Talk about your squads. What you have heard or seen and what you expect? Shit is gettin hectic! Went to a scrimmage on Tuesday. Shit was fun and had a really decent turnout, considering it was a cold ass Tuesday. Looks like Hitch has his first few lines set. Alex Steen is going to be centering for McDonald and Tarasenko. Alex said he centered over in Europe during the lockout. Apparently, they say he did a good job. Still going to roll with the "kid line", too. Berglund, Perron and Oshie. Berglund said he played 30 games on big ice, so it would only take him a couple days to get used to the ice over here again. Chris Stewart will be on the third line. This is really the year Stewie has to show us what he can do. Get back to the form he was in when he first came here. Tomorrow night is the opener at home against the Red Wings. Consider me hyped!! Let's go.

...I'm from the era when A.I. was the answer, now they think ai is the answer - Marlon Craft

If Dan Bylsma doesn't at least get to the ECF he is probably getting fired, hockey is too fickle for this, you won a few years ago thing.

3 straight first round exits in which they basically choked. Home loss in game 7 to Montreal in the last game in the arena, up 3-1 to Tampa Bay, and even though the Flyers basically dominated the series let's not forget the Pens had huge leads in the first two games which would have changed the entire series if they had not blown those.

Just about any other NHL coach would be fired at this point, but his title run saved his job, it can't happen again though.

I think he could easily retain his job beyond this year, even if they have another first round loss and certainly if they lose later on.

And you will know MY JACKET IS GOLD when I lay my vengeance upon thee.

With a team that is basically the favorite to win the cup every season.

mainly sid playing like 30 games a year the past two seasons, among other injuries.

they are very much a star oriented team so really two years ago when he was out all the time (malkin has also had some injuries) they were up against it.

put it this way, i definitely did not consider either of the past two seasons a disappointment for them.

And you will know MY JACKET IS GOLD when I lay my vengeance upon thee.

Coaches get fired for sneezing at the wrong time in the NHL

i have no idea what the red wings are going to be...apparently they found a european gem in Damien Brunner and will be playing him and zetterberg on either side of datsyuk. Line 2 is going to cause teams problems too. Valteri Filppula really came into his own last year and will center Franzen and new(old)comer Mikael Samuelsson. Helm, Cleary Bertuzzi are 3rd; Abdelkader, Jordin Tootoo, and a player yet to be named will be the fourth line. i hope its Patrick Eaves, he got his full medical clearance today 15 months after taking a puck to the jaw.

on D, we're gonna need Ericsson to do what he teased us that he could do in the 09 playoffs. Brendan Smith and Jakub Kindl are talented young guys but now its time to produce. Ian White was excellent for us last year, Kyle Quincey should start a little stronger this year than he did when he got to Detroit last year, and Kronwall's gonna Kronwall

i still dont think Jimmy Howard is the guy but id love to be proven wrong

It's a pretty good league but doesn't have anything close to the speed and power of the NHL. I saw him play in a tournament, maybe it was three years ago. Nice hands, good change of speed and creative.

They seem to have a lot of guys who are almost ready, Jurco, Tatar, et al. What is going on with Pulkinnen? There was a lot of buzz around him after two big seasons. Last year, I know he had some ongoing injuries but then this year is projection is still pretty so so. Most people I know that saw him regularly thought less of him than people like me who saw him at the worlds and peeped his numbers.

And you will know MY JACKET IS GOLD when I lay my vengeance upon thee.

They'd rather have him play every night than collect scratches in detroit

I don't know how he's being regarded by other ppl but the team still really likes him as a top 6 guy

His shot is supposedly one of the best in the whole organization

or what

And you will know MY JACKET IS GOLD when I lay my vengeance upon thee.

Especially the euros

as long as we remain injury free I am looking for Western Conference Final appearance. Kopitar is out for a little while. Quick is coming off of back surgery but he had plenty of time to recover. We got Willie Mitchell out for right now too. But the offense should be clicking still. We have a deep roster and the exact same roster. REPEAT!

November 8th, 2005 The greatest night in the history of GD!

I dunno, I think they will have a better regular season this year. Quick looks small, lost weight over the summer because he couldn't lift, I guess. Sutter said he doesn't give a fuck about the schedule or anything, he plans to ride Quick. We'll see how that goes but at least they have a capable backup. I still think eventually Bernier will wind up in New Jersey, but not this season.

They are built to win in the playoffs but they really had lightning in a bottle last year. It's hard to see them doing it again but they do have a lot of proven performers, even from previous stints. I still think the more underappreciated guys on the team are the defense. Mitchell and Greene in particular, most teams don't have one guy like that. Doughty is the best player on the team and it's not close, most people still don't believe that.

