2008/2009 Hockey Thread v2.0

[Toe]

Montreal resigns Brisebois and trade for Lang.

Brisebois was decent enough last season. Getting Lang adds some depth in terms of centers, and Lang should be able to put some good points on the board for Montreal. It cost them a second round pick though.

[Gabriel]

I love the addition of Robert Lang to the Habs. If he stays healthy, he should be a good guy to have around.

[Toe]

In NHL: EHM 07, I just traded Wellwood to Nashville for Shea Weber, and sent Blake to Buffalo for Pominville and their 2nd pick. I also sent Raycroft to San Jose for their 1st rounder.

I also picked up David Bolland for Stajan.

[The Sultan of Swank]

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/2008/09/15/..._sundin_desire/ I think this is a pretty good article, that reflects pretty much everyone's feelings about Sundin's indecision. He also brings up a pretty good point about why he shouldn't make the HoF.

Anyways, on paper, Montreal is a better team this year than last year. There's no way they stay healthy the whole way through, but our team is so unbelievably deep that unless they get hit as bad as they did in 06/07... *knocks on wood*

I think the expectations for the team this year are insane, on the one hand it's almost unfair to the players, on the other I love it. It's not that we're expecting Montreal to win the Cup this year, because really, while they're the best team in the East (or if you're not a Habs fan one of the top 2 teams), the West is a far stronger conference and as Leaf fans and Habs nay-sayers alike love to point out, Montreal had a lot of trouble against the West last year. But the team is essentially expected to win the East in the season and the Playoffs, and really if they make it to the final, anything short of a cup would be a failed season, so in effect, the expectations are Cup or Bust.

It's fun to live in Montreal right now, the whole city is really buzzing with excitement for the upcoming season.

Personally, I don't see any reason to use Price's poor playoff performance against Philly as a reason to say he'll have a bad season, I mean really the kid essentially went from World Junior MVP, to leading his Tri-City Americans, to AHL playoff MVP and then was thrust into the Habs as the #1 goalie. He had quite the busy year, I mean I think fatigue may have had something to do with it, and also, you're 20, you're expected to be the greatest goalie since Roy, you're playing in the most hockey mad city in the world oh and it's so fucking loud during the games that TSN, Sportsnet and the CBC all felt it necessary to run stories on just how loud it gets... yeah... that's not easy. I think if he starts off the year strong he'll quiet down the nay-sayers.

Also, I want to say that Montreal has a fantastic D this season. Markov, Komisarek and Hamrlik are absolute studs.

[Toe]

Price is fine. I just want to see how many players can repeat their performances from last year.

I do think Mats will be in the Hall Of Fame for his great numbers. But even I am getting to a point where I would rather see Mats make a decision and retire now then to continue and drag this out.

Edited September 16, 2008 by Toe

[Toe]

I just signed Ovie to an offer sheet and stole him from the Capitals. Sick burn!

[Ruki]

How many picks did you lose?

[Toe]

It is worth it. I have changed the team quite a bit without losing McCabe, Kaberle or Sundin. I have Jason Pominville, Shea Weber, David Bolland, signed Mike Ribeiro and have Pascal Leclaire as a back-up.

I also drafted 10th and 20th overall in the draft. I sent Raycroft to the Sharks to get the extra first rounder.

Edited September 17, 2008 by Toe

[Ruki]

Who would give a 1st rounder for Raycroft? When I played the demo I traded him to Phili for Nitimaki, or however you spell his name. Either that, or I traded him for Belfore, assuming he wasn't on the team already. I can't remember

[Toe]

Who would give a 1st rounder for Raycroft? When I played the demo I traded him to Phili for Nitimaki, or however you spell his name. Either that, or I traded him for Belfore, assuming he wasn't on the team already. I can't remember

I find that half the time you play this game with the 2007/08 roster update by Smetena, Nabokov is unhappy with the Sharks and winds up traded. I sent them Raycroft and my 3rd rounder for their first. Later in the season, Brodeur went down with an ACL tear and the Devils traded for Nabokov.

Edited September 17, 2008 by Toe

[Ruki]

I wish I had that game at work

[Clawson]

I know I'm a little late but I told you d-bags that Sundin wouldn't be going to Montreal.

[Toe]

Justin Williams is out 4 to 6 months for Carolina. I think he is very under rated and is a key player for them. With him, they compete for the division lead. Without, the Hurricanes are going to again find themselves fighting just to get reach the playoffs.

Edited September 18, 2008 by Toe

[Guest Mr. Bump]

Hey fuck you Plymouth. We lost nine of our ten best players from last year (all ten if Boedker sticks in Phoenix), we'll be lucky to scrape our way into the playoffs - you don't need to be running us from behind to get our guys hurt so you stand half a chance.

Then again, it's 2-0 for us after the first, so maybe you do.

[The Sultan of Swank]

I'm surprised not to see a combination of OMFG MONTREAL TEH LOSE 8-3 THEMS SUCK! and OMFG TORONTO COMPETE 7-4 #1 CANADA! Sorry...

I was listening to the game, and was relieved to hear that only 10 "regulars" played in tonight's game (this is including Halak) whereas Boston iced almost a full roster, so this was sort of expected, although even in the pre-season losing is never fun.

[Toe]

From what I saw, Halak had no support. The only thing you can take from that game is that Patrice Bergeron looks like he is going to okay for this season.

The Toronto game was fun to watch. Justin Pogge looked decent and Curtis Joseph will be better then Raycroft. The powerplay looked okay and the PK was awful. Can't take much else from the game, but it was fun to watch.

Edited September 23, 2008 by Toe

[Clawson]

I wanna know how many regulars Toronto iced tonight but honestly who counts as a regular now?

[Toe]

Here is a list for you to look at, Clawson...

[The Sultan of Swank]

I'm actually going to go ahead and say that Toronto will probably do better than expected this season. I mean they've completely stripped down their team, but the guys they have aren't terrible. I don't think they'll be a playoff team but I don't feel like they'll be 15 in the East.

Also today Hell Froze Over

http://habsinsideout.com/main/9003

CBC finally got their shit together.

[Gabriel]

Here are my Season Predictions...

Western Conference

01. *Detroit Red Wings

02. *Calgary Flames

03. *San Jose Sharks

04. Anaheim Ducks

05. Chicago Blackhawks

06. Dallas Stars

07. Minnesota Wild

08. Edmonton Oilers

-----

09. Colorado Avalanche

10. Vancouver Canucks

11. Phoenix Coyotes

12. Nashville Predators

13. Columbus Blue Jackets

14. St. Louis Blues

15. Los Angeles Kings

Eastern Conference

01. *Boston Bruins

02. *Pittsburgh Penguins

03. Montreal Canadiens

04. *Washington Capitals

05. New Jersey Devils

06. New York Rangers

07. Carolina Hurricanes

08. Philadelphia Flyers

-----

09. Ottawa Senators

10. Toronto Maple Leafs

11. Florida Panthers

12. Tampa Bay Lightning

13. Buffalo Sabres

14. New York Islanders

15. Atlanta Thrashers