It's Here! The Thread For the 2003-04 NHL Regular Season!

[klayman]

Hockey Boy, I don't think Dynasty Boy reads the hockey thread too often.

[bbor]

Happy b-day H_B


Are you older now than the average Red Wing

[Karim]

Happy birthday, HB.

[Draft Dodger]

Originally Posted by bbor

Happy b-day H_B


Are you older now than the average Red Wing

if he was, he probably wouldn't be able to read the little words on the damn compruder screen

[Karim]

http://www.truenorthproject.mb.ca/levittreport.pdf

For those interested in the independent auditor's report on the finances of the NHL.

[bbor]

Bah...gobbledegook

[antbacker]

The Kings have really impressed me this year. To be where they are with all the injuries is simply amazing. And Frolov is becoming a prime time player right before our eyes. Andy Murray is doing a great job, and if they make the playoffs he should get some Adams award consideration.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Karim

http://www.truenorthproject.mb.ca/levittreport.pdf

For those interested in the independent auditor's report on the finances of the NHL.

Man, there's a ton of filler in there. It's like the reports I would do for school: it's not thorough, it's just padding. Everything looks smarter with 8 appendices. Plus, they don't have a team by team breakdown and that was what I was interested in seeing.

SI

[Honolulu_Blue]

Thanks guys for all the good wishes, lads!

At 30, I'd still be considered a "prospect" in the Wings organization.

Lots of goings ons in the NHL.

The financial report, the proposed rule changes, Hasek out, CuJo hurt, Roenick busted his jaw, Sean Burke traded, Primeau hurt. So little time to comment on them all.

I have to agree with Adam Foote (I fell dirty just thinking that). The proposed rule banning goalies from handling the puck is a bad one. It will lead to more injuries (see: argument for automatic icing) and seems like a bizarre rule.

I guess they sort of did that in soccer many years back when they outlawed goalies from picking up the ball when passed back to them by their own players, but I see this as something different. Being able to handle the puck is a marketable skill for goalies (see: Brodeur), it'd be odd to stop them from doing it.

The other proposed changes don't irk me at all. They need to do something to help the game.

Thanks again!

[bbor]

Dallas does it again...picks up another old guy for the play off run as they sign Shayne Corson for the rest of the season.

[Chubby]

Let's go Sabres!!!

I don't know what happened at the All Star break but I sure like it If Briere keeps this up I might be in favor of him getting the C next year instead of Drury.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by bbor

Dallas does it again...picks up another old guy for the play off run as they sign Shayne Corson for the rest of the season.

Well, at least it wasn't Benoit Hogue again. That was really annoying, especially for Oilers fans, I reckon.

[sachmo71]

Corson. I have no response to that.

[bbor]

Am i hearing correctly?...Steve Sullivan was traded from Chi to nashville?


Anyone know what for?

[henry296]

I think i heard two second round picks for Sullivan.

[ice4277]

Originally Posted by henry296

I think i heard two second round picks for Sullivan.

That's what I heard as well.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Well, the Senators pick up Bondra for a prospect and a 2nd rounder.

Not a bad deal for the Sens. Yeah, so they don't address the "toughness" situation, but they just signed Rob Ray for all of that nonsense. Bondra is 36, which means he's no spring chicken (unless he was on the Wings), but he's still dangerous and really improved Ottawa's already very dangerous offense. I think he'll fit in well there. Too bad the Wings couldn't get him. He'd fit right in.

Sad day for the Caps. The organization has truly taken a turn for the worse. Hockey is pretty much dead in the our nation's capital.

It will be interesting to see what else happens as the trade deadline draws nearer. The lockout situation could make for a ton of moves. Big moves.

[bbor]

I expected thsi deal to happen closer to the deadline where his value may have been higher...good deal for the Sens.

[Maple Leafs]

Very good deal for Ottawa. Exactly the sort of move they should be making. Bonus points because the Devils wanted Bondra badly.

The Ray signing, by the way, is a complete joke.

[Draft Dodger]

Bondra on a skilled team (ie Senators) is scary. There may be questions in Ottawa about Lalime and the toughness, but they shouldn't have problem scoring goals (not that that wins Cups!).

[Draft Dodger]

ok, need help with a trivia question...

a New England bank is doing a big Ray Bourque promotion where everyone who opens an account gets a Ray bobblehead (my wife went down on her lunch break the day the promo started), and you can also win a day with him or something.

anyhow, when Christine was opening the account, the woman at the bank told her that she had an employee contest she herself was trying to win, but needed help with a trivia question. I've been mulling it over for a couple weeks, but I still don't know for sure...

the question is "What 3 numbers did Bourque wear for the Bruins?". 77 and 7 are obvious, but I don't know about the 3rd. I did find reference to Bourque wearing a different number when he first got called up (29?), but I don't know if he actually wore it in a game. I'm also guessing he played in a couple All-Star games with Paul Coffey, and would have changed numbers for that game, but I don't think the question is referring to that anyways.

anyone know this?

