BTW guys...who's the best team (record wise) in the NHL right now? :D
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BTW guys...who's the best team (record wise) in the NHL right now? :D
lol tstran.. preds probally the most underated team in the league...
Leafs need to get a consistant goalie above anything else at the trade deadline! way to go JFJ you traded our future allstar goalie for the next cloutier... wonderful..
They don't get Pogge in net in the next 2 years, and they will be in the tank!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by raikk
Actually to be fair, Raycroft stole two games in Florida, and had no help Saturday against the flightless waterfowl. Raycroft is an ok goalie, no more, and there is no guarntee Tukka Rask was/is gonna be a super star. Junior phenoms can flame out too easily.
I think JFJ has done a poor job of managing his money. If he didn't over pay for McCabe (no good in his own end, one dimensional) and Kubina ( not worth Kaberle money)he would have the money to acquire some salary before the trade deadline. Now he has no money, and he might have to trade Sundin (not a good idea but if you are rebuilding, it might be good to let him win a cup somewheres) to get some money freed up. Then again, when management wouldn't give him more than a one year contract, it said he had to win now, and that ALWAYS leads to bad decisions when you have a so-so lineup. The only REALLY smart thing he has done is hire Paul Maurice. The guy could get a gallon of juice out of a lemon.....
Oh one more thing. Apparently the long feud between the Leaf's and ex-star Dave Keon appears to be over. Apparently when they honour the 67 Leafs team later in Febuary, he said he will show up. I can just imagine the ovation he will get, because he is a mythical figure to those 60's fans....Alas, I was too young to remember that last Stanley Cup win, I was only 2!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark in Oshawa
ahh yes.. It's a good thing to.. he was arguably the best player the Leafs ever had..
On a related note it is reported that Wellwood is goiung to have surgery and will be out indeffinetly 6-8 weeks.... DOH! I think Kyle Wellwood has many of the qualities that Keon has which is why he is one of my fave players int he NHL today...
I wouldn't say that I hate the power plays Mark. It's just that some of these penalties are absolutely ridiculous! The delay of game penalties for one example, are a joke. YES, some delay of game penalties are justified, however there are far too many that border on the side of stupidity. Now, in the case of the holding calls, I do agree that if a player takes one hand off his stick and uses it to hold another, he should be penalised and that is fine, however some of these hooking calls are laughable. I guess you could say that the skilled players have all the ice they need now, however I miss the days when a player had fight through traffic. Yeah...the skilled player is great when there is no one bothering him, but let see just how good he is when his life is made a little miserable by a forceful yet effective checker. I saw nothing wrong with a player taking his stick and whacking another player on the side of his pants. All within reason of course! Now if he really hooks, and I mean really hooks another player, then he gets a penalty. All the league needed to do was to call the game properly, then we wouldn't be in this awful transitional stage we are in today. Today's game is all about who has the best specialty teams.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark in Oshawa
In theory, Bettman's plan for a cleaner and faster game is all fine and dandy if the players are willing change their habits, but unfortunately I think many of these player's habits are instinctively ingrained in their being, and with that being said, I think the players still have quite a way to go. The younger players who are working their way up to the NHL are obviously in a much better situation because they will most certainly find the transition easier for various reasons. Old habits are hard to break.
I sure as hell hope that every hard working two-way player doesn't find himself out of a job because it's these such players who hold teams together when the going gets tough. I DO NOT want to see a league full of Sidney Crosbys and Jaromir Jagrs.
I wanted to see a coaching staff devise a system that could beat the trap because a trapping team has every right to play that way if they choose. I wanted to see a team beat a trapping team on a regular basis so as to force the trapping team into changing their approach to the game. I guess the Devils made them do it! ;)
Sirius
Well, you and I are not that far apart, but like I said, the odd smack on the pants turns into slashes and or hooks real easy.
Give it about 5 years when all the guys out of junior have been playing with these rules and start to filter in to the league. Something HAD to be done, because what was happening was just crap.
As for watching a guy fight off checks, if a player knows how to use his body, he can stick himself in the way in a way that wont get a penalty. As for the delay of game thing, well, I learned playing hockey a long time ago to dump a puck off the boards, and as a defenseman I never once put it over the glass. I cant understand what some of these guys are doing, but I agree, it is a lame penalty...
You are right Mark, we really aren't that far apart at all. :up:Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark in Oshawa
The important part in all of this is that the game is going in the right direction, albeit very slowly.
Now, if the league could rid themselves of that little runt Gary Bettman, the league would be really going in the right direction.
Sirius
Here here, I second that. Gary is a Toad, and I would love to take half the idiots in the US running teams and put the muzzle on them. The vote to put the sched back so every team plays everyone else at LEAST once fell by one vote. That jerk Lou Lamiorello said there was nothing wrong with the sched. He doesn't think so because he gets the Rangers, Islanders and Philly in his building for 12 out of 40 dates a year, and knows they are his only guarantee sellouts.....meanwhile we see Crosby not enough, out west doens't see Crosby save once every 3 years...and the Leaf's don't get to do their annual trip out west.
It just is a joke....but, hey under Bettman the NHL is more irrelevant than ever, yet the product is actually improving. Take away finally enforcing the rule book, and he has done NOTHING good....
Jere Lehtinen from Dallas is a two-way player with capital letters and I read an interview where he said NHL feels good the way it does now. However, he mentioned there are still too many powerplays but if they find a way to get rid of them, it's better than years. :mark: