Nhl 2010-2011

[Iron Stove]

Seems like everybody (the whole 5 of us ) has been to lazy to make this long overdue thread, but the Caf is weirdly enough my favourite place to discuss hockey so here goes..

Some interesting trades have taken place this summer.

- Ballard and Hamhuis to Vancouver could be just what the doctor ordered and might just help them get past the second round. First Canadian Stanley Cup champs since.. forever? But can the Sedin's repeat a season like that or was it a one-off?

- Chicago lost a lot of players, but even though Buff, Ladd, Versteeg, Niemi etc will certainly hurt they managed to keep their core players and have some interesting prospects like that mental kid Beach coming through. Turco though.. still good enough?

- The Kovalchuck saga keeps getting weirder. Can't really tell what will happen there.

- The Penguins look even more scary now with Martin and Michalek on the blueline.

- Detroit look stronger than last year, especially since they were very unlucky with injuries last year. Their third line will probably be Hudler-Modano-Cleary.. That's great depth.

- Will be interesting to see Edmonton with all their young forward talent this year. Quite awful d-corps though.

- Death, taxes and Forsberg comeback rumors. Make it stop plz.

- Oh yeah.. Tampa looks awesome now. Loving what Yzerman is doing with that team. Made some nice signings like Gagne, lost some baggage and hired Boucher who is supposed to be a great coach.

Start the season already!

 

[Dr. Dwayne]

Go Leafs, go!

Not really.

 

[Iron Stove]

I think the Leafs will fight for a playoff spot next year. Certainly don't see them gifting the Bruins another top 3 pick in the draft at least. Not with Giguere and Gustavsson for a whole year and that very capable blueline. Could certainly use a couple of forwards though. Versteeg was a nice acquisition.

 

[Dr. Dwayne]

I think the Leafs will fight for a playoff spot next year. Certainly don't see them gifting the Bruins another top 3 pick in the draft at least. Not with Giguere and Gustavsson for a whole year and that very capable blueline. Could certainly use a couple of forwards though. Versteeg was a nice acquisition.

I doubt it. MLSE will sell out consistently and take all that money to their shareholders.

The fans might gripe a bit about not making the playoffs (again) but in the end, they'll be back. Business as usual in Leafland, with the emphasis on business.

I like the Oilers more anyway, closer to where I grew up and I've actually been to a few of their games way back when.

 

[Iron Stove]

I doubt it. MLSE will sell out consistently and take all that money to their shareholders.

The fans might gripe a bit about not making the playoffs (again) but in the end, they'll be back. Business as usual in Leafland, with the emphasis on business.

I like the Oilers more anyway, closer to where I grew up and I've actually been to a few of their games way back when.

Not really sure what you're getting at, Dwayne. I believe that the Leafs is the most income bringing and well-supported team in the NHL but surely the best bit of business would be going far in the play-offs? They are spending to the cap anyhow and are making money for the owners like that pensioners fund (I believe), but they could be making even more.

I hope the Oilers will rise again. Now with Hall, Eberle and Pääjärvi-Svensson they have some elite talent. In a couple of years they could be going places.

 

[Dr. Dwayne]

Not really sure what you're getting at, Dwayne. I believe that the Leafs is the most income bringing and well-supported team in the NHL but surely the best bit of business would be going far in the play-offs? They are spending to the cap anyhow and are making money for the owners like that pensioners fund (I believe), but they could be making even more.

I hope the Oilers will rise again. Now with Hall, Eberle and Pääjärvi-Svensson they have some elite talent. In a couple of years they could be going places.

You'd think that but they're quite happy to just get through the regular season, at least in the last five years or so it seems. Play off runs require expensive talent. I think the owners are worse than the Glazers, who at least People still want to go. Wikipedia reckons as a franchise they've sold out every game since 1946.

The Leafs make City look like a successful team. Maybe they've just been unlucky.

 

[gbgary]

waaaay too hot to think about hockey. 105* or so here the last four or five days with more to come.

 

[Tribec]

I know the Oilers blue line isn't hot, but if we can get rid of Souray and get someone in, I think you'll be surprised by it.

