Hahahahahaha. Aren't you funny.
Penguins in six or seven. Should be an excellent series.
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The Everything NHL Thread
- Thread starter Jackal
- Start date
Hahahahahaha. Aren't you funny.
Penguins in six or seven. Should be an excellent series.
This will be an awesome cup final, though, not as good as last year with my local love ducks out = P. Wings in 6.
RED WINGS!!!
That was a good game one and I didn't really feel secure about a Detroit victory until that late third goal. Props to Samuelsson for being in the right place at the right times and finishing. Most of the players from both teams played extremely well and he really was the difference maker last night.
Looking forward to game two.
edit: also lol at Fleury for falling when he initially came out onto the ice.
That was a good game one and I didn't really feel secure about a Detroit victory until that late third goal. Props to Samuelsson for being in the right place at the right times and finishing. Most of the players from both teams played extremely well and he really was the difference maker last night.
Looking forward to game two.
edit: also lol at Fleury for falling when he initially came out onto the ice.
So I went camping during the first two games. It was pure agony, I had to rely on faulty cell phone reception and my dad calling me updating me with scores.
The results are wonderful, though. 7 unanswered goals is a wonderful feeling. I'll take a sweep, but if we lose one, we get the satisfaction of winning at home.
The results are wonderful, though. 7 unanswered goals is a wonderful feeling. I'll take a sweep, but if we lose one, we get the satisfaction of winning at home.
Shame, was hoping for some exciting series, but I don't think Detroit will give this away. Hope I just jinxed it for them, go Pens!
Yeah, I think the series really needed that. As nice as it was for the Wings and their fans to blank the Pens twice in a row, the series was setting itself up to be a failure, in both TV ratings and entertainment value. This way, NBC is guaranteed at least two more games of nationwide hockey broadcasts, plus the Pens don't completely flop on the biggest hockey stage in the world.
I started my co-op job down in Indiana this week and watched the game with a few of the kids from Penn State. It was a tough pill to swallow, watching game 5 with them when Detroit lost. Plus, I didn't like seeing them win on the road but it's the Cup so I'll be happy.
It's good to finally see Detroit win it again after having some tough breaks in the playoffs in the years following their 2002 Cup win. It's amazing how much they've changed in terms of players yet still seem to play the same great hockey that won them the last 3 Stanley Cups.
It's good to finally see Detroit win it again after having some tough breaks in the playoffs in the years following their 2002 Cup win. It's amazing how much they've changed in terms of players yet still seem to play the same great hockey that won them the last 3 Stanley Cups.
While the season is of course over there's still plenty to discuss, particularly because the normally terrible period between the end of the finals and free agency starting has been more interesting than usual.
Detroit extended Babcock's contract(was there ever any question) by three years, locking him up until after 2011-2012 season. What was less obvious was San Jose stole Todd McLellan, a Red Wings assistant, to replace Ron Wilson(who they never should have fired anyway) who for some unfathomable reason actually took the job in the train wreck that is Toronto. While obviously I don't get any inside info from what I can acquiesce McLellan was a damn good assistant and it sucks to see him leave but it's good to see him get an opportunity to be the man somewhere since hopefully we'll retain Babcock for a very long time. He did a lot of media shit in Detroit for an assistant and he apparently feels very comfortable in San Jose so it shouldn't take too long for him to get rolling there, although it'll be interesting when Detroit and San Jose play since while they aren't really rivals per se they're definitely working in that direction. Crawford got the axe in LA which i think is a good decision since I've always thought he was a pretty subpar coach but honestly no coach is going to be able to save that team until they get someone who can play goal. They have a prospect who's name is eluding me who is potentially money though, I think they could be very dangerous around 3 years from now if everything falls into place for them.
Dominik Hasek retired which was another thing that pretty much everyone saw coming, I think it's kind of sad he was on the bench for his last game but most goalies go out that way anyway and he can't complain about too much in his career. While the last six years have tainted our memories of him a bit I think in the last decade or two outside of Roy and Brodeur he's been as good as anyone(and probably better than either of them while he was in Buffalo) and is definitely a first ballot hall of famer.
Excited for July 1st and free agent drama either way, les go offer sheets!
