Tag Search Results for "ANA"
The Montreal Canadiens are one of those teams in the league that has a serious image problem. Nobody on there roster sticks out as the leader of the pack. All of their current players are at best mediocore players. Koivu is exponentially overated, Kovalev has lost his scoring touch, and Samsonov...Oh yeah he was a complete flop. This team needs a serious makeover in ev...
Yeah that's right I said it, and let me say it again: Women's hockey is crap. It's the same deal every single damn year, Canada and USA in the finals and Canada wins. What the hell is exciting about that? They always win, there is no fun or suspense embedded in the games. I am Canadian, but I always cheer for the opposing teams because I despise Canada's women's hockey tea...
Right now it is snowing outside, despite the Global Warming Monster that is stomping unchecked across the country. This snow I take as a sign, some good juju, as it were, for the Minnesota Wild.
This season, the Wild overcame adversity. Their star, Marian Gaborik, was down for what seemed an eternity with a fragile groin. Again. Pretty much every key player was out ...
The Habs finished off the season looking like they need a major overhaul and bringing in some HUGE pieces.
Let's take a step back and look at what we got(these are the positions they can play at):
LW: Higgins, Plekanec, A.Kostitsyn, S.Kostitsyn, Begin
C: Koivu, Higgins, Plekanec, Bonk, Begin, Lapierre, Chipchura, Grabovski,
...
The Habs may have missed the playoffs, but their future is vey bright, and nowhere is this more apparent than between the pipes. If anything, they have too many. Here is a rundown of the goalies they currently have.
[b]Cristobal Huet[/b] - When he is on his game, he can match anyone in the league save for save. From the last half of last year to the first half of thi...
C'est platte quand ton équipe préférée est pas dans les séries.
Les canadiens gagneront jamais avec des cons comme Kovalev pis Samsonov dans l'équipe. Samsonov c'est sûr qu'il va partir, mais malheureusement Gainey a pas l'air de vouloir échanger Kovalev cet été, les canadiens ne seront pas tellement améliorés l'an prochain s'il garde Kovalev qui joue une game...
Lanny's Moustache writes...
Not Hockey related, but something I thought I should share.
Posted Thursday | Comments 0
[b]Sunday Telegraph Article From today's UK wires: Salute to a brave and modest nation - Kevin Myers, The Sunday Telegraph LONDON - [/b]
Until the deaths of Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan , probably almost no one outside their home country had been aware that Canadian troops are deployed in the region. And as always, Canada will bury its dead, just as the rest ...
It seems to me one of the major challenges the Flyers have will be determining what to do with certain players who are, at this point, "tweeners"...guys like Ryan Potulny, RJ Umberger, Dimitri Afanasenkov and Stefan Ruzicka. They aren't really muckers and grinders who should be on checking lines. They have scoring talent; but they may not be ready to take on the role of ...
On Thursday, I took a glance at the list of possible free agent centers who could don the Orange and Black for the '07-'08 season. Here's a look at the defensemen (the Flyers other main need):
[b]Kimmo Timonen [/b](Nashville Predators) - The first thing that jumped out at me when researching Kimmo was his age - 32. Are the Flyers willing to give a four or five-year de...
Philadelphia Flyers are my team. They have been my team my entire life and will continue to be the team I love with the most passion.
Any sports days at work where they allow you to wear sports apparel I come in sporting something Flyers. Even this year which was such a long year for Flyers fans I proudly wore my orange and black.
I do have other teams I love as I...
SteveBonus writes...
The Habs and the Hab-Nots: 2006-2007 Year in Review
Posted Saturday | Comments 0
Another year has come to an end for the Montreal Canadiens, and dissapointingly the team was unable to make a second straight playoff appearance. Prior to Christmas, the Habs were on fire and had a shot at catching the dominant Buffalo Sabres atop the Northeast Division standings. But, with the team being hammered by the flu bug in late December, followed by a monstrous tw...
I guess we're supposed to feel bad for Mike Ribeiro.
After all, according to him in a piece featured in the Montreal Gazette earlier this year, he "was treated unfairly in Montreal." Not only that, he feels that there must have been some sort of conspiracy afoot in the off-season when he was traded to the Dallas Stars as "[the Canadiens] just wanted to get rid of me, a...
That's right... Lidstrom sucks defensively! If anyone else is currently watching the Flames-Wings game, you just saw Primeau skate around Lidstrom with ease to set up a highlight reel play, only to be stoned by Hasek...
Now we all know that Lidstrom is one of, if not the best defenceman in the league, but the point of this is to point out that every defenceman ends up o...
In a recent article entitled "How to Rebuild the Flyers", Hockeybuzz blogger Tim Panaccio give his breakdown on the Flyers offseason outlook.
In the piece he says the following in regards to Flyers young defensman Joni Pitkanen:
"They also desperately lack a No. 1 defenseman. [i][b]Joni Pitkanen should have been able to assume that role by now.[/b][/i] Yet his inabil...
There isn't much you can say after winning your first playoff game at home in 10 years by a score of 7-0. The denizens of MSG came ready to cheer on their blueshirts, it does help coming in up 2-0 in the series vs. 0-2 without Jagr like last year, and they weren't dissappointed.
32 seconds into the game Nylander scores his first of 3 on the night and the party was just ...
[i]O Calgary Flames who skate in the Dome,
Hallowed be the ice upon which you play.
Your power rankings will climb
As your points do over time, at Sportsnet as well on TSN.
Give us this day our special teams skill.
And forgive us our tresspasses as we check those who try to do us ill.
Lead us not to the penalty box and deliver us from unreviewed goals,
For thine are...
What are your thoughts on this matchup? My recollection of the season series was that Vancity lost 3 and won 1. The one we won we played Sabourin. So maybe we should rest Luongo for the next round seeing Sabourin had the better record?? No way! I don't know why we won that one game, my guess is that it was during their injury problems. Pronger and S. Niedermayer both were ...
Sabres de Buffalo vs Rangers de New York
Les Rangers ont été surprenant contre Atlanta, mais dans le fonds, si on regarde leurs récentes acquisitions - Brendan Shanahan durant l'été et Sean Avery 1 ou 2 semaines avant la date limite - c'est pas vraiment surprenant qu'il aient battus Atlanta, ces deux joueurs là ont apporté du coeur à cette équipe et le désir d...
Despite the media and all the nay sayers Vancouver pulled even with the Ducks and made the series look a lot more even than what it appeared after game 1.
Game 1 was tough to watch. My first thoughts were "These aren't the Canucks!". Somebody dressed the LA Kings instead. I'm glad they got that all straightened up. And now having the series return to Vancouver to win t...
Well as most Canadians may know. Especially those who follow hockey religiously.
The Politicians have way-ed into Team Canada Hockey Decisions.
Shane Doan has unproven allegations against him that in 2005 he uttered a racial slur
"F******g Frenchman did a good job" in reference to the all French Officiating staff who were working that night.
Now this is one person...
I am getting absolutely disgusted with what's being thrown around our Federal Government these days. Taxes, defence and other important issues are taking a backseat because - get this - Shane Doan is the captain of Team Canada. Can I please call for a by-election of any idiot who thinks this is an issue for our government to discuss?
Hockey Canada is going to address Pa...
... of riches!
Over the last 10-15 years, there have been a number of great hockey teams. Detroit, Colorado, Ottawa, Buffalo, New Jersey, Pittsburg, etc etc. The list goes on. All of these teams excelled in a number of areas which is what made them great. Often times, though, it was their excellent offence that masked defensive shortcomings or a great defence that h...
HomeIceFan writes...
Sorry Eugene: Either Have Us Full-Time, Or Not At All
Posted Monday | Comments 0
This Ottawa-Buffalo series is going to be an exciting one. Geographically, Leaf fans could easily get their hockey fix being smackdab in between these 2 towns. At the same time, it's easy for Leaf fans to hate both these teams. Do you hate the team that crushed your Cup dreams some years ago, or do you hate the team who brags about crushing your dreams, yet never has? Dani...
Supernick writes...
Mes prédictions pour la 3e ronde et Lecavalier contre Price?
Posted Tuesday | Comments 0
Sabres de Buffalo vs Sénateurs d'Ottawa
Les sabres on eu un début de séries plûtot ordinaire contre les rangers mais ils se sont bien repris dans les deux dernières parties. ils ont la chance de compter sur 4 bonnes lignes d'attaque, leur seule faiblesse est l'avantage numérique, ils ne font pas grand chose en avantage. aussi il leur manque un jouer de caractère ...
So the latest talk is trading Koivu away. While this makes a modicum of sense if the return is someone along the lines of Vinny, I for one cannot see it taking place. You can question his skill set, or his physical size, but I think it’s shortsighted, even ludicrous to question the heart and passion this Finn brings to the rink. In the past 3 years I have not missed o...
It was a rough finish to the rangers seaosn. They blow a 1-0 lead with 7 seconds to go in game 5. Then they lose 5-4 on home ice in game 6. Although there are a lot of "What ifs..." in this series, Rangers should be happy with what they accomplished. They didn't look like they were even in the playoff mix in February.
Bring in some young guns, add a fiesty Sean Avery, ...
Canada wins another world hockey championship. Big surprise AND big deal! Why is this tournament played every year during the Stanley Cup Playoffs? Does anybody who follows the NHL care about this tournament right now while the battle for arguably the greatest trophy in sports is taking place, especially if your team is still in it? I'm still trying to figure out the poin...
This will be my live blog while watching the game.
First Period:
1:04 - Detroit looks hungry. You know a team is outplaying their opponents when they start getting powerplays, and we are seeing that now. Pronger was just lazy on that last call.
:42 - What a shot by Holmstrom. I disagree with the commentator in this case though. He said that the Anaheim defense...
Hi all ! Koivu just mention to the "La Presse" journal that he want to stay, win and have success with the Montreal Canadiens till the end of his carer. The leader of the Habs realize all the potential of the prospect in Hamilton. With the future star forward like the two brother Kostitsyn, Mikhail Grabovski, Kyle Chipchura and Corey Locke, the CH will have one of the best...
Before this year I thought a coach’s impact was minimal. Sure he could design a system and give great pep talks, but it was up to the players on the ice to execute. Then along came the day of December 12, 2006. The Blues were scheduled to play the Blackhawks that night and it was announced that Andy Murray would be taking over the vacant head coach position for the Blues...
Fellow fans,
We have waited too long for the NHL to promote its own game. Instead 4 friends got together to show the best of hockey.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDSY5-y2BRs
please let us know what you think.
t2MA
It was a tough TV night in my household: 7:30 Tigers game, 8:00 Pistons game, 9:00 Greys Anatomy season finale (for the wife), 10:15 Lost special (for me).. It was an even tougher night on the ice for the Wings.. Lets rephrase that: it was a tough night on the ice for Flop Boy.. 3 goals on 8 shots? While the rest of the team was showing the heart that has become the wings ...
Brett, you better start working on your script for the Stanley Cup Finals. You will be on TV for games 4-7. Try expanding your vocabulary, try eliminating the word TERRIBLE.
Maybe you can write the Ducks off early and whine some more about the Red Wings and why they didn't make it to the finals. They played terrible for two periods tonight. Great game tonight, dominat...
Hooray!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The Ducks finally played their best hockey of the playoff run!!! Only took til Game 6 of the Conference Finals, but better late than never!!
As a loyal Ducks fan, I must say that I was truly impressed with the game that Anaheim brought against Detroit last night. The passing was great, the skating was beautiful, and the Ducks made a point of send...
This will be the type of Stanley Cup final that attracts hockey fans. A true hockey town (Ottawa) against an non-traditional hockey market (Anaheim) is happening once again. Only this time, there really isn't an underdog. There will be no upset. This is a series where, truly, both teams deserve to win. Looking at the playoffs so far, both teams are about even coming i...
Supernick writes...
Mes prédictions pour la finale de la coupe stanley!
Posted Saturday | Comments 0
Ottawa, pour être honnête, ils me surprennent cette année, je croyais qu'ils allaient se faire éliminer en 1ere ronde par les Pingouins. Daniel Alfredsson joue super bien cette année, mais on dirait que c'est seulement son trio (avec Heatley et Spezza) qui font de quoi, les 3 autres trios sont un peu silencieux. Il ya Antoine Vermette aussi qui fait des bonnes séries...
Game 1:4-2 Ducks Selanne GWG
Game 2:3-1 Sens Heatley GWG
Game 3:6-5 Sens OT Vermette GWG
Game 4:2-1 Ducks OT Pronger GWG
Game 5:3-1 Sens Spezza GWG
Game 6:5-4 Ducks R. Neidermeyer GWG
Game 7:1-0 Ducks OT Selanne GWG in one of the most dramatic Cup Finals Ever!!!! Go DUCKS!
Game 1: Ottawa
Game 2: Anaheim
Game 3: Ottawa
Game 4: Anaheim
Game 5: Ottawa
Game 6: Ottawa
Series: Ottawa wins 4-2
Alfredsson wins Conn Smythe although Emery makes a huge push for the award with his play in the series.
[b]Disclaimer/Update: No need to even read this blog. It was about my streak in predicting winners of playoff games through my PS2. It was at 9 straight games, but it fell victim tonight. The streak is over. In any case, CONGRATS ANAHEIM on that first win! Happy for your fans...Also for Brad May. Still pulling for the Sens though. Gotta go with the Canadian team her...
Well, after a thrilling advertisement for the game of hockey that was Game One, we've come to this: a real crossroads, with Anaheim's old-fashioned physical play (honed by a lot of WHL talent like Getzlaf, Kunitz, the Niedermayers et al) going up against Ottawa's mostly-European speed and finesse (which is no slap against Selanne for the Ducks or Neil for the Sens). It's a...
Hey, let me introduce myself i'm Ray, i'm from Belfast, Ireland (yeah there are hockey fans there!....really!) i'm 21 years old and am a huge Toronto Maple Leafs Fan! HEY STOP THE BOOING ALREADY!
This is the first of hopefully many entries in my blog. Hope you read regularly and enjoy, any feedback or comments are much appreciated.
So the Stanley Cup Finals are here ...
The first two games of this series have been probably the best playoff hockey games I've seen in a while (and I've seen a lot, from the 4OT Buffalo-New Jersey thriller that was probably one of of not THE best 1-0 games ever, to Stevie Y ripping THAT shot over Jon Casey's shoulder in 1996), mostly because for some reason the Galactic Empire (aka the NHL) has allowed its ref...
raymullan writes...
The Stanley Cup Finals, Tragically Hip? and Sid gets the C!
Posted Friday | Comments 0
[b]Retreat![/b]
[img:left]http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42990000/jpg/_42990575_anaheim203.jpg[/img]I was really disappointed with Ottawa the other night, Emery was stellar as usual but the Alfredsson, Spezza and Heatley line were flat, their confidence looked really shaken!
I don't agree with many hockey pundits riding Joe Corvo and putting some of the blame ...
To many fans of Canadian teams, the closest thing to seeing their team in the final rounds of the playoffs is to follow their next crop of superstars in the AHL playoffs. For the Montreal Canadiens, there couldn't be a better indication of the future of the most storied franchise in hockey history than the play of their AHL affiliate, the Hamilton Bulldogs. While many neve...
Congratulations to the Anaheim Ducks. An outstanding organization and a tremendous hockey team. They deserved everything they got.
And now our lives fall back to normalcy. No more puck. At least not on the ice.
It's a terribly sad time of year. At least we have the NBA Finals starting tomorrow, right? Major League Baseball is in full swing. And then football s...
The Anaheim Ducks have won the Stanley Cup. Not only did they win it, they won it [i]convincingly[/i]. Three straight seasons- maybe four (did the Detroit-Carolina series go seven games?)- the Finals were decided in seven games. This was the first truly lop-sided final I've sat down and watched since the Red Wings swept the Flyers back in '97 (now THAT was a show of force)...
Canadian hockey fans and other hockey fans of the more established teams from the North will ultimately will hear the following comments one way or another at a NHL arena, or anywhere else NHL hockey fans gather:
"The Stanley Cup belongs in a [b]real[/b] hockeytown"
"I cannot stand when these teams from the South and the West win. It's not right"
Ask yourself thi...
Well now, I've had a few days to savor all that I saw and heard at Game 5 of the Stanley Cup finals, and I have some thoughts to impart.
I was a very lukewarm hockey follower for a number of years, and got more serious behind it about 4 years ago. I became a Ducks fan because they were the perpetual joke of the NHL, and a long-suffering underdog to the L.A. King...
Hi, it's me again........the relatively new hockey fan.
I want to talk about something I've been remiss in not mentioning before: The great fans of the great sport of hockey.
I've been to football games where fans cursed each other and got in fights. I've been to baseball games where the same has happened. I have yet to see such behavior in the fans I'm come in contac...
I go onto hockey boards everywhere, from Canadiens.com, to Hockeysfuture.com (Montreal Canadiens, message board). On each of these sites, and many more their are always wants for big time players, through trades or free agency. Fans want Drury, Briere, Gomez.... These wants are un - realistic, except maybe Briere, but at 6 - 7 million, i don't want him. I've been proposiin...
Sorry, I think another way!!!!!
Well done boys! Great news!
-
[img:left]http://www.hockeyheadquarters.com/images/hockey-cards/c55/vezina-rcx2th.jpg[/img]In April 2007 a mint graded 1911-12 C55 Georges Vezina rookie card shattered the record price ever paid for a hockey card at $100K. The April 2007 issue of Beckett Hockey magazine published an artilce titled "The Greatest Card Ever Sold" focusing on the sale of this Georges Vezina...
Per TSN, 4 years, $24 million. And Ilya Bryzgalov is traded to...?
[b]Originally posted on PredNation.com[/b]
On June 21st, Damien Cox of the Toronto Star, thestar.com, wrote an article discussing the impending Predators sale and the lack of movement by the Board of Governors. What follows is my rebuttal to Mr. Cox.
I was able to read your article entitled Why is Bettman so Scared of Canada?. Let me first say that I generally ...
Here we go again:
11) Carolina----Brandon Sutter
May have the best all-around game in the draft, but I still think this is a little high for him consideringCherepanov was still on the board. Needs to fill out a lot and still develop a little more grit. Yes he's a Sutter, but he isn't as Sutter-y as others. Has good character to fall back on if his skills don't make him a...
Despite the chatter about what free agents the Habs have in their crosshairs, I'd like to interject and remind the fan base that historically (i.e. the last 5 years at least) the Canadiens have not been key players in free agency and until they do something to make me think otherwise, I'm not holding out hope that this is the year they acquire a big name to be the face of...
I AM ALL IN FAVOR OF TRADING FOR MARLEAU, OR TRADING FOR TANGUAY, BUT, GETTING RID OF RYDER, WILL NOT MAKE ANYTHING BETTER. THERE HAS TO BE AWAY OF KEEPING THIS GUY HERE. HE HAD THE MOST GOALS THIS YEAR, AND WE TREATED HIM BETTER THAN JUST A QUALIFYING OFFER, HE MIGHT REPEAT AND GET MORE THAN 30 THIS YEAR. TRADE A GOALIE, THAT WE HAVE A FEW SPARES, IMO, HUET IS OUR #1, SOR...
I AM ALL IN FAVOR OF TRADING FOR MARLEAU, OR TRADING FOR TANGUAY, BUT, GETTING RID OF RYDER, WILL NOT MAKE ANYTHING BETTER. THERE HAS TO BE AWAY OF KEEPING THIS GUY HERE. HE HAD THE MOST GOALS THIS YEAR, AND WE TREATED HIM BETTER THAN JUST A QUALIFYING OFFER, HE MIGHT REPEAT AND GET MORE THAN 30 THIS YEAR. TRADE A GOALIE, THAT WE HAVE A FEW SPARES, IMO, HUET IS OUR #1, SOR...
Okay, I'll admit, Chris Drury and Daniel Briere are two very talented hockey players, but are they really worth the money some teams are willing to offer? Will Peter Forsberg have what it takes to still be an elite NHLer after numerous injuries? Is Scott Gomez really going to prosper outside of New Jersey? These are questions I've been thinking about lately and the answer ...
[b]Buffalo Sabres, you let a lot of us down today. But you can right your wrongs. There is still time.
Don't give up our hopes of a Cup. We are not far away, with the current team - in fact we may be the closest ever - even without Drury and Briere. Get some new guys in here; keep us competitive; give us a reason to continue to support this team.
PLEASE do the rig...
TheHabsFan writes...
Why the Montreal Canadiens can't compete for UFAs...
Posted Monday | Comments 0
During the TSN broadcast, the panelists said it. During the singings, the players said it. When Rivet and Recchi left, they said it. It's no secret, yet everyone seems to miss it.
The problem is not taxes! The problem is not language! The problem is certainly NOT money!
THE PROBLEM IS THE DAMN MEDIA! Players do not want to come here and get their lives ruined by a bu...
My message is to the [b]MEDIA OF MONTREAL[/b]. [b][u]Enough is enough!!![/u][/b] I, and the fans of this great franchise have had it!!! I have said it for years that the media is who manages the team, not the organization. Year in and year out, we see the same trend building, worse and worse as the years go by. This time around, you will not blame Gainey or the rest o...
camp writes...
What are the expectations for the Rangers 2007-2008 season?
Posted Monday | Comments 0
Last years run in the playoffs was cut short by a heart-stopping, gut-wrenching goal by co-captain Chris Drury of the Buffalo Sabres with 7.7 seconds left in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Semi's. Scott Gomez was part of the New Jersey Devils team that swept the Rangers two seasons ago in the first round of the playoffs. Now they're both with us. With multiple Stanley Cu...
What does Renney do if no more moves are made either via Free Agent signings or Trades?
[b]Hossa - Drury/Gomez - Jagr
Straka - Drury/Gomez - Shanahan
Avery - Cullen - Callahan
Prucha - Betts - Hollweg/Orr
Malik - Rosival
Tyutin - Girardi
Staal - Mara
Strudwick/Pock[/b]
I don't know, but I see this as a lineup Renney will put on the ice if the team starts t...
This off season has been and interesting off season and a predictable one, Sutter never waits till the last second to get things done. Well for instance his top forwards had only one year left , what does he do does he leave that until the last minute no he does it a year a head of time. Iggy locked up for five years 35 mil not only does he get done early he does it s...
This off season has been an interesting off season and a predictable one, Sutter never waits till the last second to get things done. Well for instance his top forwards had only one year left , what does he do does he leave that until the last minute no he does it a year a head of time. Iggy locked up for five years 35 mil not only does he get done early he does it so...
The habs this year will be a taste of whats to come. Without the arrival of a first line UFA (once again) the Canadiens finally have the luxury of having good building blocks at every position. The lines this year will hopefully involve a rookie or second year player on at least three of four lines, and since these rookies are highly touted prospects, this is an excelle...
Multiple league sources have informed the Sabres as the team chosen to represent the league in an "Ice Bowl" on the first day of 2008. The opponent, most likely,would be the Pittsburgh Penguins as it should. The combination of Sidney Crosby and Malkin copuled with facing an appointent who's fans will fill the Ralph in a matter of hours will be outstanding. The genius behin...
There are many sports experts who compare the Leafs to the MLB's New York Yankees, the big-bad empire of riches, hell bent on winning without any consideration for monetary costs. Beloved by their legion of fans, and hated by all others. But there is one main difference between the Leafs and Yanks, and in reality between the MLB and the NHL, the Yankees can buy a contender...
Patrick Cwiklinski writes...
Playing For The Love Of The Game... Or Money?
Posted Thursday | Comments 0
Is it me or are NHL players just getting greedier and greedier? Just take a look at the salaries that some of these so called “superstars” are going to start making in the 2007-2008 season. Scott Gomez and Chris Drury are both great examples of unproven overpaid players. The New York Rangers jumped at the chance to pick up Scott Gomez for seven years at $51.5 million a...
NYHockey writes...
With predictions like this, I should be a Contributor!
Posted Friday | Comments 0
I have always thought I had a good head for hockey, but I never knew I should have my own 5 minutes on the MSG network to speculate. Take a look at a collection of my three favorite posts over the past few months. You have to admit, I did pretty well in my statements. My one true errata that I sadly must admit is the fact that Jed Ortmeyer is no longer in the equation, ...
mzator22 writes...
Analyzing Team's Free Agent/Trade Moves - Pacific Division
Posted Sunday | Comments 0
In this my second blog in as many minutes, I will analyze every team and their free agency acquisitions. Starting with the Pacific Division:
[b]Anaheim Ducks[/b]
Major Additions
[b]Todd Bertuzzi (2 yrs, $8 million)[/b] - I for one don't believe Bertuzzi deserves a 4 million dollar contract right now coming off back surgery and a season where he only played 15 game...
mzator22 writes...
Analyzing Team's Free Agent/Trade Moves - Central Division
Posted Tuesday | Comments 0
I'm back with my analysis! Here's the Central Division:
[b]Chicago Blackhawks[/b]
Major Additions
[b]Jonathan Toews (3 yr, 875 K)[/b] - I know that Toews is not a free agency acquisition or trade, but I thought that I would mention him because he will be a major factor this year for the Hawks. He has already played with men and did pretty well. I would go as far a...
Having gone to the Habs rookie camp for the past three years, I have been able to see those who are lined up to play for Les Glorieux for many years to come. Last year it was Guillame Latendresse, Kyle Chipchura, Sergei Kostitsyn, and of course Carey Price who stood out from the hoi poloi. The focus of most of our prospects over the past few years has obviously been offens...
I was in Toronto on Monday, mainly to visit the Hall. What a beautiful city, Toronto is, I would've gone up in the tower, but my family and I didn't want to fork over $22 bucks a piece to do something all three of us had already done, even though my parents did it 22 years ago...and I did 6.
The Hall is an absolutely BEAUTIFUL building, inside and out, the archways in ...
Yesterday morning Eklund reported that there was a rumor that the Canadiens are interested in Nikolai Zherdev. Eklund also reported a few weeks ago that the Oilers and the Islanders may also be looking at him as well. Dealing Zherdev could end up profitable if done correctly.
First of all, Nikolai Zherdev is a forward who has butted heads with Ken Hitchcock. Just like a...
I was looking over one of my favorite forums and on there was a map showing the locations of all the teams in the league. This picture awoke me (already knew that it was bad) of how unfair the eastern teams have it.
These are prime examples of advantages out east. Drury moves from Buffalo to New York... He doesn't really have to move. Gomez moves from New Jersey to New...
I have a oil on wood painting of Maurice "Rocket" Richard that was painted back in the 1950's. I purchased it from his estate auction after he passed a few years ago and it has since hung proudly in my hockey shop overlooking about 5000 sq. ft. of hockey gear. I just had an older gentleman that came in to get his skates sharpened and noticed it hanging on the wall. He puff...
Ok so here is what i dont get. You come on these sites (so far this is the best one i have found for not having the problem) and you find fans hating on other fans. prime example leafs and sens fans. I am a leafs fan thru and thru but in no way do i hate sens fans. I am not a huge fan of the team but in no way can i say they suck. At the same time the leafs did not ma...
[i][b]Why Alfie Will Never Be Traded[/b][/i]
A couple of days ago, while engaged in the usual friendly banter of the Hockeybuzz Chatroom, a certain blogger that covers Les Glorieux, came in and confidently proclaimed that Daniel Alfredsson would be traded from Ottawa if the Senators didn't have a successful year. Being the ardent Sens fan that I am, I felt obliged to ch...
I don’t understand how people make the argument that Lowe was trying to make “his” team better. How can any GM make a team better by over paying a player that isn’t worth the money, offering a long term contract with a lot of money tied up in one player. Most will say Penner is worth probably around the same as Ouellet, which turns out to be $1.25-million. That’s...
I know we've all heard about the Patrice Brisebois rumors but it has me wondering, why would Bob Gainey be looking to pay 700k of our remaining cap space to Patrice of all people.
Check our current defesive line up:
1:Markov-Komisarek
2:Hamrlik-Streit(or Gorges)
3:Bouillon-Dandeneault
The way I see it, we're better off with either of the two of our bottom three ...
Habs cap space inclusive of Ryder signing: 6.317 million. With Brisebois signed, they would still have roughly 5.6 million in space to use for a solid UFA. Dany Markov comes to mind. Possibly some really good forward.
*** Patrice Brisebois apparently very close to a deal with the habs. Some might even call it a done deal. It is believed that Bob Gainey has offered Brise...
PART THREE IS DONE! VIEW IT ON: HTTP://MY.HOCKEYBUZZ.COM/RAGS2RICHES.
HOPEFULLY COMING TO THE HOME PAGE SOON
In part 2 of 10, I will break down Offense Line #1, aka, the Jagr line. I will expound upon the strengths and weaknesses of each player and explain why he fits on the line. I appreciate the input recieved from part 1 and will certainly take the feedback into con...
The series is moving along nicely and I want to thank my readers for their support. I have taken the comments from the prior installments into consideration and have therefore altered the second line from how it appeared in part 1. Keep the comments coming. Part 3, Here we go:
Left Wing: #82 Martin Straka
Personal: 34 years old from Plzen, Czech Republic. Stands 5 ft 9...
I'm going to be doing a similar thing that rags2riches did but for the Canucks. In part 1 I will outline the projected lines (as of now - will update if any major trades or free agent signings happen between now and the beginning of the season). I will then profile each player on each line. I may also do this for every team because I know the NHL pretty well.
Line 1
...
PART 4 IS OUT. ANALYZING THE RANGERS OFFENSE #3. HTTP://MY.HOCKEYBUZZ.COM/RAGS2RICHES.
CHECK IT OUT TODAY! COMING TO THE HOME PAGE SOON!
For the next two weeks I will be writing my blog from my phone because I have no access to a computer. Because of a tech problem I have with my phone, I am unable to do anything but write blogs. I cannot respond to any posts, send me...
Growing up with a passion and a love for two teams is harder than just one! My father grew up in Montreal in the era when the Canadiens were known as the flying frenchmen and were basically unbeatable. I was born in 1978, and hockey came into my life I would say right around 1982 when I was old enough to talk and enjoy what was being shown to me. This was the time that...
PART 5 IS OUT, OFFENSE #5. VIEW IT ON HTTP://MY.HOCKEYBUZZ.COM/TAG.PHP?TAG=RAGS2RICHES
AND COMING TO THE HOMEPAGE SOON!
Im sorry that it took so long to get this installment out. Ive been very busy for the past few days and havent had a chance to write. Moving on, we are up to part 4 of the series and as always, dont hesitate to comment on my writing. Ive just learned ho...
After watching Scott Niedermayer Choose the Ducks as the location he wanted to play, although he received phopne calls from several N.H.L. superstars trying to lure him in, the obvious reason was his brother. Growing up, taking turns shooting on net with each other acting as goalie, with each shot being the game 7 O.T. winner for the Stanley Cup, you had to think that the ...
The $64,000 question for Anaheim fans since Lord Stanleys Cup was ferried around the Honda Center ice by the victorious Ducks back in the first week of June has been whether or not Teemu and Scotty would be back to defend their championship. (Although maybe we should bump it up to $128,000, because it really is two separate questions.)
Scotty is one of the most accompl...
Today I will finish analyzing the Rangers by taking a look at the fourth line. Because the interest level in the series s seems to have dropped, I will be moving on to a different topic. If you want me to continue with the defense, speak now or forever hold your peace. As I mentioned in my previous post, I learned how to post pictures and I will be doing so from now on. Bu...
RC writes...
FORGIVE AND FORGET?? - Where should fans stand on Bertuzzi?
Posted Tuesday | Comments 0
Every hockey fan that has seen the footage can bring it instantly to mind. Todd Bertuzzi chasing Steve Moore around the ice, and then, frustrated by Moores refusal to stand and fight, sucker punching him in the side of the head and driving him into the ice with the entire weight of both of their bodies. Everyone also knows the aftermath. Three and a half years later, Mo...
After taking a break from the "Analyzing the Rangers" series for a week, I decided it was time to bring it back and analyze the defense. Defense is clearly the weakness of the Rangers and it should be interesting to break down the six players who I believe will make it into the lineup. As usual, all comments are welcome. Part 6, Here we go:
Left Defense: #8 Marek Malik
...
It's getting awful close to training camp time for our beloved NHL teams and there are still teams clamoring to get the guys they need for the latest run at the cup.
For your respective favorite team, what would you do to bolster your chances? What free-agent would you sign, or who would you trade for?
If you are supposing a trade, try to make it realistic. For examp...
[img:right][b]IF I COULD TURN BACK [/b][/img]TIME?
Boy, if managers only knew! Every manager has made a bad transaction or trade. For this blog, I polled some of my friends to name the most memorable, horrible trades made by our beloved gm’s. I will be using their quotes with permission and of course putting my two cents worth at the end.
Jbug
That’s real...
[b]IF I COULD TURN BACK TIME?[/b]
Boy, if managers only knew! Every manager has made a bad transaction or trade. For this blog, I polled some of my friends to name the most memorable, horrible trades made by our beloved gm’s. I will be using their quotes with permission and of course putting my two cents worth at the end.
Jbug
That’s really a no brainer. ...
[img:left]http://www.scholarships.ed.ac.uk/images/canada_flag.jpg[/img]
[b] Best of wishes to Team Canada, and the coaching staff over in Russia for the Super Series between Canada and Russia, starting on Monday. I'd like to personally say thank-you to all the players/coaching staff that are over in Russia that are going into a war with the Rus...
I do a weekly piece on WCCO-AM [the clear channel to the UPPER Midwest (U.S.) and do a piece called THE ANGRY MINUTE. A couple weeks back i covered the crazy rate at which Americans, last year, are leaving for Canada twice the normal rate (sic) ...
All things considered, i empathized... so I played the ENTIRE version of "Oh! Canada! " anthem, after some COMMENT of cou...
I do a weekly piece on WCCO-AM [the clear channel to the UPPER Midwest (U.S.) and it's called THE ANGRY MINUTE. A couple weeks back i covered the crazy rate at which Americans, last year, are leaving for Canada twice the normal rate (sic) ...
All things considered, sometimes we empathize... so, I played the ENTIRE version of the "Oh! Canada! " anthem, Stanley Cup Play...
I've finally returned home to good old Manitoba, it was quite the journey. The flight from Halifax to Toronto was alright, we flew over Niagara Falls. The flight from Toronto to Winnipeg was spectacular, especially the service. Although the day didn't go as planned when it came to getting into Winnipeg waiting for my luggage turns out is was left in Toronto and I never rec...
First off, let me say that I am a huge Teemu Selanne fan. I was bummed when the Ducks let him go the first time, and have immensely enjoyed watching his resurgence this second time around. More so than his stats, I have been a fan of his because of the way he played on the ice, and handled himself off of it. As far as I know, he has handled himself with class and integr...
For those of you who took the risk of adding Teemu Selanne to your hockey pools, you must be wondering, will he retire? Or will he come back for more with the Anahiem Ducks?
According to some websites, he has been encouraged to keep playing in the nhl from some old friends. I think Eklund mentioned that Philadelphia was interested in him.
Personally, i don't see why he ...
I am a leaf fan, but I am not going to be while I write this article.
One of the most exciting divisions in the NHL, the North Eastern division is one the deadliest in the league. All five teams have been in the playoffs the last 4 or 5 years. The Buffalo Sabres, The Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators, Montreal Canadiens, and the Boston Bruins. Last year, the Sabres...
Hey there,
Finally, across the city, we can feel the nervousness and febrility of everybody. All the talk and chat are centered in only one subject : The Canadians.
The passionate optimistist, the everyday pessimist, the young newbies, the seasoned veteran or the expert...everybody and their mama agree on one thing : They can't wait until it really starts!
So, let...
Sorry about the title ... I know it is just plain bad.
I was looking at the Calgary Flames new look defense this morning and wondered what type of offensive prowess they had. This led me to look into how many goals and points they had combined for last year.
The names Aucoin, Eriksson, Hale, Phaneuf, Regehr, Sarich and Warrener as a collective group do not strike ...
I went to the first Ducks preseason game last night at the Honda Center.
There were more people there than I expected and it was a fun crowd. The season tickets I bought into are pretty high up (though, there’s not really a bad seat at the Honda Center, which is great) so I was around a lot of real fans. I had a blast.
This is my first time watching a preseason gam...
When Cristobal Huet injured his hamstring last season Jaroslav Halak came in to the picture, and played well, yet they were still not able to get into the playoffs. Huet is now a proven first-stringer, and his absence certainly factored into why they did not make the playoffs. A healthy Huet should win his job back at training camp, unless Carey Price shows him up, but we'...
