Hockey Season 2012
September 14, 2011 - 4:48am
XX
Support rabble | Advertise with us | Contact our staff | About rabble | Log-in or Register for a new account | Corrections | Privacy policy | Newsfeeds | Mailing lists
rabble: Features | Columnists | In Cahoots | Blogs | Books | Photos | What's Up | Polls
babble: Forum Topics | Active Topics
The rpn: Become a Podcaster | Find a Show
rabbleTV: Program Guide | Features | Indie Inside | Best of the net
Copyright © 2001-2012 the authors
Syndicate
Not long before the next winter (fall and spring) marathon session begins, so might as well open another.
Winnipeg is back in the big league (though still stuck in the Eastern conference for some dumb reason) and Victoria BC has a major junior franchise again and St John's NFL has an AHL team again, and Vancouver is once again leading the charge to bring Stanley back to its rightful place.
But first some sad news that hasn't gotten any notice here yet:
"Russian plane crash kills Lokomotiv Yaroslavl ice hockey team"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/07/russia-plane-crash-lokomotiv...
"Tragedy-hit Lokomotiv pulls out of top league"
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iC_oLHr3BxEe0HYh5ikyFA...
Quite a loss, thankfully rare, including a number of well known names like ex-Flames and Flyer star Brad McCrimmon and ex-Blues star Pavol Demitra, among many others. Too many.
A civil case pitting former NHL player Steve Moore against Todd Bertuzzi and the Vancouver Canucks could finally see the inside of a courtroom late next year.
The target date for the Ontario Superior Court trial to begin if necessary is Sept. 24, 2012 if Bertuzzi is still an active player, and Oct. 22 if he's not, according to court documents viewed by CBC.
Court-ordered mediation between the sides has failed to lead to a settlement.
Moore, now 33, has never played again since getting hit from behind in a March 8, 2004 game by Bertuzzi, who was on the Canucks. Moore was in his first full season with the Colorado Avalanche.
Bertuzzi, now 36, is entering his 16th NHL season.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/story/2011/09/14/sp-bertuzzi-moore.html#ixzz1Y1hdS41X
Don Cherry blasts former tough guys for opposing fighting"You people that are against fighting, you should be ashamed of yourselves," Cherry said between periods of Thursday's game between the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs on CBC-TV.
"You should be ashamed of yourself for doing something like that."
He specifically took shots at retired players Chris Nilan, Jim Thomson and Stu Grimson, who Cherry said have publicly suggested that the league's brawlers are more likely to turn to substances.
Nilan has denied ever saying he was against fighting.
"The ones that I am really disgusted with, and I hate to say this when the kids are listening . . . are the bunch of pukes that fought before: Stu Grimson, Chris Nilan and Jim Thomson. (They say) 'Oh, the reason that they're drinking, (taking) drugs and alcoholics is because they fight.' You turncoats. You hypocrites," Cherry said.
"If there's one thing I'm not it's a hypocrite. You guys were fighters, and now you don't want guys to make the same living you did."
It's time for Cherry to hang up the skates. Nilan responded on twitter today saying that he nevver said the things Cherry attributed to him, that he deserves and apology from HNIC and Cherry, and that those who can't play, coach. Hey-o.
Shanahan should suspend Cherry for 10 games.
Time to bring a new ex-coach in for Coach's Corner.
ETA: On both CBC and on TSN's facebook page, the comments tend to be running against Cherry at a rate of at least 4 to 1.
Apparently Stu grim reaper Grimson is a family man now with a law degree. And apparently some of his fights with tough guy Domi were not the grudge matches they appeared to be. New Grimson must be a real disappointment as far Cherry is concerned.
I live in winnipeg, and i can say that i've never been so pumped for the season to start since i was 15 years old. The positive energy during the pre season games was unbelievable, people are seriously losing their minds (and their voices from cheering so loud!) over the jets being back, myself included.
luckily i was able to split season tickets with some friends so i will be able to be there in person for at least the next four years to go ape shit cheering for the little team that could. The only thing that scares me is a possible repeat of the years that saw the jets lose in the first round of the playoffs to the eventual stanley cup champs year after year with edmonton rebuilding a helluva team...
i don't know what it is, i hate the military shit, i hate corporate hockey, but i can't help but love the jets. it's hard to explain unless you're from winnipeg i guess.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/cbc-rides-shotgun-on-don-cherrys-stagecoach/article2195220/
Three former NHL players criticized by Don Cherry on a recent episode of Coach's Corner have called the comments he made about them "baseless and slanderous" and are considering legal recourse.
Stu Grimson, Chris Nilan and Jim Thomson were called "turncoats" and "hypocrites" for their respective stances on fighting in hockey by Cherry, the bombastic star of the popular Hockey Night In Canada intermission segment.