My big concern though is the netminding situation, which raised it's head again last year. Whilst JDD is good and Dubnyk as well, neither have yet to establish themselves as NHL starters, and with Bulin now accepting court case with no jury with regards his DUI in Phoenix, he may end up inside. If that's the case, I wouldn't be shocked to see his contract terminated and perhaps an active pursuit of Niemi if he's still available.

As for our forward corps, that's another thing all together, if they can all make the transition to the NHL quickly we'll have a really potent team, but I fear that won't happen. The most likely out come is for the Oilers to finish in the bottom 5 again and get some more top draft selections and really push towards the 2014 as the start of consistent play-off hockey once more.

 

[Iron Stove]

The Kovalchuk saga is finally over as the NHL accepts the second (and a tad less grotesque) 100 mil front loaded contract. Will this be the year they go back to their old winning ways and deliver in the playoffs?

 

[nyrfan818]

The Kovalchuk saga is finally over as the NHL accepts the second (and a tad less grotesque) 100 mil front loaded contract. Will this be the year they go back to their old winning ways and deliver in the playoffs?

Devils losing Martin is a pretty big loss I feel. Don't understand the signing personally, they're going to have to give Parise a contract next off-season... perhaps this is Brodeur's last year? Either way, I'm not too worried about them. Kovalchuk doesn't seem like a guy who can ever cut it in the playoffs.

Looking forward to another year of the Rangers being decent.

 

[Iron Stove]

Devils losing Martin is a pretty big loss I feel. Don't understand the signing personally, they're going to have to give Parise a contract next off-season... perhaps this is Brodeur's last year? Either way, I'm not too worried about them.

Yeah, I'm not sure how they look cap wise for the future, but Parise is obviously going to get a substantial raise.

Martin is an excellent d-man. Great acquisition by the Pens. They lost Gonchar who's on a downward slope and got Martin and Michalek. Big upgrade.

Kovalchuk doesn't seem like a guy who can ever cut it in the playoffs.

Hmm...This might be wishful thinking..? Personally I don't believe it to be true. He looked good in the playoffs last year and before that I think he only ever played 4 PO games.

Looking forward to another year of the Rangers being decent.

Mats Zuccarello Aasen was a real wizard in the SEL. Will be interesting to see if guys like him (and Omark for EDM) can overcome their size issues and 'pull a Kane' this year. I hope so because he's a treat to watch.

You guys could really do with a no 1 center though. Btw, will Redden be sent down?

 

[Kristjan]

Stove, get your fantasy team in the league

http://hockey.fantasysports.yahoo.com/hockey/7013

 

[Alex]

How are the Avs looking?

 

[Iron Stove]

Stove, get your fantasy team in the league

http://hockey.fantasysports.yahoo.com/hockey/7013

Sure! That was a lot of fun last year. I'll join, but I get this error message when I click the link:

* You are not allowed to view this page because you are not in this league. (Error #152)


[EDIT] Even though I'm a bit thick I finally managed to join.

 

[Kristjan]

Sure! That was a lot of fun last year. I'll join, but I get this error message when I click the link:

* You are not allowed to view this page because you are not in this league. (Error #152)


[EDIT] Even though I'm a bit thick I finally managed to join.

Yeah, forgot to post the link to the Fantasy thread here on the caf. The login and password for the league are there.

 

[Iron Stove]

How are the Avs looking?

Quite good. They have some very promising young players like Duchene and Stewart who will only get better. Craig Anderson showed last year he's a quality goalie. Stastny is a very good center. Defence looks a bit weak to me.
I think they'll make the play-offs again, but can't really see them do a whole lot of damage once there this year either.

 

[nyrfan818]

Hmm...This might be wishful thinking..? Personally I don't believe it to be true. He looked good in the playoffs last year and before that I think he only ever played 4 PO games.



Mats Zuccarello Aasen was a real wizard in the SEL. Will be interesting to see if guys like him (and Omark for EDM) can overcome their size issues and 'pull a Kane' this year. I hope so because he's a treat to watch.

You guys could really do with a no 1 center though. Btw, will Redden be sent down?

