It's BACK! The 2005-2006 NHL Season

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Draft Dodger

we're generally aiming for discussions that are a bit more mature and civil in this thread.

Here here.

RPI is a true hockey fan (I mean, how else do you explain his support of the Isles? ) and has come across anything but a fool or ignorant of anything. That Yzerman thing was just a misunderstanding!

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Johnny93g

I would just like to say i dont think Yzerman is underrated in any way....he is one of the best hockey players we will ever see, and i have alot of respect for him. 1 team his whole career. Atleast we beat him in 93

[klayman]

who's this Yzerman guy you're all talking about?

[Schmidty]

Originally Posted by Draft Dodger

we're generally aiming for discussions that are a bit more mature and civil in this thread.

Fuck off.

[Draft Dodger]

Originally Posted by Schmidty

Fuck off.

or not. whatever.

[Schmidty]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

Here here.

RPI is a true hockey fan (I mean, how else do you explain his support of the Isles? ) and has come across anything but a fool or ignorant of anything. That Yzerman thing was just a misunderstanding!

And I'm not a fucking true hockey fan becaue I don't have diarrhea of the mouth (or finger) like you and DD? I've been a Wings fan since the early 80's and they broadcast 10-15 games on WXMI. I also have watched just about about every game since Center Ice has been around (and I moved from MI), so you can both shut it. I know as much about hockey as any of you losers.

Don't piss me off.

[st.cronin]

It's gettin' chippy in here.

[Schmidty]

Originally Posted by st.cronin

It's gettin' chippy in here.

Sean Avery rules!!!!!

[Draft Dodger]

Originally Posted by Schmidty

And I'm not a fucking true hockey fan becaue I don't have diarrhea of the mouth (or finger) like you and DD? I've been a Wings fan since the early 80's and they broadcast 10-15 games on WXMI. I also have watched just about about every game since Center Ice has been around (and I moved from MI), so you can both shut it. I know much about hockey as much as any of you losers.

Don't piss me off.

get overly defensive much?
fucking chill.

[Schmidty]

Originally Posted by Draft Dodger

get overly defensive much?
fucking chill.

Don't troll then.

[Draft Dodger]

Originally Posted by Schmidty

Don't troll then.

I don't know what the fuck you are talking about, and I don't care.
I asked you to tone it down, and you went off on some tough guy internet posing that has me trying to decide if I should be laughing my ass of or feeling sorry for you.

continue to make a fool out of yourself. I'll leave you alone.

[Schmidty]

Originally Posted by Draft Dodger

I asked you to tone it down, and you went off on some tough guy internet posing that has me trying to decide if I should be laughing my ass of or feeling sorry for you.

Quite honestly I never have had a problem with you until you attack me; however, you don't own this thread, and what I said about Yzerman still stands. If you felt threatened by that, I think that makes YOU look like the fool, not me since you were the person offended. I specified no one. I made a general statement that I thought was fair. You got your panties in a bunch. I think that's lame. Whatever, I still don't hate you.

I still stand by my comment: Anyone who thinks such an amazing player, ambassador of the sport, and leader is an over-rated player is a loser or doesn't know hockey and is a chump and a loser. Deal with it, disagree like a man, or cry like DD. It's your choice.

[Joe Canadian]

... so the Leafs won last night...

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Schmidty

And I'm not a fucking true hockey fan becaue I don't have diarrhea of the mouth (or finger) like you and DD? I've been a Wings fan since the early 80's and they broadcast 10-15 games on WXMI. I also have watched just about about every game since Center Ice has been around (and I moved from MI), so you can both shut it. I know as much about hockey as any of you losers.

Don't piss me off.

Sparty, my man. My brother from another mother. I didn't say you weren't a true hockey fan. You totally are. I never mentioned it. I was just sticking up for RPI. You are wise and knowledgeable in the ways of hockey. A great hockey fan and wonderful Wings fan. Always have been. Always will be. Just sticking up for RPI, does not mean I am putting you down or, in fact, saying anything about you.

It's impossible not to piss you off. You are always pissed off. It's your natural state of being.

[sachmo71]

I'm glad Jagr is on my fantasy team.


EDIT: I'm glad he's scoring and all, but he doesn't look very healthy. Yeeks. http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/player...e?statsId=0035

[Johnny93g]

so is swearing allowed here or not, im confused

[Draft Dodger]

Originally Posted by Johnny93g

so is swearing allowed here or not, im confused

fuck no, asshole.

[Draft Dodger]

Originally Posted by sachmo71

I'm glad Jagr is on my fantasy team.


