The OFFICIAL 2008-09 NHL Thread

[samifan24]

The poor Islanders signed Wade Dubielewicz because both DiPietro and MacDonald are out for a long time. They invited him to practice and we all ready to go when they learned that he had to pass through waivers before they could sign him and then learned that Columbus had claimed him. Normally I'd give a team the benefit of the doubt in this case but this is the Islanders. Is it really possible that they simply forgot that he would be subject to waivers? How does that even happen to an NHL franchise?

[bbor]

Originally Posted by samifan24

The poor Islanders signed Wade Dubielewicz because both DiPietro and MacDonald are out for a long time. They invited him to practice and we all ready to go when they learned that he had to pass through waivers before they could sign him and then learned that Columbus had claimed him. Normally I'd give a team the benefit of the doubt in this case but this is the Islanders. Is it really possible that they simply forgot that he would be subject to waivers? How does that even happen to an NHL franchise?

Garth Snow.

[samifan24]

Between Garth Snow and Mike Dunham, I think the Isles lead the league in former goalies in the front office.

[JPhillips]

It's too bad the cap is eventually going to play havoc with all the young talent on the Bruins and Caps. That could be a great rivalry over the next decade. The two games at Verizon this year have been great battles.

[DeToxRox]

Originally Posted by Suburban Rhythm

Franzen I could see getting $5M from someone who really needs a scorer (Canucks, Islanders)...and then be upset when they realize what they've paid for.

No knock on Franzen, he'd probably still score 30, but that 30 is different on a team without Hossa, Z, Datsyuk in front of him.

Hudler would be a great fit in Pittsburgh, but we are in no position to be going after RFAs. We'll be bringing in Jason Williams (CBJ version) and Richard Zednik in on one year deals to replace Satan and Fedotenko

I love Franzen, but he is hurt; a lot, and as you said, it's a lot easier to play with Z and Dats then it is if he goes to the Isle to play with ... Exactly.

The Z deal is a risk. If he had no back problems, I am fine with it, as 38 is not an old age for a hockey player. He could still be a 60 point guy at 38, but that's if he can even play 70 + games by then.

Still, he's in line to be the next captain, and I feel it is needed to keep that stability within the organization.

He is a warrior out there, and the players love playing with him.

Plus, even in her 30's his girlfriend being around 10 years is boss.

[bhlloy]

So CR... not to gloat or anything but was I right about Bobby Ryan?

Kid has been absolutely ridiculous, he's already playing almost at the level of Getzlaf with more of a scorer's instinct. Even I couldn't have imagined him having the puck handling and skating ability he's shown so far - I thought of him more as a power forward who could also skate a bit. Either way, I'll take it.

I'm quietly confident of our chances for the rest of the season, even with how good the Sharks and Wings are. When Selanne comes back, should have 4 top notch offensive options, which we haven't had in forever. And we haven't missed Beauchemain as much as I thought we would (where the hell did Montador come from, he is looking really good) If you had told me at the start of the year we would have this many injuries (7 rookies/young AHL guys in the lineup last night?) and still be flirting with the top 4 in the conference, I'd have been pretty happy.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

So CR... not to gloat or anything but was I right about Bobby Ryan?

Kid has been absolutely ridiculous, he's already playing almost at the level of Getzlaf with more of a scorer's instinct. Even I couldn't have imagined him having the puck handling and skating ability he's shown so far - I thought of him more as a power forward who could also skate a bit. Either way, I'll take it.

I'm quietly confident of our chances for the rest of the season, even with how good the Sharks and Wings are. When Selanne comes back, should have 4 top notch offensive options, which we haven't had in forever. And we haven't missed Beauchemain as much as I thought we would (where the hell did Montador come from, he is looking really good) If you had told me at the start of the year we would have this many injuries (7 rookies/young AHL guys in the lineup last night?) and still be flirting with the top 4 in the conference, I'd have been pretty happy.

Heh...it's funny, but maybe we have established our roles with respect to each other, where you're more optimistic, and I am more pessimistic, and we can act as checks on one another. I am encouraged by what you say here, because none of it is wrong, and the team has been through a lot. Ryan suddenly looks like a Calder candidate.

(Prepare for pessimism)

That said, we have played more games than anyone else in the West at this point with 47 points, and we're just at the top of a large group of teams, all of whom have at least a game in hand on us, and most two or three. We are near the top four in position, but we're not really near the top four in points. I view the Sharks, Wings, Flames and Hawks as being on another level above the rest of the West right now.