Detroit extended Babcock's contract(was there ever any question) by three years, locking him up until after 2011-2012 season. What was less obvious was San Jose stole Todd McLellan, a Red Wings assistant, to replace Ron Wilson(who they never should have fired anyway) who for some unfathomable reason actually took the job in the train wreck that is Toronto. While obviously I don't get any inside info from what I can acquiesce McLellan was a damn good assistant and it sucks to see him leave but it's good to see him get an opportunity to be the man somewhere since hopefully we'll retain Babcock for a very long time. He did a lot of media shit in Detroit for an assistant and he apparently feels very comfortable in San Jose so it shouldn't take too long for him to get rolling there, although it'll be interesting when Detroit and San Jose play since while they aren't really rivals per se they're definitely working in that direction. Crawford got the axe in LA which i think is a good decision since I've always thought he was a pretty subpar coach but honestly no coach is going to be able to save that team until they get someone who can play goal. They have a prospect who's name is eluding me who is potentially money though, I think they could be very dangerous around 3 years from now if everything falls into place for them.
Dominik Hasek retired which was another thing that pretty much everyone saw coming, I think it's kind of sad he was on the bench for his last game but most goalies go out that way anyway and he can't complain about too much in his career. While the last six years have tainted our memories of him a bit I think in the last decade or two outside of Roy and Brodeur he's been as good as anyone(and probably better than either of them while he was in Buffalo) and is definitely a first ballot hall of famer.
Excited for July 1st and free agent drama either way, les go offer sheets!
huge day in the NHL
its hard to tell who the big winners are, although montreal got a LOT stronger with the addition of tanguay and most likely sundin (who is allegedly being traded for ryder and some picks and some other player)
I like the leafs pick in luke schenn, a defense first defenseman. Maybe in 3 years we wont be so bad.
its hard to tell who the big winners are, although montreal got a LOT stronger with the addition of tanguay and most likely sundin (who is allegedly being traded for ryder and some picks and some other player)
I like the leafs pick in luke schenn, a defense first defenseman. Maybe in 3 years we wont be so bad.
and my hopes of seeing Lecavalier on the Habs are completely crushed.
9 year contract for him @ TBL, ah well, no need to replace my Lecavalier jerseys then :)
9 year contract for him @ TBL, ah well, no need to replace my Lecavalier jerseys then :)
I really dislike that Melrose hiring - I think Tampa could easily get respectable quickly, Smith in goal will make them a lot more competitive just by virtue of not forcing the Lightning to score 5 goals a game to have a shot at winning, and while obviously Stamkos is a downgrade from Richards at least they have someone solid to help out in the 2/3 Center, they'll probably resign Prospal to get the top line rolling again and with Richards out they should have quite a bit of free cash even after extending Lecavalier's and Boyle's contract that they can use to bring in another mid level free agent to help things out. Considering the rest of the division is still pretty mediocre (Washington will be good in a year or two but probably isn't really there yet, Carolina is faltering, Florida is in like year 13 of rebuilding and Atlanta looks to be in a fairly similar situation) they could make a nice run here.
They can if Melrose doesn't fuck it up, anyway. I've really only known him as one of the worst hockey analysts on TV so I might be being a little unfair here, but I really don't like the decision to employ a coach who hasn't even been on the staff of an NHL team for well over a decade. It's a pretty silly risk when there were four or five solid coaches on the market - there'll be several good coaches unemployed next season which boggles my mind considering some of the new coaches that got hired.
They can if Melrose doesn't fuck it up, anyway. I've really only known him as one of the worst hockey analysts on TV so I might be being a little unfair here, but I really don't like the decision to employ a coach who hasn't even been on the staff of an NHL team for well over a decade. It's a pretty silly risk when there were four or five solid coaches on the market - there'll be several good coaches unemployed next season which boggles my mind considering some of the new coaches that got hired.
Still a handful of good free agents on the market but I figured I'd bumped this since there's been an absolute ton of roster moves since the finals.
ESPN has a signing tracker for a mostly full list, going to just comment on some of the big ones myself: http://proxy.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?page=08freeagents
However before I even get into the signings, some recent trades really interest me. The Kings traded away the two people I would have said are there best players in Cammaleri and Vishnovski in deals that I felt were kind of uneven, but the underlying goal here is obviously that LA wants to get younger and work on the whole rebuilding thing. I'm not a big fan of teams tanking on purpose, though, and it seems like they're going to have a really rough go of it this year with an even younger team than the team the sputtered into the bottom of the Western conference last year. This deal works out nicely for both of the players they dealt though since both of them end up on teams that suddenly look competitive in Calgary and Edmonton, respectively.
