The OFFICIAL 2008-09 NHL Thread

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by DeToxRox

Shut up. You listen to Sevendust! You've lost FOFC Mike Grier status I am afraid.

WTF? Two Sevendust references in my life in a matter of like 4 hours? Again I say "WTF?"

The first conversation about them came this afternoon when to my amusement I discovered that they're opening for Black Label Society at an upcoming gig in suburban Atlanta. Nothing funny about that you say?

They're playing at Wild Bill's, best known as a country bar billing itself as "America's Largest Dance Club and Concert Hall".

[Pumpy Tudors]

I love Sevendust.

[MikeVic]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

I love Colin White.

For shame.

[johnnyshaka]

I've seen several references to this and I've obviously missed something along the way so I'll just ask...Pumpy, why all the hate for Colin White?

Before you answer, keep in mind, I picked White and my little brother up at about 3am and had "breakfast" at Denny's with them the night/morning after they won the Memorial Cup. I won't deny that he's got some screws loose, but he was friggin' fun to watch in Junior because there wasn't a tougher guy on the ice and he wasn't afraid to fill in anybody's face. Also on that team was Peter Worrell, another great kid who loved hockey but really hated that he was as big as he was because he'd rather score goals than smash faces...how ironic.

[samifan24]

Originally Posted by johnnyshaka

Also on that team was Peter Worrell, another great kid who loved hockey but really hated that he was as big as he was because he'd rather score goals than smash faces...how ironic.

Sorry...don't you mean Andreas Lilja?

[johnnyshaka]

Originally Posted by samifan24

Sorry...don't you mean Andreas Lilja?

Not sure I follow...

[Pumpy Tudors]

Originally Posted by johnnyshaka

I've seen several references to this and I've obviously missed something along the way so I'll just ask...Pumpy, why all the hate for Colin White?

Before you answer, keep in mind, I picked White and my little brother up at about 3am and had "breakfast" at Denny's with them the night/morning after they won the Memorial Cup. I won't deny that he's got some screws loose, but he was friggin' fun to watch in Junior because there wasn't a tougher guy on the ice and he wasn't afraid to fill in anybody's face. Also on that team was Peter Worrell, another great kid who loved hockey but really hated that he was as big as he was because he'd rather score goals than smash faces...how ironic.

I made the following post on March 9, 2006:

I can tell you why I hate Colin White. First of all, the stupid penalties. Perhaps he doesn't take as many anymore, but he has literally cost the Devils a handful of games over the past few seasons singlehandedly. He's big and can hit people, but that's to be expected. What he needs to do is learn how to use his big frame in front of the net, and after all this time, I don't think he's figured that out yet.

Like most Devils fans, I loved Ken Daneyko. He wasn't going to score goals, but he was a heartbeat for the defense, even with Stevens and Niedermayer around. Colin White has given me more "cringe" moments in the past two seasons than Ken Daneyko ever did. Since all the coaches seem to love him, I'm sure that he'll get enough chances to be "our new Daneyko", and more power to him if he gets that reputation. I just don't like it because I don't feel that he deserves it. Ultimately, Colin White plays like an idiot far too often for a guy who's supposed to be the best pure defenseman on the team (and while I don't think he IS the best, he's supposed to be).

What I don't understand is that the Devils defense had pretty much been Stevens, Niedermayer, and Daneyko throughout the 1990's, and the team would just fill the other three D-men spots with guys who were past their prime (Doug Bodger, Lyle Odelein, Dave Ellett, Ken Sutton) or guys who never had a prime (Shawn Chambers, Brad Bombardir, Kevin Dean, Sheldon Souray). It worked for them. Now they're trying to pull off the same kind of thing by bringing in people like Malakhov, Matvichuk, and Klee, but they don't have any first-class defensemen anymore to pick up the slack. Rafalski isn't "defensive" enough, and Colin White doesn't have the smarts to carry that torch either. If White was being tagged as one of those "fill-in" guys, fine. Unfortunately, they're trying to make him the face of this defense, and he's nowhere near the guys who preceded him.

To me, the only thing Colin White and Ken Daneyko have in common is a big hole where their front teeth should be.

[johnnyshaka]

Fair enough, Pumpy, I guess that's answers my question.

Oddly enough, again going to back his time in junior, I do recall on several occassions talking to whoever I was driving home from a game and his name coming up in the same vein as you've described. He did seem to end up with at least one stupid penalty a game but those teams never had a problem scoring goals so I guess his antics were more entertaining than a detriment to a team because they would still win easily.