Now that all the new jerseys have been released (some officially and other unofficially), this is a good time to take a critical look at them all from a fashion point of view. Of course, these are just opinions, so please do not flame me too badly. My opinion on your team jersey has nothing to do with how much I like/dislike that team, whether I think so-and-so is a dirt...
ExtraB writes...
From Gretzky to Lemieux... he scores! O Canada Hockey Cards!
Posted Sunday | Comments 0
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"O Canada, We Stand On Guard For Thee"
The first lines of the Canadian National Anthem perfectly describe the dedication of Canada's national hockey teams and for the first time a hockey card set is being created to celebrate. Perhaps, no other country in any other sport has achieved the consistent excellence that Canada has attained in international hockey. These wi...
ExtraB writes...
From Gretzky to Lemieux... he scores! O Canada Hockey Cards!
Posted Sunday | Comments 0
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"O Canada, We Stand On Guard For Thee"
The first lines of the Canadian National Anthem perfectly describe the dedication of Canada's national hockey teams and for the first time a hockey card set is being created to celebrate. Perhaps, no other country in any other sport has achieved the consistent excellence that Canada has attained in international hockey. These wi...
[img]http://www.boredplanet.com/img/BlogBoxHeaderBanner.jpg[/img]
Moncton's motto reads: [b]Resurgo[/b], which I can assure you that it is not a Harry Potter spell. It is latin for [i]I rise again[/i]. And in 'Hub City', who hasn’t had a NHL game in over 30 years, NHL hockey is rising again - as it did when [b]Ted Nolan[/b], current coach of the Islanders, took the Mo...
Ok, first off, I think Hossa is a wash. I don't like him.
He's a big guy and yes, he's good along the boards, but he's not as good as his brother, period. He's only hit 18 points in the NHL and 40 in the AHL.
Dawes only played 8 games and got a goal in the big league, but absolutely dominated the AHL.
Dawes is just going to get better. For the love of everything t...
I grew up watching players like Robinson, Gainey, Lemaire, Lafleur, Shutt, Dryden...The list goes on and on! Generations of great hockey players have come and gone for this great franchise. I have put them on a pedestal above all else for the most part of my 37 years. When i was a kid, I would fall asleep following a Habs game that I listened to on an old radio tucked u...
B.D. Gallof writes...
Last Night's Game in Montreal, Plus Defensive Assessment
Posted Saturday | Comments 0
Last night Montreal beat the Isles in OT.
[b]Jeff Tambellini[/b] had a good game, obviously been jumpstarted by some comments by Ted Nolan. Nolan recently picked him out saying basically he is expecting more from him consistently. Tambs had a goal and had been all over the ice. [b]Jon Sim[/b] has been plugging away like he has the last few games.
[b]Sean Bergenheim[...
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In a previous post I announced the upcoming O Canada Hockey Card set to be released on October 18, 2007 by ITG Trading Cards. More information has been released about the spectacular autograph cards in the set.
In The Game Trading Cards released the following information in their September 25th newsletter...
The autograph cards feature Gold Metal winners from the ...
Back again to complete my NHL prediction blog extravaganza with my Eastern Conference predictions. Enjoy!
[b]
[u]Eastern Conference[/u][/b]
[u]Southeast Division[/u]
1. [b]Washington Capitals[/b]: This may be my “what is he smoking?” pick of the 2007-08 season but the Caps have the parts to do some real damage. The arrivals of Nicklas Backstrom and Michael Nyland...
duxown writes...
I'm back with Season Predictions and Ducks point projections
Posted Tuesday | Comments 0
Your first(in your hearts too I hope) Ducks blogger ever on myhockeybuzz is back. Yes I have predictions, what everyone wants to hear. Yes I will do the East as well, and yes they will all be.....wrong.
Western Conference:
1) Detroit
2) Anaheim
3) Colorado Avalanche
4) San Jose Sharks
5) Vancouver Canucks
6) St. Louis Blues
7) Los Angeles Kings
8) Minnesota Wild
...
Normally I love to rant, but lately I haven't found a topic that has stirred the flames of passion inside me. At least not until now. I want to quickly say whoever brings up the Canucks "Sordid" past succeeds only in showing their ignorance. I write this as an impartial hockey fan(If such a thing is possible).
You can have all the talent in the world, but when you lack...
Well, the first five contests that the Anaheim Ducks have completed churned out a record of 1-3-1. Not what you'd expect from a full forced team like the Ducks considering their depth has not changed much from last year. The fact of the matter is that, well, yes the team has lost out on retaining Dustin Penner, retirement contemplations by Teemu Selanne and Scott Neidermay...
The Rant Man writes...
Response to a Response: Ducks' Cup Hangover Blog Post
Posted Tuesday | Comments 0
This blog post is relevant to everyone in regards to blogging.
I accidently deleted the comment on the post left by duxcup07 on my recent post on my blog covering the issue of whether or not the Ducks will repeat the outcome of the last Stanley Cup Championship team; the Carolina Hurricanes. Duxcup07's comment was a complete retort against my article, and so to respons...
The Rant Man writes...
Response to a Response: Ducks' Cup Hangover Blog Post
Posted Tuesday | Comments 0
This blog post is relevant to everyone in regards to blogging.
I accidently deleted the comment on the post left by duxcup07 on my recent post on my blog covering the issue of whether or not the Ducks will repeat the outcome of the last Stanley Cup Championship team; the Carolina Hurricanes. Duxcup07's comment was a complete retort against my article, and so to respons...
Hey pens fans,
Tonight, the Pens took on the Canadiens at the Mellon Arena. They lost to Montreal 3-2. During the game, there were times where the Pens looked magnificant and there were times when they could not complete a pass if their lives depended on it. It was an up and down night. Unfortunetly, the Pens did not pull this one out on top.
The Pens' goals were...
...i understand that certain flyers players have been taking liberties with your canadian teams' players. but lets not fly off the handle this time around like with the downie incident.
campbell needs to address this just like he did downie and give him the 20 game 'benchmark' suspension. but just remember, when chris neil, ryan malone or darcy tucker take to dropping ...
Every once in a while you see a photo and you think...man, I have seen that person before. When you put the face with the other photo and you get that lightbulb moment...you have "Separated at Birth?"
For example....let's start with Wade Belak, since everything is his fault anyway.
[img:left]http://s228.photobucket.com/albums/ee162/JHRIV/th_1300.jpg[/img][img]http:/...
Every once in a while you see a photo and you think...man, I have seen that person before. When you put the face with the other photo and you get that lightbulb moment...you have "Separated at Birth?"
For example....let's start with Wade Belak, since everything is his fault anyway.
[img:left]http://s228.photobucket.com/albums/ee162/JHRIV/th_1300.jpg[/img][img]http:/...
Every once in a while you see a photo and you think...man, I have seen that person before. When you put the face with the other photo and you get that lightbulb moment...you have "Separated at Birth?"
For example....let's start with Wade Belak, since everything is his fault anyway.
[img:left]http://s228.photobucket.com/albums/ee162/JHRIV/th_1300.jpg[/img][img]http:/...
Every once in a while you see a photo and you think...man, I have seen that person before. When you put the face with the other photo and you get that lightbulb moment...you have "Separated at Birth?"
For example....let's start with Wade Belak, since everything is his fault anyway.
[img:left]http://s228.photobucket.com/albums/ee162/JHRIV/th_1300.jpg[/img][img]http:/...
Another blog in a series of blogs that focus on the game outside of scores and reviews, here's one that deals with band wagons and jumping ship...
There are purists out there (mostly Leaf and Hab fans) that believe you root for one team your whole life - win or lose, whiners or not - they are YOUR team. I do believe that once you are grown up enough to make a tough deci...
What made the person or persons who own the Philadelphia and New York franchises to name their teams the Flyers and Rangers respectively? What possesses you to call your team the Lightning or the Canadiens?
Let's start with the some original six teams, some that still might have some meaning.
[b]The Montreal Canadiens:[/b] Canadiens represented the nationality of th...
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An Eduoard Newsy Lalonde C55 1910-11 Imperial Tobacco hockey card, graded 3 out of 10, has sold for $100K tying the record for the most paid for a hockey card. In April 2007 the record was set by a C56 1911-12 Georges Vezina rookie card graded in mint condition.
You can read about the Vezina Card Sale at:
[url]http://www.hockeyheadquarters.com/articles/vezina-rc-10...
Hey pens fans,
The Pens fell to Montreal on Saturday, in a shootout. It went to 8 shooter a side, which is a bit insane. Sabourin played well in the shootout. Fleury started the game aand was pulled after allowing the third goal, during the second period. Sykora, Crosby and dWhitney had the Pens 3 goals. After the shootout out the final score was 4-3 Canadiens. The ...
I know it’s still early for any serious evaluations and assessments and for that the Rangers should consider themselves lucky they still have some time to turn things around. However, I’ve decided to give brief evaluations on each of the Rangers players after every ten games throughout the year and track the team’s progress. So here is a brief comment on each playe...
[img]http://boredplanet.com/img/greatpumpkin.jpg[/img]
[b]The Great Pumpkin, Gary Bettman[/b]
A Thumb-in-Mouth Commentary
B.D. Gallof
Dear Great Pumpkin,
I am looking forward to your arrival on Halloween night. I hope you will bring me lots of presents. For it is another season of hockey. Despite the NHL's pigeonhole into the depths of Comcast's outhou...
While it's early in the season to declare any game a must win I am going out on a limb and saying that tonight’s game against the Canucks is a must win. The Preds have got to win this game, if for no other reason, to prove to themselves and others that they can win on the road.
As a Preds fan you know how bad it is. 0-5 on the road...can't buy a goal to save ours...
[img]http://boredplanet.com/img/superarbour.jpg[/img]
Legends are hard to come by. Yes we hype the hell out of that flavor of the week/month/year. We heap accolades on them. Especially when a sport has been devoid of that and buzz for years. But they haven't accomplished even a dent to surface of what makes a legend. True legends are those we will talk about d...
The Rangers recorded their fourth straight win by beating the Flyers by a score of 2-0. Last week's "player of the week", Henrik Lundqvist recorded his fourth shutout in 14 games this season and helped the Rangers improve to 7-6-1 on the season. The Rangers completed a six game homestand in which they went 5-1, the only loss coming at the hands of the Maple Leafs. Tommorow...
We have definitely been improving. The Rangers needed this homestand to get a confidence boost.
Here are the offensive stats from the past six games:
Dawes 3g
Prucha 1g (shootout GWG), 2a
Dubinsky 1a
Jagr 2g, 3a
Roszival 1g, 2a
Mara 1a
Shanahan 3g, 3a
Drury 1g, 3a
Staal 1a
Gomez 1g, 2a
Tyutin 2a
Girardi 1a
They've been low scoring games, but my count is...
I'm seeing and hearing a lot about how impressive the Habs have been 14 games into the season, but I need to remind myself that recent history suggests this hot start is not something to get too excited about. Any Habs fan remember last year when leading into (and after) the All Star break the team was below average? Last year is not the only year the Habs have blown a dec...
The Rangers plan and system is again showing postive signs this year. Scotty Gomez is taking his foot off the break and showing why he was the breakdown specialist in NJ. Add a little Sean Avery to the Mix and the teams line combinations are starting to take shape. The Rangers have a nice balance of skill and grit on each line, and steady D-men running the points. With ...
In the summer of 2005, the Gallof boys took a roadtrip to the city of brotherly love. I have been to Philly several times, almost going to college there, but neither of my siblings had ever been there. As we walked the streets on a July 4th weekend, cigars clasped on our maws, looking for a bar with Magic Hat #9 on tap, some local Philadelphian blue-collar man looked at ou...
Remembrance Day just passed up here in Canada and with American Thanksgiving on the way, it made me start thinking of reasons why I am thankful at this time of year, some of which I'd like to share with you all below.
*I am sooooooo thankful of the people who have answered our country's call, both in the past and now, who and continue to defend the lifestyle we lead and...
I went in to last night excited to watch my Habs take on the Leafs and hopefully bring home a victory, which they happily did. As I do not get RDS in my cable package, I hoped and assumed that since this was Habs/Leafs, the game would obviously be aired nationally. Is there really any other game in Canada quite as big as when these two age-old rivals square off? Well, appa...
Have not had much time to this sort of stuff lately, but lets see if I can get in the hang of this again.
For about the 6th game in a row the Buffalo Sabres played a solid game, but the bounces finally went their way as they get a well deserved 4-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens.
Viewpoints:
Best 1st period they have played all season. Guys were flying all ov...
The Isles put together another defensive gem to beat the Rangers in MSG last night, giving Rick DiPietro 100th win, and fittingly versus his nearest competitor, Henrik Lundquist.
[img]http://boredplanet.com/img/100wins.jpg[/img]
"Isles Beat Rangers at MSG". A simple title to a simple win. Not easy. But, somehow automatic for a team that in the last several years, ...
Save for the drubbing against the Hurricanes, DiPietro has kepted his head in the game, and most importantly his butt in the net.
Tonight is sure to bring on a heart stopping match up of the east's most prolific Power Play Team(MON 11-6-3 25pts) and the Team(NYI 11-6-0 22pts) with the 2nd best penalty killing in the east. Lets examine some numbers for the game.
So ...
So here we are, upon a Thanksgiving, with many fans talking turkey about the dreaded post-Ranger malaise, which we now might need an inoculation for instead of the usual Flu shot. You know the drill. Where the Isles come off a big win with a hazy dull outing the very next game.
Now, despite the denials, there will always be a letdown after a big game, but this was the t...
Ok so everyone knows (or I hope knows) that the Leafs traded one of the top prospect goalies of the Juniors to the Boston Bruins for Andrew [u][b]Raycrap[/b][/u] .... sorry Raycroft. Mr. Rask went 7-1 with a 1.98 GAA. I mean honestly you trade a top goaltender 7-1 for peeps sake for a guy who is coming off a pretty good year and a terrible year after that (raycroft).
H...
After going 1-4 to start their 9 game exercise against their Northeast counterparts, the Buffalo Sabres are right back into the thick of things.
You have to love the way they are playing the last 3 games. Scoring first, getting big goals when needed, and a total commitment to solid two-way play has led the team on a 3 game winning streak, all against teams ahead of them...
After beginning the 9 game division 1-4, the Buffalo Sabres climbed over 500 for the streak after a 3-0 shutout of the Montreal Canadiens.
Thomas Vanek continued his dominance of the past couple games, netting his second goal in as many nights. Jaro Spacek and Jochen Hecht had the other goals.
Andrew Peters had his best game as a Sabre. He was all over the ice, playi...
Don't let anyone ever tell you that hockey is just a physical game. It might be a game of snap decisions on the fly in such a fast-paced flow, but any professional player who has found success has mastered or at least, faced, the mental aspects of competition.
None could tell you a better tale of this process than [b]Andy Hilbert[/b] who hit so many posts, despite his t...
Earlier this week I was able to get in touch with Hamilton Bulldogs forward Ajay Baines. Ajay played his junior hockey for the Kamloops Blazers, and broke into the AHL in 2000 playing for the Norfolk Admirals. Ajay played for them for 5 and a half seasons, becoming the franchise's all-time leading scorer. He signed a contract with the Hamilton Bulldogs last season, and hel...
Why the NHL won’t expand in Canada?
Canada is the centre of the hockey world. With over 50% of the NHL’s players coming form Canada, we dominate who plays the game, how the game is played but not where the game is played. Everywhere you go in Canada hockey is the #1 sport and we Canadians are more loyal, knowledgeable, and die hard then any country about any sport. ...
Fact: In their previous 3 matchups, the Rangers managed only 4 goals against the rival Islanders. They lost all 3 games.
Fact: In their two meetings this season. the Rangers got 1 goals against Martin Gerber and the Ottawa Senators. They lost both.
Fact: The Rangers offense was last in the league in goals scored. There were more than a few rumblings about the sleepin...
Okay...just finished watching this on DVR and all I can say is wow! Down 4-1 with less than ten minutes to play and the Preds come back to win in 5-4 in a shootout! Don't have a ton of time right now but some quick thoughts...
[b]Work finally paid off for Jed Ortmeyer[/b]. Not only did he have a ton of chances tonight but he has been playing hard all year for us. I have...
The Watcher writes...
Kovalev : Understanding the Russian Enigma (Part I)
Posted Monday | Comments 0
Many players came to the hockey-crazed city of Montreal over the years hoping to win over a crowd who breaths hockey. To say the task is difficult would be an understatement. The Canadians fans love their team and it’s players with passion. As with every relationship that fuel on passion and love, hate is a big part of the equation. Bombarded with the opinion and ana...
Hockey Canada is currently waiting for final word from the remaining two NHL teams with Junior eligible players, on whether or not those players will be released to represent Canada at the WJHC. Those two teams are the Edmonton Oilers (Sam Gagner) and the St. Louis Blues (David Perron). Minnesota (James Sheppard), Boston (Milan Lucic), Pittsburgh (Jordan Staal) and Chica...
Well it is cold here in Buffalo, but things will be heating up this afternoon in San Jose as the Sharks host the Stars in an afternoon game. The Sharks played their best team effort Thursday night against Vancouver, and I expect the Sharks will come out with the same effort and intensity they had Thursday. It should be a good hard fought battle over 2 points between the Pa...
Now I complain about seeing the same division rivals over and over all the time, but I can careless how many times we have to play the Ducks. These are always great games whether San Jose comes out on top or not. Now don't get me wrong the Sharks have been blown out by the Ducks many a times, but it has also gone the other way as well. What I love so much about these games...
It's that time of year again. The WJC is taking place in the Czech Republic and every NHL team wants to know how their prospects are performing in this pressure packed tournament. For the few draft hopefuls that play in the tournament that is typically dominated by 19 year olds, all eyes are on them, and if they play well enough, a high draft choice is in the cards. As ...
The Florida Panthers start 2008 on the road, and that may actually be a blessing especially with their play of late. They blew a glorious opportunity with two home games recently that if they had won would have put them in a tie with Carolina for the division lead, and would have them in the 6th or 7th spot in the eastern conference.
The game against the Canadiens was ...
In my watching of the 2008 World Junior Hockey Championship there has been constant talk of the top two guys for the 2008 Entry Draft in Ottawa. The consensus seems to be that Canadian Steven Stamkos will go #1 and Drew Doughty, a Canadian defender, will go #2. I was quite surprised by this aspect because of the games I have seen Doughty play I have been surprisingly und...
[b]Americans go 1-2-3 in scoring...pretty good...10pts in 4 games for that #12 guy...that's pretty good too. To be fair, vanRiemsdyk had a really good third period-he was strong on the puck and worked hard to get that goal. But I think I heard his name mentioned all of twice in the previous 2 periods. What happened, you might ask?
1 word: Domination!
Canada's defense...
There were really two events last night at the Bell Centre: the classy tribute to the Canadiens-Blackhawks rivalry, and the game between the two clubs.
Have to say I had a few goosebumps seeing a lot of the old greats, and honestly the Habs have been my second favorite team for decades. I was never a great, or a very good, hockey player. But as good as I was, part of it...
As a Ranger fan, I am used to disappointment. We have memories of 1997-2004 that I am still trying to repress, but now in 2008, here is the situation that the Rangers are in:
1.) Inconsistency [the facts]
2.) The blame game [the frustration]
3.) Possible solutions [the realism]
[b]Inconsistency[/b]
The Rangers have had both mini and large streaks, be it the abysma...
mapleleaf92 writes...
If you had control of the Maple Leafs, what would you do?
Posted Friday | Comments 0
Lets try to have a little fun out of this dismal situation. If I had the powers of Richard Peddie and the GM, I would bring big change to this organization.
1. I would have the pleasure of inviting Ferguson into my office, then firing his ass for disgracing what used to be one of the most respected hockey teams in the world. I might yell at him a little bit too.
2. A...
[i]"Control, control. You must learn control!"[/i]
- Yoda
Coach Ted Nolan said words to this effect. As did words come from some players. Keep focused. Don't come home and then come out flat. Be consistent. Be ready. Obviously, they all know what this team sometimes does. Add to this, ,most road-traveled teams tend to come home and stink up the joint. And for the 11,0...
I don't even know if they would be able to keep frozen ice in there, but for the Montreal Canadiens' 100th Anniversary, Olympic Stadium is an ideal venue for a Regular Season game (vs. Toronto, Boston or Ottawa on New Years Day).
If you have unsuccessfully tried countless times to get some Habs tickets, you know how fast this game would sell out. They could do a couple ...
S Kaspar Rollins writes...
Flames Beat Wild - With Habs Assistant GM Watching.
Posted Thursday | Comments 0
The Flames snapped their four-game losing streak with an important 3-2 shootout win over the division-leading Wild. With the win, Calgary is now one point back of the Wild in the Northwest. Truth be told, they should and would be ahead of Minnesota if it weren't for a quick whistle late in the second that wiped out a Kristian Huselius goal. I don't usually criticize refs f...
Has anyone seen Chris Kunitz? Where did the banzai-skating, run everything that moves, open up space for your line mates and fastest player on the ice go? Either the NHL told him to slow down and stop running opponents or someone whispered in his ear and told him he was a finesse-style player and could avoid contact and still be effective. Either way, he is lost and we ...
millertime writes...
Buffalo Doom & Gloom: Leafs-like situation may blow team up
Posted Monday | Comments 0
All the attention of the Hockey World, it seems, is on the Toronto Maple Leafs, but there's now a disaster just two hours southwest.
Someone told me it's the Curse of the Buffalo Bills that has inflicted this team. The moment they stepped on the ice at Ralph Wilson Stadium, they got a heavy dose of "We find ways to lose" injected into their bodies. Now I don't know if...
The core fans are the ones who buy the products, the tickets, show up to games. The perimeter fans, you have to have them, just like you have to have and develop new fans all the time, but you better take care of that core fan first.
This is why the NHL needs to get back to cold weather cities, the Core is in the north, period.
My idea is a migration of teams nort...
The final minute of Washington's loss to Montreal has drawn much debate over the past two days. People (mainly in the Washington camp) are upset that the Canadiens put their top power play unit on the ice in the final minute when they were up 3-0.
This is the National Hockey League, full of professional athletes that are being paid exorbitant amounts of money to play ...
Brock was the next big thing. A huge specimen of a man who was NCAA Wrestling champ and best in the country. He, right after college, signed a big money deal with none other than Vince McMahon's World Wresting Entertainment. He was developed, cultivated, and went up the ranks with a huge push right to the top. Brock was champ. He was physically imposing. He was a hilarious...
The Montreal Canadiens are gelling right now and I see a reason why we should not get a rental player. The first reason is our team is close to 1st in the east so why mess with them. Another we will be giving way to much for rental player such as the likes of Hossa. The only reason to go for a player like that is if we have knowledge that they will sign with us and keep th...
What I want from the Hockey Gods for the trade deadline.......nothing, yes you heard me nothing. Well let me rephrase that nothing in the name of Hossa or Jokinen with their huge price tags of higgins, plekanecs or both. Yes Hossa would be a dream but higgins is young and can be great
Higgins: 6 ft 199 lb for 3 full season (icluding this years on pace for) ...
tyler_31 writes...
Canadian T-Deadline Gameplan: Part I of IV - Calgary Flames
Posted Thursday | Comments 0
With the NHL trade deadline fast approaching, and Canadian hockey fans everywhere stockpiling the beer and getting the work-escape plans ready, I thought that I would analyze each Canadian teams game plan for trade deadline day, highlighting each teams needs, possible trade bait, and what players they could be targeting. Today, I will begin with the Calgary Flames. Friday:...
tyler_31 writes...
Canadian T-Deadline Gameplan: Part II of IV-Edmonton Oilers
Posted Friday | Comments 0
With the NHL trade deadline fast approaching, and Canadian hockey fans everywhere stockpiling the beer and getting the work-escape plans ready, I thought that I would analyze each Canadian teams game plan for trade deadline day, highlighting each teams needs, possible trade bait, and what players they could be targeting. Yesterday, I will did the Calgary Flames (See Archiv...
The most interesting part of the Stars 4-2 win over Anaheim may have been Brett Hull's 1st period interview with Daryl Reaugh. Brett had four interesting points that hint at what his tenure as co-gm will be like. Off of the topic of actual hockey games, Brett praised the work of Jeff Cogen who owner Tom Hicks brought over from the Texas Rangers to be the President of ...
Apparently, if one believes the rumors flying around HB these days, the Hawks are considering dealing RW Martin Havlat, perhaps to the Canadiens.
I believe there could be something to this rumor.
First, though incredibly skilled and one of the best forwards in the game when healthy, at $6 mil. per, Havlat has been a part-time player for the Hawks due to injuries. Fu...
Long time lurker, first time writer.. don't be too harsh..
While many people give Bob Gainey credit for the depth of Habs prospects, I personally believe the seeds were planted during Andre Savard's tenure in Montreal. Feel free to correct me, but this is when I first feel the Habs began the slow re-stocking process.
Feel Free to enjoy this process Leaf Fans...
W...
Actually, there will be "deals" between now and February 26. And there will be red all over some of them, as in Chicago road red.
Look for the Hawks to make some moves beyond the typical "trade Zyuzin, Perreault and a box of tape to Carolina for a conditional late round pick in 2012 and the rights to Wayne van Dorp."
Look for the Hawks to potentially make some big mo...
As the deadline seems to inch closer and closer, I seem to do the same towards Sundin.
He has been a solid player throughout the season, as he has his whole career. Easily the Leafs best player this season. Arguably, the best all-time. He has set both NHL records, as well as franchise records with the Leafs. He has averaged over a point per game throughout hi...
Let's call this one:
Crazy Dale's Deadline Dealin' Madness!!! 6 hours only!!!
According to Bob MacKenzie of TSN, the Blackhawks e-mailed a list of 8 names on their roster to the entire NHL last night, saying that they were entertaining offers. The list:
Khabibulin
Lang
Havlat
Ruutu
Lapointe
Perreault
Zyuzin
Bourque
Now, first, there is no guarantee that ...
Ok, so I worked for the first time in over a decade on deadline day. Fortunately, I had all the deals sent via text message to me, so I didn't miss anything except the normal glass of Jameson's with one cube and a splash of water and being able to sit around all day in my underwear and not have the wife complain.
Anyhow, I am going to offer some thoughts on the trades:...
I'm not a Canadiens fan, far from it, but I have found myself rooting for them more and more over the past few years because they (the management and the players) seem to do hockey the right way, the traditional way, and that's the way I like it.
Ribiero's fake injury against the B's in whatever year that was is long forgotten. And the real Alexei Kovalev (remember when...
This blog is specified between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Pittsburgh Penguins -- two teams that have felt the cold and unfair hand of management stamp down on decisions, exiling the General Managers. It is a [i]proces[/i]s which can end a GM's tenure quite easily. The management sees an opportunity, exploits it whether or not the GM sees fit, and the repercussions always ...
[img:left]http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/img/09-07/0911stars.jpg[/img]When the Dallas Stars took Tobias Stephan 34th overall in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft, they knew what they were getting. At 6'2" 190, Stephan is a tall and skinny young goaltender who plays mainly a stay-at-home butterfly style, with some floppiness to his game. He is currently playing for the ...
Well Ottawa pulled one out last night against a depleted Pittsburg team, and ya know what? it wasnt the prettiest of wins, but ill take it right now! You can immediately see the impact of having Murray back behind the bench as the Sens have a new fire and passion in there game which had been sorely missing, the players finally seem to know there assignments and are out the...
The NY papers are breaking news today that Sean Avery contract talks have been called off ! Are you kidding me? Those of you who still think Sean is the most overrated,worthless,blah blah, in the league can line up and watch you favorite team start bidding the summer. If you still don't think he's good, look at the Rangers record with or without Avery. The deadline mov...
Xias writes...
An introduction post; Top 3 Picks to come out of the East!
Posted Saturday | Comments 0
First, let me take the time to welcome anyone who happens to click on this post and give me a chance to entertain you through my blog. Although the Rangers are my favorite team and I make no attempt to hide that, my aspirations are to be an objective journalist, not a cheerleader, and I hope my writing will reflect that. Any criticism, constructive or otherwise, is both we...
I've seen four MTL games in person this year, 2 at the Bell Centre, one in Toronto and I happened to be in San Jose last week to watch the shoot-out that occured against the Sharks.
Here are a couple of things that come to mind when I watch this team, and even as a Leafs fan I will be objective:
1) Has Campbell given komisarek his jock back? (If you thought that wa...
I will be writing a series of blogs discussing a handful of teams whose expectations were minimal to start the season or even now; within these teams, I believe one will take home the Stanley Cup to their franchise. I am beginning with a team that was doubted from the get-go, the Montreal Canadiens.
After missing the playoffs in the 06/07 campaign, the Habs tweaked some...
Assuming that everyone's win-loss-otL-soL ratio stays the same, I took the time to calculate how many points everyone will have by the end of the season.
[b]Eastern Conference[/b]
NEW JERSEY DEVILS- 102 Points
Montreal Canadiens 100 Points
CAROLINA HURRICANES- 91 Points
Pittsburgh Penguins- 100 Points
Ottawa Senators- 97 Points
New York Rangers- 96 Points
Boston ...
I've been a Habs fan for 20+ years and I can't remember the last time I had goose bumps watching a regular season Montreal Canadiens game.
For those of you that missed it, out of appreciation of what the Habs are doing this year and for overtaking the Devils last night for the Eastern Conference lead, the capacity crowd at the Bell Centre last night gave the home team a...
Ok so I know I'm gonna get a lot of heat for this one. But it should get some reaction from the Blue seats. Axel has been back and forth to Broadway more than "Kristen" . His performances have been erratic and sometime they've been brilliant. Yet one thing is for sure # 27 is free again this summer. OK,Ok, so most of you want to shed salary and go after Brian Campbell...
Observermanager writes...
Quelles sont les chances: un regard sur les deux dernieres
Posted Friday | Comments 0
PS: tous les accents ont du etre enleve pour faciliter la conversion du texte, desole et merci.
Les series eliminatoires approchent a grand pas et le temps des grandes questions sur nos equipes favorites est a nos portes. L heure des predictions est arrivee et c est a ce moment qu il faut regarder l historique de nos equipes pour voir s ils ont le potentiel de se rendr...
And the mountain spoke down to Chris Pronger . . . 8 games. Methinks he got off a bit light, but better than the big fat zero flub they made the first time round. Plus, Isles take on Montreal tonight.
[img]http://www.boredplanet.com/img/BlogBoxHeaderBanner.jpg[/img]
Chris Pronger, according to TSN, you know, the guys where they think grainy footages are non-crim...
With most teams now around the 10-game mark before the playoffs, battles for the top spot are fierce and today's games could see a lot of shifting in the Eastern Conference standings by end of day.
The New Jersey Devils maintained their hold on first place with a 4-2 win against an injury plagued Colorado Avalanche team, in which goalie Martin Brodeur had to be sharp in...
B.D. Gallof writes...
OkposoMania Running Wild as Isles Fall to Montreal Again
Posted Sunday | Comments 0
So after another drubbing upon the Isles, the Official Isles website has 4 stories and features on Kyle Okposo, along with the China story. And nothing about the 3-0 loss to Montreal last night. The game recap is buried. If you watched the game, you watched an ineffectual offense unable to make a dent in Halak, making him look like Hasek. And despite a better effort and go...
In hockey, there used to be one goal....that was to win the Stanley Cup. It didn't matter how much money you made when you won it, it didn't matter how ready for the future the team was, the team's cap situation didn't matter.....no the business aspect stayed out of the history books.
It used to be when a team won the Stanley Cup, the team was engraved forever in hocke...
Well with two games left, the Flyers are in the mix for the playoffs but have not secured a ticket yet. So what are the possibilities for this weekend. Listen I have my degree in Math, but even I won't list all the possibilities. But, here is what I know for sure.
[b]The Good[/b]
After the lost season of 2006-2007 where the Flyers were the worst team in the league, ...
So here it is, the end of a long (or short ;)) 82 game season. If there can be one word attributed to this team throughout the entire course of the year, I think it would be "Surprises". You could, no doubt, tag them with chemistry or hard work, but surprises seems to come to the forefront no matter how you look at the season.
First one should look at the obvious when a...
Western Conference
1. Detroit vs 8. Nashville
Detroit dominated throughout the season, with a rough patch where many of their key defencemen were injured. Nashville made a comeback to clinch the final playoff spot due to clutch goaltending by Dan Ellis. The main concern for both teams will be in the net. Does Hasek have it in him? I say yes.
[b]Winner: Detroit[/b]
2. S...
While I boldly predicted that the Stars would take Game 1, I had no idea they would completely dominate the Ducks. From Dallas' first goal until the final buzzer, the game was a lopsided affair...unworthy of the defending champs. I said Dallas would win the opener in OT and take the series in 6 games, but if the Ducks don't right the ship in Game 2...this could be over s...
McPhee's Mustache writes...
Top 10 Reasons why players with mustaches rule the world
Posted Friday | Comments 0
10- Hair on face = Proof that player has at least one testicule (most likely 2)
9- You can do cool pictures like this one:
8- You become a father figure for young people everywhere like Mike Mcphee was for me
7- You can match your mustache with a mullet to become the ultimate hockey GOD
6- The mustache can cover their your lips, making lip reading impossib...
Well, well, well what do you know? The Ducks CAN stay out of the penalty box and play some consistent pressure hockey when they feel like it. For 40 minutes, anyway.
Anaheim did a fine job in the first two periods of taking the game to Dallas, who ended up on their heels with a 4-0 deficit. Unfortunately, in the third period, the Ducks went back to their bad habits of g...
Well, it's probably the most cliche blog a hockey fan can possibly write, but here are my round two predictions!
[b]Montreal Canadiens vs Philadelphia Flyers[/b]
Both teams are coming off 7 game series, but the Habs have had an extra day off and have home ice advantage. The Flyers will be playing 3 games in 4 nights. The Habs should take games 1 and 2, but I expect t...
John Stevens will go with the exact same line-up for tonight's game 1 in Montreal as he had for Game 7 in Washington...
That means Downie is still in and the defense will remain the same as well (Smith, Modry all the usual suspects)
I am so excited to watch the 2nd round. I have a feeling that the Flyers are playing with house money now. Getting into the playoffs and winning a round was a realistic goal for this squad after last season. The rebuild job left over 1/2 the team with new faces and making the playoffs made it a total success.
Montreal overachieved all year. They were not picked to...
First this is hockey. Calls are made in a split second at real time speed. The penalty on Richards was a clean hit, but the referee was behind Richards, which when seen from that angle, did look like a trip or knee. So that is not what caused the Flyers to lose Game 1. This is no different than the ref losing site of the puck during a goal mouth scramble.
The Canadi...
http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=236048&lid=sublink05&lpos=headlines_main
When did Carbonneau become such an angel? Regardless of the situation when you hit someone from behind even if it's from taunting or anything else its a cowardly act. There is always the next shift that you can legally hit the person. Plus, do you really think the league would actually sus...
[img]http://acdc.com/bin/galImg/siteFiles/35bff89a78.[/img]
I cannot hear those words without thinking of one of the most influential bands to hit the music scene in the mid-1970s and power their way through the mid-1980s with a high voltage mixture of the power vocals of Malcom Young and the screaming guitar intensity of brother, Angus Young. In my mind's eye when I t...
steal_your_faceoff writes...
FLYERS Hold on for 3-2 victory - Game 4 to be a War!
Posted Monday | Comments 0
[img]http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee162/JHRIV/MainImage.jpg?t=1209430739[/img]
EE should suit up because his boys need something. Flyers lead 3-0 end of two. Just amazing how pumped the Bank Building is. It might be the loudest I have heard it - and this is from the VS feed. I am sure it is just deafening in person - JS, #23, EE - please comment on it. The Join...
Great game. Flyers outplayed the Habs for the 45 minutes of the game. Then the penalty on Hatcher gave the Habs life. I thought the call was correct on Hatcher but there should have been on Boullion for hitting Umberger on the knee/thigh with his hip prior to the hit OR fighting with Hatcher after the hit. It should have been 5 on Hatcher and 2 on Boullion.
Once agai...
flyersfan_92 writes...
Since when has it become funny to use Hitler in a Video
Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
I find the Hitler likes the Flyers video to be offensive and ignorant. How can this kind of crap really be out there? The man was a monster who sent millions to thier death and killed millions more in an attempt to rule the world.
Then to use this imagery to portray a hockey teams management and fans. Maybe this is Ok to do in Quebec but i find it offensive and unneces...
The Habs are pressing the PANIC BUTTON - Price on the bench tonight.
