It's Here! The 2006-2007 NHL Season Thread

[Fidatelo]

You could call it that, or you could just call it by it's real name: Bobby Clarke

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by klayman

Oilers trade Marc Andre Bergeon to the Islanders for Denis Grebeshkov, who will spend the rest of the season in Russia. Obviously a trade for the future, which must mean Lowe has given up on making the playoffs this season?

Sort of seems like it, doesn't it? While Marc Andre certainly wasn't getting the job done as an "offensive defenseman", general consensus has been that what the Oilers are really lacking is an offensive defensmen, someone to make that first past out of the zone. Given the (alleged) talent up front, the Oilers should be much better than they have been offensively, many have blamed their lack of firepower on the lack of a defensemen who can move the puck (e.g., Pronger, Spacek, etc.). There was a lot of talk of the Oilers trying to get Eric Brewer or Brad Stuart. Shipping Bergeon off doesn't seem to really help their problem, then again he really didn't seem part of the solution either.

[Dr. Sak]

Originally Posted by Fidatelo

You could call it that, or you could just call it by it's real name: Bobby Clarke

I agree with you. I wasn't alive when the Flyers won their cups so I am not an apologist for Clarke, unlike my dad who will defend him till his last breath.

[RPI-Fan]

Originally Posted by klayman

Oilers trade Marc Andre Bergeon to the Islanders for Denis Grebeshkov, who will spend the rest of the season in Russia. Obviously a trade for the future, which must mean Lowe has given up on making the playoffs this season?

I'm happy with the trade, for the Isles. Grebs is a MAYBE for the AHL next year, so he has a long way to go. Not very impressive numbers in the RSL.

Bergeron could turn out to be awful, but if he gets hot he could be a very useful D-man. We have absolutely nothing in terms of offensive d-men, and badly need someone to bring some variety to the powerplay.

[Draft Dodger]

Grebeshkov now has half as many trades (3) as he does points (6) in his NHL career.

[Karim]

Originally Posted by RPI-Fan

I'm happy with the trade, for the Isles.

Have you seen MAB play? He looked ok last year paired up with Pronger but I really think this is addition by subtraction for the Oilers. He makes so many mistakes and doesn't have the size to deal with forwards in front of the net.

I think this is a good move for the Oilers even if Grebeshkov never returns to the NHL.

[Dr. Sak]

Marc Andre Bergeon just picked up an assist in the 1st period. Isle score on the PP for the first time in 4 games.

[RPI-Fan]

Originally Posted by Karim

Have you seen MAB play? He looked ok last year paired up with Pronger but I really think this is addition by subtraction for the Oilers. He makes so many mistakes and doesn't have the size to deal with forwards in front of the net.

I think this is a good move for the Oilers even if Grebeshkov never returns to the NHL.

Like I said, if he gets hot, we have a nice 3rd or 4th defenseman. If he plays like he did the first half of the year, how are we any worse off?

We also got a 2008 3rd rounder in the deal...

[Pumpy Tudors]

At this point of the thread, I realize that the trading deadline is my favorite part of the EHM series of games (RIP).

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

At this point of the thread, I realize that the trading deadline is my favorite part of the EHM series of games (RIP).

Agreed. In fact, trade deadline day is one of my favorite days of the year. It's up there with Thanksgiving, Christmas, the NFL draft. . .

[Pyser]

thats the day i hit 'refresh' the most

[RPI-Fan]

Big win today!

No MAB disasters so far, although he came close a couple times. Did have a pair of assists and hit the post. Overall he's just about what I expected, and I'll take it. Watching RPI play all year I'm used to bonehead defensive plays -- I'm happy that he can at least balance them with some 'Wow!' offensive plays.

This is a nice way to start off the week...

[Jonathan Ezarik]

Yeah, it seems like playing four games in six days caught up with the Pens. They looked really sluggish the last two periods. And MAF has got to be more consistent.

Can they play the Islanders every game so Malone will score 200 goals a season?

[Suburban Rhythm]

Originally Posted by Jonathan Ezarik

Yeah, it seems like playing four games in six days caught up with the Pens. They looked really sluggish the last two periods. And MAF has got to be more consistent.

