2007-08 NHL Thread...

[Operation Shutdown]

Pens rookie camp opens tomorrow. Man, I am so much more excited about the upcoming NHL season than I am of the upcoming NFL season. I completely forgot that the Steelers seasons starts this weekend, but the Pens rookie camp opening tomorrow has been on my mind's calendar for like two weeks. I am so psyched, and of course this is the year I don't have season tickets. Stupid procrastination.

[Muppetus Galacticus]

Wimp!

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=219246&hubname=nhl

Roberto Luongo says he'd quit the NHL if the league introduced larger nets.

There is no plan to do so but there was a lot of talk about it a couple of years ago during symposiums open to any ideas to enhance offence in the league.

Taller nets, wider nets, curved posts - some of the suggestions were wild.

Luongo, the star goaltender for the Vancouver Canucks, says he'd have no desire to play if nets were larger than the current size of six feet by four feet. During a conference call Tuesday, he was asked how he'd react if bigger nets were mandated.

"If that day comes, I don't think you'd see me in the NHL," he replied.

[mark_htfc]

I am hoping that the Bruins have a better season this time round, I can't wait for the first face off of the season when the puck gets dropped :P I will be watching alot of games on NASN this season since purchasing it so thats good. Hopefully Bruins will be on or a few times.

[Long_Long_Name]

Originally Posted by Muppetus Galacticus

Wimp!

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=219246&hubname=nhl

From what Luongo said, I wouldn't draw the conclusion that he'd automatically quit like TSN seems to. I don't think larger nets would be a good idea, either.

By the way, how long before people start speaking of Luongo as Brodeur's superior? He's clearly been a better goaltender for most of his career, and Brodeur's highly overrated. He's very good, yes, usually betwen 3rd and 5th best in the league, but he's not the best NHL goaltender, Luongo is.

[canadiancreed]

Originally Posted by Long_Long_Name

From what Luongo said, I wouldn't draw the conclusion that he'd automatically quit like TSN seems to. I don't think larger nets would be a good idea, either.

By the way, how long before people start speaking of Luongo as Brodeur's superior? He's clearly been a better goaltender for most of his career, and Brodeur's highly overrated. He's very good, yes, usually betwen 3rd and 5th best in the league, but he's not the best NHL goaltender, Luongo is.

The problem is that Brodeur has gotten the job done. Three Cups, a gold medal in the Olympics, taht eans you a bit of lee-way. DOnt' get me wrong, I thought the trade of Luongo to Vancouverinstantly made them a contender and will do so for quite a while, but until Luongo gets the Canucks a Cup, he'll live in Brodeurs shadow for quite some time, if not forever.

As for the larger nets thing, it's another dumb idea in a long list of questionable ideas to make the game "better".

[Long_Long_Name]

Originally Posted by canadiancreed

The problem is that Brodeur has gotten the job done. Three Cups, a gold medal in the Olympics, taht eans you a bit of lee-way. DOnt' get me wrong, I thought the trade of Luongo to Vancouverinstantly made them a contender and will do so for quite a while, but until Luongo gets the Canucks a Cup, he'll live in Brodeurs shadow for quite some time, if not forever.

As for the larger nets thing, it's another dumb idea in a long list of questionable ideas to make the game "better".

I don't mind low scoring, as long as the game being played is good. And, today's game is quite good, whether there are 2 or 5 or 10 goals per game, I don't really mind.

And Brodeur didn't get the job done by himself. He had the best coach ever running the best defensive system ever in the 90's, and taking the best team on Earth to a gold medal in the Olympics is not that hard. Brodeur was at the riht place at the right time. He's a tremendous goaltender that we made a superhero. Hasek, Roy, Luongo and Kipprusoff were better.

[Elendil]

I'd rather they just reduced the size of goalie pads and called the game consistently in the regular season & the playoffs. I have to say that last year's low-scoring playoffs were pretty dull. The game isn't fun to watch if it's just a bunch of dump-ins and scrums along the boards punctuated occasionally by freak scoring chances.

[canadiancreed]

Originally Posted by Elendil

I'd rather they just reduced the size of goalie pads and called the game consistently in the regular season & the playoffs

Hear. Hear.