While it's not on the tracker as I post this apparently Detroit has signed Hossa for the next year, which makes me excited as a Red Wings fan since I felt that Hossa was probably the best forward on the Penguins in the last two rounds outside of maybe Crosby even though his numbers didn't necessarily show it - definitely a good pickup for Detroit. The Wings also managed to resign Brad Stuart contrary to how things were looking for a while so our blue line looks pretty good again this year, even with the unfortunate retention of Lilja. Detroit also signed Ty Conklin, who should get more time in Detroit than he would have in Pittsburgh which is cool because he definitely earned it after last year. In spite of signing these players Detroit has a plethora of free agents left with varying degrees of restriction or calls to retirement(Chelios, Drake, Ericsson, Filppula(!), Grigorenko(lol), McCarty, Quincey) so hopefully they get some of them locked up.
Chicago snagged Campbell for a pretty outrageous price tag(56.8M over 8 years) for someone who really isn't a tier 1 defenseman as well as stealing Huet from the Caps(>:O) for another pretty ridiculous price tag... I think Huet will be a really good fit here and that the money was well spent but I was amused but EJ Hradek's take on this so I'm going to post it anyway
Hawks sign goalie Cristobal Huet (four years, reportedly $22.54M): Did I miss Huet's Cup-winning performance? No, I didn't because there hasn't been one. I don't get this one. Now, the Blackhawks have to trade Nikolai Khabibulin, who's poised for a good outing in the final season of his contract.
Honestly I think he's a better pick than Khabibulin at this point but I thought that was funny enough to pass on.
Most of Tampa's moves have been done prior to free agency actually opening but since there hasn't been a post here in a while it hasn't been mentioned. They re-acquired(I bet Philly feels stupid) Prospal and signed Roberts, Malone, Vrbata, and Kolzig. They still have a pretty subpar blue line but they have 8 or 9 forwards between above average and amazing(Lecavalier, St. Louis, Stamkos, Jokinen, Oullet in addition to the above) which gives them one of the better sets of forwards, surprisingly.
ESPN has a signing tracker for a mostly full list, going to just comment on some of the big ones myself: http://proxy.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?page=08freeagents
However before I even get into the signings, some recent trades really interest me. The Kings traded away the two people I would have said are there best players in Cammaleri and Vishnovski in deals that I felt were kind of uneven, but the underlying goal here is obviously that LA wants to get younger and work on the whole rebuilding thing. I'm not a big fan of teams tanking on purpose, though, and it seems like they're going to have a really rough go of it this year with an even younger team than the team the sputtered into the bottom of the Western conference last year. This deal works out nicely for both of the players they dealt though since both of them end up on teams that suddenly look competitive in Calgary and Edmonton, respectively.
While it's not on the tracker as I post this apparently Detroit has signed Hossa for the next year, which makes me excited as a Red Wings fan since I felt that Hossa was probably the best forward on the Penguins in the last two rounds outside of maybe Crosby even though his numbers didn't necessarily show it - definitely a good pickup for Detroit. The Wings also managed to resign Brad Stuart contrary to how things were looking for a while so our blue line looks pretty good again this year, even with the unfortunate retention of Lilja. Detroit also signed Ty Conklin, who should get more time in Detroit than he would have in Pittsburgh which is cool because he definitely earned it after last year. In spite of signing these players Detroit has a plethora of free agents left with varying degrees of restriction or calls to retirement(Chelios, Drake, Ericsson, Filppula(!), Grigorenko(lol), McCarty, Quincey) so hopefully they get some of them locked up.
Chicago snagged Campbell for a pretty outrageous price tag(56.8M over 8 years) for someone who really isn't a tier 1 defenseman as well as stealing Huet from the Caps(>:O) for another pretty ridiculous price tag... I think Huet will be a really good fit here and that the money was well spent but I was amused but EJ Hradek's take on this so I'm going to post it anyway
Hawks sign goalie Cristobal Huet (four years, reportedly $22.54M): Did I miss Huet's Cup-winning performance? No, I didn't because there hasn't been one. I don't get this one. Now, the Blackhawks have to trade Nikolai Khabibulin, who's poised for a good outing in the final season of his contract.
Honestly I think he's a better pick than Khabibulin at this point but I thought that was funny enough to pass on.
Most of Tampa's moves have been done prior to free agency actually opening but since there hasn't been a post here in a while it hasn't been mentioned. They re-acquired(I bet Philly feels stupid) Prospal and signed Roberts, Malone, Vrbata, and Kolzig. They still have a pretty subpar blue line but they have 8 or 9 forwards between above average and amazing(Lecavalier, St. Louis, Stamkos, Jokinen, Oullet in addition to the above) which gives them one of the better sets of forwards, surprisingly.