In response, the trio released a statement early Tuesday through the Nashville offices of Grimson, now a lawyer:
"During CBC's broadcast of Coach's Corner on Oct. 6, 2011, Don Cherry inserted himself into a prominent debate involving the recent deaths of three (3) NHL players, drug addiction, alcohol abuse and mental illness. In doing so, Mr. Cherry targeted the above-named individuals, some of whom have suffered from such diseases, as a result of views they previously expressed. Mr. Cherry's comments were more than inappropriate; they were baseless and slanderous. Furthermore, Mr. Cherry's subsequent attempt to qualify his comments on Oct. 8, 2011, was entirely ineffectual. Mr. Cherry's conduct throughout has demonstrated a complete lack of decency.
"In light of the damaging and inflammatory nature of Mr. Cherry's comments, Messrs. Grimson, Nilan and Thomson are considering further recourse."
http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/story/2011/10/11/sp-hnic-cherry.html
Cherry has been getting worse in his old age. I can't remember the last time i seen him even smile or not be a rampaging fool, swatting mclean's hands out of the way, voice cracking, messing up almost every players name, freaking out about every military death and not giving a shit about the people we're killing, etc.
They should ditch don and let mclean do the show with another ex-coach.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwsAruHCHHw
Sidney Crosby appears to have cleared a hurdle in his recovery from a concussion, with the Pittsburgh Penguins announcing through their Twitter feed Thursday that the captain is wearing a black helmet along with his teammates at practice.
"I'm cleared for full contact. It's a good step in the right direction," Crosby said after practice. "We'll see how it goes for the next little bit."
Crosby had been wearing a white helmet since training camp as he took part in non-contact drills with teammates.
http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/story/2011/10/13/sp-crosby-status.ht...
Does anyone else miss Howie Meeker?
Golly gee whiz, sure.
Winnepeg is in the East because there wasn't time to re do the schedule. Next year, they will be in the west, and some team-- and I really hope it is Detroit, will move over to the east.
I like the Leafs so far, but that third period last saturday was a little disconcerting. Adding Lombardi should bring up the penalty killing average to, well, at least average. And there seems to be a power play now. If that comes up to average too, then we're playoffs bound.
A 15-year-old hockey player in Manitoba was forced to parade around the dressing room with water bottles tied to his genitals, the teen's parents alleged Wednesday in an effort to end hazing rituals in minor hockey.
The parents described their son's hazing experience in a CBC News interview on Wednesday, a day after the Manitoba Junior Hockey League suspended the Neepawa Natives' coaches and 16 players for hazing incidents involving five team members.
The team was also slapped with a $5,000 fine, the largest fine the league has ever issued, according to its commissioner.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/story/2011/10/26/mb-neepawa-hockey-hazing.html
The victim has missed more games than the perpetrators.
Does anyone else miss Howie Meeker?
Yes. I always trusted his opinion of the game. He didn't dwell on the side shows and feuds, like Cherry does so often. With Meeker it was plays, plays and more plays. He was good at ordering up video on the fly and illustrating the set plays and clever opportunism of dishmeisters and their complementary snipers when artfully undressing the D and handcuffing goaltenders for a finale. I think that as far as Meeker is concerned, there are no other aspects of the game worth discussing.
The Manitoba Junior Hockey League is reopening its probe into a hazing incident involving the Neepawa Natives after several players recanted earlier evidence.
The league has also indefinitely suspended Natives assistant coach Brad Biggers, who was previously suspended for five games in connection with the hazing that took place the week of Sept. 26.
The hazing incident involved tying water bottles to the genitals of rookie players.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/story/2011/10/28/mb-hockey-hasing...for me the bigger question is why the hell is it okay that the team is called the neepawa natives and using the chicago blackhawks logo? I don't know anything about the team, but i'm assuming they're not primarily FN people.
Hazing in all places comes into the public forum from time to time because the nature of it is for one cohort to ramp up what happened to them when it comes their turn to do it to someone else. That happens in school initiations, sports hazing, and as we saw, in the military.
Proponents say it creates unit cohesiveness. I think that's complete horeshit and always has been horseshit. You create unit cohesiveness by everyone doing their best at the job, and creating mutual respect through recognition of those accomplishments.
Hazing is about being able to humiliate another person and I don't think that creates any kind of comraderie or cohesiveness in a group.
Quite the contrary.
I hope those responsible find themselves in a lot of difficulty.
Former junior hockey coach and convicted sex offender Graham James has pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting two of the players he coached in the 1980s and early '90s, including former NHL star Theoren Fleury.
