of that. Even Crosby, Malkin and Ovechkin in their hottest playoff years weren't putting up numbers that obnoxious.


----------



## technomancer

The Flyers were the worst possible matchup the Pens could have had in the first round. The entire Pens team played like crap for the majority of the series, they only played close to on-level for two games, one they lost in overtime and the other they won 10-3. 

The Flyers then proceeded to believe their own hype because the Pens fell apart and they got killed in the second round, much like I was expecting.


----------



## Pav

Yep, the Pens weren't ready for the start of the postseason, and they had the fortune of being matched up with probably the one and only team in the East with the firepower to keep up and take advantage of them while they were trying to get their skates under them.


----------



## Psyy

technomancer said:


> The Flyers were the worst possible matchup the Pens could have had in the first round. The entire Pens team played like crap for the majority of the series, they only played close to on-level for two games, one they lost in overtime and the other they won 10-3.
> 
> The Flyers then proceeded to believe their own hype because the Pens fell apart and they got killed in the second round, much like I was expecting.



The Pens just tried to play the Flyers in a game of Flyers hockey and couldn't do it. I don't even know why they tried. The Pens are the best team in the league when they play disciplined, finesse-y hockey. It didn't help any that Fleury felt like he was the worst goaltender in the league (in all actuality he was pretty close for a few games).

The Flyers will never make another SC run until they get a goaltender they can rely on. Bryzgalov just looks like he would rather do anything but play playoff hockey.


----------



## Hemi-Powered Drone

Not really NHL, but does anyone know where I'd be able to watch AHL playoff games? I'm kind of curious to see Markstrom play seeing as how he probably will be recalled onto the Panthers next season.

Also, this was fairly funny.


----------



## Pav

^ I saw that quote yesterday and definitely lol'd. 

Don't know what to tell you about the AHL games though, all of the sites I use to find feeds seem to only broadcast NHL, KHL and IIHF.


----------



## technomancer

Wow Rangers just got screwed, this game should be 3-1

EDIT: aaaand Washington


----------



## Pav

Lundqvist was unreal. The Caps had no chance trying to ride Braden Holtby alone.


----------



## HOKENSTYFE

Host the Eastern Conference Finals. Check.


----------



## technomancer

Pav said:


> Lundqvist was unreal. The Caps had no chance trying to ride Braden Holtby alone.



The Ranger D was pretty unreal as well... the Caps just couldn't maintain control of the puck in the offensive zone


----------



## Hemi-Powered Drone

Damn, I was really pulling for the Caps. Looks like the East will be fun to watch, though. 


The West, however, even though I like the teams, will be a tad boring. They're both defensive teams so it'll pretty much be Smith v. Quick.  I expect many OTs and many 0-1 and 2-1 games.


----------



## Pav

Yeah, I'll watch the WCF just to see whether it's Mike Smith or Jonathan Quick to be pegged as the next elite-level goaltender, but that series is going to be very defensive.

On the other hand, the Devils and Rangers in the ECF is going to be a freakin' warzone. I'm still trying to wrap my mind around how the shot-blocking defensive-minded New York Rangers are about to host the offensive guns of the New Jersey Devils.  Epic roll reversal.


----------



## Hemi-Powered Drone

Pav said:


> Yeah, I'll watch the WCF just to see whether it's Mike Smith or Jonathan Quick to be pegged as the next elite-level goaltender, but that series is going to be very defensive.
> 
> On the other hand, the Devils and Rangers in the ECF is going to be a freakin' warzone. I'm still trying to wrap my mind around how the shot-blocking defensive-minded New York Rangers are about to host the offensive guns of the New Jersey Devils.  Epic roll reversal.



I'm expecting huge amounts of SOG from them, this series will probably be very taxing on Brodeur so I think he may sit out at least one game.


----------



## Pav

dragonblade629 said:


> I'm expecting huge amounts of SOG from them, this series will probably be very taxing on Brodeur so I think he may sit out at least one game.



It occurred to me earlier tonight that if the Devils end up winning the Cup this year, I'm SURE Brodeur will retire. FINALLY.


----------



## Hemi-Powered Drone

Pav said:


> It occurred to me earlier tonight that if the Devils end up winning the Cup this year, I'm SURE Brodeur will retire. FINALLY.



I don't know, I feel like he may try and stay for five more seasons so he can beat Howe's record for most seasons played. Even if the Devils don't want him someone will take him, heck I bet even if he were 45 he wouldn't be a bad goalie and could benefit teams like Tampa who have abysmal goal-tending.


----------



## Pav

I'm not so sure of that. The past two seasons, this last one especially, he's becoming noticeably fragile on the ice, missing time throughout the season with random strains and muscle injuries. I wouldn't doubt that a goalie-desperate team like Tampa would throw him money (after all...Roloson...), but it's getting to the point where Marty himself _has_ to be feeling it after every game. A Cup sooner rather than later would be the perfect opportunity for him to bow out on the highest note possible and save himself later damage.


----------



## Hemi-Powered Drone

Hey, Roli is 42 and he was never half the goalie Marty is, he could go in for the long haul, even if he starts to play less games. But yeah, he definitely has been showing signs of age recently, but when he's on his game, he's still a fantastic goalie.


----------



## Pav

Yeah, and when Marc-Andre Fleury is on his game, Pittsburgh is almost undeniably the most dangerous team in the NHL.

GOD FUCKING DAMMIT.


----------



## technomancer

Pav said:


> Yeah, and when Marc-Andre Fleury is on his game, Pittsburgh is almost undeniably the most dangerous team in the NHL.
> 
> GOD FUCKING DAMMIT.





Said it before, I'll say it again, the Rangers should be sending the Flyers thank you cards as their odds of making it to the Stanley Cup Finals went up by about 90% when Pittsburgh went out


----------



## Hemi-Powered Drone

Damn, I lost a Gentleman's wager on that game. I mean, 4-2, who saw that coming?


----------



## Pav

technomancer said:


> Said it before, I'll say it again, the Rangers should be sending the Flyers thank you cards as their odds of making it to the Stanley Cup Finals went up by about 90% when Pittsburgh went out



Yep. Pens and Flyers in round one was a huge break for the rest of the eastern conference.