All that said, you're right that to be where we are with all the injuries we have had is impressive. Ebbett particularly looks like a keeper among the kids, although I wish Festerling would provide more of a scoring touch as a D-man, something he did in the minors but hasn't here. We also need Hedican and Morrison to play a little closer to their billings, and Jiggy needs to bounce back, too (or we need to go with Hiller). The checking line needs to be more consistent, and so do the special teams. Plus, we just need to get healthy, which we haven't been able to do.

Teemu coming back (and Huskins and Marchant) will help in some of these areas, but outside of Teemu, I don't see any of them having a big enough impact to make us turn that corner, so we need a lot of the above to happen, IMO, especially since we can't really do much in a trade up against the cap.

This team has made a disturbing habit of taking and then giving up leads, like that awful game against the Wings which we should have won. It has happened a countless number of times, almost always in the third period, and it's very troubling, because it's hard not to blame things like that on heart and on coaching, and those are tougher things to fix in midseason.

Sorry to be Captain Bringdown. The rest of the way is going to be a lot of fun to watch as a fan, but I am very cautious about how I am feeling about this particular team's makeup right now.

[Draft Dodger]

Ryan Smyth and Milan Hejduk each scored their 300th goal last night, just the 2nd time in NHL history that teammates had done it in the same game (Ivan Boldriev and Danny Gare did it in 83)

[johnnyshaka]

Originally Posted by Draft Dodger

Ryan Smyth and Milan Hejduk each scored their 300th goal last night, just the 2nd time in NHL history that teammates had done it in the same game (Ivan Boldriev and Danny Gare did it in 83)

Was really hoping to see Smyth get his when the Oilers were in town. Regardless, great to see him reach that milestone.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Unless there's been some breaking news I missed, Brendan Shanahan will play for the Devils tonight in Nashville. I'm excited about it. I'm not sure exactly what he'll bring to the team yet, but it'll be fun to see.

As the days pass, I'm even more excited about Brodeur's return in the next six weeks or so. Sure, he may need a couple of games to shake the rust off, but he'll be rested for the stretch run and the playoffs. If the offense can stay anywhere near its current pace, a well-rested Brodeur should make the Devils a strong contender in the East. The experience of guys like Holik, Rolston, Shanahan, and Elias should help keep the youngsters focused.

Now if we only had a defenseman with some skills on offense. Paul Martin tries sometimes, but the Rafalski days spoiled me.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Dola

And did I just see on TSN's website that the Sharks called up Claude Lemieux?!

[Suburban Rhythm]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

Dola

And did I just see on TSN's website that the Sharks called up Claude Lemieux?!

Yep. Heard it on XM.

Shanahan. Claude Lemieux. I'll start the 'Mario Lemieux, best shape of his life' rumor...

[Suburban Rhythm]

YouTube - Marc Andre Fleury with Terrible Towel

[MikeVic]

Awesome!

[samifan24]

The St. Louis Blues beat Boston in a shootout today, except that the game never should have gone to a shootout in the first place. The Blues scored the game tying goal with less than 1.5 seconds left in regulation when David Backes knocked the puck down with a high stick. The referees deliberated for a good five minutes. They showed a few different angles on TV and it looked to me that Backes stick was above the crossbar when he hit the puck.

[Suburban Rhythm]

They must have been confused and thought it was Crosby again.

[samifan24]

How has David Krejci still not been added to the Eastern Conference All Star team? He's 12th in the league in scoring! He's the only player in the top 12 (more than 12 players because of ties) not on an All Star team. How does this happen?

[Pyser]

shrug. elias is 9th last time i checked and he isnt going either.

and hey, the devils have played about 85% of their season without brodeur, and are in first place. so, yeah.

[Dr. Sak]

For the second straight year the NHL All-Star game will be without one of the game's biggest stars as Sidney Crosby has pulled out of this weekend's mid-winter classic in Montreal. Crosby, who currently sits second in league scoring with 60 points, has taken the advice of Penguins doctors and will rest injured knee over the All-Star break. He will be replaced on the Eastern Conference team by Martin St. Louis.

[Dr. Sak]

Wow I didn't know Rick DiPietro was out for the year.

[samifan24]

Originally Posted by Pyser

shrug. elias is 9th last time i checked and he isnt going either.

and hey, the devils have played about 85% of their season without brodeur, and are in first place. so, yeah.

I had no idea Elias wasn't going. Elias, Krejci and Daniel Sedin are all in the top 15 in scoring and we have guys like Mike Komisarek and Mark Streit going to the All Star Game. So stupid. It won't really matter, though, because now that Crosby's out, I bet the ratings will be pretty poor anyway.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Dr. Sak

For the second straight year the NHL All-Star game will be without one of the game's biggest stars as Sidney Crosby has pulled out of this weekend's mid-winter classic in Montreal. Crosby, who currently sits second in league scoring with 60 points, has taken the advice of Penguins doctors and will rest injured knee over the All-Star break. He will be replaced on the Eastern Conference team by Martin St. Louis.