Can they play the Islanders every game so Malone will score 200 goals a season?

Another wild stat--

Malone's hat trick --2nd of his career, other coming vs. the Isles in December-- was a new 'record' of sorts. He scored 45 seconds into the 1st period, 29 seconds into the 2nd period and 48 seconds into the 3rd period.

Unconfirmed, but I believe that is the first time a player scoring a hat trick has scored all 3 within the opening minute of each period.

[Pyser]

the devs-rangers just played their most entertaining game of the year for either team.

a 2-1 devs win that featured many hard hits, avery in a knock-down pushing fight with a maskless brodeur, a 3rd period game winning goal, janssen yelling at lundqvist from the bench taunting him, and lundqvist yelling back, and a game 7 playoff atmosphere (which is usually a cliche, but this game was MADNESS).

the absolute best part? 2 fold:

1-its the last time the devs and rangers will play in the meadowlands ever, so it was an awesome send-off, and even better

2-its the first half of a home and home. 2nd half is thursday. record it, people. 2 fights should be pretty much guaranteed, and some much needed hitting and hate

[watravaler]

Originally Posted by watravaler

The Blackhawks will probably suck, that is all.

Of course...

[klayman]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

Sort of seems like it, doesn't it? While Marc Andre certainly wasn't getting the job done as an "offensive defenseman", general consensus has been that what the Oilers are really lacking is an offensive defensmen, someone to make that first past out of the zone. Given the (alleged) talent up front, the Oilers should be much better than they have been offensively, many have blamed their lack of firepower on the lack of a defensemen who can move the puck (e.g., Pronger, Spacek, etc.). There was a lot of talk of the Oilers trying to get Eric Brewer or Brad Stuart. Shipping Bergeon off doesn't seem to really help their problem, then again he really didn't seem part of the solution either.

Agreed. It seems to be a "seller" move. Unless of course they have a deal in place to get that top 2 defenceman. But I highly doubt that. I think Smyth is gone before Tuesday, hopefully MacT follows him at the end of the year.

[Travis]

Originally Posted by klayman

Agreed. It seems to be a "seller" move. Unless of course they have a deal in place to get that top 2 defenceman. But I highly doubt that. I think Smyth is gone before Tuesday, hopefully MacT follows him at the end of the year.

I'll throw the bone out there that they may just feel that Gilbert has a better chance to be that first pass than Bergeron, even if they can't get a deal done to get a guy in here. Bergeron had lost his spot on the PP to Peterson (thanks MacT) and his minutes were going downhill. I like Bergeron and think he has all the tools to be a very good 3-4 (and second PP unit) guy on a lot of team, but the fans/coaches decided to run him out of town a long time ago.

We've got a game in hand and 5 games remaining against Minnesota, so there's still some light. I think Lowe is likely waiting to see how the next two games go. Take at least a point on Thursday and beat Minny on Friday we make a purchase, if not, well, at least Sykora helped his trade value out last night.

[Honolulu_Blue]

I wonder if Bergeron's play started to suffer from just trying to do too much. Last year the Oilers had Pronger, Spacek, and Tarnstrom, all defensemen who could move the puck to a varying degree. This year Bergeron was pretty much the only guy along the blueline with that skill set.

I agree, I think he's a decent 3-4 defensemen who should see some power-play time, but can't be relied upon to be "the" guy when it comes to offense from the blueline.

[Draft Dodger]

Originally Posted by klayman

Agreed. It seems to be a "seller" move. Unless of course they have a deal in place to get that top 2 defenceman. But I highly doubt that. I think Smyth is gone before Tuesday, hopefully MacT follows him at the end of the year.

well be happy to take either/both

signed,
Colorado

[Karim]

Can anyone figure this out?

The Flames have the best home record and the second worst road record in the NHL. Last night's loss to Colorado was the sixth straight loss on the road.

The players are sick and tired of having to answer media questions, alway saying they weren't ready. How can you not be ready? You get paid millions to play 60 minutes, the coaches obviously get you ready at home, so what's the deal?

Everything is on the table to try and solve the problem - leadership, coaching, identity.