[samifan24]

Originally Posted by johnnyshaka

Not sure I follow...

A few years ago, Peter Worrell made headlines when he was pulled over during a traffic stop. Worrell, who is black and about 6'8", did not have his ID with him and repeatedly identified himself to police as Andreas Lilja, his former teammate with the Panthers who is white and about 6'4".

[johnnyshaka]

Originally Posted by samifan24

A few years ago, Peter Worrell made headlines when he was pulled over during a traffic stop. Worrell, who is black and about 6'8", did not have his ID with him and repeatedly identified himself to police as Andreas Lilja, his former teammate with the Panthers who is white and about 6'4".

Ah...my bad, must have missed that story...or at least it's not ringing any bells right now.

[bbor]

Hockey day in Canada is HERE!!

WooHOOO!!.

See you guys in 12 hours.

[bbor]

Dola...in case our freinds down in the states don't know what hockey day in Canada is......From Wiki

Hockey Day in Canada is an annual special broadcast to celebrate the game in Canada that includes features all afternoon, leading up to a tripleheader of NHL action featuring the six Canadian teams (Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, Montreal Canadiens, Ottawa Senators, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Vancouver Canucks). Lead commentators, Don Cherry and Ron MacLean broadcast from a remote area. The broadcast includes live broadcast segments from smaller communities right across the country and features panel discussions on issues facing "Canada's game" at both the minor and pro levels. The day is usually in mid-February, but was broadcast in early January in 2002 and 2006 due to the 2002 Winter Olympics and 2006 Winter Olympics, respectively; the 2007 event was also held in January (January 13), though no sporting events key to Canada were scheduled.

Hockey Day in Canada has also featured special events, such as world-record all-night pick-up hockey games from Red Deer, Alberta (in 2001) and Windsor, Nova Scotia (2002). Viewers got to see the games after the CBC ended regular programming for the night, without commentary.

Hockey Day in Canada also reached out to other ethnic groups as well – the 2007 event on January 13, 2007 featured Italian language commentary of the Vancouver Canucks / Toronto Maple Leafs matchup, which was seen on the Telelatino (TLN) cable channel, with special features and commentary by Alf De Blasis, who hosts soccer games for TLN. This was the first time Hockey Night in Canada was presented in Italian.[7] The following year, three of the four matches were presented in Hindi, Mandarin and Cantonese.

Hockey Day in Canada has fast become a tradition among Canadian hockey fans, taking on the role of an unofficial holiday. In some communities, such as the case with 2006's location, Stephenville, Newfoundland and Labrador, it is said that Hockey Day is "bigger than Santa."

The 2009 version of Hockey Day in Canada will take place on February 21st, 2009. Ottawa will faceoff with Montreal at the Bell Centre, Vancouver visits Toronto at the Air Canada Centre and in the night-cap, Calgary and Edmonton renew the Battle of Alberta at Rexall Place. CBC will broadcast mainly from Campbellton, New Brunswick.

[samifan24]

That sounds pretty cool.

[Logan]

I can't believe johnny brought up Colin White AND Peter Worrell in the same Pumpy-related post.

[sterlingice]

That's great. I wish they could pipe in the feed on some channel here. It's not like Versus is doing anything today

SI

[Draft Dodger]

HDIC is on the NHL Network.

I love it and watch it every year.

[sterlingice]

You have to subscribe to get the NHL network here

Not only that, but they list Anaheim-Detroit on the FIOS guide

SI

[samifan24]

I'm enjoying the free preview of NHL Center Ice on Comcast. Great first period between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia today. Does anyone know if this is the last day of the free preview?

[Dr. Sak]

I thought I've seen it all with Flyers goalies...and Biron just took it to a whole new level of stupidity.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Originally Posted by Dr. Sak

I thought I've seen it all with Flyers goalies...and Biron just took it to a whole new level of stupidity.

I work with a guy from Philly who wasn't going to be able to watch the game. I tried to text him re: that play. Needed 3 msgs to fully explain it.

The idea wasn't so bad. The execution was the problem.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Dola

Toskala to Philly at the deadline?

[Pumpy Tudors]

Originally Posted by Logan

I can't believe johnny brought up Colin White AND Peter Worrell in the same Pumpy-related post.

Yeah, I'm pretty much just going to kill myself in a couple of minutes.

[samifan24]

Originally Posted by Suburban Rhythm

Dola

Toskala to Philly at the deadline?

They need a goalie, that's true.