Those 4 playoff games before were against the Rangers and he looked like a fish out of water. He's a guy you can definitely get off of his game by annoying him.. a perfect role for Sean Avery. He's done it multiple times - including in that playoff series and during the stretch run last season. That tells me that Kovalchuk's a bit mentally suspect and if you approach a playoff series the right way, you can easily get him off of his game. Also, don't forget the Olympics where I think he was pretty poor.

Aasen should be interesting - he's got a bit to overcome this year so I'm not going to try and expect too much out of the guy. He's not used to the size of the rink and he is definitely a bit small. Still, he seems like a promising guy.

I think we might have to send Redden down to be under the cap thankfully. Good riddance. What a ridiculous signing that was. As for the #1 center bit, you're definitely right. Currently we've got Eric Christensen as the leading candidate to center the first line. He's a decent passer, but that's still pretty damn sad.

Rangers need to resign Staal already.

 

[Tribec]

Pre-season starts tonight, well game one of the rookie tourny up in Canada and as the Oilers are playing and the big three rookies, Hall, Eberle and MP are all playing it's going to be fun to watch. All games being shown live on the Oilers website, so it's the first chance to see the future.

 

[MrMarcello]

New England is destroying that group of pretenders from Ohio.

wrong thread...

 

[Iron Stove]

Pre-season starts tonight, well game one of the rookie tourny up in Canada and as the Oilers are playing and the big three rookies, Hall, Eberle and MP are all playing it's going to be fun to watch. All games being shown live on the Oilers website, so it's the first chance to see the future.

Sounds like Pääjärvi did well. I really hope he fulfils his potential. He's such an exciting player. Strong, lightning quick and even though some have criticized his finishing ability, I don't see any issue there and he's improved his defensive ability tenfold in the last year or so.

Best case = Hossa, worst case = Stålberg.

Hossa please.

 

[Tribec]

The rosters are being trimmed down and teams gearing up, and I'm sort of getting excited, though how excited can an Oiler fan be after last year and having seen some of the cuts being made by the club it doesn't seem to different from last year. However, fingers crossed for anything above 30th, which will be an improvement.

The only shame is the only defeats in pre-season have been against the Flames and who do we play in game one? The Flames, not a great way to start the season all things considered. Still let the puck drop, and the let the season start.

 

[Tribec]

Great move by the Oilers today, they've rid themselves of Souray by sending him down to Hershey. He can't poison any of our guys in OKC, and he won't take away any of the development as well. This is a good move by our management. It's been a long time since I could say that about anything the Oilers mangement have done.

 

[Neutral]

I'm hoping the Capitals don't collapse in a heap again this season.

 

[Richter]

Quite good. They have some very promising young players like Duchene and Stewart who will only get better. Craig Anderson showed last year he's a quality goalie. Stastny is a very good center. Defence looks a bit weak to me.
I think they'll make the play-offs again, but can't really see them do a whole lot of damage once there this year either.

I think they will struggle a bit this season. Won't be able to surprise teams anymore and losing Mueller again is a big blow and the d still hasn't been sorted so Anderson has to turn up everynight otherwise it's a sure loss. Just outside play-offs is my tip.

 

[Richter]

The rosters are being trimmed down and teams gearing up, and I'm sort of getting excited, though how excited can an Oiler fan be after last year and having seen some of the cuts being made by the club it doesn't seem to different from last year. However, fingers crossed for anything above 30th, which will be an improvement.

The only shame is the only defeats in pre-season have been against the Flames and who do we play in game one? The Flames, not a great way to start the season all things considered. Still let the puck drop, and the let the season start.

Losing against the Calgary Maple Flames isn't a good sign

 

[Iron Stove]

I think they will struggle a bit this season. Won't be able to surprise teams anymore and losing Mueller again is a big blow and the d still hasn't been sorted so Anderson has to turn up everynight otherwise it's a sure loss. Just outside play-offs is my tip.

Yeah I agree that a lot will depend on whether Anderson can remain at the level he was at last year.

 

[Tribec]

Losing against the Calgary Maple Flames isn't a good sign

Though I doubt they'll enjoy taking a 4-0 loss, from the leagues bottom club with any joy. Now if we can play like that all year, you never know we might actually reach the top ten in the conference.