And you will know MY JACKET IS GOLD when I lay my vengeance upon thee.

Willie Mitchell played great last season. Held him and Drew down. I expected Drew to start slow after his hold out. Add the fact that they have always questioned his off season work outs. This season I expect to see a repeat of the 09-10 season.

You know what's crazy is we still haven't seen Kopitar have his break out season. 09-10 he started off amazing but he had no help. Now he has tons of help. I hope to see BIG numbers out of him.

November 8th, 2005 The greatest night in the history of GD!

or anything like that. Kopitar has developed into exactly what he is going to be, 70-80 point player with excellent defense that plays in all situations. He's focused on his defense and I think that's good. He doesn't have a shooter's mentality and while he is skilled he is not terribly creative. Similarly he is very powerful not a super gifted skater, just above average. If people expect him to be Malkin or Forsberg, I think they will be disappointed. But he is one of the best centers in the league, total game is awesome. I would take him over Toews, whom everyone adores, Brad Richards and Thornton, too. It's a pretty short list of guys I'd rather have. Giroux, the two Pittsburgh guys, Datsyuk when relatively healthy and Henrik Sedin.

And you will know MY JACKET IS GOLD when I lay my vengeance upon thee.

I hear Doughty came into "camp" at 205. Which is great. Kopitar is my favorite player so maybe I am a little biased but I think he can get 90 -100. But even if he doesnt I'll take 35 and 40. But yes he doesn't shoot enough. Which irritates the fuck out of me. Always looking to pass. But he is great both ways. I remember last season almost single handed killing a 5 on 3. This was when we were still in our rough patch. He broke up a pass and drove it in deep and was playing keep away behind their net alone. When they finally got the puck he was pressuring them. They finally got into our neutral zone and of course he is gassed and nobody steps up to help and they scored. It was easily the best shift I ever saw anyone play.

November 8th, 2005 The greatest night in the history of GD!

a lot of people think he can have a breakout year scoring and maybe he can. it's pretty tough to get above the level he is at now though and i doubt he will.

he is kind of like datsyuk lite in a big version. not quite the all-around freak but the same kind of well-roundedness to his game in a larger package.

i would like to see them use him more in the middle of the umbrella on the power play. the kings had a lot of success there and even when they didn't, they generated chances. that is where he is at his best, off the wall he is just OK and down low is not really his game (I thought they missed Smyth and/or Handzus in front last year). Kopitar will let it fly from up there to show patience in making a play, he seems to have the most options up top. He has a hard shot, it's not like lethally accurate but it hits the nets a lot. If he just let it rip like Jokinen or Carter does, they'd have a shitload of rebounds, Brown would be scoring garbage goals all year. Carter has a beauty of a shot though, quick release and accurate.

Getzlaf is also kind of hesitant to shoot. i don't really care from that from guys who have shots and aren't like top of the top notch playmakers.

And you will know MY JACKET IS GOLD when I lay my vengeance upon thee.

Fully expect Roman Josi to step in where Suter left and have a great year. Weber has always bees the stronger linesman of the two, but Suter was a much better puck carrying Dman. Early reports are that Josi is developing nicely and as far along at this point as Benedict Suter was in his career.

No major losses offensively, other than Defectulov and AK-46, who clearly showed they weren't able to commit to Trotz system and are more interested hollering at the cougars in Scottsdale than winning playoff hockey.

My one gripe is still the teams use of Colin Wilson on a checking line. Too many offensive skills to bury deep.

Expect the sixth seed, but it Pekka forgets the crappy technique he apparently picked up playing in the KHL and the best goalie coach in the game (source: Vokoun, Chris Mason, Anders Lindback, Pekka, hell had Dan Ellis playing awesome here) we could contend for the Central. It's gonna be a stacked division again though and will be tough. Will be weird seeing Tootoo wearing the winged wheel

>Fully expect Roman Josi to step in where Suter left and have
>a great year. Weber has always bees the stronger linesman of
>the two, but Suter was a much better puck carrying Dman. Early
>reports are that Josi is developing nicely and as far along at
>this point as Benedict Suter was in his career.

Josi is a classic puck mover I think, like they have had a bunch of. I wouldn't consider him a suitable replacement but they have a number of guys that are getting better it seems.

I want to see Wilson get regular minutes up front this year, what the fuck. I feel like they are dangling him around too much. He can play three forward positions, his defense is at least average and improving and they don't have a lot of firepower. Play him with Hornqvist and let that boy cook.