EDIT: I'm glad he's scoring and all, but he doesn't look very healthy. Yeeks. http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/player...e?statsId=0035

still has the long hair, I see. he's just wearing it on top of his head now.

[Wolfpack]

Originally Posted by Joe Canadian

... so the Leafs won last night...

I almost forgot there was another team outside of Detroit in the NHL. Thanks for reminding me.

[Schmidty]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

It's impossible not to piss you off. You are always pissed off. It's your natural state of being.

So very true, especially in the evening when I have the occassional beer or two.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Schmidty

So very true, especially in the evening when I have the occassional beer or two.

Figured that was the case.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Woah. The Blue Jackets just waived speedy Todd "Opie" Marchant. I guess that's how things will work nowadays? Certainly one way to dump salary.

Apparently Columbus was thinking of adding Marchant to the Fedorov deal, but they wouldn't tell him who they were thinking of trading him to, so Marchant wouldn't waive his no trade clause (what Marchant is doing with a NTC is another question entirely). Anyway, Marchant and his 3 year at around $2.5 million per year contract are available.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=143275&hubname=nhl

Fedorov Factor: Jackets waive Marchant Todd Marchant Bob McKenzie - TSN.ca Staff 11/16/2005 12:03:52 PM It hasn't taken long for the after-shock of the Sergei Fedorov trade to hit the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Blue Jackets are preparing to unload some salary to make way for Fedorov and veteran centre Todd Marchant, who makes $2.47 million this season, is a strong candidate to be the first out of the door. The Blue Jackets put him on waivers at 12 noon today and he's the type of player who might actually be claimed by another team. At age 32, Marchant is still considered a useful player, with terrific speed. But on the downside, he has another three years after this season left on a contract that pays him, $2.47 million, $2.47 million and $2.66 million, which may be a financial albatross many teams are not prepared to assume. But Marchant's agent Lewis Gross is continuing to work the phones trying to broker a trade for his client between the Blue Jacket and another NHL team. If he's not claimed on waivers, Marchant could still be traded. Related Info McKenzie: Two reasons to trade Fedorov Ducks deal Fedorov to Blue Jackets NHL Insider Doug MacLean 1-on-1 Marchant has a no trade clause in his contract. Sources say the player was asked to waive that clause during the negotiations between Anaheim and Columbus, but that Marchant was never told which team he might be traded to and would not waive the no-trade without more information. The deal between the Ducks and the Blue Jackets went ahead with Tyler Wright and Francois Beauchemin being shipped to Anaheim for Fedorov and a fifth-round draft pick. In any case, it would certainly appear that Marchant is done with the Blue Jackets. It will be interesting to see the reaction to that within the Blue Jackets' dressing room, where Marchant is held in high regard both for his work ethic and his leadership. Teams have 24 hours to claim Marchant. If he goes unclaimed, he could be sent to the minors. The Blue Jackets would still be responsible for the full amount of his NHL salary, but it would not count against the cap. If he were recalled from the minors and a team claimed him on re-entry waivers, the Blue Jackets would be responsible for half his NHL salary but that would count against the Blue Jackets' cap figure for the length of Marchant's contract. That would be the only way the Blue Jackets could get rid of the player and pay a portion of the salary, but it's a last resort because of the implications it could have on the Blue Jackets' cap situation in future years. The Blue Jackets do not have pressing cap issues at this time, but their payroll of more than $37 million is much higher than ownership would like it to be. Marchant's departure from the roster is a pure cost-cutting move. They will be looking to dump the salary any way they can. Meanwhile, Fedorov is likely to make his debut tonight even though he missed connnections on an overnight flight from California and wasn't scheduled to arrive in Columbus today until 12:40 p.m. local time. Fedorov indicated to his new team he wants to play tonight vs. St. Louis no matter what, but that decision won't be finalized until after Fedorov undergoes a medical.

[RPI-Fan]

Jagr's mathematically "projected" stats:

82 games, 74 goals, 119 pts, 41 PPG

Forsberg: 31 goals, 128 assists, 159 points, +62

[Draft Dodger]

I pretty much dislike everything about the Fedorov and Marchant deals

[st.cronin]

I BELIEVE IN SIDNEY CROSBY

[JonInMiddleGA]

Thrashers return to their non-Dunham form ... multiple penalties & a 7-3 loss with Berkhoel in goal.

I'm starting to think they believe Dunham is Michael Vick.

[RPI-Fan]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Thrashers return to their non-Dunham form ... multiple penalties & a 7-3 loss with Berkhoel in goal.

I'm starting to think they believe Dunham is Michael Vick.

I used to like Bob Hartley, as a coach. But I'm losing respect for his attitude.

