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

[Pumpy Tudors]

Dola

Before my voice started to fade, I managed to yell out an "I HATE COLIN WHITE!" during the game. That was fun.

[Chief Rum]

Ducks just dominated the Wings tonight, in a way I haven't seen the Wings dominated in some time. As a long time Wings loather, it was a lot of fun to watch.

[Pyser]

pretty boring devils game overall. zajac is very impressive. malkin moreso, but yes, bullshit goal overall. boring game though, but a wins a win.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

One quick side story: As we were leaving the Igloo, a couple came up to me and asked me for my bobblehead. I politely refused, and the female half of the couple started yelling at me, "ARE YOU GOING TO SELL IT? YOU DON'T EVEN LIKE PITTSBURGH! YOU CAN GIVE US THE BOBBLEHEAD!" The man had to drag her away from me.

Is their a wiki entry for "yinzer"?

You left out the part of Malkin's shot breaking the glass...it was akin to Ivan Drago punching the machine testing his power, and the machine reaching levels it was not designed to withstand. Or something like that.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Drago_%28Character%29

Ivan Drago (pronouned as Evon Drago) is an amateur boxer from the Soviet Union, armed with a punch over 2000 psi. (As an interesting statistical citation, most handguns and a few standard shotguns produce fewer pounds per square inch (PSI) than a punch from Ivan Drago.)

[Pumpy Tudors]

Originally Posted by Suburban Rhythm

Is their a wiki entry for "yinzer"?

You left out the part of Malkin's shot breaking the glass...it was akin to Ivan Drago punching the machine testing his power, and the machine reaching levels it was not designed to withstand. Or something like that.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Drago_%28Character%29

If there isn't an entry for "yinzer", there should be. That woman was driving me nuts.

I had forgotten about Malkin's shot breaking the glass. That was amazing. None of the players noticed except Brodeur, and he was trying to get them to stop play because of the huge hole in the glass. I don't know how the players and officials didn't notice it, because that was the loudest thing in the whole building last night.

[Draft Dodger]

Who was the retard calling the Leafs-Avs game last night? For the first 3 minutes, he kept confusing Brett Clark with Karlis Skrastins. When Skrastins came on the ice for real 2 or 3 shifts in, the dude was like "Skrastins has been on the ice for the ENTIRE GAME".

[sterlingice]

Glad the Hawks game wasnt on tv last night- giving up 2 goals to Dallas in the last 1:30 to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

In other news, Minnesota gets their first loss leaving Buffalo as the only perfect team so far on the young season.

SI

[Tekneek]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

In other news, Minnesota gets their first loss leaving Buffalo as the only perfect team so far on the young season.

And the scary part is that they are looking better to me each game. I knew when the season started that those guys were playing a style I like, but I didn't think they would be this successful so far.

[Tekneek]

About damn time. Clarke is out in Philly and taking Hitchcock with him.

[Draft Dodger]

Originally Posted by Tekneek

About damn time. Clarke is out in Philly and taking Hitchcock with him.

my head can't get around this. In the last 6 months we've seen Milbury, Keenan and Clarke get the axe. It's like someone finally woke up and wondered why these fucktards still have jobs.

*I think Clarke is far better than the other two idiots, primarily for his ability to judge talent. But he let his emotion enter into his decision making process far too often. He can be the director of scouting for my team any day, but not a GM. Milbury and Keenan? well, the world always needs more guys to cook french fries...

[Suburban Rhythm]

Two interesting pieces of young Penguins and hockey history-

Jordan Staal scored 2 SHG Saturday night (the first to give Pittsburgh a 3-2 lead, and later, on a penalty shot awarded while on a breakaway short handed). That makes his first 3 NHL goals all SHG.

Elias was reported Bill Gardner accomplished that feat in the 1981-1982 season for the Blackhawks.

Evgeni Malkin has scored in his first 3 NHL games. The last player to do so was Jan Caloun for San Jose in 1995-1996.

For the Penguins sake, I hope these 2 guys turn out better than the two they've matched records with!

[Oilers9911]

Poor Blackhawks fans. Off to their best start in awhile, looking like there is light at the end of the tunnel and then down goes Handszus for the year, Havlat for 4-6 weeks and Khabibulin all in a few days.

[bbor]

How does Staal look?Is he gonna stick?Or will they cut costs and send him back to JR?