I don't think it will happen but there's some talk that if Sutter really feels the pieces are in place, maybe he should pull a New Jersey and replace Playfair before the playoffs.

[Travis]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

I wonder if Bergeron's play started to suffer from just trying to do too much. Last year the Oilers had Pronger, Spacek, and Tarnstrom, all defensemen who could move the puck to a varying degree. This year Bergeron was pretty much the only guy along the blueline with that skill set.

I agree, I think he's a decent 3-4 defensemen who should see some power-play time, but can't be relied upon to be "the" guy when it comes to offense from the blueline.

That's pretty much it imho. Bergeron, right now, is best suited to be your blue line shooter on the first unit PP or a primary point guy on the second unit. 5 on 5 he has the skillset to be a second pairing guy, potentially first pairing if it ever *clicks* for him, and that's where our coaching staff failed. The biggest problem with the team this year (and definitely for Bergeron) was that MacTavish was trying to force players into predefined roles rather than moulding a system to fit the talents he has. Bergeron, right now, is not an outlet guy. He either skates the puck out of the zone, or should be asked to make the safe play under pressure. The problem is, our system has the wingers play high, so the fundamental pass along the boards repeatedly gets picked off because our wingers don't come deep enough to receive that pass. MacT wants his defense to make the first pass to the top of the circle or the blue line, not the faceoff dot or below.

Specifically, Bergeron would try the board pass, recover the puck, then look up the middle because the boards wouldn't work, it'd get picked off, he's now a goat. It was amplified here because of how Roloson got hurt in the Cup Finals last year, a play any and nearly all defensemen have made (one of my biggest pet peeves), it blew up in Bergeron's face because Roloson has a habit of butterflying with his leg outside the post, so impact didn't drive him into the net, but into the post causing the injury. Since that time, Bergeron has been the whipping boy to the local fans/media and was doomed to be driven out unless he was the second coming of Pronger this year.

Also marks the second year we had a defenseman win or place second in both hardest shot and fastest skater in the teams skills competition and not finish the year with the team (Bergeron this year, Alexei Semenov the prior year). Both were guys with all the physical tools, but our staff was unable to unlock/figure out a way to get them to think the game well. I hope both succeed in other places (though Semenov thus far hasn't made many strides).

Now the pressure is on Gilbert as they figure he's a better offensive option at this point (and we can only pray he replaces Toby Peterson on the powerplay).

Unfortunately, there's no way MacT isn't back next year, so for guys like Schremp, Pouliot, Jacques, Winchester, Smid, Gilbert, etc, it'll be another year of having their growth limited and potentially even capped.

::end rant apparently::

[Travis]

Originally Posted by Karim

Can anyone figure this out?

The Flames have the best home record and the second worst road record in the NHL. Last night's loss to Colorado was the sixth straight loss on the road.

The players are sick and tired of having to answer media questions, alway saying they weren't ready. How can you not be ready? You get paid millions to play 60 minutes, the coaches obviously get you ready at home, so what's the deal?

Everything is on the table to try and solve the problem - leadership, coaching, identity.

I don't think it will happen but there's some talk that if Sutter really feels the pieces are in place, maybe he should pull a New Jersey and replace Playfair before the playoffs.

Dola: It's a longshot, but I was talking with a buddy today, and if (big if) Edmonton can take 4 of 5 from Minnesota down the stretch and Colorado plays well, there is a chance one or both replace Minny/Calgary in the playoffs. Not only would I love it (been dealing with a couple really annoying Calgary fans declaring the Flames dominance for the last month), but how amazing would it be for THE top home record to miss the playoffs.

Never mind that Calgary's window is closing once Kipper and Phaneuf have to be resigned, that'd be one heckuva stumble.

[Tekneek]

I can't make any sense of the trade. It almost seems like they had to pay the Islanders to take Bergeron. Grebeshkov is not a good take in the deal, especially having to give up a draft pick as well. Bergeron is easily a better player right now and maybe forever. It doesn't make any sense to me right now nor in the future.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Henrik Zetterberg is playing very, very, very good right now. He's easily been the best player in the NHL over the last month or so. It's been a treat to watch him play.

