2008/2009 Hockey Thread v2.0

[Enter Blue Guy]

My buddy and I were playing the obscure and random hockey player name game via text today. Spirited effort on both ends, but I finished it with a swift German Titov to the face and countered his Steve Konowalchuk with a Jiri Slegr nail in the coffin.

Classic time waster.

Edited February 10, 2009 by Enter Blue Guy

[Guest Mr. Potato Head]

Is Zarley Zalapski still an automatic win? Or does Andrei Trefilov trump him these days? And where does Gerald Diduck fit into all this?

[Plubby]

How is Kono obscure? He is a champion!

[Toe]

Ray Emery is refusing to return to his KHL team due to a pay dispute, and there is some (alleged) interest from NHL teams in having him return after his stellar play in Russia this year.

[Gabriel]

Ray Emery is refusing to return to his KHL team due to a pay dispute, and there is some (alleged) interest from NHL teams in having him return after his stellar play in Russia this year.

I can't help but think that this is probably an issue of Emery signing his contract in Rubles, or whatever the Russian currency is. He probably looked at the exchange rate when he signed and thought it was satisfactory, but with it having fallen (I believe), he would be making less money in American dollars now than at the beginning of the year.

Also... the Montreal Machine has broken. Awesome kick-back game to get us back in the swing of things though, before a mini-road trip. 6-2 Flames... woo!

[Toe]

Ray Emery is refusing to return to his KHL team due to a pay dispute, and there is some (alleged) interest from NHL teams in having him return after his stellar play in Russia this year.

I can't help but think that this is probably an issue of Emery signing his contract in Rubles, or whatever the Russian currency is. He probably looked at the exchange rate when he signed and thought it was satisfactory, but with it having fallen (I believe), he would be making less money in American dollars now than at the beginning of the year.

Also... the Montreal Machine has broken. Awesome kick-back game to get us back in the swing of things though, before a mini-road trip. 6-2 Flames... woo!

From what I have read, that is exactly what the problem is.

[TGWL]

So avery has cleared waivers. And apparently, the rangers are interested again.. Does anybody think Avery will be claimed on re-waivers by any team before the rangers get their chance? I mean, i know it's avery, but the pay would be around 1.9 per year, instead of 4.

[Gabriel]

So avery has cleared waivers. And apparently, the rangers are interested again.. Does anybody think Avery will be claimed on re-waivers by any team before the rangers get their chance? I mean, i know it's avery, but the pay would be around 1.9 per year, instead of 4.

The Rangers are the only team in the league that has declared anything other than pity for Sean Avery... so no, I highly doubt that anyone else would pick him up.

With the problems that New York is having right now, I really think it's an unwise decision to bring back a potential cancer. I don't care what his agent or doctors have said... I don't care what the Rangers have seen him do in the past... they're in a bad situation right now, and the last thing they need is a guy coming in and making things worse.

I'm not saying that he will for sure, make things worse... but I will say that it's 50/50 as to whether or not he'll be productive enough to warrant bringing him on. That's 50% that they'll turn it around with him back and secure a playoff spot... and that's 50% that he comes back, hijinx ensue, and they tank during the stretch.

It's just not a gamble worth taking.

[Enter Blue Guy]

How is Kono obscure? He is a champion!

It's more in the name, though it helps if the player himself is obscure. Or random. Besides, as much of a beast he was for Washington in NHL 94, I'd say Steve is a pretty random player to throw out there.

[Reddaye]

Maybe some of you who live in Toronto have already been hearing this but supposedly Burke has been on the radio basically laying it to both Toskala and Antropov.

Everyone knows Nik is up for free agency the end of this season, and according to Burke he "hasn't been playing well enough to get a new contract." Says that Antropov could use a change of scenery, and continues to believe Toskala hasn't played anywhere near what he feels a number one goalie should.

Burke has said that he's "sick and tired of of these under performers on his team," and isn't saying anything publicly that he hasn't already said to the player or agent privately.

All I can say is...ouch.

[Toe]

Maybe some of you who live in Toronto have already been hearing this but supposedly Burke has been on the radio basically laying it to both Toskala and Antropov.

Everyone knows Nik is up for free agency the end of this season, and according to Burke he "hasn't been playing well enough to get a new contract." Says that Antropov could use a change of scenery, and continues to believe Toskala hasn't played anywhere near what he feels a number one goalie should.

Burke has said that he's "sick and tired of of these under performers on his team," and isn't saying anything publicly that he hasn't already said to the player or agent privately.

All I can say is...ouch.

It is well known that Antropov is an attractive player for teams looking for an extra boost going into the post season. I hope Burke hasn't hurt his trade value.

Also, the noise out there is that Toronto is looking to sign the Sedin twins in the off season, since contract talks in Vancouver are not moving forward.

[Gabriel]

Brian Burke comes into Toronto and says the team isn't physical enough for him... and his big signings this summer are going to be Mary Kate and Ashley?

No thanks. There's a handful of better forwards who are also more physical. No need to go out and get the Twins for a team that Burke wants to be hard to play against.

From what I've seen, if you knock them around enough, they sort of disappear for awhile.

[Toe]

Brian Burke comes into Toronto and says the team isn't physical enough for him... and his big signings this summer are going to be Mary Kate and Ashley?

No thanks. There's a handful of better forwards who are also more physical. No need to go out and get the Twins for a team that Burke wants to be hard to play against.

From what I've seen, if you knock them around enough, they sort of disappear for awhile.

I would be a good signing if you could surround them with big, hard checkers that would keep the other team off of their backs. We don't have that though, and I would rather see us go after three or four good players instead of the Sedin twins unless they decided to sign for a discount (which I seriously doubt would ever happen).

[Guest Mr. Potato Head]

Toronto does not need the Sedins. Only reason to sign them is if it's some sort of sign-and-trade deal and you're getting an actual good player out of it.

[Reddaye]

I really hope that rumor isn't true (Sedins coming in). They're certainly talented players, but for six to seven million each, which is their asking price from what I've heard they just don't seem to be worth the hit in cap. They're practically made of tin foil...hit them and they fold like nothing. That's just my opinion though.

Really, I'd rather see Burke use that fourteen million to try and get Mike Cammalleri and Bouwmeester, assuming they're free agents next year (which is likely). Cammy isn't a big guy (5'9" or so), but he's got good skill and would likely want in the range of four million. That, and for a guy his size he can take a hit, plays with some grit, who isn't afraid of getting into tough areas and do battle. I really don't need to go into details about Jay Bo.

Supposedly there's talk of trading Dominic Moore...but that's just too horrible for me to even think of.

[Gabriel]

It's highly unlikely that Cammalleri will hit the free agent market.

Darryl Sutter won't let him go without a fight. It's been eight years since someone other than Iginla led the team in goals. Cammy's going to be a Flame for a long time.

[Clawson]

Well Sutter can't exactly fight well once he hits the open market. All signs are pointing towards Cammalleri being a Leaf next year.

[Toe]

Toskala actually played well tonight and the score does not reflect his effort in the game.

It is so disappointing to see it happen again...this dropping leads in the third period thing is not a new trend by any stretch and has gotten to the point where, when Florida tied it, I turned the channel and just waiting for a few minutes to check the scores online, knowing we were screwed.

[Enter Blue Guy]

The Cammalleri rumors seem a little too good to be true. I'm not going to get excited until I know he is coming for sure, but if he did, it would be pretty damn cool. A good ol' Richmond Hill boy, born and raised just down the road from me, playing for the Leafs.

[Plubby]

*begins writing to Boston on behalf of Francois Giguere*