Some games I sometimes wondered if the fix was in with how bad the officiating was.

[Kekkonen]

I just realized that ...

the regular season starts this weekend!!!

And what's more, the opener will be on at 7 pm EET on Saturday, when my wife is out watching some theater production, so she won't be hogging the TV!

[Muppetus Galacticus]

PING: Steve Downie. You're a douche - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HerZdQmigLs

Downie nearly ended up being stretchered off himself thanks to leaving his feet and flying towards the boards. It wasn't a really late hit but he was leaving his feet and he was aiming for the head.

How long until the league (and by the league I also mean the NHLPA) starts waking up to headhunting and handing out some real suspensions. 3/5/7 games is crap, that won't stop anyone. Throw down a 25+ games for this and see if it stops.

It's the same with sticks to the head. Chris Simon got 20 games last year. If he was to miss 82 games, in addition to a ban from the sport itself, then I pretty much guarantee it won't happen again.

If this isn't fixed soon then one day we WILL see a player's career ended through brain damage or even death. At least I don't have to hear Don Cherry talk about this good Canadian boy finishing his check. Or that they didn't nearly kill each other because they were wearing visors

[Kekkonen]

Wow. That was ugly.

If Downie is in the rink the next time the Flyers play the Sens, he might want to look out for Brian McGrattan.

[Long_Long_Name]

Originally Posted by Muppetus Galacticus

PING: Steve Downie. You're a douche - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HerZdQmigLs

Downie nearly ended up being stretchered off himself thanks to leaving his feet and flying towards the boards. It wasn't a really late hit but he was leaving his feet and he was aiming for the head.

How long until the league (and by the league I also mean the NHLPA) starts waking up to headhunting and handing out some real suspensions. 3/5/7 games is crap, that won't stop anyone. Throw down a 25+ games for this and see if it stops.

It's the same with sticks to the head. Chris Simon got 20 games last year. If he was to miss 82 games, in addition to a ban from the sport itself, then I pretty much guarantee it won't happen again.

If this isn't fixed soon then one day we WILL see a player's career ended through brain damage or even death. At least I don't have to hear Don Cherry talk about this good Canadian boy finishing his check. Or that they didn't nearly kill each other because they were wearing visors

When Pronger and Niedermayer double-teamed on Holmstrom last year, I got really angry. If I made the rules, any attempt at injuring someone's head would be severely punished - I wouldn't mind suspending a player for 82 games for a first offense, and a career ban on second offense, with very very severe fines. Even if it's Pronger. Actually, especially if it's an idiot like Pronger. 25 games is very low even for me. And I'm not usually a tough law & order guy at all, I just wouldn't be able to stand someone who's attempted to hurt someone being active in my league knowing he can get away with it.

[Long_Long_Name]

Originally Posted by Kekkonen

Wow. That was ugly.

If Downey is in the rink the next time the Flyers play the Sens, he might want to look out for Brian McGrattan.

That's Downie, by the way. Aaron Downey's a tough guy, but not a cheap shot guy.

[Bluenoser]

Originally Posted by Long_Long_Name

And Brodeur didn't get the job done by himself. He had the best coach ever running the best defensive system ever in the 90's, and taking the best team on Earth to a gold medal in the Olympics is not that hard. Brodeur was at the riht place at the right time. He's a tremendous goaltender that we made a superhero. Hasek, Roy, Luongo and Kipprusoff were better.

The best coach ever? I don't recall Brodeur ever playing for Scotty Bowman or Toe Blake. In fact Brodeur played for a few different coaches. Each of his three cups came under a different coach.

The best defensive system ever? That's debatable (however, irrelevent to this discussion). Isn't having a great defensive system part of having a winning hockey team? If Luongo is so good, how come he never led Florida to the play-offs? Guess he can't do it by himself either. There's very few goalies that "got the job done" by themself.

Taking the best team on earth to the gold medal is not hard? Hmmm, what happened in 98 at Nagano? We supposedly had the best team, but couldn't even get bronze. Winning the Gold is hard.

Luongo finally gets on a team that puts some defense in front of him and he wins 47 games. Brodeur won 48 with a much lesser defense than he had in front of him in the late 90's/early 2000's and at the age of 35.