[Suburban Rhythm]

Originally Posted by bbor

How does Staal look?Is he gonna stick?Or will they cut costs and send him back to JR?

He's looked better every game.

It was probably wasted the first few games playing on the 4th line, but has been getting more time lately.

Also, Ryan Malone, who centered the 2nd line until Malkin's return, and then was on LW on that line, broke his forearm are will miss 4-6 weeks.

He hasn't been as good as Crosby or Malkin, he's been better than just about every other forward, and just as consistent too.

So, that might bode well for Staal. As far as hockey only, he should stick. He's not looked out of place, protecting leads late in games, playing often on the PK (obvious with the 3 SHG). His speed is questionable, but he's such a big kid, it's not terrible.

On the business side though...by returning him to Peterborough, the Pens would buy themselves a little bit of leeway with contracts--Crosby's rookie deal will expire 2008, Malkin in 2009, and Staal, if sent down, 2010.

[bbor]

Pens can't be up against the cap though?Are they?

Sounds like Staal will be a better 2 way guy than Malkin and Crosby.

[Pumpy Tudors]

I wish I wasn't going to be so busy at work this week. Tomorrow night, the Devils visit Malkin Arena for the second time in a week, but I turned down good, cheap tickets because I'm just too busy to go. I hope it goes like last Wednesday's game did. Brodeur needs a strong game to make up for that disaster against the Senators the other night.

As a Devils fan and a growing Penguins fan, this has been a great start to the season. To add to the fun, the Flyers are dead last in the NHL. The only thing that would make life better would be to have the Rangers in the tank, too. Oh, well. We can't have it all.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Originally Posted by bbor

Pens can't be up against the cap though?Are they?

Sounds like Staal will be a better 2 way guy than Malkin and Crosby.

Not near the cap now...but, would you want to give new deals to guys who went, #2, #1, #2 overall in 3 consecutive drafts? Not likely they all command max deals--Crosby will, the others would "settle" for slightly less--but they'll also have other guys like Fleury (signed to 2 year deal before the season started) and Ryan Whitney to resign in the next few years too. Delaying Staal one year would at least allow them to space them out. Otherwise, he and Malkin will both be due in 2009, and at that point, mgmt might have to choose one or the other.

Crosby has been much better on faceoffs so far this year, but Staal is such a big body and shields the puck really well, plus being 6'4" and his reach help too.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Originally Posted by Suburban Rhythm

Two interesting pieces of young Penguins and hockey history-

Jordan Staal scored 2 SHG Saturday night (the first to give Pittsburgh a 3-2 lead, and later, on a penalty shot awarded while on a breakaway short handed). That makes his first 3 NHL goals all SHG.

Elias was reported Bill Gardner accomplished that feat in the 1981-1982 season for the Blackhawks.

Evgeni Malkin has scored in his first 3 NHL games. The last player to do so was Jan Caloun for San Jose in 1995-1996.

For the Penguins sake, I hope these 2 guys turn out better than the two they've matched records with!

Two other ways Staal has reached the record books-

Youngest player to score on a penalty shot--18 years, 41 days old. Prior record set by Nathan Horton, 18 years, 224 days.

And youngest player to score 2 SHG in a game. Prior record set by Radek Dvorak, 20 years, 278 days, when he was a Panther.

[Dr. Sak]

Malkin just made Marty look sick.

[st.cronin]

Originally Posted by bsak16

Malkin just made Marty look sick.

no kidding!

[Suburban Rhythm]

They showed a stat after the PIT- NJ game last night.

Pens have scored 25 goals this year...13 of them are by kids 20 or younger

Malkin (20) 4
Staal (18) 4
Crosby (19) 3
Kris Letang (19) 2

Don't look now...there is one team in Pittsburgh leading their division...and it ain't the Steelers.

[Pumpy Tudors]

I only saw the first period of the Devils-Penguins game last night, so the only Pittsburgh goal I caught was Nils Ekman's. It sounds like I missed some great stuff by Malkin and Crosby. Ah, well. There'll be plenty more.

I read on Yahoo! that Letang will probably go back to juniors, although the GM has said that no decision has been made yet. It's probably not a huge loss, as the other three kids are fantastic. The concern which has already been brought up here is about Staal. I know you want to look toward the future and the salary cap and everything, but it's almost painful to think that Staal could go back to juniors this year. The guy seems to be more developed than anyone was expecting. Can you really let him go just to avoid paying him this year?