Anyone read about Dale Hunter bowing out in Washington? That dude's coaching style made NO sense. He gave his $6+ million scorers less ice time than his most average checkers. And benching Mike Knuble for not scoring enough goals? Retarded. Knuble has been one of the few Caps signings in recent years that _almost_ tricked me into believing George McPhee actually knows how to win a Cup...and then they bench him, while Alex Ovechkin is continuing to produce at a more and more mediocre rate. I'm becoming less and less surprised that Varlamov wanted to be traded out of there, although I have to imagine there were other circumstances surrounding that situation.


----------



## Unknown Doodl3.2

^ Couldn't disagree more. I thought Hunter did an awesome job with the team. It took a while, but when you can get a guy like Semin to block shots and play a team game (and it's not like it really affected his offensive upside), you're a winner in my books.


----------



## Pav

His style of coaching _could_ turn out to be just what their formerly, casual-minded core needed. He turned an offensive-minded team into a responsible defensive unit, that's for sure. The problem is, look at the Caps' roster. They aren't constructed to play a defensive game. A huge portion of their cap space is taken up by high-priced scorers. He instituted his system regardless.

If the experience gained by the core of their team translates into the future, I'll gladly shut the hell up. But Hunter had a defensive style that he tried to apply to an offensive roster, and his inability to adapt to it just...doesn't make sense. You can't spend close to $10mil per season on a player that puts up 60-something points, playing under 15 minutes per game, but he tried to force it.


----------



## Unknown Doodl3.2

I think that was a decision that was taken within context as far as the treatment of Ovie. If he played the entire playoffs, or hell, the entire regular season the way he did the final 2-3 games against NYR then I don't think he would have been playing sub 15 minutes per game. 

I certainly get your point though. As a Habs fan we've had to deal with similar crap over the last couple of years trying to make quick and nimble forwards play tough defense.


----------



## Pav

Yeah. Plus you guys have Scott Gomez.


----------



## technomancer

So what is it with the Rangers and game twos?


----------



## Hemi-Powered Drone

I wouldn't say the whole Rangers, mostly Lundqvist.


----------



## technomancer

dragonblade629 said:


> I wouldn't say the whole Rangers, mostly Lundqvist.



I don't know, the whole team looked pretty flat last night


----------



## technomancer

AWESOME! Just looked and the later rounds of the IIHF are being televised


----------



## C2Aye

The LA Kings have only lost one game so far and are 3-0 up in the WCF. Pretty amazing how well they've been playing.


----------



## technomancer

Yeah I've been watching the games this round, the Kings look fantastic.

As a bonus the IIHF game they decided to air tonight is the rebroadcast of Russia / Finland and Geno has a hat trick.

Tomorrow should be a good hockey day, Kings Coyotes at 3 and then Russia Slovakia for the IIHF gold medal at 9


----------



## Pav

So do you guys think the Rangers can actually go all the way? Dan Girardi and Ryan McDonough will be covered with bullet holes by the time the playoffs are over, playing 30 minutes a game and blocking such an insane amount of shots.


----------



## Psyy

I can't help but think the Devils are going to the finals over the Rangers. There hasn't been a single period where the Devils have looked like the worse of the two (rather that they're just being slightly outplayed) but the Rangers have looked like they don't even belong in the Conference Finals in more than a few of the periods they've played. Right now the Rangers are riding Girardi and Macdonaugh's shot blocking and Lundqvist's spectacular goaltending. Even if the Rangers somehow make it past the Devils I can't see them overcoming a LA team that, in my opinion, has almost as strong defense, a much better offense, and an equally spectacular goaltender in Jonathan Quick.


----------



## Demiurge

Psyy said:


> I can't help but think the Devils are going to the finals over the Rangers. There hasn't been a single period where the Devils have looked like the worse of the two (rather that they're just being slightly outplayed) but the Rangers have looked like they don't even belong in the Conference Finals in more than a few of the periods they've played. Right now the Rangers are riding Girardi and Macdonaugh's shot blocking and Lundqvist's spectacular goaltending. Even if the Rangers somehow make it past the Devils I can't see them overcoming a LA team that, in my opinion, has almost as strong defense, a much better offense, and an equally spectacular goaltender in Jonathan Quick.



I think the Rangers will win this series in 7, but if I'm a Rangers fan, I can't feel that good about their chances in the Finals. It has been way too hard for them to win each of their series, between all the overtime and additional games, and they'll go to the finals with way more miles on their odometer than the Kings. The Kings have played 14 playoff games and the Rangers will have played at least 20 official games (plus at least the equivalent of 2 more with all the overtime periods).


----------



## technomancer

HOKENSTYFE said:


> Host the Eastern Conference Finals. Check.



Lose in game six, go home and break out the golf clubs. Check. 

 Rangers

(I am honestly surprised by the outcome of this series though)


----------



## Hemi-Powered Drone

New Jersey and LA, woo! Should be a good series if the rest of the playoffs have shown anything. Can't wait for Wednesday!


----------



## technomancer

Yeah this is going to be interesting. I think LA will take it, but they seem to have been running out of gas the last two games.


----------



## Hemi-Powered Drone

Woo, bonus hockey! This just goes to show that when Marty's game is on, IT'S FUCKING ON. He and Quick are both slaying this game.


----------



## troyguitar

troyguitar said:


> I'm assuming that the Red Wings will be defeated in 5 or 6 games and we'll hear that Lidstrom is retiring shortly thereafter.


 
Lidstrom retires from NHL - NHL.com - News

Sucks to be right sometimes.

Now the question is: who is the next captain? Datsyuk seems the best candidate on the ice but the rest of the team would need to learn Russian


----------



## technomancer

Thomas to take 2012-13 season off - NHL.com - News


----------



## technomancer

Wow the Pens signed Tomas Vokoun... hopefully he does better for the Pens than he did for the Caps last season 

Vokoun Wants to Win Cup with Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Penguins - Features


----------



## Hemi-Powered Drone

It's starting to look like goaltending going to be fairly different next year, what with Thomas not playing, Vokoun is with the Pens, which is kind of surprising, Luongo is looking at a new team, it'll be Marty's last year, looking like the Panthers will take Markstrom out of the AHL, and this is only what can be seen before the cup is over.


----------



## Hemi-Powered Drone

If there's one thing DeBoer is good at, it's talking to the press after a loss. He got a lot of practice down here. 