[Chubby]

well since I guess technically he wouldn't have "worn it for the Bruins" in an all star game I think you can throw that out...

not sure on the 3rd number tho...

[Karim]

I searched several hockey sites and there's no mention of a third number. Maybe it was a training camp number?

[JeeberD]

Edmonton 5
Colorado 1


Word.

[bbor]

lmao

[Maple Leafs]

I remember Bourque or Coffey wearing 78 in an all-star game, but I doubt that's what the question means.

[Pyser]

Zhmanov was just traded to Philly for Vandermeer and draft picks.

he is there to replace roenick for the season, and primeau is out with a concussion right now anyway. zhamnov is a f/a at the end of the year.

this is another player the devils were supposedly interested in. thats bondra and zhamnov to 2 conference rivals. interesting, but not the end of the world.

[corbes]

Crazy Bobby at work again.

Still not sure why we traded Justin Williams for a defenseman, and then turn around and trade away two defensemen in the next two weeks.

I have almost no idea who is on the team anymore. I could have written down the roster and lines off the top of my head at the beginning of the year.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Bobby loves centers. He can't have enough of them. All of your centers are belong to Clarke!

Well, I guess they had to make the move with Roenick out and talking retirement and Primeau injured.

There was a lot of talk the Wings were going to try to get Zhamnov too. I am sort of glad they didn't. I don't like Zhamnov much. Nope. Just don't like him.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I looked through about a half dozen websites for the Bourque trivia answer too.
Nada.

[corbes]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

All of your centers are belong to Clarke!

[Draft Dodger]

so, last night after my wife and I watched the painful Avs game, I told her that Skoula was going to be traded.

12 hours later, he is. Although I have no clue who Kurt Suaer is.

[Chief Rum]

You should. He was one of the hard hitting defensmen on the Ducks in last season's playoff finals.

I'm not sure I like this deal.

Sauer is a fine stay at home defenseman who is big, smart, hard-working and already has a lot of key experience (both regular and playoff) despite being just two-thirds of a season removed from his rookie year.

I haven't been paying much attention to how Skoula is playing, but judging from his less than stellar stats and your reaction, I would say he hasn't been good.

Don't get me wrong, I think Skoula is a pretty solid player from what I can recall. But if this guy hasn't been playing too well lately, and he's going from a top playoff contender to team trying to make a desparate push from behind. I find it hard to believe he will be more motivated with the Ducks than the Avs, but one can hope.

BTW, if anyone cares, the Ducks have gone 5-1-0-1 in their last seven and are 8-9 points out of the playoffs. That may sound like a lot (well, cause it is), but they were a good 12-13 out at the break. Jiggy has been playing well. Losing an overtime game to Nashville last night, though, didn't help. I think I hate Nashville.

Can someone tell me a little more about Skoula? I know he's more of an offensive defenseman, which is something we can use since Ozolinsh's injury has put him out for the regular season. Without him, we only have one true puck moving blueliner, really, in Niclas Havelid.

Avs fans, I think, are really going to like Sauer. If they pair him with Blake, ouch. That's a big, hard-hitting pair of defensemen.

CR

[Draft Dodger]

Skoula was supposed to be sort of like Ozolinsh, except that he'd pay more attention in his own end. his offensive game never quite developed like it was supposed to, but what really hurt him was his defensive game. Simply put, he just made two many mistakes in his own zone. Last night was a microchasm of his game - he got beat (badly) on two goals by Jason Arnott; I think he was also to blame for 3rd goal, but I wasn't paying enough attention at that particular time. But I knew for sure after last night that he'd finally be gone, and soon.

The Avs have been incredibly patient with him - really putting him in situations to succeed, not fail. But it's just never come together. You figure he's had some incredible blue-line mentors to learn from - Bourque, Foote, Blake, de Vries...but he still was prone to silly mistakes and bad judgement, while not producing enough on the offensive zone.

It wouldn't surprise me that a change of scenery will help him out - especially having an Ozolinsh around to watch everyday.

you've got me excited about Sauer - him and Boughner should make nice additions to this club.

[Maple Leafs]

Chief, what are you hearing as far as a Carney deal?

[Chief Rum]

I haven't heard anything, actually. In fact, the Sauer trade probably means Carney isn't going anywhere, at least not right now. We only have so many top line worthy stay at home defensemen, you know.