Not to mention that the only representative of the reigning Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings will be Mike Babcock. Both Datsyuk and Lidstrom pulled out.

To be honest, I could care less. The last All-Star game I remember watching was the one where Owen Nolan called his goal when he went in on Hasek.

[Dr. Sak]

Gary fires back...

Pittsburgh has no intention of testing NHL commissioner Gary Bettman's threat to suspend those who choose not show in Montreal for this weekends All-Star festivities.

Penguins captain Sidney Crosby is en route to Montreal and will arrive early this afternoon to fully participate in all off-ice All-Star activities.

The NHL says it will enforce an understanding that all players who decline to show after being named to the All-Star teams must miss at least one game before or one game after the All-Star weekend.

If so, Detroit's Pavel Datsyuk and Nicklas Lidstrom may be forced to sit the Red Wings next game if they don't immediately change their All-Star break plans and report to Montreal

[Logan]

Now that they're officially out, follow up article stating that Datsyuk and Lidstrom will miss the next Wings game.

Nicklas Lidstrom, Pavel Datsyuk must sit out Detroit Red Wings' next game - ESPN

Interesting policy, I think I like it.

[Suburban Rhythm]

COLD WAR OVER?



Malkin later assisted in the breakaway challenge-

YouTube - Alex Ovechkin Breakaway Challenge 2009 NHL All-Star Skills Competition


Rumored that Ilya Kovulchuk played the role of mediator... he must have poured the vodka.

Edit to add-- Those pants make Ovechkin looks REALLY excited to make up!

[Dr. Sak]

Is anyone watching the All-Star game?

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by Dr. Sak

Is anyone watching the All-Star game?

I would like to, but I don't get Versus on the TV near my computer, and I have some things to take care of today. I'll probably exit the room with my computer and watch the game for a bit on the TV that does get Versus. Is Ovechkin wearing a Canada flag hat?

[Dr. Sak]

Not right now he isn't. But there is some weird opening ceremony going on right now.

[DeToxRox]

Not NHL but Todd Bertuzzi has company as scum of the earth.

Here is a great summary from mgoblog plus the video:

I tried not to write this post exactly like this. I waited, and tried not to go completely nuclear.

I sit four rows behind Steven Kampfer's parents. I know this because last night, when Steve Kampfer laid on the ice after being assaulted from behind by Andrew Conboy and then slashed in the head by Corey Tropp, one group of enraged Michigan fans was even more shocked than the rest of the crowd. Kampfer's mother went down to the State bench and started screaming. An usher came up to restrain her, and she cried out "that's my son." Another relative was looking around incredulously, crying, panicking, her hands waving in the air pointlessly. It's the kind of random motion you make when something has to be done and you're totally helpless. Kampfer's dad left, and I thought about following him.

Later Comley would relate that a Michigan fan broke into the locker room and tried to fight Tropp; multiple reports say it was him. I wish I, and about 200 students, had been there, too. But that's the difference between men and pigs like Conboy and Tropp: we weren't.

I thought maybe I'd be less livid after sleeping on it. I'm not. What happened last night was the most disgraceful thing I've ever seen at a sporting event, and if either of those two animals ever plays against Michigan again I'll be hoping they break their necks. That is not a kind or noble or understanding thing to say, but it's true. That was disgusting. Both should be kicked out of the CCHA, period.

Someone who should also be gone: Kevin Hall. Hall watched Conboy pull all sorts of crap, including punching Tristin Llewellyn in the face as he looked at it directly, and didn't put a stop to it. Given the opportunity to boot him off the ice with a ten minute misconduct for unsportsmanlike, he instead turned it into a minor and let Conboy loose with under a minute left. He lost control of the game. He's an idiot. He should be fired.

And let's not exonerate Comley here. He recruited Conboy and knew exactly what he was getting. Conboy's older brother was booted out of SCSU for anger management issues (side note: how big of a prick must their father be? I can only imagine) and he racked up huge penalty totals across three years of juniors. He's their leading PIM guy this year, and the announcers in the above clip euphemistically call him State's "police/enforcer," by which they mean talentless thug. During the game it became clearer and clearer that Conboy was just looking for heads to add to the wall, but Comley kept throwing him out there. Down two goals with under ten minutes on the clock, Comley went to a guy with five points on the season.

Then Comley managed to impugn a couple of Michigan players' class for talking crap to him after all this in the postgame presser. You can say whatever you want about how nice a guy he is and what an ambassador for the game he is, but that's pathetic. That's someone in denial about what happened and his role in it.