[b]Gamesmanship[/b]
Guy Carbonneau is really trying to get into the Flyers heads. After game 2 it was "Timonen deserved to get sucker punched for taunting" and now after game 3 he won't say who is in goal for game 4. I think that this game is really ineffective since the the trade of Huet to Washingt...
[img]http://www.freefoto.com/images/33/15/33_15_69---Fire-Flame-Textures_web.jpg?&k=Fire+%2F+Flame+Textures[/img]
If you can't stand the heat...
[img]http://www.chfans.com/photos/junior/Carey%20Price_camp.jpg[/img]
Carey Price looks like he will start tonight for Les Habitants. Honestly, that is just fine for most Flyers fans, since it appears throughout the first ...
Phigment writes...
Flyers vs Habs - Game 4 - Flyers win - Lead series 3-1
Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
[b]1st Period:[/b]
Panic button pressed by Carbonneau. Going away from Price could be very bad for the Habs. It shows no confidence. What if Halak stinks? Can you go back to Price with confidence?
WTF was that call on Richards? Briere is horsecollared and no call - but a boarding call when the guy doesn't hit the boards? Are you kidding me?? People say there is...
sm623181 writes...
Flyers/Habs Game 4...The Flyers' Power Play is back..
Posted Thursday | Comments 0
...what a game! I must admit after Mike Richards' "boarding" call where the guy didn't even hit the boards...and Kukkonen's penalty for pushing players away from Biron...I was a little bit worried that we were headed down penalty road for a repeat of last game's parade to the penalty box...
The Flyer's killed them off though...and despite their obvious frustration with...
Carbonneau isn't the only person showing no respect to the Flyers. The Capitals, the NHL media, and most fans have downed the way the team plays. The Flyers are a team that will allow you to possess the puck in their end on the perimeter. They will even let you shoot, however when they are on their game, you cannot bring the puck into the slot area without severe punish...
Congratulations to the Montreal Canadiens and their fans. You are among the classiest organizations and fans in all of sports! I love that the fans did not boo its team and gave them the heroic but painful send off they deserved - they left nothing on the ice and played with incredible heart.
[img]http://d.yimg.com/a/p/sp/getty/a8/fullj.7e7e4d0a099996c6174fcdf3f1c083a...
[b]1st Period[/b]
That was a good period. Some random notes.
*Fans are starting to boo Richards now too. They should be booing Umberger! Price made a great save on a 2 on 1 versus Richards.
*Nice tip-in on the Powerplay. Montreal 1-0
*Montreal is playing physically for the first time in the series. They are hitting consistently and taking the puck between the circ...
[code]
[/code] Huet
[code]
[/code] Price
[code]
[/code] Fleury
After the usual gratuitous 2 Habs pp goals donated on bad calls by the refs (seemed like every game this series), the Flyers took the bull by the horns in game 5 and just plain embarassed the #1 top ranked team of the big bad East.
This was a very sweet 6-4 elimination victory against a legacy hockey...
This is an open letter to ask the "loyal" fans of the Montreal Canadiens.
How can you fans be confident with Carey Price proclaimed as the future of this storied franchise? Carey was shaky at best in this series. His lack of confidence was shattered that much more by the decision of Jack Adam's Award finalist Guy Carbonneau, to bench him for the service of Halak in ...
...so the results are in...it's the Flyers vs. the Pens....
...I was pretty thrilled with the Flyers come back last night...very impressive. I think what has been most impressive about these playoffs is the fact that there has been suck a balanced effort for our Flyers. There is only one forward that has played on a regular basis that hasn't scored (Thoresen). Tha...
Olaf Kolzig has called it quits for the Washington Capitals, being that Kolzig did play a few years for Tri-City, and that Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price played for them as well, would the two work good together?
Consider this, Bob Gainey ( general manager for the Habs ) has what one might call an issue with his goal-tenders, Carey Price is the no.1, but Jaroslav...
With the off-season about to start for the Montreal Canadiens, putting rumours aside of course, there are a couple of players that wouldn't bust the bank, but might pay great dividends in the end.
One of those players is 6'5", 225 pound Paul Gaustad of the Buffalo Sabres. First off Gaustad is big, secondly he's a centre that can position himself in front of the net. Gau...
This is a follow up to an early blog this season. I am still waiting to see if any fans are ready to put together the petition to bring back #16. If Sather lets Sean Avery walk, Aves will have no problem getting big market clubs to take him on.
Toronto- The hometown kid can not only replace #16 but put on Tuckers jersey as well. Avery could provide the leafs with...
Canada, remember when you would check your rear-view mirrors and you would see the rest of the world well behind? Well check again because they're not there anymore, I would check beside you in your blind spots because they all caught up.
Canada loves to boast about its superior hockey talent, and historically it has been just that. The NHL over history has been domin...
After watching Sundin accept the Messier Award yesterday,I couldn't help but realize why the Rangers aren't mentioned in the " Mats sweepstakes". They will lose a few vets in Shannahan and possibly Straka. Malik and Mara could walk and the cap will increase. After reaping the rewards of the first award recipient ( Shanny) ,maybe the Rangers should follow up with the seco...
http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/gallery/featured/GAL1139082/1/index.htm?bcnn=yes
enjoy!!!
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
[img]http://boredplanet.com/img/eternalyashin.jpg[/img]
(Our hopes, dreams and our future fortunes are only possible if we forget our past. )
Let me all welcome you to the crossroads. The crossroads of where there is two different paths. One path is some hype and hopes, but likely mediocrity. The other is a tougher road ...
S Kaspar Rollins writes...
Flames Get Cammalleri, Dump Tanguay: Post Draft Thoughts
Posted Saturday | Comments 0
Perhaps I underestimated Darryl Sutter. Minutes after he managed to get a 1st round (AND 2nd round, as I found out later) pick for disgruntled cap eater Alex Tanguay, Gord Miller reported as the Lightning prepared to take Steven Stamkos that there had already been a trade. I assumed he was confirming the Tanguay deal, but no, it was another trade with Calgary at the center...
[img]http://cdn.nhl.com/islanders/images/upload/2008/04/draft2008n.jpg[/img]
[i]Hi to every Habs and hockey fans who are taking time to read this blog! I hope you enjoyed the draft, as much as I enjoyed it! [/i]
Ok, the introduction had been done so, this is the time to talk about serious things. Before the 2008 entry draft, Montreal Canadiens GM Bob Gainey told the ...
You can get banned on here for talking about Eklund's foreskin, weird.
Just a follow up to the last blog, you actually CAN get banned for mentioning Eklund's disgusting foreskin.
To be honest, i'm just reporting the truth, something Eklund fails to ever do. What is wrong with this world, people speak the truth and get banned, while a fat greasy bastard bullshits every single day and get peoples hopes up thinking their favourite hockey tea...
Part 2 of my outlook on the Calgary Flames off-season looking ahead to 08-09...
Sure enough, Daryl Sutter's quiet demeanor leading up to the draft was exactly what I thought it was... he was gearing up for a major deal.
As I pointed out in my pre-draft blog, the Flames are going to be up against the cap in a major way this year and desperately need to shed some sala...
[img]http://img519.imageshack.us/img519/12/blogtd5.png[/img]
[i]Hello everyone, I hope you are enjoying summer, your favorite team's draft picks and the most recent news in the wonderful world of hockey. Enough talk,let's go down into serious business...[/i]
Five days. This is the time remaining before the first of July, the starting moment of free agency signings. Per...
Nobody has discussed this so far, but it seems pretty obvious that with Sundin in doubt, Tucker gone and McCabe on thin ice, the Leafs will be looking for a new captain - very likely from the free agent ranks or a trade.
So with this in mind, I think the Leafs will have a close eye on these players in free agency.
(1) Brendan Shanahan - Might be willing to sign sho...
Today the Flyers have announced the signings of three players: Ossi Vaananen, Glen Metropolit, Nate Currey and Nate Raduns. They also acquired Patrick Hersley and Ned Lukacevic in exchange for Denis Gautheir and a 2nd Round Pick in 2010. Ossi Vaananen, 6'4" 212 lbs, signed a one year deal at $1 million. This signing adds a veteran presence and physical play from the backen...
[u][b]NOUS DEMENAGEONS !!!
http://www.alnh.tk/
Nous voulions un site plus complet que ce simple blog, je vous donne rendez-vous !
http://www.alnh.tk/
[/b][/u]
[i]*Veuillez notez que les mises a jour sont administrer par Marc-Antoine Perrault et Etienne Jolette.[/i]
[i]NB: les accents de fonctionnent pas[/i]
[u][b]Rumeurs[/b][/u]
-Ilya Nikulin est ...
Update: Saturday 07/05/08 --- you can find the interview here: http://www.justagame.ca/audio/Kevin%20Lowe%20Full%20Interview%20July%204.mp3
On local radio in Edmonton this afternoon, Kevin Lowe was interviewed and finally fired back at Brian Burke. The interviewer asked K-Lowe what his thoughts were, on Burke's latest whining over high salaries (Corey Perry) and how Bur...
Marian Hossa has received a thorough drubbing in the Canadian media for signing with the Red Wings. The criticism has been across the continent from Vancouver to Toronto, and from TSN as well. The worst thus far seems to have issued from Damien Cox of the Toronto Star, hammering Hossa for wanting to seek a chamionship ring and " . . . play out of a smelly, crumbling Joe ...
If the Leafs stop adding Free Agents now, they'll carry enough cap space to bring Sundin back - should he decide to play. However, right now he isn't coming. Nobody has discussed this so far, but it seems pretty obvious that with Sundin in doubt, Tucker gone and McCabe on thin ice, the Leafs will be looking for a new captain - very likely from the free agent ranks or a tr...
With the recent signing of UFA Brendan Morrison and Anaheim Ducks at par with the salary cap, something is going to have to give, or rather, someone is going to be shipped out of the "Sunny State". All speculation leads to their blueline, with over 22 million dollars invested, all eyes are pointing to former all star defenseman Mathieu Schneider. Several teams are in need ...
July 8th, 2008
So the dust has setled, money has been thrown around as if it grows on trees, and we inch closer and closer to the 2008-2009 NHL season. It's the time of year when GM's, after months of analysing, scouting, and meticulous planning, get out their cell phones and start wooing agents and their clients to come play for their team. Massive contracts are being ...
[i]Hello everyone, I hope you enjoy each moments of the free agency frenzy, as always, this is a very thrilling and exciting moment for hockey fans.[/i]
Before the free agency period began, Bob Gainey said that he was looking for an impact player, looking at this year UFA bumper crop names like Hossa, Rolston, Huselius, Jagr and Sundin were the possible targets. So the ...
After today's announcement of the resigning of Jaroslav Halak to a 2 year deal worth a reported 1.55 million, the questions and rumors will no doubt begin again. How many games will he play? Will he be traded? Is he happy in his role as number 2? Personally i am a big Halak admirer. You have to respect a player who came in in the last stretch of the 2006-2007 season, in wh...
The Sundin saga is still undecided and only a few teams are still in the race. Detroit and the Rangers are out, due to cap space, Toronto seems to be a little bit erased, only Montreal and Vancouver seems to keep pushing very hard to land Sundin. The Canucks are rumored offering Mats a 2 years/20 millions deal, while the Canadiens offer stand to 2 years/15 to 16 millions.
...
It needs to be said...after all the hype and rumor and silly "connect the dots" conspiracy theories trotted out this Spring to suggest that Brian Burke wants to be the Leafs' next GM...somebody has to say it: "Why Burke?"
Even before Kevin Lowe leveled the boom with suggestions that Burke is more luck than genius, that he Left Dave Nonis with a mess in Vancouver; that ...
I haven't gotten in on the Sundin debate, but I sure do read a lot about it. It's incredible how many theories, rumours and flip-flops we have to endure day to day. But for some reason this guy (meaning me) reads on and on.
Ok, for fun...I'll throw in my best guess...
Sundin will be a Hab.
It's been know within the organization for some time.
Grabovski was rumour...
Patch. Pacman. Max Pac. Whatever you want to call him, Max Pacioretty is the hot topic today as the Habs announced the 19 year old winger has signed a three-year entry level deal (financial terms not disclosed), effectively ending his college career. The move comes as a bit of a surprise-both Pacioretty and director of player recruitment and development Trevor Timmins were...
Two years ago, it was Sheldon Souray blasting shot after shot from his spot on the right point, taking Andrei Markov's passes and forcing teammates and opposition to duck for fear of having their heads ripped off by a piece of rubber flying at 100 mph.
Last year, the thought on everyone's mind was "What will we do without Souray?"..."The power-play is gonna be [i]brutal...
Here's a Swedish newspaper claiming that Sundin has chosen to play for the Vancouver Canucks next year. Could be just a rumour, could be true. Who knows, but fuel to the fire.
[url]http://www.dn.se/DNet/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=672&a=806514&rss=2216[/url]
Google translated page:
According to information provided to DN leaving Mats Sundin Toronto for Vancouver.
Sundin ...
FuzE_gus writes...
Leafs honour Clark and Gilmour, but should they have?
Posted Tuesday | Comments 0
As reported by TSN: "The Toronto Maple Leafs will honour former captains Wendel Clark and Doug Gilmour by raising their numbers to the rafters of the Air Canada Centre this season."
Both were great players without a doubt and both were classy guys as well. However, neither brought a championship to the Leafs, the ultimate model of greatness in any league. If these pla...
Toskala35 writes...
Anaheim's AHL Affiliate Sets up Best Publicity Stunt Ever
Posted Thursday | Comments 0
The [b]Anaheim Ducks[/b] have a new [b]AHL[/b] affiliate, and what better way to bring buzz to the team with a good, ole fashion, publicity stunt. Well the [b]Iowa Chops[/b] have gone above and beyond any publicity stunt seen before... It may seem like I'm going way off topic here, but hold on:
The entire sports world is hanging onto every piece of news in the [b]Brett ...
Anyone else think that the NHL, Executives, Players, and Agents alike use him to deflect the real goings-on in the NHL?
I think so.
His blogs are as reliable as a Ford Pinto, or less reliable. It's like bizarro blogging. Whatever he writes, just believe the opposite and it would stand a much better chance of becoming true.
Sundin going to Montreal or Toronto? well...
Here are 13 why reasons that Mats Sundin should sign with the Habs:
1. Sundin has a Stanley Cup drought of 17 years and the Hab have a drought of 15 years. They are in a position to help each other out.
2. Sundin would put himself to not only win a Stanley Cup, but to win it in the greatest hockey city on earth. When you win a cup in Carolina, you get a ring. When y...
The Montreal Canadiens are coming off of a Cinderella type season, where the so called experts picked them to finish anywhere between 10th and 13th in their conference. Instead, we saw the emergence of Kostitsyn and Plekanec, the resurgence of Alex Kovalev and the Good, the Bad and the Ugly side of Carey Price. The end result was a spectacular surprise first place in the...
In the world of sports, the playoffs are often referred to as the "second season." Hockey fans know that the current season never really ends until the puck is dropped for the first game of the next one. In this sense, one can look at the off-season as the "third season," which has been less exciting than the previous summer for the Anaheim Ducks (having won the greatest...
One more word of thanks to those of you who took the time to read my first post, and special thanks to nephew23 for helping me clean up some "technical difficulties." Anyway, last time I noted that all future posts would be more condensed and follow a general format, so let's get right to it.
The latest signing by the Ducks is of a Norris Trophy winner, but before you ...
Although Canada will win the Gold Medal in 2010 (c'mon take your best shot!!) I thought it would be fun to name the team now and save everyone the wait! Of course you might not agree with my opinion here and I look forward to your input.
Let's start in the back for a change because this could be more muddy than we think. To me, hands down, it's Luongo. BUT he honestly d...
[img]http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j303/EaglesWallpaper/sundinhospital-1.jpg[/img]
[b]My attempt at a comedic view of the Sundin Saga, might as well do something to pass the time, so read this:[/b]
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A Doctor paces the hallway of a transplant ward of a hospital. In his hands, a heart, it shows...
Not much to report concerning the Ducks this past week, or even the league in general, so this entry will focus more on speculation than hard news.
GM Brian Burke joined Wild founding owner Bob Naegele, Jr., former NHL defenseman Phil Housley, and Hall of Famer Ted Lindsay as recipients of this year's Lester Patrick Trophy. The award, named after the former Ranger play...
Well. It's been a long, long offseason so far, but we're still alive, waiting for our Habs patiently. The waiting is painful, and we're all very hasted to see what our favorites are gonna do this year. Well, at least, there are several entertaining questions surrounding "Les Habitants". Will Sundin sign here? How will Tanguay do? Will Laraque have a good impact on the team...
With even less news on the Ducks front over the last seven days than the previous week, we'll start of this entry by taking a look at the recent events surrounding Anaheim's new AHL affiliate, the Iowa... Chops... *ahem*.
The club formerly known as the Stars has done all it can to keep itself in the spotlight since adopting its new moniker, from the unveiling of the tea...
With just about every story not already covered by other outlets exhausted, this week's Duck Puck discusses a question that has been posed all summer long.
How will the Ducks get under the salary cap?
Currently, Anaheim's payroll for the 2008-09 season sits at roughly $59.9 million, or about $3.2 million over the new $56.7 million cap. While this alone seems like a ...
The popular mindset during this offseason is to be skeptical of the moves, or lackthereof, made by Glen Sather and the New York Rangers. The Rangers were a solid team that had made the playoffs for three straight years while maintaining a core of veteran players. When Jaromir Jagr, Martin Straka and Brendan Shanahan did not re-sign with the club for the fourth post-lockout...
With Mats Sundin holding the NHL hostage (how do you say "you have one month or I'll sign Yanic Perreault" in Swedish?), news is still at a crawl, so I thought I'd follow up on last week's entry after taking a quick look at the goings-on in Duck world.
The OC Register continues to be virtually the only outlet reporting on Anaheim hockey during the off-season, as its cov...
I realize that many players, media and especially fans read Hockeybuzz on a daily basis, and I believe this may be the most efficient way to get this message across.
There is a HUGE difference between the fans and the media, and this was evident this week on the airwaves in Montreal. Jean-Charles Lajoie, a radio commentator on CKAC radio in Montreal managed to OUT-TWIT...
I've said it in different ways before, but we're really starting to scrape the bottom of the barrel here, folks. That said, this very brief edition of Duck Puck will focus on which Ducks you may want to add to your fantasy rosters, after a quick news roundup.
As we've finally reached a month in which NHL teams will hit the ice, the annual season previews are being rele...
PuckStoppinDuck writes...
*FINAL UPDATE* Schneider Placed on Waivers, Clears
Posted Tuesday | Comments 0
This is the scene I imagine took place late last night...
[b]Kevin Lowe[/b]: You may be wondering why I called you all over here. Well, as you all know, my *ahem* good buddy Burkie is desperately trying to clear cap space by moving defenseman Mathieu Schneider so that he can sign Teemu Selanne. Well, you all did a great job with Phase 1 one of Operation: Duck Soup by ...
Let's be honest, being the GM of the NHL's most storied franchise during the most monumental season the team has ever prepared must give Bob Gainey fits. The pressure to be a part of this team as management or as a player in a "normal" year is enough to make people fizzle. (see Michael Ryder a la last year) In saying this, The pressure of performing in a hockey hotbed...
What I have to say might sound crazy to some. But I'm going to pick my top nine teams in each conference to make the play offs. Top nine you say? Well considering that each season one of the divisions always appears a bit weaker than the others and nearly or completely blocks out a team with a better record.
Western Confernce:
Detriot- Though I think the road for ...
As reported by Ek and confirmed by the Ducks, Brian Burke has finally found a new home for Mathieu Schneider in "Blueland." The full details of the trade are as follows:
[b]TO ATL:[/b]
D [b]Mathieu Schneider[/b] | Age 39 | Contract: 1 year, $5,625,000
[b]TO ANA:[/b]
D [b]Ken Klee[/b] | Age 37 | Contract: 1 year, $1,250,000
W [b]Brad Larsen[/b] |...
I've been trying to figure out an angle to write about regarding the Philadelphia Flyers recently. All the other blogs have their pre-season predictions, training camp reports, and the "pumped up for the hockey season" blog. Trust me, I could write 15 pages, single-spaced, on how excited I am for hockey to be back - this is the stuff I live for.
But when trying to find ...
So the long awaited move has finally happened . Burke managed to unload Schneider to get his team under the cap. The trade looked liek this :
Anaheim aqcuired: Ken Klee (1.250), Brad Larsen (.560), Chad Painchaud(.100)
Atlanta acquired: Mathieu Schneider (5.625)
Now here comes the question . Who do you think won that trade?
We all know Anaheim's one intetion was ...
Hey Everybody,
This is my first time making an NHL prediction, as I do not really like to throw myself out there, because it is almost a certainty to be wrong. However, I will give it a go this time, and I would like to see what everyone thinks about these picks.
[u]Eastern Conference[/u]
1. Montreal Canadiens
2. Philadelphia Flyers
3. Washington Capitals
4. Ne...
Just a little nostalgia to get you in the mood to enjoy your reading.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjAPoN8qs0Q
Can anyone smell that? I'm talking about the mild aroma that is building in Anaheim. I'm hoping the autumn breezes and winter rains can wash it away and renew a freshness. I'm hoping for spring flowers and a summer Cup. However, this aroma has the potent...
[b]
Well, training camp is over and so is preseason. Cuts and roster moves have been made and really the only question remaining is: Isn't this the same team as last year?? Good question.
There has been a lot of hype (mostly negative) surrounding new, old head coach Tony Granto's decisions regarding his final roster moves. If you hadn't heard already TG sent TJ Hensick...
[b]Northeast Division[/b]
[i]Canadiens[/i]
After a difficult 06-07 that saw the Canadiens barely miss the playoffs, GM Bob Gainey sat and did nothing in the offseason...and he was vilified for it. The Montreal media couldn't understand why Gainey wanted to put his youngsters in positions to make plays. Well it worked, and the Habs grabbed the #1 seed in the East last...
Friday marks the beginning of a new season for the Buffalo Sabres when they face off against the Montreal Canadiens at 7:30pm at the HSBC Arena in Buffalo. The two divisional rivals kick off the 2008-2009 season with a lot of questions open for discussion for both squads after disappointing finishes last year.
The Sabres are attempting to rebound from a season that foun...
Comme chaque annee, le temps est venu pour les experts, pseudo-experts, et amateurs de hockey de predire le classement final qui prevaudra dans la LNH au mois d'avril. J'ai moi aussi mis ma boule de crystal au travail et voici ce que je prévois comme classement de la Conférence Est. J'espere que j'aurai plus de succes que l'an dernier, alors que j'avais reussi à prevoir...
Welcome to the first live blog of the season by yours truly, but certainly not the last. Tonight's edition is brought to you by green grapes and a game unfortunately not in HD due to Time Warner Rochester's general incompetence.
The game starts off with one of my favorite lines Vanek - Roy - Stafford that showed some serious potential when all the participants are healt...
As they say, every cloud has a silver lining. There was a decidedly sullen mood around Devil-land when Brian Rolston went down with a high-ankle sprain and Bobby Holik broke his finger. In two days time, there it went...all the money we spent over the offseason to make us a better team gone, out the window.
But as I said, there is a silver lining to this injury cloud, a...
Well we are nearing the end of the first month of action and lots of stories are emerging. Starting with my Sens---
As reported on TSN today, Gerbers days are numbered under Hartsburg. Auld will get the start friday against the struggling Ducks and if he turns in a performance similiar to his first against Pittsburg, then we as Sens will have beyond a Goalie contreversy...
[b]The Good[/b]
Murray - He was on fire last night. He's really playing hard every night it seems. His shorthanded breakaway, with 2 shot attempts really shows something. (how many guys have we seen skate off into the corner after their 1st shot on the break-away.) Murray, rather, shoots at the rebound, then goes behind the net, steals the puck, and has the presence to pa...
Larry Brooks, of the New York Post is reporting, Brendan Shanahan has apparently told his agent to consider all open offers. Shanahan told his agent he is tired of waiting for a roster spot to open up with the Rangers. It looks like he will probably not be going back to the Rangers then.
Shanahan has always been considered an offensive threat, but as he has aged he has ...
Lets start with the most overdrawn annoying story in hockey.
Sundin-- I keep repeating I don't care what happens with this except i hope he doesnt want to play in Ottawa.
And while I'm going to probably take flack for this, Montreal isn't a possible destination, Gainey said he has no interest in Sundin at this point and with how good Montreal is doing it'd be retard...
Lets start with the most overdrawn annoying story in hockey.
Sundin-- I keep repeating I don't care what happens with this except i hope he doesnt want to play in Ottawa.
And while I'm going to probably take flack for this, Montreal isn't a possible destination, Gainey said he has no interest in Sundin at this point and with how good Montreal is doing it'd be retard...
Lets start with the most overdrawn annoying story in hockey.
Sundin-- I keep repeating I don't care what happens with this except i hope he doesnt want to play in Ottawa.
And while I'm going to probably take flack for this, Montreal isn't a possible destination, Gainey said he has no interest in Sundin at this point and with how good Montreal is doing it'd be retard...
BURKE LEAVES DUCKS?!?
Yes it has happened. As reported by TSN and Ek, Ducks GM Brian Burke has indeed left his job after indicating that he was not looking to seek an extension with the team. Assistant GM Bob Murray will take over the reigns and much deservingly so. Murray has been around different organizations in different roles. He has had previous GM experience with...
With “100” emblazoned across every conceivable item of memorabilia lest the ice at the Bell Center there is undeniable pomp and pride being wagered at the Canadiens centennial and why not. With North American sports so often criticized for their lack of heritage a storied and historic franchise like the Montreal Canadiens with their wealth of traditions can do nothing ...
From http://capsstop.blogspot.com
The NHL All Star Game has turned into a joke. This coming year the game will be played in Montreal. The Canadians and their fans are celebrating their centennial and the NHL felt it only right to reward them with the game during such a historic season. The only problem with the whole game is the process for who will start.
Less than ...
I guess a lot of fans in Montreal now miss Mark Streit after his departure via free agency to Long Island.
Montreal had last year’s number one power play in the NHL, but they are now sitting 26th with a poor 14.6% success rate, while the Islanders power play has improved slightly from 29th to 25th overall. Streit has 12 points (he would be the Habs' 5th scorer) in 18 ...
steal_your_faceoff writes...
Global Markets Down - NHL "Stock" Soaring Into the Black
Posted Friday | Comments 0
[b]Global Markets Down[/b]
[img]http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee162/JHRIV/primerate1.jpg?t=1227324887[/img]
I'm sure you've read the papers and heard the nightly news. On Wall Street, the Dow hits it lowest levels in 5 1/2 years. On Main Street, U.S. jobless claims hit a 16 year high. From the Great Wall to the Champs d'Elysee, global recession fears send Asi...
[b]
First of all, I want to give a shout out to the other Avs bloggers on this site - you're all doing a great job, writing nearly every game. It's nice to see some more support than we had last year.
As previously mentioned, it's not real easy for me to get blogs out as I'm currently in South Korea teaching ESL to bratty little children...anyways...it's nice to be bac...
I was looking at the All-Star game voting and have decided that Habs fans need to stop breaking the vote... I know you guys (and gals) are showing your team spirit, but you are ruining any enjoyment other fans can get from watching the All-Star game... the All-Star team carries 12 forwards, 6 defensemen and 3 goalies... that means 21 players... having six guys from the Can...
Brian Burke.
Surprise, eh?
Everyone knew it would be coming for about a week now, and now what to expect? I was never a fan of Brian Burke. I think his draft record stinks, I hate that he supposedly does not like Europeans, and I think he doesn’t know how to manage the cap. But that’s just my worthless opinion ;)
A look at his draft record could tell us exact...
After watching the second-place team in my Yahoo fantasy pool catch up to within mere points of my team ( "erby's Dance Party" ), I've widened it back to a 50-point lead (1202 to 1152). Not bad.
Looks like Semin is in for the long-haul (his injury, I mean), but given the fact that it still isn't being reported as anything "too serious," there's no way I'm dropping him....
Guillaume Latendresse will likely be a healthy scratch tonight when the Canadiens face the New York Rangers at the Bell Centre. Latendresse was also a healthy scratched in Tuesday's contest against the Atlanta Thrashers.
It was not the first time that Latendresse was not dressed when healthy by Guy Carbonneau, but it's the first time #84 appeared confused in front of th...
Well, some of you will argue with me that I'm homer right now when I say that Bob Gainey is tonight the happiest GM in the NHL - see the happiest man in the world -. Well, every single decision taken by Gainey so far have paid a lot for the Montreal Canadiens.
There are seveeral parts in a GM's job. But Mr. Gainey has managed his team masterfully in every single way in ...
Nothing else to really say about this game, so I'll put it into classic bullet point form.
The good:
Ossi Vaananen had a very strong game tonight. Made the initial save on what turned out to be the Devils first goal. This dude just doesn't make mistakes. Reminds me of a bigger Petr Svoboda. He never gets noticed, just does his job and does it well.
Good game also ...
I know its been a few days since Sean Avery's mouth did a drive-by on the topic of his "sloppy seconds" but I think its good to examine whether he is of good to this league or not. Its a relevant idea considering some analysts have made the bold prediction that Avery will not see NHL ice again.
I definitely am not out here to defend him. His words were utterly disrespec...
Slasher98 writes...
Time for D'Agostini to get an apartment in Montreal
Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
[img:right]http://cache2.asset-cache.net/xc/83938865.jpg?v=1&c=NewsMaker&k=2&d=17A4AD9FDB9CF193003A50471BAAE0D5F0B6D46DD7BFFC0B8F198085993A39DE[/img]
After playing 20 games with the Hamilton Bulldogs of the AHL, during which he recorded 14 goals and 11 assists for 25 points, forward Matt D'Agostini was recalled by the Montreal Canadiens on November 28th.
After watching...
Here we are, December 10th. Four months have elapsed since the first deadline of August 1st set by the Sundin camp, and we still await his decision. According to a tremendous number of media outlets, as well as Eklund himself, it appears as if the time has truly come upon us where Sundin will finally make his decision and join a team. I understand I could go many different...
Coming out a phenomenal 2006-2007 hockey season, during which the Anahim Lake, B.C., native won the gold at the IIHF World Junior (U20) Ice Hockey Championship in Sweden (he was named the Tournament MVP) and the Calder Cup with the Hamilton Bulldogs (he was named playoffs MVP), expectations were very high at the beginning of last season in Montreal.
The 6-3, 212 lbs, bu...
As expected, the injured Dana Tyrell has been replaced with the WHL's Evander Kane, and Team Canada prepares for their second exhibition game tonight against Team Finland.
Evander Kane of the Vancouver Giants was a surprise cut from the team last week; fast forward to now and he’s where he rightfully belongs. The 2009 draft eligible forward is playing a comfortable se...
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v34/leafs4ever89/hockeycanada2.jpg[/IMG]
It's their final exhibition matchup of the pre-tournament and Canada looks to apply the same pressure they've produced in their first two meetings. Sunday night's game against Finland showed that this team can in fact change on the fly, and I'm not talking about the lines.
Canada's game a...
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v34/leafs4ever89/hockeycanada2.jpg[/IMG]
The school break for Kindergarteners to University students; holiday vacation time for the employed; Christmas celebrations; and finally, the start of the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships. December never feels the same without it.
I've always appreciated the NHL. As a hockey fanatic...
Happy Holidays to all of my fellow HockeyHeads out there...
I Wish the best to all into the New Year which, for the NHL, begins at the corner of Clark and Addison for the 2nd Annual Winter Classic--which seems like an oxymoron, but I digress. In a very short time, the W.C. has unquestionably become one of the too few highlights for the NHL (regular season) that really ...
Sens have been playing fairly well so far, which is a nice change. The same reaccuring theme has been rearing its ugly head already, Spezza looks lazy and the defense isn't playing well despite the low shots total.
Alot of penalties in the first period. Both teams are playing very aggresive, Gonna get ugly.
And as usual Ottawa's play has caught up with them, 3-2 Calg...
1. 14 Goal scorers after the first 2 games.
2. Jamie Benn's hat trick.
3. John Tavares with 2 goals and 2 assists.
4. Canada ties all-time highest shutout goal total with 15.
5. Jamie Benn's unbelievably unselfish assist on Tyler Ennis' PP goal.
6. Ryan Ellis playing an incredible point shot position.
7. Chris DiDomenico's hands and cycling skills.
8. Goaltending is...
Reunited for yesterday's match-up against the Florida Panthers, the Kostitsyn brothers, Andrei and Sergei, sparked the Habs' offense to a close 6-5 OT win over Peter DeBoer's team.
Lining up on a line with veteran Robert Land, the "Mullet line" produced three of the Canadiens' goals. Lang finished the afternoon with one goal and one assist (+2), while Andrei notched two...
I must tread lightly when speaking on this subject, but, what I offer is only my opinion. Count it for what you will, as it is based on my experiences, as they relate to hockey and to life. The reasons not in any particular order;
1. Politics, it may seem stupid and completely unrelated but it is what it is. The United States have disobeyed treaties (Nafta) , putting ma...
With Brendan Shanahan signing a 1-year $800,000 deal, of which he will receive $400,000 for playing the second half of the season, Shanahan has officially become a member of the team that drafted him over twenty years ago, the New Jersey Devils. Throughout the first half of the season, the Devils have had four solid lines, even when their lineup was plagued with injuries t...
Or so Mr. Campbell claimed when quoted by TSN. "We've all got obligations to the fans, the rights holders -- this game is being televised around the world."
Well, exactly how many people in the large USA hockey market of greater Detroit will be watching any of the All-Star festivities now with no Wings on the roster? Hope the rights holders and sponsors appreciate the n...
With the tedium of the All Star break thankfully behind us for another year, two counting the Olympics, we can now get back to the business of meaningful hockey with all the gusto that is associated with the regular season run in. Heading into the NHL’s maligned showcase weekend, one of this decade’s most memorable mid season pile ups was materializing in the Western C...
Huge huge huge huge huge awesome win for the Sabres. No, they didn't play outstanding, but their ability to get through the 1st period, score a couple goals in the 2nd, and hold on to the win in the 3rd against a division rival? Good enough for me at this point.
Yes, I think Canadiens really outplayed the Sabres. They seemed to have better control of the puck and wer...
I sat amongst a circle of friends last night, one of which was a Leaf fan. We were enjoying good conversation and the Leaf fan wanted to break from form and peek at the Leaf game on TV. To be honest, I had no interest in doing so but obliged him for a few moments. Then a typical Leaf/Hab jab moment ensued with him reminding me of last Saturday's drubbing of the Habs by ...
Slasher98 writes...
Time to Fire Guy Carbonneau: Montreal Canadiens Sinking Fast
Posted Thursday | Comments 0
[img]http://cdn1.sbnation.com/imported_assets/106873/75061_feature.jpg[/img]
After the Canadiens' fourth consecutive loss against the Oilers yesterday, it is clear that the Canadiens players don't want to play for their coach anymore. They have lost nine of their past 11 games, during which they scored only 25 goals (2.27 GF per game) and surrendered an astounding 48 goal...
Sunday night’s blowout 8-4 loss to Atlanta could somehow be the best thing that happens to Anaheim this season. Every team has stinkers throughout the course of their season, but this one stings the most. After beating Calgary two games in a row and being at home against one of the worst teams in the NHL, it seemed to be time for the Ducks to finally string together a 3-...
Sunday night’s blowout 8-4 loss to Atlanta could somehow be the best thing that happens to Anaheim this season. Every team has stinkers throughout the course of their season, but this one stings the most. After beating Calgary two games in a row and being at home against one of the worst teams in the NHL, it seemed to be time for the Ducks to finally string together a ...
terpstradust writes...
Strange Hockey Facts, Hockey History, Hockey Day in Canada
Posted Saturday | Comments 0
Alright I thought that with Hockey Day in Canada coming up I would do a piece on it and dive into the origins of the game we all love. I also got an idea from my fiancee to put a list of strange facts about the game at the end of this article, so any thanks for that piece go to her.
Now we can debate all day as to where our national passtime began, like whether it was i...
With less than one year until the 2010 Winter Olympics take place in beautiful Vancouver BC, I thought it would be interesting to discuss and debate the possible players that could dawn the Maple leaf for the hometown/country squad.
It's been often said that Canada could ice two very competitve teams and this may be true, but what would be the best mix in your opinion ...