 

[Iron Stove]

Edmonton did well there. Eberle enters the league with a bang and damn did Ivanas get beat up.

 

[Richter]

Though I doubt they'll enjoy taking a 4-0 loss, from the leagues bottom club with any joy. Now if we can play like that all year, you never know we might actually reach the top ten in the conference.

I'm looking forward to the Oilers games, will be plenty of speed on display

Canucks will walk the division but it's a open race behind them.

 

[Kristjan]

Wonder what happened to Pavelec last night, scary that.

 

[Tribec]

I'm looking forward to the Oilers games, will be plenty of speed on display

Canucks will walk the division but it's a open race behind them.

Do you think they'll really walk it? I know the Oilers won't challenge this year, but I don't think the NW division is that straight forward, if anything it's one of the more difficult to win. Plus if in a year or two's time the Oilers have rebuilt well, it would mean a truely competitive division.

 

[Zen]

Canucks should have that division down easier than they did last year. Hugely superior to the rest of it.

Capitals just had a flying second period, finally woken up and destroyed the Devils, Ovechkin is off, what a dude. John Carlson pretty superb so far as well, dudes gonna be one of the hot faves for Calder with Eberle, Hall, Bernier/Neuvirth and Ennis.

 

[nyrfan818]

I can't remember the last time I was excited about a Rangers prospect as I am about Stepan. He definitely carried his awesome pre-season form into the regular season.

 

[Tribec]

Hall get's his first points in a scrappy win by the Oilers, so the next game Magnus gets his points up and running and we'll be off. From what I heard and read, the Oilers got lucky last night they rode the Khabby Wall, but we expected that from this team this year. We're not going to blaze a trail playing like we did against Calgary on Thursday. However, a little luck like this goes a long way in turning confidence within a squad.

 

[Iron Stove]

I can't remember the last time I was excited about a Rangers prospect as I am about Stepan. He definitely carried his awesome pre-season form into the regular season.

Maybe I was wrong and you already have your first line center. It's quite incredible to score a hat-trick in your first game.

 

[nyrfan818]

Maybe I was wrong and you already have your first line center. It's quite incredible to score a hat-trick in your first game.

That it is. The great thing about him is that he doesn't seem overawed in the slightest - he looks like he's supposed to be in the NHL. He's good in the faceoff circle, he's intelligent in the defensive zone, he's talented, and he's just got an all around good hockey sense. He played on the first line with Frolov and Gaborik in the pre-season for about half the time, but unsurprisingly Tortorella decided to go with Christensen centering them (despite Stepan being our best player in preseason) - turned out for the better it seems.

Another thing struck me Saturday night - and not for the first time. When Sean Avery's not being a pest or a plain old idiot, he's actually a pretty decent hockey player. He's got a good snap shot and an eye for a good pass.

 

[MrMarcello]

Go Stars! Shocked they won their first two games with such a young team and on a low payroll.

 

[Iron Stove]

Another thing struck me Saturday night - and not for the first time. When Sean Avery's not being a pest or a plain old idiot, he's actually a pretty decent hockey player. He's got a good snap shot and an eye for a good pass.

Sean cracks me up. He's like a twisted character out of a reality show. Definitely a character.

 

[Iron Stove]

I don't really have a favourite team and I try not to but Detroit, aka Sweden West, is too powerful for me to resist, so I always tend to want them to win the Cup. Not just because of the Swedes, but also I love their brand of puck possession hockey, not to mention the professionalism throughout their organisation. And Datsyuk!

I think they have a good shot this year and I would love for Lidström to win the cup a final time to cement his place among the all-time greats. Yesterday against Colorado it looked like he could challenge for the Norris at 40. Man, I have a huge ridiculous juvenile man crush on this guy.

But anyhow, they have such great depth right now and finally a quality goalie. If they get it together and avoid injuries I think that they would be my pick to go all the way.

 

[Richter]

Toronto with 4 wins in a row

Some surprising starts to the season so far but that's the new NHL

IS so you are a Dead Wings fan and a Djurgårdare, I'm surprised you aren't rooting for Liverpool too