As for Tropp: a two-handed slash to the head of a prone, motionless player should be cause for ejection from the team, expulsion from school, and criminal charges. I hope the Kampfer family presses charges, and I look forward to seeing Tropp's arrest for meth addiction in my local electronic newspaper in 15 years.

Update: MVictors has frame-by-frame stuff on the incident; Yost Built also has a right-on take. On review, the Tropp thing is even more unbelievable: you can watch him cock his stick, see Kampfer is prone on the ground, and then wait for a better shot.

Update II: Impartial Wisconsin fan and former UMD announcer Bruce Ciskie at Fanhouse:

Oh, and [Tropp] slashed a player who was probably unconscious at the time. There's a special place in hockey hell for people like that.

[DeToxRox]

And to note, in October Kampfer was brutally assaulted by a UM Walkon Football player, where he had skull and neck injuries, and was in a Halo. His career was in jepoardy, let alone this season. He makes a remarkable comeback, and then this.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by Dr. Sak

Is anyone watching the All-Star game?

Watching despite not having Versus HD.

[Dr. Sak]

Originally Posted by Logan

Watching despite not having Versus HD.

Wow that stinks. Hockey looks so much better in HD.

[Logan]

Looooooong intro.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by Dr. Sak

Wow that stinks. Hockey looks so much better in HD.

You're telling me. At my last apartment, we didn't get MSG in HD which meant not a single Ranger game in HD. Get that now though, so it's an improvement. I don't know if TWC offers Versus HD at all...

[Dr. Sak]

I have Centre Ice so unless the Flyers play the Pens or are on Versus/NBC I don't get any hockey in HD.

[Maple Leafs]

Re: the Kampfer assault.

Are we allowed to use this as an example of what can happen in a league with no fighting, or are the anti-fighting guys the only ones who are allowed to jump on a tragedy to help enforce their argument?

[Dr. Sak]

I wonder if Savard will drop the F-bomb again like he did when he was miced up in the skills competition last night.

[samifan24]

Originally Posted by Dr. Sak

I wonder if Savard will drop the F-bomb again like he did when he was miced up in the skills competition last night.

I didn't hear that. When did it happen?

[Dr. Sak]

Originally Posted by samifan24

I didn't hear that. When did it happen?

The breakaway challenge...he was skating in...lost control of the puck...went fuccck...then scored.

[DeToxRox]

This is worse then the Rookie/Sophmore game. No one is even trying to skate. Can we just end this? Please?

[Dr. Sak]

I'd be pissed if I was a goalie.

[Groundhog]

Wow. I'll admit that I never watch Ice Hockey, but I just caught 5 minutes of the All-Star game. I've never seen a professional sport played with less passion, intensity, or excitement.

[yacovfb]

Originally Posted by Groundhog

Wow. I'll admit that I never watch Ice Hockey, but I just caught 5 minutes of the All-Star game. I've never seen a professional sport played with less passion, intensity, or excitement.

So you don't watch the Pro Bowl or NBA All Star game then, I take it?

[Groundhog]

Originally Posted by yacovfb

So you don't watch the Pro Bowl or NBA All Star game then, I take it?

To be honest, I've never watched a Pro Bowl, but the NBA All Star game, as much as I detest it, is still many times more interesting than what I saw go down on the ice today.

[Travis]

It's too bad the whole game wasn't played the way the last 5-10 minutes of the third period was played, that was starting to get pretty good. I did enjoy the commentary by Luongo during the third.

[Galaxy]

Originally Posted by Groundhog

To be honest, I've never watched a Pro Bowl, but the NBA All Star game, as much as I detest it, is still many times more interesting than what I saw go down on the ice today.

All-Star games are a horrible judgement of a player's passion. I wish all-star games got axed.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by Groundhog

Wow. I'll admit that I never watch Ice Hockey, but I just caught 5 minutes of the All-Star game. I've never seen a professional sport played with less passion, intensity, or excitement.

Jeez, Groundhog, why pick the worst possible game to watch as your first time being exposed by hockey? Are you intentionally trying to avoid getting interested? Are there any cricket exhibitions between club teams I could watch, too? lol...

[DeToxRox]

Zetterberg extension announced tomorrow:

12 years, 72 mil

It will be 12-year deal worth slighty more than $72 million, making it the longest and most lucrative contract (in total value) in franchise history. The Wings were able to sign him for a salary-cap figure of slightly more than $6 million per season by adding two years at the end of the deal worth just $1 million per season.

[NoSkillz]

As a Sabres fan, I just want to thank the Oilers for deciding to take an extra day of vacation after the all-star break.

[samifan24]

Didn't the Red Wings learn from the DiPietro contract? 10+ years is way too long of a contract in the NHL.