[IMG]http://g.imagehost.org/0469/blog1.jpg[/IMG]
Salut salut,
Premièrement, je voudrais souligner que je suis un grand fan de HockeyBuzz. Je fréquente le site depuis longtemps et je le considère comme une excellente source d'information sur le hockey.
Je suis, comme vous l'avez surement deviné, partisan du CH. Je suis loin d'être un expert, mais j'ai une op...
With both teams fighting for home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs, the Canadiens square off against the Flyers tonight at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia. The Canadiens will line up against a Flyers offense that has been scoring at will as of late, and who will only get stronger with the long awaited return of Daniel Briere. Briere will look to seamles...
steal_your_faceoff writes...
The Final Countdown & Beasts to Leasts in the East
Posted Tuesday | Comments 0
[b][i]It's the final countdown...[/i][/b]
[img]http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p26/n0mem0ry/timebomb.jpg[/img]
You can almost hear the screaming lyrics from the 1980s, Swedish glam rock, [b]Mega-group[/b], [i][b]Europe[/b][/i] (??)
[u]OK...retraction [/u]
How about the one hit wonder group, [i]Europe[/i].(better?)
[img]http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/e...
Miller who?
Of course, I say that facetiously. Ryan Miller is the key to the Sabres hopes if they can pull it together to get into the playoffs.
But who would have expected Patrick Lalime to step up the way he has in Miller's absence?
He's done exactly what you want from your backup goaltender - step in and give your team a chance to win every single night he pla...
Takhar7 writes...
Gainey gives Carbonneau the boot! + van Ryn out for season.
Posted Monday | Comments 0
A good friend of mine, a die-hard Habs fan and a habitual pain in my rear when the Leafs and Canadien play each other in their mammoth hockey clashes, uttered words of shock and horror just moments after he had found out about the Montreal Canadiens firing Carbonneau.
If you haven't heard - Guy Carbonneau has been fired by the Montreal Canadiens, with Bob Gainey taking ...
The Thrashers have had some shotty goaltending in the early half of the regular season with people doubting the teams goalies. Then Atlanta's main man Kari was sidelined with back issues and then came another question. Could the man known as "Moose" get, and keep this team on track? Well, after a month of continous pressure on the veteran, he ended up with a record that mo...
We have all heard NHL bloggers, announcers, beat writers, and fans refer to the omni-present "HOCKEY GODS". These unseen forces, that protect the integrity and well being of the game as we know it, have been offended! Thats Right fellow Hockey Fans, the same City (Montreal) and its fans, who in the past paid homage to the HOCKEY GODS have sinned against the Gods in 2008-20...
At a certain point you have to get sick and tired of people harping on Carey Price. The only reason that everyone gets down on him is that he was made out to be the next great thing. This year the kid will be 22 years of age, and still has ton of potential and could have a great career in the NHL. This is unless our brilliant fans run him out of the building first. ...
[b][quote]Right now the Rangers have a 54.3% chance of making the playoffs.
If the Rangers win that changes to 73.7%.
If the Rangers lose that changes to 33.8%[/quote][/b]
[i]-SportsClubStats.com[/i]
Important is the wrong word. Important is back in March when you are hovering around sixth place. Once you get to April and you are tied for the final playoff spot, it i...
[b]Remaining Schedules[/b]
[u]Boston[/u]
Doesn't matter they are #1
[u]Washington[/u]
TB- Win
Panthers - Loss
[b]108 points[/b]
[u]NJD[/u]
Sens - Win
Canes - Loss
[b]104 points[/b]
[u]PHI[/u]
NYR - OT Loss
NYI - Win
NYR - Win
[b]102 points[/b]
[u]CAR[/u]
Buff - Loss (trap game)
NJD - Win
[b]99 points[/b]
[u]Pitt[/u]
NYI - Win
Montreal - ...
Sparked by a readers comments, about who would the Avs be shopping for this offseason when it comes to management, I became intrigued at the opportunity to investigate.
Current GM Francois Giguere has had one of the worst starts a GM could have when handed an elite franchise, like the Avs were post lockout. Unlike our rival RedWings, the Avs have not been fans of the ca...
The season has ended for the Thrashers, with most fans going home dissapointed once again. Some things did improve, but a lot more things stayed broken and I'm here to help good ol' DW out. I'm going to go through the three positions (forward, defense, goalie) and review them, with some other little tid bits as well. So hang on for the ride as this is the first ever Thra...
FLAMESTR writes...
Observations of the week as Normal An Apology to Amercians
Posted Tuesday | Comments 0
There is only one thing on my mind. Well, two, but both basically stem from the same problem. I really kind of hoped that violence in the League would have at least cooled down for the playoffs. Well, to my disgust, there have been three major incidents, and probably could have been more.
The three major incidents that I am talking about during the playoffs are the ...
Looking back on the Centennial season, the first emotions that come to mind are disappointment and frustration.
Did the Canadiens overachieve last year? Probably. Did they underachieve this year? Not in my opinion, if you consider the facts and the obstacles the 2008-09 Canadiens had to face all season long.
First of all, the team's President, Pierre Boivin, has n...
ThrashFanatic writes...
Kovy Not Only Thrasher Impressing In Russia - Championship ?
Posted Saturday | Comments 0
Once 8 years of pass after drafting a player and still not seeing him play in any of the teams affiliates, the player slips off your radar and never usually gets back on. It's different with a kid named Ilya Nikulin. He has had never shown up on the stats side of things like most defenseman so I had never cared to follow him or his Russian teams but today I followed his ...
I don't know why, but it seems like in every playoff game this year I've seen at least one goal called off because the referee was not in position to make the call or seen a team called offsides by a line judge trying to catch up or who got in the way of a clearing attempt.
Tonight it was Detroit's Marian Hossa who scored the game-tying-goal with just over a minute left...
BryanM writes...
League Needs to Assert Itself Now or Lose Control Forever
Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
Versus showed the aftermath of the Detroit Red Wings-Anaheim Ducks Game 6 during the first intermission of tonight's game 7 between Pittsburgh and Washington. After watching it I can't help but think that the NHL has lost control of these playoffs. Maybe it's just because they have two of the dirtiest teams in the league playing each other, or maybe it's because Colin Camb...
Laplante writes...
Bob Gainey on how to pull off a perfect Kansas City Shuffle
Posted Monday | Comments 0
''Its a blindfold kick back type of a game
Called the Kansas City Shuffle
Whereas you look left and they fall right
Into the Kansas City Shuffle
Its a they-think you-think you don't know
Type of Kansas City hustle
Where you take your time
Wait your turn
And hang them up, and out to dry''
It was just last night that I was watching the movie [i]Lucky Number Slevin...
Just wondering through written word, what my beloved hockey team will look like next season. With their reluctance to ever sign impact UFA's from other teams over the summer and their hesitation to tender contracts to their own UFA's thus far I dont see a marked improvement on last season. Unless some speculated signings are actually executed, this is not going to be a pre...
While he would never admit it, Ontario native Nazem Kadri must of felt a twinge of anger at how the biggest day in his life panned out. Treated like a high steak pawn at the 2009 draft where the dreams he worked so hard to achieve were to be realized, Kadri watched as a bitter Brian Burke failed to secure the vaunted trade northwards, then faced the ignominy of TSN analyst...
Word is just coming in; Scott Gomez's time on Manhattan is at an end. Gomez was dealt today to the Montreal Canadiens with F Tom Pyatt and D Michael Busto in exchange for RFA Forward Chris Higgins and D Ryan McDonagh and D Pavel Valentenko. The Canadiens were known to be actively looking for a #1 Center and after exploring trade options for Vinny Lecavalier, appear to have...
What a difference a day makes, eh? Wow. I am still not really sure how I feel about all of the moves that Bob Gainey made over the last 48 hours. To be honest, I'm not sure what I expected Gainey to do. I guess if there's one thing I've learned over Gainey's tenure, its that you should always expect the unexpected!
Gainey seems to have a knack of zigging when you ...
Is that a knife in my back, or are you just happy to leave me? And by me, I mean us...and by us I mean Habs fans.
As much as the loss of Komisarek from the Canadiens lineup is hard to swallow, the way in which it was done makes it all the more painful. Now that the details are coming out, it is looking like Komisarek went to Toronto for a measley 2.5 million more than...
This is the second in a series of NHL Off-Season Progress Reports. Today I look at the Northeast Division and assign grades based on what has already been done and what still needs to be done. Of course there is still plenty of time for teams to plug holes so I’ll analyze what still needs to be done and how much cap room the team has left to fill those holes.
Boston
...
sbtricky writes...
Ohh Canada - Early Predictions for Canada's '10 Olympic Team
Posted Sunday | Comments 0
The "list" has been released, and save for a few surprise (and glaring!) omissions, most of the list is what any Canadian hockey fan expected to see. Sidney Crosby, Vinny Lecavalier, Chris Pronger, Roberto Luongo - just to name a few of the expected "locks" for the team. How will the rest of the team shape up after a disappointing 7th place showing in Turin, Italy?
Her...
Montreal trades Christopher Higgins, Ryan McDonagh, Pavel Valentenko & Doug Janik to New York for Scott Gomez, Tom Pyatt and Mike Busto.
Montreal landed their long sought-after #1 Centre on Tuesday, but it wasn't the Flying Frenchman that everyone expected. GM Bob Gainey felt the price was too high for Vincent Lecavalier and instead settled for an overpaid, underac...
Spacepawn writes...
Habs RFAs and UFAs Forwards Are Worth Less - Part 1 of 2
Posted Monday | Comments 0
The Montreal Canadiens had the most players to re-sign or seek out this 2009 off-season. Might be a new NHL record to add to the list of Habs records. The team's GM, Bob Gainey, at the time of the NHL Draft, had 11 players signed and $33 million of cap space remaining. While some teams will be opting for minimum cap this coming season, Montreal will remain a contender for ...
Spacepawn writes...
Habs RFAs and UFAs Forwards Are Worth Less - Part 2 of 2
Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
This is part 2 and final of a two-piece article writing about the value of Montreal Canadiens UFAs and RFAs from the 2008-09 season.
In part 1, I covered the big name Habs UFAs and compared them to the new recruits. In short, the value of the UFAs were on average lower than that of the new signings. And as the new signings are more or less all younger (exception is Ale...
Alright, time to get some frustrations of mine off my mind.
I've been browsing around the Canadiens' facebook groups recently, and I've been noticing people bashing #84.
The arguments about him is that he has not improved in three NHL seasons thus far. Um, last time I checked he was 22 years old, with size and plenty of upside. Give the guy time. Patience seems to b...
hockeyfan89 writes...
Canadiens get face lift , but still not looking that great
Posted Thursday | Comments 0
Well the dust has settled , and the once cloudy future of the Montreal Canadiens has become a bit clearer. With the clarity though comes a none to welcome sight . The Montreal Canadiens , after years of conservative spending , have for once spent to much .
With the handing out of several large contracts, the most notable being the 5 year 25 million dollar contract to G...
When we look at the projected Islanders line-up for next season, we are able to notice two things: several important overall changes and several gaping holes that still remain. Obviously the addition of John Tavares will be a pleasant change to an offensively starved lineup, as long as he can transcend his OHL scoring abilities to the NHL level. Besides his marketability, ...
Blog #3, maybe this one will actually appear on ‘myhockeybuzz’ or on Eric Engals’ page!
Basically, I am here to continue my unfortunate stream of pessamistic emails, and to tell you exactly why I believe that the Montreal Canadiens will not win a cup in the next five years, and why exactly I hated the Gomez trade.
First of all though, I will say that I liked th...
gou23 writes...
Eastern Conference Standings for 2010 Who's Up, Who's Down
Posted Saturday | Comments 0
Eastern Conference final stadings from last year
1 -Boston 116
2 -Washington 108
3 -New Jersey 106
4 -Pittsburgh 99
5 -Philadelphia 99
6 -Carolina 97
7 -NY Rangers 95
8 -Montreal 93
9 Florida 93
10 Buffalo 91
11 Ottawa 83
12 Toronto 81
13 Atlanta 76
14 Tampa Bay 66
15 NY Islanders 61
This year we should see a few teams flip flop with some new...
Kamal Panesar writes...
A Farewell to Kings - Goodbye Koivu and thank you....
Posted Monday | Comments 0
The Saku Koivu era, in Montreal, is officially over. Sadly, he went out with a whimper and not a roar. Left unsigned and not tendered an offer by the only organization that he had ever played for, Koivu had no choice but to ride off into the sunset. Not by his choosing, of course, as Saku would still be a part of the Montreal Canadiens organization if it was up to him.
...
Hey guys! Just wondering what you guys would think about bringing back Brendan Shanahan. Maybe 1 year 1 million. Tell me what you think.
http://islesnet.blogspot.com
As you can tell, it has been quite the confusing day or two for Islanders fans in terms of the Alex Tanguay race. As of yesterday morning, there were about ten different opinions floating around the hockey blogosphere as to which teams were still in contact with Tanguay and his agent. I figured it would be an appropriate time to organize the...
FLAMESTR writes...
Weekly notes ( Flames, Oilers, Habs, Hawks, Leafs,Panthers)
Posted Thursday | Comments 0
[b]Edmonton Oilers
[/b]
To much of my disapproval, the Oilers did not get Hossa , nor has Heatley consented to becoming an Oiler. Which really surprises me, because I really thought that one of those two players would have become an Oiler. The Oilers did pick a solid goalie, though, in Khabby. It was really refreshing to hear a player wanting to go there. The Oilers real...
I think it's safe to say this is the most drab time of year in hockey world. A time when news is scarce, the free agent frenzy has been reduced to leftovers, and the only thing to do is count down the days until training camp starts. Scarce news doesn't necessarily mean there's nothing to talk about because I'm sure you can point out something about each team that's be wor...
It's clear that the Canadiens have made MAJOR changes to their roster this summer, but as always, one question still seems to rattle my brain; do we finally have a team that can actually "play" with the Leafs?
Don't get me wrong, like every "Montrealer" I am a die-hard Habs fan, but year after year, I find myself coming home from the arena or the bar (or even just upsta...
Would anyone have expected the then-Mighty Ducks of Anaheim to be perennial elites of the league when the expansion franchise was granted in 1993?
Their uniforms were atrocious. Their lineup was laughable. They owed their existence to a campy Disney movie.
Hardly the makings of a champion franchise.
Even the Kariya-Rucchin-Selanne line, easily among the best forw...
On draft day I was one of many thinking Burke would move up in the draft. To grab JT or Brayden Schenn. I was dissapointed to see the Kings draft Brayden. So the leafs selected Nazem Kadri at which point I cursed in disgust. But the more and more I look at it, the better it seems. Kadri was only cut from the world junior team last year because of a broken jaw. Even though ...
As I live in Saskatoon SK, where the camp is bieng held I will be watching the Red and White scrimmage and providing thoughts and analysis Sunday night. Stay Tuned
Kenny
For the first time since the PPG line of 2006-2007, the Ducks have legitimate secondary scoring.
The signing of Saku Koivu and the shipping of Chris Pronger to Philadelphia for Joffrey Lupul (and Luca Sbisa + Draft picks) accomplishes something that has been sorely lacking in Anaheim since Edmonton snatched Dustin Penner with a huge offer sheet and Andy McDonald was shi...
Repoted done
While conducting research for the Statistical Analysis in the NHL blog which was posted in July, I became acutely interested in the potential of this “science” as it pertains to player evaluation. Statistical Analysis is now fairly prevalent in the baseball world as a number of General Managers either have backgrounds in the field and/or have started departments within...
I just read an article, on tsn.ca, about Carey Price and I have to say that it put a smile on my face. There is nothing that makes me happier than to see/hear a professional athlete take his lumps like a man, and by reading this article, that is exactly what Carey did! Here take a look for yourselves:
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=286872
Without getting into all ...
I've always thought about blogging. Then I thought, who could really care about my inane thoughts about hockey...or anything else for that matter. Really, aren't bloggers just enthusiasts without press credentials? Perhaps. I do know that I visit this site several times each day. What I've come to realize about bloggers is that, although they may not have access to the...
174 games in the NHL. 23 points. 110 PIM.
Hardly the statistics you'd see on an all-star player - but that's what Joe DiPenta is: a locker-room all-star.
The 6'2" 202 pound defender - who won a Cup with Anaheim in 2007 - is still fondly remembered in Anaheim not for his presence on the ice, but off it. Even after leaving the Ducks, he continued to do charity work for...
Quick update. I am told the scouts are experimenting with Nazem Kadri centering Brandon Kozun and Taylor Hall. A line they believe will put pucks in the net.
I finally had a chance to watch practice and the Red vs. White Game today. Practice was just some drills and the players shooting on the goalies. Matt Duchene's stick skills are some of the best I've seen.
The Games
Final Scroe: 5 to 3 for the Red Team
Shawn Lalonde scored twice in 43 seconds late in the second period to turn a 3-2 deficit into a 4-3 advantage as Red ...
2006-07: This was Kadri's rookie season with the Kitchener Rangers (OHL). In 62 games, the center recorded 22 points (7g+15a), adding another two assists in nine playoff games.
2007-08: Kadri improved on his numbers from last season, netting 25 goals and another 40 assists in 68 games with Kitchener (OHL). He excelled in the postseason as well, recording 26 points (9g+1...
One thing's for certain when it comes to assembling Team Canada for the upcoming Olympics. Steve Yzerman has his work cut out for him when it comes to making the cuts at the center position. Canada is so stacked at this position, that they could leave their top 8 centers at home and still have 4 of the best players remaining at that position. In fact, of the 25 forwards...
Today was a pretty crazy day for me. At about 2 o'clock my cell phone was going off the hook with text messages about my favorite hockey player, Simon Gagne. These texts lasted for about 2 hours.
The first text I got told me Simon had hurt himself at the first day of Canada Camp. As more texts came the story began to further itself that he had hurt his groin. This then ...
You know, if anyone had any doubt how hockey crazy the City of Calgary was, they need not wonder any more after tonight’s scrimmage by Team Canada Red vs. White. The atmosphere was outstanding. You could not hear anything at the beginning, it was electric. A 10 year old Miss Pederson sang the national anthem in both languages. It was pure magic even before the game sta...
I realize its only August and the Olympics are still 6 months away, but after watching the Red/White Canada scrimmage last night I have to admit I am very excited about the upcoming season.
A few takes on the scrimmage itself - please be aware I watched it over the internet, so the quality wasnt the greatest and the screen size was small and with no play-by-play it was...
As a self-proclaimed advocate of Statistical Analysis and its potential in the world of hockey I must now defend the practice after a recent blog authored by former Minnesota Wild Assistant GM Tom Lynn was published on The Hockey News on August 28th. For those of you who may be interested in reading the whole post, here is the link: http://thehockeynews.com/articles/27659-...
One question that looms over the Canada hockey right now is, Who will be the Captain in Vancouver? Who will lead the Canadians to Gold? Or better yet, who CAN lead them to the gold?
Let’s look at the list of suitable candidates.
Jarome Iginla: Iginla represented Canada at the last two Olympic games in Turin and Salt Lake City. He wore an “A” in Turin and was in...
I am a US hockey fan, and I can not state emphatically enough that there is NO reason to "Make it Seven".
It should be MAKE IT TEN
Southern markets in the United States, despite some very vocal and passionate fans, are largely failures. The two teams in the state of Florida have had their successes, but have been in terrible financial straits and have seen far more d...
I am not here to rehash this game but I will say that it was a shame to have them tie in the final minute and then loose in a shoot out.
Person I blame the guy behind me who with 2 minutes left starts yelling "No Shoot out". Game was not even tied at that point.
Good Signs for a Saturday game with this one being my favorite then the rest....
http://www.flickr.c...
WarHero writes...
Andrei Kostitsyn: Can a 3rd period benching really help?
Posted Monday | Comments 0
I never mentioned this last night but during the 3rd period of the game last night Andrei Kostitsyn didn't play one freaking shift!
Fans to Jacques: WTF are you doing? Trying to ruin the kid?
If Habs management think that benching a player who actually has the ability to score a clutch goal is the right way to motivate him then they better start re-thinking their gam...
What started out as a great game ended in a frustrating shootout loss that left a stale taste. It doesnt help that the Flyers have to wait almost a full week before their next game. Here are my game notes:
[b] First Period [/b]
Good overall period by the Orange and Black as they lead 1-0 off another power play goal by Mike Richards. It is his 6th of this young season a...
First off, sorry for taking so much time to start writing again, I had Swine Flu and im obviously still alive :)
1. Will the Leafs make the playoffs?
2.Will the Canadiens make a trade?
3.How many shut-outs will Pascal Leclaire get?
4.Does Vancouver beat out Calgary for the NW title?
5.Will the Flames make it past the first round if they make the playoffs?
6.Should ...
First off, sorry for taking so much time to start writing again, I had Swine Flu and im obviously still alive :)
1. Will the Leafs make the playoffs?
2.Will the Canadiens make a trade?
3.How many shut-outs will Pascal Leclaire get?
4.Does Vancouver beat out Calgary for the NW title?
5.Will the Flames make it past the first round if they make the playoffs?
6.Should ...
Here's a new look:
Canadian franchises are in danger, not because they aren't drawing enough crowds or making enough money. No, Canadian franchises are in danger because the game as a whole is struggling.
When 80% of the league is based in either a non-hockey market (boy have we heard that phrase a lot this summer) or in a struggling economy (sorry neighbors to the s...
First off, another good win for the Habs tonight. Nice to see Hamrlik getting to goal on OT. He's been really stepping it up since Markov's injury.
I apologize for the lack of live game blogs lately and should be back for the next game against the Pens on Wednesday! Prediction: Price get the start.
So ... 11 games down and the Habs are 6-5-0 (12 pts) after winning 4 ...
WarHero writes...
Game Day - 07/11/09: Mtl - vs - Tbl - Let the Battle Begin!
Posted Saturday | Comments 0
The Habs are fresh off their first road win since October 3rd, a shootout over the Boston Bruins, thanks to some brilliant goal tending from Carey Price while the Lighting are fresh off an overtime loss to the Ottawa Senators. Montreal has had trouble finding the net recently due to a sever lack of secondary scoring while Steven Stamkos just keeps filling it. Add in the re...
This was not a typical 1-0 win, it was exciting with end to end action, great goaltending, hard hits and great action all night long. This was not a Jacques Lemaire 1-0 Minnesota Wild game, even though the Habs retro sweater looked like a Wild sweater, this was a very entertaining game to watch.
Jerome Iginla scored yet another game winning goal, his 9th of the season. ...
Much has been made about Bob Gainey's changes this off-season. From optimistic to apocalyptic predictions about the team, it's all fairly inconsequential until game 82. But who are the Montreal Canadiens?
Currently holding an 8-10-0 record, having played as many or more games than any other team in the East we sit in a pretty dissapointing 11th place, and as much as I l...
As our Montreal Canadiens get ready to take on the Washington Capitals, in Washington, there are some interesting rumblings that are percolating in the city this Friday morning. Aside from the fact that Montreal will be getting reinforcements in the form of Ryan O'Byrne (yay!) and George Laraque (who cares) back for tonight's game, I am starting to hear a lot of people men...
Cape Breton Bruins writes...
A look at MY picks for Team Canada-Part 1-Centers
Posted Sunday | Comments 0
With the NHL season finally underway, and with the chrisp winter air starting to decend on much of Canada(Snow in Alberta, Yikes), we are now only three months away from what promises to be the most memorable olympic games in the history of this country since pro's became eligible to participate in the hockey tournament starting at the Nagano games in 1998.
Everybody re...
Today as I was browsing ESPN.com's NHL rumors, I stumbled upon a shocker. The NHL is considering adding another franchise in Canada.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said at a Reuter's forum, "The fact is we're not seeking to relocate any franchises and as a result expansion would be the way to satisfy that interest. But in this economic climate, I'm not exactly comfortabl...
Line 1
LW-Rick Nash C- Sidney Crosby RW- "A" Jarome Iginla
Line 2
LW- Dany Heatly C- Joe Thorton RW- Ryan Getzlaf
Line 3
LW- Jeff Carter C- Mike Richards RW- "A" Shane Doan
Line 4
LW- Corey Perry C- Mi...
Jean Charest, Premier of Quebec, said this week that after talking with Gary Bettman, he is confident NHL hockey will return to Quebec City. “It is going to happen,” said the Premier, citing plans to build a new arena to lure the NHL back to Quebec’s capital city.
Cela est une grande idée Jean. But here’s why it ain’t gonna happen.
1. Population of Quebec ...
Thirty-five games into the season, more games played than any other team, the Montreal Canadiens find themselves a mere 2 points out of 29th spot overall. That’s more than enough reason to think this team is not a Stanley Cup contender. And in this modern NHL salary cap era that’s enough reason to rebuild for next season.
A common, successful strategy to rebuild is...
Wow, it's been a loooooooong time since I last had the time to sit down and write one of these. Unfortunately it will be extremely brief...
For a lot of hockey fans, Boxing Day through the New Year holiday is considered sacred, especially for Canadians. It's the most magical time of year when the best of the best from around the world come together to fight for World Ju...
This evening, I was blessed to watch a dandy of a hockey game between the rivaling nations, USA and Canada. Right from the outset, the Canadian atmosphere combined with the on-ice action itself made the last junior game of the decade easily the game of the tournament. This game was even better than the New Year's thriller last year. Both teams clearly expressed the desi...
So today is going to be an interesting game for Canada against the Swiss for a couple reasons. There's a positive and a negative side to playing Switzerland again. Let's start with the negatives.
The Canadians like to make pretty plays and a lot of individual efforts to get the puck into the offensive zone. They do dump it in, but on many occasions try to carry it in. U...
Canada looks great this year, the U.S. team looks fantastic as well, I'm really looking forward to the game tomorrow! Led by Derek Stepan ( N.Y. Rangers) the U.S. has more than a few weapons to worry about, I love their speed and finally seeing creativity out of the U.S. program.
To be a World Champion you have to be in a sport that the world participates in and beat o...
So today's the big day. Record break...or heartbreak.
New Years Eve was a game where many Canadian fans were close to the same nervous feelings as last year against Russia...maybe not quite as dramatic, since elimination wasn't on the line...but still a very important match.
When Canada and the USA met on New Years Eve it was like hitting a brick wall for the Canadia...
Going into tonight's game against the American's there were a few things that Canada HAD to do...
1) Effective PP
2) Little to no individual free wheeling plays
3) Solid goaltending
Let's recap shall we...
1) Canada was 1 for 3 tonight...which isn't really that bad..however against a team where special teams WILL make a difference, they needed. Of course the 1 p...
While the US's John Carlson may be saying his OT winner was a 'lucky shot', the fact that the US team left Saskatoon with the gold around their necks had very little to do with luck. As we saw in the New Years Eve tilt, Canada had little answer for both the American's speed, giving up numerous odd man rushes throughout the game, and their superior defensive ability. All ni...
Matt Reed recaps the World Juniors and discusses a few things we may have learned and have yet to learn...
http://www.TheReedReview.com/Blogs.php
Everyone has been doing their analysis on team Canada so I decided to do one also. Now that the world juniors is over, congratulations to the USA for winning, all international hockey eyes focuses on the Olympics. Here are my line ups would be and I doubt the fourth line would be used as if playing NHL game where they only used for 5 minutes they would get their fair s...
icedog97 writes...
Olympic Peace Summit...Penguins and Flyers Fans Unite?
Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
Let's face it...Penguins and Flyers fans love TWO things...
1) Their respective teams...
and
2) to dislike, dare I say hate, the OTHER team/team's fans
But in February, both sides will be put into an akward position as the 2010 Olympics open.
Both teams fans, of mostly US origin, will have (most likely) their favorite players on the roster for Team Canada - Mike...
Everybody is quick to jump all over Gainey for the habs misfortunes. I for one, am guilty of this homerness.
Lets take a look at what he has done:
2003 (the beginning of the Kovalev era), Bob Gainey takes over the GM position from Andre Savard.
Bob Gainey acquires Alexai Kovalev for Josef Balej and a 2nd round pick at the trade deadline.
I don't have to retell ...
What a frustrating game last night.
As I mentioned in my last post, the Bruins are severely undermanned (not in quantity, but quality) and will need to be extremely opportunistic in order to win games. The inconsistency in the lines and the minor league call-ups on defense mean that the Bruins will invariably give up more opportunities than they generate, and when those...
I'll be honest, I've never really been one to look at the nhl numbers closely, but this season is different. We have Tomas Plekanec who is an upcoming UFA, and we have very little cap room to re-sign him. Word around the water cooler is that he'll be looking for 4.5-6 Million for 5 years. Problem with that is with all the money being freed up in the offseason, the habs are...
Kamal Panesar writes...
Montreal-Washington: Habs Win Wild One Over Caps in OT
Posted Thursday | Comments 0
Well, hello! Dr. Jekyll, I presume?
And so the zig-when-you-expect-them-to-zag Canadiens defeated the mighty, streaking Washington Capitals last night, 6-5 in overtime. True to the form that we have gotten used to, the Habs kept their fans guessing by doing the opposite of what the majority expect. Perhaps that is our own fault and we should just learn to expect the une...
Sayros writes...
3 Maple Leafs in Top 10 Scoring that aren't in the Olympics
Posted Friday | Comments 0
As of tonight, there are three Canadians in the top 10 in NHL scoring that will not be heading to Vancouver for the Olympics. Here's how your top 10 breaks down by Nationality:1 Russian, 2 Swedes, 6 Canadians, 1 Slovak. Of the 6 Canadians in the top 10, Brad Richards, Steven Stamkos and Martin St. Louis are not currently Olympians. To begin with, I find it interesting that...
The Olympics may have officially begun competition on Saturday, but it's today that for most of Canada the games really start.
HOCKEY!!!!!!!!
What more could you ask for than to see the best players in the world compete. I know some people that have actually said "I don't see the difference between this and the World Championship, it happens every year". To those peo...
Canadian fans everywhere rejoiced tonight as Jarome Iginla led Team Canada past Team Norway in the opener of 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic games. Iginla, who officially scored 2 goals (most thought he tipped in another), found his way to the top line with Sidney Crosby and Rick Nash after starting the game on the third line with Morrow and Toews. Not that Morrow and Toews ...
Kamal Panesar writes...
Men's Olympic Hockey: Team Canada, Team Russia, Team USA
Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
After all of the anticipation and the months, if not years, of waiting, we got to watch some Men's Olympic Hockey yesterday, and what a treat it was!
The three games on the menu showcased three Olympic hockey contenders: Team USA, Team Russia, and Team Canada.
No disrespect intended to any of the other teams out there, but there are only a few medal hopefuls in this...
Kamal Panesar writes...
Men's Olympic Hockey: Canada Exorcises Demons v. Swiss
Posted Friday | Comments 0
In defeating Team Switzerland 3-2 in a shootout, yesterday, Canada pulled one out of the fire.
While early on, the game looked like it was going to be a repeat of Team Canada's 8-0 thumping of Team Norway only two days earlier, things changed quickly for the hometown heroes.
Making the score 2-0 only 35 seconds into the second on goals by Heatley and Marleau the Can...
who do you think will come out on top in today's game?I feel that USA will come away with a victory,Or at least im hoping they win. They are a team with a lot of hard workers and heart and soul players.They are the underdogs here which might make them work a little harder especially since it team Canada were playing here.If they do win, it definatley won't be an easy one. ...
Kamal Panesar writes...
Olympic Hockey: Anticipation Peaks on Super Sunday
Posted Sunday | Comments 0
Can you feel it? Can you taste it? That palpable anticipation and excitement that is building in Vancouver and is echoing across the hockey world?
It’s growing. And with each minute that passes the anticipation will continue to build on one of the biggest, most important days in international hockey history.
With five hours before the puck drops on what is being c...
This game could be the most important game of the tournament for Team Canada. A Win and they're into the Quarter Finals. A loss and who knows what could happen.
If Canada and the US go to OT/Shootout and Canada win they'll be tied with points, but Canada has a higher goal differential than the US so they would be placed in 1st. If Canada loses in any scenario disaster c...
I've been saying to people all along that the USA is going to be a much tougher team than anyone was giving them credit for.
With the loss today Team Canada has a VERY tough road ahead of them. Germany may not be a tough opponent to have to get past, but after that it's an unreal Russian squad. But before we get into that, let's analyze the ton of things wrong I found w...
Lets just start off by saying "WHOOOOOAAAAA".That was one of the most intense games i have ever seen. One of the best games i ever seen ,An to come out on top makes it even better.The Rangers players Ryan Callahan and Chris Drury who tallied a goal played awesome real good style of defensive hockey blocking shot and finishing checks. Then you have Brain Rafalski had Two bi...
As I sat down with anxiousness prior to the game, I hoped that USA would pull out an upset, much like they did 30 years ago against the Soviets. However, I did know that despite all the hype around Canada's team, I knew there was a weakness. An all-star roster, is just that.
I watched a GREAT game. I emphasis that despite the fact that I was pulling for the US. It was b...
[b]Pronger and Niedermayer or Phanuef and Bouwmeester?[/b]
I'm not going to say I know more than Yzerman about hockey but I saw the Olympics in 2006 and what I saw was that some of the older guys were losing us the game. Pronger especially was a pylon, later finding out he was injured doesn't make it better. I thought if you want a player that can be gritty and hit then...
This is my first HockeyBuzz blog. I couldn't sit quiet anymore.
Marty out, Roberto in please hockey Canada.
I love Martin Brodeur. What honest hockey fan doesn't admire the guy for everything he has meant to the game for the past two decades? Great Job Marty!
But you had a bad game last night.
If they give you another chance, is it possible you turn it around and b...
Kamal Panesar writes...
Ryan Miller Shines, Team USA wins 5-3 over Team Canada
Posted Monday | Comments 0
Thirty years minus a day from the anniversary of the US's 'Miracle on Ice', the 2010 edition of Team USA did their country proud and honored that memory with a 5-3 win over the hometown Canadians.
With three spectacular games on 'Super Sunday', the crown jewel of the day was the Canada-USA match scheduled in the 7:30 PM EST primetime slot. With Russia already having def...
Did I just jump into the Delorian and go back to the year 2006?
The Canadian Men’s Hockey team lost early in the tournament. They are having trouble scoring goals. They will now have to go through Russia to get to the Semi Finals? Turin sure is lovely this time of year.
The Canadians are in a bit of a pickle.
What is the problem you ask? Well, they must now win...
Coming into tonight's game against the Germans, there was little doubt that Canada wouldn't come out flying. I said after the USA game that they would come out like they had something to prove. They'd play hard, play well, and keep up the pressure. And they did exactly that.
Right off the bat Canada was outshooting the Germans 9-0. If there was any doubt of a shattered ...
I purposely did not put an "equals" sign at the end of that equation for two reasons. One - I was never good at math and definitely do not plan on solving it or using any algorithm's where I can substitute numbers to come up with an answer; Two - because the end result is yet to be determined, and although DP and KO are not part of this year's winter Olympics, I still hope...
Kamal Panesar writes...
Men's Olympic Hockey: Team Canada Spanks Germany 8-2, Russia
Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
Like a cat sharpening its claws before the hunt, Canada warmed up on the Germans yesterday in preparation for today's monstrously huge quarterfinal game versus Russia.
In handily defeating the German team 8-2, Canada qualified for the medal round. In doing so, they generated a little more cohesion on the ice.
While Monday morning saw Team Canada as a nation in the th...
Postgame Recap Quaterfinals
Wow what a day of hockey and what a day for results. Im still stunned on how this day went with every game.I was surprised that Switz gave USA a run for there money, even though we came through with the Win. I still can't get over the Russia vs Canada game who would have thought Canada was going to make it a blowout. I don't think anyone coul...
Just like the title says. Another game coming on Friday against another team.
Last night was definitely something NOBODY saw coming. Before the Canada game with Russia I said it was going to be a close game and predicted a 5-4 Canada win...I wasn't alone in thinking it would be close. Most analysts agreed, however it turned out to not even be a contest.
I knew for sure Canada would come out strong on the puck and forecheck hard, but I never imagi...
Kamal Panesar writes...
Men's Olympic Hockey: Team Canada Steamrolls Team Russia 7-3
Posted Thursday | Comments 0
Yesterday's quarterfinal matchup between Canada and Russia had a lot of hype surrounding it. And why not?
Canada versus Russia, where Canada has not beaten the Russians in Olympic competition for 50 years.
Sidney Crosby versus Alex Ovechkin, where the two best players in the world collide after their monumental playoff clash last year.
Canada versus Russia, where ...