James entered the guilty pleas in a Winnipeg courtroom on Wednesday afternoon. He and his lawyer appeared in court via video link from Montreal, where James currently lives.
James will be sentenced in Winnipeg on Feb. 22, 2012, the CBC's Marisa Dragani reported from the courtroom.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/story/2011/12/07/mb-graham-james-...
Hockey Hugs
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/analyst+Milbury+charged+with+assault/5872288/story.html
Milbury should know better than to put his hands on a kid. Very dumb.
And this kid from Buffalo playing for the Hawks - who does he think he is? Anyway?
Well I for one appreciate Brendan Shanahan's video updates informing us hockey fans of the reasons for player suspensions. They are brief and to the point and amount to so much,
Yep, it was an illegal hit to the head alright. And Elbows Magoon will receive a stiff fine of a few hundred bucks and a full week off from gladiator duties!
One stern word from the league and an easy week off, and they are right back out there to do it again.
What about Jordin Tootoo getting suspended for the Lucic hit on Miller? That's what it amounted to. Tootoo tried to avoid Miller, Lucic didn't. None of it makes sense.
I thought Shanahan was a standup guy, but obviously his attempt to level big suspensions at the start of the season had General Managers and or owners on the phone to him, and then he lightened up.
And every suspension seems to have a unique set of rules created for it, so players can be suspended or not suspended based on who they play for or what box office draw they are.
This whole idea of basing suspensions on "intent" is wrong. Did you hit the guy illegally or not? Whether you intended to or not shouldn't enter into it. You can't climb inside a players mind to make that kind of determination, hence the gross inconsistencies.
I know. And I get the feeling that they are trying to encourage players to be more careful. Pacioretty's hit to the head on Letang was a good example. In Pacioretty's opinion, a puck carrier should not be allowed free reign to skate unimpeded into the high slot like Letang did without suffering some consequences. It's as if he felt he did nothing wrong, but then qualified it with saying he understands that hits to the head have to be curbed. Letang suffered a broken nose and probably rattled his brain as a result. I was almost glad for him that he came back on and scored the winning goal.
Fighting in hockey should be stopped because it leads to head trauma that causes progressive brain damage, says an editorial in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2011/12/19/head-hits-hockey-ban.htmlthe origins of of hockey violence?
Adam Gopnick, a fellow McGill '80 grad, elaborates on a current thesis regarding its origin as ethnic rivalries in Montreal:
http://publications.mcgill.ca/mcgillnews/2011/12/08/how-montreal-perfected-hockey/
In one way we expect sports to mirror the social arrangement of their society. But sports are a hammer as much as a mirror, breaking social conventions as they invent them. Baseball was shaped by 19th-century Irish and German immigrants to the United States, who gave the game its character, but it later acted as a conduit for Jews and Italians, who entered the game to take on Americanness. Sports preserve the pressures of the era that they're made in, but they alter some of them too. Hockey reflected the social order of late-19th century Montreal, but it disturbed that order too, in healthy and invigorating ways.
For there was a kind of free-valence atomic shell at play in Montreal life at that time. Between the pious French and the prosperous English stood the Irish, who occupied two positions at once, in a way that would prove potent for the making of the winter game. As English-speakers they were in one way aligned with the anglo elite. But they were also Roman Catholics, and that meant they were educated with (and sometimes married to and buried alongside) the French. To be Irish was to have a kind of double identity. On the one hand you belonged to the English-speaking minority and on the other hand you despised your masters in the English-speaking minority; you were a fellow worshipper with the French-speaking majority but at the same time you were reluctant to identify with the French underclass.
When you played hockey, you wanted to beat the Brits at McGill . . . but the way to do it might be to look for help from the francophones across the hall. And so the Irish played a central role, in some ways the central role, in the invention of ice hockey.
Congrats Jarome Iginla. Definitely looking Hall-worthy!
Tim Thomas skips visit to White House
Thomas explained his absence in a short posting on his Facebook page, writing: “I believe the Federal government has grown out of control, threatening the Rights, Liberties, and Property of the People. This is being done at the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial level. This is in direct opposition to the Constitution and the Founding Fathers vision for the Federal government. Because I believe this, today I exercised my right as a Free Citizen, and did not visit the White House. This was not about politics or party, as in my opinion both parties are responsible for the situation we are in as a country. This was about a choice I had to make as an INDIVIDUAL.”
LOL
Good for Tim Thomas. He's right, they are one and the same private property party pretending to be two for appearance sake. It's a cosmetic government of, by, and for the rich in America.