>No major losses offensively, other than Defectulov and AK-46,
>who clearly showed they weren't able to commit to Trotz system
>and are more interested hollering at the cougars in Scottsdale
>than winning playoff hockey.
>
>My one gripe is still the teams use of Colin Wilson on a
>checking line. Too many offensive skills to bury deep.

Fuck I didnt read this part until now, yeah agreed, plus he can play in all situations and positions. They put a big pick into him. I don't get where he hit a wall, he was playing well then a slew of scratches. Trotz will never say anything negative about him either.

>Expect the sixth seed, but it Pekka forgets the crappy
>technique he apparently picked up playing in the KHL and the
>best goalie coach in the game (source: Vokoun, Chris Mason,
>Anders Lindback, Pekka, hell had Dan Ellis playing awesome
>here) we could contend for the Central. It's gonna be a
>stacked division again though and will be tough. Will be
>weird seeing Tootoo wearing the winged wheel

Yeah that whole division is strong, Columbus should be improved and the other four are thinking playoffs again. St Louis I think will have a hard time replicating their success but they are still a good team. Detroit has a lot of young guys and thin defense, I don't know what to expect. Chicago is a strong team, they are prone to slumps though. One bad one could bury you. They are also apt to surge, of course.

And you will know MY JACKET IS GOLD when I lay my vengeance upon thee.

Willy, for no known reason, ends up getting shat on. I was wildly surprised he signed an extension here given his getting scratched for entire playoff series in the past and never sniffing the top two lines. Legwand is a legacy here and all, but I have no idea why they can't be swapped.

I'm wildly shocked at the volume of talking heads and pundits picking the Blues as cup champs. Too small a sample size.

A lot of people skewered Poile at the deadline saying he gave up too much for Hal Gill and Gaustad, but he also got them to resign here. I loved everything they brought last year, and am excited to see their vet presence mesh over a full, albeit abbreviated, season.

Like always, it hinges on Peks

>Willy, for no known reason, ends up getting shat on. I was
>wildly surprised he signed an extension here given his getting
>scratched for entire playoff series in the past and never
>sniffing the top two lines. Legwand is a legacy here and all,
>but I have no idea why they can't be swapped.

he was RFA so he didn't have a lot of choice. i hope that the contract signifies a stronger commitment from the team.

>I'm wildly shocked at the volume of talking heads and pundits
>picking the Blues as cup champs. Too small a sample size.

They have a very good team but as someone who thought they had a good team going into last year, I dunno, I don't see it happening for them again. They got pretty hot last year and won a ton of tight games. They also played at a really high level during the regular season and couldn't find the extra gear in the playoffs.

They are in a pretty good position to land a big name via trade. I could see them or Dallas getting aggressive in the trade market if they get off to hot starts. I think the Blues will be good but I don't see them as the kind of team I'd pick preseason to win it all. Not enough consistent scoring, they do too much the hard way.

>A lot of people skewered Poile at the deadline saying he gave
>up too much for Hal Gill and Gaustad, but he also got them to
>resign here. I loved everything they brought last year, and am
>excited to see their vet presence mesh over a full, albeit
>abbreviated, season.
>
>Like always, it hinges on Peks

I liked those deals, a lot of teams were after someone like Gill. A shutdown center is very valuable, not many teams have them, and it's even better when the guy can dominate in the circle. I still think they lack the ability to win that one high scoring game that seems to be in every playoff series. That is what happened to Phoenix last year.

And you will know MY JACKET IS GOLD when I lay my vengeance upon thee.

Like how the Islanders signed dude to a 15 year contract?

i am sure that under the "100% clause" or something similar, some team will find a loophole. overall though, they are pretty much nixed, now there is an eight-year limit on re-signed free agents and a seven-year limit on players who sign with new teams. the salary cannot vary more than 35% from year to year and 50% from the highest year of the contract to the lowest (as opposed to before where some deals had seasons with $15M payouts and others with 500K lol).

The whole thing was part oversight, part concession and part looking the other way. The league had discretionary power to call the deals out as cap circumvention. They did not, except in one instance. They penalized the Devils draft picks and then made them submit a new, almost equally ridiculous deal, which was approved. They could have done it sooner but look at the teams signing those deals, all big market clubs. That was the rub, a concession made to the rich owners. DiPietro wasn't really that kind of deal, he was more like Mike Richards or Ovechkin where the team locked him in for a LONG time at current market price.

And you will know MY JACKET IS GOLD when I lay my vengeance upon thee.

