2009-10 NHL Thread

[Thoronas]

Ryan Kesler isn't under-rated, he's under reported. He's in a contract year and looking to score somewhere along the lines of 4-5 mil. Plus he guaranteed a gold medal for the US in the Olympics.

[Sepukku]

Ryan Kesler isn't under-rated, he's under reported. He's in a contract year and looking to score somewhere along the lines of 4-5 mil. Plus he guaranteed a gold medal for the US in the Olympics.

To-may-to, to-mah-to. Hes still not getting the recognition for his play that he deserves.

[Brill Weave]

Nynja just stop buddy lol. This is an unwinnable fight. Trust me. So who else do we think is having big years but are still flying under the radar? I'm picking my top underrated players because I'm bored. Here's who I've come up with.

Steve Stamkos TB - I can't say he's flying under the radar. How many #1 picks really ever do that? I don't think anyone expected Tampa Bay to challenge for their division this year, but they are still hanging in there. I think it's a reasonable goal for Stamkos to walk away with 30 - 35 goals and 60 - 70 points on the season. He's doing good work on the powerplay and he isn't a defensive liability. Plus the kid's only 19. He could end up being scary good when it's all said and done.

Ryan Kesler VAN - Kesler, as said above, is having a contract year. He's never going to challenge for the Rocket Richard trophy. I almost look at him as a lesser Joe Thornton. He's a fantastic distributor and it's showing this year. The major downside is that Kesler plays in Vancouver so he doesn't get much exposure stateside.

Niclas Bergfors NJ - Let's be honest. When you hear New Jersey you automatically think of the neutral zone trap and Brodeur. They've got a top three player on any team in the league with Zach Parise. So most of the complimentary players nobody really notices. Bergfors is starting to evolve in a young Jere Lehtinen right now. He's a good two way forward who is finding his scoring touch this year.

James Van Riemsdyk PHI - If John Tavares wasn't drafted this year, Van Riemsdyk would be a favorite for rookie of the year. On a team that is free falling a little bit you have a young rookie forward(brain fart) who is a +6 and has shown fantastic offensive touch. He's a big kid, if he learns from Pronger Penguins fans will be seeing Van Riemsdyk's elbow for years to come.

Mike Rupp PIT - Yes, that Mike Rupp. Career fighter and grinder. He's already passed his career high in goals. He's sitting on nine right now. He got a hat trick against the Rangers. Mike Rupp got a hat trick. A lot you can point to Crosby and Malkin, but Rupp has scored a few goals with some pretty moves. He's a tree in front of the net and he's been sensible with the puck. While it may seem modest I think he can come away with 15 goals and maybe 30 points this year. Which coming from a guy known more for his fists is a huge bonus.

Anze Kopitar LA - Let's be honest, we all expected Kopitar's production to drop off. It hasn't. He's still cruising right along. He's entering the prime of his career and he's playing on a good team for the first time. But almost nobody mentions the guy. Even when he was leading the league in points most people were like "Who?" If he keeps up the current pace he's going to end up with 80 - 90 points.

Wojtek Wolski COL - Seriously, how many of you guys knew Wolski is averaging just under a point a game this year? On a team that has a bunch of young talent Wolski is starting to separate himself from the pack. The Avalanche are slowly turning into a team being lead by Wolski and Statsny.

[Makaveli]

JVR is a forward there Brill.

[Richybear]

And Wolski flip-flops from month to month.
So far he's been good all year, but as any Habs fan will remember, Brian Savage was the greatest at starting off Oct/Nov with 15 goals, and then finishing with .... 18.

Also, Kopitar would be doing even better if Smytty wasn't hurt. I was happy with how well those 2 clicked right from the start.

[Elona]

blah blah blah (and that you think raping attractive girls is alright, since their attractiveness is clearly them bringing it upon themselves).blah blah blah

youtube.com/watch?v=8Phk4tX6EKg

Speaking of raping... Oldie but goldie, #2 Guerin raping Draney at training camp.

[Abraxas]

tonight and thursday brill/sepu/ivaden. i cant wait. hopefully it will be playoff style hockey. they usually always are

im also going down to thursday's game.

[Brill Weave]

Thanks Maka, brain fart on my part on that one. We were supposed to go over to our friend's house tonight but since it's Pens/Flyers our other buddy decided to host tonight so he and I could watch the game since aforementioned friend does not have cable because his wife is evil. Should be entertaining, it always is.

