NHL 2008-2009 thread

As far as the Canadians, The Kostitsyn brothers and Roman Hamrlik were questioned last night by the RCMP, their names were found in the finacial records of a high ranking gang member. Apparently they've had an 'association' with him for a while now. Bettman is currently in Montreal doing his own investigation. This could look bad for the leauge. Can you imagine if they were fixing games? Apparently the two brothers haven't been speaking to each other for a while now and both have sucked for the last 6 weeks (as well as the Canadians).

I thought that the Toronto Media was bad, it is nothing compared to Montreal, some of the stuff I was reading last night that was being reported was insane (allegations of rape for like 5-6 players, drug and weapons charges....you name it.

To make matters worse, this is their 100th year Centential year, it would be terrible if this marred their celebration.

Tomorrow is Hockey Day in Canada for those that don't no, CBC shows 3 games, all Canadian teams play, and is on the air for like 12 hours, they name a small town in the country and go and broadcast from there, there are tons of segments on the game and it's impact on different communities, they've been doing this for a few years now, it's pretty cool. Montreal vs Ottawa - Vancouver vs Toronto (Sundins return to TO) and Calgary vs Edmonton. I'm going to grab a bunch of beer and watching hockey all day.
 
JConnors said:
Tomorrow is Hockey Day in Canada for those that don't no, CBC shows 3 games, all Canadian teams play, and is on the air for like 12 hours, they name a small town in the country and go and broadcast from there, there are tons of segments on the game and it's impact on different communities, they've been doing this for a few years now, it's pretty cool. Montreal vs Ottawa - Vancouver vs Toronto (Sundins return to TO) and Calgary vs Edmonton. I'm going to grab a bunch of beer and watching hockey all day.
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Minnesota stole this idea and this was (I believe) the third year they've done it. It starts with a few high school games (one or two of them outdoors), then the Gophers and they finish it off with a Wild game that night. It's pretty cool and a good excuse to drink beer and not leave the house (like I need an excuse not to go outside in January).:beer:
 
JConnors said:
Tomorrow is Hockey Day in Canada for those that don't no, CBC shows 3 games, all Canadian teams play, and is on the air for like 12 hours, they name a small town in the country and go and broadcast from there, there are tons of segments on the game and it's impact on different communities, they've been doing this for a few years now, it's pretty cool. Montreal vs Ottawa - Vancouver vs Toronto (Sundins return to TO) and Calgary vs Edmonton. I'm going to grab a bunch of beer and watching hockey all day.
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This sounds like good times. I'm flying to Florida tomorrow... maybe I'll get lucky and somewhere will have a couple of the games on. :beer:
 
Wild locked up Backstrom for 4 Years 6M.

Very good deal.

Tomorrow should be pretty interesting with the trade deadline, things are starting to heat up.

If you can, the Wild should be trading Gaborik (maybe to Vancouver). How far away is he from returning?
 
Playoffs started a few days ago. The Pitt/Philly series looks like a fun one to watch. I caught a bit of it yesterday online and Pitt looked good. Back in Detroit, Ozzie better deliver. The teams needs him to give them a chance every night. New Jersey and Boston are looking real good too.
 
JConnors said:
Wild locked up Backstrom for 4 Years 6M.

Very good deal.

Tomorrow should be pretty interesting with the trade deadline, things are starting to heat up.

If you can, the Wild should be trading Gaborik (maybe to Vancouver). How far away is he from returning?
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Damn, I just saw this post. The Backstrom deal is, in fact, a great move.

This offseason is going to be interesting for my favorite squad. Lemaire quits, GM Risebrough was fired today. Gaborik is going to walk. There are a lot of questions to be answered.
 
This offseason is going to be interesting for my favorite squad. Lemaire quits, GM Risebrough was fired today. Gaborik is going to walk. There are a lot of questions to be answered.
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Your telling me. Our team looked entirely different this year and next will completely different. We ended up finishing in 7th so we should get a decent pick out of this, if we can't move up in the draft then I'm hoping we draft Braydon Schenn, (Luke's younger brother), he's been tearing it up in junior this year. We've also been signing a lot of the NCAA free agents to contracts, we actually signed Christian Hanson (he's dad was in Slap Shot) and another highly tought NCAA free agent in Tyler Bozak.

As far as the playoffs here are my predicitons.

EAST
Montreal Vs Boston - Boston will walk over them in 5 or 6.
Washington Vs NYR - I like the Rangers with an upset in 7.
New Jersey Vs Carolina - Broduer will stand on his head, Devils in 6.
Pittsburgh Vs Philly - I think the Penguins take this in 7. Philly's goaltending is too shaky now.

WEST
San Jose Vs Anahiem - Ducks take this in 6 games (I'm calling for an upset) San Jose has underperformed for years in the playoffs, can't see why now won't be any different, also Anahiem has tones of expierence and went into the playoffs extremely hot.
Detroit Vs Columbus - As much as I'd like to see The Blue Jackets knock of Detroit, it's just not going to happen, Detroit has to much depth and expierence, they beat Columbus in every playoff category, Detroit in 5.
Vancouver Vs St. Loius - I'd love to see the Blue take out the Canucks, but Luongo is the difference here. Canucks in 6.
Chicago Vs Calgary - It kinda sucks for Calgary as there defence is completely banged up right now, they need Kipper to get hot and for Joikinen to get going. Calgary obviously has the expierence against a young Black Hawks team, I think the Flames take it in 7.

Just to follow up on the Flames game last night, there is no way that OT goal should have been called, total goalie interference, I can't believe they didn't call that, terrible call.