The Wings are in the midst of a really good stretch with pretty much all of their offense being generated by one line: Zetterberg, Datsyuk, and Holmstrom. The Wings really need to make a move to shore up a second line. I don't fancy their chances in the playoffs if they have to rely on one line to produce, especially given Datsyuk's last than stellar track record in the playoffs. Mikael Samuelsson coming back may help, but it wont be enough.

The prices being thrown around out there for the guys reported to be available it ridiculously high right now. The Wings will probably make a move regardless. It'd be silly for them not to try and make a run this year given how well Hasek and has played/held-up *knocks soundly on wood*.

[NoSkillz]

Awesome, AWESOME game in Buffalo tonight that I was lucky enough to see live, as the Amerks...errr...Sabres beat the Senators 6-5 in a shootout.

Innocent enough game until Chris Drury got split open on a controversial hit by Chris Neil. Ensuing faceoff sees a couple of Buffalo's thugs go after Heatley and Spezza, resulting in a full line brawl, including the goaltenders!!

Biron got destroyed by Ray Emery but then Andrew Peters comes in and says "pick on someone your own size" and THEY go at it!!!

Two fighting majors on the same SHIFT for Ray Emery. Both goalies kicked out...Peters kicked out...

Sick game too! No voice left!

Unfortunately, Buffalo has now lost an incredible SEVEN STARTERS in their last six games. It's essentially an AHL squad yet they still have taken 11 of their last 12 points and still are first overall in the NHL.

[Tekneek]

Regardless of what happened with Drury and Neil, I am VERY unimpressed with Peters going after Emery. He didn't do anything unfair to Biron. He simply beat him fairly and then tried to allow him to get back up, which Martin responded to by tripping Emery. Then Peters the Goon comes over trying to act like a knuckledragger from years gone by.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Originally Posted by NoSkillz

Awesome, AWESOME game in Buffalo tonight that I was lucky enough to see live, as the Amerks...errr...Sabres beat the Senators 6-5 in a shootout.

Innocent enough game until Chris Drury got split open on a controversial hit by Chris Neil. Ensuing faceoff sees a couple of Buffalo's thugs go after Heatley and Spezza, resulting in a full line brawl, including the goaltenders!!

Biron got destroyed by Ray Emery but then Andrew Peters comes in and says "pick on someone your own size" and THEY go at it!!!

Two fighting majors on the same SHIFT for Ray Emery. Both goalies kicked out...Peters kicked out...

Sick game too! No voice left!

Unfortunately, Buffalo has now lost an incredible SEVEN STARTERS in their last six games. It's essentially an AHL squad yet they still have taken 11 of their last 12 points and still are first overall in the NHL.

From what I've read, Murray and Ruff didn't have too many kind words for each other either. Interested to see what, if any, fines/penalties assessed to Ruff for lining up the goons--well one goon, Peters, and whoever else is left in Buffalo, Adam Mair??--to start the whole thing.

[Tekneek]

No doubt he sent them out there to start something against a line of forwards that was all skill for the Senators (Spezza, Heatley, and Comrie). Spezza turtled immediately, Heatley ran around like a girl, and Comrie was the smallest guy on the ice. The defensemen got involved, but they were outnumbered. I wish Peters had beat the shit out of Heatley instead of going after Emery. Ray Emery is obviously way tougher than Spezza AND Heatley. I give Comrie a little bit of a pass since he is so much smaller than all those other guys.

I've seen the hit on Drury now and my opinion is that it was just as clean as any of those big hits delivered by Scott Stevens over the years. I was never happy about those hits, but if you were the type of person who thought those were good then I don't know that you can say too much about this one.

[Maple Leafs]

Funny (and true) line by Bill Watters on Sportsnet: Andrew Peters is thrilled, this is the first fight he's won all year.

I'm still pretty shocked that no Senator came to Emery's aid when Peters came in. I know Emery might legitimately be their toughest player, but that's your starting goalie getting jumped by the other team's thug. How do you know get in there? I don't know whether some guys had already been escorted off, but there must have been someone.

I hate to say it, but this is almost a situation where if the guys on the ice won't do anything then somebody needs to come off the bench. You get 10 games, fine, but that's your meal ticket.

[Dr. Sak]

I'd pay money to see Lindy Ruff get his ass kicked.