POSTGAME ANALYSIS:
USA vs Finland
Well i can't say i could have called the game to be like that(A Blowout).But i can say i called the game.USA just showed the world that they not only deserve to be in Gold Medal game,But that they are ready to take it. The game got out of hand real fast with 6 goals in the first period.Forcing Finland to change there Goalie with 4 goa...
Gold Medal Finals:USA VS CAN
This is the match up of the Century.We all were routing against Canada in the last mins of Slovakia game, But deep in our heart we all wanted to see this match up. I believe this going to be a great game, No blowout . There are Great goalies that will be playing(Miller,Loungo).There is going to be alot of Defense i feel more than the first g...
Reminiscent of Salt Lake City in 2002, the final event of the winter games came down to the US and Canada. In the end, Canada won. I just heard on TV that this win may be considered the best moment in Canadian sports history. I strongly disagree. This Canadian team may have been very good, but not the best in these Olympic games.
On paper, Canada had the best team. They...
I've always been disinterested with the Summer/Winter Olympics, (excluding Men's hockey) as I'm sure many people are. To me it just always seemed kind of lame (for lack of a better word). While I always respected the tremendous athletes that show up to these events, I've never found it to be anything but outdated......until 2010.
What with all the commercials we've see...
I originally planned to post a general post-gold-medal game, pre-deadline blog this afternoon. However, though I expected an epic game, I had no idea just how epic. I genuinely was not expecting Sidney Crosby and Jarome Iginla to give Canada a truly generational hockey moment.
The goal will be discussed for years; it instantly joined the pantheon of legendary moments i...
I'd like to point out, because the focus has obviously been on the win, that the U.S. played an amazing game and have solidified themselves as a major hockey power, I know they were disappointed but I hope they don't hang their heads too low. They won with dignity and they lost the medal game with dignity, I think all Americans can be incredibly proud of their team.
>>>...
Kamal Panesar writes...
Destiny on Ice Fulfilled, as Team Canada Wins 3-2 over USA
Posted Monday | Comments 0
As I sit here sipping my third glass of wine and watching Sidney Crosby skate around the ice surface of GM Place waving an oversized Canadian flag from a pole, I am reminded of how proud I am to be Canadian.
The emotion that surrounded Canada's dramatic overtime win today was palpable over the course of the weekend.
Every person I talked to, every store I went into a...
I know this is a little late but after a game like the Canada-USA game, I had to compose myself before writing about it.
Going into the game one of biggest questions was "who can score first". Throughout the tournament leading up to the final game 26 or the 29 teams to score first won. In any hockey game the first goal is always important, but in this tournament it was ...
Kamal Panesar writes...
Montreal-Los Angeles: Habs Strong Play Delivers Win v. Kings
Posted Sunday | Comments 0
The Olympic break seems to have done a lot of good for the Montreal Canadiens.
Not only did they get their walking wounded back from injuries -- with the exception of Michael Cammalleri and Marc-Andre Bergeron -- but they seem invigorated for the stretch run.
Despite losing to the Sharks the other night the Habs played some great hockey against one of the league's po...
HerbyIsGood writes...
Sabres steal win with ingenious rope-a-dope technique.
Posted Thursday | Comments 0
The Montreal Canadiens came out with guns a blazing tonight, unfortunately for them NHL games are 60 minutes long. The Sabres didn't look too bad in the first, but had trouble getting pucks to the net. Montreal on the other hand scored just 41 seconds into the game, as Kostitsyn managed to flick the puck over Miller's right pad off of a pass from Plekanec.
The Sabre...
The OttoMan writes...
Historical Novels/Essays/Testimonies- 1972 Summit Series
Posted Thursday | Comments 0
I'm looking to do a 2000+ word Historical Investigation on the 1972 Summit Series and its influence on Canadian Nationalism/The Cold War. Does anyone know of any good novels or essays or any historical information on the Summit Series? Interviews especially welcome. I know the basics but I wasn't alive at the time, so I need some first hand information.
Also: If anyone ...
HockeyGalMke writes...
Montreal wins game seven to eliminate Washington...wait, WHAT?
Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
Did I really just see Montreal eliminate Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals from the Stanley Cup playoffs?
I'm going to be quite honest with you. I pride myself on knowing a thing or two about pro hockey, and I like to think I have a knack for filling out brackets (not that my NCAA bracket this year would reflect that statement...), but I did NOT see this coming...
The Canadiens have completed an improbable (some might have said a week ago that it was "impossible" ) comeback from down 3-1 to defeat the Washington Capitals 4 games to 3.
In so many ways, it really was a case of David slaying Goliath.
To defeat a powerful offensive club like the Capitals takes a lot of hard work and determination.
To do it with a team that is m...
The 2009-10 Montreal Canadiens...Masters of Deception?
For several games during these playoffs, against the Capitals and now at least once against the Penguins, the Canadiens have shown a...dare I say "magic"?...that is tough to deny.
It goes something like this...
Let the other team get the majority of the shots and scoring chances...we'll just wait and capitaliz...
I was going to call this blog..."Just Not As Good As Last Year" when describing what I thought of the Penguins after last night's 4-3 loss in Game 6 to the Canadiens.
But then I looked back over the first two rounds from last year again...and realized that sometimes our minds play tricks on us.
We remember watching the raising of the Cup in Detroit...and then we kind...
What defines a Cinderella team when it comes to the NHL playoffs?
I would have to say that the team finished the regular season in either 6th, 7th or 8th place and managed to come on top with multiple upset victories in the playoffs, pushing the franchise to the Stanley Cup Finals. In recent years, fans have seen the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oi...
People will point to the downfall of the Penguins against the Canadiens and site numerous different reasons for the failure.
Halak stole the show
Fleury didn't step up
Cammaleri could not be contained
Crosby and Malkin couldn't score
The Habs took advantage of Penguin mistakes
The Penguins couldn't take advantage of the Canadien's mistakes
The Habs defense stifled...
lonerogue writes...
Canada has no team in the NHL, not even the Canadiens
Posted Thursday | Comments 0
By Aaron Wrotkowski
With the Conferences Finals for the Stanley Cup set to begin on Sunday, it seems that NHL viewers have been captivated by the Cinderella run of the Montreal Canadiens. Defeating the President’s Trophy winner and the defending Stanley Cup champions with a game strategy that seemed to put most of the pressure on a hot goaltender and well instructed ...
The Philadelphia Flyers are going to be the toughest opponents that the Montreal Canadiens have faced thus far in this year’s playoffs. That’s not only because Peter Laviolette’s 2010 squad is somewhat reminiscent of the old school Broad Street Bullies, but because they are a team that wins by out-working their opponents and doesn’t rely on raw talents like Ovechki...
Being a Habs fan, I can certainly understand why many of you are outraged at this trade. I, on the other hand am not. In fact, my respect for Pierre Gauthier just went up another notch for the kahonies he displayed by making this trade.
I will agree that Halak was fantastic in the playoffs but I will not agree that he was the only reason the Habs made it to the 3rd roun...
I've never posted an online blog but here it goes. In 700 word or less, I will try to give you my input on the Jaroslav Halak saga.
So what do I think about this whole ordeal? Well there are many things that have to be taken into consideration. Am I happy Halak was traded even though we stilled owned his rights? With most other teams I would’ve said no but as he had e...
Well, it's been a little over a week since Mr. Gauthier sent our Slovakian playoff wonderboy out of La Belle Province and off to St. Louis for... Lars Eller (He's danish...yummy) and Ian Shultz (No not the D-man who was a +50 for the Caps, that was his brother) and consequently sending the city into an outrage while rekindling that old nickname our GM was crowned with in A...
WarHero writes...
Habs trade up for 22nd pick, take D-Man, Jarred Tinordi!
Posted Saturday | Comments 0
Folks, The Habs Brass has impressed me yet again!
Montreal GM Pierre Gauthier saw an opportunity to move up in the draft and jumped on it! The Habs traded 1st(27) and 2nd rounds picks to Phoenix for 1st(22) and 4th round picks, all 2010.
According to various sources, the player Vancouver was waiting for was in fact, Jarred Tinordi. I can only assume that Gauthier c...
Yesterday Los Angeles wrapped up its 2010 NHL entry draft with a fizzle, as quickly as it came teams from around the league wheeled and dealed for picks and players after that big question was finally answered. Who comes first? Seguin or Hall? Though both the Edmonton Oilers and Boston Bruins got great players as it was almost a toss-up, other teams had to rely on a bit ...
Well folks, the 2010/2011 Habs are starting to take shape.
On Monday, June 28th, the Habs announced the signings of Tom Pyatt and Benoit Pouliot.
Pyatt was acquired as part of the blockbuster trade that brought Scott Gomez to the Habs. He played 40 games for the Habs, picking up five points in the process. While not a major offensive component, Pyatt was a strong two...
I would just like to start off by thanking a few teams, Florida, Columbus, New York Islanders, Tampa Bay, Carolina, Atlanta, Minnesota, New York Rangers, and Dallas. Thanks for not drafting Cam Fowler. By doing so, you allowed the Ducks to take arguably the best Defensive Prospect in the draft. As I am typing this, I have the biggest grin on my face, knowing that we cou...
First, how come there's at least 5-6 guys on here that regularly blog for the Flames but the oiler fans are only passionate enough to comment on other people's blogs?? Just saying... I get that you guys got Hall and are making some good moves but one of you wrote on Vetter's blog about the cup... c'mon!!
****
Okay so everyone is all thinking Sutter is all going insa...
[img]http://www.rds.ca/images/chroniques/302489.jpg?20100713090433 [/img]
Finally, the Montreal Canadiens have announced today the signing of Maxim Lapierre for 1 year worth almost 900K.
It seems a good decision to me regarding the terms of the deal because Lappy has something to prove an we know that he's going work to very hard to get to stay a couple more seasons...
I have been bored out of my mind over the last two weeks, the entry draft is far behind us, free agency has slowed to a crawl, arbitration hearings are the last exiting thing that remains. And we all know how boring arbitration is. Case-48 hours-decision-48hours-another decision. kill me now! So while this summer drags on I have been thinking of how Pierre Gauthier seems t...
To make a long story short, for those who have not seen the summer blockbuster Inception (which I highly recommend you do), a totem is an object that separates reality from dream. The totem distinguishes reality from dream because it takes on different characteristics in a dream state. Therefore, if the owner of the totem knows their totem well enough, they should be able ...
Check out my post at The Checking Line regarding the New York Islanders most recent trade acquisition in James Wisniewski! Please register and leave comments! It's a great site with a new fan base that could use a few Isles fans that could share their thoughts with hockey fans around the globe!
http://thecheckingline.com/blog/rob-mcgowan/new-york-islanders/wizzing-isles...
There has been a fair amount of Habs news to discuss since last night. With Louis Leblanc choosing to leave Harvard to play for the Montreal Junior, Pierre Gauthier signing Alexandre Picard, and much more, it was definitely time to put together some thoughts.
What does Leblanc's return to Montreal mean for his career and for the Montreal Canadiens? Why did the Canadiens...
New at The Checking Line, I analyze and rank the seasons of the Canadiens top six forwards, assigning each a letter grade and sharing my expectations for each for this upcoming season.
Where did each player land? How good were they? Read the blog to find out at the link below!
[url=http://thecheckingline.com/blog/george-prax/montreal-canadiens/off-season-analysis-t...
So Montreal trade their top AHL prospect goalie to the Lightening for Karri Ramo who is playing in the KHL. Their current top goalie on the team is Alex Auld since Carey Price is not signed with the Habs. So now they have the rights to Ramo and Sanford. So does this mean Sanford and Auld battle for the starters job so long as Price holds out. At this rate Montreal...A driv...
Every year some average Nhl player or young stud who hasent lived up to expectations has a huge breakout season. Jussi Jokinen went from a waiver pickup to a 30 goal 65 point player. Genrally younger players tend to breakout in their 3rd or fourth campaign. In this blog i shall post up 10 players who i think will breakout this year . Here are my top 10 breakout players for...
stinger67 writes...
Disagreement among fans or just a shock of generations?
Posted Thursday | Comments 0
(Please keep in mind that english is a second language for me, so I apologize in advance for every mistake or misused word. Thanks)
Throughout the summer, we could witness a rollercoaster ride of emotions among Habs fans. With Halak gone, some of them are asking for Gauthier's head on a platter. We can witness a true difference of opinions.
I think it's normal. I me...
Carey Price has been used as a scapegoat for this Montreal Canadiens team. Ever since the ever contreversial trade of Jaroslav Halak to St Louis Price has been tabed as the number one netminder by Pierre Gauthier. This tactic though has obviously backfired as Price has yet to sign a contract. Word out there is that Price wants 3 years at 3 million plus and Montreal wants 2...
WarHero writes...
Montreal Canadiens - Player Points Predictions - Centers
Posted Friday | Comments 0
Here we are ... about 40 days away from the drop of the puck.
Is anyone as antsy as I am for the season to start?
It's not that I don't like summer, but watching baseball just doesn't do it for me. But at least there's some Canadian Football to tide me over. Speaking of which, Ottawa is supposed to get a team for next season. But I digress ...
Since the Habs ros...
Some teams have cap space right now and can make a trade. Having cap space doesn't mean a team will make a trade though. In fact the biggest indicator of a teams willingness to make a trade is expectations. There are few teams with that right combination of cap space and high expectations that have voids that need to be filled...possibly by Calgary who is definitely consid...
Did you ever wonder what it would be like if NHL players and personalities were cast in major movie roles? Well, I’m going to answer that question today by listing some of the greatest movie quotes of all-time and inserting which NHL personality would have been best-suited to be cast in that role, a few perhaps with some minor modifications. Sources say some famous quo...
Hello everyone,
First blog, very excited. But I am more excited because the upcoming season is just a few more weeks away, and I am anxious to see how the habs will fare this season. After a wonderful run in the playoffs last season, it's back to the start for Montreal and they must start all over again with 30 teams in the running. In the offseason, Pierre Gauthier tra...
I really don't understand where all the hate for Price comes from. It's always the same story in Montreal, a youngster comes up, he's the savior (i.e. Jesus Price) and after 2 years he's nothing, a piece of garbage, a bust (Latendresse, Pacioretty, D'agostini, Price, McDonagh). What's going to happen if ever Subban has a bad season?!
Young players (especially goalies a...
As per HabsInsideOut:
The Canadiens have signed goaltender Carey Price to a two-year contract.
No word yet on the terms of the contract, which will take him to the end of the 2011-12 season.
From the team's press release:
MONTREAL – Montreal Canadiens general manager Pierre Gauthier announced today the signing of goaltender Carey Price to a two-year contract...
WarHero writes...
Montreal Canadiens - Player Points Predictions - Wingers
Posted Friday | Comments 0
Well folks, its 34 days till the season starts, but training camp is right around the corner!
Finally! Let’s get back to some hockey!
Living in Ottawa gives me a unique opportunity to watch 3 brands of hockey. Besides the Sens, I can also take in either an Ottawa 67’s (OHL) or Gautineau Olympiques (QMJHL) game. This year I will be doing both so I can catch Jarred...
For five years now, around this time I eagerly anticipate the upcoming NHL hockey season, with what retrospectively seems like foolish optimism. This optimism on an annual basis remarkably convinces me that my pride and joy (The Toronto Maple Leafs) will have a real shot of making the playoffs. Call it excellent team marketing skills or a love blinded fan base, eith...
[b]Primary Staff:[/b] Bob Murray (GM) Randy Carlyle (Head Coach)
[b]2009-10 Stats:[/b] 82GP 39W 32L 11OTL 89PTS
[b]Place:[/b] 4th Pacific, 11th West, 17th NHL
[b]Top Scorer:[/b] Corey Perry – 82GP 27G 49A 76P
[b]Captains:[/b] Ryan Getzlaf (A), Saku Koivu (A)
[b]OFF-SEASON MOVES
OUT:[/b]
D Scott Niedermayer (Retired)
RW Mike Brown (Dealt to Toronto)
D Steve...
Raitis Ivanans and Tim Jackman.
When Sutter made these signings I couldn’t help but scratch my head.
Jackman is 6’4” and 210lbs.
Ivanans is 6’4” and 240-256 lbs, depending on which website you look at.
Jackman had 98 PIM, 4 goals, and 5 assists last year in 54 games, while Ivanans had 136 PIM, 0 goals, and 0 assists in 61 games last season.
Bot...
Well folks ...
I decided to take a chance and made a couple Hockey related contacts today. I am very satisfied to say that I should have some extremely exciting news to report in the next couple weeks.
For now, I can say nothing more but stay tuned!
Did I mention I am extremely excited?
WarHero writes...
Exciting times ahead, stay tuned for more news! - *UPDATED*
Posted Tuesday | Comments 0
Well folks....
In regards to that Hockey news, I took a chance and because of it, I have been asked to write both live game blogs and non-live blogs for the OTTAWA 67'S!! No, it's not an NHL club but it certainly is a step in the right direction and to be honest, I [b]LOVE[/b] OHL hockey!
My first game blog will be on Friday, October 22nd against the Brampton Battali...
Yo, dudes, check it out. So I was over at my friend Chad's place last night. We don't call him "Chad" we call him "Nads" because that's what he's like. A big set of nads. Anyway, I was over at Nads place and we were drinking sum Axe, which we always do on Wednesday because it makes you feel real dizzy n' stuff. And after about the third can, Chad said to me something like,...
Stop by at The Checking Line for my Isles/Habs live-blog tonight from the press box at Nassau Coliseum around 7 PM. The Isles look to take a win after being defeated in Montreal, as the two teams will conclude their home-and-home series tonight on Long Island!
Here's the link: http://thecheckingline.com/calendar/habs-isles-liveblog
Hope to see you all there!
-Rob ...
Check out my latest post at The Hockey Writers covering Matt Martin's first NHL goal with my take on why the Isles have hit a 3-game losing streak:
http://bit.ly/9gzWEg
Feel free to leave comments!
-Rob McGowan
Follow me on Twitter!
http://twitter.com/IslesRM
There it is again. The Sabres had one of their betterperformances of the season, but in the end, it’s just another loss. Another one goal loss, too.
Buffalo fell to 0-6-1 at home this year, losing 3-2 to Montreal at HSBC Arena on Friday night. Mike Grier scored his first goal of the season and Jordan Leopold added his fourth. Buffalo had two separate one goal leads, b...
Well another Christmas Season is upon, it means Santa is loading up is sleigh and bringing Gold Silver & Bronze to Buffalo New York for the 2011 World Junior Championships, Team USA is going to defend the Gold Medal on home ice, after a heart breaking loss in the gold medal game last year the Canadian boys will be lookng for redemption, they will h...
Well we are getting on to the New Year, and I am started my 1st Annual Draft Update, this will be a further posted year after year on this blog, and the first update is a big one with the biggest draft picks since Sid the Kid and Alexander the Great. Lets face the facts that there is a ton of pressure put on these kids when it comes to being drafted into ...
The blizzard worked in the Islanders favor as they continue to snowball along after a big win against the Montreal Canadiens tonight at Nassau Coliseum...check out my post at The Hockey Writers for more!
http://bit.ly/gNM5ny
-Rob McGowan
Follow me on Twitter!
http://twitter.com/IslesRM
LeightonH55 writes...
2011 World Junior Canada vs. Russia Gold Medal Game...
Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
This is my first blog here on HockeyBuzz and I was hoping it was going to be about the Canada winning the gold medal at the 2011 IIHF World Juniors in Buffalo, but in stand I'm going to write about how they lost the gold medal.
First - Now I loved the play of Brayden Schenn and Ryan Ellis, but they have so many talented players on that team, like Sean Couturier, Brett Con...
Despite being down four goals in the middle of the second period the Flames clawed back to gain a very valuable point. Head on over to The Sports Roundup to find out what this means for the surging Flames!
http://www.thesportsroundup.com/2011/01/flames-show-resiliency-in-comeback.html
Newman
twitter.com/TSRNewman
www.thesportsroundup.com
After reading Richard Cloutier's blog on the state of the NHL after the Chara-Patches incident, I figured I too needed to rant a little bit. In this rant, I will touch on favouritism, how Bettman is an idiot, and how everyone else is saying the exact same thing as me.
Honestly though, you would be hard-pressed to find a legitimate hockey fan who thinks this is the right...
Hi fellow hockey nuts!
my name is will, i am a life long of the great game of hockey as im sure all of you are. i have loved the toronto maple leafs, pittsburgh penguins and the winnipeg jets(not coyotes) for as long as i can remember. i am very opinionated when it comes to the game and have been booted from addicted hockey fans united for being too opinionated. i love am...
The last time Ray Emery was in the Ponda Center, June 6th 2007, I was standing on my seat serenading Emery and laughing my head off when he scored on himself playing for the Ottawa Senators. (http://videosift.com/video/Stanely-Cup-Game-5-Chris-Phillips-Own-Goal)
We (Anaheim fans atleast) knew that the Ducks were going to with the cup much earlier then this. With Teemus ...
As you read you will see that I kind of get "tuned" up and no matter how hard I try not to be just a "homer", I just can't agree with the way some of the calls and non calls go. Sometimes I watch the game and get cr@p from my da for criticizing the Nuck players for penalties not called against them, but by and large the most obvious non calls are quite often replayed by th...
TonyFerrari16 writes...
My First Blog! Me, Toronto, Optimism and outlook on the NHL!
Posted Thursday | Comments 0
Hello to all hockey fans that read this blog and any of my future blogs! I am a student of Hockey! I have been a hockey fan since the day I was conceived! (I know it sounds impossible but I came out in a Leafs sweater!) I play pick up, mostly because I was never good enough to actually play and couldn't afford to play when I was a child. I love the sport. I am new to ...
What if there was never an 87 in black and gold? How would that team shape up? What if the Ducks won the lottery and chose Sidney Crosby? Can you imagine Sid with a Ducks' sweater on his back? What would the Penguins look like today?
The Penguins would obviously be a very different team. They would not be nearly as good but to be honest, but they would still be a g...
This is purely my opinion and that is based on observations over the past 20 years or so that I can clearly say I was a full blood member of the Leafs Nation.
1. The New york Yankee syndrom: From what most people say they hate that the leafs would buy their way into the playoffs, and clearly there is no point in saying otherwise because it is very true. It seemed as t...
So, it feels good. I've been debating for a good part of two years now to start a blog, and here I am, finally starting. Ah, it's a good day. So let me fill all you readers in on personal info. I will be covering the Montreal Canadiens. I live in Hamilton, Ontario and am a season ticket holder for the Hamilton Bulldogs. I love playing, watching, and doing anything involvin...
Hello all. My name is Aarif Deen. I am currently a Junior studying at University of Michigan. My major is Broadcast Journalism and I'm minoring in Print Journalism. My main focus is hockey. My life long dream is to stand in front of a camera and talk hockey for living. Analyzing the great sport we all grew to love. My first step in reaching the dream is to get my nam...
Jeff Woywitka is now a Canadian. Montreal signed the defender to a one-year, two-way deal. Woywitka spent the 2010-2011 season with the Dallas Stars where he had 2 goals and 9 assists for 11 points in 63 games.
The former 1st rounder has been through the AHL and NHL in the past few years. This is a great addition for the Canadians. Woywitka has played 251 career N...
Hello Everyone.
This is my debut hockey blog on, well, any website. My opinions might be skewered, in your opinion. I’m aware of the fact that anything I might say could be something that might sound ridiculous to one, yet completely sensible to the other. Anyways, seeing how this is my first blog, I’ll start off with something easy, right? I’ll be doing an analys...
It's been a while since I posted a blog here. In fact, I haven't posted anything in ages!
I decided to write a bit about the situation that prevails here in Quebec City regarding the new arena and everything that revolves around it.
First off, I think I speak for everyone here in Quebec when I say Congratulations to Winnipeg! It is so amazing that you got your team b...
[img]http://www.cyberpresse.ca/images/bizphotos/435x290/200910/30/120459-maire-sortant-regis-labeaume-multiplie.jpg[/img]
There has been alot of people complaining about the fact that Quebec City's new arena would be built using mainly public money.
When we take a look at the situation it is easy to end up with this conclusion, but there is more to it than what it lo...
With one of the greatest minor league affiliates in Hamilton, the Canadiens have a list of great young talent moving forward. There are three that played with the big boys last year that I expect to have breakout years.
Max Pacioretty
Last year, his season was cut short due to a spinal injury but he showed flashes of a positive future with a season that saw him play in...
...I think Brendan Shanahan will do a great job as the new league disciplinarian. He has the combination of playing experience, intelligence and common sense to understand how the game should be played and officiated.
...I'm NOT REALLY DIGGING the new Predators home uniforms. Maybe when I see them in game action my mind will change, but right now, I'm reminded too much ...
I had a chance to look at the Jets new jersey's and I'm disappointed only in the fact that there isn't very much red (aside from the logo there is none) in the jersey.
I think, like a lot of people, I wanted to see an updated version of the last Jets jersey's. Of course, as has been noted elsewhere on this site, maybe it was that expectation, along with the name, that m...
djvoiz writes...
Bill 204 adopted: Quebec's hopes reaching new heights
Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
It's such a great day for everyone who dreams of the return of the Nordiques in Quebec, like myself.
I have been dreaming about this for so long and now, its unreal to take a moment and realize that a new NHL-ready arena will be built and delivered during the 2015 summer.
The "Assemblée nationale" voted for Bill 204 today, which means that it secures the deal betwee...
rather than try to retell the whole story ill just assume everyone has heard of this and to those who havnt direct you to espn.com to check it out.
basically a banana was thrown from the stands at Wayne simmonds during a shootout attempt.
This is my first blog and done from my Iphone so cut me some slack. that being out of the way lets jump into this.
first up th...
The banana peel throwing incident from last night's Flyer's game is the most recent event that has me fuming at how completely ignorant and stupid some people are.
And it's a problem that only seems to be getting worse.
Maybe I am way too old fashioned, but whatever happened to the adage:
"If you don't have anything nice to say...then keep your ****ing mouth shut!"
...
Hello everyone,
I am currently a college student at Montana State University, but am origionally from San Dimas, Ca and was born and raised a Ducks fan. I live and breath Ducks hockey during the NHL season, ask any one of my room mates or people that have lived a floor below me. Anyways I would love to start writing a blog on the Ducks, to express my joy and frustr...
Flames won their first game of the season against Montreal and that too by a decent margin of 4-1. After two stinking losses against the pens and the blues, finding the win column is definitely a good feeling. Going into Toronto with a win will be a feel good factor. In Toronto we will be up against ex-flames Phaneuf and Lombardi and the game should be a fun one for a Satu...
During the waning minutes of the Jets game against the Pens last night Pens defenseman Kris Letang hit Jets forward Alex Burmistrov from behind, driving him into the side wall. A two minute penalty was assessed to Letang and the young Russian forward came away from the hit for the most part unscathed. The hit was from behind.....there is no denying that. Some say that B...
First let me say this is my first blog on this site, so any feedback would be greatly appreciated!!
I know it's not even one month into the season, and a lot of fans may be upset reading this, but remember it is only my opinion.
This season is looking more and more like a complete right-off. This team is going nowhere fast, and even if by some miracle we do sneak int...
4blindmice writes...
DON CHERRY = BLUSTER OVER SUBSTANCE TIME & TIME AGAIN
Posted Saturday | Comments 0
Wouldn’t it be nice if just once Ron MacLean actually challenged one of Don Cherry’s outlandish assertions and made him support it with some substance?
Seriously though, if you throw in a few Cherry-wanna-be’s, like Mike Milbury or Doug MacLean, the so-called expert analysis segment of your favourite hockey program is filled to the brim with unsupported rhetoric f...
I’ve watched the replay numerous times. One thing needs to be done... and a clear message needs to be sent.
Milan Lucic needs to be suspended, or have SOME type of consequence for his hit on Miller tonight.
There’s no question. No matter how many times that I see the hit on Miller, Lucic intended to hurt him, and didn’t need to. The intent to hurt was clear. ...
Ken Campbell is wrong. Very, very wrong. In his latest gem of an article he proclaimed that the Leafs have never had a "true superstar" on the team, that Sundin doesn't belong in the HHOF in his first year of eligibility, and the HHOF is biased towards Toronto players.
http://www.thehockeynews.com/articles/42947-Campbell-Hall-of-Fame-Leafs-bias-will-benefit-Sundin.htm...
stephenkjanes writes...
[RECAP] Ducks Battle, But Lose in SO 2-1 to Kings
Posted Thursday | Comments 0
Anytime you lose to a close rival, you tend to feel sick afterwards.
Last night, in front of a sold-out crowd at the Staples Center, the Ducks fell 2-1 to the Los Angeles Kings in the first game of the Freeway Series. The Ducks and Kings will go at it again tonight, this time at the Honda Center in Anaheim.
The Ducks trailed 1-0 until very late in the third period, ...
stephenkjanes writes...
[RECAP] Ducks Battle, But Lose in SO 2-1 to Kings
Posted Thursday | Comments 0
Anytime you lose to a close rival, you tend to feel sick afterwards.
Last night, in front of a sold-out crowd at the Staples Center, the Ducks fell 2-1 to the Los Angeles Kings in the first game of the Freeway Series. The Ducks and Kings will go at it again tonight, this time at the Honda Center in Anaheim.
The Ducks trailed 1-0 until very late in the third period, ...
stephenkjanes writes...
[RECAP] Ducks Battle, But Lose in SO 2-1 to Kings
Posted Thursday | Comments 0
Anytime you lose to a close rival, you tend to feel sick afterwards.
Last night, in front of a sold-out crowd at the Staples Center, the Ducks fell 2-1 to the Los Angeles Kings in the first game of the Freeway Series. The Ducks and Kings will go at it again tonight, this time at the Honda Center in Anaheim.
The Ducks trailed 1-0 until very late in the third period, ...
Let's re-enact the plot from the seminal classic "Trading Places" with Eddie Murphy and Dan Akroyd. I have a full day ahead of me as the Sabres new head honcho and while the very confused Darcy Regier spends the next 8 hours trying to find my car keys and navigate the rough and tumble Jersey neighborhoods, I have some phone calls to make.
[b]8am- [/b]I just entered the...
So I was watching the Pittsburgh game last night and just got onto thinking of what Dan Bylsma was able to accomplish over the past year and a half, while missing his top 2 players (Crosby and Malkin) for a significant portion of time. It got me thinking how much I would love to have a guy like this running the Leaf’s bench and then it got me thinking even more. Currentl...
With Ek reporting that these 4 teams may make a pitch for Bobby Ryan. I figured it would be fun to try and make up their offers, and guess at who would win.
[b]Columbus:[/b]
There are obvious reasons why Columbus would be interested in the three-time 30 goal scorer, and it is to get this team that Howson assembled out of the basement. Of course, it is goaltending th...
Stafford, Regher, and Kaleta will return tonight leaving the Sabres with only 6 regulars out. Ennis should be back Friday, Miller will take part in his first full practice tomorrow probably meaning another week or so for him, Weber and McCormick both skated today. As the Sabres get healthier will they start to climb the eastern conference again? I think they are startin...
Lots of speculation in Anaheim right now on the kind of move they need to make in order to snap out of the tailspin that they have found themselves in. There are usually three paths to take during such a time:
1. [b]Fire the coach:[/b] "It's easier to change one person than trade 3 or 4."
Even with the poor start it seems unlikely considering Carlyle signed his ...
Rob McGowan writes...
Hit On Nino Warrants Suspsension For Stars Defenseman
Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
The Islanders won a hard fought 5-4 victory over the Dallas Stars on Saturday night, and it can be termed hard fought for many reasons; the Isles saw a three-goal lead get washed away to a tie in the second period; Rick DiPietro pulled his groin, forcing Al Montoya to start the third period; the Stars kept coming back on the score board; and last but not least, Nino Nieder...
[img]http://images.tsn.ca/images/stories/2011/11/17/kabs_65373.jpg[/img]
As per NHL.com the Carolina Hurricanes have found a dance partner in Montreal Canadians and managed to trade a problem player for a recently injured player. The deal as reported is just a straight player for player trade involving no picks or other players.
With any luck Kaberle can find some wa...
The Chicago Blackhawks get set to square off for the third time this season against their distant neighbors from the west coast when they host the Anaheim Ducks tonight at the United Center.
The last meeting between the Blackhawks and the Ducks saw Hawks' captain Jonathan Toews carry his team to a rallying 6-5 win with his 5 point effort. Anaheim will look to avoid the ...
RickDixon writes...
Teemu Selanne, and what this night means to Jet fans
Posted Saturday | Comments 0
There is no denying that the Winnipeg Jets have had a few star players in their franchise, and by that I mean the original, although the former Atlanta Thrashers have had a couple as well. The names Bobby Hull, Anders Hedberg, Thomas Steen, and Dale Hawerchuck come to mind right away. All of these players are revered in Winnipeg, of that there is no question. But the fe...
cuppacoldtea writes...
Application For Post of General Manager of les Canadiens
Posted Tuesday | Comments 0
Dear Molson Family,
I am hereby informing you of my intention to apply for the post of the General Manager of the Montreal Canadiens. Although my experience is very limited, I plan to explain why I would be by far the best GM the Canadiens have had in the cap era.
It is difficult to truly know what the team would look like under my guidance over the last few years. ...
Michael_Stuart writes...
A Tale of Two Underperforming Teams: Bolts vs. Canadiens
Posted Thursday | Comments 0
The Canadiens come to town in what is shaping up to be a tale of two underperforming teams heading in opposite directions. The Lightning have put together a couple of really solid efforts that have us looking upwards towards greener pastures. The Canadiens are still so enigmatic that it is so hard to read. On the one had, you think that they might do something still thi...
Here is an update on the Islanders top prospect, Ryan Strome as he continues his strong play for Team Canada in this year's World Junior's Tournament
http://islanders.thecheckingline.com/blog/rob-mcgowan/new-york-islanders/strome-looks-home-world-juniors
-Rob McGowan
http://twitter.com/IslesRM
http://twitter.com/TCLIsles
www.facebook.com/TCLIsles
Michael_Stuart writes...
A V for Vinny, a V for Victory: Bolts Down Habs 4-3
Posted Thursday | Comments 0
Although the effort wasn’t as strong as it had been in the last two, you’ve got to like the Lightning’s comeback from 3-1 down. It was a game that had a little bit of emotion, some nice offensive play and a lot of excitement. Overall, while I wasn’t totally impressed with everything from the Bolts tonight, it was nice to see a victory after falling behind early. ...
Habs defensemen Josh Gorges has received a six year contract extension worth 23 million.
Habs defensemen Josh Gorges has received a six year contract extension worth 23 million.
Habs defensemen Josh Gorges has received a six year contract extension worth 23 million.
Montreal Canadiens general manager has finally made a good move signing Josh Gores to a six year contract extension worth 23 million.In 307 games with the habs Gorges scored 59 points (9 goals 50 assists) going +16 with 150 penalty minutes.
Montreal Canadiens general manager has finally made a good move signing Josh Gores to a six year contract extension worth 23 million.In 307 games with the habs Gorges scored 59 points (9 goals 50 assists) going +16 with 150 penalty minutes.
Montreal Canadiens general manager has finally made a good move signing Josh Gores to a six year contract extension worth 23 million.In 307 games with the habs Gorges scored 59 points (9 goals 50 assists) going +16 with 150 penalty minutes.
Montreal Canadiens general manager has finally made a good move signing Josh Gores to a six year contract extension worth 23 million.In 307 games with the habs Gorges scored 59 points (9 goals 50 assists) going +16 with 150 penalty minutes.
Tonight is the big game. Re-match from the World Junior Gold Medal game last year in Buffalo. As a Canadian, I was really cheering the Czech's on last tonight against Russia. In such a tight game, Grigori Zheldakov scored the game-winner for Russia following a power-play from the Czech's. Daniel Krejci was hit on the follow through of a Russian players stick, and stayed do...
Bob Murray has recently made comments saying that anybody is available for trade on the Ducks roster with the exception of Selanne and Koivu (both have NTC and are not expected to waive).
This hypothetically would mean that Getzlaf, Perry, and Ryan would all be available on the trade market.
Any potential move with those core players I perceive as a desperate attempt...
Michael_Stuart writes...
Bolts in Montreal to Take on Canadiens: An Interesting Test
Posted Friday | Comments 0
Tomorrow, the Lightning are in Montreal to take on the Canadiens. If our Bolts cannot get up for this one, I will officially consider this season a write-off. It’s always exciting for this group to play in Montreal. Few teams have the French connection that the Bolts do. Guys like Marty St. Louis and Vinny Lecavalier typically put in that extra little bit to play wel...