After the game was 5-3, you guys made a BLATANT pick -- nobody complains, obvious penalty. Then, a few moments later, there was kind of a touchy-feely hooking call through the neutral zone that shouldn't have been called, but was. Fine, tough break, you try to kill off the penalties and then maybe get your goalie off the ice to get some pressure. But Hartley bitches and moans and whines, picks up a bench minor, and then his players play lazy on the powerplay and take two LAZY penalties out front.

To cap it off, his players take his attitude of giving up as Jason Blake waltzes right around two Thrashers rubbernecking all the way through the neutral zone.

Atrocious attitude by the Thrashers and Hartley.

[JonInMiddleGA]

RPI -- I didn't see a second of the game, knew nothing except what the box score told me (i.e. the late penalty sequence). It was televised on a rimshot broadcast TV signal that isn't part of the Dish Network local station pkg & I wasn't really in the mood for a radiocast. And, now that I've looked at the supersheet & stuff, why am I not surprised that 2 of the 4 PP goals came after Andy Sutton penalties? Without at least 2 (maybe 3) more decent defensemen, this season is shaping up to be a string of ugly outings broken up by occasional glimpses of offense ... regardless of who is in goal.

[Wolfpack]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

...this season is shaping up to be a string of ugly outings broken up by occasional glimpses of offense ... regardless of who is in goal.

Why did that occasional glimpse have to come against the Canes last Saturday? Got my evening off to a crappy start which was nicely polished off by BC's demolition of NC State. Add the Bobcats losing and only the Panthers' thrashing of the Jets on Sunday stopped a superfecta of losing for me.

[bbor]

Brian Burke + Randy Carlyle = Trading Feds for a bag of pucks.

[Draft Dodger]

fun end to the Phi / Atl game - Flyers led by 2 with 2 minutes left, kept taking penalties. Thrashers scored on a 5 on 3 (well, 6 on 3 with the goalie pulled), then tied it on their last gasp rush with 6 seconds left. Greg DeVries (!) wins it on a breakaway in OT.

Colorado and Anaheim are playing a good game too.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Draft Dodger

Greg DeVries (!) wins it on a breakaway in OT.

He's turned into a scoring forward trapped in the body of an mediocre defenseman.

[Pyser]

thank you, stevie y! thank you.

Yzerman rips NHL's new rules
ESPN.com news services

Stevie Y is wondering why the NHL had to mess with a good thing.

In an interview with the Detroit Free Press, Steve Yzerman spoke out about the new NHL -- and so far, he's not a fan.

"Everybody keeps saying this is great. It's not great," Yzerman told the Free Press. "It's not hockey."

In particular, Yzerman believes referees should use better judgment when calling penalties.

Yzerman made his opinion known after the Red Wings' overtime loss to the Oilers on Thursday. Although the Red Wings are 15-4-2 under the NHL's new rules, they're winless in their past three games.

A Mathieu Schneider holding penalty in the second period of Thursday night's loss irked Yzerman in particular.

"There are penalties all over," he told the newspaper. "I'll just use Mathieu Schneider's penalty as an example. He steps up and takes his guy out, and his stick gets caught and the crowd cheers so the referee puts his hand up. There has to be some discretion. The referees have to use some judgment on what is a penalty and what is not. They've taken judgment out of it and I think it's somewhat made it easy on the referees just to call anything, because there is no judgment.

"Good referees used to have good judgment. Now they've taken that out of the game. I'm not saying I'm blaming the referees for it, I just feel the whole thing has to be adjusted and they have to look at this seriously. They can't continue to call irrelevant things that have no business being called."

Yzerman, in his 22nd NHL season, has two goals and four assists for the Red Wings in 2005.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Go Stevie Go

[st.cronin]

Yzerman is overrated

[Maple Leafs]

Originally Posted by st.cronin

Yzerman is overrated

Anyone who thinks Yzerman is overrated is a fool and not a true hockey fan, let alone ignorant about hockey history.

[Joe Canadian]

Honestly I'm really annoyed at people bashing the game because there are too many penalities. We've been over this for possibly the past five seasons, everyone wants a crack down on obstruction, and when they do it then there are too many penalities so we go back to obstruction. I'm sorry but I'd rather two seasons tainted by loads of penalities, then continue having obstructions as part of the league.

That said... I don't like that they've basiclly prevented the defence from doing anything.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Joe Canadian

everyone wants a crack down on obstruction, and when they do it then there are too many penalities so we go back to obstruction.

Which is what confounds me a little bit ... obviously "everybody" DOESN'T want a crackdown on obstruction.