Several of Ference’s teammates, like Tyler Seguin and Zdeno Chara for instance, smiled and spoke about the nuanced ways the forward-thinking defenseman had affected them in a positive way. Seguin said he now shops for all his groceries at Whole Foods for the environmentally-agreeable organic foods recommended by Ference, and Chara mentioned taking his bicycle everywhere rather than driving.
But Tim Thomas politely declined when asked his opinions about Ference’s efforts, and admitted “we’ve got pretty opposite viewpoints on that kind of stuff.”
Thomas went on to say – with the wonderful usage of paraphrasing in hindsight – that he didn’t believe in the scientific theories powering the greenhouse effect and global warming. Instead Thomas felt like the efforts behind both notions were being pushed by those interested in growing the current green industry that’s turned into a cash cow in the United States over the last decade.
Tim Thomas, Radical.
Someone's fantasy All-Concussed Team for 2011/12
Forwards
Crosby - Giroux - E. Kane
JVR - Backstrom - Briere
Perron - M. Richards - Gerbe
Michalek - B. Schenn - McDonald
D
M. Staal- Letang
Weber - Pronger
Z. Michalek - Liles
Goal
Miller
Reimer
----
I think he might be over the salary cap by a bit.
All Star game's gonna suck without Crosby and Ovie - one out with a concussion and the other for attempting to cause.
Thomas is also a big glenn beck fan i hear. Though it doesn't shock me that a hockey player would be into that. They're bred for conformity, acceptance/submission to authority from the time they're born.
We hear you.
Glenn Beck "I hate 9/11 victims families for asking questions" (and Katrina victims in New Orleans, too)
Tim Thomas just another conformist sponge for the pro war, pro right wing propaganda. Vacant look in his eyes. He's rilly good at stopping pucks with his head and blocker, though.
I guess no one cares about hockey anymore. Fair enough. The Canucks sent a franchise rookie to Buffalo for, er, playoff grit or something.
The Habs ghosted their horrible season by sending Kostitsyn to Nashville, who are apparently trying to become the Habs circa. 2009. Expect them to land Halak next. A second round pick for Andrei. That makes three plus their first rounder, which will almost certainly be top 5. Hopefully Gauthier won't be the one making the selection. It's very depressing to think that our best chance in improving our team rests in Scott Gomez's inflated salary which one day, we hope, will expire.
Rick Nash didn't go to Toronto, who seem happy to let Winnipeg make the playoffs before them Such class from an original six team.
Habs are worse than Hibs this season. Go figure.
I'm not sure about that, Caissa. There is an advantage to finishing last in the NHL. Not so in the Scottish Premier League...
Yes I think this year's prospects are fairly impressive. T'would be nice if the Habs grab Dumba, Faksa, Forsberg, or even Grigorenko. And I think Jarred Tinordi is looking pretty good for the Knights. There's our next Hal Gill. He's a plus 41 for them this year. What a turnaround.
Sidney Crosby could be about to become the NHL's most-watched No. 3 line centre.
The Pittsburgh Penguins star will end his second extended concussion-related playoff Thursday to play against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.
Crosby's return alone would make Thursday a date to circle. But the Penguins also have won nine in a row without the former NHL MVP and scoring champion, and they've closed a once-formidable 10-point gap behind the Rangers to four points in the race for the Eastern Conference's top playoff spot.
http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/story/2012/03/13/sp-nhl-penguins-cro...
I never thought I's say this, but there need to be more no-talent bums sent off the ice on stretchers. If the league and refs are not going to protect the finesse players from flying elbows and head shots in general, then they need enforcers to explain to the no-skills players in easy to understand terms that this is what happens to you when you goon our snipers and dishmeisters.
I might be persuaded to watch the NHL and CFL again if there were an equal number of women as men on every team. That goes for the basketball league as well, whatever it's called.
That's it I think. Women on the team might encourage them to respect one another.
Hey Blake Geoffrion scored his first as a Hab against the Nucks. Go Habs Go!
man, the molsons have just ruined the habs. seriously, everything has come off the rails. please let them not draft a tiny forward with their guaranteed top 5 pick.
anyway, now that the habs are out, don't really care, though i'd like to see winnipeg do well, especially because people in quebec are starting to get excited about a team returning to that city and a nice little winnipeg run would only increase the excitement.
I think it's become that kind of league, though. Ottawa had a lousy season last year, but it looks like they will be playing this spring unless the wheels fall off with 8 games left.
Habs lost a lot of games this season by one or two goals. And with parity the way it is, missing key players like Markov most of the season or Gionta now has been the diff between winning and losing for them. It's like that for every team. Staying healthy is either in the cards or not. A broken wrist or torn ACL mean pretty much the same thing to a player whether they are 6-5 or 5-7. Mind you I'd rather have a Rene Bourque crashing the net for us than a smaller guy. But players' stats speak for themselves, too. Right now Bourque while ferocious on the ice has been a liability for us. He's going to have to get used to the two-way tighter style of game in the East. His plus-minus is awful.