[Pumpy Tudors]

I was bowling last night, but I saw clips of the Senators/Sabres brawl on one of the TVs in the place. I stopped bowling to scream "GOALIE FIGHT!!!" and then a few seconds later, they show Peters and Emery going at it, and I said, "Wait... that's not both goalies." I figured Biron had gotten his ass kicked and Emery was just looking for someone else to go after. Now, after reading more about it, Biron got his ass kicked and Peters went after Emery. Entertaining stuff, even in highlights. I'm sure it'll be up on YouTube any minute now.

I want to find more clips of it just to watch Heatley's involvement. That sounds hilarious.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Dola

Sure enough, it's all over YouTube right now.

Edit to add: Bwahahaha, Heatley and Spezza are hilarious in this. One of the Sabres starts shoving Heatley before the linesman even drops the puck. As soon as the puck drops, Heatley takes off. Absolutely beautiful. Also, Comrie looks like a little boy compared to all those bigger guys on the ice.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by Tekneek

Regardless of what happened with Drury and Neil, I am VERY unimpressed with Peters going after Emery. He didn't do anything unfair to Biron. He simply beat him fairly and then tried to allow him to get back up, which Martin responded to by tripping Emery. Then Peters the Goon comes over trying to act like a knuckledragger from years gone by.

Agreed. Just because one goalie happens to be 5x the man as the other, doesn't mean it wasn't a fair fight. Goalies pair off...that's what happens. And like you said, he won the fight, and that was it. It's not like when Cloutier beat the shit out of Salo, and then continued to beat him (oblig. Youtube clip: http://youtube.com/watch?v=2oBvnUkEr4M).

The hit on Drury was dirty in the sense that it was definitely late, but there was no elbow like Ruff was claiming. And if Drury's helmet stayed on tight, this probably wouldn't have turned into a mess. And Murray should be fired for sending Spezza, Heatley, Comrie out there...talk about moronic.

[Pumpy Tudors]

I hadn't thought about Murray's stupidity in putting those forwards out there after the hit on Drury. Buffalo's got the last change, so who does he think Ruff is sending out there? Daniel Briere? Murray could've sent his toughest guys out there for the faceoff, and then you could've had a real 6-on-6 brawl out there.

I can only imagine what was going through Mike Comrie's mind when he took the ice for that faceoff. At least it looked like the Sabres pretty much left him alone. Poor guy.

[Draft Dodger]

that's the first thing that I thought of too. Spezza, Heatly and Comrie? that's stupider than stupid

[Draft Dodger]

that's the first thing that I thought of too. Spezza, Heatly and Comrie? that's stupider than stupid

[Maple Leafs]

Hmm, I had only seen clips, just saw the full footage on Youtube. I revise my opinion on two points:

- Emery and Biron were ready to square off again, so maybe there's some defence for Peters coming in. In the highlights it looked like the fight was done and Peters jut jumped in, but they may have been ready to go again. So it's just bad, not terrible.

- Holy crap, there are actually Senators standing around during the Peters/Emery fight! They're not even tied up with other guys, they're just standing there. That's a disgrace.

[Tekneek]

Put the line change in a different perspective. I thought of it like this...

Senators are down by 1 goal. Just a couple of minutes ago they gave up two quick goals to Buffalo. Neil just hit Drury and reasonably got the best of Stafford in the resulting fight. In a lot of games, there isn't a line brawl immediately when somebody has already challenged and fought the player that made the hit. Maybe Murray thought they could seize a little momentum off of the play. Ruff held his change back and was a little slow sending his guys out there. He knew he was sending tough guys out against skilled guys with no toughness. He might have held them off and done it a few minutes later if Murray had sent out the tough guys. Keep in mind that Buffalo had the last change and Ruff looked like he was being as slow as he could be by the video.

[Maple Leafs]

I bet the Sabres don't do much on Saturday night. Typically, even in a heated rivalry teams don't do much in front of a building full of the other teams fans.

- Detroit didn't do much against the Avs in Colorado
- Vancouver didn't do anything against the Avs in Colorado
- Ottawa didn't do anything against the Leafs in Ottawa

etc.