Please, DeBoer, change the fucking line up. The Kings know it, they know how to beat it. Heck, throw in Hedberg, no one's really seen him so for the most part he'll be unknown, but best of all he'll be fresh, he'll be young and full of pep. I'm sorry Marty, but maybe you need a break. And why haven't you been playing Sykora? He's a fantastic forward.


----------



## MFB

technomancer said:


> Thomas to take 2012-13 season off - NHL.com - News



Yeah, a buddy of mine was saying how Thomas was a prick because of this and how ridiculous it is and a whole bunch of other stuff. I'm not much for letting an athlete's personal matters affect my liking of them as they're different things, how they play/act during a game and how they act day to day but that's just silly to go that far. I mean, he's 38 years old and he's been a hell of a goalie for us. Is a year a long time to take a break? Yes. Does that mean Rask has to be consistently good as well? Yes. Plus now we'll see the other goalies like Khudobin who shit, I don't think I've EVER seen him on ice.


----------



## technomancer

MFB said:


> Yeah, a buddy of mine was saying how Thomas was a prick because of this and how ridiculous it is and a whole bunch of other stuff. I'm not much for letting an athlete's personal matters affect my liking of them as they're different things, how they play/act during a game and how they act day to day but that's just silly to go that far. I mean, he's 38 years old and he's been a hell of a goalie for us. Is a year a long time to take a break? Yes. Does that mean Rask has to be consistently good as well? Yes. Plus now we'll see the other goalies like Khudobin who shit, I don't think I've EVER seen him on ice.



Sorry Thomas is a head case 

In other news Therrien is back

Michel Therrien named coach of the Canadiens - NHL.com - News


----------



## Hemi-Powered Drone

Tim Thomas said:


> At the age of 38, I believe it is time to put my time and energies into those areas and relationships that I have neglected. That is why at this time I feel the most important thing I can do in my life is to reconnect with the three F's.
> Friends, Family and Faith.



Famous last words. 

Now, I understand that at 38 it's okay to feel a little tired from playing. A year, though? Come on, Tim Thomas, that's more than a tad ridiculous. I can't really recall any players that were absent for a season for any reason besides injury.


----------



## Pav

technomancer said:


> Wow the Pens signed Tomas Vokoun... hopefully he does better for the Pens than he did for the Caps last season
> 
> Vokoun Wants to Win Cup with Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Penguins - Features



I'm just hoping he gives Fleury the necessary kick in the ass. He's far more likely to actually challenge for ice time than Brent Johnson was this past year.


----------



## Demiurge

Yikes, Bernier.


----------



## technomancer

Devils implode, Kings win the Cup 6-1 in game 6 

I'm happy for them and thrilled for a friend of ours that's at the game tonight


----------



## Sofos

I'm glad the Kings won. and this year, unlike last, I feel sympathetic towards the losing team (sorry Vancouver guys, but I've been bred to HATE the Canucks.) The Devils did really well, but their game fell apart during game 6. Good to see Quick get the Conn Smythe as well, though we all knew that was gonna happen. I got a good laugh when the camera dude ran into Nolan when he was doing his run. lol.


----------



## Psyy

Congrats to the Kings on one of the greatest SC runs in history. As someone who was cheering for the Kings, however, the win was a bit bitter. The officiating in the game was absolutely _horrid_. The League should be ashamed of how the officials handled the most important game of the year.


----------



## havocvulture10

2012 Stanley Cup Champs! I still cant believe the Kings pulled it off. It just seems unreal.


----------



## technomancer

havocvulture10 said:


> 2012 Stanley Cup Champs! I still cant believe the Kings pulled it off. It just seems unreal.



I love the guy they showed during the game holding a baby and a sign. The sign read, "Daddy had to wait 44 years for the Kings to win a Stanley cup. I'm 1 for 1."


----------



## Xaios

Even as a Canucks fan, I've gotta hand it to the Kings, they had what it took this year. They lit their fire just at the right time, and they plowed through the top 3 seeds in the west. There's no way I can stay mad at them after they showed that kind of heart and determination.

They earned it.


----------



## Pav

I was all for the Kings this year. Plus with my goalie fetish I'll most likely end up getting a Quick jersey.


----------



## technomancer

Holy crap the Oilers have the #1 pick AGAIN?!?!?! What is that like 5 in the last six years?


----------



## Vostre Roy

technomancer said:


> Holy crap the Oilers have the #1 pick AGAIN?!?!?! What is that like 5 in the last six years?


 
Actually, its the 3rd year in a row lol (Hall 2 years ago, RNH last year). I expect this team to be really strong in a year or two.


----------



## technomancer

Vostre Roy said:


> Actually, its the 3rd year in a row lol (Hall 2 years ago, RNH last year). I expect this team to be really strong in a year or two.



You would certainly freaking hope so 

Then again the Pens have two #1 and two #2 draft picks on the team currently, all drafted in a 4 year period, so I shouldn't mock since I was a fan during those years


----------



## Hemi-Powered Drone

Vostre Roy said:


> Actually, its the 3rd year in a row lol (Hall 2 years ago, RNH last year). I expect this team to be really strong in a year or two.



That's part of why the Panthers finally aren't terrible and have so many promising prospects, the same should hold true.


----------



## Hemi-Powered Drone

So Rob Zombie is making a movie about the Flyers.

ROB ZOMBIE IS MAKING A HOCKEY MOVIE | MetalSucks

I honestly don't know how to feel about that.


----------



## MFB

Rob Zombie makes a movie about the Flyers and the B's draft a Subban? 

Apocalypse 2012 here we come.


----------



## technomancer

What. The. Fuck.

The Pens basically traded Staal and Michalek for Sutter and a bunch of prospects


----------



## Hemi-Powered Drone

It was really refreshing having to wait so long to see the Panthers pick. Kind of surprised Talon went with a defensemen, though. It'd probably be best, in my opinion, to make sure we'll have offensive depth in the future(only place we're lacking). But it's Talon, so I can't help but think he knows what he's doing.


----------



## Hemi-Powered Drone

technomancer said:


> What. The. Fuck.
> 
> The Pens basically traded Staal and Michalek for Sutter and a bunch of prospects



Yeah... maybe they really wanted to get the two brothers together? 

I really hope they know what they're doing.


----------



## technomancer

dragonblade629 said:


> Yeah... maybe they really wanted to get the two brothers together?
> 
> I really hope they know what they're doing.



