NHL Season 08-09

[Norelco]

Well shit he did the same thing to Anaheim with Dustin Penner. The difference was Anaheim wasn't going to match what Edmonton offered Penner. It was a douchebag move that is the stuff of legends. Sadly now he has these overpaid players meshing well with the young homegrown talent like Gagner and Cogliano it's only a year or two tops before Edmonton is back in the playoffs.

The difference with Vanek and Penner is that Vanek had enough respect for Buffalo to not sign Lowe's offer sheet. Penner didn't.

That's not how offersheets work for RFAs from what I recall. Even if Vanek wanted to sign with Edmonton he couldn't because Buffalo matched the offer.

And the reason why Buffalo matched the offer was because they were trying to save face from an already brutal offseason of losing both of their captains (Drury and Briere) to free agency.

[Izzy]

I didn't know Vanek was looking to leave Buffalo?

[Abraxas]

i dont think he was. Edmonton was just desperate to get some good players so they offered him a shitload of money

[Brill Weave]

Oh no Izzy, this was a few years back. And he never actually signed the offersheet which meant that Buffalo didn't have to match what Edmonton was offering. I figured Vanek was happy in Buffalo. He's become the man that Ruff counts on there and for a quiet guy, a smaller city is perfect for him to become the man in the spotlight. Even now, he's one of the best pure goalscorers in the league, but most people don't even realize that. The problem with Vanek is he doesn't have a great support group around him.

[Norelco]

What Abraxas said.

[Izzy]

Good! I was going to be upset if the Vanek I love didn't wanna be there .

Off topic: I wish Maxim would step up. He's been my favorite player on the Sabres since Zhitnik left. He was so fun to watch years ago, now he's just coughing up pucks and making shitty passes.

[Norelco]

Good! I was going to be upset if the Vanek I love didn't wanna be there .

Off topic: I wish Maxim would step up. He's been my favorite player on the Sabres since Zhitnik left. He was so fun to watch years ago, now he's just coughing up pucks and making shitty passes.

I think Maxim wants to be traded and we want to trade him. No takers though.

[Brill Weave]

Maxim dropped off the face of the universe. But the good thing is that the Sabres are still holding onto a couple of good younger players. If they can all hit that next level together the way Chicago and Pittsburgh have done, the Sabres will be a force. The fact that Gaustad, MacArthur, Vanek, Paille, Pominville, Roy, and Stafford are all well under 30 is a great thing for Buffalo.

[Norelco]

Maxim dropped off the face of the universe. But the good thing is that the Sabres are still holding onto a couple of good younger players. If they can all hit that next level together the way Chicago and Pittsburgh have done, the Sabres will be a force. The fact that Gaustad, MacArthur, Vanek, Paille, Pominville, Roy, and Stafford are all well under 30 is a great thing for Buffalo.

I love all the guys you mentioned, but none of these guys want to step into that leadership role that ownership is expecting them to. They all played lights out under Drury and Briere, and now that it's their turn to lead they are a team without an identity.

[Brill Weave]

I don't see Vanek stepping it up as a vocal leader, he definitely leads by example though. The two names that stand out to me as having the potential to step up and lead are probably Gaustad and Pominville. Pominville is already getting used to the role by wearing the A already. Gaustad I like because he is a grinder who has a little scoring touch and isn't afraid to get in people's faces.

[Norelco]

I don't see Vanek stepping it up as a vocal leader, he definitely leads by example though. The two names that stand out to me as having the potential to step up and lead are probably Gaustad and Pominville. Pominville is already getting used to the role by wearing the A already. Gaustad I like because he is a grinder who has a little scoring touch and isn't afraid to get in people's faces.

Gaustad yeah, dunno about Pominville. I think he's a great support player, a system guy. But I can't see him lighting a fire under anyone's asses.