What every team looks for in a forward is a guy who can skate first and foremost. Habs have always been known for our skillsy forwards who skate like the wind. Scoring ability and vision on the ice are nice, too. And Habs development guys are working with the prospects in the junior and college levels.
And Habs are a younger team now with potential. They have some good prospects in the skunkworks with speed up front and size at the back. And one or two of these draft picks might even be NHL material. Hopefully Habs scouts will pick one of them.
24 in '15? It's all good.
The Habs lacking scoring punch. I expect another lacklustre season next year.
The Habs lacking scoring punch. I expect another lacklustre season next year.
Caissa they've scored 8 fewer goals than the 1st place Rangers. And the Habs have scored 2 more goals than St. Louis in 1st place overall.
And each of the Flyers, Sens and Caps have allowed a few more goals against. And those teams are in.
I'm thinking we need some minor adjustments.
How could I be so wrong? -12 on scoring. Maybe the world isn't coming to an end after all.
The world is always coming to an end as long as the Cup stays away from its rightful place on Rue Ste-Catherines. Of course, then we know it's here.
Ship Gomez to Hamilton, give Markov the gold watch and pray for Yakupov. Then buy some decent defenders.
Also, Rene Bourque? Quel désastre.
That's it, goals against. For sure there is room for improvement on the goals for side of things. But goals against is where it will be easiest to make up the difference. And we won't need high-priced forwards to do that. We have the goal tending, no doubt about it. The young guys on the blue line are gaining valuable experience right now and newer forwards getting to know their line mates better with every practice and game.
What we need is to make the playoffs in each of the next few years and hopefully in higher positions than 7th or 8th. What we need are a bunch of guys willing to sacrifice their bodies like no other time in their lives and give 142.8% in that season that actually counts for something. The chemistry will happen and the stars will line-up for us. Just a matter of time.
Check, although I am not ruling out a surprise comback next season for our top five blueliner. Markov is a wizard on the back end if only his knees hold up. There are lots of D guys in the league playing with pins and screws in their knees. I think the Habs will make a decision on Markov soon, though. He's a prolific dishmaster with amazing vision for the ice as qb on the pp.
The good news is that these are glarizing weaknesses for a team that has lost too many games by small margins of error. They won't need new management or coaching to tell them how to fix these ones.
I think we could use some improvement on D. We have good young guys learning their trade right now. Subban has good wheels, and Emelin the merciless has the punishing style of play we need. Tinordi will be a good prospect on the back. Kristo has amazing speed and needs to develop some strength for the big league.
lol!
Well, the Leafs had a better than average power play; and they did manage to bring their penalty kill from below dismal to something like average after Christmas. And, in spite of my prognostication at the top to the thread, they still managed to vie for a stellar draft pick.
A lot of fingers point to the goal tending, and there is some weakness there, but if you look closer there are some pretty astounding deffensive gaffs on a regular basis. That is a problem persisting under two different coaches, so the pressure is certainly on the players on that score. Which is odd, because there are times when any of the six Leaf deffence corps have shown that they know how to play the position, and play it well.
I figured the Leafs would have a challenge with a toughish schedule in March, but it was February that did them in.
A collective "WTF?" from Leaf Nation.
I think that special teams are important but not as much as they used to be. Come spring time they all play not to lose and power play opportunities are reduced. The Flyers were short-handed 3 more times than the Habs and yet allowed 22 more goals against than Montreal while on the PK.
Both the Habs and Leafs need to be better during 5-on-5 hockey and take scoring leads of even one goal more often and defend the lead. It is far easier to prevent goals than to scoreo them. The Habs simply need to stop taking so many penalties(thanks refs). I think the stupid penalties have been demoralizing for the Habs this year. The younger guys must learn to play dirty when refs aren't looking. It's either that or we need to start slipping cash to referees before games. I dunno.
But IMNSHO the Habs should pay me for my excellent analyses and insight. I'm an excellent manager/coach/scout/fan, and I'm gonna put in for a pension whether the Molsons like it or not.
I'd be counting lucky stars if we could manage to land that guy or Grigorenko, Galyenchuk or even Forsberg.
I think they can manage to blow the last few games without even trying.
NO Habs NO!
the notion that high draft picks inevitably and quickly turn around your franchise is a persistent one;
the recent records of the Islanders and Oilers (both last place, years later) suggest some nuance is needed
Detroit does just fine, decade after decade, with no high draft picks
Could it be hockey brains are the most important element in building a winner?