What really cracks me up is the Pens selected 2 more defensemen with their first round picks and one of the trades was for a defenseman prospect... and they already have 3 guys that are good and almost NHL ready and more in the system. The Pens need more defensive prospects like they need another concussion for Sid... I just don't get it.


----------



## TheDivineWing22

technomancer said:


> What really cracks me up is the Pens selected 2 more defensemen with their first round picks and one of the trades was for a defenseman prospect... and they already have 3 guys that are good and almost NHL ready and more in the system. The Pens need more defensive prospects like they need another concussion for Sid... I just don't get it.



It really hurt finding out Staal was leaving, he's one of my favorite players. The only thing I can think of is that they are trying free up space for a big addition in free agency like Suter. I dunno, still doesn't make a lot of sense to me adding all of these defensive prospects when we have prospects like Morrow and Depres (and many others).

Guess we'll just have to see how the Summer plays out.


----------



## technomancer

TheDivineWing22 said:


> It really hurt finding out Staal was leaving, he's one of my favorite players. The only thing I can think of is that they are trying free up space for a big addition in free agency like Suter. I dunno, still doesn't make a lot of sense to me adding all of these defensive prospects when we have prospects like Morrow and Depres (and many others).
> 
> Guess we'll just have to see how the Summer plays out.



There was a rumor earlier in the day that Staal had turned down a 10 year deal and it really seems like management was just pissed so they took what they could get to move him quickly. I really didn't like the Mickalek deal either, as it really seemed like they only made it to free up cap space while keeping Martin who was MUCH worse on the ice last year.


----------



## TheDivineWing22

The problem with moving Martin is his no trade clause. There is a limited market for Martin and it would have to be a team he wants to go to.


----------



## Hemi-Powered Drone

TheDivineWing22 said:


> I dunno, still doesn't make a lot of sense to me adding all of these defensive prospects when we have prospects like Morrow and Depres (and many others).



From what I saw the draft was fairly defense heavy, even the teams that don't need as many defenseman like the Penguins and Panthers were picking defensively. 

I feel the real winner this week was Carolina, I'm almost certain they got the good end of the bargain, getting Staal. The Southeast is definitely going to have a strong competition, what with Staal and the Caps trading for Ribeiro.


----------



## JeffFromMtl

Couldn't be happier with the Habs' picks this year. Galchenyuk is the guy I wanted, and picking up Collberg in the second round is huge. If he can mature physically and dominate in the SEL like he did in swedish jr. Leagues, he could be a gem.

Out of all the rest of their picks, the only guy I've never heard of is Brady Vail, so I was quite pleased with those picks. Plus, Dalton Thrower has an exceptional name.


----------



## technomancer

TheDivineWing22 said:


> The problem with moving Martin is his no trade clause. There is a limited market for Martin and it would have to be a team he wants to go to.



I completely forgot he had a no trade clause. Really sucks as he has played nowhere near the level his salary warrants. Hopefully with the cap space they get Niskanen resigned.



dragonblade629 said:


> From what I saw the draft was fairly defense heavy, even the teams that don't need as many defenseman like the Penguins and Panthers were picking defensively.
> 
> I feel the real winner this week was Carolina, I'm almost certain they got the good end of the bargain, getting Staal. The Southeast is definitely going to have a strong competition, what with Staal and the Caps trading for Ribeiro.



Yeah Carolina was DEFINITELY the winner on that deal...


----------



## technomancer

Did some more reading... apparently Staal turned down a 10 year deal and made it clear he was not going to re-sign with the Pens. These move also leave the Pens with $14+ million free cap space for next year. There are some rumors going around that the Pens may try to sign Parise.

Should be an interesting couple of days.


----------



## Hemi-Powered Drone

technomancer said:


> There are some rumors going around that the Pens may try to sign Parise.



Not going to happen, Parise said he wants to stay in New Jersey. It'd probably do them better to refocus their energies on someone else, he seemed pretty adamant when he said that he wanted to stay in Jersey and was comfortable with the organization.


----------



## technomancer

dragonblade629 said:


> Not going to happen, Parise said he wants to stay in New Jersey. It'd probably do them better to refocus their energies on someone else, he seemed pretty adamant when he said that he wanted to stay in Jersey and was comfortable with the organization.



Entirely possible, it's just a rumor. Then again Parise and Crosby are apparently friends, so who knows. Nothing to do but grab some popcorn and wait and see what happens 

PS



Pittsburgh Tribune said:


> They are open to including defensive prospect Simon Despres in a potential deal to land a top-shelf defenseman.









On the bright side rumors say the Pens are actively shopping Martin and are looking to sign Parise and Suter once free agency opens. Should be an interesting ride.


----------



## Pav

I'm so confused by Shero's defensive ideas anymore. We have no problem with D in our system. Other organizations salivate over the quantity and quality of D-men we have waiting in the wings on top of the top-flight blueline we already have. Yet he continues to draft more and more defensemen...

I want Parise. Or Bobby Ryan. Ryan Suter I'm not terribly sold on; he's baller, no doubt, but I still have tons of faith in our defensive corps with Brooks, a healthy Tanger, and Engellend and Lovejoy coming into their own. I think it's been proven that we have one of the best bluelines in the NHL; now with the added cap space from Big Z and Staal, one more lethal scorer up front I feel would put us over the top. We found a scorer to ride shotgun with Geno, it's goddamn time we get one for Sid. He and Parise have an extensive history together. Bobby Ryan is young, nasty, and wants out of Anaheim. Let the rest of the league get swept up in the Rick Nash sweepstakes while we iron out the details.


----------



## TheDivineWing22

I might actually be wishing this coming weekend away so Sunday comes quicker. It's going to be very interesting


----------



## technomancer

Pav said:


> I'm so confused by Shero's defensive ideas anymore. We have no problem with D in our system. Other organizations salivate over the quantity and quality of D-men we have waiting in the wings on top of the top-flight blueline we already have. Yet he continues to draft more and more defensemen...
> 
> I want Parise. Or Bobby Ryan. Ryan Suter I'm not terribly sold on; he's baller, no doubt, but I still have tons of faith in our defensive corps with Brooks, a healthy Tanger, and Engellend and Lovejoy coming into their own. I think it's been proven that we have one of the best bluelines in the NHL; now with the added cap space from Big Z and Staal, one more lethal scorer up front I feel would put us over the top. We found a scorer to ride shotgun with Geno, it's goddamn time we get one for Sid. He and Parise have an extensive history together. Bobby Ryan is young, nasty, and wants out of Anaheim. Let the rest of the league get swept up in the Rick Nash sweepstakes while we iron out the details.



