2008/2009 Hockey Thread v2.0

[Plubby]

Stastny

[Toe]

Toronto lost to the Islanders. Ughhh.

At least the Canadians beat the Czech Republic to open the World Juniors! Woo hoo! I was going to say Tavares looked good out there, but now that I think about it, almost every Canadian player looked great.

[Gabriel]

We played a really good game tonight... but our defensive coverage wasn't where it needs to be at if they expect to win the Gold Medal.

I don't believe in the idea of "letting up" on teams when the score is lopsided. I believe that if the coach feels alright doing it, he should give his top line, fourth line minutes... and his fourth line, top line minutes... but I feel like if you're not going to give 100% effort out there to score and make sure you win the game, that you shouldn't even be playing.

Also, an idea I had after mulling about some of Steve Kouleas' comments... he doesn't think they're harsh enough on the icing rule, and I agree. What I would propose, is that the first time you ice the puck, it's simply brought back and you can't change lines. But, if you ice it again immediately after, with 3 or more of the 5 guys from the previous play still on the ice... that should be called as a Delay of Game penalty. It rewards a good forecheck, and creates more offensive opportunities, as tired lines would be forced to either stay out in fear of taking a penalty, or take a penalty in fear of letting in a goal because of how tired they are.

Do I understand correctly that tomorrow, the 27th of December, Brian Burke is free to start making his moves? Or is the 27th the last day of the roster freeze? I'm not quite sure.

If he can start dealing tomorrow though, I expect at least one or two trades by the time I wake up. (Which, admittedly, isn't until about 2 or 3 Eastern)

[The Sultan of Swank]

andrei kostitsyn

[Slogger]

Anyone know what happened to Teemu after his leg got cut open? I read a brief news story but didn't have any real details.

[Cactus Drags]

Think he's out a month or so, the cut hit a muscle.

Stastny's out 6-8 weeks after deciding to undergo surgery on his arm. Fuck.

[TGWL]

MOSCOW -- New York Rangers prospect Alexei Cherepanov, who collapsed and died during a game on Oct. 13, was alleged to be blood doping for several months before he died, investigators revealed Monday.

Russian investigators further revealed that during his last year the 19-year-old player suffered from myocarditis, a condition where not enough blood gets to the heart. As a result, Cherepanov should not have been playing professional hockey according to the investigation.

Russia's federal Investigative Committee said experts concluded from analysis of blood and urine samples that for several months Cherepanov "engaged in blood doping." There was no elaboration in the statement, and a spokeswoman at the committee refused further comment.

The committee said the club's medical team may carry legal liability, contending a "row of gross violations was committed by the medical brigade" helping Cherepanov.

"Among them, doctors arrived on the scene a full 12 minutes after Cherepanov collapsed, and the battery on the defibrillator to attempt shock Cherepanov's heart back into life was drained," the statement said.

Prosecutors this month accused the club's director of negligence. Mikhail Denisov has since been fired, and Monday's statement did not mention him.

[The Sultan of Swank]

Maxims lapierre with a hat trick. I am content.

[Gabriel]

The Rookie Experiment in Vancouver is over.

They're not happy with the way things have been going using the tandem of Schneider and Sanford in goal... and Luongo is going to be out past the All-Star Game.

So Vancouver sends a 7th Round Pick to Los Angeles for Jason Labarbera.

Steal of a deal.

I'm not sure what LA is doing here... maybe they're unloading a goalie or two to make room for a legit number one guy... or maybe they just lost confidence in Labarbera. Either way, they gave up a solid backup/competent starter in exchange for what amounts to very little.

[Plubby]

LaBarbera had been inconsistent, and they've been wanting to push Ersberg/Bernier for a while now. They sort of owed LaBarbera a chance though because he'd been so good to the team (the last bit is somewhat educated speculation - I could be wrong there).

The Kings have a lot of youth depth in net (I'm stuck in their system in NHL09, lol.)

[Toe]

LaBarbera had been inconsistent, and they've been wanting to push Ersberg/Bernier for a while now. They sort of owed LaBarbera a chance though because he'd been so good to the team (the last bit is somewhat educated speculation - I could be wrong there).

The Kings have a lot of youth depth in net (I'm stuck in their system in NHL09, lol.)

LaBarbera is better then people give him credit for, that is for sure. He is still young, and I would bet on him getting another shot as a starter and sticking somewhere, or becoming one of those top back-ups that pull a Dubie or Conklin and carry a team when the starter goes down.

Also, CuJo has win 450 after winning last night. It looked like another stinker early on, but he hung in there and the team came through for him. Watch this video and see an amazing set up by Grabovski at 1:12.

Edited December 31, 2008 by Toe

[The Sultan of Swank]

I believe that after another awesome performance by price that makes it 12 starts in a row without a loss in regulation. Habs slept through the first two periods then embarassed the bolts defense

[SeanDMan]

Right now the Wheeling Nailerz could embarass the Bolts defense.

[Guest Mr. Potato Head]

That must have been a good game last night, too bad the house I was at didn't have a TV.

Ah well. Saw Kitchener embarrass Brampton 6-1 the other night, and get to watch the Winter Classic today. I'll survive.

[The Sultan of Swank]

Oh Man last nights game, amazing!

Tavares destroyed America, I'll bet that whoever it was who hogan'd the Canadian bench feels like a retard now

[Cactus Drags]

Wha?

Winter Classic was quality, the throwback uniforms were wonderful. Some nice moves, and that early hit that sent the Red Wings guy into the Chicago bench was ace. Pity the Blackhawks suffered from Quenneville's horrible take-the-foot-off-the-gas strategy that plagued the Avs last year. No doubt they'd have won that game if they'd only stuck with what worked instead of sitting back and letting Detroit treat them like training pylons.

[Enter Blue Guy]

One of the more exciting world junior games I've seen yet. Dustin Tokarski? Fuck yeah.

The Winter Classic was amazing. Pavel's goal was a thing of beauty. Splits the defense and slides it under Huet's sprawling pad. He should be arrested for being able to pull that off as casually as he did.

I don't know what strategy Quenneville was using, if it was slowing things down and protecting the lead, then that's the worst way to play Detroit. When you play Detroit you keep the foot on the gas pedal as long as you can. As soon as you give them time to think, they beat you.

Now, I see the Leafs are losing. Sexy.

[Guest Mr. Potato Head]

You know Quennenville didn't spend much time on strategy when he didn't spend the split-second it would take to think "maybe I should wear a hat".

[Enter Blue Guy]

Personally, I think Mike Babcock looked fetching in his fedora.

Edited January 2, 2009 by Enter Blue Guy

[Reddaye]

Supposedly Columbus sent some scouts to watch the Leafs/Sabers game last night. They're interested in (from what was said) getting Antropov and either Kubina or Kaberlie. The push is on for the Jackets to make the playoffs since they're only a point back from being in the fold. Pascal Leclaire's name has been thrown around a bit as someone Columbus is looking to unload.

Of course no one knows what's going on after the horrible game the Leafs played last night.