There are too many teams. That's the real problem. Diluted talent and a lack lustre entertainment package.
Time for a truly Canadian national league.
I concur.
But at the same time I wouldn't mind at all if the increasing numbers of talented players in Europe, Russia and the USA would come play in our league and our league only. I think for all its warts the NHL is the most elite hockey league in the world bar none. It used to be our game at one time, and it still is to a large extent. But things are changing. Geoffrion, Kristo, Tinordi, Grigorenko and so on are American born. Hal Gill, Gionta and Gomez are Yanquis afterall. And they are among the world's elite players regardless of their occasional scoring droughts.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/jeffrey-simpson/its-hockey-schadenfreude-time-again/article2379784/
Presumably, Leafs fans wouldn’t keep buying a car model that performs poorly but costs a fortune. They wouldn’t buy a house with a mouldy basement or a leaking roof. Yet, apparently without remorse, guilt or discernment, they pay their money and offer their loyalty to a franchise that takes them for chumps.
It's amazing to me that our national broadcaster can't find a single woman or racialized person to host hockey games or do the punditry between periods. Honestly, what year is this?
People can't stand Cherry, but at least I've never heard of him pulling this kind of crap.
the notion that high draft picks inevitably and quickly turn around your franchise is a persistent one;
the recent records of the Islanders and Oilers (both last place, years later) suggest some nuance is needed
And the Habs made a mistake in trading their first round pick in 07(12th overall) to the Rangers along with Higgins for Gomez, Pyatt and some guy named Busto. Who was the Habs first rounder handed to the Rangers? It was blueliner Ryan McDonagh at plus-24 after 75 games. He could have his name on the cup this spring if the Rangers go deep.
Some of the Habs more recent drafts have been Subban and Pacioretty. And this year's talent pool is deep with blueliners after Yakupov.
Could it be hockey brains are the most important element in building a winner?
I think it's a combination of things. Detroit's talent scouting and player development are surely first rate. Lidstrom and Holmstrom are good examples where low draft picks turned out well for them. And I think the "Russian Five" had a lot to do with Red Wing successes in the 90s. Federov and Larionov were instrumental for them again in 2002. And, of course, former Nepean Raider, then Peterborough Petes forward and first round pick Steve Yzerman was a big success story in Detroit.
And it seemed as though wherever Scotty Bowman went in his coaching career, there went Stanley.
And the Hawks made good with third rounder Jonathan Toews, and Patrick Kane, a first pick overall in '07.
First round pick John Tavares is seventh in points today and has had a positive effect for the Islanders. Tavares knows he has to work hard and that his high draft doesn't guarantee him or his team anything.
I can remember wishing Claude Gliroux luck on draft day. First rounder. Giroux was born not far from where I grew up. Good kid with a future in hockey.
And who knows which team will hoist the trophy this spring? It will be a brand new season in April. And unlike the days of dynastic rule come spring time in the NHL, it's not a given which team will win it all. It could be the Red Wings this year. Personally I think it would be great for their fans if the Blues win it all. I still can't help laughing at that Wuzzup Halak video on Youtube from 2010. HALAAAAAK! lol!
The Pierre Gauthier era in Montreal is over.
The Montreal Canadiens general manager was fired on Thursday, the team said in a release, stating "Pierre Gauthier has been relieved from his duties. The search for a new general manager is underway."
A news conference is under way with Canadiens owner and president Geoff Molson. There has been no announcement about Gauthier's replacement.
Molson said that former general manager and Hall of Fame player Bob Gainey will no longer be adviser to the team. That role now belongs to another former GM and Canadiens Hall of Famer ,Serge Savard, who ran the Habs from 1983-1995.
http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/story/2012/03/29/sp-nhl-hockey-montr...
Who could have seen this coming?
I think the Habs need to finish last and have some luck at this year's draft.
Sure the sports writers today look like geniuses for lambasting Habs less than ideal picks past. They picked Andrei Kostitsyn in 2003 and left Parise, Brown, Getzlaf, Kesler, Seabrook, Perry, Richards and Carter for other teams to scoop up.
But Claude Giroux is another one they overlooked in 2006. He was still a kid then at 5-10 160 lbs. Bobby Clarke glided to the podium and promptly forgot the name of the player he was selecting. Most sports writers never heard of him. Every Flyers fan knows who Claude is today. He's a wizard with the puck who grew up a Habs fan in Northern Ontario. He's another one who could have been a rock star in Montreal.
Dynasties in decline: compare and contrast...
http://www.nba.com/celtics/history/ChampionshipWins.html
Both the Canadiens and the Boston Celtics had sensational championship records from the mid 1950s to the mid 1980s; both won in 1986, and since then have won exactly one (1) title each.