In the draft you take the best available player not the best player to fill a slot in your organization, that's really all there is to it.

The D needs revamped. Getting rid of Mickalek was a good start, hopefully they move Martin as well. Martin and Michalek are both great d men who just seemed unable to play in Bylsma's system. Honestly I'm surprised Michalek went first as he was the better of the two in the system. They also need a partner for Letang to create a real shutdown pairing. I'm hoping they resign Niskanen and sure up the rest of the defense in free agency. They've got a ton of great prospects, but nobody that seems to be able to perform in top pairings yet.

They've hopefully addressed the issue of Fleury playing too many games by signing Vokoun so that should take care of one of the major problems they had in the post season.

I'm really hoping they can pull the team together and make a serious playoff run in 12/13, as if they don't I think Bylsma's job will be in jeopardy 



TheDivineWing22 said:


> I might actually be wishing this coming weekend away so Sunday comes quicker. It's going to be very interesting



I feel the same way


----------



## Hemi-Powered Drone

TheDivineWing22 said:


> I might actually be wishing this coming weekend away so Sunday comes quicker. It's going to be very interesting



Interesting, yes, and hopefully relieving. I'm a bit worried about how many Panthers are going into free agency, especially Jason Garrison, Kris Versteeg, and Wojtek Wolski, who for some reason seems to never be mentioned in the list of free agents they are trying to get to resign. 

I'm also thinking that if the Panthers fail to resign Clemmensen they'll be more likely to try and get Luongo, as I'm not sure if Markstrom is totally ready. I still think we should try and get him, partially for nostalgia, partially because he's still a top notch goaltender, and also he would be a fantastic mentor for Markstrom, seeing as how they both use the butterfly style.

Also hoping that Parise stays with the Devils, but if the rumours that Florida is going to try and get him and Nash are true I wouldn't exactly mind him coming down here. 

But seriously, I'm going to be distracted so much while I'm at con, checking to see if anything happens.



technomancer said:


> They've hopefully addressed the issue of Fleury playing too many games by signing Vokoun so that should take care of one of the major problems they had in the post season.



That's assuming they realise that they sometimes need to give Fleury a break. That's really the only problem I've seen with Fluery, when he loses his steam he's sort of... bad. Hopefully Vokoun will be back to how he was with the Panthers, I don't know what it was with last year but he seemed off.


----------



## technomancer

Looks like Crosby will be a Pen for the next 12 years 

Crosby, Penguins agree on 12-year, $104.4 million extension - NHL.com - News

I love the guys saying the contract is a mistake and he couldn't have gotten more than $8.7mil a year on the open market


----------



## technomancer

And the Pens resign Niskanen


----------



## Hemi-Powered Drone

Jason Garrison gets 6-year, $27.6 million deal from Vancouver Canucks | Puck Daddy - Yahoo! Sports



I can totally understand why he'd want to go back home, though.

Though the Cats did sign Kuba back, at least this time he'll spend more time actually playing for the Panthers and will be able to fill Garirison's void. Not too familiar with Parros, though.


----------



## technomancer

Really curious to see what the Pens are going to do on D whether or not they end up signing Parise... they made an offer to Suter but I can't see it having been very impressive given they've supposedly made a monster offer to Parise.

The Pens NEED to strengthen their D and they traded one of their top 4 away already (and kept the worse of the pair of massively overpaid D men in Martin).

Just my


----------



## technomancer

So Parise and Suter both signed with the Wild, and to add insult to injury Sullivan signed with the Coyotes because he was sick of waiting on the Pens. So the Pens are now down a top 4 Dman and a top 6 forward with nobody particularly interesting available (doubt the Pens will get Carle from Philly, the Pens don't have much they could trade for Weber, and the Ducks want a center for Bobby Ryan that the Pens don't have to give up anymore).


----------



## Vostre Roy

technomancer said:


> So Parise and Suter both signed with the Wild, and to add insult to injury Sullivan signed with the Coyotes because he was sick of waiting on the Pens. So the Pens are now down a top 4 Dman and a top 6 forward with nobody particularly interesting available (doubt the Pens will get Carle from Philly, the Pens don't have much they could trade for Weber, and the Ducks want a center for Bobby Ryan that the Pens don't have to give up anymore).


 
Looks like the Pens will not have a good season, as things tend to show right now. Cross your fingers, toes and everything you can that you'll have Crosby in good shape all year because else, the seaon might be long lol

Can complain on my side so far. Habs seems to be getting a good turn, maybe we can have a winning team again this year (or more likely the next). At least, now we have some players that will check back the opponents.


----------



## technomancer

Vostre Roy said:


> Looks like the Pens will not have a good season, as things tend to show right now. Cross your fingers, toes and everything you can that you'll have Crosby in good shape all year because else, the seaon might be long lol
> 
> Can complain on my side so far. Habs seems to be getting a good turn, maybe we can have a winning team again this year (or more likely the next). At least, now we have some players that will check back the opponents.



Yeah looks like the Habs have made some good moves. My only complaint so far is letting Sullivan get away and not moving Martin yet. The Pens still have some decent cap space left so I'm curios to see what happens. To be honest I would have been pissed if the Pens had paid what Parise and Weber ended up going for, those contracts are ridiculous 

EDIT: Dear God Shero seriously talked about putting Tyler Kennedy on the top two lines to replace Sullivan with a straight face  I guess it could be worse, he could be talking about signing Semin


----------



## Unknown Doodl3.2

Those contracts are fucking insane... and now I heard talks that Carle might fetch as much as 6 million per year :O what the HELL is going on


----------



## TheDivineWing22

technomancer said:


> EDIT: Dear God Shero seriously talked about putting Tyler Kennedy on the top two lines to replace Sullivan with a straight face  I guess it could be worse, he could be talking about signing Semin



I say at this point stay away from signing and UFA's this year, only make trade if it comes at low cost, and keep that cap space for next summer. The UFA market next year looks much better than this year in my opinion.

And TK replacing Sully? 

And another question is who fills Michalek's place in the lineup?