Notice that the critic is this case isn't a goalie, or a defenseman, or a coach ... it's an offensive player, someone who should theoretically GAIN from the current don't-touch-anything-anytime mentality, and yet even he recognizes what a joke the current state of affairs is.

[st.cronin]

Unlike other crackdowns in the past, I think it's pretty clear what is allowed and what isn't. I can usually spot the penalties as they happen. I don't think there are too many penalties, either. There have been some games that are just special teams affairs, but certainly not MOST games. I think it's been terrific hockey so far.

[Joe Canadian]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Which is what confounds me a little bit ... obviously "everybody" DOESN'T want a crackdown on obstruction.

Notice that the critic is this case isn't a goalie, or a defenseman, or a coach ... it's an offensive player, someone who should theoretically GAIN from the current don't-touch-anything-anytime mentality, and yet even he recognizes what a joke the current state of affairs is.

Ok... I don't think the current state of affairs is a joke...

[JonInMiddleGA]

Judging from the boxscore, the Atlanta-Toronto reunion got the main event out of the way early (Boulton vs Belak at 7:35 of the 1st period) & was fairly calm otherwise.
5-1 Leafs the final as Belfour stops 31 of 32 shots (only faced 2 SOG in the 1st 20 mins)

[Tekneek]

If the current state of affairs benefits Stevie Y so much, why is he 11th in points on his team? Mikael Samuelsson gets less ice time per game but has over twice as many points. My take is that Stevie Y doesn't like the changes because it reveals he is not the same player he once was. I haven't watched enough Red Wings games to see for myself, but that is my take. He is on a pace for 37 or 38 points over an 82 game season, which would be his lowest point total for a full season. I really think that is why he is complaining. He no longer has the skill to run and gun and was hoping he might be able to do some clutching and grabbing to extend his career even longer.

EDIT...Of course, he probably has not played as much as those younger guys and could just have a bad case of sour grapes.

[Cards4ever]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Which is what confounds me a little bit ... obviously "everybody" DOESN'T want a crackdown on obstruction.

Notice that the critic is this case isn't a goalie, or a defenseman, or a coach ... it's an offensive player, someone who should theoretically GAIN from the current don't-touch-anything-anytime mentality, and yet even he recognizes what a joke the current state of affairs is.

I do notice that the critic is someone from the losing team. His voice also seems to be in the minority. Jon, we've had this discussion before, but Hockey is meant to be a skill sport, not a 3 yards and a cloud of dust. I wish you could find the beauty in it, but, maybe it's just not meant to be.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Cards4ever

I wish you could find the beauty in it, but, maybe it's just not meant to be.

If I wanted to watch figure skating, I'd prefer it to be women with great legs & short skirts/dresses.

[Tekneek]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

If I wanted to watch figure skating, I'd prefer it to be women with great legs & short skirts/dresses.

If I have been watching figure skating this season, they are pretty bad at it. I have not seen any salchows, axels, or lutzes yet. Also, where are the toe picks?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Tekneek

If I have been watching figure skating this season, they are pretty bad at it. I have not seen any salchows, axels, or lutzes yet. Also, where are the toe picks?

I didn't say the NHL was good figure skating, more like speed skaters trying to figure skate so they can get more style points.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Crusing the online sports page this morning & am LMAO at this promo for the AJC online classifieds

[Cards4ever]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

I didn't say the NHL was good figure skating, more like speed skaters trying to figure skate so they can get more style points.

I hope you are being sarcastic, cause that's not even close to a good analysis of the kind of skating that a hockey player does.

[st.cronin]

I used to have a roommate who called Sergei Samsonov "Sarah Hughes."

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Cards4ever

I hope you are being sarcastic, cause that's not even close to a good analysis of the kind of skating that a hockey player does.

The analogy was indeed fairly sarcastic, from a technical standpoint. The point is/was that I don't find the cant-touch-this skateorama style of hockey 1/10th as interesting to watch as the NHL under the previous rules (or enforcement of rules).

The non-sarcastic part of the analogy was if I just wanted to watch people skate around unmolested (Tonya Harding not withstanding) I'd watch figure skating or speed skating. But hey, I'm not a "hockey purist" or whatever the pseudo-elite like to say about people like me (and Yzerman apparently).
I just know what I find more entertaining.

It struck me yesterday how much my interest in hockey is being influenced by the time of year. NASCAR season ends today, other than a couple of players the NFL is of scant interest for me other than a passing curiosity, and the NBA struggles to be even that interesting (I'm having a hard time even getting interested in my fantasy league this year). So, for pro sports, I'm pretty much stuck with hockey even if I find the product less entertaining than it used to be.