Thus far, Luongo is not in the same light as Brodeur.




Disclaimer - All of the above is solely my opinion.

[Long_Long_Name]

Originally Posted by BruceM

The best coach ever? I don't recall Brodeur ever playing for Scotty Bowman or Toe Blake. In fact Brodeur played for a few different coaches. Each of his three cups came under a different coach.

Of course not, he played for Jacques Lemaire!

Originally Posted by BruceM

The best defensive system ever? That's debatable (however, irrelevent to this discussion). Isn't having a great defensive system part of having a winning hockey team? If Luongo is so good, how come he never led Florida to the play-offs? Guess he can't do it by himself either. There's very few goalies that "got the job done" by themself.

No goalie can get the job done by himself. Not Luongo, not Brodeur, not Roy, not Sawchuk, not Plante, not Hasek. I think you missed my point completely - my point was that playing the trap with a really solid defensive system took a lot of stress off of Brodeur, who saw much less action, and much less quality action in front of him than Luongo did in Florida. And, it also helps his statistics - Brodeur's strong defense allowed less goals than Luongo's did in Florida, which makes Brodeur have a lower GAA than Luongo. But, still, Luongo has in general better save percentages than Brodeur, despite seeing more quality shots. In fact, ever since Luongo started playing with the Panthers, only once (last year) did Brodeur have a higher save percentage - by 0.001. Save % is the best of common statistics to judge a goalie's worth, and Luongo owns Brodeur in that department, despite seeing generally harder shots than Brodeur.

The trap is the most effective defensive system ever created, I'm pretty sure. Teams still use it sometimes despite rules existing that targeted that particular strategy.

Originally Posted by BruceM

Taking the best team on earth to the gold medal is not hard? Hmmm, what happened in 98 at Nagano? We supposedly had the best team, but couldn't even get bronze. Winning the Gold is hard.

So what now, the best team in the world's supposed to win EVERY time? It's a tournament, anything can happen. You just have to win games at the right time. My point is, put Luongo in the nets, he probably could've won. Even Jocelyn Thibault probably could've won it . My point is that no goalie in 2002 had the chance to goal for the best team in the world other than Brodeur - so there's no point to compare him to.

Originally Posted by BruceM

Luongo finally gets on a team that puts some defense in front of him and he wins 47 games. Brodeur won 48 with a much lesser defense than he had in front of him in the late 90's/early 2000's and at the age of 35.

Guh, wins. Wins are not a very useful stat, you should know better . Luongo played two games less than Brodeur (who did have a career year last year, I'll admit - but he only has one other comparable one in all his career. Luongo is one of the top two goalies in the NHL year in and year out, while Brodeur's a top 5 goalie year in and year out.

By the way, if you really want to compare their defenses last year, might as well be honest here : Ohlund/Mitchell/Salo/Fitzpatrick/Bieksa/Krajicek doesn't really look better than Rafalski/Lukowich/White/Martin/Oduya/Greene. I'd probably take the second bunch, actually. With a slightly better defense and a career year, Brodeur was as good as Luongo, who was having a good but not exceptional year by his standard.

[canadiancreed]

My point is that no goalie in 2002 had the chance to goal for the best team in the world other than Brodeur - so there's no point to compare him to.

Curtis Joesph (who played, and lost in their first game against Sweden 5-2) would disagree

[Muppetus Galacticus]

TSN reports Downie gets 20 games

[canadiancreed]

Originally Posted by Muppetus Galacticus

TSN reports Downie gets 20 games

For those that wanted more of a crackdown, there it is.

[marc]

Originally Posted by canadiancreed

For those that wanted more of a crackdown, there it is.

I'll wait and see what the crackdown is next time someone the caliber of a Scott Stevens, Chris Pronger, etc. are the ones getting that type of suspension.

I highly bet if this wasn't some young guy that was probably about 50/50 on making the roster this year, the suspension would be less severe.

[Kekkonen]

The Ducks' season opener is less than 12 hours away, and Selänne still hasn't decided whether he's going to retire or not. I'm disappointed; either decision would have been OK (he's earned his retirement, but I'm pretty sure he'd still have at least one good season in his body), but this is getting ridiculously Forsberg-like.