----------



## technomancer

TheDivineWing22 said:


> I say at this point stay away from signing and UFA's this year, only make trade if it comes at low cost, and keep that cap space for next summer. The UFA market next year looks much better than this year in my opinion.
> 
> And TK replacing Sully?
> 
> And another question is who fills Michalek's place in the lineup?



Yeah what's bothering me is they're a worse team now than they were at the end of the season. They've traded Staal for Sutter, traded a second pair defenseman in Michalek for basically nothing, and lost a top 6 winger who would have played for under $2 million. Granted Staal was gone anyways and Michalek wasn't that great last season, but they really didn't get much for them, especially Michalek. Add to that that available players to replace the losses sort of suck and I'm a bit concerned, especially with the D and top 6 forward.


----------



## TheDivineWing22

I've been hearing that the Pens may try and make a trade for Bobby Ryan, however, I have also heard that Anaheim wants a 2nd line center for him...which we don't have to give up.


----------



## technomancer

TheDivineWing22 said:


> I've been hearing that the Pens may try and make a trade for Bobby Ryan, however, I have also heard that Anaheim wants a 2nd line center for him...which we don't have to give up.



Yeah exactly. Ryan would be a good fit but the Pens don't have what the Ducks want. I also heard speculation of the Pens trading Martin and prospects for Weber. That would be an amazing deal, but I don't see it actually happening unless Nashville's management suffered a severe blow to the head while nobody was looking 

Nash would also be an excellent fit, but it would require the Pens to give up half the team and I'm not sure Nash would be comfortable playing third behind Geno and Crosby on the star-talent meter...

I've also heard Semin's name tossed around, but to be quite frank I don't want to see that lazy asshat on the Pens even if he's signed for what Sullivan was making


----------



## TheDivineWing22

technomancer said:


> I've also heard Semin's name tossed around, but to be quite frank I don't want to see that lazy asshat on the Pens even if he's signed for what Sullivan was making



He wouldn't want to play here because he sees nothing "special" about Crosby


----------



## technomancer

TheDivineWing22 said:


> He wouldn't want to play here because he sees nothing "special" about Crosby





And Carle is now gone, signed with Tampa on a 6 year deal.


----------



## TheDivineWing22

I know the cap is going up but the cost of some of these deals is just insane. Average of 5.5 million a year for Carle seems a bit steep.


----------



## technomancer

TheDivineWing22 said:


> I know the cap is going up but the cost of some of these deals is just insane. Average of 5.5 million a year for Carle seems a bit steep.



Yeah the market seems a bit out of hand this year for some reason... seems like teams went insane trying to sign Parise and Suter and that tilted the entire market.


----------



## Hemi-Powered Drone

Well, it seems that Tallon won't be breaking the Panthers tradition of being overloaded with talented goaltenders any time soon. Just signed the CHL Goaltender of the Year, Michael Houser.

https://twitter.com/GoLondonKnights/status/222338764188565504


----------



## Pav

I'm still disappointed at letting Steve Sullivan walk, but come on. I feel like the time has come for TK to put up or GTFO. Don't forget, he did step up in a big way at the end of last season (now two seasons ago) as our prime goal scorer on Jordan Staal's first line.


----------



## TheDivineWing22

Pav said:


> I'm still disappointed at letting Steve Sullivan walk, but come on. I feel like the time has come for TK to put up or GTFO. Don't forget, he did step up in a big way at the end of last season (now two seasons ago) as our prime goal scorer on Jordan Staal's first line.



I like TK and everything, but he is not the winger for Sid. Sid has really never had, and possible never will, have the quality winger that he should have. Putting TK in that position is doing the same thing the Penguins have been doing for years...taking an average player, putting him next to Crosby and making him an above average player.


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## technomancer

They should have resigned Sullivan, no question. They let a 50 point forward who wanted to stay here and was willing to play for less than $2 million walk 

Kennedy is not a top six forward, plain and simple  Of the guys they have currently I'd much prefer to see Tangradi or even Bennett be given a shot in the top 6. Giving Tangradi a shot would finally either let him prove himself or shut the door on him being an NHL power forward.


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## Pav

Maybe if he'd put the goddamn puck net with some regularity he'd score a few more goals.

/rant

I'm thinking Tangradi has to see some extended NHL time this year, given he's a larger prospect in a position of weakness. But I keep looking at his size and wondering why he isn't leveling people out there.


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## TheDivineWing22

Pav said:


> Maybe if he'd put the goddamn puck net with some regularity he'd score a few more goals.
> 
> /rant
> 
> I'm thinking Tangradi has to see some extended NHL time this year, given he's a larger prospect in a position of weakness. But I keep looking at his size and wondering why he isn't leveling people out there.



TK does put pucks on net...right into the goalies chest. 

I'm still not sold on Tangradi. I know he hasn't seen a lot of time in the top 6 but I just don't see much from him when he plays.


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## technomancer

Tangradi has performed amazingly well in the AHL where he's being played as a power forward on one of the top lines... the problem is he hasn't been played yet in that position in the NHL for any period of time. With the Pens he's mostly been used as a checking forward which is not really his strong suit. It also seemed like his physicality scaled back after his concussion against the Islanders (you know, when he got his ass beat down because he was throwing his body around ).

Bottom line is they either need to to give him a real shot in the position he's supposed to be getting groomed for or accept that he's never going to play there and leave him in the AHL. He's at the stage where he needs to perform or they need to stop bringing him up... BUT they can't keep him on the checking line and then complain he's not scoring goals


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## Hemi-Powered Drone

technomancer said:


> They should have resigned Sullivan, no question. They let a 50 point forward who wanted to stay here and was willing to play for less than $2 million walk



This. 

I seriously thought that was a horrible decision, probably they were too focused on courting Parise and Suter.


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## Hemi-Powered Drone

So, guys, anyone know where I can watch the KHL or Elitserien in the States?

Report: NHL tables initial CBA proposal to NHLPA


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## technomancer

dragonblade629 said:


> So, guys, anyone know where I can watch the KHL or Elitserien in the States?
> 
> Report: NHL tables initial CBA proposal to NHLPA



Wow seems the NHL WANTS another lockout 

Those terms are ridiculous...

Some of it I can see like requiring equal salary each year to cut out the contracts designed to dodge the cap, but entry level contracts being 5 years, no salary arbitration, and 10 years passing before somebody can be an unrestricted free agent is nuts. Not to mention shrinking the calculation for revenue sharing and decreasing player percentage the of the smaller calculated amount by 9%.