[MikeVic]

When's the last time a goalie scored a goal? I don't think I've seen or heard about that in a long time... but I know it's happened before... or am I just imagining things?

[Maple Leafs]

Originally Posted by MikeVic

When's the last time a goalie scored a goal? I don't think I've seen or heard about that in a long time... but I know it's happened before... or am I just imagining things?

I think Brodeur was the last to shoot and score. Occasionally a goalie will get credit for being the last to touch the puck before a team scored on their own net (with the goalie pulled). I know Damian Rhodes got one that way a few years back.

[Honolulu_Blue]

I think Brodeur is right. Osgood scored one a long, long time ago too.

[Pumpy Tudors]

According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goaltender, the last NHL goalie to shoot and score was Evgeni Nabokov on the power play. Mika Noronen and Chris Mason have scored since, but that was like Maple Leafs mentioned, as they were just the last player on their own team to touch it.

Brodeur's the only one to have a game-winning goal. Considering how many games he's won for the Devils over the past 13 years, it's fitting.

[MikeVic]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goaltender, the last NHL goalie to shoot and score was Evgeni Nabokov on the power play. Mika Noronen and Chris Mason have scored since, but that was like Maple Leafs mentioned, as they were just the last player on their own team to touch it.

Brodeur's the only one to have a game-winning goal. Considering how many games he's won for the Devils over the past 13 years, it's fitting.

Thanks! There's something I've always liked about goalies scoring goals.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by Tekneek

Put the line change in a different perspective. I thought of it like this...

Senators are down by 1 goal. Just a couple of minutes ago they gave up two quick goals to Buffalo. Neil just hit Drury and reasonably got the best of Stafford in the resulting fight. In a lot of games, there isn't a line brawl immediately when somebody has already challenged and fought the player that made the hit. Maybe Murray thought they could seize a little momentum off of the play. Ruff held his change back and was a little slow sending his guys out there. He knew he was sending tough guys out against skilled guys with no toughness. He might have held them off and done it a few minutes later if Murray had sent out the tough guys. Keep in mind that Buffalo had the last change and Ruff looked like he was being as slow as he could be by the video.

Those are all fair points...but forget about being down a goal and looking for momentum, and forget that the tough guys could be sent out at anytime looking for revenge...I just don't think you send your two franchise players out there right away. Ruff looked like he was going to explode the entire time; I think there was very little doubt that he would eventually put his instigators out there on that first shift. I don't know enough about Ottawa's team...but given their record, they gotta have a second line of guys who have potential for a quick goal and also could at least hold their own out there. Putting Spezza out there was just ridiculous and stupid. Not to mention anyone could've crushed Comrie like a bug if they felt like it.

[Maple Leafs]

Originally Posted by Logan

Those are all fair points...but forget about being down a goal and looking for momentum, and forget that the tough guys could be sent out at anytime looking for revenge...I just don't think you send your two franchise players out there right away. Ruff looked like he was going to explode the entire time; I think there was very little doubt that he would eventually put his instigators out there on that first shift. I don't know enough about Ottawa's team...but given their record, they gotta have a second line of guys who have potential for a quick goal and also could at least hold their own out there. Putting Spezza out there was just ridiculous and stupid. Not to mention anyone could've crushed Comrie like a bug if they felt like it.

Here's another thought: once you see who Buffalo has out there, and especially once Ruff starts ranting and pointing... why not call timeout?

[Logan]

Originally Posted by Maple Leafs

Here's another thought: once you see who Buffalo has out there, and especially once Ruff starts ranting and pointing... why not call timeout?

I thought the same thing when I saw the highlights and was going to post that...but for some reason I was under the impression that timeouts can only be called during the breaks in action, and once everyone gets lined up for the faceoff, it can't be done. I can't think of one time where I saw that happen. But if it's legal, quadruple moron points to Murray.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Originally Posted by Logan

Putting Spezza out there was just ridiculous and stupid. Not to mention anyone could've crushed Comrie like a bug if they felt like it.

I love how you don't mention Heatley.

[Maple Leafs]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

I love how you don't mention Heatley.

Hey now... the last time Heatley sped away from a scene that fast, someone wound up dead.