Boston has recovered better, winning a title in 2008, while Habs had a run in 2010 but have collapsed again.
Who should do what , after Mtl fired Gainey/Gauthier pair?
http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=624816
\
Anything to learn from Celtics?
Let's not forget the Habs drafting of Doug Wickenheiser, Fidel.
Well, no need to go back to 1980 to explain current failures since 1993;
and re Wickenheiser, the whole Canadiens hierarchy was divided on Savard, including people on the ice who, uh, knew what the offence needed:..." Despite his talent, we don't need a guy like Denis Savard. What we need is a big center, a heavy guy who's not afraid of physical hockey and who can stay in front of the net without being moved away by the big defensemen we have in the NHL nowadays."
Guy Lafleur -September 1980Lafleur's brushes with the law sure have shown his good judgement.
ETA: The first round was replete with players that would have been a better choice. Babych, Coffey etc.
I will take his athlete's judgement about what is needed around the net ... he knew that,
and
drafts are crapshoots: another NHL team passed on Savard, too, before Chicago took him in '80
double post
Well, history has shown that Lafleur was wrong. From a pure keep the Montreal fans and media happy, they should have drafted Savard.
A friend of mine are planning on watching the season finale, he being of the sad Leaf-fan stock. It will be interesting if the two teams end up being a point or two apart in the standings...I predict Toronto, 9-8 (SO) as a final score.
Let's not forget the Habs drafting of Doug Wickenheiser, Fidel.
Or the Nordiques with Eric Lindros. After trading him the Nords were cup contenders.
I think good players have to be surrounded with the right players, too. It's not enough to have a Yashin or Ovechkin and iffy goaltending or a poor supporting cast.
Most of these Habs played last Spring and won the first two games against the eventual Stanley Cup champion Bruins. And they took the Bruins into game seven OT. No other team forced the Bruins as far in the playoffs last year.
We needed Markov, Gionta and Gorges when they were out with injuries. We were missing guys in a couple of key positions is all.
The Sens didn't make the playoffs last spring and are in this April. Habs will be there next season. We don't have Leafs syndrome. At least I hope not. Things are not that bad imo.
I think you have to look at the fact that only two Canadian teams have even made the playoffs, and it's been 17 years since a Canadian team won the cup.
And you can't really argue small market vs big market teams, either. Canadian teams sell out. The dollar is at par.
American management is beating Canadian management, is what it is.
The autopsy on the Leafs. What a stinker of a game that was last night. Fitting end.
For all the blather about Phanuef, he finished 12th in league scoring for defensmen. Not shabby at all. I would hope someone takes the C off his sweater and just asks him to play deffense. He's still capable of being one of the top defensemen in league. So that he doesn't finish a -10 in "+-" next year.
And what about Gardiner? Top scorer for rookie defensemen, and not by just a few points. The nearest rookie was 8 points behind. While Gardiner finished a -2, given the vagaries of that statistic, that's nothing to be alarmed about in a rookie.
And of course, Kessel and Lupul did well.
This team seriously under achieved this year. The disturbing point is no one on the outside at least has much of a clue why. I think it is symptomatic of two things. A very young team-- youngest in the NHL with perhaps a collective fragile confidence level, and related, lack of leadership first from the former coach, and second I hate to say, from the dressing room.
As dismal as things look, the Leafs have something I've never seen in a long time, and that is multiple serious prospects in the AHL and OHA in Kadri, Colbourne and McKegg.
Look for a couple or maybe one to be moved to get Rick Nash out of Columbus, whose asking price (unrealistic at trade deadline) will be much more palatable.
And look for Scrivens to replace either Riemer or Gustavasson next year.
Seven teams out of 30 are Canadian. At the start of the season Canadian teams have a 23% chance of winning the cup. And now it is down to a 12% chance if we ignore the oddsmakers.
I tend to think the cup is destined for the states come spring time.
Thread drift - sorry!
I'm pretty bored with the NHL play-off games of late. I'm looking forward to the Saint John Sea Dogs taken a shot at a second straight Memorial Cup.
I am now officially rooting for L.A. and Mike Richards of the north.
Are you a lucky little lady in the City of Light? Or just another lost angel...
Actress Alyssa Milano taking over NHL's Twitter account
She's the boss.
???? What does Alyssa Milano have to do with hockey???
???? What does Alyssa Milano have to do with hockey???
I don't even know who she is. I was watching the Kings v. 'Yotes game tonight and they showed her on the screen at least a couple of times (being a "celebrity" and all).