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## Rayaus

technomancer said:


> Wow seems the NHL WANTS another lockout
> 
> Those terms are ridiculous...
> 
> Some of it I can see like requiring equal salary each year to cut out the contracts designed to dodge the cap, but entry level contracts being 5 years, no salary arbitration, and 10 years passing before somebody can be an unrestricted free agent is nuts. Not to mention shrinking the calculation for revenue sharing and decreasing player percentage the of the smaller calculated amount by 9%.



The negotiations are going to be hard for sure, but it was to be expected since Donald Fehr isn't known for making compromises. The NHL had to make an offer that was way off what they actually want to reach as an agreement. We'll see how the negotiations evolve, but I wouldn't be surprised if the season starts later this year.


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## Pav

I'm not holding out much hope for this, but if things were to pan out it could be interesting...

Shane Doan Derby: Pittsburgh Penguins join list of active Doaners


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## technomancer

Yeah not holding my breath for the Pens to land Doan, though it would be interesting if they do.


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## TheDivineWing22

Wow. Shea Weber signs a 14 year offer sheet with the flyers worth over $100 million.  I honestly don't think Nashville can match it with the signing bonus. And if they lose both Weber and Suter in one off season, I see attendance for games dropping. 

I'm going to have to hate Weber if he goes to Philly.


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## Pav

Nashville is either going to match or throw away their past five years of progress in exchange for four first-round picks.

And a tad off-topic...with all of these talks of cap circumventing, player revenues, and basically every financial issue in the NHL being debated in the new CBA talks...aside from the Kovalchuk deal last year, Paul Holmgren seems to embody everything the league is trying to prevent in terms of teams/franchises throwing around INSANE contracts.


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## technomancer

Unfortunately I don't think Nashville can match it because of the way the contract is structured. It's looking like another season where the Flyers are going to beat the hell out of the Pens as their top 6 D are looking SCARY


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## Pav

I'm not too worried. Philly has an awesome top 6, but there isn't another defenseman out there who can really replace Chris Pronger, which is clearly what they're trying to do.

Shea Weber is a big, strong guy, but unless he plans on suiting up in goal for them, the Flyers are just burying their longstanding weaknesses with more of their trademark physicality and intimidation.

Read: no matter who their top 6 is, their goaltending situation is still embarrassing.


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## technomancer

Pav said:


> I'm not too worried. Philly has an awesome top 6, but there isn't another defenseman out there who can really replace Chris Pronger, which is clearly what they're trying to do.
> 
> Shea Weber is a big, strong guy, but unless he plans on suiting up in goal for them, the Flyers are just burying their longstanding weaknesses with more of their trademark physicality and intimidation.
> 
> Read: no matter who their top 6 is, their goaltending situation is still embarrassing.



Bryzgalov had a bad season, but I wouldn't necessarily count on that happening two years in a row... it's hard to believe somebody that was so good for so long is suddenly a terrible goal tender


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## Hemi-Powered Drone

So this map of fan distribution was made.







Doesn't seem to be the most correct, so a guy on the Hockey subreddit is trying to put together a better one, with non-US locations included. If you wouldn't mind taking a short survey so he could get a larger sample size it would be appreciated, since data is cool.

Which NHL team do you support? Survey


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## Pav

I'm impressed that the Thrashers still have more fans than the Islanders.


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## Hemi-Powered Drone

Pav said:


> I'm impressed that the Thrashers still have more fans than the Islanders.



The Islanders seem to only really have fans on Long Island, due to how many markets there are in the area.


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## Hemi-Powered Drone

Fantastic news for the Panthers!
NHL.com - Versteeg agrees to four-year deal with Panthers - NHL Free Agency 2012
Glad we're getting to keep him!


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## TheDivineWing22

Rick Nash is now a NY Ranger. The Pen's get weaker, NY get's Nash, and Philly may get Weber. 

I guess at least New Jersey lost Parise


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## Pav

The Atlantic Division is just stupidly stacked anymore.


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## technomancer

YES! Philly DOES NOT have Weber, Nashville matched his offer sheet


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## Pav

I checked my phone while I was at work and saw the Preds had matched. I think the entire store stopped when they heard me yelling.


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## Psyy

technomancer said:


> YES! Philly DOES NOT have Weber, Nashville matched his offer sheet



It was a bit interesting to hear how apathetic he was about playing in Nashville as opposed to Philly. As someone who has no personal stake in the Atlantic Division, I was hoping Weber would go to Philly so the games would be even more exciting to watch.


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## technomancer

And Semin is now a Hurricane. Be interesting to see if a change of scenery / coaching can make him play like he gives a fuck


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## Hemi-Powered Drone

If that happens then the Hurricanes will be pretty strong this coming season.


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## Pav

Nah, their defense is fucking terrible.


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## TheDivineWing22

technomancer said:


> And Semin is now a Hurricane. Be interesting to see if a change of scenery / coaching can make him play like he gives a fuck



I'm just glad he didn't come to Pittsburgh

EDIT: $7 Million??? He better play like he gives a fuck. I'm REALLY glad he didn't come to Pittsburgh.


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## Psyy

That Semin deal is a joke. He's a 6 million dollar player at best when he plays like he actually wants to. Unless he puts up 70 points or more he'll be back in the KHL in a year or two.


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## Pav

So it turns out Andrej Meszaros torn his Achilles tendon while training in Slovakia last week and is going to be out indefinitely. That on top of no Pronger and no Weber and the Flyers blueline, which once looked untouchable, is now looking rather "meh."

While I never wish injury upon anyone, as a Pens fan, this made me . I'll be expecting Holmgren to throw an offer sheet to PK Subban any day now.


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## TheDivineWing22

Pav said:


> So it turns out Andrej Meszaros torn his Achilles tendon while training in Slovakia last week and is going to be out indefinitely. That on top of no Pronger and no Weber and the Flyers blueline, which once looked untouchable, is now looking rather "meh."
> 
> While I never wish injury upon anyone, as a Pens fan, this made me . I'll be expecting Holmgren to throw an offer sheet to PK Subban any day now.



That would work. I already hate Subban anyway. That would just give me one more reason.


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## technomancer

TheDivineWing22 said:


> That would work. I already hate Subban anyway. That would just give me one more reason.