Not sure if you guys heard this but towards the end of the season Calgary could only start 15-18 players each night (on a few occasions 15) because of this ridiculous stipulation in the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Basically what it came down to was that Calgary was up against the cap and hardly had any money left, a few of their players (mainly defencemen) got hurt. Usually during the season you can put them on long term injury reserve, and the games they miss the average comes off the cap and free's up money for replacements, however since it's towards the end of the season, if you do this and their not in the lineup the last game of the year and taken off the LTIR those players has to miss the first round of the playoffs (which is insane), so they couldn't call anyone up because they don't have either a) a roster spot and b) cap room, so they started 15 players a few times, and played terrible hockey as a result and ended losing the division and home ice to the Canucks. Absolutely crazy.
 
JConnors said:
Not sure if you guys heard this but towards the end of the season Calgary could only start 15-18 players each night (on a few occasions 15) because of this ridiculous stipulation in the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Basically what it came down to was that Calgary was up against the cap and hardly had any money left, a few of their players (mainly defencemen) got hurt. Usually during the season you can put them on long term injury reserve, and the games they miss the average comes off the cap and free's up money for replacements, however since it's towards the end of the season, if you do this and their not in the lineup the last game of the year and taken off the LTIR those players has to miss the first round of the playoffs (which is insane), so they couldn't call anyone up because they don't have either a) a roster spot and b) cap room, so they started 15 players a few times, and played terrible hockey as a result and ended losing the division and home ice to the Canucks. Absolutely crazy.
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That's just nuts.

Anaheim taking a 2-0 lead IN San Jose isn't that unexpected, as you mentioned. I did however think SJ had a great year and am a little surprised the Ducks stole both of those games.

The Philly/Pitt series has been a riot to watch! Some of the hits have been brutal.

I don't think Calgary will beat Chicago... They are young, yes, but their skill is very impressive.

In Detroit, Osgood is showing why he has the most wins in Wings history as a goalie. He has been making timely stops and playing really solid... maybe some of his critics will ease up. (doubt that will EVER happen, even if he won a Conn Smythe. People don't remember the shutouts, but they do remember the 90-footer lob that beat you back in 199-something)
 
Missed most of the games this week as I was at NAB.

Canadians, BLues and Blue Jackets getting swept wasn't all that surprising.

Anahiem is going to knock of the Sharks. I think Calgary will win in 7.
 
I knew Chicago would make it to round 2. They fought back well last night, thought they might shock the Canucks. I'm secretly hoping for an original 6 matchup in the conf. finals with them and Detroit. Chicago in 7.

Pitt vs. Washington will be a fun series. I think Pitt will take it in 6.

If Osgood plays strong, and the Getzlaf line is shut down, Wings take it in 6.

Boston in 6. Carolina is playing well, but I think Boston will overpower them.
 
Who do you guys like tomorrow night? Game 7 Stanley Cup Finals....doesn't get much better than that.

Honestly it doesn't really matter to me, I like both teams. Detroit is so good and so well managed that it would be a shame to not reward them with back to back cups.....they are what every team in the league should be modeling themselves after. On the other hand, Crosby and Malkin have single handedly carried their team through the playoffs and fought back being down 2-0 in two series.

That being said, I don't see Detroit losing at hom tomorrow. Plus I got a case of beer riding on the Wings.

It would be amazing if it ended up going into OT. That's every hockey fans dream.

Detroit takes it tomorrow 4-2.
 
JConnors said:
Who do you guys like tomorrow night? Game 7 Stanley Cup Finals....doesn't get much better than that.

Honestly it doesn't really matter to me, I like both teams. Detroit is so good and so well managed that it would be a shame to not reward them with back to back cups.....they are what every team in the league should be modeling themselves after. On the other hand, Crosby and Malkin have single handedly carried their team through the playoffs and fought back being down 2-0 in two series.

That being said, I don't see Detroit losing at hom tomorrow. Plus I got a case of beer riding on the Wings.

It would be amazing if it ended up going into OT. That's every hockey fans dream.

Detroit takes it tomorrow 4-2.
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As much as I like Crosby I have to disagree with you about your comment, especially the last part. He's done very little this series.
Stall has done a hell of a lot more and has helped carry this team to a game 7.

If the Pens are going to win game 7 in Detroit Crosby needs to wake up. If they cave after one goal like they did last time they're done.

I just hope it's not a blowout either way.

MAH
 
Well it's not like he's been playing awful in the finals, the points aren't there, but those first 3 series was all Crosby and Malkin.

I agree, I hope it's a close game.
 
JConnors said:
Well it's not like he's been playing awful in the finals, the points aren't there, but those first 3 series was all Crosby and Malkin.

I agree, I hope it's a close game.
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I was just referring to your comment about Malkin and Crosby helping the team fight back from 2-0.

Crosby has been a no show this series. That fact that they still have a chance at the cup with that being said is amazing! They can thank Stall and the other lines for that.

If Crosby manages to have a great game it could be really interesting.
And yes, he's been great this playoffs, minus the Detroit series. He's had his chances this round, he just can't seem to finish.

MAH
 
Yeah, he's definetly had his chances. Detroit is so good defensively and Zetterberg had done a great job shutting Crosby down.
 
JConnors said:
Yeah, he's definetly had his chances. Detroit is so good defensively and Zetterberg had done a great job shutting Crosby down.
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Yup. They're great.

They also seem to be letting a lot more interference and hooking go this round. I think that suits Detroit just fine.

Please just let it be a close hard fought game. That's all I want.
 
Go Wings!!!! I almost snagged tickets, but I went to game 5 and didn't want to shell out $1000 for a couple of nosebleeds.... Now that Datsyuk has had a few more days rest, I think he will be dominant in todays game. Osgood plays strong and Zetterberg defends Crosby as usual (we have the last change) and hello lord stanley :-)
 
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