It would appear as if in the last five years Montreal has become a veterans grave. It seems that word has been spread around how if your an overpaid, underachieving veteran, Montreal's the place to go, it has to stop. A sacred franchise is fast becoming a joke due to its shockingly bad trades and unnecessary signings such as Scott Gomez for Ryan McDonagh, and the signing o...
Michael_Stuart writes...
Outwit, Outplay, Outlast: Bolts Downed by Habs in Montreal
Posted Sunday | Comments 0
Outwit, Outplay, Outlast. While that may be the tagline for CBS’s popular show, Survivor, it is also exactly what the Montreal Canadiens did to the Tampa Bay Lightning last night. That loss, giving the Bolts a record of 3-3 on my little stretch, all but puts the Lightning out of contention. Unless drastic changes are made, we aren’t going to be seeing playoff hockey...
As Montreal struggles to climb into a playoff spot its apparent they're lacking in more than a few areas of expertise. This year however the PP, offense and the teams toughness and grit have been among the teams problems. However with one move they can drastically improve the teams grit and strength, Colton Orr. Montreal needs a player who can stand up for their superstars...
It's becoming harder and harder to whine and complain about the Habs. The painful reality of what is has set in. I've said for many years, regardless of the organisation, leadership and success is a culture. And that culture starts at the top. Not in the locker room. Not in the history books. At the top of an active, dynamic stack of people.
It's become clear that the c...
RyanZabizewski writes...
Montreal Trades Disgruntled Cammalleri For slouching Bourque
Posted Friday | Comments 0
Last night the Habs(16-20-7) lost 2-1 to the Bruins(28-11-1) but that wasn't the main story. less than 24 hours after Mike Cammalleri called the team a bunch of "Losers" he was nowhere to be seen in the 3rd period, the commentators thought he might have been injured. Then tweets from Dave stubbs, Mckenzie, Duthie said possibility that Cammalleri could have been traded.
...
There’s a lot of rumors circulating regarding trades, especially one that would send Tyler Myers to Anaheim, and bring Ryan Getzlaf to Buffalo. However, unfortunately, this deal isn’t as simple as that.
If it was as simple as Anaheim giving Buffalo Getzlaf, and Buffalo giving Anaheim Myers, given the current state of things, that’s simple;
Do it. Pull the trig...
There are those out there who are coming down on Mike Cammalleri for making his statements about the current state of affairs in the Montreal dressing room.
Why ?
Nobody can deny that the diminutive forward has always been known as a pretty class act and stand-up guy. His comments were bang-on in my assumption and the fact that he said them to the media does nothing...
HabsFan4Always writes...
How Long is the Dark Tunnel of the Montreal Canadiens?
Posted Friday | Comments 0
The Montreal Canadiens are an organization driving along in a dark tunnel without functional headlights. You do not fire your head coach, fire an assistant coach, trade a player with a 6 million dollar salary cap hit mid-game and have the worst power play in the league all before the All-Star Break if things are going well. But just how long is this dark tunnel and is th...
Rumours around Mtl is Getzlaf for Subban, and Plecks.
Here are the reasons why I would not pull the trigger.
We are not in contention nor are we anywhere near being in contention for a cup. So why would we go and acquire Getzlaf? Getz would only be helping us now, but we dont need help now, in fact we need to tank now. If we were to acquire such a big name/big center, ...
Depth down the middle is a key ingredient to success in the NHL. The most consistent teams in the league over the past 5 years have definately benefitted from having a strong top 3 centreman in the top 9 scoring-line scheme.
Pitt: Crosby, Malkin, Staal
LA: Kopitar, Richards, Stoll
...
It is the time for the rumour mill to pump out all kinds of possible trades. Some plausible, others, insane!
As a Hab fan, I really believe that they need to make more changes. I also think that winning against Detroit could be detrimental to them in the long run. Geoff Molson, as much as he says he is hands off and he lets the hockey people run the operation, needs to...
So the All-Star draft is over and done with. Yes, Alfredson picked all Sens, Yes Chara picked all Bruins, and Yes the Sedins are going to play together. All of which could have been predicted by any of us who didn't take the time to watch the draft. Not many surprises came about last night. I think the biggest was that Rookie All-Star Colin Greening of the Sens is on "Team...
RyanZabizewski writes...
After Game Blog Jan 31 Buffalo vs Montreal Update 11:39
Posted Tuesday | Comments 0
The "Habs" lost 3-1 to Buffalo Tuesday night. So do you want the bad news or the good news? How about both...
[b]Good News[/b]
Now it's hard for anything good coming out of that game but there was a couple things I liked.
[u]Carey Price [/u]
Played amazing tonight making 37 saves on 39 shots but once again overpaid players who can't score and lack of effort made us...
If you were to ask around for opinions about Pierre Gauthier, general manager of the Montreal Canadiens, most of the Habs faithful fans would probably sing you a couple of lines from the old classic by Ray Charles: [i]“Hit the road Jack and don’t you come back no more, no more, no more, no more”[/i]. So in the spirit of fun, let’s take a look at the many songs of...
When will the losing in this stupid city end? They had their chances to end the 13 game losing streak in Anaheim but once again lost to the Ducks. Make it 14 and counting. They needed the points...
Read more here:
http://west.thecheckingline.com/blog/newman/calgary-flames/flames-dont-disneyland
Newman
It’s a quiet night in the NHL tonight with only two games on the schedule. One of those games has a huge impact on the Bolts as they move forward. The Washington Capitals are taking on the Carolina Hurricanes tonight in a game that will have huge playoff implications for many other teams. If the Capitals win, it’s another two points to make up. If the Capitals lose...
The Lightning finished off their homestand tonight with a HUGE victory against the Anaheim Ducks. The Bolts may not have deserved the game, but good teams find ways to win. Right now, this group finds itself only 5 points out of the playoff picture. Many questions have yet to be answered.
[b]Read the game recap over at Tampa Bay Lightning Hockey Buzz![/b]
[url]h...
Canadiens' fans worldwide hang and hide their heads in shame as the [i]Circ du Gauthier[/i] continues to embaress our proud organization. There is no doubt that the bottom has dropped out of whatever plan and rebuild Andre Savard had started and we have in fact returned to the days of Houle the Fool and Mario Trembley blindly leading the team through a mine field.
Once...
A lot of speculation out there about two good right wingers. Well some call Nash a left winger, but on NHL.com, he's a right winger. I figured LA was going to trade Brown right away as soon as they got Richards, but they kept him... I didn't understand why they dealt for another captain type player, and now that their offense is leashed, they're starting to see it themse...
The Habs are in Tampa for a really important game tonight. The Bolts are only six points back of 8th place and, with their new look defense, you can bet they'll be ready to go. It should be a really exciting tilt as you know these two teams always get the best out of each other.
[b]There's a game preview blog over at TB HB![/b]
[url]http://tblhockeybuzz.blogspot....
Michael_Stuart writes...
Lightning Edge Closer to Playoff Spot with Victory Over Habs
Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
Sometimes, the referees do everything they can to change the outcome of a game. Occasionally, that's not enough. In last night's tilt between the Montreal Canadiens and the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Bolts got absolutely shafted by the officials. Those of you who read my blogs frequently know that I am not someone who harps on the referees often. In order for me to actua...
ShudBeFamous writes...
Habs future: Current roster and who they should draft
Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
First off, I do not beleive montreal needs to draft a Defencemen this upcoming draft, so I am writing this blog as if they will be drafting one of the top 4 offencive prospects that could go in the top 5 in Pittsburgh this June.
1. Nail Yakupov (5'11, 189lbs) - W - Sarnia Sting - 37GP/30G/35A/65PTS/26PIM
2. Mikhail Grigorenko (6'3, 200lbs) - C - Quebec Remparts - 57GP/...
As March nears it's end, the Toronto Maple Leafs find themselves in a familiar spot in the standings; near the bottom. The Leafs, who haven't made the playoffs since before the lockout, have been floundering in recent years, and seem no closer to postseason success now then they did at this time last year, or even two years ago. The one difference between this year and the...
[b]The best way to build a contender is through the draft so we'll start here.[/b]
Habs have the #3 pick, it's simple if he is available, draft Alex Galchenyuk. We need wingers on fwd more than anything but that doesn't matter Gally is a game changer, they won`t have many chances at a player like this.
[b]Sort out the contract mess[/b]
Re-sign Price at a reasonabl...
A TROLL...the online definition looks like this:
[b]In Internet slang, a troll is someone who posts inflammatory,[2] extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum, chat room, or blog, with the primary intent of provoking readers into an emotional response[3] or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion.[4] [/b]
...
[img]http://cache.deadspin.com/assets/images/11/2011/09/medium_puck_daddy_chats_with_brendan_shanahan_about_making_suspension_videos_colin_campbell_criti.jpg[/img]
By Ryan Wilson
Follow me on Twitter [b]@gunnerstaal[/b]
As each day passes in the playoffs it seems that it also comes with a new disciplinary issue. The one thing that most people who are dire...
[b]"Big Splash"[/b]
So Ek reports today that the Leafs([i]Burke[/i]) are([i]is[/i]) yet again proclaiming to the hockey world that they will be making bold moves this off-season. Not only will they be doing whatever it takes to get Rick Nash out of Columbus but they will also be signing a high end free agent. Haven't we heard this all before?
Yes, of course we have ...
Marc Bergevin has been announced as the new GM of the Montreal Canadiens. As tough a job as GM of the Habs is, he comes at the right time. Following Gauthier's reign makes for a chance to look great by comparison. Bergevin played nearly 1200 games in the NHL and followed up his playing career with a long stint in Chicago Blackhawks management. A team that had tremendous su...
We would all rather be watching our Habs players play in the playoffs right now, but we can get a look at a few of them over the next couple of weeks in the World Championships. Although if the Habs were to lose a game in triple overtime like the Caps did last night I may have had a heart attack. The Canadiens will be sending four players over to Finland and Sweden for thi...
Perhaps the biggest decision to be made by Marc Bergevin this summer will be what to pay current restricted free agents and future franchise cornerstones Carey Price and P.K. Subban. Both will demand huge raises from their current salaries, but with future CBA and salary cap uncertainty it is important to get them signed to the most modest deals possible. A year from now D...
[b]For everything hockey 24/7 follow me on TWITTER @DailyNHLGrind[/b]
[img]http://athletes-celebrities.tseworld.com/cached/_images/maintainwidth/160x192/3289d6466a2cd8483042263f956c9f7d/shanahan-brendan-160-1933.jpg[/img]
Well here’s something each and every single one of us hockey fans have been aware of all season long. Brendan Shanahan—the head disciplinarian o...
There is a rumor circulating this morning that Larry Robinson would welcome a return to Montreal as an assistant coach. According to an article in the Toronto Sun, Robinson’s agent Don Cape says Larry would return to the Habs organization because he knows Marc Bergevin and the Molson family well and he believes the right people are in place in this organization. It is ni...
The round robin portion of the World Championships are complete and the Habs representing their respective countries this Spring have been largely impressive. The four Quarterfinal games will all be played on Thursday, followed by Semifinal Saturday and the medal games taking place on Sunday.
Lars Eller had the most disappointing tournament of the Canadiens as his team...
The 94th edition of the Memorial Cup featuring the best Junior hockey teams in Canada, begins Friday in Shawinigan. The Montreal Canadiens will be well represented with four of their prospects taking part in the premier event hosted by Shawinigan. The Habs two most recent first round picks will both be competing, Nathan Beaulieu for the Quebec League champion and defending...
Asset management is the top priority for every General Manager in hockey. Getting something for players you move keeps a franchise afloat, however getting nothing for an asset can set a franchise into ruin. Unfortunately for the Montreal Canadiens, Pierre Gauthier got a whole lot of nothing for many of his assets.
In today’s era of free agency, salary caps and money h...
The 2006 NHL Draft will be remembered for the same reasons most drafts are, the superstars at the top, the first round busts and the diamonds in the rough such as 6th rounder Andrew Macdonald who was picked by the New York Islanders. Taking place in Vancouver, most Canucks fans will recall it as the day they finally got their franchise goaltender. New ‘Nucks GM Mike Gill...
The 2014 Olympics in Sochi will be a new turning point for Canadian professional hockey. A changing of the guards if you will. The team which represented Canada in Vancouver, while praised as one of the best Canadian national teams ever brought together for one event, was old. The captain of that team, Scott Niedermeyer, is gone, and other player's who played serious minut...
Devils scored a fluky one against the LA Kings to tie up game 1 in the 2nd period of the Stanley Cup Finals, and now it's in intermission and i've got an itchin' to write a blog.
On HockeyBuzz's homepage I came across another blogger's article on Team Canada at the Sochi Olympics. Everyone has a right to their opinion, and while i disagreed with my fellow blogger, s/he ...
Allow me to set the scene for you. It is the second round of the 2002 Playoffs, the 8th seeded Montreal Canadiens have already upset the best team in the Eastern Conference in a six game battle against the rival Boston Bruins. They are now at home in game four of the second round series against the Carolina Hurricanes, already up 2-1 in the best of seven series and winning...
Trevor Timmins took over as Montreal’s Director of Player Development at the beginning of the 2002-03 season. His main responsibility is drafting and of course developing the next wave of Montreal Canadiens. The most important piece of business for Timmins to take care of every year is the NHL Draft. The upcoming draft in Pittsburgh will be his tenth as the mastermind be...
Hello, this is my first blog at Hockeybuzz (obviously) and I should introduce myself. I go by Gator26 (Gator was my highschool handle) and I adore the Habs. Ever since child birth, I've seemed to enjoy to watch them play (maybe not last season) but nonetheless, they still have my heart. Recently just got ink'd actually, the logo is now part of my body. Sounds odd when I sa...
Kenny_Mac writes...
What Type of Player Habs Can Expect With 3rd Overall Pick
Posted Tuesday | Comments 0
In three short days Montreal will finally reveal who they will choose with the third overall pick in this year’s draft in Pittsburgh. To find out what can be expected of someone selected so high I took a look back and ranked the last 20 players to be picked at number three. (Technically the last 22 players but I didn’t include the 2 most recent, Jonathon Huberdeau and ...
B_Chapman writes...
Coach Glen Gulutzan: Will He Learn From His Mistakes?
Posted Sunday | Comments 0
[b]When you look back at the 2011-2012 season and try to grade the team and its coach, one thing is easy to pick up on. They missed the playoffs. It is easy to say, “Well, he did great for a while, so obviously he has what it takes to coach in the NHL, right?”[/b]
Yes, you have to assume that because he was able to get his team playing first-place lights out hocke...
First of all Bergevin addressed one of the biggest needs the Canadiens have had for the last few years and that is team toughness. Over the last two years the only guys willing to stand up for their teammates was White, Moen and Staubitz. Even though these guys are gamers they did not put a lot of fear in opposing players, and the other teams would run around which has c...
First of all Bergevin addressed one of the biggest needs the Canadiens have had for the last few years and that is team toughness. Over the last two years the only guys willing to stand up for their teammates was White, Moen and Staubitz. Even though these guys are gamers they did not put a lot of fear in opposing players, and the other teams would run around which has c...
So far this summer, we have seen the Canadiens take some steps to make the team a lot tougher to play against now, and possibly one of the contenders in the East starting in 2 or 3 years. Here is what I think of the signings and what the depth chart will look like for the Canadiens as it stands right now.
Brandon Prust-
I absolutely love this signing. This was an abso...
Montreal fans have been talking about next year since before the calendar flipped to 2012. With the draft and opening frenzy of free agency behind us, it is finally time everyone in the NHL starts to focus on next year. Obviously, the focus of the Canadiens is to climb out of the cellar of the Eastern Conference. The best way to do this is to realize what landed them in th...
[i]“I gotta be honest with you. At this point, I don’t care. Move me … because it’s just tough going to the rink every day knowing that if something goes wrong, you’re going to be the guy moved.” - Bobby Ryan[/i]
Interesting enough, he's clearly on board with being dealt to another team. And why not the Ottawa Senators? A team that is one 4-time 30 goal scor...
[i]“I gotta be honest with you. At this point, I don’t care. Move me … because it’s just tough going to the rink every day knowing that if something goes wrong, you’re going to be the guy moved.” - Bobby Ryan[/i]
Interesting enough, he's clearly on board with being dealt to another team. And why not the Ottawa Senators? A team that is one 4-time 30 goal scor...
[i]“I gotta be honest with you. At this point, I don’t care. Move me … because it’s just tough going to the rink every day knowing that if something goes wrong, you’re going to be the guy moved.” - Bobby Ryan[/i]
Interesting enough, he's clearly on board with being dealt to another team. And why not the Ottawa Senators? A team that is one 4-time 30 goal scor...
[i]“I gotta be honest with you. At this point, I don’t care. Move me … because it’s just tough going to the rink every day knowing that if something goes wrong, you’re going to be the guy moved.” - Bobby Ryan[/i]
Interesting enough, he's clearly on board with being dealt to another team. And why not the Ottawa Senators? A team that is one 4-time 30 goal scor...
[i]“I gotta be honest with you. At this point, I don’t care. Move me … because it’s just tough going to the rink every day knowing that if something goes wrong, you’re going to be the guy moved.” - Bobby Ryan[/i]
Interesting enough, he's clearly on board with being dealt to another team. And why not the Ottawa Senators? A team that is one 4-time 30 goal scor...
[i]“I gotta be honest with you. At this point, I don’t care. Move me … because it’s just tough going to the rink every day knowing that if something goes wrong, you’re going to be the guy moved.” - Bobby Ryan[/i]
Interesting enough, he's clearly on board with being dealt to another team. And why not the Ottawa Senators? A team that is one 4-time 30 goal scor...
[i]“I gotta be honest with you. At this point, I don’t care. Move me … because it’s just tough going to the rink every day knowing that if something goes wrong, you’re going to be the guy moved.” - Bobby Ryan[/i]
Interesting enough, he's clearly on board with being dealt to another team. And why not the Ottawa Senators? A team that is one 4-time 30 goal scor...
With most of the big guns of the free agency class spoken for nearly two weeks in to the frenzy, the Habs are left still looking to add a few goals to next year’s opening night roster. What started out as a relatively weak UFA class has been watered down considerably but a few interesting options still remain for the Canadiens. Let’s take a look at the top 5 offensive ...
How can the Habs prepare for future success?
Heading into the 2012-2013 season a lot of uncertainty faces the Montreal Canadiens. The organizations fans would have you believe that they are a move or two away from contending for the cup. This however, is not the case.
After a disappointing basement finish, the organization needs to address several needs. The 2011-20...
QuebecPride writes...
My Habs prospect rankings (20-16) and a few updates
Posted Sunday | Comments 0
First off let's start with a few updates.
1)Brandon Shea has officially been traded to the Remparts for a 3rd round pick in 2015.
http://www.lapresse.ca/le-soleil/sports/remparts/201208/01/01-4561527-brandon-shea-samene-a-quebec.php?utm_categorieinterne=trafficdrivers&utm_contenuinterne=cyberpresse_B13b_hockey-junior_1607706_section_POS1
2)Looks like the Habs...
QuebecPride writes...
My Habs prospect rankings (20-16) and a few updates
Posted Sunday | Comments 0
First off let's start with a few updates.
1)Brandon Shea has officially been traded to the Remparts for a 3rd round pick in 2015.
http://www.lapresse.ca/le-soleil/sports/remparts/201208/01/01-4561527-brandon-shea-samene-a-quebec.php?utm_categorieinterne=trafficdrivers&utm_contenuinterne=cyberpresse_B13b_hockey-junior_1607706_section_POS1
2)Looks like the Habs...
QuebecPride writes...
My Habs prospect rankings (20-16) and a few updates
Posted Sunday | Comments 0
First off let's start with a few updates.
1)Brandon Shea has officially been traded to the Remparts for a 3rd round pick in 2015.
http://www.lapresse.ca/le-soleil/sports/remparts/201208/01/01-4561527-brandon-shea-samene-a-quebec.php?utm_categorieinterne=trafficdrivers&utm_contenuinterne=cyberpresse_B13b_hockey-junior_1607706_section_POS1
2)Looks like the Habs...
QuebecPride writes...
My Habs prospect rankings (20-16) and a few updates
Posted Sunday | Comments 0
First off let's start with a few updates.
1)Brandon Shea has officially been traded to the Remparts for a 3rd round pick in 2015.
http://www.lapresse.ca/le-soleil/sports/remparts/201208/01/01-4561527-brandon-shea-samene-a-quebec.php?utm_categorieinterne=trafficdrivers&utm_contenuinterne=cyberpresse_B13b_hockey-junior_1607706_section_POS1
2)Looks like the Habs...
QuebecPride writes...
My Habs prospect rankings (20-16) and a few updates
Posted Sunday | Comments 0
First off let's start with a few updates.
1)Brandon Shea has officially been traded to the Remparts for a 3rd round pick in 2015.
http://www.lapresse.ca/le-soleil/sports/remparts/201208/01/01-4561527-brandon-shea-samene-a-quebec.php?utm_categorieinterne=trafficdrivers&utm_contenuinterne=cyberpresse_B13b_hockey-junior_1607706_section_POS1
2)Looks like the Habs...
With the closing of the 2012 summer games comes the passing of the torch and the countdown to the winter olympics in Sochi 2014. With the winter olympics hockey fans will get to see the greatest hockey tournament every four four years. The NHL's best players representing their country vying for Olympic gold.
Being a canadian winning gold in mens ice hockey means everyth...
Kenny_Mac writes...
Countdown of Best/Worst Trades in Habs History: 10th Worst
Posted Saturday | Comments 0
To begin the feature of counting down the top ten best and top ten worst trades in modern day Habs history, I decided to begin with the worst and rotate from 10th worst to 10th best and count down simultaneously. This way, as was so often the case in Habs history, we will finish with the best ever.
On the eve of the 2006-07 season, Montreal GM Bob Gainey would manufactu...
Kenny_Mac writes...
Countdown of Best/Worst Trades in Habs History: 10th Best
Posted Saturday | Comments 0
To continue our countdown of best/worst trades in the modern era of the Habs in order to help us get through August and into next season, we reveal the 10th best trade made by the Habs since the expansion of 1967.
June 26th 1975, Montreal trades defenceman Greg Hubick to the Toronto Maple Leafs for center Doug Jarvis.
Sam Pollock was the General Manager of the Canadi...
I am one of the biggest hockey fans around, and I do believe the players and owners will get a deal done before shutting down for the whole season, however, I do think the season will be delayed, maybe halfway through October. I am with every hockey nut out there, and I will be very upset if there is no NHL this year.
Since we are on the subject, and the NHL lockout is...
cuppacoldtea writes...
Five Reasons to Look Forward to Losing a Year of Hockey
Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
Here are five positive things I will take away from a lockout, in descending order
5: The New Jersey Devils will save about 3 million dollars every two weeks in player's salaries. This should help them make their loan payments...seeing how four rounds of extra playoff revenue did not seem to to the job.
4: Vancouver have an extra year to work out a deal with Tor...
The ideology that Canadian players are responsible for the success of any given team is common. Farm-born Saskatchewan kids can elevate their game and play clutch hockey when it really matters. But do local boys offer any discernable advantage over American or European players to a teams success? That's what this blog is going to be about. I'm going to find out.
To star...
RobFlyers#1 writes...
Ranking Hockey Canada's Best (Part 2) Defence and Goalies
Posted Saturday | Comments 0
This is the second part of my rankings for Canada's best hockey players by position. I posted earlier my rankings for Canada's top 32 forwards and now it's time to rank the defense and the goalies going into the 2014 olympics in Sochi, Russia.
Canada has great depth on the blueline and in my opinion a changing of the guard so to speak. With Neidermayer retired and Chri...
Kenny_Mac writes...
Countdown of Best/Worst Trades in Habs History: 9th Best
Posted Monday | Comments 0
March 2, 2004, Montreal trades Josef Balej and a 2nd round pick in the 2004 draft to the New York Rangers for Alex Kovalev.
The 2003-04 season was a very typical one for the Canadiens of the time, struggling to score goals and fighting like dogs to reach a playoff position. Canadiens General Manager Bob Gainey went shopping at the trade deadline and struck a deal with t...
Kenny_Mac writes...
Countdown of Best/Worst Trades in Habs History: 9th Worst
Posted Monday | Comments 0
Continuing our countdown of best and worst trades in Habs modern history, we have reached the 9th worst trade.
March 10, 1999: Montreal trades Mark Recchi to the Philadelphia Flyers for Dainius Zubrus and a 2nd round pick in the 1999 draft.
The 1998-99 season was a difficult one for the Montreal Canadiens. Struggling terribly to score goals and well on their way to m...
Just saw this from Canadian Press:
"A large section of the roof blew off the top of Montreal's Maurice Richard Arena on Thursday, apparently by the force of powerful winds.
Part of the roof, about the size of a couple of school buses, tumbled down the side of an exterior wall onto some trees. Officials did not report any injuries."
Well, I guess there is no way th...
Eric Mellin writes...
NHL Quick Hits: Ovechkin Bald? The Summit Series and more.
Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
(This is from my blog at www.ihjjr.com)
Quick Hits
Ovechkin made an appearance today at Kettler Ice Plex with Backstrom, Orlov, Johansson, Ribeiro and a few other players to take part in some on ice practice. Ovie showed up with a shaved head, citing that he did in homage for his 700 or so 'brothers' who are about to make war with the NHL and its owners. He sent Twitte...
If forced to describe Theoren Fleury in one sentence during his NHL career, one would likely use the words troubled, conflicted, gifted and of course, mouthy. Most fans, journalists, fellow players and management couldn't stand Theoren Fleury, particularly Rangers and Blackhawks fans/brass. But one has to wonder, if we knew about Fleury's problems then, would many still de...
Instead of writing about the lockout, which seems to be the default for hockey journalists currently, I felt that I should write about the World Juniors, the most exciting annual IIHF event. So instead of versing in the prose of doom and gloom, I present to you my podium predictions for the 2012-2013 World Junior Championship, which will be held in Ufa, Russia.
1. Canad...
Ask and you shall receive, unless you are an NHL fan. Don’t pout yet hockey fans thanks to the wonderful time that is the World Junior Championship. A time, when the entire nation will hold its breath to watch a bunch of teenagers try and accomplish their Junior Hockey goal. As beautiful as this sounds it has not been enjoyable watching the red maple leaf on the ice ever...
I have a bone to pick with the rules.
The situation rose again during the Canada-Slovak game the other day, where Canada had to kill off two five minute majors from trivial calls. Why rose again? Because NJ's season basically ended trying to kill a five minute boarding penalty.
Now when there's an illegal hit to the head, or a boarding, or a bad charging, I understa...
With the a 6-5 overtime loss to Russians, Canada's national junior team not only leaves Ufa with the disappointment of no gold medal, but also with the knowledge that they are the first Canadian team in fourteen years without a medal of any colour. That's a tough pill to swallow for anyone, let alone a bunch of teenagers who are faced with a level of expectation that most...
How is it that there could be a player making so much money that he couldn’t play in the NHL, and needed to be sent to the minors, and at the same time there could be a player making so much money, that he couldn’t be sent to the minors, and needed to play in the NHL? Well, that’s essentially the description of the more than slightly odd circumstances that Wade Redde...
The lock-out is over, NHL hockey is back, one thing remains as it did before the lock-out, P.K. Subban is still un-signed. Should P.K. be signed at all costs?
P.K. Subban is one of the NHL`s biggest mouths, a taunter if you will, he is also one of the league`s best young defensemen, a good hitter, got better defensively as he replaced Andrei Markov for 65 games last y...
'Well game one in the record books in this shortened season and its like a Gomez free 2011-2012. Carey Price was fantastic, he made some unreal saves as he usually does but as we have seen far to many times in the past he was almost the lone bright spot. The top line was completely silent and the rest of the team barley showed up. Toronto played an alright game but Montrea...
Well that was much better. Again Carey Price was on top of his game, again a night with some highlight reel saves. The way this guy plays the puck is a part of his game that does not seem to get a lot of attention. Last nights game and in the game vs Toronto there was a play where he cleared that puck by shooting it at the glass by the blue line about a foot down. Tell me ...
February 10, 2013
[b]A Tale of Two Cities; Leafs Dressed for Battle, Kings Relinquish the Sword[/b]
In December of 2011, I took in my first Maple Leaf game in Toronto against the eventual Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings. At the time, the Kings had been struggling mightily and had just fired their coach Terry Murray and had yet to replace them with Darryl Sutte...
Well this is more like it! A lot more of what I expected out of the Habs this year, building a lead through two periods and blowing it in the third. I know it’s a pessimistic point of view, but one thing I’ve learned from Les Habitants is to never count your chickens before they hatch. My one key to this game was to shutdown Tavares and Moulson, the only offensive punc...
Really Michel Therrien? Brian Gionta. Brian fucking Gionta. One of the coldest players in our line up right now and you put the game on his stick. So how did that work out for you? Oh, he didn’t even get a shot off? Quick, can anyone think of a couple players you would rather see out there in the fourth round of a shoot out before Gionta? I can bang out a few off the top...
Tonight, the Phoenix Coyotes played against the Anaheim Ducks in the first of three consecutive games against the Ducks. Anaheim played last night so the Coyotes had that advantage going into the game.
The first period started off poorly for the Yotes when the Ducks scored less than a minute into the game. Andrew Cogiliano scored from the slot when the Yotes lost a boar...
Tonight, the Phoenix Coyotes played against the Anaheim Ducks again for the second out of three consecutive meetings. It was déjà vu all over again… so to speak.
I will not recap the game in the same manner as last time because it pretty much went the same way. The Coyotes gave up a lead to the Ducks, then battle back for a lead of their own. THEN, they give up the ...
[b]Tale of the Tape[/b]
MTL 14-4-4 NYI 9-11-2
Goals For: MTL 3.04 NYI 2.82
Goals Against: MTL 2.32 NYI 3.41
Special Teams: MTL PP 19.0%(11th) MTL PK 82.6%(15th)
NYI PP 22.1% (5th) NYI PK 84.2% (10th)
Canadiens Road Record 6-1-2
Islanders Home Record 3-8-1
Season Series: 1-0 New York (4-3(OT) February 21st)
Currently Riding: MTL 1W NYI 1W
[b]Projected Lines[...
The Phoenix Coyotes played the Anaheim Ducks in their third and final game of a three game series last night. Overall it was not a good performance by the Yotes. They seemed to lack any heart in the game and looked slow and sloppy. Now for a quick recap!
The first period was all about the Ducks. They dominated the play while the Coyotes got absolutely no offensive press...
The Montreal Canadiens have finished the first half of their regular season and are possibly the most pleasant surprise in the entire league. Sure, Chicago going this long without losing in regulation is hard to believe, but no one is surprised that they are the top team in the league. With all the injuries in Ottawa, it is hard to believe they keep winning, but they were ...
The Montreal Canadiens have finished the first half of their regular season and are possibly the most pleasant surprise in the entire league. Sure, Chicago going this long without losing in regulation is hard to believe, but no one is surprised that they are the top team in the league. With all the injuries in Ottawa, it is hard to believe they keep winning, but they were ...
The Montreal Canadiens return to the Bell Centre tonight to face the Ottawa Senators following a very successful 5 game road trip. The only blemish on the trip came in New York against an Islanders team desperate to keep their playoff hopes alive.
The loss was a tough one for Carey Price especially, who had allowed at least 5 goals in back to back starts. Price would b...
It was a night of many firsts for the Montreal Canadiens. Everyone knew coming into the contest against the New Jersey Devils that it would be the first game of Jarred Tinordi’s (hopefully long) NHL career. Halfway through the first period of play, Colby Armstrong would (finally) score his first goal in a Canadiens sweater. Later, midway through the third, Tinordi would ...
Kenny_Mac writes...
David Desharnais: Undersized Center Earns Huge Contract
Posted Monday | Comments 0
David Desharnais has overcome adversity every year of his hockey career, proving himself at every level of competition before finally cashing in with the Montreal Canadiens. The 4 year, 14 million dollar contract is a huge deal for the undersized center, but he has been defeating the odds since before his junior career began and will prove he is worth every penny. (Or ever...
In the midst of a playoff race the Dallas Stars may be fielding some phone calls for their legendary winger Jaromir Jagr. The Great Jaromir has had success everywhere he’s played and what a motivating factor it would be to win a Cup for JR, who last won the prize in 1992 when most of the players in the league were learning how to ride a bike.
In his eighteen seasons i...
No one is really talking about it but the Montreal Canadiens must be considered a Stanley Cup contender at this point. Sure the Boston Bruins are big, bad and won it all two years ago but we’ve seen many times before that the Canadiens are capable of beating the Bruins in the playoffs. In fact, two seasons ago when the B’s won the Cup they barely got by the Habs in a f...
Kenny_Mac writes...
Once Again, Habs Show They Belong With Class of the East
Posted Thursday | Comments 0
Since the puck finally dropped on this shortened season, followers of the NHL have been pointing to the Pittsburgh Penguins and Boston Bruins as the top teams to beat in the Eastern Conference. While the Penguins and Bruins have certainly performed well enough to deserve such credit, there is a third team in the East that has separated themselves from the rest of the pack....
Kenny_Mac writes...
Nathan Beaulieu Makes NHL Debut as Habs Host Rangers
Posted Saturday | Comments 0
The Montreal Canadiens close out their March schedule tonight as they face the New York Rangers at the Bell Centre. It has been a very successful month for the Habs thus far as they enter tonight’s contest with an 8-3-2 record in March.
It will be the third meeting of the season between the original six rivals and Montreal is looking for a clean sweep after posting 3-...
With the NHL’s trade deadline less than 24 hours away the Montreal Canadiens have played their way into a position of being a buyer instead of selling off assets like they did a year ago. As the deadline approaches, the Habs will be sitting in second place in the Eastern Conference, only trailing the now Crosby-less Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Penguins have added signif...
The Montreal Canadiens look to continue their winning ways tonight as they host the suddenly surging Washington Capitals. Winners of 5 out of their last 6, Montreal currently resides in second place in the Eastern Conference, three points back of the Pittsburgh Penguins and only one point ahead of division rival Boston Bruins.
The Capitals are the third seed in the East...
flamesfan1981 writes...
2014 Olympics: My Canadian Men's Ice Hockey Roster
Posted Tuesday | Comments 0
Follow me on Twitter: @flamesfan1981
While watching Hockey Night In Canada last weekend on CBC, the broadcast mentioned that the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia are exactly 10 months away. The first thought that popped into my head and most likely any Canadian hockey fan, was memories of the 2010 Olympics in which Sidney Crosby took a feed from Jarome Iginla in OT of th...
Kenny_Mac writes...
Canadiens Led by Re-signed Budaj Set to Face Sabres
Posted Thursday | Comments 0
The two teams that have given the Montreal Canadiens the most trouble thus far during their successful season would be the Buffalo Sabres and the Toronto Maple Leafs. It just so happens that the pair of division rivals will be their next two opponents as the Habs travel to Buffalo tonight followed by a Saturday night meeting with the Leafs.
These two games come on the h...
Don't silence the boo birds
For years now we have paid thousands of our meager incomes to pay the salaries of this mediocre group of hockey players. Although I do understand that players, like Steve Ott, are frustrated because the booing is demoralizing to the young players and the veterans. I also feel the need to tell him to shut up and play hockey. He has been a pol...
Kenny_Mac writes...
Canadiens Sprint to Finish Begins Against Oldest Rival
Posted Saturday | Comments 0
With a playoff berth officially clinched following a dominating win over the Buffalo Sabres, the sprint for playoff positioning now begins for the Montreal Canadiens. With eight games remaining for both Montreal and division rival Boston Bruins and only one point separating them, the division champ will be crowned based on who finishes the season the hottest.
The sprint...
Kenny_Mac writes...
Montreal Looks to Keep Momentum Going Against Capitals
Posted Saturday | Comments 0
The Montreal Canadiens finally rediscovered the win column against the Tamp Bay Lightning after suffering their three ugliest losses of the season. With a little luck and a huge game from the man who was handed the blame for the losing streak, Habs fans can sigh a bit of relief before facing the Washington Capitals tonight.
The Lightning had countless chances to open t...
There are only six days remaining in the regular season but many questions are left to be answered in the Eastern Conference. The number of potential playoff teams has been narrowed to just nine but aside from the Pittsburgh Penguins securing the number one seed, no one’s position is guaranteed.
The race for the Northeast Division title and second overall throughout t...
Kenny_Mac writes...