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## Pav

I'll take Braydon Coburn and Kimmo Timonen trying to fend off Sid and Geno any day. Anytime I feel I'm having a bad day, I just watch this and I find myself smiling in any situation.


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## Vostre Roy

Habs just signed Paccioretty for 6 years, 27 millions $. I think its a great move given the year he just had, if he plays that good all the time, it'll be awesome, but I'm sure he can improve even more given his age. Also, wondering what's happening with Subban, hopes that this signature will make him move and get a contract that he deserve (not what he thinks he deserve lol)


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## Pav

I was about to talk epic shit about Pacioretty being grossly overpaid...then I checked his stats to see he scored 33 goals and 65 pts last year.  Definitely a must-sign for the Habs, as long as Chara doesn't try to decapitate him again.

on another note, the Flyers just lost Lilja for 4 months or so, leaving them with about three NHL caliber defensemen. Queue gloating.


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## technomancer

Pav said:


> I was about to talk epic shit about Pacioretty being grossly overpaid...then I checked his stats to see he scored 33 goals and 65 pts last year.  Definitely a must-sign for the Habs, as long as Chara doesn't try to decapitate him again.
> 
> on another note, the Flyers just lost Lilja for 4 months or so, leaving them with about three NHL caliber defensemen. Queue gloating.



Yeah Paccioretty is a serious player, awesome to see the Habs sign him.

Also I saw about Lilja, curious to see what the Flyers end up doing and if their kids manage to step up. Wondering the same thing about the Pens D core


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## Vostre Roy

I'm beginning to wonder if we'll have an NHL 2012-2013 season thread up to this point...

That being said, Habs player are trying to make the lock-out illegal using Quebec's works laws. Sources (english and french): 

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/story/2012/09/09/sp-nhl-nhlpa-bettman-fehr-daly.html
CH : les joueurs contestent le lock-out - RDS.ca

I wonder how the league will handle that...


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## technomancer

Vostre Roy said:


> I'm beginning to wonder if we'll have an NHL 2012-2013 season thread up to this point...
> 
> That being said, Habs player are trying to make the lock-out illegal using Quebec's works laws. Sources (english and french):
> 
> Habs players point to Quebec law to avoid being locked out
> CH : les joueurs contestent le lock-out - RDS.ca
> 
> I wonder how the league will handle that...



Yeah I've delayed creating the new thread until we see if there's a lockout on the 13th. I do think it's REALLY stupid of Bettman to try to force a lockout when the season could start under the existing agreement while negotiations continue...


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## Vostre Roy

Is still believe that Bettman has his head shoved so deep in his ass that he can't admit the truth: his fabulous, marvelous and genious idea of bringing that many hockey teams in the south is hurting the league's revenue. I can't get this guy at all...


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## Pav

I can get behind his eagerness to bring hockey to the south. Just looking at what happened in Phoenix and Nashville when their teams were suddenly making massive playoff runs gives me the idea that it is totally possible and good for the game in the long run. Unfortunately it requires some serious commitment and losses in the short term. I think a lot more of this falls on the greed and stupidity of franchise owners/GMs than solely on Bettman.

That said, I'm still not a fan.


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## troyguitar

I haven't followed the happenings very closely, but I will be quite pissed if there is no season. I've been really looking forward to this year's winter classic and alumni games, plus Datsyuk isn't getting any younger. I want to see if he can finally pull a 100 point season.


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## TheDivineWing22

Pav said:


> I can get behind his eagerness to bring hockey to the south. Just looking at what happened in Phoenix and Nashville when their teams were suddenly making massive playoff runs gives me the idea that it is totally possible and good for the game in the long run. Unfortunately it requires some serious commitment and losses in the short term. I think a lot more of this falls on the greed and stupidity of franchise owners/GMs than solely on Bettman.
> 
> That said, I'm still not a fan.



Despite Phoenix making the playoffs the last few years, and making some decent runs, they till have trouble filling seats during the regular season. 

I just bought NHL 13 for my PS3. I guess that might have to hold me over until the season starts. If it does.


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## Vostre Roy

TheDivineWing22 said:


> I just bought NHL 13 for my PS3. I guess that might have to hold me over until the season starts. If it does.


 
Its out already? Time to make myself a little poorer.
Got it on the box or on the station?


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## TheDivineWing22

Vostre Roy said:


> Its out already? Time to make myself a little poorer.
> Got it on the box or on the station?



I just ordered it from amazon yesterday, so it's not here yet. Probably Thursday. Got it for playstation. None of my friends play on xbox anymore.


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## Vostre Roy

TheDivineWing22 said:


> I just ordered it from amazon yesterday, so it's not here yet. Probably Thursday. Got it for playstation. None of my friends play on xbox anymore.


 
Fair enough. I will get it on PS3 aswell, if you or anyone else want to play some epic hockey games, pm me your PS3 usernames


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## Pav

I should be picking up my copy within the next couple weeks. I prefer to play on Xbox but everyone I know is getting for the PS3, so we'll see which way I swing.


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## troyguitar




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## Hemi-Powered Drone

I had a massive sad when the lockout became official.

I don't think I could stand it if this were to happen again.


----------



## vanhendrix

The Stanley Cup is a _challenge_ cup. It is not the property of the NHL, it was donated by the Governor General of Canada. Betman has no right to control its distribution. Have a worldwide tournament for it!


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## Hemi-Powered Drone

Maybe someone will play for it. Hopefully.


----------



## Hemi-Powered Drone

Okay, I find this kind of funny.

Jagr to play for Czech team he owns, brings Plekanec along for the ride | ProHockeyTalk

I wonder if he planned this as a fallback?


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## Vostre Roy

Played the new NHL on yesterday. Gotta say that I love the improvement they done, especially the new physics of the players (how the speed and mass affect your guy, waaaay more realistic).

Also, its so realist, the opening video, a goal is scored in slow-mo, goaler proudly wearing the Leafs color


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## Pav

Looks like I'll be stuck streaming KHL games for a while.


----------



## RustInPeace

So disappointed that this lockout continues. My Oilers signed top FA Shultz in the off season and he is absolutely TEARING up the AHL right now... cant wait to see him at the top level, if it ever comes back...


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## Milpitas Monster

I don't miss it as much as I thought. Out of sight, out of mind here in California. Sorta feel sorry for Kings fans.


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