I don't know how good of a deal this is for the Pens. Is it really worth it to spend 2mil a year on a backup that wont play more than 15 games in a season? It takes a certain mindset to know you're only going to play a few games in a season and to be able to play at a good level. I'm not sure if Vokoun is going to produce anymore than other random backups would for a smaller salary.
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The Everything NHL Thread
- Thread starter Jackal
- Start date
I think this means Fleury sees a drop in starts for the next two seasons and that they intend to play Vokoun probably closer to 30 games than 15.. I think Fleury was just bad in the playoffs but maybe the organization is blaming it on "fatigue" by making this move. It's an extra million a year for a proven goalie to push Fleury so I guess they see it as worth it. I agree with you Justin.. Not sure how effective a Vokoun will be as a back up, though...
Apparently Michel Therrien is MTL's new coach. Thoughts Vin? =D
gonna post this as an attempted reverse
and also since I'm going to japan tomorrow and I won't be able to post this for a week. I'm very proud of the devils this season, despite the 3-0 hole they face in the finals. They rallied for 4 straight wins against a good young philly team that everyone expected to crush them and then did the same for 3 straight wins after going down 2-1 in the following series against the most consistent regular season team. Few people expected the devils to even make the playoffs let alone play for the cup so it's been a very successful year. The first 2 games and the first half of game 3 of the finals were very winnable games so it hurts that they couldn't get at least one win, but quick and the LA PK have really been excellent. It doesn't help that the few times they managed to get an open net on quick they missed the net each time. As for my breakdowns of a couple key players:
Kovalchuk - I'm not a huge kovy fan but he had a really good bounce back year. He's slowly getting less terrible on defense. He still can't forecheck or win one on one battles, but oh well. I was excited to see what he could do in the playoffs fully healthy, but he ended up getting injured early into the playoffs. Our hockey expert jrrrr would tell you otherwise, but kovalchuk has not been a very big factor at all in these playoffs despite his 18 points. He was really only noticable during the philly series after they rested him for a game. A large part of that is because of his injury so I'm proud that he's playing through it and putting up points still. I really wish deboer would stop giving him 25+ minutes a game though.
Parise - My favorite forward on the team. I love the way he plays the game. He rarely loses a one on one puck battle and I think he makes an excellent captain. I think our run to the finals will almost definitely get him to resign here. Despite all that, I think he's more of a complimentary player and not a go to guy. I do not think he'll be worth the kind of money we will likely give him (or another team if he doesn't resign in NJ). He's more of a glorified grinder. His passing is average. His shot isn't very good. He can't make space for himself against a dman one on one. He's small so he can easily be shut down against big physical dmen. I'll still be happy if we resign him and overpay him though, since he's still a really good player.
Elias - Everyone talks about the future of the devils after brodeur retires. Elias is the real guy I am scared about retiring/regressing due to age. It's a lot easier to replace the numbers brodeur is putting up at 40 (which is still very impressive) than it is to replace Elias's almost point per game numbers. His playoffs this year were very disappointing. To go from 78 points in the regular season to 7 points in 21 games is a huge drop off, especially for someone like elias who has been really good for us in the playoffs over his career.
Brodeur - I think he'll definitely come back for another year. His ability to play the puck so well is huge for us, especially considering how half of our defense treats the puck like a grenade when it's on their stick (especially in the offensive zone). He can break down a forecheck single handedly like he did against the flyers, so hopefully we can get some better puckhandlers on D before he retires.
Henrique - Probably the MVP of our team this season. We might not have made the playoffs if he didn't emerge out of nowhere. Kovalchuk and Parise were playing terribly on a line together (which for whatever reason deboer kept trying to make work even though it's impossible) and Henrique stepped right in and made the line click for a long stretch of games. He was almost a point per game since he got moved to the top line until he got injured right before the all star break and ended up being moved down to the 3rd line shortly after he came back. His game reminds me a little of a Jamie Benn lite. Also those 2 series winning overtime goals! <3 Henrique
Larsson - The future of our team. If we're going to win a cup in the coming years we need him to develop into a stud D-man. He showed a lot of flashes of brilliance up until he got injured by subban. He wasn't the same after that hit, but hopefully he comes back strong next year. I really think he's capable of putting it all together within the next few years.
It's been a very fun ride ever since we hired lemaire halfway through last season. Even though our team is one of the oldest (maybe even the oldest) teams in the league, we have some real good young players to keep the future looking bright.