Canadiens Dominate Maple Leafs; Await First Round Opponent
Posted Saturday | Comments 0
Tonight’s game started like far too many for the Montreal Canadiens recently. Behind 1-0 in the first period and having to battle their way back to stay alive in the race for the Northeast Division title. More often than not over the last two weeks, Montreal would let the 1-0 deficit become 2-0 before finding the back of the opponent’s net but that would not be the cas...
Kiks52 writes...
Maple Leafs Finish Regular Season With Disappointing Loss
Posted Sunday | Comments 0
[img:right]http://i.imgur.com/k6DlcxF.png[/img]When the Toronto Maple Leafs skated on to the ice at Air Canada Centre before an ecstatic, jam-packed crowd of 19,730, the largest crowd of the shortened season, it was a monumental moment in the history of the franchise. After all, after eight straight seasons of falling short, the Leafs had managed to earn a hard-fought fift...
The Montreal Canadiens return to the postseason after a one year hiatus and will face their division rival Ottawa Senators in the opening round. Just a year ago, the Canadiens season ended early after finishing 15th in the Eastern Conference standings and 28th overall in the 30 team National Hockey League. Montreal was able to pull themselves out of the cellar of the East ...
As an Oilers fan, you don't get to see a lot of playoff hockey, it sucks yes, but this, Ottawa against Montreal, is a series you need to watch. Even if you are American. Apparently to Team 1200, the two refs that we reffing the game, are "The most experienced refs the NHL have." It didn't show. The refs called a total of 236 penalty minutes in the game, which is a lot, obv...
I can’t say that the end of the Buffalo Sabres season has been that painful. To be completely honest, I’m not really looking forward to next season. However, in the mean time, I’ve been enjoying some extremely entertaining hockey in the first round of the 2013 NHL playoffs.
Unfortunately, things are getting out of control.
It seems like every playoff season, ...
Captain_Kurtz writes...
Captains of The 30 NHL teams and ranking out of 10. part 1
Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
What makes a good captain? Is a good captain your best player offensively or is a good captain the heart and soul of the team? You decide. [u]Anaheim Ducks-Ryan Getzlaf[/u] Ryan Getzlaf was drafted by the Ducks 1st round (19th overall) in the 2003 entry draft. He was named captain by the team prior too the 2010-2011 season. Despite a horrible 2011-2012 season when he had 5...
Kenny_Mac writes...
Disappointing Playoffs Overshadow Successful Rebirth of Habs
Posted Saturday | Comments 0
The Montreal Canadiens began this shortened season with the lowest of expectations. Following such a disastrous 2011-12 campaign, the lockout that delayed the start of this season was seen almost as a blessing to some Habs fans, who were fearing another season as embarrassing as the last.
Canadiens fans would be disappointed in the Habs season when it finished, but not ...
Kenny_Mac writes...
Canadiens Free Agents: Who Returns and Who Leaves Montreal
Posted Sunday | Comments 0
The Montreal Canadiens have some tough decision to make when it comes to deciding which free agents should be re-signed and which should be allowed to test the market. Montreal’s current unrestricted free agents are Michael Ryder, Colby Armstrong, Jeff Halpern, and Davis Drewiske. Their restricted free agents include Ryan White, Gabriel Dumont, Michael Blunden and Yannic...
Bluesbreaker writes...
Does Bob Murray's Plans include Hiller, Selanne, Koivu?
Posted Saturday | Comments 0
Anaheim GM has already made in clear in the exit interviews he plans to shake up his team for 2014. Having already signed Getzlaf and Perry to big contracts, it would seem the scariest times are over.
But...
Can Anaheim weather the storm if Selanne and Koivu hang 'em up? Many consider that Selanne was too tired this shortened season to continue for one more year. Koi...
Quick Hit Mock Draft top 10
1. Avs- Mackinnon- Because Top tier talent like his at forward with his size is an undeniable play.
2. Panthers- Drouin- Drouinand Huberdeau woul make up their Kane Toews and they know it.
3. Lightening- Barkov- Jones is a huge temptation but they drafted their stud D already, they will need Centre help and scoring with Vinny likely on his ...
For my blog today, I decided that I would write a bit about what I think about the European Goalie Situation with the Canadian Hockey League.
For me, the love of hockey came in the Junior league (WHL) at the will of the Lethbridge Hurricanes. Being raised an Edmonton Oiler fan in southern Alberta, I never really got to see many games (none actually) of the NHL calibre, ...
[u][b]Anaheim[/b][/u] - While Anaheim did not sign a single free agent yet this off season, they may have made the biggest headlines. They did this when the news broke that Bobby Ryan was officially traded. Ryan, the target of much speculation when it came to trades over the past year or two, was finally traded. Ryan was shipped off to the Ottowa Senators in exchange for J...
George Laraque spoke to the La Presse in MTL today about Bergevins decision to bring in Parros. Laraque has been negative towards the Canadiens since they told him to leave halfway into his 3 year contract. I do believe it is jealously. 7th round pick and a terrible prospect for a 6'5 228 pound fighter whose won a cup is a great deal. Parros won't be playing every night as...
With the NHL finally agreeing to send their players to Sochi, I began thinking of the potential roster Canada could put forth. It is crazy to think that while most of the defending gold medalists could be back, the 2010 Olympic team did not have current superstars like Stamkos, Tavares and Giroux. The firepower on this upcoming team will be extraordinary.
One big change...
So Mike Babcock is going to coach Team Canada. That's a shocker. Seriously though, lets talk about something that hasn't been known for the past year. It isn't news folks.
How about we mock up some lines for Team Canada, that's always fun.
Here's what I got lining up on Forward:
Towes/Crosby/Stamkos
Perry/Giroux/Getzlaf
Nash/Tavares/Staal
Couture/Bergeron/...
I am the GM of the old West & East Conference and I can only trade players out of their conferences , those are the 15 deals that I am proposing. ( Salary Cap , Team Needs, Depth Areas and Years Remaining on the contract are all factors included).
1. MTL - ANA Andrei Markov for Emerson Etem 1st round draft pick (2014)
( Explanation: Someone that can mentor Cam Fo...
With the winter olympics in Sochi coming up in February I thought I would predict what I think the lines will be. There is so many players good enough in Canada that we could make 5 teams that could compete for a medal. But since we can only make 1, here are my picks for the 2014 canadian olympic team....
Giroux- Stamkos- St Louis
Neal - Crosby - Staal
Hall - Ta...
As the name suggests...
Nash - Crosby - Stamkos
Sharp - Toews - Giroux
E. Staal - Getzlaf - Perry
Richards - Bergeron - Carter
Tavares
Pietrangelo - Weber
Seabrook - Keith
Doughty - Subban
Alzner - Letang
Crawford - Price - Luongo (I say Crawford because he knows how to win on good teams and winning on good teams vs winning on bad teams is very different)
...
Team Canada enters the Olympics like they enter any International tournament, the favorites to win.
After winning a nail-biting Gold Medal in 2010 on home ice, the Canadians will bring a younger roster to Sochi in hopes of a repeat. There are probably around three forward lines and two defense lines worth of players that are going and are really non-negotiable. The fina...
The 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia are approaching quickly. Bitter rivalries, intensity, dedication and honour are just some of the great reasons to be excited for this tournament. I find the roster selection and the thought of all these great stars playing side by side very interesting. Does a team like Canada throw a bunch of offensive players on their roster and...
For defensemen to succeed on the big, Olympic-sized ice you have to look for a few main tools- A smooth, fluid skater who is mobile at both ends of the ice so if he makes a mistake he an high tail it back to make up for it- You have to be smart and have good vision to see developing plays and attacks as well as having the ability to break out of your own zone with a blink ...
I grew up in rural Canada by playing hockey against our bitter rivals from the big city an hour away. Well, to us it was a big city, 3 times the size of our town though still only a little over 20,000 people lived there. Like I said, it was rural. The nearest NHL team were the Boston Bruins about 1100km, the Montreal Canadiens were about 10 kilometres further west. The pro...
Would you call them mistakes?
Personally, I like Bernier's potential and Clarkson's play. Not a big fan of Bolland, he's injured a lot and reminds me of Kaleta (rodent pest on the ice).
For the lost souls, I loved Frattin, would have molded into a great replacement for Kulemin (oh, he's gone for sure). As for Scrivens, I wish him the best.
The main issue I have wit...
[b]Well Canucks fans, Mike Gillis has done it again...[/b]
The Montreal Canadiens were reportedly interested in one of our D-Men. (I'm gonna assume Edler or Tanev)
If it WAS Edler, he had a chance to shed some salary from the back end which lets be honest, we need to do. Edler IS probably the best D-man we have...BUT we have quite a few solid guys back there and Edl...
Premièrement, j'aimerais annoncer que j'aime beaucoup la signature de Douglas Murray hier. Il s'agit d'un défenseur avec des lacunes en ce qui concerne la vitesse, mais le Canadiens devait absolument se trouver un peu de muscle pour la ligne bleue. L'addition de Douglas Murray hier veut dire que le Canadiens de Montréal se retrouve dans la même situation que l'an derni...
First of all, I have to say that I am quite happy with the acquisition of Douglas Murray. rnSure, he may not be the most complete player with speed lacking sorely in his game, but the Canadiens absolutely needed to add a little bit of grit on the back end with Emelin for the better part of the first half of the season. Oddly enough, the Murray addition means that the Canad...
The IIHF released the results of a survey they did encompassing all 62 member countries regarding the number of registered hockey players in their systems.
The international government of hockey said that the number of players has increased by almost 40,000 since last year, an increase of almost 2.5%, bringing to the total world-wide to over 1.6 million players.
Cana...
Apologies if this ends up being posted twice. Someone asked for a translation of my French blog, tried about 12 hours ago and it still hasn't shown up so here goes! First of all, I'd like to state that I am a fan of the Douglas Murray signing. Sure, this is a veteran that might be lacking in the speed department, but the Canadiens really needed to add a little muscle on th...
Hockey Pool season is almost upon us and I hope most of you have a solid group of guys/gals that you try to win money from every year. We gather in homes/garages/bars wearing jerseys and engage in drinking, chirping, and eating until the heartburn makes us hate ourselves more than picking Dany Heatly.
Everyone can usually handle the first 2-3 rounds picking the league...
Hockey Pool season is almost upon us and I hope most of you have a solid group of guys/gals that you try to win money from every year. We gather in homes/garages/bars wearing jerseys and engage in drinking, chirping, and eating until the heartburn makes us hate ourselves more than picking Dany Heatly.
Everyone can usually handle the first 2-3 rounds picking the league...
Hockey Pool season is almost upon us and I hope most of you have a solid group of guys/gals that you try to win money from every year. We gather in homes/garages/bars wearing jerseys and engage in drinking, chirping, and eating until the heartburn makes us hate ourselves more than picking Dany Heatly.
Everyone can usually handle the first 2-3 rounds picking the league...
I believe that is the mainstream media debate we are participating in, is it not? Should we send a team of absolute all-stars (we could probably send two teams) or should we try to assemble a roster of players who enjoy great chemistry with each other whilst playing in the NHL. Well let's do both and see how it turns out, shall we?
All-Star Team Canada
Goalies:
Ro...
kelholtz writes...
All-Star Team Canada Or All-Chemisty Team Canada Part 2
Posted Thursday | Comments 0
So my previous blog tackled the idea of sending a team of all-stars to Sochi to compete for gold. Today we're gonna look at the possibility of a Team Canada built upon player Chemistry. So let's do this!
Goalies:
Corey Crawford
Braden Holtby
Carey Pricern
Bear with me here. Crawford-Keith-Seabrook, a Stanley Cup Trifecta. Holtby-Green-Alzner, Capital punishment....
Hey everyone!
Hope you are all excited for the upcoming season! I know I sure am! For me, its a feeling g akin to the lead up to Christmas, your excited for all the surprises and fun nights coming up.
Anyways, let's muse about Les Canadiens.
So far in the preseason I think there's been a couple reasons to be very excited about the prospects and I'm going to ...
Hey everyone!
Hope you are all excited for the upcoming season! I know I sure am! For me, its a feeling g akin to the lead up to Christmas, your excited for all the surprises and fun nights coming up.
Anyways, let's muse about Les Canadiens.
So far in the preseason I think there's been a couple reasons to be very excited about the prospects and I'm going to ...
It wasn't exactly pretty, and the Ducks clearly have a lot of things that they need to work on, but they walked away with 2 points and their 1st win of the season. And when it comes down to it, that's what counts.
The Ducks played a good game against Minnesota. It was by no means great, and there were a lot of holes, but it was good enough. I'm still trying to figure ou...
In 1988 the Winnipeg Jets selected a young Finnish player named Teemu Selanne with their 10th overall selection. It took a few years for him to come to the NHL, but he finally did in the 92-93 season, and boy, was it worth the wait. Teemu exploded onto the scene, scoring 76 goals and 132 points as a rookie, records that stand to this day, records that may never be broken. ...
The Anaheim Ducks played their only game in Winnipeg this season. And if these two teams do not meet in the playoffs, then this was Teemu Selanne's last game in the city that he began his career in.
This was easily the Ducks best game of the season. They played hard and competed for 60 minutes, and while there were still some issues, if they play like this, they are going...
The Ducks have started their 5 game homestand with a 2-0 record. They absolutely destroyed the New York Rangers 6-0 in their home opener and followed that up with a 4-1 win over the Ottawa Senators on a night that saw the Mighty Ducks fly again.
I won't say much about the game against the Rangers. For whatever reason, that team was a mess this week. Between losing to th...
In defeating both the Calgary Flames and Phoenix Coyotes, the Ducks improved to 4-0 at home and 6-1 overall this season. While neither game was the blowout of the previous 2 games, both were hard fought victories for a Ducks team that won't quit.
I was only able to watch parts of the Ducks-Coyotes game (yes, I do have a social life outside of hockey, yes, a part of me w...
Always Mighty writes...
Ducks defeat Stars and stretch their win streak to 7 games
Posted Monday | Comments 0
The game was getting ugly fast, and quickly could have gotten out of control. But after losing Dustin Penner to a dirty hit, the Ducks rallied together and won their 7th game in a row!
The Ducks had another fast start, another explosive night offensively, and another strong performance from their netminder. While far from a perfect game (or a clean one for that matter),...
The Anaheim Ducks completed their 5 game homestand with a perfect 5-0 record and a 7 game winning streak. They are currently 7-1, the only loss being to Colorado in their home opener. While this is their best start in franchise history, the hunt for the playoffs is far from over. Tomorrow, the Ducks will embark on a 8 game road trip, their longest this season.
When the ...
I thought it would be fun to break the Ducks season up into 10 game increments, and every 10 games make a post about how the team was doing. I'd look at stats over the course of the past 10 games and compare them to the entire season and see how the team was doing. The season being only 10 games old, this 1st entry will obviously have both of those parts be one and the sam...
The Ducks have signed goalie Frederik Andersen to a 2 year contract extension. It's a 1-way contract, so he will get paid his NHL salary with the Ducks or with the Admirals. He is signed for $1 million in the 1st season and $1.3 million in the 2nd season, for an annual cap hit of $1.15 million. With him signed for 2 more years, the Ducks goaltending situation is becoming a...
After starting out their 8 game road trip 0-2, the Ducks have defeated both Ottawa and Columbus to get a .500 record half way through this trip. The game against Columbus has been the 1st game of this road trip that I have been able to watch in its entirety because all of the games on this road trip so far have started either at 4 or 4:30. While it wasn't the Ducks best ga...
The Ducks finished the month of October with a 3-2 shootout loss to the Boston Bruins (a game that I missed because I was busy terrorizing the few kids that came by), and finished with a record of 10 wins, 3 losses, and one shootout loss in 14 games, good for 21 points. And before November starts up I thought it would be fun to go through the highs and the lows of the 1st ...
The Anaheim Ducks faced the Buffalo Sabres tonight and came away with a 6-3 win. The thing is, for whatever reason, Buffalo has been a mess all season. They have 2 wins and 5 points, they have yet to win at home, and they have only scored the 1st goal in a game only once. To me, that is the perfect recipe for a desperate team that could come out and beat the Ducks if they ...
For those who are unaware of the situation in Lethbridge (Regardless of what Management believes), let me outline it for you before I couch GM a solution in just 5 easy steps.
I swear, one day I am going to start off one of these blogs in a good mood because the team I am writing about isn't an absolute nightmare. If you are reading this wondering,
[i]"Why are ...
Last night, the Anaheim Ducks returned home after a successful 8 game road trip. After dropping the 1st 2 games, the Ducks went 5-0-1 over the final 6 games, catapulting themselves to the top of the NHL standings. So many times, when a team returns from a long, successful road trip, the 1st home game back is disappointing, and often ends in a loss. Last night, the Ducks we...
Always Mighty writes...
Ducks defeat Sabres and Canucks, injury news, Steckel signed
Posted Monday | Comments 0
After defeating the Phoenix Coyotes, the Ducks had 2 games left on their 3 game homestand against the Buffalo Sabres and the Vancouver Canucks. They came away with victories in both games, extending their home record to a perfect 8-0 and extending their league leading point total to 31 with a record of 15-3-1. Frederik Andersen played in both games and improved his record ...
Always Mighty writes...
Reviewing the Ducks past 10 games (games 11-20)
Posted Thursday | Comments 0
And just like that, the 1st 20 games are on the books. Anaheim has a 15-4-1 record for 31 points, currently leading the league. As I did after the 1st 10 games of the season, I'll look back and see how the team has done over games 11-20, and see where they improved and where they regressed. I'm hoping that by breaking up the season like this I'll be able to get an idea of ...
Always Mighty writes...
Ducks trade Holland, Staubitz to Toronto for Blacker, picks
Posted Saturday | Comments 0
Earlier today the Anaheim Ducks traded center Peter Holland and right winger Brad Staubitz to the Toronto Maple Leafs for defenceman Jesse Blacker, a 3rd round pick (which could become a 2nd round pick), and a 7th round pick.
Staubitz was on a 1 way contract, and had no place in Anaheim. As such, he has been playing in Norfolk this season, but the Ducks do not like to b...
Jonathan Bernier has been nothing short of spectacular for the Maple Leafs this season. Yet, it would seem every couple of games, a goal is scored that would only happen in E division men's league. Are these house league horn sounders a tell-tale sign of things to come or just bad luck.
Bernier is one of the most fundamentally sound goaltender in the NHL. For a small g...
Sorry I haven't posted a game recap for a while. A combination of a busy life combined with most of the last several games starting early means that I haven't watched as much Ducks hockey as I would like. Having lost 5 in a row (including to Tampa last week), the Ducks were looking to get back in the win column and avenge the prior loss. Also, an injury update and a trade ...
Always Mighty writes...
Ducks sign Bonino, injury news and roster moves
Posted Saturday | Comments 0
Over the last week the Ducks have made several changes to their roster (primarily because of injuries) and signed one of their young centers to a 3 year extension.
The Ducks and center Nick Bonino have agreed on a 3 year contract extension worth $5.7 million for an annual cap hit of $1.9 million. This season, Bonino has appeared in every game for the Ducks and scored 7 ...
The Ducks finished the month of November with a 4-3 shootout loss to the San Jose Sharks, a game that they were outplayed for the 1st 40 minutes of the game but utilized a great 3rd period to get the extra point. Overall, the Ducks played 15 games in November and had a record of 8-4-3, good for 19 points. As I did with Otober, I'll go through the highs and lows of the prev...
No question, games 21-30 was the worst 10 game stretch for Anaheim so far this season. After going 15-4-1 through the 1st 20 games, the Ducks went 3-3-4 for 10 points in their last 10 games. The Ducks did improve their special teams play, but their overall play suffered, and injuries continue to be a huge concern for the team.
As always, I'll 1st start with individual s...
Well, I was finally able to watch most of a Ducks game (some electrical issues kept me blacked out through the 1st 12ish minutes), so I can finally do my next game write up. Last night, the New York Islanders came to the Pond. They had lost 9 straight road games, and the Ducks were coming home from a successful road trip that saw them pick up wins against 2 of the NHL's el...
Through 36 games, the Ducks have played a league high 21 road games with a record of 11-7-3 away from the Pond (versus having only played 15 games at home, tied for 29th in the league). Those 11 wins are topped only by 2 other teams (Los Angeles and Chicago) and no team in the Eastern Conference has more than 10 wins. While the Ducks are not as good away from home (13-0-2)...
Always Mighty writes...
Ducks win 10th in a row, extend home points streak to 16
Posted Sunday | Comments 0
After 3 days off, the Ducks were taking on the Phoenix Coyotes coming out of the Christmas break. It was a game that easily could have turned into a loss. The Ducks were 3-0 against Phoenix coming into the game, and earlier this season the Ducks handed the Coyotes their 1st regulation home loss this season. The Coyotes clearly wanted to exact revenge against the Ducks and ...
In the Ducks 1st 10 games of the season, they had 7 wins and 3 losses. I figured that would probably be their best 10 game stretch of the season. Hopefully they would equal that output again later in the season, but I wasn't expecting a better stretch. And then in their 2nd 10 game stretch of the season the Ducks went 8-1-1. Just 10 games later and the Ducks had already pu...
The Ducks enter the half way point of the season with a record of 28-8-5, and their 61 points tie them with Chicago for the top spot in the entire NHL (with Chicago winning tonight, they now sit 2nd overall, but at the 41 game mark, the 2 teams were tied in points). The Ducks currently hold a 5 point lead in the Pacific Division over the Sharks, and the Kings are 2 points ...
I just wanted to quickly write a quick congratulations to Cam Fowler for being named to the US Olympic Team! During the summer, he was named as one of the possibilities for Team USA, but I figured he was a long shot at best. While an excellent skater, his offense had all but dried up since his rookie season (1 goal and 11 points last season) and his defensive game still ha...
The Ducks finished the month of December with a 6-3 over the San Jose Sharks on New Years Eve. After the Sharks had ended the Ducks 10 game winning streak, the Ducks were looking to get revenge on their California rivals and did just that. Overall, the Ducks played 13 games in December and had a record of 11-1-1, good for 23 points! As with November and October, I'll go th...
Last night the Ducks took on the Edmonton Oilers, a team that has been mired in misery for years now and have shown little improvement despite their several 1st overall draft picks. It should have been an easy game for the high flying Ducks, and the score of 5-2 would seem to indicate that, but the game, especially was the 1st period, was much more difficult that most woul...
The Anaheim Ducks have signed forward Andrew Cogliano to a 4 year deal worth $12 million. This is a great deal for both sides, but in particular for the Ducks. If Cogliano had become a UFA this season, he would probably command upwards of $3.5-$4 million a year, instead of the average of $3 million that he has been signed. And the 4 years and $12 million is nice for Coglia...
The Ducks have been absolutely dominant at home this season, losing only twice, and never in regulation. The looked to extend that home dominance against the Canucks tonight, but ran into a goalie playing out of his mind, combine that with a terrible 1st period, and the Ducks almost lost the game. But a late goal in the 3rd tied the game, and then a goal with seconds left ...
A lot of people are picking their Canadian Olympic hockey team, so I thought I would give my input. rn First I will start with the forward lines;rn 1st Line: Tavares-Crosby-Stamkos (If he is healthy by Sochi) rn2nd Line: Getzlaf-Toews-Perry rn3rd Line: Couture-Thornton-Giroux rn4th Line: Sharp-Bergeron-Duchene rnExtras: ...
Everyone always says Canada could ice two hockey teams so I'm going to choose the other guys. The ones people are leaving off their teams. So first let's go over the locks for the real team canada.
Goalies Lunogo and Price. Crawford?
Defence Weber, Doughty, Keith, Pietranglo, Vasic?, Bowmeester?, Seabrook?, Subban ?
Forwards Crosby, Toews, Bergeron, Getzlaf, Perry, S...
The Anaheim Ducks are sending 7 players to the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Cam Fowler was chosen for Team USA, Teemu Selanne and Sami Vatanen for Team Finland, Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf for Team Canada, Jonas Hiller for Team Switzerland, and Jakob Silfverberg for Team Sweden. I've already discussed Fowler, so I'll focus this post on the Ducks other 6 Olympians and...
Always Mighty writes...
Reviewing the Ducks past 10 games (games 41-50)
Posted Saturday | Comments 0
After winning 10 games in a row, I knew that the Ducks would not be able to match that pace over their next 10 game stretch. But, the amazing this is, while they did lose 2 games, they still put up another 8 game winning streak and have won 18 of their last 20 games, easily the best stretch of regular season hockey in Ducks history. Besides the insane number of games that ...
Back on August 20th, the Anaheim Ducks signed defenseman Mark Fistric to a 1 year contract worth $900,000. At the time, I didn't think much of it. I didn't know much about Fistric other than he used his body effectively but wasn't a great skater. With Sheldon Souray sidelined until December or January, it was clear that the Ducks needed some help on the backend. Today, Sou...
The Ducks finished the month of January with a 5-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers, the only time this season (barring them meeting in the playoffs) that the Flyers will come to the Pond. The Ducks played 14 games this month and won 11 games. Overall, the Ducks had an 11-3 record for 22 points. While they didn't have the record breaking month that was December, the Ducks ...
After winning 18 games in a 19 game stretch, it was clear that the Ducks were going to have a bit of a drop off in play. In today's NHL it is almost impossible to keep a streak like that going for long, and the fact that the Ducks have been able to have lengthy winning streaks this season is a testament to how well they have played this season. Over the last 10 games the D...
In light of the recent NHL hiatus I, like many hockey fans, have turned my attention towards the Winter Olympic Games that are currently taking place in Sochi, Russia. Similar to the food for thought being offered by legions of armchair GM’s around the world of hockey, I thought I would weigh in with my predictions of how this prestigious tournament will play itself out....
In light of the recent NHL hiatus I, like many hockey fans, have turned my attention towards the Winter Olympic Games that are currently taking place in Sochi, Russia. Similar to the food for thought being offered by legions of armchair GM’s around the world of hockey, I thought I would weigh in with my predictions of how this prestigious tournament will play itself out....
7 Ducks returned from Sochi, 5 of them with medals. But all 7 had successful tournaments, in fact, one could argue that the 2 who didn't medal had just as good a tournament, if not better, than the 5 who did. I'll start with the non-medal winners, and then work my way from Bronze to Gold. I will also give a quick injury update at the end (players got healthy over the break...
The Ducks finished off the month of February with a 1-0 win over the visiting St. Louis Blues in their 1st game since the Olympic break. Because of the Olympic break the Ducks played only 5 games and won 2 of them, this is the only month so far this season that the Ducks have finished with a record below .500.
The worst game for the Ducks in February was the 2-0 loss to...
Always Mighty writes...
Ducks make 3 trades on the eve of the trade deadline
Posted Tuesday | Comments 0
The Anaheim Ducks got an early jump on the trade deadline, making 3 trades that I believe improved the team. How much of an improvement is debatable, but I do believe that the Ducks tonight are better than they were this morning. And Bob Murray has put the Ducks in a position to make a big splash before the deadline hits tomorrow at noon Pacific.
In the 1st move of the ...
Say what you will about fans of the Montreal Canadiens. Sometimes they're overly optimistic. Sometimes they're irrationally pessimistic. But they're always passionate. News of the acquisition of Thomas Vanek sent Habs fans across the country into parade planning mode, and while the Cup may still be a pipedream for this club, Vanek gives this fanbase, which hasn't had all t...
The NHL Trade Deadline came and went, and most of the deals made today were not gross overpayments, and the Ducks followed that pattern. And because the Ducks weren't willing to overpay, the trade deadline passed rather quietly in Anaheim. One minor league deal was made, but other than that, the Ducks stood pat and feel like they already have a team that is good enough to ...
Coming out of the Olympic break the Ducks had a 5 game homestand and a real opportunity to pull ahead from the rest of the NHL. Instead, the Ducks went 2-1-2 for 6 points, and in that time the St. Louis Blues have moved into 1st overall in the NHL and the San Jose Sharks find themselves just a couple of points behind the Pacific Division leaders. The Ducks won their 1st 2 ...
Boy, that cushion disappeared fast.
Once considered near locks for the playoffs, Montreal now find itself in one of the two wild card spots after a single win in their last five games. Over that stretch, backup Peter Budaj and AHL starter Dustin Tokarski have allowed eighteen goals, or 3.6 per game. At the time of year when playoff teams look to gain home ice and bubble...
Always Mighty writes...
Injuries to Fowler and Bonino leave holes for others to fill
Posted Thursday | Comments 0
On the eve of their biggest game of the season so far, the Ducks have announced that Cam Fowler, their best defenseman all season long, will be sidelined for the next 3 to 5 weeks with a sprained left MCL. Coming into this season it was unclear if Fowler would be able to take the next step and become a top pairing defenseman for the Ducks, and he has answered that with a r...
Always Mighty writes...
Reviewing the Ducks past 10 games (games 61-70)
Posted Saturday | Comments 0
After going 5-5 into the Olympic break, the Ducks came out strong, winning their 1st 2 games post Olympics, but then stumbled and only won 2 of their next 8 games, going 2-4-2 in the process. Overall, in the Ducks last 10 games the team went 4-4-2, good for 10 points and technically a record of .500, but this was the most difficult 10 game stretch of the season for the Duc...
Always Mighty writes...
Anaheim Ducks qualify for Stanley Cup Playoffs!
Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
Back on October 2nd, the Anaheim Ducks started out on a journey that is still far from over. The goal of that journey was a simple one. Over the course of an 82 game schedule where they would face every single team in the NHL, win enough games to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. And with Dallas losing tonight, that goal was finally realized, and the Ducks still have 1...
The Ducks finished the month of March with a wild come from behind victory over the visiting Winnipeg Jets. The Ducks were down 4-0 late in the 2nd, but scored once at the end of the 2nd period, 3 times in the 3rd, and once in overtime to give the Ducks their biggest come from behind victory in franchise history. It was also the teams 49th victory this season, also a new f...
Always Mighty writes...
Ducks struggle to find consistency during homestand
Posted Sunday | Comments 0
Over the past week the Ducks went 2-1 during a 3 game homestand. Despite the Ducks winning ways all 3 games showed that the Ducks have some serious issues to work out before the playoffs begin. As the regular season winds down the Ducks need to focus on playing well. Not necessarily the best they've been all season, but they do need to be playing well and giving a full 60 ...
Game One in Boston did not disappoint. The former Northeast (now Atlantic) division rivals traded blows with the Canadiens opening up a two-goal lead early in the second period on Rene Bourque's team leading fourth goal of the playoffs. The home-town Bruins roared back in the third, dominating the puck and out-shooting their opponents by a startling margin. This play e...
Game One in Boston did not disappoint. The former Northeast (now Atlantic) division rivals traded blows with the Canadiens opening up a two-goal lead early in the second period on Rene Bourque's team leading fourth goal of the playoffs. The home-town Bruins roared back in the third, dominating the puck and out-shooting their opponents by a startling margin. This play e...
[img]http://www.montrealgazette.com/cms/binary/9633478.jpg[/img]rnrnrnThomas Vanek is a shooting star on the move. rnrnVanek played for three different NHL teams in the 2013-2014 season: The Buffalo Sabres, New York Islanders, and Montreal Canadians. Vanek's combined effort for the three teams in 78 games played was 27 goals and 41 assists for a total of 68 points. In te...
After eight years of this. After eight years of false promises, excuses, and mistakes. I think this is the one thing fans need to hear the most. The Edmonton Oilers have been a shining example of mediocrity for almost an entire decade. Yes, we have had the likes of Tambellini, Mactavish, and Lowe stand in front of media and say things like "obviously we aren't where we wan...
neilsonnn18 writes...
Give Jim a Chance -- Pittsburgh Penguins New GM Evaluation
Posted Saturday | Comments 0
"In a new General Managers first press conference, we want to hear his 5-year plan, - not that he sees his time here as short term."rnrn"I wanted a young, new, fresh general manager, not this old guy."rnrn"The Hurricanes haven't made the playoffs in five years, how is this an improvement for the Penguins?" rnrnThese, among others, are the complaints I've heard about new Pe...
neilsonnn18 writes...
Give Jim a Chance -- Pittsburgh Penguins New GM Evaluation
Posted Saturday | Comments 0
"In a new General Managers first press conference, we want to hear his 5-year plan, - not that he sees his time here as short term." "I wanted a young, new, fresh general manager, not this old guy." "The Hurricanes haven't made the playoffs in five years, how is this an improvement for the Penguins?" These, among others, are the complaints I've heard about new Penguins Gen...
neilsonnn18 writes...
Give Jim a Chance -- Pittsburgh Penguins New GM Evaluation
Posted Saturday | Comments 0
"In a new General Managers first press conference, we want to hear his 5-year plan, - not that he sees his time here as short term." "I wanted a young, new, fresh general manager, not this old guy." "The Hurricanes haven't made the playoffs in five years, how is this an improvement for the Penguins?" These, among others, are the complaints I've heard about new Penguins Gen...
neilsonnn18 writes...
Give Jim a Chance -- Pittsburgh Penguins New GM Evaluation
Posted Saturday | Comments 0
"In a new General Managers first press conference, we want to hear his 5-year plan, - not that he sees his time here as short term." "I wanted a young, new, fresh general manager, not this old guy." "The Hurricanes haven't made the playoffs in five years, how is this an improvement for the Penguins?" These, among others, are the complaints I've heard about new Penguins Gen...
neilsonnn18 writes...
Give Jim a Chance -- Pittsburgh Penguins New GM Evaluation
Posted Saturday | Comments 0
"In a new General Managers first press conference, we want to hear his 5-year plan, - not that he sees his time here as short term." "I wanted a young, new, fresh general manager, not this old guy." "The Hurricanes haven't made the playoffs in five years, how is this an improvement for the Penguins?" These, among others, are the complaints I've heard about new Penguins Gen...
neilsonnn18 writes...
Give Jim a Chance -- Pittsburgh Penguins New GM Evaluation
Posted Saturday | Comments 0
"In a new General Managers first press conference, we want to hear his 5-year plan, - not that he sees his time here as short term." "I wanted a young, new, fresh general manager, not this old guy." "The Hurricanes haven't made the playoffs in five years, how is this an improvement for the Penguins?" These, among others, are the complaints I've heard about new Penguins Gen...
neilsonnn18 writes...
Give Jim a Chance -- Pittsburgh Penguins New GM Evaluation
Posted Sunday | Comments 0
"In a new General Managers first press conference, we want to hear his 5-year plan, - not that he sees his time here as short term."
"I wanted a young, new, fresh general manager, not this old guy."
"The Hurricanes haven't made the playoffs in five years, how is this an improvement for the Penguins?"
These, among others, are the complaints I've heard about new ...
neilsonnn18 writes...
Give Jim a Chance -- Pittsburgh Penguins New GM Evaluation
Posted Sunday | Comments 0
"In a new General Managers first press conference, we want to hear his 5-year plan, - not that he sees his time here as short term."
"I wanted a young, new, fresh general manager, not this old guy."
"The Hurricanes haven't made the playoffs in five years, how is this an improvement for the Penguins?"
These, among others, are the complaints I've heard about new ...
Of all the potential changes yet to occur in Leafland through possible trades, call-ups, free agency and the draft, I believe the biggest change has already occurred with the addition of Brendan Shanahan. For better or for worse, I believe Shanahan to be a person who will look to change how the organization is run and there will be plenty of changes behind the scenes and ...
http://nhlpenguins.sportsblog.com/posts/665899/penguins_realistic_free_agency_idea.html
http://nhlpenguins.sportsblog.com/posts/665899/penguins_realistic_free_agency_idea.html
DirtyPierre writes...
Nylander Over Ehlers?! Leafs Missed The Boat On This One
Posted Friday | Comments 0
Nikolaj Ehlers is a great young, proven skilled player who can play in the North American style of hockey. Ehlers aside from having proven independent skill, he's a great team player and a winger to boot and a left winger at that. He thrived on the Halifax Mooseheads playing with talent like Nathan MacKinnon and Jonathan Drouin. He could easily fit in on a third or even se...
JAKUB VRANA LW/RW (13th), VITEK VANECEK G (39th), NATHAN WALKER LW (89th), SHANE GERSICH C/LW (134th), STEVEN SPINNER RW (159th), KEVIN ELGESTAL RW (194th). No Defense in the draft, but I do know the organization has Defense as a priority. So I assume they will be very active in the Free Agency market come July 1st.
Today's FA extravaganza and the week or so leading up to it showed me a couple of things, as a Habs fan, that maybe the years of the two-headed soap opera that was the Gainey-Gauthier regime made me forget was even possible. I saw a management team go about the business of managing a professional sports team with the aim of making the team better, as well as more financial...