[Dr. Sak]

Originally Posted by Suburban Rhythm

I work with a guy from Philly who wasn't going to be able to watch the game. I tried to text him re: that play. Needed 3 msgs to fully explain it.

The idea wasn't so bad. The execution was the problem.

Right. Why not just skate up and hit the puck with your stick? Or hell...take the damn 2 minute penalty.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Originally Posted by Dr. Sak

Right. Why not just skate up and hit the puck with your stick? Or hell...take the damn 2 minute penalty.

Looked like a magic trick-
"Nothing up my sleeve!!"

Maybe he had a flashback and thought Dupuis was Laraque.

[johnnyshaka]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

Yeah, I'm pretty much just going to kill myself in a couple of minutes.

Glad I could be of service.

[johnnyshaka]

Best hit of Hockey Day In Canada...Boyd and Moss collide for an open ice beauty. Oh, they both play for the Flames.

[JPhillips]

Nice bit of draft value analysis from TSN. The sample size is too small and going up to 2004 skews it, but there does seem to be a pretty small chance of getting even a mediocre NHL player after the first thirty picks.

http://www.tsn.ca/columnists/scott_c...=headlines_nhl

[Maple Leafs]

If anyone ever did a formal study (or even put some serious thought into) how much success and failure in hockey is due to plain random chance, it would probably make the sport a lot less fun to follow.

[Logan]

You know what else won't be fun? The Rangers-Leafs game I'll be at tonight.

[samifan24]

The Bruins lose to Tampa 4-3 a day after being shut out by Florida 2-0. This team needs some new blood. They're limping toward the finish line in the worst possible way.

[Galaxy]

Originally Posted by samifan24

The Bruins lose to Tampa 4-3 a day after being shut out by Florida 2-0. This team needs some new blood. They're limping toward the finish line in the worst possible way.

How many times in NHL history has a top seed got beat by the 8th seed?

[Wolfpack]

Originally Posted by Galaxy

How many times in NHL history has a top seed got beat by the 8th seed?

It's happened a few times. Most recent I recall was '06 when Edmonton beat Detroit in the first round, which catapulted them into the SCF that year where they lost to Carolina (that seems like so long ago now....).

[Suburban Rhythm]

Originally Posted by Galaxy

How many times in NHL history has a top seed got beat by the 8th seed?

I am sure there are a handful of others, but the three standing out in my head are 94-95 (strike year) NYR beating the Nordiques (granted they were 8 and 1 based on 48 games), Habs beating Boston in 2002, and the Oilers beating the Wings in 2006. 2006, in the West, all 4 opening series were won by the lower seeds (5-8).

[Galaxy]

Cool.

Boston just seems like they could be one of those teams, depending on who gets the 8th seed.

[samifan24]

Originally Posted by Galaxy

Cool.

Boston just seems like they could be one of those teams, depending on who gets the 8th seed.

Not really. Sure, they're struggling lately but their roster is top to bottom solid. I hope they make some key trades to bulk up for the playoffs and get out of their current funk but just because they're struggling now doesn't mean I think a #8 seed will beat them in a playoff series. Any team can beat any other team in a single game (*cough Super Bowl *cough) but when you play in a series I think the likelihood of that happening goes down, especially against a team of Boston's caliber.

[Logan]

Rangers have fired Renney.

Sather needs to be next.

[Dr. Sak]

The Rangers are last year's Senators. Fast start and sinking faster than the Titanic.

[Honolulu_Blue]

I can't say that I am really panicking, but the Wings' goaltending situation is a bit dicey at the moment. Well, it's been pretty dicey all year, it's just that as we move closer and closer to the trade deadline and the start of the playoffs, with no resolution in sight, it's becoming a bit more of a concern.

Conklin has been the Wings best goalie hands down. It's not even close really. Osgood has started 31 games, won 18, his goals against is a 3.29 and his save percentage is .897, and he has no shutouts. Awesome numbers if it was like, 1989/1990. Unfortunately, those days are long since past, and his GAA and Sv% numbers are the worst in the league for a regular starting goalie. Conklin has started 30 games, won 21, GAA is 2.32, Sv% .915, 6 shutouts. He's not lighting the world on fire, but with those numbers and the team in front of him, the Wings will win much more often than not. The Wings brought Jimmy Howard (who was, but I don't think any longer, the goalie of the future) up for a game on Saturday. He let in 4 goals and was sent back to the AHL.