Kovalchuk - I'm not a huge kovy fan but he had a really good bounce back year. He's slowly getting less terrible on defense. He still can't forecheck or win one on one battles, but oh well. I was excited to see what he could do in the playoffs fully healthy, but he ended up getting injured early into the playoffs. Our hockey expert jrrrr would tell you otherwise, but kovalchuk has not been a very big factor at all in these playoffs despite his 18 points. He was really only noticable during the philly series after they rested him for a game. A large part of that is because of his injury so I'm proud that he's playing through it and putting up points still. I really wish deboer would stop giving him 25+ minutes a game though.
Parise - My favorite forward on the team. I love the way he plays the game. He rarely loses a one on one puck battle and I think he makes an excellent captain. I think our run to the finals will almost definitely get him to resign here. Despite all that, I think he's more of a complimentary player and not a go to guy. I do not think he'll be worth the kind of money we will likely give him (or another team if he doesn't resign in NJ). He's more of a glorified grinder. His passing is average. His shot isn't very good. He can't make space for himself against a dman one on one. He's small so he can easily be shut down against big physical dmen. I'll still be happy if we resign him and overpay him though, since he's still a really good player.
Elias - Everyone talks about the future of the devils after brodeur retires. Elias is the real guy I am scared about retiring/regressing due to age. It's a lot easier to replace the numbers brodeur is putting up at 40 (which is still very impressive) than it is to replace Elias's almost point per game numbers. His playoffs this year were very disappointing. To go from 78 points in the regular season to 7 points in 21 games is a huge drop off, especially for someone like elias who has been really good for us in the playoffs over his career.
Brodeur - I think he'll definitely come back for another year. His ability to play the puck so well is huge for us, especially considering how half of our defense treats the puck like a grenade when it's on their stick (especially in the offensive zone). He can break down a forecheck single handedly like he did against the flyers, so hopefully we can get some better puckhandlers on D before he retires.
Henrique - Probably the MVP of our team this season. We might not have made the playoffs if he didn't emerge out of nowhere. Kovalchuk and Parise were playing terribly on a line together (which for whatever reason deboer kept trying to make work even though it's impossible) and Henrique stepped right in and made the line click for a long stretch of games. He was almost a point per game since he got moved to the top line until he got injured right before the all star break and ended up being moved down to the 3rd line shortly after he came back. His game reminds me a little of a Jamie Benn lite. Also those 2 series winning overtime goals! <3 Henrique
Larsson - The future of our team. If we're going to win a cup in the coming years we need him to develop into a stud D-man. He showed a lot of flashes of brilliance up until he got injured by subban. He wasn't the same after that hit, but hopefully he comes back strong next year. I really think he's capable of putting it all together within the next few years.
It's been a very fun ride ever since we hired lemaire halfway through last season. Even though our team is one of the oldest (maybe even the oldest) teams in the league, we have some real good young players to keep the future looking bright.
Oh LA...
[youtube]cBdAeFOQzQA[/youtube]
[youtube]cBdAeFOQzQA[/youtube]
Henrique soooooooooooooo clutch
Glad it wasn't a sweep, Devils deserved better. Not feeling so good about my Kings in 6 pick (I think they'll win the next one) but was glad they didn't go home with nothing.
EDIT: Also taking this moment to note Doughty has 3g 2a this series. The Zanarkand Abes approve of his performance.
EDIT: Also taking this moment to note Doughty has 3g 2a this series. The Zanarkand Abes approve of his performance.
Devils win, Kovalchuk 1 point from an empty netter
sick life jrrrrrrr
sick life jrrrrrrr
The Devils scored 4 goals in 4 games + one empty netter, and you think that means their offense is good without their best offensive player producing? Do you think the post is going to bail the Devils out in 3 more games so they can squeak by while they get shut out for 47 minutes?
where's popemobile with the meme picture when you need him
where's popemobile with the meme picture when you need him
If the Devil's can win one more that would be great. I'd like nothing more than to watch the final game at home in the land of Hockey with some nice Canadian Beer and big screen TV and some chicken wings or something instead of waking up at 3:00 AM and staying up till 5:30 watching on my laptop screen with shitty quality where I can't even see the fucking puck.
"Go Devils" until I get home.
"Go Devils" until I get home.
I really desire the Kings to lose Game 5 so that they can win the Cup at home. Going back: Bruins won in Vancouver, Blackhawks won in Philly, Pens and Red Wings both won on each other's ice... did the Ducks clinch at home? Do we really have to go all the way back to the Canes to find someone that won at home? It's been too long.
I want the Kings to lose because I won't be able to watch the game on Saturday =[
I want them to win because it's the only game I can watch live. Damn midweek games and the stupid timezone differences.
