2009-10 NHL Thread

[lolBST]

So... I was dumb and got 2 Cs from Boston without thinking... It's up on the trading block, but i have Krejci up for trade along with other stuff within reason...take a look.

[Oxyminus]

No games today and this thread gets no love, makes me sad.

[Sepukku]

I'm thinking about how my ass is gonna be parked in a Mellon Arena seat in less than 48 hours. I think I'll sit back and look around, stand enthusiastically for the national anthem, tell any assholes who don't take off their hat to take off their hat, sit back down, and then after 10 seconds lean forward with my elbows on my knees and anxiously rub my hands together (nervous habit). Yes, thats the plan...

[BadKarma]

Ill be at the Garden watching the Rangers try to extend their streak to 8.

[Sepukku]

Mighty shame its not already 8, eh chap? :b

[Oxyminus]

As opposed to what, your five-game winning streak?

[BadKarma]

As opposed to what, your five-game winning streak?

Hes still delusional that the Penguins are the best team in the NHL.


I'm still convinced that the Blackhawks are pound for pound the best team in the league.

[Oxyminus]

Hes still delusional that the Penguins are the best team in the NHL.


I'm still convinced that the Blackhawks are pound for pound the best team in the league.

Only if they're already down 5-0!

They've gotta figure out something with their goaltending, cause Huet isn't gonna cut it

Edit:

BUT I think in the west we're going to see a pretty big changing of the guard this season, and Chicago, along with LA, are going to be the teams leading that charge.

[BadKarma]

Only if they're already down 5-0!

They've gotta figure out something with their goaltending, cause Huet isn't gonna cut it

That is literally the ONLY questionable area on their team. Also how do you like my new sig :D

[Oxyminus]

That is literally the ONLY questionable area on their team. Also how do you like my new sig :D

LOL -- Good Stuff!

BTW - sorry for taking you down this week in fantasy (nah, not really!). I need me a new Rangers avatar...fucking Zherdev

[Oxyminus]

BTW - BadKarma: Dont spoiler the players' names in your sig...if people don't know, they don't deserve to know!

[Sepukku]

Well seeing as the Penguins are tied for the division, confrence, and league leads ^^

But wait! They have two tiebreakers:
1. They beat the team theyre tied with.
2. They are the defending Stanley Cup Champs.

Kinda leads one to believe, even when I'm not acting like a religious zealot, even when I'm not just intentionally overblowing my fandom just to fuck with you Pens-haters, it certainly is indisputable. Going by last season we were the best, and so far going by this season, we're tied for the best with the Rangers as well as potentially the Blue Jackets and Thrashers if they were to win their upcoming games, as they have not played 8 games yet.

In less Atlantic-division-rival-baiting news:
LOL @ Talks of AO doing 50 in 50, or breaking the season scoring records. Its 7 games in..... geeze :/ I don't think anyone is EVER touching Selanne's 92. (Unless they make the nets 5' by 7') By this rate, Tyler Kennedy is on pace for 40+ goals and Brooks Laich like 50-60+. Can't make radical predictions off 6-8 games.

Also, I read an article saying that the KHL is ready to hand Kovalchuk an amount of money (paraphrasing: ) "That no NHL team can touch" after this season to get him to jump. Interesting. He is the Lebron James of the NHL. Certainly no bigger threat has been on the market in the past couple years, and AO, KingCrosby, Malkin, and CantDriveHeatley are all under long term deals, so hes the best offensive threat available for 3 offseasons in either direction. Hes already potted as many goals as AO, and in my opinion, is a better player than AO. If he took the amount of shots AO took, he'd easily be potting between 60-80 goals a year. He doesn't run his mouth like a pig, he hustles, hes been consistently healthy (although so has AO so far) and hes a more mature player overall. It'd be interesting to see who gets him. The Pens obviously have no chance, but that would be a salivating sight. Whatever team can pay him the big dollars is going to really take a bump up, as I don't see him sticking around in Atlanta.

[Brill Weave]

Can't agree with you there Sep. I think AO is by far and away a better player than Kovalchuk. Kovalchuk reminds me of a more durable Gaborik. He'll put up good numbers, but he's a step below that class of player that makes everyone around him better.

[Abraxas]

fuck me.

another excellent showing of Sepukku's brilliance.

you fail at comparing players.

see: last season

[Richybear]

I don't think anyone is EVER touching Selanne's 92.

Teemu's record is 76, which he got as a rookie. (Mogilny got 76 that year as well.)
Gretz got 92 in 1981-82 though.