And how 'bout them Kings, eh? Wow. I can't recall that kind of SC playoff domination in a long, long time. I think they're going to finish Phoenix off with a sweep on Sunday. If so, they'll have knocked off the #1 seed (Vancouver, 4-1), the #2 seed (St. Louis, 4-0), and the #3 seed (Phoenix, 4-0). It's quite remarkable. I hope they play the #1 seed in the East (Rangers) and kick their asses!!!
Phoenix lapsed into full-meltdown mode in Game 2...and, right there, I said, "They're done for this series." Psychologically, the 'Yotes are a spent force.
???? What does Alyssa Milano have to do with hockey???
I dunno but think there are those who may not appreciate Don Cherry's propaganda or male dominated colour commentaries in general. And so there are those who tweet on twitter. The "twitterverse" is how a growing number of tweeple stay informed believe it or not. I don't actually tweet, but I know some people who do. And the NHL has a twitter account apparently. I was totally unaware of that fact until recently.
???? What does Alyssa Milano have to do with hockey???
I'm going to jump in here -- I didn't know we were allowed to talk about hockey on rabble (!) go figure.
I think the reason they are showing Alyssa Milano on the big screen/tv all the time at kings games is (1) she is a super gorgeous (former) tv star and (2) it gives the kings cred in a weird way and exposure, like when then show Will Ferrel there or Vince Vaughn at Chicago games.
It makes hockey seem 'cool' especially in the states where it is not so well-loved as say baseball etc. I feel like the line goes "Aylssa Milano watches the Kings, and she's cool, so the Kings and hockey are cool. Come watch!"
Mike Richards always totes LA as a hockeytown as big as philly even -- so I think people are just trying to help him out with that statement before it crashes and burns.
I've never heard of her so the cred is lost on me but of course I am not the target audience.
I'd be happy to see all of the US team and the Stanley Cup be repatriated to Canada where it belongs before it was taken over by the NHL.
Alyssa Milano was in Who's the Boss with Tony Danza -- super popular in the 90s. And I think she was in other things and potentially posed nude? I think she is known for being 'hot' now.
I would love to see more Canadian teams in the NHL for sure, but I just don't think that will happen, espeically with Bettman around. Whenever US teams win the cup, or brag about how awesome their team is, it is always undercut by the fact that half of that team is Canadian, the other half is European and maybe five players are American. The cup ends up spending more time here than anywhere.
I've never heard of her so the cred is lost on me but of course I am not the target audience.
I'd be happy to see all of the US team and the Stanley Cup be repatriated to Canada where it belongs before it was taken over by the NHL.
That raises a question I've not thought of before: Who owns the Cup? Also, how did the NHL come to control it?
good point since the cup was around before the nhl, it was originally for the best ranked canadian amateur club (in 1892)...it didn't become the nhl's trophy until the 1920's when most of the other leagues that would compete for it folded.
truthfully, it isn't supposed to be just the nhl that competes for it, and during the lockout year there was quite an uproar when adrienne clarkson suggested the best womens teams could compete for it...but as the NHL became the dominant league in north america it pretty much took over the exclusive right to hand out the stanley cup.
Jamaica is now an Associate Member of the Internationa Ice Hockey Federation
http://www.iihf.com/competition/272/news/news-singleview-2012/recap/6968.html?tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=6249&cHash=6e030c7efd
Yes I think there is a very real hockey gap developing in North America. I think the Rangers are mostly Canadian players but not by much. I think American players for NY Rangers are the next largest contingent. And America does have ice hockey talent. The U.S. is a legit hockey nation, and I'm afraid they could even surpass us some day. It's inevitable unless Canada has a baby boom or sudden influx of emigres to Canada giving birth to potential hockey players.
American Trevor Lewis of Salt Lake City, UT managed 5 shots tonight on Mike Smith of Kingston, Ontario. None of them crossed the line.
LA in 5 or 6.
My beloved Sea Dogs won last night. For the firdt time since the Mem Cup became a four team tournament (1983) all four teams are tied at 1-1.
I like that US and Europe are developing in their hockey skill (I may live in Vancouver, but I am a fan of hockey, not bandwagons)
It creates for more exciting international compeition as well as leagues like the NHL. Sometimes I balk at the idea of hockey is Canada's games (I guess techinically it is lacrosse) because in reality, nobody claims ownership, it is a sport, and it is meant to be enjoyed. That being said, I get terribly upset when Canada loses, and feel a slight burn when the captain isn't Canadian...
It's such a strange Canadian thing.
LA definitely in 5 -- especially did you watch the post show interivew, PHX is already talking like they lost, they're just waiting for the axe to drop! Also the NYR are burned out from last round and from playing their star players 38mins a game -- they're toast unless playing the last five minutes of every game continues to work out for them.