>The whole thing was part oversight, part concession and part
>looking the other way. The league had discretionary power to
>call the deals out as cap circumvention. They did not, except
>in one instance. They penalized the Devils draft picks and
>then made them submit a new, almost equally ridiculous deal,
>which was approved. They could have done it sooner but look
>at the teams signing those deals, all big market clubs. That
>was the rub, a concession made to the rich owners. DiPietro
>wasn't really that kind of deal, he was more like Mike
>Richards or Ovechkin where the team locked him in for a LONG
>time at current market price.
Appreciate the education man...good look
I was watching cats get signed to like 12 year deals, basically life-time contracts and was like, this won't go well...lol

they sign the deals with a lot of bloated years that don't really mean anything. the guy will likely be retired or have already collected the balance of the contract's payout by then.

say i wanted to sign a guy who would make $8M a year who is 31 years old. i would figure his prime years are not that much longer and say well i really want this guy for the next lets say five years. instead of giving him 40M over 5 years, i would sign him to an eight year contract worth a little over 40M. those filler years would have low actual payouts (deal would be frontloaded) and his cap hit would be $5M per hit, not $8M. basically it was to skirt the cap. adding to that, in those final couple of years when the payouts would be well below even the lowered $5M sum, even if he were playing terrible, his contract would have had a lot of value to a team trying to hit the cap floor. if they were $4M under the floor, here they get over while only having to pay maybe $1M. so they would give the team that signed the long deal some draft picks for a junk contract basically. kind of like the NBA expiring contract thing, only even more beneficial from a financial standpoint.

And you will know MY JACKET IS GOLD when I lay my vengeance upon thee.

Fun team with lots of skill up front despite Jagr and JVR leaving.

It sucks that Pronger's career is basically over. He could make a big difference.

They are leaning pretty heavily on Timonen and Coburn when they should be limiting Timonen's minutes until the playoffs, really. He should play like 18-20, he will play 25+ minutes.

No Carle anymore, now Luke Schenn. Eh, I have never been a huge Schenn fan but maybe he is ready to turn a corner.

I am a huge fan of his brother Brayden, who I think will have a big year very soon. Very smart player and pretty tough, great passer with an accurate shot. Couts should put up more points this year, too, his defense is already well beyond his years.

Of course the huge question is what Bryzgalov does. They have nothing behind him. They need him to play at a consistently high level or they are screwed really.

And you will know MY JACKET IS GOLD when I lay my vengeance upon thee.

Tarasenko gets his first career goal. Stewie gets one early. Steener playing center in Europe has definitely been for the good...has both assists.

.

his body is still coming along but skill wise he has been ready for a while.

And you will know MY JACKET IS GOLD when I lay my vengeance upon thee.

Parise out there Making Others Better (it has been said he does this.) Four goals in a single game, and 35 shots on goal seems insane by recent Wild standards. Mikael Granlund already contributing too.

------

12 play and 12 planets are enlighten for all the Aliens to Party and free those on the Sex Planet-maxxx

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Twitter: @tyrcasey

i had parise going there and was surprised at suter (thought he would stay in nashville) but then after the signings a lot of people seemed to think they were still not particularly competitive.

they had a great start last year obviously. granlund is as much of a blue chip prospect at anyone could find and he's at the right spot to come up. parise i think is underrated by many, he has very good numbers but they are far from telling the whole story.

it was pretty big for them to get a no. 1 guy on the blue line. someone who chews up minutes makes life a lot easier on the rest of the guys. they could probably still use another top-4 guy though.

And you will know MY JACKET IS GOLD when I lay my vengeance upon thee.

-2 on the night for the big liar. Early looked like it'd be all Wild, but Preds overcame slow start to hold on.

Martin Erat continues to be a great Pred system player

Glad to protect a lead and not go to a third straight skills challenge to decide the game

I know at one point clubs could still sign RFAs to offer sheets during the season (roughly the first 60 days) but I am not sure how that works in a shortened season or the new CBA.

Even if they cannot, I have the "leverage" approach to RFA negotiations with players this caliber. Do you want these guys in the fold long-term or not? Sure, you can go to the mat and sign them for half of what they are worth for two years. Then what? Maybe you get arbitration awards at higher salaries than you would have paid them with a longer extension for a year or two, then you lose them for sure.

Subban I guess is looking to get paid like a star and when you lead your team in minutes, quarterback the power play, are a fan favorite and have potential, you should get paid. Why should he accept anything less than Myers got last year?

Benn is the really confusing one. I thought that was the whole idea with Dallas making substantial but short-term investments in veterans, to make sure they had the money to sign Benn to a long deal.

And you will know MY JACKET IS GOLD when I lay my vengeance upon thee.