If Staal plays two more games, the Pens have burned the first year of his contract, but they can delay his unrestricted free agency for a year if they keep him for fewer than 40 games. Maybe it's a better option to keep him for 40 games and see where they are in the standings. If they're still competitive by then (and I think they will be), then the team will have a huge decision to make. I don't know how they could be competitive this year at midseason and send the kid back to juniors, though. I understand why they'd consider it, but it would be a really tough move to make, I'm sure.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

I only saw the first period of the Devils-Penguins game last night, so the only Pittsburgh goal I caught was Nils Ekman's. It sounds like I missed some great stuff by Malkin and Crosby. Ah, well. There'll be plenty more.

I read on Yahoo! that Letang will probably go back to juniors, although the GM has said that no decision has been made yet. It's probably not a huge loss, as the other three kids are fantastic. The concern which has already been brought up here is about Staal. I know you want to look toward the future and the salary cap and everything, but it's almost painful to think that Staal could go back to juniors this year. The guy seems to be more developed than anyone was expecting. Can you really let him go just to avoid paying him this year?

If Staal plays two more games, the Pens have burned the first year of his contract, but they can delay his unrestricted free agency for a year if they keep him for fewer than 40 games. Maybe it's a better option to keep him for 40 games and see where they are in the standings. If they're still competitive by then (and I think they will be), then the team will have a huge decision to make. I don't know how they could be competitive this year at midseason and send the kid back to juniors, though. I understand why they'd consider it, but it would be a really tough move to make, I'm sure.

If they are going to use him like they did last night, absolutely keep him. One, if allows you to keep Crosby and Malkin together on the top line, and two, keeps him in the flow of the game. As well as he's played, I don't know how much 8-10 minutes a night on the 4th line is developing him for the NHL.

Also keep in mind...while not star players, the Pens are MUCH deeper up front than on D. Two 4th liners, Roy and Karl Stewart were scratched. Petrovicky has yet to return from hip surgery and could play the 3rd line. And Malone will return in about a month, so that adds another top 6...or at least top 9...forward.

The more I consider it, I don't know how big of an issue it will be if Malkin and Staal were to be RFAs the same year (2009). Crosby will get a new (max?) deal in 2008. Fleury will get a new deal in 2008, but I can't imagine anywhere near the max. Also by that point, Recchi, Leclair, Andre Roy and J Thibault are all gone...that is an additional $6M freed up, plus other guys they may choose to let walk by that point, like Orpik.

Best scenario is Shero being able to move a package of forwards+ for another D man. Any team that is still using both Joe Melichar and Rob Scuderi is shaky, no matter where they rank as far as numbers right now.

[RPI-Fan]

Originally Posted by Draft Dodger

my head can't get around this. In the last 6 months we've seen Milbury, Keenan and Clarke get the axe. It's like someone finally woke up and wondered why these fucktards still have jobs.

*I think Clarke is far better than the other two idiots, primarily for his ability to judge talent. But he let his emotion enter into his decision making process far too often. He can be the director of scouting for my team any day, but not a GM. Milbury and Keenan? well, the world always needs more guys to cook french fries...

Milbury was a fantastic drafter. All other stuff, yes, he sucked, but he was a better drafter by far than either of those other two.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Just in case you fellas missed this...

This is from Sports Illustrated.com

hxxp://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/brian_cazeneuve/10/25/best.numbers/1.html

The NHL's all-time best by jersey number

85 Petr Klima

Can I get a, Hell Yeah!

[Suburban Rhythm]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

Just in case you fellas missed this...

This is from Sports Illustrated.com

hxxp://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/brian_cazeneuve/10/25/best.numbers/1.html

The NHL's all-time best by jersey number

85 Petr Klima

Can I get a, Hell Yeah!

Racking my brain to figure out who the competition was!?!

Plus...how about the love for Morozov?

[Maple Leafs]

When did Bill Berg wear #58?

[Pumpy Tudors]

The consider Vladimir Malakhov as the best to wear #38, huh? I can't think of any other 38s off the top of my head, but there must have been someone better than that. There must have been.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Dola

Jan Bulis is wearing #38 right now. Shit, give the honor to him.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

The consider Vladimir Malakhov as the best to wear #38, huh? I can't think of any other 38s off the top of my head, but there must have been someone better than that. There must have been.