If you're hearing rumors involving Carney in a trade, I wouldn't expect them to come to fruition until the Ducks have shown they aren't going to make the playoffs. If they hadn't made this recent run, maybe he would already be dealt. But they did, and the acquisition of Skoula is definitely another move toward competitiveness right away. So I don't think Carney is going anywhere right away.

Now, if by the trade deadline we're not closer than the 8 or 9 points we are now, that's a different story.

What are you hearing?

CR

[Maple Leafs]

I've seen plenty of rumors, including one this week that had Ottawa looking at him. A newspaper report today suggested he'd be a good fit for the Leafs, although there wasn't any indication that any talks had happened.

The consensus seems to be that he'd come at a reasonably high price, but could be available. Lots of praise for him, one reporter even suggested he was at least as valuable as Giguere during the playoff run.

[bbor]

I heart hockey day in Canada 15 hours straight of hockey

[Draft Dodger]

Originally Posted by bbor

I heart hockey day in Canada 15 hours straight of hockey

I love it too - my wife and I caught it last year, but I had to work this year and she was busy too.

I think I'm going to take the day off next year - it's really some outstanding stuff.

[Chief Rum]

Carney was critical to our playoff run and the performance of our team last year. In fact, his injury at the beginning of the season (he missed a month with a broken foot) is probably factor #1 on why we got off to a bad start and are facing the desparate situation we're in now. If Carney stays healthy, two things happen: 1) We don't pick up that load of crap Simpson, whose turnovers probably cost us 3-4 games at least this year, if not more; and 2) the defense isn't so soft and turnover-prone early on, which led directly to Giguere's early season problems and a bout of lack of confidence that continued with the goalkeeper for most of the season (really until the All Star break).

Carney would be a great get for just about any playoff team, IMO, and it would cost a hefty price to get him, I think.

That said, I can't imagine Ottawa going after Carney after already dealing for Simpson (then why get Simpson at all?), and as for Toronto, while I can't rule out a Leafs deal, I really don't think the Skoula deal and the Ducks' recent run really works with moving Carney. The Ducks have given every indication they believe they can get back into this thing, and I can't see them moving Carney until they believe they are truly out of it.

I think it's likely that if he is dealt at all, it won't be until right up against the trading deadline, and even then, it won't happen if the Ducks are within, say, six points of a playoff spot.

Chief Rum

[lynchjm24]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

I'm not the guy saying NHL Draft Lottery, wiseguy. You are. If you think making the NHL playoffs is so easy, then why don't you take back your prediction about the Ducks?

If instead you still believe this will happen, despite the "ease" of making the NHL playoffs, then don't be a wimp, stand up for what you are saying and take the bet.

CR

I thought I'd check in. Not looking so good for you is it?

[klayman]

Originally Posted by bbor

I heart hockey day in Canada 15 hours straight of hockey

And the hockey was great this year.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by lynchjm24

I thought I'd check in. Not looking so good for you is it?

No, it isn't. Do you like to beat up bums and try to run over stray animals, too, or is your cruelty limited to kicking a fan when he's down?

Season isn't over. I still hope.

CR

[lynchjm24]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

No, it isn't. Do you like to beat up bums and try to run over stray animals, too, or is your cruelty limited to kicking a fan when he's down?

Season isn't over. I still hope.

CR

I think the Angels will win the west, does that make you feel better?

[Chief Rum]

Marginally.

But then, a lot of people are picking the Angels. Kinda wish they wouldn't--it would be easier on the team.

CR

[lynchjm24]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

Marginally.

But then, a lot of people are picking the Angels. Kinda wish they wouldn't--it would be easier on the team.

CR

Well Seattle has regressed, that's really what I like about them the most.

[klayman]

Hey, no baseball talk in the hockey thread!

[lynchjm24]

Originally Posted by klayman

Hey, no baseball talk in the hockey thread!

Sorry,

Go Whalers!

[sachmo71]

Chief,

Barry Melrose called the Stars "the Ducks of 2004"! How do you respond to that?

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by sachmo71

Chief,

Barry Melrose called the Stars "the Ducks of 2004"! How do you respond to that?

How can the Stars be the Ducks of 2004? That's quite impossible. I mean, unless by the "Ducks of 2004" you mean a low-seeded team that could make a run all the way to the Stanley Cup. Sure, that could happen, but that is incredibly short-sighted. The Stars have been considered one of the top teams in the NHL for years. They were slated to be one of the best this year, fat pay-roll, big stars, all that. They are so unlike the Ducks of 2004, it's ridiculous.

Melrose...