I can't wait for next October already. =)

[Abraxas]

Does Tim Connolly remind anyone else of the FreeCreditReport.com guy? just imagine him with a bald head. everytime i see that commercial i think of Connolly.

and i also loved Alexei Zhitnik. i was sad to see him go but we got Coburn straight up for him. what a steal

[Brill Weave]

And touching back on the RFA status, I misunderstood what you had said Norelco. For some reason my brain read that Edmonton offered ten million a year for him. Don't ask me, I don't know. I've been making all kinds of weird fucking mistakes all day today. Like reading shit and thinking I'm reading something else then wondering why I am talking about something is not what I was thinking. If any of that actually makes sense to you, you will now be privy to how my brain works. Or doesn't work as the case seems to be today.

[Brill Weave]

And who is Tim Connelly? I've never seen him on the ice

[Norelco]

And touching back on the RFA status, I misunderstood what you had said Norelco. For some reason my brain read that Edmonton offered ten million a year for him. Don't ask me, I don't know. I've been making all kinds of weird fucking mistakes all day today. Like reading shit and thinking I'm reading something else then wondering why I am talking about something is not what I was thinking. If any of that actually makes sense to you, you will now be privy to how my brain works. Or doesn't work as the case seems to be today.

Haha, it's cool. I forgot how Vanek's contract was structured, but it's 50mil over 7 years, 10mil in the first, then like 8, 7, 6, 5 whatever until you get 50.

Front loaded for sure, it may prove to be a fantastic deal for the Sabres salary-cap wise near the end of it if he's still on the team. I just think Ruff is too hard on him and mishandles him. He's clearly the Sabres best player but when he doesn't produce or play hard Ruff punishes him while giving his boy Pominville ridiculous amounts of ice time because he's a system guy.

My opinion would be to play your best players as much as possible. Look at TOI for Ovechkin and Crosby. Without even looking myself I can almost be certain it's considerably higher than TV's.

Connolly had so much promise, but he's 1 more concussion away from being done with hockey. The guy does have magic hands though. Youtube some of his highlights. Sick stuff.

[Izzy]

He can lay down some hits too lol.

*EDIT*

Man I'm so fucking off today. I don't even remember who the fuck it was now. Just ignore my posts.

[Izzy]

I was thinking of the Campbell hit on Umberger.

[Abraxas]

Campbell is what started this whole convo lol

[Richybear]

Well shit he did the same thing to Anaheim with Dustin Penner. The difference was Anaheim wasn't going to match what Edmonton offered Penner. It was a douchebag move that is the stuff of legends. Sadly now he has these overpaid players meshing well with the young homegrown talent like Gagner and Cogliano it's only a year or two tops before Edmonton is back in the playoffs.

The difference with Vanek and Penner is that Vanek has skill, knows how to shoot and is NHL caliber. Penner isn't.

Edited.

Man, I hate DUH-stin Penner more and more every shift he plays. Just annoys the shit out of me that KLowe offered the guy basically 10x what he was making (from 450k to $4.25m) and all he did was ride the coat-tails of Getzlaf and Perry. He never plays with 1/10 of the passion he did for the Ducks. It was sorta like Lowe was reaching when Vanek's offer sheet was matched, like "Uh oh, I better do something quick." and went into panic mode.
Starting next year between Penner and Horcoffupthepuck, the Oilers have $10m in wasted money. God I hate Anson Penner. I started calling him that after watching how he glides around aimlessly like when we had Anson Carter.
I've loathed the team since they dealt Smytty with the slap in the face trade to NYI. The only reason I pay attention is they're my local team, so the Sports section is pretty much dedicated to them. If they didn't have Gagner, the closest NHL franchise would be Calgary in my eyes. >.< Here's hoping a GM pulls a Lowe and offers retarded money to Sammy after this season, and the Oilers won't be able to match after tying up too much in uselessness.
/end lolOilers rant.

On actual teams in the playoffs, I'm still gonna go with Crosby and the Pens. Rematch of last year's Stanley Cup Final, only a different result.

[Izzy]

Campbell is what started this whole convo lol

I can't brain today