About the 50 in 50 remark, I'm still choked the NHL doesn't acknowledge Neely getting 50 goals in 49. I think he actually did it in 42 or 43 games, for the 2nd fastest time ever, but the NHL won't say he got 50 in 50 since he didn't play enough games.

[Absolutely Virtue]

Only Sepukku could, in the same post, explain that early season results confirm the Pens are the best team, then dismiss early season results as projections for AO.

Nice showing from Varlamov on Saturday (even though we still can't seem to find a way to bury teams), but I'm convinced the team still belongs to Theodore. He's played well, and it's really unfair to take the job from the vet unless he completely shits the bed.

And I'll say again, there is nothing better than shouting "Show him your cock, Theodore!" every time he makes a big save.

[Oxyminus]

Can't agree with you there Sep. I think AO is by far and away a better player than Kovalchuk. Kovalchuk reminds me of a more durable Gaborik. He'll put up good numbers, but he's a step below that class of player that makes everyone around him better.

Gaborik's commitment to defense has been remarkable, much better than advertised -- even coming out of Minnesotta. And while he's not a play-maker per-say, he does make lots of chances for players around him (and makes them better) because defenses always flock to him when he has the puck. Even as a sniper, he knows when to dish the biscuit.

As for the AO 50 in 50. Could happen. Sure other guys are gettig off to hot starts, but eventually they'll taper off. Ovechkin has done nothing in his career to lead one to think he'll slow down. All he's doing year in, year out, is maturting phsically. Guy is a Beast.

[BadKarma]

I agree with Brill, Kovakchuk is a step, albeit a large one below Ovie. Kovalchuk is great, but Ovechkin is the perfect hockey player. He can score, pass brilliantly, and hit like a truck. Hell, he een fights 7 or 8 times a year. Also my fave moment this year is still Gabby knocking Orpik on his ass when he went to hit him.

[Sepukku]

Guess you missed the part AV where I mentioned last season's Stanley Cup as the other evidence we're the best :D

On the Kovalchuk issue, I'd gladly take him on my team instead of AO. AO scores 50-55 on 500-550 shots. Kovalchuk has been getting 40-55 on 250-300 shots. /ON ATLANTA/. Has anyone thought of that? He does that with Bryan Little and Colby Armstrong (well, now with Nik Antropov, but still). Imagine what he'd do on a real team.

AO meanwhile:
He can hit, but he puts too much effort into it. He downright headhunts at times, and it can get him out of position. He also has some questionable hits, I think if he wasn't scoring 50 goals a year Colin Campbell would've had a talk or two with him already.

I'm also of the belief that having AO on your team PREVENTS your team from ever winning the cup. Not because of some Penguin-fan-imagined karma, but because he doesn't know how to blend in. He stands out too much and his team relies on him too much. Because hes always so focused on doing HIS best, other players aren't stepping up to THEIR best around him. Sure, they might get more points cause they were one of the two players who passed it to him, but you don't have the Max Talbots getting two game 7 goals, a young gun forming in Tyler Kennedy (definitely going to hit 20 goals though this year, despite my poo-pooing of his pace for 40+) or a dominant third line developing in Washington. You have AO on Sportscenter for throwing the puck into an empty cage after a pass got through the slot. You have AO with all the mics in the locker room focused on him. You have AO getting fucking stoned on a breakaway in a game 7 and the entire team folding, as though they said "If AO can't beat him, then none of us can."

And fighting is nice, I'm all for fighting in hockey, but that does nothing to help your team win. My logic of fighting in NHL10 is the same as it is for watching it in hockey:
Its nice to see, but its just a chance to injure yourself, get your team an instigator minor penalty (and the other team a PP), get ejected, or get suspended. I can only recall a couple times when a fight truly turned the tide of a game (HI ABRAXAS ^___________________^ REMEMBER THAT DAY?). Most of them are Donald Brashears, Colton Orrs, George Laraques, and Eric Godards fighting cause they need to make sure they're worthy of the 800k they make. That, or two no namers chopping at each other's sticks and one of them is on their period and they decide to slap each other over it.

[Brill Weave]

AO will end up winning a cup. Whether it be in Washington or another city, it's going to happen. I agree that Kovalchuk is a damn good player. But in the end you have to take where he plays into account. It's very easy to say he would do much better on a team with a real group of linemates(not to take anything away from Little, he's going to be a damn good player for a lot of years to come.)

But the bottom line is you need to look at how the team performs as a whole. AO has led the Caps into the playoffs whereas Ilya Kovalchuk hasn't been able to even sniff the second round. He's a point per game player who has a nose for the net. He would be a fantastic addition to any team, but I don't believe Kovalchuk has what it takes to lead a team into the playoffs. Ovechkin does and has proven it