This is the the way I see this ship veering. Perhaps with a few of my own thoughts and theories, however this is the path upon which I believe the Leafs are embarking.
In an attempt to add addition draft picks or in order to move up further into the top 10, Toronto General Manager Dave Nonis was hard at work pumping the phone lines and attempting to deal off some of hi...
The Montreal Canadiens, especially general manager Marc Bergevin, are being praised for making the final four and finally becoming a major contender in the Eastern Conference. Even though the habs took huge steps forward with a much needed successful season, the pressure will surely mount as a hockey mad city is sure to have their expectations through the roof next season....
FOLLOW ME on Twitter @DailyNHLGrind
Saku Koivu announced his retirement from hockey today after a long career spanning 18 years. Unlike others who have managed to stick around for nearly two decades, Koivu was not blessed with health his entire way through. He fought through things other players had never even thought about having to deal with.
Koivu is the epitome o...
Greetings and happy Canadian Thanksgiving!
[b]Game 4 - Habs vs Bolts
[/b]
If you are like me, then you watched that train-wreck of a game until it was over. I'm sorry you had to see that. There are games that we enjoy as fans, and then there are those like tonight where our time would have been better spent cleansing our colons. The end result would have been the same...
Greetings,
[b]Habs vs Bruins[/b]
Anyone else love the Dryden to Price torch hand-off?
In the world of sports there are very few rivalries that sparks such intense emotions than Bruins vs Habs. Am I happy with the outcome? Yes. Am I happy with how the game went? Nope. But let's break that down, shall we?
I'm getting this out of the way right away. I didn't like ...
Greetings,
[b]Habs [/b][b]vs [/b][b]Avs[/b]
Before I get into the actual game, I would like to say congrats to Pierre Gervais on 2500 games in the NHL. I've never heard of an equipment manger as loved, nor a team throwing one a ceremony before, but hats off to the Habs on celebrating what has been a hard working and accomplished career so far. Keep in mind he's won a...
Greetings,
[b]Habs vs Wings[/b]
So this edition of the Habs has done something that hasn't been done since the 77/78 season, which is to win 6 of 7 to start a season. This torrid pace might not be sustainable for 82 games, but every point now is money in the bank when things get tight near the end of the season.
I'll be the first to admit I began to feel a little ...
Greetings!
[b]Habs vs Rangers[/b]
Before I start I need to rant a little.
WTF is up with CBC/Sportsnet with only playing Leaf games on Hockey Night in Canada?!? Seriously, if I wanted to watch a mind numbing show I would turn on the Kardashians and slowly wait for my brain cells to die. It would hurt less...
Now on to the Habs.
You would have to go back 50 y...
Thanks For Reading.
What, on earth, do you do with this hockey club?
I hear a lot of "no-donts" online about them. Let's face it, the last time they had success, that success' name was Chris Pronger, and his wife nagged him to Anaheim. Since then, they've been nothing but a train-stop in a dead city.
I'm not going to give some pretentious thorough evaluation of the team. ...
Well here we are again ladies and gentlemen. Your bellies full of turkey, pajama pants on (or no pants, I don't judge) and watching the World Juniors to get a chance to actually see some wins and decide what players would look good in copper and blue next season.
The Oilers are a train wreck. I think if anyone told you that this team was going to be worse than last year...
It’s hard to believe, but almost half of the NHL season is already in the books. At this moment, the Anaheim Ducks lead the league with 54 points. Tampa Bay leads the Eastern Conference. Montreal is currently #4 in the East, while Toronto is currently in playoff contention in the #7 spot. Winnipeg and Vancouver occupy the #6th and #7th spots respectively in the Western C...
royalgardens writes...
In Shanahan We Trust? Carlyle Clearly Not the Right Choice?
Posted Tuesday | Comments 0
So Randy Carlyle has finally bitten the dust.
I had a good idea that one day I would be reading about the news here in Chicago at some point, but the timing to me makes no sense. The Leafs may as well bring in John Tortorella and really have some fun! I got a kick out of the TSN 1050 guys from this evenings chat talking about what a field day the media would have if To...
In the recent past I’ve been spouting the need for the NHL to revise the point system to reflect a more accurate landscape when it come to teams who win in regulation. My idea for a point system would be 3 for a win, 2 for an O.T. win, 1 for a shoot out win, and zero for losers. I did my research on this prior to last night’s games so they’re already outdated but I w...
Ok the leafs ave shown the ability to score, and now to a point the ability for defense. Its eiter one or the other, why bad personnel tat don't mesh as a proper hockey team. The players are good but many missing factors. Want to improve it, its not a quick answer but a reset or 2-3 years as opposed to rebuild 4-5 years is all that is needed. Why here is a list of their st...
rnrnMinors, majors, up and downs, career 4th liner to top line on one of the best teams in the Eastern Conferece - what has Dale Weise done to get there and stay there?rnrnBrought over in a trade from Vancouver for Raphael Diaz, Weise had been a grinder, sticking his chin into situations attempting to change momentum for his team. Drafted 111th overall in '08 by the Range...
DVSP got bumped quickly to the 2nd line last night in Columbus. He didn't do anything too exciting but a couple of nice chances, a few hits and some blocked shots (a -2 doesn't help but) you can't ask for much more in your first game.
The starting line is solid. Patches and Gallagher are here, signed up and locked in for a while. We could use an upgrade at top line cen...
One has to believe watching Carey play that the Stanley Cup is not too far off. It is a perfect script. He has done it all and then some. He now stands alone atop the Montreal Canadian goaltenders for total wins in a single season with 43 to date surpassing the likes of Plante and Dryden. What a remarkable achievement!
Since being drafted he has won a Calder Trophy, a g...
Well it's been quite the week in Oil Country. Exactly one week ago, morale was about as low as it's ever been at the end of a season. The Oilers finished 28th overall, and while in previous years fans had been dissapointed, the draft was still a chance to look optimistically at the future. This year, even though this draft has been called one of the deepest drafts of the l...
Reddevil45 writes...
Montreal Canadiens against TB Lightning: Series Prediction
Posted Friday | Comments 0
The Montreal Canadiens face the Tampa Bay Lightning in the second round. The last time these two met was in last year’s Stanley Cup 1st round where The Canadiens swept the Lightning. When they met Ben Bishop missed the series due to a dislocated elbow, which proved to be one of the main reasons for them getting swept. Bishop didn’t play at his best in the 1st six games...
LeafLove93 writes...
Off Season Targets for Shanahan (in a leaf fans eyes)
Posted Monday | Comments 0
Its no surprise to anyone that the Leafs roster will look significantly different come the start of next season, I thought it would be fun to throw my couch potato GM’ing out there for others to read about. Not all of these would work together but all would be improvement for both teams.
New York Islanders:
Target: Griffin Reinhart + Josh Ho-Sang + Nikolai Kulemin
...
KABOOM.
Many have speculated and this week starts the changing of the guard in the NHL. The LA’s, Chicago’s, and Boston have run into a huge obstacle… Namely the salary cap. With so many teams rebuilding, retooling and shifting gears this week promises to be the beginning of the most active off season in over a decade. So what can we expect?
Anaheim – One mu...
Now before people go off half cocked just remember all of these teams had a chance to negotiate contracts with these players for fair market value before the day after the NHL draft or file for arbitration.
As soon as an offersheet is put down as an NHL GM i would look at the other RFA's on the team and find the one I like and put an offer sheet down.
So here is how ...
I am a Canucks fan and I look at their current roster and I can't help but think someone's gotta go.
Forwards
Daniel
Henrik
Vrbata
Burrows
Higgins
Bonino
Vey
Horvat
Hansen
Dorsett
Prust
Kenins
Baertschi (though still unsigned assumed he's a lock for the team)
Thats 13 one-way contracts at forward and team management saying they want to give Virtanen a ...
The 2014-2015 season gave Habs fans a lot to think about, after the Regular Season success and a unwanted, but half expected early exit from the Playoffs.rnrnThis article will cover the play of Carey Price and how NHL Fans view the All Star.
The most common question revolves on the success of the Habs laying strictly on the Goaltender. If that is the case, the play of P...
I'll be the first to tell you that I didn't necessarily go out and buy a Semin jersey when Marc Bergevin gave him a 1 year deal with Le Bleu Blanc et Rouge. Actually, I probably have the worst luck when buying Habs jerseys/T-shirts. After I purchase them, the player of choice for my new gear typically gets traded, sign elsewhere, or bought out (Prust, Komisarek, Laraque). ...
We are 30 Days away from the beginning of the 2015-2016 NHL Season. Summer is coming to an end, and we are all looking forward to puck drop. We still need to go through the steps of the off season before we get excited. For Habs fans, we welcome the Golf Tournament, Medical Checks, Training Camp and Pre-Season Games. If we could fast forward to October 7th, and skip the ev...
The Marc Bergevin machine is now fully operational, next year we will see what he has been working on for some time. Alex Semin, Dale Weise, Tom Gilbert and yes, Thomas Plekanec will all be UFAs, Semin and Gilbert will most likely be let go making room for youth. However, with the way the organization is setup, Bergevin is now in a position of power, he can extend the cont...
rangerdanger94 writes...
Hockeybuzz Fanstove: Who will win the Eastern Conference?
Posted Monday | Comments 0
Welcome to the first edition of the Hockeybuzz Fanstove.
This series, inspired by the successful Hockeybuzz Hotstove, will share the views of regular posters.
For our first question, we will tackle the Hotstove’s most recent question: who will win the Eastern Conference?
[b]mdw7413[/b]
I think it will be a toss-up between the Rangers, Bolts and Penguins if th...
The Pittsburgh Penguins have made it very clear that they are committed to dominating via an overpowering offence. They have a very deep core of forwards, many of which are able to play top six minutes. Unfortunately for some of these guys, this depth is going to drastically cut their ice time.
When we look at the top six for the Pens, we instantly notice the big tw...
With the Blue Jackets still on the market for a defenseman, Cam Fowler's name has been surfacing around the league as of late.
Fowler was drafted 12th overall in the 2010 NHL Draft. This year, he has 2 points in 11 games. Boston reportedly has interest in Fowler. Buffalo also appears to have interest in him as well as teammate Frederik Andersen.
But would Columb...
With the Blue Jackets still on the market for a defenseman, Cam Fowler's name has been surfacing around the league as of late.
Fowler was drafted 12th overall in the 2010 NHL Draft. This year, he has 2 points in 11 games. Boston reportedly has interest in Fowler. Buffalo also appears to have interest in him as well as teammate Frederik Andersen.
But would Columb...
With the Blue Jackets still on the market for a defenseman, Cam Fowler's name has been surfacing around the league as of late.
Fowler was drafted 12th overall in the 2010 NHL Draft. This year, he has 2 points in 11 games. Boston reportedly has interest in Fowler. Buffalo also appears to have interest in him as well as teammate Frederik Andersen.
But would Columb...
Zak MacMillan writes...
Game No. 15- Columbus Blue Jackets @ Anaheim Ducks
Posted Friday | Comments 0
The final game in California brings the Jackets to Orange County to take on the struggling Ducks. The Ducks and Jackets have the same amount of wins this season: three. They also have the same expectations- playoffs. But different expectations into the playoffs. Last season, the Ducks were one game away from the Stanley Cup finals. The Jackets' upgrades in the offseaso...
Zak MacMillan writes...
Game No. 15- Columbus Blue Jackets @ Anaheim Ducks
Posted Friday | Comments 0
The final game in California brings the Jackets to Orange County to take on the struggling Ducks. The Ducks and Jackets have the same amount of wins this season: three. They also have the same expectations- playoffs. But different expectations into the playoffs. Last season, the Ducks were one game away from the Stanley Cup finals. The Jackets' upgrades in the offseaso...
Zak MacMillan writes...
Game No. 15- Columbus Blue Jackets @ Anaheim Ducks
Posted Friday | Comments 0
The final game in California brings the Jackets to Orange County to take on the struggling Ducks. The Ducks and Jackets have the same amount of wins this season: three. They also have the same expectations- playoffs. But different expectations into the playoffs. Last season, the Ducks were one game away from the Stanley Cup finals. The Jackets' upgrades in the offseaso...
Zak MacMillan writes...
CBJ Post-Game Recap- Game No. 14 (@LA) and Game No. 15: @ANA
Posted Saturday | Comments 0
On Thursday night, the Columbus Blue Jackets defeated the Los Angeles Kings by a final score of 3-2. This improves the Jackets record to 4-10-0 on the season.
The game was a very physical game, including two fights and eight total minors. Captain Nick Folingo dropped the gloves with Kyle Clifford. Gregory Campbell fought Andy Andreoff. Also, each team had 26 hits e...
Zak MacMillan writes...
CBJ Post-Game Recap- Game No. 14 (@LA) and Game No. 15: @ANA
Posted Saturday | Comments 0
On Thursday night, the Columbus Blue Jackets defeated the Los Angeles Kings by a final score of 3-2. This improves the Jackets record to 4-10-0 on the season.
The game was a very physical game, including two fights and eight total minors. Captain Nick Folingo dropped the gloves with Kyle Clifford. Gregory Campbell fought Andy Andreoff. Also, each team had 26 hits e...
MintEdition writes...
The Ducks got the flu - the Bourdreu bug has arrived
Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
Many are the thoughts on whats going on in the Ducks camp?
- Getzlaf has one goal
- Kesler one goal
- Perry has seven
- Goaltending stable but not decided - still three goalies in the mix
- New arrival Hagelin miss managed early out (now maybe out of the closet)
- Defence good - but is it playoff good - not in my mind
[b]What I would call all this is that the ...
Zak MacMillan writes...
CBJ Game No. 26- Columbus Blue Jackets @ Montréal Canadiens
Posted Tuesday | Comments 0
Bonjour tout la monde! This evening, the Columbus Blue Jackets travel to the Bell Centré to battle the Montréal Canadiens. The Habs currently sit atop of the Atlantic Division; the Jackets are near the bottom of the Eastern Conference. The last game these teams played (not against each other), the Habs lost to New Jersey in overtime; for Columbus, it was a regulation...
Bon matin mes amis. Hier soir, les Canadiens de Montréal à gagné encore. Le finale est 2-1. C'était un bon match de hockey pour les Canadiens et les Blue Jackets.
The Jackets stayed with Montréal until the end of the game, but the regulation loss doesn't help Columbus in their climb back up the standings.
The Habs got goals from Paul Byron and Max Pacioret...
Bon matin mes amis. Hier soir, les Canadiens de Montréal à gagné encore. Le finale est 2-1. C'était un bon match de hockey pour les Canadiens et les Blue Jackets.
The Jackets stayed with Montréal until the end of the game, but the regulation loss doesn't help Columbus in their climb back up the standings.
The Habs got goals from Paul Byron and Max Pacioret...
As we are in the midst of the holiday season and looking ahead both to 2016 and The Winter Classic, here are 12 takes on The Boston Bruins season thus far.
1-6:
[b]Claude Julien - Coach of the Year[/b]
For my money, [b]Claude Julien[/b] has to be the front runner for coach of the year honors in the NHL this season. Are there really any other clubs having unexp...
Zak MacMillan writes...
CBJ Game No. 50- Montreal Canadiens v. Columbus Blue Jackets
Posted Monday | Comments 0
What a treat for Columbus. The struggling Habs come to Columbus to battle here tonight prior to crossing the border tomorrow. The Jackets are still without head coach John Tortorella after suffering broken ribs during a practice outside at the a Winter Park, colliding with ex-Hab Rene Borque.
The Habs have been struggling lately in every position, and the biggest r...
Oh my goodness. Last night, the Blue Jackets snapped their losing streak to the Montreal Canadiens, by a final score of 5-2.
Montreal got goals from Brendan Gallagher and PK Subban. Other players with points include Andrei Markov and Jeff Petry. Lars Eller, my player to watch, played 15:22 last night with a plus/minus -1 rating and one shot on net. Mike Condon allowed...
Zak MacMillan writes...
CBJ Game No. 51: Columbus Blue Jackets @ Montreal Canadiens
Posted Tuesday | Comments 0
CBJ Game No. 51: Columbus Blue Jackets @ Montreal Canadiens
Bonjour mes amies. Ce soir, les sont voyages à Québec. Hier soir, le est frappe les Canadiens, 5-2.
Tonight, revenge is on the mind of the Habs after losing to Columbus last night. The question is how tired are both teams.
Projected Lineups
Columbus Blue Jackets
Boone Jenner – Brandon Dubins...
Zak MacMillan writes...
CBJ Game No. 51: Columbus Blue Jackets @ Montreal Canadiens
Posted Tuesday | Comments 0
CBJ Game No. 51: Columbus Blue Jackets @ Montreal Canadiens
Bonjour mes amies. Ce soir, les sont voyages à Québec. Hier soir, le est frappe les Canadiens, 5-2.
Tonight, revenge is on the mind of the Habs after losing to Columbus last night. The question is how tired are both teams.
Projected Lineups
Columbus Blue Jackets
Boone Jenner – Brandon Dubins...
CBJ Post-Game No. 51- Looking Up
The Jackets did it last night. They completed a home and home series that now has them inching up the standings. The final score was 5-2. They are now tied with Edmonton and Toronto, but they have played the most games.
Montreal got goals from Alex Galchenyuk (my player to watch) and Devante Smith-Pelly. Other players with points inc...
CBJ Post-Game No. 51- Looking Up
The Jackets did it last night. They completed a home and home series that now has them inching up the standings. The final score was 5-2. They are now tied with Edmonton and Toronto, but they have played the most games.
Montreal got goals from Alex Galchenyuk (my player to watch) and Devante Smith-Pelly. Other players with points inc...
Zak MacMillan writes...
CBJ Game No. 56- Columbus Blue Jackets v. Anaheim Ducks
Posted Thursday | Comments 0
CBJ Game No. 56- Columbus Blue Jackets v. Anaheim Ducks
Lineups
Columbus Blue Jackets
Boone Jenner - Brandon Dubinsky - Cam Atkinson
Brandon Saad - Alexander Wennberg - Scott Hartnell
Matt Calvert - William Karlsson - Nick Foligno
Kerby Rychel - Gregory Campbell - Rene Bourque
Ryan Murray - Seth Jones
Jack Johnson - Cody Goloubef
Fedor Tyutin - Dalton Prou...
Last night, the Columbus Blue Jackets managed a comeback victory over the Might Ducks of Anaheim by a final score of 4-3 in a shootout. This win pushes the Jackets further up the standings, putting them at 26th overall, and one point behind 25th (Winnipeg). This win for Columbus got Anaheim a point, which helps them creep closer and closer to second place in the Pacific Di...
Zak MacMillan writes...
My Reactions to Trades- Deadline and Before (Longest Blog Pd
Posted Monday | Comments 0
SubTitle: My Longest Blog Ever
What is better than seeing and hearing about trades at the trade deadline? Reacting to the trades from the deadline. This blog is my thoughts on the trades that happened prior to and the day of the NHL Trade Deadline.
__________________________________________________________________
[b]During the Week[/b]
_____________________________...
Round One
Eastern Conference
Washington Capitals v. Philadelphia Flyers
Tampa Bay Lightning v. Detroit Red Wings
New York Rangers v. Pittsburgh Penguins
New York Islanders v. Florida Panthers
Western Conference
Dallas Stars v. Minnesota Wild
St. Louis Blues v. Chicago Blackhawks
Anaheim Ducks v. Nashville Predators
Los Angeles Kings v. San Jos...
Moves happen every year with players. New teams appear in the playoffs each year as well. This article will list which playoff team has a former Blue Jacket for all you fans to keep track of at home.
Anaheim: Corey Tropp
Chicago: Tim Jackman, Artem Anisimov
Dallas:
Detroit:
Florida Panthers: Derek MacKenzie
Los Angeles: Jeff Carter, Marian Gaborik
Min...
Zak MacMillan writes...
NHL Playoff Thoughts: Round Two Predictions and More
Posted Tuesday | Comments 0
The first round of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs will draw to a close on Wednesday night, the same time the second round of the playoffs commences.
On Wednesday, the round one matchup (game 7) is between the Pacific Division winning Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and the first wild card team Nashville Predators. The series has been a sea saw battle as these teams are on the sa...
Zak MacMillan writes...
NHL Playoff Thoughts: Management Changes; Conference Finals
Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
Welcome to my NHL Playoff Thoughts blog, the second round edition. Thus far, there has been plenty of changes in management, and we have our Conference Final matchups.
As for the management changes, there have been changes of guard in six teams- Arizona, Florida, Minnesota, Ottawa, Anaheim, and Calgary.
The Coyotes made a gutsy move in promoting assistant general m...
Trade Idea.rnrnTo Montreal Canadiens To Columbus Blue Jacketsrn4th round pick in 2017 Lars EllerrnrnThe Blue Jackets Need 4th Line Help, and the Canadiens Don't need some of their players because they have too many guys that would normally be in the lineup.
Just for the fun I will try to complete a second team Canada roster for the world cup from which whom was not taken.
Forwards
Line 1 Perry - spezza -Hall
Line 2Nash -Carter - ladd
Line 3 sharp - bozak - lucid
Line 4 Neal - Jordan staal - cammalleri
Defence
Subban - campbell
Letting - seabrook
Giordano - hamhuis
Phaneuf
Goalies
Luongo - fleury - Crawford...
We are just over a week until the NHL draft when hopefully things will happen so bloggers have new material to work with again. Until that point here are a few thoughts from around the NHL.
Gordie Howe... man 2016 has not been a kind year. When Muhammad Ali passed I thought it couldn't get any worse. I was very wrong. While I am far too young to share any personal stori...
We are just over a week until the NHL draft when hopefully things will happen so bloggers have new material to work with again. Until that point here are a few thoughts from around the NHL.
Gordie Howe... man 2016 has not been a kind year. When Muhammad Ali passed I thought it couldn't get any worse. I was very wrong. While I am far too young to share any personal stori...
From the beloved Saku Koivu to the often detested Alex Kovalev, star players in Montreal have always received just a little extra love or hate from fans and media not only in the city itself, but across the league. When a team is as polarizing as the Canadiens, their biggest players are either praised or loathed equally.
Which brings us to PK Subban. As immense a pers...
With the Ducks D Corps full to the brim with excellent NHL defensemen as well as great D prospects coming through the ranks, they can afford to let a stud like Hampus Lindholm go for the right price. I think the Leafs have the assets to make this trade happen! I love JVR but he is in his prime right now and can help a club like the Ducks who are in dire need of big and t...
So where does hurler sign? he's still unsigned, and so's russell. two former flames who got traded at the deadline. but everyone's talking about Russell, so i will ask, where does hurler sign?
I think maybe Montreal.
The United States defeat Canada in Nationwide Arena in the first preliminary games of the tournament. The final score was 4-2.
Zach Parise, Team USA and Minnesota Wild alternate captain, score the first goal of the game. (1-0)
Patrick Kane, the reigning Hart Trophy winner of the Chicago Blackhawks, made it 2-0.
Patrice Bergeron of the Boston Bruins scored the f...
Ottawa Senators: - Pierre Dorion
No offence to Bryan Murray but his time was long overdue he did good for what he could but last couple years showed that the Senators needed a fresh face. Enter Dorion and at the moment we cannot say much about Dorion as he hasn't done much other than the coaching hire. I totally disagree with Murray's comments on Cameron as Cameron could...
With all the players retiring this past week, I will go through who has left the game. The four players in age vary in age from the youthful age of 26 to the veteran of 39. Two were first round picks; one was undrafted. Two were forwards; two were defensemen.
Cody Hodgson announced his retirement from hockey to join the youth development and fan development programs in...
Zak MacMillan writes...
NHL: Predicting Standings- Who Makes and Misses Playoffs
Posted Thursday | Comments 0
Pacific Division
1. Anahiem Ducks
2. Los Angeles Kings
3. San Jose Sharks
4. Arizona Coyotes
5. Calgary Flames
6. Edmonton Oilers
7. Vancouver Canucks
Central Division
1. Dallas Stars
2. Chicago Blackhawks
3. Nashville Predators
4. St. Louis Blues (X)
5. Minnesota Wild (X)
6. Winnipeg Jets
7. Colorado Avalanche
Atlantic Division
1. Tampa B...
Zak MacMillan writes...
NHL: Predicting Standings- Who Makes and Misses Playoffs
Posted Thursday | Comments 0
Pacific Division
1. Anahiem Ducks
2. Los Angeles Kings
3. San Jose Sharks
4. Arizona Coyotes
5. Calgary Flames
6. Edmonton Oilers
7. Vancouver Canucks
Central Division
1. Dallas Stars
2. Chicago Blackhawks
3. Nashville Predators
4. St. Louis Blues (X)
5. Minnesota Wild (X)
6. Winnipeg Jets
7. Colorado Avalanche
Atlantic Division
1. Tampa B...
Edmonton Oilers - Tale of two cities
- This team started as a team you question defensively as against Calgary they should have lost. Then you have the drubbing against the injury riddled Sabres. Looking bleak and the team tightens up and wins two fairly sound games. Also if this team does well I would like to point out it isn't Chiarelli, its him finding haystack and...
Zak MacMillan writes...
CBJ Game No. 7: Columbus Blue Jackets @ Anaheim Ducks
Posted Saturday | Comments 0
The final game of the California trip takes place in Orange County for the first meeting of the season to take on the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.
The Ducks have had quite the offseason after being pushed out of the playoffs in the final game of the first round against the Nashville Predators. They've fired head coach Bruce Broudreau and hired Randy Carlyle. They traded F...
Zak MacMillan writes...
CBJ Post-Game No. 7- Strong Start Leads to Shutout; CBJ Win
Posted Saturday | Comments 0
The Columbus Blue Jackets have blanked the Anaheim Ducks by the final score of 4-0.
All the Jackets goals came in the first period, to the surprise of many, including me. All four were scored by two players.
The first two goals were scored 21 seconds apart. Sam Gagner scored his first goal was a Blue Jacket; Scott Hartnell and Lukas Sedlak had the assists. The seco...
Zak MacMillan writes...
CBJ Post-Game No. 7- Strong Start Leads to Shutout; CBJ Win
Posted Saturday | Comments 0
The Columbus Blue Jackets have blanked the Anaheim Ducks by the final score of 4-0.
All the Jackets goals came in the first period, to the surprise of many, including me. All four were scored by two players.
The first two goals were scored 21 seconds apart. Sam Gagner scored his first goal was a Blue Jacket; Scott Hartnell and Lukas Sedlak had the assists. The seco...
Zak MacMillan writes...
CBJ Game No. 9- Columbus Blue Jackets v Montreal Canadiens
Posted Friday | Comments 0
Bienvenue au Columbus. Ce soir, le au Columbus fait un match de hockey avec des Canadiens aux Montréal.
Tonight is the first meeting of the season, and as I usually do, I look over the offseason changes of the opposing team before any further breakdown. After the collapse of Carey Price, the Habs had an extremely subpar season, and drafted low as a result, making vas...
Zak MacMillan writes...
CBJ Post-Game No 9- Double Digit Domination; 10-0 Win v Habs
Posted Saturday | Comments 0
Je suis désolé Montréal, mais zut! 10 à 0. Finale.
The Montreal Canadiens, the league's best team was utterly dominated and destroyed and blanked by the Columbus Blue Jackets by the final score of 10-0.
Let's get through the goals in order since there is only one team to talk about on the score sheet.
The first goal of the game was one of four scored on t...
Zak MacMillan writes...
CBJ Game No. 11- Columbus Blue Jackets v. Anaheim Ducks
Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
The series finale between the Blue Jackets and Anaheim Ducks concludes tonight at Nationwide Arena.
The Ducks have won their past two games, and getting an even bigger lift tonight when defenseman Hampus Lindholm makes his season debut after holding out and signing a long term extension. The Blue Jackets lost their last game played in overtime, and are without Brandon ...
The Columbus Blue Jackets defeated the Anaheim Ducks by the final score of 3-2 in overtime.
Just over a minute into the game, Ducks forward Andrew Cogliano attempts to clear the puck up the boards, but Boone Jenner keeps it in play, and passes the puck to a wide open Scott Hartnell, whose in front of John Gibson, who somehow saves the puck, and Boone Jenner slips it in...
archromat writes...
When analyzing a trade, this is often overlooked...
Posted Thursday | Comments 0
I read a few articles on bad trades that some teams made, and usually it's "all star" for some guy who has the ceiling but is a few years younger, and more often than not, the one who benefits is the one that gets the better player NOW rather than the future.
But it's like those games, where a team loses 4-3 in OT, and people rush back to thinking about that goal that...
Ryan Getzlaf used to bring me out of my seat multiple times every game with his spectacular play-making. Those days are long gone. I'll grant you this: He's still a physical beast on the ice, and I don't think that shows too well on TV. But here are the major problems I see with the Ducks captain:rnrn1) Captain Yapping: On a Fox Sports special, his coach said he got t...
Well it has been a very long time since I have done this, I always have good intentions but four kids and a job kind of cut into my blogging time. But here I go again, I will try to do this once a week at least and who knows maybe some day someone will read this.
Well it is a day before the trade deadline and the Habs have some work to do. Work that is going to be hard ...
archromat writes...
Six observations about Olympic Mess and Hockey World Cup
Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
Players have been reacting chiefly negatively to the NHL's decision to not participate in the Olympics.
1. [b]Evaluating the Strength of Tradition[/b]
NHL is trying to replace the Olympics with this "World Cup" device. Now let's put hockey world cup into context with football/soccer world cup. The World Cup of Football was started in 1930 in Uruguay and has been a ...
Its been three days since the Montreal Canadiens got defeated by the New York Rangers in game 6, with all the glaring disappointment this team has had in the playoffs there are some bright spots with this team. Artturi Lehkonen, just 21 years of age and has already shown that he knows how to score goals in this league. Out of all Montreal Canadiens players he was third in ...
Montreal scored a whole four goals in four games.
It's only four games in, surely! They're generating 38.8 shots per game! By my calculation, that leaves the team with a collective ~2.5% shooting percentage. So if stats guys are right, then their gambler's fallacy will tell them that this shooting percentage will shoot up to about 9-9.5% soon enough and they'll be sc...
The Buffalo Sabres are sitting at 0-2-1 and seem to be in a down spiral to start the season. The team is turning the puck over way to many times and the top players excluding Evander kane have failed to produce thus far. Goaltending has been suspect and the lack of big saves is troubling especially for a team playing a high tempo, high risk high reward game. The Sabres see...
Calgary Flames: Just who are these flames? Last year it looked as though the only issues were goaltending and blueline depth. Those issues looked to be shored only to have consistency plague them. No wonder Gulutzan went on a tirade. They need others to step up namely Bennett.
Edmonton Oilers: Simple, Chia Pet Chiarelli is at the helm. Still waiting for first domino, Ch...
Over the next few weeks I'm going to run a bit of a series looking at some players that may be of interest to Edmonton. The first player on this list is Brendan Gallagher of the Montreal Canadiens.
The Canadiens are one of the few teams that are in a worse position than the Oilers. Oiler fans were infuriated with the Taylor Hall trade but at least we still have Connor M...
We're about a month away from puck drop, and I don't remember being more excited for October to arrive. It's a bit a of wierd statement coming from a Habs fan, considering the state of the team, so I figured I'd share my excitement with you guys.
First part : it could be quick...Wait, what could be quick? I'm talking about how the 2018-19 season is going to go for the ...
It has essentially been a great start for Canadian Teams. All teams are competing in some way for playoffs. That being said, we are seeing the senators fall as they should have. Other teams have been hot and cold. So what do we make of all this?
Let's start with the East.
Toronto Maple Leafs:
This team is always going to be the most hated and most liked, that will n...
I'm not a hockey insider. I'm a fan. I don't understand or pay attention to the advanced analytical stats. I watch/play hockey for fun and enjoy it for what it is, a sport (but I am not naive that it is a business too). rnrnNHL '94 may be the greatest sports game ever created. rnrnIt is unbelievable that there has not been a CBJ blog on here since October of last year. rnr...
The obvious answer is, of course. Trades can always happen, especially at the deadline when I expect the Wings to be out of contention. More pressing, however, is can Steve Yzerman make a significant move that will raise up the entire organization? This is one of those trades that will cost you. Someone is going to head out that could potentially become a difference maker...
In my last blog [/url]https://my.hockeybuzz.com/blog.php?post_id=18273&user_id=260089 I looked at possible trades based on strong performances. While I’m not eager to see it ever happen, Athanasiou could be the strongest piece Steve Yzerman could part with to bring in a young defenseman who could help the team moving forward. I have a feeling this will be a career y...
Jeremy Laura writes...
Revisiting the Red Wings trade possibility via Mike Augello
Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
A really good buzz cast this morning with Kevin Allen in tow. At 54:46, a question came in from a viewer named Lance regarding a potential Athanasiou trade for Ristolainen. Mike Augello commented on rumors of a Mantha for Ristolainen rumor that never came to fruition. The hypothetical cost for Zach Werenski would be Dylan Larkin, and that won’t happen. rnrnRistolainen is...
According to MLive.com, Athanasiou will make his anxiously awaited debut tonight against Anaheim. https://www.mlive.com/redwings/2019/10/red-wings-welcome-back-andreas-athanasious-speed-scoring-to-lineup.html Centering a line with Glendening and Hirose.
I’ve had some misgivings about Glendening’s promotion, but his effort and impact are always evident. Especially ...
Filip Hronek scored unexpectedly at the end of the second period. The wings took a 1 goal lead into the third period. Anaheim quickly scored to tie it up. Anthony Mantha seemed to have regained the lead, but the goal was challenged successfully for an offside. Then, Detroit fell apart. Anaheim scores 2 more in 37 seconds. It was evident that the Red Wings didn’t have the...
The second week of the regular season has come and gone in the hockey world, and for the Blue Jackets, success has followed. Last week, the Blue Jackets got their first victories of the season, against some of the league’s early success stories.
The Jacket’s first victory of the season came over the Buffalo Sabres, by the final score of 4-3 in overtime. The Jackets ...
In the latest mud slinging from Feschuk, he throws Hutchinson under the bus and pretty much says he has got to go and enough of the sugar coating. I don't disagree that Hutchinson has not been a great back up but to take advantage of his position as a writer for the star and spew venom is uncalled for. Say he is not the answer, but stop playing with a human beings job. rn...
The Calgary Flames ended their four-game road trip on a high note, beating the Anaheim Ducks 6-0. Despite the score, the Flames didn’t play great by any means, but the fact that the Ducks were terrible helped them out. Still, Anaheim peppered Cam Talbot with 44 shots, all of which he was able to turn aside. Calgary made the most of their chances, despite Anaheim dominati...
I have to say I have always had a soft spot for Danault.
His acquisition is definitely one of the better Bergevin trades. He came from Chicago alongside a 2nd round pick for the likes of Tomas Fleischmann and Dale Weise in a year that the Habs were absolutely atrocious.
Both players sent to Chicago had no long term impact for the Habs despite their fairly respected ...
Here are three reasons why the Habs will win the North Division! I dont think you can disagree on any of the below and if you do, please comment! rnrn1. Superior tendies:rnrnThe 2020-21 NHL season is a 56-game sprint with 11 back to backs for the Habs played over 116 days. Having two superior tendies is very key to a team’s success. The Habs have Carey Price (save %. 90...
Teams are working towards the second half push. Those teams who have depended on stick checks and fancy moves will likely win a few, but will be disappointed with some hard losses. I hope to have some insight soon as to who will flourish and who will falter.
RocketSports writes...
Enhanced Coverage of the Montreal Canadiens on HockeyBuzz
Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
I may have been the only person planted firmly in my seat amongst a very exuberant crowd at the Bell Centre. Habs fans had erupted with emotion, wildly cheering and chanting the name of Louis Leblanc. The Montreal Canadiens had chosen their supposed number one centre with the 18th pick overall of the 2009 NHL Draft.
In my chair, it was hard to hide the disappointment that...
What a difference a couple of wins can make.
The Montreal Canadiens started their week with their fourth loss in a row to the New York Rangers Tuesday and suddenly, despite them still being very clearly in their rebuilding phase where bumps on the road should be expected, everything about this team was suddenly questioned.
[i]"Will Dach ever regain his form from last...
What a difference a couple of wins can make.
The Montreal Canadiens started their week with their fourth loss in a row to the New York Rangers Tuesday and suddenly, despite them still being very clearly in their rebuilding phase where bumps on the road should be expected, everything about this team was suddenly questioned.
[i]"Will Dach ever regain his form from last...