NHL 15-16 Regular Season Thread: F I R E _ T H E R R I E N

[Ratatapa]

Plekanec signs 2 more years with the habs

[bori]

Topten 2 year extension

@TSNBobMcKenzie: Tomas Plekanec's 2-yr extension with MTL has AAV of $6M -- $7M in first yr and $5M in second yr.

[bori]

Isn't that - a bit overpayed?

[Ratatapa]

I was hoping that he would be gone this year tbh, I like TOP TEN, but sometimes we need to get new materials

But when they gave him the A, the extension wasn't going to take long

[Sepukku]

Isn't that - a bit overpayed?

TOP TEN TOMAS?! 6m AAV is a steal!

[bori]

TOP TEN TOMAS?! 6m AAV is a steal!

I personally like to call him Top Ten Turtleneck - or T3

[Richybear]

Look at all you suckers winning games like "Hey, let's play more than 82 games a year!" while I'm here watching my team conserve energy by playing about 11 in a year.

[Vaspinne]

Look at all you suckers winning games like "Hey, let's play more than 82 games a year!" while I'm here watching my team conserve energy by playing about 11 in a year.

Off to a mighty strong start for your next Draft Lottery Championship

[BadKarma]

Look at all you suckers winning games like "Hey, let's play more than 82 games a year!" while I'm here watching my team conserve energy by playing about 11 in a year.

I feel so bad for Talbot

[Vaspinne]

Having watched a few Oil games this season (with so few Flames games to start the year), I can honestly say they're playing a better game under McClellan. But there's still a lot of defensive work to be done obviously. And it doesn't help that half their D is 25 and younger.

Prime example would be the game against Dallas. Yakupov uses his speed to get a partial break-away and scoring attempt in the third (I think it was the third). He doesn't score and the play goes back the other way on a 3-on-2. Yakupov actually skated back hard to try and defend! Which is a huge improvement compared to in the past where he probably would have just glided back with a half-ass effort. But the catch being that despite his effort to defend, he didn't actually mark anyone and was just a useless body who skated through the zone and just huddled around his goalie. He should have marked Spezza who was the 3rd guy on the 3-on-2, as Spezza ended up getting the puck, cutting to the center and scoring a dagger of a goal.

So yeah, improvements! Just still have a ways to go.

Edit: The play I'm talking about happens at the 3:50 mark in the video



Yak skates back hard, even looks and sees Spezza beside him, but doesn't make any effort to mark him. And as a result, Dallas goes up 3-2 with less than 5 minutes to go

[Richybear]

The defensive stuff is what it is - and what it's always been since like 2006. LOL
But there's some improvement like what you said, but Sekera is a complete derp turnover machine that makes Schultz look like Lidstrom.

Offensively, they're back to the cutesy *pass 55 times before shooting* bullshit, and it's annoying. That and constantly trying to setup McDavid. Like. Always.
Vasp, just tell the Flames to have all 5 guys on the ice cover Connor, leave the other 4 players completely open. They'll still try and force the pass to him. Then when he does get it, he's fallen victim to the *pass it back really quickly* mentality instead of putting it on net.
It's times like this, I wish we had someone like Ovi, who'd trip his own grandma if she was on a breakaway to be like "I'm shooting this."

Talbot has looked great so far, but I'm not expecting it to last without much help in front of him. I think he's finding out in a quick hurry there's no Klein, Staal, or McDonagh here.

[NynJa]

Isn't that - a bit overpayed?

Hes making 5.5m now, and hes not showing any signs of decline just yet. Its short term too.

[Vaspinne]

The defensive stuff is what it is - and what it's always been since like 2006. LOL
But there's some improvement like what you said, but Sekera is a complete derp turnover machine that makes Schultz look like Lidstrom.

Offensively, they're back to the cutesy *pass 55 times before shooting* bullshit, and it's annoying. That and constantly trying to setup McDavid. Like. Always.
Vasp, just tell the Flames to have all 5 guys on the ice cover Connor, leave the other 4 players completely open. They'll still try and force the pass to him. Then when he does get it, he's fallen victim to the *pass it back really quickly* mentality instead of putting it on net.
It's times like this, I wish we had someone like Ovi, who'd trip his own grandma if she was on a breakaway to be like "I'm shooting this."

Talbot has looked great so far, but I'm not expecting it to last without much help in front of him. I think he's finding out in a quick hurry there's no Klein, Staal, or McDonagh here.

I don't think McD is ever gonna have a shoot-first mentality. So putting him with a guy like Yakupov kind of makes sense. Yaks just gotta work on his ice-awareness, whether it's finding the open spot on offense or finding the open guy on defense. But yeah, it'll be some time before he has confidence carrying the puck. When he gets it though I'm sure there will be an immediate change in how scary his line is on the ice. Kid is still only 18 though, always gotta remind myself that lol

[NynJa]

Some habs fans saying they'd prefer Vermette and the cap space over Pleks...
WAT


Sorry, stanley cup winner Vermette

[Cail]

Logan Couture suffered a broken fibula in practice, supposed to have surgery this weekend.

4-6 weeks I thought I saw. Which is real short...

[Richybear]

It depends on if he can come back like Stammy, or takes forever to get back into the swing of things again.

[Richybear]

Also, Iron (Curtain) Mike Keenan to get Russian Citizenship so he can coach them internationally

[Obsidian]

Nesterov suspended two games. I didn't even know he made a sketchy hit.

[Obsidian]

That was a nice deflection by Jenner but it went right through Reimer.

[Obsidian]

GARDINER