Jan Hrdina

Who, coincidently, may or may not be Barry Manilow's evil (good?) twin.




ETA--OK, not the best pictures to see the resemblance...but you get the idea.
I am at work...and I'd hate for someone to find out I've been surfing the web for pics of.....Jan Hrdina.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Suburban Rhythm

I am at work...and I'd hate for someone to find out I've been surfing the web for pics of.....Jan Hrdina.

But you'd be perfectly comfortable if they found out you were surfing the web for pics of.....Barry Manilow?

[Pumpy Tudors]

Originally Posted by Suburban Rhythm

Jan Hrdina

Good call. Anyone but that chucklefuck Malakhov.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

But you'd be perfectly comfortable if they found out you were surfing the web for pics of.....Barry Manilow?

I am in Pittsburgh...so that would probably be accepted better than Jan Hrdina

[Draft Dodger]

Originally Posted by RPI-Fan

Milbury was a fantastic drafter. All other stuff, yes, he sucked, but he was a better drafter by far than either of those other two.

that didn't seem right to me, so I had to go look up to see what I was missing...

11 years...
here's the players I've even heard of that weren't first round picks:
Chara, Dan Lacouture, Jerry DiPoto, Corey Stillman, Jan Hlavac and Bruno Gervais. There may be more that I'm missing, but that certainly isn't much to write home about.

Stillman and Gervais are the only two players from the last SIX Islander drafts that I know are in the NHL currently.

he's certainly done well with his 1st round picks (Redden, Luongo, Dumont, Pyatt, DiPietro, Connolly, Brewer, Torres are all in the NHL), but even then he's had 15 1st round picks, 10 in the top 10. To get 14 players into the NHL out of 11 drafts doesn't strike me as above average in any sense of the imagination. And I won't even mention that only 2 of those players are still with the franchise...

[Draft Dodger]

dola, looking through the Flyers recent drafts, it doesn't look much better. But I'm still not going to call Milbury a fantastic drafter. Fantastic anything, really, other than bullshitter

[Suburban Rhythm]

Originally Posted by Draft Dodger

dola, looking through the Flyers recent drafts, it doesn't look much better. But I'm still not going to call Milbury a fantastic drafter. Fantastic anything, really, other than bullshitter

Fantastic shoe-wielding fighter?

[klayman]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

Just in case you fellas missed this...

This is from Sports Illustrated.com

hxxp://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/brian_cazeneuve/10/25/best.numbers/1.html

The NHL's all-time best by jersey number

85 Petr Klima

Can I get a, Hell Yeah!

He had the all-time best tape job on his stick as well.

[sterlingice]

Sabres win again

SI

[Maple Leafs]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

85 Petr Klima

I don't know what the criteria was, but I'm guessing "helment quality" wasn't on the list.

[Galaxy]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

Sabres win again

SI

They are looking really good. A win Saturday against Atlanta, and they'll have the best start in NHL history.

Interesting Toronto fans are complaining that they did it without shootouts (yet, you could argue that they had the ability to be a big-spender instead of a cap-restricted team).

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

Sabres win again

SI

Bah! They wouldn't look so good if they played in the West.

[Tekneek]

Originally Posted by Draft Dodger

that didn't seem right to me, so I had to go look up to see what I was missing...

11 years...
here's the players I've even heard of that weren't first round picks:
Chara, Dan Lacouture, Jerry DiPoto, Corey Stillman, Jan Hlavac and Bruno Gervais. There may be more that I'm missing, but that certainly isn't much to write home about.

Stillman and Gervais are the only two players from the last SIX Islander drafts that I know are in the NHL currently.

he's certainly done well with his 1st round picks (Redden, Luongo, Dumont, Pyatt, DiPietro, Connolly, Brewer, Torres are all in the NHL), but even then he's had 15 1st round picks, 10 in the top 10. To get 14 players into the NHL out of 11 drafts doesn't strike me as above average in any sense of the imagination. And I won't even mention that only 2 of those players are still with the franchise...

It isn't really fair to be too critical of all of those crazy trades he made during those years. Owners were coming and going, at least one went to prison, and there was little or no money for keeping a team together. He had to keep moving guys around.

I'd say his drafts were about average. Too many people get really excited about how GMs do in the first round. IMO, doing well in the first round is merely expected. Doing badly in the first round is the only thing that would be noteworthy. There may be some debate about whether Milbury picked the best player available in the first round, but everyone should agree that he did pretty well in it.

[NoSkillz]

Originally Posted by Draft Dodger

that didn't seem right to me, so I had to go look up to see what I was missing...

11 years...
here's the players I've even heard of that weren't first round picks:
Chara, Dan Lacouture, Jerry DiPoto, Corey Stillman, Jan Hlavac and Bruno Gervais. There may be more that I'm missing, but that certainly isn't much to write home about.

Stillman and Gervais are the only two players from the last SIX Islander drafts that I know are in the NHL currently.

he's certainly done well with his 1st round picks (Redden, Luongo, Dumont, Pyatt, DiPietro, Connolly, Brewer, Torres are all in the NHL), but even then he's had 15 1st round picks, 10 in the top 10. To get 14 players into the NHL out of 11 drafts doesn't strike me as above average in any sense of the imagination. And I won't even mention that only 2 of those players are still with the franchise...

Just to reinforce your point further, the Cory Stillman you're thinking about WASN'T drafted by Mad Mike, but by Calgary in 1992.

That's ANOTHER Cory Stillman that was drafted in 2001 and he's mired in the CHL right now with no chance of playing NHL hockey.

[Tekneek]

Originally Posted by NoSkillz

That's ANOTHER Cory Stillman that was drafted in 2001 and he's mired in the CHL right now with no chance of playing NHL hockey.

Isn't there at least one pick like that in each draft? Seems like there is at least one bust in each first round and often 2 or 3.

EDIT... That guy was taken 101st overall. No surprise he is nowhere near the league. 24 other players taken in that round have not played a single NHL game at this point. Nobody taken in that round has played more than 126 NHL games (Tomas Surovy) and that guy is back in Sweden now.

[Draft Dodger]

Originally Posted by NoSkillz

Just to reinforce your point further, the Cory Stillman you're thinking about WASN'T drafted by Mad Mike, but by Calgary in 1992.

That's ANOTHER Cory Stillman that was drafted in 2001 and he's mired in the CHL right now with no chance of playing NHL hockey.

thanks - I really was scratching my head over how Stillman could seem so old and be so young

[JonInMiddleGA]

Thrashers put an end to Buffalo's winning streak with a 5-4 shootout win, with Lehetonen blanking the Sabres on three straight shots.

[Tekneek]

The streak had to end at some point. Atlanta played well, but winning or losing that game doesn't mean anything for April/May...

I was a little surprised with the way Hartley got so excited after the game. I would have expected him to tone it down just a little bit given the way they had blown a few leads in the game. It did also make me wish that shootout "wins" weren't worth as many points as a regulation win. They really shouldn't count the same because they aren't the same.

[Pumpy Tudors]

A streak that hasn't ended is Malkin's scoring streak. Five games, five goals. Damn. I knew the kid was something special when my wife blurted out the other night, "I want a Malkin jersey." This woman does not normally wear hockey jerseys, but it's all aboard the Malkin bus here in western PA. I think it's pretty cool, but now we have to decide whether I'm paying for her jersey or if she is.

[Tekneek]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

I think it's pretty cool, but now we have to decide whether I'm paying for her jersey or if she is.

Christmas gift.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Tekneek

The streak had to end at some point. Atlanta played well, but winning or losing that game doesn't mean anything for April/May...

I was a little surprised with the way Hartley got so excited after the game.

2 points is 2 points, I'll take 'em now or in April

Heck, my son even commented on that ("I guess hockey coaches keep a low profile unless there's something really big"). I was a little surprised but I think it's probably a pretty realistic response. This is a big win for them, probably the biggest in team history in some ways.

Regardless of the calendar, this game was viewed both inside and out as a test for a team that's certainly exceeded expectations so far. They had some "test" games last year and didn't fare well in them. So I can understand Hartley's excitement, he finally saw them pass a test, which has to be satisfying. He knows, just like about everyone else, that both he & Waddell probably have their jobs on the line this year so I'm sure there was some relief after they hung on, however momentary that relief may be.

Now they just need to follow up with a win over Toronto & we're looking at a very successful road trip.