Osgood has been given every chance. He was injured a bit last month or so and everyone was convinced all he needed was a some time off to focus on his game and get his groove back. It looked like that was about to happen and then it didn't. He's now in the midst of a 10 day "rest" period to go back and work on his game. Again. He should start again Friday night. Who knows if he'll rebound. The Wings have given him every chance to work through this.

So, assuming Osgood's play doesn't improve, where does that leave them? I guess you have to start Conklin in the playoffs. The biggest concern is that, he has all of, what, 6 minutes of playoff experience during the 2006 Finals and that didn't go all that well. Can he recover? Osgood is a proven playoff performer, but can he pull out of his season long funk? It's possible the Wings do what they did last year. Start Osgood and if he's shaky, pull him and put Conklin in. A very risky move. You just never know how a goalie will play in the playoffs. Seems like a totally different animal.

To me, the knock on Conklin was that he was a great backup, but lacked the starter's mentality. (Is that right, our good Edmonton peoples? What was his issue?) I fear that if he's thrust out there as the starter in the playoffs, he'll wilt. That could be what's happening to Osgood this year. He was pretty comfortable in his back-up role, everything was cool. Even when he became the default starter last year during the playoffs, he was still sort of the "back up" rescuing the team. I dunno...

These kinds of problems are really the Wings own making. They have decided to spend their money up front and along the blue line. If you're going to go cheap in net, these types of issues are bound to arise. If the Wings sign either (or both) of Franzen and Hossa (I still don't think both will happen), this problem will plague the Wings for a while. Then again, other than 2002 with a still healthy Hasek, the Wings have always been a bit unsettled in net. You're not going to get solid, consistent goaltending for what they have slotted for the position.

It's crazy how jam packed the bottom 10-11 teams in the West are. Should be a very exciting end to the season.

[samifan24]

Originally Posted by Logan

Rangers have fired Renney.

Is it Ken Gernander time on Broadway? The Rangers can bring Gernander and Avery up at the same time!

[Dr. Sak]

Conklin did well for the Pens last year when MAF was out.

[MikeVic]

Sign Bob Essensa.

[Travis]

Conklin has been a streaky guy. His play in the Olympics for the US (or was it a Worlds, I can't remember for sure) seemed to be a turning point for him against pretty elite competition, then he came back to Edmonton and ended up losing his job.

Being a part of the 3 goalie rotation didn't help. MacT was actually rotating the backup during the playoffs, so instead of just telling one guy that he'd be in the pressbox for the playoffs unless there was an injury while getting the other guy as ready as possible, he split the backup practice reps between two guys. Not that that is necessarily the reason behind the brutal miscommunication that cost Edmonton that goal, but it sure wasn't helping.

He's always had the talent, just seems like more of a mental thing with him. Given the team ahead of him and how he's played to this point in the season I really hope he does get a shot in the playoffs as it seemed pretty horrible for him to go out the way he did with Edmonton. Would like to see him get a series win (unless it's against the Oil, heh).

[Logan]

Originally Posted by Dr. Sak

The Rangers are last year's Senators. Fast start and sinking faster than the Titanic.

It would be great if they even had 1/10th of that talent.

[bhlloy]

Assuming the Ducks end up having the fire sale they are rumored to be having, anyone think the Wings might take a look at Giguere? I mean the salary might be problematic, but I expect there is some way to work around it. He plays his best in the postseason and would clearly put the Wings back ahead of the Sharks as the best team in the West IMO.

I'm even more convinced than I was a couple of months ago that the future is Hiller. This team is in rebuild mode next year anyway, if they lose Pronger at the deadline and possibly Selanne and Niedermayer in the offseason.

[DeToxRox]

For the Wings to make any move for a goalie, it'd have to be a trade involving Franzen.

Make no bones about it, if Buffalo did not re-up with Ryan Miller, he'd be a Red Wing next season.

[Galaxy]

Originally Posted by DeToxRox

For the Wings to make any move for a goalie, it'd have to be a trade involving Franzen.

Make no bones about it, if Buffalo did not re-up with Ryan Miller, he'd be a Red Wing next season.

Thankfully, they did.

Speaking of Miller, is out after suffering a high ankle sprain Friday night. They called up Jhonas Enroth to backup Lalime.

Did anyone see the play of the Gomez-Miller contact?

[Suburban Rhythm]

Originally Posted by Dr. Sak

The Rangers are last year's Senators. Fast start and sinking faster than the Titanic.

Actually the Pens are last year's Senators, sadly.

Runner up in Cup prior season, hot start the following year...and collapse around Thanksgiving.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Dola

Tortorella to NY.

[Pyser]

sad to say, thats probably a good signing by the rangers