I know people said stop it, but I can't stop Lol'ing at people saying Crosby lacks defensively. SERIOUSLY? lol. Watch a game people, instead of being fed information you read from somewhere else... literally, watch a game objectively and if you know what to look for you'll change your tune. Crosby is not up there with Datsyuk as a defensive forward, but he is much better than average to go along with his exceptional offensive talent. And yes, Ovechkin can hit, but he's also a floater and doesn't have as good positioning defensively as Crosby.
I'm not even a huge Crosby fanboy or something, I just like to watch the game objectively and I don't like seeing peoples unfair biases on one of the best players in the game when he's healthy. People just always want to find a reason to hate on the greats.
rant /done.
I miss Hockey. ): ): ):
Go Wings! We lost Rafalski, Draper, and Osgood.. sure, but Lidstrom stayed! We're an older team sure, but we've still got playoff potential for at least another year or two, depending on how long Lidstrom and company have in the tank. Looking forward to the upcoming season, and the others to follow it.
You think you guys hear enough about Crosby....
Holy crap.
red panda red panda red panda!
aparently he who shall not me named is still having headaches, and is seeing a specialist for it. i wonder what the long term affects on his performance this year will be. anyone have any thoughts?
Odds are if his health is an issue this year, which at his age it might be, they will be in trouble. I think one of the issues many teams have is not being able to develop goalie depth. If you look at Detroit's goalie depth, it's not bad, Thomas McCollum isn't a bad prospect (I remember when he played for the Storm in junior, he was rock solid most of the time). I haven't really looked at goalie futures for each team individually, but I would say that Detroit has the best track record of developing goalies, I hope that Toronto goes down that path too as they have quality and tons of potential in Reimer and Gustavsson, and Scrivens is potentially a starter some day unlike lolJustinPogge. I think if Alaire works with these guys long enough they will all be quality players, there aren't a lot of goalie coaches out there with as much of a track record as him and I have faith that he can get big things out of these guys. It's even harder being a goalie in a market like Toronto or Montreal, so much criticism from the media and fans nightly.
Brodeur is still a top 10 or maybe even to 5 NHL level goalie in terms of skill, if his health isn't a problem anyway. Among elite goalies there are only a few, it's unfortunate that some of the really good ones have such shit teams in front of them, the Rangers would be at the bottom if it wasn't for Lundqvist. Fleury being as good as he is makes Pittsburgh a way better team in terms of being a contender because I think most of us can agree that their defense is not that great.
Speaking of defensive depth, opinions on which teams should be the best defensively this year? I'd say Detroit as per usual, Toronto has some great D and on paper should be the best shutdown team in the NHL this year. I really like the look of Tampa's defensive core as it's coming along nicely, I'd hope for their sake that Kubina stays on at a discounted rate as he is still a reliable player and they could really use him moving forward. I think with adding a couple of shut down guys to their back end and some younger goaltending, Tampa would be one of the best teams in the league.
I have one thing to say...... Hawks.
Yeah I'm not happy we lost Liles, He was such a good defenceman when it comes to pushing out of the backline. We shot ourselves in the foot like 3 times last season. Anderson i was falling love with, he'd be a brickwall at times. But after getting injured on cconsecutive visits to Vancouver must have softened something. He gets raded away, same with Stewart and Shattenkirk.... Seirously, trading away a rookie that was in the All-Stars team? ffs....
But I'm still hoping we go a bit better than 2nd last in the entire league =\
Colorado management is a mess right now. They can't maintain good players and the sad truth is that they will probably lose Stastny, Landeskog and Erik Johnson in the near future, they are young and will realize that their skills and are better suited on a team that is contending or close to contending. The sad thing is it wasn't that long ago that the Avs were an amazing team, with the likes of Sakic and Foote, they were some of the true greats of modern day hockey. It's unfortunate that they probably won't maintain their core youth who have a lot of potential or are already getting into their prime. Think a 70 point player like Paul Stastny would want to continue to play for a team that hasn't made the playoffs in 3 of the last 5 seasons? If they miss it this year, which they shouldn't as Varlamov is a decent goalie even if he is overpaid, they can kiss their future and top players goodbye.
I would jizz my pants if Stastny were traded to Toronto though, they could really use a guy like him even if it meant giving up a 1st round pick and a couple of prospects for him.
Ya but at least they aren't terrible like they were for the decade plus before their Cup run lol. Not sure what I expect from them this season. Guess it depends on the health of Kane and how he recovers from wrist surgery. They seemed to make a point of emphasis of bringing in physicality in the offseason with Carcillo, Mayers, Montador, and O'Donnell. Montador is a good replacement for Campbell, not offensively though but they don't really lack offensive D-men With Seabrook and Kieth.
As for Crosby, as a person who sincerely hates the Penguins, I very, very much hope he gets back for the start of the season and performs up to his potential. It would be a huge blow for the NHL to lose a player like Crosby. He is the face of hockey in North America.
---------- Post added 2011-08-29 at 10:52 PM ----------
Ya the trade of Shattenkirk and Stewart to St Louis was insane. Stewart was clearly a money decision. He is due for a decent sized raise after this season. He got a salary bump last year after his cheap rookie years ran out and was promptly traded. Shattenkirk though, seriously what the fuck. Talk about a guy with potential. He was arguably the best rookie d-man last season with Subban and Carlson. Why on earth would they trade a guy like that? It is sad to say, but the once great Avs have faded into a cap floor franchise. Three years ago they were a decently attended team always in the mid-90% range or higher. Then the franchise started to slip because they go rid of so many players, so the record slipped, and then the attendance. It is extremely odd to think of a team that was a powerhouse pre-lockout now fills about 75-80% of their arena. As a Wings fan, the decline of the Avs is one of the major reasons I have no problem with Detroit shifting to the East. That rivalry is completely dead and was frankly the only Wings rivalry I really gave a shit about or even considered a rivalry. The Detroit/Chicago rivalry is pretty weak. Hell until two years ago it wasn't a rivalry at all outside of the Detroit/Chicago perceived rivalry because of the state of the Hawks. I'd much rather see the Toronto/Wings rivalry be rebirthed. Moral of the story is it is just a damn shame what has happened to the Avs. If they trade off Stastny or Duchene I will lose all hope for that franchise.
MMO-C nightly hockey chat http://webchat.quakenet.org/?channels=#mmoc-hockey
Comic in the paper here in Halifax yesterday. Figured you guys would get a laugh:
red panda red panda red panda!