[Sepukku]

Claude Giroux should be in the same boat as JVR. He started slower this year after his monster spring, but hes really picked it up these past 2 weeks.

[Abraxas]

# of times Kimo Timonen made the front page on NHL.com Tuesday December 15, 2009 - 1

# of times Sydney Crosby made the front page on NHL.com Tuesday December 15 2009 - 0

[Sepukku]

You really, truly ask for it sometimes....

*sigh* Let's do this:
# of Stanley Cups for Sidney Crosby: 1
# of Stanley Cups for Kimmo Timmonen: 0

[Abraxas]

will you fucking let him have his moment goddamnitttttttt.

he didnt even play last night and he still had a chance to make the front page

[Thoronas]

Hooooooly shit are the eastern conference standings wacky right now.

http://tsn.ca/nhl/standings/

Teams 10 to 14 in the playoff standings all have 31 points, which makes them all 2 points out of eight spot right now. That's insane, mainly because 33 points wouldn't get you close to the playoffs in the West.

[Sepukku]

Proof the 1-point OT Loss system is stupid:

Detroit with 33 GP has 39 Points (17-11-5) and is in 8th/Playoffs.
Vancouver with 33 GP has 38 Points (19-14-0) and is in 10th/outside.

More wins / less overall losses, but points/places behind the Wings, and consequently, as of right now, out of the playoffs.

I understand WHY they had to add that point to get the owners to agree to the shootout implementation, but geeze... if a team misses the playoffs in April in a similar situation, they have a legitimate beef.

[BadKarma]

Wojtek Wolski COL - Seriously, how many of you guys knew Wolski is averaging just under a point a game this year? On a team that has a bunch of young talent Wolski is starting to separate himself from the pack. The Avalanche are slowly turning into a team being lead by Wolski and Statsny.

I'm loving his production right now, so is my team.

Bergfors has really impressed me, but then again anyone who plays for Lou's Devils are guaranteed to shock and impress. He isnt the greatest GM in hockey for no reason.

[Richybear]

Also, Dustin Penner is playing his brains out in Edmonton right now.
He's already beat last year's total for goals, and is 1 point away from last season's total as well. Guess Quinn turned him around.
Of course, with Hemsky gone for the year now, Horcoff-upthepuck will be completely useless.

Also Rata/Nynja, Habs are offering Halak to Philly, who'd you want back?

[Palin]

Hooooooly shit are the eastern conference standings wacky right now.

http://tsn.ca/nhl/standings/

Teams 10 to 14 in the playoff standings all have 31 points, which makes them all 2 points out of eight spot right now. That's insane, mainly because 33 points wouldn't get you close to the playoffs in the West.

Its no secret the West has fostered stronger teams since the lockout on average. The creme of the crop of the East is amazing, the rest is crap. Meanwhile almost every Western team has a shot at being a contender.

[BadKarma]

The New York Rangers are 28th in the league. Here's to a season of hoping they stay there. I wouldn't mind ending up like the Penguins. Being a laughing stock for 6 or 7 years, getting strong draft picks and completely owning everyone else they play.

[Abraxas]

Also, Dustin Penner is playing his brains out in Edmonton right now.
He's already beat last year's total for goals, and is 1 point away from last season's total as well. Guess Quinn turned him around.
Of course, with Hemsky gone for the year now, Horcoff-upthepuck will be completely useless.

Also Rata/Nynja, Habs are offering Halak to Philly, who'd you want back?

flyers just claimed michael leighton off waivers, so i doubt they would get halak

[Brill Weave]

Well with Bergfors I've been impressed with his kind of right place right time goals. The guy just seems to find a way to disrupt things. It takes some of the pressure off Parise. With him in the mix with Zajac and Elias there's three offensive threats. So sometimes the top defensive pairing doesn't get dropped on Parise.

As to the Avalanche. I'm shocked at the number of good young players they have filling up their roster. Just off the top of my head I'm willing to bet that Duchene, Stewart, O'Reilly, and Galiardi are going to be impact players a year or two down the road. All of them are young and are showing that they belong up in the NHL. If Colorado is able to keep all of them together and they play up to what people think they can do, they could be pretty fucking good.